Leopard's Night Out

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi39.tinypic.com/212sgew.jpg] Savannah padded through the dark of the forest to appraise the trees. In a spotted blur, she leapt to the most suitable: a tall oak. Savannah jerked back in surprise as a bat flew past her nose. She frowned, considering slashing it out of the sky (for it didn't appear to be a shifter) but decided not to. Casting her eyes to the forest floor, she scanned the moonlit ground for other shifters.

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[atrb=background,http://oi43.tinypic.com/11gujk0.jpg] Ari peered through her window into the forest. She silently wondered if any shifters would be nearby. If they were, they would be visible through her window. If not, she would have to go looking. Ari slipped on her boots and coat, and made her way outside. A cool blast of December air greeted her, and she shivered, wishing she had brought a hat. The leaves crunched under Ari's feet as she walked towards the forest, making far more noise than she would like. Many shifters would not hurt humans like herself, but this did not apply to all of them. After she was out of sight of her house, she squinted at her surroundings. She could make out a nearby tree with low branches. Ari began to climb as quietly as she was able. Trees were not necessarily safer than the ground, but she was still reassured. Until she looked up, noticed a pair of ice blue eyes staring at her and lost her sense of security.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi39.tinypic.com/212sgew.jpg] Savannah flinched backward into the sheltering branches of her oak. A human! Savannah disliked humans furiously, even though she was technically one of them. The other kids in her class always mocked and tormented her, and it had given her an intense dislike of their kind, and she considered exacting revenge on them with her curved claws, hear them repent... The leopard shook her spotted head, disapproving of such thoughts. She was a human, too. Savannah peered at the human through the branches.

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[atrb=background,http://oi43.tinypic.com/11gujk0.jpg] Ari flinched as she saw what she now recognized as a jaguar retreat into the trees. Considering the animal, who was obviously a shifter, had not attacked her, she figured she was safe. With a small, shy smile, Ari waved. The jaguar studied her with its icy eyes, giving Ari a sense of discomfort, but she put her hand down, and pulled her knees close to her to stay warm.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi39.tinypic.com/212sgew.jpg] Savannah glanced at the human, who had not made any aggressive motions towards her. Savannah studied the figure intensely. A young girl that she hadn't seen before, rather stylishly clothed. At a length, Savannah deigned to speak, an honour considering the human tongue was rather hard to speak with a leopard's throat. "Hi," she growled shyly, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

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[atrb=background,http://oi43.tinypic.com/11gujk0.jpg] "Uh...hi. I'm Ari," she said, confused "I didn't know you guys could talk." She hadn't known, but it fascinated her. Ari suddenly realized how abnormal her life was. She was sitting in a tree talking to a jaguar. Trying to shake the thought out of her mind, she continued "I live right outside the woods, so sometimes I see you guys." Ari wasn't sure what to call 'them'. She couldn't rightly call them werewolves, because most of them weren't even wolves. In her thoughts she referred to them as shifters, but she figured she might ask what they called themselves. "What do you call yourself? I mean, not your name, but you're a human and a jaguar."

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi39.tinypic.com/212sgew.jpg] Savannah's ears flattened, offended. "I'm not a jaguar. I'm a leopard. And we call ourselves shifters," she said, pausing for a moment to swallow her hunger, then continued, "We don't talk much because, frankly, your tongue is hard to speak with the vocal chords of an animal." Savannah paused for a minute to look around, then turned back to the human. "You probably shouldn't have come here. It's safe enough for a leopard, but anything else...is probably gonna be meat for one of the shifters who've lost they're humanity. Or it," Savannah's tail flicked at the last word.

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[atrb=background,http://oi43.tinypic.com/11gujk0.jpg] Ari raised her hands, exasperated. "I'm not a jungle cat expert, okay?" She glanced down "And what is 'it'?" Ari had always considered her backyard to be a safe space, even if it was crawling with intelligent, deadly animals who turned into people. Now this jaguar, or rather leopard, was talking about some it that might be dangerous? She was just an average eighth grade, fashion-forward human. What would an it want to do with her?

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi39.tinypic.com/212sgew.jpg] Savannah glanced back and forth furtively and listened to the sounds of the forest before growling, "You haven't heard of...it? The...the panther? You humans, you sure are some kinda ignorant." The leopard scratched an itchy ear with a hindpaw. "The panther is the worst of the feral shifters. No one knows where it came from, or what its human form looks like. But everyone knows its bite is infected. It kills within days. Bet you thought it was safe here," she purred, laughing at the stupidity of humans, "but you have no idea."