Read this. It is good. Trust me.
A Leopard’s Prowess
The young spotted leopard sighed and looked despairingly at her kits. A few days old with their eyes barely open and tiny spots dappling their bodies. She had had four kits and each was scrawny and small. Too small. She knew that it would be near impossible to keep all kits alive to see their first summer. She knew the challenge of even keeping one of the kits to herself until summer. She was prepared for the life of a mother leopard.
She was known by the other leopards as Leafyshadow. Well named, covering her shadowy, golden brown fur were black, disk like spots. It resembled broken sunlight on the forest floor, along with the shadow of leaves and plants. It was not simply for show, but for camouflage, to hide in the safe coverings of the wood to hunt for her prey. In the night, her fur worked perfectly and usually, leopards were nocturnal. But Leafyshadow knew that as a mother, hunting during the day would be much more efficient, for her and her kits.
She had not named her kits yet, for fear that they would all succumb to the terrors of the forest before she had even discovered their personalities. Two were male, two were female. One of the female kits was especially thin. One could hardly tell she was alive, save the faint rise and fall of her chest when she slept. At the time, they were all sleeping. As much as Leafyshadow needed to go hunting, she could not leave four tiny, sleeping kits alone in forest, with little more than a tree for protection. If only she could find a way to get them into the tree without waking them, she thought with a blank mind, but she had not the heart to stir them from their peaceful dreams.
A yowl from one of the kits interrupted her reverie. It was a sharp, low pitched yowl that frightened kits gave. The other kits woke from their sibling’s cry and they too started chirping.
“What is it, my darlings?” the mother crooned in her soft, even mew as she gingerly helped the four to their feet. The kits were hungry, so the mother let them suckle. Her hopes of hunting that day had dropped like rain on the dry savanna turf, and her growling belly wouldn’t be satisfied by the tasty blood of a helpless waterbuck. But just because she was at the top of the food chain didn’t mean that she would not go hungry once in a while. That was normal. Her mother had said it. Carelessly, Leafyshadow let her eyes droop and fell prey to the warmth of the sun.
The mother woke with a start. It was nearly dusk and she scolded herself for dozing off. Hastily checking to make sure all four kits were still there, she knew that she had to get all four kits in the tree now. At night, prowlers like her lurked about in the forest—raccoons, hyenas, even rogue lions could wander to the outskirts of the forest. They all could easily hear the helpless cry of a young kit and against a grown lion, a female leopard could only do so much. Her kits were now two months old, and she had given three of the kits names. The healthier female she called Firedawn for her bright flaming coat under the spots. The males she had named Floodrise and Moonset for their darker pelts. The scrawny female she had not named, for fear that she wouldn’t live for much longer. Even though she ate just as much as all of her siblings, she was not growing as big as them. For her, she had reserved the name Kit. Her mother had done that for one of her siblings. He was thin and emaciated, and died when he was three months old. Her only sibling. As much as Leafyshadow’s heart ached for Kit, there was nothing she could do.
“Wake up!” the mother leopard hissed sharply, “you can all sleep in the tree!” She sat back, watching quite amused as her kits trying fumbling up the tree. It was not a tall tree, perhaps ten tail lengths high. She was quite impressed to see Moonset jump onto the lowest branch. Then to her amazement, she noticed Kit on a branch a tail length away from the forest hearth. Had she been wrong not to name her? She brushed the thought aside in remembrance of her lost brother. Helping Floodrise and Firedawn up the tree, Leafyshadow recalled that tomorrow, the four kits would get their first taste of meat. But once they were all safely in the tree, Leafyshadow would go hunting for herself.
“All of you!” she yowled once ready to departure, “stay in the tree! If I smell one of you anywhere you are not supposed to be, I will cuff you till you can hardly breathe.”
“Yes mother,” the kits innocently chorused back, and bade their mother good bye.
Leafyshadow was the queen of the forest, her long, seven foot body of stealth capable of overpowering even a wild boar, and with no one’s help. She decided she would settle for a rabbit today, as taking care of four kits was exhausting enough. Anyway, rodents guaranteed an easy kill, for even with her incredible hunting skills, most of her prey managed to escape her.
She tasted the air, soaking in the damp, musky smell of the forest, searching in that wad of scent for the smell of a frightened rabbit, its fast heartbeat and twitching nose. Instead, she caught the fear scent of a mouse and sighed. The mouse would have to do. She dropped into a crouch, letting all her weight fall to her legs. Her belly skimming the ground, she trotted softly through the forest until the heartbeat of the mouse was clearer, more resonant and seemed to wash over her senses like water. She knew exactly where the mouse was, curled up in a ball under a massive savannah tree. She didn’t have to look when she jumped up from her crouch and into the air and landed square on top of the mouse and ended its life swiftly with a bite to the neck.
She came back to the tree with three mice safely tucked away in her belly and all four sleeping kits on the third highest tree branch. Leafyshadow herself nimbly scaled the tree and settled in a nearby bough and let the stress from the day melted away like the dry savanna dirt in a rare storm.
“Wake up children!” Leafyshadow ordered and prodded her sleeping kits with a sheathed paw. “Let’s go hunting!” At the word, all four kits jumped awake, and Moonset nearly fell of the tree. The kits were now four months old and had accustomed to the taste of meat. Leafyshadow remembered how hard she had tried to get her kits to eat their first serving of meat and how they had all spit it out in utter disgust. This was normal for all leopards. Her mother had said so for herself. Now, the kits could hardly get enough meat. Even Kit was ravenous, but still, her voracious appetite wasn’t beginning to show, so Leafyshadow had refused to name her. She had decided that if Kit lived to summer, which was in four more months, then she would name her.
All kits could now climb up and down the tree without much help now. Moonset and Kit had once climbed close to the top of the tree. Firedawn and Floodrise were showing keen interest in hunting, and the two together had been able to catch a mouse before. The five leopards made their way through the forest. Leafyshadow decided that to satisfy all of their stomachs, she would have to kill either a buffalo or a wildebeest. Wildebeest lived outside the forest in the vast African savannah. In the hundreds, they would make their way past the forest boundaries and were one of the favorite kinds of prey for the leopards. The five leopards were now at the outskirts of the forest when suddenly, Leafyshadow leaped up a tree to get a better view of the savannah, scanning the plains for wildebeest. The kits followed her up, slipping a bit as this tree was taller than the one that they normally rested in. Easily, Leafyshadow could pick out a herd of wildebeest. Now she was only to find a straggler, easier to find on the ground. With a flick of her tail, she summoned her kits down the tree after her.
“Now remember,” she growled, as hunting was not something to take lightly, “Do not help me until I need it. Do not make a single sound. Stay close to the ground and let the wildebeest make their way to you. MAKE SURE that you do not get caught in a stampede. Look for the animal that is weak, or young, or sick. Never—I say never—go after a healthy male wildebeest. Understood?”
The kits nodded in reply. All kits had excitement in their eyes, as they always had when they went hunting with their mother. Leafyshadow dropped into a crouch, every muscle of her body focused on the wildebeest. She crawled closer to the herd, letting the tall savannah grass cover her. She spotted a young wildebeest, no more than a few weeks old. It had strayed away from its mother and was now approaching the edge of the herd. Slowly, Leafyshadow inched closer to that wildebeest, making sure that it didn’t see her, or smell her, or in any way signal her presence. She was no more than two tail lengths away from a full belly. The leopard prepared for the kill.
With one swift movement, she jumped out of her crouch and ran at a stunning speed towards the prey and leaped upon the baby wildebeest. With her massive paws, she grabbed a hold of the wildebeest’s neck and brought it to the ground. She ended its life with a strong bite to its neck. By now, the wildebeest had stampeded to a safer place, knowing that any help to the baby would be of no avail.
Leafyshadow dragged the young creature to her kits, each with a stunned expression.
“Whoa Mother!! How’d you do that?” asked Floodrise, and his mother made a low sound similar to a purr and dropped their meal down at his feet.
“Practice, my sweet.” she mewed back. “Shall we eat?” and the five hungry leopards ate their fill of meat. They were lucky, as no hyenas were present to steal their prey. When they could eat no more, they left the carcass for the vultures and the flies and followed their mother to a large, stony hill at which they could bask in the sun.
Moonset playfully cuffed his sister Kit and waited for Kit to dodge the blow and strike back. Floodrise and Firedawn were rolling over each other and stirring up the dust at the base of the rocky mound. The kits were now six moons old and completely weaned of their mother’s milk. In fact, they had been weaned for quite some time—for two months now. Leafyshadow had gone hunting by herself, trusting that her kits were safe while she brought home a meal.
Leafyshadow had no idea how wrong she had been. For just waiting for the mother leopard to leave the rock hill were a group of baboons. Apart from lions and hyenas, baboons were the worst enemies of leopards. These baboons were waiting for the right time to make an easy kill. Young leopards were a delicacy for baboons, and the chief baboon couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into the soft rosette fur of a leopard…
Meanwhile, the four leopard kits had no idea of what was going on, or what was about to happen. All they knew was that suddenly, they were surrounded by baboons, all drooling and showing their four inch canines. The four kits were scared, and they stood tail to tail facing the baboons that surrounded them. Moonset growled menacingly, Kit hissing in warning. Floodrise flattened his ears as a challenge, and Firedawn unsheathed her paws and glared. The four had silently agreed that they would fight until there was an escape, and flee when such an escape was found. For now, they would have to hope that their mother would come soon. The baboons were closing in, and before any kit noticed, the squashed face creatures were upon them.
The leopards were outnumbered badly—four inexperienced kits against twenty adult baboons. They clawed like they never had, cuffed and boxed as they had practiced with one another. But in spite of their efforts, the baboons had gotten hold of Kit. The young female leopard waited for the death that had come for her far too late, knowing that she had succumbed to the terrors of the savannah in the end, and braced herself for the kill. Suddenly, she felt the weight lifted off of her and she struggled to escape, only to find that her rescuer had been Moonset, the strongest of the litter now held mercilessly in the mouth of the chief baboon. He was hanging limp. The three remaining kits gaped in shock and let the baboons close in on them once more. They didn’t fight back but waited. Life wasn’t worth it without Moonset their brother. They felt the blows of the baboons; they felt one by one for the bite behind the neck that if held long enough would mean they would join their brother. Before any of them could leave the earth, though, Leafyshadow came pouncing from the back, with one mighty swat of her paw sending baboons flying and fleeing, she made each baboon release their culprit. Finally, Kit, Firedawn, and Floodrise were free. Moonset lay limp on the hard, sunny rock. Leafyshadow gasped when she saw his injured body. The truth soaked her like a swim in the river. Moonset was dead.
“Mother, what has happened to Moonset?” asked Kit with a worried expression on her face. “Will he ever wake up?” Leafyshadow was at a loss for words. She could not get over the sight of her baby’s dead mangled body, silent in the savannah plains. “Oh, my dears,” she mewed softly, “I am afraid your sibling will never awake.” Kit took one last look at her brother and thought she saw a twitch. But she knew that it was merely her young eyes brimming with tears.
******
The three kits Firedawn, Floodrise, and Kit were now almost eight months old. They knew how to hunt well, and Leafyshadow was proud to say that they were almost fully accomplished hunters to the extent and size. That is, except for Kit. She had lived her first summer successfully, was hunting, playing, and living a normal, average leopard’s life, but still was not quite a big nor as healthy looking as the others. Leafyshadow still did not know whether to name her or not. With a last painful reminder of her lost brother, she called her children towards her.
“I have decided to let all of you to hunt today,” she told them sternly. “Please remember to get a prey large enough to fill all of us, and protect each other from harm. I’m afraid I am not well enough to go hunt today,” concluded Leafyshadow.
“Are we allowed to search-?” Kit started, but her brothers gave her a warning look. They knew Kit was about to ask if they could hunt near the spot where Moonset was killed because of the abundant wildebeest herds. However, Leafyshadow had forbidden them to go anywhere near that area. “Very well. We shall see you soon, mother,” the children announced, and quietly slunk away.
Leafyshadow sighed and decided to take a small nap; to think how her life was progressing. Without Moonset in her life, she was now a vicious beast without a part of her heart. She decided to avenge his death, but had not yet come up with a plan. She suddenly bolted upright, panting. That was it. She raced up, and quickly glided towards the spot where her son was murdered. Scaring the wildebeests away, she stepped forward cautiously. She knew where to find them she only had to-
“Mother?” asked a scared voice. Floodrise, the second eldest after Moonset, came into view as she stepped in front of Leafyshadow. The moment was gone. Leafyshadow blinked. “Huh? Oh, yes my love?” mewed Leafyshadow, staring affectionately into her young’s eyes as to hide her anger and sorrow. “I just thought you should know,” continued Floodrise in the same scared voice. “Kit has collapsed. She’s not- like Moonset-” his voice cracked- “but something is wrong with her. Firedawn has taken her to a safe place where you could examine her. It appears she was too weak to hunt. It happened so suddenly; she blacked out about 10 minutes back,” explained Firdawn nervously. Leafyshadow froze. Did her worst fear come true? “Lead me to her,” she commanded, and followed Floodrise into the place where Kit lay unconscious, Firedawn beside her.
“Kit my darling, my dear, my baby!” Leafyshadow pushed the other kits aside and crouched over Kit. Seeing her limp body on the sun bathed turf she couldn’t help remembering Moonset, lying in the same way with cuts showering his body…
“Mother!” Kit suddenly awoke, panting, perspiration soaking her mottled skin. “What happened?” Floodrise and Firedawn gasped with relief, but Leafyshadow knew something was troubling her.
“You tell me child.” Leafyshadow replied. “What is bothering you?”
“It’s my fault mother. I don’t deserve to be here. If I hadn’t wailed for help Moonset would be here. It is I who should have fell into ever sleeping slumber. It is I who has no name.
“I caught scent of a stale baboon. I knew it was stale so I didn’t trouble Firedawn and Floodrise, as they had their eye on an old, weak wildebeest. I was to help, but I remembered the day Mother,” Kit shuddered, stumbled, and then steadied herself. “I was hallucinating mother! I was caught in a tree branch but I imagined a baboon clutching me, biting at my throat! This time the weight wasn’t lifted off of me and I was glad.” Her voice turned bitter. “I was glad that the baboons would have me rather than my brother. I was glad that the death that should have come to me six months ago would come now.
“I think it was then that I passed out.”
The three remaining leopards looked stunned, shocked, sorrowful and scared all at once. It was Leafyshadow who recovered first. “Oh you poor cat. It is not your fault. Not my fault. Not Floodrise’s fault or Firedawn’s fault. That is the way of the wild, Kit. Now there is the story of my childhood, as sad as one could get. Listen my children and we will hunt later.
“My brother was thin and small, like you, Kit. My mother too called him Kit. He wasn’t weaned at the same time as I was. No, I was eating meat and my brother still drinking milk. We feared for him, my mother and me. We loved him like you love Moonset.
“He lived till he was three months old. My mother had let us take a nap while she strayed from the tree for whatever reason. Then we made our mistake. We climbed down the tree, thinking that nothing would happen. We tripped over to the edge of the forest, for the first time seeing the African planes. We had no idea what was watching us, smelling us, and savoring us.
“Suddenly, a hyena charged at us, grabbed my brother, and with him wailing in his mouth, ran away. I tried chasing, but my legs were not yet strong enough to run for long distances. That was the end of my brother.
“Then I was two summers old. I had all the skills that a leopard would need to survive in the wild. I was beautiful, a perfect choice for a mate. My mother and I had recovered from my brother’s death. My mother and I went hunting. It was the perfect season—the river was swelling, the buffalo the wildebeest, the zebras were all dwelling and grazing, the hyenas and lions too lazy to even walk, the cheetahs not willing to waste their energy on prey for the day. We thought we were perfectly safe. But we were not. Before I knew it, I heard a sharp piercing sound travel through the air. My mother screamed in pain, and she whispered something to me and left the earth. She had been killed by the fire arm of a human.
“Her last words to me were ‘If you must live, live for the sake of your mother and your species.’”
“Oh mother,” they breathed, “I’m so sorry.”
“Anyway, Kit, today will be a special ceremony that should have happened four months ago at Moonset’s death. Sink, Kit.”
She obeyed.
“In the name of the Creator who made the leopards queens of the forest, I hereby name this kit Moonheart, so that her lost brother Moonset will always stay with her forever. Rise, Moonheart.”
She complied, tears now spilling down her rosette fur. Turning to her child, Leafyshadow said, “and now I tell you, all of you,” she added, turning to her other kits, “the same thing that my own mother told me. Whatever happens, live for the sake of your ancestors and descendants.”
With thus said, Moonheart, Floodrise, and Firedawn followed their mother slowly into their safe haven- under the shade of one of their savannah trees.
***************
The three kits were soon living in their first summer, and were lazily lapping water from the stream nearby. Leafyshadow had gone hunting for the evening, and the kits were forced to stay under the shade of the cool savannah tree. Moonheart was standing very still at the edge of the water, staring at her own blank expression in the reflection. She was unable to identify why this was happening to her. She couldn’t explain quite yet what was ailing her, but she was feeling somewhat lonely, as if she wasn’t part of the family around her. Firedawn was the first to notice her behavior.
“Hey,” she said, beckoning Moonheart towards her, “what’s going on? Are you upset about something?” she queried. Moonheart sighed.
“Oh, its nothing, I think that I need to talk to mother about some-things,” she said.
“Can you specify ‘things’?” asked Firedawn. Moonheart was about to reply when a bloodcurdling screech tore though the silence. “Floodrise! Are you okay?” the kits spoke into the ringing silence that followed.
There was no answer.
“FLOODRISE! Don’t play around! Where are you?” Firedawn called again nervously. Was Floodrise up to his usual tricks, or was something wrong?
Suddenly, a faint voice was heard. “Moonheart! Firedawn! Come here quick!” It was Floodrise’s voice. Relief surging within them, the two kits followed the sound of their brother’s voice with their keen ears. Quickly catching up to him, they looked at him with a puzzled look on there face.
This was the farthest into the endless savannah that Leafyshadow, their mother, had allowed them into. Without her, the three kits felt very vulnerable. Moonheart broke the long silence that followed.
“Where did that scream come from? We’ve never been into this part of the savannah before,” she said tentatively. Floodrise’s voice sounded strangely awkward as he replied. “I’ve seen this place before. You were unconscious, Moonheart, and Firedawn wasn’t here yet. I dragged Moonheart away from here before I sent you to get mother!” explained Floodrise.
“But do you know what made that scream?” asked Firedawn.
“No, but I think we should get home before we get into trouble. Mother will be home by now, and she’ll be worried about us,”
“Yeah,” mewed Firedawn tentatively, “but which way did we come from?”
She was right-in each direction they turned, the savannah looked the same. They were lost. Lost in the midst of an unknown area were three inexperienced kits that could be attacked anytime. As though this wasn’t enough misfortune to bypass the kits, they suddenly heard a growl behind them.
Though this was frightening, before they could even turn around, there was an intuitive scent in the air that they weren’t in danger. By scent, they meant they smelled their species. Puzzled, Moonheart, Floodrise, and Firedawn turned simultaneously braced for pain, only to find their mothers face inches from there own, in the forbidden area.
“Well, kits, do you have any explanation why you are in this territory of the vast savannah? I doubt it was out of mere whim,” Leafyshadow cocked her head to one side, her face expectant.
“Well, you see mother we heard a scream, and we didn’t know-“
“It was really scary, and we thought we should run for cover-“
“Before we knew it, we landed in this territory, and were just thinking what to do next-“
Leafyshadow held up her paw, stemming the flood of scared excuses. “Listen, my dears, I am not angry with you. The only reason why I forbade you to never step into this area is because it is the very spot where my mother was shot by humans. It is now my ‘thinking area’ to decide what to do, or just to contemplate. I did not want to-to be troubled by painful memories of my mother, so I did not want you to come here. It was a cruel reason,” Leafyshadow, watching her kits’ expression,” but it was for my own happiness.”
The three kits did not know what to say. So it was perfectly safe to come here. “But can we also come here to contemplate, as you said? There is a stream nearby, and it looks like fun to splash around in one that big!!” Leopards often jumped into water just for fun. Leafyshadow chuckled, and then went stern.
“You cannot visit this place as hyenas and lions and cheetahs are still free to roam here whenever they wish. I don’t see why the stream by the forest is not abundant enough with water.” With a soft mew, she led her kits back to their usual shady tree to rest. “By the way, that scream you heard was nothing to be afraid of. It was just the sound of a type of thing that was left behind from the humans moons ago. I accidentally stepped on it. It makes a sound when pressed upon. I don’t know what it is, but don’t be frightened of it, ok?”
The leopard and kits went back to their tree, now with a slightly amused look.
*************************
Moonheart scanned the plains for wildebeest herds. They were not as abundant today for it was pelting down rain like a rock fall. Moonheart had asked her mother to hunt alone, one reason just to get away and contemplate and another reason to prove herself to her family. Ever since that day four months ago, her mother and siblings had treated her as if she would be sick for the littlest things, told her not to tire herself out so. This time, with no one’s help, she would bring down a wildebeest twice her size and bring it home to her family.
She spotted a sick straggler at the back of a wildebeest herd that was heading straight towards her and decided to go for that wildebeest. She dropped into a crouch and slowly trotted towards the wildebeest until it was closer. She was small, so had no trouble at all being covered by the soaking savannah grass. She pounced and broke into a run, the fastest run in her family, and leaped upon the wildebeest, only to be thrown off in a frantic thrashing by the wildebeest’s part. She would not give up so tried again. This time, she sprang onto the wildebeest’s back and tried strangling him with her paws, and biting his neck with her sharp canines. She was surprised at how his weight gave way so easily—too easily. The sick wildebeest was dead, but Moonheart could smell more than wildebeest. She picked up the scent of an unfamiliar leopard and looked around for such a cat. She had not seen another leopard besides her family but had sometimes smelt their stale scent markings. There, sitting on the other side of the wildebeest was a young male leopard about her age. Something about him seemed to knock the breath from her lungs.
“M-moonset?” she gasped.
“Moonset? Who’s Moonset?” the strange leopard laughed. “They call me Star.” He leaned closer to her. “What do they call you?”
“Who’s ‘they’?” asked a puzzled Moonheart, not sure whether to be hostile or kind.
“I dunno! You, me, your mother, if you know your father then him too!” he replied. A pang went through Moonheart when she recalled her father was dead, killed by humans as her mother had said. But she wouldn’t have got to know him anyway, as the mates of the females didn’t help in the kit raising.
“I’m called Moonheart.” she mewed cautiously, searching for signs of enmity in the strange cat.
“Well, hello there Moonheart. I hope we meet again.” And Star ran off into a different part of the forest that she hadn’t seen before.
Moonheart dragged the heavy carcass to the edge of the forest, where the rain would not hit her so hard, and where the rest of her family was waiting. They gaped when they saw the kill that she had partly made.
“Well done Moonheart!” they mewed encouragingly, and started feasting on the meat.
“Are you well, Moonheart?” her mother inquired between bites, “I think there is something you need to tell me.”
“Mother,” Moonheart paused, looking into her mother’s odd green eyes, “I need to talk to you.” She had been holding up this conversation since the incident of the scream in the peculiar savannah territory.
“Go on, child.” was her mother’s soothing reply.
“Ever since Moonset, well, left us, I’ve felt like a wildebeest with a great chunk of meat torn out of me. Moonset was my best friend. He never doubted that I wouldn’t survive, like the others.” Leafyshadow looked ashamed. “It was Moonset that saved me from the baboons. The same Moonset that teased me and told me that I was the best climber in the world. Without him I just don’t feel the same again.”
Moonheart didn’t know this, but Floodrise and Firedawn had heard every word she said. They silently agreed to make themselves the best friends Moonheart could ever imagine.
Moonheart had chosen to leave out the part with Star the leopard that looked so strikingly like Moonset. She was afraid that her mother would scold her for being so friendly to an outsider when leopards were supposed to be strictly solitary unless it was a time of great emergency. Thoroughly soaked, she chose a branch of the tree close to the top and to her surprise found Firedawn snuggling in next to her, the way that Moonset used to do. And for a brief moment she felt as if some of that torn away meat had returned.
************
“Moonheart!” exclaimed Floodrise when he saw his sister’s pelt soaked with water, “what happened? And why have you come back without food?”
Moonheart shrugged. “The wildebeest escaped me. And then when I was taking a few laps of water, I slipped and fell in.” Firedawn chuckled.
“Silly Moonheart! It’s okay—we can go hunting later if we need to.” and the good-natured sister nuzzled Moonheart.
“Quiet down there!” yowled Leafyshadow in the tree above. She was taking a nap and when sleepy, Leafyshadow became hard to live with.
But something was telling Floodrise that Moonheart wasn’t telling the truth. Although small, Moonheart was as stable as a tree and no wildebeest could outrun her. He said nothing but simply waited for another sign that his sister was lying.
The next day, Moonheart had gone out hunting again. This time, she had brought back a gazelle. But an unknown stench was haunting her until finally Floodrise spoke up. “Is that jackal dung you rolled in?” he exclaimed, trying to hide his disgust.
“Sorry,” she replied, “The path that was the quickest to the gazelle was through jackal dung and I thought you would prefer a full belly to a nice smell.” Floodrise had never heard his sister use that tone before and at that moment he knew that something was not right. The next day, Floodrise resolved, he would follow Moonheart in her hunting. What had happened to the trio hunting party that they used to have? He would bring that back to life. If he could.
However, Moonheart was reluctant to go hunting the next day. When asked, she simply replied, “I’m tired tonight. Will you hunt for us today, Floodrise?” Floodrise insisted, his curiosity getting the better of him. They argued until Leafyshadow stepped in. “I’ll hunt tonight, kits. Leave your scents over here, and be care of yourselves,” she said gently, and slyly slunk away.
As Moonheart got up to get a drink from the steam, a slight movement caught her keen eyes. It was Star, grinning from ear to ear. “So you stay in this area. I wondered why the strange scent picked up only over here. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Come with me, I want to show you something.” Moonheart hesitated, remembering what her mother told her, but her own will got the better of her. This Star was starting to grow on her. She quickly followed Star to the familiar area he was taking her. Little did she realize that Floodrise was right behind her.
So this was where she went “hunting,” thought Floodrise. As he followed Star and Moonheart quietly, he hastily stifled a gasp. Moonheart had the exact same reaction. This was the spot where the baboons had killed their late brother, Moonset. How had this completely unfamiliar cat known what this area meant to them? He quietly listened to his sibling’s conversation with Star, or whoever he was.
“So that’s how it happened,” Star was saying. Floodrise suddenly froze. Did Moonheart just tell Star what happened to Moonset? Did she even dare?
“Yeah, it was very frightening. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now,” said Moonheart. Floodrise moved a bit closer, listening hard.
“How did you know it was here?” asked Moonheart.
“I smelled the same scent here a long while ago,” said Star, shrugging. “I wondered if it meant anything to you. Come on, let’s go.” Star led her to a sunny area by a stream, and sat down next to Moonheart.
“How old are you, Star?”
“About a year.”
“Yeah, me too. My mother always used to come to this place when she needed to think about things,” Moonheart added, looking around. “She told me herself, along with my brothers and sisters, as a bedtime story. She would come here, drink from the stream, and rest her beautiful, large, golden head on the ground, and let the hazy atmosphere get the better of her. When she woke up, she would feel fresher and find ideas to improve her, (and our), life.”
Really?” replied Star. “Gee, I never knew you had siblings. I wish I had siblings. They were all too small and helpless to live more than three months. One day, my mother said she would go hunting, but never returned. I figured out later that she had been killed by a human, but I was too afraid to search for her, for I had heard the stories about them skinning our kin for our fur. Fortunately, I was old enough to hunt by myself and had exhausted my mother’s milk, so I could survive on my own. “
Silence fell between them as Star finished his tale. Moonheart broke the quiet in a hushed voice. Floodrise could almost smell the pity that moistened her voice.
“That’s so bad. I’m sorry, Star. I’m afraid I can’t risk you meeting my siblings. Their names are Floodrise, Firedawn, and late Moonset.”
Star smiled. “They are lovely names.” He paused, and looked directly in Moonheart’s eyes. “Just like you.” Moonheart giggled and leaned on him, whispering something that Floodrise couldn’t hear. He couldn’t stand it any longer; his heart was hammering at what he just heard.
As silently and swiftly as he could back to where Firedawn was resting and decided that something should be done. He hadn’t the heart to tell Firedawn the story, fearing that he had already done too much spying for the day. All he could figure out from that conversation was that it was not meant for his ears.
Moonheart returned shortly before Leafyshadow did, and seemed to shun Floodrise, with a glare every time she looked at him. Moonheart spent the rest of the night with Firedawn, grooming her fur and telling her about her alone “hunt” during the night. Then, when Firedawn was asleep, Moonheart turned to Floodrise, fury clouding her eyes.
“Floodrise, you followed me, didn’t you? You spied on me.” Moonheart snarled. Floodrise was completely taken aback at this. He tried to remember the last time his sister had snarled at him.
“I-I didn’t think you would be so hostile—I-” he started, but his sister interrupted.
“Why did you do it, Floodrise? Can’t I live my own life? It’s not like you care about me anyway.” Floodrise tried to blink away the tears that filled his eyes. How could Moonheart ever think something terrible like that?
“I had to know what was wrong with you! I had to figure out why the fastest leopard in the world was outrun by a wildebeest and why such stable paws had slipped into water! I had to know why you rolled in jackal dung when a leap over it would do! I had no idea that what I would see was another leopard!”
“You two—get to bed!” came Leafyshadow’s commanding yowl from above. Floodrise lowered his voice.
“Why were you mixing with other leopards, Moonheart? I won’t tell anyone—not Leafyshadow, not Firedawn, not even the river!” Moonheart bowed her head.
“I’m sorry Floodrise. Sorry for yelling at you. Sorry for being so nasty. Star is just so much like Moonset! He even looks exactly like him, and he tells me things that make me think I’m—better than I am.” Moonheart faltered. “I wish you could meet him, but every cat knows that you can’t go anywhere without Firedawn. And I’m not sure Firedawn will keep it secret with mother.”
Floodrise looked at his paws, kneading them on the forest floor, letting the mud soak his pads before sucking them out. “I’m sure that Firedawn won’t tell Mother. If she gives her honor, then she would rather die than break it, even if it means hiding something from Mother.”
“All right,” Moonheart complied. “Tomorrow we go as a trio to meet Star and as a four some to go hunting. Agreed?”
Floodrise dipped his head in agreement. “Agreed.” The trio was restored.
The next day, with a burning look of curiosity on Firedawn’s face and a look of relief on Leafyshadow’s that her children were finally going hunting together, Moonheart, Floodrise, and Firedawn set out on their hunting mission.
“Wait here.” Moonheart stopped them at a sunny alcove close to the edge of a strange part of the forest. She ran amongst the trees, searching for the now familiar scent of Star. She was about to call when suddenly, she felt a weight fall upon her from above and yelped. She whirled around with an unsheathed paw ready to bat at whoever hit her. Her growl turned into a giggle when she saw Star.
“Scared ya, didn’t I?” he said, a crooked smile spilling across his face. “Come, let’s go hunting!” he said, and dashed off out in the open.
“Wait, Star! I have a surprise for you today.” Moonheart blocked his way. “My siblings Floodrise and Firedawn are waiting for you. They are all on their honor that they won’t tell a single thing about you. After you’re all acquainted, we’ll go hunting together. It’ll be like Moonset was back to-” Moonheart hushed herself. She had not meant to add that last part. She awkwardly led Star to her siblings, who were now greatly impatient.
“Well, guys, this is Star.” Moonheart introduced. Both of her siblings gasped. They had also realized the striking similarity between Star and Moonset. “Star, this is Floodrise,” she nodded to her brother, “and this is Firedawn.” She touched noses with her sister.
“Pleasure to meet you all! I bet you are as wonderful as Moonheart is.” From a warning glance from Moonheart, Star said no more about her. “Well? Let’s go hunting!” –and the four leopards, now too old to be called kits, set off to go hunting.
Soon, they had caught two baby wildebeest. This had been their most successful hunting mission—even when Moonset was alive.
“I wish you could come eat with us,” Moonheart mewed secretly to him when they left Star with one of the wildebeest. “Wait for me here tomorrow.”
“Now,” she said to her other siblings as the sun slowly set over the Kenyan savannah, “let’s go for a swim to wash away Star’s scent.” They went to the nearby stream and washed up, and as an extra precaution, Moonheart suggested they also lightly roll in dung. “That should wipe out the entire scent.”
As they returned, Leafyshadow awoke from her slumber of the day. She had lately taken into sleeping for a certain amount of time, then going about her own life as female leopards do. Her kits were now a bit older, and could survive on their own, for the most part. Her sullen face broke into a surprised, but gleeful, expression when they dragged in the wildebeest.
“Hello, dears. How did you manage to acquire so much meat? Even I don’t remember getting this much in one day before.”
“I suppose we were lucky. And we were also working together for the first time in ages, so-“started Firedawn, but suddenly stopped. Her mother had an almost expectant facial expression, excitement blazing in her eyes. By the look of it, her siblings did not understand, either. What should-or should not-have they done? Did she know what was going on with Star and me? Oh great spots, wondered Moonheart. She uneasily glanced at Floodrise, aware that he knew what was going on in her mind. They smiled and wore happy masks as to hide their confusion, and the family of leopard started their meal, loudly started conversation.
The next morning, before her family woke up, Moonheart woke up very suddenly, as if something had struck her. Wondering what had caused the distraction, she got up to stretch, only to find Stars somehow worried face inches from her own.
“Star! What are you doing here? What if you got caught?” She said, hastily lowering her voice, as Floodrise stirred. She did not very easily forget the incident where he had followed them and found out one of her most precious secrets.
“C’mon, you won’t believe what I’ve found!” He raced to the part of the savannah where he stayed, and stepped in front of a bush. “Be real quiet, ok? I’m not letting them get you!”
“Who?” asked Moonheart, nervous of what was going was going to happen next. She looked ahead, and saw terrifying beasts. Their paws were long and hairless, who stood up on only two legs! The truth suddenly dawned upon her. “Are those humans?” she asked quietly. Star nodded. There was a huge roar emitting from the back of a thing that the humans sat upon. It rolled them away, growing smaller and smaller and vanishing into the distance. They were gone…Moonheart and Star most definitely hoped so!
“What were they doing here?” asked Moonheart.
“I’m not sure. I’m just glad they’re gone.”
The two leopards walked back, talking about various things. Star noticed a slight shy and coy look on Moonheart’s face whenever he looked into her eyes, and whenever she looked into his eyes. He could sense that she felt the same way about him that he felt to her. It was time to tell her the truth-the real reason why he was behaving like this to her. I’ll do it tomorrow, he resolved. Moonheart did a slightly new, different type of farewell to him, as her siblings and mother woke up. She nuzzled him on the face and swiftly went to join her family. Star sighed. This was not going to be easy, looking at her attitude towards him.
The one mistake that Moonheart made was that she hadn’t washed off Star’s scent. Leafyshadow immediately noticed this. “Moonheart, why do I smell an unfamiliar leopard smell on you?” her voice was stern and strict but an edge of it was slightly amused.
“Well—I sort of bumped into him when I went for a stroll in the morning—you see, I thought I could have a little early morning snack.” Moonheart’s stammer steadied when she finished lying. Lying. To her mother. Leafyshadow evened her gaze, her response tearing through her like a bullet from the fire arm of a human.
“You are not to see this leopard again.”
And this time, Moonheart had no way of disobeying her mother’s straight out order. To do so, she would risk being rejected by her mother and forced into the wild before her time had come.
“Do you hear me, Moonheart?” Leafyshadow’s voice grew gentler again, but it was still severe.
“Yes Mother.” Bewildered and crushed, Moonheart let her head sink and her tail grow low. It was as if she was experiencing Moonset’s death all over again, just in a different way. Noticing her siblings’ faces clouded with sympathy and pity, she brushed her look aside and grinned naughtily at her brother and sister. Though they knew she really did care, Floodrise and Firedawn pretended that she didn’t. The three went hunting that night, every second praying that they would not meet Star. Their precaution led them to only killing one baby gazelle. Happy with their catch, meager as it was, and thankful that they hadn’t seen Star, they returned home.
She woke up with the sun; rising out of the tree before any of her other family woke up. She decided to wash up in the stream, which, as the sun grew higher, would get warmer. She was also secretly hoping to see Star. She had to tell him that they couldn’t meet again. With the stream in front of her, she would not forget to wash off the scent. But before she could even exit the forest, she smelled Star lurking about in a tree, ready to jump on her and surprise her. Silently, and not sure how to tell him, she called to Star from below.
“Come down from there, Star! I’m not in the mood to have fun today.” Star, puzzled at Moonheart’s tone of voice, softly jumped down from branch to branch and made his way to Moonheart. She found her voice.
“Star,” her voice cracked with pain and grief, “Mother found out.”
Star was shocked. “Did she tell you anything?” Moonheart turned away.
“We are not to see each other any more.” She didn’t want to hear Star’s mournful and angry reply.
“No, Moonheart! There has to be a way.” Star had confusion spelled over his face. After all he had planned…this?
“I will leave my mother this summer. Then, we can meet again.” Moonheart stepped forward and touched noses with her friend. “You won’t forget me, will you?”
“Never.” Star promised. “Farewell, Moonheart! Farewell.” and with that, he scurried away, not once looking back.
“So long, Star,” she called back, but inside she was saying goodbye to Moonset. This time, Moonheart didn’t fake falling into the stream. She was so grief stricken that she plunged straight into it, making no effort to conceal it. After all, her mother would understand, as sometimes leopards took to the water and swam simply for fun. But there was no fun involved in this dip. And she used the water as an excuse to hide the tears that flowed down her face. She felt that the six months before summer would be the worst time of her life.
Letting her fate fall on her uneasily, she settled down next to her mother, Leafyshadow, prepared to tell her everything. Or almost everything.
*******************************
The leopards were now almost a year-and-a-half old, and Moonheart was still uncomfortable around her family. In fact, Leafyshadow and Moonheart’s siblings couldn’t help but notice Moonheart staying away from them whenever she could. She helped in hunting, and still was unbeatable while running, but other than that, she rarely spoke a word to anyone. She spent most of her time by the stream, and the same place where she and Star first met. Leafyshadow was the first to notice her odd behavior.
“Moonheart, darling? What’s the matter? Is everything alright?” Moonheart barely acknowledged her mother. Leafyshadow could guess what this was about. Their long, never-to-be-forgotten conversation nearly six months ago was one of the main factors how she was able to do this.
“Is this about Star?” After a long moment, Moonheart shook her head. “No, mother. I’m sorry if I’ve been neglecting you and Floodrise and Firedawn. I’m just-not used to hunting alone together after all these months. “She paused, suddenly putting a forced grin on her face. “I think I’ll take a quick dip in the stream. It’s been ages since I did that!” She bounded off to the stream before her mother could reply or see the tears pouring down her face. The part she had left out in her conversation with her mother six months ago was her special relationship with Star- which was not the friendship part. She slid head down into the stream, which slightly calmed her. She had not seen Star in six months. She didn’t forget his startling resemblance with Moonset. As she splashed around, she suddenly felt a blast of cold air on her neck. She turned, and gasped. It was Floodrise, looking shocked. But it wasn’t him that Moonheart was staring at. It was the leopard next to Floodrise, someone whom she couldn’t explain in words.
It was Star.
Before Moonheart could say anything, Floodrise took off, and Star said, “No time to explain. C’mon, I gotta tell you something!” He sped across the savannah. Unable to hold her curiosity and shock, Moonheart followed, her mind full to burst with questions. Before she could say a word, however, Star nuzzled her and said, “I’ve waited six months to tell you this. I know you’re not going to believe it, and forgive me for not telling you earlier. “
“Yes?” Before she could steady herself, the next thing Star said knocked the wind out of her, nothing could have prepared her for this.
“Moonset is alive.” Sure enough, Moonset came running through the trees, tears running down his face. “Kit…I haven’t seen you since-” his voice cracked as Moonheart fell into his paws, tears streaming down her rosette fur. She was speechless.
“They call me Moonheart now,” she faltered, only causing more joyful tears to cascade down her face. So this was why Floodrise looked shocked. “OH, Moonset! What happened? We thought you were-”Moonset hushed her and, along with Star he settled down to tell his tale. Moonheart listened intently, her heat pounding. “Okay, here’s what happened.”
“Wait!” said Floodrise, “Let me get Firedawn.” As they waited, they said nothing but looked at each other with delighted looks. Firedawn appeared, looking bewildered and shocked, disbelief clouding her eyes. When she saw Moonset and his identical Star, she nearly thought she was seeing with double vision. But the familiar look of dominance and power and twinkle in Moonset’s eyes brought back all the memories of the hunts, the travels, the adventures the four had had together.
“All right,” began Moonset, “this is what happened. On the day with the baboons, I saw you, Ki—er, Moonheart, trapped in the paws of one of the baboons. I couldn’t bear you to die after all that I had promised you, after you had lived for so long but then you should die? No, I couldn’t bear it. So I decided that I would rather I die than you would. I lunged at the baboon and tried to free you. In the process, the baboon caught hold of me and then he made his mistake. Instead of suffocating me or snapping my neck, he merely swatted me quite hard. The force of the blow knocked me out, and I was so close to death. Then when I finally woke up, I was still on the rock, still swallowed by baboons. I figured they left and then came back for me. They thought I was dead. I think they were trying to bring me back to their lair and share me with all of their offspring and tribe members. I was smart enough to pretend that I was dead, and let them carry me wherever they wanted. I would escape when the time was ripe.
“I got lucky. When they had stopped carrying me and had put me down and had started to call their family to me, there were only three baboons guarding. I knew I could manage three baboons, so I leaped up to the baboon’s total surprise and ran for my life.
“Of course, they chased me. But I was much too fast for them. I don’t know how I dodged all those trees and didn’t stumble for I was hardly thinking. I only stopped running when I felt I was safe. Unfortunately, that was so far away from home that I had no idea whatsoever where I was. From then on, I don’t know how I survived. I was constantly searching for home. I lived off of rodents and occasionally when I reached the edge of the forest I wandered for a brief time to the savannah and hunted whatever big thing I could find—waterbuck, gazelle, but I avoided the wildebeest—they brought too many memories of home. I traveled for six months, never giving up. Never even thinking of giving up. At some times I felt too tired and depressed to go on but every one of these times I remembered the good times, when we would go hunting, climb trees, race each other and have swims.
“After six months, I bumped into Star. And Star will tell you the rest.” Star sat up, his gaze washing over the four united siblings, and melting over Moonheart.
“I had just been forbid to talk to Moonheart and I was devastated. Purely alone and had no one to talk to and play with and to…tell secrets to. I went hunting, hoping to see you but I never did. Whenever I did, Moonheart never looked at me. I think she was trying to avoid me.” So much pain was in his voice that Moonheart stepped up and nuzzled him. He continued. “I then went to the stream, almost sure that I would see you. That’s when I saw Moonset. I looked at my reflection in the water and I saw my exact figure next to me. I leaped up and turned around to face Moonset. I was desperate for company and there was something about Moonset’s expression that reminded me about Moonheart. When he told me his name, something clicked in my mind but I couldn’t quite figure out why. I took him into my territory; let him pick the best tree he could imagine. I shared with him my prey and let him go hunting with me. In the process, we became like brothers. Finally, at almost the same time, we decided to tell each other our story. Mine was about Moonheart, his was about the baboons. At that time I almost knew he was your late brother, but I found this hard to imagine. He called you Kit but he did speak of a Floodrise and Firedawn. I wasn’t quite sure about it so I told him my story. At that time Moonset broke out in tears and begged me to take him to his family. I refused. I wasn’t ready to see you again, for fear that you would be hostile and your mother would hurt me. And then five months later, now, I couldn’t, nor could Moonset, bear it. We went to the stream and waited. I don’t know how, but suddenly, Moonheart and Floodrise appeared only a few minutes later. And that comes to now.” Now, all five leopards were crying like kits. All had broken out nuzzling one another.
Firedawn had gained her wits first.
“Come! What are you all waiting for? We must tell Mother.” Without hesitating, the four siblings hurried towards the forest. Moonheart pushed the trailing Star along too.
“Come on, Star! What, do you think that after all you’ve done Mother would be hostile towards you?” and the five young leopards now nearly two years old raced each other to their mother, Moonheart, naturally, winning.
Leafyshadow had just woken up from her daily nap. Stretching, she saw Moonheart, Floodrise, and Firedawn running towards her, gleeful expressions on their faces. “Mother! Mother! Guess who we brought with us!”
Leafyshadow’s face twisted into a concerned look. “If it’s Star, then-” suddenly, she gasped and went blank on the face. She seemed so shocked at the look of Moonset’s appearance. “Moonset…my darling, is that you? But weren’t you- I mean, does Star-no. You have to- no, I-” Leafyshadow fell silent at the look on Star’s face. “Mother, Star has helped me live all these months. He is now like a brother to me. Please don’t be mean to him. Come, we’ll tell you our story,” Moonset mewed.
***********
Moonset, Firedawn, Floodrise, and Moonheart exited the forest. The four were going on their final hunt together. Tomorrow the four would leave their mother to start a life as a solitary leopard. They were to meet up with Star and hunt the wildebeest that had developed many memories in their hearts. Moonheart signaled with a flick of her tail to stay in the savannah while she fetched Star. She trotted softly into the part of the forest that had become Star’s haven. The sound of her pads pressing against the forest floor brought Star to the seen immediately. At least she was able to see Star alone, in the brief period in which she could fetch him. The two pressed their muzzles together and twined their tails. Her sister had once said it was obvious who she was destined to be with. Her brother had reacted with a brotherly wave of protection that had subsided when they heard of Moonset’s story. The four siblings had gotten extremely close again and were spending all of their time together. Now it was their final hunt, and they had chosen to take Star with them, as he had, in some way through Moonset, joined the family. Without saying anything, she led Star to the savannah where her siblings were waiting with an amused look.
“All ready? We can go over there, where the wildebeest are plentiful,” suggested Firedawn. The five of them started off in their final hunt, quietly talking to each other in low voices. Ever since they found out Moonset was alive, the siblings had not gotten over their shock. There was so much to say to each other, but everyone seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, as though he had had enough, Star spoke up.
“If you keep talking you will scare away the wildebeest, and we don’t want our last hunt to be an unsuccessful one, do we?” But the real reason that Star had snapped was because something inside him churned to see the four siblings talking so freely and lovingly to one another. With a final remorseful look, he proceeded to prepare for the hunt. The four siblings looked up apologetically and dropped into the low crouch that they knew so well. Following the steps that they had learned from each other and their mother, Moonheart made the first move. With a forty mile per hour sprint she ran towards the straggling young wildebeest and leaped up and grabbed the wildebeest’s neck. Hampered and distracted, the wildebeest was confused, so the four other leopards took the opportunity to attack. With five leopards upon it, the wildebeest collapsed under their weight and Moonset finished the kill with a swift bite to the neck, snapping, paralyzing and killing the wildebeest.
The five leopards brought their kill quietly beside the stream, the four united siblings still talking in soft, excited mews. Star went to the other side of the stream uncomfortably. He did not want to disturb them, as they looked so happy, yet he felt slightly uneasy. He couldn’t even remember his own siblings; that was so long ago. He doubted if he could even-
“Hey! What was that for?” Star yelped, jumping out of his reverie. Moonheart had pounced on him playfully, and they were happily playing and punching at each other. It felt good after all these months, they hadn’t had this much fun ever since Leafyshadow found out about him. Firedawn now joined them, looking slightly amused. “OK, listen up you silly cats. I’m gonna interfere with your relationship here.” Moonheart and Star looked up at her at the same time in surprise. What did Firedawn mean? “We leopards have decided to start a life on our own. You and I must raise our own kits now, and Star, Moonset, and Floodrise must live together, somehow. Tell me what you think.” As relief surged through Moonheart that her sister didn’t mean what she thought she had, and nodded in agreement. “I’ll ask Floodrise and Moonset what their plan is.”
Her brothers came over coincidentally at that moment and nuzzled their sisters. Star tried his best not to listen to the conversation, but it was proving very difficult. “Hey, listen up. Floodrise and I have also decided that we would mate with some leopard and then we would join together and live as brothers somewhere in the forest close to mother. I would have liked Star to come with us as he’s helped me survive as a brother would,” Moonset added with a sad smile, “but I know what you plan to do. Maybe afterwards you could join us too.”
“All that’s left is to tell Leafyshadow,” concluded Floodrise. So the decision was made, thought Moonheart. Slowly, the five leopards started off to inform Leafyshadow of their big plan.
As the arrived towards the shady tree where Leafyshadow lay, Star suddenly felt very close to the four siblings. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all, he thought. “Mother, we have something to tell you,” mewed Firedawn softly, and they all told the kind mother what they had decided. If Leafyshadow was sorrowful, she didn’t show it and with a flick of her tail she signaled her children to come closer.
“I am truly amazed that all four of you survived. You all understand that this isn’t normal, right?” Her kits nodded, too solemn to speak.
“I thought that only one of you, Moonset would live to your second summer. I was shocked when I lost you, stunned when you came back. Floodrise has done wonderful in helping his siblings cope with life and warn his siblings from wrong. Firedawn has been the consolidate of the family and has never lost her peppy attitude towards life and always being aware of her surroundings. Now, Moonheart. Moonheart I am proud of you. Proud more than any mother could be. I am proud that you lived. I should have never doubted your strength and ability to survive the forest. When we found you a great hunter we were all surprised. When we saw you climb to the top of the tree without difficulty we wouldn’t believe it. But we doubted still, we thought that size had everything to do with life. We were proved wrong. So, Moonheart, when you raise your litter, keep in mind that there is always a chance. Alright Star. Somehow you have worked your way into the family through Moonset and Moonheart. I never expected to be so friendly to a strange leopard, but any protector of my children is my friend. Thank you for bringing Moonset back to me.”
“All of you, if you see me, I will greet you, but don’t expect the same of other leopards. Remember that you were my first litter, and that I will raise more litters in the summers to come. I trust that I have taught you all that I know of the life of a leopard, and I know that you, Firedawn and Moonheart, will do the same with your litters. Moonset and Floodrise, live your life till it ends, and spend your time together. Visit your children at least every moon. Make sure you stay away from humans. Understood?”
Now, the four were all so overcome with grief of leaving their beloved mother and siblings that they could hardly nod, even Star touched emotionally. He knew that Leafyshadow was referring to him, as well. . A trickle of tears slid down Moonhearts’s face.
“Well, what are you doing? Goodbye!” and before Leafyshadow knew it, her four kits and this time Star too had bounded on top of her and had showered her with licks and nuzzles. Then without looking back, Moonset, Floodrise, Firedawn, and Moonheart and Star padded into a life that would reveal a leopard’s prowess.
