Well, what can I say? It seems that inspiration has hit me once again. I plan for this story to span multiple chapters, but right now, I just have the first chapter completed and the second chapter outlined. I have a rough idea of where this story will go, so stay tuned.
And now, I present to you, my new story.
Land Before Time is © Universal.
Bambo, Terana, and Chomper are © Stitch
Unknown location
In a dark cave, a lone figure wakes up from a deep sleep. Sensing a slight change in the lighting, she looks around, hoping beyond hope that she would finally be free from her surroundings. Seeing that she is still confined in the cave, the familiar feelings of despair and hopelessness set in. Her thoughts quickly turn towards her family, and before she can stop it, a single tear drops from her eye. She has been here so long that she can’t even remember the feel of the bright circle, or the snap of a fresh treestar. “Why had she ever gone near that river?” she thought….
Chomper’s Journey
By Longneck 626
Prelude: An Inner Thought
Threehorn Glade, Great Valley
It was a quiet day, and Terana and Chomper were playing in a peaceful meadow. From a distance, a stranger would think of them as two ordinary hatchlings. If he got closer, however, he would realize that they didn’t resemble normal hatchlings at all. Terana, with her flyer wings and swimmer beak, looked exactly like a dinosaur that an ancient tale warned was to be considered extremely dangerous and avoided at all costs; and even if the stranger accepted the fact that Terana was a harmless leaf-eater hatchling, he would still inclined to stay away from her if he focused on who she was playing with. Chomper, for his part, truly resembled his sharp-tooth egg-father. Most of the herds gave him a wide berth, even after it was discovered that Chomper possessed a mix of flat and sharp teeth and could easily live on plants. They were worried that, should his predator instincts ever manifest themselves, Chomper would cause irreparable harm to someone.
Despite the negative views that some of the herds held towards them, as well as the total lack of playmates in the valley, save for Bambo, the two of them felt lucky to live in a place where they had all the food they could ever eat, all the water they could ever drink, and a total lack of predatory sharpteeth. However, beneath this ideal surface, something was brewing in their subconscious. Recently, the two of them had been plagued with scary sleep-stories that would come to them night after night. It was bad enough that they were now reluctant to fall asleep at night. Their parents Petrie and Ducky knew what was going on, but their talk of sleep-stories being harmless didn’t seem to calm the kids’ fears. Even the story of their hatchling-hood encounter with the hidden runner failed to dissuade the kids from trying to stay awake. The only thing left to do was to try and keep them happy, hoping that a content mind during the day would mean a peaceful mind at night. It seemed to help a lot when the kids finally felt brave enough to describe their sleep stories.
In Chomper’s sleep story, he kept dreaming that a group of adult leaf-eaters was chasing him. He always tried to out-run them, but they caught up every time he stopped for a second to rest. He eventually found himself at the edge of a sheer cliff, with no way out. He would get down and beg for mercy, but one familiar-looking black threehorn would ram him over the edge. He saw the ground rush up towards him, but he always woke up right before he hit.
For Terana, the sleep story always had her in the center of a group of hatchlings, who would always shout “half”, like it was some kind of insult. As they were shouting, a few of them were running up and attacking her, dodging back before she could get in an attack of her own. For some reason, right before they all rushed her, a blast of wind would ripple through, startling everyone. The group would quickly part, revealing a shape that was flying towards her, but she woke up before it was close enough to identify.
The kids had come to this glen at the request of their parents, who thought that a whole day of playing together would help calm their minds, or at least wear them out. Bambo had joined them for a little while, but had to head home when the bright circle started its descent. Right now, they had just finished a game of sharptooth and leaf-eater, and were enjoying a nice meal. As they laid back to enjoy the last few leaves, they started chatting. At first, it was just about the bright circle and fast waters, but the topic slowly moved towards their night terrors. They of course knew each other’s tale, but Chomper wondering about something else.
“Do you think our sleep-stories mean anything?” Chomper asked his sister.
This question caught her off guard. “Are you sure they could actually have a meaning? After all, Aunt Cera told us that sleep stories were just random images.”
“And yet we keep seeing the same ones day and night.”
Terana couldn’t immediately answer this, so she just stayed silent. Chomper then said “I had a thought about them, but…”
“But what?” she asked.
“You’ll probably think it’s silly.”
“No, I won’t. Please tell me.”
“Well” he started. “It could be something that will happen when we’re awake, and we have to somehow use this early knowledge to our advantage.”
“What made you think that?”
“It’s just something Mr. Longneck mentioned once, about how the spirit of his mother led him and his friends right to this valley. If a spirit could physically lead someone when they’re awake, why couldn’t it do the same thing while they’re asleep?”
“But remember uncle Pterano. He kidnapped mom because he thought a flying rock contained some supposed powers. The stone turned out to be just an ordinary rock, and that little stunt ended up getting him banished for quite a while.”
“Where is he now?” he wondered aloud.
“Supposedly, he’s somewhere out in the mysterious beyond. His banishment time is over, but he still won’t visit until he finds something, or at least that’s what dad says.”
“I hope he finds it soon. I really would like to meet him.”
With that, they finished up the last of the leaves. Getting back up, they noticed a pinecone nearby, so they started playing toss the seed. It helped to distract their minds, but Chomper kept finding his thoughts floating back to something else. Several times, he missed his sisters’ catch because he was lost in thought. After finally noticing his condition, Terana stopped her toss and moved closer to her brother. To her, he seemed eerily calm, but a thought had been bugging him since they had finished their last conversation. He now felt that he had to share it with his sister.
“Who am I really?” he asked suddenly.
“Why, you’re my brother.” she answered without a second thought.
“That’s not what I mean. Am I a sharp-tooth or a leaf-eater? I enjoy plants, but everyone keeps telling me that I am a danger to the valley, just because they expect me to eat meat. No one understands that I can live on green food as well. At least for you and Bambo, you’re just left alone because our parents are from different herds; but everyone in the valley seems to both fear and ridicule me, just because my father was a sharptooth.”
“Chomper…” she started to say.
“I asked mom and dad about my heritage, but all they said was that I would understand when I’m older.”
“Well, I’m sure they have a good reason for telling you that. You just have to trust them.” Looking up, she suddenly realized that they were late getting back to the nest. She turned around so fast that she nearly clubbed Chomper with her wing.
“Bet I can beat you home.” she called, starting in the direction of the secret caves. Chomper, getting into her game, started his own sprint. They were pretty evenly matched, so it was going to be a race of endurance.
As they got in view of the caves, Chomper suddenly remembered something. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he managed to pull alongside Terana. “Don’t forget, Bambo wanted to see if we could try sleeping over at his nest tomorrow.” he reminded her.
“I’ll ask mom and dad as soon as we get back to the nest.” she responded, and increased her speed a little bit, wanting to be the first one back to the nest. Little did they realize, however, that from this one question, a whole new journey would be sprouted….
To Be Continued….
