Author's Note: Sooooo Hi guys. I'm officially back and I'm sorry it took so long. I thought I would start up a new story since I can't pick up with TGD and I can't remember for the life of me what I was gonna do with Tiger's Serenity...This one was kinda buzzing around in my head for a few days so I decided to run with it. It starts out really slow...and the first chapter is kinda short.
Probably cuz it's more of an intro...anyways lemme know if I should continue thisXD
Oh yeah and I need another beta author to help check on the chapters and bounce ideas off of if anyone's up to it
"Mom!...Dad, No!" Kaya's piercing scream shattered the silence as she was none to gently shoved into the dark crevice. Why was this happening? Not even in her worst nightmare had she thought her home would be destroyed, or that her family would die. Her father's stern face filled the rocky opening warning her to be silent.
"That's enough little one. You must be quiet. Do not move. Do not leave this place. Do you hear me?"
She whimpered her eyes burning with unshed tears. "Don't leave me" Kaya whispered quietly.
Her father's face softened and he gently nuzzled her. "We don't have a choice." He murmured. Kaya felt him bury his face in her fur just for a second then he was gone. Kaya ached for her father's warmth the minute he disappeared. It would be the last time she saw him...ever. She was just a cub, but she knew death.
The dead don't come back.
"Kaya..." Her mother's raspy voice called out to her. Kaya locked eyes with the one that had given birth to her, fed her, and always protected her. Her mother was going to die too. Her little body trembled with fear and anger. This wasn't fair. Why was this happening? "Kaya, my precious child" her mother's emerald eyes glowed with love. "Life will be hard for you. This day will stay in your heart and hurt and haunt you years from now...But you will be safe. You will grow up to be beautiful. You will grow strong. You will heal, because time heals all. Just remember that we love you and want you to be happy. Find that happiness little one."
Kaya let out a low whine as her mother nuzzled her then disappeared-her finely striped pelt swallowed whole into the night.
What now?
Her mind struggled with her parent's words.
Don't move.
She had been shoved into a tiny enclave-too small for any adult of any species to fit through. Kaya was a tiger cub-and a hopelessly tiny runt at that. No one could find her here. She was safe. At the same time she couldn't stay in the little crevice forever. Her tiny claws slid out scraping hopelessly against the stone.
What was she gonna do?
Don't leave this place..
Off in the distance she could still hear the sounds of fighting. A loud roar made her shiver cowering closer to the stone. Black Bears. Angry. Aggressive. Extremely territorial. Beasts. Unprovoked they had stampeded through her home and blind-sided her family leaving nothing but chaos in their wake.
She remembered her father's challenging snarl as he faced off against the huge beasts. Fearless. Brave. Infuriated. She had never seen him look so terrifying. The giant monsters took one look at her father and made the worst move possible. They leapt at his family. Her brother, the last of her parent's first litter, that was a breath away from adulthood, died instantly.
Her mother had taken one look at the blood soaked corpse then grabbed Kaya by the scruff, and darted off to safety.
The idea of losing two cubs in one night...
Wrong, on so many levels.
What was left of her family fought them while her parents said goodbye to her.
And now she had no one.
Hot tears slid down her cheeks as she thought of the hulking beasts that had mindlessly struck her brother down. Her parents did not stand a chance against such monsters. They would not live past the night.
Kaya was truly alone.
Her mother's words ghosted through her mind.
Be safe...Find happiness...
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(Time Skip 10 years)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hold still thief so I can kill you properly!"
Kaya giggled leaping from rock to rock with her stolen prey. She was starving and the glazed meat had been calling her name. Maybe stealing from the local market wasn't her best idea, but starving was not high on her priority list. "You'd have to catch me first old hag!" she called over her shoulder.
Hiro was a stubborn old ox Kaya noted wryly as she lengthened her stride to put more distance between her and her chaser. Things had changed from when she was just a small cub. After the death of her parents, and the destruction of her home she had decided she could only rely on herself. Other people would only get hurt or die on her. From the time she had escaped from the carnage of the bears up to now she had honed her speed, her agility, her cunning.
She made a perfect thief and spy and she knew it .She had perfect balance and was quick. Untouchable.
Now at age seventeen-She had grown tall and slim. Her cub fat had disappeared only to be replaced with muscle, and her fur had darkened to the dark orange of her species.
Kaya looked like an adult South China tiger now.
Not only had Kaya changed, the world had changed with her. Towns sprouted up all over the country. People of different species started interacting with each other. Gone was the time of fangs and claws and running only on all fours. Now felines, reptiles, mammals, birds, and the occasional fish walked on two legs as well.
Change came forward in leaps and bounds. Things such as bargaining, compromise, and negotiations were instituted all over the country known as China.
Unfortunately not all changes were good.
The world had grown more sophisticated. The people had turned into more of a society. But society was corrupt. The newly invented government was run by a single person. That single person made laws that did not benefit everyone. The emperor looked out for his own interests.
He didn't care that there were more warriors and wars than there were people to fund them.
He didn't care about the people that were dying every day.
He didn't care about the people that were starving.
Which led Kaya to her current predicament. She was a female, and a penniless female tiger at that. It's extremely difficult to buy food without money. It's even more difficult to steal food and sneak past a bunch of nosy guards. She glared at the ox gasping for breath behind her. As the chief guard in this particular town- Hiro really did not appreciates thieves. That in itself was a shame cuz Kaya was a damn good thief.
The punishment for thievery was to lose the hand you stole with. She eyed her left paw with some alarm as she moved. She was rather attached to that limb and in no mood to be crippled. With that thought in mind her pace increased.
Kaya agilely leapt off her next rock and darted forward- lunging toward the forest just outside of town. With an impressive series of leaps she jumped off a large boulder angling herself just right and landing lightly on a tree limb.
She was safe.
"KAYA!"
She chuckled leaning against the tree trunk and sending the fuming ox a lazy glance.
"Can I help you?" She said with a smirk and just to enrage him further she took a small bite out of the meat.
"You won't get away...Every town for miles knows your face. You WILL end up behind bars." The ox snorted angrily, his nostrils flaring with each word. "And you WILL pay for your crimes."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm shaking"
Kaya blinked as the ox appeared to shake in anger and only had a second to move before a large axe was whistling toward her. She ducked falling flat on the tree limb and felt the air rush across her fur as the axe embedded itself deep into the tree trunk where her head had been previously.
Kaya stood upright dusting herself off and took another bite of the meat before focusing on the chief guard who was actually angry enough to throw large pointy axes at her.
"Missed me" She purred in amusement taking a sort of morbid delight in the way the ox looked ready to throttle her.
"Get over here and say that" He roared.
Kaya chuckled.
"Sorry, places to go, things to steal." She sent him a heartfelt glance and watched as Hiro looked a second away from skewering her with his horns. "You understand how that is right?" she giggled leaping off into the forest. Her amused expression stayed on her face as she lithely darted through the trees.
Now that she was fed, the next matter of business is traveling.
Hiro had one thing right the towns around here were too familiar with her. She would get caught if she stayed in the area much longer so she would have to travel farther out. That was dangerous though.
Her grin melted into a frown.
There were rumors of bad things happening on the outskirts of China:
Foreigners invading Asia looking for something.
Skirmishes on the borders.
Rebellions in the towns.
She hummed thoughtfully.
Well she couldn't' stay here and get arrested...
What's the worst that could happen.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(Elsewhere in the Universe)
The clouds shimmered molding into patterns and brushing against the beast's scales. He shook his mighty head and with ethereal grace uncurled himself standing taller than any mortal. His cat-like eyes narrowed focusing on earth.
His chosen was causing chaos as per usual.
"I don't understand why of all the creations you picked such a...fickle creature to bond with." The dark snarl came from another celestial beast half his size with twice his temper. He looked toward the one speaking and was met with two pale glowing irises. "D'ruk...My king-surely there must be a mortal more...worthy of your power."
D'ruk, thunder dragon, king of his kind merely smiled.
"She is worthy. Kaya is more worthy than any I have ever seen."
His fellow companion snorted disbelievingly.
"I don't see it. All I see is the foolishness of a child...The weakness of a mortal...and the deviance of a female."
D'ruk chuckled.
"You mistake those qualities for weaknesses. She is strong Nuwa She is my chosen." Nuwa the foul tempered dragon he was addressing-who also happened to be the keeper of fire let out a plume of smoke his massive claws raking over the clouds.
"Your chosen" Nuwa said scathingly his voice dripping with venom "Is an embarrassment."
D'ruk paused sending Nuwa a warning glance "You doubt my choice?" Without meaning to he bared his fangs, his dagger like teeth making The Dragon lord of fire cower submissively before him. His tail whipped back and forth in annoyance. "Stand Nuwa. There is nothing to fear today."
Nuwa raised his massive head his eyes shimmering with regret.
"I apologize. I don't mean to doubt you...But all nine of the celestial dragons have their own chosen, and you choose a feline barely past cub hood to be the Dragon warrior that brings in the new age. What makes this kittling so special?"
D'ruk threw back his head dissolving into hearty laughter that shook the heavens.
"Haven't you noticed?" His laughter quieted and his millennia old gaze pierced Nuwa with fear and awe. "The little one is fearless. I absolutely adore her." He rumbled, his massive frame shivering in pleasure. "She will make a formidable enemy like her parents before her and will pave the way for her descendants many years from now."
Nuwa growled irritably.
"You've already picked a kitten to save China from it's own Darkness and usher in a new age...What's next? Will you pick a bloody panda to save the world? Or perhaps an overgrown peacock to destroy it?"
D'ruk smirked mysteriously as much as a dragon could. "Perhaps"
Nuwa blinked.
"Sometimes I wonder about you milord..."
So...What do you think of Kaya?
Or the Dragons?
Or the intro so far...Heh he well don't worry too much cuz more is coming.
And yes the main character is a feline again cuz..Well I do better writing about felines in the TGD world .