A.N: All righty yall, here we go, chapter two, Ruby's flashback! I always wondered how Ruby and Chomper met, finding it odd the creators never made a movie or even dedicated an episode to such an encounter. Thus, I've had to fabricate my own and intertwin it with what we already know. (Which wasn't much.)
Chapter One: First Encounter
Out in the Mysterious Beyond life was rough, it was either eat, or be eaten, a struggle to survive the day. For those who adapted, they managed to stay clear of sharpteeth, moving from spot to spot, never staying in one place for too long. By a small stream a Fastrunner leapt out of hiding to stand in the open, being pink with blue eyes. Ruby was ten-years old and traveled with her family in the Mysterious Beyond. She kept an eye out for one particular danger, Red Claw, a ferocious and dangerous sharptooth. With his fast-bitter friends Screech and Thud, the trio stalked and terrorized any they came across, including Ruby and her family. It was a typical day, Ruby was enjoying a nice sea creature she caught and ate, chewing and looking around. While not full half leaf-eater, she and her family leaned more toward greens, sweet bubbles being her favorite. The round purple things that grew from vines, quite a luxury whenever she was able to locate them. Lost in thought, Ruby simply took a breath of air, releasing and relaxing. All was still, the sound of a creek flowing was soothing and created a calm atmosphere.
"My was a beautiful, a beautiful day it is."
It was shattered when a voice cried out, echoing and making her jump slightly. "Aahhh! Help!" The voice came from a boy, calling for assistance along with splashing. Hurry, fearful it might be one of her brothers, though they could swim. Regardless, her protective instinct told her to run like the wind to where the boy cried out in panic. "Someone, help!"
When she arrived, she saw a pair of sharpteeth, peering down a steep ledge to a small pound where water splashed, ripples flowing out from where someone thrashed. The individual who flailed about coughed, taking on water and sinking fast. While afraid of the predators, she backed up and took a running start, plowing ahead and jumping out from the land, diving in, leaving only a small splash. Bubbles flowed from where the small creature sank, Ruby unable to see the being, her vision blurry under the surface as she moved toward the boy. Her arms went around his chest and she swam upward, kicking her legs and pulling him to get air. When she surfaced, she heard coughing, glad to hear he was alive.
"Mommy! Daddy!" He said, to whom she couldn't say, for all she saw where the pair of sharpteeth, not plant-eaters.
Strangely, they looked down to her with happy expressions, almost smiling. If not for the fact they were meat-eaters, she'd grinned back instead of holding an uneasy expression. That begged the question, why were they acting as though she did some heroic deed for them, all she did was help the boy from drownings to his death? Then it slowly hit her, to whom what it she saved? With a worried gaze, Ruby glanced to her side, finding the boy was a small sharptooth, peering up to her while his hands clung to her. Not only that, but he spoke the leaf-eater language instead of the common roars she was used to. He gave her a big smile, having dark/light blue skin and red eyes.
"Y-you can talk, talk as I can?" Ruby stated in confusion, blinking a few times.
"Yeah, my parents are very grateful you saved me from drowning." He translated their purrs and low rumbles. "My name is Chomper. And who do I have to thank?"
"Ruby is my name, my name is Ruby." She answered, shocked she was sharing a conversation with a sharptooth.
She kicked her feet to keep them above the water, swimming to the edge where a tail dangled down for her to grab. Holding on, she was lifted and placed beside the towering pair. Letting go of Chomper, she saw him go to his parents with his head lowered. Then, he made small sounds in the sharptooth tongue, oh if only she could know what they were saying. For whatever Chomper told them, he must've asked them not to eat her, or so she thought.
"Chomper, we told you not to wander off." Mother scolded, leaning down to rub him on the head.
"Sorry, mommy, I was chasing a bug and didn't see the ledge."
"That's why you must always be aware of your surroundings." Father added.
Ruby stood by, dumbfounded, unable to believe the three were sharing a conversation. Not that she was one to judge, but like most leaf-eaters, she assumed sharpteeth were unintelligent and went around killing. Yet here they were, being gentle and kind to their son, going as far as licking her in thanks. For a minute she stood there, frozen and unsure what to do. She could run off and return to her family, or she could stay and learn more about Chomper, the only sharptooth she ever heard talk. Curiousity got the better of her and she remained unmoved.
Then, Chomper turned to her with such an innocent gaze, truly not the eyes of a killer. "My parents hope you'll be okay if we walk you back to your family. For protection, of course." Chompe said, going to take Ruby's hand.
"Sure, I don't see why not. I'll just have to let my parents know ahead of time before they see them and run."
The sharpteeth took the lead while Chomper and Ruby walked between them, acting as shields to keep the young safe. Ruby found it odd, never imagining she'd be in the company of sharpteeth and still be alive. It was quite a miracle and also a discovery, seeing a glimpse into the world of a leaf-eaters enemy. She was silent, studying the large female to her right. There really wasn't much difference between a male and female, though she was lighter in skin tone, similar to her mother and father.
To be polite and break the stillness, Chomper asked. "So, Ruby, do you have any siblings?"
With a nod, Ruby left her thoughts to speak with Chomper. "Yes, two younger brothers. I'm guessing you're a single hatchling?"
"Indeed, it's always been me, my mommy and my daddy."
"Does it ever get lonely, not having anyone to play with?"
Glancing to his feet, Chomper's expression became low for only a brief moment. "It's difficult at times, to wish to talk to kids, who only run from me. And sharpteeth, well, they can't understand how or why I speak the leaf-eater tongue. Sometimes I wonder how my folks cope with having such an odd son."
"Well, you're their son and they love you matter what, that's what parents do." Ruby said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, being different is nothing to be ashamed of. Think about it, if we were all the same, we'd be pretty boring, boring we'd be, if we were all alike. Look at me, sometimes I talk weird, that my speech is unusual."
"I like how you talk Ruby, then again, hearing anyone acknowledge me is a welcome. But how you phrase things, it's really neat, draws me in." Ruby was taken back, never having anyone complement her in such a way. It was flattering, bringing a smile to her face. "Wow, you have a lovely smile too." Chomper added, grinning himself. "One that makes others light up."
"How nice of you to say, Chomper. I gotta say, you're a very unique color, blue, certainly stand out."
Glancing down the length of his body, he then looked to her. "We kind of go together, pink and blue."
"Yeah, we do, don't we?"
While the young spoke, the parents stole a glance or two, to see how the fastrunner was around their son. Unlike other plant-eaters he'd come across, she was the first to treat him as an equal, not fearing him in the least. She was brave, as far as a leaf-eater went, diving into help a stranger she'd never even met before. For most who saw Chomper heading their way, fled for the hills, acting as though their tail were on fire. Such was the case with any and all Chomper tried to say a friendly hello too, usually resulting in him having his feelings hurt, after all, the kids in Plant Valley accepted him among them, so why couldn't others? When her grew to be six, he was able to grasp the concept that they were meat-eaters, which was why plant-eaters would never fully trust him, or any of his kind for that matter.
It was touching to witness the blossoming of a possible friendship, Chomper's mom finding it hard to contain her joy. "Look dear, they're getting along. Is it not a sight to behold?"
"I see, they sure are talking." He said, arching a brow. "Wonder what they could be saying? I mean, what would a leaf-eater have to talk about? How grass taste?"
"Not sure, they're simple creatures after all."
"Yeah, I still find it hard to believe he learned to speak with them, especially since he was only a hatchling when he met those leaf-eater kids."
"It was harder for him to learn our langue after that."
"Thank flesh we found that island to take refuge on, till he was old enough to be out here."
"Still, with Red Claw around, we'll never be safe." She stated, glancing down to Chomper with worry. "He's still so small, needs protection till he gets older, bigger."
"By twelve he should hit his growth spurt like we did. But it seems so far away at this point."
"Very far indeed."
The parents continued to speak softly; Chomper too busy talking with Ruby to be aware of what they were saying. When they saw a formation of rocks in the distance, Ruby spoke. "Oh, here we are, here is where we have arrived." She took the lead and paused for them to stop. "I'll go give my family a heads up, then you can come over to say hello."
"Okay, we'll wait here."
He smiled at her again, Ruby giving a nod and going to where her family were. Her parents and brothers were taking shelter beneath Hanging rock, a place she knew well, for it was their bunker, where they'd hunker down to hide from Red Claw. She entered the cave and her parents walked toward her, glad she returned unharmed and in one piece.
"Ruby, where have you been?" Mother asked with worry. "We looked for you, but couldn't see you."
"I saved a boy from drowning."
"How brave of you, where is he now?" Father peered out, looking from left to right. "Is he a nice fastrunner?"
"Oh, he's close by, with his parents." Ruby answered, trying to find the right words, how to tell them the boy and his parents were sharpteeth.
"This is very nice and it won't it be delightful to meet another family." Mother exited the cave, followed by Father and Ruby's brothers. "Come we don't want to seem rude, rude is not the impact we want to give our guests."
"Mom." Ruby said, reaching out to them.
Once her family left their bunker, Ruby perused them and heard brush rustle, holding her breath, knowing the sharpteeth would be revealed to her family. Shadows fell over the four, who gaze up in awe at the very sight that lay before them. When the tower pair came out, Ruby's parents froze with terror, gasping with shock, each parent drawing sibling in hand.
"Sharpteeth!" Father said, turning pale in the face.
Before the scene escalated out of control or a mad panic, Chomper stepped over, offering a friendly smile to them. "Hello Ruby's parents, nice to meet you." Giving a polite bow of respect and greeting, he continued in his friendly and innocent tone. "My parents wanted to thank you personally for Ruby saving me. They know you can't understand them, so I can translate what they say, for the most part." He added on with a chuckle, showing off those sharp teeth of his to the befuddled pair of fastrunners.
Father stammered and he found himself unable to speak a word, mouth opening and closing several times, yet not even a peep was heard. Mother, looked the boy over, then to his parents, who stood idly by, not even lunging forward to eat them. It was in that moment; Mother came to her senses, collected her thoughts. "How nice of them to thank us, we'll accept their gratitude." The older fastrunner nodded to the large pair, looking back to Chomper. "You must be the boy our Ruby was telling us about."
"Yes, ma'am, Chomper is the name."
"Y-you can t-talk?" Father pondered with almost a bit of excitement, gazing upon Chomper with amazement. "I mean, speak the leaf-eater tongue?"
"I sure can, I speak both dialects." Chomper stated proudly.
"How incredible, wherever did you learn it?"
"I had leaf-eater friends and talk to those I meet, provided they didn't run away screaming. Which is why I was so happy to meet Ruby, who was fearless, saving my life and even sharing a conversation with me."
The twins cowered under their parents, yet slowly walked over to the talking sharptooth boy, who smiled, revealing his pearly whites to the pair, who gave a nervous set of grins. Ruby cleared her throat and went to stand by Chomper, who lit up when he saw her. Waving and jumping up and down, excited to see her again, even if they'd been apart for only a short time.
"Ruby, good to see you." He took her hand and glanced back to his parents. "On the way, my folks and I were talking, in sharptooth of course. And well, we thought if your family would like, perhaps we could travel together. We can offer you protection, in payment for your good deed. After all, good deeds should always be rewarded."
Unbeknownst to Chomper, it was really so he could keep a friend and not be so lonely. For it was heartbreaking to see how sad he was, friendless and resorting to making up imaginary pals to play with. Not that that bothered them too much, but they worried he'd lose touch with reality, with suck thinking, thus, they came up with a plan on the spot.
"Hopefully they'll see it as beneficial for them over us." Dad spoke softly, leaning to his towering mate. "After all, leaf-eater care only for their safety, especially when they have young like this pair do."
"It will be good for our son to have others to talk too and mingle with. No one should be alone like that."
"Yeah, I was worried when he carried around that rock friend of his." Dad added.
"Wow your parents would be willing to do that?" Mother asked, feeling a weight lifted from her shoulders. For with a set of sharpteeth around, none would dare try to hurt her young. It gave her comfort, all be it, gratitude for their offer. "Well, we'd be very happy to travel with your family, Chomper, traveling with you family will be nice. I just hope we don't become a burden."
"Let them know it'll be no trouble at all, so long as they don't get under foot." Mom said, peering down to the other mother with soft eyes.
"Besides, they won't offer much meat." Dad stated, letting out a low rumble. "I mean, they'll barely fill my stomach."
"Are we safe?" Mr. fastrunner asked.
"Yes, they're discussing it and say they'd enjoy us being together." Chomper said, looking back to his parents who gave a nod.
Everything was falling into place, they needed to get closer to that Plant Valley for the last and final phase of their plan. During the nigh when Chomper slept, the pair discussed the trouble of finding a safe place to raise their unique son. None of the sharpteeth wanted a thing to do with Chomper and the plant-eaters were clearly terrified of him, leaving them in a stick situation. However, the five leaf-eaters accepted him, wiht luck, they'd welcome him among them.
