A priest kneeled over a cot, examining a wounded cat. Twin four year old beorc scampered about, playing one of their noisy games. Their parents sometimes had to remind them to be quiet. Occasionally, somebody would notice that the priest was healing a shifted laguz and react in a disapproving way, but the family tried their best to ignore that.

The male twin suddenly walked over to the priest. "Will the sub-human be alright?"

His mother sighed. "Leo...I know you've heard others use that word, but like I've told you millions of times, it's not polite. Say laguz."

Leo cautiously patted the cat's head. "Poor laguz..."

The priest smiled. "The cat is breathing, but it's quite labored. He should wake up eventually."

"Are you gonna use your healy stick?" the female twin asked.

"That's actually a good idea, young one." The priest got out a mend staff as Cerai grinned, proud of her good idea. Light swirled around the beast laguz, and when it was

done, his open wounds slowly healed; blood absorbed into his striped pelt and disappeared. The twins stared, open mouthed.

Their father chuckled. "That's what healing staffs do."

One gray ear twitched. Two golden eyes flickered open. "Wha...?" The cat hesitated a bit, then sat on his haunches and wrapped his tail around his feet. He looked at all the beorc around him. One was obviously a healer...had he saved his life? Why? These couldn't be the ones who killed his parents...was it true that not all beorc hated laguz?

"You are lucky." said the priest. "These kind folks found you on the side of the road and brought you to me.

It WAS true! The cat nodded in thanks. He still appeared confused.

"He's not talking..." Leo muttered.

"I...don't know what to say..." stammered the laguz. "I've heard stories about kind beorc, but I never believed them until now..."

"They are not just tales." The twins' father got up and stood by the cat. "Even in this dog-eat-dog world, there's hope for a race considered inferior by the other..."

"Dogs eat other dogs?" Cerai asked.

"It's just an expression, dear." The mother replied. She then looked at the laguz. "You can shift back if you want."

"Indeed." said the father. "Now do you remember anything at all about what happened to you?"

The cat hung his head. "I was hunting with Mom and Dad...and then it happened. There must have been an entire village...and before I knew it, my parents were gone. Then

they went after me..."

He then transformed back. In his human form, he was lean and youthful. His messy gray and black hair seemed to compliment his piercing gold eyes. His gray and black striped tail was motionless, and his pointed feline ears kept turning to pick up sound.

He turned to the priest. "If it wasn't for your medical skills, I would be dead. I owe it all to you guys."

EPOLOGUE: The cat, named Samba, ended up being adopted. He quickly bonded with the beorc twins. There were times when Samba was treated differently than Cerai and Leo, but those two wouldn't allow it. Eventually he came to be accepted as "one of us" by the twins' peers.

Cerai and Leo were "classed" into wyvern riders in their early teens, since both parents were flyers. It took him awhile, but Samba did get used to having to follow them from the ground. He found that if he shifted, it became easier.

In the twins' middle teens, pirates attacked. The trio fought well enough to save themselves. But sadly, their parents were among the slain. To make matters worse, the pirates had been shipping feral laguz, which devoured the remains.

The three of them are closer than ever because of that tragedy. In fact, they can be refered to as "the three stooges". They're always joking around.

Cerai is a joker with a competitive streak. Her fighting style is like this: surprise the enemy by dive bombing, then fly off spewing insults before they can strike back.

Leo is the less hyper twin. He's easy going, but bold. He hates losing, whether it's a sparring match, flying trick contest, etc.

Samba has a "no worries" attitude, but absolutely loathes the word "sub-human". He will sometimes try to attack whoever says it. Other than that, he doesn't get angry often.