Kaa and Mowgli - The Second Encounter
Written by gooman2, Edited by Taro
Mowgli walked up to the base of a tree, one that looked strangely familiar to him. He stopped, suddenly realizing just how exhausted he was from wandering through the jungle all day. It was hard to tell the time of day with most of the sky obscured by the dense canopy above, but he felt it was probably mid-afternoon by then, and he hadn’t paused or rested a minute since he’d run away from Baloo. It was obvious by now that he wasn’t being tailed anymore, since the big bear couldn’t cover as much ground as he could, so Mowgli felt comfortable finally taking a break after his escape from his untrustworthy friends.
The boy ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he realized just how alone he truly was now. He didn’t have a friend in the world anymore, just a bunch of traitors that wanted to kick him out of his home forever. The thought made his mind even wearier than his body felt, if that was even possible. He turned around and sat on a large root, eager to rest his tired legs. Mowgli leaned forward, cupping his chin in his hands as he attempted to quiet all the conflicting thoughts that had been swirling in his mind through his entire journey. He couldn’t stop thinking about the betrayal of Baloo, the one animal in the jungle who had seemed to understand him and want his company. Mowgli closed his eyes, trying hard to forget the events of the past few days.
His reverie was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of a thick vine wrapping around his legs. As he opened his eyes in surprise, he already felt his body being lifted off the ground by the strong grip. He instinctively grabbed at it for balance as he was lifted into thick leaves that obscured his view of the ground below. The vine wound again around his waist, seemingly with a mind of its own.
The leaves slid and scraped over his face until he was brought above them and into the open branches of the tree. He looked behind himself, curiously seeking an answer to this strange occurrence, then turned around and came face to face with his captor: Kaa, the snake that had attacked him two nights before.
“Kaa!” he exclaimed, looking down at the vines holding him and realizing that they were, in fact, the snake’s coils that he’d occupied on their previous encounter. “It’s you!” he cried, shocked that he was now being held by someone he’d nearly forgotten about by now. He’d wanted to avoid any number of animals during his escape, but Kaa hadn’t even been a consideration at this point. Mowgli immediately grabbed the coil gripping his waist and pulled it off.
“Yessss, man-cub…” the snake hissed, “Sso niccce to ssssee you again… Sss-ss-sss-sss” He chuckled in a sneaky hiss as he leaned his face close to Mowgli’s, annoying the man-cub.
“Oh, go away,” Mowgli protested as he pushed Kaa’s face away, echoing his words from their last meeting. “Leave me alone.” He yanked away the coil that had once again wound around his waist and pushed it away. The last thing he’d wanted to do was to talk to someone this evening, least of all this strange hypnotic reptile. Well, he preferred Kaa to Baloo or Bagheera, but not by much. He turned away from the snake only to see him float again into his field of vision. He closed his eyes and turned away again, gripping onto the coil holding him (with a brief pause to bat the tail away again) and hopping from the makeshift seat onto the branch just below.
“Let me look at youuuu…” Kaa muttered, slithering in front of the boy again. Mowgli caught a quick glimpse of Kaa’s already spiraling eyes before immediately shutting his and scrambling away in a panic. He knew to fear these dazzling spirals, turning away from them and cupping his hands over his tightly shut eyes to avoid falling once again under Kaa’s sinister spell.
“You don’t… want me to look at you?” Kaa asked, sounding disappointed. Mowgli dared peeking through his hands since Kaa’s voice was behind him. He saw nothing, but stayed on guard. “Then…” the snake continued as Mowgli felt a coil grip the top of his head. His face was firmly but gently turned around as Kaa requested, “…you look at meeee…” Mowgli once again faced the swirling spirals in Kaa’s eyes, pausing for a mere moment by the temptation to gaze into their mesmerizing beauty as his eyes opened wide at Kaa’s suggestion.
Luckily the man-cub immediately recognized the danger and again covered his eyes with his hands, shaking his head to wear off any spells and backing away from the sinister snake.
“No, sir!” Mowgli demanded, grabbing the coil off of his head and emphatically throwing it away from him. He turned away and started to walk off. He defiantly informed the snake, “I know what you’re trying to do- KAA!!” His pronunciation was cut off by Kaa coiling his hand and yanking him back. Mowgli’s foot sailed around in the air and landed right back where it had started, halting his march away from his captor.
“You do?” Kaa exclaimed, seemingly surprised at his own lack of subtlety. He regained his bearings, hissing, “Uh- I mean- you don’t trussst me?”
“NO,” Mowgli demanded, surprised that Kaa would ask the question. He worked the coil off of his hand and began to turn away, only for the tail to wind around his ankle. He brought his leg up to remove the coil as Kaa continued.
“Then… there’s nothing I can do… to help…”
Mowgli yanked the coil off his ankle, setting both feet on the branch again and holding the tail in both hands. “You want to help me?” he asked, curious to hear Kaa suggest such a thing. He was suspicious, but couldn’t help but wonder if the snake was genuinely offering help, since he no longer had any friends in this jungle. Mowgli looked up into the leaves, waiting for Kaa’s response.
“Ccccertainlyyyy…” Kaa hissed from behind the boy, his tongue slithering up his arm. Mowgli jumped at the contact, dropping the tail and turning around to face Kaa again. He crossed his arms over his face for protection, but still peeked out at the snake, wondering what help he could possibly provide at this point.
“I can sssee to it…” Kaa hissed, peeking at Mowgli’s eyes through the arms and causing the boy to tighten them over his eyes, “…that you never have to leave… thisss jungle…” Kaa wound around the man-cub in a wide circle, cutting off escape, but leaving him feeling unencumbered.
Mowgli lost his inhibitions at hearing a promise to stay in the jungle. It was all he’d ever wanted since Bagheera had informed him he was leaving for the man-village. He’d been assured by both Baloo and King Louie that he could stay forever, but they’d both been dead ends. If this sneaky snake had an answer for him, he had to find out what it was before he just ran away again.
The boy opened his arms and looked openly at Kaa, his voice filled with brittle hope as he asked, “how can you do that?”
Kaa stared at Mowgli half-lidded as he muttered, “hmm?” Suddenly his eyes popped open as he realized the man-cub was genuinely responding to his promise.
“OH!” he exclaimed. He slithered up to Mowgli, promising, “I have my own… ssssubtle little wayssss….” He slid his tail over the boy’s shoulders like a friendly embrace. It held Mowgli still as Kaa’s head brushed up against his, their eyes right next to each other. Once again Kaa chuckled, his face rubbing up and down on Mowgli’s, annoying the man-cub, though he was stuck in place by the heavy coil on his shoulders.
Mowgli wasn’t very satisfied with Kaa’s vague answer, but he still opened his eyes and looked at the snake, eager for some proof that he could keep him in the jungle. He was prepared to snap his eyes shut the moment he saw any more spirals, proof that Kaa was as conniving as Baloo and Bagheera.
“But firsssst,” Kaa continued as Mowgli tried to squirm out of the heavy coil and away from the snake’s eyes, “you musssst trusssst meee…” The coil around Mowgli’s neck tightened and pulled him closer to the snake, so that their faces touched each other. Kaa’s yellow eyes filled the boy’s vision, and for a brief second he widened them, unknowingly obeying Kaa’s demand for trust.
The obedience was short-lived, however, and Mowgli quickly shut his eyes again, shaking his head to clear it of any hypnosis as he shrugged off the coil on his neck. He ducked down and freed himself, turning and seeing a vine next to the trunk of the tree that would allow him to easily swing down out of the tree, safely away from Kaa and all his vague promises. It was much easier just to believe in himself at this point.
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” Mowgli muttered, defeated, as he walked away from the last animal that promised him freedom in the entire jungle. Mowgli was conflicted, but he knew his history with Kaa, and it was best just to leave him alone.
“I don’t blame you,” he heard Kaa answer despondently behind him as he marched down the tree limb, closer and closer to the vine that would send him back into the vast, wide jungle alone. He stepped confidently, secure in his decision.
Suddenly Mowgli felt a heavy pressure grip around his head, blinding him and yanking him backward, away from the vine. He waved his arms out around him to regain his balance as he looked up, seeing telltale stripes that confirmed Kaa had wrapped a coil around his forehead.
“I’m not like those ssso-called fair-weather friendssss of yourssss…” Kaa hissed as the coil drooped down again over Mowgli’s eyes. The boy’s hands shot up to push the coil off. He should have been furious at the interruption, but he couldn’t help but listen to Kaa’s final offer, as desperate as he was for a friend. Kaa somehow knew that Baloo and Bagheera were against him. If he claimed to be different from them, how could that be a bad thing?
Mowgli heard Kaa promise, “you can believe…. In meeee…” as he finally pushed the coil up off of his eyes. The man-cub opened them wide as he looked for Kaa’s yellow, unspiraled eyes. The last time they’d made eye contact, Kaa hadn’t spiraled them, even though he’d had the chance. So if they were clear this time, that meant he was trustworthy, right?
The boy got his answer when he peeked under the coil and saw Kaa’s face drift into view, his eyes spiraling wildly with brilliant, mesmerizing colors. And now he no longer cared what that meant, because he could not and would not look away again.
“Trusssst… in meeeeee….” Mowgli heard Kaa sing as he gazed at his swirling eyes. His mouth drooped open as he felt his mind and body surrender completely to Kaa’s will. He felt light as a feather as thoughts of Baloo and Bagheera and Colonel Haithi and King Louie flew from his burdened mind, making it seem as if he and Kaa were the only two left in the jungle. His hands dropped limply to his sides and his shoulders slumped as he slipped into perfect relaxation.
It only took a moment for Mowgli’s mouth to draw up into a wide smile of perfect hypnotic obedience as the last of his willpower drained away from him. Unlike their first encounter, Mowgli didn’t have a Bagheera to call out for this time, and Kaa’s pleas for trust were much more potent than the sleep commands he’d issued the last time. By the time Kaa could sing the next line, “jusssst… in meeeee,” Mowgli was perfectly helpless before his enchanting master, ready to obey the one who would keep him safely in the jungle forever.
“Ssshut your eyessss…” Mowgli heard next. He nodded his dizzy head slowly, noticing Kaa’s tail bidding him forward like a gesturing finger just before he closed his heavy eyelids. The wonderful spirals paraded before his eyes even when closed, and he began walking forward robotically. The rough tree bark felt quite pleasant on his feet all of a sudden, but he had no desire to question why.
“…and trussst in meeee…” Mowgli’s faith in Kaa inensified even more, if it was possible. Every utterance of the phrase made him more Kaa’s servant, and he didn’t fret when he took a step that failed to land on the branch. He leaned far forward and his left foot dangled limply back and forth in the jungle breeze, but he didn’t worry. He heard Kaa mutter, “hold still, please,” and he dutifully froze his body, save for his swinging arms and his gently swaying foot. All he could feel was the tree bark on his right foot and a gentle pressure on his forehead.
“You can sssleep…” Mowgli heard as the pressure left his forehead and his left foot fell onto a smooth surface. His progress uninhibited now, he continued to walk forward for Kaa. “Sssafe and ssssouuuund…” He was now walking on a much smoother surface than the tree bark. It was, in fact, the smoothest surface he’d ever walked on, to the benefit of his now exhausted feet.
He felt like he could walk on this smooth ground forever. It was so comforting, it felt like he was becoming weightless. He felt a slight pressure on the top of his head, the only thing holding him down to earth. His hair was beginning to float up, and his arms were flying up around his head and further as he heard, “knowing IIIIIII…. Am…. Aroooooouuuund….” His hands drifted up well above his head, his hair stood straight up, and his feet suddenly lifted off the ground and he walked on pure air, certain that he was flying up into the sky now by the power of Kaa’s wonderous song.
“Sssslip into sssilent ssslumberrrr…” he heard as he floated up until he felt the smooth surface he’d been walking on reappear sliding down his back, and suddenly Mowgli felt himself lying down on a comfortable hammock rocking gently back and forth. Mowgli had no idea where Kaa had conjured this bed, but the swaying motion soothed him and relaxed him even more, to the point that he couldn’t help but obey the song’s request. The last thing he heard as he drifted off was Kaa’s wonderful voice singing, “ssssail on a ssssilver missssst…,” which he did, floating into a deep and dreamless sleep unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
His blissful nap was interrupted briefly only once, when he heard Kaa lightly admonish him: “You’re sssnoring.”
“Ssssorry…” Mowgli whispered thickly, too tired to offer a better apology to this wonderful captor. He ceased this rude noise at once, and was rewarded by hearing the last few lines of the enchanting song as he drifted back into mindlessness.
“Trusssst in meeee…” he heard once again as he felt himself fall out of Kaa’s strong grip. This didn’t bother him; Kaa was in control. Sure enough Mowgli landed on the smooth surface again, which now carried him sliding down in a loop. The slide whisked up his torso between his dangling arms as Kaa continued: “Jusssst in meeeee…” Suddenly Mowgli fell into what he immediately realized was a tight group of coils, holding him in place just as they had two nights ago. This familiar grip was as welcome to him as a bed, and he felt completely safe and sound in the jungle for the first time that he could remember. A gentle breeze wafting over his exposed feet was the only reminder that the outside world even existed, but he had no doubts that Kaa would protect him from it.
Mowgli again let go of his senses, finally at home in the tight coils, and didn’t hear the last line of the song. It didn’t matter, though: his eyes were shut, and they would be until his dear friend Kaa told him otherwise.
The End