Die of the Tiger 〄 Hikari × Tepin
Timing: Recent Location: The Outskirts, White Crest Parties: @hikarinarisawa & @cattale Summary: Hikari and Tepin encounter each other in the woods. It does not end well. Content: Animal cruelty tw?
Hikari supposed she could claim that she had always suspected that this town was a cheap and shoddy sham, a bad cover for something deeper or weirder but definitely infinitely stranger, and that, in some way, she was its living truth. But the more she thought about it, the more she was starting to realize that that was just how the world has always been. Even before it turned, left her in the dust, forced her into this new role she had promised to play. And even now that she held that truth in the utmost regard, the town, and the world, still seems quite cheap and shoddy. Different town, different world, different shoddy, but that was just how it was. She couldn’t change that. Nor did she even want to.
“You’re an angry little kitty cat, aren’t you?” Hikari grinned, wiping the slight streak of crimson that colored her cheek, her hair running wet from both her own sweat and the thematic rain that had invited itself as a random onlooker to this supernatural beatdown. For the life of her, she couldn’t even remember if she had fought a person that can turn into a jaguar before nor just a mundane jaguar. She did remember, from a passing memory, of a grand battle she had with twin guardian lions. Those two were very angry, too. With a sneer, she crouched closer to the crowd, ready to pounce back at the creature that had pounced on her first. “Are you even still in there, girl? You are, aren’t you? Unless you are two separate entities?”
So. That was a big possibility. It wouldn’t be the first time Hikari has encountered someone who hosted another spirit within them. Well, to be fair, the woman stole a human soul and was cursed to become mortal, trapped in the same fleshy prison as her victim. But aren’t we all the same? Trapped in the prison of our own making?
Sisters, maybe twins. That would’ve been a possibility for Tepin, if the jaguar was less wild and more affable. But that is not what jaguars live for. They hunt what they want, eat to their heart’s content, sleep to replenish spent energy. It’s not glamorous, merciful. It’s just nature. It may not always be strictly fair or kind. It’s just nature. This jaguar was too smart for Tepin’s tricks, and too tired. Yet they could have shared resources, warmth, safety, a heart. Restless and hunting, it kept moving. They could not see eye to eye. Just two minds, one space in time. Sometimes, however, they finish each other’s—
The jaguar roared at the stranger, its eyes on her like a bear trap that just locked in an unlucky leg. Baring its fangs, it kept its cool, not backing down from the prey that taunted it. Make no mistake, the jaguar was the predator, and it would not recognize another. It may have fallen to other beasts before, like that other strange woman a while back, but it knows nothing else than to wear its crown and call everything, where it stands, its jungle kingdom, where all that the sun touches, grazes, is its own. Tepin would never share that attitude, that belief, but the jaguar was not Tepin. It was just hungry.
Without any further ado, the jaguar effortlessly leapt towards Hikari, intending to take her down and start munching on what it could of her being, of her flesh. In the natural order, the jaguar stands tall above all, yet part of it was unnatural. It wasn’t just like any other jaguar, not out here, not out anywhere. It was something else, something more. It was what Tepin hoped to find out. If she even gets to survive this encounter, that is.
“Cease,” Hikari threatened the jaguar as it hinted its murderous intent over her very existence. “Cease!” She wanted to punch it, kick it, anything to stop it in one go and teach it the most valuable lesson of never crossing a kitsune, but she had no weapons on her at the moment and something about the creature’s aura confused her: it was like there were two jaguars coming at her, the second more like a protective orange wisp that have taken the same form.
Hikari tensed and the tempest inside her spilled forth, turning her feral, just as the jaguar lunged with its entire body at her. “I warned you,” she said, “I won’t hesitate to do the worst if it means keeping myself alive. Just—stay away. Just leave. You will”—and I might as well—“regret this.” But the threat came unheeded, and the jaguar was already in the air. Hikari did what she could: receive the jaguar as best as she could, roll backwards, and using its own momentum, kick it off of her like a monkey flipping over its head another monkey. I’ve heard better descriptions from, well, a monkey.
There was a pause. Then in the dust and loud thud behind her, as she rolled to her feet and crouched once more, the kitsune saw the jaguar slowly getting back to its feet, its paws, perhaps caught surprised by the Hikari’s strength and tactic. This, of course, wasn’t her first foray into a tussle with a wild beast. She has been alive for so long, she has survived so many entanglements with creatures just as dangerous and ferocious, if not more. Besides, it helped that in her feral state, the umi kitsune now had increased strength, evening the odds somewhat. “Ugh, you ripped my sleeve… That is it. I am taking you down, foul beast. You will be domesticated.”
The jaguar was dressed in the dust and leaves that called the ground home, the dirt and twigs fallen from nearby trees, whisked away and everywhere by the indiscriminate wind, when it got back to its feet. If Tepin had been in control, she would have been shocked, perhaps even horrified, to realize that should have been a fight-ending attack was so easily parried by the strange woman. But the jaguar did not forget that scuffle with the other woman from before, the stranger that had taken it out, knocked it unconscious, forced it back into the recesses of Tepin’s psyche, where it slept and rested when not in control. It roared at Hikari, not in rage but in defiance: Never again will it be compelled before its time was up.
Shaking off the unwanted debris of its failed attack, the jaguar did what Tepin would never do and try again. Once more, it circled its prey, its golden eyes burning in rage and determination. Whatever this woman was, it would not escape its claws, its gaping maw, its sharp dagger-like teeth. Far stronger, more formidable and ferocious creatures have fallen to the jaguar, creatures that a single human would not dare fight alone, creatures that fed the beast and satiated its hunger for days on end. The jaguar was not hungry, but it would make room for this person.
Then it realized, slowly but surely, that the woman had now taken on a more feral approach, as if she had realized something herself, found courage where most would find nothing but fear. If it wasn’t so embarrassed from earlier, perhaps the jaguar would have found admiration for Hikari. Instead, it only took a swipe at her, trying to take Hikari down through her leg, destabilize her footing, force her prone so that it could mount her and once again claim its superiority as the apex predator, the queen of the jungle. Tepin would dare not do the same.
So many tactics, so little time. Hikari loved White Crest, mostly because it was a place where she felt the culture of anonymity was tantamount to godhood. Of course, far bigger cities could make one feel the same, with the biggest ones forcing the idea that you were no one down your throat so hard, you’d be drowning in your own bad decisions. She briefly considered tangling with this stubborn beast a bad decision, but she was too far into her own rage, her own ferocity, that backtracking would be an improbable option.
“Ugh, you coward,” Hikari grunted when the jaguar hit her leg, almost forcing her prone on the ground, but the battle-born kitsune would not be so easily bested. Running on pure instinct, she caught herself with the other leg, positioned her body in a split second to ensure that she would not go down as much, and then pulled herself back, away from the creature’s reach. It would not be for long. The predator seemed like it would not stop until it could taste her flesh, but Hikari would never let that happen. Not again.
With a battle cry in fluent Japanese, she threw a roundhouse kick to the side of the jaguar’s face and immediately transitioned to a forward stomp with the other leg, catching herself and her balance with a stomp of the first leg. If everything would go according to plan, Hikari would’ve forced the jaguar back, away from her. Then again, things don’t always go according to her plan. Not anymore. Not these days. Not when she hasn’t been fighting for decades. To say that she was rusty would be an understatement, and a dangerous one at that.
Not anymore. If the jaguar was indeed like Tepin, if not Tepin herself, that massive scowl on its face would’ve read the same. The creature was still feeling the pain of humiliation, as well as remnants of the actual physical pain brought on by its battle with another strange woman, only this time, it would not take its opposition as lightly. The fault was with it, way back then, having inflated its ego as the king, or in this case, queen of the proverbial jungle, never expecting that these humans could be so much more than they were supposed to be. Well, not anymore.
It took a step back, the jaguar that shared the life of Tepin, receiving the full force of the woman’s attacks. If these fragile things had anything over the jaguar, it was their mobility and their creativity when it came to attacking with their limbs. The jaguar could almost respect that, if it wasn’t so annoyed at this point. With another massive roar, it tried to end the match by biting off the woman’s leg, though it had doubts it could succeed, considering once more the woman’s speed and agility. Nevertheless, it would try, and if it failed, then it would bring forth the full force of its own rage.
So there she was, fighting a massive jaguar, an unrelenting predator, and Hikari had the nerve to laugh at her own predicament. Why wouldn’t she? Despite the rage boiling in her body, she was able to fend the creature off, push it back, off of her, showing it what she was made of, that she wasn’t afraid, that she was still the same warrior from all those centuries ago, the blade of her shogun. “Come on, you little kitty cat! I’m not afraid of you! Show me what you’re made of!”
From the corner of her eye, Hikari saw an opportunity to end this futile match once and for all. Perhaps to save the others who could be lost here, find themselves stalked and preyed upon by this merciless beast. But first, she had to lure the big game like a moth to her ocean flame. “Follow me, you stupid—” Before she could finish her insult, the jaguar tried to bite at her leg. Hikari was barely able to get away from its dagger-like fangs, receiving a sharp but not deep enough gash on one of her legs. She yelped instantly in pain but that only fueled her rage, and she continued to drag herself towards the copse of trees from the distance, where, if her memory would serve correctly, lead the two of them to a clearing that was close to the edge of a cliff. I’m going to drop you down that ravine and keep everyone here safe. Like one of those superheroes Cass admired. Yes, I’m going to be a superhero. Despite the pain, Hikari smiled at that thought.
Slow. The jaguar could tell that its attack had taken its toll on its prey. As it watched her with primal savagery burning bright in its golden amber eyes, the beast knew it was only a matter of time before this battle was won. Much of the difficulty it experienced in its attempt to take the woman down was because of its speed, its agility, but now it had managed to take that out of the equation. If the jaguar had the time and less the experience, it would have shown its quarry a toothy grin. If Tepin was aware of what was going on, what was about to happen, she would’ve screamed in horror.
What was the strange woman’s plan? The jaguar didn’t think much of it. As far as it was concerned, its prey was simply trying to escape. The jaguar didn’t think much of its prey, all of them, past, present, or future, only that each and everyone of them, they filled its stomach. All the jaguar thought about was the hunger and the rage that it had to quell to survive. There was nothing else the jaguar needed to consider. Nothing more to this life than the most basic of needs, to feed and to live. Tepin would have begged to differ, perhaps even with her life, but she wasn’t here. Not right now. Not at this moment.
Perhaps, if the woman’s leg had not fallen to the jaguar’s fury, she would have still stood a chance. But the jaguar was fast, and it was furious. Before the woman could turn around, the jaguar pounced at her. Like lightning. Or more appropriately, a car. If the jaguar wasn’t so focused on winning, or more appropriately surviving its supposed prey that put up more of a fight than it expected, perhaps it would’ve reined itself in. Unfortunately, it was too angry to let up, and in the end, as it unexpectedly crashed right into Hikari’s back, it realized too late that the prey had nothing else up its sleeve, that it was now too slow to duck or dodge or even fight back. If Tepin was around, she would have screamed at the sight of Hikari flying off the edge of an unseen cliff, into that ravine.
Look at you. The kitsune’s past flashed before her very eyes, reminding her of the former glory that she had once celebrated, bathed in, the fame and fortune that she had bought with blood and death, so many deaths. Once the most formidable warrior in the army of the almighty shogun, envied by all. Hikari continued to struggle, wincing in pain and desperation, as she dragged herself to where she thought she could gain the upper hand, find salvation. Unfortunately for the kitsune, all she found here was her end. With all your strength and power, what good does it all do you now?
With eyes wide in terror, Hikari made the mistake of turning around to steal a glimpse of her prey, what was actually her predator. The jaguar was too fast. At least in her current condition, that was true. The kitsune only blinked, and it was already upon her. She instinctively turned her attention towards the ravine right in front of her, the cliff where she planned to flip the beast over and into, trying to force a contingency on the spot, but right when she did, she felt its entire weight crash against her, all of it into her back. She couldn’t do anything else but find herself thrown forward, falling prey to the momentum that she was planning to capture, to harness, for her own ploy. Just like she had done much earlier in this fight, but the jaguar was a quick learner it seemed, and Hikari, with all her years in stagnation, toying with lesser warriors, her great skills in war and battle all but rusted away, had underestimated the beast for being a beast.
Hikari gasped, and for what felt like an eternity, it was all she could hear. She turned her body around after the impact, as if believing she could still grab hold of the jaguar or something that she could use to pull herself back to the solid ground where she and her adversary once stood not too long ago. Maybe a branch perhaps or by some miracle a rope. But there was no rope and the branches that were close by were behind her, awaiting her fall, welcoming her descent, her end. Her hair and her clothes wafted as she sailed through the air, her arms and her legs flailing through the unexpected and unwanted journey. As she stared back at the jaguar in hopeless horror, she suddenly felt regret and concern from the creature. Or perhaps from something else within it?
I guess I won’t be keeping that promise after all. The kitsune closed her eyes as another attempt to breathe became more difficult. She felt the crack of the branches, the trees, behind her, against her back, before she disappeared into their final embrace. Thunder roared overhead, as the rain continued to fall lightly. Only a second later, all was once again quiet in the world.
[END]
