Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Strangers like me"

Summary: Instead of moving to Hillwood with their son, Miles and Stella decided to stay in San Lorenzo, letting him grow up among the Green-Eyed people. Arnold's life in the jungle was peaceful until the day he joined his parents in chasing poachers away from the jungle which led to his own capture. Soon Arnold found himself in a different kind of jungle; the city where his parents grew up.

Author's 1st note: I have looked forward to starting this story ever since I got the idea, which is more than a half year ago to be perfectly honest. I wasn't sure if I had enough material for it and this story probably won't be extremely long or anything, but I will shove as much as I can into it. I think this is going to be a lot of fun to write.

Now, there's several other stories that has inspired me to write this one. The first one is absolutely the Danish cartoon movie called "Jungledyret Hugo" which you may or may not know as "Go, Hugo, go!" which is the sucky English translation of the movie. And I am allowed to call it sucky because it really did truly suck. The story was changed, a million scenes were either cut or "censored" (God forbid American kids see an animated villainess in a thong – this is why I love Denmark, we show it to kids as it is :P) and the characters' personalities were changed beyond recognition. I hated the English version with a burning passion so unless you've watched the Danish version with English subtitles (which is on ) then you are not allowed to say that you hated it :P

Besides Hugo, this story will also have some aspects of "Tarzan" in it (who has of course also inspired the title), along with "The Jungle Book" and other stories that resemble those. It's still of course my own story, but I might as well admit which stories have inspired me to write this to begin with. Well! Enough with the ranting, please do enjoy the very first chapter of "Strangers like me".

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 1: "A very different kind"

"Hey, Arnold!"

A young blonde man turned his eyes away from the bird in his hands and looked towards his mother's voice. Stella was smiling at him with pride as she tied her chin-long, brown hair into a bun to get it away from her sweat-coated skin. Despite wearing only a green tank top and a pair of khaki shorts, the south American heat was still getting to her even if it was winter. The brown boots she was wearing in order to tread around carefully in the forested valley didn't help.

"What do you have there, son?" Stella asked as she approached him and crouched next to the bird. "It's a Blue Dacnis." She answered her own question. "What happened to it?"

"I'm not sure," Arnold answered with a worried frown. "but it won't fly."

"Oh, then let me take care of the poor thing. You need to go see Tanana."

Arnold's eyes widened as his mother took the bird from him. "What does the shaman want with me?" he asked as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair to get it out of his eyes.

"Go and find out." Stella ordered and waved at him. Arnold stood up and jogged towards the village.

On his way, Arnold was greeted by every villager he came across. Some said his name kindly, others bowed their heads and there were also those who smiled in admiration. Arnold responded the same way to all of them; saying their name with a broad smile on his face and waving at them. Every villager, no matter their greeting, had one thing in common; their characteristically green eyes. Unlike most tribes where the norm was dark skin, black hair and brown eyes, the Green-Eyed People differed. It made them look mysterious in ways that made the civilized world curious about them, but they had managed to stay hidden since the dawn of time. It was only Arnold and his parents they trusted from the white folk.

As he neared the shaman's temple, Arnold almost walked past the shrine. He stopped and basked in it for a moment. He remembered being told from a very young age that not only was he a miracle child, but was divine to the Green Eyes. When he was born in the volcanic mountains of San Lorenzo, the whole jungle silenced at his first scream. It was a sign to the Green-Eyed People that Arnold was sent to them by the gods to live among them as a counselor and a guide. The volcano eruption that had been prophesized to kill them all died at his birth and had been silent ever since. The shrine was a statue surrounded by fresh flowers and ceremonial symbols made of gold. The statue had an oblong-shaped head and green emeralds for eyes. It was a tribute to Arnold, but no matter how many times he looked at it, he would always feel shy and humble in its adulation.

Arnold moved towards the shaman's tent and walked inside without a word. An elderly woman, he had talked to only a few times during his 16 years of living, was sitting on the ground in front of a basket. She had her eyes closed, was sitting crisscross and the back of her hands were resting on her knees. Her arms were covered in pieces of leather, her neck was adorned with colorful pearls and white feathers. She was wearing a long, big brown skirt which was decorated with small leather pouches around her hips. What she had in them, Arnold didn't know, but it could be anything from totems to bones. In silence, he sat down across the cauldron and copied the shaman's position. With every purposeful breath he took, he felt his mind go blank, which was something he had trouble with growing up since he was a natural daydreamer like his father.

"You have come here to be warned, Arnold." Tanana spoke calmly and Arnold finally dared to open his eyes.

"Warned?" the young man repeated fearfully. He hadn't been called to see the shaman many times, but when it happened it would always be good news. She had never cautioned him before and the village had been safe and sound for as long as he could remember.

"A dark shadow is lurking over our village." Tanana said deadly seriously. "You must be courageous and find your way back."

"My way back? To what?" Arnold asked even though he knew the shaman never answered questions, she only inspired them.

"Remember where you belong, child, and don't lose sight of it." Tanana continued and took a Green-Eyed amulet out of one of the basket. It was made of gold shaped much like his own head and had an emerald in the middle. Arnold bowed his head as Tanana placed it around his neck. "You will experience new things, gain knowledge you never thought possible and you will be met with a heartbreaking decision… but you must return to the path The Great Spirits have chosen for you."

"Where am I going?" Arnold asked again and held the amulet in his hands, gazing at it. He had adored the amulets that had been bestowed upon his parents years before he was born when they saved the Green Eyes from the deadly sleeping sickness. He had always wondered why he had never received one himself, but was explained that he was too divine a creature to the Green Eyes to walk around, wearing a mortal jewelry. He wondered why he was receiving one now of all times, it frightened him.

Tanana put her hands on Arnold's shoulders which caused him to flinch and look back up at her. "Return to where you belong." She said very seriously before he face broke into a smile and she patted his shoulders. "Now off you go!"

Arnold opened his mouth to question the shaman further, but former experiences in denying her orders caused him to sigh in surrender and leave the tent. Once he was outside, he looked at the amulet again. He wondered what he was supposed to return to. He had always been in the mountains of San Lorenzo, where could he possibly need to return to? Unless he would leave this place first and had to return then. Why would he need to leave San Lorenzo to begin with? His whole life was here, so were his parents'. He didn't understand what the shaman had warned him about so when his mother asked him what the shaman wanted, he explained that he didn't understand. Stella, who was a smart woman, would usually have wondered about it for hours until she came to the conclusion, but she didn't have the time that day. Neither did Arnold so soon the shaman's incomprehensible warning was forgotten.

Arnold was currently staring at the Green Eyes' amulet again as he was sitting on a rock a little away from the village. He was sitting near a waterfall and while it may be a noisy place, this was where he went to relax and think. The sound of the water felt tranquil to him. He finally had the time to think about what the shaman woman had told him, but he couldn't figure out what to do about it. He wasn't unintelligent, but he wasn't very good with reading between the lines or reading people. He preferred when people told him things clearly and Tanana wasn't a woman of clear intentions.

Arnold was considering jumping into the water when he heard some squawking from the sky. He leaned his head backwards and saw a flock of birds flying across the sky, their wings flapping in panic. He looked towards the direction they were flying away from before he heard a loud gunshot. He put his hands to his ears and squeezed his eyes in shock, but opened them again just in time to see some men up on the waterfall. Even though they were far away, Arnold could see that they were the ones with the riffles and were currently chasing a jaguar.

Arnold's eyes widened. "Poachers." He whispered through parted lips before he turned around and bolted straight back towards the village. He reached his parents in no time at all, his many years of running around in the jungle would do wonders to anyone, and they heard him almost instantly. "Poachers!"

Miles and Stella acted instantly; they left whatever they were doing and went to the tent. Arnold followed them, listening to their intense babbling about the strategy to get the poachers out of San Lorenzo without harming them or leading them to the Green Eyes. They had dealt with poachers before, but they weren't a common sight so close to the village. Arnold stood idly by, but looked towards a knife of his own. In determination, he grabbed it and looked resolutely at this parents.

"Arnold, no." Miles stated without second thought.

"I'm not asking." Arnold declared and shoved the knife into his belt. "I can't sit here and do nothing again."

"No, we can't put you in so much danger - - "

"Miles." Stella said gently and put her hand on her husband's shoulder. Brown eyes gazed into brown eyes before Miles sighed. Stella patted his shoulder soothingly before she put it on Arnold's shoulder instead. "You are there as a backup, nothing more. You only appear if we need you."

A broad smile spread on Arnold's face unlike his parents' expressions. He knew they feared for their only son's life and he didn't want to make them worry unnecessarily so he would do as his mother had ordered and stay hidden unless something were to happen. But he had for many years longed to do something more for his village and the people he grew up among. They treated him as a God yet he had never done anything to deserve such kindness or adoration besides being his usual compassionate self. This was his chance to show them that he wanted to protect them, demigod or not.

Arnold followed his parents up the trail, using the gunshots as tracks. They climbed up next to the waterfall and reached the cliff right where the lake cascaded. Once the poachers were in sight, Miles hushed Arnold to make sure he remembered his role. Arnold nodded and stayed behind as Stella and Miles approached the men. Arnold was grinning in astonishment as his dad took out his whip and used it to get the riffle out of one of the men's grasps. In the confusion, Stella overpowered the other one and within seconds, they had the upper hand and the riffles were pointed at the poachers instead of the jaguar, who ran off during the chaos.

"We don't want poachers around here." Stella said sternly. "Hunting is forbidden."

"Leave and we will forget about this." Miles added.

"I don't think so." A new voice said and appeared from behind a tree to Arnold's right.

Arnold's eyes widened in realization when he remembered seeing three poachers earlier. Where the third one had gone off to before they arrived didn't matter to him though when Stella and Miles were forced to drop the riffles. They put their hands up in the air and walked towards the edge of the cliff, guided by the riffles. When one of the poachers pushed at Miles with the riffle, Arnold almost jumped out of his hiding place, but reminded himself not to do anything drastic.

Arnold looked around him, observing his surroundings to figure out a plan. He looked at the tree the third poacher had appeared from. His eyes followed the trunk and up to the leaves and branches. Without a second though, he army-crawled through the bushes and started climbing up the tree.

It was Stella who noticed Arnold first and figured out what his plan was. "Why are you doing this?" she asked one of the poachers, hoping it would distract them long enough for Arnold to climb up the tree.

"Your little, spotted friends will pay us handsomely." The poacher answered with a dirty smirk on his face.

"And you two are in our way." Another poached added.

"Just calm down." Miles said when he noticed Arnold crawling on a branch above them. "I'm sure we can find a peaceful solution."

"Not a chance. It'll take us hours to track down another jaguar."

"Your mindless shooting is what scared them all of!" Stella shouted angrily just before Arnold lost his footing. He broke a small branch in the process of saving himself, but thanks to Stella's yelling it couldn't be heard.

"Shut up!" one of the poachers shouted, cocked his riffle and pointed it at Stella.

"Are you insane?!" one of the other poachers yelled in a panic, clearly uninterested in setting his morality even lower by killing not just animals, but people.

Before the first poacher could even consider shooting, Arnold jumped down from the tree. As soon as he had his arms around the poacher's throat, Stella and Miles took advantage of the confusion and went for the other poachers. The poacher was cursing and thrashing about and despite Arnold's strength, the man was much bigger than he was and had him thrown off within a minute. As soon as the riffle was turned on him, Arnold's parents seized their attack in fear for their son.

The poacher Arnold had attacked snickered maliciously. "Clever, I gotta say, using a little monkey as a hidden weapon, but you should have trained him harder before letting him play with the big boys." He said and the smile disappeared from his face. "Get up."

Arnold stood up and walked to his parents. "I'm so sorry."

"You did well, Arnold. This is not your fault." Miles insisted and grabbed his son's shoulder.

"No, it's your dumbass parents' fault for interfering." One of the poachers said and laughed with the others. "Now, what do we do with you?"

"I'm not shooting them." The poacher who had shouted before declared. "I don't want human blood on my hands.

"You'd prefer we let them go and tell on us?!" the poacher next to him asked and the two began fighting while the third kept an eye on the family of two. Arnold looked fearfully at his parents just before he felt something poke his chest. He looked down and saw the tip of a riffle touch his amulet.

"Hey." The poacher said calmly to the others. When they continued fighting, he looked at them impatiently. "Hey!"

"What?!" the two men yelled in annoyance. The poacher gestured to Arnold's amulet with the riffle and his comrades looked at it curiously.

"What have we here?" one of them asked with a sleazy smile. You could practically see the dollar sign in his eyes. "Where the hell did a brat like you get this?"

"It looks like Aztec gold!" the other bellowed in awe. "It must be worth like a million."

Arnold had stopped breathing at this point; he knew how greedy people outside of San Lorenzo were. He didn't know much about money except that it was the poachers' goal by hunting and killing animals. He knew the Green Eyes' amulets were worth a lot of money, which was why Stella and Miles never wore the amulets if they were outside of the village. Arnold, having received this amulet only recently, hadn't thought of that before they left and was now cursing his own name.

"Hey, kid. Tell us where you got the gold and we'll let you all go." A poacher demanded.

The relief that washed over Arnold was short-lived. "What?" he muttered in disbelief. Telling the poachers where got the amulet would mean to lead them directly to the Green-Eyed People. It would put them all in fatal danger, but if he didn't it would mean putting his parents in danger. There had to be a third option, there just had to be.

Then the sound of the waterfall behind Arnold caught his ears. An idea struck him, but it was a risky one in every aspect. He couldn't be sure what would happen if he were to act out on it, but it was all he could think of and he didn't have the time to hatch a safer plan. So while clutching the amulet in his hand, he turned around and jumped off the cliff.

The sound of his parents screaming his name faded into the roaring sound of the water rushing down. Arnold prayed for the Great Spirits to lead his parents to safety and kept the scream he so desperately wanted to make inside him. When he hit the water, it felt like colliding with rocks only to merge with them. Water filled his lungs and made them burn. He waved his arms around, desperate to get up and let his lungs breathe. He forced himself to calm down and move his arms more methodically. Soon, his head was above the surface and he inhaled sharply. He coughed as he was taken by the stream. He felt his foot hit something, which he assumed was a rock and he groaned at the intense shot of pain that soared through him. He ignored his instinct to nurse his ankle and looked towards the shore. He paddled with his arms, hissing whenever his left ankle moved even a bit.

Arnold dug his fingers into the ground and pulled himself out of the water. He tried keeping his damaged ankle off the ground, but the instant exhaustion he felt was so overpowering that he barely felt it when his entire body collapsed on the dirt.

Arnold wasn't sure what it was that woke him up, but he felt nauseatingly dizzy when he did. He tried speaking, but his throat felt as if it had been filled with sand and made even the thought of speaking hurt. He put his hands up on the ground and lifted his torso off it to look around. He was in an unknown part of the jungle and he wondered just how far the stream had taken him. He had never gone far away from the village, had never explored the jungle alone so it wasn't hard to understand why he felt so lost.

The unmistakable sound of a jaguar's roar echoed in the jungle and Arnold knew it was close by. He forced himself up on his feet, hissed at the pain in his ankle and then jogged through the jungle, careful not to put too much pressure on his left foot. Soon he was face to face with a jaguar with its paw in a leghold trap and Arnold forgot about his own pain the instance he saw it.

"Poor creature…" he whispered to himself before approaching it. As soon as he was near it, he heard a sound that was close by. Before he could react, he felt something around his right ankle pull at him. His head hit the ground before he was pulled upwards and bounced awkwardly in an upside-down position. The jaguar was sneering at him in fear, but clearly didn't see him as an actual threat in his current position. "Damn!"

Arnold reached for his knife, but it wasn't in his belt and he cursed again as he looked around for it. Deciding he must have lost it in the water and not when he was caught by the trap, he started swinging forwards and backwards in order to get himself up and hopefully break the knot somehow. When he got too close for comfort to the jaguar though, he decided to give up on that plan.

"Don't worry," Arnold said though he wasn't sure if he was talking to the jaguar or to himself. "we'll get out… I just don't know how yet."

Some happy yelling caught Arnold's ears and he twisted his body around to look towards it. Some men were approaching him and he quickly stuffed his amulet into his breast pocket and prayed that the button would hold it in place so he wouldn't lose that like he lost his knife. The men that appeared were dressed the same as the poachers from before, but they were different men. Arnold assumed they were comrades one way or another though.

"Well, lookie here!" one of them men said when he saw Arnold dangling from the trap. "You're a funny-looking jaguar, ain't ya'?"

"Sir, that is not a jaguar."

"I know that, you fool!" the man said and slapped the much younger man at the back of his head. "I was being facetious."

"We've got ourselves a real fine jaguar here though." Another man said, poked the jaguar and laughed when it hissed at him.

"Leave it alone!" Arnold shouted before he could stop himself.

"Well, what do you know? The boy speaks English." A fourth poacher said and approached Arnold. "Well, he's also blonde now that I look at him. Where are you from?"

Arnold held his tongue at that question. "Answer him, boy." He was told before a knife was put at his throat. Arnold stayed quiet though before he grabbed the knife and cut the man's hand before he could get away fast enough. "You insolent, little - - "

Arnold was shouting as the men got him down from the trap, but he was soon tied up by his hands. He thrashed about, but the binds were tight and he was thrown over the shoulder of the biggest man before he could do anything about it. He wiggled around and started shouting for his parents when the panic consumed him, but the jungle only gave him silence in return. As they walked for what felt like hours, he could feel the tears stream over his temples and he saw them fall down the sand once they reached water. His frustration and sadness were replaced with confusion when he saw wood under him. He was put down on the floor and he had to blink his tears away as he took in his unfamiliar surroundings.

Because Arnold had never left the jungle, he had never seen anything besides the plants of the jungle and its animals. So he didn't know what the place he was at this very moment was a ship docked to the beach and he had no idea just how far away he was from the safety of the Green-Eyes' village. He looked around in absolute confusion and when he noticed the water below the ship, he wondered why they weren't sinking. That was all he got to wonder though before some iron bars in the floor was opened and he was thrown into what he would call a trapping pit. He groaned when he hit the hard floor and then the bars were closed on him, creating square shadows on his face as he looked at the sky.

The tears that had fallen down his temples earlier, now fell down Arnold's cheeks. He let his head fall down only for the rest of his body to follow it on the floor. He lied down awkwardly, with his hands tied behind his back and his face rubbing against the hard wooden floor. While he sobbed, he thought of what might have happened to his parents and whether they were safe. He wondered if they were searching the jungle for him and if they were as scared as he was that he would never return home. The exhaustion he had felt since getting out of the water consumed him again and he felt himself drift off to sleep with the sun still baking on his cheek.

"Hey… Hey, boy! Wake up!"

Arnold groaned at the sound of someone yelling above him. His entire body was sore and his ankle only felt worse. The voice kept calling for him though and he turned around on his back, opened his eyes and saw a figure behind the bars above him.

"Finally." The figure said in annoyance before they moved their hand into Arnold's vision and threw something down at him. Arnold gasped and managed to roll to the side before something clanked next to his head. "Roll a bit more."

Arnold obeyed the stranger and once he was out of the way, a knife fell down next to him. Arnold stared at the object in disbelief. Next to the knife was a bundle of keys, but Arnold didn't know that was what they were. All he saw was something silver. The figure above him started talking and he turned around to look up at them.

"In a few hours we'll dock at a place called Hillwood. Everyone will leave the ship and that's your chance to get out of here. Use the knife to cut the rope and the keys to get out of here."

"The keys?"

"Oh, right, you grew up in the jungle." The figure muttered to themselves. "Those things I threw down to you with the knife, those are called keys. You put one of them into the keyhole up here at the bars and then you turn it until the bars are unlocked."

"Unlocked?"

"One of those keys will open the bars and then you can get out of here."

"W-Wait! What do I do once I'm out of here?"

"You get as far away from the ships as possible so they can't find you!"

"But you said that we'll be in Hillwood. Where is that? H-How do I get back to San Lorenzo?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you there. I'm sure you can find someone in Hillwood who can help you, but be careful who you trust. People are always willing to take advantage of your ignorance."

"Ignorance?" Arnold repeated in confusion, but shook his head. "Why are you helping me?"

"One thing is to sell animals, I won't let them sell a human being."

"Sell…?" Arnold repeated in horror, but didn't get the chance to ask the figure anymore questions before they disappeared. He looked at the knife and rolled over until he could sit on his knees. He leaned backwards, grabbed the knife and twisted it in his hands until the sharp edge was against the rope. He hissed in pain when he on occasion cut his own skin, but after some struggle he finally had the rope cut open. He sighed in relief, dropped the knife and nursed his wrists. He ignored the blood as he took the knife and hid it in his pants. He then grabbed the keys and studied them. He observed every crook of them until he was sure he understood how they worked and then hid them in his breast pocket.

Arnold felt something hard against his hand and moved the amulet out of his pocket. He sighed in relief at the familiar sight and pressed it against his chest before he hid it in his breast pocket again. A few hours, he reminded himself and lied back down on the rope so if anyone were to look down, they wouldn't see that he was free. He sighed as the waves from under the ship gently rocked him from side to side. He wasn't sure for how long he had been in this trap, but he knew that he was deadly thirsty and so hungry he'd consider eating almost anything. All he could do was hope that this Hillwood jungle would be an easy place to find food.

Like promised, a couple of hours later the moving of the ship halted. Arnold sat upwards almost instantly and listened to the voices above him. Once they were all faded in the distance, he pulled the keys out of his pocket. He bend his knees and then jumped until he reached the bars. After some very awkward fumbling, he managed to unlock the padlock. He let the keys fall to the floor and pushed at the bars until they smashed against the wood. Arnold had to jump up again, but his time in the jungle made him agile enough to do that with ease and pull himself up on the ship. He didn't take a moment to observe the ship for even a moment before he ran towards the edge of it and jumped off it and landed on some rocks.

It was only then that Arnold noticed a cold wind blowing on his face and he felt cold for the first time in his life. He shivered for a moment, but quickly started running away from the ship as the strange good Samaritan had advised. It didn't take long before his eyes betrayed him though and he had to stop to take in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was what looked like slow, white rain falling from the sky. A drop landed on his nose and he tried grabbing it, but it melted in his hand like regular water.

Arnold frowned at the dark sky, wondering what this white stuff was before he looked back at the ground and realized that it was filled with the white stuff. He touched it curiously, but pulled his hand back in shock when the coldness shot through him like electricity though both terms were unfamiliar to him. He thanked God that he was wearing boots though and wasn't walking around barefoot as he sometimes did in the jungle. He quickly buttoned the last two buttons on his shirt and he unfolded the sleeves to cover his arms up. Unfortunately he couldn't do much about his khaki shorts so he had to leave his legs bare except for the boots.

Arnold walked through the snow and noticed his footprints. He looked behind himself and watched in curiosity as he left his prints in the snow. His curiosity faded soon since he had naturally seen his own footprints before whenever he was treading mud in the jungle. His attention was led towards the buildings around him that caused him to lean backwards in awe. It looked like someone had taken all the mountains and decided to make them square, but there were holes in the mountains and you could look inside them. In some of them there were lights and others were completely black or covered by some sort of fabric.

As Arnold kept looking around, his eyes wide in wonder and fear, he felt that he was still in the jungle… but a very different kind.

Author's 2nd note: How many of you recognized Tanana's name? ;) It's the shaman's name from Brother Bear. Oh, and Arnold jumping off the cliff and into the waterfall was also inspired by the child's mother from "Ice age".

So that was the end of the very first chapter of "Strangers like me"! I hope this story has caught your interest and that you will continue reading it. I'm definitely pumped for continuing this story so I hope others feel as excited as I do :D Until next time then!