Chapter XI: Spirit of the Past
In which a grieving boy lingers on.
"There is a bright side though. Now we know where Dusk is," Ace told them.
"I wonder, though. If no one ever escapes from this Forever Forest, how do dinosaurs know the story behind it?" Ruby wanted to know.
"That's a good question. There was only one who ever managed to get out of the Forever Forest."
"Well if that guy could do it, why couldn't anyone?" Cera asked.
"The only one who got out wasn't able to bring his life with him."
Littlefoot turned to the Three Horn. "What are you saying, Ace?"
"I'm saying that, only his spirit got out." When everyone stopped and stared at Ace, he continued. "In this world, if someone is fixated to something and full of regret, his or her soul may linger on. It doesn't happen often, but there have been cases. Years ago, two young Rainbow Faces were playing a game of hide and seek…
Flash Back
"Come on, don't lag behind!" a young boy called back with a big grin.
"Come on, you're so much faster than me," he replied with a huff.
The boy in the lead finally stopped, allowing his friend to catch up.
"Let's play a game!"
"How about tag?"
"Nah, it's no fun with just two of us. Mm, how about- hide and seek?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Okay, let's go into this forest. It'll be a real challenge finding someone in a place like that." With that, the boy started walking into the woods.
"Wait!" the other boy cried.
"What is it?"
"These woods… It just feels weird. I don't know how to explain it, but this place just seems creepy."
"Don't be a wimp. Come on."
"Please…"
"Quit yer whining! You're going if I have to drag you!" he called, starting to grab his friend's arm.
"Okay, okay, fine! Just quit pullin'."
The two boys walked into the large gathering of trees, then the first boy said, "Okay, I'll count first. Now go and hide."
"Alright." The second boy quickly took off, looking for a good place to hide himself.
"…Eight, nine, ten! Okay, here I come!" He then took off, following the path of broken twigs. "Heh, he'll be easy to find now. I wanted a challenge, but oh well. At least I get to practice my tracking skills." He followed the trail for a couple of minutes, finally reaching something that caught his eye. "Hm?" He bent over and scooted away a pile of leaves resting on top of a nest of eggs. "Did I track my friend, or…? Uh oh." He slowly turned when he heard a low growling.
A short, two-legged beast with black skin and one eye lumbered over at a fast pace. She glared at the boy and a red beam erupted from her eye. The boy jumped out of the way, but the heat ray grazed his ankle, and he tumbled to the ground.
"Ral, help!" he shouted.
The beast came closer and shot another blast. The boy quickly stretched his arm to a great length and grabbed a branch sticking out of a nearby tree and held it in front of him. The beam hit the wood, and it burst into flame. The boy then threw it down and began trying to get to his feet. His ankle was in great pain, but he shook it off and tried to run. Unfortunately, his burn suddenly jabbed him with pain, and he fell again. The beast glared at the boy, ready to shoot another beam when a rock hit her in her eye.
"Are you alright, Ginnus?" Ral asked, helping his friend up.
"Yes, thank you."
The beast quickly brushed off the pain. The rock had only grazed the white in her eye. She shot another blast, and Ginnus, being unable to move quickly from his injury, couldn't get away in time. Ral quickly stepped between them and took the attack to his back.
"Ah!" he exclaimed from the immense burning on his back. He fell to his knees from his injury.
"Ral!" Ginnus looked back at the beast who wasn't done yet.
Ral held his hands together and another rock began forming. It got bigger and bigger until it was a large boulder. He slowly got to his feet, clutching his back.
"Help me roll this."
"Okay." The two boys pushed with all their might and the huge rock started rolling towards the beast. She tried blasting it away with another beam, but it was too big. It rolled right over her, crushing her to death.
"We did it!" Ginnus shouted, then remembered his friend's injury. "I'll dip some leaves in this puddle and put them on your back. Hold still."
"Okay." As the plants were applied, Ral winced in pain.
"Let's get out of here. I'll stretch out my legs so we'll cover a lot of ground quickly." He hunched over and Ral climbed on. Ginnus then extended his legs to a great length and began running out of the woods. Not too far away though, someone was waking up…
"Your friend will be scarred for life. You damaged his body by forcing him in here," came a voice in Ginnus's head.
"Who said that?"
"Huh?"
"After the danger your friend put you in, your mother will never let you play with him again," Ral suddenly heard.
"Who-?"
"You heard a voice too?" Ginnus asked.
"Yeah. Who's there?" There was no answer.
The voice became louder and louder, but the boys tried to ignore it. Finally, Ginnus reached the edge of the forest. With a burst of speed, he dashed to get out of the woods, but bumped into something and fell down, knocking Ral off of his back.
"What the-? What did I hit?"
"A tree, maybe?"
"No, I didn't run into a tree, that's for sure." He reduced his legs to their original length and put his hands up. They hit something, but he could see nothing. "There's some sort of- wall- blocking us in."
"Maybe it's not around the whole forest. Let's walk along the edge and see if we can find an opening." Then he clutched his back in pain. Ginnus stretched his legs again, and they started to search. Being at the edge of the forest, the voice had stopped. The two of them circled the entire forest with no luck. Finally, Ginnus dropped from exhaustion.
"It's no use. This field is around the whole place. We're trapped."
"Wait," Ral said. "When we got in, there was no wall. Maybe it comes and goes. Let's search again later."
After they had rested for a few minutes, they got up and felt around. The wall was still there. The boys kept this up for days. There was plenty of plants to eat, but they couldn't find enough water. After a few days, both of them died.
Flash Back
"Oh my, that is a sad story, it is, it is," Ducky said quietly.
"Yeah, but if they never escaped, how do you know their story?" Cera asked.
"The boy Ginnus was so overcome with regret over dragging his friend into the woods to his death, that when he died, he became a ghost. The wall that keeps things in doesn't stop things from the spiritual plane. He constantly roams around the outside of the forest, scaring any he finds to keep them from getting trapped as well. He does this in hopes of atoning for what he let happen to his friend. However, sometimes dinosaurs got by without seeing him and ended up losing their lives as well. One day, a young dinosaur was not frightened off by the ghost. He asked the spirit what his story was, and the boy was obliged. He then went on to put up signs around the forest to keep dinosaurs out that the ghost may miss."
"If I had to guess, I would guess that you are the boy who heard the story?" Ruby asked with a smirk.
Ace grinned before responding. "You bet I am. It seems that the ghost missed Dusk's group, and they apparently can't read so became trapped."
Chomper started sniffing, so Littlefoot came to his side.
"What's wrong, Chomper?"
"Dusk may have done a lot of bad things, but, I did really like him. Now he's doomed."
"And we can't get the stone back either," Cera added.
"Who cares about some rock! Living, breathing Sharpteeth are going to lose their lives," Chomper sobbed.
"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
Chomper wiped his nose then quickly added, "No, it's okay. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."
"Oh, this isn't the first time, so I'm used to it," Cera replied with a grin. Everyone but Chomper and Ruby laughed as they recalled Chomper biting Cera's tail not long after he had hatched.
"Should we report back to Rey?" Littlefoot asked Ace. "There isn't anything we can do now."
"It seems that that's all we can do," he replied. "Let's go back."
"Wait!" Chomper called out. Everyone stopped and turned to him. "I- I want to know how they're doing- just one last time. Would you see if you can find them and tell me what they're doing?"
"Chomper, knowing how they're doing may just make it harder on you to get them out of your mind. I know you're worried, but it's hopeless now," Ruby reasoned.
"Still, at least, I want to know how Dusk and Coaley are holding up. Please, Littlefoot?"
"Okay, I'll change now. But, how would you like to see them yourself?"
"Huh?"
"If you put a hand on me while I search for them, what I see, you'll see too."
"Wow, okay. Let's do it."
"Water, flow within my mind!" Littlefoot's body shimmered like water and he focused to see where Dusk and his friends were now. Chomper rested a hand on his shoulder. After a few moments, both Littlefoot's and Chomper's eyes widened.
"They're- they're not in the forest anymore…" Chomper said slowly.
Now it was Ace's turn to have widened eyes. "What! Impossible! No one has ever gotten through before."
"Well," Littlefoot said with a yawn, "it seems that Dusk has- found a way."
xxxxx
"Ma lord! There is a place with Rainbow Faces living in it not far from here. We can coerce one of them like we did with that old one."
"Excellent find, Ceit," Dusk complimented.
"I hope they have a pond or something," Menta said. "I'm so dirty. I must have a bath soon or I'm gonna go crazy."
"Me too," Coaley added.
"Me three," Ali added as well.
"Girls," Dusk said while rolling his eyes.
Then Menta poked him. "What's that supposed to mean?" she said with a laugh. "Is it really a feminine thing to want to be clean?"
"Of course," Ceit cut in, joining the joke. Everyone laughed, save Agu, who said nothing.
Coaley turned to him and gave him a poke on the shoulder. "You're awfully quiet, glum face. Is something on your mind?"
"I'm just enjoying observing this circle of friends. I haven't spent time with a friend in a long time."
Everyone glanced at him but said nothing. They all thought he just trying to be weird so didn't press him with any comments. Finally, Dusk stopped, then Menta bumped into him.
"Sorry, my lord."
"Not to worry. Nothing can ruin this moment. Agu, make the stone look like a walking stick. We've arrived."
"Sure thing." Dusk finally had no more doubts of how useful Agu was to the group, and he smiled to himself.
Everyone looked ahead and saw a small village. There was a large field nearby with Rainbow Faces, young and old, tending to it. One of the children saw Dusk and the others coming and tugged on her mother's side. She then turned and noticed the kids herself.
"We have company," she announced to the others. Everyone stopped working the land and turned.
"I've never seen beasts like them before."
"Me neither."
"Have they come to attack us?"
"They don't look very tough."
"Everyone, please, try and remain calm. I'll investigate." An old, male Rainbow Face approached Dusk and the others. "Can you beasts speak?" he asked them.
"Yes, we can speak. But we're not beasts. We're dinosaurs as well," Dusk told them.
"So, king Rey decided to bring more other worlders here, eh? Then let us welcome you as honored guests."
"You're too kind," Dusk replied. "Thank you. We are weary."
"Do you have any ponds nearby we can wash up in?" Menta asked him.
"All the bodies of water in the area are somewhat muddy. I'm afraid that that is one accommodation that we cannot provide. We can and will provide you all with some nourishment though."
"Much appreciated," she replied.
The other Rainbow Faces put up their tools and gathered to meet their visitors. The little girl who first saw Dusk walked up to Coaley.
"Hiya," she told her.
"Nice to meetcha," Coaley replied.
"Let's prepare a feast for our guests," the old Rainbow Face told the others.
"But elder," one of them whispered to him, "we barely have enough for ourselves-"
"Silence. It is customary to treat guests like our own. Besides, if we don't treat them well, we risk incurring the king's wrath."
"Is everything alright? We're not an inconvenience, are we?" Dusk wanted to know.
"Not at all," the elder replied. "Now, just to be sure, all of you are meat-eating dinosaurs except the long necked one, right?"
"How did you know that?" Menta asked, amazed.
"The king has written a lot about his travels to another world. He mentioned that dinosaurs with sharp teeth eat meat, while those with flat eat vegetation," the elder explained.
Everyone in Dusk's group was curious what "written" meant, but they didn't want to seem foolish so put it out of their minds.
"Um, mommy, may I go play while you help make dinner? Please?" the little girl from before asked.
"Well sure. Just don't go too far now," she answered.
"Dusky…?"
Dusk grinned. "Sure. You go and have some fun now."
The little girl who had approached Coaley said, "My name is Niah. What's yours?"
"I'm Coaley."
"Uh," the girl's mother started. Then she motioned for Dusk to come closer. "There's no chance she'll try eating my daughter is there?" she whispered.
"None at all. Coaley values friendship above all else. Your daughter is completely safe," Dusk whispered back. "Agu and Ali, would you like to go and play with them too?"
"Play, huh? I haven't played with anyone in a long time… Very well," Agu said in return.
"I'd love to!" Ali exclaimed. With that, the three children took off into a nearby field that had a few scattered trees.
"Come, our honored guests," the elder told the remaining Sharpteeth, motioning towards the largest building in the village. Dusk, Menta, and Ceit followed the old Rainbow Face inside and they all sat down on some chairs, minus some of the females who began preparing the meal.
"Here, I'll set your walking stick by the door," one of the males told Dusk.
Dusk quickly pulled his arm back and replied, "Sorry, this stick means a lot to me. I'd like to hang onto it. Thank you, though."
"Sure," the male replied.
"You all make yourself at home while the girls work. You must be very tired," the elder told them.
The three of them nodded as a thank you and reclined.
xxxxx
"You're it now!" Coaley cried to her new friend.
"Aw, you're so fast!" Niah moaned. She then started to go after Ali, but her long legs made the chase too difficult. Finally, she set her sights on Agu. He turned to run away when he tripped over an exposed root. Agu got on his knees and started to cry.
Niah exclaimed, "Oh my!" and quickly bent over to help him up.
"Agu, are you okay!" Coaley asked as she and Ali also came to his side.
"I'm just fine," he replied as his tears kept falling. "I just- missed playing with kids so much."
"Are you sure you're fine?" Ali wanted to know. "You've seemed- different- since we came to that forest. What's going on, buddy?"
"I guess it's time you all knew. I've already had such a great time mingling so closely with others. I should let go now and be on my way," Agu explained.
"What are you talking about, Agu?" Ali questioned him. "You're not making any sense."
"Okay, it's like this," but Agu was cut short from a loud screeching in the sky.
"Aerial Screechers!" Niah cried. "We gotta get outta here!"
Her warning was too late though. Four flying beasts landed and formed a square around the kids. They screeched all the more and bared their sharp teeth. The kids walked in reverse until they were all back to back.
"Looks like we have no choice," Ali announced. "We'll have to fight."
