Light and Dark

Chapter 8: Chaos

7 Minutes Before the Sound

Great Jaguar Gods! What was that about? Leru wondered. She'd seen the look Vine was giving Snake the entire time. Was that jealousy clouding his green gaze? And what about Snake? Was he trying to get her affections? If so, and if Vine was actually jealous, then that means that Vine was trying to get her affections, too! It made lots of sense. Why he was afraid that she hated him, why he wanted to 'start over,' why he saved her from that scorpion, and why he gave her a lily. She was a fool for not realizing it sooner. Should she return his feelings, or Snake's? When she and Snake first met, he was very sweet to her. Leru could still recall his smile. He complimented her on her kindness, and when Thorn was trying to get them to leave he'd wanted to stay. Vine, however, had wanted to leave. But he said he wanted to put the past behind them.... Should I believe him? Oh Gods, this is so stressful, she thought, with a sigh.

"What's wrong, Leru?" Leru spun around and saw Saffi staring up at her with those big blue eyes. "Oh nothing," she lied. Saffi raised her eyebrows, as if to say, "Really? I mean, really?"

"What's with the two flowers?" Saffi asked curiously. She had a teasing look on her face, and had a playful edge to her voice. "Ummm, courtship...?" Leru said quietly. At that, Saffi yelped with excitement, earning her a couple stares from the older jaguars. "I knew it! One of them's from Vine, isn't it? Oh, I knew it I knew it!!! Which one's from him?" She asked. Leru pointed to the lily with her paw. Saffi jumped up and down. Leru couldn't help but giggle. "I don't know...." the albino said shyly. Saffi stopped jumping and stared at her friend. "Oh please! You're a real catch!" She elbowed Leru. "With those amazing pink eyes, you'll get lots of males fighting each other for your attention!" Saffi paused, and pointed to the passion flower. "If the lily's from Vine, then who's the other one from?" She asked. "His younger brother, Snake," Leru replied with a sigh.

Saffi's eyes widened. She gasped dramatically. "A LOVE TRIANGLE!!! TWO BROTHERS FIGHTING OVER ONE FEMALE!!! Ooh this is good stuff! They're probably fighting over you right now!" Saffi exclaimed. Leru laughed. "The air was very thick. Vine and Snake squared off in front of me," she said. "When I left, I saw Vine pull Snake into the forest." "Ooooh! They're fighting over you! Oh, I can't take it!" Saffi collapsed on the ground dramatically with a paw draped over her forehead.

"Who's fighting over you?" Shade came trotting up to them, Ifrit at his heels. Suddenly, Leru got very scared to tell them. They're my brothers. They have a right to know, she thought. But what if they get way overprotective? She pondered over what to do. As if to give her more time to think, Saffi got up and stood beside Leru.

"Hi! I'm Saffi! I'm Leru's best friend," she said in her usual cheery voice. She gave them both a genuine smile. "Hi there. I'm Shade and this is Ifrit. We're Leru's older brothers," Shade said, gesturing to Ifrit and him. All three sniffed each others' muzzles in greeting. "Leru! You never told me you had brothers!" Saffi exclaimed, looking at her friend accusingly. "Well, it sort of slipped my mind with everything that's happened," Leru said, indicating for Saffi not not say anything else. Saffi nodded slowly, understanding.

"Wait, what?" Ifrit asked, looking between the two of them.

"What'd we miss?! What happened?!" Shade asked frantically, circling his little sister and looking her over. He stopped dead in his tracks when he came upon the two flowers. Shade sniffed them, and Ifrit came over and did the same thing. "Where did these come from?" Shade asked suspiciously. "Ummm, courtship...?" Their little sister said under her breath. Here it comes, she awaited the incoming storm that was her brothers' overprotectiveness.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD! WHY ARE YOU ALREADY GETTING SUITORS?!?!" Shade flew into a frenzy. "EXACTLY! WHERE ARE THEY?! WE NEED TO FIND JINKX! JINKX? JINKX!" Ifrit stated. He then started to call out for Jinkx, and Shade joined in. Then they both scampered off to find their big brother.

Leru and Saffi were left staring after them, shocked. Then they both burst out laughing and were barreled over from doing so. They were both breathing very heavily. "Wh-what do you th-think they're g-gonna do when they f-find Jinkx?" Saffi had to try catch her breath while she spoke. "They'll probably g-go after Vine and S-Snake," Leru gasped for air through her laughter.

"Hey Saffi?" Leru asked, suddenly serious. "Yeah?" Saffi answered, sensing Leru's seriousness. "Thanks for being my friend. I don't think I've ever had any real friends. Well, besides my brothers," Leru said. "Hey, no problem. And your brothers seem pretty awesome. And at least they care about you," Saffi said. She sighed. "What's wrong, Saffi?" Leru asked, getting up and standing over her friend. "It's just, my litter mates don't give two rats' flanks about me. They're always playing tricks on me. They hate me. If I could be independent now, I'd leave in a heartbeat," Saffi stated. The happy glow was now gone from her eyes. "Well, what about your mother?" Leru asked, tilting her head. "She likes me, at least," Saffi sighed.

Suddenly, a sound like lightning blasted through the air. Everyone's heads shot up. Then in a split second, black jaguars were racing everywhere. Cubs and mothers were looking for each other. Brothers and sisters were separated. Mates were lost to each other. Saffi ran off, screaming. "MOTHER?! MOTHER, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Leru ran into the fray of bodies, racing everywhere and looking for her family. "Mom! Jinkx! Shade! Ifrit! Please, someone, where are you?!" She cried out. But her cries were drowned out by other jaguars' cries of desperation to find their own loved ones.

Suddenly, Leru was knocked to the ground. She landed with a thud. Everywhere, legs ran his way and that. I'm gonna be trampled! She realized with dread. Then memories came flooding back from the deer stampede. Hooves, paws, coming to her. She was staring death in the face, again.

Leru sprung up and sprinted towards the tree line. She knew where her den was, and if she could get there she'd be safe. But before she could get there, she crashed into someone. "Leru! There you are!" She recognized her mother's voice. "Come, there's no time! We must find your brothers!" Anaiyu raced away with Leru hot on her tail. They swerved in and out of the fray, until finally they found Jinkx, Shade, and Ifrit all crouched underneath a bush. They all came out and Anaiyu led them all into the forest.

But a giant black jaguar cut Leru off from her family. He was looking desperately for a female named Nona. "NONA!! WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE, ANSWER ME!!! IT'S ME, REEM!! NONA!!" His cries were lost in a sea of desperate yowls from the other jaguars on the cliff top. Reem ran off, looking for the female, while Leru looked for her family. She couldn't stay there; she had to run. She dove into a bush in the tree line. She hunkered down and tried to block it all out. Leru covered covered her paws with her ears and started to cry.

She felt a paw prod her side to get her attention. What she saw when she looked up didn't make her feel any better.

"Help me please! Have you seen my mate, Reem?"