As Mowgli was unconsciously dragged throughout the Cold-Lairs grounds throughout several streets with several large and not-so-large-sized marble-and-stone-made-structures up towards a gigantic large towering structure that looked partly damaged as if a huge part of it were torn down by a great shaking of the grounds beneath it, he was eventually brought up to the top of its inside, whereat even as he regained a few conscious regaining moments that seemed to become like blurs to him for brief moments he was fainting repetitively even as he noticed more of the monkeys and apes around him. Soon he was placed up upon a-marble-and-stone-made-throne that was partially damaged. The roof of all this place was dark save for part of this room and the bright blue light within from which it could be seen that there were some fig-vines and regular vines throughout here and there were some damaged and parts of the roof were unstable.
By then he slowly began to lose his consciousness altogether yet not before he heard a deep, underlying growling bellowing roar. The groups of monkeys and apes present there among youngsters and adults and offspring each and all alike had stopped their scatterbrained chattering and scatterbrained chattering sounds, their groups opened up and they all had stepped aside as if there was something there of whichever they themselves were all feeling afraid. Something was coming up behind them and straight up towards that throne. As Mowgli watched briefly he saw two familiar shapes - one that of a stripped scavenging wild canine dog - a hyena - a giggling one whilst at it, and a minor-yet-still-cripple-legged-limping walking onward Fearsome Royal Bengal Tiger, its most very mildly deformed right leg moving upon the ground like some ape walking upon its knuckles and each time steps were taken were like knife sharpening sounds and big feet stepping ever closer and closer including in this instance straight toward him. Immediately Mowgli remembered who they were.
It was Tabaqui and Shere Khan. And as Mowgli felt all things around him become altogether black again, all of the terror that the young boy felt from this knowledge was followed by a chosen final wish that whatsoever was going to happen to him would all be over and ended soon.
Slowly yet surely The Fearsome Man-Eating Royal Bengal Tiger King Shere Khan stepped up toward that partly damaged throne with Tabaqui beside him, giggling and with longing upon his ugly mug of a face to watch as his master would feast upon this boy's flesh, staying behind enough to watch it all himself, giggling as the monkeys sitting by that partly damaged throne moved aside as Shere Khan growled and bellowed out to them to do so and then, stretching his mentioned right leg to the left grounding of the throne left arm had he then smiled at once, growling in the process, and then he said, "My, my. How you have grown."
He knocked another monkey aside with his mildly yet still deformed right leg paw's front side, sending that monkey flying aside for a moment as his smile increased. He had been waiting quite some time for this one exact moment, and had no intention of letting even a single one or even just a single thing get nor stand in his way now so. "And how much trouble you have caused for all of The Pack," he said, "and yet, so so much more .... to come!"
Then The Tiger King had stretched out and brandished the claws upon his right leg paw and sticking the left sided claw of it into, he immediately then here began to slowly surely very viciously scratch the young boy's left arm, smiling in delight at the whole notion of at last truly finally getting to finish what was started all of those years ago, starting from the top of the middle front of the boy's left arm. He stopped at the bottom of that part, and then he drew his claw back from out of there, and then had licked his chops.
"Just A Little Taste!" he quietly said in his delight. He stretched out his head in preparation for the taste he had so long awaited the notion of getting so he could finish what was started.
Yet before he could stick his tongue out, however though, some dust fell upon his head. He paused, and then looked up.
And then all of a sudden, all and straight through the parts of the roof set above wherein they all were standing except for Mowgli who was unconscious upon the throne, the roof parts themselves broke and collapsed as two recognizable figures had burst through. They were Baloo and Bagheera, who roared as they had burst into this room. Shere Khan had jumped away as all of this had happened and saw that Baloo and Bagheera had burst into this area, and his lips curled into a snarling sneer.
"Mowgli!" Called Baloo on out, and then noticing Shere Khan's presence amongst those troublesome Bandar-Log also called Monkey-People, he turned to look at Bagheera and then slowly the realization came to him as to why Bagheera did what he did.
"Now I do understand." Thought Baloo, yet as he and Bagheera exchanged the looks they gave to each other for a brief moment as friends do whosoever decide they will talk of such matters as what he and Bagheera were earlier at some "later time - provided if such a "later time" in their case were to at all so even so occur first. Then they had looked back at Shere Khan.
"Where is that boy?!??!?" Roared Baloo, "What have you done to him, O Great "Tiger King"?!??!?"
The Tiger very simply roared out in reply whilst in turn gesturing his head towards whereat that throne was, and then upon the two of them taking a look at the young human child and afterwards seeing what was just done to him, Bagheera prepared himself for the coming fight as Baloo roared in rage at what harm that Shere Khan's actions had just done, as all The Bandar-Log and Tabaqui had watched and bowled out, the monkeys and apes themselves sending out calls for members of those among their groups outside this place and further into The Jungles and the parts of them among and as much of all from out of all The Wilds as possible until even Hathi himself had trumpeted out in noticing all of this here, and Shere Khan roared again.
"Well do not just stand there gawping at that fat old fool of a bloated overstuffed bear and that confused black cat," Shere Khan had howled, bellowed, clamoured, growled and roared on out, "deal with the both of them so I can finish my meal!"
With that roar of command from The King Of Tigers, one of the monkeys and apes charged straight at Bagheera, as did two straight towards Baloo, and Bagheera was yet able to strike those two ones each down, there was more where those ones came from, and more and more of them were leaping with a bounds upon him and The Gruff Serious Brown Bear. They fought with paw, claw, tooth and fang, yet soon enough there were enough to overwhelm Bagheera and he ended up tumbling down the steps of the hall of the throne into a pool of cold water in which he had continued to fight the ball of monkeys and apes pinning him down there as they were all tumbling.
"Bagheera!" Baloo called out in distress, and yet even as he fought and fought off it was still not enough and he too was sent tumbling down albeit from the right side with Bagheera as from the left side of this hall. The fighting from there would at least delay them for quite a little bit.
As these other apes and monkeys and Tabaqui had watched this all as so too did Shere Khan, then he himself smiled. "Now where was I?" immediately he had both of thought and said aloud each.
He stepped back to whereat he was earlier, yet before he could finish with that, another unstable wall part among others had broken and flew through, and then Kaa had bursted into this area as well, this being itself almost like a battering ram back from Ancient And Medieval Times.
Shere Khan gasped and then jumped away again, watching as Kaa slithered around that throne and all those monkeys and apes of all The Bandar-Log began to coil and quiver in great fear! "Lllllleeeeeetttt The Mmmmaaaan'ssss-Cub aaaalllloooooonnnnee nnnnoooooowwwwww! Hhhheeeeeeeeeeee bbeeeelloooonggss to uuss!" Hissed Kaa, her coils wrapped around the throne with Mowgli as sitting under her.
Shere Khan was furious. "I am in no hurry whatsoever." he replied, "He and I will meet again, another time!"
He had then turned to Tabaqui. "Come Tabaqui!" he ordered of that wild dog.
Then Shere Khan roared, and took his leave, Tabaqui following behind for a moment before he then ended up moving alongside him at his right side. "Yes Master!" he began repeating a few times before another roar had silenced him.
Meanwhile Kaa had watched, then taking a brief look at the young boy under him who seemed to see the serpent for a brief moment had he then fainted again as he muttered out, "We be of one blood, you and I." before then muttering out Baloo's and Bagheera's names. Kaa smiled. "Ssssoooo I sssseeee tttthhhhiiiissss here iiiissss The Little Man'ssss-Cub," she immediately had thought, "quite ssssoooommmmee yyyyeeaarrssss have passssed since that night." Then Kaa turned to look at The Bandar-Log again.
She began a strange dance as she began slithering towards those troublesome monkeys and apes, and as more and more of them whosoever had heard the calls for them had come to defend their homes in all of those and these "Cold Lairs", a single hiss from Kaa bade them to stay just where they were and they remained still to the point of not daring to even move. Several generations of those monkeys' and apes' leaderless-and-rule-breaking-and-attention-seeking-troublemaking-families were scared into good behaviour of a degree by stories of Kaa who they called "a common thief in and of all The Night" that was known to steal away even the strongest of them all. All this itself was slowly surely why they all began to shiver and to then afterwards call out, "Kaa! Kaa! It is Kaa! It is Kaa! Run! Run! Run for your lives! Run for your lives! Run for your lives, you fools! Run for your lives, you fools!"
And several of them began to scatter and to retreat from the mere sight of the serpent Kaa. Save for a few who she began to interrogate and to intimidate into confessing who among them were responsible for the insults made about her by them, and when they confessed it was their own selves, it was as Bagheera and Baloo crawled back up, as the monkeys and apes they fought against were retreating and as Kaa told them, "Ggggoooo and take Tttthhhheeee Man'ssss-Cub wwwwiiiiitttttthhhh you two nnnnooww!" and was it that their confessions were followed by a one final wish in dependence upon what it was that she had in mind for them to punish them, that it would all be ended for them in a way that would allow for it all to end up as over soon.