Category: Land before Time
Rating: T
Couples: none
Warnings: Blood, Character Death (Same level as first Movie)
Chapter: 6
Copyright: © characters and places by United Pictures; © Plot and OC by me
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Days passed, flying by like tree-stars on the wind. The weather finally seemed to match the overall mood: the Sky Water would not stop falling, drenching the earth in and around the Great Valley. More than once rock-walls threatened to give way, opening the Valley to Sharpteeth. Each and every time word of that somehow reached Littlefoot he'd go into shock, all but clinging to his Grandfather for hours afterwards and Grandpa Longneck made it a habit to carry Littlefoot to his nest each evening, both needing the simple closeness of the other.
Where the grandson was haunted by day, the grandfather was haunted at night. Grandpa slept poorly; even in sleep the lack of a body beside him was evident.
He would wake several times in a cold sweat – at least how much that was possible in the downpour – during a single night. Too many memories mixed with her final moments, keeping him from finding rest. Had Littlefoot ever been awake during such a moment, he'd never have recognized the loving father-figure that had raised him in his mother's stead. Instead, he would have been terrified by the haunted and disoriented look in those once loving eyes.
Despite the silent and unspoken promise not to fall under the pressure, Grandpa Longneck was doing just that.
Relief and help came a few days later. Bron had been near the Valley with his herd when the Sky Water first started falling and they had sought shelter behind the Great Wall from the worst of the storms.
Before he had even properly entered, let alone seen his son, a pink Threehorn had come up to him, asking for a moment of his time. It took him a moment to recognize her as Tria, Old Threehorn's new mate.
"It's good you came by." She told him as they entered the forest.
"How come?" Shorty trailed after him as he followed the female away from the rest of his herd.
"Littlefoot needs you." Tria bluntly told him. "And before you run off, hear me out."
"Did something happen to him?" Bron was concerned. His duties kept him away from the Great Valley more than he'd like and months could pass where he didn't see his son.
"Not to him." She stopped him, gesturing out from between the trees. "What do you see?"
The falling Sky Water nearly obscured what she was pointing at.
"Littlefoot and Papa Longneck." Bron answered her, bringing his head down to her level.
"That's all that's left." She whispered. "A week or two ago an earth-shake hit. Several rubble-mounds collapsed in the aftermath. Grandma Longneck was one of those checking which ones had. The one she went to check up upon HAD collapsed. She held the breach in the Great Wall against over a dozen Fast Biters and even managed to cause a rockslide that closed it again, but she did not get back in."
"Oh no…" Bron breathed, looking up again. He only now noticed how his father-in-law seemed slightly slumped.
"The Fast Biters killed her and her … body was dragged off by several bigger Sharpteeth." Tria confirmed what he had already realized. "And while Grandpa Longneck truly tries to be there for Littlefoot, his own grief is overwhelming. They need someone who can be there for them. The other Valley-residents try, but it is not enough. What they offer is not what those two need: the support of a loving family." She motioned towards the form of the older longneck. "They need you right now."
He nodded, looking over at Shorty, who followed him out from the relative cover of the trees into the downpour.
Tria looked after them for a bit, before turning to return to her own family. As she left the forest on the other side, she was stopped by the voice of one of Cera's friends. Ruby the Fast Runner softly, but quickly told the Threehorn that all was not well with Chomper: he kept blaming himself for what happened because he did not smell the Fast Biters until it was too late. He thought that if he just had smelled them on time, Littlefoot would not have lost his grandmother.
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Tyra froze at the sound of falling stones. A quick glance around told her that no one was there.
They must have come loose from all the Sky Water. She set a few hesitant steps, softly cursing the weather which had not changed for days. While it hid her from her potential prey, it could also hide Red Claw from her and that was something she really could do without.
Despite being a fully-grown adult, she knew that should it come down to it, he'd wipe the ground with her, especially now that she was hunting in the very center of his territory.
She moved on, every sense on high alert. It couldn't be much further now. Finally she found what she was looking for. She leaned down, studying the Fast Biter. It'd have to do.
Over the sound of the Sky Water came a terrifying roar. She looked up for a second, seeing a silhouette coming ever closer. It'd definitely have to do. She snatched up the Fast Biter and made a run for it.
Over the sounds of Sky Rumbling came a much more terrible sound: a Sharptooth giving chase. Had her mouth not been full, she would have cursed.
The light-green Sharptooth ran for her life as the other one came ever closer. He was not hindered by the weight of a Fast Biter and knew the terrain, which helped him a lot in catching up with her.
But unlike her, he was not desperate. Tyra made a turn left, up a hillside she'd never even have attempted had it not been storming for days beforehand. By some miracle she reached the top before the stones crashed down. She did not stick around to see Red Claw's reaction to her escape. She didn't need to: his furious roar echoed for miles in the desolate landscape of the Mysterious Beyond.