Author's Note: Disney had planned a Jungle Book 3 where Shere Khan escaped the statue head. This is my take on the idea.
Shere Khan lay in the statue's head. He had lost track of how many days he had been down there. Hunger clawed at him, but worse than the hunger was the all-consuming thirst. Death wasn't far off. Even Lucky had stopped coming once he had stopped responding to the vulture. There was no hope for him, and he didn't deserve hope anyway.
With nothing but his thoughts, Khan had had a lot of time to think on his past actions. His hate for Man was foolish and useless. Look where it had gotten him. Trapped and left to die alone from dehydration and starvation. He couldn't hate all humans for the actions of a few so many years ago. Yes they had taken his parents, but he had killed the hunters responsible. His parents had been avenged, there had been no need for him to keep on killing.
If only he could escape and start over, starting with Mowgli, the innocent child he had tried to kill twice simply for being human. It didn't matter anymore, now. Soon he would be only a memory, a story parents told their young at night to get them to behave, like his parents had with him about the Red Dogs. Shere Khan would be nothing more than a scary story.
A cracking above caught his attention. Then a boulder smashed part of the statue head before sliding into the lava. He stared at the gaping hole in disbelief. Getting to shaky feet he looked up. Determination filled him. He had hope after-all. He leaped onto the wall and began the slow climb to the jungle above.
End Note: My first Jungle Book fic. This will be multiple chapters. Please review.