Taka and Littlefoot were able to have a nice sleep. Until the next day. Littlefoot was depressed again and Taka was concerned. A baby 'flyer' as Littlefoot called it, offered him a cherry but he was too upset to eat. And their desert trip was silent. He watched Littlefoot nuzzle against a large footprint. He made the odd sound, but didn't say a word. As he walked away, Taka noticed a bright light and something in the air. But he didn't hear the voice.
"Littlefoot". Looking back at the footprint, he saw a tree-star land in it. He went to investigate. The tree-star his mother gave him. And looking right at it, a voice spoke. Only he could hear it. "Dear Littlefoot". These words surprised him. Taka couldn't however and had no idea what was going on.
"Do you remember the way to the Great Valley?
Taka was trying to figure out why he looked so confused.
"Follow the Bright Circle past the great rock that looks like a longneck and past the mountain that burn".
Taka was unsure if he should say anything. "I'll be in your heart, Littlefoot. Let your heart guide you".
Littlefoot picked up the tree-star and walked away. Taka simply followed without a word. Later on, Littlefoot gasped, 'seeing' his mother. Taka had to break it to him. "That's not your mom, it's your shadow". Littlefoot shook his head. "No, it's my mother, I heard her voice, it's her". Taka watched the excited dinosaur run towards the shadow. Even when he got there, he failed to realize until he licked the rock, that it really was his shadow he saw.
Littlefoot had some comfort in the fact that he wasn't alone, but despite that knew the Great Valley was far away and the journey there was perilous. He would have to find his way, or the chain of life would be broken. Littlefoot then saw a familiar face. They ran towards her and Littlefoot said her name, followed by a greeting.
She was not as friendly. "What do you two want"? Taka knew what that meant. She didn't want them around. Littlefoot however gave a small laugh. "Nothing. Where are you going".
"I'm going to find my own kind. They're on the other side".
Taka was not in the mood to deal with her. "I'm sure you'll manage. But word of advice, you probably won't be able to climb the other side. Let's go Littlefoot".
"Maybe you two can't. She jumped down to a small edge. "Uhh. Uhh"! It wasn't far from where they were standing.
"Wait. We're going to the Great Valley. We could uh, help each other".
Taka was amused when Cera screamed, nearly falling down the rock slide. If only that was Mufasa.
Cera dismissed them with a small 'ha' and boasted. "A threehorn-Uhh-does not need help from a longneck and whatever you are". Cera used her hind legs to kick dirt into their faces. Taka was starting to see a comparison between her and his brother. As for her, the dirk kicking led to her sliding down to the bottom of the dark canyon, screaming.
It was Taka who spoke, not to her but Littlefoot. "We don't need her. She's obviously a cocky idiot. She would be useless and slow us down".
Cera was not amused. "I can hear you"!
"Why do you care what we think. We're not threehorns.
Cera with her head held high walked away. "That's right, only care what threehorns think. We only talk to other threehorns, and we only travel with other threehorns".
When her gone, Taka turned to Littlefoot. "She would have got in the way. She reminds me of my brother. He's mean, he thinks he knows everything. And she's the same. I know you wanted to invite her, but she seems to want to be alone and we can't change that. I talk from personal failures".
Littlefoot looked unsure. "She's separated from her family, like me. We should help each other".
Taka sighed. "I know it's heartless, and I do feel bad for her. But she obviously doesn't care about us, so why should we care about her"? Littlefoot didn't have an answer.
Later on in the forest, Taka was walking through some water to get something to eat. It wasn't deep. He was not having much success. As for Littlefoot, he laid there. Once again depressed. Until he heard a scream. "Don't eat me please"!
Littlefoot saw Taka carrying a small creature. And she looked terrified. "Taka, let her go". Taka did not look amused, but complied. As for the small creature, she was now thanking Littlefoot. "Thank you. Thank you. I thought I was going to be eaten".
"Sure".
She wasn't done talking. "So, who are you, where are you going"?
"Don't you know anything? Longnecks don't talk to, uh, whatever you are".
"Me? I am a longneck, too. See"? Her neck was stretched to prove her point. "And I have a long tail like you". She stretched her tail, but struggled to do so.
Littlefoot wasn't buying it. She conceded. "All right… I am not a longneck. I'm a bigmouth, but I am all alone. I am". She sniffed sadly then continued. "I lost my family in the big earthshake". As she let out a tear. Taka sighed. "You can come with us if you want". She jumped. "Yeah"!
Then she realized something. "Didn't you try to eat me? I do not want to be eaten. No, no, no". Littlefoot assured her. "Taka promises he won't try to eat you again. Right, Taka". The cub nodded. "Fair enough. I promise not to eat you". Ducky smiled. "Then I will come with you. Yep, yep, yep".
Littlefoot gave a small laugh. "All right. Come on".
"If you have trouble keeping up, one of us will give you a ride".
Ducky smiled at the friendly thing that tried to eat her, just recently. "Thanks. But I can keep up, I can".
Littlefoot hopped into the water, not that was deep. Ducky hummed before she asked. "Where are we going"?
"To the Great Valley, I'm not going to stop until I find my grandparents".
As they walked Ducky asked if her family was in the Great Valley too.
"Hmm, maybe. My mother said it's where all the herds were going".
"Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope".
Littlefoot stopped and coughed. "My name's Littlefoot".
"Mine is Ducky. Yep, that is what it is. Yep, yep, yep".
"I'm Taka".
Ducky nodded. "Can I ask. What are you"?
"I'm a lion".
"Wow, I never thought I'd meet a lion. I never heard of one. No, no, no".
"Let's say that around here, I'm one of a kind".
The 3 were hopping with Ducky adding noise. Her antics were enough to make Littlefoot and Taka laugh. She even went under Littlefoot. "Don't step on a crack, or you'll fall and break your back.
They did more hopping and Ducky was giggling was some noise interrupted. Taka was amused. "For someone so small. You sure make a loud noise when you're hungry". Ducky giggled.
"She's not the only one who's hungry. Hmm. I wonder what this tastes like"? He took a bite from what Taka assumed was a dead vine got a scream in return.
While Littlefoot let go, Ducky gasped. "The tree is talking". Littlefoot was now looking at Taka. "You said trees are alive, right"? Taka nodded. "Yes. But they can't scream. At least not where I come from".
Taka grabbed the leaf and kept yanking. "I think it's something in the tree that screamed".
A flyer was sliding down, shrieking. If Taka had screamed there, he would likely cause a panic. He got plenty of jump scares from Mufasa to not let this bother him. "I'm holding this with my teeth, when I let go, you'll be sent flying in the ear. So, get ready to flap your wings". The flyer panicked. "Wait, wait, don't do that".
"Then I would suggest coming down before letting go". The flyer chose option 2 and allowed Petrie to climb down using him.
Ducky got closer to him. "Who are you? Huh".
"M-my name Petrie".
Petrie, huh? Funny name". Ducky finished with a giggle.
Taka went and got a closer look, making him uncomfortable. Taka then figured out what Petrie was. "You're a pterodactyl". Petrie looked confused. "Me not know what that is. Me a flyer". Taka nodded, remembering Littlefoot use that word. "So, you flew up that tree, that's why you were there".
"I not fly, I climb".
"Wouldn't flying be easier"?
"Hard thing to fly". Petrie growled and made a bad attempt.
Littlefoot giggled. "I guess it is. We can't do it".
Ducky agreed "Nope, we cannot do that alright".
Taka thought of pointing out they don't have wings, but realized Petrie might feel bad enough about it and didn't need him to put the flyer down more.