The Black & White Saga: Chapter 2 - Origin of the Cubs
"Crunch, crunch, crunch…"
The trio heard footsteps coming from the depths of the forest and looked up. Along with the sound of heavy footsteps falling on the dried leaves and stones on the forest floor, there was also the sound of something being dragged on the ground approaching the clearing where they were standing. The large dark shadow in the forest got closer and closer, and soon they could make out a round fuzzy head on a large body with stout legs, covered in patches of black and white fur. A full grown adult panda walked out of the forest, dragging a large armful of fresh cut bamboo stalks in her arms. The panda finished munching on the bamboo leaves in her mouth as she dumped her load on top of the the waist-high pile of bamboo near Gaia.
"Miimii, miimii…" cried Skye and Gaia once the saw the adult panda bear.
"Welcome back Nebula," greeted Lunette.
"Have you been good, dears?" Nebula asked in a rich, yet feminine voice. After animals on Arcadia increase their spiritual powers to a high enough level, they develop intelligence equivalent to human beings, and are capable of human speech. However, this is usually rare. Most animals only have limited spiritual powers in their bodies, and are able to use magic.
Nebula grinned and stretched her furry arms above her head. She looked proudly at the large pile of bamboo she just harvested. At the corner of her eye, she spotted a scorch mark on the grass near the bamboo mound. Her smile faded as she turned her head to see little Gaia on the grass looking back at her with innocent eyes, surrounded by scorch marks.
Nebula narrowed her eyes at Gaia, and quickly scooped her up in her arms before she could scamper away.
"Little glutton! See how I'll punish you when we go back," said Nebula in an exasperated voice as she spanks Gaia's bottom lightly. She barely used any force, but Gaia still cried out in loud whimpers, as if she was in immense pain.
After a few spanks, Nebula sighed and switched over to pat Gaia on her back gently, while she held her upright with her head resting on her shoulder. Gaia finally stopped crying and nuzzled her mama's neck. With Mama Nebula's help, Gaia continued to belch out more fireballs until she completely digested the red bamboo sap she consumed.
Skye and Lunette looked on at this scene in amusement, and admire the scorched grass art Gaia made on the ground with her burps. Lunette kept the damage to a minimum by casting water spells to douse out the flames that did not automatically die out when they hit the grass. Skye did his part as the spotter. He climbed on to Lunette's shoulder and called out any sparks that started flames on the grass.
Gaia soon fell asleep in her mother's arms. Skye cuddled next to Lunette's neck and purred lazily, while enjoying the warm sunlight of Spring. Both cubs dozed off while Lunette and Nebula tidied up the pile of bamboo into two bundles, and secured them with ropes for easier transportation. One bundle was half the size of the other one.
"Boom… boom… swoosh…"
The sound of large objects falling in the distance could be heard faintly from the clearing. Lunette and Nebula both looked toward the depths of the forest and saw a huge shadow approaching the clearing from far away. Or rather it was a smaller bear-like figure, carrying a large baggage that was twice his height behind him. The figure traversed a huge distance every time he leaped up. As he got closer, they could see he was another panda bear, about six feet tall.
Lunette and Nebula had incredulous looks on their faces as the figure landed in the clearing and dumped his load next to their bamboo piles with a loud thud. The large panda grinned at the two ladies and went over to embrace Nebula with one arm, while delicately patting Gaia's head with is other hand.
"You're ridiculous Sam," Nebula grumbled quietly, trying not to wake up Gaia and Skye. Even though Nebula was tall for a female panda at 5'5", Sam made her look petite in his arms.
"And you love me for it," responded Sam in his deep, gravelly voice. He turned to Lunette and ruffled her head while grinning, "Hey, kiddo!"
Lunette looked up at Sam with her lips twitching. If Sam made Nebula look petite, then he made Lunette, who was 5 feet tall look like a little kid. She glared at him for messing up her hair, but Sam only grinned back. Nebula swatted the back of his head with her paws for messing with Lunette. Sam quickly turned back to Nebula to coax her and plead for mercy.
Seeing Sam continue to be affectionate with Nebula, Lunette rolled her eyes at them and walked toward the humongous pile of bamboo stalks Sam brought back with him. If she continued to watch their theatrics, she will go blind from their PDA. As she walked, she readjusted her waist length hair into a ponytail. Upon reaching Sam's bamboo stack, she pushed back the sleeve of her left arm to reveal a sleek silver bracelet engraved with runes. She put her left arm out, and poured her spirit power into the bracelet to activate it. Her spirit energy filled the bracelet and flowed toward the space rune she was looking for. Upon reaching the space rune in the bracelet, the spirit energy circulated around the rune and flowed into its core. The space rune on the bracelet lit up, and Lunette activated the rune to open the space dimension inside the bracelet. She directed the power of the space rune to move the humongous pile of bamboo in front of her into the space dimension with her spiritual powers.
Seeing that the pile of bamboo that was almost thrice as tall as Lunette disappear into the space, Nebula and Sam also stopped fussing and approached the other two bundles of bamboo. Nebula handed Gaia over to Lunette, and strapped the smaller bamboo bundle to her back. Sam grabbed the larger bamboo bundle and loaded it on his back. The panda couple and the girl walked towards the bridge at the other end of the clearing.