Hunted- Old and unedited!

Five

Amala began to stroke and rub the tiger. In turn Kayan began to purr loudly and rubbed his head against her. She stood up and told Kayan to follow her. Kayan trotted next to her and roared with happiness. Doors lined both sides in large amounts and the hallway was on an upward angle confirming Kayan’s suspicions that his chamber was underground. He found that down the hallway about ten metres was a beautiful stone door barring their way. Amala opened it and Kayan nearly jumped when he saw that there was a huge chamber behind it. Blue and white mosaic tiled floors, a high roof with stained glass windows and sun pouring in. the walls were covered in paintings, carvings and tapestries. Kayan was surprised and he stopped walking so he could get a better look around.

Amala looked at Kayan and smiled. “C’mon Kayan, we better get outside before we run out of time.” Her voice echoed throughout the room making Kayan flatten his ears and press himself against the floor. Smiling, Amala began to lead Kayan through a maze of corridors and rooms until the odd pair reached a magnificent set of double doors. Amala told Kayan to be good and then she pushed the doors open, revealing a paved courtyard. The centrepiece was a koi pond that Amala loved to sit at. A large archway led out into a beautiful grassy meadow fringed by trees. Flowers bloomed all across the field and Kayan just wanted to run through them. A few people walked around and all of them gave Amala and Kayan an odd look.

Amala began to tell Kayan about the home they lived in and about how her uncle had inherited her grandpa’s fortune but had given it to her father who was struggling with debt. In return her father had allowed her uncle’s family to move in. Her father was always going away on business trips sometimes for months at a time and when he returned he always brought Amala a gift. She explained that a couple trips ago he went to Borneo and got her the hair clip she always wore. She said that he got the clip from a native people called the Kayan people and that’s where she thought of his name from.

They reached the arch and stepped under it, momentarily lost in shadows before emerging into warm sunlight. Kayan bounded forward. He crouched in the grass and hid. Amala ran towards him, she was laughing with joy as she attempted to pin point the hidden tiger. As Amala ran past him he jumped out and ran the way they’d come from. He enjoyed the long, lush grass. It was the moist green type not the dry seedy type that would get caught in his fur. He had never experienced the green type so long before. He enjoyed it though because of the ease it gave him to hide. Just as Amala realized where he was a white wagtail began to zip over the field. It changed direction quicker than the wind and its darting pattern was near impossible to predict. Kayan tensed however and waited for it to fly over him. When it was less than a foot away he lunged. Amala was left of him so he knew it would flee right. He had lunged to the right of the bird and had been correct. He caught it in his paws and heard the fragile bones crunch.

He tossed it into the air and caught it a second time. With pride, he trotted over to Amala and led her back to the bird. Amala scowled in disgust and gave Kayan an appalled look.

“Why would you do that Kayan?” She asked with a gathering anger. Kayan felt terrible confusion. He had followed his strongest instinct and could not understand why she was angry at him. “You should be an arena tiger.” Amala spat out. “Father was right! Tigers can’t be pets.” With that she called out to one of her father’s servants. The man rushed over immediately and she told him to take Kayan back to his cage. Kayan didn’t fight against the man, however he did give Amala a pained look of anguish. She ignored him, turning away and pointing her nose into the air.