The Gang of Five
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Sleep and Remember

Ratiasu · 411 · 40542

General Grievous

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Kaga followed Strafe and the others into the caves.  THere seemed to be some kind of edible plant growing inside and a few places where water had collected inside.  Kaga spent the next two days trying to please his hungry stomach but the plants had little nutrition in them.  The ground shook again and a few pebbles and dust fell from the roof of the cave.  Kaga looked up at the cieling but it seemed to be holding.
"Guys, I think that fire water is cooling down.  Just a little longer and maybe we can cross.  Hopefully by tomorrow it will be safe.  Then we can put this aweful place behind us for good. "
He walked out and checked the lava flow, and sure enough, it seemed to be getting solid, but there were still patches of hot lava here and there.  They would not be crossing today.  Perhaps tomorrow.  In the mean time, Kaga would have to suffer through another night in this terrible place.


StarfallRaptor

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Dante looked at Kaga as he returned from the outdoors.
"Well, Kaga?  How's it look out there?  Things cooling down at all?"
Then he looked at Hunter, asking...
"You ok, Hunter?"


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Strafe watched as a distant volcano erupted.  Luckily, this one was far enough away that it would not effect them.  She walked over to Kaga and nuzzled him.
"It won't be long, Kaga.  Soon we will be on our way again."

Snork watched as the distant volcano continued to shoot a column of fire high into the air and shook his head.  He hated the idea of spending yet another night here.

Strafe walked back over and lied down next to him, settling in for the night.

The next day, they followed Kaga to where the lava flow had been.  The flow had blackened and was no longer moving.  
Snork said, "Let's see if it is cool enough to walk on."
He spit on the flow and saw that it didn't evaporate.  With a smile, Snork said, "Come on, guys!  Let's get out of here!"

Strafe sighed, "Finally." and walked onto the dry lava after Snork.  It crunched beneath their feet but held their weight.  It took them a few minutes and finally, they were across. and on safe ground again.


General Grievous

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Kaga followed.  The rocks were sharp and he had to take care not to step on them.  He saw a few hot patches still remaining in the dry flow but they were not in his way.  FInally, he reached the other side with Snork and Srafe.
He turned to the others on the poopsite side and shouted, "Come on.  Hurry so we can get out of here!"
Just as he finished, the ground shook again.
"I loath this place" Kaga muttered.


Grievous55

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"Calm down, calm down," replied Sy. "It's easy to cut your feet on these bloody rocks. I don't want anything else slowing me down."
However, it wasn't long before he too was across.


The Great Valley Guardian

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For the past two days Hunter had spent her time sleeping and the only time she awakened was when Dante asked her a question, she would answer and go right back to sleep. But now that the flow had dried up and was no longer dangerous. She took a step forward and said "I don't like this place...the sooner we get out of here the better!"

She then sniffed the air and said in a worried tone..."I can't smell Longtail around here..." She looked up into the sky and tired to see if he was flying around, but couldn't see the young flyer. "I hope he's okay!"

She looked over to Dante and asked "Do you see him at all?"


StarfallRaptor

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"No.  Can't see him either, Hunter.  I agree.  If anything happens to him..."
Dante trailed off, continuing to search the skies for his friend...


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"I don't know where he went." Snork said.  "Why does he keep vanishing like this?"
He was getting impatient and didn't want to have to wait any more.  Strafe glanced up at the sky but could see nothing but the ash clouds and red glow from the volcanoes overhead.  Tiny hot embers began to rain from the sky from the nearby volcano.  
"Let's hope he is alright.  I hope he is following us."

Snork nodded and said, "We shoud get away from here.  Let's just go slow so Longtail can find us."
Snork began to follow the path.  Strafe followed, eager to leave the Burning Mountains behind.


The Great Valley Guardian

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Hunter frowned as she said "I don't know, but we have to keep moving, we can't wait anymore..if he is indeed following us great...if not....well...let's just hope that he's okay." She then started walking past the others, she tried to hide a single tear that ran down her face.


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Dante hesitated for a moment, looking up at the sky, whispering...
"Longtail...Please be alright.  Please find us soon..."
Then he jogged forwards to rejoin Hunter, and saw her tear fall.
"I..I'm sure Longtail's alright.  Please don't cry, ok?"
He said, placing a hand on her shoulder gently...


General Grievous

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It seemed like hours had passed.  The ground was covered in ancient, dried lavaflows that were so old that the sharp rocks had become worn down.  The volcanoes seemed dormant here although there were still narrow cracks in the ground with lava at the bottom.  
"Where could he be?" Kaga said to himself.  
Then he figured that complaining wouldn't solve anything so he returned to looking at the sky.  It looked like they were finally nearing the edge of the mountain range.  It wouldn't be long before they were out of the buning mountains.  However, what was ahead didn't look much better.  In the distance, Kaga could see a another huge desert.  With a sigh, he continued, hoping that maybe Longtail was already waiting for them at the other side.


The Great Valley Guardian

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Hunter smiled as she felt Dante put his arm around her shoulder, and said "T-Thanks...I do hope he's alright." Hunter then continued to look towards the sky hoping to see her friend. She hoped that when they cleared these mountains made of fire that Longtail would show up. "It just doesn't seem right without him here."


StarfallRaptor

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Dante nodded his head, agreeing with Hunter.
"Yeah.  I mean... It's kinda too quiet, you know?  I never noticed that before.  I kinda... miss him...


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Strafe trudged along the dusty, rocky ground, looking at the desertahead of her.  The iguanodon looked back at the mountains behind her that continued to spew fire and ash into the air and thought of Longtail again.  Where had he gone?  They were almost out of the mountain range now and yet there was still no sign of him.

Snork placed a hand on her shoulder and said softly, "I'm sure he'll come back."
But Snork wasn't real sure himself.  By evening, the group had arrived at the edge of the desert.  There was no sign of water or food anywhere.  

Strafe turned to the others and asked, "Should we keep going?  I don't think we should travel during the day because it takes too much energy.  If we travel at night, we'll at least be cool."


The Great Valley Guardian

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Hunter cast one more glance up at the sky, hoping to see some sign of Longtail, but again there was nothing. She sighed and after hearing Strafe's question Hunter nodded her head and replied with her voice lacking emotion "Yes, yes we should."

As she stepped forward something moved under the sand. the movement was becoming faster and she pulled her foot away just as the sand split apart to reveal a head. The shock she felt was overcome by joy as she heard the head speak.

"It's about time you guys showed up! I was getting thirsty down in that sand...ugh...now I know why the Mysterious Beyond is so bad!"

Hunter jumped forward and using all the grace she could muster in her elated state she plucked Longtail from the sand and gave him a bear hug. She then added "I'm so glad you're okay!" Sheding tears as she did so.


General Grievous

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Kaga replied to Strafe's question, "Yeah, let's keep moving.  Hopefully it won't take us long to cross this desert.  Every day, we are one step closer to the valley."
When Longtail was discovered, Kaga was overcome with joy.  
"We were so worried about you." he said.  "We're going to be walking for a while.  If you get tired, I can always give you a lift."
With that, he continued walking, his tail swishing back and forth as he walked along.  The iguanodon's feet left shallow footprints in the sand.  The dry, dusty landscape was all to familiar for his liking.  Kaga hated deserts.  However, in the moonlight, he could faintly make out what looked like mountains in the distance.  He looked behind him and could still see the volcanoes casting their sinister red glow upon the ash clouds behind them.  He was so glad to be out of that place.  Dispite being hungry and tired, Kaga was too excited to stop.  It wasn't until dawn that he felt he couldn't go any further.  His legs collapsed from under him and Kaga sighed to everyone, "Well, this is as far as I can go.  Let's stop now.  We can keep going at dusk."
With that, Kaga crawled over to a sand dune that he knew would shelter him from the sun when it came up, wrapped his tail around himself, rested his head on the ground, and closed his eyes.


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"I hope it isn't too hot today." yawned Strafe as she walked over to Kaga.  
She lied down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, using him as a pillow.  Strafe was happy that Longtail was back and that everything was alright.  

Snork chuckled as he watched her cuddle up with Kaga and then found his own place to rest.  Snork had been use to this kind of thing back with his old herd.  He often had to find his own place to sleep because nobody else cared.  The swimmer chose a place next to a large rock and curled up just as the rays of dawn became visible in the east.


StarfallRaptor

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Dante ran over to Longtail, grabbing him in a playful headlock and rubbing his head playfully...
"Don't worry me like that, dude!  I was afraid we had lost ya! Good to see you again!"


The Great Valley Guardian

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Longtail just smiled as Dante rubbed his head and replied "Then don't take so long next time! How long was I in that hole for anyways?" Hunter who was now laying on her back picked up Longtail and placed him under her head and said "Don't move!" She then put her head down and used Longtail like a pillow...which worked for the flyer as well, as Hunter's head provided shade from the sun.

Longtail sighed as he sat under Hunters head and called out to Dante "You coming to rest?"


StarfallRaptor

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Dante nodded, propping himself against Hunter and smiling...
"Yeah. I'm beat. I could use a little..."
He yawned, and in a moment was soundly asleep, a smile still covering his face...