Chapter Two:
Here, Kitty Kitty
He was facing a large, black panther.
"Damn, now would be a good time to know a bit about alchehestry!" Ling said. "Too bad only princesses can learn it." The panther pounced at Ling, but the prince was fast. Ling jumped onto a tree branch, leaving the panther just below him. Out of pure panic, the prince pulled a small twig from a branch, and threw it at the panther. There was silence for a while, and Ling and the prince both stood still for a number of seconds.
The panther then quickly jumped at the prince while giving a loud roar.
"Gah!" Ling yelled. He jumped up onto another branch.
I cant keep up with this forever! That panther'll just catch up to me and I'll be done for! Ling thought. His palms began to grow sweaty. "Yes! The food!" Ling proclaimed with a smile. He reached for his backpack. He could try to distract the panther by throwing out the food, giving him some time to...oh no. He left his bag down below the branches.
"Come on..think!" Ling yelled at himself. "There has to be another way!" The panther jumped at him again. Oh, of course!" The prince said to himself, and jumped to the other side of the branch, barely dodging the panther.
Although Ling couldn't use alchehestry, he had learned about the ways of the world. Everything had a flow of energy. He had always had a hard time with the subject, but people in Xing had learned how to calm animals by allowing the animal to feel the humans energy. If the animal allowed the human to feel their life, their energy, in return, a bond would be formed. There was only one problem: Ling, a thirteen year old boy, would have to touch the animal.
"Worth it!" Ling said with a smile on his face. He jumped off of the branch down to the floor. With another loud roar, the panther followed suit. The prince closed his eyes and turned the other way, but stuck his hand out in the air. The panther jumped on him and pinned the boy to the floor, but Ling was able to reach his hand over to the huge cats back, and place it down. Ling's energy flowed through his body, and he allowed some of it to exit out of his hand, and into the panther. For a while, the cat didn't do anything, but then Ling felt something. It was happiness, sadness, anger, and curiosity. It was the panthers soul.
Ling smiled, it had worked! The panther rolled off of Ling, and bit Ling's shirt. The princes eyes widened in fear, but the cat just helped him up on his feet. Ling smiled.
"So, how does this work, kitty? You just gonna follow me around everywhere? Be my faithful companion?" The cat gave a low growl. It wasn't very threatening, but more like a response. Ling chuckled, and the cat suddenly grabbed Ling's shirt again, and threw the boy on top of the cats back.
"Woo-hoo!" Ling said. The panther started to run again, and then pounced up on the tree. It jumped from branch to branch, and before Ling could even respond, he was at the very top of the huge tree, on a huge, thick branch. Ling gasped, but soon just relaxed, and laid down on the panthers back.
"Goodnight, Kitty."