A/N: Well, I finally decided to update this. And the good news is I already have the last chapter typed up. I thought about posting this one and the next (last) one at once, but seeing how all my chapters have been short I didn't want to post a super long chapter. Nixed Kaa's extra 's.' You can add them in if you please. Also, I've gotten the use of italics, bold, and underline since my last update on this story. Sorry about the weird lines, but I can't put asterisks in anymore to let you know when the story's hopping to a different place (technically, they're all in the jungle. Oh well). Also, if you think I need to up the rating let me know. I don't think I need to but if anyone does, I will.

Anyway, I hope this makes at least one person in the world happy!


The dull ache in his head only seemed to worsen when his eyes fluttered open. His vision blurred and everything seemed to be spinning and unfamiliar. He was supposed to be doing something, but what? His mind groped blindly for the reason he had such a horrible ache in the first place. It hit him with such clarity he bolted upright, instantly regretting that maneuver as new pain shot throughout his body.

"Bagheera!" Shanti effortlessly pronounced his name for once, thrilled to see him up. She wiped at her eyes. "I was so worried!" She hugged him unintentionally adding to the already existing bodily pain.

"Yeah, sorry," Bagheera muttered distractedly. His mind was racing. What on earth had made him suddenly faint like that? How horribly embarrassing! Good thing Baloo wasn't around. I'd never hear the end of it. Heat must be getting to me or maybe I'm sick. He shook it off and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. They had to get to Ranjan and Shere Khan.

Shanti stood before her panther friend grinning crazily. She was just so elated that he was up and no longer limp on the moist jungle ground. To say she had been frightened would be a gross understatement. She made sure most of her weight was on her unhurt foot and waited patiently for Bagheera to speak again; he looked rather contemplative right now and she didn't want to disrupt his train of thought.

Bagheera sniffed the air intensely for a few moments before turning towards Shanti and clearing his throat. He easily picked up Shere Khan's scent. Just when he was about to announce what direction they would be heading in he recalled the girl's hurt foot. He shuddered at the thought of carrying her again. His vision was still blurry and a bit dizzying. He took a step towards her before halting, trying to gather his bearings. "A bit dizzying" was a mild way of putting it, he thought frustrated. He could only hope that perhaps those herbs he had slathered onto her foot had miraculous healing powers. He looked at her, "How's your foot?"

Her eyebrows rose, but just barely, fearing he might insist on carrying her again. "It's okay," she said with as much confidence as she could, cringing that she had paused a moment before answering. He quirked his head and studied her intently.

"You can walk?" he challenged. Obvious doubt was clear in his voice.

She quickly nodded. "Yes, yes," she nodded even more fiercely, "watch!" She proceeded to hop on her good foot to a nearby tree. She leaned against it for support. "See?" She beamed, hoping she didn't sound too breathless to the panther. "I can just do this. It's fine."

Bagheera held in his laughter, the amusement shining through his eyes as he watched the human child hobble around on foot and hug a tree so she wouldn't topple to the ground. He allowed a small grin. He supposed that could work. He began walking towards her, groaning inwardly at the blurry edges every object in his vision suddenly had. He couldn't even walk in a straight line! He caught Shanti's eyes and offered her a small, but reassuring, smile. "Let's head this way," he directed her, heading in the direction of the tiger's scent. Shanti nodded and began hobbling alongside the swaying panther.


"Are we there yet?" Mowgli moaned. It seemed they had been walking forever. Following that cursed snake, no less. Mowgli glared at the creature from his position between Louie and Baloo. He didn't trust that snake in the least and still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that the snake was leading them. It irked him to the core.

Kaa rolled his eyes at Mowgli's question, annoyance clear in his reply, "You've already asked that question umpteen times! I told you we'd be there by sunset."

"Yeah, baby-bear," Baloo looked down at the young boy. "You have asked a lot."

Louie nodded as well. "Yeah."

Mowgli resisted the urge to pull out his hair. "I just thought maybe we'd get there before sunset. You know the sun won't be setting for awhile. Surely, it's not that far." He shot a nasty look at Kaa who remained oblivious to it as he continued to slither ahead of them, out of their reach but within their vision, on various tree limbs.

"Well, it is," Kaa said with finality.

Louie offered Mowlgi a sympathetic look and Baloo shrugged when the boy shot him a questioning look. Finally, Mowgli sighed inwardly and shut his mouth, dejectedly deciding not to bring it up again unless someone else did.


Wails repeatedly reached his sensitive ears and his right eye twitched as he kept watch on that fitful baby human from a safe distance. Shere Khan had thought it was safe, anyway. Apparently not as his ears seemed to scream for release from the wretched sound that human insisted upon making. And so loudly, too. It was no small wonder that those moronic human loving jungle animals hadn't arrived with his meal yet. He very seriously considered eating the ridiculously small human instead, but decided against it. Patience was a virtue after all. However, this was just irritating and frustrating. He had been waiting over a day. Probably two, possibly three. It was nearing sunset now and he wasn't even sure how many days it had been exactly.He briefly wondered if the small human could actually live so long with no food. The child had been graciously allowed to drink water from a small pond earlier but the wailing creature didn't seem too interested in it.

With a resigned sigh, he pushed himself off the ground and stalked over to the fussy baby. He stopped before Ranjan and the small child stopped crying for a moment, pausing to glance up at the vicious looking tiger before bursting into tears again. Shere Khan shook his head and, with his mouth, picked up the small human and purposefully strode into the jungle. This would mess his scheme up a little, but he was desperate and this baby's cries were infuriating him. Using the baby as bait, he had planned on a tradeoff with the mancub; his life for the small child's. He figured this way maybe he could just eat both.

He would just find the mancub and those human loving animals on their turf instead of waiting for them to find him on his. Ranjan stared at the jungle floor, swaying limply in the tiger's mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks. Shere Khan easily picked up on a desirable scent and sped off in that direction ignoring the wails from the small form hanging from his mouth.


Mowgli glanced up at the sky and almost asked if they were there or not, but Baloo beat him to the punch. "Kaa, are we about there? It's practically sunset."

Kaa glanced up at the sky, grinning. "Yes, we are! I told you so."

Mowgli started, shocked. "Really? We're really almost there?" Panic began rising up in him as he realized they had yet to come up with a solid plan. "Uh…what do….how do we….. why…what?" He stuttered, miserably failing in his attempt to keep calm.

Louie spun around and patted him on his head. "Don't worry, Cuz. Things will turn out fine," he attempted to reassure the boy, but his eyes betrayed his doubt. He glanced up at Baloo. "Right?"

Baloo stared down at them. "I have no idea."

If he were capable of doing so, Kaa would've slapped his forehead. "There's no plan of action? You buffoons haven't thought of one yet? What exactly were you three doing this whole time? It took us hours to get here!"

"You don't have to rub it in," Baloo replied gruffly. "How much time do we have left? We can come up with a plan."

Kaa shook his head. "None," he said bluntly as they rounded a corner. "We're here."

"What?" Mowgli shrieked, then clamped his hands over his mouth. The four were now staring at ruins of some type of civilization that had once thrived in the jungle before their time. Mowgli's eyes widened at the sight. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen these the first time he had lived in the jungle. Crumbling structures dotted a time-worn but beautiful spread of tiles. The archaic tiles took up a rather large space and stood out against the jungle landscape. There was moss and other plants that had sprouted amongst the remains growing wildly, overtaking the remnants of that particular civilization. It was quite a sight to behold.

Louie conveniently stayed behind Baloo, who stared in wonderment at the ruins with Mowgli. He had always been warned not to come here since this was Khan's territory so, until now, he had never seen this part of the jungle himself. Kaa quirked his eyebrows at the three's reactions. He didn't see anything amazing about the ruins, but, then, he had been here on numerous occasions; occasions he wished he had no recollection of.

Mowgli finally found his voice and whispered, "It's really quite."

"Yeah, baby-bear, it is," Baloo had to agree. The ruins were rather intimidating yet beautiful, but the silence was even more intimidating and not beautiful at all. Mowgli hopped from foot to foot, eyes searching the ruins hoping to sight some sign of life. Baloo did the same, hoping to glimpse some orange or black. Louie remained hidden and Kaa bit his lip, curiously searching out the area himself. He didn't say aloud what he was thinking, but he was pretty sure Shere Khan wasn't there. He could've sworn Shere Khan had been heading this way. It crossed his mind that he had told Bagheera to come here and wondered if the panther and that tasty looking human girl had been by here already. Bagheera would think that he had lied and be pretty upset. Kaa made a mental note not to cross the panther anytime soon.

Mowgli and Baloo cautiously began walking through the ruins staying close together as they looked for Ranjan and Shere Khan. Kaa watched them from his tree limb already aware that they wouldn't find anyone. Louie seemed torn between exploring with Baloo and Mowgli and staying at the edge of the ruins for a quick escape so he stayed about halfway between the two, glancing about furtively.

After some time had passed, Mowgli and Baloo trudged back over to where Kaa remained, Louie already ahead of them. Kaa shook his head. "No luck, huh?"

Mowgli cast an accusing glance at Kaa before looking down at the floor. "No."

Baloo shook his head sadly, sighing softly. "Afraid not."

"Sorry, Cuz," Louie tried to comfort the visibly upset boy. Mowgli clenched his fist and spoke clearly and slowly, anger and frustration tinting every word.

"I can't believe we did all that and….and….nothing! We did all that for nothing!" He cried exasperated, feelings of hopelessness beginning to knot up his stomach. He sunk to his knees and some unfortunate blades of grass found themselves in his clenched fists. "I'm never going to be able to face them in the village if I don't bring Ranjan back," he whispered, eyes welling up. Baloo and Louie exchanged glances and Kaa just stared down at the boy, amused.

Baloo clapped him on his shoulder. "He's bound to be around here somewhere," he tried assuring Mowgli. "Let's not assume anything until we find Khannie, okay?"

Mowgli slowly lifted his head and his glistening eyes found Baloo's serious ones. He nodded curtly and quickly stood up with Baloo's help. "You're right. We can't give up yet. Ranjan and Shere Khan have to be here somewhere." He paused. "And Shanti and Bagheera, too."

Baloo nodded. "That's the spirit!" He grinned. "Yeah, Bags and your girlfriend should be around also."

Mowgli looked at him, surprised. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Baloo laughed and Louie grinned. Kaa rolled his eyes and followed them as they made their way back into the jungle, the moon peering over them.


Shanti hobbled after Bagheera, who was finally walking straight again. His vision had improved vastly in the past couple hours or so. He had offered to carry her, but she had adamantly refused, insisting she was to blame for his earlier fall. He had tried to assure her that it wasn't her fault, but she refused to accept a ride explaining she would be more comfortable hobbling along despite Bagheera's protests.

She halted when Bagheera suddenly stopped with no warning. She clung to the nearest tree nervously. It wasn't that they hadn't paused often in their travel, but this pause just seemed different. Confusion was evident in Bagheera's manners as he sniffed the bushes, air, and trees, head whipping about, eyes frantically searching for something. She bit her lip, watching him.

"Bagheera, is everything okay?" she asked, dreading the reply. He stopped and looked at her.

"For some reason, Shere Khan's scent has become very strong here." He paused, cocking his head and repeated, "Very, very strong." He waited for the meaning to sink in. She gasped.

"He's near?" She frenziedly searched the area from her position by the tree. Cold chills ran down her spine when she got a reply.

"Nearer than you realize," a snide voice confirmed their suspicions.

Bagheera's head whipped around and Shanti's eyes doubled in size as the tiger they had been so fervently searching for stood before them, eyes twinkling with mischief. Shanti's stomach twisted when it hit her that Ranjan didn't seem to be with the tiger. She could only pray that meant Mowgli had gotten him already and that he wasn't resting in the tiger's gut. However, the whereabouts of Ranjan were quickly discovered.

"Shanti…?" It came out of as a whimper but Shanti's ears picked up on it right away, relief flooding her briefly before fear gripped her again. She looked behind the formidable tiger and spotted Ranjan right behind him, Shere Khan's tail wrapped around his little body, warning him not to run off.

"Ranjan!" She cried. "It'll be okay. Don't worry," she lamely attempted to reassure him, her voice faltering.

Shere Khan bared his teeth, amused by the girl. He laughed. "I was going to wait for the mancub, but it was taking them much too long to find my place," he explained to Shanti and Bagheera who both kept their eyes glued to him. Shere Khan looked at Shanti. "So, I figured I'd come out here and just find him."

He laughed again—a dry laugh full of humor only he would understand, "But I can settle for you." Without warning he jumped for Shanti, moonlight glinting off his outstretched claws. Shanti let out a small shriek and covered her face with her hands, expecting the worse. Bagheera leaped into the air and, using his full bodyweight, knocked Shere Khan out of the air. Both jungle cats tumbled to the ground, clawing and snarling at each other.

Shanti slowly brought her hands down from her face when nothing happened. She clamped her hands over her mouth when she saw the furious heap that was Bagheera and Shere Khan, moonlight gleaming off their claws and teeth.

"Shanti!" Ranjan cried softly, latching onto her legs. She knelt down and patted his head reassuringly.

"It's okay, Ranjan. Bagheera will help us." She hoisted him up and positioned him against her hip. He offered her a small, reluctant smile before burying his head in her shoulder.

Bagheera saw stars as one of Shere Khan's claws cut his skin deep; he only hoped he was hurting the troublesome tiger half as much. He swayed, trying to stay on his feet and gather his bearings. Shere Khan took advantage of this and began gracefully leaping towards Shanti and Ranjan. Shanti gasped, held Ranjan tighter and squeezed her eyes shut. Bagheera shook his head and jumped over to the two small humans, putting himself between them and Shere Khan.

The tiger glared at him, irritated. "Look, you plant eating freak cat, move out of my way!"

"No," was the panther's cool reply. Through clenched teeth he spoke to Shanti. "Get out of here. Take him and just run."

"But," Shanti began, but the sharp look from her jungle friend halted her protest. She nodded and as Bagheera and Shere Khan's claws locked she took off, trying to ignore the pain that shot through her hurt foot and not look back to see how Bagheera was doing. Ranjan began crying loudly again. "It's okay, it's okay," she tried to tell him but to no avail.

"It won't do them any good," Shere Khan smiled smugly. "I saw her hurt foot and you don't look so good yourself," he spoke with a peremptory air.

Bagheera held back a cough. He had to admit Shere Khan was probably right, but, of course, he wouldn't let the tiger know that. He was hoping that Shanti would run into Mowgli and Baloo; if they had been heading towards the ruins Shere Khan was usually at then they should be nearby. He hoped, anyway. Shere Khan leaped past him and began to dash after the two humans. Bagheera ran after him and landed a claw on his back, eliciting a howl of pain from the tiger. Tables quickly turned though as Shere Khan easily shook Bagheera off. The panther went rolling to the floor and the tiger pinned him, grinning madly. A claw stuck across his stomach and another howl of pain filled the air, only this time from Bagheera.

The two continued to dance around each other, claws out, Shere Khan attempting to escape and chase down Shanti and Ranjan, but Bagheera managed to prevent each of his attempts much to the tiger's infernal frustration.