The Continuing Saga

[LBTDiclonius]

Ali breathed a sigh of relief as he finally caught on. She smiled as she followed him quickly, and soon, she was right besides, him. Suddenly, she realised that she had never been here before, but she didn't really care, all she cared about was getting away from those Domeheads. Her mind then wandered back to that heard. It seemed almost...planned the way it had all happened. She shook her head to clear those thoughts out of her mind and focused on running away.

((OOC: Okie-dokie, we're done.))

[Pterano]

Norton couldn't help but to feel reassured inside as Devon told him that Pterano was the best father one could ask for. He even went so far as to venture that Norton would like him when they properly met. If that were the case, then perhaps his fears weren't as well founded as he'd initially thought.

It also saddened him to hear about Devon's father, though at the same time, Norton took heart in hearing that his father had done well in giving Devon what he'd never had. "I see. That reassures me, you see. I'm glad my father wasn't doing all bad things." he said, chuckling a little. "I was starting to grow concerned, but your words have helped I think. At least you found a father to take care of you." the flyer said. "I'll try and gather up the courage to tell Pterano... oh! Looks like they found meat! About time, too!" he exclaimed, in a half-joking manner. He didn't mind doing this, but he knew it made the others uneasy, being out in the Mysterious Beyond, despite it having been his home for most of his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Littlefoot could only watch, as if entranced, as Chomper went to work on the dead spiketail. Gulping, he almost felt like retching, as he knew that his mother probably suffered a very similar fate. Closing his eyes, he tried to block the queasiness he felt in his stomach, and knew that Ruby was standing next to him.

Regaining his vision after he reopened his eyes, the longneck could see that Chomper was trying out a new idea, and even asking Redback about it. Much to his surprise, Littlefoot felt his mouth hang agape as Chomper began eating greenfood on top of the meat.

"Hey... is it really all that good? My grandparents would sometimes do the same thing... not with meat of course, but with certain foods I didn't like." he explained. "They'd mix it in with food I really did... and I could hardly tell the difference. Is it... an improvement from before, at least?" he asked, caught off guard by Chomper and his move. It was sudden... and he most certainly hadn't been expecting it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The gray Rainbow Face paused, and looked directly at Cera, ignoring Hyp for the moment, as he hadn't bothered to introduce himself. "Many names, you say?" he asked. "I have a first and last name... and the thing he said after that is my title."

"Think of it like how you say Uncle Pterano." the male Rainbow Face offered. "Uncle before his name is his title. This is High Executor Royce Glavanis, if that makes it a bit easier." he tried.

"One shouldn't really use my title down here though." the gray Rainbow Face said with a shrug. "It doesn't mean anything. Aha... good to see everyone made it out safely from that... thing before." he said, nodding back in the direction of the Great Valley. "Though... I don't see a certain longneck, flyer, sharptooth, and erm... fast runner I suppose. I think there was another flyer and sharptooth combo as well." he commented, recalling the details.

"Oh they're fine." Pterano chimed in. "Just out getting food. They'll be back soon."

Nodding, Royce closed his eyes. "I apologize for what happened... but I don't think too many were harmed, if any." he said. "According to what I saw... it looked like most made it out safe and sound."

"Were YOU with the Farwalkers?" Hyp challenged, squinting.

"Mmmm... I suppose you could say that." he said, after catching a slight nod from the male Rainbow Face. "At any rate, it's good to meet all of you. I hope my companion here cleared up your... names question." he said, looking down at Cera.

[Mama's Girl]

Cera was doing her own squinting as the Rainbow Faces attempted to explain. Ok, fine, but then what in all the Valley was a "last name" suppose to be. She had a feeling if she asked, though, she's get an explanation with Littlefoot as an example, even if he wasn't here to introduce himself. "Executor Royce" seemed to know all about him and the others of their group anyway though. A fact that still had the threehorn on edge.

"Yeah, sure, I guess" she nonetheless answered.

"Well that is good if you think you saw that our families are ok" Ducky chimed in with her usual brand of optimism. Harper smiled agreeing.

"Forgive me asking another question" Cera cut in again, "but if Executor's a thing, what is it?".

Ridge sighed at Cera's...just being her. "Herd title probably" he answered for them.

[trulyfantasticme]

Devon noticed where Norton was going at and he now noticed that his stomach was growling as well. "Awesome! I'm so hungry, I could eat Red Claw!" he joked, flying downwards towards the ground.

He was the first to land on the ground. "Awesome! Save some for me!" he shouted as he dove for the dead spiketail. He took in a bite of meat, gasped as his eyes went wide, and then he spit the meat out. "PLEAAA!!!! Nasty! You sharpteeth actually LIKE this??? What do you call this thing?"  

[Pterano]

The male nodded, formulating his words carefully. "Well he's... sort of like a herd leader." he said.

"I'm trying to think of how to explain this..." the female continued where he left off. "Let's see... whenever you go wandering out in the Mysterious Beyond... or wandering anywhere, you normally appoint a leader, right? Well he's not the leader of our herd... or our... Council, as I guess you could say, but what he does is that he leads us when we travel other places. He makes all the decisions regarding where we go, what we do, and things like that. Remember when you ran into us in the cave under the smoking mountain?" the female asked.

"Well remember how you had to come up wtih a way to get to the top quickly, and we helped you make a decision on that? We told you about the bubbling water that would shoot you up to the top... but you had plenty of other choices too. You could have walked all the way on the outside... you could have tried to find a way up from the caves... you could have rode the bubbling water, which you did." the female explained. "The High Executor has others like us and my companion here," she motioned to the male, "who help him make decisions. We look at a situation, and try and come up with the best way of doing something. We then tell him what we think is best, and he can either listen to us, or not. Ultimately, the decision and final authority rests with him, but he has helpers like us to sometimes give him information he can't always get because he's busy."

"Hah... I suppose you could say that." Royce chimed in. "That's probably the best way to explain it. I lead them when they travel... but I am not the overall leader... no." he said, shaking his head. "Our leaders are far too busy to travel like we do... so they almost always stay behind, and appoint others to lead for them whenever some of us decide to journey."

Pterano figured this made sense. It was almost like how the children would need an adult supervising them if they traveled out in the Mysterious Beyond... such as he was doing now. It was a little different though, as the other Rainbow Faces clearly weren't children. For just the briefest of moments, Pterano actually thought that if only the herd had had a leader back when they were trying to find the Great Valley... but no... mustn't think like that. He'd tried that after all... and had ended up killing all of the ones who'd followed him.

The flyer began walking over to the entrance, his eyes searching for the children. Where were they? It would be getting dark soon, and they would need to get back here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norton could only stare, his mouth opening in surprise as Devon raced downward to feast upon the spiketail. He couldn't react in time, and laughed a little as Devon quickly spit the food out. He chose not to land, as he'd still need to play lookout after all, or "far eyes" as he liked to call it, and simply watched the scene unfold below him.

"Not quite what you were expecting, was it Devon?" he called down to the blue flyer, a smile spreading over his features. "I guess given your teeth... you COULD eat meat... but you've never tried spiketail... am I right?"

[vonboy]

"Well, not as bad, I guess." Chomper replied, still feeling kind of weird talking to Littlefoot with all those bits of meat in his mouth. "Yeah, I can't really even taste the greenfood behind the meat. I didn't know your grandparents did the same thing for you, but it's a great idea!"

The meat-eater's mouths all hung agape when Devon swooped in for a bite of spiketail before promptly spitting it out. "Heheh, never noticed that before, Devon, but yer a sharptooth flyer, aren't ya? You probably like fish more, like I do, right?" Redback said to the disgusted flyer.

Redback went up to Littlefoot to ask again. "Hey, I asked this before, but I guess you were too busy being shocked or somethin. Anyway, mind if I go over and grab a bite too?"

Chomper went back to eating meat and greenfood together. They hadn't been there for long, but Chomper had already eaten quite a bit for a little sharptooth, and he was still eating. Tero, apparently feeling bored or cramped, took to the skies and started flying alongside Norton.

Hey, Littlefoot?" Ruby spoke up. "Want to grap some greenfood while we're here? They aren't the only ones that are hungry here, as I'm hungry, and I'm sure you are too!"

[trulyfantasticme]

Devon looked up as Norton told him what that disgusting piece of meat he just ate was. "Spiketail...that explains it!" He always hated Spiketail meat, even when he was a hatchling. To him, Spiketail was the worst meat around. He looked at Redback to answer his question. "Yes...fish is MUCH better for me."

[Mama's Girl]

"Oh" Harper nodded at the Rainbow Faces explanation, "That makes sense".

"Yeah, I guess" Cera sighed. Well, these three seemed to always have something behind what they were saying, or so it seemed to Cera, but she couldn't think up anything else to ask at the moment.

"Yes, it is like how Littlefoot is always in charge when we go adventuring" Ducky found for example. Cera glanced over at her, "And you when Littlefoot is not there" the swimmer saved. Ridge smiled, then noticed Pterano walking towards the entrance, to await the others he knew. It was odd, the spiketail suddenly having the thought of hoping the searching group found something soon so they could get back soon as well.

"Well, it was your two...helpers who showed us this place first so I guess in one of us being hospitable..." he glanced to Cera, "for what it's worth, you're welcome to the green food and water we have here too if you want". What the young spiketail said was sort of pointless, but he felt the gesture should be there nonetheless.

[Pterano]

((I think it's time to get the adults back in now too. ))

Littlefoot managed a smile at least when Chomper mentioned his grandparents. "Yeah, well you're right. It tastes a LOT better. You can barely taste it so long as you have it mixed in pretty well."

He looked over at Redback now, and nodded. "Oh uh... yeah sure. I'm sorry. Help yourself." he said. He wasn't sure he wanted to watch this for much longer however, but at the moment, there was really little he could do.

"Yeah Ruby." he said, his stomach rumbling. "I was gonna wait till we rejoined the others... but let's just eat now. I'm sure the others have done that already." he said, rolling his eyes in a good natured manner. He walked to where Chomper had gotten his greenfood and began munching on some leaves. "Still hanging in there, Chomper? Not feeling sick... right?" the longneck asked, mouth full of leaves as he checked up on his friend.

Norton had eaten before the flying rocks... so he wasn't starving. He could wait till they got back to the alcove. He kept his eyes peeled... looking for any sign of sharpteeth... or the adults.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Executor regarded Ridge with an odd look, confused, and then broke out into a smile. "Hah... well thank you then, Master Ridge." He said, and moved into the alcove proper though he didn't begin eating. "I ate before I got here though... but thank you all the same." he said, smiling in an amused manner, though it was very stiff as well. Almost overly formal in a way.

Pterano poked his head out of the alcove, scanning the wilderness. "Well... I can see that Norton fellow... but not the others. He must be keeping his eye on them. I do hope they're OK. I can't imagine why Littlefoot went with them." he speculated, the longneck's actions being beyond him.

Turning around, he faced the others, settling his eyes on Harper, and then moving over to Ridge. "So... aside from finding those tiny walkers... have either of you been out in the Mysterious Beyond for any real length of time? Any of you ever follow Littlefoot and the others?" he asked, not able to suppress a smile as he asked. He was trying to take his mind off things... they would be fine... he just had to believe that... though leaving them alone like that was starting to worry him, despite his best efforts to suppress it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it turned out, most of the other adults were now safely out of harm's way. They had all taken the various evacuation routes out of the valley, though of course had become separated from some of their children in the process. Grandpa Longneck knew that his grandson was most likely safe, but he still worried for him greatly.

He wasn't certain who his grandson was with in terms of adults, but he had one hope... and admittedly, it was all he had right now. According to Petrie's mother, she'd told him that her brother had been on the way to see the children right around the time the flying rocks had appeared. If that were true... Grandpa Longneck could only pray in his heart that Pterano had looked after them and had seen them safely away.

Disturbing images of the flyer taking off and leaving them behind constantly tormented his mind, but he refused to believe it. If he did... it meant that Littlefoot and the others might not be safe after all. It meant... but no... he couldn't think that. He couldn't go there. He knew Pterano... but he knew the old Pterano. Was the new one more responsible? Had he saved their children?

Walking up to Mr. Threehorn, he looked down at him and cleared his throat. "Sorry to bother you Mr. Threehorn, but now that we're all out of the valley, might I have a word with you?" he asked.

[vonboy]

"No, I'm doing fine, Littlefoot. I'm not feeling sick or anything yet. I guess the meat is keeping the greenfood from turning my stomach somehow." As he noticed Littlefoot starting to much on some of the leaves from the same bush Chomper was eating from, he added. "Hmm, what do you think of that greenfood?"

Redback went over to the dead spiketail, and wasted no time in ripping one of it's hind legs clean off and cleaning all the meat off the leg bones.

"Excuse me, Littlefoot, I just need to take care of some business." Ruby sneaked off to the side with Devon to whisper something in his ear. "Um, Mr. Devon, sir? Could I ask that you don't bring up anything about Chomper eating dinosaur meat with the others? It's...kind of a secret we want to keep away from the other leafeaters. Could you maybe tell Norton about this too? I'm sorry for asking, but it's very important we don't let them know right now, okay?

----------------------------------------------

"What is it?" Mr. Threehorn asked Grandpa Longneck. He was worried about the children too, and was wanting to start a search party to look for them. He was going to wait for what the old longneck had to say first, though.

[trulyfantasticme]

Devon could only smile as he listened to Ruby. "As long as you or anyone else don't tell anyone about me trying out the Spiketail, you have my word." He whispered back, letting out a chuckle.

( Pterano, you should have Pterano suspect that he ate Spiketail later on. I think that would be funny. )

[vonboy]

From out of the woods, came a vicious fast biter sharptooth! Actually, he wasn't that vicious. Uh, he wasn't that big either. Green in color, he was even smaller than Chomper! The little guy was starving, but he wasn't interested in killing anything. He immediately eyed the remains of the dead sharptooth, and foolishly charged in for dinner, somehow oblivious to everyone around him as he was so hungry.

...His name was Cutter.

[Mama's Girl]

Ridge wasn't quite sure what to make of Royce's answer, but after looking a bit confused, just gave an amused smile of his own. If these Rainbow Faces were a bit of a mystery, well he just found that a welcome challenge. His attention went back over to Pterano as the flyer addressed them.

Harper glanced over to Ridge and the two of them thought over Pterano's question. "Well" Ridge began, "As you already know, my herd came from around here, but I don't know why everyone keeps making a point of that, since everyone but Mr. Thicknose came from out here, I think".

"Yeah, but we were littler" Harper pointed out to him.

"Yeah" Ridge nodded, "Well, anyway, with that kind of familiarity with the Beyond, yeah I'll sometimes tag along to help them out, and also, like I said, to get Harper doing anything interesting" he grinned. Harper shot him a not amused look, but then smiled.

She turned back to her uncle, "If you're asking if Littlefoot will be ok though, we've seen enough with him and the others, and even just heard about it before, to know he will". She said. "He gets himself out of stuff other kids would find impossible. I've never seen anything like it!"

"Like one time" Ridge went on, continuing on the conversation for the same reason of slight distraction, "After a time of Rising Waters, the watering hole stayed all over full even after the sky water stopped".

Now that the issue was passed, Harper smiled at the memory, "They had to fix the watering hole being dry plenty of times, but this was the first problem with it being the other way".

Overhearing, Ducky skipped over, "Oh the time the waters stayed all on the ground?" she asked with a smile, "I liked it, the ground was all squishy".

"Yeah but others of us who can't swim didn't so Littlefoot, Ducky and them had to go fix it and me and Ridge came along to help on that one" Harper informed, "apparently moving a rock further in the Great Valley or into the Mysterious Beyond is the answer to both water problems of too much or not enough".

"Yeah, but somehow even if it was the fix before, Mr. Threehorn acts like Littlefoot's crazy for suggesting it" Ridge shook his head.

~~~~

Hardly anyone of her or the longnecks were getting much sleep, Petrie's mother knew. It was such a common case for her, along with them and even Mrs. Swimmer and Mr. Threehorn to be up and sharing their mutual worry over where there young one's were now. She'd never say she could get "use to it", but she was more familiar with the feeling than some, she realized, glancing down to where one of the spiketail's herd, Ridge's mother, stood staring at the horizon. Even if this particular spiketail herd didn't exactly over-eat, the female was munching on some grass in what the flyer could identify as an extension of her worry. She flapped down closer.

"So...your brother that they're apparently with, he's...trustworthy?" Mrs. Spiketail ((for lack of better)) had heard both the rumors on the returned flyer and also Harper's mother's words on how that was most likely who they were all with.

The flyer sighed, "Why's that today's topic of conversation...?" she wondered slightly to herself. Yet she got to answering the question, sort of. "You've no doubt heard of his faults, but...my brother can be better than that. I'm sure the children are all fine" she let out a small sigh of hope. Mrs. Spiketail nodded. Both females glanced out at the horizon a bit longer, then Petrie's mother went on, "Well, we won't be any good to them tired, we should get to sleep". With a nod, Ridge's mother followed her back to the center of the group once more.

[Pterano]

Littlefoot froze upon seeing Cutter burst forth from out of nowhere and begin gorging himself upon the dead spiketail. He was rooted to the spot as he watched, entranced by the display. He swallowed his leaves, though in a gulping manner.

"Uh..." was all he could say. Gradually, the others would probably become aware of it too. Should he bolt? The flyers could take care of themselves... but he simply couldn't leave Chomper here... and having Redback close by at least encouraged him a bit more than if Redback wasn't around.

Stepping forward, he clamped his jaw shut, at first unable to speak. "H... hello?" he finally managed, hoping the others would run if need to. Of course, he realized the foolishness of his words only after he'd spoken them. Sharpteeth couldn't speak flattooth... and all he'd done was given his position away now. But he needed to alert the others as well, as they seemed so focused on consuming the spiketail at the moment....

Norton had been caught completely by surprise, as Cutter had crept up out of the bushes and trees. But it didn't seem as if he was an immediate threat. Norton was ready however, and kept a wary eye on the sharptooth. Just WHAT was Littlefoot doing? Did he WANT to get attacked? Norton would need to dive in there if that happened... and he was girding himself for what he assumed would only be the inevitable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pterano smiled as she explained the way Littlefoot often acted. Of course... he did rather seem the leader of the group, after all. And there had even been a time the watering hole had overflowed? Well that was a first, but as she explained, it usually entailed shifting rocks.

"Ahhhh yes. He rather does seem to be quite sharp. He led the group after me after all... during my last stay here." he said, reminiscing, though for better or worse it was hard to say.

His face fell a little at the mention of Mr. Threehorn. "You know... Mr. Threehorn should really learn to give more credence to others." he stated. "He's always been that way though... ever since I've known him. Constantly arguing, and thinking his way is right all the time. A bit..." He paused here, remembering that Cera was close by. Closing his eyes, he inhaled, and then let it all out. "Anyway, you can imagine we didn't get along so well." he chuckled. "You see, my personality was a bit like his in a way, though I was far less prone to losing my temper. All I'm saying is that I feel you children should sometimes be listened to... you seem to at least possess hearts of stronger resolve than many of the adults sometimes seem to have." He said, smiling once again. "At least you're all beginning to come of age. It means they should, in theory at least, begin to listen to you more often." he said in a reassuring manner. "I am not meaning any insult when I refer to them... I simply think that sooner or later they'll have to accept the fact that you're growing up... and will soon be able to make decisions of your own."

Hyp, who'd been listening in, walked nonchalantly over to Cera. "Heh... sure seems to talk about your dad like he's some hothead." he said, placing his hands on his hips. "If he mentioned MY dad like that... well I'd probably pop him one. Though I have to admit... your dad CAN be a little... well..." he paused, thinking of how to phrase this. "Certainly causes the hatchlings to scatter whenever he walks by, if you know what I mean." he explained with a smirk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Grandpa Longneck said. "I... am getting older Mr. Threehorn... and I... I just don't know if I can take much more of these evacuations and constantly running around." He said, his voice sagging with fatigue.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can continue in my capacity as part of the Great Valley Council. I'm worried that the day may come when I simply cannot keep up with the rest of you. I was thinking of calling my son out here... Littlefoot's father... to take my place. But... it may take awhile to send word to him, and for him to answer the call. I would like to think he would say yes... but if he doesn't... perhaps we should think about appointing someone to fill my place on the Council." the longneck had sadness in his eyes, and his face appeared haggard, as if he was having a hard time accepting this.

[vonboy]

Cutter heard something, but he wasn't quite sure what. He jerked his head back to see a young longneck staring at him. <Huh...> was all he could let out. Did the longneck just say something? Was that the strange sound he heard? What's a longneck doing staring at him anyway?

He glanced to his right to see two other sharpteeth, both bigger than him; one of them MUCH bigger than him! He started stepping back. <Oh...uh...sorry! Didn't realize someone already claimed this...> He was slapping his head in his mind for getting himself into something like this again. <Sorry.>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Topsy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Someone to replace you? Preposterous! No one could replace you! I might not act like it most of the time, but even I can see how you've shaped the Valley! I mean, who would you choose as a replacement, anyway? Mrs. Swimmer? Your wife?"

[The Great Valley Guardian]

Cera for her part had grown used to Pteranos' remarks, well most of them anyway, including the ones involving her dad. Hyp on the other hand was a different story. She glared at him for several moment before speaking. "Watch that tone Hyp. You may be bigger than me, but that doesn't mean I wont rough you up buddy!" She then turned to Pterano and grinned. "Ya know for once I agree with you. The other grownups should listen to us more! After all, we've been on so many adventure outside the valley we probably know it better than they do!"

Ruby nodded at Devon with a grateful and calmed look on her face as she raised her right hand and spoke. "Devon, you have my word I won't tell anyone. And my word means alot." She then gave a small sigh as she replied, "Besides, everyone here is already upset enough as it is. We don't want to worry anyone else if we can avoid upsetting them."

~~~~~~~~~

A rainbow face named Cyrix who was standing with the rest of the elders inside the valley was concerned, not just for the hatchlings who'd gone missing during the panic and confusion, but for the tension that the other elders worrying seemed to emit. After hearing Grandpa Longnecks admission to soon having to leave the valley council the rainbow face stepped forward and sighed. "Grandpa Longneck. I understand that this decision is not an easy one for you. After all you've been the voice of reason on the Valley council since before we got here. I just want you to know that if Littlefoots father can't take your place, I would... I would be honored if you allowed me to step in." he said in a humble and almost apologetic voice as if he'd said something wrong.

One of the children who had managed to stay with the elders after the flying rocks had fallen was now standing next to Cyrix and looked more worried and upset than some of the elders around him. His name was Longtail and right now, the young glider sighed as he stepped over to Petries' mom and asked, "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am but... I still dont' know why I can't be allowed to leave the valley and go looking for my friends. The flying rocks have stopped and it looks safe."

[Allicloud]

[Ok, I'm back, so Tero and Redback are mine again]

As Redback gnawed away at the thighbone of the spiketail he was munching, he was caught by surprise as the tiny sharptooth scuttled in to join their lunch.

He lowered his head as far as he could, but he was still looking down at the little guy. He swallowed, and spoke to Cutter in sharptooth dialect.

<No worries. Help yourself... Er, just be sure to mind yer manners. That longneck's a friend of ours, and he can be a bit squeamish about meateaters.>

[Mama's Girl]

Harper nodded as Pterano mentioned Littlefoot heading out after him and his bad choice of friends at the time. She'd heard of it. She was a bit surprised he was ok bringing up actions of those times, but then maybe it meant he was "dealing". It was hard to tell as she couldn't tell if the reminiscing look was a good or bad one.

Ridge's comment seemed to set Pterano off on the topic of the old threehorn again and Harper shook her head a bit, but with a smile. She thought to argue that they were still just kids after all, but as her uncle pointed out, they were even now reaching the point where they wouldn't be much longer. Ridge knew, his mother had already started dropping hints on how he should watch how he acted and how that reflected to others. The young spiketail wasn't sure why he should care how he reflected to others though.

Ridge, Harper and Ducky turned as Cera voiced her opinion. Ducky nodded, "Yes, that is true that they do not go out in it much. Not unless we have had to leave because of a problem in the Great Valley".

"Gosh" Harper shook her head, "seems weird to think of, us being adults before we know it. But I know we will, since we already went through the big step of the Day of the Flyers".

~~~~

Petrie's mother turned as Longtail approached, smiling to the glider and bending down to his level. "Yes, I know all seems safe, young one; but we can't be sure and...we've lost track of enough of you kids for one day" she gave a soft, sad smile.

[vonboy]

Cutter braced himself when Redback lowered his head, but brightened up when he didn't get what he was expecting. <Oh, thanks mister! I've been lost for a few days. I...don't know where my big brothers are, and since I usually eat what they catch, I haven't been eating much of anything lately. I...don't really know how to hunt> He lowered his head, looking ashamed. <I was just so hungry, I jumped in without thinking first, but thanks again for being so kind! Um, most other sharpteeth would just add you to their lunch if they saw you eating some of theirs.>

Chomper, hearing the conversion and seeing the little fast biter, suddenly realized something. <C...Cutter? Is that you?>

<Yeah, that's me!> He laid eyes on the little purple sharptooth and suddenly also realized something. <Chomper? Is THAT you?>

<Yup, that's me alright! I haven't seen you in so long buddy! Where have you been?>

<Oh, you know. Out and about. And you?>

<Well, living with my close friend, Littlefoot. He's that longneck over there> Chomper said as he pointed a claw at Littlefoot.

<Hmm, so your friends with a flattooth? That's a little...weird.>

<Yeah...it's kind of a long story. I'd tell you now, but I'm still hungry.> Chomper turned back to the dead spiketail for some more meat.

<Yeah, I'm starving too!> Cutter said as he started to chow down as well.

[Pterano]

Littlefoot was surprised initially that the sharptooth hadn't attacked him... though then again... the sharptooth wasn't really that big, either. Littlefoot was considerably bigger than Cutter, and perhaps he felt a little intimidated.

Norton too relaxed when he noticed the size and non-belligerent attitude of the sharptooth. If the sharptooth had been bellicose, something would have happened already, and it was clear to him that that wasn't going to happen. "Littlefoot!" he called down to the longneck. "Might want to hurry it up! The Bright Circle is going down after all! It'll be dark soon!"

Littlefoot acknowledged the flyer with a pensive nod, and looked over at Chomper. "So... you two know each other?" he asked, having heard the entire conversation, though he hadn't been able to make it out at all, as it was in sharptooth. He turned to the leaves he had been munching on, and promptly set about attacking them again, as he wanted to get full before they headed back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pterano couldn't help but to smile down at his niece as she mentioned the Day of the Flyers. "Ahhh yes... your initiation so to speak. I only wish I could have been there..." he said, this time some regret definitely evident in his voice. "I remember my own Day of the Flyers... and yes, that tradition was still in existence back when I was young." he half joked. "As it turns out... I received many compliments for how I flew... though of course it WAS a group formation after all... we all looked pretty darn good... though I WAS chosen to lead the formation." he informed her, giving his niece a wink.

"And take my word for it... when you start growing up... the years go by so much faster... it's best to enjoy this time you have now, because in a few more years it'll seem like all you're doing is blinking and you're already five years older." he said, smiling warmly. "You'll want to have what fun you can now, though just because you're older... doesn't mean you still can't have fun." He said, winking again.

Hyp looked rather shocked at Cera's reaction, and snarled a little. He backed off though, because she WAS getting bigger, and though she wasn't quite his size yet, he knew better than to tangle with her.

Pterano too was a bit surprised to hear Cera's statement, and turned to face her. "Well... I'm sure they will soon enough. You've all learned the hard way... through experience, but it's also made you a LOT stronger than any of you realize. Learning through lessons is all fine and good, but nothing can top actual experience." he admitted. "You must learn and learn quickly at that when presented with a dangerous situation... and you've been through plenty of those." he said with a chuckle.

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"Thank you... Mr. Threehorn." Grandpa Longneck said sincerely. "It does me good to hear you say those things. I appreciate you as a member of our Great Valley Council as well... even though like you, I may not always voice that." he stated, giving him a solemn nod.

"As for my replacement... I don't think my mate could do it, and Mrs. Swimmer is technically a part of the Council, even if she doesn't always assert herself as such." he explained. "If I have to step down... my mate will probably be doing the same. That means there could be a potential of two openings now. Our children, though they're getting older, aren't quite at the age I'd like to see them at before we turn over leadership to them." he went on.

It was then that Cyrix spoke up and made his suggestion, and Grandpa Longneck shifted his attention over to the rainbow face. "Ahhh Cyrix, you were in fact one such person I had in mind. However, since there are probably going to be two openings if my mate also steps down, we'd need another... and I had you in mind for a task to help out with that. You see... here is what I had in mind. You and Bron would replace me... but it's going to take Bron a bit to get here, if he can come at all. If we could convince a temporary member to take my place... and coach him a bit in how we do things... I think it would be to our benefit, provided of course he agreed to step down once Littlefoot's father arrived. Of course... if Bron is unable to take my place, then this temporary member could become permanent."

He looked from Cyrix to Mr. Threehorn. "Now... I've thought very long and hard on this, and though I'm uneasy about it myself... please remember, it IS only temporary... but I was thinking that provided he proves himself trustworthy by keeping our children safe... then maybe we could offer the position to Pterano, Petrie's uncle. And perhaps Cyrix and I could teach him and instruct him on the ways of the Council as well." the old longneck suggested. He braced himself, as he knew Mr. Threehorn probably wouldn't be taking this one well at all. Grandpa Longneck himself did not fully trust Pterano, and the old flyer often got on his nerves, but after he'd considered almost every name he could think of, he could think of none that would even remotely take the job more seriously than either Cyrix or Pterano. Plus... the children being with Pterano would be the proof. If he could look out for them, then he was suitable. Plus, he wasn't anywhere near as advanced in age as Grandpa Longneck was, Grandpa Longneck having at least twenty or more years on Pterano, but probably closer to twenty-five. Ptereno was in his mid-fifties after all... Grandpa Longneck was now approaching his eightieth year of life.

It made sense to Grandpa Longneck at least, but he knew the suggestion would probably be subject to fierce assault from Mr. Threehorn in a matter of moments.