Tentatively, the lynx let his tongue glide over the small bodies of the kittens. They were still asleep, even though the sun had already dawned. And Salim didn't want to leave them alone, for he still had the feeling that without his warmth, the kittens could slip so quickly to their deaths. They were just so fragile, so quiet and peaceful and their breaths too timid. No, he couldn't leave them alone, even if the three of them would need milk as soon as possible.

The lynx racked his brains as to how he could nurse the little ones, but he simply couldn't think of a solution. Perhaps their mother still had something in her womb that could satisfy their hunger, but he didn't know if that would work. After all, she was dead. Even if Salim knew that she would never have died voluntarily and left her kittens behind. Surely she would have wanted them to survive. Salim sent a silent prayer to the heavens and hoped that his wish to give the kittens some milk would be granted.

A soft noise brought him back into his den, where they were fortunately safe from the pelting rain outside. The lynx looked at his kittens, who had woken up by now and were carefully moving their body parts. They had not yet opened their little eyes and Salim feared that this would take a while yet. He swallowed and licked the little ones soothingly over their fur.

He wondered, since he would now be playing their father, whether he should finally give them a name. The death ritual for their pretty and presumably now wet mother was still pending, but perhaps he should announce the birth wish now. Every lynx kitten, no matter where it came from, went through this kind of oath and so it should be with these ones too.

Salim took a deep breath and countless thoughts whirled through his head. It was the first time he had been given the honor of doing the birth wish, but the little ones had no one else but him.

The lynx let his eyes roam over the kitten that would be first in line. Its fur, which was a mixture of all shades of brown, was so clear and distinct from the gray belly fur that it looked beautiful. It was a little lynx, Salim realized and had to smile involuntarily. This kitten would one day have a magnificent coat and would certainly have many lynxesses raving about it.

A wave of pride filled Salim before he quietly began to speak, "Go out into the world and find yourself a lynxess that loves and honors you. Find someone you can start a family with." Salim was not displeased with his wish and nudged his new son's forehead with his muzzle. "Let's call you Miles."

Then the lynx turned to the second cub, whose fur was all gray. Apparently, one of the cubs' parents had to have a pronounced grey color in their fur. Salim suspected that it was the father.

He bent down to the second lynx and touched it on the forehead as he spoke, "Find your warm heart and use it for things you think are right." He gave the little one a quick lick on the back while he searched for a suitable name. "From now on, you'll be called Akuma."

Finally, the new father turned his attention to the last kitten. It had been the only lynxess of the trio and the one that had survived the rain alone with its dead mother. The one that had been on the brink of death and that he had only been able to save at the last moment. Hee also tapped the lynxess on the forehead.

"Be resilient and master your life with your assertiveness." He looked briefly at the still fluffy kitten. "Your name will be Valja."

Then Salim straightened up and looked down at his kittens, feeling a little proud. He was sure that they would soon be strong lynxes who would find it easy to hunt and fight.

He smiled briefly and turned his head towards the cave entrance. The rain was still pouring down and there seemed to be no end in sight. The ground, as Salim could see from here, was wet and slippery, as well as muddy. The lynx was visibly dreading the mere idea of going outside, and he just shook himself as if he had already gotten wet. Fortunately, it was dry in his cave and provided the protection he needed to shelter the kittens undetected. Because there were plenty of predators who would have loved to kill and eat them. The only problem in this case was that the little ones would have nothing to eat and would starve to death.

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The plaintive mewing of the three reached his ears, almost drowning out the rain pattering on the leaves of the trees and bushes. Salim swallowed. He urgently needed to do something. And the weather was so dreadfully cold and wet that it shook him to the core.

But he swallowed his disgust. Three lives were more important than a wet and muddy coat that would take days to get clean again. Quickly, before he could change his mind, he made a decision. He would take the kittens to their mother so that they would at least get a few drops of milk to drink. It was certainly not one of the healthiest actions he had ever undertaken, but he hardly had any other choice. Before the mother got the honor of the death ritual, she had to be there for her kittens one more time. Just once, and he prayed that this would not have any negative effects on the three of them.

This time he took the most robust of the kittens, now named Valja, with him first. It was not to be left alone again. And Akuma, he carefully picked him up by the scruff of his neck to take him away with Valja. He could just about carry two small lynxes without them or him hurting themselves. But the third, Miles, he had to leave in his den for better or worse.

He lifted the chosen kittens out of the moss heap and set them down on the ice-cold stone floor. Immediately there was a whining mewl, but Salim first had to devote himself to the one left behind. He dug it deep into the sleeping material to cover its smell and body. No one should find him, no one should ever find the little one and do who knows what to him.

"Take care," the lynx whispered to his new son before turning to the complaining siblings, releasing them from the cold and lifting them up. The grumbling stopped immediately, but the nervous concerns about leaving the cave did not disappear. If the lynx was honest with himself, they only increased with the silence, which was only broken by the rain.

But he couldn't be held back for long, because the sooner Valja and Akuma were fed, the sooner he would be back here with Miles.

Salim set his paws in motion and stepped out of the cave. The water from the raindrops immediately hit his pelt, and the kittens didn't seem too thrilled about the surprise cooling either. His pads sank into the muddy ground, even when he tried to step on the sparse dry patches. Unfortunately, everything was wet and his hoped-for success turned out to be almost impossible.

The lynx got faster and faster, while the kittens kept hitting his legs and shouting indignantly. But he didn't let that stop him, because the rain didn't let up. Freezing cold, it ran down his body and clotted his legs with plenty of earth, which didn't make running any easier or more pleasant. The wind howled in his face and ruffled his fur into an impenetrable tangle of hair that not even the water could loosen.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Salim spotted the hazelnut bush, jumped through it to the other side and saw the soaked mother lying in front of him. Her smell didn't bode well, but the lynx tried to shut his nose. Perhaps it wasn't very wise to let this kitten drink from a cadaver, but he had no choice. Nothing was going to stop him, because his kittens, even if they were hers, were waiting to finally be fed. And he was only too happy to grant them this wish.