//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Leotaka // Story: The Big Cats of Bakula: The Rescuing // by PantheraMan //------------------------------// When they got to their next destination, they saw that once again, they were in another forest, but this time, this was a temperate forest. The kind of forest one would bump into if they are in states like Ohio, Kentucky, etc. However this time, they saw the place wasn't in a drought like the last place, giving the group a sigh of relief. They were off once again, although when it came to splitting up, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy went ahead into the sky to search from above while the rest would go on foot. While they were searching, they did bump into animals they bumped into before like bison, deer, aurochs, elk, moose, and wild boar. But they also came across some turkeys, something they've never seen in Bakula at all. when they got to the river, they saw a large beaver lodge, as well as the busy beavers gathering branches to build their "water wall". However, they noticed the beavers slapped their tails on the water's surface. Something was in the area, something the beavers didn't like. Looking to their left, they saw what it was. a pair of big cats had come out of the surrounding woods. Now these cats were as big as tigers, had stripes and ruffs like tigers, but their fur was black, they had white underbellies, and tufts of fur at the ends of their tails like lions, but one was smaller than the other, and it's ruffs weren't as pronounced as the bigger ones, making it clear that this was a mating pair. The male looked up at Banda, bared it's teeth, and snarled at him. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" "What are you looking at dude?" asked Banda "HURRRAAAHH!!" The feline charged at Banda, and in this case, Banda wasn't in the mood for a fight, so he backed off quickly. "Gee wiz! calm down! i'm not interested in your girl! I already have one!" responded Banda As for the girls in the sky, they had no luck, but they did bump into something else. They saw for the first time in Bakula, a human camp, however, things were not at peace as a group of 5 cats of the same species they others encountered at the pond were attacking the humans, one had a man pinned down, and was biting the spear the man was holding to keep the cat's fangs from getting to this throat. Then without thinking, Rainbow Dash used her super speed to fly down and knock the big cat off of the man, Twilight lifted the other cats and was able to throw them away from the camp, after that, they retreated. The cat knocked over by Rainbow Dash wasn't about to give up so easily, as it charged at his attacker, until Fluttershy stepped in of course. "STOP!!!" shouted Fluttershy The cat stopped dead in his tracks. "Listen here you big bully, you shouldn't be doing this to those weaker than you, now leave or else.." Said Fluttershy before she gave the cat her famous stare, and this time, it actually worked as the cat ran off at the sight of her disapproving eyes. After that, they went to make sure the people were okay, and they explained why they were in the region to begin with, and in gratitude for the rescue, some of the natives decided to help the girls search for the lost souls, and so they were off again. LEOTAKA Height: 4 ft at the shoulder Length: 13 ft from nose to tail Weight: Males are from 300-650 pounds while females are from 120-430 pounds Leotaka's are powerful killers, able to hunt animals 5 times their own weight, like moose, bison, aurochs, elk, etc. But unlike other forest cats like tigers and jaguars, they live in groups, their groups are like those of African Lions, with males fiercely defending the prides territory from other males. However, their groups are small due to being in the forest where it's more beneficial to be solitary. While they may be black in the warm periods, they turn white in winter to allow them to blend in with the snow during the winter, and being black helps them blend in with the dark shadows of the forest when it's warm. For competition, they do not have much competition other than black bears which avoid them at all costs, and weird cats called Borpers that will run up into the trees to escape their larger, more powerful cousins. As for humans, just like the Tougarions, they have no tolerance for humans in their hunting ground, hence why these cats attacked the humans in this chapter.