feline until he saw a large hole. They jumped out of the hole and saw that the hole was just a
big tree hole from an ancient willow. Beside the willow, there were sitting ten felines. Tiglon
could see Onewhisker and Dustfoot. He gave Dustfoot a hostile glance. Dustfoot shot him back
an enmity glare.
Tiglon walked close to his mother’s body and said sorrowfully, ‘Mum, I hope you have a good
time when you go to heaven.’
After saying, he watched his mother’s beautiful face for the last time and knelt with his head
touched on the ground. After Firestar dipped his head, all the felines followed to do so, except
Dustfoot. Finally, Sasha’s corpse was buried under a quiet and peaceful area.
After the funeral, Tiglon sat at the side of the edge of the clearing, which was surrounded
by gorse and bramble bushes, watching the beautiful sceneries and the other mountains in Gobi
Desert. The long-tailed feline approached Tiglon with Onewhisker, a friendly small feline with
a bent whisker and another huge feline that Tiglon didn’t know which had an unusually, bushy,
white tail.
‘Whitestorm,’ the long-tailed feline said to the huge feline with a bushy, white tail, ‘Can you
tell me what had happened in the morning when you led the dawn patrol.’
Whitestorm dipped his head and said, ‘In the dawn patrol, I took Brambleclaw and
Onewhisker. When we arrived at the foot of the mountain, we saw two humans, one was a male
cub and one was a female adult, so Onewhisker, Brambleclaw and I brought them back to the
camp.’
The long-tailed feline nodded in acknowledgement and asked Tiglon tenderly, ‘What’s your
name, youngster?’
‘My name is Tiglon Baryon,’ Tiglon said quietly and asked. ‘Who are you?’
‘I am Firestar, the leader of ThunderTribe, tribe of the snow leopards,’ the long-tailed
feline answered.
Tiglon remained silent and wooden, but when he heard the word ‘snow leopard’, he turned his
face to Firestar and exclaimed, ‘Snow leopard! I have heard many stories about you guys from
my mother and you are known to be swift, fierce, powerful and loyal! She also said that snow
leopards are “the king of mountains”!’
‘Thank you for your mother’s appreciation. Now humans just know how to rip of snow leopard’s
pelt instead of leaving them in peace.’ Firestar said sadly and shook his head.
‘Why do you say that?’ asked Tiglon.
‘It is because in these years, humans always take their guns and kill our tribe members for
our pelt. Originally, snow leopards and humans are friends, but after humans started to hunt us,
we became enemies. You cannot blame Dustfoot for being rude to you, because all his parents and
siblings were killed by human hunters when he was a cub. So he has hated humans since he was a
cub and was desperate for revenge.’ Firestar explained to Tiglon.
All the feeling of hatred to Dustfoot in Tiglon’s heart vanished without a trace and it all
turned into sympathy for Dustfoot and he thought of his dead mother.
‘But Firestar,’ Tiglon asked, ‘how could you speak our language?’ Tiglon’s amber eyes grew
wide with curiosity.
‘That’s a very good question, Tiglon,’ Firestar replied. ‘When I was a cub, I heard the elders’
story about the animals.’
Firestar began the story, ‘In the Legend of the Tribes, the God of the Sky, Tenger and his
