Chapter 13: The Fight, and the Hero's Return

Hey there! Gusto has returned, and he is REALLY sorry this took so damn long! But I'm back, with chapter 13 of 'Troy'.

If you're wondering why I haven't updated this story in a VERY long while, it's a number of factors. First and foremost, I've had to prioritize school (my grades were kinda bad, and I wanted to get them up), and second, I've been busy on a bunch of other projects. Third, I am gonna be releasing a bunch of other projects later on, and am trying to find a way to work on 'em all.

But the ultimate underlying reason has been (sad, but true) just my own laziness.

But I have absolutely no intention of leaving this story unfinished. And I don't know if anyone still gives a damn about this story, but if anyone does, whenever I can, I will try to get a new chapter up, as well as other chapters on another LBT projects I'm starting on. I'll see what I can do with all of this.

And I promise, I'll never leave you guys hangin' again, especially once I get started on the new projects! But for now, enjoy this (I hope) decent little return to Troy.

"This is your 'Great Valley'!?" Cera shouted, her words showing her rage. This was most certainly not the Great Valley. I've never seen it, and I could tell this could've never been the Valley.

"I'm leaving."

I don't blame Cera, but we needed to stay together, "Cera," I told her, "We need to keep following the Bright Circle." But she continued to walk, saying "I'm taking the EASY way for once." Littlefoot then got directly in front of her, his face showing his evident annoyance.

"But it's the WRONG way!"

"Who says," Cera asked snobbishly, to which Littlefoot responded, "My mother!"

"Then SHE was a stupid longneck too!"

Even I couldn't believe this. Cera was being more of a little brat now than ever. Maybe it was the fact that she was exhausted, but even so, her behaviour was inexcusable. "Take it back," Littlefoot told her, and her response was "No way!"

"Take it back!"

"NO!"

Before the verbal argument could go on any longer, Littlefoot had knocked Cera down a cliff. Feeling the need to make sure that neither got hurt, I went in after the two. The moment I was down in the ravine, I heard the sound of another falling in.

I didn't have time to focus on them, though, because my mind was set on stopping Littlefoot and Cera. They were both trying to push eachother away, but Cera's strength proved to overpower Littlefoot. He wouldn't last long if he tried to go against her, so I had to do something about it.

In only a few seconds, Littlefoot had grabbed Cera by the leg, and she had hit him to force him to let go.

The fight dragged on, and it was clear that Littlefoot was not going to win. I had tried at least once or twice to stop them, but Cera just continued to push me aside. But when they were about to charge once more, I got inbetween the two.

The pain of Cera ramming into my side had forced me back, and caused me to run into Littlefoot. We crashed into a wall on the corner of the canyon, and the pain was unbelievable for me. Once my eyes were open again, all I could do was continue to watch them fight...

As it dragged on, I noticed something. The look in Littlefoot's eyes as he fought was different than that of Cera's. It wasn't just a look of anger, but a look of... betrayal. It was as if he was hurt by her comment more than she knew. And on the inside it hurt me to see...

The only thing I could consider even the slightest bit lucky about this whole situation was that the fight ended only a few moments later. Littlefoot was sprawled on the ground, pain evident in his eyes, before he looked away from the direction. "Fine," he told Cera angrily, "Go the wrong way. We never wanted you with us anyway."

I stood back up, and came over to Littlefoot, to make sure he was okay. And as I did, I noticed Cera look back at me. A look that said 'Just stop. This group will never work.' And as much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to agree with her...

'No!' I thought to myself, steeling my nerves, 'I won't give up on this herd! I can't!' But sadly, my resolve was broken when I saw the looks on everyones faces.

"Don't tell me you guys are going with Cera," I said, feeling a horrible sadness starting to well up. They all looked at the ground, before Ducky decided to say, "Well, Troy... Cera's way is easier..."

"I see..." My voice faltered, "Well then... I hope you guys make it to the Valley in the end..." And as I was at the brink of crying, something felt... off about the moment. Looking up to hope that they hadn't left, I see they had already, and I felt a burning sensation in my heart. Looking back, and seeing Littlefoot already making his way up the canyon wall, I ran toward his direction, completely ignoring the feeling.

As we made it halfway up the cliff, I heard something...

"This ain't you!"

Looking around, I see nothing, but receive a splitting headache.

Littlefoot noticed the pain I am in, stopping, and letting me catch my breath. My vision began to fade, as I fell to the ground. The next time I opened my eyes, I saw something that couldn't have shocked me more...

It was a vision of a human. A sight I had not seen in years...

It had been forever since I had seen a human. This one though, just seemed strangely familiar to me.

He was blonde, with long hair, reaching down to his shoulders, and deep blue eyes. I stared at him, feeling he was slightly familiar, and the one thing that I kept coming back to were those deep blue eyes. Why?

Because they seemed to mirror my own…

But that wasn't the only thing that seemed familiar. He also had many other qualities that seemed to strike me as familiar, in more ways than one. For one thing, his long blonde hair struck something of a sight I knew, and his muscular physique reminded me of that of a warrior.

Or rather, a hunter…

And then it hit me! A sudden jolt ran through my head, causing my headache to worsen. And it only began to go away once the human had spoken…

"Hello there, Troy," He said, even his voice striking me as though I had heard it before. "It's been a while since we've seen each other…"

I was trembling, not knowing who this person was, but feeling a similar burning sensation to the one I felt before. It was as if something was telling me that this situation was all wrong. As if me trembling was against what I was supposed to be doing. And it was clear that this was not lost on the human. I could see it in his eyes.

"What are you doing," He asked, his voice suddenly taking a level in harshness, "I don't wanna see you trembling. That ain't you!" I immediately came to ponder these words, and began to think about it. What did he mean that this wasn't me…?

"You've changed for worse," the human continued, "You were never like this back when you were human. You were strong."

'Strong,' I questioned in my mind, as suddenly, I got a MASSIVE headache, unlike anything I've ever felt. And then, I started to see things. Sights that while faded, seemed to remind me of another time, long ago…

I saw what looked to be the human standing in front of me. He was a fighter of sorts, standing tall against bullies, and never backing down, no matter if the odds were stacked against him. I had wondered why, until it dawned on me JUST who this human was, and why he seemed so familiar…

"It's about damn time," he said, "I knew we were dense, but I didn't think you wouldn't recognize yourself!"

Yup. This was DEFINITELY me…

"So," I asked, finally having the courage to speak, "Why are you here? Did I do something wrong?"

"I want to help you," was my human self's response, "After all, you seem to need a little bit of it, considering the wimp you became." And we were both able to get a laugh out of that, despite it being an insult.

"I just don't know," I said, "I guess… something must have been lost in translation in the shift from you to me. I just don't know what…"

"I think I have an idea…"

"Do tell."

So my human self said, "I think it's… the fact that we died… I think we were traumatized by that, and just seeing Tyrus die was just too much for us. It must have been like a breaking point for us, sad as it is."

…

Wait!

That actually makes sense!

Which is weird since it came from my mouth... and I NEVER say anything sensible.

More to the point, I could see this theory as actually being true. I remember now, that I was a strong and determined guy, not the innocent little kid I had THOUGHT I was, and I was DEFINITELY a lot more awesome than I am right now. And just knowing this fact had made the burning sensation from before arise, more powerful than ever. And now, I'm damn sure I know what it is. It wasn't rage, as I had originally thought!

It was confidence!

This whole time, I was keeping it locked up, and didn't even realize it. I wasn't some scared little kid, and I damn sure wasn't gonna act like it!

And I could see that my human self agreed with this. "Well then," he said, his eyes full of confidence and determination, "I see I've brought back the fight in you! Now use it, Troy!" And as everything started to fade, I heard one last thing from him:

"Be the hero we always knew we could be!"

My eyes darted open, as I saw Littlefoot staring back at me, worry evident in his eyes. And while that worry isn't exactly necessary, I appreciate it. Alleviating this worry as I stood up, I told him one thing, and one thing only:

"We gotta go back for them."

"What," he asked, shocked at my choice, "Why!? They left us!"

"It's not like we tried to stop 'em," was my retort, my good ol' stubborn-ness kicking in, "We should go help them!"

"Are you taking their side!?"

"Dammit, Littlefoot," I nearly yelled, and the fact that I cursed catching him VERY off guard, "This ain't about sides! We're pretty much a herd, and we need each other! Now, I'm gonna head back and help them, and you're welcome to join me if you want to! But for now, I'm gonna save our herd!"

And with that, I ran toward the direction where I saw them head off to, with a bit of fire in my soul. Now, the old Troy would have been a bit apprehensive about heading toward the volcanic region that they had been heading, but that old me was gone. And it took only a few moments before I saw that Littlefoot joining me, meaning that I had at the very least got him to see things my way…

And that made me UNBELIEVABLY happy to see that I was back to being what I used to be. In an instant, I had gone from being a semi-weak Threehorn, back to having the warrior's mindset I once had. And while I might not consider myself a hero, I knew I was at least doing what was right.

So there you go, that's this chapter. I actually finished this, and am posting it in the middle of class (it's the last day of the semester where I am, so we're not doing anything, and I just have a frick-ton of time to write. Talk about luck of the draw), and I am glad I FINALLY got to do this. And once again, I am EXTREMELY sorry if I disappointed anyone who was waiting for an update for so long.

But that's all behind us, and I will NEVER again allow myself to leave you guys hanging. And I don't know if anyone is still caring about this, but I will be making with the continuing of the writing of this and the writing of the sequel to 'The Search for Paradise' (and in case anyone was wondering about that, I still have plans to write it. But I told myself 'I HAVE to get this moving again before I can begin on that').

So, yea. Read, Review, and all that other good stuff. Be back soon.