Disclaimer: I do not own The Land Before Time or any of its characters.
Chapter Two: Paradise Lost
Littlefoot's mother and grandparents are the last to leave the sheltering canyons. The rain that started to fall prevented them from leaving. The water burned their open sores like salt in a wound. It even had a funny taste. They still drank it after the heat during the night dehydrated them. Even leaving the canyon was difficult. They had to slowly climb over a few landslides to find the exit. Some piles of rubble had dinosaur limbs sticking out. The poor creatures were crushed to death as the earthquakes rolled through. It took all of their stamina to leave.
Nothing prepared them for the devastation outside of the sheltering canyons. They couldn't believe their own eyes. It went as far as the eye could see. Littlefoot's mother starts to call out for Bron, hoping he's within earshot.
"Bron!" Littlefoot's mother loudly called out. "Bron, are you out there! Bron!"
Her parents are distraught after seeing a few bodies chewed apart by a sharptooth. They hear their daughter calling out and are afraid it'll attract unwanted attention.
"Shhh, please don't yell," Littlefoot's grandmother whispered. "The Sharptooth from last night might still be in the area."
"I'm sorry. I just want to find him before we leave. To make sure he's still...alive," Littlefoot's mother whispered back.
"He's still alive. Bron is a tough longneck," Littlefoot's grandfather assured. "He may have left with the rest of the herd looking for us."
"And we should do the same. We'll need the protection of the herd to fight off that large sharptooth," Littlefoot's grandmother chimed in, trying to sound hopeful.
"Fine," Littlefoot's mother deeply sighed.
Littlefoot's mother looks into the distance at charred tree trunks strewn about. She hopes to find Bron and the herd before The Sharptooth finds them alone and out in the open. They grab a few toasted treestar leaves on the way out to quiet their rumbling stomachs.
As the trio wander away from the area, Bron is underground in the tunnels searching for the hole he accidentally slid into. As he rounds a bend, an aftershock rolls through the area. It's not as strong as the earthquake during the night. It still causes him to stop walking as a bunch of rocks start to shake loose near the entrance. Bron watches as the boulders fill in the only known way out of the cave. He desperately tries to clear the way but isn't strong enough to move the biggest rocks. Bron eventually tires himself out. The boulders are too large for one individual to move. Defeated, he wanders back into the main chamber.
Back in the sunken grotto, Bron starts to ask the rainbowfaces questions about other ways out.
"Of course there are other exits," the rainbowface replied. "You're just too big to fit through them."
"How did he manage to fit through the main entrance anyway?" another rainbowface whispers in astonishment.
"So I'm stuck in here?" Bron asked.
"Appears that way," the rainbowface said. "Don't worry. We'll clear the rocks out in a couple of days."
"I sure hope my family doesn't worry too much about my absence," Bron says in a worried tone.
Pterano and his sister find their way to the main chamber Bron is hanging out in. They followed the voices hoping to find other flyers who survived the disaster. They squeeze through one of the crevasses leading into the main chamber. Pterano startles nearby rainbowfaces as he helps his sister through. They're surprised to see two flyers so far underground.
"Oh great, there's two more," a rainbowface in the background exclaimed.
Pterano and Petrie's mother notice the longneck in the cavern as they search for other flyers. No luck. It's just a cavern with one longneck and a few strange rainbowfaces. They help themselves to the cool water in the center. The siblings try not to bother the young longneck just in case he's in an agitated mood. They wander to a dark corner to talk about the previous night. Little did the siblings know, they picked a corner that bounced sound back into the main chamber. Bron listens in to their conversation just because it was difficult to block out.
"What are we going to do, sis?" Pterano quickly asks. "Other than this cavern, there's nowhere else to go."
"We'll think of something, Pterano. We always do. We're flyers," Petrie's mother said, trying to keep her brother calm.
"This time is different. Everything was on fire the last time we checked," Pterano replies, with a hint of fear in his voice.
Bron decided to speak up.
"Did you say everything was on fire?" Bron asked, quite puzzled.
"Yes," Pterano quickly replied. "Even the threehorns and longnecks."
"What!" Bron yelled out.
"Pterano!" Petrie's mother snapped back.
She glares at Pterano for not having more grace in breaking the news to the longneck. He decides it's time to shut his beak and let sis do the talking. Her screech echoed through the cavern for a few seconds.
"I'm sorry, longneck," Petrie's mother softly replied. "The outside world has been set ablaze. A wall of hot dirt fell upon the land."
"That can't be true. When I fell into this cavern it was still lush," Bron said in disbelief.
A couple of rainbowface scouts come through the same crevice Pterano and his sister squeezed through. They hear the three talking about the outside world.
"The flyers tell the truth," the rainbowface scout said.
"Devastation as far as the eye can see," the other rainbowface scout added. "There's nothing left but ash and bone. I'm sorry."
Bron doesn't believe it. He decides to take another crack at clearing the boulders at the entrance. A few rainbowfaces follow him as they can tell he's scared and panicking. The flyers feel bad and also follow Bron. They start to dig out of the cavern before another earthquake seals the entrance for good.
On the outside, far beyond their summer nesting grounds, there's devastation continuing to reveal itself over the horizon. Most of the rivers in the area became choked with the debris that fell from the sky overnight. The debris mixed in with the water to create deep mud pits in random areas. Some are even concealed with a thin layer of water over the surface, obscuring the dangers below. Herds of swimmers, thinking they can just walk on through, end up as the first becoming sucked in. Their herd members, and even a lone spiketail, try to help pull the struggling victims out. Unfortunately those helping end up stuck themselves. Struggling causes many of them to sink faster. Many are stuck up to their necks in thick mud that refuses to let go. The rest of the swimmer herd scatters as The Sharptooth stalking them is heard bellowing in the distance. He circles the swimmers and spiketail stuck in the mud, snapping his teeth at the closest body parts, looking for an easy meal without succumbing to the deep mud pit himself.
Rumors from the surviving flyers above tell the destruction and mud traps are everywhere and not just in an isolated part of the continent. Nowhere was safe except for the rare hidden grottoes and groves. Few of those have entrances big enough to allow the larger animals shelter from the elements. The longneck herd leader decides to ask one of the flyers for help.
"Excuse me, flyer. Can you point me to the closest refuge that'll fit my herd?" the longneck leader asked.
"There might be one in the southwest," the flyer replied. "We stopped there for a few days to rest. Great place! It should be no more than a few days' journey."
"Good luck on your journey!" another flyer chimed in as he flew by.
They fly off as the herd leader tries to ask for clarification of the travel time.
"Is that in flying time or walking...time?" the longneck leader asked as the flyers disappeared. She's annoyed by their sudden departure without further information.
"At least the place exists," a longneck herd member spoke up.
"Let's hope we find it," the leader replies, "and that we all fit."
In the distance, Littlefoot's family can be seen. They've caught up within viewing distance of the herd. They walk at a brisk pace to relative safety. Littlefoot's mother looks around for any sign of Bron.
"Is there a longneck named Bron among the herd?" she desperately asked.
"No, sorry," a nearby longneck replied.
Littlefoot's mother is still upset he's nowhere to be found. Her parents assure her he's still out there.
"We'll find him, my dear," Littlefoot's grandmother said.
"I sure hope so…," Littlefoot's mother quietly responded.
A few days later, the hidden cavern entrance was dug out. The new hole is barely big enough to fit Bron. It's unstable, so the group hurries to help him squeeze through to the other side. Pterano and Petrie's mother help pull as the rainbowfaces help with the pushing. Bron digs at the bare ground with his front feet to pull himself out. He makes it through with a few minor cuts and scrapes.
"I'd like to bring my family back if that's okay," Bron said to the rainbowfaces.
The rainbowfaces didn't know how to tell the longneck they all wouldn't fit. Thankfully, they didn't need to as an aftershock caved in the hole for a second time. This time more material falls in to seal the hole permanently. Bron, Pterano and his sister are stuck on the outside while the rainbowfaces are safe on the inside. The rainbowfaces yelled and shouted through the debris, hoping Bron could hear them as they recited the directions to The Great Valley.
"There's a better place for you and your family," the rainbowface loudly said. "The Great Valley."
"Follow the bright circle past the rock that looks like a longneck. Oh and past the mountains that burn," the other rainbowface shouted, hoping Bron would hear through the stone debris.
"Um...thank you for the help," Bron replied in a puzzled tone.
Bron wanders away from the cave wondering if The Great Valley is a real place. He's heard the stories for a couple of months now. Most of his herd, along with the other herds, have written it off as a fairy tale. A mythical land so far away it's beyond the horizon. The flyer siblings shrug as they watch Bron meander off in thought.
Once Bron leaves the maze-like canyon, he notices the flyers and rainbowfaces weren't exaggerating about the destruction. There really was only ash and bone, and a whole bunch of bodies, as far as the eye could see. Even the sky has changed from a deep blue to the color of soot and sand. The sunlight that manages to penetrate the thick atmosphere is a dingy orange. Pterano and his sister are quite upset they were locked out of the sunken grotto with Bron. They quickly checked the cave they were taking shelter in to find a way back in. They noticed a landslide from the earthquakes filled the hole with no hope of digging it out.
"Of course this has to happen to us," Pterano sarcastically said.
"Maybe there's another hidden entrance somewhere," Petrie's mother said.
"No, it would be a grand waste of time," Pterano stated. "The food all burned away and the water's no good. The rainbowfaces might not even let us back in. We need to move on."
Bron watches as the siblings fly into the dusty horizon. He's left behind and suddenly realizes he's truly alone for the first time in his life. There are tracks left behind from the longneck herd leading into the direction of where the flyers went. He decides to follow as there's no other option left. Staying would mean guaranteed starvation.
Author Notes: Another chapter completed and more of the devastation revealed. Also more of the rainbowfaces. They'll pop up in the story from time to time.