Salim looked after his daughter for a moment and then set off to get back to his cave. He wasn't cold, but the snow that had caked onto his fur was heavy on his skin and dangled uncomfortably back and forth with every step.

He took a deep breath of the fresh, freezing cold air and had to smile involuntarily when he thought that there would soon be something tasty to eat. He stretched his nose into the air to take in the scent of the prey he had not yet caught and his stomach began to growl involuntarily. He could almost hear the soft flapping of the wings of the birds Valja hunted as they stirred up the wind and made the snow fall a second time. He could hear their pitiful cries and how their fear made the meat taste even more delicious.

A stone that suddenly jumped into his path snapped him out of his wonderful thoughts and brought him back to his territory with a near fall. He shook himself to remove the snow that had accumulated while he had been walking, but it had already joined the previous chunks of ice in his fur. Not particularly pleased about this, he expelled the air that was moving away from him in a cloud of mist, but without complaining, he continued on his way. After all, he didn't want to let a stone take away his hopes of a warm and fat bird. And certainly not the thought that he would arrive halfway dry in his cave.

However, an unusual smell made him pause again after just a few heartbeats and Salim immediately looked around in all directions. He saw the trees reaching bare into the sky, the bushes whose leaves had been buried under a thick layer of snow and, of course, he could spot the squirrel, which was rushing up a trunk when it noticed the lynx. But that wasn't what made Salim pause. It was the scent of a lynxess that was clearly in his territory. Where it didn't belong at all.

"Excuse me?" A strange voice snapped Salim out of his musings, and he whirled around to the source of the sound. "What are you doing here?"

The lynxess he had just smelled suddenly appeared in front of him. He knew immediately that it was her, because her scent wafted around her like the mist of her warm breath. Salim knew that her calm voice was meant to deceive him, could recognize her tense muscles under her perfectly camouflaged skin. You had to be careful of her, Salim realized immediately.

"What am I doing here?", he asked, frowning slightly. She was on his territory, where she had absolutely no business being and asked him what he was doing here?

"You're on my land. And I don't remember giving you the right to be here." Her light brown eyes flashed dangerously, and Salim would probably have fled if his stubbornness hadn't stopped him.

"This is my territory”, he clarified instead, nodding to emphasize his statement. But the lynxess was not at all satisfied with that. Salim was certain that this was the lynx that had been watching them at the lake and he was ready to kill her if she provoked a fight and put Valja in danger. Thousands of thoughts buzzed through his head, from the techniques of defense and attack to why the lynxess thought this was her territory.

"Look closely", said the lynxess, stepping tensely towards him. "Do you see that bush that's almost covered in snow?" Salim turned his head and could indeed make out the branches of the bush, covered in ice but almost buried under the masses of snow.

"What about it?", he asked, a little confused, but the lynxess had an immediate answer to his question.

Without thinking, she spoke: "My territory begins just before this bush and behind it lies yours and your kitten's territory. But..." She walked up to the plant and drew a straight line with her paw that led directly to Salim. "...your right front paw is on my side of the bush." She gave him a stern look and Salim's eyes widened. That this was happening to him when she was nearby. The fur on the back of his neck bristled and he immediately withdrew his front paw, moving backwards.

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"Thank you", the lynxess said, though it hardly sounded like she was so grateful for him keeping the boundary markers. "I'm not looking for an argument or a fight, but I don't want this to happen again." She fixed him with his eyes, which reflected curiosity as much as distrust. "So you shouldn't try to usurp my territory again if you want your kittens to have a healthy father."

Salim wanted to object that he didn't want her territory when he had his own and this had all been an accident. Besides, only one paw had been on her ground. But when she addressed his two kittens, he swallowed involuntarily. So she hadn't been watching them since the green time, hadn't heard the fight that had killed Akuma.

"Sorry”, he mumbled. "Won't happen again." He nodded goodbye to her and the lynxess looked after him, a little puzzled, as he turned without another word. It was none of her business what her neighbor did, whether his kittens were still alive or had moved away, what they ate and did all day. She had only sought out a territory next to his and claimed it for herself, even if he had no idea why here of all places.

Salim's territory bordered a Baldskin cave cluster and to the south, where the lynxess's final frontier probably lay, these strange creatures had even built two settlements. It was already too much for him with a single cluster of these, but what did he know of lynxesses. Well, maybe more than others, considering he had two female siblings that he had grown up with. Alicia, with whom he had spent several moons, and Valja, who was the only one of the three original siblings to have survived.

Salim trudged back deeper into his own territory, but he couldn't get this tense conversation out of his mind. He knew that lynxesses could be really aggressive. But the fact that she had snapped at him like that after roaming his territory and even watching them by the lake was something he simply didn't understand. He would definitely make that clear to her again, even if he wasn't particularly keen on running into her again.

Although, when he thought about it, it could also be funny to talk to her. This brashness could certainly be used for a few nice little jokes.

But then the lynx shook his head. His imagination was clearly running away with him. He certainly wouldn't dare cross that border again, only to be treated like that once more. Even if he would have enjoyed seeing her dismay when he informed her that he was no longer caring for both kittens, only one. And Valja was already so strong that she could have easily defeated them.

Satisfied, he could see the cave and a panting Valja in front of it, carrying several blackbirds, woodpeckers and sparrows in her mouth.

"First!", she called out to him. "And I was still hunting on the way here! What took you so long?" But she didn't seem particularly interested in his answer, which is why he refrained from answering her.

"No wild boar?", came from him instead in mock disappointment and Valja grinned. She approached him comfortingly and placed two blackbirds and a great spotted woodpecker in front of his paws.

"Lots of tasty birds instead!"