Hey, I'm back, got nothing to say, here's the new chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 7: Rumors

The small group of four stopped to eat, once again hungry. While Littlefoot, Ducky, Ruby, and Petrie ate whatever vegetation was available, Chomper was forced to scrounge around on the ground for bugs.

Chomper's stomach growled, and he knew he was getting hungrier as his stomach throbbed. He noticed out of the corner of his eye his friends were still eating what little food they could find. Chomper tried to turn away, but his eyes remained glued on them.

Littlefoot and Ruby were so big... they looked so, so... appetizing.

The little biter shook these horrid thoughts from his head. "No! Stop it!" He scolded himself mentally. "I'm not like that! I'm not like Sharptooth! Why would I even think that?! Of my own brother?!" However, the more he pondered it, the more his new unwanted craving for meat and flesh increased, and this scared him immensely as he began to hyperventilate, so much so that he had to cover his mouth a bit. He felt like he was going to pass out as his heart began beating a thousand miles a minutes.

He needed to find something, anything to eat to just have these thoughts leave him be.

To his luck, Chomper spotted a tiny lizard crawling across the ground, seemingly oblivious to the sharp-tooth standing above it. Unable to resist and out of pure instinct, Chomper lunged forward, his jaws open, and scooped the lizard up into his mouth.

Chomper chewed the lizard, crushing it in his teeth, tasting the blood. He had half expected it to taste horrible, but instead it was like the best thing he had ever tasted. The slivery-metal taste of the lizard's meat felt strangely good as he swallowed it, and he found himself almost wanting, craving for more. Chomper quickly caught what he was thinking and shook his head. "No!" He thought firmly. "Stay in control. Stay in control. Stay in control."

"Chomper?" Littlefoot's voice snapped him out of his mental mantra. The little biter turned to see his adopted big brother eyeing him with concern while the others simply stared in a bit of confusion. "Are you feeling alright?"

Chomper didn't say anything, his mind fumbling for what to say. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He lied, for in truth, he was not fine.

While Ducky, Ruby, and Petrie simply shrugged this off, but Littlefoot was not fooled as he still gazed at his little brother. He noticed the conflicted look in the little biter's eyes and his heart filled with concern and sympathy.

Ever since their mother's death at the claws of Sharptooth, Chomper had clearly not quite been himself. Before, he was usually cheerful and optimistic. And while he still was most of the time, they seemed to be a little strained, almost forced, as if he was trying to cover up how he was really feeling. He had also been acting a bit more timid and aggressive than usual, which honestly made Littlefoot feel uneasy. Inwardly, he felt ashamed for being even a little bit frightened of his own brother, who he loved and cherished above almost all else, but his instincts were telling him otherwise.

"Chomper, if there's something wrong, you can always tell us." The long-neck reminded him, giving him a comforting nuzzle. The little biter leaned into the nuzzle and, though for some reason a bit hesitantly, nuzzled him back. Ruby, Ducky, and Petrie remained silent, letting the two have their moment.

"Do not worry, Chomper." Ducky spoke up cheerfully, walking up to Chomper's side. "We are your friends, yup, yup, yup."

"Ducky is right, Chomper. Right Ducky is." Ruby added, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Petrie hopped off of Ruby's back and landed on Chomper's head, giving him a supporting smile. He hadn't known the little biter for that long, but was willing to offer whatever support he could.

"Thanks, guys." Chomper said, smiling even though Littlefoot could easily tell it was forced. "But I'm fine, really." With that, the little sharp-tooth walked passed them.

Littlefoot frowned a bit as his concern began to grow into worry. But he didn't want to prod any further than he had to. Chomper would tell him what was wrong, he just had to give him time.

After eating what they could, the group set out on their arduous journey again. They hadn't gone more than a quarter of a mile when a chilling snarl hit their ears.

"What that?" Petrie shivered fearfully.

"Shh." Littlefoot shushed, moving into the shadow of a large tree root, the others quickly following.

Chomper slowly peeked over his adopted brother's shoulder and sniffed the air. He quickly caught the scent, it was close. It was not a scent he was familiar with, but he could tell there was something about it that made him feel uneasy.

At that moment, from the other side of the root, a large creature with sharp teeth crawled into view. From what they could see, the creature walked on four legs, with big toe-claws that dug into the dirt. The thing that stood out the most about the creature was the giant sail on it's back.

The sail-back (as they would later call it), growled and hissed for a brief moment as it stopped close to the group's hiding place. The children sucked in their breath, waiting and silently praying the creature wouldn't see them.

Nobody moved, nobody spoke. Some of them even began sweating a bit out of nervousness.

Suddenly, as if suddenly disinterested with the area, the sail-back slowly crawled away. The children remained behind the root, still waiting as the steps of the sail-back's footsteps faded into the distance.

Once they couldn't hear them anymore, the small group set out on their path. Though the encounter had been brief, it was far too close for comfort. Fear of an impending ambush was still on their minds as they travelled on.

The Bright-Circle's orange-reddish light burned down through the branches of the trees, creating jagged shadows reminiscent of claws and teeth. The ground below them was completely barren, not even a trace of dead leafs on the ground, as only large roots from the dead trees around them could be seen.

Petrie, of course, was immensely skittish, jumping a bit at every sound he heard. One rather loud growl from the distance was enough to scare him out of his wits as he yelped, scrambling up Littlefoot's back and grabbing onto his head.

"Ow!" Littlefoot winced as Petrie's little feet gripped his nose rather painfully. "Hey, Petrie! Get off!"

The little flyer neither answered nor budged. He continuously shivered, almost petrified under the tree-star that gracefully landed on him.

"Petrie, it's okay. Okay it is." Ruby said reassuringly, gently lifting Petrie off of Littlefoot's head and letting him perch on her back. Petrie, still in a bit of a panic, leaped onto her head, grabbing her crest. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Petrie grinned sheepishly. "Oh, sorry, Ruby." He apologized, letting go of her crest, giving it a few light pats for comfort. "But we all alone out here. What if sharp-teeth attack?"

Down at Littlefoot's feet, Ducky shivered and cowered beneath him. Chomper, instead of looking fearful, looked down at the ground as his expression turned to one of shame, uncomfortably rubbing his little arm with his small hand.

The little flyer quickly noticed this. "Oh, sorry, Chomper."

"It's okay." Chomper replied, sounding more like a mumble than an actual response.

Littlefoot looked at his little brother with eyes of sympathy and an expression of pity before he looked ahead, his brows furrowing. "There aren't any sharp-teeth." He stated, sounding unintentionally more annoyed than assuring. He could not, however, restrain a barely noticeable shudder in his speech. "So stop worrying, already."

Chomper, on the other hand, did notice. He knew his big brother well enough to the point of knowing that he himself could tell if there was even the slightest hint of emotion in his voice. He didn't blame Littlefoot, though. Everyone else seemed pretty on edge, including himself. It must come from the feeling that they were just a bunch of lost kids without any grownups and were blatantly very vulnerable.

Petrie was again the most notably frightened of the group. So much so that he climbed off Ruby's head and scampered back on to Littlefoot's head again, his little talons getting caught in the tree-star, shredding it a little.

This of course, alarmed Littlefoot and Chomper.

"Hey!" Littlefoot yelled, now sounding frustrated. "Your tearing my tree-star!"

"Mother gave that to us!" Chomper added, sounding nervous and a bit saddened, unlike his brother. "It's very special."

"Ooh, mother present. Very important, oh, yes." Petrie said, picking up the tree-star and inspecting it closely. He then wrapped the tree-star up and clutched it closely to his chest "I keep safe. Don't let nobodies touch."

"Yes, Petrie, you keep it safe. Yep, yep, yep." Ducky agreed.

"Nope, nope, nope." Littlefoot rebuked, shaking his head, making Petrie let go of the tree-star, which into his mouth. "I'm not a carrier, get off." He then began to run, much to Petrie's terror.

Petrie yelped loudly as he grabbed Littlefoot's nostrils, clinging on for dear life as the long-neck ran.

"Open your wings, Petrie!" Ducky exclaimed, flapping her arms and jumping up and down as the others ran after Littlefoot. "Open! Open!"

"C'mon, Petrie, you gotta do it!" Chomper said. "Flap your wings!"

"No! No! I can't do it!" Petrie cried, bouncing up and down on Littlefoot's head, but his grip still firm.

"You can do this! You can fly!" Littlefoot argued, not slowing his pace. "Now open your skinny wings!"

"Up, Petrie! Higher! Higher!" Ruby encouraged. Of course, since she was a fast-runner, Ruby easily lived up to her namesake as she sped past the others, scooping Petrie up in her arms and holding him up high. "Higher like a flyer!"

Their words of encouragement unfortunately fell deaf to the little flyer's ears as Petrie looked ahead, his eyes widening to the point that they bulging in terror at what he saw. "Danger!" He screeched.

"Where, Petrie?" Ducky asked, hopping up on Littlefoot's back as everyone continued running.

"T-t-t-there! Ahead!" Petrie cried, bouncing up and down in Ruby's arms.

However, this warning proved to have given too late as the group suddenly noticed the remains of a large skeleton just ahead of them. Most of the bones on the skeleton were missing, the only remaining parts being the spine with a part of the tail and the skull which were all being held up in the air by a few vines. Needless to say, from the children's standpoint, the skeleton looked terrifying.

Ruby barely managed to stop herself as her feet landed in a slippery puddle of mud in front of her. Her clawed toes dug into the ground, just managing to bring her to a stop. However, things did not end there as Littlefoot (with Ducky still on his back) and Chomper were unable to stop in time as they slipped on the mud, their momentum causing them to slam right into Ruby.

They smashed into her with such force that it knocked the Fast-Runner off balance as the small group slid across the mud in an end-to-end spin. The mud splashing all over them as they collided with the dangling skeleton. The skeleton jerked back at the force of the children slamming into it, before the lose vines holding it up suddenly gave out, causing the skeleton to fall right on top of them.

Naturally, the kids were immediately freaked out by having some large, rather abnormal skeleton griping them closely to it. So, they panicked, running around in a stumbling tangle of limbs, loud shouts and grunts and unintelligibly frightened gibberish as they tried to shake the skeleton off.

They were so caught up in trying to get rid of the skeleton, that none acknowledged or even seemed to hear over their own noises as a terrified scream rang out through the dead forest.

Soon, the children began running up a small hill, stumbling and trampling over each other in a clumsy ball of limbs as the skeleton bounced up and down them.

Chomper, whilst he and everyone else was scrambling to get free of the skeleton, unconsciously sniffed the air. His nostrils quickly caught a familiar scent heading straight for them. For a moment, the little biter stopped struggling and just tried to stay on his feet as he looked over the hill to see...

... Cera?

Indeed it was. The little three-horn was running towards them frantically fast and hard, frequently looking over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide and frantic, full of fear. It was quite obvious that she was very spooked.

As the kids bounded over and down the small hill, they all finally spotted Cera dashing towards them. Finally pulling themselves upright, Littlefoot was the first to try to stop, planting his feet into the ground. Ruby and Chomper soon followed as they two planted their feet, their clawed toes dug into the dirt. The group came to a screeching halt, their momentum causing the skeleton to fly off.

The skeleton flung off of the children, breaking apart in mid-air and hitting Cera, knocking her onto her back.

Cera panted heavily, remaining on her back, trying to steady her heart-beat. Her mind was still reeling from what she had seen minutes ago, though they felt like seconds. Her thoughts were still in a jumble from the sudden impact of the pieces of skeleton colliding with her. Sharptooth was alive! Somehow, the terrible beast had survived the fall into the gorge. What if he had spotted her? What if he was following her right now? What if-?

"Cera! It's you!" Littlefoot said, snapping her of her thoughts. He now spoke with a concerned tone. "What happened? Why are you so frightened?" He asked, noticing the look of startlement and even fear in her eyes and expression.

Cera instantly frowned, immediately covering up her paranoia as she sat up. "Frightened? Me?" She scoffed, getting a bit in Littlefoot's face. She then laughed mockingly as she pushed past Littlefoot.

"Yeah, well, you looked you just saw a monster." Chomper shrugged.

Cera looked back and glared at the little sharp-tooth. "Why are YOU so frightened?"

Littlefoot, Chomper, Ruby, Ducky, and Petrie all stared blankly at her. What did that have to do with anything?

"We are not frightened. Frightened we are not." Ruby explained.

"Well you should be!" Cera snapped, a hint of terror slipping in her voice, something Chomper noticed.

Then, almost discreetly, her expression changed to slightly mischievous. "I could be with other three-horns, but I came back to warn you," The three-horn then grinned as she slowly advanced on them, "I... met... the Sharptooth!" She said dramatically.

The very mention of that name sent a cold wave of terror throughout everyone as their hearts leapt into their throats.

"SHARPTOOTH!" Petrie screeched, jumping up and latching onto Littlefoot's neck, shaking like a leaf.

Ducky herself let out a cry of fear as she rushed to hide behind Ruby's foot.

Littlefoot and Chomper felt a nasty shock as the memories of their dying mother came back at them, flashing before their eyes. Chomper looked down to the ground almost shamefully while Littlefoot bit his lip.

"C'mon, Cera!" Littlefoot retorted, a slight shake in his voice. "Sharptooth is dead!"

"Yeah, he fell down into the big underground during the earth shake." Chomper quickly added. "We all saw it happen!"

"And THAT'S... where he met me!" Cera brashly replied, puffing out her chest as she continued her dramatic charade.

"Oh, dear, brave Cera." Ducky praised, admiring Cera's story.

"Dear, brave Cera." Petrie praised.

Littlefoot glared heatedly at Cera and Chomper gave her an annoyed, though less angered look. Ruby, meanwhile, was more or less analyzing Cera's story as she stared blankly at the three-horn.

For much of her life, Ruby was easily able to tell if someone was lying or not. It had just been a bit of a knack for her to know if someone was making a fabrication. And she could easily tell right now that Cera was making up the whole story to try and make herself sound brave and heroic. However, the fast-runner could also see a blatant fear in her eyes that was trying desperately to stay hidden, however, Ruby could see right through her.

"Yes," Cera smiled, swelling with more pride. "I am brave."

"Really?" Ruby spoke. "Because I am not sure you are as brave as you say you are."

Cera instantly scowled as she glared at the fast-runner. "Like an egg-stealer would know anything." She growled.

Ducky gasped, her admiration for the three-horn quickly being cast aside. "Cera, that is not a nice thing to say! No, no, no!"

"I do not steal eggs! Steal them I do not!" Ruby protested angrily.

"And Sharptooth is DEAD!" Littlefoot snapped.

"My father tells me flat-heads have very little brains." Cera smirked arrogantly, much to Littlefoot's ire.

Chomper frowned deeply, placing his small hands on his hips. "Oh, yeah? Well I heard that beak-noses have even smaller ones." He retorted, though bluffing as he had completely made it up, though at this point he too had lost his patience with Cera.

The others looked towards Chomper in surprise, especially Littlefoot, as none of them had seen the young biter be so aggressive before. When he and Littlefoot first met the three-horn, he had been very cheerful and calm around her. But this new hostile side of his attitude seemed almost out of character, even for him.

Cera meanwhile scowled again, glaring sourly at the little sharp-tooth. Her pride would not allow this. She, a proud and strong three-horn like herself, would not be told off by the likes of a filthy sharp-tooth. "Well, at least we're smarter than dirty rotten sharp-teeth!" She snapped, walking up and getting in Chomper's face.

However, Chomper refused to give ground as he simply stood there, glaring back at Cera, his little fists clenching. His tiny claws nearly piercing the skin of his tiny palms. He seemed to almost even be snarling. Though he said nothing, there was another voice inside his head, whispering to him,

Hurt her, she insulted your friends. She insulted your brother. She insulted you. She deserves to be punished.

Chomper did not break his stare with Cera, but his eyes gave a barely noticeable shake.

Tear her apart, you know you want to.

"No." Chomper rebuked mentally, quickly silencing the voice. "Be quiet."

Taking his silence as a sign of backing down, Cera strolled past him, puffing out her chest, her smug smile returning to her lips. She then jumped up on a curved board of wood, the board shaking and tilting as she walked along it. She then stopped by Littlefoot as she began her tale again.

"I was all alone with him in dark, the sharp-tooth and me." She began dramatically, Petrie letting out a whimper atop Littlefoot's head as the long-neck and the sharp-tooth glared at her. She then turned back towards Ducky and Ruby, her grin becoming even wider, if that was possible. "I could hear him breathing..." She then let out a loud, dramatic breathing and snarling sound.

Ducky whimpered as she ducking under the board in fright. "Wh-what happened then?" She asked.

Cera's smirk grew even wider, "I could see his one, big, ugly eye looking for me." She stated ominously, leaning in closer to Ducky.

The little swimmer gasped as she climbed up onto the wooden board. "What did you do? Huh? Huh?"

The brash three-horn's smirk then turned casual. "I walked right up to him," She started as she walked back along the board, the slab of wood teetered slightly as she walked directly up to Littlefoot and Chomper. "I looked him straight in the eye," She continued ominously, relishing the now faded looks of anger and now a blatant nervousness in them. "And then..." She then paused dramatically, building up the tension and suspense of her tale.

Suddenly, without warning, Cera jumped up and landed on the end of the board, making the most intimidating yell she could muster. Her little scare seemed to have worked for a split-second as Littlefoot flinched while Chomper and Petrie flat out jumped and yelped in fright.

However, their attention was immediately set on Ducky as since she was on the other end of the board, she was sent catapulting through the trees and out of sight.

"Ducky!" Ruby cried in panic as she immediately ran after her little sister, with the others quickly following behind.

Ducky sailed between the thin branches and was plummeting straight to the ground, but by some pure stroke of luck, she was saved by a loose vine that caught her around her waist, breaking her fall. She then flopped over the vine before falling to the ground, her tiny body landing in a small pile of rocks.

Raising herself up, Ducky shook the dizziness from her head as she gazed around at her newfound surroundings. She was about ready to call out to her friends when she heard a strange sound coming from nearby. Ducky looked to see that the sound was coming from a clump of tall range grass hidden slightly by some rocks.

Curious, the little swimmer cautiously ventured over to the clump of tall grass.

"DUCKY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"DUCKY!

Although she could hear her friends close by, her sister Ruby sounding the most worried, Ducky's curiosity ultimately made her deaf to their calls as she investigated the tall grass.

Pushing the tall reeds aside, Ducky poked her head inside the bush and to her surprise, in the center in what appeared to be an abandoned nest lay an abnormally large egg.

The egg then shook again, the sound of cracking coming from the shell of the egg. And while she could definitely hear the cracking noise, she could now also hear the muffled sound of snoring coming from inside the egg.

"Hello?" She called as she placed the side of her head against the surface of the egg, listening closely to the snoring. She then walked clockwise around the egg, running her hand along the smooth exterior of the shell.

Suddenly the egg jolted and the top of it cracked, startling her slightly. As Ducky continued to pace around it, a large head lifted up the broken shell pieces as a pair of eyes peeked out and watched her.

When Ducky looked up at them, they quickly ducked back inside the egg. "You should come out," She happily urged as she climbed up onto the top of the egg. "You should. You are late, yes you are. Yep, yep, yep!"

Instead of coming out, however, the hatchling inside the egg grunted and snored sluggishly, as if perfectly content with staying inside the shell.

"Come out!" Ducky sternly though rather adorably encouraged, lifting the top off and tossing it aside. "You are all alone," She pointed out, peeking inside the egg, "are you not scared, huh?"

A face of a newborn dinosaur peeked out of the shell. The hatchling smiled at Ducky with droopy purple eyes before giving a huge yawn and falling over onto his back.

"We're going to the Great Valley," Ducky explained, peeling apart the rest of the egg shell. "You can come with us. Yes, you can."

When the little swimmer broke apart the last piece of the shell, the hatchlings tail flopped out. Looking down, Ducky caught a quick glimpse of four green bumps on the end of the tail.

"You are a spike-tail," She observed, "So, we'll call you Spike."

Once freed from the confinements of his shell, the newly named Spike flipped onto his front and began immediately eating the grass around him.

Ducky stepped back and watched as the newly hatched spike-tail proceeded to eat the entire grass shelter in just a few large bites. He didn't really seem to care that the grass was dried out and almost withered. As far as Ducky was concerned, Spike was just happy to eat something.

Then as if suddenly satisfied with his meal, Spike simply laid back down and fell asleep.

"DUCKY! DUCKY!"

The little swimmer heard the calls of her friends again, this time they were sounding even more worried than ever. "I am over here! I am, I am!" She called, making sure her voice was not loud enough to disturb Spike.

"Did you hear that?" Chomper asked, sniffing the air and following the swimmer's scent. "She's over there."

Ruby immediately dashed ahead of the others, brushing through the tree-line towards Ducky. "Oh, there you are, Ducky! Ducky, there you are!" She scooped up the little swimmer in a tight hug.

"Of course I am okay, Ruby. Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky cheerfully said, hugging her sister back.

As the others emerged from the tree line, Cera gave a pompous snort. "It's about time!"

"Well I didn't see you offering any ideas." Littlefoot grumbled in irritation.

Cera simply huffed, sticking her horn up pridefully. However, as she did, she failed to see a large olive-green object at her feet. She felt a nasty jolt of reality when she felt her foot get caught on the object, causing her to trip over it.

The young three-horn landed flat on her face, shots of pain rushing through her front as the gravel made hard contact with her skin. "OW!" She cried, tears welling up, but not enough to fall.

From behind, Petrie burst out laughing while Littlefoot and Chomper snickered, both feeling a bit of a grim satisfaction.

"I meant to do that!" She grumbled, quickly getting back up, feeling a big dent in her pride.

Ducky pulled away from Ruby's strong embrace, walking to Cera's side. "Cera, you tripped over Spike! Yes, you did! You did!"

"Spike?"

The little swimmer nodded. "The spike-tail you just tripped over."

Everyone looked down to the ground, finally noticing the spike-tail hatchling. Spike stared drowsily back at them, awoken by Cera's apparent clumsiness. He simply sat there in the dirt, looking at them and barely acknowledging their existence with a drowsy smile. Or at least they assumed it was a smile. His expression was rather... distant, as if he were off in his own little world.

"Where'd he come from?" Chomper asked, looking the spike-tail over.

"He just hatched. He did! He did!" Ducky explained excitedly. "I told him he could come to the Great Valley with us!"

Cera, however, frowned and shook her head. "Oh no!" She objected. "We are not taking him along!"

"Why not?" Petrie questioned.

Cera huffed, turning away rebelliously. "It's bad enough that I'm stuck with a long-neck, a big-mouth, a flyer, a fast-runner, AND a sharp-tooth. But theres no way in heck I'm also traveling with a spike-tail as well! Besides, he just hatched! He'll only slow us down! It's also one more mouth to feed, and who know's when we're gonna find food again!" Cera's almost tempted to say, at least until someone finds us as food, but she for reasons she could not fathom, did not. Instead, she gave a warning glance towards Chomper, who simply averted his eyes away.

"Cera, that's not fair!" Littlefoot protested.

"It's just not natural!" Cera's rebuked. "My father told me that three-horns never do anything with other herds."

Ducky frowned, holding Spike protectively. "Spike is coming with us! He is, he is!"

Ruby also frowned at Cera, taking Ducky's side by Spike. "If Ducky says he is coming, then coming he is!"

"We may not know much, and we may be on our own, but none of that matters." Chomper said rather maturely. "What matters now is that we're a herd, whether you like or not."

Deep down, Littlefoot felt a sense of pride for his younger brother as he smiled at him a bit. "That's right. And we stick together, and we help each other. And no one gets left behind, not in a herd."

Cera remained silent for a few seconds as the rest of them stared back at her with a silent intensity, almost as if a fight were to break out. While doing so, Cera contemplated her options, knowing the odds were against her. Inwardly she sighed, and knew she was really not going to like this.

After a few seconds, she huffed, grumbling something under her breath as she backed down.

The rest of the group relaxed, feeling the little conflict was averted. They then turned their attention to Spike, and by the looks of him, he didn't really seem too keen on walking anywhere. He was also rather large for a hatchling, almost as big as Littlefoot and Ruby themselves. There was no way any of them would be able to carry him.

They had to figure out some way to get him to follow them.

Suddenly Ruby remembered one time after the great earthshake after she and Ducky were on their own, she remembered she saw a family of flyers fighting over a juicy sweet-bubble as whenever one would get it, the others immediately went after it. However, it ended up being eaten by a scaly land-crawler, much to their disappointment. Fortunately for them, the little flyers' mother came shortly after and gave them each a sweet-bubble she had gathered beforehand.

If food is able to get hatchlings to follow, Ruby thought, then food will get Spike to follow.

Much to Ruby's luck, a patch of a few sweet-berries was growing on a nearby bush.

"I have an idea, an idea I have." Ruby spoke up, getting the others' attention.

She then ran over to the patch and carefully picked some sweet-bubbles off. Wanting to see if Spike would even like the sweet-bubbles, Ruby came back and dangled them in front of the chubby spike-tail's nose.

Spike looked at the sweet-bubbles, smiling at the sight of food, and immediately ate them right off the branch.

Ruby, excited by the positive results, ran back to the bush and plucked another branch with the sweet-berries from it. However, this time, she handed the branch to Ducky before picking her up and placing her on Littlefoot's back, much to their confusion.

"Ducky, you ride on Littlefoot and use the sweet-berries to get Spike to follow us." Ruby explained. "He likes sweet-bubbles, and if he likes sweet-bubbles, then we can use the sweet-bubbles to get him to follow us."

"That great idea!" Petrie praised excitedly, everyone else agreeing.

"'That great idea'," Cera mockingly muttered. "Hmph."

Ducky immediately held out the sweet-bubble branch in front of Spike. As Spike reached up to eat them, Littlefoot started walking. And just as Ruby had hoped, the spike-tail got up from his spot and followed the bouncing berries.

"That was a clever idea, Ruby." Chomper smiled.

Ruby smiled back. "Thank you, Chomper."

With another problem solved, the young herd set out again, following the bright circle in the sky as it slowly began dipping towards the horizon.

Soon it would set, and night would be upon them.

He growled in frustration, his teeth gnashing. The path the little one's took was too overgrown for him to get through. And he was simply too large to fit between the firmly planted trees.

Sharptooth realized that he would have no other choice but to go around the long dead grove, which angered him even more as he could smell that the little ones were close. It would perhaps take a whole night to go around the forest, but if it meant that he would catch up to his prey, then so be it.

The monster crouched down close to the ground, waiting to ambush the passing long-spine ground-crawler. Waiting for the right moment, Sharptooth charged out of the foliage and quickly bit into the ground-crawler's neck before it had time to react, twisting it and snapping it's neck, killing it instantly.

As the ground-crawler lay dead on the ground, Sharptooth took the opportunity to get a quick meal as he dug into the carcass, tearing off and swallowing the blood and flesh, savoring this fresh kill.

For in truth, he was about to have a few more kills very soon.

Yeah, the ending of this one was pretty gory, wasn't it? Hope your excited for the next chapter so stay tuned!