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A small scruffy cub bumbled around the tree base, tripping and catching herself as she hopped around the roots, her eyes fixed on her paws and not noticing Dagmar approaching. Dagmar watched as the small cub froze and her sharp green eyes fixed on a shiny green beetle making it way up the tree bark. The baby pounced, but didn't calculate and her foot caught the root in front of her making her tumble in a forward spin and Dagmar shot out a paw to catch her before her head could smack the ground. The cub landed softly and recovered quickly, setting back on her haunches and started wrestling the gaint paw with sharp teeth and tiny claws. Dagmar scopped her up and gently set her down and chuffed to get her attention "Make sure to tuck in your paws into your chest when you leap, and your claws will be ready to catch what's in front of you when you land, where is your mother young one?" The young cub frowned and looked over both shoulders and then slumped, and in a soft voice she explained "my aunt brought me here and told me to wait, but I don't know what for, I thought she was getting my mom and food but that was yesterday and I'm hungry" she licked her lips and stared back at the beetle longingly. Dagmar looked in the horizon in all directions for a sign of another pride, but she couldn't even smell evidence of a group of lions, and the scent of the aunt was faint and carried a hint of blood and fear. This tree often served as a meeting point and landmark for lions as it's tall wide trunk and expansive branches were visible for miles, but it wasn't uncommon for young Cubs to be left to make their own way under its branches, as it was likely someone else would come pick them up. "Well, little one we have plenty of food back at the den, and you should not be staying out here another night, and beetle make awful snacks, come with me" the cub weighted up with the promise of food started listing all the animals she wanted to eat, a whole rhino, a whole elephant , 2 legs of an eland and for dessert she wanted the marrow of some impala horns, it sounded so good the Dagmars stomach growled with hunger and she gently pushed the cub in direction of the westerly path that lead toward the valley, starting their journey. The cub chattered about all the things she saw, the clouds, the bugs , the small animals that rustled the grass and the stories of her mother and siblings and father. They had been known for their bright red spots covering their bodies, but she didn't get them, she explained that her mother had reasoned to her that they came with age, but Dagmar suspected that she just had not gotten the marks, until they passed through a particularly well lit of the path and she saw faint rings all over the cubs body, and that they disappeared when they went back into the shadow of the head height grass lining the trail. As they walked they reached a portion of the trail that backed a giant poppy field, the red blooms stretching the base of the valley rim , swaying and bopping in the gentle breeze. The young cub gasped and whispered "Those are the most beautiful things I've ever seen!" And she hopped forward, reaching her small orange nose up to sniff and gaze into the petal of the nearest flower, Dagmar trotted up to meet her and gently held her back from touching the flower" be careful not to break the stems, they are no safe to touch" the cub sat back, her front feet still held in front of her a look of worry on her face. Dagmar reassured her"they are perfectly safe to admire though, this is one of my favorite spots to visit when they bloom, they're called Poppies" the cub settled her front feet down and sniffed a lower hanging bloom, her breath making the flower gently bounce and her eyes turned sad " They remind me of my family, when they would lay out in the sun they looked like a field of red flowers "
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