Two yellow lights shown through the darkness. They seemed as if they were growing and never were to stop. But then they did stop. And were silent. There was no movement through the black canvas around her as she slouched down, ready to strike at any moment. She was in fear. Fear of everything. Yet the scene around her was calm and serene. She heard the water ripple in the small pond-like puddle next to her as it broke the silence. But there were no other creatures of the forest to be heard; even she wouldn't dare to make a sound.


Something wet dropped onto her elaborate-patterned fur and she took a startled step forward, closer to the beaming lights ahead. She quickly averted her eyes away from the brightness back to the dark to smell what had fallen onto her pelt. She sniffed and tasted it quickly with a stroke of her tongue to find it was only water. Another droplet daintily descended onto her back, but this time, did not panic as before. She turned her attention back to the yellow color in front of her.
She faintly heard the sound of something click into place and pricked her ears toward the noise. She had never heard anything like it before. Yet she assumed the noise led to malice. She crouched down lower, her belly fur brushing against the damp ground as her coat became cold from the water plunging down from above. A storm was on its way.


Her paws cramped and ached from the suspense she had been waiting in as a soft rustling came her way. A deep growl escaped her throat as warning to stay away. Her instincts told her to kill. But she was not sure whether to follow them or not. She was timorous; the fear couldn't escape her and she couldn't escape the fear back.


"Shhhhh." She heard a mumble come from her anterior and hissed. Yet the rustling footsteps continued on.


"Isn't she a beauty?" A creature told the other. She didn't hear a response. She couldn't understand. Suddenly a bright flash broke out of the darkness and the tigress retaliated and swiped at the light, her nostrils flaring and claws exposed.
She heard a cry of pain and what seemed like a growl, but before she could attack further, she felt a sharp prick in her shoulder.


"John, what the hell were you thinking?" The world around her became a blur as the yellow lights faded into nothing and she let out a conquered sigh before stumbling to the ground. Her ears twitched before settling to the back sides of her head and her eyes closed gently as her frantic heart beat slowed down to an even, lethargic, quiet rhythm.


The two creatures came out from hiding behind the twisted trees into the faint light produced by their transportation. "I'm sorry! I just wanted a photograph!"


"You almost got us killed!" The creature named John looked crumbled and afraid as the other looked dominating. But neither presented as a true threat. "Would you help me here?" The superior creature said once more and the sorrowful one nodded as they lifted the tigress into their arms and carried her through the thickening rain.


A truck was waiting at the source of the yellow lights and a blanket was laid down in the back of it, now soaked. The creatures carefully placed her onto the grey woven fabric and sat down in the truck. A load rumble could be heard as the engine roared to life, addressing its dominance to the forest. Its heavy wheels began to turn and roll through the mud on the ground as it carried the sleeping tigress away to a land very foreign to her.


She was far from her home in the Aravalli Range.



Her eyes made their way open slowly to the sunlight beaming down on her face. A yawn rolled of her tongue as her jaw opened wide before she snapped up to evaluate her surroundings. She was in some kind of a box, but the top was open. And there were thin bars all around her to prevent her from escaping. It was a small pen to keep her hostage. The hair on her back prickled and stood straight on end as she let out a petrified hiss with huge, amber eyes.


A creature made his way over to the striped cat and let out a gentle coo to soothe her. She loosened her hostile stance slightly, but still kept her form. It was a man who seemed to have hairy limbs reaching for her. Nervous for her life, she cowered back into the corner of the pen. The walls were too high for her to escape. The man crouched to his knees a shown his brilliant, white teeth at her. The tigress sought that as a threat and leapt forward with great force only to smash against the bars in pain. The man made a displeased face at her.


"You can't do that, young cat. But there's no need to learn now." He straightened his legs and wiped off his clothing. "You won't be here long." He shown his teeth once more with curved lips before sauntering away to communicate with others. After a couple gestures with their paws, the unfamiliar creatures to the tigress returned to her and proved to be courteous as a hand slipped through the bars to throw in a piece of meat. She sniffed it for a long moment before allowing her tongue a taste of the specimen. Rabbit. She decided it was safe to eat and scarfed it up in only a few minutes. The tigress hadn't realized how hungry she had been and her tail swayed in content.


She looked up at the two men with her amber eyes, electric, and they stared back down at her with a soft gaze. "Don't worry girl. You just need a little patching up. That's all." She hadn't known what they meant, but it didn't matter. Even if she was petrified of this new place, she felt safe and protected. These new creatures would protect her. Or at least she hoped.


"Say, John, I think she needs a name doesn't she?" The fair-skinned man looked to the darker one.


"Of course," He paused for a bit to decide between his choices and finally said, "Rani. Her name is Rani."


The tigress purred in satisfaction of a name, understanding that she had something to be called. She found more comfort in this than when she had first woken up in the metal pen. Even though her whole world was taken away from her, she was cast into a newer, beautiful one. Or at least she would be.


"Hello Rani," said the light one. "Welcome to the sanctuary of Rajasthan." He showed his white teeth at her once more in an upward grin and she nodded her head in response.


"You are safe, my friend." The one called John said in return.


The door of the metal pen opened, but no hand reached in for fear of a bite. Rani peeked under her eyelashes to see that the two men creatures were going to let her go. She took a step out though, and was abruptly stopped by a rope lashed around her neck. One the creatures had thrown it on her as she exited the pen and she felt the splintering threads rub against her fur in an irritating way. It burned as they tugged lightly at the rope. The tigress hesitantly moved in the direction of the pulling and was led to a large room made out of some type of grey stone.


The darker man moved closer to Rani and she growled softly, but he did not listen nor back away. He kept coming as the other man told her it was alright.


“You cut your paw, dear Rani,” he told her as if she could understand his nonsensical babbling. “We just need to wrap it.”


Her instincts told her there was no immediate danger and she permitted the man, John, to lift her paw slowly and wrap a warm, soft, white cloth around the pad of her paw, which stung and felt raw. The man knotted the cloth tight and placed her paw gently back on the ground, allowing Rani to lick it and investigate. She sniffed the cloth and found no peculiar scent on it and thus ignored the wrap. Besides, the fuzzy sensation felt lovely on her burning pad compared to the bristles of the rope digging into the scruff of her neck. She bobbed her head from side to side as if to tell the men to take it away. They did not at first, not noticing of her movements, but soon complied after she followed them to a wooden door.


The door was large and burgundy colored, yet it looked worn down,
scratched, and faded. There were gouges at the corners of the doors and the hinges seemed as if they would fall off at any given moment. Scratches only marked the near-bottom of the wood as four-legged animals had made them. The man named John reached forward with a slender hand to the golden knob of the door and twisted it slowly. The door pushed open to reveal a blast of sunlight into the men and Rani’s faces. She squinted for a moment before taking in the environment surrounding her. She looked to the men cheekily and they gave her a nod, allowing her to leave their company. She padded outside to feel the warm, grass prickle against her toes with their green and brown color, and the companion of dirt, which taunted her to come closer and play. The long blades rolled in the breeze that ruffled the dark stripes on Rani’s vibrant, tangerine coat. The grass poked fun to her pelt and encouraged her to tread further into the sanctuary.


The sun beat down on Rani and she soaked up the rays as she continued forward in pursuit to study her new home. She heard a deep rumble from the throat of another creature and cautiously turned her head to the side to gaze at the peering eyes through the tall, dry grass. A quick tremor shook her before she gained the valor to snarl back. The prowling eyes slowly ascended out of the grass to reveal a striped face looking back at Rani.


His deep russet eyes matched his pelt, which was a dark chestnut and black patterned fur compared to the light coat of Rani. His ears were also black, rather than left untouched by the night color. She noticed something blue around his neck which had the clear letters of RAJA printed into the leather. Rani looked up to the tiger’s eye from the collar and let out a long-awaited purr. He paced forwards in faithful response.