Chapter 2: Which Path?
I watch Cayne run towards me as fast as he could but at the moment I am paralysed, seeing Cayne again has caused a whole flood of emotions and memories in me, seeing him I fell amazement, inexpressible joy, sadness, regret and above all else shock. Memories of my childhood cover my eyes as if I’m actually seeing them again. I see us swimming together in the river near Hanging Rock all those years ago, long before I had any siblings. I see us playing tag and falling into a small field of flowers where we each try to tickle the other. I see us feasting on tree stars and snapping shells and him sharing his snapping shell with me and I see us sleeping together. However when the happy memories pass the sad ones take their place and play through my mind I see Cayne arguing with his parents and myself crying from the bushes as I watched, I remember the last meeting we had then our parting, our families going our separate ways as the food became too scarce for two Fast Runner families. I remember crying long into the night after watching my best childhood friend leave and in all those years I haven’t seen him once.
Tears pool around my eyes and my mouth is wide open but other than that I’m a statue, I am unaware of my friends looking at the Fast Runner and back to me then back again, all I notice is Cayne, it’s as if everything has gone dark in my mind’s eye and he has lit up with light and colour as he runs towards me looking positively delighted.
He leaps from the water and is now hardly a few paces in front me and he crosses the distance in one leap and before I know what is happening I feel his arms embrace me in a powerful hug but I’m still to dumbstruck to do anything. I can feel the warmth generated by our combined bodies and without realising I wrap my arms around him that’s when I feel him brushing and stroking the red feathers of my back like how he used to, we didn’t understand at the time that such a demonstration was only done by couples but now we’re both older and I’m sure he understands it’s meaning and that he is not just doing it for old time’s sake which implies……
“Oh Ruby” Cayne whispers in my ear “Your as beautiful as the day we parted”
I feel the blood rush to my face at this statement but all I can say is “I missed you so much” in a whisper as a few tears trickle down my cheek and now I finally embrace him with a hug that was just as strong as his.
We stay in our embrace for what feels like an eternity to me because for me at this moment, only Cayne exists, that is until someone clears their throat just beside us. Our small world pops and I am made aware of everything else around me in an instant and I am a little alarmed to see none other than Mr Threehorn standing just between us as indeed everyone including the Grown-Ups and my friends are staring at us.
Cayne seems to realise this and releases me from his embrace and we both stand side by side looking rather embarrassed at the little show we had just put on. “You know each other” states Mr Threehorn gruffly.
“This is Cayne my old friend, old friend Cayne is” I say though Cayne seems to melt upon hearing my voice hasn’t changed after all these years.
“Old friend or not we have one Fast Runner too many in this valley” says Mr Threehorn firmly to me.
Cayne responds with a scowl of dislike “If you had listened to me before then you’d know that I’m only spending a few days in here at the very max” he says sounding rather annoyed, which I’m not surprised by, Cayne never was the most patient dinosaur out there and Mr Threehorn certainly has a knack for testing ones patience.
“Please Mr Threehorn, I know Cayne and he’d never hurt anyone would you Cayne?” I say turning to him.
He gets my message, even after all these years he can still read me and that was the thing I was counting on for what might have looked like a blank expression on my face means something else to Cayne and few people can decipher it, only those closest to me can do that. “No I would not” he says crossing his arms and shaking his head.
Mr Threehorn doesn’t look convinced unsurprisingly, he never takes these things easily and that means that he makes the situation less easy. I am thankful though for Grandpa Longneck’s intervention he at least can see reason. “I don’t see any harm in letting him stay for a few days, as long as you make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble Ruby” he says to me, the look in his eyes indicate trust, he trusts me to keep him from harming anyone in return for letting him stay in The Valley.
“Yes Grandpa Longneck” I say respectfully giving him a firm nod of my head.
“Fine then, I think we can let this situation be for now Mr Threehorn” says Grandpa Longneck though Mr Threehorn gives an angry "Haa!” and trudges away looking very ill-tempered but then he nearly always is. The Grown-Ups follow, leaving me alone with my friends and Cayne.
“Oh Ruby, you look so beautiful, even after all this time” says Cayne, turning back to me and holding my hands gently in his, I can only imagine just how red my cheeks are because I can see Cera chuckling quietly behind Cayne at the look on my face.
“Cayne I never expected to see you again, I expected to see you never again” I say.
Cayne smiles at me “I told you I would come back and didn’t I always keep my word?” he asks me and a brief look back into my memory and it reveals that he is telling the truth, sure he could break his word on small playful things but never on big thing like this.
“Cayne I am really happy to see you but what are you doing here?” I ask him.
“Looking for you” he replies.
My mouth falls open and I am left completely shell shocked, he’s here looking for me!? But before I can ask why Cera makes her presence known.
“Well now we can get the pleasantries out of the way, who are you?” she asks a little too rudely for my liking but she always acts this way when someone goes at her father.
“I am called Cayne and I am a Fast Runner from The Mysterious Beyond, Ruby and I are old friends, we go way back” he says to my friends. “And who are you guys? Friends of Ruby’s?” he asks them then turning to me looking just as curious of my friends as they probably are about him.
“They are my friends, This is Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Ducky, Spike and Chomper” I say, pointing to each of my friends in turn, they each greeted Cayne back but Cayne’s eyes immediately fall on Chomper. I imagine that he’s surprised that there is a Sharptooth in The Valley.
He gives me a quizzical look “Your friends with a Sharptooth?” he asks imperiously but I can see by the look in his eyes that he is not at all happy about this I can almost hear him exclaiming “What were you thinking in befriending a Sharptooth Ruby!?”
I respond in a composed but firm voice “Chomper is my friend, he is a nice Sharptooth that I’ve known for several cold times now and I promised his parents that I would look after him” Cayne looks surprised by my explanation and of how deeply I defend him. However I can tell by his shivering hands that there is something else on his mind “Bring it up then Cayne” I think to myself.
As if Cayne can read my mind he requests politely that I have a talk with him alone.
I take Cayne to a nearby clearing; the one Chomper and I were in before Cayne’s rather energetic arrival “What is it Cayne?” I ask calmly.
He looks me deeply in the eyes and doesn’t break glance even when he starts talking “Ruby, you know I like you and I am now at The Time of Mating” My stomach backflips when I hear those words and I feel a whole rush of emotions running through my body so hard and fast that I don’t know what I am feeling but my mind quickly processes what he says and what he is probably going to say.
“I have arrived at Hanging Rock three days ago to find you gone and your parents telling me that you live here now” he says “I have waited so long to see you again Ruby and I don’t want to part from you not now, not ever again” My heart beat has just soured higher than the sky itself and I hold my breath for behind his back he pulls out some Sweet Bubbles, my favourite food but the gesture is more complicated than that. In Fast Runner society a male proposes by giving the female an offering that is dear to her as a way of showing that he understands the one he wants to mate and he knows my favourite food is Sweet Bubbles. All I need to do is accept them.
“Will you come back home with me and be my mate?” he asks, holding out the Sweet Bubbles to me, though his face hides the tense feeling that I know he is feeling but I am completely gone, nothing moves through my mind, my whole body is locked in place such is what he has just asked me, he has wiped my mind of all thought and all I can feel are warm emotions building inside me, slowly at first but then rising to a torrent that is overwhelming I want more than anything in the world to take the Sweet Bubbles and I find my hand stretching out unconsciously.
“Ruby wait!”
I turn sharply and see Chomper jumping out from the bushes and running to my side.
“You promised me, you promised my parents” he says looking at me hard with worry and if I’m not mistaken a little fear?
I feel my heart start to plummet as if it fell from the top of very high cliff. I wanted nothing more than to accept Cayne’s offer but now I remember that I have an obligation to Chomper and his parents and after he so openly declared his feelings for me as an elderly sister figure I could not bring myself to leave him nor can I violate my promise to his parents, they wanted him to stay in The Valley and wherever I go, he goes but going with Cayne means leaving The Great Valley. I can’t stay here in The Great Valley because the residents are hardly in a position to take in another Fast Runner and especially not during their time of mating, I would almost certainly be kicked out. All these thoughts run through my head in an instant leaving me confronted with a situation I had not expected nor do I know how to find a solution for it.
“You promised?” asks Cayne looking at me curiously.
I sigh and slowly turn to face Cayne “I made a promise to Chomper and his parents that I would look after him here on The Valley and keep him safe from Red Claw” I say, the words feel dry in my throat and Cayne looks like he has taken a blow directly to the heart.
“But Ruby, is it worth putting me aside?” he asks.
I step away as both Chomper and Cayne stare at me awaiting my decision and at one they both try to move forward and talk but instead they see me turn tail and run away as fast as my legs can carry me. “RUBY!” Both boys cry and run after me but by now I am an untouchable blur, nothing can catch up to me as I jump into the river and run through it harder than I have ever run before, my heart pounding so hard in my chest that it drowns out all other sounds but I feel its pain too. I break from the main river in order to lose Cayne since he doesn’t know this region very well and I stay in the water so Chomper can’t use his superior sense of smell to find me.
Finally as I reach the waterfall at the bend in the river I run straight through the waterfall and into a small crevice on the other side, it’s hardly big enough for me but I can’t think of anywhere else to go or what to do because I am panting to hard from both my run and my out of control feelings. I let out a cry that is drowned out by the sound of the waterfall and brace myself up against the rock wall with eyes tightly closed; the only sound I can hear is my own overpowering heartbeat and the waterfall.
“What do I do??” I question myself quietly, I feel completely lost and my mind is to hyped to think clearly and no amount of deep breathing seems to calm me I just need talk to someone, I need to get this crushing weight off of my shoulders and I need advice but from whom? Who could help me?
Well, it has to be someone who has faced hardship and difficult decisions. The Longnecks come to mind on that note but I also need someone who knows about love and while the Longnecks are wise I don’t think that they have had a challenging relationship as they always seem so in sync with each other so who else could I ask? Mr Thicknose? No. He has no one that he has fallen for so he could not help me understand my feelings. Who can I talk to?
Feeling to cramped in this small crevice I walk back through the waterfall and into the bright light of the outside world and then it is as if The Bright Circle itself has just shone upon the answer to my question. Sitting in the water on the opposite bank is a Swimmer whom I recognise as Ducky’s Mother, I realise that I’m right next to her nest. At once I feel like I have found someone I can talk to. Ducky’s Mother has faced tough decisions before when Spike is involved and she has lived in The Mysterious Beyond and look at how many siblings Ducky has, surely that is an indication of a good mother, of someone who has experienced love in all its joys and woes?
Taking a deep breath, I calm myself and approach the adult Swimmer who is busy eating some underwater green food. “Um Hello?” I say nervously, raising my hand in greeting.
Ducky’s Mother raises her head at me and gives me a warm smile though I saw the initial surprise in her expression. “Oh, Hello Ruby, I didn’t know you were around, what can I do for you?” she asks politely, her voice while different reminds me of my mother and already I feel a little more comfortable around her.
I walk over to her and just ask “I just want a talk with you, a talk with you I want” I say. I am met by a curious gaze from Ducky’s Mother but she nods which I take as an invitation to start talking. I tell her of Chomper’s announcement, Cayne’s arrival and his proposition and the terrible decision I’m faced with, although I start off slowly I am soon talking as fast as the wind, laying all my thoughts and feelings on the matter bare before the adult Swimmer who just listens to me with a sympathetic expression on her face and finally I lose all my breath and can talk no more and just stand there breathing hard and fast.
“I just don’t know what to do, can you help me so I’ll know what to do?” I ask in a pleading manner as I look up desperately at Ducky’s Mother. She puts a hand on my back and helps me to calm my breathing before anything else; once I’m calm she begins her reply.
“Ruby you must know that I can’t make this choice for you but I might be able to help you with making what I hope will be the right choice” she says the offers me some of the green food she was having which I gratefully accept, I hadn’t realised just how hungry I was till now and the deliciously moist green food is a filling meal.
“First Ruby, you need to know what you heart is telling you, when Cayne proposed what did you want to do?” the adult Swimmer asks me.
“I wanted to accept” I reply without hesitation.
“Then you know that you’re heart’s desire is to go with Cayne Ruby” says Ducky’s Mother to me.
I protest loudly “But I can’t just abandon Chomper! He needs me!”
In response Ducky’s mother takes up my hand in hers and looks me directly in the eyes, I feel as if she is reading my very heart with her gaze but the understanding look she gives me does not fill me with intimidation. “Ruby, you know Chomper can’t stay in The Valley forever, it’s hard but eventually he will have to go and I know that it will hurt him as well as you, your friends and Ducky and Spike but it is something that will happen”
I look down, I don’t want to believe her words but I know she is right Chomper can’t stay here forever and then what? He leaves and moves into the cold wide world alone. “I’m afraid that I can’t tell you how to do this Ruby but I will say what I said before, that you should follow your heart because it will pain you to leave Cayne behind, I might suggest that Chomper goes back to his own parents but I don’t know enough about the situation to make that call.”
Ducky’s mother’s words go right through me, the piece my heart and I find that I’m trembling, Ducky’s Mother may not be able to solve my problems but she has put me on the right track, I do want to go with Cayne but what about poor Chomper? That’s the question and I’ll need to ponder it more at my thinking place.
I look back up at Ducky’s mother “Thank you for your advice Mrs Swimmer” I say respectfully.
“Your welcome Ruby, I wish you all the best dear” replies Ducky’s Mother, she gives me a friendly parting nuzzle and pulls herself from the water while I head towards my thinking place, I have a lot to think about but one comment Mrs Swimmer said has stirred an idea in me, one that I hope with a little pondering will be the solution to my troubles.
