Jungle Child- A Tarzan Fan Fiction

Chapter Eight

Traveling always seemed to put Ara into a wonderful mood. She enjoyed the scenery it seemed, and she enjoyed being carried. This time her grandmother Kala did most of that as Tarzan scouted ahead for the colony. That was the job of the younger males, going ahead to look for threats and Tarzan never minded it. He enjoyed scouting.

Turk had stayed behind, entertaining both Kala and Ara with little stories of her adventures with Tarzan. The two had grown up together, after all. She had many stories- many of which made older gorillas glance around in disapproval. Much too dangerous things like Tarzan diving into a pond of water, nearly being trampled by elephants. To Kala it was funny, as it was to many of the younger members of the colony- the ones whose mothers let them listen in, that was. And Ara enjoyed all stories, even the scary ones that Kerchak would tell now and then to the older members when she was supposed to be asleep.. She stayed awake to listen in just as many of the other little ones did.

"That's how we met Tantor. Haven't seen him in a while, have we Auntie?" Turk hummed in thought.

"He has a pack to travel with as we have a colony. We should be crossing paths soon enough- we never go too long without seeing the elephants," Kala answered back in her usual calm tone.

"You'll love him, Ara. He's hilarious!" Turk grinned at the smiling girl, "He's pretty big now, too. You think Kerchak is big- you've never seen an elephant! I've seen some bigger than the trees!" Ara's eyes grew big at that and there was a soft collective murmur from the younger gorillas. They did not see the way Kala rolled her eyes as a few of the other females chuckled at the tall tale.

"Don't listen to her, she's just telling tales," Kala told those who had believed the now laughing Turk.

"Awe, don't tell them, Auntie Kala!" she smirked, smoothing back the long fur on her head so it was away from her eyes, "Come on, Ara was so excited to see elephants taller than trees, weren't you?"

Ara shook her head with a little laugh. That was a tale too big and it would be scary to see something so big. Anything bigger than Kerchak sounded pretty scary to something as little as herself.

"Ara is too small for that to be exciting," Kala noted, her head shaking slightly as the first few drops of rain fell onto her face, a little snuffle escaping her in displeasure. Turk and a few others groaned quietly, turning their faces to the sky. Rain, while refreshing, usually lasted too long and if it came down too hard they would have to find shelter. It was not worth it to move forward and have someone separated in a storm. With little ones, that risk was even higher... The tiny gorillas who had been loping beside Turk and Kala now returned to their mothers to climb their arms and latch to their backs.

"Everyone go slowly- it might pass soon," Kerchak called back from where he led the colony. His eyes found his mate and the little creature Ara, who smiled and waved to him. The leader looked back to the front before letting the slight smile overtake as he lumbered on at a slightly slower pace. Thick drops of rain slipped down his pelt, but he didn't mind them as Kala did. Ara, too, seemed irritated by the cool drop, shaking her head rain water stuck to her skin, making her colder.

"It isn't good for you to be in the rain like this," Kala murmured to herself with a small sigh. She could remember all the times when Tarzan was young and had gone stomping around in the rain, only to start sniffling and coughing the next day. Ara was weaker than he ever was, she would no doubt get sick as well.

"I'm okay," Ara replied though she was shivering slightly.

"We should stop," Kala noted, though she knew that wouldn't be taken well, there were still quite a bit of daylight left and they still had a ways to go...

"Really, I'm okay, grandmother Kala," Ara insisted though Turk was already maneuvering her way through the colony.

"Pardon me, excuse me," Turk said as she pushed past members of the colony, smiling at her own mother as she went, finally ending beside Kerchak, "Hey, um... Kerchak, ah... Auntie Kala said we should probably stop soon.."

"And why would we do that?" Kerchak asked, glaring at the young gorilla who gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well, uh, you see Ara is like Tarzan in that she doesn't have this while layer we've got and the rain always made Tarzan sick, remember? So, since Ara is already weak, Auntie would rather it if she didn't, you know, get sick... Because of the rain.."

Kerchak was quiet a moment and Turk was sure he would tell her to find Tarzan to take Ara, that they could catch up when the rain stopped. Tarzan still did sometimes stay behind, usually with Turk as company, and then they would catch up to the colony. But then, they could move normally..

"We'll stop," Kerchak announced loud enough to be heard. A groan travelled through the colony following. "There's enough foliage to stay dry over there... Turk, go find Tarzan- tell him we've stopped until the rain passes."

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A/N: So sorry for making everyone wait so long! I really am going to try to start updating more (I am not guaranteeing any regular updates, though, as I can never keep up with that..). Anyways- I am back at least! Enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think <3