A/N: Thank you Cathy! It's nice to know someone's enjoying this story! ^__^ Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter- hopefully we'll get to the chapter where everyone finds everyone real soon- I'm looking forward to writing that one! ^__^ Anyway, enjoy! ^__^
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"So, do you think we're ever gonna find Ranjan and Shere Khan?" Mowgli asked a sleepy bear the next morning. "It's been awhile..." Mowgli let his voice trial off, but it was clear just how worried he was.
"Yes, baby-bear, we'll find your brother and Stripes – no worries there. It's just a matter of when," Baloo assured the young boy. Mowgli groaned and the frustration was clear on his face.
"I don't like this," he mumbled to the ground before looking back up at Baloo, "What if something happens?"
"It's never easy playing the waiting game, kiddo, but," Baloo stumbled a bit and looked around, "well, I dunno, we'll find your brother and Khannie soon enough." Mowgli nodded and they went off to explore another sector of the jungle. Their search proved fruitless as evening rolled around and there was no sign of the tiger or the kidnapped toddler.
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"Sooo, you knew Mowgli?" Shanti asked the panther she was trailing.
"Mmmm-hmmm," Bagheera confirmed with a nod of his head, "Feisty little fellow. Energetic to say the least."
"I'll say – he hardly ever listens and he's always playing games," Shanti commented remembering the jar of water that had been dumped on her head the day before. Bagheera smiled to himself, amused. Silence engulfed them as Shanti tried to find a way to make conversation with the quiet panther.
"Ummmm," she began, then stopped.
"Yes?" Bagheera asked not turning around, but pressing onward determined to find Mowgli and Ranjan. Not to mention Baloo. Who seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Bagheera thought to himself. I'm sure where we find Mowgli, we'll find Baloo.
"D'ya like living in the jungle?" Shanti asked, uncertainly, aware of what a funny question she was asking. At this Bagheera stopped and turned around to face her.
"A rather odd question," he confirmed her thoughts with a smile, laughter clear in his eyes, "well, yes, I suppose – it's not like I can really go and live in a village – so I guess I really don't have much of a choice."
"Um, yes, I guess," Shanti agreed, not too entirely sure what exactly she was agreeing with. Bagheera nodded his head, turned around, and continued on through the jungle. They trekked in silence for a good while before Shanti finally felt the need to say something.
"It doesn't look like we'll ever find Mowgli or Ranjan!" Shanti cried as the moon peered over the jungle.
"'Doesn't look like' doesn't mean we won't find them," Bagheera informed the frustrated girl.
"Huh?" Shanti tore her gaze from the moon and looked at Bagheera who was sniffing at some bushes. "Did you find something?" she asked curiously, as Bagheera continued to sniff the bushes, ignoring her. She looked at him, at the bushes, and decided to approach to see why the panther seemed so interested in rather droll looking bushes.
"Um... Bag.....heera," she started, stumbling over Bagheera's name, "is there something in those bushes?" she stepped closer, suddenly cautious. After all, Bagheera seem awfully interested in those bushes. She inspected them her spot, but didn't see anything special.
"Yes, it appears Shere Khan was here not too long ago," he told Shanti. Shanti stared at him, confused.
"Shere Khan?" she asked. "That sounds like the name of some tiger Mowgli talks about in some story he tells us about the jungle," Shanti thought aloud. Bagheera nodded.
"That's because Shere Khan is the name of a tiger. We have to be careful." Bagheera stopped and cocked his head, in deep thought. "Didn't you say you saw pawprints leading into the jungle?" he asked the girl. She nodded in response. "But only one set of human tracks leading into the jungle- tracks that looked too big to be...Ranjan is it?"
"Yeah, they were Mowgli's footprints- Ranjan's too small. His would've been smaller," Shanti confirmed, then stopped and thought about what exactly her panther friend was hinting at. "Are you saying that the pawprints might've been..."
"Shere Khan's." Bagheera answered the unasked question and nodded, "Yes, and it's also possible that he might've taken Ranjan. That would most likely be the reason Mowgli followed him into the jungle."
"Then...a..." Shanti gulped and let out a shudder, "a tiger has...Ranjan?"
"Yes," Bagheera looked rather grim, "So it looks like we ought to follow the tiger," Bagheera motioned to the bushes with his paws, "and it looks like he's not too far away."
