As your rough, wet tongue rasps over her smooth cheeks, she begins to quiver in your arms, her eyes wide as saucers. You stroke her vibrant red hair and pull away some of the clothing on the injured animal to nuzzle and lick at the skin of its chest and neck.
"[Please don't eat me... please don't eat me...]" it mews in your arms.
You're no human expert, but you get the impression that your gentle cleaning is having the reverse of its intended effect and scaring the poor thing. Most cubs (and one or two males) love it when you give them a once over with your tongue, evidently humans not so much.
You lay her aside carefully and return to the task at hand. It doesn't take long to discover the damage caused by the curious creatures - one of the gears connecting the turbine to the winch system has been disengaged. Slotting the machinery back together sets the thumper going again, as it begins to slowly winch the heavy weight up its column. Quickly you return to the humans - you intend to be long gone before the thumper has time to slam back down into the Earth, you'd rather not spend the rest of the day with ringing ears.
The female limping towards the edge of the clearing, hopping slowly on one leg while keeping the weight off her twisted one. It's so pathetically adorable. You sweep her into your arms, cradling her tiny form close to your chest, then sling the male over one shoulder. You set out, retracing the route you forged through the thick vegetation getting here, but soon detouring in the directions of your sister's residence. From behind, you hear the distant thud of the thumper with satisfaction.
Your sister lives in a villa of white stone, distinct for the high wall that surrounds it. The wall isn't for her protection (after all, your race has no natural predators), but to keep the pet humans locked away inside. It's the only way to keep them from wandering off.
You let yourself inside the compound. You find your sister in the garden, sprawled out on a slab of rock, sunning herself in the midday sun. In her day, she had been a terrific hunter, though these days she cares only for breeding, both of herself and her pets. Three of her cubs chase a group of humans around the garden, shouting mock hunting calls over the panicked mooing of the animals. She keeps one wary eye on their rough play, her tail twitching. She cares deeply about her pets, and has a strict no-eating rule.
The eldest cub manages to corner tackles one of the humans in the corner of the walled garden, tackling it and pinning it to the ground. It opens its salivating mouth, ready to chomp down on the tiny pink ear.
Your sister rises from the slab, fur bristling. "Hey! What did I tell you?"
"But muuuuum! It doesn't need both ears."
"No eating the humans, unless I say so. Otherwise it comes out of your pocket money."
Her daughter sulks, but lets the human go, giving it a head start before bounding after it. Your sister's ears perk up as she hears you stepping behind her. She turns, her face splitting into a broad, toothy grin. The female in your arms moans a little. "[Ah God... there's more of them...]"
"Well well. If it isn't the Great Hunter," your sister mocks. That's been her nickname for you ever since she handed the family rifle to you. Her eyes fall on the thing in your arms and she gasps in disbelief. She doesn't ask for permission, just plucks it right out of your grip. "What do we have here? Where on Earth did you find this? This breed cost a fortune."
"I thought you'd like it. A group of them were interfering with the thumpers. Any idea who they might belong to?"
"Yeah. Me," she laughs. The human yelps as she crushes it possessively to her chest. "Don't tell me you're thinking of reporting them. You know they'll only put them down if you hand them in. Let me have them. You owe me this, I gave you the rifle!"
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