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Blite was up all night, silently thinking.
I need a plan. I need a plan. I will enjoy tearing Silver’s limbs off after I free the Great Tiger. I still can’t believe they captured him! Eco, why don’t you punish them? He looked at his tiny claws in disgust. Look how weak I am! I’m supposed to be the ruler of the Great Cats! How could the Streak do this?
Suddenly, as light started to filter through his bramble den, tigers came in and nudged him roughly to the entrance.
“Move it!”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Blite growled, his fur bristling with rage. The tigers ignored him, pushing him out to the Jagged Cliff, where Silver sat above the Streak.
“Now that he’s here, I’ll finally get to punish him for what he’s done.” Silver turned her head to him, her gaze unreadable. How dare you look down at me like that. I’ll rip your heart out while it’s still beating.
Blite gritted his teeth. “What exactly did I do besides defending myself when you willingly abandoned me?” he snarled. Silver growled, her voice filled with fury. “While you were in your den, a tiger friend of yours escaped. Where could she have gone? Don’t worry, we’ll find her, and we’ll make sure she stays.”
Blite paused, then smiled maliciously. “Ha! Escaped, eh? What happened, is she too fast for you? I’m not surprised. She probably has a good reason, like figuring out how to defeat you. But honestly, I wish I could’ve told her not to hog all the fun. But, alas, of course, you’re going to blame it on me, so what would you like to do with me, ‘oh great Silver?’” He drew a swift paw over his ear, hiding his burning anger. If they think they can get me to talk, they have another thing coming to them.
“That’s Silver Goldenclaw to you,” his mother spat.
“Oh? I see that you group of horn-heads had no other option but to make the new leader . . . the black-and-white freak's mother? I apologize for questioning you, but that’s just a bit . . . amusing, that’s all,” Blite retorted.
The Streak bared their teeth, but didn’t speak. Some glanced at Silver, as if their leader had an entirely different personality. “Hey! I’m speaking the truth here.” Blite waved a paw with a calm, cheerful face.
Silver suddenly hopped down, her eyes filled with rage. “I have something that will wipe that smile off your face, you brat,” she hissed. She lashed her tail in a signal, and the same tigers that nudged him out walked over to the edge of the clearing and pulled a bunch of branches out of the way to reveal something bright.
Blite’s heart dropped down to his stomach. It was the Great Tiger.
He was in a sort of capsule, looking peaceful and . . . asleep? Blite couldn’t tell, but he definitely wasn’t awake. What does that do to him? It better not hurt him. IT BETTER NOT HURT HIM!
“RAHHHH!” He broke away from the guards as fast as he could, bounding toward the Great Tiger’s capsule. He knocked over the guards, who were taken by surprise, and studied the capsule up and down for an opening. It has to have an entrance. They got the Great Tiger in it somehow. I can get him out of it.
But it was too late. Claws sliced across his shoulder, and he dropped to the ground, blood spattering all around him. This has to be a dream. I’m Invincible. I don’t feel pain. I don’t get hurt. I rule the world. Wake up!
No. It wasn’t a dream. He was forcefully rolled onto his back, his belly exposed, and Silver appeared in his line of sight. “I have though of a perfect role for you. You are now the new Noclaw, and Zale can be a Littleclaw. And we don’t have time for your little outbursts. Gowther and Fin, I don’t want to see him again until Streak Eating. Take him out of my line of sight.”
“Yes, Silver Goldenclaw.” The two tigers grabbed him, who was still bleeding, to a different bramble enclosure that was wrapped in a circle. “You’re staying here until we eat,” Fin said. He bit down on Blite’s neck and yanked him into the air, where he landed in the enclosure with a thump.
The breath knocked out of him, he lay there for a long moment before he pushed himself up. He looked around, and every whisker of vines was covered in thorns, waiting to pierce him. Oh, Eco, it would be really helpful if you suddenly awoke right now. He sighed. Don’t give up. Find something useful and use it. Something that can help in any way . . . any way at all . . .
Something caught his eye. There.
A bush stem poked its way through the brambles, and a few berries were attached to it. But they weren’t just any berries. They were yew berries. Blite chuckled as he finally came up with a plan. I swear this bush wasn’t there before. Is this the Great Tiger’s doing? Did he have enough strength to do this? If so, thank you, Eco.
He smiled and plucked the berries carefully off the bush, making sure to get each one. He double checked for any more, but when there weren’t, he left them in a pile and paced around. Another idea then struck him.
He pawed at the earth below him, and it started to crumble. What if I dig out and poison the food pile? Blite wondered where to put the berries. Maybe . . . in my mouth? But I must be careful. I’m not immortal right now. He set the berries cautiously below his tongue, breathing in through his nose and making sure no venom got out.
He started digging vigorously, creating a mound of dirt before he finally reached the other side of the vines. He slunk silently to the food pile, which was not far, and spat the berries out into his paws, relieved that the venom hadn’t touched him. He ripped a single berry with his claws and squirted the juice over the main pieces of prey, such as the seal and the buck, using every drop of the berry venom that he could get. He put it on almost all the prey until he ran out, leaving a rabbit and a spider monkey untouched.
I’ll just eat these. Blite gulped them down until his hunger was satisfied, and hid the bones a few tail-lengths away under another hole, and then he covered it up. He made sure the venom was hidden safely in the prey, and then made his way back as fast as he could, satisfaction settling in his belly like bubbling lava, patiently waiting to burst out and destroy everything that threatened it or stood in its way. Once everyone starts collapsing like a fallen beehive, I’ll free the Great Tiger and make sure the Streak gets wiped out completely. He scurried back through the hole and began patching it on both sides until it looked like nothing ever happened. Phew. It’s almost Streak Eating.
He laid on his paws, putting on a miserable face whenever a tiger stalked by his enclosure. A few more moments passed before Blite heard Silver’s call to eat. A few tigers came and hauled away the brambles, grabbing Blite roughly as if he were a mere burden. I will take joy in seeing their smiles ripped off their faces as they realize they were poisoned, Blite thought, forcing his pelt not to stick up straight.
He was led to the clearing where the food was, and no one seemed to know anything was wrong. “You’re lucky I agreed to let you eat at all.” Silver snarled at him contemptously.
“That’s alright. I’m not hungry. Keep your stupid kills to yourself,” Blite growled back.
Silver didn’t answer, instead she walked up to the pile and started to eat the buck that Blite had poisoned, and Blite watched intently. Please, please, just DIE already! I need to free the Great Tiger and find Pinwheel and Chara.
Silver finished half of it, and then Ignatius stepped forward as Silver went back to her perk. So he became Silverclaw again after all. Blite studied Ignatius with narrowed eyes. Did he earn Silverclaw, or did he just become Silverclaw without any type of fight? That’s breaking tradition. I’ll make sure a far more worthy cat will be my second-in-command.
Ignatius ate more of the buck, and once he was finished, the Sharpclaws got to eat. Blite laid on his paws in the back, acting bored as he waited for the poison to take effect. Eventually, the Littleclaws had finished eating, and Blite didn’t eat since he refused to. He had already eaten earlier, and the rest of the food was poisoned.
Everyone started to groom, as Blite was led away back to the brambles, when he saw Ignatius start to stir in the clearing. He could see a glimpse of shocked horror in his eyes from where he stood, and the tigers that escorted him looked up at Ignatius where Blite was looking, too. One of them lashed their tails, and they clearly sensed something was wrong, too.
Silver glanced down from the rock at Ignatius and narrowed her eyes. “Ignatius?”
The tiger didn’t answer. Ignatius started to drool, saliva dripping from his muzzle to the ground. Then, the drool turned to foam. Ignatius gasped, white bubbles covering his snout and growing over his face. He collapsed to the ground a moment later, and his eyes became glazed and lifeless. Ignatius had died in mere seconds.
“Ig-,” Silver was cut off. Foam appeared outside her mouth as well, and Blite could see the whites of her eyes in her shock before she was swept off her paws.
Tigers shouted for their Goldenclaw, but soon followed in her footsteps as the poison ripped out their lives in heartbeats. The guards fell as well, and Blite strode over to Silver and looked down at her as she was at her final breaths.
“I told you to obey me. Not only did you disrespect that rule, but you imprisoned me. ME. You became Goldenclaw while I was away, and you captured the Great Tiger. You really should’ve kept one eye open, but you didn’t, as I expected. You will perish in the No-After forever. Now, if you excuse me, I have more important things to do than worry about your death. Farewell.” Fury and defeat flashed in Silver’s eyes, but it was gone immediately as she died on the spot.
Blite sprinted toward Eco’s capsule and continued to search for an opening as he did when the guards pulled him away. There was a little crack, and Blite ran a claw along it and found a hook that went deeper into the inside of the capsule. He yanked hard, and suddenly a door was open.
“Eco! Get out of there!” Blite shouted, avoiding the glowing blue liquid that seeped out of the open door. The Great Tiger didn’t answer but shifted slightly as more and more liquid was lost. When almost all of it was gone into the grass below, Invincible grabbed the starry tiger and tugged him out. Eco coughed up more of the blue liquid, and Blite tried to help him get to his paws.
Finally, Eco stood and looked Blite in the eyes. “Thank you.”
Blite flattened his ears. “Woah, woah, woah. Before we do anything else, I demand you tell me when there was suddenly a magical liquid that could demolish your powers when you touched it, and how the Streak managed to find out about it,” he growled, staring back at the Great Tiger.
“You’re asking me! I don’t know! I’ve never had such a threat before. It’s a complete mystery how they managed to figure it out.” The Great Tiger narrowed his eyes.
“Well, problem solved, I killed everyone and saved you. Now, can you give me my powers back so I can free everyone else? This was a complete waste of my time. Or do your powers have to grow back in its own time or something?” Blite asked.
“Not at all. Thanks to you, I have my powers back, and now I’ll give you yours, Invincible.” Eco cupped his paws around Blite’s face, and in a flash, Blite felt the power from his past leap into him, and he gasped at the force of it. Then, Eco stepped back. “There you go,” he said.
I’m Invincible again. Invincible unfolded giant wings and soared toward the boulder prison that kept all his allies trapped inside. They peered outside the cracks and then started to cheer. “Invincible! Invincible!” they cried, and Invincible roared and slammed a paw down on the ground with brute strength, and the boulder flew in the air and landed with a loud boom a ways away.
Cheetahs, caracals, golden cats, and fishing cats flooded forward, praising and cheering him. Calzar pushed his way through the crowd, stopping in front of Invincible.
“Calzar!” Invincible yelped in delight.
“Invincible! Chara escaped!” Calzar looked relieved and worried, his pelt thin and ragged. “Yes, I’m aware. We’ll find her right away, I promise.” Invincible dipped his head comfortingly. “Eco?”
Everyone turned to the Great Tiger, who was flanked by the other Great Cats, and they nodded and closed their eyes. A moment later, everyone turned much stronger and healthier, and the armor that Invincible gave them appeared on their pelts.
“Of course, you need your powers back, too,” Invincible smiled. “Now, let’s find Chara, shall we?"
ns 15.158.61.23da2
