Truth twitched. Then again. And again. Tiger put his talon on his shoulder to calm him. Why am I caring for someone who kidnapped me? Tiger thought. But my parents ordered it. Should I be angry at them instead? Truth followed those orders. So he still takes some fault. Then again, they were trying to protect me… because I’m weak. I was never able to solve most my my problems myself.

A great sound greeted his ears with much disdain. It was Truth yawning. His yawn was very disdainful, not wanting to leave Truth’s mouth. So it zipped back in a moment later.

Tiger was somehow unphased by this. “How was your nap?”

“Ok. I just think of that cursed bear.”

“Yeah he was very… polite is not the word I’m looking for…” Tiger said.

“Problematic?” Truth offered. “Deadly? A stumbling block that might have killed us?”

“Would he have eaten us?” Tiger asked.

“Dragons and bears may be natural enemies, but we rarely eat each other. That one must’ve been extremely hungry.’ Truth continued speaking. “They have their own tongue and are in smaller tribes. Sometimes there is a loner that runs around.”

Silence followed. Tiger didn’t know how to break the silence. He had no idea what to talk about. His two friends started the conversations most all the time because Tiger feared he would come off as stupid… He ponders this, one of his many problems. He felt like a mess more than he wanted to. Just not always knowing what to do, and overthinking his misdeeds. Although they may be small, they took a great toll.

He noticed Maple making a beeline for them and knew that something was afoot. Was it fate that this had happened? Was it Truth’s bad actions? Was she moving the pieces into position?

All this was fine and dandy. But it was not what was at foot. Tiger knew that Maple knew something. What? He was unsure. But he knew that something was different about her. She had helped kill the bear… why did they kill Bjorn? He was just hungry.

“I know something,” Maple said, “about the maze.”

Truth raised an eyebrow and so did Tiger. The air seemed to notice Maple’s statement as well. “Go on,” it seemed to say.

The world was watching. It had its eyes on Maple, Tiger, and Truth. A spectator, it seemed to be. It knew what was going on.

“Well, the maze is incompletable. But at certain dead ends, there are… figures. Written figures. I also realized that the maze said ‘Watch out for rocks.’ Though that is likely just the Master toying with us.”

Maple went to get the maze and dragged it back to where Tiger was. Tiger saw the “figures,” but they looked like Maple had drawn them on. Why are you so suspicious? Maple has proved herself. Hasn’t she?

Tiger glanced at Truth. He did not seem to think Maple was lying. That was a little comforting. Others validating you was helpful, but it isn’t something that Tiger should rely on solely. Albeit that was much easier said than done.

“What do the figures mean?” asked Truth. He still had a tone of caution in his voice.

Maple responded. “This symbol here stands for fire. But fire itself can mean a multitude of things

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

But fire can mean courage… could it mean courage incarnate? Perhaps…

“Courage. It means courage,” Tiger interjected, speaking his mind.

Truth briefly had a strange expression that went away as soon as it had come. Perhaps the thought wanted to hide. Not from Truth, mind you, but from Tiger. Maybe Maple though.

It seemed to be that Truth was the one that wanted to hide the fact and realization that had crossed his face. He knew something. And it was something worthwhile.

“Do you know something?” probed Tiger.

“I did meet one by the name of Courage not long before I was assigned to this mission.” Truth said. “It might be talking about him.”

That was suspicious. Truth knew what it was about. But was that necessarily a bad thing? No. it wasn’t. It still meant that he was holding something back. He could be trusted but…

Tiger wanted badly to trust Truth. But he felt unsafe doing so. It felt dangerous. He had trouble with friends because he didn’t want to be weak to many dragons. That seemed to be the only option as of now. He had to though it was hard. Very hard to do.

A rock collided with Truth. The rock seemed to disagree that it was about that dragon. Seeming to sense this, Truth got angry and tried to eat the rock in retaliation.

The world was upset with all that was happening. It just was. The world had its eyes on them. They were in the dark. Dreaming. Dreaming so they would not notice the hard truth.

As crunching ensued due to Truth eating the rock, Tiger turned to Maple.

“Yes?” she said

“Is the rock right? That it is not a dragon we are looking for? Or is Truth right and not the rock.”

“I feel inclined to believe Truth. But I need to think on it more.”Pointing to one that looked like a worm’s face (or maybe butt, it is easy to mix them up) she said, “this looks like an arcane symbol for fire. And this one over here seems likely to indicate incarnation.”

Being close together, the two figures may mean “fire incarnate.” Maybe the spirit of fire?

Is the Master trying to say something? Or is there someone else doing so? And what is going on with that sound earlier?

Tiger walked towards the cave where the sound had been heard. It was still unnerving though, not a sound came to his ears. The silence was worse than the noise. Something was off. Something had always been.

A headache started in his temple. And this wasn’t anything like a normal headache. It then spread to his forehead, then it's all. It was a message.

Dark crept in at the edges of Tiger’s vision. Then they went away and came back. It was unnatural. Unnatural in this situation at least. The Master was trying to subdue him. Then it struck him. He was the queen piece in this game of chess. He was almost certainly key to everything that was to happen next. But who was the opponent’s queen piece? Or what?

The darkness was now quickly blocking his vision. Everything went back…

***

It wasn’t fainting. It was more of an absence in consciousness. He walked over to Truth who was still eating the aggravating rock. “Have you finished enacting your revenge on the rock?” Tiger felt like he wasn’t controlling his mouth. Or his legs. He was conscious, but felt powerless… like he was in another’s dream.

“Yes, I have. It still isn’t completely eaten yet. I am still angry at it too.” Truth walked over to the river for another drink.

Tiger’s brain was foggy, in a sense. He felt like he had been forced into the back of his mind and was surrounded by dense and grey fog. The fog was controlling his body. His legs, arms, talons, mouth, and tail. This loss of control was more frightening than who might be controlling it—if anyone. Tiger felt weak.

Tiger wanted control over his body and his life and everything in his influence and all that mattered to him. He was also angry that he was just a piece on the board. Although he was a valuable piece, he was being manipulated. By the Sovereign? Or by some superior power on the entity? That thought he hated the most. That everything was not in his control.

Truth had gone to the river to get a drink. When he came back Maple began to speak. “Is it best if we split up? Should one of us go find the dragon named Courage?”

“I will,” Truth volunteered

But Tiger doubted that spitting up was a safe or completely sane idea. Was it a warranted doubt? Was it reasonable? But then he felt bad for doubting. The doubt was still present though. It had planted a seed of demise.