The Shapeshifter
1937 Words
Chapter 010: The Shapeshifter
Anindira's eyes widened.
So wide that she forgot how to blink.
Her gaze locked onto the figure holding her waist—or more precisely, onto an impossible absence.
The large black jaguar that had been standing before her moments ago... had vanished.
In its place was now a handsome young man, holding her tightly to keep her from tumbling from a height of dozens of meters.
And the man—
Was naked.
Not a single piece of cloth covered his body.
Tanned skin stretched over well-defined muscles, and the warmth of his body still lingered against Anindira's skin. The sight struck her consciousness all at once, making her mind seem to stop functioning.
"Careful!... Watch out, you could slip. This place is very high!"
The voice sounded flat, almost devoid of emotion. With gentle yet steady movements, the young man pulled Anindira away from the edge of the branch and guided her onto safer footing.
Anindira swallowed.
Failed.
Her eyes widened even further.
Shock, confusion, embarrassment, astonishment—everything collided inside her head without order.
As though nothing unusual had happened, the young man walked away to retrieve the clothes lying nearby. He calmly put them back on, his movements efficient and unhesitating. Afterward, he approached again and—without asking—wrapped an arm around Anindira's shoulders, helping her stand steadily.
Etiquette had completely evaporated from Anindira's mind.
She stared at him without blinking. Not because she was brave—but because her brain had not yet managed to assemble a proper reaction.
"M-M-M-Mister... Ja... Jaguar?!?"
One trembling finger rose to point at him.
Her feet followed his steps even though her thoughts lagged far behind. Her head kept moving—tilting up toward his face, then forward, then downward, then back up again—over and over, like a broken machine incapable of stopping.
The scene from seconds ago remained vividly etched into her mind.
Far too vividly.
The shock had not faded, yet her curiosity was far stronger.
She had to know.
"Huft."
The young man let out a quiet grunt, clearly frustrated.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're saying..."
"Huh? What did you just say?!" Anindira yelped reflexively. "Ah, forget that—answer this first! That... just now... ugh... how do I say it?... Just now... a moment ago, Mister... you transformed... into a jaguar... no, wait, from a jaguar into a human!... Ugh!... That's the same thing, isn't it?... GAH!!!... How am I supposed to say this?!"
Her hands flailed wildly, trying to demonstrate a transformation she could not even describe with words.
Anindira fell silent for a moment, breathing hard before letting out an exasperated sigh.
She was frustrated.
Very frustrated.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" the young man finally asked, looking at Anindira, who seemed exhausted by her own commotion. "Last night you were sobbing uncontrollably, but now you're incredibly noisy. Is your mood better now?"
Anindira looked at him seriously.
This time, she tried to focus.
She studied his expression, the line of his jaw, the look in his eyes. Hoping—even just a little—that she might somehow grasp the meaning behind words she could not understand.
The young man studied her in return.
"Hm."
A faint smile suddenly appeared on his face.
A smile far too gentle for someone capable of turning into a giant jaguar.
And that...
Made Anindira fall silent.
"What is it?" the young man asked flatly, though his heart was beating faster. "Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking this time?"
Anindira did not answer.
She simply kept staring—her eyes sparkling with curiosity, as though trying to memorize his face.
And without realizing it, a sweet smile formed on her own lips.
The young man stiffened.
His heart pounded.
"Damn it," he muttered quietly, annoyed with himself.
"Huft..."
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
"Hey, you and I need to learn to understand each other as soon as possible..."
His blue eyes settled on Anindira for a moment before drifting away again.
"You're alone in the forest. No family, no group, no one protecting you."
He exhaled slowly.
"According to our customs, anyone who finds and protects an unmarried woman who is alone has the right to offer themselves as a mate."
His jaw tightened.
"If I followed that custom, I should have told you from the very beginning."
His gaze returned to Anindira.
"I would tell you that I want to become your mate."
He fell silent for several moments.
"But strangely... my instincts keep telling me that something is wrong."
His brows furrowed slightly.
"I don't understand why I feel that forcing such a thing right now would only hurt you."
He clenched his teeth softly.
"I don't even know why I'm thinking this way."
His gaze softened.
"All I know is... I need to restrain myself until I understand what truly happened to you."
Anindira did not understand his words.
But she understood his emotions.
There was unease. There was pressure. There was something he was struggling desperately to hold back.
What's wrong?... Anindira wondered silently. He looked upset just now... then he took a deep breath... Did I do something wrong?... Please forgive me... but please be patient a little longer... I don't have a choice... I still want to live... even if it's shameless... I'll have to depend on you...
GRRRRKKK
The sound split the air.
Anindira froze.
Her hand instinctively pressed against her stomach. Five seconds passed—and the sound came again, louder this time.
Heat rushed to her face.
"Hungry?" the young man asked, raising an eyebrow.
No answer.
"Hungry?!"
He repeated the question, this time pointing directly at her stomach.
Anindira fell silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
Whatever, she thought. Being embarrassed won't save me from starving to death.
"Hehehe..."
An awkward laugh escaped her.
"Y-Yes... hun-gry..." she admitted, nodding sheepishly.
The young man's eyebrow rose higher. A faint smile appeared, and this time he did not bother hiding it.
He stood.
Anindira immediately stood as well.
"You wait here!"
He spoke slowly while demonstrating a sitting motion so she would understand.
"I'll find food for you. Don't be afraid. I won't go far from you. Most importantly, be careful where you step... do you understand?!"
Anindira blinked before nodding.
The young man immediately departed, his body darting gracefully down the tree.
"WHOA!"
Anindira squealed the moment she properly saw the height.
"That's high. If I fall from here, I'll turn into instant smashed chicken."
Silence settled once more.
Where did he go...
Being left alone like this...
And on top of a tree, no less...
Why does it have to be a tree...
Anindira kept muttering to herself, trying to chase away both boredom and the anxiety slowly creeping back.
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
It didn't help.
Her chest still felt tight, as though something were pressing from within—not pain, not exactly panic. More like the feeling of someone who had just seen the foundation of their world crack, though it had not completely collapsed yet.
She looked down at her palms again.
Her skin was dirty. There was dried sap. Tiny scratches. Scabbed abrasions.
Everything felt real.
Far too real to be called a dream.
"If this is a dream... I should've woken up by now," she murmured.
She pinched her own thigh.
Gently.
Then harder.
Pain.
Anindira snorted softly, half in despair.
"Okay. So I'm really here."
Her gaze lifted toward the dense canopy overhead. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating shifting patterns of light and shadow that danced with the wind. The sounds of the morning forest felt alive—birds, insects, branches rubbing together—a rhythm of nature completely indifferent to the chaos inside a human mind.
This world was functioning normally.
The abnormal thing...
Was her.
Or more precisely—what she had seen.
A jaguar.
A human.
One creature.
Two forms.
Anindira swallowed.
As someone raised with modern logic, the first thing that automatically came to mind was an explanation. A trick. An illusion. A lighting effect. A hallucination caused by extreme stress, dehydration, or trauma.
Yet every hypothesis collapsed one after another.
She had not fainted.
She had been fully conscious.
She had witnessed the transformation from up close.
She had felt her arm being pulled, her body being supported, her weight being carried—all of it consistent with the laws of physics.
And the most disturbing part—
There had been no transition.
It hadn't felt like magic.
There was no smoke. No strange flash of light.
That enormous body had simply... shifted into human form as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"As if... he'd been both things from the very beginning," Anindira murmured.
Her thoughts drifted back to the previous night.
The way he moved.
Light.
Silent.
His sharp instincts.
His clearly abnormal physical strength.
The way he chose high places to sleep.
The way he sensed danger before Anindira even noticed it.
Suddenly, all of it felt...
Reasonable.
Reasonable in a terrifying way.
"So... from the very beginning, I've been traveling with a... or a..." she whispered.
Strangely, the thought did not send her heart racing again.
Instead, an unfamiliar feeling emerged—like a puzzle piece finally clicking into place.
Uncomfortable.
Yet fitting.
Anindira hugged her knees tighter.
"If he's really a jaguar..." she continued silently, "...then I shouldn't have merely been 'rescued.' I should've been prey."
She remembered those *Sapphire-blue eyes.
Not the eyes of a hunter judging the distance of a leap.
Not the eyes of a hungry beast.
There had been no flash of killing instinct there.
What she had seen instead...
Was concern.
Awareness.
Even—somehow—patience.
"That's the strangest part," she murmured. "He doesn't look at me like food. But he doesn't look at me like... another human, either."
Anindira leaned back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes briefly.
She felt small.
Not physically.
Existentially.
Up until now, she had lived with a simple assumption: the world could be cruel, but at least it could be understood. Nature was dangerous, but it followed rules. Humans were fragile, but logical.
Now?
Those rules were blurred.
This world had laws of its own—and she did not possess the guidebook.
"If I can't go home..." she whispered unconsciously.
The sentence hung in the air.
She could not bring herself to finish it.
Her eyes snapped open as though afraid the thought would become reality if she continued.
"No. Don't think that far ahead."
She spoke firmly to herself.
"One problem at a time."
The first problem: survival.
The second problem: the creature capable of changing forms.
And for now—whether she liked it or not—those two problems were connected.
Anindira looked back toward the forest.
"I don't know who—or what—you really are," she murmured quietly, more honestly than she realized. "But... until I find a way out of this place... I need you."
The wind blew again, stirring the leaves.
The forest remained silent, as though guarding secrets it was not yet ready to reveal.
Anindira took another breath, this time steadier.
The fear was still there.
The confusion still lingered.
But beneath all of it, a small decision was beginning to harden within her heart—
She would observe.
She would learn.
She would survive.
Because whatever this world was...
She was not finished living yet.
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