Steel Jungle No More

Although she hated to admit it, Chuluun did feel the slightest bit vulnerable without snow to camouflage against. However, Chuluun had grown a bit bored of just staying up in the mountains with nothing to do. Against her better judgment, she'd abandoned the mountains and decided to explore for a time. The journey had been long. There were times where she thought about just saying 'screw it' and going back home to where she belonged. However, in the end she managed to make her way in to India. There, she'd seen animals that she never thought that she'd ever encounter. They were strange, and some of them actually looked pretty worthy of her time in terms of hunting. Any dreams of that were crushed, though, when she heard something unusual.

Coughing? Chuluun blinked. Was there some sick animal out there that she could mess with? Or was it something a little more interesting, she wondered. There was a gleam in her eyes before she slunk to the ground and started to creep forward. Being a mountain animal, she wasn't necessarily used to traversing across lush ground like this. Her movements were as stealthy as she could manage, but at the end of the day? Anyone might have heard her paws crunching the leaves and sticks beneath her. Eventually, she groaned.

"Screw this," Chuluun decided. She leaped out from the foliage, shook her silvery coat to rid herself of debris, and finally saw what she'd been looking for. What she got was DeSoto sputtering and panting ahead of her. Huh. Quite unlike any panda or other creature from her homeland she'd ever seen. No matter. She'd figure this out before ultimately going home, Chuluun decided.

"What are you supposed to be? And what are you doing?" The inquiry might have been a touch more abrasive than any other creature might have attempted. Chuulun wasn't one for partaking in pleasantries often, though.

"My worst nightmare, huh? I'd like to see that," sneered the leopardess. She wasn't afraid of DeSoto, for better or worse. In the mountains, none really rivaled her or threatened her. This wasn't the mountains, though. Chuluun knew that. It would have been wiser to stay on her toes and hope that no bad came, but for the time being she was keen to let fate guide her a little bit. If the opportunity arose to fight, she'd take it. If it didn't, she'd just keep talking. Who knew? Maybe she would even get to mess with this 'dog' a little bit. Even without being a 'ghost,' she could manage a few tricks.

She lifted a paw and gave it a small lick, ears flicking a bit as she listened to DeSoto's question. It seemed that even he realized she was very out of place in that jungle. That was all the more reason for her to leave when she'd had her fill of adventure. The casual body posture remained, though, as she considered how to answer. A haughty little laugh escaped her before too long.

"I'm just having fun," she answered. "Seeing what there is beyond the mountains. And that led me to you. Name's Chuluun." Her paw was lowered to the ground once more, and she gave DeSoto another look. He didn't seem sick, so what had caused the coughing on his end? The heat? It was pretty intense even with it being early in the year. She'd expected snow, but there was none. Go figure, she thought. That just showed how different this part of the world was from the mountains she called home.

Her tail flicked lightly as she started to pad around again. Keeping on the move just felt right. It meant that DeSoto would really have to pay attention to her, too. Not that he'd have a hard time with that. Her silvery-white pelt made it difficult to lose sight of her.

"You didn't answer my second question," she said. "Secrets aren't very fun, you know. Wanna let me in or not?"

"Oh, I see," Chuluun purred. Her tone didn't give away whether she was impressed or not. Although she was mildly miffed that he hadn't heard of her, Chuluun did remind herself of one thing. This creature, this dog, wasn't a native of the mountains. Of course he wouldn't have heard of the 'Ghost.' Her blue eyes blinked once to acknowledge what he had caught. It was some sort of local animal, she guessed. That gave her a bit of insight into what she should be looking for if she wanted to stick around. One thing did really stick in her mind from what he'd said, though. He'd mentioned the Cursed Thorns. In fact, the way DeSoto spoke seemed to indicate that he was one of them.

How interesting. Of course, Chuluun still had no interest in joining their ranks. They didn't have anything that she didn't already have in the mountains. If she played her cards right, though, she'd be able to learn more. Maybe her mind could be changed a little bit if she kept hanging around with DeSoto. Maybe. She wasn't altogether sure of what was going through his mind.

"So, these Cursed Thorns," Chuluun said. "They must think pretty highly of you if they've got you hunting for them." She padded a little further away and started to look for a more comfortable spot. Frankly, she was missing the cool air of the mountains with each moment. The less time she spent there, the better. For the time being, she was just poking and prodding at DeSoto in an effort to gain information. Anything he passed on to her would be something to chew on later, she told herself. Something interesting to think about, but perhaps not act on.

Perhaps.

Finally, she decided to hop up onto the nearby tree's lowest branch. Her claws came out, her shoulders were bunched up, and she made her leap. Her claws dug into the bark a moment later and, at last, she settled. Then her long tail dangled partly down. Blue eyes blinked again, and this time her head was tilted to the left in interest.

"Tell me more. I've only heard rumors about these armies. What is it about these Thorns that makes them so interesting to you?"

"I haven't really considered joining much," Chuluun answered. "The war's got nothing to do with me. But I thought I'd poke around. See what was what, you know? Maybe even have a little fun." She rolled over onto her back on her branch, then looked back at DeSoto. For a dog, he wasn't so bad. Then again, since she didn't know all that much about dogs, she didn't really have anything to compare him to. That said, he had compared her to the other big cats. Chuluun at least was aware that there were other species beyond snow leopards. She could enlighten him. It might even be fun to do so, she told herself.

"I don't know what kind of big cats you've got on your side, but where I'm from? What I am? It's called a snow leopard," she purred. That was partly why she didn't feel all that homey in this particular environment. Explaining to DeSoto would be pretty demeaning, though. He was a somewhat intelligent dog. Chuluun was fairly certain he'd pick up on that detail.

"I'm from up in the mountains. Out that way." She gestured with her tail in the direction she'd come from. Well, more accurately it was in a bit of a different direction. Regardless, the information might be useful. That way, if anyone in the Thorns ranks did have a reason for her to offer her skills, they could come find her. For the time being, though, Chuluun was pretty sure they didn't have anything to offer her. She wasn't about to scratch their backs if they didn't offer to scratch hers in return, was basically what it boiled down to. So, she rolled over again and let her head rest atop her paws. Her tail dangled down again and big blue eyes where blinked in a sleepy fashion. Not that she was bored of the conversation. Certainly not. If anything, it showed she was at least comfortable on that branch.

"So... what's this 'human' you mentioned? We don't have anything like that in the mountains," she said. She was going back a bit in the conversation, but who cared? She was mildly intrigued.