A/N: I'm going to start this chapter off by saying this, y'all aren't going to be ready for what happens in it...
(Chapter 36: Battle at the Plateaus!)
A few hours had passed, and Mowgli's fighting force emerged into a large clearing to notice several hundred dholes staring up at them. All of them were baring their teeth, ready for a fight.
"You want Bhediya!? You have to get through us first!" One of the dholes shouted, Mowgli smirked at this and let out a battle cry as he began to rush down the hill with his fighting force at his side!
A dhole immediately lunged towards him, and the man stabbed a spear right down it's throat, killing it instantly! The dholes and the rest of Mowgli's fighting force collided into what would be another massacre since these dholes were still relatively weakened after brutal nights at the monasteries with no food or water...
Baloo effortlessly barreled his way through the dholes, and easily shrugged the ones that jumped on him off. Bagheera was vicious, and killed some of them all within one hit or two. Chupake used his speed to quickly kill several dholes just seconds apart, and Kaa used her coils, head, and tail as a weapon to destroy them. Sundar Ek fought aggressively similar to Bagheera since they had the same build, except that the tigress was slightly bigger than him.
The wolves also played their part in the battle as they used their superior height and weight to their advantage as they attacked the red dogs without any mercy. Toomai and his elephants were probably the most valuable ones as they decimated through their enemies by simply walking over them, Toomai riding the back of Kala Nag.
The only losses that Mowgli's side had was just a few wolves were downed, a few more were injured, but they were all mostly okay besides a few bite marks and scratches.
"We must continue on, and destroy the rest of Bhediya's legions one by one." Bagheera told Mowgli as he found the man sitting next to a tree with his arms folded.
"No, not right now at least. We're close enough to catch up with them overnight while they rest, I think we should prepare ourselves for the final stretch by taking a moment to breath in this clearing.
"What about the bodies of the red dogs? They will make our place of peace smell foul." Bagheera said, turning his head to view the bodies.
"Well right now Kaa can eat as much as she wants, as for the rest of the bodies, I can bury them with the help of the elephants." Mowgli replied, Chupake came into view as he landed down from the tree in which he was resting in.
"These red dogs are our enemies, they don't deserve a human burial." Chupake said as he glared at the pile of dhole carcasses in which had been stacked up, Kaa was eating a few of them, swallowing them whole one by one.
"All animals deserve a proper resting place, the law may state that if an animal breaks the law, it must die. However it doesn't stop me from respecting it, Shere Khan was once a sworn enemy of the jungle, but I respected him. Bhediya Khan breaks the laws of the jungle due to his actions, but I still respect him. We kill our prey, and we still respect them. These dholes are no different, if I could, I would have Kaa hypnotize them all so we may avoid killing them, but there stands too many of them to round up." Mowgli said softly as he looked up at the cheetah.
"I admire the way you act, Mowgli. I was once unforgiving, I still find myself that way sometimes. Your heart is unlike any other from this jungle, it makes me believe that you stand as a gift from Tha himself." Chupake replied with a smile.
"I appreciate the kind words, it lifts heart to see that I have an effect on the animals of this jungle. My fellow brothers and sisters from these lands have brought me only the greatest moments in life." Mowgli replied.
"No problem, Mowgli. I must give warning to you that Bhediya and his legions may still be on the move. We should think about the time of night we move to go after him." Chupake advised, Mowgli sighed as he then patted the cheetah's head gently.
"Bagheera wants to end the war, and wants to divide their legions up in his own campaign. It sounds much more effective than my own strategies, I believe it is my time to take a small break, but if needed, I will re-enter the war..." Mowgli replied.
"Suit yourself, my friend. I'll follow Bagheera to the plateaus." The cheetah replied, Mowgli stood up and had an announcement to make to his fighting force.
"Wolves, we have all accomplished so much in our journeys in war. I'll have us celebrate all that we've done by hosting a big feast in tribute of Bagheera and his journey to land the final blows to the weakened army of the enemy!" Mowgli cried out, the wolves howled in response!
(Later that day)
As Bagheera gnawed on the bones from a deer carcass, Mowgli approached him from the side with a spear, the tip of it still slick with blood after hunting said deer for the panther he had long considered a brother.
"Everyone looks like their about done with their meals." Mowgli told the panther as he motioned for him to look around, Bagheera yawned before looking up to face the entire fighting force. Their meals had been reduced to nothing but bone while Kaa was sitting coiled up in the shade after eating herself sick from devouring several dhole carcasses slain from the battle from earlier.
"I see, give us time to digest this food, and I shall head off to put war to a fortunate end." Bagheera replied, Mowgli kneeled down beside him to have a small chat with him.
"Are you sure that you don't want me to come with you, brother? After all we've been through together in this war between the dogs." Mowgli asked, he secretly wanted to join Bagheera, but as the leader of the pack, he would decide to take a break due to the war coming to an end very soon.
Everyone could feel that it was coming, some type of an end was on it's way for the war. Bhediya's legions were starting to grow weary, weakened, and tired from constant battle. They had ran all night long from Mowgli and his allies, and still they marched to try and rush back home to the Dekkan Plateaus.
Bhediya himself felt that the war was as good as lost, Mowgli was somehow still alive after he was knocked from a hole in the wall and sent falling to his supposed demise. It was confirmed that he was alive when he went through an episode of pseudo-sleep, the dire wolf was beyond enraged.
Bhediya Khan at first respected Mowgli, but felt that he could be easily destroyed. When he began to prove himself a threat, his admiration for the man had grown tenfold. When Nirmam was slain however, things began to shift...
When Nirmam Yoddha was killed by Mowgli, Bhediya started to grow concerned. He took Mowgli as a serious threat, and was disheartened when he received the news that Conan and Bruno were killed. The only Himalayan wolves he had left were Maximus and Alcibie, the very wolves that were with him at the start of what he called his 'empire.'
When Mowgli began to lose every battle, the dire wolf had gotten cocky, but when Mowgli slipped from grasp every chance they got to kill him, his frustrations grew...
Now Bhediya had only malicious feelings for the legend of the jungle, he wanted him dead, he felt that his only purpose in life was to kill Mowgli now. It would be his mission, and he didn't care if he lost his legions for it too.
"Mowgli, throughout the war I could see how it was taking it's toll on you. You seem to have aged an additional twenty seasons with the wrinkles you have next to your eyes, you look tired." Bagheera explained.
"It's the kind of tired that sleep cannot fix, even if Kaa makes it feel as good as possible." Mowgli replied as he felt the lines that cracked on his face, he was only twenty years old, but the wrinkles on his face made him look five extra years old even though he wasn't.
The war had put stress on his body, even though he felt euphoria with every victory in battle, with every feast he had with the alliance. The war had taken things from him, they taken personal things from him, some of those things wouldn't be with him ever again...
"Such is the reason why I'm taking your place as the leader of the alliance for now, you've grown tired my brother, mentally, and physically speaking. You've carried the weight of protecting the law of the jungle and the people of the jungle, let me carry it, Mowgli, let me carry the weight." Bagheera said softly, placing his paw on Mowgli's shoulder.
"For so many years you've taught me the laws, why to enforce them, how to hunt, how to defend yourself from danger. You did everything in front of my eyes to show me what to do. It feels like I'm a child again." Mowgli said with a slight grin, Bagheera chuckled.
"I see the same child standing before me, allow me to teach you how to win a fight, one last time. When I come back, you'll have the proof you need." Bagheera said with a lighthearted laugh, Mowgli snickered at this.
"I wish you the best of luck on your quest, brother." Mowgli replied as he hugged Bagheera before getting up to head over towards a tree so he could rest in it for the time being, Gray Brother approached him as he headed towards the tree.
"Mowgli, I bring news." The wolf spoke, Mowgli grinned as he looked down at another animal that he had long considered to be his brother.
"Fire away, brother." He replied as he kneeled down to get to eye level with the aging wolf.
"I'll be heading with Bagheera to face off against Bhediya's legions, he cannot do it alone." Gray Brother announced to Mowgli, coming off as a surprise.
"Bagheera pulled off an amazing attack on the legions during a storm, I would say he has more than enough power to take them all with my alliance at his side." Mowgli replied.
"I know, but I have a score to settle with them. They beat me to near death, gave me permanent scarring. I shall see Maximus and all of his dholes follow him in death, including their leader..." Gray Brother said, trying to justify his reasoning to join Bagheera in his quest.
"If you feel that war calls you to it's conclusion, I wish you all the luck I can." Mowgli replied with a grin as he gently patted Gray Brother on the top of his head.
"Chupake is also joining me." Gray Brother added on.
"So I've heard." Mowgli responded, but then he had a question for the wolf brother. He wanted to know how many more close allies was joining Bagheera...
"Brother, how many others join you? Like how many of my major allies such as Baloo, Kaa, Sundar, those. Are they all joining you, and leaving me alone with just a few?" Mowgli asked with a sad tone.
"I don't know, they never mentioned, perhaps you should ask them. Even if they were to all leave, be happy with the wolves you'll stay with. You were with wolves since you were a child, and so it will be when your day of passing comes, my brother." Gray Brother said with a smile.
Mowgli grinned as he thought of a memory when he was around the age of five, and how he gently played with the wolf pups, and embraced them. How he helped nurse the pups when their mothers needed help. The wolves were always with him, they always will be with him.
(Thirty minutes later)
Mowgli was eating a prickly pear while sitting perched up in a tree, examining what his alliance was doing below him with a grin on his face, his hunger satisfied from eating the pear.
Suddenly, he noticed everyone starting to gather around Bagheera. Wolves were walking up to him and embracing him, females were licking him. The panther was exchanging words with a few of them as well.
"Seems like he is about to leave, Mowgli." Kaa said as she lowered her head down next to Mowgli.
"I'll have words with him before he goes." The man replied as he hopped down from the tree, the python slithered after him. Baloo and the others approached him as well.
Mowgli approached Bagheera, making his way through the crowd of wolves. The panther smirked at him, Mowgli traded the look and gave a nod to Bagheera as if he was telling him to go on with what he was about to say.
"Wolves, the time has come for me to take the reigns once more. I served as the mentor to the one who leads us, Mowgli...However, we've all yearned for peace, and prosperity to our lives, and now it seems that in due time it will end." Bagheera began, making sure he locked eyes with every single wolf around him.
"After a successful attack on the dholes at the temples on the mountain, I proved, and you all proved how successful we can be. It is time to be the aggressor, the dholes are running in fear. I take the alliance to the Dekkan Plateaus along with Chupake, and the Gray Brother of Mowgli to destroy Bhediya Khan once and for all!" Bagheera roared, the wolves around him howled in his favor.
"You've been a great mentor, brother." Mowgli said aloud when the howling went silent, Bagheera smiled at this before replying. It warmed his heart to receive the words like that before he would head off into battle.
"You've been a great student, a great wolf, and a great leader...Mowgli. I'm looking forward to tell you of my journey when I return." Bagheera replied, noticing Baloo coming up behind Mowgli.
"You'll do great, Bagheera, I've got faith in you." Sundar Ek said to him with a gentle smile.
"Wipe them out, Bagheera." Toomai said from the top of Kala Nag, who trumpeted in agreement with his mahout.
"Be a good boy, and take out that evil wolf..." Kaa teased, breaking out into giggles before smiling sweetly at the panther. Bagheera smirked at her farewell message to him.
"Baggy, the next kill I make during a hunt if I so choose to, will be for you. Thank you for all the times we shared since we were cubs, we shall hold a great feast in anticipation of your return at the Council Rock." Baloo said, his voice filled with worry that Bagheera would get hurt.
"Anytime, Baloo." Bagheera responded with a nod of respect.
Suddenly, there came the crashing of leaves and trees. Hathi made way towards the gathering of the wolves surrounding Bagheera, he reared his trunk in the air, and let out a loud trumpet...before speaking!
"Make me proud." Was the three words that Hathi had to say, all of the animals bowed before him, Mowgli and Toomai done the same as they believed that Hathi was a descendent from Tha himself.
"I won't fail you, Hathi." Bagheera replied as he bowed to the old elephant for a moment before rising back to his feet.
"I take the bulk of the alliance towards the Dekkan, all of those who wish to now live peaceful lives may return back to the Seeonee Hills. Tell them where I have headed with several wolves, Chupake, and Gray Brother. Tell them that I shall return triumphantly after a swift decisive win over the dire wolf." Bagheera told everyone around him, Mowgli nodded his head.
"Goodbye my brother, and may Tha guide you to a victory over sworn enemy to put the war to rest." Mowgli said as the panther began to march away with the large mass of wolves, Chupake and Gray Brother joined him while everyone else stayed back.
Mowgli was left with two hundred and fifty wolves, including Toomai, Kala Nag, Hathi, Baloo, Kaa, and Sundar Ek. All of them chose to live a more peaceful life from here on out unless something brought them back into the war or forced them into it.
(Meanwhile)
"You said that you took down Mowgli!" Maximus barked towards Bhediya, who was pacing around. The dire wolf was still infuriated that he couldn't bring down his sworn enemy.
"I know I did, I watched him fall. No one could have survived it!" Bhediya barked in response.
"Well according to one of your advisors, he stands among the living..." Maximus growled, baring his teeth at his superior.
"That bird is rotting from old age, what he is seeing is nothing but an apparition, a ghost!" Bhediya barked back, claiming that the vulture who had claimed to see Mowgli alive and well was losing his mind due to his aging body and mind.
"We've waited here for a good while for those dholes to come back to us, the ones we left behind, all the time they needed, and they still haven't shown up. Makes me think that Mowgli and his horde has taken them all out..." Maximus continued to argue with his supreme leader.
"The war is over, Maximus. The man is alive as the prey we feast on after their demise. Just accept the fact that we've won, when I say we win, we win!" Bhediya fired back.
"No, name one thing that Mowgli will do now that we've 'won' the war, but he remains alive, and both of you have openly stated that it will not win until one of you die." Maximus groaned, becoming annoyed.
"You need to quit listening to the fools that you call our advisors, they stand just as useful to us as a dhole with all four paws being lame." The dire wolf grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Wow, this comes from a leader who says that none are disposable. What has our once brave leader become!?" Maximus started, Bhediya bared his teeth at the Himalayan wolf, his crimson fur grew bushy.
"Our brave leader, who does anything and everything in his power now retreats from a war when his sworn enemy remains alive. So long ago I saw this large wolf as our Bhediya Khan, but now he seems to have lost his leadership qualities. How the mighty have fallen, from a brave soul to a coward!" Maximus continued, Bhediya lunged upon his best ally, snagging him by the throat, and throwing him against a rocky wall!
"YOU ARE NOT ABOVE ME!" Bhediya roared at Maximus who slowly got back to his feet, the Himalayan wolf barked viciously as he rushed at the dire wolf just to get smacked across the face, the claws of the large crimson wolf cut into the side of Maximus' face! The hit strong enough to knock him to the ground and send him sliding away.
"After I've come close to death countless times, you now turn against me..." The dire wolf growled as he began to approach Maximus as he got back up to his feet once again.
"Father, please!" Neo cried out, not wanting to see Maximus get brutalized...
"I will do what must be done, I will teach a lesson that is greatly needed to him!" Bhediya barked at his son just to have Maximus leap on his back, and sink his teeth into his neck from behind. The dire wolf growled in pain and quickly rolled on the ground to get the Himalayan wolf off of him!
"If we get careless, Mowgli will come for us and have us all as good as dead!" Maximus barked as he took a swing at Bhediya, connecting, but the dire wolf fired back with another vicious slap that again knocked the Himalayan wolf down!
"He is dead..." Bhediya growled as Maximus was slow to get back up this time, his legs shaky.
"He is alive, and I will ready our legions for war to continue...We've lost too much for us to slow down the way we have!" Maximus barked in defiance of his leader.
"Quit calling the shots, you're not the one in control of my legions, I am!" Bhediya screamed as he slowly approached Maximus while he was standing on shaky legs.
"Fine, if you wish to not heed my warnings. If you refuse to believe me, go do your sleeping thing and see for yourself. I will have proved you right!" The Himalayan wolf growled loudly.
Bhediya scoffed before walking away to enter a stage of pseudo-sleep, he had a vision of him fighting Bagheera with no one around. Several wolves had joined up with Bagheera, along with an aging wolf, and a cheetah. No sign of Mowgli though...and this brought an evil smile to the face of the dire wolf, but then his vision morphed, and he found himself staring down Mowgli, who held a battle axe and a shield in his hand...this confirmed Maximus's beliefs, and also confirmed Charon's sight of Mowgli. It is then that the dire wolf exited the stage of pseudo-sleep, and headed back towards where Alcibie, Maximus, and Neo were located.
"Mowgli is alive, and he is coming with his large allies and an army of wolves. You were right, but we will still march for the Dekkan. If they get too close, I'll grant a legion to Alcibie and I'll send her to fight them." Bhediya explained, Maximus grinned.
"I told you, there was no need for your violent outburst..." He growled, happy to prove that he was right all along.
"I was in denial earlier, but I have nothing more than hatred for Mowgli as it stands now. I will slaughter him, and everything he holds dear the next time we meet each other. He better hope that I calm down before then, but I'm afraid I won't." The dire wolf said...
(A year later)
An entire year would go on to pass after Bagheera and the rest of Mowgli's Alliance split up from each other.
Mowgli, Kaa, Baloo, Sundar Ek, Toomai, Kala Nag, and Hathi had all went back to their homes. Toomai had went back to his original man-village, where he and his family was harassed every day by the British troops who had built an outpost nearby. Kala Nag had went with his mahout as well, Hathi had returned to his herd.
Kaa had returned to her lair, and Mowgli visited her from time to time. Sundar Ek was reluctantly welcomed into the Seeonee Hills pack as a mentor figure, where she would be partnered up with Bagheera as the pack was continuing to grow with new wolves as pups were born.
Baloo was once again returning to his teaching ways, and Mowgli had returned to being the leader of the pack. Unfortunately for the man, he was coming towards the end of his 2nd term as being the leader of the jungle, and he would have to relinquish the title as being leader of the pack or their alpha.
Mowgli and the others consistently worried about Bagheera, Chupake, and Gray Brother were doing in the continued war effort along with the rest of the fighting force that had left. Mowgli still had a couple hundred wolves ready to fight if needed, but they were confident that Bagheera could bring home a win...
As for Bagheera's side of the tale, he was doing well in his journey. The panther didn't expect the war to drag on for another year, but he didn't have any worries as he won almost every single battle. Unfortunately, he continued to lose a handful of wolves with each one at the cost of his victories.
Bagheera's Alliance defeated the legions at rivers, lakes, ancient temples, and through abandoned villages. Now, the panther and his army had finally reached the Dekkan Plateaus, the origin of their dhole enemy...
Bagheera and his alliance stood on a rocky hill, staring down into the valley between the massive plateaus that climbed high into the air. The hill that they stood on was fairly large in height, but was still dwarfed by the rest of the high rising rocks.
Alcibie had been granted a single legion by Bhediya, and was sent out to dispatch of Bagheera and his army before they reached the Dekkan, but now Alcibie's legion had been reduced to a small army that had the exact same amount of numbers as Bagheera's Alliance did.
"I expected to see Bhediya Khan here, but it turns out he fears us!" The panther roared, getting all of the wolves to howl in the sky.
Bagheera watched as Alcibie marched her army towards them from the bottom of the hill, the size of a once mighty legion reduced to nothing but a small army made the panther chuckle. The army of wolves was dwarfed by Alcibie's legion in terms of numbers, but the dholes couldn't stand a chance!
Each battle was a dominant victory but a handful of wolves had to be the sacrifice for those wins as ten wolves perished in each battle while hundreds of dholes fell each grueling fight. There had been a total of seven battles, with the inky black feline winning every single one of them.
"We have marched from the snow tipped mountains, the most unforgiving conditions possible, and fought our way through the jungle, through the deserts, and now here we stand in the home of our enemy, and Bhediya is nowhere to be seen..." Bagheera continued, getting a few of the wolves to laugh along with him.
"All that stands between Bhediya and us is this foolish wolf from the mountains named Alcibie, and a small pathetic army that we can easily take out!" The panther roared, getting the wolves to howl once again!
"It lifts heart to know that one more battle is all we need until a final confrontation with Bhediya..." Chupake stated, Bagheera grinned at this before facing his wolves.
"This war has lasted for seasons, with these lizard feasting dogs threatening the jungle law with their way of life. Throughout it we've made several new allies, one of them being in the form of this cheetah that stands with us today. Let's give praise to the big names that have helped us out over these last couple of seasons!" Bagheera exclaimed, getting the wolves to howl for Chupake out of respect.
"All of you march too far this time!" Alcibie called out from the bottom of the hill, Bagheera turned around with a look of disgust on his face.
"Mowgli's original intentions was to win the war when he pushed all of you here, back from where you came from, he didn't want to kill you, but you left him no choice when you took several things that were personal to him!" Bagheera roared back at the Himalayan wolf.
"You'll never defeat Bhediya, panther. You're just wasting your precious time flapping your jaws at me, we're not letting you leave the Dekkan Plateaus alive!" Alcibie barked aggressively.
Bagheera broke out into a laugh as he turned to face his army.
"We're wasting our time!" The panther laughed before he turned back to face Alcibie with another look of hatred, there was no mercy in the eyes of the panther today.
"Well, we aren't here to waste your time so..." Bagheera said before suddenly letting out a roar, this war cry sent the wolves into a barking frenzy as they all began to descend down the rocky hill towards Alcibie and her small army!
Bagheera and Chupake lunged off of the same rock they stood one in unison, both landed into a group of dholes, knocking them to the ground!
Chupake killed a dhole instantly by biting down into the neck at full force, and then send the body into two more red dogs that came at him! Bagheera swung his paw down on one of the heads of the dholes, killing it! Another red dog came his way just to get struck in the jaw, knocking it into the air before the panther finished it off by catching it by the throat with his strong bite!
A dhole bit Chupake by the tail, so the cheetah turned around to deliver a huge strike across it's face, knocking it to the side! Another dhole lunged at his side, attempting to take a bite into his neck, but the Asiatic cheetah shrugged it off and killed it with a bite to the neck after pinning it down!
A red dog darted towards Gray Brother only to be hit on the face and then killed once the larger wolf got a hold of it's neck.
Another dhole pounced on to the wolf's side, knocking him to the ground! However, Gray Brother continued to roll, and was eventually able to pin the dhole down under his paw before killing him with a fatal bite to the neck.
A few dholes had managed to get on top of Bagheera, all trying to bring him down as he struggled to shake them off! The panther let out a defiant roar as he rolled on the ground before rising back to his feet, successfully shaking most of them off while only one of them still held on, he slammed his paw into the red dog, and knocked it off of him!
Bagheera roared towards an incoming horde of red dogs before charging right towards them, using his larger body to simply smash through them all to clear a path! Chupake rushed over, quickly killing as many dholes as he could that were knocked to the ground.
Bagheera, with a burst of fury, downed five dholes in quick succession, killing them all with powerful strikes with his paws while roaring!
Chupake swatted a dhole away, his claws cutting into the face of his enemy before another dhole went for him only to get bit on the neck and killed by the Asiatic cheetah!
A dhole lunged for Gray Brother, but the wolf stood up on his hind legs, and sank his jaws into the neck of his enemy, killing it with ease.
All around the three leaders of this army, a total bloodbath was underway as the wolves fought harder than ever to take down the dholes. The valley was filled with howls, barks, roars, and whimpers as the violence only continued to escalate.
The fighting continued on for some five minutes with Bagheera, Chupake, and Gray Brother doing an above and beyond performance in battle as the wolves continued to demolish the dholes. Two wolves fell when every five dholes were slain at the rate of which things were going for the armies, however, it was proving to be yet another decisive victory for Bagheera in his conquest.
Alcibie would eventually notice Bagheera downing one of her dholes, and she had enough of this. The Himalayan wolf howled before rushing towards an unsuspecting panther, managing to clamp her jaws around his snout. The panther growled in pain as he slammed his paws into the face of his enemy, knocking her away.
Alcibie barked furiously before rushing at Bagheera again, when the panther attempted to strike her with his paw, she jumped up and locked her jaws around it to stop him from attacking her. The panther growled in pain once again before pinning her down with his other paw, opening his jaws to go for the fatal bite only for her to squirm away from under him!
Bagheera went for Alcibie only to be bitten on the tale from behind, he turned around to take a swing at the dhole that was responsible for it, and managed to knock it out before he was jumped on by five dholes, he quickly rolled on the ground to knock them off, and when they came for him again, he swung his paws like mad, able to kill all five in quick succession!
The dholes began to close in on Bagheera, but he would easily down any that got too close. Alcibie grinned, and used this to her advantage before rushing towards the panther while barking ferociously. Springing off of a rock, her jaws open and ready to close around the throat of the panther.
Bagheera roared as he looked up, and in the nick of time, slashed the throat of the Himalayan wolf with his extended claws!
At this point, the battle was over as the dholes weren't even a threat anymore with only ten or so remaining from Alcibie's army. The panther turned towards the downed Alcibie, who had blood pooling around her head due to the laceration his claws had made deep in her throat. Bagheera growled as he loomed over the dying Himalayan wolf before turning her over.
"Bhediya shall soon follow you in death..." The panther growled, and before Alcibie had time to respond, he clamped his jaws around her neck for the finishing bite!
The wolves all began to gather around Bagheera, Chupake, and Gray Brother. They had lost around fifty wolves during the battle, but it was significantly less than the damage they had done to the dholes.
"Alcibie, has fallen!" Bagheera roared triumphantly, followed by a celebratory howl from the wolves! They had won the day!
"Is this all that the great Bhediya Khan has to offer us!?" Chupake roared, Gray Brother snickered.
"Where do we go now, Bagheera?" Gray Brother asked, the panther thought for a moment before answering.
"We head South, we're in their territory, they cannot be that far away." Bagheera replied.
"We cannot head much further South, a large mass of water awaits us at the coastline." Cain warned, still under the control of Kaa's hypnosis even after an entire year had transpired since the events at the Himalayas!
"Then we can drown them all in the water..." Bagheera growled before breaking out into laughter, the rest of the wolves soon followed with their own laughter and howls. They thought nothing could stop them, and they had perfect reasoning to think that way after a solid whole year of significant victory after significant victory.
However, their time of celebration was about to be cut short...
A loud, thunderous, low pitched howl erupted from the top of one of the plateaus! This caught all of the wolves in Bagheera's small army by surprise as they all started to frantically look around.
Suddenly, large masses of dholes that ranged in the hundreds began to show up at the tops of the rocks, hills, and plateaus...The real threat had arrived for sure, for when Bagheera looked to the top of one of the plateaus, he discovered that Bhediya Khan, Maximus, and Neo were all watching from above...
"Father, is this the battle you've seen playing out in your visions?" Neo asked, Bhediya smirked at this question.
"It is, in this very location, we do battle with Bagheera." The dire wolf replied, Maximus growled towards Bhediya.
"You're still angered due to my outburst?" The crimson wolf asked, sounding rather confused.
"You're acting way too arrogant, this same army slowly destroyed all of Alcibie, including her! Didn't you just see what happened!?" Maximus barked.
"We have them surrounded, how about we shatter their ego, and force them to swallow their pride as we slaughter them all, and send fateful warning to Mowgli when this battle is over. I have dreamed of this battle, and I have dreamt that we win." The dire wolf said in response, reassuring Maximus not to worry.
Bagheera was listening in to their conversation from below, and was still defiant even though his small army was getting surrounded at all angles by too many dholes! The wolves looked afraid, Chupake looked concerned, and Gray Brother looked shocked, even intimidated perhaps.
"You can keep dreaming all you want to, Bhediya. Dreams are nothing more than a figment of your imagination, something that you desire to happen. This day, your dreams won't be coming true!" Bagheera roared, the dire wolf smirked.
"Pseudo-sleep offers you a vision of the future, seems like you cannot grasp the concept of it. You cannot outrun your fate, panther. Your actions shall not fix what is destined to happen to you!" Bhediya called out to the panther as he placed one of his frontal paw down, preparing to send the dholes down upon them all...
"Pseudo-sleep?" Bagheera asked, looking around with a look of confusion on his face. Bhediya laughed at his confusion, had the panther taught pseudo-sleep or learned it, this would probably never happen to him...
"So, you're the supposed mentor of these wolves, and Mowgli himself. You taught them all for years with that bear and serpent, but you fail to teach them a very important lesson. One that shall doom you this day..." Bhediya growled.
"Everyone get ready!" Bagheera roared, the wolves howled in defiance, but their howls were trembling...
"Give command..." Bhediya told Maximus, the Himalayan wolf grinned before letting out a howl to advance the dholes!
All of the dholes, the thousands of them, every single dhole that planned to fight in the Dekkan, all rushed towards Bagheera's small army.
From that point, a desperate struggle began as Bagheera let out a defiant roar before rushing up the plateaus head on with the wolves behind him!
Bagheera's Alliance fought like crazy, doing whatever they could to save their lives in the perilous fight. They were initially doing a great job at pushing the dholes back up the tall plateau, but it all changed when the dholes from the other angles smashed into them with authority!
The only thing that Bagheera could do was constantly roll and swing his paws around aimlessly, as the dholes were quick to pile up on him. Every time the panther managed to shrug them off, they were already on him again! The same could be said for Chupake, as he was consistently harassed by the dholes that were encircling him!
Gray Brother noticed Maximus downing wolf after wolf in quick succession, the aging wolf howled as he rushed towards the Himalayan wolf!
"I owe you pain, fool!" Gray Brother called out as he lunged towards Maximus, colliding into him from the side as he brought him down!
Maximus grabbed hold of Gray Brother's neck with his jaws from the bottom and forcefully rolled the two of them over so that the aging wolf was now on the bottom, and it was the Himalayan wolf that was trying to set up the killing bite, but as he went to bite down on his throat, two wolves smashed into Maximus and knocked him off!
Gray Brother got right back up, and Maximus quickly slain the two wolves that tried to distract him before the two rushed towards each other once again. Standing on their hind legs as they attempted to bite into each other's necks, clawing into their undersides viciously.
Maximus gained the upper hand when he smacked Gray Brother's snout, which forced him to look down, the Himalayan wolf then smacked the old wolf across the face which made him fall to his back!
Maximus pounced on Gray Brother, but he ended up having his neck caught in his jaws! Gray Brother flipped themselves over when he kicked his paws into the underside of the Himalayan wolf, reversing the position. To make sure he would be staying down, Gray Brother smacked Maximus twice in the face before opening up his jaws to go for the killing bite while the Himalayan wolf was stunned!
Suddenly, Neo came from out of nowhere, lunging at Gray Brother, nicking him on the throat with his claws that was able to draw some blood! Had the strike been any harder, the old wolf would surely be bleeding out right now as he stumbled off of Maximus as he coughed up some blood from the hit!
Gray Brother growled in pain as he stumbled around on his feet, struggling to even stand as Maximus rose to his feet and took advantage of his hurting state. The Himalayan wolf rushed towards Gray Brother and snagged him by the throat as he rushed him into a wall, knocking the old wolf out!
"Oh no!" Chupake exclaimed as he struggled against the horde of dholes! He was able to kill a few, but was still struggling as only more and more came for him!
"There are too many of them!" The Asiatic cheetah cried out, but Bagheera remained determined to win as the odds were now becoming impossible...
The panther let out a defiant roar but then Bhediya Khan himself rushed into him with a massive headbutt from the side that took him by surprise, knocking him to the side! The dire wolf barked ferociously as he lunged towards Bagheera, slicing into him with his claws, blood being drawn with each hit.
Bagheera fought back by kicking into Bhediya's underside, hurling him off of him with ease. The dire wolf landed on his feet behind Bagheera as the panther quickly clambered back up to his feet!
Bhediya barked towards the panther before snarling at him hatefully, Bagheera roared in response. The two rushed towards each other, and as the dire wolf lunged to the black feline, the big cat was able to send a punishing blow to the side of Bhediya's head, knocking him to the side!
Bagheera rushed towards the downed dire wolf, but Bhediya fought back with a vicious slap across the panther's face, drawing blood again as Bagheera collapsed nearly from the impact of the blow!
Bhediya went for the throat, but was knocked away by Chupake who went on to fight other dholes. The Asiatic cheetah had saved Bagheera's life at that point, which allowed the panther to turn back around and rush towards the dire wolf!
Bhediya Khan stood on his hind legs and went to lock up with Bagheera, but he was brought to his back with a thud instead!
Bagheera slammed his paws into the face of the dire wolf twice, stunning him with each hit. The panther opened his jaws, preparing to finally kill the legendary foe once and for all but right before his jaws could clamp shut around Bhediya's neck, he was suddenly pulled back!
Bagheera looked over his shoulder to see that a few dholes had grabbed hold of his tail with their jaws, and were tugging him back to rescue their leader. He roared furiously and rushed into them, slapping one of them down with a fatal blow, and then killing the other one with a bite to the neck!
"If Bhediya dies, this war is over, remember that!" Bagheera replied, calling out to Chupake in response to his statement from earlier on how there was too many dholes to count!
Maximus barked out to Bagheera, and rushed towards him at full speed. He jumped up and managed to nail the panther in the face with a strike, Bagheera was stunned for a moment as the Himalayan wolf jumped up to ram his head into the side of the feline's face, knocking him against a rock!
Chupake was in trouble as he took a swing at a dhole, only to have his arm caught in the jaws of another one of those red dogs from behind. He tried to get into a roll but his tail was snagged into the jaws of another dhole!
The Asiatic cheetah managed to kick another dhole away, but was immediately bitten on the leg in which he kicked with. He was slowly getting stuck as he was surrounded by dholes, Bagheera's army was getting picked off. Now only ten wolves remained, the cheetah was overwhelmed...
Bagheera growled as he attempted to take another swing at Maximus, but his paw was clamped on by his jaws, and the Himalayan wolf fell down to the other side of the rock with the panther's arm still in his grasp, the arm was slammed across the top of the rock, and the bone snapped in half!
Bagheera howled in sheer agony as he fell to the ground, gently pawing his broken frontal leg as Maximus circled back around to try and attack the panther. The inky black feline roared in defiance as he took a hard swing at the Himalayan wolf with his non-injured arm, successfully knocking him down.
"Bagheera watch out!" Chupake called out as the panther got on top of Maximus, preparing to finish him off when suddenly...
Neo jumped from the rock, and tackled Bagheera off of Maximus from out of nowhere. The dhole hopped off of his body in order to avoid being crushed under Bagheera's roll, Neo proceeded to jump forward as the panther got back up, and locked his jaws around his throat!
Bagheera growled in pain and tried to roll again, but Neo clamped down at full force. The panther's eyes went wide as he felt the canines of the enemy puncture his flesh...
The panther collapsed to his side as Neo released him. His body twitched and his eyes peered around the battlefield to see that all of his wolves had been defeated by the overwhelming numbers. Gray Brother had been knocked out, Chupake was being pinned down, and now Bagheera was down!
"Bagheera!" Chupake screamed in horror as Bhediya Khan, Maximus, and Neo now loomed over the downed Bagheera who was slowly worming over onto his stomach. Even though he had been bitten in the neck at full force, the jaws of the dholes were weaker than that of the wolves or anything bigger, so he still had room to breathe some, but nevertheless, it wasn't much.
"Well done, my son!" Bhediya exclaimed as it was Neo of all things that brought down the panther.
"All the respects go to Maximus, he is the one who set it up." Neo replied with a smile, Chupake shook his head in disbelief.
"Bagheera!" The Asiatic cheetah screamed.
Neo proceeded to look down upon the panther as he finally managed to work his way over to his stomach, trying to crawl towards a pathway that would lead out of the Plateaus and back to the Seeonee Hills, back home...The panther groaned in agony, his voice was weak and filled with immense pain. As he reached his paw out to weakly continue crawling, a crimson stained paw stepped in his way. It was Bhediya Khan...
"He lives still, Mowgli has some powerful foes on his side..." Neo said as he watched the downed panther struggle to even crawl some, Chupake began to weep. He had gotten close with the panther during his time with Mowgli's pack, Bagheera was the one who taught the Asiatic cheetah the many laws of the jungle, and was his sparring partner and hunting partner. He learned a lot through the panther, and now that panther was on the verge of death.
"I'll kill the fool, and then that gray wolf and the cheetah...Chupake the traitor..." Neo growled, Bhediya grinned at his foster son's desire to kill all of their enemies in brutal fashion.
"I'll let Chupake run free, but Bagheera...I'll use his demise to send fate's warning to Mowgli, I told you that I will take everything he loves away from him. Today marks the beginning of the many deaths that I shall bring upon him, if the heartbreak doesn't kill Mowgli, then I'll finish him off for good..." Bhediya growled as he forcefully pressed Bagheera's head into the ground, the panther turned his head just enough to face Chupake who was weeping hard.
"It's been an honor, Chupake..." Bagheera groaned before his face was forcefully pressed into the dirt again...
"I never said you could speak..." The dire wolf growled coldly before he faced his son again.
"In this battle I always thought that it would be me that brought down this menace, but it was my son who dealt fatal blow. I'll give him the privilege of ending his life, Neo, you know what to do now..." Bhediya continued, Neo nodded his head.
Chupake squinted his eyes shut as tears were squeezed out of them, trailing down his snout, and dripping onto the dusty ground of the Plateaus...He knew what was coming, he didn't have the courage to view it though.
The five seconds felt like five hours, but then came the sound of popping and cracking, then silence. Bagheera's neck had been snapped, and now the panther was dead...
(Location: Seeonee Hills, Kaa's Lair)
Kaa was outside of her lair, hunting for food, simply sitting in the shade as she waited for her prey to cross her path. The great python was coiled up, her tongue flickering in and out of her mouth with her eyes closed.
She too, could use pseudo-sleep, and she had been watching the battle every now and then. She would watch the battle at the Plateaus, the humans in the man-village, what Mowgli was doing, what Ranjan was doing. What the other animals were doing within the Seeonee Hills like Baloo or Sundar Ek.
The hypnotic snake didn't even have to see what happened in pseudo-sleep to figure out what just went down, she suddenly felt a great pressure snatch her heart! Her eyes opened wide as she took in a few deep breaths, she felt what happened without seeing it.
The serpent shook her flat head in disbelief with a look of worry, sadness, and confusion all being displayed. How would she tell Mowgli about this...?
(Location: Somewhere in the Seeonee Hills Jungle...)
Hathi and his herd had found a decent sized clearing for all of them to peacefully take shelter in, the clearing contained several trees, and even a watering hole nearby for the elephants to bathe and drink in.
The mostly mute elephant never had to use pseudo-sleep, he was like a seer, he would have visions all day long almost as he guided his herd around the jungle on their daily walkabouts. He was at the age where he was practically an oracle of the jungle due to the copious amounts of things he had seen in his long lasting life, both good and bad.
Hathi watched as his wife, Gajjini, and their now adult son, Hathi Jr. was all eating from the trees as they reached up to grab the leaves out of them with their trunks. He initially had a smile on his face as he watched his large herd in satisfaction doing their daily tasks, but then a great force gripped his heart that caused him to let out a surprised bellow...
The old elephant gazed at the ground at his feet, he could feel the eyes of his peers upon him. Hathi wanted to explode as he had a vision of what was causing this sudden overwhelming pressure to befall upon him, to try and mask his emotions, he turned around and headed towards the watering hole. Ready to splash his large body with the cooling liquids in hopes that it would calm him down. As he went towards it, he shook his head in disbelief similarly to how Kaa had done.
The mentor of Baloo and Bagheera stuck his trunk deep into the watering hole, and began to suck up the liquids contained within it. Enjoying a refreshing drink before taking some, and slinging it over his back.
"What's wrong?" Gajjini asked as she stood next to her lover, Hathi slowly turned his head to face his wife.
"There is something terribly wrong going on." Hathi replied, his voice filled with concern...
Just like Kaa, Hathi had a fear of what he should tell Mowgli. Bagheera was slain, an entire year after Mowgli went searching for peace. What would he say to the man? What would happen after that? When would this dreadful war even end...?