Welcome to Gaia! ::

Going back made waking up in the morning so much harder - the lull of the familiar jungle, a body that felt more right, a control that felt more right was so appealing. It was to his father's credit that Dororo was perhaps the only thing in the waking world that lulled him back to the 'real' world, as it was.

But there he was yet again, asleep in body and surrounded by jungle and lava, the warm air a familiar balm on his tired mind. Things went as they usually did - the large feline took stock to see if there were any unknown visitors that needed to be assessed (none yet), then found the biggest and warmest of rocks to lay out on.

The night was young, after all, and many would find dreams much more slowly than he did. And some would come with fire, and he would be there to greet them.

Someone had come.

The sound of an unknown voice - though all voices were such things, truly - pierced the bubbling silence of the jungle and Leopard lifted his head to peer towards it's source. A senshi. It has been some time, he was certain many who fell in perhaps saw themselves as such a thing...

but not many came to his domain in such a body.

For now, he'd entertain her. "Depends on who you ask. Some cultures say we're good luck - and I am inclined to believe them."

That expression of surprise never got old and Leopard watched patiently as Nereid went on some mental journey in under a few seconds while processing that there was a talking leopard in her dreams - or was she technically in his? A technicality for another time.

"If you don't have any cultural significance to dreams, then why did it matter to you that I symbolize anything?" he asked with a flick of his tail, still not rising from the volcanic rock he settled on. "You are in my realm, and what you are here for is up to you. You came to me, rather than I to you."

I am not an NPC, Leopard thought to himself, even as Nereid offered that up herself, though his brow did sink ever so slightly - a rather human form of emoting, despite being a big cat.

"I would prefer to not be treated as a house pet," he stated firmly, knowing such a statement wasn't denial, but flexing his claws slightly just to reinforce the assertion. "You are in a realm that lingers under all dreams, a layer away from the subconscious. This is Elysion."

And it was his job to make sure she didn't go into places that she wasn't meant for, but he wasn't going to say that.

“Correct,” Leopard kneaded his paws slightly - enough to display his claws again, watching as the Senshi bounced about the immediate area in some display of enthusiasm. Ah, enthusiasm. He’d had that once. Maybe? Hmm. Maybe he’d just accepted everything handed to him as duty as part of his life and that had been that. It sounded more accurate, at the very least.

“You are within a Dream of Fire, so yes. It is hot,” he added.

His ears flicked backwards at Nereid’s rambling, contemplating how he would best answer her questions - or if he wanted to at all. “I am the Guardian here and that is all you need to know. There are others, in other dreams as well.”

Leopard's tail thumped against the ground.

"Then you will have nothing to call me," he stated firmly, digging in his (feline) heels.

"If you think this is being grumpy, you have a big storm coming," Leopard replied, ears flicking back.

It was a smooth motion, stepping between the body of a leopard and that of a man, the earth beginning to rumble as the volcano began to bellow ugly, dark smoke.

Leopard reached out to grab Nereid, his expression dark and sour. "It's time to wake up, if you can't respect my boundaries," he warned.