-v-

Act 2

Chapter 18: A big leap

"Information is the most important commodity in the universe. It can make the difference between life and death, success and failure, and prosperity and famine. But more important than information itself is its verification."

~Ponderings on Espionage, Consortium Training Text

Nahoda examined the scrape with a look of satisfaction. It was the perfect place in many ways: hidden from obvious view by multiple bushes, under a small canopy of trees to prevent its occupants from being soaked in a rainstorm, and it was carved using his bare claws. He couldn't help but smile with pride at his handiwork. For once in his life he figured that he had thought of everything.

"Watcha doin?"

Nahoda jumped in surprise at the sudden voice from above him, before he felt something land on his back with a resounding thud. Feeling the tell-tale sensation of claws, he took off out of instinctual fear.

"Whoa, Mr. Fastrunner! You're fast!"

Nahoda slowly began to come back to his senses upon again hearing the child-like voice from his back. It sounded almost like…

"Pouncer! Quit riding Arial's mate!"

Nahoda cringed. As if being terrified for his life wasn't enough, he had to have his moment of terror discovered by others.

"Oh, Mom! It wasn't my fault! Nahoda knocked me off of the tree!"

The fastrunner closed his eyes. Of course… he asked me his question when he must have been on the tree above the scrape. Stupid, Nahoda! Stupid!

"And why were you above Nahoda's scrape, dear?"

There was no answer from his back, but Nahoda could sense the young predator cringing.

"Oh, he was just watching me make the scrape. It is no problem," Nahoda spoke suddenly, surprising even himself, "He just… kind of spooked me when he slipped."

He allowed himself to look backwards at the little biter on his back, giving him a slight wink as the fastbiter looked at him dumbfounded. The fastrunner had just given him an out.

"Oh, all right. But don't pester Nahoda too much, Pouncer. I am sure he has work to do."

As Stern Claw sprinted back to her sleeping area, undoubtedly to deal with some situation caused by his siblings, Taunt, or some combination thereof, the small fastbiter was left with one realization: the hidden runner he had been pestering had just saved his tail.

"Why did you do that, sir?"

Nahoda did not answer immediately. To be honest he somewhat was unsure of why he had acted the way that he had. But in the end he allowed that part of himself that had acted to speak on his behalf.

"A childhood is too short to be spent in trouble. Trust me, little one, you will miss that when it is gone." Nahoda began to walk back towards the scrape. "Just do me a favor, will ya?"

The fastbiter nodded.

"Please tell me how to fix this scrape before Mender bites my head off for leaving it open to attack."

Pouncer smiled. "She sounds like Mom!"

Nahoda shivered. "All the more reason not to have her mad at me, right?"

Pouncer jumped off of the fastrunner's back before giving him a respectful bow. One good deed deserved another. Besides, Pouncer already decided that he liked this fastrunner. He wouldn't eat him even if the pack said it was okay.

"How do you manage to keep track of five kids?" Mender asked Haven, finally having found some time away from said kids.

Leap looked behind him to make sure the kids were still with the rest of Taunt's children. With that group of youngsters you never knew what mischief they could get up to.

"It's kind of like trying to watch five ground fuzzies at once," Leap muttered with a sigh, "You just try to keep anyone else from eating them and try not to look like an idiot in the process."

This earned him a playful smack and a laugh from Ducky.

"They are quite the handful at this age, but they mind well when it is necessary," Ducky clarified, "Though I do fear that Stern Claw might need your help, Dear."

"Are they trying to kill themselves?" Mender wondered aloud, looking over to see Ducky's kids climbing up a rather tall tree while Leap ran over to keep an eye on them.

Ducky watched the scene play out as Leap called out for the kids to come down from their ill-advised race. Two of the children were so high up on the tree that they looked like treestars blowing in the wind. Her answer surprised her old friend. "I always tell them not to do this, but they never listen. Nope, nope, nope. It is always the same tree."

"I hope Verant and Staza's kids don't get that adventurous. Though, considering that even I was a bit adventurous when I was little..." Mender shrugged with a laugh, "they're probably out of luck."

Ducky laughed as she saw the children finally get down off of the tree while Leap did his best to give the kids a stern talking to. As Stern Claw came on the scene, however, he quickly allowed her to take the lead. He looked relieved to no longer have to perform that duty, but the kids certainly did not.

"Well, you know our songs. I did not go up trees but was picked up by flyers, used as bait for Redclaw's daddy, got trapped in the shifting sands…" Ducky trailed off. "There is a reason that we are not singing some of the songs to our kids until they get older. We do not want to give them any more ideas. Oh, no, no, no."

"So they haven't been trying to die the way you guys told me you were when you were kids?" Mender asked, only half serious. She still found it hard to believe how often her friends, or at least the former leaf-eater ones, had risked their lives when they would have been such easy meals had they been anyone else.

"Well…' Ducky noted as she watched the kids begin to play a much less dangerous game of Hunter and Prey, "Since the last Cold Time Biter secretly befriended a leaf-eater, Biter and Swipe nearly got crushed by a longneck, all of our kids specifically disobeyed our instructions and got into the middle of the fight between Path's parents and the valley, and they keep on climbing up that tree!"

Ducky did not realize that she had been raising her voice until she saw the look on Mender's face. "Um… sorry. Parenthood can be stressful, yep, yep, yep. I wonder how Mama handled all of us."

"Well, it helped that our siblings did not have a death wish."

No, just you two, Mender mentally replied as Spike walked up to the conversing pair, It probably helped that your mother didn't need to worry about predators all that much in the valley. Seriously, why don't small sharpteeth ever try to sneak in there? If nothing else you get something to brag about.

Spike smiled as he stopped in front of the two other fastbiters. "Seeker wanted me to tell both of you that Cynnil had an idea about the Rot Plants you needed. She was saying that the Purple Sap Flower might be just as effective. Whatever that is..."

"Oh, you have those here?" Mender stepped in front of Spike with excitement. "We didn't see any along the way."

Spike blinked. "Um… yeah. The entire back hill is full of them. Path has been sarcastically calling it Violet Hill."

Mender rolled her eyes. "This is exactly what we could have used for the Pack of the Boulders. The entire pack had the itchy itch, and we had to fix them up using fireweeds."

Spike looked at both fastbiters in confusion. "Itchy itch?"

"Its, um... uh..." Mender completely lost track of what she was trying to say, too embarrassed to focus. As she'd done many times in the past she turned to Ducky for help.

"Somebody put their 'special parts' on someone they should not have been, nope, nope, nope! Are they still sharing mates in that pack?" Ducky prompted, looking more than a little peeved, "We had to drag Stern Claw away from clawing them when they 'politely' offered us their hospitality when we went through their territory one day."

Spike took a step back from this conversation. "I still don't get how they know whose kid is whose."

"Well, they don't… that helps with the whole 'baby-eating' instinct thing," Mender sputtered, "It's still weird, though. If they're going to keep doing that then they need to make sure it isn't with anyone with problems."

Spike continued to avert his eyes as Mender spoke. He could not fault the other pack for their 'inventive' solution to a problem that his pack had addressed in a less messy way, but the entire thing left a bad taste in his mouth. Though, as a fellow male, he had to ask a more pressing question.

"Umm… fireweeds… did you actually use those on the pack?"

Mender simply nodded.

Spike eyed went wide as he shook his head. "I take it that they didn't offer you any of their customary hospitality?"

Ducky groaned. "Brother!"

"Excuse me?" Mender growled, glaring at Spike. She forced herself to calm down. "Most of them weren't that stupid. I set the one that was that stupid straight."

Spike smiled. "I am sure Stern Claw would love to hear that story."

"Hear what?"

Cera, Taunt, and Leap arrived on the scene, with their kids now firmly planted on their backs. It appeared that playtime was over.

"Nothing," Mender replied a bit too quickly. There was no way she was telling that story while Taunt could hear.

Cera looked up, and catching the 'I will tell you later' look, quickly changed the subject, "I think it is time that the children take a little nap…"

A chorus of protests erupted from the little mouths, but Cera would have none of it.

"...and meanwhile all of us adults can catch up on what good ol' Mender and Cynnil have been up to since we last saw them."

"I guess we'll be seeing Taunt later then?" Mender asked, smirking at the fastbiter in question.

Taunt rolled his eyes. "I could take a nap during the catch up, but I think that my mate would bite me."

"Who says that I won't anyway?" Cera retorted.

Taunt smiled cheekily. "True. But I don't want to make it too easy on you…"

Well, those two haven't changed a bit, Mender thought, suppressing a chuckle.

"But, Mom… can we at least have a song before our nap?"

Ambush's protest started up all of the others as their demands of 'song, song, song…' echoed like a song in itself. Within a few moments Cera helplessly looked at the others present.

"Hey, we could sing about when you first joined the pack, Mender," Taunt suggested, though with a bit of a tease, "You had a bad sleep story…"

Mender surprised him by teasing back, "...and Path nearly caught you…"

Taunt reared back in mock offense. "I will let you know, oh Great Mendsy, that I ran off just to protect the poor two-footer's reputation."

As if on cue a roar emanated in the distance which made Taunt jump into the air out of surprise. This earned laughter from the children present, as Cera quickly pretended like she had not signalled for the purple tyrannosaurus to do just that.

Mender tried and failed to hold back a laugh. "Okay, okay. If everyone will stay quiet, I'll sing the song." She turned to look at Taunt. "Oh, and Taunt?"

As Taunt kept pace with the group he gave Mender a playful smile.

"Don't call me Mendsy."

The past

"She's still sleeping in?"

Cera gave Taunt an obscene gesture as she shifted to an upright position. For his part, Taunt rolled his eyes and gestured towards Violet's snoozing form.

"Not you, dear… the Mender of Feathers over there."

A light smack to the back of his head surprised him. "You do realize that she would call you far worse if she heard you calling her that, right?"

Taunt rubbed his head in mock pain as he looked at Ruby's satisfied face. "I am sure that you will fill her in."

All three fastbiters turned their attention to the sleeping fastbiter again as they considered their recent catch. The elderly longneck had served as an easy meal and, as was their custom, they had consumed him hungrily until they had fallen into a slumber in the warm spring sun. Now, however, Violet was the last to rise, an oddity for the fastbiter.

"She would probably attack me if I woke her, right?" Taunt asked tentatively.

"Absolutely."

"Certainly."

"Go do it!"

Taunt groaned as his mate offered the last word on the subject. Of course she would find the idea of the pack's newest member smacking her mate as a welcome diversion. However, he was not without some iota of sense. Grabbing a stick from nearby he prepared to rouse Violet from a safer distance.

"Halt, Taunt!" Littlefoot hissed, "Take a look at her legs."

Taunt stared at the young fastbiter's legs with momentary confusion. Within moments, however, he could see what had caught his attention. Tensing and clawing at the ground… If she were upright then she would be in motion right now.

"A strong sleep story?" Taunt muttered, "What is your point, sir?" For once the 'sir' was not playful mocking, but rather an honest question.

"My mother always told me not to wake someone when they are in a walking sleep story. Oh, no, no, no!" Ducky noted.

"Even though she is not walking that does not mean that in her sleep story she is not walking," Ruby noted, "We are in no hurry, maybe we should let her sleep?"

"There is plenty left to go around," a low growl came from nearby where the gore-covered tyrannosaurus spoke, but upon seeing the expressions of the others Chomper continued, "I promise that I won't eat it all!"

Littlefoot rolled his eyes as he smirked. "I will hold you to that promise. Alright, everyone, let's let Mender enjoy her nap. I am sure that we can save her some of the torso."

Despite Littlefoot's calm words, however, he was left with a lingering thought.

What is on your mind, Mender?

Violet ran as fast as she could. She had to get away.

She risked a look behind her. That proved to be a costly mistake. She didn't see the turn until it was too late. Her attempt to land safely on the slope failed miserably.

Come on. Come on. She scrambled for purchase but found none. The last thing she saw was the river.

Violet woke up in a panic, jumping up into a defensive position instinctively. It took her longer than she wanted to admit to realize she wasn't in danger and that she wasn't alone. Great, everyone saw that, she thought, embarrassed by the fact she had an audience.

Despite the fact that everyone had seen the reaction, with Spike noticeably edging away in case she struck out in a panic, only one person spoke.

"Yeah… I hate those running sleep stories too. Never mind how fast you run death always seems to catch you."

"I kind of ran into it this time," Violet replied shyly. She earnestly wanted to just disappear.

"I used to have those sleep stories all of the time when I was a leaf-eater," Spike noted as he took another bite out of the longneck, "though it was usually sharpteeth that were after me."

"Now it is pissed off longnecks," Littlefoot noted with some trepidation as he thought back to his own dreams. Seeing Taunt's amused face, he reacted in a mix of defensiveness and veiled amusement, "Hey, once you have been chased by your old kind it stays with you!"

"Charging threehorns aren't fun either," Cera noted as she took a playful swipe at her mate's tail. She resisted the urge to ask Violet if she was okay, figuring that it would be better for Violet's pride to simply downplay the situation.

Violet resisted the urge to nod in agreement to Cera's statement. She'd had plenty of those experiences. She'd deliberately caused the last one to keep the herd away from Tracker when she was hurt and still had bad sleep stories about it from time to time. She glanced around for a way to just walk away and hope everyone would forget about her for a while.

"Here, Mender," Ducky's voice called out from some distance away, "There is still some of the torso left if you want it. We made sure that Path saved you some."

A sighed growl came from the purple sharptooth. "It is like you people think I would eat it all if I had my way."

"You would!" came the response from nearly every member of the pack as Violet took the opportunity to edge towards Ducky's location.

"Next time I oversleep, just kick me," Violet told her friend once she reached Ducky, "That was really embarrassing."

Ducky gave a slight shrug, showing that it wasn't terribly serious. "We all have bad sleep stories from time to time. The important thing is to remember that those sleep stories can't hurt us. As Taunt said, we all have those 'running sleep stories'."

"I still can't believe I did that; I overreacted again."

"You didn't overreact, Mender." Ducky put a hand on her shoulder as she glanced back at the others who were now in a playful banter battle with Chomper. "You just woke up in a panic because you had a bad sleep story. Besides, on the plus side you did confirm something about Taunt."

"What?"

Ducky chuckled slightly. "He thought about waking you before we stopped him, but he was going to use a stick to do so. So he certainly respects your claws more than he respects his reflexes!"

"I wish I could stop waking up like that." I still can't seem to at least stop tensing up. I didn't have this problem when my brother was around.

"Is it the same sleep story?" Ducky asked, "Or is it something new each night?"

"Sometimes it's the same, but this one was a bit different. I don't remember anything happening exactly like this sleep story," Violet replied, "I'm not even sure what I was running from this time."

Ducky nodded for a few moments as she considered Violet's words. "So did whatever you were running from catch you, or did something else happen?"

"I, um, went over a cliff," Violet said, sounding as embarrassed as if she had just done that for real. Well, the one time I do remember going over a cliff like that was far less wet.

"Like what happened before?" Ducky immediately regretted her bluntness, so she clarified, "Um… I mean when you bumped your head."

"It was sort of like that, but I ended up in a river this time."

"Is that when you woke up?" Ducky asked with sudden interest that surprised Violet, "And do you remember which river? Was it one that you had been to before?"

"Yes, that's when I woke up, but I have no clue what river. I try to stay away from them when I can. It seemed a bit like the one Prowler and I were close to when Staza got her first kill." Violet was not about to refer to the event as the time her brother and his future mate got separated from the pack and more importantly left her alone with Prowler.

Ducky was silent for several moments as she thought to herself and noted Violet's scent. It was obvious that she was hiding something, but Ducky kept that realization to herself.

"Maybe it is because I used to be a swimmer, but we put great importance into knowing our waters. Sometimes it is in sleep stories that we remember things that we need to remember, and forget things that we need to forget," she said cryptically, but with a slight hint of leaving something unsaid, "Is there anything else that you would like to tell me? If not then I understand."

"I...well, did I ever tell you about when Staza got her first kill?" Violet asked.

Ducky shook her head. "No, you have not."

"Well, we ran into trouble a while back. Another pack was outright hunting us and cut Tracker, I mean Staza, off from us." Violet shivered at the memory. "While trying to get away she fell into the river."

Ducky's face communicated obvious concern, but she nodded for Violet to continue.

"My brother jumped in afterwards to help her. The river swept them away." Violet had a feeling she may have told Ducky at least part of this, but like much she said there were many things left out of the first telling.

"What happened to them I already told Ponder. Apparently it's not a funny story to her. Staza finds it funny now, but I know it wasn't much fun at the time. They spent all day hunting a swimmer just to have a two-footer take it away after they killed it."

Ducky sighed. "Sometimes the bigger sharptooth gets the meal. But at least you all lived to tell the tale."

"Prowler and I weren't there," Violet corrected her friend, "We were trying to follow the river and hoped we'd find them alive."

Ducky nodded. "Of course, I meant in general. If they had both died then how do you think you two would have fared?" She tried not to make it sound like she was downplaying Violet's abilities, but being left with only one companion in the Mysterious Beyond would have been certain death for Violet and Prowler.

"Assuming we didn't starve to death, and that's a pretty big assumption, we probably would either have died by another pack's claws or been forcibly added to another pack long before now." And that would have been the end of me, she mentally added. "I'm not sure which of those would have been worse."

Ducky did not answer her unspoken question, as she did not want to dwell on either possibility. "So… um… we have all heard about Prowler's leadership style… um... How did things go?" She was unsure how to ask the question with any delicacy, but she suspected the missing piece of the puzzle might rest with him.

"Better than expected, actually," Violet said. She still wasn't sure what to think after Thud pointed out that Prowler had no problem killing her. "I kept my head down and my mouth shut most of the time. It was still pretty tense."

"I can only imagine," Ducky noted as she took another bite of the longneck. The two ate in companionable silence for several moments before Ducky thought of something more to say, "So… you seem to remember quite a bit from that time. Have any new memories popped up? Did you ever fall into a river based upon what Verant has told you?"

"I don't think so, at least not at that time. There was an instance where I ended up in a river, but that was deliberate. Well, sorta. I got pushed in before my brother jumped in behind me. It involved threehorns. Not a fun day."

"Ah… I think I remember you mentioning that," Ducky noted, "But maybe we are looking at it the wrong way. If Verant had been the one to push you then perhaps it is about him in some way?"

"Maybe. I hope not. The fall that woke me up would have killed me. It was really high up, and I was alone." And my brother wouldn't have made a mistake that stupid.

"Some sleep stories are not literal," Ducky noted as she stripped the last bit of flesh from one of the longneck's vertebrae, "You may have been running from something unseen. Remember when my friends and I had our sleep stories when we were changing? We saw ourselves as corpses, but it was not literal. Oh, no, no, no."

Violet just looked at her friend, confused. "If it doesn't mean what I see, then what does it mean?"

Ducky thought for a moment. "Maybe you were running from something unseen because it is something that you did not want to face? Is there anything that you left unresolved? Anything that involves Verant, a river, or um.. running?" Ducky contorted her face. "Or who knows, maybe it was just a sleep story."

Violet couldn't think of anything that she'd left unresolved with her brother other than a wish that she'd behaved better. There were also plenty of things that she hated to talk about even with Ducky, but she really didn't want to admit that. Her friend would probably make her tell her everything out of concern. "I can't think of anything like that, unless you count not wanting to get chased again," she finally said.

Ducky smiled slightly. "Alright, just remember that I am here if you ever want to talk about it."

"I did not eat that entire threehorn! I shared some of it with all of you!"

"But I didn't get any!"

"That's because you were elsewhere, Taunt, and too slow to catch up with all of us!"

"Why you purple-assed sap-chaser…"

Ducky sighed as she whispered to Violet, "Did Taunt and Stern Claw make a bet about how long it would take him to piss Path off again?"

"I don't know. Does Taunt really need an excuse to do that, though?"

Ducky rolled her eyes. "No, but it helps. He still remembers that it was Path's parents who chased him back when…"

Just then Chomper faked a charge towards Taunt, which caused him to sprint into the nearby bushes. Before he disappeared completely, however, his voice could be heard as Cera sighed.

"You owe me 10 ground fuzzies, dear!"

"He's trying to die young, isn't he?" Violet said with a shake of her head. He definitely wouldn't have survived a single day around Prowler. Or maybe the other way around? Either way it would have been fun to watch.

Littlefoot walked up to Chomper with a wry expression. "How much did he offer you to chase him early?"

Cera sputtered, "What!"

Chomper took on a toothy grin. "Five ground fuzzies, but to be honest I did it just to see Stern Claw's face!"

Cera glared at them both. "You just wait, Path! You can't get any ground fuzzies from a dead fastbiter!" She disappeared within an instant in the same direction that Taunt had fled.

"Haven?" Violet asked, "do they ever not do that?" She gestured towards where Cera and Taunt had disappeared.

"That is how they flirt, it is, it is." Ducky shook her head as she stared at the rest of the longneck. "But their loss is our gain. Gang, should we eat what is left before they get back?"

Spike snorted. "I am sure they will be occupied for a while!"

Littlefoot rolled his eyes. "Well, hopefully they are done before we all try to sleep!" He then coughed awkwardly when he realized he said that loud enough for Violet to hear. "Anyway, I don't see why not. Let's dig in, everyone!"

"A thundering fall? This wasn't here before…. sigh... Absolutely fucking wonderful."

"What was here?" Dodger asked. What is with these guys and swearing? Waste of time and energy. Especially time that can be critical when speaking.

"A river," Leap said as he examined the scene, his shift in position to Thud's side momentarily reminding Dodger of the current chain of command, "But it seems that we have a lot of flooding."

Thud shook his head. "Yeah… the drowned swimmers that we saw a few days ago was a hint of what was to come. How long did the rain fall over here?"

Swift shifted uneasily, as her position in the pack was somewhat uncertain with the two new arrivals. "What are we to do?"

Thud sighed. "Well, to quote my son's lovely pep-talk to Haven, 'If fastbiters were meant to swim like fish then we would have fucking gills'. I don't know, Swift, but we can't go over the cliff and swim down to the falls, now can we?"

Dodger looked over the cliff. He could see a potential way down, but it was quite difficult and any mistakes could easily prove fatal. If it were just Tracker and himself he would consider it doable, but he had no clue how good his new packmates were at climbing.

Leap shifted uneasily as he stared at the slick rocks. "Um, sir?" he addressed Thud, "Verant? Perhaps we should get away from the edge of the cliff?"

Thud did not immediately speak, but began to walk backwards, only noticing the slickness when he nearly fell on his rear. This caused Leap to edge closer to Thud to assist, but the elder waved him off. He was away from the danger at the moment.

Dodger started to back away from the edge carefully. Okay, careful. Careful. He noticed that the ground was problematically shifty in this particular spot. Too muddy. Might collapse or get swept off by water. He took another step, falling down where it turned out there was water rather than ground. Or it might fail right now. He quickly slammed his front claws into the ground. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Leap sprung into action as he leapt towards Dodger's struggling form. "Hang on, Verant!"

Tracker tried to rush forward despite everything she knew telling her to stay put only to be literally tackled by Swift. "No, Staza!" The other fastbiter held her fast while the two males tried to help Dodger.

Leap held onto Dodger's arm while Thud put all of his weight on Leap's legs to keep him secure, "Push with your back legs, Verant! Push yourself towards me!"

I know what to do, sir, Dodger mentally retorted. He'd gotten himself out of similar situations, though with far more effort, without help before. He did as instructed, though.

"Good!" Leap encouraged as he could see Dodger move forwards despite slipping several times due to the slick mud, "Now climb over me!"

Rather than bother arguing Dodger did as he was told. This probably isn't the best idea… He moved as carefully as he could so as not to hurt or endanger his packmate.

Leap grunted as the other fastbiter quickly used Leap's arms and legs as grips in his desperate attempt to escape the slick rocks and mud. Within moments, however, he could hear a muffled growl as Dodger regained his footing somewhere behind him.

"Do you have his other leg?" Leap could hear Thud ask Dodger, as the leader's eyes were now half-blinded by the torrent of mud that Dodger had sent his way in his scramble away from the cliff edge.

"Got 'im," Dodger replied, gripping Leap's leg. Come on. We're almost out of here.

Without wasting any time, Leap pushed back with his arms while the others pulled him back towards safety. For several moments they made slow but steady progress away from the slippery and treacherous rock. That was when he heard it.

Creak…

"Shit! It's going!" Leap exclaimed as he redoubled his efforts to push himself back, "Both of you get back to safety!"

Dodger just redoubled his efforts, not knowing or caring whether Thud was retreating. "Not a chance, Leap."

Leap did not bother to argue with the other fastbiter as he felt both fastbiters retain their grip on his legs. But that was when the inevitable happened.

Crack!

With a sudden lurch, the greater half of the rock gave way, sending the strickened fastbiter into a perilous position above the raging waters below. Leap could not see what was happening behind him. He could not see his sister's petrified expression. He could not see Thud being knocked back towards his other packmates in the chaotic collapse. Nor could he see Dodger's resolute face. The only thing that he could feel was his grip on his legs, and the fact that they both were edging towards the abyss.

This just isn't my day. "Try to get upright. We might have to jump," Dodger told Leap. He had no intention of leaving his packmate, someone who he was starting to consider his friend. We're both going backwards or we're both going down.

As Leap stared at the raging waves below, he was reminded of Taunt's tale of when he had barely survived floating down a river, and the sacrifice that had made that possible. He knew in that moment that there was no way he could get back on the rocks in his current position, and there was no way for Dodger to pull him back. Either he was going down alone, or Dodger was going with him.

It was only now that he heard the groggy voice of a recovering Thud scream from somewhere behind Dodger, "Leap? Leap!"

"Take care of the pack while I'm gone."

"You're not going anywhere," Dodger replied stubbornly, redoubling his efforts to pull Leap back up, regardless of how useless the effort was proving.

Leap growled as he stared at Dodger. "I can swim if need be, but the rock is giving way! You need to go back up while we still have a-"

Crack!

In a moment that seemed to stretched into infinity the entire world seemed to spin end on end. Where at one moment Dodger's face stared at him with concern, now flew a confusing cascade of claws, tails, rocks, and water. It was only when the confusing tangle of images spun for a third time that Leap realized what had happened.

That was when the raging waters took them both.

"Well, she seems to be holding up well."

Ruby listened to her mate as she considered how the pack's newest member was handling things. Though she generally agreed with his assessment, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was still something that she was missing.

"I think that she is still embarrassed about the bad sleep story. She wants to look strong, but she can't look strong if she does not feel strong."

Littlefoot nodded. "Strength and confidence come with time, she is doing much better than she was."

His mate nodded. "Most certainly yes, but she may not see that."

Littlefoot grew silent for a moment as he studied the Night Circle, deep in thought. He figured that this was not something that he could rush. He still remembered how long it took Leap and Swift to catch their wits about them.

"I wonder if we should send Spotter out for a message run."

Ruby stared at her mate for a moment. Though the idea sounded promising, it had been merely a few days since their departure. To send the flyer out as such short notice might be misconstrued as showing little confidence in their allies.

"Let's hold off for a few days, dear. I am sure that they are doing just fine," she yawned as she playfully slapped at her mate's tail, "Besides, I am sure we will soon have an excuse to send him out."

Littlefoot cooed playfully as he joined in their little game of attack the tail. "And why is that, dear?"

Ruby smiled. "They would think it nothing out of the ordinary if Mender wanted a check up on her friends."

Littlefoot smiled back. "True… perhaps we should turn to other things then. I am sure that our allies are fine."

"Not again…" Thud stared at the treacherous cliff that had claimed one of his packmates. It was reminiscent of how he had barely cheated death when he had been attacked by one of Redclaw's 'replacements' of him, but Thud had been far stronger than Leap in those days, and Dodger had gone head over heels into the surf.

Please still be alive, my friends… Swim to the shore… Swim like your lives depend on it.

Tracker was much less sedate; with all of the speed that her body could manage she lunged towards the cliff in an attempt to go after her mate and companion. It was only through instinct that Thud was able to throw himself in her path.

"Staza, stop!"

Tracker slid to a stop, not so much to obey her pack leader's order than to avoid running into him. It was then that she heard the mournful roar of Swift, and the reality of the situation hit her like a falling rock. Now her instincts were being overtaken by the cold realization of what they had lost. What she had lost.

"We can help them but we can't do that if we drown!" Thud barked, trying desperately to keep his own emotions in check. "My son and Breeze survived something like this, and I am sure Verant and Leap will as well."

"But they need our help," Thud finished, wiping some mud from his eyes, "We know where the river goes, so we need to track where they might end up."

"Then let's go," Tracker replied, immediately turning to go back the way her pack had originally come.

The remnants of the pack needed no prompting as Thud tried to keep up with both of the females, their speed being enhanced by the possible loss of those whom they held most dear. He could only hope that the Bright Circle, obscured by clouds, had not forsaken them all.

They needed all the help they could get.

The present:

Mender prepared to heighten her voice once more for the conclusion of the song, when another sound caught her attention. Giving a quick look at the dinosaurs around her, she then quickly truncated her song in more hushed tones.

After all, when children were asleep it was best to let them be.

"How about we talk over there while the little ones sleep?" Ducky noted as she eased away from the slumbering children. Only Pouncer was absent, but if Stern Claw was not concerned then Ducky was not going to bring it up.

Mender, however, had other ideas. "Has anyone seen where Pouncer went?" Mender whispered as she followed Ducky.

Cera shrugged. "Last time I checked Nahoda was showing him how to make a scape." She suppressed a chuckle. "I think that he spooked the fastrunner when he slipped off the tree."

Taunt snorted. "Showing him how to make a scrape? I think most of our ankle-biters already know how to do that. Are you sure that our son isn't simply studying his prey?"

Cera rolled her eyes. "I think that Pouncer knows that he is not for dinner, dear."

Taunt shrugged. "Doesn't mean that he might not be practicing…"

"He better not be trying to scare Nahoda. That's my job," Mender said, her tone light, but her body language suggested that she had no problem intervening if she had to.

Taunt smirked. "Oh now this is quite the change… It sounds like you are treating Nahoda like I treat my mate. You know what that means…"

"My mate is quite fine, thank you."

Taunt turned around as Arial waltzed over to where the dinosaurs were walking, a pile of sticks in her hands. "Any idea as to why my mate needs these?"

Littlefoot tiled his head as his tail curved in the slightest hint of a smile, "Where has Nahoda decided to make your scrape?"

Arial put the sticks down for a moment, which allowed her to stretch. "Over by the tree that overlooks the bend in the stream.

So what are the sticks for? Mender wondered, It's not like Nahoda uses sticks for anything.

Littlefoot smiled as he looked at his mate knowingly. Ruby was now also smirking with her tail.

Now Spike was curious. "What is it? Trying to make the nest already?"

Buse spoke before Cynnil could stop him, "Starting quick aren't you two…"

Arial groaned as she again picked up her sticks and proceeded to head in the direction of the scrape. "Hard to believe you are single with a beak like that, Buse."

Taunt let out a chuckle at this. He appreciated a good burn when he heard one.

"I think that Nahoda is thinking ahead about the scrape, but not for a nest… Because fastrunners don't use sticks for a nest," Ruby noted.

"Noise-makers then," Littlefoot finished her thought, ""Make sure that you hear a threat coming from the weakest side to defend."

"Somehow I don't think they're going to help with how small all the kids here are," Mender commented, "Hopefully they won't see it as a challenge." Nahoda's going to lose his mind if the kids get too interested in him.

"Think we should check in on the two guests?" Spike questioned.

As if in response Spike's mate playfully put a stick in his mouth, earning her an annoyed glare. It was only then that he noticed that she had already grabbed several sticks, apparently already having decided to render some help to their new guests.

"Well I would never challenge Breeze's enthusiasm," Littlefoot was openly laughing now, "Let's all grab a few sticks and see what they are up to."

"Well one of us should stay with the kids," Leap noted as he watched them from afar. "You never know when they might wake up and decide to go on one of their adventures."

"I think we can do that, dear," Ducky affirmed as she looked for someone to take the sticks that she had collected before Cynnil accepted them.

"They'd run off just because you're not watching them?" Mender asked, surprised. Most of the kids she'd met as a healer at least need something to wander towards if they woke up in the middle of the night to get them to leave their nests..

"It is more that they would track us by scent and try to sneak up on us," Leap noted as he sat down, watching the little fuzzballs. "Nothing like taking a drink at night only to be 'hunted' by five little younglings."

"Or have them interrupt 'special time' and ask why me and Stern Claw are sparring," Taunt added, dodging a swipe from his mate.

"Did they ask why Stern Claw was winning?" Breeze mocked, causing Spike to erupt in laughter. It was a good thing they were now some distance from the kids.

"Breeze, really?" Mender asked with a groan of frustration.

Littlefoot coughed in order to break into the exchange of barbs. "Perhaps we can talk about something other than mating while we help out our fastrunner friends?"

"Killjoy," Taunt muttered.

"That is Pack Leader Killjoy to you," Littlefoot teased, "But I was thinking that we could talk about the situation in the Mysterious Beyond. After, Mender, Buse, and Cynnil… all of you have been to some distant lands that we have not. Like the Three Mountains Lake and the Gorge of Many Bones. Maybe you can tell us a bit about those, now that there are no kids around to get any ideas about going there…"

Cynnil nodded. "Three Mountains Lake was a most interesting place. A lake so deep that no swimmer could reach its bottom," she snickered, "We found some rather interesting guests there, didn't we, Mender?"

"Don't remind me," Mender groaned.

"Guests?" Buse prompted. This had been before his time in the pack.

"Yes, now I am curious," Ruby noted. "What kind of guests were guests there?"

"Do the names Chronos and Logos sound familiar to you?" Mender asked, already knowing the answer.

The entire pack turned around at this, with several voices calling out at once.

"They were there?"

"What the…"

"That is eight days away from the valley!"

"They wouldn't leave me alone," Mender complained, "Are you guys absolutely sure none of you told them I was smell-blind? They were asking me about that before the Bright Circle set the day I met them."

Littlefoot walked over to Mender and gave her a reassuring nudge. "We kept our promise about that, Mender, and did not tell the valley… maybe they figured it out?"

"They are very observant and like puzzles," Ruby noted.

"And to them everything is a puzzle," Cera muttered, "Remember the questions they sent us after they found we were parents? If a flyer ever asks about that stuff again, I don't care if it is a valley flyer, I will eat its face."

"Is that even edible?" Mender asked, pretty sure Cera would actually do exactly what she threatened.

"So don't worry, Mender," Taunt added, "The rainbowfaces are just like that with everyone."

"Taunt, I don't know how it's possible, but I think they had even less tact than you when you're trying to insult," Mender said, "Some of the questions they asked..."

Breeze sighed. "It is how they are. They would probably think nothing of it if you asked them similar questions. They just want to know."

Littlefoot nodded. "It that is part of the reason we knew so much about healing, and then were able to teach you... " He suddenly had an idea. "Did they mention anything new? We try to talk to them through flyers, but you know how they can be..."

"One time flyer land with message, but then cut off by another flyer who landed and corrected old message. For smart dinosaurs they sometimes act really dense."

This was the first word from Petrie in some time as he flew over their heads a few body-lengths off of the ground. He had a somewhat distracted tone to his voice.

"Dense doesn't even begin to describe one of them. Who asks a girl who obviously doesn't have a mate how smell-blindness affects her mating habits?" Mender's tone made it clear that was a very sore subject for her.

Taunt coughed, giving her an apologetic nod. "You didn't kill them, did you? They are kind of important."

"Um, Chronos almost lost his head, but..." Mender couldn't help but fall back into old habits for a moment, bowing apologetically.

"We kind of figured that, Mender, as we talked to them a few days ago through a flyer, and you eating one of them probably would have been mentioned," Littlefoot teased weakly, "But if you don't mind me asking, how did that go… after you didn't kill him, I mean?"

"Um, they taught me about, um..." Mender cringed, her tail moving down in embarrassment.

"The love plants, as they called them," Cynnil helped out her friend, "Some of the swimmers lost their entire clutch so they were seeing if they could induce a second Time of Mating for them."

"Ah, I remember hearing about that from one of the flyers…" Spike noted, "It helped out some of my cousins."

"Well, at least it helped someone," Mender muttered, "I was mortified. Asks me about mating then starts teaching me about that..."

"So all we have to do to learn new stuff from Chronos is to threaten to kill him? Check."

Cera glared at Taunt. "Really, dear?"

"Did he tell you why he wanted to know that stuff?" Breeze asked before the couple could continue their antics. The tree that Nahoda and Arial were working around was just beginning to come into view.

"Know what?" Mender asked in reply, confused.

"The stuff he asked you?" Cera asked.

"No, and I can't imagine why he'd want to know that," Mender replied. Can we please stop talking about this? "Why'd Nahoda decide to make the scrape over here?" She didn't bother to disguise her attempt to change the subject.

"Look, Mommy!"

In a blur of movement Pouncer jumped on Ruby's back, before then hopping on Taunt's, and then landing on Cera's back like a skipping stone skipping through water.

"I showed Nahoda how to make traps!"

Mender glanced concernedly at Pouncer. What a child's imagination could come up with for traps was best not considered.

"Get me down from here!"

Pouncer jumped up and down with excitement as Orchid dangled from the tree with an annoyed expression, his leg being caught by a vine. Despite his predicament, however, he crossed his arms in annoyance, as if to deny the trap-builder any satisfaction.

"See, Mommy! It works just like you showed us!"

Cera could only put a hand to her snout in a mixture of exasperation and amusement, while Taunt tried his hardest to avoid laughing out loud.

"I'll get him down," Mender said, moving to where she could see the vine holding Orchid's leg was close to the ground. Once she was right by her packmate she started examining the vine, trying to figure out the best way to get Orchid down. Unfortunately for Orchid, Mender's idea of the best way was the fastest way.

Thud!

"Urgh… damn it, Mender…"

Mender instinctively glared at Orchid. She didn't tolerate swearing around children, even if the father of the child present was the one that had indirectly taught her most of the more vulgar parts of her vocabulary. "Language," she hissed as she hauled her friend to his feet.

"Um… yeah…" Orchid rubbed his head, "It all seems to work, Nahoda."

"And you want us to have these traps close to where our kids will be one day?" Arial asked as she tested one of the vine snares with a stick, "This could strangle someone!"

"Only if they were really tiny," Nahoda noted.

"...like hatchlings," Arial added before leaning against the tree, "Dear, I appreciate all of this, and I know you and Pouncer have been working on it… but maybe just the noisemakers?"

"You do realize there's not much that's going to want to get this close to your neighbors, right?" Mender asked Nahoda, gesturing at the other assembled fastbiters, "Trust me, they don't take kindly to uninvited visitors."

Nahoda sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But it would be nice to keep these in mind for later… trust me, I know what it is like to be sneaked up on." He then gave Mender a sardonic look, but there was more humor there than anything else.

"Pouncer, I am glad that you are helping Nahoda. But remember what we told you about using traps like that…"

"Yes, Mom…"

Mender looked from mother to child and back a few times, surprised that Cera's reaction was almost no reaction at all.

"Though you did a good job with these," Taunt noted as he tapped another vine with his snout, "Though I have never seen one of these…"

And as if on cue the vine tightened. Taunt's subsequent struggle only made the vine grip tighter as his snout was firmly planted on the ground.

"Now isn't that a beautiful sound?" Spike took a deep breath as if to punctuate his point as Taunt made an obscene gesture with his sickle claw. "The sound of blissful silence…"

"You want to help him or should I?" Mender asked Stern Claw, not entirely sure whether or not to help Taunt while his mate was present if not closer.

"Nmmph…" Taunt's muffled grunt came through before he quickly clawed through his vine, "Never mind, I got it."

"You know, pack, I think that was the only time I have seen Taunt at a loss for words…"

Laughter erupted from the others, as Taunt looked at his pack leader with an annoyed expression. Finally, however, he joined in the laughter as well as he allowed his son to jump on his back once more.

It's almost like I never left, Mender thought with a laugh, Well, except for Taunt corrupting a new generation.

"Seeker!"

Everyone jumped up at the gasped scream as Petrie landed on the ground with a thud. The fact that he was out of breath caught everyone's attention immediately. Littlefoot wasted no time in emitting an alert call and running up to his flyer friend.

"What's wrong, Spotter?"

It took Petrie a moment to catch his wits about him. "Mate and kids come back from Verant's… gasp… they say other flyers come soon… hurt…"

"What? What happened?" Mender demanded, immediately sounding panicked.

Petrie turned towards the violet fastbiter. "Wrok attacked the pack. Most hidden runners dead, but Verant have some survivors…" He took a breath as he shook his head. "Gyors was hit."

Mender opened her mouth to demand more details, but no sound came out.

"Soar say that flyers taking him and Ugnu here now. We need healers."

Hearing what sounded at least two kids being hurt and no other details, Mender practically collapsed, gripping her head.

"We will help!" Buse shouted, as Cynnil charged forward as well. Cera and Breeze needed no further prompting as well as they ran to where the healing plants were commonly found. Mender, meanwhile, appeared to be shutting down. This did not escape Taunt's notice.

"Mender?"

There was no answer.

"Mender!"

Mender extremely reluctantly looked up, barely acknowledging that she'd heard Taunt speak. She felt as though she'd had her heart ripped out. They're gone. They're gone. There's no way they'd split up like that.

Taunt looked in the direction that the rest of Mender's pack had sprinted. They undoubtedly were focused on the emergency and did not notice Mender's collapse. It was up to him.

"Hey, I know things are bad right now. But your brother is alive, and he needs us to help keep these two alive. And I know of no one better at that than you."

The sound of running feet reached their ears as a familiar fastrunner made himself known.

"You helped my sister and I have no doubt that you can help your niece and nephew too," Orchid's voice interrupted.

Mender took a deep breath, trying to ignore the bitter taste of adrenaline in her throat. She understood their words and knew their reasonableness, but her mind was anything but reasonable at this moment. With her heart racing and mind in a fog it was like her mind was floating apart from the rest of her body.

"We will do what we can, Mender, it's al-"

"I'm... I'm fine," Mender said, forcing herself to stand up. If Staza could keep going for years like she wasn't hurting just so I wouldn't be scared, I can make sure her kids are alright. Focus now. Panic and cry later.

Taunt leaned against her as if to support her, but she waved him off. Now it was time to get to work. Now it was time to save what was most precious.

She sprinted like there was no tomorrow.

"And here we can see the threehorns going through their usual training regime. Beginning at the age of speech, both male and female threehorns begin to train in the art of battle. In a way this may be surprising for a patriarchal dominance hierarchy…"

"Freeze."

Chronos tapped on the Archiver Stone twice in order to add his comments.

"This is not a bad effort for the beginnings of a narrative-style report, Datum, but you need to watch out for redundancies in your commentary. Instead of 'In a way this may be surprising' you should probably say, 'This might be unexpected' and then continue with your report. Overall, however, this is a good start."

Chronos leaned back against a rock. "Continue."

"Freeze."

Chronos sighed. "What is it, dear?"

Logos tapped on the rock twice. "Ignore your father, dear. You should remove the entire last sentence. This is meant to be an informational report, not an analysis. If this had been an analysis then it would have been a good addition."

She clicked on the stone twice, giving her mate a cheeky grin.

Chronos could only close his eyes and sigh in exasperation. "Continue."

"Notice how the female keeps her head down as the male approaches cautiously. This is a carefully prepared feint in order to invite a charge from the over-eager male. She has noticed what may be overlooked by others, the over-exertion of his head. And as we have seen it has led to a satisfactory result."

"Who in the hell are you talking to, Datum?"

"Uh… no one!"

Chronos clicked the stone once as he smiled at the rock. "I seem to remember several of our reports ending like that."

Logos rolled her eyes. "Some? Do you realize how long it took me to convince most the valley that you talked to a rock because it was your imaginary friend?"

Chronos blinked. "So that's why people don't seem to notice anymore…"

The female rainbowface could only groan in response. In many ways her mate had not changed at all.

"Well the little ones have a few more reports that they prepared. Our daughter has prepared a lovely little report called 'The flyer creation myth: implications of the Bright Circle story' and Datum had another report on longneck herd dynamics. They seem to slowly be getting the hang of things."

"And they will be little scientists in no time," Logos smiled, "and unlike us they will not have any of the old ways of thinking to hold them back. It will be a report on this world from true creatures of this world, and not from well..."

"Star people?" Chronos finished.

Logos nodded. "Yes. They can see this world from a fresh perspective, and that is often what science needs to explore new ideas."

Chronos tapped the Archiver Stone again. "Such as… 'Teaching manners to threehorns: an exercise in futility'?"

Logos snorted. "Well, I didn't say the little ones didn't need some additional practice in determining what was a good research topic."

"Well," Chronos teased, "the title is probably not entirely inaccurate."

Logos nudged him. "Neither is the report called 'Teaching an old mate new tricks: will Chronos ever learn tact?' but you never seen me send that report off."

"Directness and honesty are my best traits, I will have you know…" Chronos puffed out his chest in mock-offense.

"Your only traits," Logos retorted.

Chronos touched his chest in an offended manner. "You wound me, dear. I will have you know that my records show that I also have a unique ability to be insubordinate and to encourage insubordination in others who are prone to idealism."

Logos laughed. "I never said I was perfect…"

The two rainbowfaces tumbled around as they both decided to take their playful war of words into the realm of play fighting as well. Within a few moments Chronos had succeeded in getting his mate's mouth open and forcing a sweet bubble inside. It was a repeat of their kind's courtship ritual, but with the addition of several seasons of experience in pushing each other's buttons. In response Logos pushed Chronos away, only to force him down in a show of dominance.

"Doesn't count!" Chronos laughed, "I got you first!"

Logos laughed as well as she grabbed a sweet bubble and shoved it in his open beak. "What was that our son said about an over-eager male…"

"Um..." a rather embarrassed flyer stuttered, having just come in for a landing, "I can come back later..."

In an instant the two rainbowfaces were on their feet, preening their feathers like nothing was amiss. It was Chronos who spoke first.

"Uh… no… we are fine. I take it that the other flyers are ready?"

"They're waiting for you two," the flyer replied, "Should I tell them you're on your way?"

They both nodded as the flyer wasted no time in taking off.

"They're going to gossip about this, aren't they?"

"Of course."

"I knew I was going to see the rainbowfaces doing something, but that was..." the flyer shuddered.

Hano laughed heartily as he made an obscene gesture with his wings. "So you saw them do the old in-out, in-out, eh? Did you interrupt their 'critical research'?"

"Oh for the love of sanity, Hano, I don't think they look at that as research… do they?"

"I'm not about to ask," Fratus replied. He'd been traumatized enough for one day. "When do you think they're going to get here anyway?"

"Well probably when their 'research' is over!"

Hano and the flyers laughed at the lewd joke he had told at the rainbowfaces' expense. Due to their lack of discipline they did not notice the eyes of the rainbowfaces in question peek through the bushes. This made their surprise when Logos grabbed Hano's beak all the more extreme.

"Research has been momentarily suspended while we deal with some delinquent students."

Fratus and Veer both mock whistled at Logos's response as Hano's beak was finally released. He was much less cocky now, though he retained his smirk.

"Anyway," Chronos began, briefly looking over the three flyers, "I do believe it is time for the usual session. What 'is the word' in the Mysterious Beyond? I believe that is the lingo of the young flyers now, isn't it?"

Logos cut off her mate before he could embarrass himself further. "Let's start with you Hanno. Hear anything of interest in your travels to the Land of the Hidden Runners?"

"She means besides females, Hano," Fratus teased.

"Well crap, there goes half my report!"

Logos sighed inwardly. Sometimes I think my old kind had the right idea. You don't mate until you are ready to die.

"Hano?" Chronos prompted.

"Heh… well all joking aside, the hidden runners over where I looked were rather boring. Anthus's pack wanted me to send a threat to Bannus's pack. And then when I got there they sent me a threat to send back. This happened about four times."

"A lot of talk?" Logos questioned.

Hano shrugged. "I kind of hope not. If somebody is going to have me send messages about the other pack leader's children being ugly or mating with yellow bellies then I honestly hope someone gets a beak bloodied. Not even I'm that bad."

"Are you sure, Hano?" Veer mocked.

"Shut up, Veer!" Hano whined as Fratus descended into laughter.

"Anything else?" Chronos asked, keeping a mental note of the names involved. If two new packs of upstarts were about to come to blows then that meant two packs that could be manipulated by those in a more powerful position. However, upon seeing a shake of the head, he moved on.

"Well, you may want to keep an eye on those two, no matter how boring it may be. I sense that situation might get much more interesting soon."

"Yeah, because of that hidden shit, Wrok."

Chronos had to suppress laughter. Despite the sheer juvenileness of it he couldn't help but to admire the irreverence of the youngsters. For them this was a chance for adventure and to gain a reputation for their services. And, in exchange for the occasional advice or healing leaves from the rainbowfaces, their two benefactors got good information from the lands beyond from those who had not yet grown enough to form ulterior motives.

"Well, unlike fuzz for brains over here…" Fratus began.

"Hey!"

Fratus continued, "I actually was able to hear some stuff about Wrok from some tiny biters in the area."

Logos sighed. "And you were able to make sense of it?"

Veer whistled. "This should be good…"

"Well, it took a long time to get them to stop talking about how much food they'd found to ge them to tell me what the food was..."

Logos tapped a rock that she had under her foot as Chronos gave her an unreadable expression. "Go on…"

"It took a bit of convincing, but eventually I was told that they'd found a large number of dead hidden runners, many of them already slashed up when they found them. It sounds to me like a pack got wiped out or something."

"Where was this?" Chronos asked, his voice barely audible.

"It was over by a stream. There was another stream nearby going into a forest..."

"Well that only describes about a hundred places, Fratus," Hano noted.

"Other than some bodies floating in the stream there wasn't much to distinguish it from other places. Though if I'm remembering my rivers correctly it wasn't too far from where some of Seeker's allies were staying with a pack of hidden runners."

But by this point the rainbowfaces were no longer listening, having already made their deductions.

"Okay… Fratus?" Logos spoke softly.

"Ma'am?" Fratus replied, suddenly rather focused.

"I think that we may need to deliver a very important message to Seeker," she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Tell him the following exactly: "The stream drowns our thoughts in sorrow, but are all the petals still in the stream? Ask the violet how the Verant fares. Ask the look-out what the Fratus hears. If they both hear the same then have someone end the game."

"Dear?" Chronos interrupted, only to be waved off by his mate.

"Okay..." Fratus said, acknowledging Logos's instructions but not quite understanding what was meant to say actually meant.

Logos continued, "It is very important that that message stays with you and only goes to Seeker. You understand? Lives may depend on it."

"Understood," Fratus replied, now even more confused.

Logos nodded before turning her attention to the others. "I have special messages for each of you as well…"

Chronos was silent as he watched his mate give secret messages to each flyer before sending each on their way. She was methodical in this work and even without hearing her words he understood what she was doing. Soon only the two rainbowfaces remained.

"What gave him away?" he finally asked.

Logos stared at the sky. "Anthus is not the sort of name that a hidden runner would have, and even if it was his report was curiously thin."

Chronos blinked. "You suspect Hano?"

Logos nodded. "It is only logical that those who are in this fight would want to listen in on anyone who could interfere. Though as soon as we get confirmation we can find out more information."

Chronos shivered. "Confirmation. How very clinical. How much of the pack's methods of extraction do you plan on putting in your report, dear?"

His mate sighed deeply as she tapped the Archiver Stone under her foot once more, shutting it down. There would be another report to send to the Consortium tonight.

How to identify a spy.

"Can you see them yet," Mender asked as she skidded to a stop, barely avoiding colliding with the line of healers. Why aren't they here yet?

"Not yet," Ducky spoke softly as she gripped a few seeds in her hand. Seeds that were used to put dinosaurs unconscious. "Soar said that they were taking longer as they are carrying the kids."

"They should be very close now!" Soar's voice echoed as she flew over, "I told them to land on lookout hill."

It was only then that an exhausted Orchid nearly crashed into the assembled healers. "Everyone else is getting healing leaves… Taunt wanted to know if we needed anything specific."

Soar looked down. "What… whatever is needed for an eye injury."

"What?" Mender was stunned. She forced herself to take a breath. "Any other injuries?" she finally asked.

Caw!

Everyone's eyes turned towards the sudden call in the darkness. There was no mistaking its meaning, and no ambiguity in its intent. The injured were about to arrive.

Mender forced herself to remain calm, at least on the outside. No time to panic now. The kids have at least one eye injury and who knows what else.

"Aunt Mender!"

Sounds like Ungu's feeling well enough to shout, Mender thought, having heard her niece calling from the still somewhat distant flyers, I can't let them down. They think I can do anything, so I better do everything I can.

She only hoped that it would be enough.

Thanks for the reviews, everyone! My apologies for the delay in sending this out but between the end of the semester and other issues both Historian1912 and I have been really pressed for time. Hopefully future chapters can be published in a more timely manner.

bryan mccloud: Yep, that might be Gyors best option at this point, but only time will tell. The lack of depth perception means he will permanently be a liability for hunting, but perhaps he can make that up in having other skills? Only time will tell. As for Nahoda, he has made a friendship in this chapter. Hopefully he can avoid being on the menu despite Mender having a taste for him. XD

Devout Relic: Thank you very much for the kind words. (: I hope this chapter was worth the wait as well, though I hope subsequent chapters will not take a month to prepare in the future. I am also glad to hear that you have grown fond of some of the newer characters. Don't worry... some of them will still have roles in the chapters to come.

Keijo6: Yep, the initial past storyline is ending, but a new past storyline is beginning. After all, we need to find out how Mender left the pack, and how the current alliance with the hidden runners came into fruition. We have to find out what new order was created in order to understand the gravity of what is threatened. And indeed a time for conflict is fast approaching, you can think of this chapter as a prelude of sorts for the coming storm.

gordhanx: Thank you for the detailed review as always. (: Things are starting slow in the second Act, a lull before the storm so to speak, but things will be heating up soon. As we can now see the intrigue is now apparent in the valley, and the rainbowfaces have spotted a mole. This will be the first of several new threats for the valley to face. After all, as with any new order, there will be those who wished it were different. And there will be others who simply join one side or another out of ambition. This will have consequences in the chapters to come.

Thanks again, everyone! Until next time, have a great day! (: