Serena's POV:
I sat on a blanket on the grass in the garden of the guesthouse as I took a look through the bag that Saphira had just set down in front of me. It was human things from earth; some fruit, face lotion, toothpaste, and a bunch of magazines.
I pulled out the magazines and took a peek at the covers, they were all fairly old National Geographic magazines. Saphira was sitting off to the side, keeping watch over me while Darien attended some small private meeting with Alex and a couple of the other Council members in the Council Building. They were hoping that he would occasionally use his great strength in certain situations - not fighting, but other scenarios, so they were checking how open he was to different scenarios.
The pictures in the magazine showed a lush rainforest somewhere in Brazil. My mind once more turned to the Dranek forests. My singing worked very well to remove the rot and help the trees recover, but the cause itself had not been corrected.
A low whistle to the side made me look over, "Hey Schlach, how is it going?"
"Well enough. The day is slow, most paperwork is no longer needed as many Tarulk have suddenly decided to be much more cooperative with the Council. So I am at loose ends for the moment and figured I would join you."
"Feel free to join us, although it will probably be boring."
He walked behind me and laid down on the soft blanket, gesturing with his head that I could lean back against his broad shoulders. I did so and found that his black scales collected the sun's warmth very well. The heat was relaxing, although Saphira seemed surprised that Schlach didn't mind me leaning against him.
Schlach seemed to be enjoying the sun and didn't speak further as he rested his chin on his forearms. I picked up my magazine again and flipped through several pages before reading a few interesting articles. I re-read one particular article and my magic shifted slightly on its own accord. I had heard the saying 'things suddenly clicked' before, but it was almost an audible sound.
Schlach's head swung around as he felt me tense up. I pushed myself into a sitting position, "Saphira, how many predatory animals are on Drashna? Do they form packs?"
My rushed random question had her looking at me as if I was losing my mind. "Very few, and they rarely travel in packs or groups. Why?"
I ignored her question, "Has there ever been a more common predator that formed groups? One that is no longer around?"
She blinked slowly as she focused more intently on me, "Actually, yes. There used to be a fairly common cat-like animal that formed prides of a dozen or so. Not very dangerous, but a large pride could be a threat to an elderly or badly injured Tarulk. A disease from offworld somehow got into the population and wiped the entire species out. How did you guess that?"
I once more bypassed her question, "What animals did they usually prey on? Have the populations of those animals grown noticeably or do they move differently without that feline around?"
Saphira watched me with a mystified expression as I pelted her with questions, "They almost exclusively preyed on faulia, and the faulia have flourished in their absence. I do not know how differently they may have behaved so long ago, but you saw how unafraid they are these days."
Those orange deer-like creatures... I recalled how many we had seen in our walks and they only got nervous if we got rather close. I stared down at the magazine article before laying it on the blanket.
"This is just like the wolves and Yellowstone Park. When the wolves were killed off, the elk had no fear and ate willows along the creeks and devoured small saplings. With no willows, the beavers had no food and left, and that threw the entire watershed into chaos. Very few saplings survived the constant pruning. They reintroduced the wolves, and within a decade, almost all of the problems had disappeared."
Saphira looked intrigued, but concerned, "That makes excellent sense, but that species only lived on Drashna, and it is no more. Bringing in nonnative predators in has a tendency to backfire, as those on Earth know all too well. We can do culls to bring the populations closer to previous levels, but it is quite wasteful."
That was a serious stumbling block and it required constant effort on the Dranek's part. Sure, they could send the meat to those who needed it, but waygates were quite scattered. Too bad there wasn't a way to make the predators mostly target the faulia. I blinked as another thought hit me.
Schlach had been very far from the colony, and if they possessed a hunting range that large, then it was needed to feed them. And there were a lot of predators on this planet to compete for food sources...
I looked at Schlach with building excitement, "I haven't even thought out the repercussions yet, but do you think the King and Queen might allow part of the colony to move to Drashna if the svipers mostly targeted the faulia? If the Dranek allow it, of course."
Schlach's was watching me intently, with excitement building under his collected exterior.
"Yesss... The details are in the air, but they would have no problem mainly hunting faulia," His gaze moved to Saphira, "Our people would hold peace with yours, and in exchange for permission to live there, those there would also help if any race tried to invade your planet. I know you cannot speak for the Dranek representative, but do you think they would accept it?"
Saphira thought silently for a long moment before slowly replying, "Yes, they may be uneasy at first, but I think they would readily accept your offer if both races could peacefully co-exist on the planet."
I felt hyper and excited. I was positive that I had found the cause - and even had a solution! Both races would benefit long-term as well. I glanced towards the Council Building in the distance, "I wonder when we can bring this up..."
Schlach stood up with a grin, "Their meeting should have just finished. Why don't we go intercept them?"
He dipped his shoulder as an invitation for me to get on his back. I scrambled to my feet before climbing on his back. His scales were just as slippery as before... It was only the rough ones over his shoulders that gave me any grip.
He glanced at Saphira, "Let's go." He bounded away smoothly, angling himself perfectly so that I never lost my balance. Saphira darted after us as she ran close beside us, or as close as she could, considering that Schlach was ignoring the main trails and was creating his own path through sections of woodlands and meadows.
It was like a wild ride through the forest and I found it exhilarating. I laughed in delight as the wind whipped past me with Schlach's speed. He glanced back at me with amusement before slowing slightly.
"Hang on." He somehow managed to use various logs and branches as stairs as he steadily climbed up through the forest canopy. Saphira followed us easily, just as at home in the trees as he was. Schlach easily jumped to the top of the wall surrounding the main garden before trotting along the top of it. He lightly jumped over one section before landing on the soft grass and coming to a slow stop.
The group in front of us was staring at us in shock, unable to believe that we had just appeared unannounced over a stone wall. Schlach dipped his shoulder and I slid down as Darien swiftly walked over. He glanced between Schlach and me. "Serena, are you okay?"
I heard someone else mutter, "Am I going blind or was she just riding that sviper?"
Apparently, it was not our simple arrival that had so stunned then, but how I had arrived. I let my excitement spill to the front of my mind as I jogged towards him, "We think we discovered why the forests on Drashna were suffering!"
Darien wrapped me in a hug before looking down at me in curiosity, "Oh?"
I glanced towards the Dranek representative, "We have a few ideas, but we really need to run them past the Dranek officially."
We clearly had the attention of the Dranek representative and he was already crossing the short distance between our groups. I explained our thoughts, reasonings, and the possible solution.
The Dranek man closed his eyes in thought before turning to Schlach, "I personally have no objections to this, but I still must present something this large to the elders, although I think they will approve. Come, let us discuss the fine details so I can take it back to the elders."
Schlach nodded and the two of them walked off towards the forest. It took me a moment to realize that both races preferred the privacy of the forest to a Tarulk meeting room. Perhaps they had more in common than they realized...