It must have been the thick blanket of fog that clung to everything in the jungle, refusing to rise into the clouds and evaporate no matter how hot the sun’s golden rays beat down, that made the morning so miserable. The great palm fronds, lush leafy ferns, and enormous tropical flowers stooped under its oppressive weight as it held prisoner any desire for adventure that might have danced in a young cubs’ dreams overnight.
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you fellas,” the bear cub finally cracked an eyelid partially open and lazily cuffed at a fly buzzing around his nose. Slumped against a stone pillar in the cubhouse, he started slipping back into unconsciousness.
“…but all this napping can make a bear mighty tired.”
“Oh, yeah, that was great,” the tiger cub scoffed sarcastically, irritatedly shifting position on a crossbeam above, “Next time I need advice, remind me to ask you.”
“You mean, the great Shere Khan must possibly need advice someday?” the panther cub’s eyes popped open. Regarding the larger feline with wide yellow eyes, he added, “I never would’ve thought…”
“Ho-ho!” the little orangutan laughed out loud, perking up from the wine hammock where he’d sprawled to give the tiger a snarky grin, “Ole baggy sure got ya there, Khanny! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Shut up, Louie!” the bengal snarled softly. Rising abruptly, he leapt to a higher bean then headed towards the tunnel that led into the jungle, “You too, Bagheera. I don’t have to listen to this!”
“Aww, come on, Shere Khan…” Baloo woke up again, “They’re just kidding. What happened to your sense of humor?”
“I don’t have one.”
“What you need,” the bear pushed himself to his feet with effort, “is to learn how to relax. Be cool. Like me.”
“A jungle cat can’t afford to relax,” Bagheera stood and stretched, leaping up to stand beside the tiger, “We always have to be on our toes.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day, Bagheera.” the tiger sneered.
“Oooo, but this is all pointless!”
A frustrated trumpet sounded in the corner.
“Why, there’s no telling what’s happened while we’ve been sitting here on our tails all morning!” Swinging his trunk as he shook his head with discontent, the young elephant stepped out of the shadow of the wall, “The jungle could’ve been invaded! The river could’ve flooded! There could be a drought! Someone could’ve gotten lost in this fog!” He quickly warmed up to his own idea, “I’m telling you, boys, we need to organize a patrol!”
“Now, there’s an idea…” Shere Khan’s eyes gleamed, “I could definitely escort an animal home. If they were lost in this fog…you know.”
“Yessss,” the young python began weaving back and forth in anticipation, “I wouldn’t mind helping a poor lossst creature find it’sss way home.” His tongue flickered several times as his eyes went into a hypnotic trance, “They can trusssst in me. Trusssst in me.”
“Hathi’s right,” Bagheera leapt to the ground, walking past the hypnotized snake to join the elephant, “The only way we’re gonna get out of this drudge is if we do something.”
“I thought we were doing something…” Baloo settled back against the stone masonry, scratching his head in confusion as he rubbed his back to get comfortable, “Like getting a nice little nap.”
“You already had a nap, Baloo,” Louie tumbled to the floor and pulled his friend upright, clapping his hands over his head, “It’s time to get up and move, brother. Beat the heat with a beat, you know what I mean?”
“I hear ya, Louie.”
“Fall in, troops!” Hathi blew another short blast. Marching in place several steps, he headed towards the jungle with single-minded focus and, enjoying the specter of adventure ahead of them, almost everyone else followed.
“Come on, Kaa!”
Baloo laughed when he paused to shake their reptilian friend out of his self-imposed trance, “It’s not time for sleeping. It’s time for doing!” His eyes widened, “Wait, what am I saying?”
“That’s the spirit, Baloo!” Louie wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders, “Let’s do it!”
“Stop!”
The tiger was the only one who’d hung back, but now he jumped down to cut them off. Stalking back and forth, his tail lashed the air, “Where do you all think you’re going?”
“Well, huh…” Hathi pulled back uneasily, “Well, by golly, Shere Khan is right, boys! We don’t even know where we’re going. We need a plan.”
“Why don’t we go to the river?” Bagheera suggested, “There’s bound to be something going on there on a day like this.”
“That’s a great idea.” the young pachyderm started off, “Okay, troops, fall in!”
“Wait!” the tiger circled again, “Who’s going to be the leader?”
“Well, uh…” Hathi big ears flapped nervously, “I was—”
“You?” Shere Khan scoffed, “If you lead, we’ll probably end up going off to find your girlfriend in the fog.” He looked triumphant, thinking the others would surely drop out at that suggestion.
“Well, the patrol was his idea, Khan,” Baloo stepped up, crossing his paws over his chest, “Why can’t he lead it?”
The tiger growled, unused to being challenged, but his expression changed to surprise when the orangutan, panther, and python moved forward to stand beside their friends. It always took all of them to make the bullying bengal stand down.
“Alright, fine.”
He let out a face-saving snarl that impressed no one and the little troupe moved under the bright dripping blossoms of the golden shower tree that stood at the edge of the Lair. Then they turned left at the great banyan tree and followed a well worn animal trail to the steadily flowing waterway with a jaunty step.
“No flood or drought in sssight,” Kaa looked disappointed, “and the fog is ssstarting to lift too.”
“Let’s head upstream,” Bagheera suggested, “I still say we’ll run into someone or something.”
“Why not downstream?” Louie asked, “Go with the flow, you know?”
“Well, alright,” the panther shrugged, “Downstream, upstream, I don’t think it really matters.”
“Downstream,” the tiger asserted himself forcefully. It was a command and, this time, the others simply followed.
“The Legend of the White Tiger…”
Recognizing their direction a few minutes later, as they’d passed under a tree where two vultures were resting, Bagheera remembered an old story.
“W-w-what?”
The others skidded to a stop as Cecil and Arthur woke up and started circling above with stupid hungry expressions pasted on their faces.
“Now, hold on a minute, baggy…” Baloo crossed his paws over his chest again, “We want an adventure, but nobody—”
“Haven’t you guys heard of it?” the panther looked surprised, “It’s an old legend, generations old, I’ll bet, about an immortal white tiger who comes to hunt on the southern plains sometimes. They say it’s the strongest, fiercest, most terrible hunter in the whole jungle!” His eyes grew wide with wonder, “No one knows where it comes from or where it goes when it isn’t here, but, a couple days ago, I heard it was back.”
“Oh, yeah?” Louie put his hands on his hips, “Well, why didn’t you mention it? I might have gone down there, you know?”
“Relax, Louie,” Shere Khan threw him a glare, “It’s nothing but a bedtime story someone made up to freak out their cubs. I’m the best hunter in the jungle.”
He turned and stalked on, his strides becoming longer and more purposeful with each step. The others could tell he was angry but they followed anyway.
Bagheera was second in the line. Moving with nimble silent stealth in the larger feline’s wake, he wasn’t particularly afraid of whoever they’d find, just curious. He didn’t know what to make of the old legend either but, as long as whoever was out there obeyed the laws of the jungle, he figured it was as welcome as everyone else.
Hathi came next. He was a little annoyed about losing his command so easily but contented himself with the knowledge that he was taking an active role in protecting their home. He wondered about this legend. Was it good or bad? Certainly, it would be up to them to find out. Then they could be at the forefront if anyone needed to be warned.
Baloo and Louie walked together, hands and paws clasped in trepidation. They didn’t want to be called cowards but they had fleeting thoughts of not caring about their reputations if things got dicey.
Kaa brought up the rear, slithering quickly to stay in his friends’ shadow. He wasn’t really worried about the possibility of becoming someone’s dinner and even entertained a weird thought or two about practicing his hypnosis technique on whoever was out there.
Breaking out of the trees onto the wide grassy plain, the panther hunkered down to a careful slink, but the ones behind him stopped completely. Watching the tiger march on, with heedless ambition to seek and destroy, Baloo could only shake his head and marvel.
“I think Khanny must have lost a few marbles in this heat.”
“What about Bagheera?” Kaa rose halfway off the ground; swaying vaguely from side to side, his tongue flickered anxiously.
“Ole Baggy ought to know what he’s doing,” Louie was cross, “He knew about the white tiger the whole time and didn’t tell us.”
“That’s not nice, Louie,” Hathi frowned, “Remember what Akela says?”
“Now, this is the law of the jungle,” Baloo balled his paws into fists as determination darkened his snout, “as old and as true as the sky.”
“And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper,” Hathi and Kaa joined in, “but the wolf that should break it must die.”
“As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the Law runneth forward and back,” the three cubs finished together, “The strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
“Uhh, hello in there…” the orangutan threw them a disgusted look, “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not wolves!”
“You know that doesn’t matter, Louie,” Hathi shook his head in disapproval, “Bagheera is our friend and if he’s in danger, we have to help him.”
“Shere Khan too,” Baloo added, in a heady moment of inspiration. Scowling at their silence, he stepped forward, “Well, he is, isn’t he?”
“Yeah…” the others followed.
“Well, this is just great…”
Louie looked uneasily from left to right as they cautiously made their way through the tall grass. Everyone knew they couldn’t catch up with their feline friends without running and none of them were dumb enough to do that.
“Be on your guard,” Hathi whispered.
“You guys are completely stupid.”
Shere Khan suddenly appeared beside them, glaring with impatience.
“I told him we had to stick together.”
Bagherra smirked at their terrified faces.
“Let’s go.”
The tiger struck out again and, this time, the panther waited for the others to move ahead before falling in behind. Everyone’s hackles were raised and, after a few minutes, Louie bumped his best friend’s ribs.
“What?”
“Be quiet,” Bagheera growled softly, “We’re getting nearer the place.”
“Well, I don’t think six cubs will bother it,” the orangutan retorted over his shoulder, “if it’s the roughest, toughest, meanest thing around.”
“I’m the roughest, toughest, biggest, meanest animal in the jungle,” Shere Khan snarled, “Remember, Louie…”
“Well, sure, Khanny,” the little primate chuckled nervously, “We don’t have any doubts about that. But this legendary tiger thingy, whoever he is, does he know?”
“Well, we’ll probably find out a lot faster if you don’t keep your mouth shut.” Hathi answered crossly.
Right on cue, a loud screaming roar sent everyone a couple inches off the ground. Then, before they could get their bearings, their bullying leader was knocked flat on his back by a blinding flash of white fur.
“You boys are pretty pathetic, you know that, right?” the tigress cub’s paws pressed into his shoulders, “I heard you coming a mile off.”
“It’s a girl!”
“Ooo, we’ve got some smart ones here,” she laughed, “My name’s Yura, by the way, and this is my turf. My mother and I changed our hunting ground…to right here. So you have to stay out.”
“Hey, let me up!” Shere Khan howled.
“Not until you tell me what you’re doing on our hunting ground!” she pressed on his throat, “We came last week and we intend to stay until we’re good and ready to leave. Got it?”
“Oh, he gets it alright! Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha!” Louie started laughing, “The meanest, roughest, toughest— He, ho, ha, ha!”
“Uhh, Louie…” Baloo gave his friend a guarded look, “Ole buddy, maybe you oughta…” Eying the two tigers nervously, he swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Trussst me, we’ll leave sssoon.” Kaa tried his own method, slithering closer as the orangutan continued his hysterics, “We won’t ssstay long, sssince we’re not wanted.”
Glancing back in confusion when his movement stopped, he saw a heavy black paw on his tail.
“Kaa…”
“Bagheera…”
“Let me up!” Shere Khan thrashed, “Get off of me!”
“My goodness, you’re in a real fix, aren’t you?” Yura showed her teeth, grinning as she held him down, “Why did you come here?”
“Hahahaha!”
“Just wait till I get a hold of you, Louie!” Shere Khan turned daggered eyes on the little primate.
“That’s what I’ve been doing, Khanny. Ha, ha, ha! But it hasn’t happened yet! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Louie…” Bagheera growled again.
“Don’t be such a spoil sport,” the orangutan shot him a scowl, “Ole Khanny put us all in danger with his dumb ole legend and now he’s getting what’s coming to him! Ha, ha, ha! The roughest, toughest, biggest, baddest hunter in the jungle isn’t Shere Khan. It’s a girl! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Make him shut up,” Yura was disgusted, “He makes me sick.”
“Now, we’re getting somewhere,” the upended bengal allowed himself a snicker, “Let me up and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Not until you say please.”
“What?” the tiger roared; she’d gone too far, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all.”
“He, ha, ho!” Louie laughed even harder, doubling over and slapping his hands together, “Oh, this is great!”
“Louie…” Bagheera tried again; he saw the fear in the others’ eyes, “I think you better do what she says.”
“Says the guy who got us into this mess in the first place!” the orangutan was getting out of control, “Just because you’re so smart, you think—
“Ahh, Louie…” Baloo looked aghast, “Has Baggy ever steered us wrong?”
“Well, no…” For the first time, the little primate looked chastened.
“And you think he is now?” the bear gestured, “She’s a tiger too.”
“I guess not…”
“You guess?” Baloo’s tone rose.
“Enough!” Yura gave them a hungry leer, “Honestly, you boys are the dumbest animals I’ve ever met!”
For a moment, the little group of friends stood motionless with terror, then an idea popped into the panther’s mind and he seized the opportunity.
“Hey!” Louie howled with surprise when he was slammed to the ground, “What gives, Bagherra?”
“Serves you right, you little brat!” Yura snickered. Giving the smaller feline a nod, she added, “Nice!”
Shere Khan too began to chuckle until he caught his friend’s glare. Then he realized what he had to do.
In the next moment, it was the white tigress who found herself penned to the ground and, as he loomed over her, the bad bengal couldn’t help a soft snicker as his thoughts turned to retribution.
“Enough, Khan.” the wise panther’s voice entered his unwilling ear, “Let’s go.” Stepping off of the orangutan, he repeated, “Let’s go.”
“Why?” Shere Khan growled.
“Because Yura has a right to be here; her and her mother both,” the answer was simple, “This is their hunting ground for the season. The white tiger always moves on. When they leave, we can come back.”
“I’m staying as long as I want.”
The larger feline started to growl again but the sound was cut short when another fierce scream cut through the air. All the youngsters turned pale.
“Mother…” Yura swallowed hard.
“I think,” Shere Khan backed off quickly, “I’d like to leave now, after all.” Trying to say face, he paused to add, “Uh, see you around, okay?”
It was the last thing anyone said before the friends bolted for the trees, but in the sky overhead the conversation continued.
“We always miss out on the best meals.”
“Yeah…”