Even through the ever-changing paradigm of life, this story lingered in my thoughts. I had no intentions on giving up on this story four years ago, and I still want this to be a great story. I spent a lot of time re-reading and branching the story a number of ways, and I feel like this is the best one.

Enjoy!

III. Isolation

A rolling thud pierced the soundscape; the deafening blast was accompanied by multiple blinding flashes of light and heavy downpours. Each individual flash illuminated the near pitch-black surroundings. The sheer power of the blasts caused all of the sleeping tigers to stagger out of their sleep; despite the inherent confidence of being sabers, the cubs all attempted to scope the area in an effort to find their parents.

In an effort to find a recognizable figure in the indiscernible surroundings, Diego yelled out in desperation. "Where is everyone!?" It was futile; the violent rumbles continued to saturate the horizon, making any desperate calls for help useless, and he was well aware of it. Rather than fearing for his life, he transferred into a crouched position, advancing forwards slowly with clear intent of monitoring his steps. Soto remained relatively unfazed through the highly inclement conditions; he continued to search his surroundings with precision, tracing his steps forward and returning to his original position after 10 paces, moving in the next cardinal direction clockwise. On Soto's third attempt, he collided into something that let out a very violent roar upon contact.

"Shut your mouth, whatever you are!" The ferocity of Soto's voice immediately caught attention.

"Soto!?" Soto immediately recognized the voice.

"Diego?"

"Hey, I found you!" While Soto was indifferent to see his brother, Diego was quite happy to find a familiar face. "What the heck is going on out here?"

"I can't explain the weather, Diego. Did you find anyone else?" Both tigers had to strain just to be heard.

"I walked forward for a bit, but didn't see anyone." While normally honest, Diego found it necessary to tell a white lie and not indicate to Soto that he had experienced the discomfort of fear.

"I didn't see anyone either. Come on." Soto's voice was increasingly loud, trying to make himself heard over nature's fury. "Stay close to me and don't stray off, or we'll never find each other again during this storm."

"Alright. So much for the hunt, huh?" Diego's unusual bluntness made Soto scowl under his breath, reiterating the reality. "Hopefully we can find Mom and Dad."

"Hmph." Soto's response was less of arrogance and more of affirmance; despite differences within the pack, Soto most definitely would not want to part with his parents. "…I hope so too."

Even though Soto and Diego had never truly been separated from both of their parents for an extended period, the youngest and oldest brothers proved to be very mature as a pair travelling synergistically. Their motions had a high level of synchronicity, taking steps forward very evenly and quietly, reserving their senses for acquiring a visual on other familiar faces. Forceful winds and unrelenting rain continued to obscure their vision, and while the lightning signified a powerful storm, it provided the traveling pair of sabers desperately needed brightness to provide some insight of their surroundings.

"Stop! I see something."

"Where is it, Diego? Are you sure?"

"I'm almost certain I saw something this way." Diego shifted to the left, pointing in what seemed like continued empty fields. "You have to trust me." Soto snarled at Diego, who remained unfazed and unthreatened. The unparalleled confidence emanating from Diego gave Soto solace.

"Fine. I'll lead. That way, if we don't see anything, we can track our way back."

Soto and Diego moved west, continuing their mirrored motions. Another flash of lightning exposed a differentiated color, one that was easily separable from the grass. "There!" Soto and Diego both charged forward in response to their visual recognition, eventually colliding with a stoic Tino who sat in the grass searching around.

"Diego. Soto. I'm glad you're here. Your mom went out looking for Zeke and Oscar. I figured you would eventually find me." An accurate assumption both directions, given that Oscar was too lazy to move even when conditions were calm.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you didn't even bother to look for me?"

"Don't you mean us, Soto?" Diego snarled at Soto's snap response, yet again implicating more lack of care for anyone but himself.

"You two are intelligent cubs; it doesn't take long to realize that. You both bumped ran right into me at the same time, which means you two were traveling really closely together." Both of their ears perked up at hearing the rare compliments.

"Soto; Diego; Marie and I didn't even get the chance to teach you how to travel in a group, and here you are do—"

"I found them, dear." Oscar and Zeke staggered into the fields where the rest of the tigers resided, throwing themselves to the floor as if they had journeyed from hundreds of miles. "Zeke was absolutely terrified, and Oscar just did absolutely nothing." Neither of them moved from their place to even acknowledge their mother's existence.

"Ok. Everyone follow me – I found a cave that we can all hide away in until this storm dies down. Sorry gu- … sorry, Diego and Soto; the hunt is going to have to wait some more." Both cubs peeled their ears back, but did not show much emotion in their face; given the situation, their immaturity was pushed aside and they respectfully answered:

"Yes, Dad." Tino turned back around and lead the way to a short distance forward before arriving the cave face. He turned around towards the rest of the cubs and put on a very stern face.

"I am really glad that we did not hunt today. We all fell asleep last night, close to one another – yet, today, a small storm comes and we separated. That kind of separation will get us killed." Diego and Soto pulled their ears back one more, with an irresistible urge to interject.

"But, you said that Soto and I we—"

"You will NOT speak." Not accustomed to either of his parents scolding him, Diego stared down at the floor beneath him. "I don't care what was said. The fact of the matter is that we all separated, and we are nothing alone. We are a pack. We should ALWAYS be together. If you kids are going to simply separate at the first instinct of fear, you will be in grave danger."

"We hunt at dawn." Tino stared at his two prime cubs sternly one last time, before turning away from them to resign for the night. Diego and Soto shifted towards the left cave wall, crouching and eventually laying to end their harsh journey.