The Land Before Time: No Love is Greater

by Calmoose415

What if Littlefoot and his family found Chomper on their way to the Great Valley? What if Chomper was raised alongside Littlefoot during their childhood? And what will happen when they must go on an arduous journey across the land without their family and with a bunch of unlikely friends? (AU fic)

8. Hunger

I'm bloody back. It's been months since I updated this story. How y'all doing? Please like and review if you enjoy.

Chapter 8: Hunger

Never had there been a herd like this before. A long-neck, a three-horn, a swimmer, a flyer, a fast-runner, a spike-tail, and even a sharp-tooth. They were perhaps the most abnormal herd one could say, but they still traveled forward together, following the soothing warm glow of the bright circle, bound to each other by their common desire to reach the Great Valley and be reunited with their families.

Though most of them kept close together, Cera kept her distance from the group, and had inclined herself to remain that way. Not only was she very uncomfortable with the idea of a coexisting herd, but she also felt an intense resentment towards Chomper.

It was bad enough that she had to travel with others that were not of her own kind, but she was also traveling with a sharp-tooth of all things? It was practically unheard of.

All of them naively believed that he was good, Chomper himself believed it, but they'd see. What really baffled her was that Littlefoot was still willing to keep him around even after a sharp-tooth killed his mother! Sooner or later, that biter was gonna get fed up with them and eat them all, they'll see.

The bright circle was almost down, and it had been what felt like hours since the children and left the dead grove and were trekking through the barren landscape again when the small herd of seven stopped by a large river near a cliff of falling water to get a quick drink. After all, a bit of water was better than non at all.

The sky above was painted in in a vibrant reddish-orange with a slight golden tint. The night circle was slowly creeping over the horizon, though it was not very visible yet, lightly blended in with the heavens above.

After finishing his drink, Littlefoot looked up towards the falling water. Then he remembered, if there was water here, perhaps there were tree-stars nearby. "Hmm. I remember mother told me and Chomper that tree-stars grow where there's lots of water." He spoke up, observing the water in the shallow stream.

"That's right," Chomper added, bending down and sniffing the water. "The tree-stars love the water, so they usually grow near it so they drink as much of it as they can."

Petrie crawled up to edge of Littlefoot's snout, looking down to the water as he took a huge whiff of air. "Hmm, no green-foods here." He said. "And I still hungry!"

Ducky climbed up Littlefoot's back, coming to his neck, sitting just behind Petrie. "I'm still hungry too." She sighed, rubbing her belly.

Littlefoot then straightened up, causing Ducky and Petrie to slip off and fall into the shallow water. Chomper began sniffing the air along with Spike with Littlefoot and Ruby following behind them as they searched around for a sign.

Chomper took in a big whiff of air, inhaling as much air as he could into his nostrils. "It's pretty faint," He said before sniffing the air a bit again. "but I think I smell something close by."

"Yeah." Littlefoot agreed, sniffing the air as well. He then turned to others. "Can you smell something?"

Ruby took a quick whiff. "I do smell something, smell something I do."

As they followed the scent, Petrie popped out of the water and sniffed the air while Ducky stayed perched on his head. "I... I smell... I smell... hmm, Ducky." He said.

"You smell me?" Ducky asked, giggling as she jumped off Petrie's head.

Furth down the stream, Littlefoot, Chomper, Ruby, and Spike all followed the scent over to another cliff of falling water. However, this was much smaller than the last.

"I smell water." Chomper said as he, Littlefoot, Ruby, and Spike looked down the river. "I smell..." He took a big whiff of air in before his eyes widened in excitement. "Tree-stars!"

Littlefoot looked to where Chomper was pointing a huge smile crossed his lips along with the others looked through a large hole that led to a steep rocky slope. And just beyond that at the bottom of the hill was a small cluster of fully healthy trees huddled together.

"Look! The Great Valley!" Ducky exclaimed happily.

"The Great Valley!" Cera cheered. She then grinned smugly. "I found it! I found it!"

"No you didn't! Stop it!" Littlefoot frowned at her as she laughed, grinning cheekily.

Before Littlefoot could retort, the ground suddenly began to shake, small rocks tumbling down around them. Even the trees at the bottom of the hill began to shake and rustle.

"Earth-Shake!" Ducky cried in alarm.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Littlefoot exclaimed.

In frantic rush, the small herd climbed over one large rocky ledge that sat in front of them as the shaking grew worse. The rumbling grew louder, so much so that it was hard for some of them to even stand up as Littlefoot and Cera tumbled over each other once they climbed over the ledge. Ruby easily managed to step over the ledge thanks to her long legs as she helped Ducky over it.

But for Spike and Chomper, it was a bit more of a struggle for them. Spike was having a hard time climbing over as he found himself to heavy to pull himself over while Chomper's short arms and small hands were making it difficult for him to get a grip on the ledge.

"Spike, Chomper! Hurry up!" Ducky cried as she leaped up onto the ledge. However, Spike, rather than looking panicked, seemed rather unbothered as he sluggishly put his forelegs over the ledge, still smiling lazily.

"I'm trying!" Chomper cried as he tried to pull himself up with all his might. He kicked and squirmed, trying to find a way to leverage himself over as the rumbling became louder, the ground shaking even more as more rocks began to tumble down the hill.

Taking matters into her own hands, Ducky reached under Spike and tried to pull him up. But his rather unusual size proved to provide quite a difficulty for her as she could hardly lift him.

"Ducky! Spike! Chomper! Get out of there!" Littlefoot shouted, his voice filled with worry and urgency.

The rumbling grew so loud at this point that it was a hundred sky-flashes roaring at once. The ground was now shaking so much that it was like an earth-shake. At the top of the slope, a huge stampede of long-necks came rising over and then down the hill straight towards.

Now in full alarm, Chomper began frantically trying to pull himself over. Curse these arms! One day, if not today, they were going to be the death of him. Littlefoot, seeing his little brother in danger, quickly lowered his neck under Chomper, lifting him over the ledge while Ducky was able lift Spike over just in time as the small herd of long-necks came bursting through the opening.

Rocks went flying everywhere and the children were forced to duck for cover while the herd rushed down the hill toward the cluster of trees. Peeking out from behind the rocks once it was safe, the children looked down to see the entire herd of long-neck completely inhaling the cluster of trees, eating everything they could find.

Cera gasped before she frowned angrily. "They're eating our food!" She shouted accusingly. "Look what they're doing! They're so greedy!"

"You cannot blame them, Cera." Ruby spoke up solemnly, shrugging a bit. "They must be as hungry as we are hungry."

"But what about me?" Cera retorted, stamping her foot. "I'm still hungry!"

"You hungry?" Petrie angrily scoffed. "I empty all the way to the top! Now we at the Great Valley and still got no green foods!" He then whimpered dramatically with despair. "We be hungry forevers." Petrie then flopped onto the ground as he wailed pitifully.

Littlefoot sighed heavily. Once again, fate had been cruel to them. "Oh, Petrie, Cera was wrong. This isn't the Great Valley."

"Oh, it is not a great anything. Nope, nope, nope." Ducky also sighed as the herd of long-necks moved on from the now completely consumed cluster of trees.

Chomper shrugged meagerly. "We might as well see if theres anything left."

The group all silently agreed as they trekked down steep rocky hill towards the cluster of now dead trees, little hope in them of there still being any green food left. And those small hopes were at first dashed upon seeing that most of the trees had been picked clean of any and all leafs. However, hope rose in their hearts again when they spotted one small tree and looked almost untouched and still had a lot of leafs on it.

"Petrie?" Littlefoot asked. "Do you think you could, uh, fly up there and...?"

"No! No!" Petrie quickly replied, panic-stricken as he clung to Littlefoot's head.

"Do not be scared, Petrie." Ruby assured. "Many things cannot fly. Rocks, trees, and even Spike cannot fly."

Coming up to the tree, Littlefoot smacked his lips hungrily. He then raised his front two legs and planted them firmly on the tree like he had seen his mother and grandparents do whenever they needed to reach some green food that was just too high up for their long necks to reach. Chomper, quickly seeing and understanding the plan, scooped up Ducky in his little arms and jumped up onto Littlefoot's back, placing her on his head. Wanting to help as well, Ruby stood up on Littlefoot's back, wrapped her arms around Chomper's waist and hoisted him up along with Ducky and Petrie closer to the leafs.

Petrie shivered with fear as he got closer to the leafs, his teeth chattering as he was raised higher and higher from the ground. And as he neared the leafs above, he made the mistake of looking down from where he was. His immense fear of heights immediately kicked in as Petrie squawked in panic, clinging to Ducky's head tightly, causing her to yelp. "No!" He cried fearfully.

"Ducky, Chomper, push Petrie towards the branches." Littlefoot said as Spike approached him from behind.

"I'm trying!" Chomper grunted as he craned his neck as far as it would go.

Spike got under Littlefoot's behind, ready to give them the extra boost up that they needed. "Alright, Spike, not too fast."

Whether the spike-tail hatchling had understood his long-neck companion or not, Spike understood that he needed to give them a push. So, he pushed, and pushed, putting all of his weight into it. However, this was not what his companions had desired.

"Whoa!" Littlefoot said, startled as Spike continued to push. "O-Okay, hey not too fast! Hey not too fast!"

Spike, however, didn't seem to hear them as he pushed them all the way up, standing up on his hind legs and putting his front feet on the side of the tree. Littlefoot, Ruby, Chomper, and Ducky all yelped as they were suddenly pushed up at a great speed, with Ruby even nearly losing her balance. Petrie also began to panic even more as he looked down again to see himself even higher from the ground. He felt his head spin, he felt like he was going to pass out, so clung even tighter to Ducky's head, much to her discomfort.

Cera, meanwhile, had not been helping at all. Instead, she had decided to simply sit back and watch as the others continued to stumble over each other. Now, if you asked her, Cera would say that being a three-horn, she could have easily charged the tree and knocked it down, but decided not to and instead wanted to see how the others would handle it. And needless to say, she was howling with laughter at the moment as it was the most amusing thing she had ever seen. She was laughing so hard that her ribs hurt as she pounded her front foot into the ground.

"You guys look so ridiculous!" Cera chortled.

While some, like Littlefoot and Ruby, gave a minor huff, or others, like Ducky and Petrie and Spike, simply ignored her and tried to focus on getting the leafs. Chomper flat out glared at her as he tried to keep himself steady in Ruby's arms. He was almost tempted to retort with, "Your not helping, Cera!" But chose not too, believing that getting food for his friends was more important at the moment.

Littlefoot, while still on his hind-legs, wrapped his front legs around the tree to keep himself balanced, as carrying a fast-runner, a sharp-tooth, a swimmer, and a flyer was proving difficult enough. Ruby herself even moved Chomper onto her neck as she too gripped the tree.

Eventually, they managed to stretch themselves just high enough to reach the branches. Petrie had to force himself not to think about how high he was as he squeezed his eyes shut. He then blindly reached out and once he felt the soft leafs touch his tiny fingers, he quickly began almost savagely tearing the leafs off the branches as they glided to the ground.

However, Spike's eyes lit up as he saw the leafs falling to the ground. Now hungry again, Spike began trying to catch some of the leafs in mid air. He climbed back down to eat the leafs he had caught while Littlefoot and Ruby gasped and yelped as they lost their footing on the tree.

Littlefoot wrapped his limbs completely around the tree, trying desperately to hold himself up, but the combined weight of Ruby, Chomper, Ducky, and Petrie was too much for him and he was forced to let go. Littlefoot landed on Spike's head, knocking him down as his head hit the ground. Ruby and Chomper fell off the tree as well with Ruby landing hard on her back and Chomper landing softly on his side in the leafs.

Now only Ducky and Petrie were left as they hung by a single small, frail branch.

"Ducky! Petrie! Come down here! We've got green-food!" Littlefoot called to them.

Ducky nodded before turning to Petrie. In one swift move, Ducky planted a big sloppy kiss on Petrie's cheek, stunning and embarrassing the flyer before she let go and let herself fall down to the pile of leafs below.

"Fly, Petrie!" Ducky called up to him.

Just then, the branch Petrie was clinging to snapped off like a twig, much to the flyer's alarm. Petrie could do nothing but scream as he fell down.

"Fly, Petrie!" Chomper encouraged. "Flap your wings!"

Petrie squawked as he outstretched his wings, flapping them in a rather pathetic attempt to fly. Petrie then held out his wings, chanting over and over in his mind that everything would be alright. Though he did not fly, stretching his wings out did slow his fall as Petrie gently glided down to the pile, landing on the leafs in a small 'plop.'

The little flyer blinked rapidly as he sat up, looking astonished that he had survived his 'perilous flight'. "I flied?" He asked.

Ducky only gave a sad sigh, causing Petrie to lower his head a bit.

"Don't be sad, Petrie." Ruby said comfortingly, gently stroking Petrie's head. "You may not have flied, but you almost flied."

"I did?" Petrie asked, smiling a bit.

The pink fast-runner smiled. "Yes, you did."

That seemed to cheer up the little flyer as he and the others dug into their food. Littlefoot walked over to Cera, who now seemed quite grumpy now that her entertainment was gone. She was on a patch of ground just slightly below, near another tree that also had some food on it.

"C'mon, Cera," Littlefoot graciously invited. "We've got green-food!"

But Cera only snorted. "I can get my OWN GREEN-FOOD!" She then began ramming herself into the tree, trying to shake the leafs loose with sheer brute force. Littlefoot and Chomper looked to each other, then to the pile of leafs they had all just gathered moments ago.

Littlefoot then gathered up some leafs in his mouth while Chomper scooped up two small handfuls. With a great heave, they tossed the leafs down just as Cera rammed the tree trunk again, making it look like Cera's method had worked.

Cera shook her head of her dizziness and opened her eyes to see the fallen leafs around her. She smiled smugly before heartily helping herself. "See," She boasted, "I can take care of myself."

Chomper rolled his eyes as he and Littlefoot rejoined Ducky, Petrie, and Spike and began to tuck in.

As he watched them dig into their leafy meal, Chomper suddenly began to feel himself becoming more and more hungry. His stomach then suddenly growled and a sharp pain surged through his stomach, causing him to cough and kneel over in pain.

Littlefoot quickly noticed and was instantly by his adopted brother's side. "Chomper? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Chomper shook his head. "No. I'm not." He replied, his voice straining. "I'm just so hungry."

The long-neck looked around the area, trying to find something, anything, that would satisfy his little brother's stomach. As he looked around Chomper unwittingly sniffed the air, smelling the delicious aromas of Littlefoot and the others. "No!" Chomper cried mentally. "I won't give in! I'm not like Sharptooth!"

He sniffed the air again, and again the smell of fresh meat filled his nostrils, teasing him. "Stop it."

He shook his head a bit, trying to shake these ravenous thoughts from his mind, but they wouldn't go away. "Stop it!"

His stomach growled again, and now he was beginning to feel light-headed. He needed to eat something. He needed something now! "STOP IT!"

Desperate, Chomper spotted the river connected to the falling water from earlier, which led down into the valley they were now in. He looked into the water and saw a small school of fish swimming about. He couldn't hold it back anymore, and so Chomper, without even thinking, lunged towards the water, grabbing a nice large fish in his mouth and throwing onto the land.

The others watched with wide eyes, including Littlefoot, as Chomper immediately dove for the fish, pinning it down with his hands before tearing into the flesh with his teeth. Once again, the silvery-metal taste of blood and fresh meat hit Chomper's taste buds, and it was glorious! He gobbled the whole fish down, even swallowing the bones after he had eaten all the flesh. When he finished, the hunger was gone, and Chomper felt like his normal self again.

However, as his awareness returned to him, he found himself horrified as he looked to the small puddles of blood the fish had left behind. He looked up and saw the faces of his friends, who all were staring at him with wide eyes even, even Littlefoot and Cera.

Chomper wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. He was still reeling in the horror of it all. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, his lip beginning to tremble.

Ruby was the first to halt her staring. She stood up and walked over to Chomper, gently lifting his chin to look at him. The little sharp-tooth opened his eyes, showing tears that were now welling up in them. Ruby gazed into his eyes and could see the conflict in them, the despair. Those soft innocent eyes said it all. Someone, anyone, help me.

The fast-runner gently pulled the sharp-tooth into a gentle embrace, lightly rocking him back and forth.

Littlefoot slowly walked over and gently nuzzled Chomper affectionately. The little sharp-tooth responded by nuzzling him back. Seeing the state of emotional pain Chomper was in, Ducky too walked over and embraced the young sharp-tooth.

Even Spike decided to show some some kindness as he waddled over and licked Chomper's cheek. Even Petrie felt a great deal of sympathy as he crawled over and hugged Chomper's snout.

Cera only stared at the group hug. For a moment, her harsh expression softened slightly, and she even found herself considering going over there too. However, her pride would not allow it. And so she remained at a distance, simply watching them, but with less judgment than before.

Chomper buried his face into his friends, finally letting the tears flow as he silently sobbed. Tears he had held back since that dreadful his and Littlefoot's mother died. Tears he could no longer hold in, nor did he want to.

When they eventually pulled away, Chomper sniffled as whipped his eyes a bit. "I don't what's happening to me." He said quietly. "I keep feeling this... craving for food, this call to savagery," He shook his head. "And it's driving me crazy and I-" He took in a shuddering breath. "I don't know what to do." He finished with a quiet mumble as he felt the tears beginning to come back. "I don't even know why any of you would bother to be friends with me. I'm just... a monster."

"That's not true, Chomper!" Ducky cried, much to Chomper's surprise. "You are nice! You are, you are!"

"Yes, Chomper very kind." Petrie added. "You not like other sharp-teeth."

"They're both right, Chomper." Ruby said. "You are a kind sharp-tooth, a kind sharp-tooth you are."

Littlefoot gazed at the little sharp-tooth with soft eyes before gently wrapping him in an embrace.

Chomper nestled his face into his brother's chest. "I miss her," He whispered, his voice shaking. "mother."

"I know it's been hard for you," He said. "I know that you miss her very much." A single tear slipped from his eye. "I miss her too. But I know your good, Chomper. You may be a sharp-tooth, but that doesn't mean your bad. Mother taught us to judge someone by who they are, remember?" He then pulled away from his embrace as he and Chomper gazed at each other. "You've always shown to have a big heart, Chomper. That's what counts the most. And I know that no matter what, we'll always be brothers, Chomper."

Chomper felt a warm smile streak across his face. Even though things had gotten rough, it was still good to know that they would always be family. He stood up on the tip of his toes and hugged his big brother. "Thanks." He said.

With all that sorted, the children soon noticed that the bright circle had faded over the horizon and the night circle began to rise. The bright orange sky shifting to a dark blue tone, lit up by the twinkling stars in the sky.

Cera walked past a large dead tree and lay down at a small rocky ledge. As the others continued with their eating (Chomper having found some bugs nearby) Ruby noticed the brash three-horn move away from them.

"Are you going to sleep there alone?" She called. "I don't think it would be good to sleep alone."

Cera frowned as she looked over to Ruby. "I'm not afraid to be alone!" She huffed, holding her horn up high. "I know my way to go." She said proudly. "AND I'm not afraid of Sharptooth!" She then smirked gleefully. "I hope he doesn't eat any of you." She teased.

Ducky and Petrie looked quite nervous while Littlefoot, Chomper, and Ruby simply rolled their eyes, not believing her. Spike, meanwhile, didn't seem to care as he kept on eating.

"Don't worry." Littlefoot told Ducky and Petrie. "There isn't any sharptooth."

"Yeah," Chomper added. "Don't listen to her."

"Sharptooth?" Ducky whispered fearfully. "Spike." She lightly called, gesturing him to follow her, to which the spike-tail obliged. Cera only frowned at Littlefoot and Chomper as she remained firmly in her spot.

Littlefoot and Chomper walked over to a large foot-print that looked like it had been left by a fully grown sharp-tooth. As they looked back, they could see Ducky, Petrie, Ruby, and Spike walk over to Cera's spot at the small cliff edge. Spike pushed Cera over, much to her annoyance as he yawned and lay down. Ducky rested on the side of his stomach while Petrie nestled himself between Spike's cheek and front leg. Ruby, knowing she wouldn't fit on with them, decided to rest just in front of them.

Seeing that they were all alone, Littlefoot looked distraught and for a moment looked like he was about to cry. Seeing this, Chomper lightly put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting way. He had comforted him earlier, now he was returning the favor.

"There isn't any sharp-tooth." Littlefoot said as he and Chomper walked over to the foot-print. "Right?"

Chomper merely shrugged with a sad smile. "I wouldn't take what she says too seriously." He replied.

A small smile crossed Littlefoot's lips as he and Chomper snuggled together in the foot print. The little sharp-tooth quickly fell asleep as he so tired already. As he snuggled into Littlefoot's chest, the long-neck found his thoughts wandering elsewhere.

So much had changed since the death of their mother. Many times throughout their arduous journey, Littlefoot wished everything could go back to the way it once was. And he had a strong feeling that he wasn't the only one who felt that. He let out a tired, heavy sigh. Still, in all the rough stuff he had to go through and would later have to go through, at least he still had Chomper, his little brother, one of the few who he could put his full trust in.

Meanwhile with the others, Ruby had been trying to sleep for quite a while, however, she had found even that to be a rather difficult task as the loud snoring of her friends kept her wide awake. She frowned as she tried to cover her ear slits, but that didn't seem to make it any less loud.

Ducky herself seemed to have the same problem as she too woke up. Seeing that covering her ear slits wasn't going to work, the little swimmer buried her face under Spike's stomach. And while it did succeed in blocking out most of the noise, his weight made it very uncomfortable for her head. So, she pulled her head out and sleepily walked over to Ruby. Standing up, Ruby walked with her adopted sister far away from their snoring friends, going past the dead tree towards the foot print Littlefoot and Chomper slept in.

Stepping into the foot print, Ruby set herself down next to Littlefoot and Chomper on their left side wile Ducky nestled herself between them. The next to join them was Petrie as he waddled over away from Cera's spot and lay down on Littlefoot's head.

Next was Spike as he noticed Ducky and Ruby over in Littlefoot's spot, so why not join them? He lumbered over to the footprint and lightly jumped in, landing with a loud 'thud' before he set himself down on Littlefoot's right.

Cera shivered and curled herself into a ball as she noticed it had gotten quite cold right now. Tiredly, she opened her eyes to see why she was so cold when she gasped upon noticing that her companions were all gone. And for the first time in her life, she actually felt fear for her companions as she looked around for them. Once she saw they were over by Littlefoot in the huge foot print, she allowed herself to relax before her pride came back in. She shivered again as a cold wind blew by. It was awfully cold tonight. She again looked over to where her companions were. Despite her pride heavily protesting, Cera knew that she in fact didn't want to be alone.

So, with great reluctance, Cera got up, walked past the dead tree, and slowly stepped into the foot print and snuggled herself between Chomper and Ruby. Littlefoot, who was still awake at this point, was surprised that Cera actually came over here. However, he smiled as she nuzzled herself close to him. It was nice to know that through all that toughness and pride, Cera at least had somewhat of a soft spot, and that was good enough for Littlefoot for the moment.

With one last yawn, Littlefoot closed his eyes and allowed himself to sleep.

Done. I was originally going to post this earlier this afternoon, but then the wi-fi randomly died so we had to get it rebooted. Hope you liked this chapter!