Spirit Animal: Pride of the Panther

Ch. 1: Panther Pain

Gwendolyn Clawthorne, a powerful Beast Keeper, was walking around the tree line of her property. What else was she going to do, retirement is boring and she has nothing better to do. She looked at the sky and noticed the dark clouds moving in.

"Seems like it will rain later." She said.

She heard something moving through the woods and clutched her staff. She tried to keep her mind calm, thinking that maybe Edalyn finally wanted to talk to her, or maybe Lilith got a day off from the Coven. It was neither as a large black animal came running through. Gwen looked at it and noticed that it was some type of feline. It was around two feet tall, possibly four feet long, it had black fur, and if you looked close enough, you could see even darker spots. Definitely not an animal from the Isles. Gwen crouched down, noticing that the animal seemed frightened.

"It's okay little kitty, I'm not going to hurt you." Gwen said.

The animal backed away and crouched down, almost like it was ready to pounce. The animal roared at her and ran at her. Gwen quickly avoided the animal and made a spell circle. The animal was placed in a bubble and tried to claw its way out. Gwen looked at it.

"I'm not going to hurt you; you're scared and in a place you don't belong." Gwen said, "I want to help you, I want you to trust me."

Gwen put a hand on the bubble. Hesitantly, the animal it's head against the bubble. Gwen removed the bubble and her hand rested against the animal's head.

"See, I'm not that bad." Gwen said.

Gwen watched as the animal started to... change. What her hand was touching, which was just an animal a few seconds ago, was a human girls head.

"What the Titan?"

The girl fell to the ground and started closing her eyes. Gwen got on her knees and shook the girl, noticing several injuries, but not bringing them up until the girl was capable.

"Darling, can you tell me your name?"

The girl made a moaning sound and quietly spoke.

"My name... is... Luz."

Luz closed her eyes and fell asleep. Gwen picked her up and carried her inside.

"Dell, we need to talk."

Dell walked in and saw Luz in Gwen's arms.

"Is that a human?"

"Yes, she is." Gwen said, "Go place her in Edalyn's old room. After that, I need to talk to you."

"Yes, dear."

He took Luz and carried her up the stairs. Gwen was so confused. How did a human get here, how was she able to turn into that animal, how did she get hurt, was she cursed? Thoughts ran through her mind non-stop. One thing she knew though, was that this girl needed her help.