Regroup

Although Littlefoot didn't have the same sense of time as Derek did, he could still tell that the boy on his back had been asleep for the whole morning. The sun was very high in the sky when Derek shifted his position and groaned. The human slowly opened his eyes and sat up with a dazed expression on his face.

"Ugh," he mumbled, "how long was I out?"

"Well," Littlefoot replied, "the sun was just rising when you went to sleep, now it's almost directly high in the sky."

"Oh," Derek said flatly.

He then slipped off of the Apatosaurus back and staggered for a moment before regaining his balance. The boy stretched his arms and yawned, waking up his limbs.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Not much," the longneck replied. "I just tried to find a small breakfast, but most of the leafs had been dried out. And they taste horrible. I did manage to find something, but now I'm thirsty."

"Then you should get a drink." Derek suggested.

"But what about the drought?" Littlefoot pointed out. "Shouldn't we save the water?"

"Well, we could ask for drink," the boy shrugged. "No harm in asking, right?"

"I guess not. Let's go."

The two friends walked down a path through the forest until it opened out to the edge of the river near the dried up Thundering Falls. The first thing they noticed was that the water level had dropped significantly. The river had thinned out so much that they would have to practically climb down into the pit to reach the water.

"That doesn't look good." Derek said.

"You still think it's a good idea to ask for permission?" Littlefoot nervously asked.

"There's no harm in it," the teenaged boy replied, "I'm sure whoever is guarding the water will be understanding."

Suddenly, a booming voice came from behind.

"What are you two doing here?!"

Both Littlefoot and Derek turned around sharply to see Topps marching up toward them with a slightly angry look on his face.

"I take that back," the human mumbled before addressing the Triceratops. "You don't have to scare us like that, Topps. Littlefoot just wants a drink."

"It's not his turn to drink, human!" Topps stopped just a few feet away from them.

"What do you mean "not his turn"?" Derek raised an eyebrow, slightly angered.

"We agreed that we would all herds must take turns drinking at the watering hole." Topps sharply said. "Longnecks' turn for water is when the sun touches the Smoking Mountain."

"Look," Derek narrowed his eyes slightly, "I have nothing against herds taking turns, but I don't think it should include the children. That isn't fair for them."

"There is no fair when it comes to survival!" Topps snapped. "Now I'll have to ask you two to leave!"

"Now you listen to me, Triceratops…!"

Derek didn't get to finish his sentence because at that moment, the ground started to vibrate with small tremors. He turned around and saw Littlefoot's grandparents walking up a large path through the forest toward the riverbank.

"Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck said, "there you are. Where have you been?"

"Well, Derek woke me up this morning and he asked me to help find Aylene." Littlefoot explained.

"Aylene?"

"She and I…got into a fight yesterday and she ran off." Derek looked down at the ground. "I was up all night looking for her. I thought she might have gone back to you guys, but I guess she didn't. Littlefoot agreed to help me look for her but so far we haven't found her."

"Ahem!" Topps interrupted. "That's very unfortunate, but you forgot to mention that you were going to have some water, and that it's not your turn!"

"Oh, be quiet!" Derek snapped.

Everyone was taken aback by the boy's sudden outburst. Even the elder Triceratops could see that this human was both irritated and slightly angry.

However, Littlefoot didn't have much time to think about what was going on because at that moment, he heard a small voice call out his name.

"Littlefoot! Over here!"

The longneck turned around and was a little surprised to see Aylene and Cera crouching low behind a log.

"Hurry!" Aylene commanded in a hushed voice, sharply gesturing with her hand.

Littlefoot cautiously looked back at the grown-ups and older human boy. He then slowly took a few steps away from the group, hoping that they wouldn't see him slinking away. When he was out of sight, he darted toward the log and leapt over it. The moment he was on the other side, he, Aylene, and Cera quickly darted off into the forest.

"You judge us wrongly and you know it!" Derek argued.

"I'm only doing what needs to be done!" Topps shot back.

"But this is going too far!" Grandma Longneck replied firmly.

"I'll say," the human boy nodded. "Just like when you accused my sister of being a bad influence!"

"Don't sass me, human!" Topps scowled. "You're not the one who has a daughter you want to protect!"

"True," Derek narrowed his eyes, "but I do have a sister I want to protect! Different situation, same principle!"

"You also haven't had to stand up to predators in your life!" the Triceratops said sternly. "You don't know what it means to stand tough!"

"Now that's not true!" Derek jabbed his index finger at the Triceratops. "I may not have faced T-Rexes and the like, but I've had to stand tough through hard times! But you aren't being tough, you're just being mean!"

"Call me mean all you want, human!" Topps snarled. "But I'm going to make sure we all have enough water!"

After watching the threehorn and human, Grandpa Longneck calmly spoke up.

"How about we work out a compromise?"

"No!" Topps harshly replied. "We must be firm!"

"Can't we agree on anything?!" Grandma Longneck said firmly.

After the trio was safely out of the adults' hearing range, they stopped in the middle of the forest to catch their breath.

"Oh!" Cera grunted. "What are we going to do about the grown-ups? They're acting way like babies!"

"And it's not just them." Aylene replied. "Nearly all the adults in the Valley are starting to become irritable."

"It's all Thundering Falls fault!" the Triceratops stamped the ground with her forepaw. "If we had more water this wouldn't be happening!"

At the mention of more water, Littlefoot's face lit up with enthusiasm.

"That's it, Cera!"

"What's it?" the threehorn asked.

"Water!" Littlefoot explained. "If we find some, the grown-ups will stop being mad!"

"Maybe," Cera frowned, "except for my dad. He's always mad."

"So is my brother." Aylene bitterly mumbled.

"Guys," Littlefoot said sympathetically, "I know you're having some issues with your families and I know they seem kind of grumpy, but I'm sure it's because they're so worried about the water."

"Cera's dad, maybe." Aylene looked up sourly. "But my brother just wants me to do what he says. But I'm not a child anymore. Now come on, let's find the others and look for some water."

"Cera," Littlefoot turned to the Triceratops, "do you think you can look for the Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. I need to talk to Aylene about something."

Cera looked suspiciously at the longneck for a moment. Judging by the look on her face, Littlefoot was sure she was going to start an argument. Instead, the threehorn sighed and nodded.

"Okay, we'll meet you guys at the place Aylene and I hid last night. Just don't be too long."

With that, the little Triceratops took off running through the forest.

"What's wrong, Littlefoot?" Aylene asked.

"Aylene, your brother was looking for you all night last night." Littlefoot said.

"Oh, really?" Aylene frowned, irritated.

"He was really worried about you."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Aylene, I'm serious!" Littlefoot said more firmly. "He was worried sick about you. And frankly I can see why considering that you never told him much about your adventures!"

"He wouldn't understand!" Aylene replied harshly.

"I don't think so," the longneck said. "And I think it was unfair that you said you hated him."

"I didn't say that!" Aylene shrieked.

"Derek told me that you said you wished he wasn't your brother." The Apatosaurus glared slightly. "That's basically the same thing! I can't believe you said something like that, especially to a member of your own family!"

Aylene stepped back in shock. She suddenly remembered the fight she and her brother had yesterday. She did say that, didn't she? And the look on Littlefoot's face didn't make her feel better. Then again, that probably wasn't what he was trying to do. If anything, he was trying to confront her as to why she said that in the first place.

"Did Derek tell you that?" she asked hesitantly.

Littlefoot nodded.

"I didn't mean it," the girl hung her head sadly. "I was just angry."

The longneck's face turned form stern to concerned.

"Aylene, why are you so angry lately?" he asked.

The human looked up, surprised by the question.

"You know you can talk to me." Littlefoot said kindly. "And…Derek's not the only one who's worried about you. But it's only because we care."

Aylene looked away and rubbed her arm.

"It's just…" she bit her lip, "ever since Ozzy and Strut gave us that warning about…I just don't know if I can protect you guys. I hate feeling so vulnerable. I thought that if I could hide it, act tough and show I'm not vulnerable, and then even I would believe that I'm strong enough to take on any challenge. But the truth is…I'm terrified."

The girl shut her eyes, trying to prevent the tears welling up from falling.

Littlefoot stared at his friend for a long time. In all the time he knew Aylene, she rarely ever admitted when she felt weak. This confession confirmed his suspicions: Aylene did want someone to lean on. However, it wasn't because she was too prideful to admit it, but she had this idea in her head that she alone was responsible for all of them and was putting the weight of their safety solely on her shoulders. And now that they had the news of being predators' main target, she was feeling that weight even more.

It wasn't that she was mad at her brother: she was scared and her fear was being masked by anger.

Littlefoot then walked up to his friend and gently nudged her face. Aylene looked at the longneck.

"I understand," the Apatosaurus said softly, "I know that we all make bad choices or say things we don't mean when we're mad, scared, or stressed. But I think it's because of this reason that you should open up to Derek. Because when you're afraid, he's afraid for you, too."

"Littlefoot…"

"I know you want him to trust you." Littlefoot continued. "And I think he will, if you show that you trust him, too. You know, you two are more alike than you think. You just need to listen and talk to each other. Your brother does love you, Aylene. And I know you love him, too. And now that he knows about this world, I truly believe he can help you both here and in your world if you give him the chance."

Aylene took a deep breath. She then embraced Littlefoot around his long neck. The Apatosaurus placed his head over he shoulder for a hug.

"I'm sorry." Aylene whimpered. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Littlefoot said. "But I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know," Aylene slowly pulled away, "But…I'm not really ready to face him yet."

"I understand." the Apatosaurus replied. "Tell you what, let's join up with the others and look for some water. After we find some, then you can talk to your brother. I'm sure you'll be ready by then."

Aylene fiddled with her hands for a moment before slowly nodding. She would have to look her brother in the eye sooner or later; she just wanted some time to think about what she was going to say.

With that, the young human girl leapt onto the longneck's back and they set out through the forest toward the meeting place.