Nu'nuqi

I had begun calling the small sleen Nu'nuqi after discovering that it was indeed a female. In quiet moments, with a softer voice I called her Nuqi. I had discovered this when she had rolled upon her back in a submissive display of her sex at my feet after I had sharply struck her nose with my fingers because she had bitten my hand as I fed her from it.

I had begun saving pieces of my meal for her, letting her watch me doing so. Now and then I would reward her with tasty morsels from among my outstretched fingers. She had tested me with a mischievous bite; and been rewarded with a slap for it.

She had instantly rolled legs up and splayed, laying quietly in display until lowered upon my hands and knees to smell her slowly, then growled softly by her ear, I nuzzled her gently before sitting back on my heels to rub her soft furry belly and tug playfully at the thick pads of her paws.

She was a indeed a runted animal; but the runt of a species of giants. Those of her kind, the Forest sleen, were well known develop a physique some twenty feet long and eleven hundred pounds in weight.

I would be most pleased to see her remain half of those proportions; and I believed her easily capable of reaching that size quickly. She seemed to grow by the day; she was easily three feet long at what I would estimate to be about one hundred and twenty five pounds now, She was going to be a big girl, and soon.

I did not object if she wished to curl herself nearer to me; at my right side and out from under my feet. At night, I allowed her to press herself against me for warmth if she chose to. She was soft, and warm; her fur was thick and plush and uniform.

She wore the classic distinguishing characteristics typical for her kind upon her pelt with a sleek and graceful elegance. She was a beautiful and dangerous creature, surrounded by a mystique of lethality that hung about her like a rich and complex perfume.

In several ways, she reminded me very much of Melete.

We traveled well together, Nunuqi and I. She remained close on my right, moving ahead in cautious and alert sweeps, well out from underfoot. I did not object to this manner of travel, I trusted her instincts and often used her movements and postures as visual cues for my own as we moved in unison through the Forest toward the Tundra.