Safely knowing that Jason would be sound asleep beside him, Littlefoot found the excitement of the day taking its toll on his weary body. Still a little stiff from the bumps and bruises from falls and spills, Littlefoot manoeuvred himself into his sleeping pit with a considerable amount of difficulty as his entire body seemed a lot heavier than normal. Having reached a suitable position, Littlefoot flopped down, legs out to the sides, and sighed as the cool grass massaged his rigid muscles, soothing his aches and pains. Jason, too, had done exactly the same from up in his tree.
"Phew, I'm beat! Every inch of me hurts," he said with his limbs hanging limply between the cage of branches.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Littlefoot agreed without raising his head, enjoying the relaxing sensation of the chilled grass.
"Oh boy. I'm gonna sleep well tonight," Jason yawned and stretched, "but I'm glad I got a chance to say what I wanted to say to Ali. I feel a whole lot better now knowing I let her know how I feel." Littlefoot was too exhausted to answer verbally so he just nodded with his face in the grass. With his face partially buried, Littlefoot saw something shimmer in the moonlight in amongst the blades. His sapphire had caught the light and was sparkling in the way it always did. His thoughts quickly jumped to Jason's stone that remained encased in his pendent. He looked up at Jason who had fallen sleep rather sloppily with his arms hanging out and mouth open. Littlefoot smiled and rolled himself into a more comfortable position.
"Goodnight Jason," he whispered softly. Jason snorted audibly and rolled over making him laugh quietly. Accepting the grunt as a final wish for a goodnight, Littlefoot tucked himself in and before long; he too, drifted off into a deep sleep.
Littlefoot found his world transforming and darkening around him like the flick of a black blanket smothering him. Every light source was consumed and the stars overhead blotted out one by one as if someone were plucking them out of the night sky. The area was pitch black but something seemed vaguely familiar about the darkness; not threatening but he could sense something strangely recognizable about it. Standing still, Littlefoot then felt the air suddenly drop in temperature which sent a chill up his back and made his skin tingle pleasantly. He glanced up at the shadowy sky and saw a small, blue, glistening water droplet fall behind him as if sliding down a vertical surface. Watching more and more of the sparkling droplets fall, he turned to look straight ahead and saw a waterfall of similar droplets make two more watery curtains; one in red and the other in green, creating a shimmering, triangular-shaped crypt. Soon, the entire area was alight with three, marvellous glowing waterfalls which brought a shocked expression to Littlefoot's face as a white, triangular podium became visible from the centre of the room. A bright beam of white light shot up from the podium and pierced the blackness of the darkened sky. The beam came so suddenly that Littlefoot stumbled backwards and tripped over his low-hanging tail, crushing it in the process of falling. Littlefoot tried to rub the feeling back into his numb tail as the white light faded to give way to a magnificent, old aged longneck who bowed her great head to look Littlefoot down at his eye level. Littlefoot hopped to his feet attentively and stood rigid as if awaiting a military command.
"Greetings child. We meet again," the old longneck croaked merrily. Littlefoot instantly recognised her as the same longneck who spoke to him in his dreams a month ago, before Jason's arrival.
"H-h…h-hello," Littlefoot stammered trying to hide his nervousness but it crept into his voice box instinctively.
"No need to be scared little one," the longneck assured him in a soft tone, "I see your travels have brought you to me once again."
"Travels?" Littlefoot asked unsure of what she had just said.
"Why yes child. You have discovered the other chosen ones haven't you?" Littlefoot was lost for words. Since Jason's arrival, swiftly followed by Ali's a week or two later he hadn't been dreaming his regular, troubled dreams he used to when he slept alone.
"Well…" Littlefoot started uncertain with he should lie to her or not but before he's mind had made a decision, a bright flash flared in his face and three, triangular-cut stones (one blue, one green and the last red) floated in front of him. Littlefoot stared at the levitating stones in awe as they circled each other, each emitting their own twinkling streak of their unique glimmering shade either deep sea blue, blood red or forest green.
"Well, seems to me that you have found them all despite your uncharacteristic misjudgement of yourself," the longneck said distinctly satisfied. Littlefoot shied away a little embarrassed but his expression quickly changed as the circling stones moved, as if on invisible threads, up to the longneck and rotated around her throat like a revolving necklace.
"So, I presume that you met with the other destined ones did you not?" she continued.
"Oh, yes. I think so," Littlefoot said blinking to break his trance he had on the floating stones. They were swirling around at such a rate that the coloured streak of one stone seemed to be just touching the streak of the next stone ahead so it really did look like a tri-coloured collar.
"Good. That means the prophecy is near completion. Once the power of the three mystic Stones of Essences has been harnessed, the ultimate power source can be obtained." At that point, Littlefoot was stunned to see the circling stones lift up and over the longneck's head and began to swirl faster. The supersonic speed of the spinning stones released an incredible light that Littlefoot had to shield his eyes from as best he could. There was a great flash and a crack of thunder rumbled overhead. Littlefoot looked up just as a golden bolt of lightening shot out of the dark heavens and crashed onto the stones forcing a tremendous eruption of white light. Littlefoot jumped in shock and dove his head into his forelegs to protect his eyes from the blinding glare.
The resonating light slowly died away and Littlefoot cautiously raised his head from out of his front feet. The crypt had returned to normal with its flowing, multicoloured walls and the old longneck stood, completely unphased, on her podium. Littlefoot looked left and then right for any signs of destruction but the area was, remarkably, unscathed. Littlefoot then turned to the longneck to ask her what he just happened but his vision was blocked by a large, floating artefact that looked like a pyramid of three triangles balanced one on top of the other. Littlefoot was thunderstruck but the brilliant, gleaming, golden yellow stone that sat in mid air as if suspended by strings.
"You look surprised Guardian. Did you expect such an enormous power to simply just come together like rainwater to a puddle?" the wise longneck said reading the dumbfounded stare on Littlefoot's face smiling.
"Wh…What is that?" Littlefoot asked not taking his eyes off the floating, triangular slab that dripped golden stars.
"This is the greatest power the world has ever known. The power of the cosmos; "Heaven's Eternity Crystal". This is the ultimate source of power created from the three essences of life encased in the three stones that you and the other chosen ones hold."
"Three ess-esse-essessencees?" Littlefoot said rather dumbly unable to pronounce the word properly.
"Yes. The three essences of life. Tears, Heart and Soul! Tears represent the deepest of emotions that can be spurred by one's troubles and turmoils of living a mortal life. This shimmers in even the darkest of nights showing one the way when unsure of their path. The heart is a never-ending source of limitless energy that can supply life and sustain it to an ever-increasing level. The physical essence to a mortal life that glows with a radiant light that can never be extinguished because of its unmatchable strength. The soul is the mist that controls all and surveys the world ensuring everything is in its exact balance. As the spiritual essence to life, it can easily pass and change with every emotion one feels. All these essences can exist as individuals but once their magnificent forces are combined, the result is the most powerful creation of not only the world, but of the entire universe. Heaven's Eternity Crystal; the greatest power ever known. But even great power such as this requires a means of unlocking its potential. The one to unlock it is one of those chosen by destiny. After that, the crystal's power can be obtained."
Littlefoot stood utterly amazed, not to mention greatly confused. "The greatest power in universe"? Littlefoot was stunned, more so that the old longneck had resorted to using words and terminologies that he'd only expect someone like Jason to use. On that thought, Littlefoot quickly remember something that seemed to tie Jason into all of this somehow.
"Erm…excuse me but, can I ask you something?"
"Certainly child."
"I have a friend but he's not…err…" He stopped in mid speech unsure of how to word his sentence.
"Not a dinosaur?" the longneck finished it for him. Littlefoot was even more shocked and suddenly felt an excitable jolt rush through him.
"Yeah. He's not a dinosaur but he is a good friend of mine. He's almost like a big brother. Anyway, he seems to have a stone like my blue one except its red. Do you think he is like me, as a chosen one I mean because he has a stone like mine?"
"But how would that make him connected to your dreams young Guardian? You should know that once they have a strong connection to your subconscious, then you will know for sure," the old longneck stated potently. Littlefoot was stumped. Maybe Jason wasn't linked to all this as he had first thought. The idea saddened him and he felt his stomach sink uncomfortably. Out of everyone, he felt Jason was closest to him in terms of how hard their childhoods were and even his pendent was the sure link to their great admiration for each other but as it turned out, he wasn't one of them.
"Don't worry child. The time for the chosen ones to come together will soon approach and once their connections to your destiny have been established, then you will see who you will be with but it will be up to you to decide how they are connected to your dreams."
Despite her words of encouragement, Littlefoot still felt downcast about how Jason was not one of the chosen ones, as he had never had a dream about him. He sighed heavily and then looked up at old longneck wanting to say something but nothing would come out of his open mouth so he promptly closed it again.
"The time will come young one. You will see where your allies lie and once you do, your greatest adventure will unfold," she bellowed somewhat threateningly and her voice bounded off the walls of the crypt, making ripples in the glowing waterfalls. Once she had finished her sentence, the same blinding, white light shot up from the podium and engulfed the longneck in its magical column. Littlefoot shielded his eyes as best he could with a foot as the waterfalls suddenly stopped and white light spilled out into the room, surrounding him too. Just as Littlefoot fell blind to the intense light, he heard the longneck speak one last time.
"As for your friend, I will peer into his soul to see if he is the one you think…"
Chapter 25: The Dino Investigation SquadMorning dawned a new day on the Great Valley as the sun glowed a ruby red from behind the Smoking Mountains. Jason stretched from up in his tree and yapped loudly after yawning with a gaping mouth. He rubbed his eyes and glanced down on Littlefoot who, to his surprise, was still in his little grassy pit. Jason smiled but was slightly concerned to see him tossing and turning rather turbulently. He clambered down from his tree and stood at the top end of his pit and watched him carefully. Littlefoot was thrashing about a bit too much to be enjoying his sleep so Jason decided to wake him.
"Littlefoot…Littlefoot…" he whispered melodiously but Littlefoot remained, still rather troubled, asleep.
"Rise and shine buddy," he said a little louder but Littlefoot continued to roll over and bending himself in uncomfortable positions. Jason crouched down into Littlefoot's pit to get a closer look having been a little worried about Littlefoot now moaning as if in pain. He rest his hand on Littlefoot's side and rubbed it softly to try to calm him down.
"Take it easy Littlefoot. You're okay. Slow down." Despite his calming tone, Littlefoot continued to roll until he stopped suddenly on his front and didn't move. Jason anxiously turned to Littlefoot's face but was relieved to see him blowing the blades of grass through his nostrils on his forehead and his eyelids where clamped tight shut.
"Littlefoot…are you all right?" Jason asked once more. Littlefoot's eyes snapped open which startled Jason who hopped back a little and yelped. Subconsciously reacting to Jason's squeak, Littlefoot lurched up suddenly and swung his head around only to find himself clutching it in pain a second later. Littlefoot shook his head, opened his eyes and sat upright panting. He looked around dazed and confused but then sighed when he realised he was only dreaming.
"Oww! Oooo! My head…" Littlefoot then seared as his head throbbed as he raised it. He then glanced up at Jason's tree but didn't find him up there.
"Jason? Jason? Where are you?" he asked the air but quickly responded to a low groaning from behind him. Littlefoot turned to see Jason lying face down away from him with his arms folded under his head.
"Jason? Are you okay?" Littlefoot asked stepping out of his pit and walked towards Jason who wasn't moving. Jason groaned and slowly rolled over to face Littlefoot, holding his forehead.
"Geez! I don't remember mornings always being so painful…oow!" he said rubbing his forehead briskly.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were there," Littlefoot said sympathetically doing the same.
"It's okay, just kill off another load of brain cells…Oww! Man! You guys have hard heads! I'm seeing stars here," Jason cringed but comically began trying to catch the little blinking dots in front of his eyes which make Littlefoot laugh.
Having rubbed their heads to the point that it was making them sore again, Littlefoot and Jason quickly bounded over to their feeding spot where Jason had discovered some fruits he'd never seen before but had quickly established a bit of a fetish for them.
"Well, should we go find the others?" Littlefoot said happily having swallowed his last mouthful.
"Yeah, why not," Jason replied eyeing the tree that bore his new discovery, "but erm…I'll catch up with you. I gotta try some more of these gorgeous fruits. Hmm…maybe the ones up there…" Littlefoot giggled as he watched Jason start climbing the tree to reach the ones higher up.
"Okay I'll see you later," Littlefoot called up the tree and turned to head for Ali's resting place. Jason waved him off with a mouthful of his fruit and sat, quite contently, up in the tree.
With a leap and a bound in his step, Littlefoot hopped merrily over to Ali's herd who were all ready to begin wandering the Valley for food.
"Ali!" Littlefoot called into the crowd of longnecks.
"Oh hi Littlefoot!" Ali said with a large smile, "Have a nice sleep? Where's Jason?"
"Oh, he's feasting on those nasty, smelly fruits no one likes. I haven't told him yet that they give you bad breath if you eat too many," Littlefoot smiled and Ali laughed, "so you wanna come play in the Green Meadow with us?"
"Sure! Let me just tell my mother where we're going." Ali disappeared into the many legs of her herd and re-emerged a few seconds later.
"Okay, let's go."
The Green Meadow was teaming with dinosaur herds, even more so than normally. As Littlefoot and Ali approached the field, they found themselves weaving in and out of dinosaurs' legs to try and search for an open spot. There was a great amount of chattering around which made the area very noisy.
"I wonder why there are so many herds here?" Littlefoot said curiously.
"To you think something's happened?" Ali asked.
"I don't know. I hope not," Littlefoot replied shaking his head in uncertainty. They both then turned to a voice calling them both.
"It's Cera," Ali called as the threehorn bounded up to them.
"What are you two doing here? It's way too crowded here," Cera scorned.
"Well, where are the others?" Littlefoot asked.
"We're all down in the Tall Trees. All the elders have barged their way into the meadows so me, Petrie, Ducky and Spike have moved down there. You gonna come?"
"Yeah sure," Littlefoot and Ali cawed together.
"So where's the two-legged wonder?" Cera then asked rather indignantly.
"JASON is at one of the fruit trees picking food. He said he'd come and find us a little later," Littlefoot replied putting extra emphasis on Jason's name.
"Fine, whatever. Just as long as he doesn't breathe all over me if he's eating those disgusting fruits that taste like dried up treestars…yuck!" Cera said sharply and took off before Littlefoot could say another word. Ali glanced over to him and Littlefoot shrugged and quickly followed Cera's tracks into the woods with Ali bring up the rear.
They reached one of the clearing in the Tall Trees where Ducky, Petrie and Spike had already began chasing each other. Ducky then stopped suddenly and Petrie bumped into her having not looked where he was going.
"Hi Littlefoot and Ali!" she chirped from under Petrie.
"Hello Ducky! Hiya Petrie…Spike," Littlefoot greeted everyone in turn. Petrie picked himself up and perched on a low branch and Spike returned to his shrub after he nodded in acknowledgement.
"Does anyone know why all the herds are in the Green Meadow?" Littlefoot continued.
"I do not know. No, no, no!" Ducky said with a hand on her chest.
"Mama say that there trouble coming from one side of Valley," Petrie croaked from his branch.
"Trouble?" Ali and Cera said in unison.
"Yeah. Mama say that strange noises coming from far side of Valley down by Grazing Pasture. Since lots of noise down there, no visiting herds want to stay so they all move to Green Meadow instead."
"Strange noises?" Littlefoot said cautiously, "Noises like what?"
"Like strange moaning and creepy roars like sharpteeth!" Petrie said raising his stick-like fingers in the air to imitate some eerie creature floating on the breeze. The group gasped.
"Do you think that sharpteeth could be in the Valley?" Ducky asked nervously.
"I don't think so. I mean how could they possibly get in? The Great Wall's always kept them out and there's that massive hole that earthshake made a long time ago, remember?" Littlefoot said.
"But how could there be sharptooth sounds in the Valley if there aren't any sharpteeth around?" Ali asked which stumped the entire group. Everyone remained silent but it was quickly broken by a high-pitched squealing sound in their direction.
"What was that?" Cera said jumpily.
"Could it be that thing making all the noise?" Ali asked almost quivering. Littlefoot raised his head high to scan the woodland before hearing a male voice call his name followed by the sound again.
"Hey Littlefoot!" the voice called.
"It's Jason!" Littlefoot said breathing a sigh of relief. Jason came jogging up into the group from the forest path behind them.
"Hey gang! What's up?"
"Was that you making that noise?" Ducky asked greatly relieved that it wasn't what she was thinking of.
"Yeah why? Is something wrong?"
"What was it?" Ali asked in astonishment.
"It was just a whistle that's all. No big deal," Jason shrugged innocently.
"Whistle? That loud!" Petrie cawed in amazement.
"How'd you whistle so loud?" Littlefoot then asked.
"Well its kind of a human thing coz you need fingers," Jason explained, "you kind of just pusssh dor finkers in dor moouff dike dis…" Jason was now talking and demonstrating at the same time. He removed his fingers from his mouth and gave them a flick, "Once you've done that, you just blow." Jason then locked his fingers back in his mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle that most of them cringed at its sound; Spike flinched but carried on eating.
"Wow! That loud!" Petrie gaped as the echo slowly died, "Petrie try!" Petrie then tried to blow on his fingers but the group laughed as the only sound he could manage was a rude, slurping sort of noise that sounded hilariously funny.
"So anyway, what up? Why all the serious faces?" Jason said once the laughter had quietened down.
"We were talking about the problem," Cera said blandly.
"Problem? What problem?" Jason asked.
"The problem with the visiting herds," Littlefoot expanded being a little more helpful than Cera, "all the visiting herds who used to use the Grazing Pasture as a resting ground have all moved to the Green Meadow."
"So that would explain why all those migrating herds were all clustered up in the greens back there. Like Piccadilly Circus trying to cut through there."
"Pica-who?"
"Never mind Cera, so what's driven them all there anyway?"
"Mama say that weird sounds coming from somewhere around far side of Valley. That why herds move from Grazing Pasture," Petrie cawed again.
"Noises? Like what?"
"They say they sound like sharpteeth but we can't see how sharpteeth could get into the Valley," Littlefoot said.
"Hmm…and there're no other routes around either, are there?" Jason asked with his head resting on his hand in thought.
"Nope, there is not!" Ducky replied.
"And it's the far side of the Valley where the noise is coming from, right?"
"Uh huh. Where the bright circle go down at night time," Petrie nodded, "they say sound come from further than Grazing Pasture coz they sound like they move in the wind."
"What's down that far end of the Valley?" Jason asked pryingly.
"Nothing except…" Littlefoot began but stopped as something struck him, "The Forest of Fear…" Ducky flinched at the name as if it where a stone that hit her in the face.
"What's the Forest of Fear?" Ali then stepped in.
"It a dark, mysterious forest that no light get in! Some say that it is cursed and haunted so that anyone who enter never return!" Petrie croaked in a mystifying voice and was yet again twiddling his fingers over his head to increase the atmospheric description of his words.
"Unless your name is Littlefoot," Jason then said nudging him in the side with his elbow.
"What?" he said with a jump.
"Remember. You managed to escape twice didn't you? Once when you first met me and a time before that right?"
"Erm…yeah but…" Littlefoot stammered.
"Well, we could always go and investigate what's happening down there and see what the noises could possibly be."
"Are you crazy?" Cera blurted, "We can't go in there! We'd be…"
"What's wrong Cera? You scared?" Jason then lowered his face down to hers and glowered at her with a taunting expression etched into his face.
"…N…n-no! It's just that…we…could get…into a whole heap of trouble," she retorted in a very broken voice.
"Like that's stopped you guys before. Going to the Mysterious Beyond, exploring dangerous terrains, running from sharpteeth countless times and you're telling me you're worried about getting into trouble?" Cera didn't say anything.
"I don't know Jason I mean, what if we are caught. Our folks will have heard about it by now and they'll try to make sure we're safe so…" Littlefoot said trying not to take sides.
"I don't mean actually go into the forest. I remember when Grandpa had a go at you for going in and finding me in there. What I'm saying is that we could try to find some clues from outside. That couldn't do any harm could it?" No one could answer him.
"Well, I'm gonna go check it out," Jason said as he headed out of the clearing, "you guys do what you want and what ever you decide, it won't make me feel any littler of you, okay?"
"N…no…Jason wait!" Littlefoot called but Jason had already taken off leaving them staring at each other.
"What do we do now?" Ducky said hopelessly.
"Should we follow him?" Ali asked indecisively.
"He's nuts! And I say your nuts if you go after him," Cera snorted angrily.
"What you think Littlefoot?…Littlefoot?" Petrie called searching around for Littlefoot.
"Where'd he go now? Hey, and where's Spike?" Cera said following Petrie's glance. The four of them all turned to the path Jason had taken and they all saw Littlefoot and Spike heading after Jason who was waiting further down for them. With a squeal of surprise each, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Ali all sped off down the dusty path to follow the others down to the Forest of Fear.
Chapter 26: The Egg-Stealers' BarrageThe journey down into the Grazing Pasture was a cautious one as it seems so unnatural for such a large area that many visiting herds usually dwell in was eerily quiet and deserted. The group walked side by side warily just waiting for something to jump out from a bush or from behind a tree.
"Oww! Hey, Cera! That's my foot! Quit walking so close!" Jason whined limping slightly.
"Well don't put it down where I'm walking then!" Cera barked back quickly noticing that she was standing a little closer to Jason then she had realised.
"This place really creepy," Petrie gulped hiding behind Cera's neck shield.
"Yes it is! Yep, yep, yep," Ducky said nervously hugging Spike's neck a little tighter.
"I've never seen the Pasture so empty like this before," Littlefoot gasped.
"How much further to the Forest of Fear Littlefoot?" Ali asked from his left hand side.
"It's right on the edge of the Valley, just over those hills," he replied pointing his head over a number of hills on the skyline.
"The sooner we get this over with the better," Cera muttered.
Passing over the hills and through a small thicket, the group emerged on the far west side of the Valley where they stood in front of a deep, dense maze of trees that stood suspended in a barrier of darkness. No light from the sun high above seemed to penetrate the black that hung around the trees like an evil mist.
"The Forest of Fear…" Ducky gasped. Everyone stood next to one another and all exchanged concerned glances.
"What now?" Petrie said.
"Well, it doesn't seem like anything's wrong," Jason said diagnostically, "I can't hear a thing."
"Me neither," Littlefoot added.
"So what then? We came all this way for nothing?" Cera said with increasing anger.
"Looks like it," Ali said strangely mesmerised by the forest.
"Hang on a sec. Let's spread out a see if we can find anything," Jason said quickly as the group started to shuffle a little irritated. The group split up into pairs (Petrie went in a three with Ducky and Spike) and wandered around the forest. Not one of them dared to enter the supposedly bewitched woodland just in case they weren't as lucky as Littlefoot had been twice before.
"Hey Littlefoot."
"Huh? Ali?"
"Do you think there really is something in there making all that noise like Petrie said?"
"Well, me and Jason had to run from some egg-stealers that were in there but apart from that, I don't think there's much else."
"Do you think they're still in there?
"I don't know. I hope not otherwise everyone in the Valley will be worried about egg-stealers being around."
"There were egg-stealers in there and you actually got away!"
"Yeah. Jason helped me. That forest is also the place where I met him for the first time!"
"You FOUND Jason in there!" Ali's eyes widened and she looked around at Jason arguing with Cera with great sense of dread and then turned back to Littlefoot.
"Yeah, why?" Littlefoot looked a little taken aback. The look he received from Ali almost knocked him over.
"You trusted him even when he came from that weird and creepy forest!"
"Well…yeah, I guess. But he's not a dinosaur or anything so what's the big deal?"
"How could you trust some strange creature you've never seen before and that come from such a bad place!"
"He didn't come from the forest though! He said he's from the future so he must be!"
"He SAID he did, but what if he didn't! What if he had a whole herd in there waiting to attack the Great Valley! What would you do then?"
"Wha…! You…you don't know what you're talking about! Jason was the only one in that forest and he help me escape! He saved me! How could you say that! What's gotten into you?"
Ali suddenly fell silent and dropped her head. Littlefoot, breathing hard, looked around to see if their quarrel had caught anyone's attention but once he saw no one had turned to them, he gazed at Ali's sorrowful face.
"Look. I…I didn't mean to get angry but…" Littlefoot stopped and sighed, "I don't understand why you think Jason's so bad…he really isn't. He's like a brother to me just like Spike is a brother to Ducky."
"But Spike is actually a dinosaur, he's not…I'm…I'm sorry but…I just can't trust him Littlefoot. I keep feeling that he's going to do something terrible to you and perhaps even the entire Great Valley."
"But why would he want to do something like that Ali? I trust Jason since he has saved me and others before. If he'd want to harm any of us, why would he share stories and play with us and help us out in times of trouble?" Ali lowered her head again to break contact from Littlefoot's pleading eyes.
"Ali. Didn't anything Jason say to you last night sink in?"
"Well…yes some did but…I just can't shake off this feeling he's going to hurt you Littlefoot. If not him, he'll get you into so much trouble you'll never be the same. I…" she stopped suddenly as if she had already said too much. Littlefoot blinked at her curiously urging her to continue.
"I don't want him to change you Littlefoot…I don't want him to do you any harm…"
"Then believe me…Jason would never do such a thing. I believe he is here to help us, to be our friend. All he needs is a chance…you'll see." As they scoured the rest of the perimeter of the forest, Ali and Littlefoot said nothing to each other but occasionally gazed at each other.
After a few minutes worth of searching around for clues, everyone regrouped where they had started and reported their findings.
"Anyone find anything?" Jason said rather eminently.
"Nope, not a thing," Littlefoot stated.
"Petrie? Ducky? Spike?" he turned to the third group.
"We no find anything," Petrie said flopping down on Spike's back.
"The only thing we did find was a plant with a pretty flower but Spike eated it," Ducky said.
"Humph! I told you this search was pointless. What a waste of time!" Cera grunted barging past Jason.
"Okay, okay, so we didn't find anything. C'mon, let's get out of here," Jason sighed as he swung his bag onto his back almost catching Littlefoot in the face.
Over the hills and back towards the Grazing Pasture, the group trudged homeward without anyone saying anything. Ducky and Petrie had dozed off on Spike's back as he pulled up loose tufts of grass from the sandy path to snack on. Littlefoot was walking with his eyes fixed on the ground. He was thinking about what Ali had said about Jason and her inability to give him even an ounce of her trust. Why was she so worried that Jason would want to do anything to harm him? Jason seemed noble and trustworthy yet Ali felt that there was something about him that would change him. Even if he did, change him how? How could one person make him feel any different to how he was right now? Ali's criticisms didn't make sense. What could Jason possibly be hiding? That is if he was hiding anything at all since he had been so open with all of them. He was never afraid to tell them stories and tales about his life in the future. Why would he make up such a lie in order to get to know him?
"You all right?" he heard a voice whisper in his ear.
"Huh? Oh, Jason…it's you…" Littlefoot said as he raised his head.
"You look a little worried about something. You sure you're feeling okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Jason smiled warmly and Littlefoot copied him. Once Jason had broken eye contact, Littlefoot dropped his head again and returned to his thoughts.
Before long, the tired group found themselves approaching the Grazing Pasture and its deserted nature that made it eerie. Ducky and Petrie stretched and yawned from on top Spike as the group slowed down to a halt to rest for a while. The sky was starting to show glowing oranges and reds of the fading afternoon and the group wandered around for something to eat having gone the best part of the day without any besides breakfast. Jason sat down alone in the middle of the pasture and delved into his bag to pull out some of the fruits he had feasted on this morning whilst the others roamed to the bordering trees to grab some low hanging treestars. Breaking one of the fruits open, Jason looked around at the scattered group until his eyes came to rest finally on Littlefoot. He seemed very isolated and gloomy compared to his normal happy and bouncy nature. Jason began to wonder if perhaps he had done something to upset him. Maybe he had been a little too bossy and bullied everyone into coming with him to investigate the Forest of Fear. He sighed and took another bite out of the brightly coloured, orange flesh of the fruit that almost resembled the early evening sky.
Everyone, once full, turned back to the spot where Jason was eating as he stood up and brushed the cracked shell of the fruit off his jeans.
"Aw! Yuck! What's that smell?" Cera gagged as she sniffed the air and caught the scent of something bad. She suddenly snapped a menacing gaze at Jason after fanning her nose.
"Wha! Don't look at me! I didn't do it!" Jason flapped in defence.
"Erm…Jason…"
"Yes Ducky?"
"Um…that smell IS you I am afraid," Ducky said with he fingers plugging her bell-shaped nose.
"Me! Wha…what'd I do?"
"It's not you exactly Jason," Littlefoot said with his face turned away from him, "it's those fruits…they smell really bad…" Jason looked stunned but quickly held a hand over his mouth to smell his breath.
"Oh…Uck! Ooh man! Gee whiz! Why didn't you tell me this things give you bad breath?" he choked and sputtered as the smell burned his nose and he felt his stomach suddenly lurch, "Oh…man…I think I'm gonna be sick!" Jason suddenly threw his bag down, ran for the bushes and dove his head over one so all that could be seen was his legs stick out of the greenery. The group rolled over and laughed so hard they were almost in tears. When Jason's head emerged a little while later, extremely off-colour, he strolled back to his bag holding his stomach gingerly. He smiled to see the group suddenly burst out laughing again and he bent down to pick up one of the fruits that had rolled out of the top compartment of his bag.
"Yuck…okay. I'm definitely sticking to treestars!" Jason announced as he chucked the fruit into the trees in disgust which made the group laugh even harder. Jason smiled and sniggered at his friends rolling on the grass in fits of laughter. He had learned his lesson about experimenting with new fruits without checking them over with the locals first.
As the laughter continued, Jason saw a flash from out of the corner of his eye. Reacting to it in a split second, Jason turned to see what had just flicked across his vision. He gaped at the sky as a blue lightening bolt shot out from a growing mass of black clouds that began clustering over the hills they had just walked over. Everyone's laughter suddenly died as another lightening flash tore across the skyline like a writhing snake moving at the speed of light. Everybody stood transfixed on the abnormal storm cloud that grew bigger and bigger as more blue lightening crash from out of it and crackled like stray electricity. The winds picked up and blew in their faces blinding them with dust and loose leaves as the storm continued.
"What's going on?" Cera cried trying to make herself heard over the roaring winds.
"I don't know! It looks like a storm of sky-water," Littlefoot bellowed.
"Could it be the whirling winds?" Ducky called nervously trying desperately to cling onto Spike.
"No. That's no ordinary storm you guys! If it was, why would there be no rain?" Jason called shielding his eyes from the dust with his arm.
"Look!" Ali cried as the winds died down. Everyone stared up at the sky and saw the underside of the clouds glow a sea-blue that flickered like a faulty light bulb. The flickering light was quickly followed by a loud thud and the crackling of the blue lightening soon faded.
Once the supernatural storm had subsided, the group gazed over at the area where it had all taken place.
"What was that all about?" Cera asked slightly worried.
"I've never seen a storm like that before. Why was everything so blue?" Littlefoot said dumbstruck.
"What do you think happened? Is it all over?" Ali said peering over Littlefoot's shoulder at the place where the storm had occurred.
"It sure look like it," Petrie cawed from underneath Spike as he was blown off of his back and managed to clamber under to grab hold of his legs.
"Strange…" Jason said with a soft, interested tone to his voice.
"Jason?" Littlefoot said turning to him. He was stunned to see Jason gazing unfocused on the now disintegrated storm clouds.
"What is the matter Jason?" Ducky asked also looking at Jason's vacant expression of inquisitiveness.
"Huh? Oh, nothing…" Jason blinked and shook his head to snap out of his trance.
"What was that Jason?" Littlefoot asked him.
"I…do not…know…" Jason said dreamily without turning to meet Littlefoot's eyes.
"Are we in danger here?" Ali quickly added. Jason shook his head slowly with looking at her. His mind was clearly wandering elsewhere. Everyone glanced at everyone else confused by Jason's inane expression. He seemed mesmerised by the storm as if hypnotised.
"Jason, are you okay?" Ducky asked warily.
"Huuummm…oh yeah, yeah I'm fine," Jason said tapping the side of his head lightly as if to knock the thoughts out of his ear, "think those nasty fruits have gone to my head."
The group was gripped by an uneasy silence. They all stood gazing over to where the storm had been. Suddenly, they all jerked as they felt the ground tremble fiercely.
"Aaahhh! Earthshake!" Petrie cried taking to the air. The group panicked but Jason looked up at the hills and saw something like a patch of black dust charging down one of the hills.
"Uh oh! It's not an earthquake but it's pretty close!" he said with a quivering voice as the rumbling began to get louder.
"What in the world do you mean by that!" Cera exclaimed angrily.
"It's not an earthquake…it's a STAMPEDE!"
"A what?!" the group cried anxiously.
"No time to explain! We gotta…!" Jason gasped halfway through speaking as the thundering footsteps of a fleet of egg-stealing dinosaurs was visible charging down the final hill before the Grazing Pasture.
"Run for it!!!" Jason yelled and sped off, scooping his bag up as he past it. With shrieks and squeals, the rest of the gang followed Jason as the egg-stealers continued to sprint towards them. The group ran, panic-stricken, through the Grazing Pasture to reach the Tall Trees to seek refuse there from the approaching herd. They charged headlong across the open field, which seemed a whole lot wider as they were being chased by a barrage of stampeding egg-stealers, the Tall Trees came into view. Ducky gazed back to look at the moving sea of dinosaurs appearing over the hill they had just climbed and were now on the next. She screamed as they slowly began catching up with them.
"Faster! Faster!" Littlefoot cried as he overtook Cera.
"They're gaining on us!" Ali shrieked glancing back at the fast approaching rampage.
"Don't look back Ali!" Jason shouted.
"The Tall Trees!" Cera called as she sprinted onwards.
"Quick! Everyone inside!" Jason commanded as he dived over a low hedge into the woods. Littlefoot, Cera and Spike (carrying Petrie and Ducky) followed Jason and leapt into the bushes. Jason gasped horrified as he looked back to see Ali had stumbled and fallen down. The rumble of the stampede was drawing closer and was almost on top of them. Dropping his bag, Jason hopped over the bush and ran to grab Ali.
"Jason, no!" Littlefoot called after him and was about to jump out into the field but Spike had grabbed him by the tail.
"Let go of me!" he squirmed.
"No Littlefoot! You can't go out there!" Cera said breathlessly. Littlefoot stopped thrashing and stopped to look as he saw Jason still heading for Ali.
"C'mon Jason. Hurry!"
Jason skidded to a halt next to Ali and quickly helped her to her feet.
"Ali! Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" Ali said puffing hard then she cringed with pain as she put pressure on her left foot.
"What's wrong?"
"My…my ankle…" she said hopelessly dangling her front, left foot limply, "Go on, leave me…save yourself…"
"No, you're coming with me! Just…try and hold on to my backpack and I'll try carrying you to the woods."
"I don't think you…"
"C'mon Ali! There's no time to argue. Just stand on your hind legs and place your front ones on my back. Just try to walk as best you can!"
"……………………………………"
"Well, c'mon! Let's go!" Jason urged desperately. Ali blinked for a second and then lifted her front feet onto Jason's shoulders. Jason buckled slightly under her incredible weight but then trudged as fast as he could over to the Tall Trees where everyone stood waiting anxiously.
"Hurry up! Come on! Quickly!" the crowd yelled through the trees as the stampede came charging up the hillside. Jason struggled with Ali as his legs ached under Ali's weight pressed on his back. He gritted his teeth in pain as his muscles wanted to give in but he begged his body to keep moving.
"Almost…there…Ali!" he strained as sweat slid down his face and dripped off his chin. Ali was trying her hardest to balance and walk on her hind legs as it was a very difficult angle for her to try and move at; particularly for a four-legged dinosaur. Still, the two of them inched closer and closer to the Tall Trees where everyone was flapping frantically. The stampede was almost upon them when Jason reached the bushes where Cera, Littlefoot and Spike had grabbed any part of Jason they could and hauled him into the safety of the sheltered woods as the rampaging egg-stealers charged headlong off into the distance.
Jason collapsed on the ground, breathing hard as Ali flopped down next to Littlefoot and winced at the pain radiating through her foot.
"Oww…my foot."
"What is wrong Ali?" Ducky said as Petrie fanned Jason with a wing.
"My foot really hurts…I…I can't move it!" she complained as she hissed in pain again.
"You've probably twisted it," Jason said calmly sitting up and thanking Petrie at the same time. He got up and walked over to her and took her foot in his hand where she winced again. "Yeah. You've strained the ligaments in your ankle. It's not serious, don't worry."
"I can't stand on it though," Ali protested as she tried to get up but quickly flopped back down again.
"Take it easy. If you rush yourself you'll make it worse." Littlefoot looked up into the field to see where the egg-stealers had run to but they had disappeared from sight.
"Where'd you think those egg-stealers will go?" he asked.
"I don't know but I think the grown-ups will have something to say about it," Cera replied.
"What we do now?" Petrie cawed still fanning Jason as he fell back down heavily and was still sweating.
"THERE you children are?" a motherly voice called down on top of all seven of them.
"Grandma!" Littlefoot and Jason called together.
"We were so worried about all of you. Have you been here all this time?" she sighed relieved to see them safe and sound. She was closely followed by the rest of their relatives. There was a great chatter that filled the clearing and everyone was glad that they didn't have to answer Grandma Longneck's question because they all had the same thought in mind which was to lie and that would have made them all feel incredibly guilty.
Greeted by warm hugs and nose rubs, everyone glanced at each other worryingly through their parents' welcomes.
"Erm…Grandpa? Did you see them erm…" Jason began but Grandpa looked down on him with an expression that assured him that all was well.
"The egg-stealers have all be rounded up and forced out into the Mysterious Beyond."
"But won't they return?" Littlefoot looked up from hugging his grandmother's nose, "I thought you always said that sharpteeth could never get into the Valley so wouldn't that mean that they couldn't get out either?"
"No need to worry Littlefoot. Thanks to the threehorns and spiketail herds, they managed to seal the way out that only us grown-ups know about."
"There's a secret entrance?" Littlefoot said with excitement, "where?"
"Like we said Littlefoot, it's for grown-ups only," Grandpa chuckled, "now, time you young ones had some dinner. Come. I know just the spot where everyone can eat." Grandpa Longneck signalled for everyone to follow him. Littlefoot quickly turned to Ali but saw her mother pick her up and place her on her back.
Once Ali's mother had Ali safely on board, everyone followed Grandpa Longneck out of the Tall Trees to the awaiting treestars and the approaching night.
Chapter 27: Tales and Evils of MankindThe inky black sky quickly swept over the Great Valley as the gang sat around a small fire Jason had started using some matches and dry wood from a dying pine tree. Everyone was slightly worried about Jason starting a fire on a dirt patch in the middle of the field but Jason assured them that he had it under control and despite earlier discrepancies, the elders allowed all six of them to sit around the crackling flames. Ali was taken home after Jason explained that she should keep off of her injured ankle as much as possible in order to help it heal. The meal they enjoyed under the stars and moonlight was quickly followed by stories of more adventures Littlefoot and his friends had gone on. Jason then swiftly took the floor by telling scary tales he had heard from his own time from films that he used to watch.
"And then, she slowly turned the corner and found herself staring down a deserted hall. The windows rattled and eerie shadows were scattered all up the walls showing weird, twisted shapes that looked like some mutant creature was gonna pounce out from the darkness!" Jason made a short lunge at the group which made Ducky fall backwards off Spike.
"What happened next Jason?" Littlefoot said excitedly.
"So, she began slowly walking down the dark, narrow corridor. Her footsteps clapped loudly against the wooden floor as they creaked and groaned underneath. The wind howled menacingly outside like a ghost circling the house, watching her every move." Jason paused to savour the sheer look of terror on Cera's face.
"W-what! What are you staring at?" she barked annoyed.
"Oh! Nothing," Jason said sweetly trying hard to suppress the growing grin spreading across his face as Cera hung on his every word.
"Well, get on with it!" she snapped impatiently.
"Okay, okay! Anyway, as she past one window after another, she stopped as the shadows shook suddenly as if someone had brushed past the twisted trees outside. Someone…or something…
In a panic she looked left and right to see what had moved but she couldn't see much since there was no light apart from the moonlight seeping in through the dirty windows. After finding nothing, she continued to stroll down the dark passage until she came to a door at the other end."
"What that?" Petrie quickly jumped in.
"Petrie! Quit interrupting! We wanna hear the rest of the story," Cera complained as Petrie had been constantly asking about human objects that none of them knew about but didn't want to stop the flow of the story.
"It's a big, flat piece of wood that blocks off one room to the next. Like how the trees section off this field from the Green Meadow. Understand?"
"OH! Me geddit!…me think?" Petrie replied scratching his head.
"Go on Jason," Littlefoot said giggling at Petrie's perplexity.
"So, she reached for the handle and…"
"Erm Jason. What a…"
"PETRIE!!!"
"Okay, me sorry! Me no ask."
"As I was saying. So, she reached cautiously for the handle and was just about to turn it when a loud whistle of the wind ran around the house and suddenly from behind, the windows smashed and shards of glass were thrown everywhere!" The group jumped as Jason raised his voice at this point. Cera gasped so much that she began choking on the smoke from the fire having accidentally inhaled some.
"Are you okay Cera?" Ducky asked clambering onto Spike's back again after falling off for a fourth time.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"What did she do then Jason?" Littlefoot said completely immersed in the suspense.
"She quickly turned around to see what had broken the windows but the whole area was silent. Only the wind that blew the net curtains softly could be heard." Petrie opened his beak to say something but everyone threw him a threatening look so he quickly shut it again.
"The corridor was eerily quiet. Nothing made a sound so she turned back to the door and slowly turned the door handle. It clicked noisily and the rusty hinges creaked as the door swung open to reveal a spiral staircase leading down into the depths of the mansion. Taking a torch from the wall…a flaming stick Petrie…"
"Oh…okay," he said a little guiltily.
"She walked down the stairs and down to a large oak door. Pushing with all her might, the door opened and she peered inside." Jason had now lowered his voice to a soft whisper that forced the gang to lean in closer.
"On the other side of the door was a dark room and to her horror, she found that it was full of coffins just like the one in her boyfriend's room after he disappeared. They were lying everywhere, all over the place. She walked over to one of the coffins and slowly pushed back the lid…"
"W-what was in t-there?" Ducky asked in a quivering voice. Spike's eyes were wide with fear and anticipation.
"Nothing…"
"Nothing?" Cera blurted out confused, "there was nothing in there at all?"
"Hang on I'm getting to it! As she tried to investigate the coffin, she noticed a small piece of paper with some writing on it. She picked it up and began reading it. It was a note from her boyfriend and at the very bottom it read, 'GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN! RUN BEFORE THEY GET YOU!' She dropped the note gasping and started backing away from the coffin. But she didn't get very far when she backed into something. As she bumped into it, she felt something drip onto her shoulder. As turned around and she suddenly screamed."
"Wha…What was it?" Littlefoot jumped in surprise as Jason suddenly raised his voice from the soft whisper and leapt up.
"She was looking straight into the soul-sucked eyes of the flesh-eating zombie that had seized all of guests one by one. She struggled to get free and managed to topple the hideous monster in her thrashing. She ran for the door but it had closed behind her and it wouldn't open. As she struggled with the door, loud crashing noises suddenly erupted from behind her. She gasped in horror as she saw more zombies forcing their way out of the wooden coffins and started heading right for her!"
"Why doesn't she run?" Cera cried.
"There was nowhere to go! Zombies to her left, zombies to her right. Everywhere, zombies dragged their horribly mangled and diseased bodies over to her where they were ready to feast on her living flesh! They were now upon her and were about to…"
"OKAY! STOP! STOP!!!"
"What the matter Cera?" Petrie asked slightly trembling.
"That's enough. That's just going too far now!" Cera shouted.
"Hey! What's wrong Cera? I thought you weren't afraid of scary stories," Jason said calmly but added a sarcastic tone to his words.
"I'm not but…your…just getting way too nasty now!" she squealed shaking her head trying to get rid of the mental picture she had just created.
"Oh c'mon Cera! We wanna hear the end of the story," Littlefoot complained.
"Maybe I'd better stop, you know. Just in case I give you guys nightmares," Jason sighed.
"Oh! But I was enjoying it," Littlefoot whined.
"Sorry pal. Better I don't tell you the rest for tonight. Don't want to be responsible for any of you having sleepless nights for the next month."
"Oh we would not want that! Oh no, no, no!" Ducky said a little relieved that Jason had decided to stop. Spike nodded in agreement.
"So all those zombie things were created by one human?" Littlefoot asked wanting to develop on the story and remained relatively unphased.
"Uh huh. One man made a virus that spread amongst the guests of the mansion and they all turned into flesh-eating zomb…" Jason paused as he saw Cera's face go incredibly pale at the mere mentioning of the words "zombie" and "flesh-eating".
"Wow! I can't believe someone would do such a thing like that," Littlefoot continued.
"Yeah, I know. That was a story from a film shown a long time ago. None of it was real of course but strangely enough, a few decades down the line, a virus just like it spread out over London and killed nearly everyone."
"You mean, something like this has actually happened?"
"I'm afraid so Littlefoot. A virus escaped from a transportation pod travelling somewhere up north. The pod was destroyed and the virus got out and infected thousands of people. I was safe because I happened to be in one of the only places that couldn't possibly be infected."
"Where was that?" Ducky asked softly.
"The building that actually created the damn thing in the first place," Jason said, his tone becoming angry. Everyone looked at each other in awe.
"So, you escaped the illness?" Littlefoot asked cautiously just in case Jason became enraged by his question.
"Yeah. Me and my mother did. My brother and sister caught it and they didn't get better; even after they had been given the supposed cure of the virus. They said that it had mutated and changed form whilst they were receiving the treatment. They died alongside so many others. God it was horrible! Just seeing so many people lying dead in the streets and burning in wrecked vehicles after losing consciousness and crashing. All of that just because one man had some stupid ambition no one else knew about. He infected my hometown, the country and maybe even the entire world with his "creation" and now the human race lies in ruins."
"Well, I think your all pretty dumb for making such a thing if it's only gonna make you all sick," Cera barked indignantly.
"Humans are just like that Cera. We're so consumed by greed and our own self-consciousness to success and thrive that we'd forgotten our natural roots. Humans don't live like how dinosaurs or any other creature does. Humans don't eat treestars or drink from flowing streams. We evolved and developed and strayed from the path of nature and tried to fight against it. In the end, nature overpowered us and showed us the error of our ways but causing our own work to backfire upon us." Jason sighed heavily and the group fell silent.
"We were so foolish to do such a thing and it wasn't until our species nearly became extinct that we finally realised that we should have never turned out backs on nature. This is the fate of my kind. We destroy everything we touch and so something finally came and nearly destroyed us…" On those words, the field became deathly quiet as no one knew what to say as a response. Before anyone could utter a word, the gang heard calls from their parents. It was time for bed.
As the group split up and everyone wished each other a goodnight, Littlefoot and Jason walked back home alongside their grandparents whose great thundering steps shook the ground slightly.
"Jason. Is it true what you said that humans destroy everything they touch?" Littlefoot asked Jason softly as they approached home. Jason nodded without raising his head to meet Littlefoot's eyes.
"But you're not like that. You haven't destroy anything. In fact you've saved and helped more dinosaurs than you've hurt coz you haven't harmed anybody."
"Not just me specifically Littlefoot. It's humans in general. Humans don't like to accept things for how they are. They are constantly trying to find out how much something is worth if they cut it down and sell it off as some stupid ornament. Humans don't like to accept anything outside what they have already devised as normal. I mean, I didn't even know dinosaurs could talk and that's what I was taught at school; that dinosaurs are dumb animals with no intelligence, but as soon as I arrived here, you disproved all of that." Jason suddenly flicked his head up as if something had just struck him.
"Littlefoot, I'm telling you. Humans are too untrustworthy. Never trust another human okay?" Littlefoot looked at him completely shocked.
"But…but you're the only human here Jason and I trust you…" he stammered.
"Yeah well don't trust anyone else. You shouldn't even be trusting me come to think of it!"
"…Jason…" he blinked once or twice in disbelief.
"I'm…I'm sorry Littlefoot. I'm just getting really worked up. It's just that remembering all that bad stuff that happened back in the year 2113…it always comes back to haunt me. Everything is just so peaceful and tranquil here I just can't imagine something as terrible as that viral outbreak that happened then to happen here too."
"Don't worry Jason it won't; it can't!" Littlefoot assured him, "You're a great human Jason as a friend and like a brother…" Jason smiled at Littlefoot's words and wrapped his arm over his head.
"Thanks Littlefoot, that means a lot to me you know. You always know the right things to say."
"It's okay Jason. Anyway, we'd better catch up with Grandma and Grandpa." Jason looked up and realised that they had stopped and their grandparents had wandered up ahead, leaving them behind. With a quick dash, they rejoined them and soon found themselves settling down into their beds.