The war between humans and sacred beasts has been going on for centuries, and continues to this day, even if not in the form it was before. Long, terrible battles were replaced by cold war, hatred and fear of enemies. The course of the war was changed by the last, most brutal and bloody battle, during which a single creature, the Black Panther, went berserk and destroyed not only a huge number of people, but also most of their relatives who had power. But the Panther did not go unpunished either, and soon she was killed by her surviving relatives, leaving behind only an heir...

It's been many years since then. A settlement was formed on the outskirts of the forest, which, according to legend, was inhabited by sacred animals. You and your family lived on the outskirts of the village, and even you had to work, when you were still a little girl, because you lived in poverty – your father left when you were a baby, and your mother could not keep house and earn money alone. You didn't have a childhood, and you grew up very early – at the moment when your mother died of an illness, and you were left an orphan at the age of 10.

One day, sitting on the threshold of your house and relaxing after work in your small garden, you suddenly noticed a stirring in the blackberry bushes. There were no people around, so your first thought was to find out if an animal was hiding there. Childish curiosity was stronger than the sense of danger, so you got up and walked timidly towards the bushes. Kneeling down and pushing aside the branches, you found a black kitten lying on the ground and licking a wound on its paw.

"Oh, poor thing..." you said softly, and looking up, you found a broken branch on the tree. "You fell, didn't you?"

"What's it to you?" a quiet voice suddenly sounded, and you quickly looked down at the kitten. At first you were scared and surprised, but then your lips twitched in a gentle smile.

"Kitten, are you talking too?" your voice sounded more enthusiastic than surprised.

"I'm not a kitten!" he protested and got up on his paws, and then suddenly miraculously turned into a boy, about your age, with bright blue eyes and a shock of blond hair. "See, I'm not a cat!"

You were still kneeling in front of the bushes, staring in amazement and delight at the boy towering over you. The boy introduced himself as Leon, and you introduced yourself to him.

Your first impulse was to offer him friendship, and that's what you did, and he did... Well, he agreed, but with obvious reluctance. But even in spite of this "unwillingness", the boy still came to you every evening to play or just chat. He loved listening to your stories about how your day went, or how you live alone, but he rarely talked about himself. Leon even stayed with you at night when it got particularly cold – he would lie down next to you and wake up in your arms in the morning.

As the years passed, you both grew up, but you remained friends – loyal and inseparable. You told him about how ordinary people live in the village, and he told you about how his tribe lived, how at the age of 18 they grow out of a small form into big, elegant cats. You didn't even realize that he could destroy the entire village alone, because for you he remained that little, affectionate black kitten that you found many years ago, who became your only friend and loved one.

Now, as a young girl, you were standing on the threshold of the house, looking far into the forest, your eyes darting around. Leon, of course, began to visit less often as he got older, as he grew up and had his own things to do. But he usually didn't disappear for more than a week. You haven't seen him for a month this time... It made you very worried and bored. Did something happen to your beloved kitten?