After appearing where he did, he stopped then blinked his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he bet his left arm that his father and brother felt the same way. When the thought of going to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve came to him, he thought he'd appear in a very green area that was teaming in life; what he found himself as teleporting to was very different. Instead of seeing what he thought he'd see, he saw nothing but a very stressed out area that looked to need more than a single storm's worth of rain dumped on it.

The Nilgiri Reserve was located in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills ranges of South India. It was said to compromise of 5,520 km and have a rich diversity of plant and animal life in it. With the way this part of the reserve looked, he doubted if it'd retain that rich diversity for long. It looked very parched. The smell of things baking in the heat was so prominent that he thought he could detect the eggs in the nests of the trees cooking. All matter of green, with which the plant-eating animals depended on, was brown and dropping from the branches that it hung on; the dirt was so dry that he saw cracks; and the nearby water source looked to be nearly drained of the water that it carried. About thirty seconds after appearing in this dry area, which was supposedly tropical and subtropical, he stepped forward then made the move to make a ground spear. Bile did the same, while their father stood nearby with the rifle that he brought along resting handily at his side.

"Supposedly, this place has around eighty species of mammals, two hundred species of birds, sixty species of reptiles, and fifteen species of amphibians in it." Hazaar thought after making the decision to go on with his hunt. "Twenty-seven species of fish and around two hundred species of butterflies are said to call it home too."

The Bengal tiger was gone, while its cousin, the Indian leopard, wasn't. From time to time, the black panther would be seen; its numbers were so low that to see it was considered an omen. The Guar was still here, as was the Mongoose, Malabar giant squirrel, Lion-tailed macaque, Gray langur, and Nilgiri tahr. Over the years, an attempt to recreate the Indian elephant was done; no such luck came to the scientists who tried, but they did manage to introduce a type of Elephant that no one really considered as being in the Elephant family into the reserve. While he was hoping to bring something down that'd make his father think of him as a real hunter instead of a hunter-in-training, he was also hoping that it wasn't big. With what was said to be living here, he had plenty of chances to find that something—hopefully, he didn't get too sweaty or tired while doing it.

While they didn't know it now, they would in the years to come. The area was looking the way it did because it was starting to take on the appearance of what it'd have for the next one hundred and fifty-five years. The climate, unbeknown to him and his family, had made its decision on what it wanted to be; most of the planet's forested parts would wittle away to next to nothing or cease to exist all together in the next twenty to thirty years thanks to the heat that the planet would be subjected to. In around twenty-five years, half of the Nilgiri Reserve's forestland would be gone. Replaced with sand, and dotted with the trunks of the trees that, somehow, didn't wither or die from the heat. Like with Egypt and Africa a couple of years ago, most of India would be abandoned; the humans who lived here would move on to areas that weren't so hot or desert-like, and where life wasn't so difficult to achieve.

While the attempt would be made by the humans to rescue some of the animals that called India home, they wouldn't be able to rescue them all or even take in the ones that were the more renown in the country. Like with the shock of hearing that India was desert-like instead of tropical, he and his family would be shocked to hear that seventy-five percent of its animals perished in the years that the drought took place.

Like with this shocking development, they didn't know that the new climate had its sights on changing how Russia, England, Scotland, Ireland, China, Japan, Australia, and the eastern half of the United States looked. For the next fifty years, the entire eastern side of the United States would experience storms that'd pelt them with rain and snow; England, Ireland, and Scotland were to encounter countless storms that'd cause most of their population to be swept out to sea; China and Japan were slated to become the Wind Capitals of the planet; most of Russia was to be like India; and most of Egypt was to become a soupy mess. The shock of Australia becoming like a new Greenland, thanks to all the snow it received in the next one hundred years, would be right up there with the rest of them.

"Be sure to get under some shade if you get too hot." he heard his father telling them.

Interestingly, the western side of the United States, Central and South America, and most of Canada would remain the same climate-wise. In the rest of Europe and Eurasia, the climate would be erratic with both temperature and rainfall. The ones who lived in the parts of the world where the climate wasn't all that tedious would help the ones who were effected by what was going on in their country; unsurprisingly, the one who claimed to own and rule the planet would see the troubles of the eastern hemisphere nations as a good thing. Master Vile would do his best to use the stresses of the new climate to punish the ones who thwarted him, then get them to surrender to him and his rule by offering to help them with certain things. He'd find himself as being very surprised over seeing his offer as not being taken. Even though things in certain countries were bad, terrible even, the ones who both lived in and governed them would refuse to bow to him or accept that he was their saving grace.

Master Vile, who had already announced that his too-long residency on the planet was coming to a close here in the next few months, would roost on his rump on Gamma Vile while the ones on Earth dealt with the issues thrown to them. He'd not lift a finger to help anyone, and that included the ones who moved to the planet. For him, he had achieved his initiative in getting half of the planet as his, changing its government around to what he wanted it to be, opening it up to other races in the Universe, and built what he wanted on it; only when he was absolutely needed to be on the planet would be come to it or do anything with it.

"Hey! Hazaar! Keep an eye out for snakes—just found a 'skin, which means one is in the area." Bile, who was a short distance from him, said.

He was just starting in on looking for something to hunt when he found a snake. With the way it looked, it was dangerous but also trying its best to stay out of the heat and not do anything that required any heavy-duty exercise. It did look to be newly shed, so it was probably the one who's skin Bile saw. India was home to many snakes, but there were two that one had to watch out for—the one that he came across was a mostly deep yellow to tan color and had a series of dark brown spots on its body; this, he knew, was the commonly aggressive Russell's viper. When he found this snake, he respected it by giving it a wide berth. While it watched him, it didn't strike or even move from where it was. Following his successful distancing of the snake, he returned to trying to find something to hunt.

With it being as hot as it was, it didn't surprise him that he found nothing for the first thirty minutes of his hunt. The old man surprised him and his brother by saying for them to get their stuff together then take him to a place so he could see how they went by the trade that their mother taught them; up to ten-thirty, they were just watching and listening out for Guyunis, who seemed to be experiencing another of his regressions. While he wanted to hunt, and show-off his skills while doing so, he was slightly nervous over having his father watching him as he did it. The same went with his having a gun on his person. Two ideas came to him when he saw it; one revolved around the man using it for his own hunt, while the other was on his using it to threaten him and Bile with.

Except for him and Lazeer getting into it on the fifth and yesterday, and Bile causing the man a little headache on the seventh, they hadn't earned the right of being threatened by a weapon. Lhaklar was newly free of his weekend-long grounding, but that didn't mean he wasn't causing some issues in the house—he and Efagti got into it yesterday following something that Efagti said over the phone to his father, then he and their father got into it on what that thing was a few hours later; if not for their mother coming in to quiet everyone up, Lhaklar would of been grounded again. Eshal was being semi-okay to get along with; the only issue that they were having with her revolved around her thinking that she could "sister-talk" Guyunis into not being the way he was, or using the terminology that he used. Of the six of them, it was really only Guyunis who was giving them some issues.

"But he's not doing anything to warrant anyone threatening one of us with a gun." Hazaar thought.

He was about to think of what was going on with Guyunis when something scrambled past him. Without putting much thought into it, he raised his spear then threw it. His father, who was standing nearby, on the bark of a fallen tree, said nothing after his spear disappeared, or after he went to see if it caught anything. The man was still where he left him when he left the growth that he entered; instead of being alone, he had his spear in one hand and the tail of an animal in the other. The animal that he caught was long and slender and mostly dusky brown to light buff in color. Its limbs were short, while its neck, head, and tail were elongated. Coming from behind the ears, then running to the shoulders, were two dark stripes; there were two, shorter stripes on the neck. On the animal's back, there were three to four longitudinal rows of spots; their size varied as they went to the belly. While the forelegs had a span of spots all along them, the hind ones only had them running to the hocks. The tail had eight to nine bands on it, which were separated by narrow white rings. In all, it was twenty-seven inches long; with it being lean, it was light in weight—at most, it weighed a pound to maybe pound and a half. After nabbing this animal, he walked it over to his father. He placed it by him then, seeing as he wasn't done with his hunt yet, turned to return to what he was doing. His father did nothing but nod his head at him when he saw what he caught; before leaving his kill by him, he guessed that he'd guard it from predators for him.

He was no more back on the hunt when something bigger, and more worth his time, came out from the dead and dying growth around him. He stared at this huge, four foot, nine inch animal for a second or two before raising his spear then throwing it. While his father made a grunting sound behind him, then raised his rifle, he produced more spears; once each was in his hand, he threw them. The animal, which was a bluish-gray color, and had a set of four inch horns on its head, ran off after the first four spears struck it then, after hearing that he was pursuing it, stopped then turned around. The two of them stared at each other again before a bellowing honk was heard; the animal lunged at him, then charged in his direction, right when his final spear was thrown. Unlike the other spears that he threw, this one became embedded in the animal's throat. The animal produced a coughing sound before collapsing to the ground; he was just going towards it, to see if it was dead or not, and to collect one of the spears that he used and then dispose of the others, when his father appeared behind him.

"Hazaar, you alright?" his father asked.

"Yep." he replied.

While taking notice of the end of his father's gun not having any smoke billowing from it, he went towards the animal that he just caught. When he reached it, he saw it had some sturdy, but thin, legs on it. The back was sloping, while the neck was deep and had a white patch on its throat. There was a short mane behind and along the back, which ended behind the shoulder; curiously, the animal had a few white spots on its face. While removing the spear that was in the animal's throat, he noticed it had a column of hair on the dewlap; the tail was tufted, and had a few white spots on it. Following the removal of the spears that were in its sides, he discovered it was a male and in its mid-adult years. After the last spear was removed, he smashed the ones that he didn't need then spell-sent the animal home. His father nodded at him after this was done then gestured for him to follow him.

"What the hell?" Hazaar exclaimed after they reached the area where his first kill was left.

With his father leaving his "post", he had left the first animal unguarded. This could of caused a predator to come up; it could of gotten the idea of coming across a nice prize and then taken it with the intent of eating it to stay healthy. While he was okay with this happening if the kill was too big, or looked diseased, he wouldn't of been okay if it happened now. Luckily, for him and his father, it wasn't. Instead, they came upon Bile sitting on the tree that their father was formerly standing on. While Bile looked fine, he also looked hot. With the three animals sitting nearby, they guessed he had a right to be.

The first had a rich, thick, and uniform reddish-brown coat. Running from the back of the head on down to the tail was a dark dorsal stripe; there were a series of faint white stripes on its sides. The tail, while short, and brown, had a white tip to it. The horns were delicate in origin; they had three branches to them. Beside this deer-like animal, which was approximately four feet long, was a mostly black primate that had a crown of golden-brown hair on it.

"I'm going to kick you in the ass!" Hazaar exclaimed after seeing the third animal. "You caught a snake? Why and how?"

"Don't think it's a snake." Bile replied. When he held his arm up, they saw he wasn't unscathed from his hunt. From the elbow of his right arm to the wrist were a series of punctures that could only come from teeth. "I stepped on it while going for the monkey; it leaped at me twice before I could kill it."

"Let me see that." TazirVile went over quickly then inspected the punctures on Bile's arm. "Doesn't seem like it grabbed to envenomate, or constricted you after biting you."

"It didn't. It just bit then let go. Kept doing so before I could get my knife out then stab it." Bile said. He then pointed at the animal that injured him. "Think I'll find a special place for it in my room, then scare ma and Eshal with it when we move to Moas."

The animal, which one of their unborn siblings would fine a particular fancy for, was almost earthworm-like in appearance. It was just under four and a half feet long; along with having a ring-like, segmented look to it, it was tan in color. Curiously, when he went to turn it over, it had two, tiny leg-like things where the opening that was its cloaca was; it had ears and these odd folds on its sides. In a way, it was the ears that descerned it as not being a snake—them animals didn't have them types of anatomy. After looking the animal over, then going over to inspect the one that he left with his father, and seeing that it was okay, he turned to look at his brother. It was then that he noticed he had a small pouch on him, which had a container of water on it. Seeing this made him laugh; here was his oldest brother, hot as can be, and with puncture marks on his arm, and he had a thing of water on him... which didn't even look to be opened yet.

"Hazaar?" his father said after hearing him laugh.

"Nothin'." Hazaar returned.

"Don't recall hearing or seeing you take anything down while I was here, son. When'd you find the chance to get these?"

"Was an ambush hunter on the deer and monkey. Both were facing away from me when I came upon them; a simple throw with the spear did the trick on the deer, while a hail of rock arrows brought the monkey down." Bile replied. "I mostly just hissed when the snake-like thing and I did our dance."

"That so."

TazirVile reined in his annoyance over missing out on the hunt that his oldest son did. While he saw his secondborn son take down the animals that he caught, and was impressed with what he saw when he did it, he had no confirmation on how well a hunter his oldest son was. The whole reason in his being here with his sons was to see how they went by a hunt, and if he could denounce his wife's claim on training them or not; half of that was achieved while the other wasn't. Angel looked to of trained Hazaar well. He handled himself like one who was a pro in the trade, and he didn't get hurt either. While Bile was sporting some injuries, he wrote them off on the basis of the boy possibly being in a constrained area and not being fast enough to get himself out of the way of trouble or retrieve something that'd prevent that trouble from happening. Seeing as Hazaar had proved his skills in the trade, he turned to him then asked for him to go home. His son looked at him for a few seconds before nodding his head then doing as he asked of him.

Seeing as he wasn't fully satisfied with what he saw of Bile's hunt, he decided to keep him here for a while longer. He saw to sending all of the animals that were killed to Moas, then calling the mansion to ensure that they were tended in the way that his sons wanted them to be tended in, then sat down. Bile did nothing for a little while; he opened the container of water that he had on him, then drank some of it before bringing his arm up. The puncture marks on his injured limb were washed, then wiped with one of his son's hands, before the container's cap was returned to it. Once them two things were done, his son stood up then went off. He followed him.

They walked for a long time, and took shade whenever they could, before coming upon a river. Like with the water source that was in the area that they appeared in after teleporting here, the river was low—while it wasn't nearly drained of the sustenance that the area depended on, it was half-dry. The area's bird-life seemed to be flocking to it for some relief from the heat; in a way, he understood his son's action in producing a spear then going forward to hunt one of the avians. There was good opportunity here, and plenty to go around in prey-matter; he approved of his son's move in going to hunt one of the birds. He was surprised by how his son handled himself after they reached the area. Instead of running forward, scaring everything in sight, and causing the birds to fly off and his effort to be for nothing, he stalked the animals that they came upon. His every muscle was taunt; his eyes were scanning the span of wildlife before them; his step was sure, and as quiet as could be. Really, when the birds flew and scattered to the unpresent wind, it wasn't his son who caused it. A twig from the river's other side was stepped on, which caused them to take flight.

Bile's spear flew the second the birds did. While it whizzed through air, he imagined it being embedded in soil, or the water of the river, instead of the hide of a bird. He was given another surprise when, instead of that happening, it struck the side of a stork-like bird that just took flight. Bile was going forward to retrieve his prize, which had a black head and neck, and a black and white body, when a growl was heard; right when the predator was seen as emerging from the river's other side, and coming towards both the bird and his son, he rose his rifle. His only reason to bring it was to ensure that his sons stayed safe—if something happened that their inexperienced selves couldn't handle, or get out of the way of, he'd come forward to protect them. Like with his prior attempt to aid Hazaar in keeping safe from the ungulate that he took down, where he wasn't able to get out a shot because the animal and his son were too fast, he found himself as not able to get off a shot. Bile stomped his foot, then grabbed the spear that came up from the ground; once the spear was in his hand, he threw it. Another was produced, which wasn't used. The predator, a beast that looked very much like a domesticated cat, hissed when the thrown spear missed it, but threw water on it; when it saw his son standing over the bird that he killed, it decided its presence wasn't needed. It turned tail then ran off right when his finger started to squeeze the trigger of his rifle. When it was gone, he had to force himself to release the pressure of his finger and then lower his weapon. His son had already removed the spear that was embedded in the bird; in one fell swoop, he grabbed one of the long, pink legs then picked it up. While the bird's black bill crested the water of the river, his son carried it to him. He had no choice but to smile, then nod his head—his oldest son was, indeed, well-trained in the act of hunting, and looked to know well how to protect the things that he brought down. He couldn't help but be proud of him.

"Gramma Ashaklar would about strangle you to death for that." he said after his son reached him.

"Think I'll get it stuffed then send it to her." Bile said.

"Sure on that?" pride swelled in him. For his son to do that said something—he wasn't stingy, or immature, despite the fact of his kill being his.

"Sure. See no reason to not do so."

They went home after he caught and then retrieved the bird. For Bile, he was glad to be back where it was cooler—in the time that he was in India, he bet he lost five pounds. The sweat just rained from him; his shirt was dark, and clinging to his body; and his pants were almost the same way. While his socks were dry, he wanted them, and his boots, off. A good shower, plus some time just sitting naked in his room, sounded like a good thing. He decided to do it after going inside. Before entering the house, which, while not as cool as it was outside, was still cooler than the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, he gave his father his bird; seeing as the man knew what he wanted to do with it, he trusted him to take care of it. His father didn't smite his trust. He sent it to the mansion, then used his cellular to tell one of his employees what he wanted done with it, right after it was given to him.

Unlike Hazaar, who grew to being a bit nervous after seeing the rifle that Lhaklar purchased from Mr. Bonnaire, then signed over to their father, he knew why their father took it from the room that he and their mother slept in. With his not ever seeing them conduct a hunt, or knowing if they were safe or not when they did one, he decided to retrieve it to ensure that they stayed safe during the hobby that they were doing. He felt no nervousness when he was hunting; while the act of going out to hunt was a surprise, and having their father with them an even bigger one, he was glad to of received the word to do so. Now that the man had seen that he and his brother were good to go in the trade, he might decide to let them continue it after the move was made. Two of the five of them had shown him that they knew what they were doing; he was sure that Lazeer, who was somewhere with Efagti, doing the same as he and Hazaar in finding something to hunt, would show his skills and win the favor that he also desired from their sire. Lhaklar, in the coming days, might also win favor from their father when it came to hunting while, with Guyunis, it might take a while longer to do.

"Shit... Guyunis!" Bile stopped, then turned to go back to the house's first level.

A search of the house was done after his adopted brother was thought of. Even though he was tired, and sweaty, and wanted to spend some time in his room alone, he decided to put it off to find the one who he was worried about. On the evening of the third, Guyunis started acting funny; during the days that followed, his odd actions were noticed as not being odd. Something upstairs was tapped, which sent him into another regression—instead of staying in his room, or being extremely sensitive to the old man, Eshal, and Efagti, he started trying to act like a common butler. He collected clothes, then took them down to be washed, dried, and then folded; he set the table, collected the dishes that were eated on or with; cleaned dish after dish while looking over his shoulder, and being tense; and kept asking if he was "needed". Their mother took notice of this change rather quick, and took steps to stop it while everyone else didn't. Eshal, in the days where this regression was strong, was constantly on him about what he was doing; when he spoke to her, she'd come back by trying to correct the way he spoke. On the sixth, their father finally put a stop to that. Efagti was being as supportive as he could with Guyunis; he was also trying to help as much as he could to get him back to how he was before the evening meal of November 3 was consumed. He and his brothers, while understanding the probable reason for this regression, and trying to be normal in some aspects, were doing what they could to keep an eye on him and help him in returning to normal. Before he and Hazaar were called away to do a fatherly supervised yet not supervised hunt, they were playing a hand of cards while keeping an ear trained to the door that went to their brother's room.

Instead of going out to do things with their time, he and his brothers stayed home to look after Guyunis. For the last four days, none of them had done a thing outside or even left the house to do their usual. Except for Lhaklar, who refused to leave the house or do anything outside of it, today, the eighth of November, was the first time in five days that they had done something constructive with their time; up to now, he didn't know the cause behind Lhaklar's adamancy in wanting to stay home. Instead of showing the old man the skills that he had in the hunt, and being away from home, Lhaklar wanted to stick around to keep an ear and eye open on Guyunis. This fact struck him so hard in the face that he came close to tumbling over backwards—he searched the house, from top to bottom, and then around it, frantically before stopping in his tracks then flexing a muscle. The house was so quiet... Surely, Hazaar came here after the old man told him to, and would be here when they came in; to find the house so deserted seemed odd. He was about to call out for someone, with the hope of hearing Guyunis's voice, or something that told him someone was here, when a hand landed on his arm. Once the hand was on him, he jumped then turned. His eyes came close to watering when he saw his sister.

"You okay?" Eshal asked.

"Yeah, just... just wondering where everyone is, and why everything's so quiet." Bile replied.

"Lhaklar and Guyunis went out twenty minutes ago. Hazaar's in his room; seeing as he just got out of the shower, think he's getting dressed. Dad's somewhere, while Uncle Efagti and Lazeer are still out."

"Ma?" stupid question to ask. With it being a Tuesday, and closing in on noon, she wouldn't be home. She was at U-Krop-It; up to when the fourteenth came around, she was to continue working.

"At work. Are you sure you're okay? Look like you've seen a ghost."

"Just worried about Guyunis, is all."

Following the discovery of where everyone was, he went up to do as he wanted. The shower was refreshing, as was the plain act of sitting in his locked room with nothing on; after forty minutes passed, he decided to get up then don something that'd cover him. The shirt was avocado green, and lacking a sleeve while having two tears in the stomach region, while the pants were dark gray. When he went to find himself a pair of socks, he quickly scooped up something that was gray; the boots were his usual pair, which were brown and heavy. Once this was all donned, he went to see if he could find something to listen to. Before popping the Judas Priest CD in his stereo, he unlocked his door; the first song on the disc was just started to play when Lazeer came in with Efagti.

"Tazir should be very proud of his sons—they're smart, and know well how to hunt." Efagti said into his phone.

"Hunt? What's been going on over there—why's the word "hunt" being brought up?" Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki's voice came through the phone loud and clear.

"Tazir decided to see how some of his sons are when they're doing a hunt. Think he got his answer on how Angel trained them."

About ten minutes after getting in from going to Russia, he picked his cellular up then dialed his father's number. Seeing as he just witnessed something fantastic, and just got through disclosing it to his brother, he figured that a call to his father should be done. When Tazir spoke of how he was going to take Bile and Hazaar out somewhere to see how they conducted themselves in a hunt, he decided to see if he'd let him redeem himself by letting him take his youngest son out somewhere to do the same thing. His brother said yes; right after he left with Bile and Hazaar, he took Lazeer to the Pinezhsky Nature Reserve, which was in northern Russia. While a quick trip back to the house was done to get some coats—it was cold in the region where they went, which wouldn't be all that effected by the new climate in the years to come, and they needed something to protect them from the elements—, they fared well in the area and Lazeer did more than prove himself worthy of being given the title of Hunter.

Lazeer produced a spear by stomping on the ground then, not two minutes after having it in his hand, used it. The wolf was small, feminine in structure, and borderline emaciated; her coat, while beautiful and near-black, was mangy in spots, which only added more evidence to her poor health. While the wolf was quickly downed, the Mountain hare took some time to corner and then catch. Lazeer did his utmost best to stalk it before getting fed up—with the animal being highly tuned into its surroundings, there was no way to take it down unnoticed. It took around twenty minutes of plain walking, and freezing their selves into popcicles, before the herd of Saiga's were found. Lazeer showed himself, and his skills, well when he stalked them; he singled out the oldest male in the herd, then got up to within ten yards of it before standing upright then throwing his weapon. The animal, which was oddly face, and around ten pounds underweight, bolted right after the spear struck it. His youngest nephew finished it off with two other spears, which took out one of its legs and went into its stomach.

"I'm getting the head, pelt, and hooves preserved." his nephew said after approaching his kill.

"Think, with its looks, you should do that." he replied.

While the coat was thick, and a pale, grayish-brown color, its head was shaped almost like an Elephant. When he came to within two feet of the thing, he saw that its nostrils were bloated, and dropped down from the face. The horns were fifteen inches long, thick, and slightly translucent; quite curiously, they were wax-colored and had twelve to twenty rings on them. Seeing as the animal was so oddly faced, he snapped a picture of it—Tazir, when he saw it, agreed whole-heartily that the head should be preserved. His brother agreed to preserve the Saiga's pelt and hooves before hearing of how the other animals were caught; when questioned on what he wanted done with them, Lazeer said he just wanted the pelts from them. The rest of the wolf and hare were to be eaten.

"Sounds like Angel's done a better than grand job in teaching them things." his father said after hearing of how his grandson's hunt went. "Which of the boys did some hunting today?"

"Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer." Efagti answered.

"Lhaklar and Guyunis didn't do one?"

"No."

"How are them two? Haven't heard a thing of how they're doing."

"Lhaklar experienced a couple of days of being grounded earlier this month for being smart with his father; he's doing well now, so I think he's learned his lesson on giving respect where it's needed." Efagti answered.

"What caused him to get smart with Tazir?"

"The question on what he's planning to do with the money that he has." Efagti replied. Seeing as it might come up, he spoke on what was learned of what his nephew had in revenue. "Lhaklar's got over six thousand dollars on him. He says he got it from working. Tazir's thinking about putting it somewhere, then letting him spend small amounts of it at a time."

"Think that's a good idea. A boy his age shouldn't have a substantial amount like that on him all the time—it'd make him think he can use it all at once." Cheshire said.

"Don't think that'd happen. Lhaklar's like his brothers in being right smart, and he seems to restrict himself on what he uses each month. Since moving in with Angel and Tazir, I've noticed that it's he who stretches his allowance out the most. At most, he might use twenty or so of what he earns from his job. If something comes up that his family wants to attend, he makes sure to distribute something to everyone so everyone can have a good time."

"Good to know that he's got brains, and thinks of others." Cheshire said. "What of Guyunis? How's he nowadays?"

"He's... experiencing one of his regressions right now. We're doing what we can to get him out of it."

"Be slow with him. You know his history, and that it'll take time for him to—"

"I know, and I think Tazir does too. Eshal's doing well. Acting like the sister that she is."

"Is she treating Guyunis well?"

"She's experiencing some issues with him but nothing out of the ordinary, or that her parents can't handle."

"Keep an eye on things is all I can say." his father said. Two minutes of silence happened between them before the sound of a chair creaking was heard. "Nice to hear from you; I need to go now—still got some issues to tend over here with the courts, but all's well over here. Keep my updated on what's going on over there, and do your best to be nice with everyone. We don't need anything to happen before they move home."

"I will, and I promise to be behaved." Efagti said.

He knew that was only partially true. While his father won most of his court cases, and wasn't to lose his mining license, he was still experiencing some trouble with Mr. Glyonsi. Now, his overseer's wife was coming forward to say that all of her husband's actions were right—a "pay-cut" was done in August; due to the stress that her husband was under, he had no choice but to do as he did with the mine. His father was producing his records of the man's salary, but she continued to run her story. The Glyonsi's had no children, yet Mrs. Glyonsi was saying that the "pay-cut" forced them into shelving some of the funds for their son's tuition; she, who was of the Hyunti race, who could produce up to three children in a span of a thousand years before being prevented from bearing anymore young, was infertile so this claim was very false. While the headaches were still being thrown in court, and his father was dealing with them when they were brought up, the ones at home were minimal.

Phaggo and Blaiga had caused some trouble between themselves with their fighting last month, which their mother treated accordingly. When things started turning in their father's favor in court, they did something with one of the pastures—all of the Almas were released; they were free for all of six hours before being rounded up by the men who their father employed. Following this, one of the horses was "accidentally" released from her paddock. The mare was caught, but not before injuring herself, by their father, who wasn't very happy over seeing one of his horses being allowed to run the area that surrounded their property. Amadh was still experiencing some issues with his hands, but it wasn't as prominent as it use to be; he was said to have another year to year and a half to go before being free of the pain. Their mother was doing what she could to keep things running smoothly in the house, while the two employed men were doing the bulk of the rest with the animals. Phaggo was doing some work, but it was minimal—their father, while getting on him about this, was letting it go now; his brother was expected to get some chores after all the business in court was finished.

His parents knew of what he caused in October. While his mother wanted him to come home right away, his father got on him; no word on his needing to come home was said by him. When he finally did the deed that caused him to be stressed out, then let a few hours to go by following it, he rang his parents up then told them about it. He confided that he had no interest in the humans, or wanted any, and that he learned that he was best to stay clear of them when it came to any sexual impulses; his parents were proud of him for saying that, and for being honest with them in what he did after the "deed" was done. Seeing as he didn't get in a full sexual experience, he took a trip home then found someone who he was more compatible with to sleep with. Following that experience, he felt better. The need for sex was gone, as was the stress that was associated with it.

While things on Zeta Ren were good, and everything looked to be going well here, there was a curious development going on with Tazir. His brother's phone, while still going off, wasn't going off as frequently as it use to; to make up for this, someone was now leaving the house after eleven o'clock came around. When he brought this up to his brother, he was met with a look. Tazir told him to keep his mouth shut on what he saw at night—last night, when he heard the obvious signs of someone leaving the house, he got up then searched the place for the one who was missing. Rather interestingly, everyone was where they were suppose to be. He saw lumps in beds, which he knew were the bodies of his resting relatives, and he heard the sounds procured by one who was sleeping; he couldn't come up with an explanation for why he was hearing them sounds. While he thought he should mention what he was hearing at night to his parents, he was keeping his mouth shut and doing as his brother wanted him to in not spreading around what he was hearing.

"Probably the house just settling into its foundation." he told himself last night, after searching the house then finding everyone in it. "Nothing abnormal with that—this place has to be young, and not yet set on where it was built on. New places make all sorts of sounds, as do old ones."

He was just returning his phone to his pocket when the sound of a commotion was heard outside. With it heading on the hour when Angel came in from work, he assumed that she just rolled in and one or more of her children went over to speak with her. Following the sounds of the commotion, he got up then started the process of going upstairs. If Angel was home, he'd say hello after she was situated; right now, he needed to put some of his things in his duffel bag and suitcase—with there being nine days left of his being here, he didn't want to be the last one out of the house or off the planet.

"Finally decided to come out, and show the world how ugly you are?" Petra Klied was asking Guyunis when Efagti decided to go upstairs then pack some of his things.

With there being so few days ahead of them where they could visit the area's dumps, then scavenge for things to either bring home to clean then keep or give to their family, or sell in a flea market, they decided to go to the dump in Au am Rhein. Even though they restricted themselves to what they decided to bring home, they still found something to impress the ones in their household. Guyunis, who turned into such a wreck after the seating arrangements at the table were changed, didn't throw up a fuss or even become nervous when the suggestion was made; the same went when they reached the dump. He was the old returned brother that he knew and loved; he thanked the Gods for that because he didn't like the regressions, or his brother experiencing them.

Following the discovery of what they found, they left the dump then went to the Ulala ice cream shop. He basically kept his brother away from home until just before their mother came in from work; the hope was that some time away from home, which wouldn't be home for much longer, would cheer his brother up and cause him to return to how he use to be. Up to their homecoming, that looked to not be happening.

Right after teleporting in, they were stopped by their neighbor's daughter. Petra ran over like a marathon runner then started putting her hands on his brother, who shrank back at once. Along with slapping him on the arms, back, and stomach, she was taunting him. He, LhaklarVile Close Surfeit, the second oldest of his mother's offspring, and Guyunis's brother, was trying his best to keep things from escalated into that red zone. Guyunis was behind him, and he was offering himself as the victim; Petra, rather surprisingly, was ignoring him. Even though he pushed her back twice, and snapped at her to leave them be, she kept coming. Where was an adult when you needed one, or Bile, for that matter? If one or the other had come out, or was out, then came over to stop this from happening, or get Petra's attention, he would of been able to get Guyunis inside and then calmed down. There was no adult, or Bile, out here; he was on his own on this one.

"Leave my little brother be!" Lhaklar said to Petra when she reached around him then gave Guyunis a shove, which she perceived as playful.

"Wha-k-t is your problem?" Guyunis finally found his voice. Up to that moment, he was silent in a vocal sense.

"You, ha!" Petra laughed. When she lunged past Lhaklar, she made sure to trip him. Once he fell, she went for Guyunis; a "playful" slap to the thigh was given, then Guyunis's torn jeans were grabbed and then pulled, before one of the links of chain that he wore were snatched. Petra was in the process of pulling Guyunis down to her eye-level when the door to the abode that he lived in opened and TazirVile stepped out. TazirVile was fast in going to the aid of the boy who was being assaulted.

"That is enough." the man said after prying Petra's fingers from the length of chain that ran from the one that wrapped after Guyunis's shoulders. Petra gave him a look before trying to go around him; TazirVile was in the process of barring her from doing as she wanted when his wife's car was seen as driving past. "Miss. Klied—"

"She needs to be thrown in an insane asylum, man!" Guyunis exclaimed. "Always gunning for me, or looking to bring-k me down."

"Yes, seems that whenever he's outside when she is, or around her when he's in town, she makes an effort to drive him insane." Lhaklar said after getting up from the ground. Even though his mother was out of her car, she hadn't come in to stop what was going on; she was standing nearby, so she knew what was happening.

"I do not." Petra sniffed. "And, if I do, what's it to you?"

"He's my brother, it's my job to—"

"Yeah, yeah. I only do what I am because he's so ugly, and—"

"You have a thing for him."

In the months that he and his family were living under the same roof, he had noticed a few things about the girl before him that were both normal and not normal. Guyunis was a frequent talker of her; whenever they sat to supper, he'd mention how she picked on him when they saw one another. She continuously called him ugly and stupid; she slapped at him, or drove him crazy by following him around; she pulled at the things that he was wearing; and she tried to take what he had in his hands. On some occasions, she even threw what she had in her cup at him; a few weeks ago, when Guyunis was seeing a movie with Bile in the local town's movie theater, she dumped the whole of her popcorn on his head then gave him a smile before moving off. He wasn't sure if Guyunis knew or not but the girl was exhibiting the typical signs of having secret feelings for him—even though he knew this, and accepted some aspects of how it was expressed, he was still amazed by how some girls went by showing it.

Some were right nice. They treated the ones who they were interested in like a prince, and did what they could to make them happy. Some tried to put as much distance between them and the one who they had a crush on as they could. These girls, while doing the acting-out thing when they found themselves as being near that person, weren't negative or angry-acting. Some broke out in a sweat when they were close to the one who they liked, then started stammering when they were spoken to by that someone; while they experienced a degree of embarrasment from this, they didn't show any negativity to the one who they liked. The ones who were hostile towards the ones who they harbored feelings for were the ones who confused him. They drove the boy crazy with their actions, and drove him away from them, and caused their reputation to shrink in the process; even though they knew the wrong in their actions, they continued to do it. Sometimes, he liked to call it Teenage Retardity; on other occasions, he just said it was a form of female-on-male bullying. In Miss. Petra Klied's case, he saw no TR in her or her actions. She was a bully. Point blank.

When Eshal was starting in on her teenage years, he took her to the side then spoke to her on how she was to express her feelings with one of the male gender. His daughter wasn't to be mean, or hostile, with the one she harbored feelings for; if he found that she did this, he wasn't to look away or not do something to stop it. Eshal was to be presentable, and retain her and her family's image and reputation by being nice; if she couldn't do that, then she was to walk away from the one who she liked. She was to stay away over being unruly; his daughter understood this when he told her it, and was applying it when she felt the feelings of liking one grip her. Since becoming a teenager, Eshal had experienced many periods of liking another. Not once had she expressed any negative actions, or spoken low of that person; she was doing as he told her to when he spoke to her that evening after she turned thirteen hundred years of age.

Either Angel hadn't spoken to the boys on how crushes were handled by the genders or, if she did, they didn't take it in. None of the boys were connecting the dots on Petra's actions, and Guyunis had surely not acted like one who knew what was going on. He hoped that, by his coming in to stop what was going on, and then exposing what he knew, the boy would know what was going on and, possibly, do something to stop it.

"What?" Guyunis said. He gave him an odd look, then turned to look at Petra.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Petra looked over to the side. Her refusal to look anyone in the eye condemned her to what he just exposed.

"Course you do. You can't leave this boy be because you like him, and are showing it by being mean." TazirVile said.

"I do not, and am not. If he wasn't walking around, looking like he owned everything in sight, I wouldn't—" Petra started to say.

"I haven-k-t been actin' like I own everything in sigh-k-t. I'm just being-k me." Guyunis said.

"The way you're doing it is wrong." Petra shot.

"He looks to be a well-behaved boy, and doesn't seem to do anything when he's out and about." TazirVile said. When Petra gave him a hot look, he smiled then said, "And now you're reacting to my exposing your secret, and am trying to cover it up by trying to intimidate me."

"I am not! You're trying to impose something on me, and make me look like a fool, which isn't working."

"Think you're doing-k that yourself." Guyunis said. He walked towards the house then, when he reached the porch, stopped. He turned around then, smiling broadly, and looking very calm in the face, said," I'm flattered but, if wha-k-t he says is true, and you do like me, I suggest tha-k-t you forget it. You're pretty, and your family is nice, but I don-k-t much like how you've treated me."

Lhaklar followed Guyunis into the house, then Angel went in. He followed them right when Petra gave the sound of a sob then turned to run back to her own. It wouldn't surprise him if he found that she went straight up to her room then flopped down on her bed, or cried her eyes out afterwards; with Guyunis not returning her feelings, and her secret being exposed, it seemed the right thing for her to do.