Fantasy Tigerborn, and other true stories. (most of the time)

[Calibutcher]

Leon returned to the kingdom and fetched the horses. Now atop his own stead and with Amares horse behind him, he was confident he could quickly find Amare and in turn the tiger. He returned to the woods and soon found the spot where they had given chase to the tiger, and there the familiarity ended. He had simply followed Amare. He wasn't really doing any tracking himself. Now as he looked at the ground for tracks he saw faint outlines of Amare running into the woods. Leon spurred on the horses at a breakneck speed through the woods. He followed what he thought was the trail. Occasional broken branches and prints in the dirt would catch his eye. At his speed, he assumed would catch them soon.

His confidence did not serve him well, he ducked under a branch and within the next gallop his horse began crying out in surprise and he was flung free of the saddle in a swift movement. Amare's horse stepped on his leg breaking it with a loud snap. Leon cried out in pain as he tumbled to a stop. His armor did protect him from some of the fall but his leg now twisted the wrong way. His horse stopped and Amare's continued on deeper into the woods. Leon gritted his teeth and tried to find a way to relieve the pain but any movement shot flares of pain from his leg. He tried to still himself long enough to grasp his surroundings. It was then that he heard human voices and footsteps. Running away from him. It must have been the poachers he was following when he caught up to them his horse startled. Now they ran in fear probably supposing him to be a guard to root them out. He cried out for help but they did not turn back for him. Leon looked up at his horse debating if he could perhaps get on his mount.

^^^

Amare had stayed on the trail at the best pace he could manage but as he sowed again to check he was still following a trail he wondered what had taken Leon so long. He should have been back by now with the horses. He looked back but could no longer see the castle walls beyond the trees. He looked up to the sky as the sun reached its peak. More knights would be out now, hunting for the tiger as well. His competition would only grow more fierce now. He continued the hunt Leon or not he would kill the tiger. Drips of silver blood lead him on, he decided now he should slow his approach, he would have no chance to sneak up on the beast and he could not outrun it. Stealth would be his best option. He took some time to calm his breathing and hunkered down on the trail again.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Alyss had begun making a small groove in the ground from her constant pacing in a circle. Her fur glistening along her shoulder from her blood. The expensive liquid seeping into the soil below. "Please change. Please change. Please change," she kept audibly saying. Occasionally she'd stop, sit down, look out to the distance, and debate if she should be keeping still as she was. Then she'd walk again. Her tail flicked occasionally and her shoulder ached the more she moved. Gradually stiff and in time she couldn't move much.

"Please, change..." she muttered and slumped to her side. She couldn't cry. Tigers couldn't cry. But her voice shook and croaked. "Why would he attack me? Did he know? Did all my family know? Had the plan always been to kill me..."

 

[Calibutcher]

The pain flooded him in waves, he looked away from his leg. Seeing it somehow made the pain worse. He called to his horse and the gentle creature walked nearer to him. It lowered its head enough that he could grab the reigns. He held onto them white-knuckled. He panted preparing himself for the next step. He had to get back to the castle there he could be tended too, but out here he was at the mercy of the woods and perhaps the silver Tiger. The fear of that thought propelled him into his next step. He shifted his good leg and positioned himself to stand. With a mighty heave he pulled at the reigns and then caught a hold of a stirrup with his hand. The edges of his vision began to tunnel and a cold sweat broke out.

He was standing on his good leg and resting the injured one ever so gently on the ground. He stood there panting, whimpering in pain at what he had to do next. He grabbed the pommel and with a mighty heave pulled himself onto the back of his horse. He could not bring himself to swing his legs over the saddle so he rode side saddle using his good leg to brace his broken one. He urged his horse on and it headed for the castle sensing something was wrong with its rider. Every step brought pain but at least he was heading towards help now.

^^^

A faint noise distracted him as he was working on the trail. He heard hoofbeats, He called out for Leon and his horse. The direction changed and soon his horse charged through the trees to him. He halted his horse and calmed the startled stead. "Where is Leon?" He asked the horse. It nickered and brayed at him but he of course did not know what happened. Amare looked down at the trail he was following and back to where his horse had run from. He waited a minute stuck in indecision, but it was clear to him his horse had left Leon for a reason. His friend was in trouble.

But could he abandon the chance to kill the tiger? He had the trail. And now his horse. Stuck between the prize and friendship. He mounted his horse and took to the trail.



The tiger was above all else.


His horse went slowly as he guided it along the way. He was relieved not to be walking now and the higher position in the saddle left him feeling a little safer. Still, motions in the woods drew his hand to his sword many times. Then he heard it, a voice that sparked new conflict in him. His sister Alyss talking and sobbing. He drew nearer and what he saw broke his heart anew. She was still a tiger. His hand gripped his sword but he could not draw it from its sheath. Slaying the Tiger was simple. Slaying this thing that carried his sister's beleaguered voice was none so clear.

"Alyss," He blurted out, the instinct of calling out to his sister stronger than his previous dedication. "Is that you?" More questions surfaced in his mind and a new form of horror as he saw the blood. The blood he had spilt. He dismounted his horse but kept his distance one hand still on his sword. Was this a trick or truly his sister?

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Alyss' ears swiveled and twitched as as she heard something coming toward her. She wasn't skilled enough to tell exactly what it was, besides that it had four legs. A deer most likely. Or maybe a moose? It seemed big. She'd imagine that a horse would have a bigger clomp compared to a deer too. With that though, she rose her head and began to look around at the brush and shrubbery, gradually getting up with a slight limp. It came from behind her. As she twisted her head, Alyss heard her name and saw her brother. Her fur stuck up on end and she immediately jumped back like a house cat would while she yelped. She bounced high in the air, yelped as she landed on her leg, and proceeded to jump again due to overreaction. The second time she landed, she was more graceful and prevented further injury.

A low, long, deep growl echoed from her throat as she peered upwards towards her brother. She inhaled, ears pinned down, and yelled. "Amare you are a fool!"

 

[Calibutcher]

Amare recoiled in fear at the blur of motion from the tiger, or was it his sister? Already the dilemma of what he had done to her stung him and added to his new tumult of emotion. Unbidden his sword had sprung from his scabbard, some part of him still recognized her as a threat in this new form she had.

Her words stung and he struggled to put his sword back in the sheath. "I thought you were gone!" He cried back in return. His words felt hollow, a partial truth. "I thought to end your agony." He spoke in a quieter tone. "What is the kingdom without the Silver Tiger?" He stepped forward and held his hands up.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

"I was trying to communicate with you!" she belted and paced, still not having noticed that she was speaking out loud now. She thought he could only hear roars and chirps. "I was writing in the dirt, trying to explain to you what I've found and know. What tiger does that?!" Another growl rumbled throughout her being and she lowered her head. "The most agony I've yet felt my entirety of life would be the ache that lingers from my bleeding shoulder. Betrayal."

She sat her haunches down. "Did you always know about this? Did you always know that a human changed and that you would be willing to take their life? A life? One with a family, friends, a brother. Because if you did, if you planned to, then perhaps the royal family was and still is scum." Alyss narrowed her eyes. "What is the kingdom without the Silver Tiger? We already know! The Silver Tiger was once a guardian of this Kingdom. Every two decades or so we've a means to repent for what we've done. You, are, foolish. And so was I. Then, are you going to kill me now?"

She spoke the last words, still unknowing to the communication she had, but debated internally if she should just sit as is and not seek to defend herself, or to run away. She wondered which would convince him to let down his weapon.

 

[Calibutcher]

He shook his head partly from the confusion and in answer to her question. "Did I know?" He shrugged and looked at the ground. "I knew parts." She was talking at least. He sheathed his sword and took another step closer. "I know, some. The Tiger appears and someone disappears. We thought it was the Tiger taking someone away." Amare ground his teeth and shook his head. So many things tore at him. Duty and family. His sister was now the tiger, but she was speaking! Perhaps he could prove she should not be killed? Or he could end it here and rule knowing what he had done.

"I don't know" He looked at his sword with uncertainty. "Who would believe us? What happens to the kingdom if you are not slain? How could I protect you?" His mind threatened to rend under the pressure he now felt. An urge to do what he had been trained to and the desire to keep his sister alive.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Alyss' ears flipped down as her brother responded to her. "What...?" she merely aired out while she continued to listen to him. This wouldn't just be coincidence. She lifted a single paw and her eyes grew wide as he began to stride toward her. Gilded in worry and fear for what he may do, as he had earned her trust once before. The more she heard from him, the better she understood that he did not know.

"Amare, you..." she wanted to make sure that she did understand her, but she'd be even more unwise than he if she didn't click everything together herself. "We will have no chance to approach the kingdom while I'm in this state. Everyone will think you crazy, lock you up, and hunt me down themselves if you claim that I am your sister or on their side. As I was trying to explain to you before," Alyss huffed and swept dirt to the side of her with her tail, "I can, or should, be able to transform. A tower appeared before me in the gardens, above the Vigints in the greenhouse. I suppose only one who has transformed into the Silver Tiger may behold it. I ventured up there and found myself in a room where I returned back to my human state. Well," she padded the ground, "as human as I'm allowed to be now." She remembered vividly how the stripes hadn't left her, and she didn't think she'd be ever able to make them disappear. "Reed, he was a servant for the kingdom prior to ours. He and the prince were gifted powers from a god, the Silver Tiger, wherein the servant may transform to protect the people there. At some point our family reigned and decided to hunt the Silver Tiger instead. The history of Reed lost to time, and no royal blood may be granted the gift." It was a short spiel of everything that had happened, but she figured they'd have a longer conversation about it later.

"If I could get to that tower, I may be able to learn how to transform safely and we can speak to our parents," she sighed. "Otherwise, I'll have to hide or leave the kingdom until I figure it out on my own. Either you may help by hiding me or," she stared him eye-to-eye, looking down the bridge of her snout, "we part ways here."

 

[Calibutcher]

Amare listened, intent on her wounds wanting a solution, a real end to the issue. But he saw it. The end. To this issue and future Tigers. He was to slay the beast. Even if this one was his sister even if others would be future people of the kingdom. Velthin could not be risked.
He stepped back and mounted his horse. "I'm sorry." He said with determination. "There has to be a Silver Tiger. A king will slay it and the people will not handle the truth." He drew his sword and rushed at his former sister.


^^^

"This will not do." The man in the grey robe said.

The man in the yellow robe nodded and pressed several buttons on the display in front of him. The video froze and the word 'standby' flashed in the lower corner. "The solution is clear." The man replied.

"And yet he has chosen otherwise." the man in the grey robe tapped his foot against the floor several times. "Schedule 86 and search for Ɉʇɘɘwƨ"

The man in the yellow robe nodded and pressed several more buttons. "Let us search." He begins to scroll through various worlds and places images and short videos flashing across the screen at speeds beyond normal human comprehension. The two men seem to soak it all in and understand what they are looking for.

"There," The man in the grey robe interjected. "This one stands in contradiction."

The man in yellow nodded in agreement and they both stood hands behind their backs to watch.

^^^
Tressden, City Center, Catalyst Innovo tower

Amare strode into Catalyst Tower and scanned his ID card and the desk. A security guard nodded approval of his ID and gestured for him to head to the elevator. "Welcome in Dr Hess." Amare nodded and went to the third elevator on the right. The same elevator he went to every day. This like the other elevators could go up. But more importantly, this one would go down. He keyed a combination of buttons on the elevator and it began its descent. His ears popped as the pressure changed. They opened to a pristine lab of white, where other scientists and researchers were working at various stations.

The lab was massive its ceiling seemed to stretch to dizzying heights where more technicians and scientists were on scaffolding high above. All work was focused on what took up most of the massive room. A massive tiger made of stone, metal, and synthetic and organic materials alike. Parts of it shifted slightly and swayed yet it was clearly not alive. Its massive eyes did not blink and it did not breathe but something about it seemed ready to move. Yet in the 12 years he had worked here that had never happened.

He walked quickly to his station where fellow scientist Alyss had already begun prepping for the day. "You must be excited." He noted as she was already donning the full body suit for exploration. A new part of the Tiger's internals had been discovered and today his team, would be delving inside the deepest anyone had gone. All the way to the brain. In hopes of understanding how the Tiger worked and what its purpose really was.

"You gonna wait for me to suit up as well or take off all by yourself?" He pawed at her shoulder in a joking gesture to try and knock her off balance.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Alyss had been prepped for an entire hour before even the technicians had arrived. Excited. Scared. Ready. Her chin upturned as she gazed upon the tiger. She'd hardly taken notice to her lab partner, and only reframed her focus after she about teetered over. She gasped, flinging her arms back to catch herself on a counter, then pursed her lips. "Amare," she snapped, though her frustration didn't skew towards his tease. "What took you?"

 

[Calibutcher]

"Well, it doesn't help your early." He lifted a case. A large metal box that he put on a nearby table. "But I did stop by to get something." He undid the latches and opened the case. Inside was a device that looked somewhat like a stethoscope however instead of the earplugs that would allow a doctor to listen to a patient there was a digital screen. "R&D thinks this will help us read any potential brainwaves from El Tigre while we are in there." He handed the device to Alyss. "Why don't you have the honors with it today?"

 

[AEONmeteorite]

With eyes lit up, Alyss' jaw fell when he opened the box. The high end of technology. There were too many times they had to beg and plea for new equipment. Another gasp echoed from her, but one of unbearable thrill. "Are you sure?" she squealed, but then in a lower voice repeated, "Are you sure?" Her fingers hovered above the box before he handed her the device. "Because, you're the one who was here first. You're the one who's been here longer. Done more."

 

[Calibutcher]

"I'm sure." He nodded his assent and closed and put away the box once she grabbed the item. "I've had my turns with new equipment. I can't hog all the fun." He turned and began donning his own gear to prep for their insertion into the tiger. "But I am absolutely coming with you!"

 

[AEONmeteorite]

"Glad to have you!" Alyss beamed, then prepped the item on herself to prevent it from falling if she let go. She waited just as impatiently as before, but this time with pits in her stomach beginning to form. That fear festering. What if they didn't find anything? What if they found something that they should have found? What if they did find something, but that something was something so confusing, that they couldn't explain something without something to explain something with.

The milling thoughts tore through her in a short bout. Her heart raced and her breathing grew more akin to panting. "Are you ready yet?!"

 

[Calibutcher]

The suits were more akin to space suits than anything else they had both air ventilation and their own closed air circuit if needed. The gloves locked into place and he had a technician help him put his helmet on. He began tapping at the display on his wrist and the suit confirmed 100% integrity. He linked comms with Alyss and nodded. "now I am ready." He said in an even tone and voice. He could also pull up health info on himself and Alyss a quick check confirmed how excited she was as he read an elevated heart rate.

"You seem extra excited today." He patted her on the shoulder and began walking towards the airlock. He stepped in and once Alyss was in the doors closed and a decontamination cycle began washing their suits and sterilizing them to enter the TIger. Once the cycle was completed they stepped out onto a lift. The lift brought them up to another small room. Scribbled on the wall was 'Welcome to Uranus!' who the culprit was remained a mystery but no one had removed the hastily drawn words. It was true. Entry to the tiger was done from the rear.

They stood before the entrance and Amare did a final comm check with Alyss and the ground team. Everything checked out for all parties. He reached towards the door and undid the heavy latch. They stepped in and squeezed into the rear of the tiger. The door cycled close behind them. Any expectation of foul odors and less-than-savory sights disappeared once you were actually inside. Nothing about the internals of the Tiger matched any physiology of any creature. Like the outside different materials of all kinds made up different parts of the inside of the tiger. However, where the bowels should reside there was scaffolding and small living spaces. Crystals also hung about the space providing a dim green light. Even the space that should have held the heart held instead a great engine of some kind it moved slowly contracting and expanding and the light of the crystals pulsed with it.

They were not alone in the Tiger. Several other teams were working on other parts studying the odd makeup of this creature and its true purpose. Amare took it all in within moments. This was just another trip one of many he had made. This part was familiar. What came next was more exciting, the unknown they would discover as they entered the head and hopefully the brain. He picked up the pace walking quickly. "C'mon Alyss, now I'm getting excited let's not get distracted." He walked along the scaffolding toward the front of the Tiger.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Every time she entered the tiger, it felt like the first. There were always things that she didn't see before. The crystals consistently absorbed her thoughts and she held for a moment to take it all in again. Her attention shifted to Amare as he called out to her, and she sped her way to him, getting on the scaffolding as well. "There's more," she pointed across the way where new scaffolding had been placed. "It's been a while since I've gone inside. They've done a lot of work. Makes our job easier too."

 

[Calibutcher]

"Until we get this thing figured out we will keep expanding." The scaffolding had all been installed by technicians over the years. It spanned nearly the entire creature now crisscrossing and winding their way through the creature. It was a variable maze now and if Amare did not have the experience of being through here so many times he too could fall into confusion.

The long walk continued without much chatter for a time and eventually, they stood at the bottom of a long stairwell. The lights changed here as they were fewer crystals. Now massive cables hung from the ceiling and they carried a soft glow up towards the head. Everything now was bathed in a light blue from the slowly pulsing cables.

Amare began climbing the stairs holding onto the handrail as he went, about four steps in the neck of the Tiger shifted suddenly to the side. The scaffolding swayed and Amare steadied himself. "Whoa!" The ground team was on the comms with him and Alyss within moments.

"Are you two OK? we just had a shift from the Tiger."

The scaffolding steadied and stopped moving soon and Amare looked back to Alyss. "I'm good."

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Alyss hadn't been holding onto the handrail the entire while. Feeling adequately safe not doing so. Her arms snapped up though as the scaffolding shook. Knuckles white around the rail as the comms went off. Her hands did not peel off them even as the shifting paused. "Wheeew, kay," Alyss whistled and cleared her throat. "Good, good. We didn't fall after all."

 

[Calibutcher]

"Ground team please advise any other signs of activity?" Amare had not resumed climbing yet. And waited for confirmation.

"No, that's the only thing we saw. Bigger movement than normal but all seems steady again. We are good on this end. If your comfortable go ahead and continue."

Amare nodded. "Sounds good, pressing on." He continued up the stairs without further issue. They arrived at the base of the skull. for 12 years this had this been the end point of travel this far up. However some time in the night another technician was able to get an opening. A hole no more than 3 feet in diameter was in front of them now. "Alright proceeding into the cranium." He comm'ed before going headlong into the cavity. It took a little work to fit the bulky suit through but once on the other side, he was able to stand again and view this new area.

The same blue light from the cables earlier shone into this space. Before them was the brain of the beast. "C'mon Alyss your up."

 

[AEONmeteorite]

"Mph..I don't like this," Alyss shuddered as they bypassed the small opening. She felt congested and wholly claustrophobic. But it passed speedily and she found herself in awe again. Here it was. Filled with neurons. Riddled with flesh. Strung about with thought. A forest of intelligence in a single organ. Everything somehow intact and ready for their own brains to understand.

She lifted the device. Once turned on, she worked with it to help dial in on the organ. Her eyes scanned the screen. Waiting and praying something beyond their own thinking came to be.

 

[Calibutcher]

Amare helped Alyss stand once she came through the opening, their awe was somewhat muted by their focus and the two set to work, she with her scanned and he with some sample collection tubes.

He approached the brain as she did and carefully made contact as he scooped some gelatinous material from the brain into a test tube. He had been holding his breath as he did so but nothing happened he let out a sigh of relief.

Alyss's scanner began to beep periodically and the scanner began to pick up brain waves. Amare turned his head as he heard the beeping "is that what I think it is!?" He said excitedly. It was always suspected that the creature had some brain activity but they could not truly confirm anything before this point.

He placed a hand on Alyss's shoulder. "This is phenomenal. Perhaps we could establish communication with it." His mind began to race but he still kept at his task his next step was to collect an actual tissue sample.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

The fruit of their labors grew evident, and Alyss' felt she was floating with glee. It wasn't that the tiger thought, it was thinking. What began as joyful butterflies in her stomach instead twisted and pinched at her jubilance. "We might be able to. We could," she tried to match his excitement. More of her own thoughts sunk in.

If the tiger communicated with them, should they leave it's body? All these years of hard work. Countless days. Building. Understanding. People involved. Everything may be torn down the moment they make effort to trade words with the beast. This exploration may find it's final chapter, and turn to beast handling instead. She'd never be able to enter again.

"It is going to definitely be... a while... it shouldn't be at the top of the list. We will bring the samples and readings. And continue the research."

 

[Calibutcher]

Amare stopped what he was doing. He could hear the trepidation in her voice. The uncertainty if her future if they could communicate with the creature. "Much to be done still." He remarked. He was not worried about there future all they had learned from this magnificent beast was too much to disregard.

He returned to his task at hand. He had another test tube and a scalpel now. He was on the line with the ground team who were monitoring the tiger along with other crews in the creature at the same time. "If anything will prompt a reaction. It'll be this."

"Stand by Amare we will give you the green light when all teams are ready." A display generated on his helmet a red dot for each team at different positions in the tiger. One after another the lights changed to green and all the dots condensed into one.

"Go ahead."

Amare nodded. "Making the incision." He worked slowly as though he expected the creature to leap as soon as the blade made contact. His shaved a sample out and it landed in the tube. He held his breath waiting. The moments passed into seconds and then a minute. He put a cap on the tube and began breathing normally again.

"All good, no abnormal reaction."

Amare nodded. "That's a relief and just a tad disappointing." A pain response from the creature would have been an interesting development but its stillness remained. His earlier thoughts of communication faded. "Ok we will get some more pictures and camera feed for everyone. Then -"

He was cut off as the ground shook and a distant sound of cracking earth jarred them. Amare fell only just managing to keep hold of his vial. "Grond team is that the tiger?"

There was a few long seconds of silence. "Amare, Alyss get out of there. Something is going on topside we are going to evacuate to the shelters."

"Whats happening?" he yelled there was no answer until an automated system began instructing him and Alyss into leaving the TIger and which shelter to seek. He looked to where they had come in only to see the hole in the base of the neck close. "NO!" he shouted.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Breath held. Knuckles squeezed white. Shoulders up and shook. Her heart betrayed her. It beat fast. Her attempt at a calm stature barely able to keep up while she witnessed Amare acquire the sample of memory.

He cut. She flinched in turn. It hurt her, at least, in measure of fear.

Nothing happened, though, she realized she hadn't checked the screen for brain activity yet. That was "movement" too. But the moment she went to look at the device, she found herself off her feet and fallen to her side. She yelled from surprise, and any chance of relaxing had long since become a squander of a thought.

"Amare!" she shouted far more loudly than needed, as she too noticed the lack of exit. "What should we do?" Her hands moved erratically to take up the device again. "An earthquake? Now?"

 

[Calibutcher]

He scrabbled on the slick surface finding enough purchase to stand. Even as he did the ground shook again. This time felt different. Not from outside but the Tiger seemed to be moving again. Pulses of light began to stream into the cranium and what was a dimly lit space now glowed bright in fervent blue.

"Amare, Alyss! The tiger is moving now too!" Someone had stayed at the post after all. "You need to get moving now!"

"We can't." He stepped towards Alyss and tried to help her up but as he made it to her he fell over again as the head swayed once more. "Our entrance closed. Go on get to the shelter we will figure something out."

"Begining reactivation sequence." A voice boomed around them. The tiger shifted again.