DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! TARZAN AND THE LION KING BELONG TO WALT DISNEY PICTURES.

Chapter I: A Prescription For Disaster...

Deep in the rainforests of Central Africa, there lived a legend, but unlike all legends, this one did not arise from humble beginnings...

It had been 5 years since Tarzan began his life as a gorilla. The crown prince of Arendelle, he was born while his parents were on a voyage to a wedding overseas, but had been carried off by a storm. After braving the elements, they escaped onto a dinghy, and made it to the jungles of Africa. With no hope of reaching home, or any rescue mission from Arendelle, Tarzan's parents, King Angarr and Queen Idunna decided that it was best to make the most of a bad situation. Using wreckage from the ship, and the natural resources around them, they built a house in a great big tree they saw when they came ashore. Yet even in paradise, all is not without danger...

Not long after settling in, the King and Queen were attacked by the mistress of the jungle: a leopardess by the name of Sabor. She only killed them out of self defense, an act she regretted deeply. Coming from the savannas to the east, Sabor, like all animals who roamed those lands, respected and valued the Circle of Life that connected all things in a delicate balance. Yet Tarzan was not orphaned for long. His cries were heard by a kindly gorilla named Kala, who rescued him and raised him as her own, in spite of the reluctance of her husband, Kerchak: the gigantic silverback of the troop. They had lost their son to Sabor as well, but Kala insisted that Tarzan would be a good son.

As he grew, he promised that he would be the best ape ever, so much so that even Kerchak would see in him what Kala saw. Yet now, he was surely in trouble, and he ran for his life. However, as he ran through an empty log, a spider's web tripped him up, causing him to collapse near a great big azobe tree. Something was after him, not a leopard, or another gorilla, but a monster with one gigantic eye. It let loose a mighty roar, before readying its claws for the kill. The little hairless ape ran towards the river, where he found, and startled, Tantor: an elephant calf he recently befriended.

"Run!" He shouted, "It's the Zugor!"

"A monster!?" Tantor asked, and, panicked, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Tantor, despite the fact he was one of the mightiest animals in all Africa, was not the bravest of elephants. In fact, his overreacting caused an elephant stampede two months earlier, due to a misunderstanding and Tarzan accepting a dare that nearly got someone killed. Nevertheless, Tantor remained friends with the young hairless ape afterwards. Tarzan grabbed onto Tantor's tail, trying to hold on as fast as he can so they could escape the predator chasing them. Yet it stopped them in their tracks, causing the elephant calf to run in the other direction, with Tarzan trying to hop onto him. The beast jumped down, and revealed itself to be none other than no predatory monster, but the young gorilla named Terkina: Tarzan's surrogate cousin. Made noticeable by her long hair that curled forward, she was there when Tarzan was rescued by Kala, and had been like a big sister to him ever since, even if her antics did sometimes get him into trouble.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! No fair catchin' a ride!" She shouted as she dropped the feathers she held in her hands, to simulate claws. Tarzan didn't even hear his cousin call out to him, as he was too concentrated on trying to hold onto Tantor. Terk climbed from tree to tree until she leapt down onto Tantor's back, with her arms on her hips. "Uh, hello? Whaddya think you're doing?" She asked her cousin, "Cuz whatever it is, you sure ain't doin' it too good."

"Is it still coming!?" Tantor asked, looking back at his friend, but he then tripped over a large tree root, which sent both Terk and Tarzan tumbling over, front first, onto the forest floor, while he flew sitting down at the base of a tree. That was all he needed to snap out of his funk. He regained his wits and said, "Hey, wait a moment. There's no such thing as the Zugor. He's nothing but an imaginary creature."

"Terk was only pretending," Tarzan explained, "So I could practice running for my life. I'm too slow. If I don't get faster, something terrible's gonna eat me, like a leopard."

"You're the worst gorilla ever," Terk chuckled, "If the Zugor ever did come down from Dark Mountain, you'd be its dinner by now." The troop had just recently settled in a mountainous rainforest to the east, as their usual foraging grounds were inundated from flooding of the Congo River.

"But I bet I could catch you." Tarzan boasted, recovering his stance to try and catch Terk.

"Oh? I'd like to see ya try," she said with a sly grin. Tarzan pounced at his cousin, but she just moved out of the way and said, "Missed me!" He tried again, but once again, Terk moved out of the way too fast for him; this time up a tree. She began shaking her butt to tease her cousin into trying to catch her. With a sigh she remarked, "It's sad, really." After a while, she climbed down and ran off, with Tarzan close after her heels.

"Oh, this is a prescription for disaster," Tantor said happily, relieved to see his two friends having so much fun, running around the base of an old tree, jumping through the holes made by the roots.

Oh, the power to be strong

And the wisdom to be wise

All these things will come to you in time

As Tarzan chased after Terk, he found himself landing face first into a tree root. There were admittedly many things that his surrogate family could do that he couldn't. Next, Terk was swinging from tall trunks of bamboo, but when Tarzan tried to keep up, he grabbed an opposite stalk with both hands, only to fall down, since his feet worked differently than Terk's did. They raced past three of their baby cousins, Taug, Gozan and Chulk, who were bored and wanted to have some fun as well. Nearby, Kerchak was drinking from a nearby stream when Tarzan and Terk ran past him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance at Tarzan's antics, but was surprised to see the three babies running behind the two. He wondered what exactly they were up to.

On this journey that you're making,

It's you who'll reach the peak

Next Terk and Tarzan made their way into the treetops, and began climbing a vine with their feet. Terk got to the other side with no problem, and while Tarzan was initially successful crossing, he ended up losing his balance. Terk looked back to see him getting all tangled in the vine, due to his lack of opposable toes. After that, they raced through the mid-layers of the rainforest. Terk ran to one great branch and jumped across to the opposite tree, just as Tarzan was about to catch up with her. He stopped just at the sight of the branch before him.

Son of man, look to the sky

Lift your spirit, set it free

(Set it free!)

Someday, you'll walk tall with pride

Son of man, a man in time you'll be

"C'mon! You can make it!" Terk called out from the opposite tree, encouraging him to jump. Tarzan judged the distance, nervous to make the jump, but he figured that if his cousin could do it, then so could he.

"Get it together, Tarzan. You can do this..." he muttered to himself. The fur-less ape backed up for a running start, and when he jumped, he tried to grab the branch, but he was just inches away from it that he couldn't reach. Tarzan fell from a height, but luckily, they weren't too high up just yet. He landed with a thud and began skidding down a hill, until he landed into a large rock sticking out of the ground, like a sore thumb. Terk winced as she saw the impact, but looked to see if Tarzan was alright. He lay down atop the rock, which soon gave way from its position, and he held on for dear life, as if on a sled. The three babies were in the way, giggling and laughing when they saw their cousin coming down the hill on the rock. He saw them and yelled, "Watch out!" However, they didn't get out of the way. Instead, the three babies jumped onto Tarzan and were soon sliding downhill with him.

Son of man, look to the sky

Lift your spirit, set it free

(Set it free!)

Someday, you'll walk tall with pride

Son of man, a man in time you'll be

"Tree! Tree!" Terk called out, trying to warn her cousins. Tarzan pushed Gozan off of his face just in time to see the tree that was in their way. He ducked to avoid it, but failed to notice the tree root which sent all four of them flying in midair. The three babies landed safely into the bushes with their large leaves, and all were laughing from having so much fun.

Son of man's a man for all to see...

Tarzan, meanwhile had landed into a nearby mud wallow, also thrilled by the experience. Yet the fun was brought to an end when the babies' mothers, having seen the commotion, rushed to the safety of their sons.

"Are you alright?" One mother asked, as she held Gozan close, but then turned to Tarzan and said, "What is wrong with you? He's just a baby." She then told Gozan, "I don't want you to play with that one anymore."

"One of these days, he's going to hurt someone," muttered the second gorilla as the trio wandered back to their meal with their babies riding on their backs.

"Kala must be out of her mind. He's a menace." The third mother griped. This left Tarzan reminded that he was looked down upon by the rest of his troop, save for Terk and his mother.

"Nice! Almost wiped out half the troop!" Terk laughed, "Oh, it's like the elephant stampede all over. I can imagine Kerchak's reaction." Then she propped her hair up and scowled, to mimic the troop's silverback and said in a low, grim tone, "'You almost killed someone!'" Then she styled her hair back to mimic her aunt, Kala and said, "'He's only a child, he'll learn. Just give him a chance,'" in a weepy and sympathetic voice, then switched back to mocking Kerchak, "He will never survive in the jungle! He can't run, he can't climb; he's a danger to all of us! Now, I think I'll grunt impressively.'" She then let out a grunt, and then just began laughing. Yet Tarzan didn't find it particularly funny at all. It only reminded him of that time Kerchak disapproved of him from the stampede he accidentally caused. Seeing this, Terk went over to console the hairless ape.

"Hey, cousin. You know I'm only kidding, right?" She asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. In the time since that stampede, Terk had gotten a lot closer with Tarzan, and acted more of a big sister to her cousin, rather than lounging around with Flynt and Mungo. Tarzan only nodded sadly in response. Then Terk had an idea, "C'mon, let's go see if we can go termite fishing. Maybe we'll get loads more than usual this time!" Tarzan only smiled sympathetically, since it would help him get his mind off things, and escape Kerchak's ire. Tarzan hadn't tried termites yet, but from what Terk told him, they sounded quite tasty.

...

That night, with an unsuccessful attempt at the termite mounds, Tarzan was still depressed about what happened earlier, thinking about it even as Kala tried to tuck him into the nest. She could tell something was bothering her son.

"Tarzan, what's wrong?" She asked, "Sweetie, you can tell me."

"I'm not a very good ape," Tarzan told her, "I'm too slow, and I can't outrun the Zugor."

"The Zugor?" She asked with a laugh, and sat down with her son "Tarzan, you know that the Zugor doesn't exist. That's just an ancient ghost story."

"But if he was real, he'd eat me..."

"I'll tell you what, if the Zugor ever comes after you, I'll protect you. I promise."

"But mom, then you'd be in danger because of me." Tarzan just hung his head and sat on the ledge of the tree branch. "Everyone would be better off if I wasn't around..." Suddenly, an idea sparked into Kala's head.

"Follow me," she said, "There's something that you need to see." Kala let Tarzan ride her back as she took him towards a dead tree that separated a rift that led straight down to the valley below. She explained to her son, "This tree once stood here all on its own, long before you were born."

"What happened to it?" Tarzan asked curiously.

"Well, one day, there was a major storm; the wind blew so strong that the tree finally fell over," she replied as they crossed to the opposite side of the rift. "Though, look at that." Tarzan looked ahead, as his mother led them both towards what appeared to be one great tree, surrounded by multiple other trees. It was an awe-inspiring sight to behold. As they came closer, Kala explained, "This tree is the strongest tree in all the rainforest, because it has tens of thousands of trunks all helping at once to lift the branches into the sky. Each trunk is different than the others. Some are thin, others are thick. Some are knotted and some are straight."

"That one looks fat," said Tarzan humorously as he looked around him. Kala couldn't help but laugh at her son's remark

"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Though they all help to make the tree strong enough to weather through the fiercest of storms. They're all connected, like a family."

"Like our family?"

"Exactly. You need your family, Tarzan, and the troop needs you."

"No one needs me..."

"I do, and so does your cousin, Terk." Tarzan smiled at his mother and jumped into her arms for an embrace. "And I always will." Kala did not know it, but she had explained to her son a concept he would soon learn a great deal of in the years to come. It would be a lesson he would cherish for all time.

A/N: Hey! For those of you familiar with my works, welcome to the first ever crossover and Disney fanfiction I've written. Huge thanks to TC-96 of DeviantArt for allowing me to use her drawing for the cover image! So, if you're unfamiliar with the premise, this basically is an alternate take on the midquel, Tarzan II, which focuses on Tarzan's childhood before he met Jane. However, it definitely takes a turn towards The Lion King later on, so expect to find some familiar and beloved characters.

If you have paid attention to the little Easter egg I placed in there, then that comes from the hype two years ago when the directors of Frozen confirmed that Tarzan is in fact Elsa and Anna's long lost brother. The names for the three babies are actually Mangani names from the original Tarzan novels that the films are based off of. Let me know what you guys think, and leave a review down below! Mind you, I'm still a bit nervous, since I've never done a Disney fanfic before, so hopefully I won't get emails from them for copyright infringement.