earn your stripes

He felt his grip slipping, clinging onto lower and lower vertebrae till his teeth clicked on empty air. Thrown aside, he was slower to rise to his paws as he watched the other two fight, they didn't look at all alike but they carried a similar scent. Of grass and grazers. Refocusing anew, he made to grab at the tigers' ankle, slashing into the soft flesh where veins and arteries ran thick. Attacking in tandem, it wasn't looking good for the tiger, it'd have to abandon its kill if they all kept this up and from a brief glance their way it looked like they hadn't ran out of steam just yet.