Birds fly out of the harsh dense treetops of a woodland area as a loud horn sounds. In the dense trees next to the river, the tribal villagers scramble to their wood and stone homes as the ground shakes. The houses are nestled deep in the ruins of what was a greater society. A roar from an unknown creature is heard. People push past a young boy. He's standing there oblivious to the rise in panic. A stone column topples over and crashes into the river nearby. The crash causes dust to blow in the wind. The wind pushes the dust past the young boy. He's standing there holding out his hand. A bright red and green leaf rustles from the breeze in his hand. The boy makes a clicking sound with his mouth. A gliding lizard lands on his hand and crawls up his arm chewing on the leaf. The boy laughs and pets the lizard with his finger. The hurried sound of footsteps are heard when next to him a hardened young man kneels down.
"Xen! Are you OK?" He exhales heavily and asks, with his voice very strong and commanding.
"Yeah, why?" Xen asks curiously, his voice is playful. Xen looks around and sees everyone running around. "What's going on?"
"Didn't you hear the horn? Stay right here." He demands patting his shoulder harshly, "I will be right back." He steps away into a small gathering of old villagers.
"OK Shu!" He says giggling trying to keep the lizard from crawling on his head.
Shu steps up to a small gathering of the village elders.
"Oh, there you are Shu. We were just talking about you." The shaky old voice from the village chief perks up. His eyes heavy, he looks to Shu. "We know you have some kind of plan! Are you taking Xen with you this time?"
Shu angrily interjects. "No, he's not ready." He gets defensive with a furrowed brow.
The village elders laugh, "You would be surprised!" One says in the huddled group. "Look how much you've grown since that age." Another remarks playfully. "We've all come a long way..."
"This isn't some kind of game!" Shu says, touching the scar on his arm. He rubs his shoulder. "Xen is still too naive." He glances over his shoulder and sees Xen with the lizard and now a giant blue flying horned beetle. "He doesn't understand the kind of danger these creatures contain."
The horn sounds again but closer now.
"OK Shuuuu... What's the plan?" The village elders ask with urgency. A strange roar goes off in the distance as the ground rumbling is less intense.
Shu nods and they discuss actions to take if the city is breached. Xen is keeping a watchful eye on Shu. Shu leans in to the conversation and in that instant Xen rolls into the bushes nearby.
After explaining the next steps to take Shu looks up and notices Xen isn't there, but at this point he has to hope he will fend for himself in the village walls. He has everyone's lives to think about.
With his new found freedom Xen begins to run down a path that is a little less beaten. He takes a sharp turn and continues running to a small ruined house. The house was destroyed by something massive and a very long time ago, but in the wreckage is a space where a boy Xen's size can get through. The lizard jumping and gliding keeping up with Xen as he runs to the entrance. Slowly trailing behind is the big blue horned beetle.
Shu looks back at the elders and nods. He begins to run towards a large tower on the villages outer walls, two young warriors following him trying to keep up with him. A chubby warrior slowly trailing behind.
Through the entrance Xen comes out on the other side. He stands looking down an old path from ages ago. He jumps through a bush and does a sloppy roll. He gets up and dusts himself off. The lizard landing on his shoulder and the horned beetle hovering over him. He stands in front of a large ruined temple with old faded paintings. In front of the temple were two large stone beasts standing guard. The paintings show humans with large beasts and creatures.
Shu jumps over a wooden fence and does a stylish roll hopping up to his feet and doing a running jump over a wall. He begins to enter a massive building with huge spikes and large monster bones.
Xen enters the ruins casually. He directs the lizard to the wall. It glides to the wall and disturbs a string mushrooms. The mushrooms are very large and damp. The sound of rushing water can be heard as the trickling of water can be seen dripping through the wall and onto the mushrooms. The mushrooms shake releasing a small cloud and as the spores spread a light blue hue beings to shine. This illuminates a path down a long dark hallway. The mushrooms glow with a light blue intensity allowing Xen to see the way.
Xen cheerfully hops and skips down the hallway walking past imagery on the walls. The pictures depict a time from so long ago. Crude pictures of humans interacting with a large variety of beast ranging from small to insanely huge. The mural is some what of a scale and as Xen nears the end of the wall it shows a large beach with a series large creatures as if to guard the shore. The creatures have a colorful set of feathers on it's neck. Off in the distance in the ocean is a massive white and blue water dragon. Only a portion of it is displayed due to the massiveness of it. It's half covered in the ocean. It looks like these creatures guarded the village from danger.
Xen meanders past and gets settled into his little hideout. He walks into this large room. It's the epicenter of a large temple. The cathedral style has an open roof, but plants and earth have covered up most of it, letting only some spots of natural light in. The bright leaves of a vined plant bares an oddly shaped fruit. Xen picks the fruit and collects the bright colored leaves from it. Xen gets comfortable on a hammock made from an old flag. He eats the interestingly shaped fruit and lays the leaves on his belly. The lizard and the beetle climb to him snacking on the colorful leaves. Xen spits out the pit of the fruit onto the floor.
Shu enters the warriors guild catching his breath as he walks past a long row of monster trophies. All types of monster parts are on display from jawbones to horns and even claws. Shu grabs a spear that is fashioned with a large colorful feather. The hunters guild opens up from that large hallway to a staging area outside the village. Shu and other warriors are gearing up to go on a scouting mission to see what the alarms were sounding for. A handful of hardened villagers are selected as Shu readies a party to move out. They follow the river up a large cliff face as a way to see over the forest of trees. The high ground has always been the starting point to every mission. It allows them to see creatures before they decide to fight. They live deep in the forest because it acts as a buffer from most creatures. They do not go near the riverbed where the village stays. The river leads to the ocean and the village is next to a beach. In the distance he can see the toppling of trees. It is heading towards the village. The path it's taking is very visible.
Shu looks over the horizon to see if there is any sign of what the creature could be. A roar is heard. Shu's eyes widen. The image in his eyes show a younger version of himself. He flashes back in his mind. The same roar is heard again. He is breathing heavily as he's frantically looking around.
"What do I do? What do I do?" He says to himself under his breath as he's standing there holding a spear. He looks around frantically. A piercing scowl of a large creature is heard. It filled him with fear. It sounds like a bear and a cougar. The slam of an enormous gray monster claw next to him. The thick leg crushing a wood and stone house next to him with little effort. He is brought to his knees by the tremors. He looks at his hands. They are scratched and bloody. The terror and fear in this situation is too much to take. Tears flowing from his eyes. He begins to yell.
"XEN!? Where are you?" He gets up and starts to run. He quickly realizes that this is a fight or flight moment and he is not in a position to fight. As he runs along the stone path he looks up. Above him is the belly of a massive creature. The scales were gray and through the smoke he couldn't make out exactly what it is. All he knew is that it was huge. The sound of crashing water is heard. Screams rattle off as smoke billows to the sky. Smoke from the fires make it hard to see anything. The sound of cracking wood and toppling stone shake through Shu. He scans the area to see if there is any indication of where Xen is.
Down an alleyway between two buildings Shu spots a swaddled child. Wrapped tightly in a flag of the tribes colors a baby lays crying. A small baby unable to fend for himself. Shu begins to run to him.
The massive gray monster's feet clashing with the surroundings. An unknown creature lets out a growl that stops him dead in his tracks. He looks up at the rooftops and sees the bright glaring eyes of a monster through the smoke. Above that was the massive claw of the gray scaled beast. The humongous trunk of a leg was coming down. In the light as it was coming down was a glimmer of blue light. Causing him to shield his eyes. Shu knew that leg was coming down on top of him and if he didn't move now he'd be crushed.
Shu, against his better judgement, started to run and that triggered the eyes in the smoke to slant angrily. His gestures triggered the monster to chase. Through the smoke the creature jumped. It's dark fur and bright feathers around its neck flowing. Shu knew doing that would not end well for him, but he had to do something. The massive claw of the scaled dragon comes crashing down. The dark, feathered monster swipes it's claw at Shu, connecting with his shoulder and causing him to be flung against a stone wall. The wind is knocked out of him. He can't catch his breath as the massive gray claw crushes the building between him and Xen. The dark creature is no where to be seen. The massive gray trunk legs disappear in smoke.
Trying to slow his breath he closes his eyes. In the chaos it is now oddly silent. Shu looks up and tries to stand holding his spear defensively. Neither creature is in sight. Shu's shoulder is ripped and torn deep. His blood dripping down his arm. He is unable to move his fingers or even move his elbow. He stumbles to his feet propping himself up, his arm dangling there limp. He touches his wound and looks at his bloody hand. He looks around, dizzy. The massive gray scaled monster is gone, all that is left is the ruins of the village. He hears the crashing of the waves near by. It was unreal how quickly things had transpired.
He looks around and grabs his spear, using it as a walking stick to look for Xen. The smoke clouds break and sunlight shines through. The light points to a small bit of rubble where a village colored flag sits. Shu looks at the earth between him and the rubble, it is scared from a blast of energy. He climbs into the ripped earth. It's soaked as if it were a blast of high powered water. He climbs through it and hurries to the flag. Shu sees that the baby is Xen! He's safe there holding a bright colorful feather cooing happily. Shu holds him up checking him for injuries and holds him close, squeezing him tightly. Everything starts to go dark. Knowing Xen was safe was a huge relief. His vision blurs and it goes black.
Shu blinks a few times and instantly knows what he's facing. He shakes off the memory and touches his scar. Coming back to reality he rotates his shoulder to remind himself it still works. He scans the edge of the trees looking for any sign of movement. If this monster shows up it could be another catastrophic event. Shu may have a gut feeling but he has to be sure. He begins to head into the dense woods.
Xen hears what he discerns to be a roar but thinks nothing of it. The lizard gets frightened. It begins to cower using the beetle as cover. This caused a bit of a disturbance with the beetle. It uses it's horn aggressively as the lizard backs away. Xen watching this play out on his stomach laughs. The beetle begins to fly away. Xen, enamored with his new beetle friend tries calling him back with clicks from his mouth.
"Tsk tsk." Xen motions towards himself.
The beetle ignores the command and flies away. He flutters around and hits against an oddly broken wall. The beetles tough shell absorbs the impact. It lands on the wall, using his large horn to create a hole. As the beetle continues digging light begins to pour through. It makes a space large enough and it crawls through. Xen follows and is curious about this hole he has never seen before. He looks through it with one big eye and jerks back. It's too bright to see anything. He begins to unearth this new pathway and as the dust settles he hears the soft growl of a creature.
The growl sounds playful and it tries to roar. Xen slowly peers around the corner. On his shoulder the lizard is also peering over the corner, scared. Xen sees in this small room an old nest woven into these massive roots and in it crawls the beetle.
Xen looks around the room as he slowly walks to the center of it. The room is small and above the nest is an opening in the roof that leads outside. Vines come through the hole in the ceiling and down through the nest. In the room a small little flow of water travels from the river near by. He sees the bright leaves of the odd shaped fruit that grows on the vines. The threads of vines come through this area touching the water. On the floor next to the nest are pits from the fruit. The colorful leaves scattered around. Something is in here, surviving.
He slowly walks to the nest. He cautiously places his feet, inching closer to the nest. The beetles wings can be heard fluttering. Xen's eyes slowly look over into the nest. The beetle is wrestling with a small little catlike cub. The cub is pawing at the beetle. It's hard shell defending it against the cubs pats. The paws of the creature are large and fuzzy. The catlike cub raises it's paw, revealing the claws expanding out. On display are these very intense looking razor sharp talons. The lizard instinctively jumps into the nest between the beetle and the cub, protecting the beetle. It's neck flaps extended and colorful. It hisses at the cub, it's saliva dripping from it's mouth. The cub retreats into a defensive position. The cubs ears are folded back. It's eyes show remorse. It sniffs the air and looks at Xen.
Xen extends his hand out to touch the cub. It closes it's eyes and growls. Xen doesn't rear back. He keeps moving his hand slowly towards it. Xen's eyes are focused on the cub. The cub looks at Xen's hand and takes the aggressive pose like the lizard. The cubs mane reveals a colorful set of small feathers. His hand hovers above the cubs head. For a moment that seems like an eternity Xen holds his hand there. Xen begins to feel nervous. The cub looks up at Xen, it's mouth at a partial snarl, the mane feathers raised. His arm quivers slightly from the strain. The cub moves it's head to his hand and begins to purr. Rubbing it's chin and cheeks on Xens hand, Xen smiles. He pets the cub gently with his other hand.
Rubbing it's soft fur Xen notices around it's neck these even more beautiful small feathers. The cub is extremely friendly and enjoys the attention Xen gives to him. He begins trying to teach it how to sit, using the clicks. With Xen issuing commands the lizard begins doing the same commands. Xen using hand gestures and clicks easily tames the cub, the cub following the lizards lead. Xen and the cub become bonded. The beetle munching away on the leaves in the nest, the lizard and the cub follow Xen's hand movements and he begins to run around in the room with them chasing. Laughing and playing was his specialty.
He mumbles under his breath, "I don't know why Shu is so scared of these creatures."
Xen, thirsty at this point, goes to the little flowing water. The clear blue water coursing by, he cups the water in his hands as he takes a drink. He offers some to the lizard, and to the cub. They drink from his hand. The beetle on Xen's shoulder rotating a leaf in it's mandibles munching away.
"I should give you a name." Xen thinks out loud. "What do I call you?" He looks around the room. There's words carved and faded into the ruins. He sees the worn image of a large black creature and above it were the faded letters that read, T E E B O.
"Teebo!" Xen exclaims. "Your name is Teebo!"
A bellowing roar is heard off in the distance. The cubs ears perk up and it begins to cry repeatedly. The cry is the same high pitch cry, as if it's trying to signal something. The cub frantically looking up through the hole in the ceiling and pacing around. It tries to jump on the vines and climb but it isn't strong enough. Xen cups the cub in his arms and places it in his satchel. Xen curiously climbs up the vines with the cub in tow. It's fuzzy little face poking out of the bag as he firmly stands on the ridge. He looks over the ridge into the distance. He sees the rustling in the trees. Something large is making it's way through the forest. Xen begins to get a little nervous. There hasn't been a large creature near by in, well ever! If there is a large beast this close to the village it means either Shu is fighting it or they are bringing it home as a trophy.
Down in the wooded area outside the village, a three colored snake writhes up a tree. A sharp thump as Shu's spear severs the snakes head from it's body. The body hits the ground and slithers around. The head sits, resting on the spear. The feather lifts and swirls in a light breeze. He grabs the snakes head and opens it's mouth. He uses the liquid it secretes as a new face paint. He wipes under his eyes. He has bright green markings on his cheeks and down his neck. The liquid stings his eyes. The snake venom will help keep him sharp.
"Disgusting creatures." He says under his breath as he tosses the head on to the woodlands floor.
Shu has decided to get close to the beast to see what it is, and be sure. He has to be sure. As he walks casually through the dense wood he strokes the feather on his spear. Its softness going through his fingers as he has a thousand yard stare. He repeatedly strokes it between his fingers, pulling down on it. He is moving through the area as if on auto pilot. The warriors behind him slowly following, fear in their eyes. Shu confidently leads, this is nothing to him.
Shu and his warriors near a clearing, he motions the group to stop. He moves his hands in a swirling motion. The warriors spread out staying in the trees but close to the actual clearing. The area is very beautiful, open with grass and large flowering buds. Shu positions himself against a tree. He hunkers down. Through the trees nearby a low howl rumbles.
The trees part and into the clearing Shu sees something that makes his heart stop. The dark fur shines through as a dark blue and purple. The creature from so long ago. He feels weak looking at it. He takes a second to collect himself. The beast walks into the middle of the clearing. Sniffing around, it let's out a low howl again, this time longer. Shu realizes it's looking for something. If it keeps coming this way it will come to the village. We know what happened last time it was there.
Shu signals and his warriors jump out from the trees, rushing towards the monster. Shu waits and counts to ten. The warriors start yelling as they throw their throwing their hand axes and spears. The beast rears up and it's fur begins to stand on end. It's mane revealing these brilliant colors. The feather on his spear rustles. Shu begins to rush towards the beast. Hatred in his eyes. The beast claws at the warriors and jumps over them with ease. This beast is quick and agile. More dangerous than anything else they have fought before. With a pounce the beast lands on one warrior, crushing him. It snarls looking at all the warriors around him. The eyes slant angrily and the beast lets out a massive roar, stunning everyone around it. Shu stopped dead in his tracks, drops to his knees, covering his ears. The beast swipes, the paw connects with a warrior, and ends up throwing the warrior into the dense woods. His scream was cut short as he hit a tree. The three remaining warriors try to overwhelm the beast by yelling and clanking their weapons. The noise causes the beast to retract. It is being cornered up against the treeline. Shu uses this opportunity to make a strike. He runs full speed and does a flourishing jump from a tree. In the air he spins and the momentum helps him strike. He strikes the beast in the arm with a heavy thrust. The spearhead punctures the monsters arm so deep that Shu can't remove the spear. Shu will not let go. Shu is hanging onto the spear as the monster topples over. It violently begins to thrash around and claw at the wounded arm, trying to remove the spear and Shu. Shu is grasping at the fur trying to get a hold. The only thing stable to hang onto is the shaft of the spear. Shu cannot hang on through this and as he's being flung from the beast he grasps the feather. In that moment he is ripped from the monster with a downward swipe from the beast. The spear breaks and Shu hits the ground. The beast roars, wounded, and slowly slinks away into the dense trees.
Shu is laying there looking up at the sky and in his clenched fist is the bent bright feather from his spear. Blood spattered on the tip of the feather, it isn't soft anymore. He lay there breathing heavily. The warriors gather around him and help him up. They pick up their weapons and together they say a prayer for their fallen brothers.
Xen, standing on the ridge saw the scuffle. Even from that distance he witnessed the beauty of the bright feathers on that creature. He saw the beast get away into the woods. Xen had a feeling it was Shu. Xen looks at the cub and sees small little feathers that matched that beast. He quickly put two and two together. This cub is lost and that beast is looking for it's young. Xen climbs back down into ruins. He begins to walk back to the village, but on his way out he stops and looks at the wall. He looks at the massive dragon in the water. He can't quite put his finger on it but when looking at this he knows this is a beast that is untouchable. As he looks down from it he sees on the beach a village that looks similar to the ruins and guarding it was the brilliant feathered creature in the woods. There were several of them. They seemed like guardians of the village.
As Xen gets back into the village it seems as though life is back to normal. The people bustling around and doing their things as if nothing ever happened. The fishmonger yelling about her fish, the blacksmith hammering away on metal, kids carrying baskets and just overall helping things move smoothly. Xen opens the satchel a little to let the cub see it's surroundings. It sits in the satchel comfortably. Xen carefully begins walking around the village center. People rush past getting here and there. It's a bustling little spot. Village hunters dropping off game at the butchers stall. Leather workers cleaning pelts and stretching leather. A group of soldiers dropping off weapons to be repaired and reforged for the next hunt. As Xen walks by a lumbering fisherman carrying a huge net of flapping fish. The lumbering man shoves past him. The cub begins sniffing the air and squirming in the satchel, Xen spins around and clutches the satchel pressing it close to him. If this cub were to get out it could cause some panic. The cub looks up at him, he rubs the cubs cheeks and pats on his forehead. He tries to distract the cub with his hands and mouth clicks. Then he carefully lets the satchel rest at his side. The cub again tries to get out of the bag. Xen, struggling to keep it contained kneels down to handle it better.
"C'mon, Teebo! Don't start acting up here. I need to keep you as a secret for now..." He stuffs Teebo's head into the bag gently and closes the satchel.
Shu and the remaining warriors get to the staging area and begin to unpack. Placing their weapons on racks, they start to get cleaned up. While heading back into the gate Shu looks behind him as if to get the sense that something was watching him. Unable to shake the feeling he scans the treeline very carefully. His eyes dart to anything that moves. A bird swoops down and catches a snake, flying off into the canopy. His ear perks up to an odd soft cry in the woods to the right. A pack doglike creatures darts off into the woods yipping and howling. He closes his eyes and tries to use his other senses. He then does one final look and crosses the threshold into the village. He feels weak without his spear. He has always had it, leaving it behind in that monster made him feel like he left a part of himself elsewhere. He was feeling on high alert. He was doing what he could to brush the feeling off, entering the hunters guild building.
Xen was able to get the cub to stop struggling and with that he looked to the ocean. The fishmonger began yelling at the big lumbering man, he opened up the net and poured out fish onto a large tarp. Flapping and wet the fish bounced around. The cub began to squirm in the satchel again. Xen couldn't keep the cub contained as the little fuzzy creature leaped from the pouch. It pounced on a fish, quickly gobbling it up in one bite. The lumbering fisherman let out a high pitched scream as he lifted his leg in fear, pointing at Teebo. The cub, looked up at him with a cute face, fish tail dangling from it's mouth as it chewed on the meat. The fishmonger yelled in shock while grabbing a huge fish hook, as Xen rushed over to contain the cub. The fishmonger began fiercely swiping at the cub with her giant hook. The cub jumped over and dodged her effortlessly. Thinking it was a game the cub began to run away from Xen as he chased. People in the village caught on to the commotion and began to gather around. Xen looked around and knew he was going to get in deep trouble over this. The villagers were now grouping together and formed a human wall around Xen and Teebo. The villagers were furious and scared. It turned into an angry mob very quickly as Xen clutched Teebo in fear. Everyone looking down on him raised fist and yelling.
Shu entered the village with a small sense of defeat, he couldn't kill the beast and he lost his spear but at least he still had the village and Xen. And in that thought he wondered what Xen had been up to all day. He saw the group of people forming up and heard the angry mob yelling. Confused about what could have possibly happened while he was gone he walked up to them and peered over the crowd. He sees Xen there holding what looks to be a little version of the monster he just fought.
In that instant a booming roar was let out near the village entrance. Shu turned quickly to see the beast perched at the top of the large wall. The roar caused panic in everyone in the town but some villagers wouldn't let Xen go. Xen could only get up and try to run. His instinct was to just run to the beach. He looked for a way through. Xen saw in the sea, far beyond was a large swirling storm cloud. Lightning flashing way off in the distance. The darkness was foreboding.
The roar caused Teebo to get a sudden burst of energy. It was frantically looking around for it's mother. The cub knew mom was nearby and began to fight from Xen's grasp. Xen, getting clawed and scratched on his arms held onto the cub as he ran through the villagers and the wood and stone buildings to get to the beach.
Shu accidentally lead the beast back to the village. He should have known it was clever, but then he realized that the beast had been here before. Shu understood that the beast could have come back at anytime and could have caused the damage and destruction like before. It must have been the cub that had it all worked up. He put things together but still the village is in danger now, possibly in more trouble than before. Nothing is more dangerous than a mother trying to protect her young. Shu tried to think of something quick. He saw Xen running towards the beach. Something clicked as Shu thought it would be smart to get the large beast into the open and away from all the people.
Xen, running and crying from the pain of being clawed couldn't hold onto the cub anymore and dropped it as he stumbled and fell onto the hard stone pathway. He was nearing the village outskirts and could hear waves crashing onto the shore. Xen pulls from his satchel some cloth and wraps his arms up to keep the scratches from bleeding. Xen couldn't see where the cub ended up running but as he looked around he saw a large version of the little cub jumping from the rooftops of the wood and stone buildings. His eyes widened as the thoughts connected. His original thoughts of Teebo crying for it's mother had been confirmed.
Shu had to think of something quick to distract the monster so he did what he does best, fight. Shu grabbed a small sword worn from nearby and started running towards the large black beast, waving his arms and yelling for her attention. The creature let's out a cry as she looks for her cub. Teebo was spouting repetitive high pitched whining as if it was a siren to let it's position be known. Angry villagers begin to take up arms and throw rocks and things at the large black creature.
The mother beast rears back it's hardy paw and unleashes a strike into the crowd of people. The people become more angry but this does not frighten the beast. It looks through the crowd with it's ears rotating, listening for the cry of it's young.
Xen stumbles up and begins to walk to the front of the crowd as the beast sits at the top of a building snarling. Xen isn't scared of monsters like this. He knew from the paintings on the wall that they all used to be together as one.
"Stand back everyone. I can tame it." Xen says with his arms motioning for everyone to lower their weapons.
The some of the mob laughs and others exclaim disbelief. Xen turns away from them and looks at the beast making eye contact. Shu is doubtful but let's Xen do his thing, he's seen Xen with creatures before and knows he's got some kind of weird gift. He has to think of another plan. If he were to attack now he could put Xen's life in danger. Shu breaks off and begins to look at the ground searching for the cub. Shu finds the cub mewing and grabs it by the scruff. He looks at it angrily. This is the cause of so much hurt? He looks at the wounded villagers as they are getting help from others.
The beasts eyes focus on Xen. The eyes form little slits as Xen tries to use his skill learned from smaller creatures. The beasts eyes begin to slant in anger. Xen does a few motions and a couple of mouth clicks. The beast looks at Xen curiously as the villagers watch on, murmurs from the crowd express confusion and surprise. Down the street near the beach Shu raises the cub, using it as bait to attract the beast. The cub begins to cry.The beast whips its head towards the crying cub growling. Shu will use this to get close and try to do a finishing blow.
Xen starts to hum a little song and does the hand motions again and the beast looks back. Xen almost is able to get it to calm down but in that instant Shu thrusts the cub downwards letting it go. The cub hits the floor on all four legs but the force caused it to hit the stone harshly. The cub let out a small low cry. It stands up and begins to slowly walk towards the mother, stunned. The mother beast bolts toward Shu. It leaps into the crowd as people dive out of the way, running angrily towards Shu. It's eyes focused on him. Shu stands there in a stance bracing for impact.
"SHU!" Xen yells as the beast pounces toward Shu.
Shu was able to dodge the pounce and makes a grab for the small shaft of his spear in the beasts arm. The beast pulls away, it's back arched angrily. The mouth snarling as the beasts collar flows in the increasing heavy wind. The plumes of feathers shine radiantly. Xen collects Teebo and begins to run towards the beach. Shu follows suit and leads the beast out to the large opening. They reach the beach, Shu, Xen, Teebo are standing there while the mother beast circles them, eyes wide with anger. Xen uses the hand motions to tame Teebo and make it sit and do other commands. Shu watches him while the beast circles them. The villagers watching on the outskirts look on in shock. The wall of darkness in the ocean has creeped up closer. Shu has a strange feeling, an old nagging feeling that something big is happening. It's not everyday a storm like this comes, and having the large beast near the village just feels off. He needs to do something, and now.
Shu watches Xen and holds his hand out, mimicking him. The large beast stops and it's eyes focus on Shu. Xen clicks using his mouth. The little gliding lizard floats on down and sits next to the cub. Shu tries to imitate but can't quite make the clicking sounds.
"Take your cheek and pull it from your tongue, then pull your tongue back sucking the air into the back of your throat." Xen tries to teach Shu how to make the sound.
Shu tries it and finally gets it right. The mother beast sits down.
Xen holds up his hand and goes "Ah!" The lizard and the cub stand on it's back legs standing up.
Shu tries to do the same and the large beast listens. The mother beast sits up on her hind legs. Shu is standing there in disbelief as Xen has just taught him how to tame a monster. Shu lets out a shocked laugh and looks at Xen. Xen cheers and gives Shu a hug. Shu hugs him back but steps toward the beast holding his hand out. Xen grabs the cub and cradles it in his arms, petting it.
The beast looks at Shu. Shu looks at the beast. The long eye contact makes Shu think back to the initial accident many years ago. He tries to remember exactly what happened.
Looking into the beasts eyes takes him back to a part of his memory he repressed. He blinks and next thing he knows he's on the beach, as a younger version of himself. This was before the attack on the village. The fishermen are pulling in their boats and they were talking to each other about how the sea was rough today and it seemed like a bad omen catching the types of fish they got today. Shu thought nothing of it and remembers looking back at his family. His mom and dad were on the beach with little baby Xen slowly learning how to walk in the beach sand. It was peaceful but as he scanned the horizon he saw the wall of darkness brewing. In the corner of his vision were statues of the beasts that looked just like the mother beast. As he turned to look at Xen he noticed that one of the statues wasn't actually a statue, it was a real creature. Or so he thought. His memory isn't clear. The lightning strikes and he comes back to reality.
Shu was still slowly leaning into the large creature trying to touch it. The beast looking at Shu intensely as he slowly comes forward. Lightning strikes again and startles Shu, but he doesn't break eye contact with the beast as he begins to touch it's head and rubs her ears. The beast stays there in the seated position as Shu touches the beasts mane. Stroking the soft feathers. The beast looks at Shu and gives him a big lick on the side of his head. The sandpaper tongue causes Shu to rub his face. At this point Shu realized that he has to forgive the beast. He can also tell the beast has done the same to him. Xen runs up with Teebo and Xen looks at the creatures wound with the broken spear.
"The cubs name is Teebo. I found it written on the wall where I found him." He puts Teebo down and looks at the mother beast. "We have to help her Shu! You have to get the spear out." Xen says as Shu nods.
"This is going to hurt. I am so sorry..." Shu says with remorse. He puts his hand on the beasts forehead. Xen prepares a wrap and an ointment out of supplies in his satchel.
Shu takes a heavy stance as he grips the broken spear shaft.
"3. 2.... 1!" Shu counts down and right at one he pulls out the spear head. The beast moans and it's big claw slams the ground. Teebo begins to jump up trying to climb on her to comfort her. She licks her cub as Xen puts on the ointment and wraps the wound. The creature is at complete ease. Shu is shocked as the beast stands up and looks out to the ocean. Shu touches the scar on his arm. He looks at the beast and touches the wrap on her arm.
"I guess we are one in the same." He says as he lets out a little laugh.
The village elders get out to the beach and with such delight begin praising Xen. "See Shu, I told you that your little brother was something else!" The village elder states. "That was such a spectacle!" One mutters. "I can't believe my eyes!" Another exclaims.
Villagers looked down from the outskirts and cheered. Shu looked at the beast and the beast nods to him. Xen picks up Teebo and they look outwards to the sea. The storm brewing out so far with lightning and large waves is quite a scary sight. Out of the water a large blue and white dragon head beings to emerge. Shu grabs his broken spear and in the sand was some plumes of the brilliant feathers. He grabs one as they head back to the village.
The beast sits there on the shore looking outward as if to guard the beach as the rolling clouds bring in a heavy wind and light rain. Thunder crashes and a roar rings out that hasn't been heard in many years. The blue and white dragon lowers it's head as it starts to head towards the village. A horn sounds and birds fly out from the tops of the trees as the story ends like it had begun.
