Two Paws

Chapter 4

Sometimes I think that my stories are all the same thing. But... with only two characters to work with, slapped into the middle of nowhere... what else could you expect? I wouldn't want it any other way. I've also been told the way I portray Diego is "inaccurate". A) It's my story. B) His traits come from a lot of my own. But I try to have his dialogue match his canon personality. His thoughts tend to match my own with this wanting of someone else and never a feeling of deserving.

The tiger's eyes sprang open to the following morning's sun that seeped past the dense forest branches.

He gazed to his side, smiling at her sleeping presence and becoming amused with how heavy of a sleeper she was.

His neck rested and his eyes then darted to the skies above. As he took his mind elsewhere, he felt a drop of water hit his face.

The tiger groaned in annoyance as his eyes squinted, looking to the skies. He could see the snow that was dripping down the icicles from the cliff hanging above.

Before he had time to consider, and as if his paranoia was starting to affect reality, a sudden wind drew force into the icicles. One inevitably snapped off.

The moment he heard, he grabbed Shira by the sides and pulled her out of the way and, of course, woke her up as they plowed into the snow beside them.

"Diego?! What the hell?!" She grumbled, eyes dizzy from the sudden wake.

Diego just breathed in deeply and exhaled in relief. He was so focused and shocked at the icicle that Shira had to look behind her to see what he was so worked up about.

The icicle had to be a good three feet tall with the base extending to half a foot. Probably around thirty pounds. It landed directly tip down, the bottom half being swallowed by the snowy ground.

Oh god... That could've killed her.

Just the thought about it made Diego hold her tightly. He also took in the realization of how lucky that was. To wake up just in time.

"Diego... I..." Shira expressed, finding it difficult to comprehend what almost happened so quickly out of the blue.

"I think we need to get out of here." Diego insisted.

They both just breathed, eyeing each other indefinitely before ultimately agreeing and heading off to hopefully find a way out of the forest at last.

As they walked, Diego had a hard time keeping his eyes off her backside as he trailed from behind, trying so hard to keep his head to the ground, all the while his instincts were ready to pounce on her.

The idea reminded him of what he did the previous night. How good it felt. How amazing it tasted. How much he wished she would've given the same back.

At the same time, he couldn't believe he got away with it. First the kiss on the forehead and now that.

Karma's not actually a bitch right now.

He smirked to himself for that one, seeing as though things have turned the tables. His luck had seemingly run out before he met her. Maybe she was all the luck he needed. All the luck he was looking for.

It tortured him when she suddenly stopped to bend down and stretch, the tiger almost not reacting in time to stop before bumping into her.

Walk beside her, you dumdum.

And he did just that as he padded around and to her side, to which she turned and smiled before the two continued walking.

"Diego. Sorry for not saying anything before. For what you did back there."

"I don't even want to think about it." He quickly said, the thought of a giant stalactite piercing right through her. The imagery. The thought process would've been nearly unbearable.

"It was so fortunate that you were awake."

"Yeah." He laughed, nothing more to say.

"And I'm sorry for not thanking you for the food."

"You don't have to." He sighed, seeing her gaze at him before snapping her neck back in front.

"Listen, when we get out of this forest-

"If." She interrupted.

"... if we get out, what's the plan from there?"

He knew she would be annoyed by that question, knowing that she was still secretive to her personal life. But he stopped caring, knowing that they were reaching closer to the inevitable.

"Who knows where we'll be coming out from." She answered with lack of confidence.

"Well, yeah, but I mean, if that's the case then is it just gonna be one more night... and then another... and so on?"

Though he was sounding annoyed, he was just faking it, not minding spending the rest of his life with this saber.

"Diego, what do you want? It's not like I had a plan to begin with."

"Huh... well that makes two of us."

Shira sighed, seemingly at an end with her frustration.

"Diego. How did you know I was hungry?"

"What?"

"Yesterday morning... how did you know?" She asked as though she knew the answer. As if she knew that he knew the answer.

"I think you know why." He said, biting his lips and eyeing her body.

"I've been stuck out here for two weeks, Diego."

Diego had to stop and take in the words she said.

"Two weeks?! Out here?!"

She nodded.

"But... how have you...

"Vegetation. That's all I could survive off of. For two weeks. It... it was...

For the first time, he saw true sadness in her eyes. On her face. In her movement as she collapsed herself into him.

"I just want to go home, Diego."

Diego breathed it all in as he held her, comforting her.

"You poor thing." He murmured. His attachment for her and the emotion he was willing to show made him speak words so soft.

"When I ran into you, I was so overjoyed. I was so desperate. I needed so much help. I was so hungry. I was so homesick. I...I was..." she spilled out everything that she had been keeping bottled up inside.

"Shira, listen. It'll be alright. We're going to get out of here. I promise."

His words seemed to calm her down from her rapid breaths and heavy crying. She smiled, eyes still watering as she gave him a big long hug.

"Hey, Diego?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

It amused Diego how quickly things have changed. Days ago, she was acting so tough. So independent. Still caring, but less worrisome in a way.

Minutes turned into hours, the two sabers aimlessly wondering and making sure they weren't just going in circles.

"I really had no idea how big this forest was." Diego sighed as he stopped to look around. All the while, Shira had a worried look on her face saying that she wasn't entirely confident in his own confidence.

But just as quickly, there was this spark of eagerness in her eyes along with the smirk on her lips.

"It might be a little faster..." she started, scooting up closer to him, only inches apart, "if we have a little race."

It seemed so seductive the way she said it, almost in a whisper. But he figured it was all coincidence. And still, it took all the willpower he had to not purr because of it.

"If you want..."

"Great... so... lets go."

He was caught off guard as she took off instantly.

Oh, come on. That's not fair.

And he took off after her, against the wind and through the trees, they plowed through the ankle deep snow.

The entire time they ran, Diego found himself falling behind and running out of breath. It just reminded him of how out of shape he was compared to any other saber. How he had to basically rely on every other pack member to bring back food since he saw himself as incapable. He felt so guilty over it.

And that guilt rose as the distance between them increased further by the second. But what struck him, oddly, was a boost of energy. A feeling of determination. The very idea that he was losing her. That he would inevitably remain alone. And he just didn't want that anymore. He knew he didn't. He's seen her. He's felt her. He knew exactly what he wanted.

Before he knew it, the distance between them was thinning down. Diego was too felt up with emotion to know whether she was just slowing down or if he was speeding up. But that soon became irrelevant as he found himself close enough to jump her, snow plowing and bodies sliding to a stop as Diego pinned her down.

They both gazed at each other, their breaths heavily panting of exhaustion.

"What'd I win?"

"I five knuckle sandwich, you bonehead." She sassed back with a soft punch on the shoulder.

It would probably remain hard for Diego to believe that he could talk to her so easily. He could actually function words from his brain and out of his mouth. Nothing felt awkward or uncomfortable when it came to her. He felt she was really something as he held her shoulders down, so tempted to give her a big long kiss on her neck.

"Thought you would outrun me?" He smirked, knowing that female sabers were generally the more agile whereas the males were good for their strength. So it was painfully obvious how unusual this was.

What neither of them seemed to notice as they glued their own distractions for one another was the contrasting brightness of the afternoon sun. They had made it out of the forest at last.

They ended up right next to the shorelines of a frozen lake, big enough to be mistaken for an ocean, the other side barely visible from the horizon. Diego was certain the area was no where near where he entered from.

Her eyes fluttered with excitement as she looked around. Moments after, she squirmed her body out of Diego's grasp, laughing playfully as she slid out and got up.

They eyed for seconds longer before turning towards the plated lake in front of them.

Diego only stood there as Shira walked closer to the lake, seemingly lost in thought. At the same time, Diego was thinking about what would happen from here. How they would just go their separate ways back to their own lives, resulting in him being alone, of course.

But he didn't want her to leave. He choked on his sadness, took a deep breath and considered spilling all emotion onto her. Just to show her. Just to know. Nothing else really mattered anymore.

He was about to speak his mind right in front of her, his heart skipping beats of eagerness as he would open his lips and tell her how perfect she was. How he saw her no other way. How throughout the few days he knew her, he developed this seemingly impossible connection. Seemingly impossible comfort. Seemingly impossible relation.

She talks to me like I'm alive. I talk to her like I'm alive. I don't want her. I need her. Breathing. Feeling. These prove nothing that I'm actually living. She does.

He only wished he had saved those thoughts for later as she spoke before he was able to.

"I think I know my way from here back home."

The tiger didn't respond, only flashing his eyes her way, watching her turn around, her smile turning his whole world.

"You know you're way from here?"

"Yeah. I think so." He lied, not having a clue what side of the forest he was at. But he didn't know what to do at this point. He was too scared. Too sad. Anxiety was at a peak. Tension inside him built. No answer seemed clear. He didn't care to go back to living on his own. Living off of vegetation much like she had to do for the past few weeks as she claimed.

"Diego... I might not be standing here now if it weren't for you... and... I don't really-

"You don't have to thank me, Shira... you'll never have to."

She looked as if she was trying to find meaning to the words he spoke. But ultimately, she just nodded her head.

Everything inside Diego was screaming at him to latch onto her, hold her and never let her go.

I don't want her to leave.

And he knew those words would likely change the course of their fate. To stop them from separating. But she had her own life that Diego knew nothing about. He couldn't just assume she had nothing else going on. That she had the time and energy to care about him anyway.

Or like she has an interest in me to begin with.

He just didn't want to seem too needy. He wanted her to think he was independent even though that couldn't have been further from the truth.

And so he just watched. He sat there as the sun had started setting and she walked off down the lake, shadows moving and taking over the night. Even though she sounded happy to be going back home to her own life, he swore he saw a look of need in her eyes. He knew something was wrong.

He didn't follow her. He didn't do anything as she completely disappeared. He just sat there, ears drooped and eyes watered. He just felt too awkward to ask if he could spend another night with her. Too much fear built up.

She's probably taken, anyway.

The thought never crossed his mind until now. Only when she was gone. And it only doubled the anxiety and fear inside him, realizing that someone like her couldn't possibly be single.

Amazing personality. Amazing looks. It's all subjective, I guess... but still... what are the odds?

Who was he kidding? It wasn't going to happen even if he told her. Nothing ever happens to him. And he was left with that thought as he slowly padded his way to search for some place to sleep for the night. And he honestly didn't care where as the freezing snow at his paws were becoming a numbing irritation.

Along the way, the more he thought about it, the more upset he got with himself. Even at that point, he had a choice to just turn around and go back. To look for her and stay by her side. But he always chose against it. Anxiety chose for him.

The temperature had dropped drastically the minute the sun set. And being out in the open plains meant the strong winds pushed the cold into him.

His exhaustion got the best of him quickly as he gave up and went with a boulder that gave a small inclines roof. He figured it was good enough as he dug his claws in the snow beneath until grassed remains were left.

The tiger circled a few times and lied down, sighing of exhaustion and disappointment. His heart tore and his eyes leaked.

"I didn't want you to leave, Shira."