Kaanalysis: The First Encounter

Having been roused by a familiar voice bickering with a stranger a few tree branches under his, Kaa the snake slid down from the one he had been perched on, catching sight of a man-cub.

A bit too short and scrawny for his tastes, but Kaa was never one to deny a meal. Especially when it's man, the most delicious kind, the perfect blend of sweet and salty, the flesh smooth and tender.

Having already been pleased with this prospect of supper, the snake's eyes widen further once he confirms it's not just a man-cub, but THE man-cub; the one raised by Akela's pack.

He didn't know what exactly the boy could be so sad about, but it wouldn't matter, for at that moment he had just become his next meal.

With the man-cub having just declared he could look out for himself, the irony was almost delicious. The cunning snake then realised the man-cub was being taken to the man-village against his will, that his desire was to remain in the jungle.

Well, Kaa was more than happy to grant him that wish. Probably just not the way the boy would imagine.

But first, to check on Bagheera, his old friend. Sadly, not close enough of an acquaintance to make the python abandon his hungry pursuit.

Kaa couldn't believe it, the panther was more than halfway up to dreamland. That delicious man-cub was being practically served to him on a silver platter!

Well, time to slide the boy down the hatch and put him where he belongs.

Kaa could tell by the way the man-cub was barely intimidated by the sight of him that the wolves had likely sheltered the boy during his whole life, rendering him unafraid of the jungle's many dangers. This just madeg things even easier to work with.

He decides to play coy at first, testing his prey's behaviour while sizing him up. The python expected everything: from fright to defiance, but he had never expected the wolf pack to have raised such a rude, spoiled cub.

Oh well, no point teaching him some manners now. Not that it would have changed anything regarding the man-cub's fate.

The python slides down more of his length, curious to see how the man-cub reacts, but Mowgli is too caught up in his own misery to acknowledge him.

He sees the python as nothing but a mere pest that had shown up at the worst possible moment, too drowned in fury to realise that long, thick body could easily wrap around his own and overpower him without much effort.

Kaa simply can't believe the wolf pack had raised such a helpless thing. The boy was being either too foolish or too proud to call for the sleeping panther. Regardless, it didn't matter.

Although Kaa knows he can simply use his coils to crush or suffocate his prey like other constrictors do, he's never been a big fan of that. He much preferred employing another method to lure them into his jaws.

All the man-cub would have to do was look into his eyes...

But he instead pushed the python's head away with a rough shove.

Kaa was simply flabbergasted. No one had ever treated him this way. He was definitely going to teach this boy a lesson.

To make matters worse, the boy's petulant complaining had just roused his guardian. Hearing Bagheera speak, Kaa became initially displeased. He had hoped to avoid direct confrontation with the panther and take care of the boy without rousing him at all.

But he quickly realises that Bagheera is just rambling in his sleep, having not caught hold of his presence at all, instead scolding the boy for his petulant arguing.

He didn't even bother to look back and confirm that the man-cub was talking to someone else.

Even better, he had just given the python a fantastic idea as he told the man-cub to go to sleep. It was simply perfect! No better word for a trigger.

That way Kaa would ensure the man-cub would go down the hatch not only placidly but also painlessly. And, by appealing to his guardian's words, it was going to be even easier to ensnare him.

Poor thing won't know what hit him.

Determined to succeed, Kaa hardens his focus, for concentration is essential when it comes to what he is about to do.

His gaze shifts yet again as the hunt begins.

The boy looked even more frustrated now, certainly seething at having being reprimanded. He was glaring at Kaa in an attempt to look intimidating, which was exactly what the python wanted.

Kaa then blinks in preparation.

And, as he adresses the man-cub, telling him to go along with Bagheera's words, his eyes begin to pulse with a ring of blue.

This is the serpent's unmatched ability, feared throughout the jungle. His hypnotic eyes, able to entrance any creature, human or animal, with mesmerising rings of green, yellow, and blue.

And surely enough, as he beholds the colours pulsing outward from the centre of Kaa's wide eyes, Mowgli's gaze begins to soften.

However, Kaa is a little rusty with this talent because he hasn't used it for quite a while. He loses his focus for a moment, leaving Mowgli wondering just what had happened while the snake blinks...

Only for the hypnotic colours to return to Kaa's eyes right away, further widening the boy's gaze, his jaw dropping and leaving his mouth open, hanging ajar.

The man-cub's eyes then begin to mirror those rings of colour, albeit at a slower pace.

This time, as Kaa blinks again, the boy's gaze remains stuck in that adorable awestruck expression, enthralled by the mesmerising colourful display coming from the snake's eyes.

Kaa then begins pulling his head back, testing his hold on the man-cub.

And surely, Mowgli follows along, leaning his torso forward, his gaze magnetically trapped by Kaa's. Kaa knows that step one is done. The boy is hooked.

He then begins to sing, crooning a sweet lullaby, politely beckoning for the man-cub to go to sleep.

The python had always prided himself on having the best singing voice in the jungle, but, coupled with his hypnotic eyes, it was simply irresistible.

He could see the man-cub resisting, trying to grasp what was going on.

So he keeps swaying around, undulating in the air.

Not only the man-cub would be forced to try and keep up with him, further distracting him from those unnecessary thoughts, but it would also dizzy him further.

Although the colours in Mowgli's eyes had slowed down, the weariness was evident in them, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

His body felt limp as jelly, yet heavy as lead, his arms hanging placidly at his sides. His legs also dropped, now straddling the branch he was sitting on, hanging uselessly in the air. Only his heavy head kept moving, dragging his increasingly weary body along with it.

The boy tries to make sense of those beautiful colours, faintly remembering being annoyed by the peculiar python, who now became all he could focus on. The world outside them both has vanished, his field of vision shrinking to focus only on those eyes and that sirenlike voice.

That sweet singing voice was dripping like warm honey onto his ears, like a caring parent's tender lullaby, making him feel foolish for ever having denied him.

The boy's whole body is on complete sensory overload. His skin tingles as a faint breeze wafts past him, coating it with a layer of goosebumps. His pupils grow thicker due to the waves of bliss that splash throughout his whole being with each colour that comes from Kaa's eyes.

And, as Mowgli keeps listening to that seductive lullaby, watching those pulsing eyes, trying to predict which colour would come next, he grows more and more lethargic with every passing moment.

The colours in the boy's eyes begin to pick up the pace, soon mirroring Kaa's with only a second's delay. The python just smiles all along, knowing it's time for the next step to capture the boy.

While he keeps singing to the boy with an ominous verse, telling him to rest in peace, the tip of Kaa's tail slithers around the tree trunk from behind the trunk, ready to wrap up his prize.

Although he keeps the boy's induction going on nice and slow, enjoying wearing him down, the python is determined to prevent any resistance coming from him.

The contact of the cool scales with the boy's warm body is simply marvelous for the python, with his prey being too mesmerised to acknowledge it at first.

The boy's arms are gently pinned at their sides, ceasing any possible struggle before it could even happen.

Having grown up with the wolf pack, Mowgli wasn't used to being hugged. Yet the python was all hugs, his loops of coils like multiple embraces, further reassuring the boy that he was safe, holding him with dominant affection.

All while Kaa's circling head rose upwards, dragging the boy's along, whose movements were growing more sluggish with exhaustion.

However, the python takes his time claiming the boy's supple flesh, enjoying his warmth and the feeling of his tanned skin against his cool scales.

At this point, Mowgli's head is barely moving along, the boy's resistance all but gone.

His eyelids have grown so heavy that it's a struggle to keep his eyes open.

Closing them was becoming more and more appealing by the second.

But he still tries to open them wide, forcing him to absorb as most of those deliciously mind-numbing colours as he can while fighting the growing drowsiness.

However, it's becoming harder and harder for him to do so.

The combination of Kaa's hypnotic eyes, his seductive voice constantly beckoning for him to go to sleep, along with those ascending coils weighing down on him, like a warm, heavy blanket, is simply unfair.

And, as if his predicament wasn't already hopeless enough, the python leans his head even closer to his, that leery grin everpresent.

Kaa is enjoying the induction so much that he had completely forgotten about the sleeping guardian lying behind him. So close, yet so far.

He was enjoying taking his time with the boy, prolonging the induction, having grown quite fond of his adorable yet futile struggling.

However, Mowgli was starting to sigh with exhaustion. Kaa slowed down his coiling, wanting to watch that poor thing struggle a little bit more, even if it was just for a few more seconds.

Mowgli's eyes then close shut completely, the warm coils of sleep almost claiming him for what is just one fleeting moment.

But something makes him squirm against the coils that have bound him all the way up to his shoulders, opening his eyes again.

Survival instinct, that childish reluctance in going to sleep; it wasn't clear, but something made Mowgli start mumbling.

This worries Kaa for a moment, but he then sees the sheer exhaustion in the boy's expression, weighing on his eyelids, knowing he won't be able to stay awake for much longer. So, the python confidently dismisses it, although he decides to pick up the pace and wrap things up.

However, as his tail starts wrapping around Mowgli's neck that the boy begins to mumble something again, this time more clearly.

Kaa then sees the man-cub's pupils resurfacing from within the colours for a split second, freezing with shock. Such a thing had never happened before!

Worst, he realises too late that the man-cub is trying to call for that accursed guardian of his. Thanks to the python's shock, Mowgli manages to croak out Bagheera's name just in time.

Only for his scaly prison to begin tightening around him.

Just as Kaa's tail gives his neck a firm tug, choking him and cutting off any further attempt to cry out for help.

As Kaa's coils squeeze the man-cub's whole body, Mowgli's pupils surface from under the rings of colour once more.

He becomes fully aware of his surroundings, horrified that the python had somehow wrapped him up in his coils and completely restrained him. He can't move, he can't breathe!

Mowgli feels the python's tail circling around his neck, he knows he's completely helpless now.

However, those thoughts flee his mind as he focuses on Kaa's gaze once more. His eyes begin to pulse yet again, wide with shock as they are, as if compensating for the brief moment they hadn't reflected those hypnotic colours.

And this time, physically dominated and deprived of oxygen, unable to do anything regarding his predicament, the man-cub's final fleeting thoughts abandon his mind, and he finally falls into a trance.

Kaa hears a PING ringing in the back of his mind, signalling their established hypnotic connection. He lets his eyes return to normal and relaxes his hold on the man-cub while admiring his handiwork.

The boy is now filled with pleasurable bliss, that adorable dopey expression smiling back at him, those pulsing eyes holding no thought behind them. Kaa grins smugly. He had done it again.

And hearing Bagheera's sleepy rambling, Kaa realises that the panther still has no idea of his presence, scolding the boy and telling him to keep quiet until morning. The python simply can't contain himself from laughing, the irony is simply too delicious.

Not as delicious as the man-cub he is about to feast on, though. While declaring that the boy won't be there in the morning, Kaa flexes his strong body, which ripples so he can effortlessly lift his hypnotised catch.

He mocks the boy to his face, who keeps smiling, completely carefree, even wondering where he will be! Even if Mowgli could comprehend what is being insinuated over his fate, there is nothing he could do about it anyway, immobilised as he is by his captor's muscular coils.

Kaa had to admit he had grown fond of the poor, helpless thing in the short moments they had spent together. Not enough to spare him from his inevitable fate, though, but at least he was going to ensure he wouldn't feel a hint of pain, slumbering blissfully in his final moments.

His ravenous stomach then urges him to finish the job with the same carefulness that got him this far. Kaa lifts his prize completely off the branch while rotating him in his coils, ensuring his legs are now outstretched and just as uselessly trapped as the rest of his body.

Now that the entranced man-cub is completely under his captor's hypnotic power, he only had to be told to go to sleep once for his eyes to close as he falls into slumber, that smile never leaving his face, completely at peace in the comfortable, snug embrace of Kaa's coils.

With his jaw completely dislocated, his open mouth stretched to the limit, Kaa then prepares to devour the boy, certain of his victory.

Despite having dismissed the mancub's cry just now, Bagheera doesn't fall back asleep right away, which allows him to hear a smug remark claiming the man-cub won't be there in the morning.

His eyebrows furrow with annoyance as he recognises that other voice. There is only one animal in the jungle with that kind of giggly gloating.

Opening a sleepy eye, Bagheera confirms it is indeed Kaa. However, he isn't worried at first, feeling it's just another pest getting in the way of his slumber.

Annoyed, Bagheera dismisses the python's comment, finding it utterly ridiculous. Of course the man-cub will be there in the morning.

It's not like he'd allow for anything to happen to the boy, no matter how much he resents that rude spoiled attitude of his.

Even if the man-cub has probably never met the python nor heard of him, sheltered as he was by the wolf pack. Which means he likely isn't aware of his hypnotic eyes.

Which also means that Kaa could have easily swayed him with his charms while wrapping him up. All without any resistance coming from the boy.

Allowing for the python to eat him alive without a fuss. In fact, without Bagheera having been aware of it at all, hadn't Kaa gloated about the poor boy's fate.

Which is what the python had just been doing right under his nose! Bagheera cries out Kaa's name, but the python doesn't hear him, too engrossed on his upcoming feast.

Acting with swift precision, the panther's first impulse is to block Kaa from getting his jaws around Mowgli's head.

Using so much strength that he smacks the python's head upwards.

Sending him flying straight into the branch above them.

All of it happens so fast that the python doesn't even register it initially.

The rough impact leaves Kaa dizzy, his whole body tensing in response, causing him to constrict his prey.

The sudden squeeze around his body wakes Mowgli up before he fully fell asleep, a confused expression on his steadily-pulsing eyes.

But Kaa is no beginner predator, and his tail reflexively gives the poor boy another rough choke to keep him quiet, silencing him off with a loud gulp.

Only to wrap around his neck once again, ensuring his prey remains right where he is so he can deal with his guardian.

Kaa manages to do all of that while taking his time recovering from the pain of the impact.

Shaking his head clear as he complains of his sinusis.

Before glancing back at Bagheera, confirming he is now very awake. Kaa glares at the panther, a complete reversal on the mocking pleasantry he had showed the man-cub.

Sure, the panther may be an old friend, but he has no right to meddle in his hunt. After all, the boy had voiced his wishes to stay in the jungle, therefore he must obey its law.

And Kaa knows exactly how to teach the panther a lesson. No more Mister Nice Snake.

Bagheera is visibly intimidated by that, and with reason. Shere Khan may be the most feared predator of the jungle, but Kaa's power makes him also a strong contender for the title.

The panther's only concern had been to prevent the python to feast on his quarry, but he has no idea on how to deal with Kaa now. After all, he is the one who got in the way between the predator and his meal.

Stopping Shere Khan from killing the boy for spiteful revenge is one thing. At the end of the day, Mowgli is still a man-cub, and Kaa sees him as nothing but prey, so it's not as if Bagheera has any moral high ground.

Besides, Kaa may be spiteful, but he isn't entirely manevolent. He did make sure the man-cub would be in a happy, slumbering state to prevent him from feeling any pain.

Realising he has no more branch to back off to, the panther can only hope to appeal to their friendship and convince the python to change his mind. Bagheera knows he is safe, it's Mowgli who he is worried about.

Despite his focus on the panther, however, Kaa keeps his prey in his mind, giving his body another squeeze to ensure he remains bound by his scaly prison. Not that the python has any reason to worry.

For despite the sudden squeeze having awakened him, Mowgli remained placid and still in his captor's restraining embrace, feeling perfectly comfortable despite the tight grip.

The boy is completely oblivious to what's going on right in front of him, his senses utterly dulled by his captor's hypnotic power, who's faintly moving his cocoon of coils around without realising it, too focused on dealing with his guardian.

Not that Mowgli wants to be rescued at this moment. He feels like he's right where he belongs, smiling without a care in the world. If prompted to leave by anyone else but his captor, he would deny that opportunity.

He belongs completely to Kaa. His fate is inevitable.

Meanwhile, seeing the colours forming in Kaa's eyes, Bagheera shuts his own close, knowing better than to look.

However, it is quite hard for him to do so. Having enjoyed quite a lot of recreational hypnosis with his old friend, the panther can't resist the craving for that bliss only Kaa can induce on him.

And, thanks to the python's beckoning, his left eye opens almost as of its own volition.

Bagheera tries his best to resist, but his eyeball even bulges out to absorb more of those mind-numbing colours.

All while the panther's head turns completely in Kaa's direction, a smile forming on his parted lips, already starting to feel the pleasure.

Nonetheless, Bagheera tries to plead with the python, desperately appealing to his mercy and good sense. But he can't even contain his own giggling as he does so, sounding pathetic.

Even his attempt to close his eyes is futile. That goofy smile says it all.

And that eye inevitably opens once more. Kaa is taking no chances, though.

Not only does he pour it all into his hypnotic power, not taking it slow and enjoying the induction like he did with the man-cub, he also sternly coaxes Bagheera to open his other eye.

Also mirroring those hypnotic, mind-numbing colours...

And, surely, that eye opens, just like Kaa so nicely asked Bagheera to.

...stretching the panther's consciousness...

...before consuming his whole mind completely...

...as Bagheera finally falls into a trance.

The sound of a 𝘗𝘐𝘕𝘎 establishing their hypnotic connection.

Bagheera's body becomes rigid and still, from the tip of his tail to the end of his whiskers, smiling blissfully without a care in the world. Just like Kaa likes seeing him.

In fact, as he allows his eyes to return to normal, the python wonders if Bagheera may have even forgotten all about his precious man-cub in that moment.

He even muses on it for a moment, enjoying that expression in his old friend's face, reminiscing on how often he had tested his power on the other jungle animals when they were cubs.

It would be so easy to push Bagheera off the tree and teach him a lesson. But, despite everything, Kaa would never be able to hurt him.

Besides, the python had almost forgotten. He has something more important to tend to!

Or rather, someone. That delicious man-cub. Poor little helpless boy. No one's coming for him now.

Kaa can't contain his glee as he turns around, confirming Mowgli is right where he had left him. Not that he would have been able to go anywhere the moment the python had gotten him into his inescapable coils.

The python beams with pride. Such a good, well-behaved man-cub he turned out to be. All he needed was a push in the right direction. But now it's time to pick up from where they had left off.

First, to sing him back to sleep. The boy behaved so well, staying obediently in a trance despite that panther so rudely disturbing his rest that Kaa feels he deserves one final lullaby to be sent on his merry way.

And Kaa is happy to give it to him, leaning close to the boy's ear to he can sing to him soothingly, taking his time to ensure he sinks into a deep slumber. One he will never wake up from.

Even as he finishes his lullaby, Kaa keeps staring at his prize. He can't get enough of the boy's adorable smile as he sleeps carelessly. Sadly, not adorable enough to make his captor change his mind.

It's time to put the boy right where he belongs. So, Kaa begins to pull his head back.

And lifts the cocooned man-cub even higher, wanting to ensure no one will be able to interrupt them this time.

Such a blissful slumber can't be interrupted, after all.

Unhinging his jaws once more, Kaa begins eating the boy. The sheer taste of the man-cub is simply succulent, far beyond any other human.

The python had never enjoyed such a delicious meal until that day. Which makes all the trouble it took to get him right where he wanted him only more worth it in the end.

Knowing that the boy's fate is practically sealed, Kaa takes it nice and slow, enjoying the fruits of his work. Each time his mouth comes against a coil, he undoes it, but keeps a hold on the man-cub for now.

It's only when the boy's arms are pinned at their sides by his mouth that Kaa completely unravels from around him, knowing that even if the man-cub were to wake up at that moment, any struggle would be futile.

His throat muscles do the rest of the work, pulling the boy deeper into him, with his tail staying behind to contain any unwanted last-minute struggles. The helpless boy gives a reflexive jerk, prompting the python to brush his leg reassuringly.

Those legs go limp in response, although they remain stretched in the air, as if patiently waiting to join the rest of the boy's body in the python's warm, squishy insides. Meanwhile, Kaa's tail then retreats, knowing it won't be needed.

The python then opens his eyes to gauge how much he has left to swallow. Almost done!

Once the boy's calves are gulped, Kaa grins as he pauses, wanting to take his time tasting those delicious feet.

He had always found those human appendages curious. And the cute little toes simply adorable, especially as the wiggle in anticipation, anxious to join the rest of the man-cub!

So, with a final gulp, Kaa grants the man-cub that wish, his toes the last sight of him in the jungle.

And Mowgli doesn't struggle at all, feeling as cosy as he could ever be, surrounded as he is by the warm, squishy insides of his captor.

The bulge he has become hangs visibly from the insides of the python's throat. Kaa can't contain his smugness, holding a triumphant grin.

And there is nothing the man-cub's guardian can do about it, smiling blissfully under his own hypnotic trance!

Watching Mowgli travel further down his body, a place he will never leave, Kaa can't contain his joy. Despite the undesired interruption, he had done it again. Another (almost) flawless victory!

The python can't help but aproach the bulge to nuzzle it, loving the sleepy sigh he hears coming from inside him.

He laughs smugly as the sleeping man-cub squirms around, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, considering how tight and squishy the python's stuffy insides are.

Kaa grins with satisfaction as the bulge the man-cub had become settles down, relishing in how perfectly the boy feels, safely trapped inside of him. Right where he belongs.

Bagheera just stares at nothing as Kaa slithers down the tree, having been told by the python he had triumphed in his mission, bringing the boy right where he belonged.

Once he's on the jungle floor, the python turns his head back at the panther to give him one last look, feeling like his old friend didn't deserve the trigger Kaa had left in his mind with how mean he had been to him.

Bagheera was lucky Kaa had been benevolent enough to not allow him to live with the knowledge that he had failed in his duty. Plus, that could mean more man-cubs for him to dine on in the future!

Sure, the panther had just been trying to protect that poor, helpless thing, but at the end of the day, the man-cub had become his rightful prey. It's not as if Kaa had hurt a hair on that boy, the mere insinuation preposterous for the python.

What matters is that he won in the end. And now it's time to find a new tree to safely hide away his precious prize.

However, Kaa is then suddenly interrupted by a rough pull on his body.

Completely taken by surprise, the python loses his fine control over his coils.

And falls on the jungle floor with a dull thud.

Confused by what just happened, Kaa becomes aware that his body is stuck against something

But, more importantly, the python remembers the man-cub he is carrying inside him, growing immediately worried that the sudden jerk may have roused the boy.

If there is one thing the python hates is prey waking up after he's eaten them. Not only is it uncomfortable when they squirm around, the distress they feel ends up giving him indigestion.

The sound Kaa hears next confirms his worst fears. The boy did wake up. If only he had been more careful!

He can only hope that the man-cub's trance didn't break completely, that way he can sing him back to sleep with another lullaby.

But, more importantly, he really doesn't want the the poor thing to become terrified from finding out he was eaten alive. He would never be able to forgive himself for that.

However, to the python's great surprise, the boy is lying perfectly still.

Mowgli is so deeply under a trance, enjoying such a peaceful sleep that he is even snoring carelessly despite his predicament, feeling perfectly safe and warm inside his captor.

Kaa simply can't believe it. That stubborn, defiant man-cub who had resisted him so much was now slumbering so blissfully that it's like nothing that could awaken him.

The python lets out a cackle in response, thinking that the boy couldn't have been any more perfect of a prey.

If only that man-cub who had declared he could look out for himself could see what became of him. The thought is too much for the wicked python.

But now it's time to free the boy from his bindings. He does hate being restrained, such things are meant for his prey.

So, Kaa begins to pull, using all his strength.

But the man-cub's body is completely entrapped between those branches.

Holding the boy in the air with his coils is one thing, but pulling on his whole body is another. That amazing bulge is simply dead weight!

Kaa gives it his all, determined to not allow some stupid branch to become an obstacle after all that work he's been through.

And, eventually, that annoyance begins to give out and breaks.

Kaa realises it too late, still pulling on his bloated body, using so much strength that the bulge is now flying in the air.

Straight in his direction, like a man-cub cannonball!

Poor Kaa takes the blunt of the hit.

The rest of his long body piling onto him, coil after heavy coil.

Although he succeeded, Kaa can't help but groan in frustration, his coils having grown limp and sore from that.

But at least his handful prey didn't wake up. Still slumbering peacefully inside of him, resting still, unable and incapable of escaping his fate. That's all that matters.

Nonetheless, the poor python is simply exhausted after such a troublesome, weary hunt. He's had enough for one night.

Time to find a new tree to perch on and enjoy the warm coils of sleep himself.

Kaa slithers away while spreading his piled-up coils, carrying his meal along with them.

Abandoning the scene without leaving a single trace behind. By the time anyone finds him, it will be too late.

The man-cub won't be there in the morning, just like he had promised.

The panther will wake up thinking he delivered the boy to where he belonged, informing the wolf pack first thing he can.

Kaanalysis: The First Encounter

Written by Twan Andersen 🞄 Presented by Taro