Fortunately, the paths within the El Hoyo interior still mapped more or less to Tasìa's memory. As she journeyed along, she was often obstructed by vine growth, fallen rocks, and rusted-out equipment, but the path never descended into a vegetative maze that confused her going forward.

The vines tended to cling along and conform tightly to the old structures of El Hoyo.

She kept to a simple stealth strategy of strolling next to brambles that aligned in the shadows formed beneath the moon's shine, while also avoiding stepping on clusters of rocks that could give away her presence.

Tasìa passed under a pair of jaguars nuzzling together in the moonlight on the flat surface of a boulder. They never noticed her as she passed by them.

Though its snarl shattered the air, the male made noise only to impress his mate. In turn, she nipped at his ears, playfully.

As lovely as the coupling was, Tasìa could not help but to think what an extraordinarily nice coat the male's fur would make.

She was a woman well-set in the customs of the Quadra. Fortunately for the beast, Tasìa had no spare time to hunt game.

As she paced onward towards a narrow passageway, the jacket began to feel uncomfortable hanging from her shoulders. Tasìa assumed this was due to the humid microclimate of El Hoyo. Here was one of the rare places that mosquitoes still thrived so late in the season.

As she considered taking the jacket off, she realized the weather had nothing to do with the discomfort that she was feeling.

Though the cotton shirt beneath the feathered jacket was now drenched in sweat, the discomfort she was feeling was more of a tingling sensation that pulsed beneath her skin.

Her senses were still adjusting back to their well-pitched norm. She realized the confusion was caused by a lingering synaesthesia from the LSD she had consumed earlier.

It was dangerous to continue until she sorted the problem out.

Tasìa stopped in her tracks and she listened around her. There was a great cacophony of sounds worthy of the jungles of the nations north of her that obstructed her search.

Tasìa eyed the vines above her as they hung from the cliffside to estimate their strength. As she did so, a clear thought entered her mind.

There are now eyes set upon me. Something is moving quickly up there but it alludes my every sense.

It should not have been the least bit surprising. After all, it would only make sense for a predator to be waiting somewhere above the narrow passage.

It confounded Tasìa that she could not see it. She should at least have formed a sense of its proximity to her, but she had nothing.

She would have to force it out of hiding.

Time for a fake-out.

Tasìa dropped to the ground with her jacket spread out over her head to cover her ears from audial distractions.

She spread her palms out along the matted weeds and she dug them into the firm granite beneath.

It did not take but a moment for it to react, giving up its advantage of stealth.

A rumbling thud headed her way.

She now knew its speed, the thrust of its motion, and most importantly, where it would need to adjust in counter-acceleration to pounce on her.

Tasìa leapt up from the ground in a singular motion. She grabbed the vines above her with a quick snatch. With her arms flexed out, she snap-pulled them inward against her chest, grappled tightly together.

This motion thrust her up several feet in the air.

Looking down to the spot she calculated it would attempt its lunge, Tasìa caught sight of a strange beast shimmering into existence as it approached. Now, it stalked beneath her.

The monstrosity was long and wiry, like an enlarged lemur, but one mangy, hairless and leathery. Its head formed a chitinous helmet of insets where its eyes and thick rows of teeth bulged out at odd angles.

By the time she reached the apex of her ascent in the air, Tasìa had removed her .32 from its holster.

Beneath her, the bewildered beast tried to adjust to her actions. It's spine writhed most unnaturally. It's taloned feet twisted around at a pace too slow to counter her descent.

Coming down, the heels of Tasìa's boots punctured it between the shoulder blades.

With a gnashing wail, the creature fell on its side.

Before it had a chance to recover, Tasia pushed the barrel of the gun against the nape of its neck.

She emptied the magazine.

Tasìa got back up on her feet, and she replaced the magazine before she holstered the .32 caliber pistol once more.

With the ruckus she had just made, her first thought was to find a hiding spot and see what manner of beast came sniffing around to exploit the fall-out from the violent confrontation.

A low growl behind her though let Tasìa know it was now too late for her to go incognito. She turned her head to see the male jaguar. He sounded quite pissed at the disturbance.

However, before doing anything rashly ultraviolent, Tasìa realized the creature was a relatively tame one.

From his relaxed demeanor and lack of cagey fear, she could tell he was used to being around people.

Tasìa smiled and she spoke to the jaguar in the playful, folksy tone of a hedge-wife.

"Oh, you want some of that stringy looking critter for yourself, huh? Well, you just be my guest then, little fella."

Jaguars, however, are all business in matters of game. He stared back in her eyes in patient dismissal of her silly behavior.

Not wanting to antagonize the jaguar any further, Tasìa stepped away from the monstrosity she had killed. When she was clear of it, the jaguar rushed up to the dead beast.

With his jaws clamped down on the tendons of its neck, the jaguar started to pull the carcass back up the trail from whence he had came.

Tasìa continued to tease him.

"What are you going to say when you get back to the misses? 'Honey, look what I brought for dinner,'" she muttered in a whisper for herself and the beast. Then with a nagging whine in her voice, she continued, "'this one better be tasty. The last one was about as succulent as shoe leather, you nincompoop.'"

The jaguar cast his eyes low and stared at Tasìa as if she was the oddest thing he had ever seen before he disappeared in the thickets from her view.

She relaxed her breath. Even as the jaguar seemed tame enough, he was likely the company mascot of the day workers, even, still, it was best not to show the beast any fear.

Hence, her goofy comedy routine.

Tasìa turned to continue down the narrow passage. She realized as she started walking, the eyes that she had felt before remained on her even still.