Primal Heat

[Annisthyrienne]

Katrina knelt by the stream, filling her canteen. She was on alert for dangers from snakes or other predators, but the real danger was dehydration. Even though it was the rain forest, the heat and exertion of moving though the jungle could deplete her faster than she might have believed. Professor Gordon had warned her of the dangers of the jungle on the flight down, and it was nothing like the movies or her vivid imagination had conjured up in the weeks leading up to the expedition.

She remembered how excited she had been when she'd been chosen to come along. It wasn't common for a junior graduate anthropology student to be selected for such an important expedition. She owed Professor Gordon her gratitude, but she didn't think that extended to any funny business. He was nearly her grandfather's age, after all. Fortunately, he had been well behaved so far. She had heard all sorts of stories about older professor and younger coeds, but Professor Gordon seemed to genuinely be more interested in the elusive quarry they had come here to find.

And that quarry was the reason she was out here now, lost in the densest part of the jungle. Katrina screwed the cap back on the canteen after dropping in a water purification tablet, remembering back to the moment her life had taken such a strange turn. She had been working late with the professor one night as he reviewed accounts of local sightings of a strange humanoid creature; part human, part panther. As an anthropologist, he was fascinated by such reports of a potential new race. She couldn't help getting caught up in his enthusiasm, and her own interests in such things cemented the relationship between them.

For weeks after, they researched the accounts together, gleaning every detail from the eyewitness testimonies that they could. When he asked her to come with him on a field expedition to search for the creature, she'd jumped at the chance. It had been a little dull after the first few days. The jungle was hot, humid, and the insects were constantly a nuisance. The local inhabitants were superstitious but friendly enough, except when asked about the sightings. They had become very reluctant and suspicious, but the professor had kept working on building trust with them. He was beginning to make some progress when Katrina had her own sighting.

It was one of those late nights, pouring over the details of one account they had managed to get from an interview with a local tribeswoman. Katrina had decided to turn in, and was just relieving herself before heading to her tent for the night when she caught the briefest glimpse of the creature! She had just wiped herself, and was pulling her shorts and panties up, when she happened to glance up and saw a large panther watching her. At first, her heart nearly leaped into her throat! She held still, wondering if the creature was stalking her. Surely it knew she was there; it was looking right at her!

She had tried to hold still, but her legs were beginning to cramp in that half squat, half standing position. At last she couldn't stay still any longer and stood up to relieve the burning in her thighs. That was all it took before the creature bolted into the jungle. Katrina's heart was pounding as she raced back to the camp, snatching up her pack, flashlight, and canteen, running back to the spot where she had seen the beast. The trail was faint, but there was enough to follow.

Professor Gordon had followed, but as Katrina raced ahead, caught up in her excitement of actually seeing the beast, the two of them were soon separated in the darkness of the night. Soon even the professor's urgent calls for her to come back were lost to the jungle's night sounds. By morning, she had become completely lost.

That was three days ago. Katrina was hungry, not being sure what kinds of things were safe to eat. At least she had plenty of water, she thought. The first day, she realized she had lost the trail of the creature and also lost the professor. She thought she'd known which direction to head to get back, but she had gotten turned around in the darkness. As she headed in the direction she thought would take her back to their camp, she only traveled further and further into the depths of the jungle. Now she was hopelessly lost, and feeling on the verge of panic.

She stood, returning the canteen to her belt and shouldering her pack once more. Wiping her brow with a wet scarf, she glanced nervously at the jungle around her. Maybe it was the heat, maybe her anxiety, but she could swear she felt eyes upon her, watching her.

(Reserved for Sombrablanca)

 

[sombrablanca]

3000 years before


Dena sits in his craft, wearily reading his instruments. Food, fine. The small hydroponics section provides enough food and oxygen for the small, 3 horned herbivore the alien has chosen as his form to travel. He is a mottled blue and orange, two feet tall. his four red eyes all seem to be on a different instrument. The four fingers on each hand tap furiously at his controls.

That last fight must have damaged something in Nav that x-space exacerbated. He has no idea where he is. The last jump was to bring him to an ore belt that he could resupply fuel at. His com gear destroyed, his only chance at warning his people was to get there. Racial memory doesn't help if you can not get in contact. That will never happen now.

The creature frantically tries to alter his ship's trajectory, but there is no chance. His jump placed him directly in the gravity field of the third planet in the system. He knows it is futile, but must try. It helps the actions he is taking might save his life. He doesn't, but he does save the planet later to be called Earth by it's inhabitants another mass extinction.

His craft crashes, hard, equipment flying around, a console slamming into his chest with lethal impact. For a mile around there is only a crater. Just outside this area things are in bad shape but mostly survived. Among them are a panther pairing mating, as well as a wounded human, near death. He is an outcast, far, far from home, hopelessly lost.

Radiation from a galaxy only dreamed about by later species inundates the area. Much of the alien's ship is organic. Like him, it can change to an extent. That is it's nature. It begins to change things just being there. Things grow, shrink, warp. Some do not survive. Some become things that will be known well in Katrina's day. Such as the huge diversity of life in the rainforest. Some changes are hidden deep, not seen by any human. These changes stop occuring directly a thousand years before another human comes this deep, the metal becoming inert.

Unlike what they believe, they are not the only sentient beings on the planet. Til recently, they have seen glimpses of something they call Demon, or protector of the wilds only when speaking with their gods, or sometimes young on their spirit journeys claim to have seen but none can ever verify. They are myth, legend, perhaps the basis for a long ago deity.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Katrina was exhausted. 'Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Just keep going.' That was her mantra, and she doggedly clung to it. She knew she couldn't get back to the camp, or any place civilized, for that matter, if she didn't keep going. She had lost her pack somewhere along the way. Her blouse and T-shirt were soaked with her perspiration. The sole of one of her hiking boots was loose and flapping, making it hard to walk on the sloping ground she followed along the narrow game trail.

Her strategy had changed. She had been hiking through this jungle for four days and nights now. She knew she should have made it back to camp by now, but obviously she was lost. She couldn't see anything around her with the thick verdant canopy and close-in underbrush of the jungle. So when the ground beneath her feet had begun to slope upwards, she decided to follow the slope, hoping to find a clear spot on high ground to get a look at her surroundings. Maybe she could get her bearings from some landmark in the surrounding countryside.

The sun hung in the sky like a swollen orb, sending waves of heat into the jungle. Katrina wiped her brow as she leaned against a tree. By now she had forgotten about the sense of someone or something watching her. It would be getting dark soon, and she was ready to collapse for another night of anxiety. She tried to fight off her fears. She was lost in a jungle in a strange country. What if she never found her way out? What if nobody could find her? Already she hadn't eaten in days. She was dead on her feet, and she hadn't found a fresh water source since last night. The water in her canteen, having been filled at the last opportunity, was nearly gone now. She knew she had to keep her wits about her, couldn't let panic take control of her. She fought it, but how long could she last?

Two feet, plodding, one in front of the other, stumbling along gracelessly through the brush, onward she went. Two hours later, the shadows growing long, she managed to find a lightening struck tree, split down the trunk and hollow. It seemed as good a place as any to shelter for the night. Katrina sipped the last of her water as she curled up in the trunk, wrapping her arms around herself.

In the jungle, the usual night noises grew silent. Katrina didn't notice. She was lost in the fog of exhaustion driven sleep.

 

[sombrablanca]

The male was surprised the first time he came near the no furs. He knew of them of course. They all did.For millennia there had been one rule, one taboo over all others. Do not interact with them no matter how curious. That has now all changed.

He has been scouting them for a year or two now, searching, always searching. He wonders if maybe the search is over. Shrugging, he recounts to himself the wisdom of the tribe's elders. What will be will be. He slices a small bit of the roasted wild pig he found in one of the traps earlier. In the wilds of the jungle you take what you can when you can. When she settles in he roasts it, keeping the fire very small, sheltered so the light from the fire is not seen. He is far enough the smoke should not carry, but he has a good view of her tree trunk. He thinks back .

A few nights before he thought his search might finally be bearing fruit. One was here. The large cat had been watching the scientist camp, seeing what might be seen. A female moved towards him. He wasn't concerned. The nofurs were always clueless unless one made an effort to be noticed. There was something different about her. For one thing she noticed him. His long, lean black body melted into the dense underbrush. He kept moving until he heard the male voice hollering. She was following? Hm... Interesting.

His curiousity was piqued by the female. For one thing, she noticed him. Yes he stepped out a bit too far in his eagerness, but still. He circled back, keeping an eye on her. She moves for days, long after the trail he provided is gone. She does not eat. She passes up edible after edible. He starts thinking she must be as a cub, unprepared, overeager and curious, for she eats nothing, even the stuff the darker nofurs devour.

He shakes his head, coming back to the momement. She is at least heading towards higher ground, which is a good idea. After the first day he had almost left her. Surely this one couldn't be, but there was that one thing he couldn't deny. So he continues to track, watch. She falls asleep as deepy as she will.

He moves in close, pale blue eyes glowing in the shade of the thick canopy. In her dreams she might think she felt the lightest breeze though it is of his breath as a soft chuff escapes him as he takes in her form. From her position, even were she to wake enough to realize, all she could see is his eyes. Whereas his eyes are built for the gloom, and see each detail near perfectly.

He reaches out, but stops himself, clawtip an inch from her skin. The urge is overwhelming. He gives into the curiousity, unable to stop himself. Her skin is very very smooth. After the brief touch, his form slips through the shadows silently once again, certain he has not awakened her.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Dreams came and went. Which were dreams and which were delirium she could no longer tell. From time to time she stirred in her sleep, murmuring little incomprehensible noises that might have been sleep slurred words, plaintive cries, or simply random sounds. In the deepest part of night, she slipped into a deeper level of unconsciousness, silent and still at last.

Pre-dawn. She stirred, against all odds. Her situation was not improved. On top of all her other troubles, her head ached terribly. Her mouth felt like cotton. Normally the first thing she would've needed to do was to find a place to relieve herself, but she felt no need to today. Crawling slowly out of the hollow trunk of the tree made her head throb. Getting to her feet made her dizzy and she leaned back against the tree to steady herself. Looking around slowly, she spent several minutes longer to get her bearings than it should have taken. For some reason, she couldn't remember which direction she had come from the night before.

Up. Higher. She knew she wanted to go higher, up the slope. She couldn't remember quite why she did, but only that she did. With leaden feet, she stumbled up the path, catching her foot on a root. She looked down to find the sole of her hiking boot flapping loose. 'That's not right.' was all she thought. She leaned over to grab at her shoe, and fell forward, rolling over on her back. The motion sent the grey patches of sky, barely visible through the leaf canopy above, swirling in spiral patterns in her field of vision. The spinning field of view made her head throb more as she lay there. Several minutes passed before she sat up to remove her boot. She had to solve that flapping problem. Had to. Couldn't go on that way.

She tugged and tugged, managing to pull the boot off without loosening the laces first. Using a nearby stick for balance, she rose to her feet again, stumbling onward up the trail, one foot still clad in a hiking boot, one foot in only a thick sock. Her legs were scratched below her khaki cargo shorts with all the underbrush and briars that had tried to snag at her flesh in the past several days. She was covered in dirty smudges from her time spent curled on the forest floor, in the tree trunk, and from the many times she had fallen in her stumbling trudging along.

Her auburn hair, normally kept brushed and in a nice pony tail, was now tangled and in disarray, hanging loose and full of leaves and bits of twigs. Formerly bright green eyes were dull and listless with fatigue, hunger, and thirst now. Lips once full, ruby red, and voluptuous were now becoming cracked and chapped.

Sometime in the mid morning heat, she stopped perspiring. The light green tank top she wore under her khaki vest was partially soaked in her sweat, and was keeping her slightly cooler, for now. Still she staggered onward. Onward and upward.
It was just after noon when the loose rock tumbled under her booted foot, giving her ankle a turn. She stumbled and fell, scraping her hands as she reached to catch herself reflexively. A sharp intake of air hissed through clenched teeth gasped from her with the stinging pain. She examine her bleeding palms, picking out a few bits of rock and sand from the wounds. Suddenly she went still. Was that drumming she heard? Or only her pulse throbbing in her temples? Her head ached incredibly! Now her hands hurt, and as she tried to stand to put weight on her ankle, she cried out in pain. She could go no further on her feet. But to stay would mean to die here.

And so she began to crawl.

 

[sombrablanca]

He shakes his head at the female before him. He can't help it. He has to help her. He doesn't want to. He is not certain. His senses say she is, but at the same time she obviously isn't. She has shown no aptitude for life in the jungle, but there is strength.

Unlike the others of this continent she is fair, not bronzed by the sun. Yet she has withstood the heat well. She has shown strength. She has gone several days on no food, pushing forward doggedly. She has not had water in the better part of the day. She has curiousity, else she'd not have chased him. Also apparently not much fear. Who without courage takes nothing but a light and a few items to chase a panther half again the size of a normal one?

He weighs the pros and cons, deciding what he will do. He still isn't certain she's worth it, that it's right. However she is the -only- one he's found who has That. He's been searching three years now. So he knows what he must do. Just in case.

The bracelets on his arms change, forming a long hollow tube and dart. He reaches to his waist, dipping the dart in one of the four small containers around his waist. She is obviously to the point of disorientation. She is on the edge of heat stroke. However, she could still put up a fight or try to. So he chooses a poison that will sap her energy, but leave her conscious. She needs water, and it will be much easier if she can swallow.

He blowgun is brought to his lips, merely a few feet from behind her, pricking her squarely at the spinal cord. The pipe flows, becoming colored bracelets once again. He is beneath her slumping form before she can hit the ground. His soft, short , black fur is all she feels. He doesn't speak, reaching behind him to the gourd at his back. It flows into his hand, an opening appearing in the top. Just a tiny one so she can not choke. He brings it to his lips where she can clearly see. His short muzzle opens, pouring a thin stream of clear water into his mouth. His black fur gleams in the bit of light. Being fastidious, he washed in the stream he got the water from. He then puts it to her lips, urging her to drink.

 

[Annisthyrienne]

Katrina's whole world spun. Dizzying waves of pain spread out from her twisted ankle as she crawled along. She bit her lip to keep from whimpering. It hurt, but she had to keep going. There as no choice. To stay here was to wait to die. She had to find water, had to find food, had to find a way back to civilization.

She paused, resting, letting the pain from her movement subside just a little before trying again. She let her throbbing head drop to her crossed forearms in front of her, closing her eyes. She didn't know how long she rested. She thought maybe she dozed, but wasn't sure. Was it a moment, or an hour? Would she have slept there indefinitely, perhaps never to wake? She would never know for sure.

Just then, something stung her in her lower back. She jerked suddenly, but had no effort for anything more. Weakly she tried to reach back to shoo away whatever insect had bit or stung her, but already her movements were growing increasingly uncoordinated. She began to sway on her hands and knees, unsteady even though on all fours already. She tried to hold still, to let the moment of disorientation pass, but it only got worse. She tried to lock her elbows to keep herself stable, but they gave way and she fell forward. She never made it to the ground.

Her head spun crazily, eyes unable to focus clearly as strong hands lifted her, turned her over. The sunlight filtering through the canopy leaves overhead spun in tight circles, creating strange patterns of flashes in her brain. A shadow passed between her eyes and the bright light. No. Not a shadow. A figure's head and torso. But it was black like a shadow. That wasn't right.....was it? And the shape of the head was wrong.

Her confusion and her body's inability to respond gave her a moment of panic, but delayed her comprehension of her true jeopardy. Her eyes opened wider, but still wouldn't accept the reality of what she saw as she watched the strange dark figure lift a container to it's lips. But out of the haze of her delirium, she saw and recognized the life giving water she needed so much! When he held it to her lips, she tried to lift her arms to take the container, but found she couldn't.

But she could swallow. Greedily. As much as she could take.

It was enough.

The liquid was tepid, but it soothed her and revived her. Enough for her eyes to truly focus on the creature that held her. Enough for her mind to truly recognize what held her. Her eyes widened as the sudden fear welled up within her. She tried to struggle free, but her body would not respond to her will. So she did the only thing she could; the thing that women have done when they're scared since time began. She drew in a breath and screamed!

Adrenaline surged through her, partially counteracting the drug in her system. She was able to flail about, but without any real coordination or strength. Still she tried. Tried to get away, tried to fight back, tried to protect herself. It was fight or flight, and flight was no longer possible. She tried until she exhausted herself. It didn't take long. A furious flurry of struggle, but brief, before her world went dark and she passed out, her mind and body having reached the limit of what she could withstand.