CHAPTER SIX: THICKNOSE'S WARNING
The grownups all gave them a stern lecture for missing half the lecture. They were brought in. Mr. Thicknose was talking about how to fight off various types of Sharpteeth. Though normally they had been itching to hear this one instead of his usual sonorous ones, they now were more concerned about the Fire Rock and their discovery, especially Littlefoot.
Thicknose caught Littlefoot staring dreamily, off in thought. "Littlefoot, pay attention." he snapped.
"Er, sorry Mr. Thicknose. Er, do you know anything about the Fire Rock? You've been here longer than Grandpa. If anyone would know, it would be you." said Littlefoot
"This is a lecture about fighting off Sharpteeth. However, as it is, this tale does involve Sharpteeth, though they haven't been seen in so many cold times that nobody now alive probably knows how to fight them off. As it is, I had met an elderly Threehorn who met such things. He was one of the searchers for the mysterious Fire Rock in his younger days. He alone of his group got away." said Mr. Thicknose. The group gasped.
"Yes, this rock is said to bestoy knowledge and experience well beyond one's years. Likely a load of nonsense! But I did hear this, there is a pack of Sharpttooth Tickle Fuzzies near the Fire Rock. They normally eat other Tickle Fuzzies, but will settle for us if they find us. He said he fought them with his horns. He got really scratched and cut. He lost all of his friends in that quest. He never would say where he had looked. He only said that the entrance had long ago been sealed and that nobody would find it and that was as it should be." said Thicknose.
"Now, if we can get back to how to fight off a Fast Biter. The proper method, for Spiketails anyway, is to..." he began...
"But do you think the Sharpteeth are still there?" Littlefoot interrupted.
"Still where?" grumbled Mr. Thicknose.
"Near the Fire Rock." asked Littlefoot.
"How am I supposed to know?" grumbled Thicknose. "Now, back to the lecture. Spiketails..." he continued.
After the lecture was over, Cera and the others talked to Littlefoot. "I think we should just forget this Fire Rock. We've had our fill with Sharpteeth." said Cera firmly.
"Me agree." said Petrie.
"I do not think it is worth getting eated over. Oh no, no, no." said Ducky.
"What, are you a bunch of scaredy eggs?" said Littlefoot, shaking his head.
"You should just grow up on your own and maybe you will get to lead the Great Valley someday." suggested Ducky.
"No, I want it now!" snapped Littlefoot.
"Well, you'll have to find a way to cross that Flowing Fire, assuming that even is the proper path to this Fire Rock, before you can get anywhere near it. And I'm not helping." said Cera firmly.
"Fine! I don't need you! More power for me! Come on Ducky, Petrie, and Spike." said Littlefoot.
"Me no sure about this." said Petrie.
"Ducky?" asked Littlefoot.
"I do not know. It sounds dangerous. It does. It does." said Ducky skeptically.
"Spike?" asked Littlefoot, the frustration rising in his voice. Spike shook his head.
"Fine, be that way!" he shouted. He ran off. He came to Liam and his crew. "I found it. You were right about my friends. They are not that cool. They wouldn't go with me because Mr. Thicknose said there might be Sharpteeth." grumbled Littlefoot.
"Yes, we warned you about those losers!" said Aang.
They went into the cave after Littlefoot. Eventually, they came to the canyon overlooking the Flowing Fire. "Well, I was thinking, we will need something to carry us across. Like a rope or a carrier thing. But there doesn't seem to be any." said Littlefoot.
"Yes, it appears an Earthshake broke what used to be a bridge over there." said Liam, pointing. Sure enough, there did seem to be a point further on down where there once had been a bridge.
"We could get materials to get across. But the grownups won't just give it to us. And if we tell them what we've found, they will take the Rock for themselves." said Liam.
"i agree. We should be in charge. Not those pesky grownups." said Littlefoot. Littlefoot knew Liam meant they would have to steal the items. He normally would have been against it. But he felt this was so important that the breach of the moral code of the Great Valley was necessary. "Think we will meet any Sharpteeth?" asked Littlefoot.
"I do not know. I'm sure we can take them." Liam reassured them. Littlefoot went up the path. Liam held the others back.
"If we do encounter any Sharpteeth that give us real trouble, we're going to leave Longneck boy to them and get the Rock for ourselves. Then we can get rid of them and him and rule the Great Valley." said Liam, laughing. The others nodded and laughed. They started back up. Way down the path on the other side, well beyond them, a hungry pack of smilodons sniffed the air, hoping to get the dinosaurs as their meals.
(Note: I know Smilodons aren't supposed to be in dino times, but they put other mammals in and also moved Littlefoot from the Jurassic so I think it's open to possibility to bring in Smilodons.)
