The Big Cats of Bakula

by PantheraMan

Chapter 12: The Bakulan Leopard

As Banda, Rainbow Dash, and Tulu were out looking for something to eat, they kept in mind of the amount of food the mother cat needed, so animals like rabbits and hares were off the menu. Tonight, Banda was determined to get something big, like a bison or an auroch. Of course, those weren't the first animals they saw, they encountered a Eurasian Lynx with a Roe Deer that it killed, Banda was about to chase it off until a wild dog of the same species that Rainbow Dash had to fight off and that was scared off by the Giant Tiger came up to the carcass, but it had it's ears folded back and it's tail tucked between it's legs, while the lynx was growling and it's back was arched up, and then the lynx attacked the dog, with those lightning fast reflexes, it managed to flip the dog onto it's back and attacked the belly, then the dog got back up and ran away. The lynx walked back to the kill and began feeding.

"Okay, THAT was really awesome!" said Rainbow Dash

"That's one tough kitty." Said Tulu

"I think he has earned the right to keep that kill, lets move on." Said Banda

As Tulu was tracking down some food, they came across a fast moving river, they took a few steps in it, and it was freezing. This made them happy to get out of the river.

"HOLY BUFFALOES!!!!" shouted Tulu

The reason for his shouting was clear, as they bumped into a Giant Salamander that was up to six feet long with a bulbous head, wrinkled skin, small legs, and tiny eyes. Now that's an animal you don't see everyday.

"Whoa! That thing is HUGE!" said Banda

"I've heard of giant salamanders in China and Japan, but I never thought I would ever see a wild one." Said Rainbow Dash

Not knowing how to carry it, they left it alone, and the colossal amphibian went on it's way to the river. Tulu was on the trail of some deer, not really knowing much about the deer, so he followed it. But it turned out, they weren't the only ones on the trail of the deer, a huge male leopard was on the prowl, Banda caught sight of the leopard, but that didn't bother him because he thought that if they let the leopard get a deer, he could easily chase it off, he wasn't a stranger to doing that after all. So they followed the leopard, it led them to a herd of deer that were brownish gold, had long fur around their necks, and the bucks had antlers like those of Mule Deer. The leopard had it sights on a fawn, when it was close enough, it charged, only to be stopped by one of the bucks who used it's antlers and strength to toss the leopard in the air, and then it chased the leopard off.

"Darn it." Said Banda

"Note to self, don't underestimate a wild animal." Said Rainbow Dash

Tulu caught the scent of another animal, but this one was old, so they followed him, and he led them to a bull moose. Banda was now in hunting mode, stalking the moose, getting as close as he could, and once he was close enough, he attacked, lunged at his quarry and landed on the back, but while the moose was old, it had lot of fight in it, and it bucked Banda off. Banda fell and landed on his side, but he got back up, and now the moose was charging him, he got out of the way and pounced and left a large wound on the moose's shoulder. Banda used his weight to bring the moose down with his jaws clamped around the throat, the moose was now down on his legs, and eventually, stopped breathing. Banda released his grip and then got a new grip on the neck and dragged the moose to the cave. Along the way, they heard distress sounds, they looked over, and saw a pair of Red Wolves defending their pups from the same leopard they bumped into earlier.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUHUUUUNNGGGGG"

The leopard, while outnumbered, was a powerful opponent, and was destroying the wolves, as the leopard had one pinned and was about sink it's fangs into the throat, Banda immediately charged at the leopard.

"HURRAAAHHH"

The leopard ran off, and quickly climbed up into a tree. Banda kept the leopard in the tree. the leopard was snarling at him, but Banda wasn't intimidated at all. When the wolves rounded up their pups and left, Banda went back to the kill and dragged the moose the rest of the way to the cave. When they reached the cave, they ended with a warm greeting.

"Welcome back guys!" said Pinkie Pie

"Oh my, that's quite a moose you brought down Banda!" complimented Rarity

Banda got the moose into the cave, Applejack and Kama buthcherd it, gave some raw meat to the cats and put some over the fire. At the some time, there was something on Rainbow's mind that she couldn't get rid of.

"Banda, I was just wondering, how did you end up the way you are? and how did you end up being in the wild alone with Tulu?" asked Rainbow

"Banda, you don't have to answer that it you don't want to." Said Tulu

"It's fine, it's about time I told them about my past. You see, I was born in the region we first met, my tribe was small, and I was actually the first baby the tribe had. But when my mom was pregnant with me, the shawoman put a spell on me that caused me to be this way, the reason she did this is in case something happened to them and I ended up being alone in the wilderness. Despite the fact that big cats were pretty much one of their biggest fears, my parent still loved me. However, things didn't really stay that way. One day, a group of men came to the land, and they had dogs, and weird weapons they called guns. They were killing just about everything in front of them, and they claimed to be doing it for something they called money. We knew that kind of behavior caused the predators to have such hatred and intolerance for us in the first place, so my tribe tried to stop them, but those men didn't listen, they killed them. To make things worse, my mother was pregnant for the second time. Those men learned that, but they didn't care. I was scared, and I ran away, from that point, I was alone. At first I was a scavenger, so I had to keep my wits about me to avoid being killed. I learned how to hunt by watching some of the big cats hunt, while at the same time trying to keep from being seen. After I grew up and became an accomplished hunter and fighter, Tulu started to follow me around to eat any leftovers, which I didn't mind. Then the old shaman came along, and he gave Tulu the ability to speak to me so we could communicate properly. One day, the same men who killed my family returned, and they captured me and put me in a cage in the thing you call a truck. That's when I met Kama, who was a cheetah at the time. I was able to escape with the help of the shaman, and I decided I wasn't letting those men go. So I fought them, and killed many of them, when it came to the one who shot my mother, I grabbed him by the neck and broke it. And I lived in that place until you girls came along and changed everything." Answered Banda

"Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that darling." Said Rarity

"So that's why you ran off earlier, and why you helped those Red Wolves, this situation just reminded you of your past, and you just couldn't bear the thought of them being orphans." Said Rainbow Dash

"Exactly." Said Banda

"To be honest, I lost my parents too, the parents I have now adopted me as a baby." Said Rainbow Dash

"Really?" asked Banda

"Yeah, I love them, and life has been great, I'm even captain of all the sports teams back home." Said Rainbow Dash

"Whoa, that's amazing!" said Banda

After they ate, it was getting late, and the gang fell asleep, Rainbow Dash was now laying on Banda when she was sleeping.

BAKULAN LEOPARD

Height: 2 ft tall at the shoulder
Length: 5.4 feet long
Weight: Males are from 90-175 pounds while females are from 60-130 pounds

Leopards may not be the most powerful cats, but they have the ability to live almost anywhere. Grasslands, jungles, mountains, deserts, even close to cities. So it's no surprise Bakula has a very healthy leopard population. However, across their range, leopards face serious enemies. In Africa, they live with lions, which are larger than leopards, hyenas, which can actually take kills away from them, packs of wild dogs which chase leopards into trees while they're in packs. In Asia, they live with Asiatic lions in India, tigers, bears, and packs of dholes. In Bakula, they coexist with Kaua's, Krises, Giant Tigers, Asiatic Black Bears, Brown Bears, Short-Faced Bears, and Gongers. All those predators will take a leopards kill, and even kill a leopard. However, leopards will kill lynxes, lone Gongers, and Red Wolves to eliminate the competition. Leopards will actually drag kills up into trees to keep them safe from other predators and they can eat in peace. Leopards like to hunt at night for better cover, and females can have 2-3 cubs in a litter. A special technique of leopards when they hunt is to literally jump out of trees and onto prey. Then kill it and drag it up the tree. Leopards eats many species of animals, and the leopards of Bakula are no different. The diet of Bakulan leopards consists of deer, wild boar, fox, raccoon dog, hares, rabbits, red wolves, young horses, auroch calves, bison calves, wild cats, badgers, martens, and bear cubs.

Author's Note:

Fun fact, the Red Wolf is what inspired me to create the Great Forest, which is actually the first region I made for Bakula, so you can say that Red Wolves inspired Bakula itself, the other regions were inspired by the big cats of course. Now, I'm working on an entirely new region of Bakula, so stay tuned!

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, really good job on the exchanges, action, future chapter set-up and Bakulan Leopard info. I especially liked the encounter with the Giant Salamander and seeing the Bakulan Leopard in action against those wolves. And yeah, I sympathized with Banda just as much as Rarity and Rainbow did following that bit of backstory.

[Jigoku Luna]

Love the backstory you gave Banda. Keep the chapters coming.