The Gang of Five
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A new world...Same old faces

The Great Valley Guardian

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Sweetie even now, couldn't shed a single tear, although her heart was breaking into a million pieces. "Z-zaine....d-don't go....I....I love you....too much...please....don't..." She still continued to hold Zaines' face hoping against hope that he'd stay alive.

Longtail however did indeed hear what Zaine had said.
And then his shock and minor grief wore off...and were replaced by horrid, uncontrollable, blinding rage. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" He looked down at Zaine and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as his scales turned completely black and he began to shake as if he were cold...but in reality he was only getting angry.

Cyrix hearing his nephew's scream he visibly recoiled in fear knowing that whatever had just happened, it was going to end badly for everyone!

Hunter gently nudged Luna's hand out of the way to see the wound herself, but felt a ice cold chill roll down her spine as she heard Longtail's scream. "I...I think...we're in trouble." Hunter said aloud as she turned to face Luna with a sad, and almost horrified look on her face.


MrDrake

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Before Hunter could see her wound, Luna covered it again as Hunter had stopped paying attention to it as she looked over to where Zaine was "No....no...no....he can't....no...." was all she could say, shaking her head some as well as she looked back to Hunter "No...." she was going rather quiet as well, still looking at Hunter, stepping forward a little more before resting her chin onto Hunter a little bit before deciding to then give Hunter a hug, a rather tight one as well.

She wasn't too sure on how to actually take all this herself, but hugging Hunter seemed to be the best thing at the moment in her eyes before she finally let go of her, keeping her wounded hand out of Hunter's view as well.


LBTFan13

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Zaine knew that Longtail was not going to get out of this rage. He knew it too well. Unless he could convince Longtail that everything was going to be okay, Longtail would undoubtedly hurt himself, and probably somebody else. "LONGTAIL!" he yelled with every bit of strength in his body. "YOU CAN'T GIVE IN!" Every word hurt him, but Zaine had to get this out before there was nothing left in him. "If you give in now............... you lose everything.................... that we have been fighting for....................."

Littlefoot didn't want to admit it, but he knew what Zaine was saying was true. It was the same thing that Rooter had said to him when his mother died in the same manner. Then again, he could only imagine how Longtail felt. Zaine was like a brother to him, the brother he never had. Zaine was like a brother to everybody in the herd, Littlefoot knew they had to be strong. He finally accepted the inevitability. "Longtail, Zaine is right. I don't want to believe it, but there is nothing we can do at this point. We have to keep going for Zaine's sake, and we are going to need you if we want to survive."


tempestwheel

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Chomper had woken up due to all the yelling and stayed quiet while he watched what had transpired.

"Zaine...." he said sadly to himself.


Cancerian Tiger

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Ducky was the first to say anything in her group.

"No.  Not Zaine," she whispered as she began to cry.  "No more death.  We do not need anymore deaths, no no no."  She began to cry harder, and Renn took her into a comforting embrace.

"There, there sweetie," he whispered as he did his best not to cry.  Spike lowered his head in a moment of silence, and Aurelia slowly shook her head as she watched the scene before her through a tearful gaze.


tempestwheel

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Greg, Rory, Rita, Myra, and even Thud had awoke and kept silent in honor of Zaine.


LBTFan13

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After much waiting, it finally came. Zaine felt the last bit of life slipping away really quickly. This is it. This is how I die, protecting my herd. I wouldn't have it any other way. He looked up at everyone around him and with his final breaths got out his last words. "I............. have no................ regrets in my life........................ I found a family......................... within all of you....................... and I cannot ever....................... repay you for...................... everything that you have........................ given me....................... I'm sorry that.................... I have to meet.................. the end of the.................. Circle of Life before you.................... but we will see each other..................... again......................... May you all........................ live your lives...................... to the fullest....................... I...................... love........................... you................................... my..............................herd............................... Thank you...................." With that, the longneck closed his eyes forever. Zaine was gone.

Littlefoot slowly walked up to Zaine's body and bumped is open mouth closed. He pulled his head back and shed tears. "I knew there was something special about you, ever since I first met you. You came searching for your herd, but you found a new one. You have always been a true friend to all of us, some even more than that, and you never cared about yourself if another was i need. I am..." Littlefoot was finding it difficult to hold himself together, but he had to continue. "I am sure we will see each other again, and I look forward to it. Until then, rest in peace Zaine. You deserve it" He slowly backed away from Zaine's body. "Does anybody else have anything they want to say?"


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It was then when Luna spoke up, having let go of Hunter "I um...do....it was is well....it was all my fault that he had died, I couldn't do anything to stop it, I could've, but I couldn't in the end and because of that, Zaine had gotten hurt and now....because of that....he's dead...." she spoke, still clutching her hand to keep the wound on it unseen by anyone else "And I'm sorry because of it...."

She looked to everyone else before looking to the ground, stepping back some as well, sniffling some still as well, feeling rather upset because of what had just happened.


raga

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Cera had looked away from Zaine when he had spoked to her, but as the Longneck took his last breath she regretted the sign of disrespect to her dying friend.  She took a step forward saying "You were incredibly brave, for a longneck" she chuckled at her own very tasteless joke, simply an attempt to push away the pain and reality of the situation. "I will always m-miss you old friend" she then said with a slight stammer.  She then whispered "I love you".



Ali walked up behind the others, remaining deathly quiet.




Tricia stayed a distance away from  the group, scared of what was occuring




The Great Valley Guardian

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And once Zaine's last breath left his body was the moment that Longtail's heart and mind snapped. He raised his head to the sky and roared a sad, vengeful roar that traveled for miles in every direction and caused the ground to shake, shatter and split apart. He held that roar for several long minutes and in that time, storm clouds began to gather overhead, and slowly but inevitably it began to rain. Once he felt the rain falling Longtail was certain even in his madness, that the world was crying for him...because he knew he couldn't.

Pearl had stayed quiet in honor of Zaine, but upon seeing Longtail so lost....it hurt her more than she thought it would. "Longtail...please....don't lose yourself to your grief." she prayed quietly.

Sweetie on the other wing was finally able to cry and her tears seemed never ending as she felt another part of her slip away. "Zaine..." she whispered silently "I....I willl always love you....and...I know....that you'll always be with me....b-but...we..could have been...so much more...." she hugged Zaine's head and stayed there crying silently.

Azure was crying as well knowing that this was something their herd didn't need.
"So...much sorrow. It's wrong!" she cried out suddenly covering her eyes and continuing to cry over the loss of another friend.

Hunter shed tears seeing Longtail's reaction to Zaine's death, but once she felt Luna hugging her, Hunter felt her biggest fears and even her sorrow at losing Zaine waver a great deal. "T-thank you Luna...p-promise me....you won't ever leave me...please." she asked hesitantly. "You're...like a sister....to me. Please...Luna....promise me...you'll always be here..."


MrDrake

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Luna looked to Hunter by that point, having not expected Hunter to say that, pausing for a moment, but in a good way as she was feeling happy as well that Hunter had said that she was like a sister to her "I promise" was all she could actually say as she went back to hugging Hunter once again, wincing a little bit from the stinging sensation in her hand as once it had touched Hunter, she reacted by pulling her hand off straight away.

The pain in her hand had grown even more, taking a quick look around before smiling some to Hunter, but turned around without a word and headed back to the watering hole she was at earlier on.  Once there and knowing that no one else was around, she took another look at the wound.

The wound in question had grown some as blood was dripping out from it a little bit and onto the ground, once thing she did not expet was a small dripping blood trail that had led from where she was with Hunter to where she was now.

Luna looked into the water before dipping her hand into it for a few seconds to wash some of the blood from it followed by her unharmed hand to wash the blood off that one as she winced even more.


LBTFan13

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Littlefoot shook his head. "Luna, I know you want to blame yourself for Zaine, but you have to believe him when he told you it's not your fault. You had no idea the sharpteeth were coming after you, and Zaine made a choice. He never questioned himself as long as he did something he felt was right, and this felt right to him. No matter how responsible you feel, know that you are not at fault." He looked over at Cera, who for the first time in who knew how long was showing genuine emotion. Littlefoot couldn't help but feel bad for her. She cared for Zaine, just as everybody else did. The longneck then approached Sweetie, who was in deep sorrow. He lowered his head and gently nuzzled her. "I'm so sorry, Sweetie. He was a good longneck." He then approached Cyrix, who had remained quiet throughout the ordeal. "I'm really worried about Longtail. I knew he wasn't going to take this well, and he was the closest to Zaine. Is there anything we can do for him?"


The Great Valley Guardian

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Hunter's eyes just happened to glance down and notice the blood trail leading over to the water. She of course followed it over to Luna and with tears still in her eyes she asked, "Please, Luna let me check your hand. It's still bleeding...and...I don't want anything to happen to you."

Cyrix looked up at Littlefoot his eyes brimming with tears, but at the same time they seemed blank and empty. "No....Longtail is...too far gone. There is absolutely nothing we can do for him. If he doesn't let go of his anger soon, we....may have to...." he took a breath and shuddered as he sighed and whispered. "Why Zaine....Longtail needs you.....more than you know...."


MrDrake

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Luna hessitated as Hunter approached and said her request before giving off a small sigh "It's nothing really...." she told her, slowly removing her hand to show Hunter the wound on her hand.

"I....I didn't want to say anything and be a bother....because of what had....just hapepned.....and I didn't want anyone to worry about it...." Luna told Hunter as she looked at her wound again "It wasn't the Sharpteeth that did it either....I uh....I had a fall when they were attacking....cut my hand on a sharp rock....but, it's nothing, really...." she added on, but yet, winced some as well from the pain in her hand, however, gave off a bit of a smile to Hunter as well "It'll....It'll go away in time...."


Cancerian Tiger

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Spike looked at the others in his group before he took a couple of steps forward, cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I'm not too good at public speaking, so bear with me if I sound real bad.  All I know was Zaine was a good longneck, as others have said.  He was brave and only had the best of intentions when helping lead us all.  He gave his life so all of us would still be here, and for that I'm forever in his debt.  May he rest peacefully and save us all a spot in the Great Beyond when our lives here are done," Spike said before he stepped back to his place and looked at his group.  "That's all I have to say.  Do any of you have anything to say?"

"I do," Renn replied before he stepped forward.  Ducky let out a sob, and Aurelia gently nuzzled her.

"Well said, Spike.  I'm, uh, not very good at this kind of thing either, but I'll do my best.  I did not know much about Zaine, at least not as much as Ducky or Spike.  Still, from what I've gotten to see of him, he seemed like a nice guy who would do anything for the herd.  The world and our herd lost a good dinosaur today, but his spirit will never go away.  He will always be with us, even if we can't see him.  May he rest in peace," Renn said before he returned to his spot.  He was doing his best to not cry, but his efforts were not working in his favor.  Ducky then stepped forward.

"He was a good friend, yep yep yep.  I can honestly say we are all fortunate to have gotten to know him, and...and...," Ducky choked before her voice broke off as a result of crying too hard.  She did her best to regain her composure before she managed to sob, "I am so sorry, I am I am.  Farewell, Zaine.  You will... forever be... my heart, yep yep yep."  Ducky returned to her place, and her brother and Renn tried to comfort her as Aurelia stepped up.

"I've only known Zaine since this disaster brought us all together.  Although I only knew him briefly, he ws really growin' on me.  He had a very contagious personality, and seemed like a longneck anybody would be lucky to have as a friend.  I'm sure he made it to the Great Beyond, and he will continue to watch over us even in death.  He believed in our herd.  Let's make him proud by sticking together and never giving up.  That's all for me," Aurelia said before she returned to her group.  She then thought of the fastbiter Luna.  Before the disaster had occured, she had only seen fastbiters as coldblooded killers based on her memories of her family being slaughtered by fastbiters.  She had only recently learned that there are nice fastbiters in the world.  Even if they were far and few, they did exist.  She felt bad for Luna, but based on how understanding the herd was behaving toward the fastbiter, she knew Luna would not be falsely accused and therefore was safe.  She then joined her group in grieving for Zaine as they tried to comfort each other.


LBTFan13

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Littlefoot sighed at Cyrix's response. "That what I was afraid you would say. I really hope we don't have to resort to that." He looked at Longtail as he mourned gravely for his fallen friend. "I hate to see him like this. I hate seeing everybody like this." He looked over at Hunter and Luna who were conversing, and the more he watched her the more he came to realize that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to take her with them. "I think we really need to get away from here. There's too much sorrow and despair here."


The Great Valley Guardian

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Cyrix nodded at Littlefoots suggestion.
"Yes. Leaving here soon is a very good idea. But..." He looked over at Luna and Hunter and gave a small but incredibly bright smile. "Luna should definately come with us. It would seem Hunter has formed a sisterly bond with her. It would be wrong to take that away from them."

Longtail however, looked over despite his eyes still being rolled into the back of his head, and he gave a horrible screech as he turned and shouted through the rain "LITTLEFOOT!!! YOU FAILED...YOU FAILED ZAINE...YOU FAILED ME....YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LEAD THIS HERD...AND I'LL PROVE IT!!!" With that Longtail turned and ran straight at Littlefoot intent on killing his former friend.

Cyrix however saw this move from Longtail coming and grabbed his nephew by the neck and tossed him aside. "Longtail....my nephew....for the good of our herd....you...you have....to die." Cyrix then readied himself to fight....and kill his nephew.

Hunter heard the interaction between Longtail and she was torn between staying with Luna to keep her safe...and going to help Cyrix. "L-Luna...what should I do....I want to help Cyrix...or to keep you safe..."


MrDrake

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Luna too, seemed to be torn a bit by that point before shaking her head a little bit "You....you don't have to keep me safe, I'll be fine, you can go and help your friend out if you want to" Luna told Hunter with a smile.

She looked over to Longtail and Cyrix, but yet, she wasn't sure on what to do herself, looking at her wound again as she sighed as well "Because I want to help out, but I can't....I'm not good at fighting....I can't fight....it's just....I don't know, just scary I guess you could say.....so you can go and help out if you want, I'll be alright, really....trust me" of course, she wasn't too sure herself if she would actually be safe in the end or not, but she didn't like to see friends fighting each other either.


LBTFan13

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Littlefoot was taken completely by surprise by Longtail's attack, but thankfully Cyrix was there to intercept him. It's just like Cyrix said. Longtail's going crazy again. We have to do something. He quickly looked over at Aurelia and Cera. "You two get everybody else back to the cave! I don't want anybody else getting hurt out here!" Littlefoot turned his attention back to Longtail. "Longtail, you have to calm down! Think of what Zaine told you! You give in to all this anger now you'll lose yourself, and then his death will be for nothing!"

((OOC: Meanwhile, aboard the Death Star, the Emperor grins. "Yes! Give in to your anger! Soon your transformation to the dark side will be complete" :lol)).


Cancerian Tiger

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"He's right, Cera.  Let's get everybody to safety.  This is gonna be bad," Aurelia said before she began to round up the others.  "Everyone!  Retreat back to the cave before any of us get hurt!"

Ducky, Renn, and Spike immediately did as instructed.

"I do not like this, oh no no no!" Ducky cried out.