A new world...Same old faces

[MrDrake]

Skye gave off a little giggle back to Cera, but rather happy and pleased that Cera had said yes as she gave her a rather loving nuzzle back "Yeah, I guess so" Skye said, almost with a little groan in regards to that, yet, still smiled away rather happily.

"Yeah, I guess that would make more sense" Luna paused for a moment as she looked to Hunter some more "But then..." she paused for a second time, not sure on what to actually say back and instead, decided to change the subject completely "So, um, how long are we going to be walking around for before we stop for a rest?"

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Cyrix nodded in agreement to Littlefoots statement. "Well.. when I think about how close Zaine, Dante and Longtail were... it would make a little sense. They called each other brothers because of the bond of loss, and triumph they had all endured alone and together. With Zaines death... a part of Longtail may indeed no longer exists. But now..." he said as he stopped mid-sentence and looked back at Hunter, "... I think I know who might have the answers we seek."

Hunter sighed lightly as Luna changed the subject. "Honestly we'll keep walking how long Littlefoot and Cyrix say we should... they are the leaders after all."

Cera continued to walk with a smile on her face as she looked to the bleak, grey, ash covered sky and thought aloud, "Ya know Skye... even with all that's happened...I'm sure things will get better... I mean.. they have to right?"

[MrDrake]

"Yeah, I'm sure they will, I mean, they have for me so far...I met you after all" Skye replied back to Cera as she gave her another little loving nuzzle again as she kept on walking with her, using her tail to rub a little bit of Cera's tail again.

Luna on the other hand, continued to walk onwards, glancing to Hunter for a moment "Yeah, I suppose so, I just hope that it's not too far...." she spoke, almost with a small giggle in her voice as well.

[LBTFan13]

Littlefoot nodded. "I guess you're right. The same thing happened with me and Shorty. I lost my mother while he lost both his parents. Bron found him and then me. Even though we didn't get along well at first, we bonded like brothers." When Cyrix mentioned somebody being able to help, Littlefoot looked back with him and noticed Hunter. She was still conversing with Luna, most likely trying to help her cope with what had happened earlier. "Do you think she can help?" Littlefoot asked.

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Cyrix looked up at Littlefoot for a moment.
"She may not be able to help... but she does have answers that can help us." He then slowed his pace and fell back in the herd until he reached Luna and Hunter. "Excuse me Hunter... but I have a question. I know you'll know the answer... but I don't want you to think of this as a bad thing. I just need to know... where... is Dante?"

As Hunter heard Cyrix's question posed to her, she felt her whole body tense up and for a moment was certain that her heart had stopped beating as her entire world turned cold... and emotionless. She stared at into space as her eyes glazed over, and her breathing became shallow and rapid. She honestly felt sick to her stomach, and to stop the world from spinning she sat down and let tears fall from her eyes.

Cera felt Skye rub their tails, and tried hard not to blush. "Alright you big softie..." she said with a slight giggle. "you're right of course... but still... i do wonder... so many lives lost... and many more like us... changed forever... our homes and familiar places... gone." she said with a slightly depressed tone.

[MrDrake]

"Dante? Who's that?" Luna asked a bit curiously, thinking for a second till she realized something "Oh..." she looked to Hunter, then over to Cyrix "Um, he's uh....I know where he is! But um, we can't go and see him because he's um....not here....he's um....too far away...." she did her best in order to try and cover it all up.

Skye giggled back at Cera, leaning against her slightly for a moment as she walked with her some more "Well yeah, that's true too, cause of my family, they're gone, and well....you're all I've got left now...." she sighed a little bit herself as she looked to Cera some more "But hey, we'll be fine, I'm sure of it"

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Cyrix eyes immediately narrowed and he asked Luna, "What... do you know?!" he said with a dark, and almost threatening tone to his voice.

[MrDrake]

Luna looked aside for a moment "Sorry....I didn't mean to...." she sniffled a little bit 'I guess I should've just kept quiet....' was all that was now going through her mind as well.

Skye looked over to what was going on between Luna and Cyrix and groaned slightly as she looked to Cera "Should we...I mean...you know, interupt them? Or....just leave them be?" she shrugged a little bit, giving off a smile to her as well, kissing her on the cheek as well, a more loving kiss.

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Shortly after Luna's comment Cyrix found himself pinned to the ground by Hunters paws. He glanced up with his eyes to see a form of rage that rivaled even Longtail's. Cyrix could feel Hunters breath on his neck as she leaned down and spoke into his ear.

"If you EVER threaten Luna... again... We'll be losing one more member...do I make myself clear?" she said in a dark... but seemingly monotoned voice.

Cyrix shook his head in understanding but didn't dare speak a word.

Cera stopped for a moment and looked back to see the commotion Cyrix and Hunter were causing. "That... can't be good." she said aloud.

Longtail was still dazed by his flashbacks and didn't seem to notice anything around him.

[MrDrake]

Luna slowly approached Hunter and wanted to touch her for a second, but decided against it as she could see Hunter's rage and did not want any of that to rub off onto herself as she looked ahead then back to Hunter.

She decided not to say a word to Hunter and stepped off ahead, only thinking to herself, seeming to, at the moment, ignoring everyone around her, she even shook her head a little bit as well.

Skye looked to Cera for a moment, giving her another kiss on the cheek before speaking to her "I'll go see if she's alright, okay?" she told Cera befor rushing over to Luna "Hey, um....girl....whatever your name is....you okay?"

However, Luna seemed to just ignore Skye as she continued to walk onwards, a bit ahead of the group in question before stopping, realizing that Skye was still following her, yet, still said nothing back to her as she was still thinking at the moment, glancing back over to Hunter and sighed some "She's....Hunter....she's not the same as I know her...." she paused for a moment in her thought "Maybe if I didn't say anything, then Hunter wouldn't have done that....."

"Hey! Meat head! I'm talking to you!" Skye called out to Luna in order to try and get her attention at the very least, but still got no answer back, to which Skye just grumbled to herself "Fine....ignore me for all I care...." she grumbled still as she simply walked away from Luna and sat down.

[Aerodactyl]

A small Rainbowface named Plate crawled his way out into the open.

"Mr. Cyrix are you here!?" Plate called out hoping to find his guardian and possibly Longtail and some others.

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Hunter stepped off of Cyrix's neck and began to follow Luna, not wanting to take her eyes off her adoptive sister. However when Skye called Luna a meat head she stepped over to the young threehorn and simply glared at her for several moments as if to threaten her without speaking. She then fell into step behind Luna and asked in a monotoned voice, "Did... you actually meet Dante... out here before... this?"

Cyrix eyes widened as he thought he heard a voice and smiled lightly as he called out.
"Plate?! Plate where are you?!" he then stepped to the back of the herd looking about as if to see if his mind and ears were playing tricks on him.

Longtail noticed the commotion... but his still seemed distant and glazed over. Even his once vibrant scale colors had dulled... although if it was due to his emotions or the lack of sunlight he couldn't tell.

Pearl was currently talking to Sweetie, trying to console the other flyer

[LBTFan13]

Littlefoot could almost guess what Luna and Hunter were getting at. It was almost obvious. Why else would they try so hard to cover it up. They hadn't seen Dante since the valley was destroyed; they hadn't seen him at all. Either he was already in another herd, or he was seriously hurt, or worse. Littlefoot didn't want to think of where he was, but at the same time, if he was still around he could really help Longtail out. "Luna, Hunter, it's okay. Please, you have to tell us. Is Dante alive?"

[MrDrake]

"No, I didn't....I just didn't want to see you upset was all and made up something...but I guess I shouldn't have opened up my mouth...." Luna spoke with a sigh as she continued to walk on, yet, she stopped for a second "I'm going to um, go for a little walk over there" she added in, motioning in one direction "Alone"

After a few more seconds of silence, she headed off in the direction she was motioning in.

Skye in turn, just grumbled to herself even more as she glared back to Hunter and muttered to herself, glancing at everyone else around, but in particular, was watching Cera, giving her a rather loving smile as well, well, to keep up her appearances anyway before sighing a little and plopped down onto her stomach.

***

As Luna had walked away from the group for a bit, she looked at the sky, looking at the ash for moment before moving her head in the direction of some noise, tilting her head slightly and decided to go and investigate.

She approached some dead trees and looked over to see three other fasterbiters, watching what they were doing as they had not seemed to notice her just yet as she spoke to herself "More fastbiters?" she asked herself quietly.

Two of the fastbiters were busy scrounging around while the third one seemed to be supervising "I tell ya Nero, there's nothing here" one spoke, a female.

The fastbiter called Nero, looked at the female who had spoken up.  He had a scar, right across his right side cheek as well as having blood stained skin "This is what happens when the end of the world is upon us, we loose any sustainable food and have to resort to scrounging around for food on the ground" he sneered.

The other two, both females as well, were called Roux and Hazel, and so far, they seemed to be following his lead as Roux spoke up "Yeah, problem is that you know what will happen if we go back to the others"

"My dear, dear Roux, you seem to forget who is in charge, if we head back, they will get rather pissed off, but hey, that's life for you....I'll just have to bring civilization back to those ungrateful fastbiters"

Luna continued to listen in on their conversation, getting ever so more curious "There's more....of us?" she asked herself again, really wanting to approach them now.

[Aerodactyl]

"Mr Cyrix!" Plate yelled running out into the open unawhere of what was going on.

[LBTFan13]

Not far from the herd, a single fast biter hid behind a large boulder and observed the group. Surprisingly enough, he did not want to attack the group like any other fast biter would. He just stood there, looking at it. "This must be the group he was talking about," he muttered to himself. He noticed one flyer looked highly depressed, almost as if something was taking his life away. "That must be Longtail." He also noticed an adult rainbow face as well as a large longneck, a couple threehorns, a couple sharpteeth, and other leaf eaters. "He wasn't kidding. This is really a diverse group." He was hesitant to step out from behind the boulder, but he knew he would have to eventually. "Getting their trust is going to be very hard."

"I have faith in you," a voice echoed within the fast biter's mind. "While they may have their doubts at first, you will find them to be quite welcoming."

"Are you sure?" the fast biter replied back in his mind. "They all look very stressed right now."

"That's no surprise, but Viega, you have to trust me. They really need to hear what you have to tell them, especially Longtail."

"Are you sure you can't just tell him yourself?"

"I would, but I can't always be in his mind. He's been trying to shut everything away ever since I died. He's becoming weaker by the minute. At this point, he may not have the strength to hear me through his mind, so he must hear me through you."

Viega sighed. "All right then. If you say so." With that, Viega stepped out from behind the boulder and approached the group. He cleared his throat and then said, "Excuse me", in his best leaf tongue.

Littlefoot noticed the fast biter, and he was about to alert the others until it stopped and talked. Another fast biter that speaks leaf? "Who are you?" he called out towards the fast biter. "Tell us what you want, and don't try anything funny!"

Viega gulped, but nodded. "My name is Viega, and I come bearing a message for the flyer named Longtail."

Littlefoot stepped forward, ready to retaliate. "What do you want with Longtail?"

"It's not what I want," Viega replied. "I have a message for him, from Zaine."

Littlefoot immediately stopped in his tracks. The words that had left Viega's mouth struck him with shock. "What did you say?"

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Cyrix could clearly see Plate and in a moment was at the young rainbowfaces' side and embracing him in a hug. "Plate... Plate my boy... h-how have you been?!" asked Cyrix with his emotions causing him to cry. "It... has been far too long..."

Both Pearl and Sweetie turned their heads when Littlefoot addressed the fast biter that had walked up to the group, and both girls were surprised to hear the fast biter speak and mention Zaine!

Sweetie was standing next to Littlefoot after a moment and using her wings to stay aloft in the air looked Viega straight in the eyes and asked, "What do YOU know about Zaine?!"

Pearl landed on Littlefoots back and looked concerned and curious about these new developments.

Longtail hadn't heard a thing... until the name Zaine was mentioned. The only motion Longtail made to indicate he'd heard anything at all was to turn his head and looked in Viega's direction. Even his usually quartz pink iris' seemed devoid of color or live. And he only uttered one word as if to make sure he wasn't hearing things... "Z-zaine..."

Hunter watched quietly as Luna had trekked off on her own for a moment... and wanted more than anything to follow her... but she also realized that Luna needed time to herself just like anyone else and she simply sat on her haunches and waited for her adoptive sister to return.

Cera stopped walking and was on her guard even after Viega had spoken leafeater and had mentioned he only wanted to talk. "He may say he wants to talk... but I know better..." she said aloud to herself, she then looked over at Skye and sighed... knowing she had a duty to protect Skye and the others at all costs.

[LBTFan13]

Viega gulped again. "What should I tell them?" he asked.

"Tell them all that they can't worry about me anymore. They have to keep moving for the sake of the herd."

"Zaine wants you guys to not worry about him anymore, and keep moving."

"Tell Sweetie that I love her and I will always be with her."

Viega looked at Sweetie. "He still loves you, and he wants to remind you that you will never be alone, ever."

"Tell Pearl that she and Cyrix have to protect Longtail at all costs."

Viega ten looked at Pearl. "He wants you and Cyrix to never stop protecting Longtail. He needs you both now more than ever."

"Tell Littlefoot that he and Cera are fine leaders, and I have faith that they will lead the herd to safety."

Viega looked at Littlefoot. "You and Cera are great leaders. He knows you will lead them to a safe place."

Littlefoot almost started crying at Viega's words. How he was able to know all of this was unreal, but he seemed like he was telling the truth. "Zaine," he whispered.

Viega then turned to Longtail. "What will he respond to?"

"Tell him that I will always treasure the bond we shared all these years. Tell him to stop thinking about my death, and just remember how happy we were. Tell him to remember all the adventures we've had together, and tell him that for everybody's sake, especially his uncle's, he needs to become his old self, the Longtail everybody knows. The Longtail that I call my brother."

Viega nodded and started repeating what Zaine had told him. "Longtail, he doesn't want you to think about his death. He wants you to remember everything you two have been through together, all your adventures, all the laughters. He wants you to know that everybody needs you now, especially your uncle. They need the Longtail everybody knows and loves back. I know it's hard, but you have to trust Zaine. He only wants what's best for you."

[brekclub85]

Rita, Rory, and Myra looked at the newcomer.

"Did I see him somewhere before?" Myra asked herself.

Thud was sniffing the air, trying to catch the odor of potential prey or still in edible condition bodies.

[Aerodactyl]

Plate squirmed in Cyrix's grip for a minute but settled.

"I was knocked out by rocks, then I woke up here, I think I got ouchies, whats going on?" Plate asked looking around.