Behind the Curtain ||DISCONTINUED||

Who are you?

My heart pounded. I could hear them, closing in. They were going to get me, they were going to capture me and take me back and kill me. I saw Raze. His body beaten and bloody, lying in a heap on the ground. I saw little Tele, his bony body broken. I saw Blaire. Her coat marred with scars and open wounds as she took her last breath. I screamed and kicked, but I could feel the cold chains. The stinging bite of the whip. I could hear his harsh laughter, echoing around me, inside me. I couldn't escape him. I cowered as the whip came down over my head, and I heard Tele yowl.

"Ow! Blade, quit kicking me!" 

I jolted awake. The sun had barely risen above the horizon. The tall grass blew gently in the morning breeze. Tele was sitting across from me, indignantly licking his paw. 

"Nightmares are all fine and normal when they affect one lion, but when they involve another lion, that is too far!" He growled.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Seriously? That's all? You have spoken almost 4 words since we left." He set his paw down.

"What do you want me to say? 'Oh, hey howdy ho-hum, here are two lions fleeing a manic overlord on the outskirts of a ridiculously large city. In addition, I keep having horrifying nightmares about all of my friends dying and I'm stuck with a whiny lion who doesn't understand an iota of pain and torture or what it was like to live under his care!" My voice had risen to a roar. I huffed, and Tele was quiet for a moment.

"You never say his name." Tele said quietly. I stared at him. That's all he'd gotten? I never said his name?

"I don't know what you've been through at that circus. I can't possibly imagine the pain. But I do know what it is like to see my friends dead. Mauled. Ripped to pieces in front of my very eyes, while I stood powerless." Tele looked down.

My anger faded. I suddenly wondered who this lion was. Where had he come from? What had happened to him? He was so strange-looking. Almost lion, but not quite.

"It was a breeding program." He said suddenly. I looked at his face, and saw tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

"My mother was a liger. Part tiger, part lion. It wasn't healthy or natural." He paused again.

"They wanted to see the result of liger-on-liger breeding." He looked at his paws, as if they had betrayed him.

"It didn't work. The cubs showed no signs of tiger or liger blood. They were useless." His face-fur was wet with tears.

"They-they-the...slaughtered them." His voice became angry and full of hatred.

"Murdered them. Killed them. My friends. My brothers. My sisters. My family. Tore them apart. watered the ground with their blood." He was hissing, his fur standing on end. His face was no longer wet with tears, but full of righteous hatred.

"I hate them! I hate the humans! They ripped my family apart. They killed and slaughtered our kind as if we were garbage! They've shed the blood of thousands of lions and tigers and animals, but if we strike out in righteous fury and revenge, it is we who are punished! We who are beaten! We who are killed!" His breath came in ragged gasps.

"I will kill them. All who caused us pain. All who will cause us...pain." His voice faltered, tears forming once again in his eyes.

"Look at me. Screaming bloody murder to empty air. I'm as bad as the humans. You should never become what you hate, but how? How can I not seek revenge on the people who caused me pain, without becoming them." He let out an empty laugh.

We sat in silence for a moment. Tele was crying again. He let out soft whimpers.

"Why won't you say anything? Why won't you call me out on my bloodthirstiness? Why? Why do you sit there so placidly?" He looked at me.

I brooded for a moment. Why did I never speak? It just seemed natural to let others do the speaking. Natural for them to decide. Was I a doormat? No. I choose my own life. That's just...who I am.

"Who are you?" I blurted out loud. Tele looked at skeptically, before turning toward the rapidly rising sun.

"Who am I?" He said, his voice soft.

"I am Tele, son of Mala and Winsor." He turned back to me, words rapidly pouring out of his mouth, eyes shining.

"I am Tele. I love the sunrise." He turned back to the sun.

"I am a free lion. I am master of my fate." He paused, a gentle breeze ruffling his fur.

"I am the avenger, come to free animals, save them from the evils of humanity." He turned back to me, and sat down in front of me.

"I your friend." He seemed to grow, to bolden.

"Yes, I fear the humans. And yes, I believe fighting them is an impossible task. But I believe in the impossible!" He leapt to his feet.

"I believe that I will die before becoming their servant again! That is who I am!" He raced around me, leaping into the air. I watched him. This young lion seemed to have grown in the minutes we had spent speaking.

Tele cried victoriously. His triumphant roar echoed through the open fields.

He stilled for a moment. He looked back at me.

"Thank you Blade. You may say little, but you said just the right thing." He smiled, and I smiled back. he was about to embark on another crazy tangent, before his voice faltered and his mouth hung open.

"And I believe-" he stopped in front of me, craning his neck to look behind my head.

"I believe I see Blaire!" He jumped, vaulting around me, racing into the grass. I stood up, scanning the fields. Sure enough, their was a lioness limping toward me. Limping? 

As she turned to meet the oncoming Tele, I saw a stark red line that stood out against her pale fur. A giant bleeding cut stretched across her entire right side. I immediately leapt into action, bolting across the field, as the distant figure collapsed into the grass. 

________________________________________________________________________________

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack~

 I am excited to be writing again! I tried to put lots of emotion into this chapter, mostly to compensate for my lack of updates, but also because action can't happen in every chapter. (Okay, some happened at the end here.)

Just a quick announcement: School for me will start shortly, so lack of updates and poorly written chapters and shorter chapters are most likely in store as I re-adjust to the school schedule. Sorry in advance.

If you did like the chapter, remember to vote and comment, your feedback is always appreciated!

-Vixen