-v-
Chapter 28: Valley Happenings
"Despite the valley being our home for several years now, there are always new things to be found within its hidden depths. For us this gives a sense of adventure for the new discoveries just waiting to be found. For the other residents, however, this gives them a sense of concern. For herbivores the unseen discovery is seldom a welcome one."
~ Chronos, Commentaries on the Great Valley
"Got one for ya!"
Orchid unceremoniously dunked his head in the stream before securing the snapping shell with his strong jaws. Then, with a single jerk of his head, he sent it sailing in the direction of his friend's rapidly accumulating pile of shells.
It always helped when another gathered food for you. Or, in Mender's case, several others.
"Ow! Got one!"
"Dash! What are you doing?"
"Getting shells like the sharpteeth!"
"Dash…"
"Be right back, Mom!"
Mender looked up to see what the commotion was about. I don't think I've gotten this much food in... I don't know when. Well, maybe back in Seeker's territory. Now, what's going on around here?
It took her a moment to piece together what was different about the scene around her as her eyes continued to adjust to the light. This would have embarrassed her if it wasn't for the fact that her three days in deep sleep had given her eyes an excuse to be lazy. When they did finally focus on the green object bounding through the grass a spark of recognition came to her.
"Heh… never thought I would see a swimmer hunting shells. Or is the shell hunting her?" Ruby's voice squawked with good humor.
Ducky, however, coughed to get Mender's attention. When Mender did glance to her side she could see her tail-smiling at the sprinting swimmer.
"The swimmers never stopped their vigil. Especially not Dash."
"Dash?" That's actually her?" Mender asked, surprised.
Ducky nodded. "That is her. She is a lot bigger since the last time we saw her." She then tilted her head as Dash approached. "Uhh…"
"Why does she have a snapping shell on her tail?" Mender asked, suppressing a laugh at the sight.
Ruby walked over to the pile of shells and waved at Orchid to stop his collection efforts. "I think that she wanted to help get you food, but it looks like her tail became food."
Ducky sighed, but then laughed audibly. Were they not seeing this they would have found it hard to believe.
"Ms. Mender! I got a shell for you!"
The little swimmer splashed through the stream as she arrived beside the pile of shells. It was only then that a rather obvious problem appeared to have finally registered in the swimmer's mind.
As she tugged on the shell it refused to budge from her tail.
"Need some help?" Mender asked, deliberately keeping a bit of distance out of habit. She might not have been scared of me when she was younger, but I've been around enough leafeaters to know not to suddenly appear really close to them. Well, I know that now.
Dash looked surprised for a moment, a reminder to Mender that she had not known leaf-eater well the last time they had seen one another. But then she nodded awkwardly before putting her hands on her hips and looking with annoyance at her unwanted tail decoration.
Orchid took this moment to walk by and snorted at the scene before looking at Mender and quickly turning more serious. "Want me to cut the shell's side bits? That would make it easier to get the thing off."
"Only if you tell that to her in her language," Cynnil muttered before giving Orchid a playful smack on the back. "Would you like us to cut the shell's sides, Dash? It should come right off then."
"Orchid knows what he's doing," Mender said, "though any of us can do it if you like."
Dash hesitated for a moment before cautiously giving Orchid a nod. "Is he a new healer?"
Orchid carefully leaned down and used his beak to snap at either side of the snapping shell's umbo. Within seconds he was able to remove the latched snapping shell and add it to the large pile.
"I am being trained to be a healer," Orchid admitted, "I'm no Mender or Cynnil though."
"No Buse either," came Buse's voice from some distance away.
"Not a bad thing!" Orchid answered before snorting in good humor.
"Good. I don't think I could handle two of him," Mender said with a laugh.
Dash looked at the others one by one as if she were trying to piece something together in her mind. She then turned towards the violet fastbiter as if she were addressing another swimmer. "I am glad that you are feeling better, Ms. Mender. We were all worried!"
"All?" Mender asked.
Dash nodded before gesturing at the stream. It was then that Mender noticed the entire family assembled on the other side. A quick count of the little green bodies confirmed that all of the children were still there as she remembered, apart from Dash who was with her. Dash's mother and father, meanwhile, could easily be seen watching the scene from behind their kids.
"I told you that they never stopped their vigil," Ducky noted.
Wow. I didn't realize they cared that much, Mender thought, I'm kinda sorry I never tried to see how they were doing now.
"Dash!"
The small swimmer sighed with exasperation as she looked at Mender. "Guess I have to go back. But thanks again, Mender!"
And just like that the little swimmer went back into the water, leaving the assembled fastbiters, hidden runners, and fastrunner to their meal.
"I am glad that they made it here. We would have never forgiven ourselves if we accidently hunted them, Nope, nope, nope."
"Are you trying to give me nightmares, Haven?" Mender asked, shuddering at the thought. Why did you have to mention that? I'm picky about what I hunt as it is. Well, it was nice seeing Dash again. Which is largely how I know this isn't a dream. If it were she'd be smaller. And not have a snapping shell on her tail. Though considering how she and everyone else has been acting around me, it is kinda strange I'm still alive. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I really would like to know. It might help someone later.
"Oh. Are you full, Mender?"
When she looked at the source of the familiar voice what greeted her eyes was the expected Orchid, but due to his expression Mender could almost imagine that she was looking at a youngling. She had been so fixated on stuffing her stomach that she did not notice Orchid's slightly thinner frame. Had he even eaten since she had been poisoned?
She looked over at Cynnil and Buse. Had anyone?
Mender looked around at everyone critically. "You guys were that worried about me?" she asked no one in particular, sounding rather touched. Then her face hardened a bit. "Food, now. All of you."
Orchid was the first to obey, looking simultaneously like a chastized child and a hungry packmate, quickly grabbing a snapping shell and devouring it whole in a feat that no fastbiter could readily replicate.
Cynnil was the next to come to the pile of food, which now included fish, snapping shells, and something that looked like a headless water slider. Though following her packmate's command as if Mender were the pack leader she first tossed a fish and two snapping shells at Buse, following the standard of ensuring the pack was fed before the highest ranked. Then, not wasting any time, she dug into the water slider as its tail continued to squirm in its death spasms. Mender was too touched by the display to ask what it even was.
They care that much…
"Are you alright, Mender? Are you in pain?" Littlefoot's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
"I'm okay, sir," Mender replied, adding the final word almost reflexively. Do I look like I'm hurting? She forced herself to look more at ease.
Littlefoot paused for a moment before giving her a slight tail-smile. Obviously discovering his error in assuming her show of tearful gratitude was that of pain he did not prolong her embarrassment. "You couldn't ask for a more loyal pack."
"Seeker!"
Mender turned towards the sound of Ruby's voice, wondering what was going on.
"Yes, Dear?" Littlefoot asked as his mate's head appeared through the grass like an oddly shaped pink flower. Well, as Mender's mind added unnecessarily, a pink flower with teeth.
Ruby nodded. "The rest of the pack is here. The threehorns insisted that they stay in the Hidden Canyon for now, so they are there now."
Littlefoot closed his eyes. "Let me guess…"
"The mountain pack and Slash's pack insisted on following us to the Lowlands. We told them that the valley would not like it, but they would not hear it. And then Luca came along… and you know Scarneck would not want that many going through his territory without following them out of his territory," Ruby confirmed.
Cynnil, Orchid, and Buse shared a look.
Okay... I can see why this could be a problem, Mender thought, The valley probably doesn't even really like us in here.
"So, uh, how many is that?" Littlefoot asked.
Ruby sighed before hanging her head in defeat. "I hope that you are not mad, but since all but two of the packs are in the ravines waiting on us we kinda moved the meeting location. Well, Path did. He was tired of walking and..."
"Dear," Littlefoot tried to interrupt.
"I thought it was a bad idea, but the idea came from Path and Stern Claw agreed…"
"Dear!" Littlefoot hissed, which finally snapped Ruby out of it, "Please tell me that the meeting is not right outside the valley!"
"Well, this could be bad," Buse muttered in what could have been the understatement of the epoch.
We're in trouble, Mender thought. She had to suppress a laugh when she saw Petrie land, though. The flyer actually looked amused. Nothing surprises you anymore, does it, Spotter?
Ruby shook her head.
Littlefoot let out a breath he did not realize that he had been holding. "Thank the ancestors…"
"There are all waiting at Hanging Rock! And, uh, some other people showed up at the meeting."
More people? Mender thought, You're joking. You have to be. There's no way you can get that many sharpteeth together without something going wrong.
As if to punctuate her thoughts Orchid practically clung to her leg in concern as he watched the conversation. It was then that the rather obvious fact reappeared in her mind: Orchid's parents lived at Hanging Rock.
"What kind of people?" Littlefoot asked as he put a hand on his snout and closed his eyes in exasperation. It was obvious that this was not what he had in mind when he called a meeting in the lowlands..
Ruby placed her hands out placatively as if she were not pleased either. "Two-footer people."
Mender was so horrified by this conversation in front of her that she barely heard Petrie's commentary. "Me wish Spotter could see valley meeting on this. Me think this not pretty!"
I still can't smell, but days like this make me wish I couldn't hear, either, Mender thought.
"Trust them?! They have already assembled more sharpteeth that even Redclaw had against us! Does the esteemed swimmer honestly suggest that we wait until they come here to destroy us?"
The domehead's words were greeted by agitated muttering and yelling from some of the assembled adults.
Ura's sigh was both audible and expected as she gave Bron a look.
Unfortunately for her, however, Topps decided to speak next.
"I thought that you domeheads were made of sterner stuff than this! Are we the same valley that repelled Redclaw and worked together in our darkest moments? Or are we now a herd of preening hidden runners, afraid of our own shadows?"
What had been fearful muttering from the assembled herds now turned into a mixture of recriminations and protests between the domeheads and the threehorns. As the remaining herds began to shift uneasily, as if afraid of the shadows themselves, Bron knew that he had to speak up. They still had fastbiter guests in the valley after all.
"If it would please the assembled herds, I think…"
"For the love of… why doesn't everyone SHUT UP?"
A deafening bang punctuated the point as the angry threehorns and domeheads quickly grew silent. The swimmers however were already agitated from the proceedings leading to several of them bolting out of the meeting circle before hesitantly looking back from the outside. The flyers merely went airborne before taking refuge on the rather annoyed longnecks. Bron, meanwhile, was entirely focused on the new voice in the proceedings.
A single spiketail. One with a very pronounced scar on his back.
Bron took a deep breath knowing that postponing this would do no good. It would be better to merely let the outsider have his say. "You have the circle, farwalker. Say your peace."
The spiketail looked in Bron's direction and gave the slightest of nods before his voice erupted with the same level of annoyance as before.
"Why don't we stay out of this mess? It doesn't look like they're going to attack us. Even if it weren't a bad idea to attack us, those sharpteeth have other things to worry about. Besides, they're Littlefoot's allies. Do any of you really think he'd attack us?" the spiketail asked.
The silence only lasted for a moment before the domehead resumed his tirade.
"They took the side of Chomper and his murderous…"
"Perhaps we should let the others talk," Bron interjected as he fixed the domehead with narrowed eyes, "Does anyone really think that my son, Seeker, now wants to suddenly murder us after helping us in our time of greatest need?"
This time the silence was almost painful in its uncompromising totality. No one really wanted to speak out in favor of the domehead's suggestion.
Bron nodded as he looked at the various herd leaders. All but one of them had lived during the great battle. As such the collective memory of those days had not diminished from those with the most influence.
He then looked back at the domehead who, for his part, fixed Bron with an enraged glare. I have dealt with more fearsome adversaries than you, Nepha.
The spiketail seemed to take the silence as a confirmation of his point. "So… I don't know about you long-timers here, but I came here to get away from the nonsense in the Mysterious Beyond. So why don't we wish these sharpteeth well, send them on their way, and live our lives? How much chatter does it take to decide on that?"
"Yeah!"
"Send them home!"
"Keep us out of it!"
Bron gave Topps a knowing look as the more vocal voices in the crowd began to murmur with the spiketail's opinion. Though this was good for preventing a general freakout that would send his son running out of the valley it did little to deal with the threat the valley now faced.
He could almost see the domehead smirk in his mind. Does the conspiracy go as far as Nepha?
"I agree with you, spiketail, in part…" Bron began hesitantly, making sure the 'in part' was clearly audible for those present, "...though it is important to note that it was this Wrok who brought turmoil to our valley. That is why fastbiters are here in the first place."
"That is true, but we understand very little about what is going on. If we rush into trouble, we might just make things worse or find trouble we could've avoided," the spiketail said, "I think the best thing we can do right now is to just stay out of the fastbiters' way. When the way is clearer we can decide what we should do."
Bron could only groan inwardly at the spiketail's suggestion. The regular rank and file in the valley did not know what they knew, that there was some kind of conspiracy among them. And he could not exactly share that information without giving up their chance of catching the culprits, whoever they may be. How do we salvage this?
"Hmph! Threehorns are ones to let trouble come to them. But if that is the valley's decision, then we will be ready for it when it comes!" Topps affirmed before nodding in Bron's direction.
Bron could only look back at the threehorn with an unsure expression. With all due respect, Mr. Threehorn, I hope that you know what you are doing.
Bron looked back towards Ura and gave her a nod. Time to bring this to a close.
The elder swimmer hesitated for a moment before turning towards the assembled gaggle of dinosaurs, many of whom were growing restless at the proceedings.
"Alright, I propose a vote on escorting the sharpteeth out in two days… and staying out of the hidden runner dispute."
If there were any objecting votes no one could hear them. The valley had made its choice.
"Awwww… that means that we can't see the valley!"
Pounce's protest was echoed by the rest of the children as they shifted uneasily on the backs of their respective parents. The only exceptions to this were Verant and Staza's children who, upon Verant's suggestion to Petrie, were riding on Breeze.
"Well," Nibble muttered from his perch near Spike's tail, "At least we can see the Hero Hill."
An exasperated sigh could be heard from Stern Claw's overloaded back as Biter shook his head. "Not the same… I wanted to see where Mom and Dad got in trouble when they were younger."
And get into your own trouble in the same places? Ungu wondered, remembering how her own siblings behaved.
"And that, children, is one of the reasons why they probably want to keep us out here," Cera teased before giving her body a little shake to force her cargo to cling to her again instead of looking at places to potentially land.
"You kids have more than enough ideas already…" Taunt noted.
"Not that you help!" Cera retorted.
Taunt shrugged with a tail-smile. "I am just saying, Mrs. Acting-Pack Leader When Path Doesn't Bitch Too Much."
"You had better hope that doesn't become an actual title, Taunt, or she might gut you," Leap cautioned.
Cera sighed. "I am just hoping Seeker doesn't want to gut us when he finds out where the other packs are meeting. At least I convinced Path to stay there and not to follow us here. I'm sure that would have gone as well as an egg-stealer in a swimmer nest."
Actually, the egg-stealer might have a better time, Ungu thought, Honestly, bringing all of us along probably wasn't the best idea, either. She looked around at her siblings. We're not exactly with Mom and Dad anymore.
"I wonder if our grandparents will come out here to see us again," Fisher pondered from Leap's back, "I mean… we talk to them through the flyers, but it is different in person."
"Do they understand us?" Gyors asked, overhearing Fisher's musings.
"We talked to grandpa in his language, but Volant understood all of the beak-brains," Sniffer clarified from Spike's back before he was greeted by a tell-tale cough from his father.
"Son, you know they don't like being called that. That is like being called an ankle-biter."
"But they called us that in the last game!" Sniffer protested.
Spike smiled. "Then tell Spotter and Soar about it." He then lowered his voice. "It is not a good idea to insult something that can poop on your head."
Ungu saw Sniffer look up nervously at where Petrie's kids were perched in a nearby tree. Do I want to know? she thought, Er, probably not.
"Do you smell something weird?" Gyors asked.
"You're asking me?" Ungu asked, shaking her head. She barely held back a laugh. Forgot again, Gyors? Well, at least one person doesn't act weird around me.
"I smell it, too!" Pounce's sister announced as she placed her sniffer into the air. "It smells like…"
"Flyer!" came the exclaimed response from several small flyers simultaneously as Soar's children suddenly broke from their perch and began to circle a bush.
It was at that point that two things registered in Ungu's mind at the same time. One, the bush was screaming, which, unless the valley was weirder than she thought, probably indicated that something was in the bush. Two, that something had suddenly flown out of the bush and into another one.
"Darn it, Flip! So much for our cover!"
"They're going to eat me!"
"Uh huh. And now our parents are going to ground us instead. You know how much of a killjoy my sister is."
All of the pack's children seemed to take this situation as an excuse to get off of their parents as they edged closer to the tree. Biter, in particular, seemed eager to approach the bush with a playful tilt to his tail.
Ungu's siblings, however, had a much different reaction.
"Back up, you idiots!" Gyors shouted as he and his siblings hurriedly formed a rough semicircle in front of the bush.
"Not a bad strategy, children, but our children know something that you don't," Cera soothed as she stepped forward and, with one powerful pull, dislodged the bush from the ground.
Revealing two annoyed threehorns, the previously-seen swimmer, and a youngling longneck. All of Cera's attention was on the pink threehorn.
"Long time no see, sister."
That's her sister? Ungu thought, confused, Oh, wait. Now I remember. Stern Claw and some of the other adults were leafeaters once. Which is actually kinda cool.
Tricia sighed deeply even as her eyes looked up at Cera with excited eyes. "Now, before you give me the Mysterious Beyond talk…"
"...the world is full of dangers and you cannot simply face them alone. Threehorns are in a herd for a reason with other threehorns. Because they are fearsome unlike the flat-heads, beak-brains, and big-mouths…" Cera and Tricia recited at exactly the same time as if they both had heard the lecture hundreds of times.
Tricia's companions, however, began to glare at their friend as the epipets of their respective species were named off.
"...I am just glad to see you! I don't think the valley will let any of you guys in!" Tricia finished, "That is worth a grounding!"
Cera rolled her eyes as she offered her sister a nuzzle. "I don't disagree, Tricia, but then again you know how our last adventure went." As if to emphasize the point she gestured at her fastbiter physique.
"No problem. We have a no blue stone policy because of that!" the swimmer remarked as if that were the only bad thing that could happen to them.
"There are more of those stones?" Portum asked curiously.
"I certainly hope not," the longneck muttered in broken sharptooth, "Caused… trouble than worth."
"You have been working on your sharptooth, I see," Biter noted with approval as he repeated it in leaf-eater, "But you haven't been working on hiding. You guys were upwind!"
"I told you we should have listened to Datum!" Malka, the swimmer, muttered.
"Oh, hush!" Tricia rolled her eyes. "I am not putting that stinky stuff on me!"
Biter looked around and sniffed, but he eventually sighed. "Awww… I was hoping those two were with you guys."
Cera sighed. "In any case we will need to send you kids back to your parents… unless you want to sneak back in before they catch you."
They're letting them go without telling their parents? Ungu thought, shocked, I can't believe it.
The leaf-eaters looked at one another, as if not believing their luck.
"You will let us do that?" Charger asked with disbelief.
Cera shrugged. "I might… but I don't think they would."
Ungu looked around, confused, until she noticed some shapes moving on the valley wall. Oh. This place thinks the way Dad does.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Taunt's raucous laughter as several flyers suddenly rose from numerous perches on the rock wall. In an instant they went from mere rocks from the vantage point of the sharpteeth to numerous alert flyers.
Finder snorted. "Well, kids. It looks like the valley was prepared."
The five leaf-eaters sighed and looked down in disappointment as a flyer, Malka's mother, landed in front of them and gestured silently towards the valley entrance.
"Phooey!" Tricia muttered.
Cera meanwhile gave her a kind wave. "I'm sure Dad will let us talk when it's time for us to go, Tricia. Just try not to get double-grounded in the meantime!"
Ungu could not see her reaction as Tricia departed into the crevice, but she could hear her response. "Very funny, sis! Ha. Ha."
Yep. Definitely sisters, Ungu thought.
"Ahem… we apologize for the problems, Ms. Flyer," Stern Claw began before she was waved off by the elder female.
"Your arrival might be a problem, sharptooth, but I bear you no ill-will for my son being the way he is. I blame your sister and the flathead for that."
Cera hesitated for a moment as if unsure whether to be insulted, relieved, or placated. "Um… bad influences?"
The female merely shook her head in exasperation and then flew off.
The pack was left in silence for a few moments upon the conclusion of that exchange, while the flyers on the bluffs went back to being camouflaged. This was a futile gesture at this point as certified by the fact that Pounce took the time to wave at them before his sister nudged him to stop it.
"So…" Breeze began, which was taken as an unspoken command for Ungu and her siblings to jump back into their places on her back. "Um… so what did we all learn today, children?"
"Leafeater kids have a death wish?" Gyors suggested.
Ungu shook her head but didn't bother to correct him. Really, brother? On second thought, you're not wrong.
"Not quite what I was going for," Breeze noted with a smile, "But I do think this shows a lesson that all of you kids can learn from."
"Don't hide upwind?" Swipe suggested.
"True, but I think my mate has something else in mind," Spike clarified.
"That not listening to our parents can lead to trouble?" Nibble finally suggested.
Breeze nodded. "Exactly. It might be more obvious to see it in leaf-eaters, but that applies to us sharpteeth as well. Especially when even the leaf-eaters…" She gestured up to the flyers camouflaged in the rocks as if that made her point.
Why do I get the feeling no one is going to remember this lesson for too long? Ungu thought.
Portum was looking up at the flyers above before whispering to the others. "I bet if we can find a way up there, then we could give them a good scare."
This earned an eye-roll from Lula. "Yeah, a good enough scare for them to knock us off."
"Yeah... I'm not sure Aunt Mender could fix us if we fell," Sana added.
"Mender!" Biter suddenly yelled.
"We're not going up the rocks," Gyors said.
"No, look!" Tormid yelled, "It's Aunt Mender!"
"What?" Ungu asked, "Where?"
It was then that she practically climbed over two of her taller siblings and looked towards the crevice and saw a tell-tale hint of violet peeking through the rocks.
"Aunt Mender!" Before she even realized what she was doing Ungu took off towards her aunt. She was soon followed by Gyors then her other siblings.
"Children!" Breeze yelled out, but Mender waved off her concern and instead bounced her back a few times to pester her new occupants.
"You're okay," Ungu said happily.
"What does the valley look like?" Lula asked.
Mender laughed at the exuberance of the children. "I am indeed okay. I don't know what my packmates did, but I feel better than I have been in a long time. As for the valley… it was full of plants and leaf-eaters, and…"
"Where's Mom and Dad?" Sana added.
Portum looked around her aunt curiously. "Where'd you get hurt?" she asked, "I don't see any scars. Um, no new ones, I mean."
Mender tilted her head at the question before looking towards her own tail as if the answer to that question was obvious. Only to not see the expected scar. In fact, there were no signs of an injury at all. Uhhh...
"Children, get off your aunt," Staza called, making her presence known.
She was greeted by a chorus "Mom!", followed by a miniature stampede ending in her being surrounded by her kids.
"It's alright, Staza. They were just excited to see me."
It was then that she turned around to see the entire pack looking at her like something out of a sleepstory. It was a reaction that she was getting all too used to lately.
"They aren't the only ones. Uh… it is great to see you doing so well, Mender," Breeze stated.
"You don't have any muscle weakness or anything?" Cera asked with disbelief.
"Now that you mention it, not really. I was sore from lying around for awhile, but, well, I'm as confused as you are," Mender admitted.
This did not stop the others from walking up to her in order of rank as they began to nod politely in a show of support. Even Soar landed and repeated the gesture.
Mender reacted to each nod normally if slightly awkwardly until Soar's turn. She could barely keep herself from staring. That just wasn't something she was used to flyers doing around her or any other predator. Finally, however, she nodded.
"And here are the heroes of the season!" Leap suddenly hollered, causing Mender to turn in the direction of his sudden focus.
I was starting to think they got lost, Mender thought. "What took you guys so long?"
Cynnil cocked the odd beak-smile of her kind and shook her head while Buse rolled his eyes. "Mrs. Maia was convinced that one of her eggs was stolen, so we were 'talked to' by one of the threehorns until she was convinced that she miscounted."
"How hard is it to count to ten?" Buse pondered.
Cynnil finally arrived at Mender's side as Dodger, Littlefoot, and Ruby appeared through the crevice. "But mainly we spent some time trying to figure out how a certain packmate now is as healthy as the day she got stabbed." She gestured at her tail. "None of the valley healers have a clue, either."
"I'm curious, since it would be very useful to know, but I'm not about to complain about it," Mender said. She looked past Cynnil, expecting to see her newest packmate. "Um, where's Orchid?" she asked when she realized he wasn't there.
This made everyone freeze as Cynnil looked back towards the entrance of the valley. "Uh… Verant? Did you see him anywhere?"
"Not for a little while," Verant said.
Littlefoot's sigh was obvious as Cera did the customary nod to return command of his pack back to him. "We have several packs waiting for us at Hanging Rock, several very annoyed fastrunners to make peace with, and several hidden runners to kill. Don't tell me that he decided to sneak off to do some sight-seeing. Especially not with Mrs. Maia around."
"He had better watch out for trouble, because he might end up in trouble even if he is not out for trouble!" Ruby noted with concern.
"The last I heard he asked Topps where the rainbowfaces stayed," Buse suddenly blurted out.
Mender glared at Buse. You couldn't have told us that sooner?
The silence held for a few moments until Cynnil gave Mender a look.
"We will track him down," Cynnil finally volunteered before Verant could suggest otherwise, "I'm sure Orchid must have a good reason."
Only Mender was close enough to hear what she muttered next.
"He had better."
"So they are planning on leaving early?"
"You sound disappointed."
"No, I just hope that the valley's 'welcome' did not put them off. They are our allies."
"True… though tell that to the domeheads and spiketails…"
Orchid crouched low against the ground in order to avoid being detected by the two sauropods in the distance. Though he would have welcomed such sentiments in principle he did not welcome being detected by valley residents when they were all supposedly leaving.
Darn it, Seeker. You should know that if you are ready to go then Mender will be as well. If you had waited, then this meeting would be so much easier.
Hesitantly he peered up at the odd assemblage of rocks which designated the path to the rainbowface's abode. It would have been practically indistinguishable from any other cave if it weren't for the unique rocks placed all the way up the path.
Oh, come on…
Against the rather bare looking bluff stood the usual collection of rocks and the errant bush here and there… but then there were them. Colored rocks of every description - shiny stones, black fire stones from the Smoking Mountain, stones with bones in them, and that was when he saw something curious… two of the rocks with bones in them had vines tied around them. The meaning was obvious: Want to become bones? Then try to come up here uninvited.
Orchid sighed. Of course they have to have the survival instincts of Nahoda. Time for my backup plan.
He rose from the tall grass that had served as his protection from prying eyes. He then raised his arms in order to get the attention of the longnecks. "Excuse me! Could either of you help me?"
Much to his chagrin, however, neither sauropod seemed to have heard him. Instead he was heard by someone much closer.
"You lost, eggstealer?" a flyer asked, sounding slightly amused as he looked down from where he was slowly circling Orchid.
"Yikes!" Orchid exclaimed as he jumped into the air. When he landed his hand was firmly planted on his chest and his eyes were firmly fixed on the flyer. "Lucky tailfeathers! Where did you come from?"
The flyer landed carefully on a small perch on the bluff. "That would be telling, wouldn't it?"
Orchid took a moment to catch his breath before answering. "Anyway, no, I am not lost. But I could use some help. Before we all leave I wanted to ask Datum about something we found in the Mysterious Beyond, but um..."
He gestured at the ominous sight of the fossils and the obvious trap vine between them as if that spoke for itself.
With nothing more than a nonchalant shrug the flyer knocked a rock towards the trap. In the intervening split second Orchid cringed at what calamity was about to befall the trap area.
Only to see the rock fall on the vine with a resounding thump.
"See, eggstealer? Its nothing," the flyer said after several moments of nothing happening.
Rather than be happy about this Orchid placed his hands on his hips. "Then what was the point of all that? I was scared away for nothing!"
It took two seconds of silence before Orchid put everything together. "Darn it!"
"That is sort of the idea. It keeps the curious away," the flyer explained before looking at himself for a moment, "Well, most of the curious, anyway."
Orchid sighed. Maybe this was a mistake. "Alright, well… if you could just tell Datum that I am thankful for his help, I would appreciate it. My pack is probably waiting on me so..."
He barely had time to turn around before the flyer spoke again.
"Where are you going?" the flyer asked, "Datum's this way."
Orchid doubled back. "Um… thanks. This, uh, will just take a moment…"
He awkwardly made his way up the bizarre-looking pathway as reflective stones and various fossils stared back at him from the rock wall. There were odd-looking things that looked like snapping shells but with three parts. There were bones that looked like various dinosaurs, flyers, and stuff that he couldn't even identify. And then there were odd crystals here and there. Each one made him fear touching it, lest he be turned into something else or grow a second tail or something. Everyone suspected that the rainbowfaces were capable of mysterious things.
And after what he witnessed with Mender Orchid was now a true believer.
Eventually he came across the threshold to the cave which had odd etchings on the walls. The odd symbols had no meaning to him, but they had regularity and logic in their order. Something that made Orchid sense that there was knowledge here that he could not make sense of. What is this stuff?
Cautiously he walked into the cave, allowing the light of the Bright Circle to illuminate its cavernous depths. It was then that he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. There were more of these shiny rocks in here, and they appeared to be reflecting the light into deeper caverns. The realization of this was enough to make Orchid stand there dumbfounded.
"Sis, could you pass me the seeds? It is time to feed the ground fuzzies again."
Orchid's head turned towards the cavern to the left. That was Datum's voice. But, wait what? What does he need with ground fuzzies? Are they secretly half-teeth or something?
He thought for a moment before eventually deciding to walk towards the voice. He had already entered their home, so it was too late to turn back now.
He peered into the cavern and quickly saw a small rainbowface pointing at something in the distance before etching something on the wall. He then grabbed a smooth looking rock.
"Continue report - No deaths in this group, so this is probably a more optimal diet. This is consistent with the hypothesis of the brown-footed ground fuzzies being primarily herbivorous unlike their black-footed cousins. A larger group study will be needed before this hypothesis can be confirmed. Cadet Datum out."
In that moment Orchid had no idea what he was seeing or hearing. There were a bunch of ground fuzzies in a pit on the ground. There was weird etchings on the walls and reflective rocks everywhere. And, oh yeah, the rainbowface was talking to a rock. Before his mind could break any further he decided to make his presence known.
"Hi, Datum! May I talk to you for a moment?"
Orchid was not exactly sure what to expect when he made his presence known. The idea that the rainbowface might be panicked came to mind. As did the idea that he might be upset that his home had been trespassed into. But when the young rainbowface merely turned around and looked at him with muted surprise it actually creeped out Orchid more.
"Uh… hello, Orchid. W-welcome to our home! How can I help you?"
Despite being clear in his mission before coming up here, Orchid's eyes were now fixated on the ground fuzzies and the odd pit that they were in. It did not take Datum long to notice that as well and to place himself between Orchid and the odd pit. It was then that the singularity of his original mission came to him. Thank Datum and ask if he can tell him how he did it.
"Thank you so much! Without your help Mender would have died!"
Unfortunately this also led to Orchid embracing the small rainbowface in a tight hug.
"Or-chid, crushing me."
The fastrunner backed away awkwardly as the rainbowface caught his breath. Did I just do that?
Datum quickly regained his composure. "It… it just seemed like the right thing to do. But you are welcome. Thank you for not waking the others. It needed to be done in secret."
Orchid blinked. "Secret? But, this… this is amazing! That red stone stuff could save countless lives!" He gestured broadly, "It is the stuff that us healers could only dream of!"
Datum nodded before looking at the hidden runner grimly. "How many of those did you see me carry?"
Orchid thought for a moment. "Um… three, maybe?"
Datum raised five digits. "There are exactly five. One for me, one for mom, one for dad, one for sis, and one backup in case any of us are terribly injured or sick a second time. If that happens to us now, then it will take the normal course."
The fastrunner opened his beak hesitantly, dumbfounded. "So you… risked that to save her?" He looked around as if searching for the right words, "But surely there are more of these? If you could show me where you found the stones, then…"
A hand on his shoulder silenced him.
"There are only four more, my friend. I would tell you where we got them, but you would not believe us."
Orchid looked up at the rainbowface. "I would not doubt your story."
This made Datum sigh as the facade faded. "All the more reason not to tell you. Too many people call us Star People to this day."
Orchid blinked. "What?"
"Orchid? Orchid, are you in there?"
Datum noticeably cringed as he put his arm around Orchid's back in a companionly fashion. He then began to lead him away from the ground fuzzy pit that had left the fastrunner so transfixed previously.
"I know that this is not fair, Orchid, but I must ask that this be kept secret."
"But it's…"
"I know. But it would lead to even more suffering. People would demand what we cannot offer, and then they would turn on us - destroying all that we have built. Or at least that is what the recorded history lessons tell us."
Orchid blinked. "Recorded… huh?"
Datum sighed. "Think about what the valley is doing now. People would get upset, do stupid stuff, and then realize that what they did was stupid."
Orchid nodded slowly. "I think I understand."
The rainbowface child smiled. "We always give new healer knowledge on this planet to the flyers, and they always send that to all of you in the Mysterious Beyond. That will not change."
Orchid could now see the entrance to the rainbowface cave once more, though now it had a rather nonplussed addition in the form of a certain purple fastbiter.
Datum awkwardly patted Orchid on the back as if the fastrunner were not significantly larger than him. He then whispered at him. "Just promise me that you will keep her safe out there."
Orchid nodded and whisper back. "I promise. I do have one question, though."
The rainbowface child closed his eyes as if preparing himself mentally for whatever was coming.
"What in the heck is a planet?"
He was answered by a somewhat familiar answer from the little rainbowface as he gently shoved Orchid past the threshold. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?"
"Come on, Orchid. We're going to be left behind," Mender said, grabbing the fastrunner's arm as soon as he was outside the cave.
She did not notice the little rainbowface give the duo a kind wave and whisper his parents' old mantra to himself. "Study in secret, help in secret, suffer in secret, but never leave a culture worse than you found it."
To this he added his own innovation, "...and never let the rules get in the way of doing the right thing."
"Well that went over like a tiny biter in a flyer nest."
"Quiet down! The beak-faces might be listening…"
The six domeheads rather conspicuously glanced up towards the trees as they waded across a stream into the taller foliage of the valley's deeper reaches. Perhaps it was paranoia but several of them had noticed that the always observant and gossipy flyers were spending more time around their herd. Always far enough away to allow for an excuse, always close enough to make un-whispered intrigues susceptible to being overheard…
If we get caught, I know whose fault it is, Nume thought, Stop acting like you've got something to hide. That's the easiest way to let someone know you have something to hide.
A herdmate, Nyphon, whispered at his herd leader, "The threehorn is not going to follow us, is he?"
Nepha could only laugh at this. "No. He will join us at the end. Following us would be too obvious. After all, Castor is supposed to hate my guts, remember?"
Nume could only laugh at this. "He is a threehorn, sir. He probably does hate your guts."
Nepha nodded in agreement. "I suppose that would explain how well he acts the part." He then arched his head at the water hole in the distance. "Over there. Any flyer would be obvious to spot from there. As far as they can be concerned this is a good old-fashioned meeting of herd deputies."
Well, that's a decent idea. Much better than standing around here, Nume thought, Now if only we'd put as much thought into whether following that flyer's plan is a good idea or not.
The journey took several moments but in the hazy heat of the afternoon the time seemed to fade into insignificance. Before Numo realized it they were in front of the water pool. Nepha's blunt assessment of the meeting snapped them all out of any sense of complacency.
"We failed."
And that's such a bad thing? Nume wondered, The plan's not exactly a great one.
Nepha sighed. "We couldn't risk anything more, but we failed nonetheless. If that flyer was telling the truth then that feather-brained bastard is willing to expose us all just to get the valley involved."
The domehead herd leader slammed his foot into the ground which caused all of his comrades to jump up in surprise.
"What in the fuck is his plan? The entire plan before was to keep the valley out of this mess. If that was still the case then that damn spiketail would have done us a favor. What changed?"
Numo couldn't help but cringe when Nepha looked at him. "I don't know. I only repeated what I was told by the beak-brain," he said, trying to defend himself.
Nepha held his gaze for several moments before he mercifully turned his glare to the others. "Any thoughts?"
"Who knows what goes through the minds of the fucking egg-snatchers? That is why we wanted to break this stupid alliance from the beginning," Nyphon offered.
"Since Hano is nowhere to be seen, maybe Wrok is panicking?" another added.
"In which case he could join the herd," Nepha retorted, "It is hard not to panic with this business. You all do realize what would happen if the other herds even suspected a small portion of this? There is a reason the rest of our herd does not know. Why each of your mates and families do not know." He looked at each of them as if looking for any sign that they had breached their trust. "Even so. If this goes to shit you can bet the mob will not ask who knew what."
Which might be the only reason we might come out of this alive if things get that bad, Numo thought, If the entire herd is blamed, we might just end up leaving the valley. If we're blamed specifically, I don't think there will be any place we could even try to run to before we died.
"Does Castor have any ideas about what the flyer is getting at?" Nyphon inquired as he looked off into the distance. Squinting his eyes Nume could just barely see the threehorn's trail of trampled grass as he slowly lumbered in their direction.
Nepha rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised, Nyphon. Are you not the same domehead that insisted that threehorns had more horns than brains?"
"They do, but right now our brains seem to be as useful as a horn in figuring out what in the heck our allies are doing."
"Flyer," Numo warned, "Act normal." And not like hatchlings that got caught sneaking out of the nest. He was somewhat relieved to see that it was just some young flyers having a race. Even if everyone here was acting conspicuous I doubt they'd notice.
The two small flyers soon zoomed by with both of them slapping the water with their wings before looping back towards wherever they came. It looked like they had just picked the same landmark that they had decided to use as their race marker.
The domeheads ceased eating the grass or drinking from the water as the need for such subterfuge disappeared. In the distance Castor's form was now growing larger. His body would both be a welcome addition to the meeting and its most glaring participant. If anyone was watching even from a distance his arrival would be an obvious sign that something was amiss.
"Do you think someone got to Hano? Someone who made him talk?"
Nepha's question fell upon them like a boulder. The thought that Hano had met an untimely end was an obvious conclusion. But if any part of the plan was exposed...
"Since he hasn't shown up, I'd say it's obvious something got to him. Whether it was to make him talk or just eat him, I don't know," Numo said.
Nepha sighed. "In any case we must tread carefully. The only flyer we have who knows the details of our plans is Wrok's stupid flyer. This puts us at a disadvantage."
Nyphon shrugged. "We could try to enlist another flyer."
"Are there any flyers we could trust?" Numo asked, "Its kinda hard to find reliable traitors, you know."
This earned Nume a sour look from his herdmate but no retort. The nature of the problem spoke for itself.
The footsteps of the threehorn grew louder as his face became clearly visible over the waving field of grass. As he approached the domeheads remained silent. That was until the domehead leader gestured for them all to take on antagonistic positions.
"What are we doing?" Nume asked.
"Have to keep up the act," was all that Nepha said as Castor returned the favor and rubbed his back foot against the ground in a threatened charge.
The charade held for several moments before the 'enraged threehorn' spoke in an almost conversational voice that would have made Nume laugh at any other time.
"Got held up with guard duty."
Nepha nodded slightly while keeping his aggressive posture for the benefit of anyone watching from a distance. "We have much to guard now. That is why we are all here. We must do what the others are unwilling to do."
"You can drop the enlistment speech, Nepha. You are no Pterano, and I am not some fool who needs to be dragged into this. I dragged myself into it," Castor arrogantly replied, "In any case it seems that your speech did little to motivate the valley as well."
Drop it, Castor. It's not like you did any better, Numo thought irritably.
Nyphon's reaction was more vocal. "Why you arrogant horn-face!"
The threehorn merely snorted. "Arrogant or not, I am not wrong. What is the plan now? From what you all said last time Wrok was willing to let everyone come out unless we got the valley involved. How exactly do you propose we do that now?"
"Nothing," Nepha said simply, "For now we do nothing."
Both Castor and the domeheads looked at Nepha questioningly.
"When do we stop doing nothing?" Numo asked.
The pack leader did not speak for a few moments as he took another gulpful of water. As he did so his gaze never left where the flyers had departed moments before.
"Wrok has two choices: spill the seeds on us, in which case we deny his 'lies,' or actually abide by his original plan and accept our inaction. The time is not right for us to make a move against the fucking baby killers, but all it will take is a few mistakes by Seeker and the valley will be ripe for a solution to the sharptooth problem."
Castor blinked, utterly befuddled by the domehead's statement. "We want the valley to be for the leaf-eaters, Nepha, but that doesn't mean that we want them dead. Those sharpteeth did help the valley in its darkest moments."
Yeah... I'm with the threehorn on this one, Numo thought, Plus, there's nothing Seeker could do that would make the valley go after him and his pack. In case you've forgotten, there's nothing in the valley they want.
As if to confirm that his view was the common one he looked at his four fellow deputies, only to see no sign of any doubts in their cold expressions. Guys…?
Nepha's words broke through Numo's growing concerns. "We? With all due respect, threehorn, we have a different view. See to it when it comes time that you remember which side you are on."
Castor glared back at the domehead leader. "I am on the valley's side, Nepha. We can achieve isolation without resorting to anything rash."
Nepha snorted. "Our ally would seem to disagree, but I am willing to let time present us with an opportunity to force a separation. Or, Fate, as he would certainly put it. But if there has to be some kind of accident to provoke the valley to see sense…" He shrugged. "...that could certainly be arranged."
Castor's horns were bared at the domehead within an instant. "You would not dare!"
"Oh, I would." Nepha calmly retorted as his herdmates took on defensive positions. "The well-being of the valley is more important than the supposed honor of the threehorns. How is it that your herd leader always put it? When the going gets tough the tough get going?"
Castor merely shook his head at his collegue. "Nothing like that will be necessary. But I am disgusted that you would even consider it."
Nepha merely hummed as if nonplussed by the threehorn's objections. "We will see. Just remember which side you are on."
Castor merely shook his head. "There is only one side: the valley's side. We just need to make them see it."
Nepha nodded. "Then make sure you don't get in the way if we make them see it."
He's not the one you're going to have to worry about, you idiot, Numo thought, It's a disaster waiting to happen.
"We have company."
Numo looked over to see a group of swimmers approaching the water. I doubt anyone would notice anything, but it's probably going to get a bit loud around here with all the swimmer kids. At least the parents won't be paying attention to any of us.
Nepha sighed. "Well, that concludes this, then. We meet again when the Night Circle is half-full. Until then… let's continue pretend we do not like one another."
Castor merely glared at the herd leader. "That can be easily arranged."
As the threehorn and the domeheads parted ways, Numo was starting to wonder when he started agreeing with threehorns over his own leader. Nepha, I know its a bit suspect coming from a threehorn, but that doesn't mean he is wrong thinking you've lost your mind.
Orchid was not particularly surprised when he was assertively shoved by Mender through the entrance into the Hidden Canyon. He was surprised, however, when he was greeted by Topps' three horns.
Or, more accurately, he was frozen in place in terror.
"I trust that you won't sneak away from your pack again?"
Orchid's beak opened ever so slightly. "No, sir."
"Good."
It was only when the massive head removed itself from his vision that Orchid regained control of his legs. It was also at that time that he heard familiar laugher from the massive threehorn's back.
"That was so awesome!"
"Grandpa can be scary!"
A certain pink threehorn, on the other hand, responded with a 'hmph!' "You feather-butts are such scaredy-eggs!"
Orchid let out a breath. He is even scarier than I remember. He then put his hands on his hips and gave his packmate a glare. "You knew he was going to do that, didn't you?"
"I might have," Mender replied, trying and failing to not laugh, "It was so easy..."
"Finally done sneaking around, Orchid? You're a fastrunner, not a hidden runner, ya know?"
Oh, bite me, Buse. "Afraid that I might out-hide you, Buse?"
"Ow!" Orchid jumped as he looked for his unseen attacker… only to see Cynnil.
His pack leader gave him a smile. "Probably not, Sneaky."
The fastrunner rubbed his abused feather with more than a little annoyance as he looked out at the scene that greeted him. The Hidden Canyon, which had previously been the site of Mender's near-demise, was now practically packed with leaf-eaters, half-teeth, and sharpteeth. His pack and that of Littlefoot's were recognizable, of course. As was the perennially scary-looking Verant and his well-defended children all clustered around Staza. But the sight of the little fastbiters riding on Topps' and several younglings looking up in amazement at Bron and Shorty's massive size made something register in his mind. For the children this was one of the first, and perhaps last, times they would see their grandparents. And for Littlefoot and his pack this was a bittersweet reunion indeed. The conflict had come to them, and now they were going to come to the conflict.
"You still with us, Orchid?" Mender asked, pinching the fastrunner.
"Ow! Will you stop that?" Orchid asked as he rubbed his side, "I.. I was just looking around, that's all. I mean…"
He lowered his voice as he looked at the happy children. "We might not get to see this again."
"Maybe not, but you better get used to seeing odd stuff like this. You'll be seeing a lot of this," Mender said.
After his friend said those words Orchid observed Littlefoot and Shorty have a conversation in the distance. The sauropod's neck appeared to sag down to where the predator was as a rather playful Biter attempted to hang onto his tail while Swipe looked on with exasperation. Orchid then gave Mender a look.
"Okay, maybe not that weird," Mender said, laughing at herself, "but it still gets kinda weird."
"As weird as my mom and dad telling Seeker off when he gets to Hanging Rock?" Orchid inquired, "Spotter told me that they were thrilled when he talked to them."
"I guess he will want to make sure that they know this was all Path's idea," Cynnil offered.
"Will that wor…" Buse began.
"No," Orchid and Cynnil responded simultaneously before laughing.
Nope, Seeker is going to hear a beakfull from Mom. Orchid looked around for a moment before catching sight of his sister. I wonder if Ponder might help Seeker out a bit. What he did not catch sight of, however, was what was right below his feet before he felt something soft suddenly make contact with the bottom of his foot.
"Whoa!" He froze as he awkwardly looked down while balancing on one leg.
"Eep." Ungu darted past Orchid and hid behind her aunt.
Crap. Orchid carefully sat his foot down as he glanced nervously in Verant's direction. He was oddly relieved when he only noticed a glare.
"Sorry," Ungu said, "I wasn't watching where I was going."
The fastrunner turned to see the small fastbiter appear from behind her aunt. "I wasn't being careful either, little one. If you had been a belly-slider you could have bit me."
"Well, she is a fastbiter, so she could have bit you," Buse noted.
"Thanks, Buse," Orchid muttered as he rolled his eyes.
"I was hoping to see what Biter was doing, but..." Ungu gestured towards where her friend was more focused on the leafeaters. "So I thought I'd talk to you guys."
"Don't want to ride the giant tail?" Orchid teased with a smirk, "I'm surprised 'Mountain' doesn't even notice."
"I've had enough of being up high," Ungu replied, "Plus its easier to keep Gyors away if I'm not doing it, too."
Orchid gave Mender a look. "Should one of us end the temptation altogether?"
Upon receiving a nod, Orchid smirked. "Hey, boulder! You got a passenger on ya!"
He watched with his beak cocked in a smile as the towering green longneck looked at him with an annoyed scowl. "Whatever you say, beak…" it was then that he saw the brown tuft of feathers firmly attached to his long appendage like some kind of blood-sucking insect. He twisted his tail so that its occupant landed softly beside Shorty's right forelimb and an exasperated Littlefoot before muttering. "I didn't realize that I was youngling-sitting."
Orchid gave Ungu a wink.
"Thanks," Ungu said, "So what are you guys talking about?"
"About a certain hidden runner in training," Buse offered.
"Don't you start…" Orchid groaned. "I just wanted to talk to the rainbowface kids is all. You never know; they could have discovered something new."
"Did they discover anything? I heard they're kinda weird."
"Ungu," Mender reprimanded.
The little youngling bowed her head slightly. "Sorry."
Orchid paused for a moment. I thought that I was past this. How do I explain this away?
"Um… well, there was nothing new healer-wise that they knew about. Axiom did have a bunch of ground fuzzies in a pit, though, for some reason." There, nothing untrue.
"Ground fuzzies in a pit? I thought they only ate leaves and stuff." Nibble muttered.
"Maybe they are experimenting with their food?" Pounce teased, intentionally using one of the rainbowface's 'weird nonsense words'.
"Hope it went better than my experiment with trying leaves," Cera muttered while making a gagging expression. She then nonchalantly grabbed Pounce by the neck and deposited him once again on her back. "Well, Dad. I know that the valley gave us some time, but I think it is best that we part soon."
Littlefoot nodded as he broke from his conversation with Shorty. "Indeed. We thank you all for your hospitality, but we understand that the situation among the residents is touchy. All things considered, the valley's neutrality is the best choice at the moment. Especially if that is kept quiet."
"Why do they want to keep it quiet?" Mender whispered to Cynnil.
Cynnil began to answer the question but she was interrupted by Topps' response.
"She wishes to keep her crest held high and to keep the challengers away. Understandable."
Cynnil smirked as the threehorn put the situation in the context of his own kind. "Basically if Ignis asks for help from the valley directly she will appear weak. She will also appear weak if it is known that the valley is not going to help at all. It is best for her to keep up appearances that she does not think that she needs to help."
It was at this point that Mender felt a sudden weight on her back. "Why are hidden runners so confusing?" Portum asked.
Orchid could see Staza roll her eyes at the antics of her daughter as she carefully corralled the other children on to her back. Looking around he could see that almost all of the children were being similarly collected by their parents with only Ducky's children still being on the ground in the distance slowly going through a long line of young swimmers.
Some family reunions are longer than others, I suppose.
Orchid could only smile at the scene before his expression suddenly turned into a panicked stare in the general direction of Hanging Rock.
"My mom and dad are going to be so pissed."
"What do they have to be mad about?" Mender asked, having easily heard Orchid, "It's not going to be much different than when others pass through, though we might be staying a bit longer than usual." It's not like they have any kids to worry about there anymore, right?
The fastrunner began to absentmindedly follow the rest of the pack as they approached Ducky and the swimmer-fastbiter family reunion in the distance. "We spent our entire childhood trying to avoid sharpteeth, and now Hanging Rock is full of them! What if one of the two-footers gets hungry? What if…"
"What if they're just sitting around, laughing at the latest stupid thing a sharptooth does?" Mender asked, "Do you think your parents suddenly lost all of their skills?" It took me forever to stop doing that. I still overthink things sometimes.
The fastrunner sighed as he looked on in the distance. "No… it's just… I know how Path is, and if he is the only sane one there then mom and dad are not going to let us hear the end of it. Dad is always mad when he can't fulfill the duty of hospitality."
"I could have sworn that only applied if you invited someone into your territory," Mender said, "Someone that just shows up isn't a guest."
"You don't know my Daddy. If it doesn't chase you and you don't chase it off, then it is a guest." Ruby's voice suddenly called from the other side of Mender. "And I'm sure he didn't try to chase them off!"
On Mender's back, Ungu and Portum exchanged alarmed looks. "I'm confused," Ungu said.
"She means that Dad would feel put off that he could not be a good host," Orchid clarified as he stopped in front of the now assembled pack some distance away from the swimmers. "I guess… well, I just remember what it was like being a kid and hiding from Redclaw. So I have no idea what they are thinking right now."
"They're probably wondering when we're going to show up," Mender said. Do we have everyone? We've got a lot of small kids here. She looked around, doing a mental headcount. I think we've got everyone.
That was until a gigantic neck appeared in front of her and deposited a disappointed Swipe on Ruby's back.
Bron snorted as his granddaughter sighed with disappointment. "I'm afraid you lost the bet, little one. Not only could I feel you up there, but I could hear both of you as well."
"Ha! I win a ground fuzzy!" Biter cheered happily as his sister rolled her eyes.
"He found you first!" Swipe retorted.
"And I thought keeping track of my kids was hard," Staza muttered, "What's next, trying to cross a stream full of bellydraggers?"
"Please don't give them ideas," Taunt muttered before giving his children another head count on his mate's back. He panicked for a moment as he was one short before realizing that Ambush was in fact on his back.
"And this is your aunt, Lula, and this is your uncle, Drambo, and this is…"
Okay, now I've seen everything, Mender thought, unable to stop staring in Ducky's direction, I know she hasn't been here since some of those kids hatched, so how can she possibly know who is who even if she got descriptions from a flyer? I can't even tell some swimmer kids apart without hearing them speak first.
"How does she do that from flyer descriptions alone? I mean, the swimmers all look the same."
"That's rude, Taunt."
"But it's true! Your family is easy - scary grey guy and small pink sister. But she has…" He tried counting them for a moment. "...I can't count that high."
Ducky, meanwhile, finally reached the end of the line, "And this must be little Splasher."
The little swimmer allowed himself to be sniffed by the little predators as they in turn allowed themselves to be sniffed by the youngling swimmer. No one had told the predators that swimmers were not known for their sense of smell, but all of the swimmers appeared to understand that it would be impolite to not repeat the gesture.
Smart kids. I wouldn't mind getting to know the swimmer part of Haven's family, but, considering how I usually meet people, that's probably not something I should wish too hard for.
Then, as if on cue, Spike and Ducky both stepped forward and repeated the gesture to their mother. Ura's eyes were as moist as the streams that she frequented.
Breeze's voice interrupted Mender's observations. "It is a shame that this is probably the last time for this. But it is what it is."
"I'm actually kinda hoping I never have to see any of the leafeaters here again," Mender said, "Most of the people I meet aren't doing so well when I'm introduced to them."
"Such is our burden," Cynnil noted as she smiled at the swimmer scene in front of her, "Our lives must be apart, but at least they meet when it is needed."
At least the leafeaters will be safe here in the valley, Mender thought, glancing back towards where Littlefoot and Cera were saying goodbye to their respective parents, Well, most of them should be. I'm not entirely convinced Topps is going to stay out of this if he has an excuse not to.
It was then that she noticed Orchid preening his crest awkwardly as he watched the pack assemble one by one into a defensive V-shaped formation. The formation a pack would prepare for a challenged entry into dangerous territory. "I worry that we will be needed a lot soon."
Mender sighed. Hopefully, those I'm trying to heal won't be my own family members next time.
The flyer landed with a thud at the cusp of the hill. He knew that it would be improper for him to take a place higher than the recipient of his message.
The hidden runner continued to sit upon the hill's crest, looking out upon the pack's makeshift territory. For a few moments the flyer debated speaking to the hidden runner, to let him know that he was here, but decorum demanded that he not do so.
Questor was an awkward sort.
"Welcome, flyer. I take it that Nalan sends his greetings?"
"He does," the flyer replied, "Your instructions were followed exactly."
The hidden runner rose and turned around to face the messenger. "I would expect no less. Nolan is many things, but disloyal he is not. But the same cannot be said about our special friend, can it? Does he send his greetings?"
"He does. He confirms that our flyer sent the message to the domeheads. We will have to see if the valley takes the bait."
Questor smiled. "Good. And I do hope that our friend is well? It would be such a shame if he were discovered before he could perform Fate's plan."
The flyer sputtered. "The flyer does not think that he was detected. He…"
"Not him," the hidden runner corrected, "That flyer is disposable and early detection would only help us cause confusion. No, I am talking about our friend."
"He is still in position for the appointed time," the flyer replied.
Questor merely smiled as he turned around once more, facing the territory before him.
"Good. Because the appointed time is nearly at hand. Ignis will never know what hit her."
End of Act 2
Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Though this chapter might be on the slower side I do think the stage has now been set for what is coming. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to bringing the first chapter of the final Act in the near-future.
bryan mccloud: Thank you for the review. As for the factions, well, there are several and some of them might have their own ulterior motives. For example, the traitors in the valley are not sure right now who exactly has their back. As for the rainbowfaces, we will see a bit more of them going forward. Never mind how many plans one has fate has a way of disrupting the best laid plans of mice and men... or in this case, rainbowfaces. :p
Keijo6: The Wrok and Penol interactions are one of my favorite parts to write in these later chapters. Their relationship, if you wish to call it that, is developing somewhat organically as the story's plot begins to present itself. Along the way each of them must confront their own insecurities and uncertainties. Because as Wrok toys with Penol his own emotions are toying with him as well. All the while the facts of the political situation are going to lead to an inevitable reckoning for both Ignis and Wrok. All the while a third party, Questor, weaves his own web of deceit. I hope that you and the others enjoy what is coming in the final act. (:
gordhanx: I can only reiterate what I said above with regards to the Wrok/Penol scenes. It is always an interesting thing when love and politics combine, especially when it takes both participants for a loss. All the while they must both deal with the inevitable complication that such a pairing would entail betraying her cousin (in the case of Penol) or trusting a female who was sent to kill him (in the case of Wrok). For both of them there is much to risk during this unpredictable time.
Anagnos: I think that much blame for the forgetting about this story rests with me and my co-author as the writing has gotten much slower due to work obligations. Nonetheless I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the latest chapter. The intrigues with the hidden runners are a joy to write though the growing web of plots and sub-plots is reaching critical mass in the growing civil war. As for Glise I can only imagine what it must be like to both be a respected advisor and also, due to political realities, to be a potential transaction in terms of mating with potential allies. The joke is both a dark reflection of this reality and, for her, a way to laugh on the absurdity of it all. Thank you again for the review and kind words! (: