Okay guys, as promised, here is another chapter with Chomper's parents. This is important if you keep up with their story because it explains a lot about Red Claw, and has a scene that takes places during the first movie.

Spoiler Alert: Dark chapter. For the most part. But it turns out okay. And you know what becomes of most of the characters after this chapter. Important, but dark. Just a warning.

Warning: Probably a wrap up of Saban and Risa's backstory except for maybe a retelling of the incident where Chomper's egg gets lost from their point of view. But I will probably skip it. We all know they were looking for Chomper when they come into the Valley in the second movie. They were obviously despaired to find their egg missing. However, if you would like to see this, let me know. This certainly won't be the last of Saban and Risa. They are still around a lot in the story.

Please excuse any grammar errors. I'm cutting it close to having a very busy week at school and I figured you would rather read through a few grammar errors than wait another two weeks for me to post. Please R&R, if you have a chance!

Chapter 28 Lake of Death

Saban

"You gotta go without us, Saban… We'll be okay…"

A low growl rumbled in Saban's chest as he twitched his tail from side to side, gradually losing his patience. His eyes had been trained on this water for half an hour, and not one single fish showed up. He looked out the corner of his eye. Risa was resting in the shade with her tail wrapped around her, like she always did when she slept. Chomper was curled up next to her head in the exact same way. It would be nice if they could be a normal sharptooth family, where he had food waiting for them when they woke up. And not fish, either.

Saban hissed when he spotted something silver swimming at the bottom of the creek and made a dive for it. He snarled when he missed it and stirred up the bottom of the creek by scraping with the claws of his feet. His muzzle was still soaking wet as he scanned the ground to see if he got it.

He smirked when he saw it flopping on the bank not too far away. All he had to do let it jump into his mouth now.

"Heh heh heh heh…" He got into position and opened his mouth. At the last minute, the fish changed direction and flopped right back into the water.

Saban roared and pounced in the creek with both feet, practically sending a tidal wave to the surrounding area. He turned around slowly when he felt eyes on him. Chomper was already shaking water droplets off his scales. Risa just laid there with her eyes half-open, looking miserable and drenched.

Saban knew to hold back his laughter for all it was worth. He approached Risa with caution and licked his mate's cheek apologetically. "Sorry."

"Really?" Risa rumbled sleepily. "You are?"

Saban thought about it. "Well, now that I think about it…"

Risa closed her eyes. "Go away," she sighed.

Saban snickered and felt Risa grin when he nuzzled her cheek. He turned his attention to Chomper, who was now wide awake. "Sorry, buddy. I was trying to get a fish. It got away from me."

Chomper smiled up at him, like he didn't mind literally having water dumped on him as a wake-up call. "That's okay, Daddy. I will fish with you. We will find another one."

Saban resumed his stance, staring at the water once more. Chomper did the same but, two minutes later, his son caught a fish between his jaws and offered it to him. Saban watched in amusement. This fishing thing was actually a skill. A learned skill. His son had it down.

He shook his head when Chomper offered it to him. "No, go ahead. It's yours."

Chomper pretty much swallowed the fish in one gulp and took his stance again. Saban did the same. "Son, you've been living on these?"

Chomper nodded. "Yeah, these and…bugs."

Saban continued to watch the bottom of the creek for silver. "Seems like a lot of trouble for no more food than it is."

"It just takes patience, but it works," Chomper answered optimistically.

Saban used his nose to nudge his son. "When did you get so much smarter than me, huh?"

Chomper grinned from ear to ear and nuzzled him back. "I'm not smarter than you, Daddy."

They went back to watching the waters. Saban's mind drifted as he, of course, ran out of patience waiting for his prey. He always preferred the hunt. A ripple that spread from one bank of the creek to the other caught his eye when he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't notice that Chomper was holding another fish by the tail with his teeth until the little sharptooth tried to say something.

"Dad?" His growls slurred as he tried to speak to his father in their language while still holding on to the fish. "I got one."

"Huh?" Saban knew he was giving his son a blank stare and shook his head. "Good. You can take it to your mother."

Saban glanced down again at his own reflection, split apart by the ripples in the water.

…

Saban and Ramon roamed the area around the deep, dark lake they had found in the middle of a complete wasteland. They had no luck, and the heat had gotten to them to the point where they were walking alongside each other rather than scanning the area. Somehow, they'd changed course and found themselves heading back to Risa and Aria empty-handed.

"You and Risa are gonna have to leave us," Ramon said solemnly without looking at him. "There's no more food. Lucky we found water. There's no telling how long it will be before Aria and I can leave this place."

"What would you do?" Saban replied.

"We'll get by." Ramon stopped to look at his long time best friend.

Saban stole a glance at Risa, who was helping Aria tend to the little egg she had laid in the midst of some rocks near the lake. It was the only reason they had stopped.

After their last encounter with Red Claw and his son, the four sharpteeth decided to leave the area in search of new territory of their own. They had yet to find a place with enough prey to make them stay, but the two couples were happy on the road. Saban and Risa fell in love more and more every day, even when they fought. Which, for them, was normal.

Sometime during their travels, a drought hit the land hard. Many herds were forced to leave their homes in search of green food. This affected the sharpteeth as well, who were forced to follow the leaf eating herds in order to stay fed themselves. It was hard to keep up. The plant eaters knew that, if they fell behind, they were sharptooth meat.

Between the four of them, they had no trouble picking off stragglers. Saban hoped the leaf eaters would settle somewhere soon, so they could stop moving so much. One day, they were in a desert. The next, in a swamp.

Aria couldn't hold out any longer and was forced to stop in the middle of this dried out piece of land to lay the egg she and Ramon had been expecting. Lucky for the four of them, there was a very deep lake not far from them. They were far enough away from it to avoid conflict with any other dinosaur that might come along to claim a drink, but near enough so that getting a drink was not an issue. Saban and Ramon took the opportunity to ambush any other dinosaur that wasn't bigger than them. The lake, however, was dark and dangerously deep. It was a solemn lake surrounded by dried up earth and jutting boulders. The four of them couldn't wait to leave as soon as the new baby was able to walk.

"We're not leaving you here. We stick together, right? Don't worry about me and Risa. We'll make it. They aren't many stragglers left to come this way, but you and I can move further out if you have to until the egg hatches. If that doesn't work, we'll figure it out."

Ramon managed a slight grin. "Thanks."

They returned to their mates. Ramon went straight to Aria and looked in on their egg. Risa came to Saban with a concerned look on her face. "Nothing?"

Saban pressed his sun-burned nose to her cheek. "Nothing."

He licked her cheek as a kiss and crouched down to rest. Risa crouched down beside him. "We've got to do something, Saban…"

"Ramon said we could go ahead. I told him to forget it. We thought about going further ou-" Saban stopped when they heard a loud plant-eater's scream somewhere among the rocks above the lake. It sounded like a kid. Risa stood up while Saban and Ramon took a few steps to see if they could see anything.

"Think we should go after that?" Saban rumbled to Ramon.

They heard a loud, distinct roar they recognized in response to the scream. Tamar, Red Claw's son, was on the hunt nearby.

Ramon and Saban watched with interest as Tamar leapt out of the shadows. The four sharpteeth across the lake were caught off guard at the prey her was chasing. Four kids: a longneck, a flyer, a swimmer, and a spiketail.

"I think Tamar's got it," Ramon stated.

"He looks mad," Aria replied.

"What's he doing all the way up there?" Risa asked.

"That's a dangerous spot, but if he thinks he's got it… Tamar's a good hunter. Wonder how long he's been chasing those kids…" Saban thought out loud.

"Do you think Red Claw's in the area?" Aria fretted.

They all stopped when they realized that, since Tamar was hunting in the area, this could very well be a possibility. Aria looked down at her egg. "What do we do?"

Ramon nuzzled her to calm her down. "Stay here, out of the way."

Risa checked to make sure Aria's egg wasn't visible. Saban continued watching Tamar hunt those kids. He didn't understand why Tamar didn't just give up the chase and come down from the rocks. Those kids were putting up quite a fight. Tamar was wading in the lake, scraping the bottom in search of the swimmer. The longneck and spiketail were trying to budge a huge boulder just above him. Tamar didn't notice it.

Saban had never seen anything like it. Plant eating kids fighting back. They were directly attempting to kill Tamar. "Ramon," Saban hissed. "look there."

He and Ramon watched as their former friend made an impressive leap out of the water and onto the boulder in an attempt to get at the kids, who still hadn't tipped the boulder.

"Why did he do that? He could fall!" Aria hissed.

"He must be desperate. He just might get them!" Ramon and Saban watched, sure their friend would make it over the boulder and take his pick among the kids. He had the hunt. Their hearts skipped a beat when a little threehorn suddenly charged out of nowhere and made an impact with the boulder at full speed.

With Tamar's weight and the position the longneck already had the boulder in, the force of that impact was just enough to send the boulder over the edge of the cliff. Tamar, who had the hunt not even a second before, fell to his death along with it. The boulder fell right on top of him, and Tamar sank to the bottom of the deep, dark lake right along with it. With no hope of escape or rescue. He was just…gone. The dark waters sent thick ripples across its own surface as it devoured Tamar. The once proud hunter was now the water's prey.

The kids, having lived to fight another day, rejoiced and left the scene. It looked like Tamar had managed to drag the flyer down, but let it go when he hit the water. The little flyer even managed to scale the rocks and reunite with his friends. The four sharpteeth gaped in disbelief. It was like, for one second, they all went deaf from what they saw. Tamar had suffered a terrible fate. No amount of brains or brawn could pull their former friend, and son of Red Claw, from the depths of the lake.

"No!" Saban and Ramon shrieked. The two friends waded into the lake and got as close as they dared to the part where the shallow end dropped off. The spot where Tamar fell finally stopped bubbling. Saban squinted and focused his eyes into the depths where, hauntingly enough, Tamar's body lay pinned to the bottom of the lake by the huge boulder. It would be his grave. There was no getting him out of there.

Ramon was always a little more reactive to these kinds of things than Saban was. He paced around and around, breathing heavily. Saban was still in shock from what happened to Tamar, and how they couldn't do anything about it. But, by instinct, his thoughts wandered to the future. They would never be able to drink out of this lake again. And if Red Claw was in the area…

He tore his eyes from the scene to look at his best friend. "We gotta go, Ramon. All of us. Even Aria's egg. We gotta go."

He and Ramon spun on their heels when they heard Risa's fighting growl from their nesting place.

"Risa!" When Saban turned around, he froze for half a second in horror. His instincts were too late. Red Claw himself had confronted Risa and Aria while they examined the scene.

"We don't know!" Risa snapped.

"I think you do," Red Claw rumbled. "I tracked him straight here. And I find you four."

He looked back and forth between Saban and Ramon. "Did you kill him?"

"What?" Saban scrunched up his nose. "No! Back off them, Red Claw."

Saban didn't even have to look at Ramon's expression to realize the horror of their situation. Regardless of what they said, Red Claw was going to blame someone today.

"How can you say that?" Aria gasped.

She asked gently, but Red Claw simply glowered at her. Before any of them knew what was happening, Red Claw used a low tail swipe and tripped her. He closed his jaws around Aria's neck, but didn't bite. "Tell me where he is then," he said calmly.

Ramon stormed up to him, but stopped when Aria's eyes widened from the increase in pressure around her neck. "Just one bite Ramon," Red Claw prompted.

"He's here!" Ramon blurted. Red Claw took his foot off Aria's back and stepped forward. Risa helped Aria up as Ramon further explained his statement to Red Claw.

"He's gone, Red Claw. We can't believe it either, but he's gone."

Red Claw said nothing, so Ramon used every opportunity he had to save them this fight. "He was hunting. Five leaf eating kids. They were on the rocks, got one close enough to the edge. And when he jumped on it, it fell on top of him. We tried to get him out, but he's pinned to the lake floor by that same boulder. It happened so fast and…he's here, but he's…"

"My son…was taken down….by children?" Red Claw hissed. His expression was still unreadable. "I don't believe you, Ramon. This has to be some joke you and Saban made up, trying to take his place as dominant after I am gone."

Raman sighed. "He's in the lake, Red Claw."

Red Claw's gaped a bit as he realized Raman was completely serious. The four sharpteeth stayed back while their former dominant waded through the shallow waters. Saban felt Risa push her nose into his shoulder from behind, but he was too afraid to take his eyes off the scene. Risa, very seldom shaken by anything, was shaking behind him. Ramon nudged Aria onto her feet and stood in front of her.

Red Claw found his son pinned to the depths of the lake. At first, he did nothing but pant and scrape the bottom of the lake with his feet. He didn't dare enter the deep end. Finally, a mourning roar escaped his throat. He wasn't crying, but he was on the verge on it.

"How could you let this happen?" he roared at Saban and Ramon. "He was your friend! You knew he didn't deserve this."

"We didn't," Saban said. "He was on the hunt, and he had it. Until he jumped onto that boulder. It happened so fast, we couldn't do anything. Do you think we wanted to stand here and watch this?"

"We know Tamar wasn't a bad guy," Ramon added. "We wanted to help him, Red Claw. We would never have done this."

"Then help me get him out!" Red Claw demanded.

Ramon and Saban exchanged glances. "We…can't do it, Red Claw," Saban stated.

Red Claw stared into the bottom of the lake, where the shadow of his son's body could, and forever might be, seen. For dominants like Red Claw and his son, it was a humiliating death. To any other sharptooth, it was a very unfortunate one. They all cringed when Red Claw let out a piercing roar that hurt their ears. They would have expected any sharptooth parent to do that, but it made them cringe because they all knew they couldn't even run from this.

But none of them could have expected what happened next. Red Claw, in a blind rage, leapt over to where the four of them where huddled within a second. All four of them just barely had time to scurry out of the way.

Red Claw didn't seem to really be going for anyone in particular at first. He landed right in the middle of Saban and Ramon. Saban hissed when the claws of Red Claw's foot gashed his shoulder. The force of the impact knocked him off balance. He accidentally knocked Risa and Aria aside as he stumbled back. Ramon was separated from them, but Saban heard him and Red Claw both hiss in agony along with him.

Saban didn't exactly see what happened. He felt Risa push her nose into his cheek as she tried to get him up and moving. When he opened his eyes, the first one he saw was Ramon trying to push himself off the ground. He seemed alright, except that he bled excessively- from the jaw. Apparently, he'd been hit there. Just when Saban glanced up at Risa, they heard Aria's cry behind them.

"No! Noooo….." Saban scrambled to his feet when he heard her immediately begin to cry in the sharptooth way. His jaw dropped when he realized what had happened.

While trying to regain his balance after landing on them, Red Claw's right foot landed exactly where Aria had hidden her egg. Saban felt Risa tremble behind him when she realized when he had done. Red Claw lifted his foot in confusion when he felt something sticky on it, then lowered it back down because, even though it was an accident that he smashed Aria's egg, he wasn't really that sorry given the circumstances.

Aria just cried even harder, a gulping sound Saban never could stand to hear from fellow sharpteeth. Risa tried to stop her from running forward, but Saban had to step in and help Risa when she had trouble keeping Aria back. Aria eventually gave up and slumped to the ground. Risa crouched with her. Saban turned away from them to see where Red Claw and Ramon where, but didn't leave them.

Saban knew before it happened that Ramon was going to fight. If it was Risa's egg, he would have done the same thing. But, with him helping Risa with Aria, he didn't have enough time to save Ramon. Ramon leapt at Red Claw, who was unhurt and more prepared, in a blind rage. And he never knew a fight could go so wrong so fast.

Ramon roared fiercely and slashed at Red Claw's belly with his foot, which made Red Claw back up enough for Ramon to give him a powerful tail whip that made Saban think that he might actually have it. But Ramon, still devastated by the loss of their unborn child, doubled over and panted. This gave Red Claw, who had been through much worse fights, enough time to turn the fight around. The older sharptooth bit into Ramon's shoulder and stomped into Ramon's right hip with full force. Ramon screeched in agony as the joint of his upper leg cracked. Red Claw let him crumple to the ground with no support, but had no intention of letting him off so easy. He bit into the same leg again before Ramon could recover.

Saban rushed forward and turned a full half-turn, striking Red Claw against the rock wall with a powerful tail swipe. "GET OFF OF HIM!" he roared.

He stood over Ramon, who wasn't responsive. Red Claw shook his head and roared at Saban in anger, opening his jaws as wide as possible to show all his teeth. He rolled back against the rock wall and used the force to swing his weight forward and head butt Saban in the chest. Saban fell backwards, gasping for breath as he attempted to recover. Red Claw was about to chew his shoulder again when Risa came up from behind and bit into his instead. Red Claw roared as her teeth broke his skin. She backed away quickly before he could retaliate. "Get away from my mate, Red Claw!"

Saban struggled as Red Claw advanced on her. But, before anyone could do anything, Aria rushed at Red Claw and head butted him in the side with enough force to knock him down. Aria was so gentle, it took them all by surprise. They all stared, including Red Claw and Ramon, who was trying to get up nearby.

Aria stood above Red Claw. "Don't touch her!" she said with such force that it might have hurt anyone's feelings. "Haven't you done enough?"

Red Claw panted, slowly coming back to the right frame of mind. "I could say the same-"

"No, you can't! Don't sit there and say that!" she screeched at him. "Ramon, Saban, and my baby didn't do anything to Tamar! He jumped on that rock! He made that choice. If you don't believe us, go to that cave and track him. You can pick up the kids' scent there. Then you can track them until the world ends, for all anyone cares."

Red Claw sighed, seemingly having gotten a new idea from Aria. Eager to investigate the truth behind the death of Tamar on his own, he turned to face them. "We're not done here. If I don't catch a whiff of those kids, I'm coming back. And I'll finish the rest of you."

They waited until he was out of sight. He never lingered behind to grieve for Tamar. Not in front of them, at least. Ramon gasped in pain, coughing out blood from his jaw and grunting as he tried in vain to get up with his ruined leg. Aria went to him and gently nuzzled him. "Ramon…"

Saban wanted to go to his best friend, but he and Aria seemed to be grieving their loss. She lay beside him and wept with him. Saban went to Risa. Aria and Ramon had a lot to get through. Risa was still huddled against the rock wall. She looked up when she heard him coming.

They spoke at the same time as he touched his nose to hers.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

They both sighed. Risa looked down at Saban's shoulder. "It's bleeding a lot. Did he bite deep?"

"Not too bad." Saban tried moving his shoulder. He hadn't had time to notice the damage until now. Risa smelled of the wounds and gently licked the blood away from the bite marks to make sure. Saban didn't like anyone fussing over minor injuries, but it did feel much better when it was cleaned. He noticed that Aria was trying to do the same for Ramon. Except she had more to do, and fresh blood seemed to mask what she had already cleaned.

Saban lay next to Risa, more tired than he had ever been before, but couldn't sleep. He and Risa watched over Ramon and Aria. "Should we help them?" Risa finally asked. Her voice shook when she spoke next, meaning she was seriously afraid for them. "He's hurt really bad, Saban."

Saban sighed and rested his head in top of hers. "Not right now. They need some time. We can try to bury that egg, though. Go tell her."

Risa approached Aria while Saban found the sabotaged pieces of Aria's egg. The yolk soaked into the ground while the shells were all over the place. Saban sighed and turned away from it, not wanting to touch it until Aria and Ramon said they could. He watched as Aria nodded to Risa and said something else, to which Risa hesitated. She seemed to listen to Ramon, who Saban couldn't tell if he was saying anything or not. Then Risa nodded and walked away.

"They said thank you," she said.

Saban waited for the rest. When Risa didn't volunteer it, he scuffed his foot, starting to stir up the dirt. "And?"

"And what?" Risa avoided eye contact with him, using her tail to cover the yolk that hadn't already sunk into the ground with dirt. Saban did his best to pack dirt over all the shell pieces with his feet, deciding not to ask anything else about it. He and Risa were tired. And he hated this. They did the best they could with Aria's egg, at least enough to get it out of her sight, and picked a spot against the rock wall to rest where Aria and Ramon could have space, but so they weren't too far away.

Saban laid next to Risa and rested his head on top of hers. The night before, he took it for granted they could rest like this. Now, he was grateful to still be able to rest with her the same way, unharmed and ready to keep her safe. He saw sadness in her eyes every time he looked at her. They couldn't sleep, so they talked, and worried.

"Poor Aria. She doesn't know what else to do for him, Saban. He can't get up," Risa said.

Saban felt sick. He had a feeling that Ramon probably wouldn't get up for a long time, and might not ever be the same hunter again. "Me either," he answered shortly.

"Are you worried Red Claw will come back?" she asked.

"He won't come back," Saban assured her. He nudged her cheek with his nose in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Why are you so scared, all of a sudden? He's never scared you before."

"I'm not afraid," she answered coolly, curling her tail around her.

Something told him she was serious. "Cautious?" he tried.

"Yes…" she replied uncertainly.

"Wow. Where'd my mate go? You must be someone else."

"It's not for me," she replied.

He gave her a blank stare, not in any shape to add up complicated conversations. "I'm not getting it," he stated.

Risa sighed, narrowing her eyes in exasperation. "Saban…"

For the thousandth time, he attempted to figure out his mate. "So it finally dawned on you that you need to be cautious. But now you don't think it's for your own-"

She ran out of patience. "Oh, Saban!" She nervously found the words. "I think… We're expecting an egg. Soon."

For a moment, Saban lost his ability to react. Risa studied him closely as she waited for him to respond. "Saban, please say something."

Saban shook his head to make sure he had processed this right. "What? You're serious? Are you sure?"

When she nodded, he felt a sudden urge of panic rising in his chest. "How soon?"

Risa seemed a little shaky answering this question, but she was still honest. "Maybe…any day now… By now."

"Any day?!" Saban growled, rolling onto his feet. "Why didn't you tell me, Risa?"

"Shhh," she rumbled at him.

"Shhh? What do you mean 'shh?!' There's already been enough of that, hasn't it, Risa? What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know…"

"You don't know. What? Are you retaining it right now?" Saban huffed and paced around. "How stupid am I? How can I not notice?"

Risa was upset with him now. "Does it look like I'm retaining, Saban? Do I look sick?! We still have some time, and we're not hurt. Be thankful for that."

"But you could have been," he said, thinking of all the things that Red Claw could have done to Risa.

"It doesn't matter what could have happened," Risa stated. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Saban. We've been on the run for weeks, and…then I wasn't for sure. And then when I was, you and Ramon were already worried about food. I didn't want you to worry."

Saban shook his head, giving up on being upset with Risa. He was exhausted, and it wasn't getting them anywhere. He lay down next to her, staring at the ground. "Well, now I'm worried."

"Sorry…" Risa said apologetically, actually attempting to be sweet.

He couldn't stand her actually feeling guilty. A grin played at the corners of his mouth. "Well, it's not all your fault. We both did it…"

Risa actually chortled a little as she gave him a look. "I was talking about not telling you sooner, Saban."

"Oh… Well, that is all your fault," he stated.

Risa used the end of her tail to struck his thigh with it. Saban growled in complaint. Then rested his head on hers and nuzzled her. Suddenly, anger at Red Claw started to set in. "I should just kill Red Claw now," he said calmly.

Risa, who was nearly asleep, raised her head. "No. Now's not the time for your anger, Saban. We have to help Ramon and Aria, then we have to figure out what to do."

Saban didn't say anything because he really didn't see that many options. Ramon couldn't move. He bent his head and smelled of her abdomen, then nudged it gently with his nose. Risa laughed a little as if she thought he was an adorable kid. "You won't be able to feel anything. I'm a sharptooth, Saban," she cackled.

He ignored her teasing. "It's not that. How are you feeling?" When she didn't answer right away, he knew the answer wasn't great. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

"We've been hungry," Risa answered, lying her head down next to his. Saban let her drift into sleep as he lay awake, trying to think one of the hardest days of his life through.

Ramon was even worse the next day. He and Aria had gotten over the shock of their loss, but the wounds of his jaw and shoulder had grown stiff. And his right upper leg was broken to the point that they couldn't even tell where the damage was. There was swelling. And he was in pain. Lots of it. But, despite everything, Ramon was still a fighter.

Aria stood up when she saw Saban and Risa approaching.

"Ramon's awake," she told him. "He wants to talk to you."

Saban left Aria with Risa. The two female sharpteeth immediately started to talk on their own while he ducked under the shade to get a good look at his broken friend, who was just as strong as him yesterday. He crouched down and smelled the wounds to make sure they were still clean. Aria took good care of him.

"Hey," Saban said quietly. "Ramon, you awake?"

"Yeah." His friend opened his eyes and looked at him. They were silent a moment. "She told you, didn't she?" he asked.

Saban tried to laugh about it. "Yeah. I told her she's got good timing. So you knew?"

"Yeah, but only a few days before you. Ran up on her and Aria talking about it one day. I told her last night…that if she didn't tell you…I would," he said.

Saban chuckled. "Thanks."

Ramon's jaw was so swollen he could barely force out the rumbles and noises they needed to speak in their language. He moved his tail slightly. "So what are you going to do now?"

Saban was taken aback by this. He still didn't know. "Help you and Aria. We're still with you, Ramon."

"I know that's what we all want, but you can't," Ramon seemed to have a hard time saying this. A trace of sadness could be heard in his forced roars as he told Saban the terrible truth of the matter. "I'm a broken hunter, Saban. I might not ever…stand…again."

"You will one day, Ramon. You're a fighter-"

Ramon continued. "Aria and I will miss you and Risa every day. But we will also miss the child we never got to know every day. We…we want you and Risa…to find a good place to hatch her egg while you still can. I should have let Aria stop in the swampy areas. Where there was some food. Some hope. You gotta think about Risa and your kid now… Without me, you can still catch those herds…"

"What about you and Aria? What will you do?" Saban asked, feeling sick all over again.

"I tried to get Aria to go with you and Risa. But she refuses. And I can't make her. We will stay here, and move on when we can. We'll be okay, Saban. I promise. Once I can move on, maybe Aria and I will see you and Risa again someday."

Saban was silent for a long time. "I can't just leave you out here to die. You're all I had for a long time. You and Tamar and Red Claw. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here. You-"

"I'm okay," Ramon said quietly.

He and Saban were quiet for the next few moments. They just sat there. When light finally diminished their shade, Saban knew it was time to go. He looked back at Ramon one more time as he left. His best friend gave him a nod, and then Saban turned away.

He found Risa with Aria, looking for the right words to explain to Risa the reason for their leaving. It turns out he didn't have to say anything. When she turned to look at him, he saw her cry for the first time. Aria was, too. Saban knew he and Ramon had made the right decision when he saw that Aria and Risa both knew deep down what needed to be done as well.

Risa wordlessly went to say goodbye to Ramon, having said everything there was to say to Aria. Saban took a step toward Aria. "Take care of him."

"And you take care of her," Aria replied with a mutual smile.

When Risa returned, she and Saban left with little delay. The terrible thing was that the land was desolate and bare. They could look back and see Ramon and Aria watching them go from a distance for a long time after they left. Once they looked back and didn't see them anymore, both sharpteeth fought the urge to go back. He and Risa didn't talk much that day. They couldn't. What had to be done was the worst thing either of them ever had to do.

They knew what had to be done from here. They had to chase down the herds. For a while, they were without food and only a little water as they came across it. Then they finally caught up to the stragglers. Saban felt better than he had in a long time when he dragged an old straggler he wouldn't have been caught dead hunting several months ago back to Risa, who was weak from hunger.

For a while, that was how they got by. Chasing down stragglers. It didn't take long until Risa got a lot slower on the hunt. He and Risa never really did catch up to the herds. They ran across new lands with plenty of food first. They stopped chasing the herds because, for now, food and shelter was their priority. Not territory.

Saban became eager to get Risa to an area that he had heard was covered with trees and grass. But first, he had to get Risa through a rocky land with several sinking sand spots, skeletal remains of dinosaurs that had died there, and rocky slopes where rock slides tended to happen. It was a desert land like they were in before, but there was water. And not much food. The place was dangerous, but so was Risa's condition.

Saban knew they wouldn't make it when he saw how difficult it was for Risa to climb even the slightest of slopes. When they were halfway through, she panted and doubled over. Saban was well ahead of her, ready to take the steepest climb yet. He called to her when he realized she wasn't behind him.

"Risa?"

"I can't….go….any further….." she panted.

Saban scanned the area. They were right in the middle of an area where rock slides could easily occur. He looked for any sign of somewhere, anywhere, safer than here. There was no safe place in this place. Saban hesitated to let her rest. The place he was looking for was only an hour's journey away.

"Are- Are you sure?" he tried.

"Saban!" Risa snapped. "Oh, help me lay down."

Saban scanned the area again, then rushed to help Risa. It wasn't long before he found himself nuzzling Risa and staring nervously at one tiny little egg with blue speckles. He noticed that it's bright white color stood out among the grey stone and began looking for egg stealers.

Risa chuckled and pressed her nose into his cheek, still recovering. "Calm down, Saban. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Saban glanced at it. He never understood what female sharpteeth were always thinking was so beautiful about an egg.

"Yeah… Think we can pick it up and carry it the rest of the way?" he asked hopefully.

"No," she answered in a tone that told him that was that.

Saban looked at their egg again, starting to feel somewhat hopeful despite the circumstances. "Well, we can make it work."

Risa gave the egg a gentle nudge and looked into his eyes. He knew then, after all this time, they finally had their strength back.

"We will," she said.

…

Later that night, Saban explored what little territory they were allowed to have in the Valley. It wasn't much, but it could be worse. When he came back, he found Chomper curled up next to Risa. The two of them were sound asleep.

Not wanting to wake Chomper, he quietly crouched down next to Risa and rested his head on top of hers. When she stirred a little, he knew she was awake.

"I liked the hunts," he said quietly and simply.

Risa nuzzled him to tell him he didn't need to explain the reasoning for his behavior. "I know," she said. They both looked at Chomper.

"But I want to be with him," Saban said.

"You can still hunt. Outside the walls," Risa offered.

"Well, for when we're here, maybe I'll finally learn to fish."