The mountain's flames dimmed, smoke curling , as Claw faced the two leopards.
"D–Don't blame me if I kill you!" Gash's grin cracked like glass, his trembling voice betraying false courage.
Vein's silence hung heavier than Gash's threat.
"Heh… it hurts, it burns, but if the world has good things—like food, or the sky's beauty…" Claw said, his paw still pressed against the wound.
Leila's warmth flooded back to him for a second, as if she were still there.
"There's this…" His tail flicked, the sound sharp enough to slice the quiet open.
"W–What are you looking at!!" Gash leapt forward, claws flashing.
"Gash, you fool! You'll—" Vein shouted, his eyes widening for a moment.
"Hurt…" Vein's warning died halfway through his breath.
Thud!
The sound of impact cracked through the air like a whip.
Dust lifted from the ground where he landed.
"Bwaaah! What was that?! It hurts!" Gash groaned, rubbing his back.
"You idiot! Trying to kill me?!" Gash shouted, pointing his paw at Claw.
"I think that's enough," Claw said, his breath ragged, the effort of the throw weighing on his chest. The fight had drained his strength.
"Why is he doing that?" Vein muttered, his eyes widening.
For a moment, Vein just watched the rise and fall of Claw's chest.
The tremor in Claw's muscles wasn't from fear, it was restraint.
A huge predator like him could easily— Vein Thought
Vein's smirk slithered back onto his face.
So that's it, huh… Vein thought.
"Hey! Gash!" Vein shouted from behind.
"Attack," his tone was too calm, too sure, the kind that makes predators obey.
"Why me?! You just saw how he threw me!" Gash's voice cracked between fear and fury.
"And you, Vein! You're just standing there and—"
"I told you to attack, you fool!!"
Gash's tail twitched nervously, his claws scraping against the dirt.
Claw didn't move.. only watched, silent and unreadable.
Gash leapt with a roar, but his courage died midair.
"All right, here goes!!" he shouted as he lunged at Claw, but Claw didn't flinch, a stone in the storm, waiting for him to land.
Thud!
"Ouch! It hurts!!"
For a heartbeat, nothing moved—then Gash's groan broke the silence.
"Ahh, it hurts… I can't stand up…"
"Gash… attack," Vein's smirk broke through like a cut, thin and sharp.
"Vein!!"
"Do you dare disobey your leader? You piece of branch, I said attack!"
"Okay, okay!" Gash's momentum faltered, yet he lunged again.
Claw's focus shifted back to him.
Here I am again, Claw thought.
"AAAH!! Die, Claw!!" Gash screamed.
Claw lowered his head, ready to throw, but his heart stayed firm.
SLASH!
The sound echoed like torn fabric.
Claw staggered back, vision spinning, heat and pain flooding his face.
"You're too tough, I'll admit it… but at the same time, you're naive!!" Vein roared, laughing with madness, blood spilling from his paw.
"MY EYE!!!" Claw screamed, both paws covering it.
"Heh… the most naive creature I've ever seen," Vein sneered, holding a sphere of blood and light in his paw.
"Are you even an animal in the first place?"
The declaration struck Claw harder than losing his eye.
The words hit deeper than pain—they pierced the soul, not the flesh.
Claw froze.
The echo of the words lingered, twisting inside his chest like a thorn.
He stopped for a moment, steadying himself.
"He's right… what am I even protecting?"
Claw's gaze locked on the glistening eye in Vein's paw , it shimmered like Leila's last look.
Vein and Gash began to laugh.
Their laughter slithered through the air, cruel and hollow.
A faint warmth touched his memory... her voice, her scent, the gentle brush of her fur.
It vanished just as quickly, drowned beneath their laughter.
"Yes… I don't even know what I'm protecting anymore."
Claw's remaining eye burned, half-blurred by blood and smoke.
"But I'll live, if only to understand why!!!"
The world swayed before him.. fire, ash, and the mocking shapes of his enemies.
Yet somewhere within that haze, a spark refused to die.
"So, Gash, what do you want to eat nex—"
"GAAAAAH!!" Claw lunged in desperation, his paw slamming Gash into the ground before hurling him like a broken branch.
Dust exploded from the ground, scattering embers through the smoky air.
"W–what?!" Vein's eyes widened, the air itself seemed to split from the blow.
The eye dropped from his paw.
"Gash? Gash?! Answer me?!" Vein stared at Gash, seeing a dying leopard.
For the first time, Vein trembled as he looked at Claw, for a moment, he felt he was facing the old leader, Claw himself.
"W... what's that?! No, I'm not afraid, it's an earthquake!!" Vein's paw quivered mid-step, claws scraping the dirt as his body refused his command.
"My pride… my pride!! I can't betray my pride!!"
"Die, you wretched beast!!!" Vein lunged, throwing both claws forward.
But Claw rushed in, using his head as a shield.
THUD!
Blood splattered across the ground, glinting under the dying firelight, marking the traces of Vein's strike.
"Heh… heh… heh…" Vein gasped—his claw was stuck in Claw's skull.
"How was it, huh?! Oh, you can't hear me… because you're dead!!!"
"Not yet!!"
Claw's voice tore through the air, low and burning.
"Not yet!!!"
For a heartbeat, both froze, predator and prey locked in one dreadful shape.
Then Claw's muscles tensed, rage and pain twisting into motion.
"GAAAAAH!!! Stop, you—!" Vein's cry shattered mid-air, torn apart by the motion.
"I knew it… I know I never had a chance against this tough body…"
THUD!
He hit the ground with a sound that silenced even the wind.
The dust rose where Vein landed, his body motionless.
Claw stood trembling, blood dripping from his head like rain.
His breath slowed, then steadied, ready for another attack.
But then, Vein stood.
"Why you… why you!!!" Vein's voice cracked, carrying a strange, sad bitterness.
He stared at Claw , upright, bloodied, unbroken.
Vein glanced at Gash, then back at Claw.
"You're not even Claw! Not the one I used to follow!!"
Claw's silence weighed heavier than a roar—he just kept staring, his expression unreadable.
A single shove could have toppled him, yet something in his gaze held the mountain still.
But the words that finally came from Claw made Vein's body stiffen.
"I may be a beast, but… I don't attack innocent creatures for no reason."
"I may be a leopard like you," Claw breathed heavily, each line heavy with meaning,
"but I haven't forgotten mercy."
"That's something you should remember, Vein."
Yet in Claw's gaze, there was no rage....
only truth.
Then he let out a genuine smile.
His smile wasn't victory, it was forgiveness.
For the first time, Claw looked free, not from pain, but from hatred.
"Tch… don't think you've won, scrum!" Vein snarled, clutching Gash's limp body between his jaws.
"It's not the last time you'll see me, fake leopard!!!"
Claw's smile faded, swallowed by exhaustion and silence.
Once Vein disappeared into the shadows
Thud.
Claw collapsed onto the ground.
He blinked once, the world tilting, edges dimming to gray,
and the fire finally dimmed completely.