A/N: I thought it would be cool to go ahead and add another chapter onto this little story! ^_^ So here you go! Cathy, I'm truly flattered! ^__^ Thanks so much! ^_^ For some reason I can't remember that snakes name! 0_o I don't know why, but please clue me in! It's horrible! Thanx! (Thank you Cathy for letting me know. The snake's name is Kaa. I've edited this chapter to include his name).

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"So, so, you mean a tiger has Ranjan?!" Shanti kept up with Bagheera's quick pace, looking rather anxious.

Or had Ranjan, Bagheera thought grimly before nodding in response to Shanti's question. "Yes, it would seem so."

"What if, what if..." Shanti's voice trailed off, as she contemplated all the terrible things that could have possibly befallen little Ranjan and slowed her pace.

"Come, now, we can't slow down!" Bagheera insisted, not slowing a bit.

"But...." Shanti started, but then pursed her lips, and decided that it'd be best to obey the panther. She quickened her pace to match that of her feline friend, who was actually going slower than he wished to. However, he was well aware of the fact that Shanti could only go so fast and he couldn't just leave her alone lost in the jungle.

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"Baloo, this is hopeless!" Mowgli cried, plopping onto the ground, and clutching his hair, while trying to fight back tears of defeat.

"It's not hopeless yet," Baloo argued, trying to comfort the young boy. "We'll find him," he said, though doubt was obvious in his dark eyes. "We just need to get some help. If there's more than two of us looking, then we're bound to find them." Baloo paused and thought about that for a minute. "Why didn't I think of this before?" He asked, looking confused at how slow it had taken him to realize this valuable piece of information.

Mowgli looked up from his spot on the ground and at Baloo, also confused. "That does make sense," he said slowly, staring at the bear. "Well, who are we going to ask to help us?"

"Um," Baloo bit his lip, "well, I know Baggy will, and, uh, Louie might, then there's those elephants. They'll probably help." Mowgli nodded, and pushed himself up off the ground, relieved that they actually had some sort of plan now, instead of wandering aimlessly around the jungle.

"Well, then, let's get going," Mowgli said, grabbing the bear's paw. Baloo nodded and they started on their way towards Louie's.

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"So, are we anywhere near where the Shere, um, the tiger is?" Shanti asked Bagheera curiously. They had stopped and his eyes were darting in every direction.

"I don't know," Bagheera admitted, and Shanti gave him a rather puzzled look.

"You don't know?" she repeated what he had stated, confused.

"His scent seems to have suddenly.......vanished."

"Oh," Shanti glanced around, "that's not good is it?" Bagheera shook his head.

"Ssssssssooo you're looking for Sssssssshere Khan, are you?" A voice asked the two from above. Both Bagheera and Shanti jerked their heads upwards quickly, looking for the owner of that voice, though Bagheera already had a pretty good idea of who owned such a voice.

"Don't look in it's eyes," Bagheera quickly whispered to Shanti, before turning his attention to the slithery creature. "What do you want?" he asked the annoying snake that was hanging from a branch, so it could be eye level with him and Shanti.

"Who'ssssss that ssssssweet looking child you have there, Bagheera?" Kaa asked in a voice that sent chills down Shanti's spine.

"Leave the girl alone," Bagheera snapped, really not wanting to play around with the double-crossing snake. "Do you know where we can locate Shere Khan?" he inquired, wanting to get away from Kaa as quickly as possibly, but not wanting to leave without any information. The snake always seemed to be full of information about the jungle. Bagheera secretly wondered how Kaa seemed to know where everyone was or what they were doing. It quite creeped him out to say the least.

"Yessssssss, assss a matter of fact, I sssssaw him passsssss through thisssss way earlier today." Kaa informed them in his slithery tone. Shanti's eyes went wide and she glanced at Bagheera, before looking back down at the ground. Bagheera had seemed awfully serious when he'd told her not to look at the snake in the eyes, and she intended to obey him. Bagheera looked at Kaa intently, avoiding direct eye contact, and uncertain whether or not to believe him.

"Did you?" Bagheera simply asked, and waited for the snake to expand further.

"Yessssss, I wouldn't lie, now would I? I'm asssshamed that you'd even think I'd do ssssssuch a horrible thing! Yessss, Ssssshere Khan came through here, and went right, towardssssss hisssss 'home.' He alssso had, well, never mind, I doubt it'd interesssst you." He stopped talking, though he clearly knew that the fact Shere Khan had been toting a baby human around would interest Bagheera and that scrumptious looking girl he was traveling with. Shere Khan's "home" was part of some old ruins the tiger was often sighted at. Whether he lived there or not, no one was completely certain, but it was definitely the violent tiger's territory.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am interested in what Shere Khan had with him," Bagheera informed him in a rather cold voice that signified that he wasn't too happy about how Kaa had purposely left off there.

"Yessssss, I thought ssssssooo! He wassss carrying a baby human with him. I'm not sssssure assss to why, but it wassss most definitely a human."

"Thank you for your time," Bagheera stated, neutrally, before turning to Shanti, who was still studying the ground. "Well, at least we know for certain that Ranjan is with Shere Khan. Come now, let's head towards the ruins."

"You can't be sssssserioussss!" Kaa's sudden outburst startled both Bagheera and Shanti. They looked up at him, but Shanti quickly averted her gaze, not wanting to anger the panther, should something happen if she looked too long at the snake.

"Yes, we are rather serious," Bagheera told him before turning his attention back to Shanti. "Let's go now, before he decides to tag along," Bagheera stated nodding towards the bewildered Kaa. Shanti nodded, and followed Bagheera as they started to make their way towards the ruins.

The bewildered snake continued to stare after the girl and the panther. They really were going to the ruins! Did they hope to find Shere Khan? It mussst be that baby Ssssshere Khan had, he realized as he continued staring after the duo. That girl had looked like a very tasty treat indeed. He sighed. If only that panther hadn't been around, he could've hypnotized her and his growling tummy would've been satisfied. He knew it would've been foolish to do something like that in front of Bagheera, though, especially since he was friends with the girl. The snake wondered about Bagheera. Weren't panthers carnivores, too? That panther just didn't seem normal. He couldn't even figure out where Bagheera lived or spent most of his time! That panther quite creeped him out to say the least!

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"We're almost at Louie's! I remember this place! It should be just around the bend!" Mowgli cried excitedly as they drew nearer and nearer to Louie's. Baloo smiled at the kid's excited cries.

"Yeah, yeah, baby-bear, we're almost there," Baloo said, then laughed, "hey, I rhymed!" Mowgli glanced up at the bigger bear and giggled. Suddenly his happy demeanor vanished as he remembered why they were going to Louie's.

"He will help us, right?" Mowgli asked, worried. He looked up at Baloo anxious.

"Help ya with what?" A voice suddenly caused the two to twirl around and face Louie, whose head was sticking out of a nearby bush. When he spotted Mowgli he smiled. "Long time, no see, cuz!"

"I'll say!" Mowgli agreed, then frowned. "Why are you hiding in bushes?" he asked bluntly, not finding a polite way to phrase it.

"Who says I'm hiding? You're the two that are walking right by my little club."

"We were just going there," Baloo pointed in an opposite direction, confused. Louie grinned at him.

"We decided to move the club over here!" Louie waved his hand behind him, "Come on and join the fun!"

"You bet!" Baloo exclaimed, jumping over the bushes, where music, lights, and dancers awaited. He quickly joined in the fun.

"But Baloo," Mowgli tried to remind his friend why they had been coming here in the first place, but it was rather obvious the bear was more interested in dancing. Mowgli also seemed to have some problems of his own.

"Come on, cuz," Louie grabbed Mowgli's hand, and jerked him over the bushes. He then set the boy down hard in a chair, and smiled.

"How'd you like some of Louie's good ol' cooking?"

"I'd really like that, but we've...."

"Nonsense, whatever it is, it can wait!"

"But we really..."

"No buts!" Louie exclaimed as he forcefully stuck a spoonful of food down Mowgli's mouth.

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"Everything's almost in place," a voice whispered into the sunset, "then I'll have my sweet revenge." A pair of young, wide eyes stared at the striped creature, frightened.