Chapter Twenty: Fear of the Unknown

"Yeah…she's a sharp-tooth." Remy pulled the dark green feathered hatchling closer to her. She watched Littlefoot's reaction. The long-neck seemed dumbfounded more than anything else. He lumbered further into the grove so that his tail was no longer sticking out of the foliage.

"I…I guess that should have been expected. Not all the eggs had to be from the Great Valley, but…" He sighed, peering at the hatchling behind Remy. "I wish it would have been someone's egg from the Valley. We could have made another family happy."

"I know." Remy turned around, grabbing the hatchling from behind her. "But this is what hatched, and we've got to find someone to take care of her. There's no way we can keep her in the Great Valley."

"Yeah. You're right about that. Cera's dad would never want a Sharptooth in the Great Valley." He leaned in, taking another look at the hatchling. "She is kind of cute. I can't believe she'll grow into something like Sharptooth." A shudder ran down his back. As he looked at the hatchling more, he couldn't help but frown. "Say…she kind of looks like Sharptooth…"

Remy blinked, then held the hatchling out so that she was facing her. The dark green feathers, the dark yellow belly, and the dark red eyes matched the Mysterious Beyond's Walking Terror. Her eyes were a bit darker than Sharptooth's, but her colors were still similar. "I guess she sort of does, but I'm sure there's a lot of carnivores that looked like Sharptooth."

Littlefoot wasn't convinced. "Do…do you think she could be related to him? What if…what if she's his daughter?"

Remy opened her mouth to refute the comment but paused. It hadn't been that long since they killed Sharptooth. She didn't know much about how long a rex's egg had to incubate before it could hatch. If a female had been carrying Sharptooth's offspring just before he was killed… it might be possible. "We'll deal with it if we have to, but if we don't find her parents, then we won't have to worry about her being a monster just like Sharptooth. She'll be raised among a tribe of weavers instead."

"I guess that's good." Littlefoot turned to the nearby bush, pulling off a few leaves. He chewed them, eyes narrowing in thought. "Do you think she would eat plants? If we could get her to eat them, then maybe she could be raised by a family of dull-teeth in the Valley instead."

Before Remy could stop him, Littlefoot offered the leaves he had just picked to the hatchling. She sniffed them, then looked up at Littlefoot. Her dark red eyes narrowed, and she released another vicious hiss. Remy placed her back on the ground, but the hatchling ran behind her leg, letting out another harsh hiss at Littlefoot.

"I guess she doesn't like leaves." Littlefoot sighed loudly and heaved himself to the ground. "Well, what are we going to do now?"

"Nothing. We have to wait until Suri's mom and dad find out. Then they can hopefully find someone to help take care of her. I'm not even sure if we can find her family. Maybe we could ask Petrie to fly outside the Great Valley and find a family of sharp-teeth that are looking for an egg."

"Do sharp-teeth even care about their children?" Littlefoot muttered. "They left her egg all alone. She seems to be doing pretty good on her own already." The hatchling's weariness of Littlefoot had been pulled away by a beetle. It was devoured by the time Littlefoot finished speaking.

"She was found with the other eggs the claw-hands had obviously stolen. I'm sure she was stolen too. I feel carnivores can be just as loving as herbivores, especially in a world like this. Though, I'm not sure how long they'd stick around after their egg had been stolen. We have no idea how long her egg has been away from the nest."

The hatchling cautiously approached Littlefoot. She sniffed his brown foot, following the length of his long foreleg. She chirped and lunged at his flank. The long-neck flinched, but the hatchling barely touched his scales. She cracked a plump beetle between her teeth as she almost cheekily smiled up at him. She kept walking the length of Littlefoot's body, pausing at his tail. When the tail tip twitched, she lunged. Littlefoot lifted his tail just in time, or her tiny yet sharp teeth would have been latched onto him. He flicked his tail across the ground, and the hatchling chased.

"I guess she's not that bad." Littlefoot smiled, keeping his tail just out of reach. "Do you think all tiny sharp-teeth are like this?"

"Well, adult carnivores this size probably don't act like a child. But if you find someone that's playful enough…" Remy shrugged, holding back a giggle when the hatchling flopped on her back after a clumsy jump. The hatchling shook herself out and continued the game of catch-the-tail.

"Anyone here?" Ducky's singsong voice called from the foliage. She and Spike walked into the grove. Ducky gasped upon seeing the hatchling. "The last egg hatched! Oh, I am so glad. I am, I am. I thought it would not survive." She made for the hatchling but froze when the hatchling turned to her. The hatchling hissed, teeth bared and feathers standing on end.

"What-what…what is it?" Ducky turned to Remy, terror in her blue eyes. "That is not a sharp-tooth baby, is it?"

Remy stiffly nodded, bending down so that the hatchling would run back to her.

"Oh, no, no, no. This is not good. What are we going to do?" Ducky stepped back, shaking her head. "We can not have a sharp-tooth in the Valley. That will be very, very bad."

"I already talked to Suri about it. Her family will try and find some weavers that live with big sharp-teeth that might want to take her in. But that might be a while."

"A while? Who is going to take care of it?"

Remy shrugged. "Suri's family, I guess."

"She's not that dangerous," Littlefoot commented, trying to calm Ducky. "She likes playing with my tail. I just have to make sure she doesn't bite it."

"Oh, I do not know if I would call that playing, Littlefoot. I would not. That is more like hunting. Have you fed her yet?"

"Yep. She really likes fish, but she also has a taste for bugs. She's been chasing them all day since she hatched." Remy picked up the hatchling, holding her close. "She's just a baby, so she can't do much of anything right now. But I guess it would be a good idea to keep her away from the sprinters, especially as she gets bigger."

Ducky peered closer at the hatchling. "I guess she is kind of cute. Her feathers make her look fluffy." She reached to pat the infant but received a hiss in return.

"Petrie here!" A voice announced from the sky. "Me see all of you from high above. Did other egg hatch?" He froze in mid-air, beak dropping open in horror at the dark green sharp-tooth in Remy's arms. "It hatch into sharp-tooth? What we do?"

"Petrie, relax." Littlefoot carefully pulled Petrie from the air. "She's just a baby. She can't hurt anyone." He forced the flyer to the ground.

"But it'll grow big and scary later!"

Petrie nearly screamed when Remy placed the hatchling onto the ground. The infant hissed in response, flaring her feathered, two-clawed arms. When Petrie took to the air once more, the fear the hatchling was displaying vanished. Now, she just stared at him, her dark red eyes filled with an urge to catch the large flyer flapping just above her.

She leaped, small jaws snapping at Petrie's small tail nub. He screamed and found a high branched to perch on. "It try to eat me! Petrie not food!"

"She can't eat you," Littlefoot laughed. "She's too small, Petrie. She just wants to play. We can teach her not to hurt anyone."

"We?" Petrie echoed, terror in his dark eyes. "Me not want nothing to do with it. It too scary."

"Gosh, you guys are noisy. Do you want our parents to find out we've been hiding here the entire time?"

Everyone froze. This was the one dinosaur that wouldn't take the hatchling well. Remy lunged for the hatchling before Cera could march through the foliage. The orange three-horn raised an eye-ridge.

"Why is everyone staring at me? What was all the noise about anyway?" She looked around, her eyes falling onto Remy, whose back was turned to her. "Are you hiding something from me?"

Cera shoved her head into Remy's arms and turned her so that she was facing her. Cera's eyes narrowed at the dark green hatchling in Remy's eyes. For a moment, her dark green eyes lit up. "Gosh, that last egg finally hatched? And it's a girl, finally. Doesn't seem she was affected by that weird Shard magic either." Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the feathered hatchling. "Too bad she's not a three-horn. Wait…what is she? A sprinter? Think she's Hyp's long-lost sibling?" Cera chuckled.

Still, no one moved. Cera looked between their worried faces. "What? Why are you all worried? The last egg hatched. Shouldn't you be jumping for joy or something?" She turned back to the hatchling in Remy's arms. "She's kind of cute too." Cera moved in to nuzzle the hatchling with her nose horn.

The hatchling hissed, sharp teeth flashing. The familiar warning shriek rose from her throat and her feathers puffed out.

"What-what?" Cera blinked, staring at the hatchling's sharp teeth. "Wait…" Her gaze darkened. "That's a sharp-tooth. A sharp-tooth hatched from one of the eggs we saved! Why is it still alive!"

"She's just a baby, Cera. She can't do anything." Littlefoot stepped in front of Remy, his tail at the ready.

"You want another Sharptooth running around slaughtering everything in sight? It'll grow up to be a killer, Littlefoot! I knew we should have let those claw-hands eat the rest of those eggs. All they did was bring trouble!" She tried to shove her way past Littlefoot.

"Cera! No!" Ducky shouted, though she was trembling with fear. The swimmer knew something like this was going to happen when Cera found out about the hatchling. Ducky didn't have the same heart that she had for Mushroom. This hatchling was a carnivore. Cera did have a point. But she also couldn't see an innocent hatchling killed.

As the tension rose, thick braids of glossy green-blue grass rose around Remy. She was frozen to her spot, holding the hatchling close. She needed to move if a fight broke out between Littlefoot and Cera. She needed to get away from Cera before she tried to kill the hatchling, but she couldn't move.

"What are you doing? Let me kill it! Nothing good is going to come by letting it live. Why did you even let that thing live more than a minute after it hatched? It's a sharp-tooth! Do you even know what it'll grow into?" Cera tried to shove past Littlefoot to get at Remy.

"Suri's family was going to find someone to take care of her," Remy shakily answered as more grasses wound around her.

"And let it live!" Cera roared. "It'll grow to be a killer. More dinosaurs are going to die from its jaws." Cera's eyes fell upon the two-clawed paws wrapped around Remy's arm, and her anger soared.

"Littlefoot! That thing is the same type of sharp-tooth that killed your mother! How can you let it live?"

Littlefoot flinched, the memories of his mother's fight with Sharptooth flooding back. Her screams of pain and the thunderous roars of the former Walking Terror of the Mysterious Beyond echoed in his head. The pitch-black form of Sharptooth's granddaughter, Shadow-Chase, still stalked his dreams, forever feasting on his mother's body. Her bloody smile stared back at him while her amber eyes glowed in the darkness of the storm. Then her jaws opened wide, swallowing him whole.

Littlefoot gasped, tearing himself from the memories. He stared at the red-eyed, dark green hatchling in Remy's arms. Sharptooth's snarling face flashed past his eyes again, but it couldn't entirely change the hatchlings feathers or playful gangly nature. He couldn't see her growing to be a Terror like Sharptooth.

Breath shaking from his lungs, Littlefoot pushed Cera back. "She's a hatchling, Cera. Sharp-teeth can't help that they need to eat meat. It's the circle of life, and we can't do anything about it."

"Do you think I care about the circle of life? If I can stop one sharp-tooth from killing one less leaf-eater, then I'm going to do it. Think about it, Littlefoot. If she grows up, she'll kill hundreds of dinosaurs. Those dinosaurs could be your family and friends. How could you live with yourself knowing that she killed someone you love when you could have killed her and stopped all of it?"

"Then some other sharp-tooth will kill them," Littlefoot answered firmly.

Cera bellowed, pushing past Littlefoot.

Already, a thick dome of branches had formed around Remy, leaving just enough room for her to watch the scene unfold. The three-horn jammed her head into the thick, heavy barrier, nearly growling like the sharp-tooth she was trying to kill.

"Remy! Just give me the hatchling. I'll take care of it." Through the cracks, Cera's jade-green eyes glinted.

Remy said nothing, stunned to silence.

The branches of Remy's protection creaked, and the snap of wood chilled her bones. Cera wouldn't give up until the hatchling was dead. No matter what she had to do.

More branches broke, and sunlight once more poured into the wooden capsule. Branches gave way, snapping like twigs to Cera's strength. None could grow fast enough to stop the three-horn from pinning Remy to the nearest tree. Her nose-horn dug painfully into Remy's stomach, but the girl held the hatchling away from Cera.

Cera's eyes narrowed as the silent message was passed between them. Remy wasn't going to give up the hatchling. The orange three-horn backed up, brandishing her horns. Littlefoot was too stunned to move, his mind unable to comprehend that Cera had just attacked Remy. Spike rushed forward instead, intending to stop the three-horn, but someone else stopped her first.

A roar split the air. The earth shook with the owner's charging footsteps. A lavender dinosaur burst through the grove, slamming into Cera, nearly knocking her off her feet. Heavy jaws locked around her neck, pulling her further away from Remy and the hatchling.

Cera bellowed, bucking and twisting her head, but the newcomer would not let go. Fueled by rage, his teeth dug deep into the back of her neck. With a lucky twist of her head, Cera's horns skimmed his leg. His grip loosened. She shook off her attacker and stepped back, gasping for breath. Hot blood ran down her neck, but the wounds weren't anything she couldn't handle.

Before her stood an adolescent sharp-tooth. He did not possess the muscle of a full-grown bone-crusher, and he still retained tuffs of his lavender hatchling down. His powerful jaws were parted with each breath he took, thick fangs coated in her blood. His blood-red eyes were hungry for blood and filled to the brim with rage. His small, three-fingered arms flexed, readying himself for another attack.

Through grating leaf-eater, he spoke. His voice was not deep, and his accent was thick, but the message was clear. "Give me my sister."