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The small mongoose frantically ran across the open plane. It wasn’t going to be able to make it back to the safety of its burrow tonight. The dangerously cold wind howled, sending a chill up the small vertebrate’s spine. The mongoose spotted a small crack in the earth and ran to seek its shelter. It was warm. It was dry. It was dark. Worried, but exhausted, the mongoose soon fell asleep. As day broke the sun stretched its warm rays across the earth. It warmed the mongoose, but it also warmed something which had remained unseen in the dark.

“Ssssssss,” came a hiss from the opposite end of the shelter. A cobra slowly rose and made itself as big as possible by spreading wide it’s hood. Every muscle in its long body tensed, preparing to strike at the threat which had invaded in the dark of night.

“Grrrrrrr,” the mongoose snarled from all fours, lowering its head readying for a counter attack. 

Before a word was uttered, the two animals launched themselves at one another. The cobra, with its lightning fast movement, landed the first strike. It injected lethal venom into the mongoose’s bloodstream. The cobra, named Omala, sneered knowing it would not be long before its opponent was writhing in pain. But Azibo, the mongoose, stood firm its ground. 

As lightning fast as the cobra had struck, the mongoose leapt at the snake, grabbing it in its teeth and capable claws. Azibo hurled the snake from the hole in order to utilize the advantage of a wider space for battle. As the mongoose emerged from the crevice he saw the cobra, now stretched like a pillar, standing an impressive five feet in the sky. Omala hissed more ferociously than before and dropped to the ground encircling Azibo. With the extensive length of his strong body he quickly wrapped himself around the torso of the mongoose and began to squeeze. Azibo felt the restriction of air from his lungs, and before the cobra could fully lock in its grasp, wriggled loose. 

“Do your worst, snake,” Azibo invited the cobra. “But your poisonous venom will never harm me!”

“Well then, let usss sssee how many strikesss you can endure from my fangs alone,” Omala countered.

As the two animals set themselves to a mutually harmful encounter, a spark caught their eyes. Each remained keen to continue their assault for superiority when another spark flashed. Followed by another and another. The breeze picked up. The sparks now danced around them in a counter clockwise fashion. They appeared larger, faster, and more frequently until the pair were surrounded in heat and wind. They both cowered in fear of what was to come. Then suddenly, a bright flash occurred, temporarily blinding them both. The wind immediately calmed and Azibo found himself pinned to the ground in a sharp and unyielding embrace. Omala felt the sting of larger teeth than his own wrap themselves around the back of his head pinning his hood against his face. Neither of the warring animals could any longer move.

As the dust and smoke dissipated Azibo struggled against what he could now see were antlers upon the head of a rabbit. Omala could see nothing but the ground beneath him but deduced that some sort of canine had careful but firm grasp of his head. 

“Stop,” the horned rabbit demanded of the mongoose. “Stop your struggling. Stop your fighting. Can you not see it is in vain?”

Azibo struggled against the mighty horns of the jackelope but only found himself pushed further into the earth. The mongoose could not break free and conceded.

“Why do you care about a quarrel,” asked Azibo. 

“I care because the two of you need to learn. Each of you believes you are in the right, that you are superior, when in reality you’re just different. You have different talents, different skill sets. You need to learn that you are both needed. This world needs all of us and our differences. But if you’re constantly in battle,” Mashda, the jackelope, continued and readjusted her antlers against the mongoose trying once again to escape. “If you are constantly in struggle how can you ever discover the truth? Without the warmth of one another, do you think you would have survived that storm last night?” 

“How do you know about the ssstorm?” Came an apprehensive hiss from Omala, still immobilized in a toothed embrace. 

At this, the cobra was dropped to the ground, but before it could move, two strong black paws pinned it down; one just below its jaw, the other just beneath the base of its hood. Omala the cobra could still move no more than Azibo the mongoose could. 

“It cannot be,” Omala cast his small eyes at the creature that now stood over him. A large black and embered orange animal was pinning him to the ground. “The fire fox,” he said in dismay. 

“I am she,” a gentle voice responded. “Mashda here, she is a friend of the wind,” the fire fox gestured toward the jackelope. “And you, you Omala,” the fox, known as Agnija, continued,  “your venom can kill almost every living creature, yet here is one who stands immune to it.  Yet still you bite. Azibo, you are immune to this venom and yet still you entice it? What gain can either of you receive from this quarrel?” 

“I wasn’t looking for a fight, I wasss simply defending my home,” Omala divulged.

“I was just trying to survive,” Azibo admitted.

“Yet, as Mashda pointed out, you launched yourselves at one another simply because of a perceived threat. Ready to fight to the death, not understanding you needed one another to survive.” The fire fox released the snake from her paws as she made her point. 

“It was no accident you two were placed together,” Agnija explained. “We have come for your help. I am not asking you befriend one another but I am demanding you peaceably co-exist because there are bigger problems on the horizon. Problems that can only be solved if we stick together; if we all work with one another. I have sparked back into existence many times and each time has been for a purpose. Each time I have needed help. This time I need you. We need you. And you need each other.”

“What is coming,” asked Azibo as he stood and shook the dust from his coat.

“What indeed,” answered Agnija.