The cub growled as she crouched behind the bushes. Her long and thin paws dug into the fresh dirt the tears from mother nature gave the creatures below in this forested land. Her black mane reached over her bare back to hide her small body.

She smirked as she slowly crawled around her target. It was asleep at the waking sun. She stopped as she accidentally stepped on a branch causing her to crouch to the floor. Her bare chest landed on the mud, unaffected by the moist dirt. The creature's ears flicked for a moment before lowering them.

Using this as a chance, she pounced. Landing on the creature's back.

Zaava flinched and moved around causing the girl to yelp and land on the ground. She huffed and glared at him. Zaava sighed and rubbed his muzzle on the girl's cheek, making her hiss at him and swipe her paws at him.

"You're too loud," Zaava groggily stood and walked away.

"You're just a light sleeper, Father," the girl huffed, following after him in fours.

It has passed four dreadful seasons since Zaava took in the human girl. It was difficult to care for her as everywhere they went, she would be the main target for food but Zaava was quick to intercept it.

Not only that, the cruel weather would go against the girl as she's bare and would freeze and wince at the harsh winds.

"Kaia," Zaava glanced at his cub. The girl huffed, looking up at him. Her grey eyes are bright with curiosity and mischief. She was prideful for a young one. "Why don't you try hunting something small? Like a mouse or bird?"

Kaia growled, looking away and flopping to the ground. "I'm strong. I can handle myself just fine."

Zaava looked down at the girl in amusement. "Didn't you stumble into the hyenas a few days ago?"

Zaava laughed as Kaia growled and pushed him but grew angry as her father didn't budge making him laugh harder.

"I can show you, my daughter. You just need to be patient...and quieter"

Kaia shook her head, looking down at her paws. "The other cubs can already hunt on their own. They make fun of me when I try. I'll show them that I can do it."

Zaava's eyes softened.

He has seen the faint scratches on her arms and legs from the other cubs. It hasn't been easy for Kaia for the past four seasons. But the girl was too prideful to let them get to her and beat them, causing their mothers to be rageful and for him to intercept it.

"I don't get it," she growled. "I can't eat anything you bring me without getting sick, I can't crawl on anything without bleeding on my claws, I am...bald too!" she whined, smacking the water near her.

"That may be true–"

"Then what am I?" she turned to him. "Why am I so different and weak?"

Kaia sighed, nodding to the lone bird on a tree. He walked around the girl and gently bit her hand.

She raised it and looked at it in disdain. All her life, she's been told that she was a mistake and should be eaten to be the way she is. Her father has been with her at any given second. It can be frustrating as the pack refuses to bring their share of game to them because of her.

Why? She doesn't know. It's not her fault she's been cursed by Mother Nature.

Because of this, her father would get his own game with her but he gets worried often, missing their game and ending with eating mice again. But it would end all for naught as the girl would get sick from eating it raw and waisting the game.

Her father wouldn't comment on it but she can tell it confused him, not knowing what to do for them. Her small figure was thin from the lack of food making her weak in strength but not in spirit.

Kaia glared at the bird. It tweeted as it ate the seeds of a flower. Seeing her father's look, she crouched in fours, her chest meeting the ground. She flinched as he father pushed her bottom too to the ground.

She shifted on the ground and looked at the bird behind the grass.

"Use your mane to hide," Zaava whispered beside her. "Adapt to your surroundings. Listen..."

Kaia closed her eyes, listening closely. She faintly hears the sighing river from the mountains and creaking bugs. She furrowed her brows as she heard rattles too. Her eyes snapped open, seeing a rattlesnake slithering towards the bird.

She gritted her teeth, rushing to get to it first but Zaava still had his paw on her back. She frowned, looking up at him. He nodded to the bird and she turned back. Her eyes widened as the snake rattled loudly next to it but made no move to fly.

Is it stupid?

Next thing she knew, the snake lunged at the bird, swallowing it whole. She grimaced as she heard the panicked sound muffled inside. Kaia gagged as she heard the crunching bones and the silence.

The snake later went on its merry way. Kaia huffed and glared at her father. "Why did you stop me? That could've been my game!"

Zaava groaned, pushing the girl more to the ground. "First of all, the rattlesnake could have killed you. But what did you see from that snake?"

Kaia spat out the mud from her mouth and sat up, seeing the snake leaving. She crossed her arms stubbornly and thought that was what it did.

"Um...it attacked?"

"No. Try again."

Kaia groaned and stomped to the snake's tracks and its distance from the bird. Her eyes widened as it left a huge gap during the attack. "It jumped?"

"I'll tell you because you're struggling with the obvious," Zaava spoke making her eyes roll. "It was on the ground but did you notice that it used its tail to make loud noises?"

Kaia nodded. "I noticed."

"It usually wards off the aggressors but it also distracts their prey," Zaava nodded to the trail. "You don't have to go with my customs or anyone. You have the vast forest in front of you, learn from that. Mother Nature gave you a gift, use that to your advantage."

With that he walked away to the pack, leaving the girl in confusion. Looking back to the snake she huffed, walking the other way.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Kaia walked around the jungle with caution. She hated everything. Crawling on the tree, digging her small claws, she looked down at the world. Her eyes wandered, seeing the snake again.

Making sure she kept her distance from it, she observed quietly. She saw as the snake slowly stood up to hiss at another snake. She frowned and grabbed onto the tree and weakly stood up.

Her knees popped as she stood straight. It felt strange as she have grown accustomed to walking in fours. She spotted a few monkeys far away from her and screaming while running away from the snakes.

Kaia looked down at her bare feet and took a step, stumbling quickly into her fours, making her huff in frustration. She knew she can't rely on her father to save her. Grabbing the tree once again, she stood up and took more steps. She grinned as she took more than two steps before meeting the trunk of another tree.

If monkeys can do it, a panther can do it too, she grinned and kept walking.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

It has been days since Zaava's seen his daughter. He tried not to let it get to him. He stayed with the pack, eventually bringing game for them or for himself. Of course, this didn't miss everyone's attention.

They would often glance around to see where the cub went and assume it was finally dead for causing mischief around them.

The burning sun dimmed lightly bringing them into the darkness. Zaava glanced at his mate, seeing her far away and eating her game. She's currently eating a baboon's leg, refusing to look at him.

His eyes softened, unable to meet her eyes for a long time. Nodding to the others, he climbed on his tree, seeing the empty nest next to him. Wherever Kaia is, he just hopes she doesn't do anything stupid.

Zaava closed his eyes, leaning his muzzle on his legs. It was quiet on this night, save for the sighing rivers, creaking bugs, and rattles from their snakes. He furrowed his brows, noticing the rattles near the leopard territory.

Peeking an eye, he looked down to see the pack sleeping with their cubs and found no difference from it.

Zaava closed his eyes once again. He growled and yowled immediately as a body landed on him. Turning around, he was met with his little cub hanging upside down with a grin.

A bird was held in her snout. But his eyes caught the rattle tied in one of her strands. Spitting the bird to his paws, she jumped down and stumbled lightly in her two. Zaava blinked, seeing the terrible shape the girl was in.

The girl was bleeding over her shoulder, snake bites on her shoulders and arms. Blood was dripping from her teeth and her hair was unruly.

Looking down at the bird, Naava saw the struggle for breaking its neck and assumed she broke it by biting hard on it. Looking back at the girl, he saw the scratches on her face, assuming the bird didn't go down without a fight using its sharp beak.

"Well?!" Kaia huffed as she smirked widely at him.

Naava was still in a state of shock and tapped the dead bird. "You caught a game..."

"Yes, yes I did," she grinned and flopped to the trunk taking her arms and sucking the venom from her system. "It wasn't easy," she chuckled giddily.

Naava grinned at her. She did it without his help too. And she survived through it.

"I'm starving," she panted as she crawled over her makeshift nest and instantly fell asleep. Naava chuckled, rounding her and sleeping behind her to keep her warm.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"No you didn't!" the other cubs gasped as they saw the girl's condition.

Kaia smirked at them, crossing her arms. "Yup. I'm not a cub anymore. I'm officially a panther now. Fear me!" She cackled, throwing her head back, making the cubs whine.

The leopards and the panthers watched from afar, sweatdropping at the girl. Four seasons old and managed to kill a bird and take a rattle, showing it off with pride along with her wounds from her hunt.

"Kaia."

Kaia stopped and ran back to her father who was waiting for her. She stepped next to him as they went to walk around their territory, finding the river. Kaia once again refused to look at her reflection.

Her major flaw.

She slapped the water, scaring the fish inside, and grabbed a handful and drank from it. The cold liquid dripped on her chin and to her chest, cleaning the blood off of her.

"Kaia," Zaava started, getting her attention. "Good job. I'm proud of you, my daughter."

Kaia beamed brightly and turned to him. "You should have seen it! The bird didn't know I was there with the rattle on my mane," she shook the rattle, grinning widely at the sound.

Her smile dropped slightly, looking back to the water. "I didn't want to hear them suffer, it scared me."

Zaava nodded, "We all go through that. Hearing their pleas to stop but it's all for our survival. Unless you find a way to stop their hearts, there's no choice."

Kaia bit her lip and looked down at her claws. They were still small to be considered claws. Thinking back to the way the snake lunged at the bird a few days back, it looked like it was flying and sharp as a stone.

Her eyes widened as she have an idea for her claws. She stopped as she felt her father's claws digging into her mane, making her wince at the sharpness.

"What are you doing?!"

"Hold still."

Kaia huffed and waited impatiently as her father was doing who knows what. She felt her mane being tugged back and pulled. Her father apologized and stepped back to look down at her.

Kaia reached her paws, feeling a long, thin, object in her mane. She rushed to the waters and looked at her reflection. Her eyes widened to see a feather tucked.

"Your first game," Zaava nodded. "That shall prove it."

Kaia smiled, feeling the feather. She turned to her father and rubbed her head against his chest in thanks. He smiled, placing his paw on her back. "Thanks, Father."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"This is embarrassing," an eleven-year-old cub looked down at her body. She grunts in pain and huddled herself in a ball. "I'm bleeding!"

Zaava looked down at the girl and saw that she was indeed bleeding. But there are no wounds on her body which made him concerned. The girl craved food every minute and was moody for days.

He would yell at her to shut up but she would cry at his aggression but later get mad at him and challenge him to fight but later apologize for being rude.

Confusion is an understatement.

The girl was growing quickly. Her flat chest and bottom grew too into bumps. She tried cutting them off but was instantly scolded to not do that. Kaia hated the stares coming from everyone so Zaava threw a deer at her. The tribe already ate part of it, leaving the skin.

Kaia felt disgusted but had no choice but to use the skin as a covering. She hated it. Why does she have to cover her chest and butt when her family doesn't?

As she grew, she was getting better at bringing game for the family. Getting larger animals with her new weapon she developed. She gathered branches and carved them and attach them to the sharp stones, she made an arch with spider webs.

A bow and arrows.

But seeing how the animal skin was strong, she used it to her advantage to make coverings on her wrists and ankles, knowing the animals always go for those weak points.

As she grew, she refused to throw away her feather. In fact, she made adjustments to the feather. Sharpening a stone, she strung it together to the feather, making a spearhead and tucking it in her mane.

Of course, her diet was difficult growing up. So it came as a surprise when the other side of the jungle was burning rapidly, killing everything in it. Mother Nature was there an hour later to cry on it and dissipate the flames.

Her curiosity got the better of her and swung on a vine to the other side, seeing several dead animals to bring back for dinner. It oddly looked good and took a bite, relishing the burned flavor of the meat. Of course, while skinning the animal and using their skin for other uses like making traps, using it to shield her hands from the splinters in her bow and arrows.

Strength, flexibility, and speed was coming to her and she couldn't be any more prouder of herself.

Kaia even attempted to get revenge on the apes but Zaava immediately forbade her to go. As days go on and everything changed around her, the pack is slowly accepting her as she always brings bigger food and they have never been happier to finally have food to be full.

One thing that hasn't changed was Sabor. Her mother.

Kaia always wondered why her mother hated her and was always angry at her for being near her. Kaia was afraid of her and never neared close to her, sticking close to her father.

"I'm hungry!" Kaia hissed as Zaava sighed and brought a bush of peppermints to her face. She slapped them away and glared at her father but he glared at her harder.

"I didn't get sleep because of your moodiness. Eat that," he huffed, climbing down the tree.

Kaia sighed and winced as she sat up, disgusted by the blood falling between her legs. "Mother Nature really hates me, huh?" she irked and pettily grabbed the bushes and jumped down the tree, running off to the nearest river.

Flopping in front of it, she placed the bushes on a slab and used a rock to crush it. She dipped her hand in the water and poured it over the leaves, crushing it again until it became a mushy substance.

She can smell the sharp smell coming from it but ignored it as she used some of the substance and rubbed it under her abdomen and shoved the rest into her mouth. She gagged but swallowed it, drinking more on the river.

"This stinks," she cursed and glared at her reflection. "Why are you the way that you are?" she huffed, turning back to her father who is most likely still annoyed by her.

Published: February 21, 2023

Word Count: 2870