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writingforfun0714 · 1 year ago

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Hello everyone, sorry I have been inactive for about a month or so.

I’ve also been hard at work on my very first request for @depressed-sasuke

I wanna thank you for being so patient with me. Like I said earlier, I ended up doing a rewrite and took some stuff out cuz it had started to trail on a bit too long. I also noticed quite a few typos doing a quick reread so if there’s any others I missed, I’m sorry—I really just wanted to post this today. I hope you like it🥰

Maisy

Request from @depressed-sasuke : Jungle Book (2016) OC character

About the character

—Name: Santi

—16 M

I also added a few other OCs just to fill out some human characters.

Warnings: Spoilers for Jungle Book 2016, 3rd POV, OC character/s, long fic

10,433 word count

A Chance Encounter

3rd POV

It’s a warm day in the Seeonee jungle. The breeze is light and there’s not a cloud in the sky. Shere Khan, the law-breaking tiger, has been gone for 6 years, ever since his fight with the mancub, Mowgli. The boy himself saw the tiger fall into the Red Flower. Despite stealing the forbidden Red Flower and nearly burning down the jungle, Mowgli had shown great courage and strength in choosing to side with his wolf brethren and using his intelligence to outsmart the ferocious tiger.

After the great elephants put the flames out, Mowgli had decided to remain with the wolfpack that his mother, Raksha, now leads. For 6 years, the jungle had known peace and tranquility. In those years, Mowgli has grown into a strong, confident, if a bit wild 16yr old. Remnants of his childhood is still visible with his red loincloth still in use and his boyish face not having grown into that of a full-grown man’s face, though his hair has gotten longer and his body is no longer scrawny and small but muscular and lean, littered with a few scars.

Despite Shere Khan’s defeat, there are rumors that he lives. Men from the manvillage claim to have seen shadows of a monster. Among those men is Dev, an accomplished hunter of the village. Mostly hunting for food, Dev has only hunted in order to protect and feed the manvillage unlike those who view hunting as a sport and kill for fun.

Dev is a single father who has a 16 year old son named Santi. Santi has soft brown skin and jet black hair with the same intense, dark eyes as his father. Santi’s mother, Dev’s wife, was killed bringing Santi into the world. While Santi loves the jungle, he also gets along well with the other children in the village. In fact, he’s with them right now as the adults discuss what to do about Shere Khan.

The adults are gathered around the fire pit in the center of the village. It’s mostly men, though there are a couple women also gathered too. Santi is keeping the kids out of the way but they’re still close enough to overhear what the adults say. They are worried about their cattle disappearing.

“No one has seen anything? Really?” A middle aged man asks, looking around at the crowd. People murmur ‘no’s and shake their heads.

“It’s a monster-“ a woman says, garnering attention.

“A monster?” A young man asks and she nods.

“We all know monsters are not real,” the first man argues.

“It had burned flesh and a blind left eye,” the woman insists. Whispers of Shere Khan, the tiger, flow through the crowd. An argument suddenly forms between the woman and the middle aged man.

“Khan burned in the forest fire 6 years ago-“ he says.

“Did you see it? Did anyone actually see the tiger perish in the flames?” The woman asks the crowd and no one answers. Some even look away. The arguing continues, but Santi has stopped paying attention and started remembering the day the village saw the fire engulfing the jungle across the river. Santi was a young 10 year old boy who just started to learn the basics of hunting. Santi was with his father as he told hunting stories to the other men gathered around the huge bonfire. It was nighttime and Santi was sitting on a small rock, working on re-stringing his bow when he saw it. A shadowy figure that made its way across the bridge. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he did see the mysterious figure take one of the torches and run back into the jungle. That was right before the alarm bell rang to alert everyone about the fire. Santi never told anyone about the mysterious figure and the torch.

“Monster or not, something is killing our livestock. Until we catch the culprit, I suggest we have watch duty over the herd,” Dev suggests.

“Messua, you said the creature was burned?” Dev asks and the young woman nods.

“Badly…it..it had no pelt left-“ Messua says, remembering the vivid, grotesque beast that was once Shere Khan. She shivers fearfully.

“Everyone, I will need the most experienced hunters with me to track down this beast, volunteers be warned, you may not return,” Dev says. 3 strong young men in their 30s step forward. Dev knows them, being the best hunter of the village, he taught those men himself when he was a teenager and they were children. Santi stands and he makes eye contact with his father.

“I’m ready to join you Father, I’ll make you proud,” Santi assures his father. Knowing how far his son has come with his lessons and teachings, Dev nods approvingly.

“I’ve always been proud of you Son,” Dev says as the children give Santi encouragement.

“We will take the time to gather our weapons and ready ourselves. It’s nearly sunset, so we will depart then,” Dev says as Messua steps forward.

“While the hunting party is out, we need to decide who will watch over the herd of cattle,” she says as Santi, his father and the 3 volunteers head off to get what they need. Meanwhile deep in the jungle…

The Seeonee wolfpack is gathered around Council Rock. Raksha, Mowgli’s mother, is sitting on the Alpha’s spot with the rest of the Pack all sitting at attention. The Pack elders are sitting to Raksha’s left. Mowgli is sitting with his siblings and Baloo the bear while Bagheera is up in a nearby tree that overlooks Council Rock.

“Alright, quiet please everyone,” Raksha says, getting the Pack’s attention and everyone quiets down.

“I’m afraid I must report some unsettling news. Our scouts have seen signs of Shere Khan, the tiger,” Raksha says, looking at Mowgli. His dark eyes widen and the boy gasps.

“N-No…No-it can’t be-..I..I killed him when I was a cub-“ Mowgli insists, standing up. Whispers sound through the Pack.

“It’s true Brother-I spotted the tiger while I was out on scout patrol in the Rocky Plains,” Gray, one of Mowgli’s brothers, argues gently. Mowgli wants to argue but the honesty in Gray Brother’s voice confirms their mother’s words.

“I-I saw him fall into the Red Flower-I saw him!” Mowgli insists, looking out at the rest of the wolf pack as they whisper to each other, unsure of his claim. The boy looks pleadingly up at his mother. She nods and glances to the Pack elders, to Biranyi in particular.

“I believe you Mowgli,” the old wolf says, getting everyone’s attention while also making the boy smile.

“For 6 seasons we’ve known peace and good hunts in the Jungle, we have had no reason to think Shere Khan survived the Red Flower,” Biranyi says. When the old wolf mentions the Red Flower, Mowgli feels a pit in his stomach. While his family, including Baloo and Bagheera, have all tried reassuring the boy over the seasons, Mowgli has always felt guilty since he was the one that brought the fire to the Jungle in the first place.

“You chose to be with us just like your mother chose you all those seasons ago,” Bagheera’s voice rings in his head.

“We must send out a hunting party to track down Shere Khan and end him once and for all,” Akru, a young male wolf with brown and gray fur announces, getting Mowgli’s attention.

“No-I must end the tiger,” Mowgli speaks up.

“Mowgli-“ Raksha immediately interrupts, feeling her protective mothering take over. Mowgli looks at her, watching her ears go back slightly in sadness.

“I…I don’t think that is wise. Let a more experienced wolf-“ Raksha tries to tell her son.

“I fought Shere Khan 6 seasons ago! I have to finish this. He dislikes the rest of you, but he HATES me,” Mowgli interrupts.

“Mowgli I-“ Raksha pleads.

“Mother I know I’ve only been on 2 hunts, but Shere Khan killed Akela because of me-I have to avenge him!” Mowgli insists.

“Enough!” Raksha barks harshly, causing the teenager to flinch before sitting back down and the Pack to go silent. Even Bagheera and Baloo appear startled.

“I am the leader of the Seeonee Wolf Pack. There will be no more of this talk Mowgli, is that understood?” Raksha asks seriously. Mowgli looks like he wants to argue with his mother until he catches sight of Bagheera’s big bright lime green eyes. The boy sees Bagheera shake his head slightly and sighs.

“Understood,” Mowgli replies glumly. Raksha nods and proceeds with asking for volunteers for the hunting party. She only picks the experienced hunters and Mowgli can’t help but feel wronged.

“What is it Brother?” Gray asks, nudging Mowgli lightly with his cold, wet nose. Mowgli looks away and pulls his knees up to his chin.

“Nothing,” he says, clearly upset.

After the assembly, Mowgli manages to sneak away without Raksha knowing, however, the boy’s actions don’t go unnoticed by Bagheera. The panther jumps silently off of the branch he was laying on and follows Mowgli.

The cat keeps the brown skinned boy in his sights at all times. Bagheera watches as Mowgli stops by a tree and breaks off a low-hanging branch. Bagheera watches Mowgli break off all the smaller branches sticking out. Bagheera takes a few steps, revealing his position.

“Mowgli, what are you doing?” Bagheera asks, clearly concerned about his boy.

“You heard Mother, she doesn’t want me to finish my fight with Khan,” Mowgli grumbles as he strips the 4-foot long stick down.

“Mowgli, going against your mother is one thing, but she is also the leader of the Pack. If you do this, she can force you out of the Pack,” Bagheera warns.

“I have to do this Bagheera. For Akela. And for myself…I have to finish what I started and as payback for burning the Jungle,” Mowgli says, referring to stealing the Red Flower.

“I know you feel guilty about burning the Jungle. But you never started anything. You did right by all of us by facing Shere Khan,” Bagheera says, “it’s over.” He says finally.

“Not for me. Bagheera…as hunters, isn’t it our job to make sure our prey does not suffer? Khan would be severely burned and deformed. Is it not my job to put him out of his misery?” Mowgli asks.

At first, Bagheera doesn’t answer and instead, looks away as if gathering his thoughts of what he wants to say.

“Yes Mowgli, you are right. As hunters, it’s our job to make sure we hunt only for food, and to not cause suffering. But Raksha is right in her own way. She has a responsibility to you, both as leader of the Pack and your mother,” Bagheera says, and Mowgli sighs.

“I know Mother loves me and wants to protect me, but I have to do this,” the brown-skinned boy insists. Bagheera looks into the boy’s eyes and eventually nods.

“I understand,” Bagheera says, “but I’m going with you.”

“Bagheera, no-I won’t let you get hurt for me,” Mowgli argues and Bagheera shakes his head.

“I’m sorry, but this is nonnegotiable. I will tell Raksha if you refuse,” Bagheera argues calmly back. Mowgli can’t help but smile.

“Alright. I’ll take all the help I can get,” the boy says and Bagheera nods.

Back in the manvillage Dev and Santi are in their home gathering what they need.

“Thank you for allowing me in the hunting party Father. I’ll finally show you what a great hunter I am and I will make you proud, I promise,” Santi assures his father.

“Santi, I know you’re a great hunter and I’ve always been proud of you. You’ve grown into quite a hunter and I’m getting on in years. I can’t move like I used to and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. That’s why I want you in the hunting party, because I know you will succeed where I will fail,” Dev explains. Santi looks at his father in surprise.

“Father you are still the village’s most accomplished hunter. I still have so much to learn from you,” Santi insists and Dev chuckles and ruffles his son’s hair like how he used to when Santi was a small boy.

“I appreciate that Santi, but you are more capable than you know. I have complete and total trust in you,” Dev tells his son, who nods. If he was being honest, part of Santi is glad his father trusts him so much but another part of Santi is worried that if he fails, he’d disappoint his father.

After gathering his knife, bow and quiver of arrows, Santi joins with his father and the other 3 volunteers around the unlit bonfire. The others are also armed with bows and knives strapped around them. The older men start formulating a plan as Dev pulls out a map of the area and Santi listens intently.

“What is the tiger’s last known sighting?” Dev asks.

“Around the southern jungle, past the swamps and the rocky plains, but that was about 6 years ago,” Rohan, one of the volunteers answers. He was one of the children Dev taught when he was a teenager. Now Rohan is an adult and is expecting his first child with his wife.

“He might return to a familiar area, even after all those years,” Amir, another volunteer says. He and Rohan are close friends having grown up together. Dev nods in agreement.

“The deer have been plentiful there as well,” Dev says, looking to Santi. The boy recently went to the rocky plains and managed to snag an older buck so the village could eat. Santi nods.

“I brought one back the day before yesterday,” Santi confirms.

“We’ll split up to cover the large area. Send a smoke signal if you need help or if you spot the tiger. If there is no signal we should regroup somewhere,” Amir suggests. Dev points to a lake.

“There, we’ll regroup at Elephant Lake,” Dev says and the others nod in agreement. Dev turns to his son rather seriously.

“Signal even if you sprain an ankle, ok?” Dev asks.

“Father-“

“Ok?” Dev repeats more insistently and Santi nods, playfully rolling his eyes and nodding.

“Yes Father,” the teenager answers and Dev nods, hugging his son.

“I’m so proud of you,” Dev says. Santi hugs his father back before joining Rohan and the other 2 hunter volunteers at the bridge that crosses the river that separates the village from the jungle.

The group crosses the bridge and walks together for about a mile until the path stops. It continues a few different ways so this is where the group decides to split up.

“Good hunting,” Dev says.

“Good hunting,” the others repeat before they all take off in different directions.

Santi heads on the southwest trail for about a mile before deciding to go off the dirt path that only travelers and hunters use. Santi runs deeper into the jungle, cautious and alert. His bright, dark eyes scan the area as he runs. Even with the slight breeze, it’s still incredibly hot and Santi starts sweating after about a mile.

Deep in the jungle, Mowgli and Bagheera move swiftly. It won’t be long until Raksha notices Mowgli is gone, considering everyone went back to their den after the assembly.

“Where do we even start looking? Shere Khan could be anywhere,” Mowgli asks as he runs beside Bagheera.

“Gray Brother said he was out scouting the Rocky Plains when he saw Shere Khan. We should start there,” Bagheera tells the boy, who nods and keeps running, climbing up into the trees every now and then.

The two get to the tree line and spot the tall beige grasses of the Rocky Plains.

“Flank left and search,” Bagheera orders quietly and Mowgli nods and the two separate and search.

Back at the dens, Raksha looks around and doesn’t see Mowgli. She sees Gray and Tavi, Mowgli’s siblings, walking together.

“Gray-Tavi!” Raksha calls to her pups. They look at their mother and hurry over.

“Yes Mother?” Tavi asks.

“Where is your brother?” Raksha asks, referring to Mowgli. The two young wolves look around.

“He was here for the howl-“ Gray says, looking around. The end howl happens last at assemblies.

“You know Mowgli. He’s probably off with Bagheera-“ Tavi says. Raksha’s eyes widen and she looks around before realizing her daughter is right. Bagheera is nowhere to be seen either.

“You’re probably right,” Raksha agrees, though a feeling still nags at her. It’s like a pit in her stomach. She knows Mowgli wouldn’t have given up about Shere Khan that easily. Since burning the Jungle and Akela’s death, Mowgli has been plagued with nightmares and guilt that on some days, seem to crush the boy. As his mother, Raksha shares his pain because she cannot stand to see him so upset. Over the years, she’s always assured the boy that even though using the Red Flower was forbidden, he did so with good intentions.

“We can go look for him if you want us to,” Gray offers. At first, Raksha wants to say yes, just to make sure Mowgli is ok, but that’s when she remembers how he seemed at the assembly. The mother wolf realizes she’s being a bit overprotective and sighs.

“No, it’s ok, he should have some time to himself,” Raksha says and the two young wolves nod. As they turn to head back to their dens, Raksha stops them.

“Does…Does Mowgli think I’m smothering him?” Raksha suddenly asks. The two wolves blink and share a look.

“Oh—uh-“ Tavi stutters.

“Tell me the truth pups,” Raksha says. Despite being adults themselves, they will always be her pups.

“Sometimes…but he knows it’s not your fault,” Gray admits.

“Gray-“ Tavi says, nudging her brother with her muzzle.

“What? Mother was going to find out at some point-“ Gray argues. When Raksha gives them a questioning look, Gray sighs and his ears go back slightly.

“Mowgli told us not to say anything,” Gray explains. She nods understandingly.

“It’s harder with Mowgli…he’s different, so I can’t tell when he’s ready to go off on his own,” Raksha says. Mowgli is the only one of her pups that still live with her. While Gray and Tavi have been on multiple hunts, Mowgli’s only been on 2, and has been a chaser both times.

“He knows you love him and that you just want what’s best for him,” Tavi tells her mother. Raksha’s eyes shine and she nods.

“Thank you..both of you. If you go rabbit hunting, be sure to pick up a couple extra for the food reserve,” Raksha instructs and the two nod. As the leader of the Pack, Raksha is in charge of the food supply, making sure it won’t run low unless it’s unavoidable.

“We will,” Gray answers and the siblings walk off towards the small waterfall that provides a source of water for the Pack that’s right by the dens, which is much more convenient than going to Peace Rock.

The wind blows lightly as Santi keeps a slower, steadier pace through the dense jungle. Hearing the different sounds of the jungle keeps Santi alert to everything around him as his eyes scan ahead. The hunting party’s only been separated for a few hours. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Santi knows to look for clues but the jungle is enormous and goes on for thousands of miles. The most logical places would be right across the river since Khan seems to prefer the easier targets of cattle. Being domesticated animals, they are not quick like deer or rabbits and they are all in one place.

Santi climbs over a fallen tree trunk and makes his way deeper into the jungle. Every hour or so, Santi climbs a tree and looks around to check for smoke signals since he’s not near any high ground.

The teenager hears a slight rustling and his hand hovers over the knife strapped across his body. A rabbit races out and disappears into some brush. Getting thirsty, Santi keeps going until he hears the trickle of a small creek. He sees the creek cutting through the trees and approaches. He sticks his hands in the water. It’s not cold, but it’s not warm either. He cups some water out and drinks before splashing some water on his face and neck. That’s when he spots it. In the creek bed, Santi spots a paw print in the mud! He gasps and looks at it. It’s big and feline. Canine tracks from dholes or wolves are longer and don’t have claw marks.

Santi remembers his fathers words from one of his first hunting lessons, back when he was a young boy.

“Follow your lead until you can confirm with your own eyes. Just because you spot a set of tracks or a tuft of fur doesn’t mean you’ve spotted your prey,” his father had told him. 10 year old Santi had gotten excited when he found what he thought were tracks of a fox, but were instead of a dhole. He shouldn’t get his hopes up just yet.

It’s been nearly a week of hunting for Shere Khan in the Jungle. Santi has gotten to the rocky plains and no one’s sent up a signal. Which is good…and bad. No one’s hurt or needs help, but no sightings of Shere Khan, yet.

He follows the tracks until they stop. Santi looks around. Bugs buzz and birds chirp. Various rustling from small creatures and even the noise of the breeze makes the stillness seem loud. That’s when he hears a noise. It’s a harsh, painful sounding noise before it dies out as quickly as it came. Santi knows that sound…it’s of a cow dying. Shere Khan!

Santi races in the direction of the noise as fast as he can. The teenager keeps in shape helping his father so he doesn’t tire easily. As Santi runs, he grabs hold of the hilt of his hunting knife. It’s a long hunting knife his father used. Dev gave it to his son for his 13th birthday.

Santi climbs up a rocky outcrop to get a better look. The teenager spots a tree trunk with bloody claw marks carved into the bark and climbs back down. He hurries over to get a better look at the bloody claw marks before turning and spotting a trail of blood that leads to a mauled body of what used to be a cow. It’s covered in claw marks and none of it has been eaten. Santi’s eyes widen. It hasn’t been eaten! It’s a trap!

A vicious roar breaks the quiet of the jungle. The roar sounds like the noise of a demon. Santi glances around nervously and prepares himself. The teenager looks around for any sign of what made the roaring noise. Santi’s hand hovers over the knife hilt, ready for anything.

“Did Shere Khan know to set a trap?” Santi thinks to himself. Unaware to the boy, Shere Khan is watching the teenager’s every move. Despite how much time has gone by, Shere Khan is still in pain. Not nearly as bad as surviving the fall into the fire, but that’s why he’s been eating cattle. He cannot hunt anymore and Man’s cattle are easily killed. His striped fur is all but gone and even patches of his skin are deformed from the Red Flower’s touch. His blind eye is bloody and his good eye can really only see shapes. His sense of smell has returned a little and because of all of the raw skin exposed, his sense of touch is almost always pain.

Santi cautiously moves through the Jungle, unaware his every move is being watched. He doesn’t see any threats nearby, so he decides to start a smoke signal. Green leaves and sticks create more smoke than dry ones, so Santi makes sure to grab some of both.

He finds a flat rock on the ground and two dry sticks about an inch thick each. He piles more of the dry twigs and leaves near him. The boy grabs the two sticks perpendicularly to each other and starts rubbing them together furiously, still being watched by the unseen tiger.

After a few minutes, Santi sees a wispy trail of smoke starting to form from his stick and smiles. Almost there…almost there. Once the smoke is thick enough Santi blows very gently on it to start the ember going. He sees a small glowing orange dot and feeds the ember more dry sticks and leaves to make it grow.

The ember grows into a very small flame so, carefully, Santi adds more dry plant life to the pile. Once the fire has grown a bit bigger (though still rather small in general), Sant starts adding the greener plant life he’s gathered. He puts 2 twigs and a handful of greenish yellow leaves. The fire’s still lit but the smoke gets thicker almost instantly. Accidentally breathing some of the smoke in, Santi coughs slightly before taking off his shirt. He uses the fabric to cover the fire. He moves in and out of the smoke to create clouds of smoke that rise into the air. It should be nice and visible since Santi is near the Rocky Plains and there’s no trees to obscure the smoke.

As Mowgli moves swiftly and quietly through the tall grasses of the plains, he looks in the sky and spots small gray clouds wafting up. Memories of the Red Flower from 6 seasons ago flash through the teenager’s mind. Hoping that it’s not, Mowgli hurries towards the source of the gray clouds. As he moves, Mowgli wonders if Bagheera can see it too, since they split up to cover more area. Hopefully Bagheera’s on his way.

Mowgli manages to sneak his way through the grasses until he gets so close he sees the Red Flower, and the creature making it. Mowgli’s eyes widen in shock. You see, 6 seasons ago, when Mowgli stole the Red Flower from the manvillage, it was night. Only the moon and stars dimly lit the area. Mowgli’s eyes do not work as well as his wolf brethren’s and while he did see the creatures called Man thanks to the glow of the Red Flower, Mowgli didn’t really see any defining features. At the time, the boy just thought they were unlike anything he had ever seen.

But now, in broad daylight, Mowgli sees the haunting similarities between himself and the man creature. The man creature’s fur is shorter and it’s covered in some sort of colorful skin from the back legs going down all the way to cover the back paws. That’s when Mowgli notices a subtle movement in the underbrush. Mowgli immediately thinks of Bagheera, but when he catches the sight of reddish pink flesh, he lets doubt creep in. No, that is not Bagheera.

Without warning, a piercing roar breaks the steady quiet of the Jungle and Shere Khan leaps out at the creature! Mowgli seems almost frozen when he catches sight of the once formidable tiger. Deep down, Mowgli knows that it is Shere Khan, but because of his deformed, almost grotesque appearance, all Mowgli can think of is a monster and fear grips the boy so tightly all he can do is watch.

Mowgli watches the the man creature scream as Khan leaps at him. The tiger’s claws rake across the man’s bare chest and he cries out in pain. Mowgli gasps and his grip on his sharpened stick tightens. Mowgli’s eyes scan the surrounding area and he can’t help but feel down when he doesn’t see any sign of Bagheera. Maybe he’s too far away, Mowgli thinks to himself.

Mowgli watches Shere Khan circle his prey. Mowgli sees the human’s paw come up and cover its bloody chest. The claw marks look deep and blood runs down the creature’s bare chest. Mowgli can’t help but marvel at the similarities between himself and the man creature. Mowgli’s reminded of when Shere Khan managed to scratch his own chest during their fight 6 seasons ago. He was climbing down the dead tree when Khan managed to surprise the boy. He jerked back just fast enough to only get raked by one claw across his upper chest, creating an ‘X’ pattern over an already healed scar from a previous wound.

The human winces and pants, its paw is shaking and Mowgli hopes for Bagheera to show any second now. Seeing Shere Khan move in for the kill, Mowgli shifts his grip on his sharpened stick and winds up to throw it. He takes an almost silent breath before shutting his eyes. He opens them and instantly throws the stick. It pierces the tiger’s flank and he roars in pain. He looks around, though being almost blind, cannot see Mowgli.

“RAAAAUGGHHH!!!!” Mowgli screams, jumping off the branch he was perched on. The teenager collides with the tiger, causing a painful roar and they tumble to the ground. The man creature collapses, blacking out.

Mowgli feels the tiger’s deformed, almost melted skin and winces in disgust before backing away.

“Mowgli!” Mowgli hears a familiar voice call out to him. The boy turns towards the voice and sees Bagheera race towards them. Shere Khan struggles on the ground, unable to get up from the searing pain of being tackled, the permanent pain from the Red Flower and the stick that’s piercing his back left flank. Seeing that the tiger is no threat like this, Bagheera slows to a stop and looks at the injured, deformed tiger. Bagheera’s eyes widen and his ears go back slightly at the sight of the tiger.

“Shere Khan,” Bagheera breathes quietly. He takes in the vivid sight of the tiger and cannot help but admire Khan’s sheer will to live.

Shere Khan swipes wildly at the air in front of him with a roar, unable to tell where Mowgli is.

“You will never be rid of me mancub!!! My hate for you kept my spirit alive and I have waited for the day when I would finally kill you!” Shere Khan snarls angrily. Mowgli carefully moves around in the tiger’s blind spot and yanks out his sharpened stick that was piercing his left flank. Shere Khan roars in pain before whirling around where Mowgli is and swipes viciously. Mowgli jerks backward and falls over, nearly missing the tiger’s claws as they swipe through the air in front of his face. Bagheera prepares to leap but Mowgli stops the panther, shaking his head. Understanding it is Mowgli’s choice to make, Bagheera does as he’s told.

Unaware to anyone, the human stirs and groggily wakes up with blurred vision and a searing pain on his chest. The teenager sees a half naked boy about his age standing in front of him with a sharpened stick that’s bloody. Mowgli attacks the monstrous creature as the injured teenager passes out again.

Mowgli charges forward and jams the sharpened stick into the tiger, screaming as he does it. Shere Khan roars and tries clawing Mowgli before the boy shoves the stick in deeper and the tiger gets weaker and weaker until he stops struggling. The tiger’s breathing is ragged and rough. Mowgli approaches and looks down at the tiger. Mowgli’s dark eyes never stray from Shere Khan’s blind eye and his permanently red, injured eye. The boy watches as Shere Khan’s eyes slowly dim before shutting forever and the tiger’s ragged breathing stops.

Bagheera looks to Mowgli when he sees the boy just staring at the tiger’s lifeless body.

“Are you alright Mowgli?” The panther asks, clearly concerned.

“I…I can’t believe how awful he looked,” Mowgli says. Bagheera nods.

“The Red Flower is merciless to everyone. It’s destructive power is not to be doubted,” Bagheera explains.

At the mention of Man, Mowgli glances over to the creature who looks almost exactly like him.

“Mowgli-we should report Shere Khan’s death to your mother,” Bagheera says, trying to get the boy’s attention, thought it’s not working.

“Bagheera?” Mowgli asks, looking at the large black cat.

“This is what Man looks like?” Mowgli asks him. Truth be told, Mowgli knows the answer, but he needs to hear Bagheera’s answer. Bagheera sighs, but nods.

“Yes Mowgli,” Bagheera admits, knowing what Mowgli was really asking. Mowgli looks at the injuries on the human’s bare chest. 3 long, deep claw marks slash across the Man’s chest.

“We should leave before he wakes up,” Bagheera suggests, though his tone is more insistent.

“The human needs help Bagheera, his wounds look deep,” Mowgli alerts. Bagheera falters slightly.

“Mowgli, contact with Man is forbidden,” Bagheera warns.

“You helped me…why can’t I help him?” Mowgli asks, referring to when the panther found the boy about 16 seasons ago. Not wanting to argue, Bagheera huffs and takes a step, turning.

“You can make choices for yourself…but I will obey the Law,” Bagheera says, disappearing into the Jungle.

“Bagheera—…” Mowgli tries, though he knows Bagheera is already gone. He sighs.

“I have to,” Mowgli says aloud, but more for himself.

Mowgli turns his attention to the human. His chest is bloody and his breathing is shallow and weak.

“Hold on,” Mowgli whispers before running off into the tall grasses of the Rocky Plains. He gets to a sage shrub and rips off a handful of the green plant. Mowgli hurries back. He shoves the sage into his mouth before grabbing the human and hauling the limp body onto his back, draping over his shoulders. The human’s head lolls limply on Mowgli’s left shoulder. He hears the human groan slightly.

Mowgli heads to the only other one who could possibly help him. Baloo.

“Rules were meant to be—well not necessarily broken, but certainly bent. And definitely reinterpreted, don’t ya think?” The sloth bear’s words ring in Mowgli’s mind. The boy prays that Baloo will understand.

Coming in and out of consciousness was disorienting for Santi. He couldn’t tell where he was or what was happening. He could hear grunts of exertion and slight panting with a few huffs. He feels searing pain on his chest.

Santi knows he’s being carried and vaguely thinks he’s been found by someone from the hunting party. His smoke signal…perhaps he was saved by his father, Santi wishes. He feels his one of his feet drag on the ground and a firm grip around one wrist. Feeling lightheaded, Santi shuts his eyes.

Mowgli manages to trek all the way back to Baloo’s cave. Santi feels his feet drag along the ground when he’s conscious and tries to figure out who rescued him. Santi thinks it’s Rohan, but he’s not certain. The injured teenager groans quietly, unable to talk. Mowgli stops outside the entrance, gently setting the injured human down. Mowgli takes the sage out of his mouth before calling out.

“Baloo?! Baloo-are you there?!” Mowgli calls, stepping towards the cave.

“Mowgli? What is it?” Baloo asks, walking out. His eyes widen and the bear stops in his tracks when he sees Mowgli covered in blood. Baloo’s eyes then land on the injured human behind Mowgli.

“Is..is that-?” Baloo stutters.

“A human. Baloo-please, I need to use your cave-“ Mowgli asks.

“Mowgli, I know I said bending the rules is ok, but I’m an honorary Pack member now and I really don’t want to cross your mother,” Baloo says, having known Raksha a good long while now and knows how ferocious she can get.

“Please Baloo, I just need shelter for the human. You don’t even have to help me,” Mowgli pleads. Baloo sighs.

“Please Baloo? I’ll make sure the human doesn’t cause any trouble,” Mowgli insists. Baloo looks at Mowgli and eventually nods.

“Alright. But no one knows of this, do you understand?” Baloo asks seriously.

“Yes and I agree. If Mother finds out about this, she might not forgive me,” Mowgli says and Baloo nods before motioning inside. Mowgli nods and hands Baloo the sage he managed to hang onto.

Mowgli brings the injured man creature inside and sets him down towards the back of Baloo’s cave. The bear hands Mowgli the healing herb and Mowgli nods his thanks.

“I’ll be right back,” Mowgli says, grabbing a thick slab of bark. He runs out holding the sage in one hand and the piece of bark in the other before stopping in the small, slow flowing creek that runs right outside Baloo’s cave.

Mowgli looks around and sees a paw-sized rock and uses it to smash the sage on the piece of bark. He uses the water as moisture to make it easier to mash up. Mowgli has to be careful not to use too much water.

Once the sage is mashed into a green paste, Mowgli nods in approval before hurrying back inside. He sees the human stir and Mowgli starts to gently spread the green paste over the bloody claw marks.

Santi stirs a bit before feeling something cool and slightly soothing on his burning chest. His vision comes in and out of focus, but he sees the person who saved him is definitely not from the hunting party. Fear washes over Santi, though in his injured state, he merely whimpers before blacking out again.

“Mother will be suspicious if I don’t spend nights at home. Baloo I’ll need to leave the human here at night until he’s healed,” Mowgli explains.

“Mowgli I don’t feel comfortable around…them…” Baloo says, eyeing the human suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to do a thing,” Mowgli assures the bear.

“What if the human rubs off the sage? I cannot put the healing paste on,” Baloo says.

“Good point. Oh-hold on,” Mowgli says, hurrying over to the honey stash. Now that they are older, Bagheera doesn’t look down on Baloo having his honey stash. Hunting is no longer something to look forward to, but a chore. Laying in the sun is much more satisfying nowadays according to the panther.

Mowgli grabs a strong vine he weaved that’s also small enough to wrap around paws. He takes it and wraps the human’s front paws together behind its back. Mowgli makes sure the vine is tight and secure before looking up through the hole in the top of Baloo’s cave. Mowgli sees the sun setting and realizes he has to head back home.

About a day and a half passes before Santi finally wakes up and stays awake. While his chest does ache from soreness, it is no longer the same searing, burning pain that was more unbearable. The teenager realizes his hands are tied behind him rather quickly and starts struggling to get free, though it’s not working. He looks and sees the wounds on his chest are covered with a green paste and wonders what it is.

“Rohan? Amir?…Father?” Santi asks aloud, wondering who it is that saved him. Santi wonders why his hands are tied together. The teen looks around and is surprised to see he’s in a cave. To the left of him is a pile of honeycomb that oozes out onto the floor. Santi also spots vines coiled up and a bunch of grass and leaves scattered around for what looks like a sleeping area.

He wants to move but his chest aches and Santi looks at the green paste covering the injured area. That’s when Santi hears footsteps approaching. The teenager shifts as much as he can without his chest hurting too much. Santi feels around and grabs a palm-sized flat stone and wraps his fingers around it to hide just in case.

Santi’s eyes glance over to the entrance, spotting a figure approaching him. His vision focuses and adjusts to make out the details of the figure before freezing in shock. It’s a kid! Well, a teenager, around Santi’s age. But he’s wearing nothing but a faded red loincloth. Santi feels his breathing start to increase out of fear.

“Wh-Who are you?” Santi rasps out. The teenager’s bright dark eyes bore into Santi.

“I’m Santi…did you save me?” Santi tells the unfamiliar teenager. The long-haired teen nods, pointing at Santi’s chest.

“Heal you,” the wild boy tells Santi, “no touch.” Santi nods.

“Thank you,” Santi tells his mysterious savior.

“What’s your name?” Santi asks again but frowns when the other boy appears confused.

“Your name…what are you called?” Santi tries rephrasing.

“M-Mo…Mow-gleeeee…Mowgli,” the boy introduces, sounding out his name. Mowgli points at Santi.

“San-teeeee….Santi,” Mowgli repeats and Santi smiles and nods weakly.

“Yeah-I’m Santi…are you…are you from the village?” Santi asks. Mowgli shakes his head.

Santi remembers where he is and looks around.

“Is this…your home?” Santi asks. Mowgli didn’t seem to understand the question, so Santi motions around to the cave before pointing at Mowgli.

“Your home?” Santi asks again.

“Yes…no…cave is Baloo…I come here, but not home,” Mowgli explains as best he can with his limited knowledge.

When Mowgli was 13, he had learned from Baloo that humans have their own language and had assumed Mowgli knew it as well, being a human. Baloo didn’t know a lot about Man, only what he’d heard through rumors from Bagheera, Akela and Kaa. Chil the kite bird also shared stories of times he’s seen humans.

Baloo knew from past experience that lying to Mowgli was a lot worse than telling him the truth, even if the boy didn’t want to hear it. So any time Mowgli would ask about humans or the Manvillage, Baloo would try and be as truthful as he could, though Mowgli understands that he doesn’t know EVERYTHING.

It’s thanks to the old sloth bear that Mowgli had the courage to start trying to learn Man’s language. Mowgli didn’t want Bagheera to know. The very first thing Baloo taught him is that moving a head up and down means yes and side to side means no.

“Is…is it..dead?” Santi asks. Mowgli snaps out of his thoughts and remembers stabbing the tiger with his sharpened stick. Mowgli nods.

“I kill Shere Khan,” Mowgli says. Santi looks away. Mowgli sees a familiar feeling on Santi’s face. It’s a feeling of…disappointment. Mowgli was familiar with it, mostly when he was younger.

“Why face?” Mowgli asks, pointing to his face. Santi looks at Mowgli.

“My father…he will be disappointed in me. I couldn’t stand a chance against…Sh-Shere Khan,” Santi says, using the name Mowgli used. Mowgli smiles with realization. As he learned the language of Man, humans could learn the language of the wolf. They just had to be taught.

“Father,” Mowgli repeats. Santi nods before wincing in pain slightly. Mowgli notices and frowns. He approaches Santi slowly before gently reaching out and inspecting the wound. It’s not as red as it was and the bleeding stopped, though the claw marks are deep.

“Where did you learn healing?” Santi asks.

“Bagheera,” Mowgli states.

“What’s Bagheera?” Santi asks.

“Panther. Panther smart, told me healing,” Mowgli explains. Santi’s eyes widen. A panther?

“A…panther?” Santi asks.

“What about your mother and father?” Santi asks. Mowgli frowns in confusion.

“You know…Baloo. Isn’t that your father?” Santi asks. Mowgli chuckles and now Santi frowns in confusion.

“Baloo. Papa bear. Best friend. Baloo is best friend,” Mowgli explains.

“Do you have a father or a mother?” Santi asks. It would explain a lot about Mowgli, why he’s almost naked, talks about animals, and why his speech is broken. Mowgli seems to recognize the last word and he nods vigorously.

“Mother! Mother is strong and brave and kind,” Mowgli says. Santi awes at Mowgli’s explanation and, if truth be told, Santi was a bit jealous. He’d always wondered what it was like to have a mother. His father, Dev, would talk about Santi’s mother, Dev’s wife, whenever Santi would ask, but he’d never talk about her willingly to Santi. And even when the boy would ask his father, he could tell how sad his father would get from reliving past memories, so he eventually stopped asking so his father wouldn’t get upset thinking about her.

But thinking about his father makes Santi realize that his father is strong, brave and kind. In a way…Dev has been Santi’s father and his mother.

“And your father?” Santi asks. He watches Mowgli’s face fall.

“Killed…by Shere Khan,” Mowgli answers solemnly. Santi’s jealousy evaporates instantly and is replaced with empathy.

“My mother was killed…but I have my father,” Santi tells Mowgli, understanding the pain of losing a parent.

“Do you think you could…untie me?” Santi asks, moving his arms from behind his back. His wrists are still tied together with the vines Mowgli weaved together. Mowgli eyes Santi suspiciously.

“No touch healing paste,” Mowgli warns and Santi nods.

“I won’t,” he promises Mowgli. Santi watches Mowgli nod slightly before moving to get behind him. Mowgli unties Santi and the injured teen sighs with relief.

“Thanks,” Santi tells Mowgli.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the Jungle…

Dev makes his way towards the Swamp. It’s a bit out of the way from the last known area the tiger was spotted, but Dev thought he should check anyways. That is, until he looked up and saw a wispy trail of smoke! Dev’s eyes widen and he races in the direction he saw the pale gray smoke. He hopes it’s a tiger sighting rather than a call for help and he wishes it wasn’t his son either way.

If he was being honest with himself, Dev hadn’t been real present with Santi when the boy was younger. It was when Santi was around 10 that Dev realized how independent Santi had become and had shown an interest in hunting. Dev knew that he should bond with his son for multiple reasons but a big reason is to make up for lost time. He knew he was supposed to provide for Santi, but after the death of his wife, he misplaced his anger onto his son, which wasn’t fair to the boy. But after all these years, Santi is now almost a grown man and Dev doesn’t know what he’d do if something happened to Santi. Santi is all Dev has left.

After hiking a good 10 miles, Dev finds himself at the source of the smoke. He sees a small pile of green leaves that have blackened edges and tips. He looks around and doesn’t see anyone.

“Rohan? Amir? Ishan? Santi?” Dev asks, calling out each name, “is anyone there?!” Dev asks. He looks around and that’s when he spots the footprint in the ground. He sees it’s a bit smaller than a grown adult’s. Santi, Dev thinks.

Dev looks around and spots a patch of grass that’s been crushed. He sees a couple broken twigs sticking out from a nearby bush and his eyes widen. There’s been a struggle. Dev scans the surrounding area and finds a few drops of blood and gasps. Dev spots a footprint Santi’s size before he goes about 20 feet to the left to look around. That’s when he spots the stick. It’s pointing up awkwardly and Dev pushes past the bushes and walks around the trees until he spots the monster on the ground. Nothing but limp flesh, Dev feels his stomach churn at the sight of the creature that’s no longer the formidable tiger it used to be. Dev spots the blind eye of Shere Khan which is the only reason Dev is able to identify the tiger. Small patches of Khan’s pelt are still visible but mostly around his nose, eyes and ears. Dev understands why the young woman, Messua, thought it was a monster killing our cattle. In his current state, Shere Khan likely couldn’t hunt anything else as cattle are slow, easy pray, even for a creature as injured as he was. Dev sees the bloody stick poking out of Khan.

Dev’s happy the tiger is dead and out of his misery, but Dev’s also worried about his son, wondering if he’s alright. That’s all he wants, really. Dev continues, trying to follow the trail.

“DEV!” Dev hears his name being called as he makes his way through the dense Seeonee Jungle. Dev’s eyes widen and he feels a bit of relief when he recognizes the voice.

“Amir!? AMIR!” Dev looks around before spotting the bearded man approaching.

“Dev! I’m glad you are unharmed. Who sent the smoke signal?” Amir asks before his eyes spot the body of Shere Khan. His eyes widen and has a similar reaction as Dev did.

“Let’s talk somewhere else,” Dev suggests and motions away and Dev agrees quickly.

“I’m not sure who started the signal,” Dev says, clearly worried.

“Hey-Santi’s a great hunter. He even outshoots me a few times. I’m sure he’s ok,” Amir tries assuring Dev. Growing up, Amir, Rohan and Ishan have all looked up to Dev so they see Dev as an older brother figure. Dev nods.

“Hey if anything I’m sure it’s Ishan. You know how he always leaps before he looks,” Amir tries, earning a dry chuckle from Dev.

“C’mon, I think the others should be nearby. Let’s split up and look for them,” Amir suggests and Dev nods.

“Right, meet back here,” Dev says and Amir nods and the two split up.

It didn’t take long for Dev to find Rohan and for Amir to find Ishan, so they were able to meet back up fairly quickly.

“I didn’t start the signal,” Rohan says and Dev looks to Ishan.

“Neither did I,” Ishan adds.

“Then…it was Santi,” Dev says. No one says anything, but now that Dev knows it was Santi who started the smoke signal, Dev realizes that Santi crossed paths with Shere Khan.

Amir breaks the news about the tiger to Rohan and Ishan and even shows them the scarred, deformed body. The men gather around away from the lifeless body.

“Shere Khan is dead, that must mean that Santi sent the smoke signal because he spotted the tiger,” Rohan suggests.

“If it was for sighting Khan, where is Santi? He could’ve been hurt after engaging with the tiger. An animal like that is unpredictable,” Dev asks.

“That’s true. Why hasn’t Santi appeared unless he-“ Ishan begins, but that’s when Amir nudges his side roughly. Ishan groans and sends a look to Amir, who glares back at his friend.

“Let’s focus on finding Santi before we worry about anything else,” Rohan suggests logically. Dev nods in agreement. Finding Santi should be priority.

Back in Baloo’s cave, Santi has managed to sit up and Mowgli has given him a water filled fruit shell he made when he was 10. The only time Mowgli used it was when they went to Peace Rock for water. Santi takes a refreshing drink before looking at Mowgli. Santi sets the shell down.

“You’re not from the village, are you?” Santi asks, wiping his mouth nonchalantly. Mowgli shakes his head.

“Mother is leader of Seeonee Wolf Pack,” Mowgli explains. Santi looks at Mowgli.

“Your mother…is a wolf?” Santi asks. Mowgli howls.

“I am Mowgli of the Seeonee,” Mowgli states. The pieces start to connect in Santi’s mind and he realizes that Mowgli is a feral child, raised by wolves.

A million questions race by in Santi’s mind that he wants to ask Mowgli.

“Am I the first human you’ve seen?” Santi settles on a question.

“No..I saw before…6 seasons ago,” Mowgli explains, though Santi notices Mowgli is starting to look uncomfortable.

“Are you ok?” Santi asks.

“I…I saw them…the humans…when I took the Red Flower-“ Mowgli says. Santi’s eyes widen in realization. All those years ago. The shadowy figure Santi saw on the bridge. He’d seen the figure take the torch but didn’t think anything of it as the torches are there to use. It wasn’t until the alarm for the huge jungle fire that started did Santi put two and two together. By then, he was already too scared to say anything. Adding in that the fire was put out rather quickly, no one really thought anything of it.

“You took the fire?“ Santi asks and Mowgli nods sadly.

“Santi!” Mowgli suddenly hears a voice yell in the distance and Santi sees the feral teen tense up.

“You…I hear your name,” Mowgli alerts. Santi’s eyes widen.

“The hunters-“ Santi replies automatically. Mowgli flinches at the word ‘hunters’, knowing what that means.

“No-No-it’s ok. My father is one of them. I…am one of them,” Santi explains and Mowgli takes a step back, gasping quietly.

“But we only hunt if we have to—only to eat and so we’re not killed. That’s what my father taught me and that’s what he’s taught the others,” Santi explains and Mowgli settles slightly.

“Not…for sport?” Mowgli asks and Santi shakes his head.

“My father and I have never hunted for sport,” Santi assures Mowgli.

Mowgli looks and sees the sincerity in Santi’s eyes. The stories he’s heard would be on the contrary, but Mowgli knows better than anyone that you should judge someone by their heart and their actions rather than what they are and their prejudices.

“Hunt to eat,” Mowgli says and Santi nods.

“Santi!!!” The voice yells, getting a bit louder since he’s getting closer. The voice is loud enough that Santi recognizes it as his father’s voice! Mowgli looks to Santi.

“We will meet again, Santi,” Mowgli says and climbs out the skylight hole.

“Mowgli wait!” Santi calls out, but the other teenager is already gone. Santi gets to his feet and walks out.

“Father?! FATHER!” Santi calls out.

“SANTI!! DON’T MOVE!! WE’RE COMING!” Dev calls back as Santi steps out of the cave’s entrance. He sees a beautiful small flowing creek covered with purple flowers right in front of the cave.

Santi hears rustling nearby get louder and louder so he turns and that’s when his father breaks through the plant life, followed by the other volunteer hunters.

“Santi!” Dev exclaims, rushing forward, wrapping his son in a hug, despite Santi’s grunts of pain. While he is mostly healed and the claw marks have scabbed, Santi’s chest is still a bit sore and tender.

“Father-“ Santi pleads and the tone of his son’s voice causes Dev to back off. He looks and sees Santi’s bare chest is covered in a green paste that smeared onto his own clothes.

“Y-You’re hurt-“ Dev realizes.

“I’m ok Father-really,” Santi assures his father.

“Did you…kill the tiger?” Dev asks. Santi doesn’t answer at first. The fear of telling the truth causes Santi to look away.

“No…I’m sorry Father. Shere Khan caught me off guard,” Santi says.

“Do not be sorry my son. I’m just glad you’re alive,” Dev tells him.

“Khan…was dead when we found him,” Amir pipes up, motioning to the other hunters.

“Who did this?” Dev asks Santi, motioning to the green paste covering his bare chest.

“I was saved by a boy my age. He was the one that killed Shere Khan,” Santi explains.

“A boy? Who? You are the eldest male child of the village and the 2nd eldest is only 10,” Rohan asks.

“Santi can tell us later, but right now, we need to get you help,” Dev argues, letting his son use him for stability. Santi leans heavily on his father, not because he’s too weak, but because the boy missed his father. Sant was worried he’d never see his father again.

Rohan helps Dev with Santi while Amir and Ishan keep ready just in case anything happens. While his father and the others didn’t get a good look at the cave, Santi manages a glance behind himself.

Meanwhile, Mowgli manages to make it back to the Wolf Pack territory and back to the dens. Mowgli goes over the whole interaction with the human, including killing Shere Khan. Even remembering what the tiger looked like was unnerving for Mowgli so he doesn’t dwell on that particular moment.

He remembers seeing Santi on the ground, bloody and unconscious and Mowgli remembers feeling a need to protect. Honestly Mowgli still can’t really explain it, but he felt that way about any living creature in need. Akela told him once that he was special because of his selflessness. That is what makes a wolf, Akela had said.

“Mowgli-there you are,” the boy hears Bagheera’s silky voice. He looks and sees the panther up in a nearby tree.

“Bagheera…I…I was with the human-“ Mowgli tells the panther, not wanting to lie or keep things hidden. Bagheera nods.

“I figured,” he replies understandingly.

“He..wasn’t like some of the stories I’ve heard…and they’re not scary looking in the day,” Mowgli says and Bagheera nods.

“This particular human…” Mowgli trails off, stopping in his tracks. Bagheera stops and looks back at the boy. Noticing Mowgli isn’t making eye contact, Bagheera turns, focusing on him.

“What is it Mowgli?” Bagheera asks.

“You said I’m human, right Bagheera?” Mowgli asks and Bagheera nods.

“Yes,”

“Could there be other humans…like me?” Mowgli asks and Bagheera thinks on Mowgli’s question.

“Mowgli, you are uniquely you. You may be a human, but there are no humans like you,” Bagheera explains.

“But, if there was…do you think Ami would like him?” Mowgli asks and Bagheera’s eyes widen.

“Mowgli your mother is firm on the Laws of the Jungle. You deserve to know who you are so I will not mention your activities to your mother or anyone in the pack. But you cannot get caught,” Bagheera says. Mowgli nods.

“Thank you Bagheera,” Mowgli tells him, knowing Bagheera doesn’t have to keep his secrets. The panther nods.

“Of course,” he says before motioning with his head for the boy to follow.

“Come, it’s getting late,” Bagheera says and together, they walk back to the dens, where the Wolf Pack live.

Dev and the hunting party manage to hike all the way back and once they cross the bridge, others from the village hurry over to help.

“Messua, get the bandages,” Dev says and the young woman nods, hurrying off.

Dev takes Santi with Amir’s help and gets back to the small house tucked in the corner of the village. Dev sets Santi down on the bed gently and helps the boy lay back.

“Does it hurt son?” Dev asks.

“Sore…but it’s not too bad,” Santi says. Dev knows his son has a high tolerance for pain so for Santi to admit anything must be a lot for him. Dev nods.

“Ok, don’t worry son,” Dev tries comforting Santi. Santi nods and shuts his eyes. Messua comes in a few moments later holding a few different items.

“Thank you Messua,” Dev says as she gets to work.

“Of course Dev, he’ll be ok, your boy is strong,” Messua says as she starts wiping off the green paste on Santi’s chest.

“No-don’t-“ Santi tries, but Messua gently holds his hand down.

“I’m sorry I have to wipe your chest off,” she says and at the insistence of his father, Santi lets Messua work.

As Messua works, Dev’s able to see just how badly Santi got hurt and the boy can’t miss the worry plastered all over his father’s face.

“Father-it’s just a bit sore-I’m ok,” Santi says. Messua wraps Santi’s chest with bandage cloth.

“Sage..a great medicinal plant. I didn’t figure you two as herbalists,” Messua tells Santi and Dev.

“I’m not-“ Dev shakes his head.

“It was Mowgli, Father,” Santi says.

“Who is Mowgli?” Messua asks.

“He’s a boy my age. He lives in the Jungle and he was the one that helped me when Shere Khan caught me off guard,” Santi explains.

“Hm, well sounds like a smart kid,” Messua says.

Once Messua finishes with Santi, Dev gifts her a small basket of fruits and vegetables Dev recently harvested from his garden.

“Thank you Dev, but you really don’t have to-“ Messua tries, but Dev holds up a hand to stop her.

“I know, I want to,” Dev insists and Messua smiles before nodding.

“Thank you for getting rid of Shere Khan,” Messua says and Dev nods. The father and son duo head outside and meet up with the other volunteer hunters and Santi tells them everything that happened. Santi spends the next week or so resting and healing, but he can’t get that mysterious wild boy named Mowgli out of his head.

Back at the Wolf Pack dens, Mowgli and Bagheera head over towards Raksha and her den.

“Mowgli, where were you?” Raksha asks. Mowgli looks to Bagheera before looking at his mother.

“I was at Baloo’s,” Mowgli answers. While he isn’t exactly lying, he isn’t telling Raksha everything either.

While both boys think about their chance encounter, it isn’t until Santi has fully recovered, albeit with claw scars raked across his chest, that he goes to seek out Mowgli. While it was quite a trek to get there, Santi could remember what the cave looked like.

The two met up by chance and managed to stay in contact with each other, eventually becoming friends. The days turned to weeks, which turned into months. Mowgli could have never imagined himself friends with a human. Being leader has distracted Raksha enough that she nor anyone else in the Pack has figured out Mowgli sees a human rather regularly.

The boys had initially bonded over the loss of a parental figure, but they also learned they are rather different from each other. Mowgli would tell Santi stories about the Pack and his animal family while Santi would tell Mowgli about village life and what it’s like to be a human.

Bagheera and Baloo may have initially been skeptical, but now, after having seen how much happier Mowgli has been since meeting his human friend Santi, the pair of animals would much rather Mowgli break a Law than be miserable forever. Seeing Mowgli relate to a human but also choose to come back and live his life with his family has made both Baloo and Bagheera realize that Mowgli is exactly who he needs to be.

End.

#jungle book #the junglebook #the jungle book #fanfic #fanfiction #a chance encounter #first request #writing request #oc fanfic request #jungle book 2016 #jungle book oc fanfic #thank you so much for being patient with me

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fandomficsnstuff · 2 years ago

Text

Unexpected Company-Final

(Warnings: Fluff, angst, fluff, more fluff, some more angst and fluff:3)

For the words in bold, if you want to know 100% what they mean, here’s the website I use, some of the words may have more than one meaning so I suggest picking one that fits best with the entire sentence: https://www.thuum.org/translator.php

Notes: This is platonic only! It is a prequel to A Chance Encounter but can be read alone.

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Ruth was grinning as she watched the small Hobbit children run around and play, Bilbo noticing as he had arrived with a cup of tea, handing it to Ruth as she thanked him quietly before looking back at the children. “Do you miss it?...” Bilbo asked softly with a faint smile, Ruth continuing to watch them play with a small smile on her lips. “I never had Lucia for that long, really, only about two years… I saw her under a large tree in Whiterun, begging for money… the second I had housing, I adopted her… she was just a young girl, six years old if I remember correctly…” Ruth trailed off, tilting her head a little before grinning at one of the young girls who waved at her, Ruth eagerly waving back with pure adoration and love. “And you’ve never-... thought of having one of your own?”

“No… I can’t have children” Ruth admitted softly, turning to smile at Bilbo, enjoying the way they could freely talk without the fear of stepping over a boundary. Ruth picked up the tea cup and sipped it lightly, Bilbo looking down into his cup, Ruth frowning with a sad smile at the sight. “He loved you, you know…” Ruth stated softly, Bilbo nodding without looking up, Ruth sighing lightly at the sight, putting down her tea cup. “What’s the next stop?” Bilbo asked quietly, finally looking back up at Ruth and she gave a light shrug and a smile. “Beorn. I’m going to hunt with him for the next few days after I’ve arrived, I’ve promised to tell him about the beast-blood from my world.”

“I believe he’s got his eye set on you” Bilbo teased lightly, Ruth scoffing and rolling her eyes “and he knows I’m not interested. The second I am, I’ll let him know” Ruth stated with a smirk and once more, a silence filled the room besides Frodo playing, Ruth sipping her tea quietly as Bilbo studied her with sad eyes. “You’re wrong, you know… about what you said at their funeral…”

“How would you know, Master Baggins?” Ruth asked with remorse, Bilbo sighing “because I know you, Ruth. You come here at least a few times every single year, especially after the tree… you helped me plant that tree even though you got nothing out of it yourself. You visit both Dale and Erebor to see how they are doing, you helped Balin take back the mines of Moria. Every single thing you do is filled with love and care, so why shouldn’t you be able to love someone like I loved-.... like I loved Thorin?” Bilbo asked softly, Ruth staring at him with a small frown before sighing and looking down, running a hand briefly over her face. “Perhaps one day… but it seems like a distant possibility… I’ll stick to wandering, for now… On my way to Beorn I’m going to meet Gandalf at the Prancing Pony, so I should probably get going, after Beorn I’m going to Erebor and Dale” Ruth stated softly, drinking the rest of her tea before getting up, Bilbo standing up as well “it’s been a pleasure as always, tell Gandalf that the Bucklebelt children are still asking about his fireworks, and say hello to Bard for me” Bilbo stated softly, Ruth chuckling, nodding at Bilbo before hugging him and walking down the few steps to the small gate parting ways with Bilbo before saddling up on Shadowmere who waited outside.

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Ruth couldn’t help but laugh as she sat near the table where Bard and his daughters were, his son off somewhere with a girl he had begun to know, Bard both weary and happy about it, Ruth chuckling at his concern, gently nudging his shoulder with her own. “Don’t worry so much, Bard. You’ve raised a good man, I just feel bad for all the others girls once they see he’s already taken” Ruth joked, Bard smirking with amusement, his head down but the second Ruth looked away, he looked back up at her, pleading eyes begging her to not look at him so he could admire her a little longer. “Dale is doing well, Bilbo sends his regards. Will you begin to build Laketown back up again, it’s been ten years already” Ruth asked, looking back at Bard who acted like he had just now looked at her, eyebrows raised casually as he shrugged and looked out over the people laughing and drinking and feasting. “We have plenty from the mountain but so far, no one has expressed that they wanted to return to live on the lake” he admitted, Ruth humming as she took a sip of her ale from her mug before lowering it “perhaps they just need to get settled properly, ten years is sometimes not enough for some people to stop looking over their shoulder” Ruth stated with a shrug, turning to look back at Bard who was already looking at her.

“You know from experience?...”

“No, I’ve never stopped.”

“Stopped what?”

“Looking over my shoulder” Ruth admitted calmly, Bard frowning at her with sadness “you fear for your life?...”

“How do you think I’ve stayed alive all this time?” Ruth asked with amusement but when she saw that he was genuinely concerned, she sighed, placing her mug on the table and smiling softly at Bard “I’m alright. Really, I am. Besides, I had a great teacher besides Master Neloth, he made sure of this when he found out that I wanted to travel and explore” Ruth stated with a brief chuckle,, shaking her head as she looked back out over the celebrating people, her eyes finding Sigrid and Tilda, her smile turning into a fond one as she watched them. “Tilda is a grown woman now, isn’t she?... And Sigrid?” Ruth asked softly, looking at Bard who smiled fondly at her “being the Lord of Dale makes the boys keep a distance” he admitted, Ruth chuckled “she’s a beautiful, kind woman, the men will flock around her all the same, they just learn to be more discreet” Ruth teased, Bard just smiling softly at her. “I was wondering if perhaps you’d take a walk with me?” Bard asked softly, almost as though he prepared himself for rejection and Ruth’s smile faltered, a frown forming on her face as she sighed. “Bard, you’re a lovely man, you really are. You’re humble and kind and it helps that you’re quite easy on the eyes… but I-I can’t… I won’t grow old with you, Bard, it’ll be centuries before I even start to feel the touch of age weaken my bones. And I wouldn’t be a good mother to your children or a wife to you, I can’t just-... settle down, it’s not me” Ruth muttered softly, Bard nodding with embarrassment, yet he still gave her a forced smile “I’m easy on the eyes?” Ruth rolled her eyes at his question, a scoff leaving her as she smirked, shaking her head with amusement “Talos have mercy” she joked lightly, smiling at Bard who smiled back at her.

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Ruth was smiling as she gently petted the horses in Beorn’s garden, the giant of a man watching her from a distance, unsure of how to even approach the woman, even though it wasn’t the first time she had visited. “Do you still have Niroht?” Ruth asked softly as she looked over her shoulder at him, Beorn snapping out of his trance, picking his work back up, collecting some of the honey as he gently shook his head, Ruth humming quietly with a small and brief frown. “Too bad… I guess not all things last” she stated softly, petting the horse again before turning and walking over to the other beehive, helping Beorn collect the honey, Beorn staring at her with a half open mouth, Ruth smiling softly at him. “You know what I told you, Beorn…”

“You’ll outlive me” he noted, Ruth nodding with a sigh before turning to fully look at him. “I don’t want to outlive someone I care about enough to marry, and besides, I can’t have children, Beorn, and if I remember correctly, that’s a big part of marriage” Ruth stated with a hint of sadness before picking up the bucket with honeycombs and walking inside the large cabin, Beorn following close behind after with his own bucket. “Why do you think you cannot have children?” Beorn asked softly, Ruth halting before putting the bucket down, turning with a sigh and giving him a pleading look, Beorn nodding and letting the topic go, Ruth letting out a brief sight of relief.

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Ruth was smiling as she watched the young child Bilbo had taken in, only thirteen now, an age Ruth thought of as a young man but apparently the aging was quite different in this world. “Forty-seven years of visiting and you still knock when you come to visit” Bilbo stated, mostly to himself but it made Ruth smile, turning to look at him “Master Neloth would have my head if I ever forgot my manners” she teased, Bilbo chuckling briefly, handing her a cup of tea, following her line of sight to the young boy. “Wouldn’t hurt if you learned small-talk either” he pointed out, Ruth scoffing quietly “and give up the endless silence? Never” she teased, Bilbo sitting down next to her, watching the young boy he had taken in a year ago, she had met him last year, yet not gotten to properly take a look at him and meet him. “So, he’s-... around eight in human years?”

“I believe so, yes” Bilbo admitted, Ruth humming quietly, sipping her tea as she leaned back into her seat. “So, you’ve not married yet?”

“Have you?”

“Not the point-”

“I’ll never marry, Bilbo” Ruth reminded him quietly, looking down into her cup of tea as Bilbo sighed “because you can’t have children… have you ever had a child, aside from Lucia?”

“No-”

“Then how do you know?” Ruth was silent before sighing, glancing at an occupied Frodo, standing up, putting her tea down and lifting up the tunic she had on instead of her armor, showing him three nasty, large scars on her right side, Bilbo frowning at the gruesome sight, even though they were already healed. “I was attacked, another werewolf had gone mad while I was out traveling. It was just after I had my own beast blood and I survived, killed the poor madman but-... I managed to drag myself to the nearest city, the healers said-... they were surprised I was even alive, half of my side was torn open and I could barely stand, I had lost so much blood… apparently one of the parts of me that was torn open was what would allow me to bear children. They told me they could save my life, but it was too damaged to ever truly work” Ruth admitted, trying to keep a casual facade but it was obvious she was on the verge of tears as she sat back down and picked up her tea, taking a brief sip of it. “Anyway, I won’t marry, so it doesn’t matter” Ruth stated with a shrug before sighing, continuing to collect the honey in silence while Bilbo stared at her with a mix of emotions in his eyes, the more prominent one being sadness.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked-”

“Oh stop it, Bilbo. We’ve known each other for forty-eight years, I think you can stop apologizing for asking something by now… I’d just prefer to talk about something else…”

“You hate small talk.”

“I do. But I could tell you of Skyrim instead, I don’t count that as small-talk” Ruth stated with a smirk, Bilbo nodding with a small smile, giving her a nod, Ruth grinning as she put her tea aside and leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees. “So, have you ever heard of something called Draugr?” she asked with a smirk.

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Ruth chuckled as she watched Gandalf show off his ‘fireworks’ to the other hobbit children,Ruth chuckled as she watched Gandalf show off his ‘fireworks’ to the other hobbit children, her gaze turning to Bilbo as he retold tales of his adventure to the young children. As the cake was brought out, the children ran off, making Bilbo get up and walk over to sit next to Ruth, who smirked at him, making the old hobbit frown “what? What is it?” he asked, Ruth continuing to smirk “this is quite the party, Bilbo Baggins… which reminds me,” turning around, she picked up something from the table itself that she was leaning her back against. It was wrapped in cloth with a loose string around it, something hard underneath. Bilbo frowned as he unwrapped it, his eyes widening and a grin stretched across his lips at the sight.

“I carved it myself…” She admitted with a smile, Bilbo holding up the carved pipe, perfect and precise, a crown with a real, tiny white gem carved into it, above a carved sword with dragon wings, his eyes turning to Ruth who grinned at him. “I thought it’d be a nice gift, for your 111th birthday… t-the symbol below the crown is Akatosh’s symbol, my chief divine… and above it-”

“Thorin’s crown with the Arkenstone…” Bilbo muttered, fingers crazing over the carvings with tears in his eyes, his arms wrapping around Ruth in a tight hug, the woman flinching at the sudden contact, hesitating before returning the hug. “Last time I visited you complained about your old pipe, so I thought you could use a new one on your way to Rivendell” Ruth stated casually, Bilbo frowning at her, making her smirk “did you honestly think I didn’t know?” she asked with amusement, Bilbo looking around which made her chuckle “I haven’t told Frodo or Gandalf, that should be you. I’m coming with you. It’s been too long since I’ve seen Lord Elrond” she admitted with a smile, Bilbo giving her a soft nod “you are more than welcome” he stated warmly, Ruth giving him a brief nod “good, because I’m thinking that we go through Mirkwood-”

“Ruth-”

“And then we take the mountain pass-”

“Absolutely not!” Bilbo exclaimed, making Ruth laugh, leaning back against the table connected to the bench she sat on, her stomach beginning to ache from how hard she laughed. “Ruth chuckled as everyone began to cheer for Bilbo, her elbow nudging his side before nodding toward the platform “go on, give them a speech. I’ll be in your house, I’ve had enough ale” she stated, patting his shoulder before getting up, the two parting ways as Bilbo got up on the platform to give his speech, the ring twirling between his fingers in his pocket, his eyes locked on Ruth who he could glimpse when she opened the door to his home and bowed down to walk inside. The thought of walking alongside her as she rode on Shadowmere, towards the beautiful Rivendell his heart longed for, the mountains, the rising sun and the views… it made his heart ache, only strengthening his decision as the ring slipped over his finger behind his back.

#Unexpected Company #Ruth Telvanni #The Hobbit #The Hobbit fic #Skyrim fic #The Elder Scrolls: V #LOTR #A Chance Encounter #Thorin Oakenshield company x Ruth #Skyrim

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