Star Leopard (Paused)

~Prologue~

Nightfall fidgeted with the bone in her jaws, wishing father can come back sooner everyday. Her stomach was howling like a wolf.

She looked at the small cave, empty except for mother, who is snoring gently in her nest. Cold stone lined the walls and covered the ceiling. The floor was made of hard, shiny rocks. Sunlight bounced of the smooth cave floor, dazzling Nightfall's eyes.

Suddenly a warm body pressed against her, making her jump. Nightfall glimpsed a tuft of gray fur. Squealing like a newborn mouse, she scrambled away.

"Mother, there's a wolf in the den, help!"

Heart pounding, she turned her head to see if mother has woken up yet, only to find her sister standing there, shaking her pelt from top to bottom.

"Scaredy mouse! Nightfall is a scaredy mouse! Beware or the 'wolf' will catch you!"

Anger rose in Nightfall's fur, and she rose her hackles.

"Don't laugh at me, Shadowbreeze, or you will become the mouse!"

She crashed into her sister, knocking her off her paws. Surprised, Shadowbreeze pushed her off, struggling to her feet. Nightfall pounced on her, and the two kits wrestled on the floor of the cave.

Two eyes stared at them lovingly. Mother rose to her paws, separating the sisters.

"What is all the mewing about?", Mother asked, looking around. "Where's the wolf?"

"Nightfall is a scaredy mouse!", Cried Shadowbreeze.

"Am NOT"

"But you thought I was a wolf!"

"But you took me by surprise! It doesn't count!", Nightfall scratched her sister with tiny claws, desperate to prove herself.

Mother laughed, putting a paw between the two kits again.

"Don't fight now! Remember, snow leopards have to work together to hunt yummy prey"

"But then why don't you help father with the hunting?", asked Shadowbreeze.

"Because I have to play with you two naughty little mouses!"

Nightfall started growling softly, while Shadowbreeze shouted 'I am not a mouse!'.

"All right then, 'fierce fighters', how about I take you two outside the cave tomorrow?"

* * *

Nightfall was exhausted by the time they returned home. She had learned so much today! The names and looks of all the different trees and plants and creatures were ringing through her mind.

She was desperate to get some sleep now. Their territory was so big, she felt like she can put a hundred mountains in it. And they only explored a corner of it!

It was night now, and Nightfall could see the cave, nearly blocked from view by a tree, it's mouth opening up, threatening to swallow up anything that goes inside.

The two kits rushed forward, and Crystalfur followed. The cave suddenly felt so dark and mysterious in the night.

Then mother suddenly stopped in her track. Nightfall panicked, expecting some sort of dangerous animal to leap out of the bushes. But Crystalfur didn't flatten her ears or growl. She simply just froze.

"I wan't to show you both something." She whispered softly. "Have you ever seen stars?"

Shadowbreeze looked up at her mother, confused.

"Of course we've seen stars!", Cried Nightfall, thinking back to the shimmering specks in the sky she sometimes see at night.

Crystalfur gave a little laugh. "No, not those stars, these stars."

She threw back her head, as if she is a wolf ready to howl. Nightfall and Shadowbreeze copied her movement, staring straight into the night, and gasped in astonishment.

These are not the tiny specks the two kits might see before they sleep. It is a whole group of them, some bright and some faint, creating a magnificent line across the sky.

They scattered across the black night, some clustered together, others alone. A green and white glow seem to come beyond them, making it look even more magical.

Nightfall was instantly attracted to them. To their warm glow and their blinking lights.

Narrowing her eyes, Nightfall thought she could see something more than the mass of shining dots. Something even more important than the whole world. Something that needs her help.

"Come," it seems to say, "It's time for you to explore the world of a long forgotten power"