Chapter 2: Return of the Longneck Herd
Littlefoot looked up at Petrie concernedly as they left the top of the hill. Then as he looked back down to see where he was going, he noticed that Cera was still standing there, staring at him expectantly. "Littlefoot, come on! What's taking you?"
"Coming Cera," Littlefoot replied. He soon caught up with Cera, and together they ran down the hill towards the clearing where they saw Ducky and Spike heading off to, while Petrie flew above their heads. Littlefoot, Cera and Petrie then saw that what appeared to be all of the residents of the Great Valley were gathered together, surrounding a small group of longnecks who stood closely together. The three of them then looked for Ducky and Spike, and after a little while found them standing behind Littlefoot's grandparents.
"There you are!" Ducky exclaimed happily. "It's almost time, it is!"
"Sis! You'll never guess what's happening!" came another voice. Everyone looked and saw that a small pink threehorn was rushing over to them. This little threehorn was Tricia, Cera's half-sister, who was now about as old and large as Cera was when she first met Littlefoot.
"What's going on Tricia?" Cera asked curiously.
"These longnecks just came here…and Littlefoot's grandparents seem to know them!" Tricia explained breathlessly. Then she turned to Littlefoot. "I don't know much else… but your grandparents are really friendly with them, and they seemed to know that they were coming."
"They probably did, since they're the only adult longnecks in the Great Valley now. Still, I wish they told me about this… I wonder why they didn't," Littlefoot pondered aloud.
"Probably for some stupid reason," Cera replied, kicking a stone. "Grownups often don't make sense…just look at my dad."
"Yeah," Littlefoot sighed. "He sure seems kind of…well, grumpy…", to which Cera nodded sadly.
"Shh…." Ducky whispered. Then she looked at Littlefoot and exclaimed, "Littlefoot, it looks like your grandma and grandpa are going to talk! They are, they are!"
Grandpa and Grandma Longneck were indeed clearing their throats, and the whole crowd fell silent. "Is everyone here?" Grandma Longneck asked.
The crowd nodded and murmured in agreement. "Wait!" Ducky gasped, remembering something. "Ruby is not here, no no no!" Ducky jumped up and down and tried to get the grownups' attention, but none of the grownups seemed to notice her, for they were still nodding in agreement.
"Chomper not here either," Petrie said, flapping his wings worriedly. "Me no see Chomper in long time, have you?" The gang all shook their heads. But before they could say another word, Grandpa Longneck took a step forward and began to speak.
"Ahem. Well everyone, we are delighted to have some visitors who will be staying for a while. For those of who are too young to know," he smiled down at Tricia, "Or who weren't here when it happened," he nodded toward Mr. Clubtail's new wife and two other clubtails that also moved in, and then continued, "These are our cousins."
"We were in the same herd once before I married my husband," Grandma Longneck told the rest of the Great Valley residents. "And then, as everyone who was here for a while knows, one of our relatives helped saved my husband's life."
The longneck herd murmured to each other, and in their midst, one of them walked out and towards Grandpa Longneck. She looked very much like Littlefoot, but she had a purplish-brown skin color, bright blue eyes, and long, pretty eyelashes.
"It's Ali!" Ducky gasped, smiling brightly.
"Me haven't seen her in ages!" Petrie exclaimed.
"I can't believe she's back!" Cera added.
Littlefoot nodded happily along with them, reminiscing about the time he first met Ali all of those years ago.
Back above, the grownups, especially Grandma and Grandpa Longneck were admiring Ali. "Thank you again Ali, for helping show our grandson and his friends to the night flowers!" Grandpa Longneck told her. Then he smiled down at Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike, and then smiled back again at Ali. "Without all of you children, I would not be here today…so thank you all very much!"
"Oh, don't mention it," Ali smiled as the crowd, most prominently the longnecks in her herd, began to cheer.
But Littlefoot noticed that Ali was not really paying attention to the crowd's cheering. Instead, her head swiveled over the crowd of Great Valley residents, as though she was on the lookout for someone. Since Littlefoot and his friends were behind Grandpa and Grandma Longneck, they knew she couldn't see them properly. Ali frowned slightly and walked on, continuing to look through the crowd.
"Littlefoot, Ali's looking for you, she is, she is," Ducky told Littlefoot.
"Me know Ali like you," Petrie added as Littlefoot smiled. "She always really happy to see you."
From above, Grandma Longneck said, "Well, let's give our guests the opportunity to settle in," and at that moment the crowd dispersed, leaving the clearing in many different directions.
Littlefoot was watching the herd of longnecks and began to look for Ali, but in a just a couple of moments, he quickly felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he grinned as he saw that Ali had already found him. She was reeling in her neck and grinning back at him. "Hi Littlefoot! I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
"Ali! It's great to see you!" Littlefoot told her brightly. "I sure missed you!"
"I missed you too, Littlefoot," Ali told Littlefoot gently as she took a few steps closer to him, giving him a soft, warm smile.
Cera then cut in between Littlefoot and Ali and tapped on Ali's leg. As Ali looked down, Cera smiled and asked, "Hey Ali…remember me?"
"Of course I do Cera," Ali laughed sweetly. "You're still one of a kind as always."
"It's great to see you again," Cera told Ali brightly.
"It's great to see you too," Ali said happily. "I've kept asking for my mom to take our herd back here, and I can't believe that we're finally here now!"
"Yeah," Littlefoot smiled. Then he asked, "So how have things been for you?"
"Oh, my herd and I have been wandering," Ali told Littlefoot serenely. "It's been all right, I guess. We've had a lot of excitement traveling through the Mysterious Beyond... but there's no place quite like the Great Valley. It's safe from sharpteeth, and it's so beautiful and peaceful here."
"We want you to stay forever, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky exclaimed cheerily to Ali.
"Oh, Ducky you are so sweet," Ali smiled gently. Then Ali turned and looked into Littlefoot's eyes. "Would you want me to stay forever, Littlefoot?" she asked sweetly.
"Yeah, that would be nice," Littlefoot told her friendlily as he heard a strange cough from nearby.
"The Great Valley has lots of food, it does, it does," Ducky told Ali cheerfully. "If you stay here, you will find more tree stars than you can imagine!"
"You're right about that," came a couple of voices. Turning, everyone saw two girl longnecks that were just Littlefoot's age and height. One was light green with speckles and a beige belly, and had a boxy-shaped head. The other one was a shade of almost pure white, with three dark blue stripes on her back, was very slender and had a very long neck that was significantly longer than her tail.
"This place is amazing, isn't it Mia?" the boxy-head longneck said in a fluttery, cheerful voice.
"It sure is, Cam," Mia, the white longneck replied, in a firmer, but still very cheerful voice.
"Who are they?" Littlefoot asked Ali.
"Oh," Ali smiled. "They're a couple of girls who joined our herd not too long ago. They can be a bit of…" but Ali was cut off as Cam and Mia rushed over and stood right in front of Littlefoot.
"Ooh! You must be Littlefoot! Ali has told us so much about you!" Cam said, excitedly looking into his eyes.
"Back off Cam," Mia said. "I want to talk with the handsome one. So, how're you doin'?"
"Uh," Littlefoot answered nervously, trying to back away from them. From below, he distinctly heard a loud, irritated grunt. Then, he felt a gentle tap on his leg.
"Littlefoot," came a voice from below. Littlefoot looked down, and there stood his old friend Ruby, who was now a young adult. While she had grown a bit from when she was younger, she was now much shorter than Littlefoot, as fast runners like her naturally tended to be small when fully grown. "I've got to talk to you about something."
"OK," Littlefoot nodded. Then he looked back up at Cam and Mia, who were continuing to stare at him excitedly. This made Littlefoot feel very uncomfortable. "Uh…what're your names again?"
"Cam," Cam quickly smiled.
"Mia," Mia quickly smiled too.
"Er…right," Littlefoot answered. "Well, I've got to go now. It was nice meeting you, and maybe we could talk later," he told them politely.
"See you…later!" Cam and Mia replied, breaking into a giggling fit. "Bye bye, cutie neck!"
Then, Littlefoot whispered to Ali, "Let's have another talk soon, OK?"
"OK Littlefoot. I look forward to it," Ali replied, giving him a sweet smile, and then she began to talk with Mia and Cam as Littlefoot and Ruby walked away from the clearing.