The male then joins his mate, but they don't leave like I was expecting them to. Instead, the female picks up one of her cubs by the neck and carries it over to me. It is the smallest of the six, the runt of the litter, so it has the lowest chance of survival.

Just as I am wondering what she is up to, the female tiger stops before me and drops the cub in my arms. The cub gives out an adorable little growl and tries to bite my arm as I hold it. By the time I get over my surprise and look up, the tigers and their cubs are gone.

Brightfire says "It looks like she wanted you to have this cub!"

"Why would she do that? He, no sorry, she is cute, but why give her to me?"

Brightfire says "Probably to thank you for your help. And at the same time increase the cubs chances of survival."

"Well, when you meet the girls, you get to be my witness!"

Brightfire says "Your witness for what?"

"That adopting this kid was totally not my fault!"

Brightfire says "Why would you need a witness for that?"

Sitting down with the tiger cub in my lap I start feeding her and as I do I tell Brightfire about my kids. When she hears the stories of all my kids and how they ended up with me she starts laughing. Meanwhile, the tiger cub eats until her belly is about to explode and falls asleep in my lap.

Brightfire says "When we reach your home I really hope I can meet all your kids!"

"Oh, I am sure you will! But I am not sure if I am keeping this one."

Brightfire says "You can't abandon her! She won't survive without someone taking care of her!"

"That's not what I meant. I am not about to abandon her! I was just thinking that when I get back I might give her to someone."

Brightfire says "Oh. That's different! Who are you going to give her to?"

"There is a fire elemental in my group called Ruby. Since this tiger cub is a fire beast I thought it would be a good match."

Brightfire says "Maybe, but there is a problem. By the time you get back months will have passed. The cub will have grown attached to you well before then!"

"Yeah, you are probably right."

Brightfire says "It might have already happened! This is probably the first time she has ever had a full belly!"

"That is entirely possible. I guess we will find out when she wakes up."

Brightfire says "So, should we keep exploring?"

"It is getting late, let's find a place to camp. We can continue exploring in the morning."

Brightfire says "Okay!"

It doesn't take too long before we find a cluster of trees close together. It is basically a wooden cave, but as long as it doesn't rain it will make a decent camp. When Brightfire and I are eating dinner the tiger cub wakes up and eats some more.

She stuffs herself again and almost instantly falls back asleep, she even starts purring. Once we are done eating, Brightfire goes to sleep, while I meditate with the cub in my lap. In the morning the cub wakes up hyper and runs all over the place while I watch and smile.

After a few minutes the noise wakes up Brightfire and we all have breakfast. This time the cub eats normally so I don't have to worry about limiting her food. She sits in my lap while she eats and she constantly checks on me to make sure I haven't moved.

Brightfire says "Well, I think that answers our question."

"Yeah, it looks like I have another kid! Which means I should probably name her."

'I used Lion King for naming Haku, should I stick with that? Besides, the only tiger I can think of is from Jungle Book, and Shere Khan doesn't suit a female.'

Brightfire says "Why do you look so serious?"

While I am thinking about what to name the cub, I tell Brightfire about naming. She doesn't seem to believe me, so I tell her about naming my other kids. The whole time I am struggling to remember the name of Simba's girlfriend and it finally comes to me.

"If you don't believe me, then just watch."

Brightfire says "Okay?"

"Little one, come here. I am going to name you Nala!"

The normal flash of golden light appears and Brightfire's mouth drops open in shock. Nala seems excited by the experience and once it is over jumps on me to lick my face. With her head being so close it is easy to notice that her horn has developed a little.

Brightfire says "Wow! I'm sorry for doubting you!"

"No worries. But don't ask me to explain how it works, I don't know."

Brightfire says "Is this something anyone can do?"

"As far as I know, yes. As long as you have enough power to supply it."

We pack up and go back to exploring the jungle, with Nala running along at my side. She obediently stays close to me so that I can protect her and any time I stop she presses herself against my leg. Luckily, she doesn't do the cat thing of trying to twine between my legs and try to trip me.

Not long after we move out we come across a small clearing with more beasts. These look similar to horses except they have six legs and their manes and tails are made of flames. They notice us immediately, but they don't react to us other than keeping an eye on us.

I scan all of them but when I don't find any ready to evolve I lead the way around the clearing. While I would love to catch them and tame them as mounts, I have no way to take them with us. Horses don't do well on ships, especially for long voyages, and I would need a lot of them.

As we continue on I spot a number of strange small animals, but all of them seem to be fire based. That makes me think that the volcano is the reason for the mana rich environment. So as we explore the jungle I direct our path towards the volcano and the closer we get the more sure I am.

The mana just keeps getting richer and richer as we get closer to the volcano. There is definitely something interesting about this volcano, I just hope I can get to it. The closer to the volcano we get the more beasts I see, I even spot more tigers.

However, none of them are the pair that I got Nala from, so I ignore them. The terrain starts rising and soon the jungle ends as we reach the slopes of the volcano. The air here is practically dancing with fire mana, it is too bad that Ruby isn't here with me.

Ruby would probably be able to become more powerful just by being here for a while. Since she isn't here I will have to be fairly careful, after all I am not immune to fire. I could use the drake form, but that is going to have to be a last resort.