Part VI:

"Sky, Sky!" called out Ali desperately as the wingtail struggled to get free of Glide's grip. The two of them were grappling on the top level of the cavern beyond sight of the gang, so they could only hope for the best. Bigger problems awaited them on their level.

"The Sharpteeth, they are coming back!" yelled Ducky. Littlefoot shushed her.

"Quiet Ducky, they don't know where we are yet. If we keep our heads down, they might go right past." Littlefoot risked a peak around the rock, only to see both fast-biters sitting there staring at him. They knew where they were alright.

"RUN!" hollered Littlefoot, and the group of them had to dodge a pair of snapping jaws. One of them went for Ali, but his leap fell short and he landed on his chest. The sharptooth glared up and her and snarled, revealing rows of pointed teeth. Ali screamed.

"Down here, we can lose them in the river," declared Littlefoot and he jumped into the fast flowing water in the centre of the cave. Having just avoided death, Ali leaped in after him. Both were carried out of the cave.

"But Spike cannot swim, he can't!" called out Ducky but the two longnecks were already gone. Spike stepped back from the rapids, and the sharpteeth closed in for the kill.

"Jump Spike, jump!" cried Ducky, and she dove into the water. Her brother didn't need to be told twice, and came in after her just as one of the fast-biters snapped where his tail had been.

…

"I always wondered what my sister saw in you," taunted Glide as he held Sky by the throat against the wall. The blue wingtail was nearly choking. "But now I think I know… she saw how desperate and pathetic you were."

Sky's glare was a mixture of hate and indignity.

"But you're lucky this time… I'm not here to kill you." Glide said as he released Sky. The blue wingtail wheezed as he caught his breath. Glide extended his hand. "Give it to me and I'll let you live."

Sky removed the Occular from the inside of his wing, and held it up into the sunlight that illuminated this part of the cave. It shone so brightly, so beautifully that Glide couldn't take his eyes off it. Such an object would be the head of his collection – he could just return home and tell the elders it had been lost, while keeping it for himself. Sky recognized the lust in Glide's expression, and decided to gibe him.

"You want it, go get it."

And Sky flung it across the cavern like a prehistoric Frisbee. Thankfully it was of sturdy construction, and as it clanked off the walls a shower of sparks were cast onto the floor. The Occular rang as it rolled along the floor and came to rest at the feet of the two sharpteeth.

"I'll be back for you," hissed Glide as he took off away from the ledge to retrieve the eyeglass.

The two fast-biters looked at each other in amazement. King Tyron had proclaimed a bounty on an object, an object described to be just like this one. It was the same shape as the Great Circle, it was clear like the air, and it shone brightly when hit by the day's light. The bounty was position of honour next to the massive sharptooth, right at the shoulder were the best meat of the kill was. This was far more important then a few scrawny children, for if they brought this back they would be set for life. The smaller of the two fast-biters had barely picked it up in his claws when Glide was on him in a flurry of talons and feathers.

Sky composed himself as the horrible screeching and hissing of the fight between the sharpteeth and the black wingtail rang throughout of the cavern. He checked his throat to make sure it wasn't bleeding, and then felt his head. There was a nasty bump on there, but nothing that time wouldn't fix. He noticed Petrie roosting on the other side of the cavern, shaking in fear.

"Petrie, get the Occular! Hurry before they notice you," Sky asked desperately.

"But me so scared," cried Petrie.

"Be brave Petrie, It's now or never."

The young flyer looked down at the chaos at the bottom of the cavern. It was horrible to watch as Glide, covered in blood from numerous bites, shattered one of the fast-biter's jaws with a blow to his neck joint. Through all this, the Occular was lying undisturbed. Now was his chance - with a quick dive Petrie slipped down and grabbed the eyeglass with his talons.

"Me got it, me got it!" he announced. Unfortunately, Glide turned at him with a menacing glare. It was not unlike the look a sharptooth gives his trapped prey. Petrie's courage suddenly vanished, and he started to panic in the air.

Sky caught him just in time, as Glide snapped at the small flyer with his deadly jaws. With a whoosh of air Sky's foot connected with Glide's nose, and the black wingtail was forced back onto the ground.

"Hang on Petrie, I think we're in for a turbulent ride," said Sky as he briefly looked down at the shivering flyer. Petrie didn't have time to respond before the two of them plunged into the river, and were carried down into small exit hole.

"I'll get you Sky!" cried Glide just before they were out of earshot.

In his rage the black wingtail turned to the last remaining sharptooth, who was slightly smaller then he was. Sharpteeth were in general not very smart, but they did know when to run, and with his partner dying and a mad-killer bird looking him in the eye this was one of those times. With a yelp of fear the fast-biter dashed out of the cave, leaving Glide alone with the remaining sharptooth.

As Glide approached him the fast-biter whined in pain, hoping for mercy. Glide was mad, but in this case it simply wasn't worth the effort. Glide snuffed loudly and spat on him, before leaving the cave to lick his wounds.

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"Ruby wait, wait!" called out Chomper as he chased the fast-runner into the woods. They were both chasing after Cera, but Ruby was a lot faster then he was. It was times like this that he wished he had longer legs. Eventually he caught up to Ruby, who had stopped in a clearing.

"You run too fast for me," Chomper laughed as he bent over to catch his breath. He looked up at Ruby, who looked very concerned and had her hand over her mouth.

"What is it?" Chomper asked. He found out when he too spied Cera sitting in the middle of the field in front of them, and she was crying. Chomper echoed Ruby's look, and kept silent. After a minute Ruby finally decided to ask her what was wrong.

"Hey Cera, every moment your sad is a moment your not happy," she said positively.

"Go away," sobbed Cera, and she turned away from them.

"Cera, did we make you sad?" asked Chomper sincerely as he padded up and sat next to Cera. She peered down at the tiny sharptooth, and decided to confide in him.

"It's Littlefoot… I hate it when he does these things."

"But what does he do?" asked Ruby in confusion.

"He's our best friend one day… then next thing you know some scrawny longneck or stuck up bird comes along and he doesn't have any time for us anymore." Cera responded, and wiped the tears off her face. It was embarrassing for her to be like this.

"Thanks for being mad for me though Cera, even when I didn't know I was mad myself," thanked Ruby as she put a hand on Cera's shoulder.

"Your welcome," responded Cera politely. She smiled as she saw both Chomper and Ruby sitting next to her, trying to make her feel better. It was nice to have such good friends.

"But maybe your being too hard on Littlefoot, after all he didn't really know how Sky was so bad to Ruby," Chomper suggested.

"Maybe," admitted Cera, "but sometimes he misses things, things that are so obvious I just want to yell it in his face. Like when he dragged us along with those yellow bellies when they could've taken care of themselves."

Chomper and Ruby didn't know what she was talking about – it must have happened before they came to the valley. Cera moved on.

"And another time, he left us all in the valley just because of some stupid sleep story," Cera complained, "When he does these things… it just makes me wanna scream!"

"That's exactly what we wanted to hear," came a cold voice from behind them.

All three of them turned to see two large wingtails, one a navy blue and the other a heavy shade of green. Chomper growled, he could tell these were not good flyers.

"What do you want?" asked Cera insultingly.

"To hear you scream of course," said the green wingtail, "we would be… honoured."

"Cera, I don't like this… we should go," suggested Ruby.

"Please, stay and show us just how vocal you are," asked the navy blue wingtail, "We happen to be experts in the field of… sound."

"You wanna hear me scream I'd be happy too," Cera said, and she turned and yelled back into the woods, "Littlefoot if you can hear me I'm not coming back!"

The two wingtails looked at each other, and came to a silent agreement.

"It would be best for you to come with us," the green one said.

"I insist," added the navy blue one.

"And what if I say no?" asked Cera, who was still mad.

"That would be… unwise."

The two wingtails swooped forward and grabbed her by her front legs. The burst of wind distracted Ruby and Chomper, who covered their faces and stepped back.

"Ruby, Chomper, help me!" cried Cera, but she was gone faster then they could even attempt to rescue her.

"Cera!" called out Chomper, but she was already over the trees and gone, "Cera…" he echoed sadly.

Carrying the threehorn in tow, Eybron's sentinels made their way back to the Sonicron and the cave where they took the rest of the children they had kidnapped. Soon she would join them to institute the greatest act of art the world had ever know, but to Ruby and Chomper Cera was gone.

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Prince Tyrus licked his lips to remove the excess blood he had got on them while he had been feeding. The gold sharptooth stopped by a stream to take a drink, and admire his own reflection. His father Tyron had often told him of how perfect he was, both in appearance and in his hunting skills, and had even given him a group of his own sharpteeth to do with as he saw fit. They were his guards and hunters, but they were also scavengers who pecked off his kills and left nothing for him to snack on later. Tyrus had pondered killing them for a while, but what would a Prince be without a royal escort to bully any local predators into submission? He wouldn't be a Prince.

"My Prince," bowed Redgar, the leader of this pack, "we have found one of the locals who believes he has something of interest to you."

"Really? Does he know not to disturb me while I'm tending to myself, because apparently you do not."

It was not an idle threat, and Redgar backed down in fear. The fast-biter was strong and brave, but in the face of the son of the King of Sharpteeth he had to pay his respects, not to mention know his limits. Tyrus was rumoured to be a cold killer just like his father when provoked.

"It was quite important; he claimed to have seen the object the King desires."

Now that was important alright. Sharpteeth generally valued nothing but the flesh of those they killed, and even then only as long as it remained in their stomachs, but the Occular was different. The sharpteeth called it the Stone of Seeing, as was rumoured to correct even the worst of vision when one looked through it. Tyron had been given it as tribute from the carnivorous birds for allowing them to feed on his blessings, and he used it to correct his near blindness by placing it in his left eye.

Tyrus had been told that when he was born, he killed and ate all of his brothers and sisters for food – an action that pleased his father. As a gift Tyron gave him the Occular so that when he was older he could see beyond the horizon too, and up until the day it was stolen he relished the possibility of having vision as keen as a bird's.

…

Tyrus' escort had formed a circle around the small fast-biter, and were bullying him as if he had been folly to attempt to come before the Prince of Sharpteeth. They hit him, pushed him, and taunted him until he just lied on the ground in submission, wishing he was somewhere else.

"What's the matter little-biter, you scared?" taunted a much larger fast-biter, "you're a little cowardly runt who deserves to be put down like the rest of these leaf-lickers."

Another one of the group kicked him from behind, and the newcomer just whimpered. Redgar entered the circle, and snarled for them to back off. They obeyed.

"The Prince has arrived, to receive your message." He told the little fast-biter, "and for the sake of your life I hope it is worth his time."

The ground shook as Prince Tyrus entered the clearing and growled. The circle backed up more, to make room for their master. His red eyes glowed with a hum of an ancient instinct to kill his prey, but he stayed his wraith to hear what the messenger had come to say.

The little fast-biter stuttered and stammered in terror, unable to compose himself. Tyrus was the scariest predator he had ever laid his eyes on; the rumours about him were true. It was a mistake to come here, a mistake that was about to cost him his life.

"What's the matter… longneck got your tongue?" chided the larger fast-biter who was bullying him. A slow rotation of Tyrus' head in his direction shut him up real fast. The little-biter suddenly found the words to speak.

"M-my Prince, I saw the object your father desires, in the caves." He said timidly, as cold sweat began running down his scales, "it looked just like how it was described, it was the shape of the Great Circle, it was clear as the air, and it shone in its light… I swear it's true!"

"Well know that wasn't too hard now was it, worthless rat," taunted the large fast-biter as he stepped forward and kicked the messenger down onto the ground.

"Indeed," Prince Tyrus said, and it was that one word which resonated all his power and strength to everyone around, before he commanded, "you will take us to it."

"Yes my Prince," the little fast-biter replied, "but I can't make the journey… I haven't eaten in days." It had been a limb he was going out on, but now that he knew he was needed he didn't need to be afraid of being killed anymore. It was time to see if there really was a reward in this for him.

"You think your any different then the rest of us!" yelled the large fast-biter who had been tormenting him. It was the last mistake he would ever make. In move more sudden then lightning Tyrus snapped the fast-biter up in his jaws and broke every bone in his body. The bully screeched in pain, but in a few seconds the life simply left him. Satisfied he had achieved his goal, Tyrus snorted and threw the corpse down in front of the messenger.

"Enjoy your meal," the sharptooth offered, before motioning the rest to follow him. They obeyed of course, for none of them wanted to die.

The insult that had been paid to Tyron and his family when the Occular had been stolen was like nothing ever to come before. They had gotten revenge on the birds of course, tearing down their nests and killing them in their sleep, but it was not enough. The Occular needed to be returned to the royalty with which it belonged, and the thief made to suffer for his actions. Prince Tyrus took this task upon himself, and as he smashed his way through the forest he snarled his intent to avenge his father's dishonour.

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(End of Act I)