CHAPTER ELEVEN: AN OLD FOE RETURNS


Chomper and his friends left the Land of Mists and found themselves along the coast of the sea; the Big Water stretched out before them as far as their eyes could see.

"I've never seen so much water before!" Jared gasped.

"Me neither." said his sister.

"I'm really thirsty!" Jared ran up to to the water and began to drink.

"Wait. no, don't drink..." Chomper began.

Jared spat out the water in disgust. "Ech! This water tastes terrible!"

"I tried to warn you. It tastes salty. This is the Big Water." Chomper said.

"I thought all water was the same." Isabelle said.

Ichy shook his head. "The water around and beyond shores isn't the same as the water inland; you can't drink it," he explained.

Isabelle was suddenly hit in the face with a blast of water. "What in the world?!" she gasped.

"I recognize that laugh. It's Mo!" Chomper said. "Cut it out Mo!" Chomper snapped.

"Is Mo a Sharptooth?" Isabelle asked.

"Mo eat fish in the Big Water," Mo said before anyone could reply.

"So I guess that does make you a Sharptooth," Jared replied.

"Uh-huh," Mo confirmed. "But no worry, Mo no eat land-walkers!" Mo turned to Chomper and Ruby. "Mud brothers Chomper and Ruby, what are you doing out here? Mo thought you lived in Great Valley."

"We did but now we don't anymore." Ruby replied.

"Why not?" Mo asked.

"Long story," Chomper replied.

"Mo have time to hear."

Chomper told his story to Mo. When he was done, Mo said "That's too bad."

"Tell me about it!" Chomper sighed.

The two paused their conversation for a moment. Finally, Chomper said "So, Mo, how have you been?"

"I met a lovely lady named Ionia, and she is wonderful."

"Glad to hear about you and Ionia. I'm still single, though." Chomper said. "Could you bring me to meet her?" Mo nodded. Chomper looked down at the water hesitantly; it dawned on him that he couldn't realistically go and see Ionia himself, given that he couldn't swim. Jessica, perhaps, but not him. "On second thought, how about you bring her to us instead?" Chomper suggested.

Mo took them to Ionia. "Does she spit water too?" Jared asked.

"No, that's just Mo's thing," she replied.

"Good," Isabelle sighed in relief.

"Can I ride on these Rainbow Swimmers?" Jared asked. The seemed big enough for him to fit on their backs.

"Are they meant to be ridden?" Isabelle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Littlefoot rode Mo long ago."

The two Longnecks took a ride on the Rainbow Swimmers. When they were done, Jared said ""I want to ride again."

"I think I've had enough for now." Isabelle said, shaking water off of her body.

A few minutes later, Jared, clinging to Mo's back, said "I have an idea. What if you dove down a little bit, and then shot back up and flew out of the water and into the sky?"

Mo dove underwater 10 feet then shot up into the air nearly eight feet. Jared struggled to stay on but was ecstatic. "Again! Again!" he cried. Mo then dove underwater 15 feet and then jumped 12 feet in the air. However Jared fell off and landed in the water. He disappeared under the waves for several seconds, causing Chomper and his friends to stare at the water anxiously. Thankfully, Jared soon broke back over the surface, laughing and smiling. "That was awesome!" he beamed.

"You hungry?" Mo asked him a few minutes later after he had returned him to shore. Jared nodded. Mo dove underwater and returned a minute later with water kelp. Jared wrinkled his nose in disgust, but Isabelle bravely decided to eat it.

"What's it taste like?" Jared asked.

"It's ok, but rather salty," Isabelle replied. Seeing that his sister didn't get sick from it, Jared ate the strange water plants as well.

Jared scrunched his face; whatever he had just put in his mouth, he didn't like it. Regardless, he swallowed it, prompting him to shudder.

"You want some more?" Isabelle jokingly asked, having noticed her brother's response to the kelp.

A big wave came to the shore, knocked the two over, and began dragging Isabelle out to sea. Jared tried to wade out toward her but became trapped in the current himself.

"Oh no, the water is carrying them out to the Big Water!" Ruby cried.

Suddenly, the group spotted a fin rising out of the water. "Mo, what is that?" Chomper asked.

"What is what?" Mo asked, before turning around and noticing what was the matter. "Uh-oh. It's a Sharptooth!" Mo cried before slapping the shark in the face with his tail. After the Longnecks climb onto Mo, he swam out of there as fast as he could. The Squalicorax chased after them, snapping at them.

Jessica dove into the water and began to swim toward the Swimming Sharptooth, hoping to frighten it off with her large size. However the creature bit the Spinosaurus in the arm, causing it to bleed. She retaliated by clawing it in the gills and biting its neck. The creature flailed, trying to break free of her grip.

The shark let go, but Jessica did not release her claws or jaws in return; instead, she hoisted the shark in the air with her jaws, before jerking her head down and letting go of the shark, smashing it against the surface of the water with great force.

Even besides her aim to protect the kids, she had been getting hungry, and it had been a while since she had ate any fish; this presented a good opportunity to hunt, kill and eat a shark.

The children, meanwhile, arrived safely back to shore, having been retrieved by Mo and Ionia. Once the kids made it back to shore, Jessica waded into shallower waters so she could eat in a less turbulent environment. Her arms were wrapped around the Sharptooth swimmer's body. She looked over at her Sharptooth companions.

Want some? she asked, before getting started on the tail.

I guess I could. All I had was Threehorn kid. Chomper replied.

'"You ate Threehorn children?!" Ruby gasped.

"You did?!" Isabelle and Jared gasped.

"Yes."

"Are you going to eat us next?" Jared asked Chomper.

"Of course not," Chomper replied. "Why would I?"

"You said you ate a Threehorn kid. I thought you were against eating children," Isabelle said.

"I thought he was too," Guido said.

"I was hungry and the kids would have just died on their own. I cannot adopt every orphaned kid out there!" Chomper snapped defensively.

"Are you going after children now?" Ruby's younger sister asked Chomper.

Ruby's brother shifted his eyes over to his twin sister.

"I sure hope 'it' doesn't happen while we're with him," he whispered.

"I won't eat you." Chomper said. "And unless I'm close to starving to death, in which case I hope you'll forgive me, I won't eat any children when you're around."

"How did you hear...?" Ruby's brother gasped.

"My hearing is almost as good as my sense of smell."

A Fast Biter wandered onto the beach and raked her claws into the sand; she pulled a clam out of the sand, unaware that anyone else was there. While biting into a clam, wishing she could find something better to eat, she caught sight of Jared and Isabelle. When she noticed Jared and Isabelle, she also soon noticed the Sharpteeth around them. She cocked her head back and started to trot away; she wasn't going to hunt in the vicinity of so many.

Don't go! Thud called to her.

What for? There are only two Longnecks and you were here first.

Well, the Longnecks aren't for eating, as we've adopted them, Thud said.

You adopted Longnecks?

It's a long story, Chomper replied.

Meanwhile, Littlefoot and Ali saw Haley and the surviving members of her group return to the Great Valley. "Where did you go?" Littlefoot asked.

"None of your business!" Haley snapped.

"You aren't going to find Chomper," Littlefoot said to Haley.

"We already did, he was in the Land of Mists."

"Was? Where is he now?"

"Dead."

"You're lying!" Littlefoot snapped. He didn't believe that Chomper had been killed Haley had certainly guessed correctly where Chomper had been hiding; she had stated that she had found him in the Land of Mists. More pressing than if Chomper was alive or not was the matter of how Haley had found out. Was there a traitor in his inner circle?

He also wondered about Ruby, her family, and Guido. They had been sent to the Land of Mists. Had one of them betrayed Chomper in hopes of being let back into the Great Valley?

Several minutes later, he came to his wife and relayed to her what Haley had said, when he was done, Ali said "You don't believe her that Chomper is dead, do you?"

"I'd like to believe she was lying, but she did know he was in the Land of Mists. How could she have found out?"

"I don't know."

"You don't think that one of our friends is actually a spy for her, do you?"

"I hope not."

"I think we need to verify her claim that Chomper is dead. Maybe he's still hiding in the Land of Mists somewhere."

"Agreed."

After a mostly uneventful journey, the Longneck couple arrived at the entrance to the Land of Mists. "It was much easier getting through that cave when we were kids," Littlefoot remarked as they reached the waterfall at the entrance to the Land of Mists.

"Yes, we might be able to get through the parts with deeper water that we couldn't last time but now some parts are too low for us to get through with our adult height," Ali replied.

They ventured down into the valley. After traveling for a few minutes, Littlefoot suddenly cried out in pain. They had been walking near water, visibility low due to the mist, when a Belly Dragger had sank his teeth into one of Littlefoot's legs. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten a good enough grip to take any part of the leg off with its jaws. Ali swung her tail at the creature, sending it flying through the air and several feet away from them. The dazed creature soon got back up and sulked off, deciding it wasn't worth it to attack the Longnecks now that they were alert. "Thanks Ali," Littlefoot said.

"How is your leg?" she asked.

"Bleeding and sore, but other than that, the stupid thing doesn't appear to have done that much damage."

"If you want, we can rest for a while."

"We really need to find Chomper! I can rest after we find him."

"What if he really is dead? You think you could still find a body and that scavengers wouldn't have gotten to it yet? If he's dead and his body was desecrated, we could spend a long time looking and never find anything."

"He's alive! I just know it!"
"I hope so too. But in the meantime, I think we need to get that foot of yours wrapped with some tree stars. It's bleeding a lot."

"I'm fine Ali! We need to get going!"

"Calm down Mr. Impatient! We need to take care of your foot first, then we can get going. We don't want to be leaving a train of blood behind you for hungry Sharpteeth to follow."

"Ok fine."

As soon as they had bandaged Littlefoot's injured foot with tree stars, they set off again. They spent hours looking for Chomper, but couldn't find a trace of him, alive or dead. "Where could he be?" Littlefoot wondered aloud.

Chomper, meanwhile said "Guess this is goodbye for now, Mo. We're going to go find that Triceratops herd."

"Goodbye friends," Mo replied, waving his fin at Chomper and the others.

The group waved back at Mo and Ionia until they had swam completely out of sight.

Where should we go now? Jessica asked Chomper.

Away from here. We don't want Haley or her goons to catch us by surprise again.

Littlefoot and Ali, meanwhile, had began to inquire of Leaf Eaters they came across if they had seen Chomper and his group. They figured that Sharpteeth working together in the Mysterious Beyond would be as odd as, outside the Great Valley, it happening for Leaf Eaters and would attract notice. As expected, the obtained some news of his activities.

"That Sharptooth and his friends killed my sister. Never seen Sharpteeth work like that before. He kill some of your friends or family too?" a Spiketail asked them.

"I hope not," Ali replied.

"Why are you looking for them then?"

"He was causing trouble where we live in the Great Valley," Littlefoot replied. He thought of at least telling something plausible. They likely wouldn't know that they were friends with Chomper.

"Well, sorry to inform you that you won't find them here. They took off a few days ago."

"Any idea where they went?" Ali asked.

"Not a clue, unfortunately. But, then again, maybe that's for the best. They've killed my dinosaurs who tried to fight them. Even killed a herd of Longnecks once."

"There's only one herd of Longnecks here that I know of. All the rest left." Ali said. Had Chomper killed her old herd?

"Yeah, well, now there's none. There were a couple of adults and two kids. My mate saw the attack on them. She didn't think there were any survivors."

"Too bad. They were once part of my herd," Ali sighed.

"Sorry to hear about that," the Spiketail said before turning to leave.

"Why would Chomper attack my old herd?" Ali asked Littlefoot in concern when he was gone.

"I don't know for sure, but I can't see him killing children. I don't know why he'd take out a whole herd, unless they attacked him first and he was only defending himself," Littlefoot said.

Ali stood there thinking for a minute, then her eyes lit up. "Wait, the children aren't dead!" she cried ecstatically.

"What? How would you know this?"

"Because, I recall some of your friends saying they thought they saw two Longneck children with Chomper when he returned, which was odd in itself that he'd return after he knew Haley and others wanted him dead. What if he killed the herd, for whatever reason, orphaned the kids, and tried to bring them here for us to adopt?"

"Great theory! Makes a lot of sense."

"And there's more. If we find them, it could be our best chance at defeating Haley."

"I don't follow you on that one. Why would the two children be the undoing of Haley?"

"Because, that herd is technically still part of our own."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, according to the Great Valley Council rules, if we can't have children of our own, we can still legally join if we can get someone from one of our herds to give us children to adopt."

Littlefoot know knew what she was getting at. "And if the children agree to let us adopt them, that would fulfill the rules and we'd both be on the Council!"

"Precisely."

"We've got to find Chomper!"

The following day, many miles away in the Mysterious Beyond, Screech and Thud were trying to woo the new Fast Biter member of their pack. It seemed that neither of them was getting far at beating out the other at having her as a potential mate.

They weren't the only ones flirting with romance. Chomper noticed that Ichy and Woosh had grown closer as had Dil and Sarco. Though the Belly Dragger and Sharp Beak couples were of different species, at least they were of similar types.

He, on the other hand, had growing feelings for Jessica, the young widowed Sailback. But he was a Rex. Would that work out?

"Do you like her?" Isabelle asked Chomper, seeing him look at her more often than seemed normal for merely being a fellow pack member and friend.

"Who?"

"Jessica."

"Yes."

"Do you think she'll agree to be your mate?"

"I...er...well...I..." Chomper stuttered, not sure how to reply.

"Isabelle, leave him alone!" Jared snapped.

"Why?"

"Maybe he's nervous about talking about it."

"I hope she will," Chomper finally replied. "But you have to remember she was already married and then widowed and then lost all her eggs to Egg Stealers. I don't want to rush it."

"Good idea," Jared said.

Sometime later, Isabelle complained 'I'm hungry. There's no food in this desert!"

"You could have one of these." Ichy offered, holding out a scorpion-like creature.

"Ew! Get it away! Get it away!" Isabelle screeched, freaking out.

Jared said "I found something to fill our stomachs."

"What?"

Jarred showed her a cactus. "It's got fruit on it."

Ichy, who was watching the two, grinned sardonically. "I can see this going well," he said with the scorpion in his jaws, before exerting enough force on its tail to break off the stinger, tossing it into the air and downing it in one gulp. He sat down to watch whatever was about to unfold between the longnecks and the cactus.

Isabelle tried to bite the cactus but it poked her in the mouth. "Ouch, it's attacking me. It must be a Sharptooth plant!" Isabelle cried, running around and freaking out.

"Maybe you'll best it if you bite it again," Ichy laughed.

Woosh bit off the the stems, releasing the fruit as well as cactus juice. She was pricked a few times but her teeth make short work of the plant.

"This isn't Sharptooth, just prickly plant." she told Isabelle in weak Leaf Eater.

"I'm thirsty." Isabelle said.

"We could always drink the Prickly Plant juice." Jared suggested.

"Are you sure that's drinkable?"

"You could drink it first and find out. If you drop dead, I'll know not to drink it."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You're so kind, brother." she said sarcastically. She tried it and didn't die but it didn't fully quench her thirst. "I wish sky water would fall. I'm so thirsty still!"

"Sky water doesn't fall out here that often," Jared sighed.

Luckily for Isabelle, clouds gathered and it began to snow. As it was late winter, it was more a mixture of rain and snow. Isabelle licked up the snow and rain with her tongue. However, as time went on, it began to snow and rain harder. Her thirst was quenched now and she and her brother were shivering with cold.

"We should go someplace warmer and drier," Jared said, shivering.

The storm soon worsened, leading to freezing rain and increasingly heavy snow. Despite being March, the weather was more typical of earlier winter.

"We could always eat the Flatteeth. They'd make nice meat-sickles," Ichy suggested.

"Not funny," Isabelle said.

"Let's go look for someplace drier and warmer," Chomper said. They soon found a cave to shelter in. Even inside the cave, it was still chilly.

"I wonder if we go further in, if it will get warmer," Jared said.

The further they went in, the less light they had. A bat flew past Isabelle, brushing her head. "Ahhhhh! Something touched me!" she cried and bolted.

"Isabelle, get back here!" Chomper cried.

Sarco the Belly Dragger sniffed the air and caught a whiff of the scent of Isabelle. She appeared to be some distance away, though, not too far away. However, he caught the scent of something else which troubled him: Sharptooth Tickly Fuzzy. And they were moving toward her. Sharptooth Tickly Fuzzies closing in on her. he said.

Isabelle heard Chomper and his friends running toward her and wondered what was going on. She, due to lack of light, was unable to see Sharptooth mammals came running toward her from the passage she had been heading down. Luckily, Chomper's group was able to fend off the predators and rescue her.

"Where's there?" she asked.

"It's us," Chomper replied. "Sharptooth Tickly Fuzzies were about to attack you but Sarco smelled them out and led us to you."

Thank you Sarco, Isabelle, who knew some Sharptooth by this time, said.

"Is it just me or does it seem a lot warmer down here?" Guido asked.

"Not just you. I could feel it getting hotter and hotter the further we went down, but I was more concerned about Isabelle at the time to really give it much thought," Chomper replied.

"Perhaps we should investigate why," Ichy said.

"Good idea," Chomper said.

They didn't have to search long; up ahead, in the next cavern, the floor suddenly dropped off, the cliff descending several dozen feet with bubbling and glowing lava at the bottom.

Red Claw, meanwhile, had found a great assassin to deal with Chomper. It was a Plated Sharptooth, whom, it seemed, had had a bad encounter with Chomper and his parents in the past. He had nearly drowned after losing a fight with Chomper and his parents. With his aid, he could defeat Chomper.

So, do you know where he is? the Giganotosaurus asked Red Claw.

He's hiding in the Land of Mists. Red Claw said.

I'm not familiar with that place. Where is it?

I can show you in the morning. Red Claw said.

Do you have anything to help me track his scent? It's probably changed in the many cold times since I last laid eyes on him. the Plated Sharptooth asked.

Unfortunately no. But I know his scent and can find him for you once we get to the Land of Mists.

Meanwhile, in the Great Valley, Littlefoot had come up with an idea of how to find Chomper. "Petrie, your uncle says that he's been on many great adventures and traveled far and wide. Perhaps he can find Chomper and then come back and tell us where Chomper is." he said. In the ensuing years after he had returned from his banishment, Pterano had married Etta, though they, so far, had had no children.

"That good idea." Petrie said.

Sometime later, Pterano asked Littlefoot "So you want me to go find your Sharptooth friend Chomper?"

"That's right." Littlefoot replied.

"I'll do my best."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry, I won't do anything that would get me killed. Etta wouldn't like that."

Meanwhile, while en route to the Land of Mists, Red Claw caught a whiff of Chomper's scent. Strange, smells like he's out here.

I thought you said he was in the Land of Mists. the Plated Sharptooth said.

Must have left.

Maybe we can sneak up on him. the Plated Sharptooth suggested.

Yes, but we'll need backup. I'm sure Chomper has brought his friends with him. Red Claw replied.

Meanwhile, Chomper and his friends were warming up by the lava. "It's much warmer in here," Isabelle sighed.

"Yes. Maybe we should live here in this cave. It seems cozy enough," Jared said.

"Not a bad idea, though, I think it won't be as fun being so close to the flowing fire in the summer," Chomper said.

Meanwhile, Red Claw sniffed the air. I can smell him faintly. He must be inside that cave.

We've got him now! the Plated Sharptooth laughed gleefully.

A few minutes later, Chomper and his group were sleeping. Jared moved in his sleep, accidentally bumping Guido and waking him up. Guido, tired and irritable, bumped him back, waking him up as well.

"Huh? What?" Jared muttered, looking around to see what had bumped him.

"You woke me up so I woke you up." Guido said.

"Gee thanks." Jared snorted, rolling his eyes.

The two of them were about to go back to sleep when heard something moving in the distance.

Ok, we'll draw cave teeth. Loser has to go check it out." Jared said. Guido agreed. They each reached for a stalagmite in the dark and pulled it loose and then compared sizes. Guido's was shorter.

"Just my luck!" Guido grumbled. As he walked in the dark, he accidentally treaded on Sarco's tail, waking him up.

What's going on? the Belly Dragger asked sleepily.

Thing in cave, Jared replied with his limited knowledge of Sharptooth.

Guido and Sarco left and came back several minutes later. "There's a bunch of Sharpteeth coming!" Guido told Jared.

"How many?"

"Loads of them!"

Jared poked Chomper in the face with the tip of his tail. "What?!" Chomper gasped, looking around.

"Invaders! Sharpteeth!"

Wake up! Chomper bellowed, waking up everyone else. Even Isabelle, though she didn't know Sharptooth that well, was woken by his loud voice.

What's up? Jessica asked sleepily.

Hostile Sharpteeth.

Quick, let's find a way out of here! Screech said.

Further ahead of them was a stream of running water, but it was boiling hot. making it not ideal to try and cross. Further down the stream, however, was a big rock that led across. They quickly ran across the stream and then Chomper and Jessica used their combined strength to break the rock free, ensuring that their foes couldn't get across that way.

"Quick, let's get out of here before they see us!" Ruby's father said.

A few minutes after the group had fled, the hostile Sharpteeth arrived at the water. I smell that Chomper has been here but I don't see how they couldn't have gotten across. Red Claw said.

They must have crossed the stream somehow. an Allosaurus said.

No freaking duh! the Plated Sharptooth snapped.

I don't think I can jump across. Looks too wide. the Allosaurus said.

I can help. the Plated Sharptooth said. He seized the Allosaurus and threw him across. He made it totally across, well, almost. His feet landed in the water, causing him to howl in pain. Oops! Well, close enough. the Plated Sharptooth said.

Well, that worked all right! I'll give it that. the Allosaurus snorted in disgust. But how will you get across, o brilliant one?

See if you can find them or at least find another path back to us.

Ruby, meanwhile, said to Chomper "I thought you told me that that Plated Sharptooth was defeated by your father and drowned long ago. He seems to be quite alive if he's here following us."

"Somehow he must have survived."

"How did he know you were here, though?" Ruby asked.

"Bad luck I guess. However, what I don't understand is why he has those other Sharpteeth with him. I thought you said that he fought your parents alone last time." Ruby said.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense. Unless...unless...Red Claw!" Chomper gasped.

"Why would they form an alliance against you?"

"I'm guessing that they crossed paths and since they both hate me, they're here to kill me."

Littlefoot and Ali, meanwhile, watched as Ducky and Dale's newly hatched children tried to walk. They felt happy for the two Swimmers, but their hearts ached that they had no children of their own. Ali wasn't just there to watch Ducky and her family, however, but had brought Littlefoot with her to meet them for another reason. "Rhett has been meeting with Haley." she told Littlefoot, Dale, and Ducky.

"So?" Littlefoot said.

"So, since when has Haley been ok with hanging out with Longnecks?" Ali replied.

"I am not sure. I thought she only cared about Clubtails." Ducky said.

"Me too." Littlefoot said.

"Whatever they're up to, it can't be good." Dale said.

"Did you hear what specifically they were talking about?" Littlefoot asked his wife.

"Unfortunately no. I only saw them together, which seemed odd enough in itself that I thought it worth mentioning to you guys."

"I think we should tail them and find out more."

"We're a bit big," Ali laughed. "How could we watch them without being noticed?"

"Petrie!"

"You want Petrie to do what?" Petrie asked sometime later.

"Spy on Haley and Rhett." Littlefoot said.

"Ok." He flew around the Great Valley, trying to look as though he were just flying for the fun of it, when he spotted Haley and Rhett. He stealthily landed on a cliff above them without them noticing him.

"No sign of our missing Sharptooth." Rhett said to Haley.

"Well, you and your herd keep an eye out." Haley replied.

"Ok."

"So, have you thought any more about how we should create our new order for the dinosaur world?"

"We'd need some way to convince the weaker dinosaurs that having us in charge would be for the best."

"Hmm, now lets see, what are some things that weak dinosaurs care about?"

"They like to feel that they are important. It's good that we make them feel like they are important to us, the new leaders, even though they truly are disposable. We don't want them getting on to us or else they might start riots."

Petrie was horrified by what he was hearing. He wondered what types of dinosaurs would be considered "good" by Haley and Rhett and which would be considered "disposable".

"We'll need time to think of that. In the meantime, we'll need to decide for ourselves which types of dinosaurs are worthy and which aren't. The ones that are worthy can help us plan. The ones that aren't worthy, well, we can plan for them and let them think we care about them and that they have some kind of input that matters, but we'll always set things up so that we always get our way in the end." Haley said.

"So, what do you think of Flyers?" Rhett asked Haley.

Petrie wondered what other nice things they'd say about Flyers.

Haley said "I think Flyers would make a good addition to our new order. If they can fly, they can keep an eye on troublemakers. They'd make good spies."

Petrie continued to watch Haley and Rhett, hoping to give Ali and Littlefoot a good report on their plans. If they were going to recruit Flyers, that could mean he'd have to be careful around his fellow flyers in case they were spies. He listened to them silently for several more minutes. However, at one point, he had trouble hearing them and leaned forward too far. He last his balance and fell out of the tree. Haley looked up at him, startled. Though she hadn't meant to, she moved her head into Petrie's path and he was able to grab onto it and avoid hitting the ground.

"What are you doing, beakhead?" she snapped.

"You save Petrie's life." he said.

"What are you talking about?" Haley snapped.

"Me can't recall what happened as hit head but you stop Petrie from hitting ground."

"Next time pay attention to where you are going!" Rhett snapped at him.

Petrie flew off, not recalling why he had been there due to amnesia. When Littlefoot called out to him to ask him what learned, he replied "Me no sure. Actually fall out of tree and hit head and no remember what happened."

"Hopefully you'll get your memory back soon." Littlefoot said.

"Me hope so."

Chomper and his pack, meanwhile, had been unable to find their way back to the entrance of the cave. This cave goes further than I had thought. Chomper sighed.

"At least we haven't been found by that Plated Sharptooth." Ruby said, trying to stay positive despite their growing frustration.

In the dark, spiders began to crawl on Isabelle and Jared. The two Longneck children freaked out and bolted. "Wait, come back!" Chomper yelled after them.

Eventually, the children realized that there were no spiders on them any longer and stopped running. They heard something large moving nearby. They quite froze in place and tried to avoid drawing attention to themselves, not sure if it was friend or foe. The Plated Sharptooth came into sight.

He had found the allosaurus that he'd thrown across, who'd shown him the path he had taken. The Plated Sharptooth had then killed him, in part because he, being a large Giganotosaurus, thought himself superior to smaller Sharpteeth like Brownridge Sharpteeth, and in part because he didn't want him going back to Red Claw and ratting out his mutiny. Red Claw had given strict orders to leave Chomper to him, but the Plated Sharptooth wasn't going to humor him here. Chomper was his to slay and his alone. He would leave once he'd killed the Rex. If Red Claw wanted, he could find him and thank him later.

He walked past the children, for he had caught a whiff of Chomper's scent in the distance, and thus hadn't paid much heed to the smell of Leaf Eater nearby. He knew the children were there as, when he'd smelt Chomper's scent, he'd also found theirs, but he'd come for revenge, not to eat young Longnecks. He could deal with them later on.

When he was gone, the two children stared at each other, wondering what to do, and then looked down the path that the Giganotosaurus had headed. "What do we do now?" Jared asked his sister.

"Maybe Chomper and his friends can fight him off. He's by himself." Isabelle replied.

"What if he's not alone though?"

"What could we do against him to keep him away from Chomper?"

"I think I have an idea."

I farted a rock. Jared called out to the Plated Sharptooth. He figured that this stupid Sharptooth phrase, his first he had ever uttered, would distract the Giganotosaurus at least long enough for his sister to sneak underneath his legs and go and warn Chomper.

The Sharptooth briefly stopped in his tracks; he turned his head a couple of degrees to his right, not laying eyes upon Jared.

What in the world?! the Plated Sharptooth gasped. He looked around, trying to see what Sharptooth had uttered that silly phrase. As he scanned the area around him, his eyes fell upon a small longneck that stood fair distance behind him. A bemused sneer crept onto his lips. Did that Longneck just speak Sharptooth? Someone must have been messing with him, the Sharptooth immediately thought; perhaps the Sharptooth with supposed gastrointestinal problems was playing some bizarre joke on him.

What kind of joke...? he muttered to himself, his squinting eyes locked on Jared.

Hi there, Longtooth. Jared said, mistranslating the Sharptooth word for Sharptooth.

What the heck?! the Plated Sharptooth gasped.

Isabelle used her brother's distraction to run as fast as she could toward Chomper. She didn't know if the Plated Sharptooth was just a lone Sharptooth looking for food in the cave or if he was with a group. Either way, she deemed it best that Chomper know about him. She kept running until she collided with something solid and fell over. It was Chomper's leg that she had hit.

"Isabelle, where were you? And where's Jared?"

"No time for that now. Jared's back there with a big scary Plated Sharptooth."

"Plated Sharptooth?"

"Yes. Now come on before he becomes dinner!" The two took off running.

"Why didn't he come with you?"

"He was distracting him while I slipped under his legs. He was heading this way and we were afraid he might attack you while you were off your guard."

The Plated Sharptooth, meanwhile, had grown tired of Jared's antics and had decided to eat him as a snack. The Sharptooth aimed a kick at him, figuring it would be easier than bending down to bite him. Jared narrowly dodged the talons on his feet and bolted. He knew he couldn't outrun the Giganotosaurus so he needed somewhere to hide and fast. He finally hid in a crevice, much like Littlefoot had from Dil and Ichy many years previously. The Plated Sharptooth stuck his mouth at the crevice and tried to reach Jared. Jared spat into the open mouth of the Sharptooth.

RRRRRRRNH! The Plated Sharptooth snarled angrily. Jared quaked in fright. The Giganotosaurus soon resumed his composure. He had found Jared was out of reach of his mouth, but he knew that there were other ways of getting to him.

The Plated Sharptooth smashed the rock sheltering Jared with his tail, leaving him totally exposed to attack. "Oh crap!" Jared cried.

Knowing that Jared was trapped, the Plated Sharptooth turned around, facing his rear at Jared. He grunted and let loose several loud and smelly bursts of gas at the Longneck. Jared gagged at the awful smell. Aren't you glad I don't fart rocks? the Sharptooth said mockingly. That's for spitting in my mouth!

The Plated Sharptooth then turned around and moved his head down to attack him and Jared opened his mouth to scream in fright. However, all that could be heard was a loud roar. Both Jared and the Plated Sharptooth turned to look in shock as Chomper and Isabelle arrived. Jared got over the shock of Chomper's arrival before the Plated Sharptooth did, enabling him to quickly dash under his legs while he was focusing on Chomper. Jared quickly moved beside his sister, the two of them hunched behind Chomper for protection.

You?! Chomper gasped. I thought Dad killed you when he knocked you into the water.

These young Longnecks don't seem to be afraid around you. the Plated Sharptooth remarked, picking up on them sheltering behind Chomper. Protecting them too like you did that Longneck and his friends when we last met?

Yes. What are you doing here? And are you with those other Sharpteeth we spotted earlier?

Yes, I am. Your friend Red Claw helped me find your scent.

You and Red Claw are working together?!

Yes. Though I plan to deal with you personally without waiting for him to get here. And without a further word, the Plated Sharptooth swung his tail, which had barbs on it, at Chomper, striking him in the shoulder.

Chomper snarled in pain but quickly recovered and slammed his entire body into the Giganotosaurus, knocking both of them over. The Plated Sharptooth recovered from the collision relatively quickly; instead of shaking his head to reorient himself or verbally responding to Chomper, he lunged at him, his jagged maw wide open and his arms spread out. Chomper moved aside just in time and the Plated Sharptooth hit the wall of the cavern. However, he was fazed by the collision and spun around and slashed Chomper in the leg, drawing blood and causing him to let out a roar of pain.

Isabelle used her tail to whack a rock, which had been knocked loose from the cave wall in the fight between Chomper and the Giganotosaurus, right between the eyes of the Plated Sharptooth. The Plated Sharptooth ignored the attack and lunged at Chomper's jugular. Chomper moved his head out of the way of the attack just in time to avoid his veins being slashed open; the very tips of the predator's razor-sharp teeth grazed the skin of his throat - painful but not life-threatening. He kicked at Chomper's leg, intending him to fall and land on the stalactite beside him.

Chomper would have fallen, had not Jessica heard the fight and been running toward it. She arrived in time to grab Chomper before he was impaled on the stalactite. While still holding onto Chomper, she used one of the talons on her feet to strike at one of the Plated Sharptooth's exposed legs.

The Giganotosaurus cried out in pain and turned to face the Spinosaurus. This fight is between Chomper and I. Stay out of this if you know what's good for you!

Go away! There are two of us and only one of you. If you leave now, I won't pursue after you. Chomper said.

Chomper, if you let him go, he'll go and get Red Claw. Jessica argued.

The plated Sharptooth's mind raced to find a good way out of this. Naturally, with the sudden introduction of another Sharptooth into the fray, it drifted to the last time he had fought against two Sharpteeth. A pair of rexes all too integral to his current situation.

In that situation, even with how hot-blooded he was and with how viciously he fought, he found himself bested and very nearly killed; in the immediate situation, even with there being no precarious drops, and with one of the Sharpteeth he faced not being a rex but a comparatively less lethal Sailback, he was inclined to be more cautious.

Not that he was intending to let Chomper walk out of this alive, even if it meant offing himself in the process.

His gaze shifted to one of the rock walls around him, Chomper, Jessica and the two longnecks. Again, Chomper's warning resounded in his head.

Fine, I'll leave and won't go to Red Claw and you in turn won't attack me from behind. the Plated Sharptooth said.

Agreed. Chomper replied.

Jessica was uneasy as she watched the Plated Sharptooth leave unscathed. It seemed foolish to trust that he wouldn't sell them out to Red Claw. Chomper too felt uneasy about letting him walk free, but if he continued the fight, it was possible that either he or Jessica could be killed. And he'd rather let the Plated Sharptooth walk, as much as he disliked him, than lose Jessica. He looked down at his feet to check on Jared and Isabelle. The two longnecks looked back up at him; just by their eyes and their scent, he could tell that they were more than ready to get out of there.

"This has been an interesting few minutes," Chomper chuckled uncomfortably. His gaze briefly shot back to the direction of the plated Sharptooth.

Several minutes later, Ichy and Whoosh returned to Chomper. He had sent them out to follow the Plated Sharptooth to see if he would keep his word not to betray them to Red Claw. I'm tired of staying underground. The air is too stale and it makes my nose all stuffy. Did you two find out where the Plated guy went and also where Red Claw is lurking? I want to avoid them and get out of here. he said to them.

"Unfortunately we found him lurking around the main way in. We'll have to go the other way out." Ichy said.

There's another way out of the cave?

Yes, we found it while out flying around. Whoosh replied.

In that case, we'll just go back the other way and leave them here waiting for us until they get bored and leave.

I'm afraid we can't.

Why not?

"They're by that side too." Ichy sighed.

"But you were sure the Plated Sharptooth didn't meet with them."

"Yes, I know."

"It seems the best thing to do is hide out in here and hope they're dumb enough to come in. We can set traps for them."

"They could just starve us out you know."

Chomper thought for a while. An idea crossed his mind. "Ruby, remember ages ago when we were younger and we used the talkback in the Cave of Many Voices to trick Red Claw, Screech, and Thud into thinking we were bigger than we actually were and that there were more of us than there actually were?"

Ruby knew what he was getting at. "You think we can do now what we did then and that it will work now like it worked then?"

"I don't see what harm we could incur by trying it here. They're going to get us anyway otherwise."

"Chomper, do you even know if there is a part of this cave that has a talkback?" Guido asked.

"No, but I thought it couldn't hurt to go check."

As they searched the cave, looking for a talkback, they heard a voice. "Hey Ruby!"

"Someone called me and I don't think it was any of you who called me so there must be someone else here!" the Fast Runner cried.

"Find out who it is. They seem to know who you are," Ichy whispered to her.

"Who are you and how do you know me?" Ruby asked.

"I'm Skip."

"Skip? The Tickly Fuzzy?"

"Yes."

Oh I'm so glad to see you, even if I can't really see you in this light. How have you been?"

"Ok. Luckily, since I'm so small, Haley and her goons hadn't noticed me, so I had stayed in the Great Valley despite being a Halftooth even when Ruby was kicked out. However, recently they found us and chased us out. So we went looking for you."

"How did you know to find us here?" Guido asked.

"I had been looking everywhere for you with no luck. As to why I found you here, it was sheer luck. I encountered Red Claw and hid in here from him when I spotted those two Longnecks with Chomper. I followed him here."

"When you say 'us', you make it sound like someone else is with you," Ruby said.

"Skip, is that them?" came another voice.

"Who's that with you Skip?" Ruby asked.

"It's my girlfriend, Darla. She came with me."

"Skip, if you got in here without getting noticed, do you know a way out of here without getting noticed?" Ruby asked.

"Up on the roof."

"A lot of good that's going to do most of us then. Only Ichy, Whoosh, Guido, and you guys will be able to get out then," Isabelle grumbled.

"There's a lake below. It's a bit of a drop but you should be able to make it."

"Jessica can swim, and so can Jared, Dil, Sarco, and Ruby and her family. And Ichy and Whoosh and Guido can fly. But the rest of us can't swim and will need to find a way to float." Chomper said.

"You can just grab onto each other," Darla said.

Meanwhile, while the group planned their escape, the Plated Sharptooth began to wonder if Chomper had not trusted him and had turned back, expecting an ambush at the exit ahead of him. No matter, both entrances were blocked and he didn't see how the Rex could find a way out now.

Chomper and his friends, meanwhile, spent the next several hours piling rocks high enough for them to get to a passage that led to the roof. While Screech, Thud, the female Fast Biter, Skip, Darla, and Isabelle could cling to Dil, Sarco, and Jessica, Chomper was most worried about himself. He had such short arms. How could he swim?

"Ruby, how am I going to swim with my small arms?" Chomper asked.

"You have massive legs. You could use them to try and swim."

"So did Red Claw's brother and he still drowned when Littlefoot pushed him into water."

"Yes, but you won't be being hit in the head with a boulder."

"Could you show me how to swim?"

A few minutes later, Chomper was moving his arms in a circle. "Good, now keep that up and also try kicking your legs too." Ruby said.

Chomper did, with disastrous results. He lost his balance and fell over, knocking over the rock pile they had spent hours building and had just finished, nearly flattening Skip, Darla, Ichy, Whoosh, Jared, and Isabelle, who scampered out of the way just in time. "You know, I think it would be better if you tried that in water instead of on land." Ruby sighed, shaking her head.

Chomper glared at her angrily, his nostrils flaring with frustration.

"Now what are we going to do? It took hours to set up all of those rocks and Chomper knocked them all down in less than a minute!" Isabelle whined.

"Not to worry, little one, we'll get them back again and get you out of here. It's not like we need to hurry too much as we don't need to hurry as long as Red Claw and his friends don't come in here, and it doesn't seem like they are going to." Ruby said.

Red Claw, meanwhile, was growing increasingly impatient. Still no word from our friends at the other side of the cave.

You think he found out about the ambush somehow? the Plated Sharptooth asked.

It would seem so.

If we go in, he could be waiting for us with an ambush, though.

You're right. He can't escape and he'll starve to death if he stays in there too long. The longer he stays in there, the hungrier and weaker he'll get. And the easier it'll be to finish him when he finally comes out for food.

Meanwhile, Chomper's group was rebuilding the pile of stones that he had knocked down. I still don't see why he can't help, seeing as he was the one who knocked them all down. Whoosh complained.

Because I have short arms and would have to bend down to grab everyone one of them.

Well, I don't seem to have any problem and I'm taller than you.

You have far longer arms than I do, Jessica.

Excuses, excuses. Whoosh sighed.

Ok fine, I'll help. I'm just a bit tired from practicing swimming.

"So, how much longer will it take to finish putting all of these rocks in place?" Isabelle asked, pushing rocks with her nose.

"It'll take until it's done." Ruby answered.

Two hours later, they had finished piling up the rocks. "Go, I'll keep guard incase they come." Chomper said.

One by one, the group went up, until Chomper and Isabelle were the last two not up. At that moment, Red Claw, the Plated Sharptooth, and several other hostile Sharpteeth entered the room, rapidly advancing toward them. Chomper bent down, picked up Isabelle in his mouth, and toss his head upward, hurling her through the air and to safety. Chomper quickly climbed up the rocks. The Giganotosaurus was right behind him. The Rex tried to kick the rocks down, which he succeeded in doing, but not before the Plated Sharptooth was on the next level of the cave with him. Dil, Sarco, Screech, Thud, the female Fast Biter, Isabelle, and Jared dove into the water along with Ruby and her family and Skip and (what was her name again, Daisy?) while Ichy, Whoosh, and Guido flew overhead. Chomper and the Plated Sharptooth fought on the edge of the water. The Plated Sharptooth pushed Chomper over the edge, but the Rex grabbed onto him as he fell, taking the two of them over the edge and into the water. Despite being in water, the Plated Sharptooth still continued to try and kill Chomper.

Chomper tried to swim away from the Plated Sharptooth. Though he had had a bad run in in the past with him, it seemed more important to try and get to shore than to waste time fighting. The Plated Sharptooth, however, wanted to kill Chomper, even if he himself died in the process. He was too angry about being shown up by him years earlier. Chomper did as Ruby had instructed him, and, though it was difficult for him to stay afloat, he began to near shore.

However, as Chomper began to reach the shallows, the Plated Sharptooth, who was having far more trouble staying afloat than Chomper had, grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him back into the deep end. The two fought in the water, trying to stay afloat.

Don't you ever give up? Chomper grumbled at the Giganotosaurus.

When hell freezes over! the Plated Sharptooth replied.

At that moment, the ground began to shake. The Earthshake caused waves to form in the water, which pummeled the two Sharpteeth. Despite being in water and an earthquake occurring, the Plated Sharptooth's top priority was still to kill Chomper. Around them, the earthquake was pushing nearby vegetation into the water as the cliffs began to collapse into the water. Trees, vines, and even thorns fell all around them.

Red Claw and his minions had not been idle. As soon as the earthquake had begun, they fled the cave as fast as they could, heading for the nearest exit. The arrived outside to watch, from a safe distance, the fight between Chomper and the Plated Sharptooth in the water below.

Meanwhile, Dil, Sarco, Jessica, Jared, Isabelle, the Fast Biters, Ruby, her family, Skip, Darla, Ichy, Whoosh, and Guido had all arrived safely at shore. "Run, I'll go back for Chomper!" Jessica told the others.

The Plated Sharptooth bit Chomper in the shoulder, drawing a lot of blood. Chomper went underwater and it seemed to all observers that he had drowned. Suddenly, however, Chomper came back up, carrying vines and thorns and a several tree branches.. The Plated Sharptooth moved at him to strike again, but Chomper was ready, thrusting the vines, thorns, and branches at him. The Giganotosaurus became entangled in these and sank under the water and drowned.

Chomper, weakened by his efforts and injuries, started to sink as well. However, Jessica arrived just in time to grab his left claw before he totally had gone under and dragged him to shore.

What happened? Chomper sputtered.

You nearly went under but I got there just in time.

Thanks for saving my life.

It's the least I could do for someone I love. And before Chomper could react, the Finback kissed him on his lips, causing him to blush. He'd never been kissed by a girl before and his first kiss was more intimate, not to mention wetter, than he'd thought it would be.

I love you too Jessica. he said.

The others will be getting worried about us. We should go back.

Agreed.

I need to find something to stop the bleeding. Chomper said. Upon reaching the others, Ichy and Whoosh quickly gathered fern reeds and began to wrap them around Chomper's wounds.

Good thinking you two. Jessica said.

This is going to take a while to heal. Chomper said.

We should get out of here before Red Claw finds a way to get to us. Sarco informed them.

Oops, almost forgot about Red Claw in the confusion. Thanks for pointing that out Sarco. Chomper said.

Wish you could all float on the river current like I can, long travel with no use of energy.

Sorry, we'll have to go on foot. Jessica said.