The encounter

   I got lost very quickly. The canopy was getting thicker, the light was getting dimmer, and the bushes were almost impassable. I started to shiver, and I winced at every sound. In the books, adventures have never seemed so scary, at least not until you came across a villain. As I was thinking about it, I heard some rustling behind me. I held my breath and tried not to make a sound; I didn't dare turn around. After a few minutes of uncertainty and tension, I couldn’t hear anything anymore, so I allowed myself to relax a little. However, the rustling repeated, this time much closer to me. I was drenched in a cold sweat. This time the sound didn't go away, the rustling continued, and it seemed as if something was circling around me. As I stood frozen in place, all my attention was focused on following the source of the sound, which eventually stopped in the bushes a few meters in front of me. I strained to see beyond the small clearing, on which I was standing, into the depths of the intertwined branches that hid the source of my fear. Suddenly, instead of leaves and bushes, all I could see was a pair of clear purple eyes which were fixed on me. It was as if everything else had disappeared at that moment, my fear, the sounds of the surrounding forest, the huge silhouette that was approaching me... My entire world was reduced to those eyes that hid indescribable depth. The closer they approached me, the smaller and smaller they became, but they did not lose any of their clarity. When they finally stopped in my immediate vicinity, it took me a few moments to clear my mind enough to be able to see their owner as a whole. I will remember the scene in front of me for the rest of my life. On a small clearing bathed in the sun, as if under the spotlights on the stage, sat a curious creature similar to the cat at first glance. The lush, snow-white fur on its chest stirred in the breeze, and its scaly tail shone like silver. The claws, like those of an eagle, were partially hidden by the soft grass, and the only thing that showed that the creature in front of me was not a hallucination was the other tail that moved slightly from left to right and the gaze that was still fixed on me. I realized that at some point I must have knelt down on the ground, so our eyes would still be on the same level. I no longer felt fear, only peace and tranquility, but also some awe that I could not explain. Not only that, but I knew that this creature was not like any other and I intuitively felt that it did not want to harm me, on the contrary. I extended my hand to him as a sign of goodwill and, as expected, it offered me its paw in return without hesitation. This has marked the beginning of our friendship.

  We sat in the grass for a while and studied each other. In all other circumstances, my appearance would be nothing special, but like this, in the middle of the forest, a little blonde girl with her hair messily gathered in two tails kneeling on the forest floor in a slightly torn white dress and patent leather shoes was certainly an unusual phenomenon. On the other hand, the creature in front of me would leave anyone breathless. After the initial impression it imprinted on me, I was able to dedicate myself to discovering the details. Its head looked like a cat's, but it didn't have any hair on it, only snow-white skin with a few wrinkles. Instead of ears, there was something like a fan that I had seen before on some types of lizards in books, however, it used them in a very expressive way, so that at first glance they did not differ much from the ears. I noticed that its fur was only long on its chest and one part of its back, like a mane, while its hind legs and the rest of its body were covered with fine fur that wouldn’t be noticeable if not for a silvery shine it produced with every movement, much like the scales on one of the two tails it possessed. I had to confirm to myself that I really was seeing two tails. One was reptilian. The other one I couldn’t quite place. Although it was covered with fur, I could not characterize it like a cat's tail. It was much bigger and more agile than a cat’s, and it seemed strong, almost like an extra limb, not just a tail. However, as much as those tails would attract my attention from time to time when they moved, I was mostly fascinated by the front paws, or legs, I'm not sure which would be the correct way to refer to them. These were definitely limbs that could belong to a bird of prey. Never before have I been able to observe something so openly threatening and dangerous from such proximity. The claws gleamed wickedly in the sun, not hiding the sharpness they possessed. Undoubtedly, they were dangerous weapons, and yet, I knew they posed no threat to me. While I was wandering from one detail to another lost in thought, the creature decided it was time to move. Since I was not ready to end our friendship that quickly, I decided to follow it. As interesting as the walk through the forest was before our meeting, after it took on the role of a guide, the walk became incomparably more interesting. It seemed like I wasn’t walking through the same forest anymore. It led us to hidden paths that would get lost as soon as we got off them, and behind every "corner" we came across traces of life, from various bugs doing work only known to them, to various shelters, nests, and small animals that mostly observed us with interest. Going out on the meadow was no less exciting, although at first, I walked on it very carefully, taught by previous experience about the hidden dangers lying in the grass, which have cost me a torn dress and a few bruises. The creature seemed to notice my fear of the meadow and decided to show me that this meadow was completely safe. It started running around playfully, rolling in the flowers. From time to time, it would approach me and grab my dress, tugging on it as an invitation to come and play. It didn’t take me long to join it and to completely forget about my fears.