The Althygames, Pt 4

[redford]

Since my money is burning a hole in my pocket, I'm going to be posting a series of games designed to test your mettle as character and writer. Since this is my personal nonsense, all judgments will be completed by me and any complaints can be taken up with John's fists.

But participation is not without its rewards!
Place first, and you have earned 10 friendship points, with a 100gp kicker!
Place second, and a smaller pile of 75gp is yours
Place third, and I will fite you! (limited time offer, I'll actually post the opener) OR: 50 gp

PROMPT: The festival is winding down! You are all full of booze and food and you're trying to get the girl/guy/thing that you're dancing/drinking/eating with to get down/have some fun/get wild with. What do you do to woo your boo? Is he/she/it playing hard to get? Extra points for creativity!

[Gum]

it's not quite to the prompt old bean but i got it as close as i could ^_~

Gum's fermented folly was coming to an end. The star dashed sky sang a crisp winter ballad to his narrow old eyes. He stared back at the constellations, the way they stared at him. "I am old," conceded the shaman to himself as he walked away from the fading coals of a night's celebration. He did so aloud, so it was to himself in spirit only. Spirits were speaking, but they spoke to him even when he wasn't weakened by wine. "A shaman isn't bound in celibacy you know!" it was the whispering echo of his grandfather. Without the barrier between life and death to cultivate melancholy sentiment, it enabled in Gum an ability to disregard his elders. The familiar refrain of parents around the world, "you should listen your granddad, he won't be around forever" rang hollow for the gifted medium. He ignored his grandfather to his shame, it was against his character. Alcohol was a slick lubricant for the rudest behaviour.

The square farms surrounding the village centre cut an unnatural line against the rainforest's verdant encroachment. Broad leather greenery swamped Gum's waistline while the canopy of hardwoods overhead blocked out the sky. Without the romance of the stars to soothe his embittered ears, the shaman's mind began to wander towards irritation. The journey home was long and the undergrowth was thicker by the step. It was inappropriate to utilise his religious gifts for frivolous convenience, but with his judgement impaired Gum went ahead anyway.

His body set to transform. Gum's weary bones cracked and twisted, rebuilding themselves as something else. His skin split open and became a rosette covered pelt. The hands and feet at the end of his limbs gave way to paws and claws. Gum's face in mid mutation was grotesque and incredible. Dull brown eyes glowed into a vibrant yellow. Those fleshy human ears pushed forward, morphing in a moment to be positively triangular. Flat and frowning, his mouth bulged into a stout muzzle. His human teeth, utterly impotent, dropped from his mouth and onto on the ornate fronds of the forest's ferns. In their place grew a predator's arsenal of death dealing canines and marrow munching grinders. Gum had successfully shed his humanity for the preference of being a jaguar.

As he raced through the rainforest with increased agility the word's of his granddad raced with him. "What will happen to my line?" begged the old man from the Underworld.

Gum stopped in his tracks.

His nose twitched.

He buried his snout in the rich leaf litter below.

He caught the scent.

It was a wild jaguar, a female.

From his belly to his heart, the Xangu shaman roared into the night.