Hathiya vs Kaihua: The strings behind the curtains.

It hadn’t been long since Kaihua had been pulled from the prison cells of Tsubar and placed under the responsibility of his hated rival, Wild. The young tiger had searched years to find Wild and face her in combat again, tracking her all across Gaia just for a chance he might find her. When he finally narrowed his search down to Tsubar, he had been so excited, but nothing compared to when he would finally have his rematch against her. And yet, things didn’t go according to plan. Kaihua had been imprisoned almost immediately upon arriving at Tsubar. Sure, he took some food that wasn’t his and broke some weird metal beings that tried to stop him, but that was the law of the jungle! He had to spend weeks in a cell and fight all sorts of creatures before finally getting his chance to face his long hated rival. He planned to redeem himself from his humiliating defeat all those years back.

And yet, despite putting everything he had into his fight with Wild, he was only humiliated further thanks to the strange woman in charge. He had a tough time with names, but heard the strange woman be called “Eros” which quickly became a name he despised. Every time he heard that word, Kaihua either had something taken away from him, he had to fight someone, or worse of all cleaned! It was a bad name meaning bad things in the tiger’s eyes. But he knew that she was the one in charge of the entirety of this place! And she was responsible for putting Kaihua under Wild’s command. Going so far as to call Kaihua “Wild’s property”. At least, that's what the guards in his cell said when they let him free.Such a title was unacceptable for the proud tiger! Kaihua hated Wild and wanted her to belong to him! Not the other way around!

And so Kaihua was here. At Eros’s office door. Some lady was yelling at him about some weird ”App-ointment” thing, but his skin was fine. Instead, he pushed his way through the doors to find his target: The strange lady people called “Eros”!

Eros was standing by the window, staring out and down into the town below. Her golden eyes didn’t move from the people living their lives and going about their days on the streets below. In fact, she didn’t move at all.

“Kaihua…You’ve made quite the ruckus already, haven’t you?”

“Why you be mean?!? Guard say you make me Wilds! No want to be Wilds! Kaihua is Kaihua!!! No one else!”

The woman clicked her tongue, finally giving Kaihua her attention as the white tiger approached her. Her expression was one made more from annoyance than anything else, letting it be clear on her face how big a pain in the neck Kaihua was in her eyes.

“Why? It’s rather simple when you think about it. But I’d hate for you to burn out your brain trying, so I’ll spell it out for you. I put you under Wild’s command to teach her responsibility for her subordinates, and I’m getting bored of watching over you.”

Eros spoke in a cold, exacerbated tone. She wasn’t saying this to hurt Kaihua’s feelings, but she wasn’t trying to spare them either. Ever since the tiger arrived, he had been nothing but a pain. And what was worse was that it came more from his ignorance of the world and social norms than him trying to be disruptive. At least if he was trying to be a pain in the neck, Eros would have a valid reason to feed him to the Nomu. But instead, she simply pushed him off on someone else.

“Your fights are okay, and you have a few fans, but nothing worth the headaches I get when calculating the damages you owe the SRW company. I figured you would repay your debt faster if you became a Warden’s assistant. So, now you’re Wild’s.”

Kaihua couldn’t believe what he was hearing! His ears went flat on his head as he clenched his fists in anger and pain. He didn’t want to work beneath his rival! He wanted another chance to fight her! To earn his pride back and scrub this humiliation from his heart! So why was this Eros person pushing him back down after he did everything she said to do?

“N…No!” The tiger pushed out, looking into Eros’s uncaring gaze. “I strong! Challenge whoever and whenever! No matter what, so make Kaihua Kaihua’s again! Prove myself! Just give opponent!”

Eros’s gaze didn’t shift a bit. “I’m not interested in your pride or honor, Kaihua. I want the cost of the repairs to the golems you broke and the numerous food stalls you destroyed when you first arrived in Tsubar. And you’ll earn that faster if you actually start working.”

“One more fight!” He yelled! “One more fight! Prove to you! I find opponent myself!”

The Head Warden only blinked, her head tilting slightly as Kaihua seemed to be getting heated. Eros figured Kaihua would be characteristically stubborn, and simply shrugged.

“Fine…but don’t bother anyone that tells you no.”

With Eros figuring that the conversation was over, she would find herself disappointed as Cirkot seemed to miraculously appear in the doorway like a last minute lawyer and throw out Hathiya as an opponent. Eros’s eye immediately narrowed at Cirkot, glaring daggers at him from behind Kaihua who’s sapphire blue eyes seemed to shift from hopeless to hopeful. Like an excited kid, Kaihua nodded to what Cirkot said without even processing what it was.

“Yes! Kaihua do it! You’ll see Kaihua is good, then not give to rival!”

Eros clicked her tongue, moving her arms behind her back as Cirkot came inside. The Head Warden had to remind herself that Cirkot was an excellent Acolyte and extraordinarily helpful around the office…despite how many times he seemed to step into her plans and ruin them like the meet and greet fiasco. The truth was, Eros had already thought of pitting Kaihua up against Hathiya…but worried such a lopsided match might be boring for the audience. After all, Hathiya was a Titan class, and while non titans had fought her before, they had a certain maturity that Kaihua seemed to lack.

“But Cirkot…Hathiya might be a bit too busy…”

“B-but you said I could ask anyone! I only stop when they say No! You said so! A-and plant guy said so, so a chance is here, right?”

Eros actually gave Cirkot a look, like a mother whose son just said that Dad said it was okay. She had this conversation finished, and it was clear Cirkot’s interference cut her patience in half. So instead, the Head Warden simply smiled.

“I did say that…Cirkot? Be a dear and help Kaihua find Hathiya…and take your time. Because when you get back, I need to talk with you.”

Kaihua clearly didn’t understand the undertones Eros was getting at, because he practically sprung next to Cirkot, happy to follow the plant man anywhere and clearly happy that he was helped by Cirkot’s kindness.

Kaihua happily left Eros’s office, following the plant man down the hallways of the SRW almost like a duckling would follow its mother. Kaihua considered himself to be a very independent tiger, but he appreciated the plant man helping him in the strange ladies office and was actually impressed that he was willing to step in to help him. Kaihua never wanted to be around the weird lady, but he had never seen anyone talk back to her or contradict what she said. But the plant man seemed to do so easily, and he even got his way too! Kaihua’s eyes practically glimmered with admiration for Cirkot as the shaking tree man continued to lead him to this “Hathiya” person. The sound of leaves brushing together didn’t seem to bother Kaihua as Cirkot shook, Kaihua mistaking Cirkot’s nervousness as just his natural attitude.

“H-hey…er…My thanks you.” The white tiger muttered as he followed Cirkot along, “Strange lady…very weird…not sure what would have done if you not been there. Kaihua appreciate you.”

If it wasn’t obvious, Kaihua was bad at giving compliments. But he decided to make his appreciation clear by gently getting closer to the plant man and suddenly brushed against him! It was quick, but in Kaihua’s culture it was an affectionate gesture. No sooner had he done it then he quickly retreated behind Cirkot, following him around once again and pretending not to notice all of the white fur that was now on one side of Cirkot’s suit. Instead, he eyed the plant mans hair, wondering why it smelled so good when Kaihua probably should have been asking questions as to who Hathiya was…

Truthfully, Kaihua sort of lost track of what Cirkot was saying. The plant man’s hair had a rather delightful aroma that seemed to make Kaihua’s head buzz in a pleasurable way. So the young tiger followed him around in a somewhat aimless manner, totally distracted by the heavenly scent. When Cirkot finally found who they were looking for, Kaihua would actually walk right into the plant man before snapping out of his trance. Kaihua almost barked at Cirkot to ask him why they suddenly halted when he noticed the towering being in front of them. Kaihua blinked as this person approached, the walls gently shaking with every step as Kaihua’s ears went flat on his head in concern. The plant guy wasn’t running away, so it would hurt Kaihua’s pride if he fled!

Deciding he didn’t want to be outdone, Kaihua actually moved beside Cirkot to face this tall being head on...but rather than an imposing beast, he was greeted with a surprising warmth and comfortable feeling. This was different from Cirkots hair. The being was actually a woman, whose eyes were orange like the rising sun and held just as much charm. Her robes were large, but pretty like a summer field, and though that same beauty ran all the way up to her hood, he could still see a bit of the woman’s face. Her voice was powerful, but warm. In fact, Kaihua would almost say it was motherly. So much so that he thought such a voice was incapable of saying anything rude! He simply couldn’t imagine it!

Was this a greeter? A secra-teary? She seemed charming and Kaihua had seen all sort of beast working in this place. Curious, Kaihua would actually move in front of Cirkot now to introduce himself and almost cut Cirkot off entirely!

Kaihua:

“Kaihua is Kaihua! Tiger fighter for SR double-You!” He shouted proudly, doing a pose in a way that seemed like he was trying to impress her, “Tree man help me find match to show weird lady I useful~ He takes me to opponent now!”

Clearly, Kaihua’s density was kicking in…because he didn’t seem to know just who he was talking to.

Kaihua blinked.

He looked at Hathiya, then Cirkot, then back to Hathiya again.

“Is joking, yes?”

Kaihua said what everyone was thinking, but of course not for quite the same reasons. Kaihua had thought that the person in front of him was a sweet, kind greeter or helper. In his head, this person was not a fighter. She wasn’t a nine foot tall being, but a nice woman with a pretty robe in his simplistic view. Kaihua had quite a bit of ego and pride, and had no desire to bully someone who seemed sweet and nice.

“Plant man, Kaihua not mean like weird lady. Not beat up pretty flower lady, even if weird lady ask. Plant man is nice, so why asking me to bully nice lady?”

Kaihua actually looked a little mad. Like Cirkot had tricked him and was playing a prank on him. His tail flicked, showing his annoyance as his bright blue eyes started to glare in Cirkot’s direction.