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 Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:22 pm
 As the sun peeked over the savannah, the adult leopardess woke. She looked around the cave, in which she had started calling home. It was funny, she could remember a time when she lived in a much nicer place, but that would never be home to her. This was home. Looking at her three beautiful cubs, she couldn't help but smile to herself. If she would have stayed at her old pride, she would have never been blessed with her beloved children.
As quietly as she could, she got up. She didn't want to wake her cubs, nor her mate. When her cubs woke up she knew they might be a little hungary. Instead of making them wait she thought she would go catch them a meal. Taking a step outside she looked around. Since her family had moved to the cave she hadn't had a chance to have a look at her surrounding. There was a small lake a few yards away. Near the lake was where the gazelle grazed. 'Perfect,' she thought to herself. 'Seems like I will not have to go too far to get a nice meal.'
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:42 pm
 Masashi was the first of the cubs to wake. He peered at the still sleeping members of his family. Heh, he'd even managed to wake before Dad. He got up and gave a couple great spine popping stretches. His brother had slept on him wrong.
He crept about the cave looking for his mother. He was hungry and he was sure she'd be able to amend the matter. When he didn't find her he looked towards the mouth of the cave. He wasn't supposed to go out of the cave without an escort, but he did wonder where she'd gone off to.
Masashi sat in the mouth of the cave and looked around. Technically he hadn't left it. He perked his little pink ears towards the lake. Not only was he hungry, he was thirsty too. Surely his mother wouldn't be angry if he just went to get some water.
He bounded out towards the water. The sun felt good on his dark fur and the water looked really tempting. When he reached it he took a few big gulps before even looking for other creatures.
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:14 pm
Puteri had snuck up on one of the younger gazelles. She would have gone after an older one, but she knew there was no way she could catch one. Unlike her mate she was very slow, but what she lacked in speed she made up in cunning. Quietly she stalked her prey. Once the gazelle had started grazing in the grass, she made her move. As rapidly as she could she ran and pounced on the startled creature. When she ran, some dirt had fallen into her eyes. It didn't take much to finish it off. There was enough for a small meal for her cubs. Once Katashi woke up she would ask him to catch a proper meal.
Puteri started to drag the young gazelle toward the cave mouth. The dirt in her eyes had blurred her vision. On the way to the cave she decided to take a quick sip of water at the lake. There she saw a cub across the lake and, because of her eye sight, she was unable to see what the cub looked like. 'That cub shouldn't be alone. I hope his mother is around.' Than she realized that the cub was probably hers. She blinked her eyes until she could see more clearly and she saw that the cub was, in fact, hers.
She dashed to where her cub was. "Masashi! Masashi what are you doing out of the cave? Your not hurt are you?" There was slight panic in her voice. What if something happened to him? If he ever got hurt she would never forgive herself. "Are your brother and sister still inside?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:24 pm
Masashi was just scratching his ear when he heard his mother's frantic questions. He tumbled over in surprise, right into the lake. With a little yowl he scrambled out of the water and shook himself dry. He looked embarrassed at his clumsiness, which was silly since he was still just a cub.
"Mom, I'm fine, hungry though. I was thirsty so I came out to drink water. Dad and the others are still sleepin'." He sniffed at her, smelling the blood of the gazelle. "Did you catch some breakfast?" He wanted to rub up against her leg in an affectionate greeting, but he also didn't want to get her wet.
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:35 pm
Puteri giggled at her son. She didn't mean to surprise him, but at least he was okay. Carefully she put her forehead against his. "Masashi what did I ever do to deserve such an adorable cub? I must have pleased the gods in some way." She told him as she stood back up. "I caught a gazelle for us to eat. It's not much. Perhaps your father will catch another one if we eat this one all up. Unless you would like to help me catch one? Though you might be too little."
She was unsure how old cubs normally started learning how to hunt down their prey. When she was a cub others would hunt for her. It was only recently that she had started hunting for herself and even than Katashi normally did the hunting. "We should probably take the gazelle back to the cave before others decide to try and snack on it."
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:56 pm
Masashi liked to live up to his name. Elegant, and stumbling into water was certainly not elegant. But at least his mom thought he was cute. He wasn't so sure about being ready for hunting though.
"We could try Mom." If he messed up she'd probably think he was cute again. It was nice that she'd love him no matter how clumsy he was. "And that's my breakfast! We can't let anyone else have it!" He said as he started bounding around the lake to get the gazelle from where his mom had left it.
When he got there it was definitely too big for him to pick up, but he took one of the legs in his mouth, determined to help and be useful.
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:16 pm
Puteri laughed at her son. "All right Masashi, I will make sure that no one else eats it but you." She grabbed the gazelle by its neck and helped carrying it, being careful to not bite into it. Once she helped carry the gazelle to the cave, she set the gazelle down and then laid down. "Looks like your brother and sister are still sleeping along with your father. You should better start on your gazelle before they wake up." She said jokingly.
After having hunted down the gazelle, Puteri felt like she needed a quick break. She wasn't hungary just yet, she just wanted to lay down. "Once you are done eating, Masashi, I'm going to take you hunting. I will have to warn you now, though that I am not nearly as good at hunting as your father. Someday he'll show you how to really hunt, but for now you and I can just go on a small hunt."
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:17 pm
Masashi was more then willing to get started on breakfast. He wished he could eat the whole gazelle by himself, but that was physically impossible. Soon he was full and ready to laze about. But Mom said that they were going to go hunting, and he'd be the first of his litter to be taken out hunting. That was exciting. So he pulled himself off the floor of the cave and went in search of his mother again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:36 pm
Puteri was lying near the lake. She had been keeping an eye out for some small prey for her and her son to hunt. The gazelle had left already left. They must have realized they weren't safe. There were quite a few different type of creatures they could hunt, but Puteri was looking for smaller creatures that wouldn't fight back too much. She wanted to make sure Masashi would be able to catch it, not wanting him to loose confidence in himself.
Puteri spotted her son leaving the cave. She got up and walked toward him. "Masashi all done? You didn't eat too much did you?" she said jokingly. "I think I found us some prey. There is a grouse bird in the tall grass. He's digging for worms I believe. He will be prefect prey because he is distracted."
The tall grass she was talking about, was a ways from the lake. There was a tan and grey grouse pecking at the ground. Puteri pointed her son in that direction. "Over their is your prey. Just do your best to sneak up on him alright? If you need anything I will be right here."
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:51 pm
Masashi had eaten his fill of the gazelle and had a little round belly to show for it. But he settled down close to the ground in order to sneak towards the grouse. He carefully avoided the bird's line of sight and took his time getting as close as he could.
Occasionally he glanced back at his mother to make sure he was doing it right and that she was watching. Then his attention would go right back to the grouse. Ever so slowly and quietly he sneaked through the grass. When he was one inch away from pouncing the grouse suddenly took flight. The dratted bird had found its worm and was off to feed it's chicks.
Masashi plopped his butt on the ground and pouted over his shoulder at his mother. "Mom, the birdy got away!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:36 pm
Puteri got up and walked over to Masashi. She curled her tail around him. "It's okay darling. Perhaps next time you will have better luck. My first time hunting I ended up biting the back end of one of my friends," she said as she laughed at herself. "Tomorrow I will bug your father into showing you how to properly hunt. Now why don't you go and rest up a bit, unless you are not tired."
She thought that after eating such a large meal that he might be just a little tired.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:44 pm
Masashi was sleepy, he'd had a fun morning though. Being full and warm in the sun was making him sleepy. He laughed at his mother's first hunting mishap. He wasn't too worried about the grouse getting away. It'd be fun to have Dad teach him how to hunt.
"A nap sounds great, are you going to come snuggle with me?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:07 pm
"I would love to Masashi." Puteri hung her tail over her cub as they walked back to their cave. Inside she was careful not to wake up any of the other cubs and Katashi. She curled into a ball and kept enough room so Masashi could curl up next to her. "Good night Masashi." Her eyes closed and she slowly fell asleep.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:54 pm
Masashi curled up with mother contentedly. She was much more comfortable then his brother. It didn't take him any time at all to doze off for a mid morning nap.
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