Chapter 10: Reflection

Fyn looked up in awe at the towering sea creature before him. "E- Elsie, you said?"

"Yep," Ducky's voice sounded from behind, "that's her name."

"Oh," the creature remarked, "I remember you. Ducky, was it?"

"Yep, yep, yep, that's me." Fyn turned to see the Swimmer standing behind him. Would the surprises ever end today?

"Ducky, yes, that's it. I remember now. How are you?" She paused, "and where are your friends? Weren't there five of you?"

"Yes, but there are eight now. Chomper, Ruby, and Fyn joined us."

"So that's the Fin Neck's name: Fyn." Elsie playfully batted her eyes at the Longneck, "it's a very handsome name for a Longneck such as yourself."

"Oh, well... thanks!" Fyn said bashfully.

"You're quite welcome." Suddenly, her expression changed from one of enthusiasm to one of complete seriousness. She turned to Ducky.

"You said that Chomper and Ruby are with you?"

"Right over there," Ducky replied, pointing to the rest of the sleeping dinosaurs.

"Good," Elsie said, "I need to speak with them urgently."

"Why?"

Elsie frowned slightly. "Well, it's not really for me to say right now. I really need to wait for Chomper and Ruby."

"Fair enough," said Fyn. Elsie's expression brightened again.

"Now, Fyn," she said, "I've never met a Fin Neck before. Do you suppose you could tell me a little about yourself?"

Fyn and Elsie began to chat as everyone else began to wake up. Elsie was clearly very curious about him, because, as she said, she'd only heard about Fin Necks. She'd never actually seen one. Littlefoot saw them talking away as he woke up and smiled.

"Looks like Fyn found Elsie," he said to the rest of the waking dinosaurs. Cera's face began to take on a greenish hue as she recalled the ride Elsie had once given them. Moving around in the Big Water made her sick.

"Elsie?" Chomper said, waking up, "where?"

"Over there, talking to Fyn," Littlefoot said, gesturing.

"Finally," Chomper said, "I can get an answer."

"An answer to what?" Ruby said, yawning.

"An answer about what happened here." Chomper straightened up, stretched, and began to move to where Elsie was floating. Everyone else followed.

"-and that's why Fin Necks have spines and sails on our necks," Fyn said, as the rest of the gang drew near.

"How fascinating!" Elsie said, "and most impressive." She took note of the rest of the dinosaurs coming to join them.

"I remember all of you," she said, "I helped you back to your families many seasons ago."

"You did," Littlefoot agreed, "and now one of us is here to ask for your help again."

Chomper stepped forward, and again, Elsie's face grew solemn. "I see, and I think I know exactly he wants."

"What happened here?" Chomper asked, "I need to know."

"Yes," Littlefoot said, "whatever happened, it looks like it must have been terrible."

Elsie sighed and shook her head. "Yes, terrible, although I'm not sure that word is strong enough. It was a disaster." She looked to Chomper, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes," the Sharptooth answered without a trace of doubt.

"Very well, then," she began slowly.

"Not long ago, everything here was fine. The waters were peaceful, everyone living among the trees had plenty to eat, and the Sharpteeth on the island, including your parents," she nodded to Chomper, "kept to themselves and lived well."

"But what happened?" Chomper asked.

"I'm getting there," Elsie said. "One day, early this season, I was swimming deep out into the Big Water, to get away for a while. While I was out there, I felt a Watershake."

"A Watershake?" Petrie asked, "what that?"

"It's much like what you land-dwellers call an Earthshake, only it happens underwater. They're rare, but when they do happen, terrible things can follow. I've seen entire islands just disappear because of the enormous waves they make, and I knew the same thing could happen here. I immediately traveled back, to warn everyone. Unfortunately, everyone on the mainland thought I was a crazy sea-dweller. None of them listened to me. My luck wasn't much better on the island, either. Everyone there thought there was nothing to worry about, with the exception of two Sharpteeth: Chomper's parents."

Everyone was listening intently now.

"They tried to make everyone else see sense, and they called a meeting of every Sharptooth on the island. Obviously, not everyone came. Many Sharpteeth are too proud to listen to one another, even in a time of crisis. Even those who did come were still hard to convince that the possibility of danger was real, but," she addressed Chomper, "your parents' words seemed to hold a lot of weight. Eventually, they managed to convince several of the Sharpteeth to leave. They stayed behind to make sure that everyone who was going had the chance to get off the island safely."

"So they all left?" Cera asked.

"Not... exactly," Elsie said, hanging her head, "there was another Watershake; this time much stronger. I came up to the surface to see what was happening, and that was when I saw the first sign of what was coming: the water near the land was receding, falling back out to the middle of the Big Water, leaving more sand exposed. The dinosaurs living in the forest on the land were curious, and some came out to investigate. They had no idea of what was to come. We had no idea... Almost all of the dinosaurs leaving for the mainland were on the path over the water when the first wave hit," her voice began to choke; the words were hard for her. "It came from out of nowhere, and it was enormous, bigger than any dinosaur. Someone had said it looked like a mountain because of its size. I'm not familiar with mountains, so I'll assume you know what I mean."

Everyone understood perfectly, but a wave of that size? They had never experienced anything like that before.

"Those on the path never stood a chance. First, they were there, and then before you could blink, they were gone, just swept away. I never saw any of them again. Behind them, the island was pounded, too, but at first, its rocky walls saved it. Then the second wave hit, bigger than the first. It caught me and tossed me towards the land. I was completely helpless. I managed to get one last look at the island as the water carried me away; it was completely covered in water. Trees were falling, Sharpteeth were being carried out to sea, and huge pieces of land were just being ripped away. As I approached the land, I knew the forest stood no chance. I was thrown onto the sand, next to it, and my head hit a rock. My vision went dark, but before it did, I saw the water ravage the forest. I don't believe anyone in there survived."

Chomper was in shock, as was Ruby. The rest were still awestruck by what they had just heard. Two waves did all of this?

"What about my parents?" Chomper said, "were they washed away, too?"

"No," Elsie said, "in fact, it was they who saved my life. When I awoke, I was dry from laying under the Bright Circle for so long, and I was weak. I knew that if I couldn't get back to the Big Water, I would die. I barely had enough strength left to do so, but I called out for someone to help me. I'd nearly given up when Chomper's parents appeared. They seemed tired and worn, but they helped me, pushed me back into the water. When I spoke to them, they said that they'd managed to find high ground on the island, with a small number of others. No one else made it."

"But I don't understand," Chomper said, "if they survived, then where are they now?"

"They stayed behind on the island for a while, probably waiting for you. They knew you would be returning sometime soon, something about this ordeal that every Sharptooth goes through. Anyway, they left recently. The island couldn't sustain them any longer."

"They're gone?" Chomper couldn't believe it. His parents had left. Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.

"Thanks for letting me know, Elsie," he said, "you've always been a great friend to my family and me."

"I'm happy to help in any way I can. Just let me know if there's anything else you need. Now, it's time for me to get back to the Big Water. It calls to me."

"Goodbye," everyone said, as the great swimming Longneck dove into the water silently, leaving barely a ripple on the surface.

Chomper was quiet for a moment before finally speaking.

"I'm not sure I have any other option. I have to look for my parents."

"We could help you," Littlefoot offered.

"Thanks, but no. The longer you stay with me, the more danger you'll be in. I need to go alone from here on out."

Littlefoot considered Chomper's choice. "I understand, but spend one more day with us at least. We need some time to say goodbye."

"What will we do?"

"How about 'Kick the Seed?'" Ducky said.

Chomper's face lit up. "Kick the Seed" was his favorite game. Then he looked around at his friends. Everyone had definitely outgrown the traditional seed.

"Where are we going to find a seed big enough?"

"Right here," Petrie responded in a strained voice from above. He was carrying some kind of fruit. If nothing else, it looked like a seed. It was big, brown, round, and hard.

"That'll work," Fyn said, "let's get teams decided."

the dinosaurs split up into their respective teams; Chomper, Littlefoot, Ducky, and Spike on one side, and Fyn, Cera, Ruby, and Petrie on the other. Before long, their game had begun. They smiled and laughed as they weaved around each other, trying to score with the fruit. It was just like when they were younger, and the happy memories made Chomper forget about the difficulties he had to face. Today was a day to spend with his friends, and he wouldn't waste it.

The game was soon tied up, with both sides having achieved a score of 3 each. Littlefoot put the fruit in play, passing it to Chomper, who moved up towards the other side's goal. Fyn blocked him, but Chomper managed to get a pass to Littlefoot. Littlefoot, in turn, passed the fruit to Ducky, who tossed it up into the air over Cera's head. It seemed that Ruby, the goalkeeper, would catch it, but from out of nowhere, Chomper appeared and hit the fruit with his head, sending it past the goal line. His team cheered for him, and the other side acknowledged his victory as well. They'd been playing for so long, that none of them had noticed that the Bright Circle was now setting.

"What should we do now?" Littlefoot asked.

"Isn't it getting a bit late?" Chomper responded.

"Not for this occasion," Fyn said, "come on, let's explore a bit."

They all walked the length of the land bordering the Big Water, silhouetted majestically against the setting Bright Circle: the herd of friends, so unique and yet so alike at the same time. They explored long into the night, finding small treasures that the Big Water had given up. Petrie had a close encounter with a swimming Sharptooth when he flew too low over the water, but he escaped without harm, and everyone laughed about it afterwards. Finally, they came back to the edge of the forest at the water's edge.

"Good night, everyone," Ruby said. Everyone responded in kind as they settled in to slumber. Littlefoot lay still on the sand, unable to fall asleep.

"Littlefoot, you awake?" he heard Chomper say.

"Yeah, I can't sleep."

"Me neither." There was silence for a few moments before Chomper spoke again.

"Littlefoot?"

"Hm?"

"Promise you and your friends will never forget me."

"Of course I'll promise. Even if you're not here with us, you'll always be with us, in some way. I'm not really sure how it works, but it does."

"Who told you that?"

"My mother," Littlefoot answered, yawning.

"I would have loved to meet her," Chomper said.

"Yes, I think you would have, and I think she would have dreamed of the chance to actually talk to a Sharptooth. You see, deep down, I think she felt that none of us are really all that different."

"I like her already."

"Yeah," Littlefoot said, "she was the best mother I could hope for. Anyway, you need to sleep, so you can find your parents tomorrow."

"Alright," Chomper said, "goodnight, Littlefoot."

"Goodnight."

And for once, Chomper's mind was at peace.

Once again, sorry for the delay. I'm close to the finish, now, but I've got so much extra stuff on the side with school finishing up that my writing time has been limited. Still, I will try to finish this story before the week is out. Until next time, auf wiedersehen!