CHAPTER SIX: NEW ALLIES AND OLD FOES
Chomper lay down one day on the shore of a river with Ichy and Dil, resting off their latest catch - a pale, orange-eyed Egg Stealer, who was in the process of sabotaging a nest when they attacked. In the backwaters behind them, a sailback sharptooth - a Sharptooth practically built for life on the river as a fisherman - was sound asleep, partially submerged in swamp water. The Spinosaurus soon woke up and noticed them, as well as the damaged eggs. What did you three...?! she snapped.
We didn't. This fool did. He won't do it again. Ichy replied, pointing at the Egg Stealer bones.
Glad you three helped save what you could of my nest. I've never seen a Sharptooth help a fellow Sharptooth outside of their kind before. she said.
Chomper smiled a little; he might kill other animals now, and he might not be as "friendly" as he used to be, but it still felt good to show a little kindness to others. What is your name? he asked the Sailback.
My name is Chomper. the Rex replied.
Funny name. Jessica laughed.
It was given to me by a Longneck who helped raise me. Chomper replied.
You were raised by a Longneck? Jessica asked, raising her eyebrows.
Sort of. He helped rescue me from Egg Stealers and then later tried to raise me but had trouble. He let me go back with my parents when they came for my hatched egg and I stayed with them till they were killed by Red Claw. Chomper replied.
I'm sorrry to hear about that. Jessica said.
The Longneck saved me from drowning too once. And he helped get the Great Valley to take me in. And, when an accident happened and I ended up killing two Clubtails, he helped me get away. Chomper said.
What is the name of this Longneck? Jessica asked, still skeptical of his story.
Littlefoot. Chomper replied.
Seems a weird name for a Longneck. she remarked.
I'm not the one who named him. Chomper chuckled.
Well, Jessica said. for keeping that Egg Stealer from completely destroying my nest, I think I'll give you a reward next time you're feeling hungry and come down by this stretch of the land.
As she said this, she moved into deeper water and briefly submerged herself; when she came back to the surface, a gigantic sawfish, not much shorter than a Threehorn, struggled in her jaws.
"Next time you visit, how would you boys like a taste of a sawsnout?" she offered, mouth full.
Sure. he replied.
He went back with Dil and Ichy to their cave. "Ok, I've explored this cave and the Land of Mists a lot, and I'm getting better at hunting, but I was wondering, what do you guys do for fun?"
"For fun?" Ichy asked.
"Yes fun. What you do to amuse yourself." Chomper replied.
"Sometimes I annoy Dil." Ichy laughed.
"No, seriously guys. What do you guys do when you aren't training me or killing Leaf Eaters or annoying each other?" Chomper asked.
"I guess we can show you now that you've done quite well in your training. We wanted to make sure that you were sufficiently trained before rewarding you." Ichy replied.
He took Chomper to what appeared to be a giant slide. There were many of these in the Great Valley, though this one was quite high up in the cave and went all the way down to an underground lake in the cave. The tunnel was wide enough for Dil and Chomper to fit down together. There was a passage back up to the top, though it was a bit of a climb. Thee Rex and the Belly Dragger went down several times before that point, racing each other.
At a point, Chomper and Dil ended up sliding down tunnels where they were unable to see one another; Dil started uncontrollably swiveling in her tunnel and Chomper fell down a small shaft leading to another slide.
Chomper came out at a different pool of water. He explored it for a while and found two young Longnecks all alone, having gotten lost from their herd. "Do you think that Plated Sharptooth will find us?" one of them, a female, asked the other.
"I hope not. That thing will eat us for sure if it finds us." the other, a male, replied.
The two headed further into the cave, heading, though they didn't know it, toward Chomper. Suddenly, the three of them could hear loud footsteps coming. A female Giganotosaurus entered the cave and soon spotted the two Longneck children.
Found you little brats! No place to hide this time! she laughed.
"Run!" yelled the female Longneck to the other. The two ran, the female in the lead, from the Plated Sharptooth. The girl crashed into Chomper and fell over. The male arrived soon thereafter and shouted at Chomper "Get away from my sister you Rex!"
The Plated Sharptooth came into sight and snapped at Chomper Back away kid. Those are my Longnecks! I found them first!
The Longneck siblings cowered together, their heads resting against each other's bodies, too afraid to look as they shook in fright, trapped between the two Sharpteeth.
Chomper's eyebrows lowered, and he stood between the other Sharptooth and the Longnecks. Even he wasn't sure what was motivating him to shield them from the other predator; perhaps his memories of those times on the Mysterious Island with his friends and his newfound predatory drive were conflicting. The Plated Sharptooth, already agitated by hunger, hissed What part of 'back away' don't you understand?
Deciding to pity the two Longnecks, he called to them in Leaf Eater "Quickly kids, get up and run between my legs!"
The two looked up, startled to hear the Flattooth language. "Who said that?" the female asked.
"I did. Now go between my legs. I'll hold her off so you can run away." Chomper told her.
She and her brother remained reluctant as the Plated Sharptooth neared. At the last second, the two, figuring that, if Chomper was lying, the worst that would happen was that they'd be eaten by him instead of the Plated Sharptooth, they ran underneath his legs, and not a second too soon, for the female Sharptooth's jaws snapped right where they'd been.
I'm going to kill you for daring to stand in my way! she snapped, but as she moved to raise her head, Chomper attacked her in self-defense, biting her in the neck..
She fell to the ground with a crash but was still alive, albeit injured, as his bite hadn't been as fatal as he'd hoped. She leaped up and knocked Chomper over. Too bad kid. You had a lot of potential. It's such a shame to see you die so young. she said. She moved to strike at him, but suddenly fell to the ground as her leg was ripped open by Dil's attack. Ichy attacked her in the claw.
She stumbled and Chomper stuck out his claws, as he'd done with the Clubtails weeks earlier, and she fell right into them, impaling her skull as she fell, killing her.
The two Longnecks, still shocked by what had happened, had found that the path they had taken had reached a dead end.
"Why waste time hunting the baby Longnecks when we have enough meat here to keep us satisfied for a week?" Chomper said, looking down at the fallen Plated Sharptooth. He - being a Rex - wasn't against the idea of eating a fellow sharptooth when opportunity knocked.
"I've never eaten another Sharptooth before. The closest I came to that was wanting to eat Ichy and one time, by accident, nearly swallowing him." Dil said.
"I haven't eaten Sharptooth either and I'd prefer Longneck." Ichy said in agreement.
"But they're young. Why kill them when we already have food?" Chomper protested.
"Here's a reason: if we let them go, they might let their herd know that there are three Sharpteeth in this cave. The herd might come and kill us.
Chomper thought about that. He recalled his frightening encounter with Ali's herd, where they had cornered him and were going to kill him for the crime of being a Sharptooth. Could the three of them take on such a herd if the children told? On the other hand, they already had a whole Giganotosaurus to eat and his policy had been against eating children anyway.
After thinking a bit, Chomper told them "We'll let you go, but if you tell your herd and they attack us, we'll kill them, and we'll kill you too if you show up with them."
"Got it." the two said.
"Why would a Sharptooth save us?" the male asked.
"Call it a nice streak." Chomper replied, smiling.
"Thank you!" the two said, before leaving.
"Ok guys, I'm going to need your help carrying this dead Sharptooth back up there." he told Dil and Ichy.
After eating as much as they could of the dead Sharptooth, Chomper asked "What are we supposed to do with the rest of this Sharptooth?"
"Try and eat as much as we can before it rots." Dil replied.
"How long does that take?" Chomper asked.
"Unfortunately, only two to three days." Ichy replied, shaking his head.
"Seems a pity to take a life and then waste a bunch of the meat." Chomper sighed.
"You have an idea how to preserve it?" Ichy asked hopefully.
"Not at the moment." Chomper said. "But I'll think of something." he added.
Chomper sat down and thought; he recalled an adventure he and his friends embarked on long ago, where they went up to the mountains and found "hard water sweets" in the snow. Though he didn't eat any, he thought they didn't smell any different from a sweet bubble fresh off of a plant.
"Do you think taking it somewhere very cold will keep the meat fresh for a longer time?" he suggested.
It was his good luck that a cold time had come and that snow and ice were present in the Valley of Mists. He made several trips up to the mountains to get ice, and, during one such trip, came across Jessica.
Hello Chomper. What are you doing? she asked him.
I'm carrying hard water to preserve a dead Plated Sharptooth so it doesn't go bad. I saw it work where hard water preserved Tree Sweets and Flatteeth were able to eat them despite them being away from the vines for some time. It might work the same way with meat. he replied to her, beginning to heft the huge chunk of ice up a steep incline toward the cave where he, Dil, and Ichy lived.
You killed a Plated Sharptooth for food? she asked.
Not exactly. It was over Longneck hatchlings. he replied.
I see. Rather petty to kill another Sharptooth over food that small if you ask me. she remarked, shaking her head.
Not what happened at all. She tried to kill me over them and I defended myself. he said.
Oh. she said.
Hey, you want some? It would be hard for us to eat all of this by ourselves, even if what I'm trying with hard water does work. he offered her.
Sure. I've never eaten Sharptooth before but I suppose that meat is meat. she replied.
Jessica arrived at their cave lair with Chomper. Hey Jessica, what are you doing here? Ichy asked.
Chomper replied We have more than enough and I came across her while carrying hard water. I thought it only fair to invite her.
Well, thank you guys. she said.
As the four Sharpteeth ate, Jessica remarked I've never seen much reason to fight over food; usually, when someone as big as me comes up and tells me to step away from my kill, I just do what they say.
Though Jessica's kind were among the biggest Sharpteeth out there, they weren't very adept at fighting other predators of equal size; if a Rex or a Plated Sharptooth, for instance, were to come over to her when she was by a corpse and take it over, the odds would be stacked against her in a dispute over her food.
You shouldn't let them push you around. Chomper told her.
I know, Chomper, but I'm not a fast-moving, strong-biting Rex like you. They'd kill me if I tried to fight some of them. Better to take what I can than risk losing everything. she replied.
You should still stand up for yourself. I fought Red Claw and gave him some cuts to remember me by. Sure, he wants to kill me now, but he hasn't gotten me yet. Chomper said.
Who is Red Claw? she asked.
You don't know who Red Claw is? Chomper gasped. She shook her head. He's the most dangerous Sharptooth in the Mysterious Beyond. He and his legion of Fast Biters terrorize everyone.
The Mysterious Beyond?
Oh, I forgot, I'm not in the Great Valley anymore. It's the area outside the Land of Mists. The huge, often desolate areas of the world. Chomper said, trying to think of how to describe the Mysterious Beyond.
So... the world? Jessica reiterated, trying to understand him.
Yes. He's a big bully and pretty much terrorizes everyone outside the Great Valley. I'm actually surprised he hasn't come for me here yet. He couldn't get to me in the Great Valley because they know how to work together. It can't take him much longer to realize that I'm not going back to the Great Valley. Still, at least Dil and Ichy have agreed to help me if he comes. We can work together too. Chomper said.
I wouldn't mind working together with other Sharpteeth. My mate Omba was killed last week in a dispute over food by some Plated Sharpteeth. Even worse, since we last met, some pesky Egg Stealers have made off with the rest of our eggs. I'm a lonely young widow and I got to thinking, I don't see what I would have to lose by joining up with your new pack. That is, if you want me. she said.
We'll take you. Chomper, Dil, and Ichy said together.
Good. Glad to be part of your pack. So, who is in charge? Are you, Chomper? she asked.
No. We all make decisions together. We don't have a single leader. Chomper replied.
I think I'm going to like this group. said Jessica smugly.
Meanwhile, Red Claw said to his Fast Biter minions, Screech and Thud It's quite clear now. Chomper has left the Great Valley for good. Likely he's had a falling out with his Flattooth friends. He'll be wide open, wherever he is.
We haven't seen him leave the Land of Mists from any known entrances. Screech remarked.
We believe him to still be there. Thud said in agreement.
Good. Then go find him and take him out. Red Claw ordered them.
Take out a Rex? Just the two of us? He'd eat us! Thud protested.
He's only a young Rex in the Time of Great Growing. He's not even to his full strength. However, if you insist, take a couple of your Fast Biter friends with you and make an end of him. I've got a score to settle with the Great Valley after he's gone. Red Claw said.
What kind of score? Thud asked.
My late brother, Tiran, disappeared near the Great Valley some cold times ago. Until lately, I wasn't sure what had happened to him but lately, I found a skeleton that washed up from a lake after an earthshake that leads me to believe that someone from the Great Valley pushed him to his death and he drowned. I'll find out who did it and kill them, even if I have to kill a bunch of their great herd to find the guilty one. Red Claw said.
Assault the Great Valley? Are you crazy?! gasped Screech and Thud.
Last time, we underestimated them. Now we know what to expect and we have bigger numbers. Red Claw said.
Yes, but we're not familiar with the place. Unlike Chomper, we have never been there for more than a few minutes. Screech argued.
Red Claw thought on that one. Though Chomper had hurt his eye, a dead brother was higher on the scale of vengeance than a hurt eye (which still worked, though it was now yellow due to the injury). Chomper would know the layout of the Great Valley like the back of his claws. And, if he was right in suspecting there was a falling out with the Leaf Eaters there, he might even have a motive to join him in his revenge on the Valley now. You're right. Change of plans. Find Chomper and offer him the chance to join us in our attack on the Valley. If he refuses, kill him. Red Claw said.
It shall be done, boss. Screech and Thud replied before leaving.