Unexpected Arrival || The Jungle Book 2016

Ch. 3 | Escape

Daiane woke sudden jolt caused by the plane landing. She was startled and felt trapped when the cage slide forward. Not being able to escape heightened her fright and kept her on edge.

When the plane finally stopped moving, a few men came to the back and lifted her cage off the ground and off the plane. Daiane snarled and snapped at the men, but they ignored her.

Instead, they made their way off the plane and she was hit by the blinding sun.

She looked over the area and saw that the land was flat and made of the stone man called concrete.

Daiane's cage was thrown into the back of a dark colored truck.

The men exchanged a few short words, and something was passed between the men's hands. Then, two of the guys got in the car and started the engine.

Before long, Daiane felt the car move and drive off, leaving the sight of the plane.

She knew that she had been captured, but she didn't know where she was being taken. The thought of not knowing what's in store for her in the future scared her to death.

-~-~-~-

As the car drew closer to their destination, Daiane was getting restless. She knew she couldn't go down without a fight, so she started to growl and make a lot of noise, hoping that it would draw the attention of the men in the front.

"The cat sure is making a hell of a lot of noise" the passenger looked back through the window of the truck.

"It's fine," the driver said, brushing the noisy cat away from his mind, "it's probably just hungry. Leave it be"

The passenger gave the driver a skeptical look before looking forward back on the road.

-~-~-~-

After about ten minutes of the ruckus, the passenger spoke up again.

"We might want to check to see if the cat is ok"

"Why?" the driver questioned, quickly glancing at the man, before turning back towards the road.

"Because something might be wrong. It might be hurt" the passenger answered.

"Since when do you care for animals?" he said in a patronizing tone.

"I don't," the passenger snapped, "but it's my job to make sure the merchandise isn't harmed when we deliver to the boss. So, we should go check it out"

"Fine," he pulled over and stopped the car, "but we have to be careful. I heard that that beast crushed a man's arm in one bite"

The passenger gulped in fear, but nevertheless opened the car door and stepped out.

When they reached the back of the car, Daiane quieted. She hoped that they would foolishly open her cage and let her escape.

She cautiously looked them in the eye, wary of their next move.

The driver was the first one to speak. "It doesn't seem to be injured, so let's go" he said in an annoyed tone, not liking they were delayed for nothing.

"No, no, I think it may be hurt" he pointed to the scratch on her left, back leg.

In truth, she was hurt. During the bumpy landing of the plane, Daiane was scratched on her hind leg by a sharp edge of the cage.

"Then let the boss take care of it," the driver started, "there's no way in hell I'm opening that cage to a conscious savage beast"

"The boss will have my head if he receives a damaged cat"

Before the driver could protest, the passenger stepped towards the cage and opened the door as if he was possessed by the alluring sight of the beast's beautiful eyes.

Daiane saw this as her chance and immediately pounced forward, pinning the man down on the ground and bit down on the guys neck, killing him.

She then looked up to face her next opponent, sizing him up. She jumped forward, but the guy dodged it, rolling on the ground.

Daiane tried again, but this time, she landed a blow. She managed to scratch the guy's chest with her razor-sharp claws. Blood started dripping from the wound, and the hissed in pain, he was fueled by adrenaline and stood back up.

"Damnit!" the guy shouted, knowing he wouldn't escape alive if he didn't escape now.

As soon as he stood up, he rushed towards the car and got in. He quickly fired up the engine and drove away.

"Serves you right you stupid human" Daiane told herself, panting heavily from the action.

She was already drained due to the lack of water and food. Plus, being stuck in a small cage didn't help her sore muscles.

Daiane turned around to be met with the lifeless body of the first man.

Most of the time, Daiane was laid back, always thinking before she said or did anything.

There were rare occasions where she would act before thinking it through, and sometimes she regretted it, and sometimes she didn't.

This was one that she didn't regret it, but felt guilty about it, but when it came to survival, it was either him or her. Being solitary jaguar meant that she always put her needs before others.

Daiane observed her surroundings and heard running water a couple miles north, so she started her trek there. She would worry about food later, but right now, she desperately needed water.

By the time night fell, she had found an area that was similar to her own home but was also different.

More light came through the treetops, and there was more plant life on the ground.

Daiane would worry about hunting in the morning, but for now, the lack of exercise made her body sluggish, and slow.

She needed rest but licked her wound in the side of her leg, to keep it from getting infected.

She knew that she'd be fine as long as she kept it clean, but that didn't worry her. She needed to find a safe place to rest.

So, she found a suitable tree to sleep in, that had high enough branches for her to be safe from any unknown predators in this strange place, and an easy enough place to look over the new terrain.

Once she made herself comfortable, she crossed her paws, and laid her head down to sleep.

Daiane knew she couldn't sleep to deeply, in case of any emergency, but she still let her eyelids close and her breathing steadied.

Daiane was left to dream about what she would do in this unknown environment, hoping she'll survive more than a day.

-~-~-~-

Hey guys! Sorry if this chapter is kind of crappy, it's mostly a filler.
The good news is that things are about to get rolling in the next chapter.

Yup, that's right, the story is finally going to take off. Sorry if these first few chapters were a bit boring to read, I just needed to give Daiane a bit of back story as to where she came from and how she got there.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

~datPotato