Tiger Stripes Part 2

Wouldn't it be nice to sink your teeth into that monkey?

"My name is Shere Khan" He states firmly, catching the movement above him in the swaying of the branches and the gentle descent of a leaf.

The young ape giggled nervously, "Alright your highness, Khannie it is," dropping down a branch to better stare at the tiger.

It wouldn't even be that hard, two short jumps, a quick scramble up the tree trunk, the monkey would panic and try to run, He could just see the way the monkey would bolt, snatching him out the air would be easier than a duck on the wing, and he's done that before.

"Shoo." Khan stated with no heat, "Go bother someone else."

Or maybe he wouldn't. Maybe the monkey would be a challenge, maybe they could have a merry chase through the canopy before he could sink his teeth into that delicious flesh, maybe the monkey would escape.

"Why should I?" The ape asked, with a curious tilt to his head and swinging down another branch, "You don't look all that dangerous to me."

An echo of the past. How many animals had said that and later died by his teeth and claws?

"I find myself questioning your intelligence." Khan stated, before looking away from the ape, scanning the jungle, a flash of memory reminding him of the taste of young orangutan, wondering if the ape was foolish enough to come closer.

"Whatcher doing?" The curious ape questioned, slipping yet closer.

If this was his second life, what did he want to do with it? As a cub he would not have seriously considered hunting orangutan, his friendship with Louie making the thought distasteful, he may have not considered the relationship worth much, but the ape had been amusing and hunting his family would have spoiled that source of entertainment.

As an adult, hunger had sometimes driven him to make other choices. Food over fun after all.

"I am debating the morals of an easy meal when I cannot truthfully claim to be hungry." Khan answered with a sly grin, a flicker of deadly intent in the eyes that met those of the ape's.

The ape gulped. The branch cracked.

"Oh no."

Shere Khan leapt, the ape screamed as the tiger hit him, Khan pushing off the branch as it fell, the additional weight of a tiger cub finishing what the ape had started, sending the branch tumbling down as the tiger and ape barreled into a trunk.

Khan's claws were ready, digging deep into the soft bark, teeth closing on fur and muscle as the ape started to fall.

The ape whimpered and struggled against Khan's grip, the taste of blood flooding his mouth, the sound of the branch hitting the ground hard echoing up, the ape going quiet as the pair of them trembled.

They slid but held, Khan flexed his claws and the ape whimpered, fear rolling off him.

Louie. It was Louie. Shere Khan remembered this scent too well, it wasn't just a random orangutan, this wasn't just a random encounter with a too curious monkey, this cub was Louie.

It would be so easy, just a quick snap of his teeth and Louie would be lunch.

Shere Khan climbed, powerful muscles straining at the unexpected weight and resistance as Louie tried to grasp the trunk of the tree and failed to get a good enough grip.

It would be so easy, but no. He had decided long ago that Louie was worth more than a quick snack, his favorite toys deserved better than that.

Shere Khan dropped the ape on a branch, and backed away, watching as Louie fought against the fear and confusion.

"Aren't you going to eat me?" Louie asked.

Shere Khan huffed, "No." He turned away from the monkey, wondering why he even bothered. He should have let the monkey fall.

"Thanks..." Louie whispered reluctantly as Khan leapt away.

Well. Maybe the ape was worth it. Maybe.

Tiger Stripes Part 1

Shere Khan blinked as his eyes opened on the jungle of his long ago youth, more than a dozen years had passed since he had last awoken in his current resting place, in the jungle's canopy.

He frowned, tentatively clawing at the branch, causing the bark to peal and leaving whitish marks, his claws sharp but softer than he remembered, a cub's paw rather than the adult's he had grown into.

Had he finally lost his mind then? To the man-cub and the red-flower and his entrapment, the trickery of Bagheera's cub.

Or so rumor suggested, when he listened to the whispers. The man-cub who had grown among the wolves, but beloved by the Panther and Bear. Even the Monkey-King had shown an possessive interest in the man-cub, and Kaa, for all his words and assurances had been lying as sure as stripes on a tiger.

It was curious, Shere Khan considered, that all his old friends from his kittenish days should have taken an interest in the man-cub. He wondered if Hathi had as well, it would complete the set.

Why this man-cub? Why any man-cub?

Was Bagheera so desperate to thwart his rightful vendetta that he had gathered their once friends to protect the man-cub from his wraith?

Why did Bagheera act against him, when by all rights Bagheera should be just as angry with man and their actions as Shere Khan? He may have lost a mother, but Bagheera...

There was a sudden scream and a flash of orange fur disappearing upwards into the crown of the trees. A falsely cheerful voice called out from above him, "Um, nice kitty?"

For a hallucination, this was surprisingly life like, the scents and sounds of the jungle evoking memory upon memory, things he hadn't thought about for an age.

Like the voice of the young Monkey king.

Return?

Well hello there my little dusty blog. It has been a while since I've posted anything.

I shall be moving soon, I'm actually in the process of purchasing a home. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is a very stressful process and as a result my writing is all over the place. I think I've attempted more plot bunnies this past 3 months than I have in the 12 beforehand, and I haven't been able to settle on one.

So, I'm going to attempt a plot bunny that has been taunting me for a while, which in theory shouldn't require me to write in a linear fashion. Time loops. And I'm coming at these sideways, rather than grabbing the hero, I'm grabbing a villain.

Shere Khan.

Ok, so Jungle book isn't probably my first choice of loops, but I want to play around with the idea of the Disney Shere Khan. You may be familiar with Jungle Cubs, where the main chars of the Jungle Book are cubs, and Shere Khan is actually friends with Bagheera, Louie, Baloo, Hathi and Kaa.

Considering their relationships when they are adults, a dozen different conflicts between them, I'm curious how those silly little cubs became the characters in the movie, I want to know what the fall out was.

This may not be the best way of doing that, but my favorite part of the infinity loops is the alternate loops, where the character from one version of a story lives through another version. And if you look at the Jungle book, there are so many different versions to play with.

It is established that Baloo is the Anchor of Tale Spin. While I have no intention of submitting my version as cannon for the Infinity loops, I will be using TaleSpin!Baloo at a later date, establishing Disney!Khan as the Anchor for Disney's Jungle Book, and Book!Bagheera as anchor for Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Honestly? The Jungle Book seems to have more versions than the turtle-verse. Its rather like the Musketeers and Sherlock Holmes for that, and probably for much the same reason.