Hathiya vs Kaihua: The strings behind the curtains.

“NOT YOU SLAVE! RIVAL’S SLAVE!” The tiger boy roared! Digging his nails into the floor as he finally sent a glare towards Hathiya…but almost immediately relented.

As angry as he was, Kaihua knew that this wasn’t Hathiya’s fault. Not really. He wasn’t the sharpest tool around, but he understood that out of everyone the Earthshaker was trying her best to help. She was still the nice lady he had met prior to the match, and Kaihua knew that if she had wanted to, Hathiya probably could have finished the match in a few seconds flat. The white tiger growled again, though this time it was at himself. Silently cursing his anger as he seemed to lash out at a helping hand that was only trying to reach him. He paced back and forth in his tiny little corner, really only walking a step or two before turning around to repeat the short process over and over. His ears were still pulled back, but he occasionally glanced at Hathiya. His eyes were apologetic, but frequently darted to the floor when she looked at him.

After a few more minutes of pacing, Kaihua finally seemed to sit down. Although, he still seemed to glare at the floor.

“Not free…Door there, but not mean free!” Kaihua hissed, “Weird lady…she keep Kaihua! Kaihua look for rival…broke weird lady’s toys. Now weird lady take free away, says Kaihua fight to make toy right! B…but, weird lady not like Kaihua fights”

The tiger lowered himself down to the floor, almost deflating as he realized his situation.

“Lost fight…last chance, so weird lady give Kaihua to rival…as fix for toy. Kaihua can’t run, weird lady eyes everyone, ears everywhere! Slave again, but different name! Kaihua’s pride gone under rival, now Kaihua not Kaihua…just pet.”

Kaihua laid his head down on his arms, still staring at the floor as he curled up into a ball. He knew what was coming, and suddenly his body felt like a bag full of heavy lead. All he wanted was to go to sleep and escape into a dream world and hide…even if it was just for a brief respite from the new reality he would find himself in soon.

Hathiya watched the small one carefully as he did....about what Hathiya said he can do (tell her his worries) which she was quite sure he didn't realize at the moment. Nonetheless, she sat quietly and listened to everything he was saying. Every word, every tear, she did not say a single word during all of it. Her eyes, their faint glow, kept peering at him from where she sat, her height making it feel like a tower was watching him.

Once he was finished and curled up, Hathiya gently sat up and stood straight, and walked up to the door.

Behind it, Cirkot had been watching through the cracks in the door, listening to everything. Hearing Hathiya's footsteps approaching the door caused Cirkot to quickly back away from the door. As Hathiya walked through the door, her eyes glanced over to him, and Cirkot's head tilted up and made eye contact. She didn't seem angry, or even disappointed, she just seemed stoic.

"Cirkot, please stay with him. I'll be right back. I'm going to talk to the weird lady and tell her and his rival to back off."

Cirkot's eye sockets widened. "Wait, wha-" but his statement was abruptly ignored with Hathiya walking down the corridor towards the direction he knew Eros' office was. Cirkot felt a weight drop in his stomach, his mouth slightly agape. He wasn't sure if this was going to end up in disaster, or maybe a miracle. Finding himself alone in the corridor, he just walked in and looked at Kaihua.

"Hathiya is the most unpredictable person in this whole building and I don't know if I should respect that or fear that."

The sudden rumble of the ground made Kaihua’s ears perk up! The sensitive feline ears trained towards Hathiya’s heavy footsteps as she seemed to silently retreat out of the room. The feline didn’t seem to react until it was revealed that the plant man had been listening in on their conversation. Kaihua hadn’t heard him at all, so it did come as a silent shock that Cirkot had managed to get the drop on him when he had such sound sensitive ears. But Kaihua already felt defeated, and seeing Cirkot accidentally stumble inside didn’t make him feel any better or worse. Kaihua’s eyes simply peeked up at Cirkot for a moment, before returning his head to his arm on the ground. Slowly, Kaihua curled up into a small ball onto the floor the way a housecat would when it was trying to get comfortable to sleep, but those sapphire blue eyes lost all of their light as they stared at the open door. The plant man stumbled in after Hathiya told him to, but aside from a glance Kaihua didn’t seem to pay him much mind.

After an awkward silence, the plant man seemed to try and assure Kaihua of Hathiya’s unpredictable capabilities…a word he didn’t truly understand. But seeing how the plan man had used it, assumed its meaning with a vague and mumbled answer.

“Plant man work for weird lady, yes? Weird lady treat you weird, so you think others weird. Plant man knows Nice lady is nice, so she do nice…Un-tree-lickable or no! But…Kaihua no want Nice Lady to get bad from Weird lady for helping Kaihua…”

Cirkot looked at Kaihua, his empty looking eye sockets staring at the young boy. He frankly now started feeling some tinge of sympathy for the boy due to his body language. The boy was clearly down in the dumps and feeling sad. He just seemed devoid, empty, exhausted. He remembered that the boy had a very rough life, and now the boy, for all his stupidity, seemed to be in some turmoil.

But he felt that things weren't going to get worse. A hunch told him, he wasn't sure why, but it was something he decided to rely on it.

Cirkot smiled weakly, saying, "Oh, don't worry, Hathiya always has a way." He looked away, shaking his head. "She always does. Sometimes, its just a bit of trust and faith needed."

After a while of waiting, the familiar rumbling of the shaking ground came. Cirkot looked up towards the big doors, and in squeezed in Hathiya. There was a big glow on her face of happiness. Cirkot stood up. "Wha...?"

Hathiya brought up one of her palms. Her big stony fingers held a piece of parchment. Cirkot squinted his eyes on it. His eyes widened, his mouth hanging agape.

".................................no way."

The steady, methodical rumble of the ground was the not so subtle giveaway that Hathiya had returned. A part of Kaihua wondered just why she went to see the weird lady, but the part that won out was ultimately the one that had concern for her. Despite her size and strength, the weird lady seemed to have a weird pull over other people that Kaihua couldn’t really describe. If he had to put it into words from his very limited dictionary, creepy would be what he thought suited the weird lady best. Hathiya was nice, but in the young felines' experience, those were the first ones to get eaten up by creepy people or things. If she didn’t know what she was doing, Kaihua feared that Hathiya could wind up just like him.

When Hathiya squeezed into the room, Kaihua’s head peeked up from his slouched posture. Worry was clear as day on his face, silently wondering if Hathiya had gotten hurt or in trouble because of him. The plant man seemed to share a similar concern, as both the boys stared at the Earthshaker, who finally cracked a smirk and unrolled what looked to be an electronic parchment. The plant man leaned in close, and seemed to understand what was on the paper, instantly looking shocked at what was written in front of his eyes. Unfortunately, Kaihua could not read very well, and he popped up on all fours and hurried over, worrying that something was wrong based on Cirkot’s reaction as he scanned the alien symbols on the parchment.

“What?!? Something happen Hathiya? What Weird lady do?!?”

Cirkots slack jaw hung silently, staring at the parchment. The parchment Hathiya neatly wrapped her hand back around and gently placed on a nearby table. She stood straight, before looking at Cirkot.

"Hathiya talked to the weird lady. She has let Kaihua go!"

"How did you do that."

"Kaihua!" Hathiya said with a big smile, "The weird lady and your rival no longer own you. In fact, now I am responsible for you. For now I am your guardian!" She brought both her hands up, cupping them, saying, "I had a difficult talk with the lady, but she has agreed to let me be your guardian and responsible for you. From now on, I will do my best to help you however I can!"

"How did you do that. How did you buy the contract. How did she let-" his jaw snapped back in place before rubbing his forehead, "No wait, you're Hathiya. Of course you pulled it off, you oversized Eros'...." with that Cirkot mumbled off small petty curses under his breathe.

But Hathiya didn't mind, as she looked at Kaihua. "So now, if you ever have troubles, I will be there to help." She crouched down to try to level with him on eye level, her small glowing eyes and sympathetic look looking into the boys soul.

Kaihua’s fear was clear as day on his face, his ears pulled back as he quietly panicked about what might be happening around him that was above his understanding. It was only when Hathiya’s smile lit up the entire room that the nervous feline finally relaxed a bit. In Kaihua’s limited experience, the only person that usually was smiling after seeing the weird lady was his rival. Someone as nice as Hathiya probably shouldn’t have a smile like that after dealing with a creepy person like that, and the plant man’s open jawed silence didn’t help Kaihua’s nerves. Kaihua expected the plant man to explain what was happening, but both of them were shocked by what Hathiya said.

Hathiya made the weird lady…let Kaihua go?

Neither of them could believe it. The plant man started to say something, but Hathiya almost seemed to ignore him and instead explain to Kaihua. Of all people, it was Hathiya that was responsible for him now! Not the weird lady or his rival. Somehow, Hathiya managed to stand across from the weird lady and her golden eyes and actually talk her way into getting Kaihua? Not even the plant man could believe it, Kaihua hearing him mutter under his breath his confused rambling. Kaihua figured the plant man knew the weird lady the best, so his confusion worried the tiger. Did Hathiya have to give up something to earn ownership of Kaihua?

The worry was resting clearly on the tiger's face. His limited education was what made him believe in superstitions and ghost stories, many of which were told by guards who described the weird lady and her numerous exploits of taiming nightmares and intimidating heroes from far away lands. Hathiya was big, strong, and kind…but he worried about what price could now be on her head just because she was kind enough to save him. Hathiya might want to help him…but who would help her?

“Hathiya…you…okay? Kaihua expensive! Weird Lady say so, and not want you money hurt. A-and…Kaihua…get in lot of trouble…not understand place, only cage.”

Kaihua didn’t know what to do, and despite everything his mind immediately began to move towards what was known. What was comfortable. The cage. He had grown up behind steel bars, seen most of the world through them and only came this far because of his desire to best his rival. Freedom was…something he didn’t truly understand, but if his freedom cost Hathiya her own, then he wasn’t sure he could take it.

“N…no home, either. Kaihua is…lots of trouble.”

His feelings were welling up in his chest as his bright blue eye began to burn with tears.

Hathiyas kind face gave a sad smile as she said, "Thank you for the worries, dear. But I wouldn't have you worry about me at all. It may seem worrying but I can take care of myself, that weird lady doesn't scare me at all. I wouldn't have pulled this off otherwise." With that she waved one hand, while saying, "Money is not a problem for me, it never was. And if you don't understand, that's why I am here. I would like to help teach you. I'll give you a home." Her sad smile turned into a beaming one. "You won't be trouble for me, I promise. You won't ever have to live in a cage again. I can show you why a cage is a very poor choice of bed. But you'll have to be a brave tiger." She said that last one with an almost motherly tone.

"Can you be a brave tiger? For what's coming, you will need to be the bravest you've ever been."

And while all this was going on, Cirkot was repeatedly slamming his head onto a wall, mumbling curses and confused words, trying to process what had just happened. He was not taking this well.

Cirkot’s crazed hammering seemed to be largely ignored by the tender duo that were in the center of the room. Only a pair of unseen eyes gave the plant man any attention as he seemed to try and hammer his own sanity back into his head. But the silent, hidden gaze would return to the touching scene unfolding before the hidden lens in the room. Hathiya was offering not just a home to Kaihua, but a friend and guide. It was probably more than anyone had ever given to the young tiger in his entire life, and yet he seemed hesitant. The phrase ”Too good to be true” was brought to Gaia from another realm, but held its truth in the mashed and mixed up world. Kaihua had been tricked before, but it appeared that he didn't distrust Hathiya. Rather, it was probably that hesitant part of himself that didn't want to build up hope for himself. As though he had built up some sort of wall that he himself couldn’t tear down…not easily at least.

Unaware of any eyes watching, Kaihua simply kept going around in circles in his head. For every positive he could come up with, his pessimistic side tore it down with twisted emotions and history. His subconscious wanted to protect himself from any more rejection, his history taught him that the world was simply cruel and merciless and that was just the way things were. He wanted to believe in Hathiya, and yet he was scared. There were so many What-If’s going through his head at that moment.

But when Kaihua looked up into Hathiya’s eyes, he could tell she was being honest. The young tiger knew his judge of character was bad, but it was precisely because of that he knew Hathiya was being honest…because he had never seen such a soft look before. Not from the weird lady, not from his owners, not even from the plant man. As scary as things were, he wouldn’t be alone anymore. Cold nights, hunger pains, scary dreams…all of those terrible things he’d done by himself. But would having someone there beside him make things easier? For someone to care for him…and for him to care back?

Slowly, Kaihua would reach his hand outward. His paw gently took one of Hathiya’s fingers as warm tears rolled down his cheeks. His chest felt clenched tight with his breaths turning into tight sobs as the tiger simply nodded his head at the Earthshaker’s question. He would be brave. He would push down his fears, and trust her…and hope she could trust him.

Hathiya gently took the young tigers hand, and she calmly placed her own giant hand over his, as she locked eyes with him, and bowed her head. She could see it in the boys eyes and face. And she could see it; hope. Her own eyes smiling, Hathiya's trunk lightly stretched forward to rub his head. She would keep to her promise. She will guide this boy robbed of a childhood to a better future. She will help him learn the world beyond cages. She will give him a hopeful future.

Cirkot meanwhile, found himself clammering out of the room, still a confused wreck. As he walked the way towards Eros' office, he just confusedly kept wondering HOW. HOW did she do that.

Did Hathiya pull off some mind trick? Did Eros let her? She couldn't have. No way. There has to be some catch here. It couldn't have been so simple. Whatever the case, Cirkot eventually reached Eros' office, and swung the door open gently to walk in.