Tiger Girl in Love

Chapter 22 - a tale of two men

(unknown tall man's POV)

I looked over at my partner in crime, my amigo mejor del mundo. He was happily carrying his gun even though he disliked the darkness.

We can't mess this up. We can't mess this up. Who knows what she'll do...

My face drained when I thought of her malicious cold hearted eyes glaring at me. Lucretia Demonia wasn't a person to be reckoned with.

**Beginning of flashback**

"You shall bring her to me, but I need her alive."

I watched as the lady called Lucretia sat on her red velvet throne-like chair. Her posture was just too straight. I mean having a straight back is good and all, but it looked like she was a piece of rock; stiff and stone-faced. I should have been used to her personality by now as I have been working with her for years, but my brain doesn't allow me to. Being in her presence is way too energy draining.

"Yes, madam!"

I saluted her, forgetting I wasn't in the army anymore. She pulled out a big pink fluffy mirror and I heard a soft pbbbpbpbpt noise. That fart surprised me so much that almost couldn't suppress my laughter in time. My poor buddy. He couldn't hold it in like I could. He burst out laughing in a way that hyenas would be jealous. He fell to the floor and was shaking in glee.

Shoot. No man. Noooo...

I had mini heart attack and quickly dragged him out of the room.

We're in so much doodoo!

I looked over at Orym's face and sighed. His jolly hysteria made me grin but I had to snap him out of it or else we're both toast. The way I noticed how Lucretia works is that if someone from a team messes up, they all mess up. I got his attention and showed him a pic of a cute puppy. He stopped laughing to coo at it.

Yup, works every time.

"Right buddy, we gotta be serious now or else the madam will feed our hides to her beast."

Orym paled. He nodded and we both walked back towards the Lioness's den.

At the door, I heard her ranting.

"I'll kill her with my own two hands!"

Orym and I stared at each other. We didn't want to go in, but we had to. When it was quiet again, we went inside. She looked even angrier than before if you can imagine and was looking towards the right staring out of the window. I noticed she brought out her wand. The end tip was emanating a dark tint. I cleared my throat. She whipped her head so quickly, it actually did a 360 degree turn. I'm sure I paled way more than Orym did. She spoke in a calm voice, but it was still deadly.

"Do you value your lives?"

For listening to your bodily functions?

"Of course, madam."

Then you have five days to capture my darling niece, or your lives will be... in jeopardy... Here's what she looks like."

She folds the images into paper airplanes and throws them at us. We hop around to catch them all. I took a picture of the picture with my iPhone.

Aw, she's cute.

"She has two forms. She thinks I don't know it, but she is actually a werecat. Her darling parents tried to hide it from me but no secret escapes me. I'm not sure what kind of cat she is, but I know she's the color of ivory. I've seen her shift a few months after she was born in my crystal ball. It wasn't a clear image, but I-now-we know the color."

She clenches her fists.

"Find her or die. She was last seen by my crows around Virion city. You may go."

**End of Flashback**

As we made our way further into the forest, I felt a serene presence. In the distance, I saw the most beautiful tigress I had ever seen.

That must be her! There are no tigers around here.

I shushed Orym and we both hid behind a tree. The tigress was laying down.

It's a shame we have to bring her back to the madam's cruel clutches.

The more I stared at her, the more I felt guilt.

I can't let the madam kill her. I want her for myself.

"I think I'm in love."

I whispered. I also heard a soft melody. It was so quiet that I almost couldn't catch it. We watched as the the tigress was relaxing in the light of fireflies. 'Twas a beautiful sight to behold. Orym tripped and fell. When he fell, his finger pulled the trigger and his gun went off. I hissed at him when I saw the tigress climb the tree out of sight.

"Ok, here's the plan. We pretend that we don't know where she is and walk towards her direction."

I whispered to Orym.

"Got it, bro."

"Alright then."

We both made our way towards the tree she was under-now-possibly-over. I checked for my tracking device. I chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on so it had sticky power.

Even if we don't catch her today, we'll know where she is.

I had an idea as we made our way. I elbowed Orym and whispered.

"Hey man, ask me what the girl looks like."

"Do you know what the girl looks like?"

"Yeah, I have her picture right here."

We stopped under the tree and I held up my phone. I heard a muffled noise above us. I grinned.

"So if we're looking for a girl, why do we need these?"

I sighed. The thing about Orym is that he forgets things very easily. I whispered.

"Because... she is a werecat."

I clicked the power button to turn off the light and I saw her reflection. She seemed to be distracted. I glanced up. She was obviously happy about something because she was fist pumping. It was adorable.

We tiptoed around the other side of the tree and Orym took aim.

It hurt my heart to even think about hurting her. I tried to stop him, but I was too late. The shot fired and my heart stopped when she fell. Luckily she seemed ok and I threw the tracking device on her. It stuck to her well.

We chased her as far as we could. But when we got to a giant log, we were so tired, we took a break. I checked the tracker radar. She was heading towards town.

Wait for me, my beauty. 

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What'd you think? Could this be another suitor? huehuehuehue