This was his territory. His land now. Muscles carried him gracefully across the undergrowth. He was to be worshiped. Offerings would be made to him, except there were too many intruders on his land. He would fight, would let them know who was king of this area.

Some had stumbled upon his zone, the place he had claimed and he launched out from the darkness, roaring and claws unsheathed.
The war call of others challenging him and he fought, tooth and nail to keep his zone his area. It was too much, he did not know the territory well enough. A women in red spoke haunting words, and war was at all sides soon. He would fight too, lay claim to his spot. He had no way of returning home. This was the only home he had.

But the fighting from all sides was too much, too much for him to take on alone. His pride would not let him build alliances with others. Not for a long time.

Chains held him. No matter how he roared how he railed against them, he could not escape. This was not the type of stripes he should receive. He paced where he could glaring daggers at all who came near. They would all know his displeasure.

That was until he was forced someplace different. Pain shot through him, and he let out a roar voicing his displeasure as he struggled. This was not as it should be. He should be allowed to roam free. If he as to die, it should have been in the battles, not like this. He struggled, and felt everything slowly go numb as his body changed. Chains wrapped around him sealing his power in place.

“Come here you little devil.” That little devil was some 40 feet high and trying to bite his arm off, but that was beside the point. “Oh calm down nommy. Chill.” Michael carefully tried to tame the thing instead of kill it. He had brought snacks, (a piece of that giant chicken) which the Devil seem to relish. It sniffed and then stepped forwards, nibbling bite by bite. Always hungry.

“There is no more.” The devil stared at him. It was hungry, still hungry, always hungry. “But I’ll help you kill things to eat. But only if they are the shadows.” The beast seemed to nod in agreement. A Pack was made.

The puppy was easier, but the dragon took several tried to get up on its back. The dragon did want to be on the ground at all. Michael had a hell of a lot of fun trying to cling on. Some of the other knights called him stupid, others called him insane as he tried to tame the flying beast. Others had gone with the shadow puppies, they were much easier to manage than Devils or dragons but Michael was persistent. Variety made a good army. After hours of being tossed off and dumped on the ground he finally could manage a few minutes in the air casually guiding along while guiding the beast to the next shadow to attack.

The others were just easier after that.

Michael was never afraid of hard work. Even after losing everything and almost everyone. Survival was his goal at this point. He worked just as hard as any of the other knights in training, not afraid of mud or diving in the trenches. He even braved rivers even though he could not swim. It wasn’t just to become a knight, it was to survive and keep what was left of his family alive. Not much, just a sister but enough.

Tiger and man wrestled in his head, he could feel it. The tiger wanted to win. The man wanted to win. Neither backed down as they wrestled with one another; an inner tormwell with his blade trying to take him. The Tiger trying to grasp once more at life. This was the fight the tiger had been looking for, had wanted. And Michael was a foe to be reckoned with. Despite it all, Michael would not allow for a second betrayal to go unchecked.

“If he betrayed us he will be likely to betray you at a moment’s notice.”

“I will not submit!”

“Then how about a little pay back, together.” Images of the time spent with the other beasts roamed about their head. They were an army on to themselves. Free to align with whomever they wanted. First destroy the one who would do them harm, after that… Well they always spoke better with fists and claws.