Chapter 12: Disaster at the Thundering Falls

            Stretching and reaching up, Littlefoot yawned as a new day greeted him with a warm ray of light giving him a toasty feeling on his skin. His grandparents were already up as usual but Littlefoot turned to Jason to find he was still asleep. Littlefoot felt great and for a strange reason, he didn't have another haunting nightmare last night. This puzzled Littlefoot as his nightmares had suddenly stopped as soon as Jason was present with him. Strangely, having Jason by his side at night felt like a grand omen that banished bad thoughts and nightmares away. Littlefoot took another look up at Jason as he turned over to face the other way. He smirked and wondered how much longer he was going to sleep for. He decided not to disturb him as he walked over to his grandparents to greet them.

"Morning Grandma, morning Grandpa!" Littlefoot called as he came into view.

"Good morning Littlefoot," his grandfather replied, "did you sleep well?"

"Oh yes Grandpa. Much better than I have been recently. I didn't have those bad dreams last night."

"Really?" his grandmother asked him happy that Littlefoot had managed to get a decent night's rest, "why do you think that it is Littlefoot?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it had something to do with Jason…" Littlefoot admitted.

"That's nice dear. So where is Jason?" his grandmother asked.

"Still asleep I think," Littlefoot giggled, "maybe humans don't get up very early."

"Well, when he gets up, you and Jason can take a trip down to the Thundering Falls. Grandma and I will be there today."

"Okay Grandpa! We'll see you down there." With that, Littlefoot rushed back to his sleeping spot to see if Jason was awake yet. As a surprise to Littlefoot, Jason was still asleep. He didn't want to disturb Jason but Littlefoot wanted him to wake up so they could play down by the Thundering Falls. Littlefoot began to get impatient as Jason didn't move and wasn't showing any signs of waking up soon. He started to nudge the tree softly to try and wake him up. Jason didn't respond so Littlefoot knocked the tree a little harder. The slight tremors shivered up the tree and tingled Jason's legs as he groaned and turned over again, still asleep. Littlefoot was getting agitated as he now started ramming the tree to get Jason to wake up. The massive shakes rattled the tree as Jason jumped up with a start. He looked around in a panic to see what was shaking him as he looked down and saw Littlefoot beaming up at him.

"Good morning!" Littlefoot called up to him. Jason looked around with his eyes half open in a daze. He yawned and stretched before looking down at Littlefoot who still had his friendly smile pasted across his face.

"What time is it?" Jason asked drearily rubbing his eyes.

"The Bright Circle is just coming up over the Smoking Mountain."

"What!" Jason exclaimed, "you mean the sun has only just risen!" Jason flopped back down into his tree and closed his eyes again. Littlefoot looked surprised at Jason. Sunrise was the normal time he got up so why was Jason so upset? He began rattling the tree again trying to get Jason to come down.

"Come on Jason! Why won't you get up?"

"Because it's too early! Wake me up in a few more hours." Jason turned and tried to get back to sleep.

"Too early?!" Littlefoot asked himself puzzled, "the Bright Circle is nearly up and Jason wants to sleep for a few more hours? Gosh! He sleeps more than Spike does!" Littlefoot gazed up at Jason again to see if he might change his mind. When he couldn't get Jason to look at him, he shook the tree again.

"C'mon Jason! Are you going to sleep all day? We're supposed to be going to the Thundering Falls soon. Don't you want to come and see it?" Jason rolled and groaned as he locked eyes with Littlefoot who was remarkably bouncy at what Jason considered to be a very early hour.

"It's just so early though," Jason complained as he yawned again, "can't we go later?"

"If we go later no one will be there! How come you still wanna sleep?"

"Humans don't function too well early in the morning," Jason groaned but smiled at the same time, "I need a little more sleep."

"But what about the Thundering Falls?" Littlefoot protested.

"I'll meet you down there in a few minutes, I promise. Just let me sleep a little longer…"

"You sure? You promise?" Littlefoot wanted Jason to swear he'd be there.

"Yeah, I promise. I'll be there in a little while. You go on ahead."

"Okay," Littlefoot sighed in defeat realising that nagging Jason anymore would not help. He trotted off towards his grandparents' feeding spot to join them but kept wondering how humans can sleep for so long.

            Despite that Jason didn't go with him, Littlefoot decided that he would go down to the Thundering Falls by himself. Whilst him and his grandparents were eating, Littlefoot overheard some other dinosaur herds talking about a strange two-legged creature roaming the Great Valley. Rumours about Jason's arrival had started to spread but Littlefoot just smiled as he knew perfectly well about the rumours as he was the one who met Jason in the first place and introduced him to the Great Valley and his friends. As he reached the Thundering Falls, he saw Ducky and Spike and their family bathing at the far end of a deep pool the waterfall made before trailing off deep into the Valley as the Great Valley's main waterway. Ducky was diving in amongst her brothers and sisters swimming gracefully under the water; as it was her nature. Littlefoot jumped into the water and paddled over to Spike who sat on the bank eating some ferns that grew there. Ducky popped her head up from underwater and waved at Littlefoot as he swam over to her. Littlefoot greeted Ducky and her mother as Spike jumped in paddled rather inelegantly over to Littlefoot to greet him as well. Ducky's mother turned to Littlefoot.

"So, Ducky's been telling me that you have something to do with the strange two-legged creature everyone's been talking about."

"Yeah. His name is Jason and he's a human. He's from the future!"

"Really? Quite remarkable!" Ducky's mother said greatly impressed, "so where is he then?"

"He's still asleep. He said humans don't work very well early in the morning," Littlefoot explained and laughed.

"I'd say he's just being lazy," Ducky's mother joked as they all chuckled. In midst their laughter, a great splash was heard from behind them. Cera had come to join them with her father who stood proud and tall as Dinah and Dana scurried between his legs before leaping into the cool waters.

"So, where's your new friend?" Cera asked almost taunting Littlefoot.

"He's still asleep," Littlefoot barked back in offence picking up on Cera's coarse tone of voice, "he'll be here soon. He said he was coming." Cera snorted.

"Ha! I wouldn't count on that happening any time soon. I still don't trust the guy even if he says he's not a sharptooth." Littlefoot wrinkled his face offended. Cera had done nothing but tease him about Jason since he arrived the other day.

"He IS coming Cera! You just wait and see."

"How can he come? I bet he doesn't even know the way here!" Cera boasted knowing that she had caught Littlefoot out. Littlefoot wanted to retaliate but he knew Cera was right. Jason wouldn't know how to get to the Thundering Falls because he hadn't shown him the way. He cursed himself for allowing Cera to get away with such an easy countermeasure but then said,

"Maybe he doesn't but he will come! He promised he would!"

"And you believed him? Ha!" Cera snorted again, "he won't come. He probably just said that to get you to go away and let him sleep. Never trust a creature other than a leaf-eater I always say!" Littlefoot was angry at Cera's ignorance but felt crushed as well. Jason may not have been a dinosaur but he trusted him like a friend. There was something about him that emitted a faithful and dependable sign that Jason could be trusted but Littlefoot couldn't place what it was. Littlefoot felt lost but his spirits shot up when he heard a faintly familiar voice from the thicket that shaded the natural swimming pool.

"Man! You guys really know how to make a ruckus!" Littlefoot whirled around to find Jason standing on the path through the trees.

"Jason! You made it!" he exclaimed overjoyed.

"Oh yeah! Sorry I took so long…I got a little lost at first but then I heard your voice coming from the other side of these trees. And hers of course." He nodded at Cera who was grunting at him for managing to find his way and disproving her theory on all non leaf-eating creatures being untrustworthy. Jason took a good look around at the waterfall and the beautiful little enclosure it was in, surrounded by exotic, prehistoric flowers and bordered by bushy, green trees.

"Pretty nice place," Jason nodded impressed. Then he realised that everyone else besides Littlefoot's group were staring at him in astonishment. Jason suddenly felt very self-conscious seeing so many eyes glaring at him like a caged animal at the zoo. He slowly walked to the water's edge and Littlefoot paddled over to him. He crawled up the bank and shook the water off getting Jason with the wet shrapnel. Jason giggled and shielded himself with his arm as the others came to greet him. Just as the group merged to talk to Jason, Petrie and his mother flew in followed closely by Littlefoot's grandparents. Even Dinah and Dana were curious enough to get close to Jason to find out more about him. Jason bent down to talk to them.

"Hello there," he called to them, "and who might you two cuties be?"

"Us-ie Dinah, Dana!" Dinah exclaimed.

"Us-ie three-be horna's!" Dana added.

"A-hiya!" they both then called out together in baby talk. Jason raised one eyebrow curiously and then laughed.

"They're baby threehorns so they can't quite talk yet," Littlefoot added after Dinah and Dana's little dialogue.

"I know. I understood what they said," Jason said calmly to Littlefoot.

"You understand what the twins are saying?" Cera then asked intrigued, forgetting her grudge she had had on him.

"Oh yeah! Baby talk is just a simple break down of a child's native language. These two cute, little threehorns just introduced themselves rather politely to me."

"So what they say?" Petrie asked not understanding a word the twins nor Jason had said.

"They said 'we are Dinah and Dana, we are threehorns, hello!'" Jason repeated what the young triceratops twins had said who were now dancing around in circles conforming Jason's translation was correct. The group was stunned as were a few of the adults who were listening in to the children's conversation. Jason smiled and broke the silence but shouting, "Right, who's ready for a swim?" The group, including Cera, cheered and all ran to the pool taking the biggest leaps they could manage. The adults around the edge smiled at Jason which made him feel welcome and wanted. Ducky climbed onto a nearby rock to dive majestically in when she turned to Jason and suddenly shrieked in terror. Everyone in the area instantly turned to Ducky who had turned pale with shock and pointed at Jason.

"Ducky!" her mother called, "whatever is the matter dear?"

"J-J…J-Jason is t-taking his skin off! He is!" she shrieked as all eyes turned to Jason as he struggled with his white t-shirt to get it over his head. Everyone gasped in astonishment as Jason tugged his head out from the neck of his shirt and turned to see everyone staring at him. Jason looked at the horrified expressions on everyone's faces as Littlefoot crawled up the bank to get a closer look at Jason's transformed body. Jason felt claustrophobic as Littlefoot circled him and the glaring eyes remained fixed on him.

"What did I do?" Jason whispered to Littlefoot as he looked him up and down.

"Didn't that hurt? How'd you take your skin off like that?" Littlefoot asked amazed as if he were immune to mortal pain.

"Wha…?" Jason shrilled in an unusually high voice, "take my WHAT off!"

"Your skin?" Littlefoot glanced at Jason's black hooded sweater with a coiled silver dragon on it and his white t-shirt. Jason followed his gaze and the laughed so loud it almost sounded insane.

"That's not my skin! That's my clothes."

"Your clothes?"

"Yeah. Humans aren't too good at retaining body heat so we wear clothes to keep us warm. It's all right for dinosaurs because of the way their bodies are composed. They're used to it. Humans are not as well adapted so we were clothes. They're not really supposed to get wet unless you're washing them," Jason gave a little spin with his arms out to the sides showing his actual skin, "this is my real skin and I can assure you that it doesn't come off!" Littlefoot looked bewildered at this new custom and smiled. Jason silently breathed a sigh of relief as the pressure that had built up in a split second slowly dissolved and everyone was happily chatting to each other again. Just before he re-entered the water, Littlefoot gave one last glance at Jason who was smiling back at him. He smiled in return but noticed a strange object around his neck. It looked like a bright, glistening vine that wrapped itself loosely around him. On the end of the glistening vine was a blood, red stone that hovered over Jason's bare chest. This object reminded him of something Littlefoot thought he had seen before but as Jason jumped into the water, the thought vanished and he quickly followed him.

            For the entire morning and the best part of the afternoon, Jason, Littlefoot and their friends splashed around under the raging water that flowed down from the Thundering Falls above. Littlefoot, Spike and Cera had started a water fight and slapped the water surface hard with their tails trying to blind each other. Jason, Ducky and the threehorn twins were jumping off the high rock into the pool trying as many different variations as they could. Petrie sat judging the dives for difficulty. Jason leapt off the rock after a short sprint up it. He majestically somersaulted and kicked to twist out before landing with a mighty splash that knocked Petrie off his perch. The adults on the sideline gasped in amazement and cheered at Jason as his head broke through the water's surface. Jason scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed but accepted the applause. Suddenly, everyone got out of the water to try their luck at the high dive as one by one they all leaped off the rock spinning and twisting in as many different ways they could think of but Jason's impressive flips and somersaults stole the show as the adults sat by the bank watching and cheering the children on. Ducky managed to copy Jason's front somersault with a half twist out but the quadrupeds just leapt and spun around like rotor blades and landed heavily throwing water everywhere.

            Littlefoot attempted a dive head first as he leapt up high off the rock and plunged unsteadily, head first into the water. Jason clapped in amazement as Littlefoot managed to pull himself into such a difficult position for a four-legged dinosaur. Cera was up next but she was waiting for Littlefoot to move out the way so she didn't land on him. Cera began to get impatient as Littlefoot was not seen paddling to the side to rejoin the line for another go. Jason looked a little worried and walked beside the rock to see if he was perhaps hiding underneath the overhang. He wasn't there. Littlefoot's grandfather looked at Jason from across the stream but Jason just shrugged and walked back to line up again. A few tense moments had passed and there still was no sign of Littlefoot. He couldn't have possibly gotten out of the water without someone seeing him. Jason began to feel anxious as he signalled for Ducky to take her turn instead of Cera. Ducky jumped in with a graceful full twisting front somersault Jason had shown her earlier but it was quite sometime before she resurfaced. When she finally came back up, Ducky splashed around frantically.

"Help! Littlefoot needs help! He does!" The adults stood up urgently as the rest of the gang ran to Ducky.

"What's happened Ducky? Where's Littlefoot?" Jason cried in panic.

"Littlefoot is stuck at the bottom, he is! He cannot get back up he cannot!" she reported.

"Littlefoot!" his grandmother cried from the other side as Littlefoot's grandfather started to walk into the water.

"Wait!" Jason called out to the mighty longneck.

"What is it Jason?" he replied in desperation.

"You can't walk in the water! You might crush him!" Jason protested.

"What should we do?" Cera's father wailed from the bank. Just as he had finished his sentence, everyone turned to see Jason run back to the rock and dive down into the water. As the bubbles cleared from his vision, Jason looked around to find Littlefoot struggling at the bottom of the deep pool under the waterfall. His feet had been tangled in waterweeds as Littlefoot squirmed hopelessly. Littlefoot suddenly looked up and stared into Jason's eyes pleading for help. In his gaze, the sunlight that dove down into the water hit Jason's stone and it shone so brightly, it appeared to be glowing. Jason broke his eye contact with Littlefoot as he started tugging at the weeds but they were rooted so firmly into the riverbed that he found he couldn't pull him out. Jason looked up at Littlefoot as he saw his eyes starting to roll back into his head. He was losing air and consciousness. Jason swam back up to the surface and paddled madly to his bag. Littlefoot's grandparents looked after him in despair.

"Jason, please tell us, what is going on down there?" Littlefoot's grandfather cried.

"Littlefoot's tangled in some waterweeds. I can't pull him out so…"

"What?" everyone called in desperation thinking that Jason had a plan. Jason didn't answer. He rummaged frantically in his bag and then pulled out a small penknife. He stuffed it into his pocket and jumped back in ignoring everyone's cries for answers. Jason dived down to Littlefoot who was now unconscious and floating limply in the water current. Jason knew he didn't have much time. Taking the penknife from his pocket he flicked the blade out and began slicing through the weeds that tied Littlefoot's feet to the river's floor. Jason could begin to feel a nasty twitch in his chest signalling that his own air supply was gradually running out. As Jason cut through the final weed, he flicked the blade back down and placed it back into his pocket. He then took Littlefoot under his forelegs and paddled awkwardly up to the surface. The twitching gradually transformed into a burning as Jason's lungs cried for air.

            Up on the surface, there was a tense silence. Everyone looked at everyone else in despair, fearing the worse. Just when they thought all was lost, the water surface shattered as Jason gasped for air and towed a motionless Littlefoot to the riverbank. Everyone was happy to see Jason was safe but they also feared for Littlefoot's life as he lay lifeless on the sandy bank.

"Is he…?" Cera began but was silenced by Jason's snappy movements over Littlefoot's body. Jason placed his ear over Littlefoot's mouth but heard nothing. Rolling him onto his back, he then laid his head on Littlefoot's chest to try and make out a heartbeat. He could hear a throbbing but he was unsure if it was his own heart pounding in his head from the adrenaline rush. He was too jittery to try and find Littlefoot's pulse and he had never attempted to find a major artery of another creature besides a human despite how long his neck was. He suddenly turned to Cera and started barking orders.

"Cera! Pass me my bag over there! QUICKLY!" Even though Cera didn't know what a 'bag' was, she ran over to the strange, brown sack and pulled it over to Jason. Jason, immediately, got out his medical kit, pulled out his stethoscope and placed the diaphragm on Littlefoot's chest. He heard nothing.

"Damn it!" Jason cursed as he threw the stethoscope to the side and started pushing down forcefully on Littlefoot's sternum. The group of dinosaurs looked over Jason confused yet terrified but they felt Jason knew what he was doing. They heard Jason count loudly as he pushed on Littlefoot's chest. He then moved to Littlefoot's mouth as he tried desperately to resuscitate him. Jason could hear the air escaping through Littlefoot's nostrils but couldn't reach them as his hands were full holding his mouth open. He turned to the horrified audience.

"Ducky! Petrie! Come here quickly! I need your help!" he ordered. The two of them jumped in surprise but quickly ran over to Jason on command. Jason nodded with his head over to Littlefoot's forehead.

"You need to block Littlefoot's nostrils with your hands!" Ducky and Petrie looked at each other perplexed.

"Why?" they both then asked.

"No time to explain. Just do it!" Knowing that Littlefoot's life was on the line they agreed and held their hands over Littlefoot's nostrils as tightly as they could. Jason inhaled deeply and breathed into Littlefoot. His torso rose and fell in response but he did not start breathing himself. Jason repeated the process again and then returned to the chest compressions.

"Come on Littlefoot!" Jason begged, "dammit! Don't you DARE die on me now!"

Jason switched between Littlefoot's mouth and chest trying desperately to bring him back to life. Jason was now becoming anxious as Littlefoot failed to response to his resuscitation.

"Come on Littlefoot! One more time!" Jason swore to himself as he felt his chances fading away. He breathed into Littlefoot twice more and then hit his chest hard trying desperately to get his heart to restart. On Jason's sixth push, Littlefoot lurched horribly and coughed. Jason's face lit up as Littlefoot began choking and water flowed from his mouth.

"Yes, Littlefoot! That's it! Cough it all up!" he urged. Ducky and Petrie backed away as Littlefoot's coughs became louder. Jason gave Littlefoot's chest on last push and then sat back on his heels. Littlefoot heaved and sat up as the last of the water that flooded his lungs flowed out. He sat still gasping for air as he slowly looked around. Jason sighed triumphantly as Littlefoot panted and stared at everyone who were all jumping for joy and hugging each other (those who could).

"Wha…what happened?" Littlefoot asked totally disorientated. No one answered him but he received cheers and hugs from his friends and family.

"You okay! Me get so worried!" Petrie exclaimed.

"You are fine now. Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky chattered eagerly.

"I'm so glad you're all right," Cera sighed relieved. Spike licked Littlefoot's face as he still found himself incredibly dizzy.

"I don't feel so good…" Littlefoot warned as his head throbbed.

"That's probably because you brought all that water up out of yourself," Jason stated picking up his stethoscope he tossed away earlier, "good thing I packed this." He held up his small med kit in one hand rattling it. Littlefoot was still confused.

"Can someone tell me what just happened?"

"Jason saved your life Littlefoot," his grandmother said calmly as he bent down to comfort him.

"How did you do it?" Cera's father turned to Jason.

"It's a technique humans have developed to well… bring people back to life I suppose," Jason explained knowing that it wasn't as simple as he had said it was but it was the best way to describe it without being too technical, "humans have been using it for hundreds of years."

"Amazing. Simply amazing!" Littlefoot's grandfather called as he bent down to Jason, "thank you Jason. Thank you for bring our Littlefoot back to us." Jason shrugged shyly and simply said in amongst a smile,

"You're welcome."

            Jason turned to Littlefoot and press his stethoscope on his chest one last time.

"Your breathing's okay but you've got a slightly irregular heart rhythm due to the shock," Jason diagnosed him as a patient in a doctor's surgery, "you should be fine by tomorrow. A good night's rest is all you need." With that, Jason packed his bag whilst Littlefoot was helped to his feet and lifted onto his grandfather's back as they transported him back to their home.

            On the way, Littlefoot's grandfather turned to Jason who was walking beside him. Littlefoot had fallen asleep on his back from exhaustion.

"Will he be all right do you think?" Littlefoot's grandmother asked Jason.

"Yeah. The shock of it all's probably made him tired but he should make a full recovery by tomorrow," Jason stated.

"We want to thank you again Jason for saving Littlefoot," Littlefoot's grandfather added, "if we had lost him, we wouldn't know what to do."

"Really Mr. Longneck it's perfectly fine. I'm just glad I could help," Jason replied.

"Smart and modest," Littlefoot's grandmother smiled impressed, "you are such a nice boy Jason."

"Why thank you Mrs. Longneck," Jason said shyly. He then looked at the meadow were he planned to spend the night last night and began to turn towards the rock he was sitting on yesterday.

"Jason," Littlefoot's grandfather called after him.

"Yes Mr. Longneck?"

"Where do you think you are going? You're not planning on sleeping there are you?" Jason shrugged as that was his plan exactly.

"But where else can I go?"

"Wouldn't you like to come home with us?" Littlefoot's grandmother asked.

"Really? You mean it?" Jason had to make sure the offer was genuine.

"Of course. You saved our only child. It is the least we could do," Littlefoot's grandfather added.

"Well, gee, thanks Mr. And Mrs. Longneck!" Jason called out in amazement , "I don't know what to say?"

"Just say you will stay," Littlefoot's grandmother said softly, "I think Littlefoot needs you to be with him."

"And another thing. You can stop calling us by such formal names. You can call us Grandma and Grandpa since you'll be living with us for a while," Littlefoot's grandfather proclaimed welcoming him into their herd.

Jason was honoured. This tiny herd had chosen him to be part of their family. Jason was overwhelmed as he had finally established a family after seven long years of being alone.

"Thank you. Grandma…Grandpa!" Jason said. The names made him tingle pleasantly inside.

"You're welcome, son," Grandpa replied lovingly as they slowly strolled towards their home.

Chapter 13: The Moment of Truth

            In the first few days since his arrival to the Great Valley, there have been many rumours and numerous discussions about Jason; a lot of them very cynical. Despite his brave rescue that saved Littlefoot from a watery fate, most of the other Great Valley dinosaurs did not trust Jason living amongst them. Those who see Jason tend to mumble behind his back and debate over him rather unpleasantly. Others have even spoken to Littlefoot and his grandparents about fostering such a bizarre creature that gives outlandish remarks about apparently being from the future. Regardless of the nasty comments made about him, Jason couldn't care less. He was in a family who cared for him, he had friends whom he could socialise with and his new foster grandparents supported him as if he were their own. For the first time in quite a while, Jason felt loved. Littlefoot was pleased to have a faithful companion with him since all his other friends had brothers and sisters but he didn't. Littlefoot also felt more secure at night and the nightmares hadn't returned since Jason found his new bed in the petrified tree just above his sleeping place. He had heard all about Jason's daring rescue to save him from waterweeds and how his magical technique had brought him back to life when all hope seemed lost. Strangely, as the story was explained to him, it all sounded familiar for some peculiar reason, like it had all happened once before. Littlefoot couldn't remember much from the incident but Jason explained that it was liable to be amnesia from the shock of it all and it was all quite normal. The one thing that Littlefoot was interested in even more was Jason's stone that was encased in his funny-looking gold vine around his neck. It looked almost identical in size and shape to his blue one except it was red.

            Jason was well aware of the distrustful statements other Great Valley inhabitants have been spreading about him but as long as he had Littlefoot by his side, nothing mattered. Still, he was determined to prove to the dinosaurs that he was trustworthy enough for them to accept him and so he could find residence within their homeland until he could find a way of returning to his own time; if that was at all possible. All he needed was a chance to deem himself worthy of their trust and then they'd see. Jason found himself, for the past few nights, sitting in his tree talking to Littlefoot and his friends about the human world and how different it was to the dinosaur one. The most interesting statement of all that Jason had made to describe the difference was, "It's like two worlds but only on one planet." Jason told his little audience everything about humans right from the scientific hypothesis of the creation of planet Earth and the galaxy with the Big Bang theory to the cities and towns that they built to establish their own way of life and well-being. Jason found it weird having to describe everything he found completely normal to creatures that lived by the most simplest of rules but he found it strangely enjoyable nonetheless. Everything in Jason's backpack was a new mystery from his torch to his mother's books on botany and chemical synthesis to formulate medicines and elixirs.

"Oh! What's this thingy do?" Littlefoot prodded with his nose knocking over his medical kit, spilling its contents all over the place.

"Careful!" Jason warned trying to keep up with all his friends poking and prodding everything, "that's my medi-kit. Special humans called doctors use them to check how healthy someone is."

"Really? That amazing," Petrie gawked. Littlefoot picked up a long, cylindrical piece with a strange point in his mouth and mumbled,

"What's this thing do?"

"That's for looking in your ears. A doctor can check for any ear infections if you have a sore ear," Jason stated like he was reading it out of a text book. He took it from Littlefoot's mouth and placed it back in his medical box along with a pack of plasters and bandages.

"Hey! What's this?" Cera asked picking up a black sheet of plastic with a strange white outline on it, "it looks kinda ghostly."

"Ah! That's my X-ray a doctor took of me. An X-ray's a machine that takes a picture of your bones." Everyone wooed in amazement.

"Is this a picture of your bones Jason?" Littlefoot asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Jason said scoring his finger across the shoulder bones, "see that crack? That's where I broke my collarbone when I fell out of a tree." Everyone's expression then switched to cringes of pain.

"Did it hurt? To break one of your bones I mean," Littlefoot asked with his face all pursed up like he had eaten something sour.

"Surprisingly no!" Jason stated rather boldly, "breaking bones don't actually hurt but if they go through your skin, then it hurts." Jason laughed at the horrified response he got from his friends as he placed his old X-ray back into his case. He then turned to Ducky who had found something else.

"I saw you us this on Littlefoot the other day. Yep, yep, yep," Ducky yapped as she hauled the object over to Jason almost tripping over its long tubes.

"Ah, yes. This is my stethoscope."

"A what-o-scope?" Cera asked perplexed as she checked to see if anyone else was confused. Sure enough, they all were.

"A stethoscope."

"What does it do?" Littlefoot asked intrigued not knowing that Jason had used it on him already.

"Doctors use it to listen to your chest to check that your heart and lungs are working properly. Here, I'll show you." He placed the earpieces in his ears and placed the chest-piece on Littlefoot, "See?" Everyone was astounded.

"Here, Littlefoot. You listen." Jason placed the earpieces in Littlefoot's ears for him to listen. Littlefoot was amazed to hear his own heartbeat crystal clear through Jason's strange instrument.

"That's great!" Littlefoot exclaimed, "it really works!" Jason was pleased that he was able to entertain everyone with items he had used countless times as he passed the stethoscope round the group from one dinosaur to the next so everyone had a turn. The group pounced on Jason as he put it away eager for more knowledge on how humans lived when calls from through the Valley could be heard. Everyone broke up for breakfast as Littlefoot was still questioning Jason about his medical equipment and how he used it on him he nearly drowned. Jason laughed as Littlefoot buzzed around him in excitement keen to learn more.

"Morning Grandma. Morning Grandpa!" they both yelled in unison as they approached the green where they were feeding. Littlefoot hopped to the nearest tree and started to eat and Jason raided his bag for leftovers. As Littlefoot took his first bite, he looked around at Jason who was searching in his bag in desperation. He swallowed his mouthful and walked over to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked him gently.

"I've just used up most of my food. I practically got nothing left," Jason moaned. Littlefoot walked over to the tree he was eating from and pulled a star-shaped leaf from the tree and held it in front of Jason's upset face. Jason looked at it peculiarly and took it from in between Littlefoot's teeth. He then looked up at Littlefoot who was beaming.

"Try it! It's a treestar!" Littlefoot urged.

"I can't eat this! Humans don't eat leaves off trees I'm afraid," Jason said rather disgusted as he dangled it away from him between two fingers.

"Come on Jason. You said you had no food left. You have to eat something…" Littlefoot pleaded. Jason screwed up his face at the leaf but felt his stomach gurgling at the same time. He was hungry but somehow, a leaf shaped like a star didn't seem very appetising.

"I dunno Littlefoot…" Jason said hesitantly, "I've never eaten a leaf before…"

"You'll like it! Just give it a try. You got me to try your chocolate so you can try my treestar." Jason swallowed hard as Littlefoot had trapped him morally. He got Littlefoot to try his food so it would only be fair to return the favour. Besides, if Littlefoot was so sure it would taste fine then it should be okay. Shouldn't it? Jason's top lip quivered as he gnawed on one edge of the five-pointed star. It snapped off in his teeth and he chewed it cautiously. It tasted rather bitter at first but it was bearable. Jason swallowed his mouthful and yapped loudly as the flavour mingled in his mouth. Strangely, it wasn't as bad as he first thought. It was like a bitter-sweet version of lettuce but it had a definite flavour unlike humane-grown lettuce. Jason shrugged and tossed the rest of the leaf into his mouth. The strange flavour tingled even more so with the larger dosage but it was actually tasted rather pleasant.

"Hey, that was pretty nice!" Jason hummed satisfyingly surprised. Littlefoot gave a wide smile.

"See? I told you you'd like it!" Jason hopped up from his seat and went over to the tree where Littlefoot was eating from and happily helped himself to more treestars.

            With their stomachs full, Littlefoot and Jason strolled side-by-side to the Green Meadow where they had agreed to meet with the others after breakfast. A few other dinosaurs were there already including a number of stegosaurus, triceratops and corythosaurus herds and an old ankylosaurus everyone referred to as 'Old Mr. Clubtail'. Cera and the twins were already there with her father but they were in the middle of eating so Littlefoot and Jason decided to wait for them to finish before calling out to them. After a few minutes, Ducky, Spike and Petrie came into the meadow as they all huddled round each other to discuss what game to play. Jason happily introduced them to a few of his own childhood games he used to play when he was younger including using a vine as a skipping rope and a game of 'manhunt' that he had not played for years. Everyone enjoyed Jason's games as they had never played them before and it was a great insight to see how human children played together despite Jason mentioning that the majority of games they played were simply prehistoric versions of games he used to play; tag being one of them.

            The day wore on as most of the adult dinosaurs sat down to graze and watched Jason playing with the others and wondered why they had accepted him into their group. Obviously, the bad rumours that had spread about Jason were growing more and more wild as chattering between herds caught Jason's attention. Although it hadn't bothered him before, Jason felt a little saddened that untrue tales had been circulating about him when he had done nothing wrong. Jason believed that all he had to do was to prove to everyone in the Great Valley that he was a good person and would not wish them any harm. All he needed was a situation he could deal with which would to deem him worthy of their trust. After a few hours of messing around with each other, Littlefoot and the rest of the gang flopped down exhausted and began chattering to each other. Only Dinah and Dana were still rampaging around at full speed as toddlers do. Jason laughed at the two of them wondering how they had so much energy for two toddlers so small. They suddenly dashed into the woods as Jason returned to the conversation which he soon found himself talking about his world again.

            The conversation between the group switched from Jason answering questions to Jason suddenly asking questions. Jason became inquisitive about their adventures and their homeland. In a rather jumbled sort of way, the group told Jason about all their escapades including meeting Chomper, the friendly sharptooth, and their countless journeys to what they called the 'Mysterious Beyond' which was a general name for everything that lay outside the boundaries of the Great Valley. Jason was most intrigued by the story about what they had described as 'The Stone of Cold Fire' and the strange 'Rainbow-Faced' dinosaurs that had arrived in the Valley along with the migrating dinosaurs known as 'The Farwalkers'. Jason could understand the mystery behind the strange stone they had spoken of but acted as if he didn't know anything. Somehow, telling them about meteors, the outer regions of space and supposed alien life of creatures not of this world didn't quite seem appropriate. The discussion quickly led onto how dinosaurs lived together in the Great Valley and the fear of the dreaded sharpteeth.

            Just as the conversation was getting exciting, Dana tore out of the woodlands and was squeaking and yelping at Cera so quickly, she couldn't understand a word he was saying.

"Whoa Dana!" Cera tried to slow him down, "Tell Auntie Cera what's wrong."

"Dinee no-ee no no! Danee no-ee Dinee mooshie!" Dana exclaimed in panic.

"What!" Jason cried drawing attention to himself as he leapt up to his feet.

"What's up Jason?" Littlefoot asked standing up calmly but couldn't help noticing the look of urgency on his face.

"Something's happened to Dinah," Jason shouted. He then turned back to Dana who was hopping around, "Dana, where-ee Dinee, Danee no-no moosh?" Everyone looked at Jason in awe. He was communicating with Dana in his natural baby talk. Only Ducky understood what he had said and jumped in to help with the translation of Dana next speech.

"He said that he and Dinah were playing when Dinah disappeared," Ducky translated.

"Where is she now?" Littlefoot asked now panicking. If Cera's father found out the twins were playing where they shouldn't have been, she would be in serious trouble and even worse was that one of them was missing. Dana babbled on a little more as Jason and Ducky nodded in acknowledgement.

"What'd he say?!" Cera asked in desperation not understanding what her nephew had just said. Before Ducky could get a word in, Cera's father approached the group. Cera lowered her head and swallowed hard. She was in for it now.

"What's going on here?" he bellowed, "Where's Dinah?" Before anyone could stop him, Dana leapt forward and spelled out everything as best he could in his babyish language. Cera's father reared up in anger as more adults circled the children to find out what had happened. The group moved out from the centre of the circle as the adults discussed loudly what they should do.

"What are we going to do?" Ducky cried.

"We have to find her!" Littlefoot called out taking command. He glanced at Petrie.

"Petrie. You fly around and see if you can spot her from the air."

"Me got it!" Petrie barked and took to the air as aerial surveillance.

"So what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Cera cried fearing what her father would say if they never found her.

"We'll check out this area and look for her on the ground," Jason answered. He began pointing at each of them giving them orders.

"Cera! You, Spike and Ducky check the woods over there. That's where I saw them head off to when we sat down. Me and Littlefoot will check out the far end of the meadow to see if she managed to run round us." With their plan set, the group split up and set out to find Dinah with Cera still fretting about the possible torture she'd have to go through from her father if they failed to find her.

            Diving into woods where Jason claimed to have seen the twins last, Cera, Ducky and Spike rummaged through the undergrowth, behind every bush and tree to see if perhaps Dinah was playing some sort of practical joke. No luck as Cera's anxiety built up more and more.

"Dinah!" she called hoping she'd reply which she didn't.

"Dinah! Are you here?" Ducky tried her luck to see if perhaps she'd respond to her voice. No reply. Cera began to moan.

"Where could she be? I'm gonna be in SO much trouble!"

            On the opposite side of the Green Meadow, Littlefoot and Jason searched every patch of long grass and possible place a two year old, baby threehorn could hide. Under rocks and inside hollow trees they peeked hoping that they would find her hiding there, but Dinah was nowhere to be seen. A few tense minutes later, the group reformed back where they had broken from to discover neither of them had found the baby triceratops. Cera showed signs of mourning as she lowered her head and almost started to weep when Petrie landed next to her exhausted from flying for so long. Everyone was eager to know what Petrie had discovered. He just shook his head solemnly. They all lowered their heads in failure knowing that they had lost Dinah for sure. Dana pushed up against Cera's side and rubbed his head on her sobbing quietly. Cera turned to Dana trying to comfort him and hide her own grief at the same time. All of a sudden, there was a loud cawing from overhead. Everyone looked to the sky to see Petrie's mother croaking as if to give off a signal. Petrie flew up to his mother to see what she was crowing about. As soon as he heard, he dive-bombed back down to the group to report.

"Mama find her!" he called almost quacking, "Mama find Dinah!"

"Where?!" Cera cried staring up at him as he hovered above them.

"She on Smoking Mountain!" Petrie said as he pointed at the large mountain that was overshadowing the meadow and sure enough, it was literally smoking.

"Is that an active volcano?" Jason asked as he leapt up as he saw a tiny figure in the distance approximately halfway up the mountain. The entire crowd turned to the Smoking Mountain in horror to see Dinah scaling the mountain herself with the black, sooty clouds pouring out of the mountain's summit becoming more and more thick. Jason suddenly felt something click in his head as he looked around the area. He then eyed a tree swamped with thick vines and a large piece of bark peeling off its trunk. He charged to the tree and snapped the bark off and grabbed a vine that was hanging loosely off the low canopy. The piece of bark was smooth underneath and curled up at one end. The others looked at him in amazement.

"Jason," Littlefoot called after him, "what are you doing?" Jason didn't reply but grabbed a stone and broke four, evenly spaced holes in the wood. The others looked at one another in surprise then focused back in on Jason and his peculiar piece of work. Jason then held the vine up to Spike's face.

"Spike. Bite the vine here," Jason ordered. Spike didn't need to be told twice as he chomped the vine into two between Jason's hands. Jason then threaded the two vine halves through the holes and tied them up to form two tight loops.

"Jason, what in the world are you doing?" Littlefoot asked now feeling a little embarrassed at Jason's behaviour. Jason still didn't reply but smiled sweetly with a twinkle in his eye. Taking his strange creation, he ran to the adults who were huddled and staring up at Dinah on the Smoking Mountain as the mountain began to shake violently. Jason knew what he was about do to was almost suicide but it was his big chance he'd been waiting for and he wasn't going to miss it. He'd either succeed, or die trying.

"Hey Grandpa!" he yelled up at his grandfather who looked at him with his plaque under one arm, "I'll get Dinah back!"

"No Jason you can't!" his grandfather barked gruffly, "you can't go up there. It's too dangerous!"

"But Grandpa, I can get Dinah back. I'll use my board I just made," Jason protested holding up his board as the tremors got worse.

"You can't go up there Jason. The Smoking Mountain is about to blow up. I'm sure young Dinah will come back down by herself once she sees the firewater." Jason took an educated guess that the firewater was obviously lava that would pour out of the mountaintop once it exploded.

"But it might be too late by then! And what if she can't outrun the lava flow?" Jason stared deeply into his grandfather's eyes for an understanding, "Please Grandpa! I can save her and I want the other Great Valley dinosaurs to trust me as much as you, Grandma and Littlefoot do. Please!"

His grandfather looked at Jason's expression which showed great determination not only to save the young triceratops, but to also prove his worth to the rest of the Great Valley's inhabitants. He looked at Jason's board wondering how he was going to use an old piece of bark with vines in it to save Dinah. Despite his curiosity, he realised that Jason had clearly formulated a plan which was a lot more that the group of adults had done.

"Fine…" his grandfather bowed finally. Jason leapt for joy at his grandfather's acceptance to give him the chance he'd been waiting for.

"Right…I need a lift up there and I'll use my board to get back down," Jason said as he held up his little creation for everyone to marvel at. Petrie's mother nobly volunteered to lift Jason up onto the Smoking Mountain's summit as Jason pushed his feet into the vine loops and stood up.

"Jason, wait!" Littlefoot cried as Petrie's mother hovered above him ready for take off. Jason turned and looked at him with the same sweet smile and twinkle in his eye as before.

"I'll be back Littlefoot. Don't worry! This is my big chance and I'm not going to blow it!"

With that, Jason jumped upwards and caught onto Petrie's mother's feet as she lifted him up to the summit. Littlefoot and the others could do nothing but watch as Jason dangled from his friend's mother's ankles towards what seemed like certain death. He sighed but silently wished him good luck.

            The wind approaching the summit was becoming increasing more turbulent as Jason drew closer. He glanced back at everyone in the Green Meadow as they grew smaller and smaller until their expressions of discomfort were indistinguishable. Petrie's mother jerked as the wind interfered with her flight pattern almost throwing her off. Jason looked down at the mountain side as Dinah looked back up at him. The little triceratops was dancing around with joy to see Jason as Petrie's mother lowered him down. A few feet from the ground, a mighty gust of wind blew and knocked Petrie's mother off her path. She flinched in response and instinctively lifted her feet and released Jason. Jason fell for the last few feet before landing on his board farther from Dinah than he had like to have been. Jason waved to Petrie's mother to tell her to return as he spun his board round to face downhill and slid down to Dinah. He had only been sliding for a few metres when a tremendous explosion was heard behind him. The Smoking Mountain erupted throwing thick smoke into the air. Rocks and other debris from the peak flew miles into the air as Jason crouched down to gain speed.

            Weaving between the rocks that lay on the mountainside, Jason sped down to a rather horrified Dinah who had only just noticed the lava pouring down behind Jason. Jason was approaching Dinah at high speed as he realised that he'd only get one shot at grabbing her. The moment was intensifying as the lava flowed after him getting gradually faster with the downhill motion. Jason was now within pouncing distance as Dinah leapt into Jason's arms. Jason caught her as the terrified, baby threehorn clung desperately around his neck, almost strangling him. Jason spent the next few seconds adjusting Dinah so she sat on top of his bag with her front feet fastened around his neck in such a way that she wasn't choking him. The lava was now flowing at a phenomenal speed as Jason and Dinah raced on the edge its threatening, fiery wave.

            On the ground, everyone was relieved that Petrie's mother had made it back in time as she collapsed completely worn out. Littlefoot and his friends' gaze didn't budge from the mountainside as they watched Jason tear down the Smoking Mountain kicking up a trail of dust behind him that was being quickly consumed by the lava flow. Littlefoot could feel his stomach churning with excitement but also with fear. Jason was bold he admitted but perhaps if he was being too bold, he might become careless and if that carelessness got too much then it would all be over in a split second. Cera was also pleading that Jason made it back safely. She was hoping that if he brought Dinah back, maybe she wouldn't be in as much trouble.

            Jason meandered his way back to Green Meadow where everyone was waiting. He had managed to outrun the lava as the distance between him and the raging, burning watery liquid gradually increased. Dinah had lost her fear and was quite enjoying the ride. Jason turned and smiled at her as the Great Valley border drew ever closer. In their excitement, they failed to notice a gigantic rock crash and crumble just inches from them. Jason blinked and swerved to dodge the flaming fragments that disintegrated and launched themselves into his path. Jason turned to stare up at the sky. He was horrified to see huge, flaming boulders sailing high above him as they began to rain down like blazing stars falling from the heavens. Jason tried his best to shift his body weight to evade the fiery missiles as the Great Valley's final barrier came into view. The Great Wall stretched all the way around the Valley like a natural shield that protected it from predators and dangers of the Mysterious Beyond. The hailstorm of ignited rock continued to shower down on him as he ducked with his goal only a few hundred metres ahead. He leapt off a smooth rock that made a jump in the pathway and landed heavily and twisting unsteadily. Jason felt something give way as he landed. The impact had chipped his board and the frictional force underneath was beginning to tear it to shreds. Suddenly, Jason looked up and jerked in fear as a massive ravine suddenly came into view. Jumping it looked impossible as he approached it and the gorge grew wider and wider. Jason felt a hot flush pass down his body as he gritted his teeth and charged at the gaping hole knowing that stopping would give him no chance of survival whereas tempting a death-defying leap of faith gave him at least a slight chance even if the odds were greatly disfavouring him.

"Hold on tight, Dinah!" he yelled to the young toddler who slammed her eyelids shut.

            On the ground, everyone was gasping in terror as they saw Jason disappear behind the thick row of trees on the horizon leaving them in a breath-taking suspense. The shower of flaming boulders had started to lighten up as Jason bent down to gain as much speed as possible. The friction was now breaking the board to the point it was becoming difficult to manoeuvre and one of the vines was fraying. If it took any more damage the vine would snap and Jason would be finished as he pictured himself toppling to a cruel fate either by flames or a plummet into the gorge up ahead. Still, he was determined to get back to the Great Valley in one piece remembering the promise he made to Littlefoot. The edge of the chasm was pulling up fast as splinters on the board were ripped off. Jason held is breath and Dinah clung tighter as they found themselves airborne, sailing over the great canyon. The wind dragged pass Jason's face as the board's integrity was now at the point of breaking in two. Jason felt the bark bend as they soared over the chasm. The vines had unravelled and fell into the gorge. The board then broke as Jason took one final leap just as it buckled and split in two. Then, Jason's eyes opened wide in fear. He wasn't going to make it. He had jumped too soon as he fell short of the cliff edge on the other side.

            The silence that had fallen upon the Great Valley was so petrifying that everyone seemed paralysed. Littlefoot and Cera looked up hopelessly at the mountain praying that Jason had made it. Suddenly, they heard a tremendous, blood-curdling thud that made Littlefoot jolt sickeningly. The echo rang out down into the Valley like a claustrophobic corridor as everyone gasped and then bowed their heads in defeat. Jason had obviously not made it across the ravine that they knew about but Jason had had to discover in the heat of the moment. The uneasy tension amongst the audience was released as everyone sighed crushed at Jason's brave but unsuccessful attempt to rescue little Dinah from the raging Smoking Mountain. Both of them had obviously perished in the escape. Dana wept noisily burying her head into Cera's side as she looked at Littlefoot in guilt. Littlefoot walked up to his grandparents who quickly comforted him with head rubs. As he pushed his face into his grandmother's ankle, he heard a rustling from the shrubs that bordered the woods before the Great Wall. Littlefoot looked up to see a tiny, beige triceratops child run out from the undergrowth.

"Dinah?" Cera questioned in disbelief.

"Din-ee!" Dana cried in delight as he ran to meet Dinah. They rolled over as he pounced on her playfully and giggled with glee. The crowd was amazed to find the young threehorn completely unharmed. Whilst everyone focused in on Dinah, Littlefoot looked up to see a rather battered and bruised, two-legged creature emerge from the shrubs. He was holding his left arm in pain as he trudged unsteadily over to Littlefoot. His face was black with soot as it cracked a victorious smile. Littlefoot jumped for joy as he ran to Jason barging him over in his excitement. Jason took full force of the blow which knocked him clean off his feet as Littlefoot stood on him licking his face, ignoring the bitter taste of the dirt that was there. The rest of the group followed cheering as Jason sat up managing to fend Littlefoot off him and catch the breath he had knocked out of him. The adult dinosaurs looked at the joyous sight of Jason receiving praise for his courageous rescue and highly risky escape. They circled around the group of merry children and looked down on Jason who stood up abruptly as if a drill sergeant were present. They too congratulated Jason on a fine display of courage and fortitude. Jason was overwhelmed by his publicity as Cera and her father approached him from behind the crowd. The group fell silent.

"Thank you," the gruff threehorn said almost as if he was regretting it.

"Yeah. Thanks Jason," Cera said a little more sincere. She smiled sheepishly but directed it at the ground so it was nearly impossible to see it.

"Your welcome!" Jason said simply like it had been no effort at all. The crowd then cheered Jason again. In midst his celebration, Jason turned to look at Littlefoot who just smiled pleasantly. Jason smiled back knowing that he had shown the Great Valley's inhabitants what he had hoped to achieve. With a bit of luck, this story will travel to all parts of the Valley proving that he was on their side and was prepared to face what they also had to. Jason would then be a part of the herd as a one of a kind dweller in the beautiful green land that was the Great Valley.

Chapter 14: Kindred Spirits

            Jason's rescue did not go unaccredited. As he predicted, the little audience that watched him save Dinah from the ravaging volcano spread the word and the negative rumours once circulating about him instantly turned into remarks of praise and acceptance. Littlefoot was proud that Jason had finally achieved what he had hoped to. Dinah now adored Jason for rescuing her and Cera had gotten off with a light scolding from her father. Cera was also worried that her father still wasn't impressed with Jason even after risking his own life to save his granddaughter. She explained this to Littlefoot when she saw him the next day whilst Jason was still trying to nurse his wounds and burns from the fiery hailstorm the Smoking Mountain had thrown onto him. As it turned out, Jason's attempt to leap across the gorge from his airborne board made him miss the ledge on the other side but he managed to catch a outcropping that poked out a little further down. The thud everyone thought to be Jason was in fact a boulder that had rolled into the chasm in the magma that chased him. Unfortunately, Jason sustained a few burns to his left arm as it shattered but he managed to clamber up to the top and pull himself, and Dinah, out of the gorge.

"You serious?" Littlefoot asked in partial disbelief.

"Yeah. Dad wasn't really very thankful at all," Cera replied, "He still doesn't believe Jason has a right to be here." Littlefoot glanced at Jason who was sat out of audible range, wrapping his arm in a new bandage to replace the old one he had put on last night.

"But Jason risked his…" Littlefoot started but Cera shook her head.

"Both me and the twins tried to persuade my father that Jason was a good guy but he refused to believe anything that we told him. He doesn't think Jason belongs with us and should go back to wherever he came from." Littlefoot paused to think.

"Maybe he needs a little more persuasion that everyone else," he said at the end of his ponder, "but still, Jason did put himself on the line to save Dinah he could at least be grateful for that. Well… He is a threehorn I suppose." Cera knew Littlefoot was right but she gave him an intimidating glare to make sure he didn't say anything too drastic after his last threehorn remark.

"Hey guys!" Jason said from behind making Cera and Littlefoot jump, "What's with the long faces?"

"Erm…nothing. It's nothing," Cera said quickly trying to be inconspicuous.

"You sure Cera?" Jason questioned looking at the her troubled face, "Dinah's okay isn't she?"

"Oh yeah she's fine. In fact she wanted to see you today to say thanks again."

"Again?" Jason laughed not noticing Cera's attempt to evade his questions, "she's been thanking me since yesterday."

"She's just really happy that you helped him out Jason," Littlefoot added trying to relieve the pressure off Cera. Jason laughed even more.

"I'm going to have to start hiding from that little one," he joked as he walked off towards the watering hole to refill his flask that was wedged in his back pocket of his jeans. Littlefoot looked at Jason as he walked away thinking about what Cera's father had said. How could Jason not belong in the Valley? He had already saved him and Dinah from two potentially fatal situations using methods and techniques he had learned from humans. As far as Littlefoot was concerned, Jason was a miracle worker with his great knowledge and extraordinary abilities. He can manage to bring the dead back to life (or at least that's what it sounded like from the description his friends gave him) and he saved a baby dinosaur from the wrath of a tidal wave of firewater and a barrage of flaming, flying rocks using nothing but his initiative, quick thinking and incredible agility. If that wasn't respectable enough, Littlefoot couldn't figure out what would be. Littlefoot was dreading to think what might have happened if Jason hadn't been there. What would have happened then? The outcome of both events could have been very different. Still, Cera's father was entitled to his opinion despite being an opinion that didn't seem very justified.

            Night fell upon the Great Valley as the gang separated from their shady spot under the Tall Trees at the sound of beckoning parents. On their way home, Littlefoot was unnaturally quiet as Jason loomed over him to look at the uneasy expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked softly, "you're exceptionally quiet tonight. You didn't ask very many questions as you normally do." Littlefoot sighed as his thoughts troubled him and confused his emotions. He felt angry but depressed at the same time. Jason looked at him again.

"What is it Littlefoot? Tell me, what's bothering you?"

"It's…" he began trying to hold back the anxiety that was growing inside him but it was showing in his body language and tone of voice.

"Go on…" Jason insisted, "whatever is it that's troubling you I will try to help out the best I can."

"It's about…you," Littlefoot finally forced the words out past a tight lump that had formed in his throat. He expected Jason to be shocked but to his surprise, Jason's expression did not change. He simply nodded understanding what he meant about 'him'. Jason stopped Littlefoot to talk to him but Littlefoot felt so dirty and undignified that he couldn't look Jason in the eye.

"Do you mean about what all the other dinosaurs said about me not belonging here?" Jason asked trying to lower his head down to Littlefoot's which was ducked and hung between his two forelegs. He nodded glumly.

"Listen. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. If you believe you are right and trust your instincts to the point that you're willing to place your life on it, then don't hold back. Let it out! Those guys can say what they want but I believe I fit in here because my evidence lies within you and our grandparents. You guys are prepared to accept me as one of you. I know that I'll never be a dinosaur because I am what I am now! That's irreversible. But the physical essence is not the only state of matter. There is also a spiritual side and it is this side is always flexible. The spiritual matter can be changed and manipulated as a person feels is necessary and emotions control its metamorphosis." Jason bent down and raised Littlefoot's hanging head up with a finger placed gingerly under his chin. He then stared Littlefoot directly into his eyes.

"The spirit can be changed but all it needs is a little guidance."

"But what offers that guidance?" Littlefoot asked as he felt something inside lift as if on wings.

"Emotions displayed by your heart!" Jason said standing upright, "if you let your heart guide you, you can always find your goal! So never give up and keep trying!"

"Wow," Littlefoot gasped as if he'd been recharged but silently, it made him think off something someone had once said to him a long time ago, "that was magnificent." Jason smiled.

"Thanks. A very special person said the exact same thing to me when I found times hard."

"Who was that?" Littlefoot asked eagerly. Jason flinched at his question.

"No one important," he said bluntly. Littlefoot was shocked at Jason's reply. Surely someone of great importance must have said that otherwise why would Jason remember it practically word for word? Jason suddenly became very cold and defensive.

"Who told you that Jason?" he asked again more sincere.

"I told you, no one! It's nothing to be concerned about." Jason was becoming snappy but Littlefoot knew that he was striking at a sensitive nerve somewhere inside Jason.

"Are you sure you didn't…"

"I told you it's nothing! Just drop it and mind you own business!" Jason suddenly exploded. Littlefoot stepped back. He had never seen Jason react so violently before. Littlefoot backed down feeling he had stepped too far over the line.

"I'm…I'm sorry Littlefoot…" Jason sighed, "I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that…well…" Littlefoot looked back up at Jason who spirit had diminished to nearly nothing even after his heroic speech earlier.

"It's just that my…" Jason felt his throat pull tight making it difficult for him to express himself, "my mother was the one who said that to me…"

"Your mother?" Littlefoot gasped. Jason nodded.

"My mother was an angel. I adored everything about her and she cared for me like no other. Even with a younger brother and sister she'd always express her love for me even when she was angry with me."

"It sounds like you are pretty close."

"Were…" Jason corrected him. Littlefoot stared at Jason in a slight puzzlement.

"Were? You mean…?" he began but Jason's nod was enough.

"She died seven years ago…when I was nine," Jason said as the tightness gradually pulled more, "she was protecting me from… a monster!"

"A monster?!" Littlefoot exclaimed, "and she…"

"Uh huh. She perished as I escaped. She fought with him in that dark room on the thirty-seventh floor of the Red Phoenix Lab building, but right when she came to meet me to evacuate…she was killed… Shot in the back." Littlefoot was dumbstruck at Jason's story and not understanding how his mother had been 'shot' dead. He had no idea that Jason had suffered so much in his childhood.

"She told me to be strong but I feel as though I'm always…alone."

Littlefoot felt it was his turn to share a story.

"I know how it feels…" he began lowering his head, "to feel all alone." Jason turned his head to face Littlefoot who was now sitting down next to him. He parked himself on the grass.

"You too?" he asked. Littlefoot nodded.

"My mother died protecting me from a monster as well. When I was young and we were travelling to the Great Valley, I was attacked by a sharptooth. My mother heard my cries for help and came to my rescue but when she turned her back to him after she knocked him over…" Littlefoot swallowed hard, "he pounced on her back and bit her on the neck." Littlefoot began to sniffle as the flashbacks of that day flooded his mind. Jason rolled forward to comfort Littlefoot as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"My mother also said some words to me that I'll never forget…" he continued. Jason merely blinked at Littlefoot, eagerly awaiting what wise words his mother had given to him, "she said that she'll always be…in my heart and…to let my heart guide me…" Those words had such power to them that Jason could feel himself losing control of his emotions as tears started to form in his eyes as well. For the next few moments, Littlefoot sat in Jason's arms and Jason in his feet as they recollected the most devastating moments of their lives. Tears flowed from their eyes and onto each other's shoulders. Finally Jason pulled back and wiped his face with his sleeve.

"You know what's strange about it all Littlefoot"

"What's that Jason?" Littlefoot asked rubbing his eyes.

"Despite our differences in physical appearance, our trials and hardships throughout our lives are practically the same except mine happened in the future."

"Yeah. It's almost like we're the same on the inside no matter what our differences that show on the outside."

"Exactly! We are one and the same! Like a match made in heaven!" Littlefoot and Jason danced around each other overjoyed at their newfound connection. They seemed like soul mates separated by time discovered from what initially was a very touchy and sensitive subject but the tortures they had to go through at such young ages reflected each other. Now, Littlefoot and Jason had a deeper meaning for being friends. Was it fate or destiny that had brought them together? Neither of them knew but they were perfect for each other now that their understandings of one another had reached a new level.

"I can't believe how similar we are. It's just incredible!" Jason exclaimed feeling a radiating warmth growing inside, "shame it's not exactly on a happy note though." Littlefoot then looked at Jason's neck and noticed his pendent had jumped out from under him t-shirt. With their newfound link, Littlefoot thought this was the best time to ask him about it.

"Jason? What's that around your neck? It's been there ever since you came here but I didn't know what it was."

"This?" Jason placed his hands on the gold chain and lifted his over his head. He held it in one hand and lowered it down so Littlefoot could see.

"This is my pendent. It's very special. My mother gave it to me before she…" his voice trailed off. Littlefoot was mesmerised by the red stone that appeared to be glowing.

"What's that in the middle?" he prodded the stone with his nose.

"That's a very special stone called a ruby. My mother found it and placed it in her pendent on an exploration trip to an ancient ruin. It's one of a kind since there is not another jewel like it in the whole world." He closed his hand around the red, triangular ruby and held it close to him.

"Mum said that it's supposed to contain some mystical power but only the right person can access it. But that's just a silly story of some ancient tribe that died out centuries ago. My mother was out searching the ruins when she found it."

"Strange," Littlefoot said. Jason turned and looked at him realising that his last sentence he had directed up to the night sky. He slipped his pendent back over his head and tucked the ruby down into his t-shirt.

"I have a stone that looks just like yours," Littlefoot continued once Jason had secured his stone away.

"You have a stone like mine?" Jason asked making sure he heard properly.

"Yeah. It looks the same but it's blue. It's the same shape and size."

"Where is it?"

"At home. If we hurry, I'll show you before we have to go to bed."

"Okay then!" Jason said enthusiastically as he chased after Littlefoot.

            The two of them reached home but their grandparents were nowhere to be seen. Jason followed Littlefoot to his sleeping spot as he stepped into it and circled it sniffing the ground. Finally, Littlefoot came to a halt at one end of his pit and pulled back a small row of grass and picked up his lucky stone. It shimmered its deep blue colour as Littlefoot held it in his teeth. Jason looked at it in astonishment as it sparkled in the moonlight. As Littlefoot had described, it's triangular shape looked identical to Jason's ruby except for its colour.

"I can't believe it! It is the same shape! It looks like a sapphire," Jason cried as he pulled his pendent out again and carefully slipped the ruby out of its gold frame. He placed his red ruby on top of Littlefoot's blue sapphire. Incredibly, they fitted exactly on each other without any edges sticking out. A perfect replica of his own stone except Jason's stone appeared to glow whereas Littlefoot's stone shimmered. They then looked at each other in amazement as they noticed a light emerging from the stones. It appeared to grow within the two stones and radiate combining the two special qualities they had. A sparkling blue barrier which emitted a red glow. Strangely however, inside the blue, sparkling ring, there appeared to be a bit missing as a blank hole remained. Just as they became mesmerised with the brilliant light that shone from the stones, a voice bellowed down onto them.

"What are you two up to?" Littlefoot and Jason flinched and hurried to hide the stones before the figure could see. They looked up to see their grandmother and grandfather beaming down on them.

"Grandma… Grandpa? We were just errr…." Littlefoot stuttered.

"What he's trying to say is ummm…" Jason stammered.

"Telling each other stories again boys?" their grandfather chuckled over them. Littlefoot and Jason looked at one another.

"Errmm…Yeah! We were just telling each other stories!" Littlefoot suddenly jumped in nudging Jason discreetly.

"Oh yeah! That sure was a nice story," Jason said glaring his teeth with an uneasy smile.

"Well, it's time for sleep you two! We have visitors arriving tomorrow provided they haven't had any trouble travelling."

"Visitors?" Littlefoot asked, "who?"

"You'll have to wait and see for tomorrow Littlefoot. Now, off to bed," his grandfather urged pushing him into his pit. Jason was about to hop up into his tree when he felt something clamp him around his waist and lift him up.

"Thanks Grandma," he said stroking her nose.

"Your welcome dear. Good night!" she replied giving him a head rub.

"Goodnight to you too Littlefoot," his grandfather said bowing down to rub him as well. As their grandparents wandered a little further on to settle down to sleep, Jason slipped the ruby back into his pendent and turned to face Littlefoot.

"G'night Littlefoot!" he called down from up in his tree.

"Goodnight Jason. See you in the morning!" Littlefoot replied as he lowered his head and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 15: The Restless Phantom

            After another peaceful night's sleep, Littlefoot yawned opening his mouth as wide as he could. He stood up and stretched to get his stiff joints mobile again. With a light, bubbly feeling inside, Littlefoot opened his eyes to find something wrong. He looked around him confused as he found himself in a strange place. The trees were all bent in peculiar ways and their bare branches twisted into devilish extensions that looked as though they were ready to snatch at him. The sky was eerily dark and legless reptiles slithered around the warped tree trunks as Littlefoot tried to make out some means of direction because everything looked exactly the same. Wherever he was, it definitely was not the Great Valley. Cautiously, Littlefoot began to walk towards a tree that was coiled up so much it looked threatening. Walking past the twisted tree, he weaved through a few more of the menacing, coiled trunks and found himself in the centre of a clearing. Littlefoot looked in disbelief as he saw exactly the same coiled tree he had just past. Considering it as a coincidence that the tree might have looked the same, Littlefoot carried on the same direction. After walking through more twisted trees, Littlefoot came to another clearing but was confused as it looked identical to the last clearing he had just walked through. To make matters more confusing, the same tree appeared again. Still thinking that the tree couldn't possibly the same, Littlefoot pressed on. Into next clearing, Littlefoot was now sure that something wasn't quite right. As Littlefoot pasted the twisted tree he claimed to be revisiting, he tore a piece of the twisted bark off the tree and placed it in the centre of the darkened clearing to prove to himself that it couldn't possibly be the same tree. Moving into the next clearing, Littlefoot stared open-mouthed at the twisted tree as it bore the same wound that he had inflicted on the tree he had just passed. Even more disturbing was that his next step he took towards the tree had hit something. Littlefoot lifted his foot up to find the piece of bark he had placed in the middle of the clearing was still there.

            Littlefoot's mind was now buzzing with thoughts. He was trapped in an endless, woodland labyrinth with each path through the trees looping around to where he started. Littlefoot didn't know what to do as he kicked the bark away from him almost in rage. Littlefoot then heard a crash from above him and the area around him light up with a flash. He looked up at the sky as rain began to fall and splash on him.

"Great. A storm's breaking out," Littlefoot said to himself as a flash filled the clearing and a loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead. The rain that fell was ice cold on his skin but strangely enough, the rain seemed unnaturally cold. Their impact felt like pine needles bouncing off his back and stabbed with a frozen, piercing feeling. Littlefoot began to shiver and hid under the tormenting, twisted tree that had troubled him since he woke up. The thick canopy of the warped tree branches prevent the rain from hitting the ground. Not even a single drop landed under the trees where Littlefoot stood trembling at the icy cold rain that rolled off his back. To his amazement, the water tingled on his skin from the coldness but suddenly, the tingling turned into a burning sensation as Littlefoot flinched in pain. He shook himself to fling the burning water off his body and stared at the ground. The water droplets erupted into flames as they hit the ground. Littlefoot backed further into the wood to shield himself from anymore of the strange water.

            The storm worsen and the rain clattered down in the clearing. Littlefoot stood trapped in a void with nowhere to run and the burning water flowing heavily like a broken stream in front of him showing no signs of stopping. Littlefoot was about to sit down to make himself comfortable when he heard a creak. Leaping up to his feet again, Littlefoot whirled around to find the source of the noise. The creaking grew louder as Littlefoot's eyes darted from one edge of the clearing to the other waiting from the creature to show itself. Pushing his back up against the twisted tree, Littlefoot felt something prick him just above the base of his tail. Flinching in response to the pain, Littlefoot turned to find the twisted tree had poked him from behind. Its branches were lower than before and he must have backed into them. Readjusting his gaze to the storm, Littlefoot then felt a sharp object jab him a second time. This time, it actually felt as if it was done deliberately. Littlefoot looked around slowly excepting to see a sharptooth stabbing him with a jagged claw, but still saw nothing. Just as Littlefoot was about to dismiss the impact as a figment of his imagination, a set of long, spindly fingers grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. Squirming in the creature grasp, Littlefoot looked up to see the creepy trees had come to life and were glaring at him maliciously. The dark and irregular cracks in their trunks appeared to look like faces and they cackled evilly as Littlefoot writhed to free himself.

            Littlefoot struggling wasn't proving to be successful as the evil trees laughed sinisterly at his fool-hardy attempt to break free. The storm worsened even more as the trees danced at Littlefoot's despair. Thunder cracks and lightening flashes repeated themselves echoing in the clearing with their intervals between each shortening every time. Littlefoot's writhing came to abrupt standstill as the energy in him faded forcing him to collapse in the evil trees' grasp. The trees sinister laughter grew louder as Littlefoot folded up in their scrawny fingers in exhaustion. He looked into their jagged slits for eyes and knew that he was at their mercy but still tried to find even the slightest bit of hope that he'd make it out alive.

            The storm grew even louder as lightening flicked across the dark clouds that patched over the sky. The abnormal rain continued to flow and feed the evil trees glee as Littlefoot lay suffering in their grimy hands. Suddenly, a bolt of lightening cracked across the sky and the entire clearing flashed a blinding white. Littlefoot slammed his eyes shut at the intensity of the flare and heard the trees laughter die so quickly, it was if someone had put them to sleep in an instant. As the light faded, Littlefoot opened his eyes to try and recall what had just happened when the spindly fingers of the trees suddenly gave way. Littlefoot fell and hit the ground at an awkward angle knocking the wind out of him. Gasping to retrieve the air that escaped his lungs, Littlefoot looked up to see the trees swaying dangerously. They shrieked a horrible noise as if in pain as their fingers disintegrated into dust. Littlefoot looked up at the sky as the lightening was zipping across the clouds as if possessed by a magical force. He then heard the creaking of wet wood as the trees turned to Littlefoot and glowered threateningly at him. Littlefoot gaped as their hissing and growling petrified him. Frozen in place, the trees bent down to him to snatch him up again but a second flash lit the clearing as a lightening bolt shot from the dark sky and struck the evil trees. The trees writhed with pain as Littlefoot stared astonished at them. As their pain subsided, the trees turned back to Littlefoot but a third bolt cracked inches from Littlefoot face severing their icy glares from his own petrified expression. From the bright light that was emitted from the bolt, a glowing, white figure stood up. Littlefoot gasped at the figure as its stance was exactly like Jason's. It stood on two legs and stood upright but this figure had white flowing robes and its hair was brown, long and didn't stop until it reached the centre of its back. In its right hand, the figure held a crooked tree branch and on its left hand it bore a green light that encased a white aura that swirled like a tornado.

            The trees seemed stunned at this figure's sudden appearance but their awe didn't last for long. The trees began hissing again and started to pull their roots out of the ground. The figure, which stood with its back to Littlefoot, turned to him and waved its stick over Littlefoot's head. In a calm, female voice it chanted strange words that Littlefoot couldn't understand. To Littlefoot's amazement, a large bubble surrounded him and glistened with a heavenly sparkle. The figure smiled at Littlefoot and then raised her hand to the bubble. In a bright flash, Littlefoot felt an invisible force hit the bubble and pushed him into the clearing, out of reach of the trees. Littlefoot collapsed in a heap out in the abnormal rainfall but he quickly discovered that the bubble prevented the cursed water from touching his skin. He looked up at the figure as she turned to the menacing trees which were now loomed over her. Raising her arms, she began to chant some mystic words that made the ground tremble and the storm overhead react violently. The whirling, white aura encased in the green light spun faster and grew larger until it was no longer imprisoned by the green light. The aura lifted up and engulfed the evil trees, spinning them around like twigs in a whirlwind. The chanting became louder as the sky sparked and cracked with lightening. Littlefoot lost his footing from the tremors but continued to stare at the female figure in astonishment as her powerful magic held the evil trees suspended in the air in her spiralling aura. The figure raised her stick higher and chanted to the skies. Then, falling to the ground and dragging her staff with her, lightening bolts erupted from the darkened sky and ripping straight into the eye of the whirlwind. The trees screamed in pain as the electric power crackled and sparked over them. Suddenly, with a tremendous flare, the tornado erupted in a bright, white explosion that filled the whole area. Littlefoot dived his face into his front feet to shield his eyes from the powerful light that radiated from the outburst.

            Once the bright light had gradually died, Littlefoot slowly removed his feet from his face and looked around. He was still encased in the magic bubble but there was nothing around him. All the trees and that strange, white figure had disappeared from sight. All that remained were pits in the dampened soil were the trees had uprooted themselves to attack. The storm had stopped but the dark clouds stayed in place. The silence was deathly but Littlefoot had a strange feeling that he was not alone. He scanned to the left and then to the right through his magic barrier but nothing was there. As he readjusted his view to look straight ahead, he found himself staring directly at the white robes of the female figure that had saved him. Littlefoot jumped backwards and crashed into the back of the bubble in surprise. The figure smiled warmly and raised her staff over the shield. With a gentle circling of her staff, the bubble folded and melted from around Littlefoot. In awe, Littlefoot looked around to find himself unhurt by the fiery rainwater but he felt pain in his sides where the trees had gripped him. As he hissed in response to the pain, the figure raised her staff and a green, sparkling light twinkled over Littlefoot. In an instant, his pain was relieved as if it were never there to begin with. Once the sparkling, green stars had disappeared, Littlefoot looked up at the figure.

"Thanks," he said, "I thought I was finished."

"That's quite alright," the figure smiled lovingly at him.

"Who are you?" Littlefoot then asked wondering why she had rescued him from the possessed trees.

"I am a Summoner. I fight with my staff and magic abilities to help the less fortunate. In this world of evil and destruction, I travel its winding roads to being peace wherever I come across all with one mission in mind… To find you." Littlefoot was stunned. This figure had roamed across the world just to find him.

"Y-you were looking for me?" Littlefoot couldn't help but ask as the shock of it all made him stutter. With a simple nod, she then raised her arms up high and the dark clouds parted so the hidden sun could light the clearing. The dark and murky clearing suddenly transformed into a beautiful green field filled with never-ending rows of flowers. Littlefoot smiled at the transformation and clearly knew that this 'Summoner' was not a threat to him.

"You look just like my friend Jason except he's a boy," Littlefoot then realised, "are you a human too?"

"Yes I am. An enchanted being with a troubled soul." Littlefoot looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Just as he had asked his question, the figure folded in pain clutching her abdomen.

"Are you alright?" Littlefoot leapt forward to help her up. As the figure unfolded and stood up again, she removed her hand from her stomach. Littlefoot gasped in horror to see that a gaping wound lied underneath her hand. Her beautiful, flowing, white robes were now stained in blood.

"You're hurt!" Littlefoot cried in despair, "Can't you heal yourself?" The figure smiled just as sweetly as she did before but shook her head glumly.

"Throughout my travels I have brought peace to all those who required it. All except for one person…"

"Who's that?" Littlefoot asked seriously concerned for her well being as the wound shows no signs of healing.

"…Myself." Littlefoot stared up at her in a shocked confusion.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Littlefoot then asked nervously.

"I have served all that need my help but ignored my own pain. The only person who needs peace now is me and now that I have fulfilled my task, I can rest." Littlefoot wished he had never asked as he began to fear what the figure was about to do next.

"We are destined to fight evil together Guardian, but you cannot fight a war without first shedding blood, be it the blood of an enemy or the blood of a comrade." Littlefoot was greatly stunned. She referred to him as a guardian, as all the others had, and she proclaimed to be the other chosen by destiny to fight along side him. According to the old longneck he met firstly, there were three chosen ones to fight the great battle, him being one of them. Now he had met the other two and both had rescued him from near death situations. Littlefoot's attention was then drawn to the swirling white aura inside the figure's green light on her finger.

"What is that on your hand?" he asked.

"This light is my soul. It is what gives me my power and wisdom." The figure slipped the green light off her finger and held it in her hand. Littlefoot gazed deeply into the spiral of white light and found it almost hypnotising. The figure then chanted some more strange words and the green light elevated out of her hands. It hovered in front of Littlefoot's nose as the figure stopped her chant and suddenly collapsed. Littlefoot gasped as the figure had died right in front of his eyes. Just as he approached her, the green twinkling stars began to light up all over her body. As they congregated over her, the body glowed white and disappeared from sight. The green stars that remained formed a green, sparkling stream that circled Littlefoot. Littlefoot looked around him as the stars twinkled and spun round his feet and spiralled upwards over him. Upon reaching his head, the stars shot from in front of Littlefoot's eyes and into the green light that was still hovering in front of him. To his amazement, once the last green star had entered the green orb, it spoke out to him.

"Thank you Guardian. Now we have met at last, my quest is over. Now I may rest in peace and heal my wounds." Littlefoot didn't know what to say. The orb continued.

"Please, take this stone with you. It is called the Summoner's Soul Emerald. It will help you remember your great courage and my friendship." With those as her final words, the green orb fell silent and dropped to the ground. Its light faded to reveal another triangular stone, this time green. Littlefoot picked up the emerald and looked deep into it. The same white, swirling aura that had been in the figure's light when it rested on her hand was now in the stone. As Littlefoot looked at it, he saw the whirl getting larger. It was growing at such an incredible rate that Littlefoot dropped it in fear. As the stone hit the ground, a raging tornado emerged from out of it lifting Littlefoot up off the floor. With nothing to grab onto, Littlefoot could not do anything but allow the tornado to drag him into its vicious vortex. Spinning around at high speed, Littlefoot could not tell what was happening as the area turned a brilliant white. The white tornado engulfed everything until there was nothing left and Littlefoot felt his consciousness slip away as he passed out from the enormous force that had imprisoned him.

Chapter 16: Faith of the Non-Believers

            Daylight made its first appearance to dawn a new day in the Great Valley. Littlefoot lay tossing and turning in his pit as he began acting out his dream but was brought to a sudden stop as his grandmother rubbed him gently to calm him down. Littlefoot, wearily, opened his eyes and saw the troubled gaze on his grandmother's face.

"Are you alright Littlefoot?" she asked him softly.

"Uh-huh," Littlefoot sighed as he was brought back to reality.

"Another nightmare?" his grandfather asked approaching him from behind his grandmother's lowered head. Littlefoot nodded a little saddened at the fact that his nightmares had returned after the past few nights being so peaceful. Glancing at Jason's tree, Littlefoot saw Jason lying sound sleep completely undisturbed as a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach bubbled enviously.

"Well, don't worry about it Littlefoot. Have you forgotten about what's happening today?" his grandfather was trying to remove the cold, betrayed look on Littlefoot's face as he looked up at Jason.

"Huh?" Littlefoot then said snapping out of his ice-cold glare to focus on his grandfather's face.

"Remember? We're expecting visitors this morning. One of our flyers spotted them heading this way yesterday evening but they stopped a little way back to rest for the night. They should be here before the bright circle is at its highest point," Littlefoot's grandmother reported hoping to bring him a little joy.

"Oh yeah, you told me last night didn't you?" Littlefoot chirped completely forgetting his grudge against Jason's restful sleep compared to his own.

"We must be ready for them so I suggest we all get something to eat and have a bath before we go to greet them," his grandfather smiled as Littlefoot pulled himself up out of his little pit. He then joined Littlefoot's grandmother as she walked over to Jason's tree to wake him up.

"Time to get up Jason," she said soothingly and nudged him gently. Jason groaned and rolled over.

"Mum. I don't want to go to school today…" he mumbled still asleep. The elderly couple stared at each other utterly stunned. He didn't want to go where? It was obviously a human thing.

"It's okay Jason. You don't have to go to school today," she improvised in the same soft tone.

"REALLY! You mean it!" Jason leapt round in excitement and found himself nose to nose with two rather perplexed brontosauruses. Jason glanced at them completely embarrassed and heard Littlefoot giggling below him.

"Uurrgghh, what time is it?" Jason gurgled half asleep.

"Sunrise!" Littlefoot barked happily, "Time to get up!" Jason groaned and flopped back down.

"How can you guys be so alert so early in the morning?" Jason complained. The three dinosaurs exchanged confused looks.

"C'mon sleepyhead!" Littlefoot said, "We got guests arriving today so we gotta get ready!"

"Alright, alright," Jason moaned sitting upright. He yawned and swung his legs round to step out of his bed. Littlefoot was about to follow his grandparents to their feeding spot when Jason suddenly gave a shriek followed immediately by a heavy thud. Littlefoot whirled around to see Jason rubbing the base of his spine having just fallen out of his tree.

"I'll never get used to this getting up at sunrise stuff," he sighed slowly standing up so not to cause himself anymore pain. Littlefoot sniggered at Jason and his rather rugged start to the morning. Maybe since he had had a bad night, Jason was having a bad morning to compensate.

            The treestars that morning were extra succulent thanks to the dew that had crystallised on them. Littlefoot chomped them down one after the other but Jason decided to risk tasting the fruits and berries that grew in and around the area. The trial and error process of selecting the right fruits to eat was rather messy as Jason found himself spitting out foul, bitter tasting fruit that were obviously not edible. Littlefoot was enjoying watching Jason's twisted facial expressions when he ate the nasty ones because every expression was different and more humorous than the last. With breakfast out of the way, Jason, Littlefoot and their folks to a trip down to a stream to bathe in. Littlefoot was the first to jump in and his grandparents followed much more controlled. Jason on the other hand had decided to go one further and grabbed a low hanging vine to swing across the stream. Littlefoot's head followed Jason as he swung out over the water. Suddenly, in a split second, the vine snapped and Jason was sent sprawling as the momentum of the swing continued despite the vine no longer being attached. He fell backwards into the water and a deafening slapping sound echoed in the small area as Jason hit the water's surface. Littlefoot cringed in pain hissing at Jason's heavy impact but quickly dived under to see him holding his bare back in pain. As they both surfaced, Littlefoot couldn't help but laugh at Jason's rather inelegant flight and Jason joined in, chuckling at his own misfortune.

"How bad can one morning get?" Jason thought which made him laugh harder.

            The sun gradually climbed higher into the sky as Littlefoot and Jason stood with their grandparents awaiting their guests to arrive along with a few other eagerly awaiting herds.  Jason felt the same nerves that buzzed in him when he first met his grandparents were once again making him uneasy. Cera bounded over to them closely followed by Spike who was carrying Ducky and Petrie on his back. Littlefoot instantly started talking about his new dream when flyers swooped in announcing the herd's arrival into the Valley. All eyes were drawn to the incoming longneck herd that Littlefoot thought were strangely familiar for some reason. Littlefoot's grandfather was the first to greet them as they approached but Littlefoot couldn't help but wonder what was so familiar about this herd.

"Hey. Do you notice anything weird about this herd you guys?" Littlefoot turned to his friends.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, something does seem vaguely familiar about them," Cera then said having had it brought to her attention.

"Look at the leader!" Ducky pointed at the old longneck that had a peculiar folded scar on one side of her face. Littlefoot's jaw nearly hit the floor as if something hit him smack in the face.

"It can't be!" Littlefoot gasped.

"It is!" Petrie reassured him leaping up and down on Spike's back. Just to confirm his statement, a young, female longneck poked her head out from behind one of the adult longneck's massive leg.

"ALI!!!" all five of them called together and charged forward to welcome her.

"Hello everyone!" Ali replied happy to see them all.

"How have you been?" Littlefoot jumped in, overjoyed to see his migrating friend again.

"Okay, I guess. We've been wandering around for quite a long time but we recognised the mountains that overshadowed your Valley on the horizon so we decided to drop by."

Everyone was excited to see Ali again that Jason had been forgotten.

"It so good to see you again!" Petrie chirped hopping down from Spike's back.

"We have so much to tell you!" Littlefoot barked. Then he suddenly remembered about Jason. "Oh, Ali! I want you to meet…" Littlefoot turned to introduce Jason but he had vanished. Littlefoot sighed.

"Where'd he go now?" Cera snorted a little offended by his disappearance.

"Where did who go?" Ali asked following everyone's backward glance to the spot where they had been standing.

"We have a new friend. Well, he's kind of a friend but he's a bit weird and…" Cera reported but Littlefoot cleared his throat audibly for her to stop.

"Don't listen to Cera," Littlefoot urged, "he's fine. He's really nice but a little shy."

"What is he then? Another longneck? A flyer? Or maybe a threehorn?" Ali guessed. The group shuffled a little uneasy unsure on what to tell her.

"He's a…" Littlefoot began but found he couldn't finish.

"He's a what?" Ali asked. She giggled at first think that perhaps they had befriended an egg-stealer or a skull-basher or perhaps something even stranger.

"Well he… he stand on two legs," Petrie began standing up as straight as he could.

"Yes and has hands like me," Ducky added quickly.

"Yeah, he didn't eat treestars until now but we help him to and he's weird because he doesn't have a tail…" Cera added as promptly as Ducky had. Ali was completely confused. What kind of a dinosaur never used to eat treestars, has hands and stands like a swimmer but has no tail?

"Is your friend some kind of strange sharptooth or something?" Ali asked backing up a little.

"Oh no, no!" Littlefoot cried, "He's not a sharptooth but um…"

"Then what kind of dinosaur is he?"

"Well… that's the thing…" Littlefoot said slowly, "He's…not….a dinosaur…" He waited to see what Ali's reaction would be. Her face was scrunched up in disbelief.

"He's not a dinosaur! How can your friend NOT be a dinosaur? Then what is he then?" Ali sounded angry because she felt her friends were playing her for a fool.

"He's a…" Littlefoot began but then he looked past Ali and noticed the strange creature they had tried to describe standing behind his grandfather's leg as he was talking to the herd's leader.

"Jason!" Littlefoot called out to him. He watched Jason's head zip back behind his grandfather's leg in response. Ali turned to see if she could see what Littlefoot had just called out to.

"Jason? Is that his name?" Everyone nodded. Littlefoot on the other hand was strolling over to Jason's hiding place to bring him out.

"Jason! What are you doing?" Littlefoot barked at him, "C'mon! Come and meet my friend."

"I…I don't think that's just a hot idea," Jason stammered, "I mean, what if your friend freaks out and runs away or something…?"

"She won't now come on!" Littlefoot insisted. He then grabbed the rim of Jason's dragon hooded jumper and began pulling him out into the open.

"Hey!" Jason said trying to resist, "Cut it out! Quit pulling me!"

"You gotta meet her," Littlefoot said through his teeth. He dug his heels deeper into the ground to gain more traction.

"Knock it off Littlefoot! I'm not kidding! You'll rip my hoodie!" Jason protested. All of a sudden, Littlefoot stepped on a stone and he lost his balance. In his fall, he let go of Jason's jumper making him tumble out from behind his grandfather's leg in the opposite direction.

"What's going on? Are you alright?" Ali had trotted over to Littlefoot to see what he was tugging at. As Jason got up and brushed himself down, he looked up to see Ali's astonished face staring directly at him. Ali was completely stunned because Jason was exactly how Littlefoot and the others had described him. No tail, standing upright and had hands like a swimmer except he bore an extra finger on each hand.

"Ali, this is Jason," Littlefoot puffed as he stood up, "he's our new friend."

Ali couldn't take her eyes off him as Jason waved nervously realising that yet another introduction had gone totally pear-shaped.

"Hi! You must be Ali," Jason said at last with a nervous, croaky voice. Ali was still stunned beyond expression but she managed to find her voice and tried to hide her astonishment.

"Hi. You must be the new friend."

"His name is Jason," Littlefoot butted in as the tension between the two of them soared.

"Is it true?" Ali then asked nervously expecting him to pounce on her.

"Is what true?" Jason asked but read her question from the expression on her face, "You mean is it true that I'm not a dinosaur?" Ali was shocked as he knew exactly what she had wanted to say.

"Yeah…how did you know I was going to say that?"

"Well, I could read it from the sheer look of horror on your face that that was liable to be your next question." Ali was still shocked but was strangely impressed.

"If you must know, then I'm a human."

"A creature from the future!" Ducky announced standing up tall on Spike's back pointing a finger up to the sky.

"Really?" Ali asked. Jason sighed as he felt the same questions that everyone else had asked about his existence about to pour out of Ali's mouth like a fast-flowing river. As the conversion wore on, Jason suddenly found himself talking to a much wider audience once the old leader had finished talking to his grandfather. Everyone was amazed at Jason as he found himself taking centre stage and preaching about life after the dinosaur era once again.

            The audience gradually broke up as the migrating herd, wandered in search of food whilst Littlefoot and the others sat down to tell Jason about how they met Ali some time ago and how they had travelled to the Land of Mists to retrieve a rare flower to cure Littlefoot's grandfather's illness.

"Wow! You mean to say that you help save Grandpa?" Jason boasted amazed. Ali nodded shyly. "I've only met you a little while and already I'm grateful to you." Everyone giggled as Ali blushed at Jason's compliment. To his amazement, Jason found that he was finding Ali very easy to get along with although she never really spoke directly to him. She always worded her questions in such a way that one of the others would answer rather than talking to Jason face-to-face. Jason dismissed this as first greeting nerves but he felt he had already overcome his. The others were a little concerned that Ali never faced Jason or constantly spoke to them rather than to him. They thought she was showing Jason the same uncertainty feelings she had had about them when she first arrived in the Great Valley. She related directly to Littlefoot but found it difficult to confront the others. Jason was now feeling a little downcast because of the way Ali was acting towards him. After a while of sitting in silence, Jason felt out of place and stood up to leave the group.

"Jason? Where you going?" Littlefoot called after him.

"It's okay," he sighed, "I can understand why Ali doesn't wish to talk to me. It's all right, you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later." Everyone looked at everyone else except Ali who was staring at the ground feeling a bit ashamed. She didn't mean to belittle Jason but that was always her initial thought of a creature that wasn't a longneck, let alone a creature that wasn't even a dinosaur. Littlefoot looked up at his fostered brother and wanted to say something but felt that he would be rejecting Ali if he did.

            The tense silence of the group was broken but the two, baby quadrupeds darting into the centre of their little circle. They were all jittery with excitement but their voices were squeaky with fear.

"Cerie! Grampee Threebe!" Dinah cried.

"Grampee Threebe no-ie no, no!" Dana squeaked.

"Slow down! I can't understand you when you talk so fast," Cera pleaded with them.

"Who are they?" Ali asked standing up.

"Dinah and Dana," Ducky replied, "they are Cera's niece and nephew."

"What's wrong twins?" Littlefoot asked as they bounced up and down.

"Grampee Threebe! He go-go bye-bye!" Dinah and Dana cried together.

"What'd they say Ducky?" Petrie turned to the little saurolophus for a translation.

"It is hard for me to understand them when they talk so fast, it is!" Ducky complained.

"Jason! Come quick! We need you!" Littlefoot wailed at the top of his voice. Ali looked at Littlefoot almost in disgust.

"What could HE possibly do?" Ali protested.

"He can understand their baby talk," Littlefoot replied ignoring the emphasis on the 'he' part of Ali's sentence. Jason came jogging back to the group.

"What's up?" he called sensing the urgency from within the crowd. Dinah and Dana babbled their sentences so fast they didn't even sound like they were speaking words.

"Whoa twins! Take it easy! What's the problem?" The twins were becoming agitated from repeating their sentences but they said it again as clearly as they could manage.

"Uh oh!!!" Jason suddenly jumped up in fear.

"What did they say?" Cera cried desperately understanding that there was something wrong with her father.

"Your dad's sick. He's lying in the field but he can't stand up." Cera gasped in horror.

"Twins. Take me to Grandpa Threehorn," Cera ordered. The two, young toddlers didn't need to be told twice as they zipped off in the direction of Cera's father.

            When they reached the field, a massive crowd, including members of Ali's migrating herd, were circled around Cera's father as he lay on one side and groaned in pain. Those looking over him shook their heads in pity having failed to find the cause of his discomfort.

"Daddy!" Cera cried cutting through the crowd. Littlefoot, Jason, Ali, Petrie, Ducky and Spike stood on the inside of the circle allowing Cera to run on ahead.

"C-Cera…" the threehorn sighed.

"Daddy! What's wrong?" Cera was almost in tears.

"My stomach is burning… It's…it's…so painful…" he cried and let out another yelp of pain.

"Daddy! Don't leave me!" Cera said desperately shaking him with her nose horn.

"Oh! What are we going to do?" Ducky sighed.

"I don't know! Cera's dad looks really ill," Littlefoot said. He turned to Ali on his left hand side. She returned the glance but remained silent. "Oh, Jason! What can we do?… Jason?" Littlefoot search around for Jason but he had disappeared again.

"He over there!" Petrie pointed him out over by Cera but behind her father. He was rummaging through the plants looking for something. Jason scanned the plant life in search of something. Failing to find it, he turned to Cera.

"Cera. What has your dad eaten recently?" Jason asked her sternly.

"Daddy? What were you eating?" she asked her father. He dragged his head across the floor and pointed out a red plant with a distinct yellowy orange flower with his horn. Jason examined the plant closer as the rest of the group approached. Jason picked up the plant carefully between two fingers and showed it Cera's father.

"Is this the plant Mr. Threehorn?" Jason asked. He nodded slowly and groaned. Jason acknowledged and began to run towards home.

"Jason? Where are you going?" Littlefoot called after him.

"To get my bag! Watch over him until I get back!"

            A few minutes later, Jason returned with his brown bag on his back. The crowd began to chatter wondering what the young human was about to do. Jason dived into his bag and pulled out a white, pocket-sized book. He began flicking through the pages.

"What's that thing?" Petrie asked.

"It's my mother's book on botany. It tells you about the properties of different plants," Jason replied placing his finger on a page and began scrolling down it.

"Here it is!" he said finally as he began reading the caption underneath the illustration of the plant that lay beside him. "The Ember Flower. A plant with a distinct red colouration of the leaves and a yellow/orange flower whose colour is dependent on the season. This prehistoric plant has been discovered as spores in amber dating back to the early Triassic period. The underside of the red leaves have tiny barbs that are tipped with a poison that stimulates the nervous system to perceive a burning sensation on the point of contact. Although contact with this plant is not dangerous, the barbs can be toxic if ingested but increasing the acidity of gastric juices to the point were the digestive track becomes inflamed and damaged resulting in..." His voice trailed off.

"What's all that mean?" Cera cried not understanding a word Jason had just read.

"It means that this flower has poisoned your dad to the point where if he doesn't receive treatment, he'll…" Jason couldn't say the last word of his sentence but he felt the situation was hopeless. Cera wept over her father as he became less and less responsive to calls to keep him aroused. Jason looked at Cera and the twins as they cried over Mr. Threehorn. Jason couldn't stand the thought of Cera, Dinah and Dana becoming orphans, so he referred back to his book and looked at the footnote. He gasped in surprise.

"That's it!" Jason yelled. The entire crowd glared at Jason responding to his triumphant outcry.

"What it?" Petrie cawed from overhead landing next to him so he could see the book.

"It says that the toxins can be cured by another herb!"

"What?" Cera leapt up with tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Grandpa! I need a blue herb! Is there one nearby?" Jason called up to his grandfather showing him the picture of a blue leafed plant.

"Why yes! It's on the edge of the Grazing Pasture," he replied.

"Great! Littlefoot, can you and the others head there and grab as many of those blue herbs as you can! We're gonna need quite a lot!"

"You mean the really bitter tasting ones?" Littlefoot asked making sure he had the right ones in mind.

"Yeah! I'd imagine they'd taste really nasty. Go get as many as you can but try not to crush them. I'll need them whole."

"Okay!" Littlefoot nodded and sprinted towards the Grazing Pasture.

"Wait for us!" Ducky called after Littlefoot.

"I'm coming too!" Cera cried as she followed.

"Hurry guys!" Jason whispered gently as he watched Dinah and Dana snuggled up to their sick grandfather.

            Huffing and puffing, Littlefoot and his friends tore through the fields to reach the Grazing Pasture. The pasture was mainly used by spiketail herds and visitors to the Valley and it was home to some of the rarest plants to ever exist. Littlefoot skidded to a halt as he reached the furthest edge of the pasture. He could already smell the bitter scent of the herbs Jason needed for the cure. As the others caught up with him, they searched high and low. Strangely, whenever they weren't looking for the blue herbs they seemed to be everywhere but now they needed them, they appeared to have vanished into thin air.

"Over here! Spike finded them!" Ducky called as Spike's keen nose for plants led him right to them. Dashing over to where Ducky was waving, Littlefoot began ripping up as many of the herbs as he could trying his best not to soak them with saliva. Ali stood beside Littlefoot but wasn't helping to dig up the herbs that were embedded deep into the soil.

"Littlefoot? Why are you helping him?" Ali asked.

"Huh?" Littlefoot dropped the herbs he had gather in his mouth onto the floor. He was dumbstruck at Ali's question. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…I mean, he's not even a dinosaur! How can you trust him? How do you know he's not going to turn on you once your back's turned?"

"He's my friend! He'd never do a thing like that!"

"Yeah, but. How do you know though? What if he's a sharptooth but never told you?" Littlefoot paused as Ali's expression made him think of something he hadn't before. Could Jason possibly be a new breed of sharptooth? Maybe he only befriended him and the others just so that he could lead a pack of vicious sharpteeth to their Valley to feast on everyone. Littlefoot then shook his head in disbelief.

"No! Jason would never turn on us. He's no sharptooth, he's much better than that! He saved me from drowning once and from a pack of egg-stealers. He also rescued Dinah from the Smoking Mountain. How could you say that Jason would turn on us after all the good things he has done?"

Ali fell silent at Littlefoot's rage. She still couldn't place her trust in him for some reason even though she wanted to for Littlefoot's sake; she just couldn't. Littlefoot lost his rage in Ali's eyes that were large and glistening.

"Look, you just have to trust him. He knows what he's doing. Maybe if he'd saved you then you'd understand." Ali lowered her head which made Littlefoot feel guilty for shouting at her.

"Hey you two! This is no time for that! Hurry up!" Cera barked.

"I'm just worried that he's going to hurt you Littlefoot….that's all…" Ali whispered.

"I know Ali, but you just have to believe. Have a little faith…" Littlefoot reiterated what Jason had said to him a few nights ago when he was down.

            With a large bundle of blue herbs each, all six dinosaurs trotted as fast as they could back to the field where Jason and Cera's father waited. Jason was relieved to see Littlefoot and the others come charging at him with such a large portion of herbs each.

"We back!" Petrie cawed dropping the herbs into Jason's lap.

"Are we too late?" Cera cried as she raced to be by her father's side. He was now asleep.

"No, no! There's still time," Jason comforted her, "but the poison is beginning to take a serious effect. We have to hurry!" Consulting his book, Jason snapped the thick stems of the herbs and poured the blue sap into his drinking flask. The others helped by breaking the stems for Jason whilst he poured the gooey sap into his bottle one by one. Littlefoot gagged and choked as he accidentally snapped a stem and sucked the broken end.

"Uuucck! They taste awful!" he said spitting the herb's viscous liquid out of his mouth.

"I know. It's called an Alkali Litmus Herb," Jason said as he continued to pour the sap into his flask. "Its sap has the ability to neutralise the acid of the Ember Flower and cure the poison emitted from the barbs."

"You think it will work Jason?" Ducky asked a little uncertain about the outcome. Jason didn't answer immediately.

"Who knows Ducky, but we have no choice," he replied glumly.

            Once he filled his flask full of the herb's sap, Jason took one more leaf and prised open Cera's father's mouth. He rubbed a spare blue leaf inside his mouth to help neutralise the poisonous barbs that may have gotten stuck in his mouth and on his tongue. He began talking softly to Cera's father unsure whether he could hear him or not.

"Mr. Threehorn? I'm going to give you this potion. It's gonna taste a little bitter but it should help cure the poison." Cera's father didn't response so Jason walked around to his mouth and poured the blue potion down his throat since he was unsure that he would be able to swallow it himself. Once the last drop hit his tongue, Jason withdrew from Cera's father's mouth and stood up.

"That's the last of it…" Jason said, "All we can do now is wait." The silence that had fallen upon the crowd was agonising. No one uttered a word or make a sound whilst everyone waited for Cera's father to give a response to the medicine. Every second seemed like an hour as the giant triceratops remained motionless. Jason sighed knowing that the medicine should have taken effect by now. He felt defeated as Cera's brave yet desperate expression grew more and more distressed. She was gradually giving up hope. Cera laid her head on her father and wept knowing the medicine hadn't worked. Everyone sighed overwhelmed by the loss. Jason felt disgusted with himself for allowing Cera's father to slip away at his hand. He walked over to Cera who looked at him through tear-stained eyes.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered barely audible for Cera to hear. Cera turned away from him.

"Just leave me alone…" she sobbed. Jason turned back and walked slowly back to his bag that lay at Spike's feet. He threw the bag onto his shoulder and glanced up at Littlefoot. Littlefoot returned his gaze but couldn't say anything. Everyone watched Jason walk out of the crowd and through the trees to reach the next field. Ali looked at Littlefoot but he didn't turn to her. What had started out to be a day of celebration due to Ali's arrival turned out to be a day of grief.

            Jason sat on the large rock he always past to get home and cursed himself.

"How could the morning get any worse," he reminded himself of his statement he had thought earlier, "I'm such damn failure! Why do I even bother to exist? Poor Cera. She's gonna end up an orphan…all because of me!" Jason thumped the rock with his fist in anger. Jason's mind tormented him with images of his friends hating him for his failed attempt. Littlefoot turning against him and loathing the sight of him. Everyone disgusted with the dirty creature that took an innocent leaf-eater's life. Jason just wanted to cry but felt that it wouldn't solve anything. Just as the thoughts made him want to die right then and there, Jason turned and saw Littlefoot bounding up to him.

"Jason! Here you are," he puffed, "you gotta come back to the field! Something's happened!"

"What. Don't tell me Cera's taken her own life!" Jason screamed making himself feel even lower.

"NO! Don't be ridiculous!" Littlefoot scolded, "Come on! You got to come see!"

Littlefoot gave a sharp tug on his jumper making Jason hop down from off his rock. Jason followed Littlefoot back through the woods to the field where Cera's father lay. To his amazement, Jason was greeted with shouts and cheers of praise. Completely dumbstruck, Jason wandered into the centre of the circle only to have Cera tackle him to the ground.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Cera cried overwhelmed.

"What?" Jason was still confused as he hopped up to his feet partially winded.

"You save Cera's dad Jason. Yep, yep, yep! You did!" Ducky quacked from Spike's back.

"I did what!" Jason still couldn't believe what he was hearing but his confusion melted away as he saw Cera's father standing tall, on all fours, fit and healthy as he was before he had touched the Ember Flowers.

"Mr. Threehorn! You're alright!" Jason yelled in disbelief.

"And it's all thanks to you Jason," his grandmother said in his ear congratulating him.

"Jason, I was wrong about you. You truly do belong here! Thank you for curing me of that nasty plant." With a shy smile and rubbing the back of his head, Jason said his simple catchphrase he always said,

"You're welcome!"

            The field was overjoyed that Jason's medicine had worked despite the unbearable tension that led up to Mr. Threehorn's miraculous recovery. The leader of Ali's herd bent down to congratulate Jason and also asked how he knew how to treat the poison.

"It's quite simple really. The sap from the Alkali Litmus Herb consists of elements that can counteract those present in the acidic poison of the Ember Flower's barbs. A natural indigestion tablet I suppose," Jason sniggered but forgot that none of them will know what an indigestion tablet would be. As the cheers continued, Jason glanced back at Littlefoot who was beaming at him. Smiling back he then turn to Ali who offered a shy smile. It wasn't an applause but it was good enough for Jason to accept as a gesture of a job well done.