Tigers Are Awfully Protective...

Wendigo

Following these boys out here was a good idea at the start, she needed questions answered, but of all the places they could stop at they chose this one. Really? The wendigo would come back. It did have success at its last hunt here, after all.

With legs straddling one of the thicker branches of an enormous pine, Sasha glanced at the quickly fading horizon. Below her, and about 300 feet to her left, the Winchester brothers and company were scouting out the carnage of a previous campsite.

"Our packs..." The girl who orchestrated the outing inquired and trailed off as she discovered all of their bags missing. From what Sasha gathered, the girl's brother had gone missing so she, her younger brother, and a hired (and armed) guide went into the woods to search for him; that's when the two hunters began to tag along for the hike, and because of this, Sasha followed.

Sasha strained her ears to hear the rest of the group. As she listened, a pained cry for help echoed through the forest. This sent the group running towards the source of the yell and as a result, Sasha took off as well. She let her feet guide her down a couple of branches and then quickly leapt the last 13 feet. Sasha allowed herself to shift on the way down, air whipping through her hair that shrank to fur. When all four of her feet hit the ground, she tore off towards the group. Her stripes wouldn't do much to hide her, but she's had practice staying far enough away.

By no means is Sasha a shifter, despite all evidence saying otherwise. She is no werewolf, nor a werecat. Actually she would believe the latter if it weren't for her ability to precisely control her shifts and for her unusual talent for transferring pain. She doesn't know it yet, but Sasha's a protectress, placed on this earth to protect those who are important to the survival of humanity. Her charges.

What Sasha knew was that, being whatever she was, has helped her keep up with the hunters she's been following around. The tigress watched the group ahead of her intently; having trailed behind them for almost a whole day now, she was beginning to learn names. With still no idea why she was drawn to the Winchesters, the two hunters in the group, Sasha carefully circled them as they walked back to the campsite. Sam had ordered everyone back.

They hadn't found anyone in need of help after their quick scramble deeper into the shrubbery and Sam seemed to realize that the wendigo was trying to draw them out, so they immediately returned to their campsite. Sasha didn't make a sound, and maintained a very wide radius around the camp, creeping through the underbrush, alert. The Winchesters branched off further away from the group to speak out of earshot and so Sasha stretched her perimeter even wider in silent accommodation. She kept an eye on the camp from every angle as she tuned into the conversation the hunters were having. They knew they were hunting a wendigo and that it was hunting them in return. Satisfied with the temporary shelter the small exploration had set up, with some members taking shift duty to watch for danger, Sasha returned to her high perch in the tree as night set in.

**********

"Help me!! Pleease!"

A screech echoed through the trees and everyone suddenly tensed. The screams continued to scare the civilians and put the hunters on edge until it was just outside their circle of sight and could be heard prowling around them. Sasha leapt down and joined the monster in its prowling circles, adding her own growls to the frenzy to ward it off. She was unable to keep up with the unnaturally fast creature, but she circled the same prey it did--except the tiger acted as a barrier when the wendigo got too close. It wouldn't hunt her, intent on its human prey, but she could only warn it away so many times.

Shots were fired and Sasha darted towards the source. It had been Roy, the group's guide. She failed to get to him before the creature had strung him up in a tree. He had left the rest of the group, venturing outside of Sasha's protective circle, and Sasha wasn't fast enough to defend him against the wendigo. Without lingering on the failure in the slightest, Sasha stayed on the defensive; Sam and Dean had left to search for Roy. Sasha could almost feel their disappointment as they discovered Roy's body hanging in bits from the trees.