Mowgli: Legend of The Jungle: The Movie Novelization: Finding Where You Belong

Chapter XXII: - "The Running"

The Morning had come, and Akela had stood upon the rock that he always had as the young wolves regarded as old enough to be a part of it had convened for the running as so too did Mowgli and Grey Brother and Akela's granddaughter Leela. They had stood whereat they had when each of them were born and when Mowgli was presented to the pack's families' council and all of their wolf parents bade these young wolves good luck as Nisha Also Called Raksha said to Mowgli, "Good Luck, My Mowgli." and Vihaan said, "Good Luck, My Son." as he did with each of his and his mate's cubs and Bhoot himself said "Good Luck, O Brother."

Mowgli had stood at the center of the young wolves on all fours, crouching as they did, and at Akela's right had stood Bagheera, whose eyes all but had seemed ever watchful as Mowgli had remained present there.

"Face The Great Hill," The Wolf Pack Leader Akela The Lone Wolf called out, "for you are all about to take part in one of our oldest traditions - The Running Of The Seonee Hills Wolf Pack."

Then Akela looked upon each wolf and Mowgli to make it altogether clear that he was addressing all of them. "Those of you who fail the test will not be able to until you try again upon the next season yet those of you who pass the test .... as a result will be able to join the pack's night hunts. As is customary since the moment he became turned to for such a purpose as this and other purposes like this one," The Seonee Wolf Pack Leader Akela had said, looking at the black panther himself who stood beside him albeit a little further from his right side, "The Black Panther Bagheera will perform his task as the one to chase you all in the process. And I as such must warn you all, that Bagheera has been told by me not to ever hold back."

Then Akela, having sat down as he spoke then straightened up and stepped forward a so small little bit, and then he had said, "Now Youngsters, right on my call ...." and a few moments of pausing later he then said, "now go!"

And with that the ones taking on this test took off yet as some of these wolves included ones who resented Mowgli immediately they had said in the process of it all, "Out of my way you freak!"

As Mowgli took off, Bhoot, who had wanted to see it all had prepared to take off yet his father - some male brown wolf, took him by the tail - after that saying to him, "Not so fast Bhoot. Your time will come."

Bhoot had yelped a small bit as he was caught by the tail by his father's mouth and then let go. "Aww Father." he muttered.

"Alright Bagheera," Leader Akela called out, prompting for the black panther to turn around just a bit to look at him as he had afterwards said, "if you will so." And so with that, Bagheera took off after the young wolves.

Mowgli and the young wolves including among his wolf brothers and sisters ran across the cliff edges as fast as they could, yet Mowgli immediately remembered what Baloo told him. "Can you run as fast as a wolf?!??!? No you cannot so! Yet you have have got hands with fingers on the ends of them! So therefore let us use them!"

So Mowgli looked down and saw the tree branches and stretching out his hands, he had jumped down and caught onto each branch and onto more cliff edges landed into the parts whereat he and Bhoot and Leela did some running to their family den homes throughout, and from there passed through a small rocky passage through another side of it all. He was almost at the lead. Up ahead was a large tree with some small clearing under it set up by fig vines.

Meanwhile as these young wolves were running towards it, out sprang Bagheera whose growls and bellows caused for them to split their groups as he frightened them with his growls and bellows, and he tried to grab at them yet they had still each managed to evade him. As Mowgli passed on throughout the clearing and came by this tree, Bagheera sprang from the right side of it just as he had managed to get through the fig vines to get into this tree's underside and as a result evade Bagheera's claws.