Sibyl ran off through the mountains with Azusa behind her! “Ah great! Remind me not to indulge in talking with the females of a Markhor herd again!” The snow leopard said as a markhor goat ran after them! “Try and take my harem will ya?!” The ram yelled out in fury as he rushed down the rocky slopes after them! Azusa and Sibyl then jumped onto the gondola lift and they went down the mountain, leaving the markhor goat behind them.
“Possessive isn’t he?” Azusa said to Sibyl. Sibyl nodded. “And you were just trying to introduce yourself to them,” she said.
Markhor goats are the largest of all the wild goats, and they can live in herds of up to nine animals, mainly of adult females and their young. Adult males are solitary, but they will keep harems consisting of females and their young. Males can also be very protective of these harems and will fight off other male Markhor and predators to defend them.
Azusa turned to Sibyl. “Well, on the bright side, the Markhor actually allowed us to get to school more quickly, so we’re gonna be fairly early today,” the snow leopard said cheerfully. Azusa did let out a light chuckle with hearing that. "At least my bracelet is safe," she said, holding a purple bracelet she had on her wrist. Sibyl looked on. "Who's that belong to?" she asked. Azusa turned. "This was a gift from my mother when I was younger on my twelfth birthday," she replied in a kind voice.
Sibyl looked on in awe at the dark blue color that her eyes were able to make out.
Cats are able to see in color, but while they can see red colors, they have some difficulty in distinguishing them. Yet, they can see yellows, greens, blues and purples really well.
"Well, it looks pretty," Sibyl said. "Thanks," Azusa replied. As she looked up ahead, she noticed the four condors flying overhead. “Hey, we saw you yesterday! Looks like you got away from the pink flamingos!” Calvin said. “Yeah. We heard that Tobias had to pull them off from the door before he chased them off,” Sibyl said. “You shoulda made a headdress out of them feathers they left behind,” Jim said.
The other condors burst out laughing at Jim’s jab.
“So, who else is gonna assist us in the group for the new club we’re gonna form?” Sibyl asked. Azusa turned to her. “Club?” She asked. Sibyl nodded. “That’s the group we’re going to make. Though we need an idea for what the club is gonna do exactly,” the snow leopard replied.
Azusa nodded in some agreement. “Well, whoever we meet can be welcome,” she said. At the same time, Sibyl turned to the front of the train. “Looks like the school’s here,” she said. Azusa turned. “Alright then.” The train then came to a crawl and stopped to a standstill. Both of them got off the train with the four condors flying alongside them.
Azusa looked around as she entered the school. “So who’s the animal we’re going to deal with today?” She asked Sibyl. At the same time, both she and the snow leopard were bowled over by a powerful force!
Sibyl and Azusa flew briefly through the air before they crashed to the ground!
WHUMP!!!!
“Ah,” Sibyl winced as she got up. “What was that about?” The two of them then noticed a burly creature with a robust, barrel-shaped body and stout yet sturdy legs with long claws. “Out of the way see!” He said.
The wombat is the largest herbivorous animal to live in burrows, and the second largest animal to dig burrows overall. Only polar bears and Nile crocodiles grow bigger. The three species of wombat are equipped with long claws to help them dig with remarkable speed. They can move up to three feet of dirt in a single day and can run as fast as 25 mph in short bursts, nearly as fast as some Olympic sprinters.
Sibyl turned to the trotting wombat. “Road hog!” She yowled. The wombat turned. “You feel like disputing that cat see?!” He hissed, gnashing his teeth together.
Wombats can be surprisingly aggressive towards predators and are even known to try and bite enemies if they get the chance. Their teeth constantly grow, meaning they have to wear them down by chewing on hard objects like rodents.
Sibyl gulped as she and Azusa backed up. However, at the same time, a pale golden-orange dog resembling a smaller German shepherd appeared. The dog snarled at the wombat. Azusa looked on. “So who might you be?” The dog turned to her. “You may want to start running now young lady!” He barked at her. Azusa raised an eyebrow at the dog, slightly put off by the sharp tone of the canine in front of her. “Excuse me?” The dog then gave her another look. “Seriously. Run. Now,” he said. “Let the dingo handle this drongo.”
Dingoes are a lineage of wild dog related to the wolf as well as domesticated dogs from Southeast Asia. However, because they are descended from these domesticated dogs, dingoes are considered to be feral. They are the largest terrestrial predator native to Australia, despite being only the size of a large coyote. They primarily hunt rabbits, lizards and various marsupials such as wombats, koalas, wallabies and kangaroos.
The wombat then charged at them. The dingo leapt away and bit the wombat on the rump. However, it seemed that it had no effect on the marsupial. The wombat charged at the dingo again, but the dingo snarled out and snapped at the wombat!
The wombat then let out a loud screaming noise!
When wombats are alarmed, they release a high pitched screaming noise. These are primarily used in territorial battles with other wombats.
The dingo turned. Azusa and Sibyl had both left. The dingo turned around and trotted off, tail lowered, with the wombat still standing firm. “And don’t come back see!”
The dingo turned. “Don’t go picking on other students see!” He said mockingly. However, he was a safe distance from the wombat at this point so he was able to get away with his potshot. “Marsupials,” he chuckled to himself as he headed to the classroom.
Azusa listened to the lecture that a Kori bustard was giving. “In regards to the Great Emu War, the reason for the emus being successful at the war was simply because of the emus own defensive behavior. They scattered into smaller groups when people shot at them, so they were harder to kill in great numbers,” the teacher said. Azusa jotted those down in her notes.
The Emu War was a wildlife management attempt on controlling emu numbers in the Campion district in Western Australia after the birds were destroying the crops of farmers. However, the effort was deemed a massive failure as while a number of birds were killed, the emu population persisted on the whole.
That’s incredibly fascinating, she thought to herself. “Are we gonna have to remember this for any quizzes Mr. Bustard?” A macaw asked, raising a wing. Mr. Bustard turned to him. “This will not be on any quizzes, but there is a school performance that will be based on it,” he then announced. The students were intrigued about this.
BRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bell then rang for lunch and the students then rushed out of the classroom.
“School performance?” Azusa asked Sibyl. Sibyl nodded. “Yeah. Sometimes, we do a performance based on some kind of human-animal interaction to help educate younger students about them,” the snow leopard replied. At the same time, she spotted the dingo. Sibyl’s bluish-grey eyes pierced through the hallways as she then padded on silent paws towards the sand colored dog. Azusa followed the snow leopard.
But the dingo turned his head. His ears pricked up in alert as he looked around. He spotted the snow leopard.
“Well, look who it is,” he said with a friendly demeanor. It was a lot more welcoming than the relatively gruff demeanor that he had used much earlier that day. Sibyl nodded. “Yep. Sibyl Snow leopard,” she replied. Azusa walked up to the dingo. “Why hello new student,” the dingo said. Azusa waved in a friendly manner. “Hey there,” she replied.
The dingo approached her and sniffed her hand. “You’re definitely a friendly person, but I also can tell you’re nervous too,” he said. “All that by smelling me?” Azusa asked with surprise. The dingo nodded. “Yep.”
Dogs have an excellent sense of smell, and are even able to pick up certain pheromones that humans let off if they feel nervous, happy or sad, and this can even affect how receptive the dog is to that person. In the case of a wild canid, a nervous or fearful person will be approached much more readily, while a bolder person will cause the dog to be much more cautious.
Sibyl approached the dingo. “So what exactly is your name might I ask?” She asked before sitting down on a nearby rock. The dingo turned to her. “My name is David Dingo, but you can call me Dave,” he replied. Azusa sat down. “Name’s Azusa Shimizu,” she replied. Dave nodded at he trotted over to her. “Nice to meet you Azusa Shimizu,” he said. Sibyl then looked around. “Have you seen Tobias anywhere?” The snow leopard asked.
Dave shook his head. “No. I haven’t,” the dingo replied. Azusa looked around. “He was definitely listed as present today on the student roster,” she said. “Maybe he’s in the library,” Sibyl said. Dave nodded. “I did see Stacy Chevrotain around here lately,” he replied.
Azusa raised an eyebrow. “Stacy Chevrotain? Who’s that?” She asked. “That would be me,” a small voice said. Azusa looked down by her feet and saw a small brown deer like creature with white spots. “Hello there?” Azusa said, mildly surprised to see the small herbivore looking up at her. “You’re tiny,” Sibyl then said, tilting her head at the smaller animal in front of her.
Stacy looked at her. “What are you looking at?” She asked gruffly. “Don’t stare at my spots. My eyes are over here!”
Sibyl backed up somewhat. “Nothing. Nothing at all Stacy,” she replied. Stacy nodded. “Nice to hear,” she said. The Chevrotain then turned to Azusa. “You’re looking for Tobias Gorilla?” She asked. Azusa nodded. “Well, he’s at the library,” Stacy said. “How do you know that?” Sibyl asked. Stacy turned to the snow leopard. Suspicious snow leopard, Stacy thought to herself. She’s gonna be a problem for sure. Just gotta get her out of the way.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
And Stacy knew just how she was going to do that.
“Say Sibyl, you think you could also meet us in the auditorium?” Stacy then asked. Sibyl tilted her head quizzically. “What for?” She then purred. “I actually have some friends that wish to speak with you. And you only,” Stacy then replied. “Teacher is already waiting for you.”
Sibyl nodded as she then bounded off. “See you guys in a bit!” Azusa nodded. “Alright….”
Stacy turned, now facing Azusa and Dave. “So then. You were looking for Tobias in the library?” She asked. There seemed to be something of a different tone in her voice that Azusa was detecting. Is there something I don’t know that you do? Azusa asked herself. Stacy glanced towards her before rapidly spinning away.
Perfect! With that snow leopard out of the way, and the dingo being as new to the school as the human is, I can take them right to Virgil, the Chevrotain thought to herself in silence. The Chevrotain skittered along the ground, with Azusa strolling just behind her and Dave trotting along just behind Azusa.
Stacy turned to Azusa. “So I was wondering something. What’s up with your eyes?” She asked. “One looks more blue compared to the green of the other.” Azusa turned to the Chevrotain. “It’s actually violet blue, not just blue,” Azusa replied somewhat sharply, apparently taken off guard by Stacy’s sudden comment. Stacy narrowed her eyes slightly as her ears twitched. “Violet? I don’t know that color too well,” she said, trying to keep herself from snickering. Azusa had a confused expression. “You can’t see violet?”
Stacy shook her head. “Nope,” she replied. “Not really. It looks more dark blue to me.”
Deer can see colors, but not in the way that humans can. Deer cannot see red colors at all, but they can see yellow, green and blue colors really well. This is due to having only two color cones present in the eyes, and these color cones are what allow them to see the aforementioned colors that are visible to them.
Sibyl turned her head as she padded towards the auditorium. “Where does that narrator who explains the facts on animals keep coming from?” She asked herself as she entered the auditorium through the barely open doors. Around her was the empty seats and a large stage. Sibyl looked around. “What is going on here?”
“That’s what We’re ready to tell you leopard!” Sibyl looked around and saw several chimpanzee students, all smiling in threat, baring their teeth as they did!
When chimpanzees threaten somebody, they bare their teeth as a sign of aggression and this is often seen before an attack. Despite being smaller than humans, chimpanzees are easily more powerful than humans by about two fold, and couple that with their high intelligence, this makes them incredibly terrifying adversaries for almost any animal around the same size or even bigger.
Sibyl looked on at the approaching chimpanzee mob. “Oh crud,” she said to herself, realizing the amount of trouble she was in now.
Azusa was quite surprised to hear that. “Well, I did not know that,” she said. Dave turned to her. “Neither did I,” he replied. “Well, here’s the library,” Stacy said. Azusa peered inside and found Tobias on a chair in the dimly lit room surrounded by numerous books on the shelves around him. “Oh hey Tobias. How are you?” Azusa asked. Tobias turned to her. “Azusa? What are you doing here?!” Tobias cried out, concern present in his voice. “And where’s Sibyl?”
Azusa was surprised by his sudden response. “Sibyl went to see the…..teacher……” she said, her voice trailing off as her eyes widened in horror at what was going on.
“Stacy, what might be going on?” Azusa asked. The door behind them slammed shut!
BANG!!!!
“Bringing you all here because there’s something I should inform you,” a baritone voice said. Azusa turned around with Dave and Tobias as they caught sight of a massive figure standing in front of them. A large grey animal was seen standing right there, only a few rays of sunlight penetrating the room.
Dave turned to Azusa. “That’s Virgil…..” he whimpered. The dingo’s ears flattened and he bared his teeth. But it was his tail, tucked between his legs, that told his true state of mind.
The dingo was scared.
Canids, such as the dingo, coyote, wolves, and jackals, will often tuck their tails between their legs and flatten their ears as a sign of submission or when showing fear.
Virgil snorted, his breath visible in the room. “Happy you all were able to arrive today,” the hippo said, while approaching the group. Tobias stood in front of Azusa and Dave, snorting as well. Virgil just approached him without any sign of concern. Azusa looked at Virgil. The hippo then turned to her and started to get around Tobias, easily sidestepping past the gorilla.
“You’re a new beauty around here,” Virgil said. “I take it you’re the human who’s new here.”
Azusa gulped. She had never gotten up close to a massive hippo before. Or rather, she had never had a hippo come up to her before. Even the hippos at the zoo would never try to approach her as long as she kept her distance from their pool. The warning signs were a clear testament to that.
Hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in the world. Attacks by these aggressive herbivores claim the lives of anywhere from 300 to as many as 1,000 people every year, depending on the source used. Hippos will even attack other animals that come near the water or even attempt to cross it, and this will even include passing antelope and zebras, which otherwise pose no threat to hippos.
Virgil seemed to look at Azusa. “So why exactly would a human be at a school for animals?” He asked. “I enrolled here. My old school is currently facing some kind of scandal,” Azusa replied. “And what’s going on with Sibyl?” Stacy turned. “We actually kept you safe from that sneaky snow leopard!” She cried out.
Azusa glared slightly. “Wait a minute. You said that a teacher had called her. It shouldn’t be this long,” she stated. Virgil turned. “I’m afraid she won’t be joking us at this moment,” he said. Tobias approached him. “What’s going on with her?” He asked. Azusa backed up in shock. “Where’s Sibyl right now?” She tried to head towards the door, but Virgil turned around and knocked her to the ground!
Azusa struggled to her feet, a sharp pain present in her body. What did that hippo do? The human girl thought to herself. But Virgil and Stacy were already onto her as Tobias came to help her up. “I highly recommend you don’t get up. You could become the next person who fell victim to this hierarchy.”
Stacy turned. “Not like humans would be able to hold their own against the animal kingdom without their weapons. They’re weaklings,” she said.
Humans are surprisingly low in terms of power compared to some other large animals. Out of all the great apes, they are the least powerful members of that family of primates.
Azusa lowered her head. I never asked for this, she thought to herself. I was just trying to get a good education and wanted to help out with animals and humans here. But now, she turned to see Dave growling.
Virgil turned to the dingo. “What’s going on with you, ya mangy mutt?” The hippo asked mockingly. Dave was giving a death glare at them too. “How dare you bring a kind young girl like her close to tears?!” He snarled at the hippo. Virgil raised an eyebrow. Or rather, he gave the hippo equivalent of that. His ears also twitched.
Dave then ran towards the hippo, teeth bared and growling wildly! “You’re going to pay for messing with one of my friends!” Virgil’s eyes widened seemingly in fear.
But the initial shock was short lived and the hippo knocked the dingo away!
Screeching was heard from the auditorium as well as the crashing of bodies as they hit the floor before Sibyl ran out of there! She slammed the door on the rampaging chimpanzees! The chimpanzees ran into the doors with a monumental crash! The chimpanzees then slid down the door and finally slumped to the ground, swirls in their eyes as many looked bruised and bandaged.
Sibyl groomed her matted fur. “Well, that was a little harder than I thought, but they won’t be picking on me again, or any leopard for that matter,” she said before walking off.
Leopards are the main predator of chimpanzees and even gorillas, stealthily hunting from trees or rocky outcrops and then pouncing on the apes, killing them with a quick bite to the back of the neck. The odds for the cats improve in low light, where their superior stealth and night vision gives them the advantage.
A Peregrine falcon flew up to her. “You need to go to the library! Quickly!” She cried out. Sibyl followed her rapidly. “What’s going on?!” Sibyl cried out as she raced through the halls. The two of them soon came across the library!
Tobias then looked out and saw Sibyl at the door. He then opened the door and Sibyl leapt in, tackling Stacy to the ground! Sibyl turned to Azusa. “You alright?” The snow leopard asked. Azusa nodded. “How about you?” Sibyl seemed to nod as well. “Been better.”
Virgil immediately charged at the group! The last thing anybody saw was a flash of light and a loud KAPOW!!!!!
Everyone flew out of the room with Stacy and Virgil standing! “See you all later on at the school games dead meat!” Virgil cried out before stamping off! He and Stacy laughed to themselves as they went off!
Tobias got up while Azusa and Sibyl got to their feet, with Dave also shaking himself off. “Well that was a fine ‘How do you do?’!” The dingo barked out angrily. Virgil’s words could then be heard as well. “They ain’t worth my time, bunch of chicken brains,” the hippo said.
“Chicken brains?! Say that to my face, ya limp noodle!” Dave barked out angrily!
Virgil charged out with jaws agape, revealing four two foot long tusks jutting out from the massive jaws!
A hippo can bite down with a force of 1800 lbs. per square inch!
Tobias got in front of them, grabbing the hippo by the teeth! “Call me a limp noodle why don’t ya mutt! Let’s see how you deal with an 1800 pound bite!” Virgil said, before shaking his head and throwing the gorilla away. Dave snarled as Virgil rushed at him, but before the hippo made contact, Dave saw that Virgil’s teeth had just stopped shy of him and Azusa. “Ms. Bataar saved us!” Sibyl said.
Virgil was being held back by a large, grey mottled dinosaur resembling a Tyrannosaurus, but with slightly smaller forelimbs and a somewhat different skull. A Tarbosaurus.
“And I have a 9000 pound bite,” she said before throwing him off to the side.
Tarbosaurus was the Asiatic counterpart of Tyrannosaurus and a very close, and slightly older, relative of the Tyrant lizard king. It was forty feet long, weighed in at seven tons, and had the smallest forelimbs of all tyrannosaurids. In spite of that, it was the apex predator of Maastrichtian Mongolia and had one of the most powerful bites of any land predator living or extinct.
Virgil ran off with Stacy. They were clearly no match for a Tarbosaurus. She turned to the other students. “You alright?” She asked. Azusa nodded. “Thanks,” she said. Ms. Bataar nodded before heading off. “If there’s a class you should be in, you should try and get there before the bell. Otherwise, enjoy the remainder of the lunch period,” she said kindly as she padded away.
Azusa sighed as everyone started to head towards the lunchroom quietly. “You okay Azusa?” Sibyl asked, concern clearly apparent in her voice. Azusa nodded. “I am. Thanks for asking.” Sibyl nodded. “Don’t worry about Virgil. He’s an idiot,” Dave said. Tobias turned. “But you shouldn’t anger him. Most of the school knows not to mess with hippos,” the gorilla said sternly. Dave nodded. “Right.”
Azusa then felt something in her pocket. Or rather, something not in her pocket. It felt, shockingly empty. She felt inside her pocket almost frantically, just to confirm her suspicions, and what she was concerned about had come true in that very instant.
“Guys, my mother’s bracelet is missing!” Azusa said. Sibyl turned. “What happened to it?” Azusa felt her pocket had a hole. “It must’ve fallen out when Virgil charged me!” She said. Tobias turned to her. “We’re gonna find the bracelet Azusa. I promise you that,” Tobias said.
In the library, a purple bracelet was seen lying on the ground. A paw then poked at it before it then unsheathed a long claw and picked it up. Looking at the bracelet was a massive Siberian tiger with pale orange-brown and white fur and dark brown to black stripes. She looked at the bracelet with golden colored eyes, pondering on who the bracelet belonged to and what she would do with it.
“I better find the owner of this,” the tiger said to herself before putting it in a bag and stalking off. "Too bad this school doesn't have a lost and found within any of the classrooms. That would certainly make my job a lot easier."