The Swimmer Trials

[Ducky123]

Already read this but I'll get to experience that joy yet again as I try to review it and not just proofread

It's pretty frightening to think what a few fastbiters with the advantage of surprise can deal. To think if it had been all of Redclaw's army...
The scene was really well done. The switch between Cera and her memories was amazing and the way she solved the situation and then fell to the emotions was really touching.

Now Redclaw's cover is blown and I bet (wait, Ducky, you know this already!) that the valley won't wait to rally up against the rising thread

The Valley's attack plan certainly is a good one, however they did not see the flank attack coming. What seemed like a fight with promising odds turns into a battle for survival. And some idiots are grabbing their popcorn to watch. Oh this could be entertaining.

The fight is progressing nicely. The gang has joined as well, trying to engage the enemy to their ability, however it terribly terribly backfires. RIP Nod you will (not) be missed lol.

Chaos breaks out and with combined efforts and a lot of luck they kill Redclaw and utterly defeat the enemy however it comes with a price... So many deaths. Perhaps the worst is the loss of Ali. I really hope that there will be more than enough screen time covering her coping with this terrible loss.

This chapter is unmistakably one of your best to date. Both action and emotion convince and the chapter despite its alarming length was well structured and the scenes were all well thought of and well written. The battle certainly had me on the edge and I believe the pacing was just right, giving the action enough time to unfold yet not dragging it unnecessarily.

I really have nothing to complain here so I'll just say it again. Nice work mate that was a great and mind-blowing read! 

[The Lone Dragon]

Chapter 66: Picking Up the Pieces



Three gruelling cycles of the Night Circle have passed since the great and decisive battle with Red Claw in the Badlands, and much had happened to the surviving forces throughout this turbulent period of time.

After the battle was over, the surviving forces had the mundane task of counting the dead, which was swiftly followed by an avalanche of painful news to the loved ones of those who died in the fearsome fighting. Only a few days after the battle, the whole of the Great Valley got together and spent a night sleeping together as a united herd. During this long cold night in which the frozen sky stars fell and blanketed the earth in a thick white blanket, the many families and friends that had lost loved ones in the newly named Battle of Striker’s Canyon got together to talk, share warmth, and find comfort with each other through their common shared grief.

From there, a new tradition was born; Remembrance Night — a time to remember the battle and those who had fallen, as well as the ones who had survived and saved their Valley by defeating a terrible tyrant. While Remembrance Night was technically a celebration of the end of Red Claw’s fearsome regime, it was also a time for those who had lost someone to find solace, especially for a large portion of the herds who had lost a friend or a family figure in the bloody battle.

The only group who were spared any casualties during the battle were the Flyers. This was not because they had fled like cowards, though, as they had simply used their mastery of the air to remain completely untouchable throughout the whole battle, their assistance and contribution definitely making a difference to the outcome. It was widely accepted that everyone had played their part during the fighting and during that long night together many stories and recounts of the battle were told between the adults, certainly real eye raising stories to those that had not been present in person, but for the sake of the children these stories were only shared in private.

However, there were still a small number of children that had been present and had a significant effect on the outcome of the battle and they had not escaped this battle without trauma.

The most obvious trauma that must be pointed out was the death of Nod, whose fall had inadvertently killed Ali’s mother. Their son’s death had been a harsh blow to Nod’s parents and they experienced much grief over this as well as the demanding of answers. This in turn led to them discovering that Hyp had led the group up to watch the battle and thus putting them in danger. From that day on up till the night of remembrance, they cast their ire and scorn upon him, their anger towards Hyp only changing when they understood the role that the kids played and the actions that their son had bravely taken to protect everyone at such a crucial moment. While they may not have gotten over their son’s demise, they had at least found it in their hearts to forgive Hyp.

Speaking of Hyp, the poor dinosaur had been rocked by seeing Nod die in front of his eyes, and Mutt was no exception to those final haunting moments that would likely be seared in their memories for the rest of their lives. With Nod gone, they were no longer a true gang and the two simply couldn’t seem to break through the haze of depression that fell over them both. They no longer spent time together and just stayed at their respective homes while both trying to come to grips with the events of the battle.

The loss of Mr Thicknose was also a hard one to take. Most of the Valley children knew him, including the Gang. If there was any consolation, he would at least never be forgotten as someone who had tutored and befriended many children in his long life.

His death was not the hardest, however. Mr Thicknose had lived a long life, but many others died young before their time. The hammer had come down hardest on Ali though. The death of her mother had sent her world crashing down upon her with enough force to break the longneck’s spirit to pieces.

The night that came after the battle, Littlefoot found Ali resting by herself in her mother’s sleeping spot, the poor longneck sobbing and consumed by despair, just as he once had. He slowly walked up to Ali, reviving memories of his mother and the pain he had to go through when she died with each step. His mother’s foot print, the first special treestar she’d given him, and that false shadow all relentlessly struck his memory, and yet despite everything he made it through without falling apart but that was not without the help of his newly found friends. Littlefoot resolved that he would not let Ali suffer like this, taking up a spot next to Ali who had her head buried between her fore legs, her body racked by the occasional sob.

“Ali.” Littlefoot said, his voice quiet and sympathetic as he gently pushed Ali’s head up with his own. Ali looked at him, deep sadness could be seen in her eyes and in the tears that were falling down her cheeks in streaks. With a shuddering breath Ali crossed her neck over Littlefoot’s and started sobbing into his back. Littlefoot could do nothing other than nuzzle his friend’s back while she let out all her emotions, only once they were all out and expressed could he finally attempt to console his hurting friend.

Ali’s mind was numb of thought, all that went through her was pure, painful emotion stirred up whenever she thought about her mother. The one who hatched her, looked after her and raised her, she had many years to bond with her mother as she was the only family Ali had. After her death, the world now seemed to lose a little colour. It was a hard loss to take for her despite the fact that she lived in a migrating herd out in The Mysterious Beyond because even as a farwalker Ali had still lived a relatively sheltered life away from trauma, in contrast to the rest of her friends.

But now her mother was gone and she was an orphan without a herd. Sure, she was in a relatively safe valley, but at this point Ali had no concise direction to go and absolutely no clue of what to do apart from mourning her mother.

The only one she could turn to now was the one who was standing right beside her.

Eventually Ali’s sobs began to subside until she had no more tears to shed and just collapsed onto her belly, her legs unable to support the weight of the world that had cruelly been dropped onto her back.
 
“You’ll be ok, Ali” Ali looked up at Littlefoot, his voice cutting her thoughts of loss away and only to replace them with the more turbulent anger.

“Ok!? OK!? It’s not ok! Don’t you get it!? My Mom is gone! How can you say it’ll be ok!? I have ‘NOTHING’ left!!” Ali shouted in Littlefoot’s general direction, she wasn’t paying much attention to his startled reaction but rather screaming at the world and everything in it for taking away the one whom she loved and shared so much happy experiences with. The fact that she died protecting the Valley was no consolation for her, it was just cruel that Nod should have been thrown and her mother just happened to be in ‘that’ spot right at ‘that’ time. Fate was indeed cruel in how it dealt death to those who didn’t deserve it.

Littlefoot approached her with a shaky sigh, it would be clear to any onlooker that Littlefoot was also feeling very emotional at this point by the expression of pain, the distant glance of his eyes and the pain deep in his heart which could almost be felt by those nearby. They were the same now. Ali was the same as he had been after he lost his mother, the screaming, depression, the shouting and sheer loneliness that nearly consumed him: it was all manifested in Ali’s behaviour as she was in shambles while suffering through her crushing loss.

Even despite the heavy darkness, Littlefoot felt as though there was a ray of hope for Ali though, remembering that he had pushed through and learned so much since the lowest point of his life. “Ali, you are never alone, you have me. You may not have your mom now but you have me, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and Shorty. You no longer have your herd….”

Ali looked down but she felt Littlefoot’s tail lift her chin up from beneath. “But now you have gained a new herd… you can be… the sister… I never had.”

Ali’s eyes widened and she took upon an expression of shock. “Is he really asking me to… he could be… my brother…?” Ali felt her eyes water and pressed the front of her body up against his and kissed him straight on the mouth. Pure happiness radiated from Ali, chasing away her despair as she now found herself her reprieve by looking upon the beginnings of a new family… a new life.

“Thank you… Brother” She said as she nuzzled him.

“Your welcome… Sister” was Littlefoot’s warm reply.

Littlefoot’s heartfelt offer gave back what had been taken and Ali gratefully accepted. From this day forward, she would have a father, she would have grandparents and she’d have two brothers that she would love with all her heart. Through the strength of her new family Ali was soon able to recover from her mother’s death, even though she never forgot and still felt some lingering pain when she thought of her mother. However, it only took one look at Littlefoot to remind Ali of what she did have and she was able to move on.

But Ali was not the only victim of the battle and out of all the other children that were there to witness it, there was one who had just had so many of her preconceptions shattered in an instant when she saw the battle. Now Diver was suffering from nightmares in which she was caught up in that battle, in a desperate and primal struggle for survival.

Her innocence had been shattered at seeing her parents fight and kill in such brutal ways. It changed Diver on a deep level, as she could no longer look at her mom and dad in the same way and the naïve view she held of real-life combat and what it was truly like had been wiped clean from her mind. Before she was the toughest girl in her family and would often engage in playfights with Rapid and sometimes Echo and they were all very strong opponents. Diver had great speed and technique, Rapid had endurance and strength, while Echo had superior tactics and rather quick reflexes. They had learned some basic fighting skills from their father but only Diver pursued and mastered them, which had led to her father even tutoring her in basic defence and combat. However, throughout the lessons he had never once ever spoke about what real combat was like, and only after the harsh slap of reality did Diver learn why. Now that she had seen it with her own two eyes, the once-brave swimmer quickly surmised that she didn’t like it, not one bit.

Every night for a week since The Battle of Striker’s Canyon, Diver awoke from frightening nightmares in a similar fashion to how Ducky used to wake up minus the night time accident. However, she certainly felt a lot more vulnerable and each night she’d curl up and desperately try to get to sleep despite her constant shivering. Her harsh night terrors had led to a string of bad night’s sleep and with such cold conditions it didn’t take Diver long to catch a rather unpleasant cold.

Her mother was adamant about her daughter keeping warm and staying out of the cold weather and water to prevent things getting worse, but whenever she was in the same area as her father, she’d tense up. She could not get her father’s actions out of her head and also the fact that he actually taught her how to fight and only now did she realise that her father was teaching her to do what he did.

It left her feeling very unsettled, and his strong daughter constantly being on edge was something that was not lost on Ruphus. Diver didn’t realise how much she was hurting her father but it was a rift Ruphus knew he had to address and heal. So, at noon eight days after the battle Ruphus went over to his sniffling daughter who was rubbing her runny nose with a small leaf, looking absolutely miserable.

However, to Diver’s surprise she found herself suddenly hoisted up into the air in the arms of her father. Ruphus cringed as he felt Diver tense up as soon as she realised who held her. “Wat iz going on daad?” Diver’s words were heavily slurred due to the state of her nose constantly shifting from runny to blocked.

“We need to talk, Diver” Ruphus took his daughter across the river and over to a tall solitary rock that was nicknamed reflection rock by the family as it was one place that the children were sent to reflect if they were naughty. The rock was also a nice place for solitude and to be alone with one’s thoughts. Ducky herself had sat on this very rock after Spike had left the Valley with the Spiketail herd.

Ruphus placed Diver on the rock. “Whaat iz iit?” croaked Diver, her voice far quieter than it usually was, mainly because of her cold. 

“Look at me Diver,” Ruphus said as Diver’s gaze drifted off to one side, though she reluctantly turned to look up uncomfortably at her father when he addressed her. “I want you to answer me truthfully, do you understand dear?” Diver nodded at her father’s somewhat direct and no-nonsense tone. “What have you been seeing in your night terrors?”

Diver cringed and briefly considered lying but with her father’s gaze directly over her, she knew she’d have no chance to get away with it, both her parents could spot a lie from their children nearly all the time with few exceptions. “I taw the…” Diver gulped and took a long sniff which sounded more like a snort but at least she could breathe through her nose now. She looked up at her father, “I saw the battle…”

Ruphus nodded, it was as he suspected. “Can you tell me what you saw?”

Diver fidgeted with her hands nervously “It was like I was in…. your place in the battle… it was horrible…” She turned a rather unpleasant shade of green as the youngling recalled her memories of the battle and her dreams.

Being very careful to be gentle he placed his hand around Diver’s back. “I know. It’s not nice, is it?” His tone held sympathy and understanding to Diver’s feelings. His daughter nodded, looking down solemnly. “Oh my dear… come here” He lowered his hand and Diver took her father’s invitation and jumped into his hand which he raised to his eye level where she embraced her father’s beak tightly, taking several shaky breaths as her composure threatened to break.

“My poor Diver, I’m so sorry you had to see what you did.” Diver hugged her father’s beak with her eyes closed tightly, she seemed to forget all her tension and apprehension about her father in that moment, though it had not left her mind and as they broke off from each other and after her father placed her back on the rock, Diver finally said what had been nagging at the back of her mind for days.

“Dad, you…you taught me how to…” Diver sniffed again loudly as her nose became runny and her speech started to slur again. However, Diver had no need to finish the rest of her sentence as her father pretty much guessed what she was trying to say.

“I taught you and all your brothers and sisters who were willing to learn how to fight for times and places like in that battle?” Ruphus stated. Diver nodded and so did her father.

Diver looked down but her father lifted her head up with a finger.

“Diver remember I am, first and foremost; your dad. I only want to give you the best chance at life. I know it’s a hard change to see what you believed in comparison to the reality. I was the same.”

Diver was now engaged in her father’s conversation, she sat down and listened intently.

“Like you I had a view of what I thought combat to be like but it all changed the first time I went into combat and it was terrible, I thought we were just as bad as the Sharpteeth that we were fighting, if not more so. However, when you are in those situations everything is do or die; that is the harsh truth of combat, Diver.” Ruphus said, making sure to keep eye contact with his daughter, the hard tone of his voice indeed hitting home for Diver, as she could tell her father was talking from personal experience, one that was similar to hers.

“But why teach me and my brothers and sisters?” she asked.

Ruphus put a hand over Diver and gave her a gentle squeeze but never taking his hand off of her. “So you can be prepared. I have no doubt that you will go into the Mysterious Beyond many times in your life but with my teachings you will have the ability to defend yourself, you have a natural talent Diver and one position that would benefit from your talent is the herd defender.”

Diver’s eyes glowed with understanding and she nodded.

“Because the reason why I taught you to fight was not just so you can protect yourself, but others as well. That is why your mother and I fought so hard; to protect you from becoming food for all those Fast Biters. We would have given our lives for you and your brothers and sisters.”

Diver nodded. “I think I get it Dad but… all the blood… it was just…”

Her father nodded solemnly. “I know Diver, but that battle is now over, leave those memories in the past and remember that you know why we fought the way we did, do that and remember that I will always love you as a father and  you will get over your night terrors soon”

Ruphus put his open hand down right next to Diver, who willing took the invitation without hesitation and jumped onto the palm of his hand. The two Swimmers nuzzled and headed back to the nest. Diver felt a little better now that her father had provided her with a sense of closure over the battle. Already she felt a little stronger and she promised to herself that she would get over the night terrors and beat her persistent cold.

A promise that would ring true after another few days.


*


Roll right, roll left and repeat, had to keep sharp, had to react immediately or fail the exercise. Ducky was finally learning the more advanced Swimmer manoeuvres under Cyrest and the various members of her family. At the moment she was learning the barrel roll, a basic move that allowed for quick evasion whist allowing Ducky to continue moving ahead with hardly any loss of speed. Her Father had placed a zig zagging line of long sticks in the sediment in one of the many secluded water holes in The Great Valley, Cyrest had demonstrated the action and now Ducky was doing her third run of the sticks. The idea was to swim ahead straight at the sticks and the only way she could avoid them was with performing consecutive barrel rolls on each side until she got to the end without stalling, hitting a stick or going off course.

Ducky however, was having trouble staying on course. The barrel roll was easy enough to do, but the trick was staying on course after spinning rather quickly while changing her body’s orientation. As she became dizzy half way through the first run, she ran completely off course and had to surface until everything stopped spinning.

Now on her third run she was desperately trying to remember Spinner’s secret to staying orientated. He had been asked many times before how he could have such a good sense of direction even after Swimming really fast in circles and he said that he always kept his eyes fixed on a point straight ahead of him as a way of keeping him going straight, however he still kept it a closely guarded secret..

Ducky really didn’t know how her brother did it, sure it sounded simple enough in concept but it was a whole lot harder in practice, she found it very difficult to find a constant stationary mark ahead of her that stayed where it was whenever she was moving.

If she’d understood what Spinner meant then it would’ve been easy, but right now she was starting to feel a little queasy again. Yet she still pushed through, trying to stay on course for her third run.

Stick ahead, roll right.

Another stick, roll left, stay on course.

Roll right, keep steady, feeling a little wobbly.

Left, three quarters of the way to go.

Roll right, to fast going cross eyed!

Get back on course! Go left!

Get back in position!

“Go with the flow Ducky….”

“Wait, what!?”

Two sticks left….

Roll left or was it right…? No left! GAH RIGHT!

Just got past, to dizzy, roll righ-Crash!

Go straight through the next stick and collide with the shore…

“Ooohhhhh, spiinnnnyy-ing, eeerrr!” Ducky groaned and plopped her face into the ground as she became overwhelmed by the dizziness. She kept her hands tightly over her mouth as she attempted to keep her breakfast down for the third time in a day and she had barely started the exercise! She heard footsteps approaching and just managed to groan out. “Nooo more…”

She felt a hand of possibly one of her parents on her back but Ducky didn’t want to move yet as she was barely keeping the bile down. It was a mercy then that her mother didn’t pick her up and kept her hand over in a comforting gesture till after five minutes when Ducky could finally stand again without falling in the water.

Ducky sat down in the cool water and looked up at her parents then at Cyrest. “Please no more rolls, Cyrest it gets me too dizzy, it does, it does.”

“Ducky, you might be a little dizzy, but this is a simple move. A lot of the other moves incorporate some sort of roll, you must learn to get past that dizziness” replied Cyrest, his sympathetic gaze not complementing his serious tone in the slightest.
 
“Can I have some time off before I try again, pleeeaaassse?”

“Augh! Of course, you can, and stop with the cute eyes and stuff, you could convince me to kill with that look!” Cyrest exclaimed as he quickly broke away from Ducky’s wide-eyed gaze.

Ducky couldn’t help but giggle at Cyrest and quickly headed off before Cyrest got her training again. “Be back before the Bright Circle sets!” Cyrest called, exchanging a tired look with Sura and Ruphus. “I don’t know she manages such optimism when she has got her Trial ahead” he shook his head.

“That’s just the way Ducky is” Sura said.

Cyrest sighed but his beak pulled into an opportunistic smile “Well I suppose we can have lunch now that the lesson is on hold”

Both Sura and Ruphus thought that was a good idea. Ducky walked at brisk pace back home; she could spend time with her friends later but first she needed advice from the one Swimmer with an unbreakable sense of direction; Spinner.

“I know of a good meadow with plenty of trees and a large watering hole next to it, where we can have lunch” Sura said.

Cyrest stopped and stood still with his head up. “Do you hear that?” he asked he seemed to be straining his sensitive Swimmer ears. Sura and Ruphus both listened and found that there was indeed a new sound, different from the normal sounds of the Great Valley’s flora and fauna, it was the sound of many moving feet.

“You don’t think that is what I think it is do you?” Cyrest asked.

In response to the unanswered question all three Swimmers headed off to the main pass of the Great Valley. It wasn’t too far but they got a good vantage view from the top of a nearby hill. They beheld a large herd of Swimmers; the first of many that would be arriving for the upcoming Swimmer Trials.

“Is that…” Sura squinted her eyes to the Swimmers at the front of the herd. “I know that herd. It’s Rarlap, he’s come to The Great Valley!” Sura cried as she spotted the young leader helming the front of his herd with Alane beside him.

“A bit early, don’t you think?” Ruphus said thoughtfully, scratching his chin.

“Well, better early then late.” Cyrest commented.

Sura, however, was looking at Rarlap, her expression turning sad as she realised that the task of telling him of Bluey’s death and eggs fell to her. Speaking of eggs, she would have to give them to him. It was Bluey’s last wish and she would honour that. She led out a sad sigh, her tail drooping slightly.

“Sura?” said Ruphus.

“Let’s go meet them…” Sura walked off in the direction of the herd with none of the enthusiasm she had before. She noticed that Topps and Grandpa Longneck were approaching as well however this was her business more than theirs.


*


“Welcome to The Great Valley,” Grandpa Longneck said to Rarlap, the herd stopping a short distance behind their leader.

“Thank you, Longneck,” Rarlap said.

“How long are you planning on staying?” Mr Threehorn said gruffly.

“Just till the end of The Swimmer Trials.”

Grandpa Longneck nodded, “Well you are welcome to stay as long as you need.”

“Rarlap!” Sura, Ruphus and Cyrest arrived on the scene. Sura was met with a smile from Rarlap but inwardly he was concerned at the higher number of scars over her body, he noticed that it was the same trend with the other two Swimmers who were unfamiliar to him. 

“Sura, how good to see you…” His tone was cautious as he gazed at the scars.

Sura stopped moving forward and followed Rarlap’s gaze. “Oh, don’t worry about me, I’m in perfect physical health. This is Cyrest, Ducky’s tutor” Sura gestured to her left, Cyrest nodded. “And this is my mate; Ruphus.”

Rarlap nodded. “Nice to meet you both, I don’t suppose you know a suitable place for my herd to rest up?” he asked.

“Oh, of course, I believe I know a few places, follow me” Sura gestured with her hands and began leading the herd deeper into the Valley. Many Swimmers seemed pretty impressed by the Valley.

“I can see why you live here” Alane said.

“We wouldn’t trade our current lives for our old herd ones” Ruphus said with a smile.

Oh, this is my mate; Alane” Rarlap said, the female giving a friendly smile. “And if you don’t mind me asking Sura…but you look rather beat up, care to elaborate?”

Sura let out a long sigh, an invisible weight seemed to slump onto her shoulders, a tear fell from her eyes. “The Battle of Striker’s Canyon is what happened.”

“What?” Rarlap and Alane exchanged confused looks as did a few other Swimmer’s within hearing range did the same. “I think we are lacking a bit of context here” Rarlap said.

Sura looked down. “You remember the Fast Biter that attacked us?”

“Yes” Alane and Rarlap both said as one. Ruphus chuckled at the synchronisation.

“His name was Striker and he came to us in the Valley, not to attack us but to warn us that Red Claw had found another way in. There was a battle in the Badlands, he was killed but his actions saved us all. Red Claw was killed, Screech and Thud fought with us and the army of Fast Biters was routed” Sura took a breath and let out a shaky exhale. “We lost so many good friends for that victory…”

All the Swimmers in hearing range began talking in shocked murmurs. Rarlap and Alane’s jaws hung open. “Oh my, you guys fought in the battle?”

“They did, I didn’t” Cyrest said as he pointed to Sura and Ruphus.

They continued walking in silence for a short while until Sura stopped under a few scattered trees in the front of a large meadow with a stream going into a large water hole in the distance.

“I think, this will be suitable for you and your herd.” Sura said; Rarlap nodded. The herd was already going to settle down and build nests but Sura mournfully looked back at Rarlap, “Come with us, to our nest, there is something you must see” she said and without another word she, Ruphus and Cyrest started heading off. Rarlap and Alane exchanged curious looks and followed them but they would not like what they found out….


*


Ducky arrived back at the nest only to find to her dismay that her clutch mates were not at home but her younger brothers and sisters certainly were, many who were too young to leave the nest without supervision which they were never left without anyway. The issue was that Ducky was looking for her clutch mates, not her younger siblings, but she didn’t let it get her too down. The couple of second clutch younglings were sitting around in a circle and playing a game of truth or dare. This game seldom ended well for her clutch mates mainly due to the fierce head butting of Rapid and Echo so she never really played it, but that wasn’t the case for her younger siblings.

“Ok, truth or dare Reedy?” asked the female light green Swimmer.

“Um… I’ll go for dare Sardine” replied the bright, yellowish brown male Swimmer sitting across. 
 
“Right! I dare you to… Oh hiya Ducky!” Sardine waved at her older sister as she came by. “Wanna play with us?”

Ducky shook her head. “I am looking for Spinner but I do not know where he has gone, no, no, no.”

“Oh, he and the others went to their favourite water hole, you know, the one that we’re not big enough to go to yet” Reedy said in a dejected voice.

Ducky put a hand on his shoulder. “You will grow and be big enough soon Reedy, yes, you will, you will” she said in a reassuring tone.

Reedy grumbled. “Wish it would happen sooner…” he muttered under his breath, he had a lot of issues with trying to live up to the expectations and experiences of his older siblings but he was still a kid at heart despite trying to act like he was bigger. “Can we get on with the game?” he asked Sardine.

“Goodbye Sardine and Reedy” Ducky said and quickly took her leave, the other two smaller Swimmers exchanged their goodbyes but just before left Ducky heard her sister say “I dare you to sleep with the hatchlings” She chuckled to herself as her brother voiced his dismay before starting to jog swiftly down to the stream. It would be quicker to swim most of the way.
 
Reaching the water’s edge, she ran over to one of the larger rocks and jumped on top before diving beneath the water and swimming off towards her sibling’s favourite water hole. Swimming along with the current she sped along like a torpedo, diving rapidly down to the bottom as she had experienced greater speed when swimming deeper while swimming with Mo and his water kin.

She had a good lung full of air so she wouldn’t need to surface just yet. The water was almost crystal clear, so there were times when Ducky almost forgot that she was swimming and instead thought that she was flying, she couldn’t help but wonder if this is what Petrie felt when he flew, though of course Petrie could at least breathe when he flew. As things were, it was only because Ducky was consciously holding her breath that snapped her out of her illusion, as she had almost forgotten that she was underwater.

She passed a few large silver fish lurking around the edge of the stream. The stream edge was littered with brown leaf litter and green algae and descending down into the deeper regions of the stream, the bottom was covered with patches of fine and coarse sediment, along with larger patches of green freshwater plants.

This was the underwater world of The Great Valley that Ducky was so used to swimming in. Making her way around a turn, she went along with the current, there were a few boulders scattered throughout this portion of the river, they were rather deep so they could easily be avoided but not this time. Ducky headed up, took a breath at the surface and dived under again and started casually zig zagging between the rocks, she found that without the threat to her life that swimming like this was rather fun.

She slowed down slightly and started a few barrel rolls. She managed the first few alright but after that she started overturning and losing control as she became increasingly dizzy. Realising that she was not going to accomplish anything she headed back up to the surface and hit the bank with a groan and held her head in her right hand.

“How am I going to learn to do this?” she asked herself as she pulled herself up and out of the water and shook herself vigorously till, she was relatively dry but not stable in the least. Ducky fell to her left and into the side of a tree before giving up on walking and crouching down till she recovered from her dizzy spell.

Ducky sighed and got to her feet and noticed that she was now close enough to the watering hole to walk, or in her case jog, her break time would not last forever and the sooner she got the hang of barrel rolls the better. However, to get better at barrel rolls she needed to get better at keeping the overwhelming dizzy spells in check and there was only one Swimmer who could give her the proper instructions.   

“Spinner!” Ducky called as she arrived at the relatively secluded watering hole. It was large enough to fit all of Ducky’s siblings plus herself and Spike without any trouble and was situated against the base of the cliff and had a small weak waterfall trickling down the steep rocky incline and because the waterfall wasn’t so strong at the moment, the water was relatively calm or it would be had it not been for Ducky’s clutch mates playing in the shallow waters near the bank.

Spinner, who was just about to dive into the water from the large rock that he and his siblings used as a diving post, jumped while looked back in surprise. “Ducky-iiiiiieee!” he shouted as he slipped on the water covered rock and fell into the water with an ungraceful splash while Sandy and Diver laughed from the bank.

“Nice dive Spinner!” laughed Echo as Spinner surfaced with an angry string of mumbling, before quickly swimming over to the shore and shaking himself dry.

Ducky giggled “Sorry, Spinner” she said through her giggles.

“Thank you,” groaned Spinner with an annoyed roll of his eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be training or something?”

“Unless that training is knocking unsuspecting Swimmers into the water” Joked Rapid.

“Well, I was but I needed a break to—”

Take care of some business, yes we know” interrupted Rapid.

“Rapid!” Ducky cried out in a mortified voice at her obnoxious brother. “I wanted some help from Spinner…I cannot seem to do the barrel rolls without getting too dizzy…I think he can help me, he can, he can.”

“You bet!” Spinner said, his other siblings perked up and Diver saw a chance to get a little wisdom herself. She blocked Spinner off from moving over to Ducky. “He’ll help you…when you show us how to do the barrel roll!” she said with an excited grin.

Ducky shook her head. “Mom and Dad said you are not supposed to know the wisdoms. Nope, nope, nope!”

“But it’s not like we’ll use them in The Trials, so I don’t see any harm in this” Diver counted, her curious siblings nodding along as they were also eager to learn this wisdom from Ducky.

“Oh, come on Ducky, if you can do it so can we!” pressed Echo.

“Yeah!” the synchronised voice of all her clutch mates rang out and Ducky sighed. Faced with all the pressure from her peers and needing to keep to a timely schedule lest she make Cyrest mad Ducky answered rather hesitantly. “Ok… but you must not show that we know this or we will be in so much trouble we will, we will.”

“Ha!” cried Diver.

“I never thought I’d be getting a lesson from Mrs wisdom stuffed and Mr dizzyfying” chuckled Rapid.

The group of siblings had only just entered the water when a rustling of the bushes was heard from the surrounding foliage. Everyone turned into the direction of the sound and they were greeted by an arrogant voice before they saw anybody, a voice that Ducky knew all too well, to her great distress.

“This is a nice little place you Great Valley Swimmers have got here.”

The bushes parted to reveal three Swimmers; Barge, Storm and Whirler. Their herd having just arrived and found a place to settle down had allowed The Trio to get together and explore The Great Valley but it seemed fate had pulled them here to meet with Ducky again.

Ducky put a hand up to her head and groaned. “Oh, not you guys again” she said.

“Well boys! Look who it is, the little hatchling from The Big Water” said Barge, the two Swimmer’s beside him laughing at his remark.

“Is the wittle hatchling going to cry?” said Storm in an immature voice.

“You gonna wet the nest at us, baby!” mocked Whirler.

Whack!

“Owwww!”

Barge fell onto his tail as a small stone hit him in the face. His buddies were caught by surprise and helped him up onto his feet only to be confronted with three other Swimmers; Diver, Echo and Rapid; each one glaring at them furiously, a facial expression shared by their other siblings standing on the sidelines.

“I think it’s time to give these three bullies a piece of our mind” Diver said, she blew the dirt off her hand; it was evident that she had thrown the stone.

“You read my mind, Diver” said Rapid.

“You’re going to really regret hurting our sister” said Echo, he and his larger brother took up flanking positions on either side of Diver. It was evident that they intended to have a confrontation, their aggravated body language and fighting stance was a real teller for their siblings because it was Echo, Diver and Rapid that had truly been taught to fight by their father and getting on their bad side like this was a recipe for disaster.

“And we are going to show you Great Valley Swimmer’s just what kind of weak, helpless hatchlings you all are. Your no match for us Mys-Ooff!” Barge’s monologue was silenced by Diver who had crossed the distance between them in an instant and grabbed the skin of Barge’s chest and pulled him to face her, the Swimmers were now almost beak to beak and even Barge couldn’t help but be taken aback by the enraged glare and aggressive snarl from Diver.

“You bastards hurt my sister! You had no right to! She’s been through more and is going through more then you could ever hope to understand and since you never received a…humbling experience, we Great Valley Swimmer’s will be glad to provide it.” She hissed her words through gritted teeth right into Barge’s face before pushing him back hard.

“You really want to fight us? You’re just a scared little girl!” said Whirler who dismissed Diver’s threats as laughable despite hearing her curse. As a result of his arrogance, he didn’t see the attack coming until he was sprawled on the ground, head reeling from Diver’s powerful punch.

Whirler was hastily pulled up by Storm, they seemed a little wary now. This was a completely new situation for them. Here stood three Swimmer’s equal in age, size, speed, weight and strength along with a girl and they all stood together to fight them rather than squabble at their feet like everyone else in their herd had done before.

“Come at us and we’ll kick your butt’s so hard you will fly all the way back to The Big Water!” challenged Diver.

“Please! Do not fight no, no, no!” Ducky cried, walking in between the two groups and holding her hands out to both, trying to stop them from escalating the situation any further. “Mom and Dad would not want us to fight no, no, no!”

Diver growled angrily but she knew better then to push Ducky aside but the bullies didn’t have that same mentality. Barge ran up to Ducky and kicked her foot out from under her and she fell down on her back with a startled cry. Barge pressed his foot down over her abdomen hard, causing Ducky to give a short cry of pain.

“YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!!!” An enraged Diver shouted; she was seeing red now. She was as protective of her siblings as her mother was of them and it was a very bad idea to harm any of them on her watch and Barge had just crossed the line by hurting Ducky not only at The Big Water but also right in front of her. In a single action Diver, Echo and Rapid were running then crashing into each of the bullies. Diver was taking on Barge; Echo was going up against Storm and Rapid was confronting Whirler. However, this fight was rather one-sided, The Trio did not work together while Diver, Echo and Rapid fought as one cohesive team as they had years of practice and understanding of each other to know what to do.

Diver literally collided head-on head with Barge and Echo unexpectedly broke off his attack from Storm and slammed Barge from the side and moved on to help Rapid who had tackled Whirler and was pushing him back, Echo kicked Whirler in the flank and Rapid tail belted him to the ground and both boys (Being careful to step on Barge) ran to Diver who had stopped Storm from following Echo when he went to help her. Storm stood no chance against three Swimmers and within seconds the once mighty Trio lay groaning in a heap on the ground in defeat against the Great Valley Swimmer’s that they had badly provoked.

Diver stood over them. “Now listen here boys, if you ever hurt my sister or any of my family ever again then you will have us to answer to and we will give you far worse then what we have given you now. Are we clear?” Upon seeing the frantic nods, she nodded “Good now, GET OUT OF HERE!!!” she shouted, the three Swimmer’s made a mad dash away into the foliage, they would spend a very long time licking their wounds.   

“Ha! We showed them!” Rapid shouted triumphantly.

“That served them right” said Echo, cracking his knuckles proudly next to Rapid who stood beside him for once.

“Good riddance to bad Swimmer’s” said Diver in a satisfied voice.

Ducky sighed. As she watched them, Sandy and Opal had been quick to help her when she was knocked over and while she was unhappy that there had been a fight, she was at least glad that things were back to peace but it was unfortunately not peaceful in another part of the Great Valley.


*


Sura had arrived at her nest with Ruphus and Cyrest and trailing behind them was the confused Rarlap and Alane. The couple couldn’t deny that this was certainly a nice place to nest. With a large river and waterfall right next to the nesting area with a few shallow ponds for the younger children and a large space beside the bank with several trees and bushes nearby in which the main nest was. There was plenty of space of children to hang out and play and also a good supply of food nearby and plenty of water and best of all, no predators; A great nesting place. However, Rarlap wasn’t paying as much attention to the scenery as he was to Sura. As they got closer to her nest, he noticed that weariness in her steps and that blank expression that was so clearly designed to hide inner turmoil that it was a dead giveaway.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

His heart thumped in his chest, he had a bad feeling grow in his gut that just made him feel like running away but yet he continued to follow Sura until she stopped next to a nest filled with eggs, about eight but beside it was a smaller nest with two eggs in it. The latter nest is what Sura bent down over and picked up the two eggs and held them out in her palm in front of Rarlap.

“These belong to you…” She said, her voice stricken with melancholy.

“What…?” Rarlap, he suddenly felt something drop in his belly.

“I’m sorry…” Sura’s voice started to break and she sniffed. “Bluey… didn’t make it… Red Claw killed her before we could reach The Valley, She died saving me… her last act was to lay the eggs, her last wishes was for them to go to their father; You” She said the last part with a fixed resolve as she offered the eggs to Rarlap.

Rarlap and Alane both gasped in horror. Rarlap’s hands started to tremble as he wordlessly accepted what were Bluey’s only surviving eggs. “She asked that if you get a girl that she is named Mellessa and if you get a boy to name him Rimmer” Sura said.

Rarlap could only nod, he had tears in his eyes and so did Alane. “I can’t believe…” he said.

Sura gave him a look of terrible grief and understanding, she had lost a sister after all. “Just promise me to look after them as best you can, they are all that is left of my sister.”

“We promise” said both Rarlap and Alane at once and slowly turned and walked slowly back to their new nest but with a noticeable slump in their steps. Sura fell to the knees as they disappeared from view and Ruphus sat down and held her gently as his mate sobbed. “It is done…”

She forced herself up though Ruphus still looked at her with great concern. Sura had been hit hard by giving away Bluey’s eggs, she felt that she was finally fully separated from her poor sister and that hurt far more then she showed despite that fact that she knew this was Bluey’s last request and that her sister’s eggs would be going to a new and probably good home. She still wished in a small selfish part of her mind that she’d never have to give up those eggs.


*


Ducky and all of her clutch mates now stood in the shallow part of the water hole. Ducky and Spinner were in front of them while they all stood waiting like obedient soldiers but this was no battle speech. Ducky was going through the proper way to do the barrel roll. It was simple enough for all her brothers and sisters to understand and Rapid even laughed. “And these are supposed to be Wisdoms that we kids can’t learn!”

“We’ll show them” Diver said in agreement.

“Just remember that we cannot show that we know this stuff until after The Trials are done or we will be in so much trouble, we will, we will” Ducky said.

“I’ll go first” Diver said but Ducky shook her head.

“I will show you how to do it first, guys” Diver reluctantly agreed to Ducky’s statement as she had the most experience of them all when it came to this kind of manoeuvre. Ducky dived under and with a twist of her body she rolled right then left, not deviating much from her straight line but enough to clear any would-be obstacles in her path, she repeated the move on her way back. She wasn’t too dizzy when she got back out of the water but she knew that she would get dizzy pretty quickly if she continued for much longer.

As Ducky returned to the shore and surfaced Diver almost instantly said “Can we try now?” sounding highly impatient.

“Ok, you can try, go for as long as you can” Ducky said.

Her siblings dived under at once and began to execute the move that Ducky had showed them while Ducky climbed onto the diving rock to get a better view of them. As expected, her brothers and sisters had no trouble in doing the barrel roll, at least for the first few laps but that’s when Sandy lost control and crashed into Echo, that knocked them both out of the running. Diver was next, as she veered off course and hit the shore looking like she’d been completely turned around. Rapid seemed to be doing well but he seemed to be really pushing himself, not to stay on course but to stay ahead of everyone else and it really seemed to Ducky that he was pushing himself too hard. There was also the issue that he wasn’t going nearly as fast as he normally did and Ducky believed she knew why; Rapid’s leg had been badly injured during The Killer Storm and while it may have healed he was now marked just like Ray, he could no longer swim with the strength or speed that he used to due to his recently acquired handicap. 

Ducky grimaced as she watched him push himself too hard, he was coming up to the surface to breath every few seconds cause of how much he was pushing himself and he was barely staying ahead of Ray who was doing surprisingly well but Spinner was ahead of them both and Ducky was amazed by how effortless her brother made the barrel roll look. He could turn and spin so effortlessly and gracefully despite the dizziness factor.

“How is he doing that?” Ducky said to herself.

It became pretty evident that Spinner was the best at the barrel roll after about eight laps when Ray and Rapid finally dropped out but Spinner just kept on going and going until he reached lap thirty to the amazement of his siblings so when he surfaced he was greeted by over half a dozen floored jaws.

Spinner shook himself dry but stopped when he spotted all the astounded looks directed at him. “What?” he asked.
 
“How in the whole Mysterious Beyond did you manage to do that!?” Diver said.

Spinner blinked. “Was it supposed to be hard?” His siblings groaned at Spinner’s ridiculous comment. “And anyway, I’m only telling Ducky” Spinner said.

“Hey, I want to know your secret too!” Sandy exclaimed loudly, her siblings muttering loudly in agreement.

Ducky was still up on the rock above so Spinner quickly ran up to the top and passing Ducky he said only one thing “Run” She shook her head in surprise but when she saw all her clutch mates running after him she thought it would be best to listen to Spinner’s advice or she would never learn what she needed to. Ducky turned tail and ran after Spinner.

“Where are we going!?” she called to him, she could only see his tail from where she was.

“Anywhere that’s away from those raving rollers that are our brothers and sisters!” Spinner replied as he ran. Ducky managed to catch up to him panting heavily and spotted a crevice nearby in between one of the rocks.

“In there” She pointed to the crevice and dived into the narrow opening, followed closely by Spinner. Ducky grabbed a large leaf and put it over the entrance and huddled back with Spinner and sure enough in a few moments they heard the numerous running footsteps of their siblings. Soon the silhouette of their siblings ran past completely oblivious to the whereabouts of Ducky and Spinner.

Once they were sure no one was around the two Swimmers pushed the leaf aside. “So, you ready to hear my spinning secret?” Spinner asked Ducky who nodded. “And you promise not to tell anyone?” He eyed her suspiciously.

“Yep, yep, yep” Ducky said without hesitation while nodding her head.

“Okay…how do I explain this…” Spinner scratched his chin and seemed a little hesitant, this was his secret, the way he could avoid dizziness better than anyone after all and he had been asked about it many times but to his amusement and his siblings’ constant annoyance, they never got it out of him… until now. However, despite his apprehension in relinquishing the one thing that he’d kept to himself all his life, Spinner had no doubt that Ducky needed to know. His sister would need all the help she could get if she wanted to survive The Trial.

“Alright, I don’t just focus on a still object, but many objects, the one that is in the middle of my sight and when I spin, I count.”

“Huh?” Ducky gave him a surprised look.

“I learned how fast I could spin by counting how long it took to make a single spin or roll and I know how far and fast I move in the water so I never really lose track of where I am. I could close my eyes and swim and then roll this way and that and I will remain straight on target because I know how far my body moves and when to move. You should try the same” Spinner explained.

Ducky looked amazed; it was such a clever, simple method. Ducky was astonished that she and her siblings never figured it out. “Come on then!” Ducky took Spinner’s hand and raced all the way back to the watering hole they were at before.

“Come on Ducky!” Spinner cried as he arrived at the water hole and dived into the water without any hesitation while Ducky waded in and stood next to her. “Right! You ready to give this a try, sis?”

“Yep, yep, yep” Ducky said. Spinner stood and while Ducky crouched. “Now just start swimming a slow lap and count how long it takes then we can try your normal speed then a fast lap and then the roll” Spinner said.

With a nod Ducky dived under and swam at a speed she considered slow and mentally counted how long it took to do a lap, she then repeated the procedure going at her normal cruising speed and then at her full speed, and as expected her times got smaller the faster, she went. Now as she surfaced Spinner said, “Now try the same but do one roll and count how long it takes you to do it each time and see how much movement your body must take to move.”

Ducky dived under. Going slow then made one slow roll. “One… Two… Three.”

She then increased her speed and performed another roll. “One… Two” Ducky noted that the faster she went she needed less body movement to do the roll, she went off with her final roll.

“One…” After concluding, Ducky swam back up to Spinner. “Now swim each speed and do three rolls with this on.” He tied a leaf around Ducky’s eyes so she couldn’t see. “Rely on counting and movement.” Spinner helped his sister into the water. “Ready?”

“I am ready, Spinner. I am, I am!” Ducky said.

“Go!” Spinner shouted.

Ducky took off. Her vision was blinded by the leaf but she counted. She remembered it took her twenty seconds to swim at slow speed and it took three seconds to do a single roll so she would use up nine whole seconds in doing the triple rolls that were required of her.

She did her first roll to the right. “One… Two… Three” Ducky corrected her course and rolled to the left following the same method. Once she hit nineteen seconds she turned around and headed back. It was not the first time that Ducky had swam blind so the feeling was not foreign to her but since she hadn’t hit anything, she figured that she was doing it right. Ducky did her final roll successfully and returned to Spinner’s side without a hitch. Ducky pulled off her leaf blindfold, grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, you did rather-Gah!” Spinner let out a startled cry as he found himself being crushed in Ducky’s asphyxiating hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you Spinner!” Ducky shouted. “I can do this now! I can, I can!”

“Ducky! Choking…!” Spinner wheezed out. Ducky quickly released her brother with an embarrassed giggle. “Thanks” Spinner said after catching his breath. “You did well but we are not done yet, we are going to go fast and normal and with sticks until you can do the barrel roll in your sleep!”

Ducky nodded, determination radiated from her cerulean eyes. She would soon be ready to face that blasted Sharptooth.


*


Cyrest and Ruphus were heading back to the water hole where they had been training Ducky earlier. It was late afternoon and dusk was starting to fall. The Great Valley took on a grey colour as the coming night chased away the light of day. Sura would have joined them but she was emotionally exhausted from giving away her sister’s eggs and she also had dinner to prepare for the little ones. “Not long left now, the herds are starting to arrive, once everyone is here…The Trials begin” Ruphus said.

“Ducky is not quite ready, she needs to get better, she needs to learn faster” Cyrest said, his eyes narrowing in frustration.

“Have faith Cyrest, Ducky has met every challenge thus far and she has always made it through. I know she seems like she is struggling but she will not let that stop her, she will be ready of that I am sure” replied Ruphus in a passionate tone. Ruphus’s words reassured the old Swimmer, after all Ducky had been through Thunder Pool and managed to get out. If anyone of her age could do it, Ducky could.

The two Swimmers walked up the hill that the water hole lay beyond. “You know, when the other herds arrive, we are going to need a place to train Ducky where none of the other Swimmers can find her” Cyrest said.

Ruphus smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Sura and I have that sorted, all we need to do is get Ducky up to the Hidden Clearing while - Oh my word!” Ruphus looked astonished. Cyrest frowned and turned to see what had gotten the other Swimmer’s attention. What he saw send his jaw dropping.

Ducky was swimming the course she had attempted earlier and she was flawlessly rolling in and out of the sticks with what seemed like no effort and her previous trouble seemed to have vanished as if they had never existed at all. However, this was not what caught the two older Swimmer’s attention, it was the sheer speed Ducky was going and the fact that she was doing it blindfolded!

“Go, Ducky!” Spinner shouted from the side.

“Am I having a sleep story?” Cyrest asked after blinking his eyes a few times in disbelief.

“If you are then we must be having the same one” Ruphus said as he quickly made his way down to the edge of the watering hole, followed closely by Cyrest. Spinner saw his father approaching “Hi Dad!” He said. “Look at Ducky go! It’s amazing!” the little Swimmer ran over to his father, his tail wagging wildly behind him, a wide smile on his beak.

“It certainly is amazing, how on earth did she end of beating her dizziness. She was completely turned around before” Cyrest said.

“You wouldn’t have anything to do with this, Spinner?” Ruphus as he narrowed, he recalled Echo and Ray turning up looking for Spinner, saying that he was giving up his spinning secret but they couldn’t find him. Now, seeing Ducky’s incredible performance Ruphus believed he could guess as to what Spinner had done.

Spinner smiled innocently which couldn’t have been more of a dead giveaway. “I may have given her a helping hand” He said which earned him a nuzzle from his father.

“I’m glad you did it, Spinner” Ruphus said. Their chances were far better than at first glance, he could never have believed he’d see his daughter come this far when he first heard she was going to do the Trial but here was the proof that the hope they all trusted in her was very much real.

Ducky finally surfaced and pulled her blindfold off. “I did it!!!” She shouted but she was stunned by the presence of her father and Cyrest.

“Well done, Ducky” Ruphus bent down and picked up both Ducky and Spinner in his arms. “I think you two have earned some extra-large tree sweets for dinner tonight” Ruphus said to the delight of his children as he headed off back home.

“This will make Spike so jealous!” Spinner laughed.

“Yep, yep, yep! Just do not let him get your tree sweet Spinner, oh no, do not” Ducky replied, her warning was incredibly valid as Spike was known to eat through his sibling’s food if he was given the chance.

“I think you’ll have to worry more about keeping your little secret Spinner” Ruphus said with a smirk.

“No worries” Spinner brushed his father off with a wave of his arm. “Ducky and I are good at keeping secrets.”

“We are, we are” Ducky confirmed, not knowing the bombardment of questions that she and her brother would receive from their clutch mates on her return.

Cyrest stayed back for a few moments still shocked by the situation but as he had more time to process everything, he found the smile appearing on his beak getting wider. “She is ready to move on to the final parts of her training” He said as he followed Ruphus back to the nest.

There was no doubt in his mind now. Ducky had the greatest chance of any Swimmer to beat that rotten Trial.


*


The appearance of Rarlap and his herd in the Valley had not gone unnoticed by the Valley residents. It was a clear sign that The Swimmer Trials were just around the corner and that they could expect many more herds of Swimmer’s coming to The Great Valley, normally this might be a problem due to the greater numbers and the availability of food, however it wasn’t this time due to the significant losses the residents took in The Battle of Strikers Canyon.

For a few other residents, specifically the Gang’s parents, this was also a time of increasing worry simply because The Trial of Destiny was approaching ever closer and they had been notified of Ducky’s agreement with Sculra. They could only hope that the little Swimmer would have what it took to come out alive for the sake of their kids.

There was another who was eagerly looking forward to the coming Trials and that was none other than Sculra herself. Ever since she made the deal at Ducky’s nest and after her almost fatal run-in with Ruphus she had retreated back to her own nest as knowledge of the deal was now spreading throughout The Great Valley, enabling an uneasy truce between Sura and herself at least until the end of The Trial of Destiny.

Her wounds from her fight with Ruphus had also healed despite the fact that they had pained her greatly. She didn’t concern herself with the battle that had recently been fought, it was nothing to her now, Red Claw was dispensable and from what she could tell, just as incompetent as her other hired hands.   

As Sculra sat in her nest eating a hand full of green food she couldn’t help but look back at how she had gotten to where she was now.

It had taken years and it all started in The Mysterious Beyond with her birth. Her mother died before she was born though she was never told how and only a handful of her siblings survived their infant years but that was merely the beginning of many hardships. Sculra’s father was a strict traditionalist, ridged in his ways and as inflexible in his beliefs as her. He never spared the fist with her or her siblings when they stepped out of line.

Harsh beatings nailed in his messages but when Sculra was only a kid, the beatings were only small factors contributing to who she’d become. It was a talk with her father that she remembered almost word for word to this day.

“Sculra, that there is a herd leader, they have the most power in any herd, do you know what power means?” Her father asked her as he pointed at the current leader of their herd.

“No” the child replied, she was only five years old and despite all the beatings she was still a kid but she could not understand the psychology her father invoked upon her then.

“Power means you are in control. We guide our lives with tradition but us Swimmers are known for being the weakest kind of all the others out there. If a Swimmer holds power over other Swimmers then they can control them any way they want, and they in turn will become the strongest Swimmers” Her father said, staring deep into her eyes.

“But why should we control—”

“SILENCE!” Her father bellowed at her. Sculra kept her mouth shut, realising she had spoken out of line again.

“You see? I had control over you at that moment, you don’t do a thing without me knowing and you don’t do anything that I don’t want you to do. Imagine being able to create a world where everything is how you want It. You control everything and no one tells you otherwise. That is what power grants us!”

Sculra didn’t say anything but her eyes glowed with desire. After living a life devoid of power and control she was fully entranced by this idea and her father could see it, that is precisely why he was talking to her and not her other siblings, she had something that they lacked and it would make Sculra incredibly dangerous later in life.

“So how do you get power?” Sculra asked.

Her father’s eyes narrowed. “You get a good position in the herd but that only gives you a little sway which is why it is the first step. Getting power means you must be able to make others listen to you and believe you, so they give you power, but the trick is keeping it.”

“What do you mean?” Sculra asked nervously, as though the concept of losing power was an unthinkable one.

“Other Swimmers will want power and you must also stay alive. So how do you keep power? You stay alive and you must be ruthless to any Swimmer who crosses your path with a desire for your power for they will show none. You must be prepared to do anything, whether that be threaten them, beat them or even kill them.” Sculra gasped at her father’s explanation.

“But- but to kill…”

Her father glared at her and said, “Nothing is too much, as I said before, you ‘must’ be willing to do ‘anything’ to be powerful, unless you want to be a weakling all your life and hang off another’s will. There are two kinds of Swimmer’s in this world Sculra; Those with power and those who hang from the ones with power, which one are you?”

Those words had shaped Sculra’s mentality forever and for the worst, she chose power and from that point onward she did everything for it. She learned how to fight by fighting her siblings until she beat them so bad that they dared not say anything against her. It was the first taste of power Sculra ever had and she relished it as she never truly had power over another before but it wasn’t enough; she wanted more.

She began imitating other Swimmer’s, those she couldn’t fight she outsmarted with her wits, manipulating them to make deals that would benefit her or getting them to take life threatening risks for trivial things. Slowly but she surely, she learned the ropes and with that came a fierce cunning and ruthlessness that had never been seen in a Swimmer before.

When she was a kid her biggest humiliation came from being found inadequate for The Trial of Destiny, a Trial that Cyrest would take. It raged Sculra that her ticket to gaining power and proving herself the best had been taken by someone that she saw as weak. It was at this point that Sculra truly understood what her father had said and the change over her was almost instant. She was truly willing to do anything for herself, no matter what, screw morals and ethics. She would often hangout at a water hole that was frequented heavily by Sharpteeth and occasionally flat teeth but with a water truce in effect there was a relative peace.

It was here over a period of two years that Sculra began to listen to the Sharpteeth and decipher their growls and over time she soon managed to learn the Sharptooth language. She was able to fluently speak it and understand it and at the water hole when Sharpteeth were around, she listened. She heard tales of hunting, strategy, tactics, risks and of other prominent Sharpteeth.

She took those ‘lessons’ very seriously and applied them to her own dealings within the herd which only strengthened her power but it also changed her temperament to something more akin to a Sharptooth. After the Trials she was trained as a healer due to her knowledge of plants however Sculra not only learned about healing but also about poisons and about The Swimmer Wisdoms. However, she was unable to learn them as they were only taught to those of high rank and that made her furious. So, she took the time to eavesdrop on other Swimmer’s learning the Wisdoms and practicing them in her own time.

Once Sculra became an adult she got a position as herd healer.

It was a job she loathed, helping the weak but she had learned to be patient and to take her chance when needed. It was then that she learned about the position of High Elder and she found the position very attractive, it gave power and respect in the herd and it allowed her to be the keeper of the traditions that she knew so well. However, there was one small problem; Her father was the High Elder.

Immediately Sculra started planning her father’s downfall, his words that had so profoundly affected her life would also be his undoing when Sculra slipped a plant that was fatal if ingested into her father’s dinner. He never stood a change, Sculra watched as her father died by her hand. With her father dead, the position was hers by inheritance and since no one else stood up to her, Sculra’s right to become the High Elder was indisputable and she swooped in to snatch the position up with greedy arms. 

Years would pass and Sculra would soon become envious of mothers, she wanted children to carry on her legacy but she could not find a mate that she desired. There was never anyone good enough for her unrealistically high standards. That’s when Ruphus came into the picture. The perfect mate, traditionalist, firm, strong, smart, brave and deadly. Sculra’s lust for him was incredible, she introduced herself well enough, playing the sweet girl act with Ruphus and his father and it worked well, Ruphus understanding her and was slipping into her clutches.

This was a point where something completely unexpected blew a great big hole in Sculra’s plans; the arrival of Sura.

Sculra didn’t trust this young adult, especially after hearing that she had been chased away from her nest by her father. It was a bad sign but what’s worse was that Ruphus was developing a liking to Sura. She matched him far better than Sculra, especially in age, there was not so big a gap as there was between Ruphus and Sculra and the young couple started to hit it off.

Sculra found herself jealous and of Sura and envious of her ‘power’ over Ruphus and her un-traditionalist ways made her shudder in revulsion. This simply would not do. From the moment Sculra and Sura met there was tension between them and while Sculra tried manipulation on Ruphus and his family in an attempt to discredit Sura. She soon tried drastic measures to kill off Sura but the plan backfired in the worst way and when Ruphus found out that Sculra had a hand in the events that led to some prominent deaths in his family, he rejected her.

Sculra’s master manipulation in the end turned out to be no match for the power of a concept she had all but forgotten; love.
 
Sura and Ruphus loved each other, nothing, not even Sculra could stop them from becoming mates. Then to add insult to injury they had a first clutch of children, Sculra had never been angrier in her entire life, to see Sura take the mate she desired and have kids with him, kids that would carry on Sura’s un-traditionalist ways and not hers. She would have killed them all but the attack by The Great Sharptooth had thinned their numbers to such an extent that it was impractical and Sculra was very strategic. Since she couldn’t kill anyone, she plotted on making Sura’s life a living hell eventually by targeting the one thing a mother holds dear; her children.

However, all she could do was plot as no good opportunity presented itself.

The Great Earthshake did nothing but strengthen her hold over the Swimmer herd, she was the keeper of traditions and with their herd leader killed in the disaster, the Swimmer’s clung to the one who gave them order and while Sculra gave them order she was however highly racist to the other kinds in contrast to Sura who made major decisions with the other herds as well as their own. This led to the dual power that they held over the Swimmer herd to the present day.

After the discovery of The Great Valley, Sculra took the time to explore every nook and cranny the Great Valley had to offer until she knew many of the Valley’s secrets that no one else ever knew and it would seem that fate had dealt Sura a blow in the loss of Ducky so it was with astonishment that Ducky returned and with Spike who to Sculra’s outrage was adopted by Sura.

Sculra confronted Sura in a fierce shouting debate but it didn’t change anything. Sculra had no sway over Sura and the latter knew this which is why she chose to keep Spike. Of course, Sculra was enraged by this and she responded in kind; with poison. The same way she killed her father however every time Sculra spiked Spike’s food he would always come out the next day alive and well, to her bewilderment.

She didn’t know that Spike could hear the songs of his food and he never ate anything with song as unpleasant and unwelcoming as the ones the poison plants had. However, this barely bothered her when she discovered the Crescent Caves and bargained with the one that occupied the caverns. So, it was with great joy that Sculra watched Cyrest break down over the death of his son and that got her thinking that she could do the same to all others who stood up against her and posed a threat and so that’s just what she did she did.

Through her years in The Great Valley Sculra built up her strength within the Swimmer herd. She formed close links with the traditionalist families who had followed her since the Great Earthshake and those few families that Sculra didn’t get on with so well. The veiled threat during a talk was generally enough to warn others to keep in line and if more was necessary then Sculra showed them how easy it could be for her to be successful in her endeavours. One of her favourite tactics was to show up in the dead of night with a foot hovering threateningly other the children and some small talk with the mother was easily enough to keep the others in line.

But Sura and Ruphus never could be caught. Ruphus kept vigil over his family until his breakup but he eventually reunited with Sura. 

Sculra might have tried to kill Ducky and Spike earlier but as they went off on all their adventures Sculra found that she could only hope that they’d get themselves killed but no. She did make some valuable allies when she stumbled into those two egg stealers. When she heard they were looking for eggs she pointed them in the direction of Sura’s nest just to spite the Swimmer she despised. Sierra was also similar to herself so she was able to get along well enough with him.

Another reason why Sculra was so light on Sura and her family was because she wanted to stay on Ruphus’s good side. Some naïve and hopeful part of her still thought that Ruphus would come to his senses and break through the ‘brainwashing’ that Sura had put him through but once time of The Trials approached Sura’s children she finally resolved to present him with an ultimatum.

That was when the events of the present come in for Sculra, as she had given Ducky the Trial not only to get rid of a future threat and to torture Sura but also to blackmail Ruphus into leaving Sura. But when Ruphus threw aside her terms and nearly killed her, a rejected and angry Sculra decided to make sure that Ducky would fall in the Trial. What Sculra didn’t count on was the lengths that Sura would go for her daughter Ducky, and while the Trial approached ever closer Ducky was preparing and training for it under Cyrest, who had previously beaten it before.
 
This was not good. At the rate that things were going, the precious power and control that Sculra had craved from such a young age was slipping out from her grasp despite all of her efforts.

Ducky could make it out of the Trial of Destiny if fate smiled upon her, as it often had on her many adventures.

Not on her life, Sculra decided. She smirked as another devious idea struck her, a clever precaution that would seal Ducky’s fate even if she were to make it to the end. She looked in the direction of Sura’s nest and said her last words before going to a satisfied sleep.

“My revenge is nigh, Sura, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
 
She would take action in the morning…
 






Nearly 11 months in the making to bring you this chapter. I really hope that this will be the last major hiatus of the story and special thanks to OwlsCantRead for proofreading this chapter.

Also I have a special announcement. The next chapter is going to mark the beginning of The Swimmer Trials and I have made the decision to allow you readers to create your own Swimmer OC's that will compete in The Trials. I will allow a month for submissions and send them to me via PM (Whether on the forum or discord is up to you) and I will incorporate your OC's into The Swimmer Trials.

That being said you'll need to have a bio for you OC that includes.

Name:

Gender:

Species: Saurolophus (Duh, that's what Swimmer's are)

Age: Is 12 for all competitors

Eye colour:

Physical Appearance: (Includes scars, body colour(s) and any unique physical difference like size, deformities etc. that your OC has.

Personality:

Family/friends:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Backstory:


Fill in this Bio and send it to me via PM and I will try to incorporate your Swimmer in however, I may only be able to fit in a certain amount but I think the more the better. You will have from the 26th of November to the 27th of December. Good Luck, have fun and thanks for your support!

[OwlsCantRead]

Longest chapter to date, and it certainly shows in plot progression. While the beginning was a necessary remembrance for the Red Claw battle, I really like Littlefoot adopting Ali just like he did Shorty, as there have been many hints to their growing relationship interspersed throughout he past twenty or so chapters.

The part where Ducky's siblings give the trio of bullies their just desserts is very cathartic to read given how much they've gotten their way with Trough and their own herd up till now, so to have resistance first in Ducky and then her less-receptive siblings is a harsh wake-up call, even if I think that they're not finished quite yet given that they're participants in the upcoming trials. Spinner confiding his secret to Ducky on how he'd maintain his sense of equilibrium and avoid vertigo is also a sweet and interpersonal moment between the siblings, though he is one of the less focused-on siblings compared to say Rapid and Echo, he still cares fondly for his sister enough to teach her how to maintain her orientation after rapidly turns.

And finally with the 3 month timeskip, the Trials are within reach. With that also comes Sculra, and I'm very pleased that her motives and true scope for her feud with Ducky and Sura are fleshed out after brief glimpses as to what makes the traditionalist swimmer tick, as the reveal of her descent to darkness in this chapter makes her a much more personal nemesis as her final plan comes to fruition. I'll also try to get an OC up for the Trials, hopefully. The grueling wait is finally coming to a close, and it all looks to be quite worth it!

[Sovereign]

It is indeed pleasant to see your long hiatus finally come to an end and this story once again heading towards its conclusion. This chapter felt like a transition from the battle arc to the Trials and it was mostly well-crafted. I liked the rather brief looks into the different characters the small developments to their characters. The ending was bit of a disappointment but it wasn’t enough to take away the good feeling of this story’s continuation.

At first I thought that the long explanations at the start of this chapter were a bit too extensive but as I read further, I realized that part flowed really well. The exchange between Littlefoot and Ali was rather brief but at least the latter seems to be slowly recovering from the terrible losses she suffered during the fight against Red Claw.

As for Ducky, her training is going on in full swing and she’ll need every bit of it if she wants to survive the grueling challenge before her. The swimmer siblings’ antics were pretty well written overall and I agree that you’ve given them more characterizations than anyone else. It was a bit surprising to see Spinner still being able to teach something to his sister but it’s good to see she has the full support of her family. We’ll see if she’ll get something important done with that new skill.

I hate to say it but Sculra’s character still didn’t become any more interesting. It seems a bit late to give her a long backstory at this point and I wasn’t really engaged by it overall. Sculra has been this fic’s weak point for a long time and I’m rather sure her character can’t be redeemed this late in the tale. I don’t want to be mean but that entire scene left bit of a colorless taste in my mouth.

The special announcement, on the other hand, is an interesting one. It would be nice to have my OC being a part of this story and I’ll certainly give it some thought. I don’t promise anything, though, but this was a fun idea from your part. I’ll look forward to the Trials as they have a chance to be one of the most exciting events we’ve seen in LBT fics.

[The Lone Dragon]

Chapter 67: The Dawn of The Trials



The days went by far too quickly for Ducky, her siblings and even her parents. Over a period of two weeks a whole load of Swimmers started arriving, there were two herds that came by in addition to Rarlap’s herd but the rest were all small groups of three or four adults escorting the children from their herds as the full herds were too numerous to come to The Great Valley for an extended period of time. While the numbers were plentiful, Sura managed to find space to accommodate all the Swimmers that came in. As such, the number of children that now came pouring into The Valley now numbered over four dozen at the same age as Ducky and her siblings.

And yet they had never met any of them as of yet.

Sura had told her children that they were not to meet any of the other competitors till The Day of Mingling, the first official event of The Trials, a day when all the Swimmer’s both young and old will gather together in a large social event focused on building connections for the young Swimmer’s as well as find a partner for the love dance and observe their competition. For the adults it was a time for them to reunite with old friends, trade stories about their herds and kids, get to know other Swimmers both young and old. It was of course, also an opportunity for the judges to get their first impressions of the numerous participants partaking in the Trials.

In other words, it was a big deal.

So Sura kept everyone but Ducky at home, while her siblings trained at their home river, she trained in The Hidden Clearing with Cyrest and Ruphus while Sura and Merri focused on training her clutch mates.  Ducky was now doing very advanced exercises designed for use against Sharpteeth, from Cyrest she learned defensive manoeuvres including rolling turns and sharp full turns while Ruphus focused on the aggressive ones which incorporated a slap from a tail or kick or punch but Ruphus was adamant about Ducky only using her tail as these moves were designed to be used by full grown Swimmers who had the physical strength, not kids and even then he advised against them because the Sharptooth was too large to be affected by any attack Ducky might attempt. Ruphus did also point out that they could be incorporated into defensive manoeuvres.

The difference in contrast to when Ducky had last been in The Hidden Clearing was huge. She’d come a long way from the frightened young Swimmer she had been back then. Her journey had changed her from a novice Swimmer that was the norm for Swimmer’s her age to be able to challenge the best adults with her newfound swimming abilities. In addition, she had also discovered her courage and developed a will stronger than rock.

She had made it through the true Trial, and she was ready for this challenge, whereas she had once struggled doing the most basic moves and the burden of the Trials felt like the weight of the world suffocating her. Yet now that The Trial was so very close and getting closer with each passing second, Ducky was sure she was never more ready for anything then she was now, she found the strength to try her hardest and complete everything her mentor and father asked of her.

Her fortitude was so much stronger, she had a purpose for doing this Trial which had only been built further though the course of her journey and whenever she thought of Swayer or Trough, she knew that what she was doing was right, she was no longer scared, her friends and family had seen her through that time. Now was the time; the time to face the Trials and Ducky was ready.

And before she even knew it, it was already time.

Today was the day of the big social gathering; The Day of Mingling and all of Sura’s children felt terribly nervous excitement.
 
Rapid was the first of the children up, only to see that his mother and father were already up and talking with each other over the gathering of treestars for their children’s breakfast. Alas, Rapid didn’t feel hungry at this moment, he just felt anxious. How was he supposed to react around his competition? How in all the rivers in The Great Valley would he ever be able to find someone to do that stupid ‘love’ dance with?

The only way he could deal with this tension was by hard physical exercise. He quickly ran over to the river and dived into the calm cool waters and swam as fast as he could over to the waterfall but as with the last time, he found it so much more difficult due to his bad leg. The prideful Rapid didn’t care though, he refused to let one bad leg stop him. But unfortunately, he could not fight his body, every kick was harder, his leg tired so much easier and he struggled to keep his course straight. While he used his tail a bit, he could just not get the hang of using it.

He had only made it to the waterfall and was heading back when he changed his hard freestyle to a much slower stroke, one meant to conserve energy and provide more air as he was now staying at the surface on his way back. He heaved in gulps of air almost painfully as he approached the nest, only to collapse in the shallow waters and just staying supported by his arms as he just lay panting at his reflection in the water’s surface.

It was to his great surprise that he felt his upper body being pulled up into a standing position, and was even more surprised that the one supporting him was actually his brother; Ray.

“Yeah… it’s not as easy as it used to be, is it?”

Rapid didn’t bother answering the rhetorical question as Ray helped him back to the bank where they both sat down on a fallen log. It was really interesting that both brothers were so similar yet so different due to deviations in their own separate journeys in growing to become the Swimmers who they were now.

When they were little tails, they had almost indistinguishable personalities. Both were brash, bold, arrogant, egocentric and cheeky pranksters, though Rapid was always more of a prankster then Ray. That all changed, however, when Ray got his leg sliced open. At an early age Ray’s ability to swim was greatly compromised and he suffered for it. He could never keep up with his siblings, endured ridicule by the other children in the herd, rather much like Spinner though Ray suffered more than Spinner. As a result of his turn of fate, his personality did a full turn. The once bold boy who had previously been so confident in himself was replaced with an insecure, quiet personality which Ray kept to this day.

With Ray’s injury putting him out of the competition for strongest boy Swimmer, Rapid by contrast only got more confident and arrogant. But now, his body and ego had suffered the same harsh blow that Ray had experienced all those years ago.
 
And to make matters worse for him, Rapid had his injury at a point in time where it affected him the most, when The Swimmer Trials were approaching. However, Ray understood all too well what his brother was feeling and despite the fact that he did think Rapid could be overbearing and an ass at times, he was still his brother and he was not going to abandon any of his family.

“You know you’re going about this all the wrong way bro” Ray finally said after having observed Rapid’s vain attempt at a high-speed swim. Ray knew his brother’s plight and struggle as he had been the exact same way when he heard when The Trials would be starting, it was cause of his anxiety to do well that caused him to train too much and strain himself.

However, he believed that he knew what Rapid needed, it was the exact same thing he had needed to get him back on track and he owed it all to his aunt Merri. She had seen the trouble that her nephew was going through and thought it was time to give him a nudge in the right direction. It was these teachings that Ray believed would be a great help to Rapid, as they had to him.

“What…are you…talking about, Ray?” Rapid replied between ragged breaths.

“You need to use your arms more. Right now, you’re trying to use your feet too much and overworking them, you should use your arms more and your feet less, trust me it works” Ray said as he entered the water. “Come on, I’ll show you how to use your arms”

As Ray and Rapid started swimming again, their mother finally stood up from her haunches, having finished her conversation with Ruphus. As she turned to the nest, she noticed that she was two kids short but as she looked over to the river and saw her sons she relaxed from her brief moment of tension and proceeded to wake her other children.

Sura walked over to the bank and smiled as she watched her two sons finally helping each other as brothers should. Ray never charged ahead of Rapid, he stayed right with him and helped guide him in learning the swimming style he had adopted ever since his leg was injured all those years ago. Sura thought this new relationship between Rapid and Ray was actually far better than it what it used to be. Before The Killer Storm Ray spent more time with Spike then Rapid, and that was saying something as Spike was often out for most of the day with Ducky and their friends while Rapid was always getting into squabbles with Diver and Echo, pranking his younger siblings and secretly watching Cera while imagining himself playing with her, to the Threehorn’s great annoyance. Rapid didn’t exactly know that his big secret was obvious to everyone in the family and The Gang.

It was great to finally see her two dysfunctional sons finally have something to bond over even if said bond was caused out of injury. The two had found a common problem and now they could both face it together where unlike before Rapid often teased Ray for his weakness. “My boys, I am so proud of you” Sura said to them despite them being too far away to hear her.
 
The large Swimmer turned her head to gaze at her nest again. In the early dawn, her little ones were still slowly stirring. Ducky was rubbing her eyes and Trough was once again going to splash his face in the water. Trough slept over a lot with Ducky despite having his family arrive in The Great Valley and everyone seemed fine with that, even if Laura was a little uncomfortable about the bond that had so clearly grown between her son and Ducky.

Ducky was extra jumpy today; it was obvious to everyone as she quickly grabbed her own breakfast from the pile of green food their mother had left for them beside the nest that she seemed excited about something. As Trough walked over past Ducky’s waking siblings and Spike who had enthusiastically followed Ducky’s example and was now eating from the same pile as his sister. It was no accident that this pile was three times normal size. “Hey Ducky, are you excited about The Trials? I understand they are kind of starting today” he asked his friend, a little confused as to her excitement because as far as he could tell the upcoming Trials were not a time of excitement for Ducky.

“Oh no, I am not excited-ed about The Trials. Oh no, no, no” Ducky said, shaking her head.

“Huh?” said Trough, his interest captured but seeing as Ducky was busy taking another bite of her leaf he decided to inquire further. “Well, what is it then?”

Ducky gulped down her leaves. “Oh, Petrie’s Mom said that she spotted the last Swimmer herd coming and I am going to watch them arrive I am, I am”

Trough glanced at Ducky then at Spike in confusion. The Spiketail caught Trough’s glance and gave an unknowing shrug. “That doesn’t sound ver- “

“Sorry! I need to go I do, I do!” Ducky butted in as she finished the last of her breakfast. “Oh, I do hope Elliot* is in this herd, yes, I do, I really do” Ducky said as she started to head off. However, as she said those words her clutch mates looked up, at least the ones within earshot and if Trough could see their tense expressions then he’d know that something was definitely up.

“But Ducky who’s-Mfft!” Once again Trough found himself cut off but this time by Echo and Diver, the latter of which had grabbed his beak and clamped it shut with her hand.

“Ok, seeya later sis and good luck!” Echo yelled far louder than necessary but this didn’t seem to concern Ducky as she was already running off. It was only once she was gone that Diver finally released Trough’s beak and he found himself surrounded by all of Ducky’s siblings, inclusive of Ray and Rapid, who had both finished their morning swim. All of them had incredibly nervous expressions and Diver and Echo seemed the most anxious as they were the ones that taken the quick actions when Trough had spoken out.

Now Trough wanted to know; What was this all about?

“Dammit, Trough” sighed Diver, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her hand.

“That was too close for comfort” Echo said in agreement.

“You bloody fool Trough! You nearly got us knocked!” Rapid hissed in the loudest-quiet tone he could muster.

Sura’s children all seemed in agreement which left Trough feeling awfully confused. “What are you even talking about, all I did was ask-Mfft!” Trough found his beak clamped shut by Opal this time who did a cut throat gesture with her hand while shaking her head.

“Not here” Echo said and grabbed Trough by the chest and as one Sura’s children guided Trough away from the nest and into a secluded clearing, surrounded by bushes. Ray ran to the outskirts of the clearing and looked around, alert for any sight or sound that might indicate that Ducky was near.

After a few tense seconds in which Opal tightened her hold on Trough’s beak which she hadn’t released yet, to the latter’s irritation. He shook his head and tried to pry away Opal’s hands but Sandy just shushed him when he started making too much noise.

Ray finally came back into the clearing. “It’s all clear”

Ray’s announcement diffused the silent tension and all his siblings gave long sighs and Opal released Trough’s beak which he promptly massaged. Opal had an iron grip it seemed.

“What is going on!” Trough said loudly, his voice a bit higher thanks to Opal squeezing his beak so tightly.

“Shhhhh!”  

Trough closed his beak as every other Swimmer in the clearing shushed him in what was debatably louder than his shout.

“You nearly blew it!” Rapid hissed at him.

“I have no idea what you are talking about” Trough deadpanned. He was getting tired of all this secrecy; he knew that he wouldn’t know everything about Ducky but did everyone had to make finding anything about Ducky’s history so difficult? Was it that hard to be open about things?

“We are talking about Ducky” Echo said.

“Yeah and Ducky just said she was going to find another Swimmer; Ellion or something” Trough said nonchalantly.

“Elliot. His name is Elliot and we are talking about him to you now Trough” Diver said in hushed annoyance, even she seemed weary of this topic. She kept making quick glances behind her shoulder as if her sister was going to pop out of thin air behind her.

“Yeah, so what about it?” Trough asked. “I really don’t understand why you guys had to drag me here, I mean what’s the big deal?” He was oblivious to this rather deep topic but one way or another he was going to get answers.

“Who is Elliot?”

There was a temporary silence among the siblings as they all looked at each other but no one seemed to step up to answer his question. Rapid gestured to Echo to step forward but he reluctantly stayed back. In the end, it was actually Ray who stepped up from the right side of the line facing Trough.

“Elliot was a Swimmer; he was five cold times older than us when we hatched and he was the first kid we met outside the family” Ray said to which Trough nodded. “And in many ways, he was kind of like an older brother to us.”

“Don’t get us wrong he wasn’t our brother; he was more our honorary big brother” Opal stated.

“I’m following” Trough said.

“Well, we did everything together,” Sandy said looking off into space. “He encouraged me to draw”

“He played with us” Diver added.

“And he stood up for us when Spinner, Ray and Ducky got picked on” Opal concluded.

Trough shook his head when he heard Opal’s statement. “Wait, Ducky was picked when she was young too?” he asked and he received a load of nods.

“The other Swimmer’s thought she was strange because of she says. ‘Yep, yep, yep’ a lot and her other troubles with talking and of course she was slow to be fully nest trained so she got picked on as well but Elliot was always there for us. He would always defend any of us and comfort us when we were sad” Opal said.

Trough gave a sigh and shook his head. He could imagine it, after all he had been through it, he had heard of Swimmer’s being bullied for stupid things like skin colour or being a loner but being bullied for the way you talked was just ridiculous.
 
“So, he was really like a brother to you huh?” Everyone affirmed Trough’s statement. “So, what’s the big problem? You sound like you had a great honorary brother, Ducky’s only going to watch for him and if he is as close as you say then I’m surprised you don’t watch for him either.”

There was a tense silence.

Trough looked at each of his friends, all of them wore concerned or even saddened expressions. 

“He won’t be coming” Echo finally said.

Trough still couldn’t put his finger on what Echo was hinting at. “Ducky seems to think so, why don’t you just tell her that he is still out there with his mother?”

Echo, shook his head “His mother, Ellie, lives here”

“Ellie, as in the same Ellie that I saw the day after I got here? But then where is Elliot?” Trough thought. 

“Well then where- “

Rapid’s loud groan and facepalm cut Trough off. “Is your head as thick as Mr Thicknose? Don’t you get it, Trough? Elliot is dead and has been since before we even arrived in The Great Valley.”

Trough was caught completely off guard; he shook his head as his mind was still reeling with this new information. “But Ducky- “ 

“Ducky doesn’t know” said Echo.

“And she won’t know! Do you understand that, Trough!?” Diver said, her voice filled with hidden menace, she was not joking and knowing Diver, it was a bad idea to get on her bad side.

But the question still remained; Why didn’t Ducky know that Elliot was dead? And why on earth had her closest siblings kept this secret from her? Did her parents know about this?

So many questions were running through Trough’s mind at that moment that he was unable to answer Diver’s question. Trough stuttered a bit as he tried to find the words to express his view but all that came out was incoherent babbling. “Understand?” Diver said again making sure to draw out the word and stand up close to him.

Trough stopped talking and took a deep breath only to let all hell break lose once he finally regained his composure. “What the heck!? Why does Ducky not know that Elliot died when all of you clearly do?”

“It’s not like we wanted it to happen!” Rapid shouted back.

“You have to understand Trough, Ducky wasn’t around when Elliot died” Sandy said.

“What do you mean?” Trough asked.

Sandy gave a sad sigh and her whole body drooped. “He died along with half our original herd during The Great Earthshake. His mama told us that he was coming to play with us but then he never arrived. He fell, like the rest of them”

“And we all thought that Ducky had died as well. We were heartbroken” Opal said, tears simmered in her eyes as the memories of the day played through her mind. Trough understandably looked shocked.

“But then Ducky came back with Spike and we couldn’t have been happier despite losing Elliot” Ray said from the periphery of the bushes, still keeping an eye out for Ducky.

“Ok but what happened after that? Ducky still doesn’t know” Trough inquired, though he had a feeling he knew why Ducky had been left in the dark.

“We couldn’t… Elliot loved us all, but Ducky loved him the most and he was always close to her” Spinner said, sadness crossing his features as he sat on his haunches. “How could we tell Ducky that our big brother was dead? None of us could say it…” He took a breath. “So, we said that his father left with him to join a different herd”

Trough gasped as the realisation of what Ducky’s siblings had done came to light “You’ve been lying to her all this time?” His eyes narrowed with disapproval.

“It’s not like we wanted to!” Echo said defensively. “It hurts all of us” he said quietly. “Whenever she brings it up.”

“And what about your mom and dad? Are they in on this too?” Trough glared at them as a united cringe went over all Ducky’s siblings. It was obvious that they had kept this secret even from their mother and father.

“We tricked Mama….” Opal said in a whisper, she looked down ashamed.

Trough raised his eyebrow “Tricked, what does that mean?”

“Mama, was going to tell Ducky when she came home and we saw that she was so happy and we didn’t want her to be sad so….. I pretended to be Ducky” Opal looked away.

“You what!?” Trough said in astonishment.

“It’s not like it was hard, Ducky and I are identical and when I am sad, I’ve been told my eyes look like Ducky’s and I was sad then and I know what Ducky is like so I pretended to be her when Mama tried to tell her” Opal said.

“Trough put his hands on his hips. “I should tell on you all right now.”

Diver walked up to him and raised herself up to her full height looking from above him. “You will not.” She said firmly.

“Are you going to try and stop me?” Trough hissed through his beak as he found himself nose to nose with Diver. He knew he probably couldn’t beat her in a fight but he might be able to outrun her.

Echo walked in between them and pushed them away from each other. “Cut it out!” he glared at them both. “For Ducky’s sake now more than ever, we need to keep this secret.”

Trough burst in to laughter. “For…Ducky’s…. sake… what a load of crap!”

“You should know Ducky well enough by now to know that she is an emotional swimmer. How do you think she will react when she hears that Elliot died and that we’ve all been lying to her?” Echo asked.

“Well, she’d be devastated and I can’t blame her, you’re not acting like good siblings.”

“And if she’s devastated and she does that Trial she will die!” Rapid shouted. Trough recoiled and finally he understood why Ducky’s siblings were so edgy.

“We lost our big brother once before, we will ‘not’ lose our sister, do you understand Trough?” Diver asked, there was sadness in her eyes but her voice conveyed her determination to keep her sister alive at all costs.

Reluctantly Trough nodded, he was not happy about the situation but he could not deny the logic that Sura’s children had presented him with. “Fine. But you need to promise me today that you will tell Ducky after the Trials and tell your mom and dad now” Trough replied firmly, his position was set as he stared down the older but not necessarily wiser bunch of Swimmer’s.

Echo sighed and nodded after a heavy silence. “Fine, have it your way, Trough,” he conceded.

Diver shook her head in protest and went up to Echo, only for him to clamp her beak shut with his hands before she could get a single word out, a move which made her squeak in surprise. “We can’t keep this secret forever, sis,” he said reluctantly. “Ducky has a right to know and now that Trough is in the loop, he will tell on our parents anyway… it’s best they hear from us rather than him.”

Diver’s eyes widened before she closed them in silent resignation and nodding to her brother in acceptance, prompting Echo to let go of her beak. Once released she rubbed her beak, her lower lip trembling slightly. “Keep an eye on Ducky for us… we’ll be a while” Diver said to Trough before she and the rest of her siblings slowly and with resignation in their steps turned and headed out of the bush and back in the direction of the nest. Opal and Sandy were actually sobbing quietly while Spinner acted as a stand for his two sisters as they leaned on him in emotional turmoil.

Trough watch them go, his expression falling and his tail drooping with the sudden weight of this new secret. He felt sorry for them all, but he could not excuse them for something that he saw as inexcusable. Their mother had the right idea but her children let their own concerns get in the way in an area which shouldn’t have concerned them. It was not their jobs to be a mother to anyone including Ducky at least not at this young age.

Trough sighed “I suppose I know what the folly of youth means now” he thought to himself. Perhaps it would be best if he left them and Ducky alone for the day and spent it with his new friends. He nodded at that idea and turned and went the opposite way to Sura’s children.

As Sura’s children arrived back home at their nest it was very clear to their mother that something was off. Her concern only grew when she saw both Opal and Sandy in tears.

“Opal, Sandy are you ok?” she asked with a concerned expression as she lowered her head down to her children’s level.
 
“Mama… there is something I- “ Opal coughed and corrected her statement, “Something that we all should tell you….”
They were going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Sura sat herself down in front of her children and lifted Opal and Sandy up into her arms. “What is it dears?” she asked, her voice betrayed no concern or malice just love, the love of a mother who wanted to help her children. Her loving gaze seemed to break Sandy’s will and she just grabbed her mother’s chest and started sobbing quietly.

“I’m sorry, we all are…so, so, so, so sorry mommy” Sandy said looking up at her mother who bent her head down and nuzzled her.

“It’s ok Sandy, let it out” Sandy allowed herself to be nuzzled as she turned and hugged her mother’s beak, sniffling.
 
“Mom, we are sorry” Echo echoed his sister while looking down at his feet.

Sura looked at her children. This was very unusual to her, they all seemed to think that they had done something wrong and by the looks of things they thought they would be in big trouble for it. Coming from Rapid alone or just one of her children she might be able to understand, but for the whole lot of them to react in such a way raised her alarm bells. “Tell me what’s wrong, little ones. I promise I won’t be mad or anything, I just want you all to be happy” she coaxed.

Opal looked up at her mother, gripping on of her mother’s larger fingers. “Mom, we did an awful thing…” she started.

“What thing?”

Sandy broke off from her mother and held onto Opal’s arms in a gesture of support.

“It’s Ducky…. she’s going to see if Elliot is coming,” Opal said to her mother’s surprise, causing the larger swimmer to recoil and eye her children in visible confusion.

“But Ducky- “

“Never knew….” Opal said and turned around and hid her face as she sobbed into her mother’s body.

Sura stroked Opal gently with her hand.  “Now, now Opal,” she tried to console, “I told- “

“Me!”

“Pardon?” Sura said in surprise, her eyes widened at Opal’s sudden outburst as her daughter finished her statement.

“Mama…It was me…you told me, not Ducky…I…I pretended to be Ducky…” Opal placed her hand on her chest then hid her face again so as to not see what she believed to be the angry face of her mother but Sura was not looking angry, just confused and concerned for her children’s wellbeing.

“Opal… look at me dear” Sura said gently. Opal turned to face her mother but she kept her head down so Sura lifted her head up with one of her fingers. “Why did you do that?” She asked, her voice comforting and counselling instead of angry and firm as Opal had expected. 

While Sura herself was shocked as to what she had just heard, she knew that her children needed her to be there for them. It seemed that they were all carrying a lot of guilt over a secret that Sura felt ashamed to have not ever noticed. However, Sura couldn’t necessarily have been blamed for not noticing this secret for a number of reasons. Mostly because the topic of Elliot was never really brought up much and if it was and Ducky was nearby the conversation was silenced very quickly and none of her children were willing to share this secret with anyone. Opal had also done a masterful job at imitating Ducky and considering that most dinosaurs couldn’t tell the difference between Opal and Ducky on a good day, when Opal was actually trying to impersonate her twin, even her mother bought into the deception.

“We…we wanted Ducky to be happy….”

Sura blinked as the realisation hit her. “So, you never told her about Elliot and when I tried to tell her you made sure she would never know… Oh, what did I do to deserve such scheming children like you?” Sura’s overly dramatic lament coaxed a few chuckles from her young ones.

“We are so, so sorry mom” Diver said.

Her mother nodded. “I understand dears but the truth is always better than a lie and it always comes out sooner or later, remember when I tried to hide the details of The Trial from you and you found out?”

Her children nodded. Sura kept a comforting hand on Opal’s back. “Your intentions were noble and your hearts were in the right place, but it was wrong of you to keep this hidden from me and especially your sister. Ducky deserves to know and she deserves an apology from all of you.” Sura said to her children, many of whom were looking down ashamed.

Echo slowly looked up. “But we can’t or she might die…. The Trial… if she is hurting inside….”

Sura sighed. Her children raised a valid point and for Ducky’s sake she would keep this secret until the end of The Trials but once they were over, she and her children would have the sad responsibility of giving Ducky the bad news. “I understand but make no mistake, Ducky will know but only after the Trials have been completed. I am very disappointed in your actions….” Everyone looked down again. Sura neglected saying if Ducky would be around after the Trials “But I am pleased that you were able to tell me.” Sura said which did seem to do the trick of lightening the emotional load for her children.

“Thank Trough for that. He found out and told us to tell you” Spinner said.

“I certainly will but in the mean time you will have to keep this secret but I am confident that you can do that. Now come here all you little troublemakers.” Sura placed Opal and Sandy on the ground then embraced all her first clutch children in a loving hug.

When Sura released her little ones, she was satisfied to see that her children were smiling. “Does this mean we are not in trouble?” Rapid said hopefully to which Sura chuckled, which certainly didn’t help her children’s nerves.
 
“Oh, you are all in trouble alright and I will have plenty of time to think of your punishment for after the Trials” Her children groaned loudly. “Now you all stay here. I need to fetch Ducky; the Day of Mingling is today and we all need to be there”
 
Sura got to her feet and walked off in the direction of the pass, leaving her children with a lot to think about.  Sura sighed when she was out of range, the lament about the folly of youth passing through her head. At least her children could take away a valuable lesson from this but she was not looking forward to telling Ducky the horrible truth…

Assuming she was she going to survive The Trial, that was.

Once their mother was out of sight. Ray spoke out.

“Well, that went better than I thought it would.”


*


Making himself comfortable on Spike’s back, Trough arrived near the base of The Thundering Falls where The Gang had gathered, only it included Ali, Shorty and Ruby’s younger brother; Amethyst as well. Ruby was grateful to finally have one of her siblings by her side now that they were together again and she couldn’t think of anyone better to spend the day with other then her friends. Littlefoot was sitting on the bank with Ali while Cera and Shorty were hitting rocks into the water with their tails, each trying to hit their stone farther than the other. Ruby, Chomper and Amethyst were all in the shallow water, Ruby drinking and the other two playing with Petrie hovering above them.

The rumbling of the great blue sheet of falling water that supplied most of The Great Valley with this life-giving resource was ever present and droned out any quiet conversations near its base. 

“Hi guys!” Trough called out along with Spike, who greeted them with a loud warm hum. The Gang greeted him in turn as Spike walked into the water and lowered his head. Trough, taking a page out of Ducky’s book, slid down Spike’s neck from his back and dived into the water. He allowed himself to float up to the surface then attempted to kick water up at Petrie, who quickly avoided the splash by increasing his altitude.

“You no get me this time, Trough!” he taunted with a laugh.

“I’ll get you soon Petrie! You can’t fly forever!” Trough called out as Petrie, laughing loudly, flew circles around him, making sure to keep wide in case Trough decided to try and splash him again but before the young Swimmer could get into the chase, he caught a little of Littlefoot and Cera’s conversation.

“So, are we going to just do a giving ceremony for Ducky, or should we do something else for her Star Day?” Cera asked Littlefoot.

“I think a Giving Ceremony is good enough, Cera” replied Littlefoot.

“Wait, what’s all this about Ducky’s Star Day, and what’s a Giving Ceremony?” Trough asked as he swam to the bank and shook himself dry as he got out of the water and walked over to where Littlefoot was sitting with Ali and Shorty, with Cera standing next to Littlefoot’s prone form.

“Oh, it’s going to be mine, Cera, Ducky, Ruby and Petrie’s Star Day soon!” Littlefoot answered. “Well, not exactly on the same day but close enough now that we thought we could celebrate them all at once rather than separately” he added.

“It’s hard to believe now, but at first they didn’t even know what a Star Day was until I told them.” Ruby said with a chuckle. “And I didn’t know just how close our star days really were, only a few days separated us from each other.”

“So, we hold a big ceremony where we give each other our favourite foods and play all our favourite games” Cera concluded the statement.

Trough nodded at their explanation, though something still puzzled him. “But then why would you do Ducky’s Star Day Celebration separate? Ohh…” He took a moment to comprehend what Littlefoot had been talking about but he quickly gathered that Littlefoot was talking about The Trial. “If you want my opinion, I think we should have them all together we just got to do something special for Ducky” 

“Like what?” asked Cera.

Trough closed his mouth and quickly racked his mind on what Ducky liked and what would be special to her and it was not exactly an easy task. “Um… Oh crap”

“You know… I don’t think she likes crap” Shorty said, taking Trough’s remark literally and causing the kids to burst into laughter.

“Good one Shorty!” Cera laughed.

Trough struggled to stifle his mirth. “But seriously, what would she like?” He looked out over the river.

“Swimming, obviously” Trough face palmed at Cera’s snide remark, prompting the threehorn to actually answer seriously. “Something special, that shows how much we care for her, something that she’ll love….”

At that, Trough’s mind went back to the beautiful sapphire that Ducky now wore around her neck that once belonged to Bluey and clicked his finger. “I got it! We can find her a sky colour stone!” he exclaimed, punching his fist upward in triumph.

Cera, Ruby and Spike both recoiled and exchanged quick glances with each other, the memory of the last disastrous search they had taken for those damned things coming back to them.

“Yeah, no.”

“What?” Trough said, stumped by Cera’s refusal of what he was sure was the perfect gift to his friend.

“You heard me, no way in all the Great Valley are we getting Ducky any sky colour stones” Cera firmly said while shaking her head.

“Oh, come on! Why not?! It’s the perfect gift for her!” Trough refused to take no for an answer for this but to his consternation Spike gave a negative grunt and firmly shook his head as well. The Spiketail remembered the change his sister had gone through due to those blasted rocks and it left him stuck in an uncomfortably hole for a few hours.

“Not you too!” Trough grumbled.

“It’s a really bad idea to get Ducky a bad gift, Trough” Ruby said.

“What are you talking about? It’s perfect!”

Ruby sighed and walked out of the water and looked down at Trough. “Listen, the last time we went searching for sky colour stones it nearly ended in disaster and Ducky became well…not Ducky anymore” Ruby struggled to find a comparison for what Ducky had once become. It was opposite to the sweet and caring Swimmer they knew in other words; A selfish, secretive and greedy Swimmer that no one had ever seen before or ever desired to see again.

“Huh? Not Ducky anymore?” Trough scratched his head in confusion. “That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“It didn’t make sense to us when they told us the story” Littlefoot said.

“Ducky becoming uncaring…” Chomper trailed off as if the thought was unthinkable.

“Me still no believe it!” Petrie added from above. “Ducky never be mean to anyone”

“What happened then?” Trough asked, his curiosity once again spiking.

 Cera cleared her throat. “Hold onto your tail Trough, because this will rock you to your very core” Trough raised an eyebrow. “You see we all got a little competitive when we last searched for sky colour stones and we, well Ruby and I kinda battered heads”

“That’s a bit silly don’t you think?” Trough looked at Ruby. “Butting heads with a Threehorn over rocks”

“Figuratively Trough,” Corrected Ruby. “I would not ever butt heads with someone as stubborn as Cera, if she can make rocks break then what would that do to my head?” she left the question there and Trough just nodded.

“I can see you two being competitive but I can’t see Ducky being mean” He said.

“I didn’t believe it till we saw it, otherwise we never would have believed it if we had never seen it” Ruby said.

Cera nodded. “When me, Ruby, Spike and Ducky got to the cave, well… we kinda left Spike stuck in a tunnel that was too small for him and Ducky actually left him there”

“But Ducky would never do that!” Trough protested.

“The Ducky we knew would never do that,” Ruby corrected, “but this Ducky did.” Spike nodded and gave an affirmative grunt, the evidence stacked for this story was indisputable thanks to these witnesses and the way in which they conveyed their story. Trough had gotten used to Cera’s snide side and her blunt sense of humour and he could tell that this was a story had deeply troubled not only Cera but Ruby as well. Neither of them treated it like a fantasy or a joke but with a certain troubling feeling and it indeed made Trough uneasy more than any joke could have made him feel.

It was one thing to laugh about the things that Ducky would never do but to talk about them in a way that Cera, Ruby and even Spike were implying left little doubt about the authentically of their narrative. “So, what happened then?” asked Trough.

“She changed” said Cera.

“You see Cera and I had no luck finding any stones because Ducky had found all the stones that there was to find and she hid them all from us and lied about knowing about them. When we finally found the stones, she had hoarded them all to herself” Ruby said. 

“She was more protective of her nest then Mrs Maia ever was in life” Cera said, comparing Ducky’s hoarding behaviour to a nesting mother.

“That bad?” Trough asked.

Cera nodded. “But it got worse when we faced her, she started shouting at us before she tripped and fell off a mountain sized cliff.”

“What!” Trough yelled.

“Oh, she managed to grab onto a hold but she still kept holding onto the only stone that didn’t fall. It was crazy! She actually wanted to save the stone instead of herself for a few seconds!”

“Sheesh… that’s just frightening…” Trough said. He had no other words to say.

“At least she saw sense then” Cera said.

Ruby nodded. “When she dropped the stone, we pulled her up, otherwise she would have dropped too.”

Trough shook his head a bit, it was quite a bit to wrap his head around. Ducky being selfish and cruel like Barge and his cronies was something he could never imagine, not to mention her actually almost losing her life over a few rocks. He could now understand why Ruby, Cera and Spike were not so eager to go searching for sky colour stones again after such a traumatic experience.

But the problem still remained. What special thing could they do for Ducky on her star day that would actually be special to her? Trough gazed into the water for a very long time in thoughtful silence while the normal antics of the Gang happened around him. What would Ducky need?

Trough just didn’t know, and besides would any gift they find even be useful if The Trial was so close?

Trough’s eyes lit up and he clicked his finger again, his beak dropping open into a beaming smile. “I have it! The perfect gift for Ducky’s Star Day!” His friends stopped what they were doing at his declaration and looked at him, eagerly waiting to see what Trough had come up with this time…


*


It was at the Big Water Hole that the large gathering of Swimmer’s took place. The length of this vast lake was several kilometres from end to end before it went back into the narrower rivers that characterised the Fast Water. On the right side of the bank was a vast clearing on slightly elevated ground that was surrounded by tall trees providing shade for anyone beneath them while the left side of the back was dominated by low growing shrubs and a few trees. It was on the right side of this large lake that the Swimmers started to gather for The Day of Mingling.

As the adults arrived, they led the children out into the middle of the clearing and walked just short of the tree line. This way the children could interact with each other easier and without the grown-ups breathing down their backs. In comparison the grown-ups could interact with each other without getting in the way of the children, of course the conversations would often shift to the children and observations and comparisons were made, old friends reunited and the judges were greeted as they observed the children and occasionally talked with the other adults.

All of the judges were elderly and had experienced their lot in life and were hence believed to be the best judges for the younglings. There were about six judges, three of them were males and the other three were females which insured a balance between the two genders.

As Sura and Ruphus arrived with all their first clutch children, they all gazed nervously at the vast gathering of Swimmer’s both young and old. Their competition was an incredibly diverse bunch from all over The Mysterious Beyond, many males and females, some with unique coloured bodies other who were adorned in scars from harsh days. Some talked loudly and passionately about their lives with other Swimmers but there were also those who hung shyly by the edge of the large body of children.

“There are so many Swimmer’s here, yes, yes, yes” said Ducky as she looked over the crowd.
 
“I don’t really like crowds” Spinner said nervously, his eyes darting around.

“Not to worry, you won’t be going in alone, but in pairs” Ruphus said which seemed to reassure his children slightly.

“Ducky, you will go with Ray” said Sura. “Echo with Opal, Sandy with Rapid, and Spinner with Diver” Her children quickly gathered together in their own assigned pairs, they were unsure why they were paired up like this but they didn’t object as after all facing a crowd with company was better than doing it alone. Little did they realize that the assignments had actually been chosen rather deliberately, one boy and one girl in each group, specifically ones who had a more outgoing personality would be paired with a more reclusive sibling so that they could look after their shyer counterparts. Sura and Ruphus believed that this combination of companionship between their children would see them through the first day. 

Since Sura’s family was the last to arrive, one of the judges, a tall grey Swimmer who was distinguishable not just by his old age but also by the three wavy lines that had been drawn onto their arms using black charcoal, noted that all the children were now in attendance. As Sura’s children entered the clearing, he stepped forward and cleared his throat loudly while clapping his hands twice to get everyone’s attention.

All talking and activity ceased almost instantly and all heads turned to the head judge who bore an old but warm smile as he gazed down at the children.

“Good Day and… Welcome. Old judges, friends, fathers, mothers and especially you children. Welcome all of you to The Great Valley on this wonderful day in which you shall pass a great milestone of your young lives.” The head judge said warmly, beaming at the young ones all around him.

“You all have my congratulations, not many Swimmer’s make it to your age. You have all done well to survive and have come from far and wide to be here today so that we may all now see just how much you have learned over the years. I fully trust we will see you all push yourselves to the limits so that we will see the true Swimmer within you,” the old Swimmer recited with passion. Though it may have been a well-rehearsed speech but it was spoken with such enthusiasm that it inspired all the children, who were now looking up at him in unison with wide, shining eyes. “In the coming Trials I wish you all the best of luck and desire to see yourself do your very best. We are all excited to see just what we can expect from this new generation of Swimmers. Best of luck to all of our esteemed participants, I know that you will make us, your families and yourselves proud.”

The Swimmer swept his eyes across the attentive crowd, raising a hand up to the sky for effect. “The long-awaited moment has finally come, and so it now begins here on this Day of Mingling, the first of your many Trials ahead. Without further ado, young ones, The Swimmer Trials have officially begun!” he declared, giving a final clap of his hands and stepping back to conclude his opening speech.

It took a few moments of silence after the speech for it to finally sink in that The Swimmer Trials had now begun and for socialising to start once again between the two separate groups of adults and children.

As Ducky and Ray both moved forward into the gathered crowd, they saw numerous Swimmer’s from so many different aspects of life. Some were large and hulking, towering a whole head above the others. They were big and they knew it by the way they talked down to other swimmers. In stark contrast, there were smaller Swimmer’s on the other end of the spectrum and that spectrum also existed when it came to weight.

Ray gasped when he saw a rather beefy looking Swimmer with a rounded belly talking down to a rather thin Swimmer, whose body was shrunk so much that her ribs were clearly visible. It was a huge contrast to the lives that these Swimmer’s had, one had obviously been pampered all their lives while the other was a malnourished piece of skin and bone who obviously had a very difficult life where food certainly didn’t come easy.

Ray was about to go over and tell the bigger of the two Swimmer’s to lay off of the smaller one when Ducky’s rather shocked gasp caught his attention, she was looking the other way and her shocked face made it look like she had seen a ghost.

“What is it?” Ray asked, turning to look at what had caught Ducky’s attention, only for his beak to drop at the sight. “It can’t be… how is she still even alive…?” he questioned to no one in particular.

They were both staring at a pale white Swimmer that had certainly seen the harsher part of life. Her body was covered in scars, some from physical injuries and others were marks that refused to fade which had been left by some nasty illnesses.

And yet against all the odds, she had somehow made it. How? Ducky and Ray could only guess because they knew about this Swimmer but she had been presumed dead in The Great Earthshake. But here she was, alive.

As they stared, a light grey Swimmer who looked similar in skin colour to the white Swimmer passed her by. This new Swimmer was on the smaller spectrum in regards to height and appeared to have a bit of a limp to her step as she was hobbling before coming to a stop. Of particular note was her tail, which was oversized for a small Swimmer and clearly being utilized to keep herself upright.  “Hello,” she said in a strong voice to the white Swimmer, gazing at her with bright aquamarine eyes. “Who are you? I am-“

“I am Sucky, cause I suck, suck, suck”

Ducky and Ray gasped as one. That left no doubt in the minds, it was indeed the poor sickly Swimmer from their old herd that everyone called Sucky, and while they never really had much contact with her in the past they knew her and seeing her right before their eyes was like opening a window to the past.

The grey Swimmer seemed to be taken back by Sucky’s catchphrase, backing off awkwardly. As she did, she accidentally tripped on her tail and fell on her back, stuttering. “W-w-what do y-you m-m-m-mean?” she said, grabbing her long tail and stroking it in a nervous habit. Her strong attitude had instantly vanished in front of Sucky, who gave the fallen Swimmer a confused glance as she tilted her head slightly.

Ducky walked over followed by Ray.

“I do not think you will be able to talk to her properly. Sucky is not very good at speaking, no she is not” Ducky gave Sucky an awkward look. The white Swimmer had been attracted by her and while they had never formally met each other they had seen each other from afar a few times, but what were they supposed to make of these interactions when they were from far off?

“You know her?” the bemused Swimmer asked as she struggled to regain her footing and get back on her feet.

“Not really” Ray said, his eyes shifting between both swimmers. “She used to be in our old herd but we never really met her, we just know her by reputation”

As Ray spoke, Sucky noticed the scar on his leg. “Bad Legged Swimmer” she said, associating the old name that she had given for Ray.

Ray was stunned by the recognition Sucky displayed before finding himself getting defensive. “H-hey! It’s not as bad as it used to be, and my name is Ray”

Sucky just stared at him, unable to comprehend most of the words he was using. She had lived a harsh life without parents and growing with the very bare necessities that was needed to survive. She was often bullied, teased, and spend her days as an outcast. The herd never abandoned her but no one really took her in. She was abnormal and thought in strange ways that only a great degree of mental illness could bring on and because of her severe clumsiness she was christened as Sucky by the herds children, a name that stuck even to this day.

Taking a few strides over, Sucky bent down and licked the scar on Ray’s leg as if still thinking that it needed tending to.
Ray stood there tensely, not quite sure what to do.

If one of his brasher siblings were here in his place they probably would have shaken Sucky off, but Ray didn’t have the heart to interrupt her as she did her thing. Nevertheless, the whole scene was very awkward, even more so that it was taking place, in front of his sister and a stranger. “Err, thanks?” he eventually managed to get out.

It wasn’t much, but it was probably the kindest thing she had been told in a very long while because she perked up, smiling widely at Ray as she turned and jumped in the air with a joyful cry, only to end up falling on her belly to the surprise and mirth of the other Swimmers around her. “I am Sucky, cause I suck, suck, suck” she said but this time she said it joyfully and happily as she shuffled off into the crowd.

Having borne witness to such an unorthodox scene, the grey Swimmer could only shake her head. “Wow, that was weird” she murmured.

“She’s always like that” Ray explained as he approached the other Swimmer. “Hi, I am Ray and this is my sister, Ducky”

“Hi there” Ducky greeted warmly, waving her hand.

“I’m Pellie.” She extended her hand and shook both Ray’s and Ducky’s hands in turn. “So, when did you guys get here?” she asked, “I’ve been here for a few days and I think it is beautiful.”

“Oh, we live here, we do, we do” Ducky said.

Pellie blinked. “So, you’re one of The Great Valley Swimmers?” she asked, with Ducky and Ray both nodding and causing her to purse her beak at that new knowledge.

“Ah. I’ve heard some rumours about you, they say that you guys are soft.”

Ducky gave a disgusted exclamation in response while Ray just stood with his scarred leg forward. “We were all born and raised for nearly half of our lives in The Mysterious Beyond” he rebutted.

“Oh no, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, that is just what I heard” Pellie quickly apologised, cringing when she saw Ray’s scarred leg. She looked at Ducky and a concerned expression dropped over her face when she saw how many scars she had over her body. “I suppose it was a bit presumptuous of me to assume that, I don’t think either of you are soft” she said.
 
“You got that right” Ray said, gesturing down to his leg. “I got this thing sliced open on a rock, never could move the same way after that.”

Pellie’s eyes lit up at his words. “Great!” she exclaimed, reacting with a surprisingly excited tone to such a morbid statement.

Ray blinked in surprise at her reaction, with Ducky sharing a confused look alongside her brother before the other Swimmer realized that her intentions could easily be misconstrued. “Oh! S-sorry, I-I didn’t mean it l-like that…Sorry. It’s just that I can’t really move properly either, so I use my tail,” she elaborated.

As a demonstration, Pellie wagged her large tail around in a complex circle. It certainly was overdeveloped.

“Clever” Ray said.

“Yes, yes, yes” Ducky agreed, nodding.

Pellie smiled warmly and seemed genuinely moved by the siblings’ praise. “Thank you… Um you don’t mind if I tag along with you, do you?” she asked, before verbally backspacing in a panic, “I mean, it is totally ok if you don’t want to, I can-”

“Sure!” Ray agreed, cutting the rambling Swimmer off.

“You can join us, you can, you can,” Ducky said. “Yep, yep, yep!”

Ray offered Pellie a hand, she briefly blushed and took it as they walked ahead. Ducky giggled quietly, knowing full well that a bond was starting to form between Ray and Pellie. However, the day was not anywhere close to being over yet and there was still more Swimmer’s to meet. Ducky quickly jogged back to her brother’s side as they headed over to the two feuding Swimmers from earlier…. 


*


While the children got to know each other, the adults were conversing and comparing their children. While many told their stories and greeted each other as old friends, Ruphus and Sura were just content to stand and watch their children. They saw Ducky and Ray associating with Sucky and Pellie. It was Sura that managed to recognise the long-lost Swimmer and she reacted in the same way her children had. It was nothing short of a miracle or maybe even a dozen miracles that Sucky had survived the Earthshake and then managed to make her own way to The Trials.

From their height Sura and Ruphus could both see each of their children in the thick. Diver and Spinner were talking to what looked like a pair of twins and they seemed to be getting along pretty well. Rapid was standing with Sandy beside some of the bigger Swimmers and was currently telling a largely false story about how he got his scar while Sandy stood slightly behind him intimidated by the tall Swimmers. Echo and Opal were socialising with a bunch of Swimmers in one single group.

“Looks like quite the competition” Ruphus said thoughtfully.

Sura nodded. “I’m just glad that everyone seems to be getting along.” She turned her head to the judges, all of whom were astutely observing the children while make the occasional comment on one of them. “Perhaps we should greet the judges, I never got to formally welcome them”

“Be thankful it was only you that was welcoming them” Ruphus said as he began walking towards the judges, whilst twisting around trees and other conversing Swimmers. “I haven’t seen a sign of Sculra and I’m hoping we won’t” he said.

“I agree with you dear; I don’t know if I could stop myself from making a scene if we had to stand next to her. Ruphus stopped suddenly and Sura gave a loud “Oof!” as she collided with his back.

“Oh, Sharptooth Crap! Of all the Swimmer’s that had to show up it had to be that Son of a Tarpit!” he hissed in a low tone; his expression clearly angered. Sura regained her footing and moved around him.

“What?” She looked at the judges and then it hit her. “Oh…” She said when she realised who was among them. She looked at Ruphus who was glaring daggers at one of the male judges, he was an aqua green Swimmer but his colour had accumulated the grey and wrinkles of old age. “You should talk to him”

“Forget it!” Ruphus said, he started to turn but Sura blocked his path.

“Ruphus dear, please calm down, I know you’re angry but blowing up is not going to help anyone.” Sura held his arms, her pleading eyes meeting his.

Though Ruphus was still unhappy he kept a hold of his temper with a few deep breaths. “I said I never wanted to see him again, and I want to keep that vow. He is a scheming bastard, you know what he did, I will never forgive him” Ruphus said, his tone cold as ice as anger permeated his body.

Sura looked up sympathetically at her mate. “Ruphus, don’t you understand what fate has given you? This is your chance to do something that fate denied me, please don’t let this chance go. He’s a judge and he will find out we are here and he will come, get this over with now dear and try, please try to make peace with him. For your sake.” Sura squeezed Ruphus’ hands tightly, causing his gaze to soften as he looked down wearily.

“Fate has been to cruel to us recently… keep an eye on the children dear, I’ll be back soon” Sura smiled and gave her mate a comforting nuzzle which he returned before they parted. Though Sura kept an occasional eye on Ruphus who was now walking up to the Swimmer who was in conversation with another of his fellow judges, his back turned away from him.

Ruphus stood behind him and glared hard at his back. “In all my years I never thought I would ever be unfortunate enough to see you again” he firmly stated to get his attention.

The conversation stopped abruptly. The Judge that was facing Ruphus gave an undignified frown at Ruphus after he butted in but the Swimmer who’s back was turned, froze stiff as if he had been encased in ice. Ruphus almost wished the Swimmer would get out of his shell shock faster as he cracked his knuckles impatiently.

The Swimmer slowly turned to face Ruphus with wide eyes. “Ruphus… My boy, it is you! After all these years” He stepped forward but Ruphus stepped back without hesitation, his icy glare catching the Swimmer’s eye which shone with pain and rejection when Ruphus backed away. The other judge could clearly see that something was going on and that it was none of his business and thus quickly made himself scarce.

“Auphous,” Ruphus said in recognition of the Swimmer in front of him, who could only sigh when he heard that name spoken so formally and coldly.

“Come now Ruphus, what ever happened to calling me ‘Dad’ or ‘Father’? Isn’t it how children address their parents?” he asked as if he were talking to a child.

Ruphus took a step forward and raised himself to his full height in an attempt at intimidation which his ‘father’ certainly wasn’t buying. “You lost the right to be called that a long time ago. I have never forgotten your deeds that left our family in tatters! Look what happened to my brother, my sister… and mother.” He took a deep, trembling breath as he thought of his familial loved ones.

Loved ones that his father certainly was not a part of.

“Please Ruphus, I don’t need a reminder of my mistakes. All I want is to be able to embrace my son again.” Auphous said longingly, opening his arms out and inviting a hug.

“You’re not my father!” hissed Ruphus furiously, pointing his hand at him. A few Swimmer’s stared apprehensively at the scene before them. “And if you weren’t a bloody judge, I would kick you out of my home without batting an eye” Ruphus said firmly, his voice filled with the same hate and fury that he only reserved for those that in his mind had done him a great wrong. Swimmer’s like Sculra often saw this side of Ruphus, and unfortunately so did his father.

Auphous gave a long, sad sigh and looked down. He was emotionally wounded and by his own son too but looking back at the past they had he could not blame him one bit. “I’m sorry Ruphus I-“

Ruphus spat on the ground in front of Auphous and pushed him hard and before he knew it, he had lost whatever little fragile composure he had barely been holding onto and was outright yelling at his father’s face. Silence descended over the gathering as all turned to watch the emotional reunion of these two Swimmers.

“Sorry?! You worthless pile of crap! You are a two-faced bastard! You think saying sorry will ever help?! Do you think it will bring back Arron or Lively?! Do you think you can make up for their deaths?! For mother’s death?! And for what!?” Ruphus advanced forward and giving a few more pushes at his father as he went, his aggression, rather than intimidating or angering only saddened his father even more.

“For some old crapped on tradition! To divide me from my love and to mate me off to. The! Worst! Bloody! Swimmer! That ever existed! For ‘your’ blasted benefit! You will never be a parent to me again and I will ‘Never’ forgive you!” Ruphus shouted, he got lower and louder, his hands bearing into fists the situation was escalating rapidly and Ruphus anger was quickly turning volatile as he entered a fighting stance to everyone’s alarm.

Sura moved in between the two Swimmer’s and placed her hands on Ruphus shoulders. “Ruphus! Calm yourself, now is not the time for this” While Ruphus didn’t drop his glare, he reluctantly backed off and resumed a normal standing at her request.

“Auphous,” Sura stated neutrally but there was certainly some distant anger that lingered in her eyes.

“So, you mated with Sura after all?” Auphous asked his son once he gazed at her, but otherwise he didn’t even acknowledge her.

“For so many happy years” Ruphus replied. Auphous was not looking at them but rather at the children that were watching them. As things had escalated it didn’t escape his notice that a small group had pushed to the front and moved to the outskirts of the group, each of them wearing fearful looks of their face.

That was when it struck him. He had suspected it when he saw Ruphus here at the Trials grounds, but it was the visibly worried expressions borne by the group of children which proved it.

“I’m a grandfather” he said bluntly, to which Ruphus only growled.

“You will stay away from our children! Unless it is strictly Trial business” Ruphus said firmly.

This time however, Auphous stood firm. “I have the right to meet my grandchildren Ruphus. You can’t deny me that and they too have a right to know their grandfather.”

Ruphus pushed back. “Not if I have any say in it.”

Sura stomped her foot on the ground between the two. “Enough of this nonsense! Both of you are acting like children and they have more restraint then what both of you are showing!” The two Swimmer’s reluctantly stepped back and Sura looked at Auphous. “I will allow you to have time with our young ones after The Trials but until then I still can’t trust you. Prove to us that you are not the same Swimmer we once knew and we might let you back”

Ruphus gave Sura a questioning look, he obviously didn’t want to give his father a second chance but Sura was willing to bet that something in the old Swimmer had changed over the years they had been separated and her calm look momentarily dispelled her mate’s anger.

He looked down, sighed and nodded. He realised he had made a real scene and he would undoubtably have a lot to explain to his children, they deserved an explanation. Composing himself, Ruphus looked at his father with a stony expression that betrayed no emotion and hid the fiery emotions that had only just come to the surface a few moments before. “Do we have an agreement on Sura’s proposal, Auphous?”

The elderly Swimmer nodded though he seemed far older in that moment than he had been a second ago which was very impressive considering that he was at the age that most Swimmer’s never reached. Ruphus turned tail and retreated back into the trees without a word. Sura and Auphous both watched him with saddened expressions that briefly met each other’s but they both avoided eye contact with each over. Sura found attention in her rather shocked children standing before her.

She gestured with her beak for them to head back to what they were doing and went back to Ruphus’ side and Auphous stood back in the shadows and stared into the distance as if reliving a whole different time.

With the rumpus having passed nearly all the Swimmers slowly resumed their talking but the events that had just transpired were now the main topics of conversation. However, the realisation that their grandfather was here, that he was a judge and that their father hated him had still left Ruphus and Sura’s children completely shell shocked even as things appeared to have quelled.

“That was our…” Echo was unable to finish the sentence.

“…grandfather. Yeah…” Diver finished it for him, before trailing off herself.

“Daddy looked so angry with him, he did, he did” Ducky said with concern. She and Diver had been the only ones to see their father truly angry and it was not something that either of them liked to relive and to see all that anger directed at their grandfather was just startling.

“I wonder what happened to make him so mad” Sandy pondered, looking at Rapid who merely shrugged.

“Well I don’t know, and I’m not asking,” he said. “Did you see how mad he was? I’m not going near this topic” He held his hands up as if he were warding away something and shook his head.

The siblings all stood there awkwardly silent, each thinking on what they heard. It was only after a long uncomfortable silence in which they actively supressed all the bustling sounds around them that Ray finally broke everyone out of their deep pondering. “I guess we should get back into the mingling, huh?”

With interspersed sparse nods everyone got back with their partners and went back into the crowded group of Swimmers but this time with far more apprehension in their steps. Regardless of what had just occurred, there was still an event to finish and that would have to come first.

With a heavy shadow of doubt lingering on everyone’s minds, the Day of Mingling and Swimmer Trials continued on for Ducky and her siblings.










*Elliot is a character in LBT Hatchling Series.

5 years, 340k words and 67 chapters to finally reach it. Well here we are, finally at The Swimmer Trials and finally approaching the climax. I never predicted this story getting as big as it has or how many people would be inspired by it. Thank you for your support everyone! Now we can finally begin the events you have all been waiting for. The Swimmer Trials have finally begun!

This is a rather sudden ending to the chapter but it was either that or have a ridiculously long 20k word chapter or something and I'd rather not go that far with chapter lengths so I'm breaking the first day of The Trials into two chapters. As always feel free to comment and feedback and a thank you to OwlsCantRead for proofreading this chapter. Of the OC's introduced so far Pellie belongs to OwlsCantRead and Sucky belongs to Ducky123.

[Ducky123]

First of all, it's been ages since I have read this story so I hope my view isn't too detached from the events of anything pre-chp65 

Before I start my review, I would like to add something to my review of chapter 65. The conclusion at the end of the chapter was really emotional and while you could have certainly extended the emotional scenes, I think the way you did it worked just fine for this chapter. I almost shed a tear when Ali realized she had lost her mother 

-

Review of chapter 66:

Everyone in the Valley sleeping together + remembrance night are both great symbols that underline the Valley's unwavering unity which is its biggest strength 

Great reference to Littlefoot losing his mother

I'm a sucker for well written emotional scenes. After chapter 65, I was praying for such a scene and you've delivered mate! Ali's situation here is absolutely terrible. She has no family left and her mother died such a meaningless and stupid death, it's almost as if fate is mocking her. She died for the sake of a valley that's never been her home and, arguably, Ali could very well start hating the Great Valley for taking away her mother.

It's very natural for Littlefoot to approach her, trying to do something for her. I love that you're referring back to the original movie. It gives so much more context to Littlefoot's emotions and it's always good to see continuity 

Ali's grief seems to be portrayed in a very natural and believable way. She's heartbroken, she's crying, she's clinging on to something that reminds her of her mother the sleeping spot, another nice throwback to the footprint scene and the TreeStar). She's also angry, not at Littlefoot whose comment may be aimed at reassuring the mourning girl but backfires horribly. No, she's angry at the unfairness of life. It's an all too understandable reaction. Poor Ali. She did not deserve this

Littlefoot's solution is absolutely brilliant and I can hardly give you enough credit for writing such a wholesome scene that tickles my emotions in more than one way. Ali's reaction probably matches my own feelings. It may seem a little extreme to kiss Littlefoot like that and it may be a little quick for Ali to accept such an adoption (I'm sort of dealing with something similar in Of Loss and Discovery) but you've clearly prioritized the emotional impact here and it absolutely works! Splendid scene!

I also rather liked some descriptions such as Ali's World losing colour or the weight of the world lasting on her. 

It seems Diver has lost her innocence with severe repercussions. Seeing such brutality at display can do that to a child and the fact that she had seen her parents do some cruel things is giving her a crisis. Again, I must applaud you for referencing the movies.

Ruphus' explanation is written very well. He is both understanding of Diver's feelings and making good arguments that Diver can understand and accept. Combat is awful and anything goes if it means that you survive - or protect those around you. It's a great lesson for life 

I had a good chuckle at Cyrest's comment. Maybe Ducky can really make him do anything with her cuteness? 

Whoa, how satisfying to see bullies being beaten up. I had forgotten these guys existed lol.

Good bye Bluey's eggs  :(Petrie Poor Sura having to go through this all over again.

Spinner finally gets to shine in this chapter. I'm not sure if this method works for real but it's certainly a nice explanation and to see Ducky master it is wonderful 

Sculra's story gives so much more context to the behavior she is displaying. While I think that this part isn't as well written as the rest from a technical standpoint (I feel like you could have tried to write this from Sculra's perspective rather than telling most of it from a narrator's POV. Show, don't tell. A mistake I frequently make myself to be fair  ), it certainly does deliver a frightening backstory for a frightening and well written villain. I'm kind of glad that I don't have to sit out the cliffhanger you evilly placed there 

Jumping back to the beginning, there's one thing that confused me a little. You mentioned a time skip but then jumped to scenes that happened little time after the battle. I know what you wanted to do here but I think it could have been a better choice to restructure the first scenes so that they go in chronological order.

Overall, this was a very interesting chapter with a hot pot of different scenes that all played out rather nicely and continued the story nicely. It finally seems like the Trials are in grasping range and I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or frightened yet 

Good job mate 

-

Review of chapter 67:

Hmm, whatever Sculra was planning to do must not have had an immediate effect or is this a plot hole?

I think the introduction of the Trials is written quite effectively, using poignant one-liners to put emphasis on the most important facts. It is indeed amazing to look back at Ducky and how she has continued to evolve and grow over the course of the story. I daresay that Ducky's growth matches your own growth as a writer. While it might look like Ducky has become somewhat unrecognizable, it is important while writing characters out of character to keep the circumstances in mind. Ducky was never placed in any situations in the movies that forced her to change her ways. Even in 8,even after playing bait in 1, she is still Ducky because it's only a temporary situation. The Trials have put her through unimaginable pain and hardship so to see Ducky being a character with mental strength that probably rivals Littlefoot and Cera is perfectly understandable and I'd just like to point out that you've done a splendid job developing her character over time. She still struggles but she's a lot stronger now and she's still Ducky, easy to recognize at a glance 

Sometimes a small gesture can have a huge effect on someone. Ray and Rapid have shown that excellently I think. Both unfortunate to be crippled with an injury, they have learned to help and appreciate each other. It doesn't seem like an important scene in the bigger scheme but it's little things like this that show your understanding of the characters you write about and your ability to develop their personalities and abilities. 

You had me confused just as much as Trough for a second there. So Elliot died, what a tragedy  :(Petrie You never know when to quit with the tragedies in this story 

I am impressed by the amount of tact Ducky's siblings had at the time and I agree with Sura's reaction to the situation. She was acting fair and understanding, focusing on the fact that they meant well and prioritizing their current mental health just like Ducky's siblings are aware of the importance of Ducky's mental health.

Trough didn't show quite as much tact though. While he's a loveable character, he can be a bit of an idiot at times 

Ah, every once in a while it's refreshing to laugh about a silly joke. Loving the playful banter here I'm repeating myself but I'm also loving those small references to the movies or, in this case, the TV series. I've actually referenced the same episode in RTTLOM so it is a episode I can actually remember to some degree  and it doesn't stop there, you're referring to the star day episode too (which I hardly remember, only seen it once and that was probably in 2014). I wonder what Trough has in mind for Ducky, maybe a candlelight dinner? 

And now it has officially started... Dang 5 years in the waiting and we're finally here. The Trials are starting 
Good job writing that judge, his speech pattern is very convincing of his position and age and it kind of reminds me of Albus Dumbledore from HP 

Thank God Covid-19 hasn't made it to the Great Valley so no Social Distancing during the socializing event 

That little joke aside, I have quite some things to say about the socializing. First of all, I think I would have had a lot of trouble getting such a scene right so kudos for attempting it and kudos for trying to write characters that you did not create. That is some serious challenge, especially since a lot of different authors have offered to help here. Lots of different writing styles and techniques and let's not forget the fact that you absolutely had to improvise here. Really impressive, mate 

Before I start commenting on the individual meetings and OCs, I'd just like to sneak in a little remark that's on my mind right now. Again and again I am surprised that the unique personalities and the differences in the physical appearance and abilities of Ducky's siblings continue to work out just in the favor of the plot. If you've written Spinner just so that he could aid Ducky 60 chapters later and Opal just for that little scheme to work, then you've had an amazingly complete picture of what's going to happen in the story even 5 years ago. And even if it's purely coincidental, you're doing a splendid job at exploiting the differences and unique features of her siblings to the most

Okay, I guess I'll start with good ol' Sucky

It feels so surreal seeing my own character at display here. Originally intended to be little more than a crack fic, Sucky became quite a popular character and she absolutely had to have a cameo here 

I actually remember awfully little of her story other than that she kind of died. You're definitely exploiting her catchphrase well and while I'm pretty sure that I've written her a bit different, I certainly love your version of her! I suppose it was super convenient for her to be a character Ducky would sort of know   

I'm not sure what to say about Pellie yet but her disability sounds like a great base for an interesting character.

OH yikes that final scene 

Ruphus is the same as Trough, a loveable guy with a bit of a hot temper. Man I smell some pretty good scenes in the future. To add a small family reunion side story to the trials is a smart move

Well, I don't really think there's anything I can complain about in this chapter, well done 

[The Lone Dragon]

Chapter 68: Close Encounters of the Swimmer Kind.




As each of Sura’s children went back to The Mingling with the other children, their mother watched as Ruphus returned to her side. “I’m going to take a walk dear; I just need to clear my head.”

Sura grabbed Ruphus hand and shook her head. “Dear this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see our first clutch here, don’t let the bad blood between you and Auphous stop you from making the most of this moment.”

Looking deep into his mate’s eyes and hearing the wisdom of her words gave him more peace of mind. Ruphus nodded, lowered his beak and exchanged a quick nuzzle with Sura before they both returned to watch the kids but once again the peace was disturbed by something far worse than Auphous.

“Why hello ‘dears’ how goes your disgusting little moment?”

Everything about the false sweet girly tone of the first to words to the coldness and anger in the second phrase was almost like having someone spit in their faces and just hearing that voice certainly made Sura and Ruphus want to respond in kind.
 
“You couldn’t have stayed away from us today, could you?” Ruphus asked and turned around glaring. “You miserable Swimmer” He finished as he and his mate confronted the elderly female that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Come now Ruphus my dear, I know you want to welcome me with the enthusiasm you did with your ‘loving’ father before but I don’t think it is right to make love in front of everyone like that” Sculra said, her smile was a cruel taunt and the tone of her words seeped her desire for Ruphus and her cruel sarcasm that left both Sura and Ruphus momentarily dumbfounded and blanching. Ruphus eye actually twitched at hearing the word loving and father in the same sentence, just referencing his father enough to piss him off on a good day.

“Use your words, Sura, I thought you were supposed to be a mother” Sculra laughed mockingly at the subject of her deepest hatred. Implying that she was unfit to be a mother is she was unable to communicate properly.

“Sculra, I will say this bluntly. Get Lost!” Ruphus said. He was in no mood to deal with her after his confrontation with Auphous and his temper was already simmering just beneath the boiling point, it wouldn't take much for him to lose his composure again and with Sculra being around provoking him it seemed like he was a ticking time bomb and this time Sura might not be the voice of reason as she was absolutely appalled by Sculra’s nerve. “I would love to have another reason get my hands around that neck of yours Sculra, just say the right word and I will gladly give you a dance you won’t live to regret” Ruphus hissed.

Sculra smirked at his reply in mock fear though her eyes narrowed with fury over their last meeting. She had taken a good while to recover from Ruphus attempt on her life but in any case, it seemed that her little Great Valley ‘party’ that she had taken the time to organise had left him with more scars then her but it had not killed him and that was one thing that she was grateful for even if those stupid Sharpteeth didn’t cause the damage she wanted.

It would be shocking if anyone found out the Sharpteeth had been led into the Valley by Sculra but it would be simply horrifying to hear her thoughts that the massacre of Striker’s Canyon was not good enough for her. It would be enough to get her killed but she was not going to let her tongue slip that easily to anyone.

“I’m totally heartbroken Ruphus” Sculra made dramatic motion with her hand. “I’m only here to witness this momentous occasion and see how many proper children there are out there when I saw you, I figured I would be rude if I didn’t say hello” Both Swimmers simply glared at Sculra.

“What do you want Sculra?” Sura asked firmly.

“That’s not your concern Sura” Sculra replied coldly. “I’ve already made my deal with your foolish daughter; she is naïve and knows nothing about life” She turned around to head off but looked around once and glared at Sura with enough hate that a Sharptooth would drop dead at the sight of her. “But that deal she made was the best thing she ever did in her miserable little life; she will give me exactly what I want.”

“Not if we have anything to do with it, do you hear me Sculra!? Your schemes will destroy you in the end and we will all be there to see that day when Ducky beats you! She has all the wi-Mfft!”

Sura’s beak was suddenly clamped shut by Ruphus as Sculra walked off. Sura pulled Ruphus hands off her face but before she could ask why he did that, he simply gestured to the nearby judge who was in close range of their talk. It was obvious that Sculra was trying to get Sura in more trouble with the elders by riling her up and making her admit that her daughter knew the wisdoms and would face undesirable consequences from the elders if they found out.
 
Young Swimmers were not supposed to know the wisdoms as they were reserved for adults, to have any child know them would be an unfair advantage and would be a subject of much scorn and some pretty severe consequences from the judges.
 
Sura nodded and watched as Sculra disappeared into the crowd, Sura remembered from the last Trials that Sculra had been observing the children closely to see how many of them expressed traditionalist views and behaviours, she would then find out who their parents were and have a talk with them. She was obviously broadening the number of allies that she could count on and exerting her power and influence on others.

Sculra was clever in the way she approached over Swimmers to an outside view it looked like a normal conversation about children and herd life, topics that were certainly brought up but hid Sculra’s true intent, she was looking to see which children would be the most useful allies if there made it to adulthood while also getting on the good side of the parents.

While also spreading falsehoods about traditions under threat from certain Swimmers that threw them to the wind, Sculra was able to sell the point that she had the best interests for Swimmers in mind and hence would gain an ally. This method also allowed her to deduce who was a traditionalist Swimmer and who was not and hence she would know who her possible adversaries would be. The bonus point was that she got to show off her status as a Herd Leader and a High Elder which only stroked her ego.

She was basically tiring a vine around those allied Swimmers and holding the end, they were her pets, her puppets, all a part of Sculra’s massive web of deception and Sura believed that was what she was doing here today.

Checking on old ‘allies’ and making new ones.

Sura suddenly didn’t feel like being there anymore, not with Auphous and Sculra and their toxic air around but one glace at her children was all that was needed to persuade her to stay to keep them safe and also to witness this major moment in their lives.


*


Echo and Opal trudged through the thick groups of Swimmer’s almost aimlessly, their minds both still lingering on the confrontation their father had with who was apparently their grandfather, a million questions ran through their minds one of the foremost being why didn’t they know that they had a grandpa on their father’s side? The answer to that question didn’t need much explaining through, there was obviously some very deep and personal issues surrounding. Such a rift could have led to the breaking of familial bonds, which the children had always believed was the most important thing in the world.
 
It was a mystery that they had no context too but they were anxious to solve the mystery, after all it was not like Ducky could hide her Trial from them. They would find out one way or another but the duo’s apparent mental anguish had left them rather unresponsive to things happening in the material world so neither of them noticed the tail of the young dark green Swimmer that lay in front of them until Echo was right on top of it.

“Yowwww!” shouted a male voice making both Echo and Opal jump, Echo lost his footing and fell backwards with a cry grabbing onto Opal in the hopes that she would keep him up but this proved to be a mistake as she lost her balance and fell right on top of him.

“Owwhoww! My tail! Couldn’t you guys have watched where you were going?” cried out the Swimmer whose tail that Echo had trod on while in the background a female voice could be heard laughing.

“Looks like your tail is too big for you, Nishir!”

The Swimmer called Nishir groaned. “It wasn’t my fault someone else wasn’t looking where they were going Takari!”

Opal pushed herself up onto her haunches and off of Echo who frantically pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Sorry! I didn’t see you there!” he said offering an apology as quickly as possible.

“How do you miss my tail when it is right in front of you?” Nishir asked, cradling and messaging his tail. It was only now that they had regained their bearings did Opal and Echo finally see who they were looking at. Nishir was a dark green, almost murky brown skin colour, his eyes were a dull grey and he was a little shorter than them. As he stroked his slightly reddened tail, they could see a long scar on it and an absence of flesh as if something had taken a bite out of it at one point. It made for a strange sight for them as they had never seen a tail with so much missing from it.

The Swimmer standing next to Nishir that he had called Takari was almost the exact opposite of Nishir, she was an incredibly light shade of green, even lighter than Opal and Ducky, she was almost a lime colour and her features were smooth and elegant with water colour blue eyes though they were not nearly as dark as Opal’s eyes which were a very deep blue.

“Really sorry, we were caught up in our own heads” Opal said with a grimace as she helped Echo up into a standing position.
 
“Hell of a time to be living in your head don’t you think?” Nishir asked as he stood and let go of his tail which flipped back to its proper position behind him. 

“We did say we were sorry…” Echo said awkwardly, his sentence trailing off.

“So, who are you guys and where did you come from?” Opal asked.

Nishir opened his mouth to answer but he was to slow. “I’m Takari and this is Nishir, we came from The Big Water.” Nishir looked a little annoyed at being interrupted but didn’t say anything he just nodded.

Echo gestured to himself then Opal with his hands “I’m Echo and this my sister; Opal, we live here in The Great Valley but we’ve been to many places out in The Mysterious Beyond including the Big Water”

“That’s strange, because those big Swimmers over there,” Takari pointed to about four tall boys and one girl that were almost certainly siblings. “They said you guys were soft and weak and that you never strayed out of your Valley.”

Echo face palmed and groaned unhappily. “Why does everyone seem to think that?” he lamented.

“We have lived half of our lives in The Mysterious Beyond and we hatched there, only our newly hatched brothers and sisters have never been out of The Valley before” Opal said, it was clear that there was already some stigma around Great Valley Swimmer’s as she had noticed on the day that Barge, Storm and Whirler got their tails kicked.

It made her worried as to how widespread this misconception actually was, it now seemed that she and her siblings would have to prove their worth to everyone here, to show that they were not useless pushovers.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to upset you that’s just what they’ve been saying” Nishir pointed out after seeing the flustered expressions on their faces.

“Let’s just not mention them please” Echo said rather disdainfully, an unhappy frown upon his beak.

Opal took charge in order to steer away from the current topic and considering that she was a social Swimmer that was very easy for her to do. “Anyway, are you guys brother and sister, you look that way”

Both Nishir and Takari blanched, shocked at being referred to as siblings.

“No! We are- “

“Friends, just friends, we’ve just been together our whole lives that’s all.”

Echo and Opal smirked as they saw the two Swimmer’s cheeks starting to turn red, this was so clear a sign for affection that they had occasionally seen with Ducky and Trough and the opportunity for some fun was too good to let pass by.

“Oh great, we have a pair of lovelings” Echo said loudly, his smirk getting wider when he saw the startled looks and Nishir and Takari’s faces.

Both Echo and Opal exploded into laughter which did nothing to help the two embarrassed Swimmers. “N-No, i-it’s nothing like that! Honest!” Nishir cried.

“Yeah we are too different to be in love!” Takari objected.

“Nice try!” Echo said while holding his belly, “But it is so obvious!”

Opal pulled her hands away from covering her beak, still chuckling, “You’re like our sister and her friend in the way you like each other the only difference is you just don’t want to show it”

She couldn’t have been more spot on but this was not something either Nishir or Takari would ever admit willingly especially in each other’s company. They both looked at each other, Nishir pleading with Takari to do something through his mortified expression but she appeared just as stumped as he was which was saying a lot. Nishir had known Takari for a very long time and she hardly ever got caught out in a word joust but never had she been jousted like this. She was speechless.

The Great Valley Swimmers were far more than they ever expected.

Opal sat down and mentioned for Echo and the others to join her. “Now that we’ve had our laugh perhaps you can tell us about your adventures?” Her eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of finally interacting with Swimmer’s her own age from outside the Valley, she couldn’t wait to hear the juicy stories they had to tell, if only she knew of their tragic past, then she’d not be as excited…


*


Meanwhile Diver and Spinner headed back into the fold near the edge of the gathered group of children. Spinner was feeling a little anxious on going back in with so many Swimmers around, especially after the events he had just witnessed.

Diver was more annoyed by Spinner’s unwillingness to get back into The Mingling. She gave a frustrated tug of his arm. “Come on Spinner, no use in letting that event darken your thoughts, we are supposed to be here ‘mingling’ remember?”

“Oh, cut it Diver!” Spinner shouted unhappily as he pulled his arm out from Diver’s grasp. “I just didn’t expect it that’s all” He looked down and shuffled his feet about nonchalantly.

Diver sighed. “I know, none of us were but can we please focus? We’ll worry about Dad and our ‘Grandpa’ later” She moved back into The Mingling.

“Wait up Diver!” Spinner cried as he ran in after her, not wanting to be left on his own.

Spinner was incredibly unsure how to act in this situation as he was not used to dealing with such a large crowd of Swimmer’s outside of his own family. He knew nothing about these guys and they could easily come to assumptions about him like if they ever saw him working on his whirlpool or as his siblings called it; The Hopeless Case.

Diver was more confident but she was not actually the most social of Swimmer’s like Opal and hence she was unsure how to begin any conversation with anyone. However, she realised she needed to talk to them but she was worried about making a fool of herself and Spinner’s constant teeth clicking were doing nothing to help her nerves.

She stopped and just tried to focus her mind; she heard a dozen different conversations around them but something caught her ear. Something that caused her to prick up.

“Did you see how that crazy Swimmer just acted towards his elders, just no respect, I’m surprised he was even allowed here” Diver’s eyes widened as she spotted the one who had said those words. Spinner also seemed to notice as he turned in the direction of a pale-yellow Swimmer with emerald green eyes that sparkled like wet tree stars. However, the most distinguishing feature of this Swimmer was her left thigh or rather the lack of it, there was a chunk missing from her left thigh which attested to a hard life. Her body was lean and strong and her expression was disapproving but conveyed a sense of confidence and strength.

But Diver couldn’t care less of what she looked like. No one called her father crazy, her green eyes narrowed and she strutted over towards the Swimmer who had a small audience of other Swimmer children. Spinner saw what Diver was doing and quickly stepped in her way and held out his arms. “Diver, wait!”

Diver pushed straight through Spinner to his alarm, he knew her temper could be volatile and she never took an insult laying down. This was not going to end well.

“Hey! What did you just say!?” Diver called loudly as she stomped onto the scene, her arrival heralding the coming of a wild storm that was about to break on the hapless Swimmer.

“Diver, please stop!” Spinner cried out but Diver ignored him.

The other Swimmer scoffed. “I said that adult Swimmer was crazy to threaten his elders, he obviously has no respect for them so it’s a wonder he’s even allowed here. I wonder which herd he came from?”

“Don’t you dare call my Dad crazy, girl!” Diver said getting up almost beak to beak with this Swimmer. They both seemed like physical equals had it not been for the scar on the pale-yellow Swimmer’s hip.

“He certainly acted that way” retorted the Swimmer, both Swimmer’s glared at each other as they engaged in a beak pushing duel.

“He’s the best Swimmer in this Valley!” Diver hissed.

“I can see where your lack of respect comes from!” Retorted the other Swimmer coldly.

“GUYS!” Spinner pushed himself between the girls and pushed them apart with his arms, he was not going to allow Diver to get herself into trouble like this. “Stop this now! You’re both acting like little tails!”

Spinner’s comment seemed to have stuck a nerve with both girls and they both backed down as neither wanted to lower themselves to the level of a little child or hatchling.

“Good, now can we just talk like normal Swimmers?” Spinner asked not expecting an answer because he quickly started talking again. “Sorry about that but I’m afraid you kinda made my sister mad. I’m Spinner and this is Diver, who are you?”
 
“My name is Whirpool, I’m glad to see some Swimmers have respect unlike others.” She gave Diver a dirty look.

The dark green Swimmer was fuming at that comment but she bit her tongue and forced herself to stay calm. She obviously gave the wrong impression to Whirlpool, just like she had been afraid of doing.

“Dad is respectful but when he gets mad it’s usually for a good reason, we just don’t know why he is angry at our…Grandfather, it must have been really bad though, we didn’t even know we had one till now” Spinner said, trying to be as tactful as he could as this was not his usual role. Echo was far better at diplomacy than he was.

Whirlpool raised her eyebrows curiously; she never broke her cold look but it was obvious that she was seriously pondering the situation and there was something in her eyes that spoke of concealed trauma. “Hmmmm…” Was all she said.

Spinner nervously cleared his throat in order to prevent the conversation from becoming any more awkward. “So which part of The Mysterious Beyond do you come from?” he asked.

“The Sky Water Forests far away from here, it rains a lot down there and there are big jungles…” Whirlpool seemed to stare out into the distance, her expression becoming dark and distant. Diver raised an eyebrow and she exchanged a curious look with Spinner, who tilted his head curiously.

“It certainly sounds like a different place; I’ve never heard tale of such a land. We live here so we don’t get out as much as you” Diver said thoughtfully.

Whirlpool turned to both Diver and Spinner with a deep frown forming on her beak as she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t know why I would even speak of such lands and hardships to Swimmer’s who clearly don’t understand them” She said tensely.

Diver took an aggressive step forward. “And what are you implying!? That we are weak and stupid!? We are anything but!”
 
Whirlpool glared at her. “You certainly haven’t convinced me. How many of you have experienced true trauma when you have been tucked up safe in the Valley your whole lives?” She raised her eyes, challenging them to find an answer.

“Only our young brothers and sisters were born here. We lived half of our lives in The Mysterious Beyond! We have seen trauma. Like losing friends and family, seeing injury and blood, surviving the Great Earthshake and even in The Valley it hasn’t been safe, I was there!” Diver shouted “I was there at the battle of Striker’s Canyon!” 

There were many gasps around the Swimmer’s and many heads turned to look at her which made Spinner fidget uncomfortably. Even Whirlpool took on a sceptical expression. Like many Swimmer’s she had assumed that The Great Valley was the safest place anywhere and had convinced herself that nothing bad could happen there but that was a far cry from reality. The Great Valley and its residents had seen plenty of danger and trauma.

Whirlpool might never had believed Diver’s words if she had not mentioned The Battle of Striker’s Canyon. Tales of that battle had started to spread amongst the herds that had arrived from the survivors and it painted a grisly picture of death, blood and loss but also of success but at great cost. With so much circulating about this battle and the death of Red Claw none of the farwalkers doubted the truth of the story.

Not even Whirlpool.

And she could see in Diver’s eyes that she meant what she was saying, which meant that she had seen trauma which made her skeptical of all she had ever heard of The Great Valley Swimmers.

“What was it like?” She asked.

Diver’s face hardened and her jaw clenched as she recalled memories of that terrible day. “It was terrible and bloody beyond belief; I have never seen so much spilt blood. I had never seen my mother or father kill but I saw them fight… I saw then kill and I helped with that battle just like my sister; Ducky and her friends.” Many pairs of eyes watched her, a hush fell over the area as everyone listened to the sound of Diver’s voice, describing the battle that they had heard so much about.

Whirlpool looked down, deep in thought for but a few moments before she looked up at Diver. “It appears I may have misjudged you” She said.

Spinner sighed with relief. “Good, because this was getting me worried, all my nestmates have been through trouble Ducky, Ray, Rapid all have their scars and we have all experienced hard times”

“Perhaps, you could tell me us about this Valley of yours?” Whirlpool asked, a small smile forming for the first time since they had met her, it made her look less stoic and more friendly like the child she still was no matter what trauma she had seen.

Spinner smiled that Diver and Whirlpool seemed to have calmed down and forgotten their previous row. “Of course,” he said “I’ll tell you where some of the best swimming spots are…”


*


Sura and Ruphus watched their children interact with the other Swimmers and they were pleased to see that nearly every group had managed to get into a conversation with the other Swimmers. She could see Ray talking enthusiastically with a Swimmer with an abnormally long tail while Ducky mostly stood aside with a bright smile on her face. She spotted Echo and Opal talking with a couple Swimmers, being able from the expressions of her children she could tell that they were hearing some pretty deep and emotional stuff from these Swimmers.

It didn’t surprise her as Swimmers in The Mysterious Beyond often experienced harsher lives and while she knew her children were no strangers to the fickle nature of life and death; she knew there would be those among the large group of children competing in The Trials that had seen the true fickleness of life.

She noticed that Spinner was busy having his time in the spotlight which was unusual considering that Diver was his partner but she commanded the attention of a fairly large group of Swimmers, she would probably hear what they were telling them later.

“Looks like Rapid and Sandy are having a bit of trouble” Ruphus said, gesturing with his beak to the pair that were both standing near the group of large Swimmers trying to remain unnoticed. A concerned frown made its way over Sura’s beak, it looked like Rapid was less confident due to his recent injury and how that would make him look and Sandy was just simply overwhelmed whether it was from witnessing Ruphus confrontation with Auphous or the sheer number of children or both, Sura was not sure.

“They’ll eventually get the hang if it dear, I’m sure” Sura replied, though she was still uncertain.

“Oh, my word! Sura, Ruphus it is you!” A light green adult Swimmer jogged up to them with a gleaming smile on her face.

Sura and Ruphus eyes widened with surprise for a second before welcoming smiles bloomed on their beaks. “Alice!” Sura said welcoming her old friend with an embrace.

“Hello Alice” Ruphus said warmly, it was a delightful change to come across someone he could actually be happy to see. “I take it you came with Auphous?” He asked. Alice had been a childhood friend of Ruphus and had never left their herd. He hadn’t seen her since he and Sura had left many years ago.

“Of course, it is so good to see you two again” Alice embraced Ruphus warmly and he returned the gesture. She was just as bubbly and excitable as he remembered, however she could also be a little naïve at times and was a traditionalist. While not strictly bound, she still preferred to stay on Auphous good side and in doing so she became bound by habit but she still questioned things only she didn’t have the will to break her habits. It was one reason why Ruphus courted Sura over Alice despite knowing her whole life.

“So, what are you guys doing here!?” Alice asked.

“We live here” Ruphus said.

“So, you guys are an actual couple now!? Amazing!” Alice clapped her hands and patted them both on the back then looked at the children. “I am here to watch my son take part in The Trials.” Alice pointed to a rather shy looking Swimmer sitting in a log just outside The Mingling. He too was a light green like his mother but with red eyes that shone with apprehension. “His name is Seel, isn’t he a cutie!?”

Sura and Ruphus both exchanged a concerned expression with each other. “He seems rather frightened” Sura observed.

“He can be a real chatterbox when he wants to” Alice said then she gasped and perked up, “Are you guys here because you have children too!?” Her tail wagged with excitement.

Ruphus sighed at Alice’s behaviour. “She was always a child at heart” he thought. In response to Alice’s question Ruphus nodded.

“We have all eight of our first clutch here” Alice almost screamed in delight when Sura said that.

“Show me!” Sura and Ruphus both rolled their eyes and began a long-range introduction of Alice to their children. Looking back at them Sura noticed a few different things. Ducky and Ray had more of an audience and Rapid and Sandy seemed to finally have some attention.


*


Rapid and Sandy had indeed made contact but not in the best circumstances, because they had hung around the big Swimmers, they heard all the ridiculous myths about Great Valley Swimmers, such as them being weaklings and pushovers. Although while Rapid was less confident about standing up to others with his leg, he could only take so much super silliness before he lost his cool. It didn’t help that there was one Swimmer who was really into what the big Swimmers were saying that he kept repeating everything they said and Rapid was having a hard time handling hearing things just once. Figuring that one smaller Swimmer would be easier to boss around them three big ones he headed over towards the smaller dark brown Swimmer with grey eyes and a light khaki brown colouration on his belly, even Ducky was taller than him. 

The young boy was so entranced by the big Swimmers that he didn’t see Rapid sneak up behind him and grab him by the chest and drag him away, making sure to cover his mouth with his hand so he couldn’t shout out in surprise at being grabbed like that. “Rapid! You know that is not nice!” Sandy said in disgust at her brother’s behaviour.

“I don’t care!” Rapid retorted. He dragged the struggling male a short distance away from the three big Swimmers then set him up on his haunches. “Perhaps you can be quiet and stop blabbering out all the Spiketail dung that those Swimmers are blurting out about us!” He said angrily.

He released the smaller Swimmer. “Rapid step back!” Sandy said firmly and pushed her brother roughly aside. “I’m sorry about my brother, he always rushes to quickly into things”

“Oh, I am sorry! I was just trying to make friends like we are supposed to but-“

“Friends with those jerks!?” Rapid said loudly, cutting off the hasty apology.

“Rapid!” Sandy said in a warning tone, that she used when talking to her younger siblings when they started stepping out of line. “What he means is that those three Swimmer’s might not make very good friends. I’m Sandy and this is my rambunctious brother-“

“Rapid! The best Swimmer in the Valley!”

“More like the biggest ego maniac in the Valley” retorted Sandy, rolling her eyes.

“I-I’m Cove, I am sorry, I didn’t know you Great Valley Swimmers weren’t as bad as those guys were saying” Cove said.

“Don’t worry Cove, it seems most Swimmers don’t know much about us” Sandy said with a friendly smile.

Cove nodded. “So, can I hang out with you? My mom and dad said we are supposed to talk and make friends today and I don’t want to let them down”

“Of course you can!” Sandy said she heard Rapid about to protest and shoved her tail in his face to Rapid’s great annoyance, he shoved her tail and of the way and gave a miserable groan.

“Why did I have to get caught with a rule follower?” He lamented when his eyes sparked and a devious smirk grew over his beak. “Perhaps I can have some fun with him” Rapid chuckled at the thought though Sandy raised an eyebrow at him. “Ok, he can tag along”

Rapid, Sandy and now Cove made their way towards the periphery to talk where they felt more comfortable.   


*


“Wow, your little ones are adorable!” Alice cried out after Sura and Ruphus introduced each of their children in turn.  It was a huge surprise for Alice to see that Sura had young considering that she never had any desires to be a mother all those years ago but now it seemed she was not only a mother but a highly successful one. “I don’t think there is a family as big as your first clutch here and you say they all survived, that is just astounding!”

“That’s not taking into account, our second and third clutches and my fourth clutch of eggs and my adopted son” Sura said proudly, “I have never lost any of my little ones but there have been some close calls” She thought back to Ducky and Spike more than anyone else despite, Rapid, Ray, Spinner and Diver all getting themselves in danger as well, they at least didn’t do it as constantly as those two.

“I envy you Sura and you too, Ruphus” Alice sighed sadly. “Seel is the only one of my little ones to survive” She looked down at the ground, all her energy seemed to evaporate in an instant. “You still have each other but my mate left me when Seel became frightened of swimming, I don’t have high hopes for him, I haven’t even got him to bath without a struggle and a breakdown for so many cold times”   

“Out of your first clutch?” Ruphus asked.

“Out of all three of my clutches”

Sura and Ruphus both cringed, it seemed that Alice was the example of one of the worst-case scenarios when it came to the number of children lost in their early years. There were so many dangers out there that could claim the lives of infants and children and eggs that it was a miracle to have even one survive sometimes but Alice had it extra rough if only one child out of three clutches survived to this point. It was a reminder of how lucky Sura and Ruphus were in the fact that they had never lost a child.

And to add insult to injury it seemed her only surviving child had a reversion to water which was unthinkable for a Swimmer and of course Alice losing her mate would have been a harsh blow on its own.

“I am so sorry, Alice” Sura said, patting her on the back. The green female sniffed and took a calming breath, “at least I still have my little one, so how many children do you have?”

“Twenty-four,” Ruphus said “Including our adoptive son and not including Sura’s latest clutch of eggs”

“Wow, you guys have done well and who is this adopted son of yours? The poor dear lost his parents?” Alice asked.

“Yes” Sura said with a nodded.

“That’s sad, I hope he is doing well in your family Sura.”

“He is, my little Spike has lived with us all his life”

Alice blinked and gave Sura an awkward look. “Do you know how strange that sounds Sura?” Alice thought the name was suggestive of the wrong things “And what a strange name for a Swimmer.”

Sura looked at Alice. “Spike isn’t a Swimmer, he’s a Spiketail.” She said, though she really should have known what she was getting into.

Alice gasped as if she had just heard something inconceivable. “You have a Spiketail as a son!!” She shouted making Sura clench her teeth as she saw a couple other female’s approach with shocked looks on their faces.

“Is that true!?”

“You have a Spiketail as a son!?”

There was less anger then Sura expected only surprise and curiosity so she launched into the story of how Spike ended up as part of her family.


*


Ducky and Ray were now in a conversation with Pellie and her two other siblings, Penny and Dripple, they all had the same body colouration but Dribble’s eyes were lime and Penny had aquamarine like Pellie. Penny was also a male and Dribble a female. They had been searching for their sister when they had bumped into Ducky and Ray, the latter of whom was in a deep conversation with Pellie about scars of the past.

Dripple seemed to be irritated that Pellie had zoomed off and Penny just seemed overly worried which did nothing but annoy Pellie. “I don’t need help and I don’t need to be watched like a hatchling all the time!” She cried out angrily, her hands on her hips as she stuck her head up indignantly.

“Nevertheless, you should sit down so you don’t- “

“Exhaust myself yeah, thanks for the reminder Penny” Pellie cut in.

“Pellie can you stop with that attitude already.” Dripple groaned at her sister’s trademark stubbornness and rambunctiousness.

“No” Pellie replied bluntly. “Now, I introduce Ducky and Ray, they are Great Valley Swimmers”

“They are Great Valley Swimmers?” Penny said in surprise, looking over the scarred siblings with a critical eye.

“You’re pulling my tail Pellie!” Dribble said.

“I wouldn’t want to pull your tail Dribble; I never know what might come out that rear end.” Pellie said laughing at her sister her crossed her folded arms with a gasp of disgust.

Ray, Ducky and even Penny laughed at Dribble’s expense.

Ducky recovered from her laughing fit first. “We- We are Great Valley Swimmers, we are, we are” she said taking a moment to recover from her giggling.

“But all those scars…” Penny said gazing at Ducky more than Ray.

Pellie butted in again. “Ray got his scars in The Mysterious Beyond where he and his nest mates lived half of their lives” She explained, saving Ducky and Ray the effort.

“What about Ducky?” Dribble asked.

“I don’t know” Pellie shrugged, she hadn’t how she had gotten her scars yet.

“I got my scars in the Mysterious Beyond I did, I did” Ducky said, casting her head to the side, not wanting to elaborate anything more but that was exactly what Pellie and her siblings wanted to know.

“How?” Pellie asked.

Ducky saw Ray open his beak but she gave him a pleading look and shook her head. Ray understanding his sister’s message nodded and backed down. “I do not want to talk about it no, no, no” She said.

Pellie and her sibling looked disappointed but seeing that this was clearly a stressful thing to recall for Ducky they all backed down but Pellie was extra curious and now determined to find out how Ducky got her scars and with her stubbornness, she would find out eventually.

Meanwhile a short distance away Echo and Opal were both shocked about the emotional story that Nishir and Takari had told them about how they once lived in an isolated cove on the shores of The Big Water until a large pack of Fast Biters attacked and wiped out their whole herd. Nishir and Takari had to witness the death of their herd, friends, parents and siblings and be chased by Fast Biters and all while dealing with depression. Eventually they escaped and came into contact with one of their distant family members who adopted them and allowed them to live on their island home until they came to The Great Valley for The Trials.

“Wow, I can’t believe you have been through that. I mean we have seen a lot but we have never lost any family members, apart from our Aunt that we never met and we have lost very few friends too” Echo said quietly, thinking of Elliot and his tragic demise.

Opal looked sympathetic and walked over to Takari and Nishir “I am sorry, no one should have to experience that.” She held both of their hands and gave them a squeeze. 

“That’s ok, Opal.” Nishir said and Takari nodded “We’d like to hear what adventures you have had though” He added.
Opal and Echo both smiled, “We’ll start of the tale of The Great Earthshake” Echo said taking the undivided attention of his two new friends, these Swimmers were less competitors now after talking with them. They had their own lives and when Echo thought about it, it was enough that they all made it to this point in their lives.


*


“So, the Thundering Falls supplies most of the water in The Great Valley?” Whirlpool asked.

“Yep,” Spinner said. He had been elaborating on the different places in The Great Valley like Roaring and Thundering Falls, The Great Stone Walkover, Smoking Mountain, The Sheltering Grass, The Sinking Sands and some of the best waterholes. He mentioned several fast water rivers running throughout The Great Valley and another river called The Raging Rapids, a waterway that sped out of The Great Valley through subterranean system of caves but the waters were too violent for anyone to enter. Diver also described Striker’s Canyon, The Secret Caverns and even mentioned The Crescent Caves though she only mentioned the name and nothing more about it.   

Diver elaborated on their nest and to Spinner’s major embarrassment, she told them about ‘The Hopeless Case’. “That is low, Diver even for you” Spinner thought especially considering that the Swimmer they were talking to was named Whirlpool.

Whirlpool listened for the most part, occasionally commenting on something but she seemed genuinely interested, she was like a completely different Swimmer then before when she was tense and cold, she seemed to have opened up a bit. Both Diver and Spinner could tell that she had experienced some form of tragedy but this wasn’t the best moment for bringing that up.

Spinner was embarrassed when Whirlpool was told about his whirlpool obsession. However, she seemed to be more interested then weirded out. “Why would you want to create a Whirlpool aren’t they dangerous?”

Spinner looked at her dead in the eye “Have you ever been in a Whirlpool before?” The aptly named female shook her head which was a little disappointing to Spinner as he was sure that she had been with the name that she had.

She seemed to read this. “Just because I am named ‘Whirlpool’ doesn’t mean that I have ever been in a whirlpool!” She announced loudly. Diver chuckled at that comment.

“You don’t know what you are missing” Spinner mumbled so quietly that no one heard him.

“What?” Diver and Whirlpool both said, apparently having heard that Spinner had muttered something. Which caught the young Swimmer off guard.

“Well, you see being in a Whirlpool… it is the most amazing experience you can imagine!” Spinner said gazing into the distance as he recalled the memory clear as day of what the inside of that whirlpool, he had been trapped in looked like, all that colour and light and darkness and movement. He could not describe it in a way that would do is justice. Not even the possible threat to his life concerned him.

“You should be lucky, hardly anyone has been in a waterwhirl and made it out!” Whirlpool said.

“I have and so have my mom and my sister, she got to do it twice! Why couldn’t I!?” Spinner hmphed and went into a pout that made Whirlpool giggle a bit. Spinner was rubbing off on her but the fact that his sister had been in a Whirlpool twice was something outstanding, something she never believed a Great Valley Swimmer would be able to do.

Whirlpool looked at Diver. “I can’t believe you did that” She said with respect, assuming she was the one Spinner was referring too.

“You’re talking to the wrong sister, Ducky was the one that went through those blasted Waterwhirls not me” Diver said, she gazed at Spinner, “Even you would not want to be in the second pool that Ducky escaped from.” Spinner grimaced and nodded, being in a burning water was a big no go for him even if it was in a Waterwhirl.

Whirlpool eyed the two Great Valley Swimmers curiously “Can you tell me about your family?” Perhaps Great Valley Swimmers were worthy of her respect after all?


*


“But how can you have a Spiketail as your son!?” Alice cried, “It goes against all our traditions!”

“Because he was a hatchling in need and I couldn’t leave him, not when he had bonded so much with my little Ducky and in time, I have grown to love him, now I cannot imagine a day without him, He is and always will be my son. To my children his is their brother and I wouldn’t have that any other way either” Sura replied firmly.

“I admire your parenting Sura but the tradition should-“

“To the dung heap with them!” Ruphus said firmly. The three females around him gasped. “All they have done is cause trouble for me and my family. Why do we even have a Swimmer Trials? Because some kid did something incredible and everyone decided to make a tradition out of it?”

Alice looked a little uncomfortable listening to the criticism Ruphus was putting out to traditions. “The Trials are a difficult and stressful time for everyone and is more intense than any other kinds rites of passage except the Threehorns’ and yet we can be just as cruel as them in the way we judge our children to the very best standards when they shouldn’t be! They should be judged by their own standards and congratulated on surviving all the hardships to this point.”

Sura nodded and even one of the females nodded. Though the other female looked hesitant and Alice was shifting around on the spot, her tail swaying with agitation as she looked down. She couldn’t deny that Ruphus had made a good point but she was not very good at arguing and especially not with someone as passionate as Ruphus. 

“And let us not forget our worst tradition in this Trial; The Trial of Destiny. Can anyone count how many children have died in that Trial before their time? It is the cruellest thing we Swimmers do and I would love to see it thrown away!” Ruphus stopped and took a deep breath, his demeanour returning to a neutral state.

Sura held his hand. “Alice, can you imagine what would happen if your son was selected to do ‘that’ Trial? How would you feel? Would you let it happen? Would you try to stop it? Would you try to give Seel the best chance possible?”

Alice looked up. “Seel will never be chosen with his handicap, I have nothing to worry about”

“And what if you did, Alice!?” Ruphus asked forcefully.

“You of all Swimmers know the trials of being a mother, Alice. You also know the pain of losing your children but you don’t know the pain of losing any of your own children to Swimmer traditions.” Sura said looking at her with pleading eyes, hoping to get through to Alice. “What if despite all odds, your child was chosen?”

Alice was silent for a very long time as she looked down at the ground, neither Sura nor Ruphus pushed her as they could see the emotional turmoil that Alice was in at even considering such a scenario. Alice was a traditionalist Swimmer and while sympathetic towards others, she had blind faith in their ways. Because of that, putting her in the same situation that Sura and Ruphus had been confronted with was unfathomable to her. To pit her own will against traditions that had stood for generations. “I don’t know…. I think I would just… run away but I would never make it but… I can’t lose my Seel”

Sura gave Alice a sad smile and nodded. “I know how you feel more then you know, be thankful that will never happen to you but can you see how bad some traditions are? After all there is a reason that we have dead traditions because they don’t hold any meaning, the never did anything useful for us. I’m not saying that all traditions are bad but many Swimmers give these ways of ours a bad name” Sura said, thinking of Sculra and Auphous. 

“I understand Sura but I also can’t just abandon our way of life…” Alice said, she looked to Ruphus. “You know that traditions can be very useful” She said to him.

“I hate them,” Ruphus said bluntly. “I was raised with them most of my life but I grew to resent them, I got in trouble? I got beaten, I went out of line? I was made an example of. I suffered harsh consequences as others did. Hell! Look what happened with me and Sura in our old herd! They can all rot as far as I am concerned. We make our own life here, not the same as a normal Swimmer Herd but we keep the beneficial traditions in our lives. Now, we can live in peace and not be bound be these rigid rules dictating how we must live our lives” Ruphus said passionately. “And I never ever punish my kids like Auphous did with me.”

Alice nodded. “That is your choice and I can respect that, it was good seeing you again, Sura, Ruphus” The now emotionally drained Swimmer trudged off towards the Fast Water to drink, looking for less joyful as she had been before.


*


Rapid was having a very hard time, Cove was proving resistant to any kind of fun, namely rule breaking, pranking and verbal jousting. Cove was a strict rule follower and it seemed that he would not bend. His mindset annoyed Rapid greatly, but what annoyed him even more was that Cove’s annoying habit of repeating every rule quoted perfectly from his parents whenever he tried to temp him into having fun.

Rapid could handle verbal quirks after all he had Ducky and Spike for siblings but the consistent repeating of the same rules was really beginning to get on his nerves. Sandy was not oblivious to her brother’s obvious attempts of causing trouble, she watched his attempt to get Cove to join him on some ill-fated prank with disdain but each time Cove refused which got a smile from her as she talked with him about The Big Water while keeping an eye on her brooding brother. It was so satisfying to watch Rapid get ticked off like this but she was still on her guard. Rapid was most troublesome when he was bored and he was certainly not acting like he was having fun, he was in one of his pranking moods which meant trouble.

Sandy just needed to figure out what kind of trouble, she wasn’t very good at catching Rapid with his pranks, she left that to Echo but she didn’t have to wait long before Rapid made his move.

As they were passing by a small group of girls Rapid thrust between Sandy and Cove. “Wow, those girls look pretty cool” He said making his sister glare at him.

“I know and mom said we are supposed to find a girl partner for the dance perhaps I should ask one of them?” Cove asked optimistically to Rapid’s delight.

“Yes, but you need to make a memorable entrance!”

“Really?” Cove asked to which Rapid nodded and pointed at a small log next to the group of girls and headed over to it dragging Cove behind. Sandy narrowed her eye’s; she knew exactly what Rapid was up to now and she was not going to have any of it! She headed for the group of girls, while Rapid and Cove hid behind the log.

“All you got to do is jump on that log and introduce yourself and jump down among them with some cool line, they’ll like it I am sure!” Rapid said.

Cove took a deep breath. “Ok, I’m ready…”

Rapid was struggling to keep himself from sniggering.

Cove jumped onto the log. “Hello!” He called to the girls who all looked at him including Sandy. “I’m Cove!” He jumped off the log and on the ground “It’s great to m-“

Phhrrrt!

Cove stopped, the blood rushing to his cheeks at that sound had he really just passed gas in front of the ladies? Rapid burst into laughter from the side when he saw the look on Cove’s face but surprisingly the girls didn’t seem to be disgusted or unhappy, actually they all crowded around Rapid. Sandy patted Cove and gave him a wink when Rapid gave a surprised exclamation as he was grabbed by the small group of girls and unceremoniously thrown into a nearby puddle with a loud splash.

“Gah!” Rapid cried as the girls laughed at him. “What was that for!?” he cried.

Sandy came into view, her hands on her hips and with a triumphant expression across her beak. “That Rapid, is what you get for pranking poor innocent boys!” She said giggling at her brother’s shocked expression.

“Dammit Sandy! I’ll get you back for this!”

Rapid pounded his fists into the water indignantly, splashing the water as he got to his feet with a sour look on his face as Cove chuckled at the sight. 

It was going to be a longer day then he wanted. Rapid groaned as the Day of Mingling progressed. 


*


The Day of Mingling was vibrant with conversation between adults and children alike, Swimmer’s traded stories about their lives and different places and what they knew about The Trials they would soon be doing. By evening all the younger Swimmers had chatted themselves to exhaustion and as The Bright Circle touched the mountains. At that point the Mingling was officially ended and each of the Swimmers and their families or guardians went their separate ways for the night. Sura walked home beside Ruphus who was constantly looking over his shoulder checking the kids and also keeping an eye out for any unwanted company.

Merri and Grandma Swimmer had everything ready for their arrival, they had gathered food for everyone. Spike greeted Ducky enthusiastically and their younger siblings also ran to meet them, bombarding their older siblings with pleas to tell them how the day had been. Everyone got their chance to speak and tell what happened in their groups. Ray, Spinner and Sandy had all had luck in finding partners for the dance in Pellie, Whirlpool and Cove respectively when they asked if they could be their partners.

Sura said they would have a second change to grab a partner at another gathering before the dance that would allow any partnerless Swimmer’s to get a partner for the dance.

Diver had taken a liking to Whirlpool when they encountered Barge, Storm and Whirler telling falsehoods about Great Valley Swimmers with the big three boys that towered over even them. Whirlpool had given them a real piece of her mind after she had learned that Diver’s clutch mates where actually worthy of her respect unlike the three bullies who she publicly denounced.   

Sandy also took great pleasure in telling them what she did to Rapid which only pissed Rapid off even more, he was red faced and subdued the whole dinner, clearly sulking about the whole thing. Ducky also said it was wonderful to meet so many Swimmer’s after the lunch they had. When all their groups reunited with their new friends in tow. She also referred to them that Sucky had been there which was a shock to everyone who knew her.

It was a very lively conversation from then on. 

However, the biggest bombshell was the knowledge that their Grandfather had shown up and their father almost fought him. It caused a big stir in the nest, one that Ruphus did not hang around for long once it was brought up. He simply finished his meal and told everyone to get some sleep. Tomorrow was the last day off they would have in a while and it was their first clutch’s Starday tomorrow so they would want to be well rested for that, especially for the first event of the Trials in two days.

With that he left and went to stand on the border of the nest.

Grandma Swimmer watched him with concern. “Sura,” She called. Her daughter walked up next to her mother and gazed at her mate.

Sura sighed, she knew Ruphus well enough to know what he was doing. “He’s standing watch for the night”

Grandma Swimmer’s narrowed. “There is some very bad blood here Sura and it makes me worried. Ruphus rift with his father is worse than yours with your father ever was. What happened between them?” She asked. The fact that Ruphus was guarding his family in the middle of the night in a Valley safe from Sharpteeth against his own father was deeply disturbing.
 
Sura gestured at Ruphus with her beak. “That is something I will let Ruphus explain, most of it is his story to tell, I will get the little ones ready for sleep” Sura said and with that she walked back to the nest while Grandpa Swimmer walked apprehensively over to Ruphus. 

The Bright Circle finally dipped beneath the mountains and darkness fell over The Great Valley, there was no sign of The Night Circle this night, only the stars provided light and the many fireflies that darted around the meadows. Grandma Swimmer stood beside Ruphus and looked out at the empty expanse ground, devoid of any dinosaurs.
“A quiet night” She said.

Ruphus didn’t respond, he just gazed ahead.

Grandma Swimmer stood in front of him in order to gain his full attention. “I am not playing games Ruphus, I need to know what happened between you and your father”

“Don’t call ‘him’ that” Replied Ruphus coldly.

“Ruphus, this matter doesn’t just concern you but your children and Sura. They are my family as well, if anything threatens their wellbeing I must know and I as a part of my family, I care about you as well.” Grandma Swimmer said, placing a hand on Ruphus chest.

Ruphus sat on his hunches. “I am honoured that you care for me but this issue… I really don’t like to talk about it.”

“The first step to getting over past misgivings is to talk about them Ruphus.” Grandma Swimmer replied wisely, her age and counselling nature seemed to relax Ruphus enough.

“Fine then if you want to know.” Ruphus took a deep breath. “My family was a traditionalist family, I loved them all when I was young, even my father even if I got on his bad side a lot. We were family but Auphous, he didn’t have interest in looking after his family, he left that job to my mother. He only taught us traditions, enforced discipline and gave us lessons in the ways of the world and the ways of Swimmers. He was really only teaching the promising children that he believed would carry on his legacy and ascend his family and himself into a more powerful position in the herd, one where he could gain all the respect and control, he could want. His herd, his rules” Ruphus said, thinking back to his past.


*


“Ruphus! Where are you son!? You’re supposed to be at your lesson! Come out now!” Auphous called irately as he searched around the nesting grounds for his young son. If there was one annoying thing about his children, it was that they were so small that they could get into those small easily hidden places that an adult couldn’t access. It made finding them a nightmare.

“Ruphus! My patience is wearing thin, I am not going to ask again! Come out or you will get one memorable spank across your tail!” Auphous said firmly, stomping his foot and making the ground shake.

Not wanting to cross his father the small Swimmer boy with an aqua green belly and brown back emerged from the hollow log that had been his hiding place, with an unhappy frown on his beak.

“Ah, there you are, much better,” Auphous said, nodding his head as his son came into view. He shook his head and moved from intimidation mode to berating mode. “You are pushing your luck far too much Ruphus. If you ever want to be Herd Leader one day them you must take your lessons. I don’t understand why you hide from them?” He said totally at a loss over Ruphus behaviour.

“Maybe because those lessons are so boring!” Ruphus complained loudly.

“Watch your tone, youngling” his father said firmly.

Ruphus cringed and took a step back but he was still not eager to come to the lessons. “Why can’t I just play with the other kids Dad? The look like they have fun, I don’t want to be stuck in these silly lessons all the time!”

“Those lessons are important for your future which will be brighter than all those children if you accept what I am trying to teach you. You are going to be a future Herd Leader; I expect you to act like one now!” Auphous said his deep tone of voice threatening punishment to a sustained argument and Ruphus knew better then to push his father’s patience when he was in a bad mood, it never ended well for him. 

“Fine…” Ruphus said and followed his father over to where a few of his siblings were waiting to start their lesson. “Another day, another boring lesson” Ruphus mumbled under his breath.


*


“Sounds like he was a control freak and a bit callous for a father” Grandma Swimmer said.

“He was not among the elders at the time and he was not a Herd Leader by any means but he thought we could be given the right training and education” Ruphus said with a nod. “He only cared about the position we could give him and the family and I was not interested but I couldn’t get out of it because he thought I was ‘too promising’ to leave behind like he did for my more handicapped siblings.”

“So, are you saying he didn’t train them?”

Ruphus nodded, “He just left them with my mother, only reserved time for his ‘chosen Swimmers’. He thought I was the most herd leader material but I ran off whenever I could. I was only interested in being a kid at the time and when I did grow old enough to understand things, I wanted no part in it. I already had my eyes on the Herd Defender which my father thought I wasn’t good enough for me”

“What happened?” Grandma Swimmer asked quietly. “It sounds like you grew apart over the years and your father’s actions were not in your best interests. Didn’t you try to defend your case or even switch herds?” So far Auphous was not leaving a good impression on her and she could see why Ruphus would have lingering resentment about him.

“We argued all the time, but Auphous is as stubborn as a Threehorn! I could not get through his thick skull and I thought of leaving many times but I couldn’t leave my siblings or my mother whom I loved with all my heart” Ruphus held his heart and looked up sadly at the stars, as if he was searching for something small lost among them. “I did choose to run away eventually; I was a young adult and guess who was in our herd. Well, it was Sculra.”

Grandma Swimmer gasped. “That foul Swimmer was in your herd!?” Her expression turned sour at the mention of ‘that’ Swimmer’s name.

“I wish she wasn’t; she was scheming from the start and she had her eyes on me. I have no doubt that she was manipulating Auphous in some way and eventually she convinced him to mate me off to her!” Ruphus said in revulsion, a fierce glare on his face. 

Grandma Swimmer’s beak fell open in disbelieve and she spluttered for a while at the absurdity of the idea. “You guys are not even alike or close in age, why?”

“Because Sculra wanted me and she convinced Auphous that me mating with her would give him strong grandchildren and also with her age she was a probably runner for High Elder which made her position desirable and Auphous was willing to try. We had a huge row over his decision in which I got no say, he divided the family between those who agreed with him and those who didn’t. I finally had enough, so I ran away…” Ruphus said.


*


“You what!?” Ruphus shouted in sheer amazement and denial.

“I think Sculra will be a great match for you and she certainly agrees with me. I see the way she looks at you and I can tell she certainly loves you” Auphous said. “So, I will allow her to mate with you”

 Ruphus opened and closed his mouth a few times in disbelief. “But she-I don’t even know her that well! And she is far too old! I don’t even want a mate right now! You can’t do this!” Ruphus replied in disbelief.

“That is not for you to decide, Ruphus. I am your father and I know what is best for you!” Auphous replied firmly. He was putting his foot down in anger, not going to give his point when he believed he knew what was best for Ruphus. Sculra was a traditionalist, she seemed kind and certainly clever enough and she certainly looked like she would gain a powerful position in the near future. It would be perfect for both of them and it would give Auphous greater prestige among the herd with Ruphus and Sculra in such high positions within the herd. It was the perfect match in his eyes.

However, it was not the case from Ruphus perspective, just because he was an adult now did not mean that he was interested in finding a mate instantly. Not to mention his father had been making all the decisions for him as of late. He eyed the position of Herd Defender with pride but his father wanted him to be Herd Leader and he didn’t want to mate with Sculra but his father was going to try and enforce his will upon him anyway.

It was suffocating and it had been for some time. Ruphus stayed only because he loved the rest of his family but his father was constantly dictating what his actions should and should not be. It was far too controlling and restrictive and now he had stepped across the line. Ruphus was an adult now and he made choices for himself now, not his father.

“Why can’t I have things my way for a change!?” He shouted.

“You’re are still young and foolish, I will let you have your way once you show that you make the right decisions” Auphous replied, coming off rather harshly to his son.

“But- “

“No buts! I have made my decision! You're going to mate Sculra and that is final! This conversation is over!” Auphous shouted over the top of his son who was trembling furiously as his father turned his back on the seething Swimmer.

“You don’t control me, father” Ruphus muttered and turned his tail on him. He was not going to stay here any longer; his father was not going to have his way this time. Ruphus turned his tail on his father and his family. It was time to him to carve out his own destiny. As he reached the outskirts of his nest, he looked back at his family sadly. “Goodbye mother.” He said, a tear dripping down his face as he quickly headed off, not knowing how soon he would be back.


*


Grandma Swimmer gave Ruphus a sympathetic look “That sounds harsh but don’t you think you are blowing things out of portion? That was a long time ago and I find it hard to believe that you can’t move on”

Ruphus shook his head. “There is more… I tried to run away but I failed because in my attempt to head out of my home I saved a Swimmer that nearly drown in rapids. I couldn’t leave her when she was starving and exhausted. That Swimmer was Sura.”

Grandma Swimmer’s eyes widened. “So that is when you met Sura?” Ruphus nodded.

“Things only got worse from there.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask” Grandma Swimmer said with great concern.

“Rightly so” Ruphus said, nodding and taking a deep breath. “When I brought Sura back home, my mother and siblings welcomed her and were all willing to help her back to health, my father was just suspicious of her, then when she said that she had run away from her home because of her father, he said she should leave”

“And she didn’t?” Grandma Swimmer asked.

“She stayed, my mother stood up for her, she stated that Sura would only leave on her own choice or unless the Herd Leader banished her but that would not be until she recovered and things just went from there between us. She stayed at our nest, we got to know each other and I found sympathy from Sura and a new way of looking at traditions” Ruphus said, he smiled at the memories.


*


“How much… further…” Sura panted, she was being supported by Ruphus as he guided her through the forest. It had only been a short while since Ruphus had saved Sura from drowning and meeting her for the first time. Sura was not in good condition, she was drained, thin and starving if the growling of her hungry belly was any indication.

“Not far, just hang in there” Ruphus said as he held Sura up, her arm was around his shoulder as he kept her body up. Slowly they made it back to his nest.

Ruphus mother looked up from where she was sitting, she was an aquamarine coloured Swimmer with stunning blue eyes. “Goodness!” She said when she saw Ruphus come in holding Sura. She pushed herself to her feet and ran over to her son and helped support Sura’s other side.   

“Get her over to my scrape” Ruphus mother said urgently as she and her son guided Sura over to the older female’s scrape and carefully lowered her down into a sitting position.

“You ok?” Ruphus mother got down in front of Sura, looking over her for any injuries.

Sura nodded. “I’m fine, thanks to Ruphus…”

Ruphus’ mother, Alora, looked at her son briefly. “What happened?” She asked.

Ruphus quickly relayed to his mother how Sura tried to cross the rapids and how he saved her. “Oh my, well done Ruphus! Now I think we should get you some food, you look starved!” Alora said to Sura, she got up and headed for the tree line while Ruphus stayed with Sura.

“Where are you from?” Ruphus asked.

“Across the desert at the Great Inland Water” Sura said.

“Wow” Ruphus exclaimed. “You’re a long way from home but why are you out here all alone?”

Sura turned away from Ruphus. “Father chased me away” Her tone filled with pain.

Ruphus placed a hand on Sura’s back. “I’m sorry, I have Daddy issues too.”

“Ruphus!”

“Speaking of which…” Groaned the addressed Swimmer.

“What is this Swimmer doing in our nest, I haven’t seen her before” Auphous demanded. 

“Her name is Sura and I just saved her from drowning in the rapids. She only just arrived here from The Great Inland Water” Ruphus said.

“What are you doing here?” Auphous asked Sura.

“She- “

“I am asking her, not you Ruphus!” snapped Auphous.

Sura didn’t like the tone Auphous used and hence was already feeling threatened by him. “What are you doing here?”

“Starting a new life” Sura replied.

Alora returned carrying food for Sura which she placed down beside her. “What are you giving her food for!?” Auphous said.
 
“She is tired and hungry and nearly drowned, I think she deserved something to eat dear” Alora replied.

“She is not of this family; she should leave now!” Auphous said.

Alora raised her eyebrow, her glare crossing her face. “This is my nest Auphous, don’t you forget that! I say that she shall stay until she has recovered!” She said firmly.

“You can’t possibly-!”

“Auphous!” Alora stood up, suddenly becoming a strict Swimmer, showing why she was a mother and how firm she could be. Her mate was taken aback by her outburst and though he felt like pushing the issue, the look on Alora’s face was enough to dissuade him, albeit reluctantly.

“Fine she can stay but only until she is healed, got that?”

“Yes” Sura and Ruphus both said. Looking at each other with surprise at how they had both spoken out at the same time. 


*


“How did your father and Sculra take to this?” Grandma Swimmer asked.

Ruphus chuckled humourlessly. “Badly. I refused to mate with Sculra and the Herd Leader refused to order me to, he thought our age gap was far too big and he knew of Auphous desires and he saw that was not what I wanted so he sided with me”


*


“But can’t you see she is perfect for him!?” Auphous protested.

“You can’t order me around like your family Auphous, all I see are two Swimmers with little in common and no mutual love for one another and that is without the ridiculous age gap. Sculra is old enough to be your son’s mother!” The Herd Leader said.

“And would you break Sculra’s heart? She loves him!” Auphous questioned.

“She is a big girl; she can take it” replied the Herd Leader bluntly. “If so, good day.” He trudged off leaving behind an infuriated Swimmer that was determined to get his way.


*


Grandma Swimmer sighed. “I take it that things did not end happily ever after then, did they?” she stated. 

“Not a chance.” Ruphus gestured for Grandma Swimmer to follow him further away from the nest and up to a nearby hill where he sat down there. Grandma Swimmer sat down beside him and looked over the Valley, it was dark and quiet except for the sounds of the bugs and beetles that were active at this time. A shining spider web gleamed in the starlight in a knot of branches a short distance away with the spider sitting in the centre of the web, patiently waiting for a meal to get stuck.
 
Grandma Swimmer couldn’t help but think of Sculra when she saw that, she was like a spider, only her webs were lies and deceit, threats and cruelty. “Make a complex web and the hunter will be trapped or aim for something to big and it will break you and your web. Her web shall fail with the size and complexity it has reached” Grandma Swimmer thought, looking at orb weaver in its circular web.

Ruphus cleared his throat. “So, with Sura offering a new perspective I could finally start to see the flaws in our own traditions and over the years I became more open, less restricted and more rebellious to my father and he in turn became harsher to me and Sura whom he regularly denounced and threatened. He never stopped telling her to ‘Go away’, while Sculra was also very cold to Sura and things just got more and more tense and heated up.”

Grandma Swimmer placed a hand over Ruphus back, a sympathetic gaze directed at him, prompting him to continue.
 
“It divided my family, my mother and many of my siblings liked Sura and they supported me and that led to fights with Auphous. One night after a bad fight I was sitting alone with Sura and I said that I wanted to spent my life with her, she had shown me so much love when I felt down and I had grown to love her in return. We decided we would leave in the morning….”


*


“What a day…” Ruphus said. “That old Swimmer of mine drives me up the tree more than ever nowadays.” He groaned as he lay on his back on the hill where Sura’s nest was. He was looking up to the starry sky, a half-moon shone down upon them.
 
Sura lay beside him in the same position. “Did you two have another argument?” She asked.

“Yep, he thought you were a waste of my time and said that you were a bad influence on me” Ruphus said.
 
 Sura placed her hand over her brow. “Does he really think I am that bad?”

“Yep” Ruphus said. He held Sura’s hand as they both looked to the sky.

“You know, I want to thank you for everything you have done: You and your mother. I never thought I would feel this at home ever since I left home and my father was not nearly as bad as yours.” Sura said, turning to look at him.

Ruphus turned to face her directly. “No need for thanks, Sura, it was the least I could do. Besides, my life has been far better with you around. I don’t need to get up at the crack of dawn anymore and I don’t have to submit to my father’s schemes. I can just be myself around you”

“You know, I knew I was ready to leave when my father chased me out and I would run away again if you were ready to leave with me” Sura said.

“But I can’t just leave my family” Ruphus replied passionately.

“They will understand Ruphus, we all have to make our own path and you’re are more than ready for it. Your family will understand when we tell them.” Sura said though she didn’t mean all of his family.

“Tell that to my father, he will lose his head if I did that.” Ruphus said holding his arms out. There was no way Auphous would allow his most promising son to abandon him instead of following through with the plan he had set in motion.
 
“Auphous doesn’t need to know, dear.” Sura said, her eyes widened as she heard herself saying dear.

Ruphus smiled and nudged her with his elbow. “You may be right, dear. I say we leave tomorrow and get out of here while we can, we just got to let mom know first.”

“I agree, dear.”

“You know, Sura… If there is anyone, I would love to spend my life with, it is you” Ruphus said.

Sura chocked back a happy sob and turned her body over and hugged him, warmth filling both their bodies and hearts at the realisation of their love. “Will you be mine?” She asked.

Ruphus just nuzzled her lovingly. “Always, my love, forever and always.”

The two fell into a peaceful slumber together, content at the choice they had made out of their love, a love that warmed them up during the cold night.   


*


“That night was one of my happiest.” Ruphus said, smiling as he recalled the night, he and Sura officially became a couple.
 
Grandma Swimmer nodded. “I can’t think of a better match for Sura then you Ruphus.”

Ruphus smiled and nodded in thanks before he stopped and looked down, Grandma Swimmer could see moisture collecting in Ruphus eyes for what was probably going to be an emotional climax to the story. “Come here dear.” She embraced him warmly as Ruphus took a shuddering breath and sniffed.

“I’m ok…”

“You don’t have to say anymore if you don’t want to, Ruphus.” Grandma Swimmer said, holding his hand as if he was a child that had just been reunited with a parent.

“No! I need to get this out now!” Ruphus said loudly, his voice full of raw emotion.

Grandma Swimmer nodded politely and listened.

“The next day was one of the worst of my life…” Ruphus said looking up at the stars again.

“Sura and I awoke in her nest and we heard a commotion nearby and my brother appeared, he said that my family nest was under attack by Sharpteeth and that they needed help to fight them off and we came. We fought, father showed up halfway through and he looked like he turned white. He joined in the fight and we drove them off but…” Ruphus chocked back a sob.


*


A Swimmer whose tail and lower body was drenched in blood walked over the body of the fallen Fast Biter, his skull had been crushed by his foot, spilling blood, bone and brains all over the place, the blood was still warm on his feet and he felt the pain over his tail that had received that slash from the Fast Biter. He was lucky to get away with only a slash, it was a good thing that Sura had his back then, she charged the Fast Biter when he was down and saved him.

He got off better than the body a few steps in front of him.
 
“Oh, Arron…” He knelt down beside his dead brother. His chest had been savagely ripped opened with claws and many of his vital organs lay scattered around him in a terrible display of viscera and gore. It was a painful death that poor Arron had suffered; he had been torn open while still alive.

Ruphus was heartbroken at the sight, they had shared interest in being a Herd Defender but unlike Ruphus, Arron did not have someone to stand by him in his trial by fire and hence he did not survive his first battle and right next to him was Lively.

She had been Ruphus favourite sibling, always having a smile on her face and saw the bright side of everything but now she lay lifeless on the ground, her body pale from the massive loss of blood. The Fast Biter slit her neck while she slept and her bloody gurgles woke the rest of the family in time for them to protect the children and fight off the Fast Biters. She never stood a chance.

Sura trudged over to him and hugged him tightly, tears falling down her eyes at the terrible sight before her. Arron and Lively had been her friends and it was a terrible blow to see them dead.

“Son….”

Ruphus turned and his stomach fell as he saw his mother laying on her back in a pool of blood, her belly ripped open and her intestines, laying out of her body, beside her. The stench of death was already on her Ruphus ran to her and held her body up in his arms. He was hyperventilating, tears blurred his vision as she placed a hand on his cheek.

She was barely alive. “I love you… look after yourself… and Sura… she is a worthy partner…Ruphus…I…” Every word seemed to take a terrific effort for Alora to say.

“Don’t talk… just… stay with me.” He said, desperately denying that his mother was doomed. Auphous trudged up to them, his face as white as chalk while Sura knelt down beside Ruphus.

“I will watch you two from the stars…” Alora said as the last of her tears slipped out and she fell limb in Ruphus arms. Ruphus trembled and gently set her down, he crawled to the side and cried out in pain as he mourned the death of his mother while Sura held onto him and cried with him.   

Auphous watched the scene with a feeling of guilt unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life, this was never supposed to happen… He could not believe how wrong things had gone. He engaged The Fast Biters as soon as he found out they attacked his family but it was too late… he had failed and his legacy lay all around him in broken tatters.

He felt light headed and fell to his knees beside the body of his mate, cupped his hands and began sobbing without restraint at the deaths he had caused.


*


Grandma Swimmer nuzzled his beak in a consolatory fashion.

“My brother Arron, my sister Lively, they were both killed and my mother was fatally injured, I held her in my arms when she finally died…” Ruphus closed his eyes and looked down, old pain and grief returning to hit him full force with emotion that he had repressed for years but finally being stirred up at seeing his father again.

“I’m so sorry Ruphus… it is never an easy thing” Grandma Swimmer said.

“It wasn’t even an accident!” He cried. “Auphous confessed a few days later that on Sculra’s suggestion he led Sharpteeth to our usual nesting spot near our family nest, only we weren’t there so when my father finally escaped them, they attacked my family. All that blood… On His Hands!” 

Grandma Swimmer gasped in horror; in all her years she had never heard of someone that would try such a horrible tactic. “That… That…!”

“Thing? Monster? I called him all those things and more, he tried to convince me to sleep with mother that night so Sura would be the only victim, he just didn’t know we snuck off in the middle of the night” Ruphus said glumly. “Sura may have slept at our nest but her sleeping spot was the furthest from the nest, he thought that she would be caught there but he was wrong… He wasn’t even thinking straight! He had lost his bloody mind!” Ruphus shouted.


*


The young adult Swimmer stood rooted to the spot while his while world seemed to fall apart around him as he stared at his father whose face was stained in tears. It had only been three days since they experienced their loss and early in the evening Auphous had come to Sura’s nest where Ruphus had moved to and pulled him away to talk. The terrible confession that had been eating Auphous since the attack finally saw the light of day and it shattered his son.

His own father had tried to kill his mate only things had not gone to plan. Instead of Sura being at the family nest she and Ruphus had headed off to go to her nest after Auphous had left and he accidentally brought a whole pack instead of the one Fast Biter that he planned on luring. He thought he could stage the Sharptooth attack that would kill Sura and remove her ‘corrupting influence’ from his son and then fight off the Sharptooth before it harmed anyone else.

His plan lay in ruins and he had the blood of three Swimmers on his hand.

“You… monster…” Ruphus said. He advanced towards him and punched him in the jaw hard, a blow that sent Auphous staggering. “You bastard! You killed them! You killed them!!! You tried to kill Sura! You killed Mother, Arron, Lively! I am ashamed to be your son! I might as well be a Son of a Sharptooth!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Auphous looked at Ruphus, he was a broken Swimmer filled with depression, gone was the harsh air of sternness and confidence. He accepted that he was to blame for everything.

“I’m… I’m so sorry…” He said lowering himself to his knees.

Ruphus looked down upon him in hatred which flared when he heard those pathetic words.

“You’re not my father… Tomorrow, Sura and I will leave this Herd… I never want to see you again and I promise that if we do meet again, I will make you pay for all you have done.” Ruphus said in an emotionless tone. His face became as cold and hard as stone as he condemned the Swimmer in front of him.

“Goodbye… Auphous, I hope it was worth it for you… I hope you understand one day that you shall never have my forgiveness. May I never fall as low as you in all my years to come. Goodbye you…” It took all of Ruphus restraint to not choke the pathetic Swimmer to death but he would not dirty his hands with more blood. What is done, is done and he couldn’t change that but he could still prevent more blood being spilt today.

This was not the way he envisioned leaving home and the way he ended that last sentence implied that Auphous was not even a Swimmer but a thing; An abomination for the gruesome actions he had committed. It was the harshest blow he could have dealt his father who was sitting weeping on the ground as Ruphus left. He never looked back.


*

 
Ruphus pounded his right fist into his left hand. “I wanted to kill him there! I really did! But he was needed to take care of his youngest clutch and he only confessed to me a few days later and I told Sura… I told him then that he wasn’t my father, I denounced him and that day I left the herd with Sura but Sculra followed us and she would join up with the new herd we were in few cycles of The Night Cycle later” Ruphus said. “I hoped I would never see him again.

“I am appalled, I think you did the best you could at the time, no wonder you hate him, no wonder you hate Sculra” Grandma Swimmer said.

Ruphus nodded. “We didn’t even know Sculra was involved until years later when she let slip that she chatted with Auphous the night the attack happened, I always suspected that she had some part in it, she wanted Sura gone as well as after all and that was all I needed to know that she helped my father kill innocent Swimmers of my family when none of them deserved it….” He swallowed the bile in his throbbing throat and sighed sadly.

“And now Auphous is a judge. Which means he will see all your children”

The male Swimmer nodded at Grandma Swimmer’s statement.

“You know, I think you should give him this chance to see whether he has changed.” Ruphus raised his head quickly to protest but Grandma Swimmer simply held up her hand. “I know now why you don’t want anything to do with him but don’t forget, you lost a brother and a sister and your mother, he lost his mate and three of his children because of his doing and he knows that. I don’t think he will try to harm any of us, if anything he seems to want to gain your forgiveness.”

Ruphus looked at her. “Something you have every right to refuse but I would like you to give him this change to show some remorse” 

He looked ahead into the distance thoughtfully then looked back at his mother in law. “He caused me so much pain and I miss my brother, my sister and my mother… I don’t think I will ever forgive him… but ok, I will try to let him have his chance… though I personally don’t give a damn about him…” His words were strained as he was still feeling highly emotional.
 
Ruphus turned back to the older Swimmer. ”You know, you remind me of my mother in some ways, she never let me keep my feelings inside, she always found a way to help me… I am glad to have you as part of my family”
 
Grandma Swimmer smiled “And I am delighted to have you as my family too dear, now come on. Tomorrow is a big day for your little ones and you don’t want to miss it either, I am sure”

“I certainly don’t” Ruphus said with a small smile returning to his face. They both got up and walked back towards the slumbering Swimmers at the nest. “Also thank you for being there for me back then” He said as he settled down in his scrape.

Grandma Swimmer smiled warmly at him. “You’re welcome, have a good night Ruphus” She said as she walked off to her sleeping spot. Tomorrow would be a very special star day for Ducky and her siblings that was one thing she was sure about as she prepared for her well-earned rest under the starlit sky.




Proofread by Sovereign.

OC Disclaimer:
Nishir, Takari and Sucky Belong to Ducky123
Pellie, Dribble and Penny Belong to OwlsCantRead
Whirlpool Belongs to Sovereign
Cove Belongs to lionkingfactsguy3
I have permission to use all their OCs.

[Sovereign]

This chapter was good stuff. Not only did it lay even more foundations on the upcoming Trials but it also created room for new conflict and drama. I really like how you’ve introduced the OCs as they don’t seem forced or unfitting to the story in any way. Likewise, Ruphus’ backstory was an interesting one though within it also lies my one major piece of criticism.

Nishir and Takari’s scene was quite fun and their chat with Echo and Opal was nice to read overall. While the duo’s denied love stuff was quite cliché, it still served as a good introduction to what they’re about in this story and I’ll follow their developments with pleasure. As for Whirlpool, you did justice to her. At first she seems like a complete jerk and someone you’d never want to meet and once she can see that you’re nice and capable, she turns into a more ordinary kid. I was happy to contribute to this fic and her fate in this story will be something to wait for.

As for Ruphus’ tale, it was good overall. It is now clear to us why he hates his own father with such passion as what Aophous did was horrible. In fact, it’s surprising Ruphus didn’t just kill him immediately as that’s what he would have deserved. That being said, the way their relationship is being built, it feels like there is some kind of reconciliation coming between the two, possibly as part of a future uprising against Sculra.

But that story also highlighted the way you handle traditions here. It makes little sense for someone to uphold purely bad traditions and tbh, Sura and Ruphus’ “tradition bad, anti-tradition good” preaches are really annoying. But I hope there will be more nuance coming to it in the future and overall, it wasn’t a huge point anyway. This was a good chapter and I hope we’ll see the next one soon enough.

[OwlsCantRead]

Sculra's back, and I admit that this chapter actually highlights one of her biggest flaws: she can't do anything to Sura and Ducky directly, only indirect manipulation. Normally I'd be a fan, but the show don't tell nature of the story and Sculra explaining her plan in the prose instead of leaving it implicit unfortunately kills the suspense, which is an issue that will only really be solved with her swimming sharptooth plot put into action since it is the culmination of everything this story has worked towards, but as this point I feel like it's just a tenuous rivalry between Sura and Sculra and it's a bit irritating since by this point Ducky has more than earned her way out of being Sculra's puppet.

I liked Whirlpool's inner depths as well as Nishir and Takari together with another similar pair, but I will admit, of all the new introduced characters, Cove grew on me the most, because irl I act very much like him, someone who doesn't take risks and follows instructions down to a T. Having him paired up with the most mischievous of the group is a very fitting situation, considering that I would somehow get myself entangled in similar situations. Alice's talk with Sura does explain how different her mindset is from the traditionalist mindset, but I will admit, I really didn't expect Alice to concede so easily. Given that the core basis of The Swimmer Trials is that not all traditions are good, it would make more sense for Ducky's triumph and a reveal of a rigged tradition to change her mind rather than Sura targeting Seel, but it does make sense in the grand scheme of things to prove that even die-hard loyalists have doubts in the system.

Lastly is Ruphus' backstory, and I will admit, it does have an air of tragedy to it. The fact that Sculra is ultimately responsible for manipulating him makes me feel like he will be on Ruphus' side eventually, but it remains to be seen if his son can forgive him. Despite all my comments, it is a perfectly functional chapter which sets up the stakes of the upcoming trials and everything the tradition stands for, so good job.

[The Lone Dragon]

Chapter 69: A New Age

The nest was already in a flurry of activity by the time Ruphus had woken up having slept in far longer than what Sura would have normally deemed as ‘appropriate for a father’ …And yet the fact that he had woken at this late of an hour by himself without having to be woken by Sura indicated to the rather well rested Swimmer that she had allowed him to sleep in on this particular day. Something she didn’t often let him do but being a father was a full-time job and he was grateful for any sleep he got even if that meant sleeping in. It was ironic though that the day Ruphus would have wanted to be up at his usual time he had been allowed to sleep in. This day was a special one, the very day that marked his christening as a father.
 
This was the Starday of his oldest children.

Already he could see all his children playing in the water beside the nest with his beloved Sura, he couldn’t stay asleep for this!

Ruphus shook his head in order to banish his remaining weariness, pushed himself upright, and power walked to the river by the nest. Sura was laying on her belly in the shallow water as her children played around her. She occasionally splashed her children when they splashed her, but she was more than content with being with her little ones. From the shore, Cyrest and Grandma Swimmer were watching with broad smiles on their faces. Merri was supervising the hatchlings and little tails while the older children including Spike played Swimmer and Splasher in the cool waters.

“The one day I want to be awake and you make me sleep in!” Ruphus groused to Sura, who laughed at him.

“I didn’t make you do anything dear, you really needed rest after yesterday,” Sura objected in a genuine tone, the twinkle in her eyes supporting that. “I was just being kind, love.”

She was right that he was rather tired after what had happened yesterday with his father: the sleep he had gotten had been a blessing even if it meant sleeping in on his children’s Starday.

“Ok, you got me dear but I still would have liked to have been up for this.” He quickly worked his way into the water, and with a powerful stroke of his tail, he sent a large wave at his oldest children who were swamped by it but surfaced unharmed. “Happy Starday, kids!” Ruphus trumpeted loudly to eight happy acknowledgements and delighted faces.

Ruphus couldn’t deny how overjoyed he was for his kids, so many Swimmers never even made it to the twelfth year, most of them would die thanks to all manner of things that the world would throw at them in the course of their lives. The fact that his first clutch had hatched in The Mysterious Beyond and survived everything thus far was an incredibly heralded feat, and he was unbelievably grateful for that. There were times where both he and Sura had believed they had lost one of their young ones, usually Ducky and Spike, who caused an unhealthy amount of stress for them both with all the adventures they went on.

But none of that mattered now. His children were all here and even with The Trials starting the next day - and The Trial looming in the near future - he would not allow himself to be distracted from this moment in time. This was a day for his kids and the horrid Trial be damned - he was determined to enjoy the day with them.

“Come on, Dad!” Spinner shouted as his father sat on his haunches next to Sura. “I wanna play dive-It!”

“Alrighty then, everyone who wants to play - jump on” Ruphus dipped his hands in the water as all his eldest children swam on. Each one wanted to participate in this game. Ruphus clamped his hands together and even then, it was a cramped fit for the eight young Swimmers. 

Ruphus raised his cupped hands up to chest height. “Alright, when you’re ready, one at a time and I will judge,” He gave them a wink. Diver looked especially eager since this was her favourite game and she was pretty much guaranteed a win when she played it. Unless she was having a really bad day which – to her credit - did not happen too often. However, she was last on her father’s hands which means she would be the last to jump.
 
“Well, save the best till last,” Diver assured herself with a determined grin on her face. She was ready to show exactly why she had been named ‘Diver.’

Spinner was the first to dive.

“What’re the odds that he’ll do six spins?” Rapid postulated.

“Nope, eight,” Echo corrected brazenly.

Spinner rolled his eyes but if his two cheeky betters of brothers thought he was going to be twirling to that low of a number, they were sorely mistaken. He vaulted from his father’s palm and was almost instantly spinning as briskly as he could, his world was a virtually whirling sight, but he concentrated on tipping his head and beak straight down while birling his brown and aqua-undersided figure around like a top. Accelerating faster and faster, doing four pivots then five then two more and finally going all the way past the ninth one he braced the water after his tenth and final spin. He swam to the surface shaking his head to dispel the dizziness that he felt from the disorientating revolving dive.

“How was that?” He supplicated, inwardly concealing his pride.

“A new record Spinner!” Ruphus lauded his whirlpool of a son. “Perhaps that’s what we should have named him?”

He chuckled and grinned when he saw the floored expressions of Echo and Rapid while everyone else clapped and sang their praises to their brother. Even their younger siblings watching from the water cheered for him as he forded the other side and allowed room for Rapid to step to the edge of their father’s fingers.

“Step aside, and let me show you how it's really done!” He broadcasted in his usual arrogant way.

“In your sleep stories, Mr. Cocky Arse!” Diver jeered.

Rapid scoffed at Diver giving an overly dramatic roll of his brown eyes.

“Pay attention,” He barked in a miffed fashion, right before he unceremoniously leapt onto Echo’s back.

The light brown boy cried out at him in annoyance as his brother spring boarded off of his spine. Rapid hopped up, began somersaulting and with even longer of a fall than usual, he was able to make twelve forwards somersaults before he straightened up, then performed an excellent straight dive that rivalled Spinner’s; though that would be up to his father to decide which was the better dive. Rapid swam to the shallow waters where his younger siblings were clapping for him.

“Beat that!” He called to Echo swankily.

Echo gave a determined grin. “Oh, it is on Rapid!”

He marched all the way to the edge of his father’s hand where it meets the wrist, sped forward as fast as he could muster and sprung up onto his father’s fingers. Bending his legs, Echo made the final jump, but unlike his other siblings, he was going for distance as he struck a kicking attack pose and did a single somersault, then straightened out and extended his arms. If he was a flyer, he’d have extended his wings. It was as if he could almost be mistaken for a flying Swimmer even if he was just falling in style.

“Hey, this is not a flying competition, Echo!” Rapid called mockingly from below.

Echo must have heard him for he started doing a somersault then a second kick pose and repeating it for at least three times before angling his body for a diagonal dive. The light brown boy splashed down into the deeper waters and sped through the water thanks to his angle of entry and the speed of his fall. Bubbles surrounded his body and he blazed a trail of them along until they were gone. He then turned and swam to the shore to a chorus of claps, cheers, and whistles, and a very unhappy Rapid.

“That’s how you do it, Rapid,” Echo corrected his brother, who gave him a seething look.

But it was just a game and he could stomach his ego on this game more than others because no matter how hard the boy’s tried, Diver was almost certainly going to come up with something that would blow everyone’s performance out of the water.

The two boys looked up to see Ducky preparing to take her jump, her tail wagging with anticipation when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder with a puzzled expression.

“Huh?” She blinked in mild surprise.

Opal grinned at her cheekily. “Hey, Ducky, shall we give these guys a real show?” She gave her sister a wink.

Ducky’s eyes narrowed mischievously and she gave a single nod, so both sisters ran and sprung into the air. They angled their jumps so they had crossed and as they did so they clutched each other’s shoulders and spun as they fell. To their family it was now impossible to distinguish the twins even when they finally broke off as they opened their eyes only for a moment to see each other and take note of where they were. The two near-identical twin sisters shut their eyes and did a synchronised blind dive. The two sisters whirled and somersaulted in the air simultaneously, indistinguishable from each other and in perfect sync: even their elevation was level as they straightened and dived with hardly a splash. The two sisters surfaced and only once they had opened their eyes could they be distinguished.     

“That was wonderful, you two!” Sura called from her position. The two girls had garnered the loudest cheers from their siblings thus far as they rejoined them.

“Which one of you was on the right side?” Echo asked. Even though Ducky could be distinguished from Opal now by her recent scars, she had been twisting at such speeds they were blurred and unwitnessed by the eye. The result being: that it was still impossible to distinctly tell the two apart when they dived.

“It was…. was Ducky… I think,” Rapid said, before he slumped defeated, he clearly didn’t know which of his sisters was on the right side during the dive. “No, I’m sure it was Opal!” 

Ducky and Opal laughed. “I was on the right side; I was I was,” Ducky corrected before she and Opal turned to watch Ray take his place.

Ray looked down at the water for a few moments in contemplation and finally shrugged. “Oh, what the heck.”

The boy simply ‘fell’ off his father’s hand and performed an incredibly dull dive, he kept his body straight and did one somersault and the rest was a vertical fall. That was it. That was his “dive.” His dive was more splash than spectacle and even the splash was minimal. Nevertheless, he still received cheers from his siblings.

“Is that it?” Opal deadpanned, unimpressed as Ray swam over to her and his siblings.

“Hey, we’re going up against Diver,” Ray insisted with a shrug and sat down in the water to watch Sandy’s dive. “I couldn’t be bothered.”

Said yellowish hued Swimmer turned around facing her father and taking in a slow breath and let it out then she dropped, but not before grasping her father’s fingers and allowing her lower body’s momentum swing her in a pendulum motion. Then, she arched into the air and released her grip on his father’s nails. The yellow girl spun herself skywards, tail first, returning to the elevation of Ruphus’ hands. Cresting, Sandy somersaulted backwards, before diving at maximum velocity, pivoting in such a way that it rivalled Spinner’s trademark movement. Though she didn’t achieve his level of speeds, she still sped earthward before twisting into a forward somersault. She attempted to straighten back out, but cannonballed mid-somersault with a resounding splash.

“Oooooh!” Everyone chorused with concern as she surfaced; it had certainly been a decent effort, but she had bit it at the end. Sandy gave a brief thumbs up to show that she was all right before making her way over to her siblings.

“Nice try, Sandy,” Echo soothed her.

“You nearly had it too, you did, you did,” Ducky agreed.

Sandy nodded though she seemed a little unhappy with her performance. “You’ll get it next time Sandy,” Opal reassured, encircling her arm around her sister who smiled at the comforting gesture and nodded.

“Yes, I will,” she affirmed, bucking up.

Everyone then looked up.

“And here comes Diver,” Rapid queried an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “What do you think she’ll do this time?”

“I gave up trying to predict what Diver will dive ages ago” Ray confessed.

“Let’s watch then!” Sandy hushed her brother.

All eyes turned to Diver. 

Diver boasted a determined grin, her eyes narrowed as she raced across her father’s hand. Leaping and starting to angle herself for her anticipated dive, it was short-lived as Ruphus suddenly clipped her tail with a single finger with such nonchalance. It almost looked like he just casually flicked her! Spiralling out of control with a startled scream, Diver struggled to right herself as she was in for a full-on belly flop. Fortunately, she felt a ginger yet firm pressure upon her tail tip as her father caught her with his beak, unceremoniously swaying invertedly much to the amusement of both Rapid and Echo.

“Great fall, Diver!” Rapid jeered in between laughs.

The deep green Swimmer attempted to pull herself back up, but Ruphus abruptly released her, causing the poor girl to hit the water with an undignified squeal. Her siblings all howled with laughter at the antics. Even though Diver clearly wouldn’t be the winner, she was definitely succeeding in the most comical of performances.

“Dad!” She quailed accusingly once she resurfaced.

Her father glanced up innocently, finding new attention in the observing clouds.

“You did that on purpose!” She groused sharply and audibly, folding her arms and putting on an unmistakable pout that could put some of her younger siblings to shame.

“Of course not!” Ruphus gasped with a dramatic recoil despite everyone catching him in the act. “Why would you think that?!”

“Because you’re a cheeky Swimmer, dear,” Sura called with a laugh, Ruphus smiled at her but he did not contest her statement.

“Ha! I guess Diver won’t be winning this time!” Ray proclaimed heartily.

“Dammit! If I had known that I would not have tried” Diver gave an indignant scoff as she joined her siblings.

“So, who won Dad!?” Ray called with verve.

“Not Diver,” Ruphus declared cheekily to the laughter of his children while Diver rolled her eyes and poked her tongue at her father.

This only succeeded in making him chuckle, though with his father around, old memories reminded him how he was once punished for such behaviour. His smile dulled for a moment but he swiftly put those dreadful memories back into the corner of his mind to announce the victor of the game.

Ruphus looked at each of the children and scratched his chin. “Hmmmmm….”

“Oh, come one dad cut the act!” Rapid shouted.

Ruphus chuckled at Rapid’s impatience and Diver’s face was contorted in a hilarious pout. “Ruphus, stop torturing the children.” Sura said but her smile betrayed her enjoyment.

“Bah! That’s no fun. Alright, fine— the winner goes too….” His children looked up at him eagerly.

“…………”

His children’s faces began to droop and Sura shook her head.

“………….”

“DAD!”

“Ruphus!”

Sura and all her children shouted at once.

Ruphus laughed at them all. “Alright, alright, Ducky and Opal take it. I couldn’t tell who was who, just perfect synergy between you two.”

“Yay!” Ducky pumped her fist up and jumped and clapped her hands with a celebrating Opal.

“Synergy?” Ray scratched his head in confusion, having never heard the word before.

“Teamwork, dear,” Sura explained.

“Ahhhh, yep, they did,” Ray admitted with a nod.

“Of course, Ducky would have to win this— come on, she’s got all the special training!” Rapid pouted at his loss, giving Diver a run for her treestars.

“And are you saying that her training includes beating Diver at her own game, Rapid?” Echo asked.

Rapid halted in her thoughts for a second before he conceded with a nod.

“Okay, good point,” he conceded.

He looked at Diver who was poking her tongue at her father who bounced his eyebrows at her in a cheeky manner. Sura chuckled and pushed Ruphus’ arm.

“Come now, dear, no more naughty behaviour from you. Diver, I think you can have some of your favourite underwater green food!” Sura smiled as she saw Diver’s pout turn upside down in an instant.

“Thank you, Mom!” She said happily with an excited wag of her tail.

Arriving on the bank, Trough looked down at the fun time his friends were having in the water, but he needed help from one specifically before he made any starday wishes. He quickly entered the water and swam under it to the yellow coloured Swimmer, poking his head up behind her.

“Pssst! Sandy!” He pulled her tail slightly.

“Huh! Wha!?” Sandy looked around and saw Trough there. “Oh, hiya Tr-“

“Shhhhhh!!” Trough hissed almost submerging again as he looked about for any more ears listening in. “I need your help finishing it,” He whispered in such a quiet undertone that Sandy had to bend down to hear him, but once she got the message her eyes widened and lit up in realisation. Sandy silently nodded and gestured to the shore, both submerging to get to a quiet part of the shore without detection from any obnoxious Swimmers.

Swimming over to the nearby tree and getting out behind it, Sandy and Trough both came ashore and shook themselves dry before running off to the predetermined hiding place.

Less than a minute after the two Swimmer’s left did the Gang arrive. It was, after all, going to be a day that they all celebrated the majority of their stardays. In addition to the normal members of the Gang, they were accompanied by Shorty, Ali, Thermal and Amethyst. Thermal was here because he had a friendship with Diver and Amethyst after being away from Ruby for so long and wanted to spend as much time with his elder sister as possible, especially after losing his clutch mate.

As the Gang arrived, Spike, who had been more than happy to just enjoy his third breakfast while his adoptive siblings were playing had finished eating the last of the bush he had been gorging on and approached his friends with a welcoming grunt.

The kids greeted Spike with their various unique greetings. Spike grunted affectionately and gestured forward so the kids and he gestured to the water where the rest of his family was currently enjoying themselves. Ducky immediately swam to the shore when she saw her friends coming. “Happy Starday Littlefoot, Ruby, and Cera!” She yelled ecstatically to all her friends that were celebrating their starday with her.

Of course, Ruby’s starday was not on the same day as theirs and nor was Petrie’s but Ruby had her starday only a few days away so they would celebrate en masse on this day. Petrie’s starday was still a couple weeks away so they would celebrate his separately.
 
“Happy starday Ducky!” The gang said in unison as the made their way other to the shore.

“Mind if we join you?” Chomper asked, giving off a toothy grin which failed to intimidate any of the children having long been acclimated to Chomper’s mannerisms.

“Come on, come on! We can play Swimmer and Splasher together, we can, we can!” Ducky said, waving them towards the water as she jumped back in, this time Spike walked with the gang into the water with them.

The Swimmers and the gang exchanged ‘hello’s’ and ‘Happy Starday’s’ with each other as they came together in the cool shallow water. Having heard Ducky’s call to play Swimmer and Splasher from the shore, her clutch mates were more than happy to join her and her friends in their game.

“Who’s going to be the Swimmer?” Diver asked. Spike gave her a playful grunt and splashed his tail down next to her, sending her under the water with a surprised squeal as he moved into the middle of the circle that his friends and family had formed.

“Looks like Spike wants to be the Swimmer,” giggled,” Ali as Spike nodded and gave a grunt of affirmation and closed his eyes.

With Petrie and Thermal hovering in the air above everyone took their positions around the bigger children partnering with one of Ducky’s siblings.

Echo was next to Littlefoot in front of Spike.

Cera was next to Rapid, who seemed to be more interested in her rather than Spike as he admired her strong body. That was something he admired, along with her tough attitude. She was someone that he idolised even if he never showed it and yet everyone knew about it for some reason.

Ali was standing next to Ray.

Shorty by Spinner.

Ruby was beside Opal, who clapped her hands with the taller Fast Runner in a playful manner.

Chomper stood next to Ducky.

And lastly Amethyst stood with Diver.

Each pair took up position in a wide circle around Spike.

“Alright, Spike! We’re ready!” Littlefoot called.

Spike nodded and articulated loudly: he didn’t say Swimmer everyone knew Spike and this was just his way of saying ‘Swimmer’.

“Splasher!” Everyone shouted in turn.

And as the game began with Spike moving towards Shorty and Spinner as they called the loudest, no one seemed to notice, certainly not any of the Swimmers that, that one of the clutchmates was missing from the game.


*


“Is this good enough? What do you think?”

Sandy rolled her eyes at the nervous comment that Trough had made for the third time now. “It is-“

“Do you think Ducky will like it?! It has to be perfect! And I’ve been working so hard and it’s great that you’re helping, but I-“

“Trough!” Sandy clamoured as loud as she dared and clamped the nervous wreck of a Swimmer’s beak shut with her hand. “It looks fine. Ducky will love it, so stop worrying. You don’t need to add anything more, okay?”

Trough took a deep breath and sighed as he looked upon the thing that he had worked so hard the last few weeks to prepare for this day, for Ducky’s starday. He knew what the plan was for the day but he wanted to do something extra special to the Swimmer that not only had done the impossible but also meant so much to him.

After hearing that Sky Colour Stones would not be a viable option for a Starday gift, he had a sudden and completely random flash of inspiration which led him to the only Swimmer that he knew that could help him. Sandy had been rather enthusiastic about Trough’s idea and was instantly on board for this collaboration. And so, in secret the pair got to work. Usually getting up late at night or finding time before breakfast to get up and work on a gift from both of them.

Sandy knew that the only gift that any of her siblings would desire, herself included, was spending time with each other and their friends on this day and perhaps having their favourite foods but Trough’s request… It struck a chord with Sandy, and she was sure that it would be the same for all her family— but for Ducky most of all.

In the back of her mind Sandy was mildly worried if this gift could backfire and make her sister sad… but she had seen ever since her sister had returned, she had changed. She had become far stronger emotionally, mentally, and physically that in many respects reminded Sandy of her and in her opinion stronger sisters; Diver and Opal.

Strong enough that Sandy was sure that Ducky could handle the emotions that would come with their gift.   

Trough’s exhale cut her off her train of thought. “Well, if you say so, Sandy. When shall we give it to her?” He asked.
 
“After we all get out of the water for lunch. Then we can give it to her. Now, come on! Let’s get back to games! It’s my starday too, after all!” Sandy enthusiastically ran back the way she came towards the water and her family and friends. Trough watched her go and looked down at his gift and smiled at it with melancholy.

“I wish you were here,” he said softly, turning on his heels and walking back to join the others in their game of Swimmer and Splasher. It was a game that he had grown very fond of playing with the gang and not only because it took place in the water and that he got to splash everyone, but it really radiated a sense of friendship that had so far in his life, eluded him until he had met Ducky and her friends.

Trough had even started to get over his fear of Chomper and Ruby. He still had an instinctual caution, yet so far both the little Sharptooth and Fastrunner had been not only trustworthy, but friendlier than all the children in his herd. The irony was simply ridiculous that a predator and an eggstealer could be better friends than his own kind.

"What a strange world we live in" Trough thought as he arrived back at the water’s edge.

For a moment he enjoyed watching Ducky, Spike and all her family splash Cera as she blindly searched for them, occasionally shouting out “Swimmer!” and her friends shouted “Splasher!” in response. Cera seemed to be targeting Littlefoot, but so far, he was keeping his distance while splashing water at her with his tail much to her annoyance. It really was fun to watch her blindly chase through the water which more often than not led her to tripping and falling, or of Littlefoot giving her the slip and the cycle would repeat. At least till Cera changed targets if she failed to catch Littlefoot, but she seemed pretty determined to catch the elusive Longneck. Trough smiled and dived into the water; he wasn’t going to let the chance of splashing Cera go to waste. After all, he would never get to do this any other time.

Little did he know that he wasn’t the only Swimmer watching this scene.


*


Hidden behind the trees a long distance from the Swimmer family nest stood Auphous; he was laying low and concealed in the thick green bushes that surrounded him. The last thing he wanted to do was cause a repeat of what happened at the Mingling. However, now that he knew he had family here; his grandchildren. He just had to find where his son lived. Considering that he wanted to lay low, he didn’t ask anyone who had been present at the Mingling or had heard about it through anyone that was there, which was easier said than done. Luck was on his side fortunately when he found a young Swimmer by the name of Elly that had no children of Trial age, that had not heard the news, nor knew his identity as Ruphus’ father. She was more than happy to point him in the direction of Ruphus’ nest, and so here he was.

He couldn’t fault Ruphus or even Sura, much as he hated to admit about the latter; they had chosen a good place to nest. It had everything your average Swimmer would want, but the nesting sight came second now as he used his sharp eyes to observe the many children playing in the water.

Swimmers were known to have large numbers of offspring, but very few of them made it to adulthood and even fewer lived to old age; so, he was rather surprised by just how many children were playing. Were all these Swimmers his grandchildren? If so then Ruphus and Sura had done very well and seemed to have a high survival rate, but that was probably due to where they lived.

Auphous shook his head— of course if they went into the outside world, they would all probably be screwed if they lived their lives safe all the time, but he would reserve his judgement at least on the older children till after The Trials.

The other thing that caught him by surprise and somewhat angered him was what he determined to be Sura’s influence, as evidenced by the kids of the ‘other kinds’ playing with their kids. He could see a small number of Longnecks, a couple Flyers, and a Spiketail and Threehorn, easily. He heavily disapproved of the Threehorn.  Everyone knew that Threehorns were short-tempered, mindless brutes. The true shock came when he spotted the two Fast Runner children.

“What kind of crazy parent would have Eggstealer offspring around their nest!?” He thought in outrage, but when he spotted the Sharptooth, his jaw completely dropped and he had to rub his eyes and blink. He was sure he was seeing things or that his mind was playing a cruel trick on him.

“Impossible!” He barked loudly.

He would have given away his position if he wasn’t so far away. His eyes weren’t deceiving him and as much as he hated to admit it, that was a Sharptooth playing with the children of his family. And Sura and Ruphus were completely complacent of that fact!? Auphous couldn’t have felt more ashamed of his own son seeing him associating with a Sharptooth and letting his kids play with one.

Auphous didn’t want to make a scene again, and he didn’t want to make life hard for his grandkids; but this was something he and the other elders just couldn’t ignore!

Ducking under the trees and backtracking till he was out of the woods, Auphous sprinted away.


*


The drenched kids walked out of the water, tired and wet but incredibly happy. Trough had made sure to double gang Cera and Shorty with Ducky for all the jokes they pulled on them. Littlefoot and Ali were more than happy to help them in this endeavour. So, when it was time for Cera’s turn as the Swimmer, Littlefoot and Ali basically pushed Shorty straight into the Threehorn, and along with everyone else, dunked them and splashed them with as much water as possible.

Everything devolved there from a game to a full-blown water fight with everyone going for each other. Trough found out this the hard way when Ducky started splashing him. The water was filled with laughter under the watchful, content eyes of the adults until finally everyone was spent and ready for lunch. The Swimmer siblings were planning on staying the rest of the day at home except Opal, who planned on spending the rest of her day with her friends, and Ducky, who would head off with her friends for a sleepover at the Hidden Glade. With Ducky getting back before the Trials began in the late morning being the only condition that The Gang had to meet.

However, Trough was not going to head off until he had given Ducky his gift. Rather than just food from the upcoming giving ceremony, he waited until everyone had almost finished with lunch before putting his own little unveiling ceremony into action.

“Hey, um, Ducky?” He spoke up, standing next to his friend, whom was sitting next to Spike and Chomper while enjoying some long grass and shrub.

Ducky swallowed the remainder of her food and looked up at the rather nervous Swimmer. “What is it, Trough?” She questioned, noting how Trough only seemed to shake a little with what appeared to be nervous, excited energy.

“I, um… well I have something to show you when you are ready.”

Ducky tilted her head, intrigued by Trough’s statement; indeed a few of her siblings seemed interested as well, save for Sandy who was watching eagerly, her tail wagging as she tried to keep her excitement down.

“I am ready now, Trough, I am,” Ducky said while getting to her feet and following Trough back towards the nest.

Sandy couldn’t help herself; she jumped up and followed them along with a curious Echo and Spinner.

Trough led them past the nest and over to a lone tree standing by the bank, the ground was a little slippery with mud here as the area was often lightly inundated. At the base of the tree above the tangled roots was a narrow hollow; it was just above the area of inundation. Trough held his hand up as a gesture for Ducky and her siblings to stop, then jumped up onto the roots, and carefully balanced on them as he walked up to the hollow and reached into it. He then carefully pulled out what looked like a very large bit of strip bark of some kind. This got some curious gazes from the siblings, and Echo looked suspiciously at Sandy. He recognised that sort of tail wag and how she patted the heels of her hands together with excitement: this was how she often got when she was unveiling another one of her creations to the family. The brown Swimmer hopped down onto a small patch of grass with a slight squish as the grass sank into the mud but kept him stable and kept the mud off his feet. It would be very bad if his gift was ruined at the last minute.

He held the bark behind his back and walked over to Ducky, his heart beating as if it was in his throat.

“For you, Ducky: Happy Starday.”

Trough pulled the bark out from behind his back and turned it around to show Ducky what was on the other side, and it got a reaction instantly. There were gasps of astonishment from Echo and Spinner and squeals of delight from Sandy, but Ducky couldn’t seem to articulate anything. It was as if the very breath in her lungs was taken, and she had to remember to breathe in a loud exhale. Her beak remained wide open and she reached out to take the bark that Trough was holding.

He gave it over, nervously gauging Ducky’s reaction intently.

Ducky’s pupils had shrunk at the initial reveal but then dilated to their normal size. As she took in what she was seeing, tears started to gather at the corner of her eyes. With a warm but sad smile, she gazed into the face of her loving deceased aunt:

Bluey.

It was now clear why Sandy was so excited, and it was also obvious that she had a hand with this gift. Absolutely no one could compete with her steady, creative hands and crafty mind.

“Sandy helped me a lot with this,” Trough confessed. “She helped me get the shape and prepare the colours, and then I did the rest from memory.” There was a quaver at those last words. The boy swiped a knuckle at his own eyes.

The picture on the thin strip of bark was drawn with black charcoal to form the outline and details of Bluey’s body, with Sandy had no doubt probably done some of her own experimenting to get the right colour of blue with the ochre pigments she had. It was spot on. Her light blue colour was just perfect with some hints of a deeper blue here and there.

It was the visage of Bluey that Ducky remembered from the colour. The necklace was also coloured on.

The smile and the sight of those friendly eyes brought love into her heart… but also a pang of sadness as the memories of Bluey’s death came to mind. However, the picture that Trough had made had captured her essence as if she was really there in front of her as that picture. Ducky held it close. Closing her eyes as the wayward tears dripped down her face, the smile on her beak displayed her true feelings.

“Wow, you’ve really outdone yourself, Sandy!” Echo said.

Spinner was also in awe of the collaboration result. “How on earth did you manage to make a blue colour?!” he exclaimed, as he didn’t even know that was possible.

Sandy giggled, “Lots of trying, lots of colouring disasters, and lots of baths.”

Trough was not focused on the three Swimmers, as he only had eyes on Ducky who now looked at him with so much love in her eyes. She gently passed the picture to Sandy and rushed forward, crushing the air out of Trough’s lungs in an asphyxiating hug. Trough let out a harsh wheeze as he was enveloped by Ducky’s warm embrace.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Ducky cried out, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Trough would have blushed if it were not for his face already growing red as he struggled for air.

“Ducky…! Can’t…!”

Echo laughed at Trough’s plight. “Hey, Sis, you might want to let Trough go before he keels over from lack of air,” he suggested as he gave Ducky a poke on the shoulder.

Ducky blushed and let go of Trough, who slumped slightly and finally took a deep breath. He felt like he had just come up from a very long dive.

“Sorry, Trough,” she apologized and put a hand on his shoulder, beaming.

Trough peered up at her face, feeling the same warmth flow over him as he did when they first met. A wholesome warmth that he had seldom experienced in life, but was now living and experiencing with more frequency than ever since he met Ducky and the Gang.

“It looks so much like Aunty Bluey…” Ducky noted, as a quivering note of pure emotion could be heard in her voice.

At the mention of the aunt that they never got to meet, Echo and Spinner both gazed back at the picture with considerably more interest. They beheld the portrait of how their aunt was when she was alive.

“She looks beautiful,” Sandy awed.

“I didn’t even know Swimmers were that colour,” Spinner said, gazing at the light blues on his aunt’s body.

He knew that his brother Echo and his father had some aquamarine on them, but it was not like the aqua shade of blue he was witnessing in the portrait of his aunt.

“I wish we could have met her,” Echo said solemnly.

He was making an effort to memorise every shade, every curve of Bluey’s body and the smile. It would be the closest he ever got to meeting her.

“This was the bestest Starday gift ever, Trough,” Ducky declared with a loving smile on her face as she embraced him again; and thankfully in a looser grip so Trough could effectively return the hug without being strangled.

“You’re welcome, Ducky,” Trough said warmly to the two sisters, “and thank you as well, Sandy. You’re awesome.”

Sandy looked abashed by Trough’s comment, which got her flushing, “Oh, I only did the basics. You did most of the work.”

“Sandy, stop being modest!” Echo gave her a soft elbow.

“You’re the best drawer in the Valley!” Spinner agreed, much to his sister’s embarrassment as she hid her face behind the picture she helped create.

Sandy handed over the drawing to Echo abruptly.

“IjustrememberedIneedtobesomewherebye!” the yellowish girl announced in one breath to escape from any more embarrassment.

The remaining Swimmers laughed at Sandy’s exit.

“I am keeping this by the nest and I am going to show it to everyone! Yep, yep, yep!” Ducky grabbed the picture and skipped back towards the nest.

Echo placed a hand on Trough’s shoulder. “You know you’re awesome, too, Trough,” Spinner nodded in full hearted agreement. “Thanks for showing us our aunt.”

Trough smiled and nodded back at his friends. He could hardly describe how great he felt at being called awesome, which was also something he had never experienced.

Unfortunately, his happy bubble didn’t last long.

“Because of that we won’t tell everyone that Ducky kissed you when she hugged you!” Echo burst out laughing while Spinner sniggered as they turned tail and headed back, leaving Trough standing rooted to the spot.

His face flushed strongly as he felt the blood run to his cheeks.

At the very least no one else would know about this. He didn’t want to picture what would happen if Diver, Rapid, Cera, or Shorty found out what had transpired. They would never let him hear the end of it!

Suddenly, a commotion sounded in the direction of the nest.

There appeared to be a lot of adult voices in that mix. It snapped Trough out of his stupor, as he quickly booked it back towards the nest to see what was the matter.


*

 
The commotion turned out to be a small group of elderly Swimmers, each marked with the uncommon greyness of old age that most dinosaurs were unable to reach. Trough didn’t recognise any of them. He saw about eleven elders, six males and five females. He quickly ran over to The Gang who had assembled a little distance away with Echo, Spinner and Sandy joining them.

“What is going on?” Trough asked as he saw one of the Swimmers that looked a lot like Ruphus approached.

The aforementioned Swimmer had a look of rage on his face.

“I don’t know, they just showed up,” Littlefoot frowned as he watched the scene play out.

Unlike Trough, Ducky and her clutchmates recognised who that Swimmer leading the elders was.

“But that is our Grandpa,” Ducky pointed to the old Swimmer that was currently arguing with her father and pointing over towards them, specifically to the Sharptooth in the group.

Chomper and Ruby could both hear their names, and Ruby stood protectively in front of her little brother and Chomper like a parent protecting their eggs. She didn’t even seem to react to the fact that this was Ducky’s grandfather with the surprise that her friends had. She only responded to the feeling of danger that she sensed from him, even from this far off.

“What is he doing here?” Echo said in amazement, as he didn’t think that his grandfather would show up to the nest after being called out so harshly by his father.

“Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s to wish you a Happy Starday,” Cera remarked.

The younglings decided to keep their distance.

But as the level of hostility being shown from Ruphus to his father was becoming quite concerning even with Sura, her mother and Cyrest came to stand by him.

Grandma Swimmer in particular strode up to Ruphus, standing between him and Auphous, and placed her hands on his shoulders. She seemed to be telling him something, probably trying to get him to calm down. It was an action that Ruphus seemed to do reluctantly.

As calm seemed to be restored, another male and female from the bunch of elders stepped forward to take Auphous place. The two were bright green, appearing like that of twins. The conversation that passed was significantly quieter than the previous exchange and significantly more civil. As if sensing that any immediate danger had passed, the children came closer till they were about a Longneck’s length from the confrontation where they could clearly hear the exchanges between the adults.

“A Sharptooth in a Swimmer family is unprecedented!” the male elder seethed.

“He is not in our family. He is simply allowed to stay with us while he is here if he so chooses! Same with Ruby,” Sura rebuked sharply, her gaze drifting to Chomper and Ruby.

She gave a single blink that she acknowledged their presence and also promised them her protection.

“It’s still unprecedented! Sharpteeth and Leafeaters should not mix! Ever! Nor should Eggstealers! They can’t be trusted!” The male elder stated, his voice becoming higher pitched in its concern as he spoke.

“Chomper and Ruby have been here for more than two cold times and they have helped not only the Valley, but my family, my eggs and my children. I will protect them,” Sura’s declaration seemed to shock the elders into a stunned silence for a few moments.

That was before the female elder spoke her mind in a rather posh, elevated accent, “I’m not sure if I should even allow your children to compete, or if you should even stay in this Valley or even a herd if you and your family are sympathisers of Sharpteeth.” Her promise of severe punishment was enough to put everyone on edge.

Ruphus glared at the female elder with the same visceral hate in his gaze that he reserved for his father and Sculra.

“That is too harsh!” Cyrest argued, “I can vouch for them!”

“And so can everyone else in The Great Valley,” Ruphus added.

Before any of the elders at the front of the group could react, someone from the rear of the group became a real outlier to the elder group mindset.

“I agree with that statement”

The Elder Swimmers parted to reveal the perpetrator of the voice that dared support a Swimmer family protecting a Sharptooth; a brown male Swimmer who was stockier than the others in build and his colouration had faded significantly to such an extent that he appeared to have become more of a white shade with age instead of grey. He wore an expression of contemplation and relaxation as if a shouting match was a completely normal event, as he didn’t appear to be moved by any of the previous conversations and confrontation. As if a Sharptooth being friends with Leafeaters was the most common thing in the world.

“Oh, dear grief… What convolutedly mad thought has entered that rotting mind of yours, Artemis?” bemoaned a very well-spoken brown female on the side of the gathered elders.

Artemis guffawed once, followed by coughing a few seconds later. “Oh, gracious! Don’t make me laugh, Hytide!” he waggled a finger at her.

Auphous groaned, “If you’re not going to contribute to a productive discussion, then don’t say anything at all, Artemis.” The old Swimmer seemed irate while Artemis simply rolled his eyes dramatically. “None of us are interested in your antics!”

Artemis snorted loudly at that statement, “Like the antics you lot are doing here? What a wonderfully profound performance of dramatics, my good elders, I’m finding it rather entertaining!”

Sura and Ruphus shared a confused glance at the unusual act from this elder, something that seemed to be contagious among the children.

“Artemis! I will not have you turn a formal meeting into a ridiculous game of yours!” The bright green male elder stamped a foot.

“For goodness sake!” His feminine twin chorused with him. “You’re an elder Swimmer, so act like one!”

Artemis gave them both an ‘offended’ look “Pah, Icy, Drift: you both need to tickle your arses with a feather.”

It was evident that no one expected an Swimmer Elder to say that because the children burst into uncontrolled laughter. Ruphus let out a loud exhale of amusement while Sura was snickering into her hand, as was Grandma Swimmer. Meanwhile, Cyrest was full out howling with mirth.

Icy and Drift gave the offending Swimmer an angry deadpan look, which was replicated by the other elders. Artemis just brushed them off.

“Don’t you see the opportunity that we have presented before us?” He asked them.

“Opportunity? What are you going on about?” pried the posh Icy.

Artemis simpered. “Why, Icy, I’m the only one thinking of the important question here that none of you have thought of.”

Drift huffed in agitation, “Well, speak then, you insufferable loon!”

“We should not be dwelling about what a Sharptooth and Fast Runner are doing here. What we really should be asking is if the little Sharptooth wishes to participate in The Swimmer Trials!”

“Wait…….”

“WWWWHHHHHHAAAAAATT!!??”

Once again, this old Swimmer had astonished everyone. The Swimmer family just stared at Artemis with discombobulation while the elders erupted into a cacophony of outraged voices and surprised shouts. The kids were also astonished with Ducky and her clutch mates looking star struck. Spike gave a grunt of surprise and confusion but none were more shocked than Chomper and Ruby.

Chomper was just staring dumbfounded at the old Swimmer while Ruby was holding her finger up as if to object and her beak was opening and closing, unable to form any coherent response except a bewildered “Aahhhhh….??”

Drift raised his hand up above his head. “That’s it! You’ve officially lost your mind, Artemis! This is lunacy! This is- Mfft!”

Artemis simply pinched Drift’s beak shut with his hand and smiled back in a provocative manner. “While I do enjoy your fancy articulation exercises, you can tone it done while I explain my reasoning before you lose your entire tail.” He released Drift’s beak, ignoring the death glare the irate Swimmer was sending him.

Artemis had in a single move silenced everyone. Most, everyone had their mouths still open, though it took a lot less time for the children to regain their bearings than the adults. Instead, the young ones were looking at Chomper and back up at Artemis, silently demanding an explanation for this dramatic announcement.

“The Trials, as we elders know, are more than just a series of tests and judgements made by a bunch of old farts concerning a bunch of young ones,” That got a few irate scoffs from most of the gathered elders, but especially from Icy who was exceptionally loud. “It is also a time of teaching, an opportunity for us to pass on our wisdom to the younger generations, however there are some things that we just can’t do as effectively as a Sharptooth. This young fellow here,” Artemis gestured at Chomper. “could be a major help in preparing the young ones by giving them experience in some of the trials. With a real Sharptooth in a controlled environment.”

It was very clear to Sura that Artemis was a very perceptive Swimmer, having seemingly been the first to notice that Chomper wasn’t a threat, considering he was coexisting with them now. A fact that the other elders seemed to be too astonished to accept, and were possibly trying to deny the evidence in front of their eyes. Yet, Sura did spot a few sceptical faces and a few blank ones that hid all traces of thought or emotion behind an impregnable wall.

“Your brain has rotted away Artemis,” grimaced Drift while facepalming. “If you think for one second that we would even conceive of such an idea, well— you’re in for a rude surprise!”

“Actually, I think he might be onto something,” another voice piped in much to Drift’s great displeasure.

He directed his angry scowl at one of the calm, blank faced Swimmers. A male, who probably only just reached the age of elder, considering that his green coloration hadn’t obtained much of the greying of old age yet.

“Don’t agree with him, Finn!” Drift exclaimed.

But Finn only pointed to the rest of the elders, and much to Drift’s chagrin, quite a few, in fact, the majority of the elders seemed to be thinking that this strange idea was worth pursuing. With a few noticeable exceptions including himself, his sister; Icy, another darker faced male Swimmer who seemed to glare at his fellows with great contempt, and Auphous, something Ruphus was not surprised by in the slightest.

“Majority rules, it seems,” remarked Artemis, a smug grin spread over his beak, mocking Drift the most.

It was certainly not a decision that came as expected from a bunch of elders to Sura, but she had to remind herself that different herds each had different elders each moulded by their own experience, and a large pool of elders from a range of different ages and herds were selected to be judges… so perhaps this group had more open-minded individuals then she thought.

“After all, this guy hasn’t even made any aggressive moves,” Artemis gestured to Chomper.

“Ah, perhaps we should actually let Chomper decide if he wants to give your idea a try?” Sura spoke up.

All eyes at once turned to Chomper.

Chomper tapped the edges of his claws nervously as he looked up at everyone…  then back at Ducky. She was going to participate in those Trials and he knew well just which Trial she was chosen for. Ducky saw his look and gave him an encouraging smile. She nodded her head once; she would more than welcome his company during The Trials.

Ruby also gave Chomper a nod, as she was thinking that this would be a great chance for Chomper to show that Sharpteeth could be friendly, and on a very large scale to boot. He didn’t need to prove himself to the residents of the Great Valley, but it would always help if he was accepted by Farwalkers. The reassurance of Ducky and Ruby more than sealed Chomper’s choice.

“Alright, I’ll do it! And I swear that I won’t hurt anyone during the Trials!” He held up his hand as he stated his choice with great enthusiasm much to Ducky and Ruby’s delight, a sentiment shared by the rest of the Gang.

Even Ducky’s siblings seemed supportive of the idea.

“Good! Then it’s settled: the Trials start tomorrow, so just follow the kids to the main watering hole where the out of water Trials happen and try not to scare anyone,” Artemis instructed with a cheeky chuckle. “I believe our business here is concluded, so we will retire to a place where these guys can all yell at me without disturbing you.”

With that, Artemis trudged off and slowly the other elders grumpily followed, and it sure looked like they would have an intense shouting much later. However, one elder stayed behind. Auphous was glaring at Chomper darkly. Ruphus instantly saw the anger in that stare and he knew why. He knew it all too well…

He had the same trouble as him when he first learned about Chomper, which had led to actions that he greatly regretted.

“I can’t believe you, boy,” Auphous hissed to Ruphus in a derogatory tone. “I was happy to see you before, but now— I’m ashamed. How could you even show any kind of hospitality to one of their ilk,” He spat out those last two words, aiming it in Chomper and Ruby’s direction. “After all your defiance, all my attempts to raise you to be a leader… and you chew me out for her,” Auphous glared at Sura “and now you become a Sharptooth lover!?”

“Feelings mutual on the ashamed feeling, Auphous, or did you forget whose fault it really was that those Sharpteeth attacked that night…” Ruphus retorted grimly, making his father flinch and recoil slightly at the terrible memory. “Now… get out of here before I make you!”

Ruphus was glad that he struck that nerve. His father had a lot to answer for, and Ruphus knew that he could more than take a justifiable vengeance on him… but Sura had long ago persuaded him off that path. Although Ruphus very much wanted to spill his dreadful actions in front of everyone, he didn’t want to mar his kids Starday with that revelation. Now there was a tense stare down between the two glaring Swimmers before Auphous finally huffed loudly and stomped off raucously, making his displeasure very clear to everyone.

It was only after he was gone that a collective breath was released.

“We need to stop having these dramatic conversations and encounters around our nest,” Sura insisted as she rubbed her head and shook it slowly.

“Wow, Chomper! You are going to be doing some of Trials with me, you are, you are!” Ducky grabbed the Sharptooth’s arm in excitement at the prospect of seeing Chomper and having him cheer her on.

“Yeah, not what I expected to happen when I woke up this morning,” Chomper replied, though he couldn’t help but smile at Ducky’s happiness.

“You’ll do fine, Chomper, and everyone will see that you are fine,” Ruby assured, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah, well, if we are all done with dramatics, perhaps we can get on with the day, the giving ceremonies, and the sleepover at the glade,” Cera spoke out sharply.

Sura nodded, “Oh, and do remember, Ducky, and now you as well, Chomper, that you both need to be at the big watering hole by morning; so, get an early night, if possible. We want to make a good impression.”

“Ok, Mama, I will go to sleep early, then, I will, I will” Ducky promised her mother. 

The Gang and the Swimmer family headed back to the water for the time for a drink.

After all, a Starday often is crazy or busy enough without adding unexpected surprises.


*


The day progressed with Trough and Sandy showing the beautiful picture of Bluey to everyone. It was a sight that brought tears to Sura and Grandma Swimmer’s eyes, and was a source of great wonder for the children who saw what their aunt looked like for the first time. After that, The Gang bid their goodbyes and headed off. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Ruby’s giving ceremonies took place on a plateau with a good view of the Great Valley below. From their vantage point, it was very plain to see that there was an influx in the population of Swimmers, all coming in for the Trials. Their nests were mostly located close to various bodies of water, with a plethora of diverse speeds and sizes. The friends could also spot each other’s nests from afar, but that took second stage to the Giving Ceremony itself. Littlefoot was given the most succulent, green and moist tree stars the gang could find. Cera was given a bunch of yellow flowers while Ducky had some underwater green food along with some shrubberies, and Ruby, of course, had some sweet bubbles.

After everyone had their share of food, it was time for the games. The gang played the Pointy Seed Game, Toss the Seed, and Cera did some rock smashing challenges. Those rocks never stand a chance. Shorty seemed especially impressed at Cera’s fortitude when going up against the larger rocks.

By the evening the sky had darkened with clouds as The Gang along with Shorty, Ali, Trough, and Amethyst all arrived at the Hidden Glade, which was thankfully significantly cleaner than the last time it was frequented after The Killer Storm. Unfortunately, due to the clouds concealing the moon and likewise Ruby’s Starday star, it meant that neither could be seen, but that didn’t dampen the mood as they all sat upon the small incline in the centre of the glade. The youngsters told dramatic or scary stories including a few that Petrie recited from what Uncle Pterano had told him which got an exasperated eye roll from Cera. Littlefoot also shared some Longneck folk tales that Saro had exchanged with him.

More often these stories made them all laugh then feel afraid, bur Ruby wasn’t in the mood to scare anyone badly with any scary stories she had heard in The Mysterious Beyond. After all, it would not do Ducky or Chomper good to have scary sleep stories when they needed to be up early.
 
Unfortunately for everyone, the rain started falling. Though, it was dry under the overhanging earth that the friends sheltered under. Water danced upon the ground and dripped loudly in the small pool at the opposite edge of the glade. The rain wasn’t heavy by any means or showing signs that it would turn into a downpour that would require for them to climb out of the glade before it got flooded. Now at last, did a calm sense of tranquillity come over everyone as they silently watched and listened to the ambient silence of night and rain. It was finally now that Ducky looked at Trough, who had been by her side all day today, she remembered that beautiful picture he and Sandy had made for her; she unconsciously held the sapphire necklace that had once been Bluey’s.

“Thank you for your Starday surprise, Trough” she reaffirmed with such a loving smile that spoke volumes of how much that gift truly meant to her.

Trough nodded and smiled back.

“I knew you’d like it. I just… wish that it could have gone differently… that Bluey could have gotten here and seen this wonderful place,” he lamented.

Trough knew that Bluey would be so happy here with her family. She could’ve made a new life for herself here, but it all tragically ended before it even began. Trough gave a deep sigh and felt Ducky wrap her arms around his right arm and lean comfortingly against him, a gesture he accepted gratefully.

“You know, I am so lucky to have met you,” Trough remarked.

“I am glad to have met you too, Trough, I am, I am,” she concurred. Ducky opened her mouth and yawned, it had been a busy day for her and she was tired by the end. “I think I would like to go to sleep now, I would, I would.”

“Good luck tomorrow, Ducky,” he bid to her as she strolled down into the small cave where a small nesting area had been built from twigs, long grasses and leaves.

Ruby, Amethyst, Chomper and Littlefoot were already there. Gradually over the course of the rain, one by one, the friends had started retiring for the night and now it was Ducky’s turn.

Though… surprisingly, Littlefoot was still up and watching her approach.

The Longneck and Swimmer exchanged tender looks. Littlefoot simply moved his tail aside, inviting Ducky to sleep beside him, an invitation that she readily accepted, climbing over the rim of the grassy nest and sitting beside Littlefoot. For a few moments the two friends just cherished each other's company, the sounds of Chomper, Ruby, and Amethyst sleeping beside them, and the sounds of their friends chatting quietly outside juxtaposed with the sound of rain hitting ground and water.

A most tranquil atmosphere.

Spike walked in a little later. He entered the nest beside Littlefoot and sat down next to Ducky to exchange a comforting nuzzle.

“Sleep well, guys,” Littlefoot crooned.

Ducky yawned once more as she curled up beside him.

“Goodnight, Littlefoot… and goodnight, Spike,” the young Swimmer whispered. She was almost instantly asleep when she put her head on the ground and Spike, being the champion of falling asleep, quickly followed with a content grunt.

Littlefoot furled his tail around Ducky as she slept, drawing her close…  but tonight, he was feeling restless.

The Swimmer Trials were upon them.

And that meant that The Trial of Destiny, so cruelly thrown onto Ducky’s shoulders and everyone else’s for that matter by association, was getting close.

The young Longneck peered down at Ducky, watching her chest rise and fall gently.

Could this soon be one of his last cherished memories of her?

Littlefoot did not want to think that.

All that training that Ducky had done would have to count for something, and they knew what they were up against now. Furthermore, after Ducky succeeded in The True Trial, Littlefoot was more than confident in her abilities… but still doubt remained, clawing at his mind and heart. His stomach dropped a bit with foreboding.

Ducky was one of his best friends.

She was the first one to reignite the spark of life in him after his mother’s untimely demise.

How would he cope if the thing they were all dreading happened to Ducky?

How would any of them cope?

She was more than just a friend, she was family, just like everyone in The Gang.

She was a sister.

He blinked away at the saltwater gathering in his troubled eyes.

Littlefoot found himself internally pleading with all of his heart, mind, and soul to whatever unlikely magical forces might be out there that Ducky would be alright. He took a deep, long breath of the rain-scented air… and gazed out, down the corridor of the hollow that the nest was located at the end of, and into the glade where he could hear the sounds of his friend, his family. Beside him, he could hear the peaceful breath and feel the rise and fall of his friend’s body against his. They were just as much family as those that were outside.

He was surrounded by family, they all were.

Everyone they all cared about was close and supportive of each other. Littlefoot only now seemed to realise how much he loved them as family. The young Longneck took comfort that he was surrounded by loved ones as they all were and a warmth filled his heart and mind.

Deep down, he knew they would all be okay.

“We got this. Together,” Littlefoot affirmed to himself as he lowered his neck to the ground, completing a protective circle around Ducky.

And so, he let himself go into the land of sleep stories.

After all, tomorrow was going to be a very big day…

 
 








Authors note:

Thank you to Trookay for proofreading this chapter

10 years ago, on this day I posted the first chapter of my first LBT fanfic with no idea that it would still be ongoing 10 years later or that it would become one of the biggest and best Ducky and Swimmer centric LBT fanfics in the fandom. There is no doubt that looking back if I were to do a rewrite, I would change a lot of things, especially in the early chapters considering I started off completely new to writing. I’ve grown a lot over that time.

The first chapter I published was under 800 words long, wasn’t very well proofread and written up on Gang of Five forum in a single moment and the chapter I post today is over 10,000 words long. It’s been in the works for well over a year, been fully proofread and prepared to a high standard that I hold myself to now. A testament to how far I have come through writing this story.

I have to thank you, to everyone who has stuck with this story throughout the years and supported me, given me feedback, proofread and helped me grow as a writer. I know I have inspired a lot of people with my work and would continue to do that.

This day not only marks the 10th Anniversary of The Swimmer Trials but it is also the day I break a 3-year long hiatus from writing. Real life for me has been very busy and I often found it hard to write and I had a lot of mix ups for this chapter plan, and I think I also was going through a creative burnout.

Thankfully that period of time is over, and I am hoping to get back onto a more consistent schedule of writing and chapter releasing so you won’t have to wait a year before a new chapter.

Thank you everyone for all your support, let’s see this through to the end which I promise is going to come soon.
 
The Lone Dragon (GoF), Beaucephalis (Fanfic.net), The Black and Gold Dragon (DA)