The Tropical Mystery

[Pulsar]

Pulsar looked into the jungle then looked left and right along the border.
“It depends, we could check along the rim of the jungle to see if there are any lions at the edge of the jungle…. Only thing is it might take a few days or so to fully get around the jungle….”
He looked back at the forest.
“Or we could go head long into the jungle…. I’m not sure though…. What about you Misty? Any suggestion? You lived around here to right?”
Pulsar said asking Misty her opinion on the situation.

[Deleted]

''Well..... if we went around the outside... it would take longer.... I think we should go through... We can mark the trees so we can find our way out... coz probably... the group is stuck in the heart of the jungle.'' She looked at Pulsar and Keplar and smiled, waiting for their response.

[Prince of Pridelands]

"Hmm... marking the trees seems a good idea. So then through the jungle we go!" Keplar said as he advanced towards the depths of the jungle that seemed dark enough even during daytime. He shivered as all of a sudden he felt something cold go through him, but he put that aside and moved ahead. The jungle already was a mess of trees, grass and leaves and there was no definite path visible.
"Normally, I'd suggest splitting up... but somehow that doesn't sound like a good idea to me. But what do you guys think?" said Keplar looking worried as already the jungle entrance they came from seemed to have disappeared behind the curtain of trees.

[Deleted]

Misteeca kept walking, listening to Keplar. They entrance dissapeared as soon as they went through it. There were that many trees.. she didn't know which way to go... ahead obiously.
She walked up to one of the trees behind her... near the entrance she hoped and made a marking on the tree. Three lines.. for each of them.
She walked back up to Keplar and Mino.
''Splitting up is normally a good idea.... but look around you... i don't think we should split up.''
She said while marking another tree.
''We don't want more lions to find now do we?!?''

[Prince of Pridelands]

"Ok guys we better start searching for signs of the group. Look for anything: paw prints, scratch marks, signs of a fight, anything at all. Just let me know if any of you find something." Keplar began sniffing around for any scents and aided in the search as well. Currently he could only smell his teammates. He paused a bit when he smelt something nice... but then continued on assuming it was only Misty.

[Pulsar]

“You got it!”
Said Pulsar enthusiastically as he nodded his head in agreement.
“And don’t forget be on your guard, in this jungle anything could happen…. So be alert…..”
He added as his eyes and head moved quickly as he scanned the area as if looking for something in particular. He did this for a few moments before continuing on behind the others, every few steps taking a sniff to see if he could pick up any scents from the hunting party or otherwise. He frowned lightly as he was unable to pick up anything that could help them find the group, no paw prints, no scents, no signs of anything….
Maybe the others found something useful. He thought to himself for a moment.
“I’m not finding anything, how about you guys?”
He asked slightly frustrated. Something about the jungle made him uneasy, sure he had lived here, but just like any other, he feared the jungle and what lay in wait, in its endless sea of trees, foliage and otherwise.

[Deleted]

Misteeca looked around... well they obiously came in this way... so they had to continue somehow... so there would be a path... through the bushes or trees here the went through.
She walked forward and looked around... she saw a little opening between a big rock wall and some bushes.
''Guys.... i think they went this way.'' She said a little unsure. It had to be the way. there were no other paths.

[Prince of Pridelands]

"Ok Misty... take point and lead the way." Keplar ant Pulsar followed Misty through a narrow pathway that was hard to make out. "Misty must have really good senses to find such an invisible path." On the way Keplar noticed some broken branches and there were patches of grass torn out from the ground.
"It looks like there was a fight here... but was it really between a lion and something? It could also be a leopard or something struggling with its prey." After some sniffing around Keplar could only make out two animals of the same kind fighting against one animal of another kind. The lone animal's smell was leonine... but the other two smells were different, not of any animal Keplar had smelt before. He looked to Misty and Pulsar for help.

[Deleted]

Misteeca walked through the path with the others following behind her.
She looked at a tree trunk and was about to mark it when she saw a blood stain.
She sniffed it... it had been there for a couple of days so you couldn't smell anything.
She licked it.
She wasn't sure if it was a lion or not... it wasn't like anything she had eaten before.. but she hadn't eaten a lion.
She then looked over at Keplar who had found the signs of a fight... two against one.. and that one had obiously struggled.
''Hey guys.. what do you make out of this?'' She said and sniffed the blood on the tree again.

[Pulsar]

“It looks like there was a struggle here, maybe a fight even….”
He looked around at all the prints and scratches and broke foliage.
“I can’t make any of it out though…. There is a chance it might have been one of the group members or something…”
He raised a brow.
“But the question is… what happened….”
He said as he walked over to the blood stain Misteeca was looking at.
He examined it closely.
“This could be blood from anything…. There are many creatures that live here in the jungle…..”
He pondered the scene for a moment.
“Any idea which way the tracks might lead from here? If we can track them maybe we can find out what did this…”

[Deleted]

Misteeca looked at Mino...
He was pretty smart...
She walked forward looking for any signs of tracks.
''Well there's now paw prints.. but there ARE a few gaps between some bushes... they could have gone through one of them..''
She said looking at the other two.
''But which one?''

[Pulsar]

“Well at least we have something to go by…”
Said Pulsar as he walked and took a look through each of the gaps in the bushes.
“It could be any one of these…. But which one….”
He turned around and looked at the others.
“Well splitting up isn’t an option so we are just gonna have to chose one and hope it leads us to something useful….”
He said in a calm voice as he turned back around and looked at the gaps again.
“So……….”
He paused.
“Any idea which one?”
He said in a confused tone as he raised an eyebrow. He had honestly no idea which one they should chose, each path has the same chance of being a dead end or leading them to the hunting group….
But he thought he’d let the others decide which way they should go.

[Deleted]

''Well are there any signs of someone running in one of those directions.... broken twigs.... scuffed up dirt... any signs??''She said and looked at them all. ''If we can find something.. anything at all.. near one of the tracks it will most likely lead the way.'' She said and marked the tree with the blood on it.

[Kirsui]

Tefnut heard something. She opened her dark green eyes fast and looked down from her tree. The leaves of the tree were in her way so she slightly moved at the tree. She climbed a bit lower and saw three lions.
What are they doing here! she thought. She moved her tail and prepared to jump.
She heard one of the lions talking about a fight. Then she jumpped down and landed in front of the lions, snarling at them. Some light came through the leaves and lighted up her body. She looked like a clouded leopard, but she had the tail of a lion.
Of course, she was a liopardess.

[Prince of Pridelands]

Keplar looked at ther three paths: one on the left, one on the right and one in front of him.
"Lets start with the left one. And remember guys: stick together!" The three walked on the path that led to nowhere so far. The ground below them felt very soft and brittle. The vegetation in front of them almost seemed to sway aside... as if inviting them towards the path. Keplar slowly felt his grip on the ground loosening up. With the sudden appearance of an unknown animal Keplar jumped back but the ground below him gave way and he fell down a hole quite deep. When he hit ground again Keplar caught a glance of a young cub standing there. It ran away as soon as it saw him. Keplar was too stunned to do or say anything at the moment. He regained his senses a minute later and could hear snarling and growling up above. He expected the worst. He wished he could help his comrades but after examining his surroundings, he could see no way back up. He would have called back to his comrades but knew they were busy confronting the animal. He advanced as fast as he could through the only path through the dark cavern, hoping to find a way out.

[Kirsui]

Tefnut saw one of the lions fall through a hole. She stopped snarling, but kept her claws out and head low, showing this wasn't over yet.
"Who are you?" she demanded. Her voice was full of anger and her dark green eyes kept flashing as she looked to the two lions and the hole.
I wonder what happened to that one who fell... she thought but stayed where she was.
This was her home, and she didn't like unexpected visitors.

[Pulsar]

Pulsar noticed Keplar falling down a hole out of the corner of his eye. He wished to make sure that he was ok but this animal was an immediate threat to the group.
Pulsar looked over at Misteeca and then stepped in front of her to protect her.
Turning to the animal in front of them, Pulsar copied the animal and extended his claws and lowered his head, ready for a fight.
Odd I’ve never seen this type of animal in the jungle before
“Who we are is none of your concern!”
Said Pulsar as he growled under his breath.
“Misteeca go check on Keplar, see if he is alright…. I’ll deal with this….”
He hated having to deal with animals in this jungle, it always seemed to be more trouble then its worth, and all they ever do is attack and kill.
“I don’t know who YOU think you are but if you’re looking for a fight, then you picked the wrong lion to mess with…”
Pulsar wasn’t sure of the new animals intention but he was ready for anything.

[Kirsui]

Tefnut lifted an eyebrow.
These lions are different, she thought confused. Usually she had been attaced instantly, but not now...
She relaxed a bit, but still kept her claws out.
"Who you are is my concern" she said and kept her eyes on this lion.
"You have come to my territory and I have the right to know. So I'm asking again, who are you and what are you doing here?"

[Pulsar]

Pulsar frowned slightly but it faded as he thought about their situation.
So, we’re trespassing huh?
He though as he once again copied the animal’s movement and relaxed.
“We didn’t know this was YOUR territory…..”
Pulsar retracted his claws and returned to a fully upright standing position. He raised a brow curiously at the animal that stood before him, she wasn’t like the other animals in the jungle, no she wasn’t… she hadn’t attacked them, not yet anyway.
Best I show we mean no harm
“Well I apologise, we did not mean to trespass on your territory….”
He paused a moment
“We are just passing through…. We are looking for some…. Errrgh friends of ours, we believe they came through here….”
He didn’t want to let on too much to why they were here.
“My name is Pulsar”
He said bowing to the animal in front of him.
“This is Misteeca and the one who fell in the hole is Keplar….”
He said motioning his head.

[Kirsui]

Tefnut hid her claws and lifted her head up.
"I'm known as Tefnut" she said to Pulsar and Misteeca.
"And if you are wondering what I am, well... I'm a liopardess."
Then she walked to the hole and looked down.
"If he goes wandering around those tunnels, he will never find a way out" she said as she looked into the hole. It was dark and pretty deep. No-one could climb up the walls of the hole. So there seemed to be no other option but to go to the tunnels.

[Deleted]

Misteeca nodded to Pulsar and walked over to the hole where Keplar was.
''Kep.. Kep! Are you alright?'' She said staring down at him with her big eyes.
She then heard her name being mentioned and turned around.
''Hi uh.. Tefnut..'' Misty said and smiled kindly.
''Pulse.. do you think that further into the jungle the lionesses may have fallen down one of these holes and went through the tunnels trying to find a way out? It's a possibility..''
She looked back down at Kep.
''How are we going to get him out fo there anyway?'' She said staring at Pulsar and Tefnut.

[Pulsar]

Pulsar turned and looked down the hole.
“I’m guessing that we will have to go down after him….”
Then he raised a brow and looked at Tefnut.
“Wait a sec, did you say liopardess?”
He looked at her with a confused expression, before turning back around to ponder on how to help Keplar. He felt that Tefnut wasn’t and danger to the group and this was good, as they needed to help Keplar. He’d have liked to get to know her better, but they had more pressing things that needed attention.
“What the heck is a liopardess?”
He said to himself in a low voice.

But before anyone could say anything, Pulsar suddenly jumped down the hole. Landing on his feet. It made a loud thumping noise which seemed to echo through the cave. Standing upright, Pulsar looked up at the others standing at the edge.
“You coming? Or is that jump to much?”
He said in a playful tone as he grinned.
“Don’t worry I’ll catch you if you need me to….”
He finished before taking a quick glance into the dark cave, then back at the others.
“Well?”
He asked curiously, waiting for a response.

[Deleted]

Misteeca said and shook her head.
''Didn't you just hear Tefnut say that if you go in there, there is no way out?!?!'' Misty said and giggled slightly.
''Tef..oh i hope you don't mind me calling you that..'' She said and smiled.
''Do you think we should go down there and travell through the tunnels??''
She said looking down into the hole at the others.
''Well.. i'm going to.. you should come too..'' She whispered to Tefnut as she walked back..
She ran foward and leaped into the hole.

[Prince of Pridelands]

While the rest of the group was figuring a way to rescue Keplar, he was already way deep into what appeared to be a cave network with many intersections leading to different paths. Keplar was completely lost so he decided to follow the cub, who strangely enough, appeared several times but always ran away after that... almost as if it was leading him somewhere.
"Hey! You! Wait! Don't run! I don't wanna hurt you I just wanna ask you somethings!" Keplar continuously tried to reassure the cub, but it did not stop nor did it respond. Keplar was curious as to what a cub was doing down here and also afraid it might hurt itself running around like that. To Keplar's discomfort the cave started becoming narrower the deeper he went in. Many times he reached dead ends, most of them containing animal bones and unusually huge spider webs. It was easy to see that some predators used to live here... or perhaps still do...

[Deleted]

''Oh god... he's already off!!'' Misteeca said as she saw Keplar's body dissapearing into the shadows.
''We best go after him...''
She said and looked at Mino then up at Tefnut
''Are you coming or not??'' She said in a rushed voice..
''If you are come on... if we don't leave now then we'll loose Keplar's track for sure!''
Misy said and padded into the cave behind Keplar.

[Prince of Pridelands]

As Keplar advanced he reached a large room-like cavern that was lit up a little brighter than the other caves.
"What... in... the... world...?!" Keplar's jaw fell open. The cavern was filled with giant webs and there were cocoon-like objects his size! He had to navigate his way around the big webs as he discovered they were really sticky, and he'd better not get himself tangled up in it. He tore up some of the cocoons only to discover bodies of various animals lying dried up and wrapped in webbing. It was a disgusting sight. Even bodies of leopards and cheetahs were found!
"These animals must have wandered near here and were probably caught by some huge monster." Amongst the bodies he found a lioness... fresh, but dead. He immeadiately recognized her. She was one of the party members, one of the most beautiful lionesses and one of the best hunters of the pride. How she ended up here was anyone's guess. Keplar decided he should leave fast. He heard some chirping and screeching noises, and as he left he was shocked to see a group of huge black spiders approaching him! They were nearly his size! The spiders immediately attacked! Keplar swatted and swiped with his claws as furiously as he could and also occasionally a bite.
They were not too hard to kill, especially if he tore off their thin legs, but their strength lay in numbers. He tried his best to avoid being bitten by them and counterattacked their only attack which was a poisonous bite.
"Over here!" shouted a young voice. It was the cub! "You can't fight ALL of them!" and he was right as Keplar could hear more of them coming. The cub led Keplar to an exit that was nearby. He seemed to know the caves well. The cub brought Keplar to a ledge directly above the cave exit, where there was a heavy boulder dangerously sitting. He and Keplar pushed the boulder down on the exit, crushing one spider who almost got out and completely blocking off that exit.
"Whew! That was close, eh kid?... kid?" The cub was not there anymore. Again on the search for his friends and the cub Keplar had advanced into the deeper jungle where the trees were much taller and any sunlight was almost blocked off. He only hoped his friends weren't trapped in the cave. He was sure there must have been other exits as well.

[Kirsui]

Tefnut jumpped down. She didn't want to leave them behind.
"I don't like this" she said as she landed on the bottom. Then she started to look around and saw Misteeca going to the tunnel.
"Wait!" she shouted and ran to her.
"Let me go first" she said on a low tone of voice. She didn't know why she was doing it, but it seemed right.
"We don't know what lies here" she said then and looked to the tunnel.
"I've leaved long in this jungle and I've heard rumours of animals that fell down to these tunnels. But the rumours don't tell about anyone who would have returned."
She looked to Misteeca and Pulsar.
"If someone or something attacks us, you must run. You have to find your friends and there might be an exit that you find."
"I'm a good fighter, I can slow down the possible attacer."
After this little 'speech' she started slowly to walk to the tunnel, keeping closely eye on Keplar's tracks.
They were easy to follow, but then she had to stop. She saw odd prints crossing the lion's pawprints.
Like a bug or something... Tefnut thought.
And the tracks were fresh.

[Pulsar]

Pulsar watched Tefnut with a curious expression as she said her warning to him and Misteeca.
“And what? Let you have all the fun?”
He said in a low amused voice as he walked past Misteeca following Tefnut into the cave. Pulsar walked with his head lowered to just slightly above his shoulder height, ready for anything that might decide it would like to jump out at him in the dark.
“Caves…. Caves…. Hmmmm”
He pondered to himself.
Why does that sound familiar….
He tried to remember hearing of any stories about these caves that he might have heard while he lived in the jungle, but he couldn’t recall anything.
“I could have sworn I’ve heard something about these caves before….”
He frowned lightly. As it got darker and darker as they descended into the depths of the cave.

[Deleted]

Misteeca smiled as Tefnut walked infront of her. They walked into a cavern. She looked at the ground. ''These are Keplars footprints... There's two other types too... a bug type trail.. and a cub...?'' Misty said looking a the other two. She turned her focus onto a big boulder in the corner.
She heard talking coming from behind it.
''I think Kep's behind that big boulder. She then looked at the wall in the other direction. There was an open cacoon. With a lioness in it.
''I've seen that lioness before.. i think she was part of the party.''
Misteeca said, disturbed that there was a dead animal hanging from the wall.
She ran up to the boulder and tried to dig a pathway underneath it.
''We need to get past this boulder!'' She said turning around.
Then she saw a big black bug...
''Uhh... guys.... i think you should run.....'' Misteeca said, shaking.
She started pushing the boulder as hard as she could.. trying to get it to move.

[Kirsui]

As soon as Misteeca said something about running away, Tefnut turned to look.
She was shocked.
A huge black spider was comeing thowards them.
That explains the dead lioness in a cacoon, she thought and showed her claws.
"Pulsar!" she shouted and prepared to jump.
"Help Misteeca! We need to get rid of that boulder!"
Without waiting for reply Tefnut jumpped thowards the spider. It had long legs and poisonous looking 'teeth'. The spider kept odd voice as it focused on Tefnut with all of its eight eyes.
With a quick move Tefnut tried to cut one of the spiders legs. But the spider was very fast. Luckily Tefnut managed to evade the spiders attack as it tried to bite her.
Then she saw other two spiders coming from other tunnel.
"Guys!" she shouted. "We're in BIG trouble!"