Chapter Nine:
Lost and Found
Footprints moved over the white blanketed land, the pair finding a disturbing sight. Half covered by snow was a mother sharptooth, her corpse laying close to a nest, trying to defend her eggs. Though she was overpowered and killed, unable to defend the helpless young. All that remained in the nest were broken shells and tiny bodies covered in frozen embryo. Chomper shook his head, leaning down to sniff upon the earth, trying to pick up the scent of those who inflicted such violence. It proved little good, for his nose was stuffy and prevented him from picking up a good scent. If anything, Chomper wasn't feeling like himself, hurting all over, having watery eyes and a splitting headache, along with a stuffy nose.
"I'm all but useless." Chomper admitted and brushed at his beak before coughing.
"It's okay, your mother taught me the skills of tracking." Ruby only rubbed his muzzle, leaning down to try and follow by other means. "They went this way, whoever they are."
"The only thing I can say is they might head toward the Great Valley. It doesn't suffer the fury of the frozen sky water as it does in the Mysterious Beyond." Chomper added.
"True, that is the direction they seem to lead." Ruby used her spear to rise, trekking on into the frozen tundra.
"Maybe we'll see the gang again." Chomper mused, doing his best to be upbeat despite how bad he felt.
Even more frozen sky water fell, the wind picking up and growing stronger as the day wore on. The pair struggled to keep going, the heavy wind made visibility hard, Ruby struggling to see a few feet ahead. It was a white out, leaving them blind and unable to follow one direction. Thus, they were left to amble on aimlessly, walking till they could go no more.
"It's no use, we'll have to wait the storm out." Ruby called over the howling of wind.
"G-good, I'm getting tired and cold."
Chomper huffed as his breath floated out, the white vapor continued to flow out as he panted. Unable to make any head way, they found shelter behind a set of great rocks, Ruby doing her best to start a fire by scrapping rocks together. Chomper sheltered the pile of dried leaves and sticks with his body, Ruby leaning down to blow on the smoke, a fire slowly flickered up, burning brightly. Both leaned in, trying to warm their cold hands that were numb and turned blue, well, Ruby's did.
"Ruby, does the cold bother you more now than what it did when we were kids?"
"Yeah, I don't know how the adults managed to deal with it. Though, they were bigger than us. The bigger the build the better one can manage the cold." With a half grin, Ruby let out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Just, I know a way we might keep warm." She said, burrowing close to him.
"Ruby, now really isn't the time for that."
"It was only a suggestion."
She opened one of the packs, offering Chomper some dried meat, eating upon the dried fruit and leaves. In one of the several visits from the sky-beings, Nancy taught Ruby how to dry and store food for later. Chewing the meat, Chomper swallowed and smiled.
"Boy, it's nice to have food I didn't have to catch."
"Yes, your mother is a great source of information." She felt him lick her cheek, wrapping himself around her. Cuddling together, the pair got cozy as they drifted off to sleep. "Good night, Chomper."
By the following morning, the frozen sky water stopped falling and the bright circle warmed them. Ruby blinked, tired from the cold, sleeping deeply through the night. Sitting up, she nudged Chomper to wake, the pair trying to figure out where they were. The Mysterious Beyond was vast and during the white out the pair had traveled farther into uncharted territory for them.
"Ruby, would you know where we are?"
"No, with luck we can find a landmark, like the rock that looks like a long neck."
Ruby took the lead, Chomper sniffing around, trying to track where'd they come from. As they went, Ruby got the feeling they weren't entirely alone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew someone, or something was watching them. By afternoon, Ruby and Chomper stopped to eat, melting some frozen sky water to drink. As they sat, someone walked out from behind a set of rocks. The pair looked up, Ruby reaching toward the blade tied around her chest while Chomper froze in place. The stranger was a male fastrunner, who looked the pair over. He was slightly shorter than Chomper, who was considered tall for a fast runner. The male fastrunner stood from foot to foot, eyeing the pair up as he slowly moved forward.
"Hello there." Greeted the stranger.
"Hello yourself." Ruby's hand remained on the handle of her weapon.
"First, I should apologize for startling you. I was watching you for some time and gathered you were lost." He offered a warm and welcoming smile. "Am I correct that you are lost?"
"Yes, we sure are." Chomper answered quickly.
Yes, Chomper was an adult, but he was and always would be the little naïve sharptooth who openly accepted others quickly, too quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear. Where are you from?"
"From the Great Valley." Ruby answered before Chomper could let a single sound escape his open beak.
"Interesting, we don't often get visitors from the Grate Valley, in fact, I assumed it wasn't real. Though in stories its quite the thing of legend. Tell me, is it as lush as they say? With flowing waterfalls? Grassy meadows, enough treestars to feast on forever?"
"Yes, it's everything and more." Ruby replied.
"Amazing, well, some of us weren't lucky enough to cross the great gape and reach the other side. So, we gave up on believing in finding the Great Valley."
"You were there at the time of the Great Earthshake?" Chomper asked. "I wasn't hatched yet. I only ever heard of it. Was it really that bad?"
"And worse. Let's say you should be glad you were fortunate enough to not bear witness to such a tragic, and horrific event." He said with a sad expression.
"I remember it. How the ground shook violently." Ruby said softly as she shut her eyes, recalling it all too well. "The earth cracked, separated, and a great crevasse opened. The massive gape swallowed anything, and everything unfortunate enough to be close to it. Herds great and small, none could escape it."
Chomper held a sorrowful expression, reaching out to take and hold Ruby's hand. "You never told me of this, never told me where you were when it struck."
Snapping from the memory, Ruby locked onto Chomper's face. "No, I never did talk about it with you, share the story with you I did not?"
"Well, perhaps, you two might wish to stay with my herd till it gets warmer and you can find your way back to the supposed Great Valley." He made air quotations, not believing in the Great Valley.
Ruby wasn't one to pass judgment onto someone she barely knew, but the fact he shot down their eyewitness account so fast, made her wonder. Though if it were true and several were unable to find a way across, she could understand their choice to give up on the tales of the Great Valley. Thus, Chomper and Ruby shared a quick glance, Ruby nodding.
"Okay, thank you for welcoming us into your herd, we graciously accept, would enjoy being among your herd."
"You sure talk different; unlike any I've ever met."
"Do you have a problem with her speech?"
Chomper cut in, standing a bit taller, not caring what other's thought of him, but to make fun of Ruby for her speech, well, Chomper wouldn't be above defending her, be it verbal or physical. The male seemed to be a bit intimidated, only for the fact that Chomper was tall for a fastrunner. With a smile, he looked Chomper over with curious gaze, circling him a few times.
"If I may inquire, sir? You sure have some strange features for a fastrunner."
Fortunate for them, the male had walked around them and couldn't see either of their surprised faces. Chomper let out a noise of confusion before saying. "My egg was dropped, and I'm deformed."
"Oh, well, that explains it then." The male accepted it and cleared his throat. "Right, now, follow me."
"Before we go any farther. Who might you be?" Ruby asked.
"My name is, Magnificent."
"Magnificent?" Chomper asked.
"Yes, I'm quite the thing of legend around these parts. I led the lost and weary from famine, delivered them to a wonderous paradise called Sanctuary." Magnificent said with a smile. "Right, shall we press on. Staying in small numbers is dangerous around these parts."
"If it's known that these lands have a lot of sharpteeth, why stick around?" Chomper wondered.
"Well, it's the most fertile land and doesn't get as cold as the Mysterious Beyond. There are plenty of rivers and streams for water, our perfect and safe Sanctuary."
Ruby and Chomper didn't know where they were and put their faith in Magnificent, not wanting to freeze to death in the cold times. Fleeting along, Magnificent stopped and checked back to see they were still following him. They came upon an iced over part that connected to great sections of land. Gazing down, Chomper lost his balance and almost went over. He wouldn't dropped to his death if not for the quickness of Ruby and Magnificent, who each grabbed onto his arms.
"Easy there, you don't want to fall down that crevasse. It's quite a drop."
"Crevasse, as in the Great Crevasse?"
"Yes, look at it." Magnificent waved his arm out.
Standing on the ice bridge, Chomper saw out and was amazed, in awe by the sheer size left behind by the Great Earthshake. The land was covered in white, but the large, zig-zagged gape was visible, dropping down to who-knew- how deep. For Ruby, she recalled the moment before the land split in two, the way it was calm, then changed in an instant. It was terrible, a memory she wished she could, but would never forget. Ruby was a child and watched as the ground shook, seeing the earth opened. Then, just like that, in a blink of an eye, Ruby's friends and many of her family members were gone.
Older, Ruby blinked back a few tears, tightening her grip on Chomper's hand, feeling him step closer to let her know he was there for her. Chomper might've had his moments of stupidity, naivety, but overall, he was always supportive of Ruby and her feelings, being there when she needed someone most. It was due to his half sky-being mind, a higher level of cognovit and emotion intelligence. Whatever the case, in some way, Ruby needed Chomper in her life.
"Well, shell we go on." Magnificent asked softly.
"Yes, we're ready." Chomper said.
They walked on and Magnificent chatted to try and lift their spirits. "My herd is ever expanding and welcomes newcomers all the time."
"It'd be nice to have a place to rest and recuperate." Ruby let out of huff, growing tired of carrying around their load of supplies.
Magnificent watched them pass with a curious gaze, never seeing woven bags before. "May I ask why you have such odd objects?"
"It's supplies." Chomper answered. "You see, we can travel farther now that we have food."
With a thoughtful hum, he tapped the bag on Chomper's back. "Who told you of such strange things?"
Ruby wasn't sure how to answer, going with her gut and lying. "A stranger, we came across in our travels."
"How interesting, you'll have to tell us about your journey." Chomper and Ruby only nodded and continued to follow him. "So, what are your names?"
Ruby was once more compelled to lie, still unsure of whether they should trust Magnificent. "I am Trudy, Trudy I am. And this is my mate, Rodney, Rodney is my mate."
"Delighted to make your acquaintance, Tudy and Rodney."
The three walked on and left the Great Crevasse behind them, heading into a part of the Mysterious Beyond neither had ever been to. Over the course of time, the snow slowly subsided, the lad becoming greener the farther they went. While Ruby was happy to see life, she was worried about finding her way back from where they came. Was following Magnificent the best thing to do?
