Storm Clouds

°•| Prologue |•°

   A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and the pale brown fur of the female clouded leopard who sat cross-legged on top one of the branches concealed just below the surface of the dense canopy. A small smile adorned her face as she basked in the first rays of the rising sun peaking above the distant mountain, a sense of peace overcoming her as she meditated in the early morning.

   Swish

   Her pale green eyes snapped open at the sound of movement below her, black tipped ears perking as she tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. Her eyes widened as she cuaght sight of a flash of grey fur amongst the sea of green, her body going taunt and her fur bristling as she became all to aware of the rapid thudding of her heart before realization struck her. With a quick shake of her head, she reached forward, her paws soon grasping the small form of a cub who she brought to rest in her lap moments after.

   "Lei, you know you're not supposed to climb this high without my supervision." She scolded lightly, her brows furrowing in slight worry as she carefully assessed his smaller frame with diligent eyes.

   "But you climb up here all the time! And I'm getting very good at it!" He replied, his long grey dappled tail lashing. Jia sighed as she brushed the various twigs and leaves from his grey blotched fur, his irregular spots and stripes so reminiscent of her own, as she smiled fondly: Her smile faltered as she took in the light gray color so much like his.

   "Even so, you know you still have issues clinging to the branches. Your grasping is coming along nicely, but you shouldn't climb this high without me accompanying you. You could have fallen." Jia murmured as she rose, clutching Lei close to her frame, who quickly grasped onto her black qipao for added security as she made her descent.

   "But you said I won't grow stronger without practice." Lei pointed out, his bright green eyes wide in astonishment as he watched his mother make her way down from the tree-tops even with one arm securely wrapped around him. With ease, she leaped from branch to branch until she reached the main trunk, where she paused for a moment to allow Lei to settle on her back before continuing downwards.

   "That's true, but there are plenty of smaller trees you can climb that would give you all the practice you need. You shouldn't have been up there," Jia reiterated as the two finally reached the ground. Settling Lei back on his own two paws, she crouched down so she was now at eye level, her stern gaze meeting her son's now timid one. "I want to keep you safe, Lei, and in order for me to do that, you have to listen to me."

   "I know, I'm sorry, Mom." Lei muttered, his ears and tail drooping as he stared down at his paws. Jia smiled faintly as she gently brought him in for a hug.

   "Come on, let's go eat breakfast, and then maybe we can head into the village and see if any of the other children want to play." Jia offered while pulling away before outstretching her paw for Lei to hold, which he took dutifully. His gaze lit up at the prospect of finding playmates in the village before he began to pull his mother towards the small cottage that was their home.

   "Come on, what are we waiting for?!" He squeaked as he pulled her inside. Jia chuckled as she busied herself with preparing breakfast, pausing for a moment as an unknown scroll caught her attention.

   "Lei, where did this come from?"

   "Oh, that's what I came up to tell you: I found it outside the door when I woke up!" Lei replied from his place at the table, his attention now occupied with his newest Tigress action figure he had received for his birthday a few days ago. Jia nodded absentmindedly, her gaze locked on the seal of the scroll, which she hesitantly opened. Her gaze narrowed as she scanned over the words, a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach as her fur pricked with unease.

   "Mama, is everything okay?" Lei asked, his gaze now turning to Jia as he sensed her change in demeanor. Turning to face him, Jia nodded with a strained smile as she tucked the scroll away.

   "Of course, everything is fine. But there has been a slight change in plans: We're heading to the Valley of Peace."
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Word Count: 773

Okay, the first chapter is done! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry it's so short, but it is a prologue. But I just wanted to leave you with a picture of how I imagined Jia (Image 1) and Lei (Image 2). These images are courteous of the perhcance ai image generator if you were curious.

Link to Generator:

https://perchance.org/ai-text-to-image-generator

Anyways, see you next time!