"Of Lords and Leopards"

by Memory of Crimson

Her mother had not yet come at the sound of her supper call. Something must have gone wrong.

Sheeta, daughter of Sabor, the Great Killer of Apes, stalked the shadows of the jungle for her vanished mother. Though a great hunter, Sabor had a short temper. She also carried a great pride, which was easily hurt. That morning, Sabor had mentioned she would once more stalk the haunts of Kerchak the Silverback and his tribe. This had instilled worry in young Sheeta. Though the long-lived hunter had challenged many fierce beasts and killed quite a few Gorillas, many times the great silver-backed patriarchs came close to killing Sabor.

Sheeta followed her mother's scent, bittersweet and tinctured with the faint aroma of prey. The young hunter prayed to her ancestors that her mother had checked her temper. By the time the great sky fire had nearly vanished, Sheeta arrived at a large amphitheatre of trees. In the dim light, those feline eyes fell upon the vulnerable form of the one whom had once been known as the Queen Hunter.

Sheeta gaped but withheld a cry, for other beasts might be lurking nearby. She crept quickly across the amphitheatre, through the towering roots, the bushes and the shadows until she arrived at the body of that fallen Queen. She saw the wound, which had mortally punctured that once hot heart, and the young hunter shook her head in disbelief.

She rubbed her head against Sabor's—once, twice, thrice, again and again in a pathetic attempt to awaken she who now slept in the Black Realm. Then she lay by her mother, too stunned to sob, stricken and wordless. The Queen was dead—murdered, but how? By whom?

Sheeta knew that hatred had driven Sabor to constantly harass Kerchak's tribe, for his favourite wife, Kala, had robbed Sabor of a meal and humiliated the hunter many wet seasons ago. Vengeance had driven her mother to her doom, and she did not desire to follow her path. However, the strange wound in her cage, as well as the strange smell on her mother's body—for no Gorilla smelled like that—peaked Sheeta's curiosity. She would follow this scent until she discovered the one, who had bested the Great Queen.

The young hunter followed the scent as well as she could, for the Apes—one in particular—sometimes took to the trees. As Sheeta moved closer to the coast, the cool ocean breeze blew toward the young hunter. Every smell, familiar and foreign, wafted into her nostrils. He was nearby, next to the coast. Others were with him, others who smelled all too like him.

Sheeta arrived upon a hill overlooking the bamboo forest. She glared at the land with deadly curses running through her mind.

"White Apes…"

Though Sheeta knew only of Kala's adopted son, Sabor had told tales, which had been told to her by others, of hairless Apes—some as swarthy as her aunt Tanda, others with skin lighter than even Kala's son. Hairless Apes, Sheeta had been told, were cowards, for none was born with teeth or claws to defend themselves. However, the white skins were troublesome. They often carried thunder-sticks, which could bring down any creature, from the great Lion in the distant savannah to the Buffalo and the Elephant.

Kala's son wielded no thunder-stick, yet he had still managed to kill the Great Killer of Apes. Sheeta was certain he had. None of the fearsome Silverbacks, who wielded more muscle than Tarzan, had managed this.

The young hunter swallowed her apprehension. She was a member of the proud Leopard race. She would kill this puny Ape and reclaim her mother's honour.

The young hunter continued forth until she arrived at an enormous clearing, littered with the strangest sights and smells. Since she had never seen these things, Sheeta knew not what to call them. She could barely describe them with the words she did know. Curiosity threatened to overwhelm her as she strode cautiously through the place, sniffing and listening.

As far as Sheeta could determine, three other Apes accompanied Kala's son. The Leopard did not yet see them, for they hid within a strange, tan cube, their shadows appearing occasionally. She did not understand their strange tongue, for it was too unlike aught she had heard. Soon her curiosity began to override any apprehension, and she drew closer to the strange cube.

Suddenly an Ape burst through one of the sides of the cube. He held high a straight, grey stick and pointed it toward the darkness, sweeping it round until he aimed it in Sheeta's general direction.

The young hunter cringed in the bushes. From memory of the tales she had been told, that most likely was the dreaded thunder-stick, which killed at the sound of an enormous BOOM. Sheeta hid quietly, but her heart throbbed heavily. The Ape might still discover her, and in fear, she watched him as he slowly strode, creeping like a hunter himself, seeking the intruder.

"Mr. Clayton!" cried another Ape. "Mr. Clayton!"

Immediately the second Ape appeared. It was shorter and much thinner. Sheeta heard it say, "What in the world is the matter?"

The hunter Ape wrinkled his nose and shifted from foot to foot. While he seemed no match for a Silverback, he had more muscle than Kala's son. He wore no loincloth but instead wore a longer skin, as gold as her fur but lacking her rosettes. By the faint light, which the smaller Ape held, Sheeta saw danger in his wide, hawk-like eyes. The slightest movement could be her final.

"I thought I heard something," said the hunter Ape.

The smaller Ape, a female Sheeta realised, sighed.

Suddenly two other Apes joined their companions—a male as small as a chimpanzee and the other, creeping out cautiously on all fours…

Kala's son!

Sheeta's eyes widened with delight but then she frowned. The largest male had already sensed her presence. Tarzan could find her precisely without even using his eyes. So she flattened further and watched her jungle-raised quarry attentively.

"Who's out there?" asked Kala's son in Jungle Speech to the hunter Ape, but he did not reply.

"What's the matter, Jane?" he grunted at the female, tugging at the skin which covered her legs. Again he was ignored. The other White Apes perhaps did not understand their fellow Ape, and conversely he perhaps knew little of their strange language.

"It's probably another monkey," said the female, and while Sheeta did not understand her words, she recognised that tone as disdain. Then the Jane Ape vanished into the cube, and the smallest Ape followed.

The hunter and Kala's son lingered.

"I thought I heard a leopard," said the hunter.

"Leh-per-rd," repeated Tarzan.

The hunter snorted. "You know. Roahr, roahr," he said, imitating (rather poorly) a feline growl.

Kala's keen son quickly figured out what he had meant. He perfectly imitated the Challenge Growl.

Her mother's growl.

A disdainful hiss escaped her maw, and immediately all eyes fell toward her direction. Tarzan bounded toward her and stopped mere feet away, while the hunter aimed his thunder-stick. Sheeta froze and prayed to her ancestors that they would not find her. She was not prepared to fight and feared the power of the thunder-stick.

"Tarzan! Mr. Clayton! Just leave it alone and come back inside!"

"Miss Porter, I think it best that—"

"Come along, Mr. Clayton!"

The hunter growled and turned toward the cube. He called for Tarzan who, in hesitation, departed but glanced every second over his shoulder at the shadows. He finally vanished into the cube, leaving only the hawk-eyed hunter, who scanned the darkness one last time for Sheeta.

"Mr. Clayton!"

The Ape sighed silently and vanished. Sheeta's muscles relaxed and she sat slumped.

If the young hunter so wished to avenge her mother's death, she could not be as hot-blooded as Sabor. She needed to exercise caution and restraint and first watch the hairless Apes from a safe distance. Certainly she needed to kill them all now, for their kind was infamous for ruining all the lands they visited. She could show mercy to none of them, for none would show mercy to her.

For days, the young Leopard watched her quarry as he volleyed between the nest of his family and the nest of his people. She never followed him back to the Gorillas and watched him only from the safe shadows of the tree branches, above the hairless Apes. She was amused by his attempts to integrate with his race, and he seemed rather successful—at least with the Ape Jane and the smaller Ape.

The golden hunter Ape little cared for the antics of his companions. When first Sheeta watched him, he seemed fixated, and later she noticed he carried the image of a Gorilla head with him wherever he went. And whenever he and Kala's son crossed paths, he would always display the image and point at it, as if asking—sometimes demanding—to know about it.

He's so much like mother, thought the young hunter, and she wondered if the golden hunter knew of Kerchak's tribe. Perhaps he too begrudged Tarzan's family. For now he bided his time, gleaning information from his wild cousin. The golden hunter otherwise kept to himself, like Sabor.

Then one night, everyone discovered the root of the hunter's impatience and aloofness.

The Golden Hunter—Clayton, Sheeta believed his name was, for that was the word to which he responded—turned upon his companions, including Kala's son. More Apes came from the ocean and, just as she had anticipated, ravaged the jungle. Like Sabor, the creatures hunted Kerchak's tribe, but instead of killing them, they imprisoned the Gorillas in strange traps.

As usual, Tarzan rushed from the shadows in time to save his tribe and challenge those who threatened them. Sheeta watched from the shadows as he duelled with the Golden Hunter, high in the trees, perilous vines surrounding them. At one point, Kala's son managed to seize the thunder-stick and pointed it at the Golden Hunter's throat. Instead of killing him, he smashed the weapon. Then the familiar spark of rage gleamed in the Hunter's eyes. In a flash, he drew out his long, thin fang and lashed out ferociously.

The duellists became lost in the mêlée of vines. Sheeta struggled to detect aught beyond the movements of mere shadows and the grunts and growls of the Apes. At one point, she believed the Golden Hunter had the upper paw, a belief soon dispelled as he plummeted from the trees.

Kala's son survived, but the Golden Hunter had become perilously entangled in the vines, infamous for claiming the lives of other careless beasts. He dangled by his neck, body twitching in a last ditched effort against death. Like the Great Queen before him, the Golden Hunter had been killed—a death made possible by Tarzan and the Hunter's blinding rage.

Sheeta knew not how to react. He had been very close to killing Tarzan, and for that reason she had favoured him in the fight. Otherwise, the Leopard little cared for this Clayton Ape. He was better off dead like the rest, but as she watched Kala's son bound away from that still body, agony seized her heart. Was this the fate of all great hunters, she wondered, to die ingloriously after such brief battles?

At least her mother had a dignified position and place to rest. Who would dare suggest that the Golden Hunter did not deserve better, as opposed to being displayed like this for all eyes to gawk upon? Suddenly pity, which is so rare to the Leopard race, overwhelmed the young Queen. Manoeuvring through the precarious vines and slippery branches, Sheeta waited for the Gorillas and Apes to depart before gnawing through the vine, freeing the Golden Hunter.

The body fell and hit the ground with an unceremonious thud. Sheeta carefully descended and gazed at the great visage, which Death had touched—pallor skin with glazing eyes, tongue protruding from his mouth. Sheeta laid an ear against that cage and heard no heart beat. She cocked her head in sadness.

"Rest well among your ancestors, o' fierce hunter," she prayed. "Your sun has set in this world and is raised in the next."

As she prayed, she did not notice the fingers, which twitched with leftover life. Suddenly, a deep gasp sent the young hunter jumping feet in the air and back.

He's alive? she thought as he twisted and took an pained gasp. Then he closed his eyes and fell limp. The young Leopard shook her head and recovered her composure, crawling cautiously toward him and laying an ear upon his cage again.

A heart throbbed—once, twice, thrice, again and again but weakly. Sheeta's head swung frantically through the night as if looking for someone to help her, but no. She was alone in this strange situation.

She could not possibly abandon him, for a slow death was far too cruel to permit. He was vulnerable to a host of hungry opportunists. Besides, did he not deserve a second chance to face the foe who had nearly murdered him? A chance that Sabor the Great Ape Killer did not have? Then again, he was a White Ape—unstable, untrustworthy, and likely ungrateful.

Flipping him on his belly, the Leopard slipped beneath the Golden Hunter, so that he lay upon her back. Then she quietly journeyed through the jungle, far from the coast and the nesting grounds of Kerchak's tribe. She found a safe den, formed by the roots of an enormous tree. Sheeta set the Ape within, and she lay with her head facing the entrance, awake and alert and awaiting the dawn.

Whatever am I to do with him? she wondered, for neither spoke the other's tongue. Their situation was most awkward, for Leopards were rarely so merciful. Any other, including her mother, would have made a meal of him—

"Speaking of…" she said as her belly rumbled. She had become so enamoured, watching the drama of the hairless Apes for the past week, she had not eaten at regular intervals and had not eaten very much when she did find a meal. When the sky fire was a mere sliver on the horizon, Sheeta resolved to go hunting. Before she left, she covered the entrance to the den with great ferns. Then she walked to the other side of the tree, marked her scent, and hoped that would keep any curious intruders away.

Not far from the den was a small stream. Sheeta spotted a small herd of red river hogs. She stalked the creatures as they drank and in a flash managed to kill a fatty juvenile. Just as she climbed into a tree to dine, she realised when the Golden Hunter awoke, he might feel hungry. So she effortlessly carried the creature back to the den. She peered inside and found that the hunter was still asleep, breathing softly. Sheeta smiled and climbed into the branches, keeping her ears wide open.

As soon as the young hunter dug her teeth round her favourite part, she heard a groan. Her ears perked, and she listened well. Another groan followed, and she realised that her hunter had awakened.

Leaping from her perch, the young hunter peered inside the den again. The Ape shifted, barely awake and likely still in pain. As she drew closer, leaves shuffled beneath her feet, and the hunter glanced sluggishly in her direction.

His eyes shot wide in alarm. He pressed his back against the wall and chattered nervously:

"Getawaygetaway! Youyou… you filthy animal! Go. A-way!" And he waved a furless paw at Sheeta, as if that were enough to drive her away.

The Leopard cocked her head. This Ape seemed a changed creature from the days she had watched him. He seemed confused and fearful, especially after losing his thunder-stick. He had no jaws or claws like a Leopard and had no muscle like a Gorilla (though he was quite strong). The stick and the silver fang had been his only weapons, ones that he could more easily lose than real fangs or claws.

As soon as Sheeta turned and left him, she no longer heard his frantic chattering. The poor creature needed to eat. Perhaps her generosity could allay any fears he had of becoming her meal. So she climbed up her tree again, ripped off a hind leg, and returned. The golden Ape was peering out cautiously at the jungle when she landed.

"What the devil? I thought I told you to—" Then he stopped. He gazed at the leg in her maw, and Sheeta dropped it. She pushed it toward him with her muzzle and then said:

"Here. You need to eat—at least, try to."

Of course, he did not understand her, and instead of immediately taking the leg, the hunter stared at her, unknowing how to respond. Sheeta merely stared calmly back at him and nudged the leg closer.

"Be thankful," she continued, turning and climbing up the tree. "I won't always be hunting for you. Once we get you on your feet, you're back to your own hunting."

Then she glanced at the hunter, who still gazed up at her. Sheeta sighed. The fool, she thought, but then as she gazed into those chestnut eyes, she saw Amazement and, of course, Disbelief. Of course, she recalled, Leopards were not exactly known for being so merciful. Where would feeling pity get them? More Leopards would starve to death, if they dwelled on the deep philosophical repercussions of eating meat. Sheeta's act of saving the Ape was nearly unheard-of, and the Ape knew that.

He's only rightfully confused and wary, the young hunter realised. Trust in me isn't going to be instantaneous, and neither is my trust in him. She remembered well his betrayal to his own people. Even without a physical weapon, he still wielded the weapon of Deceit.

Finally the golden hunter picked up the leg. He lifted it toward Sheeta, his best way of communicating gratitude. Then he peeled away the hairy hide and began to nibble on the flesh. The young hunter smiled and finished her meal, discarding any regrets for the moment.

Annotations:

Sheeta (Mangani) leopard. Lit. 'high hunter' (since leopards prowl trees). Sabor means 'lioness' in Mangani, the language of the fictitious apes in Burroughs' work. The folks at Disney changed the leopard's name for various reasons.

In this tale, she is one of Sabor's many offspring. Sabor herself is quite long-lived for a leopard, preternaturally so. Because of this, and that she survives challenging Gorillas, some jungle denizens believe that the females in her family dabble in magick (see Chapter III).

Tanda (Mangani) dark. Sheeta's aunt on her mother's side. Not as nearly as old as her mother, but very wise and somewhat mystical (see Chapter III).

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's interpretation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes. This piece of fiction has also drawn elements from Honoré de Balzac's "A Passion in the Desert," as well as its movie interpretation. I do not receive money or anything of monetary value for writing this fanfiction.