CERA AND DUCKY
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The next day didn't go so well for Gus and Littlefoot as they continued on their journey. The duo were not doing so good at following the sun westward.
Littlefoot would wonder aimlessly around and Gus would try and point them in the right direction.
The young boy didn't know what he could do to make the younger Apatosaur keep them both from getting lost. While the daytime was fine and everything, the lonely nights were unpleasant. Gus was never really all that good at making a tent, not even in his own bedroom while playing pretend with his dad. And a tent was what he wanted because he didn't feel safe with nothing for shelter. It was spooky at night. Weird noises like growls, howls, and cries in the dark would often make Gus shiver. Littlefoot didn't seem bothered. His mind was still on his mother. He hardly noticed his hunger at all and he seemed to forget about reaching the Great Valley too.
The next morning did bring a ray of hope for the two children.
As Gus pulled his wagon among a bunch of large footprints he glanced behind him. Littlefoot had stayed behind, whimpering as tears threatened to flow once more. But then his eyes caught sight of something shimmering, floating on the wind. Gus caught sight of it too. Squinting, they both saw that it was a Tree star. And not just any Tree star neither; it was Littlefoot's Tree star. It floated over their heads, hovered in the air for a short minute, and then landed gently in a footprint. It was bathed in soft, warm light that made Littlefoot feel better.
Gus could feel the warmth as well. But he couldn't hear what Littlefoot could hear when he had gone over to peer down at the leaf with him. The center of the leaf was full of morning dew water that farmed into a small pool. Gus could see his refection and Littlefoot's as clear as if they were looking in a mirror.
The wind around them seemed to be whispering words but only Littlefoot seemed to hear it. Gus couldn't hear a thing.
After a minute, Littlefoot, feeling a little better, gathered up his Tree star on his back and marched on with his head held high. Gus followed after him, not really sure what had made his friend's change. But at least he was more focused now and that was all that mattered.
The sun was almost ready to go down but it was still plenty bright out. The landscape looked shattered and broken. And also quite. Aside from Gus's wagon and its rattling wheels there were no other sounds of other dinosaurs around the landscape.
So, to pass the time, Littlefoot would once again bombard Gus with questions. Gus told the curious young Apatosaur about his world, about his home in New York city, what buildings were, and all the rest that he could think of.
But then when Littlefoot asked him if there were any dinosaurs in his world that lived alongside humans, Gus answered him truthfully that there were none. He told Littlefoot that his kind were all gone and that humans ruled the earth. Dinosaurs were no more.
When Littlefoot heard this it nearly made him stumble over his own feet. He looked back at Gus, aghast.
Doubtfully, the young Long-neck asked, "So there are no Long-necks, Three-horns or even Spike-tails at all, Gus?"
Gus sighed and shook his head.
Littlefoot felt like his mind was a-scramble with even more questions. But he knew that he'd probably wouldn't like the answers. He knew that dinosaurs didn't live forever. They grew old, died, and became bone. That was the way of the great circle of life as his grandma had always told him.
They continued on, the lengthening shadows of late afternoon falling across their backs. Gus would glance from time to time across the vast canyon. He and Littlefoot had not found a way to cross it or get onto the other side.
Then, from up ahead, some movement attracted their attention. Squinting, Gus saw that it was Cera. The little Three-horn was still alive.
"Well look who it is," said Gus, frowning.
"Cera!" Littlefoot shouted when he looked up and saw her.
The two rushed over to the young Triceratops who didn't seem to even take notice of them as they walked up to her.
"Cera," said Littlefoot, glad to see her. "hello."
"What do you two want?" snapped Cera. She scowled at Littlefoot and even at Gus. She wasn't in the mood for small-talk.
"Nothing," said Littlefoot as he stepped back, sensing that she was in a particular mood. "Where are you going?" he smiled at her, but she didn't return it.
"I'm going to find my own kind," she answered. "they're on the other side."
Gus approached the edge and looked down into the canyon. Littlefoot and Cera did the same.
"But you can't, Cera," said Gus. "Me and Littlefoot already checked around here."
Nodding, Littlefoot added, "He's right. You can't climb up to the other side."
Cera snorted, "Maybe the two of you can't!" Then she started down the steep side of the ravine. She eased her front feet onto a ledge and then her back feet. She was going to work her way down carefully.
Gus shook his head. Cera was acting so snobbishly. Didn't she know that she was going the wrong way? Or maybe she didn't care.
Littlefoot decided to speak up. "Wait!" he said. "Gus and me are going to the Great Valley! We could help each other."
But Cera only snorted lordly in reply. The very idea of joining a Long-neck and a tail-less freak was ridiculous.
"A three-horn doesn't need help from a long-neck," she huffed. She then glanced over at Gus and added, "or a weird-looking thing like you."
Gus, red in the face, was about to say something when Cera, after kicking a bit of dirt in their faces, suddenly lost her balance and slid, screaming, down into the darkness of the canyon.
Littlefoot and Gus peered down into the gloom and spotted her. She seemed fine for the most part.
Littlefoot tried again. "We… well… at least the three of us wouldn't be alone…" he called down to her.
Gus called down to Cera too. "Littlefoot is right. Let's go together!"
Cera picked herself up and scowled up at the two of them. Clearly they didn't get her point.
"No!…" she shouted back. "When I find my sisters… I won't be alone… so go away! Three-horns can be very dangerous."
Gus and Littlefoot watched Cera march off into the canyon, her tail and horn held high as she faded into the dark.
"It's more dangerous alone!" Gus called down to her. "Cera! Cera!"
But there was no reply, only the echo from his voice bouncing off the canyon wall.
Littlefoot had watched her until she was out of sight. He let out a sad sigh as he picked up his Tree star. Gus got his wagon and the both of them continued westward, following the setting sun.
As they walked, Gus let out a frustrated growl.
"What is Cera's deal?"
Littlefoot looked at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Gus jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the canyon. "I mean, what is her problem, Littlefoot? Why is she so against coming with us? She's just as alone as we are."
Sighing, Littlefoot said, "She's just like that, since the first time I met her."
He then told Gus about when he'd encountered Cera and her father a while ago. It was scary to say the least. Luckily, his mother was there to get him out of it. She then told Littlefoot that other dinosaur herds keep to their own kind, never doing anything with each other. It was how it had always been.
"But that's silly," said Gus. "we human beings work together all the time."
Littlefoot scuffed. "Maybe where you come from in the far future where there are no dinosaurs," he said. "but here it's a little bit more different, Gus."
Gus sighed. "I guess so."
They soon arrived at a small forest with a pond. The one good place that hadn't been touched by the earthquake. Gus set his wagon on the shore, took off his shoes and socks and waded in the cool water, relieved that his tired feet would soon feel better.
Littlefoot drank from the pond but not that much. He really wasn't all that thirsty.
Gus sat down beside him and munched on one of his apples. When he finished, he kept the core and the seeds within it because he'd remembered what Stanley had told him about growing fruit from seeds. He wanted to try it out later when he got hungry again, and when Littlefoot wasn't looking. He still hadn't told his friend about his green thumb. And it was best to keep it that way.
Something splashed in the water nearby but they didn't seem to notice. They were lost in thought about what they were to do next once they set out for the Great valley.
The water in front of Littlefoot suddenly erupted as a small green dinosaur appeared. Gus let out a gasp and nearly fell over.
Littlefoot, stunned, got to his feet. The little dinosaur was a Swimmer. Gus looked closely and noticed that she, because he thought it was a she, was younger then him and Littlefoot. She had bright-blue eyes and had a wide-eyed and innocent look about her that reminded Gus of his own sister, Rosie.
She shook her head and then her body to get the water off of her, spraying both Littlefoot and Gus.
"Hello," said the little Swimmer. "My name's Ducky. What's yours?"
Gus smiled, knelt down, and replied, "My name is Gus."
Ducky smiled, turned to Littlefoot and asked, "And what is your name? Huh? Huh?"
Littlefoot remembered how Cera had acted towards him. He said in a angry tone, "Don't you know anything? Long-necks don't talk to... whatever you are."
"Hey!" Gus snapped, surprised that his friend would go down that path.
Ducky didn't seem to understand. She then tried to make herself look like a long-neck, stretching her neck out, and then her tail. Unfortunately, Gus and Littlefoot could see that she was straining with the effort.
"I am a long-neck, too. See?" she said. "And I have long tail like you."
Gus stood up and crossed his arms, shaking his head. Littlefoot rolled his eyes and frowned at Ducky, as he thought Cera would do. The little Swimmer shrank back and looked sad as she sat down.
"All right. I am not a Long-neck," she sniffled, holding back tears. "I am a swimmer. But I am all alone. I am."
Gus couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "What happened to your family? Are they around here?"
Ducky shook her head slowly. "No," she said with a sniffle. "I lost my family in the big earthshake."
Littlefoot felt pity for the young Swimmer. He and Gus were both in the same predicament. And he could no longer pretend to be something he was not. He didn't care what Cera would do.
"Um... do you want to go with us?" he asked.
Ducky smiled a big smile and jumped up. "Yes! Oh, yes, I do!" she cried, jumping up and down with joy.
Gus chuckled and so did Littlefoot. Now they had a new friend to travel with by their side.
Now things were beginning to look more hopeful.
But unbeknown to the trio, Cera was about to stumble upon a very unpleasant discovery of her own in the canyon underground.
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