How the sabre-toothed tiger got its teeth

- A story for children-

Once upon a long, long time ago there was a big tiger. It was a strong, clever tiger and often it sat down after its meals and wondered if that was it. As you know, all cats are curious, and being a big cat, this one naturally had a bigger curiosity! So one day he left his southern jungles and decided to go see the world. It started travelling north towards Cyrodiil, seeing all that there was to see. It very cleverly avoided places where people gathered, knowing that the two legged creatures in them were even more dangerous than himself. He travelled on and on and saw such sights. He passed by a big, big tower that seemed to reach into the sky and, while it impressed him to no end, he steered clear of the big, stony buildings surrounding it. They smelled of two legged creatures and danger. He kept travelling on, reaching some big mountains with wet, white rain on them. He was mightily impressed, never before having seen what we call snow and kept moving on. He was cold, an unusual feeling for him, but he was excited and his curiosity could not be sated. He moved even further north, coming to the great fir and pine forests of Skyrim. He didn't know he was in Skyrim, but the smells of the new forest were wondrous to him and plenty of prey was available to eat for him to fatten up against the cold. And so he went on and on further north, where even the forests thinned out and gave way to big chunks of white, hard water. We know these to be the mighty glaciers of northern Skyrim and our tiger was still curious about all of these.

Alas his curiosity had driven him to areas where, when he realised he was getting hungry, he was at a loss on how to find anything to eat. He saw silver fish swimming in rivers and the frozen sea but his efforts where fruitless. He couldn't catch the quick little bundles of fat and his tries left him tired. On one such occasion he was lying down trying to catch his breath when he heard some deep voices and strange thumping sounds. He lifted his great head and snarled. He was hungry and the smell that was coming from them was strange but he was sure that he could get something to eat. He prowled closer and closer and climbed a big chunk of ice. He saw some creatures that seemed to enjoy moving on the ice and indeed there was a trio of them just lounging on a big glacier with mighty cracks in it. He came closer and looked at the creatures. They had tusks on their faces and funny whiskers. Their body was large, fat and grey. They looked like big slugs to him but their large wobbly bodies betrayed the meat and fat they must have had on them and he started licking his own whiskers. He was weak but he had to try to get one. It would mean food for a few days and his stomach gave a rumble at the thought.

At the same time as these thoughts were racing through our tiger's head the sky above, being already grey and cloudy, turned even more grey and the white, solid rain, which was almost semi-permanent this far north, started getting thicker. It swirled and flew above their heads and the tiger made up his mind. He could not go through another blizzard without some warm food in his belly. So he tensed and then uncoiled his large legs and leapt through the air straight towards one of the tusked creatures.

Now, as you might have guessed, these creatures were nothing more than horkers. And horkers might seem slow and funny, but they are formidable creatures in their own right and totally at home in the frozen wastes of Skyrim and the northern shores of Tamriel. So with surprising speed for such heavy creatures, they easily dodged the flying tiger. The poor kitty landed on the slippery ice and was surrounded by the horkers. They started making dreadful noises at him and whilst the tiger was trying to get a footing on the ice they lunged at him, swiping at him with their powerful tails and their wicked tusks. The tiger barely had any time to react and got his head slapped and, even worse, the horker's tusks managed to injure and maim his powerful legs.

Dazed and confused, unable to get a proper footing, the tiger turned to jump away, trying to flee the unholy screeches of the horkers and the pain all over his body. It tried to concentrate, coiled his muscles but his jump was poorly aimed and the power in his legs failed him. He did jump but he found himself near one of those mighty cracks in the glacier. The wind was now howling, as if in sympathy with the horkers and it drove the snow into the tiger's eyes. He felt himself slip backwards, his hurt legs giving way, slipping inside the crack. He gave a yelp but his back legs gave up and he scrambled with his front legs to hold on. The wind drove the snow around him, swirling and moaning, blinding him. The visibility was getting lower and lower and the blizzard stronger and stronger. He was sure this was his end. That his curiosity finally had gotten the best of him. He scrambled again, trying to use his nails to scratch his way back up but nothing was happening. He was slipping backwards. He turned his eyes skywards, a faint glistening moistening his pupils. He watched the snow swirling, dancing in the air. It was almost beautiful if it wasn't so deadly. He found himself whispering inside his head "Please... help.. I just need to get out and I will go back to being a sensible tiger".

The snow continued swirling above his head and his eyes continued to get blurry. It seemed to him that the snow was moving against the air, the dancing flakes making shapes that should be impossible, the air moving in patterns, forming a beautiful head, with long flowing hair made out of a crystalline substance, sparkling and weaving through the air. It looked both like a woman of those two-legged creatures but at the same time it smelled like the fresh clean air of forests and reminded him of the wilds of every area he had passed, of the birds flying high, of eagles screeching far above. The shape seemed to smile at him and suddenly he understood. This was Kynareth herself, manifesting in the air. Unspoken words inscribed themselves in his head . He turned his gaze down, mesmerised and in awe of her savage beauty and power. He nodded and uttered an apology "I know a tiger such as me does not belong here. Save me and I will move back south, back to the place that spawned me".

The shape in the air seemed to smile, a clear sparkling smile, widening and widening pushing the swirling snow and clouds away. The shape dissipated but he could feel more words being inscribed in his mind . With that, the remaining flurries vanished but the tiger remained holding on the edge of the mighty crevasse. He moved his head trying to see what was happening but something scraqed on the ice under his chin. He moved his head again and it seemed to lodge in the ice and hold on. With surprise he could feel his teeth on the ice! His two upper fangs had elongated as if by miracle, like two icicles being formed from the frozen rain. He pushed his head down and his two strong fangs pushed him back raising him slowly from the edge. He did it again and again, little by little and with the help of his front legs he managed to stagger out of the crack. As he lay panting down on the ice he realised he wasn't cold. He looked at himself and marvelled. His coat had changed to white, sparkling in the weak sunlight like the ice around him. He gave thanks and gathered what was left of his strength and went on his way prowling and hunting in frozen wastes of the northern shores forever more!

And that, my children, is how the sabre-toothed tiger got its long sabre-teeth and the northern-most of them their shiny white fur! And let that be a lesson to you to always give thanks for what you are and respect the Divines and all their powers!