Taming a Naughty Little Leopard (for CleverFox)

[cp 2000]

One bright sunny afternoon, in a rather upscale house in Kensington, George and Jane Davidson sat patiently in their spacious living room, with George rested in his armchair by the fire whilst Jane was sat on the couch, casually reading a book on hybrid culture to see how the author's theories compared to those of hers and her husbands.

You see, the Davidsons were widely considered to by the United Kingdoms foremost experts on hybrids, a sub-species of humans that possessed the traits of various animals, usually manifested in ears on the top of their heads and tails. The couple had studied them for the best part of two decades now, having written a number of books on the culture of hybrids, allowing people to better understand their behavioural patterns and development, as well as seeing as how it differs from that of a humans. For example, one of the most notable discoveries by the Davidsons was how hybrids rear their young, as it was seen that hybrid children responded best to domineering and authoritarian parental figures, usually receiving an upbringing that was dictated by strict regulations and frequent discipline, which usually came in the form of a sound smacked bottom whenever the child acted out of line in even the slightest way.

It was discoveries and theories such as these that made the Davidsons as well known and respected as they were today, with them receiving letters and emails from various organisations and institutions around the world to ask for their advice on certain matters, and in some instances actually asking them to come and teach at a number of local universities.

However, the most interesting request they had ever been sent came from a representative of the National Institution for the Maintenance and Preservation of Hybrids (NYMPH), an organisation based in America that had asked the Davidsons for a very specific, and rather peculiar favour. As it turned out, their headquarters in New England had been caring for an orphaned snow-leopard hybrid girl since the child had been a baby, with their being no record that explains what happened to her parents. However, whilst she was supposed to be quite a good natured young girl, she had acquired a bad habit of finding herself in trouble, due to her naughty and somewhat mischievous nature. As such, due to the NYMPH workers inability to keep the girl well behaved, the state of New England had issued an ultimatum: either the girl is tamed and taught to behave in three months time, or she is moved to a more secure facility designed specifically for 'wild' hybrids.

With the organisation having exhausted most attempts to teach the child how to behave, they had finally decided to contact the Davidsons for help, asking the couple if they could take the girl into their home for her three months, to see if they could succeed where NYMPH had failed and hopefully tame the child in the allotted time. After thinking it over, the Davidsons eventually responded back, agreeing to the terms and requesting for the snow leopard girl to be sent to London in one weeks time, which they saw as enough time to prepare for her arrival. This preparation involved setting up a room for the girl to stay in, buying some clothes and toys for her, as well as brushing up on all literature available on hybrid children, just to make sure that there was nothing they missed in their approach.

Finally, the big day came, with the Davidsons sat comfortably in their living room, happily awaiting the arrival of the little leopard hybrid.

[CleverFox]

Living in the type of facility that she had been taken to after being orphaned as a very young cub wasn't ideal simply for the fact that there were so many little ones to care for that the staff couldn't give the child the type of individual attention that all hybrids needed. The cubs needed structure, they needed discipline and over all they needed a parent or parental figure that could dedicate the time and effort that it took to raise them. Hybrid parents knew what it took and that it was a lot of effort and while the humans in whose care she had been entrusted knew the basics that didn't mean that they were equipped to carry them out.

Which was inevitably what led little Elsa to being the independent and willful little thing that she became.

All in all the child had a sweet disposition, at least when she was getting what she wanted, but because she had lacked that structure early in life she had decided that she rather liked doing things her own way. So when the workers attempted to get her to cooperate with them that usually ended up with a tantrum on the part of the little snow leopard girl.

And because the humans weren't equipped to deal with her that usually resulted in her getting her way, which in turn taught her that being naughty worked.

Which was just not a good lesson to teach hybrid children.

Things were changing for little Elsa however and the eight year old, who was petite and small for her age, was taken away from the home that she had known since she was a tiny cub and transported to a completely different country. She had to have a medical evaluation for that, which had included shots that had made the girl really cranky, and then she had to spend some time in customs upon her arrival to make sure that she was healthy. After she got a clean bill of health it was time to transport her to her new home and the man that was left in charge of that put a harness on the girl and then attached a leash to the back of that just so that she couldn't run off.

It didn't take long to arrive at the Davidsons' house and once they reached their destination Liam knocked on the door and then waited, looking at the little hybrid as she tugged on the leash. "Elsa behave," he told her as he gave the leash a little tug, that getting a hiss from the girl, who wanted to explore.

[cp 2000]

Hearing the knocks at the door, the Davidsons looked at each other and smiled, with Jane getting up from her seat on the couch and walking over to the front door, opening it up and happily greeting the representative of NYMPH. "Hello" she said happily, shaking the mans hand as she spoke, "it's so nice to finally have you here, me and George have been looking forward to this all week".

After that, she turned her attention to the little snow leopard girl by the mans side, with Jane's face lighting up with joy as she did, as the child was even cuter in person. Despite being eight years old, she looked rather small for her age, with Jane having guessed that the child was six if she did no know her age beforehand. Additionally, she had shoulder-length snow-white hair, with a pair of tufted speckled white matching leopard ears perched on the top of her head, twitching every so often as she stood on the Davidsons doorstep, looking up at the woman with her ice-blue eyes. Adding to her already established cuteness was that she was dressed in a pair of pink denim short-tails with a white t-shirt underneath, standing there in front of Jane in her cute little outfit as he tail swished idly behind her.

"Well" she said, kneeling down to come face level with the cub and giving her a kind smile, "you must be Elsa, my name's Jane, and me and my husband George are going to be looking after you for the next three months". Once she said that, she looked up at the man accompanying the cub and gave him a nod, signalling for him to release the girls harness as she had hold of her shoulders, both as a comforting gesture, and to ensure that she didn't attempt to run off.

[CleverFox]

It didn't take long after their arrival for the door of the house to open and both Liam and Elsa looked at the couple as they came out to greet them. The little leopard girl's blue eyes focused on first the woman and then the man as she was spoken to, the little one fidgeting somewhat with the harness that she was wearing as she looked up at the couple and more or less just tried to figure them out.

They were new to her after all and like all hybrid children, and really all children in general, she was curious about them.

So the little one just stared up at them for a few minutes but then Liam gave her a little nudge before releasing the harness that the child was wearing. "Well, I'll leave her in your capable hands," the young man said before turning and walking off since he had fulfilled his duties and delivered the little leopard to the couple who were going to be in charge of taking care of her for the next three months.

Elsa looked back at her caretaker as he left and then she looked up at the woman who had just introduced herself and her husband. "Mhm, I'm Elsa," the little one confirmed with a nod of her head. "An' I'm happy to be here...so long as I get to do what I wanna do." That was the independent side of the girl coming out, the little one seeking to establish her own dominance over this situation even though in her culture it was the adults that were dominant and the children that were meant to be submissive.

That was a lesson that her previous caretakers had failed to teach her so now Jane and George were going to have to deal with that.

[cp 2000]

Once the girls harness was released, George came to the door to greet their two visitors along with his wife, shaking Liam's hand in greeting before waving goodbye as he walked back to his rental car, and drove off down the street. Left alone with the little hybrid girl, both the Davidsons smiled down kindly at her, as she really was quite a little cutie. When she greeted them and said she was happy to be here as long as she got to do what they wanted, the Davidsons looked at each other knowingly, as they had been warned of Elsa's behaviour beforehand by the NYMPH representatives.

"Why don't you come inside kitten?" Jane said, taking the leopard girls hand in her as she led the child into their home, with George closing the door behind them as they did, "I think we'd better have a little chat about what it's going to mean for you to live here". Following his wife as she guided the little hybrid girl into the living room, George took his seat in his armchair as Jane guided the small child over to the couch, sitting down on it and lifting the girl up to sit in her lap, as she knew that hybrids responded well to physical contact.

"Now" she said, taking the girls hands in hers, "I want you to know that me and George are very happy to have you living here with us, but there are going to be some rules that we would like you to follow". She briefly looked at George, who gave her a small nod, before turning her attention back to Elsa. "So" she continued, "from now on, I want you to be a good girl and do what ever me and George tells you to do, and if you want to do something, you must ask permission from us first".

[CleverFox]

When the man that had brought her here announced that he was leaving Elsa turned and watched as he walked away, not really afraid to be left with strangers since her caretakers had changed a lot in her life. So she just watched him go and then turned her attention back to the couple that had agreed to take her in now that her other caretakers were at a loss as to what to do with her. The little snow leopard girl looked up at them and made her announcement, her ears flicking slightly as she looked back and forth between the couple.

As though she were sizing them up.

Elsa's gaze shifted back to the woman when she said that Elsa should come inside, the little one looking down at her hand as the woman took it in her own. She followed along willingly enough, curious about this new place and what sort of things that it might have inside. As such she gazed around curiously as they walked into the house and then to the living room though her attention was grabbed when the woman said that they should have a chat and then Elsa found herself sitting on the woman's lap.

Her ice blue eyes shifted up to the woman and she sort of stared at her as Jane took her hands into the woman's own. The little one's blue eyes focused on the woman and her ears flicked forward and then back when the woman announced that there were going to be rules that she had to follow. That was not something that she wanted to hear, the little one's tail flicking from side to side in the same manner as an agitated cat.

"Don' like rules," the little one felt the need to say with a little pout. "Wanna do what I wanna do."