The Dinosaur King Chapter 16 - He Lives in You
While Fangtooth comforted Tristan, they heard some odd chanting from a distance. They turned their heads and saw a dark figure running through the trees. He was shaking the branches about, while still chanting. But the reality is that Spitfire is actually doing the chanting. But unlike Fangooth, Tristan does not recognize him. But Spitfire continues to chant some kind of language.
Spitfire: (Chanting) Asante sana!
Squash banana!
We we nugu!
Mi mi apana!
Tristan is being slightly annoyed by the chant. He moves away, trying to get away. Spitfire, elated by the sight of Tristan, follows him. Tristan walks until he stops halfway across a log over a pond, and lies down on it. He bows his head, choking back tears, but fails and lets them fall to the river. Then suddenly, a rock was thrown in the water, catching his attention. Tristan looks up to see the same Dilophosaurus near the shore, starting his chant again. Tristan was now more annoyed than ever.
Spitfire: (Chanting) Asante sana!
Squash banana!
We we nugu!
Mi mi apana!
"Come on, will you cut it out?" Tristan shouted to the Dilophosaurus.
"Can't cut it out. It will grow right back!" said Spitfire and laughed again. Tristan knows he was talking to him, not the tree.
Tristan gets up and walks away, but Spitfire follows him. "Creepy little Spitter," muttered Tristan to himself. Then he heard Spitfire still following him. "Will you stop following me? Go away!"
"Going away will not answer the question," Spitfire told him.
"What question?" said Tristan without looking back, and turned to Fangtooth and asked. "You know him?"
"Uh... a friend of the family," Sue said in an amused and slightly apologetic tone.
"You don't say?" Tristan remarked before asking Spitfire. "Hey, so if you're a friend of my family, who are you?
Then, Spitfire appeared out of nowhere right in front of him, surprising Tristan.
"I know exactly who I am. The question is, Whooo... are you?" asked Spitfire.
Tristan was startled by this comment. This Double-crested Theropod may have a point about him. Tristan sadly sighs and says, "I thought I knew. Now I'm not so sure. Just face it, I'm nobody. So, leave me alone. All right?"
"Everybody is somebody, even a nobody," Spitfire replied. "Your heart felt like it's lost, like a confused Nodosaurus who lacks its sense of direction."
Fangooth chuckled at the Dilophosaurus' wisdom as the Dilophosaurus approached Tristan.
"Well, I know who you are. Shh. Come here. It's a secret," said Spitfire as he pulled Tristan's head over to whisper into his ear. Tristan was expecting to hear something about him that he wanted to know, but instead, Spitfire started to chant into his ear.
Spitfire: (Chanting) Asante sana!
Squash banana!
We we nugu!
Mi mi apana!
Fangtooth laughed while Tristan was even more irritated by the chanting and asked, "Enough already! What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"
"It means you are a Dilophosaurus- and I'm not," said Spitfire as he laughed. Tristan then starts moving away from him.
"Yeah, I think... you're a little confused," said Tristan. Then, Spitfire magically appears in front of him again.
"Me confused?! Wrong! I'm not the one who's confused. You don't even know who you are," said Spitfire.
"Oh, and I suppose you know?" said Tristan, moving away while being sarcastic and irritated.
"Sure do. I held the son of Scott. You're Scotty's boy," said Spitfire. "And I see you met his old friend, Fangtooth."
"Thanks for the mention, Spitfire," Fangooth added.
Tristan stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the name. He was very surprised by this revelation. He looks back at Spitfire to hear him say "Bye!"
Then the Spitfire ran off, chanting while he ran.
"Hey, wait!" said Tristan as he and Fangtooth chased after him. This Dilophosaurus knows something about his father, and Tristan has to know what he knows. He finally caught up with him, and the Dilophosaurus is in a meditative position on a rock with its eyes closed.
"You knew my father?" asked Tristan.
"Correction- I know your father," said Spitfire in monotone.
"I hate to tell you this, but... he died. A long time ago," said Tristan. Then, Spitfire suddenly leaps off the rock and over to a dense jungle-like area.
"Nope. Wrong again! Ha ha hah! He's alive! And I'll take you and show him to you. You follow old Spitfire, he knows the way. Come on! If you can keep up!" said Spitfire and disappeared into the jungle.
Tristan immediately chased after him with Fangtooth not far behind. But Tristan has trouble keeping up due to his size. Because Spitfire was a medium-sized theropod was able to go through the dense undergrowth, and Tristan and Fangtooth had to go through a very small and thin path, not big enough for them to even go through.
"Don't dawdle. Hurry up!" said Spitfire's voice. "Follow me. Quickly, quickly. Come through."
"Hey, whoa. Wait, wait," said Tristan as he ran.
"Hey, you better hurry. Come on, come on," said Spitfire as he sped past him.
"Would you slow down?" said Tristan. "Hold on. I'm... I'm coming. I'm coming."
Tristan managed to catch a glimpse of him running under the branches ahead of him, laughing, hollering, and whooping. Tristan got tangled up in some vines but broke through. He tripped a few times but kept on going. Tristan struggles to keep up.
Suddenly, Spitfire appears with his hand held up right into his face with his frill spread and shouts, "STOP!"
Tristan immediately stops with Fangtooth following behind. Then, Spitfire quietly motions Tristan near some reeds of a lake.
"Shhh, come," whispered Spitfire. Then he parts the reeds and points past them with his staff. "Your father is waiting."
"Look down there," whispered Spitfire. "Do you see him?"
Tristan then quietly and carefully works his way out. But he was nervous. He has not seen his father for a very long time. But how is he alive? Tristan has watched him die when he was a young rexling. He slowly approaches the lake and looks over the edge, and sees his reflection in a pool of water. He first seems a bit startled, perhaps at his own mature appearance, but then realizes what he's looking at.
Tristan let out a disappointed sigh and said, "I don't see anything. Besides, that's not my father, that's just my reflection."
"Noo. Look closer and harder," said Spitfire. Soon, the Dinosaurs and Prehistoric creatures in the area had their heads up as they chanted with Spitfire singing.
Chorus: Ingonyama nengw' enamabala [The royal lion wears his leopard spots]
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Spitfire: (Singing) Night
And the spirit of life, calling
Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo
Spitfire: Mamela
Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo
Spitfire: And a voice
Just the fear of a child, answers
Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo
Spitfire: Iyo, oh, mamela
Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo
Spitfire: Ubu khosi bo khokho [Throne of the ancestors]
Chorus: We ndodana ye sizwe sonke [Oh, son of the nation]
Spitfire: Wait
Chorus: Wait, wait, wait, wait
Spitfire: There's no mountain too great
Hear these words and have faith
Chorus: Oh, oh, iyo
Spitfire: Have faith
Chorus: Hela, hm mamela
Hela, hm mamela
Hela, hm mamela
Spitfire then dips his staff into the pool, creating ripples. Tristan looks closer, and the ripples distort Tristan's reflection; they resolve into Scotty's face. "You see…"
Spitfire: He Lives in You (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
He Lives in Me (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
He watches over (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Everything we see (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Into the water (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Into the truth (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
In your reflection
He Lives in You
Chorus: He Lives in You
He Lives in You
He Lives in You
He Lives in You
Tristan was awestruck by this. Then he heard a deep rumbling sound, and the wind quickly picked up.
"Tristan..." said Scotty quietly at first.
"Dad?" said Tristan.
He looks up and sees the clouds approaching him, followed by thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, and something takes shape in the clouds. Then it took in form of Scotty. He appears to be walking from the stars towards Tristan. Tristan was again awestruck by his father. He could not even believe what he was seeing right now. The image of Scotty is ghostly at first, but steadily gains color and coherence.
"Tristan, you have forgotten me," said Scotty.
"No. How could I?" asked Tristan
"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Tristan. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life," said Scotty, explaining that he must return to the Valley of Dinosauria and take his place as king.
"How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," said Tristan.
"You must remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king," said Scotty with his eyes now glowing yellow and is framed by swirling clouds, radiating golden light. Tristan's face then began to show a mixture of awe, fear, and sadness.
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to be like you." Tristan sighed with his head lowered.
"As King, I was most proud of one thing: having you as my son," Scotty said to him. Of all the things he had done, Tristan was his greatest achievement of all.
"That was a long time ago," Tristan said.
"No, Tristan. That is forever," Scotty said, reminding the T. rex that he lives in him now as Spitfire continues to sing.
Spitfire: He Lives in You (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
He Lives in Me (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
He watches over (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Everything we see (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Into the water (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
Into the truth (Hela, hm mamela, hela)
In your reflection
He Lives in You
"Remember who you are." Then the image of Scotty starts to fade as he disappears rapidly into the clouds, and Tristan runs into the shallows of the lake, trying to keep up with him.
"No. Please! Don't leave me," said Tristan. "Father! Don't leave me again!"
"I never left you. And never will. Just remember who you... Remember…," said Scotty as he finally disappears into the clouds.
Tristan was left out in the shallows of the lake as dawn arrived, as he walked back to shore. There is just a cloud left where his father's image was, and his final word echoed in his mind.
"Remember"
As the wind tossed the grass and ferns restlessly, Tristan began to realize something. He's been running from his past for a very long time, but it will only haunt him. He knew by now that his family and home were dying, and Tristan knew that he must return home and stop Proximus as Spitfire approaches the Tyrannosaur.
"What was THAT? Ha ha ha!The weather- Pbbbah! Very peculiar. Don't you think?" asked Spitfire.
"Yeah. Looks like the winds are changing," said Tristan.
"Ahhh. Change is good," said Spitfire.
"Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what I have to do. But, going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it for so long," said Tristan. Then Spitfire whacks Tristan on the head with his staff. "Oww! Jeez- What was that for?"
"It doesn't matter. It's in the past!" said Spitfire and laughed.
"Yeah, but it still hurts," said Tristan.
"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it," said Spitfire, and swung at Tristan with his staff again. This time, Tristan ducks. "Hah, you see!"
Then Fangtooth approached Tristan and said, "Your father may as dead. But as Spitfire said, 'Your Father Lives in You'. 'And He Lives in Us, too.'"
"Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your journey, who you choose to be," Fangtooth told Tristan.
At this, Tristan looks up. His expression slowly changes as a new wave of memories floods over him... This time, he remembers his infant self presented to all the inhabitants of the Valley by Spitfire. His rexling self with his father at the top of Dino Rock. His meeting with Fangtooth and her family. The time he pounced on Anton. Being groomed by his mom, Victoria. The time when he and Sue were rexlings running with the other dinosaurs and wrestling with each other. When he was found by Marsh and Cope, and brought to Hakuna Matata Paradise. Tristan befriending the residents of the Forest and strutting with his two new friends as he grows up from a rexling to an adult T. rex. His recent time, reuniting with Fangtooth and her family and Sue whom they fell in love with each other. Finally, his moments under the stars with Marsh and Cope and with his Father, Scotty, who taught him of the Great Kings of the Past. Back in the present, the Dilophosaurus approaches him.
"And so, I ask again: who are you?" Spitfire asked.
"I am Tristan, son of Scotty," Tristan replied with a determined look on his face.
"Excellent, so what are you going to do now?" asked the wise old Dilophosaurus.
Then Tristan smiled and said, "First, I'm gonna take your stick."
The T. rex grabs Spitfire's staff with his mouth and tosses it to the side, causing the Dilophosaurus to rush over and grab it. "No, no, no, no! Not the stick!"
Then Spitfire looked back to see Tristan running off and shouted, "Hey, where are you going?!"
"I'm going back!" shouted Tristan.
"Good! Go on! Get out of here!" shouted Spitfire happily and began to laugh. His work here is done; Tristan is going back. He began to hoot and holler as Tristan disappeared into the night.
"So you are coming back to the Valley?" Fangtooth asked in confusion.
"Yes, tell your family and everyone I need the help I can get!" Tristan replied.
"Yes, you're majesty!" Fangtooth said with a smile in her jaws as she turned back to the Forest to get her family and Tristan's Friends.
Spitfire followed Tristan behind along with the rest of the dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures as the stars began to align and formed constellation figures of Tyrannosaurs, the Great Kings of the Past, who had arrived to cheer Tristan on in the wind as Spitfire resumed singing with the Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Creatures, and the Great Kings of the Past.
Spitfire and Chorus: He Lives in You (Hela, hey mamela, hela)
Ah yo
He Lives in Me (Hela, hey mamela, hela)
(He watches over) Ah, He watches over (Hela, hey mamela, hela)
Everything we see (Hela, hey mamela, hela)
Ah, into the water (Hela, hey mamela)
Hey, into the truth (Hela, hey mamela)
In your reflection (He lives in you)
Hala hala hala ya
Hala hala hala yo
Chorus: He Lives in You
Tristan: (Singing) Whoa-oh-oh
Oh, He Lives in Me (Hela, hey mamela)
Oh, oh (He watches over)
He watches over (Everything we see)
Oh, everything we see (Into the water)
Into the water (Into the truth)
(In your reflection) In my reflection
All: He Lives in Me/You!
Tristan continued running home back to the Valley of Dinosauria to fulfill his destiny to defeat Proximus and take his place as King.