(Here’s chapter 7, Enjoy!)
Chapter 7: Beyond The Waterhole Part 1
The day’s went on since Chomper’s weird sleep story occurred. The young sharptooth hadn’t had one since that night, so he wondered if they were over.
One evening, Sharptooth called for a meeting for all the grownups in the Great Valley. The topic of the meeting was going to be the rain.
“What were we called here for?” asked Veli, sky water dropping all around and on him.
“It’s been brought to the attention of all of us that the massive amounts of sky water we’ve been getting in the past week has been unusually high, compared to previous days of Rising Waters,” Sharptooth explained to the group.
“And what must be done?” asked Growley from within the crowd.
“We must reinforce the walls all around us,” Sharptooth announced. “With what?” Grandpa Sharptooth asked.
“Duh, more rocks,” Veli commented. “That is correct,” Sharptooth said next.
“What should we do if we get thirsty?” Terri asked.
“Only use the waterholes that aren’t connected to the Mysterious Beyond,” Sharptooth explained, “And until this sky water starts to die down, keep your children away from any fast water.”
All the adults could agree on that.
“And my fellow flyers, it’s advised that you make your nests stronger,” Tera spoke up, fling in front of the crowd.
MEANWHILE…………
Guido, still not wanting wet feathers, was staying inside a cave. “If only I was a belly dragger…” he grumbled to himself. “Maybe Tippy would like me more.”
“Who’s Tippy?” a voice asked, Guido not seeing where it came from. He eventually figured out where it came from though.
Standing a few feet away from him was a tiny t-rex. “Hey Lizzie,” Guido waved, recognizing her. He had previously worked with the tinysaurus a few months ago when he swiped Terri’s shiny stone and Petrie’s snuggling stick. Lizzie helped him pull it off.
“The sky water isn’t too bad,” Lizzie said.
“It doesn’t bother you because you have feathers and live underground!” muttered Guido annoyed.
Lizzie let out a little laugh. “Well, the sky water that leaks underground sort of makes a little waterhole for us,” she explained, “So we can play in water without risk of drowning.”
“That’s cool for you, can’t say the same for me,” the sharpbeak commented.
AT CERA’S NEST……….
Tricia was happily trying to gulp down a few dragonflies that were flying by while Cera was watching. Tricia, as you know, has a tendency to wander off, so Cera figured that constant watch must be kept on her 24-7.
“Look sistuh, I got one!” Tricia announced happily, chewing on one of the flying insects.
“Good job Tricia,” Cera complimented.
AT THE WATERHOLE……..
Chomper, Ruby, Ducky, Spike, and Tippy were hanging out. “At least our caves aren’t leaky,” Ruby mentioned to Chomper, “We’d never be able to sleep with sky water pouring on us.”
“Don’t mention that,” Chomper laughed, remembering an incident in the past reality where the cave he and Ruby lived in leaked and they had to find a new one.
Spike was eating his dinner, a teenage longneck that he had caught. He was standing on land, though his tail was still in the water. Chomper noticed that Spike’s tail was moving in one direction, and he knew what that meant.
“The current’s picking up…” Chomper said, a little concerned.
“So it’s best we stay out of it, staying out of it is for the best,” Ruby agreed. Ruby then noticed Chomper still looked bothered by something.
“You have a bad sleep story Chomper?” the fast biter guessed.
Chomper looked surprised. “How did you know?” he asked.
“I’ve seen other sharpteeth who have bad sleep stories, and their always have weird expressions the next day,” Ruby explained.
“Oh,” Chomper said, not knowing that tidbit of information. “What was the bad sleep story about?” Ruby asked.
Chomper gulped nervously. In a matter of a few seconds, he had to make up what his nightmare was about. Despite the fact he was in love with Ruby, he knew he had to keep the bad dreams he had recently a secret. The one he had about the past reality, he could just claim that he “had a sleep story where his leafeater friends were sharpteeth”, but then she’d wonder why that sleep story bothered him.
“Well, um…” Chomper began, still trying to fabricate a nightmare. Even though (as far as Chomper knew) the second sleep story had nothing to do with the past reality, he felt it would be too strange to explain. He then got an idea.
“I was having a sleep story…umm…where I was being chased by a longneck,” he said, though you could tell there was a dash of “I’m making this up,” in his tone, but Ruby wasn’t considering this.
“I’ve had sleep stories like that too, and they are very bad, yup yup yup,” Ducky gulped.
AT CERA’S NEST………..
Tricia was splashing around in a big puddle of water that formed nearby. The young fast biter was having the time of her life. Cera chuckled a bit.
“You still need to learn how to swim silly,” she laughed mildly. That gave her an idea. True, Tricia may be too small currently to swim in the main part of the Great Valley, but that didn’t mean Ducky teach hew the basic knowledge for very shallow water. (Imagine a kiddie pool at a hotel.)
“Come on Tricia,” Cera smiled to her sibling, the jealousy she had when Tricia spoke her first word had slowly gone away.
Tricia laughed a bit and got on her sister’s back, and Cera set off running.
HIGHER UP IN THE VALLEY…………..
“Water water everywhere…not a drop to enjoy,” Dacty, one of Petrie’s brothers grumbled. Their previous efforts to sturdy their nest had ended in failure, as the sky water damaged the sticks.
“At least we know what to do,” Petriee said, carrying some sticks to another part of the Great Valley. The family of sharptooth flyers decided to move from the side of the wall they usually lived.
“I swear…if this next nest breaks apart…I’m going to freak out,” grumbled Glider. “Is mom going to get back from that meeting soon? She’d be a great help.”
“When she hunted dinner for us, she said it could take a while so I wouldn’t get our hopes up,” Petrie added.
“At least we have it better than that friend of yours Petrie,” Dacty said.
“Which one?” Petrie asked. “That sharpbeak…..what was his name, Medoh?” he responded.
“You mean Guido,” corrected Petrie. But Petrie did have to agree with his brother’s comment. He laughed a small chuckle.
AT THE WATERHOLE…..
The small group noticed Cera arriving with Tricia on her back. “Ducky, will you do me a favor?” the orange fast biter asked.
“Sure Cera, what is it?” Ducky asked.
Cera gently set Tricia down. “Could you give my sister some swimming lessons?”
Ducky looked a little concerned. “Um…I don’t know if I should teach Tricia how to swim in this weather, I don’t, I don’t….” she replied.
“Come on, I’ll be right here, and so will Chomper, Spike, Ruby, and Tippy,” Cera explained, “So if anything starts to happen we will be able to stop it.”
Ducky still looked hesitant, but decided to agree. “Um…alright, I’ll do it, I will, I will.”
“Okay Tricia, get into the water,” Cera motioned to her sibling. Tricia nodded and climbed into the hole of the substance that every creature on this Earth needs to survive.
MEANWHILE, WITH THE GROWNUPS……….
Sharptooth, Dein, Terri, Cira, Veli, Grandpa and Grandma Sharptooth, Growley, Mr. Belly Dragger, Tyran, Saura, and many other adults were blocking off unneeded connections to the Mysterious beyond water-wise so there was no chance of flooding.
“There are at least three points that need to be blocked,” Sharptooth explained. “Other than that, all of the other waterhole connections to the Mysterious Beyond must be left open.”
Growley and Dein were using their tails to move the boulders at a faster rate. “I’ve always hated this time of year,” Dein said.
“And no one’s blaming you dear,” Terri continued. She was working as a team with Cira. Veli and Mr. Belly Dragger were in another group.
“Usually the sky water stops falling as hard as this in about 6 days, so soon we’ll have to take these back down,” the wise belly dragger said.
“Oh great, then we’ll have to all of this over,” grunted Veli. That caused a laugh amongst the others. Cira walked over to her mate.
“I’m going to go check on the girls, we haven’t seen them since lunchtime,” Veli said.
“No, I’ll do it by myself,” Cira responded, “You stay here and help move the rocks. They’ll never get it done quickly without your help.”
Dein and Terri snickered very silently. Cira of course didn’t mean that last part, it was just that anyone who knew Veli well was that shameless flattery was his one weakness.
“Oh how could I forget,” Veli said, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay here.” Cira just smiled at Veli, gave him a quick kiss, and ran off.
AT THE WATERHOLE……….
Ducky and the others managed to show Tricia all the basics. “She’s learning how to swim even faster than you did Cera, she is, she is,” Ducky complimented.
“Oh…” Cera said, a little bit of jealousy reawakening. She did her best to keep it inside of her. Chomper and Ruby, who were currently standing in the water, nearly lost their balance.
Spike made a noise suggesting “What was that?”
Tippy spoke up next. “Tippy is moving…but it feels like something’s pushing Tippy,” the belly dragger said.
As the older kids were talking, it happened. Tricia heard a buzzing noise, and looked around until she noticed a few stinging buzzers flying by. Instincts kicking in, she tried to catch it, but missed. She followed the flying insects as they flew overhead. And by followed, I mean: away from the others. But in unlucky irony, none of them were facing her at the time.
“The current’s getting strong, us land walkers should get out now,” Ruby said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right Ruby,” Cera agreed. “Tricia, come on….” Suddenly, she saw that her sister was no where in sight.
“WHERE’D SHE GO?!!!” Cera panicked, looking all around. “She’s over there!” Ducky called. Cera turned her head and to her horror, noticed that Tricia was about to step in a spot where the current was EXTREMELY strong.
“Tricia wait!!!!” Cera called, rushing over to save her sister. But it was too late. Tricia jumped up again to bite the buzzers, and was then swept away in the fast water. Cera, horrified and unable to think straight, jumped in after her.
“Cera! Tricia!” Chomper and Ruby screamed. They knew they had to do something. “Chomper, you follow them on land so we can see where they are. Tippy, you and me will get the grownups, let’s go!” Ruby yelled.
In the fast water, Cera managed to gab a hold of her sister, but other than that, nothing that was happening was good. “Ackpt! Help!!” Cera roared, using all her strength to keep her and Tricia from going under the water. Tricia luckily was smart enough to keep her breath held whenever her head was under the surface, but the two fast biters clearly wouldn’t be getting out of the water without help.
A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY…
“Ruby? Tippy? What’s wrong?” Cira asked, seeing the fast biter and belly dragger run up. “Cira! You gotta follow us now!” Ruby called.
BACK WITH CERA…..
After a few moments, Cera was able to see that she and Tricia had been swept out of the Great Valley and into the Mysterious Beyond.
“This is bad!” she panicked mentally. Just then, even more danger lay ahead. A whirlpool was right in their path.
“TRICIA, HOLD ON!!!” Cera yelled as the whirlpool caught the two of them.
“Is this….the end?” Cera thought sadly as she passed out from using too much energy to fight back against the whirlpool.
A LITTLE WHILE LATER……..
Slowly but surely, Cera felt her eyes opening. “Am…I dead?” she asked herself in her mind. Taking one claw, she pinched her other arm. “Ow!” she yelled, and realized that that meant she was still alive! Her eyes now wide open, she saw Tricia about a foot away, coughing but otherwise ok. Looking around, she wondered where they were.
Apparently, the whirlpool took them underground into some cavern.
“What is this place?” Cera asked.
“Who’s there?” a voice suddenly asked, Cera and Tricia not seeing where it acme from.
TO BE CONTINUED……..
(Read and review! I’m confident the end of the next chapter will surprise you….)
