Hate Breeds Sin (Tag Zahara)

[Kaliah]

Paws pounded through the grasslands as I ran full tilt. I had to get away from the massacre if I wanted to live. Still, miles away, I could hear the echoing screams of my pard, the horrid and shrill shrieks of the humans, the bang of gunshots. The jungle itself hurt, as if it felt the destruction taking place within it. For years man tread where he should not, ripping down our homes and play grounds. They treated the jungle as if it were nothing, when in fact it was very much something. The jungle was alive, breathing, sentient. As much as I was, it was a living entity. I felt tears burn under my lids as I ran, not stopping to shed them for my loved one or my beloved home. I wondered, as I ran, if I would ever be able to return to my jungle, or if it would be destroyed.

There was a glade ahead, past the grasslands. I breezed through gazelle, starling the herd into running. I prayed silently that the gods would favor them and not let them fall prey to the humans. Like a living, breathing thing, I felt my hate for man grow inside me, festering. My side ached where a bullet had grazed me, but still I pressed on, craving the cool of the shade from the glade beyond.

My lungs ached from the stress, the pushing, and my wounds. A knife had found my shoulder, it's tip still imbedded in there. Pain was of no consequence right now, safety and solice were. I slowed my pace considerably as I entered the dapling shade of the small jungle glade. A pond was nearby, offering a cool drink. I padded to it and began to lap up the soothing water. My ears perked as I heard a sound, my nose filling with the scent of tiger. Female, and....different from the other jungle tigers here somehow. I caught the scent that told of lycanthropy, and knew she was as shapeshifter as well, but her tiger was not the ones I'd seen before. I turned, peering into the glade, a growl coming from me on instinct. I was hurt and tired. I did not wish to play jungle cat games. I only wanted to rest for now, and heal myself. Later, retribution would come to man, and I would see who, if any, of my small pard survived.

[zahara]

The taste of flesh and crimson copper flooded my mouth as I feasted on my latest kill, savoring the taste of the meal. I was feasting on the zebra's very life force, and while I knew I needed it to survive, I always managed to feel a touch guilty for harming a creature who inhabited my jungle. It seemed my human senses couldn't ever be fully hidden, even while the exterior was hidden away in my tigress form. The interior always remained, watching, waiting, giving me consciousness. It was both a blessing and a curse, as while it kept me from being a savage, mindless beast, it also forced me to damn myself somewhat for living as an animal, or a human, for that matter, needed to in order to survive.

It was kill or be killed, or in my case, die. There was no being that resided in, or near, my jungle who held enough strength to serve me my last breath. That may have sounded what humans called conceited, but it was entirely true. I was the strongest, fastest being in this jungle, and none attempted to dispute that. What was more, they all loved me far too much to attempt such things, anyway. I was the one who kept them safe, who kept them in food, and out of harms way. If it was not for me, this jungle would have fallen to the humans years ago. All who resided here knew that, and they held the utmost respect for me because of it.

After intaking the last bit of flesh on the beasts bones, I rose up from its dead carcass, sweeping my long, sandpaper-like tongue over my snout, removing the excess blood left on my features. I liked to be clean, whether in tigress or human form. It was a vice of mine that wouldn't soon be broken.

Once I finished grooming myself, paws included, I moved on towards a source of water while my eyes scanned the jungle before me as though I was looking for something wrong...Different. Something had just entered my jungle, and I did not yet know if the being that did so was friendly or not. I sniffed the air, looking for the new, unfamiliar scent. I found it not long after, and traced it back to its owner, which was not very far from where I had just eaten my meal. I slowly crept up, swiftly moving into the glade and peering at the new tiger. Being closer, my nose was able to pick up quite a bit more, and I could tell exactly what she was. She was a lycan, as I was. Female as well. I wondered what she was doing here. I had never seen another lycan near this jungle before, I wasn't aware that any even roamed out here.

The new wereleopard turned to look at me, growling as if to ward me off. Hardly, as that just made me more curious as to who she was. If I approached her, a fight would not take place, I would not allow it. I could not smell, nor could I sense, a threat on her, so therefore I was willing to do whatever it took to avoid a fight. I contemplated for a moment longer, before realizing that something was wrong. She was injured, and quite badly from what I could see. No longer questioning whether to approach her or not, I moved out into the open, quickly padding over to her, the fur shedding off of my body as I did. Once I reached her, I was walking on two legs, my human form coming into play. I could care for her easier that way. I fell to my knees beside her, unafraid as I observed her wounds. The tip of what looked like a knife embedded into her shoulder told me that this was the work of a human, and fury found its way into my eyes. They would pay for causing her harm, I would make sure of that.

After a moment, I pushed the anger back, the fury in my eyes melting away as I gently reached my hand out towards her, softly running it over the uninjured parts of her back and shoulders, trying to get her to relax. If I was going to mend her wounds, and help her back to health, she needed to be calm.

[Kaliah]

She shed her guise as a white tiger, standing tall and feminine before me. She had no malice in her eyes, toward me that is. I did see the flicker of rage burning as she assessed my wounds. I was too tired to care, instead, I sniffed her hand as it came toward me, letting my rough tongue drift over it briefly. Her touch was soothing, and she held power unlike any lycan I'd met before. There was something regal in her nature, nurturing and strong. I inhaled her scent again as she knelt beside me, her eyes focused on my wounds. I would heal, eventually, as they were not mortal wounds, but still I ached. As her hands moved down my pelt, I felt surprisingly calm in her presence. I moved slowly, laying down beside her, my head resting in her lap. A rumbling purr came from me after the first few tender strokes from her hands.

I knew, somehow, that she intended to treat my wounds. I welcomed the assistance. Once tended to, it would be less effort for me to shift. When injured, the process of moving from one beast to the next, as humans are beasts just as much as any other being, was excruiatingly painful. I could not shift with a knife blade in my shoulder, it would heal over and I'd have to live with it inside my flesh, or dig it out. This woman could aid me. I longed to tell her of the humans in the land, the destruction of my pard and the jungle we knew as home. Was she this queen we so often heard of? We paid no tribute, we owed no alliance to anyone, as our pard kept to ourselves. But we knew of one who roamed this jungle, woman and cat, that was above the rest of us.

I leaned against her, breathing heavily, trying to relax into the rhythmic stroking of my fur. She intended for me to be calm, and I worked gravely to achieve that. It was not an easy task, after watching my pard be massacred by the stupidity of man. Had we been in human form, less harm might have been dealt on all sides. I longed to tell this woman of my troubles, but could not speak to her until I changed back. Instead of fighting it any longer, I folded it away into myself and heaved a sigh of relief. She would not harm me, and I knew, somehow that she's let no harm come to me as well. I trusted her, without cause to. If I died for such foolishness, then so be it.