Yeah, I guess I'll cut these parts then and try to do the impossible and break my writing record tonight... because, otherwise, I won't be able to finish this in time, damn
Well, one thing to say before I start writing... you WILL be surprised which way I take
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5 hours, a lot of distraction and about 2000 words later, here's the new chapter
*****
Chapter 2: Some things never changeIn the afternoon, finally, the plan stood. Petrie had been sent away with the order to arrange a meeting of their parents in which they could announce their wish to accompany Chomper on his journey. Admittedly, even a stick could sense that this meeting would be off to a bad start but the seven friends knew that their parents couldn’t keep them in the Valley forever. They had grown in many ways, not as foolhardy on their adventures as they used to be and equipped with horns, spikes and muscular tails to deal with their natural enemies. Besides, they had Chomper to do some talking with potential aggressors if they ever got into such a situation.
In short, they were ready to travel on their own and deal with any responsibilities that came with it. Or so they thought anyway. Whether the journey would go well or not was yet to be seen. Also, they needed to get the permission in the first place.
Soon, a perplexed adult Swimmer, a reserved Flyer, two curious elderly Longnecks as well as Mr. Threehorn acting as gruff as ever had gathered around the children, waiting more or less patiently for their children to speak up what was on their minds. Only Tria had to stay away from the meeting, looking for Tricia who hadn’t checked back with them in the afternoon as agreed. Now it was the generation of Tricia causing all the fuzz in the Valley.
When everybody was gathered, paying attention, Littlefoot, ultimately, took the initiative to speak up first.
“Hello everyone, thanks for following our request to hold this meeting.” Littlefoot couldn’t quite get his nervousness under control but, at least, he managed not to stutter or to shake. The matter to be discussed was extremely important to his friends so he took another deep breath which helped a little to cover up.
“Don’t mess it up, you flathead!” Cera thought grimly as she tried to avoid being scrutinized by her dad, her gaze wandering far and wide but not in his direction.
“We have called this meeting in order to ask you for permission…” Littlefoot continued though he soon realised his obvious mistake as Mr. Threehorn instantly interrupted him with a bark.
“Whatever you’ve been plotting lately, don’t think about doing it just one little second!” The Threehorn threw a quick warning glance at everyone present. “Humpff!”
“Me and my big mouth…” the teenaged Longneck scolded himself though it was too late to undo his mistake. They had been disregarded by Cera’s father before even getting to the point.
“Well…” Cera tried to look as innocent as she could.
“Darn you, Littlefoot, darn you, dad!”“That go about as bad as it coulda go…” Petrie frowned, looking awkwardly from one parent to another.
“Now, Mr. Threehorn, since when do we interrupt when somebody is speaking their mind?” Grandpa Longneck suddenly intervened, keeping his voice neutral.
“Yes, let us listen to what they have to say first,” Grandma prompted to the enraged Threehorn, hoping it wouldn’t be the start of yet another fight between them. They were slowly getting to old to put up with his temper anymore.
“Yes, please let us tell you about it first,” Ducky requested formally, hoping that their voices would be heard eventually.
“You can get mad at us later, dad…” Cera grunted in slight annoyance, finally resisting the penetrating stare of her father.
“Oh, just cut it out, dad!”“We thought this through, believe me…” Littlefoot sighed.
“Well, at least my grandparents seem to be eager to listen…”Mr. Threehorn started pacing but didn’t object other that resounding his typical “Humpff!”
Ruby took over. “We may have been planning something but you won’t know until you have listened to us…”
“Speak you mind then,” Petrie’s Mother responded promptly. “We have other duties that require our attention after all…”
“Let me explain…” Chomper requested all of a sudden, raising his small arm in order to get attention. “After all, this is only because I asked you to…”
“Sure,” Littlefoot spoke, the others nodding in agreement as all attention shifted to the purple Sharptooth.
“You see, I got a message from my parents the other day,” Chomper began to explain, witnessing how all faces started going through a change as he mentioned the Sharpteeth who once invaded their valley to look for their hatchling. Only later, because of the friendship to the leafeaters that Chomper had established, they trusted the Valley to look after their son until Redclaw wouldn’t pose a constant threat to their child anymore one way or another. Now, he wasn’t quite a child anymore but still tolerated by most residents.
“Oh? A message from your parents?” Grandpa wondered in mild curiosity. “I guess the message is also of our concern then?”
“Of course it is, otherwise those half-grown troublemakers wouldn’t be bothering us here right now!” Cera’s father ranted though nobody was paying him attention.
“It is… kinda…” Chomper replied slowly. “They’re nearby so they would like to meet me… and my friends if they may come along…” Now it was out. Chomper wasn’t sure if he’d worded himself well enough for his words to make the right impact though.
“Oh, so this is what the meeting is all about,” Ducky’s Mother realised. “Does that mean that you and your friends would like to go into the Mysterious Beyond to accompany Chomper when he is visiting family, Ducky? Spike?”
“Yep yep yep…” Ducky affirmed quickly, supported by Spike who nodded and smiled.
“Please do not get mad at us, Mommy…”“We’ve been discussing a lot and we believe that we’re ready for such a task,” Littlefoot elaborated, sending a pleading glance into the small crows of adults around them.
“How do you think this is going to work?!” Mr. Threehorn shouted, more than just slightly enraged. “You can’t just go into the Mysterious Beyond all alone! It’s too dangerous and that’s all there’s to say! Humpff!”
“Hmm, I’m sure you wouldn’t ask us unless you really meant it…” Petrie’s mother mused. “It’s true that you’re not the little, defenseless bunch of troublemakers you used to be but it doesn’t change the fact that such a journey would be very dangerous. Even herds with dozens of members lose members to Sharpteeth sometimes; do you really think you’ll be fine if you meet some of them?”
“We’re aware of that,” Littlefoot responded quickly. “This was the point we had to think about the longest. How to avoid such an encounter and what to do if we can’t…”
“I can smell Sharpteeth before they get too close,” Chomper mentioned as Littlefoot breached the subject of how to keep themselves safe.
“And me keep eye on everything from sky,” Petrie jumped in as well. “If me see Sharpteeth, me alert friends so we can go other way than Sharpteeth. Me sure we be fine.”
“Chomper, your nose is very useful indeed but wouldn’t other Sharpteeth have the same ability as well?” Grandpa wondered in concern. “Even if you do manage to sense the presence of another Sharptooth before you actually see it, wouldn’t it be able to smell and track you down too?”
“I know, Grandpa,” Littlefoot admitted, speaking on Chomper’s behalf. “But I think we have an idea. Actually, it was Chomper who inspired it way back when we met him on his island…”
“Oh, the stinky place?” Ducky would never forget the stench of the plants that had grown there.
“Yuck yuck yuck!”“Yes, these flowers look pretty but they smell terrible and it’s even worse for a Sharptooth,” Littlefoot explained. “If we take a good amount of these with us, they won’t be able to smell anything but these… and avoid us!”
“And such a flower grows here?” Grandma asked, having never seen such a plant in the Great Valley yet.
“Yes, it does,” Ruby piped up. “Chomper smelled it in the outskirts of the Valley near Saurus Rock; near Saurus Rock he smelled it.”
“It happens to be the direction we need to go anyway,” Chomper added with a slight shrug.
Murmurs were spreading among the grown-ups. Soon, Grandpa spoke up again.
“I like the idea and I believe you when you say that it works against Sharpteeth but, Chomper, wouldn’t it also…”
“Hurt my sniffer?” Chomper completed the sentence. “Hardly, this stuff grew everywhere around my old home. I’m so used to it that I hardly notice the smell unless I put my focus on it.”
“It still stinks like old dung though…”“Oh, you really think this works?!” Mr. Threehorn inquired. “Such nonsense! And even if it works, there may be Sharpteeth who are used to it too or too hungry to care much! There is no safety in the Mysterious Beyond so you won’t go regardless!”
“Dad!” Cera shouted in annoyance. “You’ve taught me how to fight, didn’t you?!”
“Yes, I did, but…”
“We’ve all been training, even Petrie did! We’ve endured Thicknose’s boring lessons about strategies in all kind of herds! What else do we have to do until we’re “ready”!? Let us go already!”
“See, I think we’ve found a good formation to apply when being attacked,” Littlefoot interrupted the fight between the two Threehorns eventually, attempting to explain things in a more calm fashion. “The key is to make use of our individual weapons to protect and support each other in combat. I realised this when old Thicknose mentioned that some mixed herds merely form to make use of the unique combat techniques of different kinds to make up of each kind’s weakness. We all have one, even you Threehorns do,” Littlefoot elaborated further. “We might not be fully grown so we still haven’t reached our full strength and we haven’t really been able to practice what we learned in a real fight yet but how are we ever to gain experiences then? If we work together, then we’ll be fine!”
“If I may point out…” Chomper spoke up. “Don’t you also fight like that when Sharpteeth sneak into the Valley somehow? I remember my parents mentioning that it’s twice as hard when you have to avoid the horns of a Threehorn and the long-range attacks of Longnecks at the same time.”
“Good point,” Petrie’s mother shortly acknowledged though staying reserved on the matter regardless.
“Also, we can still try to run away while Littlefoot and Spike keep any Sharpteeth at bay with their long tails,” Ruby mentioned.
“Believe us, we’ve thought about many scenarios,” Littlefoot promised, a slight hint of plead in his voice.
“Yes, we would not be asking you if we had not, oh no no no…” Ducky emphasized, trying her old, pleading face which had usually worked when she wanted something badly in past times.
“Oh please please please…”“How do you even know your parents aren’t just hungry and waiting for a free meal, huh?!” Mr. Threehorn ranted, trying to find something that would back him up, something that the youngsters hadn’t considered…
“Littlefoot saved me from drowning in the Big Water and they were watching!” Chomper answered in slight anger. “They would have lost me if it hadn’t been for him and they know that!”
“How far of a journey is it anyway?” Ducky’s mother wondered when Threehorn didn’t yell anything back.
“They’re residing in a cave at the northern edge of Redclaw’s territory; it’s about two days of travel, maybe three if we don’t walk at night too,” Chomper answered, pointing towards the northern edge of the Valley where Saurus Rock stood far in the distance. “We’ll come across a stream on the way there so chances are we can eat something on the way.”
“I just hope some of it is green too…” Ducky gave a light chuckle that some of the dinosaurs present joined in.
“Well then, I think I have come to a conclusion,” Grandpa Longneck suddenly spoke up loudly to get everyone’s attention again. “It is clear that our children have taken a lot of measures to ensure the success of their first travel into lands unknown. It would only be fair on our account to reward their hard work as well as their honesty with us, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, really, Grandpa?!” Littlefoot could hardly trust his ears. Would he let them go?
“We got them, yes we did, Spiky!” Ducky already began cheering inwardly as she heard the approval on the lips of Littlefoot’s grandfather.
“Are you sure they will be fine, dear?” Grandma wondered, still worrying about the juvenile’s safety a little.
“Yes, I also think they’re strong enough and not as stupid as they used to be in old times and I have trust in their team work. If they face difficult situations together, they’re very strong.”
“Thanks Momma…” Petrie felt a little bit prideful at the words of his mother. When he considered how many quirks he had as a hatchling, he’d become a pretty good Flyer by now. Petrie was sure his mother wouldn’t let him go on this mission if she didn’t deem him ready to be fine on his own.
“I, too, approve of your plan, children,” Ducky’s mother commented with a warm smile. “Just be careful and make sure to eat and drink plenty before you go.”
“We will, mommy, we will, won’t we, Spike?” As if on cue, the Spiketail started to graze, causing everyone to snicker at the mute dinosaur’s antics. Everyone but Mr. Threehorn, that was.
“Why, we can’t just let them venture off!?” he ranted. “That’s suicide, that’s…”
“Relax, my friend,” Grandma spoke warmly. “Have faith in the abilities of your daughter, have faith in their teamwork. I’m sure they will make us proud.”
“Oh for the love of…” the old Threehorn was about to say but then thought better of it. “Don’t mess up. I didn’t raise you to end up as a snack for those pesky Sharpteeth, Cera!” With that, he stomped away angrily.
"E-excuse me?!" Chomper watched the parting Threehorn with a befuddled expression, not quite sure whether to feel offended or not.
“Well, some things never change, I suppose…” Grandpa said as soon as the Threehorn was out of sight, causing everybody to laugh at last. They had made it! They had managed to earn their parents’ trust and approval, now they only needed to prove that they were worthy of it!
“Okay, I suppose we all get ourselves a good dinner now,” Littlefoot proposed eventually.
“Yeah, won’t be able to do some fishing before we leave tomorrow…” Chomper sighed. “Well, seeya guys and thanks for coming with me. It’ll be awesome!”
“Take care, buddy, and see y’all!” Littlefoot exclaimed before the group finally dissolved under loud parting calls to prepare themselves for their first legal adventure in the Mysterious Beyond.
*****
Well, I felt like such a chapter would make the story feel a bit more complete. Now onto the real shit, shall we?
In all seriousness, though, now I can finally proceed to the fun part of the writing process *smirks*
Hope you liked this little dialogue and I guess I'll try to finish the next one tomorrow. TRY 
By the way, since Sovereign already referenced the title of this story earlier... what do you EXPECT to happen in this story? I'm curious to hear it all, yep, yep, yep 
