FINTAIL

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

But that wasn't the whole point. The female imagined finding Speck would be easy, but not even she could see through the thick haze of jungle, let alone sniff out an odor. She figured dismissing Riptide would be the more viable option. Then again, it would be foul to leave her brother with nothing to work with. So she replied: "He might be by the river."

"The river?"

"Yes!" she chirped. "That is usually his safe space to sulk around if things ever turn south."

The green longsnout frowned at first. His pointed snout grazed over his right shoulder to peek upon the churning emerald forest before returning to Cora, perplexed. "How do you know more about that than I do?"

"Oh, he doesn't tell any of us," Cora grinned a toothy grin, "but I just know. I'm observant. He always has that leafy musk on him whenever he travels there. At some point, things become predictable."

Riptide sighed. "Hrrr... Right."

Cora's eyes lit up. That sigh was just enough to provoke an upheaval of worry into the female's dear soul. I sensed it, too — there was something in Riptide's voice that felt off. For Cora, it was natural to recognize the emotions of any male, and not soon after she saw the sudden doubt flood over Riptide's face was she quick to question it.

"Did... something happened?" she asked. Riptide growled, both claws folding — right over left — and huffed out a breath of steam. He was hesitant. Worrisome, too. Cora could smell his uneasiness rising like the smoke of a volcano, and quickly draped her tail over her brother's, urging him to speak. It worked somewhat — had it not been drenched with mud, maybe he would've appreciated her kindness more. Rumbling quietly, Riptide stared into her bright eyes for a second of solidarity, exhaled, then glanced away.

"Do you think I'm being too hard on him?"

"On who? Speck?" Cora blinked in surprise. "Trust me, you're the last sibling who's gotten on his bad side. It's Fossil and Jagger who are the problem."

"It's not just that..." Riptide fumbled over the words. "Ever since... father died, and mother stopped... helping, I-" He sucked another round of air through his teeth. "I've... tried to help him grow out of his scales. And after what happened today, I feel like I am just forcing him back into it."

"What-" Cora stopped short, her snout wrinkling upward with shock. "You made him spar again? With Fossil?"

Riptide groaned wordlessly, lowering further into his sister's shadow. "It... sounded like a good idea. At first."

"Curse the stars." Cora's turquoise jaws tightened. "I am not the one to judge decisions in our pack, but this was perhaps the worst. He may be the same age as us, but he's still our little brother. And throwing him into the pit like that, especially with Fossil!"

"I know, I know." The longsnout pushed the blunt, scaly end of his claws against his snout, trying not to reveal his building embarrassment. "Kafra, I wasn't thinking straight, Cora. I keep making things worse..."

And then her heart sank. As did Cora's streaking blue tail, which now drooped alongside every being of her crippled confidence. She was always close to Riptide; their conversations and inner spirits were as equal to the blood running deep within their veins. Cora was his shoulder angel, as he would be to hers. But hearing him degrade himself before her very eyes frightened her more than anything ever had. She didn't know what to do. Or what to say. Or how to resolve this hopeless challenge that burned a grave into Riptide's heart. And, as his younger sister, she felt it, too.

She could hear his heartbeat slowing and caught his grey eyes sinking even lower to the earth. The energy within was dissipating faster than the smile on his snout, and he sounded less level-headed than he used to be.