My Long Lost Mate

Huh? Is it talking about me? Why is it looking at me? Moreover, how come a tiger can talk?

"Master!" The tiger beamed and jumped towards me, licking my face with such glee. Contrary to its excitement, I was terrified.

"Aahh!!" I screamed and threw the tiger away, only feeling guilty when I saw it rolling on the ground.

"Master!" 

The baby tiger quickly got on its feet, smiling and jumping back at me. The word 'master' came out again, and I still had no idea why it was calling me its master. It was my first time seeing a tiger, let alone raising one.

The tiger jumped onto my shoulders, making me fall to the ground as it started to lick my face. I froze, not knowing what to do with the tiger. It didn't seem dangerous, but…

"My, my. Luke will be jealous if he sees this," Maggie joked, didn't even bother to lend me a hand.

Coco, seeing me in 'danger', pushed the tiger with his candy cane, the only thing that is not fluffy about him. Seeing Coco, the tiger growled yet again.

"You silly bear! Don't you know who I am?" The tiger growled—or purred—standing firm on its four feet. "I'm the ruler of this forest! How dare you touch me?! Only my master can do so!"

The tiger, who sounded exactly like a young boy, hurled himself towards Coco, again engaging him in yet another fight. While the two fought, Maggie seemed to have found herself a fallen apple on the ground, eating it as she cheered for her Coco.

"Coco, go kick his ass! Don't let him—"

"W-wait!" I shouted, stepping between the two babies—or, at least, tried to—but the two were so engrossed in their fight that everything else seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them in their own little world. Is this how parents feel when they see their children fight? "You two, stop it!"

The word 'stop' made the tiger freeze, immediately releasing Coco from his claws. This gave Coco a chance to hit the tiger on his head, making a loud thump that could be heard throughout the forest. Even Coco seemed surprised by the sound. But Maggie cheered.

"L-little tiger!" I ran towards the tiger, yet I was still unsure of whether or not to touch him. "Are you okay?" I gave him a little tap, pulling him away from his dizziness and back into the world. The tiger then leaned into my hand.

"Master… why did you stop me?" He whined, placing his paws over his ears. "The world is spinning because of that silly bear," he continued to whine, staring at me with eyes welling up with hopeful tears.

"Silly? Who are you calling—" Maggie, unhappy with how the tiger continuously called her precious Coco names, tried to retort, but stopped when I held out a hand to calm her down. The tiger didn't seem like a threat, so it would be foolish of us to try to attack each other. 

"Why are you calling me your master? I'm not your master," I told the tiger, and he tilted his head, confused. 

"Why are you not my master? You are my master," he returned my words, still convinced that he hadn't mistaken me for someone else. "I came here because I smelled your magic. It's the scent that only my master has," he squinted his eyes, as if to smile. "I've been waiting for you to come since the day I was born."

I turned to Maggie, only to see her shrug her shoulders, as if to say that she was as clueless as I was. Is this perhaps the specialty Maggie talked about? Owning a tiger?

"Are you sure it's not someone who smells similar to me? No one told me about me owning a tiger," I said, and the tiger beamed.

"No one told me my master would be this beautiful either!" He giggled, then rolled on the ground out of excitement. "The sole purpose of my existence is to serve you, that's why I was born on the same day as you were—on the last day of the year."

"That's…" How did he know about it? Is he telling the truth? Am I really his master? "But why? I'm just a normal witch, so why—"

"How come you are just a normal witch?!" The tiger jumped to his feet, appalled by the words he had just heard. "Have you not met him? Your predecessor—he is the most powerful witch in the whole world! He's also my father's master!"

"W-wait! Predecessor? Are you talking about my father?" I asked, and even Maggie dropped her apple out of curiosity, keeping Coco calm in her arms. Is my father a witch? Did I get this witch blood from my father, rather than my mother, as I had assumed?

"Father?! Is he your father?!" He returned the question, looking as surprised as I am. "But my father said his master has never even touched a woman's hand! There's no way that he would have a daughter this big and beautiful!"

Just as the tiger, whose name I still have yet to know, finished his sentence, Andrew and Jack appeared from behind the bush while carrying a bear and a bunch of apples in their hands. Coco jumped seeing a real bear.

"Coco, look what I found!" Andrew raised the bear higher for Coco to see, scaring him even further. "This—is a real bear. Though I admit that your punches are deadly, but—" he stopped mid-sentence, noticing a new presence in our group.

When Andrew and Jack saw the baby tiger, they stopped dead in their tracks, unconsciously snarling at each other. The same goes with the tiger, but it only lasted for a fraction of a second. It could very well be their natural instincts when seeing another predator around.

"Master! Why are you hanging out with this silly group of people?!" The tiger stood firm on his four legs, ready to jump towards the two wolves at any given moment. His piercing blue eyes glared at them, showing them his canines as he stood in front of me.

"What's that?" Jack asked, raising one of his brows as he pointed at the tiger.

"That's a tiger, Jack," Andrew replied, as if to answer a five-year-old's inquiry. Though there was nothing wrong with his answer, the tone of his voice seemed to have annoyed his companion. "Wait, did you just call us silly? Well, Jack is, but I'm—ack!" a punch came, but it didn't stop him from finishing his sentence. "—not." 

It's rare for Andrew to be so calm after seeing something so unusual. Perhaps after seeing the giant purple-skinned fairies, a talking tiger doesn't seem to be as surprising.

"Master! Do you want me to eliminate the threat?" The tiger asked, feeling a mixture of anxiety and excitement for his first task. "My claws can easily eliminate them!" He said, but all I could see was him threatening them with his cute little paws.

Seeing Andrew walking closer to him, the tiger jumped—straight into Andrew's embrace.

"What's this kid's problem?" Andrew asked, picking up the tiger as if he was a little puppy. The tiger growled and flung his paws, but it only met the air. "Why does he keep calling you his master?" While waiting for me to put the words together to explain the situation, Andrew came to his own conclusion. "Oh, no! Our poor Alpha! Did the tigers recruit you to be their Luna?!"

Hearing Andrew's assumption, Jack turned his head towards me faster than the speed of light, surprised at what he had just heard. Not knowing how he came up with such a conclusion, Maggie sighed and Coco shook his head, while the tiger, continued to growl.

"N-no, there's no such thing!" I quickly replied, then explained the situation to put some light on them. After I finished my explanation, the two finally exhaled the breath they were holding, relieved that their Luna didn't get stolen by someone else.

"You can put him down now," I said to Andrew, causing the baby tiger to run towards me upon release. "Little tiger, all the people here are my friends, so don't go around asking for a fight, okay?" I lightly tapped his head, eventually finding him adorable rather than scary.

Though he was still unhappy with the bunch of people around me, he nodded his head and sat beside my feet, listening to my words. Now that we were all standing on the same ground and everyone had calmed down, Maggie finally asked the question that I have been meaning to ask.

"Hey, tiger. You mentioned something about the most powerful witch, right? Who is he?"

The tiger gasped, surprised that we had no idea who he was referring to. He was so taken aback that it appeared as if his world was collapsing after the unexpected question.

"How come you've never heard of him?! It's the fire witch, Ignacio!"