Meanwhile, Mowgli woke up. He was in another strange place. Though, this place seemed to be a cave of sorts, and was much brighter and warmer than Kaa’s tree.
Where am I, he thought to himself as he stood up. He looked around the cave, suddenly seeing large claw marks on the rock behind him, before looking down to see claw marks everywhere on the ground.
Oh no. This must be Shere Khan’s cave, Mowgli thought. Suddenly, thundering footsteps came from outside the cave, as Mowgli looked at the shadow cast on a nearby rock. The figure looked large and intimidating, as Mowgli landed on the floor, before closing his eyes and dropping on the ground, holding his breath to appear dead.
Mowgli opened his eyes slightly, trying to get a glimpse of the creature. He saw large brown fur facing away from him, as the creature hummed to itself. Mowgli moved his hand slightly, accidentally knocking a pebble.
The creature’s ears pricked up, and Mowgli quickly closed his eyes again. When he opened them a second time, he saw a large, black nose in his face, sniffing his hair loudly.
“AAAGGHH! GET BACK! HELP!” Mowgli screamed as he clambered to his feet. Mowgli turned and went to escape, only to run straight into the wall. Feeling cornered, he grabbed a stick and prepared to defend himself.
“Mowgli, huh? Where are you going to, then?
“Oh yeah. My wolf family has one of those. It goes like this: this is the Law of the Jungle, as old and as true as the sky. The Wolf that keeps it may prosper, but the Wolf that breaks it will die."
“Ow!” Mowgli said as he was stung, before kicking the hive and causing some honey to fall from the tree and into a small rock-plate.
Mowgli then had an idea, as he went down to get a long, ridged leave, which he then sharpened into a machete. He then made a basket with some leaves and used a vine to move it under the hive. He then used the leaf to reach over to the hive and cut down some honey sap in the basket. When he brought it back down, Baloo picked up the basket and said “now that’s how you get honey! Ha ha... well now, what have we here?” as he saw a rock on the ground.
Mowgli struggled to catch the fish, which slipped from his hands and back into the river. The mancub then had another idea, as he fashioned a grappling hook and a net made of vines. He tossed the hook across the river, using the raised net to trap the fish inside of it.