Sudden Change of Species 2.0

[rhombus]

Link to the summation of the plot: http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=16174.msg473378#msg473378

OOC: And so it finally begins!  I have left this initial post open-ended enough that I think it should allow people to write this dialogue organically (I have not specified what the disagreement is about or who started it), but if any part of my initial post is too restrictive just let me know and I can modify it to allow people more freedom.  I will also be color-coding my text from here on out to clarify which character it comes from.

------------

Thunder.

It is amazing how something so common as a distant rainstorm could encapsulate without words a drama which would take hours to tell.  Though the rain was certainly hours away its clouds had already blotted the Bright Circle out of the sky, covering the valley’s towering vistas in gloomy shadows.  Despite its unwelcome intrusion into the ongoing meeting the loud thunderclap had done one welcome thing: it had for a moment silenced the recriminations among the dinosaurs enough to allow Ruby to finally think about the situation rationally.

She looked between her friends as if examining strange new creatures, a cross between their joyous past selves and the cantankerous adults of the valley who seldom agreed with anything.  Standing proudly in front of them all, his neck now standing a bit taller than when Ruby had first entered the valley, Littlefoot stared down the threehorn with unveiled annoyance.  Cera, for her part, glared at the longneck with horns bared as if he and the others had just insulted her entire family line.

Behind Littlefoot stood three others who were not strangers to her, but that might as well have been based upon how they had changed over the last few seasons.  Ducky the little swimmer was no longer quite as little as she once was, though she could always rely upon her brother’s support when he was not busy devouring any plants in his vicinity.  But on this day both Spike and her flyer friend were off in their own little worlds.  Spike devouring a bush in the distance, utterly oblivious to the proceedings around him, and Petrie being who knows where.  The distance between the three friends only highlighted the growing divisions between them all.

And then there was Chomper who was still no doubt gathering buzzers for a breakfast that was soon turning into a lunch.  His difficulty in finding food during this lean season confirmed what would soon need to come to pass.  They could not delay it indefinitely.

I know that Chomper and I will need to leave our friends one day, but I had always thought they would remain friends!

But truth be told this had been building for awhile, much like the distant storm.  A growing list of grievances as each friend dealt with the struggles of life in their own unique way.  The friendships that had been forged by struggle were now fraying under the pressures of time.  And, like distant thunder, eventually something had to give.

The thunder roared.

[OwlsCantRead]

The sky water pitter-pattered down on the soft grass, some of it landing on the treestar bush that Spike was about to take as his own.

Crunching down on the treestars, he reflected on the situation and decided that he wanted no part in it. Not that they’ll ask him for much besides a simple grunt of support. That was his thought as he turned his head left and right to see his sister with a concerned face, while Petrie’s own face was unreadable.

The benefits of staying in the background meant that at least he wouldn’t have to take sides… hopefully, at least. Perhaps, he’d remain as camouflaged as the hidden runner which had once appeared in the valley. Unseen and unheard even as Cera’s snarl and subsequent growl at Littlefoot seemed determined to drag the entirety of the Great Valley into this feud.

This terrible, long-overdue feud.

A blast of sky fire from about caused him to flinch, only heightening the tension as the glares between the staring dinosaurs only grew tense. The constant sky water from just made things worse, the pitter-patter of it as it fell making the growing silence of the silent seven—this brief reprieve of the chaos that had started—only ever more obvious.

He afforded one passing glance up from his food to tilt his head towards the absolute travesty that was happening in front of him before deciding that acting aloof and focusing on his food was the wiser choice... the tastier choice, too.

[Littlefoot505]

Littlefoot was nervous about what was sure to happen imminently. He knew that he shouldn't have done what he did, but he also thought Cera was severely overreacting.

The longneck thought to himself "Gee. I know that what I did was a big mistake, but why would Cera get this worked up about it"

He had been growing tired of constantly fighting with Cera after all these cold times, but that wasn't on his mind at that moment. All that he could think about was bracing for this upcoming brawl that would surely make the big fight that he and Cera got into during their original journey to the Great Valley seem like friendly teasing.

[Ducky123]

"You're WRONG!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"DON'T you dare..."

Ducky shook her head in a mixture of annoyance and resignation. Another day, another fight. The harmony that once was had vanished just like the Bright Circle that day when the thunderstorm had rolled in.

"Even the sky is upsetted-ed..." the green swimmer mused as she rolled her eyes at yet another furious verbal assault of the orange threehorn. The heavens had opened the gates; it was crying just like the swimmer's heart for discord and hate was something she could never approve of nor understand. Though, even a dinosaur as passionate and kind as Ducky could only take so much before she lashed out herself. The current fight in front of her eyes hardly concerned her on a personal level, however it was symbolic for what had become of their friendship.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ducky caught a glance of her brother Spike who, just like her, had gained a lot of size in recent times; and just like her he was changing. Everyone was. He was resenting the violence that had taken control of their daily get-togethers too, however she wouldn't even get along with the Spiketail nearly as well as they used to. Unlike the main actors, they didn't argue (but then again Spike could hardly express his point with gestures and grunts only), however they were slowly growing apart and disagreements grew more frequent. Ducky didn't even sleep next to him anymore.

Aside from Littlefoot and Cera fighting and Spike eating as was his habit when things got rough, Ruby was spectating the fight with an unreadable expression. Ducky found that the fastrunner was slowly growing apart from the group as adulthood approached her. And as far as Chomper was concerned who was probably still hunting for a meal, a task that took most of his time now that he was growing faster than his food... well, Ducky didn't know what to think. Rational and emotional thinking clashed within the swimmer but Chomper's fate had been sealed long ago.

And yet it was a frequent matter of hateful discussion.

Aside from Chomper, Petrie was also missing from the group. The swimmer gritted her teeth.

"That Petrie, where is he again?! Does he ever meet with us?! Does he even care about our friendship anymore? It makes me so sick, oh yes yes yes!"

Ducky's feelings for the flyer had always been of a very special sort. She had adored the quirky, funny and failure-prone flyer from the moment they had met and had he been a swimmer like her she was certain she would have crushed on him eventually. But Petrie was a flyer and such natural differences and barrier prevented that. But such hadn't impacted their friendship in a negative way at all. They had been bestest friends and everyone could tell on plain sight. However...

"Petrie does only care about himself, yes he does!"

Ever since the start of the last Warm season, he had begun to distance himself from everyone else, rarely having time, always occupied, not telling what he was supposedly busy with, acting solitary and weird. Ducky did not approve of it at all. She would even go as far as admitting that she was legitimately angry at the flyer. And knowing her that was saying a lot.

Grunting, Ducky ducked as strong wind gave the downpour a whole different quality. Why did she even stay here? The fight was raging on regardless of the weather, appearing to reach its climax just as the strongest part of the storm was about to hit. Ducky felt like screaming, yelling, crying, yes even punching someone, it was maddening beyond repair.

And yet she was powerless. At the brink of tears, she sat down, shaking her head again and again.

*boom*

Ducky jerked as lightning flashed, hitting one of the tall mountains on the walls that surrounded their home - the Great Valley. Though, with all the discord between adults and children alike, one could hardly call it great anymore. Not anymore.

[Sovereign]

A self-confident smile rose to the flyer’s face as he looked another flash of lighting appear before his eyes, penetrating the grey sky of the Great Valley. He looked at how the sky water pounded the land from the mountains surrounding the sanctuary of the leaf eaters, all the while remembering to leave one peak that stood higher than he as his mother had always told him to do. He enjoyed being able to brave the forces of nature alone but even more, he loved the independence his gift of flight had given him. Being able to see the world in all its glory was a thing he appreciated but even more, he loved being free from being surrounded by other dinosaurs.

During the past few Cold Times, the flyer had found that he liked spending more and more time alone as had some of his brothers as well. Petrie could no longer stand large meetings of the Valley, all that senseless fighting and arguing over completely trivial things. It was much better here to face the storm and…

Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of something that hardly improved his mood. The forms of a young longneck and a threehorn could be seen far below him, only faintly seen through the grey mist that concealed the Valley under itself on this day. Petrie frowned deeply as he looked at them, noticing that the rest of his “friends”, except for Chomper, were there as well. The boy crossed his arms and he let out a deep snort as the so-familiar thoughts rose to his mind.

Those two not seem to have better things to do than fight all the time! Sometimes Petrie wonder why me even meet them as often as me do!

Petrie had seen Littlefoot, Cera and Chomper argue with each other more often than he cared to remember in the past weeks and each time seem to be worse than the last one. Also, the sight of Ducky made his already dark thoughts even worse. He had really liked the swimmer and he still, in a way, considered her his best friend. However, her constant whining and complaining about the flyer’s willingness to spend some time alone made Petrie fume inside, her attitude angering him greatly. Petrie knew just how much he had changed himself but his preferences to spend his time weren’t Ducky’s to decide!

Noticing his bitterness, he tried to turn his gaze away from his old friends and move on to more pleasant things but… something in the brewing argument worried him greatly. This seemed even worse than any of the fights before and deep inside, Petrie still cared about his friends. With a sigh, he decided to follow the scene a bit further but to be sure, he wasn’t willing to get involved in yet another debacle unless he absolutely had to.

[vonboy]

"Woohoo... I guess..."

Chomper had just found another smattering of bugs, under a fallen log he had strained to turn over. In this latest lean season, it started to seem not even worth it. How much effort did it take to find these few bugs? But it was all he was ever allowed to eat here. Several times, he had thought about asking about the scaly swimmers, in the river that flowed through the Great Valley, but the fear of being stepped on for just asking held him back. The fact that him and Ruby would soon be forced to leave was obvious. Even that wasn't such a horrible thing, in his mind, if it wasn't that it would be as all his friends were growing so far apart, and starting to hate each other.

As he ended what could hardly be called a snack,the wind barreled in his face again, bringing some all too familiar scents with it. Anger, arrogance, contempt. that's Littlefoot and Cera again, isn't it? he thought to himself. It seemed like everyday, they were getting into arguments, but today seemed different. He hadn't smelled something this pungent in a long time.

With a sigh, he headed off in the direction the growing storm was coming from. As rain started to pelt the hunter's face, his mind was on the other storm that was brewing. Even in all the rain and the lighting, he could start to make out the yells of the longneck and the threehorn.

[DarkWolf91]

Cera snorted and stomped her foot down heavily. The longneck had the nerve to look confused, and that irritated her more than almost any insult he could have thrown. "So, what? Was that supposed to be funny? Throwing seedpods at my dad during an important meeting, like some kind of stupid hatchling?"

Part of her recoiled. There was a time not all that long ago when she would have found it funny, but that felt like a sleepstory from a different life, before those stupid farwalker threehorns had come to stay. Now every single little failure could be used as a weapon against her. It was enough to drive anyone crazy, and it kept her rage building to a fever pitch.

The young threehorn tossed her head as she stared him down, showing off the two upper horns that had finally begun to grow in. As much as she hated the farwalkers, she had managed to learn a few hard lessons from them. It wasn't enough to get angry- you had to remind your opponent that you were dangerous. "Don't even bother apologizing if your tiny flathead brain can't figure out what you did wrong!" She spat, thunder echoing behind her words, the first drops of rain prickling her skin.

[Littlefoot505]

LIttlefoot, paying no mind to the fact that Cera was clearly threatening to charge him and only to the rage that was quickly brewing inside him, replied: "I do know what I did wrong and I did aplogize!! You're just a b----!!"

A loud clap of thunder drowned out the final word that the longneck said, but Cera knew what that word was. Littlefoot had said a lot of mean things to her, especially with how much more they had been fighting lately, but he had never said a word like that before.

"What did you just call me?!?!" sneered the infuriated threehorn.
"You know what I said!! After all, threehorns know everything!!", replied the longneck with a smirk on his face.

As the cold drops of sky water sky water landed on the young longneck's skin, he then felt a rock in his stomach as he watched Cera's face. As if timed on purpose, another loud clap of thunder made the longneck that much more nervous. He could feel the vibrations from it resonating throughout the Great Valley.

[DarkWolf91]

She hadn't wanted things to go any farther, at least not at first, but his snarky comment and the stupid smirk on his dumb flat face snapped something inside of her. If she backed off now she would look weak, and the longneck would win. With a sharp exhale, the puff of breath flinging the rain moisture from her snout in a thin mist, she squared her shoulders and dug her feet into the damp earth. And froze.

Some deep part of her was aware that this was dead serious, that either one of them could be badly injured, and if that happened there would be no going back. But her level sensibilities and her bond with the longneck had both been eroding together, and now they had been consumed at once in a blind rage. She didn't want to hurt him, but she was willing to, and that was the little bit of give that she needed.

"You'll regret that." She growled through clenched teeth and sprung forward into an all-out charge, horns lowered, clumps of earth flying behind her.

[vonboy]

The hunter came upon the scene, just in time to hear Littlefoot call Cera something he never had before. Oh, this can only end well. he thought to himself. His sniffer was right on point with this one. This was a really heated argument, with both leaf eaters looking like they'd kill in cold blood if so much as a leaf fell. The strange mix of smells coming off from them was almost overpowering him, and then the threehorn started to charge.

For just a split second, the hunter part of his mind was telling him to hold back and turn on whatever prey ended up losing the fight, but he quickly snapped out of that. Chomper started running as fast as he could, to ram Cera straight into her side. The whole gang used to joke about friends for dinner and the like, but right now, Chomper didn't want any of that. My friends killing each other wouldn't make for a very good dinner! he thought to himself, as his head collided with Cera's side.

[rhombus]

Ruby felt numb as she watched the scene before her escalate with ferocious inevitability. As soon as Littlefoot had spoken the fateful words she knew what would happen next.  The rampaging threehorn, with mud flying behind her like a loyal procession, only confirmed to her eyes what the brain already knew: someone was going to be injured before this was over.  She could only hope that the others could prevent the worst as there was little that she could do against the power of the two growing leaf-eaters besides using soothing words when the blows had ceased.  But what would be left once that had come to pass?

But that was when she heard something to her side.  It was subtle against the thunderous booms of the threehorn's feet, but it was there all the same.  She only had an instant to see the blur of purple before it neared the rampaging threehorn's side....

"Chomper!"

[Sovereign]

The moment he saw Cera lower her horns towards the longneck, Petrie realized this was no ordinary fight he was witnessing. Even through the sky water and storm, the rage and anger was apparent to him and that hardly made his mood any better. At first, he thought of simply turning around and let that damned violence-loving duo sort out their fight themselves. He had already seen just how little his presence mattered to them anyway so why in earth would he ruin his own day by listening to their taunts and cries?

However, just as he prepared to take off, Petrie slowly turned back towards the scene, a new grip taking a hold in his heart. He hated fighting and his old friends’ change had only seemed to make the flyer value his freedom more than before. But now, he sensed there was more on the line than ever before: from a serious injury to the final breakup of the group of friends he had spent his life almost as long as he could remember. In case the worst happened, he’d have to be there if only to prove himself his ties to his six friends had truly been beyond salvation. He owed them, at least Ducky, to at least give their friendship that one, last chance.

Quickly, Petrie leaped down towards the ground while spreading his wings, thankful that his growing powers made it easier to resist the blowing winds that were desperately trying to hurl him towards the Roaring Falls. But all the while, his eyes were fixed on the longneck and the threehorn and every passing second made their expressions only more threatening. The flyer could tell that the two were quickly approaching a point of no return, a thought which still brought deep anxiety to Petrie’s mind. As a final attempt to help calm the situation, he cried to the two despite knowing that the two would hardly even listen to him these days.

“Why you two rockheads have to fight again? Stop that now and…” As he had expected, he saw no reaction from the two despite knowing he was close enough for his voice to reach their ears. However, what interrupted him was the sight of a young sharptooth suddenly approaching from the nearby woods charging at the threehorn. As he crashed into Cera’s side, the implications of what came next momentarily overwhelmed the flyer’s mind and before he realized what was happening, the branches from surrounding trees suddenly hit his chest, catching him off-balance.

The flyer was unable to recover his steady flying position and after a few seconds of struggling, he hit the ground, just in time to witness the ever-escalating fight. As he glanced at Ducky, Spike and Ruby’s desperate and worrying faces, Petrie suddenly hoped he hadn’t made his entrance into this hell at all.

[OwlsCantRead]

The insults grew worse and worse, causing Spike to chew on his meal more intensively. Even so, he couldn’t keep his purple eyes hovering towards the center of attraction. The others were hovering back as well, but like him they were unable to tear their eyes away from this terrible fight.

Spike swallowed the crunchy treestar and reached forward to bite another one. Eating was his refuge, one he tended to use as a defense mechanism. By always being with the others and yet constantly focusing his mind elsewhere, he could relax in his own world and not have to deal with things like—

“Chomper!”

—like his arguing “friends”. It was too bad Ruby’s sudden cry caused him to glance up, causing to witness a devastating sight he wish he hadn't saw.

Thud!

Fate was a cruel mistress, too. As Littlefoot and Cera prepared to duke it out, both Chomper and Petrie had made their respective entrances into the ensuing brawl at almost the same time: with Petrie suddenly appearing from the air and agitatedly grumbling at them in an attempt to get them to stop, and Chomper rushing towards the threehorn at the same time, opting for force instead of words.

He immediately glanced away, not wishing to see the outcome that entailed. The funny thing was, had this been in the past, such a coincidence would have elicited a laugh from the group.

It really was a shame that no one was laughing this time. Gone were the days of constant fun and laughter they had as innocent and carefree children. Spike sighed wistfully, visibly drooping as he turned towards Ducky, who appeared on the verge of sobbing at the scene playing out in front of her.

What he wouldn’t give to see his sister laugh or even smile again. He himself could tell one factor that had led to their once close bond growing apart was his own aloof behavior that he used as a way of getting his way. One could say that it was unbelievably hard to argue with him. But his relationship with Ducky had reached a point where their formerly amiable bond had been strained to a level that had been worse than the time she’d thrown a jealous fit over Tippy many Cold Times ago.

Spike suddenly jolted back when he caught sight of Petrie headed towards his general direction, the poor flyer flying into branches of trees close to his snack point. He’d missed the flurry of movements that had led to that impromptu maneuver, but whatever it was, he could tell the end result was painful for Petrie.

Looking around, he could say a weary face on the flyer… and looks of terror, desperation and horror in Ducky and Ruby’s expressions. With all of them looking on at the scene playing out in front of them, Spike unhappily turned his head up with a grunt and decided to spectate it as well.


EDIT: Took out the portion of Petrie slamming into Cera's side which I made due to confusion on my end and replacing it with him flying overhead to calm Littlefoot and Cera down for conformity.

[Ducky123]

Ducky was at the verge of crying, tears of sadness, anger, fear and disappointment glimmering in the corner of her blue eyes. The fight was still going on, largely ignoring the worsening weather which would have normally drove them somewhere dry and sheltered long ago, and completely ignoring what the others felt about this argument of arguments. Frankly, it had become so much more than just that. One glance at the facial expressions of the two combatants, one peek at the aggressive posture both had taken, and it was more than clear that words would not solve this one.

Suddenly, just perfectly timed with a loud thunderclap, Ducky heard the longneck say a word she'd never heard anyone speak of in her whole life but if the threehorn's reaction was any indication, it was on many scales worse that what they'd been throwing at each other thus far. Either way, it was the final escalator in this frightening conflict. Seeing both her friends prepare to make it physical made something snap within the young female swimmer. Granted, there had been countless fights like these in the past but none had ever been this serious, this vicious. For the first time ever Ducky knew one party would leave the battlefield severely wounded and that was something she couldn't allow to ever happen.

"STOP STOP STOP!!!" Ducky screamed with as beseeching a voice she could muster, salty tears mingling with the buckets of water that the storm was blowing into her face. Her words did not have any effect whatsoever which made her drum her fists against the sides of her head in utmost frustration. Wasn't there anything that could stop them?

*Flash*

Another nearby, extremely bright bolt blinded her for a second and when her vision returned the situation had  changed dramatically. It had only been a silhuette illuminated by the sudden light source but it was enough to tell... to tell that Chomper was rushing onto the scene.

"What is he doing?!" The swimmer wondered though she realized soon what he was up to.  "He is joining the fight, oh this is so very wrong wrong wrong!" Presumably, the sharptooth did so to break up the impending clash before it got out of control, however Chomper was far from little anymore and his teeth and claws could kill, that much was without a doubt.

*crash* *thud*

Ducky's attention briefly strayed from the action as, out of nowhere, an all too familiar face quite literally fell from the sky, crashing onto the ground a short distance away. Usually, the girl would have broke out into hilarious laughter at such a ridiculous scene but the current events and her agitated relationship with Petrie, who was quickly getting to his feet without paying much attention to her, prevented her from showing such a reaction.

With mild curiosity at first, the swimmer watched the flyer run off with waddling steps, given that his species wasn't adept on the ground, and heave himself back up into the storm utilizing the built-up speed. He was flying straight towards the battle and Ducky's curiosity immediately gave way to a terrible feeling within her chest... It was dread, it was fear, it was the horror nightmares were made off. 4 of her friends in a fight which could very well take a life, Ducky couldn't bear to watch, cried because she was powerless in this situation.

"STOP STOP STOP!!!" she yelled once more while covering her tearful eyes - but it was to late to stop the inevitable...

[DarkWolf91]

As her feet slammed into the damp earth, the only thing that existed for the threehorn girl was Littlefoot's shocked face, which consumed her field of vision. She didn't hear Ducky, or Petrie, or the crash of the thunder, or Chomper's rapid approach. The only warning she got of the interference was the sharptooth's solid head connecting with her side in a breath-taking blow.

At first, she couldn't understand what had happened. She blinked against the stinging drops of rain, discovering that her legs weren't beneath her and the horizon had a weird slant to it. She rolled onto her belly and shook her head, mud caked onto one side. Littlefoot was still ahead of her... but a purple two-footer stood between them. The situation suddenly clicked and she pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth against the indignity.

"So Chomper's fighting your battles now? Is that why he hasn't left yet? Are you going to tell him to eat me first when he gets big enough?" She spat. Her rage had been waylaid and now it festered, bitter and ineffective. There was no way she could start the charge again, but she wouldn't admit defeat.

[Littlefoot505]

Littlefoot was utterly shocked by what was happening between him and his friends. He was now asking himself something he never thought he would: are they really his friends anymore? The only thing that made him even remotely regret the pejorative that he used to address the threehorn was that he knew that he would have to deal with wrath unlike anything he ever had before. He knew that the reprieve he got from Chomper knocking Cera over would not last for long, so he continued to brace himself, but he was unable to hide a smirk from the amusement of seeing Cera fall over in front of him.

[DarkWolf91]

The heavy pattering of the rain droned on as she waited for his response, but none came. Just a stupid smirk. Something in her deflated at knowing that he didn't care enough to say anything, and her shoulders hunched as the fight left her. Through all they had faced together, she never would have thought everything would collapse in such a mundane, stupid way... but she understood it clearly all the same. It was over.

"I don't ever want to see you again, flathead." she spat, with all the intensity she could muster. After a final glare and huff of breath, she turned, leaving shallow muddy footprints behind her that quickly filled with rain.

[Littlefoot505]

Littlefoot felt a slight wave of shock with a little bit of sadness come over him as he knew what was happening. However, he was mainly angry at how his "friends" had been acting lately, and he couldn't help but yell out "I never want to see you again either, you f****** b****, and same with all the rest of you!! " as another perfectly timed thunder clap drowned out two of those words, rendering them incomprehensible. He knew that his friendship with Cera and all the other dinosaurs with which he used to love to play and go adventuring was officially over in that very moment.

[Sovereign]

No matter how much he tried to cast that one thought away, Petrie simply couldn’t help but feel that something deep down within him had died that very moment. To see Cera walk away and to hear those words from Littlefoot’s mouth… none of it felt real. Even a few seasons ago, such a thing would have been unthinkable but even then, one thought made that moment much easier. That one thing that had bothered him, the thing that had just been extinguished… it had been his lifelong love for his friends. As he shuddered in the sky water, he realized it was all over. He no longer wanted to be part of this group of friends or whatever was left of it.

For a brief moment, Petrie glanced at Ducky but soon enough, he realized that not even the sight of her made him feel any better. Everything around him made him feel only more miserable and enraged and at that moment, Petrie realized just what he’d have to do. From now on, he’d live only his own life and cast these pathetic shadows of his childhood behind. He quickly glanced at his remaining friends and spat out a few words in disgust, knowing that in the long run, they had been just as guilty of this escalation as Littlefoot and Cera.

“Petrie should have known all along that coming here was a mistake! Me hope you have a terrible day as me not want to see any of you again!” He said before rising to his wings, not once looking behind himself as he disappeared into the weeping skies.

[vonboy]

The disorienting headache he got from colliding so hard with Cera's side took a few moments to subside. When his vision had cleared up, he saw Cera already walking away. The new emotions he could smell, matched his own. Anger, resignation, anger, sadness, loneliness.

It was all over. The friendship these friends had had was over. With that, Chomper turned around, and started to wonder off, to nowhere in particular.

He saw some bugs all over a decaying log, but he wasn't even hungry anymore.