Sunrise

"Mama, why does the sun rise?"

When Cuore was first born, something about the sunrise had always fascinated him. His mother had often joked in exasperation that he had never missed one as a cub, somehow always knowing it was time for the sun to rise and waking up so he could see it.

"Well, the sun is a gift. One of the first leopards was gifted with great power, and when her brother sacrificed his life to save their colony, she tossed his soul to the sky to become the sun, as a gift for all he'd done. However, her other brother grew hateful of the love directed at his brother, and decided that he would tear the sun down from the sky. This made his sister weep as she was forced to toss her other brother's soul to the sky to keep him from trying to destroy the sun. He was formed into the moon, and the sister, exhausted from all the magic she'd used and grief-stricken, ultimately died. As a final gift for all she'd done, the universe made her the very first star.

"This began the cycle of day and night, for though they were among the sky, this did not stop the moon from trying to destroy the sun. They chased each other around the sky, with the first star sticking by the moon, holding him back to ensure he could never catch up to the sun. That, my dear Cuore, is why the sun rises, for if he doesn't, the moon may catch him."

Cuore titled his head, staring up at the sky and the rising sun once again. "But what about for lions?"

"Hm?" The question seemed to catch his mother off guard.

"Well, you're a lion, Mama, and I'm a lion. Why are they leopards and not lions?" Little Cuore actually looked offended as he looked back at his mom, presumably upset by the fact that there was nothing in his mother's story about lions. "Haven't lions done anything?"

His mother paused for a moment, before finally shaking her head. "I...I don't know, Cuore. I don't know why it's leopards and not lions; that's just how the story goes. Maybe it's because leopards came first, or maybe it's because lions were busy doing something else. I'm sure there's a story involving the lions; there's probably lots of them. But the sun rises because of the leopards. That's how the story goes."