Forest

You enter the forest. It's a very cheerful place. Sunlight filtering through the branches. Pine needles underfoot. Beautiful, really. You notice a strange creature sitting on a rock nearby. She's staring off into space, with a kind of dreamy look. You don't want to startle her, but you accidently step on a twig. The *snap* echoes. The creature jumps about a foot in the air. Oops. Ah well, you tried.

The creature comes out from behind a tree. "Hello, outlander." she says shyly. "I'm Liste, a hippogryph. (Ah. So that's what she is.) Liste (pronounced list) means leaf. It fits me because I'm always staring off into space, listening to a song only I can hear. I'm from Starluck's Sweetwater Valley . It's such a beautiful place, you should visit. In fact, this forest was planted from a seedling from Sweetwater Valley."

"If you want, I can show you the rest of the forest." You nod quickly, following her down the sunlit path. You don't want to scare anybody else.

"This forest is going to have unicorns! This is a unicorn egg."

"I can't wait till it hatches! The hatchling and I will be best friends! I always was lonely, because no one else lived in the forest. But now Phoenix found a unicorn in the Creation at The Silver Unicorn , and I'm going to have a friend! We're going to be perfect for each other! Unicorns are shy and mystical, and I'm shy too. And even if this one is very outgoing and talkative, I'm a good listener!..."

You smile indulgently.

A flash of movement catches your eye, and you look up. Just in time to see a gold and crimson tail whisk around a tree. Bemused, you ask Liste what it is.
"Oh, that's a ginnal, also from The Silver Unicorn . They're very pretty, and very wild. We have two: Russa and Chitter. They're both bonded to Phoenix. Russa is a lot more secretive...Look, there she goes!" You look up just in time to see Russa execute a graceful leap from tree to tree, grabbing a small, shiny leaf in midflight. With her tail streaming behind her and the sun trying its hardest to make her gleaming coat blinding, she is a glorious (if small) sight.

"As I was saying...Russa is a lot more secretive, but Chitter might come down. Just be very quiet and don't make any sudden movements." Turning towards the trees on the right side of the path, Liste emitted a sort of a creak, halfway in between a squak and a click. An inquisitive nose poked out from behind a tree. The nose sniffed the air, wrinkled, sneezed. Out came a small chipmunk-sized animal, except that it was colored gold and crimson, and had a longer tail. He comes up and carefully sniffs your shoe. You hold perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe.
You seem to pass the test. Chitter steps behind a tree for a minute and comes out with a leaf. It is red and gold, just like him. Liste informs you that it's from his native woods. As you watch Chitter playing with the leaf, it occurs to you that his birthplace must be a beautiful place.

"Both Chitter and Russa each have a leaf that they took from that their old homes. They treasure them." So that's what Russa was leaping for.

You continue along the sunlit path. Suddenly a large ball of sky-blue fur hits you from behind. As you roll on the forest floor, you notice that the blue furball is actually some kind of foxlike animal.

"What're you?" you ask.
"I'm a Cypris, from Syriuu's Cypris.org ." says the child very fast, hopping from foot to foot. "I'm a Cloud Cypran too, which makes me very cheerful and easygoing. Wanna see my beanie?"
Turning around, you see the cub's toy lying in a patch of grass.

"Well, that's about it. Thanks for coming, come again!" Sadly, you take your leave of Liste.

From here, you can see the beach . It looks inviting, the sands as golden as Russa's fur. You can also go up a steep winding path to the mountains . And, there's a castle not too far off.