Tiger's Blood

The scent of wet grass and blood wafts into my nose as I pad along the path. I follow the stench all the way to a cave far away from my home. My nose is so stuffed up with snow that I can’t tell if this is prey or if someone is hurt. A distant female scream pricks my ears up. I pick up the pace and the screaming turns to shrieking cries. I howl loudly to alarm the person that I am near. “Noah! Help me!” She echoes out to me. I look around deeply for her through the dense fog. I step in a pool of dark red blood and follow the trail to a fragile female body. She drips with blood down her legs and thighs and holds something close to her that I could barely see what it was.

“Noah, wake up,” a voice from the sky calls out to me. I flutter my eyes open and see Kira sitting next to me on the couch. I stretch my arms up above my head and yawn. “Hey,” I say faintly. “Get up, we are heading out soon,” she taps my leg and stands up. “We just got here last night, why are we leaving already?” I ask. “Chase told me that the Lions will be on the hunt for us and it’s best for us to keep moving. If we stay in one place then it will be easier for them to track us down,” she explains. I nod and sit up to face her.

“Where are Chase and Ethan?”

“Out hunting, they wanted to catch some more food before we left.”

“Can we talk then?”

“About what?”

I hesitate before I answer. “About us. I know you like Ethan and I respect that. I love what you are willing to do to change our world and that’s fantastic. I just hoped that it would be just you and I together, then Ethan and Chase came along and I feel like we are starting to grow apart from each other. I just wanted to ask if there was anything I could do to help our relationship as friends or if I can be of any assistance with you and Ethan,” I say. She smiles, then starts to laugh loudly. This was supposed to be serious, not funny. She sits down and looks me in the eyes.

“Noah, I like Ethan but I’ll always care about you. I wish you had come to me sooner if you thought we were growing apart. I actually thought that we were getting closer. Sure it gets frustrating with the war going on and meeting new Bloods, but I’ll always need you. If you want to help me, then stay beside me and fight with me against this war. I know you and Ethan don’t like each other, but Ethan is a big part in this just like you and I. We can’t fight this war alone, that’s why we need more Bloods on our side. I know you will be there for me because you are such a great friend. If you want then we can go hunting together or do something where we can talk privately and have fun, just the two of us,” she says.

I hold her hand and she blushes. “I would love that. Just make sure Ethan won’t be suspicious about it,” I say. “I will, he needs to understand that he’s not the only person in my life and that I need my alone time,” she winks at me. I stand up and hold my arms out to her. She comes in for a hug and holds me tightly. She gives a quick peck on my cheek then backs away. “Now let’s beat those stupid Lions for our friendship,” she smiles. “For friendship,” I giggle. I’ll take being friends as long as I’m with Kira. I’ll protect her and care for her as if she is mine even if she is Ethan’s now.

Moments later, Chase and Ethan come back from hunting. “You ready to go you two?” Chase asks. Kira and I nod and we leave the house and start walking in the deep snow. We travel for a few hours before stopping to rest. Kira and Chase start clearing away the snow so we can build a fire. Kira and I gather wood for the fire while Chase and Ethan build shelter for the four of us. I start the fire and rub my hands together for warmth. Kira walks over and sits next to me. I watch as she drifts off looking into the flames. Chase starts cooking two mice on a stick and I look over at Ethan and he drops his portion of prey on the floor.

“This is all we got today. I would have gotten more if Chase hadn’t been so picky on what we hunt. I saw plenty of small birds and their eggs to eat,” Ethan says. “I’m sorry, but I would rather not eat my own Blood. You can subtract birds from your diet. It won’t kill you not to eat the birds,” Chase laughs. “I understand where you come from Chase, but those tiny birds like hummingbirds and robins aren’t Bloods like us. They are just regular animals. So why can’t we eat them?” Ethan asks him.

“It still feels wrong eating another bird to me whether they are Bloods or not. You wouldn’t eat Kira would you? Both of you are large cats. You wouldn’t hunt the little stray cats that roam around Bitotem would you?” Chase points out.

Ethan starts laughing “No, I wouldn’t hunt the strays, and no I wouldn’t eat Kira. Eating the animals are completely different than eating other Bloods. We are normal creatures and they are just animals. We are more advanced than they are. It’s not like we can just stop eating the animals. If we stop eating them what are we going to eat?”

“Yeah Chase, every animal and Blood eat different things and that’s fine. Bugs eat the grass, birds and fish eat the bugs, and Bloods eat almost everything. It’s just one big circle at the end of the day. We can’t survive without the other insects and animals,” I say.

“Yeah and what do you mean Ethan would eat me? If anything the Tiger eats the Lion first. I would eat all of you in one day if I was a normal animal. Chase for breakfast, Noah for lunch, and then Ethan for my big fat dinner,” Kira laughs. “Wouldn’t it be weird if we were normal animals?” I ask. “Yeah, I’m glad we are Bloods,” Ethan replies.

“Isn’t weird how all four of us are different Bloods, but we get along so well?” Kira says.

“I like it actually; the four of us are unique in our own ways, but we all can get along and have similar ideas on a subject like what we are talking about now,” Chase says. “I like that too. I’ve always had problems with the other Lion Bloods in the Kingdom. They just don’t understand me or got along with me, and they are the same Blood as me! I always knew I was different, but thankfully Kira showed me that I wasn’t alone,” Ethan looks over towards Kira and Kira smiles back at him.

“I wonder what it would be like to have another Kira, you know another Tiger,” Chase says.

“Why do you need another me? Aren’t I good enough?” Kira teases.

“You are actually better than good enough. You are a wonderful and mysterious creature. You are very smart and strong and brave and beautiful. I see now why you are the only Tiger Blood in Bitotem, because you are the most unique person I’ve ever met. Even if we find another Tiger, hell if we find a hundred other Tiger Bloods they wouldn’t compare to someone like you. Nobody compares to you Kira,” I say. Kira blushes and Ethan rolls his eyes.

“Yes Kira is amazing and very special we got that Noah, but because she is the last Tiger Blood, she will always be in danger of something. Lions, other Bloods, even probably the weak Bloods are begging for her to protect them. I say we keep her away from all of that and make sure we protect her from going extinct,” Ethan says.

“Extinct? Why do you say that? You do realize that Bloods can’t really go extinct Ethan. Our Bloods are our personalities. A baby somewhere far away from here has the same chance to have a personality of a Tiger or the personality of a Snake or a Fox. Just because I’m a Tiger Blood doesn’t mean you should treat me any differently than anyone else. Yes, our Bloods are our personalities, and yes, maybe my personality is unique from others but we are all Bloods. It doesn’t matter what Blood we are, what matters is that we are all the same and we need to work together to survive,” Kira says.

I look over at Chase and he starts clapping loudly. “And the best speech of the day award goes to Kira! What are you going to do next on your journey?” Chase asks. I laugh and clap along with him jokingly. “Thank you so much for this award. I think what I’m going to do next Chase is relax and take a stroll in our glorious world of Bitotem, maybe befriend a Blood or two, and finally kill Jett and take down the Lion’s Kingdom,” Kira laughs. We all giggle except for Ethan who just frowns at the ground.

“You ok?” I tap his arm. He just scowls at me and looks away. Jett is his brother. I don’t think he likes thinking about killing his brother. I mean he killed his own father just a few weeks ago. I just wonder why he hasn’t told Kira that he is related to King Jett and the late King Andrew. Maybe he’s scared that Kira might not like him anymore or that Kira might try to kill him if he told her. I wouldn’t tell her either if I was in that situation. That would be awkward. That’s why I’m not going to tell her. That’s Ethan’s privacy and I will be a good friend and let him tell Kira when the time is right.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m getting really sleepy,” Kira yawns. “So am I,” Chase says. “Let’s rest then. Who want’s to take the first night duty?” I ask. “I will. I’m not tired,” Ethan replies. “Alright sounds good. Goodnight everybody,” Kira says sleepily before passing out five minutes later. Chase falls asleep quickly after Kira, which leaves Ethan and I in awkward silence. Snowflakes fell lightly on my head. I move my fingers through my black hair and shake my head to get the flakes out. I then look over to Ethan.

He looks up at the dark grey sky and breathes softly. “Are you ok Ethan? Do you have anything you want to talk about?” I ask politely. “Yeah I’m good. I just feel like we are moving too quickly on all of this. I don’t want to go back to the Kingdom right away. I don’t want to kill Jett, and I especially don’t want Kira to get hurt or killed. Why do you even care about my well being?” He gives me a mean glare.

“Because I consider you somewhat of a friend. Kira cares about you alot; I care about Kira, so I believe that I should care about the things or people that she cares about as well. It’s bigger than that though. Even though I know we don’t have the best connection between us doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a connection,” I say. Ethan smirks, “I know you’re not a bad person Noah. I just don’t like that you might be better for Kira than I am. I don’t know what she sees in me and I have no idea what I could give her. If I could, I would give her the world and take her up to the highest point in the sky where she belongs,” he says. I politely smile at him.

“Get some rest Noah. You deserve it,” he says. I nod, and I instantly shut my eyes.

I wake up after three hours of sleep to the sound of a loud thundering noise. I look over to Ethan and he’s snoring lightly. So much for night duty. The loud snarl alarms me and I carefully look around and listen. I look at Kira and she is sleeping softly. If Kira’s not the one making that sound then who is? The loud roaring sound echoes through the dark green forest. A little bit of sunlight shines down in the forest. I look up to a tall dark tree with long branches and twigs that stick out to look like a hand. Another loud roar emerges from the distance. The tree shakes slowly left and right as if it was waving to me.

The trees shake violently and the ground below me shakes slightly. Chase sleeps silently and motionless against a mossy log covered in snow. How are they not hearing that loud roar? It’s literally shaking the ground. Crisp brown leaves fall swiftly around me covering the wet grass. There’s only one Blood I know who makes that thundering roaring noise, and that’s a Tiger Blood.