"It was this way," Mowgli said, slipping his hand into Swan's. He led his friend past the outskirts on a large and strange city, shying away from it as much as possible. He still didn't like cities; they were too full of people, of things and noises. They weren't like the jungles or the woods. He missed the jungle. His own, but he didn't know how to get back there. The best he could do was take Swan where he knew there was a jungle here in this strange world. It was where he'd woken up so long ago, after he left the man-village and started walking.

It wasn't his jungle. It was someplace else ripe with dark green life, a rushing river, and curious creatures. It was strangely full of birds and animals he couldn't name. He had no idea of the dangerous creatures who lived there: man-eating mermaids, wild fey, and other dark creatures he'd never heard of. He just knew it had life, the kind Mowgli grew up with, the kind he sorely missed. It wasn't his home, but it was close, and he wanted to show Swan.

They finally left the city behind, entering a dense jungle. Some of the leaves on the trees were wide as Mowgli's hand. Or his head. There was a brilliant smile on his face as he went. He squeezed Swan's hand and looked at him as they started walking through the Rajani Jungle, as the place was called. "What do you think?"

It would only take a few steps to cross the expanse of Pentamerone and reach the Southern lands of Mehrdadstan. It should have taken Hunter a week of travel, but the magic boots Howl had given him made his journey only minutes instead. It was evening, shortly after dinner, and Hunter knew Scheherazade would have slipped out of the palace and found her way into the jungles again. So instead of heading straight for Mehrdadstan, he headed for the Rajani Jungle.

Immersed in the plant life, he paused and inhaled deeply as he picked his way towards her favorite spots. As soon as he caught her scent, he'd move in and surprise her. He'd kept the magic boots secret long enough.