Abigail Hughes

Abigail had a tendency to be a little....oblivious. She didn't mean to, honestly! She just got so focused on something that, sometimes, the rest of the world tended to fade away like a blur of color in the backdrop of her life. The simple presence of that fluttering butterfly was so utterly unexpected that the young woman couldn't not play with such a creature, even if her version of it resulted in little more of chasing the insect through the forest with a girlish giggle on her lips and attempting to pounce on the poor thing with a wiggle of that long ringed tail. She was, presently, stalking the bug, her body low to the ground as she moved through that tall grass upon light, poised feet. Her hazel eyes were wholly focused on the fluttering bug as it drifted upwards and over a large rock, a peculiar colored large rock but one none-the-less. She hardly hesitated, truly, in attempting to climb that boulder, entirely inattentive to the simple fact that her rock was not a rock at all. In fact, it wasn't until she had already climbed up the boulder, onto the stomach of the creature, before jumping up at the butterfly, only to fall flat on her face.

It was only then that the young woman realized that her rock was moving. No, that wasn't quite right, her rock wasn't just moving, it was breathing! Rocks couldn't breathe! A glimpse of fur to her right prompted quick movement from the little panda, only for the woman to abruptly lose her footing and slide down his side towards his stomach, landing with a thud beside the creature's belly. She perked up but a mere moment later, shaking her head quite thoroughly as if to chase off any lingering effects of that fall. Her paw shifted, clearly intending to sneak away from that sleeping creature and chase after her butterfly. Sneaky sneak snea - uh oh. It moved. THE ROCK CREATURE MOVED. In fact, he rolled to his side, shifting into a more upright position only to leave Abigail's mouth a gasp in awe. HE WAS SO BIG. HIS HEAD WAS THE SIZE OF HER WHOLE BODY! She was pretty sure he could FIT her whole body in his mouth. And look at those giant teeth! They were like the size of her one leg! That large, dusty mane only furthered that audible gasp as the girl put those pieces together. She found a lion. Yup. A real life, grade A, authentic, LION!

Abigail hardly found herself capable of moving as she watched the creature's head turn in her direction, that gaze slowly lowered towards her. For a moment...she stared at him....and he stared back at her. "Hi." The word was little more than a squeak on her lips, the girl still quite frozen in place in an almost tentative fashion. He really wasn't going to try to eat her...right? After all, the big cats in the mountains were their kind's only natural predators. Although she was rather certain that she wasn't on his menu, there was always the possibility that he might make an exception for her. The deep rumble of his own voice caused her ears to twitch ever so slightly, followed by a near purring sound that, slowly, put the little panda at ease. After all, if he was going to eat her, he certainly wouldn't be making that noise. It took her a moment, truly, to react to those simple words offered to her, as if those lyrics had prompted some sort of delayed effect within her, only for the little russet creature to quite near explode with excitement.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I AM?!" She declared with giddy sort of glee, the girl quite near bouncing forward onto all fours to get closer towards him. "You're like, the FIRST person EVER who knew what I was. Everyone calls me a cat....or a bear....I got called a raccoon once." She paused in a sort of thoughtfulness. After all, even Arlo had regarded her species with a sort of bafflement. This was like....a first. She hardly hesitated to wiggle closer towards the head of that lion, the woman attempting to rise on her back legs in an effort to at least be eye level with the creature. See, she was trying! "What are you doing out here?" She inquired with blatant curiosity, after all, they were like...in a field...in the middle of nowhere. It hardly seemed exciting over here. Or maybe he was one of those solitary moody types like Olly was. That would certainly explain it. Still, she could feel the sun right here and the rock was kinda warm. It was like, the perfect thing for a cat nap â€" oh! Duh! "Were you napping? Did I interrupt your nap?" Abby continued, altogether certain of her super awesome investigative skills.

Even so, the girl hardly waited for a response before falling back to all fours, her attention quickly deviated. "Hey Mr. Lion, have you seen my butterfly? I was chasing him but then he disappeared, do you like butterflies?" The girl was eternally bubbly and certainly entirely capable of being far too talkative when the desire struck. Her hazel eyes turned away from him, surveying that treeline in a clear hunt for that bug she had been playing with. It hadn't occurred to her, at least, not yet, that he might make a better play friend then her insect. Abigail had a decidedly one-track mind when she so put herself to it. Maybe it was a good thing the poor butterfly escaped. After all, she was going to have to find her way back home somehow and....Abigail was pretty sure she'd never been to this part of the forest before. Hm....maybe she hadn't thought this one through all the way...