Chapter 14

Tigress opened her eyes slowly and yawned from the night's sleep. She turned herself onto her back and stretched her tired limbs. There was a slight grunt, making Tigress look up. Her head was resting on Felix' chest as he laid right next to the cave wall. How they had gotten there Tigress didn't know, but she figured Felix had brought her there to rest. The last thing Tigress remembered was pushing herself into a meditative state. There is a very fine line between meditation and sleep. Tigress figured she must've accidently crossed that without realizing.

Tigress turned back onto her side and snuggled into Felix's chest. As she turned, her foot hit a protruding rock and splintering pain shot through her leg. Tigress quickly sat up and undid the belt that was wrapped around her ankle. As she uncovered wrapping, each layer was getting redder and redder. Carefully, Tigress removed the last layer and grimaced. It looked like her ankle was crudely cut open and just as crudely sewn back together.

Tigress ran a finger along the edge of the gash and winced in pain. The cut was recent, if not done over night. She felt along her ankle, feeling the bone underneath, finding that the shattered bone underneath to be set back in place. The bones were still broken, but they were set in the position they were supposed to be. Someone had surgically realigned her bones and she never noticed. Tigress glanced at the belt and noticed a green tinge to the blood stained make-shift bandage. She took the belt and held it close to her nose and gave a tentative sniff. The scent that hit her was one that she knew belonged to a special herb, one used specifically for treating wounds.

Tigress looked at Felix's hands. They was no sign of him having operated on her leg, there was no blood on his fur or claws. That means someone else had did this for her…but who? She looked closer at the stitching and noticed that stitches weren't done with thread, but fur, more specifically, wolf fur…

"Lang…wake up…Lang!"

Slowly, Lang opened his eyes and yawned to find Mei Hu straddling his lap and hand on his chest, trying to shake him awake.

"Lang…you ok…? You look dead tired…" Mei Hu looked at him in concern. "When did you get back last night?"

"What are you talking about? I was always here? I just had trouble sleeping…that's all…" Lang said, stretching as much as he could with Mei Hu on top of him.

"Brother…I'm not stupid…you weren't here when I went to sleep…especially not on top of you…what were you doing out in the dead of night?"

Lang gave a heavy sigh and dug his hand into a pocket and pulled out a fold of cloth, handing it to Mei Hu. She unfolded it and found a green paste-like substance in it. She gave a small sniff at the paste.

"A medical herb? What are you doing with this?" Mei Hu asked.

"I made it last night…Thought it'd be helpful…" Lang said with a shrug. "Besides…I thought you could use some…after…"

Mei Hu blushed as she recalled the humiliating event that took place the day before. She and Lang had been searching for Tigress and Felix yesterday from on top of the trees. As they moved from tree to tree, one of the branches Mei Hu had landed on gave way when she settled on it and broke, making her fall and one of the protruding branches had left a deep gash on the upper half of her inner thigh. Having to sit through Lang stitching her up left her flustered for the rest of the day.

"T-thanks…I-I guess…" Mei Hu stuttered.

Lang smiled and pulled Mei Hu on top of him so that she was laying on him.

"L-Lang…! W-what are you-" A snore greeted her ears. Mei Hu tried to push herself up but Lang's grip on her was too strong, even when he was asleep. She blushed heavily as she found nothing else to do except to snuggle deeper into his grip. For someone like a brother to her that always liked to ride on her last nerve…Mei Hu could never see her life without him.

"Don't you ever sleep…?" Lie Bao watched as Xue Hu caught a fish that was swimming by his ankle.

"I don't need that much sleep…" Xue Hu said, as he stepped up onto the bank of the river. He skewered the fish with a thin tree branch and set it near a fire that he had made not long before, next to half a dozen others. "Where are the others?"

"Asleep…like you should be…"

"What about-"

"I'm on watch…" Lie Bao said, cutting Xue Hu off. She took leaned over Xue Hu and took the skewered fish from his hands. "Breakfast can wait…Lang and Mei Hu aren't even up…" She took the rest of the fish and wrapped them each in large sets of leaves to keep for later. "You need to rest…you've been working your tail off to find you're mother…you haven't slept for days…you deserve a rest…"

Reluctantly, Xue Hu allowed himself to be pulled away from the fire and forced to place his head in Lie Bao's lap. He shifted uncomfortably but was held in place by Lie Bao.

"You're not getting away, kitty…" Lie Bao giggled and scratched behind his ear.

"I'm not a kitten, Lie Bao…you don't have to baby me…" Xue Hu growled. By now he had given up on telling Lie Bao not to call him 'kitty'. At least the scratching felt good…

Lie Bao smiled and kissed him gently on the forehead. Xue Hu rolled onto his side, Lie Bao keeping him laying on her lap, and sighed. For someone almost twice as old as him, Lie Bao acted like a teenage girl sometimes. Being with her…will be harder than he had thought…