Topaz walked cautiously to the edge of the clearing, and sniffed the air. Her sensitive feline nose catching every nuance carried on the breeze. She had be traveling alone for days and had met no-one. Perhaps today would be different...
Scrad had been wandering along, hands shoved deep in his pockets, staring boredly at the ground. Then he caught sight of some movement not too far of, and looked up. Quickly spotting the leopard, Scrad paused in his tracks and watched her with a sort of dopey interest. It wasn't long before Charlie emerged to see what was going on. "Why have we stopped? Whatcha lookin at?" he asked, twisting around restlessly. "Jus' lookin at the big cat..." muttered Scrad in reply.
Topaz caught the scent of two creatures just before the first came into sight. Their eyes met, and for a moment she paused considering what to do next. then she ducked back into the forest just out of sight.
Moments later a young woman with long wavy reddish brown hair emerged, stepping lithely from just about where the leopard had disappeared. She wore a loose-fitting tunic and pants, resembling comfortable pajamas, that merely hinted at the shapely figure they covered. The light cream colour of the garments accentuated the warm tan of her skin. On her back, she carried a backpack with a rolled length of fabric apparently covering something long and fairly narrow within tied to the backpack.
The woman moved with feline grace as she approached the strangers.
"Greetings!" she called out, smiling warmly. Topaz hoped that she was doing the right thing, meeting strangers in her human form. Of course there was no guarantee that they would be either friendly or trustworthy, but she had to start somewhere, she decided, and this was as good a time as any.
Scrad shrugged dismissively as the leopard darted off out of sight, but when the human form of Topaz stepped into view, Scrad's jaw literally dropped and Charlie was grinning wildly; though he was merely a second head jutting from Scrad's back, he certainly did love the ladies. And this lady was, it had to be said, very beautiful. Of course, neither of them had made the connection that this woman had been the leopard they were watching only moments before. "Uh...yeah. Greetings." Scrad replied to Topaz when he finally found his voice.
Topaz was a bit confused as she looked around. She had sensed two creatures, but there appeared to be only one. She gave a small shrug and continued toward the one who had spoken to her.
"It's a fine day," she said, by way of conversation as she approached.
Scrad glanced around. Up til now he hadn't taken any notice of what sort of day it was. "Um, yeah, it's nice." he replied, then Charlie piped up, "It was a pretty boring day until you showed up, hot stu-" He was prevented from saying any more as Scrad had reached behind him and roughly seized Charlie by the throat. Scrad stuffed the protesting head back down into his backpack, then smiled nervously at Topaz.
Topaz was startled by the second voice and paused for a moment before continuing forward more slowly.
"Who said that?" she asked warily, her large green eyes regarding the only one she could see with great interest. She was more intrigued than frightened, but she stopped several paces from the person before her, just to be safe. Was the fellow carrying another creature in his backpack? Topaz found this all very interesting.
"Is there someone else with you?" she asked. "I thought I heard another voice."
Scrad blinked. "Uh no, it's just-" "She's talkin about me! Lemme out!" Charlie pushed his way back up from the backpack. He was a smaller, second head, almost identical to Scrad's face, attatched to Scrad's body by a very elognated, flexible neck. It looked like Scrad had very snake-like mini clone attatched to him. "Hi there!" said Charlie, grinning.
"One." Scrad replied a little sullenly. "I got a second head sprouting out of my back. I'm Scrad, and the retarded one is Charlie." "Er, I'm retarded??" Charlie scoffed, before adding, "And I can say my own name, thankyou very much."
The young woman was rather intrigued by the possibility of someone having a second head with it's own personality. She giggled slightly at the pair, thinking that they sounded like brothers, rather than part of the same creature. She was not making fun of them in the least.
"I'm Topaz," she introduced herself, still not sure if she should reveal that she was a leopard as well as a human. She decided to leave that part out for now, although she suspected that this person would probably be fairly accepting of her nature. "Pleased to meet you."
"Are you from around here?" she asked. "I'm just sort of passing through."
The Hidden Manson? thought Topaz. That sounds interesting. I wonder why it's hidden?
"Ah, no," she replied to Charlie. "I've never heard of it. What is it?" she asked him, her big eyes full of curiousity and interest.
There was so much she knew nothing about beyond the little corner of the jungle where she and her kind made their home. It was all so new and fascinating!
"Oh," Topaz said, looking thoughtful for a moment, obviously struggling with this completely foreign concept. "Why would they want to do that?" she asked finally. "I'd rather just go around and explore them," she added with a shrug, brushing her long hair back over her shoulder.
Scrad gave a small laugh. "Because they can, I guess." "And because they're fed up of no-good goodie-two-shoes people running the joint." Charlie added.
The strange meeting with the (maybe) wolf had confused Skyla, and even though she had walked for about two hours, she yet was distracted by the memory. That was why she almost hadnt noticed the two beings on the clearing in time. Wanting to avoid any more meetings, yet curious about two beings that different talking to each other, she walked around the clearing, trying not to be seen, yet have a closer look at the other two.
Topaz looked very puzzled. The whole concept was foreign to her.
"And so you want to join this army?" she asked, brushing another stray strand of hair from her eyes. "I think I'd rather just travel and explore," she decided.
"Yup, I figured it would a fun way to get rich and famous." Replied Scrad with a grin. "What are you talkin about? The whole thing was my idea!" Charlie huffed. "Yeah...well..." Scrad shoved his hands back into his pockets, looking a little put-out.
Topaz began twirling the end of one of her long curls about a finger. This creature puzzled her. She did not understand war or politics or even getting rich. Such concepts were foreign to her.
"Who's that?" Topaz suddenly asked, addressing the air more so than anyone in specific. Her leopard senses had picked up a new scent, even in her human form. She looked around, spotting a new presence.
"Hello," she called, turning and greeting the new arrival pleasantly, her lovely features set in a welcoming smile.
Scrad looked up and blinked. "Huh?" Neither he nor Charlie had noticed another presence, and now they were both staring past Topaz, eyeing the newcomer with interest...