Chapter 5: Confrontation
Shortly after the Night Circle had risen, Littlefoot had ordered everyone to stop near a cluster of rocks, for shelter from the wind. They had entered what Fyn had called the Drylands, and as he'd explained, the wind was anything but relenting. Now, all was calm, and the dinosaurs were huddled together under a large rock.
"Look," Ruby said, pointing to the sky. The others followed her gesture. A white light streaked across the sky. Soon, another followed it, followed by two more, and then many more.
"Wow," Ducky said, "it's beautiful."
Chomper nodded. Ruby wondered what he was thinking when he looked at the stars. "How sad it would be," she thought, "to look up there knowing that you might never even care about sights like that again." She moved closer to Chomper, the Sharptooth she had cared for since childhood. Her task would not be an easy one: getting Chomper to trust her again after... whatever was going to happen happened, in order to be a voice of reason for him. Goodness knows, he might need one. She sighed. Being a caretaker was hard. Chomper sensed her distress.
"Don't worry about me," he said, softly, "I'm fine tonight. You need a chance to relax. Look at the stars with us."
More streaks of light were flying through the sky. Ruby looked at them. Right now, she felt just like one of them, being pushed towards an uncertain future too fast to do anything but hold on, yet Chomper's words comforted her. Tonight, at least, she could be content soaking in the beauty above her.
As she watched, she could hear Littlefoot speaking to Fyn.
"-once, one of those landed in the Great Valley. Some Rainbow Faces told us it was a Stone of Cold Fire."
"A what?"
"A Stone of Cold Fire. It's a falling rock that's cold instead of burning, and they told us that some said they were powerful."
"Powerful? Really? Was your stone powerful, then?"
"Nope. Nothing at all happened, but it sure was a sight to see."
Ruby smiled. Her friends could always be counted on to share the most interesting stories. They continued to watch the sky until the last of the lights was gone. Then, everyone began to settle in.
"Move in as far under the rocks as you can," Fyn said, "I see Skywater headed this way." Everyone moved in tighter, for shelter. Off in the distance, Ruby could see Sky Fire striking the ground, and the faint booming roar that accompanied it. She enjoyed the sounds; they helped her sleep. Chomper, too, seemed calmed by the sounds.
Ruby laid down, ready to sleep. Everyone else was doing the same. Thunderous snores confirmed that Spike had already done so. Ruby yawned and stretched, then finally settled in.
"Sleep well, Chomper," she said.
"You too."
Everyone fell asleep immediately. The day had been long and tiring for all of them.
…
Chomper awoke to the sight and sounds of Sky Fire striking all around, and Skywater falling on him. Fyn had been right about the approaching storm after all. Everyone was getting drenched, but nowhere nearly as badly as they would have if they'd slept outside of their meager shelter. None of this concerned Chomper, however. His stomach growled with hunger. He hadn't eaten in a while, and his last meal had consisted of Ground Crawlers; not very filling. He stood, and decided to search for something. Sky Fire flashed, briefly illuminating his slumbering friends. Suddenly, an idea formed deep within the recesses of his mind. It started with a single word: food. Chomper's mouth began to salivate, and again, his pupils constricted.
Food, his mind repeated. There was enough food here to satisfy him. The Longneck alone would last days. Slowly, as if in a trance, he moved towards Littlefoot, sleeping on without a care. One quick bite would be all. The Longneck would feel nothing, and Chomper could finally be satisfied. He hesitated.
"Why am I stopping?" he questioned himself, "this is food, and I'm hungry." Suddenly, the Sky Fire flashed again, once again revealing Littlefoot. With the roar that accompanied it, Chomper came back to reality. He suddenly realized what he was doing: his jaws were encircling Littlefoot's neck. What had he done? He began to breathe quickly, panicking. He had to get away before his instincts took over again. Starting to sob, he ran out of the shelter and into the Skywater.
Immediately, the shock of the cold water reverted his mind to its new state.
"Go back!" he told himself, "satisfy your hunger." He began to move back towards the cave.
"No!" he yelled aloud, fighting off the voice in his head. He ran to a rocky outcropping farther away. He'd almost made it before he reverted again. The booming roar following the Sky Fire sounded again, and he met it, challenging it with a roar that reverberated through the night. He snapped back to his usual self, and began to climb the outcropping, putting as much distance between himself and his friends as possible. At the top, he began to change back again.
"Stop!" he yelled, "Not now! Not while I'm here!"
His mind was silent. No thoughts of violence stirred. He was beginning to think he'd beaten himself, when the most terrifying aspect of his mind revealed itself. Whether from stress, hunger, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, or some combination of all four, Chomper could swear he was seeing a reflection of himself forming in front of his eyes. It wasn't exactly the same, however. Its yellow eyes burned, as if with the fire from the Smoking Mountain. It growled, and Chomper stepped back, but for every step he took, the apparition matched it.
"Who- who are you?" he stammered.
"I am you," the mysterious Sharptooth replied. When he spoke, Chomper could feel his own mouth moving, but the words were not his. The stranger also spoke in Sharptooth, which Chomper understood clearly. Suddenly, a realisation hit him.
"This is me after I... change." he thought.
"Why are you doing this to me?" he said.
"I'm doing nothing," he replied, "I am you. You are doing this."
"You lie!" Chomper yelled. "If I could control this, I would!"
"You can't stop me any more than you can stop the Bright Circle from rising each day."
"I can if I fight," Chomper said, recalling how he had narrowly avoided attacking his friend, "I know I can beat you!"
His reflection grinned. "You don't understand, do you? I don't need to fight you. Every day, you fight me. I'm a natural part of you. The longer you fight, the more weary you will become, until one day, you won't be able stop me. I will become you completely, and you will be the Sharptooth you were meant to be," he paused, "or rather, the Sharptooth we were meant to be."
"No!" Chomper cried, "I'll never be like you! I'll remember my friends! I'll be free of you!"
"Oh really?" he replied, "again, you forget that we are one and the same. I am Chomper. You, Chomper, are me. I am simply your best hope of survival. Embrace me, embrace your instincts, and survive."
"Not until I have to," Chomper replied.
Suddenly, he roared again as the Sky Fire struck.
"You cannot defy yourself!"
"I can!"
"In the end, you will only fail. Nothing but death awaits a Sharptooth that cannot hunt for himself!"
He started to roar again, but Chomper caught himself. He shook his head, and the figure before him suddenly became three, then two. When they settled back into one again, the figure was fading from view.
"Fight all you want," he said, "No matter what happens, we will be one soon."
He disappeared, and a shudder racked Chomper's body from head to tail. He fell down, panting, and stayed lying on the hard, wet stone, tears streaming down his face from exertion and the shock of what had just happened. He fell into an exhausted sleep, and his last conscious thoughts were: "was this a dream, or did I really see myself?" He never answered his own question. Skywater beat down on his sleeping body, washing away the tears as the troubled Sharptooth slumbered on.
This short chapter was a blast to write. I love inner battles. A note about how I write stories: I tend to hear a piece of music, which takes the form of a scene in my mind. This later inspires a story, or at least an idea. This particular scene is loosely based on the confrontation scene from Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical. Just another tidbit of information about me, the author, which has no relevance to anything. Fingers are crossed for potentially getting a second chapter out tonight, but we'll see. Until next time, enjoy!