Lost in the Secret Caverns: Ultimate Revised Edition

by lowercaseenderman

When Ali and Shorty happen to visit the Great Valley at the same time, the gang are thrilled at this rare treat. But a wrong turn near the Cave of Many Voices leads them into a terrifying situation when they come upon an intelligent horror that lives in and knows the caves. Pushed to their most extreme limits, with no hope of rescue, how far can the gang go to protect each other?

Lost in the Secret Caverns: Ultimate Revised Edition

A/N: I wrote Lost in the Secret Caverns a few years ago and published a revised version after completing the original, but as I've grown not only as a writer but as a person some choices I made with the story have begun to both me as they didn't quite fit in the story itself, so I present a new, final and definitive, version of my Land Before Time story that I hope you enjoy. Like the original revised edition, this version will have new scenes added to it, but only a few as I think the pacing in the revised was very good, but it also is going to have some scenes cut or altered that I feel, looking back, were out of place, poorly done or just needed some further detail added to them. I'm also going to extend a few scenes slightly. I'm posting this as a super long one shot like the original revised version. And I'm doing this just in time for Halloween as well, hopefully a few other people will cook up some spooky Land Before Time stores for us to enjoy!

/

The Land Before Time: Lost in the Secret Caverns

Synopsis:

When Shorty and Ali both happen to visit the Great Valley at the same time, the gang of seven, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper and Ruby, are thrilled at this rare treat. But a sudden rain causes their mood to be dampened, literally, and they decide to explore the Secret Caverns as a way of escaping the rain, but they get lost after taking a wrong turn after coming back from playing in the Cave of Many Voices. Now they find themselves in dark, tight tunnels, lost deep underground, without food or water, and they learn they're not alone. The horror story begins when they come upon an intelligent horror that lives in the dark and knows the caves down to the last pebble. Now the gang must outwit these new terrifying foes and escape, but all the dark tunnels look the same, and many lead to dead ends. And, at the worst time possible, they find themselves split up. What will they do, and how far can they go to protect one another, trapped so far underground, with something stalking them in a sick game of cat and mouse. The end prize is simple, death or freedom. Isolated, cut off, and pushed to their absolute extremes with no possibility of help, will they ever see the Bright Circle again?

---

Millions and millions of years ago, the Earth was always changing. Great storms that shook entire oceans ravaged the world and the great land masses moved and broke apart, moving in a delicate dance of separation and connection, going from one giant continent in the Triassic period, to many in later ages of this ancient world. In this alien world many creatures, some that look like they came from our nightmares, walked on the same land or swam in the same seas under the same sun as we do now. Some of these beasts were even our earliest ancestors. From the simplest and smallest fish, to Dimetrodon, to tiny furry animals. Others were not, instead they were even foes to our ancestors; armored fish with terrifying jaws, mighty predatory reptiles, to the greatest animals to ever walk this Earth. The dinosaurs.

These awesome beasts left marks we can still see in our world today. They ruled the Earth for over a hundred million years. And they were not so different from us, they had children and families, they fought to survive and for dominance, they played, they ate, they swam, they slept, and they dreamed.

There were many of these beasts, from gentle giant plant eaters, to tiny ones that flew and ate bugs. There also were sharpteeth. Dinosaurs that made meals out of their fellow dinosaurs. But there was one place leaf eaters could live and call home without the threat of sharpteeth. That land was green and beautiful, its name….the Great Valley.

And this valley is where seven special, lifelong friends lived. Littlefoot the longneck. Cera the threehorn. Ducky the swimmer. Petrie the flyer. Spike the spiketail. Chomper the sharptooth. And Ruby the fastrunner. These friends lived together, grew together, learned together and played together and always stood together and protected each other. A year after their adventure to the fire mountain to save Littlefoot's father, they were happily enjoying a beautiful day where they could just play together.

"Swimmer!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

Chomper kept his eyes shut as his friends drenched him in water. Shaking it off, he sniffed the air and moved towards his friends, a smile showing on his face.

"Hey, he's using his nose again!" Cera called out.

"Well then we'll have to stop him, have to stop him we will!" Ruby said, sending another small, half hearted splash towards Chomper.

"Oh yes, yes, yes! Like this!" Ducky said and splashed Chomper again. The sharptooth sputtered as water went up his nose,"Hey!" Chomper said, laughing. The gang had decided to spend the sunny, warm spring morning playing in one of the many watering holes in the Great Valley, enjoying one of their favorite games...Swimmer and Splasher. With the cold time over, they could finally enjoy it again. Cera had been the swimmer first, then Littlefoot and now Chomper, who had been putting his sharptooth sense of smell to good use to find his friends until the water had gone straight up his nostrils.

"Swimmer!" The sharptooth called out.

"Splasher!" Littlefoot replied, sending a large wave of water at Chomper with his tail. All the other young dinosaurs splashed the sharptooth and gave the, "Splasher!" answer as they did so. Everyone laughed, good times good friends indeed.

"Hmm?" Chomper muttered once the water had stopped coming at him in waves, "...Cera!" he said, jumping to his right. He collided with the threehorn and opened his eyes, laughing. Cera glared, "You don't have to make such a big deal about it," she muttered.

"Cera you are the swimmer now, you are, you are!" Ducky happily said.

"I know," Cera replied. Everyone laughed at Cera's expense. She joined in after glaring for a moment. Another warm time was beginning and with it came the changes that always come. And some new ones. Chomper, for example, was no longer the purple color the gang recognized. As he got older, his purple colored scales had changed to a more dark blue instead, which contrasted with his red eyes vibrantly. In fact most of the gang now had darker colors that had appeared during the cold time, and most of them had noticed their bodies had built up more bulk, but none of them were still anywhere close to beginning the Time of Great Growing. They were fine with that too, wanting to enjoy their childhood for as long as it would last. The only member of the gang who's color scheme hadn't darkened at all was Spike, however the bony ridges on his back had thickened during the cold time.

"Everyone! Everyone!" Petrie's voice came from the sky. The laughter faded as he landed on Littlefoot's head and looked at the gang, "Here come Grandma and Grandpa longneck, they look like they have something to tell us!" Petrie hadn't been playing the game, he enjoyed watching it a lot but wasn't too fond of swimming after…..that day. It was a memory that still gave him nightmares some nights. Throwing the rock at Sharptooth, flying for the first time, attacking Sharptooth's eyes, watching Cera charge into the boulder, Sharptooth going over the edge, Petrie trying to fly back to his friends only to feel the monster's jaws latch onto his foot.

"Help!" he'd cried as he and the monster went under in a giant splash that cut his plea off…

It was not surprising to anyone that he didn't like getting in the water too much. Be it the Big Water or just a small puddle, he was even hesitant about mud pools for the same reason. There was a tiny scar on that foot as well, it was a miracle itself that he hadn't lost that foot honestly. However, he didn't let that fear keep him from enjoying his friend's company and even insisted they play the game when they'd offered to play something else that would've involved him.

In response to his report, the gang headed towards shore, eager to hear what Littlefoot's grandparents had to say.

"I wonder what they want," Chomper said, looking at Littlefoot.

"I really don't know," the longneck replied. Cera huffed, "It better be a good surprise with all this build up," she said, though it was obvious she was only trying to act tough and that she was excited to hear what the old longnecks had to say. It had to be something major for them both to be coming to meet the gang and if they had a surprise then indeed was a reason to be excited as they always delivered on them and then some.

"Well, I'm going to guess it'll be something great, maybe a friend is visiting," Ruby said.

"Oh, maybe Tippy is back, Spike would love that, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky said in an excited manner. Spike nodded and grunted in the affirmative. A few moments later, two old, familiar longnecks approached the watering hole.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Littlefoot excitedly called out, taking a few steps in their direction.

"Hi!" The gang all greeted the two longnecks.

"Is something going on?" Chomper asked, standing next to Littlefoot. Grandpa Longneck stopped, chuckling, "Why yes children, I think you're going to be very excited to hear what we have to say."

"Well then tell us so we can be excited about it!" Ruby eagerly called out. Grandma Longneck chuckled, "Follow us kids, you have a real surprise waiting near one of the valley entrances." Excited, the gang followed, laughing and guessing what they were about to see.

/

Guido took off from the branch he'd been perched on. Gliding through the air, he snatched a buzzer out of the sky. The gang saw him but he was far away, to the point that they didn't have a chance to call out to him as he landed and ate his snack. They just watched him glide to a tree and perch on a branch, munching on his buzzer.

Grandma and Grandpa Longneck were leading the gang through one of the forests within the valley. They soon emerged from the foliage and reached the valley entrance and Littlefoot saw her first, he gasped, "It's Ali!" he called out, he then saw another pair of longnecks standing nearby, "And my dad with Shorty!" The gang gasped in excitement as Littlefoot hurried past them.

"Dad!" Littlefoot called, running forward. Bron chuckled in a jovial way, "Hello Littlefoot." he said, nuzzling his son. Grandma and Grandpa Longneck smiled at each other and also nuzzled one another, enjoying the sight of their grandson being so happy. Littlefoot smiled at Shorty and heard footsteps running up behind him. He turned around just in time to be half tackled, "Littlefoot!" an excited voice giggled. Littlefoot laughed, "Hi Ali!" he said as she hugged him. Ali let Littlefoot stand up and the rest of the gang came over. They all greeted their friends and Cera turned to Ali, "Ali, meet Shorty, Littefoot's hot headed adopted brother," she said.

"Hi Shorty," Ali greeted with a shy smile.

"H...hi." Shorty replied, not looking sure about what he should say next while looking awestruck at the same time. Ruby quietly chuckled.

"What is it?" Chomper whispered to her.

"He's blushing!" Ruby silently laughed, Chomper did too as Ruby stepped forward and spoke to Ali.

"So where is Rhett?" Ruby asked.

"Oh yes, where is he?" Ducky added. Ali sighed, "He's….not well."

/

Ali led the gang over to where her herd was gathering, between the larger longnecks, the gang saw a familiar, young longneck who was around their age. They glanced at each other and walked forward.

"Hi Rhett, do you want to play with us?" Chomper asked, walking up to where Rhett was laying at his mother's feet. Rhett groaned, "No thanks," he looked like he was going to vomit, "I'm….sicker than….than a sharptooth that ate a bunch of tree sweets." Chomper, remembering the Hidden Canyon, looked a bit sick at the idea.

"Oh, I do hope you feel better soon, Rhett. Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky said, walking over and standing next to Chomper.

As the rest of the gang were all also sending the sick longneck wishes for a quick recovery, Littlefoot was still with his dad, "I can't believe you're back already, and you arrived at the same time as Ali's herd!"

"I know that we're early, but the lands outside that we usually roam have flooded thanks to unexpected sky water that blew in from the direction of the Big Water. Our two herds met as we arrived at the entrance, it seems much of the land that is usually barren and dead is mostly flooded right now. I expect other far walker herds will arrive soon as well."

"Maybe Tippy will show up then," Littlefoot thought, though he said, "Well I'm just happy you're here." Bron nodded, "Me too son, and I think we'll be staying for a longer visit than usual too."

"Really?" Littlefoot asked. Bron nodded, "Yes son, really." Littlefoot eagerly smiled. He was so excited to have a chance to spend time with his dad and hear all that had gone on with him and Shorty and their wonders over the past cold time.

"Littlefoot?" Littlefoot turned as his name was called and saw Chomper standing a few feet away, and a short distance behind him were the others, Ali and Shorty too. Bron looked at them, eyeing Chomper for an extra minute out of nothing more than basic instinct because of Chomper's species. Bron honesty had no problem with the little sharptooth personally and knew how close he and Littlefoot were, "Go on son, be with Shorty and your friends, we can talk later." Bron said with a smile. Littlefoot smiled too, nuzzled his dad and turned, running with Chomper back to the others. Laughing, the gang took off into the valley. As they did, Littlefoot caught sight of the ridge where he had first entered the valley, a memory that still filled him with nothing but pure joy, a light after what had been such a dark time for him. The first of many truly happy memories and he hoped that, with two friends visiting, this day would be the first many new such memories to add to that list.

A hollowhorn trumpeted in the distance as the kids sped off to play.

/

Spike was munching on a bush. Once he was done eating it faster than even leaf gobblers could ever hope to, he hurried after the others, who were a short distance ahead, walking between some trees in the same forest Littefoot's grandparents had taken them through only a short time prior. Ducky looked back and waved at Spike, "Come on little brother!" she called out. Spike quickly rejoined the others and Ducky jumped on his back as he fell behind the rest of the gang.

"So you flew over the Smoking Mountain?" Shorty asked. Petrie nodded and landed on Shorty's back, "Yep! Me did!"

"Yeah, he thought it went boom because he made it mad," Cera chimed in.

"But me know Smoking Mountain is just a mountain now and it no get mad when it booms and shakes, unlike Cera who does when she mad," Petrie replied.

"Oh not with that one again," Cera grumbled as the flyer burst out laughing.

Chomper also laughed and saw Ali glance nervously at his teeth, it seemed she might still have not fully gotten over their little….scheme the gang had pulled during their first meeting.

"Don't worry Ali, I'm still friendly," Chomper said with a smile….a very sharp tooth filled smile but a reassuring one. The reassurance did seem to help Ali's nerves and she smiled back at him.

"So how long has Rhett been sick?" Littlefoot asked as the gang reached a clearing where they could play Toss the Seed, or something similar.

"A few days now but he's better than he was," Ali replied as the gang stopped. "A few days ago he couldn't stand or keep anything he ate…inside. He can do both now. Hopefully he'll be better before we leave, he was really excited to play with you all again." The gang smiled, Chomper had the widest one, "Even me?" Sure they'd played together before but he wasn't sure if Rhett would be over what happened the last time. The gang had made it their mission to make sure first impressions never went that poorly again. Ali giggled, "Yes Chomper, he was really looking forward to seeing all of you again," she confirmed.

"So, Toss the Seed?" Littlefoot asked. The others all looked excited and nodded eagerly.

"Girls versus boys?" Littlefoot asked, "The teams won't be exactly even but-"

"They don't need to be even with me here," Cera smugly said, cutting Littlefoot off.

"Oh I don't know Cera, the boys have me!" Shorty proudly declared.

"Oh yeah, the older of the two brothers but the one who couldn't take the Big Longneck Test," Cera retorted.

"How about instead of talking about who will win, we play and see who will win?" Ruby said, stepping between the two and tossing a seed up and down in a playfully taunting way.

"Sounds good to me, especially since I know we're going to win!" Chomper replied.

"Hmm, don't count your hatchlings before they hatch Chomper," Ruby replied.

"How can we lose? We have more players and you guys have the threehorn volcano," Chomper said back. Cera glared, "Oh you're asking for it Toothy!"

"Well then let's start and see if you can put your tree stars where your mouth is," Chomper responded with an excited smile.

The two teams lined up with the seed between them, "Ladies first," Littlefoot said.

"Why haven't you gone for it then?" Cera replied, a playful glare on her face. Despite himself, Littlefoot's mouth fell open in surprise, he had not been expecting that. Cera smirked smugly.

"Well, if you won't start Cera, I will start then!" Ruby said, running towards the seed. She kicked it and the game was on.

/

The score was tied, five to five, the next point would win.

"Pass it to me, I'm open! Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky called out. Cera tossed the seed towards Ducky but Chomper jumped and grabbed it in his mouth from out of the air, not losing any teeth this time, and started running towards the goal. He stopped though when he saw both Ruby and Ali charging at him. Shorty and Littlefoot were occupied trying to stop Cera and Ducky from reaching him so they couldn't help. And who knew where Spike was; he'd apparently seen another bush and wondered off unnoticed at one point.

"Chomper! Pass to me! Me open!" Petrie called, jumping up and down in front of the goal. Chomper tossed the seed into the air, "Okay, here it comes Petrie!" He called out. Laughing, he hit the seed with his tail and it went over Ali and Ruby, towards where Petrie was waiting.

"Me got it! Me got it! Me got it!" He called, only to have the seed smack him on the head, "Me no got it," he said, stumbling a little. He saw Ruby and Ali charging so acting quick he just hit the seed in a random direction, Petrie was probably still a little dizzy from the hit because it rolled off to the side, way away from the game. Spike, having indeed seen a tasty bush, came out of said bush and chased it, the girls were right behind him. The seed was slowing, Spike and the girls were all closing in. Everyone else was right on their tails.

The seed however stopped at a familiar clawed foot. The gang looked up and saw they were right as to who it was.

"Hey, Hyp," Littlefoot said slowly.

"Hiya hatchlings," Hyp snickered, picking the seed up.

"Oh please Hyp, not today, we have friends visiting us, we do, we do," Ducky said, looking up at the larger dinosaur.

"Friends, huh, well, well, well, more baby hatchlings," Hyp replied in mock formality, even adding in a dramatic downward bow, looking back at Nod and Mutt.

"Yeah!" Mutt said, seeing his cue.

"What he said!" Nod added in a loud voice.

"You know Hyp after everything that's happened with us I thought you'd at least be a little nicer," Littlefoot said. Cera glared, "Yeah you giant Rock-brain, you would've sank in the tar without us,"

"And you did help us move those eggs away from the Great Valley," Chomper added, "So why are you being mean again?" Hyp sighed and rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Fine," he muttered. "Can't even have a light around here anymore," he said, tossing the seed at Petrie. Petrie yelped as it struck him and knocked him off Cera's back.

"Have fun hatchlings!" Hyp said, voice raised and intentionally obnoxious, sauntering off with Nod and Mutt following obediently.

"Yeah!" Nod shouted.

"Fun!" Mutt added. The gang saw Hyp facepalm as he led his troop away. Once they were gone, the gang sighed, "Are you okay, Petrie?" Cera asked.

"Me fine," Petrie replied as Ducky helped him up, "Me no like them sometimes," he said, shaking his head a little to clear it.

"Well, it's better having to deal with them instead of dealing with sharpteeth," Littlefoot replied.

"Who was that?" Shorty asked, looking at Littlefoot.

"The residential jerks," Cera huffed.

"They used to be very mean to us, they did, they did," Ducky said.

"But we all made up, though they occasionally still give us trouble, it's nothing near as bad as it used to be. Most of the time they're actually fine," Littlefoot finished.

"Well I'll never forget the time they first tried to mess with us after Chomper moved here, that was funny!" Cera said, laughing, she changed her voice to mock Hyp's, "Sharptooth! Save me someone! Help!" Everyone who had been there that day laughed.

"Wait," Ali said, "Chomper hasn't always lived here?"

"Nope, I hatched here but had to leave the same day. It was about a cold time later when Littlefoot and the others showed up on the island I was living on," Chomper explained. Littlefoot nodded, standing next to the young sharptooth, "And we didn't see him again for a long time but then one day he and Ruby showed up, they needed a safe place to live since Red Claw is terrorizing the Mysterious Beyond. Chomper's mom and dad, who we are actually safe around, told Ruby to watch him and bring him to the valley," he said.

"Yes, a safe place is what we needed so we came to this place to be safe," Ruby explained.

"So when did he hatch?" Ali asked. Littlefoot looked over at Chomper, "It wasn't even a full cycle of the night circle after we found the valley, actually it was only like...a few days after we found the valley, maybe seven at the most, almost a full cold time before we met you, it was only a few night circle cycles after meeting you Ali that we ran into Chomper again."

"And that was on the island he mentioned?" Ali asked. Chomper nodded, "It was, seeing them all again was one of the best days of my life! I'd missed them all so much."

"Okay enough of this, can we just get back to the game?" Cera called out, "We can tell stories tonight." The others laughed and nodded, taking positions to continue the game.

The nine dinosaurs were just about to carry on where they'd left off when they heard the worst thing possible at that moment. The one thing that extinguished good moods just as well as fire. Thunder, followed, as expected, by a few, large drops of sky water.

"Oh no, sky water! Not today!" Petrie said as he and the others all looked up in disappointment. As if in answer a particularly large drop of sky water landed on the flyer's head.

The gang groaned. It had been such a perfect day but here it was, now turning into just the opposite. Even the Bright Circe was being blocked out by the fast moving clouds, casting the valley into shadow, and the sky water was increasing. Everyone, it seemed, would have to go home.

"Do not be sad everyone! We can play in the sky water, the puddles will be very fun, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Uh, Ducky, look at those sky puffies," Cera said, "this doesn't look good." Above were incredibly foreboding clouds, moving like a relentless sharptooth stalking its prey, unbothered by those far below who ran, swam, or flew for cover. They were so dark they looked like the smoke that came from the mountains that burn. The air was even beginning to change to an empty, cool calm that always fell just before a partially bad round of sky water and sky fire. Over several thousands of cold times, the Great Valley had no doubt seen its fair share of such storms, yet it seemed, to the gang at least, they always seemed to strike at the worst possible time.

"It look like that time the valley have bad luck!" Petrie shuddered. A sudden flash of sky fire ripped across the sky, followed by a boom of thunder that shook the entire valley. Another bolt of sky fire struck a lone tree in a nearby field, which exploded into thousands of smoldering splinters.

"It look even worser now!" Petrie cried, shivering. Another boom of thunder, a long and echoing boom that seemed to shake the air itself, and a gust of wind followed. The wind had force to it, causing most of the gang to stumble off balance slightly, and felt like the type of wind that came from storms which would produce a whirling wind that would leave large sections of the valley in ruins.

"We can't play in weather like this!" Littlefoot shouted above the increasing wind.

"Say, I have an idea of how we can play without playing in the storm," Ruby called out.

"How?" Chomper asked, cowering against Littlefoot, holding onto his longneck friend just as tight as he did when they had both ended up in the Big Water that day on the island.

"The Cave of Many Voices, we can go there and play where there is no sky water or wind!" Ruby explained, her voice barely audible over the wind at this point.

"Hey, good idea Ruby!" Littlefoot said happily. By that point, the long grass was nearly on its side as the wind increased, and drops of water began falling from the sky.

"What's the Cave of Many Voices?" Ali asked, almost being knocked over by a sudden gust of wind. She stumbled but stood back up.

"It's a giant cave in the Secret Caverns, Chomper and Ruby live not too far from it. We sometimes go there to play, but it's been a while. Let's go, we'll explain more on the way!" Littlefoot shouted. Slowly, the gang began their journey towards the Secret Caverns, moving as a closely packed together bunch.

"Will we all be able to fit?" Shorty asked as Petrie was blown past his head. The flyer yelped as he passed him, spinning through the air, and crashed into Cera, "Not a good time to be flyer," Petrie said once he had firmly grabbed onto Cera's head. He ducked behind her crest and stayed there, shuddering, with his eyes covered.

"Oh yes, yes, yes!" Ducky called from Spike's back in response to Shorty's inquiry, "The Cave of Many Voices is very big, yep, yep, yep! We can play tag and hide and seek there, and we can play with our Talk Backs too!"

"We once used the cave to make ourselves sound bigger, we scared Red Claw away because of it," Chomper added, trying to blink the stinging sky water out of his eyes, "Ducky wanted to sound big...well she sounded big enough that she scared three sharpteeth that day!" Reassured, Shorty and Ali followed along as the closely packed together gang continued their slow march towards the caves.

/

Tricia whimpered and Tria nuzzled her, "Don't worry honey, we'll be home soon," she said, slowly but surely nudging Tricia in the direction of the nest. They'd been out exploring some of the more isolated areas of the valley when the storm hit and now Tria was trying to get her frightened daughter home. Looking around, Tria saw trees being blown over in the wind and crashing to the ground, but she also saw the hazy outlines of nine young dinosaurs in the distance, close to one of the valley walls. She caught sight of them through the rain just long enough to see they were heading to, or at least heading in the direction of, the Secret Caverns.

"Well….they'll at least be safe there," Tria thought. More sky fire ripped across the sky, briefly bathing the valley in its white, fiery glow.

She glanced back up, the rain was so thick the gang was almost out of sight already. Part of her wanted to call out to them to come back and go wait the storm out with their families, or even at her nest with her and Topsy, but they'd never hear, and by the time she got over there they'd be long gone. She just watched as they faded from view like ghosts.

No, it would just be better to get Tricia to the nest and wait the storm out. Topsy would probably already be waiting there for them. And Cera would be fine as long as she was with her friends. They wouldn't let anything happen to her. And the caves would be out of the weather entirely, meaning Cera would be the best one off out of her entire family, Tria told herself. With that thought, she resumed guiding Tricia home and gave the matter no further thought.

/

"There it is!" Chomper shouted, using one hand to cover his eyes and pointing at an opening in the side of a rock cliff that formed one of the many valley walls with the other. Running as best as they could, the gang hurried to it. The storm was getting worse and the ground around the entrance was so muddy, and the wind so strong, the gang almost couldn't stand as they climbed. They more or less had to crawl to the entrance, sliding down away from it the entire time. All around, trees were being blown over, vines and leaves were flying through the air at high speeds, and rocks were even tumbling to the ground. Petrie was hanging onto Cera for dear life now, as the wind was so intense now it was lifting him into the air and threatening to take him away.

After many minutes of difficult climbing to the cave entrance, they all tumbled and shoved their way into the round cave portal. This wasn't the one Chomper and Ruby lived in, but the gang knew this entrance and it did branch into a tunnel that connected to the chamber Chomper and Ruby lived it, though it would've been a hike to get over to their cavern. Ahead of the gang was a tunnel running into the mountain wall of the valley, it ran level, but did turn ahead, and was wide enough that two of the gang could comfortably walk side by side. Stone teeth adorned and dangled from the ceiling. The nine young dinosaurs laid there at the entrance, far enough in so that the wiping ran outside was no longer hitting them, breathing hard and unmoving, in a pile of soaking wet dripping limbs and tails. Ali tried to stand but sank back onto her stomach, still trying to catch her breath. Cera stood up and shook herself off, water flinging onto the others, "That….that….tha-" she growled, panting.

"Cera?" Littlefoot asked, sitting up.

"Don't talk to me right now!" Cera snapped, still panting, walking away from the group, "I need a minute to calm down." She added, failing to keep the anger out of her voice. She eyed a small boulder, lowered her head, pawed the ground a few times, and charged, slamming into it a second later. It shattered and Cera, who had been thrown from her feet during the impact, sighed contentedly now that her frustration had been taken out on the shattered rock, "Ah, much better." She turned and looked outside, "Man, that storm, it's got to be one of the worst I've ever seen," she said. More sky fire flashed outside and the wind blew in an even harder gust. Thunder echoed through the tunnel a moment later, shaking it and causing some pebbles to fall from the ceiling

"Yeah," Chomper agreed, feeling some water drip onto his head, "I've only seen worse ones near the Big Water." The gang stopped talking for a few minutes until they'd all caught their breaths. Finally, Littlefoot stood up and shook the rest of the water off his body.

"Well let's go," he said, "it's a bit of a walk to the Cave of Many Voices." Ruby stood and wrung some water out of her feathers, "Yes, let us go to the Cave of Many Voices, it will be dry there, dry there it will be," she replied, sounding just as beat as everyone else felt.

"I like the idea of a dry place right now," Chomper added, also standing. Several agreeing nods went around. Without another word, the group started off into the tunnel together.

Chomper:

I want to go adventuring, adventuring, adventuring

I want to go adventuring and find the nice, dry cave

Ali:

Will there be things with glowing eyes

that use the dark as a disguise?

Shorty:

And try to catch us all by surprise?

Cera and Ruby:

We don't think so!

Ali:

Will we play in caves both big and small?

Shorty:

Climb giant rocks?

Ali:

Or see a waterfall?

Littlefoot:

There's more to see,

You will be pleased!

All:

So when we go adventuring, adventuring, adventuring

You know what we're going to do!

We're going to go adventuring right now!

We're going to go adventuring now!

/

"M...me….me forget just how….d….d….dark the S...S….Secret Caverns are," Petrie whimpered, hiding behind Cera's crest again. The threehorn rolled her eyes. The gang had been traveling through the dark tunnels for about ten minutes at this point.

"Petrie, do not be scared," Ducky said, standing up on Spike's back, "There's no one in here but us."

"Petrie just no like dark caves, me only able to do be here because Petrie is with you all," he replied, ducking behind Cera's crest again and shuddering.

"Wow, he's a real scaredy-egg," Shorty muttered, hearing Petrie shuddering. Littlefoot nudged his adopted brother with his right forelimb lightly, silently telling him to stop. On his other side, Ducky suddenly spoke up.

"Petrie is braver than he thinks he is, yep, yep, yep, he is," she said. Spike nodded and Ducky continued, "Before we found the Great Valley, when we were fighting Sharptooth, Petrie had just learned to fly. He flew down and attacked its eye because I was in trouble."

"Petrie did that?" Shorty asked, looking shocked. He'd heard the story several times but somehow he had never heard that part. Ducky nodded, "Yep, yep, yep! He did! He did."

Thunder suddenly boomed again and, like before, the cave walls seemed to shake as they magnified the echoing sound as it traveled in from outside. An eerie wail of wind also blew through the cave that sounded like a mix between a dying scream and roaring sharptooth. High pitched, gut wrenching, it sounded just...wrong. Alien even, like a sound that just shouldn't exist, a sound some unseen, unknown beast in the darkness that is hidden somewhere out of sight would make. It chilled everyone, even Littlefoot shuddered.

It happened again a moment later, wind that sounded like the screams of the damned, of all the evil in the world. The fact the breeze was cold didn't help, but it moved on down the tunnel and quickly faded back to silence.

The gang picked up the pace, the shadows in the cave suddenly seeming extra dark and unwelcoming.

"Oh I hope we find it soon, hope we find it soon I really do!" Ruby said.

Caves deep underground and seldom empty, what unknown evil hides in the pitch black, behind the rocks, watching and waiting for you to get lost or to turn your back. You hear an echo, feel a malicious glare, hear a splash of water behind you...but know you're alone...so what is there?

You might see something in front of you, maybe a head peeking around a corner that you have to go around. Maybe you feel a tingle on your neck. That shadow you saw move, your eyes playing tricks or something more? Cave tunnels can be wide and open, or small and tight and cramped. You feel the weight of the rocks pushing down on you, you remember you're isolated, buried in a makeshift tomb, and know you're alone and that there is no help coming for you. It's just you and the unknown. Just you...and whatever you saw, or heard. Just you, and it.

You are alone, deep in the dark, under the earth.

/

"Hey guys, I found the entrance!" Chomper called from ahead. The others hurried to catch up only to see Chomper crouching in the entrance, tail wagging, with his bottom half facing them. Cera glared, "Oh just like the first time we came here," she muttered. Chomper, completely unaware, pulled himself out of the entrance and smiled at his friends, motioning to the small hole with a clawed finger, "Let's go, the cave is dry!" he said, turning and crawling into the opening in the rocks.

"Finally no more water," Petrie said just as a drop fell from the cave ceiling. It landed on his back.

"Yaow!" Petrie cried out as he flew off Cera's back and towards the hole in the rocks. He flew into the crack like a bullet and a moment later the gang heard Chomper yelp. Apparently, Petrie couldn't stop and had flown beak first into Chomper's behind. Apparently also, he'd rammed into Chomper so hard he was flung back out of the tunnel by the impact.

"Petrie it was just a drop of water!" Ducky called.

"Me no care!" Petrie shouted back as he vanished back into the tunnel behind Chomper, crawling this time.

"He, uh, sure doesn't like water...does he?" Ali asked.

"Nope," Littlefoot replied, "but he has a good reason not too." He couldn't blame Petrie, after all he had almost drowned when Sharptooth took him down after the gang pushed the boulder over the ledge.

"He does?" Shorty asked, Littlefoot shot his brother a certain look and it suddenly clicked with Shorty, "Oh, yeah I guess he does," he admitted, remembering the specific detail in the story about the gang's battle with Sharptooth and how Petrie had almost drowned at the end of it. Littlefoot smiled now and looked at Ali and Shorty, "Come on," he said, brightening the mood of the gang back up, "you guys are gonna be blown away when you see this," he said, following Chomper and Petrie into the crack and crawling through.

/

"Wow." Shorty breathed, taking in the gigantic cavern that was the Cave of Many Voices. He had just crawled through and out of the tunnel into it and was open mouthed at the sight before him. It was a vast, dry space, deep under the earth. So big it made him feel small, though he wouldn't tell anyone that. Rocks which looked wrinkled spread from floor to ceiling, folding over each other and creating many narrow spaces within the vast room. The rocks looked ancient, as if they'd stood there since the beginning of time; they'd definitely at least been there since the valley had formed who knew how many uncountable lifetimes ago. They also had a wave like shape to them and some even seemed to look like the form of a dinosaur. It was almost as if they were the bones that held up the cavern, furthering their look of being ancient, and were what gave it life and such a unique look. They were what took in air and breathed it out, it was like they were the heart of the Secret Caverns, supporting whatever stood around them, above them, or even far below, deep in the world's unknown depths. And supporting the homes of whatever lived in those depths.

"Listen to this," Chomper said, smiling, "Hello!" He shouted, his hands around his mouth.

"Hello!" "Hello!" "Hello…" "Hello….." his voice repeated, growing fainter each time.

"Wow," Ali breathed, looking around in awe.

"Good talk back, Chomper," Cera said. Chomper smiled, "Thanks!" he called out.

"Thanks!" "Thanks!" "Thanks." "Thanks…" "Thanks….." "Thank…..." The gang laughed once the talk back faded.

"You're welcome!" Cera called.

"You're welcome!" "You're welcome!" "You're welcome…" "You're welcome….." "You're welc….."

More laughter, that also had its own talk back.

"You still think there's no such thing as a good cave, Cera?" Littlefoot asked after the laughter died down.

"This one's not so bad," Cera admitted, smirking as the others in the gang set off into the cave.

Spike:

Bur ba bur bur! Ba bur bur bur!

Bur ba-bur! Ba-bur! Bur bur bur!

All:

Good times, good friends!

Glad we have this time to spend,

Good times, good friends!

Ali and Shorty are here to play,

We're back together once again,

We hope they'll stay.

Good times, good friends!

They're only just about to begin,

And we hope that they will never end!

The gang forgot the storm and simply enjoyed playing again after the interruption, acting as if it had never occurred. Definitely more good times for good friends. Everyone's collective moods were back up to where they had been before the storm hit, and they played hide and seek, tag, a version of Toss the Seed that used a small and round rock, and of course they had more fun with their talk backs.

"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky said.

"Yep, yep, yep!" "Yep, yep, yep!" "Yep, yep, yep." "Yep, yep, ye…" "Yep...yep…"

Currently, they were in the middle of a round of hide and seek. Shorty was seeking and everyone else was hidden around the massive cavern. Littlefoot crouched behind a rock near the entrance, Chomper was behind a fallen stone tooth nearby. Petrie was up on a ledge, though not one so high that it would've been totally unfair. Spike was squeezed into a crack no one thought he'd fit in. Ali and Ruby were ducked out of sight on the far side of the cave. Cera was wedged in between two fallen boulders. And Ducky had taken an interesting strategy, silently following just behind Shorty and trying to keep where he wouldn't see her. Every time he turned or looked around, she'd match his movements to keep behind him and out of sight. She was, in fact, pulling it off well. They'd crossed the whole cavern twice and Shorty was still none the wiser.

Littlefoot saw Shorty on the far side of the cave and relaxed a little, looking around at the rocks he was behind. A flash of green caught his eye. A tree star that somehow had gotten into the cave. Littlefoot scooted closer to get a better look. Water was dropping on it and collecting in the middle, faint words echoed in Littlefoot's head, "It is very special…." He caught sight of his reflection and gasped as it caused a series of memories he didn't like thinking about to flash through his mind and scooted back from the tree star, not wanting to look at it. He heard soft footsteps and turned to see Chomper ducking down next to him

"Sorry, Shorty could've seen me where I was so I moved over here." He whispered. Littlefoot nodded and he and Chomper stayed ducked down.

"I wonder if there are any shiny stones in here," Chomper whispered.

"Maybe," Littlefoot replied, "we've never looked in all the cracks before." Chomper nodded, knowing that they'd have to do a true explore of the giant cave while Ali and Shorty were visiting. Peaking out, Chomper saw Shorty still far away, close to where Ruby and Ali were hiding so he moved back out of sight and relaxed. While Littlefoot glanced out to see where Shorty was, Chomper lifted his hand to his mouth and licked it, cleaning some dirt off himself that had gotten caked on his body during the storm. At least he didn't have to wait till he could find a stream, like his four-footer friends would have too.

"Found you! Man, that was not a good idea Ducky," Shorty suddenly called out, loud enough for his voice to get a talk back.

"No it was not, nope, nope, nope," Ducky admitted. Littlefoot and Chomper stayed ducked down and silently laughed.

/

Hours passed and it was starting to get late. The gang hadn't heard thunder for a long time and knew the storm was most likely over. Or at least wasn't as bad as it had been earlier.

"We should probably start back, our folks will want us to be home for dinner," Littlefoot said. Everyone agreed so they left the Cave of Many Voices the same way they'd gone in and started back into the tunnels. They were all talking and laughing, reminiscing about what a fun day it had turned out to be and discussing what they would do tomorrow and where they would do it, until Ruby suddenly stopped and said, "Wait a moment, this is not right."

"What is not right, Ruby?" Ducky asked.

"There's stone teeth above us, there are no stone teeth in the caves that lead out." Ruby replied, pointing at the cave ceiling. The gang all looked up and then at each other in confusion. Ahead, now that they were quiet, the gang heard the sound of following water….that wasn't right...there were no underground streams or flooded tunnels on the way out.

"But I saw stone teeth at the entrance we came in," Shorty commented. Ruby nodded, "Yes, there are stone teeth at the cave entrance, but where there are no stone teeth are in the cave tunnels that lead to the cave entrance."

"There's no streams in the caves that lead out either," Cera added, referring to the flowing water they could hear gurgling ahead.

"Hmm, well we probably just took a wrong turn is all." Chomper said, "If we go back to the Cave of Many Voices we can start over."

"That's a good idea, Chomper," Ruby said, "and it shouldn't be hard to get back, we just have to go back the way we came to get back."

"Then let's go," Littlefoot encouraged. Not worried and without another word, the gang all turned and started back the way they had come from. Though not worried at first, after a while something became clear but no one said it out loud, hoping they were mistaken, until...

"Okay, what is this? We've been walking back the way we came way longer than we'd walked when we stopped," Cera said, a glare in her eyes as she gazed down the tunnel that didn't seem to have an end. The gang stopped, they all knew she was right. They'd been walking back towards the Cave of Many Voices way longer than they'd been walking away.

"Hmmm, hey, why don't we go back to the other tunnels we saw on the way and look into them! One must lead back to the Cave of Many Voices, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky said, referring to a series of four tunnels that had passed a few minutes earlier while walking, they'd thought, back towards the Cave of Many Voices, "Earlier we probably just came through one into this tunnel and did not notice."

"Yeah….let's do that," Littlefoot said, his voice now having a slight shake to it. So the gang backtracked and came to the four different tunnels they'd seen on the way. Littlefoot and Ruby stayed in the main tunnel while the others divided up to explore the side tunnels. Cera and Chomper went together off into the far one on the left, Ducky and Spike took the nearer. Petrie and Shorty went in the far tunnel to the right and Ali went off alone into the final tunnel.

"Come on Spike, we will find the way out, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky confidently declared.

"Not if we do first!" Chomper called back.

"Chomper, this is not a game," Cera muttered.

"I know. Just...trying not to let anyone worry," the sharptooth replied, his voice shaking. He'd also been trying to keep himself calm. Hearing the nervousness in her friend's voice, Cera looked over at Chomper and said, "Don't worry, we'll find the way out soon. Heck, the Cave of Many Voices is probably just ahead."

/

That did not turn out to be the case.

None of the tunnels went back to the Cave of Many Voices, they all ended in dead ends. The gang backtracked further but still found nothing, and eventually they came to the stream they'd heard and knew it was definitely not the way to go. They then tried going the way they had been before Cera stopped them but they came to a massive circular cavern none of them recognized. It was not as big as the Cave of Many Voices but it was still very large, but it also had no floor, the circle shaped cavern simply an open pit that went down into total darkness. A thin path of rock worked its way all around the edge of the place, circling around and offering access into the many tunnels that opened up in the cavern walls.

"Oh, this does not look right...nope, nope, nope," Ducky whimpered.

Standing in the entrance, they all looked at each other, hope fading from each gang member's eyes. They all looked down sadly and hopelessly, not knowing what to do or where to turn.

Then they knew for certain that they were lost. And that though the Secret Caverns were perilous and massive, they knew that if they worked together, they could find their way out. The cavern had many tunnels leading out, but who knew where they went; they all looked to go down. Without speaking, Littlefoot stepped onto and followed the narrow path of rock to the left and went into the first tunnel. Spurred by his action, Spike, Ducky and Petrie on his back, followed him next. Chomper followed them, casting a glance back at the others as they too stepped onto the thin path before he quickly also entered the tunnel behind Spike. Cera was just behind him, next came Ali, Shorty and finally Ruby, all in single file as the path was barely wide enough for them to walk comfortably in that manner. She looked down into the pitch dark abyss below for a moment and realized she was the last in the cavern upon looking back up. She quickly ran the rest of the way along the narrow rock path and into the tunnel, following her friends.

They walked for hours, or at least it seemed to be, when one is exhausted one might lose track of time, trying to find tunnels that snuck back up to the surface but found nothing. All just seemed to keep going down. What little hope they had left had not been increased either when they found an old skeleton of some dinosaur, they didn't recognize the species, but knew that whatever it had been it had also no doubt gotten lost in the tunnels years and years before.

"That could be us if we don't find a way out." Littlefoot thought, the others knew it too but no one said it out loud.

They had had no food, water...no nothing, they hadn't seen anything either, they just had each other. Chomper broke a long silence first, "I hate to say it, but I'm hungry." Shorty immediately made sure he was not standing next to Chomper. Cera wanted to glare at him, but instead she turned to Chomper and said, "Don't look at me!" Chomper jumped, looking a little shocked at the tone in Cera's voice, "I wasn't!" he said, looking hurt.

"Hmmf!" Cera grumbled and turned her nose up, walking to the front of the group. Littlefoot sighed, tempers were definitely short at the moment but a fight wouldn't help the situation, "Come on guys, don't fight-"

"Tell Toothy not to go on and on about his hunger!" Cera snapped, glaring at Littlefoot. Littlefoot glared back, "Stop it Cera! We're all tired, hungry and thirsty, let's not turn on each other too," he said, trying to keep things at a calm level. Cera kept glaring but she just stomped past Littlefoot without speaking and into another branching tunnel that led off the main one. Littlefoot sighed, glancing back at the rest of the gang, "Come on, let's not get separated," he said, following Cera into the side tunnel. As the gang walked away Chomper stayed where he was. He sighed and looked down as everyone else followed Cera into the branching path. After a moment, he sadly glanced up and followed the others into the new tunnel.

Shorty and Ali both looked at Chomper nervously as he rejoined them, but didn't say anything. The dejected look on his face made them feel bad but the fact he was hungry also made them uneasy. The rest of the gang didn't seem all that bothered, mostly, by Chomper stating he'd grown hungry but they also knew him way better than the two longnecks did. Still, their lack of reaction did put them both back at ease.

Littlefoot also saw how down Chomper looked and sighed. Looking at everyone else as well and seeing their depressed states, he now felt more determined to get his friends out of the caves. He quickly walked past Cera and saw the tunnel split off in two directions ahead. One went up, the other down. The air in the downward tunnel was fresher and it was a straight path. The tunnel that went up was slightly curvey but looked easier to navigate, it went at much more of an even level while the downward one basically plunged, but it also just...didn't feel right. Littlefoot paused, not sure what his next move was.

"Littlefoot, let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely," The familiar words softly said in Littlefoot's head like an echo, accompanied by a familiar voice, one he could never forget. He felt it give him resolve and calm. Eyeing the two tunnels, he just felt the downward one was the way to go. He turned to the others and saw them starting into the tunnel going up.

"Guys, wait," Littlefoot said, "we should go this way."

"That way goes down!" Cera snapped, "We should be going up! We've been going down this whole time!"

"She's right Littlefoot," Shorty agreed, "this way is also easier to walk." Littlefoot looked at them all, "Please guys, just trust me. That way….just doesn't feel right. My heart says this way." The gang didn't move for a minute, but then Chomper and Ducky, after glancing at each other for confirmation, started towards the downward tunnel. Littlefoot sighed and did the same, leading the way down the damp rocks, "Don't slip," he cautioned. Spike and Petrie followed. Cera's gaze softened and she sighed too before doing the same, Ruby followed quickly. Shortly and Ali looked at each other but followed as well after another moment. Together, the nine dinosaurs started off into the downward tunnel.

"I'll be in your heart Littlefoot, let your heart guide you," Littlefoot heard the voice and ghostly words again and felt determined. His heart would guide him.

"Let your heart guide you," she had whispered. Littlefoot didn't understand at the time he'd first heard the words, but he did now and he still remembered those words as clearly as he did the day he'd heard them and he still let his heart guide him. He'd let his heart guide him and he still listened to it. It had told him to let Ducky come with him that day they'd met, it told him to follow his friends after their big fight that left them separated, it led him to the valley, it was what told him to go back to Chomper when he'd hatched, it told him to go after Hyp and his friends when they'd snuck into the Mysterious beyond, it told him to go to the Land of Mists despite the warnings, it told him he could trust Chomper on the island, it guided him every day and through so much….and Littlefoot knew it would guide him true and let him lead his friends out of the caves. And his heart and said what way they should go and he listened.

Caves are never silent, dark yes, but never silent. Water drips from the ceiling and makes small splashing sounds, though the sounds can make one not feel alone and that they're where they shouldn't be. Flowing water eerily gurgles through the tunnels. Things squeak and flutter about. Spiders and crickets crawl to and fro. But if a cave is silent, like a silent forest, it's dangerous…it's coming for you. Something that has never seen light has found you.

/

Other than their own breathing and footsteps, all the gang heard was dripping water echoing through the empty tunnels. Occasionally they'd hear a trickle of water, maybe a spring, but they could never find it to get a drink. And that was bad, they were all incredibly thirsty and combined with their hunger the water situation seemed even more dire.

"I wish we could find some of that water we keep hearing, I'm so thirsty!" Cera snapped. No one spoke but they all looked like they were sick of her complaining.

The tunnels just kept going down...down...down. The tunnel Littlefoot had taken them into had leveled out following their descent but was still working its way steadily down further and further below the surface.

"Do you think we're still under the Great Valley?" Shorty asked.

"Oh I am sure, there are lots of caves under the Great Valley and they go very deep," Ducky replied, "The tinysauruses have explored most of them too. They have."

"Hey, the tinysauruses! Do you think we might run into some of them and have them show us the way out?" Chomper asked. Cera shook her head, "No, not this far down. They might have explored a lot of the Secret Caverns, but I doubt even they have explored this deep underground," Cera answered. Littlefoot stopped walking and looked at his friends, "Well, let's try. It would just take one of them being nearby to hear us. Everyone, yell as loud as you can for help," he said, turning back to the tunnel ahead, "Help!" He screamed.

"Help!" "Anyone there?" "Can anyone hear us?" "We're lost! Help!" "Hello!" "We need help!" "Help!" After nearly a full minute they stopped and listened. Their voices echoed for a long time, traveling far down the tunnels, but soon the caves fell silent again. There was no response. Cera sighed, "It's no use. There's not gonna be anyone down here. I doubt anyone has ever been down here." Littlefoot shook his head and looked back at his friends again. They looked worn, beat, like shells of themselves. Like their skin was just hanging to their bones. Cera looked like she was about to just give up, Chomper looked like he just wanted to lay down and never get up, and Ali had her head down, some tears falling from her eyes. There was such a look of depression over the gang, likely because they'd never been in a situation that they felt so completely powerless to escape before. Littlefoot felt resolved again, "Come on guys, we can do this, we've done the impossible before, over and over again," his tone telling them all he hadn't even come close to giving up. His friends all looked up at him and nodded after a moment, "As soon as we find another tunnel that heads up, we'll take it," Littlefoot declared. He watched the gang walk past him and knew they would need to stop soon. There was no way around it, they'd be spending at least one night in the caves. That thought made him think about his father and grandparents, and the families of the rest of the gang. As far as he knew, no one saw them go into the caves so no one would look in them, not that most of the grownups could fit.

Cera paused as she passed him, "Hey," she seemed uncertain of what to say as she looked at her best friend but slowly managed to get her thought out, "I'm sorry for how I acted back there. I've got your back from here on out. I….if your heart says this is the way then I trust you. You'll get us out of here." Not knowing what to add onto that, though the deep meaning wasn't lost on either, she turned away and continued with the gang as they passed Littlefoot, his gaze remained on Cera for a moment before he looked at everyone else as they passed him, making sure they were all together.

As Chomper walked past him, the sharptooth felt his longneck friend nuzzle him on the back of the head, "You okay, Chomper?" Littlefoot asked, concerned as Chomper's mood seemed to be the lowest and most demoralized of all of them. Chomper nodded, "Yeah, still hungry, but okay," he answered, trying to give a small smile but also clearly trying to avoid the matter and pretend he was better than he really was. Hearing that, Shorty turned around, "I wouldn't stand so close to him, Littlefoot." Littlefoot sighed and glared at his brother, "Shorty, don't start this again. Chomper is my friend," in his head, he added, "And practically my other brother." Out loud, he said, "what do you think he's gonna do?" Shorty huffed, "Well, what do other sharpteeth do?" Chomper whimpered and looked down, grasping his hands together.

"Shorty, enough of this, it's not helping anyone," Cera growled, now rising to the occasion of defending her friend like she knew she should have before Ducky nodded, "Chomper is our friend, he would never hurt us. He is a nice sharptooth," she said, jumping off Spike's back and running over to Chomper. She pulled him into a hug and, after he took a moment to process the surprise, felt Chomper return it.

"Yes, you should know Chomper is a friendly sharptooth because you've met Chomper more than once before and saw that he was a friendly sharptooth," Ruby added, hands on her hips with her tone reproachful towards the one who'd hurt her best friend, and charge's, feelings. Petrie nodded at those words from his perch on Spike's back, making clear his support for his good friend. Sure, there had been a time in the past when he'd had similar worries but after the day on the island Chomper had more than proved his friendship and loyalty and Petrie now stood by him in confidence, like the rest of the gang was.

"Yeah but have you ever seen him this hungry?" Shorty asked, looking at the others.

"Well none of us would be as hungry as long if we started trying to find a way out again." Ruby said. Shorty just shook his head, "I'm not gonna turn my back on him, he's probably thinking which friend he wants for dinner!"

Shorty:

Friends for dinner, he wants to have friends, for dinner.

Chomper:

I don't want threehorn soup, or Littlefoot stew

Shorty:

He'll think it's funny when he chews on you!

Chomper:

That's not a very nice thing to do

All:

To have friends for dinner!

Ali:

He can't eat vegetables, only meat

Shorty:

He wants to munch and crunch your little duck feet!

Littlefoot:

We've known Chomper since he was an egg!

Shorty:

Nah, he'll bite off his beak!

Ducky:

That would hurt!

Shorty:

Then he'll have Ducky dessert!

Chomper:

Friends for dinner. I don't wanna have friends, for dinner!

Cera:

One thing we know he doesn't want to do, is have friends for dinner!

Ruby:

Friends for dinner

Chomper:

I don't want to have friends for dinner!

All (but Shorty):

No friends for dinner!

Everyone glared at Shorty, "Are you done?" Cera asked. Shorty shook his head, "No, but I'll keep silent, I guess, if he walks in front of me." Littlefoot sighed, then glared, "Fine, come on Chomper," he firmly said, without an ounce of fear, and walked with Chomper to the front of the group, leaving Shorty in the back. Chomper sighed sadly and looked down. Cera shot Shorty a murderous glare, "Not another word," she muttered, her tone an obvious threat. Shorty glared at her but kept silent.

A short time passed with no one talking. The gang's progress was interrupted again only a few minutes later, there was a setback no one anticipated. The tunnel ended and only a tiny passage opening into the wall of it would allow them to continue. Sticking his head inside, Littlefoot saw it went up at a slight angle into what seemed to be another wide passage like the one they were in now. The only problem was that it was incredibly small, he and the other bigger individuals in the gang would likely only just be able to crawl and squeeze through. He pulled his head out of the hole and looked at the others, "There's nothing for it," he said, "we're gonna have to crawl through here."

"Will we even fit?" Cera asked.

"I think so, we have to try, this is the only way up," Littlefoot replied, "It doesn't go far up, but it does go up, right into another tunnel like this one." Everyone bigger than Chomper looked unsure but Cera made good on her word; she stepped forward and nodded, "Then we'll go through," she said. Trusting Littlefoot had sized the available space up correctly, she turned to the tiny tunnel and got onto her belly. It was so small that she had to crawl through with her front legs sticking out in front of her, not tucked under her, and her back legs dangling behind. She began pulling herself forward with her front legs, and pushing her back ones as best she could with the awkward angle; feeling the rocks pressing against her on all sides. She also slid her shoulders back and forth and side to side to shimmy forward as well.

"There you go Cera, good!" Littlefoot called, Cera didn't say anything back, the passage was so tight her movements towards the exit were slow and she couldn't take a full breath due to the rocks pressing on her from all sides. A deep exhale sent a cloud of dust up into her face. Coughing Cera continued climbing up, trying not to slip back down, towards the exit that seemed so far away.

"How is it Cera?" came the muffled voice of Littlefoot. She stopped, "I can't get a full breath in here!" she shouted, her own voice sounding muffled in the tiny space, though to the gang her voice was even more muffled, "but I can fit, come on!" she called, grunting and squirming her way further along.

Nodding, Littlefoot looked at the rest of the gang, "We have no choice guys, but it sounds like we can do it, it'll just be a tight squeeze," he said, "Ducky, Petrie, Chomper, Ruby, you guys all go next one by one, you'll have the easiest time getting through there-"

"I will wait for Spike and go with him," Ducky said, "I will not let him get stuck again and be left behind, like the one time we were caving while looking for sky color stones, no, no, no." Littlefoot nodded, "Okay, you three go ahead then," he said, turning to Petrie, Chomper and Ruby. Petrie had the easiest of the three, he could just walk up the tunnel behind Cera, who hadn't squeezed even halfway to the exit yet. Chomper followed him, having to crawl but not being constricted like Cera was. Ruby also found it manageable, she wasn't packed tightly against the walls like Cera, and could easily use her arms and legs to push and pull herself up through the passage, but she had to crawl splayed out on her belly and if she rose up her back would hit the ceiling of the rock passage. Tiny pebbles slid down towards the three as Cera continued squeezing forward up ahead of them, only able to push herself forward a few inches each time due to the tightness of the space, but she wasn't slowing and made steady progress.

The exit of the passage still seemed impossibly far off, in fact to Cera it looked like it wasn't getting any closer, and she paused to catch her breath as best she could, due to all the loose pebbles she was afraid of slipping back down and getting wedged somewhere. Blowing out the air she'd breathed in, which bounced right back into her face and again stirred up a bunch of dirt, she continued squeezing forward, pulling and pushing with her legs and her shoulders.

Littlefoot watched the group from below and once they'd climbed a short distance he looked at everyone who was left, "After you, Ali," he said, he then looked past her, "Spike, you and Ducky follow me, Shorty...I want you to come last. Spike is the biggest of us, so if he gets stuck I need someone strong behind him who can give him a push," he said. Shorty nodded, "I can do that," he replied.

Ali crouched down, then slid onto her belly and squirmed up into the passage. Glancing back at Spike, Ducky and Shorty, Littlefoot then did the same and followed a few feet behind her. The passage was about as long as some of the tallest trees Littlefoot had ever seen out in the valley, however it wasn't even as wide as some of the tightest logs he'd ever squeezed into.

"Ow," he muttered, feeling a rock jab his back.

"Alright, Spike, it is now our turn," Ducky said, leading Spike to the passage entrance. She stepped inside and turned back towards him, motioning him to get onto his belly and crawl up after her.

Cera meanwhile continued shimmying forward, not looking at how much further she had to go, until finally she glanced up and saw the lip of exit within reach. With a grunt and a shove, she pushed herself through the constructive space, grabbed the lip with her forelimbs and pulled herself into the new tunnel and out of the tight passage. The release felt heavenly. Though she was still in a cave, if it was compared to what she had just crawled through the current tunnel might as well have been as big and open as the Big Water. For a moment she lay sprawled on the tunnel floor, seeing it heading off and turning a corner ahead, running level and smooth. It was a disappointment it didn't keep going up, because despite the length of the tight rock passage it had only climbed up about as high as a fully grown sharptooth, like Chomper's mother's, knee.

Petrie appeared a few seconds later and sighed, "Thank goodness it widen out again," he said. Cera huffed, "You have no reason to complain," she said, standing up, feeling sore and still trying to catch her breath. She walked to the tunnel exit as Chomper stuck his head out of it and called down, "Come on guys, it opens up again up here," she said as Chomper climbed out and stood next to her, calling down his own encouragement as Ruby also joined them.

"Say, Littlefoot thought that up here it would widen out again, and it does widen out again up here," she said, standing and stretching. About halfway down the tunnel, Ali grunted and stopped, taking several as deep breaths as she could in the tight space, "Good to know," she mumbled, starting to shimmy forward again, not wanting to rest with the others right behind her. The rocks were squeezing her tightly on all sides and it made climbing incredibly difficult and slow, especially since, like the other four-footers, she couldn't get her legs under her to help.

Shorty, meanwhile, was impatiently pacing in front of the entrance to the passage, the last one in the tunnel the gang had been walking through. Looking inside the passage, he saw Spike struggling, having only made it about foot inside so far, his back legs flailing, he could also hear Ducky's muffled voice encouraging Spike to keep climbing and shimmying along; there was no trace of any impatience or annoyance in her voice. Groaning, wishing he had that kind of patience, he continued pacing, waiting for the spiketail to climb enough so that he could follow the others.

"Come on, Spike, you can do it, I am right here with you and the others have already done it, see?" Ducky said, looking up to see Littlefoot much further ahead up the passage, climbing steadily. Spike looked panicked, no doubt being the most constricted one out of the nine, but Ducky kept him calm and very slowly he squeezed along, following his big sister and focusing on her encouraging words and not the tightness of the passage. A scratching behind him told him Shorty had also finally climbed inside and was following him. Spike however only paid attention to Ducky and moving himself forward, not what was behind him or how much further he had to go. Ducky stayed with him the whole time, offering continuous encouragement, and Spike kept his focus on her. In fact, he was so focused on her, and moving himself forward through the tight rocks, that he didn't even realize when he made it to the top until he was suddenly in the tunnel with the others and Ducky was jumping around him, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Hurray Spike! You did it little brother!" Ducky congratulated, dancing in front of him. And a few seconds later Shorty appeared as well, coated in a layer of dirt made up of all the pebbles and dust the gang had stirred up on their crawl through the passage. He looked less than thrilled to be more brown than green.

/

With the tiny rock passage behind them, the gang had set off again. Littlefoot was still leading. Their progress was again slowed though when they spotted something ahead. Ahead the tunnel split off into two new ones, both leading up. The gang stopped, not knowing which one to take.

"Hmm, they both go the way we want," Littlefoot said softly, contemplating the two choices before them. Chomper sniffed the air coming from both tunnels, "Neither way smells particularly fresh," he reported. Littlefoot kicked a small round rock to the side as he thought, his heart not telling him which way to go like earlier, but he did get an idea, "Hmm, hey! Petrie, why don't you fly down both tunnels for a short distance and tell us which direction looks more promising," he said suddenly.

"P...P...Petrie go...alone….all alone? Into….d...d...dark tunnels?" The flyer shuddered.

"Please Petrie, for us," Littlefoot said. Petrie looked at him and then at the others in the group, they were silently pleading with him. He stood up after seeing that, nervous but speaking in a determined voice, "Okay, me go. After all...they just empty tunnels...right?"

"Right Petrie," Cera encouraged, "this time it's just normal tunnels and not another small rock passage."

"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky added. Petrie nodded and took off, flying towards the tunnel on the left, "Now Petrie, just go for a short ways. See if it looks like it might lead to a way out...or at the very least have a good spot to sleep in," Littlefoot called as Petrie vanished into the left tunnel.

Petrie shuddered as it got darker, "Oooh….remember….me doing this for friends….they counting on me! And dark tunnels are just empty tunnels!" More determined than ever, Petrie kept his eyes ahead and kept flying. The tunnel kept going up and up for a long way, just as Petrie wondered if it might not go all the way to the surface, which would've been great since the gang could've rested at the bottom for a while then scaled it in one go once they'd regained some strength, it leveled out and opened into another cavern. Not a large one but many tunnels snuck off and up in all directions.

Satisfied, Petrie flew back the way he came. Without talking to his friends, he flew out of the left tunnel and straight into the right one. There were lots of ominous stone teeth in this one. And it got narrow, felt threatening, but Petrie kept going. Eventually this tunnel also stopped going up, it leveled for a very tiny distance, only a few feet, and then went down again. It was a plunge but it would've been walkable. Far below, Petrie heard fast, rushing water that sounded like a rasping, dying breath. He imagined something dark reaching up for him out of the shadows below to drag him back down into the darkness. To drown him in the water and then let his corpse be washed far underground by it. It was just the shadows, but he swore he saw a hand beckoning him closer from below, hidden in the dark. He spun around and shot back the way he'd come. The sensation faded as soon as he was away from that downward tunnel.

The gang cheered when Petrie emerged from the tunnel. Tired, he landed on Littlefoot's head and laid there, "Left tunnel, definitely left, no go right. Good place to sleep in left tunnel, large cave. More tunnels lead up," Petrie said between breaths.

"What was in the right tunnel Petrie?" Ducky asked. Petrie shuddered and just said, "It go down into bad place."

Deciding they did not want to know what this "bad place" was, the gang quickly started into the left tunnel. Going properly uphill at last was thrilling and after a long walk they came to the cavern Petrie had been in.

"Here place," Petrie said. Stone teeth, some large, long and thick, and some small, short and thin were spread across the ceiling. The room itself vaguely was circular in shape, not very large but not small. There were five more tunnels leading out, all going up, some more level and others steeper. The gang sat down, they could decide which one to take in the morning, though that probably wasn't far away; they'd been walking for so long they were sure it had to be at least the middle of the night. There was still no food or water to be found.

The gang rested for a short bit, each lost in their own thoughts. Littlefoot was brought out of his when Chomper leaned against him, "How did this day start off so well and end so badly?" he asked. Littlefoot had almost forgotten how well the day really had started, Swimmer and Splasher, both Ali and Shorty arriving at the same time….none of them even knew where it had went wrong because none of them knew what wrong tunnel they'd taken coming back from the Cave of Many Voices or when they'd done it.

"I don't know Chomper," Littlefoot said, sitting up, not having an answer for his friend. The others saw him and did the same, still mostly looking down.

Ducky had her arms around Spike and she was crying silently. Cera was also shedding a few tears.

Ali looked up and started to sing in a low voice:

Ali:

When the mists came down,

And we had to find a new home,

My mom assured me that one would soon be found.

She whispered, "Don't be scared"

Because she's always there

Chomper:

When I'd see something scary

My mom and dad would tell me it would go

And things would soon be merry

They would make sure I always had comfort

And that I was always unhurt

And I always was, because they were always there

All:

Always there

Someone you can count on

To comfort you

Always there

Like a green, green valley

You can come home to

Littlefoot:

I still remember how she would hold me close.

And say to let my heart guide me

And that she would be everywhere

And now I must agree

She is always there

All:

Always there

Someone you can count on

To comfort you

Always there

Like a green, green valley

You can come home to

Shorty:

I used to never have something like that

It was just me and some little brats

But then Bron found and said to me, that no matter where at

I could be, he would be always there

All:

Always there

Someone you can count on

To comfort you

Always there

Like a great, green valley

You can come home to

Always there

Their sad, tired voices echoed through the empty tunnels and the isolation returned. That's when it truly hit, it hadn't fully before then, but it did now. They were alone. There would be no help. They only had each other. If they were going to get out, they couldn't squabble over minor things anymore. They had to be united.

Littlefoot closed his eyes, "Always there." He softly sang one more time. He looked at his friends, "We'll find our way out tomorrow….I know we will. I bet one of the tunnels leads right up, maybe back to the Cave of Many Voices, it's got to be above us somewhere.

His belly grumbled, "And maybe we'll find some water and water plants tomorrow too, maybe some fish for you too Chomper." Littlefoot said, trying to lighten the mood. The thought of one of his favorite foods made Chomper salivate slightly, and he chewed the air in his mouth with a slight longing, but would there even be any fish so far underground? Sharpteeth that ate fish, like Claw-hands, never said fish lived so deep below the surface.

"Will there be any? Claw-hands I've met have never mentioned fish living in caves before, and they're pretty much sharpteeth experts on fish," Chomper replied.

"Well, do Claw-hands live in caves?" Littlefoot asked.

"No." Chomper admitted, which meant they probably wouldn't know. He hoped Littlefoot was right.

"Petrie, tomorrow do you think you can check the tunnels again for us?" Littlefoot asked, turning towards the flyer resting on Cera's back. He lifted his head and looked at the multiple tunnels, "Um...Petrie no know about that….there so many-"

"Listen here Wingbrain, you're gonna put those skinny wings to use, understand." Cera snapped, it wasn't a question but an order. Petrie looked scared and quickly said, "Yes, me understand, me will put skinny wings to use!" Cera huffed and rolled her eyes. Petrie jumped off her back and scurried away.

While that was going on, Shorty walked over to Littlefoot, "What do you think Bron is doing right now?" He asked. Littlefoot sighed and glanced up, as if he could look, "Probably still looking for us." He replied. Shorty nodded, "Yeah….I don't think we would be getting any sleep right now if we were them. I wonder how long it took for them to realize we were missing."

/

The talking fizzled out as each dinosaur again sank back into their own thoughts. It was eventually broken when Cera loudly yawned, "Well...goodnight guys," she sleepily said.

"She's got the right idea, we all need sleep," Littlefoot replied, yawning too.

Cera laid down and closed her eyes. She cracked them open again when she felt Spike snuggle up next to her on her right, Ducky laying down in his embrace, Petrie on his back. On Cera's left, she felt Littlefoot lay down, his head and neck stretched across her back. Next to her shoulder, close beside Littlefoot, Chomper leaned up against her flank and shut his eyes. Ruby curled up next to him. Next to Spike, Ali snuggled up next to him and next to her, Shorty did the same. Together, warm, connected, and comforted by the others, they all fell into a deep, restful sleep as one. As more than a herd, as more than best friends, they fell asleep as a family. One that would start the next day united and with pettiness behind them.

/

Tiny drops of water fell from the stone teeth above the sleeping gang. The few hours the gang had slept in the cave had been uneventful and silent, with the exception of one moment that had occurred about two hours before.

Littlefoot had been having a...vivid nightmare. Putting it lightly.

He was running, he heard screaming, but that's not what he was afraid of. He ran through the thorn trees only to get caught on a thorny vine, snapping jaws just behind him. He felt Sharptooth's warm breath wash over him. He looked back and saw the open maw of the beast just behind him, tongue wiggling, teeth sharp, and throat dark and wide. It, the beast, Sharptooth, was coming closer and closer, snapping with each forward advance, determined to fill its belly with young longneck. This was something Littlefoot remembered with more frequency then he would've liked to, but it was okay, he remembered how it played out. He got free from the vines and they whacked Sharptooth in the eye. It was okay, he would get free. Only he didn't. The wide jaws and deadly giant teeth came closer, closer and closer, and still closer and Littlefoot could not get free. This wasn't right, he wasn't going to escape this time. Littlefoot struggled harder, "Mother! Cera! Someone help!" he wailed as Sharptooth licked his lips, sliding closer and opening his jaws, and nearly ready to bring the longneck into the embrace of its teeth and then the dark, empty, unknown of death that would follow. The beast's maw was inches away, saliva flew from its tongue and teeth, it came closer and closer and there was still no way to escape. Littlefoot snapped awake when Sharptooth bit him. He swore he could feel the jaws bite him in half. He had to look to make sure he was still in one piece.

Somehow he managed not to scream, but his jump and rapid breathing did wake up Cera and Chomper.

"Littlefoot are you alright?" Cera whispered. Littlefoot nodded, "It was...just a sleep story," he replied, slowing his breathing down. Chomper put a hand on Littlefoot's side, "What about?" He asked. Littlefoot took a few more deep breaths to calm down before speaking.

"Cera, you remember the day Sharptooth first attacked us, and I got caught in those vines? I dreamed I didn't get free." Cera understood what must've happened next. Chomper, who knew the story, did too. The young sharptooth pulled Littlefoot into a hug, "It was just a sleep story. They can't hurt you," he said, having learned that lesson himself, "And he can't hurt you anymore."

"Yeah Littlefoot, nothing can as long as we're together," Cera agreed. Though she did remember that at that particular moment; she had run off and left Littlefoot behind. Cera tried not to think about what might've happened.

"I know, I know….it was just so...real," Littlefoot said slowly as he calmed down, his heart still racing. Chomper tightened his hug and Littlefoot was grateful.

A few minutes later, Cera and Chomper had calmed their friend down and they all went back to sleep. Littlefoot was relieved that he didn't have any more sleep stories that night. He was able to peacefully drift off to sleep again when remembering the happiest moment of his life. When his mother showed him the way to the Great Valley and when she bathed it in warm light from the Bright Circle. Paradise and a blinding, welcoming light in the dark. Found after a journey through hell itself. That memory, that moment of pure joy, pure happiness, was what he thought about as he closed his eyes. Not about that sleep story, not about those snapping jaws, but of the Great Valley and his friends and family.

Hours later, Littlefoot was again the first to open his eyes and be greeted by the cave walls. He sat up and yawned, the cave magnifying the sound enough that the others stirred, opened their eyes and yawned a few seconds later. They all had hunger pains at this point and were more thirsty than they'd ever been.

Littlefoot stood up, "Alright gang, today's the day we will find a way out," he declared confidently. Cera huffed, "Oh yeah," She sarcastically replied, stretching as she did, her back audibly popped and she sighed. Shorty stood up and stretched his stiff muscles, "Man, sleeping on rocks is so uncomfortable," he muttered, his back also popping as he loosened up. Chomper shrugged, "You get used to it," he yawned.

Littlefoot ignored his friend's comments and looked around, feeling confident and determined, "First thing is first, we need to choose what way to go. Petrie, the tunnels that are more even and easier to walk I want you to search, the other two that are steep…I'm not sure we could make it up."

"Well, let's see," Chomper said, walking to one of the tunnels that went upward at a steep angle. It was almost a vertical shaft but went up as far as he could see. He started climbing, using his finger and toe claws to grab hold and support himself, but the rocks were loose and wet and he tumbled back down after only making it a few feet, accompanied by a small shower of stones.

"I don't think we can do that," he admitted, standing back up and rubbing the back of his head. Shorty snorted, "Especially us four footers who don't have arms to grip with." Ruby smirked a little, "Hands are definitely handy," she said.

"Okay then Petrie, it's up to you," Littlefoot said, ignoring Ruby's comment. "Fly down the other three tunnels and tell us which way looks the most promising."

"Okay...Petrie do me best," Petrie replied. He stretched his wings before lifting into the air and flying into the nearest tunnel.

/

"It just keep going on and on, Petrie could no see end of it." The flyer reported after he returned from the first tunnel half an hour later, "It also stop going up and just went even for as far as me could see. That was when me turn around."

"Okay Petrie, try one of the others," Littlefoot replied. Nodding, Petrie flew across the cave and into the second of the three tunnels the gang had decided to try.

This one also started going up at a slight angle but it also leveled out and went straight. Petrie sighed, "Why they no just go up?" he groaned. He flew through the tunnel, his wings the only sound, for a bit longer than he meant to before turning and flying back. He turned after seeing that the tunnel started going up again slightly ahead, still at a slight angle but at least it was going up.

"This one same, but it start up again though," Petrie reported upon his return.

"Okay Petrie, try the last one," Littlefoot said. Nodding again, Petrie flew into the final tunnel. This one grew tight and Petrie had to angle his flight through narrow spaces, low hanging rocks, between the walls and around sudden, tight turns. Somehow an occasional small old log or chunk of driftwood laying on the passage floor would even be seen by the flyer, each covered in a fine layer of sediments; probably they had washed down during a rain or some other flood that went through the tunnel. Eventually, after flying around yet another corner, the floor below him vanished and he found himself flying above a void of darkness.

He shuddered and flew back right away. The gang, who'd been sitting silently in the center of the cave, looked up upon his return and watched Petrie land on a small boulder and take a few breaths, "That way no good, it just end in cliff, no could see bottom."

"Okay, looks like we take the second tunnel, at least we know we'll be moving up again," Littlefoot said. Everyone else silently agreed with short nods.

As they started into the upward tunnel, Littlefoot, who went last, looked back into the cave. It had served them well. After a moment, he turned and headed into the tunnel.

Hours later and they hadn't made much upward progress because the tunnel they entered started to level out for a second time after a short bit and all the new tunnels they found stayed even or went down again. The only ones that went up were way too small for the gang to fit in and Ducky and Petrie, the only two who would've fit in them, refused to separate from the group to explore them. They also were truly beginning to worry about food and water, it had been over a day since any of them had eaten or drank anything and there was no sign of anything, not even a stray insect for Chomper for a trickle of water to lick off the cave wall. Shorty was still being sure to have distance between himself and Chomper but he wasn't making any comments.

The fact there had been no food or water caused each member of the gang to have an internal dilemma, "Do we keep going and use all our strength or stop and wait for rescue?" Everyone had the same conclusion though, no matter how long it took to reach it. "There is no hope for rescue down here."

They continued to journey on, just hoping to find a way out soon.

Meanwhile...

The morning was clear and the Bright Circle was out, and the sky was a bright blue, just like it had been the morning before. The parents of the missing gang were gathered and talking to one another in one of the large meadows.

"Yes, we went to the caves this morning, Chomper and Ruby are also gone," Grandpa Longneck said.

"We haven't seen any of the kids since yesterday afternoon, shortly before the bad sky water hit. They must've sheltered somewhere from the weather when it started getting bad," Grandma Longneck added.

"But why wouldn't they have come out after it cleared up again?" Mr. Threehorn said. Before anyone could say anything else, Tria came hurrying over, "Topsy, there you are, have you had any luck finding them?" Most of the parents had assumed their children were out late the night before, something not uncommon, especially when they had guests, and thus didn't realize their children were missing until the next morning. The exceptions, who had stayed awake the night before, waiting and looking, were Littlefoot's grandparents, Bron and Mr. Threehorn. Tria was asleep when he had gotten back to the nest and he had only said Cera was missing to her that morning before he hurried off. Tria had not gotten a chance to talk and she had only just remembered what she had seen the day before. As soon as she did remember, she'd found Guido and asked him to watch Tricia, then she'd gone to find the other parents of the gang.

"No," Mr. Threehorn replied, "they're not in the valley."

"Topsy," Tria said, "I only just remembered, I saw the kids yesterday during the storm while I was taking Tricia to the nest."

"All of them?" Ali's mother asked.

"Yes, they were heading in the direction of the Secret Caverns," Tria replied.

"The Secret Caverns?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

"That's where Chomper and Ruby live," Mama Flyer said mostly to herself. "Why haven't they come back then?" She and Mama Swimmer both shared a confused and worried look.

"Those caves are huge," Grandma Longneck added.

"And dangerous if you get far inside, that's why we tell them not to go any further than that Cave of Many Voices they found," Mr. Threehorn said.

"Do you think they could've gotten trapped or lost?" Bron asked.

"It's possible, the caves are like a maze and if you don't realize you've taken a wrong turn you might never find your way out, they extend far underground, deep below the Great Valley," Grandpa Longneck stated, "There's only one group who can search the caverns effectively. We must go to the tinysauruses and ask them to search the caves below the valley," he declared.

"Huoh, and here I thought the kids just pulled one of their regular stunts," Mr. Threehorn muttered, "The little longnecks. I'm skeptical of those little things, they aren't natural, but I agree it's the best option we have, based on what we know, no one else will really fit in the caves and no one else knows them better."

"Yes, let us go now," Grandma Longneck said. The grownups began the trek across the valley to the cave the tinysauruses called home.

/

Meanwhile the gang were still trudging on. Just as their moods were at the lowest they'd been since their unintentional adventure began they came across something in a small circle shaped cave, about twice as wide as the tunnel they'd been walking through, which had three tunnels leading out of it, that took their collective breaths away and left them all open mouthed.

"Wow," Littlefoot breathed.

"Amazing," Chomper murmured.

"Oh, it's so pretty," Ruby commented, smiling for the first time that day.

"It is more pretty than sky color stones." Ducky added, jumping off Spike's back to get a closer look at the wall. The walls and ceiling were coated completely in shining, transparent, blue, purple and green crystals and sapphires. It was something truly beautiful. Behind the gems seemed to be the source of their glowing color, and water seemed to be trickling behind them as well, there was no way to access it so all it did was add to the glistening beauty.

"I never thought I'd see something so beautiful in a cave," Cera said.

"Me neither," Ali replied, her eyes sparkling in the dim glow from the crystals.

"How are they glowing?" Littlefoot asked.

"Me no know," Petrie dreamily replied. The crystals bathed the area in a gentle light and the trickling water behind them added sparkling movement to it that was almost dreamlike. They looked at the sight for several minutes until Shorty finally spoke up, "Hey guys, I hate to interrupt this moment, but we can't stay here all day, we're still lost." The others sighed but knew he was right.

"Yeah, he's right," Cera said. Ducky approached and touched one of the gems, "Oh I wish I could take one with me, yep, yep, yep," she said sadly. She gave it one more pat before turning away and getting back onto Spike's back. For all the gang knew, the crystals might very well have been sparkling down in the cave for several thousand cold times and probably would do so for many thousands more to come. And they might very well have been the only ones to ever see them.

"So, which way now?" Chomper asked, "They all seem to go the way we've been already," he added, pointing at the three new tunnels.

"Let your heart guide you," Littlefoot whispered, remembering the words once again. His eyes fell to one tunnel that was being partially illuminated for a short ways by the mesmerizing glow of the of the three, it was the only one the light extended into.

"That way," he declared and started into it before anyone could disagree. As the gang followed, Cera, Spike and Ducky found themselves being the last ones in the cave. Just before they left a rumble came, distant, but audible.

"What was that?" Ducky asked.

"Sounded like it came from somewhere far below us, maybe a cave in somewhere, I bet the caves go way deeper then we are now, but let's not wait around to find out." Cera replied, hurrying into the tunnel. Spike didn't move until he felt Ducky spur him on, then he followed quickly, still carrying her on his back, "Go little brother, we do not want to be left behind, no," Ducky said to him. As they disappeared into the new tunnel and left the crystal cave, none of the gang noticed the shadow standing in the tunnel they'd come from; none of them heard the soft clicking sound emit from its throat or the sound of the saliva dripping from its jaws and drip dripping onto the cave floor. And so they continued on but it didn't take long to find something else that was much more ominous than a distant rumble from below them.

/

They found another skeleton, it looked old and ancient even. The thick bones looked chewed on as well, and there were strange, what looked like, scratch marks around the holes where the eyes would've been. The bones were stained a dull brown in color, having been in the cave so long they lost the white color most bones the gang had seen had.

"Does anyone know what that is?" Ali asked.

"I've never seen a creature that looks like that," Chomper replied, his stomach growling at the same time. Ali, nervous, took a single step to the side and away from the young sharptooth, though her stomach was also talking, even louder than Chomper's. Chomper didn't notice though, his gaze was on the skeleton.

"It almost looks like a fast biter, but it's too big and its nose is too long," Shorty muttered, "like a longsnout sharptooth almost."

"Yeah, the teeth still look deadly," Littlefoot added, looking at the large fangs.

"They look like they're still snarling," Ali replied and Petrie shuddered, hiding behind Cera's crest again.

"What's with those…claw marks on the skull?" Chomper asked, he gently traced a claw along the marks near the eye holes up to the opening where the eyes should've been and suddenly tensed, gulped, and backed up, stumbling into Littlefoot accidently. The marks weren't just on the outside, they were also deep inside the socket too.

"What is it?" Littlefoot asked. Chomper shuddered, "It scratched its eyes out." A shudder went through the gang. They imagined this dinosaur, alone in the darkness, going insane from the isolation, laughing a deranged laugh, and forcefully sinking its claws into its eyes and scratching them out as it slowly lost its own self to the dark caves, hundreds or perhaps thousands of cold times before.

"You're sure Chomper?" Littlefoot asked. Chomper shook his head, "No, but the only other explanation is that…someone else, a better predator, scratched them out instead." Another shudder ran through the gang, they didn't know which idea was scarier to think about, and they quickly walked past the skeleton, leaving it behind. Further along they found that the tunnel also had old, worn claw marks cut deep into the ceiling and walls of it. They were big claw marks and they felt larger in the oppressing silence of the cave. What made them? was the question everyone was thinking. Cera kicked something and looked down, jumping back and gasping from surprise. It was another skull, this one beaked. It was small but also had claw marks around where its eyes would've been. It was just a skull, nothing else, no body, no bones, just a skull. Chomper picked it up and sniffed it, "Yick, it's definitely old. It's...it's probably been here for over a hundred cold times."

Everyone just looked at the skull as Chomper dropped it and felt uneasy despite the likely age of the remains. However the unease only grew when Shorty spoke up next, "Wait…where's the body? It's just a skull, where is the body, where are the bones? A skull isn't gonna be by itself if the sharpbeak just died from being lost." Everyone felt a creeping chill and realized he was right…where was the rest of the remains…why was the skull by itself? The tunnel ahead suddenly seemed foreboding and endless, "Let's pick the pace up." Littlefoot said. Soon, the claw marks stopped and there was no longer any sign of whatever had happened a long time ago in the tunnels. For several minutes, nothing else happened, though the gang stayed tense, until...

"Woah!" Cera loudly shouted, stopping suddenly. She had been just ahead of the others and had just gone around a turn in the tunnel, only to come to an open pit. Some loose stones fell down and Cera heard them echoing as they fell down but Cera didn't hear them hit the bottom.

"Stop!" she called.

Cautiously, the gang crept around the corner as Cera backed up. They looked at the hole, it was a round abyss that vanished into darkness. Chomper picked up a cave sparkle and tossed it over the side. It struck the side of the pit as it fell a few times and made some loud echoes. It continued falling and continued striking the walls of the pit all the while, bouncing off of one wall and over to the other, each collison and its accompanying echoes growing fainter and fainter as it fell further and further down. After nearly a full minute passed the gang still hadn't heard it hit the bottom. Chomper licked the inside of his mouth and laughed nervously.

"So….definitely don't fall down there," Littlefoot said.

"What do we do?" Ducky asked.

"We'll have to jump it," Littlefoot replied.

"What?" Cera cried, "I'm not gonna jump that!"

"You are if you want to get out of the Secret Caverns. You can't walk around it," Littlefoot said, crouching and getting a running start. He jumped over the pit and cleared it without a problem.

"It's not hard, just get a running start. And don't look down!" Littlefoot called, looking back to the others, "Who's next?"

"I'll do it!" Chomper said, "It looks fun!" He took a few steps back and then ran at the pit, jumping at the last minute. He landed on the other side, half slipped, and almost fell backwards, but caught himself, and threw himself forward into Littlefoot, "Whoo," Chomper breathed, grabbing Littlefoot tightly as Littlefoot took a few steps away from the edge.

"You okay?" Littlefoot asked. Chomper nodded, taking another few deep breaths, "That was too close." Littlefoot nuzzled Chomper on the head, comforting the young sharptooth. Chomper did look a little relieved and he hugged Littlefoot tighter, it really had been a close call. That was like when he'd fallen off of the cliff on the island, maybe not quite as scary, but still terrifying.

"Spike, let us go next," Ducky said suddenly from the other side.

"Hmmm?" Spike murmured.

"You can do it little brother!" Ducky encouraged, "You got through the tunnel and that was much harder than this will be!" Spike grunted and took a few steps back, looking determined. Clinging tightly to Spike's neck, Ducky shut her eyes as Spike charged. The young spiketail ran to the edge, jumped over the pit and landed safely on the other side. They slid into the wall and Ducky jumped off Spike's back, "Hurray, you did it Spike! I knew you would, I did, I did." Spike smiled and licked Ducky affectionately. Ducky laughed, and tried to push his head away, "Spike, stop it! Spike!" she squeaked as he continued licking her.

"Petrie, you come next," Littlefoot called, once he looked away from the two, "Ali, you and Shorty follow. Cera-"

"No!" Cera shouted back. Ruby sighed, "Just don't look down Cera, watch!" Ruby said, running and jumping the pit in a single stride, "See! It is easy as long as you do not look down!" Petrie, looking nervous, followed behind Ruby.

"Me no like this. Pit is deep and scary," he said as he flew over it, thinking of the "bad place" he had seen before, covering his eyes as he landed on Littlefoot's back.

"You can fly, you have no reason to be afraid!" Cera shouted. She glared but nervously groaned too. She looked at the pit, thinking how far down the bottom had to be.

"Cera, everything will be okay if you just jump!" Ruby called. Cera didn't move, "I...I-"

"Cera, how about we go at the same time? Side by side," Ali asked suddenly. "Then you won't have to do it alone."

"Will there be enough room for them to go at the same time?" Chomper whispered to Littlefoot.

"I...think?" Littlefoot replied, also whispering. Oblivious, Ali smiled at Cera, "What do you say Cera?" Cera looked nervous but nodded, "I won't look down," she said, Ali nodded, "Just don't look down. Pretend you're just jumping over a stream out in the Great Valley, or playing a game of Hard Water Hopping." They backed a few paces down the tunnel, Shorty doing the same to give them room, and both charged at the same time and leapt once they were at the edge of the pit. As soon as she jumped, Cera squeezed her eyes shut. Side by side, Ali and Cera landed at the same time on the other side, sliding into Littlefoot and Chomper, who had still been holding onto Littlefoot like a younger sibling holding his older one for comfort, causing a mass of limps and tails to fly into the wall. Petrie, who was somewhere in the middle of it all, yelped out as the mass collided with the wall.

"See?" Ali muttered once she stopped being dizzy. Cera groaned from somewhere under Ali and didn't reply. Chomper stuck his head out from under Littlefoot's leg, "Not so bad, right Cera?" he said, with a strained and forced smile, his back sore from where it had slammed into the wall.

Without a word, problem, or even a big run up, Shorty made it over the pit easily. He couldn't help but have a slight, but smug grin on his face.

/

Nothing else eventful occurred for a long time and the gang kept going, taking tunnels that went up. They'd left the bones far behind now. There was no sign anything else had ever been in the caves, no claw marks or skeletons. The day just slowly passed with the gang moving at a fast pace through seemingly endless tunnels, now mindful for open holes in the cave floor. It was a rough day, as they'd at one point entered a monstrous cavern and been forced to scale up a cliffside all the way up to nearly the ceiling in order to reach the only tunnel that led out, only able to do it by holding on together and helping one another all the way up. Eventually, after many, many grueling hours of traveling, they came to the end of yet another upward angling tunnel and into a cave that was about twice as large as the one they'd slept in the night before. Without speaking, they unanimously stopped and agreed to rest there, due to the frightening find from before they had been moving at a jog nearly all day and, combined with having to climb the cliff face, none of them felt they could go a step further without sleep.

They were exhausted, to put it simply, more so than any of them had ever been. Littlefoot sighed, "Okay guys, we need rest….looks like we're spending another night," he declared.

"No, we can keep going-" Cera started, though she was feeling the same she didn't want to stay another night in the caves, but she stopped when Ducky put a hand on her front leg, "Cera, we should rest, yep, yep, yep," she said, her voice indicating how tired she was. Cera noticed Spike was also about ready to just fall over and go to sleep. She sighed, "Fine."

The gang all sat down and just rested, some with their eyes half closed. Ruby sat down on a flat stone that had fallen from the ceiling and groaned, "Ooh," as she rubbed her aching legs and feet. Chomper sat next to her, "Ruby, do you think we'll find a way out of here?" he asked, sounding hopeless.

"Yes Chomper, I'm sure we will, tomorrow we will definitely get out, get out tomorrow we will," Ruby replied with a smile. She put an arm around Chomper and they leaned against one another, resting.

"I'm scared Ruby," he eventually admitted. Ruby pulled the sharptooth closer, "It is okay to be scared Chomper, everyone will get scared sometimes but as long as you do not let being scared keep you from what makes you not scared then being scared will pass." In response, Chomper held onto Ruby tighter, she'd made a great point as she always did when it was needed, and each took comfort from the presence of the other.

Chomper didn't look up and see it, but there was guilt in Ruby's eyes. As she held her best friend close, it hit her that the whole misadventure was her fault and now they were all in danger because of her suggestion to play in the caves. If nothing else, Ruby felt determined to fulfill her duty as guardian to Chomper, and do everything she could to make sure he was able to escape, along with her friends, the extensions of her family, no matter the cost to her. If anyone paid for her suggestion let it be her that paid for it, she thought.

"Anyone know any stories?" Shorty asked after a while. When everyone looked up at him, he seemed to shrink a bit, "...just to pass the time," he added. No one spoke for a few seconds, then Littlefoot decided to humor Shorty and spoke up, his voice tired but clear, "I know one, my grandpa told it to me; he said longnecks have been telling this story for thousands of cold times," he paused and then continued, "Long ago, food was scarce, children were going hungry. Longnecks eat a lot and there just wasn't enough. So we looked to the stars and just hoped for a miracle, hoped to feel what a full belly was like. Then one night, they went to sleep and the stars came down and placed themselves on the trees for the longnecks and then the next day, they found all of these beautiful, star-shaped leaves. They knew they were special, a gift, and they ate their fill for the first time." He paused and then added, "It's one of the old stories."

"Like the one of Tall Stepper?" Chomper asked, opening his eyes. Littlefoot nodded, "Yeah," he said. Everyone listened but no one offered up a follow up story, until Chomper sat up, "Sharpteeth have old stories too, have I ever told any of you the story of the first sharptooth?" When no one confirmed he had, he then asked, "Uh..have I ever told you guys any of them?" Again, no one confirmed he had before and no one stopped him, so Chomper took that as a que to carry on, so he began telling one of the ancient stories of his kind, "This is also a story that goes back thousands of cold times, supposedly the first sharptooth was someone in a time when there were only flatteeth. There was this one individual who just didn't fit in, he was just different somehow. And he was bullied, bullied for so long that his rage made him take revenge on his bullies by eating them. And he loved it. In that rage, he turned into the first sharptooth," Chomper said. Cera pawed the ground, "...maybe something a little more lighthearted and less about people being eaten by a sharptooth would've been a better choice, Chomper." Chomper opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again when his stomach grumbled, deciding to just keep his teeth hidden from view for a time.

"My story wasn't appropriate either then," Littlefoot said, coming to Chomper's defense, "because it was also about food and others getting to eat."

No longer interested in stories, Littlefoot looked away from the gang and around the cave. There was a wide tunnel with stone teeth on the ceiling off to his right. Smaller tunnels more like what the gang had been experiencing and traveling through branched off to his left, one went up and to the right and the other up and to the left. There was another near where they had come in that went straight and even. There was also what looked like a gaping pitch dark abyss of a tunnel that was tall and wide, it was as tall as the ceiling and wide enough for two full grown threehorns to walk through side by side and not be crowded. It was dark, totally dark. It felt threatening and...wrong. Something wasn't right with it.

No way they'd go that way. Littlefoot sighed and looked down, only to look up when Shorty sat down next to him, "Hey."

"Hey," Littlefoot replied, "I thought we would have gotten out of the Secret Caverns today," he admitted.

"Aw, cheer up Littlefoot, we'll definitely find the way out tomorrow, I know it," Shorty said, doing his best to sound confident and encouraging.

"I hope so, Shorty," Littlefoot said, and looked into the dark tunnel, "I miss my grandparents and dad." Shorty nodded and looked into the tall dark tunnel as well. He too sensed that there was something threatening and ominous about it, "We're not going that way tomorrow, right?"

"No," Littlefoot answered without any hesitation, "You feel it too, huh?" Shorty nodded, "Yeah, there's something wrong with that tunnel. Something about it just isn't right," he said. Littlefoot nodded as well. His stomach growled loudly and he winced from the hunger pain, he licked the inside of his mouth too...bone dry, he'd never been so thirty that his mouth began completely dry before. Shorty slowly stood up and said, "I'm going to sleep."

"I will soon too, I need to think for a bit first," Littlefoot said in response, looking at his brother for a moment before looking away again. Shorty nodded and turned to go before he paused again, "Hey, I'm sorry about what I've said about Chomper, I know he's your friend." Littlefoot half smiled, "He's yours too. Apologize to him, not me," Shorty looked over and saw Chomper had already fallen asleep, still leaning against Ruby. He seemed to have tucked himself closer against her following the gang's reaction to his story. Perhaps they'd been a little harsh, after all it was probably one of his most cherished stories and he'd opened it up to them and his friends, apart from Littlefoot and Ruby, had basically told him he shouldn't have told it. Under any other circumstance they'd likely have found it fascinating.

"I...will when he wakes up," Shorty answered, walking over to the group and joining the huddle.

/

Littlefoot stayed where he was for a while, away from the others, looking down and thinking.

"I have to get my friends out of here, no matter what," he thought. "Even if I don't make it, I have to get them out." After a long time passed, he stood and walked over to the others. They were all asleep. He snuggled up with the others and felt a smile spread on his face as their warmth filled him. They'd get out tomorrow, he knew it, they'd be free and they'd finally feel the Bright Circle again. He smiled more when he felt Cera shift a little to make more room for him. Snuggled closer with the others now, Littlefoot sighed contentedly and peacefully drifted off.

Curled up together, much like the night before, the nine dinosaurs fell into deep sleep together.

Littlefoot didn't know why he stirred but he did so after what couldn't have been a long time. Opening his eyes, he found the others still huddled around him, but one member of the group was missing. Lifting his head up, Littlefoot looked around and saw Chomper sitting away from the others, facing into one of the tunnels, his head in his hands. Silently, Littlefoot stood and walked over to the young sharptooth.

"Chomper?" He gently whispered, concerned. Chomper didn't move for a few seconds, but then he turned and looked back at Littlefoot. Littlefoot could see he had been crying.

Now very concerned, Littlefoot stepped closer, "Chomper...are you okay?" he asked. Chomper nodded slowly, "Just had a bad sleep story," he replied, looking away. "You remember that morning on the island?" Littlefoot slowly nodded, immediately knowing the day Chomper was referring to, and sat down next to the sharptooth to wait for him to continue.

"Yeah, I remember," Littlefoot replied.

"And you remember that I was...what I was…what I was doing..." Chomper couldn't finish but Littlefoot nodded again.

"In my sleep story it played out the same way but when you guys were cornered I didn't recognize you...not until it was too late. Not until after I had…." Chomper said in a broken voice, "I...ki…I kil..." he paused then changed what he had been about to say, he sniffed and continued, having to fight to keep his voice from breaking, "That's when I woke up and my stomach was hurting from how hungry I am," he looked at Littlefoot, "I was afraid to stay close to you all." He broke down and started crying softly again.

What he didn't expect was to feel Littlefoot nuzzle him on the head gently, "Chomper, it was just a sleep story, this adventure seems to be making us have bad ones. I know you would never hurt us. Not then, not now and not when we're adults; the gang all know it too," Littlefoot said. Chomper choked back a sob and licked his hand before using it to clean his face a little, "Will you still say that in ten cold times? What about in fifty cold times? Even more down the line?"

"Yes," Littlefoot said without a moment of hesitation, "Chomper, you were my first brother." That comment made the sharptooth look up at Littlefoot, so he continued, "It doesn't matter how old we get, or how big, that's never going to change ever. You're as much a part of our gang, our family, and our valley as Cera, Ducky, Petite and everyone else all are. And don't worry about your instincts, we'll get out of these caves and get our bellies full soon, and all these bad thoughts will go away. And as for the future, my grandparents have talked to me about plans they've put together for you to be able to keep fed as an adult that wouldn't result in you hurting anyone. That way you can stay with us in the valley and not go hungry. They haven't let me in on the details, but I know valley herds approved it and that you'll never have to worry about hurting us or going hungry; you'll be able to live in the valley with us forever," Littlefoot firmly assured Chomper. Chomper, now, did slightly smile, his sharp teeth showing, and he blinked his final tears away, "You really believe that?"

"I do, now come on, let's get some sleep," Littlefoot affirmed. Nodding, Chomper stood and pulled Littlefoot into a tight hug, which the longneck returned.

Together, Littlefoot and Chomper rejoined the huddle and both fell back asleep, snuggled together. After they fell asleep, the only sound in the cave was the dripping of water from the dark tunnel.

Drip…drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...

/

The gang slept for a few hours but had a very rude awakening. A sudden shrill, high pitched, breezy wail of a scream abruptly echoed through the previously totally silent cave. Obviously, all nine of them woke up and jumped to their feet right away upon hearing it, untangling from one another as they did. Before anyone could ask what the sound was they heard, from the pitch black tunnel, the one Littlefoot had sensed something off about, the sound of running feet. Something unseen was there, and it was charging them. The footfalls became more rapid and frantic, and they were getting louder and closer, faster. They seemed unnaturally fast.

"Run!" Littlefoot screamed. The gang spun around and bolted into another tunnel, not the one they'd come from, but rather the even one that had been near to it. The footsteps were still there, still chasing them, loud, frantic, heavy and close.

The gang took several turns into several tunnels until the sound faded, but they had a new problem. Ahead, the tunnel ended with the exception of a small, very small, opening on the base of the wall ahead of them. Ahead was a tight crack they would only be able to crawl through, till it widened up again, one by one. It was wide enough, much wider than the last tight passage they'd squeezed through, but was probably not even as tall as that one had been. It almost looked too small for some of the larger gang members to even fit.

And somewhere behind them, something they had not seen and had no idea what it was, was looking for them and getting closer. They could hear claws scratching along the rocks.

Drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip…

Ducky went first, Petrie just behind her. Chomper crawled after them and soon the three were through the tight space. Thankfully it was not nearly as long as the tight tunnel from a few days prior had been and it opened up again into a wide tunnel relatively quickly. Chomper turned and shouted through the crack, "The tunnel opens up again up here, you just have to squeeze through the crack; it's about as long as two Spike's!"

"Hmmf?" Spike grunted. The gang turned with wide eyes when they heard, coming up in the tunnel behind them, breathing, snarling and more scratching. The breathing was raspy and ragged, and was getting louder. The claws sounded big…like they were leaving deep gashes in the rock walls. They also heard the thing tapping the cave floor.

"Oh, hurry!" Ducky cried.

"Ali, you go first," Littlefoot said. Nodding, Ali started crawling into the rocks. It was tight but not nearly as constricting as the last tight passage had been. However, the rocks were damp and that made getting a footing to pull oneself through nearly impossible. Ali grunted as she pulled herself slowly along, if the passage ceiling was any lower towards the ground, she would've gotten stuck and the crack being wider wouldn't have made any difference.

Meanwhile, the breathing was getting closer, footsteps were audible again as well. Whatever the thing was, it was still around the bend in the tunnel. The gang heard it sniffing, following their scent like Chomper would in a game of Swimmer and Splasher. Soon, though it felt longer than it really was, Ali managed to pull herself out of the crack and back into the wider tunnel with Chomper, Ducky and Petrie.

"Spike, little brother, you are next!" Ducky called out. Nodding, Spike started crawling through the tiny crack.

"Come on Spike, you can do it!" Chomper called.

"Yes Spike go, we cannot take our time with this one, taking our time with this one is something we cannot do," Ruby added. Grunting, and this time having nothing to keep his panic back in the claustrophobic space, the spiketail got about halfway when he suddenly couldn't move.

"Spike!" Ducky called. Spike grunted, but he was stuck. Just like that day the group had looked for sky color stones. He panicked and began flailing his limbs in an effort to shake himself free.

Back in the tunnel, the breathing had gotten close, now just around the bend. The thing began knocking on the cave wall as well.

"Push him! Push him!" Littlefoot yelled, "You guys on the other side, pull!" Working together, both groups pushed and pulled Spike, trying to get him free. Finally Spike popped out of the spot he was wedged in and slid forward a few inches; free. Grunting, Spike crawled forward as fast as he could and was soon safe on the other side.

Ruby went next and, like with the last small passage, had no trouble crawling through.

"Shorty, go next," Littlefoot said. The thing around the bend kicked a rock and it rolled around the corner into view, crashing into a wall not far from the gang, "Hurry!" Littlefoot added. Shorty went as fast as he could, but he was still going slow because he just couldn't move anything other than his legs. He nearly got stuck in the same place Spike had but got past it. But he was still going to slow. The thing in the tunnel would be on Littlefoot and Cera in seconds.

"Pull him out!" Ruby yelled and the gang on the other side all grabbed Shorty's front legs and pulled him the rest of the way.

"Okay Cera, you're next," Littlefoot said. Cera shook her head, "No, you go, you're not gonna be the last one!" she firmly said. Littlefoot sighed but knew it would be a waste of time they didn't have to argue.

Grunting, the young longneck crawled through the narrow crack as quickly as he was able too. He managed to make it without getting stuck. Seeing he was clear, Cera glanced back. She still didn't see the thing behind them, but heard it scratching the walls. She imagined a starved, deformed monster, with claws leaving marks like the old ones they'd seen in the other tunnel, reaching bony fingers towards her and started crawling into the gap.

Cera got past where Spike had gotten stuck but her head crest got caught on another spot.

"I'm stuck!" she screamed. Behind her, she heard a roar and heavy footsteps changing, "Help!" she desperately screamed.

"Get her out, get her out!" Littlefoot shouted. Everyone grabbed Cera's front legs and started pulling, but her crest stayed locked in the awkward position it was caught.

"Lean your head back!" Ruby shouted, "Everyone else, grab harder and pull!" Everyone grabbed harder, Cera felt the claws on Chomper's fingers and Littlefoot and Shorty's teeth dig into her skin but didn't complain.

"Pull, pull, pull!" Ruby cried and the gang gave a huge tug. Cera's crest slid past where it was caught and she slid forward through the gap and out just as claws embedded themselves in the rock where she had been less than a second before. Having missed their target, they pulled back, leaving visible gashes in the rocks. The gang took several breaths and looked through the crack to see what had been stalking them. Whatever it was it had already bolted away, around the corner and back into the tunnel. The only sound was now water dripping from somewhere nearby.

Drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...

/

The gang stayed where they were for a few minutes, taking deep breaths to calm down.

"What was that?" Ducky asked after a while.

"It sounded like a sharptooth, but….I couldn't understand it," Chomper said.

"S...sharptooth?" Petrie shuddered.

"Down here?" Ali asked, "How?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, we don't know what that was, but it probably knows these caves. We need to move," Littlefoot said, standing, "Come on, let's put ground between us and it. It probably knows a way around to here so it's most likely on the way again," he started walking into the tunnel and the others quickly followed.

As they continued on through the tunnel, Cera fell to the back of the group, shaken but also looking regretful. Chomper noticed and stopped until she passed him and then he walked alongside her, seeing something in her eyes.

"Cera?" he gently asked. Cera glanced at her sharptooth friend and sighed, "I couldn't do anything back there. I'm a threehorn, I should be able to protect you guys, but here we are, all running," she said after a moment, "like always. I feel so powerless." Chomper, not slowing his pace, put a reassuring hand on her flank, "Cera, we don't even know what we're up against, let alone how to fight it. And I feel the same way," he said, pausing his stride and Cera did the same.

"I'm a sharptooth and should be able to protect everyone too, but I'm too little still," he said. He remembered that day in the Mysterious Beyond when Ducky had said he'd been big enough on the inside to make her feel safe, but only being big inside wouldn't help in the current situation. Still, if it came down to it, Chomper knew he could do some damage with his teeth, that Plated Sharptooth on the island sure learned, and felt, that fact after the bite Chomper had given him on the tail.

"But being little is okay," Chomper said, "I learned that lesson, and I'm sure some of the others have too. Every kid has to, I think. How big you are doesn't matter as long as you're able to help your friends and make them feel safe. You always do that when we need it." Cera shook her head, "I wish my daddy was here, he'd know what to do, he could help us." Chomper nodded, "I miss my parents too. How about you make your dad proud by being the threehorn who makes us feel better?" She looked back up and at him and, seeing he'd gotten through to her, Chomper smiled and started following the others again. Cera paused for a moment then did the same.

They all picked up the pace to put more ground between themselves and the thing behind them. As they did, and as they rejoined the others Cera looked at Chomper again and gave him a small smile, "Thanks, Chomper. That helped," she said, "I needed to just say something there." Chomper nodded and Cera continued, "How about you and me both be the ones to help make everyone feel safe? Make your mom and dad proud too." Chomper nodded and they continued walking after the others, side by side.

Ducky watched them and glanced down at Spike, she rubbed his neck and softly said, "Spike, I'm glad I have you, I'm afraid and you are the one who makes me feel safe." Spike murmured gently in reply and picked his pace up as Ducky hugged him. If nothing else, the spiketail would see to it that his sister escaped the cave. Even if he didn't. If it came down to it, Spike would throw himself to whatever was chasing them willingly if it meant Ducky and his other friends could escape alive.

It seemed like a lifetime ago when all the gang thought was in the Secret Caverns were funny rocks and waterfalls...

/

"Wait!" Chomper hissed a few minutes later, lifting his hand up and motioning the others to stop, both actions making the gang slide to a stop instantly and bump into each other. They'd been walking in silence, Chomper having slowly drifted to the front, and his sudden reaction had come out of nowhere, like something had flipped inside him. The sharptooth was now standing in front of his friends, facing down the tunnel they'd been walking through, his body rigid, tense and alert and his warning had been so intense that the gang instantly obeyed without raising any questions.

They were now in a wider, straight tunnel and the leaf eaters had not seen anything or heard anything. However, with his superior senses, Chomper obviously had noticed something amiss the others had been oblivious too. The young sharptooth left his hand up, motioning them all to stay still. Slowly, looking terrified, Chomper looked up.

There was a hole in the ceiling of the tunnel, fresh claw marks were dug around it, something had crawled inside very recently.

"Shh," Chomper whispered, if you could even call how quietly he was talking a whisper, it was like he was afraid a normal whisper would be too loud, "Move slow, whatever it was, it's right up there." He motioned the gang to slowly follow him. Not going under the small open hole above them, he rather led them along the wall instead where they could pass around it rather than under it. They circled around it in a slow, single file, along the cave wall, with wide eyes looking at the hole the entire time, hardly daring to even breathe.

Ahead, something dropped to the tunnel floor and bolted away. They didn't see it, only heard feet slapping the cave floor. Cautiously, the gang approached. There was no sign of anything, but there was another hole in the ceiling and whatever it was that was stalking had dropped out of it and ran off somewhere.

Chomper sniffed the cave floor, "It went down the tunnel." Having no choice, the gang followed; keeping an eye out for anything moving.

"Littlefoot, I'm scared," Ali whispered as they continued.

"I know, me too," he replied, looking into Ali's eyes for a short, lingering moment before they both carried on down the cave tunnel. "Stay close," Littlefoot added and Ali all but pressed herself up against him.

Ahead the tunnel suddenly broke off into two directions, it was yet another split with two new tunnels running slightly to the left or right. Chomper sniffed the ground to see what way the thing had gone.

"Oh no, the scent is gone," Chomper whispered.

"What?!" Shorty hissed.

"I've lost the scent!" Chomper shot back, fear in his voice, "The trail just stopped…here!" he added, standing at the exact spot the tunnel forked into two.

"Whatever left it can't be far," Cera replied.

"No, it has to be around here, and it has to be very close," Chomper agreed, looking into the tunnels. The gang didn't move, an ominous feeling of dread slowly rising in each of them. Their eyes were all wide with growing terror, knowing the thing could come at them from literally direction at any moment. They hadn't even seen it and had no idea what to even look for. Chomper listened onto each tunnel, "I don't hear anything."

"Well, we need to choose a direction to go in," Littlefoot said after a moment of silence. No one spoke up, no one wanting to risk picking the direction the thing had gone and leading their friends right into it.

"Something's moving," Chomper suddenly hissed.

"Which tunnel?" Ducky asked quietly.

"I don't know, the talk backs are distorting the sound and messing with my sense of direction," Chomper replied, looking into one of the dark tunnels. Something moved but the echoes made it sound like it was coming from everywhere.

"Chomper?" Cera asked, looking around. Chomper didn't answer, he was listening intensely; head turned so his ears were facing the tunnels.

"Chomper?!" Cera hissed again. Chomper held a finger up to silence her as he listened closer. He heard more movement that echoed ghostly through the cave.

"It's moving towards us," Chomper said, "that much I know."

"From where?" Shorty all but shouted, the loud sudden sound making everyone jump. Chomper didn't answer. Shorty was about to open his mouth again but Ruby grabbed and held it closed, holding a finger to her beak, urgently indicating for Shorty to stay silent.

"Chomper?!" Littlefoot hissed.

"Shhh," Chomper quickly replied.

"Chomper!" Littlefoot urgently hissed.

"Shut up!' Chomper whisper yelled back, he closed his eyes and listened hard, leaving the gang in tense silence. They looked at one another, seeing fear in everyone's eyes.

"We need to move!" Shorty all but exploded, shaking Ruby's hand off his mouth.

"Wait!" Littlefoot shot back.

"That way's clear!" Chomper said, suddenly, opening his eyes and pointing down the right tunnel. The gang started off into the tunnel quickly.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Chomper said again after only a few seconds. He was listening again. His eyes widened, somehow...the thing was now right behind them. Chomper spun around and looked in that direction, "Run!" he screamed. Without questioning it, the gang bolted. They heard stomping feet following them.

The thing followed, slowing a little as it caught its bearings, then, snarling, it jumped after the gang, claws ready and sliding off the rocky floor. Chomper's eyes again widened, "Run faster! There's two of them!" Glancing back, Littlefoot saw a shadow following the gang but not the creature itself.

"Which way?" Petrie yelped, the thing moved to follow his voice. Ahead, Littlefoot saw a possible salvation, a small tunnel that was a cracked opening in the cave wall, branching off to the right. It was about as tall as Spike and just wide enough for them to run into, meaning the gang would fit but not the things behind them.

"That way, down the smaller tunnel!" Littlefoot shouted back. He hoped it was a tunnel, if it was actually just a crack in the rock then they were dead.

"Move!" Cera called. Panting hard, the gang all jumped into the smaller tunnel, it was indeed a tunnel, and ran as clawed fingers scratched the rock behind them as the thing lunged for them. But the unseen predator could not follow. Loud screeching filled the air, the same one the gang had been woken up by. Glancing back, they caught a glimpse of a pair jaws snapping at the entrance but they quickly retreated. Retreating footsteps signaled the things outside were leaving again.

"We're safe," Littlefoot said as silence fell behind them again, "we should rest for a few moments here." No one protested, they all just sank to the floor and laid down together.

"Resting is good, and we need to rest, but we should not rest long. Whatever is following us has been following us since it woke us up and if it was able to find a way around the first passage we escaped through it can likely do the same with this passage we've escaped through," Ruby said as she sat down. No one responded but they knew she was right, but for now the only thing they all wanted to do following such a scary encounter was rest. Chomper was between Littlefoot and Cera, his head against Cera's side. Littlefoot was leaning against Cera and Chomper as the others all laid down close together. Ali settled by herself along the cave wall near Littlefoot. Shorty did the same thing not far away but he didn't lay down like her, he simply sat staring at the cave floor in silence. Ruby laid against Spike's side, alongside Ducky and Petrie. Chomper glanced at Littlefoot and Littlefoot looked back at him, both could see the amount of fear the other felt in their eyes.

A loud roar echoed behind them, making everyone jump. The things sounded less than pleased, there were some growls and snarls before they were gone again, back into the darkness, hidden and waiting.

/

The gang stayed in their safe spot for a while, simply resting and lost in their thoughts. Occasionally someone would move to another spot in a vain effort to be more comfortable. Littlefoot was stirred out of his thoughts by the soft voice of Ali, "Littlefoot?" she asked quietly, having scooted closer to him.

"Yes?" Littlefoot asked, looking up at her and seeing the fear on Ali's face.

"Do you really think we'll get out of here?" she asked, her voice sounding hopeless and afraid. Littlefoot hesitated for a moment then said, "Yes." However, his moment of hesitation caused Ali to look even more afraid. That moment of doubt had spoken louder. Littlefoot looked down for a moment, about to resign himself to that same feeling when he shook his head. He slid over and nuzzled Ali on the head gently.

"We'll get out," he said, his voice now confident and firm. Ali looked up, saw the determination in her friend's eyes and finally believed his words. She nuzzled him back, rubbing her head on Littlefoot's long neck.

Littlefoot sighed, nuzzled Ali gently again on her head and looked around. Chomper was curled up in a tight ball, looking so scared. Ruby had come over and was gently rubbing his shaking back. Shorty had long since given up the trying to act tough show and had sunk to the floor, where he was allowing himself to silently cry. Petrie was silently shaking from his perch on Cera's frill, having come over to give Ducky and Spike some quiet moments to spend with just each other.

Ducky was also crying, leaning against Spike, "Spike, I am afraid. I am very afraid," she whimpered. Spike sadly grunted and nuzzled her, "D...D..Ducky," he said gently, licking her lovingly. Ducky half smiled and hugged Spike's neck, "Oh Spike, I love you too, little brother."

It was a touching scene and made everyone smile slightly, despite their seemingly hopeless situation.

/

Littlefoot eventually stood up, his legs tired, sore and stiff; he knew they couldn't stay where they were though; they had to brave the tunnels to escape.

"Come on guys, let's go. We can't stay here." He went a few steps down the tunnel then stopped, watching the others slowly walk past. As he passed, Chomper stopped and looked at Littlefoot, sadness in his gaze. Littlefoot remembered seeing sadness just like it in Chomper's eyes the day he left the valley after hatching.

"Don't lose hope," Littlefoot said, nuzzling Chomper on the head comfortingly. Chomper didn't answer but he nodded. Side by side, he and Littlefoot walked after the others. Littlefoot sighed, knowing that everyone was almost to the point of hopelessness. He knew they had to get out of the caves soon.

An unexpected touch made Littlefoot stop. Chomper gently hugged him and said, "You're right, we can't lose hope," the young sharptooth said, the sadness in his eyes replaced with determination that mirrored Littlefoot's. He sniffed the air, "I'll go to the front and try to catch a whiff of fresher air. Then we can run in that direction." Littlefoot nodded, "Good idea, Chomper." Chomper smiled, nodded and hurried to the front of the group, the resolve in his eyes made Littlefoot crack a small smile as well, "You can do it, my sharptooth brother." Littlefoot whispered, keeping pace with the others as Chomper began sniffing the air.

/

The caves eventually opened up again. The tunnels again wide and possibly filled with an unknown threat. Cera poked her head out of the small passage they'd been walking in first, looking left to right; nothing was in the larger tunnel.

"Let's go," she said.

"Wait," Chomper interrupted, pushing past her, a silent snarl on his face indicating his readiness to respond to a threat. He sniffed the air.

"Nothing." the sharptooth reported, "It's safe."

"Safe!? Nowhere is safe!" The threehorn behind him exploded. Loudly too. Loud enough to echo many times. Her outburst was so unexpected, sudden and loud, that no one could think of what to do. While Cera was no stranger to outbursts, this one had come out of nowhere and almost seemed out of character for the threehorn, even though it was the result of all the frustration which had been building for days now. For whatever reason, that was the moment it could not be contained any longer.

"Cera!" Littlefoot hissed in warning, but she ignored him. Poor Chomper had become the target of all the frustration built up ever since their unexpected adventure had started.

"You call this safe?! We're lost, deep underground with sharpteeth stalking us! There is no "safe" here!" she screamed in a shrill voice. Chomper flinched at her sudden, unexpected anger, and backed up in shock and fear. Cera scraped a foot on the ground, as if she was going to charge him next, "And think of our parents, what will they do if we never come back! Huh! Just because yours aren't here doesn't mean the rest of us have that luxury. If I never come back, it will destroy my dad. He already lost my mom and my sisters-"

Before she could keep carrying on with her loud screaming she was suddenly knocked over by a hit from the side. Chomper was shaking in fright, tears in his eyes, not understanding why she was exploding at him and ran past her towards the others once she was on the ground. Littlefoot stood over her, "Stop it Cera! This is not helping anyone!"

Cera stood up, "Well I'm right!"

"I didn't say you weren't but screaming isn't helping anything! It will only make matters worse!" Littlefoot said in a calm voice.

Cera looked past him and at the others. Everyone was stunned, shocked into silence with wide eyes. Petrie was hiding behind Ducky, only half peeking out now that it seemed to be over and Chomper was crying, receiving a gentle hug from Ruby.

"Cera, now is not the time for this, now is the time we should be working together. Fighting will solve nothing, and it will only keep us lost longer," Ruby said in a calm voice, trying to bring the situation back down to peaceful levels.

"She's right, Cera, please calm down. We're all tired and definitely cranky, but now is not the time," Ali added. Shorty nodded, "Yeah Cera," he agreed.

"And if you're going to shout at someone, it should be me you're shouting at because I was the one who said we should play in the Cave of Many Voices in the first place. The one you should not be shouting at is Chomper, because Chomper was only trying to help get us back out of the caves I suggested we come into," Ruby added, still holding Chomper close against her in a soothing manner.

"You know," Shorty spoke up again, "Littlefoot has told me the story of how you all found the valley many times. You did it because you all worked together, but remember what happened when you were divided, after that fight with Littlefoot?"

Cera's gaze hardened, "How dare you!" she spat, ready to charge Shorty. Littlefoot stood in her way, "Stop it now, Cera!"

Cera glared at him for several long seconds, then stood at her full height, "You know what? Fine. I'll find my own way out of here!"

Cera huffed, nose in the air, and turned to go only to be met with the open pale jaws and sharp teeth of one of the things that had been stalking them. It shrieked, just inches from Cera's head and moving in closer. Cera stumbled back and the gang all screamed and scampered back, tripping over themselves as they started running down the tunnels.

The thing snapped its jaws at them over and over, then roared, no it screamed, and began giving chase.

/

The gang didn't know how long they ran, it had to only be for a few minutes, but the thing, they still hadn't gotten a good look at it, seemed to back off out of nowhere. They learned why quickly; coming from down the tunnels, the voice of a grown up was calling, "Hello? Kids? Is that you?" The gang couldn't believe it, they were being rescued!

"Yes, it is us! Help!" Ducky cried.

They broke into a sprint and ran through the tunnels, into a large cavern. And stopped. The owner of the voice was laying in the center of the cave, tail swaying and a smile was on its face. It was a pale skinned sharptooth.

"Hello kiddies," the feminine voice said, speaking to the leaf eater language. It was one of the things that had been stalking them. It smirked, standing up. It was a fast biter, larger than Screech or Thud. It was a sickly, almost dead looking, pale white color. Its skin seemed frail and delicate, and the scales seemed to have even all been long shed, leaving only the soft, thin skin behind. The dinosaur was thin, emaciated, and obviously blind; its eyes were glassy orbs. If it had once been a species to have feathers in some long ago past, it was impossible to tell now, now all they had was bare, naked, stretched skin. Its nostrils took deep breaths, taking in the scent of each gang member and a strange clicking sound came from its throat. How long had it been down here to turn into the creature standing before them, the gang wondered.

It licked its lips with a pale white tongue, it then bared its teeth, its thin lips peeling back further than any other fast biter the gang had ever seen. Behind them, the gang heard two more fast biters walking into the cave. It had been a trap, and they'd walked right into it.

"Yes, welcome."

"We're so happy you're here," the other two, obviously males by the tones of their voices, said with glee at all the meat now before them, even if they couldn't see it. The fast biters snickered and began to move in. All three looked identical to one another, the same solid pale white color everywhere.

"Don't worry, you'll be safe with us," the female hissed.

"Run!" Littlefoot screamed, "Scatter!". The gang did just that as the fast biters lunged for them, each running off in a different direction, into a different tunnel as many led out of the cavern. They all just ran, none of them knowing where the others were or who was being chased and who wasn't.

The tunnel Littlefoot took was dark, and he couldn't see anymore. He stopped, sensing he had entered another large cavern, and heard echoing screams and roars, "Guys!" he called into the total darkness around himself, "Where are you?" He got no answer. The horror hit him hard. Littlefoot was alone, in a total darkness, a void of pure blackness, with blind fast biters hunting him. Fast biters who didn't need to see. Fast biters who could be anywhere in that void of darkness.

"Guys!" Littlefoot called out hopelessly. His answer was total darkness and now a sudden silence. His panicked breathing increased rapidly and he tried to see something, anything, other than total blackness.

"Guys," Littlefoot whimpered. A sudden, loud, roar from somewhere in the darkness shook him, as did the scream that followed.

"Help!" Ali shouted. Despite the total darkness that had swallowed him up, Littlefoot turned and began running to where the voice had come from, "Ali! Hang on, I'm coming!" he shouted, sprinting as fast as he could. He suddenly slammed into the cave wall and fell onto his stomach, panting hard, but could sense a tunnel right next to where he had hit so he jumped up and ran inside. He swore he heard movement behind him but didn't stay around to find out.

And he no longer heard Ali's distant screams.

/

Cera was breathing hard, sprinting down the tunnel as fast as she could, not slowing at any of the turns. Behind her, a roar told her she was being followed. Slowly, the snout of one of the fast biters came around the corner, slowly following but fast enough to just keep up and drag out the chase for as long as possible. Cera shook her head, trying to keep it clear, and kept going.

Her eyes shot in all directions at every sound. She just ran. She didn't feel like she was even in her own body. Every crack, every snort, every sound behind her just made her feel more afraid and mad. She couldn't breathe. Somehow she felt more constricted at that moment than she ever did while crawling through the first tight passage.

She had a vision of herself in tight, suffocating, dark tunnels, with pale gray skin and wild red eyes, driven insane from fear as the relentless stalking continued to follow her, seemingly forever. She had a vision of that day in the Big Underground, seeing Sharptooth's giant eye open just inches from herself. It added to her terror.

Cera swore she heard laughing, screaming, bellowing, crying, it became a drone; a sound of her seemingly unstoppable fear-driven descent into insanity. It was definingly loud, Cera's eyes went even wider as she looked around. Her panicked breaths increased but she still felt like she couldn't take any air in. She ran, ran and just couldn't stop until she had too.

Then she had too. The tunnel carried on around a bend but in her mad state she tucked herself into a tiny round nook in the wall, which left her trapped in a corner. She turned and wanted to puke at the sight she was met with. There it stood, silent and predatory. The fast biter had her trapped. Cera began sobbing as it slowly took a step closer.

Cera knew that she was backed into a corner and had no way out. The fast biter stood before her, blocking the tunnel to Cera's left and right with his body and keeping her trapped in the nook. Slowly, so slowly, the fast biter continued to creep forward. It had a sick smile on its face and slowly began to part its jaws, showing its steel colored teeth off. Saliva dripped in long strings from the jaws and it slowly, ever so slowly, began to reach a hand out to her. Its claw adorned fingers touched Cera's head and ran across her cheek, in an act designed to mock a gesture of comfort a child would receive from a parent. Then the head of the fast biter came closer, jaws widening even more and a snarl spreading over its lips; its white tongue dangling out of its mouth. Its blind glassy eyes seemed to shine in excitement.

The fast biter wouldn't make it fast, Cera knew it was going to drag this out and that fact made the fear even more maddening than before. Cera almost wanted to beg it to kill her, just so the sweet silence of death would be the only sound instead of the fear-caused maddening drone still ringing in her head. Her want for the sound to end was greater than the fear of the unknown of what comes after death.

As the teeth were but mere inches from her face, there was suddenly a new roar and the fast biter stumbled and backed up. Cera snapped back mostly into her right mind from shock and went wide eyed as a familiar, blue shape jumped past her. Its jaws were chomping viciously.

"Chomper!?" Cera sputtered in shock. Chomper didn't reply, he didn't even look at his friend. His only thought was to protect her. He crouched, let out a shrill roar and jumped at the fast biter again, claws ready and fangs ready. He latched into its arm with his jaws and Cera heard bone crunch as the young sharptooth bit down. The blind sharptooth shrieked and flung its arm around as Chomper bit down harder. The young sharptooth let go and fell to the cave floor. He jumped up and stood in front of Cera, roared, and jumped at the fast biter again, a look of pure hate in his usually calm and happy gaze. A predatory look had taken over Chomper's red eyes, a look that all sharpteeth showed when hunting for prey. It was a look identical to the one Cera had seen in Sharptooth's eyes so many years before but for once that look didn't cause her deadly fear.

This time Chomper latched onto the fast biter's side and he began clawing at it as he bit down harder, blood gushed from the wounds and coated Chomper's fingers, face and toe claws, some even went into his mouth. Chomper bit down harder, trying to rip a chunk of flesh out of the fast biter's side, a wound which would really slow it down. The fast biter roared again and swung its clawed arm at Chomper. It struck the young sharptooth and he flew into the cave wall hard. He yelped in pain as he fell to the cave floor and laid there, sprawled out on his belly and not moving. Cera fully snapped out of it finally, her head clear and eyes angry, and charged at the fast biter with a roar of her own, ramming into its injured side as hard as she could with her horn. The hit knocked the fast biter over, it squawked in pain from being struck, and, without a word, Cera pushed Chomper to his feet and they ran.

/

Littlefoot was breathing hard. He was panicked, and running through the tunnels, not knowing where anyone else was, more lost than he had been before. He hadn't found Ali and he hadn't seen anyone since they'd been separated.

As he came to a three-way split in the tunnel he crashed into something that yelped. Littlefoot screamed and jumped back, so did the thing until they stopped and looked at each other.

"Ducky!?" Littlefoot sputtered. The small swimmer stood up, "It is me, yep, yep, yep. Oh, I'm so happy I found you-"

She was cut off when they both heard the sound of heavy running feet rapidly approaching from inside the tunnel Littlefoot had run out of.

"Go!" Littlefoot screamed, pushing Ducky into the tunnel neither of them had been in yet. Both ran, in a full blind panic. Behind them, the sound of the running feet was getting closer.

Then they came to a dead end. Both shared a panicked look as the sprinting, heavy, footsteps grew closer. The blind sharptooth sped towards its prey that had no way out.

Then Littlefoot looked up. Above them was a thin passage of rock that went straight up maybe thirty feet. At the top another tunnel extended off, level and even.

"We'll have to climb," Littlefoot said, knowing they only had seconds. The entrance to the round, upward tunnel was small but it widened out after. Littlefoot knew it would be too small for the fast biter to follow. They just had to climb out of its reach before it caught up to them.

Without letting another moment pass, he scooped Ducky up on top of his head and lifted her up. She began climbing up the tunnel, using footholds she found to continue upward. Littlefoot, not having hands which meant he was much slower, also climbed up, squeezed through the opening and followed.

The second his tail was through the entrance pale jaws shot after them, teeth bared, and snapping in their direction like an insane, savage, thing. They snapped rapidly again and again, saliva flying off them. Thankfully, the jaws, and one arm, which the fast biter had stuck through the entrance in an effort to reach the duo, were all the fast biter could squeeze into the upward passage.

"Go! Climb!" Littlefoot shouted.

The fast biter swiped clawed, pale hands savagely at the two kids just out of its reach. It roared in frustration, jaws wide open and saliva flying everywhere. Littlefoot and Ducky screamed and began climbing faster.

The fast biter roared again and continued rapidly snapping its jaws, and scratching the passage wall with its clawed hand. Littlefoot felt some of its saliva splash him and shuddered.

Groaning from the strain of holding on, Littlefoot looked up. Ducky was much closer to the top of the straight upward tunnel, having hands made climbing up the shaft much easier for the small swimmer. Littlefoot didn't have hands and, combined with his weight, it made climbing up nearly impossible.

Yet it wasn't him who fell. Ducky slipped. Screaming, the swimmer began plummeting towards the open maw below them. Seeing he had only one chance, Littlefoot leaned back as far as he could without also falling and caught Ducky in his mouth.

She shuddered and hugged his chin, "T..thank you," she said. Below, the fast biter began snapping and scratching even more rapidly than before, like a rabid creature who had not eaten in many cold times. The true unhinged nature of the attacks spurred Littlefoot and Ducky on. He placed Ducky on the wall and they began climbing up again. Littlefoot almost slipped as well but he caught himself.

Below, the fast biter flung its head from side to side before roaring again, its maw and fleshy throat open wide below the two young dinosaurs, the sight and roar made Littlefoot and Ducky scream again.

After many more tense minutes, both Littlefoot and Ducky pulled themselves over the ledge at the top of the passage. They were safe. Ahead was a straight, rounded tunnel that went off into darkness. Below, the snapping jaws, pale teeth, and deformed looking clawed fingers retreated and silence fell.

"We should go," Littlefoot said before either he or Ducky had caught their breath.

"I agree, I do," Ducky whimpered and they both ran into the new tunnel.

/

"We're not being chased!" Shorty slid to a stop and looked back at his companion after hearing her call out. Ali trotted up beside him, "They didn't follow us," she said.

"That means the others are all probably being chased then," Shorty replied. They had exited the tunnel they'd run into and were now in a wider, round cavern, with another tunnel ahead of them leading off into the dark unknown with unknown things likely in wait.

"We've got to find the others," Ali said. Shorty nodded, "Yeah."

"We can't stay split up," Ali added and began walking forward, towards the new tunnel. There was a crack as soon as they reached the center of the cave. A loud crack. Like splitting hard water. She and Shorty froze. Eyes wide, they looked at each other, then down at the cave floor. Ali lowered her head to it and used her front foot to brush aside some dust on the floor. Below them was an open pit which went far down into unknown darkness. They were standing on a very thin layer of semi-transparent rock. The entire floor of the round cavern was made from the stuff.

It cracked again, loud and splintering.

Ali spun her head in Shorty's direction when his breathing increased rapidly and he looked like he was about to bolt.

"Shorty stop! Calm down, and look at me!" Ali said in a firm voice. Shorty's eyes met hers and she continued, "Calm down. Don't panic. You know what to do when you're standing on hard water that starts to crack?" she asked and he nodded.

"That's what we're going to do here; we're going to walk very, very slowly towards the tunnel ahead. No running, slow and steady. Okay?" Ali said, trying to keep the fear from her voice. Shorty's rapid breathing calmed and he nodded.

"Okay," he said.

Slowly, and side by side, he and Ali started towards the new tunnel. Below the cracking was always present, no matter how slowly and lightly the longnecks walked. As they got closer to the cave entrance, the cracks went from soft to loud with each step.

Each step caused an even louder series of splintering cracking to slither through the thin rock layer. The tunnel seemed to get no closer, each step Ali and Shorty took was painfully slow.

An extremely loud shattering crack sounded from under Shorty's foot. He jumped, which caused more cracks.

"It's too thin here for us both to walk on it. You go first," Ali said, backing up a step. Nodding, but reluctant, Shorty slowly walked forward. The cracking continued, growing louder with each step.

Finally, Shorty stepped into the tunnel and felt solid rock below his feet. He sighed, and turned back to Ali, "It's safe here, it stops at the entrance," he said. Ali nodded and began her final journey to escape. The cracking below her was even louder than it was with Shorty. She could see the cracks spreading in the rocks. Nonetheless the rock didn't shatter. She got to the tunnel entrance safely, Shorty smiling in relief.

Then the floor broke.

Ali screamed as she plummeted into the dark abyss below. Her front left foot caught the solid rock at the tunnel entrance for a moment, but it was just a moment and she began falling yet again towards the darkness far below that was ready to swallow her up.

Shorty took advantage of that moment she'd caught herself and reached down, catching Ali's foot with his mouth. Grunting, he stopped himself from sliding forward and held on tightly to Ali. He then slowly began to pull her up.

Wide eyed, Ali realized she was no longer falling and also began to climb upward, using her legs to help pull herself up.

Shorty pulled her into the tunnel and soon they were standing side by side, breathing hard. Ali sighed, shuddering, "Thank you," she said. Shorty couldn't think of something to say so he just smiled at her and nodded. They both looked out at the cavern and then down. The entire floor was gone, vanished into the sea of darkness below. There seemed to be a slight mist in the air far below, just at the edge of sight. Curious, not having been able to listen before, Shorty pushed a small rock off the edge and he and Ali watched it fall. Once it was out of sight, they began listening. After a long time they heard a faint crash. It came from very far below.

Ali gulped.

Shorty looked at her, "Let's go find the others," he said. Together, he and Ali ran off into the tunnel.

/

Spike, Petrie and Ruby stopped running, "I do not think we are being chased, chased I do not think we are being!" Ruby said. Petrie didn't answer, he just kept shuddering from his perch on Spike's back. Spike whimpered, murmuring sadly. He looked down and let some tears fall to the cave floor, obviously worried about Ducky. Ruby put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Do not worry Spike, we'll find them soon, find them soon we will!" she encouraged.

"How, we lost and no have Chomper with us, we can't sniff them out!" Petrie said. Ruby looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, say, we might not have Chomper with us but we do have Spike! Chomper taught him to use his sniffer to find things, maybe Spike will be able to find the others," she said.

"You...you really think that will work?" Petrie asked, fluttering into the air.

"Well yes...and if not...the Secret Caverns can only be so large right? We're bound to run into them sooner or later," Ruby replied.

"But we also might run into sharpteeth!" Petrie cried.

"Well, if we do run into the sharpteeth then we'll just have to run away from the sharpteeth," Ruby replied.

"That not encouraging," Petrie said. He suddenly heard a growl, "Sharptooth find us!" he yelped, fluttering.

"Uh, Petrie, that was not a sharptooth," Ruby corrected.

"Huh…oh was it Spike's belly…again?" he asked.

"Hmmpf?" Spike grunted, looking up at the flyer perched on his back.

"Nope, it was not Spike's belly, it was your belly," Ruby replied.

"Oh," Petrie said, mortified. Without another word, the splinter group started off into the tunnel. There was no sound, save their footsteps and the occasional sniffing from Spike. Or the occasional hungry rumble from their bellies. Petrie resettled himself on Spike's back and kept a watchful eye behind the group.

The tunnel ahead didn't seem to turn and it wasn't terribly wide, but they could walk side by side comfortably and still have room.

Still, the tunnel also didn't seem to have an end. It just kept going on and on, keeping straight the whole time. They traveled on in silence, which was broken by an abrupt intrusion. From a crack in the wall, right next to Ruby, a claw adorned hand and long arm suddenly shot out silently and clawed at her. She screamed and threw herself against the opposite wall. Petrie, also seeing that this time it indeed was a sharptooth, let out a frightened scream as well. Spike also yelped out and scooted back from the flailing claws. The fast biter snarled and snorted and kept clawing at the group, only able to fit its arm through the crack, behind which was apparently another cave; but the crack was too small for the fast biter to squeeze through to the group's relief. Nonetheless Ruby, Spike and Petrie all pinned themselves against the opposite wall from the crack as the arm came within a foot of them, its clawed fingers reaching with intent before the arm was pulled back into the darkness on the other side of the crack.

Silence again fell.

Once they were sure it was gone, Ruby spoke up, her voice shaking, "Let's not wait around for it to find a way around!" she said and they all hurried off down the tunnel.

/

At the same time, Cera and Chomper stopped, both panting hard. The caves were now completely silent and there was no way to determine where anyone, friend or foe, was or how close they were.

Their close encounter over, the two slid to the floor, groaning. After a moment, Cera looked over at Chomper in appreciation. He was covered in blood from the fast biter, it caked his arms, feet and mouth. His dark blue scales made it stand out even more than it normally would have. Cera had once been the most suspicious of Chomper and his nature. However that day on the island he had proved where his loyalty was, even if he had to act like a sharptooth to prove it, in biting the plated sharptooth, but he'd still proven it. And he'd done that again, defended his friend while using his instincts that she'd once been suspicious of. His teeth, his claws, they were weapons but ones he used to protect her, out of all of them, with. There was something ironic about it all.

Chomper's eyes were half closed and Cera nudged him, "Chomper?" she asked. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"We can't...stay….here...we need to find the others," Cera said, weakly. Chomper nodded and slowly stood up, obviously sore, "I can use my sniffer, it shouldn't be too hard to track them down...hopefully," he said. He then looked at himself, seeing the dried blood splashed across his body and sighed, worried that it might lead to judgment like he used to get.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he stepped past Cera and lowered his head to the ground. He began sniffing and slowly walking, also listening for any sound. He'd only gone a few steps when he heard Cera's voice again.

"H...hey, Chomper?" Cera asked. Chomper stopped sniffing and looked at her. Cera got a good look at all the blood on Chomper's mouth from the fast biter. It didn't bother her. In fact, she walked forward and pulled Chomper into a tight hug. After the surprise wore off, Chomper returned it.

"Thanks for saving me," Cera whispered, close to crying. "Thank you...thank you so much," she said, knowing she'd be forever grateful to her sharptooth friend. Chomper felt a smile spread across his face and he and Cera hugged for several long seconds, just taking in the fact they weren't alone and they were still alive.

Then, after almost a full minute, they pulled apart and Chomper continued sniffing, his head bent towards the floor. He didn't smell anything yet, but they started down the tunnel, away from where they'd fought the fast biter. Cera followed in silence, keeping a watchful eye out.

Both took notice of the strange still silence that had fallen. They knew it didn't mean anything good. They were still being hunted, but why had the fast biters seemingly….stopped?

Chomper spoke after a few minutes of slow progress into the tunnel, "Hey...I smell Littlefoot...I think." He sniffed again, "It is!" he exclaimed with a huge smile.

/

Littlefoot and Ducky had followed the tunnel, eventually it angled downward. At the bottom, it branched into two directions and they'd gone right after making sure it was clear. They'd stuck to the main passage, and had passed many others branching off of it but there was no sign of anyone else anywhere.

"Is it still following us?" Ducky asked. Littlefoot stopped and listened, "I don't think so," he said, steadying his breathing. He and Ducky silently followed the tunnel until they came to a cavern with several tunnels that all looked the same running out of it.

"Oh...I do not know which way to go," Ducky said.

"Me neither. Did you see anyone after we scattered?" Littlefoot asked. Ducky shook her head, "No, I thought Spike was right behind me but he was not, no, no, no," she replied. Littlefoot looked around and sighed, "Well...they could be anywhere...we're just gonna have to check the tunnels and try to find-"

"Littlefoot! Ducky!" Chomper's voice came from one of the tunnels, the talk backs it caused making the words louder.

"Guys!" a second, just as eager, voice called out. Ducky gasped, "It is-" she started but was cut off by Littlefoot, who was caught up by his own excitement.

"Chomper, Cera!" he called. He and Ducky all but jumped for joy when Cera and Chomper ran into the cavern. Laughing, the two groups ran towards each other and embraced, until Ducky said, "Ch...Chomper why are you covered in so much blood?" Littlefoot looked at Chomper and noticed it too. The small sharptooth fidgeted a little. Chomper's mouth, arms, legs and claws were covered in a layer of dry blood, obviously not his. It was obviously from something that he had to have attacked. Cera spoke up, "He saved me. One of the fast biters had me cornered and Chomper attacked and fought it. He saved my life," she said. Littlefoot looked down at Chomper and pulled the young sharptooth against him in a tight embrace, "Thank you," he whispered. Chomper smiled and returned the embrace. The four all pulled each other into a tight group hug and just stayed that way for a long time.

When they finally separated, Littlefoot looked at Chomper, who Ducky was still hugging. Once Ducky stepped away, Littlefoot spoke, "Chomper, do you think you can find the others?" Chomper looked uncertain, "Maybe," he said. He walked to each tunnel entrance and sniffed it for several seconds. Once he was done he pointed to the third one he'd checked, "That way. I didn't smell our friends but it was the only direction that I didn't smell the fast biters."

"That's good enough for me," Cera said. That was good enough for Littlefoot and Ducky too. Together, they set off into the tunnel.

/

"Something is coming!" Ruby whispered. Spike stopped sniffing and looked up, he too could now hear the sounds of running feet approaching from the darkness ahead, just around a turn in the tunnel.

"We go! We go! We need to run!" Petrie, not so quietly, yelped, trying to fly.

"Wait Petrie, it doesn't sound like how a fast biter would run. It sounds like something on four feet," Ruby said, stopping him from flying away.

"Maybe it blind sailcrawler then!' Petrie cried.

"No, I don't think so," Ruby replied, "It doesn't sound like any sharptooth I know." The last bit of information made Petrie and Spike both pause. Since Ruby grew up in the Mysterious Beyond, she would know what most sharpteeth sounded like.

They decided to wait and see who was coming towards them. They were certain it wasn't the fast biters but still were on edge.

Their nervousness turned to joy when Ali and Shorty, alive and uninjured, sprinted around the corner. The two longnecks stopped and smiled, "There they are!" Shorty called. They ran to each other and stopped, taking in the familiar presence of each other.

"Do you guys know where the others are?" Shorty asked after a few seconds.

"No," Ruby answered, shaking her head. Petrie nodded, "Yeah, you guys first we meet since being separated." Shorty and Ali sighed.

"Well if we found you guys we can also find everyone else," Ali said. Ruby nodded, "That's right Ali, Ali that is right. We can find the others if we just look where they are...which is not here, so we should not be here either," she said. Taking charge, Ruby led the way to another tunnel, "We haven't been this way but maybe the others are this way," she said. The others glanced at each other then began to follow.

Ruby led the group into another cavern and they stopped, seeing something on the other side, opposite of them. It was looking right at them.

At the same time, Chomper had led the other group down the tunnel he'd chosen. They turned a bend and entered a new cavern. And stopped.

Ahead, on the opposite side, entering the cavern as well…was everyone else. Spike, Petrie, Ruby, Ali and Shorty. They were looking, with wide eyes, straight at Chomper, Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky. All nine of them made eye contact for a second before running at each other, calling out in joy. They met in the middle and embraced in a joyful reunion. Littlefoot, Ali, Shorty and Cera all wrapped their front legs around each other tightly. Ruby and Chomper hugged each other closely and Spike pulled Ducky and Petrie into a hug with his front legs. After a moment, they all turned to each other and shared a giant group hug that lasted for a long time. Each member of the gang took in the presence of each of the others. Being together again gave the gang a feeling of safety they hadn't felt since being separated.

Chomper was the one to ultimately break the hug apart. He'd heard something familiar and stepped into a new tunnel. As he did, the others all began talking, explaining what had happened to them since they had been split up.

"You guys, come see this," Chomper called suddenly, silencing the others. Chomper's voice was coming from just inside the tunnel he'd walked into. It sounded like he'd found something major.

It was a massive waterfall, pouring out of the cave wall, that flowed down with a thunderous splash into a river. The gang didn't recognize the falls, they'd seen many waterfalls in the Secret Caverns before but never this one and never one this massive. They'd followed Chomper's voice through the tunnel and found themselves standing beside him at the edge of an expansive cliff once it opened up into a new cavern. Way below them was a fast flowing river of water, which looked extremely deep. About one third of the way down the cliff face the gang stood at the top of was a thin ledge, with a tunnel entrance going into the rock. Above this ledge and tunnel, next to the gang, was a large boulder. Off to the gang's right was the waterfall. It would have put the Thundering Falls to shame it was so massive. Occasional mist from it even splashed them, and the mist felt heavenly on the gang's dry tongues. The cavern itself was the largest single cave any of them had ever seen. Yes, it was bigger than the Cave of Many Voices. It made them feel so small.

The ceiling was high above, and the cave stretched off to their left for a good way but there was no other way out other than the way they had come in, save the tunnel that opened onto the ledge below them. They also couldn't actually walk over to the waterfall as it was more towards the center of the cavern and the cliff ledge they were on didn't extend out to it.

"Wow," Shorty couldn't help but mumble. Chomper leaned over the edge and looked down, seeing the river far below. He grabbed a rock and tossed it over the edge, watching as it fell down and eventually into the river after several seconds. There was a splash and it vanished. Cera sighed and motioned the vast cavern, "All this tells us is that we're more lost than ever." She turned to walk back the way they'd come, it was the only way they could leave the cave, when Littlefoot stopped her.

"Wait….we can't keep wandering around the caves with those sharpteeth following us. We'll never get out of here if we do. We have to do something about that."

"Like what we do?" Petrie asked, fluttering over and landing on Ali's head.

"I don't know…" Littlefoot admitted, looking at the waterfall. "Unlike bigger sharpteeth, we know fast biters can swim, remember the day we got the Thundering Falls flowing again? Those fast biters swam out of the water and it was about as fast as this…"

"Well we have to do something. Littlefoot's right, we won't be able to find a way out if we have to keep dodging them," Chomper said, turning away from the river and walking over towards Littlefoot. "It would only be a matter of time before we were caught or separated again," Chomper added.

"Chomper is right, he is, we were lucky enough to find everyone again once, we were," Ducky said from her sitting spot on Spike's back. Her brother nodded, grunting in agreement.

"Ducky's right, we likely wouldn't find each other again if we were separated, if we were separated likely it is we wouldn't find each other again," Ruby agreed. "If I was us and we got seperated, I wouldn't want to be us."

"Could you follow that?" Shorty whispered to Petrie, who nodded, "You get used to how Ruby talk after a while." Ali glanced at Shorty as he spoke but didn't say anything.

"Hey," Chomper suddenly said, looking excited, "those fast biters are blind, we can use that against them! I know how sharpteeth think; if they can't see they use their sniffers and ears." He smiled, seeing the gang suddenly all realizing they had a chance if they played their tree stars right, "Spike, remember how you used your sniffer as your eyes and ears when I taught you how to sniff like me?" Spike nodded, taking a big snorting sniff to show his point.

"Exactly," Chomper said, "And again, remember when we were playing Swimmer and Splasher the other day? I used my sniffer and ears to find you guys instead of my eyes. That's what these sharpteeth do, they've been using their sniffers and ears to find us. Maybe we can misdirect them and lead them into some kind of trap."

Littlefoot suddenly looked up, his eyes gleaming in the way they always did when he had an idea.

"Hey, you guys remember how we killed Sharptooth?" he asked, getting nods from everyone, even those who weren't present for the event as they'd all heard the story more than once.

Littlefoot ran towards the boulder, it all seemed so similar to that day, like it was coming full circle, "We push this boulder onto the ledge down there, it'll knock them all into the water. Because they're blind they won't be able to swim to the surface. They'll get swept away and drown!"

"That could work," Cera agreed, walking over to the boulder and looking at the ledge below them, "All of us together can easily push this rock over the edge but how do we get them to walk out of the tunnel down there and not up here?" She looked down at the ledge, tunnel and river below, then at the boulder. Chomper also walked over to it and reached out to touch it with his, still, blood covered arm.

"Well, we need to stay quiet so they don't know we're up here. The roar from the waterfall should help with that as well. Still, the only one who should make noise is the one playing the most important role," Littlefoot said.

"What role is that?" Shorty asked, also walking over.

"Well, like we did when we killed Sharptooth...we need some bait," Littlefoot declared. Ducky immediately stood up and began shaking her head, arms crossed, "I am not going to be bait this time, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Ducky said, shaking her head over and over. She had no desire to repeat that experience at all.

"Don't worry Ducky, Petrie is," Littlefoot said.

"Yeah Ducky...wait me what!?" Petrie sputtered, shaking in fright.

"Listen, you're gonna go down to that ledge and lay there, right in front of the tunnel, and yell out for help saying that you have a broken wing. When the sharpteeth came at you, fly up here and we'll push the boulder down onto the ledge and into the water they go!" Littlefoot explained.

"But...but…" the flyer sputtered.

"Uh, Littlefoot...how do we know the fast biters will go for Petrie?" Ali asked. Littlefoot, instead of answering, turned to Chomper, "Hmm. What do you think Chomper? Will they go for him?"

"Uhh…" Chomper paused, "Forgive me for being insensitive with how I word this, but yes they will." Petrie shuddered as Chomper continued, obviously choosing his words very carefully, "Whenever there's easy...prey like that….sharpteeth rarely don't take of advantage of it...my mommy and daddy never let an….opportunity pass." Petrie whimpered and nearly fell over, looking extremely woozy. Chomper had one more point to add, "And these sharpteeth seem like they enjoy prey when it's…" he glanced at Cera, "helpless and can't escape." Cera shuddered involuntarily, again privately thankful for Chomper's timing when the fast biter had her trapped. The blood covering his body was a constant reminder of just how close it had really been.

"That's also why I bit Cera the day I hatched, my instincts just took over and I guess I thought her tail looked like easy prey." Chomper said. "Sorry about that by the way, I don't think I've ever said it," he added. Cera sputtered, "N-Now, of all times, is when you decide to say sorry?" Chomper shrugged, "Guess I just wanted to actually say it." Littlefoot couldn't help but smile for a moment before he turned back to Petrie.

"Petrie, we need you to do this. Getting rid of the fast biters is the only way we'll get out of here," Littlefoot said. Ducky jumped off Spike and gently walked towards her flyer friend, "Petrie please, we need you to do this for us," she said, grasping her hands together, her eyes big and pleading and begging for something to be hopeful for. Petrie looked at her and then at the others. He saw their faces and knew they were depending on him. He decided that he would have to be brave, just like when he searched the tunnels alone. After a few seconds he nodded, and, keeping his voice firm, said, "Okay, Petrie do it."

/

The gang pushed the boulder as far forward as it would go without falling and then gathered around it, ready to give the final shove to send it over the ledge.

"Littlefoot, this is not going to work," Shorty said once the boulder was ready. Littlefoot didn't look at him, "No, it will." he said, more determined then Shorty had ever seen him.

"He's right." Shorty turned and faced Ali as she continued, "If he says it will work then it will work." Once they were ready, Petrie fluttered down to the ledge and laid on it, right outside the tunnel and right under the boulder. He landed and fell onto his back. The gang leaned over the edge to look at him. Petrie saw Chomper give him an encouraging smile. Maybe not the best time to see sharp teeth but Petrie appreciated it nonetheless. Once he got the nod from Littlefoot, he began flapping around like a fish out of water and screaming as loud as he could, "AHHHH! Littlefoot! Cera! Somebody! Heeelllppp!" His "pain" filled screams were so loud and convincing that they chilled even Cera.

"Help! Ducky! Spike! Chomper! Someone help Petrie! Me wing is broken!" he shouted. Ducky whimpered and covered her ears, Petrie sounded like he was in genuine pain and he was letting real fear into his pleas too, which only added to the effect and Ducky hated the sound.

"Petrie…" she whimpered. For several minutes it went on, everyone having to listen while Petrie cried out as if he was in agony.

"Help! Me wing is broken! Me flew into the wall!" Petrie continued shouting, still flopping around, "Somebody! Help Petrie! Where are you?" Just as everyone above was beginning to doubt the plan Petrie suddenly stopped...laughing was echoing out from the tunnel Petrie was lying in front of.

"Aw...it sounds like the poor little flyer is all alone and helpless," a female voice whispered. The sounds of claws tapping the ground could be heard from the tunnel as the fast biters approached.

"Help!" Petrie screamed again, louder than ever. He was putting on a brilliant show, though one now aided by true fear, and his screams were rivaling the one he'd let out the day the gang had enacted the similar plan against Sharptooth.

"There's no one coming to help you, little flyer, you're all alone in the dark," the voice said in a sing-song manner, the sounds of three pairs of feet could be heard as the fast biters approached. Petrie whimpered...he couldn't see the fast biters...the tunnel was just too dark.

"I want his wings," a new voice hissed.

"I want his insides," another said.

"They're yours as long as I get the rest. There's not much meat on this one so we have to be civil and share until we catch the others," the female fast biter said, "How should we do it...quick?"
"No, let's leave him alive for as much of it as we can," the second male fast biter said.

"I want to hear more of the screams," the first added, "maybe they'll draw his friends in like they drew us to him." Petrie shuddered.

"Let's pull his tongue out first," the female voice said, now much closer.

"No his eyes, then he can't see what's coming," the first male said, "He'll be even more afraid and scream louder. And he can't scream without his tongue." Petrie heard some of them lick their lips.

"Yes, his eyes will be first," the female hissed.
"I want them. The eyes are always juicy and sweet," the second male said.

"The eyes are mine!" the female snarled, "You can have the eyes of one of the others." Petrie felt faint when he realized they were very close now...just out of sight in the tunnel. He got ready to fly, "Heeeelllllllppppp!" he screamed, louder and more primal than any scream he had ever unleashed before.

Littlefoot leaned against the boulder, "Get ready," he silently mouthed. The others all leaned against it, ready to push. Ali had her eyes closed, trying to shut the screams out; yes they were an act but they sounded too real as well. Chomper, who was also ready to push, was chilled too because Petrie was screaming louder and more fearfully then even some of the prey Chomper's mom and dad had hunted down. As Spike leaned against the boulder to push, he saw the look on Ducky's face and even he had to admit the screams were getting to him as well. Like the others, Cera was also ready to push and like the others, she was also shocked at how real Petrie's screams and pleas were. Everyone had the same thought, Petrie sounded like he was really about to die and it was horrifying.

Petrie heard heavy feet charging him from the tunnel. The female fast biter shot out of the tunnel, lunging, jaws wide open, and Petrie screamed, flying into the air.

"Now!" Littlefoot shouted as the other two fast biters also ran onto the ledge. They stumbled, their blindness causing them to run into each other, confused at how their prey had escaped. One of them shot their head up, trying to figure out where the gang was. It started climbing and the others started doing the same.

"Hurry Petrie!" Ducky cried as he flew towards them, "Higher! Higher like a flyer!"

"Petrie, get out of the way! Everyone push!" Littlefoot shouted.

"Get them!" the gang heard the female fast biter shriek. Using all their collective strength, the gang pushed as hard as they could and easily sent the boulder toppling down towards the ledge below. Shorty also started to fall with it but he caught himself and the others pulled him back up. The boulder landed on and smashed through the ledge on impact, sweeping the fast biters off the cliff side, and sending them, screeching and shrieking, tumbling down towards the rushing river below. A shower of rocks made up of the remains of the smashed ledge followed the fast biters into the river, where it all landed with a massive splash. The screeches from the pale dinosaurs were cut off instantly as they vanished below the surface.

The boulder and rocks sank straight down but the fast biters were pulled along in the direction the river flowed and sucked down by the current, spinning, flailing, snarling, and kicking as they were swept far away, deep under the water, being pulled deeper with each second. None of them ever surfaced again. The lead fast biter tried to let out a roar of defiance but all that left her mouth were bubbles. She kept kicking as water filled her lungs and then it all just...ended. The limp dinosaurs were pulled deeper still by the current.

Then they were gone.

Petrie rejoined the others and they all looked down at the water. The river was full of ripples, waves and bubbles. The water gushed and churned from the massive disturbance, despite the strong current, for several long, tense seconds. Eventually it went still again and looked totally unchanged. Looking as far downstream as they could, the gang couldn't see the fast biters. They'd done it...they'd won.

They all smiled and cheered, sharing in a giant group hug. The amount of joy and relief they felt was nothing like they'd ever felt before. They were all crying, happy tears, and just clung to each other. Littlefoot was practically in the center, with Ali and Shorty pressed up against his sides. Ruby was in front of him and had her arms wrapped around Cera and Chomper, who were pressing their faces against one another. Next to Cera was Spike, with Ducky and Petrie firmly wrapped in his front legs. After another moment, they all turned to each other and wrapped either their arms or wings or front legs around the one next to them, connecting one another through touch and companionship.

After several minutes of this, Shorty was the one to finally break the silence, looking guilty about what he was about to say, "Um...guys, I hate to break this up...again, but...we're still lost." The others all looked at him but took that in, he was right. They still had no idea where they were or how to get out. All their victory had really done was make sure they could explore for a way out of the Secret Caverns safely. Littlefoot took one final look at where the boulder had been and silently thanked whoever or whatever had put it there, he then turned to the others, "Come on, we have to go and find a way out. We actually have a chance now." Without another word, he led them all back out of the massive cavern the way they had come in.

"Let my heart guide me," Littlefoot whispered.

The caves still felt opposing and like something was hiding in the darkness. The thing about caves is this, most run deep, far below where the sun gives its light, they're dark, and unexplored. They're supposed to be empty. But what is lurking in the dark? What is hiding, just out of sight, just around a bend in a tight tunnel you can't run in. What made that sudden echo, or distant splash? What unknown horror lurks there with wide eyes and a huge smile, waiting to pounce? What lies hidden in caves, the unknown, where it cannot be seen, following just behind. You find something someone left behind but why was it left behind? Who used it and where are they now? What do you feel, in a tight tunnel alone, with no one around, just yourself, about to turn a corner when you hear a noise just around that bend? A scratch or a splash. What is waiting just around that turn for you, what are you about to face. Will it have teeth and claws, fangs maybe, long fingers reaching out for you, or will you see nothing…

Maybe it really is just an empty cave.

/

Several days passed and the gang were no closer to finding a way out than they had been the first day they'd gotten lost. They still hadn't eaten or drank anything. They were all nearly dead from exhaustion.

They were wrecks. Emotionally drained, mentally taxed, starved, dehydrated wrecks.

They hadn't slept for two days, they couldn't, they just kept walking, taking tunnels leading up but there just seemed to be no end to the Secret Caverns. They were just mindlessly searching, walking without registering anything, for a way out when it seemed there was none, just endless layers of rock above them. Petrie hadn't flown for a day, he was too weak to do so. He'd been sitting at the base of Ali's neck since the last time he landed.

Ducky, who was in the front of the group, suddenly stumbled and scratched her knee, "Ow…." she whimpered, feeling some blood running down her leg.

"Are you okay, Ducky?" Littlefoot's tired voice asked with a noticeable change in tone. She looked up at him when she heard it, her eyes wide in alarm. There was no light in his eyes anymore and he looked about ready to just drop dead. Chomper, who was standing next to Littlefoot looking down, which Ducky swore he had been doing for a full day now, also looked up as he heard it.

"I am okay, ye...yep, yep, yep,' Ducky softly said in response, hoping they'd all imagined the change, as Spike nudged her gently and got her to climb onto his neck. Ducky heard her stomach gurgle and winced, she'd never been so hungry, it was so painful and it was another reminder of how bad their situation had truly gotten. Her mouth had never been so dry either and everyone felt the same way. The gang were all feeling a mixer of pain, weakness and emptiness but it was Littlefoot's dramatic shift that had gotten their collective attention.

"Come on...we have to keep going...we can't stop," Littlefoot said, taking a few steps forward, oblivious to his friend's reactions to his body language and tone of voice. Cera looked at him and tried not to shudder. She'd never heard such a bleak hopelessness in her best friend's voice before. Everyone heard it. Chomper looked at Cera, his eyes wide and looking ready to cry.

Littlefoot had given up...he'd never given up before. Cera just sadly shook her head, her eyes heavy, seeing some of the dry, caked blood still on Chomper's mouth; another reminder of their situation to add to the growing pile. Grasping his stomach after feeling it cramp, Chomper just followed Littlefoot, Cera at his side and Ruby just behind them. Her feathers were wilted, her body slumped and her demeanor had a very uncharacteristic emptiness about it. She no longer hid the guilt she felt and it was clear to see to all who looked in her eyes; she'd convinced herself that she alone had sent her best friends to their collective deaths by suggesting they play in the caves. In the back was Shorty, no one had ever heard him be so silent for so long. He hadn't spoken since the day after the battle. He too had looked up at hearing the tone of defeat in Littlefoot's voice.

"Littlefoot?" a voice from ahead suddenly called out. The gang stopped, looking up and then at each other. Had they just heard…?

"Guys?!" the voice called again. The gang heard footsteps running towards them. Skitter suddenly ran around the corner in the tunnel and stopped, eyes wide, "Guys! Everyone, I found them!" he called over his shoulder. After a moment he added, "And no one fell on me this time!" More tiny, running footsteps could be heard further down the tunnel. A large group of the tinysauruses all came around the corner, stopping once they saw the terrible state the gang was in; the gang looked all but dead.

"Move, move," Big Daddy said, pushing his way to the front, concern on his face, "Thank goodness we found you kids." He sighed in relief, then he took in their appearances, "You look terrible," he said softly.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Cera asked, "We're not near your caves...are we?"

"No, we almost never come through this area or go this deep. Your folks sent us to find you, we've been looking for days. What happened?" Big Daddy asked.

"We got lost somewhere near the Cave of Many Voices," Littlefoot said.

"That's on the other side of the Great Valley," Big Daddy said after a moment, "I didn't think looking over here would be worth it…" he trailed off, then seemed to come back to his senses and motioned the gang to follow. "Now I'm glad we did. Come on, we'll take you to the nearest exit that is close to food and water for you all, you look like you need it," Big Daddy said. Now knowing they were safe, the gang knew that they could make it just a little longer. The gang began following the tiny longnecks as fast as they could go.

"Skitter, you and a few others take another way up and tell the adults we found the kids. We're taking them to a small pond with a waterfall next to the valley wall, there's lots of trees around it covered in tree fuzz, you know the one?"
"Yes Big Daddy," Skitter replied, zooming off and motioning some other tiny longnecks to follow. Rocky, Dusty, Chatter, Lizzie and a blue tinysaurus the gang didn't know all rose to the occasion and bolted after their fellow tiny longneck. They vanished around the bend of another tunnel as Big Daddy and the other tinysauruses led the gang in the opposite direction.

"Hurry up you guys, you're falling behind! Skitter you were supposed to lead, not me!" Lizzie's voice echoed from the tunnel a few seconds later, "We want to beat them out so we can tell their folks, right?"

"Hey, I'm coming as fast as I can!" Skitter yelled back. The gang and the other tinysauruses continued along through the tunnel and didn't hear the rest of the conversation.

/

The tunnels just seemed lighter now, less foreboding and endless. The gang had renewed energy as they followed Big Daddy, surrounded by concerned tinysauruses. Chomper felt a smile spread out on his face as he walked next to Littlefoot and Cera. He saw the others were smiling too, light and hope in their eyes once more. Perhaps, best of all was to see it back in Littlefoot's gaze as strong as it had always been. Petrie was even flying along with them again. The guilt had also, while not fully vanishing from Ruby's eyes, had seemed to lessen its hold on her and there was a joyful look on her face again as she knew now that they'd all be okay and none of her friends were in danger anymore.

"You know, I think Skitter looked taller," Cera commented after a while.

"Well yeah, when no one falls on him constantly that can happen," one of the tinysauruses said. The gang laughed lightly, the first time they'd so much as chuckled in days.

Soon Big Daddy led the gang into an upward angled tunnel which leveled out after a few minutes, and ahead, just around a corner, was daylight.

"Spike look!" Ducky cried. The young spiketail couldn't wait, he pushed the others aside and ran towards the exit, Ducky clinging to him.

"Go Spike, go!" she encouraged happily. The tinysauruses moved aside as the rest of the gang ran after them, also not able to wait. Together they burst out of the cave and into daylight...sweet, warm daylight. They slid to a stop and stood there, they felt warmer and joyful being in the embrace of the Bright Circle's light and they looked at one another, truly smiling for the first time in days. They were standing next to a round cave entrance, with moss growing around and dangling from it. The area was surrounded by trees, also covered in moss, like Big Daddy had said, with plenty of low hanging tree stars. And a few paces away was a small, round, pond with a small waterfall, pouring down the side of the valley's protective wall, plunging into it. Flowers grew around it.

With the last of their strength, the gang ran to the water and ducked their heads under, gulping down as much as they could. Water dripping off his head, Littlefoot lifted his head up from the pond and looked around, a smile growing on his face. The trees next to the pond opened up and he could see the Great Valley spreading out before him, with its forests and grassy plains. He sighed and felt a joy much like what he had felt the first time he'd seen the Great Valley spread through him, from his head to his tail and to his toes. The others looked up and saw it too, smiles breaking out on their faces as well.

Staying close to one another, the gang then spread apart to eat. While the others tucked into the flowers, tree stars and low hanging moss, Chomper stepped into the pond and began snatching fish from the cool water. Nothing had ever tasted so good. Ruby also stepped into the water and began grabbing snapping shells off the sandy bottom of the pond and helping herself.

Swallowing a tree star, Littlefoot looked around. Ducky and Spike were eating, and sharing a hug between each tree star. Petrie was perched on a branch above them, knocking down more tree stars when they needed it, helping himself to berries growing on a vine. Cera and Ali were helping themselves to flowers near the pond. Chomper and Ruby were in the pond, catching their own preferred foods. And Shorty was at Littlefoot's side, munching on the same tree as his adopted brother. He and Littlefoot smiled at one another, sharing a nod between themselves and continued finally filling their bellies again. Littlefoot couldn't stop smiling.

We did it. We did it together.

Big Daddy and the other tiny longnecks watched from the cave portal, smiling at the sight. The amount of relief Big Daddy felt at finally finding the kids was too much to put into words. He and his fellow tiny longnecks would need to make a point of exploring more of the caves, going further down, and memorizing them, in case anyone else ever got lost down there.

Something approaching caught his eye and he smiled even more. He motioned the other tinysauruses to follow him back into the cave, their duty was done.

The gang were all still eating when they heard footsteps approaching fast, "Ducky, Spike!" a voice called out.

"Petrie!"
"Cera!"
"Littlefoot! Shorty!"
"Ali!"
The gang all turned and there they were, their parents, hurrying towards the pond.

"Mamma!" Petrie shouted and flew over. His mother pulled him into a gentle, loving embrace. Mamma Swimmer scooped Ducky and Spike up, holding them close and nuzzling them, crying joyful tears. Ali ran to her mother who gently nuzzled her daughter, and Ali rubbed up against her mother's leg at the same time, laughing. Topps and Tria both looked like they'd never let Cera go anywhere again. Littlefoot and Shorty both got loving nuzzles from Grandpa and Grandma Longneck and Bron.

"Oh Littlefoot," Grandma Longneck whispered, tears falling from her eyes, "we were so worried."

Standing away from the families, Chomper and Ruby watched with a slight longing. They both felt a bit awkward and felt they were intruding, as well as a bit sad that they wouldn't get the same thing to comfort them following such a terrifying ordeal. Ruby truly wished her mother and father were there to hug her. She looked down when she felt Chomper take her hand in his own. She looked at him and they both hugged one another. They might not have had their families there but they were both family. They just held one another and didn't let go, comforting one another.

"I miss my family too, I wish ours were here," Chomper whispered. Ruby gave him a small smile, "Oh Chomper, part of my family is here because you are here." Chomper smiled and continued hugging Ruby tightly. She was right, part of his family was here and she was holding him tightly.

"We should go," Chomper said after a few moments, "let them be with their families. They should after all that." Ruby nodded and the two turned to leave.

"Yes, that would be best. Do you want to go to my Thinking Place for a while?" she asked. Chomper was about to answer when someone called out to them.

"Chomper, Ruby, do not go," Ducky's voice called. Surprised they were even noticed during the reunion, the two started to turn around only to find themselves being nuzzled by Grandma Longneck.

"Yes children, stay. We were so worried about you two as well. And none of you should have to deal with what you all just endured by yourselves," she said. Despite not expecting the affection, Chomper and Ruby smiled and leaned into the nuzzles. Littlefoot smiled at the sight before he turned to his dad.

"Oh Littlefoot, I was so worried about you, both of you," Bron said, looking down at Shorty. The two brothers smiled and both laughed as Bron nuzzled them again. After a few seconds, still laughing, Shorty took a few steps towards Chomper. There was something he still had to say.

"Hey, Chomper?" he said. When Chomper looked over at him, Shorty continued, "I'm sorry for everything I said, I was just being stupid." For a moment Chomper didn't react. He looked surprised, then he smiled, ran to and gave Shorty a giant hug. Shorty jumped a little from the unexpected affection and heard the others all laughing. He did too a moment later.

/

A few weeks later the gang of seven all stood at the top of a tall tower of rock, on a grassy plateau only about as wide as the length of a full growth threehorn. They were watching two farwalker herds in the valley far below, making their way to the same exit they had come in from; across a swampy, slightly misty grass plain that was the result of recent skywater. Littlefoot sighed, "Part of me was hoping that they'd stay," he said, catching a glimpse of his father leading the herd. He couldn't see Shorty. Both of the visiting herds had decided to leave on the same day as a little extra protection from sharpteeth hanging around the valley entrance. Red Claw was still very much a threat. After they were away from the valley the herds would go their separate ways, maybe they'd stay together for a few days but they wouldn't do so forever. Ali's herd was following behind Bron's, slowly marching along. Like with Shorty, Littlefoot couldn't spot Ali within the mass of dinosaurs.

"Dad, do you really have to leave?" Littlefoot had asked around two hours earlier.

"Yes, Littlefoot," Bron had responded. "The lands outside will be dry again, but don't worry, we'll be back soon, I think sooner than usual too," Bron had promised, lovingly nuzzling his son in farewell. After that, Littlefoot and the gang had all said goodbye to Shorty, Ali and Rhett, who was feeling like his old self again. After the two herds had begun their departure, the gang had run up to the top of the rock tower to watch, following a rock path that wound around the tower up to the top. Littlefoot's eyes returned to, and focused on, his father.

"Yeah, but they'll be back," Cera said.

"And when they do come back…" Chomper started.

"...let's not have another adventure in the Secret Caverns," Ruby finished.

"Yes, let us not do that, no, no, no!" Ducky agreed. The gang laughed, all having put the horrific events of weeks ago utterly behind them. Chomper and Ruby still called the Secret Caverns home but it was more eerie and foreboding, and as a result both slept closer to the entrance that led out into the valley. For the first few days after they had escaped, Chomper and Ruby had refused to sleep in the Secret Caverns at all and so they had stayed at Littlefoot's nest. Bron, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck had been more than welcoming. After a few days things went back to normal as Chomper and Ruby finally felt safe and comfortable enough to return to the caves, by then the minor wounds Chomper had gotten in his fight with the fast biter had fully healed. The only thing that had changed between the nine young dinosaurs who shared that terrifying adventure was that their close bond was only reinforced even more than it already had been.

Littlefoot sighed and turned away from the departing herds, "We'll always be together," he said, "All of us. Even when they're not here." The others all nodded and began to follow Littlefoot back down into the Great Valley as he started back down the rocky path.

"Always be together," Petrie agreed, flying after him.

"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky added and Spike nodded as he also followed Littlefoot back down towards the ground.

"Yes, we will always be together, always be together we will be!" Ruby sang, following a few steps behind Spike. The two who were last on the top of the rock tower were Chomper and Cera. They looked at each other. They'd become much closer since the events from weeks ago. Even Cera's dad had to agree Chomper wasn't too bad to have around when he heard what he had done to save Cera's life.

"...and then right as it had me cornered, Chomper came flying in out of nowhere. He took on a sharptooth more than ten times bigger than him to save me," Cera had said. Due to having every grownup turn their face to him upon hearing that, Chomper was a little nervous and sheepish in his response, "One of my friends was in danger…what else was I supposed to do?" he'd asked. The gang had told the whole story to their families after resting up and regaining their strength for a few days. Cera had told the whole story about the fast biter cornering her in full detail and her parents had listened in rapt attention as she described her and Chomper's fight with it. It was then that Mr. Threehorn had not only thanked but admitted Chomper was okay to have around. Well, he kinda admitted it anyway but it was enough for both Cera and Chomper.

Smiling, Chomper took a few steps forward and poked Cera's horn with the claw at the end of his first finger, "When we get to the bottom...you're it!" he said. Laughing, the young sharptooth turned and ran after the others, leaving Cera alone at the top. For a moment she just stood there, disbelief on her face, then it turned to a half hearted glare.

"Oh you're gonna get it, Toothy!" she shouted, running after them as well.

As the gang reached the bottom and left the rock pillar behind in the distance, Littlefoot looked back at each and everyone of his friends.

Littlefoot:

I can't wait to see you

Cera:

See you

Ducky and Petrie:

See you!

Chomper and Ruby:

What's up, today?

Littlefoot:

Can you hear me calling

Cera:

Calling

Ducky:

Calling

Littlefoot:

It's time to play!

All:

Every cloud in the sky, green leaf on a tree

Is reminding me, far away dreams really do come true!

Come on, let's go, and run around, run around

What a beautiful feeling, we finally have a peaceful valley

And everybody's having a good time now.

Littlefoot:

Sun sets and rises

Ruby:

Rises

Ducky:

Rises!

Cera and Chomper:

Plenty of things to see!

Littlefoot and Ruby:

Everyday surprises

Petrie:

Surprises

Ducky:

Surprises

Cera and Chomper:

Sneaking up on you and me

All:

As we go to and fro, let sweet harmony flow,

We're having fun now, skies so blue!

And our dreams really do come true

Yeah! Let's go! And run around, run around

What a beautiful feeling, we finally have a peaceful valley,

And everybody's having a good time now!

Together, the seven lifelong best friends ran off into the valley, off to play and enjoy their peaceful home. The peaceful valley they would all call home for the rest of their lives.

/

A/N-Like before this was an endeavor but one I happily undertook. I've also been asked a few times since the original revised version was published if this will get a sequel. I can definitively say no. I feel it would be unwarranted and with the antagonists all dead there is no reasonable plot to carry on from. However I will add I'm thinking about a story set in the same continuity as this one, but it wouldn't be a sequel it would be a new story that stands on its own that kinda is a spin on a very early idea for this story I had but very loosely. I do confess that this story is, admittedly, very similar to The Descent but I promise that I didn't actually know about or see that movie before writing the original Lost in the Secret Caverns, though I did slip in a homage to it in this revamped version. This also is basically my headcanon finale to the movies since they didn't get a proper one. That was actually why I went out of my way to resolve some hanging threads from the films and TV series and also specifically mention the gang were aging. I'm actually working to become a real author now and this story is dear to me and I wanted to give it a final overhaul to reflect my personal growth and advancements as a writer. I do hope you enjoyed it.