CHAPTER 3

SHARPTOOTH MISSION

That evening, while everyone of the green eaters prepared their evening feast in honour of their guest, Chomper went down to the river to collect some fish for his own meal. Under the watchful eyes of the threehorn guards assigned to protect him, he gathered up fish after fish and placed them in a large leaf tray that he will use to carry them back to Lesik's lair with. Most of the green eaters who had come down to the river to drink stayed well away from him, but there were a few curious onlookers who came closer to get a better look at him. Hunh! They can't help but be curious. They've probably never seen a sharptooth before. Teek thought to himself.

There was a funny incident with a threehorn mother who had brought her two younglings with her so that they could see this "oddity" for themselves. "You see, young ones?" the mother would say. "This is what a REAL sharptooth looks like. Don't get too close, now! Or he may bite you!"

Chomper thought he'd have some fun with them. He lowered his head towards the two younglings and let out a huge roar. Both younglings screamed and hid behind their mother. Chomper let out a throaty laugh, smiled and winked at the mother.

The mother smiled back. "Come, young ones. Let us not dally." she said to her brood as they walked away.

During feasting time, all of Little Foot's friends had gathered up all of their green stuff. Berries, fruits, various grasses... and the generous helpings of tree stars they loved to munch on. While they were munching away on their greens, Chomper was munching on his two dozen or so fish he had brought over from the river. Cera occasionally stopped her munching when her gaze caught sight of Chomper tearing into one of the fish he caught. Disgusting! She thought to herself. With that meal, Teek should be satisfied for awhile, was all Lesik could think about.

During the meal, there was plenty of pleasant conversation. Little Foot and his friends told stories of life in The Great Valley, and the adventures they've had over the past few seasons. Chomper told his own stories about life in the sharptooth lands, of how he and his parents had to eventually leave their island home due to lack of food. They literally had to swim to the mainland, as there was no longer a land bridge linking the island to the mainland shore. By this time, Chomper was old enough to be able to hold his own with his parents, when it came to running and swimming. It surprised all of them that a sharptooth like him was able to swim. "Of course! All sharptooth like me can swim, if they had to." he said with a smile.

Although they were all adults now, none of the green eaters had taken a mate yet. But Alaina and Cera each had their own potential suitor. While Alaina was more receptive to her suitor's advances, Cera kept pushing the male threehorn away. Chomper was not at all surprised to learn that her suitor was Wendyk, the threehorn guard he had met earlier that day. Cera kept saying that her duties as a medicine threehorn and caretaker to all of The Great Valley residents didn't allow her to have a mate and start a family of her own. Chomper thought they'd make a perfect fit! Both stubborn, both set in their ways of thinking, and both too proud for their own good. Maybe someday, she'll warm up to him he thought. Lesik was so busy being Head of The Great Valley Council, he had not even considered searching for a mate of his own; but he would gladly court any female long neck that would catch his eye, if the chance ever arose. As for Petrie? Well, as he put it "the right flyer had not come along yet."

Chomper told his own story of how he took a mate of his own shortly after he came of age. It was a gorgeous sharptooth named V'Leck Greene, so named because of her pale green skin. They both had a son, whom they named Roary, because he liked to roar a lot at anything he saw. Then things got worse. They eventually had to separate over arguments on how to raise their youngling. Chomper wanted to teach Roary the green eater's language, and their ways; in the hopes of eventually joining up with Little Foot and the rest of the gang again, introducing them to Roary; and having him talk to them in their tongue. But V'leck was vehemently opposed. She felt that her kind should not have anything to do with the green eaters, as they were only for hunting and eating. And that he was talking foolishness, as well as having to get over this nonsense of knowing the green eater language and the fact that his life was saved all those seasons ago by them. It was all just a coincidence! She would keep telling him. Finally, she felt it best that she should leave him, take custody of their son, and raise her on her own. Chomper was very sad that day. His ex mate did allow Roary to visit him from time to time afterwards; which brought him a little bit of joy out of the sad situation; but he never saw her again.

"I do not like her! She is MEAN!" Ducky would say.

"Me agree! VERY mean!" Petrie said as well.

When the conversation revolved around their parents, Chomper was sorry to hear that all of their mothers, fathers and grandparents, were all dead. All except for Cera's father, who was still a member of The Great Valley Council; but he was now so old and weak that everybody felt his time was near. Cera was obviously not looking forward to that day.

Chomper relayed his own story of how his father died a few seasons after they left their island sanctuary; and then his mother just after he had become mates with V'Leck. Almost as if she had held on to life long enough just to see him become a potential parent himself. In her final moments, she had said that she was proud of him and that she loved him. She had placed her hand on his cheek one last time before she let out her last breath. His only regret was not having her live long enough to see her grandson hatch from his egg. That would've brought him great joy, especially since Roary was the spitting image of his father! Lesik told him something he remembered his mother telling him a long time ago: That his mother would always be with him, although he would not always see her. Chomper thought that was very comforting advice.

At this point, Lesik changed the subject. "But Chomper, you still haven't told us why you are here..."

"Yes! I was going to get to that..." A small rustling sound in the tall grass to his left made him turn his head slightly. "Excuse me..." He said, lifting up a finger. He snatched at something in the grass, then lifted his head again. He beared a rather large squirming rodent in his teeth. He dropped it into his mouth, chewed on it a few times, audibly crunching the bones inside the hapless rodent body before swallowing his morsel with a huge GULP. "Aah... Dessert... Hits the spot!"

"EEEWWW... Disgusting!" Cera spitted out.

"Oh, Cera!" Alaina said with some frustration.

Chomper then relayed his story. "You see, for a short time now, a horrible disease has been running rampant throughout our lands. It all started, as we would come to find out, when one of us ate an infected long neck. It wasn't long before he started getting sick. By the time he reach our healers, he had already grown very weak, and had a real high fever. The medicine sharptooth who touched his forehead said it felt like a hot red mountain!

Chomper then stared off into the distance. "We thought nothing of it at first. He was a strong sharptooth. We just assumed he would recover from the sickness. But the very next day, he started coughing up his own blood; and was so weak, he couldn't even move! Then more of the sick began arriving to see our healers. More and more came each day! We eventually had to place them in a valley away from the others to keep them from infecting the still healthy. But despite that, the infection is still spreading! We don't even know how it is spread to begin with!

"Then came the news that that first sharptooth who came down with the sickness had died. He was a good friend of mine!" Tears began rolling down Chomper's face, and he sniffed. "It was only after more of us died that I took it upon myself to make the journey here seeking your help." He sniffed again as he wiped the tears away with the back of one of his hands. "I came here not only because I am a sharptooth of some important standing among my kind, but because I am the only one who knows your language, and that I knew you could trust me."

The tears flowed again as he looked at his friends, sobbing. "This disease is unknown to us! We have no idea how to cure it! Please help us, or we are all DEAD!"

Chomper then just sat there with his head in his hands, crying. All of the green eaters, except for Cera, gathered around him in a comforting manner. Everybody looked sad, even the threehorn guards, who were standing a short distance away from them; but still close enough to hear the entire conversation.

Lesik was the first to speak."Don't cry, Chomper. Of course we'll help."

"Oh, yes! We will! We will!" Alaina chimed in.

"I help, too!" Petrie finally said.

Teek looked up. "You... you really mean that?"

All three of them nodded and "MmHmm"d.

Chomper smiled. "Oh, thank you! THANK YOU! You don't know how much this means to me!" He then hugged all those around him.

Cera still stood apart, though. Lesik turned his attention towards her."Cera?"

After a few moments, she spoke. "Well... How do we know it's a green eater disease that's infected his kind? I mean... It could also be an unknown sharptooth disease."

"Cera! Didn't you hear a word he said! They started getting sick when one of them ate an infected long neck. The disease must've come from a green eater! Besides, you're the only healer amongst us! We know nothing about medicine! You may be the only one who can really save Chomper's kind!"

"Well... I mean... There are many green eater diseases the sharptooth could be infected with, based on what he's said... I... I w-w-would need to see one of them up close to get a better idea of what they could be suffering from..."

It was obvious to Lesik that Cera was being more and more careful about the words she said around others. She didn't directly insult Chomper and his kind, or wished death on them all. But he knew that, in her mind, Cera already decided not to do anything. She has already decided it was best to send Chomper home so that he can eventually die with the rest of his kind. He knew that if Cera was still a youngling, she would've blurted out: "So what if they're sick! LET THEM DIE! That way, there won't be any more sharptooth left to eat us!"

An image flashed in Lesik's head of Chomper pouncing on Cera, pinning her down to the ground, him roaring in her face and saying: "If you were ANY OTHER THREEHORN, I'd tear you apart RIGHT NOW! But because I still consider you a friend DESPITE your biggoted attitude; and because I know that, deep down inside, you consider me YOUR friend, too-even though you're too afraid to show it- I'm only giving you a warning! But if you EVER insult me and my kind again, I WILL kill you! GRRRR!" But as an adult, she picked her words more carefully.

"That means... that we'll have to travel to the sharptooth lands... to see this sickness for ourselves, and find a cure for it... But we're adults now. We can't just pick up and leave, like we used to. We have responsibilities. We'll need Council approval, if we are to travel to the sharptooth lands..."

A worried look spread across Chomper's facial features. Although Lesik and his friends said they would help, if their Council forbade them to go, all was lost, and his journey to The Great Valley would've been for nothing.

"I'll have to call forth an emergency meeting tomorrow at first light, but it'll take a unanimous agreement from all of the members before we are to embark on this mission of mercy..."

Lesik then turned her attention to Cera. "And Cera, since you're the only one who knows anything about healing, you'll have to come with us. Agreed?"

Cera thought it over for a few moments. Everybody held their breath in this awkward silence. Finally, she let out a sigh. "Oh, all right!"

Everybody threw their arms up in the air and shouted a big "HOORAY!"

"I promise you, Cera, you won't regret this!" Lesik said.

"I'm regretting it already!" Cera grumbled.

"We all need to be present at the Council meeting tomorrow. And Chomper? I may have to call on you to make your plea to the rest of the coucilors."

Chomper nodded. "I'll be ready."

"Cera's father may be the hardest to convince, but I'm sure we can sway him. Right, Cera?"

"Whatever!" she said indifferently.

"It's settled, then! We should all get some rest. The big silver circle has already risen in the sky, and we've got a big day tomorrow. Chomper, you're welcome to share my den for the night..."

"Thanks! I would like that very much."

With that, everybody said their farewells as they each headed off towards their own dwellings to retire for the night. Only the two threehorn guards assigned to watch over Chomper remained at the mouth of Lesik's nest.