Jason had been with Littlefoot for nearly two weeks now and life in the Great Valley had definitely been eventful. Within those first couple of weeks, he discovered that the dinosaurs were not just dumb, gigantic lizards that just shifted from one place to another as he had read about in textbooks, but they were very sociable, intelligent creatures that enjoyed the peaceful surroundings that they inhabited governed by the simplest of laws. Well, the herbivores did anyway. In some ways, Jason was amazed at how very much like humans the dinosaurs were in their understanding of right and wrong, the ability to communicate verbally and their interpretations of the world they lived in such as "sky-water" referring to rain, "sharpteeth" being the carnivorous predators and even the groupings of different breeds such as "longnecks", "threehorns" and "spiketails". Still, Jason almost envied them for their simple ways of living compared to the seemingly overcomplicated rules that the human race had decided to choose. The social interactions between the different herds seemed to completely disprove the scribble in his history books describing dinosaurs to travel solely in herds of their own kind. Well, it was more of a half-truth than a complete and utter lie since the dinosaurs did tend to mingle with other dinosaurs of their own breed but the Great Valley itself operated as one big community that Jason found both intriguing and enlightening. Still, nothing baffled him more than Littlefoot and his friends shattering this concept completely since they saw past their physical characteristics as different species and joked and played together as if they were all the same.
Ali's herd had decided to stay in the Valley for a time since their current pathway, to the area known as "The High Hills", was severed by a tremendous earthquake that smashed a couple of surrounding mountains causing massive rock slides. Despite feeling sorry for Ali's unfortunate delay of her herd's migration, Littlefoot was pleased that she was staying for a while until her leader could formulate an alternative route to reach their destination. Jason, however, did not feel as obliged as Littlefoot and the others. He could understand Ali's sheepishness towards him for being a new face but what he couldn't quite grasp was why she was either constantly ignoring him when he spoke or just generally gave him the cold shoulder. In response to this, Jason felt irritable and left out and to make matters worse, Littlefoot didn't seem to notice since he was swallowed up in the excitement of his wandering friend returning after what he described as an eternity. Everyday, since her arrival, Littlefoot was up, more bouncier than normal, to rush all his morning tasks of eating and bathing to meet Ali down by a small stream where her herd had decided to settle temporarily. Some mornings, Jason found Littlefoot's bed empty and cold as if he never slept in it at all. The only ones to wake him up were his smiling grandparents minus Littlefoot who would have departed, rather hastily, some time before. Eating breakfast alone was depressing as the one who had inspired Jason to try the Great Valley's local delicacy, the treestars, was not around to see him chew them, usually quite comically, and then joke about it all as they would normally. Somehow, Jason felt he was losing Littlefoot to Ali more and more each morning as he saw less and less of him everyday as a gripping feeling in the pit of his stomach slowed his pace to the playing field where everyone else were bumping and bashing each other over and laughing hysterically.
"Hey Jason. What took you so long?" Littlefoot chirped merrily having just tripped over Spike. Jason was in a world of his own as he dreamily stared as the ground with his hands tucked deep into his jean pockets.
"Jason? You all right?" Littlefoot asked standing up after kicking Spike off him.
"Huh? Oh yeah…yeah. I'm fine," Jason mumbled into his chest but Littlefoot was not convinced.
"What's wrong?" He ducked his head low to look up at Jason, trying to meet his hidden, brown eyes that were aimed somewhere between his feet and Littlefoot's.
"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it," Jason said forcing a smile.
"C'mon Littlefoot!" Cera called from across the field. She didn't refer to Jason at all which meant that either he was ignoring him or she simply hadn't seen him.
"It is girls versus boys this time!" Ducky shouted with her hands cupped over her mouth to throw her tiny voice as far as possible.
"Be right there!" he returned. Before leaving, Littlefoot turned to Jason's saddened, melancholic expression which quickly transformed into the forced smirk again as soon as Jason realised he was looking at him.
"Wanna play?" Littlefoot nodded in the direction of the others who were becoming increasingly impatient.
"Nah. Rather not. You go on ahead," Jason replied. Littlefoot sighed defeated.
"LITTLEFOOT!" the crowd behind cried.
"Okay! I'm coming!" Littlefoot hollered back a little irritated. As he trotted back to join the friendly fray that had just broken out between Cera, Ducky, Ali, Petrie and Spike, Littlefoot gave Jason one last "you-sure-you-don't-wanna-play?" type glance but Jason shook his head. Instead, he slipped under a shady tree as a spectator but he quickly found himself yawning quite loudly. Before long, his eyelids became heavy and he slipped into a silent slumber.
"Jason…Jason…" a voice called making Jason open his eyes slowly. To his surprise, he was standing in a narrow corridor that stretched down so far that it didn't appear to have an end. The walls bore no windows but an infinite supply of red doors, spaced evenly apart, littered the corridor each with another red door directly opposite. A thin stream of fluorescent, halogen lights on the ceiling stretched down the endless marble corridor illuminating everything to the extent that the bright walls where almost blinding. Shielding his eyes from the glare, Jason looked down the narrow hallway to the glowing light at the other end.
"Jason…" the sweet, heavenly tone voice echoed down the hall again.
"Wh…who's there?" Jason called back, his voice quivering. The gleaming light made everything so uniformed that nothing stood out.
"Jason…" the voice continued to echo.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Jason replied but the voice ignored his questions and continued to chant his name in exactly the same, non-threatening tone without emphasising a single syllable. It was difficult to place where the voice was emanating from because the sound reverberated of the marble, tiled walls multiple times before reaching Jason's ears. The path behind looked equally as long as the one in front of him and the voice wasn't giving away any hints either. Jason took a deep breath and gingerly placed an apprehensive foot in front as if something were meant to happen having he'd stepped the wrong way. To his relief, nothing happened and he slowly lengthened his strides to a normal walking pace. His trainers clapped noisily against the marble floor that swirled with varieties of earthly colours. One by one, the red doors either side of him slid past, each one looking identical in size, colour and all had the same circular, brass door handles. Even though all of them looked alike, the one thing that made every single door different was the solid, gold symbols that each of them had hanging about two or three inches from the white, wooden doorframes that kept the doors in place. Every symbol was different and none of them seemed to be even remotely linked to any humane constructed alphabet Jason had ever seen. Looking at them as he strolled past, Jason could not decipher them but couldn't help but wonder what secrets laid beyond them the sealed doors.
In an instant, the ghostly voice stopped calling his name forcing Jason to freeze stone dead in his tracks. The silence made the corridor eerie and claustrophobic. Jason pricked his ears up to amplify any source of noise but the only thing he could hear was the blood throbbing at his temples. The heavenly toned voice he had heard before suddenly exploded and hissed almost serpent-like.
"JJAAAASSSSSSSSSSSOOOOONNNN!" Jason ducked at the sound as if a projectile had been launched at him from the other end of the corridor. The area fell silent again as Jason slowly rose to stand upright. He looked around to see if anything might have materialise in front of him but the corridor remained as bare and forsaken as it had before. Just as he was about to take another step forward, the voice hissed his name again. Jason stood firmly rooted in his position waiting for something to pounce. Nothing came forward. Then, the ground gave a horrible jolt like a wave had rippled the marble floor. Jason jerked up and down with the tidal motion as it hit him from behind. Turning to look where the tremor had come from, Jason gaped as a loud, collapsing sound echoed from the far end of the corridor. The tiled floor was quickly disappearing as it rapidly approaching Jason like a long row of trapdoors falling open. In a panic, Jason turned and fled down the corridor which still had its ground intact. The trapdoor type floor seemed to be accelerating as Jason tried to scramble away from the black pits the plummeting tiles left in their departure. The red doors zipped past as Jason sprinted past them unaware that the ancient, gold symbols were glowing an evil, blue colour. The corridor still appeared to have no end as Jason could feel his muscles slowly giving in to fatigue but the floor was drawing ever closer relentlessly. As he was about to give in, the collapsing sound came to an abrupt halt, as if the floor had read his mind that he had to stop. Bent over with his hands on his knees, Jason stood panting as he glanced back up the corridor to look as the destroyed flooring behind him that left nothing but a bottomless pit as an ultimate fate. Standing up and still breathless, Jason noticed the blue, glowing symbols on the doors. The curved, gold, archaic letters were lost in the malevolently, pulsating light. Jason, nervously, raised his hand up to the symbol but before he could touch it, it flashed and ignited with an unnatural blue and white flame with the ancient, golden symbol now glowing white hot at the centre of the licking flame. Jason snatched his hand away from the fiery letter as he watched all the other symbols on the doors ignite in the same way. Jason was completely perplexed. Was the hallway bewitched by some sort of bizarre black magic?
Just as Jason tried to think of a logical explanation, the red door in front of him shook violently. Jason took a step back away from the door as it shook again. Someone was behind the door…or something… The banging and shaking became more frequent as if the thing behind the door was getting stronger. The doorframe began to splinter as the force of the knockings increased. Jason couldn't decide whether to run or not as the door was smashed open, flinging it into his face and knocking him to the floor with a mighty clap. As his blurred vision cleared up, a seven-foot creature leapt out from the darken doorway. Jason stared up at the human-like creature horrified to see its grey, boil-infested face glaring darkly over him with white, pupil-less eyes and dribbling saliva over its tattered, blood-stained rags. Its outstretched arms, aimed at Jason's head, were hideously thin with rotting flesh peeling of the dirty hay coloured bones. The zombie creature glowered at Jason and hissed, spraying its saliva everywhere. Still floored, Jason crawled backwards unable to break his terrified gaze from the zombie's icy, soulless stare as it shuffled unsteadily towards him. Jason bumped backwards into the door opposite now realising he had nowhere to go. His throat felt dry as he swallowed hard continuing to watch the zombie slowly descend upon him. With the zombie now at his feet, Jason felt the door behind him take a thump. The zombie stopped in response to the sound that rang down the corridor and gazed up at the door. Before he could move, Jason felt the door fly open, pushing him aside in its flight as a lizard-type mutant leapt out from the darkness. It stood on its hind legs with a hunched back but its body was covered in scales that looked like they belonged to either a snake or a dinosaur but the way it looked, it seemed to resemble a velociraptor. Most worrying feature of all where the grossly elongated claws on the end of every finger and toe that appeared to be artificially added rather than naturally developed. Jason watched the raptor-looking creature jump up and slash as the zombie, severing its head from the rest of its body in one swift slice. The decapitated zombie fell in a heap at Jason's feet as the mutant let out a blood-curdling roar of triumph.
Shaking with fear, Jason wasted no time in jumping to his feet and ran, full speed, down the corridor in a desperate bid to escape. The mutant turned and followed Jason's path down the hall and quickly gave chase. Not daring to look back, Jason continued to flee down the corridor as more of the red doors burst open and more mutants trudged out from their dark prisons. Jason's attempt to out run the creatures came to a sudden stop as the doors in front of him began to release more zombies and other grotesque creatures that now stood blocking his path. The decaying flesh of the zombies and raptors lingered in the air as they closed in on him from both sides. Fighting them would be impossible and chances of escape were even slimmer as they began to pile on top of him. Jason shrank into a tight ball and buried his head in his arms awaiting the creatures to sink their teeth and claws into his flesh. Strangely enough, the mutants paused over him in response to a tremendous shudder that shook the entire corridor. The raptors and other creatures squealed as if in pain and the zombies stared gormlessly around. Jason lowered his arms hesitantly and looked up at the mutants who seemed to have forgotten that he was there. A second thunderous rumble shook the corridor forcing the raptors to flee in both directions. The zombies stood staring at the white walls trying to find what was causing the noise but the tight circle remained around Jason preventing any means of escape. The third rumble quickly followed the second and a fourth followed as promptly as the last. The sounds emitted gave the impression that something very big was running as the intervals between the bangs were shortening. Before Jason could concentrate, a loud, deafening noise echoed down the hall as if to mimic a train's whistle. The thunderous booming grew louder and a blinding white light filled the corridor, engulfing every single organism and Jason, who tried to shield his eyes screaming. Suddenly from the light, something called his name.
"Jason!"
"Arrrrrraaaaaggghhhhhh!" he screamed and lurched up. His eyes snapped open and there was a green flash. Jason's head hit something solid with such an impact that tiny stars appeared before his eyes.
"Jason…You okay?" a familiar, croaky voice asked. Jason blinked a few times to try and rid his head of the daze and bring him back to reality. He held his throbbing head as the pain seared through it.
"P…Petrie?" Jason gurgled, still recovering.
"Are you okay?" another voice asked, he recognised to be Littlefoot once his vision came into focus.
"Yeah, I think," Jason said but quickly held his forehead hissing in pain, "Man, what'd I hit? A brick wall?" Everyone exchanged a glance at each other and then all turned in one direction. Jason followed their looks and saw Spike clutching his head with his eyes clamped shut. In his fright, Jason had reared up and head butted Spike square in his forehead.
"Sorry Spike," Jason apologised sympathetically rubbing his forehead to ease the young stegosaurus's pain.
"What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" Ducky asked. Jason didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to explain everything he had just seen but the other half told him to seal everything away, not to say a word.
"It's nothing. It was just a dream," he said finally realising all of them were leaning over him.
"It seemed pretty bad," Littlefoot said, "you're were tossing and turning like crazy."
"Yeah, you fidget more than Dinah and Dana do," Cera said smugly. Jason's brow furrowed as Ali giggled hidden behind Littlefoot.
"What was it about?" Ducky asked inquisitively but still concerned.
"It doesn't matter…" Jason said trying to avoid their questions and their piercing stares. Cera leaned over to Ali and whispered something that sounded like "he was scared" which made Ali giggled more. Jason could feel a hot, angry flush rising through him suppressed only by clenched fists.
"Well, if Jason says it's nothing then it's nothing," Littlefoot said shrugging, "c'mon, what are we going to do now?"
"Sheltering Grass?" Petrie suggested.
"Better not. Remember the Sinking Sands?" Littlefoot quickly reminded them about the quicksand that formed a murky moat before the tall, grassy fields of the Sheltering Grass.
"What about the Bubbling Mud?" Ducky then asked, "We have not been there for a while, no, no, no!"
"I dunno…" Littlefoot slurred, "what do you think Ali?" Something inside Jason jolted sickeningly at Littlefoot's statement. Normally, Littlefoot asked him about whether or not something was a good idea. He turned to Ali who hummed in thought.
"Uuummmm….Okay then!" She said with a happy little hop of excitement.
"Last one there's a scaredy-egg!" Cera chanted as she took off.
"Hey no fair!" Petrie cawed taking to the air, "You get head start!" The rest of the gang followed suit except Littlefoot who remained behind with Jason.
"Are you coming Littlefoot?" Ali asked, totally ignoring Jason who was still sitting under the tree.
"Yeah, just a second," he called after her. He then turned to Jason, "you coming?"
"Yeah…okay," Jason said slowly with a regrettable tone to his voice. He stood up slowly and watched Littlefoot chase after Ali laughing. Jason felt a surge of heated rage rise up him to the point where he wanted to spit in disgust. With a tight, upright stance, he trudged over to the woodland where Ali and Littlefoot had just disappeared.
Chapter 18: Boiling Point!By the time Jason had reached the Bubbling Mud, everyone else were leaping into the thick, gooey mud, getting completely filthy. High pitched squeals of laughter emanated from the mud pool that bubbled like a thick, brown broth boiling in a witch's cauldron. Some of the bubbles lifted up and out of the pool like large, translucent balloons without strings and popped releasing a foul smelling gas that Jason recognised as some sort of prehistoric methane. Nevertheless, the six dinosaurs pranced about in the dark muck whilst Jason sat out on the side, not in the mood for anything he'd normally leap headfirst at.
"Are you not coming in?" Ducky asked from on top of one of the half formed bubbles emerging from the mud suggesting that either Ducky was extraordinarily light or the bubbles were extraordinarily thick.
"No thanks," Jason sighed just as Ducky disappeared into the mud having accidentally popped her bubble.
"What's up with him?" Cera snorted after a mighty splash that blinded Littlefoot with flying mud.
"C'mon Jason! You'll love it!" Littlefoot cried, flicking the mud from his eyes with a headshake but Jason stood still pretending he hadn't heard him. He walked over to Spike who was happily helping himself to some large leaves on a low bush. Spike smiled warmly at Jason who returned the gesture with a head stroke.
"What's his problem?" Cera grunted shuffling over to Ali and Littlefoot. Petrie and Ducky were in a world of their own.
"I don't know," Littlefoot admitted glancing up at Jason sitting on the bank next to Spike, "he's never acted like this before…"
"He's so miserable," Cera said blunted.
"He's kinda weird," Ali added which made Littlefoot cast her a dirty look.
"What'd you mean by that?
"Well…you said he was really fun and all but so far, he just seems to sit out of everything and sulks," Ali said matter-of-factly. Littlefoot couldn't argue with her. Jason had been rather apprehensive lately, refusing to take part in any of their recent games. He constantly seemed defensive and unsure about things when they were suggested when he had been so sure-footed and certain about everything beforehand.
"I…I don't understand why he's like this…" Littlefoot said trying to defend him.
"I reckon he's jealous…" Cera whispered darkly.
"Jealous?" Littlefoot and Ali blurted simultaneously. Cera hissed at them to keep their voices down.
"Yeah," Cera grinned rather sinisterly, "think about it. Before Ali came, Jason was fine and joined in with everything. Back then, Jason had you all to himself." She nodded at Littlefoot who blinked once or twice, looked up at Jason and then back around to Cera.
"Before you came along Ali, Jason was loving all the glory of being a hero having saved Littlefoot and Dinah."
"But he saved your dad when Ali was here, remember? The Ember Flowers?" Littlefoot reminded Cera promptly.
"Yeah, but I bet it was more of an attempt to impress Ali than to save my dad's life," Cera continued huddling close to Littlefoot and Ali, "anyway, I reckon that didn't go as well as he thought it would. Did he impress you Ali? Does it make you trust him anymore than before?" Ali paused wondering what to say next. She knew what her gut-reaction would be but she didn't want to hurt Littlefoot's feelings.
"Well…erm…"
"Do you trust him then Ali?" Littlefoot said almost pushing her. Ali was about to say something but Littlefoot could read her answer from her expression.
"You don't trust him, do you?" Littlefoot sighed.
"You see!" Cera whispered a little louder, "And now Ali has got more of your attention than he used to have, he's become jealous that you're not spending as much time with him as you are now with Ali."
"I think Cera's right Littlefoot. Maybe your friend is jealous." Littlefoot wanted to reply but he couldn't deny the evidence that Cera had pointed out about Jason's strange behaviour recently.
"Let's face it. Jason's jealous of Ali."
"There's no other explanation Littlefoot. Cera's right."
"Nice to see you've found a pleasant topic to talk about," a voice said sternly, yet sarcastically, over the three of them. All of them turned all at once to the bank where Jason stood with his arms folded across his chest. "Well…carry on. Don't let my presence intimidate you. Maybe I could join in at some point after you've stopped talking about me BEHIND MY BACK!"
"You were listening?!" Littlefoot exclaimed in shock. Obviously they had been talking and gradually gotten louder and not realised.
"Yes I was listening. Spike's chomping managed to subdue me for a while but it kinda gets a little boring after a while, y'know what I mean?" Jason said with ever increasing sarcasm.
"Hey! It's not our fault you're in a mood!" Cera barked jumping in.
"I'm not saying my mood is your fault but making wild accusations about me doesn't exactly help."
"You're just mad because Littlefoot's not spending as much time with you as before," Cera said taunting him. Jason shuffled uneasily but remained silent.
"You're jealous!" she then blurted out.
"I'm NOT jealous!" Jason replied hotly.
"Yes you are! Ever since Ali's been here, you've been moaning and moping around refusing to do anything we ask."
"You asked? Since Ali's been here, you lot have done nothing but ignore me and pretend I'm not there!" Jason protested. He then turned to Ali making her jump.
"Ali! Do me a favour and answer me one question," Jason's cold, hard tone made Ali swallow hard, "Why don't you trust me?" The area fell completely silent. Even Ducky and Petrie were now listening in on the heated argument.
"Well…" Jason barked impatiently after she didn't reply.
"Jason, I don't think you're being very fair," Littlefoot said taking a step towards him.
"I just want to know. It's a simple question. Why don't you trust me Ali? What have I done wrong? What have I done to upset you?" Jason's voice was becoming weak, almost as if he were begging. Ali opened her mouth but quickly shut it again as no words came out.
"All I wanted to do was to be a friend. I'm not a bad guy, really, but I can't just be pushed a side like that. Tell me. What have I done wrong?"
"…Nothing…" Ali protested.
"So what is it then?" Jason said but something suddenly snapped in his mind, "It's because I'm not a dinosaur isn't it?" Ali didn't say anything.
"…NO! It's NOT that…" Littlefoot jumped in.
"It IS isn't it? It's because I'm a human. A FREAK! An untrustworthy, two-legged, pathetic creep that has no feelings and above all…doesn't belong here! That's it isn't it?" Jason insulted himself with his voice quivering as if every word had been a knife stabbing deep into him.
"N…n-no!" Littlefoot cried, "That's not true! Right Ali?" He glanced over to her but she had turned away from him. Littlefoot's jaw dropped open as he turned from Ali to Cera and then back up to Jason whose chest sat high up on him in offence.
"Fine then! If…if I'm not wanted here, then…I'll…I'll take myself elsewhere. I'm sorry if I've been such a burden to you all but you don't have to worry about me anymore." He began strolling up and down insulting himself, making him feel lower and lower.
"Oh God, I'm such a prat for thinking that anyone here would want to be my friend. I thought I had friends and family here but how wrong I was…I'm such a fool…It was all too good to be true…It always is!"
"Jason…" Littlefoot sighed hurting at Jason's self-inflicted verbal abuse.
"For what it's worth Littlefoot…thanks but now I'll leave you in peace before I insult you and YOUR friends any further. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've put you through but don't fret it…you'll won't have to worry about THIS freak anymore…" With that, Jason turned on his heels and stormed out through the woodland that enclosed the Bubbling Mud, leaving everyone standing stone still with only the whistle of the wind through the trees to break the uneasy silence that lingered.
"Jason, wait…" Littlefoot called into the trees but only the rustling trees replied.
"GO ON THEN! GET LOST!" Cera shouted angrily, "WHO NEEDS YOU ANYWAY!" She snorted and turned her back expecting everyone to feel the same but everyone's expressions were pointing at the ground all baring solemn and guilty faces.
"Oh COME ON! Forget about him!" she urged the others to snap out of their glum looks, "He's not even one of us, so why should we care?" No one answered her. Littlefoot, Ducky and Spike were all staring as the path that Jason had just left through whilst Ali and Petrie looked at each other reading the guilt on each other's faces.
"Do you think he really meant what he said? Ducky asked slowly as she clambered onto Littlefoot's back.
"I don't know but he was really hard on himself," Littlefoot replied in the same soft tone.
"Where you think he gonna go?" Petrie asked, "You think Jason leave the Great Valley?"
"Don't know and don't care!" Cera grunted breathing heavily, "He can…get eaten by a sharptooth for all I care!" The group gasped.
"Cera!" Ducky said as she drew in breath with her gasp. She slid off Littlefoot and over to Spike who was choking on a leaf having just gasped and swallowed at the same time.
"How heartless are you!" Littlefoot cried in disgust, "If it wasn't for him, neither me, Dinah nor your father would be here right now. He saved us all yet you'd be willing to let him die out there on his own!"
"But just look at him Littlefoot! He's jealous of Ali and just because he couldn't get what he wanted, he stormed off sulking like a baby!" Cera was arguing on the last of her breath and had to inhale sharply to prevent herself from passing out, "You know what? He IS right! He's a two-legged, no-tailed freak that doesn't belong here!"
"NO! YOU'RE WRONG!" Littlefoot erupted to the point that he nearly launched himself at Cera for being so ignorant, "Jason has as much right to be here as we do! He could have easily deserted us when we needed help but he didn't. He's just feeling left out because he's different than us. All he needs is a friend to be with him…" Littlefoot suddenly remembered the discussion the two of them had had the night before Ali's arrived.
"He's been through a lot more than you know…he told me…but right now he needs our help." Littlefoot waddled awkwardly out of the mud pool, shook off the remaining mud that caked his body and started towards the forest. He stopped when he heard no footsteps following him.
"C'mon! Let's go!" He called to them but they merely shuffled their feet and didn't move. "Come on! Hurry before we lose him!" Cera gave another snort and turned her back to him. Littlefoot's eyes widened in shock as no one dared to move. "You're…you're not going to help me?" Ducky and Spike looked up at him with big, dreamy eyes, very apprehensive as did Ali and Petrie, but Cera remained facing the opposite way now with her tail stuck rebelliously in the air. Littlefoot frowned.
"Fine! I'll go find Jason myself then," he said thoroughly disgusted and betrayed. Turning back to his path, Littlefoot broke into a run leaving the rest of the gang in their sorrowful states (apart from Cera who remained rigid with her tail still propped, ignorantly, upright) and hoping silently that Jason hadn't left the Valley just yet.
Upon reaching the Grazing Meadow, Littlefoot stopped to catch his breath and looked around to see if he could find any trace of Jason. Finding only members of Ali's herd and a few others, Littlefoot felt his stomach sink as if he had swallowed a heavy stone.
"Home!" he suddenly said to himself, "Jason has to pick up his 'brown-holder' first." Littlefoot's mind buzzed frantically as he took off towards his home ground, determined to get there before Jason did but something inside was telling him that it might already have been too late. Littlefoot skidded to a halt at his sleeping spot and looked desperately at Jason's tree. He sighed heavily as he saw no sign of Jason or his bag that usually laid at the foot of the petrified sapling. Littlefoot lifted his head and scanned the horizon hopelessly.
"Oh Jason…where could you be?"
Chapter 19: A Reversal of MisfortuneFrom the winding, dusty pathway that led up into the mountains, Jason stood staring down upon the beautiful landscape that had housed him for the past three weeks, the wind wrapping around him, picking up the dust and blowing it back down into the Valley as he sighed mournfully. Picking up his bag, flashbacks of the jovial moments of times spent with his friends flooded back like when they all poked and prodded everything in wonder that fell out of every pocket. Now, he felt used and unwanted like an old toy lost in a child's bedroom, forgotten as the next best thing rolled in to take his place. The images burned in his mind of everything they had all done together as he bit his lip to hold back any extreme emotions that could have burst out of him at any moment. Tossing his bag on his shoulders, he continued to walk up the dirty path up the mountainside, alone as he had been before.
The heat from the sun was beating down on Jason as he trudged along kicking up the dust and watching it sweep away in the breeze. He felt his spirit crash dive into a crumpled heap as he remembered how he insulted and disgraced himself in front of everyone as Cera's words ate away at him. Was he jealous of Ali? Was he being a cocky show-off in front of her trying to impress her? Before long, he realised that he missed having company beside him but he felt so low and worthless that he could never return to the Great Valley no matter how many times he apologised. He had brought this on himself so he had to deal with the consequences of his actions despite how much he wanted to go back.
After a few minutes of walking with a hanging head and a heavy heart, Jason came to the first of the Great Valley's natural defences (or last if you were approaching the Valley); the Great Wall. Upon closer inspection, the wall was in fact a mountainous pile of rock debris and rubble formed by what appeared to be rock slides from volcanic eruptions. It was clearly impossible for any carnivorous dinosaur to pass the Great Wall because there were no paths leading around it and their puny, unadapted forearms would never enable them to climb it. For a human, however, an awkward clamber up the rocky wall not a very taxing task as Jason demonstrated by scrambling up, slipping on a few loose ones and sending them tumbling to the bottom. As he reached the top, Jason surveyed the world that lay beyond the Great Valley for the first time. It looked baron and barbaric compared to tranquil, warm glow that seemed to radiate from the Valley. In the distance, Jason could see three, large pinnacles sticking up from a half-curved bowl of a mountain's summit. Jason quickly recognised this as "Threehorn Peak" where Littlefoot and his friends described when they raced Petrie's, now exiled, uncle to the crash site of the meteorite they had all dubbed "The Stone of Cold Fire" on one of their many adventurous escapades. Jason smiled solemnly at the remembrance of their story and thought about what it would have been like to experience everything they had said. With a quick blink to break his mind from his daydream, Jason slid down the opposite side of the Great Wall now knowing that it would be too late to turn back.
Having walked a fair distance from the Great Wall, Jason came to the large chasm he had to jump whilst rescuing Dinah from the raging volcano. The chasm stretched as far as the eye could see, off into the distance in both directions. On the other side was a forest that lay past the Smoking Mountain consisting of gigantic redwoods that bore branchless trunks and canopies that looked out of reach for even the tallest of longnecks. There was no clear path directly across the huge chasm and there was nothing on Jason's side to use to bridge the gap. Peering over the edge, Jason could see a thin stream at the bottom after what couldn't have been less than a hundred foot drop. Jason backed away from the cliff edge, kicking pebbles and dust into the chasm. Just as he was beginning to think he'd have to turn back, Jason noticed the pebbles take an abnormal bounce off the wall as if they had jumped off an invisible platform. Taking another look over the edge, Jason discovered that the stones had rebounded off a small, slanted ledge that ran all the way down to the floor of the gorge. With an inquisitive snigger, Jason followed the dangerously narrow path down the chasm's side. Halfway down the ledge, the path became thinner to the point where Jason could no longer walk comfortably across (as if walking along a thin, crumbling cliff edge wasn't unnerving enough). Jason swung his bag onto his front, flattened himself against the wall and began to sidle to the right, still a fair distance up from the floor. The whistling wind howled making the drop seem much longer but Jason was determined not to look down fearing the view would paralyse him in mid-stride.
The last third of the thin ledge was becoming increasingly narrower as Jason now balanced on his heels, pushed himself as far as he could into the wall, noticing that the path widened again just a few metres further on. A little leap of excitement swelled inside him as he took extended strides sideways in the hope of reaching the other side quicker. In his thrilled rush, Jason lost concentration and placed his foot on an uneven stone which rolled off the cliff edge. Jason gasped as his leading right foot buckled and followed the stone down into the gorge. With no place to stumble, Jason fell down wailing but stopped suddenly as his left hand gripped the ledge, saving him from plummeting to his doom. A cold chill shuddered down him as he glanced down at what would have potentially been a nasty end. Looking back up to the edge, he thrust his hand back up to reinforce his grip and began to shimmy, rather awkwardly, to the other side where he pulled himself up. Jason sat with his back against the wall, threw his bag off his front and collapsed flailing his arms and legs in a lazy star shape, panting in a cold sweat.
"Phew, that was too close!" Jason breathed wiping the sweat, that sparkled in the sunlight, from his forehead with the back of a dirty hand.
"Man, I never realised how well the Great Valley was protected." Jason shook his head, a little disgusted with himself for talking to the air, picked up his bag to cross to the other side of the chasm.
Crossing the stream, with the help of some small stepping-stones, Jason climbed up the opposite side using a similar path to the one he had just came down on the Valley's side of the chasm. Puffing, with his hands on his knees, Jason looked up at the forest that stood before him whilst something vaguely familiar popped into his head about this particular stretch of woodland. Shrugging at his failure to recollect the memory of what was suspiciously disturbing about the forest, he continued onwards regardless.
Jason was amazed at the size of the giant oaks and redwoods that appeared to brush the turquoise, sea-blue sky. The forest seemed wonderfully docile and calm as the wind rustled the trees pleasantly to break the silence. As Jason passed through the brightly coloured woodland to the other side, Jason furrowed his brow in confusion as to why he had remembered someone in the Valley lecturing him that the forest had be dubbed "particularly dangerous". Jason had managed stroll very comfortably through it without seeing or hearing anything but the massive, swaying trees. Giving another dismissive shrug, he climbed between a group of tightly packed trees and out into the open. After walking for a little while, Jason looked up to a famous landmark that the gang had described to him many times. A gigantic, naturally formed rock spire, wide at the base and narrowed at the top, that towered up, overlooking the forest he had just passed through and appeared to be staring in the direction of the Great Valley. The way the spire was formed, it looked like a giant rock longneck that everyone named "Saurus Rock". This landmark was supposedly enchanted with a curse of bad luck to any who broke even the tiniest of fragments off it and stood guarding the Great Valley just as the legendary Lone Dinosaur had done some time ago. Jason smiled as he gaze up at the marvellous spire thinking about how Littlefoot described yet another adventure about the Lone Dinosaur's supposed return to the Great Valley and how his friends had broken one the sharptooth's teeth that it wore around its neck like a medal of heroics, consequentially suffering a few days worth of mishaps and bad luck. Jason adjusted his gaze back down to its normal level, having developed a sharp pain in the back of his neck from looking directly up at Saurus Rock, walked over to the base and took a small stone that sat by what would have been its feet if it had been alive. If Jason was never going to return to the Valley then he'd at least like a souvenir as well as memories of his stay after all, the curse is must surely just be a superstitious rumour. Shouldn't it?
The day was wearing on as the sun had just passed its highest point but where Jason was, no sun was visible through the thick, dark clouds that covered the blackened sky like a patchwork blanket. The area had become very dingy as if Jason had just stepped into a medieval dungeon. The once peaceful outlook of the forest had suddenly transformed into a murky marsh pit surrounded by eerie looking mountains that trapped the area in an endless darkness. All this dramatic change happened with about half a mile of walking from Saurus Rock. Jason has horrified by the numerous amounts of dinosaur carcasses and destroyed skeletons that lay sprawled, half submerged in the bubbling, stagnant water.
"Is this some sort of graveyard?" Jason said to himself as the pungent aroma of the sickly water drifted in the air like an invisible snake slithering up his nostrils. The swamp looked deserted as Jason stepped slowly over the water, on a bridge which was in fact a stegosaurus's spine supported by the long rib bones that dug deep into the black mud on the swamp bed. The sky threatened to thunder as Jason clambered up a few large, flat-topped boulders that must have fallen off the black mountains that loomed malevolently over him. The dead trees that were bent and twisted in bizarre ways looked like they could snatch out and grab Jason by the scruff of his neck.
Crossing over another skeleton bridge, Jason stopped dead on hearing a blood-curdling screech shot out of the mist that floated across the swamp like a wandering poltergeist. Chills crept up Jason's spine as he tried to make out what had made him freeze in his tracks. Instead of seeing anything, Jason heard a moaning creak from directly below the bony bridge he stood on. Jason's head flicked around as the creaking grew louder as if something was threatening to strike at any moment. Suddenly, the bridge gave dangerous jolt and dropped an inch or two making Jason stumble. He whipped his head down at the diplodocus spine just as the ribs joining it made a sickening crack and gave way under his feet. With no other alternative, Jason could do noting but scream as he plunged into murky swamp along with the bones. Without daring to open his eyes underwater, Jason pulled himself up to the surface and gasped for the air that his cry had robbed him of before hitting the water. He spat out the foul, muddy water that had flooded his mouth and looked around. In his search, the ear-piercing screech that Jason had heard earlier rang out across the swamp. Jason looked in the direction of the screech through clenched teeth. The sound rang his ears so painfully he thought his head would split in two because of the extremely high-pitch.
Jason's expression of pain instantly changed to one of sheer terror as he saw a long, snake-like creature slither into the water from the other side of the murky lagoon through the floating mist. A darkened silhouette of the creature swam effortlessly underwater to Jason's frozen position a few metres away. In a flailing panic, Jason splashed frantically to a grey, stone platform behind him. The snake-like creature crept silently closer like a tooth-baring submarine watching Jason's desperate thrashing about just ahead of it. The bank drew slowly closer as Jason panted and paddled as fast as he could to escape the swift moving serpent that was closing in. With a shaking hand on the rock, Jason turned to see the silhouette now at his ankles. In a split second flash, Jason yanked his legs out of the water just as the serpent reared up to snap at his feet. Jason held his legs high in the air as the creature's jaws closed around nothing and sank back into the murky swamp lake.
"Phew…TOO CLOSE!" he wheezed getting to his feet. Still panting, Jason fixed his bag in the centre of his back and wrung the sleeves of his jumper. Taking one last look at the bubbling swamp, he turned to the path of broken boulders dotted around that led up and out of the area. As Jason took his first step to jump to the next boulder, the surface of the swamp just to the left the rock Jason was standing on shattered frighteningly. Jason dodged the wet shrapnel and gazed in shock at the creature behind the watery curtain. He gaped to find the same serpent-like dinosaur standing on the rock, hissing menacingly at him. The serpent looked livid as it suddenly lurched forward at Jason. Just as quickly as it attacked, Jason took flight and leapt up to the next rock. To his dismay and horror, the serpent's webbed, scaly feet bore hideous claws that dug deep into the boulder enabling it to crawl over its surface with alarming speed and agility.
Hopping from one rock to another, Jason tried desperately to get away from his stalker as it clambered from one boulder to the next, following his exact path. Jason jumped from his eighth rock to the ninth but under estimated its height above him, catching the edge with his fingertips. Panic-stricken, he scrambled up the rock face, barely dodging another snap of the serpent's jagged jaws. Hissing in frustration, the serpent continued the chase as Jason came to a halt at the edge of a gorge. The path continued on the other side.
"Damn it! What is with this place and its bottomless pits!" He cursed as the serpent pulled itself up onto the rock. Its tongue flicked around the scaly edges of its lips hungrily. Its black slits etched in its glowering, yellow eyes fixed unblinkingly on Jason; the fear on his face making the forthcoming kill even more triumphant. With one last flick of its devilish looking tongue, the serpent charged, full-speed, straight at Jason. Watching the serpent sprint towards him, Jason jerked backwards and took a desperate glance at the gorge. He swallowed hard at his insane idea and turned to the cliff edge. The serpent hissed and made a jump for Jason as, he too, leapt out over the gorge in the same second. Jason puffed hard as his body collided heavily against the cliff edge on the opposite side. At the same time, Jason heard the screeching of the serpent growing increasingly fainter as it plunged into the misty abyss.
Pulling himself up, Jason collapsed on dusty path utterly exhausted and his heart hammering hard.
"Man!…These…monsters…are…re…lentless!" he panted, realising that Littlefoot hadn't been kidding around when he said that the Mysterious Beyond was extremely dangerous after initially thinking that everything outside the Great Valley was not as bad as everyone had said it was. Once he caught his breath again, Jason stood up, still wringing wet, and looked down into a rocky valley that sat at the bottom of the pile of boulders he stood on. Energy drained, Jason lowered himself down into the dusty valley wondering what weird and hideous creatures would be awaiting him down there. Strangely enough, Jason discovered that for all the rescues he had performed to save his friends and others, it was now him that was in trouble and needed a hero to rescue him from the perils that faced him. Laughing at the irony in his twist in fate and misfortune, he wandered down the path where things were about to get a whole lot worse…
Chapter 20: Jason's Inner StruggleWith his feet now firmly placed on solid, unbroken ground, Jason rushed towards a small pond to wash the dirt from his hands and face. The nasty smelling water from the swamp was now seeping out of his clothes as it evaporated. Down in the valley, the sky was clear and the sun beamed down on him making him unpleasantly hot and sticky. Jason removed his jumper and t-shirt and scrubbed them in the pond, watching the sickly smelling, stagnant water flow out of the fibres, polluting the blue-green water and turning it a muddy yellow colour. Wringing out his tops, Jason threw his t-shirt back on and tied his black, hooded sweater around his waist; he then paused to think what to do next. The rocky valley was just as deserted as the swamp with no plant life to be seen. Jason, then, pricked his ears up to the sound of what appeared to be running water. Picking up his damp backpack, Jason travelled in, what roughly seemed to be, the right direction towards the flowing water. Sure enough, the sound led Jason to a wide, fast flowing river that ran off into the distance in both directions. The sight of the crystal clear river triggered the thirst receptor in Jason's brain as he instinctively reached for his flask that sat in its own pocket of his bag. Thinking the water inside the flask might have been contaminated by the swamp, Jason emptied the flask's contents onto the dusty floor which absorbed it instantly.
Jason walked over to the river and placed his flask in the cool water as the air inside it bubbled out to make way for the water. Once full, Jason cupped his hands together and slurped the pool he collected. Strangely, the water had exactly the same taste as that of the Great Valley's. Then, it suddenly dawned on him. This was obviously the river that fed the Great Valley with its constant supply of fresh, flowing water. He then guessed that if he followed the river for long enough, he'd come to the Thundering Falls and another breathtaking view of the Valley. Jason held back the temptation of wanting to see it again in case it made him feel even worse than he already did for leaving in such a temper without thinking. His stomach sagged and grumbled uncomfortably reminding him he hadn't eaten anything substantial for a few hours now but the dirty, rocky valley showed no signs of even a weed through the dusty ground. The gnawing sensation of his gut grew stronger and rumbled louder begging him to find even the tiniest of morsels. Trying desperately to bare the airy, aching feeling in his stomach, Jason decided to follow the river, away from the Valley, hoping that something may have sprouted further upstream.
The river meandered its way up through the grey rock cliffs that gave Jason a paranoid feeling that the loose looking boulders could fall at any given moment and come hurtling toward him. Fortunately, no looming volcanoes could be seen on the horizon so there didn't appear to be any signs of danger from the local environment (although the spiralling dust that danced on the wind and in Jason's face could have been described as a choking hazard as he was constantly coughing to clear his throat of the dusty debris that clustered there). As he walked parallel to the calmly flowing river, Jason found his eyes locked on to the rippling reflection staring back at him. Something inside dropped somewhere past his toes as he tried to analyse the sorrowful look on its face and the guilt that riddled its posture as it slid uncomfortably up, against the water current, alone. Jason blinked to break the hypnotising glare of the reflection as the thoughts whirred around in his head and a gaping empty space that had formed somewhere inside. Everything he had described about the sorry looking, watery reflection translated exactly over to himself. Guilt-ridden, lonely and feeling sorry for himself after his appalling scene with Littlefoot and his friends replayed over in his head in amongst all the horrible emotions that seemed to be eating him from the inside out. Everything he had achieved in those few weeks of living in the Great Valley were all shattered and destroyed in the heat of a seemingly pointless argument over what Jason admitted may have been a fit of jealous over Ali stealing Littlefoot's attention from him. Finally, the images overpowered him and Jason fell to his knees overwhelmed. He had lost everything…again.
Now on his hands and knees, Jason punched the ground in anger cursing and swearing at himself. After so long of being alone, seven long years after losing his mother to the man in the Red Phoenix Laboratories and miraculously surviving the blitz of London and possibly the entire country after the viral outbreak that claimed the lives of his brother and sister when they were so young. Seven, long, torturing years having to fend for himself with no-one to turn to and once he had re-established a home and even a new family, he blows it all in one go without thinking of what the outcome would have been. He thought he could handle the consequences of shooting his mouth off in front of his friends but he soon realised that the gaping hole that had burrowed deep into him was the empty feeling of loving and friendship Grandpa, Grandma and the gang had had for him despite being freakishly out-of-place. Despite his previous thought, he knew now that he had made a grave mistake. He was not as strong as he thought he was and he wanted someone beside him to comfort him. His eyes began to water from the crushing emotions and made him unleash a tremendous roar that echoed in the dusty valley and ran off into the distance. His knuckles were red-raw from hitting the ground in his rage as it seemed to be the only thing he could do to help him bare the pain and agony of yet another distressing loss.
The roar of anger reverberated off the valley walls and reiterated itself. Once his echoing voice died, Jason, breathing heavily, sighed and slowly rose to his feet. He rubbed his eyes and sniffed the cool air that refreshed him a little before beginning to set off again. Just as Jason was about to take his first step, something made a shuffling noise. Jason froze in his tracks and looked around quickly trying to locate the source of the sound. Failing to find anything, he tried to take that first step again but he was stopped again by a louder noise that sounded horribly like tumbling rocks. Taking a quick glance up at the valley cliffs that enclosed the river, Jason could see nothing but a few tiny pebbles roll harmlessly off walls and into the flowing stream with a gentle splash. With a shrug, Jason was about to place his foot down to finally take his first step but his attention was suddenly drawn to the massive rumbling sound that shook the entire area. Horror-struck, Jason found the loose boulders he had been so paranoid about tumbling down towards him as he first feared they would. The boulders rolled down the cliffs and were making a beeline for Jason's position. With a great leap and diving into a roll, Jason nimbly dodged the falling rock as it landed with an almighty crash in river and sank down out of sight. A cold shudder ran down Jason's spine as the rumbling increased and Jason watched more boulders come plummeting down the valley cliffs ahead of him. If too many fell in front of him, they'd cut him off from his path alongside the river. Scrambling to his feet, Jason made a desperate dash to pass to giant boulders that were rolling towards each other but if they reached the river, it would form an unassailable dam leaving Jason with no where to go. Panting, Jason pushed himself to run faster as the gap was gradually closing.
"C-c'mon! Just…a bit…further…" he urged forcing every ounce of energy through his body. The hole was narrowing and Jason was still a fair distance from it. With one last leap, Jason dived for hole in the middle just as the rocks crashed together like a door to an ancient tomb sealing behind him. Gasping for air, Jason looked up at the path ahead and was horrified to see that the boulders were still falling. The tremors from the mighty boulders behind him colliding had set off even more boulders up ahead. Jumping to his feet, Jason tried to run but found himself dodging rolling rocks as if he were in a booby trapped crypt. Before Jason could get very far, the trembling sound of the rolling rocks stopped as the last of the boulders rolled into the water. Collapsing into a heap on one of the rocks that hadn't quite made it to the river, Jason looked up to check that no more were heading his way and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw all the cliffs were bare and chipped from the massive boulders that had rolled down them.
"Whew! That was tough!" he sighed wiping the sweat from his forehead, "What in the world could have caused all that?"
No sooner had he said that to himself, Jason winced at a blood chilling screeching that rang down into the valley where he sat. With a snappy head turn to the cliff edge, Jason gaped at what had just shrieked down on him.
"Me and my BIG mouth!" he gasped as he sat locking eyes with creature that was staring straight back at him. His mouth went bone-dry as the creature hopped down onto the damming boulders to glower over Jason as he crawled slowly backwards to distance himself from it. Jason couldn't quite place what the creature was but his worse fears were realised as it began roaring deep into the valley. Jason looked up, horrified, at the cliff edges as two more of the creatures peered down into the valley and roared in response.
Jason swallowed hard as he instantly recognised the creatures by their sickeningly massive toe claw that arched, dominantly over the rest.
"…Velociraptors!"