Moeras was draped over a branch, staring down with half-lidded eyes at the cubs lying in the grass below her. She had thus far not been overly protective of them, and instead opted to keep her distance. The tiny beasts were loud and always seemed to be hungry, and Moeras had little energy for all this hunting. It had been bad enough trying to get food when she was pregnant, but now that they were born not only did she still have to hunt to feed the lot, but they seemed to want to do nothing more than cry whenever they were awake.
She had just awoke from a nap though, and as she stared down she started to realize something odd. She could have sworn there were more cubs before she went to sleep. The leopardess raised her head and glanced around. There seemed to be no sign of the missing cubs nearby, either they had gotten lost and eaten, or someone had found them. Either way they were no longer her problem. She felt oddly confident that they were alright, though she was unsure why.
Thomasz was out on a hunt. The rest were still at their temporary camp, as far as he knew. Though it was quite likely he could go back and find his father missing, again. Off on his own, and likely finding ladies, though Thomasz was not sure how he stumbled across all these females. The thought was of little concern though, as more females in the group was certainly not a bad thing. If nothing else it added some beauty to the group. He quickly pushed the thought aside, setting his mind instead to focus on other things. Like bringing back some food. The group was certainly not going hungy, but it also gave him an excuse to keep an eye out for potential new members.
The green leopardess slid out of the tree, dropping down silently beside the sleeping pile of cubs, which was indeed much smaller than it had been earlier. She still felt no worry for the missing ones, which seemed off to her, but she decided not to question it. If someone else found them then they weren’t her problem, and if they had been eaten, well, then at least they weren’t off starving somewhere. However she stared down at the remaining few, and idea forming in her head. Perhaps she could find someone else to take them. Moeras eyed the cubs, trying to figure out how to carry them off. it would be too hard taking them one by one, especially since she didn’t know if anyone was even around to dump them on. So instead she decided to leave them there for now. They were moderately hidden by grasses, at least, and until the missing cubs this day had been fine when she went out to hunt on her own. So the leopardess turned and set out in search of another.
Thomasz had just found signs of a nearby herd, and it appeared to still be close by. The tracks were pretty recent, so if anything they were around grazing, possibly near a watering hole. He tried to remember if there were any close by, though they had not travelled across much of this place before so it was not overly familiar. He was confident he would find them though. Thomasz was not a bad hunter, and with such fresh tracks to follow he was sure he could at least find them. If nothing else he could bring the information to the rest of the leopards in his group. Before he would return though he wanted to make sure they were still nearby. It was possibly another predator could have also found them, and sent them running. He wasn’t about to return with only information on tracks, and a maybe that there could be a herd.
The path Moeras took had been at random, as she had no idea if there was anyone around, and certainly no idea for what direction someone could be in. It was likely that she wouldn’t find anyone, or that if she did they would not like the idea of suddenly having cubs thrust upon them. So the leopardess was surprised when she finally spotted someone. Another leopard was crossing her path, thoguh some distance out. Quite the luck she was having today, now she just had to figure out a way to convince him to take the cubs. As she started walking towards the brown leopard a plan started to form, and as it did her pace quickened until finally she was in a full out run. She barreled towards the other leopard before coming to a skidding halt beside him. She huffed, breathing more heavily than she would have, since the run had been a short one. All part of her plan.
“Help!” She cried, trying her best to look frantic, or what she thought that might look like. “My cubs are in danger, you must follow me. Quickly!” Moeras turned and started to run back towards her tree, not knowing for sure if he’d follow, but hoping he would.
Thomasz glanced sideways when he heard paws moving towards him, and fast ones. The thought of a fight crossed his mind as he turned to face the oncoming possible thread. It was a leopardess, and as she came to a halt she called for his help. Thomasz had little time to speak as the green female turned, asking for him to follow, and started to run off. “Of course!” He cried. With no second thought he followed after her, wondering what could possibly be wrong.
Moeras continued to run, glancing back only long enough to confirm that the male was following. Perfect. Now she just had to figure out how exactly to get him to take them. There was enough time to think though as she ran, and just as before a plan formed. Such a simple one too. The tree came into sight and she continued to run towards is, a smirk starting to spread across her maw. She quickly forced it away as she skidded once more to a halt, some 30 feet from the tree. “There!” She cried out, looking towards the tree. “They are trapped under a fallen branch and I can not move it!”
The female came to a halt and cried out once more to him. Thomasz did not bother to stop, and instead raced past her towards the tree. He looked quickly around, trying to find this branch she spoke of, but slowly his pace fell as he neared it, a curious sight awaiting him. There, lying beneath the tree, were a few cusb. There seemed to be absolutely nothing wrong with them, if maybe they were looking a bit thin, but otherwise perfectly fine. Confusion quickly washed over him as he turned to look back to the female. “I don’t understand, they appear fine. There are no fallen branches even under this tree..”
The smirk fell back across her maw. Perfect. He had run straight past her and was not by the cubs. As much as she wanted to stay and take in the male’s confusion she knew she had to get away now, or she might be stuck with them again. So she turned and started ro race away, calling back over her shoulder as she did. “Yeah, they are fine, and they are yours now!”
Thomasz sat there, dumbstruck by what had just occurred. He couldn’t believe that had just happened, and wondered silently if maybe this was some sort of a joke. As he watched the green female race off, growing ever smaller in the distance, he realized it was not. She had just abandoned a small group of cubs on him. He looked down at the sleeping forms, tail twitching as he tried to figure out the best way to get them back to the rest of the colony. Well, it may not be food, but some new members, and a very interesting story, would have to do for today.
[Word Count: 1352 ]
