Requiem of the Lone Dinosaur
The longnecks gazed up in horror at the black figure against the moon. Two of them, two sharpteeth. Many of the young longnecks quivered in fear, running to hide behind their parent's legs. "He came back for us!" One of them screamed. "He came back to kill us!"
"Nobody panic." The leader said. "Everyone, we move together down into the canyon along our migration path. The sharpteeth will be hard pressed to follow us."
"It won't matter! They'll still come after us!" Another shouted.
"DOC!" A loud powerful voice shouted from the top of the rock outcrop. Sharptooth's voice.
Doc and Littlefoot looked at each other. "I figured it was only a matter of time." Doc said. "He's finally caught up to us."
Littlefoot look back to the outcrop above them. "But how? How did he find us? How did he know we were here?"
"It was me." Ali spoke in a whisper. Doc and Littlefoot looked back to her. Ali held her head down in shame. "Chomper saw and recognized me. He must've told Sharptooth about me, and followed in hopes of finding you again."
Doc turned away from her. "It doesn't matter how. Just that they have."
The leader motioned his head over to the canyon entrance. "Come along, everyone. Two by two into the canyon as usual." Slowly at first, the longneck herd began to move down into the ravine.
Doc scanned across the gathered longnecks. Fear, desperation, terror. The herd was moving too slow, they would never get across the canyon in time. Doc knew what had to be done. He turned to Littlefoot. "I want you to go with them."
"What do you mean?"
"I want you to follow the herd at the rear, protect them. Incase anything should happen." Doc said.
"Doc, I don't like where this is going." Littlefoot said.
Doc looked along the edge of the canyon. "The herd doesn't walk around the canyon because the ledge is too unstable. I will draw Sharptooth over there and possibly buy enough time for the herd to escape."
Littlefoot stepped over and looked Doc straight in the eye. "Doc, don't you dare do what I think you're doing. Don't sacrifice yourself like this."
Doc looked back over his shoulder. "I'm not." He lied. "I'm just going to draw them off." He looked over at Ali, and then back to Littlefoot. "Don't worry, I'll meet you again at the Rock that looks like a Longneck. Understand?"
The two longneck's stood eye to eye with each other, neither moving. Finally, Littlefoot relented. "Alright." He turned and followed behind the herd, Ali right next to him.
/
Sharptooth and Chomper approached the mouth of the ravine. Gazing into the darkness, Sharptooth saw the feint outlines of the longnecks. Low rumbles escaped from his throat. Now was the time, it had come. Just as he started to move in after them, a noise caught his attention.
"SHARPTOOTH!" Up on the ledge of the ravine, Doc stood against the starry night sky. "You want me, Sharptooth!? Here I am!"
Sharptooth curled back his lips as he snarled. Ahead of him in the canyon was his prey, the runt longneck who'd blinded his right eye and almost killed him. But up on the cliff side stood his old rival and the longneck he'd hated most. He found himself at an impasse.
The great predator turned to face his younger apprentice. "You follow the herd. My business is with Doc tonight." The younger dinosaur nodded, and Sharptooth set off up the gradual slope to the canyon edge.
/
Littlefoot watched as Sharptooth walked away, leaving only one carnivore behind the herd. He didn't what to admit it, but in his heart Littlefoot knew that the other sharptooth was Chomper.
As Sharptooth walked away, Chomper entered the canyon after the herd. Littlefoot nudged Ali. "Keep moving." He said. They quickened their pace as much as possible, but even so, Chomper was steadily gaining on them.
But why? Why was Chomper doing this? Why did Chomper join Sharptooth? It didn't make any sense. Even with his friend baring down on him, Littlefoot found it hard to understand it at all.
/
Doc and Sharptooth faced each other. The two ancient titans waiting with anticipation for the other to make the first move. A low rumble echoed in Sharptooth's throat. Finally, it was Doc who broke the silence. "It's been a long time coming, hasn't it?"
"Yes," Sharptooth growled. "It has." Without another moment, the great predator charged, teeth bared, saliva dripping from his fangs. Doc swung his massive tail, striking the carnivore across the face and sending him crashing to the earth. Sharptooth kicked in the air as he righted himself. A growl rumbled from deep in his throat. He roared and snapped his jaws at Doc again.
Doc reared back on his hind legs, Sharptooth's teeth clashing inches away from his neck. He brought his legs, both thick as tree trunks, down on Sharptooth. The carnivore stepped back, out of range of Doc powerful legs. Doc used his momentum and whipped his neck around, slamming his head against Sharptooth, knocking the predator back again.
Rocks tumbled down the canyon walls, tapping against Littlefoot's head. Looking up, he saw the two of them. Doc and Sharptooth lunging and snapping at each other. The Cliffside was beginning to crack under the stress of their fight. It wouldn't hold much longer.
Sharptooth was dazed, but only momentarily. Shaking his head, he regained his senses and snapped at Doc again. His jaws slammed with a bone-crunching snap. Doc twisted his mighty body to the side and swung his tail again. As his tail collided with Sharptooth, the predator wrapped his mouth around it. His sharp, serrated teeth ripped through Doc's flesh.
Doc growled in pain. He yanked and pulled on his tail, but Sharptooth held firm. With a glint of hatred in his eye, Sharptooth jerked his head from side to side. His teeth tore into Doc's tail, blood sprayed across his face. Doc raised up on his hind legs and crashed back to the ground. Cracks formed in the rock from the impact. Again and again, Doc slammed his feet into the ground and the cracks grew wider each time.
/
Littlefoot stopped. After a brief moments hesitation, he turned around. When Ali noticed he was not with her anymore, she glanced back to see him waiting. "Littlefoot!" She shouted. "What are you doing?"
"I have to know why." Was his reply before walking back down the canyon to face Chomper. Ali looked down the revine to her herd, then back to Littlefoot and again back to the herd. What should she do? Follow them to safety or support her friend? She did not want to leave him, but could she also abandon her family? With a sigh of annoyance and desperation, she headed after the herd.
Littlefoot and Chomper faced each other. The tension thick and silence ringed. So long had passed since they last saw the other. Chomper didn't know what to think. This was his friend, the one who saved his life and who he in turn saved as well. Now they found themselves on opposite sides.
Finally, Littlefoot broke the silence. "Why? Why did you do this? Why are you traveling with Sharptooth?"
Chomper scratched at the ground briefly, before answering. "Because you left us. Cera, Spike, Ducky, Petrie, your grandfather. You ran off and left us. I followed you so that I could bring you back."
"So you decided to join with Sharptooth? He's a monster! He killed my mother, Chomper! He's trying to kill me! And Doc told me how he killed Selena, their friend over a hundred years ago. Why would you go with him?"
Chomper met the gaze of his friend. "There was no one else." Littlefoot scoffed and Chomper continued. "And don't think that Doc is any better. Yes, Sharptooth told me about Selena and how in blind hunger his instincts drove him to kill,"
"Ha, blind instinct." Littlefoot laughed.
"But he also told me about Razorclaw. His mate from a hundred years ago. And how she was murdered by Doc. She and their nest. Doc had no excuse to kill her except for revenge. Sharptooth was driven by hunger and instinct, Doc was driven by vengeance. Who is the bigger monster?"
"As if I would trust anything said by Sharptooth. And even if it is true, would that excuse the century of killing Sharptooth has done since then? I don't buy it." Littlefoot retorted.
Chomper shook his head. "It is clear words are useless now. I don't want to do this. You are my friend, my Gralnuk. But I'll do what I must."
"If that's they way it has to be." Littlefoot took one step forward as a rock crashed to the ground between him and Chomper. Looking skyward, they both saw the canyon side beginning to give way.
/
With one final stomp, the ground gave way beneath Doc's feet. Rocks crumbled and fell, cascading down into the ravine below. Doc began to slide with the rocks as they gave under his weight. Sharptooth saw what was happening. This was all Doc's plan. He'd wanted to lure Sharptooth up here and kill them both! He wasn't having any other that. Releasing his hold on Doc's tail, Sharptooth turned to run.
But even as he did, Doc slipped his badly injured tail around Sharptooth's leg, causing the carnivore to trip and crash to the ground. "Not this time, old friend!" Doc sneered. "Today, we bring this to an end!"
"Maybe for you, but I have too much left to do. This will not be my grave!" He sank his teeth back into the same spot in Doc tail and yanked, tearing away a huge chunk of flesh. The end of his tail broke away, and Doc watched in horror as he fell, leaving his old friend and nemesis on the cliff side.
The rocks tumbled down the canyon, crashing together between Chomper and Littlefoot, blocking them off from the other side. Following the rocks, Doc came smashing to the ground. His old bones snapped and cracked under his own weight as he rolled from the top of the stone barrier to the soft dirt below.
Littlefoot watched in horror at the sight of his mentor, broken and bloody before him. He ran to the old longneck's side. "Doc! Doc! Can you hear me!? Please!"
The old longneck's eyes fluttered and opened. His body was wracked with immeasurable pain. He was already feeling cold, knowing his life was slipping away. He caught sight of Littlefoot, his young student. The one companion he'd had the longest since Sharptooth himself. To himself, Doc could only think of Littlefoot as the closest he'd ever come to having a son.
But as Littlefoot watched his mentor die, the one longneck who'd taught him everything he knew about fighting, he could only ask one question. "Doc, is it true you killed Sharptooth's mate and nest?"
What a bizarre question, Doc thought. How was he to know that? But then he remembered. Just after defeating Sharptooth in the Great Valley and having the fresh scar over his eye, Doc had been attacked by another sharptooth. This one a female. Half blinded by the blood in his eye, Doc struck her along the side of the head and smashed her against a jutting rock, crushing her skull. In his surprise, he stepped away and felt the crushing of eggs under his feet.
That was a hundred years ago. Now it began to make sense to him. That was why Sharptooth hate all longnecks. The same crime Sharptooth had committed to Selena, Doc had inadvertently done himself. And echoing Sharptooth own statement, Doc could only utter, "It was an accident." With that, his life gave out and his eyes slipped closed.
The Lone Dinosaur was dead.