Chapter 1
But the creatures did not die.   They survived to have offspring and from these young came the seeds of what would one day be one of the most different species groups ever.  Over the millennia they evolved and slowly they became the ultimate predator of Gaia, which they called ‘Earth’.  Slowly they spread across the globe, by sea, land and eventually, air.  They were intelligent, as Andromeda had predicted.  But more so, as they could use their hands which let them master the horses of Gaia, which in turn brought them the world.  They evolved slowly but surely and proved to be hardy.  Other creatures began to evolve with them, forgetting their wild hearts.   With tools and weaponry in one hand and the reins of a horse in the other, the human being improved with leaps and bounds until no longer did they need the faithful horse, which had carried them so far and so long.  
Human kind wanted to learn, to know everything about the universe.  They wanted to have answers for all the ‘Whys?’, but as they grew, they became destructive to the environment of Earth until finally, in a dire attempt to get rid of some of their own population without killing them, they sent a space ship called the U.N.E Griffin on a journey of exploration to a far off world.  
The Griffin contained five scientists, a survival expert and a stowaway thief called Sarah.  The scientific team were blissfully unaware that anyone occupied the spare deep-sleep tube, every single one of the humans was in a dreamland that they would not escape until the timer finally stopped.  Luckily for Sarah, even the spare tube had been programmed the same as the others and in it she lay, in a sort of dreaming trance.
Her organs and muscles were kept the way they had been when she had first slipped into the tube.  Her heart beat at a steady rhythm, one beat per thirty seconds.  It too was kept the same age it had been when Sarah had gone to sleep, some twenty-three years before.   Her brain was in a sort of stasis and her mind was kept busy by endless dreams.
Seventeen year old Sarah had no last name.  Her whole life she’d been a thief, from before she could remember.  It was from other thieves that she had received her education.  They had taught her to read, write, and speak in the thief’s code.   She was excellent at art and could re-draw a blueprint exactly as she’d seen it many hours before.   But the life of a thief was a hard one and as she’d became better and better at getting what she needed to survive through trickery, the authorities had searched harder and harder.   But it wasn’t just food and clothing she stole.  Sometimes a crime lord would find her and have a Job involving a lot of cash and danger.  In her life she’d stolen normal items like jets and cars, but once she’d stolen a famous race horse.  
She looked back on that occasion with a smile.  The horse, called Domino Effect, had been a beautiful black filly with white socks and a star.  Sarah had loved being with the young champion because for once she could relax and just pet something. Sarah had watched the horse’s owner for several weeks before she’d stolen Domino, noting all the ways in and out to the stables. It had been fool’s play to steal the horse. No one had even guarded her and the security cameras had been easily dispatched. After seeing Domino to her new ‘owner,’ Sarah had been paid very well and hadn’t had to steal anything big for half a year.
Through the passages of the dreams she wondered again why it had all had to happen and why on Earth had she decided to leave her home planet for the unknown.   Sarah had simply started to get tired of her life as a crook and had wanted a new start, in a place where people didn’t know her and didn’t care.
Sarah suddenly felt something in her leg and her mind reeled with excitement.  Was she finally going to be free of this sleeping prison?  The sensation of wakefulness spread upwards from her toes and into her thighs.   There was a jolt and she felt her heart begin to slowly speed up it’s pace.  The waking feeling hit her spine like a chain reaction and suddenly she was breathing
deeply, her brain was becoming alert and the numbness in her bones was disappearing.  Her abdomen warmed and she felt hungry again.  How wonderful it was to be awake!  Sarah opened her eyes as the tube slid open and she hesitantly took her first step in all those years and floated in the weightlessness of space.  
A view screen showed a planet that looked much like Earth that was slowly becoming bigger and bigger.  The only difference between the two planets was the shapes of the continents and the lack of scars from human habitation. Sarah touched her foot to the floor and moved towards the screen.  The planet glittered like a many coloured gem and it was hard to believe that it was a planet at all.  White swirls of cloud scudded across the planet’s atmosphere like a graceful dance.  A far away moon was indicated on the scanner but sadly, it was out of sight on the opposite side of the world.  The scanner also indicated two other blips and for a moment Sarah tried to seek them out.  
However, no matter how hard she tried, the real version of the blips went unseen.  There was a sighing sound behind her and before she could turn and hide, a dirt blond young man stepped out of his tube and turned blue eyes upon her.
“Hi.  My name’s Zack, how come I’ve never seen you before?” he asked.  Sarah had expected him to yell at her but apparently he was quite delighted to see somebody new.
“I’m S-Sarah.” she stuttered looking him up and down.  Suddenly realising that her beret, the only thing that she actually could say was hers originally, was floating a foot away from her head, she snatched at it and tried to smile.  
“I bet you’re wondering why I don’t care somebody I’ve never seen before is here right?” he asked seeing her nervous expression.  Sarah nodded dumbly, trying to absorb the fact that he didn’t want to turn around the ship and dump her in some prison back home.
“I’ve known the exact same people all my life and so have my friends.  You’ve just
provided us a chance to meet somebody new.  Also, this is a priority mission, no one is going to stop it just because of a stowaway.” he explained.  “I guess I should tell you what I am right?”
Sarah didn’t answer, she was still too busy staring at him.
He grinned at her encouragingly and she nodded, still feeling stunned.
“I’m Zachary Fletch, the survival expert.  I can survive anywhere except space.” he bragged.  Sarah was used to cocky people, despite the fact that she didn’t like them.  Though she had liked the young guy at first, now she disliked him.  Presently there was another swoosh and a women, who, like the man, looked about the same age as Sarah.  This women was tall with hair so blonde it was almost white.  Like Zack she seemed genuinely excited to see someone she didn’t know.
“Hi! I’m Samantha Tapps,  biologist extraordinaire!  I have to say, I’m very pleased to have the chance to meet somebody new!” Samantha had a nice voice, with a slight Australian lilt to it.  Sarah liked Samantha immediately, though the level of excitement in Samantha’s voice slightly creeped her out.  
“Hi.” Sarah said shyly, feeling slightly dazed.  
The introductions went slowly but surely as every ten minutes an expert was awakened.  There was Davis, a seismotologest and geologist, Mack, a big hearted Canadian who loved plants.  The two other women were a fiery red head named Tyra and a friendly volcanologist with oriental backgrounds called River.  
As it turned out, the scientists and the expert had apparently all been deprived from a young age of friends outside their circle and were now excruciatingly excited to see if they had what it takes to make friends with some one they hadn’t grown up with.  So now, as they probably viewed everything in life, they were ready to experiment, using Sarah in their weird attempt to understand the why’s of friendship.  Understandably, the thief felt a bit like a lab animal.
River and Tyra seemed the sanest of the bunch.  Tyra was the space expert and was the pilot of the Griffin.  She was also the team’s astrologist and was completely happy to deal with what she viewed as a stable subject.   Tyra also specialized in meteorology and was going over a
rough map of the planet’s weather patterns.   Finally she looked up and programmed a set of coordinates into the Griffin’s navigational systems.   Tyra nodded to River and she turned to the group.
“Alright, this is it.  We’d better get on flight suits and wish for the best.  Good luck to you all.” River ordered.  The next second Sarah found herself being ushered to a closet and being helped into the spare flight suit.  Samantha grinned broadly at her.
“Now go sit down and strap yourself in real tight.” Samantha told her.  
Sarah felt slightly sad as she strapped herself into the extra seat.  It was as if the ship had been designed to carry one more passenger.  Sarah knew she would miss the weightlessness of space.  It had been fun while it lasted.
When they were buckled in, Tyra began the count down.
“Commencing landing procedures in ‘T’ minus ten, nine, eight…” Tyra said clearly.
Sarah felt the first stirrings of forewarning as they plunged towards the alien world. Her neck prickled, even though she knew there was nobody else but them in the cockpit.
“…seven, six, five, four, three, two, one-”
There was a great roaring of the engines and Sarah was thrust back into her seat as they surged straight at the fiery ozone layer that protected the atmosphere from too much sun and unwanted objects.
*
Kayli trotted along the ridge overlooking the northern Sapphire Sea, nose close to the ground and only caring about one thing - food!  It had been nearly a week since she’d last eaten and now she was hungry again.  Kayli was a falcolf, albeit only a young one, already she could fly, spit fire and breath underwater.  She was also quite venomous despite her young age and like all female falcolfs, knew how to hiss poisonously at males twice her size.  
Kayli would’ve been hunting for her tribe but unfortunately she couldn’t hunt.  It wasn’t
that she was unable to track and kill something physically, it was simply the fact that Kayli had been born with the highly annoying ability to understand anything that crossed her path.  She simply couldn’t bring herself to prey on something that was telling her flatly that if she ate it, a family of young would starve.  
Kayli was seventeen summers, which, by falcolf standards, meant she was still a pup and would be for another eight hot seasons.   At twenty-five she would be mature and her adoptive tribe would probably rejoice at being able to legally kick her out.  Until then Kayli would have to bear the angry looks, the haughty glares and just try to survive.  Because she didn’t hunt, no adult falcolf was willing to give her food or protect her.  
But it wasn’t just that she didn’t hunt that bothered her own kind, it was how she had come to the tribe.  The platinum furred priest of her tribe, Kasha, never spoke of it, and would get highly annoyed whenever she asked.  Nobody else in her tribe would speak of it either and she’d learned that if she asked someone, she’d get a quick nip on the ear for her trouble and a firm reprimand. Not even her peers, whom despised her, would say anything.
Kayli’s fur was a normal enough colour, a glorious chestnut gold wherever there wasn’t black or white.  Her wings too, were perfectly normal, sharply angled like that of a falcon.   Her facial markings and stripe patterns were completely alien to her tribe but unlike her eyes, this did not concern them in the least.  
Because of the as yet unknown yet apparently peculiar way she’d been found and her eyes, she’d been given the name ‘Kayli’, in honour of Lord Kayoss.  But nobody had given her a kin
name, because you had to know the name of your parents to have a kin name.
Presently a new scent came to her quivering nostrils, a terrible smell which stank of toxins unknown.  Kayli curled her lip in distaste and continued down the trail half mindedly making her way to the sea where she would surely find something to eat.   Then she heard it, a loud hissing
roar, coming towards her.  Instinctively she froze and watched as a highflying speck appeared on the horizon.  The alkaline stench grew stronger and finally, breaking her composure she tilted her head and ears towards the thing.  It grew bigger as it flew lower and closer, seemingly without effort.  Forgetting her instincts Kayli trotted to a high place on the ridge to let her nose probe the breeze openly.  All her senses seemed to be working overtime as she struggled to figure out what the thing could be.   
When it was close she realised that it was about the size of a wind drake.   It landed in the grassy flatlands near the sea.  Then, to Kayli’s immense surprise, a mouth opened on it’s side and seven immensely ugly bipedal creatures walked out.  One of them held a colourful banner attached to a stick which it drove into the ground.  Then all the creatures gathered around it.
Fascinated, Kayli broke into a lope, moving stealthily but swiftly towards the thing.   Then she crouched when she was within earshot and listened.  Though she couldn’t understand what they were saying yet, she was counting on the fact that within several minutes of listening she’d know their language.  It always worked that way.   She listened to their odd droning language as her eyes examined their body movements.
They were at ease, forepaws clenched behind their backs and legs spread shoulder width apart.  One of them, who was wearing different fur, was more alert and it’s eyes swept the area around them.  It was a tall female creature with dark brown head hair like a mane and green eyes that sparked intelligence.  
Then, at a signal from one of the males the creature’s feet sprang together and then their
arms moved swiftly to their sides.  The same male barked an order and each one of the creatures swiftly moved their right forepaw to rest right beside their heads.  Then the paws snapped back to their sides.   Then at yet another painfully loud order they moved their right hind paws back in unison and walked back to the huge silver thing’s mouth that they had came from, leaving behind
the banner.   Three of them, including the alert female walked off towards the ocean.  
Feeling curious and since she’d been planning on going that way anyway, Kayli followed.  It was then that she sensed it.  With a whimper she obeyed the order and ran back towards the ridge, running flat out.   She was on the top when she realised the creatures were still moving towards the ocean.
“No! Not that way!” she cried, but a wind coming from the north swept her voice away.  
*
Sarah was feeling quite happy as she, Samantha and Zack made their way to the sea shore.  While the two scientists gathered samples of nearly everything in sight, she made her way to an out cropping of rocks.  She sat down and smiled as the sun beamed down on her face.  It was so nice to just sit and bathe in the solar warmth.  Sarah peered over to her right to see a small animal standing stiffly on it’s hind legs, it’s head pointed towards the sea.
It’s body was like a mouse’s and it’s tail was long and feathery, like a chipmunk’s.   Large, feathery wings were attached to it at the shoulder and they were spread, as if in alarm.  The creature had steel grey fur and feathers with black stripes running down it’s flanks.  The dark tipped ears were fully forwards and the small, shiny black nose was quivering.  The creature’s black, shoe-button eyes were fixed on the sea.
With a rough hand signal she told Samantha and Zack about the creature.  They stalked closer, trying to be as silent as possible.  Samantha looked her in the eye and mouthed “Catch it if you can!”  Sarah nodded, leaned forwards and closed her fingers around the creature’s furry little
midriff.  At once it was squealing and scrabbling at her hands trying desperately to break free.  It’s wings flapped uselessly against her hands as she tightened her hold and stroked it’s head with one finger.
“Wow!  I wonder if it can actually fly?” Zack pondered aloud.
“Probably not, it doesn’t have the right build.” said Samantha dismissively.
“Still, it sure is cute.” Sarah said with a sigh.  The creature’s claws hurt but it was worth it to just hold this strange animal, which no one else had ever held before, or even seen.
“I wonder why it’s fighting like that… usually creatures that have never seen humans don’t know what to think so they aren’t really scared.  This ‘lil guy seems absolutely terrified.”  said Samantha as she bent closer to peer at it’s head.  It squeaked urgently at it’s captors, as if trying to ask them to set it free.  
“What’s wrong, little guy?  We promise we’re not going to hurt you.” crooned Zack.  
Suddenly they were all on the ground.  The little creature was squeaking unhappily as soon as Sarah relaxed her hold and it zoomed away, proving that it could fly.   Sarah rubbed her sore hip and looked around.  Samantha and Zack looked as pale as she felt she looked.
“Alright, what the hell was that?” she asked fiercely.
As if to answer her, the ground bucked again, and the three humans were left gripping the rocks as the shaking continued.  Sarah held on tightly, her mind working in overtime.  Was this a earthquake?  If so, what type of damage would it do to the ship and the rest of the team?  
The terrible shaking stopped and Sarah felt something cold touch the scruff of her neck.  
“Get up!” growled a strange, female voice.  “Get up!  Do you want to drown?”
“Drown?” Sarah gasped out, hearing her voice, Zack and Samantha got up.  Both looked shaky and they went even paler when they saw what had spoken.  Sarah too, felt the blood drain from her face.  A winged, wolf like animal was standing only a foot away from her.  It bared it’s
teeth warningly.  
“Shut up and follow me!” it ordered.  It broke into a run, heading for a ridge not far away.
Breathlessly they followed, staggering as their weakened legs hit the soft sand.  They didn’t think, they just ran.   Breathing hard and clutching at stitches in their sides they collapsed on
the top of the ridge.  Their rescuer halted and looked at the ocean, appearing transfixed.  Sarah looked at the ocean and gasped in horror.  A steadily growing, already huge wave was speeding towards the shore where they had just been.  
Sarah looked down at the Griffin, which she realised, wasn’t safe in the least.  Samantha appeared to have seen what was to happen too because suddenly she was sprinting down the ridge towards the ship, yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Samantha, no!” yelled Zack, still clutching at his side.  “No! Come back! You’ll drown!”  
But Samantha was out of earshot already.  She pounded towards the Griffin screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Samantha! Come back!!” Sarah called joining in the hopeless cry.   Beside her the creature watched what was happening with a hunter’s calm gaze that surveyed the scene calmly and without consequence.
The wall of rushing seawater hit the Griffin and Samantha almost at the same time.   Samantha disappeared immediately and Zack gave a raking sob.   The U.N.E. Griffin moved almost boat like along with the water, then, as the wave drew back, it took the ship with it, dragging it onto what was left of a sand dune.   For long minutes nothing happened and Sarah began to think that the horrific event was over.   She was about to move to investigate when yet another giant wave came, grabbed the Griffin and carried it quickly out to sea.  
“Noooooooooo!” yelled Zack. “No.” he sobbed.  Sarah felt awkward yet sorry for him who
all gone.  
They sat down and watched as three smaller waves scraped at the lowlands.  Sarah recounted at how lucky she was, wondering if perhaps it was more of the thief’s luck that she’d always had.  But then it hit her.  
She and Zack were no more unlucky than the scientists that had surely drowned.   They
were stuck here, with no food, no water, no warm clothing and no shelter.  All she herself had were a small dagger, a belt, shoes, jeans, a cotton shirt, a hair tie and a beret.  There was no way to call for help and even if there was, if would be impossible for help to come in time to save them anyway.  They were trapped in an untamed, human-less world with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a single, insignificant little dagger that might as well of been called a butter knife for the use it would bring them.
How could they possibly survive?  In reality their death would be worse than that of their comrades.  Theirs would be long and painful.   Within three days they would die of thirst if they couldn’t find water.  Even if they did, they would have at the most three months to try to find out what was edible and what wasn’t - or die.
*