Ink [A Collection of Short Stories]

Darkened Hues

I wrote this one at 1:30 am, so it may not be as well written as the others :P

There's a picture of a leopard and panther to the side if you guys want a comparison >>>

NOT EDITED

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~ Darkened Hues ~

A cold wind swept through the trees, rustling the leaves that clung to the spindly branches. Passing over the ground with a sigh, it picked up fallen leaves and caused them to spin in tight circles before settling back down again. And as it parted through a clump of bushes it revealed a flash a pale, spotted fur. The animal shied away from the gust of air that suggested the arrival of winter, as did the leaves which were slowly fading from their vibrant greens to a pale orange.

It may be best to explain sooner rather than later. The Earth is a young planet. Life had blossomed upon it only last week, and it was a time where many species were still yet to be created. Of course, beliefs vary, so you may believe in God, evolution, the like. But the fact was, humans were still nonexistent. So put it as you will; God had not yet put Adam and Eve there, or monkeys were still scratching, mischievous little creatures, but not all animals had been born yet. And so, on that note, we are taken back to the story.

The lithe creature dipped its head to the ground and breathed in the dampness of the old leaves through the scent glands in its tongue. It caught the fresh, lingering smell of a small rodent. Or in its eyes, dinner. It looked up, its ears swiveling for a second before it sprinted into the dense brush, jumping over logs and bushes.

Now would also be a good time to mention one last fairly important fact. In the very beginning, all the different kinds of animals lived on one large land mass, as you may know from those dreadfully long science books, the plates have moved over time, creating the countries we know today. But now is not about then. So this may explain why all of those old stories told of giraffes interacting with cats and the like, even though neither may have ever seen the other in all the time they have existed. This is one of those stories.

The creature’s spots became blurs of dark brown due to its swift movements as it moved with extraordinary agility. It neared closer to its soon-to-be meal, but as it did, it caught the scent of another large predator. It stopped just at the perimeter of the clearing that the rodent was nibbling on a small seed. It could clearly smell this, but that was fairly unnecessary; it had pinpointed the rodent with its acute eyesight almost immediately.

But then, of course, was the matter of the fellow big cat that was just on the other side of the clearing. Fortunately, the other predator had not detected the spotted leopard since it was upwind of it. The former took a slow step forward, it haunches lowered, ready to spring at its prey – the same prey that the leopard had come for.

The sunlight caught the pelt of the other big cat, and the leopard recognized it as a lion. Thankfully, it was only a young female so the leopard could fight it for the prey with good chances of succeeding. The spotted feline had the sudden idea of letting the lion make the kill, before it would go off and steal it. A good idea indeed, however the leopard had no idea of the consequences that would accompany it.

With a single swift movement, the lion leaped and in a matter of seconds the rodent was dead in its jaws. It was then that the leopard made its appearance. It stepped out of the undergrowth and into the light with an air of confidence. Spotting the leopard, the lion backed up with a growl, its ears pinned back and teeth bared threateningly. The leopard intimidated the lion, and it could see this.

It darted forward and in a fluid motion, the leopard had locked its jaws around the lion’s neck. It let out a sound of pain, and the young female slowly collapsed onto the ground. It tried to struggle out of the leopard’s grip, but the spotted cat only held on tighter the more the lion moved. Blood leaked out of its neck and flooded the leopard’s mouth, and as soon as it was satisfied that the female was dead, it let go and spit out the metallic liquid.

The lion’s body slumped to the ground; lifeless and cold. The leopard padded over to the rodent and ate it in only a few bites, now with two different bloods in its mouth. What it didn’t know, however, was that the female he had just killed was the offspring of the leader of the lion pride of the forest. As confusing as that may sound, in simpler terms the leopard had just killed a princess – as humans may put it.

It went along on its merry way, and that night a member of the lion pride discovered the body. It informed the father, the leader of the pride, of this. And so, the leader swore revenge on his daughter’s murderer.

The leopard, as smart as one may have thought of it earlier, may not be so after all. It traveled the forest and boasted of how it had killed a lion, and as gossipy as mockingbirds are, the word spread fast. Of course, this reached the pride leader’s ears as well; as much as they were hidden in his mane, they were there. He sent for the leopard, who arrived only a day later.

The pride leader did not want the leopard to die, but rather suffer. So as punishment for his wrongs, the leopard was banished to the darkest parts of the forest. Slowly, his pale fur turned darker and darker until it was near black. And so, all of his offspring had a common fur, and when it came to it the humans defined them as different from fellow leopards. They were given a new name – they were panthers.

And if you look ever so closely at the pelt of a panther, you can still see the faint spots of a leopard there. All of this over a single piece of prey. Funny how life is.

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I hope there weren't too many errors in this one!

Sylgrace