My usual morning in the Great Valley is almost always the same. It would start with me waking up early, about the time that the Bright Circle first appears over the horizon (I've never needed much sleep), and then I had to sneak away from the family to train. No easy task the first few times, but after doing it for so long, I've made an art of it.

As soon as that was done, I would head down to the beach, and practice my martial arts techniques. I started off using what equated to a rough version of Taekwondo, but over the last three years, it became a style all its own (I'd been asked what it was called by one of my students, and since then, I've been calling it 'Arshavin-ryu'). It was still majorly focused on kicking, but it's all came a long way in many other fields.

After a few morning stretches (including a bridge, perfect split, and other such stretches), I began to practice such things as my tornado kick, jumping hook kick, guyver kick (one of my personal favorites, due to how tricky it is), kick-up, front flip, and backflip. And as soon as I had worked up a good sweat, I began to fish.

Breakfast was also a simple matter, as the fish have gotten none the wiser to the concept of fishing, and this beach was right next to a forest filled with delicious fruits and vegetables. The end result was usually the same, but it was always good…

"Well well, Yuri," I heard a familiar voice say, "I see I'm right on time." Turning around, I saw a familiar yellow Threehorn. My good friend, Cera. She had grown a lot since I came here, now standing about 6'8 in height (the exact same height as I now was). But other than that, not much had changed with her.

"You usually do," I said, getting up and doing a few quick stretches, "So, grappling?"

"Grappling."

Cera was my first student of my fighting style, and it was a bit of tradition for her to come down to the beach and spar with me. We would alternate between fistfighting and grappling, so that we could both improve constantly in both. But no matter how hard she tried, I was always one step ahead of her.

The match went as usual, or as expected. We went back and forth, both trying to catch the other, and trying to avoid being caught by the other. Cera had one advantage over me, and that was her massive strength. But massive strength or no, I was the more skilled of us, being able to get out of virtually anything she caught me in. It didn't matter if it was a joint lock, chokehold, or attempted submission, I could get out of it, and she knew it. But even so, we both gave our all in this match, just as we do in every match.

She had been able to catch me in a leg-lock, before I turned it around on her, and got back up to my feet. It was a simple matter to next avoid her attempt at a single leg takedown, and then I was able to catch her in an armbar (she still had trouble with those). She struggled a bit, before eventually tapping out.

"Damn," she said, as she did a quick kick-up to get back to her feet, "I have got to figure out how to beat that armbar." I chuckled at that before telling her, "You could always come to me for help. I do know submission defense, after all."

"Thanks, Yuri. But I kinda would rather figure it out by myself. I've done my time as a student, and I kinda wanna move forward on my own. Y'know?"

This was understandable, as I knew Cera was really proud. But I also knew she was a bit stubborn. And by a bit, I mean she was one of the most stubborn I've ever met. Literally, the only one I've met who was more stubborn was her father, Topps, but I still refuse to challenge that guy (mainly due to respect for him).

All I would offer this time was "Well alright. But you can still ask the others. I'm sure Littlefoot would be more than happy to help." And I put on a smirk, just to make sure she knew what I was implying. She just blushed before saying "Shut up."

I still find it hilarious that she hasn't gotten with Littlefoot yet. I knew she liked him, even before she 'confided' in me that she did, and when I asked her why she hasn't gone for it yet, the excuse she came up with was that 'She wasn't sure if he liked her back'. But I don't think it could be MORE obvious that he did.

"Well," I said, "This was fun, but I really ought'a get going. The day's about ready to start, so I got a lot of stuff to get done." And with that, I started on my walk back. Luckily, the Valley was not so far away, so I didn't have an excuse to take forever. And of course when I got there, I was greeted by my beloved Ali.

Just like me, Cera, and the rest of the group, Ali had done a considerable amount of growing in the past three years. She stood about 7'8, and her scales were a beautiful shade of purple (having gotten a bit deeper in the past few months), and had bright blue eyes, that were always excited to see me.

She walked over slowly, and pulled me into a hug, giving a simple "Good morning," before asking "How was it?" I shrugged, and told her "So-so. Cera's getting a lot better at grappling, though."

Ali gave a blank expression towards this. She knew about my 'Early morning sparring sessions' with Cera, but her opinion of it was more-or-less indifferent. She knew Cera and I were simply rivals in a sense, but there were still words like 'grappling' that she seemed to be a bit iffy about (not that I could blame her, considering a lot of my students are girls). But in the end, Ali knew I had eyes only for her.

"But other than that," I continued, "Nothing really new. But I do have to meet with Topps and Littlefoot. There's this big thing that Topps wanted to discuss with us, so I'll be there for a while."

"Do you know when you'll be back?"

I smiled, and told her "No, but when I do, we'll be able to spend time together."

She was obviously happy about this. Ever since I joined the Valley, I've been a busy man, teaching self-defense to the young dinosaurs in the Valley, and keeping it safe from the occasional Sharptooth attack. But of course, as Ali is my girlfriend, I always take a chunk out of my day to spend with her. We don't even do much when this happens, usually just cuddling up together under a tree, but quality time like that was something I always looked forward to.

"Well," she said, "I better head out too. I promised I'd meet Ruby to talk to her about something important. Once we get back, we meet under the normal spot, right?"

"Definitely."

And after sharing a quick kiss, we both headed out, with things on our to-do list. I took notice of the dinosaurs in the valley, taking small notes of what each and every one of them were doing. Some of the adults were out just enjoying the day, while some of the children were practicing Arshavin-ryu, and others among the children were playing games. It was a lovely sight to see them all happy.

Such is the life of Yuri Arshavin. The man who lives to see others happy.

Okay, so I might have been doing a bit of less-than-subtle foreshadowing with my little talk at the end of the last chapter of 'Troy'. But regardless, this is here now. I actually had plans to release this tomorrow, but I got it done in school (whenever I finish assignments early, I take out my laptop and write), and couldn't help but post it.

I feel this chapter came out pretty okay, and I'm glad to have started writing for Yuri again, as he was a really fun character for me to be. And speaking of Yuri, I will say that this fic in actually very likely to be quite a bit longer than 'The Search for Paradise', and it's gonna be getting into some magic stuff. And by magic stuff, I mean that the portal stones from the original fic will be reappearing. I won't say when, where, or how, but I will say that they will cause something to happen that'll be important later.

And I'll also say, that this new scheduling system of mine is already working wonders. I love it!

And with that...

Until next time!