Chapter 3

The clan was shocked. Never before had any of them ever heard of a Rainy Basin dweller attempting to sneak out of their home. As a panic quickly swept through the rest of the pack, Kiva was silent.

'This is all my fault,' she thought. 'I should never have said anything. How could this have happened?' She shook her head. 'No! Now is not the time for blame. Now is the time for action!' Kiva gave a piercing whistle, catching the entire clan's attention.

"Listen to me, all of you! In this time of crisis, we cannot panic. All of us must maintain a firm grasp on our emotions." From atop her perch on Thunderhead's snout, Kiva formulated and explained a plan that would hopefully enable her clan to retrieve its prodigal member with little interference. It was at a time such as this, that the clan did not mind being ruled by the gentle hand of a Human.

"Everyone must do their part to the utmost of their ability. But first, I require some outside assistance. Claptrap, you must follow Thunderhead. We need to reach the convoy before it returns to Treetown. It's our only chance. Everyone else, remain here until I send word on what to do next."

Goldeye grunted and nodded. As the clan's alpha male, he knew of his "daughter's" wisdom and would see to it that her word was obeyed. Kiva smiled at him and gave a small coo in her "mother's" direction. Silvercloud returned the sound fondly as Thunderhead trotted away, Kiva sitting cross-legged between his eye ridges and Snaptrap in tow. Emotions in turmoil, Silvercloud could do naught but stare up at the twinkling stars, and hope.

-----

"We're getting close," Snaptrap growled. "I can smell them."

"You may smell them, Claptrap, but I can see them. The moonlight's glinting off the Brachiosaur's armor," Thunderhead quipped.

"And I hear them. What I don't understand is why they continue to move along at this hour of the night," Kiva mused. "Don't they know it's dangerous here at night?"

"Hard to say," Snaptrap replied. But he didn't get the chance to say any more; because at that moment, his powerful sense of smell detected another, more ominous odor. "Oh no. They're being hunted," he softly grunted.

"What do you mean?" Kiva asked in hushed tones.

"A Tyrannosaur... no, three! Three Tyrannosaurs. They're surrounding the convoy!"

Thunderhead crouched down, and Kiva hopped off her roost. "Run, Kiva. Run for the convoy and don't stop. No matter what happens." Kiva opened her mouth to reply, but Thunderhead continued. "We need you, Kiva. I can't fight and watch out for you at the same time. Without you, we may never see our brother again. Trust me. You're lessons have not gone to waste. Now it is time to show you what we've learned."

Kiva smiled as Snaptrap gave an anticipatory growl. He was anxious, but he was also focused. "Very well. Stand tall, my brothers."

"Be strong, sister. Now go!"

Kiva made a mad dash for the convoy and nearly collided with one of the ambling Styrachosaurs that accompanied the convoy. After getting over her initial shock, Kiva mentally steeled herself against the wave of pain she knew was about to hit her.

"Stop!" she cried in the Human dialect. She was right. The pain she felt in her vocal chords was like nothing she'd ever experienced. Still, she needed to tell them. "There are three Tyrannosaurs that are poised to attack! You must stop and prepare to defend yourselves!"

As if on cue, a massive roar split the air as a Tyrannosaurus Rex plunged out of the forest and made straight for the first thing it saw... Kiva. At that moment however, Thunderhead barreled into the carnivore and knocked him off balance. The slight diversion had given the convoy just enough time to get under control and attain a defensive formation; the Styrachosaurs at the front, and Snaptrap in the rear.

Stunned, and having lost the element of surprise, the adult Tyrannosaur gave a low, menacing growl, and his other two hunting partners emerged from their positions. Two juveniles, they were obviously agitated at the prospect of having lost a potential meal. But the three were also wary of the fact that if two juvenile Giganotosaurs were protecting the convoy, then the rest of the clan could also be near.

The adult Tyrannosaur and Thunderhead faced each other in a stare- down; but it was the Rex who first broke eye contact. Growling in disappointment, the three Rexes stalked off into the darkness.

Throughout all this, Kiva had been explaining to the convoy, via Turq, what had happened.
"Please. Let us come with you. If we can reach Treetown, then we can send word to Waterfall City, explaining the imperativeness of our journey."

The convoy leader was skeptical. "This could be a trick," he said. But when Turq saw the determined look in Kiva's eyes, and added his voice to her own.

"I believe that Kiva speaks the truth, Jorgen. After all, Kiva and these two Giganotosaurs have probably just saved our lives. The least we can do is give them a chance."

Jorgen, the convoy's leader, finally relented. "All right, what do you need from us?"

"Well, I think the best thing to do right now is to get some sleep. We're not too far from my clan's home. We'll stay there and decide our next move in the morning."

Turq translated the message to Jorgen who adamantly refused. "NO! We're not walking right into the nesting sight of those creatures! That would be suicide!"

It was obvious to Kiva that Jorgen had forgotten she could understand him perfectly.

"Well, it would be a whole lot better than standing here and waiting for the next Tyrannosaurus Rex hunting party to arrive." Her voice sounded foreign to her as she spoke those words in her native human speech. It was broken and cracked a bit, but it was... pretty. A soft, whisper-like quality had attached itself to her voice, making her sound quite feminine.

"I can assure you, my clan will do you no harm. You have my word."

Jorgen bowed his head, ashamed that she had heard and understood what he said. "Very well, Kiva. We all appreciate your hospitality. Lead on; we shall follow."

-----
There were many stares and growls of surprise as the convoy entered the clearing. But once Kiva and her brothers explained the whole ordeal, Goldeye assured them that they were welcome to stay the night.

Kiva could not sleep. She kept thinking about the events of that day, the sting of the truth of Clapjaw's words, and the shock of his exodus from the Rainy Basin. She was startled when Silvercloud's soft growl broke through the silence beside her.

"Everything will be all right, dearest. You'll find your brother and we'll fix whatever mess he caused."

"It's not that."

Silvercloud stood next to her human daughter. "What is it then?"

"Clapjaw opened my eyes to something I hadn't really thought about before. I'm a Human, co-existing with a Giganotosaurus clan. Is that natural?"

Silvercloud sighed. "Is it natural that Humans and Saurians co- exist together at all? In the Outside World, we Saurians became extinct long before you kept accurate records of our existence. And yet, here we have survived. And when the first Humans came to this island, it was a shock to both our worlds. But we learned to tolerate each other; then to co-exist, and finally, to care about each other. There is nothing unnatural about that. We have learned from your race, and vice versa."

"But I still can't help feeling that something is not right with me."

Silvercloud smiled, as well as a carnivore can, in the blackness. "You are growing up, Kiva. And there will come a time very soon when you must make a choice. A choice between returning home to your clan; or staying with your race and starting a clan of your own."

Kiva was puzzled. "But I love it here. You're my family and this is my home. What more could I want?"

"There will come a time, young one, when you will discover exactly what it is you want. And then, everything will come into clear relief." Silvercloud shook herself "Remember, I wasn't born into this clan, I was chosen."

And with that cryptic message, Silvercloud left her adopted daughter to puzzle over and try to grasp the magnitude of such an important conversation. Settling down next to her mate, Silvercloud prayed that whatever Kiva chose, she would be happy. She dearly loved her human daughter and wanted the best for her. She could only hope that Kiva would now for herself what was best.

'This is the time I feared. And yet, I am relieved. My little fearless one; always thinking of other's first. Please, don't forget yourself.'

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AN: A special thanks to all of you who reviewed! You made me sooooo happy! Happy enough to write you all more chappies!

And Lord Destroyer, all your questions will be answered in time. Just be patient. In this story I'll give a brief history of Kiva's life, but I'm planning to write a prequel-esque, more extensive version of her past growing up in a Giganotosaurus clan. Just let me get through story number one first!