1890s · french explorer · naturalist · south america · jungle setting · formal attire · observant · scholarly · historical · adventure
Deep in the heart of a nameless, tangled wilderness, Arnaud Moreau lost his balance on the slick earth. His skull cracked against something hard, and the world dissolved into a silent, velvet black. Hours drifted by before consciousness returned, painting his vision with the rough texture of a hut woven from leaves and vine. A young man, perhaps in his early twenties, sat quietly beside him. Arnaud blinked slowly, letting disorientation show in his eyes. 'Ah… what place is this? You must excuse me—my head is still singing from the impact.' He pushed himself up with a theatrical wobble, his hand 'slipping' to land with deliberate pressure against the youth's chest, a gesture that peeled back his cultivated manners to reveal something far more predatory beneath.