Chapter 2

I had barely taken two steps forward before I noticed an odd difference between my old body and the new body I had transformed into. I blinked a few times, looking around at my surroundings, squinting at the little details, then tested my ears and nose as well, immediately feeling disappointed when I realized I couldn't see, hear or smell as far as I used to. I looked down on my hands instead, searching for my claws, but all I saw was five long stick-like appendages.

"Um, Mr. Tiger, what're you doing?" Near, my beastly friend asked in concern.

"What are these things?" I asked, wiggling the funny looking digits in front of my face.

"Fingers?" he answered, cocking his head.

"Ooh," a bizarre sound came out of my mouth as I nodded in understanding, going back to my investigation. "And what are these things?" I continued, pointing to the two sticks that were helping me stand.

"Those are legs, at the bottom are your feet," he explained.

"Hm," another strange noise rumbled in my throat as I continued to walk toward home, thinking about all these new things thoughtfully.

"What do you eat?" I questioned after musing for awhile.

"Mm, fruits and vegetables mostly," Near answered, following close behind.

I nodded, finally making sense of the creature I've turned into. With no fangs or claws, I'm not a beast at all, but a prey that gets hunted by others. I'd have to be careful from now on or risk getting eaten. Near as well, I had to protect him, can't have my only friend turning into dinner. At that thought, I pulled Near closer to me, afraid that some animal might snatch him away from behind. Finally, after what seemed like an unusually long walk, longer than I recall it being, we made it to my cave. It looked even more magnificent than before, home sweet home.

"Come on," I tugged Near who had stopped moving by the hand toward the cave.

"W-wait," he shook his head. "What's in there? It looks scary."

"It's not scary, it's home," I pouted unhappily.

"Are there other tigers inside?" he asked cautiously.

I shook my head sadly, "No, I'm alone."

"Why? Don't you like tigers?" I asked as an afterthought.

"Mm, it's not that I don't like them, b-but…" he paused, playing with his fur on his head.

"Oh…" I mumbled, suddenly realizing that he was worried about the same thing as I was. "Don't worry, it's safe, I won't let you get eaten," I reassured confidently.

Near remained quiet, I wondered what he was thinking about, but after awhile, he said, "Okay, I trust you."

I nodded energetically, really glad to hear him say that as I led my first visitor into my home. The cave walls glowed as we walked in, a sweet harmony chiming and echoing all around, welcoming us inside. Near gasped, covering his mouth, his eyes glimmering in the darkness as he stared up at my stars which lighted the walls.

"T-they're beautiful," he whispered, reaching for one of the stars. "Oh Divine Mother, these are diamonds."

"Do you like them? They're my stars, I make one for each day," I grinned triumphantly.

"P-pardon me, you made these?" Near asked in disbelief.

"Yup," I nodded cheerfully, waving my hands in circles, gathering dust from the air and hardening it in my palm till it morphed into the shape I had in my mind. "Here," I offered the little flower shaped star.

Near eyes sparkled even more as he reached a shaky hand out to take it, "This is amazing, I can't believe it," he said, staring at the flower.

"It's like your flower right?"

"My flower?" he asked. I nodded, pointing toward his head.

"Oh this?" he replied, taking down the flower from his head, I wondered if it hurt to detached it like that, but that didn't seem to be the case. "Here, you can have this," he said, passing it over to me.

"Really?" I hugged it close to my chest, "No one's ever given me anything before. Thank you!" I leaned in closer and licked his cheek in return.

Near giggled, shying away, "It's just glass," he said, blushing, "This diamond you gave me is worth a lot more."

"Mm," I mumbled, not really paying attention as I continued to slobber his face joyfully.

"Haha, stop, that tickles," Near's little bird-like voice laughed as he pushed me away weakly.

"Why?" I whined.

"Because," Near sighed, catching his breath, "People don't lick each other."

"But tigers do," I argued.

"But you're not a tiger now, you're a boy, a human," he tried to explain.

"Then what do humans do?" I frowned, wishing I could turn into a tiger again, things were so much more simpler then.

"Uh," Near averted his eyes nervously, his cheeks dusting red, "we…k-kiss…"

"K-kiss? What's that?" I cocked my head curiously.

"No, it's kiss…kissing is…" he paused, looking straight at me with a strange light in his eyes. Carefully, he leaned in and placed a peck on my cheek with his soft lips.

My eyes widened involuntarily, realization sinking in as I jumped excitedly, "A kiss, that's a kiss!" I exclaimed, pulling Near close to me and showering him with kisses all over his face. Finally, I pressed my lips to his, which must've caught him by surprise, because he stumbled backward and fell to the ground.

"Mr. Tiger," Near panted, "I think we should stop now."

I whimpered, stopping reluctantly and got off him, lying on the ground. He smiled at me thankfully, turning his gaze to the mosaic on the ceiling wall. Silently, we watched the stars together, for some reason, they seem to shine even more than they used to. I curled up next to my new friend, feeling grateful that Mother has grant me my wish after all these years.

"Don't ever leave me," I muttered, hugging Near's arm.

Gently, Near stroke my head. "I can't even if I wanted to, I'm an offering to you after all."

"Offering? What's that?"

"Um….it's hard to explain, but now that you have me, you have to leave the villagers alone, alright?" he replied, still running his hands through my fur which made me want to purr.

But I've never been near a villager before, I don't even know what a villager is, how can I leave it alone? The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't ask since I know I won't get an answer I'll understand anyways, so I simply nodded.

"Anything is fine as long as you're with me," I smiled.

Okay, so this is way short, I wasn't even sure if I should update it, but in the end I did, cuz I just really needed to get something out. My mind is literally rotting, I think I'm losing my touch here T.T Anyways, even though it's short, I hope someone will like it :)