Last night i dreamed: the animal (Kyrie)

[Van]

Last night you dreamed you were in a humid jungle, lost in a dark thicket of vines and weeds. Not far away through the foliage you heard thrashing and the frustrated snarls of some large beast.

• I approached the dangerous sound.
  
• I ran away from the dangerous sound.

[Kyrie Blaze]

The jungle. Dangerous. Beautiful. And with the sound of a large, thrashing animal? Alarming. My soft, wide blue eyes try to take in every single sight, and my ears are always tuned for approaching sounds and anything that was amiss.

Judging by those sounds, something was.

As my cautious, tricksy Hobbits' nature decreed, it would give in to my overwhelming sense of curiosity. As I started to make my way forwards, I dissipated to the shadows, trying to sneak around to see what was going on with all caution and haste. It was interesting; the world of interconnected shadows had her "upside down" - right-side up when she was in the shadows - in comparison to the normal plane of existence. What type of animal was it and why was it thrashing?

[Van]

You saw, through the ferns, the unmistakeable pelt of a rather large leopard. The animal was lashed to the ground by ropes, caught in a hunter's net. It looked just as angry as it looked frightened.

The leopard's manic eyes rolled over to you.

"Hey! Help me! That hunter will be back any minute." he snarled, snapping his rather sharp teeth in your direction.

• I freed the leopard from the hunter's net.
  
• I kept my distance from the wild animal and waited for the hunter to return.

[Kyrie Blaze]

The fact it should have been unnervingly odd that the leopard could not only see her within the shadows but speak didn't even register. Though everything in me wanted to slice through the leopard's bindings to free him, the anger made me pause. He could just as easily devour me if I free him in his state. Fight or flight and chances were he would choose to fight, and I was not a hunter.

"Las. Las." I soothed, making slow and soothing motions with my hands and moving so I had the view with the least obstruction; I moved as close as I dared and tuned my hearing to listen for any approaching sounds. I made sure to keep my voice smooth and low and crooning. "...peace, peace. I will help you, but you must calm yourself and conserve your energy. Listen for the hunter and let me know if you hear him."

I melded in the shadow, crouching and withdrawing the dagger, gauging the leopard's state and listening. Always, I was listening.

[Van]

The leopard growled at you in frustration, clearly impatient. But who wouldn't be, in his situation?

After a minute or so, you heard a rustle in the foliage approaching you and the leopard. A tan-skinned man wearing animal pelts emerged from the ferns and raised his bow and arrow, aiming at the thrashing leopard's eye. He didn't seem to see you.

What did you do then?

[Kyrie Blaze]

I close the distance using the shadows, keeping low. Quickly. I flipped the dagger into a reverse-grip, coming in on a diagonal towards his front; his features I took note of, if only because it was a habit to take in people's features and memorize them.

Just in front and to his side, it was a simple matter, then, of appearing and knocking the bottom of the bow high, to throw off the man's aim, using the palm of my hand and springing from my legs after the first disorienting lurch of reappearing from the shadow...and stab the dagger into his closest kneecap.

Blood was definitely another reason I had kept the leopard in his bonds. I didn't want him to be driven by it into attacking me.

[Van]

The hunter seemed very surprised to see you, or maybe it was just the agony of being stabbed in the knee that drove him to drop the bow altogether and limp frantically back the way he came.

The leopard watched with interest and listened as the yelping man disappeared into the forest. His large golden eyes rolled over to you.

"Impressive. Will you free me now?"

• I freed the leopard from the trap.
  
• I did not free the leopard from the trap.

[Kyrie Blaze]

I frowned, watching the bleeding man with his shattered knee "flee" back into the forest, listening intently to the sounds of the jungle, considering that there could have been more than one hunter. I turned back to regard the regal leopard with his intelligent golden eyes. A thought crossed my mind - the flash of what could only be a fantastical dream, something an oddball such as her could think--traversing the jungle with him, carried, even?--and unbidden, a tiny smile flit over my lips. Yet I was cautious still. I turned to wipe the blood from the dagger with the fern's fronds, leaving a vivid red smear against the crisp green of the foliage. Unwanting and unwilling to leave a weapon for anyone to pick up, I crouched to pick the bow and tote it along with me. A deft flick of my hand and wrist brought the knife to bear in a normal grip.

I held the leopard's eyes as I moved in, slowly and non-threatening.

"...I will."

Provided there wasn't even a hint of him wanting to lash out, I slowly slid the dagger against the ropes, keeping the edge away from his body. Slicing. Freeing. Yet, still, wary. Watching. Listening. I gently hazarded to touch his side with my free hand, murmuring soft and soothing words.

[Van]

The leopard breathed with relief as you cut him free, and slowly rose to his paws and licked your forehead gratefully before bounding into the ferns.

At some point in the day after you woke up, you would happen upon a discarded stuffed animal that seemed a bit familiar...

YOU FOUND THE NOBLE LEOPARD PLUSH (+5 CHA when in the doll's presence)
Details: A good luck charm. No better way to boost your poise than by doing a good deed, he reminds you.

[b][font=georgia]NOBLE LEOPARD PLUSH[/font][/b] (+5 CHA when in the dolls presence)
[u][i]Details:[/i][/u] A good luck charm. No better way to boost your poise than by doing a good deed, he reminds you.

[img]http://www.softstuffcreations.com/refresh/data/zoom_image/1621-Leopard0552_resized.jpg[/img]