Hello guys, I adopted this awesome story from my best friend Wing-Lover I am going to change the story quite a bit but I will keep somewhat to the original story. Well my friend and I came up with this idea last year when I when we were in San Diego Zoo. We saw this beautiful Panther walking pacing back and forth along the cage. It was so pitiful. Anyways I hope everyone enjoys. I also hope the reads of the original story like it as well.

~Charm

We ran through the lush green forest searching for prey. Okay, maybe not running, more like me trying to keep up with keep up with my mother's quick trot. My back was only up to her shoulder. I am the last of my three cub litter, I had one brother and one sister. I didn't really mourn them because honestly, it happens all the time here. Animals died but you just have to keep going on with life.
Anyways, I was about to begin training so one day I could hunt and live by myself. My mother had made it clear that I wouldn't be participating in this hunt, I was only there to observe. It was only a little after sun down, but shadows already covered the forest floor. My mother slowed down quickly, she signaled with her tail that I should keep quiet.
I then saw what she saw. A lone female antelope stands in the middle of the clearing, it seems almost to easy. She pads forward slowly, her footfalls not making a sound. Her dark fur blended in perfectly with the dusk light. The antelope hasn't moved, it just stands still with its head facing away from us. Now my mother was now within ten feet of the mammal. Her ears swivel away from the deer and she crouches against the ground. Something is wrong.

I hear a quiet pop and my mother bolts away from the clearing towards me. Her ears are bent in confusion, but she gives the signal to follow her. We run urgently, but silently. She jumps over large roots and rocks and every few seconds her head whips around to look behind us. "What are we running from?" I think to myself. My mother doesn't run. She just doesn't, even when three cheetahs attacked her. She always stood her ground and fought it out, but not this time. Something was really wrong. We reach the area where we live, she stops beneath the tree we usually sleep in. She quickly rubs her head against mine, her dark eyes told me how much she loved me. My mother then nudges me towards the large tree. I hook my claws into rough bark and climb up to the lowest branch. I stop to catch my breath and look down. my mother was trying to climb up beside me but her eyes kept closing.

Eventually she just slumped down at the base of the tree. I let out a cry and jump down from the branch. The fall wasn't high enough to hurt me, just stun me momentarily. Once I regain my balance I run over to my mother. I nudge her softly and curl up beside her. I then her loud rustles in the forest behind me, which I had mistaken for small rodents earlier.
Three predators walked out of the thick undergrowth.
"Alrighty boys, pick it up and carry it to the truck!" I was very startled from the loud, foreign noises. I almost flinch but I remember my mother showing me how to by still when in the presence of predators. I must blend in with my mothers fur because they don't notice me. Two of the strange large animals that walked on two legs walked over cautiously.
"You sure it's gone, boss?"
"Yea, yea, yeah. Load it up." The leader ordered.

Two of the predators grabbed a leg of my mother each and begin pulling. "Damn boss it's heavy, this fur will get us a lot!" Keep still and they won't see you I chant to myself. I stay in the same little ball as my mother's no longer warm body was being taken from me. Only then did I see the trail of red following my mother.
"Boss, you might want to see this, I hope you brought a tranquilizer with you" one of them said tensely .

"What?" the leader asked, his footfalls were getting closer and closer to me. He smiled a wicked smile.
"Even better, a cub along with a huge mama." He stepped away from me and I was relived, he didn't see me. He grabbed a bulky, black object and loaded it with a colorful dart. He pulled the trigger with a small pop and I felt a horrible shooting pain in my back. I almost immediately feel drowsy.
"What are we going to do with it boss?"

"Probably sell it to a zoo, they won't ask questions about a cub. They will just want a massive new money maker for themselves," he answered dryly.

I wake up when the lights come on. Every single morning they turn on the lights at the exact same time, one hour before the zoo allows everyone to flood on the paved sidewalk and see all the "amazing" exhibits.

I groan to myself and blink against the harsh florescent lights. I lift my head off of my dark paws and look around the room I've been in millions and a half times. The floors were a smooth stone and the walls were gray concrete blocks. I am in an area that is about six by ten feet. I was separated from the cages beside me by a mesh floor-to-celling fence.

I stand and stretch my muscles. I see my companion in the cage beside me pressed against the mesh fence. I see that he isn't awake yet. How he sleeps through the horrid light always amazes me. I pad over to the side of my cage and push my claws out of my paw and poke him through the mesh.

He leaps up and growls at me."Really Max. Really. You keep me up all last night and now you wake me up super early!"

I pin my ears down in mock sadness, "Wow Iggy. I mean I didn't know you felt that way."

He purrs, "I know you love me Maxie darling."

He stretches and goes over to his water bowl and laps at the stale liquid. We are both probably around three years old. The zoo always tells the visitors that we are brother and sister but we really aren't.

Iggy is short for Ignite. He called himself Ignite because his fur is the color of dark volcanic rock and you know volcanos ignite. Yeah. I am called Maximum or Max for short.

I don't really know why I have just always been called that.
Iggy's cage is the left of mine and there is an empty cage to my right. The door at the end of the hall opens and a male human walks in.

He carries two bowls of raw meat. He opens a small door on the front of my cage, slides the bowl in and quickly closes it. He does the same for Iggy. I don't begin eating until the human closes my cage door. I only do this so he doesn't get scared. Humans spook easily.

When Iggy and I are done eating they open the doors in the back of our cages that led outside. It is a very large enclosure and three or more panthers could comfortably live with us. There is a thirty foot fence surrounding the enclosure. Towards the front of the area was a large pond with a log over it, Iggy and I usually don't go on the log but sometimes it is fun to play on.

In the back in the enclosure there was large stone cave with a large mouth. We had two caves actually there was also one against the front of the area were the visitors could view us through very thick glass.
We pad out in the soft grass and head towards the cave in the back. Lets just call it The Cave. We lie down in on the cool stone floor of The Cave. Life here is so boring, the only fun we get is when we chase each other around and some of the shows the humans do with us.

I flop on my side and look at the empty sidewalks. "Iggy..." I whine, "I'm bored."

"You're always bored Maxie," he explains slowly as if talking to a cub, "it just can't be helped."

"Don't call me Maxie," I growl playfully at him and swat at his ear. He ducks and leaps on me.

"Oh it's on!"

Our swatting becomes a full blown tussle. Of course we keep our claws in our paws we don't really want to hurt each other. We are a swirling ball of black fur. We get in tussles pretty often but the joy of the battle still shines in our eyes.
We roll down the grassy hill towards the pond. "Iggy no the-," I start before we land in the warm water of the pond. I spit water out of my mouth, "the pond Iggy. The pond."

"Oh Maxie, look what you did," he said while shaking his soaking fur out all over me.

"Really, Ig?" I walk over to the edge of the pond and drag me self out. My poor fur, I think. I begin licking my soaking fur and spit out dirt. Iggy settles beside me but instead of licking himself he lets the summer sun dry him.

The visitors are beginning to trickle into the park. I really could care less about the adult humans but the cubs were so cute. Sometimes I go the glass cave (the one in the front) and just watch them. I even put my paw against the glass when they tap it with their fat baby fingers. Iggy laughs at me but I don't care.

Iggy and I sleep in trees most of the day, right until closing time. I climb down, trying not to wake Iggy (we slept on the same branch). I hop down, my paws hitting the ground with a thud. I walk over to the glass cave. Around this time the sun makes rainbows all through the camber.

I lie down and watch the rainbows make designs on my dark fur. Most of the visitors are trying to see the "cool" animals before the zoo closes. Those animals are toward the front of the park while my enclosure was in the back.

I am kind of surprised to see a lone teenager walking towards me. Most humans stay in a group of friends or family. It was obviously a male judging by how short his black head hair is. He wore all black and had onyx eyes. I was confused, humans usually don't always have all the same colors.

The only color on him was a blue amulet around his neck. It glows. I felt an odd prickle in the back of my mind. He seems interesting unlike many humans. I stand up and walk towards the glass and press my body against it. He was lucky, he could leave, he could be free. I'm stuck here forever, Iggy is like my brother and I love him but I have to be here with him until I die.
I sigh and lay down. I prop my head on top of my paws and look at him again. When you really look at his eyes they are onyx but they have little silver flecks in them.

He turns to leave and the prickle in my mind goes away.

Hey I hope that everyone likes I want... um lets say four reviews. (YAY 2000 words! Don't start to expect it)Yep FOUR REVIEWS IF YOU WANT AN UPDATE

~Charm