A/N: I hope you like this story so far :)
"OHH AH WAY UH! OH HAH WAY HUH!" The throaty yell of voices, the low pound of a drum and feet stomping the earth was heard through the forest. The tribe was dancing in a circle around the large fire, each singing, dancing and laughing. The bright white stars where spread out across the dark sky, the full moon emanating light across the snow.
"YAHA WATA!" They yelled in unison, the dancers were beautifully mimicking animals in the forest. A woman with thick black hair in a long braid had wings made of leaves and fur, dancing around like an eagle in the sky. A child was dressed in wolf fur and was howling to the moon.
"TONIGHT!" An old man with long, graying black hair yelled. "We dance! For the LIGHTS!" He howled, dancing in a circle.
Suddenly the darkness of the night became clearer, the sky brightened. A wave of bright colors weaved and slithered gracefully through the sky. Snow slowly started to fall from the few clouds that littered the night sky, the tribe cheered excitedly. Only to be cut off by a mechanical humming sound from above.
They looked up to see an old style airplane flying through the lights. It's wings were painted red and the body of it white. On the side was a picture of a clown and the words 'Russian Circus'. Though they could not read, they knew it was something else. Some sort of people from another land, they called it the 'Metal Bird'.
Something dropped out the plane and was hurtling towards the ground as the flying metal contraption went out of sight. The object hit the ground a few yards away and rolled down a small hill. They looked at each other unsure of what to do, the chief finally spoke up.
"I shall look," he said grabbing his spears and cautiously walking over, he readied his weapon and positioned himself to strike when he neared the object.
It was a small wooden crate, slightly damaged from the fall but not too much since the plane wasn't too far from the ground. The side of the box and Cotton Candy written on it in both Russian and English. There were a few noises coming from inside the box.
The tribe of people jumped back at the noise, the Chief tapped the box lightly with his spear and the noise started again. It almost sounded like a whimper or a growl. He pushed the box over and it opened, they stood there for a moment wondering what would happen next. They could hear rustling on the inside of the box and then another whimper, they kneeled down to see what would walk out.
Almost all of them awed when the small black striped, white cat exited the crate. It was adorable and something they've never seen before, a whole new species of animal to them.
The Chief leaned down and pulled something fluffy and pink off of the animal, he held it to his nose and sniffed it. The others looked at him with wide eyes, confusion on their faces. What was the creäture standing before them? The Chief slipped the pink fur into his mouth and his eyes widened, to others it was known as cotton candy, to them it was something entirely new.
He picked up the blue-eyed cub and smiled, he turned to look at the tribe while holding the baby cat up.
"Quanok!" (Snowflake) "White cat, fall from sky! Big snowflake!" He said then took off another piece of cotton candy. "Sakari!" (Sweet) He added, taking about the pink fluff.
(16 years later)
The snow was always her favorite thing, she would watch it fall for hours. The moonlight hitting her furry face, it was heaven. She would chase caribou all day and then relax under the sunlight on the mountain. The Arctic air was cold and fresh, but her thick fur coat kept her warm inside.
She crouched down behind a small hill of snow, her prey the hare on the other side. It was small yes, not enough to fill the massive beast, but for her amusement. She wiggled her rear end and readied herself, her ears back and her head down. With a huge leap she flew towards the small creature.
Only to hit something and become pushed back, the hare took off. She looked down at the object holding her back. A thick stick of wood, she ran her ice blue eyes up the annoying stick to see a sweet looking old lady attached to it. The Eskimo woman, older than the land itself, her olive skin wrinkled, her long braided pigtails we a white/grey color. She wore layers of clothes, her thick hood of fur up to keep her head warm.
A smile was plastered on her face, the tigress sighed when the lady laughed. "Now Child, you know not to play with your food." Tootega said looking down at the large white tiger. She growled lightly and stood, noticing the small wolf following behind the old lady. "Now, come young one. We see the tribe today." She said turning and walking through the snow and into the woods.
The large Siberian tiger followed the old Eskimo as the walked through the forest for about a half hour, finally entering the native grounds. The kids were playing around and laughing, there was a few women chatting as they hung up clothes. Most of the men were out hunting, fishing or building.
"Rawr!" A toddler said as he came up to the tiger, his chubby cheeks flustered pink in the cold weather. He wrapped his arms around the large cats leg and hugged her. Sakari nudged him with her nose and rubbed her head against the boy, he giggled when she pushed him up and onto her back. She was a large tiger, her head standing almost 5 feet tall, her body was massive in both length and size.
The boy pulled at the small mane around her neck, the cat winced as she walked alongside the old lady, who just laughed at her. She noticed a woman sitting in front of her tee pee and skinning a caribou she caught earlier, dipping it in salted water to keep the meat from going bad.
"They are thankful you caught the food for them, it is hard for us to hunt without you. They call you the Goddess of Hunting and protection, they say you are Nujalik." Tootega said as they walked, another group of children ran up to pet Sakari, the little boy getting off of his horsie.
A mother called to her children in their native tongue and they ran off to her, leaving the old lady and the large tiger alone to walk. "You see child, you understand us because we are one the same. Brothers and sisters, a family." The old lady said as they started to walk up the mountain. Sakari had no idea what the old bat was going on about this time, something about the lights and spirits.
With a thunk the Tootega hit her on the head with her walking stick, the tiger growled at the old lady.
"You listen!" Tootega said sternly. "You are here because the great Spirits of the sky gave us hope, for food and protection." She started, Sakari rolled her eyes and watched a squirrel run up a tree. The old lady was constantly going on about Spirits and how she was there to protect the tribe, it was true. When Sakari was with them every once in a while, but she was always looking out for them and watching over them. She would bring them meat and fish for food, then she would watch the children when the mothers were busy.
"One day you will understand what I am saying," She explained as they walked around the top of the mountain, there was a large clearing there and you could see the land below, the village and the river behind it. The sun was shining down and Sakari couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. "You me child, are cat by body and spirit but your heart is one of a human." Tootega said smiling lovingly at the large beast, Sakari couldn't even count how many times Tootega explained that same thing to her. She was a big cat, she knew it. The only other cat around was a Mountain Lion and still she was twice the size of it, the lion still tried to attack a family so it had to be chased off by the tiger.
"You're time is coming young one, you will have a great decision to make and a bigger adventure ahead." Tootega said while patting her on the head, Sakari looked down at the village, everyone as having a good time. She turned to look at Tootega but there was no one there, not a soul, not even her scent or a sound. Sakari had no idea where the old lady went and didn't bother questioning it. She was the medicine lady and was supposedly mystical, Sakari just thought she was crazy from her old age.
"AHHH!" Her head snapped down towards the village after hearing the screech, there was a thick smoke clouding the campsite. Sakari could smell others, she could hear the footsteps and yells from foreign voices. In a flash she went speeding down the mountain, jumping high over rocks and logs, speeding past a small group of coyotes that were running away from the noise. She was so worried, were they hurting her people? She was the Spirit sent to protect them, how could she do it now when she wasn't even there. She mentally cursed the old lady from taking her so far away.
The tigress leapt over a brook and finally stepped into the campsite, she could hear muffled screams coming from her people and the foreign language being spoken by the strangers. There were so many of them, each holding long objects and sharp-looking sticks. She jumped up behind one of the men and sunk her long teeth into his neck, his blood trailing down her chin. All the men turned to look at her, wide-eyed and shocked.
"Sakari Quanok!" A woman yelled from the grasp of a strong-looking man.
Sakari held in a deep breath and opened her mouth wide, her 4 inch long fangs and strong looking jaw glistened with blood. She let out the breath from her belly and roared loudly, the sound echoing through the forest for miles. Loud enough to scare away some birds yards away.
"Look at that," The man said in a British accent. "What is a Siberian tiger doing here?" He asked his men as they let the people go, the white tiger was positioned in a fighting stance, showing her teeth.
"Imagine what she'll be worth in America, Smitty." One man said with an evil smile.
"Nujalik!" The Chief growled, his air being cut off by a man holding his throat.
"Oh is she your Goddess? Pity, we think she'd make a beautiful fur coat." The man named Smitty said, showing his dirty teeth through a nasty smile. Smitty was a dirty looking man, his greasy black hair covered in a big snow suit and a hat. his mustache almost covered his mouth, he was missing a few teeth and the ones he did have were an ugly yellow/brown color.
Sakari ran at the man and knocked him over, gun shots were fired and there was yelling. She didn't manage the kill him but jumped up and ran at another man, who pointed a gun at her, she jumped and bit his throat. He dropped to the ground and she started picking them off one by one.
"Get it!" Smitty yelled as Sakari started running away, not so fast they'd lose her but enough so they'd leave the campsite. She ran past the brook and through the forest, she could hear them shuffle after her. Loud bangs indicated that shots were fired and things were thrown at her, she stopped when she was far enough away from the tribe and turned to face them. They stopped and fired their guns at her, she let out another vicious roar and they seemed taken aback by the loud noise.
One man shot at her and hit her in the shoulder with a bullet, she winced and pulled back slightly. It hurt her but wasn't enough to stop the large Siberian. She jumped at the man and knocked him over, she bit into the soft part on his neck, six more to go and she knew she could do it. There was blood dripping down her shoulder and chin, her white coat getting soaked in pink and crimson. She jumped at another but stumbled as a bullet pierced her back, her coat was thick but not enough to stop the bullet from going far into her body. She was getting weaker, so she jumped up and pushed herself off of a thick tree and onto another man. She was doing fine until something hard hit her over the head, it was a big club made of wood and painted black.
Her vision was getting worse and she was loosing her balance, they started gaining up on her. Hitting her in different spots, she managed to jump on a man and then on another, using them like stepping stones.
"This tiger is a beast," Smitty said as he pulled out his machete. "Ey! Stop, leave her!" He added, they stopped and looked between Sakari and Smitty. The over-sized tiger and the man stood there facing each other, deadly looks on both their faces, blood covering the white tiger.
"She's mine," He growled, put on a lopsided grin and raised an eyebrow at the cat, she snarled and showed her large teeth before running at the man, she leapt into the air about 6 feet before coming down on top of him. She let out a groan and layed still over the man, her 900 pound body crushing him slightly.
"Smitty?" A man with greying black hair asked. The large black striped white Siberian tiger suddenly moved, and Smitty pulled himself out from underneath it, he pulled his machete out of its belly and wiped the blood off on his glove. "Get her back to the truck, we'll take her to the States and see if we can get a nice coat or something made out of it. They'll be paying big bucks for it." He grinned as they all started lifting the large cat.
She was in pain, pure cruel pain. Her whole body was hurting, it was healing well like usual but sore. She hasn't felt that bad since she had the run in with the herd of Ox. They were pretty vicious when they were angry. Sakari opened her eyes to see darkness, she wasn't sure if she lost her vision or if it was just dark. There was a loud noise and her body was shaking, she had no idea what it was and it was actually a train. She didn't know where she was or where she was going, she couldn't even stand. Her body was just so weak, she just hoped her people were okay.
Sakari looked around the big metal room she was in, there were boxes and cans of things, she didn't know what they were or where she was going but the humans still thought she was dead. She would of too if she wasn't in so much pain. Sakari looked through the crack in the big metal door and peered outside, they were moving quickly. Too quick for her to be able to jump with the state she was in, she knew she had to rest if she wanted to travel back to the tribe.
So she put her head down and went back to sleep, making it look as if she was dead.
When she did awaken, it was because of a loud bangs and the squeaking sound of the train stopping. She rose, her body still shaky and sore but she prepared herself for the worst when the door flew open. Standing there were two men, ready to take her dead body somewhere.
"I thought you said it was dead!" The man with the balding head said to the guy next to him.
"It was! I watched him kill it!" He said defensively as Sakari jumped over the two and ran down onto the hard black ground. She ran, as fast as her paws would let her. Until something poked into her neck, another hit her, then another. She started feeling tired, really tired, she knew she had to stay awake so she kept going.
She would always keep running, no matter what she'd get back and never give up. These people wanted her dead and she wouldn't let them, so she willed herself to go on.
"Hole crap, what is this thing?" She heard a voice as she started to slow down, she wasn't running as fast as she thought she was. Her body was slacking and her eyes drifting shut.
"Its the size of it that's difficult, shoot it again." Another voice said, Sakari felt another sharp pain and hit the ground again. Everything went black.
This time when she woke up she was just as sore, maybe worse. Her head was pounding, her bones ached and she was thirsty. Her fur was still covered in blood and messy.
She let out a groan from her chest, it didn't sound as loud as it did when she was in the metal thing. No echo, so where was she?
Opening her eyes she got a glimpse of her surroundings, she was sitting on a wooden floor. Thick metal bars trapping her into the small space, there were voices, loud voices all around.
"What did you do to this animal?!" A female voice yelled, she looked to see a woman around 5,5. Her hair was medium length and a strawberry blonde colour, she looked to be in her mid thirties to someone who could notice. She wore a long green cardigan and a white T-shirt that read 'Save The Whales.' She was holding a protesting sign against 'Animal Cruelty'.
"Nothin', we got it like that. It's perfect for our circus." He said with a grin.
"She is a wild animal! You can't just take her from her habitat, beat her and expect the poor thing to put on a show." The woman yelled, she had green eyes and slightly tanned skin.
"No, she won't put on a show, it sits in the cage and people see it." The man eating the hot dog replied, wiping his hands on his shirt.
The man started to walk away and the woman chased him down and yelled more at him from another area, Sakira let out a breath and then yawned. A small roar came from her throat as she did so, she rubbed her face off her paw and licked her lips. She was so hungry, usually she ate at least four or five times a day. Fish or caribou, sometimes moose.
"Yih Yay Yuh Yiahuh!" She heard the native throat singing and turned, it was the old lady. Her back was turned and she sat cross legged in the small cage, her fur hood up and her hands clapping with every word. "Yuh yi yi yuh! Yeeh yuh Hi hi!" Tootega chanted. "You see what I see child?" Tootega asked, turning to face Sakari. "I see an ally. This one is trustable." She added, Sakari wasn't worried about what the crazed old bat was saying this time, she was just worried about the tribe. How would they survive the harsh winters without her?
*clunk*
Tootega hit her over the head again with her stick. "Silly girl, we survive many years without you and we survive them now too." The old lady said as Sakari glared and rubbed her head with her paw. It wasn't like the old lady's advice was any good before, if she had of stayed at the campsite none of this would of happened.
"No! Silly child, everything happens for a reason." She said with a huge smile.
"Hey girl, don't eat me okay? I'm going to get you out of here, I bet you're hungry?" She looked through the cage to see the woman from earlier, she was unlocking the cage. Sakari looked to see if this was the ally, Tootega might of been talking about, but like last time she was gone. Not a trace of the old woman, nothing was there.
"Alright, we need to be discreet. So, ohh wow you're big. Uh, please do not eat me. I will help you. I really hope you don't eat me." The woman said as Sakari shakily exited the cage and onto the ground, her legs hurt so much and so did the rest of her body. "Come on, we need to get in my truck. You're going to have to get in the back." The woman said to the tiger, Sakari couldn't believe she was helping the wild animal and trusting her not to eat her. They ran into the parking lot, luckily there wasn't anyone around and she snuck into the circus area to get a look at the poor animals she would protest for.
"Look, just climb on here." She said to the tiger who stood there staring at the truck, Sakari never seen a car before and it was all so new. These humans were so scary, like demons the tribe would talk about. Could she trust a demon? A bad spirit? Hell, her people thought she was a goddess and she knew she wasn't. She wasn't a spirit or the Huntress, she was just a really big cat, wasn't she?
So she jumped onto the back of the pick up truck, which shifted with the weight of the large tiger and the woman said she was going to cover her with a blanket and then drive away. As they drove Sakari poked her head out of the blanket and seen the city for the first time. It was almost beautiful, the ground was covered in one big black rock like substance. There were big things people were living in and people in big metal cans riding around. It was so interesting and new to her, she never seen anything like it when she lived in the forest.
They drove for hours and finally pulled up into a driveway by a small forest, the house was small but was by a lake and very private. The house was a bungalow and made of mainly wood. The grass was a beautiful shade of green and the trees were high up and covered in leaves, Sakari could hear the birds in the sky and the rabbits running around in the woods. She wished she was home, she wanted to chase a deer like old times.
"Alright, now please don't hurt me. I will feed yu, just don't hurt me." The woman said to the large white tiger, she looked scared and Sakari wanted to just run into the woods and find her way home. She knew she couldn't say no to a free meal though, she was so hungry. "Just follow me," the woman said a little worried with the tiger behind her. She wasn't sure how trained it was or if they just took it from the wild, but it didn't seem like an angry animal so she decided to help it.
They entered the house, something Sakari was never in before, the wood flooring was a dark mahogany color, the walls painted a nice shade of brown and white, the furniture looked very 70's and the carpet in the living room looked old. "This is my parents summer house, it's the closest thing I have to private since I live in the city." The woman said. "and I'm talking to a big tiger I just stole, I am crazy." She said more to herself than to Sakari, who could in fact understand her and was following beside her.
The woman went through the fridge and Sakari just sat there, calmly licking the blood off of her paws. She finally got mainly clean before the woman pulled out a huge chunk of ham, it was the biggest piece of ham she had and hoped it was enough to feed the beast. Sakari'seyes widened and her mouth started to drool, she was so hungry. "I'm not sure if you eat it raw or if I should cook i-.."
Sakari pulled the large piece of meat out of the womans hands and took out into the living room and tried to hide behind the couch, which wasn't big enough to hide the over sized tiger. She started eating the meat with a purring sound in her throat, she was so hungry and thirsty. She seen a lake a yard from the house and wanted to go for a swim, sometimes in the summer when the heat hit you could swim, but it wasn't warm often there.
"YOU STOLE A TIGER!" Sakari's head snapped up when she heard another female voice, she looked towards the front door to see a woman with short red hair and pale skin, she was around 40 and wore a lot of green.
"YES! I know, I just felt bad for it and I knew you could talk to it... So? Will you talk to it?" She asked the red head.
"Karen, why do you do stupid things like this? I have a family to look after, I don't have time for this." The red head said to Karen.
"Come on sis, she was nearly dead when I found her. She was starved, besides she didn't even eat me." Karen tried to defend the animal.
"It might in your sleep!" She said with her hands on her hips.
"Thats why I need you to talk to her and see if she'll kill me." Karen said with a hopeful smile, her sister sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Alright, but if I find out you were eaten by a tiger I get everything you own." The red head smiled, Karen pulled her sister into a hug. "Thank you so much, Lilian." She smiled.
"Now where is it?" Lilian asked looking around, her eyes finally fell onto Sakari and widened them immediately. "That's a really big tiger, where did you say you found it?" She asked.
"The circus, they had him in a small little cage and she looked beaten and bloody." Karen replied.
"That's the biggest tiger I have ever seen," She said cautiously walking up to Sakari. "Hello," she said to it, Sakari turned her head in a confused sort of way at the woman. "What is your name?" She asked her, Sakari didn't answer. "Where did those people find you? Are you from another zoo? Or are you wild?" Lilian asked, she still didn't reply. "Theres something wrong with this animal, she's not normal." Lilian said with furrowed eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" Karen asked. Sakari went back to eating her meat as both of them started talking about how abnormal it was for animals not to talk to Lilian.
"Well she seems like a normal cat to me," Karen said watching Sakari eat the meat and then start eating the bone.
"I honestly don't think it's going to hurt you, because it would have by now, but it still needs to go soon. Take it back to Siberia or something, I mean that is what breed it is maybe they found it there." Lilian said standing up and putting her purse over her shoulder.
"Well should I lock my door when I sleep tonight?" Karen asked as Lilian walked towards the door.
"You really think a door is going to keep that thing out?" Lilian laughed as she left, Karen sighed and looked back a Sakari. "Stay down here tonight, okay?" She said as she walked upstairs, Sakari didn't know what it was but something told her to trust the human. Something made the human trust her too, she'll never figure out what though. She just layed there behind the couch and fell asleep.
The sun was shining down on her face, it felt so good. All cats loved the sun, it was Sakari's favorite. She would just lay in a tree and the sun would shine down on her and keep her warm. She loved the warmth, it was always so cold and wet but when that one day of summer would hit it was heaven. She opened her ice blue eyes and yawned the way a cat does, she felt so good. She was all healed and she felt clean.
"AHHH!" She heard a scream and bolted upright, her eyes widened and her teeth out readied for an attack. "You're... You're!" She looked over to see Karen at the bottom of the stairs, her vision seemed different. It was so colourful and clear, she could see everything. As a cat, her hearing was better and so was her scent and balance, but her sight wasn't the best unless it was nighttime. Now it was perfect. "Oh my god!" Karen screeched again, not taking her eyes off Sakari.
Sakari looked down at herself, her jaw falling open and her eyes opening wide. She was furless, not only that but she had legs and feet and hands. She held a hand up and inspected it, she turned it over and waved it around, she closed it into a fist and then wiggled her thumb. She felt her face, it was smooth and had no fur. She had a human nose and mouth, she had hair at the tope of her head cascading in wave of white down her naked back. She flipped around to see if her tail was still there and seen nothing but cushions attached to her legs.
"AHHHH!" She screeched for the first time using a human voice, Karen yelled with her, both scared and shocked at what happened. "Holy crap, what.. I thought you were a tiger, are you a super? Oh my, this is wierd. I have to call someone. This... Oh god." Karen started pacing.
Sakari's human form was a beautiful girl, 16 years old with white hair and ice blue eyes like her tiger form. She had one strip of black in the front of her hair going over her eyes, her skin was pale and clear and she was small and thin.
"Tell me what is going on? Are you a super?" She asked the girl as she put a blanket over her naked body. Sakari just stood there looking at her.
"Can you talk?" Karen asked. "Do you speak English? Do you speak at all?" The girl just looked at her. "Have you ever been a human before?"
To be continued