Hi all!
Two months ago I posted a short story called Food Chain, about a snow leopard that lost her cubs to humans. I thought I would share the sequel as well as I really loved writing that character and in that universe. I’m hoping to keep expanding on her story and see where it ends up.
Eternal Night
Bagira watches the sun disappear from the horizon. The pinks and oranges that fill the sky are slowly turning dark as night starts to fall. She swings her head towards the travelling humans. They have camped underneath the stars, tying their camels to posts in the ground. She shifts on the spot, trying to resist the urge to rush down the hill.
They know she's coming.
She's stalked them for months, from place to place. Every time they move, she's one paw step behind them. They can't shake her. They've given up trying.
Every so often she thinks she sees a flash of spotted white fur, but she can never be sure. The thought of seeing her cub's pelts worn by the filthy humans makes her sick. They should not be using snow leopard fur to keep themselves warm.
Her tail twitches a few times before she retreats further into the trees to rest. Even if they tried to lose her at night, she'd track them down again. They'd have a few days of respite before she'd catch up.
***
Her pelt prickles with cold when she opens her eyes. It takes a few seconds of blinking for her to realise that it's still pitch black. Stars glitter in the sky above her and the silver orb of the moon sits atop a throne of clouds.
But it should be morning.
With an absent-minded flick of an ear she stretches, showing off a pink mouth filled with sharp teeth. No matter, the winter nights have been getting longer as of late.
Her large paws crunch on the dry ground as she sneaks back towards her vantage point. The camp is still there with a fire burning. The humans have placed some sort of meat on the pile. The smell of burnt skin wafts in her direction and she licks her lips. It would be nice to not have to hunt this morning.
Knowing the green grass won't camouflage her white pelt, she streaks towards the campsite. There are no guards outside, which is a mistake with them knowing that she’s around. Her mouth waters as the smell of the meat gets stronger. If she can dart in and get it quickly, it will give her more time to run.
A screech makes that plan disintegrate.
A human cub has noticed her from one of their strange caves. They make them themselves, though they are rather flimsy and don't do a good job of keeping the elements out. The cub is dragged back inside their little cave and Bagira flies past it. She dodges around the strange caves which are grouped together. The material grazes against her fur, feeling smooth and thin. She suppresses a shiver and makes her way to the campfire. Several humans are gathered around it, but all back off when she approaches.
Her lips peel back in a snarl, and she skids to a halt. She deliberately pads forward as slowly as possible, eyeing each of the cowering humans. They look back at her with wide, scared eyes. But she feels no pity for any of them. They took her cubs.
Atop a warm fire is a rabbit on some sort of stick. She whacks the stick free and then plucks the rabbit off the floor. The humans watch her carefully and she makes sure to growl at them before running away.
One less meal for them.
The sun still hasn't risen. The sky is now covered in a blanket of angry grey clouds. There's a more considerable chill in the air now, though her thick coat protects her from the worst of it.
At least the humans will be suffering.
She takes a few steps forward before looking up at the sky once more, her nostrils flaring. Tiny flakes of snow are now drifting from above and start settling on the floor. With a growl she stalks off into the trees to find better shelter. For some reason, she has a feeling that the snow is going to get worse.
***
The snow is now hammering down from above. The ground is covered in a thick layer of white and the temperature has dropped even further. Bagira curls her tail around her paws and watches the flakes pile on top of each other. She had to go further away from the humans than she'd like to find suitable shelter. A small, rocky cave is her temporary home for now, at least until the humans move on.
Her paws itch to check on them. If they move, the snow will cover their tracks. She can't lose them.
So, she rises to her paws and sprints through the trees. Her paws crunch with each step but her pawprints are quickly covered over again. A growl echoes in her throat at the thought of losing the humans for good.
They still have to pay.
After what feels like forever she makes it to the hillside, her pelt dripping with half-melted snow. She lifts her snout to taste the air, but the wet cold is blocking out most scents. Upon reaching the top of the hill, she relaxes slightly.
They're still there.
***
It's been three days and the humans still haven't moved.
The sun has yet to appear on the horizon and the temperature has dropped even lower. The snowstorm that raged a few days ago has halted, though the ground is still flooded with hardened snow.
Bagira glides across the whiteness, her paws occasionally slipping on the slippery floor. Her mother used to tell her stories of snow, but she never thought that she would ever see it herself. The area the humans kept her trapped in was always hot, even in the winter months.
Below, the strange human caves flap in the wind. Bagira snorts, not having seen movement since the storm. She begins to trot down the hill, ears pricked for the sounds of shouting at her approach. But everything is deathly silent. Her nose isn't telling her much either, only that the smell of humans is faint.
She crouches low and moves through the camp. There are no footprints, and their strange human possessions are almost buried under the snow. With a sniff she pokes her head inside one of the caves. Under what looks like a mountain of pelts, she spots a human. Their eyes are half-open and their mouth is locked in a scream. Their body looks stiffer than it should be and their skin has a slight blue tinge. She pulls her head out with a start.
She goes to another cave, spotting another body under layers of fur. The next is the same. And the next.
She throws her head back in a roar.
They're dead. Gone. The cold took them.
Then an idea hits her. She goes from cave to cave, moving the piles of fur around and thrusting her nose inside them to get a better smell. Camel. Bear. Deer.
But no snow leopard.
Her lips curl back with a snarl and she slashes at the last cave. The thin material rips under her claws and the wind whips through it, carrying tiny flakes of snow inside.
Her cubs’ pelts aren't here.
She rears on her hind legs and slams her paws in the ground. They sink immediately and the cold seeps through her claws.
They're gone. Some have survived and taken her cubs.
She lowers her snout to the floor and wills herself to smell anything. The snow tickles her nose and freezes her nostrils, but she continues, hoping for a faint smell of anything. Just when she's about to give up she gets something.
Incredibly faint, but there.
Her lips curl in a snarl.
She'll find them. This hunt won't end yet.
The moon glows brightly in the sky, still not having moved. She doesn't care though. The eternal night will make it harder for them to survive.
And she won't make it any easier for them.
***
That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! I’m hoping to get some more short stories written about Bagira soon and I’ll post them on my blog once I’m happy with them. If I set up a Patreon, they’ll be going on there too! Keep an eye out next week for the launch of Celestial Plague #2: Heaven.
