The Tale of Batak
"Who are you?" The old Divine Tiger was the one who asked. At this moment, the fainted tigers on the ground also woke up one by one. They all looked at Marissa with a suspicious gaze. The old Divine Tiger's eyes were glinted almost indiscernibly.
What Marissa said previously was her hometown language, it was the first language she knew when she was born to this world, which meant it was her mother's tongue. It was also believed as the language of the Ancient Tiger in Batak. If the sentences were to be translated into English, it would meant : 'Grandpa, I'm a cousin of Lotung. Please forgive me, Grandpa.'
"Well, I... um, Opung, I'm really a cousin with Lotung." Marissa smiled sweetly. "Opung, I miss you so much. Aunt Pareme also miss you so much." She started to act spoiled and pretended to know Aunt Pareme in order to convince the Divine Tiger.
"Nonsense! You are not cousin with Lotung! This old man know all of his cousins." The Tiger berated loudly.
'But I'm really from the Sumba Liniage. To be precise, it was my soul who was from the Sumba Liniage. Although we're separated by hundreds of generations, Sumba Liniage and Lotung Liniage were brothers and they were both the son of the Great King of Batak. So, although I'm lying by saying I'm a cousin with Lotung, I'm not trully lying as my soul really the descendant of his grandfather's brother, right? If the old tiger doesn't believe me, what should I do?' Marissa started to get panic.
...
Long long time ago, the Batak tribe in which the original soul of Marissa came from were originated from the many descendants of the Great King of Batak.
Great King of Batak possessed two sons. They were Guru Tateabulan and Raja Isombaon. Guru Tateabulan means 'A Teacher Who Got Stuck In The Moon'. As to why he was named as such, whether he was really got stuck in the moon, or perhaps there were other reasons, or the Great King of Batak was just being mischievous to named his eldest son as such, it was still a mystery until now.
The liniage of Guru Teatebulan was also called as 'Lotung Liniage' or 'Moon Liniage'.
The second son was named as Raja Isombaon, which means 'A King Who Was Worshipped Dearly'. The meaning of this name was also a mystery. There was a version that told he was named as such because he was such a good king and his peoples loved and worshipped him dearly when he was the one who sat at the throne. The other version told that it was because he was a cruel and ruthless king. He looked down on everything and even told his peoples to worship him like a God. But, no matter which one was the true story or if there were another reason, it was still unknown up until now.
The Liniage of Raja Isombaon was also called as 'Sumba Liniage' or 'Sun Liniage'.
...
In short, the wife of Guru Teatebulan gave birth to a twin at that time. It was a boy and a girl. The little boy was given a name Saribu Raja which means 'A Thousand King', whereas the little girl was given a name as Boru Pareme which means 'Princess Paddy' or 'A Paddy Daughter'.
Perhaps, Guru Teatebulan wanted to give his daughter an earthly name or something that was related to nature and plantation, or perhaps he was inspired from the name of 'Earth Mother' or 'Goddess of Fertility'? Who knows?
Next, when the twin son and daughter of the Guru Teatebulan grew into the adults, they actually fallen in love to each other and got into a forbidden affair. When Boru Pareme got pregnant with the child of her twin brother, Saribu Raja, everybody finally got to know about it, the brothers of the twin expelled both of them into two different forest as a result.
This matter was a shame to the royal family of Batak Tribe. So, even if there were some who pitied the both of them, they could only sent them away to the forest.
Boru Pareme was so sad. She was alone inside the forest without anyone. Her stomach is getting bigger as time passed. She couldn't even eat properly. She was forced to eat the leaves or the plants nearby. Thankfully, there was water near her little hut, so at least she could drink the water when she was thirsty.
One day, there was a big tiger came to her. Boru Pareme was so scared, but as she was pregnant and couldn't move fast, she could only shut her eyes and pray to God. She steeled her heart to accept no matter what the outcome might be.
Boru Pareme waited for a long time as she shut her eyes, but there was no reaction at all. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find out that the tiger didn't intended to eat her but to asked for help, because there was a bone got stuck on it's throat. Boru Pareme felt pity for the tiger, so she helped it to get that bone out of the tiger's throat.
The tiger was full of gratitude. It was suspected that the tiger was a spiritual creature who had awaken it's intelligence. So, in order to repay the debt, the tiger helped Boru Pareme to go get some food and brought them all to her. The tiger even helped her when she gave birth to her son. Her son was later on named as 'Raja Lotung' or 'Raja Lontung'.
After that, the friendship between the tiger and Boru Pareme was getting better. Then, they both made an oath, the tiger race wouldn't attack or kill the descendants of Raja Lotung, and the descendant of Lotung also would never do anything that could hurt or even kill the members of the tiger race.
Ever since that oath was made, the relationship between the tiger race and the descendants of Lotung became firmer and stronger. They would helped each other and keep each other safe and sound. The Batak Tribe which was descendants of Lotung, since then also started to worshipped the tiger race as their ancestor. They call him 'Opung' which meant 'Grandfather'.
In the other version, the tiger was actually a female tiger. She could changed into a human form and was the companion of Saribu Raja that he asked to help Boru Pareme while she was pregnant and alone in the forest. This female tiger, who could changed into a very beautiful woman, later on was also got married with Saribu Raja, the twin brother of Boru Pareme. The descendants of the female tiger and Saribu Raja, as well as the descendants of Lotung became the members of a very huge tribe, which was nowadays called as 'Batak Tribe'. This Batak Tribe even gave birth to many sub-tribes in the recent era on Earth, in which Marissa came from.
So, that was how the tiger race or tiger tribe becomes the ancestor of Batak Tribe.
...
"Well, I... Um..." Marissa wanted to insisted on that she was cousin with Lotung, but she wasn't sure what to say anymore. What if in this world the actual fact wasn't the same with the story told in the legend when she was still on Earth?
Just as she was thinking on how to respond to the Divine Tiger, the tiger suddenly suggested an idea. "Although you're not cousins with Lotung, I feel there's something strange about you. There's a familiar aura." When it say this sentence, it also looked puzzled.
The onlookers all looked at the old tiger, waited patiently for what it was about to say.
"How about this? I have something on me that was related to Lotung. We will conduct a test whether you're really related to him or not." The Divine Tiger pull out something out of nowhere. It was something like a sachet made of clothes but wasn't.
"This is called 'Life Sachet' or 'Blood Sachet'. It could be used to conduct a blood test whether the person was related to each other or not." The Divine Tiger explained. "Since you say you're cousins with Lotung. Let's do a test to prove your stance."
"Well... I..." Marissa felt a bit hesitated. After all, she knew what was related to Lotung was her soul, not her physical form. If this test proved that she was bluffing and deceiving this Divine Beast, what would happened to the three of them.
"Mr. Angel, is it really true what this old tiger said? This thing could be used to conduct a blood test?" Marissa asked Mr. Angel in her mind.
[That's true]
"What should I do? If I do it, I'll be doomed because I've deceived it." Marissa started to get anxious.
[Why don't you just try it?]
"You are throwing me to my death?" Marissa was mad.
[No, the system is a benevolent entity, it wouldn't endanger the life of the Host]
"Haishhh, fine! If this blood test would instead endanger our life, I will use again one of the
"Give me your blood. Just a drop would be sufficient. Put it on this sachet." The Divine Tiger said.
Marissa did as it said. She bit her finger, but no blood came out. She bit so hard until she felt so painful but she just couldn't force out the blood to come out. 'Damn! How did the characters in the novels could make the blood came out of their fingers after only one bite? Why couldn't I do the same thing?'
After trying many times but failed, Marissa was feeling frustrated. She was even more depressed when the surrounding human and tigers looked at her with a weird gaze. She then spontaneously turned her gaze to Kamandhanu, who stood less than one meter away from her. With an embarrassed looks, she asked for help.
"Dhanu, could you please help me?" Marissa showed her sweetest smile, mixed with ninety percent of embarrassment.
Arya Kamandhanu walked toward her and grab her hand stiffly. When their hands touched each other, he didn't understand why the heck he suddenly felt his heart beating so fast. Feeling this strange sensation, he hurriedly pierce the finger of Marissa with something and a few drops of blood flowing out smoothly. Marissa didn't even feel anything when her finger was pierced.
After that droplet of blood fall down on the sachet, the Divine Tiger chanted something and the blood suddenly emit a brilliant light. Another droplet of blood came out of the sachet and fused together with Marissa's blood.
Siiiiii!!!
"What? She's really related to Ancestor Lotung?"
"I thought she's lying."
"The two droplet of blood fused together smoothly. What can you say? It can't be that you suspect my father to manipulate the result, right? We all can see the process and outcome clearly." A childish voice from the tiger group, who was actually the one with the cultivation on the peak level of Grand Master, berated the the tiger beside him, whose cultivation was on the Core Formation middle level.
"No, I'm not. It's just that this is unbelievable. How long had it been since we found someone who is related to the ancestor? We've been living here in this forest for thousands of years, but this is the first time we found one." The Core Formation Tiger responded.
"Little Porang is right. I'm also shocked. But as Little Jogi said, Uncle Huth had done the process openly and in accordance with the rules, and the result was really as we have seen. There was nothing wrong. So, instead of becoming suspicious, we should instead be happy to be able to find the family members of Ancestor Lutong." The Tiger with the cultivation on the initial level of Nascent Soul said his opinion.
Little Porang and Little Jogi nodded their head, indicating that they agreed with what their big brother said.
Right, the young man with the Nascent Soul cultivation and the two little boys who were on the Core Formation and Grand Master were actually cousins. Only the peak level Grand Master tiger, Little Jogi, was the son of Uncle Huth, whereas the Void Apprentice tiger was his wife.
...
At this moment, the two droplets of blood finished it's fusion and then it dived back into the 'Blood Sachet'. The 'Blood Sachet' became like a normal clothing pouch once again. The only different was, on this current 'Blood Sachet', there was a blue print on it.
"You really are related to the ancestor. Sigh... It's been so long and I've never seen the family members of Ancestor Lotung." The Divine Tiger said. It seemed this old tiger was having a lots of regret but also felt relieved and happy with this sudden discovery. "You're not cousin with the Lord Ancestor, but the nephew of Lord Ancestor. Look at this sachet."
He took back the sachet and showed it to everyone. "If the colour on the surface of this sachet is red, it means you are the direct descendant from the Lotung Liniage, no matter how many generations you were separated. If the colour is blue, it means you are the direct children of any of his sisters or brothers. If there is no colour, but the blood still fused together, it means you are the descendants of his brothers or sisters."
Hearing that explanation, everyone came into a realization. Now, they looked at Marissa in a different light. The group of tigers also began to change their view and started to see her as their own family members.
"The colour on the sachet's surface is blue. Doesn't it mean I'm the nephew of Uncle Lotung? Doesn't it also means my mother or father was actually Uncle Lotung's sister or brother?" Marissa was bewildered.
'From cousin to nephew. So, I'm really related to that Lotung fellow? And I'm actually only one generation below him? Although it seemed my seniority decreased by one generation in this world, compared to the real status I have when I was on Earth, I'm actually climbing up by hundreds of generation based on the result of this blood test.'
'So, this chicken body was still related to the Great King of Batak? What's with this family? Saribu Raja had an affair with his twin sister, whereas my father or mother in this world had an affair with chicken? What absurd development is this? How come you all possessed a strange taste in relationship? What kind of family is this?'
'Haish, I forgot this was a parallel world where human and demon could be in love together. Although each of the families of the two race would hate it so much if there was a hybrid descendant such as me, but it wasn't a rare thing. What kind of world I actually reincarnated into? What is my real background? Was it my mother or father who hailed from the chicken race?'
'There were so many mystery! Sigh... Forget it! It's better to do my missions first so that I could go back to Earth one day in the future.' Marissa shook her head silently.
"Hahahaha... Senior, welcome back to the family." The Divine Tiger laughed loudly.
"Ah? Senior?" Marissa and the others were stunned again.
"Of course. You are the nephew of Ancestor Lutong. According to the level of seniority, you are nine generations above me, so I should call you 'Senior'. It wouldn't even be wrong to call you 'Ancestor'." The Divine Tiger said in serious and solemn tone.
"Ehh? No no no, no need to follow the formality. I'm still young, Opung just can call me Little Senja." Marissa said.
"No no no! Don't call me Opung! I'm far down below you according to the level of our generation. Now that I think about it again, I would be better to call you Little Ancestor from now on." The Divine Tiger insisted on.
"No..." Just as Marissa wanted to retorted more, the Blood Sachet that was on the old Divine Tiger suddenly flew to the air. The fused blood suddenly separated once again, followed by a golden luster and a brilliant light illuminated all the darkness in the surrounding.
"This... The blood separated once again!" Little Porang said. The others were also in disbelief. It's just a moment ago they felt like they had reunited together with their missing ancestor, now their expectation suddenly shattered in just a matter of a few seconds.
Marissa was also feeling nervous right now. Why did it have to be like this? 'Fate, what do you mean? What drama are you playing in front of me?' She scream in frustrated.
"You're a liar!" Little Porang said indignantly.
"No, wait! Look at that!" The Nascent Soul Tiger suddenly shouted.
"Big Brother Hatorangan, what are you trying to say...?" Little Porang, the Core Formation tiger, wanted to argue but he suddenly halted in the middle of his words.
There, on the air, a phantom of a huge tiger roaring fiercely as if it was ready to swallow the world. But this huge and fierce tiger suddenly laying down and showing a polite gesture to salute or respect the phantom in front of it.
In front of the giant tiger was the phantom of a bigger creature. It was surprisingly an image of a chicken, a humongous black rooster to be precise! It flapped it's wings like it was some kind of bird. It's face showed an expression as if it looked down on everything in this world.
There was a brilliant golden light around the black rooster, making it looked holy and respectable. At this moment, the humongous black rooster was shouting to the sky with all it's mighty.
"Crowww....."
When the rooster shouted, the air in the surrounding trembled in agitation.
"Crowww...."
"Crowww.....!!!"
The rooster cried three times before it stopped and stood elegantly on the air.
"As per the agreement between me and Samatra, that Old Tiger, my old brother, I will keep all his descendants safe and sound in the world as long as I am alive. You may rise." The Black Rooster waved it's wing and the yellow tiger that was laying on the air, stood again.
"Thank you, Ancestor!" The Yellow Tiger bowed it's head.
"You don't need to call me Ancestor. Just call me Sir." The Black Rooster responded indiffrently.
"No, Ancestor Samatra said, we have to respect you as if we saw him in front of us. When he isn't in the world anymore, he told us to heed every words of yours and call you Ancestor." The Yellow Tiger said.
"Alright. Just do as you wish. Tell me if you need any help. I will try my best to help my old brother's descendants." The Black Rooster said, then it suddenly vanished into thin air.
The same thing happened to the Yellow Tiger. The two phantoms on the air dispersed and gone just like that.
"This...!"
Everyone was confused and bewildered. What happened just now? Can anyone explained to them what was going on actually?
The Divine Tiger looked at Marissa with a gleam on it's scarlet eyes. Suddenly...
Plop!
"Little Ancestor! This old tiger is here to obey your order." The Old Divine Tiger changed into his human form and kneel down in front of Marissa.
Marissa widen her eyes in disbelief. She pulled her hair in agitation. 'Uh? Aya naon, ini teh?'
~~~~~~
Quizz:
What do you think the human form of the Old Divine Tiger when he changed his form from a tiger into a human?
A. A cute little boy
B. A handsome young man
C. A grizzled old man
D. An old man but possessed a small body resembled a child
E. A human with a tiger head