A/N: I'm a bit self-conscious with fight scenes so I apologize if it's short or not up to bar. Not much else to say, I think we all know what happens next chapter. 
TW: Blood, Gore and all that.
Littletooth snaps awake.
Early dawn and the various croaks and chirps from the local wildlife greets him, but he pays it no mind as the horrible stinging dread twists his tummy into knots, no doubt caused by whatever had woken him up.
Something was wrong, he could feel it.
His mother always said that if something was off his heart and body would feel it before his mind knew.
Your instincts are usually on the mark.
He tried to keep his breathing under control as he looked around their sleeping spot.
Slow down, be careful, be vigilant.
Nothing but bog, rocks and dead trees. No one around.
Still dread choked him.
He was about to wake his mother up when a hopper landed on her snout right in front of him, startling the daylights out of him.
He tensed up but after a moment relaxed as he stared at the hopper then it hopped away.
Littletooth let out a soft chuckle.
I was about to wake mother over nothing, I have nothing to worry about.
He then lept off his mother's snout to follow the Hopper.
"Hey, Hopper, come back!"
He followed it into a cave, wondering where it was going.
"Hey," Then it hopped away again, he was going to follow it but got interrupted.
"You again!?" A familiar voice vibrated off the walls, and Cera ran in front of him and bared her teeth at him, "Go away!"
Littletooth froze, watching as Cera turned away with a smirk proclaiming, "That's my hopper!"
"Uh...I saw him first," he said without a second thought.
"Well he's in 'my' pond."
Cera leapt out of the cave and slid down a slanted path.
Littletooth's tummy was in knots again, though he wasn't sure why exactly.
After a quick look around he could not see Cera's Dad anywhere so that wasn't what he was worried about.
He sighed and shook it off sliding down the path after his friend.
He bumped into Cera's back, the threehorn giving him a glare, then all the hoppers in the pond sank into the murky water. A big bubble rose from the pond, a hopper reflected on its surface, Cera pounced on it popping the bubble. Littletooth stared as another one rose and popped as it hit the air.
Then a bubble rose underneath him and he stumbled to get off of it before Cera popped it as well. Then she popped another.
"Over here!" He called her.
"Hey, this is fun!" She said.
Thump.
Over the sound of their laughter, Littletooth had barely heard it though he paid it no mind.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Littletooth stopped, huh that's strange. "Cera?"
Thump.
"Cera!"
"What?!" She snapped at him, then she grimaced, "What is that noise?"
The ground around them shuttered and quaked, they gasped frantically looking around, the dread hit him harder than anything now, warning screaming in his head.
Then he saw it…
"SHARPTOOTH!"
All his mother's prior warnings could never have prepared him for this moment, this raw intense fear as he stared at the size of this beast, green skin, red eyes and so so many horribly sharp teeth.
Cera bashed into him in her attempts to flee, thankfully knocking him out of his trance, and they both ran back towards the cave.
Though they were cut off and were just barely able to turn and scramble away before the sharptooth's foot slammed down at the spot they just stood.
Littletooth screeched, panic making him switch to sharptooth speak.
"MOTHER!"
"HELP!" Cera screamed.
Frantically they sprinted into dead and decaying brambles, hiding behind a dead tree from the behemoth.
The Sharptooth gave a huff, "Where?"
Littletooth had a second of shock that he could understand what he was saying, he was looking for them obviously.
He backed up, grabbing Cera by the tail with him as the sharptooth came closer, she followed without complaint.
"Somewhere," Sharptooth roared quietly, as he stood looking over the brambles, "Here."
They both backed up, Littletooth pailing as the sharptooth started to climb down into brambles where they were sniffing all the way.
They ducked as the sharptooth pushed a big bramble into the ground, the sheer force and weight alone driving the spikes deep into the ground, Cera was covering her eyes but Littletooth could not look away.
He's seen his mother hunt some unfortunate dinosaurs for food sometimes but never would he think he would be on the other side of it.
He wasn't sure how the sharptooth is not able to smell them from this close, perhaps it was the murky water they were wallowing in, he didn't know. How could he know right now! He knew nothing but fear.
Sharptooth gave a huff of frustration and lifted his head away from their hiding spot. "Go," Littletooth said to Cera, nudging her to move with him.
On soft feet they gently and quietly walked away, coming up to a fork in the road.
Littletooth knew that the left path would lead further into the brambles, perhaps providing safety until sharptooth gave up and left for bigger prey.
"This way," he said, but Cera shook her head with a sound of refusal and ran down the other way.
"Come back!" Littletooth called as he ran after her, "You're going the wrong way!"
They ran out of the brambles and the second they did the sharptooth pounced almost snapping on them as they ran into another sanction.
Littletooth got tangled in the vines, sharp spikes dug into him and he was sure he was bleeding but he didn't care, he only cared about the sharptooth surely right on his tail. He looked and was absolutely right, sharptooth giving a roar, his sharp teeth glinting in the light.
"Come here."
He gasped.
No, absolutely not!
He struggled against the vines, adrenaline and panic pushing him through pain and out of the vines only for them to snap back right into the sharptooth's eye making him rear back in pain.
Littletooth could hear him roar horrible words his Mother told him never to say.
Though not a second after they left the brambles did the sharptooth land right behind them knocking them over to the ground. Sharptooth gave a big huff at them rearing back for a lunge. They did not have enough time to dodge, Littletooth knew in a panic. He knew they weren't going to avoid it, they were dead, it was over. He winced, snapping his eyes shut, bracing for death.
But the jaws of death never came for them.
A large blue tail barreled into the sharptooth's face knocking him flying into the rocks.
"Mother!?" Littletooth said.
His Mother nudged him to his feet.
"I'll hold him off!" She told him frantically, "Run! Don't stop! Keep going no matter what happens!"
Littletooth compiled, running off with Cera, but before he got out of earshot he heard the sharptooth speak yet again.
"Hello again, Serene. What a...surprise?"
…
"You know I didn't recognize you at first," the sharptooth said as he approached her.
Serene took a step back. "Red-Eye," She growled.
Out of all sharpteeth why did it have to be him!?
"I am quite surprised you're still kicking out here, with the drought and all…"
I could say the same, Serene thought though she did not give him the courtesy of responding to that.
"However, I don't tolerate being hit," Red-Eye said lowly, "You'll have to be punished."
Serene took a step back, teeth bared in a snarl. She had seen her ex mate kill for much less offences, it was perhaps the biggest reason she left him in the first place. Petty as all heck.
"But…" Red-Eye said softer, making her raise a brow in confusion, her pupils dilating in horror when she heard what he had to say next. "If you were to...hold those sap-suckers down while I took my time with them well...I might forgive your transgression."
"GO TO HELL!" Serene roared.
Red-Eye reared back in shock, however when the surprise wore off, he went back to normal standing position, a calm crooked grin forming on his snout, a smile that sent shivers down Serene's spine.
"Have I struck a chord?" He said simply, amusement clear in his voice.
It is then that Serene knew she messed up. She felt a sense of sprawling doom yet she tried her best to swallow it down.
Then he broke into laughter, much to her bemusement.
"I can't believe this! You would degrade yourself by taking in leaf eater hatchlings as your own?!"
Serene flinched, proving his suspicions right.
"You're insane," Red-Eye stopped laughing, voice becoming unnervingly calm, "Though what did I expect from an empty egger?"
"Though there's another thing. If you side with them-"
"-You can die with them."
She only had a split second to react, narrowly avoiding getting bitten as she stepped back. She headbutted him in the head, knocking him off balance again but he didn't fall over this time, recovering quite quickly as well.
Red-Eye lunged at her, taking a few snaps just a few inches away from her face. She snarled at him, smacking him with her tail.
She started to back up as he came for another attack.
He lept at her teeth posed to kill but then he lurched back, Serene fell for the trick and as she stepped back she realized her mistake as there was no land to get a foot hold on anymore and she slipped down a step drop. She landed hard on her side, rolling to a stop.
Serene cringed as her ribs burned under her skin, she definitely broke something, but before she could get her bearings, a heavy impact slammed on top of her, jostling her chest and making her roar out in agony.
She paled as she recalled just how Red-Eye tended to killed his prey.
…
The following roars of pain echoed for miles.
It made Littletooth stop to look, and for many years to come he wished he hadn't.
That horrible sharptooth was on his Mother's back, tearing into her. He could only watch in terror as he ripped into her flesh and sinew like the ravenous predator he is.
"MOTHER!" Littletooth shrieked, then he ran towards the fight, or rather tried to as someone yanked him back by the tail.
"What are you stupid, RUN!" Cera spat, "There's nothing you can do, but die over there!"
Littletooth didn't want to believe it but she was right, and if he didn't Cera's dull horn jabbing into his side painfully was enough to push him along.
He tried his best to ignore everything, his mother's words a montra in his head.
Don't stop no matter what happens.
…
She's going to die, he's going to kill her.
Panic rises in her chest, and pain overcomes her back, she screams and roars at the unrelenting pain, rocking her back, eventually throwing her attacker off.
She scrambles to her feet and runs, just runs.
Red-Eye took another lunge at her, but missed as she sidestepped him and reared back giving him a big whip with her tail.
Then she ran once more.
She stumbled as the ground beneath her gave way, the ground burst open as a horrible earthshake rocked the land..
Then Red-Eye jumped on her again pinning her to the ground, sharp teeth dug into her neck, horror shot though her.
This was it, it was over.
I'm sorry Littletooth…
But she only felt a slight pinch, then Red-Eye walked away, giving her smug side eye as he left towards where the children went.
She could feel the blood oozing out of her neck, like a slow trickling waterfall. A vein, he had cut a vein! He planned to kill her slowly. That bastard!
Serene's strength waned as her adrenaline tapered off, and the full force of the pain overcame her. Her mind screamed at her to get up, to stop her ex from harming the children but as her vision darkened, and as she slowly slipped out of the world, she knew she wouldn't be able to. She's not even certain if she's going to ever awaken again.
Save yourself, Littletooth, get away...get...away…
…
"Earthshake!" Cera cried, though Littletooth had the feeling that this wasn't just a normal earthshake.
The ground underneath cracked and crumbled away leaving a large pit to death in its wake. He gasped, almost slipping into the gap, then he ran off with Cera.
"Where do you think you're going!?" A loud voice roared, then Sharptooth landed right in front of them.
They turned and ran in the opposite direction.
"HELP" They both cried out.
"MOTHER!" He shrieked.
"Call all you want, she isn't coming little one," The sharptooth snarled, chuckling.
They ran up to a part of the land, Cera turned yet Littletooth had to scramble around as he almost slipped off the platform. The ground cracked upward sending him flying to the ground hard, his vision darkened and blurred completely, head pounding.
"Finally," Sharptooth said at last, approaching to claim his prize, though he didn't get too far as the earth cracked and hissed with smoke and fire, knocking him off balance as well, sliding sideways towards the edge of the abyss.
The ensuing boom of sharptooth landing behind him was enough to jar Littletooth back to awareness.
Panic overcame him as he tried to scamper back up away from the chasm, only for something to hold him down by the tail. He looked back and saw Sharptooth's stubby claws wrapped around his tail in a vice grip.
"IF I GO DOWN, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"
Littletooth's life flashed before his eyes, yet something other than fear filled him, a sense of determination or was it anger? Didn't matter.
NO, I WON'T GIVE UP SO EASILY!
Sharptooth was rearing back his head in preparation for a bite, but Littletooth was quicker, whipping around, he reached out his neck and bit down hard on sharptooth's arm. It wasn't deep enough to be serious, but it was enough to make him bleed, enough to make him flinch and enough to make him let go.
Sharptooth shreeched out curses, and in one final attempt to take his life, he lashed his tail out at Littletooth.
The tip of it collided with him, sending Littletooth tumbling head over heels, fortunately he landed onto safe solid ground.
He laid there on his side, panting and trying to get his bearings, he heard Sharptooth give one final booming roar, the sound growing quieter and quieter till it could no longer be heard.
It was over…
Littletooth raised his head, spitting Sharptooth's vile life blood onto the ground.
He had always thought blood would've tasted similar to sweet bubbles, but he was completely wrong. No wonder Mother didn't want him eating meat, how does she stand the taste?
Mother…
He needs...to...find her. But he's so tired, he can't move, and physically can't will his legs to push himself up.
He'll rest, he doesn't want to, but he'll rest for a bit then he'll look for her and they'll both head to the Great Valley together. Yes...they will.
But why does he feel that's not the case in his heart?
Sleep overtakes him before he can answer that.
