Jungle Child- A Tarzan Fan Fiction

Chapter Six

A/N: Yay! New Chapter! Vote, fan, and tell me what you think!

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"Is everyone alright?!" Kerchak called out in the bumbling colony. Most of the gorillas ignored him however, still in a tizzy about what had happened. Kerchak growled, but didn't pursue it. The panthers had only gone after Tarzan and Kala... Thinking of Tarzan, Kerchak scanned the area for him to see if he had yet returned from finding the little fiery haired creature he called Ara. He did see the two near Kala and Turk. Deciding it was his duty as the leader to check on everyone, Kerchak lumbered over to his mate, niece, 'son', and the little creature that quite resembled him.

"Thank you for protecting Ara, mom," Tarzan was saying as Kerchak approached behind him.

"Thank you for protecting me, grandmother Kala," Ara, too, thanked, surprising Kerchak a bit by the title she presented his mate. Kala, however, just beamed at the little thing. So, she had been accepted into the family as Tarzan's daughter? He supposed he should've see that coming...

"Is everyone alright over here?" Kerchak grunted. Ara jumped a little at his voice , and quickly cowered into Tarzan. Was Kerchak truly that scary? Of course, when Ara had managed to turn herself about on her limp leg, and saw who it was, she smiled brightly at the monstrous gorilla. And while the others watched approvingly, Ara bowed her head to Kerchak.

"Thank you for helping Tarzan and grandmother Kala keep me safe," she said politely in her soft voice. Then without warning, she grabbed onto Kerchak's massive arm, hugging it. For a moment, all the small group was tense. Kala, Turk, and Tarzan were all afraid of Kerchak's possible reaction, and Kerchak was just surprised by the little creature. After it was apparent Kerchak was not about to sling Ara off himself, the others relaxed and smiled at each other, slightly amazed that Kerchak had made no attempt to sling the little girl off his arm. Instead, Kerchak was patiently waiting for her to back away and return to her father, which she did after about a minute.

"You're welcome... Ara," Kerchak responded, before lumbering away to make sure the rest of the colony was alright.

"I don't think I've ever seen Kerchak so patient," Kala mumbled, "Not since... well.." She cut off, and shook her head, making the memories of her murdered first born child fade. He had been killed by Sabor; perhaps that was why Kerchak had been kind- in his own way- to Ara. Because she had almost been killed by Nuru and Sheeta. Or, on a less likely note, perhaps he was growing used to creatures like Tarzan and Ara.

"What I'm wondering," Turk cut in with her loud voice, "is how little Ara got all the way up in that tree. She can barely walk, and when she climbs, it's still slow."

"Instinct," Kala suggested, "All creatures have a survival instinct, and Ara knew her best chance to survive was in the tree- so she went up it. Perhaps she just ignored her leg." The group looked to Ara, who only shrugged her frail shoulders before letting out a yawn. Tarzan chuckled softly.

"Let's get you back to nest," Tarzan insisted. He wasn't all that tired himself- actually he was a bit hungry- but he knew Ara was probably exhausted. She always was after walking or climbing too much, and up that awfully tall tree was most definitely too much.  

"I'll take her Tarzan," Kala offered softly, already reaching out to scoop up Ara's small body. She cradled it with one arm and trudged off toward the nice, soft nest she had left. It was not yet light yet, and most of the older gorillas were doing the same.

"So, want to look around for some termites?" Turk asked, looking up at Tarzan, who scrunched his nose a bit. He had never taken to termites..

"I was thinking fruit," he told Turk, before heading through the underbrush to begin his search for food.