Chapter 7: The Hollow Tree

"The voice said 'tree with a hollow at the base' but I've checked pretty much all of those trees and still found nothing." Littlefoot exclaimed in exasperation at lunch. He decided to have lunch with his friends instead of with his grandparents. They understood that he would enjoy it better.

"Well, you know, you could search again. I could help you this time, though." Cera offered.

"No, I'll check once more by myself. If nothing happens, I'll ask you for help. Okay?" Littlefoot responded.

"Fine. But don't complain when I find it before you." Cera replied smugly.

Littlefoot just finished his lunch when he remembered about the stone. I wonder if that will help me at all, he thought to himself, I'll go get it from the tree I hid it in. Littlefoot began to run to exactly where he had hid the stone.

When he got there, he looked into the hollow to make sure the stone was there. It was. While taking the stone out of the hollow, he noticed that there was a faint, high-pitched whine coming from the hollow. I bet that there was something in there, but it was probably just a bug.

Littlefoot then began to search through all of the trees yet again. He drew arrows in the ground at the base of each tree that point to where the previous tree was as he went the first time. The trip didn't take up much time, but it still was fruitless. Littlefoot decided that the stone wouldn't help at all, so he put it away. He then began searching for Cera, because he definitely needed help.

"Cera! Where are you? I need your help!" he called out when he got to her nest, but no response came. He suddenly remembered that her stone was at the Thundering Falls, so he went over there to talk to her. When he got there, he found no one.

"Where could she be? I checked her nest and her stone's location, but I can't find her anywhere!" he exclaimed in exhaustion. Suddenly, he saw someone in the corner of his eye. Someone orange. It was Cera.

"Cera! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where were you?" Littlefoot excitedly exclaimed.

"I've been looking for my stone. But never mind that now. I lost my other stone. The one that we got when we were given our instructions." She replied.

"Oh no! Mine might have been taken, too. Let me go check on Ducky and Spike." He replied, heading for their nest. When he got there, he saw both Ducky and Spike looking for their stones frantically.

"Hey Littlefoot, have you seen my stone? Both Spike and I lost ours." Ducky asked.

"No. Oddly enough, the same thing happened to Cera. When did you last see it?" Littlefoot replied.

"When I woke up. Why?"

"Well, both you and Cera kept yours at your respective nests. I put mine in a hollow tree. Wait a second, that's it! That is where my stone is! Gotta go!" Littlefoot said in sudden realization. He then rushed off towards the tree where his stone was stored. He didn't see the stone, but he remembered the whining. He tried to remember the source of the whining. He realized that the whining was coming from the hollow in the base of the tree, not the one where his stone was placed in.

He ducked his head, and looked into the hollow at the tree's base, and saw the stone that he was searching for. He excitedly grabbed the stone and pulled it out of the hollow. He noticed that the stone had turned orange. The exact same shade of orange as the stone that was in the hollow above the stone.

"I have this stone, but where is the other stone?" Littlefoot asked himself as he walked back to his nest.

--

"Well now. I guess I'll be revealing myself tomorrow, Argana. Four out of the five crystals have been located, and it will only be a matter of time before the last one is found." Vylon commented as the orange egg began rocking and squeaking with the yellow, purple, and pink eggs. Only the white egg remained motionless, but not for much longer.

"I am expecting a very exciting appearance." Argana said.