Chapter 3: Cave Depression

Ruby led Littlefoot through the clearing and to a small forest that nobody else was heading to for it led to a desolate part of the valley that bordered the Mysterious Beyond. "How come you weren't at the gathering before, Ruby?" Littlefoot asked curiously. "Ali and her herd have come back."

"I saw, and I wish I could've been there," Ruby told Littlefoot sadly. "But I've been preoccupied with something else. Littlefoot, I… I've got to show you something… it's at the edge of the Great Valley, and it would be best if no one else sees where we're going." Ruby told Littlefoot quietly.

"Right," Littlefoot replied quietly. Careful not to make a sound, the two of them continued to walk, passing by several rivers and forests as they approached the edge of the Great Valley. Littlefoot couldn't help but notice that Ruby was holding her head low and was walking a bit slower than usual.

"Are you all right, Ruby?" Littlefoot asked her gently.

"Not really…you'll understand when we get where we're going," Ruby sighed sadly. Then she continued, "At least if we don't get stopped by those two longnecks. They sure seem to be interested in you, Littlefoot."

"Yeah, they're a couple of characters," Littlefoot told Ruby, and the two of them gently laughed to each other.

"Do you like them?" Ruby asked.

"They're okay, I guess," Littlefoot answered. "Though you're right, they do pay a lot of attention to me...maybe a bit too much attention. I mean, we only just met and they can't stop staring at me!"

"Oh Littlefoot, they're flirting with you," Ruby told Littlefoot consolingly, smiling understandingly.

"Flirting?" Littlefoot asked Ruby bewilderedly as they passed through a patch of trees. "But they don't even know me!"

"They probably just think you're really handsome. Don't worry about it too much though, they'll calm down with time." Then abruptly, Ruby stopped walking. Littlefoot looked up and saw that he and Ruby were standing in front of a tall cave. Littlefoot wasn't very familiar with this cave, since he didn't go to this corner of the Great Valley very often and the cave's entrance was well-camouflaged with the surrounding rocks. Ruby looked at the ground sadly and muttered, "Well, here we are…". She then looked on either side of her to check to see if the coast was clear.

"Tell me if you hear anyone nearby," Ruby whispered. The two of them listened, but they could only hear the sound of eating in the distance and the only dinosaur they saw was the distant form of a longneck eating treestars. Littlefoot, understanding Ruby's determination to keep their talk private, bent down so Ruby could mutter softly to him.

"You didn't see anyone nearby, did you?" Ruby asked.

"No," Littlefoot answered.

Ruby nodded in understanding. Then she walked up to Littlefoot's ear and began to whisper to him. "It's about Chomper," she explained.

"So you know where he is?" Littlefoot asked, his eyes flickering eagerly. "I've been missing him… I haven't seen him in ages! How's he doing?"

"Well…" Ruby looked at Littlefoot seriously, and to Littlefoot's alarm, a tear fell down her cheek.

"Are you okay Ruby?" Littlefoot asked concernedly.

Ruby nodded, gulped, and then she sighed, "Littlefoot… Chomper is growing up."

"Yeah, I guess he is," Littlefoot told Ruby puzzledly. But then another thought came into his head that caused a chill to roll down his spine. He frowned and asked, "Ruby, do you mean…."

Ruby nodded hurriedly. "He's been having a really hard time finding food recently. Stinging buzzers aren't keeping him full anymore," she explained. "The only way for him to keep himself full now is to eat bigger sources of red food...and that probably would have to mean…" Ruby gulped.

Littlefoot gasped and shook his head. "Ruby…. Chomper would never eat anyone in the Great Valley…we raised him here, and we are like his family! I trust him completely, and he would never attack one of us!"

"Well…" Ruby told Littlefoot sadly. "You should go in and talk to him. I'll be with you too if that's okay, and since it's kinda dark in there, I'll use my shiny stone to help show you the way."

Littlefoot whispered, "OK", and Ruby picked up a shiny stone that sat on the grass right outside of the cave. "Come on, follow me in. Be careful not to bump into the walls. This cave could easily cave in, and it's a tight fit for a longneck," she warned as she held up her shiny stone. Littlefoot nodded, and without another word, he followed Ruby into the cave. The cave was just as dark and narrow as Ruby said it was, with long, curving tunnel-like paths. Ruby, holding the shiny stone in front of her, provided just enough light for her and Littlefoot to see where they were going. The two of them walked through the cave nervously, for the cave was eerily quiet.

"We're here…" Ruby muttered softly, and a talk-back of her voice repeated quietly. Littlefoot's eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, but he could barely make out that he was in a large, open chamber, with many boulders scattered on the ground and stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"Where's Chomper?" Littlefoot asked Ruby quietly. Ruby moved her shiny stone so it shone toward the ground, and Littlefoot saw that a long dark tail was lying nearby them. Ruby led Littlefoot along an edge of the cave, following the path of the tail, and then they saw a medium-sized sharptooth's body lying on the ground before arriving at the corner of the room. Two tall boulders were situated along the wall that they just walked to, and Littlefoot could barely make out that the head of the sharptooth was between the two boulders.

Littlefoot bent down close to the boulders, and asked uncertainly, "Chomper?"

Then Littlefoot heard a couple of sobs. "Littlefoot…is that you?"

"Yeah Chomper, it's me," Littlefoot answered, and upon hearing Chomper's voice, he immediately became concerned. Normally, Chomper was a very happy-go-lucky dinosaur who was always eager to play and go on adventures with Littlefoot and his friends. Littlefoot had never seen Chomper in such a depressed mood, and seeing him like this made Littlefoot very worried. Trying to conceal his worries, Littlefoot asked, "Why have you been hiding out in this cave all the time? My friends and I really miss you and we want to see you again."

"You guys won't want to see me now," Chomper answered, crying with every word he spoke. "And I can't see you again, either."

"Why not?" Littlefoot asked sadly.

"Littlefoot, I… don't you realize? I'm a sharptooth! I used to be fine when seeing you guys. I was able to eat ground crawlers and stinging buzzers back then, and so it was easy to find enough red food. But… those stinging buzzers and ground crawlers aren't filling me up anymore. I've tried, Littlefoot, I've tried really hard to find all the stinging buzzers and ground crawlers that I can. I've eaten hundreds…even thousands on a single day. But even on my good days, my tummy still rumbles in the lone hours of the night. Sometimes, my sniffer wakes me up from my sleep stories because it smells the red food that's everywhere around me. I couldn't stand it, knowing that if I satisfied my cravings, someone would get hurt. You see Littlefoot, I'm a sharptooth… and I know that the only way for me to live is to eat…..eat bigger red food…eat leaf eaters…"

Littlefoot gasped in horror, his eyes wide with alarm. He glanced at Ruby, who nodded to Littlefoot sadly, before his eyes returned to look at Chomper again. "But Chomper, there must be another way!" Littlefoot gasped.

"Yeah, there is…" Chomper told Littlefoot, with a determined tone to his voice. "I don't want to eat anyone here and become a monster… I can't stand being a sharptooth, after I've gotten to know everyone. Everyone's been so kind to me…I would feel terrible for the rest of my life if I end up eating someone here for dinner. What if I become a danger to you? What if I eat Ducky… or Cera…or Petrie… or Spike?"

"Don't worry Chomper, you can control your instincts, I'm sure of it! Your parents were able to control theirs when we were with them," Littlefoot told Chomper consolingly.

"But my parents had other red food to eat. With me, it's different. I've been hungry all the time and I'm afraid I won't be able to resist my hunger for much longer. So I've decided... that I…I won't eat anything at all," Chomper declared.

Littlefoot gasped in horror. "Chomper! You can't mean that! You'll starve!"

"It's the only way," Chomper told Littlefoot stubbornly. Then he sighed, "Leave me Littlefoot. I can't be with you guys anymore without putting you at risk. The only way I can make you happy now is just to lie here and wait for my time to end."

"But we won't be happy without you," Littlefoot cried, and tears began to fall from his eyes. "Chomper…you're one of us! We'll miss you for the rest of our lives!"

"Littlefoot, just forget about me!" Chomper told Littlefoot firmly, and for the first time, Littlefoot heard the glimmer of the sharptooth in Chomper's voice. "You'll all be happier this way. Just leave and forget about me, all right?"

Littlefoot was about to argue again, but then Ruby whispered, "He's not feeling good…I think we should let him rest for a while and try again later."

Littlefoot nodded slowly, and bending down closely to Chomper's ear, he gently whispered to Chomper, "No matter what you are Chomper, you'll always be a part of our hearts."

Chomper didn't seem to hear Littlefoot since he was sniffling and crying loudly. And with their hearts filled with sorrow, Littlefoot and Ruby left the cavern. They silently walked through the cave's tunnels, with Chomper's words ringing in their ears. Littlefoot was so preoccupied with everything that Chomper had said that Ruby had to warn him a few times that he was about to crash into a cave wall, but to Littlefoot, crashing into a cave wall was the last of his worries. When Littlefoot and Ruby got to the end of the tunnel, Ruby put the shiny stone in the grassy spot where she got it from and she and Littlefoot sadly stood in front of the cave.

"Poor Chomper…" Littlefoot tearfully sobbed. "He didn't do anything to deserve this!"

"Yeah," Ruby told Littlefoot sadly. "He's been like this for a while now. I'm seriously concerned that he might really starve himself."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help him?" Littlefoot asked Ruby as the two of them began to wander back toward the center of the Great Valley, though they were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't pay attention to where they were going.

"I thought about that too," Ruby answered. "But since he won't eat, I can't come up with anything."

Littlefoot sighed sadly. "It's too bad he can't eat green food and red food like you can Ruby…"

"I know," Ruby sighed. "Well…"

But as Ruby took another step, she and Littlefoot heard a loud shout from the ground. Ruby gasped, "I stepped on something, a something that I stepped on!"

"Get off Petrie!" a familiar voice gasped desperately.