Dref immediately started to formalize but was taking longer than normal as he was entangled in ta nasty black snarling creature.
However, as the formalizing was taking place the snarling beast became confused and started to backoff, which allowed Dref to complete the process and then tackle the aggressor on equal terms and of course when that happened Dref had the advantage and aways came off best. After several minutes of gnashing of teeth and rolling on the ground they finally parted and the other creature ran off. Dref then formalized back into his normal self and started to walk in the direction of a small clearing that he had noticed when he was up the tree.
The only trouble was that the undergrowth was becoming denser and even using his multipurpose laser bar to push the vegetation to one side as he moved forward, it was still hard going. In addition to that, he was mindful of the fact that he had to conserve enough power in order to signal the mother ship when he was ready to depart.
As he was getting closer to where he thought the clearing might be he sensed he was being watched by something or someone. Dref pushed on a little further then quickly stepped behind a tree and looked back to try and get a glimpse of who or what it was that he could hear quite clearly now shuffling along behind him. To his surprise, what appeared to be some sort of a giant lizard slid past him without even giving him a second glance. About fifty metres further on it stopped and looked around as if just realising it had passed an odd-looking being. By this time, Dref had managed to formalize into a lizard so as not to startle the creature too much. They stood and looked at each other, both wondering what to do next and who was going to make the first move.