Chapter XXIII: The Day Rocks and a Log Flew
In which many things make their way into the Great Valley.
Dusk’s body lied motionless on the ground. Menta was wailing uncontrollably with no end in sight. After a while, she started sniffing involuntarily and began wiping her eyes. She donned a very serious expression and walked over to the edge of a cliff. She turned back with one last sorrowful look at Dusk’s corpse- then jumped off to her death. Dusk sat up with a start. He began panting and quickly looked to where Menta was sleeping.
“Just- just a dream,” he whispered to himself. He got up and went over to a watering hole; he felt so hot. The noise woke Tria who silently got up and followed him. As Dusk was bending over for a drink, he noticed her reflection in the water.
“Sorry if I woke you,” he told her.
“It’s no trouble at all,” she replied, then continued, “Have a bad dream?”
“Yes…” he said quietly.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Dusk remained silent.
“Is it about your parents? Lots of dinosaurs have nightmares about lost loved ones.”
“No, it wasn’t about my parents, but it did show someone I care about die.”
“You’ve lost someone besides your parents?”
“No,” was all he said in reply.
“Are you worried that someone may die soon?” she asked gently.
Dusk twitched. “She is so intuitive,” he thought to himself. “I had a dream that I died, and then someone close to me killed herself from grief.”
“You’re worried that you’ll die soon? You’re so young; you have your whole life ahead of you.”
Tria was so caring, it almost made Dusk want to tell her the whole story, but he wisely refrained.
“Let’s just say, I live life dangerously. I guess that’s hard to imagine with someone so young.”
“You’d be surprised how well I understand that,” she replied. “I have a stepdaughter who ends up in one adventure after the other. I worry often, but I’ve learned to trust her. In fact, she’s off somewhere right now. I would look for her, but neither Topsy nor myself knows where she went, so all we can do is have faith.”
“So she left the valley all by herself? The outside is very dangerous.”
“No, she has several friends with her. The other families reported their kids missing too, so we know they’re traveling as a group. And yes, it is dangerous, but there is nothing we can do.”
Dusk’s eyes narrowed. “Other Three Horns?” he asked her.
“You’d think that, but Cera actually spends her times with an entire assortment of kinds: a Long Neck, Swimmer, even a Sharptooth.”
“What a small world this is,” Dusk thought to himself. “I meet two of their families in one day.” He wanted to reassure her, so he said, “I saw your daughter on the way over here.”
Tria’s eyes widened. “You did? Where?”
“They went to see Chomper’s parents. I happened to be in that area myself.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. Cera had told me how nice they are. Now I understand why she didn’t say anything.” Dusk raised a brow. “Topsy never would have allowed her to visit a family of Sharpteeth,” she said with a laugh. “He’s old fashioned, but I love him.”
“I’d best get back to sleep,” Dusk said with a yawn. “Nice talking to you.”
“You too. And if you ever need to talk about something, I’m all ears, okay?” She nuzzled her face gently against his, and he pressed back with a smile. The two dinosaurs then went back to the others, curled up, and slept till daylight.
********************
Cera was the first to wake up, and upon opening her eyes, she was greeted by a giant, wide-open Sharptooth mouth. She screamed, and others quickly stirred.
“What is it, Cera?” Littlefoot asked her right away.
Cera, who had finally remembered that she was sleeping with Chomper’s parents, lied in embarrassment, “Nothing, just had a bad sleep story.”
“Ooh, what it about?” Petrie asked, insensitively.
“None of your business. Hmph!”
“Uh, sorry?”
“Alright, now that we’re up, I suggest we get some food then plan out what we’re going to do next,” Littlefoot instructed.
“Hey Chomper, would you like me to rustle up some food for you?” his father asked him.
“Sur- uh, I think I’m good,” he replied, nudging his head in his friends’ direction.
“Oh, right,” he said quietly.
“You can come with us, buddy,” Littlefoot told him. “I’m sure we’ll find some bugs on the way.”
Chomper licked his lips and followed his friends to a very fertile part of the island.
“You sure learned this place fast,” Chomper had to say.
“Actually, I just remember this spot from when we walked to your parents’ nesting area last night. A place this big would take a while for me to memorize,” Littlefoot explained.
“Oh, right,” Chomper said, slightly embarrassed.
In a few minutes, all of the children had found food and were happily munching away. Soon, a buzzing sound caught Chomper’s attention. Chomper ran towards it, and his friends looked up at him with little interest. In less than minute however, they would be very interested…
Chomper burst through the trees, shouting, “Run!” His friends looked up again to see him being chased by a swarm of buzzing buzzers.
“You just had to go and disturb their nest, didn’t you?” Cera asked, greatly annoyed.
“Wait, we don’t need to run,” Littlefoot suddenly thought to himself. Stopping and turning, he said, “Light, shine within my heart!” There was a brief flash, and Littlefoot’s skin shone brightly. “Intervention!” he shouted, and the group was surrounded by a barrier of light. The insects swarmed them, stinging at the protective wall, but could not get through. However, against what Littlefoot was expecting, they did not back off, but continued their barrage.
“This does not bode well,” Littlefoot said worriedly. “When the time cometh that my shield fails, they’ll be upon us before the cool down draws nigh.”
“No problem,” Cera said casually. “Petrie can just blow them away.” Petrie said nothing, so she looked up at him, only to find him looking very ill. “Petrie?”
“Ugh, me no feel so good, ugh,” he moaned, clutching his stomach. He then proceeded to throw up.
“Gross!” Cera exclaimed at the same time Ducky said, “Ew!”
Littlefoot’s shield dissipated, but Ruby yelled “Intervention!” just in time to keep them out a little longer. “Whoa, this power takes so much energy. I can’t hold it up for very long.”
Littlefoot suddenly had a plan. “Keep thy hold but a moment longer, then release when giveth the word I do,” he instructed. Ruby struggled, but managed to do so. “Now!” Ruby quickly relaxed and the barrier fell, then Littlefoot shouted, “Cleansing Wave!” A wall of light shot out from his body, passing through the buzzing buzzers. The wall turned red then vanished. The insects stayed no longer and quickly turned back the way they came.
“Wow, what did you do, Littlefoot?” Ducky asked him curiously.
“I cleansed them of their negative emotion. Their rage was captured in my wall,” he explained.
Another groan from Petrie had his friends remembering that he isn’t feeling well. Littlefoot gazed at him, and announced, “He seems to have dined on inedible berries.”
“Can’t you just make another wall and cleanse away his sickness?” Cera asked.
“Nay,” he replied. “Emotions and illnesses are of different planes. A sickness is tangible; an emotion is not. This will take a bit more work. Friend, lead on to the food of thine illness.”
Petrie felt too sick to move, so he rested on Littlefoot’s head and pointed to guide them. They soon arrived in front of a berry bush.
“There,” was all he managed to say. Littlefoot craned his neck forward and grabbed a berry into his mouth.
“Littlefoot, what are you doing!?” Ducky asked in surprise.
“Are you trying to get sick too?” Cera wondered aloud.
Littlefoot moved the berry around in his mouth, then set it down on a leaf that was lying on the ground. “Friend,” he said to Petrie, “Eat that berry and you’ll become whole once more.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy, but isn’t that a little crazy?” Ruby asked him.
“And gross,” Chomper couldn’t help but say.
“Your concerns are understandable,” he replied, “But you need worry not. By placing that berry inside me, I have purified it. It will now work in the very opposite fashion of before. That kind of meal made him ill, and now, it shall renew him.”
Petrie wished Littlefoot hadn’t had to put it in his mouth, but he’d do almost anything to get rid of the intense pain he had in his stomach. He picked it up, chewed it slowly, then swallowed. The result was like an explosion. One moment he felt terrible, and the next, he felt great. He flew into the air, doing loops to express his joy.
“Release!” Littlefoot shouted, and his body returned to normal. “It looks like we got away from those buzzing buzzers,” he remarked.
“Thank you for helping me,” Petrie told him, neglecting the fact that Littlefoot remembers nothing when he transforms.
“Uh, anytime,” he replied, wondering what he did. Focusing on the task at hand, he turned to Cera and asked, “Would you please see if Dusk is anywhere near plants?”
“Fine,” she replied. In a few seconds, her eyes widened and she turned a slight shade of pale.
“What is it?” he asked her quickly.
“They’re- they’re- home. Dusk and his group are in the Great Valley.”
The children were terrified. Dusk may be causing trouble, even hurting their families, was what was on their minds.
“We have to get back, now!” Littlefoot exclaimed.
“But how?” Ruby wondered. “We don’t have the Rainbow Faces to transport us.”
Littlefoot looked around him in a panic. He then spotted a large log, and his brain kicked into action. “We can ride that log home,” he told them.
“Are you feeling sick too?” Cera asked him. “There isn’t a water path to the Great Valley.”
“Who said anything about a water path? Petrie, with your wind power, do you think you hold that log into the air and move it with us on it?”
“Me think so.”
“You’re a genius, a genius you are,” Ruby told him, amazed at his idea.
“Aw, it isn’t that amazing,” he said, turning a slight shade of red.
The kids climbed aboard the log, and Petrie tensed, and the trees around them starting shaking. The log suddenly lifted into the air, and the kids had to hang on tight to avoid falling off. With a slight lurch, the log began moving towards the Great Valley, and to Dusk.
********************
The bright circle shined down on the faces of the Great Valley residents. However, something was not right. Sudden, brief instances of shade caused Dusk to wake up suddenly. Not only was he a light sleeper, but he was very familiar with what was happening.
“Wake up!” he shouted. The others drowsily opened their eyes.
“What is it?” Mr. Three Horn asked gruffly.
“Flying rocks!” he yelled. “We need to get out of the open, now!” The others’ eyes opened abruptly, and they got up, scrambling to avoid the showering of rocks from the sky. Mr. Three Horn snatched Tricia up in his mouth and they all started moving towards a cave. Dusk and his companions didn’t know the area, but Mr. Three Horn led and they all followed.
Flying rocks fell from all around them, knocking down trees and creating huge splashes from watering holes. The Three Horn family was not used to waking up after a night’s sleep and running head on. Mr. Three Horn was tough and he did fine, but Tria developed a cramp in her back leg and started to lag behind. The shadow of a flying rock appeared nearby, and its owner began to draw near. At the rate they all were moving, it would have missed them. However, Tria’s leg cramp finally got the better of her, and she tripped and fell.
Dusk heard the “Oomph” from behind him and turned in horror. A flying rock was about to crush her. Mr. Three Horn also turned, exclaiming, “No!” Dusk panicked and suddenly didn’t care if he was revealed. He quickly glanced down to the shadow moving beside her, held out his arm, and shouted, “Shadow Pull!” The rock suddenly shifted from its course and slammed down to the location its shadow was. Tria quickly got to her feet, and they all continued running until they arrived at the mouth of cave, immediately entering.
The whole group continued panting for a while but finally settled down. Dusk cringed, expecting one of the Three Horns to ask how he did that. Mr. Three Horn did speak, but his comment made Dusk raise a brow.
“Thank you for warning us, kid.” He said nothing about the flying rock suddenly changing course after Dusk moved his arm and shouted. Ceit looked at Dusk as if he wanted to say something. Dusk tipped his head towards farther into the cave and the two of them ventured in for a talk.
“Did you wish to tell me something, Ceit?” Dusk asked.
“In case you were worried, no one saw what you did and said but me.”
“How…?”
“I saw what you were getting ready to do, so I made it sound you said ëOh no!’ and made it look like your arms were kept to their sides. It merely seemed like you were worried; your power was not noticed.”
“I love you.”
Ceit looked shocked. “M- ma lord?”
Dusk let out a heart laugh. “Just a slight exaggeration of how much I appreciate that.”
“Ah, heh heh.”
They both returned to the others, just as Mr. Three Horn was saying, “Mighty strange if you ask me, the way that flying rock suddenly moved in a different direction.”
“Oh Topsy, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just be thankful,” and the two of them nuzzled.
“Well, we’re going for a walk. It’s been an exciting day and a little stroll will do us good,“ Dusk announced.
“Okay, have fun you kids. You’re welcome to stay with us longer if you decide to,“ Tria told them. As Dusk and his companions moved on, Tria turned to Topsy. “I don’t like those kids being on their own like that, They’re too young. Do you think, maybe…”
“Absolutely not! We have two of our own kids to worry about. Still, we may be able to find a family here in the valley that would take them in.”
“Good idea. I’ll start asking around.”
“Alright.”
Dusk and his group roamed the Great Valley at a leisurely pace then decided to sit down and relax for a while. He didn’t realize it then, but it was very fortunate he had them take a breather at that time. Not far, a flying log was making its way into the valley…
