Chapter II: Strange Sight Starts Search

In which a search begins and disappearances abound.

"Ruby, please try to calm down; you're exhausted," Littlefoot reasoned.

"You want me to calm down! Calming down is something I cannot do! I haven't seen him in a long time, and even a little time is bad! I checked the Secret Caverns, the Thundering Falls, the Sheltering Grass, all along the Fast Water-"

"Ruby!" Littlefoot exclaimed. She stopped and looked at him. "Getting excited won't help us find him. I'm worried too, but we have to think clearly about this. You said the last place you saw him was back at your cave, right?" She nodded. "Well then, let's head that way."

"But I already-"

"You were really worked up and might have missed something. Let's take this slowly and search the Secret Caverns carefully. The others are helping to clean up after the storm, but my grandparents said I could help find Chomper, so let's go." Ruby could find no objections to any of that, so the two of them set off.

"Maybe Chomper decided he doesn't need me anymore and set off on his own," Ruby wondered aloud gloomily as they walked.

"Ruby, that kind of thinking won't help the situation. If we're going to find Chomper, we need to focus on the where not the why. Now think. What was Chomper doing when you last saw him?" Littlefoot questioned.

"Well, let's see. Last time I saw Chomper, I saw him just sitting down while rubbing the side of his mouth. That is nothing unusual since he just lost two of his teeth."

"Okay then. Let's just start loo-" suddenly, everything went black for Littlefoot. "Huh?" he said, looking around him only to see nothing. Then the darkness began to clear up and he saw the Great Valley. Something was strange though. The entire mess from the storm was gone, but Littlefoot was certain it was still there just a moment ago. "What's going on?" he asked, but there was no answer. Then all of sudden, he saw Chomper.

"Chomper!" he called, but he did not hear him. Littlefoot tried running up to him, only to find that he couldn't move. All he could do was watch. He saw Chomper approaching the rest of the group. Littlefoot couldn't believe his eyes. Amongst the group was- himself! He saw himself talking to Ruby, then Chomper approach them. As Chomper came closer, Littlefoot saw him duck behind a bush to listen to the group. Then tears began swelling in Chomper's eyes and he ran off. As Littlefoot continued to watch, he saw him leave the Great Valley into the Mysterious Beyond. Then as suddenly as these images appeared, everything went back to the way it was before.

"Littlefoot, are you okay?" Ruby asked him, concerned.

"Huh? What happened?" he asked her.

"You stopped talking halfway through saying 'looking' and seemed like you had something on your mind. Did you come up with an idea of where Chomper might be?"

"He's in the Mysterious Beyond," Littlefoot replied with utmost certainty.

"How do you-?"

"I don't know how to explain it, but I just know he's there. Come on, this way!" he called as he led Ruby to the place where Chomper exited the Great Valley.

"And uh, did you see anything, well, unusual a minute ago?" Littlefoot asked her.

"Unusual? Like what?"

"Err, never mind."

xxxxx

"He didn't stop to question it, just heeded it. Excellent," a female voice said.

"I knew that boy was intelligent. He doesn't waste time when the situation is dire," male added.

"That's enough chit-chat for now. Let's see what happens next."

"Very well. Let's go."

And with that, they were gone.

xxxxx

Two Sharpteeth walked side by side, while the younger one led.

"Thanks for coming with me. It's nice to have someone to roar to."

"No problem. I like to travel anyway. So, your parents live on an island and you live in a place called the Great Valley with your friends?"

"Yup," he replied, and then his face fell. "Or at least, I used to."

"Oh, I'm sorry again. I don't mean to keep reminding you of painful memories."

"That's okay. I know you don't mean to."

"Why not you choose something to discuss? It's safer that way," he said with a laugh. "That is, if you want to keep chatting."

"Oh yes! I like talking with you. Would you like to hear about my friends?"

"Sure. I'm all ears."

"Okay. Well, there's Ducky. She really likes water and is very nice. She repeats herself a lot when talking. Then there is her adopted brother Spike. He really likes food and is also pretty nice. He doesn't talk though. I heard he can, but he just chooses not to."

"I suppose he doesn't get in too many arguments then, huh?"

"Nope," Chomper replied with a laugh, and then continued. "There's Petrie who can fly. He doesn't like adventuring as much as the rest of us. Then there's Cera. She gets in a lot of talking fights with us. She can be really nice, but I wish she would be more often." Dusk chuckled at that description.

"Then there's Littlefoot. He's my best friend. It's like he cares about everyone, and he does a lot of nice stuff to show it. He was the first one to accept me and tried harder to be my friend than any of the others when they visited my home. (Ruby wasn't there at that time though.) Now, about Ruby. She told my parents that she'd look after me but I just found out that she really didn't want to. That's why I left. I didn't want to be around when it makes her unhappy."

"So, you have- six- friends?" Dusk asked in an odd tone of voice.

"Yup. Back in the Great Valley, the seven of us had a lot of fun."

Dusk was silent for a moment and appeared to be deep in thought.

"You said some of your friends used to be afraid of you. Does that mean they aren't Sharpteeth?" Chomper was a bit nervous at first to tell a Sharptooth he was friends with leaf-eaters, but Dusk was his new friend so he decided to tell him anyway.

"Yeah, they're all Flatteeth."

"By any chance, are they all different?" he asked sharply. He was completely unfazed by the fact they weren't Sharpteeth, much to Chomper's relief.

"What do you-?"

"I mean, is each of your friends a different species? Like Dome Head, Yellow Belly, and so forth?"

"Uh, yeah, each one is a different kind," Chomper replied slowly, a bit taken back by the sudden spurt of questions.

"So let me get this straight. You have six friends, all different, who live in a place called the Great Valley?"

"Yup, you got it."

"I'm terribly sorry. I just remembered that I have to do something important. Will you be alright walking to your parents' place on your own from here?"

"Uh, sure. Is everything okay?" Chomper asked him out of concern.

"Oh, I'm fine, really. Thanks though. It was very nice meeting you. Good-bye!" And with that, Dusk took off in another direction in quite a hurry.

"Bye!" Chomper roared out to him. "Gee, I wonder what he needed to do all of a sudden?" he thought to himself.

xxxxx

Dusk's run came to a halt when he was certain no one was around to see him.

"Menta, can you hear me?" he thought.

"Yes, Dusk, loud and clear."

"I think I found them."

"You never stray from success, do you?"

"This isn't the time for small talk. Send Coaley my location. We all have much to discuss."

"Yes, my lord, right away."

xxxxx

"Are you sure Chomper came this way?" Ruby asked Littlefoot as they went along. "We can't follow any tracks because there aren't any tracks to follow."

"I know. That storm washed away so much," he responded, looking around. "And yes, I just know Chomper came through here." The two of them came to a variety of trails. They had followed the path out of the Great Valley, and now there were numerous ways to continue on.

"I really wish you'd tell me how you know Chomper went the way we're going, especially since you didn't seem to earlier."

"I, uh, I kinda saw him leave," Littlefoot replied awkwardly.

"What! Then why didn't you stop him? And if you watched him go out this way, then why did you want to check for him back at the Secret Caverns?" Ruby wanted to know. Given the circumstances, she had every right to.

Littlefoot was feeling more and more uncomfortable. The truth is, he didn't know either. His knowledge and actions made as little sense to him as they did to Ruby. How was he supposed to explain that?

"Well, what happened was, he was there, but I was too, but not this me, I saw another one, but he couldn't hear me yell, and I couldn't move, so-"

"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice called from a distance. "You weren't thinking of going on an adventure without us, were you?"

"Me hope not."

"That would not be very nice. Oh no. Oh no."

Cera, Ducky, and Spike ran up to them with Petrie following from the air.

"Is the mess from the storm cleaned up already?" Littlefoot asked, trying to get out of having to finish explaining to Ruby.

"No, but last of mess has big trees and rocks that grown-ups have to move," Petrie told him.

"Humph! I could have helped them with the big stuff too, but I couldn't let you two go off without me. Who knows what trouble you might get into without me around?" she asked with a smirk.

xxxxx

"Hey Dusky, I found you!" came a loud, female's voice. Dusk turned to its owner and watched as she ran toward him, tripped over a tree root, and then landed at his feet.

"Oomph!" she exclaimed on impact.

Dusk put his hand on his forehead and sighed. The female Sharptooth, a brighter shade of black than Dusk, started getting to her feet, being about half his size. She was pretty much the same size as Chomper.

"Ouchy," she moaned while rubbing her back.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, offering his hand to help her up. She took it and returned to a standing position.

"Yeah," she replied quietly as she lowered her head.

"Coaley, how many times have I told you to stop running up to me like that? I mean, it's not like I was going anywhere just now."

"Um…" she replied, trying to count them on her fingers. Dusk rolled his eyes.

"Never mind. And for the last time, stop calling me 'Dusky!'"

"Yes, sir," she responded softly.

"Now, let's get back. Time is of the essence."

"Okey dokey."

Then the two of them vanished from sight.