Chapter III: The Race to Chomper
In which the two groups make their move.
"They're all out of the valley," a male whispered.
"Please stop telling me things I already know," a female whispered back.
"My humblest apologies," the male replied insincerely. "Anyway, do you want to take care of Chomper, or should I?"
"What difference would it make?"
"I merely wanted to know your preference."
"How thoughtful of you. You finally ask my preference when it's irrelevant."
The male sighed. "I'll go after the boy."
"Good-bye," she said sarcastically after he was already gone. "Best get this over with," she thought to herself.
"Maybe Spike can sniff for Chomper like he did a while back," Ducky suggested.
"Oh yeah! Spike can find Chomper by his scent because he found Chomper by his scent," Ruby said excitedly.
"Don't bother," came a voice from behind them.
They all jumped besides air-born Petrie who instead let out a yelp.
They all turned around, and Littlefoot exclaimed, "It's you!"
xxxxx
Six small figures sat in a circle. Five had sharp teeth, one did not. Among those five, one had wings. The one without sharp teeth had a neck much longer than the others. The group therefore consisted of four Sharpteeth, a Sharptooth Flyer, and a Long Neck.
"Why do you think it's them, Dusky?" the female, bright-black Sharptooth asked.
"Two things. First of all, they are seven friends, each of a different species, who all live in one place- the Great Valley."
"What about the other thing, Dusky?"
"The second thing is- stop calling me Dusky!"
"Oh, right, sorry," Coaley apologized while turning red. A small, green Sharptooth snickered loudly.
"Still your tongue, boy!" the orange-colored Long Neck ordered, getting to her feet. "At least show some respect in our meetings!"
Dusk raised his hand, and she settled back down. "Thank you, my dear, but it is quite alright. Agu will learn his place in time."
Agu folded his arms and let out a dramatic "Humph!" but Dusk ignored it.
"Ma lord, if I may, what species are these friends you speak of?" the Flyer with yellow coloration asked.
"I'm not sure, though one of them is a Sharptooth, another is a Flyer, and I believe one is a Swimmer, as the boy mentioned one liking water. Why do you ask, Ceit?"
"Well, ma lord, my masterpiece went to a place called the Great Valley. During which time, it saw a group of children, seven to be exact: a Long Neck, Three Horn, Swimmer, Flyer, Spike Tail, Fast Runner, and Sharptooth. Perhaps they are-"
"Why didn't you provide this information earlier!" Dusk fumed. This was a much bigger deal than showing a little lack of respect.
"My apologies, ma lord. They acted so immaturely. I couldn't imagine them being-"
"You fool! We've been looking for children! How did you expect them to be?" Dusk continued to rant.
"Please forgive me. I just expected The Seven to be a bit more- erm, refined. Their behavior when I saw them was most uncanny."
Dusk took a deep breath and relaxed.
"Forget it, Ceit. What matters now is that we seem to have found who we've been searching for. I know the general location the young Sharptooth was in when Coaley I returned, as well as the direction he is going. I want all of you to head to the Great Valley. Coaley will take you all back to where she got me, and from there, see where our footprints were heading and go the opposite way. Menta, get the list of names from my mind that that little Sharptooth gave me, as they will be of use to you." She nodded in agreement. "If you all get to them first, they could possibly be persuaded to join us. If those two do, we could be in trouble."
"What are you gonna do, Du- uh, sir?" Coaley asked him.
"I'm going after the Sharptooth- Chomper. Now let's get moving."
They all got to their feet. As they all began to leave the meeting area, a white Sharptooth, standing just slightly shorter than Dusk, approached him.
"Very nicely done, my lord," she said.
"Thanks for your help."
"Thanks are not needed, my lord. A simple, telepathic reminder to take a deep breath and calm down is nothing, really."
"No, it was very thoughtful of you. You know I need help with my tension and I appreciate getting it. Furthermore, we wouldn't have even gotten this far in our quest if not for you finding that prophecy in Rey's mind. You deserve a great deal of thanks, Menta; I mean it."
"Anything for you, my lord. Well, I'd best be going. Good luck on your part."
"Same to you. Did you get all the information from me?"
"I did."
Then they both headed out.
xxxxx
"Get away from me!" Chomper yelled as he ran from his pursuer.
"Please stop! I only want to talk!" came the reply with huffing throughout.
"Stop chasing me first!"
"Stop running and I'll stop chasing!"
"Not going to happen!"
"Ugh, I wish I exercised more often. I can't believe I can't keep up with a little kid. He leaves me no choice," he thought to himself.
The stranger suddenly appeared directly in front of Chomper.
Chomper ran right into him and recoiled to the ground. "Oomph!"
"Now be a good boy and don't-"
"HELP!"
"-scream. Now listen, I just want to talk to you. I'm not going to hur-"
The stranger suddenly lost his footing and slammed to the ground.
"Chomper, get out of here! Run!" came a familiar voice.
Chomper turned around. "Dusk! What's going on?" he asked, very afraid.
"I'll explain later. Now go! I'll handle him."
The stranger was now getting to his feet. Chomper had been frozen in his tracks, but the urgency in Dusk's face brought him to his senses, and he ran away as fast as he could.