CHAPTER 14

TERRIBLE NEWS AND A FUNERAL

Wendyk and Celik were the two threehorn guards on duty that morning. They were lying down, pawing on the rocky ground, like they always did, whenever it was their turn at the post. Celik sighed in boredom as he lazily looked around.

Then his eyes caught sight of something off in the distance. They grew wide as he saw what was coming. He tapped his fellow guard on the shoulder. "Wendyk! LOOK!" he said to him as he pointed.

Wendyk's eyes also went wide. He immediately stood up and screamed. "They're back! THEY'RE BACK!"

"Is it really them?"

"Of course it's them, you idiot!" he said as he smacked the back of Celik's head.

"Ow!"

Celik then noticed that the green eaters were not alone. "By the Primal Egg! Is that...? It IS! IT'S CHOMPER! And he's got two other sharptooth with him!

"Go tell the others!" Wendyk ordered.

"YES, SIR!" Celik happily shouted as he rushed off.

As they approached, Wendyk bellowed a greeting. "Welcome home, Councilor!"

"It's good to be home..."

"Alaina, Petrie... Cera!"

"Hi, Wendyk!" Cera said in a coy melodic tone.

"I... I thought about you all the time, you know."

"I know." Cera said, then gave him a loving look that stunned him into silence.

Lesik clearing his throat brought him out of his reverie. "Wendyk? You remember Chomper, don't you?"

"Hello again, Wendyk." Chomper said with a smile.

Lesik continued... "And this is his mate, V'Leck.."

Wendyk nodded. "Ma'am."

"... and his son Roary..."

Both nodded and growled in his direction. "They both said: 'Hello. It's a real pleasure to meet you.'" Chomper translated with a smile.

"Likewise, I'm sure."

Then he eyed what was around their necks. "What's with the necklaces?"

Lesik smiled. "They're gifts from the Head Councilor of the sharptooth."

"Nice." Wendyk commented with a note of sarcasm.

"... and Chomper has been named official Foreign Ambassador to The Great Valley of Peace! That's why he's carrying this staff made of long neck bone."

Wendyk nodded. "Great!" Then he turned his attention to Cera. "Uhh... Look, I... uhh..."

The sound of trotting coming from behind interrupted him. Celik had returned with three other threehorn guards, including Veek.

He came up to Lesik, and said in a panting voice. "We came as soon as we heard. We are to escort you to the Council meeting place right away..." He gave himself a few moments to catch his breath. "Something terrible's happened..."

"I was just getting to that, Veek." Wendyk interrupted.

"What?" Lesik asked.

Wendyk approached Cera. "Cera, I have terrible news..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Councilor Topsy... your father... is dead..."

Cera's eyes grew wide...

"... He died two days ago... Calling your name, apparently..."

Cera remained speechless for a few moments, then blurted out. "What! Wendyk, is this a joke! If it is, it's not funny!"

Wendyk shook his head. "I wish it were..." He came closer to Cera's face. "Your father really IS dead."

Cera turned towards Veek, who sadly nodded. All of the other threehorns also looked sad. Everyone was speechless. Too stunned to say anything. Lesik simply closed his eyes and lowered his head.

Cera turned away from everybody. After a few moments, her lips began to quiver. Her breathing became erratic. Wendyk quickly moved in to comfort her. She broke down and cried as soon as he embraced her. "DADDYYYYY!" she cried out as everybody gathered around her... even V'Leck and Roary, to give her comfort.

Although Councilor Topsy died in his sleep in his cave dwelling, he was moved over to the edge of the cliff where he was supposed to be pushed off after the memorial ceremony. Everyone vowed that they would allow his body to decompose all the way down to the bone, if necessary, until Cera's return so that she can say farewell to him one last time. Either that, or push him off once word was received of her death.

Even though they held off on the memorial ceremony, several Great Valley residents came by his corpse to mourn him already.

It was mid afternoon by the time Councilor Topsy's funeral took place. Word spread fast of the expedition party's return, and practically all off the Great Valley residents came to the Council meeting place to greet the now returned heroes. Though many were glad to see them back safe and sound, the mood was less than festive; considering Councilor Topsy's recent passing.

At the appointed hour, all of the remaining nine Councilors, as well as virutally all of the citizens of The Great Valley, were gathered. In turn, several of Councilor Topsy's closest friends came forward to say a few words about him. When they were finished, they offered their condolences to Cera, who gratiously accepted them.

Chomper was amazed at how similar their ritual was to those of the sharptooth. When the "Bloody Tummy"crisis was over, a grand ceremony was organized a week or so after in the valley of the sick, right at the cliff where all of the many thousands of sharptooth were unceremoniously dumped. The surviving relatives of all of the dead sharptooth were invited, as well as he, his family, the green eaters and all of the surviving Councilors. Everybody who was supposed to be there showed up. The dead sharptooth names were not mentioned, for such a thing would've taken practically all day to go through! But each next of kin of the deceased threw in a bouquet of what was known as "stinky flowers" over the cliff. This was then followed by a giant wake where everyone was allowed to mourn one final time.

Because of the dire circumstances, this grand ceremony had to be performed. Normally, when only one or two sharptooth die, his kind usually hold a ceremony much like this. In due time, he should tell them all about it. But for now, he simply watched and listened to the proceedings.

Then it was the surviving Councilors' turn to come forward to say their own words about their colleague... and friend... Lesik was the last of them to come forward to offer his own words. He didn't take any longer than necessary. By the time he was through, and said his final goodbye, tears were rolling down his facial features. Everyone applauded his valiant effort.

Then, when he regained his composure, he extended the courtesy of inviting Chomper to come forward to say his own words about Cera's father. Chomper was surprised at this. After receiving the nod from Lesik, he took his place in front of Councilor Topsy's corpse, turned to face the crowd, and spoke.

"Well... I can't say that I knew Councilor Topsy all that well personally, but I knew his daughter... KNOW his daughter." Chomper corrected himself as he glanced over at Cera sitting to his right with Wendyk beside her. "But after spending as much time as I have with Cera, seeing the way she acted... what she did, and all. I came to the conclusion that he must've been a proud and wonderful threehorn..." he glanced back at Cera. "...who raised an equally proud and wonderful daughter..." Cera smiled at him. Chomper smiled back briefly before concluding. "I guess that's all I can say about it. Thank you." He received a few polite applause as he left.

Lesik then came forward to call an end to the ceremony, and that everyone should leave to allow Cera to say her final farewells to her father. Everyone complied. Only Cera, Wendyk and the two threehorns assigned to push her father's body off of the cliff once all was done remained.

Cera came forward and just sat there in front of her father's corpse for a few minutes, not moving. Chomper surprised her by coming up beside her saying that his mate had an unusual request. She was wondering if she could cut off a piece of her father's corpse's flesh for their dinner tonight. Cera vehemently refused, at first, saying that she didn't want her father's body "tainted" by sharptooth clawmarks. But Chomper convinced her to allow his mate's request by saying that her father's spirit had moved on to The Great Beyond, and that his corpse was now just an empty shell; and that, in his mate's words, All of that still fresh meat should not go to waste. Finally, Cera nodded her consent.

While V'Leck set to work cutting away the flesh off of Councilor Topsy's underbelly, with the same precision as an expert surgeon, Chomper sat next to Cera with an arm around her shoulders. Wendyk looked uneasy about this, as he sat a little ways away from them. Chomper sensed his discomfort, and gave him a reassuring nod.

"The worst thing is: I never got a chance to say 'goodbye' to him." Cera sadly blurted out.

"But you DID say 'goodbye' to him, right before we all left for sharptooth country."

Cera sniffed. "I know... but..."

Chomper hugged her close, and surprised her by saying. "Would it comfort you to know that I never had a chance to say 'goodbye' to my own father before he died?"

Cera looked up at him. "You never told me that!"

Chomper nodded. "At the time, I was courting V'Leck; and she invited me to her cave dwelling one night for dinner to meet her parents. When a messenger came to give me word of the news, I ran home as quick as I could! I can still remember him lying there in his sleeping area. He looked so peaceful, although it was said he died quite suddenly of a heart attack." Chomper snorted. "I believe the last words I said to him was 'see you later' as I walked out of our cave, waiving to him, when I left for V'Leck's family cave that night."

This caused Cera to let loose a small laugh.

He then continued. "I can't remember if he waived back or not. But I cried for the longest time as I laid down right next to his body. I even fell asleep with my arm draped across him, facing him. It still amazes me to this day how peaceful he looked, despite the painful way he must've died. I was forced to get up the next morning when two sharptooth morticians came to take his body away to prepare him for his funeral."

"What about your mother, did you get a chance to say 'goodbye' to her before she died?" Cera asked.

Chomper nodded. "With her, it was different. She knew her time was near, and I never ventured too far from her, just in case. I remembered the day like it was yesterday! We were in our family cave. She was lying in her sleeping area. V'Leck was there, too." he said as he eyed his mate still working on cutting away the meat from Topsy's corpse.

She had specifically chosen the underbelly area, for it was out of the way of everyone's view. While her head stayed still just above Topsy's chest, Chomper knew that her razor sharp claws were feverishly working away at cutting away the flesh. Occasionally, he would see her head dissapear. He knew that she was sneaking in a bite or two.

"I had just announced to her that I had taken V'Leck as my life mate. Before she let out her last breath, she patted V'Leck's cheek, then placed her hand on my own, and told me that she was proud of me. She also said that I have chosen a fine female to start my own family with. I took her hand in mine... and just before her spirit moved in to The Great Beyond, I whispered to her 'Goodbye, mother. I'll miss you'. I must've sat there and sobbed for the better part of the afternoon before the healers finally came to take her body away. And a short time after that, V'Leck moved in. And the rest, as they say, is prehistory." Chomper smiled.

Cera was deeply touched. She didn't know that sharptooth also believed in The Great Beyond until she attended the grand funeral ceremony in The Valley of The Sick exactly two weeks after they had vanquished the "Bloody Tummy" epidemic. She had learned so much during their mission of mercy, and she knew that she would continue learning more, as long as she stayed friends with Chomper. Just friends. The best of friends. She thought.

"You were lucky to have known her the way you did." Cera said. "I hardly knew MY mother. She died a short time after I hatched out of my egg. I had four other sisters, so it wasn't easy for my father, being a single parent. Yet he still found time to look after all of us. But I seemed to be his favourite. I remember all of his stories of how a great female threehorn she was, and how she loved all of us." Cera shrugged. "But that's all I know about her. Just stories."

Chomper hugged her again. "I remember something Little Foot told me one time. Said he got it from his own mother. I believe it went something like: Your parents will always be there, even if you don't always see them." Chomper then shrugged. "Makes sense."

A roar got their attention. V'Leck was walking off towards the river with huge slabs of meat, obviously going to clean herself up. The roar would've translated to "Okay! I'm done." in the green eater language.

Chomper patted Cera on the shoulder as a sign to say that she can now go forward and say her final goodbye to her father. Cera hesitated before she approached her father's corpse. Chomper and Wendyk came up behind her. Cera started sobbing as she placed her chin on his cold muzzle. "Goodbye, father!" she managed as she shed tears on his facial features.

Chomper gave one final comforting pat on his shoulder as Wendyk came to take her away for her own private wake. He comforted her as best he could, but she couldn't stop sobbing, it seems. Chomper closed his eyes, looked down and breathed a heavy sigh as he walked off to join his mate over by the river. The two threehorns, who were patiently waiting to perform their duty, moved in to finally push Councilor Topsy's body into the abyss.