CHULANE
I believe that dreams are sacred
He was amused, thoroughly so, of the various reactions his fellow attuned allowed to leak over the bond. The anxiety in particular, seemed to call to the predator within him, the leopard relishing in the idea of stirring up such things in its prey. Its approach should stir up such things in its chosen prey, for it was a formidable beast - at least when its consciousness wasn't controlled by the kind, friendly man.
They were hunting not to eat, but to play, to capture and win this game they had assigned each other. His radio silence was, he hoped, matched by the mostly-silent nature of his physical movement too, as padded paws carefully trekked across the icescape, pausing every other stride to test the air with his nostrils and tongue, tasting the air and redirecting his search as suited.
Ah, but it was almost too easy, as he felt her beckon, her friendly extension towards him; combined with the instincts and senses he was putting to use, he honed in on where she was likely to be, crouching low as he rounded the ice sheets. At the entrance, he did almost miss her, but a moment passed and his sights were able to adjust swiftly to the darkness and identify the difference between fleece and snow.
He crept closer, his tail twitching in excitement, lifting a paw to gently bop at her woolly hide. 'Gotcha,' he murmured through the bond with amusement clearly evident, purring all the while as he backed away to give her space to move easily again. 'Start counting!' he prompted with a final pulse of challenge, before turning deftly on his heel and running away, silencing the bond again.
Eventually, he found a space quite high up, but still visible if one knows to look up. It was an icy pillar that had splintered, leaving a convenient shelf-like structure about three metres high, which he had climbed similarly to how he would climb a tree in this form, leaving claw marks behind in the otherwise smooth surface of the pillar. Still, he held hope that she would not see the evidence of his hiding spot, and give him the opportunity to ambush her from above.
They were hunting not to eat, but to play, to capture and win this game they had assigned each other. His radio silence was, he hoped, matched by the mostly-silent nature of his physical movement too, as padded paws carefully trekked across the icescape, pausing every other stride to test the air with his nostrils and tongue, tasting the air and redirecting his search as suited.
Ah, but it was almost too easy, as he felt her beckon, her friendly extension towards him; combined with the instincts and senses he was putting to use, he honed in on where she was likely to be, crouching low as he rounded the ice sheets. At the entrance, he did almost miss her, but a moment passed and his sights were able to adjust swiftly to the darkness and identify the difference between fleece and snow.
He crept closer, his tail twitching in excitement, lifting a paw to gently bop at her woolly hide. 'Gotcha,' he murmured through the bond with amusement clearly evident, purring all the while as he backed away to give her space to move easily again. 'Start counting!' he prompted with a final pulse of challenge, before turning deftly on his heel and running away, silencing the bond again.
Eventually, he found a space quite high up, but still visible if one knows to look up. It was an icy pillar that had splintered, leaving a convenient shelf-like structure about three metres high, which he had climbed similarly to how he would climb a tree in this form, leaving claw marks behind in the otherwise smooth surface of the pillar. Still, he held hope that she would not see the evidence of his hiding spot, and give him the opportunity to ambush her from above.
Take my darkest fears and play them
