Chapter XX: Battle of Body, Battle of Mind

In which a battle begins with power and ends with wits.

"Redclaw's talking to us!" Ducky exclaimed.

"Then maybe they'll listen to reason," Littlefoot said. Turning to the three of them, he said, "We don't want to fight you. Leave now, and you won't get hurt." The three Sharpteeth looked at each for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Har har," Screech said. "Pity we couldn't understand you earlier. We'd've gotten plenty of laughs."

"Ain't that the truth, brother?" Thud asked.

"If you won't leave, then we have no choice. Ready guys?" They all nodded. "Light, shine within my heart!"

The Sharpteeth were caught off guard by the brilliant flare, so were dazed for a moment. The children took advantage of that and charged. Spike ran right for Screech and quickly hardened his body. The impact sent the Fast Biter sailing back, and he landed on his rear.

Thud opened his mouth again, roaring loudly, and the ground beneath the gang's feet began to tremble. Before losing her footing, Ruby also roared, and the earth shook below the Sharpteeth's feet as well.

"Be careful with your power!" Redclaw bellowed.

"Sorry!" Thud apologized, also thinking it was him that caused the second quake.

Cera looked at a tree and it lifted off the ground and flung towards Redclaw's face. The giant Sharptooth batted it away, but Petrie called forth a strong wind and it blew it back hard, smashing against his face this time. He roared in pain.

Cera grinned and shouted, "Way to go, Petrie!" Petrie smiled back, but a bolt of lightning struck him and he plummeted to ground. Littlefoot ran forward at an incredible speed and caught him. "Is he dead!" Cera shrieked.

"Nay," Littlefoot answered. "Lightning formed by magic is far less potent than that of the sky. He is but dazed. I will began healing his wound." Then Littlefoot held his front foot over Petrie, and the blast mark started to fade.

"I wish we had not ran towards them, I do, I do. We aren't close enough to the water anymore," Ducky thought desperately, struggling to control the water of the ocean behind them.

Screech shot another lightning bolt at Spike. He hardened his body, but the blast shocked him hard, and he fell to the ground. "Spike!" Ducky screamed.

"Heh heh heh. Looks like that hard body doesn't protect against lightning," Screech said with a grin.

Ducky glared at him defiantly, but was powerless where she stood. Screech shot another bolt at her, and she jumped out of the way and began to run, Screech at her heels.

Thud opened his mouth to create another tremor, but stopped when his feet came out from under him. Chomper had him by the tail, and he lifted him up and began swinging him around. He was about to let him loose and send him flailing threw the air, but Thud got a roar out and Chomper lost his balance and fell. Thud was about to grab him when another quake made him fall back down. He looked around in confusion, eyeing Ruby.

"You can shake the ground shake too?" he asked her.

"Let's just say, anything you can do, I can do," she replied, running over to help Chomper to his feet.

Redclaw finally recovered from the blow to his face, and looked down at the children below. "Let's see how they like MY power," he thought to himself. Petrie finally opened his eyes, and flew up into the air.

"Thou hast made a nice recovery," Littlefoot said. Petrie said nothing, but instead flapped his wings, and Littlefoot was knocked back a great distance.

"Petrie?" he asked. Then he noticed a flock of trees flying right at him and he shouted, "Intervention!" just in time to make a protective field around him. "Cera? Why are you two attacking me?"

Redclaw let out a hearty laugh. "They can't hear you now. They do as I tell them?"

"What!"

"Let me tell you about my ability. It's the power of command. I can tell any two dinosaurs to do my bidding, and they obey without question. Now I'll have the pleasure of watching you beaten to a pulp by your own friends."

Screech finally caught up to Ducky, but right before he caught her, she stopped and turned to him. "Heh heh heh, giving up, are we? A wise choice. You stood no chance against me."

"Oh, you are wrong, you are, you are. I did not give up," she told him.

Screech crossed his arms, waiting to see what she'd do, but things suddenly grew dark, like he was under a large shadow. He looked up to see a giant wave coming right at him. He quickly turned to run but the wave slammed into him, carrying him back up the shore. The wave stopped moving, showing Ducky standing on top. It hardened into a giant wall of ice, and icicles began firing out of it, grazing Screech in several areas of his body. He ran back, clutching his arm, which had taken the biggest hit.

Thud opened his mouth to roar again, but this time, faced Ruby, not the ground. She felt a great force on her body, and she slid back a small distance.

Ruby!" Chomper shouted.

"I thought your power was making earthshakes," Ruby said, staggering to her feet.

"And I thought we had the same power," Thud replied, confused that she didn't know. "But whatever. No, while my brother controls the power of lightning, I wield the force of thunder. I can shake the ground, or cause direct shockwaves."

"Nice to know," Ruby replied. She roared like he had, facing him, and he was knocked back to the ground like she had been.

"Ugh, do we have the same power or don't we? This is so confusing!" he yelled.

"Since you shared, so will I. I can copy any power I see in action, I just don't get the understanding along with it."

"Just what I need," he muttered.

"Shouldn't keep letting down your guard," Chomper said. Thud whirled around, but too late to see Chomper swing the tree that had hit Redclaw into his body. The blow was hard enough to stun him, and he fell to the ground. Screech caught up, and fell to his knees beside his brother, aching all over from his gashes.

"You two are worthless!" Redclaw shouted. He turned to see how his handiwork was doing, and he was pleased. Littlefoot was running out of energy, dodging and blocking so many attacks.

"Unh," Littlefoot moaned. "Not enough strength left for any more barriers." Spike came to, got his feet, and trudged over to Littlefoot. He stood in front of him and stopped. "Spike, nay!" he exclaimed. "Thou art still too weak to block more forthcoming blows!" Spike ignored him, and hardened his body. "Spike…" Littlefoot said with much emotion. Spike was a true friend through and through. He knew as well that he didn't have much strength, but that did not stop him.

Cera hurled another large tree at Littlefoot, and Petrie boosted its speed with a gust of wind. Spike knew this may kill him, but he would not budge. A second gust of wind blew the tree away, and Chomper caught it.

"Nice aim, Ruby."

"Thank you for the thank you."

"Friends, be on thy guard! That knave can command others to do his bidding!"

Redclaw uttered a confident, "Heh."

Cera and Petrie were huffing hard. Cera lifted a tree, but it only plopped back down, and the blast Petrie called forth was nothing more than a gentle breeze. Ducky finally caught back up with the others, and she looked at the situation in confusion.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Looks like controlling dinosaurs really wears them out," she called up to him. "I guess you'll be controlling two more of us now." Then she began to sob. "Please, control me for one. I can't stand seeing my friends taken over like that. It's terrifying. Please!"

Redclaw let out a laugh. "So, my power frightens you, does it? I like to see fear in my enemies. I'll make sure you get to watch again. Attack them," he commanded to Spike and Chomper.

Before they could land a strike, Ruby shouted, "Now tell them to stop!" and Redclaw did so. "Now, release your hold over them," and Spike and Chomper started blinking their eyes, coming back to their senses.

"What- what just transpired?" Littlefoot asked.

"I knew Redclaw wouldn't control me if he knew seeing his power frightened me, so I put on a little act. Then I watched Redclaw use his power, then copied it to use myself. Now Redclaw is under my control."

Screech and Thud began dragging themselves over, so Ruby quickly motioned for Redclaw to bend down, and she whispered in his ear. The Fast Biters finally reached them.

"Wow, it looks like you have them all under your command," Screech said.

"Wow is right. I thought you could only control two," Thud added.

"I know! He must have learned to control more and forgot to mention it."

"Neat! Nice going, boss!"

"I never want to see you two again," Redclaw told them.

The two Fast Biters froze. "C- come again?" Screech asked, dumbfounded.

"You two are worthless. You didn't help me capture these children at all. Our partnership is over."

"Y- you can't mean that," Thud stammered.

"I do, and if I ever see you two again, I'll eat you myself." And with that, Redclaw let loose a terrifying roar, the two Fast Biters yelled, "Yipe!" and ran far away, as fast as their legs could carry them.

The gang all cheered for Ruby, but she was not done yet. "Tell me, Redclaw, does your power have a limit besides just controlling two dinosaurs?"

"Yes. If the dinosaur or dinosaurs go farther than my eye can see, the control breaks."

"Good to know. I want you to walk that way," Ruby ordered, pointing in the direction they had all come from. She said to her friends, "By the time he is out of range, we'll be safely away from him. Oh wait!" she ordered, quickly turning back to the Sharptooth who'd just halted. "I've wondered something. That red mark from your eye down to your claw. Was it done by a fire-wielding Rainbow Face?" Her friends looked at her curiously.

"Yes," he replied.

"Okay, do as I told you earlier," she said, and Redclaw began walking away.

"What that question about?" Petrie asked.

"Remember when those Rainbow Faces said that the one who stole the stone burned a Sharptooth? Ever since, I've just wondered if it was him. Now I know."

"Oh yeah! I remember Rey and Reina mention that, but I hadn't thought about Redclaw. Nice, now we all know where he got the mark that gave him that nickname. I've wondered where that scar came from," Cera told them.

"Release!" Littlefoot said, and he changed back to normal. "So uh, I guess we beat Redclaw?" As usual, he had no recollection of what he did while transformed.

"Ruby took care of it," Chomper said with a smile.

"Well then, great job, Ruby."

"Why thank you."

"What should we do now?" Ducky asked.

"I know what I want to do," Cera said. "REST!" And she plopped down onto the ground, and the whole group laughed.

"After whatever happened with Redclaw, we could use a break. I'm tired too," Littlefoot admitted. Everyone sat down, saying nothing. They were too worn out to speak. It wasn't long though, before Littlefoot got up. "Okay guys, I know that that wasn't very long, but if we wait too much longer, who knows how far ahead Dusk will get. Let's walk a bit more before calling it a day."

The group gingerly got to their feet and pressed forward, following the prints left by Dusk's group. Finally, the tracks stopped. There was a long line in the sand, as if something was dragged to the water. All of them besides Chomper and Ruby exchanged glances.

"It looks like they got on a log to cross the water…" Littlefoot trailed off.

"Oh yes, I remember riding a log once. They float very well," Ruby said.

"You sounded odd, Littlefoot. Is something wrong?" Chomper asked him.

"The only place around to ride to is- your home, Chomper," Littlefoot explained.

Chomper gasped. "I've been so caught up with everything that's been going on, I wasn't even thinking about where we are! You're right. We're just across from where my parents live."

"Oh my, that's true! I've only been around here once, so I'd completely forgotten. I wonder why Dusk would go to Chomper's island," Ruby said thoughtfully.

"I don't know, but we'll find out. And I get to see my parents again. I can't wait," Chomper said excitedly.

"Wait a minute. Remember what happened last time we road on a log over here? We may have power now, but the big water still doesn't agree with me," Cera told them.

"Yeah, I don't want to end up in a battle in the big water either," Littlefoot admitted.

"Do not worry about how to get across," Ducky said with a smile. The others turned to her. She raised her arms, and a line of water arose from the ocean. It took the shape of a bridge from where they were standing all the way over to the island. It suddenly froze to ice, and Ducky relaxed.

"Nice work!" Littlefoot exclaimed.

"Thank you," she replied.

The group (minus Petrie) began walking over the ice path Ducky had made. The Swimming Sharpteeth below looked up at the prospect of dinner, but they knew they couldn't leap that high. Nonetheless, they began swimming below the bridge, following the children from underneath the water. Ducky stuck her tongue out at them, and her friends all laughed. The heat of the day took no rest, but the kids continued on without stopping.

Chomper's excitement about seeing his parents again had not died down. As a result, he did not notice what the bright circle was doing to the bridge. Tiny puddles were forming on top of it, and the others simply began walking more carefully. Chomper on the other hand, kept up his brisk pace. It was too late before he realized he was slipping. He slid right off the bridge, and a Swimming Sharptooth leapt into the air and caught him in his mouth. Ducky and Ruby screamed. Before anyone could take action, the beast dove underwater and swam away hurriedly.