Chapter V: Together Again

In which Dusk completes his task.

"They're gone," Chomper said, having reached the place where Dusk had fought that Rainbow Face. "Dusk? Hello? Is anybody around?" he called out. Then he quickly covered his mouth. "What if that weird guy hears me?" he thought. "I just hope Dusk is okay."

A fair distance away, Dusk looked up to the sky and thought to himself, "I hope the kid's alright." He suddenly paused. "I wonder if…?" He suddenly turned around, and headed back the way he came at a brisk pace.

"Now what do I do?" Chomper wondered. "What if that guy comes back? I'd better get out of here. Err, but where am I?" His environment contained rocks, sinking sand, old logs, and a few bones scattered about. There were few trees, and the ground was rather hard. He didn't recognize the place at all. "Oh no, I was too busy running from that guy to pay attention to where I was going." Suddenly, he heard footsteps. "Oh no," he thought. "That guy's come back for me!" Looking around, he spotted a thick branch on the ground, picked it up, and hid behind a huge boulder.

The sound of the steps became louder, signifying that whoever it was, was coming closer. He tightened his grip on the stick and waited as the figure came closer and closer to where he was. His teeth began to chatter slightly, as he was very nervous. Then the figure walked right by where Chomper was standing. He raised the stick high and brought it down swiftly.

"Hey Chomp- ow!" Dusk yelled, clutching his head. "Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark. I know Sharpteeth like to fight, but did you have to hit me so hard?" Chomper immediately dropped the stick.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I thought you were somebody else! Are you okay? Did I hurt you really badly?" Chomper asked in a frenzy.

Dusk let out a hearty laugh, much to Chomper's surprise. "Relax, Chomper. I've got a hard head. I'm fine. It just stung a little. I was just kidding about it leaving a mark."

"Oh, thank goodness!" he said, very relieved. "So what happened back there? Where's that guy?"

"I got rid of him," Dusk replied. "You can relax now."

"Did you- eat him?"

"Nah. He got careless and had quite a fall so I just left. I wasn't hungry."

"Do you know why he was after me?" Chomper asked.

Dusk paused. He did know, but he also knew that this wasn't the time to explain it. "When you left, he didn't mention why he was chasing you." And Dusk wasn't lying.

"Wait, you can understood that guy? So you can understand leaf-eater?" Chomper asked in that language. Dusk and Chomper had only communicated through roaring since they had met, so he never thought that Dusk could do more.

Dusk roared "Yes" in reply.

"Ooh, say something in leaf-eater! I wanna hear how you sound when you aren't roaring," Chomper said.

Dusk paused. "I can understand what dinosaurs mean when they talk that way, but I don't know how to talk that way myself."

"Huh?"

"It's complicated," Dusk said. "I'll explain it some other time though. I think you should come with me. Things have gotten dangerous, so you might want to put your family visit on hold. It's all up to you though. What do you want to do?"

Chomper had only known Dusk a short time. Even so, he already looked up to him. He was kind and thoughtful, and he did save his life. Dusk had more than earned his trust.

"I'll go," he said.

Dusk raised a brow.

"Err, with you I mean," Chomper clarified.

Dusk's face brightened. "Alright then. Let's go buddy."

Chomper smiled at the sound of that nickname. The significance of the matter had finally sunk in. Finally, after all this time, he had managed to make friends- with a Sharptooth.

xxxxx

Agu and the Long Neck were the first to make it to the waterfall, and he looked extremely bored.

"Did you find anything?" she asked him.

He turned to her. "Look closely at my face. Now do I really need to answer that?"

"Good night, I was just asking!" she exclaimed.

Now Menta neared the waterfall. She didn't even need to see their faces to know what was happening. "Those two again?" She sighed. "I'll bet half of the valley can hear them." Arriving, she said, "That's enough you two."

"He started it!" the Long Neck replied.

"I believe that you were the first one to speak," Agu pointed out.

"But you were the one who was rude!"

"I said, that- is- enough," Menta repeated. They both stopped immediately. They dared not say another word when she used that tone.

Ceit flew down from the sky and landed beside them. "We seem to have all arrived- except Coaley."

xxxxx

"Aw, they're all such cuties!" a glossy-black "Long Neck" exclaimed as she watched a group of young Swimmers playing together.

"Well thank you," an older, female Swimmer told her after overhearing.

"Are all these yours?" Coaley asked.

"They sure are," the mother answered proudly.

"Wow, you sure have a lot of kids."

"Mm-hm. And two of them aren't even here right now," she added.

"An even bigger wow! That means you have even more than a lot of kids," Coaley said, matter-of-factly.

"Uh, sure dear," she replied.

"Coaley, where are you?" came a voice in her heard.

"Oh, I found the most adorable little Swimmers!" she answered aloud.

"Thank you," their mother said, thinking that Coaley was talking to her.

"Coaley, will you please just think? It's rather hard to hear you when you're talking."

"Oops," she thought to herself. "I was just adoring these adorable Swimmers."

"Uh, that's really nice Coaley. But haven't you been looking at the bright circle? It's been an hour."

"An hour?" she thought blankly.

"Yes, we were supposed to meet at the waterfall an hour after we split up. Don't you remember?"

"I sure do, thanks to you!" Coaley thought appreciatively and she giggled at the rhyme she'd made. "I'll be right over there." Turning back to the Swimmer, she said, "It was nice meeting you. And don't worry. I'd never eat anything that cute! Good-bye!" And with that, she walked off towards some bushes, while waving to a very confused-looking mother Swimmer.

She got behind the bushes and made sure that no one was watching. There was a small flash.

"Hey guys," Coaleysaid to the others at the waterfall.

"You made us wait," Agu complained.

"A few minutes isn't going to kill you," the Long Neck told him.

"It only takes a second to die," he replied with a smirk.

Menta stepped between them to stop things from escalating. "So did anyone find something worthwhile?"

Coaley's shot her arm up to be called on. "Ooh, ooh!" she exclaimed.

"Let me rephrase that. So did anybody find anything worthwhile besides some cute, little Swimmers?"

Coaley's arm fell. "Never mind," she said sadly.

Agu snickered. The Long Neck glared at him.

"From the air, I had a better chance of seeing them than you all, and I still came up with nothing. That, combined with the fact that you four spread out into different directions and saw neither heads nor tails of these children, causes me to believe that they are not presently in the Great Valley," Ceit explained.

"What a genius conclusion," Agu thought to himself. "A simple 'They aren't here' would have done just fine."

"I would think nicer thoughts if I were you," Menta said sternly.

"Urk," was all that came from his mouth.

Menta smiled. "And I didn't even need to read your mind."

"What!"

"I could tell just by looking at you that you were in thought, and it seems that I made an accurate guess as to the type of content."

Agu looked away as his face turned red.

"Back to business," Menta said. "Seeing as they aren't here, and knowing that they could be anywhere, we'd best find out what Dusk suggests we do." Concentrating, she thought, "My lord, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Menta, very clearly."

"I'm afraid I have ill news."

"Think no more. That can only mean that you didn't find them, and that's alright. We have time, and I'll think of something else. Do you have enough energy to track me?"

"I still have plenty, my lord."

"Excellent. Unfortunately though, I have to keep moving. I do not want to make Chomper suspicious by asking him to stop, and who knows? Maybe I'll bump into the others."

"Understood, my lord. I have tracked moving targets before, and I'll make sure we move briskly so we can catch up. Oh, and excellent work on the success of your part, my lord."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," she thought. Turning to the others, she said, "He has met up with Chomper, and we're going to meet up with them."

"What is their location?" Ceit asked.

"They're on the move, so we'll have to move faster than usual to catch up with them." Menta closed her eyes and concentrated. "Let's not waste on time. Come on!" Menta ordered as she turned to leave, and the others followed.