Ali and Yasmine ran far away from the cave until they found a nearby forest with shrubs big enough to hide behind. Night had come upon them, so they needed to rest. Ali laid down on the cold dirt and sighed. Yasmine walked up to her and sat down.

"Still thinking about him?"

Ali nodded and buried her head in the ground. She lifted it up, still looking down at the ground.

"He hasn't come back yet. I'm afraid that he's…"

"I know, but we have to go back. We need to make sure he's safe."

"You're right," said Ali, facing her.

"Then let's go."

The two female longnecks walked back to the cave.

When they reached the cave, they stopped. Both were afraid to enter, but both wanted to know the truth. Ali summoned the courage to walk in first. Yasmine followed and scanned the cave. She bonked into Ali.

"Why did you stop?"

She peered over Ali's body and noticed a body lying in front of them. She examined it carefully and noticed it wasn't breathing. Tears were rolling down Ali's eyes.

"Littlefoot?"

"It's not him," said Yasmine. "It only has two legs and a short neck. Probably Littlefoot killed it."

Ali never knew Littlefoot being so vicious. Time always changes everything. Ali looked around and saw dried up blood spots leading out of the cave. Without any rational thinking, she rushed out of the cave and followed the blood trail. Yasmine followed her.

The two longnecks sprinted until Ali finally stopped. Yasmine stopped and looked beyond Ali. She saw a figure sleeping out in the open. Ali rushed over to the figure's side. She slowed down as she got close. Yasmine caught up with her, and both realized the figure was Littlefoot.

"Littlefoot?" Ali wondered. "Littlefoot."

There was a pause before the neck stirred. Ali's heart jumped up for joy as she saw Littlefoot still alive. Yasmine looked at the condition he was in.

"Littlefoot, are you okay to walk?" asked Yasmine.

"I'll try."

He slowly got to his feet and shortly collapsed afterwords. Yasmine looked him over and noticed his back leg had a flesh wound. The blood had poured out of there.

"He's too weak," Yasmine told Ali.

"But we need to take him to where we were. It'll be safer than out here."

Yasmine nodded and thought up a plan to carry him. She sighed when the only way would induce pain on him.

"We need to carry you back to where we were," Yasime said. "Can you bare pain a little bit more?"

"Yeah. It's too dangerous out here, but…I couldn't walk on."

"Ali, make sure his head is not swayed back and forth. I'll pull his tail."

Yasmine took his tail into her mouth and began to drag him as Ali lifted his neck with her neck. They both made sure the injured leg wasn't dragged. They walked for a while until Yasmine saw the cave. She turned left and entered a small forest about half a mile away from the cave. The two female longnecks went around the bushes to hid behind them. They carefully set Littlefoot's body parts down.

"You found this?" asked Littlefoot weakly.

"Yeah," said Ali as she walked over a tree to get a minty leaf.

"It's nice and quiet."

Ali put the mint on the wounded leg.

"It stings, but it will stop the blood."

"Thanks," he said.

Ali rested next to him and observed his condition. His breaths were slow, but it was just that he was tired. The leg would heal, so the most important thing was to stop the blood. She already took care of that. He'll be fine.

Treestars fell in front of them. The two looked up. Yasmine smiled.

"You better eat up. I found these nearby."

Yasmine was beginning to walk away, but Ali's voice stopped her.

"Aren't you going to have any?"

"I already have my own pile. You two enjoy."

Yasmine walked away.

"It seems you and Yasmine got along."

"Yeah."

"That's great," he said softly.

Ali looked down at him with a concerned face.

"Littlefoot?"

"Mmm."

"I was afraid. I was afraid I would never see you again."

Littlefoot lifted his neck and moved it up to rub her cheek. Ali met him halfway and rubbed his cheek. She parted after a few moments and blushed. Littlefoot wondered why she blushed, but his answer was answered when Ali licked his cheek. He looked at her and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Littlefoot."

"It's okay."

He rested his neck down and looked at Ali.

"It just gives me energy to survive."

"Littlefoot, could you please tell me the story after we left? I know you might not want to."

"I'll tell it."

Littlefoot eased at the sight of the girls exiting out safely. That's what he wanted them to do. Ali turned around as a raptor charged at him. She looked back and ran out of his sight.

The raptor pounced on top of him. He used his tail and whipped the raptor to keep him away. The raptor screeched at him for doing so. After the yell, the other two raptors pounced on him. He moved back by standing on two legs. One of the raptors managed to bite into his rear leg in the air. Its teeth dug in deep, but Littlefoot slammed all his feet down, knocking the raptor on the ground. Littlefoot took the opportunity and stepped on its tail. He wrapped his tail around its neck and suffocated the dinosaur.

The two remaining raptors darted at Littlefoot. He whipped them away with his tail and knew he couldn't keep it up. Blood was trailing down his flesh wound. He moved back into a crevasse big enough for him. It was also big enough for the raptors, but he didn't care.

During the fight, he felt the ground vibrate. The vibrations got stronger as time progressed. Littlefoot knew that there was another sharptooth here. He moved into the crevasse to not be seen by the bigger sharptooth.

The raptors finally looked to their left to see a tyrannosaurs running towards them. They hissed at each other and ran out of the cave. The tyrannosaur followed. Littlefoot was relieved and walked out of his fighting place. He looked at his wound and decided to still go on. He thought the girls went straight and tried to track them down. As he walked, the shadows heightened his ears but blurred his vision. After walking for about five minutes, he finally fell down and closed his eyes.

"So the tyrannosaur you saw chased them?"

"Yeah."

"You should thank him," she teased. "Without him, you would have been in more trouble."

"Whatever. I got out alive using my wits."

"And your pride was the one that got you injured. If you would have ran with us, you wouldn't be hurt."

"Yeah, but the raptors would be chasing us still. I kept you safe, so I did my part."

"You're right, but if you would have… We would be lost without you."

He noticed her trembling.

"Ali, sleep next to me. It'll make me feel better."

She obeyed and slept next to him. Cheek was touching cheek as they slept.

Ali woke up to see that Littlefoot was gone. She panicked and heard some talking behind the bushes. She got up and walked towards it. Littlefoot was telling the story she heard last night to Yasmine. They sensed they weren't alone and looked at who joined in. Ali walked up to Littlefoot. He gave her some food.

"Eat. Yasmine and I already ate."

She nodded sleepily. Littlefoot continued his story. When Ali was done with her food, Littlefoot was wrapping up his story

"Would you be okay to walk today then?" asked Yasmine.

"I feel better. I have both of you to thank for that. Now, we need to continue. The bright circle has risen, so we must walk."

The trio set off once again. Littlefoot led them back to the spot they picked him up. Ali stiffened when she walked by it. There was a small puddle of blood, but nothing too gruesome. Ali looked at Littlefoot.

I could have lost him, she thought. He's so stubborn though. I guess if he wasn't so stubborn, he wouldn't be a good leader.

The hot sun beat down on them. Littlefoot licked his lips. He needed to find water. They climbed up a sandy hill and stopped on top. A small pond was only a short run away. Relieved, they ran down to it. Forgetting the pain, Littlefoot made it first to the water. He waited for the girls to join him. Yasmine bowed her head first into the water. Littlefoot was about to when someone ran up from behind him and shoved him into the shallow water. Littlefoot lifted his neck and saw someone staring coldly at him. He was another adolescent Apatosaurus. He had reddish brown scales and amber eyes.

"No male would drink my waterhole."

"Yours?" questioned Littlefoot. "I don't see your name in it. It's for everyone."

"No way. You just have to go without water."

Ali jogged up to Littlefoot and made sure the wound hadn't completely reopened. Only a little blood dropped into the clear water, but the leaf was still on his leg. She helped Littlefoot get up and escorted him out of the water. They both angrily stared at the longneck. He finally gave in.

"Fine. You can have a drink."

"Thank you," said Littlefoot.

He and Ali took a drink. Yasmine lifted her head and faced the longneck. The first thing she noticed was that he seemed hurt. Probably he was also doing the pride thing Ali mentioned about when she met Littlefoot.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Rex."

"Rex? I'm Yasmine. That's Ali, and the guy you shoved into the water is Littlefoot."

"Littlefoot? You can't mean Bron's son."

Littlefoot faced Rex.

"I am his son."

Rex examined Littlefoot.

"You do look like him."

"What's your relationship with my father?"

"He's the leader of the herd. Out of all the males that I could have shoved into the water, it had to be you. Now I'm going to get it."

"I won't tell if you promise to not do that again."

Rex quickly complied.

"Good. How long ago were you separated from my dad's herd?"

"Ever since that big earthshake. I've been trying to find a way to them, but I can't. The land changed too much. After a few bright circles, I arrived here and decided to rest for a while."

"You're more than welcome to join us," said Littlefoot. "My dad visits me often, so if you come with us to the Great Valley, you will see him."

Rex eyed Littlefoot and smiled.

"Thanks."

The longnecks decided to get one more long drink before proceeding.