Last Destination [bagheera𝑥reader]

2; Mirror Image

It was almost nightfall, the sky was a darkening purple with hues of pink and trails of white clouds. Beneath a fallen old tree, they had dug out a small ditch they were both laying in, sheltered by the leaves and branches of the tree.

Standing, she nudged Kuta softly, who woke quickly. "I'm going to hunt, I will be back before dawn." He nodded, dropping his head back to his paws.

"Right," Hatari trailed off, glancing both ways before slipping out beneath the tree's trunk.

Almost an hour later, she found herself wandering after a faint scent of some deer, until something else caught her nose. She abruptly halted, her dark left enabling her to perfectly remain hidden until she had located the scent. It made a mumbling noise, and she sat behind a tree trunk.

It ran closer, it's swift footsteps halting in the small clearing. The man-cub. She slunk out from behind the tree, staring the boy down. The boy was panting, and gave a huff when he saw her. "I know, I know, I should have kept a better sense of location and watched out for the roots." He waved his arms around, thought stopped to face her when he finished.

"You're not Bagheera," he noted sceptically, taking a step back. "Uh."

Hatari remained where she was, making no advance towards the man cub. Okay, she didn't like man, at all, but he was a cub; she wasn't cruel enough to kill him. She opened her mouth to speak, before she was harshly tackled to the ground, her back skidding along the soil. She groaned, a heavy weight pinning her down by the shoulders.

She growled, baring her teeth at the cat. He was considerably larger than her, her shoulders becoming sore. He didn't snarl back, merely glancing back up at the man cub. "Mowgli, go back to the den. Now."

As mowgli left, he stepped off her. She swiftly got to her paws, her teeth still bared in the males direction. "I wasn't going to hurt him," she grunted.

"How would I know that?" He replied sharply in the same tone.

She shook her head, turning back towards the direction she came in without another word.

"How come I haven't seen you here before?" He questioned.

She stopped, contemplating answering. "We came for the water. There was little prey or water where we were."

"We?"

Crap. Novice mistake. "I," she corrected, continuing on. She did certainly not wish the cat to know of Kuta. Though, despite all, she did find the yellow eyed cat a little alluring. Only because I haven't seen another of my kind in forever. She told herself.

Bagheera stood and watched her leave, thinking over her answer. We. Perhaps she has a cub? Or possibly relatives? A mate? He merely held his eyes on the back of her head until he could do so no longer, before he too turned back towards the wolf den.

  It was a few hours clear of dawn, and Hatari had returned with a large deer fawn. She split it with Kuta, along with the promise of more as soon as she could get it.

"Can we go back to peace rock?" Kuta sprung around after finishing the meal.

"Oh. I don't see why not." Hatari shrugged.

The two wandered out the jungle, eventually reaching the water. Loitering behind Kuta, she picked up her pace as he ran ahead. There were a few bison there, along with a few smaller animals.

Kuta pranced around like a calf, splashing in and out of the water.

Bagheera rested in a tree, when he was interrupted by Akela.

"Hey Bagheera, you might wanna come see this." He glanced up at the cat from the base of the tree, motioning for Bagheera to follow him.

Landing gracefully, Bagheera dawdled after the wolf who stood at the edge of an overhanging rock.

"She's been there a while. She has a wolf cub with her." Akela sat with his gaze fixated on the pair at the bank.

Bagheera hummed before speaking up. "I ran into her, last night. Mowgli had ran into her on our run."

Akela raised a brow. "As long as she won't be a threat to him, or the pack, I do not mind her staying near our territory."

"I didn't know she had a cub, she was out alone. Hunting, I suppose."

"Perhaps you should speak to her. Find out is she plans on staying long."

Bagheera hummed in agreement. "Alright."

Three weeks later, Hatari wandered through the forest. She hadn't had a run in with the mysterious panther since she'd given her name at the watering hole.

Kuta was growing incredibly fast, and she was currently teaching him how to hunt.

The young wolf lingered behind her, both stepping silently as they tracked the faint scent of a mouse deer. The elusive creatures weren't something she'd usually hunt, due to their size, but for a pup learning to hunt they were the perfect prey.

Hatari came to a halt, crouching to the ground in some foliage. Kuta joined besides her, both watching the prey. The feline gave a nod, and the wolf advanced forwards, before springing into a run. He managed to swipe at the prey, but lost it as it scrambled back to its feet and off into the bushes. The wolf gave a huff.

"Better luck next time," Hatari gave a shrug, "but your approach is getting very good, I must say. We'll work on it."

"Yeah, okay." He mumbled, swaying his tail lightly.

"I'm going to catch us something, you may join me or head back." She glanced over her shoulder at the pup, who gave a nod.

"I'll be waiting at the den, don't be too long." He cast her a short grin, before turning tail and wandering back towards the den a short distance away.

Hatari kept going, trusting he'd get back safely. They were merely a few trees down from it, anyway. The sky was just about dark, the moon gradually climbing up to the stars.

  Elsewhere, Bagheera layer sprawled over the branch of an old tree, his eyes grazing over the few pack members playing with Mowgli. His cranium rested over his paws, his tail gently flicking side to side every so often. He momentarily drew his gaze up to the sky, watching the looming grey clouds lurk where the sun still lit the sky, far over the edge of the earth. The moon had settled above, thousands upon millions of stars filling its darkened canvas.

  His thoughts drifted towards the cat he'd wandered across. Perhaps she'd left? She didn't mention staying for too long. He hadn't seen her once since he got her name. He had, once or twice, contemplated attempting to find her.

A/n

Right, so I have a plot for drama. But is it too early in the book to start a fuss? But on the other hand, I don't have any ideas for the time being if I were to set it aside for a later date.

Update; I'm going to set it aside for later, as I have a new plot twist. This one'd bring Kuta and Bagheera closer, which opens up more opportunities for drama later on.

Anyways

recent a/n: I've combined these two chapters, as I don't like how short they were alone! :)
Reading it back, I realised a few paragraphs must have been deleted or not saved because I'm aware it doesn't make sense 😭 I'll try but I really don't know how to fix it as it's so confusing