Mina swallowed hard, her eyes wide.  She briefly glanced behind her as the man mentioned the audience, but his warning stopped her from making even the slightest move in that direction.  As her gaze traced along the encircling tentacles back to the center of the circle, she summoned up all her courage.<em>Animals can sense fear,</em>she thought.<em>Fear makes you prey.</em><br/><br/>"I'd - I'd rather not be food, sir," she managed.  She even found enough confidence to take another step or two farther into the circle.  Again, she held out her hand towards the 'panther', although it trembled slightly.  Despite her uncertainty, she wanted to at least show an effort towards being 'friends'.<br/><br/>What manner of creature was Jagger, she wondered.  She hadn't seen or even heard of anything like him.  Tentacles were something for sea creatures, but he was most definitely some kind of cat...