"White Tiger"
2013 Copyright © All Rights Reserved.
Stryder Sweetman.
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Chapter 17
I would usually begin with the whole 'I am a graceful Tigress, sprawled across my bed, elegant and beautiful,' morning thing, but I’d woken up late.
Teeth brushed, shifted, breakfast, and down to the lounge room I went. I rushed through the door to see all of the usual people there, staring at me in disappointment because I was late.
I cleared my throat and Santa spoke, "Well, if you had have gotten here on time, I could have explained everything. But basically, we have something different for you today." I raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue, "We have some shifters with specific abilities, we have the ones who specialise in earth outside, preparing for today's challenge."
"What exactly is today's challenge?" I asked him.
"A maze." He said, simply.
"Maze?" I repeated.
"Yep," He popped on the 'p', "A maze."
"So I have to get through a maze. Ok, not too hard." I stated.
"Not that simple, I'm afraid." He grinned.
"Why is the maze 'not that simple'?"
"It will change, move, and you have to answer questions to make your way through." He explained.
I raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Nothing is ever simple with you, Santa." I groaned.
Then I headed out to the paddock and saw that, true to his word, there was a maze of hedges covering the ground.
A hole appeared in the maze in front of me. I stepped inside and it closed around me. I suppose the rules are 'No flying over, No cutting through the hedge, No cheating.'
Oh well.
I shifted into Libeth, who was still sulking, and pulled my wings back, so they disappeared from my sides. I began running. Right turn, left turn, right turn, right turn, and so on.
I came across several dead ends until I found a patch of ground where words had been carved.
'One question, two doors, only one continues.' As i looked up, two grown men appeared through the hedges, and two doors materialised next to them.
A voice spoke through the hedges, "Benina, you can ask one of these men one question, one will tell the truth, the other will lie. You cannot ask a second question, nor can you speak to the other man after asking the question."
I shifted and thought for a moment, and then I strode up to the man on the left, remembering seeing this on the internet and asked, "If I were to ask the other man, which door would he say was the right one?"
He grinned at me.
If he was the liar, he would say the other man would point to the door which led the wrong way, if he was the honest man, he would say the liar would point to the door which led the wrong way, so they would both have to point at the same door.
I had to take the opposite door, because, no matter what, he was going to point to the wrong door.
He pointed to the door behind him and they both stepped backwards, disappearing into the hedges. I turned and walked to the door on the right, and then I entered and continued on my way.
After sprinting through the maze in Tiger form, I came to a dead end. I turned behind me and saw the way I had come had also become a dead end, I turned back and saw the hedge in front of me had disappeared, and I could enter.
I shifted into human form and proceeded with caution.
I got a bad feeling. Cue Admiral Ackbar. ‘It's a trap!’
Too late.
I was suddenly surrounded by ten snarling wolves. I could see they were shifters, but they had something to do- beat me.
One leapt at me, and I snapped my leg up to kick it, sending it flying in the other direction. Another one lunged, aiming for my throat, I bent backwards, in a limbo fashion, and it went flying over my head, slamming into the other wolf that had leapt at me from behind.
Three down, seven to go, Libeth came forth, energised by the fight.
Two wolves leapt at once, one aiming for my face, one aiming for my shoulder. I flung myself into a cartwheel, kicking one in the face, propelling him towards the other so they would crash into a nearby hedge. Once they were defeated, they headed off to the sides and dissolved into the bushes.
Five to go, I observed.
Instead of waiting for them to attack, I leapt into action, deciding to pull some of my flashier moves, I ducked low to the ground and spun with my legs out, holding my weight with my arms, I knocked the legs from under three of them, the other two jumped at me, but I quickly dropped flat on the ground so they would jump over my head.
Whipping my hands up, I grabbed their throats and flipped so my knees connected with their stomachs. I used the momentum to keep rolling, I ended up on top of them both, pinning them by the throats.
I released my hold and they scampered to the sides to watch the rest of the fight. One wolf snarled and raced towards me, at the very last second, before it slammed into me, I let wings spring from my back and flew over the top of him.
As my feet touched the ground on the other side of him, I spun around at the same time as he did, he sprung at my face at the same time one of the wolves behind me jumped. I crouched and used one hand to fling the wolf in front of me at the hedge.
The second leaping wolf was about to reach me, when my wings beat once. My wings sent the wolf flying towards the last remaining wolf, which only just dodged it.
Nine down, one to go. Libeth noted smugly.
As I stared at the last wolf, I saw determination in it's eye, anger, pain, and jealousy. I took a whiff of it’s scent and immediately recognised the shifter before me- Ophie had decided to fight.
She snarled, her muzzle pulling back to show teeth. She came at me, and I decided to finish the fight.
I ducked, my shoulders level with hers, and bent so as she reached me, my head was lower than her body, but my shoulders were still level with hers. Her front barrelled into my shoulders and i grabbed her hind legs. I flipped her body over my shoulders and she thumped to the ground a few metres away.
Then she stood up. Instead of ending the fight, like she was supposed to, she let out a roar and charged again. I kicked my leg up and sent her flying into a hedge.
She still didn't give up.
I was getting fed up with her efforts, so this time, when she came at me, I didn't give her the choice to give up.
She was about a metre away when she jumped, just like I had hoped she would. I shot my leg up so it would connect with her chin, at the same time I let myself fall backwards.
As her face became level with mine, propelled by my foot, I jumped, letting my wings disappear, I flipped backwards, keeping my foot in contact with her chin. When I landed, she was on her back, my foot covering her throat as I stood above her.
Then I sent a kick to her ribs, 'encouraging' her to fly into the hedge. I used some of my earth ability to wrap a few vines around her so she couldn't come at me again.
The hedges absorbed all the wolves, and I continued on my way, slightly out of breath.
I reached another dead end, and a tree stood in the middle of the area. I read what was carved into the wood.
'Why is it that the Wolf shifters, Bear shifters, and Lion shifters can only shift into the one form?'
I immediately spoke, "It is believed that the shifters chose one specific form that they preferred, and refused to shift into anything, over the generations of stubbornness, they lost the ability to shift into any other form, as they evolved to be that way. Another belief is that there were genetic defects in their DNA so they weren't capable of shifting into another form, rather than choice, it was a defect in their genes."
The hedge spilt, opening for me to pass through. I walked into an open area and saw people in the space, chatting in groups. I wasn't out of the maze, this was a challenge.
"Benina," Santa's voice said through the leaves and the people became silent, "What is wrong with this scene? Fix it."
I rolled my eyes at his vagueness.
Vagueness... Is that a word? Libeth pondered, she had come out of her secluded corner for this challenge, and was participating just as much as I was.
I scanned the room, and spotted the problem. In the corner, sat a teenage girl who looked bored, lonely, and rejected. She was a tiny little thing, her hair was dyed black her blonde roots showing through, acne was covering her face. Her posture was defensive, as if she was holding off pain.
I headed over to her and asked, "Why are you sitting here alone?"
She looked up at me and seemed shocked about me speaking to her, "Uh- Um... People don't like me..."
I rolled my eyes at her, "Well, I think I already like you, what's your name?" I questioned.
She seemed even more shocked and looked down, blushing, "Kelsie." She said quietly.
"Well, come on, Kelsie, let's get you some friends!" I linked my arm with hers and dragged her over to a group of teens. As we neared them, I noticed her staring at them, a disgusted look on her face.
"What?" I asked.
"They're popular." She stated.
"The problem?" I asked.
"Popular people at this age... Are usually horrible. The only nice one I see in that group is Charlie." She explained.
I grinned, nodded, and pulled her in a different direction. I understood that she didn’t want to hang with them, so I would find her some different friends.
Over on the other side of the room, I spotted a quiet group of girls, including Cheyanne, Graham's human mate.
"They look innocent enough!" I pointed out. I pulled her over to the group and proclaimed, "I'm Ben! And this here, is Kelsie!"
They looked up, slightly shocked, Cheyanne looked amused.
"Hi Ben, hi Kelsie!" They all greeted.
Yep, perfect. Innocent, nerdy kids. The nicest people you can come across... Most of the time.
"I'm Taylor," A strawberry blonde said.
"Natasha." A dark haired girl said.
"Jordan." A blonde spoke.
And so on. Altogether there were twelve girls in the group, and all of them seemed pretty nice.
I pushed Kelsie towards them and said, "Now commence socialising!"
Then I marched off in a different direction. I spoke loudly, "Did I pass, Santa?"
His voice came rumbling through the leaves, “Well, the actual test was to sort out the mate fight over there, not to help out little Kelsie...”
“Hey!” Came Kelsie’s complaint.
“But I guess you did fix a problem...”
I looked over and saw two girls tugging on opposite arms of a guy, he seemed to be enjoying the attention, though he was wincing in pain.
I headed over and announced, “Eh, if he wants the girl that isn't his mate, then he doesn't deserve his mate.”
One of the girls was easily recognisable as one of Ophie’s minions, her dyed blonde hair, fake tan and lack of clothing was a big give-away. The minion was grinning smugly as she pawed at the boy’s arm. The other girl seemed innocent enough, and she seemed to be in pain as she tugged on his sleeve.
I frowned, deducing that the minion was not his mate. I pushed her away from him, before gently removing his mate’s fingers from his shirt. “Sweety, he doesn’t deserve you. If he’s going to get with a girl that isn’t his mate, then he doesn’t deserve a mate.”
She let go of his arm and sobbed. I wrapped an arm around her and glared at her mate as he rolled his eyes at her and muttered, "Drama queen," He then proceeded to wrap his arm around the minion’s waist, before looking at his mate with disappointment. “We never said our relationship was exclusive.”
I growled, and the whole room froze. I patted the girl on the back and then marched over the boy. I slapped him across the face, and then grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder Judo-style.
He let out a grunt as he landed on his back. His mate gasped and rushed to his side, the other girl snorted and said, "Ew, you got beat up by a girl."
I grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, before whispering in her ear, "I suggest you don't try to come between mates, because now they will both want to hurt you." I pointed out, looking in their direction.
The girl was death glaring the minion and had stood up, leaving her mate on the ground to nurse his bruises. Her eyes were full of hatred, and the boy, realising that his mate wasn’t taking any of his mess anymore, began to glare at her too, seeing that his mate was done, and that the minion didn’t care about him.
"So, I would watch my back if I were you." I said in a low voice. I turned to the mates, winking at the girl before saying, "Do as you wish,"
I then walked through the opening that had appeared in the hedge.
I waved to Kelsie, getting a final glance at the mates teaming up against the minion, and then continued on my path through the labyrinth.
By then it was mid-afternoon, and I was impatient to watch the Doctor Who episode which would be on in half an hour.
I raced forward, impatient to finish the test, when I found myself facing a mountain in the middle of the path that hadn’t been there ten minutes ago. Well, not exactly a mountain, more of a hill, a very big hill, a very big, steep hill.
The side of the cliff was probably completely vertical. Written on the side of the cliff were the words, 'Climb Me'.
So I did. I dug my foot into the crevice formed by the 'M', and scaled my way up the diagonal. I used a bit of earth power and dug my hand into the rock, creating foot holes as I climbed.
I made it to the top, and there was a little red flag with my name on it. I grabbed it and pulled it out of the ground. There was a little note tied around it.
'Look around' it said.
I did as it said, and looked around the maze. I grinned, as I took in the view, tracking where I had been.
One part of the maze had the hedges shaped to say, 'Exit' with a little '~>' as an arrow. I followed the arrow, and sure enough, at the end there was an opening in the hedge, leading back to the house.
I slid down the side of the mountain and headed on my way. Once I was about 10 metres away from the mountain, I heard a rumbling sound, I looked behind me to see it sinking into the ground, until the surface became flat and hedges grew in its place.
I grinned, and then headed to the area where I had seen the word 'Exit'.
When I reached it, I followed the zigs and zags to make my way to the arrow shape. As I reached it, I entered the final path.
Then I realised I wasn't alone.
I heard a pounding noise and the ground vibrated beneath my feet.
I slowly turned to see a wild animal, not a shifter. It seemed quite interested in me.
I can't believe they put a wild Rhino in here, I cursed.
A live, wild, angry, confused Rhino, Nodded Libeth, tough.
It snorted, stomped it's foot and started towards me.
I didn't want to hurt the Rhino, and he was absolutely beautiful, a stunning creature. Being in Africa during my travels, I had learnt a lot about native species, including Rhinos. As far as I could tell, he was a Black Rhino, and after being taken from his home, I didn't think he had any friends.
That was about to change.
I shifted into a Rhino and he froze, freaking out.
"Calm down!" I snorted at him.
He seemed confused, but he still asked, "What just happened?"
I explained the whole shifting process to him and he snorted.
"Fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt to... Not hurt you?" He said.
"Well, that's a start, but I think, since you clearly won't be heading back home, that maybe you could be my companion?" I asked him.
"What's a compapaninion?" He asked, jumbling the word.
"A friend." I said, "But since I am a shifter, I can form a bond with you, a companion bond." I explained a technique I had learned in Africa, where I could form a stronger bond than normal with a specific animal of my choice. It only worked on one animal, so if I chose him, he would be my only companion ever.
Rhinos don't tend to keep company, but the companion bond would slightly change his attitude to make him more compatible.
A companion bond wasn't known to most shifters, but it was like the bond between Libeth and myself- unbreakable. We would become the same person, reading each other’s minds and understanding each other’s motives, etc.
A companion bond will lengthen his life span. He would live as long as I did. And that meant a long time. Shifters could live for centuries, depending on their health.
I explained this to him, and he stomped his foot. He let out a huff and looked up, "Alright sounds like... fun."
I shifted back and grinned, keeping my Rhino voice, I told him to stay calm and relax.
I walked towards him slowly, and he allowed me to place my hands on either side of his head.
By now there was a crowd gathered around the entrance, and people were wondering what I was doing.
I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes as I focussed on his life force. I felt power leave me and I fell to my knees at the same time he did. He began to panic, so I patted his neck, soothing him. I felt more and more energy drain, it was draining into him, then I began to fill with a new energy. A strong energy.
His energy, Libeth said.
I opened my eyes as a blinding light filled the area. A few shocked gasps came from the crowd as the light faded.
Without knowing it, he had bent down, and I had climbed onto his back. I was now on his back, comfortably in place as I felt the companion bond searing through my veins. Libeth paid attention to this, after all, he was now her companion too.
I grinned and let out scream, "Woohoo!"
I rested my hands on his neck and pushed down with a bit of pressure. Through the bond, he knew what to do. He ran as fast as he could, through the exit of the maze, and out into the open.
People let out screams and freaked out, some people gasped, some people didn't notice. He ran through the paddock, familiarising himself as he carried me.
When we returned to the house, people looked terrified. I urged him to stand still in my mind, so he did.
"This here, is my companion. Yes, he is a Rhinoceros. No, he will not hurt you. Leave him alone, and he'll leave you alone." I explained, "Now someone give me a place to keep him. He needs a paddock with heaps of trees and vegetation."
After everyone had gotten over the shock, they had found a spare paddock, where the earth specialists grew some bushes, trees, and all that jazz. In the end, my new companion was very happy.
As the two of us sat in his paddock, getting to know each other, I realised I didn't have a name to call him.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"Name?" He repeated, clearly confused.
"You don't have a name?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I guess not... why?" He asked.
"I need something to call you, other than Rhino." I explained.
He lifted his shoulders and dropped them, attempting a shrug, he had clearly picked that up from me. I giggled and said, "Can I name you?"
"Sure." He calmly replied.
I thought for a minute before I shrieked in happiness, he jumped at the sudden noise and looked at me strangely, "What?" He asked.
"Kazak!" I cried happily, "It's perfect!"
I jumped to my feet and wrapped my arms around him.
That was what Ani and Willow saw when they walked into the clearing.
Ani giggled and Willow chuckled, "What's up?" Willow asked.
"Kazak here is my companion!" I explained, putting emphasis on the word companion.
Both their mouths dropped open, and Ani screamed, "No way!"
Then she ran over as fast as she could and did a weird tackle/flop on to Kazak.
He, of course, freaked out and thrashed around, sending her flying into a nearby tree. I ran over and wrapped my arms around Kazak to calm him down while Willow went to care for Ani.
I whispered into Kazak's ear, "That was Ani, she is a bit too excited most of the time, but she's my friend, sorry if she scared you, but she's a good person."
He grunted and stomped his foot.
I headed over to Ani and giggled, she wasn't hurt, but there were leaves all through her hair.
"Ani, Kazak isn't used to having friends, you just scared him, that's all," I explained to her, "Next time try not to fling yourself at the Rhino."
Try not to fling yourself at the Rhino. Because most people say that all the time. Libeth shrugged.
I laughed at the wording and then helped Ani stand up. She started trying to pick out the leaves from her hair, but I slapped away her hand, "Bonding exercise," I explained.
I got her to slowly walk towards Kazak, and when she finally reached him, she sat down with her back to him.
"Hey Kazak, I'm Ani." She said.
I nudged him forward, and he used his triangular shaped lips to pick out the leaves from her hair and eat them.
I grinned and said, "Kaz, this is Willow."
He looked confused, so I explained, "Kaz is a short way of saying Kazak, just like Ani is a short way of saying Stephani."
He snorted and continued picking at her hair. When he was finished, I nudged him towards Willow. He clomped his way over and sniffed her neck, probably looking for leaves like in Ani's hair. She slowly reached up and patted his cheek.
I grinned and offered, "You guys wanna go for a ride?"
After a good hour of Ani screaming whilst riding Kaz, and Willow looking uncomfortable while riding Kaz, it begun to get dark. I said goodnight to Kaz and we headed inside. I had missed an episode of Doctor Who, and I had to go see it now.
As we made our way in, I thought of how cool it was to have a Rhino as a companion. Once I finished the episode of Doctor Who and headed to my room, I found Ani trying to clean up a dog poop and Willow looking amused and disgusted at the same time.
"Why is there dog poop on the floor?" I asked Ani, "Did you let Leroy in here again Ani?" I questioned.
She blushed and looked up at me and said, "No..."
"Then why is there dog poop here?" I rolled my eyes.
"Um..." Ani stuttered. Willow started laughing, really hard.
Ok, so something weird is going on, I observed.
I hope it’s not what I think it is… Libeth hissed.
"What, Ani?" I growled.
She grimaced and turned even redder, "I came to see you after the challenge, and I wanted to surprise you, so I shifted into a puppy, so I jump on you and stuff, then Willow came in and announced you were friends with a Rhino you found in the maze, and I maybe... kind of... had bowel issues in my shock?"
The room grew silent, and I just stared blankly at her, trying to understand what she had just said. And then I fell to the floor and laughed so hard my ribs hurt. When I calmed down, Ani was so red I thought she would explode. Then I realised the gross side of the situation...
"Ew! That means you pooped on my floor! You pooped on my floor and then just left it there when you came to find me! You’re more of an animal than Kaz!" I moaned, "Ani poop is on my floor! That's disgusting!"
She quickly finished cleaning, and I just sat on my bed, trying to distract myself from thoughts of Ani and her lack of bowel control.
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Wow! So i introduced a 'Companion Bond'!
What do you think of Kaz?
Anyone thought of actors to play Ben, Cheyanne and Graham?
Sorry for late update, can only update on weekends from now on.
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StryderSweetman.