HAT: Darn it! This is your fault, Nella, Lindsay, and EmpressIrony! If it weren't for ya'll I'd have never started this Tiger's Curse kick (okay, so I would've because I had considered it after reading the second book, but that's not the point!) and this wouldn't be here! Nor any of the other stories I'm working on... dang it, that's a lot on my plate with Tiger's Curse fanfiction... *sighs* What a drag... Anyway, enjoy... if you can, I'm not the best at fight scenes or romance scenes or... Actually to be honest, I just think my writing's subpar period. Ignore me and read on.

Disclaimer: Tiger's Curse isn't mine and the idea isn't mine, just (kinda) the plot.

Chapter 1:
No Longer A Man

Kishan prowls through the forest, sharp nose detecting the scent of humans nearby. He releases a growl and climbs a tree to lower branches and leaps through the trees with expertise that's come from decades of practice. When he reaches about a mile between where he previously was and his current position he lies down on a branch to catch his breath. The man in him figures that he'll have a good twenty minutes before he has to take off again while the tiger figures he'll have a good fifteen minutes before he has to check his territory and a good hour before the herds move in their predictable manner towards him again.

With a grunt he goes down to the earth and pads towards the borders of his land and carefully smells for any trespassers, man or beast. Luckily he only finds familiar scents as he goes along and marks his territory.

When finished he heads deeper into his territory and walks in the river just to be sure that no humans will find his den. He can't have anything knowing where he kept what is most precious to him. After sniffing the air and carefully scanning his surrounding area he goes into his den hidden underneath tangled roots at the moment, though he'll have to change dens when the rain comes again. He hears quiet mewls and trots forward to find small tiger cubs about six weeks old.

He'd found them in his territory two weeks ago and managed to keep them alive by stealing a few of their herding animals and having the kits suck on their milk. At first it was a battle between man and beast within him. The beast wanted to take out any future threats and kill the cubs that most certainly weren't his, but the man was pitiful to the cubs and wanted to give them a chance to live unlike if he weren't there.

He nuzzles the slightly smaller one and the larger one plays with his tail. He has to admit, taking care of two kits is difficult, but manageable. He takes great care to make sure humans can't possibly track him to his den and that other predators stay well away from his cubs. He's deemed the smaller one with the scent of milk, their mother (whoever she may have been), Kishan himself, and the river to be Nirad and the older one with the scent of milk, their mother, Kishan himself, and honey, Sajiv.

He washes Nirad and keeps him between his black paws despite the complaints. Soon he is done with the younger and before he can even think of turning to the older one his tail is bitten and he turns and growls at the cub who backs away cautiously, but doesn't seem to worry at all. That's one thing about cubs: they know they won't be harmed very much so they are comfortable pushing the limits when it comes to tails.

As punishment he picks up the cub by the scruff and places him between his own paws and starts washing his cub. Despite the protests, he continues until he is sure that Sajiv is clean. He finally lets the cubs play as they please and not only watches them, but peers out from the branches and keeps his ears pricked to hear even the slightest rustle of a leaf in the wind. He takes his responsibility for his cubs very seriously and refuses to falter in being a "father" to them.

Nearly two hours later the two mewl for food and he looks down at them and carefully thinks about how to go about it this time. He has to be crafty and not do the same thing continuously so that way the little ones won't be harmed. They are his top priority and he uses his precious time as a man only for their benefit. Twenty-four minutes a day, but it takes a good chunk of time to race to the village, get the milk, feed them, then get back.

As usual he picks up Nirad by the scruff and begins the trek with Sajiv trailing behind him. A good fifteen minutes into the trek he hears humans nearby and grows still. He's quite grateful that the cubs know how to stay quiet because they continue on their way away from them. He continues with a slightly quicker stride, but not enough to leave the older behind.

At last they reach the village and he stores the kits at the edge of the forest in the tall grass. After checked the surroundings carefully he leaves the two and turns into a man and sneaks into the village. With only a small amount of time to be in this form he can't afford to waste time explaining anything to anyone.

After finding a bucket to use he locates the livestock and tries not to focus on the chickens that could be used for his consumption. He's not exactly the best at getting milk, but he's decent. He very much looks forward to when they can eat meat Before he could even try to get the milk he hears his cubs crying out for help.

Without any hesitation he breaks into a run towards the forest, his previous task left forgotten, and immediately his body is on all fours. He sees humans holding his cubs and a fierce roar rips through his throat as he barrels towards his cubs. The humans prepare to attack and, as many of the smarter humans do, charge at once instead of, like fool, trying to attack one at a time.

Kishan's large black paws swipe the spears away (luckily these people hadn't had more dangerous weapons) and leaps towards the men holding the young tigers with claws extended. Everything for the next several minutes are a blur and then the world slows down. There are four men lying dead around him, but this isn't what pains his heart. What his golden eyes concentrate on are his cubs. They are crumpled on the ground with blood covering them, which he can only hope is from the men.

He pads forward and nudges Nirad first and he lets out a deep groan of sorrow when he feels no breathing or heartbeat. The smell of death slowly takes hold of his scent and leaves his chest hollow. A knife wound at the cub's throat. He pads over to Sajiv and nudges him with little to no hope that he survived either, but he doesn't smell death trying to enter his scent and nearly leaps for joy at the quiet breathing of his cub. He sniffs carefully for wounds and only smells that there's minor bruises and cuts, nothing that can't be taken care of with a bath.

At least one is still alive, he thinks before his golden gaze goes to his dead cub. He feels rage build up in him and he feels more animalistic than he's ever felt since being turned into a tiger. Kill Nirad's killer is what he wants to do, what his blood tells him to do, and he's not objected to the idea. Soon.

He picks up Nirad and buries him carefully before picking up his surviving cub and stalking into the jungle, thoughts of revenge building like a storm inside his mind.

HAT: Took a lot longer to get done than I thought it would, but I managed. Yes, there will be more chapters, but it's not gonna be that long of a story.

Nirad: *mewls*

HAT: *pouts and hugs Nirad* I'm soooo sorry for having the humans kill you.

Nirad: *reaches curiously towards a button and presses it to have a sign that says "review" to light up*

HAT: *grins* Well... Worth a shot right? While I go feed Nirad, you guys please do what the sign says. Please?

Nirad: *sniffs her hair while she walks off stage*

HAT: Yes, I know it's big, but nothing's hiding in there, I promise.