Hello, fellow readers.

You know, I had been stalling and blocked with this story for a long time before realizing that JULY was the last time I updated it. At that point, I knew I needed to get my ass into high gear and write this. I don't recommend forcing anything if the creative flow isn't there, but a lot of you have waited patiently for a long time for a resolution to this story and I owe you that much at least. So I sat down and churned this out in three days. I think it came out well but I do need to add a couple disclaimers.

1) to the reviewer asking for romance between Chomper and Ruby, I'm sorry it's not happening. Can't get any more blunt than that. Doesn't work here.

2) This chapter is VERY intense. I'm not giving anything away, but all I can say is don't bite my head off when you get to the end lol. I promise that whatever you read in this chapter is not the last update. But just be prepared. I had to go over it in my head a few times to make sure this is what I wanted to do, and I think it works.

Anyway, thank you to all who have been patient with me. Please enjoy and review.

Chapter 18. Sacrifice and Scream

He was the greatest sharptooth among his kind and of the age. The Terrible One had been the only one to match his sheer strength, but he had been killed by mere hatchlings…no self respecting killer allowed themselves to be killed by creatures barely big enough to be considered a snack. He had vowed to do better, to do what his former rival had not and establish dominance over the lesser races of leaf eater and corral the rest of the sharpteeth to join his cause. Together, they would be unstoppable.

Alas, most were to prideful or foolish to see the beauty in his plan. Those who had tried to defy him had been eliminated. Even his once loyal servants, Thud and Screech, had decided to move on when his back was turned. He swore he would make them see, that those gifted with ferocious jaws, claws, and everything else did not have to suffer the idea that they had to compete with grass guzzlers for dominance. The Great Valley was an affront to all nature and that was why it had to be destroyed. Years of searching, probing, and attempts to break in had all been in vain…until now. Singling out the purple biter and his fastrunner companion had been a stroke of genius; they had led him right to the prize he so desired. Once in, there would be no one to stand in his way….

Which is why, in the current moment, the fury of Red Claw knew no bounds. Not only had he not expected the little biter to actually challenge him, he had not expected that the former little ones would be brave enough to stand up to his might and succeed. Logic dictated that he should merely bully them aside in favor of an easier target, but honor demanded he kill them first as an example of what happened to those who dared oppose his power. Only, those currently opposing him proved to be a tougher kill than originally anticipated.

Within the grassy hills of the Valley he sought to subjugate, the purple biter was biting, clawing, and scratching every inch of his hide.

Red Claw struck out with his own jaws but missed, as his enemy came up behind him and gave a strong bite to his hindquarters, causing him to roar with pain. He swung out with his tail, knocking him down, but the juvenile was right back on his feet, ready to charge once more.

And charge he did, striking with his jaws that barely missed one of his small arms, as he responded with a kick of his clawed feet. Chomper dodged that blow as well, and swung out with his own small claw, leaving a nasty gash on his chest. He didn't stop there, bashing into the bigger Tyrannosaurus with his head, thoroughly knocking the wind out of him.

Red Claw managed to recover, attempting another failed strike that would have decapitated his enemy had it found its target. The purple biter took a couple steps backward and began circling, while the bigger predator reciprocated.

"You fight well, young biter," Red Claw spoke in their own tongue. "Had I known you cared so much for these fat leaf eaters, I would have doubled my efforts to slaughter them all years ago."

Chomper did not react angrily to the goading, instead preferring to remain focused on his main objective: buying enough time for Littlefoot to assist Cera to get to safety.

"You call them fat, yet your own girth prevents you from killing anything bigger than a buzzard. You may be big and powerful, Red Claw, but you're also slow. That and ignorant of so much you do not care to understand."

"I understand this," the scarred sharptooth growled menacingly. "By the time this day is done, your lifeless corpse will decorate my victory over this abomination."

The circling ceased as Red Claw charged forward, trying to take a large bite out of Chomper's side and deliver a critical blow. True to Chomper's word, however, the massive Tyrannosaurus lacked the quickness and agility of his younger adversary. The purple biter side-stepped the blow and sank his teeth into the monster's shoulder, causing another cry of intense fury.

Red Claw shook him off, but not before a chunk of his flesh was ripped from him, leaving a significant wound. Not enough to slow him down much, but it would serve as a constantly painful reminder of the damage this teenage sharptooth could do.

"I once offered you left overs as a reward for assisting my entry into this place," Red Claw spoke with barely contained rage. "Consider that offer rescinded."

"Like I would ever take it," Chomper shot back, spitting the piece of flesh he had taken onto the ground. "The dinosaurs that live here are stronger than you'll ever be, monster. All these years of believing you can do whatever you want has made you arrogant. No matter how much death you inflict, you'll never break them."

He barreled forward with an earth shaking roar (it did not have the same timbre of his opponent but it was no less potent) and gave another head butt into Red Claw's ribs, sending him staggering back once more. But the elder Tyrannosaurus had braced himself much more effectively this time around and instead of falling to the ground as Chomper had intended, he counterattacked. This caught the juvenile off guard and he was not quick enough to remove himself from harm's the way this time around.

Red Claw's jaws wrapped around Chomper's head, and using his sheer strength, lifted him into the air and began shaking him around like a rag doll. This went on for several seconds before he let go, sending the purple biter flying into the air, crash landing with a heavy *thud into a nearby tree. The force of his head was so strong, it caused the trunk to snap in half, falling over into a useless heap.

The monster gave something of a smirk.

"Everyone breaks little biter. You had the honor of being the first."

He turned his attention back to the longneck and threehorn, who were still within striking distance and hampered by the injury he had caused to the latter.

Yes, he was the greatest sharptooth of the age and he would finish what he started on this day.

Leaf eating dinosaurs were usually not known for their speed. With the exception of swimmers, very few could run long distances for an extended period of time. But when the lives of one's children is on the line; the body can be pushed to do almost anything, and Topps was finding that out first hand. Thankfully, they had a rather speedy fastrunner to lead the way.

"We had better be getting close," the threehorn patriarch panted, his lungs burning and his legs practically cramping. But he did not slow down, on the contrary, he tried to go faster.

"We are!" Ruby said. "Red Claw's roars keep getting closer! It won't be long now!"

Dez the spiketail had already fallen a bit behind, as his massive body would not permit him to keep up for very long. Still, he kept a reasonable pace, allowing the younger and faster dinosaurs to take the lead.

"I sure hope those longnecks don't take too long to show up," Topps grumbled. "We'll need them if we want to take down this monster."

"I'm thrilled to see you have embraced the concept of unity Topps," Kosh said with a small bit of sarcasm. "The way you've spoken about longnecks lately, I would say you think they're worse than sharpteeth."

"Now wait I-"

He was interrupted by a loud screeching call that came from Violet and Petrie, who came swooping in from the opposite direction.

"Cera and Littlefoot are up ahead!" Violet called out. "Red Claw is battling with another sharptooth! We need to reach them before he does!"

It took a few seconds for the fact that there was another sharptooth in the Valley to register, but by the time it did the herd leaders were sprinting that much faster. Topps in particular was beginning to feel the weight that his actions had caused. Despite his disapproval of his daughter's cavorting with a longneck, he would never be able to forgive himself if he never had the chance to speak to her again.

We must reach them both…before it's too late.

The male juvenile flyer suddenly let out a loud screech of his own, quite different from the weak, cracking call that he had been using before.

"The Western Forest is coming into view!" Ruby yelled out. "We almost there!"

Whether they would make it in time was another question entirely.

"OW!"

"So it does hurt."

"I never said that."

"I'm pretty sure saying 'OW' means that something hurts, Cera."

Littlefoot was currently in the process of trying to aid the injured threehorn in getting her away from the scene of the battle but it was proving to be a difficult task. Cera could hardly put any weight on the injured forepaw and it was quite a hindrance to any plan towards safety.

"Just keep going forward, flathead. No matter how much it may sting, it's nothing compared to what Red Claw will do to us if Chomper fails and we don't get out of here in time."

Littlefoot didn't want to consider that possibility. Chomper's noble act bought them time, but there was a massive amount of guilt at leaving their sharptooth friend to fend off the monster alone. Despite his insistence, that didn't make the situation any better.

"Chomper won't fail. Just keep going and we'll be alright," he said in an attempt to remain calm. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Cera gave a humorous snort as she continued to prod along at a pace she found acceptable to move at.

"That's real comforting. You've always had a knack for words, Littlefoot but I don't know if you-"

That was the last sentence she was able to speak before Red Claw appeared from the top of the hill, his body quite bloodied and battered, but otherwise as terrifying and strong as he ever was. There was no doubting his intentions. Eyes glowed a malicious and greedy red, wasting no time in hunting down his objective. The predator's sprint had begun.

"What was that about Chomper not failing?"

Littlefoot didn't even care about being proven wrong by his cynical love interest. None of that mattered when their lives were at stake and he would keep his promise to Cera if it was the last thing he did (which at this point was a distinct possibility).

"Just get behind me."

He didn't give the threehorn much choice, shielding his body and raising his tail once more in preparing for what would likely be his last attack in this world. The thought wasn't comforting, but that's what a bond between best friends will do and it proved true especially in this case.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Red Claw's thunderous footsteps grew closer and closer as Littlefoot raised his tail in a last ditched effort to protect both himself and Cera. Fear coursed through his body, as it wasn't every day you had the world's most fearsome sharptooth bearing down on you twice in one day. But there was also a stout resoluteness within him that would not allow any abdication of this fight. There was so much more at stake than just his own life.

Leaders don't run, he thought to himself as Red Claw drew ever closer. My dad and grandparents taught me that much

He resolved to talk to both his longtime guardians once they got through this…if they got through this. He just needed one good strike and they could get away to the protection of the adults.

"Come on, you ugly son of a bitch!" he bellowed out.

"Littlefoot, look out!"

Cera had tried to warn him, but he had failed to notice that Red Claw was using the same move to topple him over as he did with her. His head was barreled down like a battering ram and Littlefoot's tail would not be enough to defend against it. By the time he realized that fact, time had run out.

WHAM

The sharptooth's thick skull collided with Littlefoot's side, sending him into the dirt a few feet away and leaving the injured threehorn wide open for an attack.

Cera had never felt so frightened in her entire life as Red Claw rounded on her, teeth glistening with drool, stomach hungry with anticipation. In her current state, there was no way she could stand up to him and survive longer than a few seconds. All the bravado in the world wouldn't save her now. She was as good as dead.

Ignoring the searing pain in her forepaw, she dug in her heels and waved her horns in a desperate act of intimidation. Though her chances of surviving were slim, she would not let the monster have the satisfaction of seeing her scared. She would go down the threehorn way: with honor and glory.

"Give me your best shot!" she said, practically daring him to attack.

Red Claw did precisely that, knowing his only opponent was hampered and posed little to no threat to him. Even in his bloodied state, he was still far stronger and dangerous than she was to him. Wasting no time, he struck forward, jaws open this time, aiming for the vulnerable part of her neck.

Meanwhile, Littlefoot shook his head to clear his daze. The blow from Red Claw had temporarily disoriented him, but the next sight he witnessed was enough to bring him back to earth. The gigantic Tyrannosaurus was mere moments from slaughtering his best friend and it would all his fault. Images of her dead, mangled body flashed before his eyes while Red Claw laughed with a bloodied grin….

Horror stricken, what Littlefoot did next was pure instinct. He quickly picked himself off the ground and leapt forward in front of Cera in a last act to save her life…even if it meant losing his.

NO!

He was so full of adrenaline that he didn't quite feel the jaws that clamped down on his back until a few seconds later. When he did, pain shot through his body like lightning, causing him to shout in agony. In back of his mind, he knew this was how his mother had gone out…a devastating wound to her back that she did not back up from…so it would be with her son.

Cera, fully expecting to die with her horns aimed at the monster's heart, had not expected Littlefoot to jump in front of her as he had been practically knocked out only moments before. She could only watch in horror as the longneck she had come to love took the killing blow that was meant for her.

Red Claw, on the other hand, was so shocked that almost immediately after chomping down on Littlefoot's back he let go, the longneck landing five feet away, breathing heavily with a gaping wound that saw blood pour profusely down his sides. In fact, both parties had been taken by such surprise, they temporarily forgot each other in favor of gazing upon the fallen teenage longneck.

When that fact finally sunk in, Cera's bottom lip began to tremble. All sound seemed to fade from her awareness, not even the running footsteps of the adults that were only yards away or the voice of her father yelling her name. The only thing that registered in her mind was that Littlefoot was hurt, maybe even fatally…he had given up his own body for her…so that she may live…

"L-Littlefoot?"

Topps knew they were close. He could see the outline of three figures getting closer and closer, one of which was obviously his daughter.

A twinge went through his stomach when the two other two came into view, one of which was the monster that had somehow gotten into the Valley, the other being Littlefoot, the infamous longneck Cera had declared she was in love with.

Somehow, he found the task of dealing with a vicious sharptooth less daunting than the potential repercussions of the relationship his daughter sought with the longneck. But he had to set that aside for now, the only thing that mattered was saving Cera from the jaws of death and getting rid of Red Claw once and for all. He would personally ensure it.

"There they are!" Violet shouted, soaring ahead to aid the two youngsters in their current fight against the Tyrannosaurus.

"Wait for me, momma!"

"Let us not be late for we will be too late!" Ruby expressed in her own odd manner.

Topps and Kosh briefly glanced at each other before pushing themselves harder to reach the fight before it got out of hand. With any luck, Susa would arrive with Bron and the rest of the longnecks and they could take down Red Claw together.

Come on, Topps! Don't fail her now! He thought to himself urgently.

Legs churning, heart pumping, and mind set on one objective, the threehorn patriarch was ready to spring into the fight head on without any hesitation. The sharptooth would feel the wrath of a full grown bull and would rue the day he ever attacked his family…he would not allow the last of his flesh and blood to die at the claws of this monster.

Then, he witnessed several things happen at once.

Though he was only fifty feet away from the battle, he saw Red Claw smash into Littlefoot with his head, clearly trying to get to Cera first. To his horror, he appeared to succeed. Cera was only a juvenile and could not stand up to the sharptooth for long and wouldn't have a hope to escape without assistance. What followed next was even more shocking to him.

Just as Red Claw prepared to deliver the killing strike, Littlefoot suddenly jumped up from the ground and interceded, absorbing the deadly jaws while having a significant part of his flesh torn from his back. The longneck he had long been so suspicious of fell to the ground in a heap and had it not been for the adrenaline, he might have stopped running altogether.

The boy had just willingly sacrificed himself for the sake of his daughter….

There was no more time to think. It was time for action. If the kids were to be saved from becoming meals, they would need to act right then and there.

"CERA!" he roared out. "I'm coming!"

For Topps Threehorn, the shocking events of the day would not stop there as a scream like nothing he had ever heard before pierced his ears.

It was loud, primal, and filled with a kind of emotional rage never witnessed in all of dinosaur lore. Cera had a knack for expressing anger quite prominently, but the sound that echoed from her vocal chords was something else entirely. She had once demonstrated to Ducky how to properly release tension when upset, but even that had not come close to her current scream, which seemed to pierce the sound barrier itself.

So powerful it was, that even Red Claw recoiled and that proved to be his undoing, for it was one of the last acts he would ever commit.

Without so much as a second thought, relying on pure, unadulterated rage and sadness, Cera charged forward, all pain in her leg forgotten. Her horns glistened in the afternoon sun and today, they were a sharptooth's worse nightmare. It was only a matter of five seconds before she reached her target, her left horn finding its mark with deadly precision.

The sickening sound of pierced flesh echoed through the air as Red Claw's lung collapsed, causing him to nearly fall over, wheezing with tremendous pain, barely able to breathe or stand up on his own two feet. Knowing the battle had cost him far too much, the green Tyrannosaurus, the Valley's greatest enemy, staggered away heading towards the Western Forest in a bid to escape and cut his losses while he still could.

For Cera, she couldn't care less about Red Claw at this point, not when Littlefoot was laying on the ground practically motionless just a few steps away.

"Littlefoot!" she cried, struggling to hold her emotions back. She ran over and saw that his eyes were still open but barely. He had a weak smile on his face.

"I told you I'd never let anything happen to you," the teenage longneck said, but Cera knew his noble attempt at chivalry betrayed the fact that he was seriously hurt.

"Stay still!"

She peered over to the gaping wound that was still bleeding on his back. No, this was not good at all. This was beyond her capacity to assist in. Littlefoot needed Mr. Thicknose or some other dinosaur with knowledge of healing.

"That wound is pretty bad," she said circling back around to him. "Can you stand up? We have to get you to the grown-ups."

"I'm not sure I'll be standing up any time soon," he replied, lifting his neck up just enough to see the wound for himself. "Red Claw's seen to that."

"Don't even think about leaving me!" Cera yelled out defiantly, tears forming in her eyes. "Dammit, Littlefoot! Why do you have to be this way?! Why do you always have to play the hero?!"

"I wasn't t-trying to be a hero," Littlefoot responded in barely more than a whisper. "Just protecting the dinosaur I love the most."

Cera lost her capacity to speak words as she could no longer hold back the tears that overwhelmed her. The old adage that threehorns never shed tears didn't apply. Not anymore. The blood of Red Claw that dripped from her horn seemed far too high of cost. Especially if it meant that she was about to lose her best friend.

A strong voice called out, followed by that of a familiar flyer.

"Cera!"

"Cera! You and Littlefoot okay!"

Petrie of course, was not aware of the grave injury their friend had received, but her father was and it was apparent that he felt the same concern alongside his first born when he reached her.

"Cera! Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Daddy!" she wailed as she embraced him. All appearances of strength were dropped. The teenage threehorn could not stop the tears that fell, and she did not bother to hide that fact from Topps.

"We need to get him help! L-Littlefoot…he's…."

"I know sweetie," Topps assured his daughter in a soft tone he reserved only for his family. "We'll get him help, I promise. And Red Claw won't get away with this."

"Forget, Red Claw!" Cera said, stomping her good foot on the ground. "Littlefoot-"

She could not continue as she continued to cry into her father's massive shoulder, who made no attempt to prevent her from doing so. He had seen the boy's sacrifice firsthand. There was absolutely no shame in his daughter's reaction.

"Littlefoot!" Petrie cried as tears began to form in his own eyes, while his mother consoled him.

"Shhh! Petrie, it's okay. We need to fly and let his father and grandparents know. They could be here at any moment…"

That moment proved to be right then and there, as Susa Duckbill along with Littlefoot's immediate family came into view- Bron, Grandpa and Grandma Longneck, Shorty, and Ali all in tow. Concern was already etched into their faces and when they saw Littlefoot laying on the ground, a deep wound in his back, that concern turned to panic.

"No," his grandmother whispered fearfully. "Littlefoot!"

"By the ancestors! Our grandson!"

Bron was speechless and Shorty was practically irate as the rest of the herd parted ways to allow the family to gather around the juvenile's prone body.

"Bro! Come on, get up!" the brachiosaurus said in a show of false bravado that poorly hid the emotion that threatened to send him into tears like his fellow teens.

"Shorty…" his father spoke somberly.

"Bron! He can't die! I won't let him! Come on, Littlefoot! I haven't even shown you the brand new way to hit pinecones with your tail!"

"Shorty, that's enough. That isn't helping."

"Then YOU tell me what I should do then!" Shorty screamed to his father., swallowing a large lump in his throat. "He's…he's the only brother I've ever had!"

Bron closed his eyes, knowing there was little to be done. He felt exactly the same way his adopted son did: helpless and angry at the inability to do more for his son. However, he also had the added wisdom to know severe injuries when he saw them. They could attempt some small remedies but with wounds such as these…well they were difficult to recover from even at Littlefoot's age. All they could do was stand by his side and hope for the best.

"Relax, Shorty. Don't be too eager for me to whoop your tail in pinecone bowling," Littlefoot said in a touching attempt at humor, but it could not reduce the solemn mood surrounding the situation. From Ruby attempting to console Petrie, the bowed head of Kosh, the silently weeping Susa, Topps's hushed whispers to his heartbroken daughter, to the elderly longnecks soft nuzzling of their grandson, there was a dark melancholy that starkly contrasted with the victory over Red Claw. That one of the Valley's brightest should suffer for it seemed a cruel twist of fate for all those witnessing.

Littlefoot breathed as deeply as he could as he felt the affections of his brother and grandparents beside him, but his senses were starting to fail him as his vision became blurry and increasingly dark. The pain from his wound was still there but it was considerably dulled, an ominous sign. He could make out the words of his dad, now watching his son fall to the same fate as his wife.

"I'm so proud of you son."

He could make out the crying and the sniffles of his friends, and one last barb from Cera.

"I'm going to tell the ancestors to kick your butt when you get there."

Littlefoot smiled, knowing full well the female threehorn did not believe in any sort of afterlife and that it was her way of coping with the situation. He appreciated it all the same. Somehow, he knew he would see her again when it was all said and done. Maybe they could go to a place where the rules of the dinosaur world didn't apply…just like he had envisioned. Together with Cera along with Petrie, Ducky, and Spike. He was sorry he wouldn't be able to say good-bye one last time to the latter two…

Darkness was enveloping him rapidly and he knew he only a few more moments to say something before he left this world, but he did not have the strength to do so. In fact, he was content to quietly slip away in peace…what was that Ali was saying to his grandparents? He couldn't make it out at this point.

Though he couldn't hear physically, he could sense a whisper entering his mind, soothing him in his final moments, the pain in his back disappearing.

Littlefoot...I'm always with you

He smiled to himself.

Mother, I'm coming

And with that last thought, Littlefoot knew no more.

Yeah...I know. This was pretty hard to write and I imagine some of you will be a little upset after reading this. I won't say anything more other than just keep an eye on the next update. Give me at least a month to get it out. Stay well, guys.

~The Wasp