[i]Greetings; my name is Arlex....[/i] The small lizard looked up towards the forest floor above him, pausing motionless in his perch underneath a tree limb as he carefully eyed the creature on the ground. A medium-sized caterpillar of a purple color, with a soft, but slightly spined body. Possibly poisonous. But that didn't matter; he was in a prime attacking position far above the worm's head, watching it munch on fallen leaves. It would never see its death coming. Arlex released his adhesive grip on the tree and freefell through the air towards the ground, using his long, arboreal tail to straighten his body out as he dove. He landed on the creature arms first, sinking his short claws into its body as his weight knocked the creature flat against the ground. He had hardly spilled any of the worm's own blood or juices in the process; such was a quick, lethal strike from above. "You really should have seen that coming," he thought to himself as he broke the creature open into bite sized portions. The small worms always were his favorite, and it didn't take long for him to polish off the meal as he snapped and devoured the thing bit by bit. He left no traces behind, and when finished licked some of the lingering juices off his hands. A bit bland in the taste department, but quite filling -- a satisfying meal in any respect. He quickly leapt onto the nearest tree and began climbing his way back up towards the morning sunlight above. He scaned his eyes across the area, looking for any possible threats. Left, right, and the sky especially: All was clear, for now. [i]Good[/i], he thought to himself; the last thing he'd need after a meal would be a large aerial predator snatching him away in its talons. He'd seen it happen before, and knew well that the large fliers would show just as much mercy to him as he did the caterpillar that was his breakfast. He wrapped his four legs around one branch, wrapping his thick, leaflike tail around part of the trunk. Partly sunny, partly shaded, this would make a good spot to rest. He shut his eyes and concentrated on the sound of the wind around him, as he slipped into something of a dream. [center]* * *[/center] Some time later, the sound of rustling leaves and snapping dead twigs below him caught his ears and woke him up. Being careful not to move his arms, legs, or body he scanned around with his eyes to locate the source. There, below him, stood a creature most unusual: Although he couldn't get a good angle of it from his current position, he could tell it was a large beast, easily five to six times his own size, and considerably more in weight. It appeared to be an upright beast, walking solely on its hind legs, leaving its arms free for use. It was fortunate he couldn't see its eyes; that meant he was out of its field of view. Soft spikes of fur adorned the top of its head, but the rest of its body was a curious, flexible sort of hide, bearing an unusual mix of hues, includign white, gray, blue, and a few gleams of yellow or silver. What species was that beast? It seemed to be following something, taking slow, deliberate steps, noting the half-eaten leaves and ferns that Arlex's breakfast had itself munched on, walking across the ground below him. It seemed to be searching for something, and Arlex continued eyeing it as he lay perfectly still, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. The creature took a look around, turning its head from side to side, and then looking up. For a moment the two of them made eye contact, and Arlex froze in place. He'd never seen anything like it before; a beast needing no tail for balance, and staring back at him with one of the most powerful, piercing gazes he'd ever felt. And yet it said nothing, giving only a grunt to itself as it took its eyes off Arlex and returned to its business. It had seen him, for sure; but had chosen to ignore him. Arlex breathed a sigh of relief as it walked off towards the distance, continuing to study it, attempting to take notice of its details. What was that thing? [i]I'll have to ask Mother....[/i] Carefully, with one eye in the creature's direction Arlex began to rise from his crouching perch and move back towards the tree's main trunk. He could easily jump to the next and make his way across the canopy -- and with only the rustling of a few leaves, he did precisely that as he headed northeast, in the direction of his family's den. [center]* * *[/center] They had made their den near the base of a steep cliff, a small plateau of dirt edged by bedrock and moss, directly in the light of the late morning sun, a position easily defensible from outside threats, given that only a good climber such as himself (or, obviously enough, a flyer) was capable of alighting upon it. Mother lay near one side, her green scales glistening beautifully in the sunlight as she rested, with a very long, leaflike tail swept back behind her large hind legs. "Mother!" Arlex called as he climbed inside the den. Mother opened her yellow eyes and raised her triangular, streamlined head; even laying down, she was still twice Arlex's own size as she glanced liesurely down at him. She gathered one of her legs underneath her as she rose to a half-upright position, revealing the red scales of her underside as she swept her long tail around to one side. "Arlex," she greeted with a small yawn. "Back so soon?" "You'll never guess what I just saw down there!" Mother blinked as she stared out towards the sun, from their den at the wood's canopy. "Yes?" "Well -- ," Arlex paused. "... I'll have to describe it to you. I've never seen anything like it before. It was huge. Probably large as you and Father, and ...." Mother had played these sorts of guessing games before. "What kind of tail did it have?" "I don't know. It couldn't see one. But it had very loose scales...." "Then it's probably not a scaled beast. What color was its body?" "All sorts," Arlex. "Lots of blue and white. Some grey, silver, red...." "Red?" Mother asked. The upward gaze of her eyes obviously meant she was ruminating, trying to piece together all the clues before her even as Arlex continued giving them. "What did its head look like?" "I -- I didn't get a good look," Arlex admitted. "I think it had a small mouth, small nose ... and some very scary eyes." "It saw you, then?" Arlex nodded. "But it just kept going on its way. It was probably looking for something else to eat...." Mother seemed to be stumped. "What about its legs?" "Long legs, for sure," Arlex answered. "Arms, a bit too." Mother grasped something in her left arm, studying it intently. "And no tail that you know of?" "Right." "Hmm...," Mother continued thinking. "Do you know what it was?" "...No," Mother answered. She lifted herself upright, balancing on her hind legs as she stretched to her full height, sweeping her tail behind her as she took a step outside towards the canopy. "Not enough clues to go on. You'll just have to tell me if you see it again. In the meantime...." Mother looked skywards, noting the sound of wings upon the air as something approached them "Is that Dad?" Arlex asked. Mother traced the location of the sound as it grew closer, the wingbeats faster as it approached. It was definitely slowing its pace.... "Welcome back," Mother greeted as a large orange reptile flew into view and landed at the edge of the den. This was Father, all right, as he folded his wings flat against his back and sat down on haunches, allowing his long, thick, firelike tail to trail off the edge as he gazed back with two blue eyes. "Good to see you, love," Father greeted as Mother walked over to him and embraced him arm to arm. "You smell as warm as ever," she answered before stepping back. "And Arlex," Father asked as he leaned down to place his crested orange head closer to his son. "Have you grown larger since last week?" "What?" Arlex inquired, to which his parents merely laughed. "You've only been gone three days," Mother chastised, jokingly. "I know. Sky Point is a fair distance even by flight. But I did acquire their blessing." "Congratulations," Mother commended. "What's a blessing?" Arlex inquired. "It's a gift," Mother answered. "It's like a sign of friendship, but more than that...." "Speaking of the blessing," Father interrupted. "Do you think Arlex here is ready to receive the Earth blessing?" "The what?" Arlex asked. "Probably," Mother answered. "But there's only one way to know for sure... he's never actually been to the Earth sanctuary grounds before." "You mean outside the forest?" "Yes," Father nodded. "The Earth sanctuary is westward, outside the forest." Arlex had never been outside the forest before. Well, not that he could remember, anyway. He knew his parents were, but himself.... "You should take him," Father recommended as he walked inside the den before sitting upright, curling his fiery tail around him. Mother noted it, too; she always said that a good tail was a sign of good health. "Did you come down with something? Your fire isn't as bright today." "It's nothing," Father answered as he examined the his tail, breathing on the smokeless flame that decorated its tip. "I've done a lot of flying in the past two days; I am just a bit tired." "Well, rest up," Mother recommended before turning her gaze to Arlex. "Son, are you ready to go?" "We're leaving now??" "Yes," Mother nodded as she crouched, placing all four feet on the ground, motioning with one arm towards Arlex. "Climb on my back ... if we're going to the sanctuary, you'll need your strength." "Right." Arlex walked over to his mother and climbed up her side, settling himself on her back between her shoulders, a familiar position that she had carried him in many times before. "Then we'll be gone for the day," Mother noted as she crawled over to the edge of the den, scanning the forest for available points to leap to and from. "Take care," Father answered with a nod. "Always," Mother replied as she darted off. [center]* * *[/center] The agility with which Mother flew between trees and limb never ceased to amaze Arlex as he hung tightly to the pods on Mother's back; she expertly wove around one tree and the next, leaping from branch to branch with barely the slightest contact, rebounding off of thick limbs and tree trunks as she covered distance in a flash. Arlex could never hope to be so agile, he always told himself; Mother was an adult built for speed, and although Arlex shared her bloodline, he could never keep up; any time she took him out for training, he knew she was slowing herself down significantly just to match his pace. They arrived at the western edge of the forest soon, and as they reached the last tree at the edge Mother spun and circled around it, scaling effortlessly towards the top before settling herself on one of its limbs with a clear view of the terrain ahead. Mother let out a long breath, allowing the nostrils on her streamlined face to be fully open as she deeply inhaled the breeze ahead of them. She craned her neck slightly to glimpse Arlex out the corner of her wide vision. "It's safe to look around now...." Arlex peered over her shoulder to view the surroundings. "Wow. Where'd all the trees go?" "There are no tall trees up ahead, silly," Mother answered as Arlex gazed out to the grassy meadow that lay ahead, and the large stream of water that cut through it. A rocky area lay farther beyond that. "Across the river is the Earth sanctuary. It is home to many earthen types. Most are agreeable sorts, but some can be quite territorial if threatened. They are no real threat to me, but you would have to be careful around them." Mother pointed to a particular rock outcropping that rose above the rest. "That one in particular is where we can find the Sage who gives the blessing of the Earth." "That's where we're going?" Mother nodded. "Yes. Now hang on tight -- we must proceed on the ground from here." Arlex took a tight hold of his mother's shoulders as she turned herself around and dove down the length of the tree headfirst, hitting the ground in a full sprint. The meadow grass was tall compared to Arlex, him barely able to see across the tops of the blades, but Mother's keen sense of direction enabled her to cut a path through it at full running speed, a pace second only to her leaping speed in the air. They reached the river in minutes; Mother paused near the water's edge to rest, allowing Arlex to climb down and avail himself a drink from the stream. "No sense in overworking myself, either," she noted as she snapped a mouthful of water as well. "Ey!" Shouted a voice from upstream, catching their attention as a small brown beast about Arlex's size angrily scampered up to them. "That's my stash! Get away!" Mother looked down at her feet, noting a sprig of red berries lying on the ground. She lightly stepped away as the beast grabbed the branch, then backed off a few paces before setting it down. "Forgive me," Mother answered. "I had not noticed them...." The creature sniffed over the berries. "Wait a minute -- one's missing! What did you do with it?" Mother looked back at the fuzzy beast. "I do not know anything of that," she answered. "We are merely passing through. If this is your territory, we will be on our way shortly...." "What, you think this is funny?" The beast shouted back, tensing its two-tone brown fur into sharp bristles of alternating browns. Mother shrugged. "Please tell me, you're not going to fight?" The beast merely growled, its white teeth making an excellent contrast to its black nose and brown eyes as it swished its bushy tail back and forth in warning. Then it spied Arlex. "He ate it, didn't he?" "What?" Arlex looked back. He didn't have time to react, as the striped beast plowed right into him, and the two ofthem splashed down in the stream's waves. "Give it back! Give it back NOW!" Mother sighed as the two of them splashed about. Arlex had his hands full simply defending himself as the beast pounced on him again and again. "Hey, no biting!" "Ow! That hurts, you know!" Suddenly a loud splash erupted as Mother jumped in between the two of them, and with a slicing motion from her arm she separated the two combatants, Arlex landing on one side and the bristly beast on the other. Arlex quickly regained his stance and looked back at the beast, who took a moment to vigorously shake some water from its fur. It snarled back, walking one way then the other in a somewhat zigzag fashion. "We have no time for this," Mother addressed the beast as it growled at the two of them. "And we did not take any of your food. You have nothing to hold against us...." The creature growled again. "Then where's the rest of it?" It pounced for Mother's neck. "I guess there's only one way to stop this...." Mother sighed. She revealed the claws on her right hand, splayed the sharp green fins on both of her arms, and then in a single, instantaneous motion sliced the beast out of the air. "Mother!!" Arlex cried in shock as the beast tumbled back onto the bank, rolling several times and coming to a stop next to its sprig of berries. Mother crossed her arms as the beast stumbled to regain its footing. "Ouch!" The beast yelped in pain. "Ow ow ow ow OW!! What did you do that for?" "Are you still going to fight us?" Mother asked. "I'll have you know, I held back my strength. You wouldn't be in one piece otherwise!" The beast cringed; the cut in its body looked painful, even if it was only a superficial wound. It looked back at the branch of berries, snapped two of them off the sprig, then counted the rest. "Five, six... what the...?" "Do you wish to continue?" Mother asked. "Seven... and two ... all of them?" "What's he doing?" Arlex asked. "...Wait a sec, they're all here! They were all here all along!" "And now you'll need every last one of them...," Mother chided. "You are foolish for attacking my son in front of me." The beast crouched down, relaxing its bristled fur as it stared back at them. "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry...." "Of course you are," Mother nodded. "Don't try to attack creatures larger than yourself; you will only get hurt!" "Now, let's be on our way," Mother addresed Arlex as she stepped out of the stream's water onto the bank. Arlex kept a careful eye on the beast as he climbed up onto Mother's back so they could continue on their way. "Do you have a name?" Arlex shouted back as Mother began stepping away. "Arlex...," Mother tried to tell him. "Ziza!" Answered the beast as he started to devour the rest of his food. "What about you?" "Another time, perhaps," Mother interrupted. "We must be on our way." And with that they continued towards the Earth sanctuary, leaving the furred Ziza behind to finish off his meal.