07-26-2015, 10:17 PM
tantalize
infinity overhead
and i whisper, are you listening?
Some of her choices, both then and now, had been influenced by these dreams although they seemed to be grabbed from mid air. And so it seems for years, the same dream that she never seems to recall in the light of day, succeeding as her role as Queen of the Jungle long after she has lost her crown in the Amazons. Then one day, someone new. A face almost like hers. He is tan and slim, he prowls her kingdom and she waits for the day that she will meet this interloper who refuses to acknowledge her or her power. She hears it through the vines, how he is giving advice to the tapir, is laughing with her monkey friends. Slowly pushing his way in, slowly pushing her out. She summons him and he denies her requests. Her rage builds but she says nothing, reveals nothing. Then one day she sees him. They share a predators body and the same golden eyes but he is tan where she is yellow with her flattering black spots and smaller than she. While she may be more muscle, he gives off an air of pure cunning. A cougar. It almost makes sense, for if her dream land influences her real world choices, it’s not surprising that somehow Beqanna’s life influences this sacred kingdom as well. A lion. Here to destroy her world.
She’s not aware at first just what he’s doing, how hard he is trying to ruin her. Until the day he sets her up, an unforgivable crime, that she takes the fall for. It’s just another day, she’s prowling the banks of the river which has become swollen with last nights rain storm. The waters are murky and rough, the rapids racing towards the south where a large waterfall can be heard thundering in the distance. She is searching for fish that might have been washed up from the storm, her paws sucking into the mud and leaving large tracks behind her. It’s as she searches, so oblivious to everything else in her hunt, that she fails to notice the sliminess beneath her pads. It isn’t until she hears a crunch and feels something explode beneath her claws that she finally looks down. She is standing in a caiman’s nest, a nest of eggs that are completely destroyed all around her. What makes it worse, as the scent catches her nostrils and realization hits, is who's nest this is. Sagacity, a beautiful elder white crocodile who is not only one of the most beloved and wisest animals in this jungle… But one of her closest friends.
Vomit rises in her throat as her stomach churns, looking at the horror around her. How could this be? Who could have done this? Eggs have been thrown everywhere, brutalized. The babies, so close to their birthing day, lay limp with dead eyes in the debris of their shells. She lowers her head, whiskers gently tickling one of the still bodies in hopes of arousing it even though she knows there is no hope. That’s when she hears the cry of shock and dismay and she quickly looks up, seeing Sagacity looking upon her with none other than the cougar by her side. They both stare at her, one in pain and the other with a gleam in his eye. “I told you.” He says, shaking his head. A paw in comfort on her back. “I’m so sorry.” The jaguar is confused, her eyes narrow as she opens her mouth to speak. ”Don’t. Just don’t. He warned me of your jealousy but I never would have thought you capable of such cruelty, never would have believed it until now. After all I’ve done for you…” There is no anger in the old crocodile, just such grief which makes it worse. And she, the jaguar, is so confused and then it clicks. ”You think I did this?” Her words, raw and hoarse with the disbelief that Sagacity could think her this much a monster, that she would ever do such a thing. She was a killer, they both were. They both killed to live, for necessity. There was no reason for her to do this. Her lips part as she tries to speak again, tries to explain but the reptile immediately stops her with a strong snap of her jaws and whip of her tail. There is coldness in her and her friend refuses to even look at her. ”You have disgraced this jungle. Disgraced me. Disgraced your people. This is no longer your home, jaguar. Leave now.” The croc has hardened and become vicious, her back turned on her friend, pupil, and Queen. ”You will pay for this.”
She has forgotten the cougar is standing there, the rushing water seeming to grow louder and beat on her eardrums as she slowly turns away and makes her retreat back the way she has come. Disbelief at what has happened. She walks slowly, her tail slashing back and forth behind her in her agitated state. She will let her friend cool off and come back later and explain. Everything would be fixed and they would find the murderer together. A slight shake of her head, grabbing hold to this idea with new hope. Everything would be fine. She exhales slowly, feeling a sense of relief that quickly evaporates. For she has just noticed the howling. Looking up, she sees the trees are lined with howler monkeys. They look angry and every single one of them is pointing at her, pounding their chests, and howling. Trying her best to ignore it, she slinks forward and picks up her pace. She needs a place to lay low, to sort everything out and clear her head. There is no escape, an anaconda has left the cool water of the river and is making it’s way up the beach, it’s beady eyes locked on her with pure hatred. She leaps, turning her agile body towards the coolness of the forest. She starts to run but is quickly ensnared by the vines that reach down and wrap themselves around her body. A leafy chain, making her trapped.
It happens so fast, one minute she is moving and the next she is face down in the dirt. Her green shackles pull back and lift her up till she is hovering above the ground, just enough that her paws can’t touch. She feels something coming down the vines, hears it before she realizes what they are. Soft croaking almost like chirping. She turns her head to the side, the only thing she can move, to see her body covered with little frogs. They aren’t any frogs. They are brightly colored with black markings mixed in. Poison dart frogs. Her whole body tenses as they sit along her back, croaking their little song and looking out into the distance. Waiting for a signal. That’s when he comes, padding up to her from the undergrowth. A dangerous smile on his face. ”You must wonder why I did all this. So simple really. I wanted what you had, wanted your life. Wanted you. So I took it.” She shudders, not liking what he is implying. Knowing now that he was behind all this. The yacans follow him, some perched on his shoulder and whispering in his ear. His now, his advisors. ”I’ll let you go Tantalize. I can make this all better. Under one condition. You become mine.” At this she starts to struggle and as he comes closer to her, her claws unsheathe and she tries to swat at him, hissing at him as her ears flatten to her thick head. ”Wrong answer.” He replies, shaking his head. The frogs start secreting poison from their skin, making contact with hers as it pushes past her fur. There are many of them and while it won’t kill her yet, it’s enough to paralyze her within a few minutes. It doesn’t take long and the vines suddenly unfurl, dropping her like a sack of rice. She falls hard to the ground, can’t even feel herself make contact with the dirt. Her sight begins to double, something is off. Everything is off. Her world spins and the trees change color and the frogs have turned into many versions of the cougar, surrounding her. And the main lion is grabbing her neck with his teeth, pulling her through the forest. His fangs are sharp and she would cry out in pain, maybe she has, she can’t tell. Reality is lost to her. Part of her is trying to fight, trying to get past the hallucinogens caused by the frog’s poison but is not succeeding. She sees so many things as he pulls her towards the river. Mice attack her paws, monkeys are throwing things at her. All the animals that were once her friends are now her enemies. Even the land itself has turned it’s back to her, wishing her death. She growls softly, painfully. The cougar has dropped her in the mud and now slashes at her side, ruining her beautiful coat and she cries out again. Trying so hard to fight back but can only twist about feebly. He bites at her, tearing her open. Snakes crowd around her, hissing and spitting and she tries to lift her paws to defend herself and finds she cannot. She can’t move. The impostor, the murderer, the lion is tearing at her side and all she can do is scream in her head as the pain explodes around her. Her sight dims now and then, she can’t hold on for much longer. The snakes are coiling around her throat now, squeezing, as some start to crawl inside her, inside the hole the cougar has opened up for them. She’s living a nightmare, she can feel them slithering inside her very flesh and just as she’s about to let go forever…. The lion drags her into the river. He drags her as far as he can before he would be caught in the current and then lets go, pushing her out with his paws. The snakes flee but she still can’t move, her throat burning as it fills up with water. Choking. She is drowning. She is dying. The jungle is on fire and somehow, beneath the water, she smells smoke.
As she dies in the dream, she awakens coughing up water. She tries to inhale deeply but ends up choking more. The jaguar mare lunges to her hooves, horse again, completely disoriented and unable to breathe. It takes her a moment to realize she is no longer drowning…. She is choking on smoke. Smoke? Golden eyes look wildly around her and she realizes she has awoken now to another living nightmare. The jungle has been engulfed by flames, the Amazons are burning. With a shrill whinny, she tries to see through the smoke, coughing and turning in tight circles as she searches desperately for escape. There is none. The flames are coming closer and she is left with no alternative. She is gasping for breath but leaps through the flames, having no other choice left to her. The fire reaches out and grabs at her, singing her beautiful black mane and tail, licking at her lovely jaguar dappled coat. She doesn’t stop even though she can barely breathe. She just keeps running, running through the flames. The heat fades quickly, smoldering ash churning beneath her hooves. She had thrown herself in the right spot, by accident. Anywhere else would have led to her burning alive. She is gasping for breath, her eyes streaming with tears as the smoke stings at her nostrils and her lungs contract as they search for oxygen. Still she gallops, unable to stop. Her legs give out beneath her when she reaches the shore of the beach. Death surrounds her, her death still lingering in her head. The sound of the water lapping at the sand and the burning of the smoke in her nostrils tricking her to think she may be drowning once more. Lifting her head slowly as she inhales deeply, coughing and sputtering, her golden eyes reluctantly look at what she has left behind. Her home. The jungle. Beqanna. All of it burning.
Looking around her, she sees a few stragglers that have escaped like she has. None of them are familiar to her but then again, she has just recently returned. Barely anyone registers to her. She had been a stranger in her homecoming and is still a stranger now. The fear that grips her doesn’t make sense considering how she had been alone to begin with. Yet now…. Now there was no chance of finding those of her past. She had wondered if her children were still here and now wonders if they were exploding into ash before her very eyes. She had wondered what had happened to her old friends, to Landon….. Even to Lion. Lion. The cougar appears briefly in her head and suddenly Lion and her dream adversary melt into one and she begins to scream. She screams and screams and Beqanna burns and the jaguar mare falls to the earth, trembling violently. Her home is lost. All is lost.