IN THE MYSTERIOUS BEYOND
It is an early morning, and we see a young sharptooth wake up. As you may have already guessed, that is Chomper. He looks around, and then decides to go to the pond to get a morning drink. Soon he is joined by Petrie, but he seems troubled.
"Chomper! Chomper! Help!"
"What's the matter Petrie? You seem troubled!"
"It's Nyota! I can't find her anywhere! And Dhoruba is also gone! Me scared!"
"Calm down, we'll find them! They could be just wandering around here somewhere, may be looking for food!"
"Me hope so!"
"Common, we gonna look for them! You fly up high and let me know if you see anything, and I will use my sniffer on the ground!"
"Got it!"
The two go on a search mission, and it wasn't very long, before Chomper's sniffer picked up a familiar scent.
"I smell someone! This is a familiar one, probably Dhoruba! Let's go and find him quickly!"
"Yes, me agree!"
The two continue their search in haste, which has paid off after several minutes. They stumble upon a group of sharpteeth (mostly a mixed group of Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus and Velociraptors).
"This don't look too good! They could eat me!"
"Do not worry Petrie, I do not think they are here for food. Something's happening down there and I think I see someone, who will give us some answers! Let's go!"
Chomper and Petrie get closer to the event, and they see Dhoruba standing around not too far away from the rest of the sharpteeth.
"Dhoruba!"
Dhoruba grunted with confusion at first, and then started responding to Chomper and Petrie as normal.
"What are you kids doing here?! This is no place for you!"
"We were hoping to get some answers from you, and we will not leave, until we get them!"
Dhoruba sighed
"Very well, I am listening then"
"What is happening down here, and what is all this crowd?"
"Krixus (NOTE: let me remind you, this is Krixus the Ekrixinatosaurus. He comes here to claim Dhoruba's territory, since he is the one controlling it at the time) is coming here, and I am awaiting his arrival, so I could challenge him on a duel!"
"Okay, since there is no way of talking you out of this madness, do your thing! But tell me, where your sister is? I haven't seen her around either this morning!"
"I though Nyota stayed with you?!"
"She was gone when we woke up!"
"Listen, you better go through those mountains down there" – pointing the direction "that's where I think she might have gone!"
"But for what?!"
"That's where Krixus is expected to come from, and she might have gone to stop him from coming here! She could get hurt!"
"Do not worry! You focus on your fight with Krixus, while me and Petrie find your sister and bring her back!"
"Do it quick, you don't have much time!"
"Let's go Petrie!"
"Common Chomper! Me scout the air and lead the way!"
"Got it!"
Once again, the sharptooth and the flyer went searching for the missing sharptooth girl – Nyota. They were following the path for a while now, but soon, Petrie discovered something.
"Chomper! Me see something!"
"What do you see?"
"I see some sharpteeth down there, about 5 of them, and there is a small sharptooth as well!"
"Nyota! And she could be in trouble! Let's hurry!"
"Me fly ahead to scout!"
NEAR THE GATHERING OF SHARPTEETH
Dhoruba is patiently gazing upon the mountains, where he is expecting Krixus to appear. He grows impatient and irritant, since it is his upmost desire to put an end to the situation. At some point his temper gets better of him and he shouts (roars) out loudly.
"Is this why I came here?! To see the mighty Krixus running back with his tail between his legs instead of giving me a worthy fight?! What a coward!"
"I am no coward!" the deep husky voice was heard from another side of the crowd. When the crowd cleared the way, it was no doubt that he was here.
"Dhoruba…"
"Krixus…"
Both of them exchanged aggressive gazes at one another. So strong and intimidating, that it would seem just one look would be enough to freeze one to the cold death.
SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS
Chomper and Petrie continue their search for Nyota.
"Chomper, are you sure we are going the right way? Cause me not so sure at all!"
"My sniffer never goes wrong Petrie! So far her scent has not faded, which means we are on the right track and must be getting pretty close, as it appears that it's getting stronger!"
"Me trust you Chomper! Just make sure we find her before something else does!"
"Do not worry, we have managed to fight through everything so far, we will not give up now! Let's go, I think she is around those cliffs somewhere, I can sense it!"
"You got it!"
Few moments later, they make a turn around the cliff that Chomper pointed out and soon discover Nyota.
"What are you doing here?! Why did you go all this way?"
"Chomper, I tried to find Krixus and talk him out of challenging Dhoruba, but ended up getting lost instead. I'm so sorry guys!"
"Me think it do not matter now! Time to go home and help Dhoruba! He needs us!"
"Petrie's right, we gotta go and help your brother!"
Just as they were about to leave, they heard some stones crumbling. As they look around, nothing appeared.
"It may have just been a wind, me hope!" Petrie sounded very nervous
"I don't think so!" Chomper replied while frowning at the same time. He already knew who was out there and was eager to meet them face to face. But nobody appeared still, and so the teen Tyrannosaurus made a challenging roar.
"Come out and face me if you dare, cowardly lizards!" he frowned even more, that now it started to look more like a snarl, with some of his teeth being revealed.
IN THE GREAT VALLEY
Ruby just opened her eyes, and realized that she was asleep near the waterfall. "Could it have been all just a dream?" she wondered. But as soon as another figure appears, her doubts started fading straight away.
"Hey Ruby! Didn't want to wake you from your sleep, so I went for a quick run! Did you sleep well?"
"Oh thank you Donnie, I slept very well and had a very nice sleep story, which in the end turned out to be not a sleep story after all, but it was very good!" Donnie grinned.
"Well, What do you wanna do now?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you could come with me. There is somebody I want to introduce you to!"
"And who would that be?"
"Mr Thicknose! He has always been fascinated by you and your kin, always trying to find out more about you and making all those theories, so I thought to myself – may be you two could talk, so that theories will not be theories anymore?"
"Sure thing! He sound like a clever guy, would love to meet him!"
"Allright!" she giggled.
They made their way towards Mr Thicknose's home. Upon arriving, they saw Mr Thicknose sitting and relaxing.
"Mr Thicknose?" Ruby called for him
"Yes my dear, how can I help you?"
"Allow me to introduce you to someone!"
"Very well, who is it and where is he?" as he looked around he could not find anybody near other than Ruby
"Donnie, you can come out now!"
As Ruby called for him, a figure starts emerging near Mr Thicknose. At first it was blended in with the surroundings, but later on it became clearer. Mr Thicknose was shocked at what he saw and did not say a word at first.
"Allow me to introduce you to Donnie, or also known to you as the Hidden Runner!"
"Well, well, well! I cannot believe this! You are the Hidden Runner!" Mr Thicknose was still excited and surprised from the encounter
"That is exactly who I am sir! Exact same one you saw a while ago, if you remember!"
"Well, it is my pleasure to meet you! I had no idea you could talk!"
"Pleasure is all mine, sir! There is a lot I could tell you about Hidden Runners and what we are!"
"I will be more than happy to listen to your stories kid!"
"Then I guess we will be here for a while, so might as well make yourselves comfortable!"
SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS
As Chomper, Nyota and Petrie were ready to make their way back to the sharptooth crowd, they now heard the screeches. Immediately afterwards, several fastbiters came out of hiding behind the rocks, hissing and snarling, ready to attack at any time.
"You finally came out of hiding, cowards! Now let's if you're ready for THIIISSS!" as Chomper shouted out these words, he roared and charged towards the attacking sharpteeth. A fight broke out between the young sharptooth and the four attackers. However, three more showed up few seconds later and started making their way towards the youngsters. Chomper fights bravely and with fury. He struck one of the fastbiters in the head with his tail, while the other one, who was preparing to go in for a bite, was kicked in the tummy and then rammed with a head to the chest, causing him to trip all over multiple times and hit the nearby rock. However, Chomper realizes that he is being badly outnumbered.
"This is insane! They just keep coming and coming!" he shouted out loud.
A little while after, he was getting exhausted and one of the fastbiters managed to land a hit on his head with a tail. And then another one followed by another fastbiter in the back, which knocked Chomper off the balance. As he was tilting, attempting to regain his stance, another fastbiter tripped him over and sent him falling to the ground.
"Chomper, noooo!" Petrie screamed, while Nyota watched in terror from the side. As she sat there, hiding behind the rocks, she watched how a fastbiter attempted to strike Chomper down with his hooked claw on the leg. Chomper managed to block it with his arm and tries to hold it back, so it doesn't get him. Petrie is throwing some small stones at the sharpteeth , trying to do the best he can to distract them and give Chomper a chance to recover and make his way out.
NEAR THE GATHERING OF SHARPTEETH
"So, you have finally come. Think you are good enough to beat me and take my lands then, hah?" Dhoruba addressed to him in a rather arrogant and slightly insulting manner
"I would not sound so arrogant if I were you, BOY!" Krixus replied with that same rough husky voice of his. Being called a boy seems to have made Dhoruba even angrier that before. They slowly started circling one another
"You dare call me boy!" he replied, annoyed. After a brief pause and a quick exchange of looks, he continued
"Very well then. You came a long way I presume. I'll make sure I give you something to remember! To remember what happens to those, who dare challenging Dhorubaaa! ROOOAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!" he charged as he roared, with all the might he had
"ROOOAAARRRRRGGGHH" his opponent responded and charged as well. A duel was on, the two combatants engaged in brutal fast-paced combat. As they met one another in the middle of the so called "ring", Dhoruba made the first move with his straight out head butt, launching forward at his opponent, but missed. Another followed from him immediately after, but from the side, which Krixus also dodged and quickly responded with a counter attack by a bite, but jaws only snapped loudly in the air as Dhoruba dodged. And so it went on – heads ramming, tails swinging, bodies crashing, twisting and jaws snapping. A few moments later, Krixus managed to grab Dhoruba's shoulder with his bite, which caused agonizing pain, but Dhoruba scratched his snout and then retaliated with a tail swipe in the head and then a launching head butt in the chest, which sent Krixus smashing down on of the nearby trees. Both have recovered their balance, roared and the fight was resumed.
SOMEWHERE IN THE MYSTERIOUS BEYOND
Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike carried on. They were determined to find Chomper and Petrie at the point of crossing, so they could continue with their journey.
"We aren't very far! I can actually see the crossing over there!" Littlefoot is pointing to a distant place
"But the road is not straight, so it will take us longer to get to it"
"I do hope that Chomper and Petrie are okay, would be terrible if anything happened to them!" Cera pointed out
"As strange as it may sound, I think Petrie and Chomper would do much better with whatever is down there than all of us here"
"What makes you say that, Littlefoot?" Cera asked with a slightly annoyed look on her face. Must be her pride wounded again (surprised? Nah, not really!)
"Petrie is a flyer, while Chompr is suited for being out here much better than us. They will make it for sure" as Littlefoot replied, Cera's face slightly changed from arrogant and annoyed to a more thoughtful expression, as if she was really touched by his words
"I say we keep going, yes-yes-yes! We do not want to miss them!" Ducky interrupted, Spiked grunted nodding in agreement
"You're right Ducky, but it might get dark before we are able to cross this pass. I think I see a nice area nearby, where we can safely sleep. The roads on both sides are pretty narrow, so very unlikely for any big sharpteeth to discover us here" Littlefoot was pointing to an open area, which was also located under a rock, so the rocks could provide a cover in case it rained. The group headed straight for the spot.
SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS
Chomper holds his ground bravely, but fastbiters seem to be overwhelming him with numbers. Even Petrie's attempts to distract them barely keep them busy.
"Nyota! Do something! Chomper need our help!" Petrie called to Nyota. She was too afraid to go out there and fight. But seeing Chomper lose to the fastbiters was even worse. She hesitated, as she was seeing Chomper barely managing to hold on any longer before the claws of that fastbiter would be upon him. Next thing we hear is a loud scream and one of the fastbiters was sent flying to the ground. And then another followed. This caused a good distraction even to the fastbiter who was trying so hard to get his razor sharp claws into Chomper's face, which has given Chomper enough time to react.
"Get off me!" he shouted as he smacked the fastbiter in the face and kicked him away. When he got up, he saw Nyota fighting off another one of the sharpteeth. "She is doing pretty well! Thanks to her I am still alive!" Chomper thought to himself. Together, they managed to fight them off, while the remaining ones fled from them.
"Are you okay Chomper?" Nyota rushed to him quickly to see if he was hurt. With a warm grin on his face, Chomper replied.
"I am allright, do not worry about me! I'm just glad you guys aren't hurt!"
"Chomper! Nyota!" As Petrie shouted to them they both looked up at him
"We need to hurry and help Dhoruba! We must go now!"
"Petrie's right Chomper! My brother may need our help!"
"Then let's make sure he gets it! Common guys!"
And so they rushed towards the gathering of the sharpteeth, where the battle was already raging on.
NEAR THE GATHERING OF SHARPTEETH
Both combatants seemed to be doing equally well. The fight was going back and forth for each one of them. At some point, Dhoruba managed to get a grip of Krixus neck with his jaws, but it did not seem to be much use. "What is going on?! His hide is so tough, I can barely pierce it with my teeth! This is insane!" Dhoruba thought to himself, shocked to what he has discovered. Few moments later, Krixus shakes him off and smacks him with a tail in the head, sending him off balance, and seconds after, uses his tail to trip him in time, so he would fall down. After crashing into the ground, Dhoruba looked up at his opponent. With a snarl he got up quickly and resumed combat. He kept trying to catch Krixus off guard, but failed all the time, since all of his attacks would be dodged or blocked. Krixus was just too good of a fighter. After another attempt from Dhoruba to strike, Krixus takes the opportunity and head butts him from below, hitting his lower jaw and causing him to lose balance. He then landed few more strikes with his head and tail, until Dhoruba is sent falling to the ground, but this time, he is struggling to get up.
"You fight well, Dhoruba, but this will not help you know! Your defeat is certain!"
"I don't think so!" all of a sudden everybody heard another voice from the crowd. As the crowd stepped aside, Chomper, Nyota and Petrie were coming though. It was Chomper who shouted. As they were coming closer, Chomper showed Nyota and Petrie to stay back and approached Dhoruba.
"He doesn't stand alone, Krixus!" Chomper continued with a snarl and frowned eyebrows.
"How do you know my name, BOY?!" he replied with an insult. But Chomper holds himself pretty well, he has learned it over time.
"No matter! If you wish to suffer defeat alongside this pathetic excuse for a sharptooth, so be it!" Krixus continued. Dhoruba and Chomper exchanged looks, and Chomper winked to him, indicating with his eyes to roll over when he gives the signal. Dhoruba understood the message and awaits with patience, while Chomper attempts to provoke Krixus into charging at them
"Then quit your empty talk and get on with it then! I haven't got all day!"
"You asked for it! Rooooaaaaarrrrr!" as Krixus charged, completely blinded with rage, Chomper and Dhoruba waited for him to get closer. As he approached Chomper signals Dhoruba
"Now!" and Dhoruba rolls over and sweeps his tail quickly at Krixus' ankles, causing him to fall really badly. While Krixus was sent smashing into the ground, Dhoruba gets up and recovers.
"You are just on time! Not a bad idea with this roll over technique, Chomper! I actually really liked it!"
"Ha-ha! Thanks! What do you say we go and finish off that annoying cocky lizard?"
"Thought you'd never ask!" as Dhoruba grinned, they prepared to attack an almost fully recovered Krixus. As their opponent attempted to head butt Chomper, he dodged, while Dhoruba landed a tail hit onto his head, with Chomper immediately following with a bite to the leg. Krixus yelled in pain, but the attack continued with more tail swings, head butts and occasional bites until Krixus has finally given up resisting. Chomper and Dhoruba exchanged looks, and then Dhoruba finished his opponent off by landing a powerful hit in the head with his tail, causing Krixus to fall down. As the two approached, Krixus, beaten and defeated, slightly raised his head to speak.
"Go on then! Finish it! What are you waiting for?!" Dhoruba made a small step closer and replied
"You fought well, Krixus, but we are not murderers! We will let you live, so you remember your defeat for the rest of your days! You are forever banished from these lands never to return! Now get up and leave while you still can!"
"You will not get away with this! I will have my revenge!"
"And I will be waiting!" Dhoruba answered quickly slightly closing his eyelids making a sharper look into his defeated opponent's eyes.
Krixus got up and left, and so did the sharptooth crowd that was gathered there. Nyota ran up to Dhoruba quickly and hugged him.
"I am so happy you're okay! I was so scared!"
"Do not worry sister, we sure taught him a lesson!" then he looked at Chomper and continued
"We did it together, you and I!"
"That we did my friend!" Chomper replied with pride and showing Dhoruba a thumbs up.
Later that evening everyone was relaxing. Dhoruba is sleeping in his cave, Petrie is on a tree. Nyota is sitting near the lake, Chomper appears and approaches her.
"Hey"
"Hey Chomper…"
"Are you okay?"
"I am, yes… Thanks to you and my brother" she smiled
"I'm just glad we managed to make it in time to help Dhoruba!"
"You were very brave out there. When I saw you confront Krixus and stand beside my brother, my heart was racing both out of fear and admiration… It was so dangerous, and so…"
As she was struggling to find the right word to describe what she felt, Chomper moved a little closer to her, so that they are right next to one another. He held her hand and their heads gently leaned against each other.
"Nyota, I need to tell you something… Something that I believe you just have to know…"
"What is it Chomper?" he feels nervous about telling her the truth about her father's death, but the burden would be unbearable later on, so he decided to go on
"I know the story about your father's death… And I know who killed him…"
For a second she was looking shocked, but as she recovered from it, she started responding
"So, who was it then? Who was responsible for my father's death and how did it actually happen?"
"He was looking for food, to feed you and your mother… Dhoruba was also very young and so he needed his support as well. Your father went to look for food and one time he came across an already dead dinosaur, but he did not realize, that it was a fresk kill of another sharptooth… A bigger and more powerful sharptooth of my species…"
Nyota kept listening as her eyes were slowly beginning to form tears
"The big sharptooth made a warning roar to your father, but he refused to yield and challenged him instead… He did not stand a chance and lost a fight, suffering terrible and fatal wounds, although he was able to take a piece of meat to the family…"
"And what of the big sharptooth?"
"You see… The big sharptooth, that was not just any sharptooth… He was my father…"
"Wait! Now hold on… Are you sure about this?! May be he just looked similar, right? It could have been anybody!"
Chomper took a deep breath and continued
"Unfortunately, it is no mistake. The sharptooth was indeed my father. Because my mother and I were not too far away from the scene when the fighting happened. My mother and I were the ones who returned to the kill first, but before we got close, we saw your father there. My mother did not want to risk leaving me unattended, and so my father ended up confronting the one, who was trying to take our meal – your father…"
Tears started dripping down from her eyes, as she could not believe what she was hearing. On one hand it would have been easy to just blame Chomper for it, but that was not in her nature. She wouldn't blame a child for his father's crimes
"Chomper… Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"
"I only found the night before I found you missing in the morning went to look for you. Until then, I wasn't certain and did not want to disturb you with this in case the information turned out to be false, I wanted to be absolutely sure!"
"I see…"
"Nyota… I'm sorry about this. I cannot take responsibility for my father's actions, but even so – I just wish it didn't have to be like this…"
"Couldn't you stop him?!"
"How could I? At that moment your father was a threat to me, and my father did what he had to do for his family – feed and protect it at all cost. He did give out a warning, and your father, although brave, but foolish, decided to challenge him, although he knew that our species are the strongest and one of the largest of the sharpteeth. Much stronger and larger than yours and his. I deeply regret that it all happened, but we are what we are, and we do whatever we have to do – we cannot change that. But we can try to change the way we look at it and accept other's choices even if we think they were wrong. Although it was foolish for your father to challenge mine on a duel, but he did what he needed to do to help the family, and he did it with honour and courage! I saw everything! He fought bravely, like a soldier until the very last moment!"
"But he retreated in the end, didn't he?"
"Only to bring you food and survive long enough just to see his mate and his children!"
There was a brief pause for a while. It seems that Nyota is trying to digest all the information. After some time, she resumed the conversation
"Chomper…"
"Yes, what is it?"
"I just want you to know, that I do not hold blame with you, or your family for my father's death…"
"Really? You mean it?"
"Yes, I do. Everything you just said, it's all true and nothing can change that. I just wish it never happened, or at least he had survived, but nobody else can be responsible for his own life aside from him. He definitely knew that and decided to fight anyway, so I guess he already realized, that he may not have been able to get out of that alive. But I hold no blame on him either…"
"Come here…"
She moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest. After few moments, Chomper could feel tears running down from her eyes. Chomper held her closer. They spent several hours like this without noticing that it was getting dark. Eventually they fell asleep next to each other near the lake.
Next morning everybody wakes up as the Great Circle rises into the sky. It was time to prepare for the journey back to the crossing, so that Chomper and Petrie could be reunited with their friends. Dhoruba approaches Chomper, Petrie and Nyota
"So, it seems the time has come"
"Yes, it has. Me and Chomper need to go meet our friends. They may be already waiting for us on the other side" Petrie replied
"Then let's go. Me and Nyota will take you to the crossing"
They all walked for a long time, but eventually reached the crossing point. It was time to say goodbye and move on
"So what happens now, Dhoruba? What will you do now that you have defeated Krixus and earned yourself a status amongst the local sharpteeth?"
"As I always wanted – I will find my father and join the Hunting Pack. I will come and visit my sister and mother every so often, but I will stay with the pack for my lifetime and hope to become a captain or a general eventually. You know, we don't usually accept foreign species into hunting packs, as this tradition only exists among our own kin, but someone of such great courage and honour could be useful to us in our mission and is more than welcome! I couldn't wish for a better comrade than yourself to stand beside me should there be any trouble!"
"You have no idea how honoured I am by your offer! Unfortunately, I cannot… I need to find my friends and carry on with my journey"
"And where are you headed?"
"We don't really know. Just exploring the world beyond the Mysterious Beyond I guess"
"Hah!" Dhoruba smiled "I could not think of a better idea myself actually! And you do make it sound very interesting! Hope I will be able to do exploring of my own during my service in the pack!"
"I'm sure you will!"
"Allright, take care Chomper! And you too, Petrie! Was really nice having you around!"
"You take care as well, Dhoruba! We will miss you!" Petrie replied first
"And look after yourself! Try not to get hurt!" Chomper winked
"Ha-ha! I won't!" Dhoruba returned the gesture
As they all exchanged looks, Dhoruba continued
"Okay, I shall leave you to say your goodbyes to Nyota…"
"Thank you Dhoruba!" Nyota replied. She approached Chomper, mostly her eyes looking at the ground
"I cannot believe you're actually leaving… I only wish you could stay… We could be together…"
"I wish for that myself, but my friends need me. They don't even know if we are alive or not" he paused and after exchanging looks with Nyota, Chomper carried on
"I also wish we could stay together, but I am afraid it will not work out in the end… You do know that species don't mix, so we have no future together unfortunately. I am so sorry, Nyota!" his eyes started watering, and the same could be seen in Nyota as well. She started sobbing and ran to Chomper, to hug him. And so they stood, for few minutes, completely in love with one another and knowing that whatever love they may share, it can never truly work out between them. After several minutes, they let each other go
"I have to go now. Goodbye Nyota…"
"No… Not "goodbye"… I'll see you soon!" she smiled through her tears
"Then I will see you soon!" Chomper replied and after giving her a smile back, he turns around and starts walking towards the crossing. Petrie was flying near him and they were talking as Nyota stood in the distance, watching them go further and further away.
As the shot focuses on Nyota's face, we see her continuously watching Chomper and tears flowing down from her eyes and the famous song "If We Hold On Together". Song keeps playing, screen is fading and credits roll.
Next on LBT A Whole New World: Mr Thicknose is so carried away with learning more about Hidden Runners, that Ruby starts feeling left out. Will she be able to get Donnie's attention or is she doomed to stay unnoticed? Will Chomper and Petrie finally make it through the crossing, or do they have more challenges to complete before that can even happen? Stay tuned to find out!