The cub sniffed at the familiar prints,
recognizing their scent.
Kalus felt a sudden surge of desire. An impulse had come to him, and he
acted upon it at once. Hiding his traps behind a stone, he dropped down
on one knee beside the cub. With his hand he indicated the tracks, then
the line they followed into the distance.
'Alaska. These tracks. Avatar. We follow. AVATAR.'
The cub looked back at him, confused. But after repeating the gestures,
the name of the tiger, and finally, walking along its visible trail,
Kalus made her understand. Nose to the ground, she began to pursue the
trail ahead of him, always urged to greater speed by her master.
Together they covered the distance swiftly, running whenever the snow
and his strength permitted it.
For Kalus knew the tiger had set out the night before, and he had only
the daylight to find it.
If only its hunt had been successful.
*
It was perhaps midday when he stood at the top of the same long hill,
looking down with lesser eyes upon the valley and the clearing by the
stream. He had begun to despair of his chances, knowing it would take
nearly the rest of the day just to make his way back to the warmth and
safety of the cave. Almost he had let the hill turn him back. But he,
too, felt the stubborn need to persevere.
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