The road was quiet for most of the time, the only sounds being the soft trickle of water or the lonely song of a bird. Eventually, Tovan broke the silence.
“We should probably hunt. We must’ve passed the lake by now.” He sat down on the hard ground, which had started to tear at my paws. There had been a few times where one of the loud human machines had gone by, but Tovan had pulled Kiona and I out of the way just in time.
It was hard to scent anything else other than the tangy taste of the road, but I could pick up the sweet scent of squirrels surrounding the pine trees.
“There should be some squirrels just past those trees.” Tovan nodded, and I was glad when my paws were on the grass again. The road had had rails on the sides, and Tovan was worried that we might lose it in the cliffs, and after a while the ground surrounding the trail had dropped away, and it was only the road, treetops, and the new wall of rock beside us. The sky was a blueish-gray, which had slowly started turning more of a purple.
“Don’t stray from the trees.” Tovan warned Kiona right before she stepped off the road. She shrugged and rolled her eyes before padding into the dark forest.
—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—
The sun was above us when Kiona came back. The limp prey was thin, its bones jagged beneath matted orange fur.
“Best I could find without leaving the forest.” She glanced pointedly at Tovan, but if he noticed he ignored her. He pawed at the prey for a second before taking a hesitant bite.
“For once, I miss the reserve’s food.” He grumbled, but still continued to eat his share. I crouched down beside him, taking a bite from the limp form in front of me. It tasted sour but sweet, like it was ill before it died. I finished it in a few swift bites, looking around for a stream to flush the taste out of my mouth.
“Did you see how far the water was when you hunted?” I asked Kiona, who was grimacing as she ate her fill.
“The river was just outside the forest, but I’m pretty sure it cuts into the forest around here.” She said, licking her jaws. “I’ll come with you. There’s definitely something wrong with the prey around here.”
Tovan groaned, standing up. “Might as well come along..” He padded reluctantly towards Kiona and I, and we bounded off into the forest.
The forest was eerily silent as Kiona led the way. No birds sang, no frogs croaked, and no squirrels chattered. Yet there was a prickling feeling that something -or someone- was following us.
“What happened here?” I asked, flicking my tail back and forth. There was a stench I couldn’t quite place, but it stung my nose whenever I breathed in.
“Maybe we should continue down the road…” Tovan said, cringing at the tangy smell.
“Wait- I think I see something.” Kiona bounded off, and I shrugged at Tovan as I followed.
The trees filtered out into a meadow of dark green grass, some brown at the tips. The river cut around trees and rocks and a large, snow capped mountain looked down on the meadow from above.
“That’s not the mountain we came from, right?” I asked, panting.
“No.” Tovan raised his nose to the wind. “The mountain we came from had pine trees. This one has tall, poofy ones.”
Kiona stared at Tovan. “Never once have I heard you say poofy.”
Tovan glared at the leopard, and Kiona snickered. I pawed the ground, hiding my smile with my brush. “We might as well start moving again. The sun won’t be up for much longer.”
“Finally, someone with sense.” Tovan wagged his tail under Kiona’s nose, and she batted it away, growling playfully. I crouched down, aiming for Tovan’s tail. He bared his teeth teasingly before bounding a few feet away.
“Come catch me!” He called, and Kiona tore across the dark grass, chasing him towards the mountain. I darted after them, the wind billowing my fur as he made it across the valley.
The slope of the mountain had progressively gotten steeper, and I had to dig paws into the cold dirt and stone to stop from sliding down the rocky face. Tovan and Kiona weren’t having the best time, either. Tovan kept losing his footing on the winding path, and Kiona would get her fur snagged in the thorny bushes, dragging her down the path.
“Do you see a cave or ledge we could rest on, Afi?” Kiona asked as she untangled herself from another ivy bush.
I pricked my ears, listening for the quiet rush of wind or the sound of an echo. “I think there’s one up a ways. I can hear the wind inside.”
Kiona grumbled something about wings as Tovan scrambled for footing on the path, which had become slightly icy.
The moon was just cresting the horizon when the cave came into view. By then, Tovan, and I were shivering from the cold, and our paws were soaking from the snow. Kiona couldn’t have cared less for the snow, because well, she’s a snow leopard. Her fluffy fur kept her warm, and when we all trod into the cave to rest, I buried my nose in her fluffy belly fur.
“You know I’m not much of a snuggler, right? Pretty sure I mentioned that at some point.”
Tovan mumbled something inaudible as he curled his fluffy, dirty white tipped tail around his black nose. I looked outside the cave, watching the moon rise in the sky, listening to Kiona and Tovan’s breath slow as sleep overtook them. After a while, when moon light seemed to claim the cave, I felt myself slip into sleep, nuzzling deeper into Kiona’s fluffy, downy fur.