The tiger boy woke up a few hours later. Evy and Almathea were still fast asleep and the sun had not yet risen on the horizon. He stood on his knees, sniffing the air. There was something that smelled good in the direction of the wooden box a few feet away from him. The smell was the one that brought him to the direction of the duo the previous night. He crawled off towards the box.
As he crawled, fur began to sprout from his body and his mouth elongated into a snout with very sharp teeth. It was almost as if he did not notice the changes since he just continued to walk towards the cart. Even when only half of his body had morphed into his beast form, he continued to move to the smell.
By the time he arrived at the box, he was already in his animal form. His fur was a light gray color and his eyes were a bright yellow. The two girls from the previous day were laying huddled close together. He climbed up onto the box and continued to sniff for the delicious smell.
The smell was on both girls. However, when he went to cuddle closer to the taller girl, it became fainter. It was stronger on the dark-skinned girl.
Excited he had found the source of the smell, he cuddled close to her, soaking in the smell. A few minutes later, however, a small rumble was heard in the girl's stomach.
He recognized that sound. Without disturbing her sleep, he moved away and jumped off of the cart. He looked back at the box a few more times before disappearing into the woods.
.
Almathea and Evy woke up a few hours after the tiger boy. Evy looked to the spot where the boy had been sleeping and did not find anyone. She frowned, "Thea, where did the boy go to?"
Still sleepy, Almathea yawned and rubbed her eyes, mumbling something incomprehensible underneath her breath. Evy poked her, "Don't go back to sleep. We should go on forward. There must be a village up ahead. Maybe we can find someplace to stay while we are there."
Almathea groaned and dragged herself out of the cart. "I am awake." She mumbled as she dragged her feet towards the fire. Evy shook her head at the actions.
As they usually did, Evy searched for some plants to cook up while Almathea packed up their small number of items back into the bag. Almathea was slower than Evy, so by the time the latter was finishing up with the meal, Almathea was only halfway done with packing.
Evy sighed, "Goodness. Are you still asleep Thea?"
Almathea shook her head, "I can see two versions of you. Does that mean I'm asleep?"
Evy was tempted to facepalm. She helped Almathea pack her things before they began to eat. After she was sure Thea was awake, she poked her, "Hey, where do you think the tiger boy went?"
Almathea shrugged, "Maybe back to his family?"
Evy shook her head, her hand stopping halfway to her mouth, "I don't think he has a family?"
"Why?"
"Just a hunch. Oh well, wherever he is, I hope he is fine."
They finished their meal and were ready to go out of the forest and back to the path. Almathea had strapped the donkey back to the cart when they heard a whimper. Almathea turned to the sound and noticed the snout that was peeking through the bushes once more. This time, there was a dead rabbit in front of the snout.
Evy also turned to look at the rabbit and tiger's snout. "The tiger boy is back." She whispered to Almathea."
Almathea nodded, "It is."
This time, Evy did not pull out a knife to kill the tiger. She turned to Almathea, "Since it is alright, let us leave."
Almathea continued to pull on the reigns of the donkey, making them a little bit tighter. Evy picked up the little things that they had left around their makeshift camp and returned them back to the cart. As she was doing this, the tiger picked up the rabbit's meat and placed it before her.
Immediately after it did, it retreated back into the bushes, peeking ever so slightly. Evy was a little confused by its actions.
However, she did not pick up the meat but continued to pick up their dishes.
On noticing the sweet-smelling girl was not picking up the meat and that she had gone past it, the tiger frowned and moved out of the bushes.
Like before, it picked up the meat and placed it before Evy's feet.
Evy looked a little lost as she looked at the meat. "I think he wants you to have it."
Evy looked down at the tiger, pointing to herself. "For me?"
As if understanding what she was trying to say, the tiger boy bobbed his head up and down, pushing the meat towards Evy once more.
Evy looked a little lost, "But what about you? What are you going to eat?"
The boy tiger did not answer her this time. He cocked his head as if confused by what she was saying. Thinking that Evy was going to ignore his meat once more, he pushed the meat to her again.
Evy shot a look to Almathea. "We can stay a little longer if you want."
Evy gave her a grateful look and immediately started another small fire to roast the meat over. It was too small for all of them to share, so she took off a piece for Almathea, another for herself, and gave the rest to the tiger boy.
He looked at the meat, and at Evy and Almathea who had begun to eat. He felt that something was off. Without moving from the position he had been obediently seated in, his body began to morph back into his human form once more.
He followed the way the two girls were eating, picking up the meat with his hands and shoving it into his mouth. The girls immediately turned red, and Thea covered him using the cloak that was tied around her neck.
The tiger boy was confused by her actions but did not pull the cloak off of his body. He looked questioningly at the meat that was in front of him.
Almathea and Evy shared a confused look. Why had he morphed back into his human form all of a sudden? The question remained unanswered as the boy did not even speak a word to them, concentrating on the meat that smelled a little like the dark-skinned girl.
He felt that it was the most delicious meal he had had in all of his life. Tears began to drip down his cheeks and he looked down, his face became covered by his hair.