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Flame slowly chopped away at the bottom of his shirt, a giddy little smile on his face. His tongue stuck out of his mouth in pure concentration, missing the perfect cut entirely and returning the seam in a weird disjointed triangle. He ripped a line straight through the middle and pulled the uneven rectangle of fabric off his body. Excitement bubbling over as he placed the scissors on the floor. He pulled it over his eyes, poorly tying the ends together.
The black fabric was thin, though the light was too dim to seem properly through it anyway. He, Flame, had his very own blindfold.
“Mane!” he yelled, turning in a wide semicircle. He fidgeted, shifting from his tiptoes to the ball of his foot as he waited.
Manepear’s paws crunched through the foliage towards him. “What?” He paused a few feet from Flame, mild annoyance in his tone.
“Look, look!” He was practically jumping up and down, walking over and tugging on Mane’s shirt.
Mane scooted backwards, leaning into the wall of jungle surrounding them. “Why?”
“Because.”
“I paused the training that you skimped out on to, what, look at a flower you found?” he teased, poking Flame in the shoulder.
His face grew hot, frowning defiantly at his older brother. “Take off your blindfold. Just look.” He paused, refusing to speak again until Mane obliged.
“Dunno. Seems too sunny for all that.”
Silence.
“Bro just—“ Mane huffed, his voice raising boyishly with his frustration.
Flame allowed himself a giggle, to feed the fire.
“I’m not going to do it if you laugh.” He argued, though his arms moved deftly to untie his own orange blindfold.
Flame held his breath, waiting for any notion that Mane could see him to start talking. Mane made a small mewl of confusion. “I’m just like you bro, see? I have a blindfold too.”
Mane ohh’ed in acknowledgment. “Where’d you get that?”
He smiled, pride and excitement his main driving force. “I made it. With my shirt.”
“You’re lucky it’s summer; if you did that during winter I think I’d let you freeze.”
“Hey!” Flame attempted to tackle Mane, but he was just held squirming by the shoulders in his iron grip.
Mane laughed at him. “You look like a fish out of water like that.”
“But tigers are good swimmers, you told me that.” Flame argued.
Their banter continued, confusing and illogical. The interaction ended with Flame breathless on the floor, gasping for air with Mane’s foot on his chest, preaching some sort of winning speech.
Mane rolled Flame away in the grass, scuffing his knees with mud. “No fair.” Flame complained. “I can’t see anything with this on, I would’ve won otherwise.”
“Yes, fair. I still win over and over and over with the same disadvantage. It’s kinda getting boring honestly.” he boasted, catching Flames face in his hand when he tried to attack again and holding him stagnant.
“Uh uh.” Flame stepped back, pulling the fabric off his face as it was practically falling off, his faulty knotting job getting exposed as they’d fought.
“Do you know why I wear a blindfold?” Mane asked, sitting on the floor and hiding his panting.
“Aura?” he guessed.
Mane barked a laugh. “Pure unfiltered aura bro.”
“Really?”
“No.” he deadpanned. “It’s because my eyes don’t like light. It helps.”
“Why?” Flame sat down facing him. Now that he was paying attention he realized he could see Mane’s green eyes glistening with tears that he wiped away periodically.
He shrugged. “I wish I knew to tell you. They’re sensitive to brightness I guess."
“Oh.” He wondered if he was like that, too; but he never needed a blindfold before. He kind of liked it, though. The sensation of the fabric against his face, the pride of being like Mane.
The One who Saw without Sight, it had a ring to it. He could imagine himself feared across the world, known by the coolest name ever. “I think it also has aura.”
“Really?” Mane seemed surprised. “It’s only ever a nuisance. I just wear it so I’m not crying all the time.”
“Yeah. It makes you cooler.”
“Was I not already awesome?” He pretended to be shocked.
Flame pondered an answer, snickering a little at the reaction Mane might have if he said no. “Less awesome than me.” He decided.
Mane guffawed. “As punishment for such blasphemy you have to train with me again.”
“WhhhyyyYYYyyYy.” He whined, using Mane’s forearm to pull himself to a stand.
“Because.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Is it not? I could’ve sworn you said it was.” Mane smirked, pushing his way through the foliage and blatantly ignoring Flame’s complaints.