I only own the OCs!
Leopard the Warrior of Africa
Listen children circled around the fire;
Would you like to hear more of this tale?
Agnessa touched Vitaly's forehead lightly with her feathers. She was one of the few animals concern about the boy's health as a runt. Vitaly was now about 2 months old, almost ready the leave the den to explore the world around him. Feia was out hunting finally, since Afon wanted to try and continue to teach the older cubs how to hunt (mainly Alik for one), which left Agnessa as a sort of babysitter. This was really a first time thing for the crane as she draped a wing over the young sleeping cub. Agnessa had always been considered a good family friend for the previous cubs, or a sort of tour guide when Feia and Afon were too busy to take them somewhere. Slava, now considered a teenager, was now that as a well as a babysitter for the triplet cubs. And later on, also for this little cub sleeping beside her. For now though, Feia had finally made it clear that until Vitaly was ready to leave the den, Agnessa would play the role as his babysitter.
Agnessa looked down at the cub at the moment she felt him moved. Like all cubs his age, he still had a bit of fluffiness to his fur, so it really didn't surprise her at the small tuff on his head. He was growing rather big, though that could be rather due to the fact of not only him being the last survivor of the litter, but also how plentiful prey was in the valley. What really surprised Agnessa about Vitaly was how fast he was growing. Already he was the size of not a 2 month old, but more of a 4 month old.
Vitaly rolled about in his sleep again before opening his bright green eyes and looking up at Agnessa. "Is Mama back yet?" he asked running towards the cave's entrance. The words "mama's boy" quickly came to Agnessa's mind as she followed him.
"Nyet, she is not here, little Vitaly. Not yet, anyvay. Remember, it has been some zime since she has hunted," she answered for him, nudging him with her pale yellow beak back inside the den. "Now, vhy don't ve play find Bumpy, da?" Bumpy was a raggedy old stuff sika deer toy that Feia had found at an abandoned campsite. It had been Slava's sleeping buddy, the prey to pouncing for Alik, Anya, and Alisa, and now it was the little hide-and-seek game partner for Vitaly. Why the name Bumpy? Well… it just stuck.
"Bumpy!"
"Ok, now close zhose little eyes, and Bumpy vill hide, ok?"
Vitaly covered his eyes with his paws and tail, giggling as he waited for Bumpy to be hidden by his babysitter. "Ok, you can open zhem." Next thing anyone would know, the cub was searching everywhere for his toy. Agnessa couldn't help but giggle at the sight.
"Zhere you are, Bumpy!" Vitaly pulled the toy out from behind some rocks in the cave's corner and hugged it. Hearing footsteps coming up the path, Agnessa went closer to Vitaly on her guard. This went away quickly at the sight of Feia dragging a boar into the den. "Mama!" Vitaly ran over to his mother, catching the tigress by surprise judging from how she almost fell over. Feia then smiled and picked him up, nuzzling him.
"And how is my little baby?" she asked, sitting down and nuzzling him even more. Vitaly nuzzled her back with just the same amount of affection. Agnessa went to the entrance of the cave before looking at the small mother and son moment.
"I am no baby! I am zhe big cub!" Vitaly said, even though he lay down in her arms like a baby. Feia smiled and shook her head at her youngest cub.
"You'll alvays be my little baby." Feia began to groom him just as the rest of the tiger family came. Vitaly looked up at his older brothers and sisters while his forehead was being licked by his mother. Afon looked at Vitaly in a rather disappointed manner, Alik following his example while Anya and Alisa went over to Feia.
"Hello, Baba," Vitaly said as he tried to catch Slava's tail. Afon grunted in response, taking notice in the black ear markings that were starting to form on the youngest cub's ears. Feia, once down with Vitaly's grooming, looked up at her mate in concern. She could never understand why he usually looked disappointed at Vitaly. Never.
Alik looked at his little brother closely as Vitaly tried to pounce on him, missing the middle son by the length of Afon's tail and Anya and Alisa giggled. Afon narrowed his green eyes as Slava went to pick up the cub. "You are getting closer, Vitaly," the teen said placing him near Alik. Vitaly puffed out his chest in pride, receiving a grunt from Alik.
…..
Afon gazed out from the den as the rest of his family slept, his green eyes glowing in the Russian night. He often did this, gazing down into his territory were almost everyone except for the night creatures is asleep, for usually two reasons. One was to kept watch, to make sure no intruder snuck in during the night. Hence this was something Afon had taken pride in himself for his excellent night vision. The other reason was to clear his thoughts and, for a great amount of time, there has been one certain thought that had yet to leave Afon.
Vitaly.
Afon sighed and closed his eyes for a few minutes at this. He had expected Vitaly to die at some weeks old, not grow up to the 2 month old the cub was now. He had not expected Vitaly to grow at such a rate. Granted, he had heard of some runts surviving, but they had stayed small and had some human help from what he heard. Here in the wild, it was expected that runts would die, yet Vitaly hadn't. Afon had also notice how childish Vitaly was compared to the rest. No, he would soon need to have Vitaly going with the rest of the family outside the den soon, no matter what Feia said.
"Afon?"
In speaking of which.
Afon turned his head to look at Feia, her red eyes filled with concern. "It is not ofzen you are awake at night, Feia," he said, looking back at the territory. Feia sighed and went to sit by his side.
"Da, but I'm now concern, Afon. I.."
"Vhat is it?"
"I vas vondering vhy you alvays seemed dissappoinzed vith Vitaly. Are you not happy that he is alive? Are you not grateful?" Feia said, her expression filled with confusion and concern. Afon sighed again and looked at her.
"He is not vhat I expected. I had expected zhat he, as zhe runt, vould had died. It is not zhat I am not grateful. I am also zhinking.. zhat I should zake him out vith zhe other cubs, show him our territory," he explain, not meeting her eyes. He did note, however, her terrified expression, which he had expected.
"Nyet! Ve agreed zhat he vould not leave den unzil he vas ready!"
"And I say he is ready zo leave den! He can not stay in den forever! It is better he learn early zhan later!"
Feia's ears went back as Afon bared his teeth and had his claws out as he said that, lowering her head and quickly going back into the den. Unknown to either adult at the moment, Slava closed his eyes quickly as his mother pasted him, only to open them again to look at her in concern, and at his father in what was either hatred, or disapproval.
….
Vitaly looked at his father in curiosity as he was picked up by the back of his neck and taken with his brothers, sisters, and mother. Waving his paw at Agnessa, the cub tried to see where they were going, his bright green eyes searching for the destination. He soon perked his ears at the sight of the main river, where Afon put him down. As Afon began to talk, Vitaly looked at the grass under his feet and lifted his paws to sniff the dirt that clang onto his soft pelt. Alisa and Anya, who were practicing their hunting skills with Alik, found themselves giggling at their brother's innocence of the world.
Afon stopped his talking and looked down at Vitaly, who was now rolling in the grass, and frowned. Feia smiled a bit and nudged Vitaly. The young cub looked up at his parents and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Baba."
Slava sat near by the riverbed and looked at his family before frowning at his father. He hadn't forgotten what he had seen the night before, and he defiantly wasn't going to put up with how his father did some things. Afon, despite talking about the territory and what Vitaly would need to know about it, had also caught Slava's glare and frown towards him. For some reason, the adult male could tell that his eldest son was defiantly up to no good.
Me: finally, I got this done!
Marty: why do I have a feeling that Afon's gonna… um… what's the term I'm looking for?
Me: I don't know, but at least we got a little more insight in how Afon's and Feia's relationship works. Um, everyone review please!