Chapter 2: The Thundering Falls

The next morning was a rather pleasant one. The Bright Circle rose over the giant rock walls of the Great Valley. Thin clouds whipped across the pale blue sky as a gentle breeze blew.

Meanwhile, inside the Shell-Former the Turtles had gotten up rather early, jumping down from their beds as Michelangelo cooked breakfast. Raphael sat at one of the tables, eating a bit of toast while Leonardo was watching some Space Heroes on the tv screen (and thoroughly enjoying himself at that).

Captain Ryan stood tall and strong at the edge of the cliff overlooking the desolate landscape of Xion IV.

"Captain Ryan," Mr. Crenshaw exclaimed, his voice panicked and desperate, "The rebellion is growing! We have to get off this planet!"

"No."

"But Captain-" Crenshaw was interrupted as Captain Ryan slapped him across the face.

"I said no!" Captain Ryan stated stubbornly. "We may have started this rebellion on accident, but by the Rings of Nebulan, we're going to finish it on purpose!"

Leonardo sat there in front of the tv, his eyes glued to the screen with a nerdy smile on his face. No matter how many times he watched this show, he always still enjoyed.

The blue clad turtle watched in growing excitement as the best part was about to come! He just couldn't wait!

Leo watched intensely as Captain Ryan raised his blaster into the air...

... only for a shuriken to suddenly fly by him and hit the power button to the tv, causing the screen to go black.

"Wha-hey!" Leo exclaimed, turning around and seeing Raph right behind him. "What are you doing?!"

Raph grinned smugly. "Aw, sorry," He apologized sarcastically, "but it's unhealthy for your brain to watch too much Space Heroes."

Leo could only pout at him before he stood up and walked over to the table, grumbling something under his breath.

"Head's up, dudes!" Mikey chirped from the stove. "Dr. Cookienstein is ready with breakfast!"

Donatello, meanwhile, was working on repairs for the Shell-Former, taking several tools and going outside to inspect and repair the hull. That fight between the Shell-Former and Chomper's parents had really taken a toll on it as Donnie had spent many hours cooling down and repairing the ship's systems.

Littlefoot groggily opened his eyes, letting out a yawn and stretching his limbs. He couldn't help but feel a bit curious to all the sounds Donnie was making as the young long-neck approached the purple clad turtle.

Donnie had put on an old welding helmet as he used a small blow-torch to seal up one of the plates on the hull. As he got out from under the Shell-Former, he quickly noticed Littlefoot approaching him.

"Morning, Littlefoot." Donnie greeted, removing his welding helmet to give his usual gap-toothed grin before putting the helmet back on and going back to working on repairs.

"Hey, Donnie." Littlefoot replied. "What are you up to?"

"Just working on some repairs for the Shell-Former." Donnie stated, taking out a wrench and screwing in the plate on the hull. "That little scuffle with Chomper's parents really put some wear and tear on it." He then stood up after he managed to get the plate in place. "But, given enough time, it should be back to normal."

Littlefoot seemed to understand most of that. "So what are the guys doing?"

"There just having some breakfast." Donnie replied nonchalantly. "Mikey's cooking."

"So what's he making?"

"Scrambled eggs."

Littlefoot blinked in shock. "... Y-you guys eat eggs?" He asked in mild horror.

"Only unfertilized ones." Donnie stated. He noticed Littlefoot looked confused on that. "It means that they can't hatch." He clarified.

"Oh." Littlefoot murmured in understanding, though still quite disturbed. "You sure your okay with Mikey cooking?"

"I wouldn't worry about it." Donnie replied. "Say what you will about Mikey, but he sure knows how to scramble an egg."

Just then, the door to the Shell-Former slid open as Leo, Raph, and Mikey walked out onto the soft grass, each carrying a small plate of scrambled eggs. They then sat down on the grass and began eating their scrambled eggs.

"Here, D." Mikey said, handing Donnie an extra plate. "Dig in!"

The purple clad turtle grabbed the plate and sat down with his brothers as they immediately began eating their scrambled eggs. Littlefoot said nothing as he sat down on the grass.

Just then, the ground shook as Littlefoot's grandparents approached. "Hello, boys." Grandpa Longneck greeted, lowering his head to their level. "We were just about to head to the Thundering Falls. Would you care to join?"

Donnie gulped down a final piece of scrambled egg. "Well, I was gonna head down there to get some creek water, but I guess we could all come along."

After putting their dirty dishes in the sink, the Turtles headed down to the Thundering Falls with Littlefoot and his Grandparents. There way down was a rather quiet one as the sun's rays lit up the massive landscape, the gentle breeze being very cool and refreshing. From what the Turtles had learned during their stay in the Great Valley, the Thundering Falls was the Valley's main water supply, as well as being the largest one in the Valley.

The small herd soon reached the Thundering Falls where they found many other dinosaurs swimming around the cool water and grazing on the vegetation that grew below the surface of the water.

Littlefoot's grandparents grazed on the greens in the water while Littlefoot and Mikey swam around in the water, Donnie collected some water in a large bucket, Leo sat down in the grass, and Raph simply did some fishing.

As soon as Littlefoot finished his breakfast, he began playfully splashing in the water with Mikey, laughing happily. Mikey splashed Littlefoot in the face with water, causing the young long-neck to laugh as he splashed some water with his tail.

While he splashed in the water, Littlefoot noticed Leo sitting down on his knees at the shore, his eyes closed in what seemed like relaxed concentration. Curious, the young long-neck swam up to the blue clad turtle.

"What are you doing, Leo?" Littlefoot asked, getting out of the water.

"Meditating." Leo replied, not opening his eyes.

The young long-neck tilted his head slightly. "Medi-tation?"

Leo opened his eyes. "A little thing Master Splinter taught me." He explained. "It's a simple technique that can help calm and ease the mind."

"... Can I try?"

The blue clad turtle cracked an eye open in minor surprise. "Sure, if you want to." He shrugged slightly with a small smile.

Littlefoot smiled happily as he walked up to Leo and sat down next to him. "So how do I do it?"

"First, close your eyes." Leo instructed. Littlefoot nodded and did as he was told. "Now, clear your mind."

"Clear my mind?" Littlefoot asked, cracking an eye open.

"Yes." Leo confirmed. "Don't think about anything. Don't think about me, don't think about our friends, don't think about your grandparents, or anyone or anything."

Littlefoot sighed as he closed his eyes and attempted to meditate, trying hard not to think about anything.

"Take deep, slow breaths. Breath in and out." Leo gently instructed. "There are no thoughts, no fears, no sounds, just an empty void. Focus on that emptiness as you focus your inner energy."

"Um, what does that mean?" The young long-neck asked, still puzzled.

"It means you must ignore all distractions and focus on the task at hand." Leo clarified.

Littlefoot nodded, calming himself as he slowed his breathing. At first, he didn't feel anything. He could still hear the loud sounds of water crashing against water, laughter along with splashing, as well as many other things. But then, a strange feeling washed over him, and all the sounds began to slowly fade away. Littlefoot didn't know whether to be confused or frightened as he felt this new feeling fill him to the brim. However, it wasn't a feeling of pain but rather, peacefulness. He felt... relaxed.

However, his little moment of peace was suddenly interrupted when he heard several gasps of horror, causing him and Leo to open their eyes.

To their surprise, they saw that the Thundering Falls was rapidly drying up! Strands of water trickled down the rock before it began to gradually dry up further until there was nothing left but wet stones.

"Where did the water go?" A female spike-tail questioned in surprise.

"It just stopped flowing!" A male swimmer exclaimed.

"How can that be?" A male three-horn asked. "What will we do without water?"

Littlefoot turned to his grandparents, who seemed just as shocked as everyone else. "Grandpa, why did the Thundering Falls stop?" He asked, walking up to them.

Grandpa Longneck remained silent for a moment. "I don't know, Littlefoot." He replied, trying to mask his concern. "I don't know."

"Littlefoot, go and play." Grandma Longneck gently urged. "Grandpa and I must talk with the other grown-ups."

"Sure, Grandma."

Littlefoot quickly got out of the water and raced over to the Turtles.

"Guys," He said, "we gotta find the others!"

"Sounds like a plan." Donnie agreed.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey all nodded in agreement before they sprinted away in search of their friends.

After a few minutes of searching, Littlefoot and the Turtles eventually spotted Ducky, Petrie, and Spike at the edge of a not-so-dense forest. The three dinosaur children were standing by a hollowed out tree stump, gazing at it with curiosity before Ducky jumped off of Spike's back and into one of the empty branches.

"Hey, guys!" Littlefoot called out. "Guess what happened to the Thundering Falls!"

"Shh!" Ducky whispered as she poked her head out of the hollowed-out branch. "We are trying to find Cera. She has hided from us."

"But-" Mikey was about to protest when Petrie flew up and landed on the stump.

"Ugh," he groaned, "me no find Cera anywhere."

"Cera is a very good hider, she is." Ducky commented.

Raph looked off to the side and noticed a pile of large, palm tree-like leafs on the ground. He then noticed the leafs rustle slightly before a pair of eyes popped out. Needing no further clues, the red clad turtle smirked as he jumped right into the pile of leafs.

The others quickly turned as they heard the sounds of screaming, laughing, and leafs rustling before Raph came tumbling out with Cera, startling most of the group while Petrie yelped and latched onto Donnie's face.

"Found her." Raph said before driving his knuckles into her frill.

Cera laughed a bit as Raph gave her a rough noogie. "No fair!" She said. "How'd you find me?"

Raph chuckled a bit as he released Cera from his grip. "I'm a ninja, remember?" He said. "Stealth is kinda my thing."

"Petrie," Donnie said with a squished nose as the little flyer tightened his grip on his skin, "you're hurting my face!"

"Oh!" Petrie cried, quickly letting go of him. "Sorry, me no know my own strength." He then jumped off of the purple clad turtle's face before swooping down and landing on Spike's back.

"So now who's going to hide?" Cera asked before turning to a certain young long-neck. "Littlefoot."

"Okay," Littlefoot replied, "but first we gotta tell you something."

"Well hurry it up." Cera said. "We wanna play."

"Seriously, guys, this is important." Leo stated, stepping forward. "It's about the Thundering Falls."

"What about them?" Ducky asked.

"Well, something's happened to it and now it's not giving any water." Littlefoot said before he turned around. "Come and see."

"Yeah, why don't you hatchlings go run and see!" A rather unpleasant voice mocked from behind them.

"Yeah, run and see, run and see!" Another voice taunted, sounding just as obnoxious.

The Gang turned around and saw Hyp, Nod, and Mutt walking up to them. Hyp was riding on Nod's back, riding him like a steed while Mutt held a palm tree branch over his 'leader's' head for shade.

After Nod had spoken, Hyp glared at Mutt, waiting for him to say something.

Mutt blinked before he finally spoke up. "Oh, uh, yeah!"

"Are you guys following us now?" Mikey questioned, slightly angered.

"What if we are?" Hyp mocked again. "What are you guys going to do about it?"

"Oh, believe us, we could do a lot to you." Raph stated, stepping forward. "How much did you overhear us?"

"Not much. Just about how the Thundering Falls stopped." Hyp said, jumping off of Nod's back. "You know, one thing I can't figure out is why you guys want to hang out with these hatchlings." He said, addressing the Turtles directly. "You guys are the oldest."

"What's your point?" Leo questioned.

"You guys are just protectors for them." Hyp replied. "They're too small to take care of themselves so they depend on you for protection. Just like with those sharp-teeth that came through a couple weeks ago."

"Tyrannosaurus Rexes, to be precise." Donnie stated 'as-a-matter-of-factly'.

"Whatever," Hyp dismissed, "I just know that you had to protect them. As a matter of fact, I bet they're using you."

"That's not true at all!" Littlefoot protested.

"Darn right it isn't." Raph stated. "Also, we don't care what you say, Hyp. I think we'd all rather eat one Mikey's pizzas than hang out with a punk like you."

"Hey! My garlic-fudge pizza wasn't that bad!" Mikey cried. Raph simply smacked Mikey upside the head.

"Mikey, we had food-poisoning for nearly a week because we ate that pizza." Donnie dryly stated, shivering slightly.

"Besides," Cera spoke up, marching forward, "you talk about us being small, but when we grow up, you won't be very big at all. You're kind never gets big. When WE grow up, we'll be much bigger!"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Ducky nodded. "Much, much, much, MUCH bigger!"

Hyp frowned deeply. "Oh yeah?" He snarled. "Well I'm gonna see to it that you never grow up!"

He was about to take a step forward when Leo's katana was suddenly at his throat, startling him as the blue clad turtle gave a cold glare. "Is that a threat, Hyp?" Leo asked, his voice low. Then with one flick of his blade, he cut Hyp's cheek, causing the Hypsilophodon to yelp in pain.

Hyp then glared at Leo as he clutched his cheek. "What do you think?!" He growled.

"If it is," Leo continued, his stare unwavering, "then you're gonna be receiving more than just a scratch." Then with a flick of his wrist, Leo sheathed his katana onto his back before turning away. "Come on, guys." He said to his brothers and friends. "Let's go."

"And you creeps better not be following us!" Mikey called as they walked away.

Hyp glared at the group before he and his little gang headed back into the forest.

"Thank you for standing up to Hyp." Petrie said to the Turtles as the group strolled down the hill and towards the river.

"Eh, we've stood up to worse." Raph shrugged. "Besides, growing isn't the same as getting bigger and stronger."

"'Size matters not'." Mikey quoted. "'Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?'" Raph simply smacked him upside the head.

Donnie then began chuckling a bit.

"What is so funny?" Ducky asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking." The purple clad turtle replied. "When Cera said you guys were gonna be much bigger than Hyp and his other friends, you're all also going to be bigger than us, too. We're actually nearly fully grown."

"Really?" Cera said, a bit surprised.

"Yeah." Leo replied. "And someday, we'll be looking up to you guys, quite literally."

The group couldn't help but chuckle and laugh at the comment.

"Still," Littlefoot said. "You guys don't have a problem with being small?"

"Not really." Mikey said nonchalantly. "Although I kinda do." He then muttered, only for Raph to smack him upside the head.

"The point is, you may be small, but each of you are strong in your own way." Raph clarified.

"You got that right." Cera smirked. "We're all far from weak. And we'll be even stronger when we're grown up."

The whole group nodded in agreement as they headed towards the Thundering Falls.

Whoo, finally I finished this chapter. I'm so sorry I took this long, I had a bunch of other things I had to do, so I hope you liked this chapter. Also, I'm gonna be gone on a road trip for most of the week, but I'll get back to you as soon as I get back. See ya!