A/N: Chomper is feeling the sting of being the only sharptooth in the Great Valley. Helen faces her fear.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Land Before Time and its characters. Original characters are mine though.
CHAPTER 4
A few cold times had passed. Sure enough while things were great, new things did arise.
But as a family, they worked through the things that came up. Chomper started to refer to Helen and Bron as mom and dad.
Whenever he talked about his parents, he still referred to them as mommy and daddy though.
Residents in the Great Valley had caught wind of his special diet and Chomper became known as the pest control. With his growing appetite, he kept the furry digger colonies in check.
And just like Bron had said, there was no shortage of food for Chomper in the Great Valley.
Today the longneck family had welcomed the far walkers.
Chomper had run in front of his family with Littlefoot and Shorty not too far behind. He got to a boulder and stood on top.
"I got here first! Mom and Dad said that if I got here first that I'm the winner!" Chomper exclaimed.
"Okay Chomper you win. You win." Littlefoot congratulated him.
Shorty nodded his head. "Good job, you're getting really fast."
Bron and Helen had laughed. Their boys were something else.
They greeted their guests as they entered the Great Valley. Then they introduced their family.
Whenever travelers and far walkers had visited the Great Valley, they always wondered how and why a little sharptooth ended up in a longneck family, let alone calling the grownup longnecks mom and dad and even referring to the elder longnecks as grandpa and grandma.
All Helen and Bron could do was smile at that, you couldn't tell them that Chomper wasn't theirs. They didn't care he was a sharptooth, they still loved him as if he was their own flesh and blood.
The grownups continued to talk as Chomper, Littlefoot and Shorty started to leave.
"Chomper we're meeting the gang at the watering hole. We're going to play swimmer and splasher today. You coming?" Littlefoot asked.
Chomper stopped walking then shook his head. He loved playing with his brothers and friends. But today he just wasn't feeling it.
"No thanks, I think I'm going to hang out with mom and dad today." Chomper answered back sounding down.
"You sure Chomper?" Shorty asked.
"Yeah I'm sure, you two have fun though and tell the others I'll see them later." Chomper waived them off.
Littlefoot and Shorty exchanged looks with one another, then looked at Chomper once more before heading off.
Chomper went back to his nest as Bron and Helen continued to talk with the other grownups.
"Enjoy your stay here in the Great Valley, I hope you find our home hospitable." Bron stated.
Eventually Bron and Helen exchanged their goodbyes with far walkers and walked back to their nest.
About to eat, one look at Chomper had stopped them.
He looked so lonely just now.
Chomper was sitting on the ground rolling around a small rock between his hands. Bron and Helen grew to recognize when Chomper wanted to talk with them without his brothers around.
"Chomper?" Helen questioned as she looked down at her special boy.
"Mom dad, I just. Well, no one here in the Great Valley is a sharptooth like me." Chomper sighed.
"While that is true, your father and I and your grandparents love you very much. Littlefoot and Shorty do too. And your friends do too." Helen spoke softly.
"I know and I love you all too. But sometimes I wish I had another sharptooth my age to play with, to hunt with and to go exploring with."
Helen and Bron exchanged looks. Not sure where Chomper or the conversation was heading.
"What if I went to find a little sharptooth in the Mysterious Beyond to play with?" Chomper asked aloud.
"Absolutely not. You know the Mysterious Beyond is completely off limits for you, Chomper." Bron said.
Chomper looked confused for a bit.
"But that's. That's where I come from."
"Chomper while that is also true. Your father is right. The Mysterious Beyond is completely off limits."
"But I." Chomper started.
"You are not to go in the Mysterious Beyond Chomper, and that is final." Bron said in a tone that said that all talks of the Mysterious Beyond is over.
Chomper nodded his head in understanding.
He understood the reason behind his parents not wanting him going in the Mysterious Beyond. It was to protect him from sharpteeth there.
But he was a sharptooth himself, surely other sharpteeth wouldn't attack him. Especially since he was a kid just wanting to find another kid too.
Chomper was sure that if he told his brothers, they would go with him and be back before anyone knew they left. Especially Littlefoot.
He was closer to Littlefoot and knew that he would go with him.
"Chomper?" Helen asked.
Chomper stood up. "I'm going to the watering hole now. Littlefoot said they all would be there today."
Bron nodded. Then resumed the task at the moment, eating.
"Have fun today. Just be careful." Helen said with a smile on her face.
Chomper waived at them then took off, heading towards the watering hole.
"Bron, I'm worried. Chomper has never said anything like this before."
Helen turned to look at Bron, who had a mouthful of leaves. He finished his bite.
"Don't worry Helen my love. He's just a curious kid. We'll work through this. Together. We've managed thus far."
"If you're talking about the fast water fiasco. That is completely different than venturing into the Mysterious Beyond."
They thought about what had happened not too long ago.
The whole gang had been playing the "jump the rocks" game. They would all take turns jumping on the rocks in the fast water to cross over to the other side.
Chomper had never played this game, he watched the others do it plenty of times.
Feeling courageous, Chomper said he wanted a turn. After landing on the first rock without any issues, he lined himself up for the next jump.
Chomper missed the rock and had fallen in the fast water, he came up coughing and gasping for air before being pulled under again.
Without thinking, Littlefoot had jumped in and tried to pull Chomper towards the edge so they could climb out. But the water was too much for him as well.
He and Chomper had gotten swept away.
The rest of the gang had started screaming and crying for help, chasing after them on dry land.
Bron, Helen and the other parents had heard all the pleas for help and had come rushing towards their children.
By the time Bron had fished out his boys from the fast water, Littlefoot was barely holding on to Chomper. And they both were shivering.
Chomper hadn't wanted to go anywhere near the fast water for a while.
Coming back to the present, the parents shook their head at the not so distant memory. It was another aspect of parenthood. No doubt.
"Yeah no kidding. That was something. While the Great Valley is a wonderful place to grow up, it has its dangers as well." Bron had said while going back to eat more.
Helen agreed with that, then started to eat as well.
Littlefoot's face lit up when he saw Chomper approaching them. Chomper leapt into the water swimming his way towards everyone.
"So happy you're here Chomper." Littlefoot smiled at him.
"Yeah me too. So I'll be it, since I came late." Chomper said, disappearing below the surface.
They all swam away from him in different directions. The gang played and played and played. Eventually leaving the water to do something else.
They found a pointy seed and quickly made teams and played with that too.
The gang had played the rest of the day away. The parents started calling their children home. The gang had dispersed, each one leaving towards home.
Shorty, Littlefoot and Chomper went home as well. They all ate and settled down for the night.
The next day before joining the others, Chomper had told his brothers of his plan to find a sharptooth his age out in the Mysterious Beyond.
Shorty furrowed his brows.
"You can't do that. We are forbidden from going there, Chomper." Shorty said, then looked around to see if anyone heard them.
"I'm not gonna live there. I just want a sharptooth my age to play with and hunt with for a little while."
"Do you not like playing with us?" Littlefoot asked in a hurt voice.
"I love playing with all of you, but I'm the only sharptooth here. I just want to see what other sharpteeth my age are like. I never played with another sharptooth before, not even when my mommy and daddy were alive."
Littlefoot and Shorty exchanged looks.
They didn't have a good feeling about this. But they could see how important it was to Chomper.
They gave in, knowing full well that they could get in big trouble.
"Okay, we're coming with you. But we need to be back before the great circle sets." Littlefoot said.
Chomper nodded and the trio took off towards the secret caverns, looking back every so often to make sure no one was following them.
They cleared the caverns and were now fully in the Mysterious Beyond.
Not having been here for years now, Chomper scrunched up his nose, putting his hand over it.
"It smells so bad here." He said.
"Yeah we know, we smell it too. I can only imagine how much worse it is for you since your nose can smell better than ours." Shorty said while scrunching up his face as well.
"Lets just keep moving." Littlefoot said while walking in front of Chomper.
Chomper put his hand on Littlefoot's side to stop him.
"I'll lead, I can smell a sharptooth faster than you can see one."
The longnecks agreed to this.
If Chomper could smell them, he could advise when to hide or take off running. They followed Chomper deeper and deeper into the Mysterious Beyond.
Chomper continued to use his nose till he came upon a sharptooth that looked to be his age.
There were bushes and tall grass around. He advised Littlefoot and Shorty to hide just in case.
Chomper approached the sharptooth, roaring.
"Hi, I'm Chomper want to be friends?" He asked optimistically.
The sharptooth turned its head, looking at Chomper from head to toe.
"Sharpteeth don't have friends, get lost." He spat.
This had surprised Chomper, he has friends.
"I'm a sharptooth and I have friends." Chomper defended.
"Then you're a weak and pathetic sharptooth."
"I am not weak and pathetic!" Chomper shouted in leaf eater.
This had Shorty and Littlefoot exchange glances. They watched on as the other sharptooth pushed Chomper to the ground.
"Like I said, weak and pathetic." The sharptooth growled out.
Chomper got up and shoved him back.
"I don't want to fight you. I just want to be friends." Chomper pleaded.
"That's too bad, because I don't want to be your friend."
He then brandished his claws and snarled at Chomper stalking towards him.
Littlefoot saw this and without thinking, he cleared the bushes. He ran at full speed.
Shorty called after him, but it fell on deaf ears.
This was bad, really bad. He knew they were all going to be in trouble, but he made a beeline back towards the Great Valley.
"Leave my brother alone!" Littlefoot spat, knocking the sharptooth into the nearby tree.
Littlefoot turned to Chomper.
"Are you alright?"
Chomper nodded, pushing at Littlefoot to get out of the way.
"This is my fight though."
Chomper knew a challenge when he saw one. He had remembered what his mommy and daddy said about sharpteeth children proving their worth.
"I have to prove myself to be worthy." Chomper said.
"But Chomper you are worthy. You don't need to fight to prove that." Littlefoot argued.
"Littlefoot. I'm sorry, but this is a sharptooth thing. I didn't want a fight, but I'm not going to run from it either."
While they went back and forth, they didn't notice the sharptooth leaving.
Moments later the ground started shaking, Chomper and Littlefoot first saw the little sharptooth returning with a grownup sharptooth as well.
"There, that's him." The little sharptooth said while pointing to Littlefoot.
Chomper stood in front of Littlefoot like he was shielding him.
"We don't want any trouble." He said roaring.
The grownup roared in laughter.
"That's too bad, little biter. Son, attack this little biter and the longneck."
"No." Chomper shouted in leaf eater.
The sharptooth leapt at Chomper, barring his claws and teeth.
Littlefoot was about to jump in, when loud roaring halted him.
Chomper put a hand out.
"Stay back Littlefoot. Don't interfere, this is my fight."
The two little sharpteeth start circling one another like predators. Chomper not wanting to fight but having no choice, bared his teeth and brandished his claws as well.
They rushed each other, both clawing and biting into one another. The grownup sharptooth didn't interfere and continued to look on.
The fight wasn't going too well for Chomper, and Littlefoot saw that this was a fight to the death.
There was no way he was going to watch his brother die.
The sharptooth had Chomper pinned to the ground, and he was about to deliver the killing blow.
Littlefoot had charged him, knocking him off his feet.
"That's enough, you've clearly won!" Littlefoot shouted.
The grownup continued to watch the fight, if his son lost to a longneck, then he'd kill him himself.
No son of his was a weakling.
Shorty had made it back to his nest and out of breath. His mother was the only grownup there. Bron and the elder longnecks were at the meeting spot.
"Mom! Its Littlefoot and Chomper." He said panting and out of breath.
"What happened? Where are they?" Helen questioned.
She felt a sense of dread come over her.
"They are fighting with a sharptooth out in the Mysterious Beyond. I ran back here because I think they are in trouble."
"Shorty, go find your father. I'll go to the Mysterious Beyond myself."
"But mom, can't you just wait for dad?" He asked as he started tearing up.
"There's no time. I have to go now."
"But." Shorty started.
"Do as I say, and go find your father. Now." She said in a warning tone.
Helen didn't wait for a reply, nor did she see if Shorty had done what she told him.
She had to find Littlefoot and Chomper.
Yes she was scared, but the love she had for both of them pushed that fear aside and left nothing but determination in its wake.
Shorty had run to all the places calling out to Bron. The faster he found him, the faster they could get to the Mysterious Beyond.
At the meeting spot, it was Bron's turn to speak.
"We've secured the weak point with boulders, that area is safe from sharpteeth." Bron paused as he heard Shorty calling out for him.
"Dad!" Shorty finally cleared the bushes running towards him out of breath and with tears in his eyes.
This was certainly a surprise. Shorty knew better than to interrupt a meeting. The other grownups looked a bit annoyed at the interference.
"Shorty, you know better than to." Bron started.
"Dad, its Littlefoot and Chomper. I think they're in trouble. Mom is already on her way to them now." Shorty blurted out, crying.
Without having to hear anything else, Bron snatched Shorty up in lightning speed and left the meeting spot.
The others looked on with worried looks on their faces.
"What happened?" Bron asked.
So Shorty told him what he had saw.
"Where are they?" Bron asked.
"In the Mysterious Beyond." Shorty responded.
Bron didn't necessarily want to take Shorty as it was too dangerous. But taking him home first would waste too much time. And time was of the essence.
Out in the Mysterious Beyond, Helen listened closely. She heard faint roaring as if it wasn't coming from a grownup sharptooth, but from a child.
Then she heard Chomper's distinct roaring and Littlefoot's yelling.
She increased her pace, as it meant they were still alive. She thanked the heavens for that at least. She finally made it and took everything in.
Chomper was bloodied and laying on the ground. Littlefoot was bloodied and had scratches on him. He was standing near Chomper protecting him. The other little sharptooth was bloodied and had bite marks on him too.
Helen locked eyes with the red eyes of the grownup sharptooth. They were the same eyes as the sharptooth that had attacked her so long ago.
"Get away from my sons!" She thundered.
She began to feel white hot rage boiling inside of her.
Not only had he let the kids tear into one another, he didn't stop it and more than likely encouraged it. This upset her even more.
She remembered Chomper talking about the need for sharpteeth children to prove themselves worthy.
The grownup sharptooth had his eyes locked onto the grownup longneck.
Ignoring the children, he stalked towards her and started circling her like the predator he was.
She was huge and would provide a good meal or two. He rushed her barring its teeth.
Helen ducked her head down barely avoiding the bite. She brought her head up in a head-butt and made contact with the underside of the sharptooth's mouth.
He staggered back. He shook his head to clear it as he was temporarily dazed. He went on the attack again and Helen was on the defensive. She moved her body here and there, avoiding his bites.
Eventually the sharptooth gained the upper hand and pounced on the longneck's back.
Flashbacks of the horrible fight with that sharptooth came to her. All her terrible sleep stories of seeing Littlefoot and his friend eaten alive had come to her. The scar on her back was pulsing. She felt her heart rate accelerate. Adrenaline had kicked in for Helen.
"Never again." Helen roared out.
With a new found strength and willpower, she reared up on her hind legs a bit, just enough to get the sharptooth off of her.
He fell to the ground with a sounding thud.
Helen brought her massive tail down onto the sharptooth over and over and over again.
The sharptooth was down, just taking the lashing from the massive tail. It couldn't get to its feet as every time he tried to roll, the tail would just knock him back down again.
Eventually Helen spun around and replaced her tail with her front feet.
She pressed her weight into the head of the sharptooth, feeling bones shatter beneath her feet.
With a sickening crunch, the sharptooth finally stopped moving.
Bron had come racing up and came to a screeching halt as he saw his wife, now thrashing the dead sharptooth.
With each mighty stomp, a sickening sound of the breaking of bones followed.
"You will never hurt me or my sons. Ever again." She bellowed out as she continued to bring her feet down upon the now lifeless body.
She would stop being victimized in her sleep stories. Stomp.
She would stop feeling defenseless and helpless. Stomp.
She would take her life back. Stomp.
When the sharptooth's muzzle was completely unrecognizable, she began to tire.
Helen moved to its chest, and in one final act of destruction, she reared up on her hind legs as if she was trying to touch the heavens themselves.
In the blink of an eye, she came down with all her weight delivering a devastating blow. The ground too had shaken as it felt the large dinosaur slamming into it.
Helen felt the ribcage shatter beneath her feet, tearing through the skin.
Blood had gushed out in all directions, spraying her legs and underside.
Helen was covered in bits of bone and blood, crying now.
It was savage, gruesome, and ugly.
But it had been necessary.
"Helen." Bron called out softly.
Bron understood that his wife killing a sharptooth so savagely would bring her back to him, fully.
He understood her fear of sharpteeth and how much it consumed and paralyzed her.
This was the start of her taking her own life back. She had found the courage to face her fear head on and came out victorious.
He was proud of his wife and what she had done. His chest swelled with pride and admiration.
Years ago, he knew her special. And now all these years later, she was still special to him. He smiled as he called out to her again.
Upon hearing her name, Helen slowly backed away from the lifeless body of the sharptooth.
It was now over.
Through her tears, she looked down at her bloodied feet and legs, then looked at the lifeless bloody body of the sharptooth.
She had done this.
Littlefoot and Shorty were wide eyed.
Littlefoot had seen his mom fight before, but this was something new. He knew his mother to be a kind and gentle being, but when it came to her children she fought with the ferocity of a three-horn.
Shorty had never seen his mother fighting before. He felt a new sense of pride and admiration for her.
Littlefoot jumped back and away from the sharptooth he was near.
At seeing his father being killed, this enraged the little sharptooth even more. He roared as loud and as ferocious as he could. He turned his sights to the longneck.
He'd kill him first, then kill the weak and pathetic sharptooth still laying on the ground.
He charged towards Littlefoot. His hate of longnecks consumed his entire being. He'd kill all longnecks he ever came across.
Chomper had rolled over a bit just in time to see the sharptooth charging towards Littlefoot. He got to his feet.
"Littlefoot, lookout."
With a new found strength, Chomper had launched himself at the sharptooth tackling him.
Without hesitation, he bit down into the throat of the sharptooth with as much strength as he could muster and thrashed his head about, till the other sharptooth stopped moving.
Littlefoot backed away towards his family, leaving Chomper to do what he felt he had to do.
The longneck family had watched on as Chomper started tearing into his opponent. He used his claws and teeth to rip open his opponent, blood gushing out and spraying him.
He started to pull at the flesh and muscles with his teeth and began eating.
The longnecks understood that this was in his nature and as gruesome as it was, they had to let Chomper do it.
This was the first time Chomper had killed another dinosaur like this and the action wasn't lost on him.
He had come here to play and to find a friend, but he had learned something with everything that had happened.
After Chomper was finished with the fallen opponent, Bron led everyone back home, stopping at a watering hole so Helen, Littlefoot and Chomper could rinse off.
Upon Chomper and Littlefoot rinsing off, their injuries were more pronounced and more visible.
Helen scooped both of them up and the five of them made their way back home towards the Great Valley.
When they got back to their nest, Littlefoot and Chomper's breathing was very shallow. They had lost a lot of blood and were very weak.
They had fallen asleep and Helen set them down to inspect them even closer.
Warm mud and mint leaves would help them she knew. Even though she didn't want to leave their sides, she knew she had to. It would be faster if she helped gather what they needed.
Helen looked into the eyes of her husband then at Shorty.
"Bron, Shorty can you please go get mud. I'll go get mint leaves."
Bron and Shorty nodded. They left the nest. Helen took one last look at both Littlefoot and Chomper before she left as well.
The rainbow faces had come out from their hiding spot and went over to inspect the young longneck and the little sharptooth.
"These wounds aren't as deep as they look. But the mud mixture will protect against infection." The male said to his companion.
The female retreated towards a large boulder and pulled out a large leaf that had a pile of mint leaves and mud on it, pulling it towards the sleeping duo.
Her companion started to shred the leaves. She grabbed some mud and started to mix the two.
She went over to Chomper and applied the mixture to various wounds he had. The male did the same thing and applied the mixture to Littlefoot as well.
"In seven days' time, the mud will crack and fall away naturally. Hopefully Helen remembers this from when we packed her wound. But I don't think that will be a problem for these two." The female said
"Helen won't ever forget. She'll make sure these two don't leave her sights till the wounds heal." The male said looking at his companion.
The rainbow faces heard loud footsteps approaching. They looked at one another, then scurried away.
Bron and Shorty came back with the mud. Helen came back with the mint leaves.
They were all surprised as they looked at both Littlefoot and Chomper who had their wounds dressed already.
Helen and Shorty made their way to the duo.
Bron began scanning the nest. He knew they didn't dress their own wounds and go back to sleep all while they were gone.
A green tail caught his attention. He walked over to the boulder and his eyes widened as he saw the rainbow faces.
They saw him, looked at each other, and then turned to take their leave.
"Wait, you two did this, didn't you ? How did you know my sons needed help today? Who are you two?" Bron asked.
The male smiled. "Ah, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"
"What's that over there?" The female pointed at some meaningless spot in the dense forest.
The longneck followed to where she was pointing and when he went to look back, the rainbow faces were gone.
Bron shook his head. Somehow he knew that those beings had helped his family and on more than one occasion.
Helen looked over her sleeping boys again before curling up around them and joining them in sleep. Shorty went around and snuggled up to them as well.
Bron returned then looked down at his family.
They had gone through a lot. He too settled down next to them.
He wanted to be here with them just in case they needed anything. The elders had returned and came up to their family curled around each other.
They smiled at the scene then left them. They knew that their daughter and son in law would tell them what had happened.
The rainbow faces sat perched in a tree looking down at the family.
"Quite remarkable. Isn't it?" The male observed.
"Yes. I agree. This is what we saw years ago when we helped the female longneck."
He turned to his companion.
"In defeating the sharptooth, she faced her fear today. Astonishing. The love she has for her children, propelled her to face her fear."
"I suppose it's true that the emotion known as love is very powerful indeed." The female concluded.
"What now?"
The female arched a brow, using her companions often used phrase. "Ah, that would be telling. Wouldn't it?"
They continued to watch over the sleeping family. Deciding that they would bring the little sharptooth food as he wouldn't want to go hunting for it.
The seven days had passed and sure enough, multiple times a day the rainbow faces delivered the rodents and fish and berries for Chomper.
Chomper and the rest of his family had been grateful for this. They all knew that Chomper wasn't in any condition to hunt for his food.
With Littlefoot it was easy since they were surrounded by nothing but green food anyway.
The mint leaves and mud had cracked and fallen off. Littlefoot and Chomper's wounds had healed, but they would be left with the slight scars that would become smaller and smaller in time as they got bigger.
It was a beautiful day in the Great Valley.
The sky was a brilliant blue color, littered with sky puffies. The bright circle felt good. It wasn't too hot. It was just perfect
"Mother." Littlefoot had called out.
Helen was hiding from her son. They had all been playing hide and seek and Littlefoot was it.
When her son had finally found her, he was no longer a small longneck, he was a teenager now.
He had hit the time of the great growing. And growing he did. Even though he was bigger now, he still liked playing games like this.
He was still a kid at heart.
"Found you mother." Littlefoot beamed at his mom.
"You did son." She laughed.
The two cleared the bushes to where Bron, Shorty and Chomper were waiting. Littlefoot had found them easily with no problems. Helen walked up and nuzzled her husband.
The two rubbed heads till Shorty coughed.
"Easy there with the mushy stuff. Geez, you two are so embarrassing." Shorty had adverted his eyes.
Chomper covered his mouth trying not to laugh at Shorty's expression. Littlefoot looked at his parents in awe for a bit then looked at his brothers.
"Leave mom and dad alone Shorty. Without mom and dad's love for each other, none of us would be here." Littlefoot had said.
"You're so gross Littlefoot. That's it." Shorty started to stalk towards Littlefoot.
And Littlefoot took off running.
Chomper couldn't hold in his laughter anymore and he started to laugh out loud.
"Oh. You think this is funny too do you?"
Shorty turned his attention to Chomper and began to chase him too when Chomper started to run away. Helen and Bron just smiled at their boys. They then turned to face each other, just gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.
"I love you Bron." Helen smiled.
"I love you too Helen. More than you will ever know." Bron said gently.
They nuzzled each other a bit more.
The sleep story had paled.
Helen had woken up, she wasn't panting or breathing hard. She actually had a good sleep story, one where she was happy.
It was the third one she had in the last seven days. She knew then, that defeating the sharptooth had freed her from her horrible sleep stories.
Helen looked down at her boys who were nestled against her. Bron had woken up too. He reached over nuzzling his wife for a bit.
They then watched on as their boys woke up. Chomper was the last one to wake.
They hadn't talked about what happened and he knew they all needed to talk about it.
"I'm sorry mom and dad." Chomper started the conversation.
Helen and Bron looked at one another then at Chomper.
"The fault is all on me. I dragged Littlefoot and Shorty to the Mysterious Beyond."
Littlefoot cut in, "we went willingly with you."
"What happened while you were out there?" Bron asked.
"I saw a little sharptooth and approached him. I thought he would be friendly but he wasn't and he wanted to fight. He didn't care about being friends or about anything I had to say."
"When I saw him push Chomper to the ground, I charged the other sharptooth knocking him into a tree. Chomper and I didn't see him leave as we started going back and forth about being worthy."
"I didn't want to fight, but something came over me. I felt it deep in my bones that I couldn't walk away from this. Then the grownup came and didn't attack us. He ordered his son to attack both Littlefoot and myself. When Littlefoot tried to help me, he roared telling him not to interfere. I understood that if his son lost to me or Littlefoot that he would kill him himself. I remember my mommy and daddy telling me that sharpteeth children have to prove themselves worthy so their parents don't kill them."
"Chomper did you ever have to do anything like that?" Helen asked.
Chomper shook his head. "No, mommy and daddy told me that because I speak leaf eater and sharpteeth, that that is worthy enough."
The grownups agreed. Chomper was worthy enough.
He was a special kid.
"How do you feel now since you were victorious in that fight?" Bron asked.
"I'm okay with having killed that sharptooth. I saw that he was fighting to the death. And that he wasn't going to stop till either he was dead or Littlefoot and I were both dead. I learned a few things though."
Chomper paused. Helen gestured for him to continue.
"I learned that other sharpteeth don't care about me and never will. I thought that if I found a sharptooth my age that we could be friends too. And I learned that I can fight. I've never had to do it before, but I can fight to save those I love. I also learned that I never want to be a mean sharptooth."
Littlefoot and Shorty nuzzled him. Then Helen and Bron followed suit.
"Oh Chomper. My brave little one." Helen went back to nuzzling him.
"Mom, are you okay with what you did though?" Littlefoot had asked his mother.
Helen nodded. "I'm okay with it. I knew that he wouldn't stop at killing me. He would have gone after all of you."
Bron knew this to be true. All his run ins with sharpteeth had taught him that.
"I did what I had to do. I had to protect my boys. And I don't regret it." She said with conviction.
Littlefoot and Chomper blushed.
"I'm just glad you all are safe." Bron paused. Then continued. "But don't ever do that to your mother and I again. Understand?"
"Yes dad." The three boys said in unison.
The three snuggled closer to their mother.
Bron never really had to raise his voice with his sons. He was stern when he needed to be, but he didn't believe in instilling fear in his children to get them to respect him.
Bron's and Helen's approach to parenthood was their own, and they found that they balanced each other out. It provided the perfect environment to raise their sons with.
Bron nuzzled his family. They were his everything.
The family settled into easy conversation, relishing in just being with one another.
Things would certainly be different going forward.
A/N: Read and review, please. Thanks!