Off to See the Wizard
Well, that's a relief. It's bad enough to be lost in the jungle with no way out; having to deal with it on four legs would just be adding insult to injury.
Of course, you're still lost in the jungle with no way out - and no clothes - but you can handle that. You're a tiger. You've got claws and teeth and fur, and you've even got your hands back. What else do you need?
After wandering through the jungle for the next few hours, you decide that a map is what you need. You can't find another way around the break in the path. After an hour or two, you can't even find the path. You wander cluelessly through the trees, a creature superbly adapted to this environment and just as completely lost in it.
"Excuse me," says a lazy voice from overhead, "but you look like you're lost."
You look up to see a man reclining on a branch above you. He's wearing a blue suit, which - somehow - remains crisp and spotless in the hot, muddy jungle. He seems utterly relaxed. The contrast between his sleek outfit and your own bare fur, somewhat less than sleek after slogging through wet underbrush, somehow makes you feel like the least feline of the two.
The man gives you a suave smile. "I'm a wizard," he says before you ask, and snaps his fingers. A small blue flame appears in the air, flickering for a few seconds before going out. Given what's happened to you in the last few minutes, you're not particularly impressed.
You gesture to your striped body, wishing - now that you've got company - that there was a bit more than fur covering it. "So you did this?"
"No, that's just a local curse." The wizard shrugs. "People walk into it all the time. None of my business."
Somehow, you don't quite believe him.
"As it so happens," he continues, "I have an errand I need done, and only a tiger-man such as yourself can do it for me. I'd be most grateful if you did. I'd be willing to give you your human form back, get you out of this jungle, maybe even throw in a little extra reward... I've got magic to spare."
You are, of course, somewhat skeptical. If he's so powerful, why doesn't he do it himself?
"And if I don't agree?"
The wizard shrugs. "Then I have no reason to make you human again. It's up to you."
Written by Chrysalis on 12 April 2010