private THUNDERSTRUCK — cougar / dallas

[tiger]

TW: MURDER OF PARENT MENTIONS

i knew there was no turning back — tiger wasn't exactly sure how long it'd been since they'd set out. really, he hadn't even processed the whole situation by the time he was shaking his brother awake and insisting that they needed revenge. it was odd, to see tiger quite as upset as he was.. then again, their mother had been brutally murdered by some slinging tomcat ( at least, that's what tiger insisted that he was ). it definitely hadn't been a healthy reaction, no matter how you looked at it. this entire journey, he'd barely rested. he'd all them to sleep from the time the stars were out in full force to the time that sun began to came up. he knew they were both exhausted at this point, but if they didn't move, then the guy would get away.

now, he was entirely sure — "we're close, i can feel it in my bones." at least, he thought the ache in his bones had to be the feeling of justice just at the tips of his claws.. it was really just exhaustion pulling apart every joint that he had. he chose to ignore that fact, as he dipped his sore and cracked paw pads into what little was left of what had to have been a river once. the mud that stretched across the ground was too wide to not be a dried river bed. "oh, you have to come feel this water, this feels amazing!" tiger would never admit that his skeleton was practically fighting it's way out of his pelt, but he was sure that his brother could tell at this point.

it was the little things — the fact that his ears were practically permanently pinned back against his skull, or the way that he could barely focus on the task at hand ( he'd become distracted by three birds, and more than a few squirrels just today ). now that he let himself rest for a moment, let all the aches and pains settle in, he could feel it all dragging him down. "man, we sure went a long way, huh?" he lifted a paw to lick the water off of his fur, and nearly tumbled face first into it with a soft whoa and a laugh as if it wasn't a huge deal.
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[cougar]

Cougar knew how long it had been. A couple of weeks, it had been. He watched the sun cycle carefully, unlike his brother, who seemed dead set upon plowing ahead. Cougar had been rudely awakened by the time Tiger had discovered what had happened, but anger settled in his throat like acrid bile just the same. But revenge? He wasn't sure that this was right. But something in Cougar's gut begged him, demanded that he follow along with Tiger's wishes. His ears flattened as these thoughts churned in his head, his paws dragging along the ground. Weariness was eating at his bones, but he picked his head up as Tiger spoke.

"How can you be so sure?" Cougar stated, staring at the back of Tiger's head. The taller of the two had always been so sure of what course they were on. His tail twitched, ears standing back up. The sight of water- well, what little water was settled here- was a welcome one, though. That much he had to admit. A grunt loosened from Cougar's mouth as he stepped down into the river bed, allowing his lighter colored paw to soak up some of the water with a soft huff and a groan. "It.. does feel good. Maybe you aren't entirely useless." Cougar teased the other. He lowered his nose to the water, lapping at it.

However, as Tiger spoke again, he shrugged quietly. If Tiger wanted to fall in, he could do as he pleased. "It was a long way. I'm tired, Tiger. Are you really sure about this?" Cougar turned to look at his brother, who was further in the water. His ears flattened. It must have only been the tenth time Cougar asked that question, and it likely wouldn't be the last. Their mother.. Cougar bit down on his tongue, turning his vision away from Tiger. He was fine, just a deep breath Cougar. You got it. ​

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"speech"​

 

[tiger]

i knew there was no turning back — he could remember every second of it. every little patch of her fur that was out of place, all the misplaced red that wasn't her fur. no, even she couldn't be that red. maybe that's what had driven him this far, why his first instinct was revenge. the memory still bounced off of the walls of his skull, he'd barely slept even when they had stopped. he could see it in his reflection — he could only hope that cougar didn't see it, too. he turned his head over his shoulder, but he doesn't turn his gaze to his brother. he instead stares at his brother's reflection. "didn't i just say?"

he took a deep breath, turned his head away. "feel it in my bones." he knew how cougar felt about this. he didn't really care whether cougar agreed with this course of action or not, it wasn't like tiger had made him come along. then again, what other choice had he had? to stay with their mother's body, buried carefully, while tiger ran after this stranger on just a set of footprints and a scent that had long since worn off after the first rain? "i'm not useless, you just don't appreciate my genius." he tried to hide that the comment stung just a little, scrunching his nose as he stared off into the trees.

his ears, which had begun to raise again, immediately snapped back against his head. it was starting to give him a headache. "i'm doing my best, ok? are you going to keep asking the same questions, or are you going to expand your vocabulary a little?" snapping wasn't entirely out of character for tiger, but at cougar? they were in a bad deal. they're both stressed. he felt he could afford to be a little snippity. he didn't apologize immediately, like he normally would, he just pushed the water around with his paw. "i'm sure he had to come this way. it didn't smell like any of the colonies around us, and what i could follow lead this way. why would you leave a source of water? unless he was carrying around one of those shiny water holders that the two-legs would put out, i don't see the point in it."
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[cougar]

Cougar pretended not to see the far-off looks in Tiger's eyes. Other colony cats had already gathered around her body by the time they left, so Cougar never saw it. No, he just knew that someone had killed her. His tail twitched as Tiger shifted his vision. His ears twitched, looking at Tigeri n the reflection. A huff left him. "Your bones." Despite the serious nature of everything that was going on, that statement was laughable. Cougar pulled his paw back from the water, shaking his head.

Of course he had to go along. He didn't have a choice- it was either stay home and deal with Mom's burial and grief, or follow Tiger and make sure he didn't get himself killed. A sigh left him as his brother continued, despite the thoughts swirling in his head. Cougar finally spoke. "Genius. That's almost laughable too, you know." Cougar responded- still in a teasing tone of voice. Besides, he knew if anyone else bothered Tiger like this, no one would get away with it. Maybe that's part of the reason he did it- made him feel close to his brother, in some odd way.

Cougar's eyes drifted over the other's ears, then focused on his face. A sigh finally left him, his head shaking. "My vocabulary is just fine. Ease up a bit, would you?" Cougar finally relinquished, standing back up. Another stretch, trying to warm his strained muscles back up. "Look, it makes sense. Where do we go after this, though? I smell.. plenty of strange things on the wind." Cougar said, directing his gaze towards where the water ran. ​

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"speech"​