The early morning had come and gone. With a new adventure at their paws the gang stands at the top of a hill not too far from the pack. They discussed things with Judah, and after a while of the most uncomfortable conversation of their life they finally got the leader of the Toviel pack to agree and allow them to be off to carry on this journey. Nervous and excited, the three Sharpteeth look out at the horizon from the top of their hill, ready to take on this long and perilous journey and once again view the many wonders the Mysterious Beyond holds.
"So, are you guys ready?" Tanner inquires as he walks up the hill to join the three dinosaurs.
Rex couldn't help but smirk. "I'm ready. Let's go!"
Yu smiles with confidence. "You know me; I'm with you all the way!"
Chomper nods. "I'm ready! Let's do it!"
Tanner nods in agreement. "All right then. Like Donovan said, south and straight on past Threehorn Peak, cross a volcano region and through the desert."
The three of them nod and off they go. Off to another adventure to Crescent Valley, where Leaf-Eaters and Dracovols are said to live together in harmony. As they ventured off down the hill and disappearing from the pack's view little Terrel watches as his cousin leaves with his friends. In a way he envies him, always going off on his own to many adventures, having a lot of privileges most teens wish they'd have.
"Can I go with you guys?" Terrel recalls the argument he had with Yu after walking out of the Rock Ranger's territory.
"You can't, Terrel. It's just too dangerous."
"You always say the same thing! Why can't I go with you? It's not like it's going to be any different than traveling with the whole pack."
"It is different, Terrel! There are less of us to protect you and more of a chance we get outnumbered!"
"That doesn't stop you from going!"
"That's different, Terrel! I'm bigger than you, faster than you and stronger than you! I can hold my own while you can get easily chomped up in one bite! I'm sorry but the answer is no, no, no and no!"
Terrel shakes his head with a growl, so what if he's little, there's a bunch of stuff a little guy can do that a big guy can't. "I'll show you…"
Meanwhile the four travelers are going along their way south to Crescent Valley; Rex walking alongside Tanner while Chomper and Yu followed them a few steps behind them, the both of them in their own little world humming some tunes and jingles. Hey, dinosaurs have rhythm too.
"So…" Rex begins; his eyes at Tanner. "Tanner, have you ever been to this Crescent Valley?"
Tanner shakes his head. "I've never been to the valley, but I've heard much about it from Phantom."
Rex looks down at Tanner. "So what's the valley like? You know, according to him."
Tanner blinks and thinks back, recalling those colorful descriptions given to them by Phantom. "Well, the way he describes it; it sounds just as wonderful as the Great Valley." He looks forward to see where he's going as he continues. "Lots of green food as far as the eye can see, clean and sweet water, lots of trees and caves, just as good as the Great Valley."
Rex looks up at the sky as he listens to the descriptions; another valley as good as the Great Valley? Impossible he thought at first, the Great Valley is a utopia all dinosaurs know. To think there's another valley as good as his home and never heard of it before, it sounds like a legend lost in the vast corners of the Mysterious Beyond, destined to be lost from everyone who has not found it and heard of it be fore.
Rex recalls how they told him it's one of the many areas Dracovols gather, and a question came into his mind. "Hey Tanner, you think my parents are there?"
Tanner took his time to answer. That's a good question. Rex never met his real parents, much less heard of anyone of his kind. It's a sure sign that he'll meet other Dracovols in Crescent Valley, but it's totally unknown if he'll also find his parents there. After all, they couldn't just up and leave and leave his egg behind, right?
"Hm, hard to say." Tanner finally responds. "Dracovols do live in Crescent Valley, but I don't know if they stay or move along after a while. Just, well, don't put all of your eggs in one nest."
Rex nods with a bit of a sigh. He's right though, he really shouldn't get his hopes up that he'll find his actual parents in one area. Rex slowly came to a stop, the truth kind of hitting him hard. Chomper suddenly bumps into Rex, breaking the Dracovol out of his state from the bump. Almost in a quick succession Yu also bumps into them, all three of them falling onto the ground in a dog pile.
"Agh!" Rex yelps as he's crushed under the Fast Biter and the Sharptooth.
Stopping in his tracks upon hearing the yelp, Tanner turns to face the dog pile with Rex under it all. Arching an eyebrow Tanner shakes his head with a slight smirk as if trying to keep himself from laughing. "Taking a break already? You guys get tired quickly."
Rex gave a rather embarrassing grin. Chomper and Yu both got off of Rex, letting the young Dracovol to stand up again. Not exactly smart to space out like that when they're all on the move. Chomper and Yu are both a bit puzzled as to why they bumped into Rex, what made him stop?
"Is everything OK, Rex?" Yu inquires, knowing his sudden stop was out of place.
Rex rubs his head and gives a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Yu looks over at Chomper who in turns gives a mere shrug. As the two of them continue walking forward Rex stays behind watching them, looking out over the horizon. Green plains and trees here and there as far as the eye can see. From where he's standing he can see Threehorn Peak far off into the distance. Rex recalls how Littlefoot and the others have told him about their journey there, certainly no cakewalk to get there. Between it and the Great Valley it's a long and dangerous walk. He remembers how they told him how a stone burning with cold fire crashed into the mountain, believing it has some kind of special power from what two Rainbow Faces have told them; and how Petrie's uncle, Pterano, a power-hungry Flyer, plotted to get to it to acquire its power, kidnapping Ducky in the process for eavesdropping and finding out about their plans.
Rex gives a deep sigh, feeling homesick again. Just a few moments ago he was nearly footsteps away from his home, and now he's once again walking away from it to Crescent Valley. As excited as he is to get to a home of Dracovols, he can't help but feel hesitation on going, wanting to go back home. The young Dracovol sank his face into his paws, overwhelmed at what he just got himself into. The possibility of the Darkarians hunting him down for killing one of their own, possibly not getting back home again; the life of an adventurer he guesses.
"Hey!" A voice cries out, snapping the Dracovol out of his state. He lifts his head to already see his friends already far off, nearly inaudible from how far they've gotten. "Getting cold feet already?!" The Alimon Tanner shouts at him. "Let's go!"
Rex, upon seeing his friends, couldn't help but feel more confident. He knew he was in good and loving paws and they have his back no matter what. He will see home again.
He sheds a smile and rubs his nose. Right, can't keep them waiting. He starts running to catch up to them, it might be a long and dangerous journey, but with his friends by his side there's nothing that can take them down. With the Bright Circle shining down on them and illuminating their way their path is visible and clear. It is indeed a beautiful day, one of those days where children run and laugh playing with their friends and just enjoying the beauty of nature.
In fact, it was just a beautiful and upbeat day that a song came into the gang's heart. Slowly one by one the gang, excluding Tanner, started humming merrily. The tune was catchy, and by some convenient reason the three of them knew it all. They were getting too into it that the humming got louder until those hums became into words, and the three of them suddenly broke out with a song.
"With the sun shining bright,"
"Lighting the path we take."
"With our light shining bright,"
"We will shine!"
After a brief pause Yu continued with the song.
"With our friends by our side,"
"There is nothing we will fear."
"Together we stand tall."
"Together we're strong!"
Rex continues from where Yu left off.
"It doesn't matter what we face."
"Together we prevail."
"In this long and hazardous road."
Rex, Chomper and Yu continued together.
"We'll never fall to anything that we face."
"I'll beat through all the odds."
Rex adds to the song.
Chomper continues with a grin as he playfully bumps Rex.
"If you're always there with me."
The three friends continue as they reach to the end of the song.
"With the sun shining bright,"
"Lighting the path we take."
"With our light shining bright,"
"We will shine!"
"With our friends by our side,"
"There is nothing we will fear!"
"With our hearts shining bright,"
"We'll always pull through!"
As they finished the song the three of them couldn't help but break into a laughing fit, stopping in their tracks as they each laugh their hearts out. Tanner couldn't help but roll his eyes; it was quite uncalled for for the three of them to suddenly turn their hums to an actual song. But on the other paw, he'd be lying if he said he didn't found the lyrics and the tune catchy. Upon looking ahead Tanner stops his walk and turns his head to the laughing trio. "Hey, if you three are finished with your little number, check this out."
The three of them slowly stop their laughing and head over to Tanner, the three of them amazed upon seeing Threehorn Peak extremely close. They must've killed a lot of time and walked a good distance with their little song, they lost track of how long they were walking.
"Threehorn Peak…" Rex points out, looking at the rocky terrain.
"One of the four areas we'll be crossing during our journey." Tanner narrates. "Not too hard to cross, but a lot of dangerous areas. But, if we stick to going around the peak and on firm ground we should be fine."
Rex and Yu nod at Tanner's suggestion, they want to go through the safest road possible to save some time and skin. Chomper blinks and looks behind him upon hearing something, it sounded like something rolling downhill. Pebbles maybe? Chomper sniffs the air just to make sure, but catches no scent other than his friend's.
Yu, who heard Chomper sniffing the air, looks at him. "Something wrong?"
Chomper, after giving the air another second sniff, shrugs and turns his head to Yu. "I thought I heard something."
"It's probably just the unstable rocks." Tanner explains as he walks toward the peak. "Lots of stuff happens here, so there are always rocks and pebbles falling around."
Chomper doubted this though, there wasn't any earth shakes that he felt that could've moved anything near them. Chomper shook it off though; if someone was there he would've caught his scent. The three of them follow Tanner into the canyon of Threehorn Peak. Like Tanner said, this is one out of four areas they're gonna have to cross through to get to Crescent Valley.
"What?!" Mr. Threehorn bellowed, unable to believe what he's hearing.
"I'm telling the truth!" Littlefoot has tried to tell to his grandparents and to Mr. Threehorn about the Sharptooth he spotted. "I saw the Sharptooth that killed the Spiketail! It was short and kind of looked like a Longneck, but-but it could talk and it was very fast!"
Littlefoot's claims didn't seem to make any sense. First off Sharpteeth are simple-minded killers who act on instincts. They're not very smart to begin with, let alone have the ability to speak. But Littlefoot saying the Sharptooth looked like a Longneck takes the cake.
Mr. Threehorn steps closer to the little one, having a horrible time believing this. "Now listen here, Longneck. There's no such thing as a Sharptooth that looks like a Longneck! And as for it being able to talk? Hah! I'll believe it when I see it!"
"But the Sharptooth did speak!" Littlefoot repeated himself, frustrated that no one seems to believe him.
"Now, Littlefoot, settle down." His grandfather steps in. He lowers his head to his grandson and gives him a slight nuzzle before turning to Mr. Threehorn. "If Littlefoot did indeed witness a Sharptooth with these characteristics, then there's a huge danger here especially to the children."
Mr. Threehorn couldn't help but snort at the huge Longneck. "I repeat myself, Longneck. There is no, and I mean no such thing as a Sharptooth that looks like a Longneck! Your grandson here must've been delusional when he saw the Sharptooth!"
"I sincerely doubt that, Mr. Threehorn." Littlefoot's grandpa stated, defending his grandson's claim. "I believe in what Littlefoot says it's true. After all, there are many things we have yet to discover in this vast world of ours."
"Oh please!" Mr. Threehorn exclaims. "Have you already forgotten our last journey out into the Mysterious Beyond?! There is nothing left to be discovered out there other than dirt, dirt and more dirt! The idea of a Sharptooth looking like a Longneck is simply ridiculous!"
Littlefoot's grandpa narrows his eyes a bit. Mr. Threehorn has always been this close-minded and persistent. If anything, he wasn't going to let anyone trample all over his beliefs, which he makes it a habit of everyone knowing it and pushing it as complete facts. This sometimes aggravates other dinosaurs, but it's something they all have gotten used to.
Still, Littlefoot's grandfather isn't convinced of how they have already seen what there is to see. "Must you always be so stubborn? How quickly you forget our ancestors' story about the A-"
"Poppycock!" Mr. Threehorn suddenly blurts out, interrupting the Longneck. "That story was, is and always will be just a legend! There is no such thing!"
Legend? Littlefoot is now curious about this 'legend.' Littlefoot has always been a curious Longneck, always willing to learn new things and stories. He remembers how much he enjoyed hearing time and time again the legend of the Lone Dinosaur.
"Now, all of that nonsense aside. This has confirmed the Sharptooth is still in the valley! Call everyone for a meeting when the Bright Circle is exactly over Saurus Rock at this exact spot! I'm going to get to the bottom of this and get that Sharptooth out of here!" With that the intimidating Threehorn turns and leaves, but before doing so he looks over his shoulder. "Cera, I want you within my sights. Got it?"
Cera, who was standing with the others a bit away from the two grownups, winces from the order. "I will, dad." She confirms with a nod before rolling her eyes and mutters under her breath. "Great…" This is going to put a damper on her day.
As the argument came to a close Littlefoot is looking up at the sky pondering about this legend Mr. Threehorn mentioned. A story from their ancestors…It must be a story thousands of Bright Circles old! Apparently this legend has something to do with the Sharptooth he encountered for his grandfather to bring it up just like that. Curious about it, Littlefoot turns to his grandfather and makes a dash toward him. "Hey grandpa, about that story about our ancestors, what is it about?"
Littlefoot's grandfather couldn't help but chuckle. Littlefoot has always been one fascinated by stories of all kind. "Oh it's just an old story; I don't believe you children would want to hear it."
"Oh, we would love to hear it, grandpa!" Littlefoot runs toward his friends. "Right?"
Ducky, who's riding on Spike's back, nods with a smile, very eager to hear the story. "Oh yes! We would like to hear it! We would! We would!" She looks down at her brother. "Wouldn't we, Spike?"
Spike smiles and gives a nod with a hum. "Spike would!" He suddenly speaks of what little words he knows and is able to speak.
"Me would like to hear story!" Petrie confesses as he flies and hovers alongside Littlefoot. Cera just shrugs and sits down, "I guess."
Littlefoot's grandfather chuckles, he'd expected much. "All right, little ones. I guess it wouldn't hurt." The gang of five eagerly sits in front of Littlefoot's grandfather, ready to listen to a story as old as time itself. A story from the ancestors, what exactly could it be about? Littlefoot has a suspicion it has something to do with the Sharptooth he saw if it was brought up in an argument based on it.
Littlefoot's grandfather sits down, ready to tell the story. "Well, you see children, a long time ago there were other dinosaurs living here in the Great Valley. Remember?" He sees everyone nodding their heads, they don't miss a beat. "Well, this legend is about the walls of the Great Valley. For you see, there's a secret hidden in the walls."
A secret hidden in the walls? That's a pretty curious statement. The gang is instantly sucked into the story, curious about what this secret in the walls could be. Littlefoot's grandfather continues with the story. "'If those walls could speak', a statement a fellow Longneck said when he told me the story. For you see, deep in the valley walls lays a series of tunnels, leading in and out of the valley."
"Wow!" Littlefoot exclaims in awe. "Tunnels leading in and out of the valley? Just like that?"
His grandfather nods. "Yes, Littlefoot. That's what the story says."
Upon hearing this Cera just had to stand up and speak her mind. "Wait a minute, if all of that is true then why haven't we seen those tunnels? Better yet, why haven't other Sharpteeth used those tunnels to get in here?"
"That's where I'm getting at, little one." Littlefoot's grandfather comments. "The story isn't about the tunnels, but what lives inside them." The gang listen attentively, what kind of dinosaur would live in there? This kind of reminds the gang about the Tinysauruses who used to live in underground tunnels under the valley before two Fast Biters invaded the tunnels and had to be sealed off. However, they were allowed to live in the Great Valley, replacing their sealed off underground homes. "It is not clear what exactly lives in them, but many have seen the creature. What's curious is that this peculiar dinosaur looks like a Longneck."
Littlefoot gasps. A dinosaur that looks like a Longneck? That's it, he thought, that's the dinosaur he saw! It must've been! The rest of the gang look at each other before turning their heads to Littlefoot, maybe what he had been saying of a Sharptooth looking like a Longneck is all true.
"So…" Cera starts as she gets up on all four. "Do they know what kind of dinosaur it is if it's not a Longneck?"
Littlefoot's grandfather shakes his head. "No one is sure what it is, but many believe these creatures are the ones protecting the tunnels from any Sharpteeth that try to use them to come inside the valley. There are rumors that these creatures are often seen after a Sharptooth scare, and just like that the Sharptooth that started the scare disappears." Littlefoot's grandfather slowly gets up on all fours, ready to take his leave. "But it is all just a story. I do not doubt these creatures exist, but I don't truly believe in these tunnels either. Like you said Cera, otherwise a number of Sharpteeth would've already gotten into the valley." He looks down at his grandson before continuing. "And I also have no doubt what you saw was one of them; a Sharptooth that looks like a Longneck, yet it is not."
Quite an interesting discovery, Littlefoot thought, a Sharptooth that looks like a Longneck, making it easy to fool some Leaf Eaters before going in for the kill. Despite the curious find this just makes the situation in the Great Valley all the more dangerous. They can't allow having such a terrible advantage in the Sharptooth's court; this would terribly destroy the trust toward any Longneck in the valley. Well, the children Longneck to be exact.
Ducky, who's scared about the possibility of this being real, huddles down against Spike's neck and embraces it in a light hug. "Oh dear, I do not think I like having a Sharptooth that looks like a Longneck, no no no…"
"Me say!" Petrie agrees as he hovers close to her and Spike. He then gets a scary thought and lands on the ground, huddling close to Spike and looking up at Ducky with widen eyes. "What if Petrie see Sharptooth and think it Littlefoot? What if Petrie get too close and Sharptooth see me and chase me? Petrie be eaten for sure!" His fear was growing so rapidly his beak began to chatter as he started to tremble.
Cera slowly shakes her head. "Aw don't worry so much about it, Petrie." She slowly gets up from lying on her stomach and looks at both Ducky and Petrie with a heroic grin. "Just stick close to me and if that Sharptooth shows up I'll teach it not to enter our valley for an easy snack!"
"Yeah, just be sure you don't end up as its snack." Littlefoot couldn't help but tease.
"Hey!" Cera remarks, sounding a bit insulted. "I'll have you know I once stood up to a full-grown Fast Biter all by myself!"
Littlefoot chuckled. "Really? I could've sworn Petrie told me you did that with Chomper's help."
Cera frowns. So that Flyer told him the rest of the story. She slowly moves her glaring eyes to Petrie; the Flyer in return gave a nervous grin before suddenly taking a dive behind Spike's bulky tail, hiding away from Cera's view. The full story was that they needed a plan to get the Fast Biter away from them, and with Chomper's help they managed to keep the Fast Biter at bay while Rex and Petrie used vines to help trip the Fast Biter down so they could've escaped. Their plan backfired, but either way it all ended up at their favor.
Feeling that he has lost the children's attention, Littlefoot's grandpa cleared his throat, the rough sound getting back the gang of five's attention. "In all seriousness children, this is a very troublesome dilemma. You must all be on alert and keep away from anything suspicious. I do not want to limit your distance from us any more than what it is now but I'm afraid I'll have no choice if this gets any worse than it is now. Am I making myself clear?" The whole gang nods respectfully, putting the old Longneck's heart at ease. "Good. Run along now, best to enjoy the day while the Bright Circle is still up."
With a smile the gang stand up and take their leave as Littlefoot's grandpa take his own leave as well. Out of all of them, Littlefoot was the more intrigued about this unique Sharptooth. Looking like a Longneck, yet it has claws and teeth, ready to spring and attack for its food. Thinking back to his close encounter, he really did confuse it for a Longneck from afar, but up close the difference was painfully apparent. It's a shame though that when you noticed the difference from that up close it's already too late.
"Littlefoot! What's the hold up?!"
Littlefoot came out of his thoughtful stance, realizing he stopped moving all together. He looks around and gives an embarrassing grin to his friends as they all come back to him. "Let me guess," Cera remarks as she has a thought as to why Littlefoot stopped. "You're thinking about this Longneck Sharptooth, aren't you?"
Figured out already, Littlefoot nods. "I just can't help but think about those Longneck Biters, something about them caught my attention."
"Longneck Biters?" Cera echoes. Did Littlefoot just gave these Longneck Sharpteeth a name? The gang looks at each other before turning their heads back to Littlefoot, which Cera couldn't help but give a little smirk at him. "Nice name." She remarked sarcastically.
"What about them that has caught your attention, Littlefoot?" Ducky curiously remarks.
Littlefoot thinks back to that moment yesterday when he was cornered by the Longneck Biter, when he was about to be eaten alive by the fierce hunter. But when he was about to be devoured, another Longneck Biter came out of the blue and saved his life from the attacker. He especially recalls what the Longneck Biter that attacked him said…
"Well…" Littlefoot pauses, looks around and closes in the distance between him and his friends. "I could've been easily killed by that Longneck Biter, but…Well, another Longneck Biter showed up."
The gang gasps upon hearing this. Cera growls in annoyance, "Oh great, there's another Longneck Biter in the valley?!"
Ducky shakes her head while covering her eyes. "Not another one, no no no. This has jut gotten from worse to worserer."
"But then the strangest thing happened," Littlefoot continues, getting everyone's attention back. "The second Longneck Biter didn't even try to eat me. It just stood in front of me and protected me from the one that wanted to eat me."
The gang heard it, but they're having trouble believing it. A Sharptooth protecting a Leaf Eater from another one of its own kind? Such a thing is unheard of when it means to protect and let the Leaf Eater live. Usually when this happens it's just to steal the kill.
"But then," Littlefoot resumes. "Just before the Longneck Biter that attacked me ran off, he said something about protectors."
Cera arches an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Protectors? Are you trying to tell us that the Longneck Biter that chased the other one off is one of these Protectors?"
Littlefoot nods without giving it a second thought. "It has to be. I mean, yeah it didn't made much sense to me either, but then after hearing Grandpa's story, it all comes together now!" The young Longneck throws his head up to the heavens toward the mountains, recalling the story his grandfather has told them. "Protectors of the valley, the Longneck Biters. Just like what Grandpa said!" With excitement settling in his body he turns his head back to his friends with a smile. "The stories are true! It-It must be!"
Cera however tends to disagree with her Longneck friend's claims. "Yeah, except a Longneck Biter tried to eat you in the first place! Sure, one Longneck Biter saved your life, but how can you be so sure the others are the same? Just because you saw two of them doesn't mean the Great Valley's mountains have tunnels in them and they're crawling with these Sharptooth."
"Cera have point, Littlefoot." Petrie comments as he flies around Littlefoot's head before hovering in front of his face. "Just two Longneck Biters in valley don't mean more of them in Great Valley walls."
Littlefoot was cornered. They're right, just because he saw two Longneck Biters it doesn't mean there are more of them in these supposed tunnels, right? Littlefoot mentally shook his head, no, that can't be so. Otherwise he would've found their trails all over the place. He recalls how he saw their trails and suddenly stop in front of rocks and boulders close to the valley walls. If that doesn't indicate they've climbed up the walls and into some kind of cavern, he would have to come to a conclusion that they could somehow fly. There's only one sure fire way to figure this mystery out…
"There's only one way to figure this out," Littlefoot began, and immediately the gang knew what he means.
Another adventure was about to unfold…
"There it is again!"
Threehorn Peak
Rex sighs as he rolls his head for the fifth time since they've gotten into the Threehorn Peak region. Chomper has been rather paranoid about sounds he's been hearing since they've gotten into this place, pointing out every thud and rock tumbles they hear. He insists someone is following them, but everyone just insists that it's just his imagination. Besides, it's a mountain region with rumbles and little earthshakes here and there, do they really need a paranoid Sharptooth to point out every single sound they hear?
Chomper suddenly whirls around upon hearing another sound, ready to chirp something about it until Yu had it up to here with his paranoia and swirls around, bumping Chomper with his snout and growling menacingly. "Will you please stop it with your paranoia?! You're driving us insane!"
"Thank you!" Tanner shouts as he's a bit far ahead in the lead, managing to hear Yu snapping, apparently also tired of tolerating Chomper's paranoid behavior.
Chomper shakes his head rapidly. "I'm not doing this on purpose!" He faces toward where he heard the sound and backs off, his head low in case what's following them springs out to attack. "I'm telling you something's following us! Can't you smell it?!"
Rex shakes his head yet again; he ponders how his head hasn't fallen off yet from how much he has done this in the last two hours. He lifts his head and sniffs the air and smells nothing other than smoke, dirt, and smelly creepy crawlies. "No offense Chomper but other than ordinary things I can't smell anything else."
"That's because your sniffer isn't as sharp as mine." Chomper remarks to which Rex shoots a glare at him in return, a bit offended by the remark. "I can smell things you probably can't, which is why you can't sniff out another thing moving along with us."
"Are you sure you're not sniffing Tanner?" Rex questions as he points over his shoulder to the Alimon up ahead.
"Hey!"
Chomper shakes his head. "I'm telling you, it's not us I'm sniffing! And if it was Tanner I was sniffing I would've known since his scent is the strongest out of the four of us."
"You know, I can still hear you!"
Yu slightly turns away from Rex and Chomper, taking his turn to try to sniff anything out. "Well I can't smell anything out of the ordinary either other than you, Rex and Tanner." He turns to face Rex and Chomper, "Which I might add my sniffer is as good as yours if I can smell him and he's that far off ahead of us."
"Hey, I bathe regularly!"
Rex rubs his eyes before speaking. "Look, there's nothing out there other than creepy crawlies and moving rocks. Can we just continue on before the Bright Circle falls and Tanner gets out of our range of sight and especially smell?"
Suddenly a bright red Alimon pops from behind Rex, looking at the trio with a threatening glare and snarl. "If I hear another crack about my scent there's gonna be blood all over this region!"
The sudden outburst startles the trio, causing them to scream and fumble back, the three of them falling back onto the ground. With the momentum of the fall Chomper rolls along the ground and collides against something behind a boulder, causing Chomper and another being yelp from the crash. And out from the other side comes a little Fast Biter rolling out from behind the boulder, ending on its stomach flat on the ground.
Hearing the second yelp Yu slowly sits up, shaking his head to rid of the daze before looking at the little Fast Biter. "What the? Terrel?!"
Chomper immediately sits up and looks around. Upon spotting little Terrel on the ground he stands up triumphantly. "Hah! I told you we were being followed!"
Rubbing his head, Rex looks at Tanner and then the both of them look at little Terrel, so Chomper was right after all. Getting up with a glare, Yu angrily stomps over to Terrel, he can't believe the little Sickleclaw followed them all the way here. How could he have disobeyed him after he strictly told him he can't come? Either way, Yu is now very upset and angry about this, and he was going to give the little twerp a piece of his mind.
Seeing his cousin very angry little Terrel got up and scurried behind a boulder, but not even a mountain was going to save him from his cousin's rage.
"Terrel!" The little Fast Biter flinches upon hearing his cousin call out his name. He curls up behind the boulder, if he doesn't see him, maybe he'll go away.
"I know you're back there!" Theory failed, Yu knows he's there and won't go away. "Get out here, right now!" Defeated, Terrel slowly gets out and peaks from behind the boulder, very apparent in his face that Yu isn't in the mood for games, and just making him wait is going to make him angry.
"Now!" Very angry. With a gulp Terrel comes out from behind the boulder and sulkily walks closer toward his cousin. He slowly looks up, seeing his cousin towering over him and tapping his sickle-shaped claw on the ground. After a moment of silence Yu finally speaks out. "What have I told you about following us?! I told you that you can't come with us! Do you have any idea what you just gotten yourself into?!"
Terrel keeps quiet, but the scolding continues. "This is dangerous Terrel! You're still not big and strong enough to handle these kinds of things! You're just an easy meal for scavengers and other Fast Biters! You're too young!"
Terrel starts to narrow his eyes as he looks down at the ground. Of anything he can be called, he despises being called little and weak. If he gave it his all he can be just as good as Yu even if he's still too young.
"All I try to do is to protect you but no, you decide to run off and act like some strong Fast Biter proving you can handle everything! How am I going to get through to you if you keep acting like this?! You're going to get yourself killed if you keep this up!"
The little Fast Biter began to growl. How dare he look down at him like some kind of helpless Fast Biter in distress? How dare he shun him down so easily when he doesn't even give him a chance?
Noticing the little Fast Biter getting hurt by the scolding and realizing it's just getting him angry Rex slowly holds out a paw to Yu. "Um, Yu? I think that's enough."
But Yu doesn't listen and continues. "And another thing, when are you going to learn your own limits?! You try to take on things you can't even handle like that one time you tried to hunt a Spiketail! Do you know how much my back ached after I got clubbed by it when I saved you? I couldn't hunt for days!"
Chomper also took note of Terrel's agitated state and also grows with worry. "Uhhh, Yu?"
But Yu was beyond talking. "So now I have no choice but to take you back to the pack! This is really going to set us back on our journey, Terrel! So turn tail and walk forward and no wandering off for anything while I foll-"
"Why don't you follow your own tail for a change!!" Terrel had enough of the scolding and finally snaps. "You're always breathing down my neck keeping an eye on me trying to make me into a little perfect follower!! Terrel this Terrel that! I'm sick and tired of you carrying me around telling me what and what not to do!! I'm getting so sick of it!!"
Rex and Chomper covered their ears upon Terrel snapping. Heck, even Tanner did the same as he placed his head down to the ground and covered his ears from the little Fast Biter's outburst. As for Yu, the Sickleclaw was taken back by Terrel's sudden outburst as he stands there with widen eyes and his mouth slightly open in shock.
But now it's Terrel's turn to speak out his mind. "You're always putting me down and never give me a chance! You keep saying I'm little when you barely know what I can really do! In fact, I remember you also get angry when the grown-ups never let you do something because you're still little! What about that, huh?! How's it feel to be put down because you're little?!"
The next thing Terrel shouts immediately shocks everyone within hearing radius.
"Aw why should you care?! You're just a stupid Fast Biter who thinks he's too grown up to spend time with us!"
Complete and utter silence falls upon the group. What Terrel said felt like someone took a long and sharp rock and pierced it through his chest and heart, it just hurt that much to Yu. For a few minutes no one spoke, it was that much of a shock and heartbreaking moment. Terrel had run off upon spilling his guts out, leaving behind a stunned Fast Biter and three shocked individuals. Chomper wanted to go after Terrel but was stopped when he felt Rex's paw on his shoulder. This was something to be settled between Yu and Terrel.
"…" Yu slowly bows his head, admitting his mistake of scolding at Terrel. "…Shoot."
Rex, Chomper and Tanner stand there looking at Yu in sympathy. They do agree that Yu went a bit too far with his scolds, but Terrel was also a bit out of line with what he said. Rex was about to say something when a sudden loud crumble of rocks stopped him, catching his attention. Tanner saw something moving out of the corner of his eyes and Chomper caught a number of different scents. Suddenly figures sprung out and surrounded them, snapping Yu out of his sulking state and back away to his friends.
"Fast Biters?!" Rex exclaims as he looks around, surrounded by seven Sickleclaws.
"Dang it! All that shouting led them to us!" Tanner curses as he eyes their predators.
Yu looks at them and tilts his head, gasping upon recognizing some of these Sickleclaws. "These are from the Sodom pack!" Another thing snaps in his mind, causing another gasp. "Oh no! Terrel! If they find him he'll…"
"Well first we gotta save ourselves!" Tanner blurts out.
And so starts another battle to save their lives. Four against seven.
Three Fast Biters lunge for the attack, causing the team to move and separate, making the fight all the more dangerous. Two Fast Biters jump for Rex who simply runs out of the way. One Fast Biter cuts him off and goes for a bite but Rex leaps to the side and goes for the offense, tackling him and biting onto the back of its neck. The Fast Biter screeches in pain as the razor sharp teeth puncture through his skin, drawing the first blood of the fight. A Fast Biter goes to help his friend but Tanner cuts him off with a blow to the head, the sheer strength of the Alimon's paw enough to slam the Fast Biter's head to the ground, knocking it out cold with the slam to the ground.
Chomper runs toward one direction as three Fast Biters chase after him. He jumps over a boulder and crouches down behind it before the three chasers jump over it and look around, confused as to where the Sharptooth ran. Seeing his opening Chomper leaps and tackles the middle Sickleclaw to the ground, causing the other two to jump in surprise and charge at him with a snarl. Thinking quick on his feet Chomper jumps out of the way, making the two Sickleclaws slam into each other. The Sharptooth chuckles but he's suddenly caught by surprise as another Fast Biter pops out of nowhere and lunges at him, ready to tear him apart.
"Aaah!" Chomper screams as the Fast Biter lunges at him with an open mouth to tear him up. He turns his head away for the pain to kick in but he's saved as Yu tackles the Fast Biter away and then slamming him with his tail, knocking him away and down. He sighs in relief but the time to rest is short-lived as the three Sickleclaws he outwitted got up and are now going at him and Yu.
Luckily Tanner jumps in and stands in front of Chomper and Yu, protecting them. The three Sickleclaws lunge for the attack but Tanner, swiftly and quickly, leaps up to his hind legs and slams his powerful paw to one of the Sickleclaw's head, uses his other paw and slashes across another one's face and then he lands on his forepaws, immediately ducks low and leaps, spearing the Fast Biter hard in the stomach and knocking him down. Yu and Chomper are left standing there impressed.
As for Rex he stands up over the Fast Biter he sunk his teeth into. All he had to do was keep his mouth clamped around the back of the Fast Biter's neck and the pain alone was enough to render it unconscious. He turns around at the sound of a snarl and gets tackled to the ground by a Fast Biter. Almost immediately the Fast Biter lunges his jaws down around the Dracovol's head while tackling him down. Rex grits his teeth and cries in pain as the razor sharp teeth are thrusted in his head, threatening to kill him if any of his veins are cut. Not wanting to have it end here, Rex opens one eye and thrusts his paws forward, stabbing his claws into the Sickleclaw's neck and chest. This alarms the Fast Biter, but before he could retaliate Rex slashes his claws downward, severely wounding the Fast Biter and forcing it to remove his bite from around Rex's head. Released, Rex kicks the Fast Biter off of him and rolls away, sitting up and clutching his aching head as it pulses.
While Rex recovers from such a close-call Yu, Chomper and Tanner are facing the remaining four. Three down, four to go. The odds have been leveled.
But apparently the remaining four are wise as they start to back off. Seeing an Alimon with them and lending them their strength they know they're just kidding themselves thinking they can beat them. If they want to beat them they gotta think of something else. With a snarl from one of them they turn tail and retreat, leaving behind their two unconscious friends as the one Rex wounded tries to retreat with them.
"Aw, no more?" Tanner comments with a sneer.
Chomper sighs in relief. "Glad that's over…"
Rex slowly gets up with a moan, clutching and rubbing his head from the puncture wounds, nothing too bad that will hinder him. "Hey guys, how about next time at least one of you watch my ta-" He stops as he sees Yu looking around at a formidable speed, bobbing his head this way and that. No mystery that he's trying to sniff out for Terrel. And with the Sodom pack here, it's top priority.
"Darn it, Terrel…" Yu growls. But instead of getting angry like he usually does when Terrel runs off he gives a loud and sad sigh, his shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry…"
Rex frowns, bad timing for this to happen. They really need to get moving, especially now that the Sodom pack knows they're here. But, they can't just leave Terrel behind without knowing if he's all right or not. Rex slowly walks over to Yu and looks at his face. "Don't worry, we'll find him." He turns around to face Chomper. "Chomper, think you can sniff him out?"
Chomper catches on and smiles with a nod. "You bet I can! Just a good whiff of the air and my sniffer will be all over his scent in no time!"
Rex nods with a smirk. "All right! We're in your paws, Chomper."
Hearing this Yu instantly turns around and shakes his head. "No, it's OK. You guys need to get to Crescent Valley as soon as you can. You three go, I'll find Terrel and head back with him to the pack and wait for you guys to return."
Rex smiles and shakes his head. "No deal, Yu. We're in this together and, well, not even you can stand up to the Sodom pack if they find you."
Tanner steps in to speak his mind. "As much as I would like to stay within Donovan's orders to get to Crescent Valley without distractions, your little raplet does need our help and, well, he won't survive long out here by himself."
Yu smiles a bit, relieved that even the Alimon doesn't mind in going out of their way of the journey to find little Terrel. With his friends having his back, Yu feels more at ease. "Thanks, guys."
Rex smiles and turns to Chomper. "OK Chomper, you know what to do."
"Right!" Chomper throws his head up and begins sniffing the air, letting his nose lead the way as he follows it. He takes a few steps forward and catches the scent he was looking for, although a bit faint, he knows this is the one. "Found him!" He looks at his friends and motions his head. "It's very faint, but his scent leads this way."
"Southwest?" Tanner asks, recognizing the direction and the look of the region. "Are you sure?"
Chomper nods. "Yes, I am sure!"
"Why you ask?" Rex inquires.
Tanner shakes his head as he looks up at Rex. "Dude, southwest of here lies the volcano region Donovan mentioned. If Yu's raplet did go down that direction, he's not gonna last long in that region!" Tanner looks toward the direction Chomper pointed out. "We were supposed to avoid that region by going around it; even doing that is pretty dangerous in itself."
"Well we can't just stand here then!" Yu cries out as he runs down southwest toward the volcano region. "We gotta find him before he gets there!"
"Hey, wait!" Chomper shouts as he runs after Yu. "We gotta follow his scent and not the exact direction! Yu!!"
"You got courageous and rather reckless friends, Rex." Tanner comments with a slight smirk as he stands alongside Rex, watching as Chomper runs after Yu in an attempt to settle him down before he gets into trouble, not giving a care or a second thought of what surrounds them.
Rex chuckles. "Yeah, but you gotta love them. They're the best." After a couple of seconds they look at each other, what the heck are they doing standing around like this? They both suddenly burst into a run to catch up to Chomper and Yu. "Guys, wait up!"
A dark and gloomy cavern with no light to shine into it, a perfect place for creatures of the dark to hide in, to seek shelter in and hide from the blazing sun outside. Somewhere in the Mysterious Beyond the Darkarians make their home. Somewhere where no one can find them, a place where they can safely regroup and talk of their plans without anyone to eavesdrop on them, a place where anyone who tries to betray them will never see the light of day again.
"Tell me, Stormwhite…Exactly what happened back there?"
It is in these caverns that Stormwhite, the Alimon that faced off against Rex and the rest of the gang, lies low against the ground in an honorable manner. His wounds have been taken care of despite the long journey he had to take to get to where he is now. He slightly trembles upon the sight of the Darkarian leader, no one dares to tell him otherwise or else their life would end pretty quickly. The white and light blue Alimon slowly lifts his head, his blue and green eyes slowly ascending forward to the indoor rock mesa in front of him where two Alimons stand alongside a rather big one in the middle hiding in the shadows, its red eyes the only thing you can clearly see.
The red eyed Alimon narrows his eyes a bit more, clearly angered. "Who was the one that killed Brownstone?!"
Stormwhite gulps. "Re-re-relax, boss…" He winces at the growl of his leader before continuing. "We found three Sharptooth wandering around and we decided to take care of them until one of the Rock Rangers showed up and helped them…"
"And why did you decided to go after meat scrap?!" The leader barks, this is just angering him even further. "Have you forgotten your job was to hunt and kill in the valley and not sidetrack to go after three other Sharpteeth?!"
Stormwhite widens his eyes a bit and gets up fully on all four, his eyes set on his leader. "Bu-But sir! It was him!"
"Him who?!"
"The-The Sharptooth you ordered to kill!"
The leader kept silent upon hearing this. So, the Sharptooth he demanded to take care of was around. Maybe he won't punish this Alimon after all for getting the Rock Ranger's attention. The leader slowly sits down, interested in this. "And let me guess, this Sharptooth, he was the one that killed Brownstone, did he?"
Stormwhite slowly nods. "Yeah, that punk along with three of his other friends did it."
This came to no surprise to the leader, after all why else would he send the order to kill this Sharptooth on sight? Brownstone was a Darkarian of course, but a rather low ranking member. But when someone kills a fellow Darkarian that killer earned itself a spot on the list for the Darkarians' assassins.
"Interesting situation…" The guardian Alimon on the leader's left speaks out.
"Eh?" Stormwhite arches an eyebrow to the Alimon. "What are you talking about, bro?"
The Alimon slowly closes his eyes. "Not too long ago our spies returned from the surrounding area of the valley. And they told us they spotted the Sharptooth in question leaving with three others heading toward the direction of Crescent Valley."
"Awesome." Stormwhite smirks. "Shall I go find him and take care of him, boss?"
The leader took his time to answer Stormwhite's request, with the Sharptooth accompanied with three others Stormwhite alone will get killed in no time. With this kind of companionship it won't be easy to make the kill, but…
The Alimon on the right slowly gets up from lying down and approaches the edge of the mesa, coming out from the shadows and showing his jet black skin with a white muzzle, the spot almost in the shape of a star. His feathers are all grey with a white stripe from between his eyes along the back of his head and neck and ending at the tip of his tail. "It does not concern us about them for now…" He speaks in a deep and dark voice, although not as dark as their leader. "Either way, their journey will be nigh impossible…"
The Alimon on the left arches an eyebrow to the black Alimon. "Nigh impossible?" He smiles a bit while narrowing his eyes. "If that's so, then tell us, Star, what have the heavens told you this time?"
The black Alimon, Star, slowly closes his eyes as he lifts his head up. He stays like that for a couple of seconds, as if listening to something up in the sky. Star is known in the pack as the Heaven Interpreter, the one who gazes up at the moon and stars every night for hours doing what he says 'listening to the skies.' He claims the moon and stars prophesize to him of what the future holds for them and other dinosaurs.
Star slowly opens his mouth and speaks. "The journey will break one's heart."
"That's it?" Stormwhite blurts out; to him that was the worst prophesy he has ever heard from him. "How can a simple journey exactly break one's heart?"
Star looks over at Stormwhite. "You question me?"
Stormwhite rolls his eyes and begins counting his doubts with his claws. "Well it's just that before Brownstone and I head to the Great Valley a few days ago you 'prophesized' that anyone that faced us would end up with its face on the ground. Now if I recall correctly I got bruised, cut, bitten on and my partner got killed." Stormwhite stops and looks at Star with a rather sarcastic expression. "Where do I draw the line here with your 'prophecies'?"
"Hmph." Star couldn't help but smile a bit with an arrogant expression. This Alimon is more lost than he anticipated. "If I recall I never mentioned anything about your safety. Nevertheless, you did report your attackers suffered defeat shortly after, did you not?"
"Well yeah but…!" Stormwhite was about to snap at him again, but he was cornered after hearing that. He's right; Star never did mentioned anything about their well being, just that anyone that tried to stop them would suffer a rather humiliating defeat if he interpreted Star's words correctly. And he was right; his attackers actually did suffer a rather quick and embarrassing defeat at the paws of the Dracovol that showed up.
"I thought so." Star mockingly concludes upon seeing the white Alimon step down.
"Enough!" The leader barks, bearing his teeth a bit in a malicious grin. "Now, the target is traveling to Crescent Valley as our spies claim. Normally I would send a pawful of my assassins to destroy him, but…" He moves his gaze to Star, his malicious grin still intact. "Star's prophecy has given me a nice idea…"
"The journey will break one's heart." Stormwhite recites again. "Sounds promising but how exactly did this give you an idea?"
The leader couldn't help but to chuckle, how naïve is this Alimon. He hasn't figured it out yet. Stormwhite tilts his head a bit at his leader's chuckle, but as he catches on his eyes widen. "Sir, you…You don't mean you're gonna…" Stormwhite shudders at the thought. "You're one mean Sharptooth…"
The leader laughs, calling him mean is an understatement, he's meaner than mean. Heck, he's the one leading the Darkarians. He can think of even worse things than what he has in store for the Sharptooth. The leader slowly stops laughing, eyeing Stormwhite with a malicious grin. "He'll regret to have ever gotten involve with the Rock Rangers and killing one of my fellow Alimons…" He turns his head to his left toward Star. "Star, I trust you know what to do."
Star simply nods. "Of course. However, she might do things her way."
The leader shakes his head in reply. "I'm sure she will, but this time I'll allow it." The leader grins again as he thinks about the possibilities of this task. "It will be like reliving the glorious past for her…"
Her indeed, of course she's going to enjoy this. Stormwhite even felt a bit of sympathy to this Sharptooth. After she's through with him he'll be practically begging to have his life ended. Stormwhite paces around the outside of the caverns after he was dismissed from his little meeting with the leader, and he wasn't exactly too happy. He wanted to get some payback to the Sharptooth after what happened back there. But now it's obvious to him that he'll never get the chance.
"Why always her…" Stormwhite mutters under his breath. "When it comes to these kinds of things he always sends her and leaves us with the scrap…"
"It appears you are still in the dark, as usual."
Stormwhite flinches. He recognizes that voice. He turns to his left and spots a purple Alimon approaching him. Purple with a red blotch on her chest, yellow claws and eyes, her downy fur-like feathers are as purple as her skin. "Violet." Stormwhite calls her name. Violet, Stormwhite's sister. Not much is known about her, and her brother, Stormwhite, isn't so cooperative of sharing anything he knows about her, which makes more of an enigma.
She looks at her brother with stern eyes. "Axel is second-in-command of our pack, giving her the same privileges as our leader has."
Stormwhite looks at his sister as if she thinks he's an idiot. He knows that already, but it still doesn't explain the amount of work the leader has been giving her recently. As second-in-command she is to give the orders and barely lift a claw.
"Don't give me that look." Violet orders as her eyes dangerously narrow. When angry she can be pretty violent. "Axel is the most feared member of the Darkarians, even feared among our own. She can do whatever she desires and no one would dare question her authority."
Stormwhite arches an eyebrow. Is that so, he thought, well what's wrong with that, aren't leaders suppose to be feared and respected by everyone? He blinks as it clicks in his head. "Are you saying our leader is afraid of her? That he's giving her as much entertainment as she wants to keep her away or something?"
"Heh," Violet couldn't help but smirk a bit, is brother still hasn't grasped the concept. "It's a simple strategy, my dear brother. Feed the hungry and they won't start a riot for their food. As long as the leader keeps her satisfied, she won't have a need to go out of our leader's way for her own plans and, therefore, ruin what we, the Darkarians have been working so hard to accomplish."
Stormwhite recaps all of what his sister has told him. In other words Axel is like a double edged sword, the Alimon to trust to finish a job perfectly and the Alimon that can ruin everything they have worked so hard for with a simple bark of an order. Being second-in-command, she has enough power to even over throne their current leader. Axel's presence is a danger to the whole pack, including their leader.
"I never liked her." Stormwhite comments.
Things weren't going as well as they thought. They knew the Sodom pack was in the area, but they had no idea the pack was aiming at them like this. During their search for Terrel they've been chased, attacked, ambushed, even to the point where they had to hide in crevasses and behind boulders to lose them. It's been a very intensive day. Yu was getting impatient though, but he kept calm and silently prayed that Terrel was all right. With just his sense of smell Chomper could tell if Terrel was alive or not, and to everyone's relief the little raplet is still alive.
Chomper runs up to a ledge of the rocky region, sniffing the air to keep track of the scent. His sniffer really is a wonder. "We're almost there!" Chomper reports to his friends. "Just a little more!"
As Chomper runs down the ledge Rex, Tanner and Yu pick up the pace to the ledge. The blue and green Sickleclaw is still feeling awful about shouting at his little cousin, his eyes watery as some tears go down his cheeks. "I'm such a dummy head…" He insults himself as he stops. "If I wouldn't have yelled at him he wouldn't have ran away…And now with the Sodom pack here who knows if he's OK…"
With a concerned look Rex walks up to Yu and places his paw on his shoulder. "Don't think like that, Yu. He's going to be all right. We'll find him!"
"Sure we will!" Chomper cries as he walks back to his friends, proudly pointing at his nose. "Like I said my sniffer can sniff out anything. I can even tell if what I'm sniffing is OK or not. And I can say for sure that Terrel is still OK!"
"Heh!" Rex smiles upon hearing this. "See? We'll find him for sure! And then you can tell him how sorry you are for scolding at him."
Tanner looks behind him to make sure they aren't being followed. He then turns to the gang. "Yeah well we won't find him if we stand around here with those Fast Biters looking for us." He announces as he steps in. "We better get moving!"
Yu lifts his head up and nods, his spirit and determination lifted by his friends' encouraging words. "Thanks guys. C'mon, let's go find him."
The gang nods and continues on their way down the ledge. Chomper takes up the lead following Terrel's scent through the rocky region, each of them keeping their eyes open for any of the Sodom pack that would give the jump on them to attack. They all keep quiet as they traverse through the area, rocks and boulders littered around the brown and muddy region around the base of Threehorn Peak. There isn't much to look at other than little critters crawling about. The silence is eerie with the exception of some rocks and pebbles giving way and rolling to the ground. A shiver goes up Rex's spine as he ponders where the rest of the Sodom pack is. Maybe watching them from behind boulders? Maybe behind that boulder? Or maybe around the corner of that crevasse they're about to pass on their right.
To their relief their pass is a peaceful one until Chomper stops to sniff the air. As the others stop they watch as Chomper looks around, sniffing to the left and taking a few steps to the right to sniff. "What's the hold up?" Tanner questions as he walks up to Chomper.
"Well…" Chomper begins as he sounds a little worried. He continues to sniff the air a bit more, leaving the gang a bit confused at what's going on.
An impatient Yu steps up to him. "Well? What's wrong?! Is Terrel…?"
After a moment of silence Chomper turns to his friends with a little grin. "To be honest, I lost the scent."
Rex and Tanner frown upon hearing this. Lost the scent? That's not good at all. In fact this is the extreme opposite of good; this is something that isn't going well with Yu. The Fast Biter almost immediately ran up to Chomper and nearly bit his head off. "What do you mean you lost the scent?! I thought you said your sniffer could sniff out anything! How could you have lost Terrel's scent you little-"
The poor Sharptooth winces and closes his eyes from Yu's yelling. And it could've been worse but Rex immediately jumps and pounces on Yu, pulling the enraged Fast Biter away from Chomper. "Whoa! Take it easy there, Yu!"
Chomper, a bit shaken up from the yelling, shook it off and spoke in his defense. "It's not my fault! There's some icky scent keeping me from finding Terrel!" Chomper sniffs again and covers his nostrils with his arms. "Bleck! Really icky…"
Tanner sniffs the air and also smells a rather nasty odor. Chomper's right, something is blocking other scents with this foul smell. He starts to think about what he knows about this area and immediately something clicks. He steps forward while ignoring the little tussle between Rex and Yu as the Dracovol tries to calm the Fast Biter down. He jumps onto a boulder to get a good view of what lies in front of them and his suspicions were true.
He sees a vast area with a lot of holes on the ground and smokes puffing out of them after a certain period of time. These smokes puff out from miles below the earth and usually send off a rather bad odor, bearable but it makes it almost impossible to track anything while in it. One time when Tanner was younger both he and Zitro ran off into this particular area for one of their mischievous little games they used to play to pass the time. The scent made them lose each other and had to rely on vision to find each other, which wasn't a rather easy thing to do since the place is rather huge. They did manage to find each other and get back home before things got worst such as the Bright Circle going down on them.
He winces as he hears more bickering behind him and with a growl turns his head to the gang. "Hey! Knock it off!"
Both Rex and Yu stop upon being told to knock it off. Rex lets Yu go with a rather embarrassing grin while Yu sighs and turns his head to Chomper. "I'm sorry."
Chomper smiles and shrugs it off. "It's okay."
Tanner continues looking at the field up ahead while the three Sharpteeth get together and walk up to Tanner, also gazing at the field in front of them. The smell immediately infiltrate their nostrils, just by the smell they know their sense of smell is going to be useless here. Tanner gives off a sigh, "I was hoping we would avoid crossing here…"
There isn't anything else they can do now. If Terrel's scent led them here before Chomper's nostrils were invaded by this field's smell, then Terrel has to be around here somewhere. The gang makes their way down to the field, the smoke it puffs out covering the area with light fog. Chomper sniffs the air and covers his nose again. "Yuck! What is this stuff flying out of the ground?!"
Curious, Rex gets close to one of the holes. As soon as he got close the hole suddenly puffs out a stream of smoke, startling the Dracovol as he screams. As for Yu he just continues walking through the fields while looking both ways, trying to find his little cousin. He's worried sick about him, somewhere lost in this place without anyone to protect him. If it wasn't for this field Chomper would've still been tracking him down. Yu continues walking until he bumps into a mountain wall, didn't even see it coming due to the fog. He shakes his head and lowers it to rub his snout with his little arm, "Ow…"
After rubbing his snout he looks up and to his right, spotting a ledge about 20 feet up and, to his delight, spots something familiar up there sitting at the edge with its head bowed down. "Terrel!!" Yu eagerly looks left and right to find that road that leads him up here. He quickly spots an uphill and quickly runs to it, running up to it as fast as he can. He ends up in a big canyon-like clearing and looks to his left, spotting the path that takes him to the ledge. Without wasting time he runs down it, seeing Terrel at the end. "Terrel!"
The little Fast Biter quickly lifts his head upon hearing his name being called, and he couldn't help but growl. Him again…
"Terrel!" Yu stops to catch his breath. "Hahh…Hahh…I'm so glad you're all right…" He smiles down at his little cousin. "I was so worried about you…" He was about step closer to him but stops his advance, noticing Terrel glanced at him with a glare. The little one is clearly angry with him. Yu sighs as he lowers his head. "Terrel…I…I'm sorry…"
The little raplet doesn't answer, but Yu wasn't expecting one. He continues as he tries to get closer to him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that…I know I went out of line with the things I said…I…I just want to protect yo-"
"I…I just wanted to be like you…" Terrel admits, now it's his turn to speak. "You don't know how much I hate being small…" He slowly turns to Yu as he gets up from sitting down, his eyes down to the ground. "I just want to be trusted like how your dad trusts you…I want to go on adventures, not stick behind the Backer Lines doing nothing while the ones I care about are risking their lives…I…" He looks up at his cousin with determination in his eyes. "I want to protect the things I love! I'm tired of being protected!"
Yu stares down at his cousin; he never thought Terrel would have such desires and dreams. His tough act and tendency to go off on his own…He was trying to be more like him? To find a way to break out of being looked down as the little one and to become a strong and independent Fast Biter…A formidable hunter…
Yu tries to find words, something to say to his cousin. "Terrel…I-" Suddenly the earth shook for a second, causing both Yu and Terrel to slightly lose their footing. Suddenly the earth shakes again. An earth shake? No way, an earth shake would last longer than this and not be so repeatedly. But a hunter like Yu knows what the heck is going on. With a gasp Yu turns his head to Terrel. "Terrel, we gotta move!"
Yu and Terrel break off into a run back to get back to the others down to the fields of smoke, but, right at the clearing before the turn down, they come face to face with what Yu feared. A T-Rex Sharptooth. It made its way into the clearing from another path, and it is hungry. Curiously but oblivious to the two Fast Biters in their scared state, this Sharptooth has a red claw on his left arm.
It roars loud as it swings his massive head down and spots Yu and Terrel, a roar that Rex, Chomper and Tanner heard loud and clear at the fields of smoke. With a gulp Chomper steps back, "Where…Where did that came from?"
Rex swings his head back and forth, trying to find someone. "Where's Yu?!" Suddenly two screams echo through the fields, the three of them recognize them in a snap. Looking at each other with widen eyes, they could only say one thing. "Yu!!"
The three Sharpteeth break off into a run toward the sound of the scream as fast as their legs can carry them. Meanwhile Yu and Terrel are backing up away from the giant Sharptooth, their path to escape cut off by the giant's massive body and tail. It's all over if the Sharptooth brings his teeth down on them. The Sharptooth roars again at them, triggering Yu's mind to come up with something quick or get eaten. Immediately he looks around and spots a road to his left, leading a bit higher up into the mountainside.
"C'mon, Terrel!" Yu shouts as he makes a run for it, Terrel following right behind him. The movement stirs the Sharptooth, making it roar again. The roar trembles the ground, sending some pebbles tumbling down the mountain walls and peppering Yu and Terrel with their little rocky hides. One false move and they could trip down to the ground below.
"Yu!!" Yu's eyes widen. That was Rex! He looks over and sees Rex, Chomper and Tanner run up into the area, immediately spotting the T-Rex in the area having its eyes on the two Fast Biters. The three of them gasp upon seeing the giant with its intent on turning Yu and Terrel into a little snack; they had to do something to get it away from them!
"C'mon!" Rex cries to Chomper and Tanner as he runs up to the Sharptooth.
Tanner shakes his head in disbelief, did he heard right? "Are you serious?! That thing can eat us in one gulp!"
Rex stops a few feet away from the Sharptooth and shouts at it, trying to grab its attention. But the Sharptooth is more interested in the moving critters making their way up the passage on the mountainside, to which the Sharptooth intends on knocking them down. It slams its head against the mountain wall, shaking up the ground the two Fast Biters are standing on and nearly knocking them down. Terrel falls flat on his stomach and looks down, terrified at witnessing the Sharptooth this close yet out of his reach. Yu looks down at Terrel and picks him up to his feet with his mouth. "Don't look down! Keep climbing!"
Meanwhile Rex was trying his best to get the Sharptooth's attention, but nothing is working for him. He growls in frustration, trying to find a better way to help his friends. Suddenly Tanner sprints out and lunges at the Sharptooth's knees, injuring them with a good slash of his claws. The pain was enough to get the Sharptooth to roar in pain and look down, his attention is now grabbed.
"All right!" Rex cheers as Tanner did it. But now the Sharptooth is growling at them, which now unsettles the Dracovol. "Uhhh…Heheh, uh what now?"
Tanner, who was backing up to Rex and Chomper, only had one plan. "Now, we run!"
The Sharptooth lowers his head and roars loudly at them, blowing back Rex and Tanner's feathers while the three of them struggle to keep themselves upright and not blown away. Yu and Terrel look down and gasps as the Sharptooth shifted his attention to their friends. "No! Get away from them, you big bully!" Yu shouts at the Sharptooth to no avail.
Terrel slightly backed away against the mountain wall, the poor thing is trembling with fear. He has never been in a situation this dire before, and to be frank he's scared to death.
Rex and the others were backed up against the mountain wall, pinned as the Sharptooth took two steps toward them. They all scream as the Sharptooth sent his head down bite them down. They manage to jump out of the way in time, letting the Sharptooth crash its head into the mountain wall. The shock of the crash shakes some pebbles and rocks loose, landing and hitting on the Sharptooth's head. This does nothing but enrage the dinosaur as he brings his head up in a roar before turning to the little pests. This gave Terrel an idea. He looks up at the rock formations up the passage; some of them seem a bit unstable with little rocks at the bottom with big ones on top.
"Uh guys, we need an idea here." Chomper shakily requests as he backs up from the angry Sharptooth.
"The Sharptooth is blocking our only way out." Tanner growls as he backs up as well, trying to think of a plan to get out of this. "Otherwise I would've already shouted to run for it…"
"That sounds good right about now…" Rex comments before turning his head to Tanner. "You're an Alimon, Tanner! A strong Sharptooth hunter! How would you get out of this?"
"Geez, put me in the middle, why don't ya!" Tanner jokes around as he turns his head to Rex. "Alimons may be strong but you can't expect me to face off against this Sharptooth and win!"
The Sharptooth snarls and readies to lunge again until a rock hits his head again. The Sharptooth shakes his head and looks up only to have another rock thrown at him. Rex, Chomper and Tanner look at each other, who on earth would do that? Rex looks up and gasps in horror. "Terrel!"
Indeed, the little raplet gathered his courage and stands on a rather unstable-looking pile of rocks, a wall-worth of boulders. He uses his tail to smack little rocks at the Sharptooth, getting his attention. "Over here, you big dummy!" He insults as he smacks another rock at the Sharptooth's direction, hitting him right between his eyes.
Yu's eyes widen in fear. "Terrel, no!" He looks over at the Sharptooth, noticing the tyrant looking at the little raplet before advancing toward him. While Terrel is out of range from the Sharptooth's bite, a shake from slamming into the wall could make the Fast Biter slip and fall, falling right into the Sharptooth's grasp. This is a risk Yu will not take. He runs toward "Terrel! Get away from there!"
"Terrel!!" Rex and Chomper both cry out in horror, worried about Terrel's situation. If he doesn't stop that and runs for it the shock of the Sharptooth slamming into the wall could make him fall. And if the Sharptooth doesn't kill him the fall alone will.
But Terrel shows no fear. He watches as the Sharptooth approaches, eyeing him as he glances back at the rocks behind him, trying to get an angle. He looks at Yu as his name is called out again to get away from there. But he doesn't back up and replies sternly. "No Yu, this time you stay away!"
Yu is taken back from Terrel's reply, making him stop cold in his track. Terrel just looks at his cousin with confidence. "I know what I'm doing! Trust me!"
Yu watches on in disbelief as his little cousin pulls off the most dangerous stunt he has ever pulled. Yu takes a step forward to stop Terrel from doing this, but after taking the step he stops, thinking back to what Terrel told him.
"I want to go on adventures, not stick behind the Backer Lines doing nothing while the ones I care about are risking their lives…I…I want to protect the things I love! I'm tired of being protected!"
Yu slowly nods and backs off, he has been protecting Terrel for as long as he can remember, taking care of him and making sure he was out of trouble. But now, now it's Terrel's turn to protect them. "Terrel…"
As the Sharptooth turned its body toward the mountain wall Terrel is trying to ready his idea. The idea is to, when the Sharptooth slams against the wall, the shock of the slam would loosen the rocks behind Terrel and, with the shove of some little ones at the bottom, the whole thing would crumble down and bury the Sharptooth under it all. It's risky since Terrel is risking in getting dragged down with the rock slide, but it would put the Sharptooth down and out, allowing the others to get away.
"What's he doing?!" Chomper asks to no one in particular as he watches the Sharptooth turning around.
Tanner was mildly impressed by the idea but concerned about Terrel's well being. "The little Fast Biter is trying to spring a trap on the Sharptooth. But if something goes wrong he can get himself killed!"
Upon hearing this Rex's eyes widen. "Oh no! Don't do it, Terrel!!"
But Terrel already made his decision. He backs up to the rocks behind him as the Sharptooth glares and charges. Within a second the Sharptooth collides against the mountain, triggering the big boulders above to crumble down. Terrel nearly falls from the shock but finds his footing in time to notice the rocks behind him are starting to crumble. This was his chance! He runs against a rock from the bottom and pushes against it, moving it and loosening a pile of other rocks and, just like that, a massive wall-worth of boulders begin to give way and crumble as the boulders from the top roll down and stir them up. Now if Terrel ever had a time to run away as fast as he possibly can, this was the time. He starts to run but trips on a few little pebbles, but he doesn't give up though, he picks himself up again and continues to run as a boulder slams down on the same area he tripped, nearly avoiding being crushed to death. The string of events of the rock slide all happen within seconds, the Sharptooth barely looked up before a massive pile of boulders crushed his head and piled up all over him, his massive body pushed down to the ground from the massive weight of the entire wall.
Rex, Chomper and Tanner cover their faces as a massive could of dust and dirt blow against them as the entire wall crumbled down, covering them with dirt and pelting them with little pebbles; an impressive feat for just a little guy. Like the saying goes, size doesn't matter.
Rex slowly uncovers his face, looking at the massive dust cloud up ahead as the daylight and wind give way of the darkness "Whoa…" An entire wall has crumbled down and gave way to a new path, the massive Sharptooth lies now buried under boulders and rock. The three of them stand stunned at the magnitude of such feat, incredible to believe little Terrel actually did this. "Heh!" Rex slowly smiles as his mouth slowly opens, the shock dying down. "He did it!"
Up on the mountain wall, Yu and Terrel cough from the dust cloud. Yu slowly stops coughing as he looks at Terrel who managed to get away unscathed, he can hardly believe his little cousin did such an incredible feat all by himself, especially taking down an actual Sharptooth. As Terrel stops coughing and looks at his cousin Yu shoots a glare at his little cousin. "Terrel…That was insane!" Terrel flinches from the tone in Yu's voice, but soon Yu lightens up and whistles impressively. "That was incredible though!"
Terrel looks back at his handiwork and couldn't help but smirk smugly as he turned to Yu. "I told you I can take care of anything!"
Yu smiles, "Heh, yeah you did." He looks down at his cousin with pride, while it was a dangerous feat, he can't help but feel proud with his cousin. "Terrel I…I'm sorry I was so overprotective back then…I was just scared I was going to lose you if anything happened…"
Terrel giggles. "Ah it's my fault really, I guess I was just so eagered with growing up I was a little impatient. You were right, Yu, I guess I still have some growing to do."
"That you do." Yu remarks with a chuckle, which also made Terrel giggle. He looks back at the ruins Terrel did and couldn't help but be impressed by the sight. "I guess you got something to brag about with the others back home now."
"Heheh! Yup!" Terrel grins with a glint in his eyes. "Now no one can treat me like a little guy! They're going to start treating me with respect and look up to me! Just like with you!"
Yu chuckles, typical Terrel. "Heheh, let's not get carried away."
"Hey!" A voice calls out to the Fast Biters. Both Yu and Terrel look down below to see Rex and Chomper looking up at them. "You guys okay?!" Chomper calls out to them.
Yu looks at Terrel and then back down at them. "Yeah! We're okay! Just a little shaken up!"
"Well come on down, you two!" Rex cries up to them. "Tanner says that hole in the wall Terrel just did takes us out of here and to the mountains that spit flowing fire!"
Yu nods. "We'll be right down!"
The mountains that spit flowing fire, huh? That's another place Donovan said they would pass through on their way to Crescent Valley. They're on the right track after all. Yu backs off from the edge and goes to walk down to the others before he spots Terrel looking at him with a bit of sadness in his eyes. "What?" Yu tilts his head. "Are you trying to tell me you don't wanna come along?"
Terrel flinches and looks at Yu in disbelief. Did he just heard right? Is Yu actually telling him he can come along with them? Terrel just can't believe he just heard that, especially after the scare he put him through with his idea. "Are…Are you serious?!"
Yu makes a thinking gesture before answering. "Do you want to walk all the way back home all by yourself? After coming all this way I can't afford wasting time going back."
Terrel grins excitedly. He gets to go on an actual adventure! His very first one! "Yay!" He cheers as he jumps around Yu, cheerfully giving his thanks and cheering that he gets to go.
Yu laughs from his cousin's antics. "Yeah yeah, but let's just get one thing straight!" He puts his foot forward and trips Terrel down, a usual thing he does to him when he gets too excited to get his attention. "Stay close to me and take cover if anything bad happens, understand?"
Terrel gets up and gives a nod. "Yeah, I will!" And he will indeed. With Yu trusting him to come along in his first adventure he can't afford to disobey now, otherwise Yu will never take him along to another adventure again.
"Promise?"
"I promise!"
"Hey you two, any moment now!" They heard Tanner shout, sounding rather impatient.
"Heheh," Yu couldn't help but chuckle. "All right, let's go before they leave us behind."
With a smile Terrel follows Yu down the trail and to the canyon below, carefully climbing up the pile of boulders and following the others through the hole; their next destination, the volcano region beyond Threehorn Peak. But, unknown to them, just a few minutes after leaving two Fast Biters walk into the canyon where the massive battle took place; a green one with dark green stripes along his back and a blue one with dark blue stripes along his back.
They sniff around as they snarl, looking for something. They soon the spot the ruins laying in front of them and the body of a T-Rex Sharptooth under them, the signs of a devastating rock slide. The two Fast Biters eye the ruins as they look around the area. Soon enough the pile of rocks stir and with good strength the Sharptooth from under it all shakes off the boulders from on top of him and slowly gets up with a snarl. Relieved from the pile of rocks that was on top of him he roar in pain as a wound snakes from his left eye down his neck to his left little arm, ending over his red claw. His left eye is now blood red as it also got hurt from the wound.
The two Fast Biters look up at the wounded Sharptooth, curiously not showing any fear at him as if they were looking at a huge friend. The Sharptooth stands there with a mean glare and snarl as he now suffers a bad injury and looks at the hole in the wall, the same direction the five Sharpteeth who did this to him left. The two Fast Biters walk up to the Sharptooth as if concerned about his injury and look at the same direction the Sharptooth is looking at. The Sharptooth then roars out in anger up at the heavens, deciding his revenge…
Another chapter done. Just to clear something before anything happens, the song in this chapter was created by me, they are original lyrics.