RP: A Tiger's Stripes

[SacredCyan]

"Oh um, is everything ok? Are you cold? Hungry? Thirsty? Did I do something?" Lee-Jay worried, kneeling down to Tyber's height, his tail swishing out behind him as his eyes reflected a want to make the kid before him happy, perhaps make a new friend.

[Dadison]

"Children, children, calm down." Dadison walked up to them. "No need to be afraid, my good fellow," Dadison said, being as weird as possible, "you'll be okay, we come in peace." Dadison held his hand out to get a handshake from Tyber.


(I'm gunna have to sleep guys, I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow.)

[SacredCyan]

The tiger chuckled, paws in his shorts pockets, tilting his head at Tyber with a smile on his lips.

[Romulan_Furry]

(Uh, Tyber's not that short.)

Tyber closed his eyes, visibly shuddering, his hands drifting toward the training rods on his back.

"Hey, freak!" shouted another boy. A lupine and two canines approached Tyber, Dadison and Lee-Jay. Tyber never turned to face them, instead looking Lee-Jay in the eye. His eyes said what he never voiced:

Get clear.

[SacredCyan]

(Sorry  )

Lee-Jay jumped back, very confused as to what was going on, looking to these three boys approaching and resisting the urge to growl deep in his throat like his instincts screamed at him to do. "H-hey, look... t-this is private property and you three need to l-leave right now or I'll... c-call the cops!" he spoke, nervousness evident in his voice. He never had really encountered confrontation, and being the naïve boy he was, he didn't think people could really be mean to eachother. His ears went down, ready to either run or fight.

[Romulan_Furry]

"Shut it, whimp!" The lupine snarled. "We're here for the freak!"

Tyber's hands firmly grasped the grips of his training rods. "You'd be wise to leave this area. Right. Now," he growled, his voice having a dragon-like thrum to it.

"And who's gonna make us, tenderfoot? You?" one of the canines laughed.

"If needs be," Tyber responded. In a raspy, thrumming, threatening voice, he hissed, "Leave now or face me."

"Was that an ultimatum?" the Lupine chuckled. "I love ultimatums. Here's mine - either go home or we break bones."

Tyber, still looking at Lee-Jay and Dadison, closed his eyes. "So be it." When he opened them again, the crimson in his dragon eyes seemed to glow. He drew the training rods, rounded on his three assailants, and engaged. Trying to fight Tyber was like trying to grapple with a shadow - he was a blur, whirling and smacking the boys' arms and sweeping their legs from under them. In seconds, all three boys were on the ground groaning. Tyber stood among them, his wooden rods held in his combat stance, with the right-hand blade held crossing above his head, and the left-hand blade crossing the right side of his ribs. He twirled the rods and sheathed them, walked away. "Bad enough you challenged a dragon-shifter - worse still, you snarled at someone who merely told you to leave. Accost us again, and you will learn there are worse things than a 'freak' like me." The lupine looked confused, but got up and left. Tyber turned his attention to Lee-Jay and Dadison, the glow in his eyes gone. "I'm... sorry you had to see that. I was unaware Chet was in this neighborhood. Punk's had me singled out for some time, but never tried to pick a fight with me. Seems dad was right."

[SacredCyan]

The brunette tiger stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide for a good ten seconds before blinking "I... I... wow. I can't believe you just did that. It was really cool, and... I knew there was something special about you, Ty. I'm sorry I couldn't help, not to say that you couldn't handle things yourself, I'm not used to confrontations. I would have helped... if I wasn't so much of a coward," he spoke, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Did you two um, want something to drink? I think I've got some cola cans in the fridge if you want, and the AC's on if you two want to go inside" he insisted, finishing off the water in his water bottle.

[Romulan_Furry]

"Ty?" Tyber chuckled. "Well, at least you don't see me as a freak." He paused, then asked, "Perhaps you should know why Chet calls me freak. Ever seen a dragon before?"

(Likely gonna be my last post of the night - got places to be tomorrow. Assuming insomnia doesn't take hold. Again.)

[SacredCyan]

(It's alright, and I hate time differences. It's only 2:14 pm over here in Australia. Get some rest and see you when I see you. I might be away tomorrow or not, I'll message you if I'm available. )

"No, I... not really, a-are you a dragon?" Lee-Jay asked, his attention on Tyber, folding his arms and watching with interest.

[Romulan_Furry]

"Yes, I am," Tyber said. "Well, a dragon-shifter, technically. Here... let me show you." Tyber, in a brief flash of light blunted by a puff of smoke, shifted to his dragon form - an emerald-scaled dragon, but his crimson dragon eyes remained the same. Even so, he was small, for a dragon, and very young-looking - his horns were barely visible. "The one thing that stays the same about a dragon-shifter, no matter which form he's in, is the eyes. That's the key to telling a dragon-shifter apart from anyone else." Tyber walked closer to Lee-Jay. "This... isn't scary, is it?"

[SacredCyan]

"A-a-a little b-bit, yes..." the tiger spoke stiffly, standing nervously as he gazed upon the emerald scaled dragon. With a small shiver, he took in a deep breath for courage and cracked a smile "Want some s-soda? I hardly drink it myself," he spoke, very much scared but... very interested, and excited to have made an extraordinary friend.

[Romulan_Furry]

Tyber shifted back to his normal form and shrugged. "As long as it's not root beer or Doctor Pepper," he said. "Is it cola or pepsi?"

Just as Tyber asked this, the sound of ion engines firing sounded in the sky, and a fighter craft appeared rising from behind a somewhat distant house (https://s25.postimg.org/rt3ncbp2n/JX_70_Advanced_Assault_Fighter.png). Tyber raised an eyebrow and commented, "Hnh... transporters aboard the Dragoon must be down for maintenance again. Could have sworn dad said they finished this morning." The ion engines roared, and the craft shot into the sky.

[Dadison]

(Okay, wow I have a lot to catch up on)
Dadison, coming back from using the bathroom, sensed something had happened while he was gone. He sniffed the air, and walked over to the two kids he was with before. For some reason, he was holding a strawberry ice cream cone.
"Sorry, had to use the bathroom really quick. Did I miss something?"

[SacredCyan]

"It's Pepsi," Lee-Jay spoke, stretching and walking to the front door and holding it open. He looked to Tyber and chuckled "You might want to change back to fit through my door, buddy" he said with a friendly smile, warming up to Tyber and becoming a little less afraid.

[Romulan_Furry]

(He did. His "normal" form is that of his human self with the lion tail.)

"Thank you, uh... Lee-Jay, was it? Names can be problematic for me to remember, but faces I remember easier," Tyber responded. He cast one last glance at the sky, then walked in side. Just as he did, his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, frowned on seeing the caller ID, then answered it. "Hello?"

A female voice could be faintly be heard asking, "Tyber? Where are you?"

"I'm at Lee-Jay's house," Tyber responded.

There was a pause before the voice continued, "Well, your father and I are heading out on assignment - minor mission, we'll be back late tonight, early tomorrow morning. Dinner's in the oven, don't stay out too long. Tell your friend you have to be back at the house by eight."

"Will do, mom - Tyber out," Tyber said. He hung up and shrugged. "Mom says I have to be back at the house by eight tonight. Not a problem, right?"