A tale begins, simply as all things do.

[Kivuli]

"Watch out for the saureks, Kivuli! And I want you home before curfew this time; are we understood, young cub?" Usiku shouted after the young vah shir that scampered down the hillside leading from Shar Vahl's gates. Giving his mother only a flick of his tail as response, Kivuli rushed down past the trainee's tents and into the trees of the shadeweaver thicket. Usiku sighed softly and turned to quietly pad back into the city. She was worried for her son as any mother would be, but Usiku knew that Kivuli would return home with barely a scratch on him as he did every day.
   

Though most vah shir cubs weren't allowed out of the city's walls until they were in their early teens, Kivuli had been sneaking out into the thicket ever since he was five. Usiku was a very bright vah shir and had known about it all along, but no matter how sternly she talked to Kivuli she could not make him stay in the safety of Shar Vahl. Always would he simply sneak out when Usiku was asleep and go to play out in the thicket. And despite the myriad things in the shadeweaver thicket that could easily kill a young vah shir, Kivuli never came home injured.
     

Eventually, Usiku just gave up and let Kivuli go out into the thicket at will and trusted to the spirits to watch over her son. Kivuli was quite happy that his mother saw things his way and began to spend more and more time in the thicket with his "friends".
     

The various trainees under the tents shot Kivuli jealous looks as he ran past. Their mothers had never let them out of the city gates at that age, and several had even only just recently been allowed into the thicket. Kivuli merely gave them all a toothy grin and kept right on going.
   

  Once safely concealed in some trees, Kivuli lifted his stubby muzzle and let out a cubbish roar; though it was pathetic indeed compared to the roars that came from all over the thicket in response. But several moments later, to Kivuli's delight, several big cats stepped from the trees to see their friend. All giving the young vah shir affectionate nuzzles, the big cats quickly ushered Kivuli deeper into the thicket where he could play with all the cubs under the watchful eyes of their mothers...

   

  Kivuli had just entered his eighteenth year and was beginning to venture farther and farther from the protective walls of Shar Vahl. The time had come for Kivuli to enter into one of the five sects in Shar Vahl the Khala Dun soldiers, the Taruun scouts and spies, the Dar Khura spiritists, the musical Jharin, or the Khati Sha animists. Kivuli had been offered positions in all five sects and was having a very difficult time deciding which, if any, he wanted to join. Time was running out for him, as he had to choose within a week of his eighteenth birthday.
     

Kivuli sighed softly as he padded through the trees, paws jammed tightly into his waistline. In truth, Kivuli wasn't so sure he wanted to join any of the sects but knew he had little choice. Absently, he slipped a paw from his belt and let his claws trail along every tree and rock he passed and let the soothing vibrations calm his mind. But when he passed one rock, his claws didn't make their customary scraping noise. Instead, they sunk into scaly flesh and the "rock" gave an angry screech. Caught off his guard, Kivuli yelped in surprise as the Saurek Shredder gave a swipe of its tail and knocked the young vah shir head over tail.
     

Letting out a menacing hiss, it advanced upon the stunned feline with sharp claws upraised. Still somewhat dazed, Kivuli scrambled back away from the angry rockhopper on all fours but it leapt to the attack before he could get away. Giving a fierce cry, the large dinosaur-like lizard leapt upon Kivuli; claws tearing deep gashes into his legs and chest. Kivuli roared in pain and frantically tried to beat the huge lizard off but the tenacious saurek clamped its jaws around Kivuli's shoulder and began to twist and jerk its head.
     

Losing blood fast, Kivuli felt his swings getting weaker as he futilely pounded against the rockhopper's head. In one last effort, he shoved his body forward and caused the saurek to fall over backwards; losing its grip in the process. Kivuli crumpled to all fours, exhausted and weak from his injuries. The fallen rockhopper angrily screeched as it twisted back onto its stocky legs and stood ready to pounce upon its meal for the kill. Kivuli watched the hopper with resigned dismay. There was no way he could fend off another attack. The saurek raised its claws to leap, but just then a tiger cub leapt from the trees and onto the saurek's back; clawing and biting furiously.
   

 Kivuli blinked in astonishment as the saurek frantically spun in circles trying to fend off the little terror on its back. Growling loudly, the tiger cub tore the saurek's back into ribbons for daring to attack his friend. Spinning a few more times futilely, the saurek finally worked up the brainpower to run and smash its back against a tree. Battered and bruised, the cub struggled to hold onto his perch but the hopper smashed him again and again. Finally, the cub slid from its back and fell to the ground; gravely injured and unconscious.
     

Kivuli felt the strength of anger surge through his muscles as he let out a loud roar of rage. With the force of an avalanche, he charged straight into the hopper and barreled it into the same tree that the cub had been beaten into. The saurek, surprised at the sudden ferocity of its prey, was thrown against the tree and tripped over its own feet. With primal fury, Kivuli began to shred the saurek's face with his bare claws and teeth. The pinned hopper cried out in pain and thrashed about as it tried to right itself, but the sword that stabbed through its chest and into the ground a moment later silenced it instantly.
   

 Khala Dun Rahoul drove the sword deeper and twisted it a couple times to be sure of the saurek's demise. After a moment, the seasoned warrior released the hilt and knelt to examine Kivuli; who had collapsed to the ground once more.
     

"Take it easy, friend. You've had a rough day." Rahoul said with a soft chuckle as he surveyed the young vah shir's wounds. Kivuli just lay on the ground, his berserker fury played out. Rahoul looked at the shoulder wound, still bleeding profusely, and grimaced.
     

"We need to get you to a Dar Khura quick. Come on...get up." he said and began to lift Kivuli onto his feet. Kivuli shook his head weakly and pushed away from Rahoul towards the tree and the fallen tiger cub. Rahoul saw where Kivuli was going and tried to pull Kivuli back.
     

"Leave him, friend, there's nothing you can do for him. He was a brave little guy but he's taken the worst of it." the older vah shir said, reaching out to grab Kivuli's arm. Kivuli spun and slapped Rahoul's reaching paw away with a snarl and icy glare before kneeling shakily to pick up the wounded cub.
   

 "Take me to the animist's guild, now. When he is taken care of, you can take care of me." Kivuli growled as he cradled the young tiger cub in his paws. Rahoul shook his head and sighed softly but decided to humor Kivuli's request...so long as Kivuli's condition didn't get worse.
   

 "Come on...it's a long walk back to Shar Vahl and we need to get your little friend to an animist as soon as possible." Rahoul said, and yanked his sword from the saurek's bloody corpse.

===

     

Elder Animist Sadhi looked over the shallowly breathing tiger cub with some concern.
     

"This little one is in grave danger, Rahoul. It is a good thing that you brought him straight to me. I will begin the preparations for his care immediately." the wizened Khati Sha said softly before looking up at the young Khala Dun, "Where did you find him, and what was he doing to have suffered such grievous injuries?" Rahoul shook his head lightly in response.
     

"I came upon young Kivuli out in the thicket, Elder Animist. From what I gathered, Kivuli was attacked by a shredder and this little guy came to his rescue. When I found them, Kivuli had already taken some bad hits but was on that shredder like fungus on a phlarg fiend. I've never seen such savage fury as that." Rahoul said softly, "Kivuli insisted on bringing him here to you. It was all I could do to persuade him to go to the Dar Khura for his own injuries. He made me swear on my life to take this one here personally." Rahoul chuckled softly at the remembrance of Kivuli's angry words.
     

Sadhi looked up at that and set the tiger cub upon a round cushion taken from one of the many fine pieces of furniture in the guildhall. "Kivuli? Isn't he Usiku's cub? Where is he now?"
     

Rahoul looked over his shoulder at the door to the guildhall and then back at Sadhi. "He surely has reached the Dar Khura by now. His movement was slow, but he was capable. I don't thi-" he began but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
     

The sight meeting the two older Vah Shir's eyes was a sore one indeed. Kivuli stood leaning against the doorjamb with a paw pressed to his blood-soaked shoulder tightly. Ears flattened and eyes narrowed in pain, the young feline made every effort to remain dignified as he slowly padded down the stairs towards Sadhi and Rahoul. "Is he going to be alright?" he asked with a wince.
   

 Rahoul stared at Kivuli with a deep frown. "Kivuli, you told me you would go right to the Dar Khura. What are you doing here?" he demanded, being used to others following orders. Kivuli stared at Rahoul impetuously.
     

"I lied".
     

With that simple proclamation, Kivuli continued towards the tiger cub lying upon Sadhi's rarely used desk. Rahoul growled at Kivuli and moved to take him to the Dar Khura guildhall, by force if necessary, but Kivuli surprised him into stunned silence by letting out a loud roar right in his face and angrily shoving the older and stronger Khala Dun away. Elder Animist Sadhi chuckled at that and held up a paw.
     

"Rahoul, let him be. Rather than tussle with Kivuli and cause him injuries more serious than those he has, go and tell Spiritist Grawleh that I request his presence." he said softly to placate the two younger Vah Shir. Rahoul, ears flat and fur bristled, gave Kivuli a hard stare before nodding crisply to Sadhi and marching out the door.
   

 "Now then, we can discuss the matters at paw a bit easier without the Khala Dun breathing their stuffy regulations down our necks, hmm?" he said and chuckled softly. "I have heard much about you, young one. Going out into the thicket at five years and worrying poor Usiku to death! And yet before this day you haven't the barest scratch on you. And now you come before me with this tiger cub, who as far as Rahoul tells me was trying to save you from the attack of a saurek." he added and looked at Kivuli with a smile. Kivuli shifted uncomfortably under Sadhi's gaze and gently set a paw on the cub's flank.
     

"Can you save him?" he asked quietly. Sadhi looked down at the cub and gently passed a paw over him. After a brief chant, a blue glow surrounded both Sadhi's paws and the tiger cub on the cushion in front of him. As the glow faded, the cub's breathing seemed to ease and become more regular. Sadhi sighed softly and then looked up to Kivuli again.
     

"He will live, young one. But he will need someone to care for him while he recovers. At this young an age, I cannot risk my more powerful spells of healing. Nor can I be the one to watch him as my duties to the Khati Sha leave me very little time. But not to worry, I shall leave him in the care of Mahron Sood. He is proving himself quite the capable animist."
   

 Kivuli frowned and his eyes narrowed slightly. "With all due respect, Elder Animist, I will take him myself. You'll have to forgive me if I don't trust anyone else, but I don't." the ever blunt feline answered and moved to pick up the tiger cub. Sadhi reached out to stay the younger Vah Shir's paws and looked him directly in the eyes, a sudden seriousness coming into his expression.
     

"Kivuli, this is not something to take on lightly. While he is recovering, he must be watched very closely and any sign that his condition is getting worse must be taken very seriously. If something happens suddenly, you are not trained to handle it. You would be taking a big risk." Sadhi said softly. Kivuli looked down at the tiger cub for a long moment and began to slowly withdraw his paws. But after a moment, his expression hardened and he gently picked the injured cub up; cradling him protectively in his paws.
     

"I can handle it. I won't trust my friend to anyone else's care." Kivuli said firmly and began to pad away. Sadhi smiled slightly, thinking to himself that Kivuli was well on his way to becoming a great Khati Sha. Now if only he could convince the headstrong Vah Shir to enter the Animist's guild...
     

"Grawleh should be here soon, Kivuli. Humor an old cat and let him take care of your wounds before you go." Sadhi called out, causing Kivuli to pause in his steps. The pain finally beginning to hinder him, the young Vah Shir decided to accept Sadhi's words and he lay down upon a nearby couch; the cub still held protectively close. Sadhi himself took a seat nearby and ruffled the cub's head fur gently.
     

"He's a very brave little one. What is his name?" he asked quietly. Kivuli began to answer but realized that he hadn't thought of that before. The tigers in the thicket knew their cubs by the names given them in the rudimentary feline language, but the Vah Shir language was a vastly more sophisticated version that utilized complex sounds mixed with whisker, ear, and tail movements. Kivuli knew the cub's name in wild feline but that would mean nothing to Sadhi. But what would be a good substitute?
   

 Kivuli began to race through some basic Vah Shir names that he'd heard over his life; Jureem, Sharla, Tavi, and such, but none really seemed to fit. He tried more exotic names like Shrakkaw and Tawlnar but they didn't really work either. As he thought, his mind went back to the incident in the thicket and he recalled how the cub had ferociously ripped into the saurek shredder's back as a cat possessed by the spirits themselves; a veritable demon in feline form. It was as if he had suddenly stepped onto the light side of Luclin and the name rolled from his lips as though it had been meant for this cub all along.

   

  "His name is Rakshasa..."

===

   

 After much talking with the young vah shir, Elder Animist Sahdi had managed to convince Kivuli to, if not relinquish care of the cub to another animist, then at least make use of one of the guest quarters in the palace so that any emergency could be swiftly dealt with. Kivuli was tended to by Elder Spiritist Grawleh then ushered to a nearby room, where he immediately put Rakshasa upon the bed and surrounded the hurt tiger cub with soft pillows. Food and drink were brought to the young vah shir but Kivuli did not eat or drink unless Rakshasa did first; there were many nights that Kivuli went hungry.

   

 "Elder Animist, I can see plainly the condition of that cub. He hasn't a chance. Why did you tell Kivuli he would be alright?" came a soft voice from outside the door to Kivuli's room. There was a soft sigh.
   

  "Look at them, Poren. Just look. He has sat next to Rakshasa every day since he was brought here. He doesn't eat, he doesn't leave the room ...why even now he is slumped across the bed in exhaustion; too tired to even curl up. If I had told him the truth he would not have believed me, and if I had refused to help he would surely have leapt at me like he did Rahoul. Besides that...I was never truly sure the cub would not survive." came a second voice.
     

"Will his anger be any less if the cub dies now? With all due respect Elder Animist, you should have told him the truth.  If we reason with Kivuli, he may-" began the first voice, but the second cut him off with a sharp hiss.
   

"Would you like to go in there and tell him his friend is beyond hope? By all means do, I might garner some amusement from watching him tear you to shreds. I, however, will wait and see. Kivuli is not stupid." the second voice said softly. There was a long silence.
     

"Usiku wants to know what is happening. What should I tell her?" the first voice asked at length.
     

"Tell her the truth." the second voice said simply.

   

 Kivuli was startled awake some days later by a paw on his shoulder. Spinning about with a sharp hiss and bared teeth, he came face to face with Elder Spiritist Sahdi. Realizing his mistake, he seemed to verily collapse inward as he sank back to the floor.
   

 "My apologies, Elder Animist. You startled me." the exhausted Vah Shir said quietly. Sahdi smiled slightly and knelt next to the young feline.
     

"Kivuli....I must speak with you. About Rakshasa." he said softly. Kivuli's ears perked up instantly and a frown pulled the corners of his muzzle downward. Sahdi took a deep breath and shook his head slowly.
     

"There is nothing more I can do for him. His injuries are simply too great for my lesser spells of healing, but to use more powerful magic would surely kill him. I don't believe he will survive for but a few more hours." he whispered to Kivuli softly. Kivuli's face twisted with emotions. First outrage, then disbelief, then finally resigned grief. With a heavy sigh, Kivuli turned from Sahdi and stared at Rakshasa with tear-streaked cheek fur. Sahdi took his cue and stood, padding silently out the door and closing it behind him.

     

Kivuli heard the door close behind him but didn't move from the floor; staring at the tiny cub nestled in the pillows on the bed. At length, he moved his head forward to gently nuzzle Rakshasa and then stood shakily, a pillow in his paws. Slowly, he began to reach out to put the pillow on top of the cub but stopped halfway. A fire suddenly lit in Kivuli's bright yellow eyes and he retracted the pillow, gripping it tightly with both paws.

     

The entire palace stopped and looked about in surprise as an earthshaking roar echoed through the halls. Elder Animist Sahdi was even more surprised when the door to the Khati Sha guildhall slammed open and an enraged Vah Shir stalked through. The palace guard at Sahdi's desk moved to stop the young feline but fell back sputtering when Kivuli threw a shredded half of a pillow in his face with a puff of owlbear feathers. Sahdi watched with calm resignation as Kivuli marched right up to his desk with ears flat and teeth bared.
     

"Save him. I know you can. There must be a way." Kivuli hissed softly through clenched teeth. Sahdi stared intently at the young Vah Shir in silence, raising a paw to stop the palace guard who had started after Kivuli again in annoyance. After a short pause, Sahdi dropped his paw and leaned over the desk.
     

"I can think of only one way..."

===

     

An hour later, Kivuli and Sahdi stood over the bed where Rakshasa lay; his breathing raspy and shallow. Sahdi placed a paw lightly on Rakshasa's head and then looked up at Kivuli.
     

"You know what this means, Kivuli. Are you sure you want to go through with it?" Sahdi asked softly. Kivuli stared long at Rakshasa's tiny form before nodding simply. "Then take this and hold it tight. If it is meant to be, the figurine will respond." Sahdi continued and held out to Kivuli a flawlessly sculpted acrylia figurine of a tiger. Kivuli hesitated a moment, then gingerly picked up the figurine and held it cupped in his paws.
     

At first, the figurine felt cool to the touch and Kivuli stared at it intently; willing it to tell him how to save his friend. The figurine responded with still silence. Kivuli frowned slightly, worried that the figurine had rejected him, but a few moments later the figurine began to feel warm to the touch. A soft blue glow suddenly sprang from the figurine and encased Kivuli's paws with soft light. Sahdi smiled slightly, relieved that the figurine had answered Kivuli's call...but then stood in shocked awe a moment later as the glow of the figurine burst into a blinding radiance that enveloped Kivuli's body completely.
     

The young Vah Shir suddenly stood bolt-upright as waves of brilliant blue light poured from the figurine and coursed through his body. His sleek black fur stood on end and the thick muscles in his jaw clenched tightly. Every part of his body felt as though it were trying to pull him all ways at once as the figurine worked its magic. Then, with a loud *CRACK*, an arc of energy shot out from Kivuli's clenched paws and enveloped Rakshasa's sleeping body. The light became painfully bright then, and Sahdi was forced to turn his eyes away and cover them with an arm. A loud humming filled the room, forcing Sahdi's ears flat, and the Elder Animist took a couple of shaky steps backward.
     

Then, as abruptly as it began, the room was quiet and dark. When Sahdi uncovered his eyes and cracked open an eyelid, he saw Kivuli lying still as death in a crumpled heap upon the floor. Rakshasa was nowhere to be seen; the bed he had occupied now empty.

===

     

Voices swam through the darkness, endlessly chattering and making Kivuli want to hold his paws tightly against his ears; but he could not move. His arms felt like lead, and he could not even flatten his ears. The darkness was absolute and terrifying for the young vah shir, whose acute feline eyes were not accustomed to such perfect lightlessness.
     

The sounds swirled around him slowly but began to coalesce into three distinct voices. From out of the multitude, Kivuli's consciousness latched onto these voices and shut out the dizzying noises.

     

"Tell me what happened, Sadhi." came the first voice, a deep bass rumble.
     

"I do not know exactly, Grawleh, I have never seen the bonding rite do that before. When he took the figurine in his paws, it began its accustomary glow and I thought everything was fine. But then...it seemed to flare up and it consumed him and the cub. It may well have killed them..." the second voice responded.
     

"Spirits, no..." came a female voice, sounding very worried.
     

"Be at ease, Usiku. Your son is alive still, though it is good that I arrived so soon." the first voice said soothingly, "But where is the cub?"
     

"I cannot say. The cub was upon that bed where those pillows are stacked up, but when I was able to open my eyes again he was gone. Not so much as a strand of fur to mark that he was ever there at all." responded the second voice.
     

"Hmmm... I suppose that question will have to wait until I can revive young Kivuli. He is in flawless physical condition; it is somewhat of a mystery to me why he is not conscious." the first voice said softly. There came a soft rustle of cloth upon fur and Kivuli felt a dampness on his nose.
     

"If you don't mind, Elder Spiritist...I wish to stay with my son. He is all that I have left." the female voice said quietly, her frown almost audible in her tone.
   

 "Of course, Usiku. I know it has been some time since Penzi's loss to the horde, but his memory is with the Dar Khura still. Do not worry for your son, he will awaken soon." came the first voice once more. The sound of soft padded paws swam through the darkness followed by a door closing.
     

The voices rose up again and consumed him.

     

For a long time the cacophony continued, but then a new voice emerged. A voice of mind and not of sound...
     

"He-...Hello? I-I-I can't see. Where am I? What's happened to me....?" came the voice; high pitched and juvenile. Kivuli's mind locked on to this mental voice and an image formed out of the dark. A tiger cub. Kivuli's body seemed to coalesce from the void as well and he rushed forward to scoop the cub into his arms. The tiger cub squeaked in joy and nuzzled Kivuli forcefully.
     

"Rakshasa...my dear Rakshasa...I thought I was going to lose you." Kivuli thought at the cub. The cub purred loudly and thought back at the young vah shir.
     

"Kiv! Where are we? Did we get that stupid lizard thing that tried to eat you? I don't remember much..." Rakshasa thought in a rush of emotion. Kivuli laughed and hugged his friend tightly.
     

"We got him, Rakshasa. You really saved my tail. Only, he hurt you really bad and I had to take you back to Shar Vahl with me." Kivuli thought.

   

The darkness seemed to brighten with every passing moment as the two friends happily thought back and forth with each other. Then, as the darkness faded to light, the form of a black-furred vah shir coalesced from the misty background. Behind him formed six spirits a spider, a white wolf, a crocodile, a brilliant ball of light, a gorilla, and a white bear. The ghostly vah shir approached Kivuli and Rakshasa while the six spirits surrounded them in a circle.
     

"Greetings Kivuli." he said in a soft baritone and smiled softly when he looked at the cub in Kivuli's paws. "And greetings to you too, Rakshasa.". Rakshasa grinned happily up at the spirit at being recognized.
     

Kivuli stared at the apparition with stunned silence. He recognized this vah shir, but he dared not to hope. Kivuli's suspicion was confirmed a moment later when the shade nodded slowly with a smile.
     

"I am proud of you...my son." Penzi's shadow said to the stunned vah shir. When at last Kivuli tried to speak, Penzi put his ethereal paw on Kivuli's muzzle to silence him. "No questions, Kivuli. You have a very difficult destiny awaiting you, and your path will be long and fraught with danger."
     

Kivuli stared hard at the image of his dead father with moisture rimming his bright yellow eyes. Penzi smiled softly at his son and said "Be brave, for my spirit will always be with you no matter how difficult the road you travel...", before he and the spirits around them faded back into the mist.

     

Usiku was startled from her reverie when Kivuli's eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat bolt upright on the bed he had been laid upon. She cried aloud in relief and buried her son in a tight hug, nuzzling his shoulder and crying softly.
     

"Kivuli, you're alright...." she said quietly. Kivuli sat still for a moment as if adjusting to the feeling of his body again, then returned his mother's hug full force. His thoughts raced back to what his father had said to him, but he decided that he shouldn't tell his mother about their encounter. Kivuli had barely been able to stand the sight of his father returned to him, he knew that it would surely prove too much for his mother. Usiku had cried for many cycles of Norrath after news of his death had reached Shar Vahl.
     

"I'm fine mother. I'm fine." he purred softly to his mother. Then, realizing he still held the tiger figurine in his right paw, he opened his paw and looked at it over his mother's shoulder. A faint smile spread across his muzzle...

===

     

Kivuli sat upon a plush chair, turning the tiger figurine over in his paws and admiring the flawlessness of it's craftsmanship. His mother, Usiku, was curled up on the bed fast asleep; exhausted after the sleepless hours of watching Kivuli recover. Kivuli held the figurine up to the softly burning lamp and inspected the facial features for the millionth time. Upon waking and examining the figurine for the first time, he had been startled to discover that it's form had changed to be a miniature copy of Rakshasa in every detail. From stripe pattern to the proportion of his body, it was a perfect likeness.
     

Absently, Kivuli set the figurine on the small table by the chair and leaned back in thought. He had saved Rakshasa from death by performing the Khati Sha rite of bonding. With that came the knowledge that he was now a recruit of the Khati Sha animist's guild. Given the chance, Kivuli would have done it again without hesitation. But now that his immediate concerns about Rakshasa were gone, how was he to proceed? And where was Rakshasa? When he awoke, he had expected Rakshasa to be beside him but he was nowhere to be seen. The more Kivuli thought, the more questions without answers he came up with. And so, closing the door quietly behind him, he started off to find someone who would know the answers.

     

Animist Poren shuffled papers at his desk as he sorted through scrolls and scout reports from the Taruun. The sound of the door opening caused him to raise his head and he spotted Kivuli peering through the doorway. The young Vah Shir looked a bit confused as he stared at Sadhi's empty desk and eventually locked gazes with Poren. Poren's whiskers flicked.
     

"Hello Kivuli. I'm afraid Sadhi isn't in right now. Shall I tell him you stopped by?" the older animist said politely. Kivuli paused for a moment, then padded through the door and shut it.
     

"Well...I have a question that maybe you can answer for me..." Kivuli said and started towards Poren's desk, "I...well...What happened to Rakshasa?" Kivuli stood in front of Poren and stared at him inquisitively. Poren stared back for a few moments and then sighed, leaning back in his chair.
     

"Where's the figurine?" he asked, sounding as though he wanted to get back to his work as soon as possible. Kivuli opened his paws and showed Poren the small item with a look of confusion. Poren nodded at Kivuli's paws and said "There he is." before looking back at his papers. Kivuli blinked at Poren, even more confused than before. What did he mean by that? The figurine was made of acrylia...Rakshasa was a tiger.
     

"I'm afraid I don't understand..." Kivuli said softly. Poren sighed and dropped his papers on his desk; leaning forward and staring right at Kivuli.
     

"Hold the figurine in your paws and call to him..." Poren said with a tinge of impatience. Kivuli frowned and opened his mouth to say something but Poren held up a paw. "Just...humor me."
   

 Kivuli stared at Poren a moment and then looked down at the figurine. After a moment, he cupped it carefully in his paws and whispered, "Come to me, Rakshasa..." A brief second later, the figurine glowed softly and an orange mist poured from the figurine. Kivuli nearly dropped the figurine in his startlement but he held on and watched in fascination as the mist swirled and coalesced into the form of a tiger. The figurine abruptly stopped glowing and the mist solidified into the form of Rakshasa.
   

 Rakshasa looked about curiously and then looked up at Kivuli with a tilt of his head. Kivuli smiled and leaned down to scratch his new warder's ears and was rewarded with an affectionate purr. After a moment, Kivuli stood up to look at Poren. Poren smirked a bit and picked up his papers again.
   

 "There you are." he said simply and looked at his papers again. He hissed in annoyance a moment later when Rakshasa leapt up on the desk and knocked a couple papers off. Kivuli just chuckled.
   

 "Thank you. I...I guess I should go and find out something about my duties as a Khati Sha then, hmm?" he said and turned to go. Poren stared at Rakshasa disapprovingly and then looked up at Kivuli.
   

 "Most of the new recruits begin their training in the Shadeweaver Thicket. From what I hear, you're quite comfortable out there so I expect good things from you. Here, take this application of citizenship to Registrar Bindarah and return to me with your personal acrylia slate when you've been taken care of. We've much to do and not much time to do it." Poren said and then narrowed his eyes at Rakshasa. "That goes for you too..."
     

Rakshasa lay down on the desk and just grinned at Poren. Kivuli chuckled and padded off towards the door, ready to begin his life as a Khati Sha. "I'll return shortly, Animist. I won't let the Khati Sha down." he said and strode through the door.
     

Poren glared at Rakshasa and coughed loudly. A moment later, Kivuli stuck his head through the door and let out a shrill whistle. Rakshasa immediately leapt to his feet and tore after his friend; scattering Poren's papers all over the guildhall.
     

"Gyahhhh...!" Poren growled in irritation.

[Merescata]

I needed to have read this sooner.  Great imagination on how the Vah Shir get warders.  I'm not very creative, so I'd have never thought to write it out so well.  Great story and I'd love to read more.

[Synidar]

That was a Very good story, I enjoyed it very much.

[spoottquickblade]

very nice story:-) good writing, it was a good red:-)
:D