Katerina slowly woke up by weird noises of a sniffing. She opened her eyes slowly to meet a big nose that belongs to a bear. Her eyes grow wide and she gave a small scream. The bear pulled away and sat down, frowning, "Shhh. Relax kid," He said as she moved away from him. "No need to work out, okay?"
Katerina's back was pressed against a wall and she looked at the bear, "Where am I?" She asked. "Huh, this is a cave," The bear pointed out. "It's my cave." She looked around before back at the bear as he studied her, "You don't remember what happened, do you?"
"No," She said. "I saved your life. Yeah, I snatched you from the "Jaws of death" and lucky for you, your new favorite hero, old Baloo here, just happened to be passing by," The bear, Baloo said. "No big deal. Just tell me this; Can you climb?"
Katerina looked up at him with a frown, "Yeah . . ." She replied. Baloo smiled, "Then let's quit wasting time, and get on with it," He said as he moved to get out of the save. Katerina frowned again, "Get on with what?" She asked. "Payback, kid, payback," He said.
"What do you mean 'payback'? Payback for what?" She asked, rushing after him. "You owe me kid," Baloo said as they got out of the cave. "You owe me, you owe me."
"Slow down," She said as she ran over him. "And you have to pay me back," Baloo said and she walked beside him. "But, but . . ." She started. "'Cause it's right, it right . . . You going to do the right thing. This is the right thing. You paying me back 'cause you owe me," He said.
He led Katerina to a big mountain made of rocks, he placed his paws on the rocks and tried to lick away a thick liquid. Katerina watched him with a frown before he turned to her, "Okay, here's our little task," He started as he turned his gaze up, "You see that golden stuff dripping down there? That's call 'honey'."
Katerina looked up as he continued, "All you have to do, little one, for payback purposes is to just shimmy on up there and get me that thing up there that's making that funny noise, and bring it back down."
Her eyes grew wide and turned back to Baloo, "You're kidding me, right?" She asked, hoping he was joking. He sat down, "No, not really."
Katerina scoffed and turned around, "I can get killed going up there," She said and started to walk away, "No thank you."
"Kid," Baloo started and she turned back to him, "Kid, kid, kid. Try to understand this; I'm a bear. It means that I have to eat my weight every day -" He got up, "- For hibernation purposes. I know I'm asking for a lot, but I don't climb and you do. Look, I really need your help. Winter's coming. You don't want me to go to sleep, and never wake up."
Katerina sighed and looked back up at the end of the mountain where that honey was. She thought for a moment how to get there when suddenly an idea came to her mind. She smiled a little and turned around to run off. She grabbed a few ropes before taking off back to the mountain.
It took Katerina some time, but when she got on top of the mountain, she used the ropes and tied one part around a tree, and grabbed a long stick to use it for dropping the honey. She started to climb down the mountain cliff, holding the rope tightly as she lowered herself close to the honey.
Baloo was watching from below in curiosity and amazement as the little girl was getting closer to the honey. Katerina looked at the bees that were around the honey, in hesitantly. "There are a lot of bees up here," She called down to the bear.
"Yeah, some," Baloo agreed, "But don't worry. These ones don't sting." Katerina looked back at the bees worriedly, but took a deep breath and started to hit the honey with the stick.
"Attagirl!" Baloo cheered happily, as the honey started to drip down. Katerina cried in pain, "Ow! I'm getting stung!" It caused her to drop the stick.
It landed down right next to Baloo, making the bear sigh, "Okay." He shook his head before looking up at the human cub, calling up for her, "I would've done this myself, but I'm afraid of heights."
Right then, a Pangolin came over, looking up, "Oh boy, here we go again," He said, sighing. Baloo looked down at him, "Why don't you mind your own business?" He looked back up, happily, "You can do it!"
"She's just gonna run away," The Pangolin said. "Not this one," Baloo said. The Pangolin scoffed, "As soon as the monkeys get stung, they always run away."
"She's not a monkey," Baloo said. "What is she?" The Pangolin asked. "A woman cub," Baloo answered. "A woman cub?" The Pangolin repeated in disbelieve, "As a human cub?"
"Yeah!" Baloo said, finally looking down at him, "And could you keep your voice down? I'm trying to concentrate." He looked back up at Katerina, "Everything going A-okay up there?"
"Ow!" The human cub cried, hitting the honey with her legs. A giant squirrel came over fast, climbing on a small tree next to the Pangolin, "Oh boy. Looks like you got another one."
"Buzz off," Baloo said before looking back up. "It's a woman cub," The Pangolin told the squirrel. "A woman cub?" The squirrel repeated. "Yeah, it's a woman cub," The Pangolin said.
"It's not a monkey?" The squirrel asked. "No, it's a woman cub. A human cub," The pangolin said.
Baloo clearly was getting annoyed by the two animals, looking back down at them, "You have never been a more endangered species, than you are at this moment." The bear looked back up at the human cub, "You're doing an amazing job!"
"I'm getting stung!" Katerina called. A Pygmy Hog came over, "Oh boy, here we go again."
"It's not a monkey, Fred," The squirrel said. "It's a woman cub," The pangolin added. "A woman cub?" The pig, Fred repeated. "Yeah, it's a woman cub," The pangolin said. "Can you believe it?" The squirrel asked.
"Are you sure?" Fred asked. "Would you please shut up?" Baloo snapped, turning back to the three animals and then back up, "Hey, up there! Everything is going fantastically, I see."
Katerina continued to hit the honey, "Ow!" She cried. One small piece of the honey fell down and the human cub breathed heavily.
"You got it!" The bear encouraged, "Believe in yourself!" Katerina started to hit the honey once again with her legs, managing to move it more. "There you go!" Baloo said.
"Ow!" Katerina cried again but continued. "Yeah! Almost!" Baloo said. The human cub gave one last slam, and the honey fell down. "Oh, yeah!" Baloo said as the honey fell.
"Uh-oh," Fred said right before the honey fell on him. The bear immediately started to eat, while the two other animals looked at the honey as they tilted their heads. "Fred?" The squirrel asked.
Katerina climbed back up to the top, lying down on the grass, sighing in relief. She winced a little by the stings of the bees left on her but other than that she was happy that she could help the bear.
She looked down to see Baloo stopped eating as the pig pulled himself up from the honey. Baloo grabbed him and hold him up, licking the honey from him. "Oh yeah, exfoliate me," Fred said.
Baloo licked the honey from Fred and then placed him down on the ground. Katerina reached down to them and stood in front of Baloo, throwing her arms up, "You said they didn't sting, what do you call this?" She gestured around her body at the stings the bees left.
"How the heck did you do that?" The bear asked, "Oh those must have been females! They look like males from down here. Females do sting." He licked his paw, "Just put some honey on those."
The human cub gave him a look, "Honey? Really?" She asked. "Yeah," Baloo said, "You put it on, you lick it off. You feel much better."
"It's nature's ointment," The squirrel agreed, standing in front of Katerina with a piece of honey and whispered, "I put it everywhere." He hold it up for her to take, and she smiled thankfully to him as she took it. "Thanks," She said before looking at Baloo as she started to walk away, "Okay, so we're even now."
The bear looked at her, "Hold on a minute, Bear cub" He got up and started to follow her as she put on the honey on the stings. "What's your name anyway? We were never properly introduced."
"Katerina," The woman cub said. "Katerina?" Baloo repeated, "Katerina is a great name." Katerina started to put some honey on her back as the bear continued to follow her, "I bet you got that one all to yourself, too." He licked her back from the honey.
"Hey!" Katerina said. "Katerina, look," Baloo said, "I got a lot of gathering to do these next couple of weeks on account of the hibernation. I could really use you help. You know, if you stuck around -"
"I can't," Katerina said, "I have to go to the man village." Baloo stopped walking in confusion while Katerina continued. "Uh . . ." Baloo trilled off as he continued with her, "Wha - For what reason, man village?"
"I don't have a choice. There's a tiger hunting me," Katerina said. "Really? Why a tiger?" Baloo asked. "Because I'm a human cub," Katerina said, "Just leave me alone."
Baloo stopped walking while Katerina continued. He slowly smiled and he quickly followed her again, "Hey, hey, Katerina, my friend. Slow down a second, Bear cub."
"Bagheera said I have to go to the man village," Katerina said. Baloo scoffed, "Oh, Bagheera! I know him. Sure. You know what his problem is? He always plays by the rules. And sometimes rules were meant to be, well not necessarily broken, but certainly bent. And definitely reinterpreted. Don't you think?"
"But he told me to go to the man village, so, that's where I'm gonna go," Katerina said. "Okay, fine," Baloo said, "You wanna go to the man village, have it your way, in fact, I'll do you one better, I'll take you there myself." He started to walk past her, hitting her slightly with his back, "Come on, let's go, it's getting late." Katerina frowned but quickly followed him.
... ...
After an hour or so of walking, Baloo was making weird noises that Katerina didn't recognized. "Bare necessities," Baloo hummed, "Forget about your worries and your strife. I mean the bare necessities . . ."
"What's that?" Katerina finally asked. "That's a song about the good life," Baloo answered. The human cub titled her head, "What's a song?"
The bear looked at her in shock, "You never heard a song before? Everyone's got a song. Didn't the wolves ever sing?"
Katerina shrugged, "I don't know. Um . . . We recited the Law of the Jungle. 'This is the law of the jungle, as old and true as the sky. The wolves the keeps it prosper, the wolf that will breaks it will die. Like a creeper that surrounds the tree, the law circles and back, the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack'."
Baloo shook his head, "That's not a song. That's propaganda." With that he continued to walk. Katerina tilted her head and followed him, "What's propaganda?"
... ...
It was already dark when Baloo and Katerina finally reached to the end of the forest, to where the man village was in the distance. The human cub was riding on Baloo's back after she was tired of walking so much without really stopping, so the bear offered to carry her on his back.
They saw the 'red flower' in the man village, and Katerina frowned, "That's the man village?"
"Yep. You can always tell by the 'red flower'," Baloo said, "They do love their 'red flower'." Katerina tilted her head, "The 'red flower' doesn't seem so bad."
"Yeah," Baloo agreed, "Let it loose, and it destroys everything it touches. Don't ever play with it, you got that?" The human cub nodded, "Yeah, got it."
"Good," Baloo said. Katerina looked back at the man village and leaned forwards, "Do you think that's where I'm from?"
"Could be," The bear said, "I don't know, kid. Does it look familiar?" Katerina shook her head, "I don't remember it. All I remember is living with the wolves all my life."
"Why do you wanna go there?" Baloo asked. "Bagheera said I need people," Katerina said. Baloo sighed, rolling his eyes, "Again, with the listening to Bagheera."
"Hey, he's my friend," Katerina said before starting to climb down from Baloo, "Now, I don't even know where he is. Or if he's okay." She sat down on the grass and Baloo sat beside her, both of them looked at the man village.
"I can't believe I'm leaving the Jungle for good," Katerina said sadly. "May I say just one thing?" Baloo asked, "What I saw you do today, I've never seen anything like it. I've been trying to get that honey for years." Katerina frowned, "But, I used my tricks."
"What tricks?" The bear asked. "You know . . ." Katerina trailed off, "Everything that I built. It's just not . . . not the wolf way."
"Who cares? 'The wolf way'," Baloo said, "That's the Katerina way. That's the Baloo way. That's our way. That's how we get things done. I can't even imagine what kind of potential you'd have, if you had somebody like me helping you out. You say you want to go to the man village, there you will be someone they want you to be. I say, you could be whatever you want to be, right here. I'll tell you what, now you know where the man village is." Katerina rested her head on him as he continued, "You can always go down there, whenever you want. But, I would personally appreciate it, as a personal favour to me, personally if we just worked together, just us, tricks and all. And I think it would be interesting to see just how much honey we could accumulate before winter. Whatever I could do to make your trickiness happen, I will do. And if it turns out to not be fun for you, I will walk you right down to that man village myself. Is that a deal?"
Katerina smiled a little as she thought about it. She looked back up at him, "Just till winter." She laid down on him, snuggling closer to his fur to sleep. "Just till winter," Baloo agreed before looking back at the man village, letting the human cub sleep on him.
