A.N: To artist seeking money from for their art, please leave the comment section open for discussions about the story only and don't private message me for I will most likely not respond. Thank you.
Chapter Eleven:
Test Part 2
Dark clouds hung above, lightening flashing as thunder boomed. Chomper climbed a set of rocks, coming upon what he thought was a lair. Entering the dark cave, he sniffed the air, remembering his senses were useless in the space between life and death. He was going in blind, and all he could do, was hope Sharptooth wouldn't attack him.
"Sharptooth? Dementus?" Chomper asked.
"Arg, if it isn't the Tyrant Lizard King? Here to grace me with his presence and to try to take me title."
"Grandfather, I don't wish to take anything from you. If anything, I only want to talk."
"Talk, talk, talk? What a waste of time."
The large Sharptooth rose from his throne life formation of rocks, being taller than even Red Claw. Chomper trembled, knowing if Red Claw or Stephany couldn't take him down, the chance of him accomplishing such a feat was next to impossible.
"Scared yet, grandson?"
"N-no!"
"But ya tremble where ye stand."
"I-I'm sacred, but not of you. I'm scared I'll never get back to see my mate, my family, my friends."
"Then ya know what ya must to get back to them. Face me!" Chomper was till. "What, without the help of ye powers ya hold back. But ye are strong, for my blood flows through ye veins. My lineage live on in ya. No matter what ye do, how ya pretend, ya are a killer."
Chomper snarled and lundged to attack, seeing Sharptooth slip aside, Chomper crashing into the rocks. Sharptooth laughed as Chomper recovered, rising to face him again.
"My turn."
Chomper had no time to react, a set of claws sweeping him across the face, the force sending him rolling along the ground. Sharptooth was fast upon him, leaping through the air to pounce him. Chomper kept moving and saw Sharptooth land, rushing at him with a set of great snapping jaw. Able to get to his feet, Chomper ran around him, whipping his tail and smacking Sharptooth in the back. It hardly did anything but make him hunch, Sharptooth peering back to grin at Chomper before striking him with his own tail. Chomper saw stars and was set back, gasping for air, struggling to move.
"Okay, this is just pathetic, even the other two didn't fall this fast."
"Well, I'm not like Red Claw or Stephany. I'm nothing any of you."
"Really? Ya say that, yet ye come from the greatest line of Alpha's. It used to be a purse blood line, till it was tainted with the blood of Sky-Beings."
"You leave my other parents out of this. If not for their interference, I wouldn't be here!"
Chomper got a serg of engery, rising to tackle Sharptooth down. Again, the older male laughed. "That's it, ya fight harder to defend those dear to ye. And yet ya chose food for a mate-" A punch to the face stopped him.
"Leave her out of this."
Chomper struck him over and over, able to keep him pinned down. Huffing with rage, frustration, Chomper was on the verge of really letting Sharptooth have it before he paused.
"This will solve nothing."
"Ya hate ye self, therefore, ya hate me, ye parents, all ye brethren. That is why ye'd never be a good Alpha, cause all ya see, are bad in them, in ye self."
"Y-your right." Chomper rose and sat. "All my life, I wished to be a leafeater, to get ride of the sharptooth part of me."
"Aye, and look it where it got ye. Did ya ever think what ye life might've been like had ye accepted that part of ye?"
"Funny enough, no. I'm sorry Grandfather, that I let you down, that I wasn't strong enough, good enough to be the Alpha. All I wanted was to protect the Circle of Life, and even then, I failed."
Chomper didn't know whether Sharptooth would attack, simply accepting whatever fate befell him. If he were destined to be stuck there, least he held hope he'd see Ruby in death. Then, Sharptooth sat by him.
"Congratulations, grandson, you passed."
"What!"
"The reason Ah never thought Stephany or Red Claw were good leaders was because they were like me."
"And that's bad?"
"Aye, it made for a very poor leader. Think about each one wanted to rule for different reasons. Red Claw for power and glory, to be the best of the best. Stephany wanted to usher in a reign of terror and endless violence, killing without a care of what consequences it'd have on the world. As for ye, ya see the great balance, that leafeaters and sharptooth can coexist. Ye remind me of me mother."
"My great, great grandmother?"
"Aye, what do ye know of her time as Alpha?"
"Not much."
"Exactly, I wanted to extinguish her beliefs, do away with the Circle of Life. It wasn't until I was older, till I died, that I realized the error of my ways. Did ye ever drown?"
"Almost, though friends have always been there to pull me out."
"And when ye have no friends, ye die. As I sank, me life flashed through me eyes. Ah was a foolish boy, should've listened to me mother. She told me never to forget the Circle of Life, to abide by it, or Ah would suffer a fate worse than death."
"Why did you kill so much?"
"Ah could see into the future, could tell when things would happen before they happened. It was not a gift, but a curse, for Ah saw the death of each of my siblings. No matter how hard Ah tried to prevent them, they still died. Ah was angry, couldn't understand why Ah was spared. Mother told me, it was the Circle of Life, but that wasn't good enough for me. Ah fear the era of peace came to an end because of me."
"The era of peace. There was a time when the Great Valley wasn't needed?"
"No, everything was different. Ah knew, the sins of me past, that burden would fall to me son, yet when he refused, it became ye burden. Chomper, ye must go back, must continue to repair what's been broken. Ah know ye can do it. Now, did ye learn anything?"
Chomper felt his grandfather pat his back, offering a kind smile.
"Yeah, I think so. All my life I hated myself, the sharptooth part of me. But now I realize I have to accept that part of me. Even if I don't understand it, don't like have fangs and claws, so long as I use them to protect and defend what I love, I should embrace it. There should no longer be Tyrannosaurus and Chomper, but one. Thank you, Grandfather, for helping me see that."
"Thank ye." Sharptooth saw the dark land begin to vanish in a sea of light.
"What's happening?"
"The vale we've been trapped in is breaking down. Very soon, Red Claw, Stephany and meself will be able to enter the afterlife."
"What about me?"
"Have to wait and see." Chomper took a breath and reached to hold Sharptooth's hand. "Ah look forward to meeting me mother again, to see me siblings."
"Yeah, if I don't return to my body, least I'll see mom and dad again. Along with Kyle, I wonder how he's doing?"
How Chomper longed to return to his body, yet he accepted he might not and would die. Though, even in death, he knew he'd be reunited with those already gone. He shut his eyes and thought about his family, Ruby. He could see her face, smiling at him, he blue eyes, her face paint. He could look at her face for all eternity, the face of the female who loved him, who saw past what he was to find the gentle soul within. He loved her, his love for her was stronger than the pain, gave him a sense of peace.
