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Third Energy Anomaly Report - Subject Ten Preparation

31-12-2039

Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon

Our radars have been scanning across the continent for the next anomaly to arrive to our world, but to no avail for this round. Thankfully we have also requested the help of the Skylands tribe to monitor any strange or unusual activities in the sky whilst out on their patrols, and they came to us with news that the islands far west of here began to emit disturbing lights and atmospheric pressures unlike anything they had ever seen or felt.

We sent out an investigation team with guidance from the Flyers but they found nothing. A small cluster of three islands with no otherwordly presence, even our new subspace detection scanners came up empty. However, my own scanners showed there was an output of 15 TEFs from that island chain indicating that clearly something arrived. Is it possible that this is our first anomaly where nothing came through, that in all the fluctuations we have had from other dimensions, this one was a dud? I do not believe so, and as such I have asked the Flyers to keep monitoring the islands for anything out of place.

I have long since worried that our presence here may affect this world too much to the point that it has created an unstable reality. I once had a debate with Professor Durai on the nature of reality and asked if he believed that a world could become so unstable that it might collapse or even cease to exist from dimensional fracturing and stress as I once posited in my original theses at NASA. He disagrees with me, saying that reality is much too intangible to be so easily dismembered by uncertainties. I only hope that he is right, for our mission depends on keeping this world stable enough for the day we might return.

I'll have to develop a contingency plan with Major-General Brightman for handling our refugees for that day and finding them a good permanent place to live.

"Stop, ch-child STOP!"

"RRRRRAIIIIIIIIGH!"

"STOP THAT NOW, STOP IT!"

" REEEEEEEEEEH!"

Oddclaw was struggling with his feral daughter, forcing her down until he sat on her to keep her under control whilst she shirieked and bit at her father's leg with rabid claws and tiny fangs. During this Moonclaw was keeping the two sons under control, the anthro screaming with a red face whilst the feral kept playfully biting his head with overgrown fangs to leave constant marks.

"STOP BITING YOUR BROTHER HE DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY!"

"AAAAAAA-AAAGH, AIIIIIGH!"

"STOP IT NOW!"

She barked with a ferocious snarl showing her fullest teeth to frighten the feral male into submission. He whimpered with a soft mewl and cowered as she sighed exhausted.

"Now, lick your brother clean. Clean him now, apologise to him."

He seemed to understand when she mimed with her tongue lapping the air as he trotted forwards to lick and nuzzle his sobbing brother who started to calm down at last. The daughter however was not giving up, thinking she could outwin her father in a test of mental endurance as she rasped and screeched underneath his rump. Oddclaw rubbed his head with a heavy sigh, feeling warm with a tender throat as he looked back to see his two sons lick and make up with each other. The feral lad chirped as his tongue dragged across the anthro's fat little skull, cleaning up the bites and helping his brother settle down with sweet mewling sounds. The pudgy infant tried to reach his teeny claws up to his feral sibling who licked his hand, nuzzling against his arm and growling playfully to make him giggle.

"Gooood children," said Moonclaw licking both of them, "now, my daughter, will YOU behave like your brothers?"

"RrrreeeEEEEEEEEEH!"

Oddclaw gave his wife one look of sleepless fatigue to indicate she was not giving up anytime soon. But eventually she did, perhaps 40 minutes after whilst the family ate up food that his sisterly twins brought for him. The parents ate with their children as the unruly daughter was released from her punishment to feast alongside her brothers.

"How's our li-ttle hatchliiings?!" teased Sandrunner tearing half a rib for herself.

"Our daughter is an unruly beast," said Oddie chuckling, "she must get that from you."

"Awwww she's not behaving?" said Leafrunner with glimmering teeth. "So proud of our niece!"

"Do NOT encourage her please," warned the mother chewing up the meat from a severed arm, "nnnghrk, we are trying to keep them quiet for when we eat, save their strength for the hunting."

"When do we take them hunting?! I wanna show them all the best hunting spots!"

"The best HIDING spots too!" squealed Sand slurping up a dead beast's tail. "I'm excited, I can't wait to teach them!"

"I think by the next two cycles they shall be ready," said Moonclaw preparing to chew up food for their anthro son, "two of them are able to walk but I would like to wait until they are able to speak somewhat."

"Oooooh alrighty! I can't believe it's been almost one-and-a-half cycles since they hatched!"

"I am glad you are so eager!" said Oddclaw pulling their heads together against his cheeks. "You are the best hunters of our family."

"Awwwww Oddiiiie!" They both slurped across his face.

"Yer such a cuuuute baby brother," tittered Leaf, "tryin' to get us all sweet."

"That's cuz he IS sweet," said Sand cuddling up against him, "sweet like threehorn hatchling blood!"

"What, nooooo he's sweeter than that, like sandneck blood!"

"Oooh yeah yeah, thassit!"

"MLLRRK!"

Moonclaw took this time to feed their anthro son as he opened his mouth, receiving her red mushed-up food that almost dripped off her tongue. Some of the meat drooled out of the infant's mouth as he tried to swallow it, gulping by instinct before his belly turned full and his urge to burp came rumbling from his throat. Recognising the red-faced coughing look Oddclaw picked him up and burped him properly before putting him back down.

"At least he is easy to feed," said Moonclaw licking the child's face, "he is not as lively as his brother or sister, even if he is fatter now."

"Neither was Oddie," said Leafrunner nodding sagely, "like, the first four cycles he could hardly walk!"

"Mother had to carry him on his back aaaaall over the land," said Sandrunner lolling her head stupidly, "and even when he DID walk he was slow!"

"Thank you sisters," muttered Odd rolling his eyes as he put his son down, "at least we shall be more prepared."

"So long as we do not neglect any of them," said Moonclaw nuzzling her feral daughter close as she curled up beside her, "they are all our children and must be given the same love as each other."

"I wonder what we shall call them...but I already know what THIS child's name is." He picked up the not-so-sleepy feral son whose large twin fangs nipped at his lower lip. "Youuuu are The One With Odd Tooth, yes?"

"Aaaaaaaah!" squeaked The One With Odd Tooth scratching his father's nose.

"Hmhmhmhm, awwwww he likes it!"

"Of course he does!" said Leaf laying on her side. "Those huge teeth are gonna make him a KILLER!"

"I have to agree," said Moonclaw, "he will make a fearsome hunter one day beyond."

"Oh I am sure all of them will be," said another female behind them, "but your family seem to make some odd hunters certainly."

"OH, hello Shadetooth!"

Oddclaw turned with a smile to the chocolate-coloured raptor and her small entourage of five young raptors. He made a soft purr to warn them to be quiet for his sleeping children as they sniffed and chirruped curiously.

"Woooow he's kinda fat," said one.

"Don' be mean that's yer cousin!"

"I-i know! Issat one gonna look like you uncle Oddclaw?"

"Yes he will," said their uncle politely.

"When can we play with 'em?!"

"When they are old enough, come back in another cycle or two."

"Awwwww!"

"Where is your father?" he asked stretching his back on the rock.

"Huntin'!" said one of his nieces swishing her tail. "Auntie Sand an' Leaf are huntin' with 'em too!"

"We are?!" cried Sandrunner. "...wait...if...WE are here, then how is he-"

"OhhhHHHHH WE-u-um, we-f-forgoooot!" Leafrunner gasped trying not to shriek. "S-sorry Oddie we gotta leave, sis!"

"BYE-oop, I mean byyyye Oddiiiie!"

The twins rushed off much to the sniggering of Shadetooth's children who did their best to prevent cackling in fear of waking their infant cousins.

"Mother why are they so silly?" said one nephew.

"Why are you asking me Wingclaw?" replied Shadetooth nipping his head. "They are not MY sisters, ask your uncle."

"Okay." Wingclaw immediately turned to Oddie. "Uncle Oddie, why-"

"I have no idea," he replied back putting hands behind his head, "your aunts have always been odd and silly children."

"Maybe they ARE children?"

"Now that is not nice to say," said the mother, "even if it is true, if you cannot say something nice, do not say anything at all."

"Okayyyyy...can we go play now mother?"

"Yes you may, but only to the lake and back, do not leave my sight."

Shooing off her children as they raced to the lakeshore, the sister-in-law sat herself down with a heavy sigh and looked towards Moonclaw.

"So are you regretting being mated to this family yet?"

"Are you?" she replied back with toothy grin.

"Ohhhh give me time...at least until they leave the nest fully."

"You have wonderful children," they turned their heads towards the cackling beasts jumping over each other's backs, "so full of strength, and a clutch of five even!"

"Oh I know, Fishclaw calls us greatly fortunate but he was not the one pushing them out all night."

"Hah, three is enough for me thank you."

"But I am really here to speak with Oddclaw." Shadetooth turned more fully towards him. "I know I have asked this before, but is he really alright with this...'Starleaf' thing?"

"He will be fine," he said nodding, "Fishclaw is the strongest male of our family not just in body but in mind. If it had been anyone else they would have been driven mad by a half-cycle."

"Hmmm...should I be worrying then?"

"Of course not," said Moonclaw nuzzling her, "in the cycles I have known him he has been nothing but kind and strong to me, and I have not known him as long as you!"

"And he looked after us well when we were hatchlings," replied Oddclaw proudly, "even when my sisters drove him mad every day with their...well, like forgetting to hunt with him today!"

"Hhhha ha ha ha!" Shadetooth suppressed her laughter trying not to wake the infants. "Ohhhh those two are silly...I suppose you are right then, if he is not worrying then I should not. Thank you, you have all been so kind about him."

"How'd they even MAKE that cave?" asked the left voice.

"Why do you assume that they made it?" replied the right.

"They came through it remember, three cycles ago that cave wasn't there."

"Maybe you were not looking far enough."

"Says the one who got his head stuck in a rotting log-"

"THAT WAS ONE TIME BLOODBARK!"

"Could you two zhhut UP?!" barked a deep flat voice in front of them. "Uhm not yer muvver."

"And we're not from your tribe so maybe YOU shut up!"

"You zhhut up or ah break yer wholl fazhe in mah teezh!"

"Like you can even catch us!"

"ENOUGH!"

They stopped and turned to look at each other. Two red-feathered raptors with thin snouts and wattled necks looked upon the crocodilian whose squat legs and autumnal colours gave her a wide-bodied look.

"We agreed to travel together because we have the same enemy," said one of the raptors, "we only have to speak with this Oddclaw and once he has helped us we can return to our tribes without anymore arguing."

"When'd YOU become responsible?!" said the other crimson beast cocking his head. "The only reason I'm here is to keep an eye on you!"

"That is a stupid lie and you know it Bloodbark, at least TRY to fool our friend here with your stupidity."

"Uh fink bofh uf you are zhtupid," said Frozentongue flapping her empty mouth, "uhm zhuh zhat told you abou' Uddcluh."

"But you said he didn't help you fight the Deep Hunger!" argued Bloodbark.

"Yuh, but hizh friendzh did, an' he knowzh where zhey'll be."

"If they managed to fight the Deep Hunger and live," said the other red raptor, "they must be greater hunters than we can possibly dream."

"Well I don't believe it!"

"You have a better idea?"

"No, that's why I'm here."

The two Yurgouvuchia said nothing more and kept walking behind the Kaprosuchus, her fat tail swishing back and forth on galumphing legs that stomped across the open plains west of the Hunters' Nest. The grass was soft and tickled underneath her belly with a soothing moistness that gave her some relief as they approached the Swiftclaw territory.

"How do you know these swiftclaws?" asked Bloodbark.

"Uh told you ulreddy," said Frozentongue with impatient snort.

"No you didn't, you just said this Oddclaw would help us hunt down this firebeast!"

"Yuh, cuzh uh ZHAID it wuzh from hizzh tribe."

"She did say that," reminded the other raptor.

"Wha-don't gang up on me Deeptail!"

"But you are wrong and she is right, that firebeast had the scent of a swiftclaw."

"I-i know that but she didn't say that!"

"UH DID YOU ZHITHEAD!" she roared with spitting froth from her tongueless throat all over his face. "If you juzh LIZZHENED you would zhtop azhking lahk a child!"

"I don't have to take that shit from you mudeater!"

"Bloodbark please!" Deeptail nudged him by the shoulder. "She is here to help us, why are you fighting her?!"

"She's calling me a liar!"

"No YOU are calling her a liar, I told you she told us tha-"

"I DON'T CARE!" The angry brother hopped onto a rock lording over the two. "I didn't have to come, we could've just gone hunting on our own this firebeast has nothing to do with us!"

"It DOES have to do with us," insisted Deeptail, "did you not see what that beast did to the trees?!"

"IT'S JUST FIRE, WE HAVE FIRE FROM THE SKY EVERY CYCLE-AND-A-HALF, SO WHA-A-AAAAGH!"

"SURPRIIIISE!"

From out of nowhere a blur of brown came shrieking down upon his back, throwing Bloodbark into the dirt as he wrestled hard and fast rolling across the grass much to the confusion of his brother. But soon he was facing his own opponent when another creature striked from above that he just barely dodged.

"Ooooh you're new!" said the female attacker. "Fluffy food for me!"

"I am not here to fight," said Deeptail with defensive stance, "we are here to meet your tribe for help!"

"Awwww that's boring!" she cried. "Yer friend wants to fight!"

"L-LEMME GO!" roared Bloodbark. "YOU-A-AAAGH!"

"Come oooon I just wanna taste your blood!" squealed his attacker nipping at his neck.

"YOU CAN EAT MY SHIT!"

He kicked her hard in the stomach to send her flying back, giving him time to stand up and brace himself for the fight proper. Sandrunner leapt towards him as he strafed with a hard kick to her side sending her down with a yelp, but the swiftclaw bounced back up with shocking speed and lunged straight onto Bloodbark's face with wide-open jaws that clamped on his head.

"GRRRRGH, A-AAAAARGH!"

"NNNNYEHEHEHEHEEE!"

"N-NO STOP IT!" cried Deeptail. "TELL HER TO STOP-AAAAGH!"

"NOW YER TURN!"

Leafrunner pounced on him with gusto by kicking him in the face, biting his throat but in a more playful manner by withholding her teeth. Frozentongue cocked her head at the confounding fight, before grabbing one of the raptors in her large jaws and tossed her entire body across the plain.

"AAAAAAGH!"

"ENUFF, we dun haff tahm fer zhizh!"

"DON'T THROW MY SISTER YOU FAT SHIT!"

Sandrunner came charging towards the kaprosuchus who made a half-serious bite, but the raptor was wily and leapt much higher than expected to land upon her back and start fiercely ripping apart her back. Or at least she tried to, but the hard weltered skin resisted her savage teeth as Frozentongue spun in a swift circle like a dog chasing its own tail to throw her assailant off. Leafrunner recovered from her fall and was leaping straight back onto Deeptail who countered with a hard slam of his namesake with the force of a baseball bat, striking her across the face to knock her down. Rolling herself back up, the wily swiftclaw made a charging headbutt that surprised the bloodfeather with a strong punching bruise to his chest that made him stagger.

Bloodbark had not forgiven the other sister for her attack, and was right upon her after Frozentongue threw her aside. He raked his claws on her belly as she grabbed his throat and hurled him aside with a giggling fit, slapping her tail across his face back and forth to anger him.

"S-STOP, STOP THAT!"

"DI-DIIIIH, HHHEEHEHEHAHAHAHA!"

"YOU COCKEATING SHIT, GET, OFF!"

"YAAAAAIGH!"

He chomped on her tail and yanked her hard enough to flump her bottom on top of him. Sandrunner tried to push herself off, but the bloodfeathered raptor bite him, but he snapped on the nape of her neck and pulled her hard against his body causing the two to tussle and roll across the plains amidst squawking and screeching frenzy.

"GET, O-OOOOOFF!"

"N-NNNUH, NNNNNRRRRGH!"

"AAAAAGH S-SIIIIIS HEEEELP!"

"STOP BITING MY SISTER, L-LET ME GO!"

The four raptors were in a constant state of pulling and pushing in pairs of biting tails and wrestling fangs that rolled with flecks of blood smearing across the plain as Frozentongue barked with increasing rage.

"ZHTUP, ZHHHTUP IT NOOOOW!"

But they would not. Whether it was because of her lack of enunciation or the bloodlust taking them, they continued to fight and maul each other until something came flying upon Sandrunner with a powerful doublekick.

"A-AAIIIIIIGH!"

"Wh-what the-WHAAAAH!"

Leafrunner soon followed when she was given the same treatment, both sisters tumbling almost simultaneous before staring up at Fishclaw now between them, the raptor's maroon-backed scales glinted in the prehistoric sun.

"THAT, is enough sisters!"

"What are ya DOING?!" screeched Sand. "Get out of our way!"

"No, you stay down or I will make you!"

"You don't scare me!"

"Yeah you wanna fight too?!" shouted Leaf bouncing on her feet. "Come on, I'll show you!"

"Could you stay back please?" asked Fishclaw to the newcomers. "I have to teach them a lesson."

"Oh what you gonna make Staaaarleaf do it for ya?!"

"No, I do not need him to make you imbeciles learn RESPECT!"

Both sisters struck from opposite sides as Fishclaw ducked and charged forwards to have them leap over his head, turning fast to spinkick Leaf across the back of her head and slap Sand with his tail. They got up and shivered with insult at their brother before nodding to each other and suddenly strafing to either side of him. With synchronised movement they made an X-strike, slicing their front claws towards his chest as he ducked-and-rolled fast out of their reach, waiting for the second attack as Leafrunner jumped high whilst Sandrunner went low. The older brother whapped his leaping sister with his tail whilst he turned and clamped his jaws firmly on Sandrunner's neck, causing her to shriek as he threw her aside without even drawing blood.

Leafrunner staggered upon landing with a slightly rattled head whilst her sister tumbled to the side, the two making a silent motion for Plan B as Sandrunner ran towards Fishclaw to keep him distracted. She swerved and feinted with lunging bites that forced her brother to back up whilst Leafrunner made a half-circle run around him to behind waiting for the right moment. Snapping jaws tentatively at his arms, she lured him towards her hunting partner who licked her lips and braced herself for a flying stomp kick.

"YAHAAAAAAAH!"

With a screech she leapt upon her brother's back, but the moment he felt her weight upon him he suddenly reared up like a horse and threw his body backwards to crush her underneath his weight. The sister yelped with a frightened grunt as Fishclaw waited for Sand to come jumping in before rolling himself off to let her crush her sis.

"A-AAAAAAARGH, S-SAND YOU IDIOT!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT, HE MOVED!"

"THAT'S IT! TIME FOR OUR STRONGEST SKILL!"

"YEAH, YEAH THAT ONE! Now yer gonna GET IT BROTHER!"

The two sisters stood up next to each other and started to run around him in a full circle. Slowly picking up speed they became a small tornado with him in the centre, the grass stripping beneath their feet as a typhoon of green and brown blurs trying to confuse him with random shouts and cackling giggles. To the other raptors and Frozentongue it looked like a hurricane had suddenly swarmed upon Fishclaw, their eyes struggling to keep up with such a pace.

"Wheeeere aaaaare weeeeee, heeheehahaHAHAHAAAA!"

"Can you see us brother?! HUH?! CAN YA?!"

But they had forgotten what their brother's true skill was as he took a deep breath and sharply focused. Time slowed down as his heart beat slower, his tail become rigid and his eyes sharpening to a deadly slit. Blades of grass slipped past his vision with the grace of feathers as he saw his sisters' bodies outlined more clearly. The whirring rushing feet and raking claws across the dirt sounded like helicopter blades slowly winding down as the raptor's surroundings faded in colour and the sisters became sluggish in their steps. Fishclaw honed his sight upon Sandrunner as he grabbed her throat with clamping jaws and tossed her with a hard spin straight towards Leafrunner. She couldn't stop and soon collided against her sister, smacking their bodies together into a hefty crumple of claws and tails that left their heads spinning.

"Uuuuurrrrnnnnngh..."

"Now," barked Fishclaw, "are you both DONE?"

"A-alright ALRIGHT alreadyyyyy!" shouted Leafrunner staggering onto her feet with welted bruises. "We were just playing UGH Fishy you really need to know how to playfight!"

"Yeah what are ya, Eggfang?!" ranted Sand huffing a cloud of dirt from her face. "We were gonna stop!"

"Like shit you were!" ranted Bloodbark. "We just wanted to talk and you jumped on me!"

"I was saying hello!"

"WHO SAYS HELLO BY POUNCING?!"

"What YOU don't, sheesh no wonder yer so upset!"

"I'M UPSET CUZ YOU BIT MY FACE YOU STUPID-"

"ZHUT, UUUUUUUP!"

Frozentongue's voice roared across the plains with a hoarse grating shudder through their bodies, her deep bass resonance almost vibrating their skulls into silence. Fishclaw turned to the croc and greeted her with a tender nuzzle.

"It is good to see you again Frozentongue, are you well?"

"Uh would be," she muttered darkly, "uf not fer zhezhe two."

"I am sorry for all this," said Deeptail, "my brother did not want to come-"

"Don't start with that!" cried his brother with stomping feet. "You're making me look bad!"

"You are the one screeching your head off, you can only blame yourself brother. Anyways, I take it you are Oddclaw?"

"No, I am Fishclaw," said he bowing, "who might you be?"

"I am Deeptail of the Bloodfeather tribe, and this is my brother Bloodbark. We have come seeking help, Frozentongue here said that someone called Oddclaw would be able to."

"Help? With what?"

"Well..." Deeptail scratched the earth with pensive thoughts feeling his throat turn dry. "Frozentongue why not explain for us?"

"Hmph, ulrigh'." The kaprosuchus strutted forwards in front of them. "Zhere'zh a firebeazht running round uverywhere, burning treezh an' killin' anyone it zheezh."

"A firebeast?" asked Fishclaw cocking his head. "I...I have not heard of a firebeast but what does it have to do with Oddclaw?"

"Well...it'zh from yer tribe."

"What?! But we do not have any firebeasts!"

"Uh know, but it zhmelled luhk yer tribe."

"I...see-wait...wait no I do remember something my sister told me before. So, why are these two here?"

"We're not 'these two'," said Bloodbark with raised snout aloof, "our alpha made us hunt down the firebeast and chase it out of our home."

"Then we met Frozentongue," explained Deeptail pointing his snout to her, "who told us your tribe and that is why we are now here."

"Hmmm...alright." Fishclaw digested all of this with a firm nod. "Would you mind waiting here whilst I explain this to my alpha?"

"Not at all."

"Sisters, keep an eye on them, and NO more playfighting or else I will have Frozentongue rip your tails off."

"Awwww Fishyyyyy!" cried the twins.

"Don' tezht me," warned the tongueless croc, "uh ripped off bigger tailz zhan you."

Fishclaw headed back to the Hunter's Nest and went straight to find Eggfang to tell her about all he had learned. In agreement they went to the Alpha passing through the cheerful shrieks of children running back and forth between her legs, hopping over and skirting round excitable hatchlings before reaching the large rock-studded entrance of his den guarded by his family's strongest, standing either side with diligence and perfect posture. One of the guards went in to relay what they had learned and about four minutes later both brother and sister were allowed in. The large red rocks encroaching upon each other felt like he was inside a still-beating heart as the warmth smothered them. Upon various heights of rocks above them was the alpha's family, a younger mate and a variety of offspring from adult to teenage youth. Alpha sat on the tallest plinth which was bathed in the light of the sun, barking softly to his family to tell them to leave as the brother and sister approached past them, bowing their heads low with bodies set to the ground.

"Welcome Fishclaw and Eggfang," said their leader yawning with droopy eyes, "you have found something?"

"Yes," began Fishclaw, "we have received some visitors from The Land Before who have come with a disturbing story. A beast supposedly of our tribe has run rampant, cutting a great path of destruction across the land and interfering with hunts."

"What visitors?"

"Two scouts of the Bloodfeather tribe, and one of the Waterjaw. The waterjaw is a friend of ours from three cycles ago, who helped us find a friend of the starbeast known as Longstone."

"Ahhhh yes, I remember that. And what of you Eggfang?"

"I have actually encountered this beast," she said promptly lifting herself to her full height, "when Fishclaw had been taken by the deep starbeast, Oddclaw and I fought a firebeast that had the scent of our tribe and...it...it looked almost like he does, the same posture and body he has."

"Do you think that is the same beast?" asked Alpha restraining a yawn.

"What other firebeast is there with the scent of our tribe? It must be the same beast!"

"Hmmmm...then you believe what these newcomers say is true?"

"She would not come all this way for no reason," said Fishclaw stepping forwards into the light, "if she believes we can help her then we must, especially if it is a beast of our own tribe supposedly that is burning trees and killing other beasts with madness."

"But Oddclaw cannot leave his family," argued Eggfang walking beside him, "his children can barely speak!"

"Then what would you suggest?" The alpha shifted his weight to hop down to a lower platform. "You seem to understand the lay of the land well."

"I would like to help them," said Fishclaw, "if this beast is from our tribe somehow and is killing other beasts, not even hunting but just killing them, then this affects us all!"

"I agree," said the sister nodding proudly at him, "I too want to stop this beast from inflicting any further harm. When I faced that beast it was a dreadsome thing, the strength it had for such a small creature was frightening. It must be killed, or at the very least appeased."

"Then I shall allow you to leave," replied Alpha, "inform your families and prepare yourself for the journey."

"Really? You allow us to leave?"

"I agreed with you yes? Now go, but...Fishclaw, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"

"Of course."

He nodded to his sister who left them be. Alpha stretched himself before hopping down to the next lower platform until he was at Fishclaw's height.

"I have actually wanted to speak with you for some time."

"Really?" he asked slightly turning his head from his leader's gaze.

"How is Oddclaw doing? Is he coping well?"

"He is fine, his new children are looking strong but he worries about his son for having the same body as him."

"I see."

"But I am helping too, my children are learning to hunt and we share what we can with them."

"I must admit, I am shocked to see how strong your mind is in resisting this...strength of madness you now possess. More than a cycle has passed and you have barely changed, you are still hunting, feeding your children, caring for your family."

"I do the best I can," said the grey-eyed raptor with patient nod. "Surely that is all a hunter should do, yes?"

"Indeed." The alpha sniffed him closely for his scent of sincerity. "And now you are offering to help these other beasts from The Land Before, for what reason?"

"I...hmph, I am not sure." Fishclaw scratched the earth tenderly. "Perhaps my brother has influenced me. Or maybe I just do not need a reason to help others. We all live on this land together."

"But in any other time they would be our prey, yes?"

"They would be. But not today, something is threatening the land, not just them but all of us. I cannot stand by and watch if there is some great and terrible beast whose savagery is harming the land itself."

"I agree. I only ask, when you return, that you come speak to me again."

"May I ask why?"

"You can...when you return."

"...alright. Farewell, Alpha."

Fishclaw left and joined Eggfang as they went to explain to their families of what had occurred. Preparations were soon made as he told his children of the long hunt he would have to make, eating up as much as they could whilst Barren fussed over them and Oddclaw looked on from nearby.

"Are you SURE you have to do this?" she asked plaintively.

"It was Alpha's decision," said Eggfang firmly as she ate up the last rib.

"But what of HIS sons and daughters, what of the guards?!"

"Mother please," said Fishclaw stepping beside them, "Alpha chose me because of my strength, you know we are strong enough to fight anything."

"I know...I know but only the two of you?!"

"We have the scouts and our friend Frozentongue."

"I do not know who they are," argued Barren with raised voice and trilling throat, "I want you to be with someone you can trust!"

"Frozentongue is my friend!" cried out Oddie. "You can trust her, she is strong and kind!"

"And what of these two bloodfeathers hmm?! You do not know them."

"And who do you suggest we bring?" asked Eggfang strutting her head forwards. "Oddclaw cannot leave nor Moonclaw for their children."

"W-well...Sand and Leaf, take them with you!"

"WHAT?! No, mother please I am sorry but they are imbeciles."

"They have become a lot more responsible actually, have you not seen the way they treat Oddclaw's children?!"

"Even so, they would be too much trouble to babysit on this hunt!"

"It is not babysitting if they can give you strength!" she ranted with stomping feet. "I do not want you out on a hunt with strange beasts who knows what they have planned!"

"Fine," said Fishclaw with a firm huff, "we will take Sand and Leaf with us."

"WHA-brother no!" cried Eggfang snapping at him.

"There is strength in numbers as mother said, that and I am sure Starleaf can handle them if we have to. Think of it as helping our brother without them fussing all over him."

"Do not drag me into this," said Oddclaw smirking at them, "you know as well as I do you do not want to bring them but you know how mother is."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" asked Barren with squinting eye.

"Fine fine!" Eggfang raised her voice to end the discussion. "The sisters can come with us if it sets your mind at ease."

"Thank you."

Once they had eaten their fill, the brother and sister met up with the twins as Shadetooth waited with her family on the outskirts. She gave a long sweeping lick across her husband's face, whilst all his children gave him teasing nips across his body.

"Be safe out there my love, take care."

"Bye fatherrrr!"

"Kill a big threehorn for me!"

"YEAH, a-a-and maybe TWO!"

"Don't get hurt okay?!"

"Bring me back food okay I'm hungry!"

"Hahahaha, I will." He lapped across each of their heads purring happily. "Take care of your mother alright?"

"OKAYYYY!"

Soon they were off heading out of the Hunters' Nest and joining the party of three that awaited them outside the reach of the territory. The guards kept watch on them as they made their introductions to each other.

"Good to see you well Frozentongue!" began Fishclaw with a greeting growl. "Are you well?"

"Ahm guud," she replied with a deep warble, "tryin' to deal wi' zhezhe two moronzh."

"I heard that!" shouted Bloodbark. "I don't care how many teeth you got I'll fight you right here!"

"OOOOOH you're a feisty one!" said Sandrunner with a toothy grin and shaking tail. "I'm Sandrunner, what about you?!"

"Uhh, Bloodbark, remember you bit my FACE?"

"OH YEAH, that was fun! Why you called Bloodbark?!"

"Becauuuuse...uh...I like to smear blood on bark whenever I kill something."

She walked up close to him with eyes suddenly piercing into his as she licked her lips.

"Where have you been all my life?"

"I-i saw him first!" cried Leaf. "Don't you think about it Sand!"

"Eat my shit he said hi to me first!"

"Please do not fight over my brother," said Deeptail thumping his namesake into the dirt, "besides I am the better and older brother."

"By one, SECOND!" shouted Bloodbark with bracing fangs. "Don't shit on me in front of our new friends!"

"New friends, already?" mused Eggfang with a derisive snort. "I do not recall us being friends yet."

"What you expect, should I've brought a chunk of meat or something?"

"It would have helped yes."

"HEY-EY back off I saw him first!" cried Leaf.

"Whatever, can we leave now?"

"Uhm readee when you are," said Frozentongue turning herself round, "cummon, let'zh go."

The group of seven beasts began their trek towards The Land Before. Fishclaw remembered the journey well stepping alongside Frozentongue as he introduced Eggfang and his sisters properly. The sisters had already made a silent pact with each other in choosing which of the Bloodfeather brothers they would befriend as they walked into the midst of their engaging dialogue.

"Soooo why are you called Deeptail?" asked Leafrunner.

"I like to put my tail inside the dirt," said Deeptail, "warmbloods think it is a worm and they snap right up for me to eat them!"

"That...is SO clever, why didn't I think of that?! Wait, wouldn't that hurt?!"

"Oh it does, but I do not care."

"But it hurts, you should!"

"Well...maybe I LIKE being hurt."

Her eyes lit up with a frightful look of glee that mirrored his own lewdly.

"Rrrreaaaaallyyyyy? Mayyyybe I can show ya some...skills I have?"

"Oh I would like that Leafrunner. And I am sure my brother and I can show you and your sister some of our skills."

"I hope so, for someone who fights as rough as you."

"I genuinely do not understand our sisters," said Eggfang aside.

"Oddclaw's father truly gave us such odd siblings," said Fishclaw chuckling.

STRANGE AND SWEET LIKE BROTHER'S STARS

"AH, Starleaf you are awake!" He smiled looking upwards much to the confusion of everyone around him. "Did you sleep well?"

I CANNOT SLEEP I ONLY CEASE TO EXIST

"But, you rested well, yes?"

YES FATHER I TIRE OF EXISTENCE

"Well I hope you are ready for a hunt!"

"Who is he talking to?" muttered Deeptail.

"That's his friend Starleaf!" said Leafrunner. "Dontcha worry about that."

"Yeah you got us!" chirped Sand licking Bloodbark's face. "Just stay close to us and maaaaybe we can have a little hunt together."

"U-uhhhh, okay?" said Bloodbark confused. "I mean, we'd have a pretty good hunt, we're good at hunting right bro!?"

"I would say we are," said Deeptail smiling at Leaf. "And I am sure these two fine females can teach us some new skills."

"Well I am glad you all became friends so quickly!" said Eggfang with a derisive huff from her snout.

"Yeah because we're not YOU sis," said Sandrunner poking her tongue cheekily at her, "we're young an' fertile, not old like you walkin' around like 'oooooh I got BIG TEETH because I hatched first' that's you that's what you sound like!"

"How DARE you insult me! You are not one to talk when both of you fell onto your heads and ruined your bodies stuffing stonefish up your vents, not even children do that you empty-headed shits!"

"YEAH WELL AT LEAST MY VENT ISN'T DRY LIKE A DESERT!"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Fishclaw. "YOU DO NOT EVER SPEAK BACK TO YOUR SISTER LIKE THAT OR I WILL GUT YOU BOTH!"

"WH-WHAT!?"

"Mother forced us to take you with us so you will behave, and you will do exactly what we tell you to, alright?!"

"Wha-AWWWW FISHYYYY!" they both whined in sync.

"I know, blame mother but you are stuck with us!"

"Well that is not so bad," said Deeptail with a purring smile towards Leaf, "at least we will get to know you better."

"Right!" chirped Bloodbark licking across Sand's face. "Maybe you can show me those skills you were talking about huh?"

"Mmmmayyyyyybe, heeheeehee!"

Fishclaw and Eggfang looked at each other with exasperation before heading off to the west, both of them walking with Frozentongue between them as the sisters kept back whilst chattering away with the brothers. The sky was clear and the grassy plans expanded as far as their eyes could see with a hearty wind stretching from the south, carrying the scents of the sea to their nostrils.

"Hmmmmm...uh wondurr whut zhuh zhea izh luhk here?"

"I would imagine it is like every other sea," said Eggfang, "so you are the one my brothers spoke of."

"Mmhmm, zhey zhay good zhingzh abou' meh?"

"I...yyyyyyeeees, they did," she tried to parse her words with squinting eyes.

"Good! Yer Uddclaw'zh zhizhter yeah? How'zh he doin'?"

"Very well, I assume you know him and Moonclaw have a family now?

"Yeah uhm zho happy to hear!" The croc gave a wide chortling grin with a rumble from her throat. "Him an' Moonclaw look good tugether."

"Do you have a mate?"

"Uhm wun of muh Ulphuh'zh matezh!"

"R-...really?!" gasped Eggfang rearing her head back. "Because of your strength?!"

"Yup!"

"I told you did I not?" said Fishclaw. "She is that strong!"

"I was not expecting...well," his sister bit her lip trying to form a diplomatic answer, "I expected an older female."

"Huuhuuhuu!" Frozentongue slapped her tail against Eggfang's back in a friendly pat that almost knocked her over. "Yer funny, uh luhk you Eggphang."

"So where did you see this firebeast?" asked Eggfang sniffing the air ahead as they saw the canyon up ahead.

"Near mah home, zhou-eazht, went to hunt it down, zhen it burned up zhuh Bluddfeazher home."

"And that is how you end up with these two?"

"Yeah...we don' need 'em, uh wuzh gonna leave 'em when uh got Uddclaw an' we go huntin' togezher."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" asked Fishclaw as they turned to approach the tunnel below the Skylands. "I do agree with mother that there is safety in packs."

"Uh got friendzh who can help uzh," said the croco speeding up her pace, "zhey were zhuh onezh who told me firzht abou' zhuh firebeazht."

"Wait, friends? You did not mention that before."

"Uh knew zhuh firebeazht wuzh from yer tribe, but uh...I met zhome friendzh who alzho zhaw it too an' zhey zhaid zhat too."

"Ahhhh you mean like guards of your tribe?"

"Yeh, righ', zhey're much zhtronger zhen bluddfeazherzh, we can leave yer zhizhterzh wizh 'em."

"I am not sure."

He looked back towards his sisters and immediately regretted it.

"Come on sis you can do it!"

"N-NNNNNRGH!"

"Allllmost, allllmost!"

"W-wha-she's actually DOING IT!" cried Bloodbark.

"A-AAAAH, AAAAAAGH G-GUH SHE IS PULLING ME IN!"

Deeptail had somehow been convinced by Leafrunner to stuff his tail into her vent, where he felt her powerful rear muscles clench and suck him in with exceptional strength much to his own fright.

"YYYYYES!"

"HAH, TOLD YA I COULD DO IT!"

"Alright I believe you!" cackled Deeptail a little fearfully. "L-let me go now, please!?"

"Mmmmmmm only if you promise to catch me a warmblood!"

"I-i will, absolutely-H-HAAAAH OOOOOH!"

"We're leaving them behind," said Eggfang.

"Yes definitely," said Fishclaw, "no need to endanger them."

"Ulrigh' lezh go."

Past the tunnel between the Skylands and the Jaws of the Earth, they soon reached The Land Before, wide and glorious with sweltering forests and thick swampy marshlands. Fishclaw noted several things that were different since his last visit, such as the charred swathe of trees rendered black like the crooked teeth of a corpse, just on the outskirts of the Bloodfeathers' Nest. Then he saw a small cluster of wooden flat cones sitting in the marsh to the west.

"Awww no what happened to your home?!" cried Sandrunner.

"The firebeast," said Deeptail, "it came from the north and scarred some of our trees."

"We tried to fight it," explained Bloodbark as they marched, "but whenever it touched someone, they just...started screeching in pain, some of them even...e-even let themselves get killed by that thing."

"But, why?" asked Leaf.

"I don't know...but that thing is dangerous, anyone that didn't get killed just got deep scars."

"What are those odd trees in the marsh?" asked Fishclaw. "I did not see those before."

"New beazhtzh," said Frozentongue waddling down the hill, "zhey came a zhycle-an'-a-half ago, zhey keep to zhemzhelvezh."

"Oddclaw mentioned starbeasts from the Greatbeast's Spine," said Eggfang keeping pace with her, "that must be their home then."

"Uh zheen 'em a few tahmzh, zhome warmbluddzh an' hunterzh livin' togezher, kinda odd but zhey don' bozher anyone."

"If we had Oddclaw here he would be able to speak with them. For now let us avoid them, I would like to see the Bloodfeathers' Nest first to pick up the scent of the firebeast."

They all agreed and so altered their course towards the woods closer to them. The forest took an entire day just to reach the inside of, the vastness of the trees almost lost on them from the ground, but it reminded the velociraptors of their smaller forest home with soft dirt covered in wood chips and the minty smell of deciduous trees, combined with the many fruits that insects and small mammals loved to feast upon as they saw buzzing large dragonflies and timid shrews racing across their path. The only difference was the clear musk of the bloodfeather tribe adding a spicy tint, as well as the shed crimson feathers that littered around the place which Leafrunner picked up.

"Why do you have...what are these again?!"

"Feathers," said Deeptail, "that is just how we are."

"But, what are they even FOR?"

"What do you mean what are they for, that is like asking why we have tails, why do YOU have a tail?"

"Uhhh, so I-...uh...I-i dunno!"

"Yeah don' be rude sis," said Sand nudging her, "they might look odd but they can't help it."

"Whaddaya mean we look odd?!" said Bloodbark. "You're the ones whose eyes don't match!"

"What's wrong with my eyes!?"

"Nothing's wrong with 'em just you look odd too!"

"I'm not odd!"

"To me you are!"

"W-well you're odd too!"

"Good, I like that I look odd to you!"

"I-i like you too!"

She realised what she said and started to purr bashfully, turning her head away as Bloodbark cocked his head.

"You...like me? B-but we only just met."

"I-i know...but...I think you're handsome."

"So, I'm odd but I'm handsome?"

"Y-y-yeah...I like odd beasts. M-my brother IS called Oddclaw."

"You like your brother too?"

"Yeaaaaah...but, not the way I like YOU, Bloodbark."

He blushed awkwardly much to the chuckling of his brother who felt the nip of Leafrunner to the back of his neck, seeing her smile in turn that he reciprocated much to Eggfang's frustration.

"This is stupid," she muttered to her brother, "I thought when one went seeking a mate they would take some time getting to know each other!"

"Well clearly our sisters do it differently," said Fishclaw, "but then my mate loved me because she loves fish, so what can I say?"

"Could they not, for ONCE, do things like other hunters do?!"

"You will not win this Eggfang. You have known them too long to think that they would ever change, let them be happy with other silly beasts. They should be allowed to make their own mistakes."

"Hmmmmmm...I suppose."

"Halt."

They stopped before the guards of the territory, strong vibrant-looking beasts with stiff voluminous feathers longer than their companions'.

"Ahhhh welcome back, Deeptail, Bloodbark. And who are these swiftclaws?"

"They are from the same tribe as the firebeast, apparently," said Deeptail, "they are here to hunt down the beast and kill it."

"That is good, and the waterjaw?"

"She is a friend of the swiftclaws, she told us about where the firebeast came from."

"I see...well you certainly earned your meat! Swiftclaws, waterjaw you are to respect our tribe and obey us whilst you are here in our home."

"We understand," said Fishclaw bowing in full submission, "we are only here to hunt down the firebeast, we have no reason to fight you. I am The One Who Claws For Fish."

"Wait..." the guard cocked his head with a gentle glimmer behind his eyes, "I remember you, three cycles ago yes, your tribe came from the Shining Mountain southwest yes?"

"Yes indeed!"

"Did you ever find your friend, the sick one?"

"Yes he is fine and returned home safely."

"Ahhh that is good. Very well, you may enter our home."

The group walked forth into the Bloodfeathers' Nest. The tribe looked at the visitors with stingy eyes and cautious grunts warning them to keep their distance, the raptors and the croc approached the centre of the woods where the scent was strongest of brimming beastly odour, stinging their nostrils as they cringed from the unfamiliar musk wafting from the several-dozen yurgovuchians that shed feathers, chortled gleefully and nipped each other in playfights with their children. A cluster of trees twisted together into a single gnarled mess of crackling bark and rotted roots propped against each other where there sat a surprisingly young female with beautifully rose-red feathers that shone like the dying sun and turned her own scales to a ruby gleam.

"Welcome, swiftclaws and waterjaw."

"We are honoured to be in your home," said Eggfang bowing with her brother submissive, "are you...the alpha?"

"Yes indeed. Hmhmhm, you did not expect one my age to be such yes?"

"Well...yes, in our tribe we have never had an alpha so young."

"Hahaha, well I hope I do not disappoint you."

"Of course not," replied Fishclaw not lifting his gaze, "we are here to help, if this firebeast comes from our tribe then it is our responsibility."

"Well I am glad to hear!" She hopped down from her oaken throne and stood before them to her full height of bristling feathers. "My guards told me you came from the Shining Mountain of the southwest?"

"Yes," said Eggfang politely purring in deference still kneeled, "when my brother and I were hatchlings, but our new home is far to the east. Can you tell us what happened with this beast?"

"It attacked us three days before, the trees in the west started burning and we sent some of our scouts to see what happened. Only two of them returned, Deeptail and Bloodbark themselves who spoke of a firebeast that slaughtered our scouts, even turning them against each other with sorrow and rage."

"It was...h-horrible," muttered Bloodbark looking away, "I-i...I'm just glad me and my brother managed to make it."

"We will not lose against the beast this time," said Deeptail licking his brother's cheek, "we will fight together."

"Can we zhee zhuh treezh where zhe firebeazht wuzh?" asked Frozentongue raising her head slowly. "Wunna get zhuh zhent."

"Very well," replied the alpha with a tender scrape of dirt behind her, "and what was your plan?"

"We wunna zhpread ourzhelvezh out. If zhuh firebeazht comezh here we need zhome uff uzh to zhtay here an' deal wizh it."

"Indeed," replied Eggfang with a sly nod, "whilst some of us hunt down its scent, we will have to leave some of our tribe here, protected by your strong confident hunters such as these two-"

"W-WE CAN DO IT!" cried Sandrunner.

"YEAH, yeah we can do it!" added Leaf. "We can stay here an' keep an eye out for that firebeast!"

"I agree," replied Deeptail, "we know these two can fight well, and we shall make sure they behave."

"I dunno about that," said Bloodbark growling lewdly towards them.

"So long as these two respect our tribe," said the alpha leaning forwards with a warning snarl, "I will allow them to stay here...they are outmatched by us regardless even after that wretched beast tore through our home. Bloodbark, Deeptail, lead them to where you fought the beast, then you shall guard our new friends."

"As you wish alpha. Come new friends, let us go."

"Awww new FRIENDS!" squeaked Leaf slurping his face.

Deeptail led the group to the western point of the territory, a long trek over two hours during which the sisters nattered and clamoured over their new friends asking them all sorts of things that they could.

"Sooooo got any embarrassing stories to share?" asked Leafrunner sidling up against their guide. "I got LOTS of 'em about my sis!"

"Wha-SHUT UUUP!" cried Sand. "Don't listen to her I got stories about HER too!"

"SNRRKhhhahahaha," the bloodfeather chortled with a gentle slip of his tail across her back, "I have plenty stories about my brother, I tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Oh come on!" cried Bloodbark. "Bad enough we survived that firebeast I don't need YOU to embarrass me in front of them!"

"Well if you remember any good stories feel free."

"ALRIGHT SO THIS ONE TIME HE GOT HIS HEAD STUCK IN A LOG-"

"NOT THAT ONE YOU SHITFACE!"

Their older siblings smiled at them being distracted, the bloodfeathered brothers sharing their own strange tales of their youth despite Bloodbark's increasing anxiety the closer they got to the scene of the incident. Scorched ash rose drifting on the wind amidst the skeletal trees of black, brittle branches crackling underfoot to become dust as the constant stench of fire roasted within their nostrils. What terrified them more however were the corpses. Seven at least they could recognise still from their skeletons gaping in silent anguish but it was not the corpses themselves that frightened them. It was the fact that some of them were locked against each other in vicious screaming slaughter..

"This...this is awful," shuddered Fishclaw.

THEY DIED BETRAYED BY THOSE THEY LOVED

"Is that what you sense Starleaf?"

I CAN TASTE THEIR FATHERS' SCREAMS

"Then you must prepare yourself to protect me and our friends, if this firebeast appears you must be certain not to let it touch ANY of us, alright Starleaf?

YES FATHER

The raptors snuffled the earth separating the grit from the dust of melted bone and flesh to try and catch the strongest whiff of the mysterious creature's scent. It was not long before Eggfang caught it sharp as her head reared up with a barking call to them.

"HERE! The scent is here!"

Soon all of them were picking up the stench, a torrid combination of fear, rage and burning tears that mixed caustic in their throats.

"U-uuuugh, icky!" shuddered Leaf.

"Yeah this is like one of Barkie's crawlers YUGHK!" retched Sand.

"Then it is good you are staying to keep your new friends safe, yes?" Their older sister turned with a patient nod. "Keep that scent in your mind, and if you see the beast, fight it but do NOT let it touch you."

"Alright...E-eggfang?"

"Yes?"

"Be...be careful, okay?" The two sisters licked across her face in unison with purring nuzzles. "We uh...we DO like you you know."

"Y-yeah course we do," muttered Leafrunner awkwardly, "we give ya a hard time cuz yer old an' kinda boring b-but yer still our big sister and we love you!"

"I...I know," said their sibling purring back, "thank you sisters. Now show these bloodfeathers how the swiftclaws TRULY hunt yes?"

"OH-KAYYY!"

With the sisters and brothers occupied in guarding the perimeter of the burnt forest, Fishclaw, Eggfang and Frozentongue went further west in following the scent of the firebeast. Beyond the ruined trees was the wide rain-slick plains of the north and the Greatbeast's Spine to the south. The grand mountain range simply towered over them even from a distance, no matter how far they roamed as the scent started to veer heavily towards the north and into the plains itself, between pools of collecting rainwater and smaller clustering trees that formed copses on the hills.

"Thank you for ridding us of our sisters," said Eggfang, "much as I love them I would not want to bring them along for such a sensitive hunt."

"Uh didn' wanna bring zhe bluddfeazherzh either," she replied clicking her teeth together, "workzh out fer bozh of uzh."

"Make no mistake they are exceptional hunters, but they lack the patience for a long hunt such as this."

SISTERS SCREAM DO THEY FEAR THE QUIET?

"Hahaha you might be right," said Fishclaw to Starleaf looking upwards.

"Of course I am right," said Eggfang.

"No no I was speaking to Starleaf."

SISTER CANNOT HEAR I WISH ALL HEARD MY SCREAM

"I am sorry child, but I will always hear you do not fear."

FATHER'S VOICE BRINGS ME THE JOY

A day would pass since their departure from the Bloodfeathers' forest, as they crossed over hills and dipped into valleys where ponds seethed with life and the ocean was but a thin sliver of blue upon the verdant horizon. The sun would set beneath the dark twisted mountains of the far west known only as the Deep Mountains, a wall of solid black from which very few animals lived. Soon they slept within the earthly bosoms of the hillside that sheltered them from the cold winds of night, Frozentongue curling her body around the two raptors in a mutual urge for warmth and sharing body heat. Food was reasonable in their hunt for snapping up small strange feathered beasts that resembled the halfway point between raptor and bird, as well as the odd shrewbeast as they kept on the trail. Approaching the centre of The Land Before, they entered a forest with a thick swamp in the midst of it where the scent seemingly ended.

Raising their guard they slowly entered the woods as the stench of fire and tears became overwhelming, almost its own presence that smouldered them with a sickening swelter in their nostrils. The trees gently whispered with the wind as creatures chittered quietly, as if fearful for the creature nearing them. The swamp cloistered around their feet with the constant buzzing of insects that licked the salt off their scales, nipping bites that made their scales twitch except for Frozentongue whose thick swarthy skin was impenetrable to their tiny piercing needle-lengths. Not a word was said between them amidst the churning suckle of marshwater at their feet, the trees thickening above them to such an extent that they turned the day to night. They stopped upon hearing something.

Nothing. Silence reigned the woods as dragonflies disappeared and the breeze faded from the leaves. Then came the scent renewed with fury untold as a dark smouldering fog swept across the marsh formed from blackest ash.

"HERE IT COMES!" cried Eggfang.

"STARLEAF BE READY TO FIGHT!" called Fishclaw.

DEATH REMAINS THE BLACK WIND SHALL SING

Fire suddenly burst from in front of them, roaring frenzied howls of anguish drawing near as the flames swirled into a column that formed a creature's shape. With skull and partial bones forming half of an anthropomorphic body, its skeletal tail drooped beneath its legless body as its eyeless head turned to them.

"No...m-morning left...f-for us."

"Zhere you are," snorted Frozentongue stomping her feet, "you ready fer mah teef crunchin' yer zhkull firebeazht?!"

"Dust...D-DUST, TAKES THE SUUUUUUN!"

With claws stretched out the flames burst from his body into five separate directions, crawling across the marsh and consuming the trees into a slowly-burning ring of of fire around the beasts. Lunging towards Frozentongue first, the croc dodged with surprising swiftness in a half-gallop-turn and spun on two legs to whack her tail fast across its charred face. The cracking blow did little to stagger the phantom as it hovered above her to come crunching down with a hard nebulous fist, blasting through the water and sending a small tidal wave to throw her back into rolling across the swamp. Eggfang rushed from behind with a violent kick, leaping from a rotting log and smashing her clawed foot into the back of the skull. The wight responded with a ferocious sweep of burning smoke behind its claws as Eggfang leapt off its head and backflipped away to put distance between them. But much to her shock she felt a hard punching fist drive into her gut from mid-air and sent her back towards a tree with splintered bark crackling against her scales.

"THE, PROPHECYYYYYY!"

The howling spectre rushed towards Eggfang with a savage scream, skimming across the marshwater which bubbled behind it as the raptor dodged in a fast roll. One of the claws came within reach of her eye but something suddenly forced them apart, an invisible force that made the phantom's claws drop like a stone.

"Now it is my turn." Fishclaw hovered over between them with a deep humming sound. "Touch my sister again and I will make it HURT."

"We...c-cant, RUUUUUUN!"

"EGGFANG GET BACK!"

Fishclaw came striking down with a brutal shift in weight, his body becoming two tons heavier as his tail whalloped the beast's face with the force of a falling tree. The skull almost cracked in being thrown backwards as the phantom shuddered with howling rage, spinning back towards Fishclaw with a devastating spiral flame, its entire body become a fireball twisting like a bullet as the raptor stood his ground. Summoning Starleaf's strength, he levitated the water in front of him before thrusting it forwards, adding weight to its mass to become a semi-solid curtain of water that crushed the spirit hard like a roof caving in. The flames seemed to extinguish briefly before resurging through the waters, bursting with oily plumes of twisting wreathes that blinded Fishclaw temporarily.

The creature came tearing towards him with raking claws of pyschotic frenzy, striking back and forth with floating body, left and right its body followed its slashing furore that burnt the air in front of Fishclaw's face with brief black lines of concentrated ash. He dodged away from the swamp keeping his bearings away from the trees whilst Starleaf sensed any nearby objects to use. Tingling auras of molecular mass all around him whilst Fishclaw kept strafing out of the shrieking range of the beastly claws, its violent swings scarily reminding him of Oddclaw's attacks.

"STARLEAF NOW!"

TASTE THE EARTH

A boulder came flying out of nowhere to crunch the firebeast's body, levitating from the poolside and hurling into the monster to snap its spine from the solid force as it fell back into the water with a tremendous splash. The phantom roared tossing the rock off itself, shunting it into a tree which cracked from the impact. Fishclaw scraped the ground behind him in a taunting gesture as the spectre came shrieking back towards him, the raptor simply waiting with a smile as Eggfang cried out:

"F-FISHCLAW, MOOOVE!"

But he still waited, mocking the creature by waving his tail behind him in a tender chuckle all whilst Starleaf was bracing himself for their next move as pebbles gently hovered around them. As soon as the phantom left the water and came onto land with a ferocious howl, Fishclaw suddenly shot into the sky as the wight barged into the tree, creaking and snapping out of its roots to fall into its brethren. The spirit followed after him with fiery coils of blackest smoke behind it, shrieking claws that tried to rake his flesh as the raptor dodged with aerial backflip. His feet planted on solid air as Starleaf altered his mass with minute molecular alterations that thickened the density of the air, the gasping firebeast spinning towards him with a volley of flames that torched the sky. Starleaf compressed the air's density between them, trapping the fire into place with a solidifying weight that forced its gaseous fumes inwards, turning its conical wreathes into a spherical shape, the lack of gravity in that moment turning the flames to a soft dimming blue. The raging beast followed up with shrieking balls of fire that honed in on him, but Starleaf countered by spinning Fishclaw around creating a brief centrifugal force, like a planet gathering moons as the fireballs coalesced into one singular comet that he propelled straight into the firebeast's chest. Wrothful flames surged against the hot azure that consumed it, shrieking with psychotic fury and suddenly punching Fishclaw hard out of the sky.

"STARLEAF PROTECT ME!"

HOLD YOUR BREATH

Fishclaw did as asked, clamping his snout shut as the gravity shifted violently to flip the raptor back onto his feet and softly land into the marshwater. The phantom came down even harder with meteoric strength, pounding both of its hands into the swamp to make a simmering shockwave of hot boiling firewater that Starleaf did his best to repel, twisting the water in its tidal fury to separate it in half and send it surging past Fishclaw on both sides. But before the firebeast could attack him once again, Eggfang made a daring strike upon the side of the creature's head. As soon as the phantom staggered towards the water, Frozentongue came charging with her entire body weight crushing into the monster's side, cracking its spine out of joint as the flames briefly licked across her warty scales.

"YAH LAHK ZHAT YA FREAK, HUH!?"

"THIS ENDS, NOW!"

Eggfang made a leaping strike to crush the beast's skull with her claws, but the spirit swiftly manoeuvred through the water like a snake and almost appeared to reassemble its skeleton with snapping cricks before charging at Frozentongue who was closer.

"WE ALL, LIVE, IN HEEEEELLLLL!"

"Not yet we don'."

A ghastly ball of purple fumes slammed into the spectre's ribs, knocking it back hard with a shuddering rasp. From the forest's remnants came a black-cloaked beast raising one of its sleeves towards the firebeast that turned to the newcomer.

"Rrr...RRRRAAAAAARGH! I...I see the fire-"

"Ah know," said the cloak with a rancid female voice, "now why don' we gitchoo sumplace safe?"

"N-no...NO! MORNING LEFT! NO MORNING LEEEEEFT!"

The horrid ghost screamed with frenzy towards the blackened robe who dodged with sudden speed, almost floating as the hem of her cloak skimmed across the water's edge. The wrathful skeleton violently slashed with black-scarring air but never seemed to hit the cloaked stranger who swerved and grabbed one of its bony arms in countering, dark indigo flames creeping along the sleeve before driving hard into its chest. The phantom screamed with an earth-rending howl as it tried to rake at the stranger's cowl, who released the creature to back off and retorted with another blasting purple shot to the skull. The monster staggered hard with a slumping motion, shuddering as it looked upon the several beasts all lined up against it whilst clearly suffering with a whole new pain from the violet flames lapping across its head.

"N-NUH, NNRRAAAARGH! AAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"

"Had enough?!" taunted Eggfang with a proud bark. "Or you want we should teach you more?"

"P-pangaea...PANGAEA, PROPHECY!"

"STOP TALKING SUCH DRIVEL, EITHER SUBMIT OR FIGHT!"

"C-cxulub...cah. Cxulubcah, CXULUBCAAAAAAH!"

With heart-piercing shriek it suddenly left with a tearing burst through the trees and leaving a scorching trail behind it, bark turning black and water bubbling in its wake as the small copse became peaceful death. The trees singed with leaves curling up into dark blisters as the raptors looked towards the newcomer.

"Thank you for your assistance," said Fishclaw bowing curtly, "are you alright?"

"Nevah laid a scratch awn me," said the black cloak waving a sleeve, "y'all good?"

"We are yes...but, who are you?"

"Zhizh izh mah friend," said Frozentongue gesturing her snout to her, "zhuh wun ah zhaid would help uzh?"

"Really?" murmured Eggfang cocking her head towards the strange beast. "But you...you do not smell like a waterjaw."

"Mebbeh not but ah shure look it."

The foreigner pulled back her hood revealing her face. Standing before them was a beast that somewhat resembled Frozentongue's species, except for the fact that this one stood seemingly upon two legs and not four. At a height of 7 feet the female had a large rotund girth hidden beneath the black cloak that pooled around her unseen legs, whilst upon her head was a bouffant of shining ebony hair that bunched up into curls suppressed by a red bandanna on top of her cragged paling snout.

"Well ain' this sumthin'." Her voice grated with a harsh deep-slanged accent. "Here ah wuz 'spectin' only wun o' yous, an' ah gets two-fer-one instead."

"Who are you exactly?" demanded Fishclaw with raised snout and stiffened tail. "Are you from another waterjaw tribe?"

"You migh' say thet, but ahm Frozentongue's friend lahk she said, though ah come from a differen' tribe sumplace far away. Name's Mizz Ruby, anchante."