"Hey! That's not fair!" cried Furron, as he chased after his little sister.
"Ha ha! Just try and change the rules! Jagiss came up with them!" she yelled back at her slower sibling.
As they tumbled across fields and rocky ground, Furron all but gave up on catching her.
"What? Can't keep up with a lowly little lion like myself?" she taunted, jogging backwards at a slower pace.
"No, I... just…need...a breather!" he said, leaning over and supporting the upper half of his body by putting his hands on his knees. He had always hated whenever their older brother was allowed to make up the rules! They all had to do with running like a maniac for miles until they could barely see the speck of their home on the horizon.
She stood, folding her arms as her impatience grew.
"Gotcha!" yelled her eldest brother, jumping her from behind and wrapping his arm around her neck. She instinctively grabbed at his arm with her own, and clawed at the thick pelt.
"Ha! See! Our... plan... worked... perfectly!" said Furron, still trying desperately to regain his lost breath. Jagiss released the grip on his sister, allowing her to catch her breath.
"Furron, we weren't on teams! It was every cat for himself!" said Jagiss.
Furron collapsed to the ground lying flat on his back, and sticking his tongue out for effect. Jagiss rolled his eyes.
"Stop being so melodramatic Ron!" he said, turning away from his brother and heading in the direction of their home.
"Hey! Wait for me!" the girl yelled at her brother, chasing down the trail of dust that he had kicked up.
Although Jagiss was faster than his little sister, she knew more shortcuts than any other cat in the whole city, so she easily caught up to him. It was deathly close all the way, but Jagiss pulled ahead at the very last second, enthusiastically celebrating his victory by mere seconds.
"Ha! Still the fastest lil' sis!" he said, coming to an abrupt hault.
"Not for much longer though!" she said breathlessly.
"You're right!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arm around her neck and messing up her hair with his other one.
"Not for much longer," He stared down at his not-so-little-anymore sister, and smiled. She had grown up so much since she had been found. Now she was going to be seventeen in three days, and even closer to the eligible age of marriage.
He let go of his sister's neck and she took this opportunity to pounce on him. "Rawr!" she yelled, attacking him from behind. The force caused them to fall to the ground in a pile of fur and limbs. Jagiss spun himself around so that he was laying on his back instead of his stomach, propped himself up with his paws, and faced his sister who was now on her knees facing him. They suddenly broke out into peals of laughter, clutching their stomachs for fear of hurting them. After their laughter had subsided, Jagiss repositioned himself and sat on his knees like his sister. He grabbed her hands in his and looked into her deep blue eyes. They were full of innocence and wonder, as well as resolve and strength.
"Promise me that you'll always take care of yourself?" he said, her eyes barring deep into his very soul.
"I promise," she said, squeezing his hands.
Jagiss pulled her in close and embraced her, and she him. They hugged for only a minute, before he backed away, and kissed her on the forehead.
"No matter where you are, you will always be my sister Lionra."
Soon, they were joined by their long-in-coming third sibling, who was panting vigorously. "You guys... never…wait...for me!" he exclaimed, plopping down on the ground beside them. Again, they broke into their high pitched laughing, that lasted longer than they had expected.
"You are such a bum Furron!" said Lionra, roughing up her older brothers curly hair.
He gazed up at his now completely disheveled hair, and shook his head to get it back to normal.
"Lionraaaaa!" he whined. "You know how hard it is to get my hair just right!" he said, trying to smooth his hair down with his paws.
"Sorry!" Lionra siad, stifling a giggle behind her paw.
"No you're not!" Furron exclaimed, throwing a glare at his sister.
Jagiss grabbed both his siblings and pulled them, one on each side of him, into a tight hug.
"Can't…breathe!" Furron wheezed, trying to pry his brother's arm from around his throat.
"You're complaining. That means you can breathe!" Jagiss replied, not truly caring about his brother's protest. "You're always complaining anyway,"
"I resent that statement! And I am not always complaining!" the younger brother growled, having successfully removed his older brother's arm from his personage and turned away from his siblings, crossing his arms stubbornly.
Lionra and Jagiss looked at each other and shrugged in synch.
"Watcha gonna do?" he's family. Or at least, that's what Dad says," Lionra said, rising to her feet, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Lionraaaaa," her brother said, a warning tone in his voice. "I know that look. Don't give me that look! What are you planning?" Jagiss asked, wary at what might be going on inside the mind of his little sister.
"Beat you to Dad!" she exclaimed, running into the house.
"Hey!" Jagiss laughed, getting up and quickly following her.
"Oh come on!" Furron exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing his arms up into the air. "Can nothing be a competition in this family!" he groaned, slowly getting to his feet.
"I bet I was the one who was adopted," Furron muttered under his breath, heading into the house and closing the door behind him.
They really were one, big, happy family!