The Magic Within ↠ Once Upon A Time

[Chapter 12] Sabor the Slaughterer

~~Melody's/Tarza Flashback~

In the Forbidden Jungle, almost all the animals live in peace and harmony. Of course, in nature, there are those that hunt and those who are hunted. But, it was only the circle of life. Most of these beings understood these rules, but it didn't mean they couldn't live peacefully with one another. Even if these animals were at peace with each other, there was one creature fouler than the rest.

This creature was named Sabor. She was the nastiest and cruelest leopard that ever walked among the Forbidden Jungle. Most knew her as being the creature who took the younglings at night; the one who showed no mercy when she found her kill. At first, most believed she hunted the weaklings for food; that is, until they found the untouched remains of an unfortunate youngling lying dead on the floor. From that point on, the animals knew Sabor mostly killed the younglings for sport, enjoying the sight of the parents mourning the loss of their dead child.

Once finding out such beast roamed the land, animals began traveling in packs. Not one animal would dare leave the comfort of the clan in fear of being Sabor's next victim. Parents would tell their younglings to keep close. They would even tell tales about the savage beast, saying that at night she would creep through the trees and grab them (almost similar to tales of the boogeyman humans would tell their children).

But, as someone would hardly believe, Sabor would sometimes fail to catch her victims. They knew the famous child who managed to escape their ultimate demise. Though if it wasn't the help of their mother, the child knew they couldn't have survived. Most from all around the jungle knew of the story of how the female gorilla, Kala, rescued her human daughter, Tarza, from the wraths of Sabor and escaped without a single scratch. Though, little did any of the animals know, Sabor could hold a grudge and never let that day pass her. For one day, she would finally catch the human girl who is called Tarza and get the revenge she so desperately desired. One unfortunate day, it would seem Sabor may have the revenge she so badly wanted to obtain.

*****

After traveling the entire morning, the gorilla troop stops for a short rest. This particular spot they happen to stop by was surrounded by trees which contain many fruits that were ready to be harvested. The women of the clan decide to head up towards the trees to retrieve food for their children and themselves. And among these groups, Tarza and Terk gather food for themselves and their large friend.

"Tell me again why we're getting food for the large oaf who's doing nothing but laying around," Terk questions.

"Oh come on, Terk. Tantor is a part of the troop, so we have to get him some food. Not to mention, he basically carried us on his back halfway through this trail," Tarza says, trying to reason with her cousin.

"Plus, that big nose of his can't even reach up high enough to get his own food," Terk mumbles, but Tarza seem to hear.

"Exactly my point."

As they were picking food and throwing it onto the ground in their appropriate pile, Terk notices that Tarza's pile is larger than needed. Even though she knew Tarza had the hunger of an elephant, despite her petite figure, Terk still questions why her pile was so big.

"Hey, what's with all the food? It's not like you were starving the entire way."

Tarza laughs, "I kind of am. But that's beside the point, I'm just getting some extra food for my mom."

"Why?"

"Well, she sometimes doesn't have enough energy to get enough food for both herself and Kerchak, so I thought I should help pitch in."