Well, that sucked. Apparently, you say you'll help God's angel, and they throw you out on your ear. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's all fun and games until you give the word. That word was "Alright."
Of course, it was "no," but when you're told a kid is involved and needs your help, it changes things a little. I'm a sucker for kids and helping them. Let's not mention that when an angel says it's for the greater good, it rings truer than some Evangelous on TV promising heaven for only $2.99.
I just thought, you know, since I was helping them, they would give me some guidance or let me choose a body. Something other than what I got. Blasted in the face with golden light that made my head hurt. Then, before I had recovered from the sucker punch of light, that stupid Zoot suit idiot angel kicked me out of… something. And when I say kick, I mean it. It felt like he kicked me in the butt and then I was falling. The last thing I heard on the way down was "you'll know him when you see him."
No kiss. No hug. Not even salted peanuts.
It was all dark then, and with a huge amount of pressure all around me. Then, the pressure was gone, and I was cold… What is that? A wet blanket? It's rough and kind of hurts. WAIT.
It was a tongue licking me. You have got to be kidding me! I was just BORN!? This is gross. Cut, cut, cut.
~~
Understand this: you and I will never talk about the first six months of my life here on Renmin. Ever.
~~
I came to as a six-month-old black tiger cub. Look out, ladies, I'm adorable! Well, I assume I am. I basically have my brother to judge by. He was cute, so I must be too. I'm also a boy. Yes, I had to check; I wouldn't put it past Bruce the angel to mess that up.
My "first day" here, I learned a lot about my family. Surprisingly, they talked. Not complete language like regular, but more like scents, impressions, and very few images. (Note: having an image pressing on your mind is like déjà vu, just stronger.) Don't get me wrong, they could use words but very few that I caught.
The communication was weird. I didn't know how I knew how to do it; I just could. I would reach out in the direction I wanted to talk. I could feel my mother or brother. The first time I did, my mother flipped until she realized it was me. It's weird; I felt like she was almost scared of me at times.
I only had one brother. I had a feeling he wasn't like me—you know, reincarnated. It could've been the lack of motor skills or the vacant expression on his stupid face every time I tried to get him to do something. The thing that really drilled it home for me, though, was that almost every time I closed my eyes or even turned my back to the little twerp, he would pounce on me.
Biting, clawing, the whole nine. It didn't matter that every time I got out from under him, I pounded the snot out of the brat until he ran away. As soon as my back was turned, he would do it again. Ugh. I will say this, though; if it wasn't for him, I might not have sharpened my senses and learned that, somehow, I could sense trees and living things in a bubble around me.
It was weird, like a focusing lens. I was able to only see things around our little hole under a tree at first. As time passed, my focus seemed to just get sharper and get more range with each day. After a week of practicing with this, I could almost use it while walking around. The slightest bump, though, and I would lose it.
Our tree was huge, rivaling redwood trees. It was about 20 feet around. The roots seemed to grow around our little hole because none were growing straight down or even looked like they had been broken off. It was dry and comfortable. Minus the smell. Brother hadn't been potty trained for very long.
It had been a day or two into spring, and my mother had brought us out of the den. The area around the tree was about the same as any forest: green needles on the ground and birds very high in the trees making sounds. The smell was different from what I was used to. There was a crispness to the air and a smell of ozone mixed with fresh pine sap. It was a pleasing smell. Closing my eyes, I was testing the limits of my communication. I kept sending the twerp images of the area and trees as I got further away. I knew he would receive them because he would look around for a bit until he confirmed what it was I was seeing. I had tried sending the same thing over and over as I got further away, but like siblings do, he started ignoring me. The little monster.
I had a sneaking suspicion, though, so I sent an image of a bug, and sure enough, he responded by running over to see it. Little punk isn't going to help me willingly. It wasn't hard to trick him into helping me, though, with him being an actual newborn. Oh, look, an ant. Oh, look, a rock with moss. Oh, look, a pinecone that looks like your big fat HEAD.
Seems to be about 20 meters right now, but if I go farther… Judging by the way mother is looking at me, if I go, she will drag me back like the first day she caught me walking around in those gross-smelling mushrooms. Figuring that was enough practice in that particular area, I went to the tree we resided under and started focusing.
I locked on to everything around me, trying to take it all in. Once I had about three-quarters of what I usually could handle, I looked up the tree. Surprisingly enough, I figured it would be hard to use claws. It wasn't. It was like using your fingers, but only if you could use them all together at the same time. I reached out and started climbing. Focusing and holding onto everything in my mind, it flickered in and out as I made my way to the nearest branch.
Wait, what's behind me? Craning my neck around, I could just make out who it was. Seriously? Ugh. Brother was following me up. He must have gotten tired of the pinecone, saw me climbing, and wanted to join in. Doubling my pace, I got to the branch before brother reached a quarter of the way up.
Looking back at him, I sent telepathically, "Danger, Brother, danger!" Instantly, Brother stopped and started lightly mewing. Mother's ears and head shot up, looking at Brother, then me. I sent to her, "Mother, Brother will fall." Seeing this, she studied him for a moment, and he stopped mewing. She made no effort to get up or stop him but stared intently at him. After a moment, she stopped, then looked to me and sent, "Brother learn." Then she laid her head back down.
I watched, and as I did, I noticed he was climbing much better now. Ah, so that's how it is. Mother had communicated with him and coached him on how to climb better.
Getting down for me was a little harder. I had noticed my claws were burning a little, and after they felt a little better, I started back down. The burning came back with a vengeance. When I started, it hurt a little, but by the time I got halfway down, I knew I had gone too far. This was going to hurt. Letting go just before I thought I was going to be declawed the hard way, I leapt toward the only soft landing close by. "Sorry, Mother." I slammed into my mother's side.
I just want to take a moment to honor mothers and all they put up with from their children. My second mother was no exception. My brief warning reached her, and I was just receiving confusion back when I hit her. A hard thud, grunt, then I was receiving overwhelming anger and frustration.
I might sing a different tune if I had hit the ground, but landing on my mother felt just as bad as hitting the ground. My head was spinning a little. I had little time to recover after standing before a giant paw connected with my body, sending me skidding on the ground for about a foot. Mother's voice overwhelmed anything I had been thinking or feeling then.
"Don't repeat!"
Yeah, like I did that crap for fun. I felt like I'd just been hit by a truck. Getting up, I tested everything. My claws were still hurting something fierce, but all in all, I was okay.
I hadn't paid much attention to my brother, but I noticed him making his way down. I doubted he made it to the top. I think I remember seeing him as I was coming down. After I passed him, it was all a little fuzzy. I think I had brain damage thanks to my own stupidity; I wasn't entirely sure. What day is it?
The next day I continued my exercises. To my surprise, my claws were feeling better, so I only climbed halfway up the tree and down. Brother, on the other hand, climbed all the way to where I had been. He was happy for all of five seconds, then he looked down. Immediately, he was the perfect picture of a cat stuck in a tree, but I was sure there were no firemen around.
As funny as I found this, our mother was not as amused as I was. I assumed she tried everything to get him down, but in the end, it was all for naught. He stayed on that branch looking down for quite a while.
Finally, Mother decided to take action. She stood back watching him and looked at the surrounding trees. I noticed her pulling back a little, but she was aiming the wrong way. What is she doing? All of a sudden, she shot toward a tree and launched up high, about halfway up. To my surprise, she used her claws to latch on, and then after a brief hold, launched off that to my brother's tree right next to him. Pulling herself up, she grabbed him in her mouth and slowly rescinded her claws, sliding down leaving large gouges where her claws were stripping bark.
"Masterfully done, Mother."
After setting brother in the hole, she looked at me and sent me confusion.
Doing my best anime eye sparkle impression, I sent with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, "Teach me!"
"Too small," she sent back, but I caught a bit of pride in the message, like she was proud of this. Knowing she finally understood I liked what she had done, I left it at that.
One thing I noticed was, we weren't growing like regular. My brother and me. I thought for six months old we would be bigger, but we were still small. Like really small. From what I could tell, we were growing at about maybe one eighth of the regular speed we should have. I had to remind myself mentally that this might actually be normal.
I also tried the LitRPG thing. I figured, why not try. Thinking "status." I can now tell you why not to try.
A screen I hadn't really expected to show up did show up, and I wasn't enthusiastic about what I saw.
Status: You're a moron.
Race: Black Tiger
Str: you're a kitten. So, little.
Def: Your mother. So, a lot.
Mag: Not telling.
You were informed before you left this was real and not some game world.
After I read all that, the screen dissipated and another appeared.
REWARD FOR: Being the idiot who doesn't listen. X1 slap. Note: From now on this reward will be given freely without the screen. If you ever feel like you're in a dream, just repeat your actions. Please stop being stupid.
Just as I finished reading the message and was thinking about what it meant, a force that felt eerily similar to Mother's hit slammed into me. It even sent me skidding for about a foot along the ground. My head stung a little. I knew from then on, I should probably listen better when higher powers talk next time.
It was on about the seventh day, early in the morning, that the male tiger I assumed to be my father showed up. Cut me a break for not knowing my own dad; this was, like, the third time I'd seen him, and, contrary to belief, I couldn't really tell stripes apart all that well.It was the mental touch that made tigers distinct to me.
To say this guy was big was an understatement. He looked like a tiger that was on steroids. I know, since I'm a black tiger now, and the fact I had talked to an angel should have clued me into this sooner, but I think it was at this moment it really started to sink in that I was no longer in Kansas.
The tiger took two steps in and looked at my mother. "Take one. Danger." Mother reached down and took my brother. Then, without hesitation, she bolted. I guess I'm not the favorite. I wonder if it was because of the tree incident.
The other tiger looked at me and then started walking out into the open. I wasn't sure if that was a signal to follow or not. Hmm, stay here with incoming trouble that even the biggest predator I've ever seen calls dangerous or, follow the best bodyguard I'll probably ever have? What is a tiger cub to do?
I got about seven steps outside the hole before I felt it. This thing felt off. With my senses, I had felt plants, bugs, and animals. This thing felt the opposite of everything and I had thought my sensing limit was about 30 ft. but I could feel this wrongness far further away than usual. I couldn't really make it out distinctly, but I knew, it was wrong. It was huge and moving fast. It wasn't heading at us, though; it was heading east.
I watched the other tiger move. Despite his girth, he moved easily through the trees. If it hadn't been for my ability, I wouldn't have had a hope of keeping up or knowing where I was going. Tiger daddy seemed to know exactly what I did. He always stayed about 30 yards away and was quieter than I would have thought possible. The eerie thing that got me was, even though this other thing may not have been bigger, it was longer, and it also was just as quiet as my tiger daddy.
We had followed this thing for quite a way. Then I spotted something up ahead, and the bad thing was moving straight for it. This thing was smaller by far and wasn't moving much. My senses had grown a little, and I knew we would be on it in seconds. Tiger dad leapt up into the trees in a twisting motion, got to a large branch just above him, and launched down straight at the other large creature.
CRACK
Leaping up as high as I could, I caught onto a lower branch and leaped again to another, getting high enough to see. I saw it. It was dark, and if it wasn't for its head, I would have called it a snake. It was a Chinese dragon.
The fight was brutal. Tiger dad had sunk his teeth into multiple spots, just as the dragon was doing to him. It cut him deeply on his underside and bit a few other places. Tiger Dad grabbed just below its throat, and that seemed to be what the thing was waiting for. It grabbed onto the tiger's face with its tiny muscular front legs. It bent and rolled, slamming its body into Tiger dad's legs on one side. It was just good enough and big enough to pull it off. It made Tiger dad roll and lose balance. Taking advantage, it rolled also. It went with and around him as they crashed through a thicket.
They stopped next to a fallen tree. The dragon started cinching down every time he breathed out. No… What can I do? I had only enough time to think that when something moved out of the shadows of the fallen tree to stand behind an upright tree. A boy? Why the hell is a kid here alone? I was frozen in pure shock; all thoughts of Tiger Dad were gone.
The boy peeked out to see what was happening and froze just like I had done. Unlike me, though, his face went pale, then it lost all expression. As he drew a small knife, he started running and rammed it into the dragon.
~~
I watched as the boy ran away, saying he'll be back. I may not know much about this world, but I do know this: that kid was born under a lucky star at the top of a stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down. I ran out from the hiding spot I had chosen.
I walked in front of this amazing tiger. I was proud to be this thing's blood relation. He had saved that kid just as much as that kid saved him.
"Young cub," he sent, his inner voice weaker than before. I knew the kid wasn't going to make it in time. "Protect human child."
There was a sense of urgency I didn't understand. "I will, but what can I do for you?" I sent back.
"Part of life," he groaned faintly. "Leaving life."
"I know, but it doesn't make this easier."
"Come, closer." his breathing was coming in more ragged now and I could faintly hear gurgling.
I got right to his nose, and then I felt something. A soft glow, like a pale blue flame, passed from him to me. I felt like something had changed or unlocked inside me, like I was chained before, and now I was free. What is this?
Nothing. He was already gone before I could get the answer.
I felt loss like this in my previous life when my Aunt Naomi died. It hurts, and you just miss them, wanting to talk with them. This wasn't as strong because I hadn't really known him, but I'd miss him all the same.
I walked forward and touched his forehead with mine. I may not have known you long, but I wish you the best on your journey. Thank you for all you did for me and for all you've done.
I climbed a nearby tree and waited. Other people might miss signs like this, but I try not to. If any child on this planet needed help, it would be the kid that was returning here.