She of the Sea and He of the Sand

Isabella was tired of the cold, the wind and the storm. Even after that great storm had passed the land was still oddly cold. It was a good place to train but she had done enough training there recently, it was time to change and there was no change as so great as to go back to the dunes. A sudden and extreme change would be a great challenge anyway, and it was such a pleasant and lonely place. Or so she thought it was lonely until she decided to scale to the top of a dune.

At its peak there was a creature, no longer than 8 inches resting with what looked like a smile on its face. The little thing's eyes were wide open, they were dark black with green swirls running through them that reminded her of a turtle?s shell. The things' pupils were silted. It was clearly a lizard of some sort, angled head, legs spread around it rather than under it, long tail scales that looked more like a smooth skin with bumps her and there rather than scales. The lizard's pattern was yellow and black, from spade shaped head to fat tail.

Turing its head to Isabella it opened its mouth. Isabella looked at the lizard, no lizard could speak wolf right? Maybe it was threatening her. "Well you're a brave one aren't you?" She said aloud joking in her one way. "Brave am I? How kind of you Wolf." It said without missing a beat. Not much could surprise Isabella but a lizard who suddenly spoke? That made the fox like she wolf?s fur rise and she even jumped back a bit. The little lizard laughed at that creature laugh. "Oh my! That one always gets the Jackals! But you? One as small as me scaring you! That is hilarious.? The lizard laughed in a raspy voice, moth wide open with what looked for all the world like a smile on his face.

Isabella relaxed while he laughed getting herself back to her calm looking state. She wasn't calm though, she was angry at herself for being so jumpy even if it was incredibly unexpected. She was also angry at the lizard but did not show it, at least not in anything but her icy eyes that stared the lizard down like it was a snack. This made the lizard slowly stop his laughter and look at Isabella. ?Oh I am sorry She-Wolf, but think it this way, what if you scared a bear? Would you not laugh.? Isabella stared at the lizard silently receiving a sigh from him.

?Well, not the humorous sort huh? Either way, you Madam are no Jackal, what are you doing here Wolf?" Isabella tilted her head, a real solid tilt. "I...would think I am dreaming here but I have seen stranger things Lizard. I came here for the warmth." The creature laughed. "Funny, I thought you were built for cold." Isabella almost rolled her eyes, was everything humors to this lizard? "Well we are, but not all of us like it. You are built for warm, do you like cold?" The creature paused. "Well...it gets cold here at night but that is extreme cold. I don't really know if I like normal cold or not. What is it like?" "Cold is...something you must feel for yourself."

The creature moved to Isabella's paw nosing her fur. "Well then Madam Wolf, I have a fantastic idea. Why don't you take me to the cold, or to all kinds of other places! I mean you wolves should be social, but you don?t have to be social with other wolves. Besides you seem a bit?well like you need a good laugh or two in your life. Consider my offer an apology for startling you. I?m Alphonso by the way, a humble leopard gecko, not just a lizard." Isabella watched the creature nudge her paw, it was brave she gave it that. "Being social with something that could be a snack? Well, I must say as angry as I am with you I am not one to turn and hurt those I am angry with unless I have good cause. And trying to apologize is very noble; I do get lonely from time to time.? She paused a moment trailing off as she thought over her options before speaking again. ?But you need to stay warm don't you Alphonso? I suppose...you are rather small you could certainly hide in my fur. Mind you, I am not a very sociable wolf but you are...interesting. I rather like interesting things. Besides, if you have learned wolf, you must be quite smart, perhaps you can teach me gecko. Learning is one of my favorite things you see. It would make for entertainment and for knowledge when I seek it."

At this point Isabella had completely regained herself, Alphonso noticed but did not mind, it seemed her way to be calm and he had done enough to shake her out of that after all and she seemed nice, logical and curious. A good companion indeed. "Fine, we shall make a grand pair Madam Wolf." Isabella nodded as she lowered herself to the ground allowing the gecko to crawl onto her back and find a place between her shoulders. "Yes, and it is not 'Wolf' it is Isabella VentFlurrer." Alphonso got comfortable and laughed. "Stuffy name eh? Almost as stuffy as mine I'll call you....Izzy." Isabella twitched an ear. "Really now, that's so informal." she said as calm as ever. "Ah, yet I am going to practically live in your fur, wouldn't' that make us rather informal?" Isabella looked back at the gecko who had his head tilted and that look of a smile on his face.

She sighed. "Fine fine, just don?t' expect me to call you 'Al' or something." With a new companion on her back, Isabella walked forward. "So tell me Alphonso, how did a gecko learn to speak wolf?" Alphonso laughed from her back. "A very clever, very sleek black jackal taught me his language, close enough to wolf eh? He also taught me a few other things, like good judgment takes good balance. I see his point, I made good judgment in talking to you and now I must use good balance to stay up her." He said moving from her shoulders to her head, between her ears.

Isabella flicked her ears a bit and resisted to urge to shake her head. It felt so strange, yet then again so was this meeting, and she supposed she could adjust to strange things as good as challenges. Alphonso made a little happy squeaking sound as he looked at the world around them. "I have never been up so high Madam Izzy, I mean aside from the dunes of couse.? He added that last bit as a compromise, something to make them both happy. ?I like it, I like this a lot. You'll like having me too I promise. Not only am I interesting but I bet I can find ways to help you out sometimes."? Like" Isabella asked wondering what he could offer her other than knowledge and companionship. "Like...if you ever have fleas, I'll eat them." "I rarely get the little pests but sounds like some grand help to me Alphonso. This shall be a interesting but hopefully long lasting partnership- or rather friendship. Even if it is the oddest friendship I have ever heard of."