Thanks, LBTDiclonius. I'm glad your liking the story so far. And you won't have to wait another second for the next chapter!
Chapter 2
Laughter filled the air of the Great Valley as a Tree Sweet plopped at the very center of a small clearing. Two teams stopped on opposite sides of the clearing, the giggles dying to be replaced by an air of seriousness. One team consisting of Littlefoot, Chomper, and Petrie exchanged challenging looks with their 'rivals', consisting of Cera, Ruby, Ducky, and Spike. This was for the winning point and neither team had losing as an option! On some unspoken cue, Littlefoot and Ruby lunged simultaneously, forepaws and hands both gripping the Tree Sweet at the same time.
"Well, seems we both have it since we both grabbed it." Ruby said with an amused grin. Littlefoot returned the smile with his own.
"Yeah, but my team will be the one to win!" he said playfully.
"You can't win if you won't be winning." With this, Ruby yanked the Tree Sweet out of Littlefoot's hold and the chase was on! Laughter and playful exclamations once more filled the air as Ruby raced for the goal.
"Ruby! I am open, I am!" Ducky shouted, waving her hands and jumping for attention. Ruby spotted her and acknowledged her words by taking the risk to stop.
"Okay, Ducky! I'm throwing it to you so you can catch it!" Then came the toss, as it was just in time before Littlefoot tackled her down one second too late. Ducky was about the catch the Tree Sweet, when Chomper raced in front of her and snatched it himself.
"Hey!" Ducky protested, despite a fun-loving smile on her beak.
"I got it! I got it!" the sharptooth said proudly before making a run for the goal, Cera, Spike, and Ducky at his tail. He knew he wasn't going to make it and he looked about for a team mate and saw Petrie flying to land right at the goal between two trees.
"Pass to me, Chomper!" the Flyer yelled out. "Pass to me!" Chomper was just about to do just that when he was tackled by Cera, the Tree Sweet literally flying out of his hands high into the air straight for the goal. Petrie flew up to catch it, but it went right over his head into the surrounding trees quite a distance.
"Wow." Cera muttered as she got off Chomper, who seemed equally surprised before a happy glow spread across his face.
"Does that mean we win?" he asked eagerly.
"Of course not!" the young Threehorn claimed as the others gathered around them.
"I dunno, Cera." Littlefoot started. "The Tree Sweet did go through the goal and Chomper was the one who had it."
"No way! I call that an unfair shot!"
"Or lucky shot." Petrie said as he landed on Littlefoot's head, which nodded in agreement to the Flyer's words. This only got a glare and huff from the unimpressed Cera.
"Well, if that's the case, I call a rematch!" she demanded.
"Oh, yes yes yes! A rematch!" Ducky bounced in happy excitement that the prospect of another round.
"Alright! I'll go get the ball!" Chomper said before going off to locate where the Tree Sweet had fallen, and to possibly find a new ball to replace it, in case it smushed against a rock or something. But it wasn't going to be a rock it would splat onto...
"Hey!" Rus exclaimed as something splattered all over his head. Growling, he wiped off some of the stuff from his face and looked at it, trying to identify it. Pink and sticky...He licked it a little. A Tree Sweet? Cepher and Pacia was watching this in confusion before looking up simultaneously at the tree above them. No signs of Tree Sweets. But then how did this one splatter all over their comrade? Well, obviously, someone threw it at them and when they find that someone, they'll make him pay dearly for this ridiculing act! They were already glancing about, but it seems they didn't have to search too hard nor too long as the bushes nearby rustled and out stepped...a sharptooth?
"I thought this Valley didn't have sharpteeth." Pacia whispered to Cepher, scowling at the carnivore, neither of them alarmed as this was a hatchling and they quite literally had hatchlings for breakfast. Though they've never tried to eat a baby sharptooth before...
Chomper looked up at the very large figures and saw they were Domeheads that he's never met, seen, or smelled before and that one of them was...uh oh. Seemed the ball chose the wrong place to land and now he and his friends could be in big trouble if these newcomers told the other grown-ups. He should apologize and explain what happened before the situation gets worse. "Oh...Um, sorry about the Tree Sweet, sir. My friends...and I...were..." He trailed off with a gulp, fiddling with his claws as he didn't like the look he was being given by his audience. They seemed amused, but it had a kind of menacing edge he just didn't like.
"Well, would you look at this! A talking sharptooth!" the largest Domehead snickered as he approached and picked Chomper up by the tail.
"I've seen it all now." the smaller black-colored one added with a smirk. Chomper didn't respond to this, as his world was now upside down, literally. It took him a moment to get over his confusion and notice the tight, almost painful grip on his tail. Despite his initial humbleness, he couldn't stop his indignation at his position. Not only was his tail -along with his sniffer- one of the more precious parts of his body, but the way he was being held made him feel little and he did not like it when he's made to feel little.
"Hey! Let go!" he demanded, kicking a bit as he wriggled to try and get free. His words went unheard as the Great Valley's newest visitors continued their conversation, which was getting to be quite terrifying for little Chomper to hear.
"Talking or not, I think we'll be doing a service by getting rid of this nuisance!" Rus snarled as he came over with a glare, still trying to wipe off the Tree Sweet juice. The others barely gave those words a second thought before nodding.
"I think that's a great idea." Cepher approved, smirking menacingly at the hatchling dangling helplessly in his claws. The sharptooth gave a whimper as it stopped struggling with a horrified expression that the trio loved seeing in their targets. The look of fear never got old. And it only grew better as Pacia stepped closer with a soft snicker.
"It's obvious this little pest snuck in the Valley to have itself a never-ending supply of Leaf Eaters to eat. Am I right, sharptooth?" she asked mockingly, placing a sharp claw under the sharptooth's chin, just to hear it whimper again. The sharptooth shifted away from her claws before it shook its head fervently, its little hands waving in denial.
"N-no! I live here with my friends!" it exclaimed.
"Oh, so there's more sharpteeth hiding around here?" Cepher interrogated with a taunting grin, tightening his grip on the sharptooth's tail once more, earning a yelp and another wriggle before it answered desperately.
"No! My friends are Leaf Eaters! I swear! I'm a nice sharptooth!" The trio didn't know how the sharptooth expected them to react, but those words were hilarious enough to make them crack up, Cepher's grip tightening all the more in his extreme mirth. It took a moment for them to recover from their laughing fit before they returned their malicious glares to the hatchling.
"A nice sharptooth?" Cepher growled in heavy amusement before looking to his companions. "First time we ever encountered a talking sharptooth and the only thing it will say are lies to save its own skin."
"But I'm serious!" Chomper yelled to the grown-ups, feeling himself on the verge of angry and frightened tears. 'Save its own skin'? Was he really an 'it' to them? Were they really willing to hurt him or even kill him? Well, of course they are. All other grown-ups did when they first met him: Ali's Herd, Doc, even Cera's Dad when he was first introduced to him. This group wouldn't be any different. But he still tried convincing them he's good, at least that worked before...but only when his friends were there. So, he had to get to them somehow. It was his only chance. "If you don't believe me, my friends are over there!" He pointed the way he came, hoping the three Domeheads would go to see his friends and learn that he wasn't lying. "There's Littlefoot and Cera and Ducky and-"
"Shut it, kid!" the Tree Sweet male snapped, eyes filled with renewed rage before looking to the largest member. "Can we just get rid of it now?"
The apparent leader smirked at his angered companion before snickering at the youngster. "Might as well. No point in delaying the inevitable."
Filled with overwhelming fear, Chomper very much wanted to delay the inevitable and, seeing no other option, he followed the instincts that's been yelling at him from the instant he was picked up. There was a brief flash in his mind of Littlefoot telling him long ago that sharptooth behavior wasn't allowed in the Valley, and his next action was definitely a sharptooth behavior. His mind vaguely gave a silent apology to his best friend as he acted. Grabbing hold of his own tail, he managed to pull himself up enough to sink his teeth into the leader's hand, easily drawing some blood. Hearing the cry of pain, he was dropped to the ground, quickly trying to recover from the impact.
Looking up at his tormentors, he definitely recovered double time with a scream before running off, the leader's claws slashing into the ground where he once stood. Terrified, he saw the dark female lunge with open jaws and he leapt straight into the air just in time to avoid being bitten himself. Landing in an unbalanced stumble on her head, he made no hesitation in sliding off and making another wild dash, still screaming as he felt a crash just behind him, sending him falling forward with a grunt. Risking a glance, he saw he just barely avoided being crushed under the Tree Sweet male's skull. Moving faster than he ever thought possible, he jumped back to his feet and ran off towards his friends, the only thing he could think of doing.
"Littlefoot! Help!" he yelled out in desperation, pushing his way through the undergrowth, hearing the grown-ups pursuing him. Knowing his life depended on it, he sped up as fast as his legs would go, hoping and wishing so many times that he would make it.
"Chomper!" Luckily, the gang met him half-way and, still in a panic, he threw himself against Littlefoot, his words pouring out of him faster than he can think.
"Tell them I'm a nice sharptooth! Tell them I'm a nice sharptooth!"
"Tell who?" Ruby asked, very concerned of her charge's fear and general demeanor. Chomper, shivering and whimpering, huddled against as many of his friends as he could at once, pressing as tight as he could for any feeling of safety. But even with his efforts, he still gave a yelp as his attackers rushed into view, skidding to a stop. The gang were more than startled by the Domehead's sudden, aggressive entrance and they jolted back with screams of their own. But that died out quickly for a brief moment of silence, with only the sound being Chomper's heavy breathing and whimpering.
"Move." the leader growled, clenching his claws as he sneered down at the gang. Littlefoot cleared his throat to get over his intimidation enough to step forward a bit.
"No. Chomper's our friend. He-"
"Kids, we heard screaming! What's going on?" another voice came up and everyone looked over to see Grandpa Longneck and some of the other grown ups, who paused at the sight of the newcomers. "Why, we didn't know we had visitors to our Valley. When did you three arrive?"
"Better question is what are you doing with our kids?" Mr. Threehorn demanded angrily, stepping forward in a confrontational manner. After all, there had to be a reason for the screams and it seemed logical to assume these newcomers were the cause of it all. But the Domehead trio were far from intimidated and huffed, each of them crossing their arms defiantly.
"We did nothing to the Leaf Eater brats. It's the sharptooth we're after." the leader hissed with particular malice.
"Chomper's harmless! He'd never hurt us!" Littlefoot defended as he stepped protectively in front of Chomper, not going to let anything bad happen to his friend. They've been through too much, helped and saved each other too many times to back down now.
"Yes. Chomper is our friend and he has never harmeded us, nope nope nope!" Ducky claimed herself, Spike grunting and nodding his assurance. However, the trio seemed far from convinced and the leader lifted his hand a bit, blood still dripping a little.
"If it's harmless, it wouldn't have bitten us." he claimed with a smirk, amused as everyone gasped in horror and every gaze turned to the young sharptooth. Chomper's jaw dropped that this was being used against him, though he honestly shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. Fiddling with his claws once more and staying behind Littlefoot, he tried to choke out the words, practically feeling the awkward and hostile atmosphere surrounding the entire area.
"It wasn't my fault..." he muttered before pointing to the Domeheads shakily. "They...They were trying to hurt me... I had to do something!" He looked up at Littlefoot pleadingly. "Right?" The Longneck only hesitated for a second before nodding.
"Right, Chomper." he agreed confidently. "You wouldn't hurt anybody without reason."
"Seems we all got off on the wrong foot." Grandpa Longneck said before looking back to the Domeheads. "Chomper is a sharptooth, yes, but he's an equal resident of this Valley. He lives here and is welcomed by all of us." He tried to ignore the huff Mr. Threehorn gave. "And all three of you are welcomed as well to stay as long as you need."
"Good." the leader hissed sharply, face disgusted for some reason, the other two sharing the same scowl. "Because we're not leaving at all."
Grandpa Longneck seemed a bit taken aback at the hostility these three were displaying, but looked passed it to keep the peace. "Even better. I think-" He was immediately cut off by the smaller male.
"Don't even bother finishing that sentence. We don't care in the slightest what an old flathead like you thinks." This triggered another collective gasp as the children looked at each other in disbelief before Littlefoot glared at the Domeheads.
"You can't talk to my grandfather like that!" he protested, angry that someone would insult his family so openly and with such a hostile tone. The smaller male snapped a glare to the young longneck, snarling.
"Back off, kid, before something happens that you or your friends might end up regretting."
"Don't you dare threaten the children!" Mr. Threehorn roared, stepping even closer to the Domeheads, of which the female member snorted disdainfully.
"We threaten whoever we want, and no hornface is going to tell us otherwise." This got even more gasps from everyone, who couldn't believe their ears. Nobody has ever insulted Mr. Threehorn and certainly not with such an offensive term. In the stunned silence, the leader hissed out his words with just as much hostility as his companions.
"Living here, we have one simple rule to set out. And we'll make it clear for all you tiny-brained idiots: we don't want any of you low-life weaklings bothering us. It's bad enough you're tainting this Valley with your presence; we don't want to make things worse by interacting with any of you scum for more than necessary."
Mr. Threehorn was the first to recover and he was far from happy with this situation as he stormed even closer, head lowered threateningly as he practically roared. "Now, see here, you vermin! You can't just storm in here and insult us, then expect-" He was interrupted when the Domeheads gave a bored yawn and proceeded to ignore him, turning their backs disrespectfully as they walked off to vanish into the vegetation once more. Mr. Threehorn growled all the more and seemed just about ready to charge in the general direction of their departure but Grandpa stopped him by speaking.
"I'm sure our guests are just tired from their undoubtedly long and difficult journey here and they will calm down soon enough. Until then, we will honor their wishes and give them room to settle. Then we can start over in our greetings." The other Great Valley residents grumbled under their breaths from the rude introduction the Domeheads presented and of Grandpa's forgiving words, but they nodded begrudgingly. Grandpa Longneck then turned his attention to the kids. "Why don't you young ones go on and play, just be careful not to aggravate our new arrivals any further."
Littlefoot sighed softly, hanging his head a bit. "Okay, Grandpa."
Without a word, the gang went off to try and resume their play, finding another Tree Sweet to replace their previous ball. The game soon started, things a bit quiet at first before the spirits began to rise and the laughter began to slowly inch its way back into the game. Only one who remained in a non-playful mood was Chomper. The ball rolled by his feet and the young sharptooth only looked down at it listlessly before giving it a nudge that was supposed to be a kick. The others, noticing his state of mind, put the game on hold and wandered over.
"Hey, you alright there, Chomper?" Cera asked with a confused look. Last time she saw this kind of behavior was when Ducky was mad at Spike and she knew something was on their youngest member's mind. Chomper looked at her and the others for another moment, before muttering softly and with a still slightly-frightened tone.
"If you all don't mind...I'm gonna go back home."
"You sure, Chomper?" Littlefoot asked in concern. This was one of Chomper's favorite games and it wasn't like him to want to walk away right in the middle of it.
"We still have fun game. We no win without you." Petrie added, landing by the little sharptooth. Chomper gave a soft half-hearted smile that one could easily tell was forced.
"I know, I just think it's sleep-time for me now..." With that, he turned and headed off to the Secret Caverns, while the others looked amongst themselves in confusion at his words. After all, the Bright Circle was still high in the sky. Sleep-time isn't even close. But thinking of what happened not too long ago, they couldn't really blame him. They just hoped he'll be okay...
END OF CHAPTER 2
Aww, poor Chomper. He gained yet another experience in life-threatening trauma. Hope this chapter's good as this is the first time I did any of the main characters excluding Chomper and Ruby.