Chapter 10: Lone Tiger
If the wolves were in a dire position, the tigers were not fairing any better. Their current pursuit of the slaves was not going well at all: two tigers came under a strange illness and were slowing down the rest of the group, one of them twisted his ankle, and another tripped over a tree root; his head was wrapped in a bandage due to the bad fall. Aznar walked ahead of the group, he would constantly look back at the soldiers and he was reminded how the Shavronites walked tall in the jungle, while his own kind cowardered from the towering trees and the stillness of the jungle air. The tiger king frequently turned on his soldiers, yelling at them and cursing the cowardice to their faces; and yet there were moments where he tried to encourage them by putting down the Shavronites even further, but it was too late for petty words of delight; they wanted to return to Tajir; to feel the cool air; to eat the delicious food, but Aznar would have no one to mention it, the horn was first; all else came second.
The inner workings of Aznar's mind had locked on the deceitfulness of his slaves. The fact of being tricked and embarrassed by creatures he considered less worthy than himself, put vengeance in his heart. Even the young cat would feel some of it, since he believed the kitten‘s participation was voluntary. The tigers marched on and finally the trees parted and a shallow river ran in between the separation. The tigers went to quench their thirst; but upon tasting the liquid, they found it to be undrinkable. As the tigers continued, Aznar could see that the ground up ahead was unstable. He needed away to get across. He took a sweeping glance at his troops. He was beginning to feel that traveling alone would be a better option in finding the horn; not only would it eliminate the possibility of mutiny, but he could take the credit all for himself. The king devised a plan to get rid of his troops and immediately put it into effect.
"Ah!" yelled Aznar, grabbing his leg.
Aznar was a good actor and played the part well. He dropped to one knee and cringed in pain. His troops came to his aid and inquired of him
"I'm fine," said Aznar. "I think I need to walk behind the group to take a easy on my legs. The rest of you go ahead."
"My king," said one soldier. "You are our king--- we will not leave you."
Aznar was nearly impressed with their loyalty, but loyalty wasn't enough for him now. "I'm not staying here, I'll just follow. Let's move."
"Do you need any help?" replied one soldier.
"No, no I can walk on my own," replied the king rising.
The troops regrouped and continued down the shallow river. Aznar quietly made his way to the back of the group, taking baby steps to gain some distance between them.
"KEEP MOVING AND STOP COMPLAINING! IT'S ONLY A LITTLE MUD!"
Further they went; deeper the water rose. The marching became harder with every step, and finally it came to pass that none of them could move another inch. Strangely enough, they began to sink into the mud. Aznar's soldiers figured out that the quagmire that they were in was indeed a true quagmire. Panic over swept the group. The more they fought to get out, the further they sunk in. Aznar watched as one by one his soldiers were taken under. To get to the other side of the quicksand, Aznar used his soldiers like stepping stones. He jumped from soldier to soldier, aggressively moving across, until he made it safely over. On stable ground, Aznar watched the rest of his company swallowed into the sinking mud. Cries of help rang throughout the jungle; they pleaded for their king's help, others cursed him for saving. One soldier held out his lance for Aznar to grab; it was a final plea for life.
"My great king, don't leave me. Help me please!"
The king tilted his head, looked at the lance, and proudly glanced down on the sinking soldier.
"Like I said before, sacrifices must be made. I am a king I must go on. I shall remember all of you in my heart. Tajir will hear of your sacrifice. It is better for you to die than for a king to suffer your fate."
The mud was up to the soldier's neck. Knowing that there was no hope, the soldier screamed his monarch's name in a terrible roar. The mud consumed him and Aznar stood quietly as the last tiger. He brushed himself off, kicked the mud from his feet, as best he could, and continued in his quest. Aznar wasted no time in leaving the deadly scene.
Running through the jungle lands proved to be wearisome for the tiger. Every turn presented a new enigma. The trees and the thick vegetation gave no clues of where to go or what to do. He hated the wolves for taking the kitten. In his mind he knew who the ringleader behind the plot was, and the hatred for Sebastian drove him on. The tiger's running continued until it was abruptly stopped by a rock; he fell flat on is face. He laid on the soft, moist jungle floor, exhausted from his flight. In his tired state, his mind fed off of the thoughts of trickery at the hand of the Shavronites. He could hear the laughter; he could see the grins on their faces, and it all became too much for him. Aznar rolled on his back, stretched out, and closed his eyes. Slowly he went to sleep: "Tomorrow," he thought," tomorrow I will find them. Tomorrow I will break them." These last words passed out of his mind and Aznar drifted off into dreamland.
The attention, now, must be directed upwards into the trees where two squirl monkeys were watching the tiger toss and turn as he slept.
"So what do you think, Alejo," replied the monkey to the other, "What should we do?"
"Well I'm going to get that tail ring off that tiger, Camilo. Did you see how sparkly it is?" The monkey proceeded to climb down the tree; his friend grabbed him by the tail to stop him.
"Are you crazy?," said Camillo. " That tiger will tear you from limb to limb."
"Not if I'm careful."
Down the tree he went. His friend called him to come back, but he paid no attention to the warning. The ring was before him; the sparkling of the gold captivated him. The monkey crept up slowly and stretched out his hand to touch the ring, but the tiger yawned and it sent the monkey scurrying out of sight. It wasn't long before the desire of the ring took hold of the monkey again. His second attempt proved better than the first. He took hold of the ring and pulled and twisted it to remove his prize from the tiger's tail. His friend watched nervously from above.
"Stop pulling so hard, you'll wake him up."
"Yeah, he'll wake up if you keep on blabbering," said Alejo. " Look, he's not going to wake up."
The monkey slapped Aznar on the head. "See, he sleeping like a baby."
The monkey was wrong. Aznar was not sleeping, he was playing the fool. He did not like the physical attack on his skull, but he thought that it would be better to play for awhile, in the hope that the monkeys could lead him to food and a place to bathe.
"Come on down here and help me," Alejo said to his friend.
Camilo joined is companion at tugging at the ring. After a great effort, it slipped off. Alejo caressed the tail ring as if it was a baby. He rocked it back and forth saying things like,
"Your a pretty little thing aren't you. Yes you are, yes you are!" Camilo asked to see the ring.
"No it's mine. I saw it first."
"But I helped you. Without me you would be still struggling with that stupid thing."
As the monkeys debated, Aznar quickly stood up. His shadow overwhelmed them and he stood contently overlooking the bickering. Finally, both monkeys caught sight of the tiger, the ring slipped out of the Alejo‘s hands; and before Aznar could speak a syllable, the monkeys retreated to the nearest tree they could find.
"Wait!" cried Aznar. "Wait my friends. Please don‘t leave me!"
Aznar dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. Tears streamed from his eyes, crocodile tears that is, and he sobbed heavily. The monkeys came back down the tree. Aznar performance was spectacular; he would have made any actor proud.
"Are you all right?"
Aznar let out a few more sobs before he spoke.
"No," he said wiping his eyes. "I‘m lost in this strange place. I‘m hungry and I‘m dirty. I‘m so afraid."
He laid on the waterworks even further. It had become so bad that Alejo felt bad for taking the ring.
"Sorry for taking the ring," said Alejo.
"Here, you can have it back."
"Thank you," the tiger said as he placed the ring back on his tail.
"Why are you here anyway?" said Camilo. " The only tiger we know about are those that came to conquer the jungle-lands."
"No, I‘m a good tiger. I only came to look for my friends." Aznar cried some more, and then continued.
"Have you seen them? There are four of them: three wolves and a kitten."
"Wolves? What are those? I‘ve seen tigers before, but wolves?"
Aznar saw that his questioning would be limited with these two; so, he reverted back to his pitiful state.
"It doesn‘t matter. I am lost, lost I tell you!"
Camilo and Alejo watched as the tiger sobbed and sobbed until they began to cry as well.
"We can help you," Alejo said rubbing his eyes, "there is a small village a few miles from here."
"Yes, please follow us." he said sniffling.
The tiger went with the monkeys. After an hour, a small village emerged from within the jungle. There, Aznar was bathed and feed with delicious fruits; his jacket was washed, and he did such a good job at his chicanery, that the villagers groomed his hair and cleaned his claws. After his rest and relaxation, Aznar inquired about his lost property.
None of the monkeys knew what he was talking about, and Aznar was very careful not to mention the silver horn. However, he was given directions to another village. He was told that this village was inhabited by runaway slaves.
"Maybe you‘ll find your friends there?" said Camilo.
"Oh, I think I‘ll find a lot more than that." replied Aznar with a snarl.
The tiger did not waste anytime with sappy good-byes; he had already had enough of playing a crying fool. The monkeys gave him fresh water to carry and a few tasty morsels for his journey. Camilo and Alejo waved good-bye; yet for some reason, of which they could not completely understand, they thought they had done something very dangerous, and they watched as the tiger disappeared among the bushes and shrubs in search of his property.