Chapter 8: The Journey Begins
Hey guys. Just a note (not that this is going to happen a lot, but I figure I should tell you). From now on, Bold and Italicized is talk from the spirits.
As we woke up, the storm had passed fully, and it was the break of dawn. This meant that we should start moving. Nudging Littlefoot awake, he noticed the sunlight, and I said "Alright. We better get moving. The valley's probably still quite a ways away."
Littlefoot got up quickly, but was still seemed to be a bit sluggish. I knew he wasn't going to forget the pain in only one day, so I have to be patient. As we left the cave, he was moving a bit slow, but at a good pace for how tired he likely is. The first thing we had in mind was to see if we could find some food. I mean, if we're going to survive the journey, having food in our stomach was going to be necessary.
As we started to travel, we passed a large set of foot prints. Now most dinosaur tracks looked the same to me (other than the different sizes), but these were obviously Longneck footprints. I could tell it was hurting Littlefoot to see these footprints, because I could see he'd gotten glum again upon seeing them.
It was at that moment that a leaf fell from the sky. I knew this leaf type. It's a Treestar! It landed directly in the footprint, and Littlefoot looked at it, and I looked into it as well. I heard the voice of a female, talking to Littlefoot.
'Dear, sweet Littlefoot,'The voice said beautifully, 'Do you remember the way to the Great Valley' To which Littlefoot shook his head. 'Follow the Bright Circle past the Rock that looks like a Longneck, and past the Mountains that Burn.'
Littlefoot seemed to understand, and continued to listen. The voice had one last thing to say.
'I'll be in your heart, Littlefoot. Let your heart guide you.'
With this, I was certain I knew who it was. "That was your mother's voice, wasn't it?"
Littlefoot nodded, as he picked up the Treestar with him mouth, and put it on his back. And as we kept moving, we came to find a wall, where Littlefoot saw a shadow. "Mother!" he said, as he jumped gleefully, "It's you!" Afterword, he started running to the shadow, and when it started to shrink, I knew it was an illusion.
"Wait Mother," he said, not even knowing about the shrinking of the shadow, but then he came over to a rock wall. A couple of moments later, he finally realized the truth. I came over, planning to console him. And then he said something unexpected.
"Troy," he said sadly, "I don't know if I can do this... I've never been all alone before."
"But you're not alone. I'm here with you."
To this, Littlefoot's face showed signs of happiness, but with a bit of sadness left in. With that, we decided to start moving again.
Along the way, we ran into someone we weren't expecting, as we neared the ravine once more. "Cera," I said, "Hey."
"What do you want, Troy," she said snobbishly, "And why are you hanging out with that Longneck?"
"We're travelling together," I responded, then asking "Where are you going?"
"To find our kind. They're on the other side."
Littlefoot warned her by saying "We've looked all over here. You can't climb up the other side."
"Maybe YOU can't," she retorted, moving onto a ledge that would take her into the ravine. "Wait," Littlefoot then continued, as she struggled to stay on the little ledge, "We're going to the Great Valley. Maybe we could... help each other."
"Ha," she scoffed, "A Threehorn doesn't need help from a Longneck." Immediately after she was done insulting Littlefoot, she fell down a ramp connected to the ledge she was on. Littlefoot was still trying to see if he could get her on board, by telling her "At least we wouldn't be alone."
"Well, when I find my sisters, I won't be alone," she said from down in the ravine, "so go away. Threehorns can be very dangerous. They only talk with other Threehorns, and they only travel with other Threehorns. And you should do the same, Troy."
Immediately after, Cera was out of sight, and me and Littlefoot were left in this barren landscape again. There was no sight of green food anywhere, and once again, it was just me and him. Though for some reason, Littlefoot looked sad again. I asked what's wrong, and he said what was on his mind.
"Is it true what Cera said," he asked sadly, "That Threehorns only travel with other Threehorns?"
"Normally. Why do you ask?"
His expression was one that showed how upset he was, as he asked "Does that mean you're going to leave me?" Hearing this hurt me on the inside. Normally, I would have been insulted that he would hold me to the same standard as Cera, but I understand that wasn't what he was feeling.
"No, Littlefoot," I told him calmly, "I'm not gonna leave you."
"But what about what Cera sa-"
"Who cares what Cera thinks," I cut him off, determined to set his mind at ease, "It is true what she said for most Threehorns. But I'm not like most Threehorns." I could tell this made him feel a little better, so I continued, "And besides, when I make a promise to a friend, I keep it."
"So... we're friends?"
This question, I was prepared for, and gave him an honest answer. "Of course we're friends. And I never let a friend down."
So, this chapter was done a day before my usual time (3 days for a new chapter), because I already knew what I wanted to do for this. And it was relatively easy to write. Long story short, I got this chapter done quick, and I think I did okay.
