Hey guys, thanks for reading. I've uploaded another chapter. This is starts off as a fun chapter, but has a twist, so be prepared.

This chapter takes places on the same day as "Wedding Jitters." I'm going to post another chapter introducing Topps' story before posting the final events leading up to the end of Book 1.

As always, please read and review. I hope you enjoy the chapter. The beginning will be a surprise, but bear with it and it will be explained, as always.

Chapter 31 Sand Creepers

Risa

"Risa….Risa….RISA!" Risa startled from the wonderful sleep story she was having, only to hear to "soothing" whispers of her mate trying to wake her up. For whatever reason, Saban decided to whisper today.

"Risa…"

Risa stirred. "Noooo…. Saban…. Please let me sleep…."

He was almost quiet long enough to let her fall back into her sleep story. Then.

"Risa, get up slowly and move that log blocking the path…."

Why was he whispering and what for? Risa puffed out some air and ignored him.

"Risa…. Listen. I know you're not going to like this, but Chomper said he knows how to get these things out of here if you just…move….the…."

Risa had had enough of it. She leapt up and pushed her nose up to his. "You get up and move it, you lazy…."

She stopped talking when she spotted them over Saban's shoulder. An entire….swarm….of Sand Creepers pinching their claws together and staring at them. When she saw them, she immediately let out a long, loud roar of distress that made Saban's ears ring.

She was frozen when she realized that her call sent them scattering everywhere. Saban used his claw to scratch his ears. "See, son? I told you she wouldn't be happy."

"Happy?!" Risa went to smash one that was crawling up her leg, only to be stopped by her son.

"Mom, no! They are Ducky's friends! You can't squash them!"

"Where did they come from?!" Risa instinctively went to cross the river border, only to be stopped by her mate.

"You can't go that way, Risa!" He grabbed her by the tail with his mouth until she turned back around. She roared and stomped around again when she saw that some Sand Creepers were in the water with them.

Chomper, who was holding one, tried to calm her down. "Mom, mom! It's okay! They're aren't pinching anybody…"

Risa became frantic when more and more of them gathered around her. She made her way to the rocky ledge, forcing them to make way for her. She put one foot on a boulder and used the height to jump onto the ledge while using her legs to pull her up. When she was as safe as could be, she turned around and stared and her mate and son.

"I don't care what they're doing, Chomper! I have reasons why I don't like them and I want them gone! Tell your friend to get over here and take them, please!"

Saban ushered his son off, trying to offer a better explanation as Chomper left. Risa couldn't even stand the clattering of their claws and how they blankly stared at her. She lay down on the ledge and pressed her face to the wall.

She didn't know how he got up there, but she eventually felt Saban nuzzled her. She couldn't even bring herself to look up at him. "Risa….Risa. It's okay. I…I think they just got lost. It's okay…"

…

A very young Risa proceeded to sneak up on the Sand Creeper she'd chosen and take it by surprise. Her mother, who claimed a small piece of territory with sufficient food and trees for cover or shade, was beginning to make her attempt to hunt her own meal before she could eat a proper one.

Sometimes Risa was able to make her mother proud and bring home so much that she didn't even want anything else after. But most of the time, like today, Risa was forced to resort to desperate measures. She'd found a young threehorn she could take on their land, but had accidentally given it an opportunity to fend her off with its sharp horn.

Being short-handed, late, and made slow by the deep gashes in her side and right thigh she was forced to venture off their land and walk to where the Big Water met the sand. It wasn't far from their territory.

Risa always found the creatures in the Big Water dangerous or strange, but plenty of things roamed the shore, including the Sand Creeper she was stalking. She didn't want to chance fishing around in the water for prey. She'd seen many a sharptooth taken by surprise and dragged under by a Big Water Creature much bigger than them. But the Sand Creepers didn't taste half bad. They were actually somewhere between sweet and salty, but never filling.

They were no trouble to catch. Once Risa got close enough to it, she made the kill in the quickest way possible. She stomped on its shell and used her teeth to separate the shells. When its pinchers fell to its sides, she closed her jaws around the exposed body of the Sand Creeper. It was good. But not really as good as what her mother would have back at home.

Risa caught a few more Sand Creepers and made her way home, but was still hungry. She found her mother tearing into the same threehorn she'd tried to catch this morning. Her heart sank as she approached.

Her mother looked up from her new catch to examine her daughter. She was all Risa had, ever since she could remember, and she looked up to her mother. Her mother didn't need anyone to help her because she could hold her own just fine. Risa wanted to be just like her one day, though she would never look like her. Her mother was beige and light brown with green eyes, not at all like Risa's olive green color and bright red eyes.

Zahra noticed the deep gashes on her and immediately left her prey. "Risa! Are you alright?"

She started to lick Risa's wounds, but a Risa shied away. "I'm okay, Mother."

Her mother didn't persist. "What happened?" When Risa just stared at the threehorn, her mother gathered the story. "You tried to catch this threehorn?"

"Yeah, but it got away," Risa said quickly, ashamed.

She expected her mother to go silent, but instead Zahra nuzzled her daughter with a smile. "Oh, Risa! I'm so proud of you! Just for trying. Well, soon you won't even need me anymore."

"But….I missed," Risa replied.

"Hardly anyone gets a threehorn on their first try, Risa. You did well. But why didn't you come straight home? Did you eat something else?"

Risa was ashamed to say it, but her mother new that her choice today was always her last resort anyway. She cracked a weak smile. "Sand Creepers…"

She and her mother both laughed. Her mother pushed her forward with her nose. "Well, I think you deserve real food now."

Later that night, Risa lie awake after dozing for a few hours. She couldn't quite seem to get back to sleep. The scratches on her side and thigh were starting to burn and itch. She looked around to make sure her mother wasn't around to scold her for it and used the heel of her foot to rub at the scrape on her side, and then lightly bit at the one of her leg. She tossed and turned, getting more and more agitated.

As an hour or so passed, she began to wonder where he mother was. As a young sharptooth, it was very common for her to wake and find her mother gone. But not for a long time. She accepted the fact that she wasn't going to get any sleep and rolled to her feet to go find her.

She picked up her scent and followed her trailer. She didn't have to walk far. Her mother wasn't far from her, but was near the edge of their territory. The side that was joined with Andi's territory. Risa stopped in her tracks when she heard her mother's hushed growls, followed by his. Curious, she peeked out from behind a nearby rock and saw them standing on the edges of their territories, talking.

Risa wasn't nervous; she was sure Andi meant no harm. He was always kind, unlike Dhiren, the sharptooth who lived on the other side of them and always wanted to take their home from them for more hunting land. She never understood exactly why he was kind, and never talked to him much. Still, she wondered what he wanted.

"…means it this time, Zahra. He will kill you. Please, just…think about what I said."

Risa's jaw dropped. She stared at the ground. Had Dhiren threatened them again? Her mother had managed to fend him off so far without getting hurt, but he never really pressed the issue. Dhiren was a strong sharptooth. Probably stronger than Andi. What if he really did want their land this time?

Zahra took a deep breath before turning away. "He can tell me himself."

"Zahra!" Andi snapped. Risa's jaw dropped even more when he pressed his nose to her mother's cheek. Her mother startled, but didn't pull away. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn when there's an easier way? Leave this place, let him take it, and bring your daughter. You can both stay with me. Come on, Zahra, she'd love it. There's plenty of room for her to learn to hunt…"

Zahra pulled away. "And mate in exchange for shared territory? What does that teach Risa?" she snarled at him.

He gave her a minute to cool down. He spoke to her gently. "It isn't like it would be an arranged thing, Zahra. We don't have to mate, really… I've just….loved you…. Well, since I can remember."

Zahra seemed exasperated. "Please, Andi… I can't do this. I have Risa, and…"

"Well, maybe it was supposed to work out this way," he said. "Zahra, I don't think he's coming back-"

"I know," Zahra said.

Risa inched forward, hoping to hear more. Her mother never mentioned her father. Whenever Risa asked, she got an answer like "Not with us." She didn't know if he was dead or alive. Did he have another family? Eventally, she stopped asking.

But nothing else was said.

"….but I still don't think it would be a good thing for Risa, Andi. I'm sorry."

"So you never felt anything for me, then?"

Zahra thought a moment as Risa, unbeknownst to her, watched. "I don't know."

Andi stopped her as she began to walk away. "Dhiren means to come at sunrise tomorrow. Zahra, if he kills you, where will your daughter be then?"

Zahra stopped a moment, then walked away. Risa had to do some quick thinking and move downwind and on the other side of the boulder so her mother didn't see her as she passed. Chills went up Risa's spine when she realized that this pushed her onto Andi's territory.

Risa decided to wait a few minutes before she left her spot. Just as she was above to leave, she heard the bushes rustle behind her as someone snarled. Risa froze when she turned to see Andi in a hunting stance, his snout only inches from her face.

He stood up when he realized who she was. "Risa! Sorry… I thought you might be… Something I could eat." When she didn't say anything, he realized exactly where she was. "Were you….listening to us?"

Risa nodded, eyes fixated on Andi.

Andi sighed. "I hope you have a plan to throw your mother off this trail."

She nodded again and turned to go.

Andi called after her. "Risa…wait. I was only trying to help her, and you. You don't think I'm all that bad for that, do you?"

Risa thought about it a moment. Then she shook her head.

When the other sharptooth just nodded, she hurried the opposite way of her mother. She was too late to try to beat her mother back to their sleeping spot. So she decided to go to where the sand met the Big Water. She knew her mother would look for her there when she realized she was gone. And then she could just tell her she couldn't sleep.

She got to the shore when it was still dark with only a pale orange streak starting to shine through the sky. While she watched the waves from some rocks that jutted out into a rough pool that led to the Big Water, she decided to tell her mother she'd heard everything and ask her if they could leave. She didn't want her mother to die. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay with Andi, either. They could just leave.

She heard footsteps from far away, thought they might be her mother's, and turned to greet her. But the footsteps were coming faster and faster. Risa turned just in time to see Dhiren's teenage son, who was slightly older and bigger than she was, charging her from the sand. Risa scrambled into the fighting stance her mother taught her and tried to warn him off with a growl.

They'd only seen each other, but he'd never even acknowledged her existence before. Why would he charge her? Risa managed to dodge him, and bit into his shoulder hard. She knew not to mess around in a challenge. But Colin had fought before, and used a tail sweep hoping to make her trip. Risa managed to maintain her hold on his shoulder, and they both slipped on the rocks. Except Colin ended up on his feet first while Risa still scrambled on the wet rocks.

She bit his shoulder harder, which seemed to bother him. But Colin chose to ignore it and lightly bit down on her throat, shoving her closer and closer to the Big Water until he was nearly pushing her over.

Just as Risa thought she would never see her mother again, she heard her Zahra's loud roar from behind them. "STOP!"

Colin did not let go, but they both looked to the shore. Her mother was standing there with Dhiren, who didn't seem that phased by what his son was doing. Actually, he might have arranged it himself.

"I'll do it, Dhiren. Just let her go," Zahra begged.

Dhiren nodded to Collin without a word. Collin pulled Risa forward, planning to let her go. Only it wasn't enough. Risa still didn't have her footing. When Collin let go, Risa fell back into the Big Water and found herself flailing and sinking.

She tried to rise up, but she was not a swimmer. The light of the surface got further and further away. Risa stopped struggling and stared up at it. Only when she felt something big and rubbery rub against her did she flail again.

Suddenly, she heard a huge splash and large foams of bubbles sprang up around her. She didn't know how her mother did it, but her mother managed to pull her to the surface of the water and hand her to Andi, who had probably heard what was going on and just got there. Andi quickly sat her down on the rocks and tried to get a hold of Zahra, who'd lost the power of her jump and was having trouble maneuvering in the Big Water.

As soon as Risa had breath, she tried to get up and warn her mother. "Mother, get out of the water! Andi, there's something in the water!"

Neither one heard her. Finally, Andi was able to get his head under Zahra's chin and get her closer to the rocks where she could pull herself up with her legs. Risa saw the huge swimming sharptooth rise up out of the water with its mouth open just as her mother was about to pull herself back onto the rocks. When it disappeared under the water, her mother's eyes opened wide in shock as she gasped. Andi gasped when he realized what happened.

"Mooooooommmm!" Risa screeched. Andi tried his best to keep his grip on Zahra, but red was already starting to pool around her as the female sharptooth passed out.

"Dhiren! Help me!" Andi pleaded desperately.

Dhiren surprised them all by stepping forward and pulling Andi's tail to stabilize him, which helped Andi get a better hold on Zahra. Dhiren was about to try to help pull her back when three more swimming sharpteeth revealed themselves. When they disappeared under the water, Zahra was pulled away from them and jerked under. They could do nothing but water as red water splashed against the rocks.

Andi shook his head. "Zahra!"

"Nooooo!" Risa sobbed. She tried to run in after her mother, but Collin blocked her path.

"It's too late," he stated.

Risa tried to get around him, but he head butted her backwards, smashing her head into a rock. Risa lay still and helpless, in a kind of daze. She watched with blurred vision as Andi and Dhiren managed to pull the first swimming sharptooth out of the water and brutally kill it. Everything went black as Collin dragged her to the shore by her tail.

When she woke up, it was late morning. Her vision was still blurry, and her head and neck hurt. She felt another sharptooth put a foot on her back to pin her down as she lifted her head and tried to clear her vision.

When her vision cleared, she saw at least six bloodied swimming sharpteeth strewed on the sand. Bitten, thrown out of their home, and left for dead on the shore. Risa's breath grew ragged as all the events from early that morning flashed through her mind.

Dhiren was coming from the rocks, Andi was still there mourning, and her mother was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a little Sand Creeper scurried across her path and curiously stopped to stare at her and Collin. Maybe the friend of a Sand Creeper she'd already killed.

Risa tucked her head in her tail and began to cry. Collin gently removed her foot from her back when he realized she wasn't going anywhere. She felt Dhiren's shadow above her, but didn't acknowledge it until he spoke.

"You can stay on the territory until tomorrow, if you need. But by tomorrow, what was your territory will belong to Collin," he said.

"Take it," Risa snapped through tears. "I don't want to see it anymore."

Collin stood there in silence until his father considered his work done. "Come, Collin. Let's go home."

Collin turned without another word, but when he was so far away from her, he looked back again before disappearing into the trees.

Risa lay there a moment, then tried to stand. She stumbled around for a bit. With very slow, hesitant steps, she managed to get just far enough away from the rocks where Andi still stood so he could hear her. She didn't want to see anything anymore. Didn't want to see the Big Water. Didn't want to see the swimming sharpteeth, or the Sand Creepers.

"Andi!" she called. "Andi, I'm leaving! I'm going north! I can't stay here anymore!"

When he didn't react, she called out again. "I'm not coming up on the rocks!"

Just as she was about to leave, Andi turned and walked toward her. His muzzle and front had dried blood on it from taking his revenge on the swimming sharpteeth.

"W-Will you be alright on your own?" he asked breathlessly.

"I'll be better than here," she said.

Normally, he might have had something comforting to say. But right now, neither he nor she could find the words. He simply nodded. "Alright," he said in a raspy voice.

"What are you going to do?" Risa asked.

"I….I don't know," he replied quietly.

Risa nodded and started to leave. Andi turned to go back to the rocks. She looked over her shoulder and called out to him.

"Andi!"

When he turned around, she tried to smile. "Thanks for what you did. You'd make a really great father."

She left him staring after her as she went around what was once her and her mother's territory and went through Andi's to cross to the other side. All she knew was that she wanted to put as much distance between her and the Big Water as possible. She never wanted to see it again.

And she never saw it again…. Until Saban later convinced her to cross a land path to an island soon after they got Chomper back. "The best way to hunt food without competition and stay away from Red Claw," he'd said. "We can always cross back over if you don't like it."

She hated it from the start. Hated the land path…. Hated the strange Big Water. She felt sick all the way across. Were it not for Chomper being present, she and Saban would have been in several big arguments on the way.

And they were when the Big Water swallowed the land path and trapped them on the island. Even though she had Chomper go and hunt while she "talked to Daddy," she was sure their roars could be heard across the island. When the plated sharptooth knocked Chomper and his longneck friend into the Big Water, she was sure she would lose her son to its depths as well. But, remarkably, a creature name Elsie from the Big Water actually saved them.

She and Saban were afraid for their fates after Chomper's friends left the island with Elsie, having had all their prey cut off when they were sealed on the island by the disappearance of the land path. Soon, Chomper lost his energy due to lack of food and being depressed that his friends were gone. She and Saban fought. A lot. Until one day, the Big Water's level lowered enough to reveal the land path again.

When Saban spotted the land path, he pulled Chomper onto his head and quickly shoved Risa forward. "Risa, go! Now!"

The rocks were not as steady as when they crossed before, and Risa almost never crossed it, but Saban chased her forward anytime she wanted to turn back. Together, their family made it across the land path before it closed again. After that, Risa was forced to tell Saban everything, rather than just the bits and pieces they were in the habit of telling each other. When he heard, he promised they would never have anything to do with the Big Water or its creatures again.

…

And now here the Sand Creepers were. Just as she remembered them. Saban stayed with her until Chomper and his friends could get back with the leader of this swarm. It must have only been an hour, but it seemed like a day.

She and Saban looked up when they heard a clicking sound, louder than all the clattering going on in their home. Risa stood up when she realized that there was a red Sand Creeper, bigger than all the rest, standing on their ledge. He didn't seem interested in them, however.

Whatever he said made the Sand Creepers scurry away from their home in a crowd and back to the swamp lands. Chomper, the longneck, the big mouth, and the spike tail were looking up at them from below the ledge. Chomper climbed up and nuzzled Risa. "That's Scuttle, Mommy. He's taking the Sand Creepers back home."

Even Saban's jaw dropped when Scuttled turned around and spoke in plant eater. "I be sorry about that, ma'am. Ye must be the sharptooth's parents. These Creepers, they keeps wonderin' off. Of course I…never saw a sharptooth that was a'scared of a Sand Creeper a'fore… That reminds me of a story where…."

Saban and Risa exchanged glances before Saban swept Scuttled off the ledge and into the crowd of Sand Creepers with one quick flick of his tail. Scuttle was still talking and bidding farewell as he was carried off by the crowd.

Saban licked Risa's cheek. "Now will you come down?"

Risa looked around and saw a bush move. "Something's under there."

The spiketail noticed her gesture and poked his head in it, letting out a yell as he pulled it back out. A green Sand Creeper clung to his nose with its pinchers as the spiketail desperately tried to shake it off.

The big mouth clapped her hands. "Oh, look, Spike, it's your friend!"

In response, the spiketail let out an angry yell and chased the giggling Sand Creeper through the fading crowd.

A few of Chomper's friends laughed as they watched, but Chomper just nuzzled her again. "See, Mommy? Their gone. Do you feel better?"

Risa gradually calmed down as the sounds of the Sand Creepers died away. She nuzzled her son's cheek. "Yes. Thank you, Chomper. You and your friends. I…I just…."

"Its okay, Mommy." He turned to his friends and thanked them in their language. They all nodded.

"Those Sand Creepers tend to run off sometimes… But Ducky's pretty good at getting them back!" the longneck explained.

"Where are the others?" Risa asked Chomper.

"Uh… They are helping do stuff for Britta and Petrie's Uncle's wedding. We're supposed to go find out if we need to do anything else now. Can I go?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "Be back by nightfall."

"I will," he said, smiling and waving at them.

When they were gone, she looked back at Saban, who was sniffing the territory for any stragglers. She walked over to him and touched her nose to his cheek. "Saban, I'm sorry. I…just…."

He stood up and nuzzled her, looking deep into her eyes as he did so. "I know. Why don't you take a nap for little bit? I'll straighten up around her."

Risa hesitated, but she really did need it. It had been a while since she relived the worst memory of her life. "Okay," she said quietly.