Guess who's actually updating regularly? I'm on break now, so you guys can expect quick updates, especially since I've already typed out chapters 8 through 18, and all I need to do is publish them. This chapter focuses mostly on Pterano's return to the valley, and the rainbow faces arriving there as well. And just a note, for the canon characters without specified names (Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Petrie's mother, etc.), I just named them after their voice actors and actresses. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

The journey to the valley was long, arduous, and tiresome. The rainbow faces eventually made it out of the desert, but were faced with one peril after another. They wandered through mud up to their knees, and dodged ashes from mountains that burned. They eventually met up with another herd of dinosaurs who were also heading towards the Great Valley, and chose to travel with them. Not all of them made it to the end, and only the lucky ones were able to complete the journey.

But after what felt like ages, they finally made it. They had arrived at the Great Valley, at last. They climbed the stone wall to where they could see the mountains kiss the sky, and the ever shifting pink and orange clouds slowly floating across. When they looked down, the beaming light of bright circle revealed a paradise. Every inch of it was covered in green, with waterfalls and lakes spread out across the landscape.

Tristan was beyond himself in joy and relief. "It's real…it's actually real…" he watched his family run up to him as he surveyed the landscape. "Come and look! You can see the whole world!"

"Well, come on," urged Amelia, slowly pushing past him and onto the rocks below. "Come on, kids."

"Be careful," Tristan warned, hopping after her to make sure she didn't hurt herself. The kids were the first to reach the bottom, Kyra swooped down, all while Molly lingered near the top, taking her sweet time.

"Molly," said Tristan. "Come on. Don't you want to see the valley?"

Molly looked away, her eyes downcast. "Michael would've been so happy to see this."

Tristan gave a sad smile. Not a single part of this was fair, least of all to Molly. "But Michael would also want you and your kids to enjoy the valley,"he reasoned. "He would be so happy to see that you're thriving, and that you're safe."

Molly knew that Tristan was right, especially as someone who'd dealt with grief before. She gave a nod, proceeding to follow him down to the bottom.

At the bottom, there was a log stretched out across the waterfall, acting as a bridge between it and the land. A smaller dinosaur was drinking from the falls, when it heard the rumble of approaching footsteps. Looking up, it saw the family of rainbow faces, nonchalantly marching across the log. Being small enough to be crushed by them, the dinosaur quickly steered clear.

"So," said Amelia, whispering to Tristan as soon as their feet touched the grass. "Do we have to tell everyone that we're here, or…?"

"I don't know," said Tristan. "Let's just walk towards them and see what happens."

In the distance, a young longneck playing with his friends watched the group of rainbow faces make their way to the rest of the herd. They were bigger than the ones he'd seen some time before.

"Littlefoot, what are you looking at?" A young threehorn came up behind him, her face contorted into a displeased expression.

"The new herd," answered Littlefoot.

The threehorn scoffed. "Who cares? They're rainbow faces."

Littlefoot gave her his own displeased expression. "You know, Cera, it wouldn't hurt to care for once."

"Whatever."

The rest of their friends came over, curious to see what they were watching so intently.

"What are you all looking at?" A pink fast runner inquired.

"Yeah," agreed a young sharptooth, genuinely curious. "What's so interesting over there?"

"Just a rainbow face herd," said Littlefoot.

"Rainbow face?" Repeated a tiny flyer. "We no get those here!"

The little flyer was right. Rainbow faces in the Great Valley were, for some reason, oddly rare. The kids occasionally saw one or two, but they were usually part of a far walker herd, and only passed by during the cold times.

A small duckbilled swimmer hopped onto her brother, a spiketail. "Do you think they are here to stay?"

The flyer sighed sadly. "How come uncle Pterano no come to stay…?"

Littlefoot looked at his friends with uncertainty before shifting his gaze towards the herd of rainbow faces and the rest of the dinosaurs in the Great Valley. "I don't know."

Meanwhile, Tristan and his family found themselves faced with the residents of the valley. A dark grey and gruff looking threehorn stepped forward. "State your name and business."

Another threehorn stood beside him, her baby blue eyes scolding but gentle. "Topsy.."

An elderly longneck lowered his head. "Threehorn, please. There's no need to be so hostile.

"It's quite alright," insisted Tristan, trying to keep his calm, although he could feel a raging fire burning underneath. "I'm Tristan." He didn't feel it necessary to introduce the rest of his family. Not yet.

The threehorn narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"To have a nice life," replied Tristan, gritting his teeth.

"I don't like rainbow faces," said the threehorn. "They think they know everything. They get on my nerves."

Miriam looked visibly hurt. "Mackenzie," she whispered, "why do you think that threehorn hates us? We barely got here, what could we have done to make him so angry?"

"Oh, some dinosaurs are just like that," replied Mackenzie. "If you're different than them in any way they'll hate you until you somehow prove yourself."

"Prove ourselves? How would we do that?"

"I don't care. I'm not about to prove myself to him, especially since there's nothing to prove." Her jade eyes glowed with disdain as she turned and walked away, followed by her sister.

"Somebody has anger issues," Amelia murmured to her husband.

"I do not have anger issues," intervened the threehorn.

"Oh," said Amelia in dull disbelief. "Alright."

However, the threehorn was not the only one with anger management problems. Tristan was on the verge of lashing out, and Amelia could already see that this wouldn't end well.

She quickly stepped up, pushing Tristan away. "Listen," she said in the most polite tone she could muster. "We've come a long, long way. All we want to do is have a place where we can live without fear and be safe and happy. We won't be too much trouble, we'll just be minding our own business."

"Be reasonable, Threehorn," advised an elderly female longneck, presumably the other longneck's mate.

Mr. Threehorn grumbled to himself, and huffed. "Fine!"

The elderly male longneck spoke next. "Does anyone object?"

There were mumbles amongst the crowd, but no one made it explicitly clear that they didn't want the rainbow faces residing in the valley. They hadn't even noticed Kyra.

"Alright," said Grandpa Longneck, turning to the newcomers. "Follow me, please."

As they followed the elderly dinosaur, Grandma Longneck talked to Kyra. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name, dear."

"Kyra." She offered her best smile, not wanting to look like a depressed loner.

"What a beautiful name. Welcome to the valley, Kyra."

Grandpa Longneck had led them to a slightly secluded area with a canopy of trees nearby a small waterfall. "You can take some time to eat if you'd like. I'm sure you're all very hungry. Also, you may nest anywhere in the valley that doesn't already have a nest."

Amelia looked up at the kind longneck. "Thank you. We really appreciate your help."

"The nerve of that threehorn, can you believe him?!" Tristan focused his attention on a tree, which he began vigorously shaking. "So much for a warm welcome."

Grandpa Longneck smiled. He understood. "Yes, you'll have to excuse Mr. Threehorn. He means well."

If he did, Tristan clearly didn't see it. As he shook the leaves from the tree, he could hear a scream that grew louder and louder. A reddish brown blur fell on top of him, bringing him to the ground.

He let out a groan as he stood up, eyes focused on what looked like a flyer. "Get off…my face!" He tossed the flyer over his head, and was in no mood to think about the consequences of his actions.

Kyra had been chatting with Grandma Longneck, when they were drawn towards the commotion. Kyra flew over, perching herself on a tree branch. She was in no way prepared for what she saw.

Sprawled out on the ground was Pterano, groaning in pain. He was much skinnier, and looked extremely malnourished. Her green eyes grew moist with tears.

Pterano looked up, and saw the yellow flyer. His painful expression of disbelief and sadness showed it all. He knew it was her. Even though she looked old and worn, he would recognize his love anywhere. "Kyra…? Oh, I truly have gone mad…"

Grandma and Grandpa Longneck were surprised to see Pterano, and their disappointment was evident from their expressions. The rainbow faces didn't even know who this flyer was.

Kyra's eyes roamed around nervously before she took off, needing to simply get away. As she zipped across the sky, she rammed into another flyer. "Tress?!"

Tress had been flying in search of a suitable snack when Kyra rammed into her suddenly. When she recovered, she almost didn't believe it. "Kyra…Kyra, is that really you?"

Kyra didn't respond and flew right past her, into the nearest vacant cave. A bit foolish and cowardly, yes, but this was her idea of a solution.

Tress didn't know what to think of it, so she decided to tell the longnecks. She found them near the trees. "Mr. and Mrs. Longneck—" she cut herself off midway, her eyes as wide as the night circle. "Pterano?"

Pterano glanced over at his sister, his eyes softening. "Tress…"

Tress walked over to him, wrapping him in a hug. "…I've missed you."

Pterano's voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "Really…?"

"Of course," replied Tress, pulling away. "You may have done many bad things, but you're still my brother. And…the kids have missed you, too."

"Oh, Tress…I think I'm losing my mind. I saw…"

"Kyra?"

Pterano was dumbfounded. "Why, yes. How'd you know…?"

"I saw her too. I tried to talk to her, but she just flew away."

"D-Do you really think it was her…?"

"I'm sure it was, and I know she recognized me…" Tress looked up. She could see this was clearly bothering Pterano.

"Uh, Pterano," began Grandpa Longneck. "You do realize you will have to tell the rest of the valley of your return, right?"

Not quite the change of subject Tress was looking for, but it worked.

"Yes, Kenneth," answered Pterano, addressing the longneck by his real name. "I was aware of that. But it's good to see you. You too, Linda." He nodded in Grandma Longneck's direction.

The longnecks weren't quite sure how to respond, and simply gave a polite nod of their heads.

Kenneth spoke next. "Erm…well, I'll go gather the others." He slowly trudged away, the ground rumbling beneath him with each step.

Linda watched her husband leave and then turned her attention towards Tress. "I'm sorry, but you know…?"

"Kyra? Yes." Tress finished for her. "We knew each other when we were younger." Her gaze drifted to her brother. "And…she knew Pterano, too."

Linda's kind eyes also shifted to the frail flyer, although she tried to keep it discreet. "I see."

Just then, Kenneth appeared. "Pterano."

Pterano visibly flinched. He hadn't been expecting everyone to be gathered so soon. "I'm coming." His voice was timid and weak, like he was scared. And he was.

Tress gave him a small smile. "It'll be fine, Pterano."

"Oh Tress, I can only hope so…"

With that, the two flyers flew off, accompanied by the longnecks who followed them on foot.

Amelia and Tristan watched them leave with puzzled expressions.

"Goodness," commented Amelia. "Everything seems so rigorous."

"Yes," agreed Tristan. "They actually have rules here."

Amelia looked to her mate. "Do you think we have to be there too?"

Tristan shook his head, lowering it to snack on a mouthful of leaves. "Don't know, don't care. Now, come and eat with me. The green food here is actually quite good."

Amelia caught a glimpse of the dinosaurs gathered together, and gave a shrug. She strolled over to where Tristan was, burying her face in the pile of green food. A few moments later, she let out a muffled squeak. When she pulled her head out, she was revealed to be holding a soft, white tree sweet in her mouth.

"Look!" She exclaimed, eyes twinkling happily. "They have tree sweets! And they're the white ones!"

Tristan's mouth dropped open in astonishment. Tree sweets in general were rare for them, but the white ones — which were extra sweet — were a true rarity.

Amelia held the flower out towards him and he gratefully bit off one half, while she ate the other. Their eyes met as they smiled at each other and pressed their snouts together, sharing a gentle and intimate moment.

The dinosaurs of the valley assembled into a crowd, murmuring and conversing amongst themselves. Littlefoot and his friends noticed the commotion, and ran to investigate.

"What's going on?" Asked Littlefoot.

"Who knows," Cera replied flatly. "I can't see over Mr. Thicknose's fat head."

"Ahem," said Kenneth, trying to grab everyone's attention.

Suddenly, Mr. Threehorn did so for him. "EVERYONE, QUIET!"

Silence fell among the crowd, and everyone directed their attention towards the longneck.

Kenneth smiled politely. "Thank you." He then shifted his gaze off towards the side, looking downwards. "Pterano, are you ready?"

Cera's eyes grew wide as she whispered under her breath. "What?"

The little flyer, who was Pterano's nephew Petrie, seemed ecstatic. His mouth was curved into a huge smile, and he began flapping his wings. "Uncle Pterano!"

"Shhh!" Scolded Cera. "Any louder?"

"Oops," said Petrie, shying away. "Me sorry, me just happy to see him."

"Pterano's back?" It was hard to tell from Littlefoot's voice whether or not he had a problem with the flyer's return.

Pterano took a deep breath, reminding himself to ignore everything else and focus only on what he was going to say. As he stepped away from the shadows and into the light, all eyes went on him.

Meanwhile, Miriam and Mackenzie watched the scene unfold from a distance, wondering why so many different dinosaurs were gathered together in one place.

Miriam tilted her head curiously. "What do you think is going on over there?"

Mackenzie offered one of her infamous scowls, communicating that she wasn't planning on sticking around to find out. "Something stupid I'm sure," she said, disinterested, as she began to head back to where their parents were.

Miriam briefly surveyed the scene, and found she was unable to see anything. Losing all interest in the situation, she followed her sister.

Pterano fiddled with his fingers as he tried to find his words. Everyone shot questions at him left and right, hardly giving him the chance to answer.

"What are your real intentions?" Interrogated Mr. Threehorn.

"I-…I just want to live in the valley."

"Bah!"

Mr. Clubtail questioned him next. "How can we be sure that you're not going to try anything?"

Pterano wasn't sure how to answer. What proof did he have?

"Well?"

"I have nothing to offer…all I can ask is that you trust me."

"Hah!" Mr. Threehorn intervened. "Trust you?"

"Threehorn," Kenneth scolded gently. "Please try to be fair."

"He's a criminal," argued Threehorn, lifting his head to stare directly into the calm and serene eyes of the elderly dinosaur.

"He also served his sentence," said Tress, her voice fierce as she swooped down and landed in front of the threehorn. "Five cold times. Remember?" Her tone was clearly condescending, and she didn't bother to try and hide it.

Mr. Threehorn began stumbling over his own words. "Well, yes, but I—"

"No." Tress silenced him, holding up her finger. "Not another word."

Kenneth took the opportunity to put an end to the matter. "Does everyone consent?"

There were nods and murmurs, but no one in the crowd seemed particularly thrilled about it, except Petrie. With that decided, the dinosaurs dispersed, leaving only Littlefoot and his friends, the longnecks, Tress, and of course, Pterano.

"Well," began Pterano, sighing. "That went well."

"It could have gone worse," reasoned Tress. "At least you're allowed to stay in the valley."

"Yes…" Pterano agreed begrudgingly. "With everyone walking on eggshells around me!"

"Uncle Pterano!"

Petrie didn't waste a second as he swooped down and practically tackled his uncle to the ground.

Pterano, having lost much of his strength, had trouble keeping his balance and toppled over. "Oh!" He shook his head, about to yell at whoever or whatever had just knocked him over out of pure reflex, but quickly realized it was only his beloved nephew. "Ah, Petrie! You found me!"

"Me missed you," Petrie replied happily, hugging his uncle. "Why you take so long to come back?"

"I was just…having some trouble," said Pterano. "But I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Are you here to stay?"

Pterano hesitated a moment before smiling. "Yes, Petrie. I'm here to stay."