Welcome to Gaia! ::

Near the edge of the cliff, where the sea was seen under the full moon’s light, there was laughter in the air. In the secluded forest not far from the cliff was a campfire. Surrounding the campfire was a group of men. However, these men were not ordinary men. Most of the group had black wings behind their backs. The odd one had black sharp ears and a striped tail.

“And when the human said, ‘Do you feel peckish?’ I answered, ‘Yeah.’ And I pecked him in the eye!” One of the raven laguz joked. The rest, including the odd fellow, hollowed in laughter.

“Haha! Speaking about peckish,” another raven laguz said as he wiped the tear away. “I’m hungry. Let’s go grab something to eat. Can’t raid the ship on an empty stomach, now do we?”

Nearly all the group agreed with him. One raven laguz replied.

“You guys go ahead and bring me something to eat. Someone has to stay behind to look out in case the Goldoa and Hawk King’s subjects know we’re doing it again.”

“Yeah, you have a point. Don’t know why these humans like to sail their ships at night. If they think they’re safe because of our visual depth problem, then they need to think again.”

The rest of the raven laguz agreed cheery. Despite how badly their visual was during nighttime, they refused to let a minor problem stopping their raid. The raven laguz who spoke earlier turned to the odd man. “What about you, Rajin? Want to come and grab a bite with us?”

The tiger laguz waved his hand to shoot him and his comrades out. “You go ahead and eat without me. I’m just going to rest and chill out for a bit. If I want to eat, I can go get it myself.”

The raven laguz shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself then.”

They then departed, leaving the watcher and the tiger laguz alone in the secluded area. Rajin lowered himself from the log to the ground and adjusting himself to recline against the log. Placing his hands behind his head, he let out a sigh.

“That’s more like it. More elbow room.” Rajin smiled as he let out a small soft, low growl and closed his eyes. It had been days since the tiger had any contact with society. He mostly spent his time wondering around the continent, searching for some adventure. He knew very well that there was a war between the humans. And as much as there was excitement in the battlefield, he didn’t want to participate. Why should he bother dealing with the beorc’s problem? It wasn’t his concern about what happened to them. It was the beorc’s fault for getting themselves into the mess. As long as the laguz were not dragged into the war, it was none of his problem.

“Hey Rajin.” The raven laguz spoke.

Rajin’s ears gave a twitch. He then opened his eyes and looked at the watcher. “Yeah?”

“There’s something that’s been bothering me since you’ve came here.” The raven replied.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“That name of yours. Rajin Cyphers. That last part of your name sounds too human for a laguz like yourself.”

Rajin blinked. Now this was something he didn’t expect. Usually people didn’t give a damn about his name. They usually cared about what was his business or where did he came from. But this was the first time he had been questioned. Never would he think that he would meet a laguz who was curious about this.

Rajin let out a chuckle as he smirked. “That’s because it is a beorc name. I believe they call it surname.”

“A surname?” The raven laguz repeated. “Why do they call it a surname?”

“Simple. It’s to identify themselves from each other. Besides, it will confuse them if there are two beorc who share the same name.”

“Huh? Never heard that before…” The raven muttered in deep thought. “But why do you have a surname? Is there another Rajin?”

“Nope. There’s just one and only me.” Rajin replied as he reclined against the log again and closed his eyes.

“Then why bother having a surname? There’s no need for you to have it.”

The tiger shrugged. “That’s true, but I have my reason for keeping that name.”

“And why’s that?”

Rajin opened one of his eyes. Should he bother telling the raven why he had a surname? Surely he had some doubts that the watcher would understand his situation. But then again, the raven would think that his reason was stupid to keep the surname. Afterall, it had been known that the laguz and beorc despite each other for hundreds of years. It would be very rare to see two different races together.

“You’re sure you want to know?” Rajin cautiously asked. He was curious if the raven was open-minded or not. “It’s a complicated reason for you to understand.”

“Of course I want to know!” The raven answered impatiently. “I’m curious why a laguz such as you wants a human name. It’s not like you’re one of those wretched parentless. So what gives?”

Silence fell into the conversation as the duo stared at each other with serious look. It wasn’t long until a smirk slowly crept onto the tiger’s mouth. Rajin still hadn’t had the answer to his previous caution, but he couldn’t help about how curious the raven was. And here he thought that only cats got killed by curiosity. Oh well, what harm would it do to him?

“I keep that name to respect someone I cared dearly.” Rajin finally gave his answer as he sat up half-Indian style and rested his arm against his knee.

“Respect someone you cared dearly?” The watcher repeated confusingly. “What are you talking about?”

Rajin let out a chuckled. This was going to be a long night and he had no idea when would the group be back. However, what better way to pass the time than telling a story? “Well, I guess I have to tell you the story of how I got that surname.”



“Are you sure we’re heading the right direction?” Rajin whined for the umpteenth time as he followed his father in the forest. They were at the border of Gallia and it had been a week since he and his father traveled. Despite how much he loved to travel or what adventure waited him, he was growing impatient and annoyed. The reason: his father won’t tell him where they were going. From what his old man told him, there was a surprise at the end of the journey.

Sure it sounded fun and interesting from the beginning. But after the fourth day, Rajin was getting restless from going nowhere. It shouldn’t take this long for their journey to finish. In fact, it should have ended three days ago if they were in their true forms. Speaking of true forms, the young tiger suddenly realized something he hadn’t notice. They had been traveling in their humanoid forms for a week. No wonder he was getting impatient. They had been walking as humans for a week. Why hadn’t they traveled in their true forms? He had no idea, but he couldn’t travel any further in this form.

“Hey dad, why aren’t we traveling in our true forms? It will be much faster if we travel in our true forms.” Rajin shouted.

His father didn’t answer his question when he stopped in front of the steep, moss-covered slope. Rajin stopped his pace; waiting for his dad to answer. He arched his eyebrow. Was there something his dad didn’t want to answer? Or was his dad tried to remember which path they were heading?

“We’re almost there.” His dad finally answered as he began to climb up the slope. “Just over this slope and a mile straight ahead till we reach our destination.”

“Hey! You didn’t answer my question!” Rajin shouted as he started to follow his dad. But when he came to the foot of the slope, he noticed that his dad was climbing a bit faster. Was his dad avoiding his question? It must be it. Why else would his old man climb faster?

“Hey! Wait up, dad!” Rajin yelled as he started to climb up the slope. There was no way he was going to let his dad walk away without answering his question. He had been traveling on foot like a human for a week without complaint. At least he deserved to have an answer.

As he reached the top of the slope, he saw his dad running ahead of him. What the hell? Was that how his old man going to treat him after dragging him through the forest for a week?

Ah hell no, old man! Rajin thought annoyingly as he pulled himself up the slope and chased after his father. I’m not going to let you off that easily!

With an instant flash of light, Rajin transformed and began to catch up to his old man. He saw his father suddenly running faster. Why would his dad run like a human? Rajin knew full well that his old man could beat him in their true forms. So why would his old man not change his form? It was not like he was going to get lost. After all, his old man told him where their destination was.

Just as he was a foot away behind his father, Rajin pounced. However, his father dove to the left at the exact same time Rajin pounced. Damn, his father knew him too well. The young tiger missed his target as he landed on his front paws and swerved his back body counterclockwise. Now facing his father, Rajin changed back to his humanoid form and spoke.

“Well dad, aren’t you going to change your true form?”

“You think I’m going to waste my time playing cat and mouse with you?” His father questioned back. His father still hadn’t answered his question.

“Well, you’ve wasted my time when we travel on foot like humans. Care to explain why we can’t travel in our true forms?”

His father still didn’t answer his question. This irritated him. Frustrated, Rajin transformed his form again and let out a roar. He watched annoyingly at this father.

The young tiger could see the dark look cast from his father’s face when he looked away. His father was hiding something. Rajin could feel it in his guts. His dad was avoiding his question to hide it. But what was it? What was his dad’s secret that they couldn’t travel in their true forms? Could it be…?

“Zaimid?” A new voice cried out.

What? Rajin thought surprisingly. Someone was calling out his father’s name, but the voice was unfamiliar to him. His ears made a twitch when he heard the sound of the footstep.

The young tiger turned his head around to see the newcomer approaching. There, few yards away from him, was a female human. He could smell fear from her as she stood still, watching the scene before her in horror. If he were in his other form, he would have rolled his eyes right now. He hated how humans reacted to his kind. It was either fear or hatred. Damn, how he hated those stupid creatures. These cowards never had pride, honor, and respect in themselves.

Rajin watched the woman, showing no emotion. He figured she must be the one who shouted his dad’s name. After all, who else would be in the forest besides his old man and himself? He wasn’t sure what the woman’s business was with his dad, but he wasn’t going to let that bother him. Besides, he had no business dealing with her. Only his old man and that was it.

But before he could react, he suddenly heard his father called. “Don’t worry, Catherine. It’s okay.”

Rajin turned his attention toward his dad, now confused. His father knew this woman? Since when? He didn’t remember his old man disappeared for a week. But then again, he never kept track of his father’s whereabouts. After all, he wasn’t his old man’s guardian or babysitter.

Before Rajin could react, he saw his father gave him a stern look. Rajin had the sudden urge to flinch. This was one of his father’s looks that told him to behave well and not do anything stupid. It must be a serious situation. But what was that woman‘s business with theirs? The woman was alone and she wasn’t carrying any weapon. So why did his dad give him the look?

His father walked. Rajin stood where he was, not daring to make a move. The young tiger was still confused about what happened and he wouldn’t dare bug his dad to tell him immediately. As his father walked passed him, Rajin heard his father spoke, but toward him.

“There’s no need to be frightened, Catherine. It’s just my son, Rajin.”

Rajin snapped his eyes widen and his head perked up sharply. What the hell? His dad had just told this human about himself. He quickly turned his attention toward his dad again until he caught a full look of his father glaring at him. Rajin could feel his fur stood up behind his neck and back. He never received his father’s glare in ages and this was the first time he hadn’t done anything wrong or stupid.

“Rajin, change back to your other form. You’re scaring her.” Zaimid finally spoke to him.

The young tiger snapped the second time. His father told him to change because he was scaring the woman? Since when did his dad concern about humans? He had never heard his dad, a prideful tiger such as himself, talked like that before. Maybe his dad became a pacifist… Nah, that couldn’t be right. His dad was not the type of guy who wasn’t afraid to use his fists. He would knock some sense into them.

Not daring to argue back, Rajin did what his father told him. There was a flash and he reverted back to his other form. The young tiger then followed his dad, who was talking to the human. As he got closer, he got a good look at the human.

The woman was apparently in her mid to late twenties. Few strands were sticking out from her long, brown braided hair as she tried to tuck few strands behind her ears. When the woman turned to look at him, he could see there was no fear in her amber eyes. However, when the woman formed a smile, Rajin saw nervousness lingering across her lips. Was she nervous because of his presence? That human wasn’t nervous when she was talking to his old man.

“Hello, Rajin. I’m Catherine Cyphers. It’s nice to meet you. Your father has told me stories about you.”

Rajin arched his eyebrow. First, his father knew this woman. Then, his father introduced himself to her. And now, this human had heard stories about him and wanted to be his friend? If he wasn’t in his father’s presence, he would growl at her. All he could ever do was keep his tongue quiet and gave her a disdain look. He didn’t understand what made his father change his mind about humans, but Rajin couldn’t trust them. Not after being called with insulted names and hearing news about his kinds being enslaved to them. It was unforgivable what these filthy humans did to his kinds. In fact, he didn’t even want to know why they were dealing with that human right now.

Just as Rajin was about to ditch the human, he heard his father spoke. “Let’s go. We don’t want to stay too long.”

“What?” Rajin asked confusingly as he watched his dad and the woman walking. Not wanted to stay too long? Were there more he had to meet? But it was impossible. They were in the middle of the forest. He didn’t hear, see, or smell anyone within his radius. There was no way anyone could hide his presence away from a laguz’s senses. The senses of the laguz were far superior to the beorc’s stealth skill.

Not wanting to be left behind, Rajin followed them. While he followed, he saw the woman talking to his father. However, there was something he had never seen before. The woman was chatting merrily and relaxed. He had never seen that expression from a human when being in the presence of the laguz. Usually, they would either be afraid or loathed at his kind. But this woman... What was it that made her so different from the others?

Rajin shook his head out of his trance. No. He wouldn’t fall for that. She was a human. There was no way there was a type of person like her among those filthy human. The humans were ignorant and weak. They were the ones who treated his kind badly. They were the ones who enslaved his ancestors. Why would he want to be nice to them? There was no such thing as nice humans. There was never a nice human as long as he remembered. No way would she fool him with her merry and her calm attitude. He wasn’t sure what the woman was after, but he would not fall for her tricks.

Suddenly, he heard something. It sounded faded, but he could hear the sound. It was the sound of an infant crying. The young tiger stopped and looked around, trying to find the infant’s whereabouts. He could hear the infant crying, but there was no new sound except the walking of his dad and the woman. As he scanned the area with his eyes, he saw a cabin several yards ahead. The cry of the infant grew louder and it was coming from the cabin. Why wasn’t the infant stop crying? Whoever was responsible for the infant must be a terrible parent.

It was then that he saw the woman rushed toward the cabin. His father stopped walking and watched the woman disappeared into the cabin. So the woman was the infant’s mother? It was no wonder why the infant didn’t stop crying. That woman should be ashamed of herself for leaving her child behind. Even if it was for few minutes, it was still irresponsible to leave a child behind. Didn’t that woman have any relatives or friends to care the child while she went outside? Seriously, these humans were the worst.

Not wanting to stay any longer, Rajin approached to his dad. “Hey dad, can we go now? You said we’re close to our destination.”

“We’re already here.”

“What?” Rajin asked confusingly.

They’d already reached their destination? That woman’s cabin? That couldn’t be right. There was no way his father had dragged him to that human’s cabin. It must be a mistake.

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

His father turned around, standing face to face with him. Rajin could see the stern look in his eyes. “You’ve heard me. We’re here.”

“N-no. That can’t be right.” Rajin shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’ve dragged me all the way here just to visit some woman’s house.”

“Visit? Who said anything about visiting?”

“We’re not?”

“No. We’re staying.”

“… What?!”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This couldn’t be true. His dad was telling him that they were staying? In that human’s house? There was no way he would stay in the same place with a human. That was against his pride, his nature, and his beliefs. Was his dad out of his mind? Why in Goddess’ name did his dad want them to stay with that human?

“Are you out of your mind?!” Rajin yelled. “That is a human! A disgusting human! And you’re telling me we’re going to live with her?! There’s no way we’re going to live with her! Besides, what will her mate say about that?!”

“It’s okay.” His father replied in a stern but calm tone.

“No! It’s not okay! There’s no way her mate will agree to it!”

“Yes, he does.”

“And what makes you think he says that?!”

“Because I’m her mate!”

“What…” Rajin said as he looked at his dad in shock.

No. It couldn’t be. His father, a pride tiger, was that human’s mate? No. This was not what he wanted to hear. This must be a joke. A dream. Or whatever the hell it was. There was no way this was real. And even if it was real, there was no way he could accept it. After what he had seen and heard how human treated his kind, it couldn’t be possible for him to change his mind. But his father…. His father…. How could he?

“Dad… You can’t be serious?… Please, tell me it’s not…” Rajin choked, unable to speak well. He felt betrayed. He felt his pride being torn. He felt his respect toward his father being broken. There must be another reason. A different reason than what his father told him. Something for the young tiger needed to blame on the human and not his own father. It had to be the human’s fault. It had to be. She must had something to pin him down, made him do her biddings. Why else would they be here?

Rajin could see his father refusing to reply, his dark eyes looking away from him. Rajin nearly choked his breath.

So it wasn’t what he wanted to believe. His father was telling him the truth. His dad really was that human’s mate. How long were they together? He didn’t know and he didn’t care either. What he knew was that his world was starting to shatter. How could his father do that to him? How could his father cast away his love of his dead mom for that human? How could his father cast his laguz pride to become that… That human’s… PET? Calling him a mate to that woman was too much for the young tiger to bear.

Two emotions were stirring up inside him. One was disappointment for what his father betrayed him. The other was anger at what his father had done. Between his two emotions, he couldn’t tell what he wanted to do; to claw his father and maim him to death or to never deal with him. Struggling with his emotions and overwhelmed with the news he received, there was one thing Rajin wanted to know.

“Why, dad….. Tell me…. How could you….”

He was unable to finish his question. It was too much for him to bear. His father, a laguz that he had prided and idolized, had lower down to this. Rajin was having trouble controlling his emotions not to maim his father. He needed to know. He wanted to know why his father did it.

When his father looked him again, Rajin finally took a good look at his father. Although his father’s ears were still pointy, he could see that the color was starting to fade. His father’s stripes that made his feature looked feral were now becoming softer. And his father’s eyes that once held fierce was now gone. It was then that Rajin realized what his father had become. No… It couldn’t be. It had to be a nightmare. Another stab jabbed through his prideful heart when he saw a hint of regret behind his father’s dark expression.

“I’ve fell in love. I can’t control what is beyond my grasp.”

Just then, Rajin heard footsteps. He turned to the source that was coming from the cabin. Standing at the doorway was the woman. In her arms was her infant. Although Rajin couldn’t see the infant’s face, he could see that the infant’s hair was black. His world had finally torn into pieces when his father spoke.

“Rajin, I want you to meet your little brother, Damen.”



“Damnit, Rajin! Stop running and come back here!”

“Screw you, old man! I’m done with you!” Rajin yelled back, running away from his father. He had enough of it and he didn’t want to deal with his old man from now on. He was betrayed. How could his old man do that to him? It was bad enough that his father was that human’s mate. But to become a parent to that…. That… That abomination?! That had just gone over the line. Damn his father. Damn him to whatever damnation he was in.

He could hear his father’s footsteps following behind him, refusing to give up the chase. Rajin quickly picked up his pace and ran as fast as possible. He had no idea where he was going. He had no idea if he was in Gallia or not. All he knew was that he had to get away from his father. There was no way he would stay at that filthy human’s house and become a part of that circus freak family. What would his tribe think if they found out about this? They might cast him aside and pretended he didn’t exist just like the parentless. And it was because he was connected to his father. Well, no way in hell was he going to put up with that.

The young tiger slid down the slope, trying to lose his pursuer. But when he reached the bottom, his ears didn’t hear any sliding movement behind him. Did his father give up the chase? No. That couldn’t be right. He knew his father too well. There was no way his father would give up so easily. No matter if the chase was easy or difficult. Not daring to look back, Rajin began to sprint. But as he was about to take his third step, he felt a heavy weight fell onto his shoulders.

Rajin crashed onto the ground face down, knocking the air out of his lung. His head was swimming in pain. Damnit! That was hurt. Knowing what had happened; Rajin used all his strength and pushed the weight off of him. He quickly got up and glared at his father. He could see that his father was panting moderately. Could it be that his father was losing his strength just like his ability to transform? The young tiger wasn’t sure, but he refused to investigate. He had no business with his father anymore.

“Are you done playing around?” His father asked sternly, not letting his lack of breath bothered him.

“Playing around? I’m done with you, old man.” Rajin replied. “I’m done with all your s**t you’ve put yourself through and I’m not going to let you drag me down with it.”

“Damnit, Rajin! Quit being a stubborn brat!”

‘Quit being a persistent b*****d!” Rajin yelled as he ran toward his father. He changed into his true form as he pounced on his father. But when his father landed on his back, the young tiger felt his father’s feet against his stomach and flipped him. Rajin quickly landed on his feet before turning around to attack.

He didn’t care if he was attacking his own father. He didn’t care if he had the upper advantage over his father. All he wanted was to beat his father up to release his anger and disappointment. Just beat his old man up till he was unable to move so Rajin could escape.

The young tiger sprinted toward his father. His adrenaline was rising to the peak as he unsheathed his claws to slash his father. However, his father dove to the right, barely escaping his attack.

Before Rajin could turn around to attack, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back with something strapped around his neck. Growled in anger, Rajin began to buck, trying to knock his father off his back. He felt his father’s arm tighten around his neck as well as his legs strapped against his side. Damn his father for being so persistence. Unable to get his old man off of him, Rajin stopped bucking and raised his claw to scratch him.

He used his left claw to scratch on the right. He used his right claw to scratch on the left. Rajin could feel he was scratching his father’s arms, but he couldn’t tell if he got his face. Despite feeling the blood dripping onto his fur, he could feel that his father’s grip wouldn’t come loose. Refusing to lose to his father, Rajin began to sprint. He quickly picked up his pace as he headed straight toward the tree. With a small gap between him and the tree, the young tiger immediately stopped his front paws and let his body threw over his sudden stop. He planned to ram his father into a tree.

Unfortunately, as soon as he made a quick stop, he felt the weight lifted off his back as well as the hold around his neck. Damn, his father knew him too well, even when his old man was in a disadvantage. Rajin was unable to stop himself as he rammed into the tree. The pain on his back spread rapidly as he felt his air knocked out of him. His body then slid down and made a thud noise against the ground. Rajin lied down as his back cried in pain. He then heard footsteps.

Knowing who it was, Rajin glared up at his father. He could see that his old man’s arms were bleeding from his scratches. There were bits of dirt and sweats on his father’s face, but no blood or cuts. So he didn’t scratch his father’s face. He could hear his father’s heavy pants.

“Are you done playing now, Rajin?” His father asked.

Rajin didn’t answer but glared at his father. Despite feeling the pain on his back, he could also feel his energy running low to keep his true form on. Needed his energy to continue fighting, Rajin changed back into his other form. He struggled to get up, but was unable to due to the pain on his back. Angry at his father, Rajin spat near his father’s feet.

“Why don’t you go back to your whore and your demon spawn and leave me out of this?!”

Before he could hear his father’s retort, he heard another voice. Looking up at the top of the slope was his old man’s mate. He could see that the woman was in shock at the scene before her. Right next to her was a large basket. Rajin could smell that it wasn’t food she was bringing. It was her demon spawn in the basket. Why were they here? He didn’t know and didn’t care either. He wanted no part with them.

The young tiger cast his eyes on the ground, not wanted to deal with them. He could hear his father talking to the human, but he wasn’t paying attention. He just wanted to get away from them and not want to deal with them. Suddenly, his eyes landed on a large, broken branch nearby him. Before he could think of anything, he suddenly heard his dad addressing him.

“Get up, son. We’re going home.”

Rajin looked back at his father. His father was now standing in front of him, waiting for his son to get up. Anger flooded inside his body again as he glared at his father. His hands clawed into the dirt, trying not to lose control to his feral side. Either his father was persistent or stubborn of his refusal to this. When he didn’t want any part with the situation, he really meant it.

“How about NO!” Rajin yelled as he threw the dirt in his father’s face. He heard his father yelped as the dirt got into his eyes. Ignoring the pain on his back, Rajin grabbed the broken branch, got on his knee, and shoved the branch into his father’s stomach. He then quickly got up fully and made a mad dash to escape. Did he impale his father with the branch? He was unsure. All he wanted was few minutes head start to escape from him. He needed to get away from the human and the parentless. But most of all, he wanted to escape from the life that his father wanted him to be in.



Rajin ran as fast as he could. He had no idea where he was going. He wasn’t sure if his father was still following him or not, but he refused to look back. His adrenaline was starting to wear off and he was getting tired. He had to keep moving. He had to get away. He-

CRASH!

He could no longer go any further. Rajin had lost track of time ever since he ran away. He never took the time to stop for rest or eat. In fact, he didn’t even notice that the sky was becoming dark. Great, now he won’t be able to hunt now that all the animals went home and slept. Guess he had to wait till morning to get his meal. But for now, he had to find a suitable place to sleep. After all, this wasn’t the first time the young tiger slept outdoor.

Before the tiger tried to get up, he smelled something that caught his attention. He paused and used his senses. He smelled iron. The iron was either brand new or covered in old blood, sweat, dirt, and some unknown substance. He recognized what that smell was. It was weapons and armors. And it wasn’t the only scent he smelled. He could smell the burning wood and smoke. Those must be torches he smelled. And in addition, he could smell the scent of beorc.

Suddenly, his ears twitched when he heard noises. He heard the marching of the footsteps. He heard the armor clanking against each other as the beorc marched. There was chattering among the group, talking random stuffs. Rajin cursed under his breath. He had a feeling that the beorc were heading his way. He did not want to deal with them, after everything he went through today.

Rajin tried to get up, but he slipped and fell down. Damnit! He was too tired to get up and move. This was not good. He had to get out of here fast. He didn’t care if he had so little strength and energy to move. He just didn’t want to deal with them.

Using every strength and energy he had, Rajin struggled to get up. But as soon as he was on his knee, he heard one of the beorc spotted him. Damn, he was too late. He heard the footsteps running toward him as well as the armors clanking against each other. When he looked up, he saw armored beorc lined up in front of him, hands on their weapons. The young tiger let out a low growl.

He was already in a bad mood and he didn’t want to deal with them. Why were all these shits happened to him? He did not know and he didn’t give a damn either.

The young tiger watched in annoyance as one of the soldiers with the torches moved a bit closer for inspection. Rajin bared his fangs out. If they planned to attack him, then he would attack them; strength or no strength.

“s**t! It’s a laguz!” A soldier cried as he backed away from Rajin. Some of the soldiers drew out their weapons, stood in their fighting position. Despite how tired he was. Despite how weak his muscles were from running. Despite even how much he wanted to collapse, he refused to show these humans how drained he was. He wasn’t going to let these humans think how weak he was. He would claw them out, even if he had to die.

“Do you think it’s a runaway slave?” One of the soldiers whispered to another. The others whispered back, unsure if there was a report about a runaway slave. Rajin’s ear twitched despite how low the whisper was.

Runaway slave? Who the hell had- Crap… He suddenly realized where he was. He was in Begnion. How the hell did he reach Begnion so quickly? He remembered he was on the border of Gallia before. Damnit. He must have taken a wrong turn when he tried to escape from his father. Nice one, Rajin. Great move you’d made. Not only did you tire yourself out, but you had also put yourself to become a slave. Well, there was no way he was going to let these bastards take him.

Rajin could see the soldiers moving toward him, weapons drawn out. Not only that, but they also held the torches out in front. Damnit! Fire was his weakness and he was already tired. How the hell was he going to defend himself? Well, he wasn’t planning of becoming a slave and he sure wasn’t going to let them.

The young tiger tried to change his form. It didn’t happen. He focused his strength and energy to change his form. Still, he was unable to change it.

Damnit! Work! Rajin growled to himself, ordering his body to change. I need to change immediately! Why aren’t I changing?!

Could it be that he was unable to change because he was tired? Crap… This was not good. Now he was in deeper s**t. If only he had an item that made him stayed in his other form without tiring him out. What was it called? Was it Demi Band or something? Damn he wished he had one of those.

Just as the soldiers were ready to strike their position at him, Rajin suddenly heard something fading. It was moving fast and it sounded like running. It was also becoming louder. Crap! Was that his old man running? Damnit! So his old man WAS chasing him. Damnit! How the hell would he ever escape from him? And yet somehow, he was partly glad that his father came. If his old man still had enough strength and energy, maybe his dad would help him escape from these bastards. He would have to deal with his dad later. Right now, Rajin had to deal with these humans.

“WAIT!” A voice shouted.

Rajin’s body shook a little surprised. That voice…. That was not his old man’s voice. That voice sounded like a woman.

Before the young tiger could react what was happening, he suddenly felt the weight fell onto him. His arms gave up supporting him from fatigue that he fell onto the ground again. He could hear the woman was breathing faster and loud, as if that woman had ran with all her energy. He caught a whip of smell as his shoulder hit the ground. That smell… It smelled familiar to him. Turning around to see what fell on him, Rajin caught a full view look of the face. His eyes grew wide with shock.

It was Catherine, his old man’s lover. What the ******** was she doing here? How did the woman get here? He wasn’t sure. However, seeing her here and not his old man did not help lighten his situation. He was going to be taken as a slave and there was no way this woman was going to help him.

“Hey, get away from that subhuman!” The soldier cried out.

Rajin snapped out of his shock and jerked his head toward the soldier. He let out a deep growl in rage. Subhuman that b*****d called him? Okay, now he was angry. Rajin was going to rip him to shreds for shouting that name. Rajin quickly shifted his upper body up. But before he could get up, he felt the arms wrapped around his neck.

What the hell? What was that woman trying to do?

“No! My master will kill me if you kill his slave!”

Silence fell into place. Rajin’s body froze stiffly by that woman’s words. Master… Slave… What the hell?! What the hell was that woman trying to pull?! First, these bastards thought he was a slave and tried to capture him. And now this woman was saying he was? There was no way did he agree about becoming a slave.

Rajin tried to shove the woman off of him, despite how little strength he had. However, the woman refused to budge. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, refusing to let go. Damn. How lame was that. A laguz, who was the “children of strength,” couldn’t even shove a weak human out of the way. That would surely make him a laughingstock.

He could hear the soldiers whispered, confirming that he was a runaway slave. He bared his fangs out. Couldn’t these humans tell that he wasn’t even a slave? He wasn’t wearing any chains or whatever markings to prove if he was a slave. But it was irking the tiger to attack them. These bastards were lucky that he was too tired to attack.

“Woman, you better step away from that subhuman. Don’t you know the penalty for runaway slaves?” The soldier barked as he drew his sword and pointed at the woman threateningly. So the soldier was being big and mighty with his sword? Heh, that didn’t surprise Rajin. These humans were always cowards and tried to act big with their weapons. Man… that just proved how pathetic these humans were.

“No sir, I refuse to leave.” The woman shouted back as the tiger felt her arms wrapped more securely around him. He could hear the woman’s heart beating fast as well as her hands shaking nervously. He wasn’t sure what the woman was trying to do. However, he saw the soldiers’ expression that they didn’t care what the woman was talking.

“My master will kill me if I don’t bring him back. Please, let me take him back. I’ll pay you all my gold.” She urged as she tried to pull out her pouch of gold and toss it. The soldier took the pouch and weighed it before tossing it to one of his comrades.

“Alright, we’ll let you take him back to his owner. In fact, we’ll escort with you. That way, that subhuman doesn’t plan to runaway again.”

Rajin’s tail twitched furiously as well as his ears. If he had enough strength to regain, he would have maimed that soldier to pieces. He wasn’t the type of fellow who would run away from a fight and challenge. How dared that human thought he was a coward. The young tiger would make sure that the soldier would eat his words if he was able to fight.

“Now tell us, who is this subhuman’s owner?”

He felt the woman’s arms tensed. He could also smell fear coming from the woman. This was not good. It seemed that the woman hadn’t planned out that far. In fact, he didn’t even think the woman knew anyone in Begnion who owned slaved laguz. Damnit! It seemed that the woman had dug her own grave as well as he was.

“Well? Who is it?” The soldier asked impatiently.

The young tiger cursed silently. It wouldn’t be long until they figured out that the woman was lying. After all, neither he nor the woman knew Begnion so well. He felt the grip tightened up a little, making him uncomfortable but able to breathe well.

“It’s…. Uh….” He heard the woman answered unsurely. Damnit, the woman was blowing her cover. No one took too long to give out a name. Somehow, he really wished his dad was there to help him. But where was his old man anyway?

“Woman, if you don’t tell me the name of the owner…” The soldier announced as he marched toward them. The young tiger watched him raised his sword. It seemed that trouble had already started. “Then I have a feeling that you’re trying to help that beast escape!”

“No!” The woman cried out. Rajin felt one of the arms let go of him, but the other was still tightening him.

Damnit! Rajin cursedly thought. It seemed he had to get himself and the woman out of this situation.

Adrenaline started to flood his body. What made him have enough to start moving? He didn’t know and didn’t care to figure out. This was what he needed to tear these bastards to pieces. Rajin quickly shoved the woman down and took his pouncing position. He didn’t want the weight to hang over him and he surely knew his old man would be upset if the woman got hurt. If his old man’s lover was smart, she should probably run away for her safety. After all, it would be dangerous for her if there was a laguz to battle against, especially if that laguz was him.

Rajin pounced off the ground just as the soldier raised the sword over the head. He quickly changed into his other form as he rammed the soldier in the stomach. Just as the soldier fell to the ground, the young tiger drew out his claws and slashed at the soldier’s hand that held the sword. A scream of pain was heard as well as the movements of metal clanking together. It seemed the soldiers were about to attack him. Damn! Guessed he had to get rid of these bastards before he could rip this soldier up.

The young tiger jumped off the soldier as quickly as possible. He felt something flew passed near his hind legs. He also heard the fallen soldier yelling at his comrades about almost being killed. Heh, as if he would let these humans defeat him. It would take more than their puny weapons to stop this tiger. It was too bad they didn’t kill their own comrade. It would be easier for him to take them down if they did.

He quickly turned around and ran toward one of the soldiers at the far left. Although the weapons these humans carried would hurt him if he wasn’t careful, he had the advantage. His advantage was darkness. Thanked the Goddess that it was nighttime and he was a black tiger. He could easily blend into the environment with his own coat. Not only that, but he could see very well in the darkness as he began to lunge at the soldier. The soldier screamed as Rajin clawed him at the neck. He hoped that he cut the artery deep enough for the soldier to bleed to death. He quickly got off of him before readied himself to attack the others. But just as he was about to pounce, he was a fire in front of him.

Rajin quickly feinted to the left and moved away from the soldiers. Damnit! He had forgotten about the torches. He knew very well that the torches gave these bastards limited visibility. However, fire was fire, and it was his weakness. Damn, he didn’t want to smell like a burned cat if he let those torches touched him.

Before he could find an opening to attack, he saw the soldier charging at him with a torch outstretched. Damn, it seemed that the soldiers had figured out.

Damnit! Not good! Rajin thought.

He weaved to the right, dodging the soldier’s attack. He could feel the heat coming from the torch as it narrowly glazed his fur. Damnit! He needed to get rid of these torches first before he could attack. He knew very well that he was not as agile as a cat laguz. Not to mention, his adrenaline may ran out again, after all the running and tiring. It won’t be long until he would lose his strength and energy again. So how many did he need to take out these trashes?

Suddenly, he heard a shout. Turning his head, Rajin saw the woman struggling against the soldier with the torch. What the hell? What the hell was that woman doing? She should have runaway for her safety, not going against the soldiers. Damnit! That woman was becoming a thorn to his paw little by little. Guess he had to help that woman out. The young tiger turned around and dashed toward the soldiers, didn’t care if he got attacked or not.

After few minutes of biting, clawing, and dodging; Rajin slowly transformed. He breathed heavily as he looked at his surrounding. All the soldiers were on the ground, either heavily wounded or died. There were weapons and torches scattered on the ground, some were covered with blood. Now fully drained out from battling, Rajin fell on all four. Damn, it took him longer than he expected. If he wasn’t so tired out earlier, he would have finished this battle within seconds. Oh well…. At least it was over now.

“Rajin…” He heard a voice from behind, followed by a light weight onto his shoulder. Rajin quickly slapped the weight off of him and turned around, readied to fight. But when he saw it was the woman, he stopped suddenly before relaxing his tension. Damnit, that woman nearly made him jumped. For a moment, he thought he had missed one stinking human. Damn, his tiredness must have clouded his senses.

“Rajin…” The woman spoke again, concern. The young tiger saw that the woman was shaken up from the fight. Well, it was her fault for wanting to stay and not ran away. What did she expect it would end? Him becoming a slave and her ended up dead? Heh, no way was he going to become human’s slave.

“Are you okay?”

Okay? He was damned tired and partially hurt from all the running and fighting. And besides the cuts he received from the soldiers, he was emotionally broken. Of course, he was not okay. He was not okay ever since he met her! Did she expect they would be buddies? No ******** way was he going to be buddy with her.

“I’m fine.” Rajin roughly answered as he tried to stand up, his back facing toward her. His head was starting to pound as well as his body started to feel wobble. It took him a moment to steady his balance. Man, he was surprised that he didn’t black out already. No one would be able to stay conscious for so long.

“Rajin, are you-”

“No!” Rajin cut her off as he started to walk sluggishly. He didn’t know what her question was, but he didn’t want to deal with it. He didn’t want any business with her. “Just… Go back to my old man and your child. They‘re waiting for you.”

“But Ra-”

“Just go!” He shouted, not daring to look back at her. “I’m done with my old man. I‘m going home. My real home.”

He could hear the woman shouting back at him, but he ignored it. What was her business was none of his. He wanted no connection with her and he was not going to help her get back home. Besides, his old man would try to force him to stay if he helped her. The young tiger slowly walked into the forest, disappearing as he went further.



How long had he been walking? He wasn’t sure. Was he heading to Gallia? Again, he wasn’t sure, but at least he knew he was out of Begnion… He thought? No way was he planning to get into another deep s**t again. He was slowly getting his strength and energy, but at the same time, he was losing them too. Was it because he was tired and didn’t take a rest? No, that couldn’t be it. He shouldn’t be losing his strength if he was walking. Then what was it that made him feeling like he was losing?

Besides that, the atmosphere around him was calm. Despite it was nighttime and the lack of lighting, there was the relaxing scenery when walking through the forest. There was an owl, making hooting noise somewhere in the forest as well as the chirping of the crickets. Although this would make anyone relaxing, Rajin was getting irritated, and it was not from the scenery he found annoying.

“Will you…” Rajin finally spoke as he slowly stopped walking and turned around. “QUIT FOLLOWING ME AND GO HOME ALREADY?!?!”

Rajin watched his old man’s woman stopped in her track surprised and nearly dropped the torch she picked up from the fight. Seriously, what was that woman’s business? Ever since he told her to go home and he had no business with her, the woman decided to follow him. Psh! As if she could hide her presence from him. He could smell and hear her following him behind. He thought that if he ignored her and continued walking, the woman would give up and go home. Unfortunately, that woman was quite persistent to follow him. Did she have the persistence from his father? Damn his father.

“I’ve told you that I’m through with my old man. That means I’m done with you too. Now go home!”

“I-I know…” The woman cast her gaze down a bit as she fidgeted the torch. “But I can’t let you wander off alone.”

… What? The young tiger thought dumbfounded. The woman told him that she wouldn’t let him wander off alone? What was he to her? Five? That woman was out of her mind. He was well enough to wander off by himself. It wasn’t like it was the first time he traveled all alone. Not to mention, he could take care of himself. After all, he wasn’t some child that needed to be watched. In fact, he had to be older than her, being ninety (15 if comparing laguz age to beorc) years old. It was too bad he didn’t know that beorc matured faster than the laguz.

“Look…” Rajin said as he walked toward her. “I’m old enough to take care of my own. I’ve done traveling alone before, so I don’t need some human to babysit me. Now go home.”

“No…” She said in a low tone. The woman then looked up at Rajin. He saw there was no fear or concern on the woman’s face, but determination. Why was the woman not afraid of him when she did earlier against the soldiers? Was it something he couldn’t figure out? “I won’t go home without you.”

“…”

What did that woman just say? She won’t go home without him? Haven’t that woman heard what he just said earlier?! He was going back to Gallia, his homeland, not that woman’s home. He also made it clear that he didn’t want to go with her. Somehow, that woman was starting to ruffle his fur the wrong way just like his father.

“Woman….” Rajin tried to speak calmly despite feeling his ears twitched and his tail twisted furiously. “I’m going to speak something simple and clear for you to understand…GO HOME!!”

Those last two words came out almost as a roar when he yelled at her. That should be enough for her to understand completely. But if that woman still refused to leave, then he would have to take drastic measure to make her go away. Even if it meant transforming into his true form and tried to scare her.

He watched the woman flinched when she closed her eyes by his yelling. She nearly dropped the torch, but managed to hold onto it. He then saw her opened her eyes again and looked at him again. Her expression still hadn’t changed.

“No.”

“…”

The young tiger felt his tail twitched. Damn that woman for being stubborn. It was almost as if his father was there in her place. Well, if she wanted to be stubborn, then so could he.

“Go home.”

“No.”

“I said go home.”

“No.”

“Damnit, woman! Go home!”

“No!”

“Don’t make me force you to go home!”

“Then come back home with me!”

“Damnit woman!” Rajin yelled as he raised his arm up, readied to slap her. He didn’t care if the woman was weaker than him or that she was his dad’s lover. He just wanted her to leave him alone and go home. So what if the slap would hurt her. It wasn’t as painful and powerful as a fist. If it was the only way to make her leave, then so be it. “I said-”

There was a sudden pain jolting through his body, causing him to stop. He then felt a wave of nausea flooding inside his body as he began to fall.

“Rajin!”

The young tiger heard the woman screamed in panic as he fell to the ground. He could feel his strength and energy slipping out of him. The nausea and the pain were still writhing inside him. What happened? Why was he feeling like that? He was doing just fine earlier… Right?

He tried to remember. Was it due to the lack of resting? He couldn’t tell, but that wouldn’t be it. No way would a lack of rest would give him pain. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think straight. Not with this nauseated pain seeping through his body. Damn, what was happening to him?

He suddenly felt hands onto his arm. A second later, he felt his body being shaken, followed by questions that concerned his health. The nausea feeling was becoming worse. Damnit woman, quit shaking me! Rajin thought. The young tiger tried to speak, but what came out was a groan.

The shaking was then stopped. Soon he felt a hand being placed on top of his forehead. It seemed that the woman was checking his temperature. Idiot woman. He was not sick. However, he couldn’t help how he was feeling right now. If only he could figure out what was wrong with him.

He suddenly felt his arm being lifted and placed onto something soft. As he lifted his head, he saw his arm being placed onto the woman’s shoulders. With his arm securely on her shoulders, the woman held onto his arm while she grabbed his opposite side. It seemed that the woman was trying to make him stand. As much as he wanted to refuse her help and lied down, he didn’t have the strength to do so. He could not even voice his protest without having to feel pain spreading through his body.

Unable to protest, the young tiger reluctantly let the woman help him. He could see that it was a bit of a struggle for the woman. She was having trouble trying to support his weight onto her. Well, he couldn’t do anything about that. After all, he was a tiger laguz and humans didn’t have the same strength to carry the laguz as his tribe did. He tried to regain his balance and posture, but it was hard for him to do so without feeling nauseated. Man, he felt like he was a new born cub trying to learn how to walk, only in worse condition.

“Hold onto me, Rajin. Maybe we can find help along the way.” The woman spoke as she tried to help him walked through the forest.

Help, she said? The young tiger wished he could scoff off that idea if he wasn’t in pain. How could the woman be able to find help in the middle of nowhere? Not to mention, in the middle of the night too. There was no way any human or laguz would be out at night. And in addition, how could the woman find help now that she was unable to carry the torch? He knew pretty well that humans were useless to see well in the dark. After all, why would they bother carrying the torches?

He tried to walk, but somehow, he ended up dragging his feet. Rajin tried to gather his strength and energy, but he felt that he was about to pass out. And if he passed out, he knew for sure that the woman wouldn’t leave him alone. After all, why did she continue following him till now?

The young tiger tried to speak, but was unable too. His head felt as if it was swimming around inside. His body was aching with pains. And somehow, his senses were starting to become dull like the beorc’s weapons if using too much without proper care. Damn, what was going on?

Suddenly, he felt the woman’s movement stopped. Did the woman get lost? Heh, he should have known. These humans didn’t know where they were going. But then again, he too was lost after running away from his old man. Maybe he shouldn’t say that before.

“I think I see something.” The woman cried out. Huh? She saw something?

Rajin lifted his head up to see what she saw. Despite feeling nauseated, he tried to focus his gaze. He saw a ball of light moving through the forest. What was that? What made that ball of light moving? There was no way an inanimate object would be able to move on its own. As it was moving, he suddenly saw a dark shape near the ball of light. Its shape looked big. He couldn’t tell what it was.

As the object was moving, he was able to hear sound. It made a grinding noise along with a thumping noise. He never heard that grinding sound before. What was it? He could not figure out. However, he was able to figure out what the thumping noise. It sounded like the footstep. However, he had never heard that type of footstep before.

Maybe he should try smelling. Rajin tried to take a whip of the smell and nearly choked up. Somehow, the nauseated feeling was making him harder to use his sense of smell. Damnit! Somehow, this made him feeling like he was a beorc. How humiliating. And all because he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.

The young tiger felt his body being lower down to a sitting position. Before he could figure out what happened, he felt something light and soft draped over him.

“Hold still. I need to put the cloak over you properly.” She spoke softly as she adjusted the cloak.

A cloak? Why would he need a cloak for? He wasn’t feeling cold from the weather. He was just fine without it… Well, not feeling fine about his condition, but fine enough from the temperature.

After the cloak was adjusted, he watched the woman pulled something over his head. Was that a hood she had placed? He felt something soft and cloth over it, so it must be a hood. He watched the woman looking at him, making sure that his face seemed to be hidden. Why was the woman doing it?

Before Rajin could question the woman, she quickly got up, turned around, and shouted where the light was shining. He then heard a different voice, shouting something. Suddenly the footstep and the grinding noise stopped for a moment before later continued. So did the lighted orb. Was that ball of light related to those noises he heard?