A Chui's tale: chapter 5

Chapter 5 "The journey begins"

Curled up on the sofa, Katie stirred. Something had woke her. Annoyed at being woken, she wrapped her blanket tightly round her, hoping to get more sleep. After closing her eyes for a few seconds, Katie found out what had woke her. It was the noise of her stomach that had woken her, growling loudly like before, the scent of cooking bacon making her hungry.

"Why does the smell of bacon always make me hungry? I don't even like bacon," Katie thought to herself, as she made herself get up.


Turning his head round, Andrew saw the kitchen door slowly open.

"Close the door behind you. The smoke alarm is right outside the door and it's super sensitive. Even a slice of bread in the toaster can set it off. Turning round to face Katie, Andrew still hasn't got used to seeing someone who looked like a leopard, and looked awkwardly at her. "Uhhhhh.......you...want breakfast?" Andrew stuttered nervously. Ignoring his obviously nervous expression, Katie looked past him and looked at what he was actually cooking.

"A bit of everything expect the bacon...if that's all right?"

"No bacon? Are...you a veggie?" Andrew queried, looking up at her, trying to grasp the concept that Katie might be a vegetarian.

"No. Just don't like bacon. Pork or even turkey. I'm fine with everything else. I adore rabbit though," Katie smirked.

"You've...eaten rabbit?"

"Yep. My great Nan used to cook it quite often when I was little and that rabbit I caught last week was nice too, Katie added with a sly grin, snickering at Andrew horrified expression. "What? I need to eat you know? I can't go to a butchers and get something."

"Yeah I know, but I couldn't kill a rabbit, turning back to cook.

"I admit I couldn't at first."

"I can imagine. It must be hard the first time yo...."

"The rabbit spoke to me." Katie spoke, interrupting Andrew mid-sentence.

"Huh? Spoke to you?" Andrew questioned, turning to Katie. "That's odd."

"It isn't. Humans are the ones who are odd. Humans are the only creatures on the planet who only understand themselves. Everything else can communicate with each other if they want. And it made it hard for me when your dinner speaks back to you."

"Don't worry. You're breakfast wont be saying anything," Andrew said, as he placed Katie's and his own breakfast on the table.


As Andrew was eating his bacon, he couldn't help, but look at Katie, as she cut the food on her plate, holding her knife and fork awkwardly with her stubby, paw-like fingers. Sensing he was watching her, Katie looked up sharply at him, Andrew quickly looking back down at his own plate, and started finishing off his own breakfast.

"You want to hear more of my story?" Katie asked, sensing he was still very cautious of her, then started telling him more when he nodded slowly, still not looking up from his plate.


After  a few months, Katie had recovered and was taught just enough basic survival skills by Jarobi, to survive in the wild. At the exit of the safari camp, she said her last goodbyes to him, then left to make her way home, not knowing that Zander had been waiting for her to leave ever since he was fired, wanting to get his revenge, still holding her responsible for him losing his job as the safari ranger.

Not aware that Zander was even after her, Katie slowly made her way home, walking as far as she could, only stopping when the light was beginning to fade.
Using a travel fishing rod Zander was kind enough to give her, Katie was excited catching her first fish after a couple of attempts, putting it in a pot to boil. Even though the fish was food, one thing Katie absolutely hated was boiled fish, but ate it anyway as it was all there was.

"Gross," Katie, grimaced, taking a bite. Katie wished she had grilled it, but it would have drawn too much attention and this was a dangerous place for someone who looked like her, as there could be poachers about this area.
Nothing else happened that night and soon Katie settled down for the night, wrapping a blanket around her, which was also given to her by Jarobi. Katie didn't really have the need for it, but he insisted her to take it, explaining it would give her the sense of being safe and secure, and she found it to be true as she soon was drifting off.


When he was sure Katie was sound asleep, Zander, slowly and quietly came out of his hiding place, tranquilliser gun in hand. Aiming the barrel of the gun down at her, he placed a finger on the trigger and smirked evilly.

"Sweet dreams, freak!" He spoke harshly, as he fired.


"Wakey wakey," Zander spoke in a mocking tone to Katie the next morning. Groaning, Katie turned, then started to drift of again. "WAKE UP!" Zander demanded, throwing a bucket of water he had over Katie. Gasping and waking with a start, Katie got up groggily, looking around, her eyes a little blurry, slowly coming into focus.

"YOU!! Katie growled lowly at Zander when she finally recognised him. Why are you here?!

"I'm here for you! You cost me my job! And now I want revenge."

"That was your violence that lost your job, not me!!" Katie retaliated, standing to stand up, only to groan and hold her head with a paw when her head hit something. Looking up she only just realized she was in a cage. A small one. "No...." Katie gulped, trembling and breathing erratically as she backed to the side of the cage. "LET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!!" Katie demanded as she started to have a panic attack, looking at the sides of the cage fearfully, edging her way into a corner.

"Aww, is the little kitty cat claustrophobic?" Zander jeered mockingly at Katie, provoking her. Holding the bars of the cage tightly with fear, Katie started snarling with outrage, looking up at Zander with hatred as he ridiculed and mocked her fear, suddenly ramming herself at the side of the cage, roaring deafeningly at him, completely enraged. With a sudden gasp, Zander stepped back quickly from the cage, actually tripping up in shock, amazed at how far the cage had just tipped over as Katie lunged herself against the side.

"Wow," Zander spoke quietly. "Is that you're real anger or is that the leopard's anger?"

"Step in here and you'll find out!!" Katie screamed at him. "What are you planning to do with me?"

Calmly taking out a paper that was in a pocket, Zander slowly unfolded it it, then chucked it by Katie cage. Ignoring it at first, Katie soon glanced down at the paper and saw that the picture on the front of the paper was the story about her disappearance.

"I know who you are, Katie," Zander sneered as he got himself up.

"What are you going to do about it?" Katie spoke softly, looking up at him, almost dreading what his reply would be.

"I'm going to take you back to the hotel where you stayed."

"Wh....why?" Katie stuttered nervously.

"I'm going to claim you were the leopard that was in that hotel, when you stayed there."

"They wont belive you. There's more than one leopard in Africa!"

"You left a paw print in that room you stayed in, Katie," Zander hissed at her heartlessly, scrutinising Katie closely as he walked around her cage. "I can't believe your appearance fooled me the first time we met. Blue eyes, no whiskers, small stature and hand like paws. You're paw prints are very distinctive. A quick check and it'll prove you're were the one that was in that room."

"What if I tell them what happened and that I changed into this?"

"I wouldn't say anything about being human if I was you. I doubt the world would accept you being like you are? Would your family even accept you, looking like a fre...?"

"Don't say it!!" Katie roared, cringing and covering her ears, afraid what Zander was going to say.

"You're a freak!" Zander shouted down at her. "You're family would never accept you looking like an dangerous, wild animal," Zander spoke harshly down to her. Wincing, Katie backed away to the side of her cage, grasping the bars tightly with her paws. Closing her eyes, Katie feared rejection even more than the enclosed space she was in and her eyes started to water, as it was the main reason she ran away in the first place.

"What... would happen if I kept quiet?"

"It won't be pretty. They don't take animal attacks on humans very well. The last animal that attacked a  human was caught and all I can say is, what happened WASN'T humane."

"You're sick if you can sit by and watch that happen!!"

"What they'll do in nothing compared to what you poachers do!!"

"I am NOT a poacher!! Why are you convinced that I'm one?"

"Because everyone is a potential poacher!!" Zander scowled, looking down at Katie with aggressive and with obvious hatred.

"Does that include you?" Katie snapped back at him. Gasping at what she said, Zander growled loudly in anger, then kicked at the side of the cage, enraged, making Katie back away from him.

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A POACHER!!! EVER!!!" Zander screamed at her. Clenching his fists, he looked down at her with deep hatred. "I don't want to waste my time talking to the likes of you!" Zander snapped, walking off without saying another word.

Looking over her shoulder, Katie watched as Zander went inside his tent.

"He took that remark a little too personally," Katie thought to herself, before looking back at opening of her cage, sighing when she noticed the padlock. "I can't get out of here without the key," Katie spoke out loud, glancing at the table where the key and all of her belongings were. "It's hopeless," Katie sighed. Looking at the sides of the cage with dread, Katie whimpered and slowly backed into a corner. Laying down, Katie cowed in fear, curling her tale around her and started crying softly.


After a while, Katie became aware of a noise and it was approaching in her direction. Gulping, Katie nervously watched as whatever it was, was coming nearer. As she watched, Katie saw a leopard emerge from the forest. After a few seconds, Katie sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw it was the male leopard she had met previously.

"What do you want? Come to gloat about me being in a cage?"

"Why you in cage?" the male asked, walking up to her. " Do your species catch their own kind?"

"No. The human who put me here only wants me for revenge."

"Why you not escape? This is made by your our kind. You must know how to escape?"

"I can't. I need a key."

"What is key?"

"A key is for this," Katie answered,  holding the padlock in a paw. Thinking, Katie looked at the leopard and wondered, glancing over her shoulder at the table. "Could you get the key for me?"

"What it look like?"

"Like this," Katie spoke, extracting a claw and scratched a rough key shape in the dirt. "It's on the table over there."

"Why should I help your kind? You kill us!" the male leopard growled.

"I'm just trying to get home. I'm not the kind of human who will harm you."

"What about the male of your kind," he queried, picking up his scent.

"He wont do anything to you either. He's a ranger. He hates poachers."

Slowly, the leopard made his way over to the table, jumping up and resting his front paws on the table. Looking at the items on the top, he located the key and carefully picked it up with teeth and made his way back to Katie.

"Here," he spoke, dropping by her cage.

"Thanks," Katie spoke gratefully, picking it up and quickly worked on unlocking the padlock. When she opened it, Katie ran out, gasping with relief of being free.

"You scared of simple little cage?"

"I hate being locked or trapped in enclosed spaces," Katie simply said, quickly walking past him. "I need to get away from here before Zander finds that I'm gone. You better go to," Katie said as she made her way to the table to get her belongings. "I'll cover your tracks so he wont come after you. You got to go before he come out."
Nodding his head, the male leopard turned and returned to the jungle. When Katie put her coat and backpack on, Katie broke off  a branch and swept it over the male leopard's paws covering his tracks. "Now to get out of here," Katie thought, doing up the clip of backpack that went around her waist. After she did that, she crouched and began to run on all fours to cover more ground than she would if she travelled on two.


Inside his tent, Zander, detested what Katie had said to him and his hatred of her and his thought of revenge deepened even more.

"I will never be a poacher!" Zander scowled sitting down. "How could she even say that to me?!!"

The more he thought about what Katie had said to him, Zander found himself placing his head in his hands and started moaning in complete distress, trying desperately to stop thinking of a disturbing and traumatising memory he had been trying to suppress ever since he was six.


Looking up to his Dad, Zander wanted to join him when he went to one of his business meetings for once.

"No, not until I think you're old enough, Zander," his dad smiled, giving his son a hug. "You wait here. I'll be back very soon. If you need anything just ask at the front desk, Ok?"

"Ok, Daddy."

A few minutes after his Dad had left, Zander looked out of a window and saw how close he was to the jungle. He had never been so close before and he wanted to have a quick look. Opening a window, Zander climbed out and managed to squeeze through a small hole that was in the high fence separating the jungle from the hotel he and his Dad was staying.


As Zander explored he heard a lot of things around him and above him, but didn't see anything until he saw a mother orangutan with it's baby in front of his path. The mother had seen him, but was not bothered by him and continued caring for her baby. Enjoying watching the two of them, Zander wondered why the mother was agitated all of a sudden, holding her child close to her, calling out a warning. Soon after, Zander heard a gunshot and gasped when he saw that the mother orangutan had been shot and two poachers quickly emerged, trying to take the baby, which made the mother fight back aggressively, trying to protect her child.

"NO!!" Zander shouted out when he witnessed the two poachers cruelly slaughter her, running to hide when one of them turned round. Hiding under a bush, Zander trembled as the poacher slowly approached, stopping right beside him, slowly looking around. Terrified, Zander looked up, noticing the poacher's blood-covered blade with a carved ivory handle in the shape of a leopard head, hanging from his belt.

"You see something, boss?" the second poacher question, joining him, now carrying the baby orangutan in a cage. Without a word, the other poacher walked off, back the way he came, the second poacher soon following close behind, leaving the mother to die and Zander weeping, traumatised by what he had just witnessed.


Breathing deeply, Zander was covered in sweat, looking very pale and holding a hand to his stomach, feeling incredibly queasy.

"I...could never be like that! I'll never will be like that!!" Zander spoke out loud, getting up and leaving his tent, hoping that splashing some cold water on his face would make him feel better, the second he went outside he noticed that Katie had gone.

"NO!" Zander growled with annoyance, running up to the now opened cage. "How did she get out?"

After hastily packing his things, Zander soon started to track her again. Even though Katie had covered hers and the male leopard's tracks well, Zander was a much more experienced tracker than Katie knew and was still able to see both hers and the male's tracks quite easily.

"She must be able to communicate with other animals?!" Zander spoke out loud as he carefully traced both sets of tracks around the cage and table. Zander soon started to continue tracking down Katie, seeing that he had a challenge on his hands when he saw Katie could cover ground by running on all fours. Growling in frustration and jealous of her abilities, Zander gave chase.