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Artist
During early survey expeditions, first-contact teams reported repeated encounters
with Anuran Megafauna, Class IV—locally designated vault-leapers—whose transit
patterns intersected several naturally occurring ground trails. Initial reactions ranged
from alarm to involuntary immobility, as the animals’ preferred method of travel
involved clearing dense jungle corridors in single, unannounced bounds, passing
overhead with several metric tons of muscle and momentum before reentering the
canopy with considerable noise.
The moment captured here was recorded automatically by a rear-mounted trail
camera, triggered by sudden changes in light and motion. The two observers had
already ceased movement, whether by training, instinct, or mutual agreement
remains unclear. Subsequent analysis suggests this response was correct.
The vault-leapers display no territorial behavior toward humans and no measurable
interest in them as prey. Their vision appears optimized for lateral movement and
mass displacement; stationary objects of insufficient scale are generally ignored. In
later years, this behavior would be formalized into standard guidance.
Modern visitors are advised to pause, remain still, and allow passage.
What appears at first glance to be a confrontation is, in fact, a lesson: not every
encounter requires response, dominance, or retreat. Some require only recognition
—of scale, of precedence, and of the simple truth that the jungle was complete long
before it was observed.
The trail remains. The leap passes.
And the moment belongs entirely to those who stood still long enough to see it.
