Chapter 16

Destined for greatness

In the late cretaceous plains, herds of horned dinosaurs were very common in fact this was the time when they were the most powerful herbivores on the planet especially to the largest and most famous of all, triceratops. With their massive trademark 3 horns and solid boned frills, they were more than capable of holding their own against the hungriest predator. And yet while being fearsome prehistoric warriors, they too had a very social behaviour and a very caring side to them especially when they were parents. In one large herd, they were gathered together in one of the plains as the herd's many females were tending to their nests, a large handful of the nests were cared for by a single mother, only a handful had both parents to look after them. At one nest were a clutch of 6 eggs inside as a mother and father looked over them lovingly, having invested in caring for and protecting them from scavengers for the past months their efforts were paying off as they stirred and began to hatch. Most of the hatchlings that came out were grey or black females, till the last one had only its legs pop out of the shell.

Inside the last egg was a young male, which stood out from the rest of his siblings being yellow in coloration given the color of his scales. His feet tumbled aimlessly in the air while inside he was upside down unable to stand up or turn. In a panic he began to cry out from within his own shell, and as his parents both saw he needed help, his father nuzzled his egg up right so the hatchlings inside could stand. Before his mother could help him in breaking free of the shell, the father then stopped her, wanting their son to try and find his way out on his own. Meanwhile the young hatchling still unable to see where he was going given the rest of his body was trapped in the shell, began to grumble and run about, the sight of him scared his sisters as they ran away from him as he came bumping into them multiple times. The father then walked off to try and find some fresh ferns for the young to graze on while the mother looked on, as the rest of her babies took shelter under her giant legs when the last one charged at them blindly.

Not wanting her son to continue to tumble about recklessly and hurt himself, she then lowered her face down to his level as he charged forward only to bump into her nose horn! The impact caused the shell to crack as he fell back, as he finally saw light for the first time before shaking the shell off him. This was his first day in the world, and already he was feeling rather hungry as he wagged his tail and barked at his mother hoping to be fed. As the mother looked behind to see the father still gathering enough food for the family, she then bent down to lick her son with affection as his sisters gathered around curious and interested to get to know their new family member.

They got close and began to sniff him as Chomp giggled as he felt being tickled by their curiosity. They even head butted one another playfully too, as their instincts as horned dinosaurs kicked in, though Chomp being the only male loved head butting a lot more than his sisters It was then that hunger was beginning to get to him, as he curiously nibbled on the tails of one of his sisters! When she squealed in pain at being bit, her mom came in and snorted at him angrily making him lower his head sadly, as it also made the rest of his sisters rather hesitant around him too. Luckily for the family they need not stay hostile with one another for long, as father came in and dropped a batch of fresh leaves he harvested from the bushes nearby. Eagerly the young began to dive upon the leaves and it didn't take too long for them too lear out their entire dinner plate, Chomp especially contributed to most of it for he had a way larger appetite than his sisters, even ended up tugging at their food too when they bit into it, clearly he wasn't that big on sharing.

Because of that his sisters didn't enjoy being around his company too much, as they decided to leave the nest and go nap a bit on their own while their parents decided to rest. Still feeling hungry even after lunch, Chomp sniffed the air and decided to hop out of his nest to go look for more food to chow on, bit as he left the nest one of his sisters looked up at him curiously and followed after him. He made his way to one of the dense bushes not too far from the nest, as he licked his lips and wagged his tail before eating away at the ferns while his sister watched him curiously. It all seemed well and peaceful, till suddenly a hostile growl sounded behind them! As they both turned in surprise they came face to face with a larger young trike, darker grey with orange splotches around his body. Maximus, being the son of the herd's current alpha, was brawny and arrogant, believing that as the future herd leader he was entitled to everything he laid eyes on, including the best feeding grounds. This particular bush he found was one of his favourites and to see 2 lower ranking individuals feasting from it was more than he could take!

He growled angrily at them and stomped his foot ready to drive them away, as Chomp's sister lowered her head and squealed in fear! It was then Chomp mustered up the strength to drop what he was doing as he stood between Maximus and his sister! The act surprising both her and Maximus, who clearly didn't expect this trike to show him such defiance. Clearly this one didn't yet know who he was or where his place was under him! Maximus narrowed his eyes and scarped the ground, shaking his head threateningly to intimidate Chomp, yet to his and the sister;'s surprise, Chomp barked back at him defiantly! Even though he was born not too long ago, he was born without fear as he snorted at his elder trike and growled, unwilling to back down as he stood his ground vowing to protect his sister who huddled behind him! Angered by this act of defiance, Maximus grunted and charged at him as Chomp did the same! They both clashed heads, while Chomp fought bravely as he pushed back at Maximus, but against the bigger, older and more experienced youngster he stood little chance against Maximus' stronger horns as he was easily shoved aside and fell to his side! Chomp cried in pain as he fell down and his sister came to his side, licking him with concern before looking up at Maximus, who stood on his hind legs and bellowed out at them, as if he were boasting about his victory!

He then planned to teach Chomp a lesson he would never forget, not satisfied enough with just winning as he prepared to deal another more savage blow to the downed trike, seeing a future rival in him, one who may threaten his position in the future and had to be eliminated! A loud growl then sounded, as Chomp's mother came on the scene, as she stomped her foot down and snorted at the rowdy delinquent trike. Maximus, being put off by the intrusion of an adult, snorted in anger as he was forced to back down. He had always gotten what he wanted given he was the son of the herd's alpha and to be denied of something really got him steamed. One day when he gets older he swore he'd get even one way or another as he trotted off back to his own nest.

Back to Chomp, his mom then looked down at him and snorted angrily making him lower his head sadly as he was scolded despite trying to help, but then again he did disobey his parents by wandering off. Luckily his sister came in and barked at her mother on Chomp's behalf, helping to explain the situation to their mother, who thankfully listened to her. Still the fact remained that Maximus was the offspring of their herd's alpha and by acting against him also meant going against their leader which could mean exile, this fact was law in their herd, and her mother felt they could have avoided a confrontation had Chomp just stayed put in the nest. Still, thankfully calm was restored for the time being, as their mother urged Chomp and his sister to return back home to which they did. As they trotted back and Chomp whimpered with sadness in his voice, his sister came in and nuzzled him with love and appreciation for what he did, which helped lift his spirits somewhat. Truly he felt a spark of kinship and attachment for family and others of his kind, as if he had developed his own sense of justice to protect others in need. And this was a spark that could eventually light up the dinosaur world and beyond in the future to come.

Given Chomp loved to run around and away from Max I like to assume his young self to be adventurous, curious but also brave, at the same time his habit of biting a lot when young doesn't show up in his adult life so he may have grown out of it when summoned but in chibi form he still reverts to his old habits.

Also would like to picture him as brave and also has a strong sense of companionship too despite at times being immature and selfish too, as depicted here how he protected his sister against young Maximus. Also it was because Maximus, that his father had many of the herd's stronger males exiled from the herd not wanting any of them to threaten his or his offspring's position as the herd's leaders.

Maximus' father would plan to have Chomp exiled in the future but for now he is still rather young so would let it slide till he were older perhaps.

Reply to reviews

Drew Luczynski

Yup can agree they have bad blood between one another after this given how they fought many times, and how Chomp was willing to fight Terry the moment he saw him again in the first episode.

Reviving dinosaurs is how you do it in most dinosaur games like Fossil Fighters.

I would agree on that part with Dr Z, plus he wants it to last. Also Terry built up kinship with Rod and Laura and they wouldn't want their gramps dead so he tolerates him if only to keep him around as his stress relief. Seems any dino series I watched you seen it too but the idea I got it mainly from Jurassic Park Arcade when in the t-rex level it shows the rex throwing the spino off the cliff.

I wouldn't say Chomp suffered as much though, but he is a dinosaur that values family a lot I will say.

tsukikami02

Yup you can be sure to see Terry again in Chomp's adult story. You'll see Chomp and Maximus having some history here, though I haven't been able to explore more of it on my first story.

The deinonychus were in early cretaceous so I don't think I will be able to write them in. My best idea is when a deinonychus pack went hunting, Dr Z had his henchmen distract the guard raptors while he stole 3 eggs either from the same or different nests.

For some reason writing Walking with Dinosaur King chapters got me thinking of an idea on the Ancients' story in the past when carding dinosaurs prior to the dinosaur king anime, but will focus on Fossil League first when this story is over. If you like maybe you can write that story then on 'Adventures with the Ancients'.