Audio Play / Tiger's Eye

Tyger Tyger, burning bright

Tiger's Eye is an audio drama created by Alexander Shaw and is the third story in The New Century Multiverse, as well as the third part of Phase 1 of the overarching story.

Tiger's Eye tells the story of Miguel, who, after falling through strange portal, becomes lost in the world of Rama, a world populated by anthropomorphic cats. After Miguel is saved by the tiger huntress Hrao, the two must work together and brave the dangers of Rama to get Miguel back home.

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Tiger's Eye provides examples of:

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Matthews' abolitionists use them to sneak the enslaved cats out of the city.
• Adipose Rex: The lion king, Louis XVI, is described generously as being extremely wide and broad.
• The Adjective One: The Silent One, a wise shaman that lives as a hermit.
• After Action Patch Up: After surviving Hakka's Zerg Rush, Hrao takes the time to patch up her and Miguel's wounds.
• After the End: Strongly implied to be the case for Rama, as listeners can interpret Hakka's story as describing a nuclear apocalypse that destroyed the cat's previous civilization. It should be noted that the way Hakka tells the story, it sounds as if the previous civilization was itself living in the remnants of an even more advanced one.
• And Man Grew Proud: There are hints, such as Hakka's story, that the tribal cats once had a more advanced civilization that fell into decadence and ruin ages ago.
• Animal Eye Spy: Hakka, thanks to his powers as The Beastmaster, can use various animals to scout for him.
• Animal Motifs: Mongooses/snakerats serve as one for Miguel, specifically noting their bravery and ability to turn the tables on more dangerous animals.
• Animal Stampede: Hakka creates a stampede of ibex as his opening attack during his first assault on Hrao and Miguel.
• Archaeological Arms Race: Based off of Hakka's story, this might have happened during the time of the previous cat civilization.
• Astral Projection: Shaman are capable of this, and it directly connects to their ability to control animals.
• Attack the Tail:
  • During the monkey troop's assault, one of them bites Hrao on the tail.
  • During their fight, Hrao stomps on Hakka's tail.
• Bamboo Technology: Hrao's village has constructed a makeshift elevator and aqueduct out of wood and vines.
• Battle Trophy: Mohawk keeps a collection of trophies from the cats he enslaves.
• The Beastmaster: Hakka can possess the bodies of animals and make them do his bidding.
• Black Eyes of Evil: The Gagaku has these.
• Bleed 'Em and Weep: Miguel is left horrified after he poisons one of the lion slavers in order to get a set of keys off of him.
• Boring Return Journey: Hrao and Miguel's journey from Leon to Yamia is largely uneventful, consisting of their climactic, non-violent confrontation with Hakka and little else.
• Brainwashed: Hakka believes that Hrao has been entranced by Miguel into doing his bidding.
• Bring It: Miguel gives Hrao a "come on" gesture after he constructs his Wolverine Claws to get her to train him more.
• Carry a Big Stick: Hakka wields a large club in battle.
• The Chief's Daughter: Shall, who is the defacto leader of the panther tribe Hrao encounters since her father, Chief Shala, disappeared.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Shall has been in charge of the panther village Hrao encounters since the disappearance of her father, Chief Shala.
• Child Soldiers: The Reunified States of America are so desperate for soldiers that they're willing to take in 9-year-old Miguel when he and his father enlist in order to gain entrance into the country.
• The Clan: The Durga tribe is more or less an extended family and refer to themselves as such.
• Cool Mask: The Silent One wears an ornate lion mask while disguised as the Gagaku.
• Crusading Lawyer: Matthews, the apparent leader of Albion's abolitionist movement.
• Cunning Linguist: Doctor Shera is able to passably speak a number of languages, due to studying ancient languages that the modern ones evolved from.
• The Dark Arts: Taking control of a sentient being is this for a shaman.
• Death by Origin Story: Hrao's daughter, who died due to Hrao's negligence a short time before the start of the story, an event that effects many of Hrao's decisions over the course of the narrative.
• Decapitated Army: In Hrao's flashback of her tribe's battle with a tribe of leopards, Hakka killing the leopards' shaman causes them to flee.
• Defector from Decadence: Doctor Sheera, who goes from working for slave traders to joining a group of abolitionists.
• Dire Beast: Hrao and Miguel briefly encounter a family of behemoth elephants that are described as dwarfing regular ones.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Despite the fact that he instigated a slave revolt, Mohawk only seems to decide to kill the leopard and his companion because the leopard insulted him. It's not even clear if Mohawk understood what the leopard said.
• Diurnal Nocturnal Animal: Averted. The tigers sleep during the day and are active at night, like their real world counterparts.
• The Dreaded: The Gagaku, a feared monster said to dwell near Hrao's home.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Hakka has a dream hearlding Hrao finding Miguel as well as Albion's impending invasion.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • The lions' enslavement of, and racism towards, the other cats brings the African slave trade to mind.
  • Albion looking to expand into the "New World" is reminiscent of the colonization of the Americas.
• Due to the Dead: After killing one of a pair of leopards who attacked her, Hrao leaves the body in a dignified position for its partner to find. This does not, however, stop her from looting the body.
• Dug Too Deep: Hakka's story mentions that the old tribes dug into the earth to find advantages against one another and ended up plundering "the houses under the earth" where they found "magic" they did not understand. One tribe eventually discovered a "treasure" that would make the one who held it invincible. Instead, when the tribe opened it, they were destroyed.
• Earthquakes Cause Fissures: Hakka describes the earth opening up and swallowing the old tribes whole after they opened the ancient treasure.
• The Empire: The lion nation of Albion, which looks to conquer Hrao and the other cats' homelands.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Lisseth, one of the leopards Hrao fights at the beginning of the story, and whose brother the tiger killed, puts aside her differences with Hrao so that they can escape from the lion slavers.
  • Downplayed with Hakka, who is willing to help the injured slaves, but is still looking to kill Miguel.
• Epigraph: The story begins with a reading of William Blake's The Tyger.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Hrao has one when she realizes why Hakka is favoring Zerg Rush tactics against her and Miguel.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Mohawk is only ever referred to as the first mate by the other lions.
• Exotic Extended Marriage: It's shown that a number of the tigers in Hrao's village are part of polygamous pairings, though single pairings exist as well.
• Face Stealer: It is said that the Gagaku stole the face of the fiercest lion on Rama and wears it as a mask.
• Fantastic Fighting Style: Hrao mentions Tiyar, presumably the fighting style of her village which she teaches to Miguel.
• Fantastic Racism: Lions view themselves as being above other types of cats.
• Feathered Fiend: Hakka uses a flock of tropical birds to attack Hrao and Miguel at one point.
• Flashback:
  • Once Hrao discovers that Hakka is hunting her and Miguel, she has a flashback to a time she saw Hakka's ferocity in battle.
  • She has another one when she recalls Hakka's powers as The Beastmaster.
• Flashback Echo: While training with Miguel, Hrao briefly experiences one when Miguel bites her, reminding her of playing with her dead cub.
• Forced to Watch: Mohawk makes a point of killing a leopard slave's companion in front of him before killing the leopard himself.
• Foreshadowing: The presence of the lion slavers is hinted at by the mysterious disappearance of a number of panthers near the abandoned city of Yamia.
• Friendship Trinket: Miguel constructs an armlet out of buttons and leather cord to replace the tribal armlet that Hrao is forced to trade for supplies.
• Functional Magic: Shamans learn a form of this, that allows them to astral project and control animals.
• Ghost City:
  • The ruined city that the Silent One dwells in.
  • The ruined city of Yamia, where panther hunters have been disappearing.
• Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!: All the slaves are willing to lay down their lives in their bid to escape their chains.
• Glass Eye: One tiger is referred to as Opal Eye, due to the opal that he has replaced his missing eye with.
• Go for the Eye: During her attack against the Widow of the Waves, Hrao chooses to go for the monster's eyes, citing it as a weak point.
• Go Through Me: Hrao makes it clear that if Hakka wants to kill Miguel, he'll have to kill her first.
• Handy Man: Hrao's father, who is introduced after having fixed up an number of things around her house.
• Hand Signals: Hrao uses these to communicate with the Silent One, who is deaf. She later uses these to communicate with Miguel and eventually the enslaved cats.
• Healing Spring: Hrao's village has a bath house where hunters and warriors go to relax and recover from their wounds.
• Heel Realization: Miguel offering to let Hakka kill him to protect Hrao finally makes the shaman realize that he's been in the wrong the entire time. He apologies to both of them before departing in shame.
• Heroic Sacrifice: It's made clear while planning their revolt that one of the slaves will likely have to step forward and take the brunt of the cannon blast used as crowd control to protect the others. Many volunteer, but it is ultimately Opal Eye who performs the deed.
• Hidden Depths: While Captain Beatrix is selfish and callous, she does possess a measure of compassion, as she lies to dissuade Louis XVI from buying Miguel, and introduces Sheera to Matthews, likely out of hope the lawyer will be able to save the slaves.
• History Repeats: Stories and ancient texts exist indicating that humans have come to Rama through portals before.
• Hope Spot: For a moment, it looks like Louis XVI sudden appearance in the court room and Matthews' impassioned plea for the king to release the slaves will work, but Louis turns around and claims that doing so would undermine the fabric of their civilization before allowing the court to order the slaves' execution.
• Human Pet: Captain Beatrix, having bought into Miguel's Obfuscating Stupidity, treats him like an exotic pet.
• Human Sacrifice: Hakka wishes to do this to Miguel to appease the spirits. Granted, this is because Hakka believes Miguel is a demon that needs to be destroyed.
• Hungry Jungle: The jungles of Rama are incredibly dangerous.
• Icy Blue Eyes: The Silent One is described as having these.
• Imagine Spot: Hrao briefly imagines what will happen if the panther traders find out about Miguel.
• Implacable Man: Hakka, believing himself to be on a divine mission, hunts Hrao and Miguel across Rama in his determination to kill the boy.
• In-Series Nickname: The Silent One dubs Hrao "Mrs. Pointy" when they first meet.
• In the Back: During Hrao's fight with Hakka, Miguel, who had seemingly fled the fight at Hrao's insistence, suddenly appears and stabs an unsuspecting Hakka in the side with his Poisoned Weapons.
• Instant Sedation: Once a large creature is hit with snakerat venom, they fall unconscious within a short time.
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople): Albion appears to be an alternate version of Great Britain, with Leon as a stand in for London.
• It's a Long Story: Hrao asks the Silent One how she came to live in the ruins, to which the Silent One replies that she does not have the time nor interest in telling Hrao her long, sad story.
• Jawbreaker: Hrao kills a reptor with this method.
• Jaw Drop: Hrao's reaction to the artwork on the ceiling of the Silent One's temple.
• Jungle Opera: While taking place on an alternate Earth, the first half of the story is largely this.
• Junkie Prophet: In order to commune with the spirits, shamans toss a green powder into fires, which creates hallucinogenic smoke that, when inhaled, causes the shaman to experience visions.
• Justified Criminal: Miguel's father rationalizes that they only steal from people so they can survive. Averted however when Miguel's father steals from another poor family out of greed, leading to Miguel swearing off thievery.
• Kick the Dog:
  • When he is first introduced, Mohawk recommends defanging and declawing Hrao on the off chance she causes trouble.
  • While a number of the enslaved cats are taken advantage of by the crew, Mohawk forces himself on Hrao in front of everyone for presumably no other reason than to be cruel.
  • After a leopard instigates a failed uprising and presumably insults him, Mohawk first kills the leopard's companion in front of him before executing him.
• Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: In their final confrontation, Miguel willing invites Hakka to kill him in order to keep Hrao out of their conflict. This causes Hakka to have a Heel Realization and he spares Miguel before leaving in shame.
• Knight Templar: Hakka is convinced that Miguel is a demon that must be destroyed, and refuses to hear any arguments to the contrary.
• Knockout Ambush: Hrao and Hakka's fight in Yamia is interrupted by the sudden appearance of lions who knock them out with Tranquillizer Darts.
• Language Barrier:
  • A large one exists between Hrao and Miguel, as it might not even be physically possible for them to speak each other's languages.
  • While their language shares common words, one exists between Hrao and the panther traders.
  • Multiple ones exist between the enslaved cats, necessitating the use of sign language for them to communicate.
  • The lion slavers themselves also speak their own language unknown to the other cats.
• Loss of Identity: Hakka comes dangerously close to this while bonding with the Widow of the Waves.
• Made a Slave: Hrao, Hakka, and a number of other characters end up captured by lion slavers.
• Married to the Job: At the start of the story, Hrao's entire life revolves around hunting, to the concern of a number of the other villagers, including her father.
• Masked Luchador: Miguel compares Hrao to one, due to her mask and acrobatic fighting style.
• The Maze:
  • Hrao views the ruined city that the Silent One lives in as a labyrinth.
  • Hakka describes the Window of the Waves' mind like this.
• Meaningful Name: The lion port of Leon, which is Greek and Spanish for "lion."
• The Medic:
  • The healer of Hrao's village, Laowr.
  • The lion doctor, Sheera.
• Mentor Archetype: Brask served as Hakka's teacher in the shamanic arts.
• Metaphorically True: Due to being a Bad Liar, Hrao tells the panther traders that she got injured fighting monkeys while leaving out why she was fighting them.
• Mind-Control Eyes: When Hakka possess an animal, their eyes change to resemble his.
• Mix-and-Match Critters:
  • A reptor is a mixture of a snake and a crocodile.
  • A snakerat is essentially a mongoose with a cobra's poisonous bite.
• Mother Nature: Rama, the nature goddess that bears the same name as the planet, is this.
• Mortal Wound Reveal: A non-lethal example. While sparring with Miguel, Hrao knocks him down, only to notice that he had cut her arm with his Wolverine Claws. She notes that the wound is deep enough that if Miguel had been using snakerat venom she would now be unconscious.
• My Greatest Failure: Hrao is haunted by the death of her daughter, who died due to her negligence.
• Nature Spirit: Rama and her six attendants, Air Cheetah, Water Leopard, Earth Jaguar, Fire Lion, Dark Panther and the Tiger of Light.
• Not Wanting Kids Is Weird: Hakka believes its strange that Hrao has not found a new mate and had more cubs after the death of their daughter.
• The Nose Knows: The Cat Folk of Rama have acute senses of smell, forcing Hrao to find ways of masking Miguel's scent to keep him hidden.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: When captured by lions, Miguel pretends to be a simple animal, tricking Captain Beatrix into keeping him as a pet while he figures out a way to free Hrao and the slaves.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Hrao has this reaction when she comes face to face with the Gagaku.
  • Hrao has it again when she finds out that they're being hunted by Hakka and that he is The Beastmaster in a jungle full of deadly animals.
  • Hrao once more has this reaction when she spots a bird that Hakka is using to spy on her and Miguel right before he attacks.
• Oh, My Gods!: Hrao says "Merciful Rama" at one point.
• That Old-Time Prescription: Laowr gives Miguel some bitter-tasting bark to help with his pain, an apparent reference to willow bark being a precursor to aspirin.
• Only Known by Their Nickname:
  • Opal Eye, a nickname Hrao comes up with, is only ever referred to as such, even when directly spoken to.
  • Hrao and Miguel never learn Mohawk's real name, and he is only credited as such in the cast listing.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Hrao and Hakka's daughter died some time before the beginning of the story. Hrao is particularly haunted by it since the death is because of her negligence.
• Palate Propping: Hrao does this to a reptor to keep it from eating Miguel before performing a Jawbreaker to kill it.
• Past Experience Nightmare: Hrao has them concerning her dead daughter.
• Penal Colony: Matthews suggests sending the enslaved cats to a penal mining colony the lions have in the New World instead of executing them.
• Playing Possum: Hrao considers doing this to escape the lion slavers, but quickly realizes that it won't work.
• Poisoned Weapons: Knowing that Miguel isn't strong enough to fight most inhabitants of Rama, Hrao instructs him how to poison his weapons with snakerat and black mamba venom.
• Portal Door: A stable portal hangs above a waterfall in Rama, through which Miguel came from Earth.
• Portent of Doom: Hakka believes Miguel is this.
• Pose of Supplication:
  • Hrao assumes this pose before the Gagaku in hopes it will spare her and Miguel's lives.
  • Miguel does this towards Hakka, showing he is willing to let the shaman kill him to put their conflict to an end.
  • Finally, Hakka does this before the Silent One as he begs her forgiveness and asks for her to teach him how to be a proper shaman.
• Potty Dance: Miguel uses this to signal to the Silent One that he needs to use her bathroom.
• Prophet Eyes: Shamans gain these while communing with the spirits.
• Public Execution: For killing their captors, the slaves are sentenced to be hanged.
• Rape as Drama: The lions have their way with all of the female slaves and some of the males, with everything coming to a head when Mohawk forces himself on Hrao in front of everyone. It's later revealed that Mohawk does this as a way to keep the slaves in line.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: If the fact that they are slavers wasn't enough, Mohawk and his men happily forcing themselves on their prisoners shows just how evil they are.
• Reclaimed by Nature: Shown with the ruined city of Yamia, which has been overrun by plant life and has wild animals stalking its streets.
• Refusal of the Call: Hrao repeatedly tries to abandon Miguel at the beginning of the story, but finds she cannot ignore his plight.
• Replacement Goldfish: Hakka accuses Hrao of using Miguel as a replacement for their dead daughter.
• The Reveal:
  • Hrao and Hakka had a daughter, who died due to Hrao's negligence, the guilt over which has been fueling her actions in the story.
  • Hakka's shamanic powers are the reason for the Widow of the Waves sudden departure.
• Robbing the Dead: After fighting off a pair of leopards who were attempting to steal her food, Hrao loots the corpse of one she managed to kill, apparently as an extension of her philosophy of not wasting anything that could be useful.
• Roofhopping: How Hrao navigates the ruined city that the Silent One dwells in.
• Rule of Seven:
  • Hakka's story says that originally there were once seven tribes of cats who lived in harmony.
  • The Seven Elements, Rama and her six attendants.
• "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The Silent One keeps the story of the Gagaku going so less people will come and bother her by seeking her wisdom.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Brask warns Hakka that attempting to stop prophisized events only brings them about quicker.
• Signed Language: The Silent One, who is deaf, teaches a rudimentary version of this to Hrao and Miguel so they can communicate with her. Later, Hrao teaches it to the other cats who are enslaved by the lions so that they can communicate with one another.
• Shout-Out:
  • Hakka says that during the Succession Crisis in his story, all alliances would end in sudden but inevitable betrayal.
  • The description in Hakka's story about an ancient tribe discovering an ancient treasure that would make them invincible, but when opened ended up destroying them, is very similar to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • The description of the ruined temple that the Silent One lives in bears a similarity to the base of the ThunderCats.
  • "Hakka absolutely will not stop, ever, until Miguel is dead."
  • The scene where Miguel and Hrao watch a family of giant elephants from afar is similar to the scene in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' where Frodo and Sam watch oliphants march by.
  • Miguel encountering his friends white washing a fence and then convincing them to go look for treasure hidden by a group of thieves, brings The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to mind.
  • "If it breathes, we can kill it."
• Slave Liberation:
  • Hrao and Miguel lead a revolt on the lions' slave ship.
  • A few revolts on other ships are mention in passing, in which everyone, both slaves and slavers, died.
  • After their trial, the slaves are saved from execution by Matthews and his abolitionists.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The lion's slavery of other cats is viewed by the narrative as nothing short of evil.
• Spirit World: The shadowy otherworld that shaman enter when they astral project.
• The Stinger: The story ends with Frank Butler asking Malloy from Secret Rooms about his tall tales, and the old man offering to tell him a story about the white tiger living in the woods, implied to be a tiger from Rama, possibly even Brask.
• Stop, or I Shoot Myself!: While Hakka is using the wildlife to attack them, Hrao realizes he is only trying to kill Miguel, not her. In response, Hrao threatens to stab herself with her own spears to get him to back down.
• The Storyteller:
  • Hakka is noted to be the best storyteller in the village, befitting his role as shaman.
  • In fact, multiple characters treat the term "storyteller" as synonymous with shaman.
• Succession Crisis: Hakka's story tells of one occurring after the death of the Great Chief.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Hakka has gold eyes and a number of supernatural powers.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: It's said that every previous slave revolt on a ship ended with all the slaves dead, as upon killing the slavers, the slaves were left with a ship they couldn't sail, leading them to die of eventual starvation or killed when they were discovered by another lion ship.
• Taking the Bullet: Opal Eye takes a point blank shot from the lions' cannon to protect the rest of the slaves.
• Tastes Like Friendship: After saving him, Hrao is able to get Miguel to trust her by first giving him a piece of antelope jerky and fruit to eat.
• Technicolor Fire: As part of his ritual to enter a trance and speak with the spirits, Hakka throws some incense into a fire, causing the flames to turn green.
• Training Montage: Episode 7 serves as an extended one for Miguel.
• Tranquillizer Dart: Used by the lion slavers to capture Hrao and Hakka.
• Translation Convention: All of the tigers' speech is rendered in English, despite none of them knowing, or possibly being able to physically speak the language.
• Tree Top Town: Hrao's village is suspended in the branches of the jungle canopy.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The Gagaku, a monster that is said to prowl the area where the Silent One lives, but is also viewed as a story to scare children.
• Underground Railroad: Matthews and his group of abolitionists, who smuggle the enslaved cats out of Leon.
• Vine Swing: One of the ways Hrao gets through the jungle canopy.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Laowr inducing Miguel to vomit while caring for him is accompanied by some very vivid sound effects.
• Voodoo Doll: During her flashback to her tribe's battle with a tribe of leopards, Hrao notes that the leopard shaman had a doll effigy of a tiger with a claw stuck in its heart. It's not show whether the effigy had any real power, but the intent is clear.
• Walking the Earth: After he has completed Hakka's training, Brask leaves to go on a spirit walk, not knowing where it will lead him.
• Who Dares?: Hrao repeatedly says "How dare you?" to Hakka when he points out she hasn't found a new mate and had new cubs after the death of their daughter.
• Wolverine Claws:
  • The Silent One has a pair of clawed gauntlets that she wears as part of her Gagaku disguise.
  • Miguel makes a single clawed bracer out of part of Hrao's armor and a pair of bone knives.
• Whole Episode Flashback:
  • After he and Hrao are captured by slavers, the story changes focus to a multiepisode telling of Miguel's life up until that point.
  • After they all escape the slavers, the story again gives a multiepisode account of someone's life, this time for Hakka.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: Miguel muses that since the collapse of civilization, gold and paper money have become worthless, meaning that the treasue that a group of thieves have supposedly hidden on the Nanchez must be in tradable goods.
• You No Take Candle: Due to the Language Barrier that exists between them, Hrao and the panther traders sound like this when they speak to each other.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Hrao faces off with Hakka in Yamia to give Miguel time to escape.
• Zerg Rush: Hakka favors this tactic, attacking Hrao and Miguel with a horde of ibex, a flock of birds and a troop of monkeys.