Chapter 4: Teach You A Thing or Two
Now with three of them, and Chompless in good health, they started playing some of the normal games that they played at home. Of course, they had to teach Chompless how each game was played, but once she understood everything, they started having a colossal amount of fun with her. Unfortunately, they stayed way longer than they should have, and Littlefoot realized this, "(Gasps) Chomper! We need to get home and get some sleep! So, so sorry to kill the fun, Chompless, but we need to get some sleep so we won't be tired tomorrow." he said, turning back to home.
Chompless understood completely, and waved goodbye to both of them, "Wow! She's a lot nicer and way more fun than I was expecting." Chomper said. Littlefoot looked back, "I know, right? I'm actually surprised that she liked you after you tried to attack her. But maybe there's something about you that she likes." he said. Chomper wanted to agree, but he didn't know Chompless enough to say that, so he didn't say anything. Luckily, they both got enough sleep to get through the next day.
After this, the three of them all met up and started actually doing some more friend activities. Some nights they played even more games. While others they just laid down and looked at the stars. And still, other days they explored a little further into the Mysterious Beyond. They were overly careful not to get seen by anything, and they more or less just observed Sharpteeth behaving how they naturally did. Well, Chomper and Chompless did.
During these times that Chompless and Chomper were alone, Chomper wanted to get to know her better, "So…Chompless? (She looks at him) Where did you come from?" he asked. She thought and thought, but she couldn't remember, so she shrugged. Chomper was a little surprised at this, and he tried something else, "What was life with your family like?" he asked. She thought, and she only remembered her mother. She just dug "mom" into the ground, "You remember your mother? What was she like?" he asked.
She didn't know how to explain this to Chomper, because she didn't speak his language, nor did she feel comfortable telling him such details at that moment anyway, so she didn't. Chomper then quickly realized that he didn't know her well enough to ask her such personal questions, so he stopped, "Please forgive me if I have upset you in any way. I just wanted to get to know you." he said.
She looked at him and smiled slightly. Then, he realized that it'd be a lot easier for Chompless to communicate if she could speak their language, or at least his, "You know, Chompless, I can teach you how to speak our language if you'd like." he said. She looked at him again and nodded, "Okay. Littlefoot! (Littlefoot comes over) Chompless would like to learn how to speak our language." he said. Littlefoot was glad, "Really? Oh, that's great! Between us, I feel that there's a lot of things she would like to say, but she can't because of this language barrier." he said.
More time passed. While Littlefoot kept bringing her fish, Chomper was teaching her Sharptooth to at least let her get the hang of it. Then he would begin teaching her the Flattooth language, "This is the Sharptooth language, which is my native one." he said. She was perfectly fine as long as she could speak with them.
Much to Chomper's surprise, Chompless was a quick study when it came to learning Sharptooth. After just over a week, she was speaking basic sentences. Keyword, basic. They were very garbled and short, a lot of words were missing, and she sounded completely inarticulate to anybody else that might've heard her, but it was at least a start.
Over the course of another week, her sentences started getting slightly better. But she was still struggling with some aspects of the Sharptooth language. Most days, he gave her a little advice, too, "If you want to sound intimidating, just add a guttural growl to the end of every word. Or snarl at the end of a sentence. It'll scare anybody." he said before demonstrating. She tried to do the same, but she hurt her throat. Chomper had experienced this before, "I know that your throat hurt while trying to do that. The same thing happened to me when I tried. With more practice, that won't happen anymore." he said.
3 days later, Littlefoot decided that he should take a break from visiting Chompless. He still told Chomper to tell her. He also told him to say that it'd just be for that one night. Neither she nor Chomper minded Littlefoot's decision. When they were alone, Chomper tried to ask her about her life again. He tried this because he & her were forming a bond. And she was getting better at speaking, "Chompless, do you mind if I ask you some questions about your life, again? If you don't feel comfortable, I will respect that." he said.
She looked at him and nodded. Although, she was wondering why he'd want to know, "Why…you…need…know?" she said. Chomper was just curious as to her background, "No real reason. I'm just curious." he said. She decided to tell him just a little, "Mother…aggressive…to…all. To…me…caring. She…old…last. But…after…dead. I…alone…since." she said. Chomper was able to decipher what she was trying to say, and felt bad for her, "Was she all you had at the time?" he asked.
She nodded, "I understand your pain. I was forced to leave my home and my parents. Whenever I think about them, they may as well be dead. Even if I wanted to see them, I can't go because it's too dangerous out there for me. They made Ruby promise to keep me safe." he said. Chompless looked at him, "What...make…you…leave?" she said.
"Redclaw and his Fast Biters, Screech & Thud. Me and my parents lived on an island before, but Redclaw came and started becoming a larger threat to us than an inconsistent supply of food. They were worried that they wouldn't be able to protect me from him. They were worried that I'd get picked off by one of them. My parents knew Littlefoot, so they thought I'd be safer here. That, and they wanted me to see how different dinosaurs can get along." he briefly explained.
She understood, but they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. They both were now on guard, "Someone's here. It can't be Littlefoot because he'd let us know, plus he stayed back tonight. And, considering how quiet it sounds like this creature is trying to be, it is probably something that might be trying to watch us, or hunt us." he said. Chompless and him started searching around the area immediately, but neither of them found anything.
Then, they heard someone talking, "Chomper? Are you out there?" they said. Chomper recognized it as Cera's voice, "Uh-oh. Not Cera. If she finds out about you, Chompless, she will tell everyone, and we'll probably never be able to see you again. Under no circumstances can you follow me, or make any sounds right now. I need to coax her back into the valley. Got it?" he said.
She nodded, "Good. (Walks away and calls to Cera) Cera? Where are you?" he said. She called back, "Over here!" Chomper walked over to her, "Hi." he said. She greeted him before asking a question, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing out here?" she said. Chomper had to think of an excuse, "I…had…an urge for meat. Yeah, and I didn't want to unintentionally hurt anybody, so I've been looking for something to eat out here. I still haven't found anything, but I'm not going back until my hunger is satisfied. Just to be safe. Also, why are you out here? This place is too dangerous for someone like you." he said.
"Oh. I was just wondering where you went. I just had a feeling I'd find you out here, and I was right. I'm sorry I disturbed you. I'll leave and let you find something to eat. Just, please don't try to bring it back." she said. Chomper laughed a little, and she left. Once she was out of sight, Chomper breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew! That was a close one." he said. He went back to Chompless was, but she had hidden in a bush, just in the event that Cera or anyone else came back. "Chompless? Where'd you go?" he said. Somehow, Cera heard him, "Chompless? What's a Chompless?" she said.
Then, her curiosity got the best of her and she went back. She peeked back outside to look for him and any other Sharpteeth that might've surprised her. She was about to call to him, but then Chompless jumped out from the bush and pinned him to the ground, playfully, of course. He pretended like he was fighting her, rolling around on the ground. Unfortunately, Cera thought it was real and gasped.
They both heard this, stopped, and looked at her, "Oh...no." Chomper said. Cera slowly stepped back, before she turned and ran, "And we're dead." he said. Chompless turned the opposite way and started leaving, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going? We need to stop her." he said.
She looked back at him. He wouldn't let the friendship be ruined by this. So Chomper had her go after Cera. She did and grabbed her tail, "Yowch!" she said. Chompless threw her to the ground and was about to maul her, but Chomper stopped her just before that happened. "No, Chompless, stop! Don't hurt her!" he said.
Chompless stopped and looked at him, "She's a friend." he said. Chompless kept Cera pinned. But then grabbed her by the neck, ran back out, and started climbing up a tree. Once she was at some of the tip-top branches, she dropped Cera onto one, went back down and placed Chomper on her back, and then climbed back to the top and grabbed Cera by the neck again.
Cera looked at Chomper, "Chomper get…off that…thing! It's going to…kill us both!" she said as she was choking. Chomper shook his head, "No, she won't. Let me explain. Chompless, stop choking her!" he said. Chompless realized he didn't want her to hurt Cera in any way, shape, or form. So she loosened her grip but didn't let go. Cera looked down to see if it was even remotely possible for her to drop down from one branch to the next in the event Chompless let her go, but she couldn't, "I'm more focused on- she? SHE? How do y…what, do you KNOW this thing?" she said in shock. Chomper nodded, "Yes. If you just listen, I will explain everything." he said. Even though she was terrified of Chompless, she nodded.
Chomper then had Chompless put her on her back also, "Now, get me down." she said. Chomper turned back to Chompless, who, throughout this whole time had her teeth bared at Cera because she truly did not like her, "Chompless, take us down…gently." he said. She began slowly climbing down, "See? Nothing to worry about." he said.
Unknowingly to him, Chompless wasn't going to go down just yet. She looked to the closest tree and leaped to it, "Whoaaa!" Chomper yelled in surprise. Chompless was barely able to hang onto the thin branches, but she managed. Because of the fact that she was hanging nearly vertical, Chomper had no choice but to cling to her neck. Cera had to grab ahold of him, too.
She kept doing this, before she paused when their wasn't a tree within easy jumping distance, "Chompless! What is wrong with you?! Uh...she's...she's not usually like this." Chomper said in an attempt to keep Cera from screaming her head off. As soon as he said that, Chompless decided to jump to the nearest tree, but it was, in truth, quite far, "Oh, no." Chomper said as she jumped.
She more or less body-slammed into the tree before climbing back up. Both Cera and Chomper's faces hit Chompless' back as a result of her jump, "Ow! Chompless what are you doing? We need her to like you!" he said. Chompless didn't listen, and she kept jumping from tree to tree.
Then, on one tree, Chompless clung to it with one hand and started spinning around it, "And now, she's spinning." he said. When she swung to another tree, "Thank you for nothing, you useless creature." he said. She didn't care about what he said. Cera was so terrified of Chompless more than falling off that she, for some reason, apologized, "I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing." she said. Chompless looked back at her while she was spinning and she jammed her other claw into it, stopping, and then starting to climb down.
Once on the ground, they both got off, "Now, Cera. This is Chompless. For the past couple of months, me and Littlefoot have left every afternoon and stayed with her for a while. Littlefoot first found her when she was badly hurt and very sick. Since then, he's brought her food and kept her company, and she's been in good health for a while now. Then one day I followed him out. I found him and was going to take him back home, but she got the jump on me and got me away from him. But, he managed to end the confliction between us before it got bloody. Now the three of us are best friends. I could tell Chompless did not like you to begin with, but it seems that she just wanted to hear you say sorry. Although I am unsure as to what you were sorry for. (Cera opens mouth to answer) Ah, ah. Don't say anything. The point is, you seem to be on Chompless' good side right now. Cera, you can either be friends with Chompless. Or not. If you chose to be friends, you cannot tell anyone anything about her. This is something absolutely nobody else can know about, or it'll be the last time we ever get to meet. Now, if you don't want to be friends, that's perfectly fine. Although she might think otherwise. Still, you cannot tell anybody no matter what you decide. Am I making this clear to you?" he said.
She understood everything, "Crystal. It's like when Littlefoot wanted to care for you. We knew about you, but no one else did." she said. "Yes, and like when you came to our island. I knew about you, but my parents didn't...for a while." Chomper said. Cera nodded, "Yes. I would like to be friends with her, even though I feel like she was trying to kill me. And I will definitely keep this a secret." she said. Chomper was glad, "Good." he said.
And then there were four.