The Tigress Princess

A Lost tale of the Jungle

Long ago in the far jungle's of India, beyond the walls of the mighty city Agraba, ruled by the fairest Maharni of all the lands. A man with a short black beard, holding a long wooden staff, wearing a blue turban over his head, and a white Dhoti walks along a narrow path through the Seonee hills. Where one may hear the wolves howl in the night. As he came up over a hilltop he peered down below and saw a small village along the river.

Had it been sometime since he last seen the comforts of civilization. He could not recall. For his journey through this jungle had been long yet joyous. But he hadn't anyone to speak to in such a time. Perhaps it would be good for him to go to the village and spend a few days before continuing on.

The man then made his way down the hill, making his way to the village below.

A young girl came out through the open door of her family's house, holding a pot over her head. She was no older then twelve. She had black hair tied in a pony tail with a small red dot over his forehead, wearing a white shirt and purple skirt.

Walking through the village, she c tree, where many of the other children were climbing and picking mango. As he came under a nearby branch, it was then that a boy dropped down from above.

"Hey, Shanti!" he said, hanging upside down.

Shanti gasped as she leaped back, dropping the pot in the process. She groaned back at the boy.

"Mowgli!" she said.

Mowgli chuckled. He the turned and dropped down from the tree.

"Got you, Shanti," He playfully teased, dropping down drown from the branch above.

Mowgli was boy of his pre-teens, no older then she was. He had black hair like her with dusky hair, brown eyes and was wearing only a red sarong.

"You should have seen the look on your face." He said as he stood up.

Shanti glanced sternly to him. Mowgli was so immature. He and his younger brother were always playing pranks on her. Though she admitted he was kinda cute, he was so annoying.

Shanti then turned and picked up the pot.

"That wasn't funny, Mowgli." she said to him.

She then turned and began making her way to the village gate. Mowgli glanced to her.

"Geeze, Shanti," he said.

"I was just kidding around."

Shanti rolled her eyes.

Shanti walked out through the village gate and made her way down to the river below. She came over the banks of the stream and as she kneeled down, holding her pot in her hands as she went to scoop from the river. When she suddenly heard a sound across the river.

Shanti paused. She looked up to the banks on the other side of the river. But saw nothing. She sighed in relief as she shook her head. She then kneeled down and scoped some water into the pot.

And then heard a rustling in the foliage ahead. She gasped, peering across the river. There something moving through the leaves and palms. Shanti stood up. She squinted her eyes, scanning the foliage. Shen paused. Beyond the leaves, she notice a white surface with several black strips.

Slowly it crept from out of the foliage. And suddenly, Shanti froze as a sudden sense of awe and fear grasped her. For standing along the banks of the other side of the river was a large white tiger.

Shanti slowly stepped back. Suddenly she felt the pot slip out of her hands and fall to the ground. The water inside spilling out over the river banks. She gasped, glancing up at the tiger.

The tiger turned and stared toward her. She could hear him growling from all the way across the river. Shanti tried glancing back at the village gate. But she couldn't look away. she was so hypnotized with fear by its sharp green eyes. But she knew she couldn't just stand there. Desperately she wanted to make a run for it and call for the adults. But the tiger was so close and the river was so shallow.

The tiger then narrowed his head, taking a step closer to the water's edge. Shanti slowly stepped back. The tiger was to place his paw in the water. When suddenly he heard a growl from behind. He stopped. He turned back and saw another tiger appear from the foliage behind him. This one had regular orange fur and was shorter then the white tiger.

She came up next to the white tiger, chaffing to him. She then narrowed her head and nuzzled his side. The white tiger glanced back to Shanti, who stood motionless over the other side of the river. He then stepped back from the water's edge and stood up.

Shanti slowly stepped back. She then turned and was about to run for the gate. When something popped out of the foliage with a loud roar. Shanti screamed as she fell into the river. She looked up and saw Mowgli and his younger brother, laughing.

"When does the tiger roar?" Mowgli said, looking down at his brother.

His younger brother lunged up and roared as the two continued to laugh. Shanti stared in awe at the two, trying to catch her breath. While she was mad at them and wanted just yell at them, the two tigers were still fresh in her mind. They had to get back in the village.

She stood up and ran to the two brothers.

"Run!' she cried.

"Tigers!"

Mowgli and Rajan looked upon her panic stated, confusingly to say the least.

"Huh?" Mowgli said.

"There are tigers!" Shanti claimed.

"There's tigers..."

She turned and looked back across the river. Only to see that the tigers were gone.

"But... they were there..." She insisted.

She turned back to Mowgli and Rajan, who glanced up at one another, curiously.

"I don't see any tigers, Shanti" he said.

"But... I saw them." she said.

"There's a white one and an orange one. And they were right there!"

She then heard rustling in the foliage beyond the river. Shanti glanced back, fearing that it must be them.

"Look!" she said, pointed back along the river banks.

It was from the rustling of the leaves and palms, that a man walked out over the banks of the river. He peered to the three across the river.

"Hello there!" he called to them, waving his hand in the air.

Shanti gasped, turning to the man.

"Tiger!" she called to the man.

"There are tigers there!"

The man glanced back.

"Tigers?" The man said, looking around.

He turned back to the three kids. laughing.

"Children," He said, shaking his head.

"There are no tigers here. Tigers wouldn't dare come near a village."

The man stepped into the river and walked over to the other side. He came up over the banks with the three children.

"Who are you?" Mowgli asked, curiously.

"I am but am lone traveler seeking refuge." The man insisted.

"Oh, sure," Mowgli said, nodding his head.

Shanti glanced to him, nervously.

"Mowgli, he's a stranger!" she insisted to him.

"Awe, come on, Shanti," he insisted to him.

"We can't just let a helpless old man go off in the jungle like this. After all, a jungle can be a dangerous place."

Shanti stared sternly at him. She then sighed and shook her head.

"Fine." she said, turning to pick up the pot.

The man followed the three to the mango tree in the center of the village. The man came up to the tree's long root and set down. He glance up to the three children.

"Thank you," he said to them.

"Not many have ever showed me such kindness."

"Your welcome, sir," Mowgli said.

It was right at that moment, Mowgli and Rajan heard their father calling them from afar. The two gasped and glanced to one another.

"Oh, we just remembered," He said.

"We gotta go!"

The then turned and ran.

"Mowgli wait!" Shanti said.

"Don't worry," He said, looking back to her as he ran.

"We'll be back soon!"

"Mowgli!" she shouted.

Shanti groaned in frustration. First their tricks and now being left with a total stranger.

"He is such a-uh!" she complained.

The old man glanced to her, chuckling. Shanti glanced to him, curiously.

"I apologize," He insisted to her.

"Its just, its been so long since I've seen children. So young and yet so naive."

Shanti glanced sternly back in Mowgli's direction. Naive doesn't even begin to describe those two. Especially Mowgli.

"Yeah, well," she said, turning back.

"Some more then others."

The old man shook his head.

"Ah, but a child that screams Tiger." He pointed out.

Shanti turned back to him.

"But I did see a tiger," she insisted to the man.

"There were two of them. One of them was white and it was-"

The old man then turned to her in awe.

"White!" he exclaimed.

"Did you say white?"

Shanti glanced, curiously to the man. She nodded her head.

"Yeah..." she said.

It was for but a moment that the man stared in awe. He then smiled and began to chuckle.

"Whats so funny?" she asked.

"Child, is not everyday one sees the tiger prince and princess." he said, looking up at Shanti.

"The tigress prince and princess?" Shanti asked, curiously.

The man nodded his head.

"It is a great tale of the jungle," The man insisted.

"Have you have you not heard?"

Shanti shook her head.

"No," she said.

The man smiled.

"Sit before me, child," he said, gesturing for her to sit before him.

Shanti came up and sat before the man.

"Let me tell you the Tale. Of the princess... and the tiger."