Chapter VI: The Lost Finds

In which three groups become two.

"Please be quiet!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs. The Rainbow Faces stopped arguingand turned to her. "I don't know if you find arguing helpful, but arguing won't help us find Chomper. And will you please tell me what 'Dusk' means? That's what you said," as she turned to the male, "when you asked about Chomper," she finished, turning to the female.

"Dusk is a Sharptooth," the male told her.

Ruby gasped. "Did he hurt Chomper? Take him away? What happened?" she asked frantically.

"Dusk would not hurt Chomper," the male said reassuringly, though he really didn't know for certain. "On the other hand, there is a chance he took him away."

"What should we do?" Ruby asked the Rainbow Faces desperately.

They looked at each other and said nothing, having no answer at that time.

xxxxx

"So, where are we going?" Chomper asked Dusk.

"Hopefully, we'll find your friends," he replied.

"Gee, thanks. That's really nice of you, but…"

"Hm?"

"Ruby doesn't want me around, remember? I don't want to live in the Great Valley if she doesn't like it. Also, it wouldn't be safe for you to come with me to them, because the grown-ups in the Great Valley don't like Sharpteeth in general. They accepted me because I'm not very big and Littlefoot and his friends already knew me. I know you, but I'm not sure if they'd listen to me about one of my own kind."

"Yes, they would mostly likely think you're biased. And I don't know this Ruby friend of yours to say one way or another, but you do have other friends there, remember? In any case, I do not believe that they are in the Great Valley."

"Huh?"

"I think they left there to come looking for you."

"You really think they did?"

"That's just what friends do. So about finding them- I was thinking that we'd do so out here."

"Dusk, can you hear me?"

"Yes, what is it, Menta?" Dusk thought.

"I checked your surrounding area, and there are eight dinosaurs just a short distance to the northeast of you."

"Did you take a break from tracking me?" he asked.

"Oh no, my lord. We are still approaching you."

"You fool! What have I told you about doing Mind Seek and Mind Scan at the same time!" he thought in anger.

"I-I'm sorry, my lord. I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"While I appreciate that greatly, you know how bad it is for you to multitask that way. If you get hurt again on account of me…"

"Thank you for worrying about me so, but I feel fine. Besides, I don't care what happens to me as long as I can keep you safe."

"Menta…"

"Please don't worry anymore. I stopped the scan the moment I told you of its results. We'll see you soon."

"Alright. Good-bye."

"Dusk?" Chomper asked.

Dusk immediately came back to his senses and said, "Yes, Chomper? What is it?"

"Just seeing if you were okay. You seemed lost in thought."

"What a perceptive child," he thought. "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine, really," he told him.

"Well, okay," Chomper replied, a bit unsure.

"We should change course a little."

"What does that mean?" Chomper asked.

"Sorry. What I meant was, we should be going a different way now. I really don't think there's anybody over this way. We've gone pretty far. Let's try looking elsewhere, okay?"

"Sure. Whatever you say," Chomper agreed.

"What a nice kid," Dusk thought to himself. With that, he turned and began walking northeast, Chomper at his heels.

xxxxx

Finally, the male Rainbow Face spoke. "We're just going to have to start searching for him." The female smacked his head. "Ow! What was that for!" he demanded.

"For wasting time. 'We're just going to have to start searching for him?' No duh!" she retorted.

"You're wasting our time right now!" he argued.

"Guys, please!" Littlefoot exclaimed. "Look, he's right. All we can do is keep looking for him. The sooner we start that and stop standing around here, the sooner we'll find Chomper. We'll never find him if we stay here."

"I do not agree. No, no, no," Ducky said. "Look!" And with that, she pointed into the distance.

The kids all smiled in relief. The Rainbow Faces tensed up.

Chomper was approaching, followed by a much bigger black Sharptooth.

"Dusk, look! We found them!" and Chomper raced over to his friends. Dusk, however, stopped moving.

The moment he had seen the kids, his heart sank. His mouth was slightly agape and his entire body trembled slightly. He could barely think straight. "Th-those children! They're the ones who-"