On its own merit, a jungle isn't necessarily intimidating. True, the inhabitants can be a tad unpredictable. But to a soul with an adventurous spirit (one who is willing to sacrifice security for experience), the lush wilderness can be rather inviting.
Under most circumstances, Princess Jasmine of Agrabah would have relished waking up in the cool shade of the massive leaves that towered majestically over her; and for a brief moment she resided in a deep peace. But too soon the moment was replaced by the unsettling awareness that she had no idea where she was.
Jasmine sat upright and froze, taking in her surroundings. She was alone, in as much as she could tell. A fear surged through her, but she willed it away from showing up as an expression on her face; to an outsider, she was merely alert.
The princess spent several minutes surveying the unfamiliar world around her, listening carefully for signs that she was being watched. Even though she uncovered none, Jasmine couldn't shake the feeling she was being observed. It could have been paranoia from having woken up in the middle of the jungle with no recollection of how she'd gotten there. In fact, that was probably it.
"Genie?" she called out as casually as she was able. Stranger things had happened, but she usually had a pretty good indicator of the origin without much time passing. This time there was no information.
'Aladdin must be looking for me', she thought. She assumed. It was reasonable. But if her...husband? Prince? Fiancée? Now the fear was beginning to show up. She couldn't remember. Aladdin. She loved him, that much she was certain. But there were massive gaps in her memory that were nudging her dangerously close to panicking.
"Aladdin," she whispered his name to herself trying to jog her memory. "Abu. Genie. Rajah. My father, the Sultan-". She stopped abruptly when she couldn't think of his name. "Genie?" she called louder.
Okay, first thing first. Aladdin was likely to be searching for her. If he had a means of finding her in the middle of an unmarked jungle, then he'd likely be able to find her wherever she happened to be at any given time. So there was no reason she should stay in one place. On the other hand, if he was searching for her blindly, it would benefit them both for her to find a more conspicuous spot. Higher ground it was.
She made her most intuitive guess of direction and started walking. The soft ground below her made for a comfortable stroll, but she was too distracted to notice. Jasmine tried to think about what had happened when she'd gone to sleep the night before, but nothing came to mind. Everything in her mind was a sort of long term jumble of memories. There wasn't anything recent. She felt her head for any indication of having taking an amnesia inducing blow. Nothing. Physically, she felt fine.
Jasmine had only walked a short distance when she became aware of a large black panther relaxing on a low branch. It lifted its head to eye her curiously.
Having grown up with Rajah, Jasmine was well versed in the mannerisms of cats. She gathered from the subtle tail movements this large creature had no interest in attacking her, and it hadn't marked her as a potential meal. It just seemed mildly interested.
She veered a healthy arc around the tree that the beast was lounging in, keeping a careful eye out for any change in demeanor. The panther was only watching, nothing else. When she'd finally cleared what she perceived to be the animal's territory, Jasmine gave herself a moment to admire the size and magnificence of the creature.
"You really are beautiful," she told it.
"Thank you," the panther responded indifferently, lowering its head back to a resting position.
Several moments went by with nothing but the sounds of rainforest tranquility. The panther slowly became aware that the human female was still standing in the same place, with her eyes and jaw wide open. He sighed with a bit of a grumble and turned to face her again.
"Did you just talk?" she asked.
"Yes?" He hadn't meant for it to sound like a question, but this human seemed entirely too out of place.
"You-", she stepped closer. "I'm sorry. But, do all the animals talk?"
He grimaced. The poor thing wasn't going to survive the day. "Yes. We all do."
"Forgive me," she moved just below his branch. "Can you tell me where I am?"
The panther huffed. "You're in the jungle."
"Does this jungle have a particular name?"
The cat snickered to himself and sprang down to the ground. "Now what sense does it make to give a name to the jungle?"
"I see." Her eyes drifted downward like she was disappointed in his answer. "My name is Jasmine. I'm the princess of Agrabah."
The panther had no idea what Agrabah was, but Jasmine clearly thought of herself as important. "Bagheera."
"I'm grateful to meet you. Can you tell me if there's a place nearby where, you know, people are? I'm kind of lost."
"I figured that much." Bagheera grinned. "There's the man-village just over the plain."
"Man-village?"
"Yes. Just keep heading in that direction," Bagheera gestured toward the sun. "You should be able to- wait a minute."
It didn't seem right to the panther. The direction he'd indicated without so much as a thought suddenly felt unfamiliar. "No, it must be-" 'This way' were the words that escaped him as he realized he wasn't entirely sure where he was. Bagheera needed to get his bearings.
Jasmine had never fidgeted in her life but her fingers began chasing each other on their own as she waited. Bagheera had told her to wait. And she was waiting. He'd bound off without another word, and frighteningly he hadn't needed to give one. For some reason this talking panther was in the same situation she was. Jasmine knew better than to place faith in coincidence.
Bagheera returned with nothing new except a confused look. "Anything?" asked Jasmine, feigning hopefulness.
The panther shook his head.
"Okay, let's think this through. There's two of us. We both woke up in a jungle that isn't familiar. What's the last thing you remember?"
Bagheera thought hard. "There's Baloo, and Mowgli. Shere Khan came back to the jungle..."
"Do you remember going to sleep last night?"
The panther squinted his eyes trying to recover the information that Jasmine had already predicted was lost.
"You know the jungle. Have you ever heard of any of the plants or anything causing someone to lose their memory?"
"The plants?"
"Like, the release of spores or pollen. Anything like that cause lapses?"
"If there are, I don't remember," said Bagheera. The fact that he clearly didn't mean it as a joke made it all the harder for Jasmine to keep her smirk to herself.
"Until we figure this out, do you think we should stick together?"
"That would probably be wise."
Jasmine smiled at her new companion. And Bagheera might have even returned the sentiment were it not for the untimely arrival of a large man with long black hair, broad shoulders and a chin out to there. He burst through the brush out of breath, with a look of petrification on his angular face.
"Miss?" he said to Jasmine. "Do you know the way to Emperor Kuzco's palace?"
Continued in Chapter Two.
Return to the Table of Contents.
No comments:
Post a Comment