Well, thank you!
And so now we have the next chapter...enjoy...
Chapter Thirteen: Blood and WaterTalk about a role reversal. Yuti could only stare in mingled horror and surprise as Chomper’s rage took over him completely. What had happened to Chomper, the so-called friendly Sharptooth? Yuti didn’t know of this reputation of course – is she had, she probably would never have believed what she was seeing.
Chomper let out a loud, penetrating roar, one that seemed to glean off the crystals around the side of Headache Cave and rattle Yuti’s skull – in an ironic twist of fate, she was the one with the headache now.
Chomper was now charging full pelt at her, the fire in his eyes still burning brightly. It was incredible. Just a moment ago he had been exhausted to the point of collapse. Andrenalin, sorrow and rage were really something. And Yuti wasn’t sure she could fight them off.
Chomper collided with her, sending her careering into the air and landing with a thud on the ground. Her head smacked into one of the crystals and her vision was momentarily blurred as wet blood began to trickle from the back her head…
“Wait Chomper!” she cried out in her fear. “Please…” she grappled around for something Pyron had said before he had passed away. “Think about your dream…you can’t succeed in it if you go around killing…”
But Chomper only seemed to take this as a taunt. It rang through his ears like her continuously laughing at him and only served to fuel his anger more. Growling furiously, he charged her again, kicking her across the cave again, until she scrambled to her feet and backed up against the wall.
“Consider this for Pyron!” Chomper snarled. “Because he also had a dream! One to be whole again…and you took it away from him…”
He charged for a third time, his jaws opened wide.
Then he sunk his teeth in.
Yuti screamed in pain as she felt Chomper’s powerful serrated teeth tear into her arm, piercing through flesh and sinew. The blood began to cascade in a torrent onto the cave floor, a dark red puddle that began to grow.
And then it happened, a moment so unbelievably out of Chomper’s character, he still cannot believe he actually did it. With a great wrench of his neck, Yuti let out a horrific scream, the sort that sent chills shooting up your spine as you could imagine the torment the screamer was going through…and then Chomper retreated from her, her severed hand held tightly in his mouth, still splattering blood onto the floor, though not nearly to the extent of Yuti’s stump of a forearm.
She gave a hair-raising screech and her knees gave way, causing her to collapse into a sobbing heap on the floor. Chomper’s eyes widened as the whole reality of the situation hit him. He, Chomper, had just torn someone’s hand off…
Chomper stopped dead in his tracks and promptly dropped the severed body part onto the ground. The sound of the flesh hitting the stone was unnerving, as was the flecks of blood that still gathered around Chomper’s lips.
“Uhh…uh…” Chomper was at a complete loss for what to say. What could he say? He was replaying the moment in this head…what was he thinking?? What would Pyron have said to what he had just done…?
He staggered backwards slightly as the tears began to form in his eyes, but he blinked furiously to stop them forming. He wasn’t going to cry in front of this murderess…
Except the murderess was now looking at him with a combination of abject terror and pleading. Not surprising as Chomper had just shown exactly what he was capable of. With a sickened feeling, she realised it could have just as easily been her head…
She gazed at her still bleeding arm stump, a horrible disfigurement, which only served to make her feel even sicker. She would never look upon those same fingers again, which gave her a horrific sense of loss…though considering the loss she had just given this one, she sort of deserved it.
“I’m…I…” Chomper swallowed. As much as he hated to admit it, her blood tasted quite nice. SHARPTOOTH BLOOD TASTED NICE??? What was he, some sort of cannibal? Shaking this horrific thought off, he spoke again…
“Yuti…sorry…”
“Sorry???” Yuti practically screamed at him. “No, Chomper…don’t be…” her eyes were swimming with tears. “I’m the one who took something away from you…you have every right to be angry…”
“But tearing your hand off??” Chomper swallowed again.
“Whatever works…” Yuti breathed. “It wasn’t even life for a life. Seriously…I would have been ready for it…”
“What…?”
“I mean it Chomper!” Yuti howled. Her unwavering gaze was fixed onto Chomper’s eyes – fearful, but as red as the blood around his mouth. Yuti drew a shuddering breath.
“What have I made of myself?” she demanded of him, fresh tears sliding down her face and mixing with the blood that gathered around her. “I just serve as Nott’s professional thug, beating, torturing and killing victims for my own pleasure and his…” she gulped. “I tell you – Pyron wasn’t my first victim.”
Chomper gazed back at the still, vibrantly orange body. A flame of anger ignited inside him again, but it was then almost extinguished by a torrent of grief and guilt. After all Pyron had done for him, his first action following his death was to maim someone…but if he felt guilty for that…he turned back to Yuti. He could not imagine the torment she was going through.
Yuti shook her head.
“What’s done is done,” she said. “So, Chomper – please, finish it. I know I was begging you to spare me earlier, but I’ve come to my senses now. Finish the job Chomper – kill me. Please.”
Chomper swallowed, his mind ticking over. He gazed down at the severed hand he had dropped to the floor. The fingers lay limp and dead – the muscles were no longer spasming.
“Well?” Yuti demanded. “Didn’t you say you were going to kill me anyway?”
Yes, she could argue that, Chomper thought. He had indeed, moments before, screamed out his intentions to slaughter her – an eye for an eye in that sense. But now he had calmed down slightly, that anger had been replaced by grief and he was certain he couldn’t bring himself to kill anyone. Maybe he was still different to other sharpteeth after all…
“If you won’t do it,” Yuti insisted. “Then I’ll have to find a way of doing it myse-”
“No!” Chomper suddenly yelled, surprising both Yuti and himself. He didn’t even know why he was defending her – he utterly loathed her. She had killed Pyron! But still – seeing Pyron lie in his arms like that, his life running out as quickly as his blood, had made Chomper realise how fragile life was, and it was something many would have to hold on to at all costs.
Chomper knelt down beside her.
“I’ve just seen one death today…” he said forcefully, trying his best to stop tears from forming again. “I don’t want another one. Just leave Nott, Yuti – leave your previous life behind. Find something to-”
That was as far as he got. He was suddenly aware of something cold and wet gathering near his ankles and tail, this time not blood. He looked down – and gasped.
Water was beginning to seep into the cave, and the whole place was flooding. It was, for now, only up to Chomper’s ankles, but he had a sneaking suspicion that soon the entirety of Headache Cave would be submerged. He remembered what him and Pyron had discussed the previous night, and how the level of the water in this cave may have corresponded to the tides. Well, now it seemed to be high tide.
Yuti, to his slight relief, was now getting to her feet to prevent her head being submerged, but already the water around her was beginning to cloud over with a red stain. Chomper didn’t need to know what the red was. But all Yuti did was gesture to usefully sized opening in the cave with her head.
“You can climb out through there,” she said. “It’s how I got in.”
“Wait,” Chomper said, sniffing back a few tears. “There’s something I’ve got to do first…”
So saying, he turned tail and quickly waded over to the body of his fallen companion, which was now beginning to float gracefully above the waters. Chomper grabbed hold of Pyron’s arm, and gently pulled it towards him. But now he needed to get out of here – the water was already up to his torso and rising fast. Chomper could smell salt within the water, and realised Pyron’s assumptions were correct – this did indeed correlate with the Big Water. He wished he could have told him so, but he knew of course, Pyron would never hear him again…
At the same time, as Chomper struggled his way towards the exit, he couldn’t help but notice that Yuti’s attitude had indeed changed. She too was attempting to get out of here, and not suffer nature’s wrath. He hoped that this was a sign his half-finished speech had gotten to her…
As the two of them clambered out of the tunnel and onto the relative dry of a higher cave (but with water still inching in around their feet) Chomper, still holding tightly to Pyron, turned to his foe.
“Well…” he said, his mouth dry. “What will you do now?”
Yuti shrugged.
“I’ll probably just leave this whole place as best I can,” she replied. “Keep travelling until I’m sure I’m nowhere near any of you. You mostly likely won’t see me again.”
Chomper nodded. “Right, well…”
“I’m so sorry…” Yuti blurted out, her own eyes tearful now. Chomper’s however, hardened.
“You should have thought have that before…” he growled, holding Pyron’s body close to him. “I don’t want another death on my hands – it doesn’t change that fact that we’re mortal enemies. Just leave…”
Yuti, saying nothing more, nodded and quickly sprinted away.
Chomper closed his eyes. Had he been a bit brutish sending her away like that? No…she had murdered his best friend…well, one of his best friends. And the reason for sparing her was nothing to do with anything he felt towards her. It was for him, and how he knew Pyron would have felt about his best friend being a killer…
He couldn’t hold them back anymore – Chomper let the tears fall freely down his face, filled with sorrow-filled sobs as he hugged the body of his friend, knowing, no matter how hard he cried, no matter how empty he felt, that comforting hand would never pat him on the back, the kind, calming voice would never be heard again…
Chomper didn’t know how long he spent there, holding onto his deceased companion, but soon he felt a sudden swaying sensation around his chest…he opened his eyes.
The water level had now reached his chest. He gasped and quickly panicked, attempting to move but only ended up thrashing about. Just calm down, he told himself, just try and tred water…
But he wasn’t sure where to go now. With a mammoth effort, he began to stride this way and that, the water sloshing about him as it rose above his neck, but now he was beginning to lose control about which way he was moving. He desperately tried to swim, but felt Pyron’s arm slip out of his grip and float away…
Even as he desperately thrashed to try and retrieve the body, he found himself getting swept along by the current, maybe even further into the network.
“So this is it then…” Chomper thought, closing his eyes and resigning himself as the water continued to throw him around. “For me its end of the line. Goodbye Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby…Saureen, Lini, Al, Seizon…Nycha. Mom and dad…and Pyron, I may have lost your body – but I’ll be seeing you soon…”
*
It was an incredible transformation. Before, the water had been frothing and gushing. Now, its movements were indescribable.
A monstrous torrent of foaming water, carrying with them the strength of a hundred herds boiled and crashed around the giant fast water chasm, slapping against the sides and causing Spike’s attempts to cling to the sides via a vine very difficult. Ducky was clinging to him like a limpet to a rock, her whole body paralysed with fear.
Littlefoot had been desperately trying to think of a solution when suddenly, the stone column he was standing on gave way, and he began to slip straight into the fast water himself. However, he was quickly grabbed out of harm’s way and placed back onto the bank by Kai. After being placed down, Littlefoot immediately leapt to his feet and ran over to the edge, along with Cera, Ruby and Petrie, to gaze down in terror at the formidable trepidation their friends were now in.
“Kai!” Littlefoot panted. “We’ve got to help them!”
“No time…” Kai grunted, hoisting himself off of the collapsing stone column and onto the bank. His front leg accidentally knocked into Ruby, sending her flying over the edge, screaming as she fell. She too managed to grip hold of a vine growing out of the edge of the canyon walls, and she was able to maintain a firmer grip on it than Spike with the use of her hands. But she still couldn’t move from where she was, with the fast water sloshing around her. This action of Kai’s had actually been an accident this time, but he couldn’t say he cared about the result either way.
“RUBY!!” came the startled cry of her fellows. Littlefoot turned to Kai.
“Come on!” he yelled in earnest. “You’ve got to-”
“No I don’t,” Kai snapped back. “Just leave them Littlefoot, come back to the Valley with me – you can do so much better than them!”
Littlefoot could simply not believe his ears.
“WHAT??” he screamed, cold fury and numb disbelief sweeping through his entire being. “How can you even say that?”
“Littlefoot!” Kai yelled back impatiently. “We’ve no time to argue – you don’t even realise your importance! I have specific instructions that concern you and your link to supreme authority over the entire Valley!”
“What??” Littlefoot repeated. What was wrong with this guy? Had he hit his head? Like, severely?
“Instructions?” Cera yelled angrily at him. “Are you saying you’ve been planning something with the Valley and us from the beginning?”
“Yes, actually!” Kai spat back at her. “And no sub-standard whiny little lumpheaded brat is going to mess it up for me and my leader!!”
“You’re insane!!” Littlefoot screamed at him. “I would rather drop dead here than go anywhere with the likes of you!”
“Be careful what you say kid,” Kai hissed. “And I know about this so-called friend of yours – the Sharptooth.”
Littlefoot’s eyes widened.
“Yes…” a pained expression crossed Kai’s face. “And of course I would have killed it the second I saw it. I can’t believe you, of all people, would go around making friends with non-longnecks…and a Sharptooth!”
“Yeah?” Littlefoot snarled. “Well, they’re far better than you – you don’t even begin to compare!”
Something inside Kai’s fragile brain snapped. His eye developed a twitch, and with a murderous snarl, he swung his neck down, smacking straight into Littlefoot, Cera and Petire and sending them tumbling over the edge.
“SO BE IT!!!!” Kai roared, before turning tail and striding away.
The relief of having Kai finally leave them wasn’t even felt due to the formidable danger all of them where now in. Petrie quickly caught an air current and began to hover by the fast water, but Littlefoot and Cera weren’t so lucky. Unlike their vine grabbing companions they had landed straight into the water with a resounding splash. They were immediately swept away and it was only Ruby’s quick thinking that saved them.
The wall of the great chasm was covered in moss, lichen and vines, like the one she was currently gripping, and now, with a stroke of inspiration, she promptly bit through one nearby. It dropped, spinning and snaking away, towards the water, but Ruby quickly gripped the other end tightly in between her toe-claws, allowing it to be churned about by the water, but still be in one place. It was this that Littlefoot and Cera quickly grabbed onto.
“Thanks Ruby!” Littlefoot gasped. Cera’s thanks were muffled by gurglings and coughs.
“Don’t thank me yet…” Ruby muttered, having already seen a flaw in her plan. The churning waters were jerking the other end of the vine about, making gripping it difficult – it was even more difficult now it had the weight of two of her friends on the other end. Two of her largest, she might add. Already, she could feel her toes straining and going numb as she attempted to hold onto them.
“Petrie!” Ruby yelled at him. “Quickly – tie this vine around my ankles!”
Petrie, who had been watching the scene unfold before him in horror, quickly looked around and nodded.
“Sure – me got it!” He zipped forward and began to do as Ruby instructed, tying it tightly and securely, so that Ruby had little trouble it keeping Littlefoot and Cera steady.
“Excellent!” she said.
“Thanks…” Petrie murmured. “Now what?”
Ruby frowned. That was a very good question. They were all out of immediate danger but were resigned to gripping on vines. She needed to come up with something else.
She looked down at Littlefoot and Cera.
“Cera, Littlefoot!” she called. “Take the end of this vine and bring it towards Spike. Then hold on tight as Petrie ties it round Spike and Ducky. That way we’re all hanging onto the same vine. Then, I will try to climb up using the one I’m holding and I’ll pull you all up too.”
“You can’t do that!!” Cera gasped. “You’ll never be able to carry all our weights with your feet!”
“Once you get to this chasm wall,” Ruby replied. “You’ll be able to climb yourselves!”
“But how are we going to get over there?” Cera asked. “We can’t move in this fast flowing water!”
Ruby nodded down to large boulders flowing past them.
“Some of the remnants of the stone columns,” she explained. “Hopping on those will be able to give you some leverage. But remember to keep a tight grip on the vine in your teeth!”
Seeing no other alternative in sight, Littlefoot and Cera began their rock-hopping. It was much harder than ordinary hopping on rocks, considering they had to keep hold on the vine in their teeth and the rocks were moving as fast as the water. They kept on slipping off, and, in having to keep a tight grip on the vine, ended up straining their jaw muscles and necks, resulting in considerable aches.
Ruby too was feeling the strain. The vine was digging into the flesh around her ankles, cutting off the blood supply and making her feet numb. Her main worry however, was that it would come loose.
Littlefoot and Cera eventually made it towards Spike, managing to stay there by slamming clumsily into the rock face and gripping tightly to jagged rocks jutting out of the side, ignoring the stings as they cut into them. Petrie promptly took the end of the vine and began to loop in around Spike’s middle, Littlefoot and Cera still gripping tightly at whatever part of the vine was being threaded through their teeth. Remarkably, nobody lost their grip and the vine didn’t break, and eventually, Spike was tightly secured, as was Ducky, still on his back. Petrie had realised too late that the vine was restricting her arm movements, but at least she wouldn’t slip out. In his mind, it was more like a seatbelt really.
“Sorry Ducky!” he said.
“That is OK!” Ducky gasped, attempting to free her arms.
And, convinced he was safe, Spike let go of the other vine he had gripped between his teeth. The whole lot of them sagged into the water, but despite the buffeting, didn’t get swept away.
“OK!” Ruby called down to them, both relieved and her astonished her plan had worked. “I’m going to start climbing now – once you get to the wall yourselves, start climbing too!”
And so she began to hoist herself up using the vine she was gripping in her hands. This was easier said than done, considering she was dragging all of her friends along with her, not to mention the fact that she couldn’t get any grip of sorts on the wall using her feet, considering her ankles were tightly tied together and growing numb. Sweat slipped off her brow and into the churning waters below, and she was grunting as she took the strain on her legs. Littlefoot, Cera and Spike attempted to paddle towards the wall to make Ruby’s job easier, but to little avail. Even when Cera quickly clambered onto the rock face and began to attempt climbing, Ruby was already exhausted.
“Come on!” Petrie urged, flapping around below her. “Don’t give up, we almost there!”
Ruby looked above her. The bank couldn’t have been much higher than four metres up, but she couldn’t feel as though she could make it. She could feel the pulling down of all of her friends as she attempted to pull down on the vine she was gripping too. Eventually, all of this action could have only one possible result.
The vine snapped.
It was the vine attached to Ruby’s ankles that finally gave, and it sent Cera, Littlefoot, Spike and Ducky tumbling back into the fast water, and this time without an anchor. At the same time, Ruby lost her grip on the vine she was holding, and, with the remnants of the snapped vine still tied around her ankles, she fell, knocking into Petrie as she went, sending him into the fast water and getting his wing membranes water-logged, preventing him from taking off.
The gang yelled and gurgled as they were swept along by the merciless current, terror gripping them and consuming them into a dark hole of dread. It seemed this was the end of them too – Even as they seemed destined for a watery demise, Littlefoot remembered what he had said to Kai:
“I would rather drop dead here than go anywhere with the likes of you!” Did he regret saying that?
Not really. Littlefoot gritted his teeth in defiance as the water cascaded above and around him.
He still meant every word…
*
Sometimes, the height of a battle can be its most docile point.
Redclaw knew this for a fact. He crept slowly through the forest, every sense alert, trying to pick out something other than the eerie silence. Somebody was watching him closely…
Redclaw barely had time to react when the massive bladeback charged out of the trees at him, headbutting him into a bush. The twoclaw quickly staggered to his feet as Xal bit hard into his shoulder. Howling, Redclaw attempted to retaliate with a return bite to the shoulder, but Xal just bit harder and lashed his opponent across the face to prevent the bite. Not to be outdone, Redclaw kicked out at Xal’s hindquarters, causing the bladeback to grunt and stagger. Redclaw took the opportunity to ram into him, but Xal quickly lifted his out of the way, and taking advantage of Redclaw now being the off-balanced one, slammed his lower jaw down across his head, sending his crashing to the ground in a daze. Xal then stomped his foot down onto Redclaw’s neck to prevent him from getting up. He smiled triumphantly.
“You fool,” he hissed. “Did you really think you could come wandering into the heart of my territory and not pay the price? I suppose you’re after some sort of vendetta?”
“You’re the one with the vendetta!” Redclaw snapped back. “Listen – I’ve just woken up from a coma, and all my followers have abandoned me. I’ve got nothing else left and no other place to go.”
Xal laughed humourlessly.
“And you think you’re going to get refuge and shelter here? You, one of my greatest enemies?”
“Perhaps you’re forgetting the advantages?” Redclaw growled. “We have greater enemies – Ulciscor and the entire Great Valley…”
That was an interesting point. Xal considered this briefly, and as he did so, a gang of drooling Piercers began to gather. Redclaw suddenly became nervous. He didn’t much fancy his chances with them. But he had to do a double take when a certain tall emerald green Sharptooth began to stride to join the gathering.
“Gigas…?”
Gigas looked down at Redclaw, equal surprise in his complexion.
“Ah…Redclaw. I did hear there was an intruder in the forest. I didn’t realise it was you…”
“You are aquainted?” Xal was immediately alert.
“Yes…” Gigas suddenly gained a faraway look in his eyes. “Our paths have crossed before…then again, Redclaw has earned his fame throughout the area for his knack for spreading terror…” he smiled malevolently. “And now, alas, his followers have all abandoned him – left him for dead, it seems?”
Redclaw gave an angry snarl.
“Quiet!” Xal snapped at him. “Well Gigas, Redclaw has come here requesting to form an alliance to help win our revolutionary war against the leaf-eater’s world. I personally think it would be a-”
“Why not?” Gigas interrupted, shrugging. “Release him to me, and I’ll get him enrolled in the Piercer Platoon.”
Xal’s eye twitched. Having his authority undermined like this over something he considered a serious matter had clearly irked him big time. He looked Gigas hard in the eye.
“I’m not sure that’s wise,” he snarled. “This predator is a very great threat and foe. We should tred carefully…possibly dispose of him. If he is allowed in our army, my fear is that he will betray us…”
“Who’s he got to betray us to?” Gigas challenged. “I have every good reason to believe his followers have abandoned him, otherwise he wouldn’t have come in here himself. And he is against many of those in the Valley we oppose. If we allowed him, he could become a powerful ally. And by enrolling him, we have automatically gotten rid of one of our great enemies.”
Xal considered this.
“Alright,” he relented. “He may join us, but keep him under close scrutiny.”
“Will do.” Gigas gave a curt nod. “I’ll ensure the Piercers keep him secure…” his lip curled slightly at the last word. Redclaw gave Gigas a look that clearly wished him a painful death as Xal stepped off of him and walked away without another word.
*
Noticing Saurus Rock in the distance, Kai began to feel a slight regret about sending Littlefoot into the cascading waters. Ulciscor wouldn’t be too happy his nephew and heir was dead, but if he explained to him what Littlefoot had said, Ulciscor would probably understand.
In both of their views, any leaf-eater who defended sharpteeth was almost as bad as one, and should probably be purged as much as sharpteeth should. Any vile stain on a perfect world must be eradicated, a fact Ulciscor taught him a long time ago. Kai smiled to himself. Besides, if Littlefoot wasn’t willing to continue his uncle’s ways, maybe that would leave the throne of the Valley to him…
*
Chomper wasn’t sure how he had managed to remain conscious as the water threw him around, sending him under several times, but he had just let it, no longer feeling or caring, until suddenly, to his surprise, he felt someone grip his arm.
“Chomper!”
He opened his eyes and to his mingled surprise and delight, Lini was hanging precariously off an unsubmerged rock in what looked like the cavern they had slept in the previous night, her tough but gentle clawed arm gripping his upper arm tightly. Nycha was standing behind her, grabbing hold of her tail to prevent her from falling in.
“Careful…” she murmured. “You got him?”
“I think so…” Lini replied, swallowing slightly. “Hold on Chomper!”
With her help, Chomper began to climb to join them, but then a loud splash of water from behind him made him slip, clinging dangerously onto the edge as he looked to see the source. To his horror, Torq was swimming behind him, his ugly demonic eyes fixed upon him, his jaws opened wide…
He sank his teeth into Chomper’s leg. Chomper cried out in pain, as he was slowly dragged towards the water. Torq said something to him, but with all the grunts and gurgles, it was largely inaudible. Though Chomper did hear the term ëlittle biter’ mentioned…
Suddenly, Torq received an almighty kick in the face with a sinister sickle-shaped claw, leaving a deep cut imbedded in his hide. He yelled out in pain and jerked his head backwards, releasing Chomper but slamming his head into another rock lower down than the one Lini and Nycha were on. He slid slowly down the rock and back under the water. Nycha, who had aimed the kick at Torq, looked at the bubbles where he had vanished with satisfaction. Then she helped Lini hoist Chomper onto the rock.
The whole situation had made Chomper giddy with disbelief. Nycha had just saved him from Torq AND help pull him to safety. And there wasn’t even a Seizon around to impress with her valour. Nycha, it seemed, had had a change of heart, and if that were the case, Chomper didn’t want to think about how she would react when she heard what had happened to her brother…
He was snapped out of these thoughts when Lini spoke.
“OK,” she said. “Now let’s go join the others.” She helped Chomper climb up to the gap in the ceiling and out into the brilliant sunshine. Chomper squinted forcefully. He hadn’t seen the sun for a while, and the dazzling quality of it reminded him of Headache Cave…
Headache Cave…
Seizon, Saureen and Al greeted him enthusiastically, patting him on the back – the way you do. It wasn’t much, but Chomper wished this greeting would last forever – or at least, a lot longer than it did. That way he could put off answering the dreaded and horrible question that was sure to come…
And it did come. Once the group of now six had settled themselves on top of the Cave Network, the question was asked. Unsurprisingly, it was Nycha who asked it. She turned to Chomper, and, despite the fact that her eyes were no longer full of contempt and rage, despite the fact that she spoke as innocently as the other two girls would, and despite the fact that she gave him a small, uneasy smile before saying it, the three words she then spoke cut through Chomper like that fateful stone tooth.
“So – where’s Pyron?”
It had been asked. And he would have to be the one to answer it. He swallowed again. The five pairs of eyes were upon him.
“He…well…” he began to stutter. But then the image came, Pyron lying on his back with a hole in his chest, and with it the true reality of what had happened, and with them both the tears. The tears began to cascade in a waterfall down his face and the racking sobs whimpered through his throat like a wounded animal.
The other five were shocked to see this transformation, and it was only a matter of time before the horrible realisation began to dawn on them too. Nycha was the first one to attempt to speak.
“He’s…not…?” The words quavered with abject horror and shock. The increase of Chomper’s sobs confirmed her worst fears.
Nycha stood still for a very long time, not looking at the others as they all exchanged looks, but with her eyes fixed on Chomper.
“You…” she suddenly said hoarsely. “You…you…filthy…sap-sucking fiendish…SON OF A TAR-PIT!!! DIE YOU MONSTER!!! I HATE YOU!!!!” She had gotten louder and angrier as she had continued, until she was practically screaming in anguish, baying for blood.
Chomper honestly didn’t care what Nycha wanted to do to him now, but even so it took the combined strength of Lini, Al and Seizon to stop the fiery, angry and tragically crushed fast biter from leaping on top of Chomper and tearing him apart.
Saureen meanwhile, walked around them towards Chomper, the grief and pity apparent in her eyes. She quickly wrapped him in a tight embrace as Chomper wept into her shoulder.
“How did it happen?” she whispered, rubbing his back tenderly.
“It was Yuti…” Chomper sobbed. “She lured us to a cave full of crystals and shiny stones, and she used them as weapons…Pyron saved me…” He broke down again, and Saureen hugged him tighter, a few tears of her own leaking out of her eyes.
Lini, Seizon and Al will still trying to restrain Nycha as she screamed and fought to get away.
“Nycha!” Lini insisted. “You can’t blame Chomper for what happened…”
“I DON’T CARE!!!” Nycha screamed at her. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL…”
With that said, her body suddenly became limp, and she collapsed on all fours, tears cascading down her face, crying and wailing even harder than Chomper.
Saureen released Chomper, wiping her eyes and allowing Lini to take over for her, as she decided she needed a word. Beckoning Seizon over to a more isolated spot, she took a deep breath before starting on him.
“You know I blame you for this you know?”
Seizon looked aghast.
“Me??” he yelped. “What did I-”
“ëOoh, let’s go nab this massive death trap for Xal!’ That’s what you did!” Saureen seemed quite angry. “It was unnecessary, as Ichy told us and now, as you can see, it was a fatal mistake…” The tears began to bubble up behind her emerald eyes again. “It’s your fault…your fault, Seizon, that Pyron’s dead…”
Seizon considered this briefly as he gazed at his pack.
“Yeah…” he nodded. “I think you’re right…I’m so sorry…” he put his arm around her. “I hope this’ll be a lesson to me…”
“It won’t bring him back though, will it?” Saureen hissed.
“No,” Seizon agreed. “But it could prevent something like this happening again. In the meantime, I need to take responsibility for this…” He slowly walked towards Al, who was attempting to console Nycha to little effect.
“Al,” Seizon said. “Come back with me into the cave. We must find his body.” He turned to Chomper and smiled slightly. “In our Sharptooth cultures, its tradition to bury those who have passed away.”
*
They eventually found the wet and bedraggled body of Pyron, which Al tenderly carried out of the Network and out of range of the flooding. They were now determined to be as far away from the cave as possible. Nott had done a runner whilst they were all distracted in rescuing Chomper. A cowardly flight, as Seizon said, not something associated with Pyron.
In a small oasis a distance east of the cave network, the six of them began to dig a shallow grave. Nobody spoke as they dug, and there was no signal to stop digging. They all seemed to know when the grave was deep enough. Satisfied, they all stepped back.
“Chomper…?” Seizon queried. “Would you like to do the honours?”
Chomper glanced uneasily at Nycha, thinking she would skin him alive if he went anywhere near her brother’s body. But Nycha just shrugged. She had become very stoic following her outburst, not saying a word to anyone. Her grief now seemed to be beyond tears.
And so, Chomper gently took Pyron’s body in his arms, and placed him in the grave they had dug. Chomper was glad he had thought to close his eyes beforehand. He did look peaceful lying there.
“I think we should each say a few words,” Seizon continued. “As we say goodbye. Pyron – you were a formidable asset to the group. Loyal, hard-working, and helped maintain our morale. You will be sorely missed. Goodbye and thank you for what you’ve done. Also…” he cleared his throat. “I hope you’ll forgive me for deciding on this whole cave trip. It was foolish of me, I’m sorry…”
Admitting his part in Pyron’s death seemed to be a dangerous thing to say in front of Nycha, but she didn’t react.
Al stepped forward.
“Farewell my friend,” he said. “You may be gone, but your spirit will within us for a long time, as will your heart and values.”
“Pyron,” Lini said, tearing up slightly. “You’ve shown us what the true value of friendship is and we will all miss you dearly. I’m so glad we got to know you. Goodbye.”
Saureen too was crying silently.
“I would ask you to forgive Seizon for his recklessness,” she said. “But I know you would anyway, Pyron. You were kind, brave and always looked for the best in people, and built up their characters in that. As long as this pack still exists, I’m certain you will never be forgotten. Goodbye…”
Chomper swallowed slightly.
“If it’s the same with you,” Chomper said. “I’d like to say my words later…on my own.”
“Yeah…” Nycha suddenly spoke up. “Me too…”
“Certainly,” Seizon nodded. “But I think we should cover him now.”
And so they all moved as one to rebury him, and as they did so, the sky-water began to fall. Seizon said that this was a good sign of nature continuing, as they should, but Chomper saw it simply as a sign that even the weather was mourning the great loss.
He didn’t know why he had decided to leave his ëfew words’ for later, but he felt it was most likely that he would feel a horrible sense of closure if he had said them too soon. He waited until night had come, and everyone was settling down. He knew he should try and sleep too of course – he hadn’t had a wink of sleep last night, but this would, he supposed, be a good opportunity to say goodbye.
Except there was already someone else at Pyron’s grave.
Chomper could clearly make out Nycha’s silhouette, standing by the grave, speaking something under her breath. What with the volume, and the fact that she was weeping at every breath, it was difficult to determine what she was saying, but Chomper did catch a few words.
“Sorry…”
Sorry? Did this mean Nycha blamed herself for what had happened to Pyron? It seemed ridiculous to assume, and yet, Chomper remembered how Pyron had told him how she blamed herself for failing to meet up with standards of the tetrarchy. Chomper suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for her, and wanted to walk over to comfort her, but Nycha was now walking away from the grave, and back to her sleeping spot, which was a distinct distance away from the rest.
Chomper stepped forward.
He could clearly see the freshly dug mound of earth and the place where Pyron was buried. It would be a while before that mound blended in with the rest of the earth. It was some comfort to realise that Pyron was leaving some sort of a visible legacy on the world.
But perhaps there was a more permanent way?
Chomper now noticed something small at the head of the grave. It was a small, tuft of something that looked like a plant, but as Chomper looked closer, he realised that it was, in fact, a feather.
Relatively small, but a beautiful lilac colour that seemed to shimmer in the night. Chomper knew full well who that feather belonged to. It could only be Nycha’s. The mental image of her plucking a feather from her own head and placing it on her brother’s grave was such a touching one, that Chomper had begun to tear up before he had even spoken.
“Pyron…” he murmured. “One of the closest things I’ve ever had to a brother. Words can’t emphasize how much you meant to me, or how much I miss you now…”
Plop. The first tear fell onto the earth. It would soon be followed by more.
“I hope,” Chomper went on, sniffing. “That wherever you are now, it’s become a better place. One where you never have to fear being good enough before a horrendous panel, where you never have to fear your life. Such a world you do deserve.”
Chomper wiped his eyes. He needed to be stable of mind to do this.
“But I know it’s the entire pack you’ve had an effect on, not just me. And there will be an individual who is even more lost without you than me.”
He knelt down to the grave and reached forward for the feather. It was soft, smooth and pleasant to touch, and he carefully caressed it in his fingers, careful not to break it.
“Your own sister,” he said. “If only you could have seen her before she heard the news.” He gave a sad smile. “She was a different person, trying to improve and have a change of heart. If that’s possible, it’ll be something to work at.”
As Chomper straightened up, Pyron’s dying wish came back to him.
“Please look after my sister. She needs guidance.”“I’m not about to let you die in vain Pyron,” Chomper promised. “I will her give her the guidance she needs. Given that you were a brother to me…”
He gazed over at the sleeping fast biter.
“She’s my sister too now…”
*
I hope you're up to the challenge, Chomper. :blink:
Well, I hope you enjoyed, and you found this chapter almost as tragic as the last one?
Apologies for the slightly excessive gore at the beginning of this chapter, but hopefully Chomper's transformation gave you something to think about...at the same time, this chapter has a fitting title - how many times is blood mentioned???
And yes, there's the blame game too - Nycha blaming both Chomper and herself for what had happened, and Saureen blaming Seizon. Let's hope he learns his lesson this time...
Apologies also for my lack of physics knowledge - I don't even know if Ruby's escape attempt was even possible!
But then again, it didn't work...
And in case you're worried, I haven't just killed off the gang - but stay tuned, it'll be interesting to see where they end up.
Kai's an evil monster as usual, and Redclaw has now swollen Xal's ranks! What do you think of that?
And one more thing - do you want to say a few words of farewell to Pyron too?
