Page 31 of Tiger's Tale
By comparison, the other creature was smaller, sleeker, golden, but he could see clearly just how dangerous it was. In fact, it frightened him more than the larger cat for some reason. It seemed more unpredictable. Almost as if you could be petting it one moment, enjoying hearing it purr, and then it would just as happily run a sharp claw down your center, flaying you alive, and it would still be purring while it ate you. Nikolai had no doubt such a predator wouldn’t hesitate to hunt and kill for sport.
That such a monster could be his sweet Veru shocked him. What was even more surprising for him was that he often found himself keeping the red tiger between them as if he didn’t trust the tsarevna he proclaimed to love. It was so strange to see her in that way. Then again, he supposed he could be entirely wrong. Even if the golden tiger with the dark gray eyes who watched him in a strange way, as if she wanted to devour him or at least gnaw on his arm for a bit, looked like his Veru, it didn’t necessarily mean she was his tsarevna. The coloring could mean nothing.
When they stopped for a midday meal, he decided to find out. Holding out a piece of dried meat to the red cat, he asked, “Are you Tsarevna Stacia, then?”
The cat took the stick of beef, chewed it awkwardly, fangs protruding as she rolled it around and around in her mouth and then just ended up swallowing it whole. Looking up at him then, she simply huffed at him, blowing out a hot breath in his face that smelled like beef and raw fish.
“Is... is that a yes?” he ventured.
Another huff, this one nearly making him gag. It was then he realized he’d been bent over, looking down the huge cat’s throat. Probably not a good idea. He straightened abruptly and jumped to the side with a yelp when he saw the golden tiger had padded up just behind him and sat down with her jaws wide open.
“Oh. Ha. Ha,” he forced an uneasy laugh. “I... I didn’t see you there. Bet you’d like a snack too, then, eh?” Quickly he fished in his sack and came up with another stick of beef and gingerly placed it in the cat’s open jaws, then yanked his hand away and scrabbled backward so fast he fell.
The golden tiger tilted her head, slowly closed her jaws, and sucked down the dried beef with a snick, while the red tiger exhaled and snorted in a way that sounded suspiciously like a tiger version of laughter. With a flick of her red tail, she turned and was gone, disappearing through the brush.
* * *
It was two days later when Nik ran out of food. They’d been sticking close to the water, following it to the source since they knew it eventually led all the way to the mountains. All of them were experienced hunters and trappers, but Nik only had a knife, and they didn’t want to waste time setting traps for game. That left the hunting up to the tsarevnas, and they’d never hunted as cats before.
They’d been lucky with the fish. The huge sturgeon had been spawning very late in the season. But the twins could feel their energy being sapped. Their bodies were much bigger now, and they were traveling constantly, using the reserves they had. Instinct told them they needed to pace themselves, go slower, but they also knew that as humans they could have moved much faster, especially on horseback. They weren’t used to maintaining the mass of muscle, bone, and sinew they carried now.
Stacia caught a small fish that night after Nik fell asleep by the fire. The twins stared down at the bleeding creature, and Veru batted it with a sharp claw to prevent it from bouncing its way back into the water again. Glancing up, they made eye contact with one another, and then Veru picked up the now dead fish in her mouth and padded over to Nik, dropping it near him on a grassy mound, then the two tigers turned and ran north, racing through the rushing creek to the other side, following a scent they didn’t understand.
When they came upon the large musk deer, they crouched low in the grass, watching and waiting for just the right moment to strike. The twins knew the animals were solitary creatures, and this one was busy marking his territory, using his scent gland to try to attract the attention of a wandering female, utterly unaware that not one but two large predators lurked nearby, watching him hungrily.
Though Veru and Stacia were unable to talk with each other as they once had while trapped in their new forms, they knew one another well enough to guess what they were thinking, and each sister could predict the moves of her twin fairly well. Thus, when Stacia dug her paw into the ground on the left, Veru assumed that meant her sister would take the left and she should go right.
The red and gold tigers turned their tails to each other and slunk off, circling the heavy animal. When each sister was in position, they lifted their tails, twitching them in the air just enough to be visible to the other, and then they charged. However, the deer, very used to being on alert for danger, spied a movement in the brush, and bolted.
He bounced over logs and through underbrush, squealing and racing, the blood in his veins running hotter and perfuming the air in a way that made the cats salivate. Neither twin wanted to consider why or how they salivated at blood. They were much too practical for that.
It was Veru who caught up to the deer first, catching his back leg and sinking her jaws in. She took no thought for her sister. Instinct pushing her to kill and driving her muscles, fangs, and claws. But she was clumsy using her new weapons, and he quickly bounced on his front legs and kicked her in her face, and she let go. Then Stacia was on his back, her claws in his shoulders, her teeth in his neck. She bit and hot blood spurted into her mouth. Licking, she tasted salt and warmth and life. It was surprisingly delicious.
But the musk deer wasn’t done yet. That was her mistake. He was also a powerful animal, and he wanted to live. He reared up and Stacia fell off. Tossing his head just when she tried to attach her jaws to him again, his long, protruding fang pierced her side. She let out a roar as he whipped his head back and forth viciously, widening the wound until it seeped blood and her skin flapped loosely around the tear.
Veru rebounded, this time aiding her sister. She knocked him away with her paw, and the deer fell. Before he could scramble to his feet, she jumped on top of his wriggling form, bit his skull, and crushed it, finally killing the animal. When she limped back over to Stacia, she could see the wound was a bad one indeed. They’d have to get Nik to sew it closed and hope infection wouldn’t set in.
As for her, Veru knew it was likely she had a broken ankle, or at least a very bad sprain. She could hardly put any weight on her front leg. Still, at least now they had food. She supposed it would be better for them to rest and eat during the night and then head back to Nik with a chunk of deer meat and, if possible, have him tend to their wounds and see if they could travel.
Huffing softly to her sister, Veru encouraged her to come closer and join her at the deer’s side. Together the tigers ripped into the soft belly of the animal and gorged themselves on the slightly bitter and tangy but rich offal first before ripping off chunks of steaming warm meat.
The gnawing hunger in their bellies turned to a warm sense of fullness, and the sharp ripple of pain began to dull with it. The twins, lulled by their exhaustion, placed their heads on their paws right next to their kill, and faces still bloodied, they slept.
10
BEWARE OF SILENT DOGS AND STILL WATERS
The next morning dawned bright and crisply cold, but in their tiger bodies the twins barely felt the chill. Sleeping next to one another kept them warm, and the fur covering them felt as luxurious as any fur cloak. Even better, because not an inch of them was exposed to the cold. They woke and stretched, prepared for the painful pull of torn skin or bruised ribs only to discover there was no pain.
Veru nudged Stacia in the ribs where she’d been torn the night before. Unable to twist her head well enough to see the damage, Stacia cocked her head at her sister as if in question. In reply, Veru lifted the paw that had also been damaged and then proceeded to pace back and forth, showing her sister that the injury she had received had mysteriously healed as well.
The cats rose, relishing the feeling of every strong muscle moving beneath their coats, then raked their sharp claws down the trunk of a tree, and watched in fascination as the bark peeled away in shreds. Whatever strange magic had made them cats also granted them relief from pain and injury, a gift they desperately needed if they were to navigate the strange new world of animal life. They also needed to learn to work together if they were going to learn how to catch prey.
They shook their heads and yawned widely, scraping their tongues over their new sharp teeth, and letting the natural gruff noise of a big cat huff out of heavy lungs and lift into the air, a warning to any other nearby predators who might be interested in the remains of their kill. They padded over to the dead animal, noticing the smell wasn’t nearly as appetizing as it had been the night before, and played with it a bit, trying to find something interesting.
Veru laid down and began gnawing on a leg, cracking through bone, and making a happy sound when she discovered the delicious marrow inside. Stacia held the carcass down with her claws and ripped chunks of meat from the ribs, swallowing them whole, then found a nice piece she could set aside for Nik to roast later.
When she licked the bone, she realized the coarseness of her new tiger tongue nearly scraped it clean for her. It was a beneficial trick and one she thought she might like to carry over when she was a human again, assuming she ever managed to change back. The ability to swallow meat whole, forgo chewing, and carve it with just her tongue would save her not only time but from many a toothache in the future. Not to mention the fact that there wouldn’t be a man alive who would dare risk a “tongue-lashing” from her. She huffed softly, laughing at her own thoughts.
