Chapter 1: Secrets

70 million years ago, in the Great Valley, Littlefoot and his friends were enjoying a game of Toss-the-Seed, except with a melon. Cera, Littlefoot, and Petrie on one team, Ducky, Spike, and Ruby on the other, while Chomper was off searching for Stinging Buzzers. The current score was tied at 9-9, and the next one to score would win, "Cera, over to you!" Ducky said, kicking the fruit. Spike was alongside her, ready to intercept the pass. The fruit flew through the air, heading towards them both. Cera knew what Spike was going to try to do, but she was prepared, "No you don't!" she said. She jumped up in front of him and caught it in her mouth.

Now all she had to do was make the goal, or pass it to Littlefoot, who was open and close, "Cera! Pass it to me!" he called. Cera wanted the bragging rights for scoring and therefore winning, so she kept running, feeling confident that she could do this. Ruby caught on and covered Littlefoot in case Cera decided to pass to him, "Cera! Me open! Pass to me!" Petrie said. Cera wasn't going to pass. Ducky was also close to the goal and was completely open, "Get it, Spike!" she said. Spike didn't need to do much.

Cera was running just a little too fast, and not really looking directly ahead. Because of this, she ended up tripping over an overgrown tree root, causing the melon to fly out of her mouth, "Now, Spike!" Ducky said. Spike was already on it. He grabbed it before Cera could comprehend what happened, "Oh, no." she said when she saw Spike run toward the goal, "No, no, no." she said, hurriedly getting back onto her feet and pursuing him.

She was slowly gaining ground on Spike, but there wasn't enough distance for her to catch up. Spike made it across, bringing home the win, "Yay! Good job, Spike!" Ruby said. Spike nodded, and of course, immediately ate the melon, "Oh, Spike. You always eat the ball after." Ducky said. Cera wasn't happy that her team lost, but, she had learned a thing called good sportsmanship, and she was getting good at showing it, "Good game, everyone." she said.

"Yeah. Wanna find Chomper and play Hide-from-the-Sharptooth?" Littlefoot suggested. As if to answer him, they all felt heavy footsteps approaching, "Gah! What that?!" Petrie said, worryingly as he clung to Littlefoot's neck. "Calm down, Petrie. There's nothing that will hurt you in the Valley." Littlefoot said. Then Chomper came running to them with a whole hive of Stinging Buzzers, "Hey guys! You've got to try these! They're the best Buzzers I've ever tasted." Chomper said eagerly.

While the Buzzers' sting Chomper couldn't feel, they flew at everyone else, "Okay. Those can hurt us. Get to the water!" Littlefoot said. They all ran to the watering hole to avoid getting stung. Chomper was confused at first, but then he remembered, "Oops. Buzzers stings don't affect me, but they do sting them. I eat Buzzers, but they certainly don't. Better get rid of these before they come back." he thought.

He put the hive between two branches of a tree, and some were still trying to sting him, "Well, waste not, want not." he said, eating the rest. The others were still running to the water, receiving a couple stings here and there, "Ow! Chomper makes this mistake a lot. Ow!" Cera said. Littlefoot agreed, "I know, but it's just a mistake. And, in all honesty, sometimes it's not that bad. This is not one of those times. Ow!" he said. Once at the watering hole, they all jumped in and swam away from the surface.

They stayed down there for a while until they vaguely heard Chomper chomping at the swarms of bugs, eventually getting them all. Once they didn't hear the sound of buzzing anymore, they poked their heads out to check, and also to, of course, get more air, "Did you get rid of the Buzzers?" Littlefoot asked. Chomper nodded, still chewing on a group of them, "Thank you." he said. They all got out of the water, and Spike shook to dry himself off but also splashing Ducky at the same time.

To get back at him, she also shook herself off, "How do you like that?" she said. Needless to say, one thing led to another, and another, ultimately leading to everyone splashing each other until Grandma Longneck came upon the scene, "Children." she said. Everyone stopped and looked at her, "Hey, Grandma." Littlefoot said. "Sleeping time little ones." she said. All of them agreed, "Okay, Grandma." Littlefoot said, going with her.

Then the others started hearing their names being called, "Bye, Littlefoot. See you tomorrow!" Cera said. Littlefoot said his goodbyes and went back with Grandma. Once home, he was greeted by Grandpa, "There you are, Littlefoot." he said. Littlefoot laid down next to him, and he noticed that Littlefoot was still wet, "Don't mind me asking this, but, what were you doing?" he said. Littlefoot knew why he was asking, "Oh. Chomper tried to bring us another hive of Stinging Buzzers, and we ran to the watering hole. But after we got out, Spike splashed Ducky, then she splashed him back and…you can guess where I'm going with this." he said.

Grandpa laughed, "I understand. You know, I did things just like that when I was a youngster." he said. Then Grandpa wanted to tell Littlefoot a story before he went to sleep, "Do you want to hear a story?" he asked. Littlefoot nodded, "Sure." he replied. Grandma looked at Grandpa, "Isn't it a little late for stories?" she said. Grandpa shook his head, "No, I'll just tell him one. Of course, nothing scary." he said. Grandma figured if Littlefoot wanted to hear it, she had no reason to stop it from being told, "Okay." she said, heading off for a quick meal before she went to sleep.

Grandpa smiled, "What's the story, Grandpa? Is it actually scary?" Littlefoot asked. Grandpa thought about that, "The only way this story is scary is if you believe it's real. It's a story about a journey that I went through when I was young. And one that changed me forever." he said. Littlefoot listened carefully, "Okay." he said. Grandpa began, "Long ago, before the great drought, me and my friends were about as adventurous as…well… about as adventurous as you are. No matter the danger that we could have faced, we never turned down a single one, even if our parents felt otherwise. But, we always told them everything that we had done, and they usually enjoyed listening. But, there is one adventure in particular that neither me nor any of my remaining friends have spoken about to anyone but each other. But I trust that you will not tell anybody. At all. This is one that you absolutely have to keep a secret. Okay?" he said.

Littlefoot was intrigued, and also curious as to what could've happened to make Grandpa want to keep it a secret, "Grandpa keeping this big of a secret for so long? And telling just me? It must be something very interesting. Or very dangerous. Do I actually want to know what happened and bear with the burden of not being able to tell anyone else? Or should I just say no and not worry?" he said to himself. He felt that if he said no, he'd then want to know so badly about what he was going to say. After a minute or so of pondering this, he said yes, and Grandpa started telling him, "Okay. One day, while me and my friends were just enjoying some tree stars, when food everywhere was plentiful, we heard some of the slightly older Longnecks talking about some Sharpteeth that were stalking us, waiting to pick the herd off one-by-one. When we heard this, we were not worried in the slightest because out there, that's the common thing to expect, not to mention we were sure that the adults could fend off any Sharpteeth we came across. But then we started hearing more conversations, from the elders, that it was just one. Now, as younglings, we were curious, so we discreetly listened in." he said.

"What'd they say?" Littlefoot asked. "Well…I can't remember everything they said, but I do remember that one said the Sharptooth alone had killed off 4 of the strongest members of his herd. We thought it was just Sharptooth on his own. We wanted to ask one of them at a later point, but then we heard a screech in the distance. One that sent a chill through my whole body. In fact, every single Longneck in the herd looked in that direction, and I could tell they were worried. The screech didn't sound like any dinosaur I've ever heard. Not even a Sharptooth. But something about it made my friends curious. Now, I could tell they wanted to see what made the sound. And, to be honest, I did, too, but our parents taught us otherwise. They would have brought me, but their parents, knowing their adventurous nature, stopped them before they could even think about asking me. After that, the Bright Circle was leaving the sky, and the females guarded all us young ones while the males guarded the area in the event that a Sharptooth attacked us, as was expected during that time. I wasn't asleep for very long before both of them woke me up and wanted to search for that Sharptooth. I told them I didn't want to get into trouble or take the risk of being killed. I don't remember how they did it exactly, but somehow they managed to convince me, and we were off. Now, I didn't think it was possible to get past the guards without being seen, but no, my friends had thought of everything. They knew what the guards did every night. I don't remember how we snuck past them, but we did. When we did, they started running, I believe it was to make sure that we wouldn't be spotted, and I did the same. Now, the whole time, I was wondering how they were thinking to even find a Sharptooth, but I was also afraid to ask." he continued.

"Did you?" Littlefoot queried. Grandpa paused for a few moments, "Yes. I did. Asking that question was the most terrifying thing that I'd ever done. When I asked, they both looked at each other, and then back to me, and I had a bad feeling about what they were thinking. I was right to be worried. They decided that since I was the youngest of us all, I should be used as bait. I asked them how they even knew if the Sharptooth was still around. They gave me no answer. They just wrapped some vines around me and hid in some bushes. I was horrified that if any Sharptooth showed up, they'd just leave me to die. The three of us waited, and waited, and waited. No Sharptooth came for a while. Which was surprising because the night was their prime hunting time. Just as they were getting ready to untie me, they heard the same screech, only much closer, and quieter since none of the herd woke up. They ran right back into the bushes. At first, I thought it was Sharptooth. The only thing that got me doubting that was that I did not hear heavy footsteps, nor did I feel the ground shake. I froze when I heard the screech, and through other bushes, I could see something moving slowly through them. I thought it was a Fast Biter getting ready to attack me, but I was wrong. I realized it wasn't a Fast Biter the moment I saw a claw moving through the bushes. It was getting dangerously close to them, but then its head emerged. It looked right at me and I just felt the life draining out from me. It was much bigger than a Fast Biter, but smaller than a Horned Sharptooth (Carnotaurus). It had skin colors I've never seen together. All black with an orange…line going from its neck to its tail. It walked like a four-footer. Its mouth was smothered with blood. It…it moved so slowly, almost like it was hesitating to attack. It just kept circling around me. It felt as if it was taunting me with the possibility I could run away. I wanted to scream. To alert the herd. I tried, but I couldn't make a sound. Then, it stopped. It stopped directly in front of me and looked at my chest. I was just waiting for it to attack and my life to end, but it didn't. It just…grabbed the vines that were wrapped around me. Then it looked into my eyes again, and it started smelling me. I was petrified and didn't try to imagine what could've happened next. When it stopped, it raised its claw, and I closed my eyes, but I heard the vines snap. I opened one eye, and I saw it had cut the vines. I looked down to see if it had cut me, but I saw nothing. Ever since then, I've wondered exactly what it was thinking. My only idea is that it somehow could sense the fear in me, and...not kill me. It just stood there for a while, staring at me, and I was doing the same. I realized that there was something different about that Sharptooth. Unfortunately, this didn't last much longer. A guard from the herd saw it and gave the danger call. All the guards then converged on it and it vanished into the bushes. Once it was gone, my mother came and started chastising me, as did my friends' mothers." he said.

"Is that everything?" Littlefoot asked. Grandpa sighed, "It was…for a short time. Only a few nights after, I was out for a quick tree star when I heard something breathing around me. Against my better judgment, I wanted to know what it was. It didn't take long for my question as to what it was to be answered. Its head emerged from inside a tree, this time. This time I had a little more confidence. Granted, I was still scared to the bone, but I just…had a strange feeling about it. Again, it didn't attack me. We just stared at each other again. A few hours before then, I had slipped in a marsh and got a stick slightly stuck in my ankle. It noticed this and looked more closely at it. It then started climbing the tree. I turned to head back, but then I heard it come back down. I looked back and it had some wet-looking leaves in its mouth. I stopped and it started tending to my wound. First, it removed the stick, and started covering my wound with the leaves. It stung horribly, but I just ignored it. Somehow the Sharptooth knew that the tree stars helped with wounds. What I did next, I was surprised at. And I still am to this day." he said.

"W…What did you do?" Littlefoot queried, now more curious than he'd ever been. Grandpa sighed again, "I spoke to it. I don't know what made me ask this, but I did. I said, 'What are you?' I wasn't expecting any sort of response from it, especially a verbal one. But I was wrong again. It stopped temporarily, and it dug words into the ground. Somehow it knew our language and it dug, 'female' into the dirt. I thought, and I still do think, that she was probably one of the most sophisticated, if not THE most sophisticated Sharptooth that's ever been encountered by anyone. Anyway, she continued soaking the plants onto my cut. Then my mother happened to come across the scene, and she froze. So did the Sharptooth. Both of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. If only it was an eternity. Another guard saw the Sharptooth, gave the danger call, my mother quickly grabbed & carried me away, and the Sharptooth just kept looking at me as I was being carried. I couldn't help but look back at her. This time, she didn't leave and the guards surrounded her. They were going to kill her. But right as one of them was about to step on her, she moved, but she was very quick. She moved faster than any Sharptooth, or any dinosaur for that matter, than I'd ever seen. I could barely see her at all. After that, it was chaos. Everyone else started panicking and running away with us youngsters while the males stayed back in an attempt to kill her. I didn't see much after that because we were getting very far from the males. But the one thing I did see and could never forget is that I saw my father fall onto his side…and the Sharptooth standing by his head, before looking back at me one more time. I was heartbroken. After a lot of running, my mother, along with the rest of the herd, stopped to rest. My mother then asked me why I was near the Sharptooth, which she called a 'Mystery Tooth.' She then explained that before me, and even before her, that the Mystery Tooth was an unknown kind of dinosaur. No one knew anything about it, apart from what it looked like, and what it always ate. But, from what she said, only one dinosaur ever lived to tell the tale. But he was treated like he was crazy, though some believed him. When she said Mystery Tooth, every single member of the herd looked at us. And the eldest of all the elders came over, and my mother explained what she had seen. The elder said that there was only a single Mystery Tooth per generation. My mother didn't dare argue with the elder. She and I both knew what we saw. But since then, I have not seen the Mystery Tooth, or even heard about her." he finished.

Littlefoot was shocked that such a thing could happen, "Are you sure this happened? I mean…a unknown kind Sharptooth, for one. But a Sharptooth…not attacking you? Tending to your wound like a mother? It just…it…it just doesn't sound like anything a normal Sharptooth would do, especially to a Flattooth." Littlefoot said. Grandpa nodded, "Of course, she was no ordinary Sharptooth. But even if she was, I couldn't agree with you more, Littlefoot. What she did was nothing even comparable to any Sharptooth that's ever lived. She didn't think like a normal Sharptooth, but I never saw her enough to know anything more about her. You don't have to believe anything that I say if you don't want to. But since I haven't seen her, or any of her kind—if there even are others of her kind—I'd have to assume she's dead. Honesty, even if she is still alive, I don't think we'll ever see her." he said, laying his head down to sleep.

Littlefoot thought otherwise, "But…what if you did see her again?" he asked. Grandpa looked back at him, "If I ever saw her again? I have a feeling that she won't remember me. This was long ago." he answered. Littlefoot said nothing else, "Well, I'd say that it's about time to get some rest, don't you?." he said. Littlefoot agreed by yawning, "Yeah. Good night, Grandpa." he said. "Good night, Littlefoot." he said back. After they both drifted off to sleep, Grandma came back and laid next to them before also falling asleep.

This was going to be Littlefoot's last normal night. What became of his life after that, he never could've seen coming.