A/N so it's been a hot minute since I last updated my fics. Ehhhh, I've fell out of writing fanfics for a bit, it happens to me sometimes eep. Well, I'm back with this chapter and I have quite a large buffer of first draft chapters for both this story and for among sharpteeth so you'll see those around soonish hopefully.
TW: A little swearing, blood, gore, and character death. Tread carefully.
Word Count: 5,648 Words. 31,136 Characters.
Story Word Count: 18,619 Words. 10,2598 Characters.
Serene woke to a loud sound coming from the distance, in her half asleep state of mind she couldn't really make out what it was. She groaned in annoyance.
"Five more minutes please…"
The sound happened again, only this time followed by something beating in an almost rhythmic pattern of thumps. Littlefoot and Cera were bickering about something or rather but they were too quiet for her to understand them.
Serene raised her head squinting as she looked in the direction of where the noise was coming from.
Oh, it's only Sharptooth…
Thinking nothing of it, She laid her head down intending to go back to sleep.
"HE'LL EAT US. HE'LL EAT US. RUN!"
Serene's eyes snapped open.
SHARPTOOTH!?
Her heart did everything but explode in her chest, as she got to her feet immediately, both her and her son spotting the impending doom at the same time.
All of the children scampered off in the nick of time just before the Sharptooth stomped on the footprint they all had slept in. Serene stayed in place, frozen in complete and utter terror and shock as she stared at the one she thought she had killed, who now only stood mere inches away from her face.
Sharptooth took a step forward leaving behind the crumpled remains of a treestar.
Looking at her now ruined gift seemed to break Serene out of a trance, and in a panic she took a swipe at him with her tail-
-only to faze right through him entirely.
NO!
Sharptooth flinched, but only for a second and that was not even close enough to deter him as he then gave chase after the children
Serene gave another futile swipe, stumbling and falling onto her knees.
I can't do anything!
ANCESTORS HELP ME!
The children ran towards a crack in the wall, Cera slipped through yet Spike and Ducky had gotten stuck, not to mention Littlefoot had not even gotten to the wall yet. The sharptooth landed right behind him, the tremble of the ground made him stumble but he quickly recovered, ran up to the others and tried to push his way to safety.
With all tenses of clarity now buried under panic, and with a ferocious battle cry Serene charged, and at the same time both her and the sharptooth took a mighty leap, Sharptooth in an attempt to claim his prey and Serene in an attempt to bodyslam him.
Serene crashed through him and onto the ground, her momentum so great that it sent her tumbling head over heels through the wall and down the steep rocky slope behind it.
In reality her fall only lasted a few seconds, but to Serene it felt like forever before she tumbled to a stop. Her rapid breaths were heavy, her heart still hammered away and her sight was spinning around and around.
Had she taken a tumble like that while she was still alive it probably would've killed her.
When her heart no longer pounded in her ears and the world stopped spinning, she was clearly able to hear Sharptooth's snarls as he struggled to get through the wall, but thankfully he wasn't able to get anything more than his snapping jaws through the crack.
Serene didn't bother getting back to her feet yet, content to just lay where she was and try to get her bearings.
"Now will you believe me?" Cera spat.
"I'm sorry," Littlefoot said. "We're safe now."
"Nobody is safe with you."
Serene grimaced, avoiding their gaze as she sheepishly wrapped her tail around herself.
She...wasn't lying earlier.
Serene stilted her mind, as if her voice and mind were one and both couldn't find the words to say anymore.
It was all too much right now, too much stress, too many feelings right at this moment, too many revelations.
She was wrong.
What else was she wrong about?
I should've kept an eye on her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, a pained sigh leaving her maw.
"Look…" Littlefoot gasped, then his voice lit up in wonder, "it's the rock that looks like a longneck, just like my mother said…"
Serene stood and turned, her eyes lighting up in awe at the display before her. A tailless longneck made of stone stood on a throne of rock.
A beacon of hope to everyone who sees it.
And hope she received, it almost made her tear up in relief as she chuckled breathlessly.
"We're going the right way!" Littlefoot cheered, "The way to the Great Valley!"
…
Serene stopped and gazed at the rock that looked like a longneck yet again, with each time she did so it got smaller and farther away, and half way up this mountain it looked like only a hatchling now.
How many times had she stopped now, six?
She looked over her shoulder at the gang lagging behind, Littlefoot was at the forefront however the others had some difficulty with the climb, traveling was much harder while alive she supposed, and harder then that when you are a kid.
Serene climbed up further with eaze, continuing slowly and occasionally pausing as to let the others catch up, she eventually got to the lip of the mountain and pulled herself up onto it. She gazed down into the valley expecting lush forests and crisp water yet...
She found a wasteland.
The ground below was dry and rocky, not a sign or any evidence of plant life in sight, rocky spikes rose up almost blocking out the great circle.
"This is your great valley!?" Cera's incredulous voice echoed across the wind, "You're crazy!"
"I'm leaving," Cera turned and started to walk away.
"Cera, we have to keep following the bright circle," Littlefoot said.
"I'm taking the 'easy' way for once."
Littlefoot jumped in front of her, cutting her path off. "But it's the wrong way!"
Serene felt incredibly awkward standing there as did the other members of the gang, she didn't know what to make of this argument nor did she know what to do about it.
"Says who?" Cera asked.
"My mother."
"Then she was a stupid longneck too."
The other three flinched, and Serene sucked in a sharp inhale of breath. She wasn't upset by her words, she didn't take them to heart-
...but Littlefoot did.
"Take. That. Back…" Littlefoot snarled, every syllable pronounced dangerously.
"Never!"
A dispute over loved ones, especially dead ones, was often violent even rivaling fights for one's own life against sharpteeth, Serene has seen this first hand before. A fight was soon to break out, it was inevitable at this point.
Littlefoot reared up kicking out his feet in a display of pure rage. "TAKE IT BACK!"
"NO!"
Then it all exploded.
Before anyone could react Littlefoot rammed Cera in the chest, sending them both over the edge of the cliff and rolling down the steep slope.
Serene leaped down after them, Spike, Ducky and Petrie landing after her just in time to see the fight Cera and Littlefoot were engaging in.
"Let go of my leg," Cera roared, then she crashed against a rock. She springed back immediately, hopping back into the fray.
The other three tried to hide and look away but like Serene they couldn't take their eyes off the fight going on in front of them, even Spike who hid his face in the sand couldn't get away from the sounds.
"Take that!"
Serene just didn't know what to do, as usual she couldn't do anything. Nothing at all, and that's what bothered her the most.
With one final ram Cera knocked Littlefoot down, she then stepped away with a humph but Littlefoot wasin't done with her yet.
Sucking up his tears he got to his feet and charged at Cera one last time. Cera who was completely expecting this turned to face him and-
A blood curdling scream filled the air.
Cera stared in shock as crimson liquid trailed down her horn and onto the ground.
The other three stared in horror.
Serene froze, her mind overloaded.
Littlefoot had a deep gash in his side, blood poured out of the wound at an alarming rate, his legs buckled underneath him sending him crashing into a sobbing mess on the ground.
Serene immediately ran over to him and curled her tail around him.
"Littlefoot! Littlefoot are you alright!?"
Does he look like he's alright?! She chided herself.
No!
"Why did you- I- I didn't mean to-" Cera stuttered.
Serene gave a dangerous huff, all her instincts telling her to bat away the offending threehorn as if she were an egg stealer, yet she held back, not like it would've mattered considering she couldn't really hit anything, but she was only a kid.
A kid that hurt her kid…
"Just leave us…" Serene whispered bitterly.
Almost like she had heard her, Cera hurried away from them, head hung low in the clearly apparent awkwardness she felt, heading towards the canyon path.
"GO ON! GO THE WRONG WAY!" Littlefoot suddenly shouted, making everyone jump at his shrill voice. He dragged himself to his feet, blood still oozing from his wound, his voice went quiet as he added. "We never wanted you with us anyway…"
Littlefoot slowly struggled his way towards the steep hill leading towards the great circle and tried to climb it. The loose rocks and pebbles made for bad footing and soon Littlefoot's foot sank into one of the weak rocks making him slip back down the slope, a pained whine leaving his lips as he arrived at the bottom.
"Littlefoot, you're hurt," Ducky said, staring at him with a deeply concerned expression, "You really shouldn't be doing that, oh no no no."
"It is way too hard, yes it is," Ducky rubbed her arm nervously, "...and well...Cera's way is easier…"
"I think so too," Petrie agreed, giving Littlefoot a sheepish smile.
Both of their eyes bore into the wounded longneck, silently pleading for him to join them, though their faces both fell even more at the shocked and betrayed expression Littlefoot gave them, a confirmation of what they both feared.
Serene knew what he was thinking, it was quite obvious from his look of disbelief and she had much the same thought.
You're expecting me to follow her after what she's done?!
Littlefoot's expression snapped to bitter anger and without a word he attempted to climb up the slope again. This time however, his anger gave him enough of a push to get farther up the hill then last time. His footfalls kicked up loose rock which tumbled down on poor Petrie who was trying to chase after him.
"Flathead wait!" Petrie called after him, struggling to keep up against the sliding rocks,"No be angry!
Then finally the rough terrain and the sliding rocks was way too much for the flyer to keep up with and he slid back down, voice pleading out to the longneck on his way down.
"Waiiiiiiiiiit."
Ducky grimaced, glancing between both Littlefoot climbing up the slope and the path Cera went down. She did this a few more times, looking more unsure each time. Then she gave a frustrated sigh, her face scrunching up in anger. She completely and utterly resented this situation she was facing.
She was stuck in a rock and a hard place. On one hand neither her nor Petrie wanted to leave Littlefoot behind, but neither did they want to be left behind either.
Ducky sighed again,"Come on Petrie, we need to catch up with the others, we do, we do…" the Swimmer grabbed Petrie's hand and helped him to his feet, and they both ran towards the path Cera went down hoping to catch up.
"Cera," Ducky called, "Cera! Wait for us, we are coming with you, Cera!"
"Cera, Spike, wait!"
With a mighty rockslide Littlefoot came tumbling down with a shout. Littlefoot gave a blood curdling scream as the rocks painfully scraped against his wound.
"STOPPPP" Serene shreaked, sobbing as she begged him painfully, "Just stop it Littlefoot, please. No more, please….PLEASE!"
Littlefoot just laid there breathing as no longer had the strength or will to move anymore, Serene curled around him again inspecting his wound through her blurry tear filled eyes, she looked around for something, anything...but found nothing, not even a single leaf to stanch the blood. She could only pray that the bleeding would stop on it's own.
She gently lapped her tongue across the dirt filled wound, this did not accomplish much yet she hoped her son would get the idea.
And he did, trembling, Littlefoot started to lick his wounds, flinching and whimpering in both disgust and pain with each flick of his tongue.
Yes, yes that's it…
When the wound was as clean as he could get it, Littlefoot's body gave out and he slipped into an uneasy rest.
Rest, my dear sweet Littlefoot.
Serene gave a low heavy sigh but it did nothing to lessen the feeling of dread in her heart.
The ground trembled slightly, raising her alarms. She almost expected Sharptooth to come yet he never did and thus she realized it must have been a natural occurrence.
She stood on her hind legs to get a better look. Over the lip of the canyon wall she saw it in the distance, a big mountain with smoke and rivers of fire trailing down from it.
The Mountains That Burn…
A deep dark frightening chill went down her spine and into her heart freezing her to the bone.
The others went that way.
Cera was leading them into destruction.
Someone should really look after Cera…
Cera was fine, anything down there is long dead.
I. Met. The Sharptooth!
Her heart told her what to do, yet…
Serene glanced back at Littlefoot. His chest rose and fell, the only sign of life, however he almost looked like he was…
Please be okay, she prayed mentaly, Please don't be...gone.
She squeezed her eyes shut, grit her teeth and shook her head.
She cursed as she thundered down the path the others had taken.
"Damn it all, Cera!"
…
"HEEELLLP!"
Petrie's screams echoed across the fire fields, reaching her ears immediately.
Racing among the hard ground, Serene also heard the calls for help from Spike and Ducky, and when she spotted them her mind went into problem solving mode.
Both of them were stuck on top of a floating rock in the middle of a lake of fire, the platform started to sink into the fire, her breath became shaky at the sight of the trouble they were in.
She saw a rock sticking out of the sand, if she could just push that down then just maybe…
Pushing over this rock would've been so trivial had she been alive, yet as she pushed with all her might it was proving nigh impossible, pain coated her mind yet she pushed through. She tried so hard but it only moved it an inch.
A sharp shrill scream broke her concentration, Ducky and even the normally quiet Spike were screaming out a death cry.
A harsh popping explosion made Serene reel back in surprise, their screams raised in volume then quickly went silent. Ducky's and Spike's horribly burned bodies continued to sizzle as they slowly sunk into the lake of fire never to rise again.
Serene froze staring at where they once were. She dry heaved, she was disgusted, nauseated, she hadn't eaten anything since she died but she wanted to throw up so badly right then and there. The smell, ancestors, the Smell!
Oh, Ancestors…
Ducky was so...so sweet and Spike was her chubby baby boy. They were only children, Spike wasn't even a year old for paradise sake!
Why…
She could hear Petrie screaming again, and she stole one last glance at the spot where they once were before she squeezed her eyes shut, grit her teeth and ran towards where the Flyer's screams were coming from.
I'm sorry!
Serene came upon a broken arch, upon looking down she saw a big tar pit below and Petrie was stuck in it, he struggled in panic and had trouble keeping himself at the surface.
Her head whipped around looking for anything that could help, the only thing she saw was a small dead tree sticking out of the muck, however it was way out of Petrie's reach.
Her heart dropped as she slowly came to the horrifying conclusion that she could do nothing to help.
A horrible trepidation overcame her as she simply watched the Flyer's weakening struggles as he became exhausted.
It didn't take long for Petrie to become so tired that he could no longer keep himself afloat.
With one final push, he surfaced for the last time giving a wretched cry of defeat before disappearing into the murky depths. Bubbles forced their way up to pop at the surface but they soon ceased to appear. Petrie never surfaced again.
Petrie had always been scared and now she knew why, life was cruel…
Serene felt numb, her head hung low and her tail slinked along the ground as she turned and dragged herself off to where she thought Cera might've gone.
What's the point, she's probably dead…
Surprisingly, Cera wasn't dead yet as she heard her screams coming from a cave. She entered the cave and saw quite an odd sight.
Cera was being attacked by a trio of domeheads. The threehorn ducked and weaved as she ran, narrowly avoiding each headbutt they dished out. Serene flinched every time a hit connected against the walls or ground. One single hit could mortality wound or even kill her outright.
"Help!" Cera yelled as she was cornered, all three slowly closed in on her, mouths open and drooling in anticipation.
Were they going to...eat her?!
This was not a territory dispute, they were definitely going to eat Cera like sharpteeth! Weren't domeheads leaf eaters? Apparently these weren't or the lack of food drove them into insanity, either way this wasn't going to end well for Cera.
Wincing, Serene snapped her eyes shut, moved her head away and for good measure covered her eyes with her tail.
And it didn't end well.
Cera screamed in fear then the domeheads made snarls as they pounced on her. Her loud howls of agony and the sounds of her flesh being ripped and torn asunder filled the cave.
Cera's screams faded into gurgles as if her throat had been ripped open, Serene wondered when it would all end.
But soon the gurgles stopped and later after that the flesh ripping and munching was replaced by content growls and snoring.
Serene slowly opened her eyes. There wasin't much left of Cera anymore, she was only a bloody ribcage and skull, small bits of uneaten organs left hanging among the bones. She was completely and utterly unrecognisable.
One of the domeheads was asleep on the floor and snoring after his meal, while another one was sitting against the wall patting his belly and sighing in content, then he softly roared to the third one as if he was chatting with them in sharptooth language.
Suddenly, Serene had flashbacks to finding her son's severed tail in a puddle of blood.
I need to- I need to get back to Littlefoot, she thought numbly.
Serene turned and dragged herself back the way she came, feeling more like a failure then she ever did in life.
…
The canyon was deadly quiet.
A place now devoid of any sound, not even the dusty wind met her ears. It felt freezing, despite the overwhelming scorching heat.
In her heart she knew she was too late.
There was no hope left.
Littlefoot had not moved since she left him, a small puddle of drying blood lay underneath him.
Serene laid down in front of him, and gave him a nudge. She did not know why she did so, in truth she did not expect him to move and he didn't.
His chest didn't move either.
She didn't have the mental strength to scream or cry, tears fell from her numb eyes at a steady pace yet she could not sob or do anything but lay there staring at her son's body.
All of her children were dead.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
Everything was futile in the end. She had saved him on that day but it only led to this anyway.
The sound of footsteps on the hard ground broke her out of her thoughts. A predator had come to feed. Serene closed her eyes and gave an irritated sigh, slowly getting to her feet.
He may be dead but Serene would be damned if she let this sharptooth eat what was left of her son.
She turned to face the sharptooth, ready to use all of her strength to punish whoever tried to eat Littlefoot, only to find Rooter standing there.
Serene blinked at him in confusion before the anger set in.
"What do you want?" She said, frustration leaking into her tone. "Have you come to mock me? Is that it?"
Before Rooter could say anything, she continued into a rant.
"To come and tell me you were right and that I don't know anything?"
Rooter stared at her with a blank yet slightly irritated expression.
"Well I'll say it then.
I failed.
Some 'Guardian' I turned out to be. I can't even save my Ancestor damned children much less some 'Vally' I've never even seen before.
So you were right all along, I didn't know what I was getting into, are you happy that you were right-"
"-Will you be quiet for five seconds!?" Rooter snapped, cutting her off.
Serene glared at him, yet she went silent.
Rooter gave a mix of a groan and sigh, rubbing his face against one of his forelegs.
"Just...close your eyes and repeat after me…"
Serene gave a burning stare, both outraged and insulted wondering what in the world he was talking about, yet when she saw Rooter's even hotter glare back at her she knew if she didn't humor him she would never hear the end of it.
So begrudgingly, she closed her eyes.
Rooter sighed again. "This…"
"This," Serene repeated, feeling very dumb and still very much furious.
"Did,"
"Did,"
"Not"
"Not"
"Happen."
…
"Happen," Serene finished.
"There...what did that even accomplish? ...Rooter. Rooter?"
The only thing that answered her was soft snoring and the sounds of Cera and Littefoot bickering among themselves, and also the loud thumps getting closer and closer to their location.
Wait a minute…
Serene looked down and saw the gang laying in the footprint again, most of them sleeping but Cera and Littlefoot were whispering to each other again.
She was about as giddy as a ground crawler who found a fallen tree star.
It reset, everything reset!
Thank you, Rooter!
Happy tears fell from her eyes, and her tail whipped around uncontrollable.
They were alive, her kids were alive again!
"HE'LL EAT US! HE'LL EAT US! RUN!" Cera screamed and ran off.
Wait, SHARPTOOTH IS BACK AGAIN!
…
The sharptooth chase went about as best it could the first time, not like she could do much to stop him in the first place, no change was needed at that moment.
Serene went ahead of the gang, scurrying up the mountain they were climbing again. And, after a moment of thought, she leapt into the same dry dead valley they were stuck in last time. Then she waited for the others to catch up.
Soon both Cera and Littlefoot tumbled down into the canyon, followed by the other three.
Serene got in between the fight, the feeling of the two passing through her legs felt weird yet she shook it off as she had more pressing matters at foot, like breaking up the fight.
"Littlefoot- Cera!"
"Let go of my leg!"
She winced upon Cera hitting the rock. "Stop this at-"
"Take that!"
Cera gave one final ram knocking Littlefoot to the ground, she gave a humph as she started to walk off.
"That's enough, Littlefoot!" Serene demanded, rearing up and slamming both her forelegs onto the ground to add strength to her words.
Littlefoot gave a glare in Cera's direction, but he only sobbed and snapped.
"Go on, go the wrong way! We never wanted you with us anyway!"
His words were the same yet they were more angry then pained, a relieving change to the timeline.
Littlefoot started his climb towards the bright circle again, having a bit of trouble but not as bad as last time.
"Come on, we have to keep going," Littlefoot called to the others.
"Cera's way is easter."
"I think so too."
"Flat head, no be angry, Waiiiiiiiiiit."
"Cera," Ducky called, walking towards the others with Petrie in tow. "Cera! Wait for us, we are coming with you, Cera!
Cera, Spike, wait!"
Serene watched as they left towards The Mountains That Burn, heart almost dropping yet determination filling her as she got up and went towards her son.
"You have to go after them," She told him.
Littlefoot glanced behind himself, gaze faltering for a second before he grimaced and turned away. "Why should I even bother?" He asked himself.
"Because...they are your herd...Your family...and family sticks together."
"They abandoned me…"
"They made a mistake...they just haven't realized it yet."
Littlefoot sighed and prayed under his breath, "Mother, what do I do?"
Serene knew he was only talking to himself, still his call took her off guard, making her pause for a fraction of a second before she knew exactly what to say.
"Your heart already knows what to do…"
Littlefoot stopped his climb, pausing for many moments, his expression had faltered into deep contemplation before he sighed and let himself slide back down into the canyon.
When he turned, Littlefoot's expression was set in determination, and he bolted down the path the others had taken.
…
"HEEELLLP!"
Petrie's screams echoed across the fire fields, reaching her ear immediately.
Racing among the hard ground, Serene also heard the calls for help from Spike and Ducky, she wasted no time in pushing her head against the rock near the fire river.
"Littlefoot!"
"Ducky!"
"Help, Littlefoot!"
"Hang on, I'm coming!"
She heard her children call out to one another, and seconds later she felt Littlefoot crash into the rock. It wobbled back and forth and with another shove and a grunt from both they pushed it over into the liquid fire.
Ducky slipped from Spike's back and almost fell into the fire river with a yelp.
Littlefoot hopped on to the rock, grabbed Ducky by her tail and put her back onto Spike's back.
"Quick, this way!"
After spotting that they had not enough room to hop back, and with quick thinking Serene nudged a rock that was floating on the river towards them which the three quickly hopped back onto land with.
Serene wanted to sigh right then and there but there was no time for a break yet, there was another one to save.
They all hopped over the arch and all but crashed into the tar pit, Littlefoot grabbed onto the dead tree with his tail then he grabbed onto Spike with his forelegs as the spiketail moved ahead of him.
"Flathead, Ducky, Spike! Petrie am so happy!"
Ducky climbed on top of Spike's head, her tail clinging around his nose as she leapt into the tar to reach the drowning flyer.
However, her tail slipped and at the same time that Petrie climbed onto Spike's head Ducky fell into the tar.
"Help!"
"Ducky!"
Petrie lurched forward grabbing Ducky's tail as his talons clinged to Spike's nostrils causing quite a bit of discomfort to the spiketail.
"Petrie, pull!"
And as Littlefoot pulled back and up, Serene started to notice the cracks in the dead tree getting bigger, and the whole thing starting to buckle forward. With another pull the tree shattered into pieces sending them all into the tar.
Oh, dear. How am I going to get them out!?
"Help!"
They all screamed.
…
"Help!"
Cera screamed as a very angry domehead ran after her, slamming his head into the floor as he tried to pounce on her.
Cursed lass got into trouble again, Rooter mused as he watched the chase unfold.
She skidded to a stop as a female domehead cut her off but Cera turned and ran before she could headbutt her, the domehead missing her attack much like the other did.
Agitation hit him yet he immediately swallowed it down. She's late.
Two Domeheads cut her off in a pincer movement with one behind her and one in front. Cera jumped, only narrowly avoiding a crushing blow as they collided with one another. With a scream Cera tumbled down onto the floor, rolling into a clearing
Cera shrieked at the sight of domehead popping up right in front of her, while the other two started to close in, their teeth bared and tongues hanging loosely from their dripping maws.
"Help me, help me. HELP!"
"Ancestors sake!" Rooter complained, "Where is the Vale Guardian!?"
"Right behind you."
Booming thunder cracked from outside like a terrible roar reverberating around the cave, a strange chattering sound followed repeating itself again and again.
Everyone stared at the horribly inky abomination stalking towards them. It's skin was black as night and oozed like fresh tar, it had too many legs, a bone attached to its lower parts, antlers and spikes stuck out of it's head and back, white beady eyes stared out at them as it's trunk swung back and forth.
"What in the great circle is that!?" Rooter proclaimed.
"A work of my creation," Serene said, chuckling as she smirked.
Rooter stared at her like she was out of her mind.
Completely and utterly terrified of said creature the domehead trio bolted from the area, while Cera was frozen in place. She covered her eyes with her forlegs as it stumbled over to her.
"Get away, get away from me!" She cried.
Cera shrieked as it's trunk picked her up by the tail.
"Stop it, let go of me!"
Serene continued snickering, as the two watched. It almost seemed like she didn't care about this situation, or Serene had gone mad, or maybe Cera wasn't even in danger…
Wait a minute.
Rooter had the sneaking suspicion this was a trick.
Cera continued to yell as the monster lifted her higher.
"Help! HELP. PETIE, SPIKE, DUCKY! HELP!" She yelled, covering her eyes with her foreleg again.
"Cera," Ducky's familiar voice met their ears, however it was a bit distorted from the tar covering her "It is us."
Cera hanged there, just trying to catch her breath, a moment later the realization set in, the rest of the gang's upside down tar covered faces giggled and laughed at her, with an annoyed grunt Cera grabbed her tail and yanked hard setting her free but also sending her falling to the floor with a yelp.
"I knew it was you all along!" Cera snapped, trying to save face yet it was in vain as the others continued to giggle and laugh at the tar covered threehorn, "I knew! I did!"
"How'd you get them out of the tar?" Rooter asked.
"It wasn't that deep," Serene answered.
"Oh, get out of my way!" Cera snapped almost stomping over Ducky as she passed them. She closed her eyes and held her head up high, but she wasn't looking where she was going and as a result slipped on a puddle of tar and landed on her belly.
Serene wheezed, joining the gang as they broke into laughter again.
Rooter shook his head and sighed.
Cera stuck her tongue out at them as she walked away and again she wasn't watching where she was going so yet again she smacked her face into a stalactite, earning a small round of laughs from the gang again.
She gave a humph of contempt as she stepped down further into the cave.
The others came up to the edge of a drop, watching as Cera left.
"Cera?" Ducky called.
"Cera, come back!" Littlefoot yelled yet to no avail as the threehorn went away.
Serene went to climb down after her, the Guardian had a hard look on her face, unreadable but... perhaps conflicted?
Rooter stayed behind, preferring to trail the others then to follow her.
Whatever she was doing or going to say to the young threehorn he wanted no part of.
…
A brilliant waterfall filled the cave with a calming sound, Cera went close to it and settled down just in front of it.
Serene was walking so slow she could hardly keep up with her, yet she didn't want to, feeling as if she could understand her own feelings if she stalled long enough. She didn't know what to feel. She didn't know what to make of all this.
Was she angry at Cera, yes but yet it was more like disappointment.
She was disappointed in Cera.
Sooner than she wanted Serene caught up to her, staring down at Cera with a stern
disapproving stare.
Cera had quite literally been the death of everyone.
She had led them to their deaths.
And even Cera's own.
The image of her son's blood trailing down her horn, hit her.
Over the roar of the waterfall she heard Cera sobbing.
Serene paused.
Cera buried her face into her foreleg as she weeped.
Serene gave a long drawn out sigh, turning away. She paused for a moment before starting to walk back where she came.
She needs time alone.
And I need some time to think…
She stopped once again to look back at Cera for a moment before letting out a hollow sigh. She closed her eyes, her expression became pained then she turned and left to go find where the others went.
Death Counter: Overall Deaths: 2
Sharpteeth: 1
Cera: 2
Dang Cera you really are in the lead right now...or is she loosing?
Reviews:
The Rhombus: Yeah, I found it to be a bit intresting what Serene and ol Roots thinks about certain scenes.
Toa: ?!
DesertLily32: I must thank you for this review, I don't want to admit it but this was the spark that broght me back to this fic.
I'm a big fan of Mood Whiplash, which is probably why I like bad end fics so much. I wanted Littlefoot and Cera's death in chap 1 to be a slap in the face, I wanted to set a tone for the rest of the story.
Nah she was still dying in the stone scenes, she was just dying of cold and sadness.
Rooter has been around for a very long time in this cannon.
Yeah, chap 3 was probly my least favorite chapter tbh, though it made me think about skipping around or writing diffrent scenes other then the ones shown in movie. I found the rewrite scenes to be very dull if things don't happen diffrently, chap 5 still has a bit of this issue but there is a lot of 'new' scenes in there as well.
So hope all of you are doing well, and have a nice day.
