"The first thing I'm gonna do when I wake up is getting rid of that stupid shell! You can make it part of a wind chime for all I care. Or better yet, a Christmas ornament so it only has to come out once a year."
Bryan of course had words to vent about the shell's magic but the excitement of his new Spirit kept it to a minimum.
"So what're you gonna call it? Flame? You were sooo original last time."
"I was actually leaning toward Seger."
"Seger." Rachel tested how it felt to say. "Why does that word sound familiar?"
"It's the name the singer from Gran'pa's old record collection that I liked."
Rachel stopped walking. "Gran'pa's records? Those ancient relics you were obsessed with as a kid?" Now she remembered why the name was familiar. Once Bryan was shone how to use a record player he was always asking to borrow the music and would listen to the same song over and over for hours. Oh the many years of hard work trying to suppress those lyrics now wasted because Bryan named his new dog.
"Hey! They were awesome!"
He defended. "It was because of those I got so interested in music!"
"Good thing too," Rachel mocked. "It was also because of those things we discovered you're tone deaf."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh my dear, dear little brother. I remember very well your little six-year-old voice screeching out the words to your favorite songs in the shower."
They talked as they traveled. The jungle was beautiful (with the exception of course of Nightmares popping up randomly) and they were beginning to see more signs of animal life. Butterflies flew above their heads like jeweled flowers. Monkeys could be seen swinging and climbing in the trees. It felt like a few of them followed for a while but then the jungle changed dramatically. The trees thinned and opened into vast grasslands. The grass was thick and lush with few trees obscuring the landscape. Odd place for a meadow or savannah to suddenly show up. But they could see the tree line where the jungle continued on the other side. The siblings had their Keyblades in their hands before they continued. They remembered what it was like fighting and navigating through tall grass back in Neverland. No doubt Dream Eaters could get the jump on them if they weren't careful. And who knows what else might be stalking the grass?
Seger suddenly halted. His large ears pivoted then laid back flat against his head. His lips curled up, revealing his fangs and a deep growl rumbled in his throat. RolliPolli positioned himself too, scowling and 'grrr-ing' the best he could. Whether he too could sense something wrong or just didn't want to be left out was a good seventy-thirty toss-up. The key bearers took careful steps forward, not knowing what exactly Seger had seen or sensed. White was tense. Jewel was tense. But so far nothing was happening.
"What is it, boy?" Bryan whispered. He inched next to his Spirit and tried to see through or over the grass in the direction Seger was facing.
"Do you feel that?"
"Feel wh-?" Bryan paused, concentrating on what his sister could have meant. Then he did feel it. The ground was shaking! Impact tremors of something large and heavy were causing vibrations in the ground he could feel even from a great distance. Something was thundering their way.
They dropped to their knees in the grass. It was getting closer. Then, crashing through the bush they could see the cause. And…hear it?
"Hup! Two! Three! Four! Keep it up! Two! Three!"
"What the heck? Is that…singing?"
"COMPANY! Sound off!"
"Oh we march from there to there. And it doesn't matter where. You can hear us push through the deepest bush,"
"With a military air!"
"With a military air!"
The siblings looked at each other, totally perplexed.
"You're hearing this too, right?" Rachel asked.
"Marching, singing elephants?"
"Wonderful, maybe we can get adjoining rooms at the psych ward. What a better way for siblings to bond than while twitching after taking EST together?"
A herd of adult elephants marched along the tree line single file, singing their marching song and trumpeting occasionally. They looked like the elephants the key bearers had seen at The Big Top. They peered up a little higher above the tall grass. Would they be friendly and unafraid enough to ask for help?
A dark shape leapt through the distant trees like a swift shadow. It was shouting but the elephants either couldn't hear it or weren't listening.
"HAAAAALT!" It roared.
The pachyderm parade for a moment looked like a train wreck as they all came to a sudden stop.
"Who said 'halt'!" The lead elephant demanded. "I give the orders around here! Speak up! Who was it!"
The large black cat stood in in a tree over the herd. The panther was talking to the lead elephant. They couldn't completely hear all they were saying. But the panther sounded desperate. The elephant sounded stuffy and unwilling to help. Amidst their conversation, they were certain they heard the panther say 'Mowgli'.
"Think that's the panther the wolves told us about?" Bryan asked.
"Would make sense. But what doesn't make sense is why he's looking for-."
"You don't understand, he's run away!" They heard him say.
"Ok, now it does."
The elephant still did not appear to have an interest in helping. But just as his decision appeared to be final, another elephant marched to the front of the line and started scolding the other. They huffed at each other for a moment then the lead elephant looked down at the ground. Neither Rachel or Bryan could see what he was talking to but it appeared to change his mind. The elephants lined up and started their march again, toppling everything in their path. The panther continued through the trees.
"C'mon. Let's go after him." Bryan said standing up. "Maybe if he knows we're here to help we can do something together. Seger, come on."
The fire wolf hadn't budged from its offensive posture. Neither had it stopped growling. Softly, mind you but still it hadn't stopped. There was something in the trees. Seger knew it was there. He couldn't see through all the thick foliage, but in the broken light of the jungle undergrowth, the hidden eavesdropper was hard to make out.