[table][tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]”Mavis, I’ll be right back. Just trust me on this, would you for once?”
The sleek black thing of a cub squirmed back on her haunches, worrying at her lip with a fang. ”But momma!” The words came surfing on tears as she stared into the eyes of the older leopard. ”Why? Why do you always do this?”
Isla flicked the end of her tail, dismissively. Her eyes rolled. ”Oh, don’t be so dramatic! You know as well as I do this patrol is going to take.... Well, hmm. Prolly about less than an hour, say?” And with that said she rose to her feet to begin her trek forward.
Mavis snuffed back a tear. ”Okay, mommy..... I’ll wait.” She was well aware just how clingy she was being, but could she really blame herself all the same? She had only just reached three months of age.... And already her mother was abandoning her. And for what reason? She did these stupid “patrols” every other hour — surely that was enough done for the day?
[cut ahead two hours]
The night was still, a moon floating over the canopy to reveal slivers of pale light, which only highlighted the shininess of the cub’s ebony coat.
Makes me a perfect, clear target.
And as for Isla... She was yet to return. At this point Mavis was a whisker’s-length away from giving up her hope altogether. She’ll never return.... And I’ll be soon food to some other animal. Not to mention, Mother had never left her alone for this long before.
Maybe this was some sort of new and unmentioned test? Perhaps to evaluate Mavis’s stealth or something like that.
Or maybe it’s to see if I’ve caught on. Maybe I am supposed to go find her! What a great idea that was of her. I’m such a clever cub....
So Mavis stretched to her full height, ears twitching as she surveyed these surroundings. ”Mother?” she called, rather bravely if she said so herself, into the darkness of the night.
”....Mother? Where are you?!” Maeve uttered a low growl, in an attempt to look as fearsome as possibly possible. ”Show yourself, mother, this instant! Yeah, I’m not scared. I like this new test if anything!”
Nothing.
The cub felt her ears droop when the silence only went on five minutes more. ”Mama? I said, show yourself! Where are you? Mom... Mom, I’m growing worried now. Where are you!”
Obviously she was going to have to work hard to find her mother. Hmph — stupid game of hide-and-seek.
Cursing to herself from below her breath, Mavis whipped around, digits embedding themselves into the earth. ”Fine. Mother, if you’re going to play like this..... I’ll just find you myself.”
The entire hike, which was maybe a mile’s length or more, only worsened the cub’s knotting fear, though. Where was Isla? The only things she could hear at the moment were the calls and screeches of owls. She clearly wasn’t going to find her.
But she continued. She continued until, foolishly, she began to nod off in the sand. ”Don’t go near those borders, Maeve.... she recalled her mother saying just as the sun awoke and she drifted. ”Cannibalistic savages lurk there; and they call themselves the Pitt.
“Promise Mama, promise me you won’t ever go near there, OK?” was among one of the last things her brain processes as she sunk into sleep at the borders.
The sleek black thing of a cub squirmed back on her haunches, worrying at her lip with a fang. ”But momma!” The words came surfing on tears as she stared into the eyes of the older leopard. ”Why? Why do you always do this?”
Isla flicked the end of her tail, dismissively. Her eyes rolled. ”Oh, don’t be so dramatic! You know as well as I do this patrol is going to take.... Well, hmm. Prolly about less than an hour, say?” And with that said she rose to her feet to begin her trek forward.
Mavis snuffed back a tear. ”Okay, mommy..... I’ll wait.” She was well aware just how clingy she was being, but could she really blame herself all the same? She had only just reached three months of age.... And already her mother was abandoning her. And for what reason? She did these stupid “patrols” every other hour — surely that was enough done for the day?
[cut ahead two hours]
The night was still, a moon floating over the canopy to reveal slivers of pale light, which only highlighted the shininess of the cub’s ebony coat.
Makes me a perfect, clear target.
And as for Isla... She was yet to return. At this point Mavis was a whisker’s-length away from giving up her hope altogether. She’ll never return.... And I’ll be soon food to some other animal. Not to mention, Mother had never left her alone for this long before.
Maybe this was some sort of new and unmentioned test? Perhaps to evaluate Mavis’s stealth or something like that.
Or maybe it’s to see if I’ve caught on. Maybe I am supposed to go find her! What a great idea that was of her. I’m such a clever cub....
So Mavis stretched to her full height, ears twitching as she surveyed these surroundings. ”Mother?” she called, rather bravely if she said so herself, into the darkness of the night.
”....Mother? Where are you?!” Maeve uttered a low growl, in an attempt to look as fearsome as possibly possible. ”Show yourself, mother, this instant! Yeah, I’m not scared. I like this new test if anything!”
Nothing.
The cub felt her ears droop when the silence only went on five minutes more. ”Mama? I said, show yourself! Where are you? Mom... Mom, I’m growing worried now. Where are you!”
Obviously she was going to have to work hard to find her mother. Hmph — stupid game of hide-and-seek.
Cursing to herself from below her breath, Mavis whipped around, digits embedding themselves into the earth. ”Fine. Mother, if you’re going to play like this..... I’ll just find you myself.”
The entire hike, which was maybe a mile’s length or more, only worsened the cub’s knotting fear, though. Where was Isla? The only things she could hear at the moment were the calls and screeches of owls. She clearly wasn’t going to find her.
But she continued. She continued until, foolishly, she began to nod off in the sand. ”Don’t go near those borders, Maeve.... she recalled her mother saying just as the sun awoke and she drifted. ”Cannibalistic savages lurk there; and they call themselves the Pitt.
“Promise Mama, promise me you won’t ever go near there, OK?” was among one of the last things her brain processes as she sunk into sleep at the borders.
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❝ A NIGHTMARES FEARFUL WAKE ♡
leopard. female. orphaned ————— i design my own catrastrophes ❞