Dino and Mowgli 1

Credit once again goes to Taren from discord for helping with writing this.

———-

Today started out as a fairly nice morning in the Seeonee hills, with one particular man-village full of activity.
~

Mowgli had recently finished his chores, and was out near the river helping his new friend (and crush), Shanti, with fetching some water.

Much as he did miss seeing Baloo, Bagheera, and the other friends he’d made during his journey to the village? The loincloth clad boy couldn’t help but enjoy being with the girl, especially considering the way they had first encountered each other when Mowgli first arrived.

He was snapped out of his train of thought when he overheard a pair of nightjars in a tree, talking with each other about...

A monster?"I'm telling you, it was huge!" one bird was saying to the other, flapping his wings about as he gesticulated wildly. "About as big as Shere Khan, but no fur! It was all purple instead! Looked like some kind of giant lizard, too!"

"You're exaggerating," the other one said. "What, did you eat too many berries or something? Were they overripe?"

Normally, Mowgli would’ve agreed to SOME extent with the dark colored nightjar.

A giant lizard as big as Shere Khan was rather hard to swallow, since it sounded like a story his adopted wolf mother would tell him and the pups before bedtime.

Yet... He couldn’t help but be interested...

“Excuse me,” Mowgli called out to the nightjars while they were in the middle of their discussion; “I heard you talking about a monster... Where did you see him exactly?”

"Oh, hey Mowgli!" the nightjar in question said. "He was over in that direction somewhere," he said, gesturing towards one direction of the jungle down a lesser-used path. "You're not thinking of going looking for it, are you?"

”Sure, I mean... What’s the big deal Sitaa?” Mowgli asked the light colored nightjar with a shrug; “If it’s a lizard, it probably just eats insects or something, right? Can’t be that dangerous...”

"Alright, if you say so." Sitaa shrugged. "You know where it is. Good luck." With that the two nightjars flew off, in the opposite direction of the path.

Mowgli looked at the path for a couple of moments of silence before he heard Shanti call to him, forcing him to get the jug he filled with water so that he wouldn’t keep her waiting.
~

After the water had been brought to the village, Mowgli waited for at least about an hour until he knew for sure he wouldn’t be needed for anything.

He then crept out of the village and went back to the spot where he talked with the nightjars, staring down at the lesser used path that Sitaa had pointed out to him. He mentally steeled his resolve before he started walking down the path, unsure what to expect, should he find this supposedly monster sized purple lizard.

~

In the meantime, said monster was snuffling around in a clearing some distance away, his big nose sniffing around for anything that he might find interesting. This was an entirely new place, and he'd never been to the jungle before, so there were all sorts of new smells and sights and tastes for him to experience. He continued to shift around as he moved, rustling bushes and trees and vines alike.

Various denizens of the clearing, from birds to rodents, were understandably shook up by the unusual whatever it was.

Didn’t exactly help that even for a large creature, it was remarkably strong for its size. So much so in fact, that it was able to casually lift heavy looking logs out of its path like they were mere twigs. Still, at the very least it didn’t seem interested in devouring them, though no one knew how long that’d last.

What it *was* interested in though, as several smaller jungle denizens had found out to their consternation, was licking things. Leaping on unsuspecting smaller creatures, including mongeese, ocelots, and more, the thing had leapt on them and drenched them in a tidal wave of slobber that had left them dripping and completely confused.

Indeed, it was a strange behavior for a lizard (or any reptile to have), not to mention how uncannily canine-like (and HUGE) that tongue was. Well... Whatever else the bizarre animal came across, the jungle denezins of the clearing could only hope would be able to escape its strangely affectionate greeting!
~

Mowgli, in the meantime, had been trekking for quite a while, having lost track of how long it’d been since he started walking.

So far, he hadn’t seen any sign of the purple lizard that Sitaa described to him, but he was certainly enjoying exploring this path he’d never seen before.

~

The lizard itself, sniffing around as it was, suddenly stopped short and lifted its snout to the sky as the wind shifted, bringing a new, interesting smell into his nose. It was a very appealing smell too, and the lizard charged off into the bushes, no attempt at stealth being made as it rushed to find the source of this new scent.

Plus, the scent seemed to belong to someone young... Maybe someone who’d want to play with the ‘lizard’!
~

Mowgli started walking a bit slower than he previously was, feeling a bit uneasy from how quiet things had gotten. Was it possible Shere Khan had come seeking vengeance? Or perhaps Kaa was looking for his lunch?

Whatever the reason, the silence was becoming more and more eerie with each passing second.

However, it didn't last long. The lizard was very loudly smashing his way through the underbrush in Mowgli's direction, his enormous pink tongue trailing from his mouth like an enormous streamer as he made straight for where the smell was coming from, the thought of a new playmate too appealing for him to resist.

Mowgli’s brown eyes widened in shock when he heard something that made him more than understandably fearful.

If this was truly the ‘lizard’ that Sitaa had told him about, then he’d made a mistake assuming that it would only eat insects. Judging from the sounds of heavy thick branches snapping, to a couple of trees being uprooted, and even large rocks being knocked to the side, this animal was clearly not only just as big as Sitaa said (perhaps even more so), but was uncannily strong and fast, practically like a rhino!

Either way, the boy decided that it would be best to not potentially become a meal, and started running to the left as fast as his skinny little legs could carry him. However, the lizard only poured on more speed as he heard the object of his focus start to move away from him. He couldn't let it get away, so he had to catch it! He felt himself getting even more excited already; he was already playing tag!

Mowgli’s legs did their best to propel him further, yet still the mancub couldn’t seem to shake the lizard chasing him. In fact, he was more than certain that the crashing sounds were getting a bit closer than before! Ohhhh, if he only had a tree he could limb up, or at least a vine hanging low enough for him to grab onto so he could swing away!

*Maybe Sitaa was right about not going down the path!* Mowgli bemoaned mentally to himself as he climbed over a rock pile and onto a ledge.

Unfortunately, while he was running, he picked the worst time to look back to see if the beast was chasing him. That one moment was all that was needed to distract him, making him unable to see the thick root of a gnarled tree.

This caused him to clumsily stumble and swerve to the right, sliding down a deep hill that lead straight to the very edge of a cliff.

With Mowgli cornered, the lizard was able to catch up. Bushes crackling and crahing in its wake, it finally lunged from the bushes, screeching to a stop as he spotted the cliff. Spotting Mowgli, he sat down, panting eagerly, his fat pink tongue bobbing up and down as he grinned at Mowgli and let loose with a loud "Rarararararararar!" sort of bark.

​​​Mowgli grunted as he brushed some of the twigs and such from his black hair.

Just as he was getting to his feet, the sudden loud barking caught him off guard, making him nearly leap off of the cliff in surprise.

Emphasis on nearly, of course, thanks something grabbing hold of him by the seat of his loincloth. The lizard pulled Mowgli back onto the cliff, and then lifted him up and carried him in his mouth until they were back on the plateau, far away from the edge of the cliff.

Mowgli found himself being placed back on the ground by whoever had carried him all the way over by his red loincloth.

He blinked in surprise when he saw something very big, and very purple, sitting on its haunches  right in front of him.

Realizing that mystery ‘lizard’ had saved him from a potentially fatal fall, he immediately scootched back just enough so he could get a full look at him.

This animal was a reptile, was purple (kind of magenta even) with black spots adorned on its back, and indeed was very big. In fact, even when on all fours, it was definitely bigger than Shere Khan. Enough where, at a certain distance, it could be mistaken for a buffalo.

However, it was definitely not a lizard...

The way it sat on its haunches, along with how the front legs were structured indicated that it was capable of quadrupedal and bipedal movement, much like his friend, Baloo the bear. The front paws also seemed to be capable of a certain degree of dexterity in the manner similar to a monkey‘s hand. What’s more, the neck was fairly long, which helped add to its already impressive size; not to mention was useful, as shown from the way it easily reached up and grabbed a juicy looking mango hanging from a branch above them.

Well... Least he doesn’t eat meat... I think... Mowgli thought to himself as he stood up, smiling as he watched the strange reptile sit there, panting with that huge tongue and wagging that powerful  tail like one of the dogs back at the village. “Thanks for saving me back there!”

The lizard sat in front of Mowgli, panting again as its thick tail wagged eagerly.

"Barbar!" the lizard barked again, looking down at Mowgli and panting happily. It bent its enormous neck down and squashed its big nose into Mowgli's cheek, smushing it up as it nuzzled him happily.

Well, lizard or not, Mowgli couldn’t help but appreciate the gesture, giggling from the friendly gesture.

“You’re definitely friendly...” Mowgli muttered, grinning with a squished cheek as he stroked along the side of its neck. While he was doing this, he checked to see if whether this animal was a boy or a girl, since he didn’t exactly want to call the one that saved his life an ‘it’.

He didn’t interact with reptiles a whole lot, but it didn’t take too long for him to figure out that the long necked animal was a male.

The reptile sat back down, panting eagerly as he wagged his tail and tip-tapped with his paws on the ground.​ Mowgli giggled as he then started rubbing the animal towering over him on his belly, the creature's leathery and scaly hide feeling smooth yet surprisingly tough. This only made the lizard's leg start to kick, his fat tongue hanging out out of his mouth. His tail wagging, he bent his head down, his tongue coming down  and smacking right onto Mowgli's left cheek with a loud SPLAT! Lifting the skin up and pushing Mowgli's eye shut in the process.

This left Mowgli’s other eye to widen in surprise as the reptile’s tongue pushed the cheek up with such strength that the mancub found himself being lifted off the ground. This left Mowgli’s other eye to widen in surprise as the reptile’s tongue pushed the cheek up with such strength that the mancub found himself being lifted off the ground. The lizard continued to drag his massive tongue up Mowgli's face, lifting him off the ground a few feet before slurping off in a giant spray of drool.

Mowgli landed on his butt, completely unsure on what had just happened considering that it happened so sudden. The big lizard looked down at him, his tongue dangling and glistening with drool as he panted in the boy's face. After wiping some of the saliva off of his cheek, Mowgli looked up at his new friend with an amused grin.

“What was that for?”

The lizard only barked in response, the tail wagging back and forth as he panted eagerly. Mowgli simply patted the huge reptile on the back in appreciation.

“Wonder what your name is.... Not exactly familiar with the way your kind talks...”

The enormous animal spun around, doing his best to show off his whole body and give Mowgli a good look at his form. Mowgli blinked in surprise as the way his new friend positioning his body, the reptile turned to look at Mowgli while he was in profile, drawing attention t different parts of his body with a shake each time. Mowgli soon realized that his new friend seemed to be forming a letter in the Hindi alphabet that Shanti had been teaching him!

Eventually, as the creature formed one letter after another, Mowgli was able to see that he was spelling out DINO.

“D-deeeeee-noooooooohhhhhh...” He read aloud under his breath, sounding it out so he could get it right; “Dino?... That’s your name?”

Dino eagerly modded up and down, his massive tongue flapping around as he did so.

“Well, nice to meet ya... I’m Mowgli!” The mancub said, giving his new friend a gentle scratching along his long neck. Dino only gave another series of yipping barks before his massive pink tongue flew at Mowgli's face, slapping against his right cheek and lifting it up hugely as his eye was forced shut by the slobbery blob. Mowgli laughed boyishly as the reptile lifted his cheek with that big ole tongue, his feet leaving the ground again.

As soon as Mowgli's feet were back on the ground, Dino didn't stop there, however, and then went whole hog, repeatedly slapping Mowgli's face around with his tngue as he slobbered all over the man-cub's face, squashing his cheeks around and sending slobber flying everywhere as he licked the man-cub silly.

Mowgli attempted keep himself planted on the ground by wrapping his arms around the back of Dino’s head, his cheeks like putty to the large reptile as the boy laughed all the while.

“D-Dino, come on, you’re getting me soaked!”

Dino didn't pay that any mind, repeatedly slurping his tongue up from Mowgli's chin to his forehead, each time stretching Mowgli's face out as he slurped him over and over again.

“MMMPH!” Mowgli gave out muffled laughter as Dino slurped the center of his face in such an affectionate manner, both of his cheeks and nosefolded up by the huge tongue.

Soon enough, his arms couldn’t hold on any longer and was forced to release Dino’s head. Dino only capitalized on this, bulling Mowgli down to the ground and giving him even more enormous slurps on the face, squashing it out of shape and molding his cheeks around like clay as his enormous pink tongue mopped all over Mowgli's face. Mowgli could only lay there, flat on his back and unable to do anything but laugh and allow the reptile to affectionately slurp him in the same way that a dog would when tackling and greeting his owner.

In the man-cub’s mind, it was kinda surreal, being licked in a manner similar to how his wolf brothers did in the pack. Yet, with Dino, his tongue was not only bigger and stronger, but a lot more slobbery. Eventually, Dino slowed the pace of his licks, instead dragging his tongue slowly up Mowgli's face with long, torturous slurps.

“MHMPHPHPH!”

Mowgli tried to push Dino’s face away from his while he was laughing under that tongue. Dino was still far too big for Mowgli to move however, and only continued to mop his tongue around the boy's face. Mowgli’s movements soon slowed down to the point where he just allowed his arms to lay at his sides. At this point, he knew that he couldn’t simply part ways with this animal. At this point, he’d pretty much just made a friend for life!

Dino took advantage of Mowgli laying his arms down to increase the pace of his licks once again, Mowgli's bare feet flopping from side to side as the reptile continued to slobber all over him whether he was conscious or not.

For who knew how long, Mowgli allowed the large animal to give him affection while he laid there. He lost track of time, given how much he was enjoying the time he was spending bonding with his new friend.

Eventually, during a moment where Dino had to catch his breath, Mowgli managed to move his head to the side so he could gasp for air, coughing a bit and spitting some of Dino’s saliva off his lips.

As soon as he felt Dino’s tongue plant itself on his cheek and start forcibly pushing his eye shut, he grinned.

“Hehe, okay! I love you too buddy!” Mowgli chuckled as he allowed Dino to lick him; “Say... How would you like me to show you the man-village I live in?”

Dino slurped his tongue off of Mowgli's face and finally, mercifully some might say, sat down, panting eagerly as he looked down at Mowgli.

Mowgli giggled as he wiped the snorkasaurus’s slobber off his face, shakily getting himself to his feet. The lick fest took quite a bit out of him, considering he needed to lean against Dino’s large body to maintain his balance.

“Y-you don’t mind if I ride on your back, do you? I’m a bit too worn out to walk...” Mowgli asked.

Dino shook his head, lowering himself to allow Mowgli to climb onto his back.

“Thanks Dino...” Mowgli said, climbing onto his huge friend’s back, grinning widely when Dino stood all the way back up.

It somewhat reminded him of when he rode on Baloo’s back when he was first teaching him about the Bare Neccessities of life, except Dino was bigger, even on all fours.

Dino turned his head around to look at MOwgli as he lifted himself back to his feet, cocking his head to ask where Mowgli wanted to go.

“Go that way, it’ll lead to the path back to the man-village...” Mowgli said while he pointed to their left.

Dino nodded, giving Mowgli a great big chin-to-hairline lick before he turned and walked down the indicated path.

Mowgli giggled boyishly from the way his new companion stretch his face with that lick, using an arm to wipe off the slobber.
~

Eventually, after a while of them trekking, the two could finally see the man-village from a distance. And who should be by the river, looking for Mowgli but Shanti!

"Hey, Shanti!" Mowgli called, waving at her as he led Dino closer to the village. "Look what I found!"

“Mowgli? Where’ve you-“

Shanti stopped in mid sentence as she found herself looking up at the panting face of Dino while he was looming over her.

Dino stared down at Shanti for a moment, his massive pink tongue bobbing up and down as he panted, his thick tail wagging from side to side. Then, his head moved downward, his tongue slapping against Shanti's cheek and lifting it up hugely, pulling her to her tiptoes as one of Shanti's eyes was smushed shut by her cheek!

The pigtailed girl's other eye widened in sheer shock as she was slurped by the reptile that her friend was riding on, her cheek stretching up as a result! Mowgli started laughing as Mowgli dragged Shanti's cheek up further, stretching it out before it finally slurped off in a huge spray of drool.

The girl nearly feel over once her feet was completely back on the ground, the side of her face almost completely drenched thanks to Mowgli’s new friend.

“Well... He’s certainly friendly...” Shanti said with a small grin before she started wiping the drool off, her nose crinkling a bit from the feeling of it. Dino gave her a big smile, scrunching his eyes shut adorably as his tail wagged back and forth some more.

“Does he have a name?” Shanti asked Mowgli, craning her neck up a bit to look at the boy while he was on the long necked reptile‘s back.

“Yeah, his name’s Dino! Far as I know, he’s the only one of whatever he is that lives in the jungle...” Mowgli said; “He saved me from falling off a cliff, and as far as I know, he’s not familiar with the area. So, I’m hoping Mom and Dad will allow me to keep him!”

"Well...uh..." Shanti looked up at Dino, who turned his head to lick Mowgli again, dragging his massive pink tongue up the boy's whole face from his chin to his forehead, lifting the boy's rump off of his back with the strength of his tongue.

“Mhmhmhmhmph!”

The tongue muffled the man-cub’s boyish giggling, his fingers and toes curling a bit as he allowed the reptile to stretch his face out.

Dino slurped his tongue off Mowgli's face, letting him fall back down onto his back as Shanti continued. "He's...really *big*, Mowgli. I don't even think we have cows that size..."

Mowgli laid on Dino’s back, wiping the slobber off of his face and trying to get his black bangles to uncurl.

“Ngh... Yeah, that’s true... Though... Maybe Dino could help out in the fields. I’ve seen some of the other villagers have the bulls in the village do that...”  Mowgli said as he sat up, grinning as he pet Dino on his neck while allowing him to give some quick licks on his cheeks.

"Hm...Maybe...But do you have any idea what he eats?" Shanti asked. "He's so big, I don't know if we can feed him or anything."

Mowgli quirked an eyebrow, wondering the same thing.

From what he’d seen, Dino had some claws on whatever passed for the reptilian equivalent of paws, yet he didn’t at all seem carnivorous. Plus, while he saw Dino eat a mango, there had to have been more that the animal preferred to eat.

“Say, what exactly DO you eat Dino?” Mowgli asked his companion while his right cheek was being pushed into his eye.

Dino slurped his tongue off of Mowgli's face long enough to point his nose at the leaves on the tree above him, quickly eating one for emphasis...before plastering his tongue once again on Mowgli's cheek.

Mowgli giggled as he let Dino slurp the skin of his cheek upward again, patting him on the neck.

“Well, there’s your answer Shanti! Seems like we’ve got plenty of leaves to go around for him!”

"I guess so," Shanti said. "Alright then. I guess he can come inside, but I think your parents will have to say it's okay first."

Mowgli grinned at that.
~

Later, after the getting a couple of odd looks, Mowgli had formally introduced Dino to his foster parents.

They were naturally both surprised by how unusual and also large the long necked creature was, as would be expected.

Thankfully, Mowgli had already explained what Dino liked to eat, not to mention how he’d earn his keep.

“Hmm... He certainly is rather big, even compared to some of the bulls in our village. But, I’ll have to see for myself...” His foster father said; “If he’s indeed able to work in the field, than you may keep him...”

Mowgli grinned, hugging the man in grattitude.
~

So of course, Dino was brought to the crop fields and hooked up to a plough. With Mowgli giving him directions while riding atop his powerful, purple back, Dino was able to easily create turn some soil. Thanks to having incredible strength, even for an animal his size, Dino was able to outperform various other buffalo!

Once he was done with ploughing, Mowgli’s foster father nodded, impressed with Dino’s strength,

“Okay... You can keep him, son...” The man nodded with a smile.

Mowgli beamed at that, sliding off of Dino’s back and hugging the man before hugging Dino.

“You hear that Dino? You can stay!”

Dino responded with one of his normal yipping barks and immediately tackled Mowgli to the ground, his tongue proceeding to flatten itself against Mowgli's face and engulf it as Dino licked the boy again and again, the fields being watered with a huge amount of dinosaur slobber as he engulfed Mowgli's face in lick after slobbery lick.

Mowgli smiled underneath Dino’s tongue as he allowed his new pet to slobber him silly, the moment comical enough to where he could even hear Shanti giggling.