A Peaceful Valley

TWANG!

ZIP!

THUNK!

Three times this sequence of sound occurred along with feet racing through the forest.

Littlefoot skidded to a halt and looked back over the path he had just raced across.

"How'd you do this time?" He asked the rider on his back.

Aylene leapt off and walked back toward the targets she had set up. She looked at the arrow closet and smiled with satisfaction.

"Closer than last time," She grunted as she pulled the arrow out and continued on to the next one. "Thanks for helping me practice today, Littlefoot. You know, I'm really starting to get the hang of riding you."

"No problem, Aylene," Littlefoot smiled and tilted his head. "Besides, it's kinda fun."

"Well, I can't exactly practice this kind of archery back in my world," Aylene shrugged as she pulled her last arrow out of the target. "I can practice in my backyard, but riding on an animal in my world, not so much. But this skill would come in handy in the future."

"I'll admit, you're world does sound very interesting," the longneck commented, "I would like to see it."

"Yeah," Aylene nervously bit her lip, "but like I said before: dinosaurs in my world are…you know."

Littlefoot nervously nodded, still slightly disturbed from the truth she had told him a while back.

"So having a live dinosaur show up would be...uh…chaotic to say the least," Aylene wrung her hands together as she imagined the consequences, which were not pretty, "Especially if you start talking. I know you shocked me the first time we met, and the took some doing."

"I understand," Littlefoot frowned.

"Besides," Aylene took the charm around her neck with her right hand and looked at it, "Grandma told me a while back that only humans can pass through the barriers of the worlds for some reason."

"Speaking of which," the Apatosaurus asked, "what is it like to go back and forth between worlds?"

"Well," Aylene thought for a moment, "Honestly, I'm starting to get used to it. The only thing that is problematic is that when I get back I'm usually dirty and sweaty. Fortunately, my bedroom is close to the bathroom so I just have to carefully sneak across the hall to take a shower.

"Plus my mom is starting to get suspicious about why she is washing my swimsuits so often even though I haven't be swimming recently to her knowledge," the girl rubbed the back of her neck. "And yesterday she commented to my dad that some of the spices and snacks are starting to go missing from the cupboards."

Littlefoot giggled slightly at the joke. By now, he knew roughly about what Aylene was talking about based on the stories she often told whenever she came back, which was nearly everyday now.

"It's a good thing that time stops in my world when I come here, or else I'd really be dealing with more awkward questions," Aylene grinned as she tried to lighten the mood, "Not to mention, I promised my grandma that I'd keep the Time Stone's power a secret."

Aylene then sadly looked away and rubbed her arm. Littlefoot knew Aylene well enough by now that she only does that when something's troubling her.

"Aylene?"

"It's just…" Aylene sighed, "I hate lying to my parents like this. But at the same time, I don' think they'd understand. I don't really know how to explain it, but when I'm here and with you guys, I feel like I'm a part of something much bigger than just me. But I'm sure mom and dad would just worry, but I can take care of myself now."

"I know you can," Littlefoot said with encouragement, "You've proven that when we first traveled to the Great Valley. Not to mention you also took care of us."

"Yeah," Aylene softly smiled as the memories of her first adventure returned to her. It only seemed like yesterday that she and her friends took down Sharptooth, the most feared Tyrannosaurs Rex in this world. That was certainly a battle she would never forget.

"Littlefoot!" A voice called. "Littlefoot! It's time to come home!"

"That's Grandpa," Littlefoot walked up next to Aylene, "C'mon , let's go."

Aylene nodded, slipped her bow over her shoulder and mounted back onto the longneck. He set off running through the trees to find the elder Apatosaurus.

The sun shone down through the leafs and the grass gently swayed as a breeze swept over the land. All around them, the Great Valley was abundant with rich vegetation that stretched for miles, all the way to the wall that enclosed the land. Waterfall poured down from the high cliffs and raced into crystal clear rivers. The rivers gently flowed into glass-like lakes that sparkled in the sun. Everywhere the two friends looked, they saw various herbivore herds grazing upon the lush food this home had to offer or little ones running around and enjoying the day.

Littlefoot and Aylene reached the elder longneck that was walking toward a small clump of trees. He looked down as the two of them and warmly greeted them with a smile.

"Hiya, Grandpa," Littlfoot happily said as he trotted to a stop.

"Hello, Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck replied to his grandson. He then looked over at the little human on his back. "And welcome back, Aylene."

"Thanks, sir," Aylene smiled, "It's great to be back,"

"Would you care to join us for breakfast?" the elder longneck graciously offered.

"Sure," She nodded.

"Then come along you two," Grandpa Longneck gestured to another tree covered with leafs in the shape of stars.

"Okay, I'm hungry," Littlefoot replied as they walked toward the tree.

As they passed by a clump of grass, Aylene sharply turned back around.

"What's wrong, Aylene?" Littlefoot asked when he noticed her sudden action.

"Oh, nothing," Aylene shrugged, "I thought I saw the grass move."

The group continued on their way as two three-clawed hands parted the grass. A pale tan and gray Struthiomimus peeked out through the tall reeds and watched as the trio walk on. He looked at the creature riding on the little longneck and raised an eyebrow. He had never seen anything like it before. Was that the "human" that dinosaurs had been talking about lately?

Although he had been warned about this human's skill and intelligence, seeing her now made him start to have doubts. She looked so small in stature that she surely wouldn't much of a problem for him. Besides, no one was as clever as he was.

He soon lost interest in the girl as he looked over the rest of the valley and grinned maliciously.

"I like this place," he said out loud, "yes, I like this place a lot. Don't you Strut?"

The egg-eater heard a munching sound and looked down into the grass.

"Strut, get up here!" He ordered.

Another Struthiomimus popped up out of the grass and, much to the other's disgust, had grass in his mouth.

"What?" He swallowed his snack, "I'm eating."

"Spit that stuff out!" The other demanded, "Go on, spit it out!"

"But Ozzy," Strut complained, "I'm hungry!"

"Spit it out you grass guzzler!" Ozzy slapped his brother across the face, causing him to spit out the grass and cough. "No brother of mine is going to eat vegetation. Not while I'm around."

Strut sighed with frustration. "Then what are we going to eat, Ozzy?"

"Eggs, dear brother," Ozzy simple said.

"Augh," Strut groaned, "Last time we had those we were nearly sharp-tooth food!" He shuddered at the memory of a few nights ago, "Ugh, I'm going to sleep terrors for weeks!"

"Why do you think we came here," Ozzy looked out to the valley again, "Look around, the valley is full of nothing but stupid plant-eaters. As well as nice, plump, juicy eggs."

With that, the two set out through the grass, looking for a defenseless nest to snatch their next meal from.