Two Brothers Under the Sun
Chapter – VII
Siege of Monkey City
The party was in full swing and, for the most part, everyone was enjoying themselves; especially the younglings. Tarzan was the center of the attention, for once, not for the wrong reasons, Terk was a natural party animal in her natural habitat, and Simba was finally getting the hang of dancing on two legs. King Louie and Baloo were now on the opposite side of the 'throne room', the ape sat on his seat and toasted with the bear.
"So, Baloo, how are things going in the hideout?" the king asked between gulps.
"Let me lay it out for ya, I have been kinda busy these last few days." His neighbor admitted.
"You, busy?" the orangutan quirked an eyebrow at the idea. He turned to the visitors in the dancing Yard. "I will say, that's an odd gang you got there."
Baloo jovially laughed at that comment. "What can I say? They all followed me home." He pointed to Timon and Pumbaa, now walking the conga line. "These two over there have Hakuna Matata in their veins." Then, he gestured to the kids dancing together. "The Little Britches could use a little work, especially the boys, but I'm sure they will get there someday." He drank more of his 'hard juice'.
"Well, if you ever need help with that, just drop them here." His Majesty declared. "They are always welcome to visit."
"Alright! And we're gonna party through the night."
They cheered and toasted once more before gulping down the beverage in a single go. The bear lowered his gourd with a refreshed sigh before turning around and offering it to the animal behind him. "Want some, Baggy?"
The mix of several aged fruit juices irked the panther's nose, making him turn away, slightly nauseated. "No, thanks." Still, he managed to answer in a somewhat polite manner.
"Suit yourself." Baloo shrugged and drank from the gourd.
Bagheera turned to King Louie. "Your Majesty, may I have a word with you, in private?"
The ape in question stopped his drink a few inches from his face when he heard the leopard's request. He lowered it down, turned to him, and smiled. "Of course, Bagheera." He got off the throne. "How about a walk?"
The panther begrudgingly complied, even as the orangutan's smile made him uneasy. He knew this would be inevitable the moment the monarch mentioned business. Baloo's wary eyes followed them as the pair made it to one of the wrecked hallways, already having an idea of how this would turn out.
"So, Bagheera, how's the babysitter life treating you?" Louie asked as he walked with his hands clasped behind his back.
"It's been an 'unique' experience, for lack of a better word." He hesitated with his answer, uncertain of how much he could trust the orangutan. In the end, he decided to use the most straightforward approach. "About that," he looked inquiry to the primate. "What do you want with him?"
The smile on the ape's face didn't reassure him. "Why, I want to help him, of course."
The panther eyed him with suspicion. "U-hum."
"Oh, don't worry." The orangutan waved off his evident distrust nonchalantly before facing him. "I am not trying to take your job or anything." He commented on the side. "Your boss doesn't like me very much."
Bagheera couldn't stop himself from nodding at that statement. "Indeed." But then he narrowed his eyes. "Then why are you trying this?"
The king shrugged. "When else would I have this chance?" he continued. "You never brought him along to visit."
"Because he's not ready!" pressed the panther. "He still has a lot to learn if he wants to survive in the jungle."
The primate looked bemused at that. "Out of the animals here, you should know not to underestimate the power of men."
"He's only a cub. He's not ready for the tiger or his cronies."
"Well, we can fix that." Stated the still-smiling orangutan. "I'm sure I can teach him a thing or two."
"Absolutely not!" Bagheera glared at him. "You think I don't know what your game is? It won't work, he can't make fire."
"He's a man, isn't he?" Louie wasn't affected by his allegation. "That's what makes him a man." He matched the leopard's frown with a savage grin. "You can't curb his potential."
"The jungle's no place for men's tricks." Replied the panther. "I have seen what happens to those that misused it. Just one slip and the entire jungle could be put in danger, including you."
The king raised a finger at that. "That is why he must learn as soon as possible." He clenched his hand into a fist, and Bagheera could have sworn he saw fire in his eyes. "Under my tutelage, he and I can finally put an end to this destructive conflict and rule Bukuvu as Ape and Man."
"That is madness! You can't play with the ways of men." That was all he could say at his point.
"Play?" Louie repeated before chuckling hallow. Recomposing himself, he matched the panther's stare. "Bagheera, I will become a man."
Below the ruins, in the abandoned wells of the temples, Hista revealed himself from the shallow water, admiring his beautiful new coat shining with the light coming from a single hole. He had been in retirement for the last ten days changing his skin, and now he was very splendid—darting his big blunt-nosed head along the submerged ground, twisting the thirty feet of his body into fantastic knots and curves, and licking his lips as he thought of what was to come.
"Finally, the day of reckoning hasss come." His nestmates emerged beside him as he led them into the piping. Their destination: a small ditch inside the trove in the lower levels of the temple's basement. "Vain, foolisssh, and chattering are the monkeysss. Today, we remind them who is the true massster of the Cold Lairs!" he smiled sinisterly as he spoke. "Afterwardsss, we feasst on monkey ssnack, one hundred to each. All one, let's go."
The pythons slithered their way through the water with only a few of them sticking their heads out, so as to not alert the enemy mucking about the area before the time was right. Hista urged his subordinates to the stone floor, entirely concealing themselves in the layers of 'sparklies' the men left behind and the monkeys had no use for. The snakes assumed the position to lunge at the monkeys frolicking in the room. Sensing the moment was right, the Khanate's Royal Mjuzi came straight, quickly, and anxious to kill. He spearheads the assault. The fighting strength of a python is in the driving blow of the head backed by all the strength and weight of the body. A python four or five feet long can knock a man down if he hits him right in the chest, and the mightiest in Hista's Nest were thirty feet long. The surprise attack created panic, catching the Bandar-log in the center of the room off guard and scattering the others on the walls as they cried: "Snakes! Snakes in the cellar! Run! Run!"
Their screeches reach the Plaza outside, grinding the party to a halt. Bagheera and King Louie nearly twist their heads to the temple's entrance. Baloo frantically shifted his eyes from the duo in the same direction. Timon, Pumbaa, the younglings, and all the monkeys in the Yard look with a mix of confusion and concern. At the sight of his subjects rushing out of the construction, Louie's expression turned obstinate and he gave out a loud whistle to rally his fighters as he marched toward the temple's entrance. The Bandar-log subcommanders immediately assembled in front of him.
"Tumbili, call out to Jelani's patrol and tell them to come back right now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Answered the lithe and aged monkey.
"Uroho, get as many pointy rocks as you can find, we're gonna bury them alive if we have to!"
"You got it, boss!" replied the caramel-hued baboon.
"Mahra, you and your folks are with me!"
He received a grunt of agreement from the mother baboon before she turned to her sons. "Come on, you blockheads!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
The orangutan led his host into the temple.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" Timon questioned as he and the others came to Baloo.
Bagheera barged in before the bear could answer. "Trouble, we have to go, now!"
Tarzan looked distraught. "What? But what about the monkeys?"
The panther just dived between his legs, making the man-cub mount on his back. "There's no time, we gotta leave."
A blood-curdling hissing was heard from the trees, making them all freeze.
Terk wheeled around and screamed at the sight of something HUGE twisting in the branches above. "PYTHONS!"
The younglings screamed. "Let's get outta here!" Timon sprinted to Pumbaa's head as the group hightailed to the temple, hoping to find another way with fewer serpents.
They ran through the corridors between the towers, the young ones stammering with terror, as they tried to get away from the slited-eyed monsters. Only Baloo dared to look back and see the reptiles pursuing them.
"To the back way, quickly!" he urged, carrying Terk and Simba while pushing the others up the steps.
They now darted deep within the ruins, Bagheera and Baloo kept their eyes sharp on the watch for snakes. Suddenly, a shower of debris came down from the high walls, barely missing them. The group shot their gazes up to see the monkeys clinging around the big battlements of stone and shrieking as they skipped along. The serpents smashed their way through the cracks in the marble, right on top of them!
"Stay away from the walls!" cried out Bagheera.
Hista was in the middle of the trove room, all the stiff monkeys' eyes upon him as he danced. He turned twice or thrice in a big circle, weaving his head from right to left. Then he began making loops and figures of eight with his body, and soft, oozy triangles that melted into squares and five-sided figures, and coiled mounds, never resting, never hurrying, and never stopping his low humming song. His eyes flashed colorful spirals as he hypnotized the Bandar-log with his Dance of the Hunger.
His spell broke off when a rock smacked him from above. He strumbled for a bit before glaring in the attack's direction.
But then, he smirked.
King Louie stood on the wall, overseeing the room as his subjects regrouped.
He looked very angry.
"Now, do my eyesss deceive me?" Hista flicked his tongue in the air, feigning puzzlement, before smiling wickedly again. "King Louie."
"Get out of my city, snake." The orangutan snapped his clenched fingers. "Or I'll make you split again."
The python let out a hissing snicker at the declaration. "Wretched little vermin, I'm stronger than ever before." He showed off his powerful coils and his expression turned hungry. "It seems I have to teach you to show respect for the beasts of this jungle."
The great ape assumed a leaping stance to answer the challenge. "As if you're one to talk, a tiger's lap-worm."
The big swallowing muscles on either side of Hista's throat rippled and bulged at that. "My Khan shall rule the Bukuvu. There's no more place for petty kings in these lands."
His slits gleamed, then he bounded. Louie sprang to the pillars to avoid the snake's jaws, so powerful that they broke a piece of root on the spot where he was. Hista maintained momentum and slithered at top speed for the stone columns, climbing as well as a monkey. The orangutan kept his distance, knowing very well that each stroke carried the strength of a falling boulder. He jumped to another pillar and when the snake followed, he climbed up the shaft. Once on top, he glanced down to the incoming python, latched himself to the ceiling, and kicked off the column, making it fall with his enemy. The resulting dust cloud thickens as Uroho's group arrived and started pelting the pythons with a barrage of stones. The serpents coiled and recoiled to evade the attacks before bursting their way to the Bandar-log, engaging in battle with the baboons.
The black panther had led the group up a slope. The adults did what they could to protect the younglings from the fight, so they didn't waste time facing off the massive reptiles, they just ran. All that while the battle raged on around them; the monkeys yelled in the ruins, the birds, flying to and from, carried the news of the great siege over the jungle, and, far away, scattered bands of the Monkey-Folk woke and came leaping along the treetops to help their comrades in the city. Faced with an ambush from the snakes in the reservoir, the group was forced to back away. Bagheera realized there was no choice but to fight their way out of the abandoned city.
"We'll hold them off." He lowered his form so Tarzan could get to the ground, then gestured between Baloo and himself to the smaller members of the group. "You go ahead!" he urged the cubs after the bear put down Simba and Terk.
"You don't have to tell us twice!" Timon replied frantically as he and Pumbaa led the young ones away, even though the cousins looked hesitant.
Knowing they were fighting to protect the younglings gave courage to the two great beasts, who turned back to glare at the advancing snakes and lurched themselves at the incoming wave.
Tarzan's breath was heavy and ragged, but he couldn't stop, he needed to find the Troop. When he was younger, Bagheera used to tell him stories of the pythons: night thieves, who could slip along the branches as quietly as moss grows, whom no one could look in the face, and whom none had ever come alive out of their hug. And so he ran, stammering with terror, they needed to get help. Terk told them that the gorilla's searching party wasn't far away, if they joined the fight, they could save the monkeys and scare off the serpents. As he started lagging behind the group, a movement in bushes caught his attention. The man-cub shifted his gaze to the side and noticed something was approaching from that direction. He didn't dare investigate whatever it was, so he turned his way from there. Once he passed, Tarzan glanced over his shoulder to check again.
Then, he screamed.
Sabor bolted straight at him, with teeth and claws bearing out.
He changed his course towards the ruins, trying to get away from the predator. The others nearly twisted their heads at the scream before rushing to the man-cub.
"Tarzan!" Pumbaa let out a terrified shout.
"Run for your life!" Timon yelled.
Tarzan fleed for his life, with the leopard in hot pursuit. Sabor leaped from one rock to another, trying to gain upon him. The Man-Cub escaped to one of the ruined temple complexes, trying to no avail to shake her off. He ran up to a room filled with columns that supported the next floor and attempted to lose her in the maze of stone pillars. He took a turn and almost lost his head to a claw swipe, barely avoiding it by falling through a hole to the lower level. He fell like his teacher had taught him to fall and landed on his feet in the shallow water. Immediately he heard rustling and hissing in the water all around him, sending chills up his spine. He swung his head and his heart stopped at the sight of an ENORMOUS python, jaws opened, coming right for him. Tarzan blasted away from the water in the last second, avoiding the monster's mouth by hopping on its nozzle to its coils. He slid down the snake's smooth body and was almost intercepted by another serpent. Latching to the edge of its tail, he came to a stop, only to look around to find himself surrounded by an ENTIRE nest. The pythons boosted at him from all sides, forcing the man-cub to jump off snout to snout to save himself.
But then, he unthinkingly jumped straight to Hista's open mouth!
But King Louie smashed the reptile's head with a blunt rock in the last possible second, grabbed the cub with his powerful arms, and quickly leaped away.
"Hold your lunch there, cuz!" the orangutan put the youngling on a rock ledge before grabbing another sharp stone, turning back to the battle, interlocking eyes with his nemesis, blowing mocking raspberries at him, and finally diving back into the fight with a roar.
From atop the ledge, Tarzan watched the battle. The first one in his short lifetime, as far as he could remember. Nothing like the occasional quarrel or drills-matches between gorillas that he grew accustomed to back in the Green Mother. But more similar to a scuffling mass of monkeys, biting, scratching, tearing, and pulling on a living forest of enraged coils. He spotted his friends making their way down. Bagheera gave a deep, hoarse cough as he backed and bucked and twisted and plunged under the heaps of enemies. Baloo threw himself squarely on his haunches, and, spreading out his forepaws, hugged as many heads as he could hold, and then began to hit with a regular bat-bat-bat. Terk, Timon, and Pumbaa joined the monkeys throwing projectiles at the bear's entanglement.
That was when he heard a sawing roar.
A familiar, TERRIFYING sawing roar.
He looked down and screamed when a claw came very close to cutting off his face.
Sabor latched on to the stone ledge and crawled at him with a horrifying, bloody shot-eyed smile. Tarzan retreated in a panic until his back hit the wall, realizing he was literally backed into a corner by that monster only served to increase his fear. He looked up in time to see her incoming paw. Just as she was about to deliver the finishing blow, Simba pounced from the side onto the huntress's back, just at the moment to stop her from murdering the man-cub. He bit the bigger cat's ear, pulling with all his might to stop her. Sabor, now more provoked by the lion cub, tosses the kitten around, making him plummet to the ditch below. Tarzan gasped and launched himself to catch him. The two cubs yelp as they fall into the water. Bagheera's eyes shoot at the sound of the man-cub's voice. He sees his student and the kitten running around the watery furrow and turns back to the ledge to the horror of the wrathful leopard leaping down after them. His attempts to rescue the younglings are thwarted by the surging of a massive python's bite.
At the center of the trove room, King Louie still dueled with Hista of the Underlair. They drop under, come up, drop under, come up. Whipping the trinkets into a frenzy, churning up stones and metals. The python wrenched and twisted, improving his angle, jaws snapping, head corkscrewing, eyes that looked lit with a bright fire. The orangutan clamped, again and again, hitting the serpent's head with a club, refusing to yield.
The snake slammed his opponent against a lower pillar, smashing it to pieces. Louie didn't budge.
But he heard a tremble.
The king looked on in horror as the ledge that held his subjects started dropping along with a piece of the wall. Well aware that every ruin in the jungle becomes sooner or later a dwelling place of snakes, having banished the same ones he was fighting right now, the great ape delivered one last blow to the python's eye before latching himself to the pillar's place and supporting the entire foundation of the building with his strong arms. Hista smiled at the ape's vulnerable state and lunged for a killing strike, only to stop as a force held him in place. Turning back, he saw the sloth bear firmly holding him by the tail and hissed furiously at the interruption before launching himself to battle the ursine.
"I will kill you for this!" Baloo braced himself for the python's jaw.
Watching the chaos unfold below, the three mismatched fighters stood up against a rock wall, looking worried. Simba had disappeared when no one was watching, Terk found him with Tarzan when the pair fell off a ledge with a monstrous leopard, likely Sabor, following behind. Bagheera was fighting his way against the nest and barely keeping up. King Louie had vanished during his fight with the gargantuan-sized red python that was now coiling around Baloo.
"Whadda we do?! Whadda we do?!" Pumbaa questioned half-hysterically.
"We're running outta rocks here!" Terk pointed out, equally agitated.
Timon lifted a finger emphatically. "There's only one thing we can do." He turned to the warthog, "Pumbaa." and smacked a fist into his hand with a determined expression on his face. "We gotta use that!"
Pumbaa gasped at the meerkat's declaration, the young gorilla just looked lost. "Are you sure?" he asked his friend for confirmation.
"If this doesn't count as an emergency, nothing does!" Timon affirmed as he hardened his face and jumped to Pumbaa's head to call out loud:
"EVERY ANIMAL WITH ARMS, COVER YOUR NOSES!"
The room froze at the ringing of the meerkat's voice. The silence lasted until Baloo gasped in understanding and quickly retreated his paws, which had been busily bating off the serpent and covered his snout. King Louie gave in during the heat of the moment and lifted his foot to do the same. Most of the Bandar-log followed their leader's example.
Hista stared and scoffed slightly, thinking the mangy primates had finally lost it.
Then—
'BOOM'
The Leader of the Nest whirled at the great unearthly flatulent sound issued from the ledge's direction, just as an explosion of dust and… stench seemed to leap down to the trove room towards the packed masses of monkeys and snakes. The Royal Mjuzi freaked out as the smell burned his senses. One by one, all the unprepared animals started coughing and collapsing, the air feeling like breathable poison. After the bear batted him away, Hista hazily saw the moment when the intended conquest turned into a rout—as enemy reinforcements poured down from the cloud of foul odor, descending on his dropped nestmates and cutting them down, resulting in a disorderly retreat from the city. Some of his companions found and escorted him away from the onslaught and joined the group that was withdrawing to the moat.
And the orangutan still lived. The great gambit to reconquer the den in the Khan's name had failed.
The state of the area around the trio gave away the source of the explosion. Pumbaa's backside was facing the trove room, Timon had pulled his tail, and Terk was clinging tightly to the warthog. A slight hissing sound is heard, as well as groans and coughs.
"So, I guess that's your secret weapon, huh?" asked the young gorilla in a mix of aghast and uneasiness.
Pumbaa chuckled a bit. "Well, I don't like to toot my own horn..."
"Yeah, and that's probably for the best," said Timon,
After the smell dissipated, the monkeys cheered loudly over the victory. They gathered around the pair that triumphed over the dwellers of the underworld. Terk, having gotten over the shock, hugged and bounced with the duo. Baloo gave the warthog a noogie while Timon swang his clasped hands as he basked under the glory. King Louie, who had left his post as soon as his subjects found a replacement pillar, also went on to express his gratitude.
It took them a while to notice that Bagheera had left the room. And there was no sign of Tarzan or Simba.
The two cubs ran to find a way out. The monster tailing behind them. They climbed up the ruins, just barely getting away from the range of her pouncing. When they reached the top, they found themselves staring at a steep decline falling off to the river below. Sabor's approaching snarl reminded them that they were out of options. A breeze from the east hit Tarzan's face and made him turn to see the wind carrying off the leaves... some of them pretty large.
That gave him an idea.
"What are you doing?" Simba asked as he saw the man-cub quickly move to grab a leaf before turning to him.
"I got an idea. You with me?" Tarzan asked holding out his hand to the lion cub.
The little lion looked between the leopard and the hairless ape before answering frantically. "Yes!"
"Then hold on!" the youngling brought him close so he could latch on his form, holding both ends of the leaf with one hand each, and jumped off, screaming all the way!
Sabor looked shocked.
The cubs kept screaming.
Bagheera ran out at the sound and looked stupefied at the sight.
The cubs kept screaming.
"Flying Man!" Louie clasped his head, vibrating with excitement beside the bewildered crowd.
The cubs kept screaming.
'THUMP'
Until they finally landed on the other side.
The cubs took a moment to get over the shock and realize that they had done it. They glanced to the other shore, where Sabor was snarling viciously at them, absolutely livid that her prey had escaped once more. A roar was heard, making her turn back to see Bagheera. The monkeys gradually surrounding him, including the orangutan, indicated that Hista had failed and the entire operation was a fiasco. She glanced to the skies and saw Mzingo's vultures overlooking the area. Deciding the time was due for her to retreat as well, Sabor growled one last time to the young ones and jumped off the decline, the younglings looked in time to see her disappear into the river below.
"Tarzan!" hearing his teacher call out his name, Tarzan glanced at the panther on the other side. "You two head west, we'll find you in the lower banks!"
The Man-Cub nodded. "Alright!" he spoke out loud so Bagheera could hear him better. "We'll meet you there!" he turned away and went off with Simba.
The panther grimaced the moment they left.
"Well," Timon started as moved to the cat's side. "Things got scary for a moment but in the end, everything turned out just fine."
"Yeah, after that, I'm gonna spend the night in the hot tub." Pumbaa joined him.
"You guys have a hot tub?" Terk asked from the warthog's back.
"Yeah, we'll show you when we get back."
"Yeah, that's gonna have to wait."
The three turned to Baloo, whose eyes were set on the front.
"Why's that?" Timon quirked an eyebrow.
"We have to find Kerchak,"
Now, they turned to Bagheera, finally noticing the same expression on his face.
"As soon as possible." He looked apprehensive to the other side of the decline. "They are exactly where they should not be: in Khan's part of the jungle."
A/N: There is foreshadowing of some important things in this chapter.