ORIGIN

The tiger rumbled, each snore rolling low in his chest. His ears twitched, still keen to every noise nearby.

Tiny paws pattered, approaching him, and his tail tapped on the ground. Oh, what was that? A twitch of a pink nose, and he purred in his sleep. Ah, a cave rat, then.

The foolish cave rat bounded towards him, attracted by the bone not nearby. It loved marrow, and surely the Greater wouldn't mind? Dropping to all fours, having stopped to sniff the air, it approached the bone.

Eyes snapping open, the tiger lunged with a massive paw, barely managing to catch the cave rat by its naked tail as it attempted to flee.

The tiger hummed, claw trapping the cave rat as he watched it struggle fruitlessly. Oh, wasn't that cute?

Rolling onto his back, he scooped up the cave rat, plopping it into his mouth. His teeth tore it in half, and he gulped down the smaller half easily. Swallowing, he gulped down the bigger half as well.

At least, he tried. It lodged half-way down his throat, and he gulped rapidly, saliva pooling on top of his ill-fated meal. For once, he was glad that he couldn't feel panic, as his heart began to race in his ears.

The tiger rolled over to sit upright, heaving. His tongue lolled, and he retched, bile splattering on the ground. Barrel-like chest heaved, attempting to dislodge the cave rat with no avail--the cave rat was determined to get its revenge from beyond the grave.

As though he were attempting to rid his throat of a hairball, the tiger hrk-hrk-hrk-ed, forcing the cave rat up until it hit the ground.

He sat there for a long moment, gasping for each breath, feeling his lungs fill with each gulp of air.

His trembling slowed, stability returning as oxygen flowed through his muscles. His claws needed the ground, and he licked his lips, wrinkling his nose at the taste.

Red eyes gleamed as he glowered at the sodden hunk of cave-rat, laying there on the ground innocently. Oh, how funny. He bared his teeth with a snarl, and swung his paw at it. But his aim was off, perhaps because he was still somewhat shaky, and his claws dug lines in the ground next to it.

Glowering, the tiger snarled at the cave rat chunk. Oh, it was just out to mock him now, wasn't it? What a barrel of laughs it was!

He bared his teeth, ears flattening against his skulls, eyes narrowing into slits. Bringing his paw back, he swatted the cave rat. It slung through the air, hitting the wall of the cave with a satisfying thunk, tumbling down. He huffed, tapping his tail and twitching his ears. Laugh at that, then.

Looking around, Bahamut spotted the puddle of bile on the ground, soaking the dirt of his den. Well, that was just disgusting, wasn't it?

His den had blood stained into the dirt, shards of bone, sinew and flesh, tufts of fur, but bile was just too much. It stunk, and he wasn't a fan. So he turned, kicking up dirt with his hind paws, attempting to bury it.

Looking back over his shoulder, he huffed when he saw only a few grains of dirt had landed where he wanted them to.

The tiger scowled, and braced his forelegs, digging his sharp claws into the dirt. As though he were burying his scat, he kicked up his back legs, sending out a spray of dirt that... completely missed the pool of bile.

Damn.

He growled, mimicking the frustration he had seen in other Greater Gembounds, shaking his head. Really, this was just a very bad day, wasn't it?