PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter VIII Part V

"Hey, so what body parts did you lose?" The large cat asked.

Dell looked at the beast. "... I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, right! My name's Tigger, super excited to meetcha!" The cat flexed again. Dell tried to ignore the furless stray hiding away from her and focused on the cat before her. "So, what's your name?"

"... It's Del- Jello, it's Jello." Dell was so caught up in her frustration, she nearly forgot the whole fake name business. Until then, it was like all she could think of was yanking the black cat's hair out. "So, what was that question earlier?" Dell asked.

"Oh! I asked what parts you lost, like when you were-"

Dell frowned, barking out an interruption. "I know that! Why are you asking me for that?"

Tigger looked upset, trying to salvage the conversation but failing. "O-Oh, you know, sports." Dell had a moment to calm down, more confused than ever. "Like, there was this dog named Holly who didn't have arms, and a nice dog named Luna without a leg. We had a quick convo and, it got me thinking- what sports can you play if you're missing pieces of yourself?"

"Well... that's just really macabre." Tigger did not know what macabre meant, and it was plain to see on her face. "But since you're asking, I lost an eye and every bone in my body broke," she said, glancing towards Coco's back when she finished.

"Woah, man, what sports could you play without any eyes?"

"... Is that seriously all you can think of? Can't you just not play sports, and just worry about Patches, or something like that?"

Tigger's legs went on autopilot, but the rest of her body locked up as she tried to process the paradoxical idea of "not playing sports."

"D-D-D-Oh no... Why did you say that?" the cat behind her asked. Dell looked at Tigger, watching as a butterfly landed on her eyeball, sat there, and then flew off without her flinching.

"Oh my Dog, what is wrong with her?"

"D-D-Dog?!" Felix painfully hissed out, looking around in a panic, before seemingly calming down by taking deep breaths. "N-N-No, dogs are f-friends, they aren't going to h-hurt you..." He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself down with practiced technique after Dell had just pushed the 'Dog' button, "a-at least most of them don't... P-Please, d-don't say that word, it's sc-sc-not nice to hear."

Right on cue, Whisk pondered aloud. "I wonder if that dog's actually the killer in disguise!" His poor taste in comedy earned a frightful cower from Felix, an eye roll from Dell, and a harsh tug of the ear from his sibling.

"Hey hey hey!" he complained, wincing at the pain in his ear. He wormed his way out of his sibling's grip, looking perturbed and rubbing his poor appendage. "OW! What the hell was that for?"

"Whisk, please keep an eye out..." Mitt said, an edge to their voice.

"I-I just wanted to cheer you up, Mitt."

"Look, I appreciate the attempt, but please. We have better things to focus on right now. The sooner we find Patches, the sooner we can be done with this." They gritted their teeth and squeezed their eyes shut. "If you want to cheer me up, just listen to me, okay?"

Whisk looked off to the side, distancing himself from his sibling with shame-ridden eyes.

"Oh! Tug of war is totally a sport you can do without eyes! Not sure about anything else, but sports are still fair game!" Tigger exclaimed, posing triumphantly.