Chapter Six:
The Skye Boat
The knowledge Ruby learned from Nancy was shared not only with her daughter but went beyond the Big Water and into the Mysterious Beyond. Screech and Thud shared what Ruby described to them, being past from pack to pack, crossing the boundaries and being learned from a certain herd. Ali, Rhett, and their children bumped into Screech and Thud, the couple introducing their herd to the pair. While the language barrier was a problem, they managed to communicate through gestures and body language.
"Wow, so the world isn't flat?" Rhett asked with interest.
Screech shook his head as Thud drew the solar system Ruby shared with them in the dirt. Ali peered down, her children gathering around to see it. "So, our world moves around the bright circle?" Thud nodded. "How does Ruby know all this?"
Thud drew a rough sketch of the spaceship with Ruby inside it, leaving their world with the sky-being. The herd was amazed and listened carefully to all Screech and Thud had to share, leaving the pair to press on. After some time, they bumped into Shorty's herd, discussing the newfound knowledge with him. Shorty in tune, passed it on to those interested in learning what lie beyond the mysterious beyond. Thus, the tale of the fast-runner being taken by sky-beings was born and spread like wildfire, igniting a frenzy compared to how fast the legend of the Lone Dinosaur was shared. And eventually the story was about to enter the place of forward thinking, the Great Valley. Within the Great Valley, the herds ate and enjoyed another beautiful day. Littlefoot walked and stood on a high rock, overseeing the members of the Great Valley. Cere ambled up, glaring out with her typical angry face, an expression that never bother Littlefoot, knowing she wasn't mad at him it was simply how she looked.
"So, anything happening?"
"No, nothing yet, Cera. It just another beautiful day."
"Yeah, another boring day in the Great Valley."
"Don't tell me you want to go on an adventure?"
With a snort, she rolled her eyes. "What I mean is, I'd like to have fun, but not the dangerous, life-threatening kind."
"Oh, isn't being with me enough of an adventure?"
"No."
"Hey guys!" Ducky called, walking over to them.
"Ducky!" Littlefoot saw Petrie drop down from the sky to perch on her back.
"Littlefoot, Cera, hurry, Tippy's herd will be here soon! They will, they will."
"Yes, Tippy and Spike at entrance waiting for us." Petrie put in, flapping to fly around Littlefoot and Cera.
"See, something interesting is happening, Cera."
"Yeah, another wondering herd enters the Great Valley, whoopie." She said with sarcasm.
The four went to one of the many entrances, blocked with rocks till a herd approached from outside the Great Wall. The large boulders were being moved aside by several, Tippy and Spike being among the many. When Tippy and Spike saw their friends, they stopped and walked over to greet them.
"Guys, we're glad you could make it. My old herd is coming." Tippy said with glee, glad to reunite with his old herd.
"We wouldn't dare miss this." Littlefoot said.
"Yeah, not like I had anything better to do." When Littlefoot looked at her, Cera went on. "I meant it in a good way, Littlefoot, chill."
"Oh, Tippy, we are so happy to see your herd again, we are, we are."
"Yes, always good to hear what happening outside Great Wall." Petrie put in, landing upon Spike's back.
"The path is clear!" someone called, seeing the herd of spiketaile enter, thought they weren't alone, for other leaf-eaters joined them. That wasn't strange, what was odd, was that they had different colored marking on their face and even their bodies, not to mention the woven vines with flowers on them. The gang were taken back, none saying a word, simply taking in the new sight.
"Hello gang!" shouted a familiar voice, Guido swooping down from above to land. He too had face markings, all were different and unique to the individual. "Great to see you all!"
"Yeah, good to see you too, Guido!" Petrie rushed and hugged the smaller Guido. "You look different."
"Yes, you all look far from when last we met." Tippy added, smiling at the herd leader, a cousin of his known as Leaf. "Leaf, what's with the get-up?"
"Well, thanks to the fastrunner, we know to cake mud to mask our scent, along with wearing woven stink weed."
"I thought they smelled bad." Cera chimed in.
"Well, we used it when we went to rescues my dad at the fire mountains."
"Cousin Tippy, we are following the knowledge given to us by others. In fact, many of the herds are doing this." Leaf said, looking at Guido. "In fact, we have a song dedicated to the one who left out world."
"Wonder who this one is?" Cera questioned. "Could be some nut case trying to take over the Mysterious Beyond, perhaps like Pterano."
"I don't know, though it is worth looking into. But we don't want to upset Leaf or the others, let's not forget Tippy is still remarkably close to them."
"Yeah, yeah, tread lightly."
Littlefoot smiled and walked over to speak with Leaf, being a leader himself and thinking it wouldn't hurt to speak leader to leader. Leaf nodded to Tippy and gestured for his herd to enter the Great Valley and enjoy themselves. As the herd mingled with the Great Valley members, Littlefoot lead Leaf around.
"So, this one who shared this knowledge, would you know their name?"
"Yes, apparently, it's a fastrunner who fell in love with a talking sharptooth. I believe her name was Ruby, from what I hear, she was a friend of yours." Leaf said with a smile. "I'm surprised the news of Ruby's journey with the sky-beings has not reached you yet. From what I recall, your grandfather was a great storyteller."
"Yeah, guess I took after my dad, I was never much of a storyteller." Littlefoot admitted with a sorrowful expression. "I kind of felt like I let him down."
"Hey, believe me, I never saw myself as a leader, but after Tippy stepped down, someone had to step up. Thus, I became the leader and can't imagine not doing it."
"Were you upset Tippy decided to stay here with Spike?"
"No, there was no doubt in their time apart, Tippy's heart was back here. Whenever we left, there was a sadness, an almost emptiness, as though Tippy were lost without Spike."
"Yeah, Spike even stopped eating for a day or two, which had us all worried."
The pair shared a laugh, recalling the time they spoke of, feeling it was only the day before when in fact, it was many season cycles ago. After enjoying a cool drink, they rejoined the others, who were at the gathering place. It was an enormous collection of rocks, being circular, a small group stood in the center for all to see. As Littlefoot stood by his friends, he noticed strange objects held by the group.
"What are those things?"
"Shh, Littlefoot, they're about to tell us."
Littlefoot shook his head and turned his attention back to the group. Gudio stood forward, clearing his throat before he spoke.
"Everyone, it is with great delight we share with you a fantastic story in song, of the fastrunner and her adventure among the stars."
Then, without warning, there was this whistling sound, other joining in to create the most wonderful sound ever to be imagined. There was a steady beat, someone using twigs to beat against a hard object. Another shook a small hollowed out log, something clattering within. Guild blew into some small, tube-like, thing with small hole, his feathered fingers moving to create a lovely sound. He then lowered the whistle-maker to sing.
Guido:
"Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say, could that lass be I,
Marry your soul she sailed on a day,
Over the sea to skye,
Mull was astern, rum on the port,
Elgg on the starboard bow,
Glory of youth glowed in her soul,
Where is that glory now,
Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say could that lass be I,
Marry of soul she sailed on a day,
Over the sea to skye,
Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone,
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lass that's gone,
Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say could that lass be I,
Marry of soul she sailed on a day,
Over the sea to skye,
Billow and breeze, island and stream,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone,
Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say could that lass be I,
Marry of soul she sailed on a day,
Over the sea to skye,"
At first all were silent, not knowing how to respond to such a strange, yet beautiful sight and sound. Out from the silence, Ducky clapped, others joining in. Those who couldn't clapped cheered for the group, who bowed.
"Amazing, that was the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen or heard." Littlefoot looked at Cera, who was speechless, which was a first for her. Then he noticed a glisten in her eyes, as though she were on the verge of tears. "C-Cera?"
"I'm fine, that was just really pretty."
"Guido, that so cool, how you do that?" Petrie fluttered down to inspect the whistle-maker.
"Well, the fastrunner figured if you hollowed it out, it could whistle."
"She must be very smart, she must be."
"You would know, it's Ruby."
"Ruby?" Everyone asked.
"Yes, Ruby has been sharing this knowledge with many. Some herds even sent a single individual across the land path just to speak with her."
"Why am I not surprised with this. Ruby was always one to seek knowledge and expand things we'd could even imagine or would even want to think about." Cera said.
"You mean you wouldn't want to see Beyond the Mysterious Beyond?" Ducky asked.
"No."
"Me not want to go, could be dangerous, could hurt."
"Still, it is interesting. Though, I hope Ruby and Chomper are safe from harm. After all, there might be those out there who won't welcome a new way of thinking."
"Doubtful, I'm sure those two are unharmed. Besides, I don't want to trek across the Mysterious Beyond to check on them."
"Cera!"
"Come one, Littlefoot, they're adults, they can handle themselves."
"I'm sure they are fine, they are, they are."
Littlefoot gave a nod, though he couldn't help but get the odd feeling. Over the years, he grew to trust this instinct, it was what guided him to save his friends as they searched for the Great Valley, not to mention, it led him to the fertile land. In every situation they found themselves in, Littlefoot went with his gut, and his gut told him, that perhaps Ruby and Chomper were on the verge of an adventure. Though, with such a distance between them, he knew he couldn't drag his friends across the Mysterious Beyond to ease his mind. No, he'd have to trust in the pair, after all, Ruby was smart, clearly since she was the only one selected beside himself to see the sky-beings. Littlefoot himself saw them off after the Stone of Cold Fire adventure, thinking it was a dream till Chomper told them of the Unknown, that the rainbow-faces were his true parents. While he was worried for them, a small part of him told him that they'd see each other again, that their paths would cross. Till then, he'd enjoy his time in the Great Valley. He let his wondering mind settle and listened as Guido and the group played another tune, knowing many songs and sharing them with the members of the Great Valley. The tunes were each vastly different, one being called Beauty and the Beast, a famous tale about Chomper and Ruby's love, one the gang knew all too well. Another was simply about the life and world around them. Songs weren't a new thing, though hearing what Guido called music was quite a change. Change just seemed to be in the air, Littlefoot being glad to see such a thing in his lifetime. It gave him hope, for who knew what other discovers lay around the bend, what latest ideas the sky-beings would share with Ruby, news Ruby would share with those around her. Felling Cera nuzzle against him, Littlefoot leaded down to brush his muzzle to her head frill. The group performed what would be called their first concert, a term told to them by Ruby, Guido saying he was a member of the band. Cera did roll her eyes to his expression, though listened to their songs anyway.
