Part I:

It was the entire day before the youngsters would attend another one of Sky's classes, as from the moment they woke up it was Grandpa Threehorn's turn, and this time he would be teaching them how to react in event of a sharptooth attack. Xavier thought it would be exciting, or at least informative, but it turned out to be neither of those things. The lesson started off fine until Wayne asked an important question,

"Grandpa Topsy, have you ever seen a sharptooth before?" the dark grey threehorn inquired as he walked beside his grandfather.

"Huh, well of course I have! Back in my day the sharpteeth were a lot bigger and stronger then they are now… but they still stood no chance against a threehorn," Topsy replied.

After that he started telling stories about the various sharpteeth he'd beaten over the years, but he bragged so much it got boring very quickly. A longneck, a fourwing, a swimmer, a spiketail and a flyer weren't interested in hearing about how great threehorns were – again.

…

Later that night the children gathered by the glowing cracks, each assuming their usual position for Mr. Sky's session. After Grandpa Threehorn mercifully released them they had played the pointy seed game for the rest of the afternoon, so they were understandably tired. Some of them, like Wayne, were laying there with their eyes closed, practically sleeping. Xavier wasn't the least bit tired.

"Where's Mr. Sky?" the longneck inquired impatiently as he looked around the sky, "the Great Circle has gone down already!"

Nincea shrugged, and Spike's daughter Kala just laid there in disinterest. Like her father she appeared to be simple, craving food and sleep along with the company of friends, but unlike him she had learned to speak at a relatively young age. Her preference was to remain silent in most cases, which hid how smart she actually was.

"He's probably just late," suggested Wayne, "unlike my Grandpa – threehorns are never late."

Xavier rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Sky will not be joining us tonight," proclaimed Ruby as she stepped out of the bushes, "and since he's not coming, I'm coming instead." The fastrunner smiled.

"Are you going to continue his story, are you going to tell us what happened to Chomper?" Xavier asked eagerly.

"Of course, after we came home Chomper chose not to come with us… I knew he wanted to be with his own kind, and an opportunity arose for it to happen," Ruby explained, "I knew I had to let him go but… Oh what am I doing, I don't want to tell you what happened before I get the chance to tell you!" The fastrunner rubbed the longneck's head affectionately.

It was good that Ruby believed in keeping secrets a bit less then Sky did, but it also made her stories a lot less thrilling… she always ended up giving away the ending!

"After Cera was kidnapped by that group of wingtails, Chomper and I…"

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"They took Cera, what are we going to do?" Chomper asked frantically. He paced around in circles, unsure what to do next.

"I don't know, but certainly can't go back and say we lost Cera," Ruby said as she thought about what to do, tapping her finger on the side of her face.

The terrain was fairly beautiful around them, with a few groups of trees here and there amongst the high mountain grasses and hilly bluffs. Very close to where Ruby and Chomper sat deliberating their situation the ground caved into a dry ravine, which was on the edge of the Sharptooth Wastes. It was a common travelling route, both for herds of farwalkers and also for the packs of sharpteeth that hunted them. Neither one of them – even Ruby – had ever been this far into the Mysterious Beyond before so there were no landmarks to guide them, and above all nobody they knew who could help them. Not only did they lose Cera, but they were also thoroughly lost themselves.

"Say… where are we?" Chomper gasped in awe as he realized for the first time how unfamiliar their surroundings were. The plants looked different, the air smelt different, and even the wind seemed a little colder then he was used to.

"Well, we have a choice to make Chomper," concluded Ruby, "we can go back and look for Littlefoot and the others, or we can go back and get back Cera."

Chomper sweated the decision… he didn't know what to do. If they went back, they might never find Cera again, yet if they didn't go back Littlefoot would never know what happened to them. It was a big dilemma, and time was of the essence. They had to decide quickly.

"Umm, I think we should… hey what is that?" Chomper said.

"What do you mean what is that, I just told you what that was!" Ruby stated impatiently.

"No… that!"

Chomper pointed towards the forest, and Ruby heard a deep rumble followed by crashing noises. The sound was getting closer.

"I don't like the sound of that," Ruby said nervously, and all of a sudden the massive form of Prince Tyrus burst through the bushes and stomped towards the group of younglings.

"I don't like the look of that!" added Chomper, and they cowered in fear. Tyrus halted in front of them and raised an eyebrow. What were two small sharpteeth doing wandering alone in the wilderness… they looked barely old enough to emerge from the nest. It didn't matter; he had no time for this. There were more important things to do.

"Little ones who wander too far from the nest become prey," Tyrus said coldly, "If that is not a fate you desire then you will return to your nests. There are far less noble sharpteeth in these wastes."

Tyrus snorted, and then proceeded on his way. Behind him emerged a large group of fast-biters, but they paid Ruby and Chomper no mind. With one of Tyron's food caves nearby, there was no need to hunt – and besides that, there was hardly any meat on them to begin with. Spreading out into the woods behind their master, the group of fast-biters vanished into the brush as fast as they had came, leaving Ruby and Chomper alone again.

"Who was that?" questioned Chomper.

"A nicer sharptooth then usual, but not as nice as you," Ruby pat him on the head and laughed, "and I don't think we can return to our nests either… seeing as our nests are too far away to return to."

"Okay," agreed Chomper, "So I guess this means we are going after Cera."

"We forgot about Littlefoot, the sharptooth is heading right for him!" Ruby gasped in horror.

"He can take care of himself; we've taken on mean sharpteeth before."

"I hope so Chomper, I hope so," Ruby finished, but she didn't look comfortable with it at all.

Littlefoot and the others were their friends, it would be careless and cruel just abandon them to their fate. Ruby knew if she was in danger, Littlefoot wouldn't hesitate to help her. Last time she needed help she was dangling off a cliff, struggling for her life. Littlefoot reached down to her, risking his own life, but didn't make it in time. She fell, and didn't remember much after that. Thinking back, she was lucky to survive.

On the other hand, they were lucky to not have been eaten by that strange sharptooth and his fast-biters. If they followed them the group could decide that they were hungry after all and attack. The last thing Ruby needed was to put Chomper's life in needless danger after she swore to his parents to protect him.

"Come on, let's go find Cera," she added unenthusiastically,

"Alright," cried Chomper, "We're gonna track down those fliers and make them give back our friend!"

…

With Ruby in the lead, the two of them made their way along the rocky ground of the Sharptooth Wastes. The sun was a dull tan as it cast its withering heat rays upon them, drying up everything in sight. It was a wonder that anything could survive out here.

"Oh, I'm so hungry!" moaned Chomper, "I could eat a whole longneck… not that I would."

"I'm hungry too… let's go find a watering place and I can catch us some water swimmers!"

"That would be delicious," Chomper said as he licked his lips.

Just the thought of eating one of those brown fish again made him salivate. When Ruby and he first met, just after his parents left the island, he hadn't eaten for days and she caught him a meal. He wasn't all that nice to her either, so he probably didn't deserve what she did for him. Ruby was so kind to everyone, including him, that he had actually started to think of her as his mom. It was strange, but apart from the rest of the gang nobody seemed to understand him like she did.

The pair walked on through the blistering heat and endless rocky desert, and as the hours passed they got hotter, dirtier, and hungrier. After a while Chomper smelt water and so they pushed on, following his sniffer. They came to a dead end, right on the edge of a sheer cliff.

"Awe man… the river is so far down!" complained Chomper.

Farwalker Gorge was called so because it was a notable landmark for farwalkers, a river embedded deep in the earth that snaked its way through a wasteland full of nothing. Once a herd found a way down to the large river at the bottom of the canyon, it could rest for a while and recharge its energy before moving on. Looking down the ridge, it was at least a 100 feet to the bottom. Ruby began to shake.

"What's wrong Ruby?" Chomper asked.

"Let's get out of here… I don't like it here." Ruby replied nervously. She had never truly got over the incident in the Whispering Gorge, when she fell nearly to her death following an earthshake. She didn't remember hitting the water, but she did remember screaming and falling. It still gave her nightmares.

"But there's water down there, and food! We can't go back," insisted Chomper.

Ruby looked out over the edge again, and gulped nervously. Unfortunately Chomper was right, they didn't have a choice. Looks like she would have to face her fears and climb down. She closed her eyes and proceeded slowly after Chomper.

…

The descent was a slow, but relatively even one. A small path used by the local creatures (they could tell by the footprints) lead right down to the water, and it was relatively safe. Chomper went first and Ruby followed timidly behind, careful not to look down and trigger the vertigo again. When they reached the bottom, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Chomper said reassuringly, smiling at her.

"Yes, but I'd prefer not to do that again… I don't like high places," Ruby said worriedly.

"Well what are you waiting for," Chomper cried excitedly as he waved her to follow, "let's go eat!"

Ruby dove into the gently flowing water, and within an hour she had caught a whole assortment of fish. Chomper gobbled them up eagerly, and soon there was a pile of fish bones all around him. Ruby popped up with another fish in her mouth, and spit it onto the rocky shore.

"Okay, let's divide them up evenly, so we all get to eat!" Ruby proclaimed, before seeing that Chomper had already eaten practically everything she caught. She glared at him.

"Opps," said Chomper, and he burped. Ruby smiled and chuckled.

"It's okay… I can have some green food."

Ruby had a weird habit of looking a lot angrier then she actually was. Apart from the day the domeheads stole Ducky's food, Chomper had never seen her really get angry about anything. It made her very pleasant to be around.

As the Great Circle set in the distant horizon Ruby and Chomper rested on the banks of the river, weary from the events of the day and fully nourished. For Chomper it was a bit of a shock going from hungry all the time to suddenly full. Now he no longer had anything to do, so he just lied on the rocks enjoying their warmth.

"Let's go Chomper, we better find ourselves some place safe to stay tonight. Who knows what else is out here to eat us in the dark," Ruby suggested.

"Oh alright…" mumbled Chomper lazily.

With nothing but the sound of the moving river beside them, Ruby and Chomper carried on up the Farwalker Gorge and into the unknown.

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The night was still young as Star made her way back to the family tree, but she was tired and it had been a long day. Her class was progressing nicely, and some looked like they were really enjoying themselves. It was very fulfilling to know that someday they might grow up to be Creators just like her – and leave their mark in their history like their ancestors did before them.

The family tree was located in the far north of the Feral Forest; the willow had stood for hundreds of years, and had been their home for many generations. It did not stand out against the sea of other similar trees in this part of the woods, but to Star it was everything. After all she was born and raised here, and until her parents died she had lived here with them and her brother. They shared the tree with other members of the gene pool as well – notably her uncle Sturgeon and aunt Fliela. Sturgeon was related by blood to her and Glide, and was an important figure in their upbringing. If there was one wingtail in the world that Glide respected apart from her, it was Sturgeon.

Star swooped into and amongst the branches that had been parted specifically so a large flyer like her could get through. Even though the Age of Creation was gone, there were still Tree Architects around today who had been passed the knowledge by their forefathers. They had connected and trimmed the network of branches to provide a perfect shelter inside the leaves for their family, and then moved onto the next tree of their neighbours to do it for them also. It happened a long time ago when Star was still a baby, but she remembered her mother and father fussing over specific features, like the sound of the wind being too loud and rain getting in. It was one of her last memories of them.

"Did you have a good day dear, you look pooped," commented Fliela as Star brushed her way in.

"Oh it was fine, just the usual," replied Star, "planting our future in the minds of young children, so that they might grow strong and proud."

"And wise," added Fliela, "what you do is very important to all of us, and you shouldn't forget it."

"I know… it's just so exhausting," Star said as she collapsed into a bed of dense leaves, "and with Glide gone and all… it's been so taxing on me."

"You're worried about him aren't you," assured Fliela, "don't be… your brother is strong and can take care of himself. He will be back before you know it."

"I know but there's also Sky, I don't want him to get hurt," moaned Star, "we were friends and well… things happened to tear us apart. I just wish I could see him again."

There was a swooping sound as another wingtail entered the tree behind them. It was probably just Sturgeon.

"Well just relax, and I'll get you some tree sweets," assured Fliela, "Sturgeon could you-"

Aunt Fliela stopped dead in her tracks and gasped. The flyer in front of her was not Sturgeon, and he was covered in blood.

"Oh my…Glide!" she said with a quiver in her voice, and she moved closer to look at his injuries. Her nephew was in rough shape, and his wings and chest were cut up pretty badly. A line of dried blood ran down the side of his face, and his expression was one of pure anger and hatred. Fliela had never seen him look like that.

"Sky happened to me," answered Glide bitterly, and he shook his wings in frustration. Star shot up at the sound of his voice.

"Glide, Glide your back!" she cried joyously, and embraced him. He returned the gesture.

"Yeah I made it back, I'm okay," he assured Star as she held him tight. Even as infuriated and in pain as he was, he felt the positive energy of his sister flow into him. He was glad to see her.

"But Glide, what happened to your wings, your face?" Star questioned, and she gasped in fear as she looked over the full extent of his injuries. Overall there was nothing serious, but her brother had never lost a fight before. What could possibly do this to him?

"Sharpteeth," stated Glide bitterly, "and because of them Sky got away."

"That's good," said Star, "I was afraid you might-"

"What do you mean it's good?" shouted Glide, "My quest was to find him and take it from him by force, and he gets away and you think it's GOOD!?! Do you have any idea what happens to me if the elders find out I'm here? I was told to return with the Occular or not come home at all!"

"Glide, stop shouting! If somebody hears you then you will be found out," insisted Fliela.

"I'm afraid we already have," came a deep and dignified voice from the entrance of the tree. All three wingtails turned to see Sturgeon standing on the branch leading to the outside. He looked ashen.

"You have been summoned to the elders… they have heard of your return."

Glide ground his toothless jaw in rage. First he had to endure the horrific fight with those cursed sharpteeth as well as the non-stop journey home, and now he had to go before the elders without even a minute of rest. Fliela and Star stepped back in caution as Glide struck out at a nearby branch, leaving deep claw marks.

"Fine," uttered Glide as his moment of anger passed, "let's get this over with."

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