((First in a long series of origin pieces and continuing RP for Rowr!))
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
-Wm Blake
Once upon a time, in the deep forests of Nepal, there lived a large adult female tiger. This particular tigress had given birth not too long ago to two tumbling, raucous tiger cubs, a male and a female. The small family made their home underneath a large tree, inside a small hollow that had been carved out by nature over the years. It was a happy time for them. The mother tiger spent the day resting in the shade while keeping a close eye on her two offspring. The cubs spent their day wrestling and playing with each other. Sure, it may be considered playtime for the casual observer, but for them, play is how they learned the skills needed to survive in the wild. Wrestling, stalking, determining their opponent's weak points, all crucial skills to learn. The cubs couldn't, and wouldn't, hurt each other of course, so for now squeals of fun filled the air around their home.
Little known to them, however, was the fact that a tiger's hide would fetch a fair price on the human market. And of course, where there was money to be made, humans would find ways to make it. This brought many hunters to the forests and jungles, who searched for the pelts of wild and valuable animals. Tigers, mynx's, bears, you name it, it was hunted. The animals of course did their best to keep away from these two footed apes that overpowered them in sheer numbers, and used loud 'thunder sticks' that hurt and killed. It didn't take long for the denizens of the forests to figure out that if a human was sighted, it was probably best to run in the other direction and hide, and hope you weren't tracked down.
Of course there was safety in numbers, so many animals stuck together in packs just for their own protection. Unfortunately, humans were clever creatures, and quickly figured out to prey on the weak, old, and slow. If you couldn't keep up with the pack when it came time to run, you became a victim, it was that simple.
Tigers, however, are solitary animals. Except for cubs being reared by a mother, being in packs only served to increase instances of fighting amongst themselves, mostly over territory and prey. So, being that tigers hides are considered by humans to be very valuable, and the fact that they were often found alone made them very tempting targets for human hunters. Tigers were smart though, the ones who sighted a human did not go out of their way to attack or provoke, just merely moved along minding their own business. Humans are quite the opposite. When a tiger was spotted, alarms were signalled and many more humans came out of the forests to surround the creature. By this time it was often too late for the tiger to fight back, but they did defend themselves as best they could. More times than not the tiger would manage to kill a few of the human hunters before being brought down in hails of gunfire and knives. The humans had to be careful on the kill as well, so as not to damage that all-important hide, the reason they came to the forests in the first place.
