A Wild Relationship--Klance

Chapter 13

Keith had an employee. Her name was 'Alice Fox', she had been assigned to the North American exhibits. Alice and Keith were already good friends. Alice was from Russia but only knew English, though her Russian accent was thick. She was pretty good with animals and had experience in zookeeping. She had worked with North American animals before, but the zoo she worked at had to shut down because they didn't have enough money to feed and care for all the animals. 

Keith was currently building an African Elephant exhibit for Ellie. He had gotten the fencing fixed and was working on the barn, Ellie's future bed. He was already quite tired but he had to get it done, two animals didn't have an exhibit. He wouldn't be able to take care of both Ellie and Flipper in the quarantine areas, not for long anyway. 

Keith needed to advertise positions at the rescue in more places. So once he finished his work for the day, he went to a few other places on Earth and put up some posters. 

Keith had managed to build a portal from the rescue to Earth. He had gotten tired of having to travel for several hours to get to Earth. At the moment, all of the animals were native to Planet Earth, so Keith wanted to be able to get there quicker with the van. 

After getting back from his little advertising spree, Keith went and performed a routine check-up on Flipper and Ellie (and a play session). 

Lance still wasn't back yet. Keith assumed that he was still doing his mission, or he was on some sort of vacation behind Keith's back. Either way, Keith would be giving him a lecture. 

 Now, Keith was back to working on the African Elephant exhibit. He was almost finished, the African Elephant exhibit was one of the exhibits that didn't have a lot of damage. Keith was grateful for this, it meant that Ellie would be able to get out of quarantine soon. 

It was nighttime when Keith had finished. Keith would check the exhibit and Ellie one more time before introducing the two to each other in the morning. He was looking forward to it. 

--The Next Day--

The exhibit was fine and so was Ellie. Keith was delighted. He was watching Ellie explore her new home. 

When Keith got back to the house, he noticed that there was something in the yard. 

A Snow Leopard cub. 

Keith was confused. How did a Snow Leopard cub get into the yard? There was no sign of an adult anywhere nearby, was the cub an orphan? Either way, Keith knew that it was dangerous to not do anything. He had to check the area for the mother or anything that could tell Keith how the cub got there. 

After checking the area, Keith could confirm that the cub was indeed an orphan. There was no sign of another Leopard of any kind anywhere near the house, if the cub had a mother then she wouldn't go very far from her cub. All big cats stay close to their young because predators can and will kill a cub any chance they get. 

Keith couldn't leave the cub to fend for himself, Snow Leopard cubs, like many animals, depend on their mother to survive. Without its mother, the cub would die, and Snow Leopards are endangered. The cub looked around six months old, old enough to eat solid food. 

He brought the cub into the clinic and checked him over for any injuries or illnesses, there were none. Keith knew that a quarantine area would not be an option when it came to where to keep the cub, and there wasn't a Snow Leopard exhibit. 

Normally, Keith wouldn't think of doing things that could prevent a wild animal from being wild, but he couldn't think of an alternative. 

He was going to raise the cub himself.

Now, this would tame the cub almost entirely, but Keith couldn't wait to find a female Snow Leopard to be the cub's mother. Even if he did have time to do that, the female would not accept a cub that wasn't her own unless she had recently given birth and even that wouldn't be guaranteed. Keith didn't like the idea of raising an animal that wasn't meant to be tamed, but he couldn't think of anything else at the moment. 

Keith went and quickly made a bed for the cub in his room. He then went back to the cub, with a name in mind. 

"Lynx," Keith spoke the cub's new name with a smile. Lynx looked at Keith and let out his best meow. 

Snow Leopards don't roar like lions and leopards, they can snarl, hiss, purr, meow, yowl, spit, and growl. 

Keith took Lynx on a tour of the rescue. If the cub was going to be raised by him, then he would need to be able to eventually find his way around. Keith knew that Lynx would most likely just follow him around, but better safe than sorry. 

Lynx seemed to be enjoying the tour. Keith could tell he was an explorer. Something had caught Keith's attention though, Lynx wasn't bothered by the heat. 

Snow Leopards have tails that are longer than their body length, and fluffy fur to keep them warm in the cold climates they live in. Normally, Snow Leopards wouldn't be able to survive if the heat became too much and they didn't find a cooler place in time. But Lynx was unaffected by the heat, Keith was just now starting to realize just how hot it was.

As long as Lynx was fine, Keith wasn't concerned, but if Lynx started complaining about the heat then Keith would take him to the Polar Bear exhibit.

--2 Hours Later--

Keith was with Ellie and Lynx. He was trying to see exactly how much heat Lynx could handle. He was curious, if Lynx could handle extreme heat then he wouldn't have to worry about taking him to places like Africa. 

Keith was shocked when Lynx started running. He was faster than a Cheetah. 

Lynx was faster than the fastest land animal from Planet Earth.

He decided not to think about it. There were animals on other planets too, not just Earth. There was a possibility that Lynx wasn't from Earth. 

When Keith got back home with Lynx, it was night. He took a shower and got ready for bed. 

He made sure Lynx was comfortable in his new bed before going to bed himself.

It had been an eventful few days. Keith couldn't wait for tomorrow.

What sort of adventures would be in store for him next?