Here is the first chapter of the series! Hope you all enjoy.

An Encounter in The Canyon
Summary: While exploring the Secret Caverns, the gang find themselves trapped in a canyon. Chomper makes a new friend in a young Sharptooth who shows them the way out.

Update- July 03, 2021: Revised spelling/grammar as well as sentence/story flow.

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The heat of the Bright Circle burned from high in the sky. It was the middle of the Warm Times which meant  it could get awfully hot during the day. Many creatures both big and small searched for ways to combat the heat, whether that be finding shade or going for a refreshing swim.

 In the Mysterious Beyond, a group of seven young dinosaurs emerged blinking from a cave, adjusting their eyes to the brightness of the mid-day sun. The group consisted of seven different kinds: A Longneck, a Threehorn, a Spiketail, a Swimmer, a Flier, a Fast Runner and, surprisingly enough, a Sharptooth. They had all entered the Time of Great Growing some time ago and were now in their early to mid-teens.

The group looked around at the small canyon they had entered with interest. They  planned on exploring the unknown parts of the Secret Caverns that day and, unfortunately, a cave-in cut them off from the way back to the Great Valley. So, they had no choice but to go deeper into the tunnels to look for a way back. None of them recognized this new area so their adventurous nature urged them to explore it.

The canyon itself was large with tall rock walls that dwarfed them on either side, a narrow stream running through it. Small bushes and sparse vegetation dotted the ground.

Cera was the first to speak. “Great.” The Threehorn groaned. “Where are we now?”

“Maybe we came out somewhere else in the Valley?” Littlefoot replied thoughtfully,  stepping further into the chasm as his friends trailed behind him.

“Doesn’t look like any part of the Valley I’ve seen.” Cera grumbled.

“Where do we go now? Now where do we go?” Ruby asked, the Fast Runner bring up the rear with Chomper, the young Sharptooth.

“Hmm. . .” Littlefoot paused. “Maybe if we follow this canyon we can see where we are?”

“That is a good idea, Littlefoot! Yep! Yep! Yep!” The Swimmer named Ducky, cried. Spike, the Spiketail walking beside her, grunted and nodded his approval.

The rest quickly agreed and they began walking farther into the depths of the canyon. Sometime later, they came to an intersection that went off in three different directions. Here, the stream emptied into a small shallow cove before continuing down the farthest passageway on the right, where it turned into rapids. More bushes dotted the landscape, though larger and fuller than the ones that they had been seeing up until now. It reminded them of the small patches of green areas they sometimes came across in the drier parts of the Mysterious Beyond during their travels.  

Deciding to take a break, they separated and went to go eat or drink their fill. Some of the Leaf Eaters went to the bushes to eat while the others went to the cool water to quench their thirst.

Chomper carefully waded into the moving water to try his luck at catching some lunch. Ruby had been teaching him in the art of fishing when bugs weren’t filling him up anymore. He was a fast learner and had caught on quickly, even if he failed every so often. He was nearly waist deep when the wind shifted, and a scent entered his nose. He froze and began to sniff as to try to identify the smell, his eyes started darting around nervously.

Littlefoot, noticing his friend's sudden apprehension, looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong, Chomper?”

Chomper didn’t answer as he waded back to shore, continuing to sniff the air. After a few moments, he stopped and turned to the others who had figured out something was up. “Guys, we’re not in the Great Valley. I think we’re in the Mysterious Beyond.”

“W-What make you say that?” The Flier, whose name was Petrie, whimpered from his perch on Spike’s back.

“Because I think I smell a Sharptooth.” He paused to double check and his face quickly changed to one of alarm. “And it’s coming this way!”

His friends’ eyes widened and a few expressed their horror at the news that they may have to face the dreaded predator. They were bigger now, but even a small Sharptooth could do some serious damage, especially when in a pack. The canyon also prevented them from spreading out too far so if a fight were to happen, it would be in close quarters and injuries from both the Sharptooth and themselves would be a real possibility.

Littlefoot desperately searched around for something that might help them and spotted a large outcropping on the far side of the chasm big enough for them all to hide behind. It wasn’t be the best hiding place, but it was better than nothing. If anything, they could use it to keep something between them and the Sharptooth.

“Over there!” He shouted, running toward the pile. “We can hide here!”

“Won’t it find us?” Cera questioned with a frown. “I mean, that’s not a very good hiding place.”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Littlefoot retorted, raising challenging brow in her direction. Cera grumbled something under her breath, but quickly ducked behind the mass of stone with the rest of the gang quickly following.

No sooner than they had ducked out of sight, a silhouette of a Sharptooth appeared on the wall of the middle path. They held their breath and clutched onto each other as the shadow drew closer, getting smaller with every step.

Finally, a pale grey Sharptooth belonging to Chomper’s kind stepped into view. It had honey coloured eyes and was littered with faint scars that showed the harshness of life in the Mysterious Beyond. A particularly fresh-looking scar seemed to be in the process of healing on the side of her nose. The thing that surprised them was that it looked to be about their age, if not slightly older. Most Sharpteeth that they had encountered on their adventures were adults and very few had young with them.

The Sharptooth approached the water, stooping down and swallowing a couple gulps before rearing back up. Its pink tongue darted out to lick stray water droplets from its muzzle. Then it paused and, to their dismay, began to smell the air. The gang braced themselves for the inevitable sprint once the Sharptooth figured out where they were. The Sharptooth’s gaze soon fell onto the rock pile and it opened its mouth.

“I know you’re there.”

Chomper flinched when she, her voice was definitely female, addressed him. He mentally cursed his kind’s superior sense of smell. Of all the places he and his friends hid from Sharpteeth, this was one of the worst! Luckily, he knew if it came down to it, they could probably take her in a fight. He knew Cera would be all for it.

“Come on out.” The female’s voice brought him back from his thoughts. “I smell Leaf Eaters with you. Live ones. If you’re not going to eat them then what are you doing with them?”

Chomper noted that she sounded genuinely curious, not judgemental like other Sharpteeth he had gotten the chance to talk to. Even his parents were somewhat at odds with his choice of friends, it had only gotten better after Littlefoot and the others left the island. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his friends watching him expectantly, waiting for him to translate.

Dumbfounded, Chomper replied. “They’re . . . They’re my friends.” His declaration seemed to puzzle her as she cocked her head sideways and frowned. He was waiting for her to start laughing or say something rude.

“. . . Okay.” She breathed deeply. “Well, you can come out you know. I won’t try anything.”

Chomper’s jaw dropped. He could hear his friends whispering to him in concern and for him to translate what was happening. He raised a hand to them, silently both reassuring and quieting them, before replying. “R . . . Really?”

The female Sharptooth nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. “Promise. I’d rather not risk getting my tail handed to me.”

Chomper grinned widely and eagerly translated the conversation to his friends, his mind still trying to grasp what just happened. Was this a Sharptooth he could possibly teach to be friendly? She seemed nice enough. And she didn’t try to attack them yet so that was a plus. He couldn’t stop smiling when it set in that what happened had happened. But, of course, someone had to bring logic into it . . .

“Are you crazy?!” Cera screeched when he suggested leaving the flimsy protection of the rocks. “You actually believe that Sharptooth?! How do we even know she’s telling the truth? What if she tries to eat us?”

He opened his mouth to reply but Ruby stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “One way to find out if she’s telling the truth is to see if she’s telling the truth.”

“Yeah,” Chomper said, grateful that the Fastrunner was backing him up. “And if she’s not telling the truth, we can easily deal with her. She might even know the way out.”

Littlefoot stepped up between them which drew their attention to the Longneck. “I agree with Chomper.” This caused Cera to huff and roll her eyes while Chomper beamed, glad that someone else was on his side. “There are seven of us and one of her. If it comes down to it, we can take her if she decides to fight.”

“Well, duh.” Cera snapped. “I’m just saying what’s the use in trusting her if we do end up fighting. It’s a waste of time!”

Littlefoot turned to the rest of the gang, exchanging nervous glances with them. They took a deep breath to steady themselves before nodding in agreement. Littlefoot gave Chomper an encouraging smile and motioned for him to take the lead.

The young Sharptooth gulped, trying to squish the ball of nerves in his belly, finally emerging from behind the rocks with his friends trailing behind him. They stopped in defensive stances once they were within view of the other Sharptooth. She tilted her head and her eyes roamed over each of them head to toe as she scrutinized them. Then as if sensing their unease, she stepped back as if to show them that she meant no harm. Chomper appreciated the gesture and let out a breath, the others seemed to do the same.

Both groups lapsed into silence, hesitant to make the first move. Littlefoot nudged Chomper’s side to draw his attention and nodded towards the female Sharptooth. Chomper nodded in understanding and stepped forward.

“Uh . . . Hi.” He started shyly, giving a small wave. “M-My name’s Chomper.” His face heated up when the female’s lips twitched into a small smile. “And these are my friends. . .”

Chomper then introduced each of his friends. He pointed to each one as he said their name and watched the Sharptooth nod. When he was finished, he turned back to the other Sharptooth with a grin.

 “I’m Arya.” She said, returning the smile. She was careful to not show her teeth as to not accidentally frighten the Leafeaters.

Chomper felt his face heat up again and his eyes widened, causing his friends to ask if he was alright. He shook himself and quickly translated, earning a few mischievous smirks which made him grimace and his face reddening more. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. After the whole, Time of Great Giving incident, he’d pretty much given up on encountering a Sharptooth who would be willing to even be nice to him. Now, here was a Sharptooth who was being nice and he could hardly contain himself.

Arya’s voice brought his attention back to her. “So, uh what are you guys doing here? This is . . . kind of my home.”

“Wait, you live here? Alone?” Chomper asked, tilting his head. “Where are your folks?”

Arya didn’t say anything at first, nervously picking at her claws, then she sighed. “Well, Dad didn’t stick around so I never got a chance to meet him. And Mom . . . got really sick and passed away towards the end of last Cold Time.”

Chomper winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Honest question.” She replied with a shrug. “Anyway, back to my first question: What are you guys doing here?”

Chomper quickly explained how he and his friends had ended up in the canyon. Arya eagerly listened and her eyes almost bugged out of her head when he mentioned living in the Great Valley. He rolled his eyes as that was a familiar reaction of just about everyone when they found out he lived in the Valley.

“It’s a long story.” He said then continued his account.

When he finished Arya stared at him, jaw slack in bewilderment. “Well,” She started after gathering herself. “I can show you how to get out of here if you want. It’s easy to get lost in here if you don’t know where you’re going.” The Sharptooth said, gesturing behind her to where the canyon split into the three paths.

“Uh,” Chomper blinked and glanced at his friends. “How do we know you won’t lead us into a trap?”

Arya shrugged. “You don’t. But it’s better than wondering around here for who knows how long and running into a Sharptooth who actually wants to eat you.”

Chomper frowned. Arya did bring up a good point. They would be able to get home faster and there would be less of a chance of encountering any more Sharpteeth. And there will also be more time to be able to talk to Arya and get to know her better. Chomper glanced back  and was met with the encouraging smile of Littlefoot, which reassured him.

He took a  breath. “Okay. Can you help us get out of here?”

“No problem.” Arya replied smiling. Chomper grinned in return and  begin translating for the others.

However, before he could open his mouth, Cera beat him to it. “You done talking to your girlfriend Chomper?” She smirked, raising a brow. Spike, Ducky and Petrie snickered while Littlefoot and Ruby grinned at him playfully.

Chomper glared at her. “She’s not my girlfriend, Cera!” He growled, but that just made her laugh. His frown deepened and he clenched his claws into fists, a low growl rising in his throat.

Thankfully, Littlefoot stepped in before things could escalate any further, although he still wore a grin. “So, what’d she say?”

“She said that she’d show us the way out.” He replied, his frown melting away as he turned to the friend that wasn’t trying to get on his nerves.

“That’s great!” The longneck exclaimed. “What’re we waiting for?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cera cried, butting in between the two and frowning at Chomper “You’re actually going to trust that Sharptooth?”

Chomper frowned, a look of hurt more than anger. “I’m a Sharptooth. Do you trust me?”

“Well, yeah.”

“And I trust her.” He insisted. Chomper sent a pleading look to his friends, a slightly protruding lower lip and large eyes, hoping to convince them. It seemed to work as they nodded and turned to stare expectantly at the Threehorn.

Feeling the peer pressure, Cera relented with a groan. “Fine.” Then she glared at Chomper and growled. “But if we get eaten it’ll be your fault!”

Chomper rolled him eyes and sighed, a small smirk on his face. “Yeah, I know.”

With Arya in the lead, the group left the cove and went down the same path that she’d come in. It was slightly narrower than the way they came, forcing them to walk in pairs, and it had more twists and turns. They also saw how easy it would be to get lost as they passed more paths splitting off in many different directions and going who knows where. At one point, they passed a particularly wide, but short trail that housed a cave, which Arya pointed out as her den.

And the entire time, Chomper happily chatted with Arya. He’d found out that she mostly ate Scaly Swimmers or scavenged already dead Leafeaters, and that she would only hunt when she absolutely had too. And even then she would only target the old, sick or otherwise weak herd members, but she drew the line at the young ones.

“I may need to kill to eat, but I’m not heartless.” She had explained to him. “It’s really sad when someone who has their whole life ahead of them doesn’t get to experience it. And I’d rather not be the one to cause more suffering than I already do.”

She then prompted Chomper to explain how and why he was living with Leaf Eaters. So, he recounted how his friends had accidentally found and hatched a Sharptooth egg in the Great Valley and the many adventures they had since then. He also explained how his parents sent him to live in the valley to keep him safe from Redclaw. Like last time, Arya listened attentively to his story and chuckled when he told her about him having friends for diner.

“I still can’t believe they'd actually thought I’d eat them! I mean, apparently I bit Cera’s tail when I was a hatchling, but don’t really remember doing that.” Chomper laughed, which caused Arya to chuckled a bit as well. “It’s sort of an inside joke between us all now, so that’s good.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang were watching Chomper and Arya laugh at something he'd said. While they felt somewhat left out, they were happy Chomper had found a friend of his own kind. Littlefoot, who saw the young Sharptooth as a little brother, was especially excited. If Chomper had friends in the Mysterious Beyond, then he wouldn’t be lonely if he was to someday leave the Great Valley. Although, Littlefoot never wanted it to happen under negative circumstances, he still knew it was a very real possibility in the future.

He heard Cera grunt beside him. He glanced over and saw her sneering at the Sharpteeth’s backs. While Cera’s default expression was an annoyed stare, Littlefoot could tell there was something more to it.

“What’s wrong Cera?” He whispered, not wanting the Sharpteeth in the lead to hear.

Cera grumbled, sounding much like her father but he wasn’t about to point that out. “I don’t like this.” She hissed back.

Littlefoot rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t.” He said sarcastically.

“I mean it!” She snapped, glaring at him. “We don’t even know this Sharptooth. What if she’s lying? She could be leading us into a trap for all we know.”

“I know, but it’s either that or get lost. Chomper thinks she’s telling the truth and that’s good enough for me.” He said, glancing at the Sharpteeth in front. Chomper and Arya seemed to be starting up a new conversation.

Cera groaned in irritation. “Why are Longnecks always so trusting?”

“Depends,” Littlefoot smirked mischievously. “Why are Threehorns always so stubborn?”

He knew it was a bad idea the moment the words left his mouth. But he couldn’t help snickering when Cera whirled on him with a hard glare. Thankfully, instead of lashing out at him, she just rolled her eyes with a huff, shaking her head and grumbling. Littlefoot just kept grinning as he heard the others behind him quietly giggling as to not draw Cera’s wrath.

Arya blinked as she watched the scene unfold behind her. “Is the Three- uh . . . Cera always like that?”

Chomper glanced back at the Threehorn with a raised brow having heard some of the conversation between her and Littlefoot. “Sort of. It’s a . . . uh Threehorn thing. She’s not so bad once you get to know her.”

Not much later, they finally reached the exit of the canyon. Their current path widened considerably until they were suddenly free of the confines of the stone walls and staring at the  dry, rolling landscape of the Mysterious Beyond. The Bright Circle was beginning its descent, telling the young dinosaurs that it was later in the day. In the distance, they could see the mountains that bordered the Great Valley, making it was obvious to the gang that they hadn’t traveled as far from the Valley than they’d originally thought.

Even though he was happy that they made it out of the canyon, Chomper was disappointed, knowing that he would have to say goodbye to his new friend. He wished they could stay longer, but he knew they had to get back before the grown-ups started looking for them.

Arya turned to the group and smiled. “Well, here we are. If you want to be back before the Bright Circle leaves the sky, you’d better hurry.”

The young Leafeating dinosaurs nodded to the female Sharptooth in thanks, knowing that she wouldn’t understand them verbally, before starting in the direction of the familiar mountains. Chomper sadly followed them, his head lowered and tail drooping.

“Hey Chomper!”

He perked up as Arya called his name and he turned to her. “Huh?”

“Don’t be a stranger next time!” Arya cried.

With a wave, she turned and walked back into the canyon. Chomper waved in return and watched as her tail disappeared around the corner with a huge smile on his face. Oh, there was defiantly going to be a next time! He had to think of a way for there to be a next time. Would he have to sneak back here or would his friends not him? Would they join him? Chomper was so deep in thought that he was startled by a distant shout.

“Chomper!”

He quickly turned and ran to catch up with his friends. “Coming!”

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Whew! Although I love the new text editor on here which is way easier than the old one, this still took so long to edit. Stay tuned for the next installment! 

I was recently browsing the TV Tropes page for the franchise and I come across this in the trivia page under the TV Series section:

When the show was still airing new episodes, there were two rumored episode titles, "The Sky-Fire Promise" and "The Longneck and the Cobbler", circulating around the internet. Assuming that either or both of these episodes actually existed at some point, no record of them has been found. note  However, it has been theorized that "The Sky-Fire Promise" was the Working Title for "Return to Hanging Rock"; it hasn't been officially confirmed, though.

I don't know if its credible and I tried to do some research but never found anything. I'm almost certain that it is a hoax, but I want to know if anyone else can confirm it.

Here's the link if you want to check it out yourselves:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Triv...eLandBeforeTime
The information is at the very bottom of the page.

Hey! So I made a new LBT themed headcanon/imagine blog over on tumblr. I wanted to advertise it here since this is the biggest LBT fandom site I know.

The blog itself is going to follow the usual headcanon and imagine blogs already on tumblr but it will only feature the LBT fandom. You can ask the reactions of certain characters in certain situations, reader inserts, and can even submit your own.

If this is something you're interested in here's the link:https://thegreatvalleyofheadcanons.tumblr.com/

Hope to hear from you!

Awesome! Thanks Fyn!
I posted my prompt in the prompt discussion page. I don't have a preference if either you or Rhombus decide to tackle it. I kind of made it open for everyone to try if they want to.

By the way, do you have any ideas/scenarios you want to see for my upcoming Arya & Chomper series?

Thank you again!

Thank you all for the critiques!  If I wasn't so constricted by the deadline, -my own fault- I definitely would have added more detail or made it a little longer. After rereading it, I'm not as happy with it as I was before. So, I can see myself rewriting/revising this in the future.

Since Chomper is my favourite character, I really wanted him to have a happy yet believable future. I'm SO happy that you all like the way I chose to depict his future although I'm still trying to figure most of it out. If you have some theories please share them!

As for not including a detailed meeting of Chomper and Arya, I was going to, but it would turn out to be too long and would completely overshadow the point of the prompt. And I didn't have ALL of the details worked out yet, but I did know generally how they met. So that's why I didn't go in depth with that memory.

And lastly, Fyn16 your review made my day:

I think many of the plot elements within your story have been covered by other reviewers already, but I'd like to point out that I'm really impressed by how natural your OC and a canon character (that is to say Arya and Chomper) interact with each other. Oftentimes, OC and canon character interactions come across as forced, especially when those characters are romantically involved, as is the case here. However in this situation, I'm not feeling any forced romance at all. Arya reads like any other character in the series, with a visible personality (developed as well as one can within a short story), and a visual description that is easy on the eyes. Believe me when I say that a character's physical appearance can be a make it or break it for a story just as much as the author's writing style. Arya feels like a natural addition to the universe, and of all of the possible outcomes for the Chomper story, I think this is certainly one of the versions he deserves.

I am literally fangirling right now! My favourite LBT writer likes my fanfic!    I know that the length is not that great, but I blame that on my self-imposed short deadline. Whoops!

So now I know that trying to write a good story a week before the deadline makes for crappy writing. Lesson learned and never going to do that again. Like I said before, I'm going to rewrite this in the future.

Oh and I'm writing down ideas for a series featuring Arya and Chomper's developing relationship starting from their meeting to sometime after this story. If you have any ideas or scenarios you would like to see, please either message me or add to this thread. Should I end up using your ideas, I will credit you.

Thanks again!  

I get that length is a good indicator of how big the gang will get, but what about their height? Like how tall the ones with four legs are at the shoulder, especially Littlefoot since he can lower his neck. I'm now tempted to do an adult size chart based on this topic.

I could totally see Hyp doing that! XD And I got the cutest image of Chomper carrying around Ruby or giving her a boost, all the while playfully teasing her that he is now taller than her. May include scenes similar to these in future fanfics!

I liked him. He made me laugh out loud so many times! Although, his personality/antics were a little over the top. He kind of reminds me of a cross between Guido and the Yellowbellies. XD

yeah I just tried to watch an episode but it didn't work at all. Do you think that you could fix it?      :unsure:

Hey did anyone happen to see the pilot for the LBT tv series?  :huh: I think I might've gotten a glimpse of it but i can't remember much. : If you guys have seen it (or recorded it) can you please fill me in on the details (or send me the video)?
Thanx!