Finding the Wild

Chapter One

Kupigwa paced the walls of her metal cage. It was feeding time and Kupigwa was the humans favourite, so she got the tastiest deer. She growled at Bubba, the white tiger she shared a cage with. Bubba was new and had been brought from the zoo. " Back away snow cat! I am first to be fed!" Kupigwa snapped at her snowy white paws and Bubba ran to sit in the corner. " Kupigwa, you spoiled PET! " Bure, an African lion who had a who cage to himself, roared. Kupigwa jumped, Bure scared her a little...but he was in another cage so she could say what she liked. Kupigwa showed her teeth " Don't tell me what to do to you mangy old-" Kupigwa stopped dead and rolled flat onto her back. She started purring and mewling like a cub. Bure snorted and turned, Kupigwa always acted this way when the humans came. The female human came to Kupigwa's cage and threw two steer. Immediately after she was out of sight, Kupigwa jumped up and began devouring the hunk of meat. Bubba came over and started cautiously nibbling on the smaller steer. Kupigwa noticed this and shoved her aside snarling. " I GET FED FIRST! You tamaa!" Bubba' s eyes widened at the insult. Bure overheard and stuck his paw through the chainlink fence, managing to scratch Kupigwa's hindquarters. The small tiger roared in pain and whipped around. " Bure how dare you?!" She growled and tried to get him, stretching her heavy paw as far as she could. Bure had backed away a safe distance and began taunting her. " Oh Kupigwa, I thought you were tough? Who's the tamaa now? " Kupigwa growled loudly. " Bure, you need to mind you own business! " The two big cats stood snarling at each other for a while until one of the humans came to see what was going on. Bure had scented him coming and immediately dropped low to the ground, whimpering. " Kupigwa! What are you doing?! " Kupigwa backed away from Bure and stared at the human. He gaped at the site of his large male lion whimpering underneath the small tiger. Kupigwa had no idea what to do so she just went to the back of her cage and sat there in shame. " Bad girl Kupigwa! " She winced, those words hadn't been spoken to her since she was a cub. As the human walked off she heard Bubba snort and Bure was purring. " Shut up! " Kupigwa growled and stretched out, she was too ashamed to eat anymore.

" KUPIGWA! " Kupigwa leapt out from the small container she was being held in. Infront of her stood a whole bunch of children. Kupigwa was used for shows, her humans sometimes even let the children feed and in some rare cases even touch her. Kupigwa was proud that they trusted her that much, as she was the only one other than Bure, to do this. But something was different this time. Kupigwa was angry at the male human, he had embarrassed her in front of Bubba. He was the one who was showcasing her today and she didn't feel like listening. " Kupigwa, come here! Do you want a treat?" He coaxed, Kupigwa looked up from grooming herself, and then went back to her paw. She could tell the human was getting frustrated, and this made her happy. ' That will teach you to call me bad!' She thought to herself. " Alright children...who wants to feed the pretty tiger?" Kupigwa's ears perked up, feeding time, finally! The children threw dead mice and some of the older ones threw in raw steaks and other pleasantries. Kupigwa inhaled it, making sure Bubba could see from far away, how much she was enjoying every morsel. " Kupigwa..." She turned and looked into the humans eyes. " It's time for petting..." Kupigwa nodded, no matter how angry she was at him. She had to be on her best behaviour when the children were touching her. She looked at the small holes the children were able to get a few fingers through and pressed her fur against the glass. Though she had heard it many times, the oohs and aahs made her smile. As she was enjoying being rubbed, a teeny little human cub had managed to get her whole hand through. She yanked on Kupigwa's long fur and the tiger reacted instantly. She turned to the hand that had done her harm and bit it. As she heard the scream she realized what she had done and backed off. Staring at the horrified looks that surrounded her. ' What have I done?! ' Kupigwa looked at the male human, and regretted it. He looked at her with such shame..." I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! " Kupigwa tried to say, but it only made it worse. To the humans, the only sound was a roar. She backed away staring at the small girl, she was crying. The male human was wrapping something around her bleeding arm. She couldn't believe that was her...that it was her teeth that had caused blood to pour out of her arm. As she was silently cursing herself she felt a sharp pain in her side she turned to see a small silver needle sticking out of her. " What the?" She felt more pain and another landed just above the first. She looked up to see the female human holding a big machine. ' Is she sticking these into me?' She felt another prick and two more had appeared. At this point Kupigwa was getting very sleepy. She looked at the female human one last time and collapsed onto the hard floor.

" Kupigwa! Kupigwa! Kupigwa you lazy sack of bones, GET UP!" Bubba stood over the tiger. They had dumped her in the cage after the show. Bure knew something was up and was trying to get her to wake up. " Bubba, start poking her, do something helpful!" Bubba prodded Kupigwa in the side and her eyes immediately flew open. " What the-? " She stopped as she remembered what she has done. She looked at Bubba and then glanced at Bure. " I didn't mean for it to happen..." She manages to choke out. Bure came closer to the fence. " What? What happened? Why did you come back early?" Kupigwa looked him in the eyes. " I-I...I bit a tiny human..." Bure's eyes flew open. " You WHAT?!"
" She grabbed my fur! I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to! It just happened! I let go so fast!" Kupigwa kept firing excuses, but the disappointment in Bure's eyes didn't fade. " How could you? They trust us with their safety and you attack them?!" He roared. Kupigwa didn't try to defend herself. Bure was right..." Bure, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...." He searched his eyes for forgiveness but they were angry. " Don't apologize to me! Apologize to the many children who will fear us, because of YOU!" Kupigwa shrank back. " You are a tamaa..." Bure growled softly. Kupigwa felt as though she would fall apart. His insult hurt more than if he had roared. She wasn't worth his strength...Bubba leaned closer to the whimpering tiger. " Are you okay? " Kupigwa snorted. " Yeah Bubba, in great." She got up and moved to the corner of the cage. Bubba looked at her and padded into the corner across from Kupigwa. " Goodnight Kupigwa.." Kupigwa opened one eye to look at the snow coloured tiger. " Goodnight Bubba "

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Hello everyone! This is my SECOND book, and when people start reading this I will update a new chapter! So, vote and comment on it!

- Emma
----> the language in this story is Swahili. It's a language used in the lion king. After every chapter I will define every Swahili word I use 😄
Kupigwa- Stripes ( clever right?)
Bure- Free ( kinda cruel I know )
Tamaa- Disappointment
Other Swahili terms will be used throughout the book so make sure you read these!