Azael.
Legacy Name: Azael.

Twisted around the tree's stem, a fluffy ball of fur slept fitfully in the heat of the day.

Noon had come and passed, and the day was just now cooling off. Still, Azael couldn't decide if he was ready to be awake or not.

Laying there, glancing through the day with lidded eyes, his long, striped tail swished through the air, revealing that he was more awake than he cared to be. When the rest of night's creatures began to wake, as displayed through the restless sounds of crickets and the stirring feet of small mammals, Azael decided he should probably wake too.

He clawed at the tree's stem, balancing himself on his two feet before he went into a long stretch.

The patterns on his face and body betrayed the fact that he wasn't a regular red panda. He was decorated with brilliant orange and white geometric shapes that stood in stark contrast against the brown fur of the bulk of his body.

In truth, Azael was a shapeshifter, and he could alternate between being a red panda or a Bengal fox. Right now, with the scampering of small mammals in the high grasses below, he wanted to change to his fox form, so he could run and catch and bat the mammals around. All in good fun, of course.

He twisted around to grab his shapeshift item: a dirty, old tube sock that had been white at one point, but was mostly gray now with a red toe and heel area.

But it wasn't up here! As dirty as it was, it would stand out against the brown branches of the tree. He twisted around the branches and scampered up and down the trunk. Azael was almost positive that he had been a Bengal fox last night and had transformed sometime this morning...

How could it have disappeared already?

Well, he had had a very busy morning of napping and scratching his belly and eating grapes. It's easy to see how he could have misplaced the sock during that time.

The caw of a nearby bird got his attention, and his head snapped up. His sock! The bird was stealing it away into the air!

The bird had a head start, but Azael could really move when he wanted to. Leaping from branch to branch, he scuttled across the tree tops. It would be quite a magnificent display if his desperate chase hadn't been the result of his laziness and forgetfulness.

Diving through the air, the bird began to slope down slowly toward a small hill of rocks. She must be nesting among all of the rocks.Carefully, he twisted down the last tree trunk, and began padding through the slipping and sliding rocks. The bird didn't seem particularly worried about his presence. The slope was quite steep, so Azael had to admire the bird's ability to tuck away her nest in such an unobvious place.

She whirled off through the air sock-free, so Azael's first instinct was correct: he must have dropped the sock, and the bird stole it for her nest.

Mentally cursing himself, for this was way too much work right after waking up, he took to bouncing from rock to rock. He would still slide back a couple feet each time, but at least he was making progress.

Finally, the nest came into sight. With a great burst of exertion, he managed to scramble right up next to it. Carefully, he peered in, in case there were any active, pestering nestlings, but all he saw were eggs.

Which reminded him: he hadn't eaten for several hours.

Taking an egg for snack and as a reward for his hard work -- take that, thieving bird -- he slipped the sock onto his right front paw carefully.

Transitioning comfortably into his fox form, he began the slide back down the rock hill.

Maybe he'd be able to keep his sock for a full 24 hours before losing it again. But as a small rodent began tearing across the high grass and his instinct to chase and play came over him, he seriously doubted he'd be able to keep track of it for that long.

He had better things to do!