Yeah... This is my version of the Jngle Book, so deal with it!
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Jungle Book characters, just borrowed and tweaked them. That's all.
Deep within a jungle, were not a person would dare go, where animals roam free, where water are pure and hearts are true, stor
Deep within a jungle, were not a person would dare go, where animals roam free, where water are pure and hearts are true, stories drift here and there. Tales of love, tales of betrayal, tales of horror, and tales of honor. Tales that befuddle your minds, takes that takes your soul on a journey that you could never possibly imagine. This tale however, is a tale of a young boy who grew to be a young man, a tale of honor, betrayal and love.
Many years ago, when white men found the lands of the natives delightful and took it as their own, there was a family who had a young baby boy. Now this family was one that was not in alliance with the white men. The white men did not like this and banished the family to the jungle. Regrettably, everyone did not survive, but the boy did. Alone in the jungle, he had no chance of surviving until a rather young panther came and rescued the boy from the treacherous grasp of a deadly crocodile. The panther could not raise the child as her own, for she had no mate, nor can she feed the child in anyway. It was not until she met Aketa and his mate who just had a litter. They agreed to care for the child as their own. Summer rains has come and gone until the baby reached the age of ten rains. Now it is his story we must speak of.
Mowgli, which he was called by the wolves, was in the more barren parts of the forest, playing with his brother wolves. "Mowgli! Betcha can't do this!" A young male wolf said as he bound up the rocks to a high peak of a cliff. The other wolves followed and waited for Mowgli to follow.
The boy just smiled. "Just watch and see Seka!" The boy yelled. The peak was a good ways up, about a hundred and something meters. Mowgli showed no fear to the other wolves, but inside he shivered with excitement. He knew his body was not that of his brothers and he could not run like them even if he tried. As his eyes scanned the mountain, he found a pathway that seemed stable enough for him to climb. So he jumped on the bottom rock and slowly climbed up to the rocks that led up to the peak, the other wolves cheered for him as he made it up. Up on the peak was a great view of part of the jungle, their part given to them by the great jungle lord. A large pile of black clouds formed in the sky and there were surprised to see these dark clouds.
"The rains could not have come so soon, could they brother Seka?" A rather young wolf, five rains old, asked.
"No, the rains are not due yet. It had just rained a moon ago." Seka said, fairly confused at the change in weather. He sniffed the air. "It does not smell like rain. Mowgli, what do you think?" He turned to his adopted wolf brother who was strangely frozen. His eyes were unfocused, and his body was oddly stiff as he looked at the cloud with a look on his face that Seka could not place.
His mouth slowly unfroze, and spoke a word that was terrifying to listen to. "Fire." The other wolves' breaths became irregular, as this word was the bane of their lives. Some had the expression of disbelief, after all, how can this be true? Man has not set foot in the jungle for years. Seka knew otherwise, he knew too well.
"Everyone, back to the den, immediately!" Seka shouted to the other wolves. The others obeyed and left Seka, Mowgli and one other wolf on the cliff.
The other wolf looked at Seka. "Seka, how can you be so sure? That can not possibly be fire; man has not come into the jungle for many rains. The last time man came was-"
"Ten rains. Do you not remember? Fire nearly took the life of our brothers and sisters." Seka replied.
Suddenly Mowgli snapped out of his trance and shouted, "The den!" He then rushed down the cliff at a speed that surprised the two wolves. When Mowgli had reached the base of the cliff, Seka realized what Mowgli was shouting about.
"The den's on fire!" Seka and the other wolf ran towards the den. Nearing the den, they saw that the den was on fire and men were around it with traps that held many young wolves. The men were strange looking, with hair unnaturally cut and groomed to a point that it was repulsively mocking nature. They were also wearing cloths that covered the framework of their body, unlike Mowgli who only wore a piece of cloth as big as a banana leaf that circled around his waist and in between his legs hiding what would have hung out and delay his speed. In total, there were five at the moment.
"Sake, get over here." Seka said in a low voice. Sake went over to the tree where Seka was hiding behind. "Do you see Mowgli anywhere?"
"No." Sake answered.
A racket made the two wolves run to where the men were. Mowgli was on the men, trying to free the wolves in the traps. The men were trying to tie Mowgli down but were failing miserably. The men were shouting in some incomprehensible tongue, but it was obvious that they wanted to get out of the jungle. Just hen the men had nearly had Mowgli tied down, one of them let loose a painful scream. It had seemed that Mowgli had shoved his callous foot between the legs of one man. The man let go of Mowgli's legs, which allowed Mowgli a chance to fight back. Seka rushed out to tackle the man who held the arms of his adopted wolf brother. While the wolves and Mowgli both took on a man each, leaving one man unwounded and one man clutching the thing between his legs. The man fighting Sake shouted something to the free man who nodded and grabbed the bags containing many wolf cubs and tossed them onto a thing with many cages. Mowgli wrestled out of his opponent's grip and kicked him between the legs and ran towards the thing. The man on the thing ran off at an incredible speed as Mowgli cling onto the rear of the thing. With all his strength, he climbed up into the thing and began opening the cages as fast as he could. The man shouted something, but Mowgli ignored him and continued to free his captive family. When he freed all of them, his hands were raw and bloody. He was about to jump off the thing when white rough vine that was in a loop was tied around his neck. Mowgli tried to struggle to get out of the rope and out of whatever he was on. The man on the thing, however, threw some more white vines around him and tied the boy to a square thing that was on whatever they were in. The man left Mowgli tied up there, closed the walls in on Mowgli, and went back to the front, laughing. Mowgli struggled to get out of the ropes, but in vain.
Mowgli stayed like that, for the longest time, slipping into sleep and out of sleep as the thing trudged on. As he was slipping into slumber, the thing stopped. He heard several noises outside, a crack as well as soft murmurings and the loud voice of the man who tied him down. Sudden light hit him in the face as the thing that covered the light opened with a soft hiss and crack. He blinded in the sunlight, howling. The murmurings became louder. As he opened his eyes, he saw many people, men and men's objects were staring and laughing at him. He growled at them, his anger building but he could not get out of his bondages. The man that bound him came in ripping his bondages from the square thing, but kept the white vines around him disabling him to move to his will. Mowgli felt him being pulled out into the sunlight, into the mocking and jeers of the crowd that surrounded him. He could feel their scalding words on his skin. He felt the heat of the sun, the brightness of it was blinding him. He was used to the cool dark jungle, than this torrid environment. He could feel the hot blood on his skin and realized that he was in pain. The man was ripping him apart. The thing that the man held in his hand, that was ripping Mowgli apart. Biting his lip, he held back the screams and tears which would only provoke the crowd; he would not show them fear. The pain only increased, Mowgli knew that he was weakening; he hadn't lost this much blood before. By now, the sun was at its peak, the heat was too much for him. He fell to his knees, as the jeering grew louder. All that mattered was that he had to find a way to live. Suddenly, Mowgli felt a cool touch around him; someone was hugging him, defending him from the oncoming blows. The crowd grew silent. Mowgli was in shock. Who in their own mind in this world of man would help a jungle creature? He heard soft voice around him, but his vision was blurry. He could barely see, and he felt himself becoming unconscious.
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