Welcome back readers! I would thank everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed my story. I really appreciate it. We are now about to meet Colonel Hathi and the elephant patrol. So here we go!
Chapter 4: Meeting Colonel Hathi
Morning finally came to the jungle and Sora, Kairi, Bagheera and Mowgli were still asleep peacefully.
Suddenly, the ground started to shake and there appeared to be a sound of loud marching happening away from the tree.
The shaking ground woke Sora and Kairi from their sleep. "Sora, what's going on? Why is the ground shaking?"
"I don't know Kairi." Sora said looking around to find where the shaking was coming from. He then saw something. "Kairi look!"
They saw the source of the shaking ground. It was a parade of Indian elephants marching in a single file line and counting a military cadence with one elephant carrying a bamboo stick on his trunk. The elephant named Colonel Hathi was the leader of the parade.
"Wow! Elephants!" Kairi exclaimed excitedly. This was the first time she saw elephants up close.
"Let's get a closer look." Sora suggested. The duo went to get a closer look at the marching elephants.
Mowgli woke up next and saw the marching elephants. "A parade." Mowgli said in awe.
Bagheera woke up next. "Oh no." He said in distress. "The Dawn Patrol again." Bagheera covered his ears not wanting to hear any more of the Dawn Patrol.
Mowgli got down from the tree using a vine and went to get a closer look.
"Company! Sound off!" Colonel Hathi commanded and then the other elephants sang a marching song.
"Oh the aim of our patrol is a question rather droll. For to march and drill over field and hill." The elephants sang then trumpeted their trunks.
"Is a military goal." Hathi sang.
"Is a military goal." The elephants sang.
The elephants counted cadence again and Sora ad Kairi were astonished by the Dawn Patrol. But they spotted Mowgli who was on the other side of the marching line.
What Sora, Kairi saw next had they adored. There was a baby elephant marching with the patrol in the back but was catching up. This was Colonel Hathi's son.
"Aww. Look at the little elephant. He's adorable." Kairi said in awe.
"He sure is." Sora said as the duo continued to watch the march.
The elephants sang again. "By the ranks or single file, over every jungle mile. Oh the way we stamp and crush through the underbrush."
Hathi Jr. caught up and trumpeted. "In the military style." The baby elephant said in an adorable voice.
"In the military style." The elephants sang.
Sora and Kairi then saw Mowgli walking to the baby elephant. "Mowgli. What are you doing?" The duo thought as they walked to Mowgli while hiding themselves so they would not be seen by the Dawn Patrol.
Mowgli caught up to Jr. "Hello. What are you doing?" Mowgli asked.
"Shh. Drilling." Jr. answered quietly.
"Can I do it too?" Mowgli asked.
"Sure. Just do what I do. But don't talk in rank in rank. It's against regulations." Jr. said.
Mowgli began to march the same way as Jr. in the rear of the file. Sora and Kairi tried to think of a way to get Mowgli out of the march.
"What do we do Sora?" Kairi asked.
"I don't know. If we do something we might interfere with the march. And I don't want to know what might happen to us when that leader of theirs finds out." Sora said.
"Leader? I think he's more like a military commander to me." Kairi said.
"Your right Kairi. We definitely need to make sure he doesn't see us. A commander like this guy, he definitely would not like it when he sees us."
"I agree. We should wait until they stop then we'll get Mowgli out." Kairi said and Sora nodded in agreement.
The duo walked to where Mowgli was.
"To the rear… March!" Hathi commanded and the patrol began marching in the other direction.
Mowgli and Jr. collided into each other. "The other way. Turn around." Jr. said as Mowgli turned around and marched in the same direction as the patrol.
The patrol continued to march but Hathi commanded again. "To the rear… ho!"
The patrol marched the other way again but Mowgli was unaware. When he found out he broke the march and caught up to Jr.
"Company… Halt!" Hathi commanded and the patrol stopped but Mowgli collided into Jr.
Jr. turned to Mowgli. "That means stop." He said.
Hathi stood in front of the patrol. "Company… left face!" He commanded and the elephants turned to the left facing him.
One of the elephants, a female named Winifred began complaining. "March, March, march. My feet are killing me."
An elephant next to her spoke up. "I'm putting in for a transfer to another herd." He said.
"Silence in the ranks!" Hathi commanded, then the elephants stood in attention.
"Now?" Kairi asked about Mowgli who was standing next to Jr.
"Not yet. The leader will definitely see us if we get Mowgli now." Sora said.
Kairi nodded in agreement and hid themselves.
Hathi walked behind the elephants and saw their rears were close to the ground. "Dress up that line!" He commanded.
The elephants stood up more straight except Winifred. He whipped his bamboo at her and she stood up straight. "Pull it in Winifred."
Hathi walked back up to the front of the patrol line. "Inspection… arms!" He commanded.
The elephants stuck their trunks out for inspection. But Mowgli was still looking down.
"Stick your nose out." Jr. said to Mowgli.
He stuck his nose out. "Like this?" He asked.
"That's right" Jr said before returning to his original posture.
Hathi began inspecting the elephant's trunks starting with the one next to Winifred. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. Dusty muzzle. Soldier, remember in battle that trunk can save your life. Take good care of it my man." Hathi said to the elephant.
"Yes sir!" The elephant exclaimed.
"Very good, carry on." Hathi said before inspecting the next elephant who is chewing on grass, who has rotting tusks and looking bored out of his mind.
"Ahem. Mmm. Let's have a little more spit and polish on those bayonets." Hathi said as the elephant dropped the grass and looked serious this time.
"Yes sir." The elephant said.
Hathi took a break from inspection. "Esprit do Corps! That's the way I earned my commission in the Maharaja's pachyderm brigade." Hathi said about to tell an old war story he experienced. "Back in '88 it was, or was it?"
Winifred complained again. "Here it comes, the Victoria-cross bit again." She said to the elephant next to her.
Sora and Kairi were listening to Hathi's story. "It was then I received the Victoria Cross for bravery above and beyond the call of duty. Ha-ha!" Hathi said with a chuckle. "Those were the days!"
Hathi grew serious again. "Discipline. Discipline was the thing. Builds character and all that sort of thing." He said leaning on his bamboo stick which snapped.
"Oh… Where was I?" Hathi asked himself. "Oh yes, inspection."
Hathi continued inspection. He looked at the next elephant in the platoon. "Well, very good." He said impressed.
He looked at the next elephant who wore a large smile on his face. "Wipe off that silly grin soldier. This is the army." Hathi scolded the elephant causing him to frown.
He looked at the next elephant who seemed distracted by a fly which was flying around his head. Hathi swatted the fly after landing on the elephant. "Ahem. Eyes front." He said to the elephant who then looked straight.
He saw the next elephant who had very long hair on his head. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. Lieutenant, that haircut is not regulation. Rather on the gaudy side, don't you think?" He said cutting the hair short using the bamboo stick. "There that's better."
He then turned to his son. "And as for you…" He said before looking down at him. "Oh, there you are. Heh-heh-heh. Let's keep those heels together, shall we son?
"Ok Pop… sir!" Jr. said standing at attention.
"That's better." Hathi said.
Sora and Kairi were watching the whole thing. "Looks like that baby elephant is the commander's son." Sora said.
"Yeah." Kairi agreed with him. "For a military commander, he certainly does have an affection towards his son."
Sora nodded in agreement.
Hathi then turned to Mowgli which made Sora and Kairi worried. "Uh-oh." They both quietly said in unison.
"Well, a new recruit eh? Hahahaha!" Hathi said but he grew suspicious of Mowgli. "I say, what happened to your trunk?" He asked pushing Mowgli's face with his stick.
"Hey stop that!" Mowgli exclaimed pushing the stick away.
Hathi sputtered before talking in an angry tone. "A man cub! This is treason!" He exclaimed grabbing Mowgli with his trunk. "Sabotage! I'll have no man cub in my jungle!"
Sora and Kairi saw what was happening and immediately jumped out of hiding to confront Hathi. "Hey! Wait a minute! Who said this was your jungle?!" Sora exclaimed angrily at Hathi.
"What?! Now two wolves?!" Hathi yelled angrily at Sora and Kairi. "What is the meaning of this blasphemy?!"
"Put Mowgli down." Kairi said firmly while standing next to Sora. "He didn't do anything to you. We're just here to get him out of your patrol."
"Nonsense! I'll have you know I have a strong distrust towards man and wolves too!" Hathi exclaimed. "I am the commander here! And I will not be ordered by a mere man cub and his wolf friends!"
Before the situation could escalate Bagheera appeared before Hathi on a branch. "Hold it, hold it! I can explain Hathi."
"Colonel Hathi if you please sir." Hathi retorted as he set Mowgli down on the ground.
"Oh yes, yes, Colonel Hathi." Bagheera grumbled. "The man cub is with me. I'm taking him to the man village. The wolves—Sora and Kairi—are helping me."
"To stay?" Hathi questioned.
"Yes Colonel Hathi. We're just trying to take him to the man village." Sora said in agreement with Bagheera.
"Please sir. We did not mean to interfere with your dawn patrol." Kairi said. "Mowgli here seemed to have become friends with your son here."
"Yes. He was just befriending your son. I'm sure he didn't mean to interfere." Sora said and Mowgli nodded in agreement with Sora.
Hathi took a few minutes to think. He then spoke up. "Very well. You can take the man cub back."
"Thank you Colonel." Sora said.
"But I have a warning to all of you." Hathi said in a serious tone. "The man cub is your responsibility. If I see him causing any more trouble with my patrols, I will hold all of you responsible. Understand?"
"Yes sir." Sora and Kairi said in unison.
"You have the word of Bagheera." Bagheera said.
"Good. And remember, an elephant never forgets." Hathi said turning around to leave.
While he was making his way to the front he was mumbling to himself about what the army has gotten too. The elephants were dosing off but woke up again. "Ahem, let's get on with it. Right face!" The elephants turned but were squished into each other.
"Forward March!" Hathi commanded and the elephants marched again. Except that Jr. was left behind and seemed to be playing with Mowgli, Sora and Kairi.
"Hey Jr. Your dad forgot about you." Sora said.
"Don't worry guys, he'll find out." Jr. reassured him in a happy tone.
"An elephant never forgets?" Kairi asked in a sarcastic tone making everyone laugh.
Winifred caught up with Hathi and spoke to him. "Dear, haven't you forgotten something?" She asked.
"Nonsense, Winifred, old girl. An elephant never forgets." Hathi answered in a confident tone.
"Well, you just forgot our son." Winifred said.
"Ah yes... Son? Son?" He asked turning to see Jr. still playing with Mowgli, Sora and Kairi. "Oh yes, quite right... To the rear... march!" He commanded and the elephants marched in the other direction squishing into each other again.
"When I grow up, I'm gonna be a colonel. Just like my pop." Jr said.
"Wow. That's very nice Jr." Sora said.
"Yeah. I have a feeling you'll make a great colonel." Kairi said in a sweet tone. "You'll definitely do your dad proud."
"Aww gee. Thanks guys." Jr said in an appreciative tone.
Sora saw Hathi approaching Jr. looking stern at him. "Uh. Speaking of your dad." He said nervously.
Hathi grabbed Jr. by the trunk. "If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times." He said before Jr. interrupted him.
"Pop! Look out!" Jr exclaimed but it was too late.
"Uh oh." Sora and Kairi said in unison. All the elephants who were marching behind Hathi crashed right into each other forming a huge elephant pile.
"Ooohh. That's got to hurt." Sora said witnessing the crash.
"Gee, Pop. You forgot to say 'halt'." Jr. said and Sora Kairi and Mowgli laughed again.
"He said an elephant never forgets." Mowgli said making everyone laugh harder.
Bagheera looked at everyone with a stern look on his face. "What?" Sora and Kairi asked in unison.
"It's not funny. Let's get out of here quick before anything else happens." Bagheera said leading everyone away from the elephants.
"Whew. That was pretty intense." Sora said to Kairi.
"Yeah. Let's hope we don't run into trouble with Colonel Hathi ever again." Kairi said.
"Yeah. The last thing I want is Colonel Hathi and the elephant patrol crushing us to paste." Sora said.
Everyone continued to walk until they came to a wide stream with a log over it. Mowgli the asked the worst question possible. "Bagheera where are we going?"
"You're going back to the man village right now." Bagheera replied as he began to walk across the log.
Mowgli looked very angry and planted his foot firmly on the ground. "I'm not going!"
Bagheera looked angry too. "Oh yes you are!"
Mowgli wrapped his arms around the trunk of a narrow tree." I'm staying right here!"
"Hey, hey, hey guys! Can you cut it out?!" Sora exclaimed to both of them, not liking the situation happening.
"Mowgli. We know how you feel." Kairi said diplomatically. "But we need to. What about Shere Khan?"
"I'm not afraid of some stupid tiger!" Mowgli exclaimed. "I'm staying here!"
"You're going back to the man village if I have to drag you every step of the way!" Bagheera growled angrily before latching his jaws onto Mowgli's loin cloth attempting to drag him to the man village.
"Guys! Knock it off!" Sora said angrily not wanting to physically interfere for fear things would escalate a lot further.
"Stop it guys!" Kairi said trying to break them up too. "Break it up!"
Bagheera and Mowgli continued to struggle "Let go of me!" Mowgli exclaimed.
Sora and Kairi screamed in unison.
"STOP!" They screamed and Bagheera was released from his grip on Mowgli and was launched into the stream and hitting his head on the log.
"Oh, that does it!" Bagheera said as he emerged from the stream and stormed away. "I have had it man cub! From now on, you're on your own! Alone!"
Bagheera and Mowgli stormed off.
Sora looked very angry and began yelling at Bagheera. "Fine Bagheera! Get out of here! I hope we don't see you again!" He exclaimed angrily. "At least we are way better role models to Mowgli than you ever were!"
"Sora! Calm down!" Kairi calmed Sora down. "Look, I know you're angry at Bagheera and probably upset about Mowgli. But right now we need to focus on what we discussed last night. We need to convince Mowgli why he needs to be safe from Shere Khan but in
our way."
"But Bagheera and Mowgli." Sora said but Kairi interrupted him.
"We need both of them if we're going to get through this, which means we have to fix this strained relationship they have." Kairi said.
Sora calmed down but still mad at Bagheera. "Ok Kairi. I trust you."
"Good. I'll go talk some sense to Bagheera. You try to talk some sense to Mowgli." Kairi suggested.
"Ok Kairi." Sora said and the duo parted ways attempting to fix the strained relationship between Bagheera and Mowgli.
And another chapter down! I hope you guys liked the encounter with Colonel Hathi and the drama between Mowgli and Bagheera and how Sora got angry at Bagheera for treating Mowgli badly. In the next chapter, Sora and Kairi will try to fix things with Bagheera and Mowgli. And best of all we will meet Baloo the bear. So stay tuned for more excitement and adventures in the jungle!