It was slowly becoming clear to Théadan as the pounding of his heart and rush of adrenaline made him more alert and aware of the goings on of their situation, the leopard was not so much interested in him and Navia, her reactions viewed them as an unwelcome guest, whether it could be more than that - a threat, would depend on their actions. What was obvious was the leopard was most interested in their horses, its gaze intermittently returning to the pair while it assessed what it hunted compared to that which could possibly pose a threat. Navia seemed already well aware of this, she was lowly speaking her assessment of what the leopard was thinking, viewing it as still wondering if they were going to be trouble for her. She even suggested the leopard could be scared away with loud noises, something her father had taught her once. While the leopard was intimidating and a certain danger to them, it was not the largest of cats, and did have to choose its prey wisely or risk injury of its own. Perhaps acting threatening would be enough to drive it off.<br/><br/>The whisper that Vari wasn't tied to anything was cause for concern. Losing the horse would be dreadful, she quickly been welcomed among their group, and knew they all had an attachment to her. If she ran off it would leave her in a lot of danger, and the thickness of the jungle would make it more challenging to track her down. Théadan felt Navia give a squeeze of his shoulder and then she was informing him she would put the bridle on, then he should try to scare it off. The thought of Navia not being close to where he could keep her and their child safe was enough to have him turn to try and tell her not to go anywhere from him, only for the leopard to let out another snarl at the movement forcing his attention back to the big cat as Navia moved over to the horses. "Navia!" He tried to object to her actions at little louder than a whisper, but she was already by the horses side, and he was having to position himself between them all and the leopard.<br/><br/>Théadan held the leopards gaze for a beat, looking for any signs of it being about to try and attack, but while it remained low and ready to pounce, it did not yet look like it would try to get at their horse. So he had to wait, unable to see what was going on behind him for fear of taking his eyes off the animal, and having to trust Navia not to put herself in any further jeopardy. He could hear the horses moving around him, see the leopards eyes move from him over to the horses behind, presumably watching what Navia was up to. There were a few murmurings from Navia that Théadan could not make out, but he sensed they were words to help keep the horses at ease, only for the shrill sound of a horse suddenly fearing for its life to echo through the forest. He knew Wyndagars's voice as well as he would recognise Navia's and could tell that was not him, so it had to have been Vari who realised the proximity of the leopard.<br/><br/>The sound had been pitchy and sudden enough to make Théadan flinch and step back, his body half turning to see what caused the alarm and showing the leopard only half his body. The leopard too was reacting to the sound of its prey discovering it, like a coiled spring the leopard launched itself forward, seeking to quickly launch itself around Théadan to get straight at the horse, and potentially Navia too. Navia was also quickly reacting to the development, calling to him to try and scare off the leopard, it was an added trigger Théadan  was prepared for, the leopard was almost halfway round him, its pace strikingly fast and out of arms reach. All he could do was swing his sword in front of the creatures intended path, before its eyes and shouted as loudly as he could, "YAH! RAH! YAH!" with every swing of his sword. Forcing it to dodge and lose its momentum, making it turn and face him again as a possible threat, and giving  him the chance to reposition himself back in front of the horses and Navia. "YAH! RAH! YAH!" Théadan repeated, advancing towards the leopard, swinging the sword back forth in front of its eyes, and making it take steps back or be hit. "YAH! RAH! YAH!" He repeated again, this time using the flat of his blade to hit the side of a tree with a mighty crack, and add to the cacophony to drive it back further, confusing the leopard, making it move backwards into the jungle.