Spirit of the Snow Leopard

Chapter 1: The Climb

Kaitlyn

"First one to the top of the Wall wins!" Lexy challenged.

Kaitlyn groaned inwardly. She could just make out the steep, rocky cliff face jutting on the horizon of the pure blue sky.

"But you always win," she whined in protest.

Lexy must have seen her younger sister's tail droop because she gave Kaitlyn a sympathetic lick behind her ear.

"I'll give you a head start. 20 paces?"

Kaitlyn sighed. It was impossible to argue with her older sister. "Alright," she conceded.

Lexy head butted her playfully.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Besides," she paused to give Kaitlyn a sly look, "snow leopards are built for climbing."

Kaitlyn scooped up a pawful of snow and flung it at Lexy's face. Her sister grinned and threw one back. Kaitlyn, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards and slipped on a patch of ice. She collapsed with a muffled thump and began to make snuffling noises.

Lexy, unsure of what to do, bounded over to her sister. When she was within firing range, Kaitlyn took advantage of Lexy's confusion and shot another snowball at her.

Both sisters collapsed on the snow, laughing so hard they were rolling over.

•••

Quite a while later, when they had both finally stopped laughing, Kaitlyn yawned and stood up. Nosing Lexy, who had fallen asleep again, she noticed with a roll of her eyes, she stretched, relishing the feel of her strong muscles beneath her thick pelt.

"Are we going to race or not?" She asked impatiently, when her sister was finally awake.

"What race?" Lexy asked groggily.

She sighed. This was going to take a while.

•••

Kaitlyn's muscles burned, determination fuelling her on.

The world sped by in a blur of snow, rocks and sky. The cliff face loomed ahead, growing closer with each long stride.

With a powerful thrust of her hind legs, Kaitlyn leaped and scrambled for purchase on a narrow, rocky ledge. She began to claw her way up the mountain, ledge by ledge, crevice by crevice.

Stopping to rest on a small ledge, she twisted around to look down.

Her heart almost skipped a beat. The realisation of how high she was made her dizzy. Unable to tear her gaze away from the ground far below her, she felt her paw slip and let out a cry of alarm.

A few loose stones rained down over the cliff as Lexy's furry face appeared.

"I can't reach you. You'll have to jump."

You'll have to jump. Those four words chilled Kaitlyn to the bone. "Okay," she choked out in response, hating the way her voice shook.

She gathered every scrap of energy she had left, her body trembling with the effort. Heart thumping wildly, she pushed off the rocky ledge and launched herself into the sky.

Time seemed to slow down to a standstill as Kaitlyn sailed through the air. She wasn't going to make it.

Goodbye, Lexy. I love you, was the last thing that went through her head as she reached the point where gravity and momentum where perfectly balanced. Hanging in the air for a split second that dragged on to eternity, Kaitlyn realised she didn't want to die.

Too late, the world taunted her.

•••

Everything went black.

•••