Prologue:
CHAPTER ONE:
The sun filtered through the trees casting a warm glow through the rainforest. Mist lifted her head and took it in. The nice warm breeze, the calmness of birds in flight. She smiled as a bird perched in the small window the cave home. "You better leave, or you'll be mom's breakfast." The bird tilted its head at her, as if to say thank you- and flew away into the forest, hidden by the thick canopy of trees. Mist looked around the room. She smirked at the dent in the small arch of the entrance way and remembered when she and Fog had been playing toss the bolder. They had both worked so hard to lift the boulder onto the small ramp they had made, only to break the entrance of cave, sealing Mom and their little sister inside. She chuckled, her mind floating back to the present. She used her tail to sweep her small pile of leaves back to its original place. She chuckled again as one landed on her nose.
When she was finished, she pranced into the main room, where they stored all their meat and dined on feasts of birds and small monkeys. She sat down and began to snack on a small bird she had caught the other morning.
"What are you doing!" A sharp voice called out.
"Umm... NOT EATING." She replied.
A tall, sleek leopard stalked into the room; her eyebrows raised.
"Hi, mother..." Mist mumbled.
Her mother was the most respected clouded leopard in the jungle. She was known for her famous hunting skills and her drive to do anything to protect her cubs.
"You know very well that we eat as a family Mist." Her mother remarked.
Mist nodded silently and walked outside. She loved the forest at this time of day. The sun filtered through trees, the birds singing in the morning light.
Mist flexed her claws and crouched down, facing her favorite tree. She gave a soft yowl and leaped. Her front paws where the first to touch the branch, followed by her back paws and tail.
She carefully wrapped her tail around the branch and climbed higher- to her favorite spot. She settled down, high in the tree.
Movement bellow caught her eye.
"Hm?" she said, leaping down to the forest floor. She stalked over to some thick ferns planted nearby. She peered through them, revealing another leopard. A male- She decided.
"What is he doing here? In OUR territory?" She whispered
The strange leopard looked just barely older than her and seemed well fed and fit. He had his back facing her and she studied him closely.
He had bold spots, smaller than hers and darker fur, more like a macaw's golden feathers than her light gray-yellow fur.
She watched him closely for a while and noticed strange behavior. His tail was constantly hitting the ground and he was always checking the air for signs of other leopards.
He knows he's not supposed to be here. She finally realized.
A few more minutes passed by like leaves caught in a gusty breeze. She finally made up her mind.
You can't be here, in our territory.
She leaped out of the ferns.
"The chase. Is on."
CHAPTER TWO:
The tall male whipped around.
CHAPTER THREE:
CHAPTER FOUR:
Sunlight, a warm glow over the room. Wait, room?
Mist took in the area around her. She felt confused and disoriented, at loss at what to do. She felt warm fur pressed onto her back. She tried to sit up, only to fall directly onto downpour. She groaned and he carefully got up and helped her to the ground, resting her head on a small pile of leaves. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1V9YKr2KMM
"Where are we?" She managed to say.
He looked down and responded, "Back in your territory."
Mist almost leaped up and gave a yowl of agony as she fell back to the ground, her muscles screaming in pain.
"Where are we in my territory?" She groaned softly.
"A few miles from your mother's cave." He whispered, looking through the small cave window. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kBTguEqC1
Now that she looked around, Mist saw the where in a small cave, part underground. The only window was a small hole that barely reached the surface of the ground.
"How did you escape the tiger? More interestingly, how did manage to escape WITH me?" She asked and managed to sit up.
He looked down at her, but there was something in his eyes that Mist couldn't understand. Something deep, hidden from her and the world. The look seemed to suck her in, and she soon found herself looking at him the same way.
Their tales floated towards the other's. It was slow, so amazingly slow Mist didn't realize that her tail was even moving. The only reason she didn't stop is because it felt so... Right. It felt so right, so spine chillingly right, Mist couldn't stop. She just couldn't.
At that very moment, reality seemed to vanish. Nothing mattered, nothing was important. All that mattered was that moment, that second. The sun seemed to be dancing on their fur, almost as if they were about to fulfill a grand prophecy of the universe, as if... They were meant to be there, at that moment, at that point in time. Their tails slowly twined together, like flowers closing during a winter storm. Mist felt his soft pelt almost mend together with hers, like they were always meant to be together, forever.
She felt it again, that amazing- wonderful feeling of belonging, deep down in her heart. Their eyes were locked, and the world seemed to fade away. All the pain, all the joy. All feasts, all the memories.
And it was at the moment, that amazing feeling of belonging grew. It blossomed and bloomed into a beautiful feeling, one that Mist had never felt before. A feeling, she didn't know. A feeling, she couldn't quite put her paw on.
She didn't know how, or why. But she knew. Somehow, she had always known. She had known from the beginning, the moment she had first laid eyes on him. His spotted fur dancing in the sunlight, his gleaming amber eyes in the moonlight.
She had always known, but now- it seemed more real than ever before.
"I love you."
CHAPTER FIVE:
"You- you do?" Downpour stuttered.
"Of course." She replied, tightening her grip on his tail. "Is- is that ok?"
He smiled and crouched down next to her, pressing against her back.
"Always and forever." He whispered in her ear.
The two purred with each other for a moment and then twig snapped in the forest. Downpour's head shot up and he rose in a low growl.
"Something's out there, that snap sounds all too familiar..." 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHu1XBGkNWz
Mist looked at him, confused. She couldn't and didn't understand why he was so alert all of a sudden.
"It followed us- Quick follow me!" He said in an urgent whisper. "There's a way out through the back, can you stand?"
Mist rose to her paws, still full of questions.
"What followed us?" She asked as fear gripped her throat in its sharp claws, constricting and tightening. Working its way down her spine.
"No time to explain!" He whispered, even more urgently "We have to get out of here!"
He nudged her softly to the back exit. Mist crouched low and felt her soft underbelly fur press against the cold, hard stone. When she reached the forest, Downpour was motionless. He was just- Staring. Cold, hard, staring. Just staring into the forest. His eyes as thin as thorns. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggCAVdsw8q
He turned and ushered her up a tree.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL1JrDF6UB
"It won't be able to reach us here." he said looking down at the forest floor. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAoXjqFC9k
Mist put her paw on his and asked, "Can you tell me now?"
She tried to use her most comforting voice as she saw he was under much stress.
He nodded and pointed down to thick foliage planted near the edge of the cave. Only a few feet from where they had been exiting.
Mist leaned in closer and saw a dark stripes. He fur stood on end and she almost seemed to panic, the injuries must have taken more of a toll then she had thought.
She its snarling teeth, amber coat, and pure death wish. She was panting heavily, barely able to contain herself as every single one of her instincts told her to leap out of the tree and start running.
Never stop running-
They seemed to be chanting in her head.
Never stop running-
She clutched her head with her right paw. She felt the fear coming back, the awful- scull crushing fear the rushes in and leaves you with nothing. That awful spine-chilling fear that beats you up until you are a speck in the wind. That awful fear that stops you from speaking- thinking-
Her mind was flashing back and forth. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIKSs5RZq7
Blood.
roaring.
pain.
Never. ending. pain.
Her tail was beating against the branch of the tree as Mist sat up in terror. She hadn't thought- hadn't IMAGINED that it would have followed them. She would have never even given it a second thought it was so crazy. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5glsn9XFZ
And finally, to Mist's terror- It revealed itself.
The tiger.
