Face of Fratricide #WEP #WEPFF

 #WEPFF FICTION, FICTION, FICTION

The Face of Fratricide

Word count: 514 mpa

Tagline: What did they expect with a name like King?

I was a quadruplet. Actually a quint, but one sibling didn't make it through the first day. And now I'm a twin, just my sister Charlotte and I remain. 

Our other sister and brother, Nina and Khan, were more popular. They got more milk. They got more attention from mom. Everyone liked them more. 

People were saying that in a year or two, I'd probably be traded or loaned out. They named me King, and then planned to send me off? Ohhhh no, not me, I'm not going anywhere. 

My favorite sister made friends with the girls next door. They paid attention to her. They had time. She figured maybe she would live with them one day. Or she might also be traded or loaned out. 

I watched as dad moved to his new home. He's too dangerous to be allowed near us, ever. He'll eventually try to get with the girls next door. In a year or two, I'll be interested in them. Dad and I would fight over them if we weren't kept apart. 

Khan and I would have fought over them one day. Now that he's gone, it won't be an issue.

"Go play on the log," I told him. No one else was around. It was so early. "It'll be so fun." 

The water under the log had frozen. Not thick enough to walk on, just enough to look pretty. Deceptive. And the dew on the log was just slick enough. 

My brother hadn't been sharpening his claws regularly. Too busy playing and being popular. I knew what would happen. 

Khan climbed onto the log. "I'm king of the enclosure!" 

No. 

I'm King. 

One little swipe of my paw, and the log rolled. Khan couldn't hold on. Didn't have the claws for it.

The frozen pond broke easily. Sure, he could swim. We can all swim. But ice isn't for swimming. 

"Whatcha doing?" I heard the question and a yawn from behind me. Nina. She must have noticed Khan wasn't asleep beside her. 

"Khan fell in!" 

Nina ran to the pond and jumped in after him. 

I guess Charlotte won't have to live with the girls next door. I called out that I'd go for help, then trotted back inside. 

Nice and warm in here. Much more spacious, too.

"Where did you last see your brother?" Mom asked as I went for some milk. 

"Playing on a log." I'm not totally lying. 

"It's too cold out. And he hasn't had breakfast. Nina did, but Khan didn't. Haven't I always said breakfast first then play? That way we can be out of the sleeping area when they come to clean." Mom and her milk leave. 

That'll be the last time I'm not favored. 

Charlotte nipped my tail. "Why is everyone up so early?" 

I heard mom roar in the distance. 

"You and I are taken care of, that's all you need to know. Your King promised everything will be okay, and now it will be." 

Do I have the face of a killer? We all do, normally. That's survival.

If you haven't been following these cubs, then this is

THE FIRST TIME EVER (I/ you) SAW (YOUR/ his) FACE. 😉

#WEP DECEMBER 2022 CHALLENGE #THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW...Post Dec 1st - 15 the

🐯 Note: There's no evidence that King had anything to do with Khan and Nina dying. No actual fratricide. The video above was posted with his sweet face, and my dark and twisted mind thought to make a horror story for the prompt. 

The little baby tigers are actually very sweet and lovable. There was talk that King might be loaned to other proper tiger sanctuaries one day for "stud services." But none are actually being shipped off forever. There's plenty of room. I was just going for a good story. 

And while tigers in the wild do kill to survive, these tigers get food deliveries. A lot of it comes from donations. There doesn't seem to be any actual killing at the sanctuary. 

Sugar and Spice are the tiger girls next door, a year older than the cubs. 

There is a memorial for Khan and Nina. The offending pond has since been blocked off. The odds that they would have died like that were infinitely minuscule, but it happened. No one is at fault. Nature has a cruel streak. 

https://youtu.be/K8FuJ3qckmY  (NOT an endorsement of Fox News. They just happened to cover it.)

Video link. The description tells what happened.

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