((Thanks for making it through the weepy parts. They're all over I promise!))
The pair of tiger cubs sulked their way back home to the den. They were orphaned, lost, and alone in the forest. Their mother, killed and mutilated by something unknown, the two cubs did not know what to do next. They were both still too young to do much hunting on their own, and their very survival was threatened. Revenge was an emotion that didn't exist for them. All they knew is that their mother left, was dead, and now it was just the brother and sister left to fend for themselves in a largely unknown world.
They spent most of the day lying in the shade, hungry and frightened. Occaisionally one of the tigers would hop up and pounce on a small mouse or rodent, to share with the other. That was about the only prey they could actually manage on their own, but it would be nowhere near enough to sustain them both. They'd have to somehow learn to stalk and take down bigger prey... and they'd have to learn it on their own, without the benefit of their mother's years of experience.
But working as a pair, perhaps they could manage it. After a few days of lounging in the den, they set out in the late afternoon hours to see what they could find. Through the trees and the brush they hunted, sniffing every which way to see if a scent of prey could be detected. Soon they began picking up an unknown scent, but not unfamiliar. They remembered this particular scent when they had found their mother, it had been all over the place. Perhaps it was the scent of what had killed her?
Curiously, the pair followed the trail through the wood. It seemed to split off and rejoin itself at different times, making tracking it somewhat difficult for the inexperienced tiger cubs. Walking past a large tree they continued following the smell, it was getting stronger here. They came to a heavily leafed clearing, when suddenly, to their surprise, the ground itself seemed to lift up and carry them into the air, with a great flurry of leaves and twigs.
With a startled yelp, the two tried to get their bearings. It seemed as those they were in some sort of bag, surrounded by leaves and dangling several feet in the air. As the tiger cubs tried to move their paws kept slipping through large holes in the bag, making it extremely difficult to get themselves uprighted. They struggled mightily, trying to tear through the twines holding the bag together with their claws and with their teeth, but it was no use. Their cries of alarm were heard throughout the forest for anyone and anything to hear.
And someone did hear, and would be coming soon...
((don'tcha love cliffhangers? :p ))