Kaphi glanced around the small opening as she stepped out of the bushes, making sure to check all around her for any signs of predators. Once she was sure everything was clear, she sat down in the center and began eating the delicious berries she had scouted out. This patch was all hers and she would enjoy all the berries in peace, away from any meddling parents or siblings and she wouldn't have to share with any friends or family. This was a rare moment, when she had some quiet alone time all to herself, and she loved every second of it.
After a few minutes of munching away on berries, a small snap of a twig caught Kaphi's attention, and she froze mid bite, her eyes widening and darting around the scenery. She slowly tilted her head, sniffing the air. A rustle behind her made her jump, and she grunted as she stared intently at where she had heard the noise.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she fixated on the bushes, trying to focus her eyes to see through the greenery enough to make out any spots of stripes, but the guise of a leopard was too great for her eyes, and she could not see anything lurking around.
That didn't mean it wasn't there.
Kaphi sniffed again. She was too far away from the family to make any attempts at a cry for help. They would never get to her in time, and it would just make whatever was there attack her sooner. Her only hope was to get back to the family, or as close to it as she could. She took a small step backwards, planning her escape in her head.
Wrong move.
Kaphi screamed as Sabor leaped out of the bushes, claws out for her, and she fell back into the ground.
Before Sabor could land on Kaphi and deliver a killing bite, Tarzan swung down from the trees and kicked Sabor away.
Sabow yelped as she landed a few feet away, turning her snarls on Tarzan, who landed in front of his sister, his spear in his hand and aimed at the cat. Tarzan, sixteen years old now, narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth at Sabor, who paced in front of the ape-man briefly before pausing, tilting her head at thundering feet running toward their direction, and she decided to wisely retreat, disappearing back into the bushes without a sound.
Tarzan set his spear down and checked on his sister.
"Are you okay?" Tarzan asked, helping his sister back to her feet.
"I'm okay," Kaphi said. "How did you get here so quickly? Were you spying on me?"
Before Tarzan could answer, Kerchak burst through the shrubbery and grunted, glancing around the clearing for ay threats.
"It's okay, Dad," Tarzan said, "Sabor's gone."
Kerchak breathed a sigh of relief, then turned angry eyes to his daughter.
"What were you thinking straying so far from the family?" Kerchak scolded.
"I wasn't that far away," Kaphi answered, hunching her shoulders submissively, though she glared back at her father. "I just wanted some time to myself without overprotective parents or brothers breathing down my back." Kaphi glared at her brother pointedly.
"Well, you can thank your overprotective brother for following you and keeping you safe," Kerchak retorted. "Another stunt like this and you'll find yourself grounded to my sight."
Kaphi groaned and glared at the ground in front of her, biting back any more comments lest her father follow through with his threat. Kerchak gave her one last stern look before glancing at his son, pointedly ignoring the spear at Tarzan's feet. He had long given up on keeping his son from using it after it had proven useful in scaring off Sabor a few times. But it was for emergency use only, and Tarzan rarely pulled it out for any other reasons.
"Make sure you both stay within hearing distance of the family," Kerchak said.
"Yes, Dad," Tarzan said.
With that, Kerchak turned and headed back for the family grounds. Tarzan and Kaphi waited a moment before Kaphi sat down again, glaring at her brother.
"Really, Tarzan?" Kaphi asked.
"What?" Tarzan shrugged his shoulders as he picked up his spear, stabbing the ground and leaning into the staff. "I was just doing what Dad asked. Besides, you've never been really mindful of your own safety."
"Like you ever give me the chance!" Kaphi said. "You can be such a suck-up. Honestly, between you, Dad, and Mom, I can't get a break."
"Come on, sis," Tarzan said, "We're all just trying to protect you."
Kaphi huffed and sauntered away, heading back for the family grounds. Tarzan walked after her, placing his spear in a hollow of a tree where he often stored it before shuffling on all fours to catch up to his sister.
"I swear," Kaphi said, "Sometimes, you're just as bad as Dad."
"I think I'll take that as a compliment," Tarzan smirked.
"I can take care of myself, you know," Kaphi said, holding her head up high as she walked past her brother.
"Can you?" Tarzan challenged. He crouched really low before pouncing on his sister, tumbling to the ground and pinning her down. "Try to defend against this!"
"Tarzan!" Kaphi complained, laughing as she struggled to push him off her. She managed to push him over, rolling until she had him pinned by his shoulders, standing on top of him. "Ha, pinned ya."
Tarzan reacted quickly and kicked out from under his sister before pinning her down again, this time restraining one arm and one leg as he did so, keeping his sister trapped under him. She might have grown more, but so had Tarzan's strength and knowledge of evasive and defensive maneuvers. He still struggled with tackling apes his age, but he was getting better and managing some wins here and there, and Kaphi was only ten years old now, so she made for easy practice. Kaphi struggled under him, wriggling and growling, but smiling all the same.
"Get off me," Kaphi said. "Don't make me call Dad back here."
"You're such a daddy's little girl," Tarzan teased.
"Says the daddy's boy," Kaphi teased back. She squirmed under him briefly before saying, "Come on, let me up or I'm telling."
"You said that last time," Tarzan said.
"Dad!" Kaphi called out loudly.
"Okay, okay," Tarzan said, leaping off his sister and glancing in the direction of the family grounds. Kerchak did not often intervene with their play unless he thought one of them was being unfair or taking things too far. Still, better safe than sorry. When Kerchak didn't come running through the trees, Tarzan narrowed his eyes to his sister. "Crybaby."
Tarzan turned to head back to the grounds when Kaphi jumped on him.
"Gotcha!" she said, rolling with him and pinning him down.
"You tricked me!" Tarzan exclaimed as he wrestled free of his sister's grasp. "You'll pay for that."
Tarzan and Kaphi wrestled around in the small clearing, each one managing to pin the other for a second before Tarzan gained the upper hand and locked his sister underneath him once more. She struggled for a minute before she grunted and rested her head down in defeat.
"Are you tapping out?" Tarzan asked above her.
"Tapping out," Kaphi said with a roll of her eyes. "You win again."
"Oh, don't be so discouraged, sis," Tarzan said. "You're getting better. I just have more experience."
Suddenly, Tarzan grunted as Terk landed on him, dropping down from the trees above him.
"Don't worry, Kaphi," Terk said, "let Cuz Terk show ya how to handle Tarzan."
With that, Terk tackled Tarzan, who struggled to overpower Terk, but he was still no match for certain apes—yet. Kaphi chuckled as she sat down and watched Terk turn Tarzan into a pretzel. Tarzan yelped and hissed as he tried fruitlessly to throw Terk off himself. Terk managed to get Tarzan into a neck hold with her legs and she grinned at Kaphi as she rested her chin in her hand, acting as if restraining Tarzan was hardly a chore while the ape-man struggled to free his neck from her grip, using his hands to yank at Terks's legs while he kicked with his feet.
"See?" Terk said, "the right moves, and you'll be winning matches in no time."
Tarzan finally managed to pull free from Terk and he jumped away, angling himself so he could pounce on his friend when he paused, listening to the bushes closely.
"What, afraid for a round two?" Terk said, rising on two legs and facing Tarzan off.
Tarzan heard a small snarl, and he smirked as Cheetah ran out of the trees and pounced on Terk, pinning the startled ape to the ground and baring his fangs at her.
"Ah!" Terk cried before she recognized the cat. "Tarzan! Get this beast off me."
Cheetah jumped off Terk with a satisfied snort and paced over to the trees where he had originally been hiding, sniffing around for something.
"I can't believe Kerchak lets that thing come around here," Terk said, standing up and brushing herself off.
Cheetah hissed at Terk as he picked something up and walked over to Tarzan.
"Oh come off it," Tarzan said as Cheetah approached him. He stroked the cat behind the ear briefly, earning a loud purr. "I think I might be a cat kind of ape, you know? He's not like the leopards."
"Still a predator," Terk reminded in a muttered voice.
Tarzan took the object Cheetah was holding, a long knife. He turned the knife in his hands a few times before he sniffed it, and his eyes darkened.
"Poachers!" He snapped. "Again? I feel like I just chased a group out not that long ago."
"It's that season again where they come in large packs," Cheetah said. "I can show you where they've made their den this time."
"Lead the way," Tarzan said.
"Woah, woah, woah," Terk interrupted, waving her hands back and forth as she shook her head at Tarzan and Cheetah. "You know Kerchak doesn't like you going after those creatures. It's too dangerous. Remember what happened last time?"
Tarzan sighed. He hardly needed to recall the tongue lashing Kerchak had given him the last time he had gone after poachers and scared them off. It wasn't often Cheetah sought out his aid to chase out poachers unless they were really causing havoc in the forest, overhunting (especially where the cheetahs were concerned) and setting fires or explosives around. And usually, by the time the cheetahs alerted Tarzan of their presence, they had more than overstayed their welcome. Tarzan felt obligated to rid the jungle of these awful beasts. They were his birth species, and he was slowly learning their tricks and outsmarting them, finding more and more creative ways to chase them out of his homeland.
Kerchak did not approve of his little missions, however. It was not Tarzan's job to worry about the happenings of the jungle, only if it concerned his immediate family. The jungle would take care of itself when it was ready, but that was something Tarzan disagreed with, though he wisely kept that opinion to himself. Sure, the jungle eliminated problems on its own now and then, but the jungle also needed protection, and if he was capable of offering that, he should follow through and keep his home safe. The destruction the poachers caused was more than any other creature or natural disaster seemed capable of doing at any given time, and he did not appreciate it one bit.
"I'll be quick," Tarzan said, "I have to do this. No one else can."
"It's not your job to do that, remember?" Terk said.
"I know, but someone has to do something. Man hurts the jungle when they come here, especially the poachers. They need to leave, and I'm the only thing that ever scares them enough to leave. Even Sabor has no affect on them."
"Exactly. Sabor knows they're dangerous, and if Sabor thinks that, then we should be wary, too. And staying away from Man."
"Like I said, I'll be quick, and Dad won't even notice I left."
"Yeah, he will," Kaphi said. "He always does. And you'll end grounded again."
"Jeesh, Dad hands out groundings like they're bananas. He's just overprotective."
"Now you agree with me."
"I never disagreed with you. Dad has a point sometimes, but we're not kids anymore." Tarzan shuffled a bit after Cheetah, who was waiting a bit in the trees for Tarzan to follow him. "Well, I'm not anyway."
"Neither am I!" Kaphi argued.
"Sure, little sis." Tarzan smiled at his sister. "Whatever you need to tell yourself. You guys will cover for me, right?"
Tarzan was already chasing after Cheetah through the trees, swinging on vines while Cheetah ran through the brush below, leading the way.
Terk and Kaphi shared an annoyed look.
The poachers were not too far from his home, just along the coast, a couple boats waiting as man loaded boxes and items of all kinds onto the boats. Tarzan surveyed the grounds. It looked like the poachers were already leaving on their own, so he figured there was more to this than scaring off the dangerous beasts. There were several animals locked in cages or shoved in bags, snakes, spiders, birds, and monkeys. Tarzan's eyes widened as he saw a cage with three small cheetah cubs in it, the little cats curled up together and mewling softly.
"Are those yours?" Tarzan asked.
"No, but they are Cheetah blood, and all cheetahs belong home. I will escort them there when you save them."
Tarzan swallowed nervously. Often, scaring off the poachers was more about luring them into their own traps, upsetting their vehicles, stealing their equipment and food, and unleashing insects or monkeys on their makeshift dens. If he could get close enough without being seen, he would free any captured animals, but those were rare times.
"I will assist," Cheetah said. "I can distract while you save the cubs."
"Okay, but be careful," Tarzan said as he eyes a few men, "They have those loud sticks on them."
Cheetah growled in response before he stalked forward slowly. Tarzan waited until Cheetah roared loudly, alerting his presence to the poachers before he turned and ran along the coast, luring several men with sticks after him.
Tarzan moved swiftly to the cage with the cubs, who hissed at him at first, but he shushed them. They huddled closer together and glared at Tarzan, but they stopped hissing.
Tarzan studied the locks on the cage. Each time he played hero, the locks seemed to change, becoming more difficult to break. Before they often used spikes and rope with weird knots, then it became weird sliding locks, then strange circular devices that bit the cage door and refused to let go no matter what Tarzan did to it. The ropes also turned into metal, clanky chains that Tarzan had no clue what to make of.
Tarzan sniffed the cage as he searched for a weak point that wouldn't involve trying to break the locks. Something quiet he could do that wouldn't make noise or attract attention. He could hear movement on the boats, and he knew his time was limited.
Finally, he realized there was a very tiny door on the back end of the cage with a small sliding lock. He wasn't sure what purpose it had, it looked as if it was the perfect size for the cubs to walk through without opening the larger door. He pulled the sliding lock free, and the small door swung open.
This couldn't go any easier.
Tarzan stepped back and waited, but the cubs didn't move.
"Come, cubs," Tarzan encouraged. "You must move quickly before Man comes back. You have to get out of here."
The cubs blinked in surprise and shared a look when Tarzan spoke to them. Then, the largest of the cubs bravely stood and walked toward the door, eyeing Tarzan suspiciously as he pushed the door open further and jumped out of the cage. When Tarzan didn't attack him, the cub cried to the other two cubs, who quickly scrambled out of the cage.
Tarzan led the cubs back to the trees, breaking a few wire cages that had a few birds, and they flew away, cawing loudly for freedom. He paused near a cage that had a sad, young monkey, and Tarzan fiddled with the lock before deciding some noise wouldn't hurt, and he picked up a rock and smashed it along the lock a few times, managing to break the lock after a few hits. He opened the door, and the monkey hugged Tarzan in gratitude before taking off.
"Oi, what's happening down there?" a gruff voice demanded, but Tarzan scurried the rest of the way to the trees, disappearing with the three cubs at his heel. Since this was clearly a rescue mission, Tarzan decided against breaking anything or turning any of their machines or traps against them. As soon as the poachers saw that the cubs were missing, they would probably start searching for them. He had to get the cubs as far away as possible.
The cubs must have decided that he was the safest thing they had now, and they kept close to him as they scurried through the trees, glancing over their shoulders now and then and calling to each other if one lagged too far behind. After a long walk deep into the jungle, Tarzan paused and waited, the cubs sitting near him and taking the chance to groom themselves.
Twenty minutes passed and Tarzan wondered if he would be escorting the cubs home to the savannah himself when Cheetah finally stepped through the bushes, his paws silent on the jungle floor. The cubs purred as they greeted the elder cat, rubbing along his forelimbs and nuzzling him when he lowered his head.
"Thank you, Tarzan," Cheetah said. "Because of you, these cubs will live a long life free as they should be."
"Stay safe, cubs," Tarzan said to the little ones, who bared their teeth in a feline smile. Tarzan chuckled and looked at Cheetah. "Anytime you need me, you know where to find me."
Cheetah nodded once before trotting away, the cubs chasing after him. Tarzan watched the great cat lead the cubs through the jungle. They would have a long journey back home, and on that thought, so would he. Tarzan turned and ran as fast as he could through the jungle, swinging from vines and tree surfing to pick up the pace now and then. Hopefully Terk and Kaphi had no problems covering for him while he was gone. If not, Kerchak was going to kill him—figuratively speaking, of course.
As Tarzan jumped off a branch and reached for a vine, a large python suddenly snapped at him, and he yelped as he swung away just in time.
The python swung himself around to face Tarzan, and he lashed out once more with his fangs, forcing Tarzan to back away. In doing so, he nearly backed right into the snake's coiling tail that tried to grab his waist.
Tarzan managed to slip away just in time to avoid the tightened pull of the snake's muscles, evading the scaly beast's grasp. The green and yellow python followed him, slithering quickly through the trees, its massive size revealing itself slowly to Tarzan, who continued to back away up a tree as he studied this predator.
Tarzan had dealt with his fair share of snakes. This beast was ginormous however, a creature that lived too long a life as a top predator with little fear of something bigger than itself taking a shot at its life. Tarzan watched as the snake coiled its way up the tree, the red eyes following his every move as a tongue flicked out at him. The long, sleek body gave Tarzan an idea, and he pushed off the tree and jumped for another branch, the snake following his, striking out with fangs.
Going under the branch, Tarzan led the python around another tree, over and under a few branches, around another tree, through a hollow, and back up a tree again, jumping and leaping around the forest as fast as he could, barely missing the python's teeth a few times.
Finally, catching a glance of the situation, Tarzan stopped and sat with a smug smile and faced the snake.
The python opened his mouth and snapped at Tarzan, it's jaws closing inches from Tarzan's nose. The snake snapped at Tarzan a few more times before it realized it was stuck, and it hissed angrily as it recoiled slowly, freeing itself from the knotted situation it was in.
Tarzan laughed before taking off again, glad to have gotten out of that situation with relative ease. Today couldn't flow any smoother. He was becoming a master of this jungle despite his struggles as a child.
Tarzan was so close to the family grounds, just nearing dinner time, too. He could sneak back in between his friends and act like he had been there the whole time. And if Kerchak did notice his absence, he could claim that he went off to hang out with Tantor.
He was just on the outskirts of the family grounds. He decided to go high and look down at the family from a tree. Everyone was beginning to gather and eat fruit, shoots, and leaves. Perfect, he would just jump down and join in like he had been there the whole time.
Tarzan hopped down from the branch and moved in for some fruit.
"And where have you been?" Kerchak's voice said behind him, and Tarzan winced before turning around.
"Just hanging out with Tantor at the waterfalls," Tarzan said, offering an innocent smile.
"Uh huh," Kerchak agreed with an unimpressed look. "Want to try that again?"
Tarzan sighed, looking down at the ground.
"Cheetah needed help with something . . ."
"More of those creatures, then? You know how I feel about you going near Man. They are dangerous."
"I know, but they had some cheetah cubs, and Cheetah wasn't going to let them harm his own kind. They didn't even see me."
"And what if you don't see them?" Kerchak challenged. "Or what if you accidentally lead them back to us? Putting yourself in danger . . ."
"Puts us all in danger, I know," Tarzan said, repeating what Kerchak had said many times before. "I've been careful every time, though, Dad, no one's followed me. They couldn't keep up with me anyway. I've seen them try."
"You're becoming a little brash, don't you think? That could lead to mistakes."
"I wouldn't let that happen."
Kerchak sighed, closing his eyes briefly and shaking his head.
"You know, I don't remember being so argumentative when I was your age." Kerchak walked around his son toward the food pile the other gorillas were still adding to. "Would it kill you to heed my rules just once?"
"It might," Tarzan smirked as he followed his father, sitting next to the ape to eat some food himself. He picked up a fruit and took a bite before saying, "Your rules aren't exactly livable."
"You could say that again," Kaphi said as she shuffled over to sit next to her brother, grabbing a shoot and munching on it.
"Now they're both turning on me," Kerchak muttered, fighting against a small smile. "I should ground you both for life and call it a day. The only time you seem to listen is when you're trying to unground yourselves."
"I change my mind," Tarzan said, grinning at his father, "your rules are ingenious."
"The best ever," Kaphi added with a nod.
Kerchak rolled his eyes, shook his head, and continued eating, hearing Kala laugh behind him as she came over to her family.
"Mind your father, you two," Kala said.
"Yes, mom," Tarzan and Kaphi said.
Kala sat next to Kerchak, nuzzling the larger ape before she asked, "Do you know why we are both so "overprotective" as you've put it?"
"Because of our brother," Kaphi answered. "Right?"
"It was a very traumatic loss for the both of us," Kala said, looking down sadly. "We would never be able to handle another loss, it would just be too much. With that said, I feel like I give you both enough freedom to not feel so overbearing, at least around the family grounds. Despite losing your eldest brother, I tried to give you both as normal a childhood as I could, but some things push me—and your father—a little close to our limits."
"Especially you," Kerchak said to Tarzan. "I don't think I will ever understand your need to help those who are not even within our family circle, but that may just be who you are. You are growing into a fine, strong ape, and you have shown me that you can take care of yourself and your sister pretty well, but you will always be my son, and I can't help but want to protect you and keep you close."
Tarzan smiled warmly at his father.
Kerchak returned the smile then turned his eyes on his daughter.
"And you will always be my little girl."
"I know, Dad," Kaphi nuzzled her father. "And I couldn't be prouder of it."
"So," Tarzan started, wanting to clear the air while they were having a good family moment, "does this mean I'm not grounded for helping Cheetah?"
"Oh no," Kerchak said, narrowing his eyes now, "you are definitely grounded."
"Come on, I'm not a kid anymore, Dad," Tarzan tried to argue. "Besides, you just said saving others is who I am."
"I know. But grounding you keeps you in my sight, and safe, at least for a few days. Be a good son and humor your old ape, won't you?"
Tarzan grumbled as he moodily took a bite of the fruit he was eating, not agreeing with his father but not arguing against it either. He knew his father would be hypervigilant of his movements for the next few days no matter what he said, so he decided against saying anything at all and just going with it.
Kerchak snorted and nuzzled his son, who begrudgingly allowed it.
"I won't ground you," Kerchak said, "but try to stay within my territory boundaries as much as possible, for me? You're giving me gray hairs with your antics."
Tarzan smiled and pushed his forehead into Kerchak's.
"You're a silverback," he said, "you're supposed to have gray hairs. But sure, Dad. I can do that for you."
The small family returned to eating their meal, looking over the troop as all the apes gathered around to share in the feast, ape children playing with their food as the adults continued to take in their fill before retiring for the night, sharing large family nests to stay as close together as possible.
Cheetah's name will not be revealed in this story. He is kind of a shout out to the original "Cheeta" character from the old Tarzan movies and shows, even though that one was a chimp. Also, Jane is coming into the story very soon!