A/N: The first rewritten chapter of Vocantem Ventis.
I only own the plot.
Violence will occur in later chapters so be warned.
Dinotrux belongs to DreamworksAnimated.
Enjoy.
Ty watched the Trux he had saved finally move up the ramp and out of the crater. "Good luck," he called before he turned to the others as they came up to him. "We are all packed. I only wish we had more room," said Revvit mournfully, who was sitting on the boxes of parts in Ton-Ton's bed with Ace, Waldo, and Click-Clack. "Yeah, there's so much we had to leave behind," added Waldo as the apple green and yellow Tool climbed onto Ty's shoulder before moving up to the red T-Trux's head.
Hearing Waldo's sentence, said Trux sighed. "Sounds like it's time for us to go." Those words had barely left his mouth before a great rumbling roar from the volcano followed his sentence, as if it was underlining what he had said. The group started to roll towards the slide in complete silence, Ton-Ton, the Tools and his trailer first, then Garby, then Dozer and the Tortools, and finally, Skya bringing up the rear.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really gonna miss that place. Overcame a lot of fears there," said Click-Clack, in a somewhat distant yet sorrow filled voice. Ace, however, was quick to reassure him on that point. "Don't worry, Click-Clack, we'll find new fears for you to overcome," she replied. "Do we have to?" he asked her, somewhat dubious as Ton-Ton started up the ramp.
Skya looked back when she noticed a certain yellow Trux was moving slow. "Dozer, c'mon, pick up the pace," she said. "Tortools aren't the speediest," he replied with a degree of firmness, shepherding the said Tools in front of him. The orange Craneosaur simply sighed. "Yeah, I know," was her response. As she reached the rock that hid a section of the lower part of the slide from view, she looked back at Ty and Revvit who were still where they were.
"Ty? You guys coming?" she asked, cautiously, knowing this would be the hardest for the two of them. Ty turned his head to look at her for a moment. He sighed before replying. "Right behind you," he answered. The orange Craneosaur nodded before continuing to follow the others. As she joined them at the top of the slide Skya noticed that they were all looking at her, clearly expecting a reason as the absence of two of the company.
"Where are Ty and Revvit?" Ace asked. Skya glanced back down the slope behind her before turning back and replying. "Taking one last look. This place means more to them than any of us combined." The others all silently agreed with her. Even though they had lived in the crater long before Ty came, he was the first of their group to consider working together to make things better for them.
As Skya rolled up the ramp Ty had watched her and the rest of his friends disappear behind the rock that shielded most of the lower part of the slide from his view before he slowly turned around and sighed once again. "Sure was nice," he said to himself sadly. "As nice as your previous home?" asked Revvit, who was still perched on top of his head. "Different. That place I found. This one I built. We built. A community. Friendships," the red T-Trux replied.
"Unfortunately, that does not make any difference to the volcano," his friend countered in a natural way. "Yeah, I know," said Ty slowly. Then, at last, he turned his treads towards the slide before looking back at the garage one last time. He stopped and closed his eyes, as if he wanted to hold the picture of what the red T-Trux had seen in his mind forever. His home. His true home.
One last time.
Then he opened them again and, without looking back once, rolled onto the slide, up to the top before finally took one final despairing look back at the home he had loved, where he had made friends and friendships that he treasured more than anything else in the world. Then he turned away and rolled off in the direction that his friends had taken. He soon found them waiting for him in a clearing not that far ahead.
None of them spoke until Dozer finally broke the agonising silence that was cast over them. "So, where do we go from here?" he asked. "I don't know, Dozer, but we'll find somewhere in the world to call home," Ty replied slowly. "You think it'll be as nice as, you know..." Garby trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He didn't have to. They all knew what he meant. "Maybe Garby, maybe," Ty said.
He then looked round at them all. "Let's roll everyone," he said. The T-Trux started forwards with the group following after him as they set off. To where they did not know, but wherever they went, they all had the same thought in their minds. Wherever they ended up they just hoped that, if they did find some place that they could eventually call home, it would be like their old one.
The silence that went with them was deafening. As mentioned before, minus Ty, they had all pretty much lived in the crater since they had been hatched. Even though the red T-Trux was an outsider he was easily regarded by everyone who had lived in the crater as a welcome one. He had shown them that working together they could stand up to D-Structs and build things that would have been impossible for any of them to accomplish on their own.
Meanwhile, back in the crater, D-Structs, Skrap-It, Lloyd, Break-Itt and Smash-Itt were heading towards the garage. "Uh, are you sure you want to do this now?" asked Skrap-It, looking up at his master. "The volcano seems eh kkkkt kind of angry," D-Structs immediately turned his head to the Scraptool and growled threateningly at him. "Yah! Maybe not that angry," his follower added quickly, hoping to avoid angering the white and black T-Trux further.
"There are parts in that garage. And I want to get them before the larva does," came the stern reply. "Before the larva does what?" Smash-Itt asked with his usual blankness. "Before the larva uses the parts scrap-head," Break-Itt replied crossly, ramming into his fellow Tool causing him to immediately trip over his own feet and fall behind the group. "Larva doesn't use parts, it melts them scrap-head!" Lloyd barked angrily.
Like the former before him, he rammed into Smash-It who was flung straight into Break-It resulting in both Scraptools ending up in a heap as they usually did when they started arguing. Finally they arrived at the garage and D-Structs approached with caution. He had never been inside it properly before so he didn't know what it would be like, but with the volcano ready to blow, he didn't have much of a choice.
Slowly, he rolled up the ramp, the Scraptools following behind him, as he cased the area in front of him for traps. But from what he could see there were no indications or anything that suggested the placing of such devices at all. Truth be told he had expected Ty's group to place, or at the very least have some form of security in order to protect their base from him, but since they were inside and around it most of the time it was clear they had decided not to bother.
"Get to work," he growled to his minions. Without arguing the quartet of Scraptools immediately began scurrying about and rummaging among the various part boxes and picking out and piling up the most important pieces, mainly T-Trux parts. When they had gathered all the parts that they knew they would need to repair D-Structs, if the need ever arose, they noticed a problem. "How are we gonna carry all these back?" asked Skrap-It, looking up at his master for an answer.
Said T-Trux thought before replying. "Put them on." Needing no further hassling or explanation, the four Tools obediently put the various nuts, bolts, screws and other parts into boxes that had been left behind by Ty and the others. As instructed, and using vines, they hoisted the boxes onto D-Structs where they could find space, mostly on his treads and back, and the remaining ones he picked up with his claw tail and all five headed out of the garage.
As they did so they felt the ground shake violently beneath them and they quickened their pace to get back to the high ground on which they had watched all the Trux and Tools in the crater flee from their soon to be destroyed home. When they got to the cliff top, where they had set up a temporary base camp, Skrap-It, Lloyd and the other two Tools unloaded the parts and put them under some overhanging rocks for safe keeping.
While they were storing the parts under said rocks, D-Structs, meanwhile, turned his gaze out towards the various builds and an evil smile appeared on his face before he let out a malevolent chuckle of triumph. "I told you that this crater belonged to me, Ty," he said, before shifting around to look directly at the volcano itself. "And it soon will be." He started to laugh again, quietly at first, before it grew louder and louder until it was echoing around the cliffs.
The scraptools, who had finished putting away the parts, smiled. A brand new era was coming to the crater, one in which their master would rule it. Forever. No longer would they have to scurry about in the fear of being nearly run over by Trux, no longer would they have to scavenge for scraps of ore and no longer would they have to stay and hide in the shadows and dart out for scrap whenever an opportunity presented itself.
As they did, they didn't notice a figure watching them from atop a hidden position on a high cliff behind them. It glanced up at the volcano, the air above it filled with tar black smoke that choked the sky. Once more it glanced down at D-Structs and the Scraptools, before an evil grin appeared on its face. "Rule this crater will you, D-Structs?" it said in a mocking tone before letting out a dark chuckle.
"I think not. I think not. You are as foolish as they come and more so," the figure went on. "However, I will admit that you are promising, let us see if you are what I hope you are." And with that the figure turned and rolled slowly backwards into the darkness of the tunnel in the crater wall behind it until only it's optics could still be seen, two narrowed glowing points of white with black dots in the centre.
As night fell and the moon and stars slowly began to appear in the sky, Ty and the others made camp in a small clearing by a stream and after having dinner, some forest ore that Ty found, they ate in silence. Of course they spent a few minutes separately thinking about where they could possibly go, but despite their minds being overloaded with thoughts none of them felt like sharing them with the others.
Talking, joking and everything else in between was what they normally would have done both while journeying and resting but now, nobody, not even Ton-Ton, who was usually the chatterbox of the group, felt like doing so. They all remained silent as they set up camp, ate what ore they could find and right up until when they slowly began dropping off to sleep, one by one, with Ty being the last.
Skya only slept for about half an hour before she heard engine noises and the sound of moving treads. She opened her eyes to see Ty roll slowly away from the group and towards the stream nearby. He stopped and then looked straight down at the shimmering water turned silver inthe moonlight. From his posture, she could tell that the red T-Trux wasn't looking good which wasn't really surprising given their situation.
It was well known among the group that the very idea of failing anyone who needed their help was one of the few things that would, or rather could, really make him uncharacteristically upset at both the gravity of the situation and himself. Though mostly at himself for not trying hard enough. Deciding to offer what condolences she could, Skya rolled quietly over and parked next to him.
"Is something wrong, Ty?" she asked quietly and her voice seemed to jolt him out of his stupor. "I just... can't believe I ran away again. After everything I've been through. After everything we've been through. Everything we've built but in the end? There was nothing we could do. Nothing I could do. And I let everybody in the crater down." Skya shook her head in response to this and decided to try and placate him.
"Ty, there was nothing you, or any of us could have done and we all know that even if we don't like it," she said. "You can't blame yourself just because you feel like you let all those Trux down because you didn't," Skya added comfortingly. "You made sure that everyone got out safely and you protected them." She paused for a moment. "Besides, we're all to blame as much as you," she went on slowly.
"It's like you said after we saved those Trux after we completed the slide and stood together against D-Structs, when we stand together, we stand strong." "Yeah I guess you're right," Ty replied, still looking down at his reflection in the water, but a small smile had now appeared on his face only to fade away as sadness once again took its place in his mind. "But we've never failed Trux who needed our help before," he continued.
"And you haven't," said Revvit as he appeared in front of Ty's optics, having crept silently up the red T-Trux while he had been talking to Skya. "Like she said, you made sure all the Trux and Tools got out of the crater, even though they lost our home in doing so," Revvit went on. "Besides, the lives of those Trux and Tools were far more important than our builds. As long as we have each other nothing will ever be able to stop us."
"Speaking of which, you think D-Structs left when we weren't looking? Not that he would, given his attitude," Skya asked. "I doubt it," replied Revvit. "As much as I hate to say it, he may go down with the crater." An awkward silence fell after this. Despite the animosity between the group and the white and black T-Trux, having him turned into scrap was not what they wanted to happen to him.
They had even saved him and Skrap-It from Scraptors one time when they had gone out to find a type of soft rock to complete the rock quarry they had been building, and been having a competition to see who could build the highest tower. That had mainly been Ty's doing. Dozer had wanted to leave the pair where they were, but in the others were quick to agree with their leader, so in the end, he eventually had to comply as well.
Ty still looked saddened, until Skya spoke again. "Did I ever tell you that I was forced out of my old home too, Ty? When I was young." The red T-Trux turned to her surprise and curiosity now present on his face. "No, why?" he asked. "Because of a Pounder," came the quiet reply. "A Poundersaurolophus? I've seen one, but never up close," he replied. "Good for you, because when a Pounder moves in, nobody stays," said Skya sadly, looking down at her reflection next to Ty's in the water.
"It drove my whole herd out of the valley we lived in." "Why didn't you fight back?" Ty asked. "I didn't have a choice. My herd was scared. As I've said, when a Pounder moves in, nobody stays. Pounder's mark their territory by pounding everything in sight, and everyone, you know that right? And this one was no exception, he was big, strong, and mean." "I do know what you mean, and I'm sorry to hear that," the red T-Trux replied.
"Don't apologise Ty, you don't have too," the orange Craneosaur said and, much to her relief, her friend smiled. "Thanks Skya, you're a great friend," he told her. "It's what I do," she replied, while flashing her trademark smile at him. "We could say the same thing Ty," said another voice and the pair looked round to see Dozer, Ton-Ton and Garby, along with the rest of the Reptools and the Tortools come up to them and they too were all smiling.
"Thanks everyone, I don't know what I'd do without you," said Ty gratefully. "Same here, dude." replied Ton-Ton. "And we will always have your back, Ty," added Revvit climbing onto his best friend's left tread housing. "Thanks Rev. Now let's get some sleep gang; big day ahead tomorrow," said Ty and together the group went back to the clearing. "So... if we do find a new home, what do you think it'll be like?" Ton-Ton asked.
Everyone thought for a moment. "Somewhere with plenty of space to build would be nice," admitted Ty. "Same here," agreed Revvit, who was still perched on top of his friends' head. "Lots of tasty rocks sounds good to me," added Garby. "Figured you'd probably say something like that," said Dozer, rolling his eyes. "I just hope it'll be somewhere that's got plenty of excitement," said Ace. "And I figured you'd say that," chipped in Waldo.
"H-hopefully not too much excitement," interjected Click-Clack nervously. "I think we can agree on one thing," said Skya. "That wherever it is, let's all just hope that it's somewhere that we can all call home," she said. "I couldn't have put it better myself, Skya," agreed Ty and so did the others. For some time afterwards they talked amongst themselves about adventures they'd had.
They talked about the builds they had constructed, new Trux and Tools that they had befriended and everything that had happened in between. Once again they all dropped off to sleep. Skya though remained awake for little bit longer. She cast her eyes around her friends as they slept before they came to rest on Ty with Revvit sleeping by his left tread and she smiled at the sight.
Next to the Reptool she, out of all of their group, knew Ty better than anyone else. She had been the first Trux he had spoken to when he had first arrived in the crater and had even accepted his offer of different species working together. For some reason, Skya felt that she was closer to him, particularly on a personal level like Revvit did. That sent a warm feeling through her frames that made her feel much more comfortable.
A slight rustling noise suddenly disturbed her and she looked around but could see nothing. Thinking it was probably just the wind, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep herself. Unknown to her, the noise that she had heard was not the wind at all. Had she looked harder, she would have noticed a pair of brilliant blue eyes watching her and the rest of her friends from behind some nearby bushes.
As quiet as a mouse, a pure white Trux emerged from behind them and slowly approached the group. It looked round at each of the Trux and Tools with a calm, yet deliberate gaze. Finally it turned its eyes towards the starry lit night sky as the wind started to pick up and leaves began to swirl about it. Its voice came next, in a slow, almost haunting chant. "All roads lead you to your destination if you don't know where you're going."
The wind continued to whirl about it in a small tornado as its chanting continued. "When the time comes that the sky burns with fire, a challenge shall cause an age of abundance and the rise of a new evil. Those who wander lost will be found. The homeless again, shall be home. Seek for the mountain that was broken, and all shall be revealed. The day is coming when, with water falling from the sky, two enemies shall bring forth a new unity."
There was a flash of light and the Trux disappeared entirely, leaving only a few leaves where it had once stood. None of the Trux or Tools woke during the whole incident. Suddenly, something moved in the darkness amongst the trees. Then a dark shape crept forwards into the camp, heading towards the ore pile that the group had amassed for their breakfast the next morning.
Ton-Ton snored loudly causing the figure to freeze in its tracks until the Ankylodump settled back down. Letting out a breath they had been holding they slowly inched their way forwards until they were half a Reptool length away from their target. Just as they were about to grab a sizable piece and get the heck out of dodge, Garby, in his slumber, chose to let off one of his late-night gas clouds.
The sound, and moreover, the smell, woke him up. He yawned and, his eyes half open in his drowsy state, glanced around the camp and spotted the strange Trux who had no time to hide. For a moment, they held their breath and didn't dare to move, hoping that the Stegarbasaurus would go back to sleep. Garby did this and the interloper breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they had gotten away with it.
Suddenly Garby's eyes flew open wide as he realised what, or rather, who he had just seen. Of course he gave a very loud yell which woke everyone up with start, Click-Clack in particular, the amber orange Reptool was tightly wound after all. They looked widely about them before the sound of metal colliding with wood got their attention and they looked round in time to see the strange Trux crash into a nearby tree, making the leaves fall, as they tried to escape.
A piece of ore was held firmly in their mouth. They were clearly dazed from the impact and were moving about in a series of dizzy movements until their eyes came back into focus and realised where they were and what their position was. Whoever it was took one look at the gang staring at them before dropping the ore, shut their eyes tight and start to stream out a hastily spoken excuse.
"Ididn'tmeantotakeyouroreIwasjusthungryandIfiguredyouwouldn'tmissasinglepiecePLEASEDON'TSCRAPME!" they shouted in blurr of words. Everyone activated their lights and finally got a better look at their intruder. To their surprise it was a young male Dozeratops. His paintwork was jet black, the same colour Ty wore on occasion when stealth was needed, which would have made him impossible to spot had you not been looking for him.
Furthermore, he looked pretty underfed and in need of some repairs.
"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! It's ok! We're not going to hurt you," Ty told the Trux, who slowly did what he was told and eventually settled down enough so that he could get his words out properly. "You'll understand if I ask you if you're sure?" the Dozeratops asked carefully, eyeing the group with fear still clear in his voice and eyes. "Quite sure," said Revvit and the black Trux took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"So who are you?" Skya asked once he was back to a relative state of normality. "And what are you doing sneaking around our camp?" Dozer added. "My name is Shade, to answer your first question" the newcomer replied. "At least, that's what everyone calls me. My black paint makes me look like an area of shade so the name kind of stuck." "Well it certainly suits you, dude," agreed Ton-Ton.
"Thanks," Shade answered, giving a small smile at the blue Ankylodump. "As to your second question," he continued, "you don't know how hard it is to survive out here, especially on your own, let alone find food to eat. I spotted you guys earlier this morning and I followed you here. I saw you getting some ore so I figured you wouldn't have minded me taking some." "We wouldn't have minded at all if you had asked us," said Ty firmly.
Shade sighed. "I know, I know, and I deeply apologise for what I've done but, again, out here it's pretty much every Trux or Tool for themselves. If you're part of a herd and you get left behind that's it, your own your own. Out here survival is decided by either how fast, sneaky or strong you are." The gang exchanged shocked glances. True they had heard about some of these goings on but they never actually thought they would meet someone who had experienced it.
"Well that's not the case with us," said Skya. "Skya's right," said Ty. "We're a team. We look out for each other and stick together no matter what happens." "If you want to you could come along," suggested Ace. "Yeah, there's always room for one more in the group," chipped in Waldo. Shade looked round the group for any signs of deception but saw nothing but genuine looks on their faces.
At last he smiled and replied. "You've got yourselves a deal." A chorus of joyous expletives came from all around as they invited their newest team member into their ranks. Shortly afterwards, they had given him some more ore to eat while they plied him with further questions. "So do you know your way around these parts?" asked Ty. Shade chewed thoughtfully before replying. "Not as good as some Trux but good enough to get around."
"Do you think that you could lead us out of this forest?" Revvit asked, allowing a careful measure of hope to enter his voice. The black Dozeratops finished chewing and swallowed before replying. "Definitely. And I've heard there's an oasis somewhere beyond it. I don't know its exact location but it shouldn't be too hard to find." "That's settled then," said Ty. "Let's get some sleep. We've got a lot of ground to cover."
Everyone agreed and they went back to their sleeping spots. Just as Ty was about to close his eyelids he heard Shade's voice come from next to him. "Ty?" The red T-Trux looked down to see the group's newest addition was looking up at him. "Between you and me, I wanted to thank you and your friends for giving me something I haven't had in a long time." "What's that?" "Hope."
That was all the black Dozeratops said before he reversed back into a makeshift mound he had made, much like Dozer. Ty couldn't help but feel his earlier sorrows begin to lift as he realised that he had helped a Trux who needed help and was more than willing to help them in return. That thought alone was enough to console him and he closed his eyelids and, for the second and final time that night, went to sleep, only this time, there was a smile on his face.
"Ty... Ty..." The red T-Trux blinked open his eyes at the sound of his name being called. Instead of seeing the camp and the rest of his friends, he found himself in an open meadow. Looking up, he could see the moon and the stars shining bright in the sky. Knowing he was dreaming, and deciding to see if there was anyone else in this strange place besides him, he called out. "Hello... Is there anyone there?" There was no answer.
Suddenly, he saw a flash pure, porcelain white paint rush silently past him out of the corner of his vision. He turned his head to see what or who it was. It was a small Trux of a species that he had never seen before. Said Trux halted and then looked over its right shoulder at him. The stranger did not have to speak any words for Ty to know that it wanted him to follow. Turning himself fully around, Ty began to cautiously follow the strange Trux who began leading him away from the meadow.
Eventually the rex T-Trux found himself in a small glade that was accessed by a short, narrow stone slope. Ty wondered how they had gotten here so fast despite the fact that they had been going at a relatively gentle pace. Suddenly, he wondered if whoever this Trux had been there all along, and somehow only projected an image in his mind to help him to find his way here in the first place.
The Dinotrux was filling a bowl in the ground with water from a small waterfall. It did this by removing a small ball of rock at the top of the fall which allowed the water to pour into the bowl itself. Said object was carved out of a giant twisting tree trunk. Ty thought it best to have at least a couple of yards distance between him and the strange Trux. Speaking of which, it had placed the rock back at the top of the waterfall.
That done, it turned its gaze back to look at Ty from where he stood directly behind the bowl. Prior to arriving in the crater, Ty had prided himself in taking in the natural beauty of the world around him. Now though, he doubted if any of the things he had seen could capture the gentle but powerful aura that currently surrounded the place he was in. The sudden enigmatic smile the Trux gave him reminded him of one Revvit had given him after they had first met.
I am greatly honored by your comparisons, Ty Rux.
Startled, Ty moved a few tread turns backward at the sound of the voice in his head. Obviously this Trux could pick up on even the most casual of thoughts. Despite the fact that no harm was clearly mean by it, he was still a little unsettled by the stranger's powers of mental communication. "I mean you no harm," it gently assured Ty in a calm spoken voice that was female which answered one of his questions.
She, the red T-Trux was glad he could place something to the Trux in front of him, then quickly glanced at the bowl before returning her gaze to him. "Will you look into the Mirror?" Now knowing, or having a rough idea, of what it was called, Ty focused on the Mirror and asked, "I'm sorry, ma'am. What is it?" "The Mirror reveals many things," the Trux informed him. "Yet what it shows is different for each person. Even the wisest cannot tell what one may see."
I guess this lady isn't one for straight answers, Ty thought wryly. He quickly remembered that whoever this Trux was, she could read his mind like a washer. Fortunately the smile she gave him indicated whoever she was she was clearly not offended by his observation. Ty covered the couple of yards that separated him from the Mirror and looked down into it. At first he saw just his own reflection before the surface of the water turned black with a series of ripples from its centre.
The red T-Trux was stunned by the silent images the Mirror showed him. He saw countless forms of Dozeratops, Craneosaurs, Ankylodumps and Stegarbasaurs. They and their broken treads, blades, and pieces were scattered across the surface of a blackened battlefield. The sky above it was an evil fiery red in colour. The Mirror then drew Ty's gaze towards a particular set of bodies. He saw the bodies of his friends – Dozer, Skya, Ton-Ton, Garby, the Tools and Shade.
The Mirror then moved his perspective once again. First he saw the bodies of more Trux, some of whom were species that he had never seen before it halted. Facing him was an impossibly vast horde of black faceless Trux that were roaring, howling and screeching in exalted triumph. In the sky above the horde, Ty saw a number of black flying creatures that were even larger than Pteracopters.
These creatures flew beneath a huge orange sun below which was a landscape wreathed in flames. While all of this was troubling enough, it was what he next saw that really disturbed him. A massive T-Trux stood at the front of the horde. He was dark purple while his eyes glowed blood red. Ty saw the T-Trux was holding something small in each of his hands before the perspective was moved down and lying at his treads were the bodies of D-Structs... and Himself!
Once again the Mirror rapidly moved to another reddened sky under which stood the charred and burning remains of a great space. It was the crater where he and his friends had recently resided! Hundreds of burnt and broken bodies choked the ground. Finally there came one last grisly scene. The Mirror brought him to the ruins of the garage that had been razed to the ground. In the ruins he saw the bodies of the Trux whom he and the others had befriended over time.
George, his blade and horns ripped off, the Ottos, crushed to pieces, the Dumps, their beds ripped from their bodies, the Gluphs, bent and broken, and finally the four Drillasaurs, their namesake appendages cut clean from their faces. He saw three T-Trux staring at his dead friends with one larger than the others. The first one was crimson red and black, the second was a bright yellow like Dozer and black.
The third one, however, was bigger than both of them before straightening up revealing himself. He was pale in colour and clad in what appeared to be armor made of scrap and Trux body pieces, and had powerful and heavy facial features. All three looked up and they appeared to lock gazes with Ty with their piercing white eyes which narrowed before all three of them gave him leery frame chilling grins.
At last the Mirror went black and Ty saw his own reflection once again. The red T-Trux moved back from the Mirror, gasping and shaking from what he had seen. He thought all his previous nightmares, and he had not had many in his lifetime, combined could not have generated the amount of fear he now felt. Ty looked up to the female Trux who had a neutral gaze fixed on him that showed no expression.
"What was all that?" Ty blurted out to her. Given though the white Trux could clearly read his mind, she must have known what he had just seen. "I hoped the Mirror may have revealed the journey you and your friends have begun," Galadriel calmly answered. Ty was perplexed, somewhat taken aback, by the answer he was given and her demeanor in light of events that the Mirror had just shown to him.
"I don't mean to correct you, ma'am," Ty replied in the politest tone as he could muster at that current moment in time. "But me and my friends are on a journey to find a new home after our old one came under threat from an active volcano." "Great events are not set in motion by mere chance, Ty Rux," the Trux told him in the manner of a mother teaching her young child their first few lessons about the world around them.
"They are often the result of the will of great powers beyond any of our understanding. These power's actions can be so subtle as to go unnoticed long after they have taken place." The Trux then telepathically spoke to him. As a Trux of ideas, you should know this. To the red T-Trux, questions of pre-destination were one thing but she had not really answered what the Mirror had revealed to him.
"But those images I saw," he said, trying to force the issue. "What were they?" There was an undercurrent of grave concern in the female Trux's reply. "Images of events that stand every chance of coming to pass." "You mean the future?" She simply gave him a nod in return. Ty sensed that this Trux was not cryptic for the purpose of driving others to exasperation. Her powers seemed to be balanced by her being restrained somehow in what she could exactly tell people.
Ty thought he could at the very least get her to reveal how he could prevent the future he saw in the Mirror from happening. "Ma'am, I know that you can see into and read my mind," he stated plainly. "So you know I believe the fact that the future's not set in stone as long as there are those who are willing to fight for it." "And it is well you hold to that belief, Ty Rux," the Trux replied as she well knew what Ty was trying to get out of her.
"In the end it may be the only thing that saves your world." Seeing he was getting nowhere, Ty tried another track and decided to try to get guidance about the image that had disturbed him most. "Given what I saw about the others, shouldn't my friends see this as well?" he asked. "Even I cannot foresee how your friends would respond to what you saw," she answered before giving Ty a tiny smile.
"Given their current mindsets, I think you will agree it is wise that they in particular should not risk looking into the Mirror. If only for their own safety and the safety of all you hold dear." Ty sensed that the female Trux was about to bring their private audience to an end. "Your and your friends shall be departing very soon," she stated, politely dismissing Rogers. "Many trials are ahead of you, Ty Rux. Go back and rest so you may have the strength to face them."
That was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
The oppressive darkness of the night had finally given place to the first dull light of dawn when everyone's senses, despite their meeting with Shade were, surprisingly still drowsy as they woke up, and their internal systems only just beginning to awaken and start to operate. Everyone woke with loud yawns and took the time to stretch their limbs before taking turns to wet their dry throats with water from the stream.
As they were having their breakfast, Ty, who was surprised to find himself bearing up well despite his dream, which he had decided against telling to the others unless absolutely necessary, asked Shade more about their natural surroundings. As an added bonus the younger Trux was pleasant to talk to, showing he was easily able to hold a talk and offered a fresh voice in the normal ramble of familiar voices.
"Are there any other Trux in this forest besides us?" Ty asked. Shade, who was eagerly tucking into his share of the ore pile, swallowed the piece he was eating before answering. "I'm not sure. I know there's a Scraptor nest not far from here in a canyon but we can easily avoid that if we make a detour. It will slow us down but it should get us past without any interference." The red T-Trux nodded in agreement.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask another question, it happened. Their conversation was suddenly interrupted and their and everyone else's senses were startled into tingling life by one of the loudest sounds that they had ever heard. It was a yell of defiant threat coming from somewhere nearby. While it was not very loud volume wise by any means, its quality, on the other hand, made up for any deficiency on that particular score.
"Come on! I'll turn you all into scrap!"
At that shout everyone was jolted awake by the cry as it came from somewhere nearby. "Where's it coming from?" asked Ty, the adrenaline that came from going into action driving away his plaguing doubts from the previous night. Skya immediately extended her neck upwards in an attempt to see over, as well as through, the trees in front of her as best she could. "Straight ahead... I can see a canyon... looks like a Trux... surrounded by Scraptors," she reported, glancing back down.
"I know where that is! This way!" cried Shade, shooting off in the direction of the shout. "You heard him! Let's roll, everyone! High gear!" Ty ordered. The rest of the group didn't need the order as they rolled after him. They all felt a sense of relief overcome them as their worries from the previous day completely disappeared and were replaced by the desire to rescue the Trux that was in need of their help.
It was near enough old times.