Hmm, I might be interested! Could be cool to explore changes in the valley and the dynamics of a new set of dinosaurs.

The mud and rain had made it easy to stay angry as she tromped back to her sleeping place, her mind conjuring the malice of her so-called friends in every patch of muck that tripped her up, and projecting Littlefoot’s smug face into every puddle that she crashed through. Tria and her dad didn’t ask any questions when she finally made it home, fuming and disheveled; moods like this had become more and more frequent as the young threehorn grew toward maturity, and they knew that it was best to give her space until she cooled off.

It was when she curled up, as far from her family as possible while still staying out of the rain, that the full emotional turmoil of the day’s events finally overcame her. They had all fought before, of course, but this had been different. Her words and intentions had been final, an ending she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Though they had been drifting apart, Littlefoot and the others had been her oldest, dearest friends, and losing them tore at her in a way that she couldn’t escape. She buried her head under her forelegs, trying to push the sadness away from the inside through sheer force of will, teeth clenched. It seemed like an eternity before she finally drifted off to sleep, stubborn tears trailing down her cheeks.

Standing on a high patch of ground she had the perfect view of them, a vast herd that stretched as far as she could see. The horned faces turned up toward her were full of awe, and respect, and maybe just a little bit of fear. She caught a glimpse of her own fully grown horns in the corner of her vision, white and gleaming in the sun, and felt her chest swell with pride. Yes, she was amazing, and the other threehorns finally saw it too.

She took the cool morning air into her lungs and let loose a bellow that shook the earth beneath them, the resounding approval of hundreds of stomping feet like music to her ears. This was her herd. Her kind. And it was time they let the valley know what threehorns were made of.

She beamed at them, taking in another breath to deliver the speech of a lifetime, but when the words came, they were nothing like the resounding roar she expected. It was like the voice was coming from someone else, far away, so faint she could barely hear it though the words it spoke were her own. She furrowed her brow and tried again, but the most she could manage sounded barely louder than a whisper. The others began to shuffle, restless and confused, trading glances and muttering amongst themselves. She was losing them.

“No!” She tried to shout, but her throat felt like it was closing, and not even a whisper made it through. An inexplicable terror seized her, and the world began to raise up around her as she sank down, down, down until she could see every individual curl of the vegetation that had been under her feet moments before. She had to crane her neck up to look at the encircling crowd, their horns casting shadows on her, glinting cruelly in the backlight of the sun. Faces twisted into grimaces of shock, disgust, and pity, a voice seemed to come from all of them at once, or maybe from the air itself.

“The broken band has been broken by pride, now it shall be united by being broken. Go forth to this broken land… and protect the land you love.”

What did it mean? The words stirred vague memories, but she had no time to dwell on them as a massive foot raised above her. Before she could even utter a cry it came crashing down, snuffing out the world and sending her plunging into darkness.

Cera woke with a gasp of breath, disoriented and shaking. The first thing she noticed was a strange, prickling sensation all over, like she was covered in leaves or crawlers. It took her a moment to recognize where she was- she must have tumbled from her sleeping spot. “That explains the dream.” She grumbled to herself. Shifting in place, the prickling feeling intensified. With a grimace, she lifted a foreleg to scratch at her chest. Except… her foreleg wasn’t a leg at all. Staring dumbly at the spindly thing in front of her, she caught sight of the source of the prickles: weird soft flowing bits sticking out of her once tough hide. Just like… like Guido. She tilted her head back and screamed as she flailed and tore at the feathers, the sound small and mournful against the vastness of the sky.

Wyoh nodded at Buko's question, pulling at the knot around her middle to prove to herself that it was really secure. She barely registered Aquarius' weight as he climbed onto her back, her heart pounding in her ears as Buko geared up to take the leap. At last, the moment came. She stepped lightly toward the edge, wringing her claws- everything seemed to slow down as he sailed through the air, and for a desperate moment it looked as if he was going to lose momentum and swing back towards the near side of the gorge. But his foot caught Rinen's vine at the last second, and a mad sprint saw him safely to the edge.

Wyoh gave a brief cheer, her body sagging with relief. She had begun to consider Buko her only ally in this desperate situation and she wasn’t sure how she would have been able to cope with losing him, particularly with Rinen stubbornly clinging to his hostility. And as she thought it, the threehorn wasted no time in resuming such antagonisms. She snorted derisively and glanced at the small swimmer on her back. "I guess that means he hates me more than he likes you, huh?" She chuckled a little, though more out of nerves than humor. It was time to start the ordeal.

The fastrunner took a moment to consider how best to proceed- start with a jump as Buko had done, or take a slower approach? The slower approach seemed safer, both for her and Aquarius who risked falling off of her back at any sudden movement. She took in the slack in her own vine and inched over to the start of the makeshift bridge as it left the safety of the rocky ledge. “I’m gonna try not to fall, but… hold on tight.” She advised Aquarius. She could be reasonably sure that she wouldn’t plummet to the bottom of the gorge with her safety line, but it seemed there would be no such assurance for Aquarius.

After a steadying breath she looped the slack of her vine around her arm, and slid her foot out over the lower bridging vine. She crouched down to lower her center of balance, taking the higher vine in her free hand, and before she had time to stop herself she was inching forward above the open air. The first moments were agonizing; every accidental glance downward hit her with another wave of nausea. The vines creaked and swayed terribly beneath her, and there was more than one instance in which she had to freeze and grip both vines to keep from toppling over, heart pounding furiously at every near miss.

About halfway through she discovered that she could pull her safety vine taut and lean against it a little to give herself some illusion of security. It didn’t make the bridge any easier to navigate, but it helped to calm her shaking nerves, and she wasn’t as bad off as she might have been when she finally reached the other side. When her feet touched solid ground she walked as far as she could from the ledge before untying her safety line in a sort of daze. She sat down heavily, taking deep breaths, and waited for her lightheadedness to subside.

I certainly have no objections!

And yes Anagnos, it would be best if you posted your character info here first. If you look on the fist page of this thread, you can see a list of all of the current characters to get an idea of the kind of info we'd like to see.

Wyoh had become accustomed to Rinen's harsh tone, and was far too tired to respond with the same kind of anger. She shrugged and walked over to the tree, tugging on a few of the vines to test their stability. They seemed strong enough, but a sense of unease settled in her stomach. The threehorn was a lot heavier than any of them. If this worked they'd have a clear path to the other side, but if it didn't... she couldn't help glancing into the abyss that stretched out before them, the extreme height of the drop making her feel nauseous. She didn't envy Rinen at all.

"I... I guess we should get this over with." She stated, dragging the end of a long vine over to begin the work of tying the harness.

I think that's a great idea! The voting doesn't really add too much to the prompts. I've been thinking about a way to do banners for this, and I like the idea of using artwork from the prompts for it. We'll just have to decide on a way to make them 'upgradable' based on participation.

The heavy pattering of the rain droned on as she waited for his response, but none came. Just a stupid smirk. Something in her deflated at knowing that he didn't care enough to say anything, and her shoulders hunched as the fight left her. Through all they had faced together, she never would have thought everything would collapse in such a mundane, stupid way... but she understood it clearly all the same. It was over.

"I don't ever want to see you again, flathead." she spat, with all the intensity she could muster. After a final glare and huff of breath, she turned, leaving shallow muddy footprints behind her that quickly filled with rain.

Yikes! Sorry guys, I let time get away from me. I'll definitely get a post in this weekend!

Aw man, I love this! The symmetry is great, and all the characters look really nice! It must have taken a ton of work to include so many! And the way you wrote the title is super clean, too, it looks good! And Petrie is off being the star of his own adventure, in an entry I'll post soon

I'll probably enter something this weekend for the Jan/Feb prompt since it's been extended! Got hit with a lot of schoolwork all at once x.x