Chapter 6: A conversation at night

It was several hours later, in the middle of the night in fact, when Littlefoot was ungently woken up by the usual nightly sleepstory. With a yelp, a look of panic visible on his features, his long neck shot up. It didn't take him long to realize that he was perfectly safe in the shelter of the Great Valley under a crystal-clear sky. Littlefoot sighed.

"It never skips a single night..." Slightly annoyed now that he was wide awake, his glance wandered into the landscape until his gaze fell onto the two massive boulders a few body lengths away snoring contently. No, wait. One of the two had their eyes open; it was his grandfather. Their eyes met and in no time the old longneck had risen to his feet to lumber over to the child.

"What is it, Littlefoot? What's the matter?"

Obviously his troubles hadn't gone unnoticed. His grandparents were experts in reading his moods, the good ones just as well as the bad. There was only so long he could hide his emotions until they'd discover something.

"I... I dunno," the boy spoke evasively. "I just couldn't sleep for some reason."

"Oh neither can I, Littlefoot," the old longneck replied, his mind seemingly restless as he spoke. "And I think I know why. For some time now I've been feeling restless... as if there's some place I need to go but I don't know where."
Littlefoot hung on his grandfather's lips, the words appearing as though he'd stolen them from his very mind.

"Me too, Grandpa, me too!" Littlefoot exclaimed in excitement. "That's just how I feel tonight!"

"I think this feeling has something to do with the sleepstories I've been having lately," he continued thoughtfully.

"You've been having them too?!" Littlefoot was looking at his grandfather, perplexed. He hadn't come to understand yet why he'd keep having these weird nightmares, however he wouldn't have thought that wasn't alone with this strange phenomenon.

"Yes," his grandfather said.

"The same one? What was yours like? Is it always the same one? Does it haunt you every night?!" Littlefoot was suddenly so excited that he didn't even notice asking the same inquiry twice.

"Well, I wasn't unaware of your sleep problems, Littlefoot; I only just learned myself that there may be something that we are having in common though," his grandpa spoke with a lively voice. "Of course I'm unaware of the exact details of your sleep story. Mind telling me?"

Littlefoot gave a happy smile before reciting the sleepstory in as much detail as he could master, having learned a fair bit about storytelling from his old grandfather who used to be a storyteller in his younger years. As soon as he had ended, Littlefoot watched him closely and his suspicion turned into truth.

"That is the very sleepstory that I am having every night. Grandma too," he added as the other massive longneck joined their small circle. "Grandma and I have talked about it, Littlefoot. Many times, in fact. Remember what I told you a little earlier?"

"About?" Littlefoot quickly pondered. "Uhh about feeling restless?"

"Exactly!" his grandpa exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, as I said, grandpa, I'm feeling just the same. Like..." The boy quickly considered if he should be telling this his caretakers but decided it would be best to speak his entire thoughts. "Like... I constantly feel like leaving the valley to go on an adventure! I have no idea where to go but I can sort of tell where I need to go... if that makes sense..." He shot an uncertain glance over to grandma, half expecting to be scolded for even thinking of such a thing but to his utter amazement she was smiling, Grandpa nodding approvingly.

"Littlefoot, neither Grandma nor I know why this is happening but I have a feeling that something great is going to happen. Therefore," Grandpa announced while beaming," I think the time has come to go on a journey."

"A journey!? When? Where? Just you and me?" Littlefoot was on the edge of his seat.

"And Grandma," Grandpa added with smile. "And others too I think..."

"You think so?"

"Why would we be the only ones, dear?" His grandmother smiled at him warmly. Of course! Why would they be so special after all. Maybe even all longnecks? Or all dinosaurs there were? How awesome would that be?

"I really don't know," Grandpa continued thoughtfully, "But we must leave soon..."

"How soon? Now?" Littlefoot inquired hopping up and down.

"Lie back down now, get some rest," the old longneck advised. "We may leave tomorrow..."

"A journey..." Littlefoot hummed in awe, a broad smile on his face as he lied back down without questioning his grandfather's logic. If they were to leave tomorrow, he'd need the extra rest. One last look up at the Night Circle and he was sound asleep.

"How much further do I have to walk?"

Littlefoot stood still as he thoughtfully observed his surroundings. Quite frankly, it was rather futile trying to see anything of value considering the type of landscape he found himself in. The jungle he had been journeying through for the last few days had become thicker and thicker as he crossed it. The trees were very old, very strong and very annoying and relentless, Littlefoot noted through gritted teeth. The majority of the treetops were towering so high above that even both of his grandparents stacked on top of each other could never reach them. The vegetation stood so thick that one couldn't see far ahead. The boy couldn't even see what direction he was going yet a strange sensation within his chest seemed to know exactly the direction he needed to follow in order to reach his destination; a destination most mysterious and unknown, a faint promise hanging in the air whenever he gave it some thought. He wasn't even entirely sure why he was wandering around on this peculiar adventure but it did feel right to do so. In a way, he knew that it would be worth all the hassle this journey was putting the child through.

"Well, at least there is hardly any thick undergrowth to break through..." Littlefoot mused which helped him covering a considerable distance day after day, as dull and boring as it seemed. There wasn't anything exciting to see along the way although he couldn't deny that the gigantic trees and the endless green of leaves, vines and moss-covered tree trunks held a certain kind of beauty (needless to say, he was still tired of them). Moreover, he didn't have to worry about finding food and water which he didn't nearly appreciate as much as he should be.

There was another thing which puzzled him as he continued his quick and steady march, meandering his path past the humongous trees. Why was he all alone on this quest? Why weren't his grandparents accompanying him? Or his gang of friends for that matter? Why would he set on a journey without them? No matter how much he racked his brain, Littlefoot could not remember nor find any explanation or answer. On top of that, he did not exactly remember the rest of his journey. He knew his home but he could not remember leaving it. It was as if he had woken up here without a memory how he got there in the first place.

As the day progressed, gentle rain began to fall, which seemed to happen on a very frequent and regular basis in these lands he was trespassing, sometimes up to several times a day. The air quickly got very thick and misty which didn't help navigating at all. Littlefoot had no clue what the sky above him was preparing since he could not peek through the insanely prosperous foliage. However, it seemed as though it wasn't brewing a thunderstorm, not now anyway, which relieved the boy a little.

Just when he began considering where to spend the night (it appeared to him as though light was getting scarcer all of a sudden, though he could not tell for certain since neither directions nor the weather were observable), Littlefoot saw something which made his heart leap in excitement only for the feeling to turn into dread. Unexpectedly, the forest came to a sudden end as a wall of very bright, almost white, sharp rock replaced the omni-present hue of green around him.

"Wow!" he exclaimed as he came to stand in the open at last, the white wall in front of him and the bothersome forest behind. Littlefoot was getting excited; finally he got to explore something new! Although, his rejoice wasn't meant to last. A quick look up revealed a number of things. First of all, it became apparent that the wall belonged to an incredibly steep mountain range which began so abruptly where he stood, extending as far up and to both his left and right that any thought was crossing it, whether by climbing or circumnavigating, was brutally crushed in the making. Simultaneously, he realized that some of the trees in that forest reached up to 50 times his height though the awe that came with that realization didn't last any longer than a few seconds. Secondly, now that he could finally catch a glimpse of the sky above, he realized that he still had some time left before the night would embrace the land. Which meant...

"Then why is it so gloomy?" A distant rumble answered almost immediately. A quick look to the sky confirmed his suspicion.

"I'd better find shelter before this breaks loose..." Littlefoot muttered quietly. His options were rather limited though. He would either have to find a shelter or even a cave if he were to chose the mountain ahead. The forest on the other hand would certainly block some of the worst, however it was also kind of dangerous if trees or branches were blown off. Littlefoot didn't know where he needed to go either so he closed his eyes for a moment in order to commit to the feeling inside him. He'd come to trust it at least so he put his hope in what he suspected to be instincts.

"I need to cross the mountains, I can feel it but... how?" Frowning, his eyes scanned the mountainscape once more, not finding a single way. "And where can I hide? Where should I go to look for shelter? Left? Right? Or back to the forest after all?" Indecisive, he turned his head to either of the mentioned directions. "Let's try the right," he decided spontaneously, hoping that he wouldn't regret it. "I can still go back to the forest if things get rough..."

With that in mind and his determination and spirit anew, the longneck set off, walking along the scorched rocks, constantly checking the sky. However, it seemed to be giving him a chance, some more time before the storm would drench the whole area with torrents of rain, him included.

For the next twenty minutes, he wandered along the mountains, his hopes already diminishing. Clearly, these mountains weren't as rich in caverns as those he knew from his home, quite unfortunately. If he didn't find any soon... Up ahead, he saw a little bent as the mountain made a curve. If there wasn't any place to hide behind that bent in the area that he couldn't see from his current position, then he would be forced to choose the forest. The thunder growling threateningly, Littlefoot scurried on quickly. Apparently, luck was on his side that day though. Behind that curve, the longneck's eyes immediately fell on a wide entrance in the rockface.

"A cave! What do you know?!" His cheer immediately drowned in the rapidly strengthening rain; timing couldn't have been better. The boy rushed inside without hesitation. Still not believing his luck, he laid down, observing the rain fall in watery strings rather than single drops. An exemplary downpour, it was. Even though it was mostly just rain and very little storm (the forest would have been safe after all) even the extended foliage wouldn't have been able to keep himself dry.

"This is quite boring though..." the boy noted after a few minutes had passed. A child like him could hardly stay put for very long without going extremely unhappy. Just staying where he sat wasn't satisfactory.

"It's getting dark outside soon but I'm not tired yet. Maybe I should go explore this place?" A little adventure surely wouldn't hurt, the child supposed. While he was stuck in this cavern, he might as well explore it in the meantime and have some fun while he was at it. Yeah, that was a splendid idea!

Humming a random tune (something about going adventuring) he wandered deeper into the cavern. The tunnel was fairly and comfortably broad and the ceiling high above. The path was going rather straight and appeared to be extending deep into the mountain. It was in many ways an extraordinary and unique place, something he hadn't seen yet, and Littlefoot immediately rejoiced at his great idea to go on this expedition.

Soon, it was completely dark but Littlefoot didn't mind much. The tunnel continued to be straight and level and did not branch off at all as far as he could tell with his remaining senses. The longer he walked, the further he went, the bigger grew his excitement. Just how far would this tunnel continue? Maybe it'd even lead him all the way through the mountain?

"That'd be amazing..." the young longneck chuckled as the possibility came up. Who knew how far those damn mountains stretched on? It'd save him days of travel in the best possible case. With spirits higher as ever, Littlefoot increased his velocity significantly because surely it'd take him a while to cover the whole distance if this really were a secret passage underneath the rock.

As more time passed, another emotion mingled with his upbeat mood. After walking for what felt like hours (it must've been in the middle of the night) a strange emotion, something inbetween uneasiness and dread began spreading through his body. Weak at first, just an insignificant sensation in his chest, it began expanding, taking hold of his stomach, then his feet until it was eventually reaching his mind and his tail tip which had begun twitching in an awkward manner. The longer he was walking through a pitch-black tunnel, the longer he was hearing nothing but his very breath and the sound his feet made as they touched the cold, smooth rock rhythmically, the more a peculiar feeling was growing inside of him. A slight irritation turned into uneasiness, uneasiness into dread... and dread into fear. A creepy sensation was threatening to overwhelm him, thus robbing him of his curious, hopeful demeanor.

Littlefoot had one burning question on his mind. What if he wasn't alone in this darkness? What if something was following, watching, anticipating his very death? Suddenly, Littlefoot wasn't calm anymore and his priorities were shifting dramatically as he was losing his cool. When, at first, he had simply given in to his inquisitive nature, along the way elaborating that the tunnel might've been a valueful short cut, now he just wanted to go, just wanted to see light, wanted to feel the presence of another (friendly) alive being, wanted his grandparents to reassure him and his friends to cheer him up. Quite frankly, he simply wanted to escape this dark, seemingly never-ending cave.

"I shouldn't have walked so far..." Finally, he said these words out loud as his little heart was working overtime, his chest rising and lowering in an agitated rhythm but, calm his nerves they did little at all. Frantically, he was checking his surroundings only to be harshly reminded of the unrelentless, evil darkness in which he was drowning. In a way, it reminded him of the one time long ago when he had wandered far from the herd and ended up meeting the Sharptooth. His foolish actions had possibly lead to his mother's death and maybe now he was on the brink of leading himself into death's greedy fangs?

"What do I do now? Help me!" But no help came but a pebble he almost stumbled upon, bruising one of his front toes. Now fear had transitioned into panic. Not the kind of panic one was feeling after doing something wrong and being about to be reprimanded about it. No, it was much rather the kind of panic one was experiencing when one's life was on the line.

"I need to run away!" The young longneck's mind went berserk as panic, deep as the abyss he saw Sharptooth fall into so many years ago, turned the switch for rationing thinking off. As he began to sprint head over heels, he did not even spare any thought on where to run. Considering he had walked for a very long time, heading back would take just as long; and running further along the path could be as smart as it could be disastrous. Subconsciously, he had chosen to keep his direction (maybe the peculiar compass inside of him was leading him through this dark place towards his destination even now?), running at full speed, blindly charging forward into the unknown, blindly trusting that the tunnel would keep going in a straight line.

However, that was a foolish mistake.

*WHAM*

Due to the absolute absence of light, the longneck couldn't see nor anticipate the obstacle in front of him, standing in his straight-forward path. He could not know that the path was taking a sharp turn to the right. Completely oblivious to that, Littlefoot crashed at full speed into the unforgiving rock headfirst. Upon the impact, the little longneck's world exploded in a flash of excruciating pain as his skull and the brain within were shaken to the very core. Terrible, throbbing pain was rocking him; only with extreme effort Littlefoot didn't lose his conscience. He found himself lying on his back, heart racing, breath accelerating, limbs burning and head severed as blood trickled from the wound onto the ground, flowing in several small streams across his face.

"Now I've done it..." Littlefoot throught darkly as he used all his remaining strength on remaining aware. Who knew what'd happen if he passed out. His grandparents had taught him that staying aware of one's surroundings was crucial or one would be helpless.

"Yeah, like there are any surroundings to be aware of..." his tormented mind complained with sarcasm that would make Cera beam.

Littlefoot remembered the initial reason for his mad sprint; something was after him, he just knew it and the very thought of something eating him while he was blacking out gave him a sudden urge to throw up. Groaning, he tried to get back onto his feet.

And immediately regretted it.

"No... please!" Littlefoot's world was spinning fast, his insides cramping as he felt terribly sick, collapsing with a pained groan. More blood, warm and wet, ran down from the wound on his head. That, he reckoned, must have been how his mother must've felt before she'd died, bleeding and too weak to get up, refusing to black out by sheer will alone. But Littlefoot didn't have that kind of willpower, not yet anyway. His head fell into the developing puddle of his own blood, Littlefoot fainted.

The longneck couldn't tell whether he was awake or not - or even alive. Suddenly, there was a faint, distant light. His head was burning as if something was frying it which meant at least that he must have been still alive. His vision was terribly blurry and his eyes unable to focus but the light was growing in intensity, almost as if it was approaching him. Soon, the darkness was completely replace by light, a light so bright that it momentarily blinded Littlefoot. Once his vision was partly restored, the boy could make out a distant shape, contrasting against the White surrounding him. Upon closer observation, his vision improving, his ability to focus strengthening, he could recognize movement. As a matter of fact, whatever it was that he was looking at, was moving towards him.

"What is this?" he wondered, though he didn't have to wait for long. Finally, his eyes had fully adapted to the sudden brightness (there was nothing to see but light). His gaze fell on the approaching shape again. Strongly familiar it was. The pattern of movement was too familiar to deny it; a longneck was approaching him.

"A longneck, who might it be?!" Littlefoot perked up. Was it his grandpa? Or his grandma?!"

"No, this longneck is small... like... like me!" Littlefoot's headache was almost secondary now, too excited he was now to bother much with the throbbing pain. He remembered feeling scared and lonely in the darkness so this discovery was very pleasant. Littlefoot didn't know who might be approaching him but he was simply happy to see another fellow longneck, and a child too, likely! Once the longneck (now he could tell that it was a kid his age!) had walked within a longneck length (the length of an average adult of his species), it suddenly hit him like a brick to the face.

"A-Ali?!" The boy recognized the longneck, who was a girl with a kind, warm smile and a pink skin. "W-what are you doing here?! How..."

But the girl didn't reply at all. Only her smile, her shimmering blue eyes locking with his, was speaking to him, the boy completely perplexed.

"Ali..." Suddenly, he felt very dreamy. The girl formed words with her lips though he couldn't hear them. "Follow me!" was what he read from the lip movement. The girl winked at him, smiling once more before she turned around and began to run away laughing.

"Wait for me, Ali, I'm coming!" Littlefoot shouted, going after the girl, but a strange phenomenon was crossing his plans suddenly.

"I'm not moving at all!" Only now Littlefoot noticed that he wasn't standing on solid ground. Much rather, he was floating in an eternal room filled with nothing but light, light and more light. Ali was cheerfully galloping out of view, the boy looking after her, panicking.

"Ali, wait!" Wait Ali! Nooooooooo..."

Littlefoot opened his eyes. The unusual white space had vanished, replaced by the all too familiar set of trees and rocks in the vicinity of his home in the Great Valley.

"A dream, huh?" The longneck was still sleepy and perplexed; the experiences he had made within his sleepstory were still very alive. He could still feel (or, rather, recall) the heavy pain from his injury, the fear of being caught in the endless darkness or his fast-beating heart when Ali appeared to him.

"Ali..." A weak, content smile flashed across the corners of his mouth. "I really wonder how she is doing..." Littlefoot gave a hearty yawn as he rolled over onto his other flank, not quite ready to get up but too mentally occupied to take another nap, catching a glimpse at his grandfather, who gave him a mirthful smile (Grandma was still sleeping).

"Whatever that was about..." The boy grunted, reluctantly rolling back to his original position, deciding not to mind his grandpa for now; he had some thinking to do and his thoughts returned to Ali.

"Gee, I haven't been thinking about her lately..." Well, in his defense, it had been well over two cold times since Littlefoot had met the girl. It had been on a nice day long ago. The Valley had been expecting a herd of longnecks that day. After greeting them formally, he and his friends had been playing a game of Hide and Seek when Littlefoot suddenly found a shy but friendly longneck instead of his gang, Ali. He ended up playing with her that day, having a lot of fun while showing her around the Valley, becoming friends in no time. Unfortunately, just then his grandfather had fallen gravely sick.

He had been worried sick; it hadn't been looking good. When his grandmother asked the visiting herd for advice, he heard about a mysterious flower said to grow in the herd's former homeland, which had succumbed to heavy flooding. It was said to heal the sick but nobody had been willing to show them the way. Angry and disappointed, he had forged up a devious plan. With Ali's help, who knew the way, they set off on a perilous adventure to retrieve the mysterious Night Flower, later joined by his friends, succeeding in the end to bring his grandfather the cure just in time. Soon after, Ali's herd had left suddenly. Before leaving, they promised to see each other again one day but there hadn't been a trace of her herd ever since.

"Gee, I kinda miss her..." Littlefoot mumbled, quiet enough so that his grandpa wouldn't catch was he was breeding about. He got a little melancholic as his thoughts lingered on the girl. Where had she been all this time? Wouldn't she ever return to the valley again? He had certainly expected her to visit one of these days but such a visit hadn't become reality yet.

"I really hope that one day I can see Ali again..." the purple-brown boy mumbled a little sadly. Playing with Ali has been a special kind of fun, one that even the gang could never achieve. Ali had been special and maybe it was because she was a longneck too. He couldn't quite tell that but as he recalled how Ali once used to pull all sorts of funky faces, he immediately laughed and felt so much better. It was okay to be sad about those far away every now and then but it shouldn't dissuade him from being silly and happy. Under his grandfather's gaze that suggested interest in whatever he was going on about, Littlefoot got up to have breakfast before he made for the meeting place he and his friends had agreed on the other day. Another day filled with silly laughter and ridicule was awaiting him.

Or so he hoped.

I really don't know what happened but I think my writing has changed a little since last month. I was on vacation, read a lot of books, which certainly inspired my style and vocabulary.

Anyways, I actually wanted the talking scene to be longer but couldn't think of much else to extend the scene with. I had an idea a while back but seem to have forgotten about it. Well, it works the way it is I think

I was afraid I would fall into the dreaded writer's block when I started tackling the dream (chapter 7 was already finished by the time I began working on the dream). I knew that Ali should play a role at some point and I wanted Littlefoot to dream about the journey ahead of him. After some brainstorming, I came up with the scenario I ended up with though I'll admit the cave scenes were created on the spot (aka. during school lessons xD) Considering that, I think it's even more impressive. I seem to be very productive there while whenever I write at home I quickly lose my spirit. Weird.

Well, that's it from me. Since I've already done chapter 7, expect that to follow soon!

Guest chapter 6 . Oct 1

"This will be significantly shorter than my normal reviews, since we discussed the chapter while I was reading it, so I'll focus primarily on the highlights.

Your inclusion of the dream sequence at the beginning of the chapter was an excellent decision. The juxtaposition between Ali's calm shyness in the dream and fight with her mother demonstrates that Ali's personality hasn't changed from what was previously established. She's just become more rebellious under the pressure of constant stress and strict rules. A rebellion which I completely understand given her herd appears to be an almost cult-like environment with her mom referring to Old One as "glorious leader". That being said I'm glad you didn't vilianize Ali's mother. She does genuinely care about her daughter's wellbeing, and even agrees with her to an extent, it's just that they have conflicting opinions of what leads to a better life. Both sides have an air of truth to them and that's important when writing dynamic characters.

As for the Old One herself, you did a good job of showing the extent to which she controls her herd without characterizing her as tyrannical in the process. Even though that vote seemed to be ceremonial to some extent since she already knew the outcome and was pleased to find she was correct. All in all an enjoyable chapter with great character development for everyone involved. Enjoy your vacation."

Thank you very much as always :)

Yep, Ali may not be acting like Ali but she is still Ali deep inside chained by the life she has to live in her herd. No wonder that she's pissed about it at last! I agree that it is very important to make a character dynamic. I may not always be thinking about that actively but I think I have about enough experience in creative writing by now to get a feeling for how to handle a character. Ali's mother has a lot of potential of development since nothing is known about her at all. Same about the whole herd dynamics. When considering the dynamics that I chose, it'd make sense for her mother to follow the flow and do as the leader says, however she still cares about her daughter and what she feels. But she can't say that without contradicting the lessons and rules of the herd. It's quite a dilemma, huh? How is Ali gonna escape that hell? Stay tuned, hehe.

Same with Old One yeah. I always thought of her as a really weird sort of dinosaur, not a tyrant but possessing a sort of unquestioned authority which she uses to keep her herd in line as she pleases.

The Rhombus chapter 6 . Oct 7

"This is yet another great improvement on the original. :) We get to see Ali's remembrance of her time in the valley and the wonderful freedom she felt within its protective walls, only to have the spell be broken by her awakening. The argument with her mother is much more reasonable than I remember it in the original as it slowly builds and then finally eases as the meeting arrives. The meeting itself is another sign of improvement as the Old One's dialogue takes on a very distinct, and anti-laconic tone. Both being long-winded, but not superfluous as she explains her reasoning and misgivings on the situation. The fact that she allows a vote does show that she is the matriarch of a somewhat democratic system but that her words and instructions carry great weight in the community. This makes her a bit more relatable than in the previous tale and it also makes me curious about what will happen next. :yes"

Thank you very much! The dream at the beginning (As a huge fan of this story aka. the friendly guest here put it, I apparently love to write them and seem to be doing great at it) was yet another sign how much Ali missed Littlefoot and how much she disliked her current life. Obviously, as she was taken away from that fantasy by force, she is very disgruntled and takes out all her subdued anger on her mother, who is only partly to blame of course but Ali still sees her as the great evil who is the reason for all her distress and melancholy. The original was rather, uhh, having a fight for the sake of it. I tried to give the whole scene a flow to it and I think (as you said) it's worked rather well.

As always, you've summed up the scene very well. Old One has a more distinct character now and I agree that the previous chapter was terrible I wrote that in german back in the days and later translated it and... it shows lol

OwlsCantRead chapter 6 . Oct 11

"The argument between Ali and her mom was curt and very reminiscent of a kid trying to rebel against an overly protective parental figure. The exchanges were brief, yet heated... pretty much like a real life argument with parents.

It's also quite telling that the Old One refuses to make the journey despite the instincts of her herd and even herself. Really shows that even after LBT4, she still prefers to be in her own comfort zone and refuses to take risks to endanger the herd."

Yup, you've said that really well. Nothing to add here but... thanks for the review :D