It took several months, but Historian1912 and I have finally finished the massive 46,000 word past scenes which showcase how the initial alliance between the hidden runners, fastbiter packs, and Great Valley came to be. We hope that you all enjoy the following two chapter set as Mender's relays this tale to her comrades. :)

The second chapter to this tale should come in three weeks. Then, afterwards, we shall get to the eventful concluding chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 39: Foundations Part 1

The forming of the alliance was a very delicate thing,

Brought into motion by a mistaken chase,

So it is there where this singer must begin to sing,

For danger had to be courted before friendship could be embraced

~Mender's Song of the Alliance

The past (in Mender's story):

"Ah, Mender. There you are! Care to help me mark the bushes? These bushes won't be marked without help."

"Sure," Violet said with a shrug. I'm never going to stop feeling awkward every time I do this. Spent most of my life trying not to leave any sign I was ever there, and now they want me to not do that? Very, very weird.

She searched around for an unmarked spot, eventually finding several. Okay, so how do I do this? Guess I should just think of it the entirely opposite way I would normally do it. Okay, so which spot's obvious, but not too obvious? Maybe I should have asked if there was a right way to do things.

"You can try by those bushes over there," Ruby directed, pointing to a bush with bright red fruits, "Marking the bushes is a bit different from marking the Grassy Plain, like you helped do last time."

Why was I there again? I couldn't even smell myself with Path around. At least there it didn't quite matter too much what spot you picked, Violet thought to herself before moving over to the bushes that Ruby suggested.

"Well, I smell that small biters have been over here. They had better not swipe our food!" Littlefoot noted as he sniffed on a bush nearby, "And another tiny biter?! Crap."

Ruby laughed as she marked a vine. "The tiny biters never bothered you before, dear."

Littlefoot turned around with a teasing smirk. "Want me to invite Flinter's pack into our territory, then? I can let them know that you want to take over as their… what did they call it? Thinker?"

Ruby stuck out her tongue. "I think everyone would challenge you for command of the pack if you did that, dear."

"Even you? So they do annoy you." He leaned back in satisfaction.

They annoy me, too. A lot, Violet thought, Why is there just one, though? I thought they traveled in groups. "Are you sure there's just one?" she asked.

Littlefoot looked at her with a contemplative expression for a moment before sniffing the bush again, "Hmmm… just one. A lone male…" He sniffed again. "young... but it is too faded for me to find out much more."

"Weird," Violet said. If that's kind of old, it might have been that one that was asking for help. What was his name? Hopefully he's not coming back again. The rest of the pack might not be too happy with me if more tiny biters showed up.

"Well, if they become a problem we can just kill them. If we kill them then they cannot be a bother," Ruby noted, "The ones that helped Leap have been helped; we don't have to bother with tiny biters anymore."

"Ah, a faint scent of fastrunner… a male…" Littlefoot teased as he sniffed another bush some distance away, "I knew you had another male on the side."

Ruby broke out laughing. "Let me know if you find out where he went to. I am sure it would be nice for Mender to see that you are not as fast as you think you are."

Littlefoot recoiled in mock offense. "That was low, dear!"

Did I just hear all of that right? How can they joke about stuff like that? Violet couldn't help but watch her companions in open-mouthed shock.

Littlefoot noticed Violet's reaction. "Sorry, Mender. We are just joking with one another. Though I wouldn't recommend doing that to some stranger."

"Why...Wha...How?" Violet finally managed to get herself to say something intelligible. How can you say such horrible things about each other as a joke?

Littlefoot sighed but struggled to think of how to explain.

"Seeker and I have been through a lot together, Mender. So we know that we don't mean it. I teased him about tiny biters, so he teased me about a fastrunner, so I won by mocking his speed." Ruby gave a playful strut in Littlefoot's direction. "But did you really smell a fastrunner?"

Violet turned to look at Littlefoot as well. I always wanted to see if I could catch a fastrunner...

Littlefoot nodded. "It is…" He sniffed again. "Two days old, I think. It is a male of mating age… We haven't seen one around, though."

Ruby laughed. "Well, fastrunners try not to be seen, dear! The only thing better than being fast is to be invisible."

"Can I try to catch him?" Violet asked almost eagerly.

Littlefoot tilted his head. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Just out of curiosity, Mender, why do you want to catch one of my former kind?" Ruby lived up to her sharptooth name by taking on a ponderous expression. "Not that it offends me, as that is not me anymore."

"W-well, they're really fast, and I was wanting to see if I could outrun one," Violet said much more timidly, fearing that she actually had offended Ruby.

Ruby smiled. "So it is a challenge for you? I can tell you that fastrunners can be a challenge for anybody." She looked at Littlefoot. "We have not caught one here before."

"Maybe if she can catch him, then we can talk to him?" Littlefoot laughed. "After all, have you ever talked to a fastrunner that was not family, Ponder?"

Ruby's eyes went wide as she ran over and sniffed the bush.

"He's not related to you, dear. I checked." Littlefoot laughed again.

The Present:

Mender fixed her gaze on Orchid as she briefly paused her singing. "Did you and your sister make a habit of leaving Hanging Rock or something?"

Orchid let out an exasperated sigh as Buse's gaze also fell upon him as the ensemble moved forward. "Look, we only did it a few times…"

"And how many of these almost resulted in being eaten?" Mender asked.

The fastrunner groaned. "Both times… but we both made it, didn't we?"

Mender slowed until she was beside Orchid and motioned for Buse to copy her on Orchid's other side. "I'm not risking you doing that a third time," she said.

Orchid looked at Buse, and then Mender, and then even to White Eye who was guarding the hidden runner prisoner behind them, before crossing his arms in mock consternation.

"Alright, where was I? Oh, now I remember, the fastrunner," Mender said to herself before starting to sing again.

Back to the song:

"What does your family look like, Ponder?" Violet asked, now worried about a future accident.

Ruby looked up from the bush. "Like fastrunners. My daddy is older and violet, my momma is pink, and my brother and sister…"

"Are also pink and violet; your kind doesn't have other colors, dear. Unless there is a weird orange fastrunner that I haven't heard about," Littlefoot teased as he saw Taunt appear with Cera, "How goes it?".

"I'm fresh out of piss!" Taunt reported as if he had conveyed important information.

"We could smell that there was an egg-stealer somewhere… um, Strut's kind.. And we also smelled a fastrunner. Other than that…" Cera began to report.

"Where did you smell the fastrunner?" Violet asked excitedly. Oops. "Sorry," she added contritely after realizing she'd interrupted, bowing perhaps a bit lower than necessary.

Cera seemed surprised but unoffended. "Over by the dead sweet bubble tree. It seemed pretty fresh. Is there a problem?"

"Mender wants to try to chase it down," Littlefoot answered, "Which I must admit is something that I want to see. Shall we all act as backup?"

Ruby smiled. "Fastrunners do tire easy."

"You said you wanted it caught, not killed, right, sir?" Violet asked Littlefoot, practically shaking with excitement.

Littlefoot smiled at her enthusiasm. "If you can avoid killing, then certainly. But if it happens, it happens."

Taunt watched the scene playing out with interest but remained silent. He had seldom seen Violet this excited, especially in a positive way.

"Understood, sir. Um, could someone show me where the scent was found? I got lost the last time I tried to find the sweet bubble trees." Violet looked down in embarrassment.

Taunt snorted, but upon seeing Violet's reaction he relented. "Sorry. I can lead you there. Maybe Stern Claw and I can help you track down the scent, and then you can make the chase once we find him?"

"Thanks, Taunt," Violet said, "Lead the way."

As Littlefoot watched his packmates head in the direction of the rather unfortunate fastrunner, he began to follow. Only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"How did the conversation go?"

Littlefoot blinked in confusion before realizing that Ruby was not talking about the conversation that just ended. "Um…"

"Between you and Mender after all of us went ahead." Ruby looked at him with piercing eyes, an expression that communicated scrutiny without anger. A look that he had learned to dread.

"Well… I think," Littlefoot admitted, "She… has some issues with pack leaders. So I let her know that not all leaders are like what she is used to."

Ruby's gaze remained fixed on him. Dear, sometimes you scare me.

"And how did you do that?"

Littlefoot swallowed. "I used Shorty as an example, actually… he wasn't always trusting, but once he was able to see that he could trust people. She, um… had some trouble understanding adoption so I explained that to her… after all, she helped Dash…"

Ruby laughed. "I hope your conversation was easier to follow than this one."

Littlefoot grunted in exasperation. "Ponder, you know it is not easy to summarize a long conversation on the spot! That would be like explaining the Song of the Hunters on the spot!"

"Sap-suckers become sharpteeth and flee valley. Bad sharptooth threatens valley. Sharpteeth learn to be sharpteeth. Leaf-eaters…" Ruby began while never breaking eye contact.

"Oh, you infernal female. You know what I meant…" he groaned in a mixture of exasperation and amusement, "After I told her to look at what she didn't know in the same way she learned to heal, and how an adopting parent cares in the same way she cared about Dash, she began to understand things very well."

Ruby was silent for a moment. "That is good. Mender is a very caring and understanding person, but sometimes she doesn't understand why she cares."

Littlefoot gave his mate a nuzzle as they began to walk towards the site where Violet was going to begin her hunt for the fastrunner.

Whew! That could have gone worse.

"Oh, and one more thing, dear."

Littlefoot's breathing stopped for a moment.

"Next time… when trying to help someone who has a fear of you… perhaps try something other than a one-on-one conversation."

Ah, crap.

"Okay, Mender, here is where we smelled him. Um…"

"What is it?" Violet asked when Taunt sniffed the bush a second time. A bit further away, Cera was trying to pick up the fastrunner's trail.

Taunt lowered his voice to a whisper. "He pissed here again. Since the last time we were here. This is fresh." He then clicked five times with his claws, which made Cera go rigid. This was rapidly shifting from the tracking phase to the hunt.

Violet immediately turned so that she was looking downwind, not trusting herself to catch any scents from upwind. Best to leave that to Taunt. "This fastrunner is an idiot," she muttered to herself, "Never go to the same place twice."

"Well, you won't have to outsmart this one, Mender, only outrun it," Cera whispered after she sniffed what Taunt had discovered. She then shifted her eyes towards the stream. "Movement in the reeds."

Not the water again, Violet mentally complained. She slowly turned towards the stream and took a couple small steps in that direction.

The movement in the reeds continued for a moment until the bushes a bit farther away from the stream began to move in a pattern that couldn't be explained by the wind. That was when she saw it. A flash of blue from two radiant orbs.

Gotcha... Violet rushed towards the stream with an excited shriek.

In a flash of purple the fastrunner burst from the bush with a terrified screech. Neither grass nor dirt was spared from his mad scramble as he barreled into the open grassland, taking the most direct path away from the fastbiter.

Violet did not break her stride as she turned towards the fastrunner's sudden turn, gaining some distance on him in the process. You're not getting away from me. She forced herself to go just a bit faster and stay close rather than risk losing sight of the fastrunner in the oncoming tall grass.

The fastrunner did not seem to deviate from his course as he propelled himself into the tall grass, gradually becoming more and more difficult for Violet to detect. It wasn't long before only the abnormal swaying of the grass as he went through it was visible to the fastbiter's vigilant eyes.

Violet plunged in after the fastrunner, following as far as she could before losing any visible sign anyone had been through the grass. Well, this just got complicated. She hurriedly looked around for any sign of oddly moving grass. Nothing. There's gotta be something...

The tall grass swayed with amazing regularity in the gentle wind. It was as if the elements themselves were seeking to mock Violet. Only the sound of the wind greeted her ears. If only she had eyes in the air.

Violet immediately looked up. Okay, so Spotter isn't there to spot anything, but there are a few flyers over there... She shifted a bit to her left. Why are they... oh. Thank you, you lousy, no good, food-stealing... Violet stealthily started to move towards the flyers, still mentally cursing the carrion flyers that had given her so much trouble as a newly orphaned youngling.

The circling flyers were almost like a target on the fastrunner's back despite their distance. They obviously would have a better chance of finding a meal if they circled prey that was under threat. Violet's success could also be their own.

The fastrunner had no idea what was coming.

As Violet got closer to her prey she started looking around more, as if she had very little idea where the fastrunner was, which wasn't entirely an act. Can't let him know I know where he is. Well, I don't know exactly where he is...

The tall grass swayed all around her, stroking her sides like some kind of unwanted tongue. Her eyes were practically useless in this mess, to say nothing of her ears with the constant sound of the wind. Only her nearly useless nose was spared.

So only my sniffer's working right now. That's a scary thought. Violet forced herself to focus on the fastrunner's scent and ignore everything else going on around her. Um, no. No. Not su... Got 'im. She resumed her approach, acting like she was still looking for the fastrunner, but now she finally knew exactly where he was hiding.

The scent almost seemed to change instant to instant as Violet approached. The cascade of information was something that she seldom experienced, and never in a hunt. Now it appeared that the strengthening winds were becoming a blessing. The smell of fear continued to grow and grow. Bitter and acidic. Primal yet ever-present.

Okay, remember you're not trying to eat this guy, Violet reminded herself as she got closer. She was almost close enough to make her leap. Careful, careful. Don't want to startle him too soon...

The grass erupted as a panicked yelp escaped from her quarry. He appeared to run in place for an instant as his feet refused to gain traction on the tangled vegetation. Violet's claws barely missed her prey as he struggled to gain speed.

Oh, come on. So close. Should have jumped further. Violet quickly recovered from her landing and continued the chase.

The fastrunner struggled to gain speed with great difficulty as his legs collided with the thick grass. His body was made for quick sprints to shelter, not continued exertion. Worse yet, he could not lose his hunter now.

He was practically carving a path for her in the thick vegetation.

Darn it. I'd have him already if I were going to eat him, Violet thought to herself, I could have jumped on him twice now. Which would probably kill him, and Seeker told me not to, so... ugh, Focus!

Meanwhile the fastrunners predicament was far more existential. It did not take long for his body to slow as he forced himself through the wall of dense foliage, exhaustion finally taking its toll. His breathing started to come out in desperate gasps as his legs began to slip on the slick grass. That was when he finally misjudged one of his steps.

No!

The fastrunner's world appeared to freeze in an instant as his foot finally missed its mark. Instead of being propelled away from the murderous fiend on his tail, his body fell towards the tangled grass at his feet. It was only the quick work of his hands and the recovery of his other foot that permitted him to avoid breaking his leg.

But he had given the predator the opportunity that she needed.

Thud!

A shot of pressure and pain raced through his shoulder as his perspective tumbled to the soil below. The beast's heavy breathing and racing heart could be felt against his pinned chest, and the cold slickness of claws could be felt against his neck. Only a pained high-pitched death scream registered in his mind as he reflexively performed his final duty.

Not that there were any other fastrunners to warn.

Then came the silence. A cold haunting silence that was only broken by the breathing of his victorious foe. However, much to his surprise the coldness of the claws at his neck and the pressure of the predator remained. He did not know what to expect from the Great Beyond, but this was not what he expected at all.

CAW!

He wasn't dead yet… No, please get it over with. She is calling the others. They're going to rip me apart! Oh, why did I agree to this?! In that moment of pain and fear he did the only thing that came naturally to him.

Where is everyone? Could this guy understand me if I told him to stop it? If I was going to eat him he'd be dead by now. "Hey, calm down. If I wanted you dead you would be," Violet said neutrally. I can't do 'calm' when I'm not calm myself. The fastrunner was now whimpering pathetically.

Violet had no idea what to expect, but the fastrunner suddenly going limp wasn't one of them.

"Y-y-you don't?" The fastrunner was still shaking, and the smell of urine could be smelled on both participants. Though now the smell of fear was intermingled with the scent of desperation.

"My leader told me not to kill you, so I didn't kill you," Violet explained matter-of-factly. Now where is he? "Try not to make him mad," she advised more quietly.

The sound of trampling feet and agitated screams could be heard as Spike arrived on the scene. "Are you alright, Mender?!"

"I'm a bit tired, but I'm okay, Finder," Violet said happily, for a moment forgetting the fastrunner she was pinning down.

"We have a situation. We heard a fastbiter call across the stream, so the others are investigating. But Spotter hasn't seen anything… it's odd..." Spike glanced down at the fastrunner, "Go ahead and end him if you want. We can go back when this is dealt with."

"That may have been me," Violet said, "I didn't hear anyone else, so..."

That was when she heard it, albeit barely. The faintest sound of challenge. It was odd, though. It sounded a bit too high-pitched…

"Sorry, buddy," Violet said with a resigned sigh, feeling that she'd caused the fastrunner a lot more terror than she thought she would have just by chasing him. She shifted to let him up.

However, the fastrunner had a very different interpretation of the shifting of the claws against his back.

"It's not fastbiters; it's my friends! Please don't do it! Please!" The fastrunner begged in a complete panic, his head flailing from side to side.

"What do you mean 'your friends'?" Violet demanded angrily, enraged that her friends might be in danger thanks to the fastrunner. She applied pressure on the fastrunner's legs with her sickle claws for emphasis, now relying entirely on her weight to keep the fastrunner pinned.

The fastrunner took the deepest breath that his current position would allow as he struggled to make his mouth work again. His voice barely registered as a whisper.

"They saved me from a sharptooth; I had to help them..."

"Who's going to save you from this one?" Violet growled menacingly, her voice low with the promise of horrific pain, "Start talking. Who are they?" No one threatens my pack. No one.

The fastrunner closed his eyes.

"...hidden runners."

"Where are these bastards?!" Littlefoot hissed as he clicked orders to the others using his sickle claws. Maintain the line! Path, guard the rear! Spotter, find the bastards!

"I can't see any of them," Ruby's voice called from beside him.

"Same here," he replied as he examined the horizon and saw a flash of green, "Wait… is that.."

A 'not a threat' call echoed from Violet and Spike's direction.

Littlefoot paused. "What in the…"

Spike's voice now echoed the call. This was not a mistake.

He looked at the others. "Head back to Mender! They obviously know something that we don't!"

Petrie's voice called from above, "What about…"

"Keep watch, Spotter! If there is any change that you see, let us know!"

And then, like ants scattering from a footstep, the pack scattered into the tall grass once more. Leaving the creators of the not-quite-right challenge calls to their own devices.

Spike watched Violet's demeanor with the fastrunner with a mixture of surprise and concern. This was a side to the fastbiter that he had never seen. A darkness that only a threat to her packmates could reveal.

"My pack leader will be here soon," Violet told the fastrunner she was pinning down, "I'm going to be giving him answers or food. Your choice."

He swallowed hard, remaining silent but nodding his understanding.

Spike cleared his throat.

Violet looked up at Spike questioningly. Yes, Finder?

Spike made a slicing motion with his claws near his throat but then shook his head firmly. Then, with a careful nod and maintaining complete silence, he made a slicing motion with his claws at his leg and mouthed out 'only a little'.

Violet immediately followed Spike's advice, using one of her hands to lightly slice one of the fastrunner's legs. "What were you doing in our territory?"

A moan of pain was followed by a sob. "Please stop! I will talk; I will talk!"

Spike let out a surprised grunt but refrained from speaking as he awaited the rest of the pack.

"Then talk," Violet snapped before shifting to do the same thing to the fastrunner's other leg, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I-I'm Sawyer! I'm… I'm here to scout." He then caught sight of his bloody leg. "Why… why…" He began to sob uncontrollably as he awaited the end. A fastruner with a ruined leg was a dead fastrunner.

"You'll live. It's just a scratch," Violet growled, "Keep talking or I start using my teeth."

"I'm here to scout the pack and to report back what I see…" His speech was hurried and panicked. "The hidden runners are afraid."

"What exactly are they afraid of?" Violet asked.

Sawyer stared into Mender's eyes as if it were the stupidest possible question. "You. All of you."

Not liking the look the fastrunner gave her, Violet shifted her weight just enough to remind the fastrunner where her sickle claws were. "What are you planning?" she demanded in a tone that suggested the wrong answer was a death sentence.

"I don't know what they're planning! Please… I don't know…" he trailed off into tears.

"Stop, Mender. Don't kill him. Not yet."

Violet jumped off the fastrunner in a panic, immediately putting her head down low in apology the moment she was on firm ground again, fearing she'd accidentally injured the fastrunner far worse than she intended. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...

Littlefoot raised a hand for her to calm down as Ruby took Mender's place at the fastrunner's side. It was when Ruby gave him a nod that he addressed Mender once more.

"Report, Mender."

"H-he was scouting us for a pack of hidden runners, sir," Violet stammered, her head still low.

"Shit!" Littlefoot stared at the tall grass around them. "They could be anywhere in this shit! Quick, everyone, grab the fastrunner and get to the plains!"

The sound of Chomper's massive footsteps could be heard as he let out a low growl. He had smelled something.

"Now!"

Violet immediately moved to help Ruby with the fastrunner.

That was when the oddest call could be heard from the grass. A high pitched call that seemed to be a mix of a squeal and a mournful cry. The call made Violet cringe with concern, but it made Littlefoot rise with authority. He recognized that call.

"Surrender? A wise choice." His eyes were like fire as he stared into the grass. "Come out and show yourselves."

Um, I think Staza and Verant have some things to learn about sneaking, Violet thought as she stared at the very close trio of hidden runners that appeared from the grass.

One of the three took a step further and went to one knee. "We beg your pardon, Seeker. We are acting on orders."

Acting on orders never got me out of trouble, Violet thought grimly before realizing the implications of the hidden runners not working on their own, So, who's giving the orders?

"If Ignis wanted to keep tabs on us why doesn't she use a flyer?" Littlefoot asked as he walked within one body-length of the hidden runner, "Clean the Orange Death from your claws."

Violet flinched at the mention of 'Orange Death' but quickly moved her claws to the fastrunner's neck. Hurt my leader, and your friend stops breathing. If she had paid attention to her packmates she would see the others getting ready to pounce, with Petrie's shadow appearing over them all from above.

After a moment's hesitation, the unnamed leader slowly cleaned the orange residue from his claws on the tall grass. With a screech from his beak, the others did the same.

"Now, like I was saying…" Littlefoot began again, "Why not use a flyer?"

The hidden runner swallowed. "A flyer might talk."

Littlefoot smiled. "Oh? The valley flyers seem to be able to keep their beaks shut when necessary."

The leader frowned. "Not to the valley."

"Keeping secrets from them, huh?" Littlefoot inquired as if this were the most casual thing in the world.

The hidden runner nervously nodded as Littlefoot stared at him with a smile. A most unsettling smile.

Seeker knows something, Violet thought, I wouldn't want to be the hidden runners right now.

Littlefoot turned to Taunt. "Fascinating, isn't it, Taunt? Instead of using a hidden runner to spy on us and stay hidden, they send a fastrunner…" he laughed, "...it's almost like Ignis wanted all of you to be caught."

"W-what?" Sawyer muttered before Violet's claws reminded him that he should be silent.

Littlefoot waved his hand. "Help clean the fastrunner up, Mender. I take it that you kept him salvageable?" His gaze indicated that he was actually pleased with her.

"I barely scratched him, sir," Violet confirmed.

Littlefoot smiled at the flinches from the hidden runner pack. "Excellent. Get our friend here cleaned up, and we will bring our guests to the meeting area. I think it is time that we explain things."

Sawyer cringed as Violet and Ruby helped carry him to the stream. He could only remain silent as his comrades were being led to who-knew-where and his attacker led him to be 'cleaned up'. Despite the affirmations to the contrary, he believed that he knew what was about to befall him.

They don't want my friends to know what happened to me… They're going to finish this out here…

As the scent of moisture from the stream registered in his mind, he closed his eyes.

"Please don't hurt them."

"We're not going to hurt them, and we're not going to hurt you," Violet answered as if she could read Sawyer's mind.

Sawyer was dumbstruck as he was laid on the ground. The idea of this violet monster showing any mercy was incomprehensible to him. You obviously enjoyed hurting me... "You're not going to kill me?"

"I already told you; if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already," Violet said with an annoyed tone.

Ah, she is not killing me because her leader said so… he shivered. He had heard stories of Littlefoot's pack defeating Calin and Redclaw. No wonder why this Ignis wanted me to spy on this pack… They beat Calin because they are worse than Calin.

Violet looked down at the wound she had caused. "You're such a hatchling," she said with a laugh, surprised at the relative lack of damage, "I'm not sure if this will even scar."

Ruby cleared her throat as she tried to explain things in a less condescending manner, "It looks worse than it is. Now hold out your leg."

Sawyer reluctantly did as Ruby said. It wasn't like he had much choice. "You're the fastrunner one."

Ruby snorted as she splashed water on the wound and handed the no-infection root to Violet, "I used to be a fastrunner, yes. Yes, I used to be a fastrunner."

He looked over to Violet as she prepared the necessary plant paste. "Which are you?"

"I'm new," Violet admitted, sounding embarrassed, "The only thing interesting about me is that I hatched late."

The fastrunner fell silent. This was not the voice of a torturer.

"My friends… they used me?" the fastrunner muttered, "But they saved me… and now…" ...they are risking themselves for me again.

"No, someone else used all of you," Violet answered bitterly, "Trust me, I know what being used is like."

Sawyer shook his head. "Why? Why would they do that?"

Ruby frowned. "That is what we are about to find out."

"Keep your claws where we can see them."

Spike's order echoed in their ears as the hidden runners walked between their captors. Breeze, Taunt, and Cera followed them from behind, whereas Ducky and Chomper followed at their sides. Only Littlefoot walked ahead, his footsteps conveying confidence.

Not wanting to cause trouble, Cynnil held her claws out in front of her despite having her arms tightly against her sides.

To her side a large green male loomed, his head bowed slightly in resigned foreboding of his pack's fate. Roderick's beak was uncharacteristically silent. There were no orders for him to give anymore. Their probable executioners would do that for him. Only a slight nod in her direction and a sad smile conveyed his unspoken thoughts.

It was a pleasure having you as a packmate.

They haven't killed us yet, Roderick. Cynnil thought in response, Though I am not sure if that's a good sign or not.

"Looks like your friend is cleaned up. Heh… I thought fastrunners liked water."

Does Sawyer know something I don't? Cynnil wondered, He looks like he knows he's about to die.

"Oh for the love of… quit flailing, Sawyer! There are no bellydraggers in the watering hole! We would know."

"Ha, look at that, Taunt!" someone called from behind the hidden runners, "She talks with a healer's voice!"

"Yeah, a pissed off healer!"

"Hey, cut the chatter, you two! Focus on the not-so-hidden runners!"

Beside her Cynnil could hear a not so silent whimper from her packmate. Despite technically being her superior, Luona had never been particularly confident. Now it seemed her bravery was finally failing her.

I have no clue what this other pack is thinking, but apparently I'm the only one of us who is not entirely convinced we're going to die. Cynnil hated to admit it, but her packmates' low spirits were pulling hers down as well.

"Alright, here we are." Littlefoot's voice suddenly called out as he leapt into what looked like a circle of trampled grass, "You will all sit." He gestured in front of him as several of the pack went around the circle, as if they had assigned spaces. Though their handlers stayed behind to discourage a sudden run.

Roderick swallowed as he looked at his comrades. "Sir…"

"Oh I insist," Littlefoot smiled unnervingly, "It isn't everyday that we have unexpected guests. Please, be seated now."

Cynnil intentionally sat down normally, unwilling to show further signs of being unnerved.

Littlefoot suppressed any sign of being pleased with the hidden runner's well-controlled response. She was obviously holding her emotions close to her chest.

Interesting. Why aren't you the leader?

The other hidden runners only sat down with great reluctance. It was lost on no-one that by seating themselves they were removing any chance of a quick getaway. If the pack wanted them dead, then there was nothing they could do.

Not that there was anything they could do anyway.

Sawyer's approach took a few more moments, which allowed the pack's guests to further reflect on whatever imagined torments haunted them. It was only when Violet and Ruby had brought the fastrunner into their midst that Littlefoot allowed himself to speak.

"How is our fastrunner guest?"

Ruby groaned. "Wet and annoying." Violet, for her part, remained silent but her opinions were easy to read on her face.

"Oh?" Littlefoot inquired, "I figured you would love the chance to bond with your former kind, dear?"

Ruby's answer was to simply shove the fastrunner into the center of the circle as she gave an annoyed glare towards her mate. Violet sat down as quickly as possible.

"Alright, enough joking," Littlefoot finally admitted, "How is our guest doing, Mender?"

"He's okay. I've hurt myself worse running through trees," Violet said in a tone that made it clear she had no clue why the fastrunner had been so panicked by his actual injury.

Littlefoot smiled. "Don't worry, Sawyer. If we wanted you dead you already would be. Now perhaps we can all have a proper chat?" He looked at everyone curiously. "This is the first time that we have had a hidden runner here. That we know of..."

His eyes then stared directly at the hidden runner he had noticed earlier, "You. What is your name?" Let's see how you handle being the center of attention.

"Cynnil, sir," she responded with a slight flinch.

Littlefoot's smile increased slightly. "How did all of you meet the fastrunner here?"

Sawyer cringed. "But I already…"

"Shh," Violet hissed at Sawyer, gesturing that he should be quiet.

Littlefoot mostly ignored the fastrunner but gestured for him to calm down. The resulting look of confusion, and then embarrassment, and then confusion again would have been humorous under any other circumstances.

"Cynnil?" Littlefoot prompted once more.

The hidden runner swallowed. "There… was a commotion four Full Night Circles ago… and when we saw what it was…"

"And what was it?" Littlefoot prompted.

Cynnil tried to control her breathing as her packmates had conflicted expressions on their faces. Roderick almost looked ready to speak.

"Sawyer was cornered by bellydraggers, sir. We threw some rocks at them and allowed him to escape," Cynnil finished, "Since Ignis wanted us to find a good scout… and since he had no one out here we…"

"You took him in because he was expendable," Littlefoot accused but continued before anyone could interrupt, "None of you were willing to sacrifice him, but your leader certainly was. Now tell me this, Roderick, how long have you been a leader of this pack?"

Violet watched the whole scene in confusion, not seeing why anyone would consider the fastrunner she caught as a scout of any sort. Nearby Cera and Taunt seemed to have similar opinions while also finding it hilarious, if their stifled laughs were any hint. Chomper, like the rest of the pack, simply watched the proceedings with curiosity.

Roderick was silent for a few moments. "Since my pack was created, sir. Eight full Night Circles ago."

Littlefoot beamed. "And how was your pack created?"

Roderick blinked. "Ignis ordered us to go, sir."

Littlefoot laughed. "Ah, of course! Because the best way for a pack to be made is to have some person send you out on a mission and to say 'good luck with this mission! Hopefully you all get along well!'"

While wanting to make a more vigorous response, Cynnil restrained herself to just glaring at Littlefoot for his accusations.

Littlefoot looked at them each in turn as if to gauge their responses, "She picked well, though. But I do believe she misplaced her orders with the wrong pack." He turned to Roderick. "Ignis did not understand that you would not sacrifice one of your own… or that you would consider a fastrunner one of your own."

Roderick pressed his beak shut, making a resounding click. "He is pack, sir."

Littlefoot smiled grimly. "Good. Then I didn't misjudge you."

This guy is rather sneaky, Cynnil thought, I better be careful what I say.

"And you are on the leadership track I take it, Cynnil? What exactly prevented you from getting a pack of your own?"

"I've never proved myself, sir," Cynnil responded, the 'sir' a careful afterthought. It is probably best not to give him anything he doesn't specifically ask for.

Littlefoot stared at her for several moments, but said nothing. When he finally did decide to speak it was to the pack leader.

"What Ignis expected to happen, I think, is that you would leave Sawyer on his own and that we would find out about all of this. After all, if we didn't find him now then we would have found him later. She would not have lost any hidden runners, and her test would have been set."

"Test?" Roderick asked, now both interested and confused.

"A test of our intentions!" Cera offered, "Like a challenge, then?"

Littlefoot nodded. "I believe so."

What would have happened if whoever caught Sawyer just wanted a snack? Cynnil wondered as she tried to process what Littlefoot had said, Then nothing would have been accomplished.

"Once your spy was killed how were you ordered to act?" Littlefoot inquired.

Roderick shook his head. "We were ordered to do nothing. We-"

"I was ordered to put up a signal if that happened."

Roderick and Luona stared at Cynnil in amazement, while Littlefoot tilted his head, "Oh?"

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Roderick demanded.

Cynnil shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. Ignis told me to tell no one, so I figured it was off-limits…" She then turned to Littlefoot's question. "She told me that if I put a sharpened stick on the highest hill that one of our flyers would see it. Then he would send a message to…"

"Why wouldn't they just go back and tell what happened themselves?" Violet asked Ruby perhaps a bit too loudly.

"Oh, that sly trickster!" Ruby exclaimed suddenly, making Violet jump, "She made sure that we would know, because a stick on Lookout Hill would have made us know for sure!"

What? Cynnil couldn't hide her shock at what Ruby had said.

Littlefoot nodded. "It looks like it, dear." He then turned to the hidden runners. "Your 'secret' mission, Cynnil, was to make sure that we knew that we were being watched. So that Ignis could see what we did next."

"So she could what?" Taunt prompted, "Kill us if we went crazy? Offer us sweet bubbles if we were nice? Didn't the leaf-feathered carrion-eater see how we acted in the valley?"

"We are nice to our friends and crush our enemies, yep, yep, yep," Ducky affirmed as if it were obvious.

"Maybe she thought that power would change us?"

Everyone grew silent at Breeze's words. It was what she didn't say that made her thoughts stick in their minds. We are the most powerful pack since Calin's. How well did that pack turn out for everyone?

Littlefoot sighed. "Ignis would have every reason to be paranoid. Her kind's last encounter with a large pack did not exactly go well." The brown fastbiter could practically feel Petrie cringing from somewhere high in the trees.

As Littlefoot said those words Violet couldn't help but notice each of the hidden runners flinching. However it was the clenching of Cynnil's claws that most caught her attention.

Vaguely remembering the part of the pack's song about the hidden runners, Violet couldn't help but think that Cynnil had known someone Calin's pack had killed. She still wished she hadn't asked her brother what he'd heard about that.

A cough interrupted Littlefoot's ponderings as he shifted his attention to Cera. The two fastbiters stared for a moment before he gave her a permissive nod and she moved forward.

"Our allies are always welcome to visit. But you have violated our trust," Cera spoke in an assertive voice, "How would you all have reacted if we had tried to spy on your pack in your territory? I'm sure Ignis would be sooo understanding…"

"Damn her…"

Violet looked at Cynnil questioningly.

"Damn her for putting us in this fucking…"

Roderick gaped at his counterpart. "Cynnil, what are you doing?!"

The hidden runner quaked in barely concealed anger as the rest of the pack watched the scene curiously. Her eyes seemed to glare at someone who was not there, but then locked on to her pack leader. It was then that her voice erupted into a monotone that was altogether more frightening than a scream.

"She used us all, Roderick. She threw poor Sawyer to the hunters and put us all at risk. And for what?"

Roderick took a step back as he placed his hands in a placative gesture. "Now, Cynnil… I'm sure she was doing what she thought..."

"...was best for the pack? How exactly does acting like that fake-faced bastard who murdered my brother and lying to her friends fit into that?"

Silence fell upon everyone present. Even the flyers in the air and the distant prey seemed to go quiet upon Cynnil's accusation. Everyone knew who she was referring to, but yet no one dared to say his name. Everyone knew what she was referring to, but no one dared elaborate. There were no words to add until Cynnil added her own.

"Seeker?"

The brown fastbiter again edged to the center of the meeting area. His solitary focus on the hidden runner was an unspoken invitation for her to speak her business.

What exactly is she doing? You don't talk about your leader like that, unless ... Oh. Violet forced herself not to show her own shock.

"My leader has betrayed my trust and those of my packmates…" she began as Roderick tried to stop her.

"Cynnil, think about what you are doing!"

"My comrades are blameless in this, and I ask on their behalf for their pardon. Ignis's deeds are her own just as mine are my own."

Littlefoot continued to focus on her as Cera and Spike stepped towards the other two hidden runners. They backed away understanding the unspoken order. As such Cynnil was able to speak her concluding remarks without interruption.

"I renounce my loyalties to Ignis. I am at your mercy, I just ask that you spare them."

She's definitely braver than I am, Violet thought, Even if she lives through this I doubt she'll be able to go back. I doubt they could keep this to themselves even if they tried.

Littlefoot closed his eyes before sighing. "Kneel, Cynnil."

Violet stared at what was going on in front of her, now very concerned about what was going to happen next, especially since she had no idea what her pack leader was going to do.

Cynnil did as instructed, the scent of fear washing over her. Despite this she tried her best to not flinch when the fastbiter carefully sniffed at her and then clicked at his packmates with his sickle claws.

Violet rushed to her spot in the pack's formation, quickly moving to the opposite side of the formation as her original spot, now occupied by Ducky.

"No harm will come to you, Cynnil, arise."

With a slight shake the hidden runner rose to her full height. Only now coming to terms with the full magnitude of the action she had taken.

"Go behind…" Littlefoot paused for a moment as he looked at the pack before uncertainly pointing at the green fastbiter, "Haven… we will need to give your friends a proper send off before they can send Ignis our kindest wishes…"

If I'd known all this would happen from chasing that fastrunner, I would've just taken a nap, Violet thought to herself.

Several days later, hidden runner territory:

"Is… this the place?"

Sawyer looked awkwardly from side to side as the hidden runners all around the watering hole glanced at him when he wasn't looking. Their ability to keep their expressions hidden even when in plain sight was beginning to creep him out.

"Luona, please wait with Sawyer," Roderick said with a sigh. Only one of us needs to tell Ignis how badly I messed up. He then turned to answer his fastrunner friend's question. "Yes, Sawyer, this is the place."

Sawyer appeared to calm slightly as his packmate remained near his side, even though he eyed the green figures around him with suspicion. That was when Luona spoke.

"Roderick, what do you think is going to happen?" she gestured at them all, "To us? To Cynnil?"

The hidden runner sighed, "We will be fine, Luona. We will be fine."

I'm such a shitty liar.

Roderick noticed every single glance he received as he climbed the hill to Ignis's cave. They're not looking at me; they're looking at where Cynnil is supposed to be. She should be giving this report with me.

The hill seemed to go on forever as his legs shook with fear at what was about to come. The green trees and lush hills all around him seemed to mock his dour feelings. The higher he climbed the lower that his confidence fell. The intimidating location of the leader's cave was certainly being felt by the pack leader.

I'm nearly there, and I still don't know how I'm supposed to explain this to Ignis. Packmates don't just defect to the pack you're spying on.

"Roderick?"

"Yes," Roderick replied tiredly, not the least bit intimidated by the larger guard temporarily blocking his path.

The larger male considered Roderick carefully as he gestured to the other guard to inform Ignis of his arrival, "The trainee is not with you?"

Roderick just shook his head; it was all the answer he was going to give to anyone other than Ignis herself.

The guard took in a deep breath as he glanced towards the cave entrance. The silence was oppressive for several moments as they waited for Ignis to give her clearance to enter. Finally, however, the other guard appeared at the entrance.

"Ignis requests your presence, Roderick. Please enter."

I might as well not leave again, Roderick thought grimly, Is it possible to die of despair?

The dark entrance of the cave accepted him like a hug from the night sky. Only the occasional light from holes in the ceiling greeted his eyes as the dark expanse surrounded him like the depths of a lake. Only his footsteps greeted his ears until the feminine voice greeted him.

"Roderick."

"Ignis." Roderick bowed a bit lower than was necessary in preemptive apology. I failed you.

It was only then that she came into view before him. Her yellow eyes appeared to stare through him as her green head peeked through the darkness, promptly followed by the rest of her body. A silence fell then for a moment as she stared at him.

"Please rise, Roderick. You're a pack leader, not a servant."

Roderick rose but could think of nothing to say. Where do I even begin?

Ignis tilted her head slightly. Her eyes suddenly shifted to a vacant spot beside Roderick. She opened her mouth to speak, but then promptly closed it, her eyes widening with concern.

"Report."

The hidden runner swallowed. "There was… an incident with Seeker's pack."

Ignis stared at him, her youthful demeanor being contrasted by her now predatory eyes. "Continue."

"As ordered we found a willing surrogate, Sawyer, for our scouting and sent him into the pack's lands. He was able to scout for a few cycles of the Night Circle, but then…" He hesitated as he clutched his hands. "He… the one known as Mender captured him."

Ignis blinked. "And she didn't eat the fastrunner?"

Roderick swallowed. "Someone already told you about Sawyer?"

Ignis sighed. "You led a male fastrunner straight into our territory, Roderick; it is not an unreasonable conclusion. Now why is he still alive?"

"I honestly don't know. When I asked Sawyer what happened, he said Mender pinned him down until one of her packmates showed up. He's fortunate his legs weren't slashed," Roderick replied.

Ignis clicked her beak in a mixture of confusion and exasperation. "And they just let him go?"

"No," Roderick said after a pause, "We tried to draw the pack off by imitating fastbiter calls. It didn't exactly work."

Ignis froze as she clenched her clawed hands to her sides. "Did you forget your orders, Roderick? The entire point of this was that no hidden runners would be endangered!" Her voice quickly rose as one of the guards positioned himself back at the entrance. Her next words were a neutral monotone, a rapid shift that made Roderick flinch in surprise. "...what happened next?"

"They threatened to kill him, so we backed down and tried to convince them this was all an accident..."

Crash!

Roderick nearly jumped when Ignis crushed a hard tree sweet on the ground with a resounding crash, sending chunks of the precious food slamming into the walls behind him..

"You did what?!" her cold monotone voice questioned in icy anger, "Have you forgotten the entire purpose of your pack? The danger that we are trying to avoid? They may have been our allies before, Roderick, but now we need to know if that is what they still are."

She stared at him, with her eyes only a beak's-length from his face.

"Speak!"

"It seemed to work just fine until Cynnil..." Roderick stammered, now completely unsure what the correct course of action was. That was until he saw the somewhat mournful gleam in his leader's eyes. She thinks that she died…

"Cynnil said she had orders from you to leave a signal. So that one of our flyers would see it and report back… but Seeker's pack assumed it was meant to let them know they had been spied on." Roderick took a steadying breath. There's no easy way to say this. "Cynnil ended up agreeing with Seeker's pack, got angry, and defected," he said in a rush.

Silence descended upon the cave and for a moment Roderick wondered if the leader had left the cave altogether. That was when he looked up and saw her sitting upon her rocky scrape in the cave's rock. The creation from ages of scraping from the pack's leaders, and a symbol of their authority. She rubbed her head with her left hand and hunkered down as if a heavy weight was on her shoulders.

"Did Cynnil ever tell you about her brother?"

"Yes, ma'am," Roderick said neutrally. And you're not going to like how she did it.

"He died in Calin's attack," she replied as if she had not heard his response, "I figured if anyone could understand what I was trying to prevent, it would be her. We have to make sure… have to make sure…"

She sighed. "I take it that she justified her choice?"

Roderick merely nodded.

"What did she say?"

"She accused you of…" he hesitated, "...acting like the bastard who murdered her brother, ma'am."

Roderick could only watch in horror as Ignis froze like water on a winter night, her eyes watching everything and nothing at the same time. The only sign of life was a slight twitch of her hand, and a barely audible order.

"Get out."

"Ma'am?"

"Get out!"

Roderick turned and ran out of the cave, only slowing slightly when he reached the entrance. For their part the guards scrambled to let him through, sharing a concerned look to one another after the hidden runner's sudden departure.

None of them could hear their leader's thoughts as she clawed into her now burdensome scrape.

Oh, Father, what have I done? How do I fix this?

The dark cave provided her with no answers.

"Very well, Cynnil. You may exist in our territory as our friend and ally, but keep in mind who rules here. Let us know of any intruders, and assist us when we request, and you will not need to fear us."

Cynnil carefully examined the water as she searched for the elusive red scaly swimmer. Her search gave her plenty of time to confront her conflicting thoughts.

This was not a prospect that she relished.

Did I do the right thing, brother? She used us! But… she did go after him. Calin is dead because of her work. But if it wasn't for the Hunters…

She screamed in anguish as she slapped the water.

"Damn it, Ignis! Why?!"

Neither the water or wind answered her question, but a certain flyer took it upon himself to respond to her query.

"Maybe she not know either? When scared people do what they think best. But sometimes they think wrong."

Cynnil stumbled slightly after forcing herself not to jump in surprise. The flyer is now starting to creep me out. He's too quiet when he wants to be.

"Me sorry about red scaly swimmer. Me already eat it." The flyer sounded genuinely remorseful. "It hard to know what not to find when other people not talk to Spotter before."

Cynnil snorted. "You have been listening for all that time?"

Petrie shrugged. "Spotter watch the land beyond the stream. You're the one talking to the wind. Mender, you want to help Cynnil?

"Over here, Cynnil," Violet called, waving slightly, belatedly realizing she was downwind of the hidden runner.

The hidden runner held back an annoyed scream at her lack of awareness. If this pack wanted her to come to harm, then she would have been eaten a hundred times over. Slowly rising from her place at the stream she walked over towards the violet fastbiter. Not knowing what to do, she remained silent as she sat beside the fearsome predator.

"I guess you were looking for scaly swimmers," Violet said for lack of anything else to say to break the silence.

Cynnil sighed before admitting her predicament, "I was just looking to catch the red scaly swimmer… I have never seen those before. Much like that flyer."

"His name's Spotter," Violet said, "Want to try to find another one of those swimmers?"

Cynnil was taken aback by Violet's friendly offer. "I don't want to be a burden… I have distracted your pack enough today." I distracted their scouts. How useless am I? First I betray my own people, and now I am letting down my new…

"You're not distracting me, if that's what you're thinking," Violet said, "I'm not a scout, so there's nothing to really distract me from."

Cynnil cringed. I said that out loud? "I am not the best at catching scaly swimmers. Back in my pack I mainly caught ground fuzzies… back before…" Cynnil trailed off as she stared at the water. It was like she was trying to see something that wasn't there. Something that no longer remained. Something much more precious than a fish.

Violet stayed silent, unsure of what to say. This seemed to be unfamiliar territory to her.

"Did I do the right thing?" Cynnil asked in an inaudible whisper as she struggled to keep herself from again screaming against the situation she found herself in. An exile of her own creation. An exile that simultaneously felt right and ate at her soul.

"I think you did," Violet said, "Your leader nearly got you killed by tricking you. If you can't trust what your leader says, who can you trust?"

Cynnil closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her voice had barely risen even to the level of a whisper, but it appeared to her that even her voice was betraying her. Serves me right. I betrayed my pack. They didn't betray me. I should have waited until I was back home… then I could have made my stand… then…

"You okay, Cynnil?" Violet asked, now a bit concerned by the hidden runner's silence.

The hidden runner shook her head, "No. No I am not." She finally looked at the fastbiter, surprised by the look of concern on her predatory face. "I betrayed my people. The people who took me in when my… regardless of my reasons… I'm a traitor."

"If my people come back to deal with me… let them. I deserve as much." The hidden runner closed her eyes again, her face facing the stream. Part of her wished that Violet would put her out of her misery. A hidden runner without a pack was useless. A hidden runner without a pack would have no legacy.

A hidden runner without a pack was running on borrowed time.

"Why do you think that?" Violet asked, more voicing her thoughts rather than intentionally asking a question.

Cynnil did not answer immediately, instead rocking back and forth as if to rock herself to sleep, "My mother was one of the mates of the pack leader. Of my old, old pack, I mean. Back when I had a family. Back then family was everything…"

Sensing Cynnil might be talking for a while, Violet slowly sat down.

"A hidden runner without a pack is like a stream without water. Worse than useless, a sign of something good that has turned bad. I never understood what she meant until they came. Those fucking monsters…"

"Calin?"

"They… my brother… my dad… everyone…" She shook her head. "After the Bloody Cough came, only my brother remained. And Redclaw and his pack of scum couldn't even let my family have that!"

A flurry of strikes then hit the water as Cynnil lashed out at the non-existent fastbiter. The hidden runner's gaze was far-away. She was no longer in the place that she was.

"I was the last legacy. The last of my family's line… and then I did this…" Cynnil shook her head. "Ignis was wrong. But I should have gone with my pack. I should have just…"

She spat at the ground.

"...Should have just resigned from my duties and mated with some male. At least then my family would have a legacy. Now I am just the sad end to a line that deserved better." She fell on her haunches again, her eyes wet. "I'm sorry, brother. It should have been me that fell there. At least you weren't a failure."

Violet gave Cynnil a questioning look. If you want to see failure just look at my life. At least you had some control of what has happened to you.

"As far as I know, my brother and I are the only ones left of my family. We're not even in the same pack anymore," Violet said, trying to remind Cynnil that her situation wasn't too unique and was actually survivable. She paused and thought about whether or not she really wanted to say her next thought. "And my cousin has repeatedly tried and threatened to kill me just for existing."

Cynnil looked up at the fastbiter with an unreadable expression. It was as if she were trying to comprehend what had just been said.

"How… how did you lose your pack?" Cynnil asked meekly. She would have been ashamed at showing weakness in this way, but she had already thrown away her honor in her eyes. What did she have to lose?

"Two-footers killed half of them. My brother, my cousin, and I got separated from the rest. We've been on our own ever since."

Cynnil nodded sadly. "A common story here in the Mysterious Beyond. Why did your brother leave? You said he was the last, besides you."

"I chose to stay here; he and his mate joined a pack allied with Seeker," Violet explained.

Cynnil sighed bitterly. "At least you are still on good terms, then. You still have a future."

"Not really," Violet said, "There's no way I'd be able to find a mate willing to deal with me." My sniffer alone would make anyone think I'm not worth the effort.

Cynnil tilted her head and gritted her beak as if she were contemplating something. "You seem well liked by your pack. And I know some of the females in my old pack." She snorted. "If they could find a male, then I am sure you can. Cranos was mated to four of the Dranin sisters… that poor soul…"

Then she looked sad again. "I guess none of them made it, either. I didn't see them in Ignis's territory. That was where the survivors came."

"Couldn't they have gone somewhere else? Or gotten lost?" Violet asked, "It wasn't until after we ran into Staza, my brother's mate, that my old pack found a location we'd even heard of. I guess our getting lost was lucky for Staza; she's the only survivor of her family's pack." I still don't know how she didn't go crazy. If I knew for sure everyone was dead…

Cynnil shook her head. "We would have heard about it. Ignis's scouts are everywhere. As is expected of the Leader of the Packs." She stopped for a moment. "Except here. Until us."

"They can't be everywhere," Violet said, somewhat disbelieving, "The world's too big."

Cynnil laughed. "I meant everywhere around here, silly!" She shook her head as if to recover from the sudden shift in tone. "She… well, her father, too. They have to keep watch over things, you know? To keep potential rivals from making a mess of things."

"Wouldn't that mean fighting a lot?" Violet asked.

Cynnil looked at Violet with a disbelieving look, beak agape. After a few seconds, however, she spoke in a low voice. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Violet asked, slightly defensive.

Cynnil looked down. "I'm sorry… I meant no offense. I just forgot that… I guess our two kinds do things differently." She began to gesture with her hand, but stopped, as if debating how to begin. "If someone tried to rival Ignis they would not try to fight her. They would try to undercut her."

"Wouldn't it make more sense just to kill her?" Violet wondered aloud, "If there's a rival pack, not acting could get you killed." Verant was very clear when he told me hesitating around an enemy could get me killed.

Cynnil cringed when Violet mentioned killing Ignis and looked around her as if she were afraid of being heard. "If someone did that, then no one, not even their friends would defend them. It simply is not done! One does not go for the head unless they have the support to do so. The packs protect themselves above all other things, even their leaders."

She sighed. "The unity of the packs in times of trouble is all that we have. A taking of the head… is only done when they are already beaten."

"Wouldn't taking out the leader make it easier to beat everyone else?" Violet asked, trying to remember what little she'd been taught about strategy, "If the leader is gone, everyone else wants to be the leader... They start fighting each other, and you win."

Cynnil blinked. "That may work for fastbiters… but with us hidden runners strength is not what you want in a leader." She gestured at the Bright Circle. "As long as the leader is on the good side of Fate, he or she is The Leader. Only when fate shows that there should be a change will anyone act. To do anything else would be to invite disaster on us all!" she added with more than a little fear in her voice, as if she were still part of the order she was describing.

Violet groaned in frustration at how confusing this was. "Wouldn't there already be a disaster to show that a leader shouldn't be the leader anymore?"

Cynnil shook her head. "I don't understand. If a disaster has already happened, then the leader may be challenged if another gains the favor of Fate, but if no one gains the favor of Fate then that is Fate's judgment on all of us."

Violet decided to let Cynnil have the last word. I'll just have to get used to hidden runners not making any sense.

"So Seeker is the strongest, then? He is the leader, and everyone respects him." Cynnil noted, "I guess… all of you assume that the strongest is favored by Fate?"

"I'm not sure if he's the strongest. That's probably Path. The pack just thinks he's the best at leading," Violet replied. And he still scares me a bit. Well, way more than a bit when he's angry, especially if it's at me.

Cynnil looked confused. "But… I thought you said your kind fought for leadership?"

Violet thought for a moment. "This pack… is not like most packs, not like my old one. Haven explained it to me, though it was confusing. Seeker is the leader because he was always a good leader, even when he was a leaf-eater. And the others decide by consensus, with um… spars deciding the details, I guess." And for some reason Seeker can also decide rank order if he wants to. I told Haven I didn't want her to concede... but Seeker said 'no' to that.

Cynnil nodded. "I think I understand, so Seeker has always been favored by Fate. That is how our kind understood it." She hesitated. "We knew about the Five even before they changed. Though we thought it was only stories. Or that perhaps the lucky breaks of all of the valley kids were being told as if they were one group. But when Fate changed them into what they should have been hatched, it was obvious it was not just a story.

"Fate was just correcting its mistake when it hatched them to the wrong kinds," Cynnil finished with an affirmative nod.

Violet opened her mouth to argue but then shut it immediately. I'm not sure my pack would quite see it that way. The other way around might have been less scary.

"Pearl told us as much."

Violet jumped her body length away from the noise in a panic. What the... It took her longer than she wanted to admit to get her breathing under control. It took her a moment to realize that Cynnil had jumped as well, though now she was nowhere to be found.

Until she smelled her.

"Sorry, girls," Littlefoot laughed good-naturedly as he put both hands out in front of him in a placative gesture, "I was just checking on my scouts. It seems that none of them were paying attention downwind." The final words were spoken with a slight wink of his right eye.

"Well, I hope you didn't confuse me for one of those scouts, sir," Violet said half-jokingly, half-irritatedly. She hated being snuck up on.

Littlefoot laughed. "That's the spirit! I knew you were not on scouting duty, Mender. I actually was referring to the green-feathered hidden runner behind you…"

Violet cringed a bit in embarrassment over having not controlled her tongue and, with a slight apologetic bow, stepped out of the way. "Sorry, sir." If that had been a real threat, Cynnil, hiding behind me would have done you little good.

Littlefoot approached her slowly and gave her a slow bow. "No apologies necessary, Mender. None at all. I know you hate being surprised." He sighed. "Cynnil, you can come out."

Cynnil appeared once more after a brief hesitation. A humiliated expression permeated her features as her head hung lower than usual. "Sorry, sir. I was gathering fish, and then Mender and I talked."

Littlefoot nodded. "I heard the last part of that… It seems that the half-teeth are big believers in the will of Fate. So tell me, Cynnil, what has it willed for you?"

Cynnil rubbed her claws together in a confused expression. "I have no idea, sir. I could be someone's meal, or you could give me back to Ignis as a resolution to this crisis." She sighed. "Fate will decide what it will decide."

She gives up too easily, Violet thought, If I am somehow not dead, why would she expect herself to be dead so easily?

Littlefoot stared at the hidden runner. "We will not secure goodwill by betraying you, Cynnil. You came here of your own will, and you will only leave here of your own will. Your future is your own."

"I have no future." was the only response he received.

"Cynnil, you'll only not have a future if you don't let yourself have one. Me, I'm probably in the best situation I'll ever be in my life. You're pretty smart; I'm sure you can figure something out."

The hidden runner sighed. "I am a rogue hidden runner who has turned her back on her leader and pack. What kind of future can I have?" She shook her head. "But I have made my choice and fate will decide everything else. I just hope Ignis understands and learns…"

Littlefoot tilted his head. "You wanted to send a message, and I am sure it has been sent. I just wonder what her answer will be."

Viscond sighed with contentment as he nuzzled his companion and gave her a playful nip on her beak. Evenings were always the highlight of his day on those days that he was summoned to his mate's cave. Though mating with a higher-ranking female who had multiple mates was not an otherworldly experience for males, there was something that he could not forget even in his moments of bliss.

You are the mate of the Leader of the Packs. Never forget your place.

It was his duty to see to it that his superior was well and ready to face the pressures of her day. Commander or not, Deputy or not; he was first and foremost his master's confidant and supporter. He had to be aware of whatever was on her mind.

That was when he noticed her rigid back, and tight muscles on her neck.

Still stressed? Maybe it was something I did?

Carefully, he nuzzled her neck once more. "How was your day, dear?"

Viscond could have planned for many eventualities. An angry snort... a mournful cry… even an irritated growl.

But a defeated sigh was not one of them.

"Our scouts in Seeker's territory reported back today."

Viscond playfully pulled one of her feathers, which earned him a yelp and a playful bite on the neck. He smirked. "I figured as much. I saw the fastrunner being pestered by the younglings. I take it their other fastrunner was the one that earned Seeker a meal?"

Ignis went limp suddenly as a groan left her. Then, much to Viscond's unhappiness, she rose and began to walk towards the scrape, the symbol of her authority. With a groan himself he rose from the site of their escapades and proceeded to bow low. A moment prior he had been a lover, but now he had to take on the role of respected advisor.

One had to set a good example for any guards or servants that may be watching.

"They only had one fastrunner, and you saw him. Seeker refused to eat him and made him talk, but that was when Roderick had to display his great sense of honor and responsibility…"

Viscond looked up. "What did he do?"

"He surrendered."

Viscond barely kept himself from yelling. "What!?"

Ignis raised one hand in a shrug as she looked at the ceiling in exasperation. "He surrendered on the condition that his friend and packmate not be harmed. Seeker agreed."

Viscond shook his head. "Does he not understand why this was done? Why it was so important? Why…"

"He was right."

Viscond froze as she stared at his mate. Gone was the playful youth from moments before and in its place the leader who had weariness beyond her years. That transition never ceased to horrify him, never mind how often he witnessed it.

"Dear?"

"I should have taken that route. I should have found another way… Seeker had never betrayed us. Perhaps flyers..."

"That Spotter would have seen…" Viscond added.

"Yes, dear, but…" She rose from her perch as she waved a finger. "We could have used the flyers as go-betweens. We might have been able to send a few of our own over there on some pretext… and they would have heard or seen anything out of the ordinary."

"After all." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "They took in Cynnil."

Viscond blinked. "Hostage…"

Ignis sighed as she whispered in his ear. "Play along with the hostage idea... She defected."

Viscond struggled to keep his features neutral as his leader walked past him, leaving him in a crouched position. She did what?

"I cannot blame Seeker for taking the most limited reaction to this miscalculation, but there is an upshot to it." She nodded as one of her assistants began to groom and clean her feathers. "She can let us know anything, and perhaps we can get her back with a fair trade and a clarification of where we all stand."

"A fair trade?" Viscond inquired.

Ignis smiled as she turned back. "It was about time I visited our allies to the East, don't you think?"

The sound of gasps could be heard from the cave entrance, as the assistant and the guards tried to pretend that they had no reaction to her statement.

Viscond didn't bother to maintain the facade.

"Dear…"

Ignis smiled back at him. "With some guards and the scouts-in-training I should be perfectly fine. Besides, we do need to do something about the Bloody Cough before our little ones arrive."

Viscond froze as Ignis smiled at him broadly, her hand gently lifting up his beak, and whispered in his ear, "This is the only journey I will be able to make until my eggs come, dear, and I want the absolute best for them…"

As her beak nuzzled his neck once more he could feel his racing heart. Eggs… he would soon be a father. That was when the pieces fell into place in his mind. The report from Roderick… the reports of a great healer… the arrival of Cynnil in Seeker's territory… the eggs…

Mender… She wants Mender's help. Despite his misgivings about having her leave, he couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. But he had a slight amendment to suggest.

"Nothing but the best for our young ones… why don't you send me instead?"

"Alright, the Night Circle is a sliver again, so you know what that means."

Littlefoot rested himself at his scrape, while the others gathered around with restive faces. Well, everyone except Path who faked snoring sounds, causing thunderous snorts to arise from the others. Finally, however, Path opened his eyes with a sigh. It was obvious that he was not as enthused about this meeting as some of the others.

Cynnil groomed her feathers awkwardly as she tried to find a place between the assembled predators. No one told me what this is about… only that I was summoned. Admittedly 'summoned' was a bit of an understatement. A distant roar of one's name from Chomper would be enough to make anyone start running...

...usually in the other direction, but Cynnil was a more dutiful soul than that.

"Want to sit with me?" Violet asked, having noticed Cynnil acting as awkward as she had in her first meeting.

The hidden runner wasted no time in quickly sitting beside the violet fastbiter as the other pack members continued to chat among themselves. She could only pick up bits and pieces of the conversations in the confusing jumble of voices.

"Think your siblings got into any more trouble, Ponder? They seem about as…"

"Let's see if Path can stay awake during this one."

"Hey! I was awake last time! I was just resting my eyes…"

"And brain."

"You're one to talk, Taunt."

"Let's hope Leap hasn't gotten into…"

Suddenly there was the sound of stomping as the voice went quiet. Littlefoot was calling for order.

"Alright, everyone, we can all gossip and, in the case of a certain two-footer…" Littlefoot gave a mock glare as Chomper's massive mouth gleamed in an innocent smile that would have terrified entire herds. "...sleep later. How about you start, Spotter? Any new information from the Mysterious Beyond?"

Cynnil watched as Petrie flew down from his perch and landed in the center of the pack. With an elaborate bow to the pack leader he then turned towards the others.

"Me go to talk to Momma earlier today, and she tell me about situation in valley…"

Having only been halfway interested when the meeting started, Violet became extremely focused on what was being said when the place she knew as the Grand Valley was mentioned.

Cynnil watched the flyer with curious eyes and tried to follow the conversation, but in the process she couldn't help but notice the curious reaction of her companion beside her. Suddenly her eyes lit up like that of a curious child, and her claws slightly dug into the earth. It was both amusing and horrifying at the same time. Childlike wonder in the body of a killer.

"...apparently six eggs be stolen from swimmer nests. Threehorn suspect egg-stealers, but of course Mr. Domehead suspect hidden runners or fastrunners." Petrie squawked with annoyance, "Momma go and check to make sure Ponder's family still where they are to shut idiot up."

A laugh erupted to Cynnil's side. "So your dad decided to appoint someone else as the Great Valley idiot, huh…"

Smack!

Cynnil didn't have to look to tell that it was Taunt. No one else bothered to look, either.

Littlefoot sighed. "So I take it that the matter was resolved?"

Petrie nodded. "Egg stealer smell found, so they look for it. But fastrunners safe now. Mr. Domehead still idiot, though."

Littlefoot shrugged. "No way for us to fix that unless he gets near our territory."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Well, without consequences, anyway." He then groomed his feathers for a moment before speaking. "Any word from Mom?"

Cynnil tilted her head at this. She had to remind herself that these were still children, in a manner of speaking. They still had parents. Separated by distance and species.

"You and Haven's Momma doing fine. None of her eggs taken, because she have no new eggs this season."

Ducky laughed. "Well, that is good, it is, it is! She already gave us twelve new brothers and sisters last season. Even Momma has limits!"

"Twelve?" Violet asked in surprise. She'd never paid attention to just how many hatchlings swimmers had before.

Cynnil spoke in a soft whisper, "Well, they are a prey kind." She then saw Ducky's expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

Ducky waved her off. "It is alright. We have killed swimmers, Cynnil; we know that they have a lot of babies."

Littlefoot coughed, trying to keep the meeting somewhat structured. "Well, if the valley is doing well, then I guess that brings us to the subject of Ponder's folks."

Cynnil carefully watched as the rose-colored fastbiter rose to attention after receiving a nod from Petrie. She couldn't tell if that was an affirmation that he had not heard anything new from them that day and that she should summarize recent happenings, or merely that it was her turn to speak.

"Well, as you know, fastrunners like to know what travelers know. Otherwise what they don't know may kill them."

"How do they know the travelers won't kill them?" Violet wondered aloud.

Ruby laughed. "They don't! That's why they listen in without being seen." She imitated a sneaking motion as she said this. "Though if they are seen, they can run away until they aren't seen."

"How do they do that? I thought there weren't many places to hide around Hanging Rock."

Cynnil watched her companion with a curious smirk. She thinks deeply, but sometimes too deeply. She examined her scent as discreetly as possible, not even moving her snout. Not a scent of sarcasm either… curious. She is honestly just that curious.

"Well, there are many crevices and winding trails. Fastrunners are fast jumpers too, and fast-thinkers," Ruby explained, "Though I think that my brother and sister may need to learn more of the thinking part."

Cera stretched out with a satisfied sigh. "I like where this is going. Did Detras tell them some tales, and they wanted to try them out for themselves?"

Breeze snickered. "I bet that they tried to pull one of the stunts that the former food..." She nudged her mate. "...tried to do back in their food days."

Ruby groaned. "They decided that they wanted to see the valley again, so they decided to head in that direction."

"Ha!" Taunt exclaimed, "Breeze called it!"

The Present:

Orchid audibly groaned. "Okay… maybe it was three times."

"I'm never going to be able to let you out of my sight, am I?" Mender asked, sighing in resignation. With a reminder to Orchid to at least let her finish a verse before interrupting, she started to sing again.

Back to the song:

Cynnil rubbed her head, suppressing a groan. This is the weirdest meeting I have ever been to. Why am I here again? Shouldn't I be out scouting?

"I actually tried to sneak off and see the valley when I was little," Violet said, "I didn't get very far."

Ruby snorted. "Neither did they. Let's just say that they were punished."

Petrie squawked. "Grounded to nest. Brings back memories, huh guys?"

As some of the assembled dinosaurs groaned and the others laughed, Cynnil continued her examination of Violet. There was something curious there that she couldn't quite place.

"Why did you want to go to the valley, Mender?"

Silence descended upon the meeting, as Cynnil could feel the attention of the others fall upon them. It made her cringe in a mixture of apprehension and embarrassment. She did not intend to interrupt the meeting.

"I just wanted to see what it looked like. I still do, actually," Violet said quietly, now quite embarrassed.

"Wanted to see the food, huh?" Taunt was able to dodge his mate's attack this time.

"I'm pretty sure that's what most two-footers I've met called me," Violet said in a joking tone.

"I was there once," Cynnil spoke absentmindedly, "The memorial mound was something to behold. I did not enter the valley proper, though."

Littlefoot blinked. "Spied on the valley, huh?"

Cynnil shrugged. "Like I have been saying, hidden runners are everywhere. We just stay hidden."

"There's no way all of you are that good at hiding," Violet said disbelievingly.

"Well, it is what they get their name from," Littlefoot interrupted, "And it is for that reason that I wanted you here tonight, Cynnil. Spotter told me a few days ago that hidden runners had been seen by Slash's territory. Do you have any idea why they would be there?"

Cynnil thought for a moment. "We are not usually told what the others are doing in case one of us gets caught. But I can guess."

Littlefoot nodded. "Go ahead."

"I think that she is probably spying on his pack…"

"Her pack," Cera corrected.

An odd name for a female. "...Her pack. Ignis is probably just checking around to make sure no one is trying to make another huge pack again. Something that could threaten us all."

"Well, take it from me, Cynnil." Ducky took a step forward and stared into the hidden runner's eyes. "Slash would be the last person to agree to join such a pack if it was made. She did not enjoy being in the first pack of that kind. She would die before joining another."

She was one of Calin's… oh… Cynnil quickly bowed in apology.

Violet cringed in sympathy for Slash as well as for Tracker. "You know, if another pack were getting too large, you could just tell my brother about it. It wouldn't stay big for long."

"Or tell any of us about it, for that matter," Littlefoot added, "So this action from your kind isn't an escalation?"

Cynnil shook her head. "I don't think so."

Littlefoot sighed as he allowed himself to stretch. The late hour was beginning to get to him as well, and they still had their nightly songs to sing. "Well, that is good at least. I wonder when we can expect Ignis's response."

Cynnil snorted. "Knowing her, when we least expect it."

Slash's Territory:

"Smell anything, Rose?"

"Nothing yet, Slash. Maybe the hidden runners have decided to spy on someone else?"

"We will see. I always enjoy hunting new things,"

Well, this is not exactly my best moment.

Viscond tried to avoid gagging and moving as he hid in his hiding place. It was the only thing in the area that would hide his scent from the eager hunters, but at the moment he wondered if running for his life would not have been a better option.

"Alright, let's try by the stream. Allo is checking the hills."

Viscond willed himself to not move or breathe as the sound of footsteps ever so slowly began to dissipate. It was only when he couldn't hear any of them for several moments that he finally burst from his hiding place with a desperate gasp.

Finally!

He fell to the ground in a gasping heap as he desperately struggled to rub his feathers in the grass to free himself of the legacy of his desperate camouflage.

I just hid in spiketail shit for you, dear! I really don't want to hear how bad your day was when I get back!

Briefly considering running to the distant stream, he quickly thought better of it. He needed to make his escape now, never mind how miserable it made him.

With a suppressed heave, he began to walk once more towards his destination.

Only two more days to Seeker's…

Back to the pack meeting:

"Song time!"

Members of the pack rose from where they sat upon Littlefoot's exclamation that the meeting was over. Even Chomper tried to rise though for him it was a slower process. Despite the joy on the pack members' faces, there was one member who was a bit apprehensive.

Violet stood up with the rest of the pack. Please don't make me sing in front of Cynnil. I don't need someone else knowing how bad I am at it.

Cynnil stood up as well with slight hesitation. It was obvious that she had no idea what was going on.

"We have a non-member here. Perhaps we should tell her our song?" Taunt offered with a laugh.

"We don't want to be here until tomorrow night, Taunt," Spike yawned, "Though we do need to find out what to sing."

Petrie stretched. "What would ancestors want to hear?"

Taunt grinned. "You to say 'I'."

Petrie glared at the fastbiter as the others laughed. "Then ancestors be disappointed. Me never say 'I'."

"Ha! Got you to say it!"

The rest of the pack erupted into laughter as the flyer groaned. None of them seemed to notice the utterly lost hidden runner looking for any sign of how to act. As far as she knew she had defected into the territory of an insane pack.

"At least it's not me this time," Violet said as she joined Cynnil at the edge of the gathering.

Cynnil looked up at her helplessly. "What are we doing? What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Violet answered, "The pack's just going to sing some songs tonight, assuming Taunt and Spotter don't keep at it all night."

Cynnil rubbed her head feathers. "And the songs are sung to the dead?"

"Somewhat." Cynnil nearly jumped at Littlefoot's voice. "It is how we talk to those who have moved on… but it is also for us. It is how our stories get passed on. It is how we remember."

"Or try to remember, in my case," Violet added.

"Maybe my mate could sing something? That way we get two songs in one."

Violet and Cynnil watched as Littlefoot promptly took off around the others in the circle in order to evade his mate's playful bites. Thankfully Violet was there to give Cynnil some context.

"Believe it or not this is normal," Violet said as she hurriedly moved out of the way when Littlefoot took a corner a bit too sharply, "I still don't get it."

Cynnil barely had time to react when Littlefoot collided with Violet's tail, making him stumble and then tumble beside the other fastbiter. The resulting embarrassment conveyed by her downturned tail and the apologetic nod from Littlefoot, conveyed more information than Cynnil thought possible.

Mender seems a bit insecure. It was her pack leader being.. whatever this is… not her...

Cynnil watched as Ruby finally nipped her mate on the tail and then promptly ran in the other direction as Littlefoot tried to get playful retaliation.

"Well, at least the ancestors are getting some entertainment," Cynnil noted.

"Maybe they are..." Violet said, glancing back at her tail with a wince.

"Are you alright?" the hidden runner asked the fastbiter after a pause, noticing the two mates nuzzle in the background, indicating that their banter was finished for now.

"I'm fine," Violet replied somewhat emphatically.

And unwilling to show weakness, Cynnil added to her list of observations. She was beginning to find this fastbiter interesting. The newcomer to this pack is quite a mystery.

"Well, I guess I agree with my mate." Ruby affirmed with a humorous glint in her eye, "I will sing you the song of the tricky ground fuzzy, and then the song of the tricky ground fuzzy will be sung by I!"

The others laughed at her self-deprecating humor, but then quickly moved into position as Ruby cleared her throat. The song was about to begin.

Heh.. this should be horrifying. How well can a predator like this actually…

As I watched from the field afar,

Transfixed by the morning's great star

Cynnil stared, dumbstruck. The voice was amazing. This was not horrifying at all.

A bet I owed, at the cost of my pride,

Eight ground fuzzies by nightfall,

A burden I could not defy

"Ponder is a good singer, isn't she?" Violet asked Cynnil, having noticed the hidden runner's surprise.

Cynnil merely nodded as the chorus began, with all of the others joining in.

Ground fuzzies burrow! ground fuzzies hide!

If you survive then you kill a fastbiter's pride,

Ground fuzzies burrow! ground fuzzies hide!

Ponder's coming for you to eat you alive!

Cynnil cringed a bit at the lyrics as Violet eagerly joined in the chorus. Despite being apprehensive earlier, she did not seem to have any difficulty when her voice was backed up by others.

More of a follower than a leader… or is that insecurity again?

That's when I saw it, a stupid male,

It darted its head to and fro and then I bit its tail,

Its mate came out, looking for an escape,

But I killed it easily, biting through its nape!

Violet joined in the chorus again as its bloodthirsty lyrics echoed across the territory. She did not notice Cynnil's unease at hearing a heavenly voice sing such horrifying lyrics.

The survivor did not arise,

He knew enough to hide from prying eyes,

But his scent still gave him away,

That was when Ponder decided it was time to play!

Only one more was needed to protect my pride,

Only one more needed to make Taunt's jests to hide!

It was then that Taunt broke from the circle and shouted "Ha!" which was followed by the others trying to bite him, and him evading the attacks in a synchronized way.

They sing and act out the action… and to think that I thought our stories were the most complex that there were…

Cynnil sighed as she looked at her hands. Despite spying for her kind for several seasons, and finding out about most of the happenings in the Mysterious Beyond, it seemed that her kind truly did not understand one critical aspect of their fastbiter allies.

Their culture. Their soul.

I darted to the right, he darted to the left,

He dug into the ground, and his ground I did lift,

That was when he did something that no predator would see,

With his dying breath he bit down on me!

Ground fuzzies burrow! ground fuzzies hide!

If you survive then you kill a fastbiter's pride,

Ground fuzzies burrow! ground fuzzies hide!

The last thing Ponder expected… was the prey eating her alive!

Violet stifled a laugh at the irony.

"Just for the record, Taunt, I still won that bet! That bet I still won for the record!" Ruby affirmed with a strut.

Taunt smirked. "And I still got something to joke about."

Cera rolled her eyes. "Which is a win to him…"

Cynnil shook her head as she looked over at her companion. "Are all of the songs acted out as well?"

"Not all of them. None of mine are," Violet replied.

Cynnil tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Um, well..." Violet stammered, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"Well, every pack does it differently," Ducky offered in a low voice. Cynnil could smell that she was only half telling the truth, but she could also smell that she was not supposed to inquire further. Not unless she wanted to upset the green fastbiter.

And she didn't.

"Most of them aren't that interesting, anyway," Violet said, hoping Cynnil would drop the subject altogether.

"Oh, that's not true, Mender," Taunt retorted, "There are two songs involving tiny biters that come to mind. One that is quite fresh…"

Spike nodded. "Yeah, Leap's Head Injury and Tracker's Tiny Snacks are both good ones."

"Speak for yourselves," Chomper growled, "I had to carry the little shits for days."

"Were they really that heavy?" Violet asked, intentionally misunderstanding Chomper's complaint.

"No, but they really were that annoying! At least you didn't have one piss on you!" Chomper sighed, making a growling sound. His next words were resigned. "We're going to sing that damn song, aren't we?"

"As much as it annoys you, I hope so!" Taunt added, preemptively moving behind his mate as if that would stop Chomper if he actually wanted to attack him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Taunt. I'm not getting eaten by Path just so you can have something to laugh at," Violet said.

Cynnil noticed her reluctance, but then a thought came to mind. "What about the other one?"

Violet gave Cynnil a look of irritation. "Does anyone actually want to hear that one?" she asked resignedly.

Ducky walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Staza's ancestors might want to hear it. They seem to be out tonight." She gestured at the bright stars. "And I think our guest would enjoy it as well."

"Oh, okay," Violet said with a sigh.

Cynnil looked embarrassed at putting the fastbiter on the spot. "Thank you."

"Well, just so everyone here knows, this song is not mine. It's Staza's. I'm just singing it for her since she's not present to sing it herself, though it probably would sound better if she were the one singing it..."

Cynnil frowned. You sounded great singing with the others, Mender; just believe in yourself. It looks like your pack does. With a respectful nod, she sat down.

Violet took a deep breath then, with the slightest break in her voice, she began her song.

Tracker darted from tree to tree,

As children tend to do,

But as the little biter came to a tree,

She came upon something new…

Six years ago:

"Be careful, kids! The trees aren't going to run away, you know."

The fastbiter nuzzled her daughters as they rose from where they had collided a moment earlier. Then, with a muted "Okay, Mom!" they bounded off again. Playing a game that only they understood.

Tracker rushed towards a tree, managing to run up it slightly. When she started to slide back down she jumped to a nearby tree and scurried down its side. She repeated this several times until she couldn't see her siblings anymore.

As she hurried to yet another tree she was suddenly knocked on her side.

"Wait! You not Larna!"

"What?" Tracker asked, but the other dinosaur was already gone. Seeing a flash of blue she hurried after it. I wonder what it is. Maybe I can play with it.

"Ahhhhh!" The tiny biter's screams emanated in all directions as he neglected any attempt of evasion. The biter that he had tackled was not the one he had assumed but instead the youngling of a much larger species. Tracker running downwind had set up a most interesting encounter.

And she was enjoying every moment of it.

Tracker slowed down a bit so as not to tire herself out but kept following the tiny biter's scent as well as his screams. Oh, this is gonna be fun. Maybe if I catch this thing Daddy will pay attention to me.

Suddenly the screams stopped, and the smell became fainter. This made the child stop in confusion.

What happened? Tracker wondered. She started to move forward again, much more slowly this time, trying to pick up the scent she was losing.

Big biter children are mean!

The tiny biter clung to the small sapling for dear life as he struggled to keep his shaking to a minimum. All he had tried to do was to flirt with Larna, as the pack was now a family pack. But as soon as his target rose he knew that he had screwed up.

Should have smelled first… Stupid, Iten! Stupid! Iten never mate now!

That was when he felt the sapling shake. It was like it was being pulled down.

"Hi," Tracker called up to the tiny biter, "Want to try again? This was fun."

His scream was loud enough to wake the dead.

Tracker stared up at the screaming tiny biter with curiosity as she tried to figure out what she was dealing with. Okay. So it can't talk and is dumber than Parlay... Maybe it's food.

"Tracker! Quit scaring your… oh."

"Mommy, look what I found," Tracker said excitedly as she jumped up pointing at the tiny biter in the tree.

"And what did you find, Tracker? Can you figure it out?"

"Um, it's not one of us," Tracker said, tapping herself then gesturing at her mother, "And it can't talk... Oh, I don't know."

Her mother laughed as she grabbed the tiny biter, causing him to scream, "Iten no want to die!"

"Is it food?" Tracker asked excitedly.

She smiled. "Correct, Tracker! Very good! It is food and not a rock, ally, or plant." She then nuzzled her daughter, which earned her a giggle as the tiny biter shrieked in terror. "What do you think we should do with the food?"

"Eat it!" Tracker exclaimed happily.

The laugh was deafening. "Not yet, little one. We will eat it soon, but first I think that we should show your brothers and sisters. How would you like to play with your food before dinner?"

Tracker looked excited for a moment before suddenly deflating. "Can we show Daddy first?" she asked softly, afraid her mother would tell her 'no'.

Her mother picked up on the fear in her question as she gently nuzzled her daughter. "I am sure Dad would love to watch his children train to be good hunters! How about you go tell your half-brothers and sisters to tell their mommies? I am sure your dad is with one of them right now. Then all of his little biters can have their first little hunt!"

"Okay," Tracker replied with a nod. In her hurry to turn around and go tell everyone she tripped over herself but was back on her feet before she even realized she'd been on the ground. This is going to be fun.

Her mother watched her daughter for several moments. Never lose that curiosity, Tracker. It will serve you well. Then she turned to the prey. "Now, tiny biter. If my daughter has found one of you, then that means there are more. So let's find some of your friends, shall we?"

She didn't wait for his answer. She didn't care.

"This is a good idea, Esper. I got two of them."

"I have one… that brings us up to four."

Esper smiled at the two other females. "That is four for our little ones."

"Six."

Tracker's mother watched as her mate walked towards the females, earning their nuzzles one by one before finally settling beside Esper.

"So which of my little biters had their first little hunt today?"

Esper smiled and nodded towards a small biter in the background. The small green youngling was the smallest of all of his children from any mate. None of the runts had survived the first Cold Time, so he supposed that dubious honor had devolved upon her.

But with the heart of a fastbiter. He quickly began to walk towards the unsuspecting biter.

Turning around the sound of an approaching adult, Tracker froze in surprise at seeing her father standing there.

"I heard that you did quite well today, Tracker." There was only a slight hesitation prior to saying her name, but his tail smile did not fade. "Where did you find the tiny biter?"

"O-over that way," Tracker stammered, her thoughts barely keeping up with her mouth, "I ran into him when I was playing and chased him when he ran away." She took a steadying breath. "I didn't know what he was."

Her father patted her on the head. "No harm in not knowing something. We have to know we don't know something before we can learn it." He looked over at the other kids before turning back to her, "You did good today, Tracker. Now how about we have a hunt as a family, hmmm?"

Tracker barely restrained herself from jumping up and down excitedly. She'd finally gotten her father's attention. She gave an over-exaggerated nod before hurrying after her father, smiling with her tail the whole way.

Back to the pack meeting:

Cynnil smiled. "Reminds me of trying to get the attention of my dad. He only had two mates at least."

"I kinda wish my dad had noticed me a little less sometimes. He could be kinda strict," Violet said.

Ducky coughed awkwardly. "Have you remembered more about your parents, Mender?"

Violet suddenly looked very self conscious and hastily shook her head.

Cynnil rubbed her hands awkwardly. I am missing something, aren't I? Well, I don't want to embarrass her…

"Was she noticed by her father more from that point on?" Cynnil asked finally, trying to change the subject on Violet's behalf.

"Not really. Staza, that's Tracker's adult name, isn't exactly a loud person." Violet glanced over at Taunt. "Unlike some people I know."

"Everyone notices me!" Taunt replied with a toothy grin, "Even if they don't want to."

"Umm…" Littlefoot shifted awkwardly. "The having multiple mates thing seems to be more trouble than it's worth."

Violet gave her pack leader an odd look, as if puzzled why he felt that needed to be said. "I think Staza would agree with that."

Cynnil shrugged. "For hidden runners multiple mates is the norm for the higher ranking. Ignis has multiple males. Other males have multiple females. More mates mean more allies you can be confident about." She rubbed her head. "It can make things a bit complicated though. Like if there are a bit of both."

"I'm confused. How does that make more reliable allies?" Violet asked, "My cousin hated the fact he was related to me so much he's tried to kill me twice now."

Cynnil opened her mouth to speak, but then promptly closed it. This is very different… "Well, I can only speak for my kind. But if one is mated to another then that is a bond that is never to be broken. A promise to the lower ranked to provide protection, and for the lower ranks to provide submission to the higher ranked. Children only increase that bond." Seeing that the others were having some difficulty she gestured as if she were grasping for something. "This is what keeps our kind together. Bonds upon bonds. A hidden runner without a bond is nothing."

"Alliances are very important things," Littlefoot said carefully, "But trust is not earned easily. I hope that your leader realizes this."

Cynnil could only nod. I hope she does as well.

"So whose idea was putting me on scouting duty?" Violet wondered aloud as she followed Cera on a patrol of the pack's territorial boundaries. Behind them Cynnil was rushing around gathering sticks for future use.

Cera snorted as she whispered in her direction, "You may have a horrible sniffer, Mender, but you have good ears." She looked at the open field for a moment as she took in a deep breath, "Ah, it seems that Darvin is back."

Cynnil stopped. "Who's Darvin?"

Cera gestured for her to come closer. "Unless you want to find out I would get away from the stream."

Violet spotted a shape in the water and immediately backed away. Cynnil dashed away far more hurriedly. "What is that?" Violet asked.

Cera rolled her eyes, "Darvin, the resident old bellydragger."

"I'm not old, you stupid orange tail-chaser!" the bellydragger bellowed as he slowly went down the stream.

"He has a charming personality as well," Cera added.

"If you say so," Violet said. Why is there a bellydragger hanging around here?

Cynnil was even more horrified. "Is he part of the pack, too?"

"Heck, no!" Cera laughed, "He just knows better to stay on the other end of the shit pile. We saw to that…" She made a spear throwing motion to punctuate her point.

"Maybe we should keep moving," Violet suggested, not wanting to be around something that could eat her.

The trio continued on for some distance to the next pile of excrement, this time beside a large tree, which overlooked a fork in the stream. Cera again sniffed the air and the tree for good measure, but shook her head. There was nothing of interest to smell here.

"Shhh. Do you hear that?" Violet suddenly said, freezing in place.

The others went silent as well, trying to hear anything. When Cera merely shrugged at her Violet knew that they detected nothing.

Violet slowly turned towards the direction she had heard the sound and carefully walked towards it. If it's another fastrunner I'm having it for lunch.

Cera advanced as well with her spear at the ready, as Cynnil stayed back, an uneasy look plastered on her face.

Violet moved forward with a bit more assurance when she saw a tiny flash of what looked a bit too much like Cynnil's color to be a plant. Hello, lunch, she thought before rushing the spot.

Cera watched in fascination as the bush in front of Violet appeared to explode as what looked like another bush came sprinting out of it. It did not take her long to realize that this was another hidden runner.

Another fucking spy!

She quickly built into a sprint as she followed Violet's steady path. Violet matched Cera's speed but had a head start. Cera knew that she wouldn't throw her spear unless Violet lost track of their prey.

Ignis, you will get this one back as a corpse!

Violet eventually caught up to the hidden runner and made her leap, obviously intending to kill and eat this particular intruder. The intruder managed to barely avoid the attack, but Violet managed to snag his tail and pull him down.

Cera raised her spear just in case the prey got loose.

"Stop!"

Cera hesitated as Cynnil's voice echoed in her ears. We spared you, Cynnil. But you can't ask that of all of these spies…

The hidden runner stopped struggling all of a sudden at the hidden runner's voice as Violet took advantage of that lack of resistance to pin the hidden runner down.

"Stop! You don't want to do this!"

Cera looked over at her companion. "And why is that?" That was before she caught his scent. "Oh..."

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Violet complained, as the hidden runner tried to catch his breath. It was then that he looked in the other hidden runner's direction and tried to speak firmly despite his predicament and obvious fear.

"You must be Cynnil."

The other hidden runner could only meet his eyes with a resigned expression. "This is Viscond, fighter in the Battle of the Valley... and mate of Ignis."

Cera took a deep breath as she embedded her spear into the ground. "Damn it to… I will call Spotter. Keep him there!"

Cera bounded off to Lookout Hill to undoubtedly catch the flyer's attention, unaware of the irritation this would cause her companion.

"Augh... I never get to eat what I catch." Violet sighed in resignation but did as she was told.

Only Cynnil noticed Viscond's relieved sigh.

"We already have you girls as healers. I fail to see why you need us to learn how to do this crap."

Ruby merely slapped the healing leaves into her mate's hands. "I dare you to say that it is a girl's job, dear."

"Well, you girls seem to be very good at it." Littlefoot shifted a bit as he considered Breeze's back with a resigned expression. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have everyone trained. How am I supposed to do this?"

Breeze coughed slightly. "Correctly."

Ruby's response was a bit more helpful. "She has a Digging Skin Worm, dear. Breeze would really prefer it if you did this right, so I need to tell you how to do it right." She gestured towards the giant lump and raised her claw. "Once I cut, you push with the leaves all around it."

Littlefoot grimaced but dutifully waited until his mate carefully raised her longest claw to the throbbing lump of flesh. Then, with a swift jerk, she opened it up.

The resulting scene was horrifying even for a fastbiter.

As Littlefoot pushed around the now draining lump, an odorous mixture of blood and pus greeted his eyes and snout. That was when the offending white worm made its appearance.

"Those are Digging Skin Worms," Ruby said helpfully as Littlefoot fought the urge to retch, "Finder and Breeze get them all the time. So I guess the Diggers like who they like."

"I'm so honored," Breeze muttered with annoyance and a wince as Ruby dabbed the inside of the wound with a healing leaf covered with a burning red sap.

"And now she will be as good as new!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully as she patted her mate on the back, "At least until the next Digging Skin Worm decides to dig in her skin."

"Guys, we have a problem!"

The trio of the dinosaurs turned to Cera's booming voice. Breeze didn't miss a beat, grabbing her spear and ignoring the lingering pain from her back.

"What is it, Stern Claw?" Littlefoot asked quickly. He quickly found his spear as well.

"Mender is very good at finding hidden runners, it seems. She found another one," Cera said with some amusement.

Littlefoot was alarmed. "Another spy? We have to be careful here, Stern Claw. Did she kill it?"

Cera snorted. "No, Cynnil stopped us. It appears…"

"Good." Littlefoot quickly advanced past Cera. "Where is it?"

Ruby looked unsure. "Dear?"

Cera gestured in the distance. "It's Viscond. Cynnil said that he and Ignis are mates now."

Littlefoot turned back towards Breeze and Ruby. His expression spoke volumes.

We almost started a war.

"So... you've been inside the Grand Valley?" Violet asked, having gotten quite bored waiting for Cera to come back and was thus rather willing to give into her curiosity, "What does it look like?"

Viscond tried to calm his racing heart as the fastbiter continued to pin him to the ground. He was quite literally a few inches from death, but Violet was talking as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"Yes. It is a beautiful place, full of plants and many herds. Though I didn't get to see it in a time of joy." He paused for a moment. "We all lost so much there."

"I always wanted to see it," Violet said, "I tried to go there once, but that was before, well, before I lost most of my family."

Viscond was silent for several moments. "Did you lose them in the battle?"

"No. Two-footers attacked, and I took a very unwanted swim," Violet replied, "I hate deep water."

Viscond swallowed hard as he tried to speak despite the claw near his throat, "Children are a blessing. I am sure that your parents are glad that Fate spared you."

"Thanks. I was wondering... why'd you come out here by yourself? Isn't that kinda dangerous?"

Viscond could only stare at Violet's sickle claw with bemusement. There was no sarcasm in her scent nor malice. It was as if she were having the most normal conversation in the world. "...it is. Ignis wanted to fix this misunderstanding, but I didn't want her to risk it. I am expendable if anything happens; she is not," he said under his breath with more than a little mournfulness in his voice, "...especially now."

Violet gave Viscond a questioning look, having caught every word he said, but decided to drop the issue. "Wouldn't it have been easier to have a few friends with you? It would have made traveling less boring."

Viscond sighed. How old is this fastbiter? How does she not understand that not everyone is a fastbiter? "More hidden runners simply means more chances to get caught. That is what I told Ignis, anyway."

"No worry, Viscond. Spotter see them; they okay."

"Augh! Dang it, Spotter! Would you stop doing that?" Violet yelled, having nearly lost hold of Viscond in her startelement.

Viscond's mouth would have hung agape were it not nearly embedded in the ground. "Please leave them out of this. They were just here to help… Ignis demanded that I not go alone." Damn it, guys! Run! I'm caught; don't do what Cynnil's pack did. Don't be stupid.

Unbeknownst to Viscond, Cynnil looked at Violet hopefully. It was both a request and a plea.

"Not this again," Violet said with a sigh, "Cynnil, could you do me a favor and get everyone here, now?" Her last few words betrayed a slight sense of panic.

"No worry, Mender! Path found them."

Viscond tried to wrestle from Violet's grip, but to no avail. "No! Not again! I can't have anyone else die because of me!"

"What is with you hidden runners and sneaking around? It's like you're trying to make everyone else not like you," Violet said with more confusion than anger. She did shift her hold to make it clear that further struggling would result in severe injury.

Viscond was nearly in despair at this point. "It's how we survive! We can't outrun a fastbiter or out-claw a two-footer. Please call your two-footer off!"

"You're talking to the wrong fastbiter. I can't tell him to do anything," Violet said, "And if you hadn't been spying on an ally none of this would've happened in the first place."

"Hello, Viscond. It has been a long time."

The hidden runner's voice caught in his throat as he heard the voice of his old ally. The fastbiter who had helped lead the battle for the valley. A voice he hadn't heard in over two years.

"...Seeker?"

The fastbiter continued, "Don't worry, Path won't hurt your friends. He just let them know that they could give up the sneaking act."

The hidden runner allowed himself to go limp upon that affirmation. His comrades were safe.

"You can get off of him now, Mender," Littlefoot commanded in the form of permission, "You've done a great job."

Violet hurried to follow the order she heard in that permission but practically tripped over herself at the praise she was given. She gave her leader an uncertain glance, not entirely sure she heard him right.

"It's alright, Mender," Ducky's voice came from a longneck-length away, "He is a friend of ours."

"He's got a funny way of showing it," Violet called back before realizing who else was within hearing range and cringed.

"I was not expecting to be attacked outside of the territory you claimed."

Littlefoot walked over to Viscond and offered his hand, helping to lift the hidden runner to his feet. "You can understand my packmates' enthusiasm considering your leader's previous stunt."

Viscond sighed. "That is why I am here. I bring a message from my mate."

Littlefoot did not respond verbally, but instead gestured for the other fastbiters to gather around. Within moments he was surrounded by the pack. Not even Taunt broke the silence. It was clear that they were waiting for his message.

Viscond swallowed. "Ignis, Leader of the Packs, offers her apologies for our recent misunderstanding. She should not have violated your territory."

Littlefoot's eyes narrowed slightly. "If she ordered them to spy, then it was not a misunderstanding. It was a betrayal."

Content to simply follow orders and just ask for details later, Violet turned her focus outwards, deciding that watching for hidden runners was a much better use of her time than listening to leaders discuss something that she had no right to weigh in on.

Viscond paused for a moment before beginning again. His gaze fixed upon Cynnil. "We were allies once, Seeker, and I hope to be again. But tell me: did you ever make an alliance bond with Ignis? Has my leader even talked to you in three seasons?"

Littlefoot did not answer his question. There was no need as everyone knew the answer to those questions was 'no'. He merely gave a calm command. "Continue."

"In much the same way that you used flyers to scout our whereabouts, we used scouts to check on all of you."

Violet's head jerked in Viscond's direction. After a moment, though, she returned to her watch.

"You what?" Cynnil looked like she had been struck.

"Do you not find it interesting, Cynnil, that your friends here routinely use a flyer to scout and send messages? But yet he never bothered to talk to us in all of these years? No… instead the valley's flyers go over our lands as if nothing is out of the ordinary. But their intent is obvious."

Viscond waited for a reaction from Littlefoot and the others. He did not have to wait long, but he didn't get the reactions that he assumed. Laughter soon erupted from Petrie and Littlefoot.

"What?" Viscond demanded. "What are you laughing about?"

Littlefoot forced himself to stop laughing as he shook his head. "Okay… alright… well, that explains things at least. After all, Ignis was an honorable sort."

"Explains what?" Violet asked, now paying more attention to the conversation.

"Believe it or not, Viscond, we do not know everything that the valley does. They have ways of sneaking up on intruders that get near the valley that we are not told and alliances that no sharptooth will ever be told." Littlefoot placed a hand on Viscond's shoulder. "I think that your leader spied on the wrong target…"

Two days Later:

"Ahem… I know you're watching me, guys. It easier for Spotter to talk if he can see who he talking to!"

Petrie looked up from his perch at the ravine in front of him. He had stopped just outside what he knew was a defensive site outside of the valley. Though it would have been humorous to test his former kind's defenses as a sort of game, it would be improper with the news he would be conveying.

As well as his pack leader's protest.

One of the flyers agreed with Petrie's point and took off from his resting spot. Taking a rather circular route he would have eventually come up behind Petrie if he hadn't been spotted first.

Petrie snorted at this and shook his head. "Don't suppose any of you will ever tell Spotter how you do that?"

"Nope," the flyer replied, landing not too far from Petrie.

Petrie stretched as he turned towards his expected 'friend' for the duration of this visit. He had been through this drill before, but that didn't mean that he ever found it boring.

If the valley do mind games, then Spotter do mind games.

"You're new one. What your name?"

"Vrijeval," the flyer replied.

Petrie went silent for several moments as he processed that information. An obviously young flyer who is trying to make a name for himself in the valley, and with a name that he had only heard during his long scouting flights. A name that was associated with the flyers across the Big Water.

"Me take it Momma is busy?" Petrie asked

"She should be on her way by now," Vrijeval replied nonchalantly after glancing back towards the valley.

Hmmm… Momma still in charge of inner watch. This one must be in charge of west outer watch. Which must also mean...

"You do good on your watch, but me still see ground watchers. They new at this?" Petrie asked with an equally nonchalant tone.

"You're not the only thing that needs watching," the other flyer said as he gave Petrie a questioning look.

Petrie didn't answer immediately, but instead looked at the other flyer for a few moments, his expression blank.

"Interesting…" was all that Petrie said as he allowed the wind to rush along his right wing, as if he were testing something.

Vrijeval watched Petrie carefully, not quite sure what the other flyer was doing.

"New arrivals are tricky thing. And not just when new arrival is Spotter. How you like valley life? It better than land over Big Water?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Vrijeval replied, "You been over the Big Water?"

Petrie smiled. "It only place Spotter hear name like yours. Me curious how valley flyers think of you. New lands; new stories. You tell many stories in story circle?"

"Including some that really should've been boring," Vrijeval replied, "I guess some of my stories are interesting because they're new."

Petrie nodded. "Me understand that. Pack often want to hear Spotter's songs because…"

"Are you trying to spy on the guards again, son?"

Petrie suppressed a surprised jump as his mother's voice echoed in his head. With a careful turn of his head he tilted it ever so slightly at his mother. "Spotter not know what you talking about."

Volant rolled her eyes as she glanced at Vrijeval with an amused turn of her beak. "What have you told my son?"

"Just my name," Vrijeval replied.

Volant laughed. "So he already knows that you came from beyond the Big Water, that you are a new guard, that your stories are in high demand, and that we are watching the new arrivals in the gorge."

"How would he know that last one from my name?" Vrijeval asked, confused.

"Because if it be training, then old resident would be in charge. So they new arrivals and not training. What Spotter no understand, however..." He gestured towards the threehorns below. "...is why they act paranoid near valley."

Volant laughed. "Well, they are threehorns, dear. When are they not paranoid?"

Petrie turned towards Vrijeval and gave him a respectful nod. It was both a show of respect and a dismissal.

Vrijeval nodded back, leapt off his perch, and retraced his old route back into the valley.

Volant watched the guard depart in silence. "So I take it this isn't a social call. What is it that Seeker needs?"

Petrie shook his head. "Me here on my own." He gestured widely with both of his wings. "Why does the valley spy on hidden runners?"

Volant sighed as she sat down beside her son, silently watching the threehorns down below.

"The valley cannot be too cautious after Redclaw. You know this, dear."

Petrie nodded. "Me know this, but there be better ways." He kicked a small stone with his foot. "Like talking to them."

Volant laughed. "What someone says and what they do are sometimes two different things."

Petrie gritted his beak. "Me know that! But one can watch and talk at different times. A watcher who has said kind words make me feel less bad than watcher who say nothing at all."

Volant grew silent as she noticed her son's agitation. Her surprise was obvious. "What's wrong, Spotter?"

Petrie sighed as he looked at the ravine. "Momma, your watching has caused us quite the problem. They think we do watching, and now they try to watch us."

Volant opened her beak to speak, but then promptly closed it. The implications of his words slowly beginning to dawn on her. "Dear, surely you didn't…"

Petrie merely stared at his mother. "No one die yet. But if you want to keep it that way, then we need valley's help."

Many miles away:

"Is there a reason I'm the one getting brought along on this?" Violet wondered aloud, half hoping she might get an answer. I'm not exactly finished learning about healing yet.

"Because you're the Great Mender, of course!" Spike replied cheekily as Ducky gave him a playful slap, "And we will need two healers for this…"

"Remind me to eat Flinter if I ever see him again," Violet grumbled. Him and that other tiny biter. What was his name? Who cares; he's lunch now.

Cynnil noticeably tensed up as she looked at Littlefoot awkwardly. Her expression conveyed both the joy of a future homecoming and the despair of an expected execution. It was then that Violet realized that Cynnil had no idea what to expect in the days ahead.

Of course, neither did she.

"But I am sure that if Mender can help our younglings then all of this can be forgiven. No one has been hurt badly, and it seems we all have… um… made some mistakes…"

Why does everyone want my help? Violet wondered, We've got three much better healers in the pack already, so why does everyone keep wanting me?

"So you spy on us and then you make demands upon us?" Cera's questioning voice cut through Viscond's words like a claw through belly fat.

"No demands… just hope. We lose so many younglings to the Bloody Cough each Warm Time, and if your Mender can help swimmers then surely you could help us." He looked at his claws for a moment. "I am sure that we can offer something as well if you help us. My mate simply wants to make this right."

"So… um… you're angry at this Flinter person?"

"Had the stupid tiny biter not told anyone about us helping him and his pack, no one would make the mistake that I have any clue what I'm doing. I am still learning," Violet replied, overemphasizing the last word.

"So says the healer who has cured an entire herd of swimmer younglings, Leap, a pack of tiny biters, and the Burrowing Buzzer that was in my back." Spike rolled his eyes.

"You're better than you think, Mender," Ducky affirmed as she gave her friend a respectful nod, "Though none of us have worked on hidden runners before."

"We're doomed," Violet groaned. Well, I'm doomed. They're asking for my help. Stupid hidden runners.

"Well, that's uplifting!" Littlefoot affirmed with a laugh, "Where to next, Cynnil? I don't know where this Twisted Gorge is."

"We follow the stream until we get to the cliffs, and then we follow them for a day." Cynnil confirmed, "But we need to be careful because of the packs over here. If Viscond had to hide in…"

"Don't worry, we know her," Littlefoot affirmed with a smile, "Slash is a friend of ours."

"I don't think she knows me," Violet said a bit nervously, "Is that going to be a problem?"

Ducky answered for Littlefoot, "You're with us, right?"

"I was in your territory, and the last time I met some of your friends it didn't go so well," Violet replied.

Littlefoot stopped as he turned back towards his violet packmate. "I know that it may seem a bit frightening, Mender, but don't worry. Spotter let her know about this yesterday."

"You think Slash will proposition you again, Seeker?" Spike asked with a cheeky smile.

Violet glanced at her leader, rather confused. Seeing Littlefoot look embarrassed was even more confusing. She nearly asked for clarification but forced herself to remain quiet.

That was when Littlefoot glared at Spike's smile and made a downward gesture with his sickle claw. In that instance Violet began to fear that she was witnessing the beginning of a fight.

"She didn't know he was with Ponder when they first met," Ducky clarified with an amused whisper, "Ponder quickly filled her in on that piece of information."

"Oh." That must have been awkward, Violet thought.

Spike laughed at Littlefoot's obscene gesture. "I don't think Seeker would have been interested anyway. Slash and her friends seem unwilling to be followers."

"Surviving Calin will do that to someone," Ducky's voice noted darkly.

Violet gave Ducky a questioning look. Really? That's odd. From what I remember about Staza at the time she had the exact opposite reaction.

Cynnil looked around uncomfortably. "She was told about me, right?"

Littlefoot looked at her kindly. "Don't worry, she has been informed that you are not to be hunted. It seems that Viscond already met her," he added the last sentence with obvious amusement.

"I thought you hidden runners could disappear anyway?" Violet added.

"Oh… he disappeared alright!" Littlefoot laughed loudly as he shook his head. "But if I had prey do something like that to me I would be tempted to let them go anyway."

"Huh?" Violet asked, "What's so funny?"

Cynnil looked up as well, confusion on her face.

"It would not be my first choice to search for a hidden runner in a giant pile of spiketail shit either."

Oh... smart hidden runner. Before joining Seeker's pack I still would've eaten him, though.

As the others laughed, they didn't notice Cynnil's concerned look.

Well, everyone but Violet. She tapped Cynnil on the shoulder and gestured for her to follow.

Cynnil gulped but followed her friend. Had she done something wrong? None of the others seemed to notice as they traded playful insults.

"So, what's bothering you?" Violet asked once they were just far enough away not to be understood if they talked quietly.

"Well…" Cynnil began before pausing for several moments, as if to catch her thoughts, "I have no honor anymore. One of my old heroes has nearly been eaten by one of your pack's allies. And I am now going back to face my judgment…"

Cynnil sighed before speaking under her breath, "It might be more kind for you to eat me. Maybe Fate will let me live a more honorable life next time."

"Your hero did something rather clever," Violet responded, "And you, Cynnil, did something I wish I was capable of doing."

Cynnil looked up in confusion. "What's that?"

"You disobeyed an order you thought was wrong. I can't do that."

Cynnil didn't quite know how to respond to the fastbiter she was rapidly beginning to consider a friend. "I… well… I was angry. I let my emotions get the better of me."

"Well, at least you might have done something good with it. The last few times I acted in anger I humiliated myself and nearly got myself killed. What you said, despite being angry, made sense."

Cynnil nodded mutely before stopping suddenly. "Do you smell that?"

"No... smell what?" Violet asked. She started looking around, trying to see and hear what she couldn't smell.

"Scaring your guests again, Slash?"

Despite recognizing Littlefoot's voice Violet still jumped higher than Cynnil was tall in panic.

"Ah, so this is Mender! Nice to meet you!" Despite laughing a bit at Violet's panicked reaction she offered a kind bow. "And this is Cynnil, correct?"

Littlefoot nodded. "She is with us."

Slash snorted. "Good for her. So the little shit made it all the way to your territory, eh? I suppose he deserved it. I respect anyone who can trick our sniffers."

"He won't get that lucky next time!"

Violet's reaction to seeing a rose-colored female emerge from the nearby shrubbery was much less animated than her reaction to Slash's. Now you're just rubbing it in, she thought to herself.

"Somehow, my friends, I doubt that Viscond will want to take the same way back," Littlefoot responded with some amusement,"Though I suppose if we are to go any further you all will want a peace offering, hmmm?"

Upon hearing this Violet shifted herself so that she was between Cynnil and everyone else.

"Well, technically they still owe us one, right?" Spike muttered.

"A youngling swimmer, Finder," Slash protested with some amusement, "You never forget food, do you?"

"He never has and never will; nope, nope, nope!" Ducky affirmed.

"What does he do when there's not a lot of food?" Violet asked, "Path wouldn't shut up about food during my trip with him Taunt."

"We have gone through lean times before," Littlefoot affirmed, "Though that gives me an idea: perhaps we could hunt a nice little tiny biter for your lovely pack, Slash? Between that and the small swimmer you would then owe us… a slightly not-as-small swimmer."

"More chasing?" Violet asked excitedly. Please let me do it. Please!

The others tried to contain their laughter at Violet's enthusiasm, but Slash couldn't help but ask the obvious question, "Got some history with them, do ya?"

"I just like chasing stuff," Violet said in an attempt at denial.

Slash looked at her packmates with an amused expression. "Well, then! Let's see our friends in action."

"So let Spotter get this straight: Valley scared of everybody with pointy sticks, so you all spy on everyone. What you afraid hidden runners do? Attack same valley they save?"

The elder flyer sighed as her son glared at the Thundering Falls in the distance. She had been long concerned that the valley's decision could lead to problems, but she had no idea that they would have developed so soon.

"Son, you know what the valley has been through…"

"And me know what the hidden runners be through! Me help kill lot of them!"

Volant stared at her son in shock. She had no idea how to respond to her son's retort. The only parts of that story that she knew was what her brother had told her in confidence.

"You had no idea at the time that was what would happen. You did what you could to make sure that Redclaw was led astray," she responded carefully. Part of her wished that her brother was here in order to resolve this mess, but ironically enough it was his turn to monitor the hidden runners.

She had no idea the seed that she had planted in Petrie's mind.

One lie was bad, but it saved more than it kill… the other one helped to hide the first one. Maybe one more lie also help more than hurt?

Littlefoot watched the purple fastbiter with barely restrained amusement as she bounded with excitement while still maintaining silence. Yep. She certainly doesn't have a vendetta.

He turned to Spike and gave a shrug-like motion with his tail, to which Spike gave a slight bob of his head and a swipe above his own left ear.

I can hear something near the ground to my left.

Littlefoot quickly tapped Violet's shoulder and gestured towards Spike. Repeating the same gestures to his companion. His intentions were clear.

You have the best ears of the pack. Help out Spike.

Violet nodded and moved towards her larger companion before tapping her ear. When Spike didn't initially get what she was asking she repeated the gesture then swept her arm around to indicate the area in front of her.

Spike nodded and carefully moved beside her. He then took a deep breath that lasted for several seconds. The look that he then gave her was ecstatic.

He jerked his hand five times. Five separate scents. Five tiny biters.

Violet looked slightly disappointed at that but moved ahead slightly, straining to hear anything.

Meanwhile Littlefoot carefully moved nearly ten body-lengths to her side, waiting for confirmation on where to move next for the ambush. Spike, for his part, began to spread out in the opposite direction so that the bushes were covered on three sides.

Violet thought she caught the sound of tiny biters talking some distance ahead but appearing to be outside of the area three fastbiters would be covering. She glanced helplessly at Littlefoot, unsure how to tell him that he needed to move or even if she was allowed to do that. Eventually deciding to just let her pack leader know what was going on and let him figure out what needed to be done she first gestured at her ear before pointing towards where she heard the sound. Violet hoped that he'd get the message.

Littlefoot nodded slowly and edged away from the sound, being careful to maintain their envelopment strategy. He then glanced over for confirmation that he had understood correctly.

Violet nodded in confirmation.

"Are they gone yet?"

"Shhh!"

Violet initially froze at the sound but soon started to slowly advance towards its source, forgetting to tell Spike that he was now badly out of position.

"Ahhh!"

The youngling came bursting out of the bushes with an adult in tow, running straight into the gap left between Spike and Violet. Lucky for them, Littlefoot had prepared for the eventuality.

Violet scrambled to get after the escaping tiny biters, but the effort was soon proved to be unnecessary. Fortunately for her Ducky had moved to cover the gap, wounding the younger tiny biter before biting down on the adult's skull. Violet couldn't help but wince at the sight.

"Violet! Rear!"

Violet immediately spun around at Spike's warning to see two fleeing tiny biters. She immediately gave chase after her terrified targets.

The tiny biter's legs crashed into brambles and bushes as he tried to escape from his dedicated predator, but the pain barely registered in his brain. Only one thing mattered anymore.

Survival.

Ahead of him the bushes cleared as the green plains stretched in all directions. It was only then that he realized that he had run into certain death.

The tiny biter heard a panicked shriek from behind him before it was abruptly cut off with a loud crunch. The sight that greeted his eyes made him quake in fear.

The violet monster held his companion in her maw, her neck being bitten into with such force that her head was nearly liberated from her spasming body. The life had already left her small body by the time the predator dropped her corpse to the ground. Licking her bloodstained mouth with excited anticipation, the predator's crazed eyes found a fresh target.

The final thing he felt was her teeth penetrating his skull.

"I got 'em," Violet declared happily as she started to think about how she was supposed to get both of the tiny biters to Littlefoot or wherever he wanted her to take them in a single trip.

"Nicely done! So you are the ears of the group?"

Not expecting anyone to be close, Violet leapt away from the voice and spun around in a defensive stance. While she eventually recognized Slash and calmed down it took far longer than it normally did. "Why does everyone keep doing that to me?" Violet panted, not having really caught what the other fastbiter had actually said.

"Whoa, easy there… I guess I shouldn't have intruded on the hunt," Slash soothed as her packmates followed closely behind, "Six, eh? I suppose that'll be enough for a peace offering."

Littlefoot snorted as he licked his mouth. "Wanting a battle over a tiny biter?"

"Maybe she wants something else to make it even?" Spike joked before Ducky hit him hard.

Slash rolled her eyes. "I would've expected that from the annoying orange one. What was his name again?"

"Taunt!" several voices called out at once.

Ah, yes, that was his name. And based upon everyone's response he has not changed one bit.

Slash looked at the violet fastbiter once again. She was a new member of Littlefoot's pack, having not been present when she and Littlefoot had come to their understanding over territory. Despite their differences over the seasons Slash knew one thing, anyone who hated Calin enough to risk their lives to fight him was a friend in her mind.

"So, when did you join Seeker's illustrious pack?" Slash was careful to look at Littlefoot as well. "I'm afraid my pack is the same as it has been."

"Yeah. Flutter Snout keeps on scaring away any nice males…"

"Oh, shut up!"

Slash merely turned to glare at her packmates for a moment before looking again at Violet. "My apologies. They are hungry, and they get feisty when they are hungry. Perhaps we can talk while we eat?"

Violet glanced back at Littlefoot, searching as much for stability from the strangeness she'd just witnessed as guidance on how to proceed.

This hesitancy was not lost on Slash as Littlefoot gestured for everyone to eat and began to make polite conversation with the members of the other pack, being careful to be at a friendly distance from the other pack leader.

Heh… don't worry, Seeker. I am not going to steal you from Ponder. She then redirected her focus on the obviously awkward female. But you… you are still quite the enigma.

"So… Mender, was it?"

"Yes, ma'am?" Violet responded, attempting to be as polite as possible.

"You were not here when our two packs met for the first time. So I am curious… How did you get to know Seeker's pack?"

"Um, well..." Finally deciding to throw away any semblance of acting on her own, Violet gave Littlefoot a pleading look; she had no clue whether he wanted the incident where she first met his pack to be known.

Littlefoot gave her a nod to continue, but his eyes were sympathetic. There was something there that he was trying to convey without words.

"I kinda ran into them on accident," Violet finally said carefully, not lying but leaving out anything she suspected might even remotely embarrass her pack leader.

"You were a lone fastbiter?" one of the other females asked.

"She was not," Littlefoot answered carefully, "This led to quite the misunderstanding."

Slash's eyes focused on him. You are understating it, I am sure.

"Luckily, no one died; no thanks to me," Ducky clarified with a sigh, "Thankfully Staza was able to pull through."

Slash nodded. So it came to blows once you saw others enter the territory. But she is not a captive, and this Staza is alive… "So… I take it this Staza is also a packmate now?"

"She and her mate joined another pack," Violet replied, again keeping details to a bare minimum. Unused to dealing with other packs she was erring very heavily on the side of caution.

"They joined with Thud's pack for now," Littlefoot added, "And now Mender is with us on our journey to the hidden runner lands… hopefully to resolve this misunderstanding."

Slash looked up at the tree in the distance that Cynnil had apparently decided to make her perch. Annoying or not, that hidden runner is a guest of ours. "Girls, make sure to save some for the hidden runner up there. I think a tail should be enough"

"I'll take one to her," Violet said, picking up a tail that had surprisingly been discarded despite being almost completely untouched and heading towards Cynnil before anyone had a chance to suggest otherwise.

Slash followed her with her eyes before focusing again on Littlefoot, who was also focusing on the purple fastbiter as she climbed the tree. "A bit skittish, isn't she?" she whispered in a hiss.

For his part Littlefoot nodded. "Her last pack leader wasn't the best. He actually left the others to their fate."

Slash's eyes narrowed. "That was the one you wanted us to kill if we found him?"

Littlefoot nodded. "I doubt that she would want us to spill her cousin's blood, despite his transgressions. But I would not ask the same of you."

Slash's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "Good."

Violet soon returned, this time choosing to sit by Ducky. "Cynnil apparently found the one tree I'm too heavy to climb," Violet told her friend with a laugh.

"A good strategy if any of us decided to go after her. If she hangs on tightly enough and the tree bends but does not break…" Slash made a wave-like motion with her back. "I will say this for the hidden runners, they are clever."

Me not know if this is clever, but me got to try.

Vrijeval guided Petrie into the Great Valley, trusting the flyer to follow him. The two flyers shadowing them from further back, however, weren't so trusting.

"They new? Or did Momma tell them about what me do last time?"

"Do you really want to do that now?" Vrijeval asked, having heard the tale but not been part of it. While he wasn't sure exactly what Petrie was going to do, he had a feeling that panicking the valley's residents would not make it any easier.

"We had to be on patrol all day the last time you were here!" one of Petrie's followers exclaimed, which made the flyer smirk.

"Well, in Petrie's defense it was Threehorn's idea, and you all get good practice!"

"Maybe next time you could fly over the Great Chasm," Vrijeval suggested, "I've been wondering what's beyond it."

"You never go yourself?" Petrie queried, "Not much there except for Cliff Flyers during Time of Eggs. If you fly for day, though, then you can go to island me and friends go to as kids."

"I might go see that someday," Vrijeval replied, "Looks like everyone's there already. See you down there." Not caring if Petrie followed directly, he performed an almost lazy turn before diving straight downwards.

Petrie snorted as his two shadows began to go closer to him, "Don't worry, Cloud and Liko, me not going to shit on spiketail herd or anything… ow!"

His brother flapped under him, causing him to momentarily lose control over his flight. His two siblings then parted in a lazy circle.

"That's for last time, Petrie!"

Petrie smiled. Some things never change. But as soon as he landed in the meeting circle his smile faded once more. Now what me do?

"Ah, Petrie. It is a pleasure to have you visit our valley once again." Petrie politely nodded in the threehorn's direction. "The valley's flyers will be glad to know that no more training sessions are scheduled for today."

Petrie allowed himself to smirk as the flyers murmured to themselves. It was only then that he noticed that Bron was nowhere to be seen.

"It will just be me, Mr. Spiketail…" He nodded at a rather boorish looking dinosaur. "And Mr. Domehead today. Bron is a bit busy with family business."

Petrie didn't quite understand. Family business?

"What brings you to the valley, Petrie?" the elder domehead asked with more than a hint of impatience, although he maintained the expected decorum.

Petrie cleared his throat. "Me come to valley to let valley know of problem," he hesitated, "Problem between valley and pack."

The valley as a whole did not react well to that, especially the swimmers. Between the panicked calls of the more nervous and the demands to know what the problem was from the more argumentative it was no surprise that the meeting was rapidly descending into chaos.

"Calm down, everyone!" Topps roared, which Tricia tried to replicate with the younglings who were near her. Under any other circumstances it would have been cute. Now, however, it was just a reminder of the seriousness of the situation.

Some of the members of the herds tried to assist in calming the crowd, but this rapidly led to arguments amongst that left the meeting in worse straits than before.

"Silence!"

It was only with Topps' roar that the valley finally calmed down to a manageable level of chaos. Seeing this, Volant did not waste any time.

"What kind of problem, Spotter?" his mother asked, with the very notable change of his name to the sharptooth form. This was not a chat between son and mother; this was a conversation between a pack and the herds.

"Valley spy on Mysterious Beyond, and this not usually problem…" Me need to be careful here. "But pack not know you spy on hidden runners."

"With all due respect, Petrie," Meaning no respect, Petrie thought with some humor as one of the more disagreeable valley residents, a domehead, lectured him, "but the valley's defenses are none of your concern."

The valley erupted again, with some of the domeheads agreeing with their herdmate, with most of the others trying to shout him down. Petrie waited for silence to return before speaking again.

"It be my concern when it causes pack to go to battle with other pack. Or is having hidden runners invade my territory your plan all along?

"They did what?" many of the valley's residents asked at the same time.

"What happened, Petrie?" Ura asked, fearing the worst.

"Well, it good to know valley not mean to do this…" Petrie allowed his words to drag so that the valley hung on his words, "Me guess hidden runners think your watchers were our watchers, and they sent watchers of their own."

"So they sent some spies…" Volant considered her son's words with obvious concern, which made Petrie regret the slight deception he was considering. Anything for the pack.

"They send four hidden runners so far… we let one be captive."

Topps sucked in a deep breath as he considered his other herd leaders. They didn't have to say a word. Everyone could understand the enormity of the situation.

"...and what happened to the other three?" Topps asked carefully. Petrie could practically read the regret on his face.

Petrie grew silent. Now was the time to tell the truth… from a certain perspective.

"The other three… no longer a problem to pack. But when Ignis find out valley behind this then valley have big problem."

As the chorus of panicked screams, angry shouts, and uncertain muttering commenced around him, Petrie had to suppress a sigh. He had gotten the reaction that he had intended from the valley.

Now the rest was up to Littlefoot and Violet.