Igniting Sparks

Chapter 34.

The top layer of snow was frozen and it caved under each paw as she placed her weight on it. There hadn't been any new snowfall in days and during the day, temperatures would rise above freezing point. At night they dropped again, freezing over the melted parts and creating a dangerous and tricky ground to traverse on. Every step she took, she touched the snow first, testing it and making sure it would be as silent as possible before she placed her paw down. The same went with the next and she made sure to place her rear paws in the exact same place as where her front had been. The snow leopard moved graciously slow, her tail testing the air as it moved from side to side in unison with her body while she tracked the wild goat.

Her body froze when she caught the eye of the soon to be a dead animal. Her whiskers and ears moved forward to her oblivious future kill. She waited, slowed her heartbeat and breathing for that perfect moment to pounce. With one paw still floating in the air, she shifted her body weight forward as her lip twitched upwards, exposing her canines. Just as she was about to take the leap, the goat lifted its head and looked to the left, alarmed before bolting to the right, obviously spooked by something.

The female big cat let out a big gust of air through her nose and let herself collapse onto her stomach in the icy snow. She snarled softly at the lost kill knowing all too well there was no chance in hell she would be able to catch startled prey. The thing was, she had no idea what had scared it off. The snow leopard closed her blue eyes and just enjoyed the peace and quiet around her instead. There was always another time to hunt.

"Azura." An unknown male voice woke her from her slumber. "We need to talk, sister."

Her head snapped in his direction, pupils dilated as a loud warning growl came from deep within her chest. She got up and instinctively her tail puffed up while she lowered her head, her gaze landing on Killian. He raised his hands in defense and took a few steps back to appear less threatening. She let her guard down in return and spotted the male snow leopard just a bit off to the right of Killian. He watched her, mimicking her pose but still managed to disappear into the background.

"I'm glad we managed to find you again. We've been looking for you for a few days now."

She had no idea yet if it was a good thing she couldn't talk back or not. The debate was still happening in her head. Nonetheless, she sat down on her backside and licked her lips. Maybe to provoke them a bit, maybe just to show them they were on her terrain. It was instinctive as the animal form she was in had the upper hand. Killian looked the same as last time; his hair tied together in a small bun, the same clothes on his back. Zahair had made himself comfortable again, curled up in the snow licking his own tail.

"Look, Azura, things have changed. Our leader, Marric is not the most patient of people. He actually wanted us to take you back right as we found you but I managed to give you some time. A month. That's all I could do." Killian spoke with a bit of remorse.

A month? Before what? The confused look on her face must have been pretty clear as Killian continued on exactly that subject.

"He wants to start a war." Killian's face remained stoic as he spoke and that irked her the wrong way resulting in some powerful snarling. Killian blinked twice as fast as he resisted the involuntarily spasm rippling through him.

"Look, I... " He paused as he set himself straight after her small outburst. "I can't change things. I just hope that if you come, you'll be able to stop this from happening. You can be the key to getting our species together."

The temptation to shift back to human and shout at him was growing. How on earth was she supposed to stop his leader from announcing a war?! She just barely had her own life on track and now he expected her to just go and take the lead in something so precarious? Yes, she wanted to go back to her roots, see where she was born, find out what had happened with her parents, but what if people expected her to solve their issues?