Ok so, looks like I've got to try and fix the formatting. Last chapter went all weird with the paragraphs...
Chapter 2: Deadly Demonstration
The residents of the Great Valley congregated around the Thundering Falls pond, eagerly awaiting to see what Chomper had brought them all there for. Rumor got out somehow that Fireclaw had a new weapon and was going to test it. Much to the dinosaur's surprise, it wasn't a firearm he was going to test this time, but his new, and very elegantly engraved sword.
Fireclaw was sitting by the pond, watching the water move as he had moved the blade over the surface. The water seemed to be magnetically attracted to the water, the closer the blade was, the further the water would part. He could make it even ripple if he waved the blade up and down rapidly. If Fireclaw focused more on what he wanted the water to do, it would do as he wished. He had everyone captivated by his new feat, even more so Chomper.
Suddenly Fireclaw shifted his gaze upward, and looked across the pond, imagining what he could do if he were to imagine a tidal wave. Everyone stood silent as he stood up, and prepared a sideward strike, this time though, focusing all of his energy on a massive wave, and not once was he going to let the blade get wet. He swiped the blade rapidly, releasing all the energy he focused and built up, causing the water, exactly as planned, to fly straight out of the pond, into the air in a massive wave, then crash against the Thundering Falls' cliffside. The entire Great Valley stood in awe at what just happened.
"DId you really just move water with that kind of force?" Topsy asked, both curiously and nervously.
"Aprehensive to ask such a question for once now aren't we threehorn? And yes, Topsy, that's exactly what I just did." Fireclaw replied proudly.
"Can he throw rocks?" Someone in the massive crowd shouted.
Fireclaw pointed the blade to the sky, flipped it over, then with both arms thrust the blade straight into the earth, sending a shockwave that raised massive pointed slabs of rock straight into the air, also causing everyone to stumble from the micro earthquake. Everyone stood with eyes wide as the rocks began to recede into the ground exactly opposite of how they came up. Something amazing was happening, and the dinosaurs of the Great Valley knew they were bearing witness to it.
"Does that answer your question?" Fireclaw asked as his eyes turned from a tint of red back to the normal green they originally were. Littlefoot managed to push his way through the crowd and ran up to Fireclaw.
"So if you can move water and rocks, what else can you do?" Littlefoot asked excitedly.
"Probably just about anything to be honest." Replied Fireclaw.
Fireclaw threw the sword, sticking it blade first into a tree. THen, he held his claw out, fully extended, then balled it into a fist, causing the tree to explode into hundreds of chunks and splinters. The sword floated back gracefully yet hastely to him. Littlefoot wasn't believing anything he was seeing.
Fireclaw soon found it hard to appease the ever-growing mob as they all converged on him, questioning how he did that, what magic it was, was he a monster, anything anybody could spit at him. Thankfully Grandpa Longneck happened to be there to restore peace.
"Alright everyone, I think it's time that we left Fireclaw alone to practice with his new found abilities. It could be dangerous to break his concentration with something that powerful." Grandpa Longneck called to the crowd. After the short exchange of murmurs and speaking amongst themselves, the crowd disbanded to go about their daily routines, but of course not without talking about the previous events. Left standing were Pterano, Chomper and of course Fireclaw.
With Pterano being the leader of the Great Valley's air division, he was always interested in these kinds of things if it could be used militaristically, and saw great opportunity in Fireclaw's swordsmanship. Chomper's primary interest was to relay what Fireclaw could do back to the Dinosaucers for some analysis on what exactly was in that falling stone Fireclaw now controls.
"Fireclaw! I couldn't help but notice this magnificent display of pure power! Tell me, how do you do it? What is the secret that I did not know that called forth this magic?" Pterano said trying to swindle Fireclaw.
"Pterano, why are you suddenly interested?" Asked Chomper in Fireclaw's defense. All eyes turned to Pterano as suddenly his whole viewpoint of being a changed flyer many cold times ago was starting to seem more transparent that had appeared.
"Seems as though you've forgotten your sins alread Pterano. Remember what happened when you got yourself expelled from the Great Valley six cold times ago, or has that slipped your mind too?" Fireclaw retorted to Pterano.
"Oh yes, believe me, how can one forget? The real matter is why you are the one who it chose as it's master and not me, the greatest of all flyers! It should've been me to restore the wo-"
Fireclaw cut Pterano off as he pulled his trusty pistol and trained the sights on Pterano's forhead, safety ready to be released.
"So you have forgotten it seems. Look Pterano, I'd just leave it where it stands now, otherwise it would be a shame if I had to splatter your skull like a tree sweet because you decided to go rogue on us, now wouldn't it?" Fireclaw said, gritting his teeth and snarling at the same time.
"So it is. I'd watch where you'd aim Fireclaw, you'll be the one facing treason with an attitude like that!" Pterano yelled back over his shoulder before taking off.
"That bastard, and to think I knew there was something off about him." Chomper said.
"No kidding. Believe me, you'd had to have been there when he decided to take Ducky on a high speed and high altitude joyride. Not to mention he's also a murderer. He tried to 'lead' part of the herd coming to the Great Valley many cold times ago, well, years, ago, just after the massive earthquake hit a far off valley. As they migrated to find better homeland, good ole' Pterano there decided it would be in their best interest if they just went and followed him to saftey, to glory even! Well, not even three days later, all of them were dead. Surprised at all? Don't be, he knows what he did, and so does everyone else. He just thinks that being a chav will erase his past." Fireclaw explained to Chomper.
"Someone actually trusted him?" Chomper replied sounding surprised.
"Yup. He's a good enough narcicist that he can basically use himself as a way to get what he wants. Just depends on who's he's appealing to." Fireclaw replied.
"So to redeem himself, he tried to capture the Stone of Cold Fire, and apparently failed." Chomper replied.
"He almost did. If he would've known the catalyst, chances are, He'd probably be dead right now from an assasination attempt." Fireclaw replied.
"Sounds like he's in the means to try for that again." Chomper said.
"He very well could, and he'd kill himself ultimately. He has no idea how to use the sword, and somehow to me it just feels natural. I'm not sure why either. Pterano, on the other hand, will try something super powerful and either succeed then go insane from the power, or kill himself by accident because he doesn't know how to properly use the sword." Fireclaw explained.
The conversation was cut short by small rumbles in the ground. Both Fireclaw and Chomper knew exactly what was coming. Sharpteeth. A rustle in the bushes behind Chomper caused Fireclaw to draw the sword in one hand, holding it under the USP like a tactical knife and advance on the bush. Then Cera burst through, toppling over herself in a panic as she came flying out into the clearing. Loud roars could be heard in the distance, confirming what she was about to say.
Chomper headed for a nearby cave, which contained a large cache of weaponry stored from a previous conflict Allo had delivered to the Great Valley as a last resort. Fireclaw helped Cera regain her composure in the meanwhile.
"Cera, what the hell's going on out th-" A loud bang interrupted Fireclaw as Chomper fired an RPG from a hilltop behind him.
"Sharpteeth got into the Valley, there's too many for the grown-ups to hold off on their own!" Cera replied over the loud pops of the missiles leaving the launcher.
"Where does Allo get all these weapons?" Chomper yelled to Fireclaw.
"Hell if I know, now Cera, how many would you say there are?" Fireclaw said switching from Chomper to Cera.
"Uhh, Fire, there's about maybe six or so, one I just took down!" Chomper yelled back in reply. Chomper dove off the rock as a large green sharptooth collided with it, back first. Grandpa Longneck whipped it's head with his tail as it tried to recover from the damaging blow, snapping it's neck.
"Fair enough. Now to really get to know this thing!" Fireclaw said to himself.
HE burst into a run, unsheathing the sword from his back. He custom made the sheath to match the sword's elegance out of a special tree. Fireclaw Charged through thick shrubbery, hacking and slashing to get over a hill to see everything better. He could hear screams, yells, battle cries, roars, practically everything. Fireclaw was ready. He reached the top and saw that there was now about eight sharpteeth, four circling a defenseless swimmer waiting to kill her. One was missing a massive chunk from it's side, presumably because of the well placed RPG shot Chomper took.
He saw littlefoot trying his own guerilla tactics, shooting rocks with his tail then running to find cover. Fireclaw had a better, more useful idea than to run and hide.
With the help of the Stone of Cold Fire's power infused, he charged a jump, then flew high into the air, leaving a dark purple streak upon launch. Fireclaw managed to position himself above one sharptooth, in one motion turn the blade upside down to thrusting position, then fell with great velocity, down onto the unsuspecting Shartooth, which was about to kill the Swimmer already swarmed by three others. Blood splattered everywhere as Fireclaw bore through the top of the Sharptooth's head, and out under his jaw, sending chunks of skull, flesh and brain matter spewing like a geyser into the air. The collision with the ground caused a shockwave powerful enough to kick a sizeable amount of soil and knock the other Sharpteeth backwards, and send the already bleeding Swimmer flying as well. Coated in blood, Fireclaw stood up and looked at the virtually decapitated Sharptooth. Only the jawline was left.
"ENOUGH!" Fireclaw boomed to the sky.
Everyone, Sharpteeth included winced at the sheer loudness of it, and the attack began to slow down. The Sharpteeth were now being driven out by hordes of angry dinosaurs on the offensive. Fireclaw stood and watched, eyes glowing a very bright red color, and filled with the fury of an entire army taking another's homeland without mercy. Chomper managed to make his way through a tangle of fallen trees and kicked up dirt and rock in time to see what had happened.
"What the...?" Chomper asked himself, noticing the crater Fireclaw's death-drop left, then looking at the destroyed Sharptooth. Fireclaw was facing away from him.
"Firecla- What the hell?" Chomper called to Fireclaw. Noticing the color of his eyes and the grimace of pure sin on his face sent a chill down his spine. He's never seen Fireclaw this way, and can't remember the last time Fireclaw had ever actually been to this point of near insanity.
"Yes, Chomper?" Fireclaw said back, not breaking his gaze with Chomper. Chomper began to feel intimidated around one of his best friends.
"Are you- okay? Your eyes are- What's wrong with you?" Chomper stammered out. After seeing what happened, it was all he could say.
Once all of the Sharpteeth were driven out, a small group of dinosaurs were gathered around in a tight circle. One called out "We've got a live one here!" followed by "He aint movin' either!" Chomper followed Fireclaw as he walked over to the small gathering, nervous to get too close in fear that Fireclaw would react badly.
"Everyone move!" Fireclaw yelled. The crowd did as commanded, probably due to his eye color and the drop in pitch when he spoke.
Lying on the ground, curled up in the fetal position was another Sharptooth, about Fireclaw's size, even looking the same as him, silently crying to himself. The mob that was now growing in size was tauting and jeering it, shouting insults such as coward, young-killer, and disgrace to all those who still live. Grandpa Longneck stood towards the back of the mob, watching for things that could escalate the already tense situation.
"Xaero, you cower. Why is this? I DEMAND YOU TELL ME WHY THIS IS THAT YOU COWER BEFORE ME! THIS IS NOT HOW YOU WERE TRAINED!" Fireclaw boomed at the Sharptooth. Xaero looked up, and buried his head in his knees again once he saw the bloody and pissed off Fireclaw, brandishing a sword as long as his arm.
Fireclaw grabbed the Sharptooth by the throat, lifted him off the ground with one hand, and waved the sword in front of him, taunting him with it and making obscene gestures.
"So, this is how you decide to act, is it? I knew Allo should've put more work into you before even letting you consider going out into the field. You disgrace the Dinosaucers, and you especially disgrace me! I trained you to be a damn warrior, and THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" Fireclaw said, then screamed.
He threw Xaero into a group of duck-billed dinosaurs, who took his shoulders and threw him back into the ring. Grandma Longneck arrived soon after, wondering what Fireclaw was yelling about, and stood next to Grandpa Longneck in the back. Grandpa Longneck was ready to break up what Fireclaw was doing.
"I'm sorry, Firecl-" Xaero was cut off by Fireclaw punching him in the eye, sending him flying yet again. The somersault he did upon landing nearly knocked him unconsious.
The crowd began to space out, hoping to see a fight. They all knew that in his current state, Fireclaw would butcher Xaero easily. Fireclaw tossed Xaero his sword. A mass gasp arose from the crowd as everyone now expected Xaero to turn into a monster.
"Take up arms, Xaero. This is what you get for cowardice! If you didn't learn the first time, this time I gaurantee you will learn it!" Fireclaw shouted as he charged Xaero.
Xaero held the sword out in front of him awkwardly as Fireclaw delivered a crushing blow with his shoulder, winding him and sending him sprawling backward. He'd forgotten how to fight with a sword, and soon regretted it. He dropped the sword in the dirt, sticking it in blade first on impact. Xaero rose to his feet, only to be met with a swift kick to the ribs, then an elbow drop straight back down to the ground. By this point Xaero was beginning to spit blood. The crowd cheered and hollered at the sight of this. Fireclaw went to deliver a spinning axe kick but was knocked off his feet by a quick sweep from Xaero. He rolled backward and got to his feet. Fireclaw hit the ground with both claws and sprung up effortlessly. Xaero charged forward and attempted a flying punch, but was thrown over Fireclaw's shoulder and bodyslammed straight onto the ground again. He couldn't get his breath in time as Fireclaw turned around, then spun back around in a barrel roll before transitioning into a perfect axe kick, crushing Xaero's chest. Xaero went unconsious, the fight was over.
Fireclaw reclaimed the sword from the dirt, then walked over to Xaero, lying twisted on the ground. The crowd cheered loudly, thinking that Fireclaw killed him. Chomper was impressed at Fireclaw's enhanced abilities, thinking it was the Sword of Coldfire's power doing it to him.
"That's enough!" Grandpa Longneck called to the mob. Everyone fell silent. Fireclaw's eyes changed back to their normal color.
Grandpa Longneck pushed through the crowd towards the center of the ring. He had trouble looking at the ground because of all the blood spatter during the fight.
"Everyone, disband immediately! That's an order! There is to be no more mob gathering from this point out! What Fireclaw did was inexcusable, and will be dealt with accordingly! Everyone return to your nests immediately!" Grandpa Longneck yelled to the crowd. Fireclaw was in no way intimidated by this.
"Oh no, Fireclaw's in trouble!" Littlefoot said.
"In trouble? Ha, after a fight like that I'd be congratulating him! Did you see the way he flip kicked that Sharptooth? He told that dumb-ole Sharptooth with the bottom of his foot! Doesn't get any better than that!" Cera replied back. Littlefoot, Petrie, Ducky and Spike gave her surprised stares.
"Cera, what Fireclaw did was not a very nice thing to do at all. Oh no, not at all." Ducky replied.
"What Fire mean by 'If you not learn first time, You learn this time?' Fireclaw teach Sharptooth to fight?" Petrie asked.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking. Somehow they know each other, probably not in a good way either. There has to be more to this than what's going on now, I know it!" Littlefoot said.
"But Littlefoot, it verry bad idea to ask Fireclaw how he know Sharptooth. He mad already, why we need anger him more?" Petrie replied.
"I'm not trying to make him mad, but my grandpa may banish him if we don't help him somehow! I'm going to find out what's really going on. You can do what you want, but this doesn't seem right!" Littlefoot said as he turned and ran into the woods.
"Sometimes I wonder if he's ever gotten himself in trouble for nosing into things he shouldn't." Cera said under her breath before running after him. Petrie, Ducky and Spike followed her.
"Fireclaw, what you did was definetely over the line! That fight did not need to happen and you know that!" Grandpa Longneck said.
"Eldin, with all due respect, I don't believe you understand the code of Dinosaucer membership. In Xaero's case, he's a step higher than the others, which damn me for not knowing why, but him curling up like a baby was not a way you do things in his position! If anything, he should've taken a rock or something and beat the other damn Sharpteeth to death with it if need be, not curl up like a hatchling and wait for everything to just blow over!" Fireclaw retorted back.
Fireclaw was cleaning the blood off of his sword in the pond and trying to argue with Grandpa Longneck at the same time. Littlefoot hid behind a bush, listening as Fireclaw and Grandpa Longneck tried to argue ethics over what happened earlier that day.
"Listen, as I've said, it doesn't matter! If he wants to be a coward, that's fine, because now he's under my wing. Let me tell you something, if you land a place under my jurisdiction, trust me when I say this I will be a hard-ass about it, because I can! He's not going to get off easy, and if need be I'll scar this whole ordeal that happened today into his brain with a bullet if I need to! I'm a pretty damn good marksman with a handgun and just about any high-powered rifle, not like you know what those are yet. All it takes is one good shot and bam, problem solved." Fireclaw explained.
"Not to change the topic, but who exactly are these 'dinosaucers' you've spoken of before?" Grandpa Longneck asked.
"Hmm, funny you should ask. I thought I'd explained it to you. Well, the Dinosaucers are an elite group of dinosaurs derived from a distant planet known as Reptillon. They arrived here ages ago, and continue to remain here due to a constant conflict going on not only on their home planet, but now spreading to our- well, your, home planet, anyway. You see, I was inducted into the ranks starting actually from a cadet, you could say. It's not a very high position, but over time I became what I am now, one of the most powerful members, free to do just about anything. Allo is the leader, and I'm his wingman. That's how it works, and so long as I breathe, it will continue that way. I've done things I can't be proud of to get this position, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?" Fireclaw explained.
Cera, followed by the other three, snuck up behind Littlefoot, hoping to get to see what was going on. Littlefoot had no idea and nearly screamed out of surprise when Cera brushed up against him by accident. Fireclaw took notice right away.
"Hmm, you know, I don't mean to interrupt our conversation, but do you ever get the feeling that you're being-" Fireclaw stomped the ground, sending a shockwave out that made Grandpa Longneck stumble a bit, and sent Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike sprawling out of the bushes they were taking cover behind. Petrie landed on Cera's horn unscathed by the force.
"Next time, we sit somewhere where it's more sturdy." Cera grumbled.
"So, you were eavesdropping, I take it." Fireclaw said.
"No, not at all, we were, well, yea, kinda." Littlefoot replied out of shame.
"Littlefoot, you and your friends know that it's impolite to listen in on other's conversations, especially when they don't pretain to you. You can get yourself in a lot of trouble doing that, even if it isn't Grandma's or mine." Grandpa Longneck replied.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask you a question, though, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to ask it." Littlefoot said, turning towards Fireclaw.
"Well, you've made it this far, no sense in turning back now, is there?" Fireclaw replied.
"He have point, Littlefoot." Petrie said.
"That is true, he does, he does." Ducky added.
"Ok then, well, here it goes. How did you know who that sharptooth from earlier was?" Littlefoot asked, hoping Fireclaw wouldn't react badly to the question.
"You mean Xaero? As dissapointing as it is at this point to even say that I know him, well, I trained him. He was supposed to be an elite soldier, trained to do damn well anything without fear or second thought. That wasn't the case earlier. He was supposed to even represent a wing of the Dinosaucers at some point, but that didn't happen either." Fireclaw said.
"Who's the 'Dinosaucers'?" Cera asked, emphasizing the last word.
"Grandpa Longneck will tell you later. It's a long story, anyway, why were you wondering that Littlefoot? It really doesn't have anything to do with you." Fireclaw Replied.
"I was wondering because you beat him horribly, and your eyes had been glowing bright red the whole time, and you sounded, well, evil! I've never seen you do that before!" Littlefoot replied.
"There are some things in this world Littlefoot that you best just not even know in the first place. You'll be better off not worrying about it, rather than seek an answer, because trust me, what you find won't be what you'd ever expect, and you'll never look at me the same way again. Just leave the situation where it stands and stop worrying about it. That's really all I can say at this point." Fireclaw said.
"Littlefoot, it's late you know. I believe it's time to go back to the nest. It's past your bedtime as it is. The great circle's already left the sky." Grandpa Longneck said.
"Yea, you're right Grandpa. I just wanted to know what happened with Fireclaw and Xaero earlier. That's all." Littlefoot said.
As Littlefoot and his friends wandered back to their nests, Fireclaw turned to Grandpa Longneck to say one final thing.
"listen, I know you're not used to seeing me do what I managed to pull off earlier, but I can tell you that I do it with good intention. It definetely put the Sharpteeth in a bad position to continue that attack, thats why they left. If anything, I would never use it against anyone in the Great Valley, no matter how much they can piss me off. Especially threehorn, knowing him, he'd try too. All I'm saying is that I have it under control enough that you won't have to worry about anything." Fireclaw explained reassuringly.
"Fireclaw, I'm not worried about that, it's just that what you hold now has great power. With great power comes even greater enemies. Pterano tried to use the stone of coldfire many cold times ago, and failed. Who's to say that he won't try to do it again?" Grandpa Longneck said.
"That's the exact thing I worry about. He's close enough to me daily that he could make a grab for it, yet even if he had the sword in his posession, he'd never be able to use it. It binds to the one who activates it, and I was the one who forged it. He'd be lucky I didn't turn it against him while he was holding it, because in the wrong hands, I found out earlier that it triggers a subconsious state of aggression, one not known to any normal being. I'm guessing it's because the sword isn't with it's rightful owner that it begins to play on his emotions. I nearly killed Xaero by blowing his hands off when I tossed him the sword. Pterano is the last one I'd worry about. There's still someone else you don't know about, that may rear his ugly head at some point, which I hope is never." Fireclaw replied.
"It's getting late, maybe we should get some rest and deal with this in the morning." Grandpa Longneck said.
"Yea, this is starting to gnaw at my nerves anyway. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, and hopefully on better terms than tonight." Fireclaw replied.
After exchanging their goodnight's they parted ways. Somehow though, Fireclaw felt as though the sharptooth attack was actually part of something much, much worse. He knew it was too easy, and it's never a sign when the enemy turns and leaves so easily. After thinking about this, dealing with Xaero was the last thing on his mind.