One of Us

Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike fearfully backed away as Ozzy and Strut continued to close in on them. Pretty soon, they found themselves stuck at the edge of the cliff.

There was nowhere to run now. They were trapped.

"Now," Ozzy growled, "what did you do with my egg?!"

"YOUR egg!" Cera shrieked. "We didn't do anything to it! It hatched!"

"It…HATCHED!" the egg stealer shouted, angered. "Before I could eat it my egg hatched!"

"C-C-Calm down, Ozzy." Strut suddenly spoke up, nervous. "I-I-It was just an egg."

Ozzy whipped around to his brother with a rather nasty expression.

"It was not just an egg it was our DINNER!" he yelled before whacking his tail against Strut's head.

Ozzy then turned his attention back toward the children, who were cowering in fear.

"I'm warning you, you little leaf-lickers!" he said in a threatening tone. "Stay out of my way, or I'll…"

"Leave my friends alone!"

Ozzy and Strut quickly turned around to see where the sudden voice came from. The four dinosaur children looked in the same direction and their faces lit up when they saw who spoke out in their defense.

"Littlefoot!" Cera cried.

"We are saved!" Ducky replied, relieved.

Littlefoot scowled at the egg stealers and stood with his feet firmly planted in the ground. He arched his back a little and lowered his head just enough to make sure the Struthiomimus knew he wasn't fooling around. If these two wanted to hurt his friends, they would have to go through him first.

However, Ozzy wasn't fazed by the longneck's show of strength. In fact, he saw it as amusing: a weak, defenseless hatchling trying to be brave. Laughable.

"Just what I can't stand." he said as he began walked toward Littlefoot, talons extended. "A bossy weed-whacker!"

The Struthiominus advancing wasn't what Littlefoot was expecting. The closer Ozzy got, the more the little longneck fearfully realized that he didn't have much to defend himself with. No bow, arrows, horns, or claws. In fact, all he had was his tail and neck. But at the moment, neither one would do him much good since his neck was too vulnerable to attack and his tail was too short.

Very nervous now, Littlefoot slowly backed away from the approaching egg stealer. However, his back right leg landed on a small stone that seemed to slip out from under his foot, causing him to fall over onto his side. He sharply looked up and saw Ozzy was too close for him to get up again.

Just as Ozzy got close enough to scratch Littlefoot's side, there was a decisive "twang". Less than a second later, an arrow struck the ground between Littlefoot and Ozzy, causing both to yelp. Ozzy stepped back a few paces while Littlefoot coiled up into a ball.

"Step away from the Apatosaurus, Struthiominus!"

Ozzy looked up from the arrow and saw the strange creature from yesterday. Littlefoot whipped his head around and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Aylene!"

The human girl stood stock-still with another arrow on the string and pulled back, ready to fire again. She scowled at Ozzy, making her look a little menacing.

"Get this straight, bozo!" Aylene said forcefully, "No one, and I mean NO ONE hurts my friends without facing me first!"

Ozzy's eyes narrowed in on the creature. Something about her was familiar. Not just her face, but also her voice. That same tone sounded just like…

"YOU!" Ozzy angrily pointed. "You were the one that played that nasty glowing trick on us in the cavern!"

"Yeah, that was me!" Aylene impishly grinned, holding back a laugh, "And you should've seen your faces! Priceless!"

"Why you little…"

Ozzy then paused for a moment, screwing up his face.

"What's the matter?" Aylene taunted. "Can't come up with a clever nick name for me?"

Ozzy scowled even harder. He leapt over Littlefoot and began to stalk toward the human girl. However, Aylene didn't move. She didn't even lift the sternness from her face. If anything, she added to it as the egg stealer got closer.

"Littlefoot!" she shouted.

The Apatosaurus understood the message and quickly got up from his spot. He ran past Strut, who just stood dazed about the situation, and met up with the others.

When Ozzy was about three feet away from Aylene, she lowered her aim slightly and released the arrow. It zipped right past him, sharply grazing his side. Ozzy winced in pain and quickly looked over to the scratch. When he fixed Aylene with a poisonous glare again, she already had another arrow ready.

"That's a warning!" she growled. "If you take another step, or so much as lay a finger on my friends, I won't hold back!"

Suddenly, a shadow cast over the cliff face just above the group.

"Aylene! Behind you!" Cera screamed.

Everyone looked up and saw a dark silhouette: a T-Rex silhouette.

The shadow snapped it's jaws up and down, making a chomping sound that echoed through the ravine below.

"SHARP-TOOTH!" the five dinosaur children screamed.

"SHARP-TOOTH!" the Struthiomimus also screeched, clutching each other out of fear.

"Chomper?" Aylene silently smirked, recognizing the shape.

The next thing she knew, the Ozzy and Strut darted toward the edge of the cliff, leapt over the children and fell down in the canyon. Littlefoot and the others watched as they tumbled down the wall and disappeared in a cloud of dust. However, their biggest concern was on the shadow advancing on them.

To their surprise though, Aylene wasn't frightened at all. She didn't even seem to be defensive or alert anymore. In fact, she burst out laughing.

"Oh man!" she snickered. "And I though I gave them the biggest scare but that was hilarious!"

"Aylene!" Littlefoot shouted. "There's a sharp-tooth behind you!"

The human simply looked up at the group, who had perplexed and fearful expressions.

"Oh, don't worry guys." she giggled. "This one's on our side."

"Huh?" Petrie said.

"Chomper, come here!" Aylene called.

A few seconds later, the small purple T-Rex hatchling came running out from behind some rocks toward the human. Aylene knelt down and scooped Chomper up in her arms, hugging him close. Chomper returned the gesture by hugging her around the neck and rubbing his face against hers, squeaking in delight.

"Chomper!" Littlefoot smiled, running over from his spot.

"Chomper?" Cera question. "What's a "chomper"?"

"It is his name, silly!" Duckly giggled.

"Good job, Chomper." Aylene complimented the little T-Rex. "You really saved us."

Chomper looked up to see Littlefoot right in front of him. Littlefoot gratefully nuzzled his face against the T-Rex's, causing him to giggle. In return, Chomper happily hugged Littlefoot's snout.

"See you guys?" the longneck looked at the others. "Chomper's a nice T-Rex. He would never hurt us."

The little carnivore looked over at the others and cooed in delight at the new faces. Upon seeing his innocence and happiness, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike couldn't help but smile, too.

Aylene set Chomper down and he immediately ran over to the others.

"Thanks, Chomper." Cera said.

"You're so nice, Chomper." Ducky happily replied.

"Me like you, Chomper." Petrie ran over to the little T-Rex.

Littlefoot smiled at the sight. He just knew his friends would give Chomper and chance.

However, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked over Aylene's arm and saw something with a tannish color wrapped around it.

"Aylene, what happened to your arm?" he asked.

Surprised by the question, Aylene's eyes widened and she involuntary gripped it. She had forgotten about the bandage. If she told them that Chomper bit her, even if it was an accident, except for Littlefoot, they will more than likely become afraid of him.

It was a moment like this where she wished she had a long sleeved shirt to cover it up. Although if she did, she would also be sweating to death and that wouldn't make things any better.

So her next best plan: come up with a believable story.

"Oh, uh," she franticly thought of an excuse, "I…just scratch myself on a branch. Nothing serious, though. Chomper and I were exploring the Valley and while I was pushing back some branches, one of them managed to give me a small scrap. But it's nothing, really."

Quickly wanting to change the subject, Aylene then cleared her throat and gestured to the others.

"Chomper, this is Cera,"

The Triceratops nodded.

"This is Spike,"

The Stegosaurus proudly smiled.

"Petrie,"

They Pteranodon waved.

"and Ducky."

The Parasaurolophus walked to Chomper and greeted him with open arms.

"Hi Chomper. I think you're very cute!"

The little T-Rex happily walked into Ducky's embrace, gently squealing.

"Looks like we have a new member of our herd now." Cera said.

"Which means we can be best friends by and by." Petrie replied. "I could teach him to fly."

"What about the water?" Ducky said. "I could take him for a swim."

"Whoa, slow down guys." Littlefoot quickly said. "Remember, he's still a baby."

"Besides, T-Rex's can't fly." Aylene pointed out.

"Well, he can still hang around with us." Cera said.

"Yep," Aylene smiled, "because we're a family and he's one of us now."

Chomper looked back up at Aylene and wandered over to her. She knelt down and smiled as he hugged her arm and rubbed his face against it.

"Let's celebrate!" Ducky joyfully shouted.

The other four dinosaurs cheered happily. Aylene then took off her bag, opened it up, reached in and pulled out the black ocarina case. She opened it and took out the green ocarina. She then put it to her lips and began to play a merry tune.

Pretty soon, the others were running around in a circle to the beat of the music.

However, their moment of laughter and happiness didn't last very long.

When Cera stopped to catch her breath, she felt a sharp pain clamp down on her tail.

"AUGH!" she screamed. "HE BIT ME! CHOMPER BIT ME!"

Aylene immediately stopped playing and everyone turned to look at Cera.

"I-I'm sure he didn't mean it." Aylene quickly said.

"You call THIS not meaning it!" Cera glared at he T-Rex, who was still holding onto her tail with his teeth.

Everyone gasped at the sight. Even Aylene was taken aback by the look in Chomper's face. He didn't look very innocent anymore. While his eyes still retained their human likeness, there was also something about them that was almost sinister.

The look on his face almost reminded her of…Sharptooth!

"Chomper!" Littlefoot scolded.

Chomper looked up and saw the horrified faces staring at him. His expression changed dramatically to sadness and confusion as Cera lowered her tail and he let go. He look at he group sadly for a moment before walking over too Littlefoot. He then whimpered something that almost sounded like "what did I do?".

"A sharp-tooth can never be one of us!" Cera angrily said as she marched up to the Apatosaurus. "NEVER!"

"Don't say that!" Littlefoot countered.

"You know it's true!" Cera scowled. "He has to go!"

"No!" the longneck shouted. "He stays!"

Cera, still frightened about the situation and not thinking clearly about her actions, rammed the side of her head against Littlefoot's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"He goes!" she growled.

"He stays!" Littlefoot responded by ramming into Cera.

"Oh, not again." Aylene mumbled as she put her ocarina back in it's case and into her bag. Once again, this was a conflict she was going to have to resolve.

Meanwhile, Ducky slowly approached Chomper, who was confused and hurt about the situation.

"Chomper you did not mean to bite Cera, did you?" the swimmer asked. "Huh? Huh?"

Chomper just looked at Ducky sadly before simply saying.

"Huh?"

"I do not think he knows." Ducky shrugged.

"Guys, break it up!" Aylene commanded as she marched in to stop the fight.

She tried to prevent Cera from ramming into Littlefoot again, but when the Triceratops swung her head around, her horn caught a hold of Aylene's bandage. The metal clip slipped out of place and the fabric unraveled off her arm.

Well, the fight between Cera and Littlefoot did stop, but not in the way Aylene wanted it to. And now, the situation just got a lot worse.

Cera gasped when she saw the red marks on the human's arm.

"That looks more like a BITE mark than a scratch to me, Aylene!" she cried.

Pretty soon, everyone was staring at Aylene's wound. Chomper, who was starting to feel even guiltier, rushed over to the girl. She knelt down and pulled the little T-Rex close to her.

"N-No, it's not what you think!" Aylene said, desperate. "It was my fault! I startled him and he just bit me out of reaction!"

"But he still bit you!" Cera pointed out.

"Yeah, but…!"

"Aylene, open your eyes!" the threehorn shouted. "We can't keep him and that's final!"

With that, Cera ran off behind the rocks near the base of the cliff towering above them.

"But…But Cera," Littlefoot tearfully pleaded, "he's just a baby! He needs us!"

Aylene frowned as tears of her own began to well up. Although Cera wasn't being fair to Chomper, she was right about one thing: they couldn't keep Chomper. Not because he was a threat to them, but because they couldn't provide the right kind of care he needs. He needs a T-Rex family who can teach him properly how to be a T-Rex.

But as Chomper clutched Aylene for comfort, and as she held him close, she felt a painful bang in her chest. She wasn't even saying good-bye and already she was feeling the pain of seeing him go.

"But what if he try to eat us?!" Petrie fearfully said aloud.

"Petrie!" Aylene scolded.

Seeing the situation now, Littlefoot began to franticly think of a solution to end this panic. The very thing he and Aylene were fearing was happening and there was almost nothing he could do about it. With fear and tension rising, the longneck's first instinct was to try to fix the problem that started the situation. Maybe if Chomper realized the situation, he would change.

"Don't you see, Chomper?" he said to the T-Rex, who looked up at him with teary eyes. "You can't be a sharp-tooth. Sharp-teeth aren't allowed in this Valley."

"Littlefoot!" Aylene gasped in disbelief. She couldn't believe Littlefoot just said something like that.

Neither could Chomper. He stared at the longneck as tears began to fall down his face. Littlefoot realized that he didn't make the situation better. Instead, he made it worse.

Not knowing what else to do, Chomper let go of Aylene, whimpered, and back away from the group.

"Chomper, wait!" Littlefoot pleaded. "I didn't mean to…!"

Before the longneck could stop him, Chomper turned around and ran away toward the Valley.

"Chomper, don't go!" Aylene cried, grabbing her things and quickly throwing them on. She got up from her spot and was about to run after him.

"Uh, Aylene," Duckly sheepishly replied, causing Aylene to stop, "maybe before you bring Chomper back, you should think about it. Chomper is…different than us. He is."

Anger rose in Aylene when Ducky said that. Not just because she was worried about Chomper, but also because the phrase roused up another memory, one that Aylene tried very hard to forget. But now, history was repeating itself.

"I'm sure you said the same thing about me when I left you guys after I told you I was an omnivore!" she replied sourly, glaring at the group.

Everyone gasped in surprised as the girl reminded them of that day. They remembered being shock by Aylene's confession, but they also remembered how hurt she looked when she left them.

Having nothing else to say, Aylene turned away and ran off after Chomper.

Littlefoot, feeling very guilty, wince for a moment. What Aylene said did hurt, but at the same time he could understand why she said it.

He forced back his tears and looked sharply up.

"I don't care if he's different." he said with conviction. "We should at least follow him to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

Upon hearing the situation, Cera emerged from behind the rocks.

"But Aylene…" she began to say.

"Had every right to be angry with us!" Littlefoot forcefully interrupted. "We turned our backs on her once, and I'm not going to make that mistake again. C'mon, members of our herd are in trouble!"

With that, the others hesitantly set out running after Littlefoot.


The sun was in the middle of the sky when Strongfang and Rena reached the T-Rex carcess. Still feeling the pain of losing their only egg, they miserably search the area for the scent of their meal.

However, as Strongfang sniffed the foot of the decayed skeleton, his eyes widened with shock.

"Rena!" he jolted. "Do you smell that?!"

The female bitter carefully lowered her head near Strongfang's and smelled the air.

"The egg!" she gasped. "I-It was just here?!"

They both looked around the area, seeing no signs of broken eggshells or gooey remains. Which would mean that the egg still remain intact, even after it's fall off of the cliff.

Strongfang, feeling hope rising, sniffed the area again. By reading the scent patterns, he realized something that make a shiver go down his spin.

"The prey we were following must've found out egg!" he said fearfully. "And I'm guessing their scents must've masked the egg's just enough that we couldn't smell it from up there!"

"But there are no remains." Rena pointed out. "So where could it be?"

Strongfang followed the trail of scents of rocks up to the Great Wall. Cautiously, he walked up the path with Rena following and discovered that the passage led them into a canyon. They continued through it and soon found themselves looking upon a lush, green land.

"The Great Valley!" Rena gasped. "They brought the egg here?!"

"It would seem so." Strongfang replied. "And if it hatches here…"

The large biter scowled hard.

"They will pay if they so much as lay a hand on our hatchling!" he growled.

With a new determination found, the two adult carnivores stormed into the Valley, still following the scent of the ones who took their egg.

They WOULD get their hatchling back, one way or another.