Sirius

Story

Sirius the Anyu was peeved. He sat at the dining table, eating a rousing breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and jam, but it was hard to comfortably digest food as Celosia and the newest recruit, Axel, sat across the table chitchatting with each other, excluding the bear. Celosia was leaning on her forepaws, staring weirdly at the bayou Tigrean, as he recounted a story of his youth.

"And then, my mama says, 'Axel, if you don't get that possum outta my cornbread I'mma eat it!' Ratface here just loves her cornbread." Axel hugged his little opossum minion tightly til her eyes just about bulged out. When he finally let go of his embrace, Ratface panted to catch her breath again. The female Tigrean reached over to scratch Ratface's head, chuckling.

"Oh Axel, do tell me more stories! They're quite funny. It sounds like your family is quite the riot," she batted her eyes at him, and Axel blushed. Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered, "Oh brother.." under his breath. He suddenly scooted his chair back loudly, making sure to scratch the floor, and took his plate of food outside to eat in silence. Unfortunately, neither big cat noticed his exit.

"Well ya know, it's pretty lonely in the swamp, especially with having to serve Denny 24/7. No time for fun stuff like fishin'."

"Oh, you fish too?! Well, Sirius and I absolutely LOVE to fish! In fact it's sometimes part of our job for the day, to go fish for dinner. You'll enjoy fish tacos no doubt!" Celosia excitedly mentioned. Her mouth watered at the idea of fish tacos.

"Hot dang! Now I gotta have me some fish tacos," Axel exclaimed while slapping his knee.

"How about you and me and Sirius go fishing later? What do you say, Sirius?" Celosia looked across the table and then frowned. "Sirius? When did he leave?" She looked to Axel and the male cat shrugged his shoulders.

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Outside, Sirius sat in the shed, in an empty stall and picked at his food sadly. He had lost his appetite. He sighed and placed the plate down on the ground, no longer interested in eating. He hunched over and rested his chin in his paws and watched as an ant approached the plate of appetizing jam and toast. It scurried off to alert its friends of the feast. The bear scowled and took his plate again and walked out of the shed.

He was so annoyed and distracted, he bumped into Asch on the way out.

"Oh, good morning Sirius! I was looking for Valtam to ask him something, but he's not here is he?" The Celinox noticed Sirius holding his plate. "Why are you eating in the shed, son?"

"Dad....can I talk to you for a bit?"

Asch and Sirius sat down outside the shed door and the bear kept his plate in his lap now to prevent ants from getting to it. Asch looked at him, waiting for the bear to start.

"I don't get it, dad. Why is Celosia all over this new Axel guy? She never talks with just me anymore, it's always him," Sirius explained. Asch nodded in understanding and thought to himself a minute.

"Well, consider this: Axel is a Tigrean, just like her. They both come from the same region too, despite never having encountered each other as cubs. So they have quite a lot in common, and that's exciting for Celosia. You remember her past, don't you? How we found her?" Asch put his arm around Sirius back comfortingly. The Anyu knew Celosia's past; as a cub, she lost her entire clan to a mysterious disease, leaving her a sole survivor. Asch and the rest of the guild had taken her in to raise her. Sirius too had been found as an orphaned cub in the Arctic Frost, and Celosia was the first friend he'd ever had. Since then, the two were pretty much normally inseparable until as of late.

"Yeah...but I feel left out. She didn't even notice I walked away from the table just now! She's busy making weird funny faces at the guy," Sirius frowned bitterly. The Celinox scratched his head uncomfortably, and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, as for that...she's becoming a young lady. A mature, young lady. And it's only natural that maybe..." Asch gulped anxiously before continuing, "...that she has some feelings for him." Sirius gave a confused look to the Celinox, silently asking for clarification.

"She might be falling in love with him," The Celinox elaborated. Sirius growled angrily, nearly roaring there on the spot.

"YUCK! Why does she want to do that?!" The bear flung his plate off his lap and crossed his arms. Asch continued to scratch his head nervously.

"She's growing up, as are you. You're not babies anymore. Believe me, it's hard sometimes for me to acknowledge that you both are getting to a point where you don't really need me as a father," Asch lamented, and glanced away. Sirius' scowl faded briefly, and he let out a long sigh.

"We're always going to need you, dad. You've been there for us this whole time, and that's not going to change even if we all become old geezers like Stryker." Asch smiled earnestly and laughed.

"Don't let him hear you say that! He'll give you more reps in your exercises," warned Asch. Sirius laughed alongside the Celinox, starting to feel better now.

"Anyways, regarding your sister, just make your presence known. And you're going to have to learn to share her with someone else. But I think you guys are going to find a lot of common ground, once you get to know Axel better. Give him a chance, you might be surprised," Asch encouraged the bear. "I've got to go find Valtam now, but think about what I just said. It'll all work out in the end, you'll see." Asch rose to his feet and stretched out his back, cringing a little at the sound of a pop! in his spine. He patted Sirius on the shoulder and headed out to the training grounds to find the ram.

Sirius remained sitting in his spot. He saw the ants had managed to find his plate of now soiled food, feasting away as a happy colony. Still, he frowned, left to his thoughts. Maybe he did need to try giving the male cat a chance? But Axel was also kind of weird, and the cat didn't seem interested in getting to know him. He only cared about his sister!

"There you are, silly!" Celosia's voice rang out from the fort entrance. He responded to her voice, meeting her gaze excitedly...but soon his face dropped as he saw Axel stick his head out from behind her. He growled lowly but Celosia didn't seem to notice as she approached.

"Hey, Axel and I got to talking about fish and fish tacos, and we want to head out for a fishing trip! Do you want to come with us?" Celosia asked nonchalantly. Sirius' ears perked up at the idea of a fishing trip. But then he thought over Celosia's words carefully and frowned.

"You mean he's going with us?" Sirius sneered, glaring at Axel. The male cat was watching the ants gathered around the plate and food on the ground, fascinated and not listening to anything.

"Whoa, ants are really cool! Look at this, they're moving the entire piece of toast together as a group!" Axel shouted. Sirius rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, think about it....fish tacos for dinner," Celosia teased the bear, tickling him. He couldn't resist the tickle and giggled.

"Alright, alright. I'll grab the gear and we'll head for the lake. Just...make sure he doesn't bring any ants along with us," the Anyu grimaced as Axel let himself be covered in the ants, who were angry that the cat took a swipe of their jam away from them.

"Look, they like me!" Axel yelled to them. Celosia laughed and fell to the ground, while Sirius folded his arms again angrily. What does Celosia see in this dummy? Sirius thought to himself.

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The trek to the lake was painfully abysmal for Sirius to endure. Axel kept stopping them the whole time to look at things he'd never seen at the bayou.

"Look! I never did see flowers like this back home! They're a pretty yellow color, just like my mama's cornbread!" the male cat picked a flower and placed it in Celosia's fur, behind her ear. She giggled goofily, giving Axel the most obnoxious smile Sirius had ever seen. If he could vomit right now, he would.

"If we keep taking time out to pause at every flower, frog or pile of dirt, we're not gonna have enough time to fish," Sirius grunted as he marched on to the lake. This was getting old fast.

"The guy's got a point! Sorry about that, I just never seen so many different plants before. It's always mud and reeds at home," Axel apologized and followed after Sirius with Celosia in tow.

"It's been fun to get to know everyone in the guild! Never in my life did I think I'd get to meet wolves, deer with fangs, and even a bear! Are you from the arctic? I bet you got to see lots of that white powdery stuff!" Axel caught up to Sirius' stride and walked alongside him. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the cat.

"Snow, you mean?"

"Yeah! What's it like? Do we get snow around these parts here too? I'd like to see it!"

"Err, yeah, sometimes," Sirius shrugged his shoulders. Celosia hung back, having noticed a monarch butterfly on some milkweed. Sirius called out to her, "Come on slowpoke, you can look at butterflies later!"

"Then let's race to the water! Last one there gets to row the boat!" and Celosia took off at a sprint.

"Wait up!" Axel called to her and ran after her. Sirius sighed and began to lope after the cats.

Axel overtook Celosia and reached the docked boat first, with Celosia not far behind and Sirius coming in dead last.

"You're last Sirius! You get to row the boat!" Celosia teased as she jumped all over the bear happily. He shrugged her off with a grunt.

"You know I'm the slowest, I hate races," he grumbled. He threw the fishing gear in the boat and Axel boarded immediately. Boats were not an unfamiliar concept to him.

"This is a fine boat! She's a beaut! Good hard wood, this baby could go forever probably!" Axel complimented. Sirius paused in surprise. He had carved this boat together with Celosia and Asch, and the finishing paint job had been by the bear himself.

"Um, thanks. Celosia, Dad and I made it together," Sirius blankly said, caught off guard by Axel's compliment.

"Really? It's done well. I like the color," Axel rubbed his paws against the boat's side. It was a pretty robin's egg blue with white trim. It was Celosia's favorite color, which was why he picked it.

"We can talk about boats later, we've got fishing to do! Get in Sirius," the female tiger shouted as she began to untie the boat from the dock. Sirius jumped in, rocking the boat slightly with his weight, and grabbed the oars. He began to row and Celosia hopped in right as he started. The three were soon off.

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It was a pleasant warm summer day, not too hot and not too humid. The sun was high in the sky, and the three fishers sat still in the boat, lines cast. Despite the stillness of the water and the boat, Axel's mouth was not.

"Wow, it's so quiet! Normally we got dragonflies buzzing about and mosquiters trying to eat ya alive!"

"Instead we have to listen to you run your mouth," Sirius muttered to no one as he reeled in his line. It was empty. A fish had stolen his bait unfairly. He rebaited the hook and cast it further. None of them had gotten a single bite. The dream of fish tacos was slowly and steadily dissipating from being a reality for dinner tonight.

"Oh! Look at them reeds there! Cattails! See, like me?" Axel wiggled his tail to show the comparison, and Celosia doubled over in a fit of laughter. She was so distracted, she missed the nibble on her hook and the fish got away with her bait.

"Celosia!! Come on, we're never gonna get anywhere with you laughing at everything!" Sirius yelled. Celosia shrunk back a bit and murmured a "sorry" and rebaited her hook. Axel frowned guiltily.

It became uncomfortably silent for some time. Axel managed to reel in a tiny chub. It was a start, but not nearly enough for tacos. Sirius didn't even look at the two anymore, he just stared out ahead to the water grumpily. The fishing trip was not going well.

Axel suddenly sat up straight. "Oh! There's a biggun over that way! It just came up to the surface for a bug. I'mma go get it myself, since it won't come to us. Be back in a jiff!" And with that, the big tiger cannonballed straight into the water, splashing both Sirius and Celosia. He dogpaddled off towards where he had seen the ripples in the water, leaving Celosia and Sirius alone at last. Celosia cleared her throat.

"I hope Axel can get that big fish. We need some good luck here, don't we?" she tried to make small talk with Sirius but the bear continued to stare off silently into the distance. He felt the boat shift a little as Celosia moved closer.

"Hey...I know you don't like Axel much right now," she confronted the bear. He finally turned his head back to look at her and he sighed.

"It's just that," Sirius started and paused because he didn't know how to continue. He looked down at his fishing rod defeatedly.

"Sirius, he's not going to replace what you and I have. Even if we're not blood-related, you're still a brother to me, and you'll always be my first best friend too. But I know I haven't been a good friend or sister to you lately. I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings if you felt left out," the reborn Tigrean placed a paw on his shoulder. "That's why I wanted you to come along on this trip! We all like fishing! I thought it would be a good way for you and Axel to get to know each other," she continued. Sirius shook his head.

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I've been such a bore this whole trip," he explained.

"No way! You're not a pig, you're a bear! Okkoto's the boar!" Celosia flicked the bear's ear playfully. They laughed together at that joke. Sirius was back in good spirits now.

"Well, if Axel can get that big fish, I will admit, I'd be impressed," Sirius looked out to where Axel had swam to. The cat had completely disappeared underneath the water. Celosia nuzzled her brother affectionately.

"He might! How's it going Axel?!" she yelled out. There were bubbles floating to the top of the water and suddenly Axel breached from underneath the water, gasping for air. He swam back to the boat and clambered in.

"No good, biggun got away. He was THISSSSSS BIG!" and he exaggerated the length of the fish by stretching his arms out super wide. Sirius shook his head in doubt.

"Well maybe we should move the boat over there in case this monster fish of yours comes back then," Sirius suggested and pointed to the oars. Axel gladly took the handles and moved the boat over to the spot he had just been in. They all rebaited their hooks and cast them out.

It was quiet again, but peaceful feeling this time. Sirius felt better. Dad had been right, Celosia didn't care about him any less than usual. It was going to still take some getting used to, but maybe...maybe Axel wasn't so bad. He did have some funny stories to tell.

"Hey, Axel. Got any fun fishing tales to share while we wait?" the Anyu casually asked. Axel's face lit up with excitement.

"Oh sure! Let's see...there was the time I--oh hang on! I GOT A FISH!" Axel shrieked as he felt a huge tug on his line.

"Alright! Fish tacos guaranteed for sure!" Celosia cheered on Axel as he tried to reel it in. It was a struggle though, and his reel was starting to lose control. Sirius threw himself across the boat and helped Axel to pull in their quarry. The two of them successfully got a handle on the fishing rod and reel and together they tugged the line up to the surface....and their faces dropped in fear.

The fishing hook was attached to the snout of a very angry, very large, algae-green Qrykee. It growled at them menacingly.

"Um, Axel." Sirius' voice came out almost in an uncharacteristic squeak.

"Yeah?"

"You've got Qrykees back at home right?"

"Oh yeah! Tons of them!"

"And what do you normally do?" Sirius gulped as the Qrykee's eyes narrowed at them. Axel's palms were sweating and shaking as he held onto his fishing rod.

"Um, we just kinda steer clear of them."

"Good thinking!" and right as Sirius snapped the fishing line with his teeth, the Qrykee reared up and ready to strike at them with its giant maw. Axel pulled Sirius out of the way just in time before the Qrykee snapped its jaw on the bear's ear.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!" and the two boys rowed their oars as fast as possible back to the shoreline, all the while Celosia chanted for them to go faster, laughing all the way. They managed to outspeed the Qrykee back to the dock and they jumped out of the boat onto shore. Sirius sat, panting heavily, while Axel sprawled out on his back, trying to still catch his breath, his arms feeling like dead weight.

"Well, we get one taco at least," Axel frowned as he held up his little mediocre catch weakly. They all sighed in defeat.

"Maybe we should just go to market and see if the fish monger is there today," Sirius suggested as he panted. Without Axel's help just now, there was no way they would have escaped.

"Oh yes, it's Thursday today! Mark should definitely be there. Last one there gets to carry the fish home!" And with that, Celosia bolted off towards the direction of the market, leaving the two boys behind. Sirius and Axel looked at each other and groaned. No way they were going to catch up to their female companion, not after such intense boat rowing. Both their arms ached with each step. It was going to be a long walk to the market, but the boys agreed, they were going to become good friends indeed.