As promised:
Chapter 4:
The Worst Of Times
Stoneclaw gazed in fear as the sun disappeared behind a massive black circle in the sky. The D-chew entered a panic and threw himself to the ground, mumbling in the sharptooth language, praying for mercy. Sharpteeth are a superstitious group, especially those that live in the east. They have a complicated belief system filled with many different gods and stories, but it is very disorganized. In fact, there are so many different versions of stories that each individual essentially has his or her own religion. Unfortunately for Stoneclaw, his own religion contained no story about eclipses, so his only reaction to the unfamiliar event was to cower in fear.
After a few moments the D-chew looked back up to the sky and saw that the black circle was continuing on its path, allowing the sun to shine again. Stoneclaw got back to his feet and composed himself. He took a quick, darting look around to ensure no one had witnessed his pathetic display before resuming his journey. The D-chew was growing closer to the Great Valley, he knew he would come upon it anytime. Sure enough, after ten minutes more travel the dinosaur saw the main entrance to the valley in the distance.
Stoneclaw paused for a minute, considering his next move. He couldn’t just walk through the front entrance after all. As he stood contemplating the problem he heard voices growing closer. Stoneclaw quickly ducked behind a nearby boulder, taking extra caution not to make any noise. He then poked his head out from behind the rock and took a look at the two dinosaurs walking by.
“I don’t understand why she did it” a young long neck with a crimson back said to his travelling partner. The other dinosaur, a large but not yet adult three horn, sighed. “Listen, I really don’t care, you go crying to your mommy if you want to discuss things like that” the three horn responded. A look of hurt flashed across the long neck’s face before he angrily retorted, “My mother died saving me and Cera from a sharptooth”. “Oh, and what? You think that guilt tripping me will get me to discuss your emotions with you?” the three horn mocked the long neck. “Everybody has a sob story!” he muttered to himself.
Wow thought Stoneclaw Do these two love each other or what? “Faster! I don’t care about your rib, we only have so long to get to the birthing cave” the three horn yelled to the now clearly defeated long neck behind him. Birthing cave! Stoneclaw knew then that he had found the dinosaurs he was looking for, now he just needed some help to take them down. The D-chew waited for the three horn and long neck to move a good distance away and then took off into the mysterious beyond.
Ducky was staring at the insides of her eyelids when Petrie’s voice caused her to come back to reality from her day dreams. “Cera took this a little far don’t you think?” the flyer asked. Ducky and Petrie were lying on Spike, who was peacefully sleeping by the still unconscious Cera. “I already told you, I am not sure what to think until Cera wakes up” the big mouth responded with no obvious sign of annoyance. Ducky was not one to get easily annoyed with her friends. “Well your wait is over” came a familiar voice. “Cera!” Ducky and Petrie yelled in unison as they saw their friend open her eyes. Even Spike added a mild groan to signify his joy.
“Ya, ya, ya, don’t get all gushy on me” Cera responded in her usual cheerful tone. Spike jumped up and ran over to the three horn, giving her a massive lick on the cheek. “Hey! That hurt!” Cera yelped in pain. “Yes, well you deserve it, you do, you do” Ducky chided. “Why do I deserve it? I didn’t do anything wrong” Cera defended yourself. The three horn seemed to have an honest reaction, but Ducky did not trust it. “Cera, we know you tried to kill yourself” Petrie related the harsh truth.
Cera’s jaw dropped, a look of pure shock crossed her face. “What? I didn’t do that!” she yelled at her friends, visibly furious. “Cera” came a less familiar voice. Ducky, Petrie and Cera all turned in mild surprise to Spike. “We are your friends, we will believe what you say, just tell us the truth” the spike tail continued. Cera calmed down a little bit at the unexpected sound of Spike’s voice. “I didn’t try and kill myself, I fell, I’m just not sure how. I don’t really remember much of it” the three horn finally explained.
Ducky wanted to believe her friend, but she was still skeptical. She was not going to believe Cera’s story as easily as Spike was. “Where’s Littlefoot? He’ll believe me” Cera finally stated after realizing that Ducky and Petrie were probably not as trusting as the spike tail. Ducky felt her heart sink; she knew the news would crush Cera. “Littlefoot was seen leaving the valley with Luca” she finally said after a long, uncomfortable pause.
The big mouth watched as what little strength Cera seemed to have gained since waking left her. The three horn’s head fell to the floor so quickly it looked as if she had been struck. Ducky could only imagine the sense of abandonment the three horn was feeling right now. She knew Cera seemed like a tough tomboy at first glance, but underneath her tough hide was a very sensitive and insecure young girl.
Tears came to Cera’s eyes as she tried to croak out her next sentence, “Why did he leave me?” was all she could manage to utter. Ducky felt horrible for her friend, but she could not think of anything to say that would make the three horn feel better. “Go away, I want to be alone” Cera said, turning her body away to hide her tears. “But Cera-” Ducky started but was interrupted, “I said go away!”. Ducky, Petrie and Spike followed the dinosaur’s request and left the clearing. The big mouth lingered for a moment, desperately trying to think of a way to cheer Cera up, but was forced to leave defeated.
Stoneclaw cautiously walked through the dark ravine. Why do I always get stuck doing this stuff the D-chew thought to himself. The ravine was home to one of the most infamous Sharpteeth in the Void, which is the more formal name for the mysterious beyond. The infamous Comis was a Utahraptor, the last Utahraptor Stoneclaw knew of. The D-chew was no historian so he knew little about the reasons for the disappearance of the Utahraptors, but he did know that his master, commonly referred to only as “him”, had a hand in their destruction.
Stoneclaw was broken out of his train of thought as he bumped into something soft and feathered while rounding a corner. The D-chew gulped and looked up into the angry face of creature twice his size. He knew instantly that he had just walked into Comis.
“Explain to me why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand” Comis said in a feminine voice. “You’re a female?” Stoneclaw responded in what was close to disgust, forgetting how dangerous a situation he was in. “Ugh” the Utahraptor grunted as she turned and slowly walked away, her desire to hurt the unwelcomed guest obviously gone. “Why is it so hard for everybody to believe that I’m female?” she muttered to herself as Stoneclaw began to follow. “Just tell me what you want so I can get on with my life.” The Utahraptor finally said to her new shadow.
“I’m here to ask for your help in getting rid of two young flatteeth” Stoneclaw said. “Why should I help you?” Comis snapped, becoming visibly irritated by the D-chew’s presence.
“Because it is required by my master that this be done” Stoneclaw replied.
“And who is your master?”
“Him”
Comis stopped at the pronoun. In a flash Stoneclaw found himself flying through the air, propelled by the swift kick he had just received from the Utahraptor. The D-chew slammed into the stone wall and fell to the ground. Before he could even consider standing up he felt a heavy weight pushing down on him, it was Comis’ foot. Stoneclaw looked up to his attacker and prepared for the end, but instead of finishing the dinosaur, Comis began to speak.
“And what, may I ask, makes you think I would want to work for that bastard!” she screamed into Stoneclaw’s face. “Because your life depends on it” the D-chew managed to gasp. Comis threw her head into the air and let out a maniacal laugh before responding, “My life depends on it? How? A pathetic little D-chew like you was supposed to end it?”. “No, He has a plan to destroy Animus and it will work with or without your help. That means His forces will control the Void, and He will finish what he started by killing you, unless you have aided him in some way. He may show you mercy” Stoneclaw finished.
Comis lifted her leg off of the fallen D-chew and took a step back to allow the dinosaur to get back on its feet. “I’ll help you, but not for that bastard’s mercy, I have my own reasons” the Utahraptor finally said after a few moments had passed. “Perfect, follow me” Stoneclaw responded turning to leave. Comis waited for the D-chew to move out of earshot before muttering “Idiot”.
“Stop! I need to rest” Littlefoot called after Lucas. The three horn let out an angry grunt, him and his stupid rib! “Fine, a quick one though, we’re approaching the Fringe” he responded. “The Fringe?” Littlefoot asked Luca. “It’s and strip of habitable land between the Void, which is the place you know as the mysterious beyond, and Animus” Luca responded, slightly annoyed by the longneck’s ignorance. “You mean there’s another place with dinosaurs?” Littlefoot said mystified. “Listen up longneck, I’m going to give you a little lesson and I’m only going to give it to you once. The world, or at least the world I know of, can be split up into five rather simply named regions; They are the Middle Land, the Northern Mountains, the Southern Lands, the Eastern Lands, and everywhere else.”
“The Middle Lands is the place you know best. In the Middle lands you have the Void, which stretches from the Big Water in the west to the Fringe in the east. It is made up of what you know as the Mysterious Beyond and although there are other green areas in it the Great Valley is the highlight of that hell hole. East of the Void you have the Fringe, its green but its filled with rough characters, not a fun place to live either. Then you have Animus, east of the Fringe, and finally you have what is known as the Sharptooth Forest. That’s where the gang of Sharpteeth who stole the egg live.”
“The Northern Mountains are as their name suggests, a mountain range north of the Middle Lands. It’s populated almost entirely by flyers. They live in a large number of different tribes they call squadrons. These squadrons constantly fight with each other, conquering a new stretch of mountain only to lose it the next day.”
“The Southern Lands are south of the Middle Lands and was once home of the largest dinosaur nation that ever existed. About fifty cold times ago a civil war broke out and the nation fell apart. For over forty cold times they fought amongst themselves until they could fight no longer. There is peace there, for now, but the Southern Lands has been split into several smaller nations.”
“The Eastern Lands are the most fearsome of all. It is a large landscape covered by plains, only to be broken up by the occasional forest or small mountain range. There, massive armies made up of a single species constantly fight each other, trying to press their genocidal agenda. The battles they have are nothing short of epic and are probably amazing to watch, you just don’t want to be in them.”
“Everywhere else is exactly that, everywhere else on this world. I know nothing about it and I don’t plan to learn. So long neck, are your questions satisfied?” Luca finally finished his speech. “What’s a nation?” Littlefoot asked after a moment of silence. Luca’s only response was to start beating his forehead on a rock next to him.
“She’s your daughter, you have to go talk to her” Tria said while staring up at a dark form lying on hill she knew to be Cera. “But-” Topsy began but was quickly cut off by Tria. “No buts, you hurt her and now you have to apologize. Then you need to try and make her feel better about Littlefoot running off” she said with a slight tone of annoyance. “But I’m happy he’s gone, it’s what I wanted all along” Topsy replied. “Don’t you get it? This isn’t about what YOU want, it’s about what she wants” Tria finished while glancing back at her stepdaughter.
“Ugh, fine” Topsy sighed in defeat as he turned and began walking towards the young three horn on the hill. A few days had passed since Cera’s fall and she was making a steady recovery. With a little assistance she could move around, as long as she was careful not to put any weight on her broken leg. It would be awhile before any long journeys. She hadn’t said a word to anybody since she had learned that Littlefoot had left with Luca. The three horn just sat on the same spot all day. It was no secret what she was looking at though, her hill had a perfect view of the valley’s main entrance.
Topsy reached the top of the hill and stood next to his daughter. After a long pause he said “Cera, I…” but quickly trailed off. The three horn took another few moments to compose himself before continuing.
“Cera, I overreacted a little bit the other day-”
“A little bit?” Cera said, speaking her first words in days.
“Ok, I overreacted a lot, and I’m sorry”
“I didn’t try and kill myself”
“I really don’t care what happened that day Cera. I love you; you’re my daughter, the last connection to my old life before the valley. Every time I look into your face a see your mother, you’re a lot like her you know.” Topsy said as he moved closer to his daughter, holding his head protectively over her. “What happened to mommy?” Cera asked looking up to her father. “I’ve told you before, we got separated” Topsy responded, a little confused as to why Cera had asked a question he had answered several times. “You’re lying, I’ve know that was a lie for years now. You know exactly what happened to her” Cera said bluntly.
Topsy sighed, she was right, he had been lying to her all these years. It was about time she learned the truth. “When we were searching for the Great Valley we knew that Pterno was going to leave with a part of the herd long before it actually happened. Your mother wanted us to go with him, she had fallen for his lies. The night before they left your mother and I… had an argument. We were away from the main herd during it, to keep the fight private, but… it was a mistake. A group of Sharpteeth attacked us. I tried to hold them off for as long as possible, but by the time the others had arrived to help us, it was too late” Topsy finished.
“She’s dead?” Cera asked in a small voice. “Yes, and your sisters, they were with us at the time” Topsy answered with a tone of defeat. “I had nothing left, I thought my entire family was gone. But then I found you, and that’s why you’re so important to me. I did what I thought was best for you the other day, but…I guess what I think is right is sometimes wrong”
Topsy watched as his daughter considered everything he had just
said. He knew what he had just revealed to her would be difficult, and in combination with the apology the young three horn would have to sort through a complicated mess of emotions. “I forgive you” Cera finally said after a long pause. She reached up and nuzzled her father who returned the gesture. “If you want to be with that flat-, Littlefoot, its fine with me” Topsy said. Cera glanced back at the valley entrance and responded “I don’t know what I’m going to do with him”.
Littlefoot was starting to find it less difficult to think again. Ever since he had left the valley he had been in a haze, unable to organize his thoughts. Between the long neck’s emotions on what Cera had done, the constant dull pain from his healing rib, and the intolerable heat, Littlefoot had been forced to concentrate on just getting his legs to move. But just as his ability to interpret the events of the past few days began to return, he wished he could forget them.
What he had done to Cera was horrible, and he realized that, but he was not planning on turning back. He would have to face the consequences for what he did from Cera, and from himself, but he decided that he might as well finish what he came out here to do. As these thoughts went through the long neck’s head he began to realize something else, he might not love Cera as much as he thought he did. He considered that the relationship may have been a mistake, that Cera was simply someone he had fallen back on in a moment of weakness.
Littlefoot did not have more time to consider this as his concentration was broken after running into the now stopped Luca. “What’s wrong?” the long neck asked. “Quiet” was the only response he received from the three horn. “We’re not alone” Luca added in a whisper a moment latter. Suddenly Littlefoot saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards the disturbance and saw a small brown, feathered creature running towards him at full speed. The long neck tensed his muscles, pulling back his tail to take on the threat, but it was unnecessary. In a flash another brown feathered creature, twice the size of the first, took down the original. The smaller sharptooth hissed something up to other before having its throat cut, blood pouring on the ground beside it.
“I’m sorry if that frightened you” the remaining sharptooth said after looking up from his kill. “A Utahraptor? I thought you were all dead” Luca responded, still tense with obvious distrust. “Not quite, and you can relax, I have no designs to harm either of you. You’re going to stop Him for me, so that makes us on the same side” said the Utahraptor. “I’m never on the same side as a sharptooth” Luca snapped back. “Hm, you don’t seem very grateful, I only saved your life after all. It does not matter, my job is done.” the sharptooth finished before turning to leave.
“Hold on, what’s your name?” Littlefoot called after her. “My real name is none of your business, but most know me as Comis” the sharptooth responded. “Well, Comis, your scar is identical to mine” Littlefoot said. “Scar?” Comis said quizzically before adding “Oh, yes. Very observant of you, that scar is so well hidden most don’t usually notice it”. The Utahraptor looked down at her right arm, staring at the scar that was partially hidden by feathers. “Your rude friend here has it as well” Comis said, gesturing to Luca. All three dinosaurs looked at each other, lost in thought about the strange coincidence. “I suppose that means we will meet again one day, till than” Comis turned and left. Littlefoot turned to Luca who returned the glance. “This is one bizarre world”.
Ducky, Petrie and Spike were eating their breakfast at their usual spot, but Ducky felt it just wasn’t the same without Cera and Littlefoot. Cera was next to unapproachable, simply sitting on her hill all day, and there was still no sign of Littlefoot anywhere. The big mouth simply did not know what to do besides trying to live life as normally as possible. Their silent breakfast was soon disturbed though.
“We need to find him” came a small feminine voice from the river bank. Ducky, Petrie and Spike turned to see Tricia standing in their clearing. “We need to find who?” Petrie asked the young three horn. “Littlefoot, my sister can’t do anything with her leg, so I’m going to find him, and you all are coming with me” she responded firmly. Ducky glanced at Tricia’s tail, the young three horn’s main indicator of mood, and saw that it was straight and stiff. She was being completely serious.
“It’s not that simple Tricia, we can’t just go running off” Ducky said, trying to talk the three horn out it. “What do you mean, you guys always used to run off into the mysterious beyond for the simplest reasons. Why not now?” she asked in a pleading voice. Ducky knew she wasn’t going to be able to talk Tricia out of her idea, so the big mouth went with another approach. “We have no idea where Animus is, how could we ever find him?” Ducky asked. “We know it’s somewhere east of here, so let’s head east and figure it out from there” Tricia responded in a much firmer voice, she was not going to budge. Ducky sighed, “Fine, off we go again” she said in a defeated voice.
There, that chapter was strangly difficult. Future chapters will be written much quicker, I promise. Here's the quote:
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.
-Hindu Spiritual
Edit: Now more reader friendly! (spaces between paragraphs)
