The Land Before Time: The Passage to the Future

by AllegroGiocoso

One thing is certain, nothing ever stays the same. For Littlefoot, this had never been truer, for the thing he had been dreading most had come to pass. But this in turn leads the whole Great Valley into chaos, and suddenly Littlefoot and his friends find everything they know and love has been thrust upon their shoulders. A sequel to my prior fanfic The Time of Great Growing.

43. Chapter 41 - Customizing a New Home

Hello, welcome back at last to the next chapter! Wow, it was hard figuring exactly what to put in here with so much going on and I've got plenty more things that'll be happening around now, but I've had to cut off the chapter somewhere. Hope you like the result! Special notes, thanks once again to RedMageKnight for the reviews, they mean a lot to me, as well as Zee Docking and Ryan6783 for their interest in the project, giving me plenty of ideas to work with - You two are basically my co-writers! An OC of Zee Docking's will also first feature in this chapter. Hope you're happy after the long wait! As always, please PM/fav/follow/review, and Land Before Time and its universe belong to Universal.

Chapter 41 – Customizing a New Home

Following the attempted abduction of the whiptail kids, the rowdy enthusiasm of the entire hatchling clan had become dramatically subdued. Between the two kidnapping attempts they had faced, they were all feeling acutely vulnerable. No longer feeling like playing, they promptly returned to the ground and gathered in the open space just outside the woods, where at least they could be visible to one another and the elders watching over them at any given moment. The kids sat quietly in straight, orderly rows, restlessly looking around and bracing themselves for another kidnapping attempt or sharptooth attack. Sensing the need to get the kids to the safety of the crater and the protection of the rest of the herd, Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer had gone to the crater to check in with how the safety-proofing was going. The kids knew they should be feeling relieved that their place of safety would soon be open to them, but they still felt quite unnerved.

Quietly, Hyp pondered. He was actually really looking forward to Cera's training program, for as bossy as she could be, the prospect of toughening them all up to be better defenders of themselves and their friends would make it totally worth it. Nonetheless, she was a big, well-armored threehorn, and the kind of training she would be focusing on would probably consist of bodybuilding, aerobic capabilities, and special techniques for the different kinds. And as useful as all that would be in reclaiming their home and dealing with a power-mad sharptooth pack, a whole different set of skills would be needed for the hatchlings to be able to protect themselves, for they couldn't rely on athleticism or weaponry against kidnappers who might far outclass them in these areas. They needed a teacher who knew what it was like to be little and have a real understanding of their vulnerability, yet at the same time had loads of confidence and wouldn't take crap from anybody. And with them all gathered together, it was the perfect time for him to give them all some pointers.

"All right kids, listen up!" Hyp abruptly said as he strode over to the front of the rows of the kids, putting his hands on his hips as they all turned to look at him. "Who here's sick of stupid kidnappers and wants to teach those rockheads a lesson?"

At once, the kids began to murmur with interest, while the elders looked at Hyp with surprise, not expecting to see him wanting to personally mentor the young ones. Most amused of all, however were his gang, who couldn't help but snicker loudly.

"Gee Hyp, I didn't know you loved kids so much," Nod chuckled.

"I should start leaving you in charge of my little squirts," Ann giggled. "Who knows, maybe you can be their daddy."

"Shut up," Hyp snapped back. "I'm just sick and tired of seeing these guys being treated like babies and wanna show them how they can keep themselves safe so no creep would ever think about messing with them again!"

The kids began oohing and aahing with one another, watching the little gray grownup in a whole new light. Hyp basked in their attention with a big smirk as he briefly pondered how exactly to start inoculating the hatchlings. Then it came to him. Bullies like he was often targeted victims who lacked confidence. It was time to give them all a lesson in feeling big and carrying themselves with confidence.

. "Now before we get started," Hyp smirked broadly, making sure to give each kid some firm eye contact. "Let's go over the obvious. None of you are babies or weaklings. Don't believe me? Just look at what you've done! Each of you had to stand up to Hiss Head, break free from your old herds, or join a group of rebels on the run. You've all got more guts than you realize just by being here. And if you're feeling any doubts, think about the crazy tough herd backing you up! You've got horns, spikes, whips, claws, wings, even fangs on your side! Something those bullies won't ever have! They think they're so tough, but why do you think they bother kidnapping? Because their herds don't help their own hatchlings and let them die at the claws of stupid sh … bad guys! We had a big journey, but how many of you guys died on the way here? None, and that's no fluke! We're all still here, and we're gonna keep helping you so you can grow into the best dinosaurs you can be! And that's a promise we'll always keep!"

Knowing he had succeeded in rallying the hatchlings' spirits, he knew that he next had to enforce the hatchlings' newfound confidence in their heads. "All right, now raise a paw or fist as you repeat after me, ready?"

The hatchlings nodded eagerly as Hyp cried out, "I'm big!" he said, punching the air.

"I'm big!" the hatchlings repeated, jabbing at the air in unison.

"I'm strong!" Hyp called out.

"I'm strong!" the hatchlings responded.

"And no bully's gonna tell me otherwise!" Hyp roared, forcefully shooting his fist up.

The hatchlings repeated back to him, ending with a triumphant roar, following which they all cheered, chatted with, nuzzled and hugged each other. The words were a little hard for them to believe, considering they were so little and in the case of the defectors, they had dealt with constant abuse and putdowns in their past lives. But saying these positive declarations felt a lot more convincing when doing it as a big group, hearing all their peers' voices echoing and amplifying their own. Hyp watched them all with a smug smirk, knowing he was giving each of their confidences a healthy boost.

"That's more like it!" Hyp grinned daringly. "You'll be a lot harder to kidnap with that kind of attitude. Now let's get down to it. Those of you who left your old herds, what did they teach you about kidnappers?"

There was a long pause as the defecting kids considered. At last, little boxhead Copper spoke up. "Well, we were never taught about kidnappers … But we were taught to beat up anyone who got in our way," he said uncertainly.

Hyp nodded understandingly. "Okay, look. That might work for a bunch of big longnecks. But not for little guys like us. You try beating up a bigger enemy, you'll just get pounded up yourself. You've gotta remember, you now have a whole herd ready to back you up. All you've gotta do is call on us so we can fight for you. With me?"

There was a pause, before Valleydweller bigmouth Tobo asked, "You mean scream for help?"

"Yep," Hyp said smugly.

"But …" sighed defector threehorn Elm confusedly. "We were told to never to cry out for help. That anyone who does is a big fat scaredy egg with no honor."

Hyp shook his head, trying to conceal his amusement. "No, no, no. That's just being stupid. You try taking on more than you can chew, you're gonna end up as sharptooth food. I felt like that too once, that calling for help makes you a big fat scaredy egg. But you're not gonna be the scaredy egg when we grownups show up to kick some tail. One sight of us and they're gonna run off screaming like the big fat babies they are, and you'll be safe, having creamed them without suffering a scratch."

"Yeah, but what if no one hears us?" asked new onehorn Sterling.

"Hey, between all of us, someone's gonna hear you, especially now that we've got friendly sharpteeth on our side," Hyp smirked confidently. "But let's say that happens and no one comes for you. That's when you've gotta fight back. But your goal is not to beat them up, but to make them let go of you. You gotta remember that."

Knowing this called for a practical demonstration, Hyp turned to the elder whiptail behind him. "Hey Doc," Hyp told him. "Pretend you're kidnapping me."

Doc looked slightly bemused, but stoically obliged, stepping out before lifting Hyp up into the air with his mouth, leaving him dangling far above the little hatchlings. Hyp couldn't help but feel a little humiliated like this, but this would show the hatchlings what he was talking about more than any words could.

"Okay kids," Hyp called out. "Pretend you're me right now, stuck in a kidnapper's mouth. What do you think I can do to make him let go of me?"

There was a pause before the kids began to chime in.

"Bite him," suggested threehorn Laila.

"Claw him," added bigmouth Daisy.

"Punch him," put in hollowhorn Tide.

"Kick him," said shieldback Barrow.

"Yeah, now you're talking!" Hyp said smugly, pleased to see the kids were catching on. "Whatever it takes to get him to lose his grip. Now where do you think I should strike?"

"The eyes," said boxhead Macon.

"The mouth," put in spiketail Field.

"The ears," suggested Destiny.

"The sniffer," giggled Deya.

"You got it," Hyp smirked. "You go for the vulnerable spots that'll make him lose his grip and release you. Now for a twofooter kidnapper, if you can't reach their face, you go for the arms instead. That's what they're using to hold you, and if they feel pain there, they're gonna wanna drop you."

Taking a breath, Hyp asked, "So now that you escape, then what do you do?"

"Run for it?" asked spiketail Fauna.

"Yep," Hyp smirked. "If you can't beat them, running away is your best shot. You're not being a scaredy egg, you're picking your battles and using good judgment. Now depending on how far you are away from help, you've got two strategies of escape. If you think you've got friends nearby, you try screaming your heads off. That way, they'll be able to find you and come to your rescue. If not, you can try hiding if your kidnapper's a flattooth. It won't do you any good against sharptooth sniffers, but a flattooth enemy might not be able to find you. At the very least it'll give you some time to get your energy back so that if they do find you, you'll be able to hightail it out of there."

As everyone nodded in understanding, Hyp smirked, "All right, now that I've given some tips, who's ready for some drills?"

So eagerly, the hatchlings began to practice their kidnapping prevention skills. Hyp started off by collecting some twigs for them to play mouth tug of war with, so they could work on their bite force and grip time. He also led them in several sprints for quick getaway practice, sometimes while screaming to practice raising the alarm while on the run, as well as practicing using their hand and foot claws to dig into tree bark, allowing them to simulate digging into an opponent without hurting one another.

"Keep it up, kids," Hyp called out smugly. "They're gonna have a real hard time!"

After these preliminary practices, he looked toward his gang, who were still getting a kick out of watching their gruff leader's sudden transformation into a hatchling coach and guardian. "What are you guys gawking at?" Hyp sneered.

"Uh, nothing, Hyp," Mutt chuckled.

"Well how about you guys make yourselves useful by playing bad guy with me," Hyp smirked.

"Oh no, here we go," Dispo chortled.

Hyp smirked back. "Whatsa matter? You scared the hatchlings will beat you up? We're supposed to be training them, remember? Unless you'd rather be chasing off real kidnappers on their behalf."

This silenced any backtalk, and Hyp explained the rules of the new drill to the hatchlings, who looked at him anticipatorily.

"Not bad kids," he smirked. "You're really proving yourselves for tykes. Now comes the real challenge. See my tough crew around me? We're gonna pretend to kidnap you guys, and it'll be up to you to escape from us. Do whatever it takes, because we're not gonna be going easy on you."

And Hyp leaped into this game in earnest, immediately leaping at Tricia without any warning.

"Hey, you didn't say we were starting yet!" Tricia protested as he struggled to lift up the little but bulky threehorn.

"Well real kidnappers wouldn't warn you, would they?" Hyp replied, grinning cheekily back.

Tricia, however, was more than ready to play dirty with him. Quietly preparing her aim, she hurriedly chomped on Hyp's arm before stabbing it with her little horn. It didn't really hurt, for despite Hyp's small size he had pretty thick skin, but the shock of her sudden reaction was more than enough for Hyp to drop the little threehorn as she scuttled away, cackling to the cheers of her fellow kids.

"Don't you know Trish is a little big for you?" Perri teased cheekily.

"Now you're asking for it," Hyp sneered, and he immediately began to chase after Perri. However, he realized too late that Perri had no intention of being chased. Rather, she abruptly stopped and turned, before taking a deep breath and letting out her high-pitched shriek amplified through her long crest. The sound pierced Hyp's ears, causing Perri to giggle as she ran out of the way, as Hyp just shook his head. As tempting targets as they were, he should've known that the little troublemakers were already very familiar with danger and needed this training less than many of the more sheltered hatchlings.

Catching his breath as he decided his next target, Hyp eyed his friends as they played kidnapper. Mutt was wrestling with a boxhead and clubtail kid, laughing his head off as they tried tickling him. Nod was practicing dodging with Oplax, while Ann was doing her best to clutch onto a hollowhorn kid in each hand as they tried wiggling out. Ceph was mentoring Gem, the little threehorn understandably needing guidance from a bonehead after his capture. Dispo was chasing Nyko and two of the little longnecks, the little fast biter doing his best to teach his longneck herdmates to run quickly. He was still shocked at how the very biters from the eggs he almost smashed turned out, but seeing the little biters finally convinced him that crazy adventure was worth it. And Weald was having a free-for-all with four of the new kids, picking a kid up with his large hands while they tried to wiggle free, with the assistance of the others. He couldn't help but smile, seeing that they too were all being great sports at playing the villain.

That was, except for Rana. While she did her best to play kidnapper, her heart didn't really seem to be in it, for she didn't react much and her gaze looked very glassy. Hyp knew what this was about. Despite having coming out with her swimmer ancestry, the sailed spikethumb was still very insecure about it in the face of bullies, especially with it being the reason for her abandonment. But she was quite proud and might pretend nothing was wrong, and what could he do without seeming uncharacteristically sentimental?

He came crashing back to reality however when he was hoisted up into the air. Kicking himself for losing his guard, he looked to either side to find that Dinah and Dana had each bitten onto one of his arms, leaving him to be pulled around by their grips.

"Haha, gotcha!" Dinah snickered.

"We knew you'd be easy to catch!" Dana teased. "Now who's the kidnapper?"

Hyp rolled his eyes. "What kind of kidnapper kidnaps a dinosaur older than they are?"

"Well, when the old fossil is little," Dinah smirked. "Maybe you're too little to be a kidnapper!"

"I am not! It's more like you two are too big for this," Hyp retorted. "Go join the teens in the crater."

"But we're not teens yet, we're still twelve," Dana snickered.

"Yeah, we're not old enough to hang around with our auntie," Dinah added naughtily.

Hyp sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, you want to mess with me? We might as well work on some real sparring."

"Okay," Dana giggled. "But we promise, we'll go easy on you."

"Yes … What?" Hyp said blankly as the two twins burst out in laughter. He just shook his head. It seemed that there was no end to the feistiness that ran through that family.

After a while, the kids grew exhausted from their repeated escape practices and happily took a break to have lunch. While the adults were still keeping a close eye on them to make sure no more kidnappers or sharpteeth were headed their way, their improved confidence left them much freer to mingle amongst themselves and not have to constantly look over their shoulders. All was going well until Nyko caught a whiff of something in the air.

"Psst," he warned. "Those jerks are coming back."

"Then let's stand up against them together," Mono smirked determinedly as the kids began to murmur in excitement, eager to try standing together as one great big kid team. So while the adults looked over their shoulders as they ate to make sure nothing would get out of hand, the kids stood together into a tight cluster, building up trust with their fellow young members with the knowledge that they would have each other's backs as they waited for the bullies to arrive.

As the gang of bullies swaggered onto the scene, they were taken aback by the sight of the kids standing together, looking at them defiantly as one big front in full solidarity. Not expecting such a display from these weird kids, the bullies were slightly caught off guard.

"Can we help you?" Perri asked innocently.

"Argh, cut the crap," glowered one of the bullies. "You know what we want."

Instinctively, the kids bunched together to protectively surround the little whiptails, while the herd's spunkiest whiptail kid grinned defiantly at them.

"Sorry guys, but we're not coming," Destiny giggled.

"That's right, none of us are," piped up whiptail Nigella, as the other whiptail kids all vigorously nodded.

"And if you try kidnapping any of us again, you're gonna have to deal with all of us," snickered Sam, waving his arm over the expanse of kids, who all determinedly nodded together, feeling deep satisfaction as they did.

The bullies, however, snorted. "Oh please, we don't want you now. Now that we know you're a bunch of losers," one replied.

"We're just here to send a message from our folks," added another.

"Yeah, this is land that the circles gave to us real longnecks. Clear out or else," ordered a third.

"We don't want any dirty hornfaces or beakfaces on our land," sneered another.

"Or even worse, baby sharptoothed monsters," put in a fifth as they all howled with laughter as they eyed the little biters. "What happened to your mom? She abandoned you, freaks?"

Deya, Nyko and Chuss snarled quietly, barely controlling their urge to lash out, but Destiny whispered to them, "Leave it to me."

Intrigued, they watched as the little silver whiptail moved to face the bullies.

"You bandits have got some awfully big mouths," Destiny smirked. "Let's see if they'll stay that big when my daddy hears about this."

The bullies just laughed. "What's your daddy gonna do?" one of them sneered.

"He's probably a loser just like you," agreed another.

Perri however, just giggled. "You guys don't know who her daddy is."

"You know the Lone Dinosaur?" Destiny smirked broadly to the bullies.

"You really believe that old sleep story?" one of them sneered.

"Yep, because that's him!" Destiny beamed proudly. "That's my daddy!"

The bullies just laughed. "Yeah, and I'm a flying belly dragger."

"You guys don't believe me, do you?" Destiny smirked.

"No, we're not stupid," one of them replied.

"We can probably beat up your sucker of a dad all by ourselves, without even bringing in our folks," another boasted.

"So bring him on!" added another.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Destiny giggled.

Meanwhile Doc, who had quietly been paying rapt attention to the entire exchange, reluctantly sighed as he walked over. He never liked threatening hatchlings, but these bullies reminded him so much of why he never wanted to be part of a herd in the first place. Still, he knew that he had to be careful here. Apart from it going deeply against his morals, hurting any of the hatchlings would give their herd an excuse to attack, or perhaps even rally other herds to band together to drive them out, something they just couldn't afford. This needed just the right balance of a tiny bit of force and a whole lot of restraint. Fortunately, as he strode over with his earthshaking steps, the bullies were already beginning to clamor up, looking as though they were beginning to have second thoughts. His work was almost done before it could even get started.

"Morning," Doc greeted in a cold, slow, gruff voice. "Heard you've been causing trouble for our kids."

Their big mouths hanging open, one of the bullies finally choked out in a squeak, "We're not … Afraid of you! We're just here to pass a message from our folks, scram or you'll be sorry!"

Doc raised his eyebrows. "You're sure you feel up to it, friend?"

One hard, resolute, unblinking eye was all it took before the bullies began to cave, scuttling away as they knocked into each other in their haste to run as far away from the gigantic longneck as possible.

"Give your folks our regards," Doc said flatly as they vanished. Then he turned back to the group of kids. "You kids okay?"

"You bet!" Tricia exclaimed to numerous nods from the others.

"Well mostly," Pearl giggled, before pointing on the ground to one of the bullies, knocked out in their mad rush to get away.

Doc smiled ruefully. "Well, better wake him up."

So gently, Doc lowered his head to nuzzle awake the lone bully.

"Hey kid," Doc growled stoically as the bully stood up, flustered. "Your pals went that way."

"I knew that," he snapped, strutting off with his head up in the air.

"You're welcome," Rachelle snarked back.

"Watch this," Chuss whispered, before issuing a loud fast biter shriek. The bully screamed and hightailed it out of there as fast as he could. "Too easy," he giggled to numerous guffaws.

"Hey!" exclaimed Oplax excitedly, lifting his head up. "They're coming!"

Sure enough, Mama Swimmer and Flyer returned to the group, but they were not alone. Accompanying them were seven older dinosaurs that all the hatchlings, no matter how new they were, had no trouble recognizing. Without any hesitation, the kids rushed over like one giant pint-sized mob to greet them, hugging and cheering their both sibling-like and parent-like herd leaders with loud, raucous enthusiasm. The gang felt some faint amusement, not used to having anyone besides Tricia's gang swarm over them like this with such excitement, but at the same time they too felt real affection for all these kids. Even though they were still trying to get to know all their names and a good many of them came from families who sought their destruction, these kids were already showing their true selves as sweet, spunky, loyal, and goodhearted young ones who made all the work hatchling-proofing the crater totally worth it.

"You came for us!" exclaimed longneck Crystal as she hugged Cera's leg.

"Well yeah, what did you think, we'd leave just leave you out here?" Cera teased.

"No, I mean, you actually came to tell us," Crystal explained.

"Yeah, you're important herd leaders who've got so much to do," added shieldback Linden.

"We're just kids, but you still take the time to come welcome us," clarified boxhead Bay. "We expected a messenger, not you personally!"

Ducky giggled. "We are not too important for you, and we do not think you are just kids, oh no no! We may be big now, but we were kids just like you, yep yep yep!"

"And when you get into all the trouble that we got into when we were your age, you'd never think of anyone as just a kid again," Ruby chuckled.

"Besides, we still kids at heart," Petrie snickered. "Me thought when me growing up that me be much different when me big. But well, while me older, me still same old Petrie!"

"And we mean it when we say everyone in the herd is like a family, no matter who your parents are," Littlefoot said with gentle conviction. "Everybody here looks out for everybody else. And the moment we heard you kids were in trouble, we knew we had to be there to make sure you get in safely. Because you mean that much to us."

"And of course, you guys had to get involved," Cera rolled her eyes, looking at her sister's giggling little gang, struggling to conceal her pride in their spunk. "Seriously, can't you guys last even a little bit without getting into trouble?"

"Nope," smirked Mono.

"Besides, look who's talking," Tricia retorted cheekily.

"Yeah, but I'm big enough to handle it," Cera said cockily.

"Didn't stop you when you were my age," Tricia snarked back, sticking her tongue out, earning a swat from her big sister as they all laughed.

"I think Tricia won that one," Littlefoot giggled.

Cera rolled her eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be on my side?"

"Just saying," Littlefoot smirked. More seriously, he turned back to Tricia's gang, "Still Cera's right, you kids have gotta be careful."

"Well, they started it," pointed out Destiny. "Those bandits tried making off with our friends."

"Yeah," nodded Hazel fervently. "They pretended to be friendly, but then they trapped us. We were outnumbered and we really needed help. Er … Sorry," she mumbled, remembering she was talking out of turn to her new herd leaders.

"You don't have to be," Littlefoot said kindly. "We may be your herd leaders, but that only makes it more important that we hear what you're saying. Here everyone's voice matters, and you can feel free to say whatever you want to us."

Hazel nodded appreciatively. Cera, however, couldn't help but suppress a smirk, for Tricia and her friends were hurriedly mumbling to each other. While Littlefoot was saying everything needed to help the new kids break free from their old mindsets, that same message would also give her sister's gang license to cause still more trouble.

"Of course, it wasn't anything we couldn't handle together as a big team," Tricia grinned naughtily. "We sure taught that big jerk a lesson!"

"Trish, you forgot to say how big," Cassia said mischievously. "He was a really, really big longneck!"

"Yeah!" piped up Perri. "The same kind as Ross!"

"You're kidding, right?" Littlefoot chortled skeptically.

"We had help," Oplax hurriedly added. "Hyp's gang was fighting alongside us. But yeah! A giant boxhead!"

"Yeah, but you had all those hatchlings to deal with too, right?" Littlefoot snickered. "Besides, Ross, you're like a few times my weight, right?"

"Yep," Ross said matter-of-factly. "There's a reason why I can call Sue here little lady," he said as they both giggled.

"I don't even know if all you guys combined could even tackle me, let alone Ross," Littlefoot chuckled.

"Come on, you're not that much," Cera cheekily boasted. "I can tackle you, no problem."

"Only because I let you," Littlefoot snorted back, rolling his eyes.

"We'll see, I'll show you once I get my full strength back!" Cera challenged.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on!" Littlefoot laughed back.

"Sheesh, you two are even worse than the boneheads!" Hyp shook his head exasperatedly as Ceph and Halle snickered nearby. "Have you forgotten there are hatchlings present?"

Cera rolled her eyes. "Seriously Hyp, get your mind out of the tarpit. We weren't even thinking like that."

"What are they talking about?" little longneck Sage asked innocently.

"Don't ask," giggled preteen Valleydweller hollowhorn Peggy.

"Okay, okay, it wasn't Ross's kind," admitted Destiny, ending the awkwardness. "But it was a whiptail like me! That's still pretty big, right?"

"Yeah, but it's also a pretty big lie," Littlefoot chuckled. "Grandpa told me whiptails are really long, but they can be even lighter than big threehorns like Cera!"

"Hey, how come you never told me?" Cera asked Littlefoot incredulously.

"You weren't that big when he told me," Littlefoot chuckled. "Besides, I don't need to give you any ideas."

Doc, however, just snorted. "Don't even think about ambushing me. I'd trip you up with my tail if you tried."

"Oh yeah?" Cera snapped to laughter.

The subject of dinosaur weights, however, was enough to awaken Mr. Spikethumb's dormant professorial streak. "Pop quiz time," he smirked suddenly.

"Huh?" Littlefoot asked, before Mr. Spikethumb pressed on smugly. "With the exception of Mr. Chomper who's still underage and Ms. Ruby who already passed hers, you herd leaders are woefully behind on your progress with shieldback scales," he said matter-of-factly, as Hyp's gang began to quaver with mirth, having been thoroughly subjected to this grilling. "Tell me, how many shieldbacks do the fourteen elders in Mr. Threehorn's and the ten elders in Ms. Spiketail's herd weigh, assuming they are all large for their kind?"

The sudden, complex question stunned the gang, before Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike looked at each other awkwardly, honestly having no clue to his question.

"Um," Littlefoot gulped. "Let's see … 50?"

"No way, that's undercounting," snorted Cera. "150."

"100," Ducky giggled.

"Me just know flyers zero," Petrie chuckled awkwardly.

Spike just grunted noncommittally, relieved that his general quietness would mean he was not expected to answer.

Mr. Spikethumb looked at them all skeptically. "Are those your final answers?"

"Well, maybe Littlefoot's righter than Cera is," Ducky chuckled, earning a playful glare from the threehorn. "Maybe more like 75."

Littlefoot, Cera and Petrie remained silent as Mr. Spikethumb cleared his throat. "Let's go over the problem. Notice how I said large threehorns and spiketails, which means that the weights go from 4 and 3 to 4 and a ½ and 3 and ½ respectively. Do 4 and ½ 14 times and you get 63, 3 and ½ 10 and you get 35. 63 and 35 give you 98. Which is closest to your first answer, Mrs. Ducky, but judging by the obviousness and vagueness of your answers, it is safe to assume each of you were guessing."

Turning to Spike and Chomper, Mr. Spikethumb pressed on. "Mr. Spike, I know you prefer not to speak much, so I will make this easy for you and let you communicate by pushing rocks for your lessons. As for you Mr. Chomper, you may not be of age yet and so naturally would be a bit behind, but as a herd leader, rest assured I will do my best to make sure you are brought up to speed," he said as the two of them grinned sheepishly at each other. "It is essential that all six of you become just as proficient as Ms. Ruby is."

"What's the point of all this stuff, anyway?" Cera barked impatiently.

Mr. Spikethumb raised his eyebrows, barely concealing a smirk. "You want to be smarter than your enemies, right? Well let me put it to you with a practical demonstration. Using the safe size rule, how many adult whiptails can the herd's spiketail and threehorn elders take on safely?"

"Uhh …" she began, but Weald cut her off. "Save the lecture for later, Dad," his son cheekily teased. "They probably came to tell us that the crater's ready, right?"

"Yeah!" Littlefoot grinned, trying to hide his relief that the impromptu lesson was being cancelled, now understanding both why Hyp and his gang loathed shieldback scales so much but also how they might end up coming in useful, especially now that they were herd leaders. "We've come to tell you guys that we think we're done making it safe in there."

"Yeah," Petrie explained brightly. "There still three little belly draggers inside, but Dil make deal with them so they no trouble. There also stinging buzzers and small slitherers that no threat, but we remove big slitherers and snapping shellbacks that actually dangerous. So now there nothing left that a prickly plant no fix."

"Just keep your eyes out in case we've missed anything, and tell a grownup if you see anything aggressive or dangerous," Ruby told the kids. "But hopefully everything should be as safe as safe can be."

"Before we go in though," Littlefoot smiled, feeling the kids' anticipation. "Let's just take one last headcount to make sure everyone's still with us."

So the kids lined up once again, and when they saw that their four rows of thirty-seven came out perfectly, the hatchlings let out a chorus of enthusiastic cheers. Every single one of them was present, and they were all ready to start their new lives in earnest.

"Well, let's go where we're going to," Ruby chuckled as the group began happily making their way there.

Along the way, Mama Swimmer asked, "Sam, I'm not scolding you, but just curious, why didn't you guys come to any of us for help? We could've made it so you kids wouldn't have had to get involved in the conflict."

"Sorry," Sam said guiltily. "But we really didn't have a choice. We were playing a game with Deya, Nyko and Chuss, but they heard the kidnappings and the kids crying for help over the bullies trying to mask the noise. And there weren't any grownups right where we were playing, so we knew we had to do something to stop them."

"We knew we had to stop them before they could get to their grownups," Pearl added. "That's why while I went to get you grownups and Garnet got Hyp's gang, the rest of us went to confront them. And nobody could track them down like the biters, that's how we found them, the biters used their sniffers to follow their scents and led us there."

"I don't think we would've found them without you guys," Perri giggled.

As Mama Swimmer nodded with understanding, Chomper beamed with pride, thrilled to learn that the little biters' great hearing and sensitive sniffers were directly responsible for foiling the kidnapping. Already, the value of bringing friendly sharpteeth into the herd was really showing itself, and Chomper couldn't feel more delighted.

"Great job, you three!" Chomper cheered, lowering his head so they could share a cheek nuzzle. "That was some awesome sniffer work! Just make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew, okay? Because I don't wanna lose any of you."

"We understand," nodded Nyko, with a smile. "But that's why we carred for Rora, we knew we needed more muscre on our side."

"We wanted to carr you, but you were exploring a cave, so you couldn't hear us," giggled Chuss.

"Of all the times you needed help, it had to be the one time I couldn't be there," Chomper sighed, shaking his head with amusement. "But good thinking to call her in, and great she knows you guys are friends too."

"You think we can have dinner with her soon?" Deya asked hopefully, to the eager nods of her brothers. "We'd rove to meet our new packmate!"

"Yeah, I think so, besides, meeting you guys will really help her fit in, since you can speak sharptooth," Chomper smiled. "Just make sure to stay back from her sniffer or mouth, all right? She still needs impulse control and can eat you guys in one gulp.

"Don't worry, we don't wanna be friends for dinner," Nyko winked to laughs.

"Just so long as your dinner's not too near ours, I get kinda squeamish with all that blood," Mutt said innocently.

Hyp rolled his eyes. "Seriously Mutt, we now have sharpteeth that not only don't want to eat us but are actually on our side, and rather than think about how cool that is, you've got the nerve to complain about their diet? Do I have to remind you what the alternative is?"

"Well, uh, I didn't mean it like that," Mutt said sheepishly.

Chomper knew that Mutt meant no offense, but still felt like he could give a playful retort. "Don't worry, we don't wanna to be eating too close to tree sweets," he giggled.

"Terr me about it," snickered Chuss, joining in. "You guys picked a really stinky old hideout."

"Hey, it smells great to leafeaters, and we didn't know you guys were coming," Littlefoot said defensively as they all laughed.

As they proceeded onward, little longneck Coast remembered something from earlier.

"Hey Destiny," he asked curiously. "Why's your dad called the Lone Dinosaur?"

Doc grimaced in faint bemusement. While he would give cryptic non-answers in response to probing questions about his glory days, it was not in little Destiny's nature to hold back, and he knew what was going to happen the moment Destiny's eyes started to flicker with excitement.

"Have you guys heard the stories about the Lone Dinosaur before?" Destiny asked the new kids.

"No," sighed new swimmer Serena sadly. "Our old herds never told us stories. Well, apart from their boasting about other herds they chased off or all the sharpteeth they killed."

"Wow really?" asked Spring, a preteen Valleydweller hollowhorn, sadly. "Grandpa Longneck used to tell us stories all the time."

"Grandpa Longneck?" asked new shieldback Clay.

"My grandpa," Littlefoot explained, trying to hide the wistfulness he felt in his voice. "I guess he was like the herd leader of the Great Valley. But he was a lot more than that," he gulped, allowing Ducky to take over.

"He was like everybody's grandpa, he was," Ducky chuckled. "So we all called him grandpa too. He spent lots of time getting us kids out of trouble," she continued, with a giggle.

"And for those of us who were elders ourselves, he was also a dear and true friend," Mama Swimmer sighed reminiscently. "He and Grandma really helped keep all of us elders together and helped us think rationally, even when we felt like arguing."

"Yeah, even my dad," Cera smirked. "Sure, he and Grandpa fought a lot, especially when they first started working together, but it's not exactly a secret that they had a bromance between them. Good thing Grandpa rubbed off on him, otherwise who knows how'd cranky he'd be at his age."

"Just like how Littlefoot rubbed off on you?" Petrie teased cheekily.

"No, I learned myself," Cera jokingly scolded, huffing at his wings.

"Grandpa was also a story speaker at one point, and he told us all kinds of stories, including the one about the Lone Dinosaur," Littlefoot explained to the kids. "But while he's not here to tell you guys, the very dinosaur he wanted to take his place as story speaker is right here with us!"

Saro smiled knowingly at Littlefoot as many of the hatchlings looked around curiously. "Well, it seems that I've got a lot of little ones who need to get caught up on some storytime," he said gently.

"Yes, we'd like that!" exclaimed new swimmer Cade.

"Tell us all the ones you know!" agreed Tippy's little herdmate Amber. "Even those of us with nice parents probably don't know all the stories you do!"

"So tell us about the Lone Dinosaur!" exclaimed new threehorn Hayley.

Saro smiled affectionately. "Well, I'd love to. But how about we save it for tonight? Stories are best told when we're all sitting down and relaxing, especially at dusk. That's when we can really let our imaginations run wild. The only thing I'd ask," he said gently, eyeing Destiny, "Is that you not spoil it for everyone else beforehand."

"Okay," Destiny giggled. "But can we just teach them the song?"

Saro looked surprised. "What song?"

Destiny turned to Dinah and Dana. "I thought you guys said that song was part of the story?"

"No, no, we learned it after we heard the story," Dinah giggled.

Now it was Littlefoot's turn to feel self-conscious. It was one thing to remember just how much he hero-worshipped Doc back then, but it would be another to hear the little hatchlings channel his words back at him, especially with Doc right there listening. Hopefully at the very least, it wouldn't come out who made up the song in the first place …

"Okay, here's how it goes," Tricia giggled, and Littlefoot struggled to conceal a groan. Despite being very little back then, Dinah and Dana remembered the song with startling accuracy, quickly correcting each other or Tricia's gang when they flubbed the lyrics. The careful attention to each word caused Littlefoot to feel flushes of both hot and cold with embarrassment, as if he had just sung those words while on spiked flowers. He wished he had Doc's talent at remaining stoic in the face of embarrassment.

"Did you two make this up?" asked new hollowhorn Bramble. "It's amazing!"

"Oh, no, no!" Dinah laughed. "How could we have done it? We could barely talk then!"

"It all Littlefoot idea!" Petrie snickered.

"Hey, you guys sung with me," Littlefoot pointed out, glaring at Petrie warningly.

"Yeah, but you made up words, we just sing with you," Petrie pressed on, giggling naughtily. "You the one all gaga over Doc!"

"Gee, thanks Petrie," Littlefoot chuckled sarcastically, hanging his head in amused embarrassment, doing anything to avert eye contact with Doc.

"Well come on, you were drooling all over him," Dana put in mischievously.

"Yeah, you were a real fanboy," Dinah giggled.

Littlefoot caught Cera's eye, who was chortling loudly herself. However, with one glance, the two of them both grew knowing smirks on their faces. It was time to get back at Cera's darling niece and nephew.

"Hey Cera, do you know what twoclaws like Chomper really like to eat?" he teased.

"Hmm," Cera said cunningly. "Well, we know they think threehorns are yummy. But they also like their threehorns nice and plump. So not hatchlings, but not anyone whose skin has grown too tough. I heard they really like twelve-cold-time-olds, especially in pairs."

"I like your thinking," Littlefoot giggled, instantly quieting the twins, before he turned to Chomper. "Feel like a double helping?"

"No thanks, I'll pass," Chomper snickered.

"Sorry Littlefoot, me think you outta luck," Petrie teased.

"Pfft, we can just give them to Dil instead," Cera snarked. "And throw some pot pie in while we're at it."

"Hey, that mean!" Petrie retorted, blowing a raspberry.

"You stuffed your big fat beak in it when you started messing with Littlefoot," Cera replied cheekily. "When you know that's my job."

"But Dil cannot eat anymore, oh no no," Ducky grinned, joining in. "She is all filled up from eating snapping shellbacks, she is."

"Cera, I think Ducky's telling us she doesn't want Petrie to be Dil food," Littlefoot mock sighed. "We can't have her being mad at us."

"Aww, you're right," Cera teased. "She wouldn't be mad for long though."

"You try doing that, me pick you up and drop you at Goregie claws," Petrie giggled to Cera.

Cera burst out laughing. "Oh please, I can beat her up in my sleep. Besides, I'd like to see you try carrying me. I'm like how many of you now?"

"That's a very good question," Mr. Spikethumb pointed out wryly. "Shall we go over the answer together?"

"I think I'd rather be eaten," Cera growled as everyone laughed.

Just then, they reached the top. Through all the banter, Littlefoot was eagerly awaiting this moment, knowing just how special it would be for the hatchlings, and their reaction did not disappoint. They gazed with awe upon their new home, letting out wild cheers and shrieks of excitement as they absorbed every wonder around them, just as the five of them had done with the Great Valley so long ago.

"Wow!" exclaimed little bonehead Moor. "This place looks amazing!"

"It's so green!" cheered boxhead Kale, licking his lips. "I can just taste the treestars!"

"And all that water!" added longneck Chester. "We're never gonna go hungry or thirsty in there!"

"For not being the Valley, it sure looks a lot like it!" beamed Valleydweller bigmouth Tobo.

"Look at all the space we've got to play!" cheered spiketail kid Field.

"With all our awesome friends!" hollered threehorn kid Aura enthusiastically. "Free to be whoever we want!"

"Leaving our folks was the best thing we ever did," beamed clubtail kid Chandra as she turned to Lizzie standing nearby her. "Thanks for telling us everything! We can't thank you enough!"

"Yeah, we'd probably still be getting bullied and beat up without you," beamed longneck Dahlia.

"I didn't even know there was anything like this before meeting you guys!" cheered boxhead Tiff.

"Yeah, you guys are the best!" exclaimed threehorn Everett. "Thanks for taking us in!"

"Oh, it was nothing guys," Lizzie smiled modestly.

"Nothing? It's our whole world!" cried swimmer Fleur to much vigorous agreement.

"We meant was it was nothing for us to tell you," Lizzie chuckled. "Besides, it wasn't even our idea."

"Yeah," chuckled Skitter. "We didn't even know about that Secret Spot. It's these guys you've got to thank," he grinned knowingly.

The new kids turned to face Tricia's gang with both surprise and excitement. "We should've known," giggled swimmer Shell.

"How did you do it and beat Hiss Head?" asked Leigh's old herdmate Grove.

"Well," Tricia snickered, "It started with our own escape. We knew we had to get out of the Valley if we wanted to be together again. And we knew just how to get out, for we had a hideout he didn't know about. The only problem was getting there."

"That's when I talked to these guys," Sam nodded toward the tiny longnecks. "We knew each other way back, so I asked if we could use their tunnels to escape."

"Problem was, they didn't know where our secret spot was," Oplax chuckled. "So I used my whapper to make a tunnel there. That's where I was when they were all searching for me."

"While Sam and Oplax were digging, we went to those stupid classes so they wouldn't think anything's up," Rachelle explained. "That's where we really met you, and found out that you're not all like your folks."

"Yeah," Mono sighed, smiling as he exchanged glances with several of his fellow frilled boys, remembering the first time he looked into the eyes of each of them. "When that teacher ordered you guys to horn me, you weren't going for the jugular like the others and were doing your best to avoid hurting me," he grinned, before turning to Gem. "You even told me you were sorry," he said kindly as Gem gave him a soft smile back.

"We didn't want to do it," threehorn kid Blair mumbled to the agreement of the other frilled boys. "But we would've been beaten up if we didn't follow orders. None of us had the guts that you guys do, and we didn't see any way out."

"It's okay," Mono said sympathetically. "Besides, your holding back showed us what you were really like and made us aware of you."

"And you guys didn't pile on with the rest of your herd bullying Perri and me," Cassia explained to the new round and long-crested hollowhorns.

"You even liked our dance moves!" Perri giggled. "It made us so happy when we learned you guys joined us!"

"We're only sorry we couldn't thank you then because we had to get out of there," explained Pearl.

"Yeah, because we were busy plotting our escape," Garnet smiled. "But that doesn't mean we can't thank you now! That was awesome how you just left your herds after class!"

"It's all because of you guys!" pointed out little hollowhorn Marsh. "We all wanted to leave for a long time. But you standing up to Cryaz like that made us feel like we could actually do it! Thanks so much!"

"Happy to help," Cassia grinned.

"So once Sam and Oplax finished the tunnel," Tricia resumed the story, "We all managed to sneak inside and get out to safety. But even as we were all happy to get out of there, we knew that you guys were still stuck with them. So we asked the little longnecks to go around finding kids who weren't happy and help them escape."

"You know the rest," Skitter smiled. "Their hideout was the place we sent all you guys to, and well, here we are."

Longneck kid Sakura beamed. "That's just totally awesome. To think you guys are the reason we're all here! It's just so cool!"

"Hey, I know!" suggested Tippy's little herdmate Lyra. "Why don't we make you guys our junior herd leaders?"

"Wait, what?" Sam asked bewilderedly.

"Well," explained onehorn kid Esme. "You know how Mr. Littlefoot's father still leads his longneck herd, Mrs. Cera's father still leads his threehorn herd, and Mr. Tippy's mother still leads her spiketail herd as little herds within the herd? Why don't we kids form our own herd within the herd, and you guys can be our leaders?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed long-crest kid Hudson enthusiastically. "It felt so good to stand up to those bullies as one big bunch of kids! Especially because you're all like the herd leaders but our age!4"

"We can all be a great big kid gang, just how Hiss Head would like it!" grinned Leigh's old herdmate Olivia naughtily.

"All standing together, like a herd of our own!" cheered round-crest Fennel.

Flattered, Tricia's gang looked at one another, with the others turning to their young leader especially. It went without saying that she, being the one responsible for bringing them all together, should have the most say on entertaining the prospect.

"Sure, it'll be fun to be a kid herd," Tricia giggled. "But I promise, we won't be big and bossy like Dad or Sis."

"TRICIA!" Cera roared at her little sis, causing all the kids to laugh in delight.

With that, everyone who wasn't in the crater before happily bounded inside. Littlefoot saw that everyone who was already inside seemed to be doing well for themselves. Most of the elders who had been busy taking creature inventory had gone to eat, chat or sleep, taking it easy after all the hustle and bustle of hatchling-proofing. Many of the younger adults in contrast were either exploring the terrain of their new home or taking part in a big tug-of-war game which had already been underway before the gang left to pick the kids up. Though they had just settled in their new home, the atmosphere already felt like home in the Great Valley, where everyone was free to do whatever they wanted and be who they wanted to be.

"Hey Ruby?" called out a voice from behind them. "Can you come over here for a second?"

Ruby turned, and there were Ced and Ius, two of the longarms from her parents' herd. At once, she saw that Ius was clinging onto Ced's arm for support.

"What happened, you two?" Ruby asked as she ran over to them, knowing that the two of them were on guard duty. "Did someone attack you, Ius?"

"No, no," Ius said embarrassedly. "But I … Well, I tripped."

"You tripped?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"There's a lot of cracks on the outside slopes," Ced explained. "Ius got his toe claw stuck in one of them, fell on his belly and broke a bone. He hasn't been able to stand on his own since."

"Right," Ruby said concernedly, knowing that since Ius was pretty old like the rest of her parents' friends, that this fall had to be taken seriously. Knowing that she and Ced alone would have a hard time in getting Ius inside, she quickly said, "Stay there, I'm gonna get Ducky. Be right back."

So Ruby hurriedly approached her and explained the situation.

Ducky sighed. "Poor Ius … Okay, I will take him in, I will."

"Thanks," Ruby said gratefully as they started heading back toward the two longarms, before getting another idea. "You've still got that hanging sleeping spot you made?"

Ducky nodded. "I think Chomper put it in the cave. Good idea, Ruby! He will probably feel better without that pressure on his leg."

They then arrived, and Ducky invited Ius to ride her back into the crater, which he gratefully accepted.

"You mind if I go with them? I'll be right back." Ced asked.

Ruby smiled. "Sure Ced. But you don't have to, I'll take over both of your watch spots."

Ced nodded gratefully. "Thank Ruby, really appreciate it," he said, before catching up to Ducky and Ius.

As Ducky took them to a secluded place and gently propped Ius up against a log, she then went to the storage cave to look for the hanging sleeping spot. She made sure to leave the big rock guarding the cave open when she went inside, for she knew she needed all the light she could get for a dark, windy tunnel. Still, she needed to move slowly and reach out to search for walls to make her way down the winding, narrow path. Soon she could tell she was in the storeroom, and feeling her way around, she eventually found the hanging sleeping spot that she and Petrie had seemingly created so long ago.

Carrying it back, she chuckled as she thought about all the memories around it, from first making it with Petrie to using it to stop Dispo from falling to his death, resulting in their discovery of the Secret Spot to its present use as a safe recovery spot. It turned out that she and Petrie hadn't even used it as the cozy little retreat that they had built it for, but it had nonetheless proven invaluable. And considering they were now out in the dangerous open and had hundreds of friends under their care, it could really function as a healing refuge, especially with the prickly plants being ineffective on broken bones. Giving injured dinosaurs a proper place to rest would really help with their recovery, and a hanging spot that would support a sleeping dinosaur's body would prevent the inevitable rolling while asleep that could easily aggravate the injury further. Still, this was only one sleeping spot, and she needed that for a massive herd like theirs, they needed to create more of these hanging spots in case more of their friends, especially the fragile-boned flyers, halfteeth and little dinosaurs and still growing kids, had broken bones. And while a bitten wing was nowhere near as severe as a broken bone, having a spot like this could help Petrie heal up faster too.

To her surprise, she found that Mr. Thicknose was also standing alongside the two longarms, looking as if he was explaining something to them. Ducky watched curiously as she approached, before Mr. Thicknose turned to face her. "Hello Ducky."

"Hi Mr. Thicknose," Ducky waved brightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, when I heard Ius had gotten hurt and you were taking care of him, I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to give you a healing lesson," he explained. "To teach you a technique that as a fourfooter I cannot do myself. But by sharing with you the knowledge I have, I hope maybe you can put it to good use."

"Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky exclaimed. "What is it?"

"I'm going to teach you how to create a splint, otherwise known as a bracing stick," Mr. Thicknose explained. "A splint is a tool you can use to hold up a broken bone once it has been set. Now Ced here set Ius's leg for you. Do you know why that was done for you?"

Ducky pondered. "Because I am too big to do it?"

Mr. Thicknose nodded. "Right, Ced here is lighter and better equipped to line Ius's bones in place. Now that the bones are lined up, it is up to you to create a splint. You start by getting a sturdy stick that can help support the injury. Then you use vines to keep the splint in place. And I have gotten all the materials you need right here."

Ducky nodded before she picked up the stick and vines and knelt beside Ius's leg. Ced held Ius up, making sure Ius's broken bones were lined up and allowing Ducky to get into position to work on his leg.

"Right. Now you'll want to tie the stick to the leg," Mr. Thicknose instructed. "I would recommend knots to ensure the stick does not fall off. You'll want to do it in several places. That way, the stick will be attached more firmly."

"Okay, I will try it," Ducky exclaimed as she lined the stick up so it would run alongside his leg, before working to knot it up. "How is that, Mr. Thicknose?" Ducky asked after finishing three knots.

"Excellent," Mr. Thicknose nodded. "This should hold the leg in place and allow everything to heal faster."

"Thanks Ducky, Mr. Thicknose," Ius said. "I'll make sure to take it easy."

"You are welcome!" Ducky grinned, feeling delighted to help a friend out and having learned a new healing technique.

"Anytime," Mr. Thicknose smiled. "Now Ducky, you want to tie that sleeping spot of yours up?"

"Yep yep yep!" Ducky answered.

As she worked to tie up the hanging sleeping spot to two trees, Mr. Thicknose watched admiringly. "Wow Ducky," he said thoughtfully. "That is quite an incredible sleeping spot you and Petrie have created. It really will help Ius keep pressure off that leg."

Ducky giggled modestly. "We made it just for fun, but we are glad how much it helps!" Then she turned to Ius. "Want a pick-me-up?"

"Sure," Ius smiled as Ducky picked up the injured longarm. She was still not entirely used to being much bigger than dinosaurs who were older than she was, but she really enjoyed lifting a lightweight friend up and gently placing him on the plushy sleeping spot.

"Mmm, it's really comfy," Ius smiled. "And it really holds my weight!"

Ducky chuckled. "Petrie and I made sure it could even support my weight, which means it definitely can hold you, it can!"

"You're right about that, I can sleep here all day," Ius said longingly. "How long can I use it?"

"However long you want," Ducky giggled.

"But what if someone else needs it?" Ius pointed out. "What if someone else gets a worse injury than me?"

Ducky hesitated, for she had pondered this very subject.

"You know, that is a very good point Ius," Mr. Thicknose said encouragingly before turning to Ducky. "What would you do if someone is more in of need of it than Ius is?"

"Well," Ducky said tentatively, "If we had only one sleeping spot, I would have to ask Ius to leave. But I do not see why we cannot have more than one hanging sleeping spot. We have a big herd now, and we need enough places where anyone who is hurt or sick can safely rest."

"Excellent idea," Mr. Thicknose smiled approvingly as Ducky beamed. "You cannot have too many recovery spots, especially in times of crisis. But may I ask, how do you plan to support a fully grown fourfooter? I can see how these sleeping spots can support flyers, halfteeth, kids, and even swimmers, but for bigger dinosaurs, holding them up might require a lot more support."

Ducky paused. "Honestly, I do not know if it is even possible without putting too much pressure on the trees. But what I do know is the best way to learn more about making hanging sleeping spots is to actually make them, yep yep yep!"

"Very good point," Mr. Thicknose smiled. "I dare say you will be out adventuring finding the right materials for these sleeping spots?"

"Yep yep yep, you know us too well," Ducky giggled.

"Right. Ced and I can watch over Ius, if that is okay with you that is," Mr. Thicknose asked the uninjured longarm.

"Sure," Ced nodded brightly. "You think I can help you build when you've got things ready?"

Ducky smiled. "Yeah, we are going to need a lot of hands to help, we will!"

And enthused with the prospect of setting up more recovery spots, Ducky said goodbye to the three of them and started looking around for Petrie. He really could use a distraction from the pain in his bitten wing, and a fun activity like collecting tree stars would hit just the spot. Of course, not any tree stars would do. She knew she needed to find the most comfortable leaves around, ideally ones that would not taste good so they would not subtract from their food stock. And while she had discovered the special power of the prickly plant, she was hardly in tune with the floral world as much as someone else…

She paused, for she had laid eyes on her favorite flyer, and had to struggle not to giggle. Petrie was running around on his feet, being chased by Brara, who was carrying a long stick. Wondering just what Petrie's cousin was trying to do to him, Petrie caught Ducky's eye and hurriedly ran to her.

"Ducky! Me so happy you here!" Petrie exclaimed as the two shared a hug. "Help protect me from cuz, she crazy."

"I'm not," Brara retorted. "But you need a splint if you wanna get better."

"A splint?" Ducky asked happily.

Brara nodded. "I broke my wing before, and made a splint to keep that wing right in place. Trust me, it heals the membrane faster and should heal up in no time."

"Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky said excitedly. "Petrie, I think you should try it, you should!"

"Me almost better already," Petrie retorted. "Besides, me no wanna be wearing big stick. Me look ridiculous!"

"Please Petrie?" Ducky begged. "I just learned how to make one for Ius, and I would love to practice on you, I would!"

Even though she was a lot bigger now, Ducky still had a great pleading face, and Petrie relented. "Okay, but just for you, Ducky."

Ducky gently hugged Petrie as she beamed and he giggled.

"Right," Brara grinned. "Need my help?"

"Sure, you can hold out his wing while I do the tying," Ducky giggled.

"Sounds fun," Brara chuckled.

Petrie sighed, a little embarrassed being fussed over by two dinosaurs, but seeing how excited Ducky was, he agreeably stood without complaint. "How long do you think it will take for Petrie to get better?"

Brara eyed Petrie's wing. "Well, it doesn't look that bad, makes sense as they're only sharpbeak bites. I'd say tomorrow maybe, or the day after."

"Wow Petrie, that is good news!" Ducky cheered.

"Yeah, but me no believe it yet," Petrie said knowingly. "If me think me can fly too early, me make injury worser."

"Too true," Brara said, before sighing, "I better be off. Take care you two, and Petrie, stay easy on that wing."

"Okay, and see you!" Petrie said to her before turning to Ducky. "Thanks Ducky. Me a lot more relaxed with you putting it on rather than Brara."

"You think she is gonna bite you?" Ducky teased.

"No, me not that silly," Petrie giggled. "But you know how good she is at sneaking around. She probably listening to our every word now."

"I wonder how much she knows about us," Ducky giggled as the two of them had a good laugh. "I was going to start making some more sleeping spots. You want to come along with me?"

Petrie giggled. "No worry Ducky, me no need one, me wing not broke, just bitten."

"Yeah, but we can never have too many, right?" Ducky beamed at him.

Petrie smiled. "Sure, me think that be fun! You know what tree stars to use?"

"I was thinking of asking Spike," Ducky giggled. "He always seems to be really in touch with the tree stars, he does."

"Yeah, but not just Spike," Petrie grinned teasingly. "Who else you think can help?"

"I do not know, you can just tell me," Ducky giggled.

Petrie however, naughtily shook his head. "Nuh-uh! You got your way tying stick to Petrie wing, now you stuck playing Petrie guessing games."

Ducky laughed out loud as Petrie smirked, knowing he did have a point. "Hmm … Mr. Thicknose?"

"No," Petrie giggled. "Littler."

"The tiny longnecks?" Ducky asked.

"Bigger," Petrie grinned naughtily. "One more guess and me win."

"Okay," Ducky sighed, wondering if this was a trick question. "Ruby?"

Petrie shook his head. "Cassia loves flowers, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ducky giggled. "You got me that time! But I will next time, I will!"

"Me know no about that," Petrie cheekily retorted as they both laughed.

It wasn't hard to find her brother's rainbow-colored gang happily chatting amongst a lot of the other kids. The other hatchlings seemed to be awed with the little gang of rascals, but rather than letting it go to their heads, they were just as friendly and approachable as ever, acting like they had known their new peers for all their lives.

"Hi Sis!" Sam called out as Ducky approached.

"Hi Sam!" Ducky waved back. "Hey, you guys mind if I borrow Cassia for a moment?"

The kids smirked and giggled amongst one another. "Uh-oh Cass, what kind of trouble did you get into?" Tricia snickered to her first friend.

"No, no," Ducky laughed. "I just need her help with some plants."

Cassia's eyes lit up and she sighed with relief. "Oh, okay! See you guys!" she cheerfully exclaimed as she joined the two of them.

"So what're you doing?" Cassia asked curiously.

"Well, we hoping you can tell us what tree star make the best sleeping spot? We were thinking about making more hanging sleeping spots."

"Sturdy tree stars, just like the old sleeping spot we had. And preferably something not edible. So can you tell us what kind of tree stars we can use?" Ducky asked.

Cassia giggled. "Not just tree stars, Ducky! There's also ground plants! They clump much better since they get stepped on by you big guys all the time. Especially if you make them nice and wet. There's lots of them in the forests we were playing in. The flowers will be happy too, there's so many ground plants that the Bright Circle can't even find them."

"Wow, thanks Cassia!" Ducky giggled.

So Ducky and Petrie went to find Spike and found him eating some ground plants in the small corner he had been busying himself in.

"Me no know how he able to eat those things," Petrie shuddered as he watched Spike eat. "They so bitter!"

"You know Spike, he can pretty much eat any green food," Ducky laughed. "He seems really busy though."

"Yeah," Petrie observed, noticing how flat and brown the space was where a bitter plant wasn't. "He must have stomped place flat!"

"Maybe the plants are telling him to do it, yep yep yep," Ducky giggled, for it always felt as though he had some special connection with the green food that the rest of them could barely comprehend. Which is why they needed him so much here …

"Hi Spike!" Ducky called out clearly, waving to him so as not to surprise him, for he seemed very preoccupied. Spike lifted his head up as Ducky saw his focus fully fixate on her, before he ran over to her and wrapped her up in a big hug.

"Did you do all that, Spike?" Ducky asked as Spike happily nodded, nodding proudly at his work.

"Wow, it looks really great!" Ducky told him admiringly.

Spike nodded as he let out a yawn.

"You want to take a little break and go adventuring with Petrie and me?"

Spike grunted hesitatingly, to which Ducky giggled. "Oh do not worry, we are not doing anything dangerous, oh no no no. We are just going to the forest outside and finding some ground plants to make hanging sleeping spots from, and thought you might want to help us pick which plants to rip out."

Spike sighed with relief as he nodded, and with that, the three of them headed down the steep slopes over to the forest. At first, the three of them were cautious, making sure that no one was hiding in wait to attack them. With no attackers coming however, they grew more relaxed, and Petrie even crawled up Spike's back and started dancing on top of his plates. Ducky couldn't help but watch as Petrie did several lunges, leg balances and hops. He moved so much he even tickled Spike, causing Spike to suddenly break out in laughter once he couldn't hold it all in.

"Sorry Spike," Petrie giggled. "But well, me have to prepare moves for hatchlings."

"That dance class you had for them looked really fun!" Ducky exclaimed. "It made me wish I was a hatchling again."

"Yeah!" Petrie nodded brightly. "It feel great! But me know me have to be in shape too, or else me not be much of a teacher."

"Are you thinking of a spiketail plate dancing lesson?" Ducky giggled.

"What you think, Spike?" Petrie asked playfully. "Wanna have little feet jumping on your plates?"

Spike nodded, but with an unmistakable smirk.

"Oh no no no Spike, we are not talking about having Littlefoot jumping on your plates," she said, bursting out laughing.

"Aah, me wings hurt even thinking about that!" Petrie shook his head.

"I do not even think Sophie will tolerate that," Ducky giggled.

Spike grinned bemusedly, thinking that might be a land bridge too far even for his amazingly lowkey girlfriend. Then again, hardly anything seemed to phase her. Someone could probably even flirt with him under her nose, and she'd still be cool with it. That's just how chill she was, and he loved her for it. A nice contrast from his wild and crazy sister and other friends …

When they got to the forest, Spike closed his eyes and allowed Ducky and Petrie to wander a little ways before he began to meditate. It didn't take long before he could tune out the saurian voices and become one with the greenery once again, and when he opened his eyes, the world became purple once again.

"Hello seed carrier," sang a little flower in a plaintive, muffled voice. "I am covered by a lot of stifling brush. Please remove it, for the Bright Circle cannot reach me."

Letting out a grunt, Spike led Ducky and Petrie over to the struggling flower, which none of them could see, but they were able to find long, plushy patches of ferns. Ducky asked a question in leafeater as she pointed at the leaves in confusion, and getting the gist of the question, Spike nodded, before biting onto a leaf to rip it off. To his surprise however, he had instead lifted up a whole fallen branch, still coated with treestars on it, albeit they were squished from all the trampling upon it. He could hear Ducky and Petrie making noises of amazement, as they began collecting the brush as well as several ferns which Spike knew would make these sleeping spots even more comfy. And of course, the clearing of the brush revealed several small flowers, all struggling to bloom for so long, but now with more access to the Bright Circle's rays, their future looked a lot brighter.

Soon, Spike relaxed as Ducky and Petrie kept putting plant material on his back. All he had to do was lead them on, and they would get the message and work while he stayed still to keep the greenery aboard. "This is just my kind of adventure," Spike sighed contentedly as he enjoyed all the peaceful sounds and smells.

Then suddenly he heard another sound and looking up, he saw Ducky's nestmate Delphine hurrying over to them. Quickly shutting his eyes and trying to tune out, he reacted just in time to understand his sister.

"Hi Spike," Delphine greeted him. "You mind if I borrow Ducky? We've got to show her something about the water."

Spike agreeably shook his head.

"Thanks Spike," Delphine smiled, giving him a brief hug before he shut his eyes and tried to return back to his peaceful purple perspective.

"Hey Ducky!" Delphine called out. "We've got to show you something in the watering hole!"

"I would love to, yep yep yep!" Ducky exclaimed. "But can we do it a little later? I just started collecting plants for the hanging sleeping spots, and besides, I really need to be there to help keep Petrie and Spike safe."

Delphine nodded understandingly. "Sorry, but we're all waiting for you to check it out. And don't worry about Petrie and Spike, we asked some of our new friends to come down here so they can help in case of any trouble."

Ducky turned and saw Seth and his teammates tossing a big boulder just outside the woods. The five teens would do a much better job of helping the injured Petrie and distracted Spike than she could by herself. And as much as she wanted to keep gathering supplies for the sleeping spots, she also knew that as the herd's only swimmer leader it was her responsibility to check out whatever the problem was. Knowing Delphine was not likely to call her up pointlessly, she turned to Petrie. "You and Spike will be okay collecting tree stars and dead plants, right?"

"Oh yeah," Petrie smiled. "If there trouble, me know to make big noise so teens can hear us."

"Great," Ducky smiled back, before she followed Delphine back to the crater.

On the way there, Ducky stopped by to check on Seth, Vail, Glenn, Newcomb and Audrey, tossing a small boulder to one another in a circle. Ducky couldn't help but grin, seeing just how much the five of them looked like they were having, for rather than appearing to focus on any kind of technique, they were simply hanging out and having a good time together.

"Hi guys!" Ducky called out brightly. "I am going to the crater, so it is just Petrie and Spike now. Thank you for helping watch them!"

"No prob," Vail said casually as Newcomb dropped the boulder right at his tail, which he sent flying at Seth's head.

"Woah, how am I supposed to catch that?" Seth laughed.

"You weren't," Vail smirked. "Even you've gotta miss sometimes."

"Hey, I'm gonna go ram us a bigger boulder. This one's too light," Glenn chuckled.

"No way," snarked Newcomb. "You guys want me to be a flattened flyer?"

"I thought you wanted to get buff?" Audrey mischievously asked.

"Fine then, I'll be too hurt for training, and you guys won't have a flyer to train with," Newcomb smirked. "Who wants to tell Cera?"

"I can handle it," Glenn teased, before trailing, "Well … Maybe."

Hearing most of the exchange as she headed toward the crater, Ducky couldn't help but giggle. Far from not understanding what banter was like when they first met them, the teens were gaining confidence in their wit and were fully comfortable with one another to joke around like that. Speaking of which, now was a great time to mess with her sister …

"So you guys went to check out the watering hole without me?" Ducky giggled teasingly.

"Hey, the blood has disappeared, and you were busy," Delphine snickered defensively. "But we're getting you now because you're the one who's most to these kinds of things."

Now Ducky was intrigued. "What is it?"

"We found a big boulder underwater," she explained. "And when we tried moving it, we felt more water flowing our way. We think there's a big tunnel behind it. Where it leads to, well, that's what you guys do all the time."

"I see," Ducky giggled. "Are you just going to send me in there by myself?"

"What, and miss out on the chance to adventure with our sister?" Delphine teased back as they both laughed.

So Delphine led Ducky over to a spot where the water grew dark not far away from the shoreline. Her brothers Azul, Clive and Loph and sisters Day, Kiri, and Lena, as well as twofooter teens Gabriel, Aria and Harmony were all sitting expectantly, their feet dangling in the water and their skin already wet.

"Hi guys!" Ducky exclaimed. "You found a tunnel?"

Azul nodded. "Yep! We just moved the boulder enough so we can all fit inside."

"You're ready to go check it out?" Gabriel asked excitedly.

"Yep yep yep!" Ducky giggled.

So with that, the swimmers all plunged into the water and began filtering through the small crack that they had left ajar. The water-filled tunnel was pitch black with it being so deep underground, making it virtually impossible to see in, and swimming against the tide made it even worse. Luckily, they were all strong swimmers who could hold their breaths underwater for a good while, and so they were able to power through the water as they felt their way forward. Still, even their breathing began to falter a little bit after continuously holding it for so long, and Ducky started to wonder whether she should have gone along with this dangerous escapade. Relief soon filled her heart however, for bright rays began to shine through in the distance water, and so making the final push, Ducky pressed on forward before breaking through the surface with a big crash, taking deep, heavy breaths as she felt her nose was all plugged up with water.

Meanwhile all around her, her swimmer family and friends popped up alongside her, looking to see where they had surfaced.

"Where are we?" Kiri asked curiously.

Ducky looked around. They were in a big pool, surrounded by flat land and few trees.

"Hey look," Gabriel pointed out. "There's the crater's walls!"

"We must be outside it!" observed Aria.

"But this isn't the way we came in," pointed out Delphine.

"We came from the north," said Loph. "And I can't see anything familiar."

"So this must be the south side, right?" asked Day.

"Yep yep yep," Ducky said, casting her eyes toward the cliff curiously, before beaming. "See? Look!"

Pointing towards the cliff, they could see that far away on the cliff's slopes, a turquoise browridge was observing them curiously.

"Wow, that's Lola, right?" asked Clive.

"Must be, since she is not chasing us," Ducky giggled. "Maybe I can say hi to her!" Taking a deep breath, Ducky called out with a friendly wave, "Hi Lola!"

Though only hearing rather than understanding, Lola replicated Ducky's gesture as she smiled back.

"Hey!" Ducky pointed toward the left, seeing behind a thick clump of trees two familiar jutting rock formations, while parallel to the larger, further one stood a third smaller one covered with tall trees and ground greens. "That is the spot where we found Littlefoot, met Shorty, and where and that sharptooth chased us! Yes yes yes, we are on the crater's other side!"

"So that's how this place gets its water," observed Day thoughtfully. "It doesn't look like water flows in from the outside, but it does, only from underground."

"Good thing we know now so the bad guys can't sneak in that way," laughed Aria.

"Yeah, but there doesn't seem to be water flowing into this spot," pointed out Azul.

"Maybe there are underground tunnels that lead to where the water here comes from," suggested Ducky.

Intrigued and having gotten their breath back, they took a dive to investigate the watering hole. Much brighter than the tunnel they had just gone through, they saw that sure enough, there were two additional underground waterways, one leading further away from the crater and one going to the right.

"There must be a whole lot of little lakes," observed Lena.

"Wanna see if we can find any others?" asked Clive.

"Careful guys, or you are going to turn into my friends," Ducky said as they all laughed.

Taking a short walk along the crater's south side, they found not just one water spot to the right, but three of them. The second one looked to be the biggest, spreading a long ways from front to back. The third was difficult to see, hidden by two rocks, but looked to be a nice, cozy spot. The furthest right swimming spot was also large, meandering from front to back like the second, but with many more trees and rocks nearby.

"You wanna go swimming in them?" Kiri asked hopefully.

Ducky giggled. "Oh yep yep yep! But …" she giggled. "I think we have to move that boulder to the watering hole back, or else it will start to flood!"

And snickering, they happily jumped back into the first pool as they swam back, which fortunately proved much easier than the way out due to the current now going in their favor. Ducky couldn't help but feel her heart race with excitement. They not only had a big watering hole in the center of the crater, but four smaller pools outside. She supposed the sharptooth chase the first time there is why she never noticed them in the first place. But she knew now that with all these different hangout spots, there'd be no shortage of aquatic fun in the future. And then of course, who'd know what was laying beyond that other path in the first pool …

---

Taking the place of the fallen Ius and Ced accompanying him, Ruby took responsibility and moved to cover their guarding shift. Wielding one of the battle bones they left behind, Ruby looked outwards toward the woods, taking extra care not to trip. Apart from Ducky, Spike and Petrie going into the woods and then five of the teens going to play with a rock just outside, nothing unusual seemed to be happening. Still, she knew the importance of being a runner guard. It was up to them to summon help from inside the crater to take care of whatever menace would be trying to attack them. But with nothing happening, she could afford to relax and observe her surroundings. Knowing the terrain was vital after all, and anything she knew about it that an opponent wouldn't was something she could use to her advantage.

She was hardly bored however. Rainbow faces Pet and Roy posted nearby were very enjoyable to talk to, as was longarm Yelli, relieved to know that his injured brother was being taken care of. But she also had plenty of company with her own thoughts. Littlefoot never seemed to appreciate just how steep the crater's walls were, but then again he was a bulky, heavy-boned, fourfooted longneck, the kind of dinosaur that wouldn't trip under anything short of a particularly nasty earthshake. Still, the others did tell the story about how they knocked three twoclaws off the crater's walls, and she was always inclined to believe their recollection. Despite this, she also knew that twoclaws were very strong and difficult to dislodge, especially if only pitted against hatchlings. It would make sense for the steepness of the walls to have worked against the sharpteeth as well, and if they were difficult for twoclaws to traverse, it was more than understandable how the lighter-boned lus could fall so easily.

Ruby then turned, closed her eyes and began to pretend. She tried to imagine a sharptooth pack was coming out of the woods and charging right at the crater, and that it was up to her to warn the others as quickly as possible. With her heart beating with adrenaline, she opened her eyes and began to sprint up to the top of the hill. She had gotten to the top without a hitch, but as she looked behind her, she saw that she had taken a very smooth path, with no visible cracks in the rocky floor. Ius probably was not so lucky when he fell. Knowing she should try a different path, Ruby moved several feet to the left, before she tried running down to the bottom. As she started, she soon felt herself gathering a lot of momentum going downhill, and suddenly, she felt herself falling face first onto the ground.

Clutching onto her shin as she paused to look to see what caused the fall, she expected to find a crack in the ground like the one that knocked over Ius. However, she realized that the culprit instead was a coating of ground fuzz. On a flat surface, ground fuzz was usually so close to the ground that it was hardly a tripping hazard. But here, the fuzz had changed the slope of the hillside enough to subconsciously trick her foot to land not quite neatly, especially with her going downhill and at such a quick speed.

Sighing as she stood up, she pondered. For her, falls were usually nothing to worry about. She was a young, healthy runner whose bones were strong and who could get up from a fall easily. The same would probably also be true for the young family of runners who had joined them, but it wouldn't be for the elder halfteeth comprising her parents' herd. And even younger runners couldn't discount falls completely. A big enough impact would be very painful and take a long time to heal from, and if the fall came from trying to escape an enemy, it could easily lead to a potential death …

Despite all this, there was still an upside. This was their home turf now, meaning they could get accustomed to the land around them much better than their enemies could. And if they could improve upon their balance skills, they'd be able to run up the steep slopes without getting injured …

Then with a playful smirk, it came to her, and before she knew it, she was ready to hatch her plan.

"Chomper?" Ruby called out.

It wasn't long before the friendly sharptooth arrived, looking curiously at Ruby.

"You mind watching over the whole near side with your sniffer?" she asked. "I've got a game planned for us herd guards."

Chomper giggled. "Sure! I've got to practice my tail swings with Shorty anyway, and this looks like the perfect place to do it."

"Thanks!" Ruby exclaimed, before going to relieve all the posted runners of their duties.

Ruby then saw her parents drinking at the watering hole. "Hi Mom, Dad," Ruby happily said as she arrived, seeing them taking a drink at the watering hole. "Stay right there, okay? I've got something planned for all of us herd guards with the water."

Ruby's father laughed. "You look like you're up to something, all right," he chuckled.

"Hey Ruby," her mother observed, looking at her shoulder. "What's that?"

"Oh," Ruby laughed, seeing the small prick mark there. "Chomper and I shared a blood oath. Now that he's forming a sharptooth pack, he wanted some of my blood in his veins to ensure he'll always be loyal to us. He did the same with Littlefoot. Of course I know he'll be just fine, but you know how betraying his friends is his biggest fear, so he wanted some extra reassurance."

Her father nodded understandingly. "He may be a big sharptooth, but he's still the same sweet kid inside," he told Ruby, who nodded brightly.

"We became life partners too," Ruby smiled. "I can hardly call myself his caretaker anymore, nor can I really be his sister since Littlefoot and him are basically brothers. And he's still underage and we're not physical the way our friends are, so it's not exactly a marriage. But we wanted a special term just for us to show that while we're friends with our friends, we're also a bonded pair by ourselves, kinda like Littlefoot and Cera and Ducky and Petrie are."

"That's really good thinking," her mother nodded approvingly. "I always wondered what the two of you would call each other at this age. Because you'd be one awfully little caretaker."

They shared a hearty laugh as Ruby's father explained, "But we never expected this. I mean, we know that you were special, as are the twins, but well … We grew up having to live in the shadows, fearing both flatteeth and sharpteeth. Now not only are you friends with flatteeth and a sharptooth, but well … Now we are too."

"Thanks so much Ruby," Ruby's mother nodded happily as she exchanged hugs with each of them.

"Right, well we better start rounding up everyone else," Ruby's father said.

Soon, Ruby's parents spread the news of Ruby's meeting at the watering hole to the other herd guards, and eventually, they all arrived, sitting expectantly as they watched Ruby breaking a large log up into smaller segments. Apart from the swimmer party investigating the underground tunnel and the resident belly draggers that Dil negotiated with resting far away, the water was completely free of occupants, making it the perfect time to begin.

"Thank you all for coming here," Ruby smiled at her fellow halfteeth.

"Sure," smiled new runner Sierra. "But may I ask, what are we doing?"

Ruby nodded understandingly. "Has everyone heard what happened with Ius?"

"Yeah, poor guy," sighed clawhand Rich.

"Is he feeling any better?" new runner Clemence asked concernedly.

"I think so," Ruby smiled, really appreciating how much the new runner was already caring for her new herdmate. "But I've got an idea to help stop what happened with Ius from happening to any of us in the future."

Ruby took a deep breath, watching the others' intrigued expressions, before she began to explain. "The cliffs outside are very steep, and with lots of cracks, rocks, and ground fuzz, there are lots of tripping hazards. It was bad enough that my friends even managed to trip fully grown twoclaws the last time they were here. So if we want to navigate the cliffs without falling, we've gotta improve our own balance. And I know the perfect game we can play to get started."

Taking her log, Ruby swam out a little deeper as the others watched. "We call this game log running," Ruby explained. "You swim out to the open, get on your log, and then start running on it, like this," she explained, before demonstrating running on the log. "The faster you go, the better!"

"I get it," observed new runner Ginger thoughtfully. "It's like practicing running while keeping your balance, but instead of falling onto the ground and getting hurt, the water will catch you instead!"

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. "And the more you do it, the better you'll get at it!"

"Did you make this up yourself, Ruby?" her mom asked curiously.

Ruby chuckled. "Oh no. Ducky came up with it and then taught it to us. But she's kind of big to do log running now, so we haven't really done it since we were kids."

"Did Littlefoot, Cera and Spike play as kids?" clawhand Rob asked curiously. "I imagine this game would be hard to play for fourfooters."

Ruby shook her head. "You're right, and Littlefoot and Spike knew they shouldn't even try. And Cera, well, you know Cera," she sighed, half-amused, half-exasperated. "Let's just say we didn't play that game very much even when we could. But for us twofooters, it should be completely safe, and allow us to get some balance practice while having fun!"

The runners nodded happily, before taking to the water themselves and paddling into the deeper parts, making sure they each had enough space in case they were to fall in the water. Once they had found a spot, they started climbing aboard their logs and begin to run on the spinning log underneath. While not kids, they were all still light enough so that their feet wouldn't break through the log, allowing them to play with vigor and enthusiasm. Even the elders, for whom play had long been a thing of the past, were feeling surprisingly frisky as they felt their bodies working hard to keep them in balance. Despite how much they enjoyed log running however, Ruby forgot how much of a challenge it was. Going fast made it that much harder to maintain balance, and she knew she was not alone in losing track of all the times she fell off the log. It all came to a head when Ruby's parents' friend Wiley tripped over her log, distracting Ruby enough to cause her to fall backwards and crash into the water with a big splash. When she resurfaced, she saw that the chain reaction continued, for new runner Umber behind her had careened off to his side, causing Ruby's parents' friend Kitty to try veering out of the way but landing face-first into the water herself.

"How about we slow down and start working on our technique?" Ruby chuckled in embarrassment.

"Good idea," smiled Umber in relief. "Maybe half of us should be spotters, watching everyone else's footwork and giving out pointers."

"It would sure help us make sure we don't do that again," chuckled Wiley.

So they moved to practice more deliberately, partnering up and taking turns with running and observing each other's footwork and giving friendly advice. Ruby partnered up with teen runner Citron, who was very eager to improve his running technique following several quick falls in a row.

"You're holding your arms a bit stiff," Ruby advised him. "Relax them a little bit, and let your feet do the spinning!"

Citron nodded before eagerly trying it out, "Yeah, I think I'm getting it!" the young runner cheered as Ruby watched, with his arms no longer applying pressure on the log pushing it down and carefully moving his legs every time the log started to tip. He got through about fifty perfect steps before sneezing, causing him to fall face first into the water. "Ugh, should've stopped first!" Citron snickered when he resurfaced.

"That was a great run!" Ruby told him brightly. "I don't know if I could hang on for that long!"

"Wow, really?" Citron asked curiously.

Ruby shook her head. "I may have played the game, but I am very out of practice!

"Why don't we have a friendly match?" Citron asked. "See who lasts longer on their log?"

"You're on," Ruby laughed, and she got aboard her log and started running the moment Citron did his. While she ran, she surveyed her fellow halfteeth, many of whom had also ventured into trying running on their own again. She could tell though that they had learned from helping each other with their observations, for though not going as fast as they did at first, they were running with much better technique and the number of falls was drastically decreasing. They were all becoming better balancers, and though it may be a little while before they could start traversing the steep cliffs at top speed, log running was a great foundation to build up their balance skills so that one day they may be able to reach that proficiency.

As the halfteeth started running all together once again, they had attracted the attention of a good-sized crowd. Most of the elders, belonging to much larger, heavier kinds, stared in awe at the runners' ability to move with such lightness and their ability to maintain balance upon the spinning logs. Many of the hatchlings were fascinated as well, oohing and aahing the scene with great interest.

"I can't wait to try that out!" exclaimed little hollowhorn Myrtle.

"I wish I could do that," boxhead Dew grinned, shaking his head. "But I guess that's what comes with having four legs."

"Yeah, what fourfooter would do that?" his little sister Bay asked innocently.

From a distance but within earshot, Littlefoot was watching alongside Cera as well as Petrie, who had since returned from gathering greens with Spike. And while not wanting to completely embarrass her in front of the oblivious hatchlings, he couldn't help but rib her all the same.

"Yeah Cera," Littlefoot whispered. "What fourfooter would do that?"

Cera snorted. "That's pretty rich, coming from the same longneck who thought it would be a good idea to enter a sharptooth's mouth."

"Hey, I only did that because I was worried about the bad luck in the Valley," Littlefoot said defensively. "Not like you who headbutted Sharptooth awake. Who knows, maybe he wouldn't have chased us if you didn't wake him up!"

Cera snorted cheekily. "Hey, if I just got a tiny bit closer, I would've been able to stab his eye out. Then he'd never be able to follow us!"

"You forgot sharpteeth have sniffers," Littlefoot giggled. "And besides, you got too scared to actually hit him. Not like Petrie, who was able to shut Sharptooth's eye up on that rock. That was real bravery, right Petrie? Petrie?"

"Huh? Oh, hi guys," Petrie said awkwardly from upon Littlefoot's back. "Uh … Where Ducky, Spike, Chomper and Ruby?"

Littlefoot and Cera looked bewilderedly at each other. "Well, Ducky's been investigating the watering hole, Spike's gone off to that corner again, Chomper's taken over guard duties, and Ruby's been log running with the other runners."

"Just as they've been ever since we sat down here," Cera said bluntly.

"Oh, yeah, right," Petrie said feebly.

"You thinking about something?" Littlefoot asked gently.

"Huh? How you know?" Petrie asked.

"Well, it's obvious your head's up there and not down here," Cera snickered.

"Well yeah, me flyer, what you want?" Petrie snarked back, causing them all to giggle.

"Seriously though," Cera said straightforwardly. "What's up? I mean … oops," Cera said awkwardly as Littlefoot gave her a nudge, as she remembered his injury. Petrie however, didn't seem bothered as he began to explain.

"Well," he began, sounding unsure if he should proceed forward.

"It's okay Petrie," Littlefoot encouraged him.

Petrie sighed before taking a deep breath and said, "Me just thinking about flyer kids."

"Flyer kids?" Cera asked, looking at Littlefoot blankly.

"But … There aren't any flyer kids here," Littlefoot observed as he watched the kids cheering the runners on alongside the riverbank.

"That why me think about them," Petrie said darkly.

Now Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other and understood. While they had rescued a great many kids from the segregated herds, there was conspicuously not a single flyer kid among them.

"Flyer kids not able to leave mean families," Petrie explained sadly. "Brara bite all their wings, so they stuck on cliffs and tiny longnecks no able to find them."

"But Petrie, you know Brara had to do that, right?" Littlefoot asked gently. "Otherwise, the bad flyers might've been able to find the Hidden Canyon and then we would never have been able to save our friends."

Petrie nodded in understanding. "Me know she did, and she really help us. But me still feel sad. Now me have no wings, me know what it like. Poor kids trapped on cliffs, picked on by big, mean siblings. And we can do nothing to help them."

"You're sure these nice flyer kids even exist?" Cera asked fairly. "They're probably bullies just like their folks."

"Well, the other herds had nice kids, even if a lot of them jerks," Petrie replied. "Why not flyers too?"

"Well maybe," Littlefoot pondered. "But if they really wanted to leave their families, couldn't they just fly away when they get their flight back?"

"It not easy to leave nest as little flyer," Petrie countered. "Many not good at flying yet. And sharptooth flyers can eat young flyers. They bigger and faster, and they have good sniffers, and there nowhere for flyer kids to hide in sky. And flyers no need lots of food. Making parents more protective and want to make sure kids no get away."

Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other uneasily. They knew that in all likelihood, Petrie was right in that there were flyer kids who needed just as much help as the ground-dweller kids they had rescued. Yet the perils of a rescue mission were enormous, and to even consider such an ambitious move, they needed to thoroughly think through this …

"Why don't we talk to your mom and Pterano about this?" Littlefoot finally said thoughtfully. "They're flyers, maybe they know something we don't."

"I'll go get them," Cera said promptly before Petrie could intervene, and despite still limping from her wound, she quickly went in search of the two flyers.

In what seemed like no time, Cera returned with Mama Flyer and Pterano, both of whom seemed quite calm and unphased, as though they had both already considered this very subject. The two of them joined Petrie on the grass as the five of them all sat together.

"Thanks for coming Mrs. Flyer," Littlefoot said gratefully.

"No problem," Mama Flyer smiled, before turning to Petrie. "Petrie, Cera's told us all about your concern, and though it's important to emphasize that taking any action here would be incredibly dangerous, I can't help but feel proud of you. Your ability to both think about problems and your concern for others are great traits for a herd leader to have, and I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa Longneck would be proud of you as well."

"Yeah, already you are showing far more maturity and selflessness than I had in my whole catastrophic tenure as wannabe herd leader," Pterano chuckled, even causing Petrie to smile a little.

"Well, the first thing I would say you would need is some insight," Mama Flyer smiled, with a hint of a wry smirk. "Fortunately, however, the two of us have already gotten there first."

"You mean …" Petrie began, but Pterano interrupted.

"Your mother and I meant to tell you about our little operation earlier," Pterano explained. "But this information is top-secret, and best left to as few dinosaurs as possible. A mass migration out in the open is hardly the best time to discuss this. But now that we are settled … We can share this information freely. But just to be safe, I would advise that you only keep it among the herd leaders for now. It doesn't really impact anyone else at this point and while there's no harm in our friends knowing, if this somehow gets into the wrong ears, a great deal of harm could happen. Do you understand?"

Petrie pondered before he said, "All right," as Littlefoot and Cera nodded in agreement.

"So Petrie," Mama Flyer said in a hushed voice so that no sharpteeth out in the distance could hear. "You've noticed that there aren't any flyer kids in the herd. But have you also noticed that apart from Etta who was with you from the start, Pterano and I are the only older flyers here?"

"Me … Me guess me never thought about it," Petrie said curiously. "Especially with so much going on. But yeah, now you mention it … Littlefoot and Cera dad have their herds, and Ducky mom bring her friends together. Do they need saving too?"

Mama Flyer shook her head, with a hint of triumph. "No actually. Thanks in part to Pterano and his knack for devious schemes."

"Why how gracious of you," Pterano dryly retorted back as they both laughed, before Pterano turned to face Petrie. "Right, where do I begin? Oh yes, with Brara's maiming. While extremely effective and critical to your ability to remain undetected, her attack also forced all of us friendly flyers into a very uncomfortable position. The bad flyers would undoubtedly seek out revenge, and if they figured out Brara was behind the bites, we would naturally be targeted. But through the danger we flyers were now in, I also sensed a gleam of opportunity. While I imagine you know your mother is quite high-profile in the Valley, as am I for less honorable reasons, the rest of the flyer elders tend to have a much lower profile."

"Right," Petrie nodded, knowing that the Great Valley's other flyers rarely spoke up at herd meetings or got into arguments, ate little due to their small body sizes, and frequently hung out on the cliffs that other dinosaurs could not reach. Most of them seemed generally glad to let his mother be their ambassador to work things out with the cantankerous ground-dwellers on their behalf. With everything about their presence being so understated, it was no small wonder that Petrie didn't even think about their absence until his mother pointed it out. Still, he knew that his mother was friends with a good many of them, and he was curious to hear what she had to say on the subject.

"But all the same," Petrie's mother added, "I know fully well that many of them are appalled by what's happening, and are just as loyal to the true spirit of the Great Valley as anyone here. Yet rather than try to persuade them to take part in a vocal rebellion that's never been their style, Pterano came up with a brilliant way for them to do their part to help."

"So that morning, when young Leigh was holding his vanity meeting and the bitten flyers were complaining about their attack," Pterano smirked, "Your mother and I swooped into action. We went around, telling my sister's friends that they should escape the Valley as soon as possible while the skies were unguarded, and to stand by if they wanted to help us in a potential rebellion. And so just like that, they took off without notice from all the ground-dwellers. So by the time our family revolted to rescue Ruby and Wild Arms, the others were in the clear, with many of them indeed choosing to wait for further instruction."

"So where they now? How come they not with herd?" Petrie asked thoughtfully.

"Ah," Pterano grinned stealthily, clasping his clawed hands together. "Well as you know, what flyers lack in sheer strength and muscle, they make up for in other ways. Like for instance, the ability to hide in places not obvious to the ground-dweller eye or to slip through narrow openings, or even to freely enter and exit the Great Valley without making a sound. Which when combined with their lack of infamy among the regime, make them extremely adept at avoiding attention, especially from all the ground-dwellers that cannot tell one flyer apart from another. This in turn, so long as they able to avoid detection from the dark flyers, would allow them to gain information about the goings-on in our Valley, allowing them to serve as a highly effective spy unit."

"Whoa," Petrie said in awe, impressed with his uncle's cunning.

Pterano smirked. "Your mother and I waited to see what needed to be done and allowed our fellow flyers to settle in their hiding spots before we went to consult with them the night before we left for here. We have instructed each of them to act as lone rogues searching for food, when in reality, they are hiding in the tree stars, taking turns scouting the terrain and eavesdropping on conversations to collect vital information."

"Like?" Littlefoot asked curiously.

"Well, whatever attracts their attention," Pterano said fairly. "But I presume they will be eyeing any physical changes to the landscape, the general morale of the Valley's inhabitants, how suspicious they are of any attempts to overthrow them, and of course, now that they know we exist, any schemes they might use to undermine us. Certainly, if they see an opportunity, they will attempt to monitor Mr. Leigh and his subordinates. All of course, while trying to avoid detection from the segregated flyers, which could potentially jeopardize the whole operation altogether."

"But one thing we specifically counseled them on was to eye the remaining children and see if any of them are falling on the wrong side of the regime," Mama Flyer said darkly. "We did tell them that with no flyer kids defecting yet, they would be the most likely to be in need of a potential rescue. But I dare say they probably won't be the only ones in need."

"What do you mean?" Petrie asked tentatively.

"Well," Mama Flyer sighed reluctantly before pressing on. "In power-hungry herds like these, everyone always has a place in the pecking order. They feel like everyone must be dominant or dominated, and consequently, each of them are eager to prove that they are better than their herdmates. And eventually, someone will always be left at the bottom, allowing everyone else a chance to boost their egos."

"Are you talking about the new kids?" Cera asked.

Mama Flyer nodded. "Yes, I presume that they would've been considered the weaklings of their herds."

"No wonder they all wanted out of there!" Cera nodded, shaking her head.

"But now that they're gone," Mama Flyer observed, "The structure of their herds have changed. Sure, it's common for a bullied kid to be left behind or sacrificed to the sharpteeth. But an exodus of all their least valued members at once is uncommon, for now there is no one left for the others to exert their power over. Which means they will be hungry to prove themselves, and do whatever it takes to preserve their position so they do not become the unvalued themselves."

"Right," Littlefoot pondered. "So you're saying … They're probably gonna start picking on each other? Even kids who were bullies themselves?"

Mama Flyer nodded. "I don't imagine right away. But it wouldn't surprise me if we start seeing some of these dynamics happen over time. But we cannot afford to be indiscriminate. The kids who came here left without their families being aware that any kids were disappearing or even that your herd existed, so each kid would have come here of their own free will with no ulterior motive. However, now that their herds are all aware of everything, they're going to be ready. Herd guards will be on high alert to ensure that no more kids would be defecting, especially the flyers, who undoubtedly are boasting to the other herds how they didn't lose any of their kids yet. Without Mr. Bonehead to protect dinosaurs' rights, you can be sure that the regime is doing their utmost to prevent any dissent from being expressed."

Shaking her head, she said, "Then there are the kids themselves. I'd expect lots of the kids that would be picked on to still be holding onto all the hate they had been indoctrinated with, so until they are truly willing to change their ways, there is very little that we can do for them. What's worse, I'd imagine that just as we have spies watching over the Great Valley, they might be grooming some of the kids to be spies of their own. They've already used kids as spies back in the Valley, and know we are reluctant to hurt kids that are trying to spy on us. So I'd imagine that if they find out where the crater is, they'll start sending kids that pretend to be friendly and innocent, hoping we'd take them in so they can start spying on us. Any kid can be flown in on a flyer, and so if a kid from one of their herds suddenly appears, we've gotta be very careful, whether we choose to take them in or not."

Sighing, Mama Flyer continued, "All the same, I do expect that quite a few of the children back in the Valley really do need to be rescued. The tiny longnecks couldn't afford any of them squealing to their parents, so they only reached out to the kids who most visibly wanted to get out of there. I'd imagine though that there would be others who were just as unhappy as the kids we rescued, but were better at suppressing their emotions so as to avoid punishment from their herds. That is why we've got the flyers working on spying on the kids, so they can learn more about potential individuals in need, learn more about their character, and report their observations to us. Hopefully we'll hear from them soon, but for now, there's not much else we can do here but wait."

"Right, thanks Mother," Petrie smiled as they exchanged a hug. While the issue of the trapped kids still worried Petrie, it felt reassuring to know that at least something was being done about it which could lead to further action later. Yawning, Petrie stretched out. "Me gonna find a tree for me to take nap. Night guys."

"Night Petrie," Littlefoot smiled.

"Even if it isn't really night yet," Cera teased.

Mama Flyer and Pterano swooped off, leaving Littlefoot and Cera alone.

"Ugh, I'm getting tired of just sitting here," Cera groaned.

"Yeah," Littlefoot said sympathetically. "Why don't we go back to cave hunting?"

"You mean, cave making," Cera grinned cheekily, instantly getting her spirit back. "You're on, Littlefoot."

"Of course, we can't do it alone," Littlefoot grinned back. "Especially when we've got friends who've got all sorts of techniques!"

So they went around looking for friends who could help out.

"We're gonna probably need a clubtail, they're great at making holes in rocks," Littlefoot said thoughtfully. "But the elders need rest, and Audrey's out with her friends."

"Don't even think about asking Oplax," Cera warned. "The last thing we need to do is keep on saving Sis and friends from falling rocks. They hero worship us enough as it is."

Littlefoot laughed. "No, no, I was thinking about Veno."

"Oh yeah!" Cera exclaimed. "Where is he, anyway?"

But they found out their answer as they moved forward a step. Nearing the quiet spot that Spike had begun to work with, they found Veno sleeping peacefully.

"Oh yeah that's right, he likes to sleep in the day," Littlefoot chuckled.

He was not alone either. Spike too was in a deep slumber, with Sophie on one side and Light on the other, though the two of them were just resting. Littlefoot and Cera couldn't help but notice that Light was gently nuzzling Spike's face, but while Sophie was dozily watching, she was still smiling peaceably.

"No wonder why Spike likes her," Cera giggled. "She can tolerate anything."

However, not everyone was dozing blissfully. Tippy was nearby too, but rather than relaxing, he was running back and forth on the already flattened patch of dirt they had, stamping on the ground to try to flatten it further.

"Just relax Tippy, it's flat enough," Light smiled bemusedly at the hyperactive spiketail. "Come by us, it's nice and warm."

"Yeah, but this is fun fun fun!" Tippy exclaimed, before he caught the eyes of Littlefoot and Cera. "Hey guys!"

"Hi Tippy!" Littlefoot smiled. "Listen, we were gonna start making some caves."

"Fun fun fun!" Tippy exclaimed, instantly stopping as he ran over to join them.

Light meanwhile stood up and stretched. "As much as I like to sleep, I can't miss out on this."

"When do you think Veno will wake up?" Littlefoot asked curiously. "We need a clubtail to help out, the elders are resting and Audrey's with her friends."

Light chuckled. "You don't need a clubtail when you've got a clubtailed longneck."

"Someone called?" came a voice, and turning, they saw Anndi the longneck teen beaming at them, waving her clubbed tail around.

"Hi Anndi," Littlefoot chuckled.

"How did you get here so fast?" Cera asked with amusement.

"Well Tilden heard you guys talking about needing a clubtail, so he told me," she laughed. "I'm ready if you are, Coach!"

Cera laughed. "You're on!"

"I guess we'll just let Veno have his beauty sleep," Littlefoot chuckled.

"Have fun," Sophie sleepily dozed, yawning before Littlefoot, Cera, Tippy, Light and Anndi set off, looking for everyone else to help. They ended up collecting a large group, with Ali, Cam, Mia, Len, Monty, the rest of the teens who were available, and Topps' three young herdmates all agreeing to help.

"All right guys," said Cera. "Who's ready to start making some caves?"

The group responded with murmurs of excitement.

"How about let's start with some caves for the kids," suggested Keeter. "Give them a place to hang out and sleep without us big dinos around, and a place to hide in case the crater gets attacked."

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Felix said brightly. "I can use my curved horns to mark out the entrance. Then you can start digging."

"How many kid caves do you think we should have?" asked Tilden curiously.

"Maybe a few for little kids, mid-sized kids, big kids, and preteen kids each," suggested Welbie.

"With plenty of room in each, there's a whole lotta kids here," Chantal giggled.

"Why don't you try your horn trick out, Felix?" Littlefoot asked.

Felix happily obliged, hurrying to the wall and sinking a curved horn into the rock. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his head and lowered himself so that his horn would go down in a neat curve, before he removed his horn and started to do the other side. When he finished, a curved cave entrance was carved out in the rock.

"Anndi, wanna do the honors?" Cera snickered.

The clubtailed longneck sprung over once Felix left. With her long neck craning back, she could see exactly where her tail would be hitting as it punched dead into the center of the marked entrance. With repeated lashings, she had successfully deepened the hole that Felix had laid out, creating a little cave into the rock.

"I guess we should be moving some of those rocks out of the way," chuckled big-mouthed flyer Nessie, who went to help clear out the rocks that Anndi's tail had knocked down.

"Looks to be going well," Littlefoot smiled. "Wanna make another one just like that, Felix?"

"You bet," Felix said, repeating the horn carving several lengths away. Anndi however was still clubbing the first spot, leaving her unable to work on this one.

"Hey, we little threehorns can just charge into the wall," Chantal smirked, eyeing Calem, Karla, Gaven, who too looked satisfied.

"Wouldn't you guys just hurt your heads though?" Cam giggled.

"That's what frills are for," Chantal snickered.

"And the three of us have been conditioned by old Topsy," cheekily put in Gaven. "Head ramming is our specialty!"

"Well you four need some help for clearing the rocks out," Tilden teased. "Threehorns aren't known for their precision."

"Hey, we're just fine!" Karla giggled.

"You don't have hands," Emery snickered.

"We've got beaks, isn't that good enough?" Calem laughed.

"You can only move one at a time," Welbie giggled. "Let us help, it'll help you go much faster."

"Oh fine," Chantal laughed. "It'll help us go faster anyway."

"Right, so who's partnering up with who?" asked Tilden, seeing the four threehorns and four handed teens.

"Sorry, I've gotta be helping the big guys," giant flyer Phoenix chuckled.

"What, you're getting too big for us?" Welbie snickered.

"Well, I'm a big flyer, I can help with the big caves," Phoenix reasoned.

"Ah, we don't need him," Welbie giggled, winking at Tilden.

"Yeah, he'd just get stuck in one of the little caves," Tilden laughed.

"Heyy!" Phoenix snickered as the smaller flyers naughtily grinned at one another.

"You know," Ali pointed out. "We can just get Petrie's siblings for the big caves, and Phoenix can partner with one of you guys."

Phoenix grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I forgot!"

"Ha! We're partners then," Chantal grinned smugly.

"Why should you get him?" Gaven smirked crossly. "You're littler than the three of us."

"Well, we're both in Gara's squad," Chantal snickered. "We're used to working together, right?"

"Right," Phoenix smirked. "Besides … If anyone can put up with her attitude, it'd be me."

"You stinkin' piece of sharptooth dirt!" Chantal growled, sticking her tongue out at Phoenix as they laughed.

So with that, the four little threehorns and their partners spread out and began to work on ramming into the rock wall spaces that Felix had marked.

"Hey Candy, I've got an idea," Dekker smirked to his fellow teen shieldback.

"I've got one too," Candy said. "It's something only we can do, right?"

"Yep!" Dekker grinned back. "We're probably thinking the same thing."

"So what are you talking about?" Cera asked impatiently.

"Well, we can be your cave testers," giggled Candy. "The ones who go into the dug caves and make sure they're safe for hatchlings. That's what you were thinking, Dekker?"

Dekker nodded. "Yeah! We're shieldbacks, meaning we're short and so can fit into these caves. We've got armored backs that can deal with rocks falling on them. Candy's a midget though, so I'll let her take the tight caves."

"I'm not a midget!" Candy giggled. "I'm as long as you!"

"Only because half of you is tail," retorted Dekker. "At the very least, you're shorter, so you can fit into tighter entrances."

"Which means I can fit into all the kid caves while you can't," Candy snickered. "I can be like the kids' cool big sis."

"Yeah, but I can carry more of them on my back," Dekker giggled.

So with a good many dinosaurs delegated to work on the kid caves, they started to move onto the other caves. Ali had gotten not only Petrie's siblings to work with the rock preparation, who in turn brought over many of the older twofooters to provide additional handpower, she also brought over Dil, who was delighted with the prospect.

"I'll tell you where's the perfect spot," Dil growled with a tone of surprising seriousness as she sniffed the air. "There, right there."

"Why that spot Dil?" Littlefoot asked curiosly.

"Because there's some water in there," Dil smirked. "The perfect place to hang out. But make sure to give me plenty of room. Especially for what I'm thinking about doing in there."

Cera snorted. "Uh, Dil? I don't think we need to hear that," she teased.

Dil shook her head. "Geez, kids these days, you have such dirty minds. No, no, you goodie four paws have gotta think nasty."

"Uh …" Littlefoot trailed off before Dil groaned, "Fine, I'll make it simple. You sapsuckers don't like killing bad guys. Well then, why not use that to your advantage and let me do the dirty work?"

"How's that to our advantage?" Littlefoot asked confusedly.

Dil shook her head exasperatedly. "Sheesh, you guys are too soft. I mean I can be a jail keeper. You capture some mook, bring them to me, and I can scare them into spitting out some goods for us. Sure, I'll threaten them, but I'd only eat them if they won't cooperate."

Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other, remembering what Pterano and Mama Flyer had likely warned them about potential spies. If Dil could scare a spy enough to blab about Leigh or Goregie's schemes, they could really use that information …

"All right," Littlefoot gulped uncomfortably. "But don't have too much fun doing this, okay?"

"Hey, you took on a belly dragger who wanted to eat you, what'd you expect?" Dil snorted back. "Just because I'm on your side now doesn't mean I'm gonna start singing."

"You mean to tell me you've never sung before?" Littlefoot asked, rolling his eyes.

Dil growled. "Shut up," she said, plainly embarrassed. Littlefoot wisely decided not to press the subject further, but couldn't help but think he had touched on a nerve.

Spikesides Light and Eva moved forward. "All right, we'll get started," Eva giggled, as the two of them began ramming their tails against the wall.

Light meanwhile, couldn't help but get mischievous. "Hey Dil, did you know there are leaf-eating belly draggers out there?"

Dil snorted. "Please. When spiketails fly."

"No no, I'm not kidding," Light snickered. "They say where my kind comes from that there's a big island where there's tiny belly draggers the size of your head that have tiny heads and flat teeth. But they have scaly backs just like you."

"Doesn't sound like a belly dragger to me," Dil retorted, but Eva giggled as she added, "My kind's homeland has little belly draggers too. Not leafeating ones like Light's, but they swim."

"I can swim!" Dil protested.

"No, I mean really swim, they have flippers and a fluked tail, but they have heads just like yours," Eva snickered. "Trouble is, they get eaten by the swimming sharpteeth all the time. And land sharpteeth can grab them out of the water and throw them on land."

"Enough already, those aren't real belly draggers," Dil snapped.

"They're belly draggers just as much as we're dinosaurs," Light snickered. "We may be threehorns and longnecks and spiketails and sharpteeth, but we're all dinosaurs. Just like they're all belly draggers."

"If you two keep this up, go back to your homelands and bring me some for me to eat," Dil growled. "Otherwise, shut up about it."

"But then you won't have anyone to make a cave for you," Eva grinned naughtily.

Leaving the two spikesides to snicker as they kept working on Dil's cave, the adult twofooters who volunteered next went to collect Chomper's parents. Both Chomper's mom and dad looked embarrassed as they were each carried in by several swimmers and hollowhorns. Nevertheless, by seeing all the other caves getting made, they understood what was going on and promptly growled their approval when they smelled a spot they could tell would have enough space. Their approval transcended language barriers, and the elder twofooters could understand that they had chosen their spot.

"So you guys are ready to carve the space out?" Littlefoot called out.

With the smaller teens going to work on the kids' and Dil's caves, everyone left was of a considerably larger size, perfect for building an entrance for the sharptooth pack's private cave.

"I'll start ramming the base," Monty said confidently, and the round-frilled threehorn backed up and began to charge at a spot near the ground, before backing up and doing it again. Meanwhile, Cam and Mia were giggling naughtily.

"What're you two up to?" Cera asked them suspiciously.

"Well, we were thinking of maybe using our spikeneck friends to carve out the entrance," and without warning, Cam bit onto Jada's back while Mia backed onto Gara. The two spikenecks, lightweights relative to their bigger longnecked counterparts, were caught off guard.

"Wow, I've never been carried since I was a baby," Jada giggled as Cam aimed her neck spikes to carve out a curve in the rock wall.

"Yeah, and I think I like it better on the ground," Gara rolled her eyes at Mia as she used her spikes to mark the other side.

"Don't worry Gara, we'll get them next time," Jada snickered to Gara as the two spikenecks returned to the ground.

"It looks fun," Len playfully chuckled, but rather than eyeing one of the spikeneck girls, his eye fell upon the headbutting blue threehorn instead. Suddenly, he stretched out his neck and caught Monty mid-lunge as the threehorn stared up in disbelief.

"What did you do that for?" he asked in bemusement.

"To see if I can," Len naughtily chuckled.

"Didn't you do enough of that with Earl and Gus?" Monty asked bewilderedly.

"Not really," Len sighed. "I'm way smaller than Earl was, and I don't have Gus's spiky neck."

"Or his bad attitude," Cera snorted.

"You know Cera," Len chuckled as he put Monty back down. "I reckon I should try you next."

"Don't you even …" Cera retorted, but she let out a guffaw as Len suddenly fell belly-first on the ground.

"What was that?" he asked as he looked behind him, before seeing Keeter grin mischievously. "Two can play that game," he snickered.

"Hey Cera," Monty teased as he crashed into the rock wall again. "I bet I can ram into the rock harder than you can."

"Only because my leg is busted!" Cera shot back. "I've been headbutting since forever!"

"Well I grew up in the Mysterious Beyond," Monty retorted.

"Well I grew up with my dad," Cera snickered. "Besides, you were Hiss Head's caretaker, right? You could have just headbutted him."

"Are you kidding? He's probably made of lava, I would've burnt a horn off on him," Monty laughed. "Would you really want to be a twohorn and smell like his baths forever?"

"Ugggh," Cera groaned.

"How's it going Monty?" Littlefoot asked curiously.

"I'm nearly done ramming," Monty answered after one last crash. "We're ready for the bigheads."

"Right," Littlefoot snickered, and everyone's eyes fell upon the two elder sharpteeth, grinning mischievously.

"I don't like the looks on their faces," growled Papa Sharptooth with amusement.

"Me neither," Mama Sharptooth snickered. "It's like we're the prey now,"

"Everyone ready?" called out Ducky's aunt Phora to the other elder twofooters.

The others nodded mischievously before with sharpteeth in tow, they started running toward the wall, the sharpteeth's heads in front. Like battering rams, their heads crashed against the rocky wall, allowing them to push through the space that Monty had already headbutted. Then the swimmers ran back and ran to do it again, snickering with amusement.

"I don't believe it," Papa Sharptooth chuckled embarrassedly. "We're getting used as flattooth tools."

"Well, at least we can help with something," Mama Sharptooth snickered.

"And it smells good," Papa Sharptooth chuckled.

"Don't you even start," Mama Sharptooth warned. "Flatteeth are off the menu."

"Ah well," Papa Sharptooth shook his head. "I've eaten enough to my heart's content," he said as they both snickered. "My drive's gone down anyway."

Mama Sharptooth smirked, before aiming her tail right at her mate's head. "Shut it, you dirty old fossil."

---

Upon hearing about Ius's incident and Ruby's request to take the halfteeth into the crater for log running, Chomper took over their posts to watch over the entire northern side. Even though he was only one sharptooth who couldn't run as fast as or hide the runners, his sniffer and hearing were ideal for detecting other dinosaurs coming from the other side of the forest. And while his sniffer dulled toward the crater's southern side, he could barely make out Lola's presence and trusted that the browridge would let out a call for him should any threat come from her direction.

With there not being any discernable threats, for the group of whiptails had decided to retreat further north, Chomper felt free to be able to take Cera's words to heart and begin to practice fighting like a flattooth. And he was determined to learn, for he had listened to Littlefoot and asked Shorty for help coaching him.

To say that Shorty was willing was to help an understatement. At once, the boxhead's eyes lit up and no sooner had he finished getting the words out than Shorty hurried off to prepare the lesson. So by the time Chomper finished doing a quick scan of the crater's nearside, he found Shorty waiting for him alongside several boulders that went all the way up to Chomper's knee.

"Too slow, little biter," Shorty chortled mischievously, before quickly saying, "Now let's get started!"

Chomper watched as a reminiscent smirk appeared on Shorty's face.

"So first," Shorty said, "It's not just about power, it's about technique and aim. Don't know if Littlefoot would've told you this, but I was able to plonk him with a tiny rock right on the nose! He screamed like a baby!"

"What did he do to deserve that?" Chomper asked cheekily.

"Shut it, I'm your big brother," Shorty grinned.

Chomper giggled. "You mean that?"

"Well you're Littlefoot's little brother, and I'm his big brother. That makes me your big-big-brother, who's gotta obey everything I say," Shorty teased.

"You can't be much older than him," Chomper cheekily snickered. "You seem way less mature than he is."

"Yeah, well, I can pick him up and put him on my back," Shorty said confidently. "Wanna see me do it?"

"Uh, no thanks," Chomper giggled. "I'll take your word for it."

"Good," Shorty smirked. "Anyway, these hills are great. Because you can use them to your advantage! I sent a rock flying down the hill, which collided with a bunch of others and tripped up a sharptooth! Then I sent a whole bunch of them falling down at once! You should have been there, it was great!"

"Yeah, Littlefoot told me about that," Chomper snickered.

"But you should've seen the best part!" Shorty kept on going. "I went right under one of those rockheads' feet, tripping him up and sending him rolling! Then he crashed into one of the others and bam! I knocked two of them off just like that!"

"Shorty," Chomper smirked, knowing someone's head was getting a little too big. "I think I'm a bit too big to get under anyone's foot."

"Oh, yeah," Shorty chuckled feebly. "Well, uh, point is, these hills are made for tripping bad guys up!"

"Did you teach the others your tail techniques too?" Chomper asked curiously.

Shorty shook his head, grinning mischievously. "Nope! Littlefoot just used a paw, Cera headbutted, Petrie dropped rocks, and Ducky and Spike just pushed. Which helped, don't get me wrong, but don't send rocks flying like a good tail whap. Of course, none of them had the buff tails to do the job. But you've got one with real potential, and trust me, you're gonna need it. You've only got two feet so you can't use your feet without losing balance, your arms are too scrawny for any pushing and your mouth is too powerful to waste on throwing rocks, and though you've got a big head, you can't use it without lowering yourself. Your tail's your best long-range weapon, it's nice and thick and can really send those rocks flying!"

Shorty beamed as he watched Chomper fully understand what he was saying before saying, "All right. Grab a rock and let's get started."

So the two of them each took a boulder, Chomper doing his best to hold onto it gently with his mouth as they went out to an open space. "Now watch my every move," Shorty instructed. "First, line yourself up with the rock. You want it to be near your tail end, you'll have the most power and best aim right there."

So Chomper obliged, mimicking Shorty as they both stood parallel to and uphill of their rocks. "Alright, next, crane your neck back so you can see what you're doing."

"Uh Shorty?" asked Chomper. "My neck can't do that."

"Oh, yeah, right," Shorty said awkwardly. "Forget that bit. Okay, firm your tail up and raise it into the air. Yeah, that's good," he smirked, eyeing Chomper's tail as he looked behind him to watch. "All right, now for the footwork. Stretch your right foot out toward the rock. That way you can send more power into it. Then right after that, send that tail crashing toward the rock, and bam! You've got it made. Now watch me put it all together."

And without any hesitation, Shorty's tail lashed out at the rock, sending it rocketing into the air before landing onto the ground and rolling down the hill, where it landed with a big crash. "Bang! That should knock the rockhead out right there."

Eager to try his claw at it, Chomper took a deep breath and swung his tail with gusto. However, just as he moved his foot over and lowered his tail, his legs gave way and he landed with a big thud, tail splayed out on the ground and hurting upon impact. And while the rock did go down the hill, Chomper could tell that it was the force of his thud that sent the rock flying, not anything his tail might have done.

"Sharptooth dirt!" Shorty shouted in frustration as he stomped the ground.

"Sorry Shorty," Chomper said meekly.

"No, you don't have to be," Shorty said more softly. "It's my fault, acting as if you're a big longneck like me. I should've known this would've been no good for sharpteeth … UGGH! Why does everything have to be so difficult?"

Chomper eyed Shorty sadly, knowing how much he was looking forward to teaching him how to defend himself. But if there was one thing Chomper learned from his friends, it was never to give up so easily. Sure, learning how to use his tail might not be as easy as Shorty made it out to be. But that didn't mean that it would be impossible. All they had to do was change the lesson plan …

"What're you laughing at?" Shorty snapped. "Happy I can't teach you?"

"No, no," Chomper said quickly. "You've just gotta teach me to improve my balance first. Give me another rock, I'll show you what I mean."

Intrigued, Shorty obliged, carrying a small boulder in his mouth.

"Put it right there," Chomper instructed. "A little less that way … A little over there … Perfect."

"Why does it have to be perfect?" Shorty asked, annoyed.

"Because," Chomper explained. "I've dug my claws into the ground so I can't fall."

Shorty stared down at Chomper's feet, to find that sure enough, Chomper's toe claws were partially submerged into the rocky hillside, leaving his feet completely immobile yet at the same time, perfectly balanced.

"Now watch," Chomper said, focusing on Shorty's pointers on tail technique, desperately hoping that this time, he would not miss. With an authoritative swing, Chomper felt his firmed up tail make hard contact with the rock, and the two of them stared as the rock catapulted deep into the air, before landing with a triumphant thud as it rolled down to the hill's base.

"Whoa," Shorty said, impressed as a big smile broke out across his face. "What happened?"

"I had better balance," Chomper explained. "I sunk my claws into the ground so I wouldn't be at any risk of falling. That kept me up straight, and that allowed me to hit the rock!"

Still looking befuddled, Chomper explained, "You've got a lot better balance than I do because you've got four legs and I've only got two. It's not normally an issue, but on steep hills like these, that's where falls happen. That's probably why you were able to trip up all those sharpteeth here, because it's hard for us to keep our balance on these hills in the first place! Which means that I've gotta catch up on my balance!"

"But I don't know anything about balance," Shorty said doubtfully. "It just comes easy for me like you said."

"No, but you don't have to," Chomper laughed. "I'll practice that on my own. But we can still practice the tail swings if I've got my feet in place, and we can build up to a freestanding swing later."

"Sounds good," Shorty laughed, relieved with Chomper's positive attitude. "I suppose I'm gonna keep having to bring you rocks now, right?" he snickered.

"Well, the rocks aren't gonna move themselves," Chomper laughed back.

So happily, after Shorty brought the rocks over, splitting them apart to create a myriad of smaller rocks, the two began to practice their tail swings. Shorty modeled his technique for Chomper as Chomper watched carefully, afterwards Shorty watched Chomper take his turn. With Chomper's balance problem solved for now, his tail swings became much better, and he grew more confident with each successive attempt. Though still learning and nowhere near as good as Shorty at sending the rocks out to faraway lengths, Chomper felt great that he was finally developing a defensive fighting style. He was determined to get really good at this, for he knew if he mastered the technique, he could in turn teach it to Lola, the biters, and any other able-bodied sharptooth he might take on. But for now, he just needed to take it slowly, focusing on his technique with the rock swings and the balance on his own, before he felt ready to share it with his fellow friendly sharpteeth.

"Hey Chomper?" Shorty asked after finally exhausting his rock pile. "I was wondering … Can you take me to see Lola?"

Chomper was surprised, but when thinking about it, it made perfect sense. Shorty was without a doubt the biggest herd member roughly their age and consequently faced the least amount of risk in case Lola lost control and bit him. His bulk would also tamper down her instincts, since most sharpteeth were instinctively wary to go after prey much bigger than themselves. The two of them were abandoned by their parents and accustomed to living in the Mysterious Beyond, which would give them a sense of understanding should they choose to talk about it through his translations. And after trying Lola with two girls the prior day, Chomper wanted to introduce her to a male friend. And with both Littlefoot and Petrie out of the picture because of their injuries and with her having just gone after a spiketail ruling Spike out, Shorty seemed like the perfect option.

"Sure!" Chomper smiled. "How about we go see her after sharptooth lessons? Just remember, don't get too close to her sniffer and mouth. Maybe you can help carry some food too, the more she has to eat, the less likely she'll bite."

"Can we start with those?" Shorty asked eagerly.

"Sure, let's get everyone together," Chomper said, his heart beating with anticipation. "This is gonna be completely crazy," he thought as he shook his head. "But it'll be totally worth it."

---

Patrolling the steep slopes of her new home, the young browridge looked out at the view below her in wonder. It was still a struggle to take it all in. Not long ago, she was the freak of her nest, the one who never took any joy in the hunt, had no interest in the opposite sex, and blurted out her thoughts without thinking. Now she was freed from the tarpits by a twoclaw who if possible was even weirder than she was. His story was impossible for her to comprehend at first. There he was, a sharptooth that was hatched by leafeaters, grew up speaking their language, had conquered his instincts yet still seemed to have unlimited food at his disposal, and led his own nonconformist sharptooth pack along with a mixed herd alongside the very friends who hatched him, who remarkably seemed to believe in the concept of friendly sharpteeth. It seemed so surreal to her, but her sniffer never lied, and as strange as he was, if there was one thing she could tell about him, it was that he was remarkably genuine, and probably about as bad of a liar as she was.

He truly didn't act like any other sharptooth she had known either. Sure, he acted stern and tough with her, even threatening her life should she betray him. But she was the one who insisted on joining him, not the other way around, and he even told her that she could leave whenever she wanted. And she also got the feeling he didn't like issuing threats, and that his motivation, rather than any desire for power, conquest or control, was solely out of a desire to protect the friends that he was completely devoted to. If she had any doubts about this, they would be cleared just by listening to him talking with his leafeater friends. Though she could barely hear their conversations and couldn't understand a single word that was being said, the tone he struck with them was unmistakably friendly, cheerful, and deeply affectionate. They really felt like a great big family, especially him and his fellow herd leaders, who really did seem to be lifetime friends. And as much as she didn't want to be, she knew that she was still a threat, and just how feared her kind was among leafeaters. She learned that all too well long, long ago, one time when she and her family were sitting together at the forest's edge …

"Mommy, why don't those spiketails and longnecks come closer to us? There's plenty of flattooth food here."

"Because," her mother purred. "They fear us."

"But we've just eaten, we're not gonna have to hurt anyone now!"

"They don't know that. Besides, if one did get too close, you can't pass up an easy meal. You never know when the next one might come along, and it could be the difference between life and death."

"Ugh, I hate being a sharptooth!"

Her nestmates snickered exasperatedly.

"Oh no, Bludna's bleeding heart's going again," one whispered.

"Yeah, what a wimp."

"You are what you are, and that's just the way it is, no need to overthink it," her mother told her calmly but with a note of amusement. "Sharpteeth have always hunted flatteeth, otherwise how would we eat? Besides, flatteeth breed like crazy. It's our duty to control their populations."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to be hunted by someone!"

"You won't be, once you get big enough."

"That's not the point," she snapped. "The point is I don't want to hunt anyone! Think about all the pain those poor flatteeth go through! And all the family members they lose!"

"Don't give me that silly talk," her mother growled as her siblings giggled. "We're browridges, one of the most feared kinds of sharpteeth in the world."

"But I don't want to be feared! I wanna be their friend!"

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Bludna Browridge, if you go up to those creatures without attacking them, they're going to attack you instead! They will show no mercy, raining their tails down your back until you're worse than dead! You've got to accept your place in the world, and that's that."

Bludna. She hated her old name with a passion and felt so relieved her new alpha gave her a new one. It allowed her to really start afresh and leave the pain from her past behind, and she hoped that her alpha was right in that her new name would sound less threatening to his flatteeth friends. Yet still, her past made things so much more difficult. Like it or not, she was used to eating flattooth meat, and her stomach growled even thinking about their scents. She may not have liked hunting them, but she had nonetheless grown up on a leafeater diet from the kills her parents and more recently her surviving nestmates had made. Completely abandoning the cravings for flattooth meat would be a challenge, which is why she knew she couldn't even think about living with the flatteeth just yet. She had gotten way too close to hurting his friends the prior night. It would take time for her to be weaned from that desire completely. Besides, with her pack leader having powerful enemies, she knew that she had to prove herself as completely trustworthy first. Taking on guard duty and helping her younger packmates deal with those bullies was a good starting point. But it was a far cry from truly being in harmony with the flatteeth and becoming just of much as their friend as he was …

Her sniffer suddenly started to tickle as a sweet sense of euphoria enraptured her. Fresh, chewy savoriness … Awfully tangy too. She felt her eyes close and her tongue tickle her face as some drool dripped onto the ground. It had been ages since she'd gotten a good whiff like this, but it had to be the dizzying aroma of a knobbed longneck …

No. Hurting. Flatteeth.

The mantra of her new pack came crashing down upon her, at once followed by a powerful chill down her spine. She had almost given way to tracking, which could easily lead to attacking, or even worse, killing. And then in one fell swoop, she would be kissing her new life goodbye.

She took a deep breath, centering herself. She had caught herself, that was good. It was a close call, but she had beaten her instincts back. She could tell her alpha all about it that dinner, when she'll be rewarded with fresh red food. All she had to do was to forget about that enticing scent and keep on with her patrol duties.

That however, proved easier said than done. When she traversed closer to the inside of the crater, she could make out the scent of knobbed longneck. She recognized it, for from following them she knew that there was a knobbed longneck in the big herd. This knobbed longneck however, was unblemished, with no blood coming from him. Come to think of it, not a single member of the herd seemed to be bleeding. Which was really strange considering all the distance they had covered. A big contrast from the longneck below, whose strong, salty scent had to be accentuated from bleeding. That would explain why it would be so hard to ignore. Maybe Chomper's herd had some kind of healing cure. In that case, he could use it on her. Her? Yeah, she was definitely a girl. Her scent was more feminine than Chomper's male knobbed longneck friend. Shoot, taking her mind off the injured longneck was proving to be impossible.

Then a crazy thought came to her. "Hang on a moment," she pondered. "This will be a great way for me to practice controlling my instincts. Now that I know she's here, I'll see how close I can get to her without losing it again. But I'm not gonna fail. Because I've got a plan."

And bending down to the ground, Lola eyed some clumps of green on the hillside. Taking one last deep breath of fresh air, she reached as far out as she could with her small clawed arms, ripped up some small ferns, and tucking her head in as far as it would go, she sloppily packed them into her nostrils. The smell of the spicy, floral fragrance overwhelmed her nose and made her feel like throwing up, but she had achieved her objective, for the smells of the outside world seemed to fade in comparison. Now they were no longer so overwhelming, and she would have an easier time resisting her instincts.

Feeling triumphant, Lola felt a wave of excitement. "I'm gonna see where you're hiding, longneck," she vowed. "But I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm only doing it to give myself practice. So I can learn how to control myself, just like Alpha can."

With that in mind, Lola took in a big whiff. It was a lot harder to smell now, but she already knew that the longneck was toward the very bottom of the hill, most likely on the ground, and she descended with excitement …

Apparently she was just too excited, for she had slipped on the steep slope and fell down. She wondered if her alpha had balance problems here too. Luckily, she dug her arm claws into the dirt, slowing the descent down the hill enough to where she could regain her footing. Still, she slid a good way toward the hill's base, and sure enough, the longneck's smell was stronger than ever.

Her heart beating excitedly, Lola finished walking down the hill, making sure to take in the putrid scents of the ferns so that the longneck's smell would be less appealing. It seemed to be working, for she was not foaming up at the mouth or losing any sense of control. Drawing closer and closer, she noticed that her sniffer was leading right to a strangely placed boulder. Lola smirked. The longneck was clever, that was much for sure, for rather than staying out in the open while bleeding, she had hidden herself in a cave to conceal herself from predators while she recovered. Pity she forgot that sharpteeth had good sniffers, especially for blood. If another sharptooth found her, she'd be dead meat.

She hesitated, but her curiosity and determination to see how close she could get won her over. The boulder took some pushing, but at last, it was out of the way, revealing a big cave where the scent of knobbed longneck came pouring out. Readying herself to control her instincts, she took a step forward. She was still remaining composed, no drool on her lips. Then another. And another.

"Get out, sharptooth."

Lola froze. How could another sharptooth have gotten inside? But there was no sign of a struggle … And sharpteeth don't call each other sharptooth … Which could only mean one thing.

"You … You talk! A talking longneck! No way! I mean, uh … You speak sharptooth?"

"Y … Yes … You … You're not attacking me!"

"No! Uh, that is, I won't, promise. Alpha says I can't hurt flatteeth. If I can resist it, that is. Oh no … I can't stay here! I could blow everything!"

"No wait! I wanna see your face."

"Wait, what?"

"Stay there, I won't hurt you, since I don't think you're gonna hurt me."

Reluctantly, Lola obliged, and stared as she heard the knobbed longneck get up and then stare at her. She was not that much bigger than Lola was and right about her age, with blue-green skin and a darker green back, and had red irises and a dark tan belly. And she looked just as shocked to see Lola as Lola was to see her.

"You are! You're a white-eye!" she cried out faintly.

"And you're a longneck who can speak sharptooth," Lola replied in disbelief. Hurriedly, she spat out, "But don't get too close to me, okay? I grew up eating longnecks, and I'm trying to overcome my instincts. Your blood gets my sniffer going, no offense. That's why I've got this stuff up my nose."

The two of them both burst out laughing. "That's why you look so funny!" the longneck exclaimed.

"Yeah," Lola laughed. "I smelled you and wanted to get closer to test out my self-control, only I didn't think you'd speak sharptooth … Man, Alpha's gonna be so happy when he finds out flatteeth can learn. But how did you learn? How do you know what a white-eye is? Shoot, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

She giggled. "I'm Staralla, but Mom called me Star for short. She named me that because on the day I hatched there was a really clear sky and a star brighter than she ever saw before. Oh yeah, I had two moms. One was the mom who laid my egg, but she and my siblings died before I hatched. So I was raised by my birth mom's friend, who I called Mom. She raised me till I was nine, before a mean sharptooth tried to attack me and she died trying to protect me, and I've been on the run for the last five cold times."

"I'm sorry," Lola said to Star commiseratively. "But wait … Why did you say mean sharptooth? Don't you think all sharptooth are mean? Unless …"

She trailed off as Star happily grinned back at her. "Mom was a nice sharptooth! She raised me on her language growing up, that's how I know it! And she always told me that if a sharptooth hasn't lost their white eyes when growing up, it means they either aren't good hunters or that they don't hunt! And since you were able to find me … I'm guessing you like to scavenge, just like my mom!"

Lola gasped, at a loss for words, before Star giggled, "I don't believe it! I've never met a nice sharptooth apart from Mom, um ... What's your name?"

"Lola," she nodded happily.

Star smiled. "Love it! I'd love to hear your story, if you wanna tell it!"

"Well, I don't like thinking about my past life," Lola admitted. "But I'll tell you how I got here. Long story short, I got stuck in a tar pit trying to get a dead spiketail. I thought I was done for. But then I wake up, and then I see this crazy twoclaw guy who not only freed me, but also gave me food! He's a white-eye too, he was hatched by flatteeth and they grew up as best friends. Now they lead a big mixed herd together, while he's got his own friendly sharptooth pack inside of it, him, his parents, and three kids he helped save. And I think there's a belly dragger who speaks flattooth there. Oh, and me, I hope. I'm only a trainee, I've still got to learn how to control my instincts. He absolutely forbids his pack from eating dinosaur meat. So I'm serving as a guard to their herd, and well, that's how I smelled you, I've been on patrol duty."

"You've been doing a good job controlling your instincts with me," Star pointed out, with a giggle.

Lola laughed. "It's much harder to bite someone you can actually talk with!"

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Star pointed out. "Since you're already on guard duty, maybe you can guard my cave until I recover? That way, I'll be safe until my bleeding stops, and you can prove that you're friendly with flatteeth! Plus, it'll give us both someone to talk to."

Taken aback, Lola smiled. "Sure! I'll have to ask Alpha, but I don't think he'll mind! Who knows, maybe he'll want to meet you too! Don't worry, he's a white-eye just like me, and he's really sweet … Even if he did have to threaten me to make sure I wouldn't bite anyone."

The two teens laughed, before Lola smiled. "Right, I'll check on you soon. Hate to say it, but I'm getting hungry. Don't worry, Alpha will feed me, so I'll be fine. But yeah, I'll roll your boulder shut and do my best to protect you."

"Wow, you really are a good friend! All right, bye Lola!" Star said cheerfully as Lola left the cave. True to her word, she pushed the boulder guarding it back and then went back uphill to sit, making sure Star's boulder was left in place. But her mind was busier than ever. She never really had a friend before, and she honestly didn't expect to have one, especially a flattooth. But now it seemed that anything was possible, and she couldn't wait to tell him everything.

"Gosh Alpha," she chuckled to herself. "Thanks for everything. And I'm not gonna fail you, promise. For your or my sake."

---

The cave building continued in earnest. Chomper's parents were relieved to finally be done with the headbutting as they watched their home getting built. Petrie's siblings worked to remove loose rocks from the upper parts of the cave, Littlefoot led the other longnecks in using their tails to widen out the cave paths and dig further into the rock wall.

Papa Sharptooth however, soon took a whiff. "It's that little grey runner," he shook his head.

Mama Sharptooth smirked. "Up to trouble, I presume."

Sure enough, Hyp arrived at the construction and nudged Cera's leg.

"What?" Cera asked.

"Follow," Hyp smirked. "It's time."

Cera smirked back, quickly realizing what this was about. Remembering Tricia's bet with her that she and her friends could cross the desert without help, before forgetting about their bet and guilt-tripping Hyp, Mutt and Nod into carrying them, Cera was more than ready to give her cheeky sister's gang their comeuppance. The two snuck off from the crowds before mischievously looking at one another.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cera hissed once they were a safe distance away from anyone else.

Hyp smirked slyly. "About paying your sis out? Oh yeah," he grinned slyly. "No one guilt-trips me and gets away with it. Come on. The crew's waiting."

"Can't wait," Cera whispered naughtily.

Sure enough, huddled together were Mutt, Nod, Dispo, Weald and Ceph, along with Halle joining in the mischief with her rambunctious boyfriend, as well as the prankster domehead duo Kirt and Naz.

"Okay guys," Hyp grinned mischievously. "Dear Leader Threehorn gave the okay …"

"Hey!" Cera snapped as they all chortled, noting the mockery in Hyp's voice, but secretly she loved the ribbing. It didn't feel right being treated differently just because she was a herd leader now, and Hyp's continuing irreverence toward them was refreshing, especially with their deepening friendship making clear the ribbing was entirely good-natured.

"So," Hyp asked cockily. "Dil and Ann are all set, they can't wait. You guys all picked a target or two?"

"Yeah, I've got the twins," Weald smirked. "And Mutt's got Sam and Destiny. The rest of us each got one."

"And you saved her for me, right?" Hyp smirked.

"Oh yeah, you two deserve each other," Dispo teased.

"Hey," Hyp snorted. "We'll see how much attitude that bigmouth has after this."

"I thought Sam's the bigmouth?" Mutt said confusedly.

"Well yeah, technically, but the ringleader acts like she's got the biggest mouth. All right, guys. Sneak up on your victims from behind and grab them quickly so they can't squeal. Then hand them off to Cera, who'll whack them with her tail into the water."

"Hey, you're not the herd leader here, remember?" Cera teased. "What if I want to use my head?"

"You may have the big head, but this isn't your prank scene," Hyp reminded her. "My crew's in charge, and I'm in charge of my crew, making me in charge."

"What, we're just supposed to do what you want?" Nod asked.

"Well yeah, why do you think your name's Nod?" Hyp retorted.

"I dunno, ask Mutt's dad," Nod replied to chortle. "What the heck is a mutt anyway?"

"Beats me," Mutt shrugged as they all laughed.

So quietly, they went to work. It was easy to find Tricia's gang, their bright coloring and Mono and Oplax being the only kids of their kind making sure of that. Along with the rest of the kids, they were still watching the runners, and being seated in the back, they were perfectly placed for an ambush from behind. Unfortunately however, Deya, Nyko and Chuss were sitting by their side.

"You think we should go for the biters too?" Mutt muttered.

"What? And get our arms bitten?" Hyp snapped.

"Now you blew it," Dispo whispered. "They heard us."

Sure enough, the fast biter kids had swiveled their heads and looked at Hyp expectantly. Hyp gulped, their predatory senses made them virtually impossible to prank. And worse, he could tell by their expressions they were blackmailing him. Either he'd give them something they wanted, or they'd squeal to Tricia and her friends and ruin the prank altogether.

"One stinging buzzer hive," Hyp hissed to them in less than a whisper, so that they could hear while the leafeaters in Tricia's crew couldn't.

They looked at each other, pondering.

"Fresh off the branches in the forest," Hyp added.

This however sealed the deal as the biters smirked at one another.

"You promised," Nyko hissed very quietly as Hyp gulped. Now was not the time to worry about that however, as they were drawing near the ten scamps, still obliviously looking out at the runners in the watering hole.

Hyp eyed his fellow pranksters, first to his left, then to his right, before in a straight row, the sudden ambush happened. All at once, all ten of Tricia's gang were seized by the older dinosaurs, and though they kicked, screamed and squealed, none of them had a chance as Hyp held out Tricia for Cera's tail.

"You should've known this was coming," Cera chortled as she swung her tail back and whapped Tricia deep into the water. She landed with a big splash before Halle brought her Cassia, and before long, she quickly sprung the rest of her sister's cheeky crew into the water, landing with one splash after another.

"That was mean, Sis!" Tricia cried out, blowing her tongue out at Cera while the last of them surfaced.

The new kids, however, had an entirely unexpected reaction.

"Wow!" exclaimed little whiptail Drake. "They really can swim!"

"And only Cassia, Perri and Sam are swimmers!" little spiketail Ridge added.

"Yeah," Tricia said happily, beaming at the new kids. "Ducky taught me when I was just a baby!"

"And we learned thanks to the herd leaders too!" Mono said brightly.

"Even when I didn't want to," Oplax giggled.

"Maybe we can we learn too!" said little onehorn Clover.

"My parents wouldn't like it," little swimmer Tulip giggled. "But I can't wait to see why we're called swimmers!"

"You're gonna love it," Sam smiled knowingly. "Because …"

Sam never finished his sentence however, for he had suddenly been pulled below the water.

"What the …" Pearl began, but then a big gray tail whipped around her and pulled her underneath too.

"I thought you said the water is safe?" Perri asked.

But then Sam and Pearl resurfaced, and along with them, a great grey bigmouth, snickering triumphantly.

"Ann! That was you?" Garnet exclaimed in shock.

"Yep," Ann smirked naughtily.

"Gee, you make one good water monster," Oplax laughed.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Ann chuckled darkly.

"What do you mean?" Cassia asked.

ROAARRRRR!

Tricia's gang turned behind them to see a humongous belly dragger shooting right at them, going at top speed. At once, the little hatchlings screamed as they frantically paddled to the shore, and while they got there safely, they were all huffing and coughing with the water they had inhaled. Meanwhile, they stared at the water.

"Where's the belly dragger?" Tricia asked blankly. "Except …"

She trailed off as Dil emerged from underwater. "Hahahaha, I knew you kids would fall for it!" she boasted. "You are just too easy."

"But I thought you're blind and can't go fast?" Mono asked incredulously.

"I may not be much on land," Dil smirked. "But I'm a real terror in water. I've got my sniffer to follow you guys, and I'm a much better swimmer than walker. How else do you think I've survived for all those cold times? These choppers in my mouth have come in very handy."

"I don't wanna think about it," Perri mumbled as they all laughed.

Then Tricia turned to the fast biters. "You could've warned us we were about to be pranked," she teased.

"Yes, but we had a bargain," Deya giggled, eyeing Hyp naughtily.

"Yesss … You have to give us that hive, remember?" Chuss smirked.

Hyp gulped. "Uh … I've gotta puke, excuse me."

And he tore off swiftly.

"Since when does Hyp say excuse me?" Dispo whispered to Weald.

"Since Hyp has ever been in biter debt," Weald smirked back as they both chortled.

"Hey Cera!" came a voice.

She turned to find Littlefoot approaching.

"Come on," he exclaimed excitedly.

Once they got a safe distance in the clear, Cera asked, "What's up?"

Littlefoot grinned. "Chomper's ready to start our first sharptooth lesson."

Cera snickered. "Oh, great, it's time to make complete fools of ourselves," she said sarcastically.

And laughing, the two of them were eager to find out just they were getting themselves into.