Chapter 37: Ducky changes her mind at last/ The search begins
Ducky was fast asleep soon. In the sleep, she was being tormented by terrible sleepstories yet she kept sleeping.
Eventually, she did woke up nevertheless, feeling miserable. At first, she wanted to lay down again to die but then she came up with a better plan. She recalled how hungry she was so she would eat Spike's food; she was also very sad so she would seek the closeness to her friends. Maybe there was still hope...
During the Swimmer's slow walk back to her friends, she wondered about her curious behaviour not too long ago. The only thought that was circling in her head was... the desire to end it, having given up. But ending it was painful. She had felt it earlier hence she didn't want to die anymore but to live. Moreover, her friends had been awfully worried about her wellbeing. Ducky still had Littlefoot's words in mind.
She soon arrived at her destination where her friends were snoozing in harmony. At first, Ducky decided to munch a few leaves. It felt great to experience the change from gnawing hunger to a blissfully filled tummy, but she was still awfully saddened, having suppressed a desire to cry without really wanting to.
Originally, Ducky had planned to sleep with Spike but she eventually trotted to Littlefoot. The Longneck was smart and he was likely to find the right words to console her. Besides, he wouldn't accuse her of crying too much which Cera would do with much pleasure. Spike could only lick her and Petrie was mostly the one to hug her anyway.
She nudged her friend carefully, whispering.
"Littlefoot, wake up, please..."
Littlefoot did awoke though he wasn't exactly happy about it.
"Oww, what's the matter? I'm so t..." He stopped at seeing Ducky's facial expression. The young one collapsed and curled up into a snivelling ball.
Littlefoot supported the weeping Swimmer although he would have prefered to be asleep. After a while, the cries and moarns faded away. Ducky fell asleep rather soon, tightly cuddled up with Littlefoot.
"Everyone wake up!" the voice of the old Threehorn sounded. "We're late so we gotta hurry!"
Some members of the herd looked as if they didn't appreciate being woken up that early, it was merely morning.
"Oh come on guys, we gotta find the children as soon as possible if you don't want them to be dead!"
At that, everyone got up and the herd gathered around the Threehorn and Grandpa Longneck.
"Lead the way, please," Grandpa told Petrie's Mother who raised into the sky at that, leading the way to the opening in the ceiling of the cave. Not that there was any need to do so since everyone could see it very well once they had climbed up a steep path that lead up to the plateau. Having their destination in sight, they hurried to get there.
While she was walking, still plagued by the pain of her many injuries that likely wouldn't ever heal fully, Grandma Longneck overviewed the area several times, hoping to see Bron, but she was being disappointed. Bron was nowhere to be seen nor were any other dinosaurs.
Sighing, she walked on. The only hope that was left was Littlefoot. If she lost him, too, she wouldn't know what to do next. She wasn't even sure if she then wanted to live at all. There was no aim in her life but to keep the only member of her family that was probably still alive - not counting her mate.
When the herd arrived at the opening in the ceiling, they gathered around it. Everyone took a look into it, seeing the blood on the ground themselves.
"Well, who'd like to comb through the cave?" Grandma asked the gathered herd members.
"I will!" Pterano confirmed.
"I would but I'm probably too big," Mama Swimmer sighed.
"Of course I'll go down there, but someone must take care of our children for the time that we're gone," Mama Flyer exclaimed.
"Good, more volunteers?" the Threehorn said.
Everybody just shook their heads.
"Fine, I could take care of the young ones," Grandpa offered which made Grandma giggle.
"Dear, are you sure you mean it?" She asked her mate poking him fondly.
"Quite," he replied. "See, I'm going to announce a story telling event for the kids and for everyone who's interested."
"After all that time..." Grandma wowed.
"Yeah..." Grandpa replied simply.
"How long will it take you to search for the kids?" a Spiketail questioned.
"Depends on the size of the cave..." Petrie's Mother sighed.
"We may be back in a bit, whether or not they're in there, but we may be gone for the whole day also..." Pterano added.
"You better hurry..." the Threehorn growled.
"At your service," Pterano replied simply.
"Good Luck!" Grandma sighed. "You'll need it...
With that, the two Flyers climbed down into the dark cave.