Welcome! Today, we wrap up Native Son and move on to The Pit- who's excited for Pumyra?! [Insert ominous chuckling.] Anyway... enjoy!
Big, powdery flakes of snow greeted them as they stepped out of the cave and back onto the mountainside. A dozen or so yards away, Snowmeow was digging in the snow. Leopara pressed her shoulder against Lion-O briefly, then continued on towards Snowmeow. Understanding her intent despite her lack of words, Lion-O nodded and began scouring the snow for tracks other than hers or Snowmeow's.
The felyne was fine, which was a huge relief to Leopara. She hadn't even thought about him last night when the demons were attacking them. She felt guilty for that, but she'd just have to get over it. They were being chased by creatures that could only truly be harmed by the pure radiance of the sun and sun magics.
"Hey, boy." Leopara greeted him. His head popped up and his tail swished happily. Leopara paused. "Oh… did you go hunting last night?" she asked, eyeing the reddish stains on his blue fur.
"Rrow!" Snowmeow chuffed. He continued digging, burying what Leopara now recognised as a carcass of some-sort. The stench of it finally wafted towards her. Leopara wrinkled her nose, glad it was neither a sunny nor warm day.
She stepped in closer to pet his shoulder and side. She expanded her senses to him, just to sense any injuries. Satisfaction coursed through Snowmeow, and relief washed through her. "I take it you didn't see any of those demons last night?"
"Rrrow?"
Leopara smiled. "I didn't think so."
From behind her, Lion-O murmured, "Strange."
She turned to look back. Lion-O frowned at the snow, sweeping his eyes over the mountainside in view.
And from behind him, she saw Tygra approaching. "I had a long talk with Jav- my father." he corrected himself. "Maybe this can be a home for me after all."
Leopara wanted to be happy for him, but instead she frowned. Before she could ask, What about Cheetara? Our mission? or What about the Ancient Spirits of Evil and the demons, Tygra? Lion-O spoke up. "Take a look at this, Tygra. Those creatures that attacked us last night, I searched for their tracks leaving the village." Lion-O looked around again. "I couldn't find any."
"Snow covers things. Like tracks, for instance. What's your point?" Tygra asked.
Lion-O shrugged, holding his hands up as he did so. "Haven't you noticed no one ever leaves the village? Not to hunt or forage. We haven't even seen them eat."
"You saw those monsters. I would stay close to the village too."
Leopara stopped beside them both. "The demons are probably in the village." she interrupted them. "They're bound here for a reason; they're not going to go far. Something is very wrong here, and we should all be careful."
This was not what Tygra wanted to hear.
He bristled, glaring at them both. "I've spent my whole life never quite belonging. Now, I find my home, and neither of you can even be happy for me." he accused them.
"What about Cheetara, Tygra?" Leopara asked, gesturing down the mountain. If he wouldn't listen to reason about demons and his own father's admission to treating with the Ancient Spirits of Evil, perhaps the reminder he had a mate would snap him out of it. "Do you really think she'd be happy here?"
Tygra was quiet, with an expression that grew increasingly worrisome for her liking. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." he said bitterly, turning and walking away from them.
Leopara and Lion-O both stood there, stunned. "What?" she finally blurted, well after Tygra had already disappeared down the tunnel. "What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure…" Lion-O's brows furrowed. "There's something we're not seeing."
Before Leopara could smartly retort, "There's a lot we're not seeing," Lion-O grasped the hilt of the Sword of Omens. She hushed herself and reigned in her impatience- words could not emphasise enough just how viscerally she did not want to be here… but at the same time, how compelled she felt now to unravel the Tiger Clan's mysteries.
"Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight." Lion-O held the Eye of Thundera level with his eye-line. Its eye opened, a thin black pupil slicing through the red of the War Stone and then widening. Lion-O's blue eyes glowed brightly with the gem as the blade's guard grew and curled around to frame his face. A moment passed, two. "It can't be."
"What is it?" Leopara asked.
Lion-O lowered the blade, looking troubled. "You were right- the demons are hiding in the village."
"He must not know the truth, Lion-O." Javan's voice startled both of them, coming from behind them. Leopara's heart lept to her throat with a burst of icy adrenaline as they whipped around to face him. Towering over them, Javan bore a severe expression. "You don't understand how it is for a father."
"He may be your son, but he's my brother." Lion-O stood firmly, meeting Javan's green gaze with a fierce expression of his own.
Javan closed his eyes with a soft sigh. "Very well. It began shortly after the time Tygra was born. Everything changed. Disease swept through our village." he began explaining. "More were dying everyday. It was clear to me we had to seek help or risk extinction- but my council felt differently. They convinced me to reach out to the Ancient Spirits who had guided and protected our ancestors." At this, Javan paused for several long moments.
Leopara glanced between Lion-O, whose vision she still did not know, and Javan. "They wanted something in exchange?" she ventured. There was always a cost with the Ancient Spirits of Evil.
"Yes. One life for many…" Javan turned his eyes up towards the dazzling peaks of ice, glinting cruelly in the sunlight like jagged spikes. "I was to take Tygra to the highest peak of the mountains and… I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my son- so I set him adrift amongst the winds with only his name and a wish that he would live." Javan returned his attention to them. "When the Ancient Spirits discovered my betrayal, they put a curse on us."
Lion-O shook his head. "And only by taking Tygra's life will the curse be broken." Alarm jolted through her as the pieces came together. The tigers were the demons. And they were letting Tygra walk around alone with them-
"The real curse for the Tigers has been pride. We've never been able to overcome it." Javan lowered his arms to his side. "Take your brother and leave before sunset. For my sake, he must never learn the truth."
Lion-O glanced down, looking troubled.
"How are we going to get Tygra to leave?" Leopara spread her arms out. "You heard him earlier. He didn't even care about Cheetara." The thought still shocked her. He loved her. Or he was supposed to.
Lion-O clenched his jaw before working it loose. "I don't know."
Leopara dropped her arms to her side. Looking around the village unsettled her anew. Each tiger she looked at was another demon that would try to tear them- tear Tygra- apart come sunset, if they even bothered to wait for their transformation. The anguish she had sensed, the souls pressing against her mind- the spectral pain of her body being torn apart just as the dusk fell. It was from them. It was their pain.
A pang of sympathy coursed through her. No matter how much she disapproved of their pact with the Ancient Spirits of Evil, no one deserved the curse that was unleashed on them.
"There has to be another way to end it." Leopara murmured aloud.
Lion-O paused on the path leading to the Chieftain's Hall. "We're going to just have to trust Javan."
She sighed begrudgingly. He'd betrayed his clan once for Tygra. But could they really trust him to do so for a second time, when they were trapped eternally living a nightmare because of it?
He looked down at the floor, expression disappointed. Knowing what she knew, Leopara didn't dare open her senses for a third time. Instead, she reached out for his hand and squeezed it gently. Saddened notes of his emotions filtered to her through their touch. "It's not fair." Lion-O said. "We finally find where Tygra comes from, and he meets his father… why did it have to be like this?" He squeezed her hand. "I really want him to be happy. And if things were different… I really think he could have been happy here." Leopara scooted closer, offering him comfort with her presence. "And he won't even know why. Can I really lie to him?" A knot of guilt and conflict rose in his chest. "What should I do, Leopara?"
His eyes held a plea for reassurance when he looked up at her.
Leopara took a deep breath and thought about it. It would be easy to say, "You're doing the right thing, Lion-O. You're just trying to protect your brother." Just the thought of the words tasted like ash on her tongue. Unable to hold his gaze, she looked away.
"Honestly?" she asked.
"Honestly." Lion-O confirmed without hesitation.
Grief that she rarely felt anymore welled up inside her chest. "My sister never told me what happened to our parents." She was a cub at the time, not a fully grown cat like Tygra, but it had torn a rift between her and Leoparis nonetheless. "I don't know if they just got tired of having two daughters or if they loved us, and leaving us behind was beyond their control. And then she just gave me up when Jaga found me. She never wrote, never visited… and I don't know why."
Lion-O listened quietly, trying to contain his confusion.
"What I'm trying to say, Lion-O… is it feels awful not understanding what you did wrong, why you weren't good enough for them- why your family wasn't there for you. It's the kind of pain that stays with you." Leopara rubbed her arm, still looking away.
"I… didn't know you had a sister."
Leopara shook her head. "That's not important right now, Lion-O." She looked him in the eyes. "She made a choice to withhold information from me because she thought it would spare my feelings, but it didn't. I wish I knew the truth… and Tygra will, too."
Lion-O slid his gaze away, contemplating her words.
The doors to the Chieftain's hall slammed open, startling Leopara. She snatched her hand away from Lion-O in a jerky movement, feeling oddly guilty- as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been.
Tygra stomped out of the room, shoulders tense, body stiff, and the darkest glower she had witnessed yet.
"What happened?" Lion-O asked, just as surprised as her.
"We're leaving." Tygra said. His gaze didn't waver, staying straight ahead.
She barely got to share a glance with Lion-O as he passed them when the familiar voice of Caspin called out. "Tygra!" Tygra paused, looking back with a hardened expression. Caspin stood behind them, adorned in a brown cloak with its hood drawn. Deep shadows obscured his face. Warily, Leopara took a half step closer to Tygra, reaching for her staff. "I've a message from your father."
Tygra took a step forward, bumping his chest into her arm. "I heard his message." he said sourly.
"Oh, I don't think you've heard this one." Caspin said with a grin she could hear.
While Lion-O and Tygra were still trying to puzzle out his meaning, she drew her staff and thrust it forward just in time for her barrier to burst to life- and completely blocked the tiger who tried to descend on them- on Tygra- from above. "I don't think so!" she cried. With a grunt, the tiger bounced off the rippling surface and landed hard on the stone floor. She released the barrier, swinging her staff with a powerful burst of wind that blew him and Caspin backwards off of their feet.
A sharp clink! sound from behind her had her whipping around. A third assassin had slipped past her notice and struck Tygra. His whip clattered out of his hand and onto the ground as he collapsed.
And then, even faster than she could react, Javan swept by. With his curved blade, he danced like a flurry, fending off the attacks of the three and driving them back. He whirled on Caspin, focusing his attention on him now that the other two were laughably spent and-
Leopara gasped with shock as Javan charged forward and buried his blade in Caspin's ribs. Caspin cried with pain as Javan ripped the blade from him, the small hook at its end tearing more of his flesh out- but cursed as they were, not a single drop of blood spilled from Caspin's body.
"It didn't have to be this way." Javan murmured, voice heavy with regret.
Caspin nonetheless held his wound as he struggled to stay sitting up on his knees. Sweat immediately began beading on his fur and his arm shook. "It was the only way. You betrayed your own clan." His voice grew even raspier. "You alone brought this curse down upon us… and your son will still die."
The three tigers- Leopara supposed she just hadn't noticed one of them- approached from the other side of them. They glanced warily at them while Javan kept his gaze steady on Caspin. Groaning, Caspin managed to raise his head to look Javan in the eyes.
"Then they'll have to go through me first."
Caspin scoffed. "They won't have to." With a final groan, he collapsed.
Javan looked at them. "You three are in grave danger. These creatures have no conscience, no remorse."
"What's going on, Father. What are you hiding?"
"Tell him, Javan, or I will." Lion-O said, stepping forward. Leopara kept hold of her staff, watching for the tigers to either attack or… begin transforming into their demonic forms. Either way, she knew where this was going, and her barrier would be needed.
Javan looked down and away from his son. "My actions have turned me into a monster. I pray you can forgive me."
What little sunlight lit the cavern vanished. Darkness descended upon them, heralding the night. The three tigers slumped to the floor, their bodies and cloaks morphing into a blob of blackness, from which the purple-skinned, yellow-eyed demons emerged. Javan's face twisted with pain and discomfort as he fought it, clutching at his body.
But dark mist writhed around him, too. He fell to one knee, and the shadows began to take hold.
"Father!" Tygra cried with a half-step forward. Lion-O held his arm out to stop him from moving any closer.
Javan's body twisted and mutated- but his cloak did not. When his demonic form stood, it was taller and bulkier than any others they had seen yet, with his lordly cloak draped over his purple body. Tufts of white hair from his regal beard clung to his face in a horrible, long mutton-chop style. He snarled at them, eyes filled with nothing but the will to end his son's life. All their lives.
The demons began creeping in from all around the cavern, closing in on them.
The hearth erupted in purple flames. A chorus of bone-chilling voices spoke in unison. "Kill them."
With a cacophony of shrieks that paled in comparison to Javan's demonic yowl, the demons surged forward for the kill. Leopara swept her barrier forward, using it to bludgeon a swathe of the demons. She swung it around to the other side, bowling a few more over- those that Tygra's whip hadn't yet struck. On the other side, Lion-O swiped at the demons with the Sword of Omens.
They kept them at bay for a few moments. Just a few moments.
Then, Javan charged through, grasping Tygra and barreling through their defenses and across the room to shove him against the wall. Without Tygra's bola-whip lashing out at the demons, they quickly pressed in. It was all Leopara could do to thrust out her barrier as one lept on her. The barrier repelled it, but more swarmed her, wailing hard on the watery surface. Ripples from the force shuddered through the barrier, with droplets dripping down onto her face. She pushed harder, praying to the gods that her magic would hold up against the onslaught.
Lion-O let out a cry as he, too, was dragged down by the demons. The alarm that jolted through her- the pure shot of panic- was all it took for her barrier to shatter. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as her eyes landed on him, buried under three demons, claws raised.
"No!" she cried. Her hand flew off her staff pushing forth a burst of magic towards Lion-O.
A small flicker of light that burst in their small area. The demons hissed and shrieked, scattering away from them. Leopara scrambled to him, looking down at him. He stared up at her in shock. But her attention couldn't stay on him; the demons circled warily a small distance from them, watching them like prey.
"I know… you did what you did… out of love. I… forgive you." Tygra rasped.
She, and the demons too, turned her head to look at him and Javan. Despite being transformed as a demon, Javan slowly released Tygra's throat and stepped back. Shadows began writhing on his form once more, and the Ancient Spirits of Evil cried out, "No! It cannot be!"
But it was.
Javan's body slowly morphed back into that of himself- and so too did the demons prowling around her and Lion-O.
"NO!"the spirits boomed. The purple flames of the hearth squirmed and danced, writhing in the air as if in agony. They curled more and more into a ball, rumbling, before bursting in an explosion of light and low-pitched screams. Flickers lingered and swished in the air before finally dying, leaving only the orange, steadily burning hearth.
Javan stared down at his hands with an expression of disbelief. "You did it." he murmured. "You broke a curse born of pride through an act of humility. Perhaps if I'd been able to do the same, we'd still be together."
"We're together now." Tygra said. Leopara's heart hurt for him. "That's all that matters."
Grief clearly weighed heavily on Javan, sagging his shoulders from its sheer enormity. "I'm afraid it's not to be."
"I don't understand."
Lion-O stepped forward. "It's how they survive without food or water. When the spirits cursed you, they must have allowed the disease back into the village." Javan looked down. "My guess is… there were no survivors."
"What are you saying?" Tygra took a half-step back with shock and disbelief. "You're all dead?"
"Not dead, not alive. Some place in between. That was the real curse." Javan looked up, smiling at his son. "But you have released us, Tygra. We can go home now. Always remember, son." He clasped Tygra's shoulders. "You are a Tiger. I will be watching you with pride."
It was all the three of them could do to stand in place and witness as Javan began to slowly stride away. As he passed by each gathered tiger, they glowed white- the most gentle and peaceful feeling washing over Leopara, tangling with grief that welled up. As Javan reached the hearth, he stopped and looked back at his son. With a final smile, he glowed at last, before fading away forever.
Tygra blinked tears from his eyes and strode forward to the place his father had stood, looking down on the last thing left of him- the handle of a bola-whip. He knelt and picked it up, gazing at it with sorrow. "Tell me something, Lion-O, is it my destiny to always lose the things I care most about?"
Lion-O placed his hand on Tygra's shoulder. "You aren't gonna lose me, brother."
Tygra looked up, eyes watering. He smiled, unable to speak.
"Now… let's find that pass."
Thank you all so much for reading! You all rock! A special thanks to AndrianaWarrior7, The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, and Hestia28 (ask and you shall recieve *wink*)! Can you guys believe we're going to be on episode 19 next week? Only six episodes left before "Season Two!"