The Blazing Sun

Chapter 13

Tiger's POV

"We can stop here, Amber," Tiger chirped.
Amber nodded, "Great idea."
Tiger led his tribemates to a large slab of rock—big enough to hold the whole tribe.
All the cheetahs tiredly gathered on top of the slab. Tiger did as well, as he slumped next to his littermates, taking in the cool feeling of the rock.
Tiger then got up and padded up to a few Claws, "Sabel, Spot, Grey, can you three scout around the area for danger?"
The older Claws nodded, then padded off of the rock. Tiger stretched his sore muscles, and lay next to his littermates.
"I don't think we should stay here long," Shadow abruptly meowed.
Tiger looked up from licking one of his rough pads, "Why not?"
Shadow looked tense, his whiskers were twitching. "I just, have a feeling."
"What do you mean?" Basil yawned, "It's quite comfortable here. And it looks like the Long Claws are enjoying their time, as well as the cublings."
Tiger glanced around and spotted the Long Claws sharing tongues, and Honey's newest litter playing around.
"I don't know. It must be nothing," Shadow sighed and rested his head on his paws.
"Don't worry, Shadow," Tiger chirped, "We'll leave first thing in the morning. For now, let's just gain our strength for tomorrow."
Shadow nodded, then closed his eyes. After a few heartbeats, Tiger heard Shadow's breathing become steady, as he snored silently. Tiger then closed his eyes as well, and fell asleep.

A loud roar startled Tiger, as he stirred, and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to get rid of the sleep in his eyes. Shadow and Basil were hissing and growling towards a direction in the far left. Tiger shook his head, and strained to see against the bright sunlit area. In dismay, he could make out three ginormous lions, their teeth the size of a rabbit!
"Fight!" Smokey's cry rang throughout the whole tribe, as war rippled throughout the whole terrain. Tiger gnashed his teeth as he raced to one of the lions and jumped onto its back. The lion growled and shook itself, causing Tiger to lose his grip. He fell to the ground, and before he could get trampled by the lion, Tiger extended his claws and raked the snout of the beast. It roared, but used its weight to make Tiger lose his balance. The lion's huge paws slammed next to Tiger's head, as Tiger cowered below the gigantic predator. Saliva drooled from its mouth, as it let out a ferocious roar. Fortunately, as its teeth came near Tiger's neck, he got yanked back from behind.
Tiger whipped around and saw Shadow, bleeding almost everywhere.
Tiger flicked his ears as a thank you, unable to speak over the loud commotion. Shadow understood, and flicked his ears in return. Then he leaped back into battle.
Tiger turned, moving his tail like a whip, as he snarled, waiting for the lion to attack. It did, and slammed his huge forepaws on Tiger's back. Tiger squealed, and bit hard on its paw, making the lion disoriented. While it was backing away, Tiger shook his head and growled. We can't win this today, Tiger hissed to himself, Us cheetahs aren't made to fight, but hunt and defend.
"Fall back!!" Tiger yowled as loud as he could for every cheetah to hear. They did, and followed his orders. They raced away from the lions, jumped over the slabs of rock, and raced into the long prairie grass as cover. Tiger reluctantly trailed after his tribemates, feeling the guilt of leaving a battle that had not yet been finished.
Tiger sprinted up next to his littermates. They both were bleeding bad. He was sure that he looked the same.
When they ran a great distance, to the point that the lions weren't seen, the tribe slowed to a steady trot, as Amber led the group to a small cave.
"We will stop here and regain our strength," Amber panted. She walked up to the cave, and before she could set paw on the stone, a snake slithered out and hissed loudly. Amber backed away abruptly, as she blended with the tribe.
"What are we going to do?" Basil whimpered.
"Well, we can't stay here for sure," Tiger chirped with dismay.
Amber then padded up to them and meowed, "Bad luck has come upon the tribe. What do you three think we should do, 'vision-dreamers'?"
    Tiger's mind worked furiously, as he desperately tried to find a solution. However, he couldn't think of one, "I don't.... know."
    Amber had a blank expression, but soon brightened up, "It's okay. You three have helped enough. I think we will just find a clearing to sleep on."
    "I'm so sorry," Tiger mewed.
    "No, no. I am leader of the Savannah tribe. I must find a way." Amber padded away, and started a conversation with Smokey.
    "We let her down." Basil shook her head. "I feel so bad."
    "No, we tried our best. You needn't worry," Shadow placed his tail on Basil's back.
    "Let's go. We'll help Amber find a place for the tribe," Tiger chirped, as he led his littermates to the gathered cheetahs.
    Tiger padded next to the rest of the apprentices, waiting for their leader's orders.  He saw Leaf race around, helping all the injured Claws. Meanwhile, Pounce padded up to the three of them, "Did you guys find a place to stay for now?"
    "Erm, we are working on it," Tiger stammered.
    "Ha, you're working on it. Sure. That's just an excuse that you aren't good enough," Leo smirked, "You couldn't even fight for the tribe against the lions."
    Tiger's mouth gaped open in surprise, unable to speak, I-I..."
    "See?" Leo sneered, his lips curled, "You can't even fight back on your own. Need your little 'pals' to help you?"
    "Stop it, Leo," Shadow calmly spoke.
    "What can you do to me?" Leo mocked.
    Shadow stood up, his throat rumbled into a growl, "Wanna feel my claws and find out?"
              Basil gently pawed Shadow, "Shadow, please. It's okay."
              "Yeah, I can handle it myself," Tiger chirped. I'm not a weakling.
             Shadow's pitch black eyes were burning with fury, but he listened to his littermates, "Bother someone else, Leo. Before I rip your fur off."
              "Whatever." Leo stalked off, his tail hung high.   
"Grrr, I hate the way he treats us. He thinks he's like a leader or something!"
Shadow hissed.
    "It's not our fault. Besides, he'll get what he deserves soon enough," Tiger meowed.
    "Fine," Shadow sighed, and reluctantly loosened his haunches. As soon as Shadow's words left his mouth, a cheetah's screech echoed towards the three of them.
    "You should behave better next time," Sorrel growled, her glistening eyes were fixed on her son, "When father finds out about this..."
    "No p-please don't tell Grey!" Leo stammered, " He'll claw my ears off if he hears about this!"
    "Too bad. Next time, you should be more careful. You never know when I am watching you behave in this manner towards other apprentices," Sorrel chirped. She then trotted away, probably to tell Grey.
    Leo hung his head in shame, as Tiger stifled a mrrow of laughter. "See? I told you he'd get what he deserves."
    "Yup!" Basil meowed.
    Tiger caught Leo's gaze for a split second. Leo hissed, and extended his claws,  then grouchingly padded away from them.
    "A tough character he is," Shadow whispered, "And finally his mom found out about his behavior. He needed that chat."
    "Haha," Basil laughed.
    Leaf then padded up to them, with cobwebs and other herbs in her mouth, "Do you three need any help?"
    "Ah, no, it's okay, Leaf," Tiger mewed, "Tend to the other first."
Leaf glanced over him and said, "Don't try to hide that wound by your spine, Tiger. It will get infected if I don't look at it."
Tiger groaned, "Okay." He then turned over, letting Leaf examine it.
"It's not that bad, actually. I'll just clean it, and patch it up with cobwebs. Eat a poppy seed too," Leaf mumbled with the cobwebs in her mouth, as she gently wiped away the dry blood.
Tiger nodded, and winced. It hurt.
Leaf blinked, "There, it's done. Eat this poppy seed now."
Tiger looked at the poppy seed, "Won't that make me sleep?"
"Yes," Leaf rolled her eyes, but not in a rude manner, "You need the rest."
"Okay," Tiger chirped. Then he licked up the seed and chewed. It's so bitter, Tiger thought.
"Basil, Shadow, do you have any wounds?" Leaf picked up her herbs and padded up to Shadow.
"Nah, I'm fine," Shadow mewed lazily. But the pain in his eyes told otherwise.
Leaf squinted, "Don't try to fool me, young one. I can clearly see that scratch on your ear."
Shadow reluctantly bent his head to let Leaf tend to it. While Leaf used a paw to gently envelope the ear with cobwebs, she asked, "Basil, what about you?"
"Well," Basil meowed, "I do have sore paws. If you could..."
"Yup! Dock leaves will fix it right up," Leaf chirped.
"Thank you," Basil gratefully chirped.
Tiger saw Leaf put up what looked like the finished touches onto Shadow's ear before padding up to Basil. Leaf chewed up the dock into paste before spreading on Basil's pads.
"That should do it," Leaf meowed.
Basil nodded.
    "Thank you again, Leaf," Tiger chirped.
    Leaf bent her head, "That is my duty."
    Shadow tucked his paws underneath his belly and asked, "Where did you get all these tender's materials anyway? We're in pretty barren land, and I didn't think you can get much from here."
That's true, there isn't much herbs to forage, Tiger thought.
    Leaf smiled, "I packed some from our old camp. Thought we might need it. Thankfully, it came in handy at the right time."
    "Smart!" Basil blinked.
    Leaf grinned.

    "Have some fresh-kill everyone!" Amber exclaimed from the top of a rock.
    The whole tribe stirred, as they headed towards the pile of prey the recent patrol had caught.
    "Come on," Tiger got up and stretched. He then signaled to his littermates, "Let's have some food."
   
    It was nightfall, and the whole tribe was quiet. Gentle snores filled the air, and the stars illuminated the tribe, casting several shadows on the ground. Tiger blinked his eyes open. A yawn interrupted his stretch, as he padded to an isolated spot away from his tribemates.
Tiger sighed, and breathed in the cool, night air. He scanned the horizon, as the moon rose slowly up into the sky.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Tiger turned as he saw his sister beside him, gazing into the sky.
"Yeah, it is," Tiger breathed.
Basil sighed heavily, "I feel so guilty."
Tiger turned in surprise, "Why?"
"We have led our tribe deeper into the savannah, trying to find new land, but all we have come across is danger!" Basil chirped as she started to draw lines in the dirt with one claw.
"Don't worry. Things will get better eventually."
"But we almost got cheetahs killed! Every cheetah knew that the lions were too big to defeat. Why were we so blind?" Basil cried.
Tiger curled his tail comfortingly around his sister, but didn't say anything. There was nothing he could do.
"Come on. Let's get back to sleep."
Basil silently nodded, as they padded back to their individual nests. Tiger made sure his sister was asleep first, before letting the darkness take over him.