LEGEND
What you know:
Big Mouth = Duck Bill (Also called swimmer but Ducky refers to herself as "Big Mouth" when she first meets Littlefoot-hey, if she wants to be called Big Mouth . . . I like Big Mouth better yep, yep, yep)
Spike Tail = Stegosaurus
Three Horn = Triceratops
Flyer = Any flying dinosaur
Thump Tail = Any of the dinosaur family with armored backs and clubs for tails
Sharp Tooth = Any meat eating dinosaur.
Now lets expand your knowledge, as many of the characters are "Sharp Teeth" one must assume they have names for each other just as the leaf eaters do.
Two Finger = Tyrannosaurus.
Pack Hunter = Deinonychus
Red Pack Hunter = Velociraptor (As seen in Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving)
Sky Catcher = Meat Eating flyer-just to be original
Crunchers = Dome headed dinosaur (Pack-E-Something-A-Saurus) for some reason made out to be a sharp tooth in the original Land Before Time.
Flat Tooth = Any leaf eating Dinosaur
Food = Any leaf eating Dinosaur
Fan Back = Dimetrodon
Bone Cruncher = misc. sharp teeth found in Skeleton Canyon. Ova Raptors, Spinosaurus, etc.
Egg Snatcher = You know em, you love em
There are legends and tales passed down in the great valley. Heroes that have protected the great valley and it's residents for hundreds of years. No one seems to notice or care that the valley residents are fairly new and thus it would be impossible for any hero to have watched over them for hundreds of years. Go figure.
But there are some legends that are true. Some. Some are a load of garbage made up to keep children quiet at night; stories to keep them happy like the story of Saurus Rock. Others exist only to scare children into obedience, stories like Sharp Teeth entering the valley and the idea that everything might some day be wiped out by falling rocks. All of it is ridiculous correct?
But some stories fall between that oh so thin red line. Though certain red and black pack hunters (Raptors from LBT3) keep fearful legends alive of giant pack hunters with strength to snap one of their kind in half, the Valley dinosaurs have forgotten the battle that raged just outside their walls. After all they lost so little, why should they care to hand down stories such as that? Intelligent Sharp Teeth? Why that would give the impression that Sharp Teeth have brains, and of course every leaf eater knows that is not true.
And of course there is a story, a very old story of a two fingered sharp tooth. A deadly vicious fighter who killed mercilessly and enjoyed biting the tales of certain triceratopses. A vicious sharp tooth named Chomper who bathed in the blood of spike tails.
Like I said, some of their legends are just loads of garbage.
Chomper was a kind gentle sharp tooth, and yes he did enjoy the occasional nibble on Cera's tail he never left lasting scars . . . eh . . . well not on his friends anyway.
But what would he be like now? I'm sure he's still the same fun loving adorable little guy he was when first born . . .
Chomper leapt onto the rival Sharp Tooth's back, he used his superior weight to throw her off balance, then go for the throat.
He was kicked hard in the guy and fell over, causing him a serious headache. The female was on him before he could get up, she leapt onto his back in the same fashion as he had done to her, however he was already down and ready for the final blows.
He squirmed and struggled to get free, he felt her jaws close around his neck, he threw his head back, hitting her and causing her to fall backwards. The got up with not a little bit of effort. Circling each other knowing that mortal combat could have only one true winner.
But Chomper was smarter, much smarter than the average sharp tooth, he let the female leap for him, he then moved out of her way, she stumbled and landed in a very odd angle, her neck bent so far backwards that she would have been back to rest her head on her spine. Of course rest was all she'd do now.
Chomper stood victoriously over the corps, his territory safe from invasion . . . well, kill nothing eat nothing, kill something waste nothing. The motto of the Sharp Tooth. A beautiful carcass displayed before him, Chomper decided it was---
"TIME FOR LUNCH!" Cera roared, emptying her large lungs with her thunderous call. Most other parents did not force their children to eat with them, it simply wasn't a necessity with no predators. However Cera had to be sure her son and two daughters didn't mingle with the wrong crowd. In other words, Hip's brood. Surprising as it was that he would some day find a mate, his children were as terrible as he was, very rude the lot of them. Of course Cera's own son was a bit of a bully himself, but what self-respecting Three Horn wasn't a little . . . assertive?
Of course Ali's kids were okay to play with, and Petrie's kids were fine too, Ducky's hatchlings were strictly off limits, and uncle Spike always had a story handy, still Cera was twice as protective as her own father had been, her children did not eat lunch by themselves, how could she be sure they would eat at all?
Despite the hundreds if not thousands of Three Horns living in the valley, Cera's children knew her call and came running as if a sharp tooth were after them. They bid adieu to their youngster friends who departed to play some other innocent childish game.
Cera remembered her own childhood with some regret, the times she'd had with her friends she only wished they'd spent more time playing and less time causing problems for the valley-as a child she never thought it was a problem but as an adult she knew better.
She saw the far off form of a long neck making a trip to the top of the canyon wall. He was a fully-grown male slightly larger than the average. A closer look would reveal that he was massive and powerful with muscles that showed an incredible strength that even a Three horn had to approve of. This was Littlefoot, no longer so little. He was making his weekly rounds. Checking the wall for cracks or holes, and then patching them up, which is where his massive muscles came from. Moving heavy boulders unaided for more moon cycles than Cera or anyone else could remember.
Littlefoot had been respected as a child, he'd been considered very intelligent for his age, though he lacked the maturity to wield his intelligence well unless he found himself in a crisis, which he often did. Now as an adult that respect was gone. He was the village idiot so to speak. His strength and prowess commanded respect in his presence, though no one dared to speak badly of him when he was nearby, the fact was that the valley dinosaurs did not believe his maintenance of the great wall was actually needed. Any Sharp Teeth would have died of hunger, all the leaf eaters were in the valley they thought, what could the Sharp Teeth eat? They can't eat each other can they?
Chomper tore into the carcass, the blessed taste of sweet red lifeblood reached his tongue, and all was well. As a younger predator he had taken the time to savor this, but now thanks to experience he knew all to well that the smell of blood would attract dinner guests. He gobbled down the deceased Two Finger and left no traces. Kill nothing, eat nothing, kill something, waste nothing, nothing beyond a yellow skeleton remained.
Tri and his sisters gobbled down the assembly of green foods their mother had so effortlessly gotten them. Today's games were a lot of fun, and the bright circle wasn't even close to falling yet. He was excited and perhaps overeager to return to the fun, it was a shame that Alleria hadn't been with them today, she'd decided to go around the great wall with the valley Guardian (Littlefoot) since she was his apprentice.
Tri quickly ate everything, and then ran off.
"Bye mom!" He shouted.
"Tri! You didn't ask if you could be excused-ah forget it." His mother tried feebly to prevent him from leaving to soon. He rushed off to the sheltering grass where the gang was playing.
When he arrived he saw that they were playing the ever-popular Sharp Tooth Attack.
"I'm BACK!" He said, almost yelling the last word.
"Hi Tri!" Pteras said, popping out of the grass and doing a loop-de-loop that her own father, the expert flyer Petrie would have been proud of. "We play Sharp Tooth Tack."
"It is A-tack. With an A!" Tri said.
"Yes. Thorn-Thorn is it."
"No flying!" Thorny the young Spike Tail, son of Spike said, coming over a hill covered in tall grass.
"Me sorry Thorn-Thorn, me tell Tri-Tri that we play Sharp Tooth-" she paused "A, Tack."
"Can you play now?" Thorny asked. "It's so boring with just Pteras, she keeps flying away."
"Me no remember!" Pteras said defensively. "Besides-me cannot walk." She said making a pathetic but definitely exaggerated show of walking.
Tri grinned, "Well you've got more luck catching Pteras than you do catching me, I'll be so fast that not even rain drops will be able to catch me!"
Thorny seemed in favor of a land based opponent, but Pteras had a crazy confused look in her eyes. " . . . It not raining Tri."
"I was just using a . . . 'figure of peach'." Tri said.
The three played their game, Tri and Thorny were helpless whenever Pteras became the sharp tooth as she could fly faster than they could run.
Chomper carried the heavy Long Neck's leg. He knew it was impossible, but it seemed as if the hunk of meat he was carrying weighed more than the actual prey.
As he approached his lair, he was greeted by the squawking of Tyrone, his infant child. He rushed into the lair, and dropped the long neck leg at the entrance, he rushed towards the hatchling to see three red pack hunters circling him, jumping around and occasionally nipping at him. The smaller Sharp Tooth could do nothing but squawk back at them, and try to bite their tails.
Chomper let out a ferocious roar, the pack hunters looked at him with excitement, and he chased them all about the den. He didn't manage to catch any of them, they were to fast for him. However they left of their own free will after a few moments of conflict. Chomper puffed out his chest, proud of being able to scare them away while his hatchling son squawked praise with excitement.
However as Chomper turned around to pick up the Long Neck's leg, there was nothing but broken bones. If he had had any prominent shoulders, they would have hung in defeat.
Alleria watched as Littlefoot threw his tremendous muscle against the rock face, the rocks trembled and some fell, no big ones, just little ones. Littlefoot frowned. "The wall is thin here." He said. "But it'll hold, we should check on it though if there is a rain storm. Rain can eat away at the wall."
Alleria noted this, and made a mental note of where this spot was. Littlefoot had a perfect map in his head of the wall, all the strongest places and all the weaker ones. Alleria had a similar image but it was nowhere near as refined. It was more of a memory of what to her were landmarks.
Littlefoot continued, Alleria tried to keep up with his long heavy strides, he made it easier for her since she had such small legs, however when one is so much smaller than another it is difficult for the two to keep pace with one another.
They had almost finished when Alleria's friends Tri, Thorny and Pteras came to her, playing some sort of game Alleria would have probably liked to join if not for her work. Still she had no regrets, she loved being an apprentice-even if the rest of the valley laughed at their work she felt that if Littlefoot thought it was important than it must be.
"Why don't you go play with your friends?" Littlefoot said in his deep but gentle voice. "We are almost done here." He moved his long head down to her and her friends. "Besides, I'm sure they want to play with you."
"Can I really?" She asked, to be sure this wasn't some sort of test or something.
"Of course." Littlefoot said. "I can finish this without your help, go play, have fun. You're only a child once and for a short time."
Alleria smiled and ran off "Thank you!" She shouted. Littlefoot didn't answer, he just moved his long neck and large head back to it's original position and continued to look over the wall.
"Alleria!" Tri, the three horn said. "We were hoping you'd finish soon! Thorny has a great idea for a new game."
"Really?" Alleria said. "Tell me! Please? Please tell me!"
"Sshh!" Thorny said. "Not here, it's a secret. Let's go to the hiding place."
"Uh . . . which one?" Alleria asked.
Thorny had to think about that one for a second. The gang had a total of seventeen great hiding places that no one knew about.
"The look out!" It was one of their parents old spots, it was a ledge where they could look out at the whole valley (if you remember it from LBT:2, it's the spot where they 'ran away' to)
They ran off, and soon they arrived they looked out over the valley, it was so beautiful. Green grass and trees, running rivers the thundering falls, and all of it surrounded by cliffs. What had once been the valley's only entrance was blocked off by what was called the wall some time before Alleria was born. It'd trapped her mother's herd in the valley, her uncle Cole said they were planning on staying anyway, but it guarantied that when her mother grew up it would be in the valley, and thus Alleria too had been given that chance. It was a wonderful chance, she heard from the old ones how dangerous life was outside the valley. Tri's grand father was one of the stronger old ones, he wasn't past his prime yet but he was old. He told tales of Sharp Teeth actually getting into the valley, and being fought off by the brave three horn guard-which was disbanded once the wall was erected. Tri was disappointed because he wanted to join something like that.
Alleria had lived a sheltered life she supposed. She'd never seen a sharp tooth, none of her friends had either, except for Pteras who was the oldest and told an epic tale of how she saw am egg snatcher once when she and her papa were flying.
"So what's this cool game?" Alleria asked.
"He wont even tell us!" Tri confessed.
"But I will now." Thorny said with a grin. "You guys listen to my dad's stories right? About all the fun they had outside the great valley? Let's go out there and have an adventure!"
"A . . . a what?" Alleria asked.
"That's a great idea!" Tri said "I'll be so much fun!"
"But how would we get out? And then how would we get in?" Alleria asked.
"Well that's where you come in, you know the wall better than anyone!" Thorny said.
"But Littlefoot covers any holes."
Alleria might have gone on to explain that she didn't actually know how to check for weaknesses either, but she was cut off by an old looking flyer.
"There is a hole. Just big enough for a youngster like yourselves."
"Who you?" Pteras asked. "Me thought me know every flyer in Great Valley."
"I am Zipolote, a migratory traveler, my adventures take me far. I have come back to the great valley recently. After all the wall doesn't restrict flyers."
"Wow!" Tri said. "What kind of adventures have you had?"
"Lots." He said. "I've been to places and seen things you'd never believe. Why I even saw that wall built up."
"Oh yeah?" Tri asked. "So why did they do it? Now no one can get into the valley."
Zipolote laughed. "Because they didn't want to share their beautiful valley with other dinosaurs. Didn't your parents tell you that? Why do you think there's an exit but no entrance?"
"I didn't know there WAS an exit." Thorny said.
"Me neither." Alleria admitted.
"It's a treacherous path, not for you. No what I have in mind for your adventure is a simple hole, big enough for you all I'm sure. Come, let me show it to you."
Short Tail stalked through the forests. He was a rouge now, cast out of the family now that he was an appropriate age. He kept a territory nearby, and Long Jaw and Blueback didn't seem to mind this and even tolerated slight trespasses on their territory provided there was a good reason.
Short Tail lacked the skills Blue Back and Long Jaw had possessed, but he had some of his own, and they were growing. What he had learned from the two older two fingers he remembered, unfortunately he hadn't always paid attention. Some times a dragonfly, or a small mammal that didn't deserve to live would catch his attention.
He was stalking a herd of Big Mouth, they knew he was there but they didn't run.
He'd followed them for a long distance, into a strange territory that he'd never entered before. The heard seemed the think they were safe here . . . idiots.
They bathed in their giant lake, drinking water and playing with it as well. But one strayed from the heard. Short Tail grinned as the idiot unknowingly came closer to him, it was time.
What happened next was very much the reenactment of a previous hunt performed many seasons ago.
In a flash of dark green Short Tail, a fully grown male sharp tooth leapt out of the forest and rushed towards his prey, the unknowing Big Mouth turned to run but it was to late, Short Tail opened his mouth and caught the thing by the head. He bit down, crushing the skull.
If Long Jaw could have seen it-he might have had an eerie but proud feeling.
(Long Jaw is introduced via a similar hunt in Age Of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare issue 2)
Short Tail set about eating, but then he caught a scent. It was faint, as if its owner had gone upwind shortly, perhaps accidentally.
He growled. He knew that stench from his childhood. It was slightly different, but he knew it all the same. He braced himself. He let out a long loud deafening roar. A challenge.
Like a snap, from three different directions came three different dinosaurs. Pack hunters? No . . . only one of them!
One was a pack hunter, the other two he didn't recognize. One looked like a small weak pack hunter with a tortoise beak and a crest on it's head (Ova Raptor) the other was like an Egg snatcher, only not quite, it was different.
He stepped on top of his meal, he growled in a low rumble. He kept his eyes on them.
They moved fast and in seconds they were on top of him, biting and clawing. He threw himself into the water, a very bad move. Thought it got them off of him, he now struggled to get up, water pouring through his nose, it stung a little. He tried to blow it out, but he couldn't. His arms were to small to let him bring himself to his feet, but with hard work he soon got his head above the water, and saw the three sharp teeth feasting on his meal. He struggled and brought himself to his feet, then he grabbed the one with the crest on its head, his jaws clamped down on it, and he shook it and threw it into the forest. He let out a loud horrible roar, the other two ran away.
He glared at them as they went, then turned to his feast. He tore into the flesh and swallowed it whole, he finished as quickly as possible. He didn't notice, nor would he have cared that the Big Mouth herd continued on with business as usual, not taking even a second to mourn their loss, or consider the battle that had just occurred.
Halla watched Neckbiter playing with Ravener. Their small child, already so strong and brave like his father before him.
It was no secret that Neckbiter wasn't crazy about kids, and he wasn't crazy about Halla either. Neckbiter was strong and he was a different color than the others. Where the others had a light tan he had dark brown, where the others had dark brown he was almost black. He had three scars on his tail just above the thighs, claw marks given to him by a member of their own pack.
The Sad fact was that some seasons ago Neckbiter was often teased by his rivals because of losing a hatchling.
Halla had asked him to watch their first hatchling, the only one of his litter to survive, while she went on the hunt. He'd protested but she'd needed the exercise. However he'd completely forgotten that she wasn't in the lair not long after she left, and so he went about his own business, and the infant wondered away and was probably killed.
Ravener looked a lot like his father, though he was a little lighter in color. He was very intelligent as well, just like his father, though he was not quite as devious he did take after his father quite a bit.
Halla was sure that that was the reason Neckbiter had finally warmed up to her and Ravener . . . well mostly Ravener.
Neckbiter disliked most females, he felt they were weak, and that they were good for laying eggs and nothing else. He protested whenever she tried to hunt and even though she liked to do as he said, Halla didn't see why she was so inferior that she should be nesting more than any other female with no more time to rest than what her biological clock granted her.
She didn't know if he knew or if he'd care to know that she'd been nesting so much that her legs were like logs. She didn't get the exercise she needed when she wasn't on a nest, and when she was she didn't get any at all. Laying eggs took more energy each and every time, and the hatchlings weren't even surviving as often anymore. Often she'd go hungry because Neckbiter would forget to bring her food. Still she had decided to remain loyal until her painful end. Unfortunately she felt deep inside that that end was much closer than anyone might think.
And still at this moment of happiness for her, to know that Neckbiter approved of one of her dozen of offspring still living, she felt as if her role as a mate was fulfilled in at least that area.
Their game was a much more gentle version of sparing, though with Neckbiter it was still just a little to rough, Ravener was just as rough as his old dad.
The heart warming scene was interrupted by Leopard, one of the pack's more prominent hunters. His snout had spikes and horns at the edge, he was one of the more ferocious lookers.
Leopard smiled weakly. "You look . . . wonderful Halla." He said. She knew he was trying to be nice-she probably looked very terrible.
"Thank you." She said softly. "What brings you over to my nest?" She asked.
The entire pack lived in a giant pyramid of thorns and trees, it had three levels but no actual floors, and the levels were reached by jumping or climbing and allowed the pack hunters to look out of the slits or holes in the pyramid. The bottom level in the back was where the nests were.
"Eh . . . Dark Eye wants a hunting party ready soon, he thinks . . . well he wants to know if you will join us."
"I cant-"
"We can find someone to care for the eggs. I-er Dark Eye was very adamant about you coming."
Halla wondered what adamant meant. "I don't want to inconvenience anyone, you would not make this sort of arrangement for any other nesting female."
Leopard tried to smile. "Dark Eye wants his best hunter with the pack."
"Quetzal is over there." Hall pointed in a random direction. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but she didn't trust anyone with her eggs, and she didn't think Neckbiter would let her go.
"Who is going on this expedition?" Halla asked.
"Dark Eye, myself, One Claw and Pytor."
"Dark Eye? Pytor? Even with you and One Claw slowing them down and scaring away prey with your stupidity, you have a good team you don't need Halla." Neckbiter said coldly.
"I want to hunt!" Ravener said innocently, oblivious to the current uncomfortable situation and to the fact that youngsters didn't hunt.
Neckbiter's threatening air changed suddenly. "Of course you do. And some day you'll lead the whole pack."
Leopard let his shoulders drop in defeat. "Well I suppose if Halla does not want to-"
"She doesn't." Neckbiter said quickly.
"Perhaps we can recruit Quetzal." He sighed, walking off. Halla wouldn't have frowned if she weren't already wearing a false smile of greeting to Ravener and three other hatchlings that had decided now might be a good time to get attention.
Slash inspected the large insect very carefully, tipping him onto his back occasionally to watch im pop his wings out and regain his feet. She nuzzled it to see how it smelled, then she sneezed.
The small Pack Hunter was lost to the world around her, nothing was important besides this beetle, and only when it stopped being fun would the world exist again.
Occasionally something would happen that she'd notice, but nothing really took her main focus off the beetle. It was large and slow moving, black and it had a big horn on its nose. She picked it up by the horn with her jaws, the thing opened its wings and made a buzzing sound. She dropped it on its back, and it popped up again.
Interesting.
Peculiar.
Here was a creature that she could spend the rest of her life watching, studying . . . but she wondered how it tasted, and she attacked viciously, as she'd seen others do to the rare scraps of meat brought home to the lair.
It was gooey, and she didn't like it. She spat it back out on its back. It didn't pop its wings and get up. She wondered about this for a while, then decided it must be tired and so she flipped it and watched it-expecting it to scurry off. It didn't.
This bothered her, was she so boring that it had fallen asleep? It just lied there, gooey and broken. She moved it around with her claws a bit, but there was no reaction. Finally she came to the realization that she'd killed it when finally it separated into two pieces. Slash set off in search of something else to do, now much less zealous.
Zipolote had shown them a nice large hole, and Alleria was sure Littlefoot wouldn't find it.
"What kind of adventure could we possibly have out there?" She asked, trying to convince everyone that it was a bad idea.
"I know of a great place for adventures. It's a wide open wasteland , a graveyard now. Covered in thick mist, inside there is a cave, well lit with magic. Brave adventurers go there to test their bravery and only a few make it back alive."
"Wow!" Tri said. "That sounds like the place for me!"
"Why we want go there?" Pteras asked.
"Because there is a treasure there, a magnificent treasure." Zipolote said.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Alleria asked skeptically.
Zipolote looked as if he'd been caught off guard but he was a tricky one, he resumed his normal composure before anyone else could notice. "A rock. A magical rock that will grant any wish. You could bring it back to the valley, you'll be heroes." He said.
"I can't wait!" Tri said. "How do we get there?"
Zipolote smiled. "Outside of your valley, you need only to keep the bright circle to your left and follow that direction for four days, or until you find a rock that looks like a sharp tooth. Then move with the bright circle to your backs in the mornings and following it after noon, do this and you will find the valley in no time. If I finish my business in the great valley, I may try to meet you at the Sharp Tooth rock. After all, I do love an adventure."
"That sounds good to me!" Tri said. "Lets go!"
"No!" Alleria said quickly. Everyone looked at her strangely. She shook her head. "If were going to do this, we might as well do it right. We cant leave until night time, When all the grown ups are asleep." Alleria said.
The others agreed, and Zipolote agreed to try to meet them at the rock and give further instructions if needed.
(This frog may seem familiar . . . I couldn't resist)
Ravener heard a strange sound outside, he set out to explore this sound and if necessary, kill the source.
It was a croaking sound, but something he'd never heard before. He wondered our of the nest and out of the pyramid. He head it again, then again. He saw flashes of movement in the darkness! As his eyes adjusted he realized what he was seeing. Slash and some other green creature.
The green . . . thing . . . jumped into the air, and made a croaking sound while it's chest puffed out into a ball.
Slash followed it, watching it closely in her manner, Ravener became annoyed with the two, as the creature jumped onto the entrance log and Slash followed, he wished the log would fall off and silence the hopper and the annoying investigator of a pack hunter Slash.
Slash was in a way his cousin, she was the product of Nata and One Claw, Nata was the nest sister of his father though he was certain his father had never been born from a nest, he was to incredible to have normal origins.
He decided to follow her, he was interested in this hopper. He wondered if it tasted good and watching it hop around was very amusing.
He could not have known how far this adventure would take him, he did not realize what was happening until he stumbled into a strange scent. It was unknown to him, he'd never smelt this before, and he realized he could not see the pyramid any longer.
He became worried, he had no idea where they were. And that's when it happened. A shadow loomed over him, Slash, though further away, also became alerted of this. She turned and immediately took refuge in the tall grass surrounding them at every side. Ravener wasn't sure what to do. Then a huge tree came down in front of him, and he dashed off to the side where Slash was. There were four trees all moving together. No, it wasn't a tree it was a monster! Another dinosaur it was enormous! It had four legs, and a long neck! It was moving slowly, it looked very tired.
That's when it happened. Ten pack hunters appeared from nowhere, but they were not like Ravener's clan. Three were red and black, one was like their own pack only he was old, scarred and had only one arm. Ravener didn't recognize him, but he looked ancient. Some had beaks and crests on their heads, and some had long snouts, like a flyer. The all leapt onto the back of the long neck! They tore and bit at it's exposed back, but it threw itself onto the ground and rolled around until they were all gone. One of them, a small red one was crushed, dead. The long neck got to its feet and ran, but it didn't get far. There was a flash of black, and a dark brown and black Pack Hunter leapt out from the tall grass and landed on the long neck's throat, right below the head.
The dark pack hunter sank his deadly teeth into the long neck's throat and tore away red bloody meat and tossed it aside. Then he leapt off the long neck and into the air as the body fell, making a safe landing on the creature's stomach, and immediately beginning to eat, wasting no time in tearing the belly open. The other ten rushed to the scene and began to devour the creature. Ravener was very hungry, and he'd never had meat freshly killed . . . he was tempted to join in, and yet something held him back. Fear? Or perhaps a more primal instinct that he wasn't welcome?
Whatever it was, Slash didn't possess it, and as the damnable hopper creature leapt out towards the pack hunters and their kill, Slash followed.
"No! You stupid!" Ravener snapped softly, but Slash was already following the small beast.
That's when it happened . . .
The old scarred Pack hunter leapt out from the pack of creatures devouring the corps, and took the frog in his one hand and put it into his mouth. Slash shrieked with anger.
"I was playing with that!" She practically roared. It was rare enough to hear her even speak.
Ravener could sense something bad was about to happen, but he was surprised with what it was.
The old creature laughed and said "It's part of the food chain my little snack." He said. "And I could use desert."
That's when a huge shadow emerged, its owner was enormous. It had large strong legs, a long tail, and two small arms. It was colored a sort of pale gray, and then a darker gray, almost purple. It roared and the old one turned around in terror, the larger greater bend down and took the old one in it's jaws, and shook him violently, then threw him to the ground, and brought one of his enormous three toed feet over the old pack hunter and stepped down, pressing the body into the ground and crushing it into red goo.
"That to was part of the food chain." The two finger laughed.
The other pack hunters screeched with anger and shock, one of the red ones rushed for the two finger, but as it leapt into the air for it's enemy's throat, the two finger caught it in it's mouth and bit down, cutting the red pack hunter into two pieces with his powerful jaws and razor sharp teeth.
Slash looked on with mild interest, she didn't seem to be afraid at all. Ravener wasn't about to let a pathetic female outdo him, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to think of what his father would do.
He father would kill the thing, his father could kill ten of those monsters . . . bad example . . . must think of what that sorry excuse for a clan leader Dark Eye would do . . .
"Slash! Run!" He shouted. They both ran together off in the opposite direction of the unknown pack hunters, all of whom were running away from their kill, now the property of the giant two finger.
Chomper laughed wickedly. Just as the Bone Crunchers had stolen his meal, he now stole theirs. There was a great satisfaction in this because theirs was much larger than his had been.
Alleria and the others moved quickly towards their destination, the rock was visible now it was large. It looked like a giant two fingered Sharp Tooth in striking position.
"Wow! It looks so real!" Tri said.
Alleria had to admit that it looked strangely real. It was a light green color with pale blue plates on its back. "I didn't know rocks had colors . . ." she said.
"ROAR!" The Sharp Tooth lunged forward, and the children scattered.
"Oh no!" Alleria cried, because as she turned around she immediately saw two more. They were both a dull olive green with pale purple markings. They lunged forward as well, the children, already scattered in different directions ran like mad in the same direction-the direction they'd come from.
But then from the dense trees sprang another monster! This one was enormous, its head was almost twice the size of the others. It roared and lunged for them, the four frightened children ran into the forest and were lost.
Blue Back was outraged. Certainly scaring flat tooth children was fun in its way, but definitely not enough for him. "Long Jaw your flying friend promised -herds- not four infants!"
Long Jaw shook himself but made no answer.
Zipolote flew in however and said "Where those infants go the parents will follow. You only need to follow them at a distance, and travel down wind. When they are found, or when they find whatever set off to search for them, your feast is yours."
Blue Back scoffed. He disliked waiting for valley dinosaurs. True the large saurpods had migrated out of their territory and into the Sauropod graveyard, or Bone Valley as it was now called. Why they went there each year Blue Back did not know, but he did care. He cared because a herd of four two fingers required at least one long neck per moon.
There were still three horns in the valley but they provided less meat and were much harder to kill.
"You'd best be right." He said. "Or I'll eat you, flyer!"
To Be Continued.
What you know:
Big Mouth = Duck Bill (Also called swimmer but Ducky refers to herself as "Big Mouth" when she first meets Littlefoot-hey, if she wants to be called Big Mouth . . . I like Big Mouth better yep, yep, yep)
Spike Tail = Stegosaurus
Three Horn = Triceratops
Flyer = Any flying dinosaur
Thump Tail = Any of the dinosaur family with armored backs and clubs for tails
Sharp Tooth = Any meat eating dinosaur.
Now lets expand your knowledge, as many of the characters are "Sharp Teeth" one must assume they have names for each other just as the leaf eaters do.
Two Finger = Tyrannosaurus.
Pack Hunter = Deinonychus
Red Pack Hunter = Velociraptor (As seen in Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving)
Sky Catcher = Meat Eating flyer-just to be original
Crunchers = Dome headed dinosaur (Pack-E-Something-A-Saurus) for some reason made out to be a sharp tooth in the original Land Before Time.
Flat Tooth = Any leaf eating Dinosaur
Food = Any leaf eating Dinosaur
Fan Back = Dimetrodon
Bone Cruncher = misc. sharp teeth found in Skeleton Canyon. Ova Raptors, Spinosaurus, etc.
Egg Snatcher = You know em, you love em
There are legends and tales passed down in the great valley. Heroes that have protected the great valley and it's residents for hundreds of years. No one seems to notice or care that the valley residents are fairly new and thus it would be impossible for any hero to have watched over them for hundreds of years. Go figure.
But there are some legends that are true. Some. Some are a load of garbage made up to keep children quiet at night; stories to keep them happy like the story of Saurus Rock. Others exist only to scare children into obedience, stories like Sharp Teeth entering the valley and the idea that everything might some day be wiped out by falling rocks. All of it is ridiculous correct?
But some stories fall between that oh so thin red line. Though certain red and black pack hunters (Raptors from LBT3) keep fearful legends alive of giant pack hunters with strength to snap one of their kind in half, the Valley dinosaurs have forgotten the battle that raged just outside their walls. After all they lost so little, why should they care to hand down stories such as that? Intelligent Sharp Teeth? Why that would give the impression that Sharp Teeth have brains, and of course every leaf eater knows that is not true.
And of course there is a story, a very old story of a two fingered sharp tooth. A deadly vicious fighter who killed mercilessly and enjoyed biting the tales of certain triceratopses. A vicious sharp tooth named Chomper who bathed in the blood of spike tails.
Like I said, some of their legends are just loads of garbage.
Chomper was a kind gentle sharp tooth, and yes he did enjoy the occasional nibble on Cera's tail he never left lasting scars . . . eh . . . well not on his friends anyway.
But what would he be like now? I'm sure he's still the same fun loving adorable little guy he was when first born . . .
Chomper leapt onto the rival Sharp Tooth's back, he used his superior weight to throw her off balance, then go for the throat.
He was kicked hard in the guy and fell over, causing him a serious headache. The female was on him before he could get up, she leapt onto his back in the same fashion as he had done to her, however he was already down and ready for the final blows.
He squirmed and struggled to get free, he felt her jaws close around his neck, he threw his head back, hitting her and causing her to fall backwards. The got up with not a little bit of effort. Circling each other knowing that mortal combat could have only one true winner.
But Chomper was smarter, much smarter than the average sharp tooth, he let the female leap for him, he then moved out of her way, she stumbled and landed in a very odd angle, her neck bent so far backwards that she would have been back to rest her head on her spine. Of course rest was all she'd do now.
Chomper stood victoriously over the corps, his territory safe from invasion . . . well, kill nothing eat nothing, kill something waste nothing. The motto of the Sharp Tooth. A beautiful carcass displayed before him, Chomper decided it was---
"TIME FOR LUNCH!" Cera roared, emptying her large lungs with her thunderous call. Most other parents did not force their children to eat with them, it simply wasn't a necessity with no predators. However Cera had to be sure her son and two daughters didn't mingle with the wrong crowd. In other words, Hip's brood. Surprising as it was that he would some day find a mate, his children were as terrible as he was, very rude the lot of them. Of course Cera's own son was a bit of a bully himself, but what self-respecting Three Horn wasn't a little . . . assertive?
Of course Ali's kids were okay to play with, and Petrie's kids were fine too, Ducky's hatchlings were strictly off limits, and uncle Spike always had a story handy, still Cera was twice as protective as her own father had been, her children did not eat lunch by themselves, how could she be sure they would eat at all?
Despite the hundreds if not thousands of Three Horns living in the valley, Cera's children knew her call and came running as if a sharp tooth were after them. They bid adieu to their youngster friends who departed to play some other innocent childish game.
Cera remembered her own childhood with some regret, the times she'd had with her friends she only wished they'd spent more time playing and less time causing problems for the valley-as a child she never thought it was a problem but as an adult she knew better.
She saw the far off form of a long neck making a trip to the top of the canyon wall. He was a fully-grown male slightly larger than the average. A closer look would reveal that he was massive and powerful with muscles that showed an incredible strength that even a Three horn had to approve of. This was Littlefoot, no longer so little. He was making his weekly rounds. Checking the wall for cracks or holes, and then patching them up, which is where his massive muscles came from. Moving heavy boulders unaided for more moon cycles than Cera or anyone else could remember.
Littlefoot had been respected as a child, he'd been considered very intelligent for his age, though he lacked the maturity to wield his intelligence well unless he found himself in a crisis, which he often did. Now as an adult that respect was gone. He was the village idiot so to speak. His strength and prowess commanded respect in his presence, though no one dared to speak badly of him when he was nearby, the fact was that the valley dinosaurs did not believe his maintenance of the great wall was actually needed. Any Sharp Teeth would have died of hunger, all the leaf eaters were in the valley they thought, what could the Sharp Teeth eat? They can't eat each other can they?
Chomper tore into the carcass, the blessed taste of sweet red lifeblood reached his tongue, and all was well. As a younger predator he had taken the time to savor this, but now thanks to experience he knew all to well that the smell of blood would attract dinner guests. He gobbled down the deceased Two Finger and left no traces. Kill nothing, eat nothing, kill something, waste nothing, nothing beyond a yellow skeleton remained.
Tri and his sisters gobbled down the assembly of green foods their mother had so effortlessly gotten them. Today's games were a lot of fun, and the bright circle wasn't even close to falling yet. He was excited and perhaps overeager to return to the fun, it was a shame that Alleria hadn't been with them today, she'd decided to go around the great wall with the valley Guardian (Littlefoot) since she was his apprentice.
Tri quickly ate everything, and then ran off.
"Bye mom!" He shouted.
"Tri! You didn't ask if you could be excused-ah forget it." His mother tried feebly to prevent him from leaving to soon. He rushed off to the sheltering grass where the gang was playing.
When he arrived he saw that they were playing the ever-popular Sharp Tooth Attack.
"I'm BACK!" He said, almost yelling the last word.
"Hi Tri!" Pteras said, popping out of the grass and doing a loop-de-loop that her own father, the expert flyer Petrie would have been proud of. "We play Sharp Tooth Tack."
"It is A-tack. With an A!" Tri said.
"Yes. Thorn-Thorn is it."
"No flying!" Thorny the young Spike Tail, son of Spike said, coming over a hill covered in tall grass.
"Me sorry Thorn-Thorn, me tell Tri-Tri that we play Sharp Tooth-" she paused "A, Tack."
"Can you play now?" Thorny asked. "It's so boring with just Pteras, she keeps flying away."
"Me no remember!" Pteras said defensively. "Besides-me cannot walk." She said making a pathetic but definitely exaggerated show of walking.
Tri grinned, "Well you've got more luck catching Pteras than you do catching me, I'll be so fast that not even rain drops will be able to catch me!"
Thorny seemed in favor of a land based opponent, but Pteras had a crazy confused look in her eyes. " . . . It not raining Tri."
"I was just using a . . . 'figure of peach'." Tri said.
The three played their game, Tri and Thorny were helpless whenever Pteras became the sharp tooth as she could fly faster than they could run.
Chomper carried the heavy Long Neck's leg. He knew it was impossible, but it seemed as if the hunk of meat he was carrying weighed more than the actual prey.
As he approached his lair, he was greeted by the squawking of Tyrone, his infant child. He rushed into the lair, and dropped the long neck leg at the entrance, he rushed towards the hatchling to see three red pack hunters circling him, jumping around and occasionally nipping at him. The smaller Sharp Tooth could do nothing but squawk back at them, and try to bite their tails.
Chomper let out a ferocious roar, the pack hunters looked at him with excitement, and he chased them all about the den. He didn't manage to catch any of them, they were to fast for him. However they left of their own free will after a few moments of conflict. Chomper puffed out his chest, proud of being able to scare them away while his hatchling son squawked praise with excitement.
However as Chomper turned around to pick up the Long Neck's leg, there was nothing but broken bones. If he had had any prominent shoulders, they would have hung in defeat.
Alleria watched as Littlefoot threw his tremendous muscle against the rock face, the rocks trembled and some fell, no big ones, just little ones. Littlefoot frowned. "The wall is thin here." He said. "But it'll hold, we should check on it though if there is a rain storm. Rain can eat away at the wall."
Alleria noted this, and made a mental note of where this spot was. Littlefoot had a perfect map in his head of the wall, all the strongest places and all the weaker ones. Alleria had a similar image but it was nowhere near as refined. It was more of a memory of what to her were landmarks.
Littlefoot continued, Alleria tried to keep up with his long heavy strides, he made it easier for her since she had such small legs, however when one is so much smaller than another it is difficult for the two to keep pace with one another.
They had almost finished when Alleria's friends Tri, Thorny and Pteras came to her, playing some sort of game Alleria would have probably liked to join if not for her work. Still she had no regrets, she loved being an apprentice-even if the rest of the valley laughed at their work she felt that if Littlefoot thought it was important than it must be.
"Why don't you go play with your friends?" Littlefoot said in his deep but gentle voice. "We are almost done here." He moved his long head down to her and her friends. "Besides, I'm sure they want to play with you."
"Can I really?" She asked, to be sure this wasn't some sort of test or something.
"Of course." Littlefoot said. "I can finish this without your help, go play, have fun. You're only a child once and for a short time."
Alleria smiled and ran off "Thank you!" She shouted. Littlefoot didn't answer, he just moved his long neck and large head back to it's original position and continued to look over the wall.
"Alleria!" Tri, the three horn said. "We were hoping you'd finish soon! Thorny has a great idea for a new game."
"Really?" Alleria said. "Tell me! Please? Please tell me!"
"Sshh!" Thorny said. "Not here, it's a secret. Let's go to the hiding place."
"Uh . . . which one?" Alleria asked.
Thorny had to think about that one for a second. The gang had a total of seventeen great hiding places that no one knew about.
"The look out!" It was one of their parents old spots, it was a ledge where they could look out at the whole valley (if you remember it from LBT:2, it's the spot where they 'ran away' to)
They ran off, and soon they arrived they looked out over the valley, it was so beautiful. Green grass and trees, running rivers the thundering falls, and all of it surrounded by cliffs. What had once been the valley's only entrance was blocked off by what was called the wall some time before Alleria was born. It'd trapped her mother's herd in the valley, her uncle Cole said they were planning on staying anyway, but it guarantied that when her mother grew up it would be in the valley, and thus Alleria too had been given that chance. It was a wonderful chance, she heard from the old ones how dangerous life was outside the valley. Tri's grand father was one of the stronger old ones, he wasn't past his prime yet but he was old. He told tales of Sharp Teeth actually getting into the valley, and being fought off by the brave three horn guard-which was disbanded once the wall was erected. Tri was disappointed because he wanted to join something like that.
Alleria had lived a sheltered life she supposed. She'd never seen a sharp tooth, none of her friends had either, except for Pteras who was the oldest and told an epic tale of how she saw am egg snatcher once when she and her papa were flying.
"So what's this cool game?" Alleria asked.
"He wont even tell us!" Tri confessed.
"But I will now." Thorny said with a grin. "You guys listen to my dad's stories right? About all the fun they had outside the great valley? Let's go out there and have an adventure!"
"A . . . a what?" Alleria asked.
"That's a great idea!" Tri said "I'll be so much fun!"
"But how would we get out? And then how would we get in?" Alleria asked.
"Well that's where you come in, you know the wall better than anyone!" Thorny said.
"But Littlefoot covers any holes."
Alleria might have gone on to explain that she didn't actually know how to check for weaknesses either, but she was cut off by an old looking flyer.
"There is a hole. Just big enough for a youngster like yourselves."
"Who you?" Pteras asked. "Me thought me know every flyer in Great Valley."
"I am Zipolote, a migratory traveler, my adventures take me far. I have come back to the great valley recently. After all the wall doesn't restrict flyers."
"Wow!" Tri said. "What kind of adventures have you had?"
"Lots." He said. "I've been to places and seen things you'd never believe. Why I even saw that wall built up."
"Oh yeah?" Tri asked. "So why did they do it? Now no one can get into the valley."
Zipolote laughed. "Because they didn't want to share their beautiful valley with other dinosaurs. Didn't your parents tell you that? Why do you think there's an exit but no entrance?"
"I didn't know there WAS an exit." Thorny said.
"Me neither." Alleria admitted.
"It's a treacherous path, not for you. No what I have in mind for your adventure is a simple hole, big enough for you all I'm sure. Come, let me show it to you."
Short Tail stalked through the forests. He was a rouge now, cast out of the family now that he was an appropriate age. He kept a territory nearby, and Long Jaw and Blueback didn't seem to mind this and even tolerated slight trespasses on their territory provided there was a good reason.
Short Tail lacked the skills Blue Back and Long Jaw had possessed, but he had some of his own, and they were growing. What he had learned from the two older two fingers he remembered, unfortunately he hadn't always paid attention. Some times a dragonfly, or a small mammal that didn't deserve to live would catch his attention.
He was stalking a herd of Big Mouth, they knew he was there but they didn't run.
He'd followed them for a long distance, into a strange territory that he'd never entered before. The heard seemed the think they were safe here . . . idiots.
They bathed in their giant lake, drinking water and playing with it as well. But one strayed from the heard. Short Tail grinned as the idiot unknowingly came closer to him, it was time.
What happened next was very much the reenactment of a previous hunt performed many seasons ago.
In a flash of dark green Short Tail, a fully grown male sharp tooth leapt out of the forest and rushed towards his prey, the unknowing Big Mouth turned to run but it was to late, Short Tail opened his mouth and caught the thing by the head. He bit down, crushing the skull.
If Long Jaw could have seen it-he might have had an eerie but proud feeling.
(Long Jaw is introduced via a similar hunt in Age Of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare issue 2)
Short Tail set about eating, but then he caught a scent. It was faint, as if its owner had gone upwind shortly, perhaps accidentally.
He growled. He knew that stench from his childhood. It was slightly different, but he knew it all the same. He braced himself. He let out a long loud deafening roar. A challenge.
Like a snap, from three different directions came three different dinosaurs. Pack hunters? No . . . only one of them!
One was a pack hunter, the other two he didn't recognize. One looked like a small weak pack hunter with a tortoise beak and a crest on it's head (Ova Raptor) the other was like an Egg snatcher, only not quite, it was different.
He stepped on top of his meal, he growled in a low rumble. He kept his eyes on them.
They moved fast and in seconds they were on top of him, biting and clawing. He threw himself into the water, a very bad move. Thought it got them off of him, he now struggled to get up, water pouring through his nose, it stung a little. He tried to blow it out, but he couldn't. His arms were to small to let him bring himself to his feet, but with hard work he soon got his head above the water, and saw the three sharp teeth feasting on his meal. He struggled and brought himself to his feet, then he grabbed the one with the crest on its head, his jaws clamped down on it, and he shook it and threw it into the forest. He let out a loud horrible roar, the other two ran away.
He glared at them as they went, then turned to his feast. He tore into the flesh and swallowed it whole, he finished as quickly as possible. He didn't notice, nor would he have cared that the Big Mouth herd continued on with business as usual, not taking even a second to mourn their loss, or consider the battle that had just occurred.
Halla watched Neckbiter playing with Ravener. Their small child, already so strong and brave like his father before him.
It was no secret that Neckbiter wasn't crazy about kids, and he wasn't crazy about Halla either. Neckbiter was strong and he was a different color than the others. Where the others had a light tan he had dark brown, where the others had dark brown he was almost black. He had three scars on his tail just above the thighs, claw marks given to him by a member of their own pack.
The Sad fact was that some seasons ago Neckbiter was often teased by his rivals because of losing a hatchling.
Halla had asked him to watch their first hatchling, the only one of his litter to survive, while she went on the hunt. He'd protested but she'd needed the exercise. However he'd completely forgotten that she wasn't in the lair not long after she left, and so he went about his own business, and the infant wondered away and was probably killed.
Ravener looked a lot like his father, though he was a little lighter in color. He was very intelligent as well, just like his father, though he was not quite as devious he did take after his father quite a bit.
Halla was sure that that was the reason Neckbiter had finally warmed up to her and Ravener . . . well mostly Ravener.
Neckbiter disliked most females, he felt they were weak, and that they were good for laying eggs and nothing else. He protested whenever she tried to hunt and even though she liked to do as he said, Halla didn't see why she was so inferior that she should be nesting more than any other female with no more time to rest than what her biological clock granted her.
She didn't know if he knew or if he'd care to know that she'd been nesting so much that her legs were like logs. She didn't get the exercise she needed when she wasn't on a nest, and when she was she didn't get any at all. Laying eggs took more energy each and every time, and the hatchlings weren't even surviving as often anymore. Often she'd go hungry because Neckbiter would forget to bring her food. Still she had decided to remain loyal until her painful end. Unfortunately she felt deep inside that that end was much closer than anyone might think.
And still at this moment of happiness for her, to know that Neckbiter approved of one of her dozen of offspring still living, she felt as if her role as a mate was fulfilled in at least that area.
Their game was a much more gentle version of sparing, though with Neckbiter it was still just a little to rough, Ravener was just as rough as his old dad.
The heart warming scene was interrupted by Leopard, one of the pack's more prominent hunters. His snout had spikes and horns at the edge, he was one of the more ferocious lookers.
Leopard smiled weakly. "You look . . . wonderful Halla." He said. She knew he was trying to be nice-she probably looked very terrible.
"Thank you." She said softly. "What brings you over to my nest?" She asked.
The entire pack lived in a giant pyramid of thorns and trees, it had three levels but no actual floors, and the levels were reached by jumping or climbing and allowed the pack hunters to look out of the slits or holes in the pyramid. The bottom level in the back was where the nests were.
"Eh . . . Dark Eye wants a hunting party ready soon, he thinks . . . well he wants to know if you will join us."
"I cant-"
"We can find someone to care for the eggs. I-er Dark Eye was very adamant about you coming."
Halla wondered what adamant meant. "I don't want to inconvenience anyone, you would not make this sort of arrangement for any other nesting female."
Leopard tried to smile. "Dark Eye wants his best hunter with the pack."
"Quetzal is over there." Hall pointed in a random direction. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but she didn't trust anyone with her eggs, and she didn't think Neckbiter would let her go.
"Who is going on this expedition?" Halla asked.
"Dark Eye, myself, One Claw and Pytor."
"Dark Eye? Pytor? Even with you and One Claw slowing them down and scaring away prey with your stupidity, you have a good team you don't need Halla." Neckbiter said coldly.
"I want to hunt!" Ravener said innocently, oblivious to the current uncomfortable situation and to the fact that youngsters didn't hunt.
Neckbiter's threatening air changed suddenly. "Of course you do. And some day you'll lead the whole pack."
Leopard let his shoulders drop in defeat. "Well I suppose if Halla does not want to-"
"She doesn't." Neckbiter said quickly.
"Perhaps we can recruit Quetzal." He sighed, walking off. Halla wouldn't have frowned if she weren't already wearing a false smile of greeting to Ravener and three other hatchlings that had decided now might be a good time to get attention.
Slash inspected the large insect very carefully, tipping him onto his back occasionally to watch im pop his wings out and regain his feet. She nuzzled it to see how it smelled, then she sneezed.
The small Pack Hunter was lost to the world around her, nothing was important besides this beetle, and only when it stopped being fun would the world exist again.
Occasionally something would happen that she'd notice, but nothing really took her main focus off the beetle. It was large and slow moving, black and it had a big horn on its nose. She picked it up by the horn with her jaws, the thing opened its wings and made a buzzing sound. She dropped it on its back, and it popped up again.
Interesting.
Peculiar.
Here was a creature that she could spend the rest of her life watching, studying . . . but she wondered how it tasted, and she attacked viciously, as she'd seen others do to the rare scraps of meat brought home to the lair.
It was gooey, and she didn't like it. She spat it back out on its back. It didn't pop its wings and get up. She wondered about this for a while, then decided it must be tired and so she flipped it and watched it-expecting it to scurry off. It didn't.
This bothered her, was she so boring that it had fallen asleep? It just lied there, gooey and broken. She moved it around with her claws a bit, but there was no reaction. Finally she came to the realization that she'd killed it when finally it separated into two pieces. Slash set off in search of something else to do, now much less zealous.
Zipolote had shown them a nice large hole, and Alleria was sure Littlefoot wouldn't find it.
"What kind of adventure could we possibly have out there?" She asked, trying to convince everyone that it was a bad idea.
"I know of a great place for adventures. It's a wide open wasteland , a graveyard now. Covered in thick mist, inside there is a cave, well lit with magic. Brave adventurers go there to test their bravery and only a few make it back alive."
"Wow!" Tri said. "That sounds like the place for me!"
"Why we want go there?" Pteras asked.
"Because there is a treasure there, a magnificent treasure." Zipolote said.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Alleria asked skeptically.
Zipolote looked as if he'd been caught off guard but he was a tricky one, he resumed his normal composure before anyone else could notice. "A rock. A magical rock that will grant any wish. You could bring it back to the valley, you'll be heroes." He said.
"I can't wait!" Tri said. "How do we get there?"
Zipolote smiled. "Outside of your valley, you need only to keep the bright circle to your left and follow that direction for four days, or until you find a rock that looks like a sharp tooth. Then move with the bright circle to your backs in the mornings and following it after noon, do this and you will find the valley in no time. If I finish my business in the great valley, I may try to meet you at the Sharp Tooth rock. After all, I do love an adventure."
"That sounds good to me!" Tri said. "Lets go!"
"No!" Alleria said quickly. Everyone looked at her strangely. She shook her head. "If were going to do this, we might as well do it right. We cant leave until night time, When all the grown ups are asleep." Alleria said.
The others agreed, and Zipolote agreed to try to meet them at the rock and give further instructions if needed.
(This frog may seem familiar . . . I couldn't resist)
Ravener heard a strange sound outside, he set out to explore this sound and if necessary, kill the source.
It was a croaking sound, but something he'd never heard before. He wondered our of the nest and out of the pyramid. He head it again, then again. He saw flashes of movement in the darkness! As his eyes adjusted he realized what he was seeing. Slash and some other green creature.
The green . . . thing . . . jumped into the air, and made a croaking sound while it's chest puffed out into a ball.
Slash followed it, watching it closely in her manner, Ravener became annoyed with the two, as the creature jumped onto the entrance log and Slash followed, he wished the log would fall off and silence the hopper and the annoying investigator of a pack hunter Slash.
Slash was in a way his cousin, she was the product of Nata and One Claw, Nata was the nest sister of his father though he was certain his father had never been born from a nest, he was to incredible to have normal origins.
He decided to follow her, he was interested in this hopper. He wondered if it tasted good and watching it hop around was very amusing.
He could not have known how far this adventure would take him, he did not realize what was happening until he stumbled into a strange scent. It was unknown to him, he'd never smelt this before, and he realized he could not see the pyramid any longer.
He became worried, he had no idea where they were. And that's when it happened. A shadow loomed over him, Slash, though further away, also became alerted of this. She turned and immediately took refuge in the tall grass surrounding them at every side. Ravener wasn't sure what to do. Then a huge tree came down in front of him, and he dashed off to the side where Slash was. There were four trees all moving together. No, it wasn't a tree it was a monster! Another dinosaur it was enormous! It had four legs, and a long neck! It was moving slowly, it looked very tired.
That's when it happened. Ten pack hunters appeared from nowhere, but they were not like Ravener's clan. Three were red and black, one was like their own pack only he was old, scarred and had only one arm. Ravener didn't recognize him, but he looked ancient. Some had beaks and crests on their heads, and some had long snouts, like a flyer. The all leapt onto the back of the long neck! They tore and bit at it's exposed back, but it threw itself onto the ground and rolled around until they were all gone. One of them, a small red one was crushed, dead. The long neck got to its feet and ran, but it didn't get far. There was a flash of black, and a dark brown and black Pack Hunter leapt out from the tall grass and landed on the long neck's throat, right below the head.
The dark pack hunter sank his deadly teeth into the long neck's throat and tore away red bloody meat and tossed it aside. Then he leapt off the long neck and into the air as the body fell, making a safe landing on the creature's stomach, and immediately beginning to eat, wasting no time in tearing the belly open. The other ten rushed to the scene and began to devour the creature. Ravener was very hungry, and he'd never had meat freshly killed . . . he was tempted to join in, and yet something held him back. Fear? Or perhaps a more primal instinct that he wasn't welcome?
Whatever it was, Slash didn't possess it, and as the damnable hopper creature leapt out towards the pack hunters and their kill, Slash followed.
"No! You stupid!" Ravener snapped softly, but Slash was already following the small beast.
That's when it happened . . .
The old scarred Pack hunter leapt out from the pack of creatures devouring the corps, and took the frog in his one hand and put it into his mouth. Slash shrieked with anger.
"I was playing with that!" She practically roared. It was rare enough to hear her even speak.
Ravener could sense something bad was about to happen, but he was surprised with what it was.
The old creature laughed and said "It's part of the food chain my little snack." He said. "And I could use desert."
That's when a huge shadow emerged, its owner was enormous. It had large strong legs, a long tail, and two small arms. It was colored a sort of pale gray, and then a darker gray, almost purple. It roared and the old one turned around in terror, the larger greater bend down and took the old one in it's jaws, and shook him violently, then threw him to the ground, and brought one of his enormous three toed feet over the old pack hunter and stepped down, pressing the body into the ground and crushing it into red goo.
"That to was part of the food chain." The two finger laughed.
The other pack hunters screeched with anger and shock, one of the red ones rushed for the two finger, but as it leapt into the air for it's enemy's throat, the two finger caught it in it's mouth and bit down, cutting the red pack hunter into two pieces with his powerful jaws and razor sharp teeth.
Slash looked on with mild interest, she didn't seem to be afraid at all. Ravener wasn't about to let a pathetic female outdo him, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to think of what his father would do.
He father would kill the thing, his father could kill ten of those monsters . . . bad example . . . must think of what that sorry excuse for a clan leader Dark Eye would do . . .
"Slash! Run!" He shouted. They both ran together off in the opposite direction of the unknown pack hunters, all of whom were running away from their kill, now the property of the giant two finger.
Chomper laughed wickedly. Just as the Bone Crunchers had stolen his meal, he now stole theirs. There was a great satisfaction in this because theirs was much larger than his had been.
Alleria and the others moved quickly towards their destination, the rock was visible now it was large. It looked like a giant two fingered Sharp Tooth in striking position.
"Wow! It looks so real!" Tri said.
Alleria had to admit that it looked strangely real. It was a light green color with pale blue plates on its back. "I didn't know rocks had colors . . ." she said.
"ROAR!" The Sharp Tooth lunged forward, and the children scattered.
"Oh no!" Alleria cried, because as she turned around she immediately saw two more. They were both a dull olive green with pale purple markings. They lunged forward as well, the children, already scattered in different directions ran like mad in the same direction-the direction they'd come from.
But then from the dense trees sprang another monster! This one was enormous, its head was almost twice the size of the others. It roared and lunged for them, the four frightened children ran into the forest and were lost.
Blue Back was outraged. Certainly scaring flat tooth children was fun in its way, but definitely not enough for him. "Long Jaw your flying friend promised -herds- not four infants!"
Long Jaw shook himself but made no answer.
Zipolote flew in however and said "Where those infants go the parents will follow. You only need to follow them at a distance, and travel down wind. When they are found, or when they find whatever set off to search for them, your feast is yours."
Blue Back scoffed. He disliked waiting for valley dinosaurs. True the large saurpods had migrated out of their territory and into the Sauropod graveyard, or Bone Valley as it was now called. Why they went there each year Blue Back did not know, but he did care. He cared because a herd of four two fingers required at least one long neck per moon.
There were still three horns in the valley but they provided less meat and were much harder to kill.
"You'd best be right." He said. "Or I'll eat you, flyer!"
To Be Continued.