Chapter X: The Expedition Starts

As Grandpa and Grandma Longneck watched Littlefoot depart with the group, Grandpa turned to Grandma and said, "You know, dear, I get the feeling the little ones are going to be the ones to save the day again."

"Yes," replied Grandma. "Thicknose is old and can't move fast. The threehorn, runner, and clubtail will be fighting amongst themselves. As for Strut, well, he is an egg-stealer and those three will hate him for that."

Not long after, Ducky was leading the gang in another song: an old favorite, but with some new lyrics.

"Big, big, big, big water..."

"We're not going to the Big Water, Ducky," said Littlefoot.

"That is all right. I will change the words. Tall, tall, tall, tall mountain..."

"We're going to a tall, tall, tall, tall mountain," added Littlefoot. "With rocks and trees and scary things..."

"Uh, Littlefoot?"

"Yes, Mr. Bigmouth?"

"There's only one tree on the Mountain of Fear."

"Oh, okay. With rocks and stones and scary things, some help for Cera for to bring, so join us as we loudly sing, of that tall, tall, tall, tall, mountain," sang Littlefoot and Ducky together as Spike joined in with a hum. Petrie, however, didn't seem to like the song. He was cowering behind one of Spike's back plates, teeth chattering.

Thicknose looked at Littlefoot with admiration. "You have great poetic talent, young one."

Clubtail was of a different opinion. "Loudly is right. You couldn't hear thunder over that. Why, just a little louder and it'd wake Miss Threehorn."

"You just count yourself lucky you don't have a son with my son's musical interests," shot back Hyp's dad.

"Bang bang thunk bang, boom boom smash, thud thud clunk, crash crash crash!" sang Hyp at the top of his voice (and badly too.)

Littlefoot and Ducky stopped their singing. "What was that, Hyp?" asked Ducky.

"Rock music, of course!"

"Beautiful," said Thicknose. "Reminds me of the rockslide that blocked our way into the Valley."

Hyp looked hurt and sang no more. Littlefoot and Ducky resumed their song. Even Ducky's dad joined in.

After Hyp's dad had removed Ozzy from the Valley (not very far from it, it is true) Ozzy had gone into a small cave to await further happenings. He just happened to see the expedition leaving, Strut with them. Now he was almost completely maddened with the desire for revenge, and set off after them. But he had to be careful, so he followed at quite a distance even though he could easily have caught up with them.

"How do you get to the Mountain of Fear, Papa?" asked Ducky.

"Well," replied Bigmouth, "you have to go through the Thick Water..."

"The Big Water?" said Ducky.

"Maybe we see Mo or Elsie," said Petrie, "or even Chomper!"

"Not the Big Water, the Thick Water. It's like the Land of Mists, only bigger."

Petrie darted away and clung onto Clubtail's club while the latter resisted the urge to knock the annoying kid against a nearby tree.

"Anyway, you have to go through the Thick Water. Then you have to cross the Firefoot Sands."

"Why is that place called the Firefoot Sands?" asked Littlefoot.

"Because the sand there is so hot that it will burn your feet."

"Good thing me flyer," said Petrie. He followed this up with a "YAAAAAH!" as Clubtail, having nearly lost his short temper, swung his tail so that Petrie was flung sideways and slammed into Littlefoot.

"After that," continued Bigmouth, "there's Sharptooth Valley. It has plenty of green food but also plenty of sharpteeth. Then we'll come to a very big cave that's dark and spooky and dangerous. They call it the Cave of Death. After that we'll finally come to the Mountain of Fear. It's a sleeping volcano."

Spike's eyes gradually grew wider as Bigmouth told them of the perils of the journey. He drove his head into the ground once, but finding the hole not quite to his liking, pulled his head out and tried again. Ducky and Petrie dove into the hole that Spike had just vacated. Hyp said, "What's wrong with you scaredy-eggs? I'm not afraid." However, his knocking knees showed that he was. Littlefoot, however, showed no sign of fear, only excitement.

"Don't worry, Ducky, I'm here to protect you," said Bigmouth. He reached into the hole, pulled her out, and placed her on his head.

"So then we go back through the cave?" asked Littlefoot.

"No. We keep going. There's a much safer way back to the Valley which we can use."

"Why aren't we using it now?"

"Because it takes longer. Nine days."

"We'll be gone FIFTEEN DAYS?" cried Littlefoot.

"Fifteen days," said Bigmouth.

There is not much to tell about the rest of that day, except that Strut constantly lagged behind, eating with an appetite to match Spike's, and that Ducky sang the new version of "Big Water" until the Great Night Circle rose, much to the annoyance of the grownups (except her dad) and even of Littlefoot and Petrie.

Not long after the group lay down to sleep, Ozzy came upon them. He grinned evilly, trying to decide whether to get rid of Strut or Littlefoot first.