The Caverns

In just less than hour later, Littlefoot, Aylene, Ali, and Ken soon found themselves walking down a narrow pass. In just a few minutes, they came to stop on a small ledge and gazed at the spectacular sight before them.

Just in front of them was a large waterfall that looked like it was about a mile high. The crystal clear liquid flowed down the falls and splashed down into the rushing river below. Water droplets sprinkled all around, creating two rainbows.

However, while the others all stared in wonder and amazement at the scene, Ken narrowed his eyes and gave a deep exhale.

"This is it," Ken frowned, "we're almost there. We just need to pass through the caves."

"Are you okay, Ken?" Littlefoot asked, noticing the boy's sullen look.

"I'm fine." Ken replied. "Let's just get this over with."

Littlefoot and Aylene followed Ali and Ken down a small path that lead across the river and down a small path that led them behind the waterfall. When they got past the falling waters, they found themselves entering a large cavern. Enormous columns of rocks stretched all the way to the ceiling. Stalactites of all sizes jutted out from the roof of the cave and stalagmites spiked up from the ground. Except for the sunlight from the entrance, the cave was rather dark and dreary.

The group stopped for a moment and the two humans slipped off of longnecks.

"It's pretty dark in here." Aylene said.

"Use your Time Stone for light." Ken looked at the human girl. "Like this."

Aylene watched as Ken cupped his Time Stone in both of his hands and brought them to his mouth. He then blew some air into the enclosure of his fists. At the same moment, a small, light blue light began to shine in his hands. When Ken let his Time Stone hang freely around his neck again, Aylene was surprised to see that it was glowing brightly.

"Whoa!" she whispered.

"See?" Ken said. "Now you try."

Aylene simply nodded and clasped her Time Stone with both hands. She did exactly what Ken did and gently blew warm air between her hands. When she let her Stone go, she was happy to see that it was now glowing just as bright as Ken's.

"Thanks, Ken," the girl said.

"No problem," the boy nodded. "I learned that trick just a few weeks ago. Just be careful, it will only stay this way for a limited time."

"Thanks for tip. Now, how do we get through this cavern?"

"We need to proceed with caution."

"That's right." Ali nodded. "I do remember this place has a lot of deep spots in the water. And sometimes you just walk right into them without meaning to. They were so deep that my mother had to carry us through it."

"Just keep an eye our for dark water." Ken added. "That's the biggest indicator of deep water. And keep your wits about you. There's no telling what hocus pocus may lurk in these caverns."

"Okay, then." Littlefoot said. "I'm sure we'll be fine if we stick together."

"Right," the human boy nodded. "C'mon, this way."

Slowly and cautiously, the group continued on their journey through the caves. The only sounds that could be heard were their feet when they splashed through the shallow parts of the pools of water, droplets dripping from the stalactites, faint roars of waterfalls that were scattered throughout the cave, and a small howling sound that came from the wind.

With each step they took, both Ken and Ali were becoming more and more anxious. They constantly exchanged worried glances and were whispering back and forth to each other. As much as Littlefoot and Aylene strained to hear what they were saying, they couldn't make out a single word.

Eventually, the two of them trailed just a little ways back so they could talk to each other.

"Littlefoot," Aylene whispered, "they're not telling us something."

"I know," the longneck whispered back, "but we can't ask them directly. That would be rude."

"Still, we need to know what they're not telling us. I have feeling it's something important.

"It could be something private. Or something they don't want to talk about."

"Yeah, I have thought of that. But Ken was defensive about not coming. And now, he and Ali are acting really nervous."

"You do have a point, bit I don't want to offend them."

"Neither do I but…"

Aylene abruptly stopped talking when she noticed that Ken and Ali had stopped. She looked at them and saw that they were glancing around in different directions of the cavern.

"Ali, Ken, what's the matter?" Littlefoot asked.

"I don't remember this place." Ali replied.

"I don't recognize it either." Ken shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Aylene stepped forward.

"I'm sorry," Ken looked at Aylene, "but this place has me turned around."

"Well, then we should just try to find another way through the cave." Littlefoot suggested.

"We can't just go in a random direction," the human boy said. "We'll most likely get lost. And time is not on our side."

"But we can't just stand around here either." Ali said.

The female longneck then looked around and pointed with her paw at an opening with some sunlight spilling in.

"Why don't we try that way?" she said.

"It's worth a shot." Littlefoot shrugged.

Ken hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep exhale.

"Okay," he said, "but we have to be careful."

The group quickly made their way to the opening. However, the moment they past through it, they immediately came to a stop. The path before had stopped and dropped off down toward a pit of sharp stalagmites and a series of rivers flowing in between the columns.

"That's a long way down." Aylene stepped back.

Littlefoot looked at his human friend. He remembered Aylene was afraid of heights, and that the pit below them was a pretty long drop. So right now, he couldn't blame her for keeping her distance.

"I think we better go back." Littlefoot said.

At that moment, part of Littlefoot's statement echoed through the large cavern, saying: "go back". It repeated itself three times, each time getting softer and softer.

The two Apatosaurus both looked around in surprise when they heard it. The humans, on the other hand, didn't seem to take much notice of it.

"Who was that?" Ali asked, looking around nervously.

"That was an echo." Ken said.

"An echo?" Littlefoot questioned.

"It's when a sound bounces back at something." Aylene explained. "You mostly hear it in caves since they have a small enclosure. Just listen."

Aylene cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted: "ANYBODY THERE?!"

In an instant, the sounded bounced all over the walls of the cavern and back at the group. Each time it repeated, it grew more and more faint until it was silenced altogether.

"See?" the girl smiled. "An echo."

"Well," Ken shrugged, "now that we've had a little science lesson in sound waves, I suggest backtrack and find another route."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. All four froze as the tremors increased. They all then looked up and realized with horror that the earthquake was causing the stalactites on the ceiling to come loose.

"IT'S A CAVE-IN!" Ken shouted. "RUN!"

Aylene quickly jumped onto Littlefoot and Ken leapt onto Ali. The two Apatosauruses immediately set out running. No sooner did they start racing back toward the entrance of the cave that the stalactites came loose from the ceiling and began to shower down to the ground. The two dinosaurs had to dodge, leap, and sprint to avoid getting crushed or impaled by the pointed rocks.

To make matters worse, a small gap began to form between them and their way out. Using all of their strength, Littlefoot and Ali practically vaulted over it. However, as Littlefoot landed, the quaking earth caused his foot to slip out from under him, causing him to stumble.

The next thing Aylene knew, she flew off of Littlefoot and everything went black.

Ali sprinted toward the entrance as fast as her legs could carry her. When she and Ken were almost there, they noticed that the earthquake was slowly coming to a stop. They both turned around, expecting to see Littlefoot and Aylene right behind them.

But to their horror, there was no sign of them. Instead, there was a huge wall of fallen rocks blocking the path.

"LITTLEFOOT!" Ali cried.

"AYLENE!" Ken shouted.

The two of them quickly raced back toward the wall. Ken leapt off of Ali and began to hastily climb towards the top of the wreckage. Using all of his strength, he desperately tried to push the rocks away. At the bottom, Ali was doing all she could to push some boulders away. No matter how hard they pushed and shoved, the rocks refused to move.

"AYLENE!" Ken yelled, straining at the same time. "AYLENE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"It's no use, Ken!" Ali cried. "These rocks are too heavy for us!"

"We can't give up, Ali!" Ken replied.

"But we do need help!" the female longneck looked desperately at her friend. "We have to get the others!"

"Ali…!"

"Ken, please! It's their only chance!"

Ken looked back and forth between the wall of rocks and Ali. He didn't want to leave Aylene and Littlefoot behind, especially in a place like this. And what they could've been hurt by the cave-in? Not to mention, the boy still didn't want to put the others in danger. Once he and Ali brought them back, they would also have to take them to the Land of Mists with them.

Still, Ali was right. They needed help if they were going to get through this wall.

"Okay," the boy nodded, "but we have to hurry!"

Ken then carefully raced down the rocks and mounted back onto Ali.

"Don't worry guys!" Ali called out to Littlefoot and Aylene. "We'll be back!"

Without another moment of hesitation, Ali raced off toward the entrance of the cave. Before the left the cave completely, Ken looked back over his shoulder, praying that Aylene and Littlefoot would be okay until they came back with some help.

Aylene groaned and winced as she slowly came around. She wearily opened her eyes and struggled to sit up. Once she was able to brace herself with her arms, she shook her head, trying to shake away the dizziness.

"Oh, ow." she moaned.

She then looked over to see Littlefoot was just a few feet away from her. The moment she realized that he was unconscious, she quickly got up and ran over to him.

"Littlefoot!" she said worriedly, shaking his shoulder. "Littlefoot, are you okay?! Wake up!"

In just a few moments, the longneck began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up to see his friend kneeling down beside him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Aylene?" he groaned.

"Yeah, I'm here." Aylene said assuringly.

Littlefoot then slowly stood up. He and Aylene both looked around and saw a huge wall of rocks right in front of them. They realized with a horrible shock that it was blocking their way out.

And to make matters worse, Ali and Ken were nowhere to be seen.

"ALI!" Littlefoot shouted.

"KEN!" Aylene cried.

They both scrambled up the wreckage and began to desperately push away the rocks.

"KEN!" Aylene shouted. "ALI! ARE YOU GUYS THERE?!"

No one answered.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Littlefoot bit his lip.

"Me, too." Aylene said fearfully. "But we gotta try and get through. C'mon, help me move these rocks."