Mender's Tale

by The Rhombus

Based upon a roleplay with Historian1912 and set in the Seven Hunters continuity. Mender has the reputation as being the best healer in the Mysterious Beyond, helping all who require it, but that was not always the case. Follow Mender as she recalls how a lowly fastbiter eventually found her place in life once she met a most unusual pack. This is Mender's Tale.

30. Chapter 25: Departures

-v-

Well, it took us long enough but the next chapter is finally here! As usual the culprit for the delay has been my and Historian1912's respective work schedules, which have been chasing us like a fastbiter with an empty stomach. As always we look forward to your feedback. (:

I also had a few specific questions that I wanted to pose to all of you:

1) This is obviously a complex story with a lot of intrigue and numerous factions each with their own agendas, perspectives, and motivations. Is anyone having difficulty following the basic plot thus far, or would some kind of summary (I could do this in an in-universe manner as a separate mini-chapter of sorts - after all the rainbowfaces have been sending unseen reports back home) be helpful? If so, what aspects of the plot would you want the summary to focus upon?

2) I am considering commissioning some additional art for this story, which would be posted to the Gang of Five forum. Are their any characters (besides Seeker's pack which I have already commissioned) that you would like to see artwork made for?

3) Is there any aspect of the Seven Hunters/Mender's Tale universe that you would like to have me (either as a new story or just as a PM response) to provide additional explanation? If so then please let us know in the reviews.

Thanks, everyone! We hope that you enjoy the new chapter and we look forward to hearing your thoughts! (:

---

Chapter 25: Departures

"Both the best tragedies and the best comedies make masterful use of misdirection. In life, sadly, you don't know which you are in until the punch line."

~ Atani proverb

---

"Well, this is kind of shitty."

Mender wrinkled her sniffer at the language but resisted the urge to project a death glare at the hidden runner who had made the exclamation. First of all, this was Buse, and history told her that no amount of fear would cure him of his personality. And second… yeah, this was actually kind of shitty.

Orchid, for his part, looked around at each of his companions. First at Cynnil, the cautious pack leader. And then Buse, who had more feathers than tact. Then Mender, the healer that the valley needed most at the moment. And then finally…

I wonder if Mr. Murder Face has any ideas.

He quickly looked away from the fastbiter, however, before Verant did get any ideas concerning a certain fastrunner.

"Why is nothing ever easy?" Verant wondered, staring at the surprisingly large rockslide up ahead, "Going over is going to be a problem, and going around could take a while."

"Seven days," Cynnil muttered as she examined the seemingly insurmountable accumulation of boulders and debris in front of them. It was as if someone had taken an entire mountain top and rained it down upon whatever lay below. "Seven days, if the journey of Seeker's pack after being changed is any indication."

Mender nodded as she recited part of the famous song, " And the short way blocked, salvation lost, the long way beckons, and innocence the cost "

" A journey to Hanging Rock of a day, now quashed, now a journey of seven and a morning, leaving the seven alone and lost " Cynnil continued from the song of the Seven Hunters, still not shifting her gaze from the rocks in the distance.

Turning towards Verant, Mender briefly hesitated, as if unsure of herself in his presence. But then she spoke the words that were on her tongue. "I don't think the valley can afford us to take the long way. We need to find a way through."

Orchid stared at her. "Well, don't look at me. I am a fastrunner, not a fast-digger."

"Would you like to see if you actually are a fast runner?" Verant asked Orchid.

Despite the situation Orchid couldn't help by give an exasperated sigh. "Let's save that for the hidden runner jerks near the valley."

It was then that he saw the pointed looks from Cynnil and Buse. "Uh… except for you two; you're alright."

I really should leave the talking to other people, Orchid chided himself.

Cynnil finally ended the charade and gave the fastrunner a bit of a smile. "Well, this hidden runner jerk might have found a way up the rockslide."

"Oh, you've got to be joking," Verant said as he caught sight of what the hidden runner was seeing.

The rockslide had left larger chunks of the rock wall against a foundation of crumbling stone, leaving quite by happenstance the narrowest of the climbable paths into the air like partially vertical open-air caves. Small tunnels of misery leading up into the rocky expanse above and, hopefully, to the other side.

He was so preoccupied by the sight that he barely noticed the others tying vines to themselves as Orchid hesitantly, and only with Buse's nudge, went in front of Verant.

"Uh… Cynnil wants be to tie this around you. So please don't bite my head off," Upon seeing no change in Verant's glare he continued, "...or any other part."

Much to the fastrunner's relief Verant nodded and Orchid quickly went to work, typing it around his back in front of the hindlimbs and then around the front limbs, and then around the fastrunner himself. Leaving the fastbiter curious about what the purple food item was doing.

"We tie ourselves together so if one of us slips, the others can prevent them from falling all of the way," Mender affirmed as she tied Orchid's vine to her own and then checked for tightness.

"You didn't think I was stupid enough to recommend that we do this free-claw, did you?"

Verant looked at Cynnil as if she were truly insane. "How does tying ourselves together help?"

Cynnil tapped a claw against the ground. "Let's show 'em, Buse."

Orchid sat back against one of the fallen rocks as the display went along. He had already been through this in Mender's training program, so he knew what to expect.

For Verant, it was a fascinating exercise… and one that he had no idea how it would play out.

With more than a little effort Cynnil climbed up a small expanse of the fallen rock wall, her razor sharp claws serving as good anchors against the coarse rock, and then she did something odd.

She tied a bit of vine to a rock and then tied that to her vine.

The same ritual happened a moment later as she climbed up a few more rocks high before tying herself to a rock, and that was when Buse untied the first rock and threw the now freed vine to Cynnil.

"So we secure ourselves to the rocks as we go up," Cynnil affirmed as she stared at Verant from nearly six body-lengths up, "Now let go, Buse."

"Is she nuts?" Verant asked his sister, shocked at Cynnil's command.

Buse appeared to visibly cringe as he reluctantly let go, sending his body falling towards the ground for a few feet.

Until the tied vine stopped Buse's backwards progress, and with it, his fall. He barely had time to place his clawed hands in front of him to stop himself from smacking into the rock wall.

"Yeah, she's insane," Buse muttered as he stared at the rock wall that now pressed against his beak, "Are we done teaching the Big Guy, Cynnil?"

Cynnil rolled her eyes as she looked over the edge of the rock that held them up and began to strenuously pull up her counterpart until he could find a claw-grip again. "Enough talk. We have a valley to save. Make sure not to drop your partners, Orchid."

It was only then that Orchid's eyes went wide. They were going in two teams?

He barely had time to process this before Verant appeared in front of his beak.

"We'll be fine. I've done this several times without the vines," Verant said, trying to sound encouraging.

Orchid took a deep breath. It's okay, Orchid. Not a problem at all. You just have to help a guy up a rockslide who would rather eat you any other day. So no need to panic. Wait… what?

"You did this without vines?"

"Had to. Even had to climb cliffs a few times," Verant said before turning towards his sister, "Remember that one where you didn't panic until after we got to the top, Mender? I told you not to look down."

"I was trying to forget it," Mender said as she began to climb up the same path as Cynnil; intentionally not looking down.

As soon as it was Orchid's turn to follow the same path he turned back towards his companion. "I grew up in Hanging Rock, so we had to climb. I did not climb up too many cliffs, though. Dad called it a sure way to become a flat-runner."

"Oh, you wouldn't become flat if you fell. Unless a boulder then fell on you and crushed your bones to dust and the rest of you into mush," Mender said nonchalantly as she kept climbing, "What would happen would depend on how far you fell. You might get jarred if you jump too far. Higher up, you'd probably start cracking bones then possibly break them clean through or even impale yourself with your own limbs. Well, not quite impale, but by that point you're probably not going to care about that."

It was at this point that Verant became quite concerned for his counterpart as Orchid tied the vine around a rock twice just to make absolutely sure. Then he reluctantly continued his ascent to follow after Mender and her horrifying medical knowledge.

Verant did his best to copy what he'd seen earlier, untying the vine he reached and passed it up to Orchid.

Orchid's beak quivered as he forced himself up a particularly narrow opening through the almost vertical path. It was only once he was on flat rock again and within sight of the next vine-tied waypoint that he allowed himself to speak. "How… did you figure all of this out?"

Verant looked towards Mender, curious as to her answer.

Mender nodded before almost slipping and catching herself on a rocky outcropping, pulling herself back to a foothold with a noticeable grimace. "Well, there were these swimmers that killed one another over something. And I had an idea: I might have to fix fall injuries sometime. So let's see what stuff happens when things fall."

She tail-smiled and looked up at the distant duo of hidden runners. "Remember that, guys?"

Buse's tired voice echoed back. "It took us an entire morning to move them to the cliff!"

"So how'd you test the whole boulder thing?" Verant asked, curious.

Mender looked back momentarily and immediately regretted it as she resumed looking at the rock in front of her again. "Darn in, brother…" She composed herself as she reached for the next rock. "It took us awhile to push it, but eventually we dropped it on one of them that we dragged to the bottom. And then we cut them open to check the damage."

Orchid finally stopped beside a waypoint in exhaustion as he made sure the last tied vine was secure for the insane fastbiter just above him. It was then that he looked down at the advancing fastbiter. For once he did not look at Verant like he was the scarier of the two predators.

"Glad you asked?" Verant asked once he'd almost reached Orchid.

Orchid could only sigh as he redoubled his efforts to press ahead. I didn't know that part of learning to heal people was to cut them open.

It was then that he heard the rock underneath him begin to crack.

"Verant, Brace!"

"Oh, not good," Verant said, sounding as if he were swearing.

Orchid practically threw himself on the tied boulder, using his own body weight to help hold it in place as the fastbiter became airborne from the loss of support under his feet. But that was when Orchid saw something that he did not know was possible.

Verant leapt at the wall, then pushed off of it, flinging himself over to where Orchid was.

It took a moment for Orchid to realize what was happening before he scampered over and helped pull the fastbiter firmly onto the large rock. It did not take long before each of them laid on the rock for a moment as if it were a welcome friend.

Mender was there in an instant.

"Are you alright?"

Orchid could only muffle an answer against the rock as Mender carefully examined him before turning all of her attention toward her brother. "I've never been so happy to see a rock in my life."

"I didn't think I'd have to do that again," Verant said, still breathing hard.

Mender looked up at the others. "They're alright!"

It only took a moment to receive an answer from their pack leader. "Good! You only have a little ways to the top of this ancestor-forsaken rock pile!"

Orchid couldn't help himself as he replied sarcastically. "Knowing our luck it will be clear running from there."

That was when a boulder landed mere feet from his face before impacting the ground many body-lengths below, resounding with a loud crash.

He was not surprised to see both of the fastbiters glaring at him.

Sigh… it's going to be one of those days. I hope whoever Spotter gives us as a guide has a cool head. Because there aren't any of them in this pack!

---

"You want my mate to do what?"

In retrospect explaining this to Mrs. Guido first probably not good idea.

Petrie did his best to not appear menacing to the small female despite his much larger and predator form. He should have expected this result.

"It okay! Verant ally and mainly need help to make sure he safe."

The look that the miniscule green flyer gave him was vicious enough to almost make Petrie wince. "And what exactly is going to make sure that he is safe?"

"Spotter!"

Petrie took an audible breath. Thank the ancestors. "Guido, how are you?"

He barely had time to turn around when several feathered bodies began zooming around his head like large buzzers. It took him a moment to realize that they were diving at him and then retreating.

"Don't hurt Momma!"

"Away!"

Petrie closed his eyes in exasperation. "Guido, you did tell your kids about me, right?"

The aerial assault from the green balls of fluff promptly stopped as their mother gave them a curt squawk, causing them all to fall into line on the same branch that she and the 'threat' now occupied. That was when a somewhat embarrassed flyer landed beside him.

One that looked just like an adult version of the little attackers Petrie had just faced.

"Uh… yeah. But I told them your leaf-eater name."

Petrie blinked with embarrassment as he realized where this conversation was going. When his friend spoke in leaf-eater a moment later it confirmed his error.

"And… uh… they don't know sharptooth yet."

The sharptooth flyer could only shake his head as he spoke in a language the little ones could understand. "Me am your father's friend. Me…"

"Petrie!" came the chorus of voices as the little flyers began to zoom around his head once more, this time without hostile intent. The screeching of their mother did little to abate their enthusiasm. Regardless of whatever else their father had told the little ones it was obvious that knowledge his speech impediment had made it through.

Petrie only had to look over at the exasperated female to confirm, just like his previous other ten trips since Guido had found a mate, that she far was less enthusiastic than her mate or the children. The death glare being directed at him with the intensity of a thousand Bright Circles was a clue to that.

"Petrie," The flyer confirmed needlessly as he laughed at the antics of the little balls of fluff, "But all of you should listen to Mama. If Mama not happy, then no one happy."

This finally broke the little flyers from their spell as they again settled down beside their mother in an orderly line that only could come from instinct. Though his own words served as a warning for him as well. He would not win Guido's cooperation without the consent of his other half.

---

Patrina only stopped glaring at Petrie to send her kids away to safety, assuming they stayed there. "Alright, kids. Back to the tree hollow," she ordered, "And don't leave until I tell you this time!"

"Awww… Mom!"

"We want to see Petrie!"

Despite their vocal protests the little ones began to shuffle towards the hollow of the tree which served as their primary residence. It had been where their nest resided during their hatching season, and now it served as a place of safety from predators.

Like the one that stood before her.

"That is little Arbur… and that is Sama… there is Nobo... and the last one is Kumo… I told you about them last season, but it is amazing how fast they have grown," her mate was gushing to Petrie, "I… uh… maybe should have waited to tell them some of our stories though. Heh…"

"Now they try to repeat them themselves," Patrina said, "Nobo almost got eaten by tiny biters a few days ago trying to have an adventure." She glared at Petrie as if placing the entirety of the blame on him. My mate telling stories is bad enough. If I let you add to them, they'll definitely end up getting eaten.

For his part, Petrie looked equal parts mortified and perplexed. "But… they can fly. How tiny biter almost catch them?"

Guido, mercifully enough, was the one to rub his head in embarrassment as he clarified that little misadventure. "Nobo… uh… wanted to try to find big ground fuzzies, just like Spike did that one time. So he flew into a tiny biter tunnel."

Petrie groaned audibly. "Never trade away advantage. Fate often not trade back."

"Without those stories he wouldn't have even thought to try that," Patrina said accusingly.

"It not Spotter's fault that we have so many stories," the flyer began before thinking about it for a moment, "Okay, sometimes it Spotter's fault, but it usually Seeker's fault."

Guido whispered at his friend in a voice that she could still audibly hear. "I don't think that helps things, Spotter."

"I don't care whose fault it is. Stop telling my kids new ways to get themselves eaten!" Patrina turned her glare towards Guido. "That goes for both of you."

This made both flyers look at one another as Petrie shrugged. "She have point. There reason why Soar sometime make me sing changed songs. So they only hear grown up songs when they are grown up."

"Once the kids start showing enough sense not to get themselves killed every time I'm not looking at them, then they can hear crazy stories," Patrina said, relenting a bit, "Until then..."

Guido, seeing a path out of a further tongue-lashing, quickly nodded furiously at this. "Of course, dear. No more crazy stories until they are fledged."

"Awww!" came an audible protest from the hole in the tree as a pair of eyes quickly disappeared into its depths as Patrina turned her head to see who had been eavesdropping.

"Arbur, what are you doing outside of the tree hollow?" Patrina snapped, quickly flying up to her child's hiding spot.

It took a few seconds but eventually a familiar green beak appeared from the darkness as Arbur peeked over the threshold of the hole. In the back of the cavity, giving one another looks as they contemplated their brother's coming tongue-lashing, stood his two sisters and brother. With quiet whispers passing between them.

"Awww, mom. I was just looking outside is all. My body was still in here." He looked away for a moment. "Well, most of it."

"And now you can be seen and grabbed by predators," Patrina replied, "Predators that will then come back and eat your siblings." She nodded over at Petrie.

"Aww, Mom. I would know better than to be seen. I have reflexes of…"

It was at that moment that Guido half-landed, half-slammed into the tree right next to his son, sending him barrelling into the back of the hole with his siblings.

"...lunch," Guido finished for him, "It only takes one mistake for everything to end."

Thank you, Guido, Patrina thought, happy to have the well-timed backup, They've got to learn that the rules exist for a reason. "And that was from someone you could see," she added, "What do you think would happen with a predator that was trying to not be seen."

That was when she heard a cough.

Patrina turned around to see a rustling in the bushes some distance away. She could barely make out Petrie, and she already had a good idea he was there to begin with. "Kids, can you find Petrie?" she asked once the rustling stopped.

There was a moment's hesitation before the four little bodies made it to the threshold of the opening. She quickly raised a wing to prevent them from going any further. Now being prevented from venturing further they stretched their necks in their search for the large predator. She could guess what they were thinking: how hard can it be to spot something as large as Petrie?

But as the seconds went by no one spoke a word. He was unseen to their untrained eyes.

"Petrie, please show yourself," Patrina called.

The response was as immediate as it was horrifying as the predator burst from the bushes like a belly-dragger from the water, letting out a loud screech which sent the children barrelling into the hole once more.

"This why you be careful. And listen to Mama."

Patrina gave Petrie a grateful nod. "Now are you going listen when we tell you to stay in the tree hollow?" she asked her kids.

She was greeted by rapid nods before they choked out rather quiet refrains of "Yes, Mom", all the while hoping that today's lesson was over.

Thankfully Guido was there to save the day. "Alright, kids, I think that is enough of a lesson for today. How about you work on your leaf-eater lessons? Everyone remember today's word?"

"Swarming leaf-gobbers." came a reply before Kumo sighed, "Swarming leeaf-gobblers."

Petrie gave Guido a knowing nod, seeing that he had given the kids something else to focus on. Taking this as his cue, he landed back on the original branch, awaiting the others.

It was then that Patrina felt a light nuzzle against her shoulder. "They'll be fine. I'm sure nothing will try to get them while Spotter is here."

"I hope you're right." Patrina paused to think for a moment. "Would you keep an eye on the kids? I've got to ask Spotter something."

Guido hesitated a moment, obviously wanting to catch up with his old friend, but relented and gave his mate an understanding nod. "Sure, dear."

Patrina flew over to Petrie's branch, keeping a bit of distance between herself and the larger flyer. "So what exactly did you want my mate to help you with again?"

The predator that had moments before seemed on top of his element and ferocious now looked like a chastised fledgling as he rubbed his crest awkwardly. "Well… Spotter never get him into too much trouble…"

"That's what you said when you wanted his help spying on some dinosaurs and had him hide in a hidden runner's feathers until they got to the right tree," Patrina retorted, "Then there's the time you had him help look for smaller threats for your pack..."

"Okay, okay, so sometimes it sound bad. But it was never bad…"

"Then there's the time you talked him into helping your kids learn how to chase other flyers by acting as the prey," Patrina said angrily. The others are almost understandable in some way, even if they're crazy, but I don't know whether to be angrier at Spotter for asking or Guido for agreeing to that one.

This finally made Petrie look down in defeat as it appeared some part of his defenses finally left him. "Me have to train them with small flyers, and he only one me friends with."

"So what do you need Guido for this time?" Patrina asked again, returning them to the reason for their discussion.

The predator took a deep breath. "It a very odd situation, but we not be able to use big flyers. If big flyers used then bad hidden runners make valley sick. But if we use small flyer then it can help Verant keep bad hidden runners from sneaking up on him."

"So who and what is Verant?" Patrina asked.

Petrie said four words as if they summarized everything. "He brother of Mender."

"So he's a fastbiter. What's he like?"

Petrie paused for a moment as he contemplated the right words. "He loyal to friends of Seeker and is very protective of his children." He gave an audible growl as he appeared to stare at something in the distance that only he could see. "Bad hidden runner hurt his kid. Now he hurt them back."

"So he won't eat Guido, then?" Patrina asked, her tone making it clear that the wrong answer would mean Petrie wouldn't be getting any help at all.

The stare that Petrie gave her back was one that would have chilled a threehorn. "Not if he want to live. There some things Spotter not forgive even if pack ordered it. No one hurt friends will live long."

"That's not very reassuring," Patrina replied, still skeptical.

"Verant has proven loyalty to us, and we to him. No harm will come to Guido from him. Spotter never forgive himself if it did."

"I'll hold you to it. Make sure he gets back safely."

It was then that she saw the predatory flyer do something most odd to her microraptor sensibilities. He bowed low and then bared his neck as if offering it.

"He will return with his neck or me shall lose mine."

I guess there's more to know about Spotter's kind than I thought, Patrina thought, confused by Petrie's action, I guess that means he's serious about this.

"Spotter, if Guido helps you now, I want this to be the last time for awhile," Patrina said, "I want him to be around to help teach the kids, not just give them stories they really shouldn't be following."

Petrie nodded. "Me understand. This why Spotter not be here during their nesting and only go to tree when you say. Me not ask this if there be any other way." He looked at the tree awkwardly. "Me not see kids really until they speak. Guido get lucky that way. Most flyers of my kind do not know fathers."

"That's just crazy. How do their moms take care of their kids by themselves?"

Petrie sighed at this. "With difficulty. Me try to fight instinct and be with mate, but she chase Spotter away. But… it our way. It was also Spotter's old kind's way. But me glad to be papa now that kids are at safe age." He looked back at her. "Me not want that taken away from me, and me not get that taken away from you."

"Thank you. Keep my mate safe." She gestured towards where Guido and the kids were. "Shall we go tell him what he's going to be doing?"

Petrie appeared relieved as he nodded at the female. "Just make sure kids don't hear. Me not want them to get crazy ideas."

"We should make sure everyone's still in the tree when we discuss this," Patrina said, "After all, nothing bad can happen while they're in the tree."

---

Meanwhile...

"Pounce! Get down from that tree this instant!"

Staza couldn't help but stare in mute horror at just how high the young fastbiter had climbed. Against the blue sky and distant clouds he was but a small dot of orange fluff, shifting in the air as the tree was blown by the heavy winds. That was when she noticed something in the tree adjacent to them.

"It's okay, Dad!" Pounce's voice wavered in the distance, "The flyers can catch me if I fall!"

You better hope so, Staza thought, glancing over at Petrie's kids sitting in the next tree, There won't be much left of you if they fail.

"Son, Spotter's kids couldn't catch your shits! They're too small! Now get down from there before I have to tell your mother why you are flat!"

"No, Dad, my friend Viando is here!"

Staza glanced around the treetops until she spotted a large flyer one tree over.

"The dead meat eater! You had better hope he is fast because otherwise he might have lunch! Now climb back down! Why are you up there, anyway?"

Only now the orange fuzzball began to climb down. "Because Ambush and Sprint bet that I was too much of a scaredy egg to do it!"

Taunt looked panicked now. "And where are they?"

There was a pregnant paused before the orange juvenile answered. "Well, I bet that they were too much of an egg to get past Nahoda's traps."

Taunt could only groan. "So that's why your mother found them stuck against that darn tree of his."

Staza forced herself to not say anything she might regret, having made it clear that none of her own kids were allowed anywhere near either of the fastrunners' nests. Not my kids. Not my job to correct them.

That was when she noticed the sound of soft footsteps as another green fastbiter walked towards her with her mate following from a distance. It was Ducky and Leap.

"Don't be too concerned; they are like this all the time," Ducky watched as Pounce continued his trek down the tree. "Reminds me of us as kids."

"This is why you should not have told them all of your songs until they were older," Leap deadpanned as he accepted a playful nudge in the ribs. Seeing the fuzzball high above he shook his head. "At least they are good at planning before they do stupid stuff. Pounce always makes sure some of the allied flyers are here before he free climbs."

"So his parents know exactly when and how he died?" Staza asked, unable to keep herself quiet any longer.

"He will be grounded to the nest for this," Taunt muttered before allowing a sigh to leave his mouth, "I've told them before to leave the dominance shit for the sparring circle. Dominance is not worth a child dying over. If Stern Claw sees this..."

"Pounce!"

Taunt looked up knowingly as a distant 'uh oh' could be heard on the branches above. The family's disciplinarian had arrived.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Ducky whispered as she began to walk in the direction of Nahoda and Arial's ultra-protected tree.

"Are they all this reckless?" Staza asked quietly once they were a bit further away.

There was a pause before Ducky sighed. "Only when they begin daring one another. Biter, Swipe, Pounce, and Ambush are the worst about this as they are constantly pushing to be the 'top little biter' of the pack. So they keep on getting into trouble, yep, yep, yep!"

Leap cocked his tail into a half-smile before turning towards Staza. Despite the years that had passed to resolve their complicated past things would always be a bit awkward. "Thankfully our kids are glad to be delightfully average in the rankings."

"I don't know if it was because they were surrounded by hidden runners, but my kids don't try change their rankings too much," Staza said, "Gyors and Sana sorta took charge early on, and the others just fell in behind them. I guess having a defined 'us' and 'them' made them work more as a team."

Ducky nodded. "Our daughter, Dodger, tends to fall into that role, but it is different when many different families are in the pack. Then egos tend to take over."

Staza gave Ducky a surprised look. "You..." She glanced between Ducky and Leap. "Wha..."

For a moment Leap was concerned that they had insulted her before Ducky tail-smiled at her. "It was Leap's idea. We honored Leap's fallen brother, Verok, by naming one of our sons after him. We honored my Aunt Tranquil. We named Fisher that because he loves fish. We named Aqua that because she loves water… and we named Dodger in honor of the two who showed us second chances are possible."

Ducky and Leap stood side by side as they watched Staza's reaction. It was both a show of support and a show that the gesture represented both of their ideas.

Staza nodded in thanks, unsure of any better way to respond. "I want to show you two something," she said after a moment.

Ducky and Leap shared a look before they nodded and followed the fastbiter towards the direction of lookout hill, where a certain purple sharptooth was lounging sleepily.

---

Ducky followed close behind the green fastbiter as she slowly progressed up the hill. Despite its steepness it did not take long for them to arrive at its summit, merely earning an annoyed snort from the sleeping two-footer before he resumed his snoring.

"This looks kinda familiar," Staza said, looking down at the kids playing in the field below, "Not sure what they're playing, though."

Ducky stepped forward and watched the antics down below. All of Staza and Verant's kids, even Gyors, were on one side, whereas an assembly of the other fastbiters was on the other side. In the middle, on the other hand, was a rotten swimmer head.

"Looks like Catch the Head," Ducky noted, "We tell the kids to play it by tag only, no biting or tackling. We don't want them to get too hurt, nope, nope, nope!"

"This game again?" Staza asked, "Please be careful."

As if on cue the two sides ran for the head as Gyors moved ahead of the pack on his end and Biter did the same on his, setting them up for imminent collision.

…only for Swipe to move up front at the last moment and knock the head over Gyor's moving line and into enemy territory. As if in unison the two lines merged and began pushing and shoving to get closer to the head, which was now rolling especially close to the hole… where a green fastbiter was waiting. She promptly grabbed the head and began to move it up the field, away from the immediate risk of a goal.

Gyors shouted something the adults couldn't quite make out, and two of his siblings moved to intercept the small fastbiter before she made it any further. Grunting in annoyance she hurled the head towards her comrades before returning to guard her team's goal.

Ducky watched this with interest. So Gyors is leading his packlings… interesting. Though I expect that from our Dodger.

"Looks like your son stopped our Dodger from making a run at the goal," Leap noted with interest. "That is some good coordination."

"That's how we taught them. You survive by working as a team. The two that went after Dodger were Portum and Lula. Sana's over there guarding the goal..." Staza said, pointing at each of her kids as she named them.

Ducky nodded as she followed along. Portum and Lula are hidden runner names… interesting. Sana, though, is not a dialect that I am familiar with. Maybe mountain pack? They certainly have organization, but do they have innovation?

As if on cue the head bounced in front of Biter as he proceeded to claw the earth, as if he were about to charge at the head and send it straight towards the goal.

Ducky tail-smiled. "A ruse."

Leap nodded. "The ol' swipe and attack."

"Might work if they weren't telling the other team what they were going to do," Staza said.

As if on cue Gyors packmates focused their attention on the two wings of the other pack, seeing the ploy for what it was. Only Gyors remained in the center to guard against a direct attack.

And here comes the backup plan.

Biter hurled the head into the air, aiming for a spot behind Gyors where his bad eye could have seen the assault coming. He was using his weakness against him.

Only for the head to be caught by Ungu, who had been spending the entire game keeping an eye on her brother's blind side.

"Now this is no surprise," Ducky noted with a tail-smile, "She's had his back since he has been with us."

"She volunteered to go with Gyors just so he wouldn't be alone," Staza said, "I don't know where she gets it sometimes. Most of the time its like she's trying to make herself not be noticed."

Ducky looked at Staza knowingly. "Remind you of someone? I can think of a certain healer right now."

"Sorta. I just can't figure out why," Staza said frustratedly, "She'd tell me if something was wrong. Wouldn't she?"

She was greeted by a sudden silence which spoke volumes as Leap turned towards his mate. The hesitation of his mate said all that he needed to know.

"I can go if…"

Ducky waved him off. "No. Because what Staza needs to know is not shameful, nope, nope, nope." She turned towards Staza before delivering the news.

Staza's face shifted through several emotions, from shock to hurt to concern. "What's wrong with Ungu?"

Here we go. Nerves do not fail me now, nope, nope, nope. "Nothing that Mender did not thrive with, and Ungu's case is much more minor. It is, it is. She can still smell, but she has trouble telling smells apart."

---

"WHAT?" Staza practically shrieked, shocked that her daughter had apparently somehow hidden a severe problem similar to Mender's well enough that she hadn't noticed. How? she wondered, feeling hurt, Why didn't she trust me?

As if sensing that she had miscalculated the situation, Ducky put her hands up in a placative gesture as she bowed her head apologetically. "It is okay, Staza, it is, it is. She already is doing better with sniffer practice."

Leap, meanwhile, looked as awkward as a constipated two-footer as he did his best to replicate his mate's placative gesture, obviously, just like everyone else, wishing to be anywhere else at that very moment.

Staza forced herself to calm down at least enough to avoid another outburst. "Why did she tell you but hide it from me?" she finally asked.

Ducky's expression did not change. "Ungu is very determined to be a useful packmate. So what is the one thing that someone like that would not want to show?"

Staza just stared at Ducky, realizing where she was going with the question.

Staza jerked slightly when Ducky put a comforting claw against her shoulder. "Especially if she did not know about her Aunt Mender's little problem?"

"I know," Staza said, almost snapping in frustration, "How could she hide it so well, though? I knew something was a bit off with Mender from the moment I met her. Of course, I just thought it was because she was a jerk, but..."

"...but Ugnu could smell. She just could not tell smells apart well. That is easier to hide especially if there is a little Verant ready to play pack leader all the time," Ducky clarified, "But now she can tell bodies apart. We were working on emotion smells when you all arrived."

"How'd you get her to tell you all this? You just met her." Staza just couldn't figure that out.

"It was Breeze that noticed it. Ungu mentioned she was bad at a game, and Breeze later went to talk to her about it," Ducky noted, "...I guess it came out after that."

"Did you mention Mender?" Staza asked, "She didn't want us to tell anyone, so we didn't."

Ducky rubbed her head crest awkwardly before answering. Now it was her turn to be in the hotspot. "Um… Breeze and Mender already had a chat about that."

"Why did Breeze tell her?" Staza asked. Why betray your friend's trust like that?

Ducky took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and looked down. "Ungu was convinced that she was not going to be accepted by any pack. So Breeze felt that she had no choice…"

"They can't know!" Ungu practically shrieked in panic, "They'd be so disappointed. What good is being fast if you can't find what you're running after?" All of Ungu's siblings, as well as Ungu herself, tried to stand out, to be good at something. To stand out from your many siblings for the wrong reasons, though…

"We all have strengths and weaknesses, Ungu. A good packmate helps to share their strengths with others and allows others to help address their weaknesses." Breeze nudged her again. "A pack is more than each of its individuals. It is like a body. And a body can only be healthy when all of its parts work together."

"No pack's gonna want me," Ungu said with a sigh, "No one tries to be sick." A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Is that smell-blind friend of yours even real?" she asked, suddenly a bit suspicious. It can't be as easy as she makes it sounds. I tried. Nothing ever got better.

Breeze closed her eyes. Please forgive me for this, Mender, but we can't have her doubting now.

"You can ask your Aunt Mender about that. She seems real enough to me."

"...when Ungu gets an idea into her head it can be hard to talk her out of it," Ducky noted as she ended her recitation of what Breeze told her, "Like a certain other fastbiter we used to have as a packmate. Mender was upset but understood. The rainbowfaces told us that the first rule of healing is to do no harm."

"What do you mean by that?" Staza asked, confused.

She was surprised when Leap answered from behind Ducky. "Ungu had to know that there was hope for her, otherwise Breeze would have done lasting harm."

Ducky nodded. "It was a hard decision, which is why Breeze told me about it before telling Mender."

"I just wish Ungu would have just said something," Staza said, not bothering to hide the hurt in her voice, "What did I do wrong that she didn't trust me?"

"She did not want to disappoint you. It is the same reason Gyors wanted to act tough even when he was in pain," Ducky noted.

Staza sighed in frustration. I'd love to know how I gave her that impression.

Seeing Staza's reaction, Ducky gestured at the game in the field below. "We are both mothers to wonderful children, Staza, but there is one thing that I have learned over the seasons: sometimes you just have to give them a chance to come clean to you and they will."

Leap interjected. "That is how Taunt's kids get caught half of the time."

His mate gave him a playful glare. "Thanks, dear."

"I never told them not say anything," Staza said slowly. Why did Ungu think I would be disappointed?

"Whoa!"

"Are you two alright?"

Staza's attention immediately snapped down towards the game. Uh oh. She started rushing down to the field at almost the same time Ducky did, only slowing down when she saw that Portum had the situation under control and that no one was panicking.

"Urgh… I'm alright. Just got knocked into the hole," Swipe muttered as she shook dust from her bright feathers.

"Since I knocked you in there does that mean we have a goal?" Gyors joked as he rubbed his snout, which had impacted the ground, "After all, you have a head."

Biter snorted at the joke, earning him a glare from his sister as the head was tossed towards Ungu, who barely caught it in time.

"Free toss since I tackled," Swipe finally muttered as she took position some distance from the hole. Each of the teams lined up on either side of the goal, leaving the two biters facing one another one on one.

Glad everyone is okay, Staza thought, doing a quick once-over of her own children, If they're starting to play again, they're fine.

But that was when she focused on the placement of the two children, Littlefoot's daughter and her own while the two 'play packs' watched on either side. It was as if they were about to spar.

"What's going on?" Staza asked Ducky, having not seen this situation before.

Leap watched the game intensely. "A free toss since Swipe accidently went beyond a tag. Now it is just her and Ungu."

"Okay..." Staza said nervously. She knew Ungu was fast, but she was also the smallest of her children. Please be careful.

Ungu took off to her right, pushing herself to gain as much speed as possible. Swipe, for her part, replicated the maneuver, but not to the same extent in case Ungu was planning on her overcorrecting. The usual insults and banter between the packs suddenly became silent as the two competitors approached the midpoint, risking another collision.

Right before two would have collided, Ungu instantly changed her direction. Swipe, seeing a chance, put on a burst of speed to catch Ungu only to have the younger fastbiter change directions yet again, causing her to overshoot her target by quite a bit.

That was all the opportunity that Ungu needed as she dropped the head and slammed her body into it, sending a torrent of mud in the direction of her packmates. As such it took them a few seconds to realize what happened.

"Goal!"

"Well done, Ungu!" Staza called out, proud of her daughter's success. I guess I haven't been very good at letting her know how proud I am of her. I guess now's a good a time as any.

Ungu froze for a moment as she turned in the direction of the voice, a feat that was somewhat difficult with her teammates dancing around her in victory. But when she finally did see the imposing figure of her mother she gave a respectful bow that was both prideful and indicated some measure of embarrassment.

"Alright, don't get your hopes up yet! We have plenty more points to go!" Biter jeered while at the same time giving Ungu a respectful nod.

Hmm... looks like Ungu made a friend, Staza thought, noticing the interaction between her daughter and Biter.

"Yeah, four more points for us to wipe that smile off your tail!" Gyors replied.

"Ha!" Nibble taunted. "We will see about that! It's our chance to begin this time…"

"Don't trip over it this time!" Sniffer muttered as he nudged his brother.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Staza was nearly startled when she felt Ducky's light nudge on her shoulder. "We should probably get out of the play area before they use us as obstacles in the game."

"That's never stopped my kids before," Staza replied, but she did get out of the way rather quickly.

Ducky chuckled. "Same here. There was a five day grudge match between Seeker's and Taunt's kids because of one of them making a goal after climbing over Finder. We had to watch the spars closely."

"Portum, I'm going to be right over here with Haven," Staza told her daughter in hidden runner as she passed her, gesturing to her destination. Portum nodded before rushing to rejoin her siblings.

This made Ducky look at Staza oddly. "Hidden runner… so you know their dialect?"

"I would hope so. We lived with one of their packs for years," Staza replied.

Ducky snorted. "We learned a bit when Cynnil was our captive, we did, we did, but their tongue has a tone for everything. Their words shift like the sand."

"I haven't told the kids that story yet," Staza said, "Probably not too surprising, but the kids can speak hidden runner better than I can."

Her counterpart chuckled at this. "I did notice that you said her name twice, you did, you did."

"I, um, didn't," Staza replied, feeling a bit awkward.

This made Ducky stop where she was as she turned towards her friend. Her head tilt was enough to ask for clarification.

"Its a bad habit of mine. Since my name means the same in sharptooth and hidden runner, I translated it when telling some of my stories to the hidden runners, and I guess I got used to translating everyone's."

Ducky blinked. "So her name is a hidden runner name…makes sense since Portum is not a name I recognize. What does it mean in sharptooth?"

"Haven."

---

Ducky froze. She named… her name... Oh.

Her friend's face now filled much of her focused vision as Staza's tail twitched uncertainly at the affirmation she had just given. For Ducky, however, the reality of the situation hit her immediately. It seemed that she was not the only one who had given a friend the supreme honor of a naming. Not wishing to prolong Staza's uncertain angst, Ducky quickly bowed low in gratitude at the gesture.

"You honor my mate," Ducky heard from somewhere behind her as her peripheral vision caught him making the same gesture.

Staza returned the gesture. "You both honored me and my mate, and we have honored you. After all, what would have become of us otherwise?"

Ducky took a deep breath at that as she tried to maintain her composure. She only spoke once she had received a supportive nudge from her mate. "I am honored! This is quite the surprise, it is, it is."

Staza took a moment to steady herself. "Since Verant and I nearly made it to adulthood without receiving pack names, we waited until we could give them names that would match them."

That is the best way, yep, yep, yep.

Staza glanced back towards where the kids were still playing out of habit. "Portum had a habit of checking up on everyone even when she was little, even if they were just feeling down. She's also keeps trying to hunt in the water. I don't think she's figured out fish are faster than she is."

"I guess I'm lucky you didn't name her 'swimmer eater', swimmer me would have been worried, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky turner her head to look towards her namesake again before cocking her tail at Staza in a playful manner. "I could have still outswam her."

"Oh, here we go..." Leap's voice droned in the background before he was greeted by a gentle slap of Duck's tail on his snout. A response that merely earned her an eye roll.

Leap looked at a confused Staza with an expression that was more reminiscent of Taunt than his own. "The one thing that she acts like Stern Claw on is her swimming ability. Now you know she is going to have to give Portum swimming lessons just to show who is the best swimmer."

Having finally stepped out of the playing area, Ducky took the lead in stopping and looking back towards the playing field. "Joking aside, I can show her some tricks. Swimmers often do the same things, and that makes them predictable."

"I think she'd like that," Staza replied.

"I guess we all need to learn to be more honest about things. None of us would have known any of this if we had not had loose beaks, nope, nope, nope!" Ducky noted as she turned back towards the game in the distance, her focus on her namesake and also on Ungu's sprinting form on the field. She pointed at her with a sigh. "Ungu will not be happy with us."

"I wish she'd said something a lot sooner," Staza said.

Ducky sighed before patting her friend on the back. "Well, better late than never. Taunt's kids need to learn that pride comes before the fall… your kids need to learn that it is okay to be honest about problems…"

As soon as she turned around she groaned. "...and my kids need to learn not to rush Gyors from all directions."

"Yeah, that's got to hurt," Staza said, having seen her son jump to avoid the attacks, leaving Ducky's kids groaning in a very uncomfortable pile.

"Goal!" came the distant yell of a rather familiar face as the pack's children let out groans and reluctant foot stomps of applause. Portum had made the final goal.

Ducky gave her friend a knowing glance. "It looks like I have some egos to heal!"

"Have fun with that," Staza said jokingly before turning serious, "Ungu?"

As several shaken children began to half-jump, half-stumble up Ducky's feathers, she gave Staza and Ugnu a final look. Staza, you are so nervous that Mender could smell it. I am sure this conversation will go just fine. Yep, yep, yep!

---

The Great Valley:

"So let me make sure that I have this straight. You want us to leave this valley, a relatively safe land which satisfied all of our needs, and then go into the Boiling Mud Pits, a place where we might be boiled alive… because of a neat flower that Dmitri the Flyer told you about?"

Datum's expression was somewhere between that of a stern lecturer and a bemused parent as his feathered body stood steadfast against the windstorm, his arms firmly planted against his hips. Opposite to him stood his friends; Sauria the longneck, Charger the now one-eyed threehorn, Malka the swimmer, and Tricia, the elder of the group. And, as the sudden landing of a flyer on his back confirmed, also Flip the flyer who did not understand the concept of personal space.

Charger did the closest thing that a threehorn could make to a shrug. "Yeah."

"It sounds like a good idea to me," Malka retorted, though her voice gave away some new uncertainty.

"It isn't the craziest thing that we have done," Tricia protested, "And besides we can use that log thing that we used when we got the Night Flowers for Mr. Swimmer."

"That is not something to be shown in the valley! It's a…"

Datum turned towards his sister whose voice suddenly echoed in the cave. Flip's mockery was what answered the incomplete condemnation.

"Cultural contamination… our puny minds cannot handle the power, yada, yada, yada."

Flip almost looked surprised when the beaked face of his 'ride' and Axiom's harsh glare greeted his small flyer body at the same time. He wisely took that as the hint to retreat to the safety of Tricia's back.

An awkward silence fell over the group for a few moments before Flip launched himself off of his new sanctuary. "I could fly there and see if it exists!"

The reactions of the group would have made any adult descend into laughter as both of the young threehorns cringed, Malka facepalmed, and the rainbowfaces rubbed their beaks in annoyance. Why hadn't anyone thought of that before they argued about it for the better part of the morning?

"So um… I guess once you get done doing that we all can play a game of Pinecone?" Tricia finally broke the awkward silence with feigned initiative.

"I take it that we should be on opposing teams to protect the egos of the little ones?" Charger hald-taunted, half-agreed.

"And we should be on opposing teams, sister, so that both teams have a brain," Datum offered in response. He convinced himself later that his retreat from Charger's mock charge was mere prudence and not cowardice.

"This is the pinecone game, not smash the weirdo!" Malka protested with feigned concern as she moved towards one of the sides that had formed. It looked like she, Axiom, and Charger would form one team, with the remainder making up the competition.

That was when the footsteps of a longneck could be heard. Like the echoes of distant thunderclaps their appearance was impossible to ignore, but unlike nature's boastful roars these footsteps were steady and even. Once the towering neck appeared over the trees like a massive snake the group knew that their fun had somehow been ruined by the usual suspects.

What had they done now?

"Children, aren't you forgetting something?" Bron's amused voice spoke in something between chiding and mockery.

"We already cleaned our nests!" Flip offered before looking at the others, "Well, I have."

"I haven't beaten up any of the arrogant jerks in my herd today," Tricia noted as if it were a mild disappointment.

Bron laughed, causing the ground to vibrate with each breath.

"Children, Chronos and Logos are gone, but did you think that meant that you didn't have Lessons today?"

The chorus of groans was nearly universal, with only the two rainbowfaces restraining that impulse with the only impulse that rivaled its power. Curiosity.

"Who is going to teach us today, Mr. Longneck?" Axiom asked.

"And what is the subject?" Datum added.

Bron smiled. "Pterano would like to tell you all the story of Pterano and the two liars: or why not everyone is as they seem."

"The title is a bit redundant, isn't it?" Tricia muttered before a shadow appeared from behind her, causing her to look at the rest of the gang. "He's behind me, isn't he?"

"I keep my lies to a minimum, dear threehorn, but, yes, your criticism is valid for those days. But perhaps you will spare this flyer some room for his ego."

She turned just in time to see the flyer take a modest bow. "And before you ask, yes it can fit into a small story. A tight fit, but I shall manage."

Tricia groaned at the self-deprecating joke but allowed the flyer to win the round as she proceeded to join the others into a makeshift story circle. In their haste to get into position none of the children noticed the final look that Bron and Pterano gave one another as the longneck went off to his other duties. A knowing look.

They both knew that the lessons of this tale was all too relevant in these dark days.

---

Outside the valley:

"So, um, uh, you're Mender's brother, right? She helped me once when I had lost some feathers."

"You seem fine to me," Verant said, only half listening.

The little flyer looked around in a frenzy, suddenly seeing spears everywhere as his imagination got the best of him. His mate's lecture on getting home safe despite the multitude of horrors that awaited him was something that would have frightened the most level-headed of flyers.

"Uh… well, it happened when I tried to get this tasty buzzer that was on a leaf. But then it turned out that it wasn't a leaf, but a really small swimmer! At least the mother was nice enough to put me back into the air." Guido rubbed his tail feathers as if remembering an unpleasant memory, "She could have used something other than her foot, though."

You're lucky you didn't run into something hungry, Verant thought, Are you sure you're up to this? We're actually looking for trouble. Well, I am. Hopefully I'll be the one causing the trouble. His mental ramblings halted when he realized Guido was still talking.

"...it was really kind of awkward, though, heh, because Mender did not know about the swimmer and thought that I had some kind of mating infection with a flyer. And then I told her a flyer did not do this, a swimmer did. She seemed confused for some reason."

Verant looked at Guido awkwardly, slightly interested and disgusted at the same time. "I can imagine why."

Guido finished his tale. "She removed two of the feathers that were growing wrong and told me not to go messing with swimmers anymore. That was good advice, heh." He then looked around awkwardly. "Um… when are we supposed to be close to the bad hidden runners?"

"If you can't figure that out you'll find out when you're being crushed in their jaws," Verant replied. What part of hidden runners is not clear?

He was rewarded for his commentary by having the flyer move around frantically, as if he was searching in every possible direction. On the bright side it did make the awkward chatter end for several seconds.

Well, at least he's trying to be useful, Verant thought, I'm not sure what use Spotter thinks he can be, though, except maybe as bait. I'm not sure he even can even hold still.

Two firm thumps of Guido's feet against his hide made Verant stop in his tracks. The voice that greeted him was an odd mockery of what had come before as the same off-putting tone was expressed with an odd monotone. "Movement. Bush to left."

Verant didn't respond verbally but instead turned towards the movement before moving further left to keep himself downwind, first moving quickly before gradually slowing down and disappearing into the foliage.

"Movement behind us."

Probably an ambush, Verant thought. "Try to see him then distract. I'll take care of the other one."

"I am only a glider!" he practically squawked in the softest of voices, before hesitating, "Give me a moment!" And just like that the little green ball of feathers began to shimmy up the tree that was just at Verant's right side.

Verant continued forward, focusing in on the target roughly in front of him. Time to make things a little fairer. He smells pretty close.

"Uh… there is a lot of them. Wow. You were right about them blending in good."

There's about to be one less, Verant thought, lunging at his target. The hidden runner went down with a sickening crack as Verant's teeth crushed the runner's neck..

"Behind you!"

Verant released the dead hidden runner and quickly spun around to face the new threat. Bit more warning next time, Guido.

"Wait!" the hidden runner exclaimed as he held up his hands in a placative gesture.

Verant halted, surprised, but kept his focus on the hidden runner. Well, that's unexpected.

The hidden runner appeared to not believe his luck as he froze in place. "Everyone, stop!"

This is getting stranger and stranger, Verant thought, straining his senses to keep track of the hidden runners around him.

"They are stopping." Guido's voice confirmed, suddenly shaky. "All four of them."

Internally Verant relaxed, though his posture said otherwise.

The hidden runner looked down at his fallen comrade as the wide vacant eyes of death stared back at him. "All five of us. His name was Quanto."

"Quanto has completed his last run," came the voice of one of his counterparts as a feminine voice joined the chorus.

What is going on? Verant thought. He took a closer look at the hidden runners. None of them have spears... Wha... oh, this isn't good.

"Sir, should we retreat?" a hidden runner's voice asked from the bushes.

The presumed leader of the hidden runners kept his hands up as he snapped his beak. "Not before I find out why we were sent out here to attack one of our own!"

What? Verant couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Uh… I'm confused," came Guido's voice from the tree, for once speaking for both of them.

"You're Verant, right?" The hidden runner gave him a long sniff as if the corpse beside them no longer existed. "Yes, yes, I remember that scent. You were the one I remember protecting the pack of the Western River. Why did you betray us? Why did you abandon the pack of the river?"

"Sir, should we…"

The hidden runner snapped his beak once more. "Not until I get an answer! If it comes to that I will do it myself!"

Verant backed up slightly, almost imperceptibly, to give himself just a bit more room in case of an attack. "What idiot told you that?" Verant snapped in reply, "And what are you sneaky little... what are you doing here?"

"We…" the hidden runner gestured at the others, seemingly oblivious to the danger in Verant's voice, "...are here to alert the valley at the first sign of danger, whether the flyers like it or not. And we were specifically told by Seeker's flyer that it was you had done the unthinkable and were on the way…"

The hidden runner took one small step back. "...but you lack the stench of guilt."

Guido landed on Verant's back with a soft thud. "Seeker's flyer? Seeker cannot send a flyer because of what will happen if he sends a big flyer to the valley! That's why I am here."

The hidden runners began to mutter amongst themselves as this registered in their ears.

"But they knew the code," the hidden runner leader confirmed, "Two shrieks and two long low

bellows."

"Something even a child could figure out by hiding and listening for a good long while," Verant said, barely hiding his disgust at such sloppiness, "For a kind almost obsessed with spying on everyone else, not to mention each other, how did that never occur to you?"

"It did. That is why we went to inspect before doing anything rash. And now one of our own lays dead for our trouble."

"Inspect? That's something you do at a good distance without setting up an ambush," Verant replied, "What you did..."

"Verant."

"...was move against what you thought was a threat; you just didn't know how many."

"Verant," Guido's voice insisted.

"What?" Verant demanded, almost literally snapping at Guido.

"If someone lied to them so that they would kill you, and you would kill them, then maybe we should find out who is trying to kill everyone?" Guido shifted uneasily against the biter's smooth hide. "Maybe he lied to other people?"

"Lied to other... Mender!" Verant turned and sprinted away, heading towards valley's entrance as fast as his legs could carry him, with a hapless Guido hanging on for dear life. Within mere moments he was out of sight, leaving the hidden runners with their dead.

"What do we do now, sir? He killed Quanto."

The hidden runner continued to look at where the duo had disappeared, his beak quivering like a worm drying in the radiance of the midday Bright Circle.

"Whoever lied to us all killed Quanto. Now it is time for us to stand to our duties. We were here to protect the Great Leader's allies, and that is what we will do."

He turned back towards his three comrades. "Wave down a valley flyer. Screech if you must. Let them know that something is wrong and then report back to me."

There was no delay as the others sprinted into the dense jungle to carry out their leader's order. Leaving him with his dead comrade. He only hoped that he would be the only one claimed by Fate on this day.

---

"It has been a long time since I've been here…"

Orchid couldn't help but stare at the ravine walls in a mixture of nostalgia and instinctual concern. Though his sister had gone to the valley to seek aid during the situation with Chomper's parents, his last time in the valley's outer reaches was when he was much smaller. Back when longnecks were called 'mountains' and the valley's protective walls stretched into the sky. A much more innocent time.

Well, it was a more innocent time until the Battle for the Valley raged around them. Any innocence died on that day.

He turned towards Cynnil and Buse. "Any of you been here for spying duty or something like that?"

His jocular question got the desired response as Buse let out a snort and Cynnil rolled her eyes.

"The battle was before my first scouting run, Orchid. And Ignis is not too keen on invading the valley itself with her spies. The last time I checked she did not like sending people into certain death."

Orchid nodded at her response and continued to examine the scenery around them. "This ravine turns twice, and then you will see the Great Mound. Where the honored ancestors lie."

"Orchid, how many times have you been here?" Mender asked, interested.

"Once. It was the fourth year after my hatching, when mother and father decided that it was time to seek shelter in the valley during its time of need." He frowned a bit at the less than pleasant memories but then smiled after a pause when he remembered the funnier moments. Of Shorty being called a 'boulder' and of the swimmers being perplexed by his feathers. "We were allowed to stay until the next Time of Eggs, but then we needed to go."

He then pointed towards his left, where one of the ravine walls stood. "We took another way home on the way out. That is a longer way, about seven days, but Dad wanted to make sure we knew both ways. And, well, with a migrating threehorn herd with us the journey was not too risky." He caught Mender's concerned look at the mention of threehorns. "Um… not risky for us."

"You remember all that from just one trip a long time ago?" Mender asked, surprised, "I can barely find my back to where was if I have to go somewhere even a half day away."

"Oh, please, Mender, you aren't that bad," Cynnil gently chided, "Many dinosaurs rely on smell to avoid learning directions on the run. But fastrunners have a bit of an advantage, don't they?"

Now it was Orchid's turn to act a bit offput. "Well, um, I guess. We fastrunners have to memorize paths from when we are young in case we ever have to use them again. This is why when we were moving Mom and Dad did not permit us to sleep on their backs. We had to stay awake and watch. Instinct would do the rest."

"I can tell you if I've been to a place," Mender said, "but I can't tell you how to get there. I found the last place I remember my hatch pack living, but that was kind of an accident..."

Orchid had to stop his forward progress as Buse's green feathers suddenly filled his vision.

"So all of us are just going through this barrens, right? The usual: sand, heat, death, more sand. And then she jumps up and begins to point at this dead tree and dried up river."

As if to punctuate the memory, Buse jumped up with his feathers puffed out and began to act like a fastbiter on point, tail outstretched, as he circled a tree.

Orchid blinked. "So you just happened to find it while going through the barrens? That is amazing!"

"It kinda scared me," Mender admitted, "I didn't exactly have good memories of that place. I guess my family really is gone. We.. we didn't find any signs that other fastbiters were in the area."

"I'm sure that they moved out of the area, Mender. The Time of Changes changed many things, as the dry river showed us."

"If the river had hurried up and dried sooner then I and my brother would have never lost them," Mender joked morbidly.

To say that comment kind of soured the mood would have been an understatement as the group continued their forward movement. Orchid, however, wanted to direct things in a more positive direction as he turned towards the predator once more.

"So um… how close have you come to the valley in your travels?"

"Not close enough," Mender said, "Actually, the closest I've ever gotten was with my parents. I tried to sneak off to see what the valley looked like."

"You what?!" came the response of the remainder of the pack in an almost harmonious chorus.

"What?" Mender protested, "I didn't get that far at all before getting caught. Once my parents finally let me leave the nest again my siblings wouldn't let me out of their sight for a whole cycle of the Night Circle." She laughed at herself. "I'm not entirely sure they didn't just stop letting me see them."

"So… this is as close as you have come?" Orchid asked before receiving a nod, "Then let me warn you about the Canyon of Stench. That is right next to where the dead from the battle are buried. And it reeks..."

Cynnil nodded. "Now that I have heard about from the other scouts when I was with the scout packs… they said that you knew that you got close enough when you could smell that on the wind."

Orchid allowed himself the slightest smile as he nonchalantly took some leaves from a nearby bush and began to stuff them into his nostrils. "Guess which path we are on?"

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Mender said, smirking a bit, "I don't smell anything."

Orchid couldn't help but shake his head as his words left him. He had set them all up for this. Buse, meanwhile, couldn't help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all. Mender's disability for once had become an advantage. For once, Mender had earned the last word.

---

The pack's territory:

"Mom..."

Ungu looked around out of fear that someone else might have been watching, but seeing no one else, she readily leaned into the nuzzle.

"Getting too old for nuzzles?" Staza asked teasingly.

The little fastbiter snorted in amusement. "No! I just… the others might see."

"What, you think their parents don't nuzzle them?" Staza asked.

"Well, yeah… but we have to look tough around them! They are a different pack, right?" Ungu asked with wide innocent eyes, "Besides I don't want to give Pounce anything more to joke about."

"If he jokes about anything, you could just mention that he was defeated by a tree," Staza replied.

Ungu turned her head. "What?"

Staza started to lead Ungu back towards the pack. "He climbed a cloud-toucher, which he wasn't supposed to do, and he got caught by his parents," she explained.

Ungu took the opportunity to jump on her mother's back. "He did what?"

"See, he gets in trouble same as everyone else," Staza said.

Ungu smiled a bit, now feeling a bit better. Up ahead she could see that they would soon rejoin the pack. "Mom, I really am sorry I didn't say anything," she said in a rush, as if she feared she'd suddenly lose her courage.

Staza chuckled softly before giving her daughter a light nuzzle. "It's alright, dear. Keeping troubles secret seems to be a family trait, but that is something that we need to work on. Just promise me that you will keep on following Haven's sniffer lessons. If they worked on Mender they will work on you."

"I promise," Ungu said before hopping back down to the ground.

Both mother and child walked a bit further when the sights and sounds of the nearby spectacle came into focus. Just like with the meeting before, the kids were assembled around their respective parents. With only Staza and Verant's kids dutifully by themselves with Gyors taking the 'parent' place in the little collection of bodies. If either Ungu or Staza had any doubts about what was going on the words that suddenly carried in the air washed away all doubt.

"So the rule is, children: if it is taller than your mommy and daddy, then it is too tall to climb. Otherwise you will be grounded for ten days."

"Ten days!" came several exclamations as the various assembled kids took in the news from Seeker. The stern looks that they received from their parents was all of the confirmation that they needed.

Littlefoot nodded. "Yes, ten days. And since many of you knew that Pounce, Ambush, and Sprint were making dangerous dares and did not tell anyone… it is time for pack punishment."

Why do I get the feeling this happens a lot? Staza wondered as she noted how the kids simply groaned in response rather than protest. She looked at her own kids as she lightly nudged her son to let him know of her presence. Within mere moments Gyors moved back, allowing her to fill the 'parents' spot for her assembled children.

Biter stepped forward, his brown fathers and red crest shining in the midday light. "What punishment shall we receive, Father?" he asked with unnatural formality.

Littlefoot nodded before looking at his son with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Son… rank?"

Biter muttered an obscenity under his breath as he gave an apologetic nod to Nibble, the rightful leader of the younglings after the latest round of sparing. Nibble then stepped forward hesitantly as if for once he preferred that Biter carry out this role. "What punishment shall we receive, sir?"

"All of you will be on boundary marking duty for the next seven days. No play or food until that is done each morning."

The chorus of groans and moans was almost deafening as each child reacted to their plight. Pounce, for his part, appeared to fade into the sea of feathers as he lowered himself out of shame. Though his brother and sister did not fare much better, not meeting any of the other pack members gazes.

Gyors, Ungu, and their siblings didn't have a much better reaction, trying to figure out how to disappear while not looking like they were trying to disappear. While not having been involved, it was still awkward to watch the proceedings.

"Can my punishment be increased so that my packmates are not punished?"

Well, that was unexpected, Staza thought, surprise momentarily evident on her face, I guess Pounce has a bit more to him than trouble-making.

Littlefoot watched the youngling for several moments. "What punishment do you think you should receive?"

Pounce's reaction was not verbal, nor was it quick, and for several moments Staza wondered if he had even heard the pack leader's words. But that was when she noticed him lowering himself nearly to the ground and stepping backwards until he was beside one of Ducky's children, one of obviously lower rank based upon her placement with the other younglings. Then he lowered himself all of the way, practically face-planting the ground.

Really never wanted to see that gesture again, Staza thought, I hope Pounce gets a chance to redeem himself eventually.

Seeker nodded. "Alright, accepted. You shall keep that rank for seven days then you may try to work yourself back up. And Pounce?"

The little fastbiter looked up. "Yes, sir?"

"We will have tree-climbing practice at some point, but it will be under our guidance. You understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Littlefoot looked up at the others assembled. "You three are grounded to your nest for seven days and the rest of you can go free. Meeting dismissed."

Staza noticed that none of the kids left immediately. Her own actually didn't leave at all but instead unconsciously formed a defensive circle. I know how you feel, she thought, unsure what she could say to them, Listening to others get in trouble is extremely unpleasant. Looks like Pounce did the right thing. Or at least his parents think so, if their nuzzling him is anything to go by.

"It's alright, children." Ruby affirmed as she walked close to the little defensive circle of younglings, "That was unpleasant for us as well. But learning an early lesson is better than learning a lesson too late."

"I suspect we will see Pounce in many spars over the next season," Littlefoot muttered absentmindedly, "Just like my son and Nibble."

"Flyer!" Staza suddenly called out, spotting movement out of the corner of her eye. She pretended not to notice that her kids were suddenly much more tightly crowded around her than they had been only a moment before.

Littlefoot looked over. "Oh, it is probably just Spotter. He…"

His mate spoke before he finished. "That is not Spotter."

Well, Spotter's there now, Staza thought, impressed at how quickly Petrie and Soar suddenly appeared on either side of the unknown flyer.

Soar veered off suddenly, momentarily confusing Staza. But as soon as the new flyer and Petrie landed all confusion suddenly vanished.

"Brother? What you doing here?"

Spotter has siblings? Why do I keep forgetting that? Staza thought.

"Wow, Spotter, that is one nice greeting!" the leaf-eater muttered a bit sarcastically, "Is something wrong? I am here to give news from the valley."

It was then that Littlefoot's posture made an obvious change from surprise to fear. Ruby needed no further information as she began to give a recall call to the others. Sending a high-pitched chirping sound throughout the territory.

"We were told that no large flyers were to leave the valley because a plot is afoot. Was that the message of the valley?"

Please let nothing else be wrong, Staza thought, hoping desperately that her gut feeling was for once wrong.

The other flyer looked at everyone with concern. "We haven't sent anything over the last several days. Who told you that?"

He was answered by the deafening alert call of Littlefoot. Now the truth had finally dawned on them all. They had all been betrayed.

---

Outside the valley:

"Stream ahead… three, two, one, jump!"

Verant made the leap, barely registering the water he flew over. At the speed he was going, Verant was hardly registering any of the obstacles he was avoiding. Without Guido calling out the upcoming obstacles from his vantage point in the sky Verant was sure he would have had a potentially lethal crash long before now.

"Tree ahead, three, two, turn left then jog right!"

Verant barely avoided the tree in time, nearly stumbling through the change in direction. Don't panic. Don't slow down. You've got to get to Mender.

---

"We've got movement in the ravine!"

The flyer groaned at the unwanted interruption in his midday nap. Knowing the enthusiasm of the greener scouts it was probably just a tinysaurus being chased or something. It wasn't like the valley controlled the ravine. It was just an area to watch for advancing threats.

"Another tinysaurus, Entrak?"

The smaller flayer was taken aback. "No, sir! We have a fastbiter!"

This was enough to make the elder rise to his feet and wingtips. Now this was different. "Show me!"

With a burst of power from his aging wings and legs he hurled himself off of the cliff and into the thin air of the ravine. He allowed himself to feel the air around his body and to stare at the flowing air until he saw what he was looking for: an updraft of warm air. This being found, he promptly opened his wings and allowed himself to glide over the land below.

It only took him a moment for his counterpart to screech an alert. They had found their target.

Hmmm… could be a hungry sod looking for a meal, but I do not see anything in front of him. What could he… That was when he saw a familiar ball of feathers sailing in front of the blue predator. Guido?

He did not hesitate to dive closer. Something was amiss.

---

I will only get one chance at this, I have to make it count.

"So you can begin to see the hill way over there…" A purple fastrunner pointed in the distance as a hidden runner walked beside him. The hidden runner appeared to fade in and out of existence against the verdant foliage, while the fastrunner remained a constant beacon of purple against the contrasting vegetation around him.

"Urgh… can't we stop the sight-seeing routine and get going! My beak wants to run off of my face with this stench around!" another hidden runner exclaimed, suddenly appearing from a shadow cast by the trees.

"So it's true that your beak is faster than your brain?"

The assassin's yellow eyes peered through the foliage at the new voice. It only took a moment for a fastbiter's purple hide to begin to appear from the darkness. Not even the twisted symphony being played between the Bright Circle and the trees could hide her hue.

Found you.

The assassin could feel his claws strain against the dry wood in his clutches. That was when he felt something wet on his clawed feet as he crushed the bulb in one swift movement. He wasn't about to prepare this stuff on the same claws he might absentmindedly touch to his beak.

"Ha… ha… now toss me another one of those sticky leaves, will you?"

"Okay," the purple female replied, appearing to deliberately take the hidden runner literally and tossing the leaf to her counterpart. In the process leaning over the bush in front of the unseen observer's point of view.

He rubbed his foot claws against the wood in a swift motion right as the hidden runner laughed.

"Heh… alright, Mender, you know what I mean… how about…"

"Shh!" the fastbiter hissed, "You hear that?"

Shit! The assassin gripped the spear until the splinters pressed into his flesh. It was only the consequences of failure that prevented him from striking now. Not a single breath left his nostrils as his heart hammered in his chest.

The purple fastrunner looked at his fastbiter companion with concern before silently shaking his head at her question.

That was when the male hidden runner's eyes went wide. "And here we can't smell anything…"

Just a bit more to the left… The assassin could feel the rough wood press against his mud-covered thigh, seering and unforgiving in its abuse as he leaned back and allowed his eyes to lock upon his target. Can't give you a chance to dodge...

The purple fastrunner began to dart his head back and forth as if searching for anything amiss in the malevolent cascade of light and shadow. His eyes appeared unfocused, not seeing the mysterious stranger in his midst who was covered in mud and leaves..

But that was when his purple head snapped into place, appearing to focus on something in the bushes. That was when his beak suddenly opened wide.

"Stick!"

Too late.

The assassin hurled the spear at his target with all of his might.

---

bryan mccloud: I suspect Thud has read the outline of this story and decided to be off-screen for at least the first half of it. :p In any case I hope that you have enjoyed the latest installment of the story.

gordhanx: No problem about the short review. I am glad that you enjoyed the scenes with Orchid and Mender's confrontation about that. It seems that Detras and Pearl opted to not give him "the talk" much to Mender's disapproval. As for the boat situation, do not be too concerned about things getting crazy with naval warfare or anything like that. :p I just wanted to show that the hidden runners have noticed the rainbowface pair's ability to blurt out useful information, both in word and deed. I hope that the long delay was worth it for this chapter.

Keijo6: Thank you for the review. (: As I am sure this story has shown thus far, any happiness or relief seldom is long-lived. :p I am also glad to hear that you enjoyed the Orchid scene - as it was certainly one of the most enjoyable to write. Much like with Mender in the past scenes, we are seeing the gradual maturation of Orchid as he learns more about the world and himself. As for Wrok and Ignis, the plots and counterplots are indeed in full swing. I hope that I did not lose anyone with the new developments in this chapter. As with the cultural contamination with the boat situation - don't worry. That was merely there to show that people are becoming aware of the excesses of the rainbowfaces. We are not going to have a naval warfare scene in this story with Admiral Taunt or anything like that. :p