Leap of Pride

Amber leaped with her sheer grace about the deep, green grass. Her thick black and white fur flowing in the peaceful breezes as purrs erupted from within her throat. She felt pride welling in her heart, beating with every breath like a song.

She heard a snarl from behind and turned, expecting to see another white tiger. Instead, stood a thin, dark-furred cougar, challenging her catch me if you can.

With one paw, Amber took a step forth to accept the challenge. The cougar seemed to grin before speeding away into the wide open field of lush grass with Amber hot on his trail. All she had to do was simply tag him, but tackling was more her style.

Amber took notice that there was a break in the field, it opened to a huge, lengthy fall down to a river of freshwater. The opening was just barely possible to jump across, if you were lucky.

The cougar seemed to be leading her in that direction.

To be safe, Amber check herself to be sure that she'd be able to make the jump. Her leg muscles were flexing powerfully in her long strides, her tail whipping about furiously, she felt no doubt that she could perfect the leap.

The distance in between the two shrunk as the cougar slowed down a bit.

All of a sudden, the cougar pounced into the air and landed with a thud on the other side of the opening, collapsing from exhaustion.

Amber prepared for a split-second before kicking off with all her might from her hind legs. She felt cold air seeping out from within the opening, chilling her in mid-air. Amber's excitement vanished as she noticed she hadn't jumped correctly, she was too low.

Her paws outstretched in front of her, reaching for the ledge. As soon as she felt the earth tap her paw pads, her claws contracted into the dirt, rubble falling into her eyes. Her hind legs had swung down and were clinging to the rough wall of soil from which she hung.

Amber felt too weak to pull herself up, yet made an attempt for her life. She lifted her left foreleg and stretched it further inland before planting her claws in the ground once again, tugging at the earth with depleading strength. She pulled herself from the opening and onto the flat land and collapsed, breathless.

As her lungs filled with air, Amber glanced at the cougar, who slowly stood from the grass.

Immediately, she mirrored his movement and took off after the fleeing cougar.

As Amber closed in, she pounced with what was left of her energy, landing on the cougar's side.

His legs couldn't support the blow, and they both fell into the grass.

Both cats were gasping for air while a much-needed wind flew through them, the sky darkening in an explosion of bright colors.

Amber rolled onto her back to watch the blue skies fade away, purring with the volume of a gentle roar.

I never lose, she though to herself.