Prologue: Tiger Clan-Awakening the Beasts
As father stared at mom in bemused wonder, he suddenly felt this loud roar coming inside his head. Not unlike a headache pounding in defiance, he closed his eyes only to hear a deep rumble asking, Why are you not speaking to our mate? She was crafted by the goddess for US Ashton!. Can you not feel it!
"Huh"
It is I Zeek and I demand you to say hello to MY Elspeth so we may woo her and thank her for awakening me from my long slumber.
"I don't know how to do that in this form..."
Suddenly, Ashton was on the ground on all fours naked to this lovely woman as she chuckled in amusement at Zeeks' hasty retreat.
"Here" as Elspeth wraps her purple robe around Ashton's highly toned body she brushes along his ear, eliciting the most wonderous buzzing sparkle that sends ripples all through her body, making her shudder.
"I am so sorry I have no clue what you have done to me, but the Bengal Zeek has insisted I greet you properly and ask if you would enjoy a tour of the Tiger Clans' humble village."
"I would love that, but it will have to wait till after we have our gathering tonight. The Forest tells me we must complete our greetings for your tribe to awaken your long-lost soles that have been trapped for the past several hundred years."
With that, Tango decided to flick a robe off his humans chair and effortlessly shift leaving the robe to fall perfectly over Grandfather's shoulders so he wasn't left bare to his people.
"Alright Tiger clan let us meet in the community potluck tent. It is the only place that can house all 300 clan members. We are a small clan, but it appears the Gods have chosen us to be the first clan made whole. I have always had faith we would earn our beasts' souls back. I am humbled and honored to have been alive to participate."
....................
"wa...wa.wait a min! Penny Why are you telling us this part? This doesnt have anything to do with mom and dad's love story!"
"Oh but it does Wyatt. Everything happened on that day. They were the first to feel their bonds, but it took the Awakening to make them understand what they were feeling. You forget they had never met as mates till this day." Penny said with a mischievous smirk. "Now where was I?...... Ahh yes"
..............
As Tiger clan lined up inside the potluck tent, Elspeth walked to the prayer podium and waited for all to be seated and comfortable voicing a silent prayer to the ceiling..
"Please lord guide me through this and speak the needed words. I fear I will not remember correctly from your dream realm"
You shall do wonderful, my daughter. Angels DO NOT forget.
It always startled Elspeth when the Gods spoke to her, but this time felt more like an answer to her fear.
"My name is Elspeth, I am an earth witch that specializes in animals. It has been assigned by the gods of our planet that I bless each of you today in soul binding so that you may connect with your animal souls. All the Gods have chosen Tiger Clan due to your tribes' intense belief that you would be rewarded for keeping your ancient history close to you. Each leader has kept up your spirit animals traditions and honored all you could without the guidance of your spirit animals to guide you. As such, let us all bow our heads and give thanks to your God so that He may help me guide your spirits to you. You must repeat this word for word, or we will have to start over. Make sure you state your full name when I tell you to.
Heavenly father of Tiger clan, I Elspeth of Earth City, with Tiger clan, state your names loudly, and ask you to release Tiger clans' spirit animals to their rightful owners when each member of the clan states their family name followed by their given names.
After all 300 clan members were done reciting their family names, a calm settled in the tent that was almost eerie in nature. A dense heavy fog then developed, and each member gasped at the realization the fog was a mist and that mist was dissipating into each member slowly, causing everyone to then speak to those around them believing their comrades and family were talking to them.
Grandfather raised his hand and demanded silence, then asked us to line up to shake Elspeth's hand in thanks. This was the day Tiger clan started to learn how to mind link with their spirit half. As the line dwindled and only the royal family was left alone, Elspeth then chose to greet her new family with love she never knew she was capable of till that day.
..........
Now, as my siblings started to hang on my every word, I knew they were wondering about the idea that love was different before spirit animals came to be. It had been 20yrs since my parents came to be wed. It didn't take long for myself and the rest to be born. It was joked that mom was pregnant for the first 10yrs of their marriage. After seven children and 3 miscarriages, we all managed to be born similar to Irish Twins, with only the last 3 of us being triplets born at 32 weeks old.
It was the start of the baby boom decade for the Tiger clan as nearly everyone found their soulmates and fertility increased for all the women. Within that decade, we went from only 300 residents to nearly 600. 50 new mates from neighboring tribes and the rest were children from everyone of child bearing age and married. Only in the most recent decade did we start to slow down and stall with our population growth.
"Penny, will you find your soulmate when you come of age?"
"I don't know Seth. I am only turning 21, so while I must go through mothers' ritual for witches, it doesn't mean I can't find my mate today. The mate bonds our spirits have been so strong that we can sense them at puberty. Once I turned 16, I could feel the tug that wanted to lead me to my husband. I just have had something else holding me back from searching. Mother says it's our witching side needing to mature and my bond to the coven/tribe needing cemented before I can follow my heart."
As Seth frowned, contemplating my words, I could see the angst in his mind.
"Brother, what is it,"
"Well, we know that mom and dad were fated to change the clan for growth. We have been blessed with our animals and can shift, but I don't understand why that stopped with only our clan? Even those that have since joined us while feeling the mate bond don't have their spirit animals. Do you think it will ever be granted again? What if my mate never gets to shift with me, or our children get stuck with that passive gene making them stuck in limbo like their mother? What...."
I cut him off abruptly. "Seth! Calm down, your Bengal has got you stressing again. It is our duty to unite the 10 kingdoms of Pangea so that we can once again flourish like our ancestors did. I know mother doesn't talk to us about it much, but this is OUR destiny, not our parents, to awaken the rest of the animal spirits of the world. Mom was blessed with the ability to start where it was most deserved. The lost connection to our spirit animals and our bonds was the supernatural punishment for attempting to destroy humanity. Our mate bonds were growing and only when we started to branch out was it time to pass on our gifts. Just you wait and see!" I said reassuringly to him with a wink.
My youngest sister, now about 10yrs old, looks at me in bewilderment and asks "How will we know when it's time for us to awaken a clan?"
"Good question, I do not know and will find out in the morning at the ceremony! It could be all of us or just one of our duties." I sat and ruffled her head and lifted the covers up to her chin.
After my little sister, I moved to the other siblings and gave each some sort of goodnight and turned out the lights as I heard a protest from the youngest.
"But you didn't finish the story, Penny! You left us hanging with the love bond, not explaining why it was so easily recognized?"
"That was the story, not the exact events, goober. Now rest, we have a big day tomorrow!"
With that, I left the bunkhouse of my siblings and moved to the adult quarters I received on my 18th birthday, signifying my place as a productive adult in the Tiger clan as Princess Penelope May Bengalì. My parents, Elspeth and Ashton Bengali, were rising stars in the Animal Kingdoms, which meant my 21st birthday was the beginning of a new era and Elspeth needed me to be ready.
As I contemplated everything that could go wrong, I decided it wouldn't matter now if I didn't get enough sleep to make it through the sacred ceremony. I sighed and plopped onto my queen-sized bed and strangely started to drift to sleep as I struggled to get into my PJs......
