Turbulent of Misfortune
Shortly after Grandpa and Grandma Longneck had left, the ground began to shake from heavy footfalls. Aylene looked over and saw a large shadow coming towards the nesting ground. It took her a second to realize who it was.
"Doc?"
The old Diplodocus walked up towards the group.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"We're fine, Doc." Elaine replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. You know that a little earthquake never hurt me."
"Yes, of course."
"Well, that's good." Littlefoot sighed with relief. "Still, I wouldn't call that earthquake little."
"No kidding." Derek said. "And it just came out of nowhere."
Doc narrowed his eyes pensively.
"That's just the thing," he said suspiciously. "Something about that earthquake was off."
"What do you mean?" Littlefoot asked.
"I can't quite explain it, but I've experienced many earthquakes in my lifetime. They all range in destructive power, but they all follow the same pattern. But not this one."
Upon hearing that, Aylene brought her hand up to her chin and thought for a moment.
"Now that you mention it," she mumbled, "it was kind of strange. While earthquakes do happen out of nowhere, but there's usually a build-up to it. But this one…It was like the earth just shook."
"Well, earthquakes happen when the tectonic plates below shift and change." Derek explained. "But for this one, it's more like the surface just shook for no reason. There was no build-up, no warning, nothing. It just…shook."
Littlefoot blinked in half-confusion. Once again, Derek was using vocabulary so foreign that the long-neck didn't understand much of what he was said. He looked up at Doc with an expression that asked if he understood what the humans were saying. Doc simply looked down at Littlefoot with his classic stoic face, and just shrugged.
Luckily for both of the Sauropods, they had spent enough time with humans to pick up a little bit of the vernacular they were speaking.
"So, you're basically saying that this wasn't a normal earthquake." Littlefoot said to the humans.
"Yeah, basically." Aylene answered. "We should check on the rest of the Valley. I got a bad feeling about this one."
"We'll do that tomorrow." Elaine said. "Grandma and Grandpa Longneck are already checking on everyone. Besides, it'll be morning soon. We might as well get some sleep in the meantime."
"That sounds like the best idea for now." Doc said. "I'll come back in the morning."
Without another word, Doc turned around and walked away.
"Doc, wait!" Littlefoot called out.
"Don't worry, Littlefoot." Elaine smiled. "This is normal for him. To be honest, I'm glad he hasn't changed that much."
"Anyway, Grandma's right." Derek yawned. "We'll rally the Gang and investigate this in the morning. But right, I for one am too tired to think about this any further."
"Okay." Aylene sighed heavily. She hated to admit it, but she was still feeling tired, too. Not to mention, the sudden scare from the earthquake made her even more exhausted.
The best thing that she and the others could do was rest up for tomorrow.
The very next day, Littlefoot, Aylene, and Derek rounded up the Gang to talk about what happened last night. While they did that, Elaine went to check on Doc again.
Aylene rode on Littlefoot's back as the two of them went to get Cera and the twins. Derek went on foot to find Ducky, Spike, and Petrie. The plan was to meet up at the clubhouse so they could discuss about what happened last night.
After they had talked to Cera, Littlefoot and Aylene began to make their way to the clubhouse. Cera had told them to go on ahead because she was now under restriction, and had to talk to her father before she went off on her own again. While her punishment wasn't as severe as it could've been thanks to Derek's intervention, she wasn't let off the hook completely either, much to her annoyance.
"So, what do you think?" Littlefoot asked.
"About Cera's predicament?" Aylene questioned.
"No," Littlefoot shook his head, "about that earthquake last night. What do you think caused it?"
"I really don't know." Aylene shrugged. "All I know is that it wasn't like any normal earthquake."
"Well, if you don't know, and Derek and your grandmother don't know, then how are we going to figure it out?"
"I'm sure we'll come up with something."
It was then that both Littlefoot and Aylene began to hear the sounds of worried murmurs. Curious, they followed the sounds, and soon found themselves walking towards a group of adult plant eaters. Among them was Littlefoot's grandparents, Cera's father, and Petrie's mother. They were all standing around a large watering hole.
Or rather, what was left of a large watering hole.
To Aylene and Littlefoot's shock, all of the water in the pond was completely dried up.
"This is serious, Longneck." Topps said to Grandpa Longneck. "What could make the watering place dry up like this?"
"Hmm," Grandpa Longneck frowned thoughtfully, "perhaps last night's earthquake moved it under the ground."
The theory set off a chain reaction of worried whispering among the adults. Littlefoot and Aylene exchanged concerned glances. They both had an eerie sense of déjà vu as this reminded them of the incident with Thundering Falls. When the waterfall was blocked up, nearly all of the rivers and lakes dried up.
Was the same thing happening again?
"Please," Grandpa Longneck raised his voice, trying to restore order, "please, everyone. Calm down. There is still plenty of water in the Great Valley."
"Yes, but this watering place was the coolest and the clearest." Topps argued.
"Oh, why did it have to be the one that dried up?" a female duck-billed dinosaur complained.
"Very bad luck if you ask me," a male duck-bill replied heavily.
"Bad luck?" Littlefoot whispered to himself.
"C'mon, let's meet up with the others." Aylene said.
"Okay."
Without another word, Littlefoot quickened his pace and carried Aylene towards the direction of the rendezvous point.
About half an hour later, Cera came running towards the clubhouse, with the twins following close behind her. Her father had given her permission to go and meet up with her friends, but only under the condition that she would take Dinah and Dana with her. As much as she hated the idea, she didn't put up an argument this time. She just wanted to meet up with her friends as soon as possible.
Once she had arrived, Littlefoot and Aylene filled her in on the details about the watering hole drying up, and about the conversation they had with Doc last night.
"Well, looks like we got a situation here." Derek said, folding his arms across his front.
"What do you mean?" Cera asked. "So, there was an earthquake and it swallowed up a watering hole. Stuff like that isn't too unusual."
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Aylene asked, frowning. "We all agreed that the earthquake last night wasn't normal. I don't know about you guys, but I get the feeling that something weird is going on here."
"I agree." Littlefoot said. "If nothing else, we should at least try and investigate it."
"But what we do?" Petrie asked.
"Well, we could start by looking around the Valley."
"But what are we supposed to be looking for?" Ducky said, tilting her head in curiosity.
Spike gave a questioning groan.
"I don't know." Littlefoot admitted. "But…I'm sure we'll know it when we see it."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Aylene nodded. "It's better than just sitting around and doing nothing. So, you guys in."
"I'm game." Derek shrugged. "Might as well. I suggest we split up into teams though. It'll make the search easier."
"Then you're coming with me." Cera ordered the human boy. "You gotta help me take care of the twins."
"Derry join with us!" Dinah said happily.
"Join us!" Dana chimed in.
Derek gave a weak smile. It wasn't the idea of going with the twins that make him uncomfortable. It was the fact that Dinah called him "Derry". It just sounded…wrong.
And it didn't help when Aylene started to snicker.
""Derry", huh?" she teased. "Maybe I should start calling you that."
Derek shot an annoyed look at his little sister. "Don't you dare!"
"Relax, I'm just kidding."
"Yeah, well, let's get back to our plan of action." Littlefoot interrupted, grinning nervously.
In a matter of minutes, the Gang divided up into three search groups: Derek, Cera, and the twins; Petrie, Ducky, and Spike; and Aylene and Littlefoot. Their plan was to use the rest of the day to search around as much as the Great Valley as they could, and see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Whether that would be something out of place, or something that could've been affected by the earthquake as well. In the evening, they would meet up and report if they found anything.
At first, their search was mundane and quiet. Aside from some toppled over rocks and trees, there wasn't anything that they could consider out of the ordinary. At least nothing that they wouldn't see after any ordinary earthquake.
After a while, even Aylene started to think this search was a lost cause.
"You know, Littlefoot," she sighed heavily, "maybe this is a waste of time."
"We can't give up yet, Aylene." Littlefoot said. "I'm sure we can find something."
"I'm not saying we should give up. But it would be helpful if we at least had a clue as to what we were looking for. Because right now, we're pretty much going into this blind."
"Yeah, you do have a point." Littlefoot frowned. "But what else can we do?"
Aylene fell silent for a moment to think. She flinched as she felt something cold and wet hit her face.
It was a that moment that she realized something. The wind that had been a light breeze earlier in the day was beginning to grow stronger. On top of that, the light was getting dimmer.
Aylene looked up to the sky and saw a bunch of dark gray cloud clustering together. From those clouds, droplets of rain began to fall.
But most of all, something about all this felt strange. Aylene couldn't quite describe it, but this shift in weather didn't feel natural.
"What the…"
"Aylene, what's wrong?" Littlefoot asked, turning his head to look at her.
It was then that Littlefoot saw a small pulsation of light.
"Aylene, you're Stone!"
Aylene jolted when her friend suddenly shriek. She then looked down at the Time Stone around her neck, and caught her breath in shock.
Her Time Stone was glowing. It was rapidly pulsating a light, like it was a beating heart.
No sooner did Aylene realize this that the wind around her and Littlefoot began to increase. Aylene was almost completely knocked off of Littlefoot, and he was nearly blown over. Littlefoot quickly planted his feet firmly on the ground to stabilize himself, and Aylene lowered herself down closer to his back. The wind began to pick up strength, as if it wanted to blow the Apatosaurus and human away. The rain began to fall in torrents, splashing the two of them with large, heavy drops.
"What's going on?!" Littlefoot yelled, trying to get his voice up over the turbulence of the wind.
"Oh, no." Aylene's face turned white. She knew exactly what this was. She had experienced enough of these in her lifetime to know what this weather and wind potentially meant.
And by the looks of it, that might just happen.
"Aylene, what's happening?!"
"Littlefoot, we gotta find the others and get find some shelter!" Aylene cried. "This is the perfect weather for a tornado!"
"A tornado?!" Littlefoot shrieked.
Aylene slipped off of Littlefoot's back.
"We won't find the others in time if we stay together!" she ordered. "I'll go find my brother and Cera, you go look for Ducky's group!"
"No! Aylene, it's too dangerous!"
"Don't worry, I've grown up in a region where tornados are common in the summer! I know what to do! Just find the other and find a sturdy shelter!"
Littlefoot hesitated. He didn't like this idea at all, but Aylene did have a point. If they didn't split up, they wouldn't find the others in time.
"Just be careful, okay!" the long-neck said, his eyes showing his worry.
"You, too!" Aylene replied.
With that, Littlefoot and Aylene went their separate ways, fighting against the wind and rain.
However, what Aylene didn't tell Littlefoot was her second, and actual reason, for separating herself from him. Clutching the pulsating Time Stone in her hand, she struggled against the rising storm. If there was one thing she knew about the Time Stone, it was that it was unpredictable.
"This has something to do with the storm, I just know it is!" Aylene said to herself. "But why now?! Oh, I'll figure that out later! I've gotta find the others, and then find a place to wait out the storm! I just hope I have enough time!"
