This is the longest thing ive written in a while oh boy
lame characters are mine but the avengers are not
"Come here…come here…" the woman said as she reached her hand out, her other gripping the branch above her head and her legs wrapped around the trunk of the large tree she was in. "I won't hurt you!" she was reaching towards a chimpanzee not far from her reach. It tilted its head as it watched her and she smiled at it. "Hey there…come here! It's okay!" it leaned closer, looking like it was going go near her, but a loud rustling on the ground scared it and sent it screeching into the cluster of nearby branches.
"Ms. Erett!" a man's voice called and made the woman groan before looking down. "Ms. Erett whe-Ms. Erett! Get down here this instant!" he was wearing a tan button up shirt with similar toned shorts, almost identical to the ones she was wearing. The woman sighed and began to make her way down the tree and to the ground, setting down in front of him.
"I'm fine Reginald!" she waved a hand and wiped them on her shirt, holding back a laugh at the disgruntled noise the man made.
"That creature could have bitten you!" he exclaimed, not getting much of a reaction from her other than her walking the way he came.
"They weren't going to! I know what I'm doing." The woman brushed some leaves out of her hair with her fingers. "This is my expedition after all, no?" she cast a teasing glance back at him as he followed behind her.
"Your parents requested I accompany you to ensure your safety!" Reginald called after her, struggling over plants to keep up.
"And I'm alive and breathing! Relax! Besides…" she trailed off as she stepped into a clearing with a team of people, some at benches with tents set up nearby and the others in shallow pits digging and dusting. "We've got work to do."
She joined the others with digging and searching, every so often discarding large rocks. The team went on for hours until a few of the members came over with food, prompting them to put their excavating on hold and crowd to the benches to eat.
"April, we haven't found shit." A man huffed to the woman as she sat down across from him with her plate of food.
"Well, it's only been two days." She frowned at him. "And it's a jungle. You know as well as I do that jungles cant preserve fossils well."
"Then why bring a team here?" another man sat next to the first one.
"Because imagine what we can find here!" April put her chin in her hand. "No one has tried digging here, we could be the first team to uncover something!" her eyes narrowed as the two men rolled their eyes. "And no one asked you to come, you volunteered to come with me. Did you think that because I'm a woman, and one of the youngest paleontologists you could take over my mission?"
"Ms. Erett please eat your food before the bugs do." Reginald sighed as he walked by April, seeing she was busy arguing with the other two instead of eating. April looked at the older man but before she could respond she heard one of the ones in front of her snickering and she kicked them under the table. "Ms. Erett!"
"What?" she asked innocently. "I'm just trying to eat."
"You're twenty three, please act like it." He scolded and she rolled her eyes.
"I am twenty three, so stop babysitting me."
Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere, Reginald walked to the tent he had been heading to and April looked at the two men in front of her. "Now boys, it's 2006, leave your misogynistic crap in your tents." She smiled sweetly at them before standing and grabbing her plate, heading to her own tent to finish eating.
Hours passed and the team called it a day once the air was too cold to continue their work, returning to their tents for the night. Nothing had been found. April sat cross legged on her sleeping mattress, going over her notes. "There has to be something here…" she mumbled to herself, chewing on the end of her pencil as she leafed through the small notebook. The pages were full of scribbled notes and doodles and measurements and coordinates and dates, some scraps of paper sticking out the sides. "Tomorrow's a new day." She sighed and closed it, laying down and trying to get comfortable as she put it under her pillow.
Her eyes were on her small alarm clock near her head and she watched hours pass, unable to sleep. Around three am April rolled over and pushed her face into her pillow, letting out a loud groan before pushing herself up into a sitting position. She took her notebook from under her pillow and got up, heading out of her tent. It was cold thanks to the mass of trees and foliage but it only woke her up more. There was no noise other than plants rustling and howler monkeys screeching in the distance and once she was sure no others were up she headed off in the direction where she climbed the tree earlier in the day, hoping to find something to draw in her book.
April looked up at the canopy of leaves that blocked the night sky from view and hummed to herself as she pulled at the chain around her neck, taking hold of the small flashlight attached to it and pressing the button to turn it on. She pointed it up at the leaves and saw the dew from the mist shine in response to it. She continued to look up at the trees and shivered slightly as a small breeze made its way through the trunks. It caught her attention and she realized how quiet it had gotten, unnaturally quiet. April hesitated before moving the light down and looking around at her level, starting to feel nervous.
The light went over something that sparkled in the bush as it passed and caused her to quickly put it back but it was gone. She kept the light still for a moment and when she finally moved it the bush rustled and caused her to jump, dropping her light but the chain kept it from falling to her feet. April scrambled to grab it again and pointed it at the moving foliage, tensing up as she saw the glittering again. It was a pair of yellow eyes.
They didn't seem human or animal, and they were staring right at her. "E…Excuse me?" she nearly squeaked and cleared her throat. "Excuse me?" the eyes moved and the bush rustled again as whoever it was dashed away. April saw the shadow and before she could think about it, she was running after it farther into the jungle. "Hey! Wait!" she shouted, but it didn't stop or even show that it heard her. Unable to get a good look at the form while dodging low vines and branches along with roots and stones, she clutched the flashlight until she was sure her fingers were turning white in an attempt to steady it and point it at whatever she was chasing. "Slow down!"
She was too fixated on the creature to see where she was stepping and felt her foot catch under some roots, causing her to fall face first onto the mossy floor. Groaning and spitting out the dirt that made its way into her mouth, she forced herself up on her elbows and tried to look around. "Dammit…" the woman wheezed and rubbed her jaw as she struggled onto her knees. As far as she could tell, the creature had gotten away. April let out another breath and reached for her flashlight, only to find that the chain hooking it on had snapped, so she began searching for her notebook blindly, having dropped it when she fell. "Where did you go…"
Her hands brushed against leather and she quickly grabbed it, expecting it to be her book, but her hands went around it. She scooted closer to it, unable to see what it was in the dark, and ran her hands down it. It was some sort of leather wrapped around a chain. Hesitating, she looked the way she ran and the way she was sure the creature went before tugging on it. It seemed to snag on what she guessed was branches so she yanked harder. She felt something give way and heard clanking coming from nearby, making her look in its direction to try and see what it was. Suddenly, she felt the ground below her move and rumble loudly before it gave way, sending her falling into darkness.
Slowly, April, laying on her stomach, opened her eyes. There was a stabbing pain in her head and her shoulders and knees felt sore when she tried to move them. She stopped moving as her vision cleared and was able to see where she was. She wasn't in the jungle, she wasn't in her tent, she didn't know where she was. In front of her was a gold colored wall etched with pictures and writing she didn't recognize. After spending a few moments trying to read it, she decided to attempt getting up again. Her body ached but she managed to roll onto her back. Her gaze was met with an open roof, and she instantly remembered what caused her to be in her situation.
The creature.
The running.
The falling.
She could see sunlight slipping through the canopy of leaves, meaning she had been down in whatever pit it was for a few hours. April groaned and put a hand on her head, flinching at the pain and feeling dried blood. The more she woke, the harder the floor seemed to get, so she forced herself to sit up. It instantly made her dizzy and she put her head in her hands. "Dammit dammit dammit…" the woman wheezed and closed her eyes. She waited for what seemed like hours before being well enough to raise her head, and when she did she looked back at the wall. They reminded her of Egyptian hieroglyphics, but this was obviously another language. April caught sight of her lost flashlight on the floor inches from her foot and picked it up before slowly getting to her feet and stepping closer to the wall, putting her hands on it to feel the grooves of the inscribed language. The wall was freezing to the touch and she carefully placed her throbbing head against it. "Good going, April…" she coughed slightly and closed her eyes. "Good going…"
Staying put until her neck started to cramp, April raised her head and looked to the side. The room was small, about the size of a typical family living room, and all the walls were similar to the one she was leaning against. April put her hands on the wall and slowly made her way to the left, wanting to look at all the walls closely. Once her hand made contact with the next wall, she began to grow excited. She had found something. Something better than fossils. She just needed to find a way out to get the rest of her team.
It didn't take her long to get all the way around the room, her aches subsiding as she focused on trying to read the writing. She was sure she understood the pictures, and they claimed there was a treasure sealed away deeper inside the tomb. "Oh god damn. I need to find it. Everyone's going to shit themselves!" she managed a giggle but winced as it made the pain in her head spike. April looked back up at the open roof, putting her hand on the wall to keep herself steady but it gave way under her weight. The woman gasped and leaned away quickly, looking at the place her hand had been. The picture she had touched indented into the wall and the edges seemed to light up with a golden light. The light spread around the words and the pictures, outlining everything before it slowly broke apart.
April covered her mouth to keep from making any startled noises as she watched it part, able to see a hall through the dim lighting the open roof provided. She took a step towards it, squinting to see inside. It turned pitch black the farther it went but the jingling of her broken flashlight chain caught her attention. She pointed it ahead and clicked it, turning it on. The walls were like the others, the foreign language inscribed on it's surface. April walked forward, glancing over them as she headed deeper into the tomb.
She could practically hear Reginald say "Curiosity killed the cat" as she stepped, and she couldn't help but grin. "And satisfaction brought him back." The woman said out loud to herself and perked up a bit.
The hall continued on, and eventually the inscriptions on the walls stopped. April looked ahead and realized she was at another wall. She ran the light over it, and was able to see the outline of what looked like a door in the middle of it. The woman raised a hand to touch it but stopped, the first feeling of uneasiness finally hitting her since being down in the tomb. "Oh…come on April. No one else is down here but you!" she huffed to herself and looked behind her just to be sure. There was no other place for someone to be hiding, she was certain.
Taking a breath to calm herself down she put her hand on the outlined rectangle, pushing tentatively. It didn't budge. April frowned and moved her hand over to the indention, her fingers barely able to fit into it. She put the flashlight between her teeth to keep it steady and moved closer, putting both hands on the outline and then trying to pry it open. Grunting and wheezing, about to stop after a few moments of trying to move the door, April felt the ground under one of her feet give way. Afraid of falling into another pit, she let go and fell against the wall, panting to catch her breath.
Looking down she saw one of the tiles pressing into the ground but nothing was happening. April took the flashlight out of her mouth and stood up straight, leaning closer to look at the tile better. Taking a quick look around and decided there was no way a trap would be set up where she was, she stepped on it again. She put her weight on the one foot and felt it click into place. Once it clicked, the door slid to the side and April stepped back, pointing the light to see what was inside.
It was another room, about five times the size of the first one she was in, and the floor was glittering. Confused, she stepped in and almost dropped the flashlight in surprise. The floor was covered in gold coins. "Sh-shit…" she breathed and slowly moved the light around the room. There were piles of the coins farther back, along with artifacts and statues made of what she guessed was gold and other metals and gems. Carefully, she stepped forward. Her attention went to the middle of the room where a pedestal was standing, a cloudy white orb displayed on it. April glanced back to the hallway, the thought of going back and trying to get help crossing her mind, but the urge to inspect the room was greater.
She stepped farther in, careful not to bump the treasures, and found there was a small, cleared trail leading to the pedestal. Again, the urge to head back to the hallway returned but she pressed forward, making her way up the stairs and stopping in front of the orb. "I should have brought my camera…" she mumbled, leaning closer to it to get a better look. It didn't look like something extraordinary, and it seemed dull. "What's so special about this…" April knew better than to touch it and began turning, planning to go back down and look at the other objects, when a low growl caused her to stop. Breath hitching, she quickly pointed her flashlight where she heard it and held back a scream when she saw what it was.
At the bottom of the stairs a large panther crouched, lips pulled back in a snarl and fur bristling. She overlooked the unsheathed claws and bared fangs, and focused on the eyes. The yellow eyes. She saw them the night before. This was the creature she chased through the darkness until she tripped. Her mind was reeling, freezing her in place on the top of the pedestal as the large cat prowled slowly up towards her. Finally, April realized what was ultimately happening and screamed, both in fear and in an attempt to scare the creature. It didn't work. The panther snarled and leapt at her, making her stumble backwards and into the pedestal causing it to rock and dislodge the orb.
April hardly noticed and slipped down the other side, stumbling and falling on her hands as she lost her grip on her flashlight and the room went dark. She could hear the animal growling and panting as it headed towards her and she struggled to get up. Shaking as she tried to grab her flashlight she stepped forward but kicked something and fell again, landing in a pile of the coins. April coughed and wheezed in pain, the metal pressing into her skin, and she sunk into the pile the more she squirmed to get up. A loud roar from the panther made her yelp and stop, curling up in a ball and hiding her face as she felt tears starting to form in her eyes.
April stayed as still as she could, shaking violently and expecting claws or fangs to dig into her skin, but it never came. After a few moments, she hesitantly raised her head, her eyes adjusting to the new, dim light that was spread throughout the room. She saw the panther feet away from her and she jolted, letting out a pathetic cry as she tried to curl up more. It didn't move. April stared at it quietly and it stared back, slowly moving it's front leg towards her and pushing the orb that had been knocked down in her direction. Her eyes went to it and she quickly sat up. It was cracking and the light was coming from it.
The creature moved it's paw from it, not taking it's eyes off the woman, and let out a small chuff. She quickly glanced at it, then back at the orb which was slowly continuing to crack and emit light.
"Touch it."
Hearing the voice made April jump again and look around. She hadn't said anything, and there was no other person in the room. That she knew about.
"Touch it."
It edged her on, but she stayed still.
"Touch it."
It continued, growing louder but not going above a whisper.
"Touch it!"
April leaned closer, sure the voice was coming from the orb.
"Touch it! Touch it! Touch it!"
It wouldn't stop, and more voices joined in to motivate her. April's eyes were fixed on the artifact, and she slowly raised a hand out towards it. The panther took a step back, looking down to the orb now as the woman's fingers made contact with it. It was warm under her hand, and once her palm rested on it, bright light broke through it and the voices ceased. It startled April and made her jerk back, putting her hand up over her eyes in an attempt to shield them from the glare. The voices started again, but they were no longer whispering, and she could not understand what they were saying.
Her eyes adjusted and she parted her fingers to look through them, her mouth falling open as she saw what the orb produced. There was a golden borealis above her with lighter yellow streaks of light wavering under it, giving the appearance of being underwater. April managed to stand, not taking her eyes off the lights. They were moving and forming shapes, the shapes of the letters inscribed on the walls in the other part of the tomb, and the shapes of what she guessed were predatory cats. Soon all the stray rays of light dropped down, settling in front of her and towering above at six feet high. The panther padded closer, wrapping around it as it took the shape of a lean man dressed in tribal wear, a large feline skull studded in feathers covering their face. Nothing short of what she could assume was a witch doctor.
April covered her mouth, eyes wide as she looked the figure over. She could see the same eyes in the empty sockets of the skull that were on the panther and they held her attention, hardly seeing his staff as he raised it. Her gaze was broken as the man thrust his staff in her direction, making her cry out in alarm and trip over the pile of coins she had fallen into not long before.
"H-Hey!" she shouted and the man's head tilted. "I-I'm sorry I just…there was nowhere else to go!" something was telling her he was mad, mad she had stumbled upon the hoard of treasure. He tilted his head the other way and let out a guttural bark, jerking his staff back. The panther looked up at him and chuffed, getting his attention for a moment before the two looked back at April.
"Welcome." One of the voices, loud and gruff, came back and caused April to jump in surprise. She looked around quickly at the borealis above, able to see faces of older men and more big cats staring down at her from it, and then back at the shining man.
"Is…is there a way I can go to…t-to get out?" she stammered, the weight of what she had come across finally coming to her attention. She swore her heart stopped when she saw the witch doctor shake his head no.
"You cannot leave. To pay for your acts of recklessness, for coming into our home and ruining it with your metal monsters, you will stay as this temples new guardian." April clutched at her chest, opening her mouth to try and defend herself, and the panther roared at her. "You will defend what you should not have found."
"N-No! Please! Listen! M-My team and I, we'll pack up and leave! No one will ever come here again!" she shouted, her voice cracking in fear.
"You are right. No one will ever come here again." He pointed his staff at her again. "Because you won't let them." As he finished speaking the borealis absorbed into the end and then shot at her, knocking her backwards and to the floor. The breath was knocked out of her lungs and she writhed in pain that she had never felt before. Nothing compared to it. April cried out and twisted on her side, her hands going to her head.
She felt her muscles tearing and rebuilding themselves, her nails growing out and the points digging into her skin and causing small abrasions. April struggled to get to her knees, trying to crawl back to the hallway to get to the open room she had fallen into. Someone had to hear her screaming. The coins dug into the palms of her hands and her knees, adding to the pain coursing through her body. April slowly made her way to the hall, openly gasping in pain and almost sobbing as tears fell down her face from the pain and fear. The panther's roars were echoing behind her and she wished the animal had killed her. Even if it had eaten her alive it would have been less painful.
"Help!" she screamed at the hallway, praying it would echo. "H-Help!" she began choking on her own breath. Hardly noticing the inscribed walls lighting up with the same light from the orb, she forced herself forward, shrieking for someone to find her. April collapsed as soon as she made it into the open roofed room, clutching her lower chest as she felt her ribs expanding until they snapped, only to rebuild themselves. She willed herself to pass out from the pain, or lack of air from wheezing and screaming. She writhed for what felt like hours, her screeches for help now sharp whines and whimpers, and the pain started to subside. Everything ached from the morphing they did, and she could feel some of her teeth being pushed from the gums. Clenching her eyes shut, she reached into her mouth and started prying the loosening teeth from it. Once removed, she felt sharp fangs grow slowly into their place.
April stayed on the floor, mouth bleeding and eyes streaming with tears, wishing the fall she had experienced had killed her the night before, or that she had never even left her tent in the first place.
SO FOR ANYONE CONFUSED
April is a science protege, having graduated with a degree at the age of 20, and chose her first major expedition to be in this jungle
Because she's so young many of her team mates took her as a joke and wouldn't listen to her
Her parents were both environmental scientists and hired a man to accompany April on all her expeditions to make sure she would be okay
The tomb was protected by a spell that whoever intruded would be cursed to serve under it's wishes, to be protected and remain hidden, and since April lead people who started digging and tearing things up they wanted her to pay for it
The panther lead her to the tomb
The panther is as old as the tomb, serving as the animal guardian of it
April's body physically changed, becoming leaner and more muscled and allowed her to be more flexible. She basically took on characteristics of a feline, sharp teeth, sharp nails, good balance, gained the ability to see in the dark, etc. and she can take the form of a panther, but the transformation causes her pain
She cannot leave for too long, or else she'll begin to grow weak lethargic before eventually dying
She eventually went feral, only having the panther to speak to, and communicates with chuffs, whines, growls, and roars
She lived off fruits and raw meat from killed animals the panther brought her
She was able to leave and explore the jungle during the day, once the panther showed her every way throughout the tomb
She used a staff and a chain whip she found in the tomb as her weapons
Her team never found her
Shield found her about ten years later
She is now 33