Shanti and Mowgli adventure
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I OWN AND REGRET NOTHING!
...III...
I THANK AND OWE GOD EVERYTHING!
...III...
"Bagheera! Where are we going?" asked Mowgli, following after the panther as he crossed a log, shaking his head with a huff.
"Tch, you're going back to the man village right now." he answered, making the boy huff and stamp his foot.
"I'm not going!"
"Oh yes you are." the feline threw back with a tone that said he wasn't having it.
What the two jungle dwellers didn't realize at the moment, was a young girl who was on the other side of the stream they were passing with a large pot in hand who could overhear this happening. It was by sheer coincidence she would come here due to the watering hole by the village having too many people around, leaving her to try and get water elsewhere; leading to her venturing into the jungle.
She was a preteen who had a slender physique with brown skin, brown eyes, and her black hair styled into a convention braided ponytail. Her body had a budding curve to it accentuated by an indigo lehenga skirt made from cotton, a cream-yellow choli that exposes her midriff with the outfit straining against a pair of breasts that looked ready to spill out. If they could be measured, they'd be around a C cup; larger than what you'd expect from a girl her age. On her forehead was a red bindi with gold hoop earrings hanging from her ears with her feet completely bare.
"I'm staying right here." frowned Mowgli as he grabbed onto a nearby tree.
"You're going even if I have to drag you every step of the way." the panther said firmly, grabbing the back of the boy's loincloth and started pulling. "Let go!"
"Let go of me!" the boy let out, pushing back against the feline's cheeks with his feet.
Bagheera growled as he held a strong grip on the clothing. He tried to ignore the pushing while Mowgli himself winced in pain; the tugging of the cloth pushed and tightened around his area so much it was pinching him hard. He knew if this kept going he'd probably end up naked, but he couldn't take the risk if he let Bagheera pull him. The idea of him losing his cloth and being exposed is something he DID NOT wanna take a chance with.
"Ow! Quit it!" Mowgli let out, digging his fingers into the tree harder. The more his loincloth dug into him, the more painful it was. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes with the fabric digging so hard into his private area, he was scared what might happen if Bagheera pulled any harder.
The resulting tugging and pushing led to the cover getting torn right off the boy as Bagheera flew back and landed in the stream, while Mowgli held onto the tree with his bare butt in full view.
The girl covered her mouth, both in surprise at the talking panther, and at seeing a boy's bare behind.
"Oooh, that's it! You can find your own way." huffed Bagheera, shaking his head and body of water before making it back on land and headed off from the boy who would have responded, but his eyes spotted the girl looking at him, making him stare with surprise.
Having never seen a girl like him, he was mesmerized by her, while the girl herself eyed Mowgli, her eyes drifting down his body before they landed on his crotch. There between his legs was a willy; confirming he was indeed a male, but the size was so small she couldn't help but giggle more. The size of it was smaller than her own brother's!
The jungle boy noted her eyes and looked down, jumping and tried to cover his spot; feeling self conscious for some reason the more she looked.
"Wow, is that how you greet all the girls?" she teased him, which made his face feel warmer.
Mowgli gulped, unable to answer back before his eyes spotted the remains of his clothes drifting away down the stream, meaning he had nothing to put back on.
"Hello, who are you?" the girl asked with curiosity, trying to stop her giggling. "My name is Shanti."
"I-I-I'm…m-my name's…Mowgli…" he muttered, looking down.
"Why were you in the jungle? And who was that talking panther?" she asked again while looking him over closely. Like how his body was so scrawny and lacking muscles, or how pasty his rear looked. "And have you always been this tiny?" she couldn't stop and started giggling again.
Mowgli wanted to answer, but he couldn't help but keep quiet the more she giggled and stared. He didn't get why she thought it was small, it's always been that way. Not to mention she was so pretty that his throat felt dry the longer he stared at her.
"If you'd like, you could come with me to my village." she offered, trying to keep it together and be considerate. "It's not that far."
Mowgli shook his head to snap out of his staring. From Bagheera leaving him, how awkward he felt standing here naked and talking with a girl like him, and to her going so far as to call him tiny? He wasn't in any mood to stick around any longer. Without a word he turned and ran off, catching Shanti off guard.
"Hey, wait! Don't go into the jungle!" she called out, concerned and worried coming over her. She carefully waddled her way across the stream, and when she reached the opposite side, she tried to give chase to the boy. "Wait! It's dangerous in there!"
Mowgli didn't stop, he kept on running while jumping over roots, rocks, and anything else around the jungle floor.
"Wait! Come back! My village is very welcoming!" Shanti called out, having some difficulty keeping up with him, unaware of her skirt getting snagged on a lone branch and tearring from her, or the strand of it connected to the back part of it.
"No way!" he called back, only to yelp when he felt a lone branch hit his penis as he ran. The jolt of pain made him stumble and nearly fall, but he kept on going. He felt large leaves slap the spot when he rushed against them, and the stinging sensation made him start tearing up, but it just motivated him to keep going as he heard Shanti nearing him.
"Please! I'm sorry for laughing and calling you small! It's not that small!"
"No you're not!"
"I swear it's true!" she nearly fell over and crashed against a tree, but narrowly avoided it by spinning around on her toes. The action caused the strand of her clothes wrap around a log she ran by, which wore away at the fabric faster. "My village can provide so much more than the jungle! You'd be safe! Have plenty of food and water! Even clothes that are comfy and warm!"
"Forget it! I'm not going there and that's that!" he yelled back, not turning his head lest he get distracted even more.
Shanti huffed, the run getting to her while more and more of her skirt got shorter and shorter.
Mowgli jumped over a large rock, narrowly avoiding the tip hitting his rear. Sadly as he rounded around several trees, he didn't notice some plants with thorny ends in his way until he brushed against them. The scratches they caused when they made contact made him close his eyes and yelp out in pain, more tears springing up as he covered his spot to try and protect his willy.
"Stop running and listen!"
"No! I don't wanna!"
"You're being too stubborn!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
The kids were so busy talking back to one another that they didn't take note of a steep hill coming up. Right when Mowgli took note and began to slow down, Shanti came up too fast and crashed into him. Both went falling down the hill, getting tangled against each other while crying out.
Due to the rolling, Mowgli felt his groin getting hit over and over and over, which made his cries louder compared to Shanti who gripped him tight for protection. This however also lead to the thread on her skirt unraveling even faster with more skin showing.
The two rolled and rolled, slowing down when they reached the bottom before stopping altogether. Both of them groaned as they tried to regain their sense of which way was up and which way was down; their bodies a tangled heap that was a bit…awkward.
Shanti groaned and shook her head before finding her face right in front of Mowgli's willy. The closer distance did nothing to make it seem bigger to her, which just made her start snickering again even though now wasn't the time.
As for the boy, he rubbed his head before noting a nearly bare butt in front of him. One that- save for a loincloth - was exposed and covered by a skirt on the front, with it in clear view of his face. His eyes widened with his cheeks turning red. He could feel his body reacting in a new way; similar to when he'd have to go to the bathroom, but also completely new.
Shanti herself noted how the willy was seemingly twitching before her and watched as it seemed to stand up and slightly grow, but barely. It didn't even seem to grow half its length, which just made her giggle even harder. But as she saw it stand up, her mind went back to a memory of hers. It involved her father explaining to her how a man's body is different from a woman's and what a sign of interest was, which included the penis 'growing'.
"Hey, knock it off." she frowned, giving the appendage a slap which made him jump and hiss in pain.
"Hey don't do that!" he threw back while giving her ass a slap, making her yelp with her face turning red.
Both of them tried to untangle themselves and get away from the other. They stood up with Mowgli covering his willy while Shanti looked down behind her, wide eyed to see her butt was clearly exposed due to part of her skirt coming undone.
'Oh no! When did this happen?!' she tried covering the spot, sending him a glare with the boy doing the same. The urge to go back to the village rose up, making her turn and walk off with a huff while sending Mowgli a message. "It's rude to smack a girl's behind like that! Especially when I just wanted to help you."
Mowgli himself felt some relief seeing her go and retorted back with, "Well I don't need your help!"
Shanti huffed and closed her eyes, but when she reached the steep hill, she looked around and realized something. Due to her chasing Mowgli and their roll down here, she couldn't see anything familiar. No trees or landmarks for reference. Which meant one thing.
She was completely lost.
She looked back at Mowgli who had his back turned to her. She didn't want to ask him for help given he had a close look and even smacked her rear, but if she wanted to find the village safely, she had to ask for directions from the very boy who came from the jungle.
She bit her lip and knew she wouldn't hear the end of this, but sucked it up and made her way back over to him, tapping him on the shoulder to make him turn to her with confusion on his face. "Uh…I…"
"I thought you were leaving?"
"I… may need some… help."
"Oh really now?" he gave a smug look at her, making her blush and force herself to nod her head. "Well I DO know the jungle like the back of my hand, so it would be a breeze for me."
"So…will you help?"
"No problem, just make sure you follow me and don't wander off." he turned away from her and began to walk, which Shanti took as her cue to start following. Her pride might have been wounded, but it would all be worth it when she made it back home. Mowgli himself had a devious smirk on his face.
The two of them trekked through the jungle without a word, Shanti trying to keep pace with Mowgli who was traversing the land without missing a beat while she had to struggle a few times when she nearly fell over. Soon they started to come across ground that was more moist and wet.
"How much longer until we get there?"
"Don't worry, I know where I'm going."
Shanti was unsure, but kept her mouth shut as they moved up a hill before moving down the other side, their feet going through a mud pit that made her grimace. "Must we-"
"Relax, it's just mud, nothing to wo-WAH!" he tripped up, falling down into the mud with a splash and started flailing around. "Help! I'm sinking!"
"Mowgli!" Shanti moved as fast as she could, trying to reach out for his hand, but he sunk faster and faster. "Take my hand!"
"Help!" was his last word before his head and hand were submerged in the mud, making Shanti cover her mouth in silent horror.
"M…M….Mowgli?" she uttered, moving over to the spot and leaned in to try and see if she could at least see air bubbles, but nothing came up. "Oh no, oh no no no no. He's-
"HA!" Mowgli burst up from the mud, arms raised over his head, making Shanti yelp and fall backwards with her butt landing in the mud. The jungle boy looked at her with a face before he burst out laughing and held his stomach. "Got you!"
"W…W….What?!" she looked at him in disbelief before it turned to anger. "You scared me!"
"I know! That was the idea!" he got out through his laughter.
"Ooooh! You are so…so…ugh!" she let out, standing up and trying to wipe the mud off herself before moving to waddle away from him with her cheeks red. As she moved however, she didn't notice a rock coming undone on the side of a hill which began to make the mud on it rolling down towards her.
Mowgli took a moment to catch his breath, before his eyes widened when he spotted the mud coming down faster and gaining speed. Looking between it and Shanti, he began to panic. "Wait! Look out! Mudslide!"
"I'm not falling for it!" she yelled back, trying to keep on marching. Right as she took another step, she noted mud rising up. Turning her head, she cried out as the mudslide came and threw her off balance and began to carry her away. "Ahhh! Help! Help!"
"Hold on!" Mowgli tried running as fast as he could after her with Shanti flailing her hands up, now scared. He moved over to the side for more sturdy ground and ran to the side of her, making much better distance.
"Please help!" she cried out again, feeling her lower half get soaked with mud. She was heading towards a deeper fall, but Mowgli reached out and grabbed her hand before pulling with a grunt.
"I…got…you!" he let out, pulling with all he had. He slowly dragged her onto the land with difficulty, but as soon as she stepped onto it and got out of the mud, they fell down with both panting in relief.
"Thank…Thank you." she got out, standing up as the mud dripped down her legs with her skirt revealed to be gone, exposing a loincloth than just her butt to the world.
"No problem." he replied, keeping his eyes above to avoid looking at her butt, unaware that more than just her butt was on display. "But I did try to warn you."
"Well maybe if you didn't pull that stupid prank I might have listened." she threw back with a huff, which made Mowgli rub the back of his head.
"Yeah…that's fair; sorry about scaring you."
Shanti smiled in appreciation before the two teens heard laughter. Looking left and right, they narrowed it down to the right where a bear standing on his two legs was holding his stomach and leaning against a tree as he laughed his head off. She felt just as weirded out seeing this, just like when seeing the talking panther, but Mowgli looked annoyed.
"Baloo! How long have you been there?"
"O-Oh long enough, long enough." he answered, wiping a tear from his eyes.
"You mean you saw what happened? Why didn't you help?!"
"Well I WAS standing by just in case, but I didn't wanna hog all the glory. I thought maybe you should rescue your lady all on your own." he teased, making the boy's face turn red.
"S-She's not my lady!"
"I am NOT his lady!"
Baloo chuckled, crossing his arms and leaned against the tree before his eyes glanced down. "Then why are the two of you bare?"
"Bare?" Mowgli turned to glance at Shanti without thinking, only to catch sight of her bare legs and her personal loincloth area. His own crotch area was coated in mud, making it so his willy couldn't stand at attention.
"HEY!" Shanti covered the front area, glaring at him.
"Sorry!" he averted his eyes away quickly, with the girl grumbling.
"I just wanna get back to the village…" she huffed. "Instead, we're completely lost."
"Well now, if you're lost, maybe I can help." Baloo smiled.
"That might help." Mowgli quickly agreed.
"As long as SOMEONE doesn't stare."
Mowgli took offense to that, but kept his mouth shut.
With that, the two teens followed the bear who began to lead the way through the jungle. Mowgli walked behind Baloo with Shanti behind him to keep his eyes from staring at her butt.
"So tell me, why would you wanna go back to that 'ol village? I mean, what's it got that makes it so great?" asked Baloo, looking at Shanti.
"Yeah, the jungle has everything you could ask for." Mowgli chimed in.
"It's my home, of course. It's where my friends and family live, and where I grew up; isn't that reason enough?"
"Correct me, but don't you just work and work and work all day there? Who wants to do that? Living in the jungle is where freedom is open for everyone and there's no rules." chuckled the bear, making Shanti glare.
"And you can swing on all the vines you want without worrying about crashing into anyone." Mowgli added with a smile. "It's the best place in the whole world."
"If all we did was play, no work could get done. No work getting done means society would fall apart and our way of life would stop. Chores can get annoying, but it's all worth it in the end."
"Ahahah! Now that's a good one." laughed Baloo. "Society can't be all that great if all you do is make yourself miserable all the time just to make it work."
Shanti glowed at the bear, pursing her lips together with her face turning red as she was getting more and more irritated with this bear.
Taking note of her look, he slowed down and held his claws up. "Easy now, I'm not trying to start nothin', I just mean that it seems a bit complicated and too much work."
"Well how would you expect to live life?"
"Well, I personally think you can get by with the bare necessities." he smiled, a glint popping up in his eyes. "In fact, I got an idea on how to explain it better, care to listen?"
"How?"
"In song." he smiled, turning to her before he began to rock his shoulders up and down.
"Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That bring the bare necessities of life"
Shanti raised an eyebrow as the bear began to dance around the two while spreading his arms out as he kept up a beat that seemed to come out of nowhere. Mowgli joined in on the dancing and beat with the bear. The bouncing though caused the mud around his crotch to fall off and reveal his willy, bouncing about due to the rhythm, making the girl cover her mouth and try to keep from giggling.
"Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few"
Baloo lifted a rock to show ants numerous ants crawling around, licking some up with his tongue which made Shanti grimace while Mowgli tried to lick one from his elbow, which failed.
"Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life"
Baloo pulled a tree and lead to some of the fruit falling down with him opening a banana and popping it in his mouth with Mowgli taking one when it was close enough and peeled it, finding it was empty, somehow before giving the top of the tree a glare with Shanti chuckling. Which only grew when the bananas came falling down on the boy in a pile.
"Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Well, next time beware
"Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw"
The bear tossed a tower of fruit and leaves into his gullet with expert ease using his claws before grabbing some fruits and tossed one to Mowgli who fell backwards when he poked himself out of the pile.
"Have I given you a clue?"
"Golly, thanks Baloo!" Mowgli nodded, really getting into the song with Shanti tapping her foot along.
Shanti grabbed a banana and raised an eyebrow before whistling. Both males turned before she tossed it in the air, all watching as it got snagged on a branch before the peel came off and she caught the bare fruit in her hand.
"Ha ha! Now you're gettin' it." Baloo chuckled with Mowgli amazed.
"Just a little trick I learned from home."
"The bare necessities of life will come to you
(They'll come to me!)
They'll come to you"
Baloo started scratching his back against a cliffside, making him perk up at feeling the rock hit the right spot. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief before sliding down the small steep. Mowgli and Shanti ran down as he went floating into a river with the kids climbing onto his stomach to try and stay dry.
"So just try and relax, yeah, cool it
Fall apart in my backyard
'Cause let me tell you something, little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh-uh
You're working too hard
And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you"
Seeing how the two were having so much fun, Shanti smiled and decided to join in and sing with them. Both of them held onto Baloo as he went down a small waterfall, both of them getting splashed as a result, but singing in sync like they were naturals.
"Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
(Yeah, man!)
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That bring the bare necessities of life
(Yeah!)
With just the bare necessities of life
Yeah, man!"
The three of them floated down the river, laughing as the song finished with Baloo patting Mowgli on the head.
"That's some real swell singing you two."
"Thanks Baloo." smiled Mowgli.
"I have to admit, it was pretty catchy." Shanti chimed in.
What the three didn't notice was numerous monkeys watching them from the tree tops with curiosity as they followed the three.
"And that's why worrying over some little village ain't worth it. With the bare necessities, you'll be fine."
"Well….it would be nice to not work so hard all the time…" Shanti admitted, the idea tempting her a little.
Baloo closed his eyes with a yawn, not seeing as two monkeys slipped down and yanked the two kids up into the branches, covering their mouths to muffle their voices. He noted something on his nose though, making him twitch and feel bothered by it. "Say Mowgli, mind flicking that fly for me?"
What he didn't see was a monkey on his stomach who smirked before whacking his nose with a stick, making him shake his head as the fly flew off.
"Boy, you sure can flick a-HEY!" he let out, seeing the monkey as it jumped to the tree limbs and saw the two kids held by the others. "Why you flat faced nosy eyed creep!"
"Hey! Let go!" Mowgli let out, the monkey holding him letting go and holding him there with one limb while Shanti herself tried swatting at the ones near her.
The monkeys gave each other grins before briefly dropping Mowgli, only to grab him by the ankle and start tossing around each other. The boy let out a startled yelp as he went from one monkey to the next, his willy getting nicked and hit by branches in his path which made him cry out louder.
Shanti herself struggled, before letting out a yelp when she felt a few of them smack her bare bottom, with the one over her reaching down and giving her breast a curious squeeze. "Pigs!" she tried to slap at him, but the angle and distance wasn't enough, making them chuckle.
"Ain't no pigs here, just monkeys in a barrel." snickered one while Baloo glared up at them.
"You put those cubs down right now!" he warned before finding himself pelted by fruits the monkeys chucked at him.
"Relax and have some 'bear necessities'." one called with Baloo trying to put up his paws, only to get knocked back when an extra large fruit nailed him in the snout.
"Unhand me you monkeys!" Shanti demanded with the primates themselves just laughing more as she was tossed around them, each one giving her rear a slap that made her more humiliated.
"Baloo! Help us!" Mowgli called out before the monkeys began to swing away while holding each other in the air, tossing the boy to one another before Shanti herself got the same treatment, but the movement and throwing caused her shirt to get yanked off from one of the primates grabbing the back of it. The tug on the shirt led to her being tossed too high and she found herself flying through the air.
The kinetic force and angle of the girl was heading right for Mowgli; knocking him from the monkey's grip when her rear slammed right into his groin.
His eyes widened, letting out a high pitched yelp before the two fell and hit the ground. Shanti winced while Mowgli grabbed his groin and curled up. "Ow….ow…."
Shanti tried to get back up and rubbed her rear before letting out a yelp when she looked down at her chest that- even with her wrap - made her breasts stick out without a shirt and crossed her arms to try and cover what little modesty she had left. She looked around to see if the shirt had dropped somewhere.
Ordinarily this would be the moment for the two to get away, but Shanti's focus for her shirt distracted her long enough for the monkeys to dangle back down and pick Mowgli back up by his ankles before another one grabbed Shanti by her shoulders and lifted her into the air.
Mowgli winced and sent Shanti a glare as the two were lugged by the monkeys across the branches, the girl herself looking away. "You hit me…down there…."
"Sorry…"
"Why didn't you….run?"
"I…I didn't wanna be seen with my chest out." she defended herself.
Mowgli would have asked what the big deal was, but the pain kept him distracted with Shanti glaring at one of the monkeys that held her shirt with a snicker.
Although she was able to snatch it back while he was distracted, Mowgli just regarded her coldly for giving up their one chance to escape...which made Shanti feel great shame...
The two teens were carried over to an old ruined city where numerous more monkeys were at. All of them doing their own thing before noticing the newcomers and whispering to each other while on a stone throne laid an orangutan casually munching on bananas by popping them entirely in his mouth without needing to take the peels off.
"King Lou! We found the man-cub!" one of the monkeys spoke up, making the primate perk up and raise himself off the throne using his long arms and climb off it as the two kids were let go and fell on their butts. "And he had a girl cub with him too!"
"Well well well, now this is a good day for me." smiled the ape who leaned himself back and stuck his feet out to the two. "Put her there, cousins."
The kids looked at him with suspicion from Shanti, and annoyance from Mowgli.
"Aw, now don't be like that, we're all family here." he reassured them, shaking their hands with his feet before dropping down and moving in between them with his arms over their shoulders to bring them close to him.
"What do you want with us?" asked Mowgli with King Lou reaching his arms over them to scratch the back of his shoulders over each other.
"Word has grabbed my royal ear, about YOU boy." he replied, poking Mowgli's forehead before leading Mowgli over to his throne, balancing on one arm to lift him up and over the boy before taking his seat. He took a look at the two of them closer, noting Mowgli's willy and the fact Shanti was pulling her shirt back on, and tried to pull it down over her loincloth to wrap around her groin... which wasn't as good. The orangutan let out a loud hoot and holler before throwing his head back and laughed.
Mowgli tried covering his area as well, the other monkeys joining in with their king when they followed his eyes.
"Oooh boy oh boy oh boy, cousin! That sure is one tiny banana!" Lou slapped his knee and covered his face while leaning back over the side of his chair, the other monkeys watching the scene all joining in which made the boy look down. "I ain't never seen one that small!"
"S-Shut up!" he let out with a blush and glare, the laughing coming from the king and every other monkey there not giving him much confidence in his words. Each of their laughter made him feel more and more like climbing up a tree and staying there.
Shanti looked at him with concern and tried patting his back with comfort and giving the primates a glare. "Stop that right now!"
Lou kept going, but slowly calmed down and managed to wipe a tear from his face. "Ahhh, that's a good one; I needed me a good chuckle, haha!"
"Just tell us what you want." Shanti huffed, not liking this ape's attitude.
"Well, word around the jungle about the man-cub here, is that he's wantin' to stay in the jungle." replied Lou, catching Mowgli's attention.
"Yeah, I do."
"Well then cous, I'm just the king to make your dreams come true." he answered back while tossing a banana to Mowgli who bit into it while the orangutan moved over using his arms and held one out to him. "We got a deal?"
Before Mowgli could answer, Shanti interjected by moving over.
"Hold on. It's not fair to him if you don't say what you want first." she pointed out, making the king look up before smiling.
"Well I am a king of my word, and it's not something big. Just a little secret." he leaned down to Mowgli and draped an arm around him. "Secret on man's red flower."
"Flower?" he looked confused before Lou patted his head.
"You know, man's fire, don't act like I don't know now."
"But I really don't know h-"
"I do though!" Shanti cut him off, making Lou and Mowgli turn to her as the girl nodded her head. "I can make it without any issue."
"Oh really now?" Lou looked intrigued, pulling his arm from Mowgli.
"Yes, I just need something to use for kindling." she looked around for any wood, but all she saw was bits of the ruined buildings littering the ground. Thinking quickly, she looked down and mentally sighed for what she was going to do. "I…I know a special dance that can make as much fire as you want."
"Well well little gal, don't keep the king waiting, show us your moves." King Lou plopped back on his throne, tossing a banana to Mowgli who gladly took it as Shanti sighed and took off her shirt, trying to ignore the stares she got as she mentally told herself this needed to be done.
She brought the shirt over to a stick and wrapped it around the top before grabbing some rocks and hitting them together, making small sparks come out which intrigued the crowd. When they landed on the fabric, she lightly blew on the flame which grew and grew, lighting the cloth up before she held the stick. Mowgli and the primates were transfixed while she managed a smile. "The fire is born, but it's not yet done. Behold! The…dance of the red flower!"
Lou and the monkeys all hooted and hollered as Shanti held her arms out and began to dance around the area, mindful of where she was and trying to ignore the stare Mowgli had on her with him transfixed on her chest even with the binding over them.
Shanti was light on her feet, twirling her body around as any monkeys near her backed up from the flames, but kept their eyes on the girl and her interesting dancing. Shanti's eyes caught the vines hanging on the side of a wall and lightly ran the fire near the base, just light enough to make a small ember start on them.
Mowgli was transfixed on Shanti, just like at the stream, and her dancing. His eyes caught on how some of the spots she waved the fire near were lighting up, but held himself and kept on watching while Lou clapped his hands over himself in applause.
"Yeeeeah! You swing that flower girl-cub!" He cheered with a few other monkeys joining in with Shanti spinning around the throne and brushed the flame near several vines criss-crossing around a support pillar.
'That's right, keep your eyes on me.' she kept on dancing, speeding up her foot movements to get more and more of the plants around the ruins lit while extending a leg or two out as she did so to make it look good. Giving a few twirls here and there livened the act as she held the fire over her to really get the apes riled up in awe.
Mowgli gulped and felt his throat feel dry for some reason before his nose picked up the smell of smoke. He glanced at the areas she had lit and saw flames growing, with the smell itself making Lou stop his clapping and sniff the air. When he looked around his eyes widened when he realized the plants growing around his city were burning!
"Woah there! Whatchu doin'!?" he cried out as Shanti stopped and looked him dead on.
"I'm giving you the fire you wanted so much!" she yelled out, making the monkeys all start panic and running around in random directions to escape. "Mowgli!"
Said boy jumped to his feet and ran over to Shanti as Lou got off his throne. Before he could give chase however, he heard a sound. He looked near him to see a pillar supported by vines was starting to crack and move.
"No no no no!" he ran over and tried to lift it, but the domino effect started affecting the rest of the city as the flames grew with stones coming undone and falling apart. Soon buildings were coming down with Shanti and Mowgli taking off towards the jungle.
What the two kids didn't know was the fact Bagheera and Baloo stuck their heads out from the jungle on the other side and saw the ruins of the burning city and were blown away.
"My word! What did that king go off and do?" questioned the panther.
"Forget about him, we gotta find Mowgli and his lady friend." spoke Baloo looking left and right. "Mowgli! Mowgli! Where are ya?!" he called out, unaware that his voice couldn't reach the two as they slowed down and went with a slow walk to catch their breath.
"Wow! That was…was…amazing!" Mowgli let out a smile. "You started a big fire and got us out of there at the same time!"
"Well, when you've grown up and learn just how dangerous fire can be if you're not careful, it can be useful depending on the situation." Shanti smiled at the praise. "Just a little quick thinking is all."
"Still, you're great." he smiled at her, his face heating up again with his eyes looking over her body and the exposed skin; which Shanti didn't notice as she looked ahead of them.
"Fire is one of the things I learned to make, and it's one of the great wonders when it comes to man. But what Baloo said might not be entirely wrong. You can be more free on what you want to do without anyone really telling you what to do, but it's not perfect."
"How come?" asked Mowgli in confusion.
"Well, think about it. Sure things can't get any worse if you do all that, but nothing would get better. You'd be stuck doing the same stuff over and over, without any way to improve things."
"I don't get it."
"Well, look at my clothes. If it wasn't for my parents and village knowing how to sew or knit, we'd all be naked and freezing when it gets colder. Then there's the spears and axes we use to cut wood and get food to survive." she listed with Mowgli looking up. "Fruit is good, but that doesn't mean we can eat it only. If we ate nothing but fruit, there wouldn't be enough for the animals."
Mowgli stared up at the branches, letting that all sink in. He never really thought of it like that, and what she pulled off with the fire was something he never would have done on his own. She was really smart, and pretty.
His eyes went down to her butt, face heating up at the reminder on how pretty it looked too. Him staring at it caused his penis to grow hard again, which Shanti saw when she looked over her shoulder at him.
The girl gave a pout at him getting distracted, but at the same time wasn't too upset given the fact he couldn't really help it. She stopped and let him get closer before giving the spot a light swat, making him jump and cover the area with a yelp. "It's rude to stare like that, remember that."
As the two walked, they were being watched by Bagheera and Baloo, said bear looking unhappy with his arms crossed as they kept their distance from the two kids.
"I still don't know about this Bagheera." huffed the bear.
"Baloo, think about it. Mowgli is better off with his own kind in the end."
"I heard ya the first few times. I just don't get why you don't want me to tell him myself. I wouldn't like it frankly, but I figured you'd try and use me to do the dirty work."
"It's not dirty work if it's for his own good. Besides, there really isn't any need for you to do that. Don't you see how much Mowgli is focusing on the girl?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, she might be able to convince him instead since he seems to be willing to listen to her more. We just merely need to keep an eye on them to make sure they're safe and see how things pan out."
"I still don't gotta like it." huffed the bear with his cheeks puffed out like a child.
"So…can you take me back home then?" Shanti asked Mowgli who gave a nod with her looking down. "When we get there, I could help you get something more covering. I don't think you'd want everyone to see your LITTLE friend exposed."
Mowgli blushed, picking up the teasing tone, but didn't try to hide it this time. "Well….alright, I guess."
"And when we get there, I can show you what it's like. We don't need to really talk to anyone, you could just be there and look around." she offered, trying to make it clear she wouldn't force it on him.
"Clothes sound good, but I'm not so sure about the other thing."
Shanti smiled at his answer, relieved to hear him be willing at the very least. She didn't want him to leave her just yet. "While we walk, tell me about what it's like living in the jungle."
"It's great! You can sleep anywhere you want, grab any kind of fruit you want, go for a swim whenever it's nice out, and playing with my brothers and sisters never gets old."
"You have siblings?"
"Yeah, they're wolf pups." he informed, before he suddenly gained a sad look. "Now that I brought it up, my family didn't really tell me about going to the man-village before Bagheera and I left. He said we had to get be out of there before Shere Khan came and found me. They didn't even say goodbye ... .I wonder if they wanted to get rid of me that quick ..."
Shanti's eyes widened in shock and horror. It made sense if they wanted him to have a safer home, but a lack of communication could have helped ease this on him without him being so against it.
"Well…maybe I can help with that." she offered, getting him to look at her confused. "We could help you find a way to keep in touch with them. Whether you stay with my village or not, nobody should have to be away from their family like that."
"You mean it?" he asked, getting a nod from her, which made him smile and feel touched at the offer.
For the two animals hearing this however? Baloo turned to Bagheera with a glare.
"You didn't even let his momma say goodbye?! Not cool Bagheera!"
The panther was caught off guard and opened his mouth to defend himself, but closed it when his mind snapped together when he realized that with how he went about it to try and get Mowgli to safety, he DID overlook how his mother and siblings might feel. Without any real goodbyes or farewells, he really did make Mowgli think he was being abandoned by the very animals he had left to raise him. "I…we.. I…oh…oh dear…"
"What were ya thinking?"
"I…I only meant to get Mowgli somewhere safe before Shere Khan found him. His father knew it had to be done after speaking with the pack elders, but…we didn't stay long enough to let the others know."
Baloo crossed his arms while giving the panther the stink eye.
"I do suppose how it started was foolish of me…" the panther looked down at the ground with shame.
"You're darn right." huffed Baloo.
"And it would only be fair if I try to make it up to him."
"That's putting it mildly."
Back with the kids, Shanti took note of the lack of sunlight and realized the sun was setting.
"Mowgli? It's getting dark out."
"Yeah, we should find a spot to sleep." he let out a yawn while stretching.
"But, we haven't reached the village yet; my family is probably worried to death by now…"
"Don't worry, I'll find us a spot and we can sleep for the night and get back to it first thing in the morning."
"Well…it would be silly if we wandered in the dark and couldn't see." she admitted with Mowgli nodding.
"Follow me." he started to climb up the side of a tree, with Shanti herself having some trouble getting up. She looked on the side and found some holes and climbed up using them as footsteps. The two reached a branch with enough space for both.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Of course, it wouldn't be my first time sleeping in a tree."
'It would be for me.' she thought before letting out a yawn and conceded there wasn't any more time to be picky. She laid down on the branch with Mowgli leaning back against the tree itself as both of them closed their eyes to get comfy.
What the two didn't realize was a scaly visitor moving down the tree and towards them. He licked his lips at recognizing the man-cub, and something similar.
"It must be my lucky day." he remarked, slithering over to the two. He maneuvered his body to wrap up Mowgli first and got up to Shanti before wrapping her up next. He wrapped them both up in a bigger coil with the movement rousing them.
"Huh? What's going…on?" Shanti yawned with Mowgli looking down and noted the scales.
"Oh, you two dozing off, ssso I thought I could help you have a relaxing sleep." smiled Kaa, making the kids turn to him with Mowgli frowning and Shanti going wide eyed.
"S-S-Snake!"
"What do you want now?" Mowgli questioned.
"Why, I heard tell on how you want to stay in the jungle. I'm just here wanting to help is all; is that so wrong?"
"Let go of us!" Shanti let out, freaking out with Kaa shaking his head.
"Oh, no need to get upset. Look into my eyes and you'll understand." he purred, his eyes turning into colorful swirls as the two looked at him. The mesmerizing colors from his eyes made their own eyes slowly match, making them relax as he leaned in closer. "No need to fret, just relax and forget all your troubles~"
The two nodded, slowly smiling as the snake's coils tightened. He moved closer to Shanti, about to open his mouth before feeling a sudden tug on his tail from below. His eyes went back to normal and let out a huff. "Oh, now what?" He lowered his head down below the leaves and looked around with curiosity. "Yes? Hello?"
"It's me, Shere Khan," spoke said tiger coming out from behind the tree, making Kaa's eyes widen, "I'd like a word with you, if you don't mind."
"Shere Khan. What a sssurprise."
"Yes, isn't it? I just dropped by, forgive me if I've interrupted anything."
"Oh no, nothing at all."
"I thought you were entertaining someone up there in your coils." he remarked while bringing out a claw, making Kaa gulp.
"Coils? Someone? Oh, I was just curling up for my siesta."
"But you were singing to someone." he remarked before grabbing the snake by the neck. "Who is it, Kaa?"
"Uh, who? Uh, no. Well I was just singing to myself." he got out with his voice strained.
"Indeed." remarked the tiger with a tone that showed he wasn't buying it.
"Yes, yes, you see, I have trouble with my sssinuses."
"What a pity."
"Oh, you have no idea. It's ss-simply terrible. I can't eat, I can't ss-sleep, so I sing myself to sleep. You know, self-hypnosis. Let me show you how it works. Trust in me." the snake moved towards the tiger's eyes, but his face got covered by a paw with Shere Khan shaking his head.
"I can't be bothered with that. I have no time for that sort of nonsense.' he remarked, shaking his head.
"Some other time, perhaps?" suggested Kaa.
"Perhaps. But at the moment I am searching for a man-cub." revealed Shere Khan before releasing the snake.
"Man-cub? What man-cub?"
"The one who is lost. Now where do you suppose he could be?"
"Search me." Kaa gave a shrug, making Shere Khan smirk.
"That's an excellent idea. I'm sure you wouldn't mind showing me your coils, would you, Kaa?"
"Uh, certainly not." he answered before bringing the end of his tail down. "Nothing here," before opening his mouth, "and nothing in here."
Mowgli let out a snore in the coils above them, making Shere Khan glance up with Kaa quickly making snorting sounds.
"My sssinuses."
"Hmm. Indeed. And now, how about the middle?" asked Shere Khan, making the snake perk up.
"The middle? Oh, the middle." He put down his middle, leaving Mowgli and Shanti in much less coils. "Ha-ha, absolutely nothing in the middle."
"Hmmm. Really? Well, if you do just happen to see the man-cub, you will inform me first. Understand?" the tiger held his claw up under Kaa's chin, dangerously close to stabbing him.
Kaa gulped and nodded. "I get the point. Cross my heart, hope to die." he put the upper part of his body in a loose knot as an example.
"Good show. And now I must continue my search for the helpless little lad." he turned and made his way off, making the snake let out a sigh of relief.
"Ooh, who does he think he's fooling? "Helpless little lad" Ooh, he gives me the shivers. He gave a shiver as his body above the treeline loosened up on the two kids, with Mowgli himself coming to, but not Shanti. "Picking on that poor little helpless boy... oh, yes, poor little helpless boy." his eyes perked up as he licked his lips.
With Mowgli, the boy shook his head and looked down to see the coils and quickly moved to slip out of them, not noticing Shanti was still dazed and smiling due to the trance. He took the hance to push the pile of coils over the branch.
This lead to the weight pulling Kaa back up and causing him to unwrap around the branches he coiled around, but also lead to Shanti getting pulled due to the coils holding onto her. Kaa hit his head several times, with Shanti herself crashing into several branches on the way down. Due to the momentum, a branch stuck out and snagged onto her wrap; leading to it coming right off her and revealing her chest as the snake and girl went crashing to the ground.
Kaa groaned in pain with Shanti snapping out of it and hissing from the fall and fell out of the loosened coils. She rubbed her head and stood up with Mowgli climbing down.
"Shanti! Are you alright?"
"Oooh…what…what ha-AHHH!" she saw her bare chest and covered it, making Mowgli avert his eyes. "What happened?!"
"K-Kaa tried to trick us so he could eat us! I woke up and pushed him off, but…I guess you got pulled too…" he trailed off with realization, making the girl stare at him in shock before glaring harshly in response. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean-"
"You didn't realize I was tied up?! Look at me! I'm practically naked now! I feel like I got trampled by a herd of elephants!"
"I'm serious, I didn't mean anything! I'm sorry!" he tried to apologize, but Shanti's face was turning red from anger and shame.
"I don't wanna hear it!" she pulled her right foot back and swung up, kicking him right in the balls. He jumped and held the spot, mind jarring from the pain as he dropped to the ground and felt his consciousness go black before Shanti turned and ran off with tears running down her cheeks.
Kaa himself saw this after regaining his eyesight and narrowed his eyes. Slithering over to the boy, he maneuvered part of his body around the boy's balls and gave it a harsh squeeze, making the boy groan in pain as he jolted awake and let out a loud cry that reverberated through the jungle.
A little bit away, the sound jolted Baloo and Bagheera awake, their eyes widening as they jumped back to their feet.
"Mowgli!" Baloo let out before he took off towards the boy, Bagheera right behind him.
Kaa spotted them coming and let go before slithering off as fast as possible, ducking back into the foliage and having lost his appetite.
They came across the boy and looked him over for injury. "Mowgli, what's wrong? Are ya hurt?"
"My… ow… willy…" he got out, making the bear and panther wince.
Baloo looked at Bagheera and huffed. "What'd I tell yah? Girls are nothing but trouble..." he covered his own groin as memories from a past experience came to mind. He shook his head in sympathy for the boy.
Bagheera himself sighed at the situation. "The birds and the bees Mowgli, it is somehow BOTH the most beautiful and tragic of tales..." he remarked with sympathy before both of them helped Mowgli get back up on shaking knees. "You should try and take it easy Mowgli, give your body a chance to recover."
"N…No, I gotta…go after Shanti." he spoke, turning and walking off, the animals sharing a look with the other.
"The boy ain't gonna listen ya know."
"I know, I know." Bagheera shook his head before the two of them followed him.
Back with Shanti, the girl had run off without looking where she was going, leading to her ending up in a more dead area with dead trees, not a single bit of grass or leaves on the ground, nor any sign of a watering hole. She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes, taking note of how alone she found herself; which just made the situation worse.
She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes, taking some deep breaths to get it together. But as she took one clear look around, she burst out into tears and cried into her hands. A bit away from her were four vultures who for some reason looked like they would look good in a band.
One of them yawned, who had mostly a bald spot with a few hair strands, while stretching his head and nudging the blond haired one beside him. "Hey, Flaps, what we gonna do?
"I don't know. What you wanna do?" he asked back.
"I got it! Let's flap over to the east side of the jungle! They've always got a bit of action, a bit of a swinging scene, all right." suggested the one with brown hair.
"Ah, come off it! Things are right dead all over."
"You mean you wish they were!" he joked, making the two birds burst out laughing.
"Very funny." remarked the last one with gray hair that covered his eyes in a dry tone.
"Okay, so what we gonna do?" re-asked the nearly bald one.
"I don't know, what you wanna do?" asked Flaps again.
"Look, Flaps, first I say, "what we gonna do?" and then you say, "what you wanna do?", then I say, "what we gonna do?", you say "what you wanna do?", "what you gonna do", "what you wanna" - let's do something!" the vulture let out in irritation.
"Okay. What you wanna do?"
"Oh, blimey, there you go again. The same notes again!"
"I've got it! This time, I've really got it." the brown haired one chimed in.
"So you got it. So what we gonna do?"
"Hold it lads. Look, look what's coming our way." the fourth one chimed in, pointing away with his beak to where the other vultures looked.
"Hey, what in the world is that?"
They were looking at Shanti, dazed and unaware of the birds who tilted their heads.
"What a crazy looking bunch of bones."
"Yeah, and they're all walking about by themselves"
"And got some weird lumps on 'em too."
They looked at Shanti who sat down on a stone with her hands on her lap.
"So what we gonna do?" asked Buzzy again.
"I don't know- and now don't start that again!" spoke Flaps with a groan.
"Come on lads, come on let's have some fun with this little fella, this little flockey?"
All of them flew over to Shanti who didn't flinch at them when they surrounded her.
"Blimey, she's got legs like a storky."
"Like a stork, heh-heh, but she ain't got no feathers."
All of them laughed, making Shanti look up at them with a frown, but didn't bother feeling mad.
"Leave me alone, I wanna be alone." she turn and walked away, making Dizzy look confuse.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I think we overdid it." remarked Flaps.
"We were just having a bit of fun that's all." Dizzy defended their actions.
"Just look at her. What a poor little fella." Buzzy looked at the girl with empathy before looking at the others. "You know, she must be down on his luck."
"Yeah, or she wouldn't be in our neighborhood."
"Hey, new kid, wait a minute, hey!" called Buzzy, flapping over to her as she started walking away.
"Just leave me alone."
"Oh, come on, come on, what's wrong? You know, you look like you haven't got a friend in the world." Buzzy cut her off, making the girl sniffle as she looked away and wiped at her face.
"I thought I did, but now? I don't know. I just wanna go back home."
"Well what are you doing this far out?" asked Dizzy.
"It's…It's a long story. Right now I just wanna be left alone."
"Well ya know, we know what it's like to feel alone." spoke Buzzy with a down look.
"Nobody wants us around, either." Dizzy put in, shaking his head.
"We may look a bit shabby, but we've got hearts."
"And feelings, too."
"And just to prove it to you, we're gonna let you join our little group."
"Kid, we'd like to make you an honorary vulture."
She looked at the smiling birds and was touched by the offer. Wiping her tears away, she looked up in thought. "Well…it's a nice offer…"
"After all, that's what friends do in time of need."
"And as friends, that's what we're for."
"So you could say it's what friends are for."
"Listening, talking, singing, that's what friends are for~" Bucky began to let out with a beat starting up with the birds bunching up, but before they could get started on an elaborate song number, a certain tiger stuck up from some of the dead grass and took a deep breath before interjecting.
"That's what friends are for~" he let out in a deep tone that made all of them jump and turn to him, the vultures going pale as the tiger gave them an amused smile before clapping his paws together. "So sorry if I'm interrupting you."
"N-N-N-No problem." Flaps got out with a gulp.
The tiger moved closer, leaning his head in closer. "Boo."
The vultures all cried out and scrambled to fly away with Shere Khan chuckling as Shanti found herself alone with the feline.
"Run girl! Run!" called Buzzy down to the girl who was frozen in fear.
She gulped as the tiger stared at her with a look that made it clear it wouldn't have worked. "W-W-Who are you?"
"Me? My my, I assumed you would have heard of me by now; given how much you've been seen with the man-cub. I am Shere Khan."
"Y-Y-You're the one after Mowgli." she spoke with a stutter that amused the tiger more.
"Indeed, and while I don't see him anywhere, that doesn't mean you're safe. After all, I couldn't find the man-cub, but you'll do for now." he casually remarked while flexing his claws out to drum them across the ground. "You see, I'm a reasonable animal, which is why I'm going to give you a head start. I'll count to 10 before I chase you and…well you know how this will end."
"Wait! Wait!" she held her hands out. "W-We don't have to do this! We can talk this out and find a better solution!"
"Oh no no no my dear. I'm quite afraid that won't do. You see, I've been looking for the man-cub for a long while all day, and I'm in need of something to sink my claws in, or perhaps teeth; it all depends on how well you do." he chuckled before turning away from her and closed his eyes. "Now then, I'm going to start counting, and I do so hope you choose to run. A good hunt isn't good without a little sport." he gave her a brief glance before closing his eyes. "One, two, three…"
Her eyes widened with her blood running cold at seeing this was inevitable. Without thinking, she turned and took off running the opposite way as fast as possible. "Help! Help! MOWGLI!"
'Ahh, music to my ears.' thought the tiger. "Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Ready or not, here I come." he turned his head and let out a growl before he started chasing after her.
The vultures themselves saw this from behind a tree and shared a look together.
"We can't just watch him tear her to shreds!"
"Yeah! And turning tail and running with our feathers to our back was down right low!"
"Well fellas, looks like we got a chance to fix it. Let's go!"
All of them flew up and swooped down towards the girl. Flaps and Dizzy grabbed her by the shoulders and began to lift off.
"Oh no you don't!" Shere Khan snarled out as he caught up and jumped; his teeth bared out towards the girl before they came down and snagged on the back of her loincloth. He held on tight and caused the vultures to flap harder, making Shanti cry out.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" she let out, the sudden tugging from the tiger caused her loincloth to dig into her private spot. Her legs kicked wildly in the air as the tiger tugged backwards harder, making her cry out louder in pain with the vultures flapping harder not helping in the slightest. "It hurts! It hurts!"
"Don't worry gal! We'll help!" the other two came down to assist, but the extra tugging just made it worse. She was starting to tear up while the clothing began to slowly rip.
"Stop! Stop! STOP!" she got out, right as the fabric ripped off her and caused the sudden force from the birds to lead to her getting yanked too hard and went flying through the air, completely naked and bouncing on the ground. The pain from the tugging was so bad she barely acknowledged her bare form.
Shere Khan shook the fabric from his mouth and smirked at seeing the girl back on the ground and slowly stalked towards her. The sight of which was spotted by Mowgli, Baloo, and Bagheera who had reached the dead area and were horrified.
"We gotta help her!" the bear let out in a panic.
"You're right. Mowgli, stay here, we'll distract Shere Khan."
"Wait!" he let out as the two animals ran out and towards Shere Khan with Baloo managing to tackle him from the side, leading to the two rolling across the ground. The boy looked at Shanti who wasn't moving much, and seeing Shere Khan knock Baloo off before he tried swiping at Bagheera made him utterly lost and flustered on what to do.
"You two can't possibly stop me!" snarled the feline with Bagheera trying to keep a steady distance between them.
"We can certainly try." Bagheera threw back with Mowgli scratching his hair furiously.
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!" He looked around before he saw some rocks at his feet. His mind snapped back to when Shanti had made fire and felt an idea come to him. "That's it!" he crouched down and began to try and hit the rocks together near some of the dry grass, hoping to get a spark going. "Come on, come on, come on."
He hit the rocks together again and again, desperate for just a little bit of a spark. In his haste however, he didn't realize how close his willy and walls were near the dry grass. As soon as he hit a spark, he smiled and watched it slowly grow, before his eyes widened and he let out a high pitched scream when his groin started catching on fire. He jumped up and began running around in a panic, leaving his hiding spot and heading where Shere Khan was without realizing it.
With said tiger, he knocked Bagheera on his side and held his claw up to finish him, but when he heard the scream and looked up his own eyes widened in horror. He saw the man-cub coming his way, with fire! He turned and started running with Mowgli following after him, still screaming at the excruciating pain over his crotch.
Baloo rubbed his head before seeing Mowgli chasing Shere Khan, letting out a cheer as he got back on his feet. "Way to go Mowgli! Show him what for!"
"AHHHHHH!" Mowgli let out what sounded like a war cry, which didn't help Shere Khan as he ran as fast as possible to get far away from the horrible flames.
Shanti herself slowly started to get back up and watched with awe as Mowgli scared Shere Khan away like he was a newborn kitten.
For the tiger himself, he poured on the speed and ran farther and farther ahead to where he ran over the nearest hill and vanished out of sight.
"Way to go little guy!" called Buzzy with the vultures all cheering together as Mowgli himself started to slow down before dropping down, but kept on crying out with Bagheera running over.
"Mowgli! Mowgli!" he skidded to a stop and saw the fire burning harder, making him panic. "Baloo! We need to put the fire out!"
"I'm on it!" the bear ran over with Shanti following as the bear winced. "What do we do?"
"We need to stamp it out before it gets worse!" he looked at the man-cub and flinched. "Apologies for this Mowgli."
Baloo and Bagheera started stamping on the fire with their feet, making Mowgli cry out louder in unimaginable agony with Shanti turning her head away and covering her ears.
"OW! OW OW OW OW OW!"
"Hang in there! We're just about done!" Baloo let out as the fire began to slowly go down. Before long it was out and the two stamped with Mowgli curled up and twitching in pain from the stamping and burning feeling. "Sorry about that Little Britches."
"Ow….I….can't….ow…."
Shanti looked and crouched down beside him, carefully helping him sit up; albeit hard as he hissed at the movement. "Mowgli? Thank you, for coming back to help me."
"No…ow….problem…" he got out, wincing before he felt something soft against his mouth. His eyes shot open and saw Shanti right in front of him before she pulled back with a smile and red face. His own started heating up, but he felt speechless and couldn't utter a word in response.
"Heh heh, way to go Mowgli." Baloo let out with a proud smile which snapped the boy out of it who gave a wide smile in response before flinching.
"We better get back to my village quickly, they have some medicine that can help with those burns." Shanti stood up before carefully helping Mowgli back on his feet, but with difficulty as the boy's mind was a bit out of it.
"Mowgli? I wish to apologize." Bagheera looked guilty as the boy turned to him. "I won't apologize for my actions, but I am sorry for how I went about them. All I wanted was to make sure you were safe and sound. You had a family, and having to leave them without a chance to say your final goodbyes wasn't thought of. Can you ever forgive me?"
The boy gave a slow nod, leaning slightly with Shanti keeping him from falling over. "Yeah…it's alright Bagheera ... .actually, after going through all this, I'm kinda curious to see the man-village more; especially with Shanti."
Both of them shared a blush together, making Baloo have to resist teasing.
"But why do I have to choose between the village and jungle?" he guested, with Shanti interjecting.
"Maybe there's a way where you won't have to. Just because you can live in the village doesn't mean you couldn't still be connected to the jungle and your family or friends."
"I agree. A suitable compromise should be possible given all that we've experienced."
"But first, we need to get you the village." Shanti helped Mowgli drape his arm over her shoulders and began to help him walk forward, albeit with him nearly falling over if Baloo didn't help balance him from behind with Bagheera moving around to walk beside Shanti.
"I must say, you've done quite well in handling this, especially trying to help Mowgli."
"Thank you, it wasn't easy that's for sure, but there's something I need to know."
"What's that?"
"HOW are you and the other animals able to talk?" she asked with a tired expression. "I need to know or else I'll go mad! How is it I've never once seen or experienced another talking animal until now?"
"Well I admit, it must be a lot to take in, but the answer is quite simple. You see my dear, it's-" Bagheera was cut off when they suddenly felt the ground shake, causing them to come to a stop with Baloo groaning.
"Aw what now?"
The shaking got more and more intense before they saw a group of elephants come bursting out from the trees before the one leading them blew his trunk, causing them to come to a stop with the ones following bumped into each other. Colonel Hathi stood tall and cleared his throat before addressing the panther.
"Bagheera, sorry for the sudden intrusion and interruption, but there's an emergency going on at the water hole and it needs your attention."
"I see…" the panther looked down and turned to Shanti. "Shanti, will you be able to help Mowgli on your own?"
"Yes, I can keep him safe while you're gone."
"I'll return as soon as this is taken care of." he turn and followed the elephants with Baloo hesitating, looking at Mowgli.
"Don't get into too much trouble Mowgli, I'll be back."
The boy gave a nod and smile before they watched the bear and panther leave the two alone with Shanti giving a huff of annoyance.
"I was about to get an answer…" she shook her head and began to lead the way with Mowgli still leaning against her. "Come on, we best get going."
"Ok."
The two made their way back through the lush and life filled jungle, with them feeling relaxed given how reassuring it felt, with both of them going over their whole adventures. From barely escaping with their lives, constantly humiliated, to how both learned some insightful stuff from the other that they might not have learned all on their own had they not come across the other. If anything, it made them feel brand new and willing to try new things and see where it might lead them; so long as they had the other one beside them through it all.
As they walked, Shanti took note of a familiar dirt path and her eyes lit up when she saw her village. "Mowgli, Mowgli look! It's my village!"
He looked up with his eyes lighting up at the sight of it, moving his legs a bit faster with Shanti as they headed towards it. When the two entered the opening and took a look around at the huts and various villagers there, they forgot something important.
With all the drama, excitement, horrible pain, and pressing need of medicine for Mowgli's burns? They had overlooked the fact they were both still bare butt naked. Which was something soon taken note of by one villager who gasped followed by numerous others with the villagers turning their heads with the result being…well mixed actually.
"Wow! Is that Shanti?! I never saw her naked!"
"She's already grown so much!"
"Like a fine young woman!"
Said girl blushed when some of the men let out cheers and whistles, where as a few of them were laughing.
"Who's the boy with her?"
"And how can he be so small?! My pet dog is bigger!"
"Maybe he's some undiscovered tailless monkey!"
Mowgli's face turned red from the mocking where as some of the women and men either covered their children's eyes or shook their heads.
"How shameless!"
"I never knew that girl could be so indecent, and with some random boy!"
"I'd be ashamed if my daughter went around naked like that!"
"Cover yourselves! There are children present!"
The two teens looked at each other, feeling mortified as they tried to use their free hands to cover their groins, but sighed and kept walking given how they couldn't cover themselves much more. So they were forced to endure the talk from the villagers as Shanti lead them to the elder's hut.
""Not going to lie...not loving this first impression..." whispered Mowgli.
"Yeah...that's fair..." Shanti agreed with him in resignation...
END
…III...
TO BE CONTINUED?
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