The Old Tiger

The Old Tiger

Most in the jungle do not remember when he took down the bull elephant alone. Most were not alive then. Only a few now even pay him any respect as his gazes down on the jungle below. Young tigers and their loud boastful roars each trying to announce their dominance are answered from miles away. The old tiger blinks and turns his eyes towards unwary game which he allows to carelessly pass below him for he is not hungry. Were he younger he would have pounced just for a single tasty bite of their tender bellies, no need for such wastefulness now.

From the comfort of his warm rock, he yawns and examines his paw and outstretched claws still sharp, the paw still strong the muscle visible under the skin. The skin is thinner than he remembers when he were young and more brash and wasteful with his kills. He flexes his paw watching the tendons and muscles tense. He can smell the interloper just beyond the line of the dense forest and vines eyeing the passing deer. His eyes scan for his movement. The torn ear turns towards the almost silent sounds of the big tiger's stalk of the tiny deer below him.

With a sudden burst, the giant tiger explodes from the jungle. The deer sprint and scatter in all directions, confusing the young powerful giant. He wastes energy lunging at one then the next missing them all as his senses are overwhelmed with the confusing darting of the heard. "Brash fool" he growls. The deer run disappearing into the thickets lost into the dark cover of the Almond trees, the bright red flowers of the Gulmohar, and strangler vines that hang from above. The old tiger drops his paw from above the rock, he has been unnoticed by the giant young cat until then. He groans, "You come and hunt my dear beneath my throne young tiger?"

The young tiger lets out a deafening roar saying "You are no longer king here tired, old cat."

The Old Tiger lets out a soft growl "You are a fool to hunt here below my rocky throne." He comes to his feet and shows himself. The stripes on his face and the torn ear are well known. The scars and tracks on his coat tell the story of a lifetime of fights and hunting, the crooked neck from when he took down the bull elephant in a time when all feared and looked on him and despaired.

The young tiger rose on his back feet and raised his giant forearms flexing his chest letting out another roar. "I am king now. No one fears you anymore, old cat."

The Old Tiger gracefully descended from his rocky thrown landing softly directly in front of the young usurper, eyes and ears attuned to his every movement, his every guttural breath. The big tiger leapt but the Old Tiger slipped away circling, letting out a low rumble from his chest. "You are right I am old, but I am no fool, have you not heard I am the one who took down the bull elephant." They continued to slowly circle and eye each other.

The young tiger roared for all the jungle to hear, "I am here to be king now. Your days are over, old cat."

Wasted energy the old tiger knew of the loud boast. He growled low again, "I knew you would come someday, big and powerful, brash, yet still a fool." He watched as the young tiger reared up upon his back legs and launch another attack. The Old Tiger slipped the reckless charge easily tagging the young tiger on his hip leaving a bloody mark on his haunch. The young tiger leapt into the air and screamed at the pain of the torn skin.

The young tiger faced him full on and again rose in his haunches roaring loudly. "Now I shall have to kill you for your ignorance old cat." The Old Tiger stood and matched his stance a full foot below the giant tiger's enormous paw as it came down striking the Old Tiger and ripping through the scars that covered his head. He slipped away and blood ran down his face as it had so many times before. The young tiger roared again, "I am king now you cannot even stand with me and reach my head or neck, now you must die."

The Old Tiger circled and groaned, "You are a fool." The young tiger was incensed at the contemptuous growl and raised to attack again, rearing on his back legs launching a furious attack down toward the Old Tigers head. The Old Tiger deftly slipped beneath the claws and swung himself around the bigger beast locking his jaw behind his neck onto his vertebrae hearing them scrape and crack locked inside his powerful jaw. His forepaw gripping beneath the young tiger's neck, flexed and latched on, just short of his life-giving arteries. The Old Tiger's rear paws latching his thighs and tearing at his ribs. The young tiger rolled and twisted trying to escape as the Old Tiger's jaw closed tighter until the giant lay motionless and frozen in fear that his neck would be broken. The Old Tiger quietly growled. "I have grown old for a reason, but I shall not kill you today, the jungle needs strong cats like you, but tell the jungle, warn the others that the tiger who killed the bull elephant is still here and still rules all the jungle he roams." With that, he released the young tiger and tagged his haunch once more bringing another bloody stripe to his powerful thigh. The big tiger disappeared into the jungle.

The Old Tiger climbed back to his stony throne, bleeding and tired from his efforts. He knows they shall come for him again someday and someday when they are smarter and he is too weak they will kill him and feast on his flesh and laugh that they took down the tiger who killed the mighty bull elephant but today is not that day.