The Winter Ranger's Den (Heavy W.I.P)

3 - Myths

Keith staggered backwards before tripping and falling onto the snowy ground behind him. He was in complete and utter shock as to what he'd seen after he opened the boot and was almost too nervous to stand back up and take another look. He wondered while collecting himself if maybe what he'd seen was just an illusion, that perhaps with all that was going on recently he'd just hallucinated after that dangerous encounter with those leopards. Or maybe it was because he's been so overworked with all the changes he's made to his life in recent months that it caused him to see an illusion. In any case, wondering wasn't going to get him anywhere. He needed to stand up again and see for himself what exactly was going on. As he had managed to fully compose himself he placed one of his hands on the car and hoisted himself back up. There was no mistake now, he placed his hand on the creature's tail to confirm that it wasn't a visual hallucination and sure enough his senses once again proved that what he was seeing was indeed in front of him. He slammed the boot of his car so fast, he surprised himself before feeling an overwhelming sense of fear that was almost overpowering as he fell once again back into the snow. Now on all fours with his hands gripping the snow he again regained his poise before coming to the conclusion that he needed to sleep, now.

As he sluggishly staggered towards his cabin he couldn't get the image of the leopard out of his head. And after thanking himself for placing his keys in his pocket before opening the car's boot, he realized exactly what he'd just seen. The thing in the boot of his car right now was a Khaedae. There was no doubt in his mind that was exactly what he'd just seen, he had heard a local myth about the existence of the Khaedae in this part of Canada from the local towns near to the park, but he obviously chose to just shrug them off as nothing more than stupid myths. I mean sure Keith thought of himself as a bit crazier than most people especially considering his decision on moving to Canada in the first place was rather zany at best, but he knew he wasn't a complete nutjob who believed in things like that. He'd even seen the local nutcase lurch out of a bar drunkenly muttering to himself about the Khaedae's existence and something about how his name was Draygus. That was the local lunatic that the townspeople had given the justifiable moniker of "Crazy Draygy." He thought he was a nutcase at first too but maybe that crazy git was actually more aware of the truth than the town realized. Or maybe Keith is the true nutcase, Keith thought to himself. Maybe if I just go to sleep the thing I just saw in the back of my car will go away and I'll just see a hungry injured snow leopard wanting to be let out in the morning, which really wasn't much better. He was so tired recently that despite his recent encounters he was able to drift off to sleep surprisingly quite easily not even bothering to record the data he was supposed to or even cook himself dinner.

As he awoke the next day, he wasted no time as he immediately got out of bed and prepared himself a hearty breakfast. If he was to deal with everything he currently had on his plate he wasn't going to do so on an empty stomach. He prepared two slices of toast for himself whilst simultaneously cutting up some vegetables and cooking up a steak with a side of bacon. He was going to make himself a killer BLT before dealing with any myths in his car. And if that snow leopard or whatever was still there he knew a good steak would likely help it feel less inclined to eat him. He wasn't going to deal with that yet however as he had some data reports to write up before going outside. He was procrastinating at this point but he didn't care, he wanted to give it ample time to leave even if it meant losing a window to a wild animal or Khaedae he didn't really care. He has insurance anyway so hopefully he could just say someone broke in while he slept or whatever. Eventually, he had finished writing up that overdue data and knew he had no choice but to go outside as he got changed into some suitable apparel and armed himself with a steak.
He opened his cabin door and walked towards the car at a steadfast past. He had his taser in one hand if things went sour as he approached his car.

Taking a quick gander it was apparent that the creature hadn't broken a window to escape, it could have opened a door but he had locked his car before entering his cabin last night so that was unlikely.  As he peered through the window to the boot of his car and was stunned by what he saw. It was certainly no hallucination last night as the Khaedae was still there, still sleeping. Not from the tranquillizer dart though as that would have worn off by now but rather it was actually just asleep in the back of his car. He'd also simultaneously figured out that the Khaedae was a she. Flustered, he looked away from the window feeling embarrassed. The Khaedae had very human features and they were very female at that. He couldn't help but think and admire her beauty, for a mythological creature to say her looks weren't what he was anticipating would be an understatement. He was anticipating a werewolf-like creature with large fangs, a hideous complexion and immense bloodlust that was made evident by the blood that would adorn its fur. That's what he thought the Khaedae would look like if they existed, not a gorgeous creature with a snow leopard's look, stunning coat and very effeminate proportions.  Keith had no idea how he didn't notice this last night. Perhaps seeing a humanoid creature with a snow leopard's complexion in the boot of your car is something that probably would cloud anyone's judgement. He considered tapping on the window to wake her up but that probably wasn't a good idea and opening the boot definitely wouldn't do. After seeing what she looked like, Keith had lost all feelings of fear and instead wanted nothing more than to help her instead. After contemplating what he should do now, he realized it was already too late to make a decision as she had woken up on her own.