The Day of Thunder

Once upon a time, there was a very tired tiger, who had climbed up a tree to try to get some rest from within the comfort and safety of its branches. As soon as they closed their eyes, sleep did come. But it did not come alone.

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D2LE | Attempt at sleep
TN 20 Willpower | VP for +1k1 | 4k4 ⇒ 13 (TN: 20)

Did the second roll immediately to save time, home it's not an issue?

D2LE | Fighting back the nightmare
TN 25 Willpower | VP for +1k1 | 4k4 ⇒ 40 (TN: 25)

So back at home Tiger was.

It felt weird to see the world from Tiger's point of view after so much time, lower to the ground, with much more fragrance, but less vibrant colors. Like if Kai was a ghost stealing Tiger's body rather than Tiger themselves.

And had the forest changed that much, and was it Kai-Tiger who had changed that much?

They used to be able to merge with the dense vegetation, to only exist as a presence through the jungle, a spectral form who was in every bush at once, only returning to a singular entity when it finally pounced on its prey.

Now, the woods were a wall, and alien, and full of danger. They were no more Tiger, but Deer, lost and vulnerable in another predator's territory.

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Their senses were also a deer's. The upper ends of their vision were blurry and dark, their vision narrowed to the horizon and the area of the line in front of them. The colors weren't what they were used to, strange and warped. Was it the dream or just their vision? Little sounds made their much larger ears twitch. The sound of a flying squirrel jumping from one tree to the next. A bird calling. The subtle shift of leaves as something moved. They could smell it, too.

Something smelled wrong.

Delicate, frail limbs shifted, preparing for flight, when their eyes picked up movement.

It was them - Tiger.

Or rather, what they remember of themselves. But something is wrong with the tiger stalking through the underbrush. Some sort of sickly growth showed between spots of patchy fur, rather than the elegant stripes that would hide it from predators. And something sickly and black drooled from their mouth. The eyes showing from low beneath a bush shone unnaturally, lambent in the dark forest.

Tiger was corrupted.

So was it. Kai was indeed a dream. But not a great dream. No, just the pathetic ultimate thought of a great beast before their ineluctable fall to the darkness. The dream that they might have escaped had they be just a bit faster. But instead it was only that vain hope that had reached the mortal realm, a powerless wish echoing to another world as the real Tiger was devoured in body and soul.

And now, Tiger had come to retrieve that minuscule part of themselves they had lost.

Well, fuck you shadow beast. She was Tiger.

It was no matter if people didn't believe her, called her a crazy farm girl or worst. It was no matter if she didn't have even the beginning of a semblance of proof of that identity. It was no matter if the actual Tiger themselves was starring at her. She was Tiger.

If the world of dreams wasn't ready to give her that name, then she would rip it away from them. Who was the impersonator and who was the real deal was not decided by facts, only by who would be victorious. She would kill any creature of darkness trying to take that name from her, trying to corrupt it one way or the other.

There was pain. A terrible sound. As Tiger, she had to leave behind most of her body to escape. It was a horrible process. Like cutting one's own leg to escape a trap. Something she had wished she would never have to do again. She would do it nonetheless to escape this new prison.

The skin of deer broke, pierced from inside. And Kai-who-was-also-Tiger emerged from the bloody corpse, her hands clutching her new claws of metal, no more prey, once again predator.

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