Mr. Todd started to panic. He was a tiger, stuck in the tiger pen, in a zoo.
"Okay, okay. I have to explain something to you..." Mr. Todd said to the surrounding tigeresses.
All the tigeresses looked at Mr. Todd, slightly confused by his statement. Explain? What did he need to explain? What was there to explain? He was a new addition to the zoo. Tigers come and go. It wasn't that hard of a statement to make, all the tigeresses knew that. But it wasn't that. It wasn't that at all.
"...I am not a tiger".
There was a small amount of silence, followed by the biggest howling of laughter that he has ever heard. Every single tigeress laughed. Some of them was rolling on the grass, just laughing at Mr. Todd's statement.
One of the tigeresses tried to say something, while still laughing away "You're- Y-y-haha You're kidding, right? I mean, ju-jus-haha just look at you! You're not like those furless creatures behind the bars, even though you speak like one, you are a tiger! Tha-th-haha That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard, haha".
Mr. Todd was rather annoyed by the response that the tigeresses had "But it's true! I-"
His response was cut off by more laughing, even louder than before.
Mr. Todd tried to speak again but the laughter was almost deafening. Finally, he snapped. He tried to shout "HEY!" but it came out as a loud roar. All the tigeresses stopped laughing, stood still and payed attention to Mr. Todd. He was slightly shocked by what he had just done, he was questioning the changes in his head, but was glad that the laughing stopped.
"Alright, I'll say it again. I may look like a tiger, but I used to be those "furless creatures" outside. My name is Julius..."
As soon as Mr. Todd said his name, the tigeresses were confused. Julius? Who names a tiger Julius? Julius doesn't sound at all like a tiger. The thought started to enter the tigeresses minds that maybe what "Julius" said was right. Maybe he wasn't a tiger.
"...and just, what looks like, two hours ago, I was a human. I somehow gained the power to change into an animal whenever I wanted, but when I changed into a tiger, people mistook me for an actual tiger..."
The tigeresses thought about what "Julius" was saying. He does act like a "human", and no other tiger has feared us before, he might be right! Maybe he was human.
...now, something has happened to my power to change. I don't know if I'm stuck like this forever, or if I'll change into a human and you guys might maul me to death, but... I'm scared. Please...help me".
The tigeresses now fully believed what he was saying. No tiger or tigeress was scared. He was a human. One of them walked towards Mr. Todd. He responded to her by trying to cover his face with his paws in fear. She sniffed around the whimpering "Julius".
She responded "You smell like us, yet you are not us. You don't act like us. We believe you. You are not a tiger, but a furless creature".
He nodded, still scared of what the tigeresses might do next.
"You need help, right?"
The thought never crossed his mind due to his panicked state.
"Y-ye-yes!" He said "Yes, I do".
"We shall help you. What do you need us to do?" she responded
Mr. Todd thought about what he should say, blindly he said "I need to know your names first".
All of the tigeresses listed off their names, the first one being the first to believe "Julius".
"I am Indra, their leader".
"I am Morka"
"Skyl"
"Bega"
"Fuan"
"Anga"
"Hyer"
"Tli"
"and I am Yonda"
"O-okay. T-tha-thank you". Mr. Todd responded, slightly confused by the question he asked.
"Is there anything more need?" Indra asked.
"Yes. We need to make a escape plan..."