Prologue:

    Sotara was wandering in the forest of Triassic winter. It was a lovely morning in the Valley of the Moon. He let out a long sigh of contentment. "Valley of the Moon, the only green place in Triassic," he said to his pleased mind and a beautiful view of his green homeland.

    Suddenly, his happiness was blown up by a sound of fighting nearby. Sotara let out a sigh and quickly ran to the waterfall, where the fight was....

Chapter 7 : Reunion

    Sotara leapt out of the bush, arrived the waterfall. And the thing he saw shocked him. It is a Herrerasaurus liked creature, but thrice the size, and it was killing a familiar Herrerasaurus....

    "Uncle Boha!" Sotara shouted right after he recognized that Herrerasaurus. He quickly ran to the gigantic creature. The giant raised his head up and roared out loudly as he saw Sotara. "Get lost, young one," he said after that. Sotara said nothing and leapt at the giant, but before he could reach the giant's body, he was hit by the giant's tail.

    "You are the brave one. But I see that you are too young to fight me. So don't bother me if you still want to keep your life," the giant said and let out an evil chuckle, and then he began to walk away.

    Sotara snarled and about to attack the giant again, but there was a soft, weak voice stopped him.

    "Uncle Boha!" Sotara shouted and ran to the injured Herrerasaurus. "Is that... really... you, Sotara?" the injured said. Tears slid down from Sotara's eyes, "Don't talk anything, Uncle Boha. I'll take you to my cave," he said and carefully carried his uncle on his back, and headed back to the cave....

    Balto was walking in the forest, still tried to find his missing daughter. Both weather and landscape of that place told him that he wasn't anywhere near Nome or even Alaska. But he could feel a weak scent of his daughter around, so he followed the scent to find if it is really her.

    Later, Balto had arrived the plain, the scent he followed was stornger, and this time, he heard a sound of feminine giggle, it is very similar to Aleu's voice. Balto turned his head to where the voice came, and finally, he saw his daughter was running happily with....

    "What's that thing!" Balto asked himself in shock as he saw Aleu was playing with something he had never seen before, it's a human-sized lizard-like creature. With worry, Balto called Aleu's name out loudly. At the moment, neither Aleu nor the creature seemed to notice him. Suddenly a loud roar filled the forest. Balto turned his head to, where he thought was, the source of the roar, and he saw something that made him even more shocked. The thing he saw looked just like the first strange creature, but much larger, and it was running toward him. Once Balto could regain his consciousness, he quickly turned to Aleu's direction and ran. But as he turned, Aleu and her seem-to-be friend he saw had disappeared. He was running from the giant alone, but it seems to have no use, the giant was much faster than him. And suddenly, as the giant reached Balto, he closed his eyes and....

    "Balto!" a voice called him loudly. Balto opened his eyes and saw a face of a female part-wolf looking at him closely.

    "Glace. It's you," Balto said softly. "Have a nightmare?" Glace asked, Balto just nodded.

    "Wait a second," Glace said and walked to the front of the boat. "He's up now, Jenna," she said to Jenna, who was waiting for Balto to wake up there.

    "You have just told me you have a nightmare, Balto?" Glace asked again as she and Jenna came back to Balto. "Yes. A second time," said Balto.

    "A second time...?" Glace asked, and then stopped for a while, thinking something. "So, what did you see in your dream?" she continued. And Balto began to tell Jenna and Glace about his dream....

    "It's just like what I've thought. This may not be a normal dream. It may going to tell you something, Balto," Glace said after Balto finished. "Do you know what's that dream mean?" Balto asked.

    "I... I'm sorry. I can't tell you now. Even though I have just said that this may not be a normal dream. But, who knows, it can be just a dream," said Glace.

    "So, what should we do now?" Jenna asked again with an anxious expression.

    "Well, uh... let's do everything just like what we do everyday. And we'll see if Balto or anyone has a dream like this again and again, I think we should find someone who can tell us what the dream said," Glace adviced.

    "Well, thanks, Glace," said Balto. Glace smile and said "That's not a problem, Balto. Now...." she stopped and stretched herself, "I'll go see Topaz. He knows about dreams. So, see you later," she continued jumped down from the boat.

    "She's a good girl," Balto said to Jenna. "Yes. I think so," Jenna said with a smile, and then turned into an anxious face.

    "What's wrong?" asked Balto. "Balto. We tried to find Aleu everywhere we think she could be now. But we...," Jenna said. "I know, Jenna. We tried our best. But for now, we can only wait for the time," Balto interrupted. "Oh, Balto...," Jenna put her face on Balto's chest, "I'm so worry about her," she said. Balto nuzzled her, "Me too, Jenna. Me too...."

    "Sotara? Who's he?" Aleu asked as Sotara put Boha down on the cave ground. Sotara let out a sigh and about to say,

    "Sotara...," Boha cut off, "Why is.... Why is there a mammal... in your cave?" he asked. "Well, uh... she's lost. So, I... I invited her to stay with me," Sotara said.

    Boha smiled and said, "You're my good child..., Sotara." And then he turned his head to Aleu, "Hello, kid.... Come here," he called Aleu, but she hesitated, she turned her head and stared at Sotara. Sotara just gave a little smile. "Come on, kid.... I won't hurt you," Boha continued softly, so Aleu walked to him and sat down. "What's your name?" asked Boha. "I'm Aleu," Aleu answered. "Aleu...? Lovely name..., isn't it? ...Mine is Boha," Boha said and gave Aleu a smile, Aleu did the same.

    "Aleu," Sotara called after a moment, "Where's Nebbia?" asked he. "Nebbia? Uh.... She had just came back from the plain. Now she's sleeping in the cave," Aleu said.

    "Good. Aleu, I want a time to stay with my uncle alone. You go into the cave first. I'll see you inside," Sotara said. "Your uncle?" Aleu asked, "But you told me that...,"

    "We'll talk about this later. Now just do as I said, okay?" Sotara said calmly. "Okay...," Aleu answered, and walked deep into the cave, but with signs of confusion written on her face....

    "Sotara.... I'm so proud of you... for destroying Fogo...," Boha said. "I wouldn't have these days without you, Uncle Boha. I have to thank you," Sotara said with a little smile....

    "Uncle Boha. I have a question," Sotara said after a while. "So ask," said Boha.

    "Who's that creature who was killing you this morning? You two have some problems before?" asked Sotara.

    Boha sighed out, "His name is Aliwal..., the Aliwalia. We don't have... any problem before.... In fact..., we didn't even know. But... he knows that... Valley of the Moon... is the only place... that's evergreen.... So, like Fogo years ago.... Aliwal wants this valley to be his...," he stopped because the pain that came over his body. "Uncle Boha, I'm sorry.... Please have a rest," Sotara suddenly said.

    "Sotara.... If one day.... If one day I left you...," Boha started. "Uncle Boha. Don't say something like that," Sotara cut him off.

    "No, Sotara.... One day..., I surely... have to leave you.... You have to.... You have to understand this," Boha continued.

    Once again. Tears welled up in Sotara's eyes. "If one day... I died.... Can you promise me that... that you will not... go and try to... fight... Aliwal...?" Boha gave Sotara a question.

    "Uncle Boha. I can't let...,"

    "Sotara.... I don't want you... in this condition... like your old uncle in... front of... you," Boha interrupted Sotara from what he was going to say. Sotara said nothing.

    "Sotara..., please, don't hes... hesitate. This can... be the... last thing I ask you... to... do...," Boha continued. Sotara kept himself in the silence for another moment, thinking of how to answer his uncle. Then he let out a sigh, "Yes, uncle Boha. I promise you," he said.

    Boha smiled a little, "My good child...," said he....

    Glace was in front of the wolf cave. "Topaz! Topaz! Are you there!?" she shouted.

    Topaz walked out of the cave, but in sleepy way, "I'm too young to be deaf, Glace," he said. "Oh, sorry, Topaz," Glace said.

    "Come in, Glace," Topaz invited, still rubbing his ear. With that, Glace walked into the cave.

    "Wow! Topaz. This cave is all... yours?" Glace asked as she saw the cave inside. "Very big for a lone wolf, isn't it?" Topaz asked with a smile. Glace nodded and looked around....

    "So, Glace," Topaz clear his throat. "What took you here?" he asked. "Oh! Uh.... Balto had a strange dream about Aleu. Last night was the second time. So, I'm here to asked you if you believe in dreams or you can tell us what that dream means," Glace explained.

    Topaz stretched himself, "No, Glace. I mean yes, I do believe in dreams. But how could I know what it means..., if you don't tell me the dream?" he said.

    "You mean you can tell me what the dream means?" Glace asked excitedly. "Well, I... I'm not sure about this. Some dream is too difficult to read...," Topaz stopped, thinking something, "Or you can tell me the dream now. And about... three days. Three days after this moment, if Balto had a dream like this again, you come here..., it will be good if Balto comes too. I'll tell you about the dream. But, if he didn't have a dream like this again, it may be only a common dream, you still have to come here... to tell me that it was just a dream. What do you think?" he continued.

    "Okay, fine. So, I'll tell you the dream...," Glace said, and then, she began to tell Topaz about Balto's dream....

    After Glace finished telling the dream. Topaz showed a little serious face, "Well. This is kinda hard to tell you in a short time. But still, three days from now, you come here. Oh! and don't forget to bring Balto with you," he said. "Thanks for your help, Topaz," Glace said with a smile. "So, anymore problems, Glace?" asked Topaz. "Um..., no, thanks again for asking...," Glace answered. "So, uh.... I have to go now. See you later, Topaz," she continued. "Good luck, Glace. See you later," Topaz said with a smile. And Glace walked out of the cave.

    About twenty minutes later. Glace ran back to the boat, and found Balto sitting at the another side of it, looking outside.

    "Balto," Glace called silently, but Balto didn't turn to her, as if he didn't hear her. Glace called him again, louder. But he still didn't respond her call.

    "Balto!" Glace called Balto again loudly. Balto quickly turned to her. "Glace? I'm sorry. I just thinking of Aleu," said Balto. "It's okay, Balto," Glace said "Uh... Where's... Jenna?" she asked.

    "She has just gone home. Why do you ask?" asked Balto. Glace smiled and said, "I have a news, Balto. I went to Topaz. And he told me to take you to his cave in the next three days."

    "What!? What for?" Balto asked nervously. "Calm down, Balto. Topaz just want to tell you about the dream himself," Glace answered.

    "But...,"

    "Come on, Balto. Nothing is scary there. All you need to do is to see if you have the same dream again. If you or anyone have a dream like this again in these three days, we would go to Topaz and see what he could tell us. Or if your dream is only a common dream, we would go to Topaz and tell him that it's just a dream. What do you think?" Glace explained before Balto could finish. Balto thought something for a moment, "I uh...," he hesitated to answer.

    "All right, Glace. I'll go with you," Balto finally made a decision....

Chapter 8 : The Broken Promise

    Next sunrise at Sotara's cave. Nebbia shook Sotara to wake him up. Sotara opened his eyes and saw her uneasy face, "Nebbia? What's wrong?" he asked. Nebbia hesitated for a moment before she said, "Your uncle, Sotara...."

    "Uncle Boha? What's happened, Nebbia?" Sotara quickly got up and asked worriedly. "Sotara. He... He's not breathing," Nebbia said uneasily. Sotara quickly ran to where Boha was, "Uncle Boha!" he shouted, but his uncle showed no response, he just laid there still, motionless.

    Sotara slowly walked closer to Boha, "Uncle Boha," he called softly, but still no response. Tears now poured down from the brave dinosaur's eyes.

    Suddenly, Boha's eyes slowly opened, "So... tara," he called weakly. "Uncle Boha?" Sotara asked in a soft tone. "Sotara.... Don't cry.... You know that... somehow... somehow I have to go...," Boha said, and then he stopped. "You still... remember what you... promised me...?" he continued. Sotara just nodded, a little smile was shown on Boha's face before the pain made it suddenly disappeared.

    "Sotara.... I'm so proud... that I adopted you.... And I... I'm so glad to... to see my... boy a... again. You... have done well... without me... for years. I'm sure... you... can... go on," Boha tried so hard to squeeze his words out. Sotara didn't say anything, his soul really was begging his uncle to carry on, and not to leave him, but from what he saw, Boha wasn't going to make it. So he just nuzzled him.

    Boha again gave Sotara a little smile. "Good bye..., my son...," after the last sentence was spoken, Boha's head fell to the ground, his eyes closed, and he stopped breathing.

    "Uncle Boha. Uncle Boha!" Sotara tried to wake Boha up, but there was nothing responded his call, not even a breath. Tears streamed down Sotara's face, he nuzzled Boha's lifeless body for a while. "Uncle Boha...!" he roared out loudly in sorrow, and returned his head to Boha's corpse.

    Though he knew that any words he was about to say can never be heard anymore, but he cannot help. He whined into his dead uncle's ear, "Uncle Boha, I haven't got a chance to tell you this. You are my only parent, like a father I've never had. Though you have gone now, I shall not forget you, for you gave me, a helpless infant, a chance to live..., father."

    Nebbia, who stood and watched everything not so far from Sotara also could feel the pain. A drop of tear slowly rolled down from her eye. "I'm sorry about your uncle, Sotara," she said in her mind before she walked deep into the cave.

    "What's happened, Nebbia? I heard Sotara roaring," Aleu, who had just woken up asked Nebbia what's happened as she came inside the cave room. Nebbia stopped for a moment, before she said, "Sotara's uncle had just passed away."

    Aleu gasped silently to herself, and tried to make her way to Sotara. But Nebbia stopped her, "Do not disturb him, Aleu. Just leave him alone," said she....

    Blinded by fury, Sotara forgot what he had promised his uncle, he got his head up from Boha's body. "Aliwal! I will kill you!" he roared, and ran off the cave.

    Nebbia and Aleu startled as they heard Sotara's roar. They quickly ran to the cave entrance and saw Sotara running deep into the forest. Both Nebbia and Aleu tried to called Sotara back, but it was too far for Sotara to hear them.

    Nebbia sighed, "We're too late."

    "We must follow him," Aleu said and going to run out of the cave. "Not we, Aleu. Just me," Nebbia stopped her.

    "But Nebbia...,"

    "Aleu, it's too dangerous for you out there...," Nebbia interrupted. And they two said nothing for a second. "I don't want anything happens to you, and I believe Sotara don't too," Nebbia continued. Aleu let out a sigh and with an anxious expression on her face.

    "Don't worry, Aleu. This won't take so long.... Oh, and Aleu, in case you need food, I keep some inside, you can have them while I'm not here. I have to go," Nebbia said, prepared to go out.

    "Good luck, Nebbia," Aleu said with a little smile on her face. Nebbia gave back a smile, and followed Sotara....

    In the evening at the river. Aliwal was walking, finding somewhere big enough to sleep.

    Suddenly, someone roared out his name. He turned his head to the left, and then to the right, but he saw nothing, so he looked down, and saw a young Herrarasaurus growling at him. "You again? Yesterday, I just let you live. Or do you want to end your life with this age?" asked Aliwal.

    "I don't care if my life would end now or not! You killed my uncle, I won't let you get away with this," Sotara roared, trying to keep his voice as stable as he could, for sorrow was now shaking his voice very hard. However, his trial was in vain, Aliwal could noticed his emotion, anyway. He chuckled evilly, "So, young one. Stop shedding your tears and start fighting. Show me what you got."

    Sotara suddenly leapt at Aliwal, but he had been hit hardly with Aliwal's gigantic tail before he could reach his destination. And just before he could get up, Aliwal fastly grabbed him in his mouth, and crushed him into a large boulder at the mountain base nearby. At that point, Sotara was knocked so hard that he didn't show any response. Aliwal walked to Sotara's unmoving body, put his foot on him, that caused Sotara to yelp out in pain. Aliwal lowered his head to Sotara, smiled a little, "Such a pitiful thing. I won't let my teeth dirty finishing you," he growled mockingly. Then, he again grabbed Sotara with his large jaws, and threw him down into the river. Aliwal chuckled evilly, "Let the river..., or I have to say..., let the fall do it," he said and continue a chuckle as he saw bunches of red bubbles popped up from where he last saw Sotara.

    Finding himself under water, Sotara struggled to the surface. But the more he tried, the deeper he drowned. Finally he gave up; his fate now depend on the mercy of the wild river. Aliwal, then, walked away soon after that.

    "Sotara!" Nebbia, who followed Sotara, and had just arrived the river, screamed out as she saw Sotara in the raging water. She ran out to the riverside after she's sure that Aliwal was gone. Sotara, in fact, heard his friend calling his name, yet, unable to answer. The cold water and the hurling stream was draining his life out of him.

    Nebbia ran after Sotara in the river by the riverside, still tried to call his name. A call started to become a yell, but it didn't work, either. After a while of running, Sotara reached the fall. Nebbia looked in panic at the red trail showing where the river had taken Sotara's body to; it took some time for her to be calm enough to start a safe way down the fall after her best friend. Along the way, not a second went without Nebbia calling Sotara's name; her face are now full of tears that, somehow, resembled the fall behind her.

    Sotara fell down to the bottom of the fall. In order to keep his nostrils over the surface, he had to painfully bend his own body. Time slowly ticked by, Sotara now found it very hard to keep himself curved in the condition he was in. Just before he gave up, a grey foot appeared; he couldn't see the foot clearly, but he didn't care whether whose it was, or what would it do to him. As soon as he was lifted from the water, he felt just safe enough to let himself fall asleep....

Chapter 9 : The Triassic Tracking Dog

    Nebbia spent almost half of the night tracking up and down the river, but her effort was in vain; it was as if Sotara just simply disappeared. Besides, the unexpected winter thunderstorm blocked all the left chances. Without either morale or energy left in her, she went back to the cave, where Aleu was now pacing around worriedly. When Aleu saw Nebbia came back, soaking all over, she ran out to ask her for Sotara. Nebbia didn't say anything, she walked straight to her corner in the cave, with tears on her face.

    Aleu heard her crying to herself, "It is all my fault, I should have stopped him. Why didn't I? Why...? Why...?"

    "No, Nebbia, it's not your fault. Tell me what happened," she said.

    "Sotara..., he... he was in the river; if only I was brave enough, he wouldn't fall off the fall like that. And now..., I... can't find him. He's dead, Aleu, he's dead, and I just stood there looking," Nebbia cried.

    Aleu, not knowing what to say, just move closer and so Nebbia let it all out. The feeling of Aleu's soft fur was a great comfort to her.

    That was a long quiet moment without them saying anything at all. Finally, it was Aleu who first spoke up, "Well, you said you had looked everywhere for him, are you that sure?"

    "I walked by that river for many hours and I couldn't saw him. The night was so dark, and the rain made my search even harder, I hardly saw anything at all," she said. Her voice was still shaking from the great sorrow.

    "Maybe, we should go back. There must be some hope if you take me with you," Aleu advised.

    Nebbia asked in surprise, "But, Aleu, how? You see the rain, it's impossible to even see where you are going."

    "Just let me try, Nebbia. I think I can follow his scent," Aleu pleaded.

    The female Herrerasaurus was still unsure, "His what? His... scent?"

    "You may not know this, but each animal has its own unique scent. And noses of my kinds are capable for following these scents," Aleu explained.

    "But what if he finds out that I let you go out with me? He...," before Nebbia could continue, Aleu cut her off, "I'm not afraid that he will know about this, I am afraid of him dying out there in the storm."

    With that, Nebbia and Aleu wandered off to the river in the cold winter rain. Aleu had never use her sense of smell as seriously as she was now. Because of the rain, she missed the trail twice, but she could quickly got back on the right way every time. As the thunder grew wilder, Aleu found it very hard even to keep on sniffing; finally the two reached a small branch of the river, Nebbia hadn't come to before. "Sotara was here, that's all I can tell. But his trail just disappear, I cannot tell you where he went next," Aleu yelled through the sound of thunder.

    "Aleu, there is a print here," Nebbia told Aleu as she could figure out a print similar to her kind's, she asked further, "Do you think he has gone back?"

    After spending some hard time examining both the print found and the one Nebbia made on the way, Aleu concluded, "I don't think so. This print is a lot deeper than yours, this should means someone had rescued Sotara."

    Not seeing what they can do more about it, and the thunder are growing almost too bad for them to handle, they went back to the cave, praying in their minds that Sotara was still alive...

    Two days later at Topaz's cave. Topaz was hitting the cave wall with his head, "Come on Topaz, think. What could that dream mean? Why is this dream so hard? They're coming today, and you can't answer them with an 'I don't know,' Topaz."

    Balto and Glace were on the way to Topaz's cave, when they heard his mumbling. "Do you really think this Topaz can help? It has been three days already, and it seems like he is still looking for an answer," asked Balto; it wasn't that he didn't want to meet Topaz, in fact, he need every help in reach, but he just wasn't sure this time.

    Glace spoke up, "Come on, Balto. You aren't going to go all the way back without an answer, are you?"

    Balto sighed, "All right. This is all I can do now." They both walked into the cave.

    Topaz was still talking to himself without noticing the two coming, "Great, this must be what the dream said, I am sure now."

    "I'm more sure that if I were a hunter, he would be definitely dead by now," Glace whispered to Balto, with an attention to let Topaz hear that too.

    Topaz quickly turned and said, "Glace!?... Balto! I'm glad to see you, two, here. Oh, oh, and I'm more glad to tell you...,"

    "The meaning that you just discover within a second ago?" Glace asked sarcastically, but still, with a smile showed.

    "Well... yeah, yes it is. Do you want me to tell you now?"

    "Yes, I dreamed it again last night! So, as you said, it shouldn't be a normal dream," Balto said, his voice really did show his tiredness because he hadn't slept well since Aleu disappeared.

    "All right. Your dream is telling you that finding your daughter now is impossible, because she isn't anywhere to be found. She is, now in a different world, and a different place. Aleu was destined to be a part in the history you can never imagine, she will come back when she finish her duty there," Topaz explained.

    Balto asked more, "And..., what about me got eaten in the dream?"

    "Oh! That's so simple. It means that you're not meant to be worried, or the worry itself will eat you up," Topaz answered almost as fast as the question was asked....

    "So you break your promise with me," a familiar voice echoed from somewhere. "Uncle Boha? Uncle Boha, where are you?" Sotara asked, though he knew that his uncle wouldn't be so happy, he himself was more than glad if he was able to talk to his beloved uncle for just one more time. "I am always with you, just turn around," the voice said. Sotara did as he was told, and he saw Boha, not like when he left, but in a perfect condition, standing upright in front of him.

    "You disappointed me, Sotara," Boha said, his eyes showed anger in them. Before Sotara could make an excuse, he continued, "I always thought you were a fighter who fought for justice. But I was wrong," after saying he turned away from his child, not even his gaze was on Sotara.

    "Uncle Boha... I..., I was...," Sotara was out of words, he was so depressed that he felt like a child again, a child who needed his uncle to comfort. He walked to Boha.

    "Don't you dare come to me!" he roared.

    When he didn't hear any more words from Sotara, he couldn't help looking back to see his only son on the ground, sobbing. What he saw completely emptied the anger in him. He slowly walked to where Sotara was, gently lifted his head up, "Sotara, I'm sorry. Hush now, my son, hush. I didn't mean to hurt you."

    "I'm sorry, father. I just couldn't help myself. I just..., I..., I don't know," Sotara was now not able to control himself, his body quivered with all the emotions that rushed through him. He was indeed very sorry for what he had done, at the same time, so happy that his uncle had now forgiven him, he even accepted his call as father.

    After a long sob, Sotara was calm enough. Boha explained, "Now, Sotara, what you should know is why I make you promise that. It is because I don't want you to destroy yourself, I know that my death would hurt you so much, right?"

    "Right, father. It... it was too much for me," Sotara answered with a sniff.

    "I don't want you to fight Aliwal with anger. If you need to stop him from taking the valley, don't you, ever again, let your anger get the better of you, understand?" Sotara just nodded for the answer.

    "Use your skills, I'm sure that you are good enough to fight him. Remember, the only one who can defeat Aliwal is Sotara, not the Sotara I saw in the river, but the one that I can be proud of when others mention his name.... I have to go now. You have my blessings, farewell, son," Boha said before he walked away. But just before Boha disappeared from Sotara's view, Sotara called out his uncle's name. As Boha turned to Sotara, Sotara quickly ran to him, nuzzled him gently, and said, "Thank you for everything. An orphan like me wouldn't have this day without you. I shall never forget you, father."

    "You're not an orphan. Remember, you'll always have me," Boha said before he faded to the distance.

    "Sotara...," a voice can be heard, from somewhere. "Sotara...," the voice repeated, this time closer and louder, yet, it didn't remind Sotara of anyone he knew. "Who are you? What do you want?" Sotara asked, turning around to find the source of the sound, but after several times of turning, he still couldn't see.

    He started walking randomly, the voice continued calling his name, time after time. As soon as the voice started to turn from a ghostly echoing one to the one he somehow recognized. Suddenly, a great pain caught him on his ribs, where Aliwal had hit him. He, suddenly, fell to the ground; his limbs clawed the air, and his back arched, but the pain didn't relieve just a little.

    The voice didn't stop as well. Despite the pain, Sotara could now tell whose it was, "Plat... Platinum?"

    "Well, you're awake, finally," the grey Herrerasaurus said.

    Sotara closed his eyes tightly, enduring the pain, tried to get up from where he was.

    "Whoa! Hey, calm down, hero. That will make you feel worse," Platinum said.

    "Platinum.... You are... the one... who saved me... from the fall...?"

    "Oh! Oh! Not me, you, yourself, walked here in your sleep! Believe me?" Platinum said in an extremely sarcastic way, just as he always was.

    "Platinum, is that your way to speak to a guest?" someone else spoke up, and walked out from the deeper part of the cave.

    "Sorra..., I'm sorry."

    "Sorra?" Sotara repeated the name, trying to think where did he heard that name before.

    As the sand-coloured female Herrerasaurus showed herself, Sotara laid eyes on her, "Are you...?"

    "Yes, I'm Nebbia's friend, Sorra. And you must be Sotara, the one who Nebbia always talks about," Sorra answered as if she knew what Sotara was going to say, "She appreciates you so much, you know?"

    Before Sorra could say more, Platinum asked, "So, what is it in the world that brought you to me in this condition?"

    Sotara shifted his position so he can look at the two more comfortably, he yelped in pain as his weight crushed on his injured ribs. It took more effort than he had expected to make such a little move. "Let's not... talk about that... right now, please," he begged.

    Platinum didn't put the subject down, now not because he want to displease Sotara, just his curiousity get the best of him, "Let me guess, you tried that giant, didn't you?"

    "Just push that aside, will you?" Sorra scolded him, for she wanted Sotara to be as comfortable as he could. Sotara just answered Platinum with a nod, he was too tired to say a word, all he needed now is a good sleep.

    After Sotara fell asleep, Sorra walked toward to entrance of their cave. "Where are you going?" Platinum asked.

    "I'm going to tell Nebbia that Sotara is here. I don't want her to be worried," Sorra turned around and said, "I'll be back before sunset," then she left.

    Nebbia and Aleu were now by the river, where they saw the footprint last night. For more than half an hour, there was only silence, Aleu had her muzzle low to the ground all the time and her back was now aching. Finally, she stood up straight. "Got something?" Nebbia asked.

    "Nothing, the rain might have washed all the scents and the prints away," Aleu sighed hopelessly then lowered her nose once more, but this time, she quickly lifted it up high in the air; there was something in the air that grabbed her attention. "There is someone coming, a female of your kind, I think," Aleu told Nebbia.

    Like what Aleu said, after a moment, a light brown female Herrerasaurus appeared in sight.

    "Nebbia, what are you doing here?" she started.

    "Sorra! Oh, I'm really glad to see you. Last night, Sotara fell down the fall. But the storm, I couldn't find him. Have you...," Nebbia said with worry.

    "Calm down, Nebbia. I'm going to your cave to tell you that Sotara is okay, he's at my cave," Sorra cut Nebbia off.

    "Really!?" Nebbia asked. Although her voice was still shaking a lot, but unlike last night, this time, it was nothing but pure joy that shook it.

    "Oh, thank you, thank you, Sorra. Without you, I don't know what to do. I... I don't know what to say."

    "Then don't, my friend," Sorra smiled as she found her decision to come tell Nebbia was right, "Look at you, I've never seen you so happy." It was then, when she noticed Aleu sitting beside her friend, "I bet this is your mammal friend you talked about? Aren't she supposed to stay in the cave?"

    "She has been helping me finding Sotara since last night. But, we can only reach here."

    "Well, Platinum took him from here. I'm sorry I didn't go to you immediately, you know, the storm is...," a question popped in Sorra's thought as she mentioned the storm, "How did you track Sotara to this place in that weather?"

    "I... umm... smelled," Aleu answered her, her sentence came out slowly as she yawned. Knowing that Sotara was safe, she had nothing to keep her from a good sleep anymore. After that long night, her body was now asking her for a rest.

    "It's okay, Aleu. You still have another chance to tell me your story. But, for now, it really seems like you need to get back to the cave with Nebbia."

    "No, I don't. I still want to see Sotara with my eyes, I want to make sure that he's all right," Aleu said.

    Before Sorra could say anymore word, Nebbia interrupted, "Aleu. now we have nothing to worry, Sotara is okay, and I'm sure that Sotara doesn't want to see you outside of the cave. I think we should go home for now."

    Aleu yawned again before she said, "Oh, okay, Nebbia."

    Nebbia turned her head to Sorra, smiled, "Thank you again for everything, Sorra. Now we have to go, see you again soon, friend," said she.

    "Same to you, friend. I will tell him your story, he must be proud of you two," Sorra replied with a smile. With that Nebbia and Aleu headed back to Sotara's cave.

    While Sorra was out, Sotara had already waken up, and now was having his first friendly conversation with Platinum. "Well..., after all this..., I think... I owe you my life.... How can I repay you...?" Sotara asked.

    "Nah! don't think like that. See this as my repay for your help back there in the pack. We're even now, okay?"

    "Come on..., Platinum. Let me do... something for you," Sotara pleaded

    "All right, all right, hmm...," after some seconds of thinking, Platinum spoke, "How about a friendly duel after we've done with that Aliwal?"

    "What...? What do you mean... by 'we?'" Sotara asked, not in confusion nor curiousity, but he didn't want to drag his new friend along in this danger situation.

    "I won't let you fight that gigantic thing alone. Besides, I've let you carry the title 'hero' alone for so long," he said with a small laugh. Sotara couldn't help smiling; he, then, shook his head slowly before getting some more rest.

    After a moment, Sorra walked into the cave. "Ah! There you are, Sorra. How is your friend and her furry friend?" Platinum asked

    "They're totally happy. I can say they are happier than I can imagine. Let's say they finally find out that the friend they spent all night to search is now safe," she answered. She smiled as she thought of how Nebbia and Aleu loved Sotara, she couldn't wait to tell Sotara their story.

    "They..., they what? They were up all night trying... to find me? What kind of a friend I am?" Sotara mumbled to himself.

    Sorra was surprised, she didn't expect Sotara to wake up this early, "Calm down, Sotara. Nebbia and Aleu are now safe in your cave, having their rest. You know? You are so lucky to have friends like them."

    "But..., what if you didn't go to them..., they might still... be on search. What will I... what will I do if something... happen to them?"

    "Sotara, they are safe now," Sorra reassured, "The only thing you should worry now is to get yourself recovered, okay?"

    "She's right, now rest. I promise I'll pay them a visit for you once a day," Platinum said. Sotara didn't hesitate to sleep, his body was asking for more rest than he thought.

    Sorra, seeing that Sotara wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, asked, "Well, Platinum, how is he doing?"

    "Sotara? Hmm... As friendly as he is. You know? I think I regret many things I had done to him and his friend, back there in the pack," Platinum said, with an unusually calm smile spreading across his face. Since Sotara saved his life weeks ago, he had changed a lot. No one, even himself, knew the reason why, maybe it was that Sotara had shown him the way a great, a brave one should be, or maybe it was the love he had toward Sorra. The only thing sure is that he had now abandoned his old selfish, agressive self.

    "I mean his condition," Sorra said, while laughing, shaking her head slightly.

    "Oh! Oh! His condition," Platinum chuckled at his misunderstood point; "He is recovering fast, you couldn't expect any of our kind to heal this fast," he added.

    "Glad to hear that," Sorra responded.

    Then, they heard a rumbling sound. It took a moment for them to realize that it was their stomachs, and that they hadn't eaten anything since last thunderstorm prevented them from hunting.

    "Let's go find something to eat, I'm terribly hungry right now," Platinum recommended.

    "Right. Better find something back for him as well," Sorra added. With that, both of them walked toward the entrance.

Chapter 10 : Kaon

    "Hey! Balto, where are you going?" Glace asked Balto, who had a serious expression on his face, "Aleu will be safe, smile."

    "I'm going to Kaon. I just want to ask him some questions," Balto said softly, but without a smile he usually had.

    Seeing Balto's mood right now, Glace wasn't so sure that was a good idea to go now, "Wait, Balto, you're not going to push that issue hard, are you?"

    "That depends on how Kaon reacts," Balto sighed, he also thought that pushing Kaon too hard would do no good, and would bring only troubles. But, for the subject was somewhat serious, if Kaon tried to avoid it, he had no choice but to do just that.

    As if Glace could read Balto's thought, her worry relieved a little. She wasn't going to stop him anymore, she just simply warned him, "All right, but don't do anything that would bring troubles, okay? I don't want any of those, especially with that kind of gangsters." Balto stared at her for a while before he jumped down the boat and made his way to Nome. Glace let out a sigh and laid down, "Trouble is coming, I know that," she thought....

    Kaon was walking in the town with his friends, but suddenly stopped as they saw Balto stood in their way.

    "Dad?"

    "Kaon. I have something to talk to you, come with me," Balto called softly. Kaon turned his head to his friends, stared at them as if he was telling them to go somewhere else first, and they all did as their leader told to. Kaon walked to his father slowly.

    "Kaon. Do you know what I'm going to say?" Balto asked after Kaon came to him.

    "I don't really know, dad. What's wrong?"

    "I want to ask you about your sister's disappearance,"

    Kaon was now shocked by what Balto said, it had been weeks of Aleu's disappearance, why he just came and asked him today? For sure, Kaon tried to talk something to get away from answering uprightly.

    "Disappear? No! Saba is here, in the town," he said.

    "You know I don't mean Saba. Where is Aleu?"

    "Aleu? Why should I care? She's just a wolf."

    "She's not a wolf. She's your sister," the conversation between Balto and Kaon was becoming more serious, and that was not what they both needed, but Kaon would just try the hardest he could.

    "She's not my sibling as long as I don't accept her."

    "Tell me, Kaon. This is all because Aleu is a part wolf? I'll tell you, you too are not a purebred husky."

    "I am, dad. I don't have wolf blood."

    "You have it, Kaon. Aleu just looks different, and just because of this, you try to kill your own sister by throwing her into that... whatever thing," accidentally, Balto said out something that Glace warned him not to say, and as he knew it, he suddenly stopped.

    "Wh... what did you just say...? Who tell this to you...?" Kaon didn't prepare himself for something like this, and by that point, he couldn't do anything straightly. But Balto didn't answer him, he just couldn't think straight, either.

    "So what if I did? What are you going to do to me if that's the truth?" Kaon said as fast as he could regain his consciousness.

    As soon as he got angry, Balto calmed down, and spoke, "Kaon, listen. I won't do anything to you, I just want to talk. Yes, it's my fault that I didn't tell you the truth sooner, but I've never taught you to hate wolves, anyway. Who put this kind of thought in you, son?" Balto couldn't say anything more than this; deep inside, he knew that it was also his fault to hide the truth of his heritage from his children, for this was what made wolves look different in his son's eyes.

    "No one teaches me to hate wolves, dad, I have my own thinking, and I just don't like wolves, that's all," Kaon didn't give up easily, he just tried as hard as he could.

    "I'm sorry you see it that way, Kaon," Balto disappointedly said before he turned his head away from Kaon and slowly walked back to the boat. Kaon didn't do or say anything, just stood there and watched his father walked away from his sight.

    "Fine! Who cares to be the hero of Nome's son, I don't. I have mom and my friends, that's enough for me!" Kaon barked after he was sure that Balto was too far to hear him. Then he angrily made his way to the narrow alley of the town and laid down there.

    "Hey, Kaon," one of Kaon's friends came to him and started.

    "Leave me alone, Stano," Kaon growled.

    "Kaon, I want to talk about this trouble," Kaon friend, Stano gave another try to come to Kaon.

    "I said leave me alone!" Kaon growled again, louder this time. But still, Stano didn't give up.

    With anger, Kaon leapt at Stano, and pushed him on the ground hard, "Get away from me, or I'll tear you apart."

    Stano got up, and walked away slowly, not because he was afraid of Kaon, but if he fight, the other dogs would be on Kaon's side. So before he was away from Kaon's sight, he turned his head back and said, "Just prepare yourself for trouble, Kaon. That night, there was not only you, me, and the other of us."

    After listening to what Stano said, Kaon's anger was suddenly replaced by shock. "S... Stano, wait."

    Stano turned his head back to Kaon, but not even a word spoken. Kaon, also had no idea what to do after seeing anger in Stano's eyes.

    "Now what is it you want, Kaon? Wasn't that enough for you yet?" Stano asked with a low growl.

    "I'm sorry... Stano. I just... I'm not in mood," Kaon tried to show Stano that it's now safe to come to him, and even tried to make Stano talk about what he was about to say before.

    After minutes of calming Stano, Kaon sat down beside Stano, "You feel better?" he started; nodding is what Stano responded for an answer.

    "Now, I would like you to tell me... What do you know that night?" Kaon tried again to make Stano told him what he wanted to know.

    "Well, uh.... That night, remember that you called us to your house? Yeah, that's it, I walked into the house, that moment, you're having a conversation with your uh...," Stano paused, because he nearly forgot that the word 'sister' that used to call Aleu is not what Kaon wants to hear. After a moment, he continued, "...having a conversation with Aleu, and I... I accidentally saw a gray female part-wolf spying us by the window."

    "So, why didn't you tell me this before?" Kaon asked doubtfully.

    "I... I didn't want to bother. I didn't expect her telling your father this," Stano explained.

    "Well, what do you know more about her?" Kaon asked more, wanting to know more about this female part-wolf. He was indeed angry for the fact that Stano didn't tell him before this mess happened, but he tried to overcome the feeling, and let Stano continued.

    "So uh..., after weeks, I know that her name's Glace. And she might not live so far away from the town. Quite often, I see her walking along the street. Who knows? Maybe she is staying on your dad's boat," Stano explained everything he knew.

    Kaon was a little frustrated that this was the only information he got, he murmured, "Yeah. Who knows?"

    "Hmm... Why don't you go and check it out?" Stano suggested.

    "Nah! I have just had a problem with my dad. I will never show up there. But... what should I do to that Glace?"

    "Well, let's wait until she comes to Nome next time, it will be around one or two days ahead, I guess."

    Kaon smiled, not from happiness, but from something evil in his thought, "And when it comes to that time, we'll make her wish that she were never born," he said and thanked Stano for giving him the informatiion he wanted. Then, the two walked back to the gang that were waiting for them....

    Next morning, like usually, Glace wandered around the town, trying to find some edible garbage throughout all the alleys she knew.

    "There she come!" a whisper flew in the air near the place Kaon and his friends were standing. Glace could feel something not normal going on, but just when she tried to rush out of the alley, it was too late. Now, she was being surrounded by a group of dogs, most were much larger than herself.

    "What do you want from me? I don't want any problem, I'm going out," Glace stammered.

    "Oh! In fact, you are the problem. You are and will forever be since you told my father about that night," Kaon snarled.

    Glace saw Kaon walking up to her, she wanted to run, but she just froze there. The next moment she noticed, Kaon was just a nose away from her, she gulped, "What are you going to do?" Her heart hadn't beaten this fast as far as she knew, she was truly scared right now.

    "Don't worry. No matter how much I hate wolves like you, I won't kill you. I'll try something different," Kaon chuckled. There was nothing Glace could speak now, her voice was stuck right in her throat, she began backing off slowly, but could not escape from the circle the gang had formed around her.

    Then, it all happened. Started by one of the dogs leapt at her. Glace quickly dodged the attack and used a space the dog had left trying to escape. But then, she was grabbed by a back leg and pulled back into the group, "Not so easy, wolf," Kaon evilly said. All of the dogs attacked her at once. With her back leg in Kaon's jaws, she didn't stand a chance to attack back. She yelped and yelped from pain and agony. Thoughout the fight, she managed to escaped twice, but was hauled back within a feet away. She tried the third time, this time, her other back leg didn't miss Kaon's head. Glace used the precious second that Kaon had been shaking his head bumped Kaon away and made her escape.

    The other dogs didn't expect a wounded female to do such an escape. "After her, idiots!" Kaon barked.

    Glace quickly ran into her personal alley, the alley that only she knew the way. After the dogs were in a safe distance, she limped out and headed to the nearest safe place, Jenna's house. She was quite sure that Jenna could give her protection until this situation was over.

    When Glace reached her destination at Jenna's house, she was pretty exhausted. She fell down on the floor gasping for air. The gang followed her scent there and started running to her. Fortunately, Jenna heard the barks getting closer and closer to her house, and come out to see what was happening.

    "Glace!?" Jenna gasped in shock, but the thing that make her more shocked was that the dog that led the whole group of dogs after Glace was Kaon, her own son. She moved Glace into her house, and came back out.

    "Damn it!"

    "Damn what, Kaon? I can't believe that my son can do such a thing."

    "Mom. You... you don't understand...," Kaon stammered. By this point almost all of the gang were backing off, leaving their leader alone in trouble.

    "Yes, I don't understand. I don't understand why you hurt Glace, she is here to help us looking for your sister, and you...," she sighed, "We sure have to talk about this, later." After that, she went straight back into the house, she would tell Balto about this later, but now helping Glace is the main thing....

    "Glace, Glace, are you all right?" Jenna said softly into Glace's ear, "I will take you to the vet."

    "No, not the vet. I just need some rest. Would you mind taking me to the boat?"

    "You'd better rest here, at least, until you get better...."

    A flash of lightning enlit the prehistoric sky, sending a sound the may had waken any sleeping creature in the valley. Aleu gasped and woken up from her sleep. Just a moment ago, she was having a nice dream of her family, especially her beloved father. But now, as she had already woken up, she realized that it was all a dream. Then, another lightning struck; it made her remember a rainy day back in her father's boat, she was just a young pup back then. She remembered how her father hush her when she was freaking out by the lightning. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she saw the truth that, without an idea how to go back, she may not had a chance to see her father again.

    Loneliness had a good grip on her mind, and made her feel so cold that she want someone to snuggle up to. The feelings were too much for her to handle, it was this night that she felt the fear of losing her family, her father, her siblings. But, the only one she had now was Nebbia, who was sleeping in her corner of the cave. Without hesitation, Aleu got up and walked to her, she lay down beside her.

    The feeling of Aleu's soft fur on her skin startled Nebbia a little, she woke up to see Aleu crying by her side, she asked worriedly, "Aleu, what happened?"

    "I miss my family, I miss where I came from, there are so many things," Aleu sobbed.

    "Calm down, Aleu. I'm sure you would find a way back home," Nebbia reassured, despite the fact that she also felt hopeless for Aleu too.

    "It's not just that. It's... it's just I have never told my father how much I love him. The last word I said to him is that I hated him, for only such a little thing. And... and what if I couldn't go back?" Aleu moaned.

    Nebbia didn't know what to say, she waited for a long moment then spoke up, "He surely knows how much you love him not less than how much he loves you. And trust me, Aleu, I will help you find a way back."

    Before any more word could be spoken, another lightning flashed out, at the same moment, a wet Herrerasaurus appeared at the entrance.

    "Oh... I hate rain of the dawn," the wet Herrerasaurus mumbled to himself, shaking the water on his body.

    Neither Nebbia nor Aleu could tell who was that wet Herrerasaurus in that moment of darkness. As the stranger moved closer to them, a light of the another lightning lit the darkness, with that, both Nebbia and Aleu saw the stranger clearly.

    "Platinum!?" Aleu was a little bit shocked, at the same time, she was a little bit scared, for the situation she and the grey Herrerasaurus were in weeks ago.

    The grey dinosaur asked, holding his laughter, "Is my appearance that scary, ma..., uh... Aleu?"

    "Oh.... It's just you. You aren't going to kidnap me again, are you?"

    "Nah! I'm not going to do anything like that again after everything that has happened." sighed the grey Herrerasaurus.

    "Platinum, what are you doing here so early?" Nebbia asked doubtfully, remembering how she had to wake him up every morning for the morning hunt back there in the pack.

    Platinum told them about what he had promised to Sotara, and that he was healing at a good rate. After a little stretch, Nebbia got up and invited her visitor further into the cave for some more talk....

    "Kaon did what?" Balto, shocked by what his mate told him, almost shouted the question.

    "I've told you, Balto, don't make Kaon notice anything," Glace said from the corner she was lying in.

    Balto walked over to her to have a closer look of her wounds, "I... I'm so sorry for this." He sighed before continuing, "I shouldn't have let my anger overcome me." Then, a thought popped up in his mind, "Does Rosy know Glace is here? I'm not sure her father would welcome a wolf in his house."

    "That's good, because I'm not a wolf, I'm just half one," Glace joked. Balto chuckled at the sentence, and sat down beside Jenna.

    "Glad you still have your humour; you aren't as hurt as you seem, are you?" Balto asked. Jenna had now gone into the house's kitchen to find something Glace could eat. She came out a while after that with her own breakfast Rosy gave her earlier in the morning. Glace gave the food a sniff, then said, "Are you sure I can eat this, I mean... it's yours."

    "Go on, I'm too full to eat anyway," Jenna spoke, pushing the bowl closer toward Glace.

    After a mouthful of the food, Glace exclaimed, "Much better than those things I usually found in the trash. I shouldn't get too accustomed with this." She licked her lips and carried on with the meal.

    "Now, Glace. Let's get back to the boat," Balto spoke up, with his eyes scanning the outside through the windows, "before Kaon comes back."

    "Come on, Balto. Let her stay here for a while, I'm sure Rosy's parents won't say anything about this," Jenna suggested....

    Kaon had now paced around or almost an hour now, he had never been this serious before in his whole life. No matter how rude he was to others, he always want to be polite to his mother, all he wanted is the love from his mother; and what he just did earlier in the morning just put that need on risk. Stano, one of his companions, could see that worry, he spoke, "Don't be worried, Kaon. Don't forget that she's your mother after all, she couldn't be upset at you for so long. Trust me."

    Kaon just nodded, he wasn't in mood to say anything; his friend's words didn't make him feel any better. The thing Stano just told him wasn't the thing he didn't already know. The real thing that set him on this worry is that he couldn't find a way to explain himself and the thing he had done, not only to his mother, but also to his father. Despite his somewhat racist thought, he still loved his father, for there were not enough reasons for him to hate Balto.

    Stano, seeing that his friend had received the message, slowly walked away....

Chapter 11 : The Past of Topaz

    "Come on, you, stupid legs, stop shaking!" Sotara almost yelled after he collapsed once more in his effort to stand up.

    "Don't push yourself so hard, Sotara. You know that you can hurt even more by doing that," Sorra walked over to the brown male on the ground. Sotara listened but his stubborness told him to try once again, just to find himself on the ground once more. But he didn't give up, he crawled to the wall, and try standing up now with his weight leaned on the wall. Again, his effort was in vain, the wall did support him well, but it was the ground; he just slipped and landed hard on his side, unfortunately, on the side Aliwal got his ribs. The fall drove all the air off his lungs, he didn't have enough strength left even for a yelp. He just lay there, breathing hard.

    "Sorra, what happened?" a grey Herrerasaurus spoke up from the front of the cave.

    "Platinum, he tried to stand up again and he...."

    "Haven't succeeded yet," Platinum said just before Sorra finished, and walked into the cave.

    He walked to where Sotara was lying, offering help, "Here, let me help you." He, then, slipped his head under the hurt Herrerasaurus' and gave him support. Sotara's legs were now shakier than they had been, he had never thought he could be this helpless. With his friend's help, he walked to his place in the cave and lay down.

    Seeing that Sotara didn't push himself that hard anymore, Platinum and Sorra went to their corner, and started their conversation. Platinum told her about how Nebbia reacted after hearing the news. They even talked about many pleasant things just like how any loving couple would talk.

    "For how long do I have to stay here?" the question was whispered from the other side of the cave, where Sotara was lying. It was a tone of hurt, not so physically, but mostly mental hurt. Everyone do want to enjoy his daily life properly, no one would ever expect lying helplessly for days. Sotara was exactly in that condition, not to mention the bad incident happened some time ago; he was now very desperate.

    Sorra was about to rise, when Platinum pulled her back down, and took the rise instead. He walked closer to Sotara, until he was some feet away, he sat down. "Don't worry about when, Sotara. Let's worry about how you can be cured, if you don't stop your daily activity of hurting yourself," Platinum spoke, shaking his head from side to side, in a manner of a father scolding his child.

    Sotara didn't even bother saying anything, he just let out a long sigh, and took his rest....

    Glace was having a rest after her thrill in Nome, but her tiredness hadn't gone away. When she heard a sound of someone stepping onto Balto's boat, she sniffed the air to find the scent of the stranger. And then, when she noticed that it wasn't a stranger, she sighed in relief. With a little smile on her face, she greeted the visitor, "You don't know how to walk silently..., right, Topaz?"

    "I'm afraid if I walk too quietly, you will catch a heart attack when I appear. Well, I come here just to see if you want to come with me for some walk and a little chat," said the yellowish brown wolf.

    "Talk about what, Topaz? Can't it be another day? I'm exhausted now."

    "Oh! Come on, Glace. All I remember is that we talk only about serious issues since that silver hole appeared and Aleu went missing," Topaz pleaded and trotted around Glace in an attempt to tempt her for a play.

    "No, Topaz.... Stop running around me, I'm getting dizzy," she said, covering her head with her paws.

    Accidentally, Topaz stepped on one of Glace's injured back legs. "Ah! Topaz! Mind your step!" Glace yelped, then coiled up into a ball, facing to another direction. "Glace, I'm sorry, I don't mean to...," Topaz said contritely, but Glace was still in the same manner. With remorse, Topaz slowly walked away, lowering his head, and sat down in some distance away on the boat.

    As Glace noticed Topaz's expression, her anger vanished fast. Slowly, she walked to the male wolf in the other side of the boat. "Topaz...," the grey female called softly, "I'm sorry...."

    "No, Glace..., it's not your fault. It's just..., you make me think about my past..., think about the first time I ever got someone angry, and how I became...," after a long pause, Glace asked politely, "...alone?" Topaz just nodded his head.

    "Well, do you mind if I want to know a little about that?" Glace politely asked.

    "Nothing much, Glace.... Well, I used to live in a large pack of wolf. Just a yearling am I those days, but my alpha doesn't like me, for the reason I don't quite understand. One day, comes the time for my first hunt...."

    The hunting team was getting ready for their big hunt. This could be their last hunt before the blizzard struck, the aim was for a large prey to feed the whole pack for the coldest weeks of winter, and failure could not be allowed. As done for many generations, juvenile wolves that had just stepped into maturity joined the hunt. Unfortunately for little Topaz, he was the only teen wolf joining this time. As nightfall came, every single wolf in the hunting team hid in their particular places waiting for the caribou they had been eying for whole day to be chased in. Wolves hunt in group, chasing the prey into the correct path where more of the team can join the chase; everything from timing to cooperation must be perfect.

    Soon, when the only light that shone the way was that of the moon, the hunt began. The caribou ran right according to the plan, one by one, the experienced wolves jumped out to help. But for little Topaz, he was shaken, by both fear and nervousness, it was like his heart was beating out of his chest. He bursted out a mere three seconds before the time supposed, thus landing right in front of the deer. All of a sudden, the prey rushed back and ran away, leaving the hunters shocked and angry.

    "Look at what you done, kid? Now, the whole pack will starve, because of you," one of the older wolves barked.

    "Please, forgive me. Don't tell the alpha. If we hurry, maybe we can hunt for another prey," Topaz pleaded, not daring to think of what would happened if the alpha knew about this. However, luck didn't seem to be on little Topaz's side, the forest was now too dark, further hunt may result in getting lost or being gunned down by humans, so the team went back with Topaz whimpering all the way.

    The young wolf was thrown against a tree, all for the anger of his alpha. "I repeated and repeated that you must come back with food. And now, thanks to you, all we got nothing, absolutely nothing," barked Tormenta, the leader of the pack, "Do I have to say it again that I am hungry, the pack are hungry?" he continued threatening, then grabbed the smaller wolf by the neck, causing Topaz to yelp in pain. Despite his effort to struggle free, Topaz again and again found himself between the jaws of the alpha.

    "Tormenta, that's enough. This is just his first time, everyone can make a mistake," a female wolf spoke up.

    "Rhoacia, my love..., you still care about this failure of our pack?" Tormenta barked, pointing at the young wolf.

    Hearing what his alpha had just used to call him, little Topaz managed to speak, "I'm not... a failure...."

    "Of course, you are. You have always been a good-for-nothing ever since you were born. You were born weaker than any other pup in our pack. I don't even know why your parents are so stupid that they still want to raise you."

    Without noticing it himself, Topaz had his fur puffed, his fangs bared, his position shifted from crouching to ready for attacking. "I am the one who lose the prey. Don't speak of my dead parents that way," growled little Topaz. The larger wolf was startled by a mere second.

    "Or what I just spoke isn't true? They are just foolish enough to give you their last food and died themselves, so that you live two years later to fail...," Tormenta didn't have to speak to whole sentence to boil Topaz up, the young wolf, driven by anger, dashed in only to be thrashed away.

    Topaz was panting very hard, he had just managed to stand up when Tormenta approached and turned him over; he was now too weak to defend himself. Seeing the younger wolf in this condition encourage Tormenta to grabbed him by his throat. With jaws around his neck, gagging him little by little, Topaz wearily tried to push his alpha away, but there wasn't enough strength left in him; finally, he just lay there, waiting for the time that he can feel no more pain.

    Unable to bear watching, Rhoacia pulled her mate back, "Please, stop. Tormenta, don't kill him. I beg you." Tormenta stopped to turn and face his mate, her eyes were full of tear. He turned his face away, closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "What have anger turned you into? You almost murder a member of your pack, a family that you are supposed to protect," his mate asked with a trembling voice.

    Unfortunately, Tormenta had already gone too far, he didn't realize how monsterous he had become, he didn't even listen to what his love asked. He walked toward the wolf panting on the ground, the snow around him was tinted red by the blood seeping out of his wounds. He grabbed Topaz and threw him farther away from the cave entrance, this violence was repeated for two or three times until the leader himself was tired. He barked, "Get youself out of here, go and disappear from my territory. From now on, if I see you anywhere in my land, I will kill you without a second thought."

    With that, little Topaz slowly dragged himself away, for his legs were now too feeble to support his weight. Finding a shelter took Topaz a long, lonely, and agonizing week, he was so lucky that he managed to find a cave not so large, but enough for him to rest and heal. Throughout the period of healing, Topaz had to depend only on dead animals and water from the snow he melted in his mouth....

    "I'm so sorry I make you think of your terrible past," Glace said as Topaz ended his story.

    "No, no, no, it's all right, Glace. At least, I have something to talk with you, and that's good enough," he answered, hiding a smile. With his half-closed eyelids and a portion of tears in his eyes dimming his vision, Topaz didn't notice Glace approaching for some gentle licks on his cheek. It shocked him a little bit, but it was pleasing enough for him to relax within the matter of seconds.

    After another few licks on her friend, Glace invited, "Do you mind if I say we go for a walk and some chats now."

    Topaz went so happy, he eagerly helped Glace stand up and supported her all the way down the boat. Along the beach, the couple of young canines enjoyed every little thing each of them brought up to talk about. After some thirty minutes of walking, Glace lay down on the sand and rest, with Topaz lying nearby.

    "Topaz, you know? You are one generous wolf I've ever met," Glace started another subject.

    Not so sure what to say, Topaz just tilted his head like he wanted Glace to repeat the statement which she did, and also added, "Really, I don't think there could be another wolf who would promise to help Balto with such a serious subject without a second of hesitation."

    "I do what I can, Glace. Besides, it was you who came asking for my help," Topaz answered.

    "So?"

    "To tell you the truth..., my first thought was to impress you. I have been adoring you for so long, but wasn't brave enough to introduce myself. Anyway, that silver thing bumped me into you at last," explained the male wolf, he, then, talked further, "Uh.... Glace..., I don't mean to offend you, but have you ever eyed any male..., I... I mean have you ever liked someone?"

    Glace, already knowing what Topaz would asked next, just played along, "No, I don't think so. Why?"

    "If so..., I'd like to ask if you..., well, we have been a good friend ever since we met, I think... I mean... umm... I want to know if you want to be like umm... closer than that, like a girlfriend or something? I love you, really love you," the male wolf felt hot all over, despite the relatively cold weather, he gulped and stammered, "It... it... it's okay if it is a 'no,' I'll still help you find Aleu, anyway. I... I... I...."

    Glace shook her head a little bit. Deeply, she did like Topaz a lot. It didn't matter how well Topaz could help, his generousity had impressed her enough. At first, she had already plan to brought this issue up right after Balto's problem was solved, this was a little fast for her, but she reacted as her heart told her to. She and gave Topaz a lick, "Yes, Topaz, yes. Stop stammering, I love you too...."

Chapter 12 : The great fire

    "Oh my, I've been eating only fish for weeks now," Aleu complained over the fish she had caught.

    Nebbia who was enjoying carcasses of a prehistoric animal smiled, then picked up some of her food and give it to Aleu, "Well, come on, give it a try."

    "Thanks Nebbia, but I'd rather not," she sniffed her share once, before continuing, "I don't even know what it is. Are there something here like mice or at least some birds?"

    "Come on, Aleu. You just didn't know what Sotara gave to you, because it was torn to pieces. But, believe me, it's the same creature." said Nebbia, urging Aleu to eat the carcass.

    "Thanks, Nebbia. But..., I still... don't want to eat this," Aleu said, drawing her head away from the flesh. A grey Herrerasaurus appeared at that moment and took the carcass away.

    "Platinum!" Nebbia gasped loudly.

    "What? If Aleu doesn't want it, why waste it?"

    Aleu walked toward her fish and started her meal, while listening to the two dinosaurs talking.

    "Nebbia, I have one question I was to ask you many days ago, but I, heh..., forgot to...," Platinum started.

    "Don't tell me you forget it again today."

    "No, no. The question is... Where is the body of Sotara's uncle?"

    Nebbia stared at him a bit, then she stated the place where Boha would be resting forever, also, she said that she's about to go there too. She and Aleu usually went there from time to time, mainly to wish Sotara fast healing, and to ask Boha to guide Sotara through his life. Once, Aleu even begged Boha to show her way back home.

    "You..., bury him? What were you thinking?" Platinum cocked his head and asked in confusion.

    "It's Aleu's idea," Nebbia pointed her nose at Aleu. Platinum turned his gaze to where the mammal was, "What's burying for, Aleu?"

    "Well, at least, if we bury him, no one will have the body," Aleu explained.

    Platinum turned his head to Nebbia once before turning to Aleu, "That's..., well..., brilliant, Aleu," Platinum said, hiding a smile, "Kind of weird, but brilliant."

    "So, you wanna come with us, Platinum?" Nebbia, who was standing in front of the cave, asked.

    "I'd love to, but I have to go see if he tried to stand up and hurt himself again. I'll go with you when Sotara is alright. Bye for now," Platinum walked out to the cave entrance, and turned out to the direction of his cave.

    "Good luck, Platinum. And don't forget to tell Sotara that we miss him," Nebbia left a message to Platinum.

    "Don't worry, Nebbia. You'll be surprised when he comes back, he's healing faster than you two could ever imagine. I can tell just this, so, see you later," Platinum said before he ran deep into the forest of the valley. "Come on, Aleu. Let's go," Nebbia called Aleu after the grey male disappeared from her sight....

    Hours passed, Platinum had arrived the cave. From a distance, he can see the female trotting back and forth as if she was thinking about something. As she saw him, she ran toward him. Something wrong happened was what her voice told as she muttered, "Platinum, thank heavens you're here. It... it's Sotara. He... he's." The female wasn't able to say clearly, she was in too much worry. Platinum wasted no time rushing in to see what had happened to his friend.

    There, where Sotara usually lying, all left to be found is nothing but a little warmth left on the earth. At this moment, thoughts raced through Platinum's mind; there were so many thoughts about what could have happened to an injured dinosaur wandering around all alone. Though he tried to think only the better possibilities, he failed and failed to prevent the worst case from repeating itself over and over in his head. "I have to go find him. You stay here," he exclaimed finally.

    Luck didn't seem to be on their side today. Outside, up high in the sky, black clouds darkening the whole valley below, along with the gushing wind, foretold the large storm that was going to hit very soon. "But the weather...," said Sorra.

    "That's why I have to go," Platinum yelled from a small distance away from the cave.

    "I wish you luck, Platinum, come back soon." Sorra silently murmured....

    Sotara was running, in search of his attacker. If the giant was really trying to take over the evergreen place, Sotara just couldn't let it happen without a fight. Besides, what Aliwal would do to other animals here wasn't one of the things Sotara wanted to imagine; he just couldn't lose this battle.

    It was an unusual winter day. In the time so late in the afternoon, the valley should be bathed all over with the warming sunlight, but today, the whole scenery was engulfed in darkness. Without the warmth from the sun, the temperature in every corner of the place dropped, rendered creatures, especially the large ones, less active.

    Despite the chilling weather, Aliwal still carried on his evil routine. The wailing sound of a young Plateosaurus, a plant-eater of an average size, could be heard to quite a distance away; and this sound didn't go undetected by Sotara. Through the dense trees, the Herrerasaurus dashed by, heading to where the sound came from, the outskirt of the forest.

    There, in the plain at the heart of the valley, stood Aliwal, and on the ground was the young herbivore pleading for his life.

    "Please, you don't even want to eat me. Why do you have to kill me?"

    "Well, you won't be there when I really want to eat you, right? Besides, killing is my pleasure," the murderous beast answered as if he saw nothing more in his prey's life than pure entertainment for himself. That was enough to heat Sotara up. He roared as loud as he could, "Leave him, Aliwal!"

    The giant predator turned to face the speaker directly. What he saw totally amazed him; it was indeed the one who he himself thought he had finished once and for all. Moreover, Sotara did seem to be in a very good shape for a dinosaur that had gone through that incident. But after seconds of looking, an evil smile made its way onto Aliwal's face, Sotara was still not totally healed up from the pain; that meant he could be defeated much easier than the last time.

    After few long seconds, Aliwal still had one foot on his prey. "I told you to let go of him!" Sotara shouted, restating his words. As he was going to sprint in, he felt a tug on his tail, it was Platinum.

    Without noticing what was going on, the grey company spray questions and orders out onto his friend, "Damn you! Sotara. What do you think you are doing, limping out here alone? Are you crazy? Get back to the cave with me now, and no excuses."

    Before saying any other sentence, Sotara bumped Platinum away from Aliwal's gigantic jaws.

    "Sotara, hmm? I must say, I'm quite surprised. The current isn't enough to kill you though," Aliwal said, "Well, this time, I'll finish you myself." Nothing more to be said, he dashed in, heading for Sotara. Such a great fighter he was, Sotara was ready; he stood firmly, prepared himself for any attacks possible, his eyes didn't even blink as they focus on the giant. Within a few feet away from Sotara, Aliwal made a sudden turn, and rammed his massive head right in the middle of Platinum's body. The grey dinosaur was caught off guard; the impact sent him rolling on the floor. As he struggled to get up, he saw Aliwal approaching him.

    As for Sotara, shocked by what just happened, he tried to recollect his mind, and roared, "Aliwal! You need me, not him." When Aliwal turned his attention to him, he continued, "Or such a giant like you can only stab others in the back?"

    Aliwal roared back at him in fury, "How dare you. I'll teach you a lesson for that."

    "Come and get me, Aliwal," Sotara said as he turned to run, heading for the forest where dense trees satisfied his agility but not Aliwal's. Looking back a bit, he saw Aliwal standing at some distance to the back, seeming to hesitate following him more, "What happened? Afraid?" Sotara mocked.

    Lured into anger, the bully rushed after the Herrerasaurus deeper into the wood; in his attempt to push himself through, his bulky body downed branches and trees along the way, one of the fallen branches blocked the trail, thus, preventing Platinum from his pursuit....

    Nebbia and Aleu had just come back from Boha's when the whole valley flashed bright with a lightning, which was, then, followed by a loud terrifying crack; but not a single drop a rain had touched the ground. Aleu's heart skipped a beat at the sound, on every part of her body, her fur stood on end, "There is something wrong. I can feel it," Aleu spoke, in a whispering manner.

    "Don't worry too much. Nothing is going to happen," Nebbia reassured her friend.

    Aleu told, looking at the dinosaur's face, "It's a strange feeling I have, a blink of fear that Sotara might be in danger."

    "Calm down, Aleu. Sotara is so safe in Sorra's cave, he knows not to wander out in a weather like this...."

    Meanwhile, Sotara was diving deeper and deeper into the forest, with Aliwal struggling to follow not so far to the back, when the lightning struck. The relatively dry weather reacted quickly with the energy, it set the area right behind the chasing foes on fire. The bolt almost shocked both to death; they glanced back, the thought of how lucky they were shot in their minds. For a matter of time, the only sound they both heard was that of their own hearts, the chase stopped, for neither the heroic spirit nor the pugnacious soul was prepared for this.

    However, it was Sotara that first regained his conscoiusness, and took the chance to attack. He quickly ran to the shocked Aliwal and bit him hardly on his thigh. The pain snapped Aliwal out of the state; he swung his head, his jaws opened wide, ready to crush on his attacker, but found nothing as its target for Sotara was now nowhere to be seen. Furious, the giant looked from side to side for the Herrerasaurus. Instead of seeing the one he was searching, Aliwal could see only abundance of dry stems and leaves from his height; he had to crouch low in order to see clearly, but this hindered his speed considerably.

    As soon as it started, the fire began to cover larger and larger area. Neither of the two got the chance for another blow; soon, the forest was all on fire and the heat went up drastically. Again was Aliwal's size proved to be a disadvantage, while Sotara, lowering his head just a little, was able to breathe, Aliwal was severely suffocated by ash and smoke. The burning air was so choking that the huge beast couldn't anymore rely on his legs, he wearily leant upon an unburnt tree nearby and moaned to himself. Even this was his uncle's killer, it wasn't a scene Sotara could bear seeing.

    A fair opening could be seen among the thicket, it was large enough for even a large Plateosaurus could went through, but a massive trunk was dangling just over it, threatening to fall. "Quick, there's a way here," Sotara called to his opponent. As if he didn't hear, Aliwal just stood there, struggling quietly for air. With his last attempt to save his rival, the heroic Herrerasaurus inched in, so he could draw the helpless dinosaur out. The desperate brute felt a tug on one of his hands, and mistook it as an attack, he dove his gigantic head on his rescuer, thus, backing him off, but, at the same time, causing his now feeble body to fall.

    "This is not the time to fight! Come on, come with me," Sotara uttered as he approached again.

    "You win now. How does it feel to have your revenge?" Aliwal said, through his pant.

    "We don't have time for this. And I don't want to kill you, just to make you know where the limit is."

    The enormous beast turned his head away, so no one can see his tears. This animal, the one that he hurted so badly both physically and mentally, didn't seek vengeance after all, he was, indeed, worth the respect all other creatures in this valley gave him. No matter where he went in this place, the name of this once small pitiful thing in his sight never went unmentioned. "But you don't understand me, I want a shelter, a place where I can find food throughout the year," he spoke up finally after a long chain of thoughts.

    In a sudden, a loud thump, followed by a crack, interrupted the conversation. Both dinosaurs turned to where it came from only to found that the stem swaying above the route was already burnt down, completely blocked Aliwal's only escape.

    Sotara was also coughing by this time, even he wouldn't be able to stay conscious in this smoke for too long; time was running out. He called, "Aliwal, quick, we could break through that!"

    "No use, you know I can't make it. Besides, this serves me right anyway," the large predator spoke, then, after a moment of panting and gasping, he added, "There, there's a hole under that tree. You go, just leave me here."

    No matter how much Sotara wanted to help, the smoke-filled air didn't give him so many choices. He was forced to go without Aliwal. Just before heading into the tunnel, he heard a sound calling him, it was from his opponent, "I know my way of finding my place was a problem for everyone here, many lives were slain. Please Sotara, after all I've done, I know too well that I don't deserve this, but I beg you for forgiveness."

    With a nod, the Herrerasaurus dove into the tunnel. The path was boiling hot, the only light that shone was that of the flame on the forest floor up above, and some parts was so small that it was so hard to squeeze. The only thing that kept Sotara running is the hope of survival, yet, there seemed to be no way out of here; the further he went, the more hopeless it looked. Along the way, his heart raced like it never did before, but it almost skipped a beat when the soil that served as the ceiling of his pathway collapsed, preventing him from going on, as he tried to turn back the same thing was repeated.

    The downed soil didn't only cage Sotara, but it also acted as barriers for oxygen. With intense heat and no air, strength was draining out of him, and his conscoiusness slowly slipped away, for the really first time in his life that Sotara felt like he was going to die. Just before he was completely out, the infernal heat seemed to drop, the feeling of cool water showered upon Sotara, and soon the forest ground was soaked with water as the rain poured down.

    The darken surroundings and refreshing water were signs that it was safe to go up now, so the dinosaur pushed against the earth on top of him. It was still retaining some of the heat, thus, it was still warm, and took some effort to break through. One last drive led Sotara onto the ground, he lay panting there for a matter of minutes before gaining enough power to rise. Looking back through the curtain of water, he saw the forest, once lively and green, now lifeless and burnt down to soil.

    Now that he was safe from the great fire, he started his way out of the forest. In a portion of his thought, he wished that, back there in the deep forest, Aliwal also made it until the rain, but Sotara risked no chance going back to prove that. At the margin of the forest was a grey Herrerasaurus, waiting desperately for his friend to come out. As he saw Sotara half-limping toward him, all the anxiety was lifted away.

    "Oh! You're one hell of a lucky dinosaur, aren't you?" Platinum asked, and without waiting for the reply, he added, "Don't you ever try something like that again, you hear me?"

    "Okay, all right, I won't give you any more to worry about. I'm fine now, you better get home now, I'll be going too. I'm getting homesick for real," Sotara answered, laughing a little; and with that, he parted. As his friend was about to go too, he turned and spoke, "And don't forget to thank Sorra for me, you two have been granting me a great hospitality. I'm so grateful."

    "Sure! And don't forget, we'll have a duel as soon as you're fully recovered," Platinum answered. Just one more smile from Sotara, and the two went on separate ways....

    Hours later at Sotara's cave, when the rain had just stopped, Aleu was sitting at the front of the cave, looking at the sun that was coming out of hiding in the cloud. At the same moment, Nebbia walked to her and started, "The rain has stopped.... Aleu, I'll go find some food, you should get in the cave until I come back." Aleu said nothing, just let out a sigh, "Nebbia, I saw the forest on fire just before the rain.... I have a bad feeling that...," she spoke up, but just before she finished her question, Nebbia interrupted, "Aleu, I told you nothing is to worry. He is in Sorra's cave, remember?" Despite what she said, Nebbia still saw uneasiness written on Aleu's face.

    "Don't worry, Aleu. He'll surely come back. Now wait here until I come back, this won't take long, I'll be back soon," Nebbia, again, reassured her mammalian friend, and turned to the plain when she saw a small smile from Aleu. But just before she began to move, she gasped softly as a group of three Herrerasauruses approaching the cave from a little distance away.

    One the them spoke in a wicked tone, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

    "A cave, plus a girl and a snack. Things can't get any better," another smirked.

    The female Herrerasaurus told Aleu to run; but her canine friend wouldn't move an inch. She stood her ground ready for a fight, her fur puffed as she growled at the strangers.

    The final of the trio questioned, looking at his friends, "Our lunch looks pretty much of a fighter, you think?"

    "Not after we kill her. We'll have a fluffy meal today," the largest one muttered to himself, and, with a grin, he slowly led his companions to the snarling wolf-dog as if to test her courage.

    Seeing all this happened, Nebbia jumped in and attacked the boss in attempt to protect Aleu, but was pinned down by his minions. Looking down upon the held female, and said, "I thought I won't kill you and make you my mate. Or you want me to change my mind?"

    Nebbia, without hesitation, lunged forward for a bite. The male thug was lucky that the rest of the gang was still able to stop her. With anger, he took her throat within his jaws, and slowly forced it down. Under the pressure of the other two dinosaurs, Nebbia didn't stand a chance to escape. Aleu couldn't just stand and look, she, then, ran in and, with all her might, tried to help her friend. An unexperienced fighter, Aleu could do nothing more than to enrage the gangster more with her painful but not lethal bites. "Aleu..., run," groaned the helpless dinosaur through her gritted teeth. Soon, Nebbia's forceful strain was no more, as she began to choke and gag, her struggle became aimless and feeble.

    A loud roar rocked the heart of every creature hearing it. Everything halted for a second, then, within a blink, Nebbia was set free as her holders were sent bouncing on the ground, leaving their leader in surprise. The attacker, now, appeared to be a male Herrerasaurus. He declared, "Touch any of my friends again, and you'll be torn to shred."

    "Sotara," Aleu immediately called with glee, but instead of running toward him, she stepped aside as her friend mentioned.

    Seeing the considerably smaller male, the gangster taunted, "And who's going to help you? The helpless girl? Here, let me finish her for you." He, then, lowered his for the exhausted female's neck.

    "I warned you," the hero growled, but got no attention at all; the intruder did neither stop nor slow down. And that left Sotara with no choice, in order to protect his friends, he attacked so swiftly and viciously that no one could tell the whole details of the fight. However it was clear that the two followers ran away for their lives within the first few blows. The boss himself fought until the last drop of his might, but he was no match for his opponent. Sotara, seeing that the invader meant no threat anymore, drove him away and reunited, in his cave, with two friends he loved so dear....

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Continued on the next part, "Sotara's past."