Princess Warrior [ON HOLD]

10

  "I am only one, but still
   I am one. I cannot do
   everything: and because
   I cannot do everything,
   I will not refuse to do
  something that I can do."
        -Hellen Keller

I slowly made my way out of my room. Once again, we had no lessons due to our guests, who for some reason had not gone back to their various homes. There was a big event planned out for tonight to entertain the guest.

I walked outside the palace towards the training grounds and that was where I saw something that made me understand the big event planned out for tonight. A very large portion of land had been barricaded with seats surrounding it outside. Inside the barricade was an animal on four legs. I moved closer to the barricade, past the seats and I saw a tiger. A large angry tiger.

Then I understood the big event more. It was one of the most outrageous sporting activity that I know. A wild animal was released in a barricaded area and people who were bold enough came into the barricaded area to kill the animal. Mostly, the animal would end up killing them and the archers would have to shoot down the animal. This kind of sporting activity was the thing to hold when you had guests. People loved this sport a lot.

I stared at the tiger some more and that was when I remembered Terra. Terra had been wandering alone in the forest which wasn't normal for a tiger cub since their mother's were protective. She was wandering alone because I was staring at her mother right here in the palace. Her mother was captured probably when she went out hunting and Terra wasn't going to see her mother again because this tigress  was doomed to death.

Just then, a servant I recognized as Cedric who was in charge of entertaining the guests walked up to me. He said, "Good day to you, your highness." I simply nodded at him as I stared at the tigress.

Cedric said, "Don't you think this is such a good thing your highness? You know tigers are quite rare in our lands and just two days ago, this tigress was found prowling the forest close to the palace. Then the King's advisors thought it would be wonderful to hold something like this and show off the rare tigress and our warrior's skills."

My heart fell even more. Cedric had confirmed my story. I was right. Knowing how rare tigers were in our lands, this has got to be Terra's mother and her mother was going to die.

I remembered how Terra had looked at me. I remembered what I had seen in her yellow eyes. She was afraid and alone. I didn't know what came over me, except that Terra wasn't going to lose her mother. I was going to make sure of that.

I quickly made my way to the stables and grabbed a horse to save some time because the tigress just had until that evening to live. I made my way into the forest where Lemuel had led me to. Who by the way was nowhere to be found. I stared wildly around searching for any sign of him and his flock but there was nothing. Where was that idiot when I needed him the most?

The first thing on my mind was to get Terra out of harm's way. She was a little cub all alone. A prey to predators and likewise the hunters.

I went to where I remembered I and Lemuel had fed his flock. It was quite easy to figure out the place due to the shorter trees, wider trails and abundance of grasses which was leveled now after the flock's feeding. I tied the horse's reign to a tree and the horse soon made himself home by chewing on the grasses nearby. I had just grabbed a random horse definitely not the special one prepared for us the royal family. But I had other things on my mind.

I made my way deeper into the forest and tried to stay on a trail that led back to the horse. I walked around searching for the tiger. How in the world I was going to find her was lost to me but I just knew I couldn't back down. Terra and I had bonded in a way I couldn't explain and the thought of just doing nothing while her mother got killed was appalling.

I didn't know what took over me as I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, "Terra! Terra!! Where are you?!!" I didn't care if I looked and sounded foolish calling on a tiger that way but I didn't care. There really was something to the bond between I and Terra. I had seen something in her eyes and felt something I had never felt in my life. I also had this feeling at the pit of my stomach not to underestimate the bond.

I tried to calm my anxious nerves. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Out of the corner of my brain, I remembered something I had heard a really long time ago. The tutor had been reluctant to tell myself and my sisters about it stating that it wasn't real and was just a myth of our people. It was about an unexplainable form of friendship between a human and a wild animal. It was very rare and once a person bonded with a wild animal, anything was possible. The bond between man and wild animal was not fully explored. So, nobody knew what one can do and undo.

Taking that into consideration, I closed my eyes once again and remembered Terra. I saw her eyes, the way she stared at me and the warmth I had felt when she came closer to me. Then I remembered seeing her mother and having the need to take her to safety and my anxiety at not finding her.

Then, I heard leaves scattering and pounding footsteps running towards me. I opened my eyes and saw Terra staring wide eyed at me with her beautiful yellow eyes. I gasped and fell, shocked to my bones. Did I just summon Terra? Was that even possible? But it was supposedly only the imaginations of people. I didn't have time to question myself more as I heard a growl. I looked to my left and noticed another cub. The cub was slightly larger than Terra but still smaller than the tigress.

The cub growled at me once again and Terra growled back tossing her head at me. I figured that this was probably her relative and it appeared to be male. The cub was Terra's brother. The cub stared at me with distrust written all over its face. I tried my best to remain calm. I really had to get them both out of here to somewhere safe.

I racked my brain thinking to where I could keep them. Definitely not the palace because they would end up dead. My mind went straight to one place and one person alone.

But first, I had to get this male cub to trust me. I had to show him I meant no harm. I put my arm around Terra. Terra in return placed her head in my lap. I said to the male cub, "See, I mean you no harm. I just need to get you and your sister to safety. I'm not going to hurt you."

The male cub stared from me to his sister, totally confused. He must be wondering why his sister was befriending a human. Terra growled at him one more time and the tiger sat on its hunches. I took that as a relaxed position and said to Terra, "We have to get going now." So, I scooped her up in my arm and made my way to the horse noting with satisfaction that the male cub trailed behind me.

When we got to the horse, Terra and her brother both growled at it scaring the poor animal. I took that as a no to going on the horse. Where I wanted to go wasn't really far off, so I decided to go on foot while carrying Terra in one hand and holding the horse's reign in the other. At first, the horse wouldn't come with me but after some persuasion, he followed me.

With the male cub behind me, the horse walking beside me its reign in my hands and a dozing Terra in my arm, I made my way to Comer's house.

A/N: Hey guys! Chapter 10 finally! Hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to tell me what you think. Also, starting from this chapter, I will be asking some sort of trivia questions that you guys are required to answer. I saw this in a couple of other books on Wattpad and liked it. Don't forget to vote and comment.

Xo.

Lohluh.

\\ Do you have a pet animal? If yes, what type of animal is it?//