A Little Opera Goes A Long Way

. . .

Silverback had been dreaming as she lay stretched out upon the conifer broughs. The side of her broad head was rested against the bark, with one paw beneath it while the rest of her limbs hang limply over the sides. Her tail, far longer than any of them, twitched and coiled in her sleep, now growing quicker as she ran through a pretend hunt, now slowing as her unconscious thoughts turned to calmer things. She was content for the first time in a while. She had found herself a nice collection of pretty playthings, and they were more or less growing used to her. Canttina, the foremost of them, adored her, Kypsis tolerated her, knowing that submission was his best option, and as for the other two - they were still learning.

She had done nicely for herself since her journey from her birth lands - she was a traveler now with the world for a bed. She had seen many things and met any creatures, not to mention, done things she never thought she ever would have. She was still the empress she always known herself to be - but this queen had far more sides than first appeared.

Whatever dream the ruler was blessed with this day, it was doomed to be bent and broken by a strange sound. Only... only the sound wasn't that strange. The screech like roar was not anything that a snow leopard could make - but it sounded somehow...feline? Mayhaps some little bobcat getting his what was left of his tail ripped off? No, no, it didn't sound like pain. It sounded like power.

Silver slipped like liquid silver from her perch. She was a good three-quarters up the mountain - as far as any wolf could go, and yet the noise seemed to have come from above her. Curiosity burned within her icey pelt, making her giant paws itch as they sought to climb upwards. She was out of side of the falls, not quite he same side of the mountain - here things were less sheer and a creature with jumping abilities like hers had plenty of shelves and boulders and outcroppings to leap to. Plenty were wide enough to fall asleep comfortably on. But sleep was the last thing on the she-cat's mind.

It was almost at the peak when she saw him. The wind changed and brought his scent to her as well so that all at once she was assaulted with the stark reality that she was not the last of the cat lords. For a minute she was too startled to move, too startled to call out. All she could do was look at the coiled tower of muscle. He was huge! Even bigger than her! And though he had similar spots, his pelt, was not the color of the moon, but the color of the sun! Gods above... he was lovely...