I reached the entrance to my hideaway cave, which I called escondite fondly. This was my getaway- my place to relax when no one wanted me anywhere else. If someone learned of this place, I would be caught and taken to Frida in an instant. It was as simple as this: I could never see her again.
At that thought, I ducked into the small opening, taking in the now musty and brimstone-smelling air. I'd lit a fire only half an hour ago; an attempt at cooking a rabbit I'd found on one of my hunts. It was very strange to be doing this, running around at night scavenging for food like a rat. It almost seemed like I was the last sane person on Earth, or at least in Miracle City.
Now and again, I thought of how it used to be- running around with no care in the world, doing whatever I fancied at the time. And most of all that I was running around like this with Frida. It always made my throat tighten slightly, and my breath came in short gasps. The sorrow was all but too much for me to handle, but there were more important things to attend to.
These days it was much different than before. By day, I'd sit in my cave with nothing to do, no villains to fight, no trouble to cause. By night, I'd sneak out carefully as I could and hunt for my dinner, or the next morning's breakfast. When I found nothing to eat, I would sit alone and listen to the angry rumbling of my empty stomach painfully rock me to sleep. The care that I hadn't had before this crisis was obviously my survival. And I wasn't prepared for it, either.
At times I'd wake up and find myself in my normal state, but most of the time I'd run around as El Tigre. It was almost as if this was my default personality now; I was getting so used to it. And my powers kept getting stronger.
One night I found myself jumping from building to building without using my grapple-hand, and another I'd discovered that my claws could cut through almost anything- I'd split a cement block in two. This lifestlye was growing on El Tigre-I had to call my alter ego a different person now, as it seemed that way-, and speeding up my powers' development stages ten fold.
It was a Saturday-or maybe a Sunday? I had lost count- and I was starving. I hadn't had any dinner or breakfast, and my stomach rolled uncomfortably. I decided the only thing left to do was hunt, and I stood up shakily, almost spinning my belt buckle. Realizing that I was already El Tigre, I left the cave quickly, sneaking off into the trees that grew behind escondite.
Some people might have considered my current eating habits revolting, but if they were in these conditions, they'd gladly do it with a smile. I crouched low to the ground, hiding behind the nearest bush. I extended my claws, ready to pounce on whatever moved. When I did see something, I dived on it with a low growl. I smashed into it- hard.
As I stood, expecting to see some fox or rabbit that I'd mutilated in my attack, I gasped in shock. Instead of a helpless dead animal, Django of the Dead lay in front of me, rubbing his head angrily. Django was the grandson of Sartana of the Dead, a villain I'd faced many times before. I backed away one step, letting the skeleton stand up.
He picked up his hat-it had fallen off when I'd pounced on him-and put it on his skull. He looked up into my face, surprised. "El Tigre?" He asked in disbelief.
I smiled brightly, happy that someone was finally talking to me- it had been months. "Hi, Django!" I exclaimed, grinning wider now. I hardly noticed that my voice came out cracked and worn, I hadn't used it in so long. Of course, this was not counting the growls and roars that often escaped my lips now and again. This was a new development as well. The tiger genes seemed to be getting stronger.
"What are you doing out here? Don't you know she is lurking around in this forest?" Django said, peering over his shoulder nervously.
"She is? Follow me." I said, equally scared. I ran swiftly and silently back to escondite, leading Django to the entrance. "In here, in here." I directed, looking around as I waved him inside the round opening.
He hurried in, and I followed hastily, blocking the makeshift door with ferns that grew above the hole. I saw Django staring around at the high ceilings of the cavern in awe. I smiled proudly and strolled to the center of the room. "Nice, huh?" I said grinning in his direction.
"Yeah." Django breathed, still looking around, amazed. "How did you find it?"
"I guess it was instinct." I said smugly, admiring it for myself now.
Suddenly I remembered the questions I was going to ask him. "How did you get away from her?" I asked. I didn't dare say Frida's name out loud, thinking that I might tear up like I did when I was alone. I wasn't going to show any weakness around Django. I had reasons to be suspicious of him.
"After Frida beat Sartana, I escaped. I've been hiding out in the woods ever since." Django said, shaking his fist in a silent curse at the mention of my former best friend.
I sucked in a short breath of air, then exhaled it slowly, holding back the lump her name caused in my throat. When would this feeling end? It seemed like her memory was locking me inside sorrow like a thorn-covered cage. Miserable at the best. "I got away after she defeated my family... I guess I was just fast." I said, trying to be modest as I could.
"Why didn't you stop her?" Django demanded, looking at my with lowered eyebrows. His eye sockets narrowed, obviously angry.
I couldn't tell him the truth. That her face, her smile, her voice, even the mere mention of her name made me break down in agony. I began to sweat uncomfortably. "Well, I..." I started, letting an idea worm it's way into my head. "I didn't want her to get my belt. She would have gotten it if I hadn't ran." I said, smiling proudly now.
Django's eye sockets loosened, and his gaze became more relaxed. He sat down on a rock nearby, frowning. "I couldn't find my granmami." He said quietly, obviously mourning the loss of the family member.
I sighed. "I haven't seen my family, either." I confessed, taking a seat next to him on a slightly sharper rock. I winced and adjusted my tail, making it so that it wasn't being sat on. The pain slowly faded and I relaxed my muscles, lowering into a comfortable slump.
The skeleton looked up at me, worried. "Do you think we'll ever find them?" Django asked, frowning a little less now. He looked like a small child missing his mother; lost in the grocery store or something juvenile like that.
"I don't know, Django." I sighed, standing up now. "But I'm hungry. You want-" I started, but I saw the look on his face and realized that the dead don't exactly eat. I grinned slightly. "Yeah. Sorry." I said, turning and swiftly jumping out of the cavern. I extended my claws, looking left and right. Suddenly I heard the faint clink of bones nearby, and I ducked behind some of the thick ferns.
Peering between the stringy fronds, I could see a skeleton bandito walking through the trees. I could also hear shouting behind it. High-pitched... Overbearing... Shouting. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. I grasped it in pain and sank to my knees, making sure to still be covered by the ferns. I managed through the pain to see clearly, watching in horror as the bandito approached escondite.
I stopped breathing, stopped moving. The pain in my chest rocketed higher as I saw that there were three banditos coming. With a strike of pain like a whip to my heart, I heard it. A voice, the same as before, cut through the trees and into the clearing.
"STOP! Look around, search for any signs of life." The high-pitched person demanded.
I saw the skeletons look behind them and nod. They began to search through the area, not bothering to check the ferns. I sighed in relief before the pain rose higher than ever. I gasped shortly, clutching at my chest.
This time I had heard the clink of boots. The Bronze Boots of Truth. It couldn't be; it was impossible. Had she really found me? I shrank back against the hard rock of escondite.
"Hurry up! I don't have all day!" The voice yelled out.
"Ack." I squeaked, falling over onto my side. I knew they had heard me because of the scrape of the turning skulls. The clink of my father's boots moved closer, getting louder with each step.
I breathed in and out slowly. Suddenly, my world came crashing down as the ferns were pulled away. I looked up weakly and saw her face. Frida's face. Looking down at me.
"F-Fri... ARGH!" I screamed out, feeling as if someone had punched me as hard as they could in my stomach.
She sneered down at me, lifting me up by the collar. When we were at eye level, she dropped he onto my wobbly legs. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here." She smirked. "I can see that this has been working out well." She noted, looking at me up and down.
With the last of my strength, I spun my belt buckle and returned to my normal state, feeling my world go dark with the sound of Django's yell of anger, "El Tigre- WHAT!?"
Then I passed out.