A Little Opera Goes A Long Way

. . .



At his affirmative to her offer, she couldn't wait to take him away. To spirit him off through the woods and slopes and loose themselves in the glorious wilderness. He did look quite handsome though, as he was, standing up here upon his throne. A Prince, he had called himself. Silverback was inclined to think that all cats were something close to royalty, but if she had to pick out a strain of noble blood from it's peers, she could see herself selecting him. She bowed her head forward, rubbing the top of her skull along his side and shoulder as she turned so that she was paralell with him. The fur of their sides, mingled and brushed - the gold of the sun, touched the silver mountains of the moon - but the sweet burning was only for an instinct, and then Silverback was pulling foward - prowling in the slow, swaying movements of predator. She came to the brink of their little shelf and looked back over her shoulder longingly. Her tail, as though with a mind of it's own, brushed against his side, curled past his foreleg and dragged itself along his belly. "Coming, Ivanov?" she purred.

The next few hours or so were spent in what Silverback considered close to heaven. She had led a winding way down the far side of the mountain - sometimes taking grand, challenging leaps just to show off her skill and to tempt the male into doing the same. One gap of stone - more like a canyon than anything else - was taken in a soaring, angled jump that would've made an eagle proud. Thirty five feet across, and some fifteen feet down - a leap of fifty feet in total, as far as any recorded display of feline grace. She landed with power and force, but played it off as feather soft, continuing a single, running stride, and kneading her claws into the ground.

About halfway down the mountain though, was the grand forest which sprung up thanks to the local river. In this early morning - the mist arose and the heavens seemed to lower so that the two cats were walking through a cloud forest. What a land of enchantment it was. Silverback was smiling, enjoying herself. Now and then she asked questions of the male about his home. Such as when a yellow-gold butterfly winged it's way past her nose. "Tell me truly, Ivanov - do you have some magic treasures where you came from? - What is it that you think of this land?"