A chilly day like any other in Siberia. The chill winds had stilled but the cold remained ever present as did the snow.
Inside a run down hunters cabin a small, striped head poked out of a hole in the cabin. “Mum, can we go out now pleeeease?! There is no more wind and nothing is round to hurt us,” the young tiger cub said as he eyed the fresh snow.

“No Nahuel, get back in here until your sisters have woken up. You don't know just what kind of predators are hiding out there just waiting for a too-curious cub.”
The mother was unlike her son, her coat an almost pure white with the dark stripes hardly visible whereas her son had an almost flame orange coat with visible black markings. Ideal in a jungle but not out in the frozen wastes.

“Hey, do we get to go out today and play in the snow?” A high, young voice mewled sleepily as one of her two daughters woke up. Like their mother they both had white fur coats but both showed clearly visible black stripes.

“Nahuel, mind your enthusiasm and don't fall,” their mother chided as the young, four month male hopped to the windowsill to look outside with wide eyed wonder. It was so much more beautiful with all that fresh snow from last night.

“Sailla, Aisha, come on sleepy heads. Your brother is excitable to go out for his first trip into the frozen lands and I am sure you two are as well,” their mother said with a happy rumble in her voice as she roused her third cub up. Picking her up by the scruff, the sleepy cub stirred in her mothers mouth before been dropped with a squeak into the snow as her other two followed her joyously out.

“Agh mum!” Aisha cried as she found herself in the cold frozen fluff. “I was having a good dream” she complained, shaking herself off and watched as her two other siblings romped happily in the fresh snow and tackled each other. Their mother warning them to stick close by to her.

“I don't feel like it right now mum. I wondered if you could tell me about those monsters that used to exist. What where they called, Humus?” she said with an inquisitive cock of her white head.

Sighing and shaking her head, the mother knew this would happen. Her smallest cub, Aisha had always been reserved. “They were called humans and yes, they did exist not too long ago and brought much great evil to this world. In fact it was only a year ago was the last sighting of the vial, hairless apes.”

“Hairless apes?” Aisha scrunched her eyes up to try and imagine such a creature “they sound like they are not normal animals.”

“And that they are not. Clawless, blunt of teeth and very weak compared to us animals. They had to constantly wear strangely coloured pelts they crafted themselves to cover their fragile bodies and before that, they would wear skins like ours to keep themselves warm. Some even still did so even though our species neared extinction and there was no need.”

The other two had stopped playing as their mother told her story “ugh really. They wore our skins?” Nahuel said as he made a grimace and shuddered at the thought.

Nodding, their mother sighed as she thought she may as well tell the rest since her other two cubs had never sat to listen to her story, but she decided to skirt round some of the more...horrifying facts.
“Yes, they would wear many animals, and had managed to also tame the elements as well as nature. These were not creatures of nature, no. Humans were creatures that bent nature, twisted it and shaped it to their liking until it was no longer recognisable. They had tamed air, fire, water and even the unknown.”

“So...they were demons then?” Sailla shivered and huddled up to her brother, Aisha who had heard this before wasn't as effected but they indeed did sound something that could only appear in dreams and nightmares.

“As close to as possible for the horrors they committed. What they lacked in strength and claws they made up for with bits of metal that shot round ended projectiles out and were capable of killing even the most tough to kill of animals. Elephants, Tigers, Horses, nothing was safe from their destructive capabilities.”

The three cubs looked around fearfully, as though expecting to see these demons with their exploding sticks and killing weapons before their mother smiled softly.
Curling round her cubs, she gave her tail a flick before grooming them to calm them down. “But don't fret my cubs, for they are no more. A rock fell from the sky, the humans called it 'Heaven's Judgement' but our kind know it as 'Eden's Blessing'. For as the rock struck the planet, the Earth suffered a great injury and many lives were lost. But it didn't stop there, humans slowly started to vanish without reason. Everything man made started to crumble and decay at a rapid rate until all that is left were crumbling ruins of their legacy.”

The cubs were left staring at their mother, she seemed so wise and ancient with her nearly pure white fur coat and her deep story telling voice.
“So...what happened to the humans, did they go back to wherever it is they came from?” Nahuel said in a hushed voice, his ears flicking and perking as though trying to pick up something still lurking around.

“No one knows what happened my dear, some say like their monstrosities they built they rapidly faded and decayed. Others say they somehow became like us which is how our population suddenly exploded in numbers.”

“Really? So...we could have been humans before?” Aisha said aloud in wonder, the possibility they could have once been hairless apes both repulsed and excited her.

“No my cubs, I am an old tigress at nine years and chances are you two are my last ever litter. I was one of the lucky ones that managed to escape their purge and am proud to have such a fine, strong, healthy litter as you three.”
She nuzzled her three lovingly before swatting one of her cubs on the behind with her tail “now come my cubs. For the first time in our history we have only nature to fear and the day is young and the snow is fresh.”

The cubs squeaked as the three shot off into the snow. Nipping biting and playing with each other as they rolled in the snow and hid and pounced.

Their mother smiled happily as she saw her cubs play, she had told them all as much as she'd dare and now they knew just how lucky they were to live now.
Her ears flicked as though hearing something in the wind, she hoped that this kind of balance would last before running off to play with her cubs. Their fur shielding them from the harsh cold and batting with sheathed claws.
Eventually their mother rolled over and her three cubs raised their furred ends and tails into the air before pouncing her and covering her belly in little nips and growled cutely.

They would grow up strong and healthy, and they would live as nature intended. For the first time in her life, the elderly tigress could relax and feel safe for herself and her cubs. Laying on her back and looking as though she was part of the snow with her fur, she placed her paws around her cubs and held them to her chest as the three gave off happy chuffs and purrs.