Chapter XXV: The Battle's End, and the Journey's Beginning
In which the fighting stops and new territory is ventured to.
Coaley peered out from the outer side of the cave. She was no fighter, and as such, all that was expected of her was transportation. She looked at her fallen comrades in a panic. They were too spread out to reach all of them with her warp power. Littlefoot was still wailing on Dusk, and she finally couldn't take it anymore. She reach down, picked up a stick, ran over to Littlefoot and clomped him on the head. The stick instantly broke and he turned to her.
"I see that you have a death wish, brat." He turned his attention toward her, but Chomper tackled Littlefoot and they rolled away.
"Chomper, what are you-?" Coaley began.
"We're even now," was his reply.
Littlefoot's body glowed again, and the immense heat caused Chomper to lose his grip. Chomper looked down to see small burns on his body. Littlefoot's claws extended and he lurched at Chomper. Suddenly, Chomper was gone. Coaley and he appeared a small distance away.
"Looks like you owe me again," she said playfully with her tongue out. Chomper grinned, but quickly turned his attention back to Littlefoot. The enraged Long Neck raised his front foot and his claws shot out of it, pelting Chomper all over. The pain was so intense that Chomper began to drift in and out of consciousness, until he finally collapsed.
Thick branches swung down and clutched Littlefoot tightly, but he quickly broke free. Spike hardened his entire body and rushed at Littlefoot. He braced for impact, but Spike stopped short. He then opened his mouth and began licking his neck. Littlefoot was perplexed at this, but he managed to regain his senses and recognize who his friends were so shouted, "Release!"
Littlefoot quickly scanned the area, and seeing Chomper down, he rushed over to him. "Please," he began, "Please say I didn't do this to him!" None of his friends said a word.
"Of course you did this!" a familiar voice rang out. "That's what happens when you don't heed my warnings." Reina walked over to Chomper and lifted him up. "Eh, no fatal injuries. You got lucky. Thanks to the increased healing capability of the stone's power, his wounds won't be around too long." She glanced over to the bloody Dusk and pried away the stone he was clutching tightly. "Good work, all of you. Thanks to your efforts, the stone has been recovered. I'm a bit too tired to transport you all home, but I'm sure you'll make it back just fine. You'll lose your powers eventually with the stone gone, so maybe have some fun until then. See ya." A light shone down from the sky, and Reina vanished.
Dusk saw the Rainbow Face vanish, and a tear formed in his eye. His dream was over. Life would remain hard for Sharpteeth. He managed to get to his feet, and helped his comrades up.
Littlefoot was in shock after hurting his friend so badly, but Chomper told him not to worry and pointed at a female Long Neck. Littlefoot quickly turned. "Let Ali go. Now! The stone is gone, so you have no more reason to use her."
"Use her? Ali is our friend," Agu argued.
"Friend! You're changing her thoughts so she'll like you!" Littlefoot yelled, outraged.
"You're just confused," Ali told him softly. "Dusk and the others are my family. They always have been."
"No, they have not!" Littlefoot shouted all the more.
"Coaley, let's get going," Dusk told her. "I don't care where, just away from here and not the Great Valley."
"Okey dokey Dusky. Warp." Dusk's group vanished, leaving behind a warp hole, as usual. Littlefoot immediately began to follow, but a groan from Chomper made him instead rush to his friend's side.
"It- it hurts," he said, starting to cry.
"I am so, so sorry, Chomper," he told him.
"It's okay, buddy. That wasn't really you. You were just taken over by your power. I'm not mad," but he quickly clutched his bleeding shoulder in pain. "But don't worry. Reina said that the stone's power makes us heal faster."
"Not good enough!" Littlefoot exclaimed. "Light, shine within my heart!" After a brief glare of light, a white Littlefoot stood before his friend. He rested his front foot on each of Chomper's gashes and burns, and in seconds, they were gone, save one. Littlefoot focused harder on the final one, but while it healed, it left a small scar.
"I offer my sincerest apologies, dear friend. After donning the force of darkness for so long, my powers are diminished. I had not the strength to heal the last wound properly. It will forever be a mark on your body."
Chomper touched the scar on his shoulder gingerly. "That's alright, Littlefoot. I am glad to always have a part of you with me."
Both of them started to tear up, and they embraced. Littlefoot then released his power, returning to normal.
"Oh no! The warp hole is gone!" Littlefoot exclaimed. "We have to save Ali. Cera?"
"No good," she replied. "They aren't near any plants. They could be anywhere, so looking around probably won't do us much good. I will check often to see if I can locate her. For now, let's all get home. Petrie, could you fly another log back to the Great Valley for us?"
"Sure thing!"
The gang hopped on, though Littlefoot did so reluctantly, and it lifted into the air. As they flew along, "Think we should tell our families what happened?" Littlefoot asked.
"Eh, a stone that grant wishes, magic powers, Rainbow Faces from another world, and so on I think would be a little too much for my dad," Cera admitted.
"If mom knew me go on such dangerous adventure, she may never let me out of her sight again," Petrie said.
"Yeah, same with our mom," Ducky said. Spike nodded in agreement.
"Okay, then this will all be our secret," Littlefoot told them. "Our greatest adventure of all time." The log finally landed in the Great Valley, and the children returned to their families. They had all agreed to say that they went to visit Chomper's parents, which actually wasn't a lie. They were all scolded for not asking permission, but that was all. The kids returned to their normal lives as they waited for their powers to fade. Or at least, most of them returned to normal living.
"See those tree sweets, Tria?" Topsy asked her.
"You mean the ones way up top? Yes, they look especially delicious."
"Well in a few moments, they're all yours." He stepped back then started to charge. He hit the tree with an intense force, but the fruits didn't do so much as to shake. He repeated this three more times with no results.
"Watch and learn, dad," Cera said slyly, emerging from behind a bush. She ran back a short distance, hit the tree head on, and all of the tree sweets fell to the ground.
"That was amazing, Cera!" her father complimented.
"Oh, you just gotta know how to work with trees," she replied, and grinned deviously.
xxxxx
"I can't believe it's over," Dusk said quietly. "Now the lives of all Sharpteeth won't improve at all."
Menta sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am glad things turned out this way. A life without you is no improvement at all, no matter what changes."
"Thank you," he replied with a smile. Then he recalled his dream and began to wonder if this really was for the best. Ceit could alter her memories, but with the stone gone, Ceit was lose his powers. When he did, Menta would remember everything and may just kill herself. Dusk cringed at the thought of her dying like that.
"Menta," Coaley began, "You said that the stone doesn't take a life if used in their world, right?"
"Yes, but why do you ask, Coaley?"
"I don't want Dusky feeling sad forever, so I followed that Rainbow Face into that light, and got taken to her world. I quickly warped back before she could notice. So if you really want to get your wish, Dusky, I can now warp us all to their world where we can get the stone back."
Dusk's face brightened and he gave her a big hug. "I love you," he said, and Coaley blushed.
Two days later…
"You're it!" Cera called out as she tagged Littlefoot.
"Maybe, but not for long!" he called back. Littlefoot started running towards Spike, but a Rainbow Face appeared in his way. He screeched to a halt to avoid a collision. "Reina? What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"I have no idea how, but Dusk and his group have gotten into our world. They have stolen the stone and we can't find them. We really need Cera's plant ability to find them again, and the rest of you would be a big help as well."
"I would think that they probably came back to our world by now," Littlefoot reasoned.
"No, I am sure that they have not," she replied. "The stone was designed so that if it ever left our world, it would require a life to be taken, so it was certain that no one would steal it and flee to get a wish granted. It requires five dinosaurs to make the wish, and the one who would die must be predetermined. Dusk, to our surprise, wasn't shaken by the cost. However, in its original world, the cost is different. It instead requires two extra wishers, but no life. Dusk's group is only of six, so they've reached a stand off. Our denizens have been warned of Dusk's intent, so he is unable to get anyone around to help him. However, I fear that he'll find someone at some point to give him aid, and if he does, as I've said, this world will be in grave danger."
"Do you know yet what he wants to wish for?" Littlefoot asked. The little Long Neck just couldn't shirk the fact that he had his doubts about Dusk really being evil. He saved Chomper, after all.
"No, but as the prophecy warned, it spells doom. My kind cannot bear the thought of our project damaging another source of life, so we are doing all we can to stop him. Will you kids help us again?"
"If Dusk's gets his wish, we're all in trouble, so we don't really have a choice. Guys?" Littlefoot asked, and all of them nodded in agreement.
"Thank you," Reina told them, and she focused as a large beam of light enveloped them, and then they were gone.