Sleep and Remember

[Grievous55]

A large shape slid down a slope on the canyon in front of Reesk. Sy straightened, looking at the raptor with interest. There were several tooth marks on his side from the confrontation with the predator earlier, but otherwise he appeared in good health. He took a step toward Reesk.
"Hello. What might your name be?"

[Raptor]

Reesk blinked with suprise and stumbled backwards. "Reesk." He snapped, almost definsivly. Reesk stood completly still. "Now, I have some prey to catch up too." He growled, turning away.

[General Grievous]

The iguanodon lifted his head slightly.  Kaga's vision gradually returned and the numb feeling that enveloped his body faded away.  He became aware of moisture and the temperature had now dropped.  How long had he been out cold.  Then, Kaga became aware of his thirst.  He was extremely dehydrated and needed to drink soon.  Kaga assumed that it was the coolness of the heavy rain which had awakened him.  He glanced around looking for the nearest puddle and spotted it just out of reach of his mouth.  Too weak to stand, Kaga used his hind legs to thrust himself about ten feet foward and right into the puddle.  He sucked up the water quickly and began to look for more.  Another puddle looked deep and would provide plenty of water but it was far and Kaga didn't have the strength to drag himself over ti it.  He could barely reach the water with hit left front leg but then, an idea struck him.  Using his clawed thumb, Kaga dug a small trench from the deep puddle to the depression he had just emptied, allowing water to refill it.  The iguanodon drank water until he was satisfied and rolled onto his stomach, allowing the rain to wash the dirt from him.  Kaga rested his head on the ground and tried to get some rest and regain his strength.

[F-14 Ace]

The herd rested on the muddy ground, huddled close together.  It was a small herd, comsisting of only Strafe, her parents, her grandparents, two aunts and an uncle.  Strafe had awakened after everal hours of peaceful sleep, hungry once again.  She sighed in frustration at how quickly she was hungry again.  The green plants her herd had found hours before were neither filling nor nutritious.  They were just enough to keen an iguanodon alive.  This time, green food was not far off like before.  There were lots of green ferns and sage bushes growing from the rocks all around.  Strafe wouldn't have to travel far.  The teenage iguanodon quietly got up from where she was nestled between her parents and crept over to a patch of greenery to eat in peace.  The rest of the herd had eaten from plants like this earlier but Strafe was hungry again.  She had always eaten a lot and was not satisfied by just two sage bushes.  A few ferns and more bushes would probably be filling enough though.  Strafe found a few bushes and set to work on them, quickly stripping the first one of its leaves.  Everything was perfect.  Strafe was close to the safety of her family, lots of food, and plenty of water.  Surely nothing could ruin this perfect moment...

(occ: just a little question.  When is the earthquake going to be? Just wondering.)

[Ratiasu]

(occ: just a little question.  When is the earthquake going to be? Just wondering.)

[How about now? Good a time as any! :]

The mud turned to water pools. The water pools grew and ran into each other. Odottaen's frantic, weakened race towards the front of the canyon was not only exactly the wrong thing to do, but it was also a wasted effort - if he had began to climb the ledges of the canyon walls, which were not entirely smooth and straight, he would have been able to avoid the far-away torrent of water sweeping down the plains and into the canyon. But Odottaen's mind was not warning him of that. It was warning him of the earthquake that was to become a historical landmark in every dinosaur's life. The taller things are, the easier they fall. Even though Odo didn't know it, that was why he felt no need to climb the canyon ledges. A bonehead's mind and brain was a bizarre one. It was almost as if his body was a dog and his mind were a trainer, whispering out commands in a foreign language he usually couldn't understand, only a mere broad suggestion.

Odo froze at the command of his brain. He heard something coming. It was a roar, one he had never heard before, one that had no overpowering flesh-eater scent. It was raining harder now, much harder, and the water now pooled at his ankles, driving dirt and mud into his bleeding wound. When the giant torrent of water rounded the corner, sweeping towards him at a godly pace, Odo did what most Pachy's did when faced with an intruder of the likes they had never seen, and tried to roar at it, chase it off, intimidate it, kill it. Unlike most of his kind, he realized that the flood water was not alive, and just barely had enough time to leap onto a large rock before the water swept below, behind, above, and past him, and he only had the strength to hold on for three seconds before the sheer force of the water ripped him away from his stronghold. He was bumped and battered by small rocks and vegetation, thrown head over heels in the current, flailing madly. It was a good thing the plain had been so empty. There were not any trees or rocks big enough to kill him.

The sad thing was that the floor was not the worst of things to come. Though Odo did not feel it, a low rumbling shuttered the ground. Cracks split the earth's surface, spewing out magma-hot jets of steam. Most of the canyon walls crumbled, or else cracked and shook, deadly debris clattering down into the angry torrent of water writhing below. The earthquake's force elevated, and soon entire peninsula's broke off from the mainland. Mountains collapsed, entire forests and whatever was in them at the time were reduced to rubble. Huge rock formations burst from the cracks in the earth, peeling apart the Earth's crust. Volcanoes erupted almost spontaneously, spewing tons of ash and lava into the sky, pyroclastic flows, acid rain, landslides, and lava flows wiping out anything within miles of the sleeping fire giants. But the good thing was that the earthquake passed quickly. As for those who were dead...their troubles were over.

[I'd imagine not many dinosaurs in the canyon at this point would survive. :\ I know I really sped up the whole earthquake thing - you guys can expand on it if you want. Odo's still writhing around in the floodwater, practically drowning, so life ain't fun for him. Plus, now there are rocks, what with more than 3/4ths of the canyon collapsing and such.]

[F-14 Ace]

Strafe was munching on a sage branch when there was a roaring sound far off down the canyon.  She glanced ahead and saw a wall of water full of rocks and debris racing toward her at high speed.  Strafe turned to her parents who had already been awakened by the roaring water and shouted, “What are we going to do?”
Her father replied, “Run!  We have to get out of here!”
Strafe’s mother quickly awoke the others and the herd began to flee the approaching flood.  The herd had been sleeping atop a small hill but the hill wasn’t tall enough to stop the flood.  Strafe was too afraid to look back but she could tell the water was catching up because the roaring was getting louder.  In moments, the flood would be upon the herd.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling and the ground began to shake violently.  Cracks began to form in the side of the cliffs and chunks of rocks began to fall.  Right as the flood was about to overtake the iguanodon herd, a massive rockslide blocked the path of the water.  Unfortunately, it also trapped Strafe’s grandmother, uncle, and one of her aunts.  They would be drown in the flood waters.  It took some time for Strafe to realize what was happening but she now realized that the herd was in huge trouble.  Her grandfather, realizing that his mate was no longer following him, turned and looked back and in the few seconds in which he did this, an avalanche of rocks fell on him, crushing the old spikethumb.  
Strafe shouted, “Grandpa!”
   Her mother shouted, “Keep going!  We can’t stop here!”
   Rocks began to rain down from the canyon walls and more cracks formed.  Suddenly, there was a deafening roar and the left wall of the canyon collapsed into the ground, and jets of scalding hot steam shot up.  Strafe was in a state of complete terror.  The canyon exit was now in sight but the ground began to shift and a huge stone tower suddenly jutted up from the ground, almost blocking the path.  The terrified dinosaurs circumnavigated the stone tower but as they drew nearer to the exit, there was another deafening roar as solid stone was pulverized and the right wall of the canyon collapsed and sank into a gigantic gorge that was beginning to form.  The ground beneath Strafe’s feet began to crumble and crack.  Off to her left, a huge sinkhole was forming and ground began to collapse into the growing gorge.  The remaining members of the herd tried to avoid it but the hole engulfed Strafe’s father and aunt.  The crack grew and grew and the ground on the opposite side rose high into the air.  It was like the end of the world.  Huge chunks of rock broke off and fell into the crack.  Strafe looked down and saw cracks forming at her feet and the ground on which she stood began to crumble.  It was about to fall into the hole when the mother iguanodon rammed into Strafe and shoved her onto more stable ground.
Strafe shouted, “Mom!  Hurry!” but it was too late.
Before her mother could react, the unstable ground fell away and into the gorge.  The arthquake raged on for a few more minutes before things settled down.

Strafe lay at the edge of the huge crack, alone and in shock at what had just occurred.  It was some time before she realized that her family was dead.  In just a few terrible minutes, everyone she knew, her whole herd, gone...  She was the only survivor.  Strafe realized that she was now alone.  A tear rolled down the teenage spikethumb’s face and she buried her face under her crossed front legs and cried.  

The earthquake disappeared, leaving the land ravaged.  Thousands, if not millions of dinosaurs had been killed by the quake.  The storm had let up to a light drizzle and the worst of it moved on.

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Morning came, revealing the full extent of the damage.  The sun rose over a devistated land.
Snork’s herd had fared much better than Strafe’s.  His herd had lost only two and those were in the flood and not the actual quake.  The ones lost had been stragglers that had joined the herd recently and not really anyone that Snork cared about.  Despite the low losses, Snork’s father was furious and was taking his rage out on his son.
“You make me sick, you pathetic excuse for a son!” ,bellowed the herd’s leader.  “I told you to watch for danger and you did not do your duty!  That will cost you a week’s worth of meals!”
Snork argued, “It wasn’t my fault!  The flood came out of nowhere!”
His father glared at him harshly and snorted and reclaimed his place at the front of the herd.  They continued onward, walking along the fresh gorge created by the earthquake.  

Snork smoldered with quiet anger at his father.  Why was he being blamed for another thing that wasn't his fault?  He had no control over the flood!  This was rediculous.  Snork walked behind the rest of the herd as usual, wishing now, more than ever, that he actually had a purpose in life other than to be predator bait.

[Grievous55]

"Now, now, kind sir, no need to get testy," the Sinensis grumbled.
At that moment, a roar reached his ears. It was a roar he had heard many times before and every time it had filled him with dread.
"If you don't mind, sir," he said, grabbing the Raptor by the arm and pulling him, "I'd suggest we get to higher ground."
No sooner had he said that when the ground began to shake. He groaned.
"Why do they always happen at the same time?!"
A large chunk of the canyon wall fell next to them, creating a small shelter pointed away from the flood. Sy dragged Reesk into it.
"Bless Pellucidar for the Rainbowfaces. Their teachings help out a lot in tight spots."
At that moment the water rushed past, a small amount managing to spill in to their shelter. But within a few minutes, the earthquake had ended, and the last of the flood waters receded.

Sy peeked out. Everything seemed okay.
"All right, Mr. Reesk, you can come out."
He started up the canyon.
"Let's look for dead. And maybe some survivors."

~~~

They came upon the remains of Strafe's herd fairly quickly. The bodies exposed were scalded by steam, and vapor still rose from around them.
"Dig through the scree a bit(loose rock), Reesk. There should be something edible there."
It was then that the Sinensis came upon Strafe. Kneeling down beside her, he gave her a comforting smile.
"There, there, little one. What's wrong. What can old Eyesaur do to help?"

[General Grievous]

Kaga was awakened from his deep sleep again when the ground began to shake.  The iguanodon looked around, bewildered, and noticed that about 100 feet away, the muddy soil was beginning to sink inward.   The sink hole was expanding and forming a long trench.  Kaga knew he had to move fast.  Hauling himself to his feet, Kaga began to move away from the crumbling ground.  A deep rumbling sound came from directly below him and the earth began to split open, sending steam and fire erupting high into the sky.  Kaga cried out in pain as a jet of hot steam scalded his right hind leg and the upper portion of his tail.  Limping away as fast as he could, the exhausted dinosaur reached the relative safety of solid ground.  Near by, a sand dune, saturated by the rain water, melted as a result of the violent shaking.  The shaking increased and Kaga was thrown off his feet and landed hard on his left side, cracking two ribs and giving him some bruises.  Rock formations began to rise out of the ground and some of the already exsisting stone towers in the distance began to collaps.  A huge rock rose out of the ground only twenty feet from Kaga as he lay helpless on the muddy ground, unable to move.  After what seemed like an eternity, the massive quake subsided.  Kaga was terrified by is ordeal but he was still alive and his injuries were superficial.  Many others were not as fortunate.

[Ratiasu]

The floodwaters began to branch off, plummeting down the steam vents and the cracks in the earth. Odottaen was lucky he was not thrown down there as well, for he was at the very front of the flood waters, and they had thinned out quite a bit, the cracks lessening the water's power. Odo was gently drift onto a rise of land a fourth of a mile away from the collapsed canyon wall, and for a long time he simply lay there, hardly breathing, his forearm muscles twitching in involuntary lust for comfort. When he came to (he had been knocked out after slamming into one of the rocks), he felt a great pain everywhere, and the air smelled far different. A bad different.

Odo climbed to his wounded, wobbly feet and tested out his limbs and neck. His right arm was broken. That would severely impact his communication abilities. Not that these simpletons understood him anyway.
Slowly the Pachy looked over his shoulder at the ruined canyon, and slowly began to walk away from it. The canyon was good. That was an important thing for some reason. Something that had to do with the eternal burning place that would grant him salvation from hunger and traveling. He was almost tempted to go back and see if anyone knew about the safe fire land, but then decided against it. Safe fire. That would make no sense to them. He had already tried communicating his confusion to another dinosaur, long before this. They hadn't understood him. They had responded in words and words alone.

Words! The very notion made him flick his head in disgust. Spoken language meant nothing if there were no gestures to go along. Everything had a gesture to it. Stories. Cities. Names. The gesture for his own was a deep threatening growl and a glitter of desperation and triumph in the eyes and a coiling of the thigh muscles, something, Odo had learned, many other dinosaurs became defensive of fearful of. But they knew nothing.

[Raptor]

Reesk blinked. Within the space of a few seconds, he had been brought here. Reesk was so dazed that he barely noticed the Iguandon nearby. He blinked slowly, his hugering catching up with him fast. Reesk dug in the rocks. The Siensis was obviously trying to help the leafeater, for whatever reason.

[F-14 Ace]

The sudden appearance of the scavengers startled the distraught iguanodon.  Why now?  In a flash, Strafe was on her feet.  Anger overtook her as she swung her tail at the sharptooth.  She wasn't sure if she hit him or not because immediately afterward, she dashed away as fast as she could.  Strafe ran for what had to be miles before finally settling down again next to a tree that had some green leaves on it.  She wasn't hungry and had no intention of eating.  She layed down and burst into tears as she thought about the family she would never see again.  How could this have happened?  Why did it happen?  Strafe had nobody to turn to.  She didn't think she could handle the pain.  She rested her head on her front legs and cried, unaware that her life was about to take another unexpected turn.

[Grievous55]

The Sinensis sighed, and looked back at Reesk.
"I trust you can handle yourself while I'm gone, eh?"

As Strafe sat crying, a clawed hand held out a leaf to her.
"It's a good leaf," Sy said. "You wouldn't want it to go to waste."
When she refused, he shoved it in his mouth and swallowed it, before sitting next to her.
"I understand how you must feel. I lost my parents when I was very small, and not long after that by brother. It took a lot to keep me going, and I almost didn't make it. But you can't let it slow you down if you want to live a good life. Savvy?"

[Raptor]

Reesk nodded as the Sienesis left. He kicked over a rock and maneged to snap up a large insect. Suddenly, the ground shook. For a moment, Reesk thought the earthshake was back, but a familer scent proved him wrong. The Hulking figure of a huge Sharptooth came into view. A younger, half-grown Sharptooth followed it. Reesk ducked behind a large rock and hoped they hadn't spotted him.

[General Grievous]

To the east, the sky began to grow bright.  Morning was coming and the dawn would reveal the full extent of the damage.  Kaga slogged along as a slow pace, his right hind leg and upper tail extremely sore from the scalding steam.  How would he ever find the Great Valley now?  His path was blocked by jagged rocks and a seemingly bottomless gorge and any familiar landmarks that he had been told about prior to the quake had likely been destroyed and the land had been completely changed.  Kaga was lost amongst the ravaged landscape.  How would he survive this ordeal?  His only hope was to perhaps find someone else who perhaps knew the way.

Kaga didn't see any end to the trench in sight and it would be impossible for him to cross so the iguanodon had no choice but to follow it looking for a place narrow enough to jump or even batter, a place where the crack ended.

Kaga sighed and continued on his lonely, grueling journey.

[Ratiasu]

Odottaen had only been wandering a few hours before he came upon a little copse of trees. It was lucky that no one was there - Odo really didn't want to be a victim of the madness again - and he eagerly began to dig using the small horns on the end of his snout, digging for roots. He kept at this for quite some time, with aid from his long arms and clawed hands, but didn't find much. Only a couple worms, which he ate, but hated due to bitter flavor.

The pain in his foot had lessened, and the bleeding had stopped, and the Pachy was just about to move on when suddenly he found himself surrounded by a pack of six small Velociraptors (small, as in the actual dinosaur, and not the oversized Jurassic Park version). Odo blinked his orange eyes and looked around him, seeing no gap big enough for him to escape. The Velociraptors didn't move much, either, as if they were waiting for him to die. Still, Odo felt the madness begin to creep up on him, and he continually scuffed the ground with his foot in warning, but the predatory dinosaurs did not understand, and bobbed their heads and moved their heads so that their great eyes caught the sunlight and flashed like jewels.

[F-14 Ace]

Strafe was evem more surprised when the sinensis appeared a second time.  Why is he following me? she thought. What does he want?  However, the sinensis was only trying to help and offered some advice which made Strafe calm down.
The iguanodon said, still trying to hold backgrief, "I don't know what to do.  I've lost everyone.  I don't even know if I can find the Great Valley now.  Everything has changed.  I don;t know what to do."

[Grievous55]

"Look up at the sky. It's still blue, isn't it? The sun is still shining. There are still trees and rocks and other creatures. They haven't changed, have they?
"Bad times pass, like cloudy days. They seem like they'll never end, but they do. All it takes is a little patience and some hope."
He looked back at the young Iguanodon.
"I know how horrible losing your family can be, but they're never truly gone. Their spirits stay with us regardless of where we go and what we do, and we can always turn to them for help or comfort.
"And as for the Great Valley, if you like, I can lead you there myself."

[F-14 Ace]

Strafe said in depressed tone, "That would be nice.  I just want to rest now.  Why are you doing this for me anyway?"

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The herd came to a stop and Snork's father stepped out in front and announced, "We will stay here tonight.  This tree..."
He began to gesture toward the tree when he noticed the two dinosaurs alreay there.  A scowl crossed his face and he growled, "Get out!  This is our tree now!"
Srafe stood up and shouted in protest, "We were here first!"
The swimmer growled and kicked her in the side and shouted, "Get out before I break your neck, filth!"
Srafe backed away and turned and ran, seeking shelter behind a rock about 100 yards away.  
Snork protested, "That was uncalled for!  She was here first!"
His father retorted, "That "Thing" has no place in this world!  And for arguing with me, you have just lost tonight's meal!"
Snork snorted angrily, trying to control his anger.  This was rediculous.  His dad had become a monster.  When nightfall came and everyone else was asleep, Snork decided to make his move.  He snuck over to the tree and quietly broke a branch full of leaves off.  He began to sneak away from the herd when he saw the iguanodon peeking out from behind the rock.  Snork decided he couldn't just leave her there.  He felt sorry for her after the treatmend she got from his father.
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Strafe sat watching to see if the coast was clear when she saw Snork coming her way.  Great.  Here came some more abuse.  
However, when Snork arrived, the young swimmer said timidly, "Hi, uh, sorry for the way my father treated you."
Strafe mumbled, "What do you want?"
Snork replied, "Well, first I wanted to apologize for the way my father treated you.  I brought you some food."
Strafe looked at the leaves hungrily.  She didn't feel like eating but she knew she had to eat.  In a matter of minutes, Strafe had stripped the branch clean.  
Suddenly, Snork was struck from behind and fell to the ground.  His father stood there looking as furious as ever.
He bellowed, "My own son!  Helping the enemy!  You disguest me!"
Snork gasped, "Enemy?  Have you lost your mind?"
His father smacked him again and growled, "Never use that tone of voice with me again!  You have no idea how much trouble you are in!"
Snork got up and retorted, "Oh, I'm not in trouble!  I'm leaving!  I've had it with you!"
Snork's father said, "You will never survive out there."
Snork replied smugly, "That's what you think.  I'm gonna find the Great Valley!"
His father said coldly, "That place doesn;t exist!  It's a myth!"
Strafe interrupted, "It is real!"
She wasn't sure how true her statement was but she wanted to disagree with this despicable jerk.
The herd leader turned to the iguanodon and shouted fury as Snork has never seen, "I don't recall asking for your input, you slimy piece of filth!  Now crawl back to your hole!"
Snork shouted, "I'm outta here!"
And with that, Snork walked away.  Strafe took off after him, preferring him over his father.  Plus, she had a proposition for the swimmer that had just helped her.
Strafe asked, "So you're looking for the Great Valley?"
Snork replied, "Yeah.  Do you know the way?"
Strafe answered, "Not really, but he does." She gestured toward Sy with her head.

[Grievous55]

"Pardon me, sir," Sy said gently to Snork's father. He stood up nose to nose with the swimmer, and let a drop of venom land on his toe.
"But you might want to think about how you're going to treat a person, 'cause you never know when they might be very, very, dangerous."
The venom ate through the swimmer's skin, dissolving muscle and cartilage, and stopping just before it reached bone.
"Ponder that while I escort your son to the Great Valley, eh?"
He ran off to join Snork and Strafe.

[F-14 Ace]

Snork and Strafe walked along through the desolate land, following the huge crack in the earth.  
Snork said, "Well, it seems we are going to be traveling a long way together so we should get to know eachother a little better.  My name is Snork.  What's your name?"
"Strafe." replied the iguanodon in a depressed tone.  
She was still devistated by the loss of her family before her very eyes but her mood had lifted a bit when she heard that this newcomer knew where the Great Valley was.  She was hesitant to trust Sy at first but because she had this swimmer, Snork, with her, she felt a lot safer.  
Snork asked, "So, uh, did you get separated from your herd?"
Strafe replied, "They're dead.  My only hope now is to reach the valley."
Snork said, "I'm sorry.  I lost my mom to a sharptooth when I was younger.  That is why my father hated me so much.  He blamed me for it."
Strafe then turned to Sy and asked, "So, how far is it to the Great Valley anyway?"
Strafe wondered how far away the valley could possibly be.  She had spent her whole life, her whole childhood, on this journey and longed for it to end.  She had a bad feeling though, that she wouldn't like the answer to the question.
(occ: I'm sure they are still pretty far away which is good because this needs to be a long rp.  btw, the other Grievous will be getting home from vacation late tonight and he told me he could probably post tomorrow.)