Tarzan: Crossover Style!
Chapter Four: Strange creatures in Zou


(I do not, nor will I EVER, own Inuyasha, One Piece, or Tarzan. They all belong to their respective owners.)





                In the Right Belly forest, something made a small pathway. It looked like the foliage had got cut by a machete, on top of appearing to be smoking.


                Inuyasha looked around, wondering what caused this. Using his sense of smell, he found what looked like footprints and bullet casings. However, Inuyasha had never seen such things before.


Curiously, he picked up one of the bullet casings and sniffed it, and attempted to see if it was edible. It was not.


"Bleh!" Inuyasha spat, sticking his tongue out from the horrid taste.


*BLAM!!!*


                He gasped upon hearing that sound again. Tossing the bullet casing away, he ran up a tree on all fours, swung on a vine, and onto another tree. He looked around for the source of the noise, and his right ear swiveled the moment he heard a voice. It sounded male and a bit blunt.


                Inuyasha saw trees moving, or instead, someone walking through them. He couldn't make out whoever was there, but he could see him cutting through the foliage.


'What the...?' Inuyasha thought. 'Who is that?'


                As the figure drew closer, Inuyasha surfed down a tree and hid behind some bamboo leaves to get a closer look at whoever was approaching.


"That's when I knew I was born for Zou," the figure spoke up as he sliced away more foliage, "and Zou was..."


The figure trailed off when he seemed to spot something.


*BLAM!!!*


                Inuyasha narrowly avoided getting shot by the figure's shotgun. At that moment, the person cut down the bamboo trees in one swipe aimed his gun, yet found nothing.


                Inuyasha quietly gasped as he finally got a good look at his face. He looked pale, had red eyes, long wavy hair tied in a ponytail, and he had on a purple kimono with green, yellow, and orange rings.


"Naraku!" a voice belonging to an elderly gentleman called. "What are you doing? What's all this commotion?"


"I thought I saw something," the man, known as Naraku, answered as an older man approached him.


"Oh!" the old man exclaimed. "Was it a Mink?!"


"It's hard to tell," Naraku answered, as the old man looked around, "I couldn't see it through the underbrush."


"Maybe it could've been one of those Croccies--" the old man spoke.


"Professor Higurashi, don't move!" Naraku shouted.


                On that, the older man, Professor Higurashi, froze in place, taking a somewhat awkward position. "Right, of course," he whispered.


"Grandpa?"


                Inuyasha's ears perked upon hearing that voice. At that instant, a young girl about his age came pushing her way through the bamboo trees. She had raven hair, blue eyes, and a schoolgirl uniform.


"Grandpa, what's happening?" she asked, only to be whipped back by the bamboo trees. "Aah! Ow! I'm okay!"


                Inuyasha gasped silently. He had never seen creatures like these before. They almost looked like him. Only they didn't have dog ears or any other animal features.


                At that moment, the girl stood back up and pushed the bamboo trees away so that she could get through them and walk over to her grandfather. "What's up, Gramps?" she inquired.


"Quiet, Kagome!" whispered Professor Higurashi. "Naraku told me not to move...! He saw something...!"


"Uhh, okay," Kagome muttered before she went over to Naraku.


Professor Higurashi did his best to stay still, yet he gave in and collapsed. "I moved," he said.


(A/N: Ha! XD)


"Umm...Mr. Naraku," spoke Kagome, "My grandpa and I came to Zou to learn about the Mink tribe, and your shooting might be scaring them all away."


"You hired me to protect you, Kagome," replied Naraku, "and protect you, I shall."


"And trust me, you're doing a lovely job," Kagome assured, "but we only have a limited amount of time before our ship comes back and--"


"Kagome!" Professor Higurashi cried. "Kagome, look! Do you realize what you're standing on, child?!"


Kagome looked down and gasped, for she found footprints left behind by the Minks.


"Mink footprints!" the professor exclaimed.


"Oh, my gosh!" Kagome gasped. "You're right!"


"At last!" Naraku exclaimed, kneeling. "Our first sign in days." He soon looked around. "Do you think the creatures could be nearby?" he asked.


                When he asked this, Inuyasha lowered himself down on a vine behind him to get a better observation of the man. Although the second Naraku felt as if someone was watching him, he looked over his shoulder to find no one there. The reason being was that Inuyasha had already climbed back up into the trees.


"They could be," Professor Higurashi answered, "the evidence is staring us right in the face."


"Oh, Grandpa, look!" Kagome exclaimed. "Over there! Houses!"


"Yes, I see that!" Professor Higurashi noted.


"It's just as you predicted!" Kagome added.


"Family tribes!" the two declared before they embraced.


"Oh, Kagome, I love you!" Professor Higurashi spoke.


Up in the trees, Inuyasha watched curiously at the humans, while Naraku laughed.


"Family tribes?" he repeated. "Uh, pardon me, but these are wild beasts that hate humans! They'd sooner tear your head off than look at you!"


"FYI, Naraku, the Minks are very civilized," Kagome countered, "Grandpa's theory is that they're a social race--"


Naraku, who had a look of disinterest, suddenly became alert when two leaves fell from the sky.


*BANG! BANG!* He fired two shots at the trees, the loud bangs caused Kagome and her grandfather ducked for cover. Inuyasha, who was hiding above in the trees, softly panted as he had narrowly avoided the gunshots.


"What are you doing?!" Kagome questioned. "What if it's a Mink?!"


"...It's not a Mink," Naraku answered, looking around.


Kagome and Professor Higurashi looked at each other, confused. Naraku surveyed the area, still on edge.


"Hmm..." he hummed. "Perhaps we should move along."


"Of course," Professor Higurashi concurred, "We'll head west, where the tracks lead."


"Excellent idea, professor," Naraku commented as he and the old man pressed onward, "I could've used your expertise on my last expedition."


They continued onward, with Kagome following far behind.