*DISCLAIMER: The stories are based on my fanfic, Rayna's Jungle Adventure. Before you read these tales, I highly suggest you read that story first.
Thank you for reading and enjoy!*

*Jungle Cubs meet Shivani*

The young panther cub is strolling around the jungle floors while the sun was setting. After a long day of being in the cub house with his friends, Bagheera needs to find dinner of his own before going back home. He had been learning how to hunt better thanks to his family. Sometimes he watched Shere Khan hunts to get inspired. Shere Khan is a bully of the group, but sometimes he can be nice and be there for those who are in danger. Bagheera smiled when the memories came to him as he recalled the times when he and the others teased Shere Khan. The tiger cub thinks he is the most fearless cub in the jungle, but one day, he will rule it.
As Bagheera is trotting through the path, he hears sinister hissing sounds around him. He halts and looks around him with his eyes. He slowly looked up to see a female purple python slowly slithering down from the tree and tried to lunge at him. Bagheera jumped out of the way and face the female snake. The purple python is young, but looks a little older than Bagheera's snake friend, Kaa.

"I'm only passing through!" Bagheera said, trying to reason with the snake.

"I won't let a tasssty meal like yourssself get away." The python responded. "I'm sssstarving!" She started to lunge at him again, but Bagheera dodged her. He tried to swipe at her, but the snake ducked down. "No prey gets away from Nishaa!"

"Well, Nishaa, I'm not gonna end up in your gullet!" Bagheera challenged. "You picked the wrong cat to mess with!" Nishaa smirked and revealed her colorful spirals. Bagheera gasped and quickly turned away from the sight. He knew that snakes have the power of hypnosis in this jungle. He had a feeling that this one mastered her powers unlike Kaa had. Nishaa giggled.

"Ssssay your prayerssss!" Before she could strike, a shadow loomed over her and Bagheera. Nishaa looked up and gasped at the sight. Bagheera opened one eye and saw fear in Nishaa's eyes. A warning hiss is heard above him. Bagheera turned back and gasped. There is a female green python with white markings, hissing at the purple python. "Sssshivani..." Nishaa whispered.

"Thissss is the part where you sssslither away, young one. Go find another prey that is more worthy!" The green snake spoke. Nishaa gulped and slithered away. Bagheera backed away from the green snake. He couldn't believe what he is seeing. This is Shivani the Wise. The whole jungle knows about her. There are tales about her. Bagheera remembered his grandfather told him about Shivani.

"Uh...uh...you...you..." Bagheera stuttered. He couldn't find the words to speak. He is afraid. Shivani looked down at him with her gold eyes. "Are...are you gonna...eat me?" Bagheera asked.

"No. Not at all, young one." Shivani replied with a soft look. "Are you going to thank me, Bagheera?" The panther blinked.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know everything. I am Shivani the Wissse, in case you never knew about me. I ssssee the passst and the future of thisss jungle." Shivani told him. Bagheera was in awe as he watched her reveal the rest of her coils. "You ssseem to have a lot of questions, Bagheera. But tonight is not a good time to tell. You mussst be on your way." Shivani is about to slither off, but Bagheera ran in front of her.

"Wait! How could you see the past and the future? I mean, my grandfather told me that you're some kind of witch. Tell me how you-" But the panther stopped talking as Shivani revealed her colorful spirals. Bagheera's eyes matched hers.

"Hush, little cub. Questionssss of yours will be answered one day. But right now, you mussst ssssleep. Ssssleep, little one." Shivani hissed soothingly. Bagheera's eyes lids are getting heavy. He let out a moan and shut his eyes. Shivani's voice echoed around him. And then, nothing.

The next day arrived in the jungle as the cubs are in the cub house for another day. Baloo was eating some grapes while Louie was balancing on the vine. Kaa was napping on a branch, and Hathi was drinking water. Bagheera hurried to the cub house and halts in front of Baloo.

"Guys! You won't believe what happened yesterday!" He spoke.

"You couldn't find dinner." Louie said with a smirk as he hangs from a vine.

"Well, no. But that's not important! I was attacked by a snake and then...Shivani saved me!" Bagheera told the cubs. Hathi shoots some water out of his trunk and turn to the panther in shock. Kaa woke up by the sound of the wise snake's name and blinked at Bagheera.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute now!" Louie said, coming down. "Did I hear you correctly? That Shivani saved you from another snake?"

"Baggy, you're lucky to be alive!" Baloo said, grabbing Bagheera's shoulders.

"That Shivani has been living in this jungle for...ummm...say, how old is she anyway?" Hathi wondered.

"I thought Sssshivani was only a legend. Telling talesss to cubsss like us to scare us." Kaa spoke.

"Why did she bother to save you?" Baloo asked the panther. The panther cub was silent. If only he knew the answer. Shivani has a heart and never let a cub get hurt or devoured. Could that be it? "Baggy?"

"I don't know." Bagheera finally spoke. "She could've just eaten me then, but she didn't. Last thing I remember was those...spirals of hers."

"You mean she hypnotized you?" Hathi asked.

"Of courssse she did." Kaa murmured to himself.

"Then I woke up in a tree. I figured she put me up there after I fell asleep." Bagheera continued. "Maybe the stories my grandfather told me were false. He told me the tale of Shivani will devour anybody who gets in her way."

"My folks told me that she can throw her voice around to lure prey towards her and she will eat them!" Baloo said. The cubs hear a chuckle coming in the cub house. Shere Khan walked towards them with a smirk.

"You are right about one thing, Baloo. She does throw her voice to trick animals into following it. But you all got the tales wrong!" He said. "Shivani the Wise has been around the jungle for so long. She does indeed have the power to see the past and the future of the jungle. And if anyone wanted her help of anything, you must pay the price by bringing her a meal. Since Bagheera was saved by her, he must pay her back." Bagheera gulped. He didn't realize that.

"I...I have to find something to pay her back for saving my life!" Bagheera said.

"Why bother? She could find herssself a meal!" Kaa said with a look in his eyes. "She wouldn't harm you if you haven't brought her ssssomething. Would she?" He frowned when he asked himself that.

"I have to find something fast! Shere Khan, can you take me where Shivani lives?" Bagheera asked.

"You're kidding, right? No one dared to enter her swamp!" Shere Khan replied, trying not to sound nervous.

"Swamp?" Louie wondered.

"Then that's where I'm going!" Bagheera said, leaving the cub house.

"Wait! Bagheera!" Hathi called out. "Ohh, we can't let him go out there alone! Bagheera, wait for me!" The young elephant took off to catch up with the panther.

"Uhh, guys, I should go with them." Baloo said. "You coming, Lou?"

"Uhh, I think I should stick around here." Louie replied nervously. Shere Khan scoffed.

"You three do what you want. I better go and make sure Hathi and Bagheera don't do anything foolish out there." He said, leaving the trio. Kaa gulped.

"You two are ssstaying, aren't you?" He asked.

"I'm going after Baggy. You two can stay here. We'll be back in one piece." Baloo said. "That old snake wouldn't harm cubs like us." As soon as Baloo left the cub house, Louie and Kaa looked at each other. Louie quickly got off his throne and chase after Baloo.

"Wait up, Baloo!"

"Louie! Don't leave me behind!" Kaa called as he slithered after the young orangutan. "Can we find sssomething to eat first?"

Bagheera and the rest of the cubs were wandering through the dark swamp. The young panther has a fish in his mouth as he followed the path to look for Shivani's lair. Shere Khan walked beside him with a look.

"Alright. I'm just gonna say it. You seriously going to give the old snake fish?!" He asked. Bagheera dropped the fish and sneered at the young tiger.

"I've tried to catch that annoying shrew, but she keeps getting away!" He exclaimed. "It wasn't easy to catch prey, you know?"

"But snakes don't eat fish." Baloo spoke. "I wouldn't mind taking that and-" Bagheera snatched the fish away and continued to follow the path. "Baggy, you sure you know where we're going?" Baloo asked as he looked around the swamp. The trees are taller, and the vines are thicker. Any serpent could hide in them.

"This place gives me the creeps." Louie said as he rubs his arms.

"Uh, guys." Hathi gasped as he pointed with his trunk. The cubs looked ahead and found the tree trunk standing with a hole.

"This is it." Shere Khan whispered. Bagheera took a deep breath and slowly approached the lair.

"What if nobody's home?" Kaa asked, shaking. "Maybe...Ssssshivani is nothing but a legend. Bagheera mussst be mistaken for a different ssssnake."

"I really hope you're right, Kaa." Louie said, holding Baloo. Bagheera puts the fish down and tried to look inside the lair. It's too quiet. Bagheera cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Hello? Shivani? It's me, Bagheera! I've come with the price! For saving my life yesterday!" He said. No response. "Shivani? Are you there?" Bagheera called.

"Well, no one's home!" Baloo said. "Let's get back!"

"Some wisssse snake." Kaa muttered as he slithered down from Hathi's back. "She'sss not even home. I knew she wasn't real in the firssst place!" Shere Khan turned to him, but his eyes widen as he looked up behind Kaa. "Sssshivani the Wise is not real! She is jussst a tale! I'm the greatest hunter in thisss jungle!"

"Uhh, Kaa?" Baloo spoke as he looked up along with Louie and Hathi.

"There is no way that Ssshivani would be living thisss long!" Kaa continued as his friends tried to get his attention. Behind Kaa is Shivani, looking down at him with a smirk.

"Kaa! Behind you!" Bagheera gasped.

"Behind me? Oh, I'm not falling for that old trick! Like that old witch of a hag is behind me!" Kaa laughed.

"Witch?" Shivani hissed. Kaa's eyes widen in fear.

"Guysss...she'sss really behind me, isn't she?" He asked in a whimper. The cubs nodded. Kaa gulped and turned his head back to see Shivani's face.

"Boo!" Shivani hissed. Kaa let out a shriek and quickly slithered towards his friends and went behind them. Shivani chuckled. "Awww, don't be afraid, young one. I won't harm you." Bagheera brought a fish and placed it in front of her. Shivani raised a brow at it, then looked at the panther. "And what is thisss?"

"For saving my life, Shivani." Bagheera replied. "I know it's not much, but...it's all I could do." Shivani stared at the fish in disgust. She shook her head at him.

"No need, Bagheera. Cubsss like you don't need to pay the price. But when you get older, if you need my assisssstancccce, that is when you need to pay the priccce." She told him.

"Whew good!" Hathi said, wiping his forehead with his trunk.

"Well, then that settles it!" Louie said, clapping his hands together. "If there is nothing else, we should be on our way-"

"And what wasss that about an old witch of a hag?" Shivani asked, eyeing on Kaa. The young snake gulped and slithered behind Shere Khan who growled up at Shivani.

"I...I never meant it! We've been hearing ssso much about you and thought you were nothing but a tale!" Kaa said. "Oh, pleassse forgive me Shivani! Oh, the beautiful Shivani the Wise!"

"That reminds me." Shere Khan spoke. "How old are you? You've been living around the jungle for years. No way a python could last longer than 30 seasons."

"Sssince you assssked. I am now 100 years old." Shivani replied with a smile. The cubs' eyes went wide in shock.

"Really?!" Baloo gasped.

"That's old." Louie whispered.

"And is it true that you could see the past and the future of the jungle?" Bagheera asked. Shivani was surprised that these cubs are a bit interested in her. Most animals fear Shivani and never bother to ask questions. She did save Bagheera after all. At least she must give them some of the answers they need.

"I do indeed." Shivani replied. "But it is bessst if you don't know too much about the future. There's consequencessss."

"Is something bad going to happen to us?" Baloo asked.

"No. That is not what I mean." Shivani replied.

"She means we can't know about our futures, Baloo." Bagheera told the bear cub.

"Well, I know that I'm going to the king of swingers when I grow up." Louie said with a smirk, running his hand through his hair. Shivani gave him a sneer before turning her attention to Bagheera.

"Again, there isss no need to pay the price for sssaving you, Bagheera." She said. "Isss there anything elssse you wisssh to know?"

"No, we're good." Hathi said. "Can we please go now?" Shivani chuckled and slithered up to the tree to hide in it. Then, the cubs hear her humming around them. Her voice echoes around the swamp. Baloo shivered a bit.

"Man, she freaks me out!" He said.

"And how doesss she throw her voice like that?" Kaa wondered as he listens to the python sing around the swamp.

"Whatever. Let's go." Shere Khan said, leaving. "We've met the wisest snake in the jungle." The cubs began to leave the swamp, ignoring Shivani's singing tune. Bagheera turned back to look up at the trees. He couldn't help but to smile a bit. It won't be the last time he will be seeing Shivani.

Bagheera and Shere Khan were walking down the path on their own, talking about Shivani. Shere Khan never wanted to admit that he was spooked by Shivani like the others. The other cubs weren't fond of that snake. Especially Kaa.

"So? You guys saw Shivani. What do you think of her now? Is she still a tale?" Bagheera asked with a smirk.

"I never said she was a tale! Kaa did!" Shere Khan replied. "I...I knew she was real. We're lucky we were spared after she was called a witch."

"She has her own rules and follow the jungle laws." Bagheera told the tiger.

"Jungle laws. When I become king, I do what I want! If anyone gets in my way, they must challenge me!" Shere Khan said as he stopped by the tree and used his claws to leave a mark on the tree. Bagheera gave him a look.

"Khan, you know what happens when an animal breaks the jungle law." Bagheera said.

"Don't forget we have man wandering around our home, Bagheera!" Shere Khan snapped. "Like you said to us before, they eat us or wear us! They hunt us!"

"That's true, but you can't kill man-folk!" Bagheera said, trying to defend the jungle law. Shere Khan got into Bagheera's face, growling a bit. Bagheera stood his ground, glaring at the tiger.

"Look, I don't have time for this. I'll see you around. You're pathetic. All of you are." Shere Khan left the panther to go home. Bagheera was left alone. He sighed to himself.

"Don't let that tiger intimidate you." A voice hissed. Bagheera gasped and saw Shivani in the tree. "He'sss all talk."

"Do you really have to sneak up on me like that?" Bagheera asked. "Were you spying on us?"

"I wasss slithering around until I hear you two cats. Shere Khan hatesss man-folk so much." Shivani said as she slithered in the trees as Bagheera followed her. "Not all of them are bad."

"...What do you mean? You eat them?" Bagheera asked nervously.

"Oh, for Kipling's sssake! No!" Shivani replied with a look. "Not part of my diet. They are junk food to me. I follow that rule, Bagheera. Never eat or kill a human."

"Oh good." Bagheera said with a sigh of relief.

"Come with me, young one." Shivani said, slithering down to the jungle floor. "I musst show you sssomething." Bagheera was confused but walked beside her. "It'sss quite a ssstroll. Try to keep up."

"Wait, where are going?"

XX

The sun was about to set as Shivani continued to slither down the path and Bagheera was getting tired of traveling. He kept asking where she is taking him but she never gave him an answer. The two soon made it to the outskirts of a place garnered with lights and huts. Bagheera stood on the edge of the rock and his eyes widen. This was the man village.

"That's the man village!" He said.

"Indeed." Shivani replied, looking at the view of the village. "You've never seen one, haven't you?"

"I hear there is one, but never ever got to see what it looked like."

"You could alwaysss tell there isss a man village because of the Red Flower." Shivani told the panther.

"But the Red Flower is dangerous. It will destroy everything it touches." Bagheera said.

"Only if it'sss lossse." Shivani hissed. "The Red Flower can be controlled by man. Only they have the power to bring the Red Flower to keep them sssafe. Remember this, Bagheera. The village down there hassss familiesss. They do come in the jungle to hunt to survive and gather water. They do not know about our jungle laws. Man-folk have laws in their village."

"You might be right. They do have cubs of their own. Man-cubs, girl-cubs." Bagheera said as he lays on his stomach. "You brought me here to show me that not all man-folks are bad?"

"Indeed. But what do you really think of them? You believe they would wear ussss?" Shivani asked.

"Well, my grandfather told me that they capture animals and wear us." Bagheera told her.

"The onesss living in the village do not do sssuch thing." Shivani corrected him. "The onesss who would sell or wear ussss are called poachersssss. If you ever see a trap in the jungle, those are poacher trapssss."

"Poachers. Okay. Got it." Bagheera said. Shivani turned away and Bagheera followed her. "Shivani, thank you again for saving me and taught me about this. Some of us are wrong about man. I shouldn't bother telling my friends about this. Even to Shere Khan."

"I know some of your friendsss don't like me much. But give them time. It'sss hard to trussst a sssnake." Shivani said. "Good hunting to you, Bagheera. Ssstay safe." She slithered towards the bushes to hunt prey before the sun is down. Bagheera smiled.

"Good hunting, Shivani."

The beautiful woman named Anala has long black hair, brown eyes. She is putting her 2-year-old son, Hunar, to bed. She began to hum as Hunar is snuggled under the blanket. Anala began to sing to her son.

"Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine."

Hunar smiled up at his mother as his eyelids are getting heavy. Anala pets Hunar's black hair with a loving smile as she sings a lullaby. From the doorway, there is a man with a black heard. His name is Samar. He smiled as he listened to his wife's voice.

"Little one when you play.
Don't you mind what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear, baby of mine."

As Anala sings, she rubs her stomach with one hand. Her husband smiled more. They are expecting another child in 8 months. Hunar was told that he was going to be a big brother soon. After he turned three in a few months, the baby will be born. Samar and Anala are excited to have another child.

"If they knew all about you,
They'd end up loving you, too.
All those same people who scold you,
What they'd give just for the right to hold you.
From your head to your toes,
You're not much, heaven knows,
But you are so precious to me.
Sweet as can be, baby of mine."

Hunar fell fast asleep, and Anala gave him a kiss on the forehead before getting up. She noticed her husband waiting for her by the doorway. They quietly left the room and went to their bedroom. They kissed before they went to sleep in their bed. Samar placed his hand over his wife's thin stomach. How he couldn't wait to welcome another child in the family.

*Author's Note: Special thanks to dollysistersmassacre from deviantart for letting me borrow Nishaa for this story! And more tales are coming along! Stay tuned for more! Hope you enjoyed this one!*