Shape Shifter
The intelligent eyes of the jungle cat scanned the poachers around her. Her tail flicked in agitation at what the grungy men were discussing. Her speckled, mud matted fur rose and fell as she tried to figure out a way to escape the cage without the trappers realizing their catch.
Ariana's mind raced over different acts she could pull off and pretending to be either dead or asleep seemed like they were her best options. She sighed and dropped her head, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing. It was actually quite relaxing and calmed her down immensely.
The men stopped talking and the leader pulled out his keys. "What are you going to do with it?" One of the other men slowly backed away, soon followed by others.
The man pulled out a syringe. "I need to get a hold of its skin to inject this and it will put her right into a deep slumber so it won't feel anything when we bleed the thing out."
'So they want to save as much skin as possible... They'll pay for ever thinking it...' She wanted to growl at the men, but then she would be stuck in there. The man unclipped the lock and latch and began swinging the door open. He knelt down in front of her and gripped her skin tightly.
Once he had a hold of her, she lunged and sunk her teeth into his arm, her mouth filling with the man's detestable blood. He dropped the syringe and dropped back from the cage. As he tried to the the door shut, Ariana pushed her way out, racing through the men to get to the jungle surrounding the camp.
"Just shoot it!" The man cried out, trying to stop the bleeding from his arm. A few of the men pulled out pistols and fired at the fleeing cat.
She jumped side to side after hearing the shots in hopes of avoiding them. She dodged to the side as another shot was fired. It grazed her hip and caused her to stumble. As she was regaining her paws, another bullet pierced her side.
She ran, blinded by the pain and loss of blood. Once out of sight of the camp, her form shifted to that of a human woman and she ducked behind a tree and hid next to the roots. She was holding her side and trying to stay conscious, hoping that she would be able to get far away from the deadly camp. She slowly blacked out, now hearing the search party starting to fan out in the trees in search of the wounded cat.
((Pm to continue this please. Be one of the searchers. Let's see where it goes.))
