Tygons Origins: Trials and Tygon's cubs?

Story by Tygriss on SoFurry

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#2 of The origins of Tygon: A spiritual journey

Hello there reader and thank you for coming.

This is a part two of a series of stories of my characters origins which I hope provides a deep and entertaining read?

With this installation Tygon finds himself in a predicament, the cubs that have just been reborn through him are needing some care, and he isn't equipped for the task. But, he finds help in a most unusual way, and finds more about his past and what it takes to be a tiger.


Hairless, misshapen figures surrounded him in an alien setting. Though somehow it wasn't so much alien as more...it felt a memory. A dull, overcast sky complimented the grey hard ground he stood on. Surrounded by dull buildings and pink skinned hairless apes that ran around and frolicked, save a little above their eyes and on their scalps.

"Hey there. I hear you think you are some sort of animal," a fat ape said with a sneer. A snarl and curse was all he got in return as more of the same, ugly young apes gathered to see. "Heeere kitty kitty, want to play? Maybe I can find you a ball of yarn for Christmas since you don't have any friends to play with?"

The crowd burst out into mocking laughter as he snarled, readying himself to launch at his tormentor when suddenly there was a gnawing sensation on his...tail?

*

"Rrrrrrhh, l-leave me be," a large, burnt orange, striped feline growled as he snoozed on a grassy patch. His seven foot long frame huddled into a ball with his three foot long, fluffy tail twitching in the muzzle of a small furball. A cub had hold of his tail in a small muzzle, it's wide, blue, innocent eyes curious as to the giant caterpillar it held in its maw as it tugged again. "I said...LEAVE!" The tiger roared, whipping his head around, stopping just in time to avoid snapping his teeth down on the offending cub.

"Mew?" The cub squeaked in fright, staring at Tygon with eyes that could melt ice.

Looking around, confusion written all over his face, it all started coming back to him as he saw the vast expanse of nothingness. He had been sent here after that spirit lion sacrificed himself and created a portal to this barren place. Upon his arrival he had found nothing at all but an island of green with a large tree amongst the infinite white. He then passed out soon afterwards upon his arrival to this barren void, exhaustion claiming him. And then there was the cubs. The ones he had puked out somehow after he had killed them when he had turned into a demon.

The cub who had disturbed him, a puma cub except she sported faint stripes and a slightly fluffier face went back to her other two mewling sisters. They were not even female to begin with when he killed them, they had all been full fledged males of pure, proud breeds.

They looked to be around three months of age, features only just evident as to what they were. But suddenly, their eyes opened up, revealing different shades of coloured eyes and all three began mewling. "Agh, hey! What do you expect me to do?" Tygon cried out as the came running towards him, rubbing round and pawing at his chest for a nipple to suckle off of. "Cut that, I'm no female so I have no milk to give you," he panted as one had found a tiny and useless male nipple and sucked just to get nothing at all out of it.

Before they were reborn, it had been them trying to kill him, convinced that he was a demon and wanting his power to break loose of this fake world they all resided in. And they could very well try to kill him again if they grew up. But looking at them, the three female cubs looked so helpless and bone thin as they sucked in desperation on his useless male nipples.

"I'm sorry...I have nothing to give you," he growled sadly, the three letting go and giving mewling cries out again. The sound tore at his heart, was this his punishment or something? To watch the ones he had killed die slow deaths or for him to end their suffering for them?

Dropping his front to the floor, he tried to cover his ears to block their mewls out until he felt something shift from within him. "Looks like the little girls are hungry hmm? Maybe I should feed them since there is nothing here huh?"

His eyes flew open at the gentle whisper of the voice, his paws abandoning the futile effort to cover his ears as he looked straight ahead at the cubs.

And there among them sat...the demon and was feeding them? "What...what is this?" Tygon demanded of the black furred tigress as she lay with the cubs, eagerly suckling from her teats, the three giving soft, happy purrs as they drank their fill. "How are you here and...how are you a female now?"

"Well, this might be a lot for you to take in. And what you find out may not be what you want to know. Are you sure you still want to know what is going on?" Her voice came out a deep, yet gentle rolling purr of a voice.

Tygon sat his seven foot length down, his head coking to one side before he reached a decision. "Yes, please tell me what is going on here. I may go mad if I don't start finding answers soon!" He begged of her, ears half flattening as though he hoped to stop his brain from breaking loose from the confusion.

"Well, where to begin hm? I guess for starts I am not some demon, but a part of you. I was the part that was forever removed from you when the Spirit Overlord of our realm forced you into your human form."

"What? I don't understand. How and why would he"

" Shut up and let me talk!" She growled, her eyes, now a soft blue suddenly flared red.

Tygon sat his rump hard to the floor and went straight and stiff as a statue in attention, mostly in fear and to stop himself from fleeing her.

"As I was saying, I was the tiger part of you. The spirit overlord of our realm had decided to give up in the battle to keep balance and took the easy way out...by forcing us to go against our nature and be human with each rebirth."

The sound of the cubs suckling was the only other thing that could be heard in the vast expanse of nothingness besides Tygon's fast beating heart. Raising an orange furred paw tentatively, she sighed and nodded for him to speak. "Those humans, were they furless, walked two legs and had just hair on their head with items covering their bodies?"

Nodding, she gave a brief rumble of satisfaction, "So you remember your old life from your last rebirth? Yes, they are not the most pleasant race in all worlds. There are good ones but in all, their race has been responsible for the decimation of the planets resources and near extinction of our species. But back to my story. So yes, you was reborn again as a human as you were many times before. Lesser willed spirits turn all human after just once or twice, but stronger willed can manage to hold onto who they are for countless times. You were one of those stronger spirits but the part that had been locked away, me, was becoming more and more desperate as I saw myself slipping away. It failed to properly contain my, our, spirit. Our true self. Eventually I became corrupted, turning into a demon and possessing my own body. In a desperate attempt to gather my power I fled to a broken world I had sensed during my three hundred years of imprisonment in the spirit world."

"Three hundred years...I have been...one of those for that long?" Tygon said, amber eyes wide in disbelief, looking down at his body as if making sure he wasn't going to see bare patches of skin and long, slender digits instead of his powerful looking, broad paws again.

A sad look seemed to come into the blue eyes of his alter ego, "Yes. Zieth, the lion who sacrificed himself seemed to be dying here. Unlike you he was just a shell who was slowly dying and without his actual spirit. From what I can guess he stayed alive by feeding off the power of the pride he had gathered. Just their spiritual essence, nothing that would harm them. But now, you have a chance to make a difference for once Tygon. He made this gateway for you to this world for a reason, so you can re-energise this land and make the world whole again."

"And how do I do that? You're me, can't you be a little more...clear?" Tygon growled lightly as he tried to work things out, orange striped tail slapping the ground as if echoing his brain hard at work.

"No, you are different now to what you used to be as human or tiger. It is up to you now to figure the rest out. It will come as you go along, just don't be afraid to take charge and be more sure of yourself."

The cubs finished suckling off of her, releasing her teats with a small pop sound each before giving high mewling, cute yawns. She began to fade away like a mirage, Tygon's eyes snapping wide with a final question. "Wait, how come you are female when I am clearly a male?" He asked, there was so many other questions he wanted answering but it was all that came to his mind.

"That is easy," she smiled, becoming transparent. "Spirits can be born as either male or female, and your last true rebirth was female."

With a soft hum sound she vanished, a smile on her muzzle as Tygon stood there wide eyed, his square, white furred jaw hung slack at her revelation. "I...was a female?" He heard his voice come out in a low whisper. Wait, she was gone now. Was he a female again then? Looking down, he checked every part of himself, his sheath, his belly, the colouration, everything until he was satisfied.

Giving a huff of relief, Tygon straightened his head to look around at the bleak, blank surrounds. "Oh...that's what I meant to ask her. If she knew how to get out of here," he huffed, slipping down onto his front as his paws acted like a cushion for him to plonk his great head on.

A giggle suddenly sounded from behind him. "It isn't funny, leave me be...Wait!" He growled, suddenly remembering there was no one else here but him. Wait, the cubs were here. But they hadn't spoken since he brought them up, surely...?

Twisting his front half and swinging his neck in a full half circle, he came nose to nose with a fully grown, female puma-tiger. Her body that of a puma but with an extra bit of fluff on her face and stripes running down her body. "Hello daddy!" She giggled, licking his nose, causing him to recoil in shock.

Growling, he stared around at the other two, now fully grown felines of the same make up as the cubs from before. One having the colour and markings of a leopard but with tiger stripes mixed in, her underside and chest seeming to have gained a little extra fluff. The other female was an orange tigress but with bands of white that blended with the orange colouration. "No, don't tell me. You three are fully grown thanks to what she gave you from herself right?" He groaned. He wasn't ready to put up with any more weirdness yet. He wanted to be alone, like for...another year.

"Um, she kind of is a part of you so you mean yourself right? And don't be silly, we're a part of you too," the Puma-tiger said in a sweet voice, rump arched into the air and her startling blue eyes bright with play.

As the other two felines sat next to her, the leopard-tiger decided to chip in. "So what she means is that we were created from a part of you, literally. We were born from part of your body, hence our now transformed half-forms."

"So...you three are really them? The ones I killed when I was not in control?" Tygon growled, sorrow dripping from his voice at seeing the reminder of what had happened.

"Well...yes and no. We have their...memories. Some of which we wish we didn't have to bare. But we were created to help you by the remainder of your old self.

"Help me, with what?!" Tygon roared out. "I am in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by empty space like I am trapped in a canvas and my 'old self' gave me next to no help!"

A sudden bite on his tail brought the burnt orange furred tiger out of his ranting, whirling round in a snarl as he confronted the half white, half orange tiger, holding his tail in her muzzle. "Tygon, that is what we are here for," the half-puma said, playfully brushing alongside him.

"And...how are you going to do that then?" Tygon said, half curious and half dreading anything else weird happening.

"Silly, we were imbued by your now sleeping half with some of your old energies. Just watch," she said before nodding to the other two felines, nodding in turn.

The three turned back to back so that they formed a triangle before dashing off in three separate directions. Tygon looked on, wondering what they hoped to achieve but soon was answered. The moment they touched the empty space, the land seemed to form in their passing as they ran faster than a cheetah somehow.

Turning round all the time, Tygon couldn't believe what he was seeing. Everywhere they had been grass sprouted up, trees erupted into existence, rocks, cliffs, plants, an entire habitat was forming everywhere they went.

He stared all around him in awe, tail curling and fur bristling with a strange feeling in the air before pulling himself together. If they could do it and were from him, then why couldn't he do it?

Stepping confidently forward, he started to run and as soon as he his a bit of white the felines hadn't covered... "What?" He growled, whipping his head down to see the same empty whiteness. Moving along, still nothing.

He didn't even jump as they thundered back towards him, all happy and purring like overgrown house cats with their work. "You can't do what we do, you are just a shell," the Leopard-tiger pointed out bluntly. "This land is a canvas, it is suspectable to manipulation by those who have even a small amount of spirit energy. Despite you house your old self, she can't be as one with you as you have changed. Only reside in you for to either fail and take over, or merge back with you."

Tygon heard but hardly paid attention in his glum mood, "What use am I? There is absolutely no point in me being around," he flopped onto his side in a pitiful display of self pity at his powerlessness.

An ear perked as he heard a movement before whipping his head around in a snarl towards the half coloured tigress who was just short on biting into his tail again, meekly backing away but with something of a sly smile on her face.

"WHY?!" He roared out as anger and frustration began to surge through him at the teasing and taunting of both his situation and his life. "Why won't you three leave me alone? I bid you to leave me!"

"Nope. It isn't you who created us but the old you, so you have no power over us," the Puma-tiger giggled with a cheeky poke of her tongue out at him.

Red seemed to begin clouding his vision as he felt anger begin to consume him, just why couldn't they leave him alone to his grieving and loneliness, why did they have to taunt him so?

The three parted and waved their tail-ends at him, pulling faces he didn't think an animal capable of before he felt his anger consume him. A loud snarl and he shot after the most annoying of the three, the puma-tiger, running towards a new area they had created.

Towards a cluster of trees he chased her into, pausing only once inside to catch his breath and take in his surrounds.

It was dense here, much more dense than he thought it was from when he had been charging towards them. But then, that might of being his anger taking hold and confusing his vision.

It was eerily quiet however, with none of the sounds he thought it should have through his fragmented memory. Sides heaving from his short run, Tygon looked around, feeling the earth through his paw pads and breathing in the scents through his broad nose. It felt and smelled real, despite it had just sprouted from the ground and lost himself for a moment in the sensations.

"Boy you sure are weak, is kind of painful to see really," a teasing, high voice sounded from nowhere at him.

"Shut up...I'm just out...of shape is all right now," he panted, trying to keep his voice strong but the effort almost took what little breath he had out of him.

"Oh? And you will always be weak until you learn and regain what you have lost," she said, her bright blue eyes suddenly appearing through the gloom of the trees.

"Enough games, I am tired of you toying with me," he growled, haunching down and springing, aiming to pin the feline who was less than half his size...only for him to be faced by a version of the puma-tiger that was equal to his size.

"We-are-not-normal, do you not understand that?" She growled back, sounding like thunder in her version. "Back then, you could grow to the size of an elephant, but now look. The big, bad tiger is intimidated by one equal to his size." She continued to taunt him. "So what will you do huh, huh? Grr!" She said in a mock growl, lowering her front half, looking ready to spring at him.

But here, in this natural looking glade, and with a female his size and...that scent. Why had he never noticed it before? She was a female on heat!

Pouncing at him, Tygon skipped-dodged to the side so that as she landed, he would be able to pounce on her from behind. Suddenly turning faster than he would have given her credit for, the female half-breed reared onto her hind paws and batted him to the side. "What gives, don't you want your heat sated?" Tygon growled in confusion. His senses told him she needed taking and now, but why resist?

"Silly, you need to re-learn that in the wild, you must prove that you are worthy enough of mating and siring an offspring," her voice seemed to have changed noticeably, there was an almost savage edge to her tone whilst her features seemed to lose all trace of playfulness.

"Please, I don't want to fight you," Tygon said softly, he somehow knew this was how it was meant to be but just couldn't abide by it as she crouched and growled with ears flattened and canines showing.

"Then you will fail to know who and what you are, along with letting the hopes of Zieth and everyone who is trapped in this stale land down!" She roared, pouncing at him, claws out and looking like she was really aiming to hurt him this time.

Something seemed to suddenly to suddenly click in him; Rearing up onto his hind legs he met her with his own front paws, deflecting her blow and sending her to the ground. Using the momentum, Tygon leaped onto her, twisting so that he landed facing the same direction she was in and straddled her quickly.

Roaring, she tried her best to shrug him off but after he gripped her nape between his jaws gently, she relented and ceased any further struggles. "Heh, well congratulations Tygon; It seems you have remembered one of the basics of being wild. Now come and claim your prize, even though this heat is just something I am simulating I would love to feel you in me," she purred deeply, her head twisting round on her flexible neck to peer at his saucily.

"Well, tell me what your name is at least before I take you," Tygon mumbled round the fur, letting go to run his tongue along her head.

"My name is the same as when you created us 500 years ago Tygon, but I will remind you. My name is Zarith, and you have passed one of the basic trials of being a tiger. Now come and collect your reward."

Her purring, sensual voice made Tygon's now fully emerged penis pulse with excitement. And her name, yes it did sound familiar at hearing it. "With pleasure," Tygon growled as wild emotions began to flood through his being. A base need to mate with her consumed him as he gave a sharp thrust, just under her tailhole and pierced her feline vagina.

"Oh, Mmh oh yes! That's the stuff!" She purred loudly, her body vibrating with the volume and further stimulating his felinehood, making him force more of his barbed penis into her.

Thrust after thrust into her followed one after the other, immense pleasure flooding the pair as her feline pussy clamped down and his barbs seemed to stimulate her into a frenzy as she arched back into him, burying as much as was possible into her heating flesh.

His heavy furred sack slapped her underside as they swelled with seed, his need for release was building up, growling and moaning out along with Zarith's sensual low moans and growls of pleasure. Upon a thrust, he leaned in and grabbed hold of her left ear in his muzzle before suckling round the appendage. "Ahh, Raaowl!" She cried out, nearly head butting him at the sensations it brought on.

Her clenching pussy was the final straw as he plunged a last time in, the head flaring wide and the spines gripping her walls, anchoring him in place so with each movement just led to a further increase in pleasure.

"Mmhh, Oh yes, purrrrr," she purred and moaned as she felt herself filled right up as the exhausted tiger above her collapsed on top, tired out.

And then suddenly, she vanished, leaving Tygon wide eyed as he flopped belly first onto the soft ground. "What?" He growled in a dazed fashion, propping himself up with his forepaws to look around and also take the weight off of his still turgid cock.

*You passed the first test of the tiger, that is good. I now belong to you, not your old self. The others are waiting for you. I know you can do it, you can remember what it means to be a tiger, and then we'll all help you down your path. Plus, you are kinda cute,*her singsong voice giggled in his head.

He had to admit, he did feeldifferent, but he just couldn't get used to being spoken to directly into his mind. He shook his striped head in an attempt to clear it, but before he could move on, he had some business to attend to.

Bending his flexible body round, he slurped along his shrinking sheath, cleaning it of his and Zarith's juices. And he had to admit, it tasted good on his pallet with both sex tastes mingling together.

To his ears though, somehow his slurps were increasing in volume and getting louder. And...wait, that wasn't him. A quiet moan sounded from nearby along with persistent slurps.

Sneaking a look through a large plant, he had to stifle a gasp as to what he (and his now erect again dick) saw.

The leopard-tiger feline on the floor was laid submissively on her side, eating the two tone furred tigress out who in turn bent down to slurp at her own feline pussy. "Mrrrhh, d-damn it Tigriss, you always get horny whenever the scent of sex is in the air!" The smaller of the two yowled, shortly followed by the tigress sitting her pussy on her muzzle to quieten her before letting her breathe again. "Okay, my bad," she moaned and decided to give her tongue something to deal with so she wouldn't make a noise.

As Tygon watched the pair slurp along each other, feasting out of the others feline pussy, he yearned to have opposable thumbs again so that he could watch and pleasure his raging hard feline member.

An increase in scent signalled that the pair had come to climax, louder, wetter slurps filling the air as they feasted and drank from the others open pussy. Panting, the leopard-tiger pulled a damp muzzle away from the larger felines slit and licked her muzzle. "I think...that is all the time we have to enjoy this moment. Our guest has arrived," she said upon hearing a loud moan from Tygon, making him freeze in his effort to relieve himself.

Shaking his head, he stepped out and into the open, "is this part of a test or something?" He said, his feline cock bouncing proudly and slapping his belly as he walked up to them.

The one he now knew/remembered as Tigriss snorted and the smaller feline gave something between a laugh and a low rumble. "No imbecile, this is not part of a test. We just got caught up in your mating passion was all."

A nod towards the tigress and she sped off at that impossible speed he had seen them use before. "No, you're test as much as your friend beneath you wishes otherwise, is to learn what it means to survive here in the jungle. And that will be between the pair of us working together."

"One thing before you do start. The smallest one...Zarith, that's it. She told me I named you 500 years before. How is that possible when you have just been created from the spirits of those three felines?"

"To answer your question, we were created five hundred years ago. There was actually four of us but since you only absorbed the spirits of three, only three of us got to be revived from your old self. The last still slumbers eternally inside you and will sadly forever more shall do so since she will vanish when you are whole again."

"Oh...I'm sorry," he started, bowing his head as he felt guilt wash over him before a paw whacked him over the nose.

"Stop that, you have nothing to be sorry for. And furthermore you need to learn what the wild is about. It is kill or be killed and that will decide if you are fit to remain as you are!"

"But...Sohio," a name suddenly drifted to the surface of his memory. "That's your name isn't it? Sohio, I don't need to eat. I have never felt hungry before so why should I have to kill something?"

Suddenly, Tygon's stomach seemed to lose most of its substance, his ribs were nearly showing through his fur and he felt a hunger pain like no other. "There, now you have to hunt or die of hunger in a day or two," she said coolly before sprinting off, leaving him feeling so weak and hungry.

"You can't...do this to me," Tygon growled out piteously as he felt all of a sudden very vulnerable. His legs shook under his painfully thin body, he felt so drained. How could she do this to him? Another loud growl sounded from his stomach then, sounding like it was close to eating itself as he took shaky step after shaky step.

Passing round a tree, he suddenly saw something up ahead. Something that looked very much alive and also made his mouth salivate. Up ahead was a doe grazing on the vegetation up ahead. It's brown, glossy coat shone with health, looking s beautiful. And also quite tasty. Shaking his head, Tygon tried to shake this sudden hunger. At how he saw not a creature to be admired, but killed and consumed.

"No...no, I don't want to kill, I..." Tygon growled, trailing off as a war seemed to be going off inside his head, thrashing about and eyes shut tight. The slowly weakening human side of him didn't want to kill the animal. The old him wanted to let the animal run free. The slowly awakening tiger in him however had very different ideas and knew what he needed to do. "I...I have to eat. Otherwise I will die. I am sorry doe...it is the way of how nature is," Tygon thought before readying himself, gathering for an explosive burst of speed that would propel himself towards his prey.

He launched himself towards the young doe, but his charge was slow and clumsy, and the animal saw him as soon as he started his run. Turning round, it gave a backwards kick of hooves and fled off further into the trees.

_*Even a seven month old cub could do better than that,*_Sohio's voice came echoing around the created woodland, mocking his poor attempt.

"S-shut up," the further weakened tiger growled, his body shaking from the energy he had wasted and feeling his limbs would fail him any moment now. "No, I have to try again...think...a tiger is for stealth...cover. I need to find cover and try a last time," he thought as he tried to put aside desperation, put aside how close to starvation he was.

Stalking the path the doe had fled in, he poked his head out cautiously, spying the increasingly tasty looking animal which had stopped and looking around nervously, long ears swivelling and head turning sharply this way and that in the quiet woodland.

Spying a clump of tall grass, Tygon made his way towards the covering. Slightly shaky step after shaky step followed as a ghost of an image followed in his mind. He remembered this from somewhere in his last life as a human he knew that. Creeping slowly through the vegetation and grass, he got within three meters away from the doe.

It was looking his direction, and he knew if he didn't make this hunt he was done for as his body felt it was reaching the limit. He almost sighed as the doe looked away and searched to the right of him but stifled it. As soon as the doe shifted attention again,he sprung from his covering!

Taken unaware, the young doe froze a brief moment before recovering to just prance out of his snapping jaws before tearing off. "Not this time," Tygon snarled inwardly as he suddenly felt the thrill of the chase breathe life into his tired body.

Running after his prey, he swerved, dodged trees and pressed on. His vision became narrowed to just one object as he gave his all. The doe tried a sharp turn, hooves slipping on the grass and that was when Tygon made his move. With one swift pounce, he snapped hold of the doe's neck, clamping down hard and waited for its dying struggles to abate.

Finally going limp, he let out a deep breath through flaring nostrils, his furred sides heaving as he made to dig into his feast... Only the doe had been replaced by Sohio, the leopard-tiger staring up at him in his jaws with a look of pride before seeming to fizzle into him. *_I am glad you passed, I like this you better than your old self,*_her even voice purred inside his head.

"That leaves just one more..." he said, pausing as he suddenly realised he didn't feel starving any more. A glance down revealed his stomach was its usual self again, and he felt suddenly the strongest he had ever felt since his relatively short time in this strange world.

Now that just left one more of his three spirit felines, and to be honest he was most nervous of the two tone tigress.

*

He paced along for what felt forever in a random direction, he had no idea of where to find her but trusted he would run into her eventually as he had the other two. He lost track of time though as he wandered around the wooded area, everywhere felt and looked the same, feeling as alien and remote as the bit before. Resting on his haunches, he raised a front paw to examine his right, his soft pads had begun blistering from the running of before and with all the walking without rest.

Eventually he caught a slight scent in the unnaturally still air. Heading to a rocky mound off in the distance and leaped and scrambled up before he had a good view. His ears swivelled , his nose flared as he tried to find her but she was somehow avoiding him picking her up.

"Okay, I have about had enough. If you will not show yourself to me then I will wait here for you to come to me," he roared out, letting his voice travel and echo off the trees.

Laying down, his tail twitched as time trickled on by with nothing to break up the monotony, and just as he was starting to doze off, his lids drooping, they snapped open, white spotted ears turning to focus on sudden rustling in the leaves just behind him.

A sudden roar and pounce heralded the arrival of...what was her name, Tigriss? "Damn! The hell? Not even an introduction or nothing?" He said, skitting out of her way as she landed just where his head had been.

She stared at him, wild yellow eyes piercing, boring right through him, making him turn away. She took a step forward, head shaking at him as if saying "that isn't the right move" before she pounced at him again, fangs bared and claws extended.

And again, and again she came at him with savage intent, driving him backwards and off the rocky mound with each deadly swipe until she made contact with him and tore out some fur and flesh off his head. The red mist seemed to fill Tygon's vision at this, his burnt orange fur bristling, making him seem even bigger, lowering his head and haunching his shoulders before he jumped her, pinning her down. "Rrrrhhh, what the heck is wrong with you! Say something!" He growled, having about enough of her silence and senseless aggression.

The voice of the other two seemed to echo in his mind then, telling him that in his last life as the black furred female, he had sealed off her voice for good when she became rebellious and for her smart muzzle. "Great, already I hate the past me. Was I really such a bad feline back then?"

This gave her time to get a paw loose, swiping the claws which just brushed along his sensitive whiskers, snapping him out of his thoughts. But looking into her eyes, he saw no anger. He was nothing like his old self, this was a test of strength. She was posing as a dominant male, trying to make him back down and he could see disappointment with every step back he took.

"No...I will not be weak. I'm a tiger after all and they stand their ground!" He growled to himself. Another swipe came at him, but instead of backing down, he met it instead with his own much larger paws, batting it aside and then reared, countering with a swipe of his other paw. Her balance thrown off, Tigriss tried to recover before Tygon barrelled into her, sending her sprawling onto her side. The blow ended up sending her sprawling across the dirt, fetching up at a tree. Tygon just looked at his paw an awe, "Did I...really do that?" He said softly to himself.

Then his gaze travelled to Tigriss as he dropped back down onto all fours, concern in his amber eyes for her. "Tigriss, are you okay?" He said, approaching her as she gave an almost meek flinch away from him, jerking her head back with alarmed eyes. "Please, you don't have to worry. I won't hurt you anymore," he said, rumbling softly and passing his cheek against her own face.

Pulling back, he saw first shock, and then a smile on her muzzle as she began to fade, becoming a part of what made him a tiger. *It was partially my fault I was punished, I was too aggressive with my thoughts. I hope one day when you have power enough, I can thank you with voice and tell you myself I wish I had done more to have saved you then.* Her mind was so mellow and accepting, and what did she mean try to save him?

A sudden weariness he hadn't felt before seemed to overcome him just then though, his vision bleared, and then he collapsed.

*

"Hmm, it is embarrassing just how weak the me of now is to be honest," a deep, female voice could be heard as Tygon slowly came to.

"But he passed all of your tests, he proved that he remembers how to be a tiger and is not without hope. Pleeease, we really like him over you. No offence," Zarith's high voice quickly added.

"I too would like him to take charge. He is clueless, hopeless, but I do like him and prefer him to how dark he used to be when he was you," Sohio's blunt voice chipped in boldly.

A growl of agreement could be heard from Tigriss before a reluctant sigh signalled the first females defeat. Opening his eyes a crack, Tygon took in the scene. He was back at the original speck of land he originally found with the same eternal whiteness surrounding everywhere. "Well, seems like my new body is awake finally," a black furred tigress said, Tygon's amber eyes opening wide as they locked onto her in surprise. "And from the look of it you rather not have seen me again," she said coolly to him, tail tapping on the floor to match her scorning look.

"N-no, no not at all, erm, I mean...maybe?" He said meekly towards...himself? It was hard to take that in still that she was what he was once.

"I do expect you to toughen up and improve you understand Tygon? You may have passed the trials but don't stagnate and lose yourself. I may be about to be absorbed into your new shell, but that doesn't mean the darkness will vanish. Just bare that in mind," she said, stepping up to him, making Tygon sit straight, instantly weary of her. "That's good, caution will serve you well. Remember that and not just blindly follow or except. A certain degree of force will be needed at times if you want to prosper in this new land. And my cubs...or rather now your cubs, will watch over and try to make sure you don't stray from what needs doing."

Turning round, Tygon saw the three felines...back to their cub forms? "This is much easier to conserve our energy and makes life simpler in general," Sohio explained, her voice seeming rather alien with her innocent look and large, brown eyes.

"So, what happens now?"He asked, feeling uncomfortable with all eyes suddenly turned to him.

"This," the black furred tigress said as she circled round to his back. Tygon made to whip round but as soon her nose touched him, she seemed to become like a ghost, her form enveloping his burnt orange furred form. His entire form seemed to cease right up, he couldn't move a paw, couldn't even breathe as his body seemed to lose total mobility as an alien, yet familiar power seemed to well up inside him.

Memories seemed to flash as fast as light before his eyes, thoughts, dreams, everything seemed to come flooding back of his lost memories as he stood immobile, unable to even tremble with the overwhelming sensation.

The dark ghost, the past version of Tygon seemed to begin melting into every part of his being, piercing right to his core as he felt as though a void was slowly being filled.

A brief moment seemed to happen when time was suspended, and with a linger after image of his past self lingering before his eyes, vanished from existence.

And then, he stumbled forward and landed onto his chin painfully. "Agh! Wh-what the hell was that?" He growled, sitting up and shaking his head to clear it.

"Yay, now we can call you father!" The half puma mewled out, jumping on top, nestling just between his shoulder blades with a happy purr.

"Zarith, don't be silly. Once we have had our energy replenished it is our duty to follow out his wishes for the land. That is what we were created for after all," Sohio's reasoning voice corrected her.

Tigriss seemed to stare at him, looking partially worried about what commands this new master of theirs would give out.

"Well...first of all how do I give you my energy? You don't need to drink from me or something weird do you?" He asked cautiously of the three. With some giggling they shook their heads, bringing a sigh of relief before he reached a choice. "Okay, if you just need to be close to me then you are more than welcome. Afterwards, travel a bit. If you can simply come back to me whenever you want then see what the rest of this broken world is like. I assume I'll know when we meet up through your own memories what you see?"

More nods came from them before he smiled a little, they really where so cute like this. "You can sleep with me then, and then...well we'll see now I am whole again," he smiled as the three rubbed and pressed into his thick orange fur.

"Whatever happens, I will do my best to help make this world whole. But for now, I need time to...sort through all these memories I have acquired. What's more, I need time to myself to see what it means to be am animal spirit again," he thought, rumbling warmly as the three snuggled into him. Before settling his head to rest he caught the little two tone tiger cub staring up at him, and if he didn't know any better, she was smiling at him.