The Hidden Mountain Pass

Leaving the chicken to its crystal, you continue along the path. It wasn't long before you came across the golden creature which Sana had called a Carhawox. It seemed to be a mix between a fox, some type of bird - a hawk perhaps, and maybe even a little cat. It seemed friendly enough though.

"Squawk!" she says. Hmm, communication may be a bit of a barrier. You squawk back and she starts laughing hysterically.

"I love it! They always do that!" s he starts rolling on the floor unable to contain her laughter.

Gasping for breath, she gets up and brushes herself off. "Here, let me introduce myself. I'm Melila, a Carhawox. Very nice to meet you," she holds out a paw. You take it only to find your hand covered in mud. Melila snickers. "Sorry, can't help myself sometimes. Come, there's a stream over there."

You bend down to wash your hand, one eye steady on the trickster to make sure she wasn't going to push you in. "What? Don't you trust me?" When you shake your head she laughs. "Good, good! You're smarter than most!" and laughs again. "Alright, alright. I promise I won't push you in. Cross my heart and hope to shed. And yes, that's almost worse than dying." She displays her handsome brush as you wash your hands.

As you look into the water you see the reflection of red creature. You look up into the eyes of another Carhawox, this one much shyier than the first. She backs up onto her haunches as you reach out to touch her.

Her green eyes watch you curiously, then she stretches out her head to sniff you a moment. Then cocking her head to one side she smiles shyly. You ask her name.

"Navixa," she replies barely louder than a whisper.

"Such a silly little girl. There's nothing to be afraid of! That's *just* a human." Navixa's eyes open wide at that word. You turn to look behind you to see a grey fox coming towards you.

"Hello, I'm Flaren. Navixa there is too shy to talk to people much, you have to listen *very* closely to hear her. She was won as a prize by SunBlind, the Realm Keeper here. I, and that ridiculous Melila are both from the Wyld Portals. I can't believe we have even that much in common," he sniffs.

With those words said, Melila bounds out of nowhere and a clod of mud lands smack in the middle of Flaren's face. For a moment he doesn't move, then with a bird-like screech, he's after the prankster. Finally he returns alone and carefully washes himself in the stream. Navixa just grins sheepishly.

She then takes you by the sleeve and tugging you along, she brings you to a sheltered corner. There was hidden an extremely shy male Carhawox. He looked up at you with big eyes, and then seeing Navixa he smiles.

"Hi, I'm Hakri." he says. I used to live at the EverRealm but then I came here. I'm still getting used to the other two...."

You could hear the noise they were making and it was understandable that this little guy might find them a bit overwhelming.

Squawk!

Thud!

Though at first you thought it was Melila who had flattened you to the ground, you realize this female was red.

"Heeheeheeheehee. You're too easy to sneak up on. By the way, I'm Baella."

"What's going on over here?" a handsome white male asks as he approaches.

Baella sniggers, "Lookee Zaren, I found a human to play with!"

Zaren shakes his head. "Humans are not to be played with, they can be dangerous. They like to hunt us for our coats." He studies you a moment, "Though this one seems safe enough, and wouldn't be here without the Realm Keeper's blessing." He pads off silently. You call out to him to help you get Baella off your chest, but he either didn't hear or he ignored you.

"Zaren was created for the Realm Keeper based on a drawing she herself made of a carhawox. Too bad she didn't invent a better personality for him." Baella grins.

Melila finally finds you and stays long enough to say, "Look for the snowcats!", then she's off again with Flaren close on her heels. Navixa looks up at you and scampers off after them. Hakri shrugs his shoulders and wanders off to watch them from a distance. There was no sign of Zaren.

You found that the pass branched in two directions. You could go either way.

PATH 1PATH 2