A commission I got several months ago from the wonderfully talented  HungrySuccubus. My leopard Tzelle finds a strange mirror as she explores.

Something about this cave felt familiar. Caves came in different shapes and sizes, colors and compositions, but some of them were pretty similar to others she had explored before. This wasn't one of those caves. And yet, she couldn't shake off the feeling. Light from her lantern illuminated the next few feet of the cave.

She turned the corner, and came face to face with herself.

No, that wasn't quite right. Tzelle stared into a mirror, and her reflection stared right back. For a moment she was so startled her breath caught, but when she got a good look at the familiar eyes and face it made sense. She let out a sigh of relief. That mirror startled her! There was just one problem.

The reflection didn't sigh.

That put her instantly back on edge. After that first discrepancy, she noticed more. The figure in the mirror was her, but at the same time it wasn't. It was her body, but as she looked she saw ornate jewelery and flowing silk. Clothes she had never worn and honestly never expected to wear. A small voice in the back of her mind noticed that the clothes actually looked pretty damn good on her. She might have to get some when she finishes exploring.

Tzelle's reflection moved.

The leopard took a step back and rose her lantern up between them in an unconscious defensive gesture. What the hell was going on here? Her reflection kept moving. It came closer to the surface of the mirror even as she took a step back. One hand pressed up against impossible glass. The other beckoned, a deafening and silent gesture to join it.

What scared her most was that Tzelle could feel a connection. Maybe this was why the cave felt so familiar: she was already in it! The she who was and was not Tzelle leaned closer into the glass, still gesturing for her counterpart. The real Tzelle faltered. Was she really the only real one? What if they were both real and the other were just in another place? Her mind waged a war with itself, caution and instinct sparring with her natural curiosity and experimental nature.

The lantern lowered. She leaned in closer to get a better look. Behind her reflection spread an opulent chamber, bedecked in purple and gold and several more scantily clad women (and a couple men) in what she could only describe as a harem. Was this real? The future? Another plane of existence?

Her curiosity won. Her hand pressed up against the mirror, palm to palm with her other self. It felt natural. It felt right. It felt... like she was actually touching someone else's hand, no mirror at all. A moment later she realized there was no mirror between them. Herself giggled, hand grasping and leading her further. She casts a look over her shoulder. The mirror was still there, except from this side it was obviously not a mirror. It was a window, looking into a cave in the middle of nowhere.

Her lantern burned brightly on the floor. She really hoped this trip wasn't one way.

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