Chapter XXI - Dreams Of The Past

"But Alexei"

"No! This tigress has failed in her duties! How am I supposed to have a legacy when all of my cubs as well as their cubs are FEMALE?"

"Father, I know I am still young but you have to understand. They are all eager to please you, just give them a chance-"

"No! I gave them a chance! I will not teach ANY of them the hoop!" Safēda watched as her grandfather exchanged angry words with both her mother and Safi. The big half Siberian, half Bengal tiger spat at anything they said and roared whenever they said otherwise. Once or twice he threatened to slash them and the cubs if they did not quiet down.

"Alexei, please, understand that you are scaring your grandcubs and they only want to be happy and for you to be happy-"

"Give me a male an I will be be happy! But NO you, Laṛakī, have given nothing but females! You're a failure like your mother and your stepmothers! I had to train a MALE cub that wasn't even MINE! You Bengals have bad blood!" the tiger roared, lashing out. Safi snarled and helped her sister-tigress to try and block him from the cubs. Safēda wanted to mew, to cry out for her mother to help her, to cover her as well but she couldn't find the words to say.

Laṛakī spoke angrily. "I don't give a cat's paw if you ACCEPT us or not, the humans WILL train them to jump the hoops and you will have a wonderful legacy of great-grandcubs to be happy about when your gone!" Alexei roared and held out his paw, uncheathing his claws. Safēda only realized too late that her mother had been slashed across the face. The small white cub forgot everything and ran over to her mother.

"MOMMY!" she called, finally finding her voice, but she suddenly found herself being held under a giant male paw. She tried to escape from her grandfather's grip but to no avail. She watched in terror as her mother opened her eye. Nothing. Safi roared, scared out of her wits and tried in vain to save her sister's eye, licking away the ugly wound.

"Safēda, you're mother is hurt but she will be fine" Safi assured her while she kept on licking, the gold lioness glared at Alexei. "Let the cub go Alexei!" she commanded but the male merely sneered.

"Yes you and what army?"

"MY army" someone spoke behind him and Alexei looked back to see that the other Circus animals were ganging up on him. Safi's husband, Justinian, lead the group, his huge brown mane dominating over all. He was the leader of the Circus and he was certainly not going to take Alezei's demeanor any longer. Alexei rolled his eyes and removed his paw from the cub's back. Safēda cried instantly and ran towards her mother, mewing and licking the wound, trying in vain to make it feel better. The cub could feel the salty tears that ran down her muzzle and only watched as her mother shook violently and flinched to every touch. Safi sadly looked at the cub.

She guided the small female away from her mother and held her tightly, the cub needed to see no more of this. Her mother was blind now. She was useless for the humans to use, and now, they would probably seel her off to the local Zoos in Berlin. Safēda would never see her mother again.

0O0

Safēda shot her head upwards, gasping hard. It was just a dream. A flashback. A horrible dream. She sniffed silently and scooted closer to Safi who was sound asleep. That night was a living nightmare. She lost her mother forever and it was because of him. He was an evil tiger, she hated the hoops, the hoops brought her mother's downfall and brought evil onto her grandfather. If the hoop never existed, was there a chance he would have been good?

She sniffed and hid her face under her paws. She hated the feeling of powerlessness. She watched her mother get hurt. She watched as the claws slashed across her face, injuring her deeply and ruinign not only her own life but the lives of her cubs as well.

Her sisters were sold immediately, because they didn't want harm coming onto them and because they had regular coats but they kept her because she was of white pelt. Alexei disowned her and never failed to lash at her for her ignorance, for her stupidity, for her lack of sense, for being female. She was glad when the old tiger was sold off to be mated to once again. He would never return but the damage had been done. She no longer had a mother, or sisters, she had no one.

Safi could never replace her mother, no matter how much the lioness tried to keep the memories away.

The damage was done.

0O0

Vitaly's dreams had never been so real than it was that same night. He was alone, as usual, in his car. He rested along the hammock that kept him from sleeping on the ground, and kept turning, side to side. He growled, and then his claws would show and then, instantly it would stop. then the same form of viciousness would start again. He was fighting. Not with himself. Not with anyone he loved. No, he fought him.

0O0

"YOU LIAR!" he roared angrily as he pounced onto the brown lion named Adui. "She loves me! NOT YOU!" the lion merely smirked before throwing the tiger off, and quickly coming up behind him. His claws unsheathing and trying to get a good strike. Vitaly knew better, his instincts told him to duck, and when he did, he found that Adui had striked the wooded wall of the car and now his claws were now stuck. Perfect.

He was ready to give that stupid lion the last blow until he felt someone hit his back. He feel down with enough force to shake his car. Growling, he turned to scratch the one who dared interrupt him and found his wife, Irina, on top of him, tears in her blue eyes. She was angry, mortified, that Vitaly would even do such a thing. She got off him and helped Adui with his claws.

Vitaly got up and looked at the two with shock. "Irina... tell him... tell him you love me. No him" he begged but the tigress did not falter. The only look she gave him was pain. She stepped foward and laid a delicate paw on his cheek.

"Vitaly. You were always a friend to me. And I love you, but as a friend. Nothing more" Vitaly felt his heart break. No no no! This couldn't be true! He heard the other animals whispering in hushed voices and he felt the presence of others behind him. He looked behind him to see Stefano and Gia, followed by the triplets, the elephants and Sonya. They were witnessing to his greatest defeat. Even worse than the accident he had. He looked back to face Irina and looked at her through his eyes, they were pleading that was she said wasn't true, that she loved him as a mate, not as a friend.

"No... Irina... ven I asked-"

"I said yes because I thought I was in love too, Vitaly. It was my mistake. I loved Adui, not you" Vitaly's once powerful frame, now delicate and brittle, shook with shock. Those words that she spoke, it was slowly tearing him apart. "You must believe me Vitaly, I never had any intention to hurt you like this. It just happened, as much as I tried to push it away I-" her voice failed and broke, and then she laid her paw onto his head. "I am with cubs, Vitaly. They are not yours... I mated with Adui" he felt like breaking down. Breaking down in front of Irina, in front of his friends, in front of everyone. "I will understand if you never want to talk to me again. Friends don't hurt friends like this, I am so sorry"

Vitaly started to sob, Gia wamted to run over to him, to comfort her brother figure but was held back by Stefano who, too, had tears in his eyes. "Irina, how could you-a do that to him-a? Adui? We trusted-a you. Vitaly trusted-a you" he spoke, his mustache-like whiskers losing it's thickness and becoming droopy. Irina held back tears. She never meant to break so many things at once. She looked at Gia who, once catching her look, turned away, refusing to look at her. No. Not Gia, too.

"Gia-"

"No! I trusted you to not fall for Adui! You PROMISED me! You promised you would not hurt Vitaly" the cub cried and ran out of the car. Stefano ran after her, calling her name. Irina's world fell apart as she looked back at Vitaly who was now on the ground, shivering, he was not Vitaly the Tiger anymore. Looking down at her firming stomach, she looked at her love, her glorious mate, Adui. He understood her pain.

"Let's go" she said and the two felines ran away that night. Vitaly never spoke to anyone for weeks. He became obssessed with borscht, eating it again and again. Gia and Stefano tried to cheer him up, only for the tiger to snarl at them and cause them to run away. It pained him to scare his two most beloved friends...

0O0

Vitaly's eyes opened wide and he gasped for air. Standing upright he held his head. It began to hurt, he felt like breaking down, something that had not happened in a few months. The dream spoke to him in a manner he did not want to understand. Not that he could, he couldn't understand his dreams. The fact that Irina had actually thought she loved him... what could he have done to make that true? Shaking his head, he laid it back onto the pillow.

No, the result would have been the same. She would have still mated with him, would still have left him, still would have...

Vitaly snarled once more. He had to stop this foolishness at once. Stop thinking about Irina and these stupid feelings. He wasn't suppose to feel like this anymore- what in the HECK made him think like this? He growled, putting pressure of both of his paws onto his head. These voices that spoke- he had to stop LISTENING! He grabbed a knife and shot it across the car, making impact with the same wall he had pinned Adui once to.

He got up to get it and found the claws marks Adui had left on it that night. With one paw, he touched it. Suddenly remembering all of what had TRULY happened, what had caused the fight and Irina's betrayal to him to go public to the others. Shoving the feelings that threatened to overcome him once more, he decided to go outside.

He found the night air to be very refreshing, almost like a bath. He closed the door to his car slowly and quietly so as to not disturb his comrades from their own dreams, if they were happy. He walked over to a desloated part of the grounds, where a lone hill gave way to entering the other Circus grounds, of their rivals. He sat down, feeling quite at ease and laid back, watching as the scenery changed from the Circus and grass to the moon and stars. He smiled softly.

The stars were beautiful indeed, he loved them. That info he never shared with anyone else, not even Irina or Gia, or even Stefano who continually poked at him sometimes ot reveal where he would go sometimes. He watched as the moon shone brightly and watched as the stars twinkled in the night. He noticed that some made shapes, and would catch himself telling a story.

Ah, there he saw one. A tiger. This tiger was fierce and strong, this tiger loved everyone and did everything to protect them, this tiger was the leader and all of the stars envied those who made his form. His teacher had once told him the story of the great Tiger. He never really haad a name, though. it was just "Tiger". He preferred that way though, it actually symbolizzed somehting to him, even as a little cub. A Tiger had to be fierce when need be, strong when looked upon, he had to love everyone close to him, and protected them all from harm, he had to be a leader.

He may lack certain qualities but at least he had the nobelest of them. Turning to his side, he slept happily, with the knowledge of the great Tiger protecting his dreams from the past that haunted him to this very day.

0O0

Alex could think of nothing but Gia. Sure, he had managed to get a kiss on the cheek but it was on the cheek nonetheless. He felt fireworks when she did, that was for sure, but did she? He groaned and got ahold of his fluffly pillow and held it over his head. He didn't care, he was going to suffocate himself to death. He was tired of continually being interrupted, heck, he bet even in his dreams it would mess up!

Turning, he found a picture that Gloria had taken with a human camera that the Penguins, plus the monkeys, had *taken* from the humans to *borrow*. It had enough space on the screen to take a picture of everyone, and he literally meant everyone wearing their Circus Afro. Gloria had been more than happy to take one with each of their new Circus family, and, on the request of Gia, she had taken one of him and Gia, giving thumbs up to the camera.

Smiling, he took the picture and stared at it. Gia looked so very pretty, with her pink paint on her spots, making her spots look neon in the fluorescent light. She had her colorful Circus Afro, for an added effect and Alex himself had the afro one, hiding his mane to make it seem he was literally a Circus lion. The two were smiling and Gia looked as if she was laughing.

His eyes trailed off from the picture only to find himself staring at the other pictures Gloria and the others had taken. A few had Stefano, a huge grin on his face while he was ready for launch in the cannon, as well as Marty who had a determined, if not serious, look on his face beside him. The zebra's green eyes had a somewhat glint in them, as if this was his destiny. To be part of the flock as Alex remembered his friend telling him. He chuckled lightly and turned back up.

He was now staring at the cieling. He had to keep his mind occupied, make it tire and finally say: 'Hey Alex! Let's go to sleep, mm 'kay?' though that may not be as easy as it had sounded, sadly. He wished it was, though. He was starting to get really relly annoyed. If he couldn't sleep nice, how the heck was he suppose to do a good job in doing their new act?

The cubs had helped them decide that they would do a sort of balancing act, before they set the fireworks and throw paint in red, white and blue. That was only the beginning, but he still needed for the rest fo the Circus animals to find American related things to put in the show. Obviously the American Circuses native would probably look down on them for being so stereotypical but they had four New Yorkers on their side. No one knew how to party like the New York Giants!

Then again, not all of the Circus animals were mean. Like Iggy and his family, they seemed really nice, even though his Circus instincts hounded at him like dogs, he saw that Safi had no real intention of hurting any of them. Still, why did he feel being watched everytime he was associated with them? Sometimes, he would catch different scents around the Circus, though he did not recognize any of them. Not one of them had smelled like Safi and her family, then he started to think deeply about his trust issues.

Vitaly had some big time, so it did not surprise him that Vitaly had been a bit... hostile. I mean, sure, his tail had been pulled and he couldn't help but laugh to himself when he was alone, the sight was simply comical within itself. That white tigress pulling his tail while Rita pulled his legs, and the cub would yell at them to pull harder, all the while making Vitaly yell in pain. Vitaly. Sure, he was really frightened of the tiger, now more than ever since Vitaly had always protected Gia in a sort of brotherly manner, and would do anything to protect her.

Alex blinked as a thought occured to him. As far as he knew, Vitaly still disliked him in a way, and the way he treated the idea of them being together only proved his idea even further. All those failed attempts at kissing... what if Vitaly was behind it all? What if they were being spied on one at a time by the others because Vitaly told them so? After all, he was kinda like the real boss of the Circus. The only one who overruled Alex in decision-making was his three friends plus Vitaly, Gia, and probably Stefano if the Sea Lion had actually once disagreed in his ideas.

Shaking his head, he laid his head on his arms as they bended back to give his head a pillow-like lift. He crossed one leg over the other and started to make a tune. Boy was he so bored right now. He closed his eyes in the faint hope that he will feel sleepy but as his ear twitched he heard someone walking by his car. In alert, he sat upright and quietly walked over to his door, where he silently slid it open to peek.

He blinked rapidly when he saw a pale lioness sniffing about in the grounds. She sniffed the ground, looked up, sniffed the ground again, then looked around. As she did, her eyes met his and the meeting was brief as she started to slowly walk away. He got out, not midning to close the door and ran after her. She was on high alert now. As she ran, Alex could feel his inner instincts kick in and he found himself on all fours, as was she, and he was quick to keep up.

He jumped, landing on her and using a kick flip his father taught him in Africa and pinned the lioness down. "Who are you?" he question. "Why are you sneaking around my Circus?". Jeez, he sounded alot like Vitaly now. The lioness tried to push him off but sighed in defeat. She looked at him with intense hazel eyes.

"My name's Grace. I just came here to, ah-" she paused, at loss for words before smiling sweetly. "I came here to see where my pet lizard has gone- yeah! His name's Rolando, Rolly for short, and he always likes to go out, I was just following his scent!" She was lyring and they both knew it.

"Look, Grace, whoever you are, you're just lucky I caught you and my friend, Vitaly didn't. He's not so kind to people trespassing on here, I'm giving you a warning to leave quikly" he let go of the lioness but did the exact opposite of what she was told. She merely sat in front of him and circled, eyeing every detail.

"You're a handosme lion. Where did you come from?" Alex flushed a bit.

"I'm from New York. And it's Alex. Alex, like, New York Knicks" he replied. Grace fluttered her eyelashes and flashed a winning smile.

"Alex? What a great name for a great lion. New York you say? I've only been there once, but it is a marvolous place!"

"Uhm... thanks" Alex said, trying to edge away from a starstruck Grace who kept leaning towards him, coming closer and closer. "But, it's late, and I need to go back" Grace's face fell and she pouted.

"Why? Am I not good enough for you?' she said sadly, holding his muzzle. Alex's face was a deep scarlet now.

"Uhhhh..."

"I'm better than that Jaguar girl you hang around with. You need someone of your own kind to hang around with. To laugh and love. I know you don't know me, Alex, but I know you. I know what exactly you have and want and I got it" she smiled. Alex was at loss for words. A lioness he barely knew, heck barely met, was actually flirting with him. She wasn't even flirting! She was more like demanding why he liked Gia more than her and he barely knew her.

"Look. I don't know who the heck you are, and you have no right to say that I don't belong with Gia-"

"So that's her name?" the lioness growled, flickering her tail in his nose. She turned away and crossed her arms. "So nothing I can do can change your mind?" she asked, dangerously calm. Alex felt torn for some reason. He didn't want to start problems with this girl, he barely knew her, and it might stregthen hatred between his Circus and hers, whoever it was. Alex finally shook his dead.

"Sorry. I don't know you, and I know that, for whatever reason, you like me but I love Gia. She is the only girl I will ever show my own... er... advances to. And you may think you know me, but you don't. And don't even think about getting close to her or I will eat your heart out!" Alex warned and walked away. Grace smiled to herself.

"Wow. Loyal, brave and good-looking" she turned her head to see Alex walking back to his car. Eat her heart out? "You already did" she smiled before running off.

0O0

Well, I gotta say I really really really like this Chapter. More or so because of the dreams and a bit of Alex and Grace there. So, you likey? Let me explain this Chapter in a way I have never done before:

Saffy's dream was an insight as to why she hates her grandfather. I originally wanted this to be in the last Chapter, but I was sleepy and didn't want to add more so, yeah. But anyways, Saffy believes that the hoop causes Tiger's to lose their sense and her proof is her grandfather and what she was witness to. Her mother became blind and lost an eye, which caused her days in the Circus to be numbered and she was quickly given away to the Zoo. Saffy lost her family, she lost her innocence too. So she's a bit tempered whenever her grandfather is mentioned of. If some naiive enough to call hi a "good" tiger, heh, prepare for the rant of your life.

I wanted to do another flashback scene for Vitaly, because I miss doing those and it has been a while since the last one. This one was was totally unplanned, and I never planned to make it that way. Just goes to show you what Kelly Clarksoon's song Because of You does to your writing XD Anyways, when the movie (Specifically Stefano) stated that Vitaly's wife ran off after his incident, I would have bet that the fans of Vitaly, as well as the movie, will depict her as a B***h and a heartless crone. I've done something different that will hopefully make you guys think. I made Irina into a tigress none of you would expect, even if Vitaly wouldn't have had his accident, she still would ahve ran off with Adui and her unborn cubs. It's not that she only loved him for his fame. KNowing this only breaks Vitaly's heart since he knew that either way, he would become broken. And judging by how he acted in the movie and how the other's depicted him before the accident, I tried to make him break in a most believable way as possible.

Hopefully, you guys will understand Irina's situation as well as Vitaly, because it will become very important later on. I added Grace and Alex's moment to actually give you guys a clear view of how I think/believe Grace would approach Alex. She thinks she's irresitable, so it comes like a brick wall when she realizes Alex doesn't want her but Gia. So now, seeing how faihtful and how honest and straightforward he was, she is more determined than ever to get him. So Grace will be seen flirting will Alex continually now that her mind is set. Gia may be present to see these fliritngs take place, whether they fail or give her the wrong impression *If You Know What I Mean* which will cause strain in Alex and Gia's forming relationship.

*PHEW* DONE! :D I love explaining about Chapters. You guys can comment on how the Liger cubs will look like XD They be so cute! Hopefully I have made you guys understand a bit more on the four Characters discussed here and that it actually makes sense. If it doesn't, I will be glad to tell you via PM, if you wish. But If I feel that I already explained a topic well enough, then I will merely emphasize on it. If you still don't get it after that, well, get someone else better than me to.

XD

-UzuriCasca :3

P.S. - This is Probably my longest Authors note EVAH! XD

P.S.S - I DARE you all to listen to this song on YouTube! It's called Crazy - Claudia Pavel!This fits what Grace thinks about Alex! It was playing on my shuffle list while I wrote their dialogue XDDDDDDDDDD