The herd of elephants parked at the bank of a river, resting on their bellies. These were the only friendly animals he had met so far in the forest and it was not wierd, considering what the vilgers of the moving vilge can do.

  Their trunk made a gentle slope touching the ground, providing ther perfect ramp to descend its back.

  Tai and Tenma parted ways, with Tenma heading to a group of grim adults and himself to a crowd of thumblings around his age, all donning parallel blue liness on their cheek, symbolizing that they were his fellow vilgers.

  This was the first time in Tai's life that he had been around such a rge group of kids. He expected chatter and ughter like what he saw at the pyground in schools. None of them looked to the left or right, much less speak.

  "Greenie!"

  ...except Troy. Tai cringed at the nickname, but he was happy to have someone who wasn't looking like they were going to war. Maybe they were, but Tai didn't take it take seriously.

  "Hey."

  "This crowd is tough! I tried to talk to twenty different people, and even offered some berry booze(that I stole). Finally I can talk to someone."

  Tai nodded at Troy's rant, looking around for Tziporah's group—the Sky vilge. As far as he could see were cheeks lined with parallel blue streaks. Tai sighed. Well, it was important to know his fellow vilgers. Tenma didn't exactly teach him social skills, or diplomatic ones either. He'd learn them himself.

  "Attention!" A sharp female voice echoed throughout the crowd. Behind them was a thumbling with a pixie cut and dark blue lines on her cheek, like Tenma's.

  "Unlike the other vilges, we do not have a base. So this is the first time you all have been gathered around your own folk. Take a good look around, these are your brothers and sisters."

  Tai subtly gave everyone around him a once-over. They all looked at each other like poison. Some were older than him, but none were younger. He was the youngest. Troy was picking his ear while taking interest in the dirt below his feet.

  Tai shook his head with a chuckle. The woman continued,"We have grown you all to become eccentric loners(I bme your leader), but during this competition, you will colborate with other vilges. Get with it or you'll fail. The other vilges will be here shortly. For now, get to know each other."

  Her tirade was followed by a stretch of silence, long after she left. Troy at this point was yapping on and on, and Tai got a bit restless. Tai looked at Troy, "Hey, wanna spar?"

  "Yeah!"

  Troy pounced at him before he could set the rules. Tai knocked him off with an elbow to his jawbone whilst Troy gave a right hook that was a step too te. He recoiled from the force and spat blood. Tai ughed. Troy gave a wide, bloody grin on his face as he pounced in for another attack.

  They exchanged blow after blow, eventually knocking over an onlooker. The onlooker was a tall, burly Thumbling with arms as thick as Tai's thigh. Quite impressive.

  Tai shoved Troy infromt of him,"He did it." Troy's head swiveled to Tai in absolute shock. Tai sheepishly grinned and pointed infront of Troy. As Troy turned to look ahead of him, huge knuckles rocked him in the side of his head. Troy dropped dead on ground. Was he dead?

  The burly girl's jaw dropped as if she only now realized what she had done. "I'm sorry, I-"

  "It's fine, he deserves it," Tai ughed till his stomach cramped. He was stronger, faster and had more stamina than Troy, yet the guy bounced back when he beat him to a pulp st time. It definitely has something to do with his special ability.

  "All right!" The pixie-cut thumbling said, "I want two lines-one for males, the other for females starting where I'm standing. Make it quick!"

  Tai dragged the unconscious Troy to the boys' line. There, the adults carried away one male and female away atop a pigeon.

  When Troy's turn came, Tai casually responded, "Asleep." Tai couldn't hide the smirk on his lips; the guy woke a long time ago. Still pying dead?

  As the Thumbling was about to smack him awake, he 'miraculously' awoke.

  As Tai's turn came, he realised these birds were alot dumber than Ange, even dummer than that eagle who attacked him. The girl he paired with stared nervously at the bird and gingerly climbed its back. She hung on to Tai for dear life.

  Their guide dropped them in the distant forest, where two thumblings for each team were lounging inside a tree hole.

  "Your team," the guide said, then left.

  "Hi I'm Tai," Tai waved in goodwill. His partner, still pale from their flight, greeted as well. Returned in greeting was silence, with a few half-baked grunts from the ground tribe. In all, there were eight persons here. It seems a vilge hadn't arrived yet.

  Finally, the pair from the tree vilge appeared. With them, was a scroll with further instructions. The tree vilge girl, who had particurly calloused hands, narrated for them all hear.

  "Our trial is to return to river with the left ear of a blood-sucking hare. That's it"

  "That's it?" One from the moving vilge, with red circle tattooed on his hand, frowned. "That's a bit basic, no?"

  "You think this tree brat will lie? Blood-sucking hares are easily scared off, so we need to get going now before they go into mass hiding because of this hunt," said a ground thumbling.

  Tai had a bad feeling. This had Tenma written all over it. Knowing that guy, he probably wanted to fail us all. Or have us die trying to pass.

  The ground thumbling, noticeably rger than them, strode of the tree hole and jumped to the forest floor. Everyone else exchanged gnces and followed.