The Legend of Pardus

Chapter 1: A New Live

Current day...
    I was running. The darkness came closer and closer, the trail twisted and turned, thorns like claws were tearing at my skin. The dark, the cold, reaching for me. I finally saw light and I ran at it with all the strength and speed I had. So close, so close! I could feel the heat from the sun on my fur already, the tip of my tail freezing from the approaching black shadow, if not a literal animal's shadow. I could hear the birds chirping, the sound of dead silence behind me. I lost my footing and somersaulted forward, flipping so my back was facing the ground. the light disappeared and I was falling, down, down, spinning into the dark cloud. I could see the rays of light slowly fade to nothing, as I yowled, "NO!"

   I jolted awake in a cold sweat. I was cold from the tip of my nose to the last hair on my tail. I swiftly stood up, looking around frantically. I recognized my surroundings, back in my cave safe, but freezing. My lair was so cold at night, I could barely get enough sleep. I missed the warmth of a fire and the soft leaf blankets and grass nests of home, but it's hard to miss something you can barely remember. It had been 10 years since I was kicked out of my tribe, and every night I regretted going out so far from home. But what could I do to reverse what I did as a cub. I never really knew why I was kicked out but it always left me angry and puzzled.

    Shaking the thought away, I got up out of the cold rock floor and stretched as far as my body would let me. I walked out of my little cave I called home and into the bright sunshine. Blinded for a split second, I gradually saw the world appear around me. Enormous Mountain peaks surrounded me, a line of trees reached up at the base of the mountain. Beneath the peaks, a grand forest covered the valleys, and a river ran through it, tall grasses surrounding the river and keeping the trees at bay. The sun glimmered in the flowing river, flashing brightly. I sighed at the rays of light's warm touch and the warm spring winds combed my fur. I sat upon an outcrop of rock already warmed from the sun and surveyed the world of Pardus below me. even if I was kicked out of my tribe, this place was better. It was my place, my home.

"SCREECH! PANTHER IS UP! SCREECH! PANTHER IS UP!"
I jumped, my entire body tensing up as I panicked for a split second. The screech came from the nearest tree. I sighed, letting the hair on my back settle down. I glanced back at a long billed bird that lived in a tree nearby. That bird did that every morning, and it really was getting annoying. Living in such a great expanse had its downsides, you couldn't keep everyone out. I tried to eat the large bird once but it took off and screeched in my face for the remainder of that day. I walked away from the cackling bird and down the mountain, into the thick green pine and oak trees. They glistened in the morning dew, the rocks around the area were a dark grey and slippery. The further I went into the underbrush, the wetter it got, leaves holding small spheres of water, dripping droplets off them.

After about a mile walk, I looked out past the woods and into the yellow-golden grassy fields surrounding the river and saw a herd of deer. Their brown coats and white underbellies would have bended well in snowy environments, but here their white fur stood out.They were softly grazing below the longer river grasses. Many were doe, they only had their sharp hooves, the bucks were the ones to look out for. They had antlers the size of large branches, each point was extremely sharp. My stomach growled at the thought of their juicy flesh, my muscles felt the urge to feel the excitement of the hunt.

    I laid down in the nearest bush and stalked slowly into the long grass. I used my keen ears and nose to detect the deer's musky scent as I slowly made my way closer. I prowled further into the grass until I was in the middle of them. Thinking of how tasty one of the bigger deer were, I targeted a large buck and started to get as close as I could. I needed to be extremely careful, so I thought of a strategy.

It wouldn't have enough time to turn and hit me with it's antlers if I was fast enough. It's rear end was guarded by its powerful back legs, but I could come in at an angle. I started towards it, getting ever so close as the buck lifted his head to look around for any approaching danger, then went back to grazing. I heard a grunt from behind me and froze. I noticed all the deer were looking around, they had sensed something was up. I stayed as still as a rock as they all started to sniff the brisk cool morning air. I was just a few feet from my target and the buck had also stopped grazing and was now looking around. Not yet, not yet. I set my paws ever so lightly on the cool soil. The scent of the deer carried by the wind blew past my face, the sun's warm rays were blocked by the clouds and the wind didn't feel so warm anymore. The deer snorted one last time, the lead buck grunted,
"Cat scent on the wind. Hunting us. Move out."