Hey, everyone. I'm sorry it's been a while. Classes take over your life! So the next chapter (33) will wrap up this book, and we will move on to Book 2. Yay!
We are starting Topps' story here. It's going to seem like some details are left out, but I have my reasons! I want to save some of the details involving Topps' former life for Book 2, and I think you will enjoy it!
Also, I'm putting together a list of the herds and families so you can keep them straight because there's a lot of characters. So let me know if you want me to post it. It will say who belongs to what family, who's alive, who's deceased…and who's fate is simply unknown or to be revealed.
I also want to take the time to ask for reviews, and thank you for favorites and follows. Reviews are how I know what I'm doing right and what needs to be improved, and what you think. And, as Book 1 comes to a close in the next chapter, please leave some thoughts for Book 2! If you want to watch out for Book 2, be sure to follow me at least long enough for me to post it! I'll remind you again on Chapter 33, the long awaited celebration of Briita and Pterano's wedding, but here are some questions I have for you guys if you choose to review….
Who is your favorite character and why?
What if your favorite chapter and why?
What would you like to see more of in the story?
What was the funniest scene?
What was the saddest scene?
What is most likely to keep you reading or stop you from reading?
…. And whatever else you can think of.
And with business covered, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 32 Surviving
Topps
Topps could feel Tria and Cera watching him with a close eye as he chewed his way through dinner. Tricia occasionally climbed on his back, babbling in her usual innocent way. He normally played with her, but today he simply turned to the side just enough to make her tumble off. That was all he needed to do to make her laugh and climb up his back again. He roughly chewed through the tree stars Tria had gathered.
Cera, so like him, groaned under her breath, annoyed with the chewing. His bad mood seemed to transfer into her, as she started to chew through her meal in an attempt to hurry and finish.
"We need to make sure we're ready for the wedding and Star Day Celebration by noon tomorrow," Tria said cheerfully, attempting to start a subject.
"I'm not going," Topps grumbled roughly.
Food dropped out of Cera's mouth as she looked up at him. Tria stared at him, stunned. It made it harder to eat. "Yes, you are," she tried.
"No. I'm not," Topps replied casually.
"Well, what is it this time?" Tria asked. "Is it because of Pterano? Because, if it is, he's not Cera's favorite person either. But she's still going. For Britta. And the celebration."
Topps snorted. If Pterano wasn't Cera's favorite person, he really wasn't his favorite person.
"Britta's not so bad, Daddy. And Pterano's not going to try anything anymore, not with her around. She hasn't been here long, and she's already helped Tricia and us lots of times…" Cera stated, trying to reason with him.
"I know she's not…" Topps acknowledged.
"Well, how do you think not going is going to make them feel, Topsy? What if no one showed up to our wedding because they didn't like your attitude? How would you feel?" Tria countered.
"Well, uhrm….. I don't know, Tria! I…try to make a point, sometimes, but I'm not a criminal! That's what's happening to this Valley right now! We're making all this fuss over how criminals, a-an-a-and….sharpteeth….feel! Might as well just….go back out into the Mysterious Beyond!"
Topps looked around at his daughters and mate, who were stunned by his sudden outburst. Cera actually seemed to think on it while Tria turned to her and a very confused Tricia. "Cera…Can you put Tricia down while I talk to Topsy?"
"Ooooohhhh, don't bother. Nevermind. I'll go to it," Topps snapped, rising to his feet.
He turned to go, and was halfway down the hill when Tria called out to him. Cera had already taken Tricia to bed.
"Not everyone can control what they are or what they did in the past, Topsy. But they deserve a chance to make a future. Surely you learned that a long time ago."
Topps turned to look up at her, but she'd already gone. He huffed, pawed the ground, and left their nest. He had a favorite thinking spot, or venting spot, whatever it was. But since it was late, he settled for plopping down by the watering hole.
For the hundredth time, he tried to make sense of all these recent events. And couldn't. The Valley used to be a relatively peaceful place. A paradise, where they could chase troubles out if they came because they'd all had enough of trouble out in the Mysterious Beyond. But now everything they tried so hard to keep out was coming in. And everyone treated it like it was a good thing.
All he heard was, "The sharpteeth will keep their word. They have a son here… They can help guard the Wall."
Or "Pterano changed. He pledged to the Valley, and he loves Britta. He wouldn't dare try anything to jeopardize that."
Topps blew air out his nose. People never learn.
"Mr. Threehorn? Is that you?"
Mr. Threehorn snapped his head to the side, only to find Britta standing away from him with something gathered in a leaf.
Topps mumbled and rolled his eyes.
"I can't go anywhere without you being there," he grumbled.
Britta sat the leaf down with a smirk. "That's funny, because I was just thinking the same thing about you. Are Tria and the kids asleep?"
"Yeah, why?"
She fished around in her bag and held up a bright pink shiny stone like the one Tria had mounted on a pile of rocks before Tricia and Mae accidentally knocked if off several weeks ago.
"I had to go for a supply run tonight because I'm short, and I found this for Tria in one of the caves. She asked me to keep an eye out for them. Do you think you can take it to her? I don't want to wake the children."
Topps just gave her a blank stare. The little flyer honestly confused him sometimes.
"What could you possibly need from the back of a cave?" he asked gruffly.
Britta sensed the tone in his voice and lightly sat the stone in front of him. She gather the leaf into a bundle. "Nothing pretty, I'm afraid. The moss growing in the back of those caves make better medicine than any around here."
"Moss?" Topps spat.
Britta nodded. "Well, I better go home and get to sleep. I hope this replaces the stone she lost…"
"Isn't it a little late to be gathering healing…stuff….on the day before your wedding?" Topps grumbled.
Right now, Britta seemed to wish she'd just dropped it off with Tria anyway. "Well, that's just it. I was short-handed on supplies and this is the last errand I needed to do, so I did. That way I wouldn't have to leave the Valley for a while anymore…"
He didn't say anything for a while. When he heard her turn to go, he blurted out his thoughts without fully meaning to. "Why would you marry somebody like Pterano?"
He turned his head when he heard her stop. She was looking back at him with a hint of sadness rather than anger of defense. He sighed. "Oooohhhh…. Britta, I didn't mean to…. With this, and these sharpteeth…. I just…"
Britta took it with grace, choosing to tease him rather than argue with him. "Aw, Mr. Threehorn, are we finally friends? Are you worried about me?"
Topps stared at her in confusion for a moment, then straightened his face. "No!" he huffed.
Britta laughed. "I think we might have a 'tell it like it is' friendship, which means we will most likely disagree on a lot of things… But I will be honest with you. I grew up with Pterano. I know the good, and the bad. And… We've always loved each other. Since we were kids. And when I was separated from him and Tess, I lost myself in my work. When I came here, I knew it would be a good opportunity because the Great Valley is a legendary paradise. But, to me, it was just another assignment as a healer. I never thought I would find….well, the closest thing I have left to family here."
When he didn't say anything, she attempted to help him understand. "Tria told me you two had a…somewhat similar situation. Finding each other again. Surely you know what it's like, don't you?"
Topps sighed and nodded. "See here, Britta, I didn't mean-"
"You didn't." Britta stood up. "Will we….see you tomorrow?"
"Probably," be stated gruffly.
Britta smiled and flew off, leaving him back to his thoughts. Topps sighed and scuffed his horn in the dirt. Now he felt guilty about having a point. But if he didn't challenge what the Valley was becoming, who would? No one else around here took one decision seriously, or considered the consequences. Sure, the sharptooth family loved their son. But what if hunger got the better of them one day and they feasted on impulse and just…left? Or what if those friends of Pterano's came back looking for him and took the kids? It just wasn't worth being merciful all the time.
Then again… He'd seen mercy pay off since he got here, too. More than he ever had before he tried to lead what was left of his herd here. When he left the place he'd known all his life to find this Valley, he said it would be his home until his last day as long as he could help it. And he still meant it. The worst this Valley could do was still ten times better than what was out there, that was certain. And as a highborn threehorn that had it as good as anyone could have it in the Mysterious Beyond, he knew without a doubt in his mind they had to protect this place.
…
"Stand and fight, Topps!"
The voice of his father still echoed in young Topps' head as he watched his sister, Ivy, leave with his ultimate rival. The one she was intended to marry, while he was left with his rival's sister, Sarah, whom he knew nothing about.
Right now, he wished that he'd ignored his duties as the heir of leader of the herd, and lived a normal life with his childhood sweetheart, Tria. But she was gone, and here he was. His father was probably furious with them because he was his rival, who were supposed to compete in a fight to amuse their soon to be mates, were apparently evenly matched enough to take all day. Ivy and Sarah hatched up a scheme to leave the fight and, as they'd planned, their fathers had no choice but to send the contestants after their betrothed.
They were supposed to return to the match, but it turned out that Ivy and Sarah didn't find a match a suitable way to get to know their future mates, so Topps and the other contestant accepted the fact that they would just have to deal with their fathers later.
It seemed Ivy and the one of the threehorns he disliked most were getting along, but Ivy could start a conversation with anybody. But Sarah, well… He didn't know what to do with Sarah. She didn't say anything.
Sarah was a pretty threehorn, similar to him but a lighter grey with hazel eyes and a serious face. They just stared blankly at each other for a moment. Or…he did. She actually seemed fairly calm.
"You don't…really want to do this, do you?" she asked.
Topps blinked. The question threw him off guard. When he heard "get to know you better," he thought they might start with a lighter topic. "Uh, uh-uhrm…. Of course I do!"
"Huh." Sarah sat down and turned her head to look at him. "Either you're lying, or crazy."
"So…you don't want to?" he asked nervously. Their fathers would kill them. Especially hers.
"I don't think anybody wants to marry someone they don't know," she said.
Topps noticed that he liked the sound of her voice. It was a perfect mix of high-pitched and calm, with an edge. Just enough for her to always be taken seriously. She might not be so bad.
"Well, what if…we know enough about each other by tomorrow?" he asked gruffly. "Would that make you feel better?"
"Enough?"
"Well, I don't think any old married couple knows everything about each other and we've only got tonight or until our Dad's yell for us all, so…."
She thought it over. "Okay, you start."
He'd stepped in a hole because he wasn't good with on the spot questions. "What's your favorite color?" he asked, feeling proud of himself.
She smiled at his lack of creativity, but didn't say anything. "Green. What's yours?"
"Grey. Your turn."
She thought a moment. Her eyes never left his. Never stared at the ground. "What do you want, Topps?"
That was a hard one. He struggled with his answer. "Oh, I don't know…" But when he thought it over, her realized that he just wanted what every other threehorn wanted.
"I want to make my herd proud. I want to survive. I want them to survive. And live to tell stories going back generations about the same herd instead of…not making it. I want to be strong, and I want them to be strong, too.
So what do you want, Sarah?"
She stood up, as if something he'd said stuck with her. It was like she was asking him something, but she didn't ask. "I just want a family, and like you, I want my family to survive."
A few moments passed, Topps stared at the ground. A few moments later, he heard, "I'd be honored to marry you tomorrow, Topps."
When he looked up, she had already turned to walk away. And he knew not to stop her. When he returned, things were not as he expected. Sarah's father was nowhere in sight. Not waiting to badger him about their whereabouts. And his father gave him a silent nod.
The next day, Topps proudly married Sarah a few hours after her adoptive brother married Ivy, and the two couples formed a long-lasting alliance between their herds.
He and Sarah did not have children right away, due to the famine that plagued the land. Sharpteeth migrated across the land. Topps trained Sarah to fight them, out of fear that she may be caught off guard one day. And, together with the other male threehorns in the herd and his father, Angus, they trained everyone else. Against sharpteeth, their herd was the strongest in the area.
Just when he and Sarah thought it safe enough to have children and learned she was expecting an egg, their area dried out, forcing them to migrate along with the other herds and exposing them to starvation, sickness, and predators. Once, the herd went several days without finding a drop of water. In their weakened state, they were less likely to have to strength to defend themselves against sharpteeth.
One day before they found a watering hole, a sharptooth attacked several members of the herd. Among them was his father, Angus. Angus was the first to take responsibility as the leader of his herd and defend the others. But due to weakness and age, he was defeated before Topps could get to him. The other members had the chance to run, which they did. Topps, however, ran to his father, who was being ripped to shreds by the starving sharptooths.
Topps stopped when he saw his father desperately shake his head and mouth "no" to him. Topps nearly ignored the command as he watched his father's eyes close, but Sarah stepped in front of him and nudged him with her horn, urging him to go back the other way.
One day before finding water, Angus was gone and Topps was now leader of the herd. Topps just couldn't believe that, after a lifetime of his father teaching him to fight, his last command was for him to run away.
After the death of his father, Topps was hard on his herd. It was tough out in the wasteland, but he kept them alive. They all hoped that, somehow, they would find a place to live. Topps loved Sarah and, as much as he hated it, was hardest on her. But he loved her too much for something to happen to her now. And soon, she rewarded him with beautiful children. One ray of hope in the middle of a desolate land. He had one son amongst several daughters that he named Angus, after his father, and a spunky first-born daughter he named Cera, after her mother.
Topps had a soft spot for his children, but he was hard on them from the start. Sarah scolded him on occasion for it, but knew that it had to be done under the circumstances. He let be their moral compass. His family was perfect, and it looked like they had everything they ever wanted.
But, like many good things, it didn't last long. One day, an earthshake like never before shook the land. It split families in two, and separated most loved ones forever. Creatures of all kind were so broken that they had no choice but to band together, forming a herd all sorts in order to survive. An act that, before, would have been unheard of.
Topps' herd was one of the herds that were deeply, if not most, affected that day. They happened to be resting right where the earthshake took place. Fortunately, Cera had wandered off to play with a longneck. And Topps and his young son, Angus, only survived because they had just left in search of her. But Sarah, his other daughters, and most of his herd were not so fortunate.
He and Angus were close enough to see what happened to them. When the earth shook, Angus fell against a sharp rock and took a deep gash in his side. Topps stopped to pick him up and help him on his back and turned just in time to see Sarah.
His daughters had panicked and ran the wrong way. Sarah might have made it if she'd run to him, but she went back for her children. And in a heap of dust and clumps of dirt and massive stones and at least hundreds of others bodies, fell into the depths of the earth when the earth split in two.
"Moooooommmmm!" Angus wailed.
"NO!" Like most family members standing by, Topps rushed for the edge on instinct. He quickly realized, however, that the edge was also crumbling away, and had no choice but to turn and run the other way.
When all the dust cleared, Topps was in despair. He knew he had only one hope left. "Angus," he said in a weak voice, "did you see your sister, Cera?"
He and Angus searched the other side as he pushed past other dinosaurs, who were also walking the edge looking for their loved ones.
He started to give up hope when, suddenly, he felt Angus jump. "Dad! Dad! Look! It's Cera! She's standing with a longneck over there!"
Topps squinted and saw that it was indeed his last surviving daughter, Cera, pacing the edge. For a moment, he was filled with joy. But then he realized….there was no way to get to her.
"CERAAAAAA!" he called in despair. He didn't know what was worse now. What if he never found her again, and never knew what happened to her.
"Mamaaaa! Daddy!" she whined from across the gaping pit.
For a while, none of the dinosaurs wanted to leave the ridge, afraid that if they left they would never see their loved ones again. They waited for three days. He met a lot of flyers because many of them went out in search of lost loved ones believed to be on the other side, most with no findings. He met two wise old longnecks. The wife helped him with Angus, who got a fast-acting infection in the gash on his side. There were, apparently, no experienced healers in the group. And no plants around for medicine.
They stayed there three days. Angus passed away there, and a few of the others helped him bury him with rocks left from the earthshake. Topps was brokenhearted, and had no willpower to question their decisions to search for a some land called the Great Valley. He just followed them because what was left of his herd wanted to and he really didn't want to lead anymore for the time being. He still wanted to live, in case he found Cera again.
And when they did find the Great Valley, he did.
…
"Hmph." Topps kicked a stone in the water and watched the ripples. Well, maybe he didn't necessarily have to jump to conclusions and make enemies out of the sharpteeth or Pterano's family. It seemed the only one having a difficult time was him. They seemed to be trying. But, one way or another, his family would live out their days in the Great Valley in peace.