Chapter Text
There was a vicious virus going around the gorilla family, and everyone was ending up with sniffles and coughs. While sickness was rare in gorillas, save for the young and elderly, the occasional cough season did show up every few years, affecting almost everyone in the family with upper respiratory symptoms. Even Kerchak ended up with a few days of sneezing and coughing, as did Kala.
And then, Tarzan caught it.
However, the five-year-old was not taking it very well. While the other gorilla children suffered some coughing and sneezing like the adults, Tarzan was responding to the sickness more like an infant would, and it worried his parents, who could do nothing but offer their supportive care.
Kerchak was finishing making his rounds in the family, checking in on the status of the very young. Another infant had succumbed to the illness, which made three infants so far this year, and the grieving mother was beside herself, refusing to eat or drink. Kerchak brought her a small offering of fruit and roots, but he knew from experience that nothing but time would mend her broken heart. An elderly gorilla had also passed that morning, dwindling the numbers in the family slowly but surely.
This was not the first outbreak Kerchak had experienced in his life, but it was the first since he had become leader of his family. He had to ensure everyone’s swift recovery by leading his family to places that had enough resources of food and water so everyone could rest and recover in their own time, and the little spot he found by the river had an abundance of root vegetables and fruit trees growing around it, and with the river was close everyone could get a drink when they needed.
Illnesses like these could take a week or two to get over completely, and only the healthiest and strongest of the family would be able to pull through. Kerchak did his best every year to provide high nutrient grounds for his family, so he was sure most everyone was in top notch health, save for the newborns and the aging, but there was little to be done about that. It had been a hard week for everyone, but especially the mothers who had lost their babies.
Kerchak completed his rounds and made his way back to his shared nest. Kala was arriving as well with a small collection of fruits and beans, and she set her pile down in the nest before turning her head away to cough harshly.
Kerchak waited till she caught her breath before he gently nuzzled her.
“You shouldn’t stress yourself,” Kerchak told her. “You must rest.”
Kerchak pulled back to sneeze twice, and Kala gave him a pointed look.
“As should you,” Kala said. “Now that you’ve checked on everyone, we should all get some rest.”
Kala adjusted her pile of food before she carefully shook Tarzan’s shoulder to wake her son. Tarzan yawned and stretched as he sat up, then rubbed his eyes blearily as he watched his parents.
“You must eat some lunch, Tarzan,” Kala said. “Keeping a full belly will help you heal.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Tarzan said, sniffling a bit.
“Eating is necessary,” Kerchak added. He pushed the food closer to his son. “You must eat at least a little bit of this.”
Tarzan frowned but picked up a fruit and bit into it. His parents laid down in the nest with him and watched him eat, making sure Tarzan ate a good amount before they ate the rest and allowed Tarzan to cuddle up with them. Kala touched her lips to Tarzan’s forehead, then frowned in concern.
“You feel warm,” Kala said.
“I’m fine,” Tarzan insisted as he curled up next to his father. “I don’t even feel that bad. Just sleepy.”
“Perhaps you should get a drink of cold water,” Kala said. “Come on, let’s go to the river for a few minutes.”
“No, I’m fine, really. Can I just go back to bed?”
“You must stay hydrated,” Kerchak said. He gently pushed his son out of the nest. “Go with your mother to the river and get a drink, then you may rest.”
Tarzan huffed but climbed on his mother’s back so she could walk them down to the river. Tarzan started coughing violently on the way, nearly falling off Kala, but he managed to recover and correct his hold. Kerchak watched them leave before glancing around the family.
Everyone looked miserable. No children were playing, and no one was chatting with friends or relatives. The gorillas were all resting in their own nests or somewhere in the trees, everyone sniffling or coughing. Kerchak leaned back in his nest and closed his eyes. They would all recover. They just needed time.
The next day, some gorillas were feeling better, including Kerchak, but many still were ill. Especially Tarzan. He seemed to have taken a turn for the worse through the night. His coughing was worse, and he complained that his chest was hurting. Kala fretted over him, bringing him more food and carrying him to the river repeatedly through the day to force him to drink, which Tarzan was rather sick of. However, while he still felt warm, his body heat had not worsened, which was a relief for both parents.
Kerchak checked on the family again. Everyone appeared stable today, though the last two infants did look critical. Their mothers groomed them constantly to help bring down their temperatures as they were very hot to the touch, and one of the infants was refusing to nurse. Kerchak collected food for those two mothers and gave them each a brief grooming session while they continued to tend to their young. It was the least Kerchak could do for them as they worried for their babies. Once he had checked in on the rest of the family, he returned to Kala to see how Tarzan was holding up.
Kala was trying to force Tarzan to eat more as he had hardly touched his breakfast. Kerchak eyed his son, taking in his shaky demeanor and sunken eyes. A surge of worry washed over him, and he sniffed Tarzan carefully before touching his lips to Tarzan’s forehead to feel for any warmth. Thankfully, Tarzan didn’t feel any warmer than yesterday, nor did he smell like impending death like some of the deceased infants had, so it gave Kerchak a bit of hope.
“I’m really fine, Dad,” Tarzan said, backing away from his father. “My stomach hurts a bit, that’s all. I really don’t want to eat right now. Can I just go back to sleep?”
“You must keep food in you,” Kala said but Kerchak shook his head at her.
“Don’t force it, Kala,” he said. “Take him to the river for a drink and let him rest.”
Kala opened her mouth to argue, then seemed to consider his words for a moment before she sighed and nodded her head. She pulled her son to her back and carried him to the river for another drink, even as Tarzan said he wasn’t thirsty. Kerchak was sure Kala would be able to convince Tarzan to drink a bit. She could be very insistent.
Kerchak made a perimeter check to make sure there were no predators or intruding families. The last thing they needed was to encounter another family who could reinfect them with a new virus, or for his own family to infect another troop. It was best to keep illnesses within their own family.
After circling the family and passing the river, Kerchak noted the darkening clouds in the distance, and the change in air pressure was heavy. Kerchak closed his eyes and focused on the ground and the air around him, and the vibrations he was sensing told him it was going to be a bad storm.
That was just what his family needed on top of the illness. A storm to make everyone feel even more miserable. He had to relocate the family now to avoid getting caught in severe weather that would surely be the demise of the sickest, especially the two struggling infants. And his own son.
Kerchak returned to his family and made a headcount. Seeing everyone was accounted for, he went over to his nest where Kala and Tarzan were curled up sleeping. Tarzan appeared to be shivering in his sleep, and Kerchak frowned at that. He gently shook his mate and son awake.
“There is a storm coming,” Kerchak told them. “We must look for shelter to get out of it now before it catches up to us.”
“Now?” Kala asked, looking between her mate and her exhausted-looking son.
“We must.” Kerchak nodded at Kala before leaning forward and touching his lips to Tarzan’s forehead. His son felt warmer, and Kerchak lowered his head to peer into Tarzan’s eyes, which seemed a bit glassy and more sunken in than usual, and his white, hairless skin was even paler. Kerchak nuzzled his son as he said, “I know you are tired, but we have to travel a bit to shelter. When we get there, you may rest.”
Tarzan nodded numbly, and Kala gave Kerchak a very concerned look. There was nothing Kerchak could do though, and he ignored her look and faced the family to tell them the news. Once everyone was informed, they all lined up behind Kerchak and he began to lead the way. He knew the mountains would give them the best chance at finding a cave, he only hoped that no other families beat him to it.
On the journey, Kerchak could hear the struggling coughs and breathing of one of the sick infants, and he glanced back now and then to make sure the mothers were keeping up with him. He saw the mother with the crying infant taking up the rear, along with Kala and Tarzan, who was weakly holding on to his mother’s back as she carried him, his eyes closed as he leaned over her back.
Kerchak grunted softly in concern, but he turned back to keep focused on leading the way. The grey clouds above were starting to swirl with darker colors, and Kerchak eyes the mountains before them, scanning for any overhang or crevice that may indicate a cave.
“Tarzan!” Kala shouted, and Kerchak stopped and looked back. Several apes had stopped and were circling around his mate, forcing Kerchak to push through everyone to get to Kala to see what the commotion was. He froze once he saw.
Tarzan had fallen off Kala’s back and collapsed on the ground. His hair was damp from sweating despite his body shivering. His eyes were half lidded, and he coughed a few times as he laid on the cold ground. Kala was attempting to pull Tarzan up to his feet, but he was very limp and would only fall back to the ground.
Kerchak felt his heart clench at the sight. He felt the first few drops of a sprinkle fall from the sky, and he knew it was just the beginning of something worse to come. A more desperate ape would demand that any weak links be abandoned for the wellbeing of the rest of the family, but Kerchak would not leave his son behind. But he couldn’t let the rest of his family be caught in a storm.
“Kala,” Kerchak started to say.
“Just give him a minute,” Kala pleaded, “he’s so exhausted.”
“We don’t have a minute.”
“I’m not leaving him!”
“I never said to.”
Kala tried to pull Tarzan into her arm, cradling him against her.
“I can carry him,” Kala said.
“You’ll fall behind the rest of the family,” Kerchak said with a shake of his head. “And you’re still recovering yourself. I’ll carry him.”
“Are you sure?” Kala asked him.
“I’m recovered, and I have longer strides than you.” Kerchak took Tarzan from Kala and cradled his weak son against his chest like a mother ape with a newborn infant. “Focus on keeping up with the family, Kala. I’ll take care of Tarzan.”
Kala touched her forehead to Kerchak’s.
“Thank you.”
Kerchak grunted softly in reply before he hobbled his way back to the front of the family. Walking three-legged wasn’t ideal, but if the mothers could do it for the first few weeks of their babies’ lives, he could do this for a bit while he searched for a cave. The sprinkling turned to a light drizzle, and he tried to keep Tarzan underneath him as much as possible. The wind was starting to pick up around them, and Tarzan coughed and shivered violently against Kerchak.
“Hold on, son,” Kerchak murmured to him.
It was a bit difficult to climb up the steep hills with three legs, but Kerchak managed to do so in the end, leading his family up the mountains in search of shelter. The rain was starting to pick up more, as did the wind, and the sky flashed now and then with lightning, and a distant rumble was moving closer and closer, growing louder by the minute.
Finally, there was a strange shape in the mountain side on the ledge they were walking on, and Kerchak was rewarded with a spacious cave. Kerchak walked inside first with several warning grunts to alert anyone inside of his presence. Thankfully, no silverbacks or predators came charging him, and he called out to his family to enter, and everyone was thankful to get out of the rain, shaking water off their hair once they were inside.
Kerchak took a spot in the far back of the cave, the furthest away from the elements at the entrance. It gave him a chance to see his entire family with one sweep of his head, as well as keeping Tarzan far away from the storm outside.
He set Tarzan down and shook himself off, then laid down and pulled Tarzan close to him to use his fur to dry his son off. Kala found him in the back, and she stared down at her son with fear clear in her eyes.
“How is he?” she asked.
Kerchak touched his lips to Tarzan’s forehead. It was very hot, hotter than it had been all week.
“He is very warm,” Kerchak told Kala. “But he did get wet in the rain. He is cold and very sick. I’ll keep him warm. You should rest as well.”
Kala was clearly frightened, but she nodded her head and settled in next to Kerchak.
The storm raged for hours outside, but the gorilla family slowly warmed up as they stayed out of the elements. Kerchak groomed his son constantly, trying to keep him cool and sweat-free. Tarzan was in and out of sleep, sometimes opening his eyes and staring blankly at his father before going to sleep again, and sometimes, he woke up crying out from a nightmare. Kala occasionally checked in on Tarzan, managing to pull her son away from Kerchak to cuddle him herself, but she was still healing from illness as well, so once she fell asleep, Kerchak would steal Tarzan back and keep an eye on him, checking his temperature often. He remained very warm.
At one point, Tarzan woke up with a scream, startling Kerchak awake, who immediately began shushing his crying son.
“There was a leopard,” Tarzan muttered through haggard breathing as he clutched his father, “It got me . . .”
“Shh, it did not.” Kerchak nuzzled his son. “You are safe, I am here. It was just a nightmare.”
Tarzan looked up at his father, looking a bit confused before he leaned into him once more.
“I don’t feel good at all,” Tarzan said, shaking slightly. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Kerchak told his son, even as he felt very defeated in that moment. What could he do? There was honestly nothing he could do. He couldn’t take away Tarzan’s sickness. He couldn’t give him something to make it better. He could only support his son and hope that somehow, Tarzan pulled through.
“I have nothing to give you,” Kerchak whispered to Tarzan as he rested his forehead against his son’s. Tarzan blinked up at him hazily. “I cannot protect you from this. You must survive on your own. You must be strong. You can fight this off. I know you will, son.”
Tarzan said nothing as he fell back into a fitful rest. Kerchak sighed and rested his head next to Tarzan’s.
A few minutes later, the unmistakable cries of a mournful mother ape echoed through the cave, and Kerchak knew that one of the two critical infants had died. He felt a chill run down his spine as he tightened his hold around his son, praying that Tarzan did not meet the same fate. He could not lose another child so soon after accepting Tarzan as his own.
By some miracle, Tarzan’s fever broke during the middle of the night.
The storm passed as well, and Kerchak waited until the last of the grey skies rolled away, revealing a hint of sunshine before he led his family out of the cave and back to the nutrient rich land near the river. Many of the gorillas had finally recovered from the illness after fighting it for the last week or so, and while Tarzan was still a bit weak, he was able to sit on his father’s back without falling over the entire trip back to their temporary home.
One infant remained, and it took her another two weeks to recover completely from the illness. She would be a strong one, Kerchak thought, a fighter for sure. While more infants would be born before the year was up, she was a beautiful sign of hope for the family. And because of it, her mother named her Taraji, for the hope she would bring in the future.
Tarzan was back to normal a few days after his fever broke, and he returned to playing with his friends, trying his best to keep up with the other apes. It was a relief for Kerchak and Kala, who were afraid that Tarzan may not have been able to survive the illness. Now that he had, his immunity would be stronger because of it, and hopefully, he would not be hit so hard the next time an illness came around the family.
“Tarzan!” Kerchak called to his son when he happened to run by their nest. Tarzan shuffled over to his father, who gestured to a pile of food. “You must eat some lunch. It will keep you strong and healthy.”
“But I had a big breakfast,” Tarzan started to say but stopped at Kerchak’s stern look.
“You have only just recovered,” Kerchak said. “Eat. You need the nutrients to restore your body to full health.”
“Fine,” Tarzan relented, and he sat down in the nest and munched on some fruit.
Kerchak smirked at his son. He was so proud of him for pulling through and surviving the illness, and he was so happy he would continue to enjoy his second chance at being a good father. He would keep Tarzan strong and fit to the best of his capabilities. It was the least he could promise his son.