Chapter 4: New Home
It had been a couple of weeks after Diddy had saved those four new kongs, and things had gotten a little better for him too. After spending almost six hours at school putting up with his annoying classmates, the afternoons were spent with his new friends, and the whole atmosphere changed in him, even improving his mood.
Donkey and Diddy were at their house. That day was Cranky's birthday and, even though he was a grump, they still loved him and celebrated his birthday like every year.
"Hey, little buddy, we're making Cranky that dinner for his birthday today," Donkey informed. "We and Candy will prepare a huge banana cake."
"Wow, I hope that later he doesn't come out with his 'Oh, no, in my time no one celebrated birthdays with those cake antics'" Diddy responded imitating Cranky, to which Donkey laughed.
"Buh! We'll still celebrate," said Donkey, shrugging his shoulders and finishing laughing. "He has to be happy no matter what."
"Hey, Donkey, are you going out today?"
"Just now I was going to Funky's to prepare everything. Do you want to come?"
"I'll go later. Wait for me there," Diddy responded, since, like the previous days, he was going to visit his new friends.
A few minutes passed, and then Donkey came out. After that, Diddy headed to his friends.
Diddy arrived at their house and was thinking about taking them for a walk again... But then, he stopped before the strange scene he found: the house was more deteriorated than it was before, a part of it had already collapsed… and, besides, there was no one present.
Diddy wondered where the four kongs were and decided to go look for them. He began to call each of them by name out loud, but he received no response. Until later, he saw them in the distance: they were on the shore of the beach building what seemed to be a boat. Diddy immediately headed over to where they were, wondering what they were planning.
"Hey!" Diddy called them as he arrived. "Hi! I was looking for you."
"Oh, hi, Diddy..." Dixie replied in a somewhat serious tone. "It's good that you arrived, we were going to see you."
The four of them greeted Diddy... Although this time, instead of looking happy, they had a serious expression, which seemed a bit strange to Diddy.
"Is something happening?" Diddy asked them curiously.
"The house is about to fall down, so we won't be able to live there anymore," Chunky answered.
"Yes, I realized it, I just saw it," Diddy said, before looking towards the boat they were putting together. "What is that boat for? Will we go for a walk by the sea?" he asked them with small laughs.
Suddenly, the four of them looked at each other with some seriousness at such a question, and then they looked silently at Diddy, as if they had something important to tell him.
"I think we didn't tell you, Diddy," Tiny replied in a low tone, "but... we'll try to go back to our island where we lived."
"W-what?!" Diddy exclaimed at such a sudden announcement made by his new friends. "Will you go away?"
"Yes... that's what we have to do," Dixie responded in the same way. "We'll try to find our island."
"But… you know the way, right?" Diddy asked them.
"Well, actually... no, but we'll try to get there," Dixie responded with a forced smile.
Diddy seemed quite surprised at what they were telling him; his new friends had never mentioned that to him.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Diddy exclaimed, quite confused. "Are you saying that you just go aimlessly?"
"Well, yeah, we have to go back. We have nowhere else to go," Dixie responded with a shrug. "We already ran away from those evil apes and now we just have to return to our home... If it is still there."
"We'll try to look for it," Chunky added in the same way.
Diddy was becoming more confused. He didn't understand why they wanted to leave and he was worried that something would happen to them if they left that way.
"But... Won't you get lost? Or if a storm takes you away? Or if some Kremling catches you? Or... if those apes find you again?"
"Oh, I don't think we'll see them again with the beating you gave them," Chunky responded with a shrug. "And if they find us, we'll hide better."
"So... are you serious about drifting like that?" Diddy asked them, looking at them strangely.
"We won't drift," Dixie answered, "I mean... yes, but we're in search of our previous island."
"Hey, no, what are you saying?" Diddy exclaimed as he walked towards the boat. "You can't just leave like that! You can get lost," he pointed to the sea, and then he also realized that the boat they were putting together was too small to barely fit three of them. "Uh, and sorry to get into it, but... in this little boat I don't think you're going to survive."
"And what does that matter?" asked Dixie. "You're not trying to stop us, are you?"
"No, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to warn you," Diddy responded in the same tone.
"Don't worry, Diddy, we'll still be friends even if we're far away," Tiny added. "We could even come visit you from time to…"
"But you say you don't know the way back," Diddy interrupted, still worried. "If you say you have nowhere to go, you could stay here if you want. I can introduce you to my other friends and we could even build you a new house... Or in any case, a more resistant boat and even take you with greater safety."
"We'd like to, little friend, but we don't want to cause any trouble," Chunky replied.
"Oh, please! You won't cause us any trouble," Diddy said as he climbed into the boat they were building. "Look, going sailing aimlessly can be very dangerous, so I recommend that you don't..." at that moment, Diddy accidentally broke a piece of the boat, since it was loose. "Oops! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it…" he apologized with an embarrassed smile.
"Hey, our boat! It cost us to build it," Tiny exclaimed, raising his voice seriously.
"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry!" Diddy apologized again. "And by the way, are you going to go on this boat? I mean…"
"Well, we can build a better one!" Dixie responded before lowering her voice. "Sorry, Diddy, we have to get home, no matter what."
"We'll still be your friends," Chunky added, smiling a little. "We'll be visiting you and…"
"No!" Diddy interrupted. "What I want to tell you is that: Do you know how to get there?"
"Well, we don't know, but…"
"Exact! You don't know how to get there; you can get lost and then…"
"No, Diddy! Understand it! We have to go!" Dixie exclaimed more seriously.
"But you can't just leave like that!" Diddy replied.
"Of course, we leave!" the four kongs responded in unison in the same tone.
There was a moment of silence after the small discussion that had broken out. Diddy didn't want them to leave, as he feared that his new friends, after having rescued them from a major attack, would get lost or something bad would happen to them. However, after warning them so much, he decided that he shouldn't interfere in their decisions and gave up.
"Okay..." Diddy sighed, getting out of the boat. "Okay, okay… You can go," he exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders and starting to walk away from them.
"HEY, AT LEAST REPAIR THE BOAT!" Tiny shouted in the distance.
"Leave him, Tiny. We didn't tell him before that we were leaving," Chunky said. "We'll say goodbye to him later."
The four of them were going to continue with what they were doing. After the broken boat, they would begin to assemble a more reinforced one. On the other hand, Diddy kept walking away from the four kongs; he felt frustrated and worried about them at the same time, and he was even considering the idea of going to tell Donkey and his friends to come and help the four young kongs so that they would not be exposed to danger.
For their part, the four kongs had begun to try to retake the boat they were putting together. Suddenly, Dixie stopped while the other three kongs continued placing a piece. She stared at the boat, and then looked out to sea, as if she were now hesitating to continue.
"WAIT!... DIDDY!... DON'T GO YET!" Dixie shouted into the distance. Then, she spoke to the other three kongs. "Hey! Wait! I think it's better... we should stay here."
"What?!" exclaimed the other three, completely changing their faces. "Are you talking seriously?"
"Yes, actually... I think leaving like that could be risky," Dixie added.
"Is something happening?" Diddy asked, coming back to them, hoping that they had realized the danger they would be exposing themselves to.
"Well, on second thought... I think it would be better to change plans," Dixie said. "We don't know how to get there, so... how about we stay, do you think?"
At that moment, the faces of Tiny, Chunky and Kiddy and even Diddy's showed a big smile.
"Oh, and by the way, Diddy, how about... introduce us to your herd friends?" Dixie added, smiling.
"Yeah!" Tiny, Chunky and Kiddy exclaimed with excitement and hugged Dixie.
"Well, that's what I always suggested," Diddy said, smiling and shrugging his shoulders.
"Chunky did want to stay and meet the other Kongs," Chunky stated.
"Yeah, Dixie was the one who didn't want it," Tiny added.
"Hey, but that was at the beginning, Tiny!" Dixie replied. "And well, we're going to stay here," she added, smiling again.
"Well, and when will you introduce us to your friends and family, Diddy?" Chunky asked him excitedly.
Diddy had to think of a right time for his new friends to meet everyone else, and that same day seemed like the right time for that.
"I have an idea," Diddy said thoughtfully. "Do you know? Today is Cranky's birthday, my great-grandfather. Everyone will be gathered there, so it could be tonight. Do you think it's ok?"
"Yes, that sounds good," Dixie replied, nodding. "Just let them know we're coming."
"I want to meet them all," Tiny responded enthusiastically.
"They're not cannibals, are they?" Chunky asked, looking somewhat fearful.
"Hey, how are they going to be cannibals?" Diddy responded with his hands on his sides.
"Bah! Chunky was just joking. Uh, but joking aside, will they welcome us well?"
"Of course," Diddy exclaimed, smiling at them. "Uh, I just ask you to be patient with Cranky, you know, he's a bit grumpy and reckless," he added with a little laugh. "Okay, then we'll see you later, I'll come see you."
At night, it was Cranky's birthday celebration, and the entire Kong family was gathered to celebrate near Funky's house, which was located in front of the beach. They were all present, except for Diddy, since he had gone to see his new friends to introduce them to the others. Obviously, he had informed Donkey of that in advance, who also had no problem with the idea of receiving them.
The Kong family was gathered at a table while they sang to Cranky, and then he prepared to blow out the candles on the cake.
"Okay, Cranky, now make a wish," Funky told him.
Cranky thought for a few seconds, and the first thing that came to mind was Donkey.
"I wish Donkey wasn't so dumb and lazy anymore," he said in his mind, before continuing to blow out the candles. Afterwards, everyone applauded happily.
"And what did you wish, Cranky?" Donkey asked him in a mocking tone. "Stop being bitter?"
"You already started!" Cranky replied, annoyed. "I wished you stop being so dumb and lazy."
"Oh, wow! Really? What if I tell you that you can't say the wish because it doesn't come true later?" Donkey added, and then everyone laughed softly at the move he made to Cranky.
"Oh, no, now you're going to pay me, Donkey Kong!" Cranky exclaimed angrily and pulling out his staff, while Donkey covered himself with his arms.
"Hey, enough already!" said Candy calming the discussion. "Apologize!"
Donkey and Cranky stopped immediately. The old Kong looked at Donkey angrily, while Donkey continued laughing for having bothered his grandfather.
"It's okay, Cranky, it's your birthday, I'm sorry," Donkey apologized, trying to stop laughing.
"You don't change, boy," Cranky replied with a shrug.
"Friends, why don't we distribute the food instead?" Lanky suggested.
"But Diddy still hasn't arrived," Swanky said when he saw that the little monkey was absent. "By the way, what time is he coming with his new friends that he mentioned?"
"I think he told me he was going to their house first and then he'd bring them," Donkey answered.
"Are they kids like him too?" Lanky asked.
"Yes, three of them do," Donkey answered. "He said they are two chimpanzee girls, a little gorilla boy and an older one."
On the other hand, Diddy was arriving at the meeting point, in the company of his four new friends. While they were excited to meet new kongs at first, they were also a little nervous.
"We're close," Diddy told the four of them. "Everything will be fine, don't worry."
"And... how are we going to greet them?" Dixie asked him, appearing somewhat shyly along with the others.
"You just greet them normally; they will respond to you well."
Diddy, along with the quartet of new kongs, arrived where the Kong family was gathered around the celebration table. Everyone at the table turned to see that Diddy had arrived. At first, they looked at him with surprise when they saw that he was accompanied by four kongs that they had never seen before, but then they assumed that they were his new friends.
"Hello! I'm here," Diddy said, smiling with his teeth, before pointing at the four of them. Oh, these are my new friends, the ones I had mentioned."
There was another moment of silence, since they seemed somewhat curious about the different aspects that each of the new kongs had, since they all imagined that all four of them would be the same size as Diddy.
"Hello, Diddy's new friends!" Donkey exclaimed after a while.
Subsequently, everyone began to greet them kindly from their positions, while the four of them returned the greeting, although with some shyness.
"Look, but they're little ones like Diddy," said Funky, addressing them with energy. "Hello! How are your names?"
Funky extended his hand to the four of them, but they were still shy; they wanted to meet the other kongs on the island, but at the same time, they didn't know what to say to start talking to them. Diddy was motioning to the four of them to cheer them up to talk.
"Oh, don't be ashamed," Funky added, smiling at them. "We are cool here."
"Uhh... I'm Chunky," Chunky began saying. Then, the other three young kongs also said their names.
"Nice to meet you, Kiddy, Dixie, Tiny and Mr. Chunky," said Funky, shaking hands with each one.
Then everyone got up from their seats and went to greet the new kongs politely.
"Hello, I'm Donkey Kong, nice to meet you and welcome," Donkey continued, smiling at them. Likewise, the others continued to say their names.
"Nice to meet you too," said Tiny, speaking normally again. "Diddy told us a lot about you."
"And how did you meet Diddy?" Donkey asked them. "Is it true that he saved you? I just found out about that today."
"Yes… There were some mandrills chasing us," Dixie answered. "And then Diddy showed up and he saved us. He stopped them by making some branches fall on them, and then we shot them with some cannons that they brought."
Everyone exclaimed with shocked and worried faces when they mentioned that act that Diddy had done. Although they had a lot of esteem for Diddy, it seemed incredible to them that a little monkey had saved four lives alone.
"You?" Cranky exclaimed, looking at Diddy strangely. "Did you save... a father with three children from... some mandrills?" he asked slowly and referring to Chunky, because of his great stature, as the father of the other three kongs.
"Has it been true, little buddy?" Donkey asked, looking amazed.
"Well, yeah... I don't know how I did it, but I did it," Diddy responded a little shyly. "And he's not a father, he's the little gorilla's older brother," he added, pointing to Chunky and then to Kiddy.
"And it's true, Diddy saved us from dying," Chunky added, confirming what he had just said.
Everyone was still confused, so they were curious to know more about those four new kongs.
"Well, why don't you tell us better at the table?" Funky suggested to them kindly. "Do you also want to have dinner with us? You are welcome here."
"Oh, sure... Thank you very much," Dixie responded together with the other three kongs happily.
The Kong family invited the four newcomers to the table. Everyone wanted to know how Diddy saved them, and they were amazed when he told everything in detail and it even seemed impossible to them that he, with his short stature and small muscles, had managed to defeat some dangerous mandrills... even if he had only used his agility to do so. It was true that he had accompanied Donkey on his adventure, but even so, they didn't really consider Diddy as a super strong Kong. Even Donkey worried about him, but at the same time, he was happy to see as his little nephew had made such a heroic act.
"And why were you being persecuted?" Funky asked the quartet while they were eating dinner.
"Who were those mandrills apes?" Lanky added.
"Hey, I guess now isn't the time to ask them that," Diddy interfered so they wouldn't ask reckless questions. "I think it's a delicate matter," he murmured softly.
Funky, Lanky, Donkey, and Candy served dinner, and while they ate, they chatted a lot more with the new kongs. Apparently, they had liked them very much and were asking more questions about them. The Kong family has always loved being kind and offering a hand to those in need.
"And where are you living now?" Funky asked them.
"We were at a house that Diddy showed us," Dixie answered.
"Wait, Diddy," Funky interrupted, frowning, "don't tell me it's that old shack held up by a tree about to fall?"
"Yes, in fact... it already fell," Diddy smiled forcedly.
"And why didn't you tell us anything before?" Donkey told them, before smiling at them. "We could build you a new house."
"I had told them that, but they were still afraid to meet you," Diddy responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"We did want to meet you, it was Dixie who didn't want to," said Tiny, pointing at Dixie.
"Hey, but that was when we had just arrived," Dixie replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"Oh, come on, we won't hurt you," Lanky said, smiling at them. "We are not bad apes."
"You will be welcome here with us," Swanky said.
The Kongs continued talking to the new ones. They had found it interesting to meet four young kongs, and they were also feeling more confident talking to them. The four of them didn't have to ask as many questions, since Diddy had told them quite a bit about the Kong family.
"Then it's just you: two brothers and two sisters," Funky concluded. "Are there just the four of you?"
"Yes... just us," Dixie replied with a small smile.
"Hey... And like I said before, how about we build them a new house?" Donkey suggested.
"Of course, I love the idea," Funky said excitedly. "Now we'll have new friends!"
"Yes, we can all work as a team," Lanky added.
"Yeah!" said the rest.
"Children, you will have a new house!" Lanky announced to them, earning some smiles from the four of them.
The other Kongs also agreed to the proposal to build them a new house. The four new kongs looked at each other with excitement and responded with a big smile and words of gratitude; their welcome had done them very good.
"Bah! Build a house?" Cranky objected later. "And why not have someone pick them up at home and that's it?"
"Grandpa!" Donkey exclaimed contradictorily.
"Oh, just kidding, of course we can," Cranky added, laughing a little, before becoming serious again. "I just hope they are good children, not clowns like my grandson and great-grandson."
"Cranky!" Donkey and Diddy exclaimed in unison at the old kong's imprudence.
"Come on! Don't start your dramas," Wrinkly added, calming them. "These children look very calm."
"Okay, okay, just kidding too," Cranky said. "Okay, tomorrow we can start plans for the house."
"Well, but… where are we going to sleep?" Tiny asked seriously.
"I can put together some quick temporary rooms for you," Funky suggested. "So that you have your space."
"You can stay near our house," Wrinkly added kindly. "And if you need anything, just let us know, okay?"
Afterwards, they continued chatting with the new kongs, obviously without asking them reckless questions. Apparently, the four of them already felt safer on the island seeing that they had landed in a good place with good inhabitants of their same species to welcome them. And, as expected, they also continued with Cranky's celebration, which ended with the opening of gifts.
Since their temporary house had collapsed, the four new kongs stayed the night at Cranky and Wrinkly's house, while Funky set up a small temporary house for them to sleep there in later days.
The next day, Funky invited all the Kongs to his house to eat, and then they made plans to start building the new house for the new Kong quartet. Later, all the members of the Kong family headed to the site where they would build it. It was a quiet space within the jungle, surrounded by tall trees.
"This is the place where we will build your house, do you like it?" Funky asked the four new young kongs.
"Yeah!" the four kongs responded very happily.
"Ok, let's begin!" Donkey said in the same way.
"First we must look for the materials," said Funky.
"Hey, can we help?" Chunky asked with a pleading look along with his younger brother and his two cousins.
"Oh, no, no, the new ones won't have to worry," Funky replied, calming them down.
The four of them gave another pleading look, as they were excited and wanted to help as well.
"Oh, come on, we want to help with our new house," Dixie added with some excitement. "Can we?"
"Well, well, okay," Funky said, smiling at them. "So, I'll make a list of what everyone needs to do, okay?"
And then, all the kongs got to work and began to collaborate. Funky and Donkey assigned the others what each one should do. First, they had to get materials, including wood and vines, enough to build a Kong-style house. After searching for the materials, they began to build the house. The four new kongs also helped, including Cranky and Wrinkly. Not all of them were expert builders, but they still made the effort, since it had to be a comfortable house for four young kongs.
It had taken them approximately three weeks to finish the house, since they wanted it to be well done, and it had turned out great. Now, the new kongs would have a new home to live in.
The house was ready and all the Kongs gathered to see it.
"Well, children, this is your new house," said Funky, leading the four of them to observe the property.
The house was two levels and the style was similar to what the other Kongs' houses were like; it had everything necessary for them to live in good conditions. Finally, these new kongs now had a place to live in peace after a risky fugitive life.
"It's fabulous!" Tiny exclaimed, very fascinated.
"Now we have a place to live!" Chunky added in the same way.
"We're glad you liked it," Donkey said, smiling at them.
"And by the way, I was thinking... What if we have a party to celebrate?" Funky suggested to them. "Something like a welcome for the four of you, just between us. Even if you have already arrived weeks ago."
"Yeah!" they all responded excitedly.
"Please, another party?!" Cranky objected.
"Calm down, Cranky, don't start objecting, please," Diddy said, calming him down.
"Yes, Grandpa," Donkey added. "Don't be a pooper…"
"Calm down too," Diddy interrupted, calming Donkey in case they started to argue.
"Well, then, how about tomorrow night?" Funky suggested, receiving affirmative responses from the others.
The four new kongs were very happy, not only because of their new house, but also because of how well the others had received them. Likewise, the others were excited to have new friends. From what was known about them, Chunky was a tall gorilla, but his manner was that of a child, apart from being somewhat nervous, but he always liked to make others smile; Kiddy was a toddler who didn't talk much due to his young age and was like a baby, his great height seemed to be due to him and his brother's genetics; Tiny was a very happy and playful child who, although sometimes she used to argue with her sister, deep down she loved her very much and admired her; and lastly there was Dixie, who was like the older sister of the three, but still, she had the energetic spirit of a child her age.
A/N: That's it for this chapter. I'm going to advance something, but from chapters 1 to 12 it is like an introductory part, practically what the first part of the synopsis says. From chapter 13 starts the main plot. I say this so that you can calm down a little and enjoy while things are still "calm" in the story.