A/N: Hey everyone, and I have got to say that I am INCREDIBLY SORRY for the week long and a few days wait for a new chapter. I got busy in real life but the biggest problem I had was some strange glitch with the Fanfiction system. It wouldn't allow me to see the views, reviews, favorites, and follows. So I decided to wait some until the issue was resolved. I emailed Fanfiction yesterday, and I learned that today it got resolved. Everything is fixed now, and now I hope you enjoy the newest chapter!- KaijuCrazy02
(Chapter 16: First Encounter)
The cries of the pheeal grew louder, making the weak willed creatures of the jungle tremble before it. Not only were the cries growing louder, they were getting closer. The Seeonee Pack had grown more alert due to this, wolves would regularly patrol the jungle until they reached the limits of the hills, attacking any red dog that they first noticed.
It was one day within the week after the Won-Tolla's arrival, that the first warning sign of the dhole arrival was caught. A wolf had reported to the pack at a council being held one day that he noticed several deer carcasses laying around within the jungle, this made Mowgli become more alert.
The man had began to show off his human taught skills, he was quick to carve several spears, and even a makeshift axe. He created the axe by finding a thick branch by making it to a shape in which he could hold with one hand, he took a sharp rock that he found close to Council Rock, and jammed it through the wooden part of the axe, he then tied the jagged rock to the wooden part of the axe with a small vine.
At the time, Mowgli was again resting with his serpentine friend, Kaa. He had hoped to get more information about this new threat that was starting to disturb the Seeonee Hills.
Unfortunately, the large serpent was out of ideas on where they could be coming from. More and more carcasses were appearing in random locations, that dire wolf could also be anywhere within the jungle too. Something had popped into the head of Mowgli just then.
"They had to have swam in through the Waingunga River NorthEast from here." Mowgli explained, the two were within the lair.
The lair of Kaa was built within the side of a mountain, it was one of the highest elevations of the Seeonee Hills. There would be two paths out in the front of this exit, one leading South, and one leading West of where the cave was. Going East would end up having you fall hundreds of feet to your doom, however, if you was to stand near the edge of the drop off, you would see for miles.
You would see a large river heading towards the hills, and beyond the river was large flat land. The river would eventually lead to a waterfall that was close to the lair of Kaa, and if one would follow the river at the top of the waterfall, they would eventually reach some more flat land in a clearing where bees would be found.
Her lair also had another exit in which would lead to a cliffside, a steep drop-off could lead to a three hundred foot drop to your doom. However, it also gave you a great view of the massive field, and another river flowing towards the hills and the jungle.
"What do you suppose that we do?" Kaa asked.
"I'll meet the pack of the red dogs near the edge of the waterfall, they'll be confronted, I'll try to resolve it peacefully, but if peace isn't what the dholes desire, then they shall meet the blades of my knives." Mowgli answered.
"Sweet thing, they greatly outnumber us. You can only kill so many before you are surrounded, I can only fit so many in my coils at one time, and I can only hypnotize so many at one time. We will be bones, and it shall be good hunting for them, but not us." Kaa said, sounding concerned for the first time in a while.
"Do not fear, we can devise a plan. We need to know our surroundings before we fight them, come with me, o' great, wise, beautiful Kaa. Come with me to the river, as you have said before, I cannot fight them alone." Mowgli said, kneeling before the serpent to try and goad her into coming with him towards the rumored location.
If Kaa was a human, she would be blushing.
"Urgh, fine. I guess I'll go with you." Kaa said with a giggle.
Mowgli smiled, and with that being said, Mowgli and Kaa made their way towards the river.
Meanwhile not too far away, stood the great dire wolf known as Bhediya Khan.
The crimson coated wolf was marching one of his many legions of dholes towards the direction of the Waingunga River, they were marching through a thick patch of jungle, slowly but surely getting closer to the location of Mowgli and Kaa.
"I can smell him from here, his scent is atrocious. The stench of humanity, the same humanity that also hunted my kind to nigh eradication." Bhediya growled, he couldn't stand humans, he had an agenda to take them all out, every human his eyes would find, would die a painful death. His tenacity was greater than that of Shere Khan's determination to take out man. They both had the same agenda, but they had different motives driving it.
"Man has left a permanent fecal marking on this planet that you once ruled, great khan." Bhediya's right hand leader spoke.
This wild dog was special, it must have been the alpha of the group before Bhediya Khan appeared. The name of the alpha dhole was known as Nirmam Yoddha which means "ruthless warrior." Nirmam Yoddha was a Himalayan Wolf that the dholes met within the mountains, close friend of Bhediya Khan.
"Precisely, and I look to clean it. I shall bring death to Mowgli, and death to all that follow him." The battle hardened dire wolf grumbled coldly.
"Your legions have already left a path of carnage in some parts of the hills, I've sent some ahead of us to deal some damage before we arrive. The cries of horror are growing loud." Nirmam explained.
"Perfect!" Bhediya Khan exclaimed.
"The entire jungle shall suffer, this isn't going to be painless." The dire wolf continued.
"I know that, if the great tiger, the lord of the jungle, can fall to a man, then I know it shall not be easy." Nirmam went on to say.
"How do you know that he slain him alone? No man can take out a tiger that easily, he must have received help." Bhediya answered to his right hand dhole.
"I only heard through word of mouth that Mowgli had slain the great Shere Khan, I know none of his battle other than words." The alpha red dog spoke.
"Exactly, the creatures of the Seeonee Hills are liars as well. Don't fall for them, I shall see the tongues of these lying fools ripped from their mouths." Bhediya said with a brutal laugh trailing off at the end of his sentence.
Back at the river, Mowgli had his arms wrapped around Kaa as she swam through the current of the river, getting close to a gorge with walls that were at most one hundred feet high, there was a waterfall at that location as well. A foul smelling stench forced Mowgli to place his head beneath the waters of the river, something must have died or was rotting away. He began to fear that the red dogs have already passed through this location. He dipped his head beneath the water from time to time, only coming up for air when he needed to.
Kaa felt that they were close to where they needed to be, so she anchored herself by throwing a few coils around a large sunken rock, curling a smaller one but albeit decently large coil around Mowgli, hugging him close to keep him still.
"This is a place of death, the red dogs have came already. We're too late, we must go back." Mowgli said.
"No, we're close to where we need to be. Do you have any ideas now, master of the jungle?" Kaa responded, looking down at Mowgli with a wink.
"I...Uhhh..." He thought to himself as he looked up to see the little people of the jungle, in which were the black bees of India, deadly in swarms. They had built their hives close to the weatherworn rocks of the gorge, but several of their hives existed in a field just outside of the waterfall in the large field clearing.
"Oh, I thought you had an idea, sweet thing. Must I make one up on my own?" She asked.
"Go ahead." Mowgli said.
"The red dogs may outnumber us, but they are smaller than a wolf in reality. If they disturb the sleeping little ones high in those hives, they will fall upon them, stinging them, and eventually killing them. Those that survive will die at the hands of some wolves that I have told to come our way earlier on, if any more come, you and I shall take care of them." Kaa explained, her wise mind instantly coming up with an idea.
"That sounds great!" Mowgli exclaimed.
"They are very aggressive, the bees hate the stench of wild garlic, it is best if you carry it with you as you hunt them down." Kaa advised, Mowgli nodded his head as she unwrapped the coil from his waist.
Mowgli spent a moment picking some wild garlic in a field nearby while the large python patiently waited across the stream close to him, during his time of picking garlic from the Earth, the large legion of red dogs had came to a point in which they had decided to split up.
"I take most of my legions to the location known as the Cold Lairs, through word of mouth, I have heard that it is an old city. Perfect for my legions to take refuge in, and to thrive." Bhediya said to Nirmam Yoddha.
"Very well, I'll take half of them with me as we venture further into the territory of the Seeonee Hills." Nirmam answered, acknowledging Bhediya's words.
Half of the dire wolf's legions went with him to the Cold Lairs, where the Bandar-Log still thrived even without a leader in King Louie, the other half went with Nirmam into the jungle further.
It was only then that Mowgli decided that he had gathered enough wild garlic, he placed them in the quiver where he usually had his arrows stored. He began to march up the hill, he could hear the buzzing of the black bees gathered within the hollowed out rocks.
"We be of one blood, you and I." Mowgli told the bees, softly from afar, after he said this, he made a buzzing sound. He never used a master word for an insect, so he hoped this would work, and it did as they buzzed in response.
His eyes caught notice of dried up paw prints, the Won-Tolla's trail had been left behind after he made his Paul Revere styled race to the Seeonee Hills to warn that enemies were coming, but these weren't the British, these were the red dogs.
Mowgli followed the dried up paw prints, the further he walked, the more faded out the markings grew. He eventually came out to an open country, where the grass wasn't even tall enough to hide a wolf. A massive field that had large white rocks with several holes in them, there was four scattered about with the black bees buzzing around them. In the distance, he seen a growing bunch of red dogs approaching.
These red dogs matched the vision he witnessed under Kaa's hypnosis, a light reddish color with a dark tip to their tails, they looked fox-like. They were slimmer, smaller than the wolves. One of them stood bigger, more bushy in appearance, this was Nirmam Yoddha, the Himalayan wolf that stood as their alpha right under Bhediya Khan.
Nirmam Yoddha was also blood stained, just like Bhediya's crimson coat in which was once dark gray. He didn't appear as battle damaged as the dire wolf though, for he didn't have to endure as much battles over the years.
From afar, the eyes of the wolf caught notice of Mowgli. His brown body, his loincloth, the strap in which connected the quiver to his back, draped diagonally down across his chest. He was the only man in the area.
"You there, you must be the legend of the jungle, Mowgli!" Nirmam barked from afar, the man stood his ground, he didn't answer.
"Are you deaf? Answer me you wretched man!" Nirmam roared, the dholes bunched up behind him, their mouths bloody, they were ready to attack.
"Good hunting! I am the man you seek, what brings you here? Or should I say, who brought you here!?" Mowgli screamed, he knew that this wolf wasn't Bhediya Khan.
"All jungles are our jungle. Man..." Nirmam growled, the dholes began to advance towards Mowgli, who was now in a tree, holding on to a vine.
"Sure they are, you aren't to step forth in this perimeter unless I allow it. I am the master of the jungle, not you!" The man screamed in defiance, the dholes began their advance towards Mowgli with Nirmam leading them.
"I've fought through several battles, man...You have no idea who you're dealing with, to go against Bhediya Khan would be a big mistake." Nirmam warned as he marched towards the tree in which Mowgli was in.
"That is the same thing that Tabaqui the dish licker told me about Shere Khan. To go against the tiger would be a mistake, but that was a mistake that I lived through. I can easily live through this dire wolf that you call your friend!" Mowgli responded.
The dholes began to go on back and forth banter with Mowgli, calling him names such as "hairless ape" among other things, and Mowgli responded back with vile words that you may call "roasts."
Eventually Nirmam had enough of this banter, and with his natural strength, including the boost received via his rage. He bounded up only to get snagged by the throat from Mowgli.
The man hurled the wolf up, and with a beautiful and fluid motion, sliced the bushy tail from the body of the Himalayan wolf!
Nirmam howled in pain as he went crashing back down on the ground, this threw the dholes into a blind fury, they desperately tried to get up at Mowgli. However, none of them could reach him, he yawned before resting, waiting for sunset to make his next move.
When Mowgli awoken three to four hours later, he noticed that the dholes were circling around the bottom of the tree, Nirmam was infuriated more than ever before. The man smirked, deciding to toy with his emotions some more.
"You know, you are dholes and all. This tail, seems more bushy than what I have seen from your kind. You're a wolf, and you're not getting this tail back. It will make for a fine new piece of clothing for me." Mowgli taunted, Nirmam roared furiously, this when he stood up to his fee.
"I will tear your stomach out myself!" Nirmam barked in a fit of rage.
"Well then...come get me." Mowgli said as he leapt from the tree to another one like a monkey of the Bandar-Log, then leaping from the branch just to grab on another vine to swing to another tree.
"Fifteen to twenty of you, kill him!" Nirmam ordered, and so, twenty dholes went rushing after Mowgli as he leapt from tree to tree.
"I'll lead all of you to your demise, say goodbye to your wolf friend!" Mowgli cried out, but these dholes didn't care for what he had to say, they wanted him dead.
"We follow to your demise!" They all barked in unison, Mowgli nodded his head as he grew further and further away.
He would eventually slide down the tree, then darting away from the path, but the dholes followed him as they tracked his movements in the distance. They all let out howls in unison as they grew closer to him.
Mowgli eventually caught the sweet scent of the bee rocks, finally he was getting close. He let out a scream as he put all of his energy into running as fast as he could past the rocks as the dholes continued to catch up to him.
Surprisingly, the red dogs caught up with him, nipping at his heels.
Finally, Mowgli ran up on the rocks, his feet trembling the ground beneath him, stirring the sleeping bees awake. They all began to swell forth from their rocks, and he then took a leap of faith from the rocks, a dhole lunged towards him, taking a bite at his leg, but narrowly missing. The other dholes followed as they fell from one hundred feet all into the water below!
Mowgli entered feet first, a shockwave of pain was sent up his body, making him groan in pain as the other dholes splashed down into the water behind him. Kaa was there, waiting, instantly coiling him from his head to his toes, in a whole body cocoon of her thick scaly skin. The stingers of the bees couldn't penetrate her flesh, beneath the soft and smooth scales were hardened muscles that belonged to the constrictor kind.
"I've got you sweetie!" She exclaimed as she allowed the current of the Waingunga to carry her upstream with Mowgli in her coils, the sight of the bees engulfing the entire top of the waters was horrifying, they stung anything that they could that made their way above the water.
Several minutes went by as Kaa continued to carry Mowgli up the stream, the swarm of bees stinging any dhole that dared to emerge from the water, but then the black bees began their return to their rocks after their rage was satisfied. A few dholes managed to make it, but they had stingers lodged in their bodies in several places.
Kaa heard howling in the distance, the Seeonee Pack was coming as reinforcements to help Mowgli out.
"Ah, Mowgli. They're coming to help you, the little people are returning to sleep. I leave you, sweet thing, but your other friends are coming." Kaa said happily as she inched her way onto land, uncoiling the cocoon that was around Mowgli.
"I thank you from shielding me from the bees, my sister." Mowgli said as he stood back up with a thankful smile, Kaa nodded her head with a sweet grin.
"Good hunting, brother." The serpent said happily as she slithered away, heading back towards her lair.
A dhole approached him, snarling viciously. Limping in pain from the amount of stings he had received.
"This is no good hunting..." The red dog growled, it went to bite him, but Mowgli easily evaded him as he plunged his knife into the back of the dhole right behind the shoulder, killing it instantly.
"Oh yes it is..." Mowgli growled in response.
"Mowgli." A voice said from behind, the man turned around to face the all black wolf simply known as the Won-Tolla.
"Ah, Won-Tolla. What brings you here?" Mowgli asked, cleaning the blood off of his knife in the waters of the Waingunga.
"I've came to see how you are doing, have you taken them out?" The dark wolf asked.
"I've taken them out thanks to a plan from Kaa, however, there is plenty more up there on that ridge near the waterfall. I wouldn't be surprised if there are reinforcements coming." Mowgli answered.
He pointed up towards the ridge close to the top of the waterfall, the Won-Tolla glanced up at the top to see another bunch of red dogs gathering near the edge, casting the most vicious of glares down at Mowgli and the lone wolf.
"I see, we must move." The Won-Tolla advised, Mowgli nodded before he could hear the howling of the Seeonee Pack out in the distance, they were coming to help too.
"This isn't over until I say it's over!" Nirmam boomed from above, he looked at another gathering of his dholes, then he let out a howl in which sent another twenty five to thirty of them down towards Mowgli.
"They're coming, Mowgli!" The Won-Tolla cried, seeing them abandon the ridge and come down the hill towards them!
Thankfully, since the top of the waterfall stood around one hundred feet in the air, it would take the new bunch of red dogs a bit of time to reach the bottom of the hill. Another good thing about this is the fact that the Seeonee Pack were well on their way to help Mowgli out.
"I'll hold them off for as long as I can!" Mowgli screamed, he seen the dust cloud rising in the distance as the Seeone Pack grew nearer.
The man decided that he would wade in the waters across the Waingunga, they happened to be shallow enough for his feet to touch the bottom. He could hear the high pitched howls of the red dogs and the lower pitched howls of the Seeonee Pack.
Eventually, the pack had arrived. Baloo the bear, as well as Bagheera the panther stood next to him. Baloo stood to his right while Bagheera stood to his left, Mowgli looked at the massive pack that stood around him. A huge majority of them all had stayed close to their home nearby Council Rock, but this was still a decent amount of wolves.
Mowgli and his allies stood on one side of the Waingunga River, while the red dog batch stood on the other side.
"Where is Kaa?" Bagheera asked.
"She is going back to her lair." Mowgli explained, they didn't have any time to speak.
"This jungle belongs to us, US!" A red dog barked viciously.
"The jungle belongs to those that follow the laws, you follow a leader who teaches no laws, who follows no laws, and therefore you all must be executed. I'm wanting to give you all a second chance, but you aren't going to accept my offer, so you shall die." Mowgli warned, this was enough to cause the large gathering of dholes to rush into the water while barking like crazy.
"How about we enforce the jungle law into these chaotic freaks!" Mowgli exclaimed aloud, this rallied up the wolves as well as the bear and the panther that stood at his sides, they all rushed into the river to do battle with the dholes!
Mowgli managed to stab his knife into the top of a dhole's head, another immediately lunged at him, but in a swift spinning maneuver, he slit the throat of the leaping red dog in mid-air.
A red dog jumped at Baloo only to be swatted away, killed in one hit, another one attempted to claw into his head only to be bitten on the leg, and then flung into three other dholes that were coming his way.
Another dhole went towards Bagheera only to be clawed across the face, but it remained alive, it came back towards the panther only to be pinned down, and killed with a bite to the neck!
A dhole managed to clamp the jaws around Mowgli's arm, causing him to let out a pained shout. The man easily killed the red dog with a stab to the back of the neck, but another one of those red dogs pounced on his back, taking him down into the water with a splash!
The waters of the Waingunga had turned white from all of the splashing around, and the waves being generated parting in separate directions, splotches of crimson water could be seen as blood was being spilled in this battle.
"Protect the master!" Gray Brother cried out, several wolves rushed to Mowgli's aid, driving the swarm of dholes away from him.
Gray Brother bit deep into the side of a dhole, it was already dead, and then he flung it into a couple of other red dogs to knock them off their feet, they were finished by Baloo as he barreled into them with his massive body.
Nirmam was watching the battle from up top the ridge with the rest of his legions watching on, the dholes didn't stand a chance in the water. They were easily finished off within a matter of minutes, it was a violent struggle, but it was a brutal finish to several of his red dogs.
The Himalayan wolf growled furiously as he watched several of them get slaughtered, sixty or more of them taken out by the man and his allies.
"This isn't over, Mowgli!" He barked, his voice echoing off the many trees, this caught the attention of Mowgli.
"Are you sure about that!?" He shouted as he stabbed another dhole in the back!
"If you thought this will be easy, you're going to be reminded just how helpless all of you are when faced with greater number on land!" Nirmam replied, he looked back at his legions, several hundred of them all awaited his instructions.
"We must turn back, while we hold greater numbers if we choose to fall upon them all now, they will just call for further reinforcements, I know the pack is much larger in number than those down in the river now, and even then, they have that large bear." He continued, the rest of the dholes got a good look at the defenders of the jungle before taking their leave towards another location, hoping to reach the Cold Lairs.
Little did Mowgli know, that this was indeed only the beginning, and that this night would bring his girlfriend great tragedy, and great tragedy to Mowgli himself as a whole...