The sun had just risen when Corundus descended from its mountain lair. The idea of a single source of light and distant heat was alien to the crystalline creature, but it found comfort in the fiery ball's presence. For months, it had been in this cold, dead place, wandering the high ridges that ringed the island. Nowhere had it found anything like its own kind - all the minerals here were inert, lifeless.

But there were things that moved here: strange things formed of impossibly soft-looking materials. Corundus had watched them from afar. They traversed the lower areas, interacting with one another in almost organized routines. It was almost as if they were alive . . . but could they be? It thought best to avoid them while it pondered the question.

Yet today, Corundus was closer than it had ever been to where the soft things congregated. The high lands were well known to it now, but much of the island was a mystery. So it set out to explore further, though still some distance from the artificial looking caves the soft things inhabited.

As it moved lower into the hills, Corundus was surprised to find the towering structures that arose from the ground were not mineral in nature. It was at a complete loss as to how to describe these things - it had no concept of vegetation, wood or trees. Yet these things seemed to be in varying stages of growth - like the cystal spires from home.

Corundus wandered the hills for hours, curiosity pulling it further than it had intended to go. Lost in the wonder of this strange alien world, it flowed easily along a smooth ribbon of ground that it did not know was a hiking trail. And now, with the sun high in the sky, the cystal entity was on a collision course with destiny.

It was good to get out of the school. Her grades had been improving and while she had more work than she could beat with a very large stick, she was slowly getting back on top of it from her rather hard introduction to the school. She had managed to get on top of it to the point where she was able to get back outside and relax away from people.

Thus, she found herself hiking up a long path dressed in pure comfy clothes. A plain white T-shirt shone in the sun and she had picked out a mid-thigh length skirt to keep cool in the bright sun. A pair of comfy trainers completed the outfit. It had no style but made up for it by being entirely comfy and thats all Anne wanted today. Her long hair freshly washed was gleaming in the sun as she rolled her shoulders, shifting her little backpack that had a flask of water and a small lunch.

It was good to be out she thought as she pushed up the hill, a light sweat beading on her brow from her exertions so far. Taking a quick look around she saw that the school was no-where to be seen, having passed beyond the contours of the land a while ago and she thought she was entirely alone. All she needed now was somewhere with a good view of nothing and she could while away a few hours doing nothing.

Pre-occupied as it was with the wonders of the lowlands, Corundus didn't detect the approach of the soft thing until it was almost too late. Caught out in the open, with only the strange non-crystal spires (trees) for cover, the frightened creature's instinct took hold. Unlike many biological life forms, whose fright response is either fight or flight, Corundus froze.

A moderately sized boulder about five feet in diameter might not have attracted any attention in this hilly region, but this one was made entirely of crystal, and stood in the middle of the path. But such thoughts didn't even occur to Corundus. It knew only that it was frightened and could think of no other course of action but to stay still. Perhaps the soft thing would just pass by . . .

Stopping for a moment Anne pulled out a cloth from her sleeve, dabbing her brow to remove the light sweat she had built up. "Bloody hell... There has to be somewhere around here where I can..."

Her voice trailed off as she spied the rather oddly place rock. It wasn't that it was a rock. As rocks went it was big, standing almost as tall as herself and would probably continue being a rock for many years yet but it was a huge hunk of what looked like a huge black lump of crystal. The bright sun seemed to give the edges a ever so slight red glow that baffled the eyes. Anne paused and stared, her eyes drinking in the strangeness.

As she walked towards it she took in the rest of the area. She was almost at the top of the hill and the growth was sparse, more rocky with sparse trees than the heavilly wooded areas or wide open. It gave the right combination of visability and privacy that Anne loved (could see for miles while being blocked from prying eyes). But there wasn't anything like this rock anywhere else nearby. No flakes of a similar colour.. It was like someone had just put it there from the sky! Where had it come from?

The naturally curious student's face creased, thinking back over the geology lessons she had sat through, but there was no rock she could think that matched anything like this one. Maybe some sort of volcanic rock? That would make it smooth to the touch surely? Anne reached out her hand to touch the surface to see...

As luck would have it - or perhaps it was fate - Corundus' relative strangeness as compared to the geology of the island brought unwanted attention to the poor creature. Still frozen with fright, it could do nothing but observe as the 'soft thing' moved to touch it.

Having been recently flowing along the ground, Corundus was indeed, currently, smooth to the touch. Its irregular, rounded controus were almost like water frozen in time, yet still solid, with an almost glass-like surface. Strangely, that surface was cool, much cooler than a rock in the sun should have been.

Panicked and unsure, Corundus did what its nature told it to do: it remained frozen; unconsciously acting the part of a rock. It was only vaguely aware of a growing sensation from the soft thing's touch - a subtle transfer of heat that was unlike anything it had experience before.

At the same time Corundus was noticing something odd, so was Anne.

"Stranger and stranger" she mused aloud as she slid her hand around the rock. It felt more like a mirror or glass that an rock and most strangely is that it was cool. She was standing out in blazing sunshine, perspiring not only due to her exertions of getting here and this rock seemed like it had been in the shade.

The only catch was that there was no shade about! The sparse treeline wasn't casting any shade here. Letting her hand trail across its surface, her fingers tracing the smooth folds of the odd rock Anne started to walk in a circle around the strange rock. For a reason she couldn't put her finger on she knew that there was something special about it and she was hoping there would be a nodule or something she could perhaps break off and take back to school. Or perhaps something lying on the ground.

Given the soft thing's evident curiousity, Corundus could no longer doubt that it was a living creature. The way it circled, feeling the crystal entity's surface even suggested intelligence!

But what really captured Corundus' attention was the heat coming from the soft creature's touch. Where it came from, heat came only from the environment, and creatures tended to avoid touching one another. Corundus wondered if other parts of this soft creature were as warm as its appendage, but it was as yet unable to break free of its instinctual paralysis.

Nothing. Not a single bit of this odd crystaline boulder was lying on the ground or looked like it could be chipped off.

Anne loved her curiousities and this was certainly one of them. Still, she was running out of ideas what to do with it. She couldn't take a picture as they didn't allow phones or cameras on the island (you are here to learn, not waste time texting people - so they were told)

Stopping her circling she pause, and leant against it, one hand idly stroking the side as her mind worked. However, she was soon distracted as she leant. She hadn't realised until now that she was actually in an almost perfect place! While not being at the top of the hill with a little height to see over the edge of the trail she could actually have a brilliant view around. Suddenly having a brainwave she looked again at the odd boulder and, with a bit of effort found enough handholds to force herself up, so she was sat on top.

To her uncovered legs it felt odd, cooler than she expected really, but still warm and comfortable. Taking off her carrybag she put it to the side and started to rummage though it for her flask of water.

Just being in the presence of the soft creature had caused Corundus fear, but being climbed upon by one promoted sheer panic! But as the creature settled atop the crystal entity, it became aware of the same heat eminating from the tresspasser's lower limbs.

Curiousity and fear fought for dominance as Corundus sat trapped by its own instincts. It wished the soft creature would just go away . . . yet it also wished to feel more of the heat from the creature's body. Time passed and the creature showed no signs of leaving; yet neither did it show signs of aggression. Despite Corundus' better judgment and contrary to its paralytic instinct, it very slowly, very subtly molded its upper surface to the contours of the creature sitting there.

Completely unaware of the terror she was causing the creature she was unknowingly sat on Anne found herself rather happy. She had a wonderful view, there was no-one around and the weather was beautiful. Putting the water away she laid back on the unusual boulder marvelling at how it was still cool even under the direct sunlight.

Interlacing her hands behind her head she wiggled slightly as she attempted to get comfortable. Finding what seemed like the perfect spot (oddly it seemed like it was built for her!) she laid still, watching the clouds chase each other as she relaxed.

"This is the life" she thought to herself, letting her mind drift.

The creature laying atop Corundus seemed relaxed to the crystal entity. Perhaps it was even unaware that Corundus was a living thing. This revelation helped to abate some of Corundus' own fear. It found itself more and more fascinated by the feeling of heat from the creature's body.

Time passed with little sign of movement from the soft creature and Corundus grew bolder. Finally breaking its paralysis, it formed a finger-like projection near the creature's lower appendages - the place where the most heat was currently felt.

Slowly and with great trepidation, Corundus reached out to touch the creature. Though it didn't know the names of the creature's anatomy, the place it chose for first contact was the side of the right calf - lightly brushing its hard yet flexible 'rock-finger' against soft, smooth, warm flesh.

Anne jumped when she felt the pressure on her leg, suprised at the touch. Sitting bolt upright for a moment she looked down, half expecting another student there rudely interrupting her peaceful cloud-chasing.

Nothing.

Brushing he leg to remove the slightly crawly feeling she was left with she sighed and laid back down, wiggling to get comfy again. "Probably just a bug" she thought as her mind once again started to latch onto the clouds high and free above.

"It's times like this" she thought, a smile playing across her lips "that i am REALLY happy that I came to this school"

Corundus was startled by the creature's sudden movement. Its 'rock-finger' collapsed back into its mass as it froze again with fear. But that was short-lived as the soft,warm thing settled back down quickly.

Curiosity and the desire to feel more warmth overcame instinct even more quickly the second time and soon enough Corundus once again formed a small appendage near the creature's lower limbs.

Moving with greater confidence this time, the crystal entity touched the creature again, this time on the left thigh, just above the knee.

Again, Anne rose to look down at her legs, but just as before there was nothing there...

Remaining upright she sat for a little while, just looking at the odd crystal formation around her legs, trying to see anything. Any bug, any movement but all she could see was the smooth dark surface of the stone. No movement, nothing there that could possibly touch her.

"Weird" She said to herself. For a little time she remained sitting upright just looking at the rock, before she eventually laid back down.

This time, Corundus was more prepared for the creature's movement and voluntarily retracted its rocky appendage. The crystal entity was not frozen by fear as it had been before but instead merely waited to see if the soft thing would settle down again. The wait, though longer, was still nothing compared to the natural patience of a creature made of stone.

With the strange interloper once again laying atop its smooth crystal surface, Corundus finally resolved to make a thorough search. It had become clear that the soft creature was not agressive and was very likely not a threat in any case. And the warmth it emitted was more than a little interesting . . . But how to keep the creature from jumping up and running away?

Moving with much greater alacrity than before, Corundus moved to restrain the object of its curiousity. It formed protrusions on either side of the creature's lower appendages (beside what would be called her ankles), quickly growing them upward and arcing them toward one another. In an instant, they met and flowed together, making a single band that swiftly tightened down in an effort to capture and immobilize.