Orphaned [The Jungle Book] {1}

The Story Of The Human Cub

Katerina woke up by strange noises, she opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was a river beneath her. She jumped up straight and saw she was still with the Buffalo, walking at the cliff with the rain started when she fall a sleep.

The young girl looked up at the trees when she suddenly heard noises coming from them. She frowned, watching the trees shaking but then her eyes grow wide as water started to crush to trees, sinking them down, right down the cliff.

The herd stopped walking and started to back away. Katerina looked up, right above her the water was heading as well. She jumped off the Buffalo that she was riding with. She fall to the mud, and then straight into the river.

She swim up to the surface and took a breath once she did. She started swimming to a big tree the was swimming closer to her. She reached to it and hold it tightly, letting it to take her with it.

Soon, Katerina was sitting on the tree, watching the rain stopping and she was lead to a different part of the jungle. A part she never was in. The fog was covering some of the part but yet she could see. The tree was stopped and she knew she had to get out. She took a deep breath and climbed off and went straight into the dark jungle.

She looked around, "Bagheera?" She called for the black panther, yet no answer. She continued walking, looking up at the trees and then up ahead before stopping when she felt something touching her feet.

She looked down and saw something she didn't recognized. Picking it up, she frowned as she stared at the big hard thing. "Huh?" She mumbled to herself as she dropped it and then walked pass it.

She looked around again, "Bagheera!" Katerina called once again but the panther wasn't there. She suddenly felt a shiver going down her spine, it was the first time she was alone in the jungle, she always had Bagheera and the wolves with her but now she was alone - And she was scared.

She continued walking forward, looking around her.

"Bagheera!" No response.

She looked up at the trees and froze when she heard branches snapping. She quickly turned around, thinking she heard it from behind her but nothing was there. She looked around her, "Hello?"

She heard a soft hissing and she swallowed, she wasn't alone. "Hello? Who's out there?" She asked. "Hi, human cub," A soft female's voice echoed around Katerina and she jumped, looking around her. "Don't be scared," The female's voice said. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I was just passing through here. I don't want any trouble," Katerina said as she continued to look around her, her voice was slightly shaking but she tried to hid it.

"There is no trouble," The female's voice said. "Are you alone here? That's not good. We shouldn't never be alone." Katerina took a deep breath before speaking, "I'm waiting for a friend," She said. "He should be here soon."

"I can stay with you, until he gets here," The voice said, sounding as it was behind her and she quickly turned around but nothing was there. She looked back around her. "Will that be alright?"

Katerina slowly looked up at the trees to see a big snake slowly approaching her, "I'll keep you safe," The female snake said. "Just you and me, sweetheart."

"Who are you?" Katerina asked. "Kaa," The snake replied, moving over to her. "Poor sweet little cub. What are you doing so deep in the jungle?"

"This is my home," Katerina replied. "Don't you know what you are?" Kaa asked. "I know what you are. I know where you came from." Katerina was staring at the snake, "You -- you do?"

"Yes," Kaa replied, staring into the human cub's eyes. "Will you like to see?" Katerina slowly nodded, staring into the snake's eyes, "Yes."

"Mostly human stay in their village, far from the dark of the jungle. But sometimes they travel. And when they do their caves breathe in the dark. They call it the red flower. Man's creation. It brings warm and light, and destruction to everything that it touches."

Katerina was staring deep into Kaa's eyes and saw a man and a woman walking into a cave, the man was holding the 'red flower' on a stick and knelled down in front of the woman as she sat on a rock.

"Who are they?" Katerina asked. "The travelers that protecting their cub," Kaa replied.

Katerina stared, watching as the man gave the woman a small smile as he placed his hand on the female cub's cheek. The woman smiled at the man before looking behind him and gasped.

The man turned around to see a tiger walking into their cave. It was Shere Khan. The man got up, holding the 'red flower' up at Shere Khan as the woman got up, holding her cub closely to her. Shere Khan jumped on the man, holding him down to the ground. "NO!" The woman yelled as she watched the tiger killing her husband.

"Shere Khan ended the man's life that night."

The stick with the 'red flower' fall in front of the woman as Shere Khan turned to her and her cub. The woman placed her cub at the side quickly and grabbed the stick as the tiger moved to her.

Shere Khan jumped on the woman but he just managed to gave her a deep scratch on her stomach when she burned him with the 'red flower'.

"Shere Khan only managed to scratch the woman but it was deep. He was burn by the touch of the 'red flower' before he ran out of the cave."

The cries of the human cub made the woman turn to her, slowly getting up to her feet but she fall down, holding her stomach. She knew she wasn't going to make it. She cried as she looked at her dead husband before looking back at her cub. She slowly got up and took the baby to her, holding her tightly. She slowly moved out of the cave.

"The woman took her cub and left the cave. The cub was . . . You."

The woman looked down at her baby as she collapsed on her knees before up when she heard some leaves snapping. It was dark but yet she could see a black panther because of his shining eyes. She immediately hold tightly her cub, pulled her to her chest, protectively.

"The panther found you both and the woman asked him to protect you before she died."

As Katerina was staring into Kaa's eyes, the snake had wrapped herself around her. "Oh, you poor sweet thing. You want to stay in the jungle? You can be with me if you want. I will keep you close. Let go of your fear now." Kaa went closer to her, "Trust in me."

She opened her mouth, ready to eat the human cub but before it could happen, she turned her head when a bear suddenly jumped towards her, making her drop Katerina and attack the bear.

The last thing Katerina saw, was the snake and the bear attacking each other before she slipped into darkness.