Ashleigh Foreman

The sun hangs low in the sky as Ashleigh takes a turn onto one of the back roads leading to the rear of Atroe City Zoo. She's already called ahead. After several confused conversations and two forwards to different people, the off-duty cop is able to secure a place for Minca. "You found a what," the initial spokesperson for the zoo had exclaimed when Ashleigh fervently conveyed her story. A weird, interesting day for the girl who had just gone out on a hike with her dog. Pulling the car into park, Ashleigh kills the engine and gazes over at the fluffball in her passenger seat. "Well, baby, welcome to your new home," she murmurs, reaching over to procure the cat in her arms. Stepping out of the car, Ashleigh starts to head towards the door of the zoo's veterinarian station.

Minca

Minca woke up now as she was picked up. It took her a few moments of blinking to realize she was in a new strange place and started crying.

*Veterinarian*

A bright face flashes away from a small window along the office's wall, and before Ashleigh even makes it to the building, the heavy metal door before her is yawning open. Out steps a younger looking woman with jet-black hair pulled neatly into a short ponytail, pale rounded cheeks, and dark eyes that feature a distinctively Asian contour. She doesn't have time to greet the other with a smile, but instead moves immediately to inspect the bundle of fur that the officer is carrying.

"I was told you found this one in the mountains?" Was her first words as she gives Minca a quick, visual once-over. "It's young." With a frown, she waves a hand and beckons Ashleigh into the office, ",b>Bring here in here. How exactly did you come across her?"

Ashleigh Foreman

A frown ebbs at Ashleigh's lips as she glances down at the crying bunch of fur. She halts for a second before the veterinarian emerges from the building, the woman now heading forward. ",b>It's okay, baby," she murmurs gently to the kit, one hand absent-mindedly scratching Minca's shoulder. Brown eyes meet the veterinarian's gaze, a formidable smile crossing her face in greeting. "Well, she tried to make a meal out of my dog first," Ashleigh explains with a singular chuckle. Her eyes fall back down to the struggling kit as she steps into the office, recalling the events of earlier in the day. "We tracked her back to her dead mother. She's been alone for a while, I presume."

Minca

The young cub hisses when a different person approachs and lashs out with a paw as the other moves closer to them.

*Veterinarian*

The woman motioned Ashleigh towards a table along the far side of the room while she scavenges a drawer for a pair of elbow-length leather gloves. "Ooh, poor sweet. If you wouldn't mind giving us a general location, so we can recover the body?" She turned back around now, gloves donned and a sympathetic expression creasing her face. And though the chuckle told her that Ashleigh's dog was likely okay, the tech asked anyway, "Is your dog okay?"

She moved towards the table now, and reached for Minca despite the hiss of warning and the swiping claw. Well versed in dealing with various critters, this woman had been wise in grabbing the protective gloves, which would stop even the cub's fierce claws. "I know sweet, this is all very scary for you. But we do need to get your weight." So saying, she aimed to lift the cub away from Ashleigh and set her in a nearby tub.

Ashleigh Foreman

Following the veterinarian to the table, Ashleigh frowns at the struggling kit. She hushes the kitten, glancing back at the vet. "I can mark it on a map, it's a ways up one of the southern trail heads," Ashleigh responds positively. To the latter question, she responds, "Oh, he's more than fine. He's dealt with worse than a hungry kitten." By now Ashleigh stands off to the side, watching as the vet tends to Minca. Her heart goes out to the confused animal, wishing it didn't have to be this way. But now that Minca was orphaned, this was her best shot at life.

Minca

Minca continued struggling and hissing not understanding a word they were saying or what the thing was that they put her on.

*Veterinarian*

"Thank you, that would be helpful." The vet grabbed the cub firmly by the scruff with one hand, and use the other to gently support the youngster's rump as she transferred her from the table to the large weighing tub. Minca's continued thrashing made it difficult to get a proper reading though, so the tech nodded to a cabinet, "Second drawer down - could you grab me a towel from there? Covering her eyes might help calm her." Her hands hovered cautiously over the top of the tub to combat any attempts Minca made to escape her temporary confinement.

Ashleigh Foreman

The woman watches from a distance as the little cub struggles and the vet works hard to subdue the wild cat. Already she's retracing the forks in the hiking trail to remember where exactly they'd encountered Minca. Just past the bench with the trail map. She flinches slightly from her drowned-out thoughts to the vet's command, nodding as she fishes through the cabinets and procures a towel. She leans forward to hand the towel to the woman. "Here," she says.

Minca

She hisses as she struggles to get fre from this box like thing holding her on what ever it was. But soon there was a towel over her eyes and after a few seconds she is fairly calm. Still calling for her deceased mother but still

*Veterinarian*

"Thank you." The woman smiles distractedly, still struggling with the confused and rightly panicked wild kitten. The towel is quickly draped over the youngster, and as the vet had hoped, she calms down enough for the scale to take a proper reading. Murmuring the number out loud to better memorize it until she can properly write it down, the vet's next task is grabbing the cub by the scruff again - keeping the towel draped over her - and moving her to an exam table, where she proceeds to draw blood and check for any sort of injury or condition that might need immediate treatment. "I'll get him... oh, nope - her, squared away in a holding pen after this. If you don't mind waiting a few more minutes, then I could print a map of the trails and you could mark that for me?" Being quite the multitasker, the experienced vet continued with the examination and testing as she spoke with Ashleigh. "For finding her, I think it only right that you help pick out her name. Whether we keep her here or later release her, we'll need a name for the records."

Ashleigh Foreman

Ashleigh watches the hurried movements of the vet with tilted eyebrows, murmuring a simple, "Absolutely," as she patiently stands on the opposite side of the exam table. There's a part of her that wants to reach out to Minca, but the young woman decides against it. She's already intruded so much into this wild creature's life, and Ashleigh had been raised to leave minimal imprints. She frowns at the mewling, glancing at her feet. Poor thing. Her attention is pulled back as the vet makes her proposal, the woman smiling with a laugh. "Oh...uh..." She stumbles, taking a moment to gaze into the snow leopard's soft eyes. Despite herself, Ashleigh reaches forward to gently run her fingers along the kit's head. "She looks like a Minca." Ashleigh glances at the vet with raised eyebrows, non-verbally seeking the vet's approval of the kit's moniker.

Minca

Minca kept crying but her struggling was minimal due to the towel over her head. Her tail which was pretty long lashed side to side showing her agitation as she poked and prodded and then she hissed when a needle was put into her leg. If she hadn't had a towel over herh ead she'd of bitten the vet but as it were she couldn't see.

*Veterinarian*

The liveliness of the kit, distressing as it was for Minca, was a good sign in the woman's eyes. "I'm not finding any obvious injuries on her, so that's good..." Her comment trailed into obscurity as she had the delicate task of trying very briefly to palpate the cub's stomach, without getting bitten or caught by the claws. "...she's also quite feisty, so you really did stumble across her in good time. We'll have to wait on the blood lab to see for illness, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic about her chances." The vet finally stopped poking and prodding at the poor kit and let her rest on the examine table, albeit with a gloved hand firmly clasps around around her scruff.

Her eyes flashed to Ashleigh and crinkled slightly with a smile when the name was suggested. "Minca. How about that?" The woman looked down at the kit, whose nose was peeking out from the towel that draped over most of her small body. "Well Minca, lets let you rest while I figure out where to go with you. Can you hand me that carrier there? We'll get her settled in there, and I'll meet you out in the main lobby with a map." The vet nodded to one of several small animal carriers stacked along the far wall.

Ashleigh Foreman

A vague smile plays on Ashleigh's lips as she gently runs her hand across Minca's fur once more before taking a step away from the table. She nods hopefully at the vet, listening to her rattle off about the cub. Ashleigh quickly assists, obtaining the carrier and setting it up onto the table. "I-I'll be out in the lobby then," Ashleigh states, taking a few slow steps back. Her eyes remain fixated on the cub for a moment more, absorbing the encounter with the little animal. A rarity. Ashleigh smiles, turning away. Under her breath, she murmurs, "Good-bye, little Minca."

Minca

Mina didn't understand any of this. Where was her mother? Why was she alone? She hissed as she was held on the table and then soon put into a small carrier. She lunged when the gate was closed to only meet a door ad then just settle in the far back of it and started crying.

*Veterinarian*

"Thank you." The vet tech expressed her gratitude with sincerity, for Ashleigh had made things a bit easier on the woman who had her hands full of a feisty little orphan cub. With one quick motion, she opened the gate, lifted Minca inside, and hastily released the youngster's scruff and withdrew her arm, leaving the towel behind as she snapped the latch closed. The cub expressed her own gratitude by hissing and lunging at the door, bewildered and stressed by the whole situation. "It's okay sweet, we'll get you settled in soon." Her hands now free, the woman crossed the room to grab another towel, this time to drape over the carrier to make Minca feel more secure. "I'll be right back, and we'll get you some food."

Leaving the cub for just a few moments, the veterinarian grabbed a quick printout of the local trails, then headed out into the main lobby to meet with Ashleigh again, to pinpoint the location of Minca's mother.