Unbound ~ PROLOGUE

Instructions

Links are in Credits :3 ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ Silent paws stalked across the jungle floor. The feline's ears perked upwards, and a sharp nose scented the underbrush. The air hung thick and humid, a rich tapestry of decay, blooming orchids, and the damp earth. Every rustle of a leaf was a symphony, every distant bird call a sharp, clear note in the jungle's chorus. A sudden flash of scarlet from a macaw's wing became a burst of overwhelming color, hyper-real and captivating. The feline moved with a fluid grace it had never known in its human life. Muscles coiled and released with effortless power, a tail providing perfect, instinctual balance as it navigated fallen logs and dense vines. There was no conscious thought, only the pure, exhilarating urge to move, to hunt, to simply be in this skin, under this canopy. The scent was what mattered now—the musky, warm trail of unseen prey. An ancient, sharp instinct flared in the character's chest, overriding any human logic or fear. The world narrowed to the hunt: the next paw placement, the tension of the muscles, the thrill of the chase about to begin. The character would run, and they would never tire. The chase began. A blur of motion, a streak of fur through the dappled green light. The thrumming of the cat’s paws against the forest floor was a freeing rhythm, faster and lighter than anything before. The scent was stronger now, the jungle bird was close. They bounded over a mossy log, muscles singing with power, eyes locked on the moving brush ahead. The moment of truth approached, a surge of adrenaline so potent it was almost painful, a deep, guttural cry tearing from their throat in a final, victorious lunge. . . ! The crash came without warning. Not the impact of prey, but a sudden jolt that ripped the jungle canopy away. The sharp scent of orchids was gone, replaced by the faint, stale odor of their own bedroom. The roar of the jungle faded into the monotonous beeping of an alarm clock. Their powerful, sleek limbs were suddenly just their human arms and legs again, tangled in cotton sheets. The now normal human sat bolt upright in bed, heart hammering a frantic, confused rhythm against their ribs, the phantom weight of a tail vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. The dream's power lingered, a desperate, animalistic yearning that made the human world feel thin and fragile.