I'm A Big Bad Tiger

First Encounters

Time for the book series! Woo!

I wake up in my papa's pawn shop. I sigh as I trudge down the stairs into the main part of the shop.

"Good morning, Shayla." Papa motions to the ham sandwich in the counter. I take it. "Today, I will be teaching you how to rip-off a good customer!"

"Actually, I was hoping I could go out an explore. I've only ever seen Dragon Hall and I really love being outside." I feed my pet snake (Rumplesnakeskin) a dead rat that my papa catches. There's always some wondering around in the shop and my papa catches ever single one. "Please."

"You know the Child Catcher is out there, Shayla. I lost your mama, I'm not loosing you." Papa nuzzles me. I try again.

"Please!" I beg like my life depends on it.

"Fine." Papa sighs. I hug him and I run out the door. "Watch out for the Child Catcher!"

"I will!" I shout to him. I run until I stop at the markets. Now I know how Jasmine first felt when she escaped her castle in Agrabah. I start to quietly sing Our Lips Are Sealed by Hilary Duff. I steal a few things for my papa like a scarf and a replica of Bert's hat when he was in the chalk drawing with Mary Poppins.

"Shut up!" I heard someone shout. I turn around to see, ugh, Sandra and Zabella. At least their parents are with them.

"Hello, Scar and Zira." I smile at them.

"Hello, Shayla." Scar smiles back.

"What are you doing out here?" Sandra scoffs.

"Exploring." I roll me eyes.

"We were just heading to the pawn shop." Zira motions to my stuff. "We'll take those to your dad."

"Thanks." I give Zira my stuff.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Zabella crosses her arms.

"No. Do you?" I smirk.

"Yeah. Kicking your ass!" Sandra jumps at me and we wrestle. I start winning and I pin her down. "Not fair!"

"Shut up." I give her a wet willy.

"Ew! Ew! Ew!" Sandra drags her family away. I laugh and I carry on singing my song a bit louder.

"Pay no mind to what they say. It doesn't matter anyway. Our lips are sealed. Hush-" I turn around to see two girls and two boys staring at me. "What?"

"You were incredible in that fight." The long haired boy smiles. He is such a cutie!

"Thanks." I blush. "What do you want? I have things to steal and songs to sing."

"We want you to co-" The purple haired girl starts.

"Three tigers, two died, one raised me. Time's up!" I walk away.

"We want you to come with us on an adventure!" She shouts. I walk back to them. "It's to recover Maleficent's Dragons Eye sceptre. We need you for muscles along with Jay."

I spit in my hand and I hold it out in front of me. "Shayla Khan, at your service."

The purple haired girl does the same. "Mal, Jay, Evie and Carlos." She shakes me hand as she points to the others.

"Let's get going!" I say. We start to walk through a village with a smooth path. As we go along it, it starts to become rocky. Mal's in the lead with me behind her.

"Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go." Carlos sings under his breath.

"Don't." Evie says.

"What do you have against dwar- oh, right. Sorry." I wonder if Carlos is soft inside and out.

"It's okay. So that was your mom, huh?" Evie asks.

"Yup, the one and only Cruella De Vil." Carlos points out some poison ivy. We all dodge it. "One-way ticket to crazy town, right?"

"She's not so bad. At least she's doesn't do this that my mum does, where she pretends to be a Magic Mirror telling me I'm far from the fairest of the land." Me and Mal turn around at stare at Evie. The boys look at her in shock.

"Really? But you're gorgeous." Says Jay. I growl as quietly as I can. "I mean, you're not my type, sweetness, but you've got to know you're good-looking."

"You think so?" Evie asks as we carry on walking.

"Nah, your mom's right- you're ugly." Jay teases. I growl again. Why am I doing this?

"That sucks that she does that." Carlos says quietly.

"Whatever." Says Evie nonchalantly. "It's not like I care."

"You really mean that?" Carlos asks.

"I mean, it's not like your mom's any different, right?" Evie points out.

"I guess not."

"And your dad, Jay? Doesn't he only care about the shop?"

"Yeah, of course. But what else is he suppose to care about?" Jay asks rhetorically.

"And, Shayla, your dad is Shere Khan. Shouldn't he only care about murder and Indian religions?" Evie asks me.

"My papa loves me very much. He's taught me a lot about Indian religions and I know every single law of the jungle. He was abused through my childhood because he was in grief of my mama's death and don't even get me started on my brother's death." I shiver.

"You have a dead sibling and brother?" Mal looks at me.

"Well, yeah. My mama died of a deadly disease and my brother died in the womb. My mama was attained by teenagers after she provoked the attack by telling them they were stupid and ugly. They kicked her in the stomach until Sam died. My papa immediately saved me as my mama died and he raised me in the pawn shop." I feel a tear roll down my cheek so I wipe it away. We walk in silence. The grey fog that surrounds the edge of the shore looms closer. Jay starts to take lead with me. Jay we jogs back to the others so I join him.

"What is it?" Mal hisses.

"I saw something- in the shadow. Hide!" Jay whispers fiercely, disappearing behind a rock. Carlos yelps and tries to climb a tree while Evie screams softly and dives behind a bush. Me and Mal freeze in place. The shadow looms larger and closer, we see it has a pair of large horns and a spiky tail. It starts to main in which I laugh at. The creature emits a purr.

"Beelzebub!" Carlos cries from the tree. A black cat with a wicked grin appears on the path. I stop laughing to admire it. It's good to see a fellow cat now and then.

"You know this foul beast?" Mal asks contemptuously.

"It's just my cat. I got her when I was little." Carlos says sheepishly. "She's on of Lucifer's litter. She's my evil sidekick."

"Oh, cool. I got one too. You know, at my birthday party. Mine is Othello, a baby parrot- well, not such a baby anymore. Othello's got quite the mouth on him too. Not sure where he learned all those words." Evie says as I snigger.

"Cool- you got one of Iago's babies? I got two electric eels- Lagan and Derelict. You know, from Flotsam and Jetsam. They're huge now. Monsters. They hardly fit in their aquarium anymore." Jay says.

Carlos lets the cat rub his cheek. "Go on, Bee. Go back home, stop following us. I'll be back soon- don't worry."

"What's your evil sidekick?" Evie asks Mal.

"I don't have one." Mal says shortly.

"Oh!" Says Evie.

"What about you, Shayla?" Jay asks me.

"I have a ball python named Rumplesnakeskin. He's my best friend." My face turns red. "My papa's friend, Kaa, gave him to me after he brought him from a grumpy old git on the streets."

"Cool." Carlos smiles as we carry on walking.