This is fanfiction, and I do not own any of the characters except for Hannah. Thanks.
HANNAH POV
Kaa gently shook me awake. I groaned and wanted more sleep. I heard her chuckle, "Time to get up, my child. A new whole day is just for us!"
"Couldn't it wait until tomorrow," I asked her. Kaa softly hissed, "You and I will make our meal today. I've heard that Man can catch as many fish as monkeys I can swallow."
"So... you're wanting me to catch four monkeys and four fish?"
Kaa laughed, "No!"
I snuggled into her coils. I haven't slept in a long time. At home, I'd normally get the weekends to get in more sleep. On holidays, it was considered to be lucky. Kaa shifted her coils, so I had no other choice but to get up. Kaa playfully nudged me as I stretched my legs. I caught my balance.
"So, what kind of fish do you want me to get you? Big ones? Slimy ones?"
"Anything that you catch, dear. I remember that you've always wanted us to have a meal that you provided when you were younger," Kaa explained to me. I blushed in embarrassment as I remembered some stories about me wanting to go hunting with my dad at a young age.
"Get your tools, and I'll see you at sunset," Kaa said as she scooped me down onto the dead trunk.
"What if I need help with something.. like a predator," I asked Kaa, who seemed to be in thought.
"Call me. Besides, I don't think that you're prepared enough to defend yourself from some animals here," she answered. "But I will only allow this to happen just here. If you were to be in the plains, you would be considered to be a coward," she added. Wow. So here, it'll be ok for me to get to a near-death experience, but if I'm farther away from Kaa, I'm pretty much screwed. Weird. But it is understandable. I started to find the beach before getting pulled back by Kaa. I groaned in frustration.
"Oh, you're a fussy one this morning. But before you go, can you hug me goodbye?"
I frowned but gave Kaa a quick hug around her coil. She chuckled and lifted her head near me. I rolled my eyes and hugged her neck. She flicked her tongue that tickled my nose and set me back down, "Now you may go."
I headed to the plane, where I could get myself back home and get some tools. I've stayed with Kaa for about 3 days, I think it's time for me to head back to Canada. Leaves crunched underneath my shoes, but I didn't care. I'm not hunting, I'm exploring my surroundings. A couple of small vermin bolted from the bushes and retreated. I let out a started yelp and covered my mouth. I continued walking and felt that the ground was getting harder to walk on. I looked down and realized that I got caught in quicksand. I stopped moving and tried to maneuver onto my stomach so my weight could be evenly distributed on the ground. I couldn't as I felt my ankle's tendon get irritated. I stood back up and coddled my injury that happened during my first wrestling match. I ended up on crutches for the rest of the season. I groaned and contemplated getting Kaa to help me out. I heard a hiss from above my head. I looked up and saw Sneakers who happily watched from a distance of about ten feet.
"Best not to walk on that," he said.
"A bit late for that advice," I replied. Sneakers bowed his head, "Need help?"
"No, I decided that I wanted to get stuck here. Of course, I need help," I sarcastically hissed at him.
"And what would I get in return?"
"Two things."
"I'm listening. Tell me."
"One: I can share my catch of food. And two: you don't get a traumatic memory of watching something die from a place they can not get out of."
"What will you be getting today?"
"Fish and maybe a monkey or two for Kaa," I answered Sneakers who seemed interested.
"How many will I get?"
"Get me out of here, and I'll get you one before I get Kaa's," I promised him.
Sneakers happily answered, "Deal!"
I lifted my arms so he could grab my chest. And with a great rig, he pulled me out. I'm surprised that a 25-foot python could pick up a 71kg (157 lb.) girl.
Sneakers panted, and I grabbed the branches supporting us. He let go, "Where were you heading to?"
I lifted my body onto the branch, "The plane. That's where some tools for my hunting trip will be for."
"Plane?"
"Yeah, those giant white birds you sometimes see in the sky. It crashed here, and now I'm sorta stuck."
Sneakers wrapped a coil around my shoulder. I think that he wants to say sorry. However, that would be difficult since I don't think that he's been on a plane. He placed his head against mine and held it there for a bit. I excused myself and carefully stood up on the branch so I could get to the metallic bird. Sneakers moved his body so I could walk and not step on him. He hissed, "Why did you talk to me?"
"I was feeling lonely. Also, Kaa used her hypnosis on me, and I didn't know any better. Would you like it better if I attempted to kill you?"
Sneakers shook his head, "I guess that I didn't see it that way."
I sighed in tiredness. I still had to get food for the three of us, but I don't know how. I mean, yes, I will have to kill the targets. Just the thing is, where am I going to find the tools on the plane? I guess that I have to find out.
I went inside the plane and told Sneakers to wait outside for a few moments. I only found an old fishing rod (that I am guessing is an antique), a jack knife, and some ammo. I remembered that I left the rifle at the tree two nights ago. That would have been. Soo, useful. I jumped out from the plane, Sneakers followed suit, and we headed to the bog. I used the jack knife to dig up some grub and used the long elasticity worms onto the hook. I honestly wish that I was in a boat, which means deeper water and better fish. I gently cast the line into the water with a mighty splash. I closed my eyes and inhaled the air slowly, savoring the moment. I exhaled and opened my eyes, watching my breath disperse into the atmosphere and return to the sky. Sneakers decided that it was a good idea to use me as his personal step-stool so he could get on top of an overhead branch. I'm not going to lie, but he nearly took me down as he was climbing. I slightly growled at him, "Ya know the next time, you could've asked to use me as a fucking step stool."
Sneakers hissed in an mocking attitude, "Ya know, the next time you almost get stuck in some quicksand, you could've asked me to use me as a vine."
"You dumbass, I did ask you for help!"
"Not really, you prompted me with food. Not the same," he chuckled.
"You're lucky that I don't know how to climb a tree," I gritted through my teeth. Sneakers laughed and watched me fish. I felt a quick and nearly heart-stopping jerk. I waited a few more seconds and readied myself to fight the fish. The line screamed as the rod bent to the direction of my meal. I hollered, "Oh! FISH ON!"
Goddamn was this thing hard to pull closer to the shore. My heart pounded rapidly as if I caught a record-breaking walleye. I bellowed, "Sneakers, get ready to get your fish!"
I pulled with all of my might, sweat started to trickle down my face and back. I lowered myself towards the ground and prepared to pick up the fish. I got disappointed when I found out that it was a carp. Crappy fish to catch and eat back at home. I nearly gagged when Sneakers almost devoured the turd fish. I warned him not to, as the hook needed to be removed, and if not removed, then he'll get injured. I plucked out the hook as the carp flailed about, getting some water onto my clothing. I growled at the carp before tossing it in the air, and Sneakers caught it before it hit a branch. I lost my appetite when I saw him eat it whole. Slime dripping like slow, fatigued waterfall. I shuddered and casted another line into the water, as I felt my adrenaline slow down. Another tick followed, I set the hook and landed the fish: catfish. I mean, I could try to eat this. Had one before, tasted amazing (despite them being bottom feeders), and looked way better than carp. Sneakers came close for an inspection and tried to take away my catch. He succeeded, and I begged for the catfish to be returned. He lifted the catfish out of my reach and pretended to eat it. He laughed when I tried to poke him with the tip of my pole.
"Alright, alright, here," he said, dropping the catfish next to my feet.
"You do that only for monkeys," I instructed him.
"Good. Never liked the Bandar log anyway."
After about an hour of fishing, I have in total around ten fish: 6 carp and 4 catfish for Kaa. I found a suitcase nearby for me to store the fish in. I used my Jack Knife to cut my catfish just so I know which is which. Oh God, I know that this will reek later.
"Now for mammals," I sighed. Sneakers asked, "Do you need help for that?"
"If you do, you get yourself the first one."
"So I should?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Up to you," I answered him, carrying the suitcase to Kaa's tree. "Just wait until I come back to the plane, Sneakers. Then we will go out for mammals."
Sneakers bowed his head and hissed, "Will do."
****
Kaa was sunbathing on the rocks when I came back with my catch of fish. She didn't even seem bothered by my presence. Took me off guard, but regardless, I was happy to have one task done.
"Hey, Kaa. I have ourselves some fish," I said to her. Kaa chuckled, "No problems whilst doing so?"
"Well, I almost got stuck into some quicksand."
She got up from her sunbathing rock and hugged me. Boy, did Kaa ever feel warm.
"How many monkeys do you want," I asked her. Kaa softly hissed, "As many as you can carry in both arms, my cub."
"So, you want two of them?"
Kaa set me back down and wished me luck for hunting the monkeys.
"Good hunting," she said as she returned to the rock.
"It's going to be good hunting if I kill my prey," I said to Kaa before leaving. Kaa chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure you will."
I quickly sprinted to the plane, and Sneakers nearly gave me a heart attack by wrapping a coil around my leg when I got there. He laughed, "You shriek just as loud as the monkeys!"
I clutched my chest, "Well, I mean, we could be related to them and then evolved into humans."
Sneakers let go of my calf, "Could be?"
"Theory of Evolution? Darwin's Theory," I asked. Sneakers just cocked his head at everything I could answer. I shrugged and got ourselves back on track, "Let's just go and kill something for food."
Sneakers happily hissed and promised me to show me his favorite spot to hunt. Which unsurprisingly was a small patch of plains. He looked very proud for his hunting ground. But I know that mine is for sure bigger than this.
****
I thanked Sneakers for the time we both had for the day, as he laid on the ground, exhausted from the amount of food he ate (one carp, and two squirrels). I tried not to chuckle as his stomach looked as if he swallow two bowling balls in a bowling match.
I lugged the two monkeys, and one wild boar to Kaa. The sun had just begun to set when I made it to the outskirts of her tree. Kaa happily hissed when she saw me, "See what happens when I say to you, 'Good hunting'?"
I shrugged and lifted the monkeys by their tails for her. Kaa lowered herself to me and carefully plucked the monkeys, and offered me a ride up. I accepted the ride, and she carried me to the same spot where I first met Sneakers. Kaa hugged me, "Have fun?"
I simply replied, "Yeah. I'm starving now."
She hissed, "And there was no trouble whatsoever?" I nodded before quickly stealing my catfish and began to gut it. Kaa laid her head against my back, "Was there a snake that was about to harm you, my cub?"
The only snake that tried to harm me was you. I mean sure, Sneakers did coil me and *possibly* could've succeed in eating me. However it is more-so you, Kaa. I lied, "There was but, I killed it by throwing rocks at its head."
"What did you do with the snake's body?"
"Used it for bait, and then tossed the rest of it into the river," I simply answered. Kaa flicked her tongue, "Excellent. Now then, my child, go ahead and eat your meal."
After I gutted my catfish and cooked it, I sat down next to Kaa as we ate our supper. Each new lump formed and then disappeared down Kaa's body. Watching snakes eat didn't bother me much (especially if you were raised with unrestricted internet searches), as I was once fascinated by how they lived years ago. I plucked the white and flaky meat off the catfish and popped it into my mouth, nearly causing me to gag. I wished I had ketchup, which always made fish taste good. Kaa finished her meal of ten fish, two monkeys, and the one boar. Kaa rested her head on some of her coils and viewed me eat. She hissed, "Enjoying the fish so far?"
I briefly nodded as Kaa wrapped around a coil around my belly. I stopped mid-chew and raised my eyebrow. "You want the rest of it?"
Kaa shook her head, "When you are finished, we will play a game."
I smirked, "I'm getting too old for that, Kaa."
She chuckled, "You clearly forgot that I'm as old as the jungle. I've been here before the man came in and began to expand their territory into our land."
"What game," I questioned her. Kaa lifted her head to my face, "You will find out, my child."
I quickly shoved the rest of my meal into my mouth, chewed to the best that I could, and then swallowed it hard. Kaa seemed to smile as she wrapped another coil around my thighs. Now, it looks like I'm wearing a barrel from those old '50s cartoons to represent that someone is poor and owns no clothes. She hissed softly, "This game will require you, Hannah. To hide anywhere in my part of the jungle, and I will try to catch you."
"So, you're trying to hunt me," I asked her. My heart began to rapidly pound against my chest. Kaa smiled, "No. No, I'm not doing that. I'm doing this so you can prove to me that you're strong enough to live in the jungle."
"Why do I need to prove to you?"
"You seem too eager, too bold, too stubborn, and too cocky, my cub. Animals in any particular part of the jungle tend to die much quicker than those whom are humble for what they have. On our second reuniting, you were bold enough to stand up for the men, but cocky regarding myself as not your mother."
"Yeah. And you tried to kill me via your coils around my neck," I folded my arms. Kaa reared and carried me to the rock she was sun bathing on top of earlier. She let me go, "I know what I did harmed you, but I didn't mean it in that form of punishment. Anyways, go and find yourself a spot to hide. By nightfall, I will seek you until sunrise. Any questions?"
"Could I swim in the water to get to the other side of the jungle?"
Kaa shook her head, "No swimming, using the red flower, or any form of fowl-play. And if you encounter an animal that tries to hurt you, you may injure it back for protection."
"Why can't I go swimming," I asked her as I got off the rock. She picked me up and flipped my body upside down, "Crocodiles in the waters. As well as seeing you attempt to swim a couple of nights ago, I suggest that it's best for you not to drown."
"Is there anything that I can do?"
"You are permitted to fight against other creatures in the jungle only if they give you harm. And no, you may not harm me. "
She playfully dropped me back onto the ground and chuckled as she watched me stand up. Kaa sighed, "You'll be fine, Sap- Hannah. Now run along, you have roughly an hour of running and hiding."
MOWGLI POV
Dashing through the branches and dodging the creepers among the roots of the trees, I jumped and landed with a thud on my legs, turned around and smiled, "Gotcha!"
My brothers and sisters whined, "WHAT? No fair! You were climbing the trees again, that's not how a wolf runs!"
I laughed, "Well then next time, we should climb up the trees together! C'mon the council is about to start! Race ya!"
Bagheera frowned as he snook up behind me, "They are correct, Mowgli. What you've been dong is unfair to your wolf family."
"At least the branch didn't break. I made it before they did," I smirked. Bagheera sighed before we headed home. The sun had begun to set as Ami started the council meeting. She smiled before they started their meeting with their usual "Law of the Jungle" statement. Or as Baloo called it, "Propaganda." I never really saw it as propaganda though, then again we lived on different paths of jungle life.
"This is the law of the jungle. As old and as true as the sky. And the wolf that takes it may prosper, but the one who breaks it may die. As the creeper that gridles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back. For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."
I smiled at our law. I wonder if humans had laws, I'm that they do, but they don't obey it. I mean, yes, I did bend a couple of my wolf-family's rules, but that was due to my tricks! That doesn't count, I'm only using them to my advantage, not for bad.
"Alrighty, wolves. As some of you may or may not have heard is that there's another man in the jungle," mother began before a chorus of the council started to fret and argue. "Not another man in our jungle!" "Haven't they taken enough of our sisters and brethren?"
The one wolf stuck out to me as he sneered under his breath, "This is due to letting Mowgli into our pack. He's a man, and therefore he's the cause of it."
My heart shattered when he said his thing. worst part of it all was that he was my first wolf-brother when I was taken into the pack when I was a cub. At first, we loved each other. And now after growing up and going our separate ways, he learned to hate Man from stories from other animals in the jungle. Baloo and Bagheera noticed me becoming upset with the uproar of arguing before Mother got them all to listen up, "Alright you wolves! Enough. The new man in the jungle is female, and was living with Kaa the Great Rock Python's part of the jungle when she was a cub. The cub is now reaching adulthood, and has learned from Man but is currently under the watch of her adopted mother."
Wait, if Saphed was or is living with Kaa until hunters came around and took her, does that mean that she's back? All of us went quiet as she continued, "The cub is considered to be no threat to us, as she shall grant us with wisdom from Man and may warn us of possible harm before-paw. "
My first wolf-brother raised his voice, "That is a lie, Mother. No man-cub that was raised by Man will ever grant us with wisdom from what she's learned! How will she communicate with us? Man shouldn't even know what our language is nor should we know what they're saying."
He bared his teeth as he looked in my general direction, "Take my brother for example; using tricks that's not the wolf way. Speaking in our same tongues of the Jungle, yet happily breaking our laws."
Mother nearly ripped out his throat, "That's QUITE enough, son. You know nothing about this cub in Kaa's part of the jungle, for she hasn't been living in it since the hunters took her in."
Bagheera softly purred, "You should know this too, for I don't like to bring it up often. However; I was raised a cub too by Man before they decided that I should live a life free rather than waste one caged."
My brother growled, "So you're buddy-buddy with Men? No wonder you tend to stick to Mowgli so much! You think of him as one of your captors."
Bagheera hissed, "You know nothing about Men, so shut your mouth and learn from experience rather than the biases from others!"
Baloo spoke up, "Besides, we've met and interacted with the other man too. She's quite nice. I mean besides being rough on the edges, even if you provoke her, she's decent."
My brother snarled at the three of them, "You all are a bunch of fools... idiots! Man has been taking more and more of our jungle, our home as each season passes. And what do y'all do about it? Nothing."
He walked out before finishing, "I'm not willing to let my home go to ashes because of their weapons."