...Dayum...sorry for the LOOOOOOONG wait...
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Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Land Before Time or Elfen lied or any of their characters, settings, logos, etc... I DO NOT plan to make a profit of this story. It is only in existence fore peoples' enjoyment.
Chapter twenty-six: Revelations
Shorty walked along the tree line of where he last thought he saw that Fast Biter, but he wasn't having very much luck so far.
"Man!" he said to himself. "I've been at this for who knows how long and I haven't found anything!" He started to get impatient. The Longneck wasn't the most patient Dinosaur on the planet to begin with, but this was just getting ridiculous! Of course, he knew this was going to take a lot of time, he just didn't hope he was out here all night.
"Maybe I should just…" Something caught his ear as he heard something…or someone move. He halted and tried to be as quiet as possible as he tip-toed into a nearby bush and tried to make himself as low as possible so he wouldn't be seen by whatever it was that made that noise.
"How hard is it to find ONE baby Longneck!" a voice grumbled.
Shorty thought that voice sounded familiar, but he kept listening.
"Calm down, Sondar, we'll find him soon, we just need patience…something you are in desperate need of!" another voice retorted.
"Longneck…Littlefoot!" Shorty realized suddenly. His eyes flashed and he took a deep breath. He then built up the courage to lift his neck up and look at just who was talking. When his eyes rested on who was there, he literally went pale.
Those two Hollow Horns and that Rainbow face were there, and they were with Fast Biters!
"Oh no!" he squeaked quietly.
"Did you hear something?" one of the Hollow Horns said suddenly, tensing up.
Shorty froze all of his muscles and body parts to try and keep from being seen.
"…" Shorty muttered inwardly, hoping with all of his mind that he wouldn't be detected.
"Nah, I think you're just paranoid, Sondar," the other Hollow Horn sighed.
"I am not! I SWEAR I heard something…then again, we have been at this for a while now, my imagination's probably acting up. We should get back," the one called Sondar sighed, gesturing that they get back to wherever it was that they had come from.
Shorty breathed a heavy sigh of relief once they were out of earshot. He stepped out of the bush cautiously, hoping that none of the group got left behind, especially any of the Fast Biters. Sighing, he started to turn back, when he realized something. That group had told him something very valuable, and he wasn't going to just let this chance slide by.
Looking at the way he had come, he pondered for a moment what he should do. Should he follow them and risk the chance of being seen, but having the knowledge that Littlefoot was alive? Or should he play it safe and head back, keeping his little adventure out here a secret? He sighed; he was probably going to regret this in the long run, but he made his decision. Shorty then turned around and started picking up the trail left by the pack. Whatever was going to happen tonight, he was going to find out.
As he walked quietly along behind them, his eyes kept darting towards the Night Circle, keeping track of how high it was, so he could figure out when he needed to get back. Shorty saw that it was still pretty high in the sky. He figured he would have a few hours at the most, but, he still wanted to be safe than sorry. Right now, it looked like he couldn't afford to be sorry.
Keeping quiet, he crept through the shadows. With his color pattern at night, he could barely be seen, which was a good thing for him. Following the Raptors, however, was another thing altogether. They kept weaving through trees, bushes, and all shrubbery alike, making it hard for the Longneck to keep up. Somehow, he was able to make it.
Soon, they reached a rocky ledge that had a little path spiraling through it, but, it was very concealed and would be very difficult to find for someone who wasn't looking. Clearly, they didn't want to be found out.
This was when he was having trouble figuring out what to do next. He had two options in front of him. Follow them and run the risk of possibly getting caught or worse, or, he could turn back now and tell them his discoveries in the morning. He put his head down in thought and raised a brow as he tried to make up his mind. Finally, he reached his decision.
Shorty followed them up the rocky path. He made sure he kept a fair distance behind them, still keeping to the shadows and being as quiet and as careful as he could. Although, for this path, he didn't have to worry about it, since the group seemed to be more worried about watching their step than watching their backs, which Shorty was grateful for. Through winding twists and narrow pathways that, with one wrong step, could send you falling to your death, Shorty walked on, determined to find out the truth. He had come too far to turn back now, and once he got the information he needed, he would go back. Right now though, his mind was focused on not dying.
"Okay, Shorty…just don't look down…" he said inwardly, remembering the time where he had almost fallen to his death when walking over the Great Stone Walkover in the Great Valley. His thoughts then drifted to the Valley. How was Bron dealing with this, were their parents okay? The thoughts kept biting at the back of his mind until he had to shake his head to make them go away.
The group wasn't slowing down. Maybe because they were anxious or maybe because that was their normal speed. Shorty really didn't care, all he cared about was them stopping soon. It seemed that fortune and luck were on his side when they started to slow down. They made a left, and then a right, until they got to a small tunnel. Without hesitation, they all went through, but Shorty lagged behind. Why should he go down that deep, dark hole? Then he remembered. This was literally a life or death situation, and it was his life or his brother's.
"Remind me to kill Littlefoot when we find him…" He made a mental note, took a deep breath and walked in, keeping up with the raptors as best he could.
Finally, after many twists and turns, he saw a light. With excitement, he quickened his pace and soon he was out of the dank tunnel.
As he took in his surroundings, he saw Fast Biters, Sharpteeth, Belly Draggers, and all other kinds of Sharpteeth around. Gasping, he backed into the shadows. He didn't want to be seen. Shorty looked around and took in a breath of air. He picked up two things. One, Sharpteeth, two, blood, and lots of it. He followed the scent and saw that it came from a large cave at the edge of the place he was in. Hoping Littlefoot wasn't in there, he sniffed again. This time, he caught on to something more familiar.
"I KNOW that smell…" he thought, furrowing his brow in thought. Suddenly it came to him. It was Littlefoot!
"Yes…" he uttered quietly and started following the scent trail.
As he followed it, he noticed that it was leading away from the camp. Hopefully that meant that Littlefoot had escaped. Shorty also noticed that Littlefoot was with three Dinosaurs, but he couldn't really make out what they were.
Soon, he saw a cave that was pretty well concealed on the cliff face. By instinct he knew that someone was in there and that someone, at least he was pretty sure of it, was Littlefoot.
Shorty looked up and saw that the Night Circle was getting lower and lower in the sky, meaning that his time was almost up. Sighing, he memorized as best he could the location of the cave and started running full speed back the way he came.
As he saw his and his friend's camp draw nearer, he breathed a sigh of relief, only it was cut short when he saw a short figure just outside, sitting down in front of it. He recognized it as Spike.
"Uh…" he said as he came in Spike's field of vision.
Spike just gave him this look.
"Hey…Spike…you won't tell anyone I was out, right?" he asked hopefully.
Spike raised his eyebrows.
"I'll tell you in the morning!" Shorty pleaded to the Spiketail.
Spike finally gave in and nodded. After all, who was he going to tell anyways?
"Thanks, Spike," he said and walked in quietly.
He saw an empty spot and took it. Sighing contently at his progress this night, he slept peacefully. Eager to see what would happen the next day.
End of Chapter-Twenty Six
And that's over. Now that Shorty knows where Littlefoot is, what will happen now? Find out in...the next chapter! Review Please!
