Two Brothers Under the Sun

Chapter – XIX

Won-tolla

Part 2 - The Trial of the Cat

Grassy fields near Pinnacle Rock, Dhole Clan territory, northern Bukuvu

On the far side of the western edge of the plains, a tall pinnacle-shaped rock rising up to the skies stands out where the plain meets the bamboo woodland. Its rugged and jagged edges are unlike anything found this far from the foothills of the Theluji. This robust outcrop was once a disputed prize for the leopard leaps, who would challenge each other for control of the den and the hunting grounds surrounding it. For a predator, to rule this land is to never go hungry.

But that didn't mean the locals would take kindly to the presence of thieves.

A furious Bundo bounded down from the high ground to glare right at Bagheera's face, his clanmates growled at the leopard in question. "I give you food. I grant you passage through my home." He sneered. "And this is how you repay me, by stealing?"

Bagheera stood in front of the group of red dogs, facing his accusers not too far from Pinnacle Rock. "I wouldn't steal from you." The panther swore. "I would never do such a thing."

But Bundo was not in a reasonable mood. "And now you insult me by lying."

The big cat frowned yet remained calm; if a bit on the edge in case of a fight breaking out. "As I said, I don't want any trouble. I was just passing through."

"Well, you got it anyway." As the leader of the clan spoke, the others moved to make a circle around the feline. "You aren't going anywhere."

"I don't think that's up to you, pal."

That statement alone made all break their attention away from the discussion so they could shift it to the group on top of a nearby hill. Baloo was there, Timon and Pumbaa by his side while Tarzan and Simba made sure to keep a few paces between them and the grownups.

"You tell them, Baloo." Timon cheered from Pumbaa's back.

"We're right behind you, Bagheera." Affirmed the warthog.

"What a coincidence, so are we." More dholes appeared, led by none other than the one who had chased Lara yesterday.

"Careful now. We already outfoxed you dholes before," Baloo said as he readied himself for a brawl. "We can do it again."

"Leave the kids out of this, Bundo." Bagheera pleaded, not wanting to risk the cubs should the tensions boil up. "It's me you want."

But before anything else could happen:

"What is going on here? Stop this at once!"

Another voice cut in, once again catching the attention of everyone present. With his trusted tick-bird perched on his head, Colonel Hathi stepped down the fields flanked by two of his elephants and Tantor accompanied them with Terk on his back, the feisty gorilla had found the elephant calf and they had warned the king of the panther's accusation.

"Bagheera, Baloo, Bundo, what's the meaning of this?" The pachyderm came to a halt in front of the group, regarding the three.

"The panther has stolen from our food supply and I want justice." Declared Bundo. The colonel spoke before anyone else could retort.

"Bagheera?" The monarch raised an eyebrow. Preposterous. "What makes you think he did so?"

"My scouts spotted him skulking near Pinnacle Rock after the supply was stolen." The red dog affirmed.

Hathi took a moment to look around at all of those who were present in the area. There was quite a crowd gathered in this section of the plains but only two groups. Kids as well, including his own son. Ultimately, his eyes fell on the dhole and the panther, the former growling ferociously at the latter while the feline matched it with a snarl of his own. Considering the situation, he made up his mind.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." He addressed Ono. "Tell everyone we will gather at the Rock for a trial."

###

"Geez, Baggy's in trouble," Baloo mumbled, not having a good feeling about this.

"What are we gonna do?" Simba asked, uncertain of what they should do.

"Well, that depends..." Timon pondered as he scratched his chin, Pumbaa giving him a ride to the dhole den. The meerkat turned to the boys. "Baggy is innocent, right?"

"Of course he is!" Tarzan quickly came to his teacher's defense. "Bagheera is not a thief!"

"Hang on, little britches." Baloo calmed down the man-cub. "We know Baggy is clean." He then stared at the red dogs moving ahead. "But I don't think they will care much about that."

Pumbaa swallowed back his breath in a fearful gulp before speaking to the ursine. "You don't think they still got any bad feelings from that day, do you?"

"Not yet, but there will be," Baloo said, then he sent a glance towards Bundo marching in front of his clanmates. "And if it's up to top dog over there, it will be ours."

"But then we gotta do something." Terk pointed out.

"Can't the Colonel do anything about this?" Asked Timon.

"Only if we got proof that Baggy didn't do it." Baloo winced when he remembered of an important detail: "Which we don't have."

"So we'll have to fight them?" Tarzan's question sounded anxious. That would be his first battle, and against Lala's family of all people.

Pausing momentarily to consider their options, an idea came to Baloo's head. "Maybe we won't have to. If we get enough people on our side, maybe we could convince the Colonel and get the dholes to back down."

The others, the kids specially, perked at that.

"Here, that's what we're gonna do..." The bear gathered the others into a circle and they mumbled their plan in secrecy. Once that was over, they separated.

"Have I given you a clue?" Baloo asked the others to confirm.

They all gave determined nods. "Sure thing, Baloo!"

"So what are you waiting for, animals? Let's go!" With that, everyone, minus Baloo, took off in a rush back to the waterfall.

###

Bundo puffed his nostrils, blowing out the smell and inhaling the air of his den as the others assembled for the trial. "I can still smell that bear's stench all the way back there." He grumbled. "I hate to have that fool this close to the Rock."

Lala was sitting down on a rocky platform on his side. "Father, are sure this will work?"

"We have enough witnesses to convince the Colonel. And when we call for justice, he won't be able to just ignore us." Bundo moved over to the ledge, taking in the view of the lush grasslands and the various pasturing herds, his particularly focused on the eastern zone and a smile of anticipation coming to his face. "Just imagine, soon this will all be ours." Saliva started leaking through his grin. "If we are lucky, I might even get them to hand us the man-cub too."

"He is just a naked monkey." Lala voiced the thoughts she had kept in her mind for a while now. The female meet her father's stare after he shifted to look at her. "He doesn't even have a fang anymore." She made sure to remind him of that detail. "What problem could he be for us?"

"It doesn't matter how small he is now, it won't be long till we have a grown man mucking near our hunting grounds," Bundo replied, when his eyes caught the elephants and the others approaching, he moved again so he could look straight into her eyes. "And I didn't become the leader of this clan by licking the feet of our competition." He leaped to the higher ledges and turned to address the rest of the clan.

"Yeah, I remember that," Lala grumbled under her breath so as to not let him hear it.

"Listen up!"

The clan perked in Bundo's direction, giving him the signal to continue. "We are the top predators on this side of the river, it's our right to hunt anywhere we want on these fields. No one will take that away from us, not the panther, nor the orangutan, nor his man-cub." At the sound of their acclamation, he walked around the ledge, peering around the rock face. "I'll deal with the man-cub later, but right now it's time to show this jungle where we truly stand on the Food Chain."

His speech announced the beginning of the trial.

Ono and the other tick birds spread the message. They had called all the interested parties; Basi's pod, several herds of antelope and zebra, there were also giraffes and ostriches who had left the Pride Lands to spend the Dry Season in the jungle, along with small critters from the forest intermixed amongst the masses. This crowd had converged in a crescent formation, curved inward towards Pinnacle Rock. There was a lot at stake: should Bagheera be deemed guilty, the red dogs would have the right to sentence him for his crimes and claim his territories, expanding their domains all the way to Hakuna Matata Falls. Bagheera stood across the dhole clan at the opposite end of the crescent, as far away as possible. Colonel Hathi had positioned himself and his elephants in the center; Tantor never left his side.

"Silence! Silence! Silence!" Pronounced the King of the Jungle. "I hereby declare this court is now in session!"

With that, Ono flew to the middle of the empty space between the court and the Rock. "Huh… your majesty… members of the jury… loyal subjects…" He blustered for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing. "The defendant, Bagheera the panther is charged with stealing from the dhole's food supply after being granted permission to cross into their territory."

Hathi nodded at the egret then called out: "May the accuser please step one pace forward and speak up?"

Bundo was all too happy to oblige. "My hunters and I were hunting near the outskirts of our territory when we caught the panther sneaking by our borders. He used the Stranger's Hunting Call so we granted him passage into our lands..." A mischievous smirk appeared on his face once he looked at Bagheera. "But when we came home, our supply had been ransacked; fortunately, we caught up to him before he could escape."

"I didn't do it." Bagheera didn't buckle.

But neither did Bundo. "That's what you say. But my watchers can testify to your presence in the area," The dhole addressed the colonel. "I call for my right to decide his punishment."

"Let's not be hasty." said the pachyderm before he shifted his attention to Bagheera. "Can the accused produce a witness?"

The panther lowered his gaze, knowing there was nothing to do but admit: "I can't"

"What do you expect from a Won-tolla?" Bundo jibed, earning a light scowl from the feline. The red dog turned back to the colonel. "Allow me to deal with him the way we do back in the highlands."

For a fraction of a second, one could have caught the colonel fumbling in his composure when his lip twisted, there was no mystery in what the canine entailed. Fortunately, someone spoke up.

"This is an outrage!"

Did I say 'fortunately?'

Baloo barged his way into the semi-circle, immediately becoming the center of attention.

"A travesty!" He continued on. "A plooky plock!"

"A plooky plock?" Hathi repeated in confusion. From his spot, Bagheera slapped his forehead.

"I made that last one up." The bear admitted, maintaining his tone even as he halted in front of the pachyderm. "Rule of Threes, your majesty."

Muttering under his breath, Ono corrected the ursine: "The correct term is 'Rule of Three'."

Bundo's scowl came back but it was now aimed at the bear. "Mind your own business, Baloo."

"I am making this my business, pal." declared an undeterred Baloo. "And I say Baggy is innocent."

"Lies, my clanmates saw him near our home after stealing our supply." Bundo barked.

"And I'm saying that's not what happened," Baloo replied.

Bundo and his clanmates behind him were now gritting their teeth. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"I'm saying Baggy ain't that type of animal." The sloth bear affirmed. "He is not a bit stingy when it comes to his job. He always gets his food the only way a good denizen gets anything. The honest way."

"And what is the honest way?" The dhole leader asked as if daring the ursine to elaborate.

The bear in question laughed at him. "Ha-ha! I thought you wouldn't know!"

A good chunk of the court also burst into laughter all at once, overlapping and interrupting the furious bristling of the dholes (whose faces never looked so red as they were now), engulfing the area around the Rock in a chaotic, noisy racket.

"Order, order!" The Jungle King commanded yet the cacophony continued.

But you already know how this ends, don't you?

"SILENCE!"

'STOMP'

Everything stopped abruptly.

"That is enough of that. This tribunal will not tolerate further interruptions or outbursts." No one dared to respond to the colonel's declaration with anything other than a nod.

"Still, His words are empty." Bundo pointed out, his anger suppressed. "He wasn't here when it happened, what good is his opinion?"

"Now, hold on a moment," Basi walked to the front to speak. "I don't believe that Bagheera would do such a thing either."

"Be that as it may, for a predator to steal from another is a serious crime, you all know that." Hathi reminded the hippo leader as well as those in attendance. "Fortunes of war and all that sort of thing, you know. We can't endorse this type of conduct in the jungle."

"That's right, and Bagheera knows about the Law against stealing food; he wouldn't dare to go against it." Argumented the hippopotamus in favor of the panther.

"Maybe he thought he wouldn't be caught if he gobbled up the supply before we came back!" a voice raised from within the dholes' ranks.

"I told you already, I didn't do it." Bagheera insisted once more, but that was truly his best defense. Noticing that, Bundo decided to press his advantage:

"By the way, where was the man-cub during all of this?" The dhole leader asked.

"He was with me," Baloo answered nonchalantly before waving his hand. "He will be here soon enough."

Bundo smirked, Bagheera and Baloo didn't like this. "So you say." He glanced at the court. "But maybe he had something to do with this."

The pair's bad feelings sank further when they heard another one of the dogs raise his voice. "It's true. I saw them walking by the Rock."

"What?" Exclaimed an indignant Baloo.

Bagheera's expression turned vivid. "Why, you big fraud!"

But a familiar voice rose louder. "This is absurd!"

The court watched as Timon appeared from within the narrow spaces in between the feet of the crowd members, marching his way to stand alongside the bear and the panther with Pumbaa close behind.

"I demand a mistrial, your honor!" appealed the meerkat to the elephant. "This is a mockery of a farce of sham of justice!"

Calls of 'lies,' 'set-up,' and several kinds of insults rocked across the court, with seemingly everyone present trying to make themselves be heard. The commotion grew so intense, that a late group was almost blocked when they tried to make their way through the crowd.

Little did they know, the colonel had already made his decision.

"ENOUGH!"

'STOMP'

Silence filled the area once more.

Still with his anger boiling, the dhole leader took the chance to raise his point. "He is a man. A man!" He sneered at the group gathered around the man-cub. "Have got bugs for brains?! You should get rid of him while you have the chance, he is a menace to peace-loving dogs everywhere!"

Timon just looked at Bundo as if the latter had suddenly grown a second head. "Peace-loving dogs?"

"That... doesn't sound right." Even Pumbaa could tell.

"Maybe the heat is getting to his head." That was the meerkat's best theory.

"Well, Colonel." Basi was the first one to ignore the group scruffling in the clearing and regarded his liege. "I think we should thank Bundo here for opening our eyes."

Most animals around the Rock looked surprised at the hippo's statement, but none more so than Baloo and Bagheera. Tantor looked up to his father in disbelief. The canine in question looked like he couldn't contain his smirk anymore.

"Oh, most certainly." Nodding his head, Hathi turned away from the viceroy to address the court. "So I guess there is no need for this trial anymore."

"What?!" Tarzan, Simba, and Terk stepped out into the clearing, joining Pumbaa and Timon. The man-cub looked distraught at the two pachyderms. "But you won't even let us talk?"

"There is no more need for that either, Tarzan." The king moved to speak to Bagheera... and gave out a happy smile. "You are all free."

"What?!" Bundo, his smirk vanishing, yelled as Bagheera's students and Tantor perked up. "Didn't you hear us, they are the culprits!"

"Nice try, Bundo." Basi walked to him. "But, you see, your story can't possibly be true."

"You said that you saw Tarzan with Bagheera walking around here when the supply was stolen?" Questioned Colonel Hathi.

"That's what I saw."

"Ha, OBJECTION!" Timon's outburst surprised those near him, they could even swear they heard the earth shake and a strange red image overshadowing the meerkat, who was currently striking a pose with his left hand extended out. "Bagheera never brings Tarzan on his hunts."

"Yeah, why would he even?" Pumbaa shook his head under his friend. "Tarzan doesn't eat meat."

"We would know," Baloo walked over to stand together with the group and gave the boy a head pat, making the latter smile. "The boy is a natural insectivore, we taught him ourselves."

"What are you talking about?" Bundo balked. "Men hunt for food, we have seen it."

"But have you seen how they eat it?" Bukuvu's very own (self-proclaimed) 'man specialist', King Louie joined the conversation from his vantage point on a rocky ridge high enough for all to see him. "They prepare it using the Red Flower, that's why their meat has burnt marks."

"That's ridiculous!" Cried out the dhole leader. "No one can eat stuff that's been touched by fire."

"That's right... if we're talking about wildfire, that is." Louie explained: "But men know how to control it, that's how they can use the flames without hurting themselves."

"It's been many seasons since man was vanquished from Bukuvu but some stories about them prevail, such as their strange habit of singeing their food in the Red Flower before eating it." Basi backed up the orangutan before he sent a knowing smile at the red dog, making him flinch in advance. "Looks like our friend here is misinformed."

"King Louie speaks the truth." Bundo shrunk, even more, when he noticed the shadow of a frowning elephant bearing down on him. Behind him, his clan wasn't faring much better. "In other words, you are lying. This whole trial is a farce."

"But they stole our food supply." His tone made his words come out as a whine.

"Perhaps someone did, but not them."

"But the orangutan wasn't here!" He refused to admit defeat. "He could have put them up to this!"

"Nonsense, why would he do that?" Hathi raised an eyebrow. "Bagheera doesn't even work for him."

Bundo stiffened again. "W-what?!" He blinked owlishly after hearing the pachyderm's words. "You mean he doesn't even have a liege?!" To lie out of a pack was one thing but to have no liege whatsoever...

"Wrong again, little fellow."

Well, so much for no more interruptions.

Two figures emerged from the crowd and made their way inside the circle. Tarzan's smile brightened when he saw it was Sokwe and Kala, they had finally managed to get through the throng of onlookers.

Once the pair of gorillas walked up until they were right in front of the elephant, they bowed their heads at him in a show of respect and Sokwe spoke:

"Sorry, we are late, great colonel." He and Kala raised their heads to meet the pachyderm's gaze. "We were about to settle down for dinner when we heard of the trial."

"Oh, it's no problem at all." Hathi insisted with a headshake, glad they were here, though a part of him wasn't expecting them to come. "Although I admit I am surprised to see you so far from your land."

"Bagheera's been helping my troop for many Seasons since he made his oath to us." The Donlumangani King replied, smiling in the panther's way. "It's only natural for us to show our support."

Bagheera smiled in thanks towards Sokwe, feeling quite flattered by his words. Meanwhile, Tarzan came to his mother, who greeted him by tenderly tousling his crusty hair and with an affectionate smile. Bundo was blown away both by the huge size of the apes and the realization that the orangutan actually wasn't the man-cub's guardian.

"That's right." Kala agreed, sending a grateful nod of her own to the feline before she addressed the King of the Jungle. "But it seems you've already solved this."

"Not quite, we still don't know who stole from the dholes," 'or if there was even a robbery in the first place', Hathi grumbled the last bit inwardly and turned back to Bundo. "Do you have any other theories to share?"

The red dog was now in complete silence, a total contrast to how he had been acting since the start of the trial.

"That is easy, it was the Dreaded."

Baloo's sudden assertion came out plain and simple, nothing in his tone seemed to carry any weight. No noticeable emotions or inflections to speak of.

Yet, the name he mentioned alone was enough to cause a collective shiver through the crowd, making the critters and the herd animals tremble in place while the others visibly tensed even if they could still control their nerves. Some, like Tarzan and Simba, looked confused at their reactions.

"The Dreaded?" The colonel blinked, his body language was one of the few in the Rock's vicinity not carrying a twinge of fear, just a hardened frown.

"That's right," The sloth bear approached the elephant's spot so he would be in full view of the gathering before he continued. "He always shows up in times like this, when the peace in the jungle is disturbed. You better believe it. It even happened to some... acquaintances of mine."

"Really?" Hathi quirked an eyebrow, wondering where the ursine was going with this; he was not within miles of there and the pachyderm would know if that wasn't the case, the animals around them knew that too, unless their mutterings he could hear all around the area were merely deceit from his ears. Bagheera, who still hadn't moved from his spot, listened on in curiosity.

"Eeyup, and just so you know, it's not a happy story," Baloo said as he spared a glance at Simba and Tarzan, then looked up to the latter's mother; once he received a nod from her (and a slightly upset one at that), he started his story. "Once upon a time, there was a pack of predators who ruled a great Kingdom right here in this very jungle."

A knowing look crossed several of the faces in the crowd as all the animals present listened quietly to the bear's tale. Kala kept her son and the lion cub close to her, both of them looked interested as well.

"Along came the Dry Season and they couldn't find enough food, so they decided to keep a reserve supply." Finally, Baloo exhaled and peered across his audience. "But when they decided to use it, they found that all their grub was gone and they thought that one of them had stolen it. It was all a trick of the Dreaded." His voice and face stayed the same but one could have noticed the emotion building inside him. "And that was when he decided to play a more dangerous game. He whispered lies to the predators and made them all fight with each other." Then he slumped. "Just like that, their whole kingdom fell to the Dreaded."

Bagheera hid his shock well, though it was a close call. Yes, he actually remembered that story quite well. A cautionary tale of pain and death, shared all across the Bukuvu, standing in sharp contrast to the Great Troop's story of loyalty and union: In a forest that was once dominated by incessant war, the aging Bear King, who had conquered all of his rivals, attempted to pass leadership to his three sons. However, greed, jealousy, lust for power, and opportunism, confounded by the timely arrival of a new player, caused the kingdom to fall into war, chaos, and ruin.

The two eldest sons, always tense and terse with one another from what Bagheera had heard, took each other's life on the battlefield. Thus, their mellow, good-natured, and hard-drinking brother, Baloo, the thirteenth of his line, became the last bear of what once was the powerful Kingdom of Sleuth Forest.

The panther also had to admit it: he sometimes found it easy to forget the kind of ordeals the jovial ursine had gone through... some of which he could relate.

"An ugly tale," Basi responded solemnly after staring at Baloo for several long moments.

"Yes, but it is instructive." The Colonel nodded despite shaking his head. He heard Tantor blowing his trunk behind him. Contemplating the tale's cautionary message for some time, Hathi eventually went back to address the dholes. "Shere Khan is not in the jungle, so it must have been his brother." Bundo's expression turned baffled, likely he had expected the elephant to throw him out of the jungle at this point. "Still, Berdan is too well-known in the jungle to do something like that without us getting any wind of it." Hathi regarded his herd mates. "We must be on the lookout for a sneak attack then." He approached his tick bird, who had moved to a rocky ledge, in order to relay his battle plan. "Ono, our strategy shall be the element of surprise." He got closer to whisper directly into his ear. "You will contact the nearest squad and send them to guard the riverbank."

"Yes, sir." Nodded the sub-commander. Neither he nor the colonel realized some of the animals in the crowd were raising their ears as well to eavesdrop on them.

"And I shall meet the other squad near the hay piles." Ono gave another nod. Letting curiosity get the better of them, Baloo, Timon, and Pumbaa leaned forward to listen in as well, Tarzan and Simba were about to join them but Kala kept them from doing so.

"Very well."

You can guess why:

"COURT ADJOURNED!"

The eavesdroppers' heads rang from the Colonel's blaring yell (so did the cubs', for that matter).

Evening fell over the jungle, and the court dispersed to the four winds. Colonel Hathi was the first to leave the area, bringing along his elephants to patrol the plains while Ono went to call the reinforcements accompanied by Tantor, the calf only had time to wave his friends goodbye. Bundo finally snapped out of his stupor and assembled a group to move to the riverbank ahead of the pachyderm, without sparing an apology to Bagheera, to the surprise of few. As the groups retreated from Pinnacle Rock, Bagheera and Baloo stalked across the plains, with Timon and Pumbaa trailing behind them.

"So, How do you feel, Baggy?" Baloo asked the leopard.

"I am fine." Bagheera locked his jaw momentarily as he faced the ursine until he finally could speak what was on his mind. "Um, look, l, uh... what you did... thanks."

"Aw, that's just how we do in my Commune." Baloo said it in such a nonchalant manner as if looking out for others was simply animal nature: "When a member of my gang has a problem, then I have a problem."

Nonetheless, Bagheera smiled after hearing that.

He heard Timon's chortling after the bear quickened his pace toward Sokwe, Kala, and the cubs waving at them overhead. "Look at that big pushover."

Turning over, Bagheera saw the meerkat-warthog duo making their way to him, stopping right to his side as they watched the sloth bear mingle around with the kids.

"You know, Baggy," Pumbaa started. "We never had a friend who would stand up for us."

"Yeah, Baloo's... he's a good guy." Bagheera agreed.

"Yeah, he is." Timon stretched his arms and breathed longly in relief. "Well, I for one am glad that's over. Now back to our problem-free paradise."

"No, Timon." The feline's expression dropped abruptly. "I'm afraid the danger isn't over yet."

The mongoose stiffened in place and let out a silent moan full of chagrin, clearly not wanting to have heard that. Just a few paces away, Sokwe had come to the same conclusion.

"They hunted close to Bagheera's territory and were clearly more interested in punishing him and you than they were in finding the truth." The great ape said to Tarzan in the small circle the group had formed. "If they succeeded, they could go and take over the lowlands. Including the waterfall."

Baloo mouthed under his breath. "Our hideout."

"What can we do now?" The man-cub asked in concern.

"Without proof, there's no way we can take this up to the Thickskins." Bagheera joined the conversation, Timon and Pumbaa right on his tail. "Right now, the best we can do is wait."

"Wait?!" Balked the meerkat. "What, do we have to stand back until they eat one of us?"

Simba, worried, also came forth. "Can't we just explain to him that Tarzan would never threaten them?"

"No, I don't think so." Said Bagheera, his head shaking. "Bundo has shown himself. To him, there's no place in the jungle for men. He is no different from Shere Khan."

"I am not a man, I am an ape! This is my home!" Tarzan declared out loud, to which grownups nodded.

"Yes, of course you are." Kala asserted from beside her son before she shifted her head to look back in the direction of Pinnacle Rock, her brows furrowing. "But this dog, Bundo has proved that he won't accept you here."

"I know Bundo's type, once he has chosen you as his prey, you will never be safe until he is utterly defeated," Bagheera told his first student. "Remember what I taught you: the patient hunter will catch the prey. Bundo won't try anything as long as the Colonel is still around, especially now that he knows about their deceit. He will bind his time. That means we have the chance to make ready for the battle."

"Wait...what? Battle?" Terk tilted her head. "Where did that come from?"

Sokwe blinked in confusion. "Didn't we mention the battle earlier?"

"No...?" Pumbaa answered slowly.

"Our great defense against the big assault of the dholes for control of the northern plains?" The King tried once more.

The warthog and the she-ape shook their heads.

"Oh, well... yup." He stared down at them. "There is gonna be a big battle... are you in?"

Timon's eyes rolled and he grumbled at the ground. "Well, great... here we go again."

###

Some days earlier

Forests near the southern bank, Khanate territory, midsouth Bukuvu

The dholes stalked the buffalo, ready to strike but with caution. They had chased and harassed the giant out of the fields and forced him to run into the river in an attempt to escape, only for the dogs to persist after him all the way to the opposite bank. Having grown tired of being chased, the bovine decided to take them on.

The buffalo glared at the red dogs, his thick brow twisted into a deep scowl under his long curved horns, which he aimed straight at Bundo. Just then, the bull let out a big "Moo!"; his voice was as deep as the rumbling earth and his battle grunt boomed like thunder; lowered his head, and charged, causing the ground to tremble. The red dogs twisted left and right, trying to get away. But the bovine began snorting and threateningly rammed horns at them. Bundo watched as the buffalo got close to goring one of his hunters. One actually got horned right into the top of a tree while another hunter was horned in the snout. Three dholes pounced from the tall yellow grass and managed to bite the steer on the haunches, making him moan in pain. The giant jerked and jumped till he got them off of him. By a thread, the trio managed to avoid getting a solid kick to the face.

The buffalo did a curve and closed in again. It was either be gored or be trampled. The bovine swung at them, scattering the red dogs to the four winds; who were clearly having second thoughts about hunting down such a fearsome creature. Bundo readied himself when the bull charged his way and he quickly got out of the giant's path. But he stumbled and the great buffalo managed to bruise him when he tried to attack his backside.

Bundo growled at the bull in front of him and swallowed back a few curses. Taking down this 'buffalo' was turning out to be more difficult than he had thought yet he prepared to face the bovine one more time. He had gone for broke when he decided to chase it across the river and there was no turning back now. Even if he wouldn't get to kill the man-cub today, killing this bull would show all where he truly stood in the jungle's Food Chain; a great hunter, as great as the tigers or those cursed crocodiles.

Their gazes met, staring off across the field at each other. An understanding was made. One last time, sudden death. One of them wouldn't walk out of there alive.

It would be either the dhole or the buffalo.

Bundo pounced while the steer charged, the former trusting on his high endurance and the latter's fatigue to sneak up past the horns to deliver a lethal blow.

But the buffalo was a lot more maneuverable than the hunter had anticipated.

The Clan Leader suddenly found himself falling to the ground and rolling a few feet, his mind fought the pain as it tried to process what had just happened. He buckled, trying to stand up, raising his head to see the buffalo approaching, horns baring towards him.

It looked like this would be it for the dhole.

Then, unexpectedly, a giant orange cat leaped out of the forest and landed with his claws latching on the back of the steer. The buffalo jolted furiously yet, no matter how much he fought, he couldn't get the tiger off him. The feline, meanwhile, was getting nearer and nearer to the bovine's jugulars, his claws raising to its scalp. Then he caught it, the bull stiffened in pain when the fingernails pierced his skin and that gave the tiger enough time to deliver the finishing blow. With just one well-placed bite between the vertebrae, he put the master's life to an end. Its lifeless body faceplanting on the ground. Turning away from his latest kill, the massive feline shifted his attention to Bundo, his shadow looming over the small canine, making the latter stumble backward.

"Cattle Butcher." The dhole's voice came in the form of a whisper, well aware he was face-to-face with one of the most powerful beasts in the jungle.

The tiger smiled after hearing his brother's title. "Glad to know even the newcomers know of our Khan's reputation." He got off the now-dead bull and moved to the dog's side. "The name's Berdan, I am Shere Khan's brother. He is not here right now but I am."

Bundo's demeanor eased slightly but he kept his guard up, still unsettled by the sheer size of the tiger.

"So you are in charge of this... Pride of Tigers?" The dog hesitated with his words.

"Streak."

"Excuse me?"

"We prefer the term 'Streak'." Berdan leaped to an elevated three stump, overlooking the red dogs' hunting party as they slowly started to come out, sparing uneasy glances at the biggest cat they had ever laid their eyes on. "Since my brother is not around right now, I welcome you in his absence, Bundo. Take this as a little present from my Khanate." He gestured to the fat, newly killed buffalo. "As the Mjuzi say: we are all brothers in the Great Circle."

Bundo watched his clanmates scuttle over to the corpse, letting them delight themselves in what had been, technically, a hard-earned meal. But before he could go and join them, he needed to make things clear with the smirking feline.

"Forget it, pal." He didn't beat around the bush, not after the ordeal he had just gone through, and he could already guess what the tiger intended with all this flattery. "I already have enough problems with the crocodiles. I am not gonna pick a fight with the pachyderms just so I can lick the leftovers from your claws."

"Don't get your fur into a twist pal," Remarked the tiger, the sides of his mouth pulling ever so slightly. "I'm only here for a chat."

"And what's there for us to talk about?"

"The Man-Cub."

Bundo's expression morphed into the form of a sneer. "What about him?"

"I heard you don't like him." Bundo rolled his eyes away but Berdan saw the glint of anger in them. "Seems you and I have something in common, then. He's not a creature of the jungle, his kind goes against the Great Circle so we banished them years ago and Bagheera has no business teaching him our ways." One by one, the other dholes perked and shifted their attention to him. "I heard he's been visiting that fat old fool, Baloo, huh? So, why don't you set a trap for the man-cub in the meadow?"

"He's right, boss." Bundo turned to one of his hunters. "How come we're not munching the runt and that pet of a panther of his?"

"Yes, with them out of the way, we could be running this joint." The dogs in the back raised their voices as well.

"Enough. Enough. Enough!" Bundo barked to get them back in line. Then, he looked back at the tiger. "That's impossible. With the elephants patrolling the Eastern Plain, we will be banished the moment they find out we broke the Law."

That was meant to dissuade the tiger, yet... his smirk just widened.

"Who said anything about breaking the Law?"

The dholes, Bundo included, stared in confusion. "Huh?"

"Have you heard of our story?" Berdan leaned forward as he looked down at the canines in front of him. "Would you like to know how we conquered this jungle despite our kind not hailing from these woods? You know, conquering without breaking the Law?"

Bundo bit back a scowl. He understood Berdan's offer loud and clear; he was going to assist him and the clan against his panther and his man-cub in an effort to weaken his enemies. Should they fail, the tigers would have nothing to lose and his dogs would get the worst of it, and should they win, the Khanate will hold it over their heads for the rest of their lives.

They would still be beholden to cats, though. But not as much.

And it would be a chance to get rid of the panther, the man-cub, and those damned crocodiles. All the while expanding the clan's power base.

Bundo nodded, a sardonic smile gradually creeping to his face. "I think I would like to hear a good story."

###

Present time

Forests near the southern bank, Khanate territory, midsouth Bukuvu

Bundo wasn't smiling anymore.

"I just heard from the vultures," Berdan said as he meet the dhole and a few of his underlings beneath the dense cover of the trees. "So, the dig is up?"

"Yes, your great plan to ruin the panther's reputation was a complete disaster." The red dog chided.

To that, Berdan deepened his own frown. "What fault do I have if your knowledge of men is so bad that you didn't even know they don't eat raw meat?"

The canines growled collectively at the tiger, who responded in kind. Seeing this, Hista elongated his body from the high branches to move in between both sides. "Let'sss not be ssso ill-mannered." He eyed the dhole leader. "It was an oversssight from our part to think you knew about men asss much as we do, even though you weren't here when they were ssstill around."

Bundo mumbled with a snarl. "It's not like we would stick by to see what they did with the bodies of their kills."

"A reasssonable explanation." Hista nodded and faced his regent. "Don't you think, young massster?"

Berdan grumbled, not too angry but not too mild either.

"Now, there isss no need to get your fur in a bunch, Mr. Bundo." The python's coils touched the ground and then he went to reassure the clan leader. "All we need isss a new plan."

"We do what we should have done in the first place." All eyes on him, Berdan carried on: "We scratch them out."

"Seriously? The Colonel is involved!" Bundo growled loudly. "I am not gonna get kicked out of my turf again."

"Pull yourself together." The regent waved off the concerns. "There won't be any trouble once the elephants leave for their migration, then we go have ourselves a little picnic at Bagheera's territory."

"What do we do?" Bundo quirked his eyes in curiosity.

"Just follow my lead." The big cat simply said, doing his best impersonation of his brother's bone-chilling tone as he gazed in the river's direction. "On the day after the Colonel moves out, the man-cub gets scratched by daylight."

A/N: That is it, folks. Join the household next time as we make ready for the battle in the next chapter of Two Brothers Under the Sun.

A/N: To all my French-speaking readers, I would appreciate it if you could translate the cutscenes from the Jungle Cubs VHS and send them to my Inbox (they are all right there on YouTube).