[hider=Dana, The Queen of Jungle Cats]
[b]Their True Name[/b]
Dana Halabi 
[b]Their Stage Name[/b]
The Queen of Jungle Cats
[b]Their Appearance[/b]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/t8V5d1f/IMG-0001.jpg[/img]

[b]The Date they Joined the Circus[/b]
July 5, 1950
[b]The Act they perform when not on the combat team - [/b]
Tiger tamer
Dana is a were-cheteeh and has the powers of that creature. She is also able to communicate with and command felines. Dana’s contract made her more powerful than other’s of her kind, and granted her long life and an extremely high tolerance for poisons (such as alcohol), and disease. When hunting, she will take several tigers with her. All of the circus' tigers were magically granted long life, and regeneration from combat wounds as part of Dana's contract. However, Dana cannot free the big cats from the circus, even though it tears at her soul, or she will be expelled, and the tigers' magic removed.

Dana’s current “family” are six female Bengali tigers making up her act. She  does what she can to protect and comfort the tigers, even climbing into their cages to lie with them at night as they sleep. Dana desperately wants the tigers to be freed from their circus life, but knows she cannot. It’s a dilemma that eats at her every day. She will never leave the circus cats, and has become just as trapped as they are. To cope, when she is not hunting demons, Dana often sneaks off to sample the local nightlife. She usually returns in the morning smelling of alcohol, (but is never drunk), tobacco, and looking like she spent the night in somebody else’s bed. The Ringmaster calls Dana a “wild one,” when he is in a charitable mood and worse when he is not. Dana’s trysts often causes trouble and occasional visits by the local police. But as long as she continues to kill demons, he will do nothing.

[b]Why they Joined the Circus.[/b] 
Dana joined the circus to help out the big cats the circus owned at the time. They were all locked in cages and looked terrible.  Her heart sank. But what could she do? She was in luck, for the last lion tamer had just broken his contract after almost being mauled by Ashanti, a huge Bengal tigress who went “on strike.” The Ringmaster was desperate for a new lion tamer, but had no idea what to do Dana knew she had a knack for talking to or controlling cats. Gathering up some courage, Dana approached the Ringmaster and offered him a deal. If Dana could get Ashanti to calm down and perform again, he would make her the circus’ new lion tamer. Of course, she really had no idea what she was asking for.

The Ringmaster agreed to giver her a chance, if only to get Dana to stop bothering him.  Dana boldly approached the cage and spoke a few hushed words to the tigress. She then opened the cage door, and stepped inside without Ashanti lifting a paw. Though it took a few minutes for her new boss to recover from his near heart attack, he agreed to hire her, and the two wrote out her first contract later that night.

[b]Their Biography[/b]
Dana was a child of the streets of Alexandria, Egypt and never knew who here parents were. Dana would eventually stow away on a tramp freighter to escape a local gang war, and wound up in Marseilles. A local Corsican crime syndicate found her on the docks and she would have sold into white slavery or worse had the man she would call “Uncle Marcel” not intervened. Marcel Halabi, a former Lebanese Christian, was an up and coming figure in the Marseilles underworld. To show off his power, he wanted a special girl of his own. Even at 16 Dana was very beautiful, but she was also headstrong, tough, and stubborn. At first, Dana tried to escape. But Marcel had dealt with others of her kind before, and armed his men with guns loaded with silver bullets.

Eventually, the two struck a deal. In return for “services,” Dana would be made into a proper lady. Uncle Marcel brought in tutors who taught the street girl how to speak, read and write in French, and English, and even in Arabic. Other than that, Dana’s education was kept basic. Instead she learned more useful skills, such as how to act, how to eat with a fork and knife, how to dress, how to “perform” in bed, how to tend bar, how to drive, and even how to handle a gun.

After five years, Uncle Marcel had climbed to the top of the Marseilles underworld, and got his dream girl. In that time, the relationship had changed significantly. While still a trophy and occasional sex toy, Marcel respected Dana’s business sense and began to teach her about the drug trade. Alas, all good things must end. Uncle Marcel was gunned down in a hit organized from within his own gang. Dana knew she was next, and decided to flee once again. Taking cash and a few clothes, Dana traveled north to Caen, where she was able to bribe a ship captain to give her passage to the United States, the land of wealth and freedom. Dana landed in New York City a few days later and soon learned that not having the proper documentation in hand was going to make it very difficult for her to gain the wealth and freedom she desired. Going back to the old job as an escort also didn’t appeal to her. She needed somebody to hire her with no questions asked. The circus was in town performing, and somehow she was drawn to it.

[b]Their Connections[/b]
Dana is a loner, and spends much of her time in the company of her tigers. She is close to all of them, but Ashanti, the largest and smartest of all of them, shares a special bond with Dana. Dana projects an air of “leave me alone” and very few in the circus try to approach her. The one exception is one of the newer members of the circus, a young Belorussian aerialist named Katrina. Katrina saw how the were-cheetah was slowly destroying herself and felt Dan needed a friend no matter how Dana thought of it. It took some persistence and some patience, but eventually Katrina broke through Dana’s defenses and the two grew close. Katrina has since nicknamed her new friend “koshka,” which Russian for female cat, and addresses her as such. 

[b]Their Audition[/b]
The audience sat in tiered benches before the stage, watching the final preparations made for showing the circus’ big cats. The dull roar of the audience die away as the lights dim to darkness.

”Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages!” The announcer says. “Now, for your enjoyment and amazement we are proud to present the Queen of Cats!”

A spotlight illuminates a woman walking onto the stage and into the huge cage, closing the door behind her. More lights come on and following her into the cage through a large metal chute, are six huge Bengali tigers. Dana, the Queen of Cats, is in a facsimile of a person on African safari. She wears hiking boots, khaki shorts, a brown belt, a bush hat with one side bent upwards Australian style, a leather vest and a large canine tooth suspended on a leather thong around her neck. However, what is most striking is the white shirt tied off above her midriff to expose her navel, and quite a bit of cleavage. Dana has a bullwhip curled up at her side, presumably to help her command the tigers. As she comes into the middle of the cage, most of the men in the audience suddenly stop what they are doing, and pay rapt attention to her.

Dana looks around at all six tigers who bow to her in turn as she calls out their names. And then the show really begins. Dana shouts commands, and the cats perform in ways simply unimaginable to the audience. Leaps, jumps, twirls. It’s practically a cat ballet, with Dana in the center as conductor. And never once does she resort to the whip. Dana appears to finish her act by riding around the cage draped over the biggest tiger in a very sexy display. And then the lights go dark. The crowd jumps to its feet to applaud the show.

But it’s not over. Suddenly, the spotlight comes on again, and there is Dana [I]outside the cage [/I] with a single tiger so big even sitting on its haunches, is still taller than its companion. The crowd gasps. Is she crazy?

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Dana says in English accented in Arabic and French. “Do not be alarmed. Ashanti and I wish to thank you for your generous applause.” Dana and the tiger bow as one, and in response the crowd heartily claps. She then looks around the tent at her audience. 

“Who among you is brave enough to come face-to-face with a tiger?” she challenges. The crowd grows silent, before a single middle aged woman finally volunteers to come forth and join the Dana on stage. An assistant armed with a .357 magnum revolver escorts the volunteer to the Dana’s side. 

“A bit nervous?” Dana asks the woman.

“Yes I am,” the volunteer freely admits. The crowd chuckles at her honest response.

“Have you ever touched a tiger before?” Dana asks. The woman shakes her head no. Dana turns to her feline companion. “Ashanti, come down please.” The majestic cat lies down at Dana’s command.

“Go ahead,” Dana tells the volunteer, who looks at her in askance. “I assure you it is quite safe.” Dana adds.

Hesitantly, the volunteer reaches out to touch Ashanti’s fur, while the crowd holds its breath. And Ashanti does nothing. The woman grows a bit more bold and actually strokes the beautiful cat’s side a few times. She then withdraws her hand, and sighs in relief that it is still attached. She thanks Dana, and is soon back in her seat with a one-of-a-kind experience. As the crowd applauds once more, the spotlight goes out. When the house lights come back on, the last of the tigers can be seen running up the chute as the cage stands empty.
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