zoology inside of we

dream from a week ago:
a gathering in a building with lots of people. telling about a dream within a dream. kept trying to connect or share with someone i loved or had history with. her boyfriend was there. at one point she grabbed my hand while i was telling a story and he came over and complained. then everybody had to go outside for an emergency or a drill. we were in the country. long road and a big open field with trees on the horizon. i saw this amazing creature flying above the trees. it was a cross between a manta ray and a hawk. double-tailed light pouring through golden brown and white feathers. it was flying in elegant drifts and swoops like a manta ray under water. then it was in the road or maybe it was a different one, but crumpled in a dead pile. there was a man with a forklift about to scrape it up. i was distraught and yelling, perhaps because i wasn't sure it was dead and then it turned into a mountain lion. a big golden brown mountain lion with pointy white-tufted ears and even little horns i think. she was injured and had locked eyes with me, staring right at me, into me, intensely. i suddenly became afraid knowing she would be dangerous and unpredictable when wounded. i started to move in another direction and she leaped up and began sprinting as if to attack. i braced myself, unsure if she would follow through or whether i should retaliate, throwing my arms up in front of me. she was on top of me biting and scratching but i got the sense she wasn't using all her strength maybe even playing, and i stopped struggling- a bit of a surrendering over to fate or defense as measured by playing dead. she remained poised over me for a short while that felt eternal. i wondered why no one had come to help, starting to check in with my body and sensing my injuries were not critical though my right hand was cut open across the palm. the lioness was gone and i clambered to my feet, dazed and a bit dizzy, completely alone. holding my hand and applying pressure, walking slowly down the country road as i awoke...