Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder Sept 5, 2020 17:36:05 GMT

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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2020 17:36:05 GMT

(ooc: Closed to just Kerchak and Kala.)

So many sunrises and sunsets had happened since he'd been taken on his journey, Kala realized. Just the same, so much had changed in the time Kerchak was gone. A war had started quite some time ago and Tarzan had thrown his lot in with it. She knew by then that Tarzan was a smart, strong young man. He could handle the situation. Kala herself had been mainly in charge of looking after the troop while Kerchak was gone. The task had been fairly easy, all things considered. All she had to do was keep the rest of the troop out of the war, and so far that had been going far better than expected. With each day that passed, though, she felt the ache in her heart grow.

When word from some local animals finally reached her that they'd seen someone approaching the forest, Kala leaped at the chance to see him. She told the troop to stay put and that she would be back soon. With them being deeper in the forest, though, she suspected there would be nothing to worry about. This part of the land was where the Suns called home, yes, but the forest was big enough for all of them. No predators would bother them. She was safe to meet Kerchak.

How in the world she knew it was him was easy enough to answer. Deep within Kala's heart, there was a strong feeling she couldn't ignore. As fast as she could, she made her way through the forest and toward the entrance. She was careful not to cross over into any space she knew belonged specifically to the Suns. She didn't have the time to explain what was happening. All Kala could do was hurry onward.

At long last, Kala burst through the foliage and into the open. Chocolate brown eyes drifted this way and that as she tried to look for a familiar shape. There would be no mistaking him, she told herself. Especially not after all that time apart.

Right as her thoughts went to him, she spotted him across the way. For a few long beats, Kala almost didn't believe it. Her lips parted as though to ask if it was really him. The more she looked, though, the harder it was for Kala to do anything other than believe. Her being gave way to elation, and after a few slow steps to start it didn't take long for her to cross the remaining distance.

"Kerchak..." She slowed again when she was closer. With expression soft yet happy, she took another couple of steps closer. A soft breath filled the air.

"Welcome back. I've missed you so..."

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder Feb 24, 2021 23:11:59 GMT

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Post by Kerchak on Feb 24, 2021 23:11:59 GMT

"Kala."

The sight of her hurrying to meet him took his breath away. It had been a long journey for the Silverback. Perhaps less so than it would once have been, since the worlds had merged; but still, the Tree of Life was far removed from the merged lands in which, he had learned during his travels, war was brewing.

War. The word made Kerchak's hair prickle with agitation; it was an entirely human concept and was stupid and wasteful as such. While the massive gorilla had, eventually, come to accept that the species had its good members, the clash with Clayton and his ilk - with their cages and nets and weapons that spat lightning - was too fresh of a memory for Kerchak to entertain positive feelings for the kind as a whole. His experience of humans was three good members to, maybe, twenty or thirty whose only goal was to attack and capture and harm. If those numbers were representative of the species as a whole, the patriarch felt thoroughly justified in his wariness of and disdain for them.

But, no; war or not, Tarzan wouldn't be leading the family into further contact with human violence, Kerchak was certain. He had entrusted the family to his son, heard his promise to protect them, no matter what... and, though it was still an unfamiliar thought to him, Kerchak knew now that he trusted Tarzan to keep his word. No matter what happened, no matter what the man felt like he needed to do... he would protect the family, above all. Of that, Kerchak was certain.

But all such thoughts were wiped, momentarily, away as he drew near the forest that their jungle seemed to have been merged with. Movement had first drawn his eye; and that had been when he'd seen her, the waning sunlight bathing the beautiful brown of her fur in its glow as she moved towards him, at first with hesitant steps, then rapidly gaining speed.

He'd not forgotten, in their time apart, how beautiful she was; and yet all the same, he hadn't been prepared to be so dazzled by her.

As Kala slowed to a stop, Kerchak took his own steps closer to her, placing them side by side. His broad chest, with its newly distinctive scar from the hunter's bullet, rose and fell slowly as he appreciated simply being, again, with her. His large nose twitched, taking in the comfort of her familiar scent. Not often a physically demonstrative species, for a gorilla proximity was the more important way of establishing affection than were many forms of physical touch. Just being near to his beloved Kala, her presence so close to his, was enough.

"How... have you been?"

There was that uncommon tenderness, the one that was reserved only for the absolute closest family members, as he posed the question slowly and carefully. It was a slight slip in his duty as leader, Kerchak knew: he should be enquiring after the family first, before asking about any one specific member... but then, he was no longer the leader anymore; to Tarzan, he had passed that mantle. He could afford, if only briefly, the luxury of reuniting with his mate ahead of the family as a whole.