By the sea, By the Beautiful Sea

[Grey Brother]

Grey Brother’s ears quickly plaster back against his skull upon sight of the striped feline. “Khan” Grey greets the monster before turning to his brother as the boy speaks to Shere Khan. Yellow orbs blink at his brother’s statement before he softly exhales “there will be no fighting little frog, if Khan and Kaa know the laws they would know that this beach is on neutral ground, a safe spot for all armies” his tail rises upwards a tiny bit. “Should of the brought the red fire, Brother. At least it shall keep us warm” another warning look was given by the wolf before stepping towards the jungle just Incase 

[Deleted]

A dark glare was shot towards the slithering beast near him, the snake's body was tensed and looked ready to strike but Khan was not convinced that the cowardly reptile would follow through on his action. In fact, he even went as far as to show his teeth at Kaa, a low rumble of warning bubbled out of his chest. "If I were you, I'd think twice before striking Kaa." He retorted bitterly, the snake's name hissed out like the sound of hot iron being dropped in water. However, the mocking tone of the man-cub caused Khan to pause. His golden hue was fixated on the snake before it slowly panned over to the boy who was so stupidly jesting at him.

Then the wolf joined in.

Oh, what fools. His dark ears drew back before he pushed his sore body forward, slow long strides guided him forward and around the man-cub and wolf. His body placed between them and the jungle. He would not make the mistakes he had in the past, no he had read the escape route before they had even plotted it. Like an eyesore, hard to miss.

"You think you know the laws here, wolf?" He quipped angrily. "This isn't India, these people don't follow your rules. If you were smart-" His snarl suddenly grew in volume. "You would have stayed home. Where you were safe, with your stupid little pack, but like always you don't think before you act." He snapped back in retort, his gaze immediately focused back on Mowgli after he was done scolding Grey like an impudent little child. "And the red flower? You didn't even make it. You stole it from the man village... I'm not the fool I once was, boy, and YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME THIS TIME!" 

He lept forward with all of his bodily might. Lunging for the man-cub without a hint of hesitation, his claws extended and a roar ripped out of the large striped cat.

[Mowgli]

Mowgli was struck with terror as the beast leaped toward him. Luckily, he managed to jump to the side and dodged the attack. Then, acting purely out of instinct, the man-cub grabbed a handful of sand and threw it right at the tiger's eyes, hoping to blind him and give himself more time to flee.

Knowing the tiger would pursue him anywhere he went, Mowgli dove into the ocean and swam as fast as he could. He tried to make it look as if he was heading further out, in case Khan was swimming after him, but subtly swam around the beach and planned to get back on land once he reached the other side of the beach.

[Kaa]

Kaa quickly slithered forward towards Mowgli, but hesitated. It was only for a second, but it was long enough for Mowgli to go out further. He hissed and made a dive after the man-cub. He wasn't gonna lose to Shere Khan. Not here, not ever.

[Grey Brother]

"You think you know the laws here, wolf?" "This isn't India, these people don't follow your rules. If you were smart-"
Grey Brother’s ears slide back against his skull, hackles raised.

"You would have stayed home. Where you were safe, with your stupid little pack, but like always you don't think before you act."

“My-my pack is with my family, my brother “ he swallows his fear as the tiger grows increasingly enraged at Mowgli

"And the red flower? You didn't even make it. You stole it from the man village... I'm not the fool I once was, boy, and YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME THIS TIME!" 

“Ru-“ His little brother had already took off thankfully dodging the striped demon and raced towards the sea. “I’ll catch-“ it was then he spotted Kaa making a grab for the boy and he pouches driving Kaa’s skull into the sand pinning him there before leaping ahead after the man-cub hoping to somehow hold off the tiger.

[Kaa]

Kaa hissed and twisted. "Let go of me!" the snake yelped. He then sunk his fangs into the wolf's paw as hard as he could, hoping he could escape.

[Deleted]

Sand collided with his face and an agitated snarl left the tiger king. He was quick to throw his head side to side, shaking the particles free of his face before he saw that damn reptile make his move. His anger only increased and he went to lurch forward, but Grey Brother cut in. Dealing with the snake and giving him the opportunity to chase Mowgli.

One which he did not hesitate over, he was quick to dart after the man cub. Kicking up sand on his way into the water, he threw himself into it. Large paws quick to swim after the boy with ease. He had made a massive mistake going into the depths. Tigers were known to be good swimmers, unlike most big cats.

"Mowgli!" He bellowed angrily as he got closer. As soon as he was within reach he threw his paws forward attempting to grasp the man cub with razor-sharp claws.

[Mowgli]

Mowgli continued to swim as fast as he could, he had to come up with a plan to get rid of Shere Khan. The ocean didn't provide him the advantage he had hoped for, retreating up to the trees was out of the question and he wouldn't be able to hold his breath to hide in the seaweed-covered seabed below for more than a minute. At this point, only human weapons or the Red Flower could save him.

Or is it? Just as Shere Khan was reaching for Mowgli, he dove further down and towards the seaweeds, engulfing himself in them. Having only a second to react, and quite lucky that the water slowed Khan's momentum a bit, Mowgli had come up with the idea to use the tiger's anger to his advantage, hoping to tangle Shere Khan's in the vast bed of seaweed while looking for the man-cub and by the time he'd break free, Mowgli would most likely be hiding deep inside the jungle.

"Getting slow, are you? You overgrown weasel!" Mowgli shouted as he resurfaced, trying to get the tiger angrier to make sure he'd follow him. Then he took a deep breath and vanished into the seaweeds. Now the only thing left to do was hoping the tiger would follow him and fall for the trap.

[Grey Brother]

“Swim Mowgli!” Grey Brother reaches the waters edge the waves lapping at his paws as he could only watch with fear and dread as his little brother is forced to deal with the big cat on his own. The wolf paces the shoreline anxiously as he wait for the man-cub to emerge from the water, having taunted the beast once again. A move that would surly have their black panther mentor fuming.

[Deleted]

In the past maybe Mowgli would have won this scuffle by now but then again Khan wasn't going to be a creature of habit any longer. While the taunt did grate across every old frayed nerve he had, he did not buy into it. Instead, he played smart and did not follow the boy under the surf. That would just be a waste of energy.

He moved to a part of the water where he could stand up, heavy breaths left him as he regathered himself and waited for the boy to resurface. Grey Brother was down the shore only a few paces but he would turn on him if he had too. The wolf didn't seem to be as dumb as the man cub. Maybe he'd survive the night.

He didn't think on it long though, he saw the cascade of bubbles begin to hit the surface of the lulling waves and braced himself to lunge for the child as soon as his head raised above the water. No more games.