She stepped out into the moonlight. The tree leaves rustled gently in the light breeze as the forest began to settle. Ninarika lifted her head to the sky, her eyes closed, feeling the wind brush through her golden-orange fur. The young tigress sighed gently and looked down at the green stone nestled in her solid white paw. She watched the starlight reflect from it, making the emerald twinkle, shining brilliantly. Exhaling, she wrapped the golden chain around her wrist, allowing the gem to rest easily in her paw.

Continuing through the forest and tall grass, she stumbled upon a creek. Ears perked, she quickly knelt down by the edge and leaned in to take a drink. The water felt icy cold slipping down her throat, but it was welcomed. Drinking this fresh water numbed her senses and caused a long lost sound to erupt from her chest frame. A purr.

When she was finished she pulled back to meet face to face with her own reflection. She stared at herself in somewhat disbelief, raising a single paw to touch her face. She traced the outline of her cheek then along her whiskers. She had grown up.

Suddenly she wasn't a cub anymore. She never imagined herself like this…

Memories came trickling back into her mind. She closed her eyes, quickly shutting those memories out. She did not need them now…

Opening her eyes again, she studied a leaf sitting on the surface of the water. She swatted at it, but missed, and it continued to float down stream, bobbing up and down from the splash. She stood up and stared at it for a moment, then fallowed, a sudden feeling of curiosity bubbling up within her.

After a while of fallowing it down stream she lost sight of the leaf, along with her interest. When she looked up again she saw a small rock face, covered in vines and surrounded by large ferns and other plants. The tigress gazed at it for a moment.

This place… it gave her an odd feeling of familiarity.

She got down on all fours and crept forward, moving around the plants to look inside. She emerged into a cave. A den.

… Her den…

Tears suddenly began to swell up in her eyes and her breathing became uneasy. This was her home. Long ago, before everything went wrong, this was her home. She was born here; raised here. And that stream… was the same one she and her mother and played in so many years before…

Slumping onto the rocky floor of the cave she began to silently sob.

She imagined her mother and father here, how they all used to cuddle together in the chill of the night. She began to shake and shiver. She missed the warmth of her parents. She missed the sound of their voices, the feel of their soft fur. She missed them entirely…

"Mami… Papa…" she whispered into the ground, her eyes closed tight, face wet with tears, "I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry I left the den… I'm sorry I disobeyed… I'm so sorry!"

She laid there for hours, her sobs turning into whimpers, then into silence all together. Her head hurt and her chest ached. Her eyes now began to burn. She opened them and slowly lifted her head. She sniffed the air. The smell of her family still lingered here, or so she imagined at least. And also a far more resent scent… the humans.

Her ears perked as she quickly sat up, staring directly outside the cave entrance. Everything was quiet and still… She knew this feeling. Something wasn't right.

Voices began to ring out through the forest and shadows of tall bodies cast along the forest floor as fire light arose from the distance. Ninarika immediately froze, listening. Then as she began to hear nearby footsteps and rustling, she leapt to her feet and ran.

They were back for her. Of course they were. How could she be so naive?

As she ran she heard more voices, shouting even, then the sound crackling thunder. No. Gunfire. That is what killed her parents. That is what was to kill her if she did not move faster. But she couldn't move faster. Her lungs burned, they were constricted. She forced down air and unsheathed her claws. She tore past the trees and grass, barely grazing the earth's surface.

This was it. If she stopped now, it was all over.

The world began to spin as her vision blurred. She hadn't eaten. She was too weak. This was too much…

Then suddenly everything was turned upside down as she felt gravity pull her downward. She slipped and tumbled off the side of a steep hill, tumbling down far too quickly. She narrowly dodged tree after tree, then hit the hard ground with a sickening, thwack.

She lay there motionless as footsteps ran by, fallowed by shouts and flickering candle light. Then all was quiet again. After what seemed forever the tigress finally arose, her body trembling from the fall. She lifted her head slowly, her eyes glazed over. She gazed out towards the place the humans had gone.

They were gone…

Without thinking, she rose up to her feet and ran, ran across the open clearing ahead. She moved quickly through the tall grass towards the forest on the other side, where safety looked promising. As she reached the other side of the field she felt her body begin to weaken. Her sprint changed into a stride which in turn faded into a small limp. When she finally reached the forest, she was practically on her knees.

The tigress reached out and quickly grasped onto the trunk of the nearest tree as she lost all strength in her legs. Looking up, all she could think of was a place to hide, and began to climb, using whatever energy she had left in her. When her body went numb, she finally stopped and rested, perching on one of the tree's large branches.

Her body began to tingle as the adrenaline left her system, then after time set in, the pain became apparent. She cried out and buried her face into the tree's trunk, clinging to it like it was her life line. She hissed behind tears of agony as her body began to shut down on her.

She had to calm down. Had to rest… She needed to sleep now…

Her trembling lessened as she told herself this. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. It was alright now. There was nothing to be afraid of…

But as this occurred to her, she realized she wasn't alone.

0o0o0o0o0o

The broad Siberian tiger stood at the corner of the train cart, leaning against the wall, spinning a single dagger between his claws. Vitaly watched the others as they all laughed and contributed to the on going conversation. He would smile or huff in amusement every time Gia or Stefano or when one of the other animals would say something silly or do something funny.

As usual, Alex was the center of attention. It was like the boy didn't know how to stop talking. Did he even know what he was talking about? None-the-less, it seemed the young lion was enjoying himself, and so was Gia as it appeared.

The night soon drew near and everyone began to leave the cart to find their own to rest until morning. Vitaly waited for the others to all pile out before exiting himself, but found that he was intervened.

"You were doing it again," Alex said as he casually jumped off of a crate and wandered over to the large tiger.

"Doing what?" Vitaly asked, looking oblivious.

"That knife-twirling… thing," The lion gestured to the blade, using both hands.

Vitaly raised a brow, then after a moment looked away, staring blankly at the wall.

Alex stood there in awkward silence for a moment before speaking once again. "What's up? You seem distracted or something."

Vitaly chuckled and glanced at Alex from the corner of his eye, "I'm not the only one being distracted."

Alex stared at him for a good minuet before realizing what he was talking about.

"Pffffft. Ah, Vitaly!" he playfully punched the tiger on the shoulder then laughed dryly, "Likes to poke fun."

Vitaly gave him a strange look and Alex's smile dropped.

"We're just friends," he said, putting on a poker face.

"Ah," Vitaly looked away and smiled.

Alex continued to stare at him, as if in disbelief, then turned and quickly walked out, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Vitaly shook his head and pushed himself off the wall. He knew Alex had a thing for Gia. There was really no use hiding it.

Thinking about it made the tiger feel a bit of wait settle on his shoulders. Of course Gia was family, he had to feel just a bit protective about her, but that really wasn't it. He knew where this feeling was heading. He had had a mate once, and lost her. He knew the feeling, and the feeling fallowing. He couldn't keep shaking it from his mind. Now that everyone was a family again. Now that everyone was settling down. He felt almost left out.

Pah, but who needs a mate when you have family, eh?

Yes, family was far more important.

He stepped outside and was embraced by the bitter cold. Continuing to twirl his knife he wandered back to his cart. The trees around him rustled in the strong winds. He could feel it push against him, tugging at his fur. He moved past it though, practically unfazed. He was used to this kind of weather. Where he came from there was plenty of it. But finding so much of it here in India seemed strange. Perhaps it was raining season?

Then his ears perked. He paused, feeling the air shift around him. Before the shuffling could even be heard his dagger sliced through the air, making a hallowed thumping sound as it collided with one of the trees. The tiger marched over to the knife and pulled it out with one swift move, then gazed up into the trees where he had heard the noise.

A low growl filled his throat, a threatening sound to let others know that he was armed and dangerous. It was a warning, to keep others away. He was willing to protect his family with his life. And that was that.

Then before he could move something shifted, and he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes peer strait down at him. But in an instant it was gone.

He stood there for a moment longer before turning around and heading back to the train.

A small tigress moved back into view, watching him leave, hidden safely in the darkness of the forest.