In the Beginning



The moon crested over lush mountains, casting a silvery light over the thick jungle below.  Immense green leaves reflected the soft light, swaying as one in the gentle night breezes until the tree tops seemed as the surface of some great, dark ocean.  Above that surface, all seemed tranquil... the rainforest slumbered beneath the kind shroud of darkness.

Beneath the canopy, nightbirds called busily back and forth, their cries echoing through the trees.  Monkeys chattered and screamed hysterically at each other before hushing into wary silence as  the high-pitched yowl of a wildcat was met by the deeper roar of some larger beast as the two met and tangled.

Deeper still in the jungle, beneath the canopy and even the forest floor... a den, consisting of a small cave dug beneath the roots of some ancient tree, held a panther and her brood.  Blacker than pitch, she seemed only shadow within shadow... save for the glimmer of golden-green as her eyes caught the few rays of moonlight that managed to filter through the canopy and down the opening to her den.  Her barely audible purr was the lullaby ushering into sleep the warm tangle of small bodies that lay against her side.

A noise at the mouth of the den drew her watchful gaze from the cubs.  A dark figure standing in the end of the tunnel blocked out the soft moonlight, casting the den into complete and total dark.  Lips drawing back over needlesharp teeth, she let a warning hiss flow through the air.  It was met with the low, soothing purr of the beast in the entry-way as he drew back from the den to resume his pacing.  Hoary with age, her large mate still moved powerfully and smoothly, flowing from shadow to shadow as if no more than shadow himself.  Impatience circled his stride tightly just before the den as he invited his mate, once again, to the hunt.

Finally, satisfied the cubs slept deeply, she untangled herself and slid from the den, pausing to greet her mate.  He rubbed his cheek fervently over hers before whirling away, excited for the hunt.  Scenting the air warily, she was much slower to move from the vicinity of the den and follow the mighty jungle cat.

With the prolonged absence of the she-cat, the air in the den slowly cooled.  The tangle of cubs moved and turned in their sleep, oozing as one toward the spot the warmth had been... finding only the coolness of the dirt wall.  First one, then another tiny head popped up from the pile, eyes wide as they examined their surroundings.  It wasn’t too long before one cub had pulled from the tangle of its siblings, swimming-like movements carrying it on sprawled legs toward the light that sifted in the entry-way.  The others, a trio of round, dark-spotted faces and wide blue eyes bobbing in slightly wobbly heads, watched.

The cub moved up the slope of the entry-way, toward the wall of light.  Since her eyes had opened, she had watched her parents disappear into that wall and attempted to follow, only to be forced back by the sharpness that surrounded the rough tongue of the mother.  She reached out a paw to the wall... drawing back with momentary distrust as she found the wall penetrable.  Now she pushed her nose forward, drawing her rotund little body along behind, through the silvery wall of light that was the entry-way.  In the midst of sniffing exploration, the sudden speeding of a shadow over the entry-way startled a shrill mewl from the cub.  Jumping back, she tumbled down the sloping entryway back to her siblings, landing in a small heap.  With much mewling and crying, the cub righted herself, baring tiny milk teeth and growling at the silvery light of the entry.

Quiet laughter met the tiny, rasping growl with a much deeper, sinister ring.  The adventurous one moved away from the tangle of her brothers, curiosity tilting her head as she moved again toward the entry.  A soft whimper sounded from behind her; she ignored it, having found much more interesting game .... Out There.  A large arm reached into the den and she crouched, growling, beneath the descending hand.  Three brothers crouched in the rear of the den, crying loudly while she was lifted by the scruff, flailing wildly with sharp little claws.  Her face wrinkled in a furious hiss and she twisted and twined in that grip, scrabbling in attempts to scratch or bite the hand that held her.

 "Feisty, aren’t you, little one...?"  The hand pulled her toward that voice, up the entryway and out of the den.  Dangling in midair, she swung before the man, paws reaching toward that face, claws angling instinctively toward the eyes.  Leaning too close in study, the man cursed as her claws found momentary purchase in the flesh of his cheek.  Yanking her back from his face, he shook the cub roughly until she cried, hanging limply from the powerful hand.  A satisfied smile curved his lips, dark in his pale face, and he tucked the cub into one arm as one would a baby, ignoring the continuing cries of her brothers as he started off into the jungle.


The hunt had led the she-cat and her mate far afield, and she showed her displeasure at this with frequent nips at his shoulder.  He ignored this mistreatment with a goodnatured patience, his excitement for the hunt overbearing his concern.  They slinked in single-file through a moon-washed clearing before disappearing into the thick foliage without so much as a rustle.

By the time they brought down the stag, they had been hunting for well over an hour.  The she-cat lapped absently at a pool of blood from the deer’s throat, frequently raising her head to study the jungle around her.  Disquieted, she paced as her mate fed ravenously.  Finally, she turned on him, chasing him with a snarl and sharp teeth away from the kill.  Snarling back at her, he turned nonetheless, retreating from her ill-tempered advances and allowing her to drive him back toward the den... and the cubs.

Upon nearing the den, he froze, gaining only her increased wrath.  With a low growl, he spun, cuffing her to the ground before turning to scent the air.  Lowering his head to the ground, he scented again, now joined by his subdued mate.  Quiet growls rose and fell with their whuffing breaths as they breathed the lingering man-scent.  Moving to the mouth of the den, the she-cat paused, crouching to the side.  Hushed, she listened.. pausing only a second longer before rushing down into the small cave in answer to the soft mewling of the cubs, exhausted from continued crying.  Sniffing the cubs, she soothed each with swipes of her rough tongue.  Her study of her brood was cut short as she whirled in the small cave, searching the dark corners for the missing cub.  Her mate, hovering in the mouth of the cave, met her eyes briefly before whirling and disappearing into the forest.  Leaving her there with the remnants of their offspring, he began to hunt again.

In the tiny cave, the she-cat bathed her cubs ferociously before dropping each -- three golden, dark-spotted males -- at her belly to suckle.  As the weary cubs suckled and drifted into sleep, the first dim rays of the sun crested the mountains, dancing over the shimmering leaves of the jungle canopy.  The she-cat, watchful of her slumbering cubs, waited with sleepless tension thrumming throughout her lithe form.


[CONTINUE]



Or go back to:
[INCARNATIONS]
[TALES OF THE JUNGLE CAT]
[Timeline]