A/N: Hello everyone! I have a couple things to say before I kick this chapter off:
Since I have plans on writing a Tarzan story after this one eventually, I am in need of some ideas. If any of you have ideas for the story, please send me to them via PM, it will be much appreciated. As you can already tell, Percy Isaacs will be one of the main villains, so there is that in the story so far. Now I don't know where I can read the Tarzan books online by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I've been reading the stories of the Jungle Book by a source known as Project Gutenberg or something like that. If any of you know where I can read Tarzan books online, please let me know as it will be a perfect source I can use.
One other thing I will say is that there will be some violence in this chapter, but it will not be detailed, but a character's death in this chapter shall be particularly gruesome, but since I am wanting to stick to the content rating of Teen, it will be less detailed as possible.
With those things out of the way, I hope you enjoy the 20th chapter in this re-telling of the Jungle Book ;)- KaijuCrazy02
(Chapter 20: Run through the jungle)
Nirmam had sent several red dogs after the fleeing Mowgli, and the rest of his allies. They wouldn't let them so easily escape, but Bhediya was furious with him.
"You let Shanti escape! This was to bait Mowgli into coming here, dying at the hands of you!" Bhediya roared, pacing around in the palace.
"Are you not satisfied, we yet hold hostages to some of Mowgli's close allies, we have four wolves!" Nirmam fired back at his leader, not backing down whatsoever.
"I will not be satisfied, until Mowgli is wiped from this Earth!" Bhediya roared, slamming down his frontal paw in anger.
"How about I satisfy your bloodlust by putting each of them to death?" Nirmam asked, Bhediya bared his teeth, growling in response.
"How about I bring upon them a slow, torturous demise? To satisfy your yearning to see blood fall?" Nirmam continued, it was then that his leader stopped acting so furious, but he was still agitated that they let Shanti get away.
"Very well then, since you are the one that lost the girl, how about you go hunt for the hostages, give them a final meal. We shall see the monkeys that kidnapped Shanti put to death as well." Bhediya answered, a smirk came to Nirmam's face.
"You will admire how I tear them all limb from limb..." The Himalayan wolf snickered before taking his leave.
Within the summerhouse, Leela, including Phaona and two other wolves sat.
"Do not worry, good Leela, for they shall return to rescue us soon enough." Phaona said in a soothing voice, trying to reassure her that things were going to be okay in the midst of their time as hostages.
"I'm sorry, but I dread what is to come for us. They are livid now that Shanti has been taken from their grasp." Leela whimpered in terror.
"We will fight back." Phaona said in response, licking Leela before nudging his neck into hers.
"We cannot fight overwhelming number, two of us four are already weakened from the bite of cobras. I'm surprised they yet live." Leela said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"They remain alive because of their will, their will overcomes their physical limits." Phaona replied.
"Not like that matters, if we aren't fed or given water, we shall soon wither away." Another wolf said, his eyes half lidded.
"Don't be so pessimistic, have faith in our leader, Mowgli." Another wolf groaned, weakened too from the cobra bite he had received, but still holding on to hope as he suffered slowly.
"Exactly, all of you fear that we shall die. Mowgli would never leave us, he would never forget us. He will come back for us, just hold on." Phaona said, remaining the one who was strong.
Phaona and Leela were sitting on a slab in which prevented them from being bitten by the cobras, after the two other wolves received bites, they joined them as well to sit on the slab.
"I sure hope so..." Leela said in fear.
(Location: Jungle)
Mowgli and the rest of his allies that joined in on the raid of the Cold Lairs continued to run through the jungle as fast as they could, he carried Shanti in his arms. The man could hear the dholes howling far behind them.
"Mowgli, I believe they aren't done with us yet!" Baloo called out as he was running ahead of him.
Mowgli looked over his shoulder to see something moving far behind them, but he knew that they would be getting closer over time. He looked down at Shanti, who was trying her best to calm down after having a traumatizing experience at the Cold Lairs.
"Get in the brush, hide!" He exclaimed.
"Hide, why should we hide!?" Bagheera asked loudly.
"If they find us, they'll just send in more, you never know!" Mowgli shouted.
Although the animals thought this was a dumb move, they did as was told. They all sat on the downward slope of a hill, a few of them hiding behind a fallen log. They all began to notice that more dholes were coming after them than they once thought, it wasn't a whole legion, but it was quite a few of them.
Their hearts raced within their chest, although the skirmish at the Cold Lairs from mere moments ago was quick, it had taken out several wolves of the fighting force of the Seeonee Wolf Pack.
"I'm not going to watch us get slaughtered, we have to do something about the wolves." Bagheera growled, Mowgli put a finger to his lips as he could hear leaves crunching, they were getting close.
Shanti was trembling with fear, Mowgli looked down to examine her, she was cut all over, having bloody markings on her body in random locations. He shook his head in disbelief.
"I don't want to go back..." She said, her voice quivering.
"You won't, believe me." Mowgli said with a warm smile.
"How could I be so sure?" She asked.
"Because I will do anything in my power to keep you out of harm's way." Mowgli replied with a gentle kiss to her scarred forehead.
As much as his calming words soothed her soul, it didn't calm her down as the leaves continued to crunch more and more, the sounds getting closer.
"I want most of you wolves that remain hiding in the brush, to go and run back to Council Rock as fast as you can!" Mowgli cried, this made Shanti get up with a scream of terror.
"Shanti, wait!" Mowgli exclaimed, the barks of the dholes were then heard.
"We have no other choice!" Baloo roared, the rest of the animals sprung out of cover to do battle against the oncoming dholes.
"Kaa, go get Shanti, quickly!" Mowgli shouted as he seen a red dog heading after Shanti, he changed his gaze to one that was rushing at Bagheera from behind, Mowgli plunged his knife into the back of that dhole's head as he let out a defiant scream!
The other wolves that chose to stay behind sprung into action, colliding into the group of red dogs that were sent to take out Mowgli and his allies as they made their trek back towards familiar grounds, as this was only the second time that he had ever been to the Cold Lairs several years apart from his last visit.
"I don't want to go back!" Shanti cried as she tried to follow the rest of the wolves, the majority of them had been sent away by Mowgli as he thought that a few would suffice as Baloo, Kaa, and Bagheera could easily take this group out.
The female dhole in which was chasing the young Indian woman was quick to latch her jaws around the calf, making her scream in agony, also making her fall on to the ground with a thud, and a grunt of pain!
"Did you think escape would be an easy task?" The dhole asked as it went to bite into Shanti's neck, it was grabbed by the large reticulated python from behind, a still fearful Shanti scooted away while massaging the bite mark on her right calf.
The snake was quick to loop just one coil around the significantly smaller dhole's body, crushing it within seconds!
"We need to get back with Mowgli, come with me." Kaa said as she looked over to Shanti.
"Why, that's where the fighting is going on!?" Shanti cried.
"We'll protect you." The serpent replied.
Back at the skirmish, Baloo used his larger body to smash through a line of red dogs. An adult wolf by the name of Chaandee, about a month older than Leela, tackled a red dog from the side, viciously biting into the neck to kill it!
As Bagheera quickly killed two Dholes, ending one by giving it a quick slash across the face with his claws, and the other by biting the neck, Baloo caught notice of more dholes coming from far in the distance behind them, reinforcements were coming.
"More come, Mowgli, we must move!" The bear screamed as he began to retreat deeper into the jungle.
Mowgli witnessed the death of one of his wolf allies, so he sprung into action before the two dholes that killed it, could end the life of another.
He was quick in movement as he stabbed one of the red dogs in the mouth, before quickly ending the life of the second one via a stab through the top of the head!
"Alright, let's go, quickly!" Mowgli shouted, alerting the two other wolves to join him and the others to continue their run through the jungle.
(Location: Cold Lairs)
Since Shere Khan had fell from the world, the three vultures found their new leader in Bhediya Khan.
They all sat before him in the chamber room where the throne sat, the remains of the carcass in which the dire wolf was feasting on were available to the scavengers. If a vulture was given meat to pick bones from, it would be loyal until you no longer fed it.
"Why have you called us here?" Charon asked as he pecked into the flesh of the carcass, ripping it away.
"I need you three birds to find specific creatures." Bhediya answered.
"What for?" Charon asked, curious on what the dire wolf meant.
"Mowgli has proven to be more of a challenge than once thought, perhaps Nirmam is being too soft on him. He is immature, he is arrogant, and thinks that taking him out will be an easy task, the man has proven time and time again that he is no easy sickness to cure." The ancient crimson coated wolf grumbled.
"I can't stand him!" Ash cawed angrily.
"I would pick the bones from him even if he was still alive..." Cain squawked.
"I understand your frustrations, but we must take things slowly. We need to make things harder for his loyalists, you see, my species is not the only ones that crossed over the land bridge all of those years ago. There are a few other ancient creatures like me out there, remnants of the past that followed our kind into these lands. They are spread far, and wide, but since I hold great memory of where they are, I need you three to spread out and find them." Bhediya said with only the most sinister voice.
He looked at Charon first.
"You, leader of the scavengers, find the one named: Long Fang. His teeth are like swords sticking forth from the gums, he was last seen near the Hills of Stone, they aren't too far from here." (Hills of Stone are also known as Vindhya Range.)
The large wolf then turned towards Ash.
"You must find this one by venturing into another land, it was where I once lived when I first migrated into these lands East of the land bridge. His mouth extends out shorter than a croc's, but his appearance is similar to that of a big cat or a hyena. His name is: Kaiser."
Finally, the dire wolf looked towards Cain.
"Lastly, this one is close as well, hiding in the coldest parts of this continent, I call him: Danaba Baluka, he's the oldest of us all. He's seen more than any of us, but he is not old as this jungle, but he was around near the beginning of it. The first super predator that plagued this jungle, forced to retreat as man continued to swell more and more, he now slaughters anything that dares came close to his cave." Bhediya explained.
The three vultures looked at each other, confused on how they would exactly look like, as they felt that the dire wolf was being cryptic. Due to the silence, Bhediya spoke up again.
"When you see them, they will look unlike anything you've ever seen. The reason they are so hard to find, is that they want to stay away from man. They would love to wipe it away from the jungles if they could, so that they may reclaim their spot in nature. I'm sure they won't be so hesitant to turn down my offers." Bhediya chuckled.
"Will do..." Charon spoke, and their mission was final, locate the remnant creatures that the dire wolf spoke of. Two of them lived on the same continent, while only one crossed over the land bridge with Bhediya several years ago...
(Hours later)
(Location: Jungles)
It was in the afternoon now, Mowgli felt that his allies had ran for long enough to escape the dholes that were still coming for them. The red dogs had tired out quickly, so they were slow to come after the man, and his animal friends.
They all were resting in a shady patch of the jungle, beneath a large canopy where the leaves formed a natural roof to block off the sun that had been beaming down upon them all as they continued their move away from the Cold Lairs.
"I'm wondering where Phao went, after all, he did say that he went to find shelter." Mowgli said to himself.
"I wouldn't care where he went off to, he's broken the pack code, and has even said that he thought Shere Khan was right." Gray Brother said, Mowgli was already having thoughts of forgiving the juvenile wolf.
Kaa seemed to have stopped in her tracks, as all the others took a moment to rest, the serpent had coiled up, resting with her eyes shut. This wasn't nap time by any means, it was just a moment to take a break from running constantly.
"Kaa, wake up, now is not the time for sleep." Mowgli said, but the serpent wasn't actually sleeping.
"I've been having visions that stronger enemies will come, we aren't going to be fighting just the dholes of the Dekkan Plateaus." She warned, Mowgli let out a cynical laugh.
"Yeah, we've got to face a dire wolf, and a wolf from the snow tipped mountains, are those the stronger enemies you speak of?" Mowgli asked.
"No, you know how you are our leader, and I, Baloo, and Bagheera are your strongest allies?" Kaa questioned, Mowgli nodded his head.
"Well, Bhediya has his own version of us. Much more older creatures, older than even me." The serpent announced, this caught everyone off guard, including Mowgli.
"There's no way, hypnotize me at once, I must learn of these creatures that side with the great wolf." Mowgli commanded, Kaa giggled, no one has ever asked her to hypnotize them, but she did as told, her beautiful gaze lulling the man to sleep within seconds like anesthesia.
"Long ago, there existed a Land Bridge West from this continent. It is a place where all of the other species from continents Westward of ours could migrate over to here, a mass extinction began in that location, forcing several species to come our way."
As Kaa explained this, Mowgli seen visions of animals he had never seen before. He would witness American Lions, Wooly Mammoths, Sabre Toothed Tigers, etc.
"One such creature found their way onto our lands with a plethora of his species coming with him, he is known as Long Fang. Eventually, his kind would be known as the Sabre Toothed Cat. He actually has a history with the Seeonee Pack, but he was banished, like an original sin, it is ruled that we must never speak of him. He now lives far from Council Rock, but resides within these hills..." Kaa warned.
As she explained who one of Bhediya's new side kicks were, Mowgli witnessed a vision of a big cat with long fangs jetting out from his mouth. His tail was short, but his body seemed to be bulky, having some spots on his sides.
"Another one, is known as Kaiser. History will know him in the future, his kind will eventually be known as the Andrewsarchus. He's of another remnant species, but his kind lived on this continent, not far from India, living in a place known as Mongolia. He traveled over mountains from determination alone to hunt for food, and he's been living like that ever since." Kaa said.
Mowgli had a vision of the Andrewsarchus known as Kaiser, it was like something he had never seen before in his life. It shocked him to know that it existed on the same continent, and it had lived for this long. He seen other wolves, bowing to him, like he was some kind of king.
"A false king..." Mowgli said while sleeping, Kaa smiled sweetly.
"Exactly, my brave, strong leader." The snake said softly.
"The last one is the oldest one, he is known as Danaba Baluka. Some say he's nearly as old as the jungle itself, when I was mere hatchling, Hathi told me stories of him. His kind is known as the Cave Bear, he stands taller than Baloo when he stands on his hind legs. Like Kaiser, he's lived as long as he had thanks to his extended periods of hibernation, and feasting on anything that comes across his caves..." Kaa finished, explaining the three newcomers to the war for the jungle.
It was then that Mowgli finally woke up after having a vision of the withered Cave Bear known as Danaba.
"These don't seem so evil, I should spare them." Mowgli said to himself, but Kaa slithered in close.
"You don't want to." She warned.
"Why so?" He asked.
"They three have something in common that all of your enemies have, hatred for man." Kaa explained.
"Does everything that comes from the Land Bridge have a hatred for my kind?" Mowgli asked.
"No, the Land Bridge crumbled away as the continents grew further apart, this occurred not long after Bhediya arrived."
There was a pause for a moment, Mowgli couldn't believe that these beasts stood older, and much more powerful than even his friends. This war for the jungle certainly wasn't going to be easy...
"We should all rest, and build strength to travel the rest of the way home, or until Phao arrives with the rest of the wolves." Mowgli announced.
(Location: Cold Lairs)
"Spare bones, eat what ya can!" A red dog barked into the summerhouse, as a half eaten carcass was shoved into the hole in the wall that stood fifteen feet high above where the captive wolves rested.
"Half a blasted carcass, we'll go hungry eventually. This amounts to eating our own scat at this point..." A wolf groaned in annoyance.
"We must eat what we can." Phaona said, trying to boost morale as best as he could.
"I guess so." Leela spoke as they all approached the deer carcass to feast on what they could, picking bones if they needed to.
From above, Nirmam watched in glee as his enemies were quick to wolf down whatever remained, watching as Phaona used his teeth to scrape some flesh from a rib.
"I wonder, which one of these fools shall be put to death?" The Himalayan wolf asked Bhediya Khan, who stood next to him to watch the spectacle.
"I would strip them of all hope they have, the strongest wolf shall be tortured until his fall from this mortal world, may his cries of agony fill hopelessness, fear, and anguish into the hearts of the other wolves we hold hostage, and it shall be then, that we make them fight other dholes, and other species in this area." Bhediya responded.
"A most great decision, my warrior Khan!" Nirmam shouted out with glee.
"We wait until they have their stomachs filled with the meat they've devoured from this moment, and when they least expect it, when they begin to think of fighting back, we will shatter their will to fight, and they will bow before us all." Bhediya said, planning out the systematic deaths of the wolf hostages.
"I cannot wait to make them suffer..." Nirmam responded, licking his chops deviously at the thought of bringing excruciating pain to Phaona.
"I hope this will make up for your mistakes you made with Shanti, you could've killed Mowgli, and our mission wouldn't be as long as I fear it needs to be." Bhediya growled, still upset that Shanti managed to slip away.
(A few hours later)
(Location: Jungles)
Unbeknownst to the others, Mowgli had gotten up to prepare to defend his allies from any other threats that may harm them in their sleep. Shanti was having struggles sleeping, seemingly having some type of bad dream with Kaa watching over her.
The poor young woman whimpered, and writhed around in her sleep, the memories of her brief time at the Cold Lairs continuing to haunt her psyche.
Kaa gently bundled up Shanti into her coils, using the tip of her tail to gently brush over her face, giving her a massage with her strong body. Gently flexing the muscles within her coils, and then relaxing them. Using her seductive, soft voice to pseudo-hypnotize Shanti into a peaceful sleep rather than a stressful one.
"Ressst, you are sssafe, sssweet Shanti..." The serpent said softly as she witnessed Shanti's stress seemingly calming down.
"Sssleep peacefully, you are under the protection of the SSSeeonee Pack..." The snake continued, rubbing her smooth, soft body against Shanti's hurting one from the constant movement and beatings she received while at the Cold Lairs.
"Sssleeeeep." Kaa whispered into Shanti's ear, finally giving the relaxation that the Indian woman needed for a deep, relaxing sleep.
The serpent heard a twig snap nearby, and she gently released Shanti from her coil bundle, slithering over to where she heard the sound originating from.
"What are you doing up, Mowgli?" Kaa asked, coiling herself up next to him.
"I give protection, I could ask the same of you." He replied, Mowgli then turned to Kaa with a grin on his face.
"What was you doing with my girlfriend back there?" He asked.
"I slightly hypnotized her, she was having some struggles in her slumber." Kaa responded, seconds later, a deafening scream could be heard coming from Shanti herself!
Mowgli, and Kaa raced back towards where the others were sleeping. Everyone was engaged in combat as a dhole began to corner Shanti, Mowgli instantly went into protection mode as he rushed towards that dhole as fast as he could.
"Shanti!" He screamed, taking his knife, throwing it at the red dog, killing it as the blade lodged itself into the head!
A wolf clamped his jaws down into the throat of another dhole, killing it quickly as he noticed Bagheera ending the life of another red dog with a swipe of his paw to the head!
Baloo held a dhole in his jaws, and he flung it into a tree, the impact was enough to kill it. He noticed the adult wolf, Chaandee, killing another one of the attacking red dogs with a menacing growl.
"Leave usss!" Kaa hissed loudly as she used her head like a battering ram to knock away a line of dholes that came her way, knocking out five dholes in an instant with a single blow!
Gray Brother was wrestling a dhole on his hind legs, eventually pinning it against the back of a tree before delivering a fatal bite to the throat of the red dog!
A wolf was then killed as it was pinned on it's back, killed by a bite to the throat!
"No!" Mowgli cried, believing that one life lost was a tragedy, he rushed in, performed a combat roll as he sliced the neck of the dhole in which killed the wolf.
A wolf tried to jump on the man from behind, but Kaa swatted it away with her strong tail!
Chaandee was struggling against a dhole now, wrestling with it on their hind legs, biting into one another, pawing into one another, trying to get the upper hand. Gray Brother made the save as the wolf seemed to be losing the struggle.
While the wolf took a moment to let out a sigh of relief, a dhole suddenly took his back, and bit into his throat!
Bagheera was fast to take out the dhole before fatal damage could be done, thankfully, but Chaandee was hurting.
Every breath that the wolf took was labored, it was a wheeze rather than a breath.
"I'll defend you." Bagheera said, within a matter of moments, the attacking dholes were slain. Several of them were only knocked out, and it would be a matter of time before more reinforcements would show up.
"We must go, now!" Mowgli cried out, it was only then did he notice a wounded Chaandee laying on the ground, gasping for air.
"I don't think he will make it, Mowgli..." Baloo sighed.
"Have faith, we must give him time to heal. We must find water." Mowgli said, not giving up on the broken wolf just yet.
(Hours later)
(Location: Cold Lairs)
It was now night, and it had been around five hours since Phaona, Leela, and the two other wolves devoured what they could from the carcass that was given to them. The time had come for one of them to fall from the world.
"Where is Mowgli?" Leela asked, her voice filled with worry.
"He shall be here soon, soon we shall be free." Phaona said, holding on to fleeting hope.
"You've said that plenty of times, he hasn't made appearance yet..." Leela whimpered, her voice squeaking with fear.
"Hello there, wolves. Tell me, would you want to live another day, perhaps live the rest of your life without worry?" The voice of Nirmam asked from above them, coming from the hole near the top of the wall.
"Yes!" Leela cried out, her voice submissive sounding.
"Whose leadership would you live under? Our leadership, or the leadership of the great warrior Khan of all wolves, of all red dogs, the great Bhediya Khan!?" Nirmam boomed.
"I speak for the four of us, we would live under Mowgli's guidance than your tyrannical ways!" Phaona barked back.
"Very well then..." Nirmam growled, looking back at several red dogs that stood behind him. All of them held a thick, but moveable, vine that could reach down into the summer house.
"See the one that just spoke out of the summerhouse, then get the others." The Himalayan wolf continued, the four wolves noticed a large vine descend into the room with three dholes hanging on to it with their mouths.
Phaona made attempt to defend Leela, and the other two wolves, but he was too weak to fight, and the three dholes overpowered him as the others watched in disbelief.
"Phaona!" Leela cried.
"Fear not, Mowgli will be here soon to save us all. The other wolves shall return with him, including Baloo, Bagheera, and Kaa to help us out of this factory of disdain!" Phanoa cried as he was dragged closer towards the vine.
The brave wolf struggled, but was overpowered again, as the vine was wrapped around his neck. The three dholes watched as Phaona gagged as he was lifted off of his feet, looking as if they were attempting to hang him!
Phaona pawed at his throat, struggling to get the vine from around his neck, he gasped for air, but thankfully he was pulled out of the hole in the wall. He immediately went into a coughing fit, his mouth agape as he gasped for much needed oxygen. He was forcefully detained by a group of red dogs, pinning him to the ground.
Up next was Leela, who, like Phaona, began to asphyxiate as she was choked by the vine around her neck as she was forcefully tugged out of the summerhouse.
"Ph-Phaona!" She struggled to squeak in fear as she was pinned to the ground, detained by another group of dholes.
The other two wolves suffered the exact same fate, one of them almost dying, as both of them were already weakened from cobra bites.
As all four wolves were detained, Nirmam ordered them to be dragged into the palace, to be put on display to Bhediya Khan.
"These four fools would rather spend time with man, than accepting you as their leader..." Nirmam said, his voice filled with pure disgust.
"I see, the hatred in their eyes is evident to me. Listen up, pathetic wolves!" Bhediya barked, his thundering voice filling the chamber.
Leela cowered in fear, Phaonoa stood in defiance, the other two wolves trembled, but not from fear, but from their extremely weakened bodies.
"All of you shall be put to death, and it will not be quick. All of you shall suffer a barbaric demise, the strongest will go first. Let the sights you see this night be a reminder, that if you do not abide by our rules, live the way we do, accept our lifestyles, beliefs, then you shall die for going against us!" Bhediya boomed with authority, planting his foot down on the throne.
"I do not fear you..." Phaona growled, baring his teeth. Nirmam was quick to latch his jaws around the throat of Phaona, dragging him all over the floor before slinging him into a column!
"Hold!" Bhediya ordered, everyone in the room fell to a halt.
"We shall take turns." The dire wolf continued, the other wolves that stood with Phaona were forcefully dragged away from the one that had instilled hope into their hearts, being forcefully pinned down by the overwhelming amounts of dholes as Phaona was dragged back to the center of the room.
Nirmam was one of the ones that would be torturing Phaona, including a couple other dholes.
"Do you fear him now?" The Himalayan wolf asked, getting right into Phaona's face to ask the question.
"No I do no-" Phaona went to speak, but Nirmam bit deep into his tongue, pressing his head down with his paws as he then forcefully ripped the tongue out of the mouth.
Phaona screamed in agony, the dholes laughing wickedly only furthered the hopelessness and humiliation.
"No!" Leela cried out in horror as Phaona screamed, and moaned in excrutiating pain.
"Enough of his tongue, on and on like a broken record. About time he shut his mouth!" Nirmam laughed, it was another dhole's turn to deal punishment to Phaona.
The dhole went behind Phaona, biting into his tail. The red dog pressed his paws on the back of the wolf as it pulled back, attempting to rip the tail off of him.
"Come join in on the fun!" The red dog howled with laughter, these sick mongrels were having fun slowly killing Phaona.
A couple more dholes did the same, clamping their teeth around the tail of Phaona, and then pulling back.
Phaona could only scream in agony, head reared back, eyes wide as his tail was forcefully torn from his body...
The dholes continued to howl, and dance around with glee as they watched their enemy continue to lose hope with every gruesome injury inflicted upon him by their will.
"Look at him, I think he's crying!" A dhole cackled with hysterical laughter.
"I don't think he likes our laughter, perhaps he won't have to hear it..." A dhole growled with only the most sinister intentions, approaching Phaona from the front.
"If he has no ears!" He finished as he clamped his teeth around an ear of Phaona, viciously tearing, and pulling back to tear it from his head. The wolf howled in agony as this was done.
"Look at him bleed!" A red dog laughed.
Nirmam glanced over at Leela, who was crying non-stop, knowing there was nothing she could do to save Phaona. The other wolves watched in disbelief, the message was well sent, they started to fear the red dogs due to their brutal nature.
"You see this?" The Himalayan wolf asked Leela, as he licked away her tears while snickering deviously.
"This is what happens when you go against us, you follow our ways or suffer a painful end." He finished as he moved out of the way for Leela to see another ear get forcefully torn from Phaona's head, now he was deaf.
"Now then! I wonder if Bhediya is pleased at our game here!" Nirmam exclaimed, every dhole in the room cheered for their supreme leader sitting on the throne of hate.
A smirk was on the dire wolf's face, enjoying Phaona's torment.
"I would see one more injury before the session is over...remove his genitals..." Bhediya growled with no remorse, every red dog filled the room with deafening laughter.
"I would not see any offspring from him, bite them off!" One red dog barked hatefully.
Phaona was forcefully knocked to his back, and let's just say that the entire jungle heard his cries moments later...
(Location: Jungles)
"Water!" A wolf cried, Mowgli and his allies had successfully reached a spring within the ground.
Chaandee was just barely hanging to life, he needed fluid to drink, as it would be the only thing that would keep him alive at this point in time.
Everyone gathered around the spring to catch a drink from it, lapping up the water, Mowgli gently placed Chaandee's head next to the spring so he could lick up every amount of water that his tongue could hold on it.
After the near fatal bite to the throat from a skirmish earlier on in the jungle, closer to the Cold Lairs, Chaandee had difficulties swallowing.
While they were all drinking some, Mowgli began to hear faint footsteps gradually getting louder over time coming from behind them. The man looked over his shoulder to see another squad of red dogs coming for them in the distance.
"Dholes incoming!" Mowgli cried out, everyone left the springs to defend Chaandee.
As a red dog lunged at Mowgli, the man plunged the knife down the throat, killing the dhole with ease!
Baloo stood up on his haunches, allowing red dogs to jump towards him so he could easily bat them away with his powerful paws, killing each one with each hit he made.
Gray Brother knocked a red dog over onto the side, finishing it off with a bite to the neck.
A red dog threw itself at Kaa, only for her to wrap her tail around the dhole, smashing it over and over into the ground, brutishly ending it!
Bagheera was seen biting a struggling dhole on the neck to finish it off after pinning it beneath him.
The serpent coiled herself up, activating her full power on the hypnosis, captivating all of the red dogs that made an attempt to attack her, thankfully these were the last ones of the wave.
"Enter the ssspring, drown yourselvesss..." Kaa hissed, and the red dogs did as was told as Chaandee continued to lap at the water with his tongue, receiving the ample amount of fluid he needed to stay hydrated.
During the skirmish, Mowgli had lost all of the regular wolves that had stayed with him, which were around ten wolves. Gray Brother and Chaandee were all that remained alive.
"We must move, again..." Mowgli sighed, growing tired of constantly running for the hills each time another wave of dholes rushed upon them. There was seemingly no end to the attackers attempts.
(The next morning)
Mowgli and what remained of that stayed with him, continued on through the jungles, they seen a faint light ahead, yes it was the sun, but the thing is, is that they were finally about to come across a clearing!
"Finally, we have light to give us warmth." He said with a grin.
"Fantastic." Gray Brother added on, but their celebrations would have to wait, for footsteps were heard from the distance...
"Get ready..." Mowgli growled, unsheathing his blood soaked knife from the constant battles he found himself in the night before.
"Kaa, protect Chandee near the tree behind us. All others stay with me." Mowgli said, Kaa did as was told, gently dragging the injured wolf next to a tall tree.
Baloo stood up on his haunches, Mowgli brandished his knife, baring his teeth. Gray Brother bared his teeth, growling furiously. Bagheera was ready to attack, standing guard next to Baloo. Kaa had coiled herself up next to Chandee if any of these red dogs came for her as well.
"This could be it..." Mowgli said, as he seen several shadows moving about in the distance, this fighting force was much greater in number than the ones they've faced before, he began to fear that this could already be a final stand.
Suddenly, Phao came in through the brush, along with several others of the Seeonee Wolf Pack behind him. More, and more wolves continued to appear. All friendlies to Mowgli and his allies. Phao gave Mowgli a light smile, it was strange after the brief fight he and Mowgli had a day before.
"We come in peace." Phao said happily.
"You come as a traitor, how do we know you aren't against us?" Gray Brother growled.
"Relax, we've found shelter. My apologies for letting loose yesterday." The wolf replied to the aggression that Gray Brother shown him.
"You broke pack code, your ultimate fate will be decided when we reach Council Rock again, but for now, you remain as our brother." Mowgli said, he still felt unsure about keeping the wolf in the pack after his lies to him about Shanti.
"Guide us to shelter." Baloo said sternly.
As all of Mowgli's pack emerged through the tree line, they would discover a two story dilapidated house in the distance. There was a stone road path in which would lead through the jungle, they were all in the back yard of it, where a gazebo sat, including a large garden.
The clearing was much larger than expected, but it was a welcome addition, the house sat on a hill as well, overlooking any potential threats that may come towards it, it wasn't a steep hill either.
"This is a nice surprise." Mowgli said with a smile, the pack advanced towards the house, until they paused when they seen the plants in the garden rustling about, they then noticed a brown figure dart into the house from the back.
"What was that?" Gray Brother asked.
"I don't know, we best keep moving. This could be our best shelter yet." Mowgli answered.
"Whoever owns this house, doesn't keep too much care of it." Phao chuckled, it was evident as some vines were seeing entangling most of the house. It looked ruined as well, with several windows being broken, the stone brick road had moss growing in the cracks.
"It can be fixed, looks like nobody lives here." Mowgli replied, as they got closer to the back.
Suddenly, a man with a shotgun burst through the door, ramming his shoulder into Mowgli's chest with a scream of fury!
The man then took aim at Mowgli with his shotgun, finger on the trigger, ready to fire.
"Wait!" Mowgli screamed, the man with the gun held his fire after delivering a warning shot into the air.
"I stand as friend, I come in peace!" Mowgli continued, holding up his hands to show that he was no threat.
"You stand as witch, how do you have all of your animal friends behind you? A giant snake, a big bear, even a beautiful panther, not to mention an army of wolves!" The man with the gun screamed.
He wore a white tank-top with beige colored shorts, and brown boots. His hair was a reddish brown, including his mustache and goatee. His hair went to just above his shoulders, he had a toned build to his body too.
"Mongoosesss, I hate mongoosesss..." Kaa hissed angrily, her eyes staring at what was at the man's feet, a mongoose was ready to strike.
"I can say the same to you, lady!" The mongoose chittered angrily, but Mowgli recognized this rodent!
"You, don't I know you?" He asked to the mongoose.
"Wait a minute..." The rodent said, having a memory of Mowgli from earlier in the year.
This Mongoose was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the same mongoose who had saved Mowgli and Shanti from the massive White Hood.
"Oh, so you can talk too?" The man holding the shotgun asked Rikki, who still stood next to him.
"Of course I can!" The mongoose happily said with glee.
"You know him?" Baloo asked Rikki.
"Yes, I saved him from a giant cobra at a large temple a while back!" The mongoose said aloud.
"Good to know you and him are on good terms." Gray Brother responded.
"He saved me from cobras as well, two of 'em!" The man holding the gun exclaimed.
"Yep, Nag, and Nagaina attempted to kill him, and his family many seasons ago. I've lived with him ever since, his parents have moved out, and he left this place for a while before returning five years ago." Rikki said, Mowgli's attention shifted back up at the man, who know held the gun low to the ground to show that he wasn't hostile anymore.
"So, who are you?" Mowgli asked with a raised eyebrow.
"My name is Teddy. What's yours?" The man asked, revealing his name.
"I am Mowgli, defender of the jungle, alpha of the Seeonee Pack, legend of the jungle." Mowgli replied.
"Well ya got a few nicknames, nice to know. I surely know why they call you legend of the jungle, you got all of these animals, and a giant snake behind you." Teddy chuckled, placing his gun on a table close to him.
"We come for only shelter, we didn't mean to disturb you." Gray Brother said in a calm voice, approaching Teddy to sniff him, getting to know him in the ways of a wolf or a dog.
"I welcome you, this house cannot hold you all, I hope you understand." Teddy said gently, petting Gray Brother.
"I understand, is there any place in your house that you could fit a large serpent, a bear, and a panther?" Mowgli asked.
"I've got a basement, I currently don't have anything in the basement, so it is completely free for your animal friends to rest in."
With that, another human ally had been made with Mowgli. Teddy, his fancy, but not so fancy home would be a temporary shelter for his allies and friends.