And here's the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter Two: Struck OutCera sighed and rolled over onto her back.
“Chomper has been ages!” she complained. “Where the hell has he even got to?”
“I’m not sure…” Ruby muttered. “He may have simply stopped to eat. He was having difficulty getting breakfast earlier.”
“Breakfast, huh?” Cera gave a joking grin. “I hope he cleans up…”
Littlefoot turned to Ruby.
“How is his eating going? He told me the other day he’s finding it hard to get as much food as he used to…”
“Oh no, he’s fine,” Ruby assured. “It’s just he’s getting slightly too big for insects now. He managed to kill a lizard earlier, though, so it’s all good.”
Cera rolled back over onto her front.
There was uneasy look on her face.
“Insects, then lizards…” she murmured. “What’s the next stage?”
Predictably, everyone scowled at her.
“Cera, Chomper isn’t like that!” Littlefoot snapped, his mood changing instantly.
Cera rolled her eyes.
“Yeah – I know that, and you know that…but unfortunately not everyone does. If they see him chasing lizards, they’re gonna start thinking he’ll be a saliva-dripping predator looking for dinosaur flesh before long…I mean, WE know that’ll never happen, but when the grown-ups have got their mind made up about something…” she shuddered. “They won’t be stopped by anything.”
It took the other five a few moments to work out what she was saying.
Finally Petrie nodded.
“Yeah…” he murmured. “I mean, your dad be real mad if he…”
“Excuse me!” Cera interjected forcefully. “Who said anything about my dad?”
“Well…”
Cera rounded on Ducky.
“Did you hear me say anything about my dad?” she demanded.
“Umm…no, I didn’t, nope, nope, nope…” Ducky replied meekly.
Cera turned her head to Spike.
“How ëbout you, Spike?”
Spike was shaking his head before she had even finished speaking. Cera then rounded on Littlefoot and Ruby.
“What about you two, huh? Did either of you hear me mention my dad??”
“Uh…no…”
“Well,” Cera said briskly, turning around and beginning to walk away. “In that case, stop bringing him up and making fun of him all the time. You don’t think I get a little tired of it sometimes? Tired of you constantly criticizing him, making a mockery – he’s alright once you get to know him, you know, and I’ve met far worse people who’d be prepared to chase Chomper out of the valley without batting an eyelid, so will you guys JUST SHUT UP AND GIVE ME AND MY FAMILY A BREAK?????”
She had gotten louder as this rant progressed, until she was positively screaming by the end of it. Then, she turned her back on then, sitting defiantly on the top of the hill, staring off into the horizon.
Her five friends all exchanged looks. Cera often got into moods like this, but outbursts such as the one that had just taken place were more of a rarity. If Cera was reacting like this to something rather commonplace, there was definitely something going on they didn’t know about.
Eventually, Ducky gingerly stepped forward, and placed her hand in what she hoped was a reassuring manner on the young threehorn’s back.
To her horror, Cera’s cerulean blue eyes were swimming with tears, which were slowly dripping down onto the ground.
Immediately, the other four drew in close to them in a circle of comfort.
“Cera…” Ducky probed gently. “What is wrong?”
“It’s…it’s,” Cera sobbed. “My dad and Tria. They’ve…they’ve been arguing.”
“What about?” Littlefoot asked.
Cera gave a dismal snort.
“Anything they can think of, it seems. They used to do it quite a bit in a joking manner, you know? Ending with laughter…but not now. They’re so cold toward each other and…”
A fresh wave of tears overwhelmed her.
“It’s just…” Cera managed to say. “It’s just…I really like Tria now. She’s…she’s just like…like my mom was.”
Her five friends were visibly taken aback by this announcement. Cera had never mentioned her mother to any of them – it was an extremely sensitive subject to her.
“And…” said threehorn continued, ignoring her friends’ reactions, “she’s better for dad. He’s not as grumpy, or as miserable as he was when she’s around…if they split up, then…it’ll just be like it was before and…I may never see Tria again…”
Having clearly finished her explanation, Cera collapsed into a lying position and remained there, crying silently.
Eventually, Littlefoot spoke up.
“Look, Cera…I’m not how to respond to all this, but we’re your friends. Whatever happens, we’re going to stand by you throughout.”
Everyone else muttered their agreement, Spike non-verbally.
A small smile slowly crept its way onto Cera’s face.
“Thanks…”
“And,” Littlefoot continued. “I’m sure Chomper will too…wherever he is…”
*
Where Chomper was, even he was not sure.
He had woken up with little lights dancing drunkenly in the corners of his eyes, and his ears were ringing. He had no idea where he was, whether back in his sleeping spot, or on the verge of falling into a smoking mountain. Being knocked out wasn’t so bad – it was the waking up afterwards that really got you down.
As his vision began to swim back into focus, the first thing he was able to make out was how dark it was. Was it night-time? Blinking furiously, he was able to finally see the two distinct figures in front of him - the bladeback and the twoclaw who had knocked him out.
“Where are we?” Chomper demanded, attempting to rise to his feet. The bladeback pushed him back down.
“Don’t get up twig-arm – you’re in no state for standing at the moment. Besides, what will you use to break your fall?” He smirked, and the twoclaw scowled.
“We’re in the secret caverns,” she replied. “Sorry for knocking you out like we did, but it was the only way we could get you on your own without attracting attention from the flatteeth.”
Then, fixing a more friendly gesture on her face, she extended her claw.
“Uh…my name’s Saureen, and this is Seizon. What’s your name?”
“Chomper,” Chomper replied.
Saureen ëawwwwed’ in delight, but Seizon simply snorted.
“What?” Saureen demanded, whirling around to face her bladeback companion. “It’s a cute name!”
“When you’re a hatchling,” Seizon countered. He turned to Chomper. “Please tell me that’s just a nickname?”
Chomper shook his head.
“It was the name my friends gave me, and my parents just decided to keep it,” he explained.
“Friends? You mean those flatteeth?” Seizon asked.
“Yeah.”
“You live with them? What about your parents?”
“Well,” Chomper explained. “Apparently, my egg was stolen by some egg-stealers, and my friends managed to get it back from them. They didn’t know it was a Sharptooth egg, and so they made plans to raise me themselves. When I hatched, they were a bit scared at first, but they eventually accepted me.”
Saureen smiled. “That’s quite sweet…”
“Continue,” Seizon said in monotone.
“OK, well, my parents eventually came looking for me and took me out of the valley and onto this island. One day, my friends came back, and my parents learned to trust them. They had to go away again soon afterwards, but then Redclaw…” Chomper now remembered the occasion with some sadness. “Redclaw attacked our island. I was able to get away, and I went to the Great Valley.”
“We were separated from our families too,” Saureen consoled. “We were attacked by a massive spiked longneck, and we were told to go here…”
Chomper’s face brightened.
“Come and meet my friends then, they’re great!”
“Actually,” Seizon cut across forcefully. “We’re not here to stay.”
Chomper was now getting annoyed.
“Alright,” he said, folding his arms. “Tell me what you’re here for then, and what the hell you want with me!”
“Sure.” Seizon began pacing back and forth.
“OK. I guess it starts with my stepdad, Xal. He’s great. He’s got big plans for us. For all of us.”
“All of us?”
“All us sharpteeth,” Sezion explained. “I mean, look at us! We’re oppressed in this world. It’s not like that livestock in the Great Valley, growing fat on all that vegetation. It’s so easy for them – to eat, just gulp down the nearest green thing. For us? We dice with death everytime we try and eat. We have to give chase, risk getting crushed to death…it isn’t right. Not to mention how we get plagued by immoral and malevolent individuals such as Redclaw and the spiked longneck. But Xal promises, with plans he has in place, one day us sharpteeth will live in paradise, with all the food we need, and no idiots oppressing us.”
Something about that statement made Chomper shudder. Perhaps the mention of food…
“What are these plans of his?” Chomper asked.
“That’s where you come, my friend,” Seizon informed him. “Somehow, Xal found out about you, and so he sent us here to find you. Me and Saureen are forming this pack, and with you, the key to the Great Valley, within it, we can begin this dream of his!”
Seizon was getting extremely animated as he spoke – he obviously saw his stepdad as something of zeal.
“Well,” Chomper said. “What if I don’t want to join you?”
“That’s tough luck,” Seizon growled. “You’re joining our pack whether you like it or not.”
“Chomper,” Saureen coaxed. “Think about it this way – insects aren’t going to fill your stomach forever – you’re going to need to get used to living outside the valley either way. Why not come with is? There’s safety in numbers, you know.”
Chomper considered. Xal sounded like a complete crackpot to him, but if he told Seizon that, he’d break his arms. Still, the idea of saving sharpteeth from the wrath of Redclaw was something that had always appealed to him, right? And this spiked longneck didn’t sound like a pleasant piece of work either. Even though what Xal wanted to do seemed to be on the slightly extreme side, if Chomper were in the middle of it all, maybe he could manipulate the situation into something even better? It didn’t look as though he had a lot of choice anyway…
“OK,” he said. “Lead the way Seizon.”
Smiling, Seizon walked off into the shadows, closely followed by Chomper and Saureen.
“I’ve left the others in our pack in a cave nearby,” the bladeback explained. “I’ll introduce you to them…”
Chomper was squinting as they exited the cave into the mysterious beyond. After the darkness of the caverns, the bright circle was blinding.
“Watch your step,” Saureen advised.
The three young sharpteeth continued to make their way down the rocks. Unfortunately for them, their exodus didn’t go unnoticed.
“Wow, Seizon.”
A mocking voice cut its way through the still air. Seizon glared at its source and swore under his breath.
The voice continued.
“You’ve done it now…”
Chomper too looked at the source of the voice. To his horror, he saw, standing on a rocky ledge above them, two fast-biters.
One blue, one green…
~0~
And there we have it!
You know, writing about the main characters is harder than I first thought. I sincerely hope I haven't made them too OOC, let me know if I have.
I hope you guys enjoy the new plot twists and developments introduced in this chapter. Please tell me what you think, like etc, and all the rest of it.
