Little Kong's POV
The dark-skinned people who lived on the other side of the wall were not the first men to inhabit Skull Island. They were not even the ones who built the wall.
King Kong had told Kai-lee-nda, she who became his mate, of the ancient ones, the golden people who had brought him, along with others of his kind, to this island, and she told the stories to me.
Kongs had been bred by the ancient ones for power and ferocity, and they depended on their savagery for protection. No matter where they went, a few of the Kongs went along.
On Skull Island it was no different, save for the end results. There was something on the island that altered the Kongs, and where normally they might be twice the size of a man, after they'd been on Skull Island a few hundred years, their height had more than doubled. And in the case of King Kong, tripled.
And they lived for countless years.
On Skull Island were stones that those people valued. They mined the mountains for them, sending them back to their homeland in vessels that would arrive periodically.
They built a system of roadways leading from the mines to the bay where vessels would come to take on a cargo of the precious stones. Inside the huge, hollow mountain that was shaped like a skull, they built dwellings for those who worked the mines and a temple to worship their gods, and kept a wary eye on the creatures who called Skull Island home, using the Kongs to safeguard them.
Ultimately, the threat of the strange beasts became too great, even with the Kongs to battle them, and the ancient ones were forced to abandon Skull Mountain and retreat to the stretch of land that jutted out into the ocean. They erected a wall to keep the creatures at bay, and when they were done, the Kongs were also on the other side of that wall.
It seemed the ancient ones had begun to fear them as well, uncertain if they could keep the giant animals under control.
And then, one day, the golden people were gone.
King Kong had watched from a vantage point I, myself, would use centuries later, as a vessel arrived at that spot, rather than the bay it had always come to before. The activity had been frantic, reminding Kong of a disturbed ant hill. There had been barely enough time to summon the workers back from the mines. Belongings were left behind, for there was no room to carry the vast quantities of stones as well as the people who had mined them.
When the vessel set sail, the Kongs were also left behind, to fend for themselves.
Most of the males were killed off by King Kong himself. The females died either birthing their young, or in battle with the creatures of Skull Island.
King Kong alone was left.
In time the darker-skinned people arrived on Skull Island, rowing their canoes onto the beach. They examined the area with interest and decided to make it their home, marveling at the wall that stretched across the width of the peninsula.
At first they disregarded the huge, barred doors, not realizing the necessity for them. They left them open and ventured into the jungle on the other side, and soon learned.
Kong told the tale with relish, of how they had run in terror from the sight of him, and how shortly after that, the sacrifices began.
My mother's people dwelled in a part of darkest Africa that was so remote no man had ever seen it.
I never understood how it came to be that she was abducted from her tribe. It was something of which she never wanted to speak.
She was quite small at the time, although not as young as she appeared, and the men who had taken her did not realize who they had; she was a princess and was in line to rule her people. They put a collar around her neck and kept her in a cage. Eventually they made their way to the coast and sold her to the captain of a sailing ship.
The captain was a good man, according to her. He freed her of the collar and allowed her the run of his ship, although he and his crew treated her as a favored pet. Along with her regular diet, they fed her bits of food that she had never tasted before, and they spoke to her until finally she began to understand the different languages, for there were men from all countries aboard the vessel.
Kai-lee-nda grew to be a she-ape of what to them would be unusual size, gradually dwarfing them, but because the men were so used to her, they had no fear of her.
They were deep in the South Seas when a typhoon blew up. The ship was tossed by the fearsome waves and slammed by the rampaging winds, and sustained such damage that the crew was forced to take to the lifeboats.
The captain and his cabin boy were the last to abandon the sinking ship, and they took my mother with them.
Most of the frail crafts were lost, but one managed to reach land. The three occupants staggered to the shore, but before the men could give thanks for being once more on dry land, they were fallen upon by the natives of that island.
The two men were slain, and their bodies taken to be enjoyed at a feast that night, but Kai-lee-nda was reserved to become a bride of Kong. It took almost all the men of the village to overpower her and hold her down while the witchdoctor forced her to swallow a concoction that rendered her helpless. She was bathed and her fur combed, and then she was decked out with beautiful, fragrant flowers. Necklaces of lustrous shells were draped over her neck, and she was carried up the steps to the altar and bound to the posts to await the arrival of their god.
Far inland, the giant ape heard the summons of the drums, informing him of their offering, of another sacrifice.
Over the centuries, King Kong had developed a taste for the native women. They were usually young, and tender, and so afraid that it added a piquancy to their flesh. He would bring them to his lair on Skull Mountain, dash out their brains on the rocks that were scattered throughout the caverns of his home, dine on their flesh, and pick his teeth with their bones.
Often, when I was quite small, my mother would tell me the story of their first meeting, and even Kong would loll nearby and listen with enjoyment.
The drums pounded, and just as twilight fell, the huge ape appeared, expecting to find another of the terrified women.
Instead, he discovered my mother.
By that time she had thrown off the effects of the potion. She bared her teeth at him and growled curses in her language, tugging furiously at the cords that bound her to the altar.
He freed her with negligent ease and brought her close to his face so he could scent her. It had been a very long time since he had had a mate, and he found her scent arousing. He touched her rich golden fur, stroked the firm muscles. She was beautiful and clean-limbed.
He cradled her against his chest, sneered at the puny natives who were hopping with glee on the wall they imagined would keep them safe from him, and sauntered away.
They had to cross a river to get to Skull Mountain, and Kong paused to let Kai-lee-nda drink her fill. He slew a furred creature that was unwary enough to cross their path, and gave it to my mother. She eyed him askance, but was too hungry to object to its raw state; she ripped into it with dainty greed. Once she had finished it, Kong licked the blood from her hands and cheeks and chest.
Kai-lee-nda liked the sensation. She also liked his scent and arched into his touch.
That pleased him. His thick lips curled into a grin, and he picked her up and ran to his lair. Once there, the events of the past weeks took their toll, and she fell into an exhausted slumber. When she awoke, it was to find him meticulously grooming her fur. She stretched out and permitted him to continue.
They became a pair. She explored Skull Island and often brought meals to the mountain that was their home, but only Kong accepted the sacrifices of the dark-skinned natives.
In due course she gave birth to me, their only offspring, a white-gold baby that Kong was surprisingly gentle with.
King Kong taught me how to hunt and how to fight for survival. He was very pleased the first time I bested one of the large meat-eating creatures that would have taken my kill from me and killed me in the bargain. It was almost the size of my father, with wicked, lethal teeth, and I had leaped to its back, pried apart its massive jaws, and stretched them until the hinges were torn and spewed gouts of blood. It lost interest in the battle after that, and wandered off, mewling in pain. A few days later I found its remains. Skull Island did not treat the weak or injured well.
But my mother taught me even more. From her I learned the languages of man, although I could not speak them. I learned the wonders of fire and to beware what seemed harmless.
And I learned that Skull Island was not the entire world.
Sometimes she would tell me stories of the land where she was born, and I yearned to see her people, for on Skull Island we were the only ones of our kind.
I grew older and larger, and King Kong was less inclined to have me around. With fearsome facial expressions and threatening posture, he would attempt to drive me away from our home, but I always returned.
One day, he was not there to challenge me, and I crept into Skull Mountain. I found him in the chamber he and my mother shared. Kai-lee-nda was lying on a bloodstained bed of grass, whimpering from time to time. A huge bite had been ripped out of her side. Kong sat beside her, holding her hand, stroking it. He looked at me, and I knew whatever had done that to my mother was dead.
Her eyes were fogged with pain, but they cleared momentarily when she saw me. "Ta-chi-nko." She held out her other hand, and I took it and held it against my heart until she died.
King Kong didn't have to drive me away any longer. I left.
The years flowed, one into another, for through my father I was given the gift of long life, and while I was into my second century, I had yet to reach full sexual maturity.
I knew there would come a day when I would have to battle my father. Not because I wanted to rule Skull Island, but simply because I wanted to stay alive. So far I had managed to avoid him, although I observed his activities from a distance.
It was time for the natives to sacrifice to him again. From a vantage point I had discovered long ago, I was able to observe as they prepared the terrified young woman, forcing something down her throat that rendered her helpless and unable to battle her fate.
Drums began to pound, and men dressed in animal skins in an attempt to look like their god chanted and shuffled around the woman. They threw their arms to the sky, brought them down to beat their chests, and then continued the chanting and shuffling, moving faster and faster.
Suddenly, at the edge of the village, I saw... pale-skinned people, similar to those my mother had told me about! The breeze was in my direction, and I could tell from their scents that while most of them were male, one was a female, with hair like the sun.
They parted the stalks of the tall reeds that grew at the edge of the village and peered through them, apparently intrigued by the natives' ritual. One of them took a strange box on sticks and set it up in the sand. He aimed it toward the square.
The excitement was reaching crescendo level when the chief realized they were being observed by outsiders. He became furious and shouted at the pale-skinned ones, waving his feathered staff of authority and declaring that the ceremony was ruined. That was until his witchdoctor leaned over and whispered into his ear, pointing to the golden woman. The chief's eyes became cunning, and he began to bargain for the woman.
The pale men refused and turned to leave, one going so far as to apparently stuff his hands into his sides and whistle a tune nonchalantly.
I watched with interest as they entered a small craft that carried them to a larger craft that rode the waves beyond the breakwater. It had no sails such as my mother had spoken of, and I marveled at it for a time, but I grew bored and turned my attention back to the natives.
The chief was furious, but there was nothing he could do. The ceremony was abandoned for the time being. Kong would get no sacrifice that day.
I left to hunt my dinner.
I had no idea that when I returned, it would be to find that I was the last Kong on Skull Island.
The doors in the wall hung at a crazy angle, permitting any of the creatures on the other side access if they so chose.
The village was in shambles. Huts had been knocked over, walls caved in and roofs torn free. Bodies were squashed, trampled on or partially bitten in two. The natives wailed and beat their breasts, making little or no attempt to right their village.
King Kong had been taken by the pale-skinned ones. I had no idea how that had come about. They were so tiny, and he was so huge.
And yet the fact remained: he was gone.
Skull Island was mine, as was our home in Skull Mountain. I cleaned out the bodies that I found there, one of the flying creatures, and a snake-like one that favored the nearby river. In the grotto where Kai-lee-nda would tell me stories of her people I discovered something that carried the scent of the golden woman.
It also carried the scent of my father, the only other creature like me. I decided I would keep it near my bed.
Shortly after Kong was taken from Skull Island, one of the smaller mountains began to smoke.
And from time to time the ground would shake.
tbc