The swift icy breath of the tumbling breeze swirled through and over the tall mossy trees of the Indian Jungles. The afternoon sun pouring its rays over the Jungle canopy, the billions of leaves shielding the Jungle carpet below, the dry crumbling dirt of the Jungle soils vibrated slightly as two differently sized figures ran through, racing towards a large humped stone that extended out the earth below like the many living plants around it, as if it had roots of its own. Despite its large bump, the stones slanted surface was smooth and tough, perfect for the exhausted animal to just lay and relax upon without a care in the world.

"Beat Ya!" called a young human child, his skin a light tone brown, his body almost completely bare except for the crimson red loincloth that was tied around the lower area of his body, covering the very tips of his legs and concealing whatever the boy hid below. His soft, slightly exhausted fingers feeling the hard soothing texture of the stone as they lay upon it, to symbolise he was the first to touch it. The child's name was Mowgli, though he was dubbed man-cub by many residents of the Jungle, he was raised by a family of wolves, though had to leave when a threat so great emerged that the pack could not protect him from and sent him away.

"Well aren't you the speeding Cheetah" the second figure called out as it slowed down to a halt a few yards away from the Man-cub, his size much greater than the child, he was a bear after all. His light grey messy fur gave a large shook to remove any dirt that may have caught against his fur during the little race he and Mowgli had, treating the child as if he was his own cub. The long itchy back, slumped itself gently against the smooth, pleasuring textures of the rock, resting one foot on top of the other and letting out a great yawn from his mighty jaws, his short stubby nose slowly rising upwards reflecting the sun's rays as his mouth widened to its max before closing once again, hiding his array of sharp mango stained teeth.

"Would you two slowdown" called another breathless voice "I'm getting too old for this" it continued, as a long, obsidian Black Panther emerged from the weeping bushes as they jangled about as the panthers thin streamline body passed through. His two great amber colour eyes, perched themselves upon the bear and the man-cub as he crept towards them, pulling a concerned look upon his face as if he wanted a long harsh discussion with the ever irresponsible Baloo who thought he could take care of the man-cub rather than allowing him to complete his favour to the wolves by getting him to the safety of the man-village.

"Well well well….this again" Baloo groaned as his tone black pupils followed the steps the panther made, not looking forward to the long discussion that was to be had. His head turned towards Mowgli who was still standing beside him, leaning against the inviting texture of the stone.

"Why don't you go relax on the other side, you probably don't want to hear what this old cat has to say" Baloo encouraged. Mowgli nodded as he turned towards the rock and gave a great leap, scrambling to climb up it and follow the advice papa bear told him, he knew Bagheera just wanted to take him to the Man village, he could never trust him anymore, he was a wild child, he wanted to stay in the Jungle, not in some fancy man-village where all they ever did was work and wear silly garments in the hot Indian sun.

  As he successfully conquered his climb upon the stone he slid down it, feeling the smooth solid texture as the back of his soft sun-baked body, shutting his eyes and relaxing in water little rays poured down from the Jungle canopy, slowly beginning to snooze as words he didn't care for emerged from the mouths of the two animals behind him. He didn't have a care in the world, as long as he was with Papa bear, he would be safe and happy…..or so he thought.

Mowgli never realised that lying against this of the rock, kept him out of Baloo & Bagheera's view, not that it would matter to him, but it did to another. Up in the branches of a tree stationed directly in front of the rock, was someone he knew from a previous encounter, that had been fortunate to both him and Bagheera for Kaa, a mighty rock python, infamous for his powerful hypnotic ability's had once again got his sights on the man-cub he was so close to devouring that fateful night.

The python's head peered from the branch above, his black pupils glowing against an amber backdrop, scanning the area again, ensuring Bagheera's were still on Baloo and ensuring he wouldn't be spotted if he slithered down towards the child to make his move.  Getting as low as he could, his coils flashed in the sunlight as he slowly slithered towards the child placing his head directly in front of Mowgli's. The child still snoozing as Baloo's moans and Bagheera's objections hid whatever sounds were going on around him.

Kaa's long slimy tongue flicked against Mowgli's cheek, though only second-lasting it greatly disturbed the man-cubs nap. His head shook and his un-expecting eyelids split open. However, rather than seeing the mighty rock python's head hovering above him, what he saw instead  was a great whirlpool of every colour imaginable! As if a rainbow had been sucked by a drain and was swirling around as it was sucked up into the void. However, it was the whites of the boys eyes that disappeared as the very same pattern of colours emerged out of the blue. His eye pupil had begun to shrink into a tiny spec, before it vanished completely.The now entranced child sat up to get a better view…

Kaa snuck a peek from behind the rock, Bagheera was still blathering on about how Irresponsible Baloo was, and how the child was not safe with him. He was indeed right, Kaa thought to himself, as now was his chance to kidnap Mowgli, and succeed where he had failed those few nights ago. The tip of Kaa's tail joined the pair, the very end of Kaa's long maze of his many, many metres of coil, ready to bind his new prey within a tight cocoon. The tip of Kaa's tail formed a short of curved pyramid; the very tip was sharp even. It wrapped itself around the man-cubs stomach, wrapped one, two and three loops, securing the child. After yet another quick peek, Kaa slowly lifted the child into the great portal of leaves above him, taking them into the world of the Jungle canopy, a place where Mowgli would remain hidden as the discussion between the two unsuspecting animals below continued…

Kaa was already freaking out from excitement, a very active feeling of delight boiled inside him, but he couldn't let himself get carried away, not this time. He now knew how foolish it was of him to respond to that Panther as he happily celebrated his small victory of catching the Man-cub…which leaded to that incident. and the boy's freedom from his coils. Not letting that happen this time Kaa, keep calm, he thought to himself, as he did loops of his coil were forming together, slowly but surely forming some kind of large cylinder like shape until it was large enough for a certain cub to fit within. Once completed,  he realised his grip on Mowgli and the child flew…

Only a second later and Mowgli landed on an awaiting coil of snake a slimy yet inviting texture soothed Mowgli, as it suddenly sloped and formed a slide which curved around and around before it ended at a final drop where a new snug sensation suddenly came about the child. It squeezed around him as the child gave a sigh of pure relaxation. The coils had fit him as if it was a brand new jacket, "trussst me man-cub, it fitssss!" Though jacket had covered the entirety of his body, only his head and the very tips of his feet were visible. His long skinny body and his crimson red loincloth were trapped within the cocoon. Never to feel warmth of the sun's rays again, if that was the pythons wish.

  A great smile had developed upon Kaa's face, his delight was too great, if he could he would yell and yell in great delight, but he couldn't he was a silent predator and he still wasn't out of the red yet! He knew soon enough the two musketeers below would realise there was no third. He had to get the man-cub away from here as fast as possible. With his luggage already packed, Kaa began his long tedious journey of carrying it from tree to tree in hopes of getting it away…. Kaa had succeeded.

It was only 5 minutes later that Baloo finally stood, giving a firm annoyed look upon his face, not wanting to continue listening to Bagheera's concern.

"I've had enough of this Bagheera, he's staying with me and that's final!  Come on Mowgli, let's leave this wussy pussy behind…" There was an odd silence, the two of them gulped.

"M…Mowgli" Baloo questioned as he peaked around the stone to where Mowgli should have been lying…"MOWGLI!" The Man-cub was no longer present… for his presence had already left a while ago. Baloo fumbled about, he quickly scanned the surroundings, sliced through the neighbouring bushes with his razor sharp claws…

"No… he's gone…but why….and how" Baloo whimpered, stunned by the discovery.
"Because you didn't keep an eye on him, like a good parent would" Bagheera sighed "I keep telling you these things but do you listen? No….now look what has happened…" Bagheera sighed again, looking down at the ground in shame, hoping the bear would finally see terms with what he was saying….before picking himself up and stating…

"Look, I'll search from the branches, he can't have gone far, you search the ground, we'll meet back up here in 10 minutes, and if we haven't found him by then…we have a real problem".

Baloo nodded in agreement, the two went their separate ways, both hoping they would find the man-cub, return back and continue as normal… sadly these hopes were not too be fulfilled as by this time, Mowgli was nowhere near the stone and was now under a deep meditative slumber within a new snug cradle that rocked him as it moved from tree branch to tree branch. His own body heat reflecting off the scaly coils and warming him further, he truly didn't have a care in the world, he no longer had control over himself and was now the prey of the mighty Kaa and his hypnotic powers…

By the time the cradle stopped rocking the sun had already sunk to the horizon, it's once great rays of yellow had turned to orange….even red before the daylight officially ended and nightfall fell over the Jungle canopy. Not that Mowgli would have noticed….his eyes, shut tightly not even feeling the strong thick branch that his behind was now perched upon as the Python settled down for a celebratory rest after his success in the capture of the man-cub....