Out of the Shadows, AnthroLover's Version - Nila's Story: Love Blossoms
#68 of Out of the Shadows: AnthroLover's Version
another one from the series, enjoy
All the dinosaurs looked surprised at the last words spoken by the longneck from the images. Some gasped, many were mumbling between them. But most of them now had their eyes turned to the brown colored longneck that was there, staring too at the fading scene with wide eyes.
"Bron?" asked Shorty, a bit stunned "That one was you?" He asked dumbfolded. Littlefoot asked too "Dad, you knew that sharptooth?"
Bron didn't answered. Now he knew from where he recognized that voice. Of course, he remembered having knew a Nila in his past, but he never imagined her to be a sharptooth! This was a great revelation to him that this Nila was the one that... Wait!
If that sharptooth Nila was really the same Nila from his past, that meant... Oh crap! Oh crap!
Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!
OH CRAP!
Chomper too was looking surprised at the longneck, and he saw when his face turned from surprised to what he recognized as horror, and after as shame.
"So, do you remember now?" asked Miname's angry voice, what make Bron and the others turn to her, Minaple was right on her side and she said "Well, at least he isn't as dumb as we thought, Minnie." The eyes turned from them back at Bron, the longneck stared at them for a while, and then his face turned down, like he was ashamed.
Shorty quickly noticed it and turned to the sharpteeth "Hey you! I still don't get what is going on here-"
"Great news..." said Rinkus at the longneck, who continued "But I think that you should not threat Bron like that. After all, that sharptooth not even healed his wounds."
The Minnies snarled at him, along with Melissa in her still grown up mode, and Kala's eyes shined blue as blue fire formed in her hands. Shorty retreated a few steps, he was saved by Balcan, who said "She tried. Wasn't you paying attention?" His face does not looked happy at the longneck.
It was Lydia that talked "But why couldn't she heal him?"
Balcan turned to her "Because the sharpteeth that produced the wounds were possessed by evil spirits." he said with a dark voice. This granted a few mumbles and confused look from the watchers.
Balcan sighed and put himself to explain "As every member of our order know, when an evil individual die, he usually is send to a destination in which it may pay for all evil deeds made in life." the others listened carefully "But sometimes, when an evil individual soul is far too strong or to resilient to be sent to it's final destination, it stuck itself in the land of living, and passes to exist as a evil spirit, a force that is very dangerous."
All the eyes were now turned to the rainbow face, that kept speaking "The evil spirits can make great uses of their power, it includes changing life and the most common: possessing another being." He looked straight at Chomper and Rex as he did so, Rex absently nodded, as Chomper looked a bit confused at the rainbow face, like he knew something the great sharptooth didn't.
Balcan cleared his throat and continued "When an individual is possessed by an evil spirit, it can pass by physical changes, and one of the relevant features of it is that sometimes the claws and teeth and any other natural weapon may be impregned with dark energy from the evil spirits."
"This energy may impregnate wounds made." said Salen, making everyone look at him "It is like dark magic creating wounds that are far more persistent than normal ones. Our healers can cure broken bones and scars in a heartbeat, but when there is dark energy involved, it becomes a far more complex healing. It usually takes time and sessions of healing summed with normal procedures of healing, and some are never completely healed."
Shorty remained silent after this explanation. Some were nodding in acknowledge, and Littlefoot was one of the surely interested. But this was still no explaining why his father never told about this Nila before.
Bron was still with his head down, and was hard to read his expression. If Littlefoot had to guess, he would say it looked a little like shame.
But why was his father ashamed?
"And-" said Balcan, getting everyone's attention "That was why Nila would not be able to simple heal, him and go away." He sadi shooting a glare to Shorty "She needed more time, and her dedication to heal him. And being the person she was, she would not simply let him to die."
The images showed what went after that day, Nila sitting right in the side of the younger Bron, spreading some medicinal herbs over his wounds as he flinched, and closing her eyes as her amulet shone and she placed her hands over the wounds, by what seemed she was praying, most likely to the spirits to give her power to heal him.
"Of course-" continued Balcan "Her decision had some serious repercussions, as the council was not very happy about this."
As he talked, the smoke from the stone swirled and changed, showing now another imagery, from another event.
Nila was now standing in front of a group of dinosaurs, all with serious looks in their faces. Between them was Zeiran, with a very serious expression, he looked down at Nila, who rettributed the look with the same seriousness. Zeiran sighed and said "Nila, I guess you know very well why we called you here."
"Because I refused to let someone die?" He voice was very serious and she had an almost angry look.
Zeiran sighed "Nila, don't takes us wrong, your intentions are surely the best." he said at her with a more soft tone "But your decisions sometimes would be better thought."
"Are you saying that I should have let him die?" Nila said in an indignity tone, that made some of the council members flinch. Zeiran was one of the ones that remained impassive. He sighed again "I'm saying that you should have better thoughts, maybe sending a few of our healers to there to make it seem that a herd found him. That would be a wiser decision."
Nila looked back at him "He could die if we took longer to help." she said "He needed someone in that moment, and I had to do something." she looked deep into his eyes "You know I could not turn back for any reason."
Zeiran looked sympathetic at her, he let out a great sigh and said "Yes, Nila, I know it very well. But now we have a deal with what he knows."
"This is not problem yet." she said, granting her attention from the council members "His eyes are damaged from the wounds, he didn't saw much. And also I can't cure him all in once."
Zeiran raised an eyebrow "And why this?"
Nila's face hardened "Because his wounds were made by evil spirits."
This got an immediate reaction form the council. The members gasped and mumbled between them. Zeiran face was deadly serious. "Are you sure?" He asked. Nila looked back at him "Absolutely. I could not heal his wound immediately when I tried, and when I tried to force the smoked black fog."
This made the council reconsider. If the wounds were work of evil spirits, them maybe Nila had really made the right choice, after all, fighting them was one of their goals. And also, normal healing techniques would not work for his wounds, and even her magic healing would have difficulty. All the council, specially Zeiran, considered this. He pondered for a few minutes before talking.
The great wyrm sighed heavily "Nila, you put yourself in such situations." the red flamebreath said to her "Sometimes I wonder if you like being in complicated cases."
Nila only looked back at him "I'll go back for him." she said fiercelly "I'll help him you like it or not."
Zeiran evaluated her for a few moments, before letting out a huge sigh and looking at her with a softer expression. "He will be your responsibility, you know." he said. Nila smiled back at him "I would not wish it of any other way." she said.
Zeiran chuckled a bit while the other members remained serious, some even sighing at her attitude, Zeiran said "Is good to see that you don't change Nila. Good, and really worrying." He looked at her with a slight smile, which she gave back before bowing and walking away.
"Wow." said Sandstorm "She had personality."
"You have no idea" said Minaple with a smile.
"As you may have suppose-" said Balcan "She kept going back to the place to take care of Bron." The images changed, showing time passing as she treated Bron and passed days with him, and even to the point of slepping to his side. As the images advanced the wounds slowly were closing, showing that the healing was having effect.
"Time went and she was healing him, and they became close." said Balcan, the images showed Nila nudging with Bron as they slept, gently caressing his head to assure him, talking to him, and laughing with him. "Maybe, a bit even closer than Nila expected." He said as the images changed again.
"Now" Nila said "Open your eyes."
Bron slowly did as she told him, she was sure his eyes would be healed by now. He slowly raised his eyelids, winching a little in the process, but he was able to lift them halfway open for the first time in days. And Nila was afraid.
She never told Bron her species; at the best he would think she was a leaf eater like him. And considering his recent experience with sharptooth, he surely would not trust her after finding out she was one.
The longneck was finally able to keep his eyelids raised enough to see, and looked straight to Nila.
She held her breath. She expected him to gasp and turn into fighting pose. But he rather narrowed a little his eyes, as if trying to see better.
"Nila, you..." Nila could fell her heart hammering in her chest, as Bron finished "You're... White." he said, sounding more of acknowledge as of surprise.
Nila's eyes widened as she stared at Bron. And she got a look of his eyes. They were cloudy and out of focus, surely they were not completely healed, so Bron could still not completely see her.
She leaned closer to better examine his eyes; Bron remained still as she did so. After a while she sighed "Your eyes have healed quite well." She said with a smile, "You will probably be seeing perfectly by tomorrow."
Bron smiled too. Then he said "Thank you."
"Hum?" muttered Nila, eyeing him. Then he did something that she did not expected. He leaned over and nuzzled her on the cheek. Nila Gasped slightly. She felt her stomach giving loops as her legs suddenly felt weak and her heart was thundering in her chest.
"Thank you." said Bron nuzzling her. He could not quite feel much of her, so he could not point out her species, and even less that she was a sharptooth. "Thank you for being here with me, and for taking care of me. If it wasn't for you I would have probably died here, all alone. I'll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for me."
Nila remained silence for a few moments, still in shock for the nuzzling. She thought about hugging Bron, she didn't knew why, but she reconsidered this, and only nuzzled him back "It was nothing." she said smiling "Anyone in my place would do the same."
They stayed together for a few more moments, before Nila reluctantly broke apart. It was now the end of the afternoon, and she looked at the bright circle almost setting, and turned back to Bron "I have to go."
Bron nuzzled her again "Stay." he asked, "Stay with me." Nila looked at the longneck. And shook her head "I really have to go Bron." she said in a pained tone, but it was brighter as she completed "But I'll come back really soon tomorrow. I promise."
Bron smiled at her "Until tomorrow so." Nila smiled back at him "Until tomorrow." And so she walked away to the transporter ( aka: a teleporter) that was going to take her back to the Valley of Leaf and Claw.
Nila had just finished healing the last one for the night, a sickleclaw that broke his foot due to an accident with a rock. The sickleclaw thanked her and walked away. Nila sighed, taking care of both Bron and her regular duties as healer in Valley of Leaf and Claw was hard, but she managed to do it. The longneck was worth the difficulty...
"Nila!" her thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling her, she turned around to see Miname and Minaple running to her she smiled at her two friends.
They reached her, and Miname soon asked "So, what about him?" Nila looked at her confused, and then Minaple asked "Bron, the longneck. What about him?"
Nila smiled "Almost completely healed by now." she said happy "He will be in perfect conditions in the morning." she could not disguise the tone of pure relief in her voice.
"Well, that are good news." said Minaple.
"They sure are Minnie." said Miname "And he is having good reactions for a sharptooth taking care of him?"
Nila stopped smiling and looked away, the Minnies immediately understood what did that meant "He still not know!?" said Minaple surprised. Nila looked back at her "His eyes are not completely healed yet." she said " He was not able to identify my species."
"And you did not told him?" asked Miname. Her only answer was Nila looking away.
They remained silence as Nila pondered about what to say, and after a minute she talked "He passed for hard things with sharpteeth." she said "I don't want him to ran away from me. He is a very good dino. He is kind, is gentle, is comprehensive, is handsome, is..." Nila perceived too late that she said something she was going to keep only for herself. She looked over the Minnies, hopping they would let it pass, but they didn't.
They both stared at her, to one another and back at her, with surprised expressions. And smiles slowly started to form in their faces.
"You are in love with him!" said Miname. Nila looked away a bit embarrassed.
The Minnies both chuckled "Oh Nila." said Minaple "We should have guessed by the way you talked about him."
Nila was able to smile back "I'm not sure how did this happened." she said "We have known each other for a few weeks, and yet, is like I've knwon him all my life. Somehow he makes me feel good, feel complete."
"And yet, he don't even knwo that you're a sharptooth." said Minaple, and this made Nila look away sad and a bit guilty. And Miname asked "What will you do now?"
Nila looked over to her, and then adopted a more serious expression "I'll tell him." she said confident.
"That you're a sharptooth?" asked Minaple.
"That too." she said "And that I have feelings for him." the Minnies shared a look "I'll tell him everything when we meet tomorrow.
Nila barelly was able to sleep that night, of course, she talked more with the Minnies about how things were going with Bron so far, how he was very kind and comprehensive, and how he seemed to feel the same way about her, and how this gave her confidence to talk to him about everything.
The first thing she did in the morning, right before the Great Circle rise, was search for a transporter, who complained very much about being ruddily waked, and made him take her right to the cave.
Nila stood a few feet from the entrance that lead to the hidden paradise in which she saw Bron for the last time. It was it, she was going to show him herself truly, and was going to tell him how she felt and everything about her and the order. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward.
Her body was illuminate by the first daylight, she looked straight to over she left Bron the past day. But yhe was not in there.
Nila looked around "Bron!" she called "Bron, we have to talk." she called again, looking to the sides, but she couldn't get a single glimpse of him. She even tried to sniff him, but she could catch no glimpse of his scent too, like he had left a while ago.
"Bron?" she called one last time. She then noticed one thing. There were longneck footprints in the ground. And they lead to the exit. Nila felt her heart sink in her chest. Bron had left before. Probably soon after her. She looked over the empty place one last tie, as if in search for any clue of Bron. But she found none.
She sadly lowered her head and started walking away.
"He simply left!?" asked Miname. The sickleclaw was in front of her with Minaple by her side, and young Melissa, Bayron and Kala, all looking over to her, who was with her eyes sad fixed in the ground in front of her, sitting and fondling her hands.
In fact, she was not sad simply because Bron had left, it may have happened anyway, she was sad because of the way he left. Simply going away, and not even waiting to say goodbye or thank you Like their time together had actually meant nothing to him. This pained her heart.
"How could he simply left?" asked Kala, and Minaple agreed with her "Yeah, after all you told us about, and all you did for him."
Nila's look seemed a bit lost and sad, she stared at the distance, as if searching for na answer to this question, that she had already made to herself.
(the music here is More than a Dream, from Cinderella 3)
"I..." she said, her voice sad "I don't understand. I..." she looked back at the ground, in particular to a small rock that seeing from up resembled a longneck, and made her thoughts go back to Bron.
Then she started to softly sing "I've always dreamed-" a soft music started to play in the background, as some memories of her childhood come back to her mind "-that my life would be like a beautiful tale, a perfect fantasy." she sang sadly as she bend over to catch the stone "Everyday a new adventure, on some undiscovered shore. Was it nothing more than a dream."
The others looked at her, she picked up the stone, and looked at it, suddenly memories of her time with Bron come back with full force, as she sang "Than one magic time, when we took a chance, my life felt much more than just a story of romance. And at once everything was perfect, as we're there each other for. It felt so much more, so much more than a dream."
A single tear ran down her face as she lowered the stone "I could say it never happened, just a dream from the start-" she sang as she dropped the stone in the ground "-but then i'd live my life with a broken heart..."
"This is not right!" said Melissa, granting the others to look at her. Kala conforted her with a hand in her shoulder. "It's okay Mel." she said, "This longneck surely is still having feelings for her."
This granted Nila to look at her surprised, and Miname said "Yes! After all you told us, he must feel for you what you feels for him!"
Nila thought about it. All the time she spend with him, the way he gently talked to her, the thinks they talked about and laughed together, the way they snuggled together to sleep, and the last day when he nuzzled her. A smile creped in her face "Yes..." she said filling with hope. "Of course he does!" the other were happy for seeing Nila regain her normal shiny outline "So, if I just meet him again..."
"Yeah, meet Bron." said Minaple, and Nila contined "Then, everything will be alright!"
The kids cheered as the Minnies both nodded.
"Sounds like a great idea!" said Minaple
"It sure does Minnie." agreed Miname.
Nila then raised from the ground and sang "Cause at a longneck's side I found a love I can't deny." she walked over the place as the trees where no longer covering the bits of sunlight, and the others followed her "If there's a chance of set things right, I simple got to try."
As she finished singing she was meet by the strong daylight, and she sang "So I'll trust my heart. What else can I do? I can't live in dream if my dreams are to come true." she sang as she climbed a small hill with the others in her heels "There is a better life that's waiting, past those mountains I must climb. I'll take a chance on love, to get my once upon a time."
She reached the top of the hill, and the others reached her. She took a deep breath, and Kala asked "But Nila, how are you going to find him?" Nila looked back at her with a smile "I'll find a away." as she said this, one butterfly flew near her, and she let it gently land in her hands. And she sang "I want so much more..." and she let the butterfly fly away as she sang with all her heart "So much more than a dream!" as she sang, the daylight hit them, and the butterfly flew over the place.
She looked over the empty place one last tie, as if in search for any clue of Bron. But she found none.
She saddly lowered her head and started walking away.
"He simply left!?" asked Miname. The sickleclaw was in front of her with Minaple by her side, and young Melissa, Bayron and Kala, all looking over to her, who was with her eyes sad fixed in the grounbd in front of her, sitting and foddling her hands.
In fact, she was not sad simply because Bron had left, it may have happened anyway, she was sad because of the way he left. Simply going away, and not even waiting to say goodbye or thank you Like their time together had actually meant nothing to him. This pained her heart.
"How could he simply left?" asked Kala, and Minaple agreed with her "Yeah, after all you told us about, and all you did for him."
Nila's look seemed a bit lost and sad, she stared at the distance, as if searching for na answer to this question, that she had already made to herself.
(the music here is More than a Dream, from Cinderella 3)
"I..." she said, her voice sad "I don't understand. I..." she looked back at the ground, in particular to a small rock that seeing from up resembled a longneck, and made her thoughts go back to Bron.
Then she started to softly sing "I've alwasy dreamed-" a soft music started to play in the background, as some memories of her childhood come back to her mind "-that my life would be like a beuatiful tale, a perfect fantasy." she sang saddly as she bend over to catch the stone "Everyday a new adventure, on some undiscovered shore. Was it nothing more than a dream."
The others looked at her, she picked up the sytone, and looked at it, suddenly memories of her time with Bron come back with full force, as she sang "Than one magic time, when we took a chance, my life felt much more than just a story of romance. And at once everything was perfect, as we're there each other for. It felt so much more, so much more than a dream."
A single twear ran down her face as she lowered the stone "I could say it never happened, just a dream from the start-" she sang as she dropped the stone in the ground "-but then i'd live my life with a broken heart..."
"This is not right!" said Melissa, granting the others to look at her. Kala conforted her with a hand in her shoulder. "It's okay Mel." she said "This longneck surely is still having feelings for her."
This granted Nila to look at her surprised,a dn Miname said "Yes! After all you told us, he must feels for you what you feels for him!"
Nila thouhgt about it. All the time she spend with him, the way he gently talked to her, the thinks they talked abouit and laughed together, the way they snuggled together to sleep, and the last day when he nuzzled her. A smile creeped in her face "Yes..." she said filling with hope. "Of course he does!" the other were happy for seeing Nila regain her normal shiny outline "So, if I just meet him again..."
"Yeah, meet Bron." said Minaple, and Nila contined "Then, everything will be alright!"
The kids cheered as the Minnies both nodded.
"Sounds like a great idea!" said Minaple
"It sure does Minnie." agreeed Miname.
Nila then raised from the ground and sang "Cause at a longneck's side I found a love I can't deny." she walked over the place as the trees where no longer covering the bits of sunlight, and the others follwoed her "If theres a chance of set things right, I simple got to try."
As she finished singing she was meet by the strong daylight, and she sang "So I'll trust my heart. What else can I do? I can't live in dream if my dreams are to come true." she sang as she climbed a small hill with the others in her heels "There is a better life that's waiting, past those mountains I must climb. I'll take a chance on love, to get my once upon a time."
She reached the top of the hill, and the others reached her. She took a deep breath, and Kala asked "But Nila, how are you going to find him?" Nila looked back at her with a smile "I'll find a away." as she said this, one butterfly flew near her, and she let it gently land in her hands, and she sang "I want so much more..." and she let the butterfly fly away as she sang with all her heart "So much more than a dream!" as she sang, the daylight hit them, and the butterfly flew over the place.