I See Fire

Rumours, whispers of a land where Shifters could live without persecution had spread like quicksilver through the underground channels reaching his ears. And even more, that it was headed by a magnificent white tigress, a Queen whose name he hadn’t managed to catch. Niko’s interest had been piqued and more to the point, he had wanted to escape from the prying eyes of humans and find a home where he could roam free in his true form without having to keep on guard for additional threats like human poachers. So it was with great happiness that the Shifter treaded up the curving worn path of uneven rock embedded in the forest floor. The ground grew slightly steeper the further he moved up, clusters of foliage and damp leaves brushing against his skin as he pushed aside some that were hanging from lower branches getting in his way. The ground was moist but that was typical of a normal forest. Faltering as he saw scratch marks gauged deep into the stone in front of him, he knelt down running his hand over one of the marks. It was impossible to tell what caused it since many, many animals and Shifters alike had stepped paw on these sacred grounds but he would have guessed that it was one of the big cats or even a bear. Maybe there’d been a fight. Standing, he looked around. He had heard this place was sanctuary, a safe haven for Shifters. There was bound to be some in-fighting as animals weren’t emotionless most of the time and Shifters, though primarily animals at birth, were not completely and wholly so. As long as there was no wanton killing he was satisfied and so far, he had come across nothing but peace so it was most likely going to be the case. Arguments and fights were a part of life after all so there was no escaping those things. Whatever the case, he hoped he would be accepted into the clan. After all, they all wanted the same thing in the end which was to seek out others who were like them and stay alive in a world where the tides of politics could turn on them at any moment. He knew they weren’t the strongest species in existence but they were varied and their strength lay in the multitude of animals they could be and the inherent skills that came with them. A poisonous snake could slither unseen into someone’s home far more easily than a bear for instance and in a full-scale melee fight with larger, more physically intimidating opponents, be overlooked which would work to their advantage. The snake could deal a fatal strike in the chaos. Or two, or five.

Putting those thoughts aside, he gazed ahead with determined eyes. It was time. His entire body seemed to ripple. The gentle hazel of his eyes trickled away to a deep amber. Black bled into the whites. His hair shrunk back into his skull smoothly, dark brown curls disappearing. At the same time his face changed, handsome features melting into a larger, powerful head with an equally powerful snout lined with fearsome teeth capable of breaking hard shell and animal skulls. His body grew longer, spine bending inwards at the upper part to form a slight curve. Bones rearranged themselves, allowing for greater dexterity and agility. As his arms and legs shortened, becoming thick and muscular along with the rest of his body he dropped to the ground on all fours his ears crawled up the sides of his head, ears becoming rounded. The white shirt he was wearing blended into his skin. A full coat of fine, silky fur shot up from his skin as soon as the shirt vanished completely followed by a rope-like furred tail that shot outwards from the base of his spine out of his jeans. The jeans went the same way as the shirt. Rosette patterns blossomed over his coat, evenly spaced. Within seconds he had transformed into a leopard, well-built and strong. Head lowering in a predatory stance, tail touching the ground he continued on his journey on steady, massive paws. Though, if one cared to look more closely they would see the slight tug at the corner of his lips that constituted as a smile and they would also see the way his eyes shone. Niko’s heart only possessed optimism and looked towards the future. Never back on the past. The forest was tranquil, lush and serene but in his heart he saw opportunities and a future. He saw a life unhindered by the confines of what should be. He saw a life brimming with freedom. He saw fire.

Powerful paws slowed to a halt as he heard a mighty roar resonate throughout the forest like a beacon at a light-house, heralding the presence of a regal, divine creature. He had heard that sound before. It was a tiger. No, a tigress. A Shifter. The roar could be nothing but that of the pure, unique sound of animal and human in one perfect symphony. To others it would sound like nothing other than a tiger’s roar but to fellow Shifters, it could be nothing else. It could be nothing but a Shifter. Could it be her? He turned his head in the general direction, keen eyes scouring the area in front of him for a glimpse of black stripes among the lush trees and shrubbery. She was supposed to be a white tiger, one of the rarest sub-species of tigers to exist. One of the tigers that was bordering on extinction, if not completely extinct altogether. And if the wilder whispers were true, she was a mixture of two species to create one rarity indeed. He himself, was a sub-species of his own. A Persian or more commonly called, Caucasian leopard which was classified as endangered. Perhaps he could find some common ground with on that basis or maybe, just maybe, there were other Shifters who were seeking refuge from the ever lingering threat of persecution. Finally he spotted a moving mass of white, a discrepancy in the green and brown surrounding him. As he followed it, he sniffed the air. His sensitive nose identified her immediately. A tigress. The white tiger. It was her. His whiskers twitched, tail lifting upwards to express friendliness. His rounded ears leaned forwards intently and his eyes skated across his surroundings with precision. And then, she finally revealed herself to him. His tail swayed to the side a few times in anticipation, rich amber eyes lighting up a shade more. She was examining him, no doubt so he stood perfectly still where she was meeting her eyes with his confidently.

“It is truly a pleasure to meet you Regina Eden,” Niko said, bending his right foreleg and lowering his head to her deeply with his ears folding. “My name is Niko and I heard about you and the clan and this haven that you’ve built. I came to seek acceptance and join, to find sanctuary in your haven from a world that could turn on us at any moment.” He paused at this, irises shining with sincerity. “I have formidable fighting skills and as a Shifter, I’ve learned how to evade and keep out of danger. If you accept me, I promise I will do everything in my power to protect and serve you as well as everyone else in the clan. I will protect your lives with all my heart.” Waiting a moment, he straightened. His tail was now low to the ground to show respect. He was honest in everything he had said so far and more than anything else, he sought company that was like him and a family.

He raised a paw idly as if he was going to approach her, amber eyes peering at her curiously as she closed her own blue hues. There were no visible signs of discomfort though her action may have been because of other reasons that were her own and only her own to keep. Lowering his paw back down onto the ground he maintained his expression of neutral cordiality and open friendliness, gazing at her curtly with the same warm smile playing about his lips. He would wait for her to speak again. When she returned his gesture his expression brightened if anything. Niko wasn't a very complicated person but life was much easier that way. There were things he enjoyed, things he didn't like just like everyone else and there were things he held dear to his heart. Then there were other little things like a simple gesture in return to his own that made him feel content with himself. In general, he went with the flow and in the presence of the Regina, he would do no less than what she requested. The feline's tail swished through the air again in thought as she spoke, asking him about his skills and abilities. As he was forming his answer she motioned for him to follow her and he duly complied.

"I was kidnapped by poachers when I was a cub from my family and locked in a cage. They wanted to skin my pelt and sell it to the highest bidder. I eventually escaped out onto the streets and spent the rest of my child-hood on the streets rummaging for food from garbage cans and scraps that I found, changing from Shifter and human form. Since I was always running and hiding from the poachers I learned how to keep out of sight, stay hidden and out of danger during that time," Niko said slowly, trailing behind her at an even, relaxed pace. "Later on I learned how to fight from a Mora. To put a long story short, she was in a bad situation with a local mob boss who was a Shifter because of some issues with money but she knew how to fight and defend herself. They wrecked her place and tried to stab her with a knife on the first visit.  So that was when I figured out that she was in trouble so instead of leaving I stayed and offered to help protect her and in exchange, she gave me a place to stay. She taught me some fighting skills and I also took some classes outside in martial arts since I couldn’t reveal my animal form without being seen by the poachers. They were Shifters too so it was a full-out brawl. They were out for blood and I almost got bitten by a Cobra.” He laughed, “Can you believe that? Shifters fighting Shifters. It shouldn’t be that way but that’s how it was. It was chaos. I used anything I could. My fists, tables, chairs, even a pen once. That was when I learned how to fight with not just my body but with anything else that was capable of doing damage. So there you have it. I had no choice. If I wasn’t quick enough, strong enough or alert enough I wouldn’t be standing here today. I guess I’m lucky.”His tone was candid, never showing anything but reflective consideration for the words he was uttering. There wasn’t anything holding him back from revealing his past. The past was just that, the past and he had moved on from it. There was no harm in telling her how he came to possess those skills. And there was no need to tell her what he did not want to unless it was important or crucial but none of that applied here so he would not. But he appreciated her consideration nevertheless and when her eyes twinkled as they met his, a spark ignited in his which was playful and fun. Niko was not a serious person but he knew when to be. He said, humour in his voice, “Don’t worry, my Lady. Keeping everything locked up was never my style anyway. So since I’ve kept my end of the bargain, would you care to uphold yours then? You must have an interesting background.”

"At this point, nothing surprises me anymore about the races. Even ours.." She reminded him.

The races of which made up the world had always been complex since their discovering and some-what of an acceptance. It was how man-kind was raised, and they were all supposed to differ. The possibilities of their being the same people, having the same interests, same attitude and opinions was as close to zero to a million chances. However, even race fighting against their own kind, made her on edge. It was almost hard to believe that her kind could do such a thing, but they were much like any other whom walked the earthy grounds. Perhaps she had underestimated herself a bit too much compared to the rest - that, or the thought had only occurred to her particularly in that moment. Eden's paws made soft noises as they moved, though at the image of poachers catching the interesting feline besides her made her heart skip and her mind fuzz. She stopped in her spot. It was not immediately as if it would suddenly disrupt the friend of hers, but it was enough to make someone concerned of what she was thinking. "Poachers, you said?.." The word itself was sour as she said it aloud, bitter throughout the entire cavern of her mouth that had dried on contact to the topic of conversation. Eden did not look at the male as she said it, but it didn't take long for her to slowly peer back over her shoulder to clarify that he had said it, and not her mind. The thought of skinning a creature alive for money was selfish, and the image of her father's beginning dragged ruthlessly around by the sinful bunch of humans made her claws graze the dirt as if she were about to charge. But she wasn't. Eden kept a low, cooled head and nodded once before continuing on further into the forestry of her lands. "I see... I'm glad to see you're safe now, Niko.. It'll be an honor having you.." The regina said quietly, her tone a low whisper, but audible for the agile round ears of a cat within the general area such as himself. She did this on purpose, which had no meaning, but its just something was used to.

Once he was finished, the tigress lifted her head a little higher and rounded her ears slowly forwards to take in the surrounding noises. She sniffed the air once to make sure if anyone was in ear-shot, but came up blank. At least then she knew they were alone to speak freely of themselves. Eden's eyes faintly returned to Niko's seconds after she was done with her routined search and attempted to pry back a smile so that he would not see the hurt still some-what of a gap inside her. The white tiger slowly eased herself down to sit beneath the shade and left her mouth agape to breath in the fresh air, her fangs slightly stained from the earlier prey she captured. "From a young age, I was raised by only my older brother, Darren, and my mother. My father was poached long before I was born, sold to a couple people amongst the forests of France, which is where we resided, and since then my brother was left in charge of being the male of the cave. He taught me everything our father knew and more, and I couldn't've been more grateful for what I was given compared to so many shifters at the time. Our parents were in fact the first shifters to be tested on by the humans, but they were released soon after into the while as the mortals didn't think anything was wrong with them. If only they knew that only a few days later, our kind had mutated into human forms. Darren and I were the living proof that shifters could survive and reproduce." Taking a large inhale, she eased it out through her mouth slowly and rested her chin upon her paws as she leaned her body down against the forest, soft floor. "Unfortunately, our mother than become terminally ill and she was forced to die when I was the age of nineteen, as we could not afford the medicines or surgeries to help her case. Darren and I tried to make a living between one another, but my brother soon then broke down and started drinking in the darkness of where our father used to work. He'd come home like it, and would sometimes hit me if I got too close, but I still loved him.." Her eyes turned cloudy as she spoke more depth into conversation, fixating her gaze to focus and return to Niko's whom was staring at her. She was glad to see that he was paying attention and remaining quiet - she liked strong listeners of people.

"Months later, my brother was drafted for the war against our kind and others. It was long before most shifters were born, and the history books don't cover much on it anymore. I remained working and writing as he was gone, but a year later I was greeted with a man in a uniform with a yellow card and a large box in his hands at my office doorstep.." A single tear had managed to fall from the feline's face, mostly targeted from her human eyes rather than the cat-ones she possessed. She stopped moving all together and laid still for a moment before she sat up and looked at Niko with a steady mind, trying to find some comfort with the silence given. "The letter had said M.I.A., but the force claims to say that his body was never found and that he is dead. But in my heart, I still think he's alive.. somewhere.. It had been months later after the visit was when I started cleaning my office and found the box the man was carrying in the back of my closet. I hadn't touched it at all, as I was too busy trying to mend my heart back to its strength. Inside, I found old things my father and mother used to own, along with letters and history about their kind. Files even about their times in the labs." She phased to her human form and rested her back against the tree she sat under, her long white hair passing down her shoulders and along the sides of her face to frame a piece of artwork. She sniffed once and took the locket out from behind the collar of her shirt. It had an opal stone on it, and the metal was silver as it chained around her neck and bordered the casing. Eden showed him what was inside, as it was her father and mother one one end, and Darren, so she presumed this must've been before she was born. "I had also found this, and I believe it was my mother's to keep. But I've never taken it off once... As for what else was inside, was something very important. My father had written letters to remind himself, to plan and write down all these ideas of their race. He had mentioned how our kind could stretch passed the feline race onto others and probably even all species depending on what all the humans had been up to. He had also noted of the animals he saw while caged in the human labs, as well as the medicines and supplies needed to form our race. But he also lastly said of collecting them, to build a pack and have his family be protected by them.. which is what you see today. I took on my father's legacy and carried it on as my own.. And I don't plan for that to end. I want to keep building, to see what all we could do and more. Become allies, win battles, love and care for each other like the family I almost never had. These people..." She stopped and corrected herself, her eyes closing slightly,

"These.. shifters.. are my family.."

It was a terrible thing, for Shifters to be fighting one another. Niko preferred peace and diplomacy over violence and war every time. He’d had to fight but that was when the former two failed. Even so, he couldn’t harbour any anger towards any one. He stopped a few steps behind her when she stopped abruptly. He looked at her, wondering if he had said anything he shouldn’t have. And it seemed he had from her single word of “poachers” and tone and her claws grazing the ground. He was sorry for that but it’d been unavoidable. He would however, not mention it again. It wasn’t an easy thing to talk about, especially for them. As she looked over her shoulder at him he gazed back at her, his bright eyes filled with a momentary flash of sorrow and understanding. Perhaps someone in her family too had been the victim of poachers. It was a senseless thing, callous and selfish. He would never understand why people did these kinds of things as long as he lived. Was it human nature? Because if it was, that meant that somewhere deep inside was a part of him that he wouldn’t ever want to let out into the world. He was part human, part animal. The perfect combination of both just as all Shifters were. With animal instincts, the capabilities of one and human emotion to control it. Pushing those thoughts aside, Niko smoothed out his expression. Things would be better here. He’d help make things better and he’d help protect and defend his kind if it came to that. A toothy grin spread across his lips as the tigress spoke, showing pearly white teeth.“I’m glad to be here.”

The top of his snout crinkled, ears folding slightly in sympathy as he listened to the rest of her story. Life hadn’t been kind to her unfortunately but she had grown strong from it. There was a silence when she finished as he took it all in, her brother missing, the fate of her poor mother and father and her father’s lifetime work. But it seemed she had suffered the most. He said quietly, a slight growl coming from him that was unconsciously done, “There is one thing good that’s come out of this. At least you’ve survived. And it’s not a crime to have still loved your brother. He’s family after all and it’s hard to stop loving family even if they hurt you. If you believe he’s still out there then he just might be.” To his surprise she started crying, tears coming out of her eyes to slide down her face. Niko almost stood up on his hind legs to place his paws on her shoulders, about to lick her in an attempt to comfort her. It’d been a playful kind of gesture that had worked in the past but thought better of it. He didn’t know how she would react to that. He opted instead to put his massive paw on her leg when she finished phasing into her human form as a form of neutral reassurance that everything was going to be okay. When she showed him the locket he peered at it curiously. It was well taken care of, with two pictures of her family inside the casing. His eyes fell on the picture of her parents, her father in particular when she started to speak about his work. He sounded like he had been a brilliant man with enough foresight and intellect to plan out safeguards for their race so that they could thrive and flourish peacefully. “Well, all his work wasn’t in vain. He had you to carry it on and I hope it’ll happen,” Niko murmured. He turned his head to her, suddenly solemn. With his large head and patterned face, almond-shaped eyes in perfect symmetry he almost seemed like a gentle giant who was deep in thought. He was a large male, more so in animal form than in human as he was bulkier and stockier, top-heavy but swift and agile like most his species. He tilted his head at her, tail swaying and asked, “Will I be able to meet the rest of your family soon?” His eyes seemed to gleam playfully.“Since I’m part of your family now it’d be nice to know the rest of the family.”

She started to shift back into her animal form and he wondered if he should’ve showed her his human form since she did the same. As he was contemplating his eyes widened in surprise, the pupil growing larger. Somehow, he’d completely missed all the signs that she was pregnant. He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her for the time being, at least until her cub was born. He knew she would probably be watched over but there was no harm in an extra pair of eyes. He’d seen what could happen if one let their guard down. Listening to her speak about the rest of the pack mates, his tail flicked the air intently. Niko always enjoyed meeting new people and the ones she’d mentioned, would be the ones he would need to know not just for his own personal interest but for practical purposes. He couldn’t wait to meet them. And he was glad they made her eyes sparkle so brightly. Or she was smiling because she was thinking about her child. Both things were good either way. A new baby was exciting, an amazing prospect to think about. He started to sit, attention straying back to the locket. It was swinging slightly from her hand like a pendulum. Then she said “along with your help” which was a slightly strange finish. He had thought he was going to be a warrior, like most who came but warriors weren’t usually the ones who walked alongside the King and Queen. But it appeared he was to be something more. He looked at her for confirmation. She was beaming, glowing with pride and passion and grinning. When she placed a paw on his shoulder close to his neck he thought she was going to announce him a warrior or whatever rank it was she thought him suitable for. Instead, she gave him something else. A rank which he had never thought was befitting for him. His expression went slightly blank, surprise filling his amber eyes. When she finished, he remained silent for a short moment processing what had just happened in his mind. He? A guardian? It was something that he had never thought about. But he supposed it was the same. A grin began to wind its way across his snout and he said, “I would be honoured. Thank you, Eden for your trust in me. I will do my best to protect and defend our clan and fulfil my duties to my utmost best. And I will seek out Jagara.”

At this, he started to morph back into his human form. Just once so that she would be able to recognize him if she saw him wandering around in it. Thick curly brown hair that fell into his eyes and past his shoulders, warm hazel eyes and a face that was handsome, youthful and thoughtful. His features were friendly, angelic. Lightly tanned skin that shone with an innate vibrancy. Beneath his shirt and jeans, a strong athletic body with wide, broad shoulders and tough, well-defined muscles. And standing at an impressive height of just over six feet. He knelt down before her on one bended knee, right arm placed over the leg that wasn’t bent casually. The other hand was on the ground, parallel to his left leg. He said with an impish grin, “Now we’re even.” He watched her go, receiving her gesture with a respectful lowering of his head. Thank you and welcome. Better words couldn’t have been spoken. Standing up he stretched and put his hands behind the back of his head happily. Life had given him another door to step through, another window of opportunity which he would grasp with both hands. Walking after her, he had a feeling he was going to like it here.

occ: No worries