Serek galloped and hopped through the bones and stones. He was inquisitive and curious and restless. He was growing bigger now, bigger then his siblings. Almost half of Mother's height and he was still young. He was starting to get very restless. He wanted to run and leap and gallop away. But at the same time he was afraid of getting too far from Mother. But maybe this one time he would get out, just explore a little bit...

He stumbled when he heard a snap and whipped around, his heart beating. He had stepped on a very thin bone and it had broken under the force of his back hoof. He looked back. Why were his back legs different from his front? Mother didn't have different feet and neither did the Siblings Vinea and Skeena. At the thought of his siblings, guilt fluttered at his chest. He promised to protect the small one, protect from Sibling Vinea. How could he protect so far away?

No, Sibling Skeena would be fine. They were fine. Mother could take care of them. Mother could do anything!

So Serek shook off the fear and surprise of the bone cracking and continued to hop through the bones, enjoying the feeling of stretching his legs and running as fast as he liked without having to wait for the Siblings and Mother to catch up.

Serek almost jumped when he caught movement in the corner of his eyes and, suddenly, a dog was tumbling down in front of him. He stepped back, his hackles raising as he started to growl. Mother had warned them to be careful. Enemies were everywhere, everything. Many things would want to prey on them, kill them, devour them. This was probably one of them.

But then it greeted him and he stopped growling. It was young, like him. And it didn't sound scary. Sibling Vinea was scary. This was not as scary as Sibling Vinea.

"H-hello?" What did that word mean? He had never heard it spoken before. Perhaps it meant something to the dog. So he stood tall and glared at it, not knowing what he was speaking and snarled, "Hello." His voice was intimidating, warning this dog that if it attacked, he would fight back.

Serek stepped back as it got close and was wary of the wide smile it was giving him. Should he trust it? It seemed okay. Besides, even though it had some sharp teeth...very sharp teeth, it didn't seem to be using them for intimidation. It almost seemed to be...smiling at him.

He cocked his head and became very confused at the sudden barrage of speech. He was still learning to listen and was at first a bit confused, trying to figure out what it was saying. It was called Malachai but he could call it Mal. That was weird. Maybe it was like how Mother's name was Giggle but they called her Mother. He hadn't heard before the questions it posed and it took him a few moments to work out what they meant.

"Serek. I am Serek." Yes, that is what his name was, the name he gave to Mother on his first day. But what he was? He had never thought of it before. Mother had never told him and it had never seemed inportant. He had many of the same features as Mother - the spots and ears, the shape and feet. He shrugged. "I am Serek," he repeated, unsure of what else to say about himself.