Tiger's Blood

“Ethan!!! Ethan!!” I scream loudly to the sky hoping for a response. “Kira give it up we have been searching for three weeks!” Noah says irritated. I turn and growl deeply at him. Why does he have to be so selfish? I’m really starting to get annoyed with him. I thought I sort of liked him, but now he’s just been complaining lately. “Ethan!” I scream one more time. No response. “Kira, can we rest please?” Noah groans. “Ugh fine, let’s stop here,” I say. We stop in the middle of the forest and Noah sits down and falls asleep almost instantly.

How are we supposed to find Ethan in the forest when the whole world of Bitotem is made up of forests and lakes? It took me four years to get even somewhat close to the Lion’s Kingdom. Now I meet a Lion who knows the way to the Kingdom and he betrays me and runs off. That stupid traitor. He probably went back to tell someone that he found a Tiger Blood. Maybe they’ll cut my head off and place it in a shiny case as a prize. I try to fall asleep hoping that we will find Ethan soon.

A loud crack of a branch woke me up immediately. I look over to Noah and shake his shoulder. “Noah get up I hear something,” I say. He groans angrily then stands up. “I don’t hear any-“ he stops and stares up at something above me. “Kira…” he starts to say. I stand motionless. “What?” I ask. In a quick moment he stands up, grabs my waist and pulls me down on the ground as I hear a loud crash behind me. “Noah!” I yell angrily before realizing that a tree branch almost fell on me. “Oh…thank you,” I say and he smiles. “No problem little Tiger,” he winks at me. A second later a person crashes down from the tree.

I grab my knife and Noah grabs me and pulls me away. “Let go of me!” I protest. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather not get hit by falling things today. I don’t want you hurt,” he says. I scoff and the person grumbles and stands up. I catch a quick glance of a weapon around his waist and I arm my knife again. He brushes his fingers through his scalp and eyes me. “Kira!” He says excitedly. Ethan? He brushes off some dirt and leaves and waddles over to me. “What were you doing in the tree?” I question him.

“Trying to get some sleep,” he says then smirks. “Guess someone woke up on the wrong side of the branch,” Noah laughs. I glare over at him angrily and he stops laughing. Ethan walks towards me then grabs his leg in pain. “You ok” I ask. He shakes his head and I examine his left leg. “You just have some bad bruising. It’ll heal up soon,” I assure him. He nods at me. “I wouldn’t sleep in trees anymore though,” I smile at him. “Obviously,” He rolls his eyes and smiles back. I notice that he still has that gash in his hand from where I cut him when we met. “Hey I’m sorry for cutting you,” I say looking at the scar. “It’s okay, you were just trying to defend yourself,” he smiles. I smile back and we keep walking.

We walk for about an hour when Noah stops again. “Please Kira, can we take a break?” He says then lies down in the dirt. “We just stopped not too long ago Noah,” I say. Ethan sits down with him and I groan. “Fine,” I say and press my body up against a tree. I move around to get comfortable, when I glare at Ethan and look down at his hip. What is that weapon he has? “Ethan?” He looks over to me. “Yes?” he says. I point down at his waist. “What’s that on your waist?” I ask. “Well I was going to give it to you later, but I guess now is a good time,” he says. He stands up and unsheathes the weapon. The sword glitters in the sunlight. “Whoa…” I stand up breathless. “And this is for me?” I ask him.

“Yup, here try it out,” he says and hands it to me. My arms tremble at the weight of it, but that doesn’t stop me. It will feel lighter the more I use it. I walk up to a small tree and swing the sword violently, breaking the branches as I go. The leaves fly around me as I grunt and strike the defenseless tree. It has a sharp bite, but is it sharp enough for me? Within seconds the tree falls down in front of me. “I think she’s got the hang of it,” Noah chuckles. Ethan laughs along with him then I look to both of them. As I walk back to them, the sword slips in my hands and it cuts me deeply on my left arm.

I wince in pain as my blood drips down my arm and trickles down the silver sword. “Are you ok??” Ethan says and runs towards me. Noah came over and helps me stand up. I chuckle and I pick the sword up and hold it in front of my face. I watch as the blood shed and ripple down the sword, splitting my reflection in half. “Yes I’m ok,” I reply to Ethan. “It hurt you pretty bad huh?” Noah remarks. “She hurt me really bad,” I correct him. “She? Who’s she?” Ethan asks. “Bloodshed, my sword,” I explain. “Hah, that’s a cute name,” Noah laughed. I groan. “It’s not supposed to be cute Noah, it’s supposed to be intimidating,” I snap. “Ah, intimidating just like you,” Noah laughs. I glare at him angrily and he stops laughing. “I like the name, it suits you. Do you like the sword?” Ethan asks.

“I love it,” I say and smile wide at him. Ethan hands me the case. “Here she’s all yours now,” he says and winks. I put Bloodshed in her case and look up to Ethan. How did he randomly come across a weapon like this in the forest? “Where did you get this?” I ask him curiously. He struggles to get the words out of his mouth. “I um killed a Lion Guard who was chasing me and I took it from him,” he stutters then gives me a nervous smile. I look him in the eyes. “Hmm, ok,” I say and I walk past him and scowl. He just lied to me. I can tell by the way he stutters.

After walking for a few hours, we all start getting tired and stop for the night. I put my backpack down and take out my blanket, when one of my books fall out of the backpack. I pick it up and read the title. The Tale of The Two Tribes. I smile and open up the first page. I read the story and think to myself about the Lion Tribe and the Tiger Tribe. This was Lily’s favorite book. She loved how Tullia and Lyall fell in love and had a child together. She loved girly things like that. Although she was only five when she passed and didn’t know much about the world. She was so sweet and innocent. She didn’t know anything about how the real world is like and how crazy the Bloods are here. I’m glad she passed away early, so she wouldn’t have to live in this messed up world.

“Are you ok Kira?” Noah whispers to me. I look up from my book and stare into Noah’s brown eyes. “What?” I say. “Kira you’re crying, are you ok?” he asks. “Oh, yeah, yeah I’m ok,” I say wiping away my tears. I didn’t even realize that I was crying. “I was just reading this old book that I used to read to my little sister back home,” I say showing him the book. “The Tale of The Two Tribes? I’ve never heard of that story before, but that’s sweet that you would tell your sister that story. How old is she?” he asks.

“She was five. She passed away the day before I discovered my Blood,” I say. Lily would have loved seeing my Tigers Blood. If only she lived a day longer. “I’m so sorry. Can I help you in any way?” Noah asks. “No. You probably don’t know how it feels to lose someone close to you,” I say. “Actually I do know. I left my family willingly. I don’t know if any of my siblings or my parents are alive or dead right now. That scares me and makes me feel sad,” Noah says. “I’m sorry, that is sad,” I say. He nods.

“Hey Noah, I have a question,” I say. “Sure, what is it?” he responds. “How did you discover your Wolf Blood?” I ask. He smiles at me. “It’s an interesting story. I was hunting with my two little brothers, Kai and Scout, one day because we were running low on food. While we were walking, I noticed that I had a stronger sense of smell and I could hear things from miles away. I turned around and Scout was missing. I listened for him and I heard him scream. Kai and I ran until we found him with two Lion guards. Kai ran away to get our parents. The Lions were about to get me when I suddenly mutated for the first time as a Wolf. I felt threatened and I attacked the two guards. We fought until they bled out and died. Scout was covered in blood crying and I walked over to him and wrapped my body around him. Kai came back with our parents and sisters and they looked at me in horror like they were ashamed that I killed those Lions and saved my brother,” he frowns.

I scowl. “Why would they be ashamed of you? You didn’t know that you were a Wolf Blood. You felt threatened, and you reacted with your Blood. That’s something you couldn’t control for the first time, it’s an instinct. You saved your brother! That’s amazing Noah!” He looks at me then smiles and blushes. “The happiest part of that day was the look in Scout’s eyes when I saved him. He was smiling and crying. He was only ten on that day, but he’s probably eleven now,” he says. “At least you saved your brother; I had a chance to save my sister and I blew it,” I frown. “You did save her Kira. She is safe in the next life. I bet she’s looking down on us right now,” Noah looks up at the sky. I begin to cry and look up at the sky with Noah. If you can hear me Lily, please watch over us as we travel to the Lion’s Kingdom. I know the path will be dangerous.

The sun peeps out and I stretch my arms out. Noah helps me up and I tap Ethan with my foot. “Let’s start traveling,” I say. Ethan wakes up and we start walking. We walk in silence for about ten minutes. Something doesn’t feel right. The trees are shaking in a different way. I stop moving and place my feet firmly on the ground. “Kira, you ok?” Ethan asks. My body was shaking back and forth, but not purposely. Oh no, a quake… “Kira…” Noah looks over at me. He feels it too, it’s not just me. I look back at him nervously, then start running away quickly. “Kira!!” Noah screams behind me. I lost sight of Ethan, and Noah chases behind me. Don’t worry about Ethan right now, focus on staying alive. The ground begins to crumble and split apart beneath me and I scream and fall on my knees. Noah screams behind me and I turn around to see him falling in the sinking ground.

“Noah!!!” I scream and look down at him. “Kira!” I hear his voice faintly. I see his body holding onto a small piece of land that was already sinking into the ground. I reach down to grab him and he stretches his hand out to me. The land he was on continues to sink into the ground. He grabs my arm so tightly it hurts and I close my eyes fighting back tears. “Kira look at me!” he yells. I open my eyes with tears forming in them. “You have to get out of here!!” he screams loudly in my ear.

“No I don’t want to leave you down there!” I yell back. We both start to fall in the hole when he starts slipping down my arm. “Kira go be safe!! I’ll be ok I promise!!” he screams then lets go of my arm and disappears in the deep dark hole. Stay alive for me please, Noah. I then listen to him and start running. Snow starts falling lightly. I don’t know where to go, but I’m just going to run. I eventually find a small cave and curl up in there and fall asleep.

I wake up shaking from the cold. I don’t have my blanket. Bloodshed still hangs on my hip. My arm scarred up from the cut. I lost my backpack trying to get Noah out of the hole. Don’t worry Noah I’m coming for you. What if something happened to him? What if he escaped? What if he didn’t? Ugh, I hate asking “what if” questions. What if he’s…dead? Shut up Kira. He will probably find me again, and so will Ethan. Ethan, please don’t make me assume that you are the stupid Lion I expect you to be and don’t betray me. I want to be able to trust you, but I find that very hard right now.

I stand up off the snowy ground and look at the debris around me. Trees collapsed everywhere and holes everywhere in the ground. “Noah! Ethan!” I yell. I call Noah and Ethan’s names over and over for hours. No responses, not even a sign a movement. I’m not giving up though. They both know my secret. I couldn’t care less about my secret right now; I just want to survive. I won’t stop until both of them are safe. I just hope they are both alive and breathing right now.