The Last Tale to Tell: Chapter 5: Striper

The ancient tiger slowly turns his head, and Calicotail sees a face recognizable from her history book, though much older, wiser. She stands there for a moment, wondering where to begin. She had not thought about this moment before; she had been too obsessed with finding Striper. She decides just to start at the beginning and tell him her name, and when she gets to the part where she’d had the idea and been chosen, Striper speaks, a bit more vigor in his voice than one would think of a tiger so old. “So you want me to come back and help the island again. Yes, I would love to get out there again. But I fear I may not be enough anymore. I will call my son and daughter in law. Fiercepaw! Emeraldtrunk!” In come an elephant and a tiger, almost as old as Striper. Calicotail gasps. She has admired these two for as long as she can remember, and when Emeraldtrunk, the elephant, turns her way, Calicotail faints with shock and delight.