Willoffire123: I don't own Tarzan

Tarzan: Why thank you. On with the chapter!

Tarzan

In hindsight, maybe he should have listened to Jane.

He brushed it off at first. It was only a spider-bite, after all. He got those all the time.

Still, she and the Professor organized an expedition up the waterfall to find a flower for the antidote, and there was no way he was going to let her risk her neck for him without him being there to save it.

And so, even though his head pounded with the force of a stampeding Tantor and his chest pressed down uncomfortably on his windpipes, he led the expedition through the jungle.

"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed Terk from somewhere behind him. "Tarzan is the epitome of health! Just look at the kid!"

Even though he really wasn't, Tarzan appreciated the help from his gorilla friend.

Through his blurred vision, Tarzan saw the chasm approaching fast, and skidded to a halt, allowing his friends to catch up to him.

"Oh no, are you alright?" asked Jane.

"It's the paralysis!" exclaimed Tantor. "Tarzan! DO NOT GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"

Tarzan winced at the loud noise so close to his aching head, but he shrugged it off and pointed at the chasm, voicing its existence to the group.

"How are we going to get across there?" wondered Jane.

Tarzan studied the chasm. He spotted a blurred swoop of green that he assumed was a vine, told his friends he would swing a vine back for them, and he jumped.

At first the jump went fine. Tarzan could hear Terk cheering him on somewhere behind him.

But it was still getting harder and harder to breathe or see, and Tarzan missed the vine entirely, plummeting down to the canopy of trees some seventy feet below.

"TARZAN!" screamed Jane. Tarzan didn't really notice his friends' cries; he was too busy trying to remember how to breathe.

Then he hit the ground. Hard. And his surroundings dissolved into red, the ringing in his ears growing to a roar.

That didn't help with the surrounding wild jackals snarling at him as if he was there new prey.

"Back off!" he snarled in Jackal.

"Meat!" they barked in reply.

Tarzan could see that if he didn't move, he'd be torn to shreds. So through his hazy vision, he tried dragging himself towards the sound of his beloved Jane's voice.

Pain erupted like wildfire in his chest, spreading up his arm until he cried out in agony, stopping his flight for freedom.

"TARZAN!" cried Jane, having heard his cries, becoming more frantic in her climb down the steep hill.

Tarzan lay very still, clenching every muscle in his body, hoping that if he didn't move at all, the pain would go away and he could protect his friends from the jackals.

He heard movement all around him, feeling, rather than seeing, his friends drive off the Jackals.

"Tarzan?" asked his love. "Can you hear me?"

Tarzan groaned, hoping that would suffice.

"Hmm, yes," said the Professor. Tarzan felt cold fingers poking around his aching chest. He wanted the Professor to stop, but he didn't have the energy to say so, so he grimaced through the Professor's examination. "Ribs are broken."

"We must hurry!" insisted his love. "Broken ribs will only speed up the poison."

"And how do you know that, miss Smarty Pants?" said Terk. "He'll be fine! He's Tarzan, for cryin' out loud!"

Tarzan felt himself being lifted off the ground and onto Tantor's back. At this point, Tarzan was in too much pain to keep paying attention to his surroundings, so he focused on the burning sensation surrounding his body. Then, he heard his love arguing again with Terk.

"It doesn't matter if the poison's sped up or not!" she said patiently. "Tarzan's in pain; that's all that matters right now."

Then, grateful to escape the arguing, Tarzan slipped into a state of fitful sleep.

Tarzan

Tarzan woke, at last, from his visions of the burning jungle and Clayton hunting him through it, to his Jane pouring something down his throat.

"Drink up, love," said Jane.

Tarzan had little to no idea where he was, or what was going on, but if Jane was by his side, he would gladly do whatever she told him to do.

Tarzan gulped down the strange tasting liquid, feeling a cooling sensation spread through his feverish body in the process.

"What-," he rasped with the voice of a man who had been sleeping for several hours.

"We got the flower, T!" Terk said proudly.

"You?" he asked. At this point, Tarzan was only strong enough to form fragmented sentences, but he was beginning to get an idea of what was going on, and he liked it.

"Together!" said Jane. "I must say, it took a lot of teamwork, but we managed to set aside our differences to achieve our goal, and it worked!"

Tarzan felt a new sensation enveloping him like the strange liquid did: relief. He attempted to hug his friend and his wife, only for his chest to remind him of its existence.

"Easy tiger," said Jane, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. "Your ribs are still broken."

Tarzan pulled Jane in for a real kiss, savoring that burst of affection for his wife. "You are amazing."

"Hey, it was a team effort!" interjected Terk.

Tarzan swung an arm around one of his best friends and pulled her into a hug.

"Of course it was, Terk. Of course it was."

Willoffire123: The end!

Jane: That was fast.

Willoffire123: It was supposed to be; it's a one-shot.

Tarzan: One…shot?

Willoffire123: Not important.

Tantor: I want to make a complaint. I was hardly in this story!

Willoffire123: But Tantor, you had the most important job!

Tantor: Really?

Willoffire123: You carried Tarzan on your back!

Tantor: I did, didn't I!

Willoffire123: You sure did! And I'll give you the next most important job too!

Tantor: Really?

Willoffire123: Yeah! You just have to say 'Until next time!'

Tantor: Okay! Until next time!