Disclaimer's: Who here thinks I should stop trying to be funny with these and just write I don't own it? If you think I should stop being a comedian, write it in a review and tell me... On with the fic!

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"Race," I gasped out. It wasn't any louder than a whisper, and Race didn't even turn around.

"Race!" There, a full-fledged, panicky, call. Perfect.

Race turned around fast and dropped into a cat stance. He was looking past me at whoever had me by the throat. Jonny, Hadji, and Dr. Quest were also looking. I couldn't see any of the people behind me, though.

Stop worrying about who's looking at you and worry about getting your throat slit open. I told myself. They won't kill me yet, the irrational thought came to me, Serd won't know my name if they kill me. By the time this summer is over, I'll be ready for the insane asylum...

Race was talking, "Lorenzo, let the girl go."

Lorenzo... yeah, that's one of Serd's henchmen, all right...

His response? He tightened his grip. I could feel the knife getting way too close to my bare skin for comfort....

"Race!" I said again. He gave me a look that stated "Keep your cool, we'll get you out of this." Yeah, right...

Lorenzo seemed to think that my screaming wasn't such a good idea, either. The knife went closer and this time, drew the faintest bit of blood, "Shut up."

Fine, have it your way, but if I'm going to die, I will not die without a dramatic scream first! Positive thinking has just gone down the porcelain pee hole. Then I did a rather dumb thing...

"Could you not dig that in so close. I'm assuming Serd wants us or at least me alive, or you would've killed me right away," I said, "And that knife's cold."

Jonny shot me a look like, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" So did Lorenzo, apparently, because Race shot me a look of warning.

" I said shut up!" Lorenzo said.

"FINE!" No sense of humor....

I suddenly noticed something. On the cartoon, a distraction is usually everyone's cue to try to get closer or attack. They were doing neither of these things and my throat was cut. Not a deadly cut, granted, but still, a little help would be nice . I decided to shut up and wait patiently (for now).

Things were getting boring (if you can say that any time while a knife is in your throat could be boring...). Race says Lorenzo should let me go; Lorenzo says no. Enough talking! Rescue me!

Hadji was giving me a look like I should know what to do, but I didn't. It's not like I have knives up against my throat every day, you know!

Then, I was moving. Or rather, I was being moved.

"RACE!" I yelled. I was very worried now. No one was moving to come help me! I was going to die. Yes, that's right, I was actually going to die. Maybe not right away, but once Serd got me, yeah, I was going to die.

Where were they taking me? It's not like another jet or something could've landed nearby without us knowing it. And why did they only send 1 henchmen? There had to be backup somewhere....

Now everyone was moving. They were all slowly closing in. Thank God.... And here's the backup!

"Julia, take the girl," Lorenzo said. He handed me to a tall lady with a gun. Not good, those kill you faster than a knife. Another weapon is being used to try to kill me. Do you see a pattern here?

Lorenzo and the rest of the "elite militia" was going after Jonny and company. Julia wasn't as strong as Lorenzo, but I didn't feel like getting shot, so now was not the time to struggle...

Then, as I watched everyone start fighting martial arts style, an incredible calm floated over me. It was the same calm that had come when I was in India with the gun pointed at me. Then, I had wished to be home; Now, I had a new wish: to be numb. I didn't want to feel any of this. This state is known as shock.

Time to escape. Mentally, of course. Waters ripple and flow... There was that song again. I flowed away on the lullaby.

Then, it hit me. This was why Hadji had been shooting me looks. If I could go deep enough, I could (hopefully) call Rishi and maybe a few more tigers. Here goes...

Searching... There were a lot of animal minds to go through out there. Fortunately, I fund Rishi rather quickly.

Hello, it's me. I need your help. You can eat people now if you want, I promise. Bring some friends, too. There are lots of people to eat. HURRY!

I stayed in the trance, searching for more animals who responded to my voice. I sent the same message out. Not bad. This was better than the telephone. I just hope it works...

I watched everyone fighting, still out of it. We seemed to be doing OK. None of my friends were dead or anything. Then, I heard the best sound on Earth: a roar. I think the cavalry's here!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 tigers and 3 eagles. Not bad. Hey everyone, look what I can do! They stopped and looked at me.

Who do we attack? The puzzled voice came from almost every animal there.

You remember my friends from earlier? The ones you couldn't eat? Get the people who are attacking them and the one on me! I screamed.

The result was immediate. The 3 eagles and 6 of the tigers went after everyone else while Rishi came to my rescue. He put on an enormously good show of roaring at Julia and as he leapt, she dropped me and backed up. Rishi kept going.

"Stop!" I yelled as she raised the gun up at him, "Get away from her NOW!" I got to my feet as he leapt.

Orange fire sparked from the muzzle of the gun. My tiger fell in midair.

"NO!" I screamed. The other tigers, alerted by the gun and my screams dropped the bloody people they were attacking and came running. I could see Lorenzo and 2 henchmen running for the woods. The rest were dead. Race came running towards me as Julia raised her gun again.

Click, click. No bullets. I could've cared less.

Rishi! I said. The other tigers stared at me, trying to see what to do now.

Rishi's big golden eyes held mine as the light faded out of them.

Forgive me. I whispered. He didn't answer. He was gone.

The other tigers stared at me as I cried. They understood their leader was dead. They just didn't know why I was upset.

He is well in the Beyond. Another tiger said, Do not mourn for him. He died nobly.

He died for me, I whispered, I cry because of that.

I knew him well. He was my mate. the tiger said, He would not want you to cry, little one.

Her name is Sashi, the thought came to me. Their cubs are Keshava, Sabre, Lanfear, Moghedian, Rand, De-aja, and Kimmi. They don't have a father now.. The thoughts wouldn't go away. I could tell the thoughts were from the other tigers' minds. I couldn't unlink to them. I was to tired to try. I just held Rishi's body and stroked his fur. He was such a good tiger...

"Cayla!" I could hear Hadji saying something, "We must leave now, before they can regroup. Unlink, please hurry!"

"Move!" I heard Jessie yell, "This isn't the time for guys!"

"We don't have time for anything!" Jonny yelled, "We have to go now!"

I could feel Jessie's arm around my shoulder, "You should let him go," she said, "I'm sure his friends want to take him home and pay the proper respect to him."

I looked at the other tigers, Take him home. Do whatever you do to honor him. I'm so sorry for all of this. The males dragged Rishi's body away and the females followed, growling quietly. Maybe it was a funeral song...

"Cayla," Jessie said, "Unlink. Give them some privacy."

I slowly let go of the trance and the tigers' voices faded from my mind. I got up and shook off Jessie's arm. I walked over to the jet and climbed in, "Race," I said shakily, "I want to go home now, please." He nodded.

Everyone got into the jet and we took off. I could tell they were all worried about me, but I didn't care. I just wanted to go home...

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Well, how was that? You like? A slight tissue warning, but, what can you do? REVIEW, please. Ja ne! The Management