At this rate it would be a miracle if he arrived back in Bombay sane.
He realized suddenly that Malik had been gone some time and wondered if perhaps he had been abandoned after all. Or perhaps the tiger had decided to eat the man.
There was a desperate-sounding roar, the tiger crashing through the grasses, teeth bared.
Oh, sweet Lord, the tiger had eaten the man and now it was coming for him. He shrieked, backing up against the tree.
The tiger roared, dancing, head swaying frantically. It was playing with him. Like a cat with a mouse. He bit his lip, refusing to whimper. The tiger panted, running towards the grass, then back, breathing hard. Then, to his utter shock, the tiger stretched, growling. The orange fur disappeared, faded, and then the tiger stood. No, a man stood. "H-h-h-h-h-help Malik."
He was going to faint. He was sure of it. Then he realized that the tiger -- the man -- had spoken, what he'd said. "Malik? Where?"
"Come." The ti... man grabbed his arm, pulling hard, running into the grasses.
He went with the tiger-man, mind focusing on Malik being hurt instead of what he'd seen.
"R-r-r-r-r-raj!" The cry was fierce, panicked, needy, the hand on his arm tightening.
"Where is he? What happened?"
The man didn't answer, just continued with the odd cry, the desperate running until they came up to a patch of quicksand, Malik struggling in the muck.
Malik stilled when he saw them, arms and shoulders still above the surface. Those bright blue eyes were glazed with panic. "Please..."
"Help. Help Raj." Gold eyes begged him.
He nodded, searching for something to reach out to Malik with. "There," he said pointing to a tree with long weeping branches. "Bring me a long branch from that tree," he told the tiger-man. "Malik, you must stay absolutely still or you will keep sinking. Please, do not move at all. My Master told me about the sinking sand, told us to avoid it and what to do if we were ever caught."
The visible lines of Malik's body bespoke the difficulty in following his suggestion, but Malik stayed still as he asked. Low growls came from the man, eyes focused hard upon him.
The tiger-man brought him handfuls of branches simply torn from the tree. "Help."
He grabbed the longest one, testing it for strength before rejecting it and taking the next longest. It seemed sturdier.
"Hold onto my legs," he instructed the tiger-man as he lay down and threw out the branch. It reached. "Grab the end."
Slowly, carefully, Malik took the end of the proffered branch, sinking a bit more as he did.
The tiger-man whimpered, growling low. "Raj..."
"Hold tight!" He looked back at the tiger-man. "You must pull me back and he will be pulled out as well."
A roar sounded, then he was pulled back with unbelievably strong hands. Malik came up out of the muck slowly at first, as the sucking undertow fought them. Then there was a great noise, and Malik came free, sending them all rolling back.
They were all tangled together, and he was pinned between the tiger-man and Malik. The tiger-man suddenly felt considerably less manly and more tiger-y, roaring in his ear.
"Rishi." Malik struggled against him, coating him with foul smelling mud, and finally won free, throwing himself at the tiger. The tiger rolled Malik, roaring and nuzzling, licking desperately at Malik's face.
He watched for a moment and then sank back against the ground, the world greying out in the edges a bit.
What he'd seen could not be real, but he'd seen it twice.
He let the grey take him.
***
Nasty sand.
Nasty evil mean bad sand.
Bad sucky sinky ugly stinky sand.
He roared and rubbed and licked, cleaning his Raj.
Icky bad ugly scrapy bitter yucky sand.
Tried to eat his Raj.
Tried to take his Raj away.
Tried to hurt his very own Malik and he wanted to go home right now because he'd been good and good and good and got stuck in the box and poked with the stick and he didn't eat the man and he was DONE.
DONE.
He stamped and growled and snarled, telling his Raj exactly how he felt.
Malik sat up and pushed at him, crawling over to check the man, who was sleeping again, right there on the ground, like his Raj had been in no danger. But it was good the man slept, for his Raj blinked, and the very fine realness of his Raj appeared, fur matted with the mud and needing grooming. Malik came back to him and nuzzled, licking him.
Rishi purred as loud as he could, then started licking, straightening the beautiful, very fine pelt of his own Raj.
He looked at the sandpit, snarling. His Raj. His. His own.
And the sand couldn't have either one of them.
So there.
Ha!
A low snarl from Malik told him his Raj agreed, and then Malik was distracting him, pushing against him, biting at his ruff.
He turned his focus back to his Raj, grooming and purring. So beautiful. So fine. So strong. So real.
His Raj was skinny and had No Claws and Odd Fangs when pretending to be a man.
And there was only little fur.
And dangly bits that were not a tail.
He knew -- he'd tried to play with it the night before and his Raj had been most cross.
His Raj's tail twined with his, big paws pushing him down so Malik could stretch out atop him and rub, mixing their scents. Ridding them of the mud smell.
Yes. Oh, very good smells. His paws wrapped around Malik's neck and he licked and nuzzled the spots his Raj could not reach. His Malik was all there, from the tip of that large nose to the end of the fine dangly bit that was a tail.
He went all shivery inside, all hot and good and happy and almost perfect.
If they were on his Rock, they would be perfect.
The man stirred, muttering querulously, and Malik growled, the excellent realness fading away in to the light man-form. "Soon, Rishi. Soon we will go home."
No.
No. Not soon.
Now.
Now now now.
He Pouted Mightily.
The man sat up with a groan. "Oh... was I dreaming?"
Malik looked over at the man, his Raj's face perfectly blank. "Perhaps. What did you dream?"
Dreams? He was not a dream!
Not even when he was not Real!
The man shook his head, looking at the bad sand. "No... it was real." The man had very wide eyes. "The tiger turned into a man. He came to get me. We saved you. And then he... turned back into a tiger."
Malik nodded, breath coming out on a sigh, stirring his fur. "You saved my life. You and Rishi."
"I still can't believe it. A tiger and a man. I have heard stories but I never believed such things could exist. What a marvel!"
Rishi harrumphed. Not a mar-vel. A Rishi. Silly man.
Something about the way Malik's posture changed made him want to growl. "Yes. Rishi is unique. And could be in great danger if anyone knew of him."
"You were trying to hide his nature -- this is why you didn't want him to come with us."
"Yes. I did not want him to be in danger in any way." Malik stroked him, murmuring praises.
Rishi tilted his head. He wasn't hiding his nature. His Raj was. He was Real... Oh... Oh so good...
The man blinked a bit, watching them, and then said softly. "You do not want me to tell anyone what I have seen."
"I do not. I owe you my life, and for that I will protect yours with it. But Rishi is my life, and I will let no harm come to him."
He growled low, so proud. Such a good Rishi.
Such a fine Raj.
Malik dug strong fingers into his ruff, scratching hard.
The man was looking at him. "How come he didn't change while he was in the cage? He could have freed himself."
"He did not know how. He is... he has not spent time as a man." Malik sighed again. "We need water, and food. We should leave this place."
Yes.
Home.
They should go home.
To their Rocks and their Pond and their Trees and their Home.
Home.
~Chapter Five~
Once they were recovered from his rescue from the sinking sand, Malik got the others up and moving, much to the man's dismay and Rishi's rumbling. He simply could not stay there any longer, once they had water, and fruit. Such a stupid thing for him to do, such a man thing.
And now the man knew.
The man knew what Rishi was, if not him, and any other man would be dead now, feeding he and Rishi and the death birds besides. This man Malik could not kill, though, for the man had saved him from the quicksand, and Malik owed him that debt of life.
He had two choices. He could take the man to the city, and trust that he would tell no one what he had seen. Certainly that was a possibility. The man did not seem like the vicious type, and it was very likely the man would die of starvation or disease before he could speak. The other choice was to keep the man with them, keep him safe, but not give him a chance to tell tales. That was the option Malik chose, not knowing what else to do.
So, as Rishi wished, they were going home. Malik set off, making his way like he was going to go to the city, but leading them in a large circle, heading back for Rishi's rock, and his pool, and their home. The man did not seem to notice the change in direction, indeed the man rarely looked up from his feet, trudging along slowly after them. Rishi, on the other hand, was bouncing, purring almost continually, gold eyes alight. His Rishi knew. Just as Rishi knew that they moved more and more away from home before, his young one knew when they reached the outer limits of their territory once more.
Malik drove them relentlessly, wanting the man exhausted, so that he would not know what Malik was about.
Rishi wandered further and further from his sight, rolling in the grasses, spooking the birds and hares and marking their territory. The happy, familiar chirrups and calls soothed Malik, eased him as little else would.
"Is it much further?" the man asked. "It seems like we've been walking forever."
"We will stop soon." Guilt, a feeling he had not felt since he left the world of men behind, weighed heavily on him for his deception, but he must protect Rishi. His Rishi.
By twilight they were close enough to their rocks that Rishi fairly ran him down to get ahead of them, and he realized how far afield in the opposite direction of the city the man he had eaten had traveled. Silly men.
Rishi's roar was filled with happy pleasure and the birds scattered wildly, squawking and fluttering as his young one pounced and rolled.
Malik wanted to roar as well, but instead he turned to the man. "We will camp here."
The man nodded and sat abruptly. "I can't believe we aren't there yet -- you've been really pushing the pace."
"I... Rishi likes this place. I wanted to make it here for him." That, at least was true. "If you wish to rest, I will get you water for a bath." He smiled slightly. "I will promise not to sink like a stone."
"Oh, a bath. Yes, please! I could even get up and get to the water if there's promise of a bath."
At the edge of the clearing, Rishi scrambled onto his stone, spine arching as he roared.
"Oh. Beautiful," murmured the man, voice awestruck.
Torn between laughing at Rishi and roaring a bit himself, Malik nodded. "There is no other like him. You stay, rest. I will get water."
"Thank you. Thank you very much, Malik."
Malik nodded, and went toward his pool. The man would soon realize there was no cause to thank him. None at all. Rishi's footsteps sounded, soft and steady behind him, the gentlest questioning purr sliding against his leg.
"Home, Rishi. We are home." Soft, thick fur under his hands made him smile, and Malik knelt to rub noses with his mate. "We will stay here. With the man."
Rishi blinked, but rubbed their cheeks together, purring loudly. The man concerned his mate not at all, so long as they were home and together and real.
Real. Oh, he missed running and playing and sleeping with Rishi as his own self, and not this weak man-form, and Malik let it slide away, body becoming long and strong and heavy. He growled, rubbing cheeks once more with Rishi. Rishi was vibrating, purring with all his strength, the soft sounds of love and desire and pleasure filling the air.
Leaning with all of his weight, Malik pushed Rishi down and lay atop him, letting their tails curl, teeth closing on Rishi's neck. Rishi stretched, paws reaching in pleasure, spine curling and sliding beneath him.
At least Rishi was happy. That was the important thing. The man, well, he owed the man much. So Malik would work to make him happy as well. With a bath. As soon as he and Rishi waded a bit.
Rishi leaned up and licked him, playful, happy. His beautiful Rishi. Malik nipped at Rishi's nose, rubbing them together before rolling away and wading into his pool. Oh. That felt so good and right. So right that he almost didn't mind Rishi leaping over the top of him and splashing.
Oh. He growled, letting his roar out like he wished to, and splashed his way over to Rishi, intent on dunking the young one thoroughly. Rishi chuffed and ran, water flying as the cub bounded away, ears perked and happy.
They played for as long as Malik could let them, rolling in the mud, washing in the pool, biting and scratching and grabbing each other's tails. Soon he would have to return to that other form, go back to the man.
Rishi stood up on his back legs, paws batting the air, then splashed down with a roar.
Just then he thought he heard a human noise. A gasp. Malik turned back toward the shore, body already slipping into man form, the water rising around him.
The man was there, sinking down. "You're one, too."
"Yes." There was no use denying it. He waded out to squat in front of the man. "You can have your bath now, if you like."
"You're not taking me to the city, are you?"
So matter of fact, the words, and there was no use denying that either. "I cannot. I am sorry."
"Are you going to eat me?" The man didn't seem upset by the prospect.
Rishi bounced by, chasing a fish, water flying and soaking the man.
"No. I will not, and neither will Rishi. I will protect you with my life. But I cannot take you back."
"I think I'll get that bath now." Without another word the man began to strip.
Unsure of what to do, Malik let out a sharp sound, calling to Rishi. They would guard the pool and let the man have his bath. And figure out where to go from there.
***
Well, he was clean at least.
In fact he could have as many baths as he wished -- the tigers certainly spent enough time in the water that it was safe for him to do so as well. And he wouldn't want for meat, there were plenty of nuts and even fruits to be found without venturing too far. Plenty of fresh water. The exhausting trek was over.
Unfortunately he was not anywhere near a city and for all intents and purposes, he never again would be.
He had been kidnapped, really.
Tigernapped.
Whatever.
The long and short of it was that this... wilderness inhabited by two tigers who were also men -- although neither of them seemed very fond of their man shapes or him -- was his new home. The good news, aside from the ample water and food, was that he would never again have to wrestle a portly-bellied, pale-skinned man into his holiday breeches. The bad news was that he was lonely. He'd given up being scared and shocked yesterday, it seemed de trop after several days of it.
It was time to take stock.
Aside from the blouse and breeches he wore, he had his boots, his rather bent jungle hat and his box.
He opened the box and began to unpack it. The first item was shoe leather and a shoe brush. How very useful. If Lord Ledringham were still alive and in possession of his good boots.
Something made his skin tingle and he looked over to see the smaller tiger slowly creeping over, belly on the ground, eye
s fascinated.
"I'm going through my box," he told the tiger -- Rishi, its name was Rishi. "I don't know if I even have a change of clothes."
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