Good afternoon, everyone! Here is my entry to the special prompt that was made by the winner of last month's Gang of Five prompt challenge, TheWasp. His prompt for Fyn and I was the following:
"Where does one draw the line in the sand? Often times good and bad are seen as mutually exclusive. But the gray clouds often blur those differences until one day you find yourself unable to tell whether or not you've stayed above the abyss, or already gone over it. And then it's too late."
I hope that you enjoy the story, TheWasp, and I look forward to any feedback any of you readers would like to give. (:
Fateful Meetings
“Well then… I think we are ready to make a decision.”
The elder longneck’s voice spoke with grave solemnity as he examined the tyrannosaurus and Oviraptor that stood in front of him. “Yes, I believe that we are. Though I think that Ruby should have a final chance to make her case.”
“Hmph!” The threehorn snorted. “I think that it is rather clear cut, isn’t it?”
As the two elders traded retorts all Ruby could do was think back to how she had arrived at this situation. Like so many other things in her life it all started with an unexpected guest.
-----
The previous evening:
“We came to the Great Valley to escape sharpteeth; not to let them in!”
Ruby suppressed a sigh as Topps resumed his tirade for what seemed like the tenth time. The entire meeting had gone more poorly than she could have possibly imagined. What had begun during the daylight with the highest of hopes had turned into a depressing quagmire in the fading light. Now it was just Chomper and Ruby before some of the main elders of the valley. After hearing the full story of Chomper’s history from their children, the elders wanted the matter to be discussed before it went to the entire valley.
Chomper stepped forward to speak, but Ruby put a hand on his shoulder to silence him. She knew full well that any words from the sharptooth would not be helpful at this point.
“Mr. Threehorn, Chomper is only a small biter, and one that helped your daughter and her friends when she was on the Lonely Island,” Ruby tried to calm herself, “he was not a bad sharptooth then and he isn’t one now.”
The threehorn calmed slightly, but did not relent. “I appreciate that, but for how long? He is what he is.”
“When I have to become that then I could leave.” Chomper interjected. “I would never hurt my friends or anyone in the valley!”
Silence fell over the elders at the little sharptooth’s words. No one could doubt their sincerity, but sometimes sincerity wasn’t enough.
“It is one thing for us to believe that, little one, and quite another to convince the valley of that.”
Ruby turned to look at the massive longneck that stood before them. She had learned earlier that day that this was Littlefoot’s grandfather. One of the adoptive parents of the youngling that had been there when Chomper hatched. A longneck that Chomper considered his brother.
But that didn’t mean that the elder longneck was on their side.
“Mr. Longneck,” Ruby began with a mournful tone, “This is our only hope. Redclaw hates Chomper because of his parents resisting him, and he hates me for protecting Chomper. I don’t know why Redclaw hates the valley, but maybe if we all band together then we can make sure that his hate dies with him!”
The threehorn paused for a moment. “I appreciate the sentiment, egg-stealer, but what could you two bring to the valley to help with dealing with the terrible sharptooth? We already have our walls, and they seem to hold him back.”
Ruby’s face fell with those words. If they were forced to remain with her family then she knew what that would entail. With Redclaw’s focus on them, her family would probably not last the Wet Time. Their best hope was to have Redclaw’s attention either be focused on the valley’s secure walls or Chomper’s distant parents.
“I say that we let these two out the way they came!”
Ruby tried to hide her displeasure as the domehead reentered the conversation. Unlike the other four elders this one didn’t even try to be diplomatic in his views of the newcomers.
“Now Mr. Domehead, surely these two have a right to make their case before the valley?” Grandpa Longneck soothed. “They both have good intentions even if the valley may have to deny their request.”
And condemn us to death in the Mysterious Beyond. Ruby thought darkly. She knew very well what was at stake here, and it was more than her and her father’s vision for cooperation with the valley.
“Good intentions?” The domehead sneered. “How do you know that the sharptooth just wasn’t waiting until your children were fattened up? All sharpteeth are the same!”
This earned the sharptooth an uncharacteristic defense from the threehorn. “Are you calling my daughter a liar?”
The domehead relented slightly, noticing full well the threehorn’s change in posture as Grandpa Longneck took a diplomatic step backwards. “Um… no. I am just saying that your kids often get into trouble, and they probably do not recognize trouble when they see it.”
Ruby pulled Chomper closer to her as she felt the temperature in the meeting place begin to fall. If this is how their presence made the adults act, then what would happen if they became permanent residents?
The awkward silence was only broken by the slightest of sounds. The sound of falling rocks. In an instant both Ruby and Chomper were staring at the rock wall behind the meeting place… and a most conspicuous domehead youngling struggling to hang on.
“Son! What have we told you about getting on the rock wall?!”
Within moments the domehead was on the scene, grabbing his small son from his precarious hold on the rocks. The resulting giggle from the youngling was quite the contrast from his father’s harsh tone.
Ruby and Chomper shared a glance. Was this a repeat occurrence?
“I was just trying to see what was going on, Daddy.”
“Even though I explicitly told you that this was a private meeting? I am sure that your mother is worried sick, you are supposed to be asleep with your siblings.”
The domehead youngling began to pout as he regained his footing and was assisted to the ground.
“When are you all going to chase the sharptooth away, Daddy?”
“It seems that my daughter is not the only dinosaur who gets into trouble.” The threehorn retorted as he saw the scene. It was obvious that he was enjoying getting the last word. “These two at least deserve to be heard by the valley.”
Ruby’s face brightened at this. Regardless of whether Topps was doing this out of genuine concern or to get back at one that had insulted his family, this gave her an opening.
“I second that.” Grandpa Longneck added. “They at the very least deserve a hearing.”
As the domehead spared the meeting a dour look, Ruby couldn’t help but feel vindicated. She would at the very least get a chance to make their case before the whole valley. Though now it was obvious who would end up being their biggest threat to their cause. If she could outmaneuver the domehead and maybe… just maybe…
“I will escort you two to the Secret Caverns. I am sure that you two are exhausted.”
Both Ruby and Chomper looked up at the flyer that suddenly landed in front of them. It was only then that Ruby realized that she had not heard from Petrie’s mother during the entire meeting. Was that a show of distrust? Or uncertainty?
Shaking the insecurities from her mind, Ruby answered as gratefully as she could. “Thank you, Mrs. Flyer. I think both Chomper and I are very tried from this meeting. The meeting has made us very tired.”
As both she and Chomper began to walk away from the meeting circle, she did not see the young domehead turn his head one more time at the retreating duo. His face communicated an emotion that Chomper would have recognized in his leaf-eater friends.
The thirst for adventure.
-----
The Secret Caverns:
Ruby collapsed with a sigh as she stared at the shadow that hung over the cavern's entrance. The presence of an adult standing guard outside was simply one more reminder of their predicament. In the Mysterious Beyond they had struggled with the threats from sharpteeth, but in the valley they had to struggle with threats that only existed in the minds of others.
But, as Ruby could attest from her younger days, the fears of what could be were often enough as terrifying as what actually was.
"Do you think they will kick us out, Ruby?"
The young oviraptor turned to examine her young companion. The youthful exuberance that had come to represent the young sharptooth was now clouded by fearful eyes and twitching claws. He had tried his best to maintain his composure in front of the adults, but Chomper had clearly met his limit.
Despite her instincts, Ruby gave him a slight smile. "If they wanted to kick us out, Chomper, then they could have kicked us out. But they are going to give us a chance to be heard." She turned back towards the shadow outside. "Though we need to make sure that when we are heard, we are heard well."
She gestured for Chomper to follow as she edged deeper into the cavern. This was not a conversation that she wanted to be heard by anyone else.
"Do you remember what my parents and I said about the valley?" She stared after they had traveled some distance.
"That it is safe, and it is full of leaf-eaters?" Chomper asked.
Ruby chuckled. Never mind how dark things got, Chomper's youthful naivetÈ could always bring a smile to her beak.
"Yes, we said that, but I meant about the residents."
Chomper thought for a moment but then nodded his head. "Tell them the truth, but don't tell them what they don't need to know."
She nodded. "Exactly! There are many things that we have had to do in the Mysterious Beyond that leaf-eaters would not appreciate. So we need to watch what we say before we say it."
The sharptooth frowned at this.
"Is something wrong, Chomper?"
Chomper's face went through a confusing series of contortions, from unsure, to troubled, and then to resigned. "I don't want to lie, Ruby."
This again... Ruby sighed. "When you found your friends on the island, did you tell them everything?"
Chomper gestured with his clawed hands. "No, but..."
"And even though your friends knew it, how do you think they would feel if they knew that your father had killed a longneck on that day, and that was your dinner? There is a difference between knowing something and knowing something, Chomper." She tapped him on the shoulder. "We have to be careful here. Your friends understand you, but the others may not."
This earned an upset grunt from the sharptooth as he kicked a stone. "And they won't even let me see them!"
Ruby's face fell at this. That is because they want to double-check their story, Chomper. And if they kick us out they do not want your friends to interfere. "Well... we will just have to convince the adults so that we can see them again, Chomper. I am sure that your friends were friendly and told the adults how friendly you were. Now we need to show them how friendly you are too."
The two shared an embrace for a moment as she felt the young sharptooth's breathing begin to calm. She had been impressed with his ability to stay somewhat calm on this day, but everyone had limits.
"I will never be able to let my guard down here." Chomper stated.
Ruby shook her head. "No. No, you cannot. But here the only sharptooth that you must guard against is yourself, Chomper. It is not enough that we never eat meat or eggs here, we must also not look like we would eat eggs or meat."
Silence fell over them for a few moments until the young sharptooth let out a massive yawn. The absurdity of its interruption to their conversation made both of them laugh.
"Alright, Chomper, it is time for little sharpteeth to go to sleep."
"Don't call me little!" He protested.
This only made Ruby laugh more. "Alright, it is time for growing sharpteeth to get to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow. I will join you in a while."
Chomper, yawning once more, stopped his settling down to look at her. "You're not going to sleep?"
Ruby gave him a slight smile. "I need to think before I can sleep, otherwise my thinking won't let me sleep. Go on to sleep, Chomper, I will be right there."
Normally this would have earned a protest or a request for the sharptooth to join her, but the day's events had seen to it that Chomper was already halfway to his sleep stories before his head reached the ground. His eyes closing, he merely grunted to her the softest of 'goodnights' before snores began to emanate from his body.
"You have a good night too, Chomper."
She watched the purple sharptooth sleep for a few moments as she collected her thoughts. It was hard to believe that only one cycle of the Night Circle had come since Chomper's parents had left him in Ruby's care, and only four days since she had secured a messenger to send her message to the valley.
The flyer landed with a thud as he examined the fastrunner oddly. It was not uncommon for a herd to send a message along to herds up ahead or to the valley itself, but for an egg-stealer to end a message was almost unheard of. Ruby suspected that the flyer had landed out of morbid curiosity more than anything else.
"Could you send a message to the valley for me? I would greatly appreciate it if you could send them a message."
The flyer snorted. "Well I landed, miss, what do you want me to say, and who do you want me to say it to?"
Ruby nodded. "This message needs to go to a longneck called Littlefoot. He is the..."
"I know who he is, miss." The flyer laughed. "I have been sent out to look for his friends on more than one occasion."
Ruby smiled. So Chomper wasn't exaggerating his friends' exploits. "Tell him that this is a message from Chomper: I am coming to the valley with a friend. It is important that you explain things to the valley first, and it is important that we get there soon."
Now the flyer was beside himself with bemusement. "Miss, if you think the Great Valley is going to welcome an eggstealer and some guy named 'Chomper' of all things to the valley, then you must be wishful thinking. What do you have that the valley would want?"
Just then a roar emanated from a great distance. There was no need to announce whose roar that was.
"Tell them that we have the same enemy, and only by having new friends can we make him fall."
The rest seemed like a whirlwind. A messenger flyer had arrived the next day, looking horrified and exhausted. It was only after Ruby had entered the valley that she was informed that was Petrie's mother. The full story of what had happened on the Lonely Island had only been told on that day, as had the story about how Chomper... and eventually his angry parents... had entered into valley.
The first thing that Ruby and Chomper was told by the threehorn was to keep that part of the story to themselves. It was one thing for the valley to be told that the adventurous gang had been rescued by Chomper and his parents... it was another for the valley to be told that the same gang was responsible for one of the most serious crises that the valley had faced. It had been a wonder that no one had been killed.
Despite the supposed leverage that knowledge possibly gave them, however, the meeting on this day had not gone well.
But we still have a chance. Ruby affirmed. I just hope everyone else isn't as hard-headed as that domehead.
Patter... Patter...
Ruby's thoughts were immediately shattered, however, with the sound of falling rock. Quickly taking a glance back at Chomper she could see that he was still in the realm of dreams.
Thunk!
Ruby turned her head violently in the direction of the sound. There was only one explanation for the commotion that her mind immediately came to:
She and Chomper were not alone.
-----
The youngling quaked in fear as the Oviraptor turned in his direction. Had the predator seen him? As his terrified heart pounded in his chest, he could not be sure of anything. He had heard far too much from the valley's sudden guests. Talk of eggs and meat... it was obvious what their real agenda was.
My daddy was right! Now I need to get out and tell him!
The young domehead peeked his head over the rock, casting his shadow over the moonlight from one of the cavern's many openings to the outside. As he searched for a way to go back to the front passage and the sleeping guard he was unwittingly giving away his location. It only took a moment for the Oviraptor's eyes to lock onto his location. In that instant he did the first thing that his panicked instincts told him.
He ran deeper into the caverns.
-----
Ruby's blood ran cold as she saw the little domehead. This had been the same youngling that had gotten into trouble during their meeting, and his presence made one though echo in Ruby's mind.
How much did he hear?
Ruby hesitated for a moment, unsure of herself. A domehead of any size could be a threat, and this included one of her size. But what if he got trapped in the cave and she did nothing? She didn't want a death on her conscience, and she didn't want to be evicted for failing to protect one of the valley's own. And then there was the matter of what the domehead had heard. He might have only heard enough to convince himself of Ruby and Chomper's bad intentions.
Ruby snapped her beak in annoyance. Her decision had been made.
Ruby quickly sprinted into the caverns as the available light when from dim to virtually nonexistent. Thankfully for her she had one sense at her disposal that the domehead did not: excellent hearing.
Taking a deep breath, she grasped the wall of the cavern that she found herself in and listened closely for the slightest sound. Not hearing anything, she placed her ear to the rock. That was when she heard it. The sound of thumping feet.
Just like searching for ground fuzzies. She noted as she estimated the domehead's distance. He hasn't gone far... he is probably lost.
-----
The domehead rammed the cavern wall in frustration as he found himself in complete darkness. He had never felt so alone. His own rashness had made him run into the darkness instead of making a dash towards the fastrunner and to the cavern's entrance. Now his only hope was to reside in the darkness and hope the fastrunner and the sharptooth would not find him.
Though now he was in their element.
He willed himself to control his breathing. Perhaps if he could maintain silence and simply fade into the darkened walls then he could avoid notice. Though this has the unintended consequence of making his breathing the only thing that he could detect. In the dark domain that he now found himself neither light, smell, or sound greeted his petrified senses. The only thing that he could pay attention to where his thoughts.
That was until he heard the footsteps.
"I know that you are out there, because I can hear and smell you out there."
The youngling suppressed a whimper as he turned his head towards the voice. It sounded so close, but due to the acoustics of the cave she could have been on the other end of the chamber or right next to his nose.
"You are afraid, but there is no need to be afraid. I just want to talk."
He kept his mouth shut. He was not going to give the fast-talking fastrunner any control over him. From his favorite perch on the rocky bluff he had seen how the fastrunner had convinced the other adults of her good intentions. This was something that his father had warned him and his siblings about since they were hatchings. Sharpteeth and egg-stealers could never be trusted.
He edged deeper into the cavern.
-----
Ruby was certain that she had the domehead’s location spotted now. Her ears did not lie and neither did her sense of smell. The smell of panic was clear enough for her. Now her mind shifted to the next problem: what to do with the domehead.
If she let him out the way he came then there was no telling what he could tell his father, and there would also be the matter of the failure of the ëguard’ outside would do to their chances of gaining residency in the valley. She could already hear the domehead make his point to the valley, “See! A guard couldn’t even keep my son out of the caverns, so how can we trust ourselves to make sure that the egg-stealer doesn’t take our eggs from under our snouts!”
Well… dead younglings tell no tales.
Ruby froze when that thought reached her mind. No, she would not consider that. She and Chomper had come to the valley to save themselves, to protect her family, and to hopefully build up support for action against Redclaw. If she were to eliminate the domehead then what kind of dinosaur would she be? There had to be another way.
But then there were the stakes. What would happen if she failed? What would she think if Chomper and her family was ripped apart before her eyes all because she failed to do what was necessary?
It isn’t like you haven’t killed before. You are a half-tooth.
She took a deep breath as she considered her situation. Her father’s words echoed in her mind: Never act too rashly, Ruby. Try to consider every possibility before you act.
With that in mind she moved further into the caverns. She had some pathways to explore.
-----
The domehead sat in silence for what seemed like a second eternity. The silence and darkness stretched out before him like an endless void. Finally, however, his impatience outweighed his fear.
He took a step forward. And another. And then another.
Only to slam into a wall.
“I can help you find a way out.”
The domehead cringed at the sweet words of the Oviraptor. It was as if she had never left.
“I mean… darkness is good for sleep and it is sleeping time. But it is not good for finding your way out.”
He could stand it no longer as he growled out in annoyance.
“I have found a few ways out besides the opening where Mr. Thicknose is. Maybe one of them will be closer to your family’s nest?”
At the mention of a nest his anger reached a breaking point and he struck out with his words.
“Daddy warned me about things like you! You stay away from our nest!”
There was silence for a few moments as the domehead regained his breath. It was not until the domehead had calmed that he heard footsteps approach him from the side.
He charged immediately… only to strike a wall headfirst.
“Well that wasn’t nice.” Her voice called out from behind him.
Blinded by the darkness he turned himself around and charged in the direction of the voice, only to strike the other end of the cavern.
“Please stop or you’re going to hurt yourself.”
The domehead collapsed against the rocky wall of the cavern as he waited for the world to stop spinning. It was only now that the true magnitude of his helplessness hit him. His eyes were useless, his sniffer was useless, and, due to the Oviraptor’s speed, his ears and domed head were useless. It was like she was a ghost. She had all of the advantages here.
So why wasn’t she attacking?
“Not all of us are like what your father says. Your father is not lying about what he knows, little one, but he only knows what he knows.”
He gritted his teeth at the Oviraptor’s veiled insult of his father. Nonetheless he knew that he would have to play along if he was going to get back to his family.
“Do you have a name?”
He sighed with resignation. “My name is Frotry.”
-----
Ruby walked some distance beside the young domehead as she tried to learn more about his perspective and to convince the domehead of her perspective.
“Yes, my kind does each fish and things, but we cannot always find green food. Here in the valley there is green food and snapping shells so that should not be a problem.”
“Ew!” She heard the domehead protest as he stopped for a moment. “That’s disgusting!”
Ruby shrugged despite the fact that the gesture could not be seen. “It keeps me alive. And Chomper can eat fish and buzzers. He really likes buzzers.”
“But… why do you have to go here anyway?”
Ruby proceeded to explain to the youngling what she could about the situation outside of the valley. The lack of food and the rise of Redclaw and his helpers… the hatred of Redclaw for her, Chomper, and the valley… and the hope that a combined effort might allow Redclaw to fall one day.
But ultimately she had no idea if the domehead was sincere or not. He could even believe her in his journey back only to let slip a story to his father to avoid punishment. If his father discovered that he was not at the nest…
She examined the small hints of light ahead.
“There is an interesting tradition with sharpteeth, Frotry. Would you like to hear it?”
The domehead paused for a moment as Ruby studied his features in the dim light. She thought she could see unease but also the slightest hint of curiosity. An expression that she often saw in Chomper.
Don’t lose nerve, Ruby.
“Um… sure.” Frotry spoke with more enthusiasm than his words would normally indicate.
Ruby smiled despite her unease at the situation. “When a sharptooth tries to join a sharptooth herd the other members have to make sure that they are trustworthy as a single untrustworthy member can destroy a pack. So what they do often is to set up a test to confirm their good intentions.”
This caught Frotry’s attention. “But I thought sharpteeth only cared for themselves?”
Ruby shook her head. “That may be what those on the bad side of sharpteeth can see. But for a good herd there must be trust. That is why I have been honest with your valley.” Except for when you weren’t. “And I hope that you can be honest with me.”
The domehead cocked his head oddly at this as he saw the lights ahead. “Is that a way out?”
Ruby’s stomach fell at the change in subject, but she answered nonetheless. “I looked at those a little while ago. They are dead ends. But there is an exit up ahead that will allow you to get out.” Through a fatal drop.
The domehead was undeterred. “Dead ends?”
Ruby nodded as she sprinted ahead towards one of them. “Yes… the first one goes into a crevice…” Now for the moment of truth. “…and the other one opens high above your favorite rock wall.”
“Really?!” The domehead jumped with excitement. “I never knew that the rock wall went all the way into the Caverns! This I have got to see.”
Ruby suddenly went deathly silent.
“Very well. It is a drop off so be careful… maybe I should check the path first?”
The domehead nodded vigorously, apparently oblivious to the fact that he was now openly talking to a kind he supposedly despised.
As Ruby raced ahead he could not see the regret in her eyes.
-----
The domehead waited impatiently as the fastrunner moved ahead into the barely lit chamber they now found themselves in. In front of him stood two openings in the wall, each raised up at an incline by rocks so that one had to walk upwards in order to access the welcoming sources of starlight. It only took Ruby a few moments to rise to the top and to peer into the opening.
“Okay, Frotry, it is a steep drop here. This is why you could never reach this from the ground.” The fastrunner stopped for a moment as she raised a clawed digit to her beak. “But you could reach the ground from here much too quickly.”
The domehead’s shoulders slumped at this news. “Oh, so it’s a cliff? Well… I would still like to see it.”
Ruby paused for a moment before she nodded, clearly putting herself in front of the opening.
“Okay, just be careful getting up here and try not to knock me off. After we are done then I can lead you to the exit. It is right ahead where that third light is.”
Frotry froze at the fastrunner’s odd words. She had been speaking in double, but her words since this opening had come up had been precise and to the point. Amazingly enough she had even dropped her advantage over him by telling him the way out while she was too high up to stop him if he decided to go for a run.
Perhaps the manipulative fastrunner was not as smart as she assumed.
He looked back up at the fastrunner. She was now completely in front of the opening as well, almost inviting a charge from the domehead. A charge that would almost certainly lead to her demise on the cliff below.
He had no doubt what his dad would do in his situation.
The youngling took a step back, preparing himself. His parents had taught him for many seasons how domeheads fought off sharpteeth and rivals. Though he was only in his eighth Warm Time he could tell that the Oviraptor would have no chance in open combat with him, especially not in her current position. He was not afraid now. There would be no running.
He began his charge.
Thump… thump…
He quickly spanned the distance between the wall behind him and the beginning of the incline. Now there was no turning back.
Thump… thump…
He advanced up the incline as he felt the protests of his already battered legs. But they were of no consequence. A domehead never gave up. He would be a hero!
Thump…
The Oviraptor began to turn as he caught sight of her pink crest in the starlight. For some reason the regretful look in her eyes did not feel him with the sensation of success.
Thump…
She looked at him directly now with tears visible in her eyes. His father would be happy now that he knew that victory was at hand.
Thump…
But he was not his father.
With a distraught cry, the domehead planted his front legs into the rocks and came to a skidding stop before he could reach his intended target.
He did not notice that the Oviraptor had already jumped away an instant prior.
Frotry took a deep breath to calm himself as he considered his surroundings. The dim light of the cave still remained, but it was almost drown out by the Night Circle in the opening that lay before him. But that was not what caught his attention.
The silence. The silence had returned.
Fearful, the youngling turned away from the opening and began to search that chamber.
“Ruby?”
Only silence reached him. A terrible deathly silence.
“Ruby!”
The domehead was completely lost to his fear and regret now. He had not felt an impact to his head, but then again the fastrunner was light. Could he have…?
He looked back towards the opening. Its light no longer carried the promise of adventure or glory, only the possibility of tragedy. He didn’t want to look.
But yet his legs began to move. One step and then another as he reached the incline and proceeded to rise towards the top. It took the better part of a minute, but when he finally did stop all he could do was clinch his eyes shut, tears streaming from them like skywater on a stormy night. But he owed it to the dinosaur he betrayed. He owed it to her to lay witness to what he had done.
He opened his eyes.
“It’s not easy killing, is it? That is why you stopped.”
Frotry stood in stunned silence as he stood before the promised cliff. The voice appeared to come from nowhere, however. As if it were coming from all directions at once.
“Ruby… How…”
He observed the rocks over a longneck-length below for any sign of the Oviraptor, but nothing was to be seen.
“Because you stopped yourself before performing the dead you were saved from destruction on the rocks below, so you passed my test. But remember what powers I hold, youngling.”
The domehead shivered as he tried to find the source of the voice. “Powers? Where are you?”
There was laughter as the domehead quaked in fear. “Here, there, everywhere, and nowhere. Don’t you know that a fastrunner who has been sent by Fate cannot be prevented from her mission?”
“F..Fate?”
The voice purred. “Yes, fate… My body will be back tomorrow and then you will have a very important decision to make. Because if fate is attacked then it will attack you and everyone you love.”
“No…”
“Oh, yes…” The voice affirmed. “But I think there is a simple solution to this situation. Really the situation is simple.”
The domehead swallowed. “I will do whatever you say…”
He thought that he could hear the slightest of exhales before the spirit voice spoke once more. “You will tell your father that you were climbing the rock wall and got into the Caverns, but that I helped you get out.”
Frotry looked down with regret. This would mean certain punishment for him and would invite his father’s shame. But considering the costs, he would do as the spirit asked.
The safety of his family depended upon it.
“And, Frotry?”
The domehead froze in fear.
“Don’t worry. As long as you follow the rules from now on and behave, Fate will smile upon you. It does not harm those who do no harm… which is why you should actually take the first opening and not the third… the crevice will lead you out.”
The domehead did not dare protest as he climbed down the incline and then ran out of the caverns through the suggested first opening, leaving the hidden drop off behind. He would not stop until he had arrived at his nest and told him the story that Ruby demanded.
-----
As Ruby stepped away from the odd shaped crevice that had caused her voice echo, she shook her head with regret. The only two options now were that the youngling would tell a story about spirit fastrunners and be ignored by his father, or tell a heroic lie which could only benefit her. But that was not what concerned her.
She looked at the opening to the cliff.
Had he not stopped and she had jumped aside then she knew full well that he would have plummeted to his death. The same fate would have happened had he ran into the third opening and to the drop off below. An unfortunate accident is what the valley would say. The domehead had climbed the rock wall one too many times and finally fell to his doom. Fate may have smiled on the domehead on this day for his mercy, but did it smile on her?
Only silence answered her troubled thoughts.
-----
The next day:
“Ruby, you may make your closing statement.”
Ruby looked at the assembled valley as the dinosaurs stared at the newcomers with varying degrees of bemusement and distrust. The domehead’s testimony of Ruby’s assistance had improved her case, but distrust still remained. She knew that it was up to her now.
“I have sacrificed much to be here, as I am sure all of you have. Had you not sacrificed much to be here then you would not be here. And I know that you are scared, because you would sacrifice anything to save those you love.”
She looked at the small domehead who was still positioned beside his father, a look of shame on his face.
“And I understand that you want to know if I would do the same. What would I be willing to risk for the sake of Chomper’s life? For the sake of the valley? I would be willing to risk it all.”
She looked at her small sharptooth companion, as he smiled kindly in return. He was still so innocent, which is why she would keep the actions of the previous night to herself. A guilty conscience was a small price to pay.
She was willing to pay so much more.
“You have told me that the punishment for Chomper if he eats meat in the valley is death. If it comes to that then I will willingly suffer the same fate as him.”
The meeting erupted into excited mutterings and shouts.
“Do you realize what you are saying?” Topps asked with surprise. Gone was his skepticism from the previous night.
“A life is not something to be thrown away.” Grandpa Longneck affirmed.
The image of the domehead tumbling over the cliff came into her mind. Of a future that could have been. A price she was willing to pay.
“Are you sure that you are willing to offer this?” The elder domehead asked with amazement.
Ruby’s eyes glistened with determination as she stared at the valley.
“Would all of you sacrifice yourselves for the sake of your children?”
The residents of the valley yelled and nodded their affirmation as the almost possessed looking fastrunner.
“Would you all kill for your children?”
A loud chorus of agreement echoed before Topps called for order with a loud stomp.
Ruby nodded. “So would I.”
Her eyes locked then with the threehorn. The kindness that had existed in the previous day had been replaced with a harsh determination that he had only seen in his reflection. The kind of determination that could only come from loss. The loss of innocence in the desire to protect what was most important.
“Yes.”
The other two elders looked at Mr. Threehorn as if he had grown a fifth leg.
“I don’t have to be happy about it, but, yes, I vote in favor of these two staying.”
Stomp!
He gave his stomp of approval as silence descended upon the meeting. No one said a word for several moments before his solitary stomp was joined by another as a pink threehorn did the same.
Stomp! Stomp!
Ruby’s head turned to see the two longnecks put their feet down almost as one. This was followed by a crescendo of stomps as just over half of the herds began to follow the lead of the others. Soon the entire meeting area was filled with the deafening sound was the valley’s approval. Just enough of the dinosaurs had approved to for the valley to consider the once unthinkable and to let a sharptooth in their midst.
Wiping a tear from her eye and joining Chomper in an embrace, Ruby could only smile.
Perhaps fate was smiling on her after all.
