Topsy was still fighting a losing battle within himself; he was taught from a young age to never show emotions. However, he felt himself starting to crack; silently cursing his father for making him think the way he does, he started experiencing yet another flashback. Only this time, he could have sworn, he saw Cera dying in the fire. He then shook his head before rubbing his eyes with his right forepaw. The flashback had ended with him shaking and sweating profusely. And with that, his stomach pain returned; he sat down and gasped in pain while holding his stomach with his right forepaw.
"Ahh! Man this hurts," Topsy grumbled.
The pain, shaking and sweating subsided after a few moments; then, he continued his walk around the valley.
"This is ridiculous; I'm a threehorn; we should never show weakness," Topsy stated once again.
Later that night, he was stricken with insomnia; no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get to sleep. He glanced over at the little threehorn from a distance not too far from him. Soon enough, he stood up and walked away; he didn't want her to see him like this; especially when he was supposed to be a strong role model for her. However, he needed to solve this problem; and FAST; although, he was still insecure since he had a feeling that everyone would see him as anything but tough if he opened up to them.
"Maybe I'm not giving the herd enough credit...no, no; I just need to walk it off," Topsy whispered to himself.
Before he knew it; he had walked out of the valley. Since his mind was elsewhere, his mental health was declining all due to his repressing his emotions.
The next morning, Cera woke up and saw that her dad wasn't in his sleeping spot. However, Cera assumed that he might have gotten up early and headed over to the Feeding Grounds. All of a sudden, she overheard the grown ups whispering.
"Wait a second; you mean my dad isn't here?" Cera asked.
"No he isn't; me and him usually try and see who can gather the most sweet bubbles by now; we used to do that when we were little as well; only, I used to play dirty and knock him down so I can gather them first," Kosh answered.
"Huh; he did seem really tense at dinner last night; I have a feeling there is something he's not telling me; I don't know what it is; but, I would like to know what's going on with him," Cera explained.
"Maybe you're too young to understand; most parents wait to discuss such personal matters with their offspring when they first reach the Time of Great Growing," Kosh claimed.
Cera sighed.
That was when she knew to stop asking those types of questions and decided to wait until Topsy was ready to open up to her. After everyone has had their breakfast, Cera went back to her sleeping place; she wasn't really in the mood to play since she was very worried about her dad.
Meanwhile, Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Hyp, Mutt and Nod were sitting around in the Tall Trees and wondered how to cheer up the despondent threehorn.
"This is not good; oh, no, no, no," Ducky commented.
"You can say that again," Hyp stated.
Spike let out a sad murmur; he was usually the most chilled out of the group, apart from Mutt, that is. They all hung their heads in sadness; it was so sad that not even Spike had a second helping of treestars and sweet bubbles and he usually eats even if he's not hungry.
Later in the afternoon, the grown ups gathered around at the Rock Circle once again.
"It seems that Topsy has gone missing; maybe he just needs some time to himself," Kosh replied.
"Yeah; but, I checked his sleeping place; and his usual spot is cold; so, I'm sure he's not even in the valley," Grandpa stated.
"This is bad; if only he could see that opening up about his emotions doesn't make him weak; and what if he's in the Mysterious Beyond? He might be able to take on fast biters; but, two fully grown sharpteeth is a different story," Ariel stated while panicking.
"Keep in mind, Ariel, he's always been able to defend himself against the meat eaters; after all, he can communicate with them; although, they never listen since he's a threehorn, not a sharptooth," Grandpa assured the brown swimmer.
"We better go out and find him," Kosh declared.
"I think it's better if I go alone," Grandpa said in disagreement.
Kosh shook his head.
"We're not letting you go out alone; you know that the Mysterious Beyond is inhabited by sharpteeth; besides, if you get hurt, Topsy won't be able to carry you back; considering you're so much bigger than he is; not that I'm saying you're-"
"I get the point; it's physically impossible for a threehorn to carry a longneck; all right, I guess I will need the extra help," Grandpa finally agreed.
And with that, Grandpa, Grandma, Kosh and Ariel headed out of the valley.
