Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Leon

        Alone in the wilderness, at least I am in the forest. That was much better then being a pampered house cat, but the thing that sucked was that Leon was lost. It would be harder for him to survive without his family's support...

        When he had awakened he thought that the pool of water from the dream would be in the same place, but there was not a single drop of water. The young cat had been lost, hungry, and most of all, quenched for hours.

        The hot sun shined brightly. He made his way to the grassland, but it was bone dry.

        While he didn't find any water, but Leon did happen upon a tiny mouse. Leon slowly stalked the mouse. He stepped lightly as not to make a sound and alert the mouse. He bunched his hind legs and pounced on the helpless mouse. Leon got a good grip with his claws and brought the mouse to his razor sharp canine teeth. He felt warm blood fill his mouth as the prey went limp.

        Finally. Food.

        It had taken him all morning to catch this. Leon still thought that he might of die of thirst, but at least he could eat.

        Maybe he could live and survive by himself, but he didn't want to. Leon needed somewhere safer to stay either way.

         He devoured his kill in a couple of hungry bites. The cat wished he had someone, like his family, to share it with.

        Deep down he knew he would never see his beloved family again. Never.

        The ginger cat's hunger wasn't satisfied yet. He saw movement in the distance nearby a large cave surrounded by ferns. It looked like a den that could be home to a larger animal.

        Overwhelmed by curiosity, Leon stalked towards the cave; thinking it could be more prey. He loved hunting.

        Or, I could be the prey! He thought with a shiver.

        But hungry and desperate, he crawled toward the rustling sound.

        When he approached the den only a faint scent fell over him.

        Suddenly, Leon heard an intense growling noise echo though the den. Leon's fur bristled and his heart started pounding. What could it be? He heard heavy steps rush though the den and Leon retreated to a tall clump of grass to hide himself from the open.

        Oh no! I knew this was a mistake!

        The scent grew stronger and the steps closer. Leon shifted deeper into the grass.      Had Leon found a bear, cheetah, or lion den? Was he going to be eaten?

        Leon's fur stood on end.

        Numbed by fear, Leon stood his ground as the animal rushed out of the cave. It ran so fast that he only saw a blur. It made him flinch and jump back.

        Once the creature was out in the open Leon saw its pouncing hind legs and its tall ears. It was too small for it to eat a cat as prey. 

        Leon let out a sign of relive as he realized it was just a hare.

        I was scared of a silly little bunny? He nervously joked to himself.

        Creeping out of his hiding place the ginger tom had a crazy thought that maybe he could catch the hare as prey. It couldn't hurt to try.

        Leon shifted back to his hunting stance and stalked toward the hare.

        The creature seemed almost as big as him. This was a big rabbit. It tried to hide in a spot where tall dry grass grew. Leon gave chase. He could no longer see the hare once he reached the grass patch. Closer Leon couldn't see much of anything beyond the tall grasses that surrounded him.

        The grass on Leon's right began to shuffle. The hare was only steps away. Leon prepared to make the kill.

        I can do this! He told himself.

        At that very moment something massive rushed past Leon and struck the hare. The hare let out a squeak, cutting off as it feels limp.

        Leon held his breath as he made out what had taken his kill. It was big. It was...

        Leon gasped. Surely he must be dreaming again, because before him, with the hare hanging limp from its jaws appeared to be a lioness - a real life lioness!

        Leon trembled. The ginger cat always longed to be in the company of a lion, but here he was standing before one and Leon didn't know how to react. They are dangerous, he reminded himself.

        Leon felt small and defenseless and he knew the lion could end his life with a simple swipe of a paw, so Leon did not move an inch.

        The lioness gripped the hare with it's sharp teeth and began smoothly walking to a near by tree.

        He watched the dark-pelted lioness. She was only a couple of paw steps away from Leon, but took no notice of him. She dropped her kill under the shaded tree and began to rip into its flesh.

        Leon saw how easy it was for the lioness to tear apart the hare and was glad that the lioness didn't spot him.

        Moments later two more lions arrived to share the meal. One was an adult male with a dark pelt and majestic mane. The other was another lioness with pretty gold-like fur.

        Leon didn't know what to do. He knew he must be in their territory and if he tried to leave one of the lions, or something else, could attack him.

        What should I do?

        Drowned in fear, Leon let out an uncontrollable cry of distress.

        The big cats immediately stopped tearing at the remains of the hare. Their ears pricked, and their eyes wondered around. The lions had heard him! They began to move into a stalking stance.

        Leon gasped. He wanted nothing more than to run away, but he was frozen in fear and couldn't make his legs move.

        As the lions closed in Leon was finally able to get his feet moving.  He could hear the lion's paw steps following him.

        They were too fast. One of the lionesses ran past him and turned around to block Leon's path. He dashes toward another direction, running for his life, but as he turned the other two lions blocked his way. The lions had Leon surrounded as he shrunk back. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped by lions.

        "Please don't eat me," Leon begged his voice high trembling with fear.

        "Eat you?" The massive male lion replied with a hint of amusement. "You don't look like a hare to me." He joked, pushing Leon over with his huge paw.

        "Of course we will eat you!" The Dark lioness broke in with a harsh tone.

        She stared Leon down with blazing eyes.

        Leon felt as if his whole body was numb. He just waited in fear. Who knows what they would do.

        "Okay, Okay," the lioness went on rolling her eyes, " Calm down little cat. Just tell us what an animal like you is doing here. I've never seen a cat as small as you before."

        The other lioness stepped forward. "In case you haven't noticed, you are in our territory. Don't you know how dangerous it is to wander around here?"

        Leon tried to steady his breathing and speak again. He knew everything they were saying was true; it was far to dangerous for him to be out here. But why were they telling him that? Wouldn't they be the danger?

        "Well?" She growled when Leon did not reply.

        "I...I don't know. I was ju-just, uh, trying to find my home." The nervousness obviously showed in his voice, and no doubt that they could smell his fear.

        "I'm sure this is not your home" The dark lioness responded.

        Then she began to speak again but, the male lion waved her silent with a flicker of his tail.

        "You’re lost?" The male lion asked tartly.

        There were concern and curiosity in his yellow eyes.

        Leon nodded, "Yes, yes, and I'm so hungry, and thirsty. Please, please don't eat me! I'm sorry I didn't know this was your territory. I don't know were I am!"

        "It's okay! You can calm down," The male lion soothed him.

        Leon tried to be calm, but it was hard to be calm when he felt so helpless. 

        Looking at the huge male lion, Leon noticed a scar on his check. It looked like a scar from the claw of another big cat. There must be more lions out there; lions that were enemies of these lions.

        Without a word the lion beckoned his tail to his companions. They grouped several feet from Leon. They began to talk amongst themselves. Leon couldn't hear a word they were saying.

        The male lion seemed to be in charge of the others. That must was certain.

        Leon let his fur lie flat again. It seemed like they were not going to eat him as prey, or act aggressively toward him.

        Maybe I can make peace with these amazing creatures.

        A moment later the lions finished their secret meeting. The male lion approached Leon and beckoned him to follow. Maybe they were showing him out of their territory, thought Leon.

        The lion looked back to see Leon still put in the same place.

        "Come on," he urged beckoning his tail again as if he was talking to a fellow lion.

        This time Leon followed. He didn't want to make them angry.

        Following the lions, a faint feeling of excitement flooded threw him. Here he was on an encounter with real live lions for the first time! All the stories he heard about the lions whispered in his ears had not prepared him for this. Leon must have been lucky to not have yet been attacked by them.

        Leon eyed the big cats in amazement as he half ran to keep up.

        "Where are you taking me?" He asked the lion.

        The lion turned, and grinned down at him with amusement in his yellow eyes.

        "I'm bringing you to our pride's camp," His voice was friendly. “I will explain why later."

        For a moment Leon thought that this all seemed a little to fishy for a lion just to take a cat in its camp. Was this all a game?

        "To-to your camp, W-Why?" he stuttered.

        Leon hoped that they weren't planning something horrible. It felt all too good to visit a fierce lion camp. It seemed too good to be true.

        "Well, we have meat," the darker lioness pointed out as she leaped over a broken tree branch.

        The friendly expression on the feline's face seemed to put Leon at ease. Why were they being so nice to Leon?