(Chapter 24: Equal, a heated exchange!)
(Location: Mountain Cave)
After several hours went to pass after the skirmish at dawn's first light, it was noon now, and a lone wolf in which had survived the skirmish had the most unfortunate news to deliver to Nirmam, and boy was he not pleased with it.
"THEY HAVE MY LOVER!" Nirmam barked as loud as his lungs could let him, the Himalayan wolf paced back and forth in his cave while the injured red dog from the skirmish weakly whimpered.
"I ask you to rela-" The dhole went to speak only to be immediately silenced.
"HOW CAN I!?" Nirmam continued to scream at the top of his lungs.
"First they kill off a few of our mothers, and our innocent, defenseless pups, and now they kidnap my dearest Kota!?" The wolf continued to bark, pacing around, his voice filled with rage and worry.
"We must act fast before they do anything to her, you can save yourself of any troubling thoughts!" The dhole barked.
"You're right, we will be soon to follow the scent of the dholes I sent earlier. First I must get my mercenaries fed before I make my move." Nirmam said, a smirk now forming on his face.
"What of the legions?" The dhole asked.
"We shall get them fed bunch by bunch, five hundred will go into the jungle and slaughter all the game they can. I feel confident that the mercenaries and I can get the job done in finding Mowgli, and taking him out..." Nirmam growled coldly.
"When do we move, Nirmam?" Long Fang asked, licking his chops at the thought of getting food into his stomach, Kaiser smirked at the thought of killing prey, while Danaba Baluka had a stone cold expression, emotionless, his eyes were soul-less and unforgiving.
"We hunt now." Nirmam replied.
(Location: Teddy's House)
The wolves had their morning feast, it took a good few hours to get all fed and well for the day, but it was done. Now Mowgli stood at the front of Teddy's house with a proud smile displayed upon his face as he admired the massive numbers of wolves, but now it was time to properly train them all to prepare for the coming war, to harden them all up.
"Wolves!" Mowgli's called out with a clap of his hands over his head, getting all of their attention as they gathered at the front of the house, all four hundred and fifty five wolves staring at their leader.
"We've received grander number of wolves as the threat of Nirmam and the legions of dholes grow every day with attacks becoming more frequent than ever before. It is imperative that we properly train our new wolves in our ways to learn how the Seeonee Pack runs, we shall put them through the trials that I had to go through many seasons ago when we were divided by Shere Khan. Training the new wolves would only increase our skills, and increase our chances of victory as well." Mowgli continued, his eyes shifting to designate the new group of wolves from the old ones. The new group of wolves sat to the left, while the Seeonee Pack sat to the right.
"How will we do this, brother?" Bagheera asked.
"We will split the new pack up into several groups just as we did with hunting today, and we will split our original pack up as well, we would first hunt before the new training regime begins to prepare for battle against dholes. The first trial ends when one pack brings home the largest sized game possible, when all groups return with food." Mowgli answered.
"Sounds like a plan, do we get involved?" Baloo asked, motioning his head towards Bagheera, and Kaa.
"No, I plan on the new wolves take on the current ones to test their skills. Hopefully they shall impress us as we watch on, and wait for their return to this house." Mowgli said.
"What if the dholes return again? With bigger number than before?" Kaa asked, sounding like she wasn't too keen on having the new pack head into the jungle with the current one to undergo the hunting trial.
"They won't, after we prevented them from even coming close to the house, they should be re-evaluating their strategies. How about you three help me out with splitting these up into groups again?" Mowgli replied, heading down the stairs with Bagheera and Baloo.
"Sure." Kaa answered, slithering after the three of her allies.
The four of them would split the new pack, and current pack up into many groups before they returned to the front of the house so Mowgli could speak.
"It is time for the first trial to begin, on my go, the new pack will get a head start, and then once I give the go to the current pack of ours, they shall go into the jungle to hunt for game as well!" Mowgli called out, Baloo stared up at the sky to see that gray clouds were bunching up overhead, the distant sound of thunder was heard rumbling in the sky overhead.
"Mowgli, storm approaches. Should we postpone our trials?" The brown bear asked, sounding slightly worried.
"No, it would make it more intense, and tough on the new wolves. The better the challenge, and the tougher the training, the better fighters, and better hunters they become." Mowgli answered before glancing back at the packs that were split up into a few large groups.
"Ready...set..." Mowgli began, his eyes glancing up at the dark clouds in the distance.
"GO!" He cried out upon seeing a flash of lightning, and the massive groups of wolves began to rush into the jungle, the new pack going first. Their bodies vanishing into the tree line in the distance.
"Give the current pack some time." Mowgli continued, waiting for around a minute until he felt the first raindrop hit his hair.
"Now go!" He cried, and the current pack was swift as they darted towards the jungle to go about their hunts.
(Location: Northern Seeonee Hills)
"Great...rain." Nirmam sighed as he sniffed the air, still trying to pick up the scent of the red dogs that he had sent out earlier, but the rain and wind of the storm was starting to wash it away...
"With that, our chances of finding my lover are RUINED!" The Himalayan wolf barked as Kaiser, Danaba, and Long Fang feasted on a few sambhur bucks that they had found.
"Don't be so sure, Nirmam. We will find them through other means, you must remain calm." Long Fang spoke, licking his long fangs clean of blood after gorging on the deer carcass.
"How can I remain calm, my friend? That's the love of my life, Kota, they have in their possession. Who knows what they will do since those monsters slaughtered defenseless pups and innocent mothers back at the ruined city, it is our duty to find them, and kill them all..." Nirmam replied with a sigh.
"They killed little ones that cannot fend for themselves when attacked, surely Mowgli will die for this, evil never prospers." Kaiser added on.
"One way or another, the actions that he enforced will return to haunt him. No bad deed goes unpunished..." Nirmam said to himself, having icy determination to take out Mowgli and the rest of his allies as soon as possible.
"What do you suggest we do, now that we've lost track of their scent?" Long Fang questioned.
"I remember a place further North from here, beyond this patch of jungle, it was a hilly area with a lone mountain in the center that stood out among the hills. It was the home of several wolves, our legions past it by on our way here recently. I wonder if they seen Mowgli recently..." Nirmam explained with a devious chuckle.
"Shall we march to that place?" Kaiser asked, continuing to feast on the two carcasses that were laying infront of him.
"Yes, and we shall ask them if they've seen Mowgli, and if any of them react with violence, it confirms my suspicions, and then we'll take out the wolves that live in that cave." The Himalayan wolf answered.
(Location: Teddy's House)
As Teddy was washing dishes from breakfast that morning, Shanti was sitting at the table, looking over at the long steel box in which was sitting against the wall. This is where his shotgun had been placed.
"Teddy, I've always been interested in defending myself. It seems that many animals fear that gun." Shanti said as she examined the box.
"You would be correct, Shanti. Many animals fear it, us humans fear it as well, for it has deadly power." Teddy replied.
"Would you be willing to teach me how to shoot the gun?" She asked.
"Of course, with it comes responsibility though. You must never use it unless you hunt, or to defend yourself. Guns are not meant to be used for evil." The englishman responded, admiring Shanti's willingness to slowly step out of the comfort zone by trying out new things.
"I know that, I know one man who used it, his name was Buldeo. He killed animals for sport, and he slain the wolf that raised Mowgli as a child." Shanti said, her voice shifting into a somber tone.
"Poachers, scum of the Earth." Teddy said with a voice filled with disdain for Buldeo, a man who he never met.
"I know, thankfully Mowgli's human brother takes good care of the guns that Buldeo once held." She said.
"Oh, he has human brothers too. What are their names?" Teddy asked.
"He has a younger brother named Ranjan, and an older brother named Ranbir. Ranbir is the one with good hunting skills, fighting skills, and a gentleman." Shanti responded, thinking of her boyfriend's brothers.
"What about Ranjan?" The englishman asked.
"Well... he's a boy of adolescent years, he's always going for the girls one way or another, he was quite the trouble maker as a child too. A goof, but a pleasant one at that. He's very smart when he wants to be or needs to be." Shanti said, giggling.
"Understandable, I was raised in a high class family, I was taught to be mature, even as a young boy who didn't know any better." Teddy said, smiling as he finished washing the dishes, approaching the box that held the shotgun, preparing to teach Shanti how to aim and shoot!
(Location: British Outpost)
"Well sir, Percy Issacs is on his way to the Congo to do battle against a supposed wild man. Do you think sending him there was a good idea?" A troop asked Elias Valentine who was sitting at his desk.
"Yes, I feel that he can get lots accomplished. He's got a brilliant mind, and if he can survive those jungles for all of those years...who knows what he can do in Africa." Elias replied.
"I've been getting reports of one of our squadrons seeing a massive amount of red dogs from time to time in a field right outside of their encampment." The troop warned, bringing Elias some news, there hadn't been anything particularly interesting in recent times.
"So what? Wild dogs are known to roam in packs, this isn't nothing new..." Elias grumbled.
"That may be the case, sir, but they tell me that they range in the thousands..." The troop continued, Elias spat out his tea, and pounded his desk.
"The thousands!?" He shouted, bewildered at what he was hearing.
"Yes, there has never been that many red dogs seen at one time. Something must be going on." The troop said, Elias looked shocked.
"Witchcraft is at play, get those soldiers out of that jungle immediately!" He screamed, becoming fearful of the soldiers stationed at a camp within the jungle.
"The line has been severed." The troop answered, making Elias even more alarmed.
"Fine, I'll see myself to that station. I move in by troop escort!" He screamed, rushing to the outside to find a horse he could ride to the location.
"Sir, those soldiers out there could potentially be already in danger. If witchcraft is at play, we could have the possibility to get lost in those jungles forever!" The troop screamed back.
"I don't care, I'll get those men free of this place, if Percy can survive, so can I." Elias growled.
"So be it, I go with you." The troop responded, following Elias to where all of the horses were located.
(A few hours later)
(Location: Teddy's House)
Finally, only one more group remained from both packs, which ever made it would win the trial. It had been very close, the current pack seemed to have an advantage at first, but then it became the new pack with the advantage, and then it was tied. Eventually, it would be the Seeonee Pack that would ultimately win the race, and they all celebrated while the new pack rested.
As all of the wolves ate, Mowgli stood at the front of the house to deliver some news regarding the trials.
"Wolves, you may eat as I speak. All of you did a fantastic job today, my pack reigned supreme over the new one, as for the new ones, do not feel ashamed or discouraged, for tomorrow brings another challenge in your trials. The combat trials." Mowgli announced, Bagheera, Baloo, and Kaa all looked at their closest friend with a look of shock.
"Combat!?" Baloo asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, combat. Tomorrow we will spar in friendly bouts, group against group to sharpen our skills in terms of fighting. If we are capable, then we can cut through the legions of the red dogs!" Mowgli cried out, getting all of the wolves to cheer.
"Unbelievable..." Bagheera said softly, Kaa smirked at Mowgli's idea.
"I like your way of thinking, buddy." The snake snickered, giving him a toothy grin.
"Heh...thanks." Mowgli chuckled with a grin.
"Tomorrow they will all be ready to face the legions, and then we will start to set up our first attack on those dogs..." He continued before heading inside of the house to discover that Shanti and Teddy were nowhere to be found.
"Shanti?" Mowgli called, no answer was given.
Teddy was teaching Shanti behind the house, how to fire the shotgun.
"Now use your other hand to grip the fore-end of the gun." Teddy explained, positioning Shanti's hands for her in the way she was meant to hold the weapon.
Shanti giggled with excitement, she felt powerful holding this weapon, but she knew that it took great responsibility when handling something like this. Back inside the house, Mowgli kept looking for her.
He was in the upstairs room, looking around and calling for her to still receive no answer, when he peeked through a window, he noticed Teddy standing behind Shanti, helping her with holding the shotgun correctly, Mowgli smirked at the sight of his girlfriend getting taught new things by a man he trusted.
"Now raise the stock up to your cheek, keep your eyes in line with the barrel..." Teddy explained, making sure everything Shanti did was correct before moving on to the next step.
"Good, now wedge the butt into your shoulder pocket, right where your arm connects with your shoulder." The englishman continued, and Shanti carefully did as was told.
"Alright now be sure to check your stance, legs shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent." Teddy said, Shanti did as was told again but her knees were slightly off. The englishman motioned for her to correct it, and when she did, he gave her a thumbs up of approval.
"Now aim at that spare pot I've got hanging over there." Teddy said, pointing to a pot with red, white, blue and yellow circles on it. It was dangling over a chunk of hay.
Shanti happily smiled, and placed her finger on the trigger, preparing to fire but the gun was swaying a good bit.
"Remember to control your breathing so you have better control of the gun itself." He advised, Shanti nodded her head and took in a deep breath, her eyes opened and then narrowed on the target.
"WHAT ARE YA GUYS DOING!?" Mowgli suddenly screamed from behind, pranking them while everything seemed still. Both of them jolted, Shanti screamed as she accidentally pulled the trigger, the shell hit something metal, but not the pot, evident by the metal dinging sound in which was ringing around the house.
Mowgli broke into a fit of laughter, amazed that his prank went perfectly.
"Mowgli, I didn't see you there!" Teddy exclaimed before laughing himself.
"Don't do that, my love. You messed me up." Shanti said with a laugh before playfully smacking Mowgli on the butt, causing him to let out a fake yelp of pain. A feel good moment in a time of crisis and war. Mowgli smiled proudly at Shanti before placing a hand on Teddy's shoulder.
"I thank you for teaching my Shanti the ways of that gun." Mowgli said.
"She's got a lot to learn, but she has great potential. She spoke interest of it while I was washing dishes." Teddy said.
"Now I can finally protect myself when you are not around." Shanti spoke, leaning in with a kiss to Mowgli.
"That's good, my love, I'm proud." Mowgli responded with a kiss to her forehead.
(Location: Kai's Cave)
Kai and the wolves that chose to stay behind were having fun all to themselves, they were celebrating the bravery of all the wolves that left to join Mowgli's ever growing army of wolves against the mighty dhole legions of the Dekkan Plateaus.
The pups played with one another, the mothers watched over them with their fathers. The juvenile wolves wrestled with each other, sparred, and flirted with the juvenile females. The yearlings were getting taught lessons by pack elders, and Kai was peacefully resting.
Suddenly, a loud bark was heard coming from outside of the cave, followed by a couple of roars. These roars sounded different than anything they had ever heard before, but the bark was similar...
Nirmam, Long Fang, Kaiser, and Danaba Baluka entered the cave one by one. Every wolf within the cave fell silent, with the exception of Nirmam, who didn't look happy at all...
"I'm assuming you all know why I am here..." The Himalayan wolf growled, the wolves within the cave watched in fear as the remnant creatures entered their home one by one, massive ancient beasts that their eyes never witnessed.
"No..." One wolf said in response, having the balls to actually speak here.
"Well, let me explain: The villain of this jungle has been here, I can smell his scent. Mowgli was his name, and I'm certain he brought some others here with him. Am I not mistaken?" Nirmam replied.
"Yes, he's been here today." Kai replied.
"I would speak with the man." Nirmam said, staring at the leader of what remained of the pack within the cave.
"He's not hear at the moment, my apologies." Kai stated.
"Some of you must know where he is located, when the legions of mine and Bhediya passed by here not too long ago, I know the pack was much larger than this. Where did Mowgli take the rest, because wolves in that amount just don't vanish like this." Nirmam continued, his voice sounding menacing and serious.
"Hunting, they've gone hunting." A mother wolf responded, Nirmam growled at her before planting one of his frontal paws down.
"Do not attempt to lie!" The Himalayan wolf barked.
"I-I just wanted to find a female, and mate..." A juvenile wolf whimpered, Danaba Baluka suddenly surged forward, clamping his large jaws around the head of the young adolescent wolf, and viciously ripped his head off instantly!
The brutal killing of the young wolf by the cave bear shocked everyone into silence...
"Let me repeat myself, where did Mowgli take the rest of your pack? I'll not ask again..."
The pack remained silent, Nirmam sighed since no one answered his question.
"How disappointing, kill away." He continued, motioning the three remnant predators to begin a brutal assault on the cave.
Danaba pinned down another wolf beneath his paw, letting out a loud roar that scared the entire pack as Kaiser snatched one juvenile into his jaws, smashing her against the rocky walls of the cave!
"Wait, WAIT!" Kai pleaded, wanting to stop their assault as Nirmam watched on in delight, but stopped his brutal mercenaries.
"Speak, or see the rest of your pack wiped from the face of the Earth..." Nirmam warned.
"I spoke with Mowgli, he brought a large number of my young wolves who dared to fight, to some house." The leader of the pack spoke up at last.
"Where is this house...?" Nirmam continued to ask, wanting a specific location.
"I'm not going to tell you, I'm not going to let you kill off my brave pa-" Kai was then killed by Long Fang, whose long sabre teeth went right through his head and neck!
"MOWGLI HAS STOLEN SOMETHING PERSONAL TO ME!" Nirmam barked at the top of his lungs, his voice like thunder filling in the cave!
All of the wolves cowered in fear as their leader was slaughtered before their very eyes...
"I WILL SEE MY WIFE, KOTA, RETURNED!" The Himalayan wolf continued to bark.
(Location: Teddy's House)
Mowgli now stood within the basement, where Kota, Nirmam Yoddah's lover, was being held.
"Your husband, lover, had my lover's mother slain..." He said coldly, standing over the wolf who was too weakened to do anything. The man held his knife in hand, his other hand was balled into a fist.
"I had nothing to do with his actions." Kota growled in response.
"Yet you love Nirmam, a heinous and cruel wolf who had no business in attacking my home, a place where I was raised in my younger years of being an adult..." Mowgli continued, having nothing but anger in his heart for the loss of Divya at Nirmam's hands.
"I'm only there to love him and provide pups, you should be dragging him away from family not m-" Her voice was silenced when Mowgli brought the knife to her throat, preparing to slit it if she spoke anymore.
"Divya's daughter, Shanti, and I. Us two have spoken of marrying, and having children within near future. Divya was looking forward to being an amazing grandmother to a child. Could you say the same?" Mowgli growled.
"Y-yes. I could say the same, why?"
"I wonder how matured child's lover would like for his mother to be slain too, just as my lover's mother was..."
"Stop!" Kota screamed as Mowgli drew the knife back, preparing to stab it into her mouth.
"Please, I'll do anything to convince Nirmam to stop and be fair for once. Just let me go, or at the very least, don't kill me. You've already done enough!" Kota pleaded, Mowgli stopped what he was doing, letting out a sigh.
"Don't mistake my generous heart for kindness..." Mowgli warned as he marched back up the stairs.
On the outside, Bagheera rested on top of the gazebo while Chupake was still resting beneath the table within it, feeling the effects of Kaa's crushing power even still.
"For one whom I thought was untrustworthy, you did pretty good by kidnapping the wife of our enemy." The panther said, amazed at what the Asiatic cheetah pulled off.
"I did it so I could shut Mowgli up, I'm over it with people saying that I'm among the people whom you can't trust. It was equal vengeance for those red dogs, they screwed me over at the Cold Lairs." The Asiatic cheetah responded to the panther.
"I'm impressed with what you did, you've certainly changed my mind." Kaa said, slithering up to the gazebo.
"I give thanks, but I'm not forgetting what you done to me at the Cold Lairs, serpent..." Chupake hissed.
"What's the matter? Can't handle my strength? Strong enough for you?" Kaa playfully taunted.
"Anyways, how did the dholes fool you?" Bagheera asked.
"They promised me a great sum of meals if I killed off all of the captives, even if I killed off one, they would give me a large sum of food, and I did kill off one. However, no food was ever brought to me." Chupake replied.
"Well, they didn't give you a meal because you came with us here. You are yet another major weapon in Mowgli's ever growing army, you should feel proud that you've abandoned those dogs." Kaa said.
"You've lost your mind if you truly believe this army of wolves is going to help Mowgli against superior number. I've seen how large their legions are, four thousand and counting for each legion, and there are several of them. It would take years for the man to rally an army to take out even one, they would swiftly destroy us in open field. The amount of red dogs here is tame compared to what is held back at the Dekkan Plateaus...Tell me, Kaa, what is Mowgli's plan for this war of his?" The Asiatic cheetah scoffed.
"Mowgli plans to drive them back to the plateaus one way or another." Kaa answered, Chupake replied with a laugh.
"Our small numbers against the entire species at the Plateaus? You can compare that to flies circling and diving at a bull's anus, we'd get swatted away, and destroyed instantly if we even made attempt." He continued, Bagheera chuckled at this, Kaa looked slightly unnerved.
Back down in the basement, it was Teddy who was standing next to Kota.
"You side with Mowgli? A man who was ordered pups to be killed?" The wolf asked, trying to sway Teddy's thoughts in another direction.
"I side with him because of what he can do, he's allies with a python, bear, panther, and now a cheetah, including hundreds of wolves. I've only got a loyal mongoose by my side. If we turned against them all, we'd die as soon as we betrayed them." The englishman explained.
"The dholes hold superior number compared to what Mowgli has, sure, the man has a massive army with heavy hitters standing with him, but so does my husband, Nirmam Yoddha. Our dholes may be smaller compared to us wolves, but they make up for it in size of the packs and vast legions. If you can send me back to loving partner, we will protect you from fear of death to Mowgli and his horde..." Kota begged.
"I appreciate the offer, but I have my doubts." Teddy replied.
Meanwhile, Mowgli stood on the outside of the house, Chupake had heard that he was letting Kota live.
"I come to join your side, and I've received news via word of mouth that you let Kota live?" The Asiatic cheetah growled in annoyance.
"You don't know my heart." Mowgli replied.
"The same heart that spoke for cubs and innocent mothers to get crushed under rubble, and you let the wife of worst enemy live all of a sudden? Why does your mind flip like this?" The big cat spoke with confusion.
"There are both heinous things, and generous things you can do. I had some of the mothers and cubs killed so that they may not strike back in revenge once they reach maturity. I keep Kota alive, so we may reach an agreement with Nirmam. I'm trying to resolve things with peace, I only hope that the red dogs allow it without violence." Mowgli replied.
"An agreement?" Chupake began with a scoff.
"After all we've done to them so far, and what they've done to us, now you try to call a truce of peace? I do question your intentions here, Mowgli." He finished, Mowgli scowled at those words.
"As I've questioned your loyalty...I go speak with Teddy concerning matters of peace." The man said before walking away from the Asiatic cheetah.
Shanti sipped some tea in which Teddy had made for her within the house as the englishman was cooking some meat for Kota, who was still in the basement for the time.
"Teddy, come with me for a moment. I would have words with you discussing matters of this war." Mowgli said, Teddy nodded his head and followed the man into a patch of jungle nearby.
Shanti continued to sip her tea as she watched her boyfriend and mentor leave the house.
Behind the house, Kaa was relaxing in the shade, coiled up to rest some after having a good meal that morning. The serpent was actually sleeping next to a small window where the basement was located, she could hear anything and everything that went on in the basement. The window was actually open, shattered open due to the commotion not too long ago when one hundred dholes attacked the residence.
"I must get out, I must find a way to see the others here..." Kota was heard saying, this alarmed Kaa.
The others...she intends on bringing the entire legion of dholes over here, and it will be then that we're outnumbered Kaa thought to herself, deciding to stop resting, and to have words with the captive wolf.
"You ssspeak of what others?" Kaa asked, slithering through the hole in the window, entering the basement.
"I speak of those who will finally get me out of here, and grant me water, and food instead of living malnourished and weakened." Kota growled weakly as the serpent continued to enter the basement.
"Sssuch is how you treated Mowgli's lover..." Kaa continued, coiling up next to Kota, her forked tongue flickering out to get a scent of the wolf.
"How I treated Shanti? It was Nirmam who brought forth the idea, I do none to enforce them." The wolf growled, slowly backing away from the python while baring her teeth.
Kaa just stared at the wolf, her mere presence was intimidating.
"Kaa, you hold the strength and the power to set me free from this basement, and back to loving arms of Nirmam Yoddha. We will take out the villain Mowgli, and you will never grow hungry..." Kota continued.
"I don't think I'll ssset you free, I ssstand with Mowgli here." The snake answered.
"How could you stand with him? He ordered you to take out cubs and innocent mothers!" The wolf barked lightly, her voice filled with confusion.
"That action was cruelty, I agree. However, your husband struck down the mother of Mowgli's lover. Not only that, but your husband also took his lover, and held her hostage-" Kaa began, starting to slither closer to Kota...
"Your husband had four wolves of this pack tortured to death as well, and I feel Mowgli is in the right for keeping you his hostage." Kaa finished, getting even closer to the wolf.
"So what? Those actions weren't my o-" Kota couldn't finish her sentence when Kaa started talking again.
"I shall see a torturous death...RETURNED!" Kaa hissed loudly as she struck her flat head out, latching her jaws around Kota's neck, pulling her into massive coils that were lightning fast to loop around the wolf!
Kota whimpered out as the jaws latched on her neck, but the jaws would be the least of her worries as Kaa's powerful body was already starting to squeeze down on her!
"K-Kaa...please..." The wolf groaned, kicking and pawing at the serpent's coils to no avail of escape. Kaa watched as her victim struggled, only applying more pressure to the constriction.
"Have m-m-merc-cy..." Kota continued, feeling the pressure grow all around her body. Kaa only tightened her coils more, with each breath the serpent felt the wolf take, the more she would squeeze tighter and tighter.
"I'll show you the sssame mercy your husssband shown to the wolvesss he tortured..." Kaa replied as she squeezed even tighter...
Kota could no longer breath, and she was gasping for air, her head reared back, mouth agape.
"Kaa!" Mowgli exclaimed as he rushed into the basement.
"Hold it, Kaa!" He continued, picking up a 2x4, and bashing it over the snake's head as a way to get her to stop crushing Kota!
"My sssinussses..." The serpent groaned as the coils unwound from Kota, slowly slithering away.
"Have you lost mind, my friend!?" Mowgli exclaimed.
"Blood for blood, eye for eye, this fool'sss husband has struck your lover's mother from the world, and I shall see debts paid..." Kaa hissed angrily.
"You have no clue what I am planning!" Mowgli cried out, Kaa looked confused.
"Plan?" The serpent asked.
"You'll find out in due time." Mowgli responded.
(That night)
(Location: Mountain Cave)
Won-Tolla and Teddy had arrived at the lair of Nirmam Yoddha and his massive legion, including the three brutish mercenaries that stood as his bodyguards. The englishman and the lone wolf had arrived thanks to the help of Mang the bat.
"I come in peace." Teddy said, gazing around at the massive number of dholes in which had circled around him and the Won-Tolla. Standing with them in the circle was Nirmam Yoddha the Himalayan wolf, and Kaiser the Andrewsarchus. Standing behind the englishman and the black wolf was Danaba Baluka, the cave bear, and Long Fang the smilodon.
There was no turning back for the englishman and the Won-Tolla, they had to talk or else they could stare death in the face.
"I see, what brings you and the wolf here?" Nirmam asked.
"I come with knowledge of Kota, your wife." Teddy replied, the dholes gasped, the eyes of Nirmam went wide in an instant.
"You stand with Mowgli?" Nirmam asked, baring his teeth some.
"I stand with him out of fear, I've seen the allies he has." Teddy answered.
"Does she live?" The Himalayan wolf questioned.
"Indeed, for now at least."
Nirmam smiled at Teddy's reply.
"Very well, speak of where your house is located." He requested of Teddy, however, the englishman didn't give an answer, he ignored his request.
"Only you will come for her, leave your brutes and your legion here. We would see no more human blood spilled by your kind...you cunt."
Nirmam's fur grew bushy, and his fangs were bared, growling viciously including the rest of his mercenaries, which began to close in on Teddy, who cocked his shotgun up, Won-Tolla began to growl at the remnant beasts who approached the two of them.
"Kill us both, and your wife is assured death!" Teddy cried out furiously, holding his gun tightly, the mercenaries stopped in their tracks, and Nirmam stopped acting aggressive.
"Speak negativity about Mowgli behind my back, she'll die. If you come to get her with your legions and brutes, she dies..." The englishman continued.
"Very well then...what does he wish me to do in order to have my wife returned?" Nirmam asked, his face still looking furious...
"You are to head out to a field, littered with large boulders, overlooked by man made structures by dawn's first light of tomorrow. Only three of your red dogs are allowed at your side, Mowgli shall bring three wolves. Kota shall be granted to you only after you surrender five hundred dhole pups to him, and after you bring about a truce to end a potential bloody war." Teddy explained, the bit about surrendering five hundred pups to Mowgli didn't sit too well for Nirmam.
"I am to give up five hundred newborn to my worst enemy? One who ordered some of our pups to be crushed under rubble with their mothers?" He asked.
"That is the price, he also stated that he shall bring a sliced up bull carcass to offer as well. If your legion is seen, then Mowgli will not arrive for the truce, nor will your wife be returned to you." Won-Tolla answered for Teddy.
"He'd better stay true to his word..." Nirmam warned, Teddy nodded before turning around to leave with Won-Tolla, the dholes making a path for them to leave.
Once the englishman and the black wolf were out of sight, it was then that Nirmam spoke once more.
"Mowgli wants peace after all he's done so far...I'll make sure to give him peace, in the form of eternal slumber..." Nirmam said to himself.
(The next morning)
(Boulder Field)
Nirmam Yoddha had arrived with three dholes behind him, the light of the sun could be faintly seen coming from the distance, the sky was slowly starting to shift from black to blue as the early morning was soon to arrive.
Five hundred pups that were eleven months old were also bunched up behind the Himalayan wolf, his eyes scanned the entire area, he could see the glow of torches in the distance of the British encampment, and all of the boulders in which were scattered around in the field.
"Have you lied to me already, Mowgli!?" He called out, and it was then that Mowgli revealed himself, emerging from behind a boulder with a quiver on his pack, loaded up with chunks of beef, he wore the knife attached to his custom necklace, in one hand he held a spear, and in his other hand appeared to be some sort of tail.
As Mowgli approached the center of the field, Baloo emerged from behind a boulder, and then Bagheera emerged from a boulder, and then Kaa emerged!
Mowgli, and his three big allies stood with Nirmam and his significantly smaller red dog troops. He took the quiver, and proceeded to dump all of the beef on the ground in front of the Himalayan wolf.
"Don't jump to conclusions, I stand to be generous..." Mowgli said sternly.
"Where is my wife?" Nirmam asked, paying no attention to the meat.
"She is safe, I have the tail I severed from your body in my hand, she marked her territory on it before I came here." Mowgli said, extending his arm to drop Nirmam's severed tail to the ground.
After getting a thorough sniff, Nirmam confirmed that it was indeed Kota's smell on his tail.
"How do I know that you haven't killed her yet?" The Himalayan wolf growled.
"Because I'm not wanting to start nothing, I'm wanting to end things before they get too out of hand-" Mowgli began.
"However, I sure did think about it the first time I had her in the basement. To slit her throat open, and spill her blood all over the ground, just as you did to my lover's mother, Divya..." He finished.
"You had all the chances to do so, yet you don't do such a thing. How strange..." Nirmam said, his voice sounding slightly confused.
"I'm not like you, o' tailless one. I'll not strike down someone that is so personal to another, another leader." Mowgli replied, Nirmam snickered at this.
"You called my kind obscene things, sliced the tail from my anus, slaughtered several of mine and Bhediya's troops, even killed innocent mothers and pups by crushing them beneath rubble at the ruined city. All to hold up some fictional code of laws...You speak of me as if I'm some monster, but after all the things you've done to me and my kind, who is the real monster?" Nirmam said with a smirk.
"You made me a monster, you fiend. I offered peace before you even killed a thing, but you chose violence before me. It is your actions that costed your kind so much lives to be lost, don't put the blame on me for something you could have prevented...now hand the pups to me..." Mowgli said, tightening his grip on the spear in his hand.
"Don't make this situation something I will regret, Mowgli." Nirmam said as he motioned for the pups to come forward, the pups trotted towards him, but none of them went to Mowgli, they all stayed right behind the three dholes...
"Bring them forward, having them stand behind you isn't giving them to me." Mowgli warned, his face shifting into an angered expression.
"Why should I trust you?" Nirmam asked.
"Give the pups to me, do not make me do something I'll regret later on!" Mowgli shouted angrily, gripping his spear tighter.
"Such a shame, Mowgli. You've already made a decision you'll regret, coming here..." The Himalayan wolf warned.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar, followed by Bagheera slamming into Mowgli from behind!
"Bagheera, you too have betrayed me!?" Mowgli exclaimed in confusion as he got up after being knocked down, only to be brought to his back again once Nirmam pounced on him, when the Himalayan wolf went to bite his throat, Kaa used her head as a battering ram to knock him away!
A dhole went for Mowgli, attempting to pounce on him as he was getting up, but he rolled away, quickly killing it with a single thrust of his spear!
"Mowgli!" Baloo called out, the man turned around to see something that Kaa had previously warned him about...
Long Fang was on the brown bear's back as he was standing on his haunches, his sabre teeth sank into Baloo's beefy shoulder!
"Baloo!" Mowgli cried out, hurling the spear towards the smilodon, only to have it just graze by it's cheek, forming a scar across the side of it's head!
"What in the world are these things!?" Bagheera cried out as he did battle with Kaiser the Andrewsarchus, taking a swipe at the ancient beast just to have it parried. The panther attempted another clawed swipe at the big creature but to be parried again, and then the beast managed to land a solid blow to the panther, knocking the big cat to the ground!
Baloo turned around to see Danaba Baluka, a bigger bear, standing up on his haunches.
"How is this even possibl-" Baloo began to ask himself right when the cave bear landed a huge blow to his face, effortlessly swatting Baloo to the ground!
Long Fang rushed towards Kaa, the serpent fought back by using her tail to whip the big cat across the face!
Long Fang was stunned for but a moment, for when Kaa attempted to use her head as a battering ram, the sabre toothed cat jumped to the side and charged in as the python coiled herself up just to be headbutted by the smilodon once it jumped up to attack!
Mowgli removed the knife from his necklace, and performed a combat roll to get close to Nirmam to engage in battle only to have a dhole pounce on him, pinning one of his shoulders and head to the ground!
As the dhole went to bite into his throat, Mowgli quickly slit the neck of the dhole open, killing it within seconds due to blood loss.
Bagheera rushed at the Andrewsarchus, attempting to tackle him to the ground just to get his head smashed into the dirt when Kaiser timed his pounce just right. The panther struggled to get free as Kaiser dug his teeth into Bagheera's side, and sent him flying a few feet away!
Nirmam lunged for Mowgli, but the man dodged and nodded his head to someone in the distance behind one of the boulders.
Shanti emerged with a bow and arrow, firing at the Himalayan wolf!
The arrow pierced through the leg of the wolf, causing him to howl in agony that alerted his entire legion in which was waiting for his call to attack!
A shot rang out, Kaiser roared in pain! Teddy had arrived too to give aid!
Kaa was trapped beneath Long Fang, but was coiling herself around his head and neck to try and choke him out from the bottom as the big cat took repeated bites toward her soft underbelly, her whole body was smooth and soft, but her underbelly was the softest of all, and it was crucial for her to not let it get pierced!
The python put pressure on as much as she could, and finally she heard a choked groan come from the smilodon. She began to feel confident enough that she could suffocate the sabre toothed cat, that was until she heard Mowgli giving orders to retreat.
"Why!?" The python called out, turning her head to see Mowgli rushing towards the jungle.
"Reinforcements, we lack number!" Mowgli explained, picking up his spear, turning around to see that Baloo was struggling to hold off the cave bear that was above him as the beast attempted to bite into his face!
The Won-Tolla had also arrived to bring Mowgli some aid if things were to go South, the lone wolf had seen that Bagheera was struggling against Kaiser.
Right before the Andrewsarchus could go for the killing blow, Won-Tolla built up enough speed to slam into his side, knocking the beast off of the panther, saving his life!
"Run, retreat you idio-" Won-Tolla couldn't finish his sentence when Kaiser's jaws snapped shut around his entire head, crushing his skull!
Bagheera heeded the warning, starting to run away from the battlefield along with Mowgli.
Kaa reluctantly unwrapped her coils from a struggling Long Fang, and right when he went to jump on top of her again, Bagheera made the save by shoving him off!
Long Fang was quick to get up seconds after getting knocked off, but he was immediately knocked right back down when Kaa used her head as a battering ram to strike his ribs before slithering towards the jungle with Mowgli and the others!
Shanti managed to get two arrows lodged into Danaba Baluka, but they didn't seem to phase him, only ignore him, Mowgli hurled his spear, it connected with the side of the cave bear's body!
Danaba growled in slight pain, and this is what Baloo needed to finally land two good blows in to the larger bear's face! Enough to successfully knock him off, Baloo scrambled to his feet, and ran towards the jungle without looking back.
"Leave, I'll fend 'em off!" Teddy shouted as he fired his shotgun at Danaba, the shell did absolutely nothing to the monstrous bear.
"Teddy!" Mowgli cried right when the englishman fired another shell at the cave bear, again, Danaba Baluka shrugged it off like it was nothing, even walking into it, the shell seemingly had no effect!
"Go! Do all of you wish to die!?" Teddy screamed, opening fire again just to have the same damage as the last, nothing.
When Teddy went to reload for another shell to be fired, he felt long claws rip through his clothing, tearing into his flesh, his chest torn open. Danaba then clawed his gut, disemboweling him, forcing the englishman to his knees.
"I-I'm finally going hom-" Teddy couldn't even speak his last words as Danaba Baluka's jaws closed around his head, crushing his skull before his head was forcefully ripped off!
"Teddy!" Rikki-Tikki-Tavi cried, rushing to try and avenge his fallen friend's death, knowing it would be useless.
As the mongoose jumped up, it only took a single swipe from Danaba's claws to slash him in half. Rikki let out a final gasp of air as both halves of his body entered the mouth of the cave bear, and ended up sliding down his throat...
Danaba Baluka stood up on his haunches, letting out a mighty roar to show that he would take on anything in the jungle, and crush them with ease.
Nirmam growled in pain as he tore the arrow that was still lodged in his leg, out. The wanted peaceful exchange had failed miserably, and the Himalayan wolf did not go back to the mountain lair with his wife either...
(That afternoon)
(Teddy's House)
Teddy, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and the Won-Tolla did not make it out alive from the brief skirmish. The entire pack mourned their passing, none could foresee what would have come. Mowgli was especially upset.
"I can't believe it, and I was just getting to know the guy..." He sighed as he sat at the kitchen table, every day, Teddy would make them all a delicious supper, the mongoose ally of his would be happily following him around. Now, the entire house was silent.
Shanti was weeping in Mowgli's arms over the loss of Teddy, the englishman had been her teacher on how to handle the shotgun, and now she felt afraid. She didn't want to be a helpless girl, she wanted to give aid to Mowgli in any way she could, and now things seemed like they were back to square one again.
"I'm sorry for what has happened, brother..." Gray Brother sighed, nudging himself into Mowgli's side as even he was weeping silently, tears ran down his cheeks, but Mowgli didn't make any noise.
"We can't win this, Mowgli. They have those...monsters..." Shanti sobbed softly into his shoulder.
"We can still win, we must not back down from our enemy. Especially after they tricked us, if anything is going to stop this war at this point, it will be giving Kota back to Nirmam." Mowgli sighed, getting up from the table and heading downstairs.
Kota was asleep, and she woke up within the jungle with Mowgli standing next to her with his arms folded.
"Go, return to your husband. I will not say that again..." The man growled before storming off back towards the house.
A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you guys aren't getting tired of me saying sorry XD... Writer's block has been killing me slowly, I am doing my best to pump out the best story I can for all of you. Trying to think of filler, fights, and everything in between. I know the lag of chapters coming out everyday have made this story sort of drop in views, but hang with me y'all. The story is about to get real with these next two chapters, the saga of Nirmam Yoddha is slowly coming to an end, and the saga of Bhediya Khan will begin, it will be more emotional, more action packed, and more crucial. Major surprises and character death is coming in the next saga, be prepared...