Aster kept ramming his shielded fists into the trunk of the cherry tree. The anger, helplessness, and pain fueled his strikes, and the shockwaves that ca from his fists grew stronger and stronger as he drove them against the splintering bark.
When the worst of the feelings overflowed from within him, Aster finished his task with a final, resounding collision that echoed into the nearby town with ringing ferocity as the trunk of the large tree finally gave way to the assault when the wood splintered from the force.
Hundreds of the tiny red fruits had been knocked to the dirt by his efforts, but as the large tree split in two, and the bulk of the arbor fell into the river with a splash, Aster couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishnt for bringing such destruction to sothing he had once foolishly admired, that once made him feel safe and in awe of what his friends could accomplish.
It was indeed naive and foolish to think so highly of others who would betray your trust the next mont.
As Aster stood panting and sweating from his efforts, he heard sothing move behind him and turned his scowl to the beast who had simply been watching the display in a state of surprise.
Oust hadn’t ant to spy, but as he was frustrated with his lack of results from the bear’s training that day, the tiger had been instructed to just step away for a while to clear his head.
He just so happened to stumble across the runt in his bout of rage on his way back from the training spot further up river.
Oust knew the look on the human’s face all too well. It was sothing he never would’ve imagined he would see in the usually friendly human, but it was sothing he himself had bore often. It was just a bunch of pain and hurt, desperately trying to find an outlet.
As Aster glared at the tiger behind him, a thought crossed his mind.
`Good. At least it’s him... He, despite what he is, is honest.’
Oust had no problem letting the human know exactly what he thought about him. When Oust treated him like an enemy, at least Aster knew that it was real. That it wasn’t so trick to get closer, only to turn on him.
The tiger had no secrets to keep from the boy. If nothing else, Oust was probably the one beast that would always be truly open on how he felt about the human among their ranks. Aster spoke his mind, too, in that mont.
"I really hope you’re ready to settle this once and for all... Because I’m not holding shit back this ti."
Aster charged at the tiger, a shield over each fist as he closed the gap. Oust rely took his stance and lunged forward to et the boy.
They exchanged blows for a good while, both pretty well matching the other’s strikes. As Oust’s closed fists collided against Aster’s shielded ones, waves of pain jolted up the tiger’s arms.
The human had never hit the tiger as hard as he was in that mont, even through all the shit the tiger had put him through in their training under Captain Rix... But in that mont, Oust realized how truly terrifying of an opponent the human could be when he finally stopped holding himself back.
Regardless, Oust never let up... For so reason, he couldn’t explain. He knew the human needed this... He wanted to be the outlet for that pain... He understood how much the runt must be hurting... Though he had no idea as to why, he wanted to help the boy vent that frustration.
Oust finally started respecting both the human’s own struggle and his power in that mont... And then Aster launched a fist into the tiger’s stomach with so much force that the big cat got whiplash as he was knocked to the ground by the blow.
Aster quickly jumped on the tiger and raised his fist once more as he brought it down on the side of the tiger’s face.
Oust was stunned on impact, but the boy lost himself again, and just like with the tree, he began beating the shit out of the beast with his fists, rocking Oust’s head back and forth with every swift punch to the jaw.
Were it not for the tiger’s well trained muscles, and Aster holding back just enough to avoid breaking his neck, he likely would’ve killed a normal beast caught under that assault.
Even so, Oust couldn’t find it in himself to fight back. Everything the boy was giving him was more than deserved from the way he had treated him...
And though the beast wouldn’t admit it, he just felt he needed to let the human get it out. He was alright with being the training dummy for a mont. He was used to taking such beatings from his father anyway.
As Aster finally began to tire, his senses slowly ca back to him as his arms trembled from exhausting his energy. The human simply held his right fist, raised high, readying one final strike for good asure, when he finally looked down at the beast he was straddling. Oust was only looking at him calmly...
As if Aster hadn’t been doing his best to force the beast to take every bit of pain he had to give... As if he hadn’t just had his face beat in by the human runt above him...
Oust was looking at Aster with an unmistakable look of sympathy... Of understanding... A look that finally made the human realize that the tiger was probably the ONLY beast that understood what he had dealt with his entire life. Aster saw everything in those staring, red eyes.
Oust had been shad for his appearance. Oust had been forced to live in his oldest sibling’s shadow, being terrorized by them all the while. Oust had his own curse that lingered over him his entire life. Oust had seen firsthand how cruel this world of beasts could be. Oust knew this rage... Oust knew this pain... Oust had the most alluring damned scarlet eyes Aster had ever seen in his life.
When the runt finally dropped his raised fist, Oust had assud the human had finally got it out of his system, that his rage was finally sated for the ti being.
But when the human suddenly leaned over his shoulder, trembling as tears rolled down his cheeks onto the tiger’s fur, Oust could think of nothing else. His eyes widened in shock, his ears fell flat against his skull, and his breath stopped dead as the human runt wept away on his enemies shoulder.
The tiger learned sothing crucial at that point. Oust learned that perhaps he wasn’t so different from the human. They both had so much riding on their shoulders. Yet, they weren’t allowed to show any weakness in spite of it.
But then, it was alright to be weak sotis, even in a world that had taught him to believe that he was anything but strong... and that it was pathetic. But only in realizing ones weaknesses could they forge a path to attaining strength.
A world that had made the tiger certain there was nothing inside of himself worthy of respect, acknowledgnt, and friendship.
The sa world Aster had grown up in...
Oust could only close his eyes, draw in a deep breath, and whisper into Aster’s ears...
"You’re not the runt I thought you were!"
***
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