Wildcat ✓

Action: Sounds of the Rainforest

Prompt by @action: In a hidden rainforest, you and your team must use your skills to survive. Will you overcome the dangers or fall victim to the lurking predators?

Word limit: 500-1000 words

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Puzzles are fascinating. They make you think hard about the past and present to evaluate the situation at hand and find the connection that solves it. That is what I and two other adventurers were trying to do: solve the riddle and survive in the rainforest.

Yesterday, we had been sitting in a dusty meeting room, an instructor telling us we were the lucky three to be sent on this mission to collect a treasure, without revealing what exactly we would be collecting. But I had my suspicions.

Today, I found myself in the middle of a rainforest, with a backpack, my most precious weapons, and with two former competitors, now my team. The two big questions at hand: How to find the treasure as unharmed and as quickly as possible? And how to not kill my teammates from annoyance?

"Did you find a trace?" Charles "Chuck" Levane said quietly, not leaving our surroundings out of sight.

"Yes," I nodded. We had received the instructions to spy on a group of humans and collect what they were trying to secure.

Immediately after leaving the helicopter and getting the blindfold taken off, I had scanned my surroundings and listened closely to the sounds of the rainforest to give us indications on these humans' whereabouts. A disturbance southeast from our current location caught my attention.

The rainforest gave hints to the one's listening: animals were the best alarm system. Normally, they were chatting, rustling; the rainforest bustling with sounds. With my enhanced senses as a feline shapeshifter, I could pick it up in seconds when something changed.

Animals fled or attacked as soon as they felt threatened - like humans. Then it got earily quiet. Felines were often more strategic: they watched closely and assessed the situation before they acted. They were clever, strong, graceful, and thus lethal.

Not far away from us, I had picked up the scent of a feline, which made my heart race with adrenaline. She had definitely located us, as well as our adversaries southeast, and was ready to defend her territory ...or hunt her new prey.

"We are on the right track. But there is a large black panther keeping an eye on us," I informed him, while our third companion listened attentively.

We must be in a tropical forest in Africa, I suspected, because that is where black leopards were most common - as I had learned when preparing a presentation for my biodiversity seminar. They were fast, masterful climbers, and had great night vision... and the instinct to chase their prey, which I knew from personal experience.

I felt my heart laughing from pleasure - it had been so long since I had turned into a black panther. In the city where I currently undertook my graduate studies, I wandered around as a cat to observe the neighboorhoods and get undiscovered in and out of places.

But here, in my parallel life, I could be a powerful animal and finish the mission quickly. The only problem - this was disclosed information.

Not one of my competitors, and that was basically anyone in the treasure hunting scene, even though we were currently a "team," knew about it. But they probably suspected something, as I had quickly received the nickname "Wildcat" among fellow adventurers.

We all went treasure hunting - me as a sidejob, some of them as their primary source of income. In this very close-knit circle, I was infamous for being secretive, my ability to communicate with animals, and for winning a fight without a scratch.

That was probably why I was selected for this mission. Of course, they did not know that I could actually talk to animals, let alone shift into one.

"Can you do your thing? I did not sign up for this to end up as wildcat food." Lianne "the Snake" Star sneared, interrupting my thoughts, while a knive was in her hand, her body screaming alertness.

"Yes," I said brusque, already turning towards the direction I had last sensed the black panther. This is why I avoided working in a team - I had to constantly hide a side of myself and had to cope with rude people. I could be charming, but today was not the day.

A sudden explosion caught us off guard. The heat wave catapulted us with full force deeper into the rainforest, and our helicopter was no more. As I looked up, I saw the wildcat baring her teeth at us, but then fleeing from the fire that was rapidely making its way towards us.

I jumped up, a quick glance around to ensure both were fine and alive, then, without further thought, left my team behind and followed the feline. As soon as I was out of eyesight, I shifted.

I opened my eyes and there was only one word: freedom! My sharp eyesight caught every detail in a second, my ears heard several human beings breathing, and my nose was smelling their sweat and the smell of burning wood.

I had to be quick to find what I suspected was the treasure and return to the team so that the mission would be considered a success and I could return to enjoy the freedom in the unknown depths of the rainforest.

The feline was nearly out of sight, but I managed to follow her, and as suspected, she was making her way towards the group that had our prize.

I climbed up a tree and immediately saw what this mission was about. In the middle of the camp was a young man tied to a tree. Not any young man. But Heath "the Blade" Stone, fellow treasure hunter, who had recently found the infamous diamond mask that has been lost for years.

Diamonds are one of the raw treasures of the African continent. The big hole in the middle of the rainforest floor confirmed my suspicions.

This mission was all about illegal mines, diamonds ... and information.

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Word count: 991

🏅 Received an "honorable mention"