"An elf, four humans and a vampire... no, a Dhampir. All on a black and white Tiger. How peculiar."

The elderly woman smiled gently but I kept my guard up as I laid down, letting the kids slide down off my soaked fur. I took a good look at the cabin. It was made of a dark brown wood, spruce maybe, and it was arranged such that the walls were cylindrical logs side by side. Despite the fact that I thought water would seep in through there, I realized there was no gap in between each. It was quite peculiar. The windows were sparse in the front, one to the left of the door that wasn't that large but my view of large and small was twisted. it was about the size of one of the kids whom I guesstimated to be a meter or so tall.

I saw the elf kid was about to speak when the woman spoke.

"Now kids, we should get food before we speak about things."

The woman led them inside and I got anxious, 'What if... wait, why do I care? I've not known them for long, is this a side-effect of coming back? It's an annoying one if so. Unnecessarily caring for people is a horrible flaw. If I did it for someone arrogant and stronger than me, I might spell my demise if they're offended.'

I laid down and was waiting, enjoying the feel of the rain when they all came out of the cabin. Two of the humans carried a table while the elf and the other two humans carried a...

'Is that a kiddie pool???'

They were carrying an inflatable kiddie pool. The woman was carrying the dhampir kid. They set it up under a dry part of the balcony as they pumped it up before closing the bit you use to stop air coming out. Then, the three ran in and brought out... milk bottles???

'What in the hell?'

They filled up the pool slowly as one of them kept getting bottles and two of them kept emptying them into the pool. Once they were done, they brought food out to the table they set up, along with what looked and smelled like hot chocolate. I then saw the elderly woman meet my gaze and gesture towards the pool. It took a second, but I realized what it was for and laughed. Well, if multiple low growls can count as a laugh. I moved over to the pool and, just like a cat, drank the milk.

My beast side of me told me it was good, my intelligent side of me agreed.

I took a glance once or twice in envy at the table, not at the chocolate pie or the vanilla cake, not the cheesecake nor the vegetable stews. No, I was annoyed that I couldn't eat the pizza. The tantalising smell and the look of the melty cheese almost made me give up on staying here altogether.

Once we'd all finished, myself having stared at the empty pizza box begrudgingly, the woman began speaking.

Aegis_Of_The_Void

Red is Liona, Green is Ka'er, Blue is Iraes, Yellow for Fin (I am in Dark mode, give me a break. You light mode people are insane.), Pink for Quola and aqua/light blue for Peppermint. Just default for the protag and narration.

"Well, to start with, may I ask your names? Mine is Liona."

"Se Ka'er, the baby is Mi-sol'er."

"I'm Iraes. Thanks for the food."

"Fin."

"Quola, it's a pleasure."

"Peppermint, love the food!"

"May I ask why you all are here? I don't get many visitors after all."

"Well, technically we didn't come here by choice..."

I raised as much of an eyebrow my right eye had as I kept drinking.

"We are pretty much freeloaders and were just going wherever the tiger goes."

"Mr Tiger!"

Ka'er seemed to smile wryly as he continued.

"Mr Tiger," he enunciated, "is our savior. We were probably going to freeze to death when we saw him on the road. All I thought when I walked over to Mr Tiger was that fur was soft and warm. If we could stay with him, we'd have a better chance of surviving."

"Oh, may I ask what happened for you all to have been on the road and freezing? If it's too sensitive of a topic you can take your time and tell me later."

Ka'er shook his head, "It's fine."

Fin seemed worried as she held his hand. He smiled.

"We're all from the same family. Our mother and father tried to murder me and Mi-sol'er, so we all left together. The first place we found with people let us in but also tried to kill us. There were some nice humans who helped us escape then. The second and third place rejected us while the fourth tried to kill us whenever we tried to get close. The fifth, the one the Tiger found for us, also rejected us. It's uh, it's been tough."

I could hear the cracking in his voice and smell the salty tears. The worst was that I could see him trying his best to hold it in. The woman, Fiona, seemed to mirror my thoughts as she pulled him into a hug. He started crying instantly, his façade snapped and his tough act broken. I had stopped drinking and moved over to lay on the balcony next to them, letting them sit against my surprisingly waterproof fur. They began crying one by one with Mi-sol'er crying simply because everyone else was crying.

I don't know what idiocy was going through my brain but I decided to do the weirdest thing I've ever done. I licked their faces to get them to stop crying. Liona laughed heartily as I did so, the children soon joining.

I don't know why, but I felt more at home at that moment than my hundreds of years of levelling and fighting for respect and recognition. I realized, the caring for them wasn't a side-effect.

I made as much of a smile as a tiger can make.