Alexander the Caracal meets Miltiades the Canada Lynx

The Wait Begins

When the veterinarian came, he reported to Captain Smith that Alexander would heal if given time. The battle with Miltiades had been brutal, but miraculously, none of the wounds were fatal or crippling, yet with how the Northern caracal felt, they might as well have been.

After the veterinarian had departed, Captain Smith sat opposite of Alexander and Roxana on the chesterfield, even placing a gentle hand upon the former. "It will be alright..." He said quietly. "It will be alright, Alexander... I'm here."

Captain Smith was forty-five-years-old and six feet and four inches in height. A man of Algonquin, Cayuga, German and Irish heritage, he had long, black, Zeus-like hair and green eyes. He was a muscular man, a Herakles some would say, who had three moles to the side of his left eye, as well as two scars on the left side of his face, the most notable of which went through his left eyebrow. His moustache was a handlebar moustache, styled like Wyatt Earp's, and his beard was a long goatee. His attire was his uniform from the Second Boer War which he had turned into everyday wear, in contrast to his surviving comrades who had put theirs on display in their homes. The uniform consisted of a khaki-coloured coat and pair of trousers, with a white shirt, black boots, and a Stetson hat, which was currently on the hat rack in the entrance hall.

The Second Boer War had been the bloodiest two years, seven months and twenty days of Captain Smith's life. It had been during that war that he had found Darius caught in a trap. By freeing him, the Captain, at that point a lieutenant, had found a lifelong friend who had followed him from then on. Darius had now followed Captain Smith's father, from whom his Algonquin and German heritage came, his friend Mark Twain, and wife Asha, Hippolyta's mother who was of Swahili descent and Captain Smith's sister and brother-in-law, Alan's parents, had followed Darius. His mother would pass on soon and despite what the veterinarian had said, the Captain had a sinking feeling that he might lose two more individuals in his life.

Gently stroking Alexander's fur, Captain Smith watched as his fiancée Ms. Lombard entered the parlour. She was seventeen years his junior, half-Cree and half-Swiss, slender, brown-eyed, had long black hair and was five feet and nine inches in height. She typically wore a white dress with shoes of the same colour. As she sat next to down to the right of Roxana, Ms. Lombard asked: "How is he, Kull?"

"The veterinarian said he will live, but I fear he will not, Igraine... Darius did not..."

"Darius was sixteen-years-old, Kull. He was an old caracal. Alexander is young though and will recover more easily than an older cat would."

"Would that we could be certain of that."

"I remember my uncle's caracal Philip. Awful and mean-tempered, but seeing him when he was ill or injured was the saddest thing." Ms. Lombard gently scratched Alexander's chin, taking a moment, smiling as the Northern caracal looked at her. "Those had been the only times Philip would ever allow anyone that wasn't my uncle to pet him."

"Darius had a better temperament, Alexander does too." Commented Captain Smith, watching as Roxana sniffed Ms. Lombard's wrist. "Even with how Herr von Fell treated her, Roxana has never been so bad... Even my student Philip has a better personality than your uncle's caracal did... Alexander's father Amen-Ra and mother Olympias were both better tempered that Philip was... I wonder what sort of life that animal had lived before coming into your uncle's ownership or if he truly was just born with such a temperament. I know different animals have different personalities, but I sincerely hope it was just treatment and not his natural personality."

Darius, Philip, the names of these two caracals caught Alexander's attention and so he listened. Often, he heard Darius spoken of and wanted to know of his and Roxana's predecessor, but he also wished to know of Philip, Ms. Lombard's uncle's caracal, whom he did not often hear spoken of.