Hey everyone. I want to start by thanking you for all your encouraging reviews, follows, favorites, and most of all patience. Please forgive me that it's been so long. I've barely had time to write this school year. This chapter's been in the making for a few months. With summer coming, I hope to change that. Thanks for not giving up on me.

Now then! We're back to Saban and Risa's flashback, and how they're doing in the Valley. There's a lot in this chapter, so I'll highlight main points to watch. You might catch who Red Claw's son is. And Saban's connection to them. Risa also gets to talk to Britta, so keep reading!

Next up! Grandma and Grandpa Longneck. And maybe another piece of Sierra's story.

Thanks for all your amazing suggestions, questions, and ideas. I hope to keep hearing from you.

PS- Please please forgive me for grammar mistakes at the end. I have an assignment to do and I thought you might be more willing to excuse a few errors than wait until who-knows-when for another chapter. Enjoy, R&R, and thank you!

Chapter 24 First Visit

Risa

Risa checked out what little area they were allowed to live in. They were going to be shown the secret path to the Mysterious Beyond tomorrow. But for now, all they wanted to do was rest. Ruby's father made sure they were settled and lingered a little, almost as long as the Threehorn did. But they all finally left, leaving them to get much needed rest.

Saban decided to take advantage of the fact that there was no longer any danger, and plopped down wherever he pleased. He'd found a soft bed of grass not far from their stream. Chomper had sprawled out across his father's nose, asking millions of questions in their language and quickly going on about how he'd show them everything about the valley. Needless to say, Saban didn't think it would be that simple. But he at least remained optomistic with Chomper.

Risa rearranged a few things. Like stomping down a few trees so they could walk without getting tangled up. She smiled when she returned to see Chomper and Saban sound asleep. It was like it used to be. Before they moved to the island and before Chomper moved to the valley. She'd missed it so.

She gently nudged Chomper and happily licked Saban's cheek. Saban slightly opened his eyes.

"Most beautiful thing I've seen since we moved…" he rumbled.

"Please." She lay down beside him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

A silence. Saban turned his head to looked at her. "So that flyer back there…?"

Risa's eyes fell to the ground. "It's…complicated."

"You knew her?"

Risa nodded.

"Should I ask how?"

"No."

A pause. She and Saban never pushed topics they didn't want to discuss.

"Well, she has a way of showing gratitude, doesn't she?"

"Sensitive topic…"

"Dang it, Risa," he growled. He slid Chomper off of his nose and on to hers. "You know what? Here."

Risa caught Chomper as Saban got up and started exploring on his own. But Chomper was already awake from the movement. Risa smiled at him. "Your father's restless. He wants to see our new home."

Chomper looked around. "Ugh, mostly trees."

"Anything temporary to eat?" Saban asked.

Risa and Chomper glared at him. Saban was wading in the stream. He scuffed at the bottom of the stream with one foot. "Didn't you say there was something we could actually eat in here?"

Chomper hopped off Risa's nose. "Dad! You're scaring away the fish!"

Saban looked at him in confusion. His look made Risa laugh. She curled her tail around her feet and watched her son attempt to teach Saban how to fish.

Needless to say, "fishing" took patience. Not one of Saban's qualities. Instead of remaining still, Saban starting slinging his head back and forth in the water, his nose making a splash every time. Shockingly a fish landed on his nose. Saban jumped up and tried tossing it in the air. Risa and Chomper roared with laughter when the fish finned his nose and plopped back into the water.

Saban growled and dove for it, sloshing the water around with his tail and feet. Saban slipped and fell on a slippery rock. Instead of getting up, he stayed down.

"Anything else?" he mumbled.

Chomper tried to think a minute. He brightened when an annoying buzzing insect fly by. "Wait! We've got these. They're all over the place!"

Chomper jumped up and crushed the bug with his jaws. Risa and Saban's mouths hung open in shock as they watched their son, a sharptooth they'd trained to hunt themselves, chew the insect. They exchanged glances, then looked back at their son. Was this what he'd been eating? Risa found herself concerned for his health.

"That?" Saban asked. "We're supposed to eat that?"

"They're pretty good," Chomper said innocently. "Just don't eat the purple one. They spray."

Saban's eyes followed a purple insect as it crossed his path. "Have you no pride?" he rumbled to Chomper.

"Just surviving…" Chomper said.

"I think it's creative," Risa tried.

"Woman, do you have to disagree with everything I do around here?" Saban snapped.

"Not when you do something right."

Saban thought about that, took a drink of water, and plopped down beside her. Risa chuckled and nuzzled his cheek, suddenly remembering just why she ever fell in love with him in the first place.

Saban ruined the moment. "Couldn't we negotiate a law that says if they come on our land, we can hunt or something…." He mumbled.

"Saban… You're going hunting in the Mysterious Beyond tomorrow. Hush."

"Legally. That's no fun."

Risa chortled and shook her head. Ruby waved from the other side of the stream.

"We were wondering if Chomper could come play!"

Chomper looked up at them.

"Go ahead, Chomper." Risa nodded.

Chomper bounced up excitedly and quickly crossed the stream. He waved back at them. "See you in a little while!"

Saban yawned lazily, rolled onto his back, and stretched his legs in the air. He rested his head on her back. "Why did you let him go? Didn't we just move here for time with him?"

Risa sighed. "Alone time," she said simply.

Saban's head snapped back to make eye contact with her when he heard those words. He purred, rolled over onto his side, and made a pathetic attempt at a flirtacious pose on his side. Risa laughed. "Nice try."

Risa stood up and walked to the stream. She lay back down and curled her tail around her feet, peering down into the water at her own reflection. It was true her kind was…intimidating. But just because they were hunters, did they have to be monsters? She was a mom, just like any of the mothers here. And Saban was a mate. Just like that flyer was to the pink flyer she knew. How would they ever get each other to understand? Especially when they didn't speak the same language.

"That bad?" Saban's voice sounded far away.

"No, just...fishing," Risa said.

"Well, good luck."

Saban rolled over and, to her surprise, licked her cheek before walking away to explore more. She thought he'd argue with her, but he wasn't. He was trying his best. And she loved him for it. It reminded her of how she'd come to love him when they were trapped inside the cave, where they'd first got to know the other side of each other in the first place.

…

So she was stuck with one of the last sharpteeth on earth she'd wanted to be stuck with. Ramon's directions were clear enough.

"To the left!"

There was barely enough room for them to move in this crevice. Saban tried keeping up and cracking jokes a few times to break the ice. Risa's hip hurt, and she wasn't in the mood. They had to track their way out of there!

Saban quickly became irritated with her abrupt attitude and began giving it right back to her. They reached a point where the crevice got thinner. They could walk through.

Saban pushed past her. "S'cuse me."

"What are you doing?" she snapped.

"We have to walk sideways." He turned to the side and tried getting through the crevice, ducking around the round edges that stuck out of the wall, only to run into another one. He looked ridiculous.

Risa got irritated. "That's not going to work."

"Yes, it will."

"You're a sharptooth! Whip your tail!"

"I just wanna get through…"

Risa smacked one side of the wall with her tail hard enough to make a few pieces of stone fall off one of the edges. Saban's eyes burned red with anger. Suddenly, he whipped around and slapped the other side even harder. The edges broke off so they could get through, but several other stones fell into their path.

"You see what that causes now?" he roared. "If you want to get out of here, and I do, we have to work together."

Risa was astounded by his aggressive side; even though he had a point, and she was slightly frightened, she still felt the need to come back with something. He wasn't as narrow-minded as she thought he was.

"Coming from someone who belongs to Red Claw's herd. I thought your philosophy was to destroy everything. Like his!"

"Well, people aren't always what they're branded, are they? I mean, you're supposed to be some sweetheart, and I think people have the wrong sharptooth because you're the meanest, most stubborn sharptooth I ever met!"

"I defend myself!" Risa retorted. "And who defends you, sir? You seem a little young to be Red Claw's 'childhood' friend. His son could be your age."

Saban's eyes narrowed sadly. He looked down at the ground. "No one defends me. But me being Red Claw's childhood friend… that's just a cover. His son is my age… But we were never great friends."

"Then… Why do you tell everyone he's your friend? That's a bad title."

"Because him taking me in is a worse title," Saban said simply. When she looked at him, he nodded. "Yeah, that's right. A sharptooth having to take me in as a teenage kid? Puts a damper on both our reputations as fierce sharpteeth, doesn't it? I left…what was left of my family…as a kid…"

"Why?"

A different, deeper look crossed Saban's face. "We fought a lot," he said quietly. He moved forward then, without making eye contact with her. It was so unlike him, Risa just followed and let him move the stones out of the way for her. She didn't ask any more questions. But she was…curious. She thought he was just another one of Red Claw's cronies. Suddenly, she felt like she might could trust him. A little.

"So what about your family?" Saban asked after a long while of silence.

Risa stopped. A brief flashback of her mother's face came to mind, then she shook her head to clear the memory.

"I don't have any," she said dismissively.

"Just…Aria and Ramon?" Saban asked.

"Well, yeah… Sort of," she said. "It was just Aria, then she met Ramon and…"

"Aw, well we always said it was because Ramon met Aria and…" he finished on a lighter note.

Risa laughed a little. Saban chuckled and kept moving. "We can't even sleep in here," he said.

"This is going to be hard," she said. "It's a long walk."

"Well," Saban said as he tested a rock with the weight of his foot, "it looks like we're going to have to help each other get through this. And for that…we have to trust each other. So what do I have to do to get you to trust me?"

"You already have," Risa said quietly, stepping ahead of him.

Saban didn't say anything. He just followed her for a while, then they switched again. Pretty soon, they began telling stories. Funny stories that made each other laugh. Risa had a few, but she really wasn't that funny. Saban told all the good ones that made her laugh so hard she was short of breath. Sometimes, she didn't believe some of the stupid things he did.

"Really?" she would ask.

And he would say something like, "Yeah, look I still got a scar under my tail."

Risa turned her face away with a grimace. He really was dumb enough to jump in a thorn patch just because Ramon and Red Claw's son dared him to.

Saban had a hard time trying to spot the scar in such a cramped space. "No, really! Wanna see?"

"No!" Risa laughed.

Saban glanced back at his rear end. "You sure?"

"Yes."

He walked ahead, still looking back at her. "Okay, then... OW!"

He growled when he ran right into a crevice that made the squeeze impossibly tighter. Risa couldn't help but laugh before taking in the fact that their way was blocked.

"This can't be right." She looked at Saban. "How long have we been traveling?"

"I don't know. My feet hurt. But it all looks the same down here."

"This can't be right!"

She lightly slapped at the too-narrow passage with her tail. It gave way a little. They were puzzled. Suddenly, a familiar growl of excitement sounded from behind the wall.

Risa brightened. "Aria?!"

An even more excited growl answered back. Saban's teeth showed in a kind of smile. "Ramon!"

But Aria and Ramon kept growling something. It was muffled by the wall. All Risa could see through the crack was Aria's eye.

"What are they going on about?" Saban asked.

"I can't understand them," Risa said helplessly.

"Well, let's go find out. It was fun, Risa. You're not so bad." He slammed his tail into the crevice wall. It started to crumble. Another hit from the outside caused the top the break.

"Maybe we can do it again sometime," Risa said teasingly, slapping the wall. "We seem to have the same taste in prey anyway."

Saban laughed. Another hit from the outside broke the wall down entirely. Ramon was standing on the outside, huffing. "Were you two even determined to get out of there at all?"

"Long walk!" Saban said, squeezing out. Risa squeezed out after him and nuzzled Aria under the chin, grateful to be back in the light of….the night sky….again.

"We were so afraid you'd be crushed by rocks!" Aria said. She still sounded frightened.

"Crushed by rocks?" Risa asked. "Why?"

A worried look crossed Ramon's face. That never happened. "Red Claw's trying-"

He was cut off by a fierce, familiar roar. Red Claw himself crushed a tree and stepped out into the clearing, looking furious.

"SABAN! What is the meaning of this? Traitor! Joining up with the group I forbid you to associate with after all I've done for you?!"

Saban's jaw dropped. He'd read between the lines. "Were you the ones causing the rocks to fall?"

Red Claw didn't answer.

Saban leapt to his feet. "So you were going to crush us?! I only ran into an accident with Risa while going for your prey and got stuck down there! I wasn't with anybody!"

Red Claw circled Risa. "So she's trouble?"

Risa screeched and snarled at him. Saban ran in front of her. "No. You're trouble. I don't want any more part of this!"

Red Claw raised his head so that his good eye was glaring down. "So, then, that means you're no longer part of our herd…"

Saban looked back at Risa. "I think I'm better off alone."

"With her?" Red Claw laughed. He circled and slapped Aria down with his tail. "With them?"

He'd done the one thing he knew he need to get Ramon to challenge him. Ramon dashed for him, but suddenly, a dark green sharptooth, bigger than any of the sharpteeth there, stepped between them. Ramon stepped back.

Red Claw's son was nothing like him. He was mean and fierce, but not cowardly. He held nothing personal against his prey. No one challenged him, because it meant death. He was huge, green, thick, and had a lazy eye. But he was the favorite of his father, and Red Claw would do anything for him. His son was his one redemption for his behavior.

His son's redemption was nothing, except that he sometimes stopped his father from doing the most senseless acts when it was necessary. But no one ever thanked him, because he had such a cold heart about his good deeds. However, unlike Red Claw and Saban, he'd earned respect.

"Come Father, we shouldn't bother disturbing them anymore," he said simply.

Red Claw looked surprised. The only evidence that he was older was the deep lines on his face, and the scar that ran down his face and to his middle claw.

"But, Son, Saban has left you."

Saban started to say something, but Red Claw's son cut him off.

"Saban can choose his own life. We were never great friends, anyway."

And, with that, he melted into the trees. Red Claw hesitated, snarled at them one last time, then melted into the trees after him. The younger sharpteeth sat sprawled out in silence. Except for Aria's muffled groans as she sobbed.

Saban stood up to leave. "Don't cry, Aria. Just shows how weak he really is. Picking on someone innocent. Like you."

Risa stood when he turned. "Saban… Wait."

Saban stopped, turned around, and waited. Risa couldn't come up with anything else to say.

Ramon nuzzled Aria, gently helping her up. They could tell he was still furious, but was trying to hide it. He quickly caught on to what Risa was trying to say.

"Stay," he said, so simply everyone else laughed.

Saban sort of grinned. "Do I have a reason?"

They all looked up at Risa, but she was only looking at Saban.

"Well… I think… We could all use a good laugh."

Saban's grinned widened. "I'll take that," he said quietly.

He turned around, and came back. "Ramon. I still have that scar under my tail."

Ramon had to think for a minute, then he laughed aloud. "Aw, really?!"

…

Risa startled when she heard something that sounded like wind in the trees. Saban made a hissing noise.

"Saban!" she scolded, quiet as she could.

"Hello?" said a gentle, warm voice in plant eater language. Risa looked up, and spotted the same small pink flyer she'd saved earlier in the treetops. The poor thing was still trembling, but was eye level with her when she raised her head.

Risa looked at her. Saban's mouth hung open in disgust. "Risa…"

She growled at him to keep quiet. The pink flyer startled and clung to the trunk. She didn't realize what they were saying. Risa glared at Saban for making her scare the flyer.

Risa stared up at her, trying to get her to talk since she couldn't. The pink flyer got it, swallowed, and pointed to herself.

"I'm….Britta. Thank you. For saving me before. I just-"

She flinched when Risa nuzzled her and purred, like she had with Chomper's longneck friend once.

"Thank you," the pink flyer whispered. She pulled out a big leaf, like the one Chomper used to carry fruit to his friends on the island, except the sides came up more.

"I hope you forgive me coming to your land. But I wanted to thank you properly, and… I saw Chomper playing by the watering hole. I thought…it would be the best time to…explain my behavior."

She let the leaf drop to the ground, so that it landed in front of Saban. He just glared at it. He didn't touch it. "I brought this. For fish? My mate said you might prefer to catch them in bulk. So you…feel like you're…eating more?"

It was hard for her. Saban rolled his eyes at the very mention of fish and turned away. Britta seemed to get it. "No luck?"

Saban chaffed and walked away, leaving them alone. Britta held out something bundled in a smaller leaf. "I brought something else. For Chomper's foot."

Risa pressed her nose up to the medicine, then looked at Britta. She understood. "I'm the valley healer."

Risa made a gentle, purring noise and sort of tilted her head back to Saban, then looked back at the healer. Britta didn't understand at first, then she got it.

"Pterano is my mate," she said gently.

"Did you hatch that last egg?" Risa asked. When she'd laid Chomper's egg, her mind often drifted to the little bloody flyer she'd once spared.

She looked into the flyer's blue eyes. She was perhaps one of the most beautiful flyers Risa had ever seen. If flyers could be beautiful, this flyer would be it. And any children she ever had, if she had any.

Somehow, they shared enough of a connection that Britta understood once again and shook her head sadly.

"I lost everything," she said quietly. "All my children. I don't know if…I'll ever come as close to having children. Ever again."

Risa just stared back at her, not knowing how to tell her how sorry she was. It must be devastating. The flyer was so kind, the first to pay a visit to them on friendly terms, and it hardly seemed fair. Risa just nuzzled her again, wishing she could say something Britta would understand.

Britta flinched at first, then gently put a hand on her nose. "I think… I will be okay. I found my lost mate…and I have my nieces…and nephews."

After a few moments of peaceful silence, Britta smiled at her. "I'd better go. It's almost…time for dinner."

Saban was lying on his stomach somewhere with a grin. He growled in a joking way in agreement. Britta blinked, not knowing what to think, then laughed when she realized it was a joke.

"Maybe…I can visit again soon?"

Risa nodded eagerly. Britta took off. "Should I tell Chomper to start back?"

Risa nodded again. Britta flew between the tops of the trees, and was gone.

After she'd gone, she turned to Saban. "Think she may get…to where she isn't so scared."

He was still glancing in the direction she'd flown off in.

"Probably not," he said. "She'd be crazy to."

And with that, Risa and Saban silently took up fishing again.