Beauty and The Beasts: Rain

7. Ah, Beautiful Regret

     The tension in the air was thick and suffocating.  A seemingly small whisper, was loud and clear to the heightened senses of the beasts present.  "Rain.  You're worse than Curtis."  Third spoke slowly and hated every word of it.  He knew how poorly she thought of her father.  She had long since confided her fear of becoming like him.  Here he was using that against her.  He felt sick to his stomach.

     Rain froze.  Whatever she was thinking.  Whatever she was going to say, was gone.  The fire in her cooled as she wrapped her head around what her brother just said.  She was like Curtis? Her father? Her brother thinks she was like her father...

     Her previously muddled thoughts began clearing.  The past few moments came back to her.   A pained hiss escaped her lips as the reality of what happened set in.  She really had been like her father, only weaker.  Her father wouldn't have bothered with words.  He would have flattened Winston where he stood.  She hated admitting it, but she was weak compared to the tiger in front of her.

     The embers of a dying fire burned for a new reason now.  She swiftly exited her den, found a healthy looking tree, and slammed her tail as hard as she could into the unsuspecting trunk.  Blood, scales, and wood flew, propelled by the strong force of her slap.  The tree groaned before slowly falling down towards her.  She wasn't going to move.  She was going to divert the tree to her right.  Before she could, two arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her away, while a very large white tiger turned the falling tree into sawdust before it touched the ground.

     Having expelled the last bits of her anger, she cooly looked down at the arms wrapped tightly around her waist.  She could feel them trembling ever so slightly, and her guilt grew.  "You're injured," said a wobbly voice from behind her head.  She looked down at her tail, and indeed, she was injured.  The wound was not bad, her scales had protected her well. She couldn't feel pain at the moment, but knew it would bruise.

     The tiger shifted back to its other form and came quickly to her side.  He bent down and inspected the wound.  A few splinters were stuck and light trails of blood flowed down, blending into Rain's scales.  It pained him to see her injured, especially since he was close enough to stop it.  He knew she needed to vent and a tree was softer than stone.  Winston glanced up and met her eyes, silently asking permission.

     Rain sighed with a hiss, before nodding.  She was fully capable of taking care of her own wounds, but was too tired to insist.  She was also aware that both males were on edge and needed to pacify the overwhelming instinct to protect and care for her.  Nodding her head towards the tiger, Winston proceeded to lift her tail carefully.  Third readjusted his arms to carry her more comfortably.  She was sure they looked ridiculous, her other half-siblings would have laughed.  With a exhausted sigh, she was shuttled off to her den.

     She had sat in silence as Winston cleaned and dressed her wounds with the herbs she had in her den.  She wanted to say that there were only a few bloodied scales and they didn't need medical attention, but she refrained.  None present were willing to speak.  Third had had shifted and was laying against her back, rubbing his face into her side. She began petting him.  She found herself indulging his overly clingy nature more often now.  She had missed the warmth of her brother.  Not to mention, she owed him for earlier.  The guilt and regret were weighing on her heavily.

     Winston finished his work and carefully thought of his next question.  "Are you hungry?  I can start a fire and cook something."  He said lightly, leaving room for her to reject the offer.  "Awoo." Third lifted his head, hope evident in his gaze.  Rain didn't need to understand leopard speech to know he said yes.

     Rain thought she saw Winston's ear twitch, but his demeanor never changed.  He was still waiting for her response.  Resisting the urge to sigh for the umpteenth time that night, she responded, "I am not hungry, but fire would be nice."

     Winston nodded grabbed a large pot laying in Rain's den before exiting her home.  She sat petting Third for a short time before Winston returned with a full pot of water and a pile of firewood.  The small den could barley house the three beasts, one in his largest form, and her den was not equipped to handle a fire.  Winston set up a fire pit at the mouth of the den and proceeded to boil the water.  He began looking for cups when Rain shook her head.

     Rain felt a nudge in her side and looked down to see Third giving her a concerned look.  She stared at him and he looked away almost ashamed.  Frowning, she got lost in her thoughts.  Winston handed her the now cooled water in the same large bowl.

     Third must be upset by his earlier words.  Rain was hurt by his words, but she knew he only said them to bring her back to her senses.  She tried to give him a reassuring pat, but he only buried his head into her tail.

     Rain was tired.  She knew she would have to talk to these two about what had occurred earlier, but she had already exhausted herself.  She had spoken more words today than she had in the last year.  Trying and failing to fight sleep, Rain could only worry about it when she woke up.