Zoo Trouble [Job/Solo]

Great, it just had to be the one day Ivris wanted to take some time off that leopards would have to escape from their exhibits. Nevertheless, she'd do what she could to help, whatever that may be. She made her way into the now closed zoo, looking around for any signs of movement. The place was eerily creepy as she walked around, animals grazing and laying around. Even if she wasn't able to enjoy it, at least it was free. As she made her way to the east half half of the zoo, looking for some signs of the escaped jungle cats, she noticed something strange. Everything was quiet... even the monkeys, usually the most raucous group in the zoo, had fallen completely silent. She looked around, her eyes strained as she searched but saw nothing.

Then, in a moment, everything happened. The monkeys went ballistic, screaming their lungs off as the leopards jumped out of the foliage nearby, headed straight for Ivris. But she'd been ready, already running for her life as they came after her. She cast Wave, hitting the four leopards with a wall of water. However, even though she'd bought herself some time as she ducked around a corner, she knew that they wouldn't be grouping up like that again, which meant it wasn't going to be easy to knock them out.

Catching her breath, she looked around for even the slightest sign of life, but she knew they'd be smarter this time. She looked around, not knowing where they'd come from, and realized that she had to get into a wide open area if she was going to survive this. And so she ran, and the leopards chased after her, sensing the desperateness of their prey to escape, the ducked in and out of the plants that grew on the sides of the path, able to grow only because of the soil that had been laid down beforehand.

She increased her speed from jogging to running, trying to escape their pursuit. At last, just as they were about to catch her, she happened upon a wide open space that seemed to be a food court for guests. The leopards broke off and ran around, surrounding her as she ran into the area full of table and chairs. Breathing hard, the leopards gave her no time to rest. One of them leapt up onto the counter of a cafe, two others ducking below tables to circle around me. I wasn't going to let them make the first move, however; I cast Ice Spears at the two under the tables, one spear for each. They tried to dodge but they weren't fast enough. Both were impaled by one of the ice spears. However, before I could act, the other leopard had made it up to me and attacked, using Bite. However, it simply bit into my borg, shattering it but doing no damage to me. I hit it with my wand, knocking it out with the blow. Exhaustion was beginning to set in, but there was still one leopard left.

And it pounced, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and knocking my wand out of my hand, although doing no damage to me. The wand skid across the floor, the leopard crouching between me and it, ready to pounce. I knew I had to think fast; my life was on the line here. Without a weapon, there was nothing I could do. So I let myself down slowly onto the floor, looking into the large cat's eyes. It looked back at me, it's wild savagery coming through clear and simple. But it looked confused and taken aback at my actions; it'd seen me knock out its companions, but now it wasn't sure what to do. And in that moment of indecision, I put my hand to its snout and pushed it down to the floor, leaping up and onto its back to keep it from getting up. It growled at me, trying to move, but I pinned it down, keeping it from clawing me by quickly smashing my hands down on its soft furred but still dangerous paws. It took a while, but after long minutes had gone by, although it felt more like hours, the leopard finally calmed down. It was then, slowly but surely, that I let it up. It growled, softly at me, but with a different look in its eye. I could've reached for my wand and knocked it out, but I let it decide: would we fight, or be friends?

It seemed its curiosity won out, and it sat on its hind legs, still not letting me out of its sight. It's friends began to wake up, but it simply growled when they saw me there, not letting them harm me. I began to move, and they followed, all the way back to their cage. It was strange, how they followed the leopard, but it seemed to be their leader. What really surprised me, however, was that this animal, which such a fierce look in its eyes, had chosen not to kill me. They filed back into their cage, allowing me to close and lock the door behind them. It'd all been so surreal, but my time here was done. I glanced back at the leopard, watching it look back at me, before it disappeared into the brush.

I made my way to the front of the zoo, my day having gone so much differently than I'd expected it to. The zoo owners look pleased to see me, and I inform them simply that the leopards had been returned to their cage. They thanked me, handing me the reward and inviting me back to the zoo whenever I wanted. For some reason, I had a feeling it wouldn't be too long before I returned here.

Why had that leopard done that? It had a good chance to kill me after I'd let it up, and yet it did something unexpected. It had almost seemed to show signs of respect and honor, as though it was only right of it to let me live. I just couldn't understand why - was there something else I hadn't understood?

1035+/1000 word count

170/200 magoi

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