Spring, 508 av "You stay close little one, no running off now. Tis not the time nor place for your antics Tressa" The stern tone carried to the small cub's ears and she knew it was her mother reminding her to mind. Not far from her, her brother was treading through the hardened snow cursing under his breath about not being allowed to fly as his feet broke into yet another hole of it. He was older than she by a year or so, which was alot considering their race. He looked rather cold, the tender flesh of his human form had been ravished by the gusts of bitterness that the world threw about the land, leaving raw chapped skin in its wake. He looked miserable at best, all but the look of determination and hatred worn across his face. It was intimidating, and it made her quiver. Teen angst her mother had called it once, when he'd been throwing a massive tantrum over some new form of something or other. She couldn't recall the subject, but the memory of the swift kick to her ribs that prevailed from that was enough to almost bring back the pulsating agony that'd filled her torso. Had his expression not been as vile as it now was she might of submitted to being carried, offering the warmth of her thick winter coat to ease the chill of his flesh. In his current mood she had no doubt he'd throw her, or purposly injure her in some form of rebellion. She was young and easily distracted by the smallest of things, so it was no wonder that she'd completly forgotton about everything except the new snow that had begun to fall. Large, perfectly formed flakes of frozen wonder drifted down, landing here and there, each one reflecting the most minute amounts of light as they spun downward from the heavens to eventually become one inconsequential part of a very imposing layer of snow. Awe filled her golden feline eyes she'd seen it snow, but had never been allowed to venture out in it. Her mother did her best to keep her babe confined to their home. Tossing her weight back Tressa clumsily balanced her self momentarily on her back legs. The pressure of the added weight on her delicate pads made her legs tremble and she could feel every muscle in her body tensing and pulling in ways they wern't accustomed to. Excitedly she swiped one tiny paw at the oncoming flakes. Only seconds after completing her proud feat she lost it, losing her control of the acrobatic act she plummeted backwards. Her muscles had given out under the strain of supporting her in a new fashion. Gravity caught her, pulling her down hard against the frozen top of the snow. She barely weighed enough to break it's surface and it left her stunned. Laying limply on the ground unwilling to move. The landing hadn't injured her, just left superfical pain ruling her form momentarily a combination of every strained muscle trying to recooperate. "Mommy, mommy" She balled, sounding to the rest of the world like pitiful whimpering. She didn't notice her mother and sibling had continued on, not detecting her delay. Her mother didn't run to her aide and Tressa realizing she wasn't going to pulled herself from the ground. Almost instantly becoming obcessed once more with the white crystals, forgetting the now dull ache of her body. This time she lept for them. Crouching low to the earth, her haunches raised, her muscles once more tensed, ready to spring and her eyes fixed on the flakes. She readied herself for the jump, her tail swaying in excitment as she pounced, leaping higher into the air than she intended to and feeling more than one muscle pull violently against her tendons. "Merowr" She called out in a intended intimidating way, sounding just like a kitten. She made no contact with her intended targets, but instead, with her eyes widened by the emotional mix of fear and surprise she fell forward from the air. Thrashing violently at nothing with every intetion to land on her feet the maladroit cub misjudged her landing and impacted maw first into the unrelenting ground. The force of the fall left her tumbling back over head in a forward motion. After several complete rotations her sharp, yet feeble infantile claws managed to hook the ground. Stopping her abruptly in a way that flipped her and left on her back facing the opposite direction. Still exhausted from her last attempt at agility Tressa decided to rest. Giving herself time to shake off the overwhelming feeling that had taken hold of her and let her aching body collapse under stress to the ground. I won't ever do that again. She thought decidingly wincing off a muscle spasm in her shoulder. Not knowing in her puerile mind that she'd do it for the rest of her life. Looking around, her thoughts no longer hypnotized by the snowflakes she realized she was all alone. Panic struck her quickly all at once bringing with it the notice of how cold she was. She hadn't noticed before, but her fur, being wet with the freezing snow was no longer a barrier against the wind, instead it left her vulnerable to it, aiding it in it's task to chill everything it touched to the core. She ran quickly in the original direction her family had been going, sniffing the ground in desperation and searching for any remaining footprints they had left. With no luck she admitted the fact that she was alone and had no hope of finding them. The snow held no scent for her untrained nose to follow and there were too many snow tracks for her to know which ones had been left by her mother and brother. Even if she tried to follow them they would be swallowed by the elements long before her tired limbs could reach the end of them, if they ever stopped. |