Chapter 1: Awakening
Littlefoot lifted his head out of the cool water, the last of the sleepiness from his body leaving with the water dripping off of his skin. He walked out of the lake and shook himself dry. Coming down to the lake in the mornings to wake up had become a favorite habit of his, and his friends had quickly caught on and started coming to join him, too. Today, it seemed, everyone was here. Littlefoot could see Ducky, Petrie, Cera, Spike, and Fyn. He smiled: life had been good to him in the Great Valley. Then he stopped short. Where were Chomper and Ruby? He scanned the surrounding area, searching for the blue Sharptooth and the pink Fastrunner, but did not see them, eventually deciding they must have slept in today. After all, everyone had been up late the previous night, looking at the stars together, and walking the length of the Great Wall. Littlefoot quickly banished the concern from his thoughts.
"Hey, Littlefoot!" he heard a familiar voice call. It was Fyn, a Fin-Neck that had later migrated to the Great Valley with the rest of his herd. The orange and black Longneck walked over towards him.
"Have you seen Chomper and Ruby today?"
"No. I just thought they might have slept late. We were all up pretty late last night."
Fyn nodded. "I'm just a bit surprised. They're usually the first ones down here."
"Well, it's no matter," Littlefoot said, "we can always go check on them later." His words, however, held shallow meaning. Littlefoot was trying to avoid the fact that he was worried; it was most unlike Chomper and Ruby to be late. Again, he tried to ignore the thought. Everything was probably fine.
At that moment, Cera wandered over, followed by Duckie, Petrie, and Spike.
"Hey, everyone's gathering over there," she said, gesturing towards a clearing where it seemed a crowd was starting to form.
"I did not know there was a meeting today," Ducky said, "no no no."
"There isn't," Littlefoot replied.
"Then maybe we should see what going on." Petrie said, hovering above everyone.
"Sure. Sounds good to me," Fyn said, "we'll go visit Chomper and Ruby later."
The group began to head towards the brewing excitement. When they came closer, they could see that at the center of everyone was a Threehorn, and he was hurt.
"It was a Sharptooth, I swear it," he said.
"But Sharpteeth have never attacked this close before!" Another voice said.
"I don't see what else could have attacked me, though!" the Threehorn responded.
Littlefoot anxiously looked around, surveying. Suddenly, he stopped short. Ruby! She was standing next to a Spiketail, looking more worried than she'd ever been.
"There's Ruby," Littlefoot whispered to his friends, "I'm going to see what's going on."
He hurried over to where the pink Fastrunner was standing. When he arrived, Ruby looked up.
"Ruby," Littlefoot said, "where's Chomper? Isn't he supposed to be with you?"
"I don't know. I went looking for him this morning, but all I found was that I couldn't find him."
Littlefoot was puzzled. "Weren't you with him last night?"
"Yes," she said, nodding, "but when I woke up today, he wasn't there!"
Before Littlefoot could speak, the Threehorn in the center of the group spoke.
"I swear to you, I was attacked by a Sharptooth right at the entrance to the Great Valley."
Littlefoot and the others moved in closer, to listen.
"How do you know?" someone asked, "you were hurt before the Bright Circle rose; it was dark. Maybe a rock just fell on you."
"Does this look like a rock fell on me?" the Threehorn said, brandishing his tail, revealing to everyone the perfectly-aligned scarlet tooth-marks. At that moment, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Littlefoot's grandparents, entered the crowd and confronted the Threehorn.
"Calm down, everyone," Grandpa Longneck said. Then, turning to address the Threehorn, he spoke. "Repeat your story once more, please."
The Threehorn sighed. "I was just outside the entrance to the Great Valley this morning, just walking as I do every day; I love it here, but it's nice to see a change of scenery now and then. Anyway, I was by the entrance when I heard something breathing heavily; it almost sounded like growling. I called out, to see if anyone was there. It was dark, so I had no idea what was in front of me. At the sound of my voice, something attacked me, and when I stepped back, it got a hold of my tail. I barely escaped."
His story had silenced everyone. Finally, Grandpa Longneck spoke again. "Sharpteeth are known to live outside the Valley, so the fact that you were attacked is not surprising. What troubles me is that this attack happened so close to the entrance." Others nodded in consent.
"Something needs to be done!" the Threehorn said.
"Yes," Grandpa Longneck nodded. "I believe our only option is to send a few of us out to drive this Sharptooth away. It's the only way to be sure it won't enter the Valley."
"But I thought Sharpteeth couldn't enter," Littlefoot said.
"The only reason Sharpteeth haven't entered the Valley in the past is because they have no knowledge of the locations of the few entrances into here. That does not mean it's impossible for one to discover one of these passages."
Littlefoot nodded. He'd often wondered about the possibility in the past. Now he knew the truth.
"Now, are there any volunteers to look for the Sharptooth?" Grandpa Longneck continued. No one spoke. Finally, Labon, Fyn's father stepped out of the crowd.
"I'll go." He was quickly followed by Cera's father, who simply uttered a low snort, not to be outdone by a Longneck.
"Wait!" a voice called from outside the crowd. The tension that had been building in Littlefoot all day was released when he saw who it was: Chomper. The large, blue Sharptooth ambled over to the gathered dinosaurs. He looked tired, and didn't seem to pay any notice to Littlefoot or any of his friends.
"If anyone's going out there, it should be me," he said, "I'm the only one of us that the Sharptooth won't immediately attack. I might even be able to talk it into leaving."
Everyone was astonished. For someone to volunteer to go into the Mysterious Beyond alone? It just wasn't done.
"If you would like, some of us can accompany you," Labon offered.
"No," Chomper said, "it would only put everyone else in danger. Trust me, it'll be easier if I go alone."
Grandpa Longneck considered this, for a moment.
"Very well, if that is your wish." He and the crowd began to disperse. The Threehorn who had been attacked walked over to Chomper.
"Thank you so much for doing this," he said, "That Sharptooth won't threaten us any longer, thanks to you." He moved off, to join everyone else. Ruby hurried over to Chomper's side.
"Where were you?" she asked him.
"I've been here in the Valley the whole time," Chomper said, sounding a bit annoyed.
"But I looked everywhere!"
"Well maybe," Chomper said, swiveling to face her, "you didn't look hard enough!"
Ruby was taken aback by Chomper's tone. She'd never heard him speak this way before. Chomper began to walk away, towards the Great Wall.
"Chomper, wait!" Littlefoot called. The Sharptooth's head turned to acknowledge his friend, but he kept walking in silence.
"What's gotten into him?" Cera asked.
"He seem mad," Petrie said.
"No," Ducky said, "I do not think that is it. He seems sad to me."
"You know," Fyn spoke, joining Ducky by her side, "I think you might be right, but what could possibly be making him sad? He's always so happy around here."
"I don't know," Littlefoot said, watching the now distant figure ascending the Great Wall, towards one of the entrances, "but we have to do something. We can't just leave him to face whatever problem he's dealing with by himself. We're his friends."
Everyone agreed. Now it was just a matter of time, waiting for their friend to return.
...
"I'm really worried about Chomper," Ruby said. She and the rest of her friends were sitting around in the shade to cool off; it had been a hot day.
"You mean he's never acted like this before?" Littlefoot asked.
"No. I mean, he's been grumpy before, but he's never been this grumpy. I wonder if he's homesick."
"Homesick?" Ducky asked, "what's that?"
"It's when you've been away from home for a long time, and you miss it so badly, it makes you feel sick," Fyn said. "It's happened to me before."
"Well I think he's just being plain rude!" Cera snorted. Everyone turned to look at her. Cera grumbled and went back to kicking around pebbles.
"I still think we should try to talk to him later," Littlefoot said.
"Yes," Petrie agreed, "but what if he no listen?"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe he so upset, he not even want to talk to us."
"I hadn't thought of that," Fyn said. "We need to find him somewhere he can't avoid us." Everyone began to think, when Ruby spoke up.
"His cave! We'll go to his cave and wait for him to come back. Then he'll have to talk to us!"
Everyone thought this would be an excellent idea.
"We need to get moving now," said Littlefoot, "to make sure we're there when he returns."
All of the dinosaurs agreed, and soon the seven friends set off for Chomper's cave, concealed in the Great Wall.
...
Chomper didn't return until much later. The Bright Circle was already setting when he found Grandpa Longneck and made his report.
"Fast Biter," he said, "I scared him off. Luckily, he wasn't anywhere near the entrance this time."
Grandpa Longneck nodded. "You've done us a great service, Chomper. Our gratitude goes to you."
Chomper bowed his head humbly, retreating. When he was out of sight, he crept off towards his cave. His mind was full of troubled thoughts, and he needed rest. As he neared the cave, he could sense something was different. He could smell them before he saw them, but sight only confirmed what he thought: his friends were waiting for him.
"What do you want?" he asked, none too kindly as he approached.
"We just want to know what's bothering you, Chomper," Fyn said.
"Nothing's bothering me. I just want to be alone right now." Chomper moved into the dark of his cave, out of sight.
"I'll go in and see what the problem is," said Ruby. The Fastrunner slipped into the darkness, her large eyes quickly adjusting to the change in brightness. As her vision came into focus, she could see Chomper, shaking and laying down in the back of the cave. Ruby edged closer.
"Chomper?" she said, "it's me, Ruby."
"Oh, you. Why are you following me?"
"Your parents once told me to take care of you. That's my duty, and I can't do it if I don't know what's going on."
"Nothing's going on."
"Well something must be going on, because even nothing is still something."
Chomper sighed. Ruby's unique way of speaking always cheered him up. He rolled to face her.
"I've just been feeling... strange, lately."
"Strange? How?"
"I don't know. I feel hungrier, like the bugs I eat aren't filling me, and I miss my home."
Ruby's heart sank; she knew what was happening. Before she and Chomper had left for the Great Valley, Chomper's parents had made it very clear that someday Chomper would go through this.
"Chomper," she said, "do you ever feel like you can't control yourself?"
Chomper's eyes suddenly widened.
"Ruby, what are you talking about?"
"Have you ever done anything without thinking about what you are doing?"
The words didn't seem to make sense, but Chomper understood what Ruby was saying.
"Ruby-" he began, then stopped. "I think I need the rest of my friends in here to talk."
Ruby nodded, heading for the cave entrance. Cera saw her emerge.
"Is he finally ready to talk?" she growled.
"Yes," Ruby said, shaking off Cera's usual bad temper, "he wants to talk to all of you."
The friends followed Ruby inside. Chomper was back on his feet near the back wall of the cave. Seeing his friends enter, he spoke.
"Don't get too close. I don't know what'll happen if you do."
Littlefoot was confused. A warning from Chomper? Why?
"Chomper," he said, "we're just here to help you. Tell us what the problem is."
Chomper sighed. "In all honesty, I don't know, myself."
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Cera asked.
"That's just it. I don't know. I've just been feeling strange, lately."
"Are you sick?" Ducky asked, concerned.
"No, it's not that kind of strange. I just feel different, like everyone is out to get me. I'm always jumping at everything, I'm hungry all the time, and on top of it all, sometimes I even have trouble remembering things."
Fyn spoke up. "Chomper, I've been meaning to ask you- those bite marks on the Threehorn's tail- they weren't really from a Fast Biter, were they?"
Chomper shook his head.
"You lied?" Littlefoot asked, "why?"
Chomper looked distressed. "He was attacked by a bigger Sharptooth. I didn't want to worry everyone."
"Oh, that not a problem," Petrie cut in, "one Sharptooth not enough to take on whole Great Valley!"
"It could if it had already found a way in."
"But there are no Sharpteeth in the Valley," Fyn said, then noticed Chomper. "Well, no vicious Sharpteeth, anyway."
"You don't understand." Chomper said quietly, "the Sharptooth is me. I attacked the Threehorn."
And there we have it: Chapter 1. Ruby's speech was probably the most challenging part of this, but I've enjoyed writing it so far. Stay tuned for chapter 2. I hope to have it and possibly 3 done this weekend!