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Little spots

Vitaly hadn't expected this.

Circus Zaragoza was a famous performing show that traveled and was known all through Europe. It was traditional, it was daring and it was brighter than all the others. This was because the animals were so inspired by each other, and though his slight modesty would not allow him to say it out loud, he inspired them as well.

He was happy for that.

And he shouldn't really be surprised. Not all tigers could jump through a hoop the size of a human's smallest finger for it was impossible.

And that's why people loved it.

Vitaly told himself that he was ready for any challenge and any trial for he knew he would overcome it if he tried hard enough. But this...

He sighed deeply, glancing to the side were the tiny jaguar cub was playing with a ball of yarn. Not this...

Gia was her name, a tiny jaguar cub just brought into the circus by the Ringmaster, her destiny to become a brilliant gymnast on the trapeze when she was older.

But for now, she was with him.

Vitaly had no idea why they thought that he could keep an eye on her and become somewhat of her mentor...he truly had no idea how to look after cubs. He was a circus animal, not a father.

But whether this fact remained, Gia was still playing on the floor of his train cart, oblivious to the fact that he was there. He sighed.

It didn't help that she was slightly afraid of him; A giant striped cat that in no way resembled her parents or any family she may have had beforehand. As he glanced around the warmly lit cart, across the photos and trophies (oh which surrounded his set of throwing knifes) he wondered if people ever got the same kind of rewards for raising cubs.

Nyet. Probably not.

His thoughts were disrupted when he felt something tug at his tail. Frowning, he looked down to find the baby jaguar in question was standing by his foot, looking curiously up at the larger cat with raw curiosity.

"Uh..nyet, you don't do that-" Suddenly she pulled hard, and the tiger accidentally growled in response to the pain. Gia jumped back, lip trembling and eyes wide. She looked immensely frightened by his response and stumbled back on her side, wailing softly.

Vitaly's eyes widened in panic and he drew nearer. "Now, now...Don't cry, Little Spots..." He gently scooped her off of the ground, positioning her as carefully as possible in the crook of one arm (she was so tiny it really onto took one hand to hold her...)

She brought her paws up to hide her face, sniffing a little as she shrank back. Vitaly felt a pang of guilt for causing such fright in someone so innocent even if it were unintentional.

"There, there." He said quietly, stoking her small head gently. "There is no feed for fear..."

Gia moved her hands away and sniffed again, tears still brimming. Vitaly pondered on what to do when an idea came to him. Smiling, he moved his paw towards her ear and, to her great astonishment, pulled one of the rings he used out from behind it, twirling it in front of her large eyes. She smiled, laughing jubilantly as she clapped her hands. Then, Vitaly reached behind her other ear and pulled out her ball of yarn, to which she squealed happily and hugged, rubbing her cheek against the softness of the ball.

He laughed quietly "There, you see? all smiles." She smiled up at him, raising a paw tp pat his cheek, babbling incoherently in her own little language. Vitaly smiled, returning this action by patting her head.

"You are good cub, Little spots..."

She gurgled happily and snuggled down in his arm, yawning softly as she cuddled her ball of yarn to her tiny chest. Vitaly chuckled, shaking his head a little.

Maybe it wasn't as difficult as he thought.

They had always been close while she was growing up. Whenever she trained on her trapeze, Vitaly made sure he was there, promising to catch her should she fall away from the net. He made sure she was comforted during storms and the bad times, and Gia knew she could always look to the tiger for help, even after he met his wife, whom she did not share the same kind of relationship with.

Vitaly was almost her father.

She was inspired by his near impossible feats, his leaps through tiny rings and his determination and skill. Gia came to love the circus and its ways, and to her, Vitaly and the rest of the animals, it meant everything to them.

But then the incident happened.

Vitaly pushed too far. After loosing his fur in the fire, he became distant; From all of them. Even Gia, who watched it all happen will sorrowful, silent brown eyes. But that changed when a certain glossy-haired lion appeared out of the blue.

Vitaly had despised the lion, especially that he was introducing new things they were not used to. But then Gia and Stefano came to him, he couldn't help but listen.

"You know our circus is in trouble." She said as she approached, eyes pleading and voice deep "This could be our last chance, but we will not do it without you."

Vitaly tried to look away from her brown, hopeful eyes, her pleading, beaming smile that reminded him of the days when she was a child. But he could not deny her this one thing.

He sighed and dropped his tightly folded arms, allowing a smile to form.

"Alright. I do one hoop."

She jumped up, laughing in sheer and utter joy and embraced him, an action that he returned with equal joy after becoming so distant to her.

Maybe things would turn out better. And even if it did not, at least he'd done something that made his daughter happy. So, as he swirled his 'Little Spots' and Stefano around, he allowed himself to laugh again.

...I thought this was a sweet idea.

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