In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle (open)

[mowgli]

Mowgli was restless. He couldn't sleep at all! He'd tried just shutting his eyes and wishing he was asleep, but no, that certainly didn't work. He'd tried counting leaves, he'd tried pretty much everything he could possibly think of. With a sigh he rose up and walked out of a small cave where he and the wolves lived. The jungle seemed, well, different at night. It was kind of creepy but still pretty cool. The man-cub began to walk away from the sleeping area, curious as to what adventure he might have in the darkness.

[Bagheera]

Not very far from the wolf den, a good friend of the pack was out and about his nightly rounds, on the prowl for a meal. Silent and stealthy, not making so much as the slightest rustle with his padded paws, Bagheera the black leopard, moonlight glistening onto his ebony fur, crept through the underbrush, his eyes, ears and nose all on the lookout for something, anything, to catch.

Eventually, the panther decided to take to the trees, so that he would have a better vantage point of the forest below and whatever could be hiding in its thick foliage. As if flying off the ground, he leapt up onto a mighty banyan tree, its thick branches sprawling for several feet across the jungle. He slunk along one of the branches, until - movement! In the bushes, below. Bagheera locked his wide yellow eyes onto whatever creature was making its way through the jungle, tensing his muscles in preparation to pounce, when... it revealed itself to be anything but the sort of creature he wished to capture.

"... Mowgli?" Bagheera uttered in surprise, confusion and concern, loud enough for the boy to hear from down below. Making haste, he launched himself down from the tree to land gracefully near the mancub and approached him, a sort of parental worry visible in his eyes. "What on earth are you doing out here?" he whispered, so as to not attract any unwanted attention. "The jungle at night is no place for a lone mancub." As he warned Mowgli of this, he glanced to the left and to the right, keeping a wary eye out for whatever could possibly be watching the boy, hungrily...

[mowgli]

The mancub jumped slightly at the sound of Bagheera's voice. "I wasn't doing anything Bagheera..Honest I wasn't. I...just couldn't sleep." he replied as he shuffled his feet in the dirt. It really was true, he'd tried everything he could think of. "Plus.." he stopped for a brief moment to choose his words carefully, for the panther might not let him go. "I was thirsty and wanted to get a drink." he told him as he started to walk forward to the river, hoping and praying that the panther wasn't following

Sure he liked Bagheera, it's just that sometimes he seemed a little bit..well..too watchful of him. How was he supposed to survive in the jungle by himself if he was watched almost constantly?

With his head held high, the child continued on towards the river making sure to keep his hearing tuned into the sounds around him. Nothing so far and thank goodness for that. To be quite honest if something happened Mowgli had no clue how on earth he was going to defend himself if something or someone were to leap out at him from the darkness.