OF SPIKE-TAILS AND GREEN FOOD

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Gus could not believe what Cera had just told them. Sharptooth was alive? It wasn't possible!

Inwardly, Gus thought that no dinosaur could survive a fall like that into a canyon. But then again, Sharptooth was not a normal Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Petrie cut the silence in the air with a scream, "SHARPTOOTH!" and then he dove right into Gus's backpack. Ducky hid behind Littlefoot's leg, her eyes wide with terror.

But Littlefoot frowned at the young Three horn. "Come on, Cera," he said, annoyed. "Sharptooth is dead."

"He's right," Gus added in, standing beside his friend. "He fell down into the big underground. We all saw it, didn't we?"

Cera smiled bravely and replied, "That may be true, but that's where he also met me."

"Oh, dear, brave Cera." Ducky said with admiration.

"Dear, brave Cera." Petrie answered. But this only earned him a nasty look from both Littlefoot and Gus. He shrank back into the backpack with a gulp.

"Yes," Cera said with bravado and pride. "I am brave."

"Sharptooth is dead!" Littlefoot and Gus yelled in unison.

But Cera was on a roll. "He's alive. I saw him. His one big, ugly eye was looking at me. I fought him bravely and barely escape."

Gus didn't know Cera for that long but could already tell that she liked to make things up. But he did admire her courage. "Would you like to come with us to the Great valley?" he asked.

"Why not?" Cera said with a shrug. "The four of you might need a brave Three horn like me to get you out of trouble."

"Great!" Gus smiled.

Littlefoot was okay with the idea too. As long as Cera kept her notions about Sharptooth being alive to herself.

The night had become too dark for traveling and everyone was plum-tired. They found a spot in a hollowed-out tree and spent the night in there. The roots provided a nice bit of cover and protection. As Ducky, Petrie and Littlefoot settled down to sleep, Gus went out of the tree to talk to Cera, who was settling herself away from the others.

"I don't understand why you wanna' sleep out here by yourself," Gus said.

Cera snorted and rolled her eyes. "I don't need to sleep with any of you," she said. "My father told me that Three horns only sleep among other Three horns. We keep to our own kind."

Gus thought that was kinda dumb. He always thought that dinosaurs, regardless of species, slept together and stuff. Guess not here.

Cera then hit Gus with a question, "Where is it that you come from exactly?"

That one threw him.

So Gus sat down and told her everything that he had already told Littlefoot and the others. His home of New York City, his family, friends and also where there were millions of people like him in an era were dinosaurs once ruled.

Cera seemed to hang on to every word he said.

"With so many of your kind in the far future, Gus," she said finally when he was done. "how does anything get done?"

Gus just shrugged and yawned loudly.

I don't know," he said. "A lot of humans like to work together or by themselves. Well, good night."

Cera watched him go back to the others. She snorted, shook her head and went to sleep.

The next morning the five youngster continued on their way west. Cera liked to walk by herself away from the others. She stubbornly refused to keep close to the group and often wondered away, but didn't stray too far so that she got lost.

Ducky and Petrie would often ride in the wagon or on Littlefoot's back when it was needed. Gus didn't mind since he liked to be pulled in the wagon by Littlefoot, if his friend was up to it.

The sun was high in the sky and the barren land seemed endless. The group decided it was time to stop for a while and take a break. Gus needed it because he had been walking most of the time.

While the group rested and drank from the stream, Ducky wondered away toward a patch of tall reeds.

She soon discovered a single lone egg among the reeds, all alone with several other broken eggshells.

The egg was almost as big as she was and there seemed to be strange sounds coming from it- snoring, then yawning. Ducky let out a giggle of delight and tapped the egg. It started to crack open. A sleepy head appeared. Ducky quickly peeled away the rest of the shell, and there lay a sleepy-eyed spike-tail.

"You are a spike-tail, so I will call you Spike." Ducky said.

Spike let out a yawn and then proceed to eat the reeds around his nest. He ate so fast that Ducky had to take a step back so as not to get in his way.

Within seconds, all the reeds were gone and Spike was full. He lay back down for a well deserved nap.

When the others had arrived and Ducky suggested to them to let Spike join the group, Cera instantly refused.

"He'll just slow us down," she said emphatically. "All spike-tails can do is eat and burp! And he's a new born as well. He won't keep up."

Gus didn't like to argue but Cera did make a valid point. Spike was still too young to keep up with them, even if he did join. But Ducky found a way. She had gathered some berries and used them to get Spike moving. The hungry spike-tail eagerly went for them and Ducky led him around.

"Well," said Gus, shrugging. "I guess that works. Welcome to the gang, Spike."

And so the six youngsters continued on their journey to the Great Valley. And there had never been such a herd before; A human, a long-neck, a three-horn, a swimmer, a flier, and a spike-tail, all together. All knowing that if they'd lost their way and they would starve, or find themselves in Sharptooth's shadow.

The group soon found a babbling brook alongside a series of small waterfalls.

Littlefoot and the others stopped by the stream to get a drink and look for any green food that was edible. But there was none to be found. The kids were really hungry. Water could only quench their thirst for so long.

Gus wanted to share his last remaining apple, but he had to save it. Besides, he still had his leftover seeds that he could grow if he needed to. But not yet, not while the others were around.

Littlefoot sniffed the air and caught a whiff of something. "I smell tree stars!" he cried.

The others gathered around Littlefoot as he led the way through some huge boulders. In the valley below was a cluster of beautiful green trees!

But soon everyone started talking at once.

"Oh, look! Green food!" Ducky cried.

The Great Valley!" announced Cera.

But Littlefoot and Gus could see that it was not the fabled valley at all.

"But wait," said Gus. "We haven't seen the rock that looks like a long-neck yet, or the mountains that burn either."

But Cera was too excited to listen to them. She started down the ravine, with Ducky, Spike, and Petrie close behind.

Littlefoot and Gus started to follow, when suddenly there was a rumbling sound coming from behind them. The ground beneath them began to shake and they looked around in a panic.

Gus screamed and dove out of the way as a herd of long-necks came crashing through the rocks behind him and the others.

They all took shelter underneath a rocky ledge and waited for the herd to pass by.

When the coast was clear, and the earth stopped rumbling, the six youngsters glanced over the ledge to look down upon the herd. The long-necks were chowing down on the trees, just wolfing down every single leaf!

"Oh no," Gus groaned. "Look what they are doing!"

Cera saw this and she was visibly outraged. "They're eating our food!" she exclaimed.

The others were also saddened, though Spike didn't seem all that bothered.

Cera stomped her feet angrily. "Look! Look what they're doing!" she yelled, turning to Littlefoot and Gus. "They're so greedy! What about me? I'm still hungry!"

Petrie pushed himself past Spike and Littlefoot and glowered at Cera.

"You hungry?" he snapped. "I empty all the way to the top! Now we at the Great Valley and still gots no green foods. We be hungry forevers!"

Cera only shook her head at him and turned away.

Poor Petrie looked like he was on the verge of tears. Ducky and Littlefoot tried to reassure him that they hadn't found the Great Valley at all and that Cera was wrong.

"It is not a great anything." Ducky said mournfully, shaking her head. "Nope, nope, nope."

Letting out a sigh, Littlefoot said with a shrug, "Well, we better go down there and see if there is anything left."

The truth was that nothing was left on the branches. When the six youngsters got down into the gully and searched the trees, there was no green food for them to eat.

So, not giving up, they set out again through the barren forest for more food. The sun was setting behind the mountains and the sky was an orange-blueish color. Night was coming soon and Littlefoot didn't plan on going to sleep on an empty stomach with his friends.

Walking from tree to tree, the kids finally found a single tree that still had plenty of leaves at the very top. Unfortunately, it was too high for even Littlefoot to reach. Gus said that he could probably climb it, no problem since he was a human. And he liked climbing trees in Central Park.

But Littlefoot found another solution. All they had to do was make a pyramid.

Gus liked the idea because even if he did climb up towards the branches, he could never dislodge all of the leaves. That would take too long.

"We can try it, I guess..." said Gus as he looked up at the branches.

Littlefoot stood on his back-legs, propping his front feet on the tree. Gus climbed onto his back and stood on his shoulders, careful not to fall off or hurt Littlefoot. Ducky and Petrie scampered up Littlefoot's back and neck, up Gus's back and shoulder, and then to the top of his head.

"Ow!" Gus winced. "Don't pull my hair!"

Ducky didn't mean to but Petrie was being difficult. The nervous little flier was shaking and refusing to cooperate. He clung on to Ducky, wrapping his wings around her head.

"Ah! Whoa!" Petrie cried. "No! Can not do this!"

"Ducky," Littlefoot called up. "Push Petrie toward the branches!"

Gus held on to the tree with both arms wrapped around it, while also trying to keep his balance.

Spike decided that he could help too. He got underneath Littlefoot and pushed him upward.

"Hey! Not so fast!" cried Littlefoot. He felt himself lifted higher and Gus let out a yelp of surprise.

"Ahh!" Ducky cried. Petrie had looked down, gotten scared, and clung to her even tighter.

Down below, Cera was laughing her head off by the silly sight.

"You five look so ridiculous!" she laughed.

Gus rounded on her. "Oh, hush up!"

Littlefoot, with the help of Spike, stood back up on his feet and hoisted Gus and Ducky toward the branches. Petrie was now able to reach them. In a frantic frenzy, he started knocking as many leaves down to the ground as he could.

But the raining leaves began to distract Spike, who gobbled up as many in his mouth as he could eat and swallow. When he noticed that there was a fair amount of leaves on the ground, he moved out from under Littlefoot and started chowing down.

Littlefoot slipped down the tree onto Spike's head and Gus followed after, landing in a heap of leaves that cushioned his fall.

Ducky and Petrie, holding a large leaf together, glided down. A considerable amount of green food had fallen and the kids dived into the feast.

All except for Gus and Cera.

While Gus wasn't opposed to eating veggies on a plate back at home, he was opposed to eating the stuff right from the source from a tree. Instead he moved away from the others as they ate, thanks in part to Littlefoot offering Cera food, and found a patch a little ways from his friends.

It was time to see what he could do with his green thumb. And if it worked, he wouldn't have to worry about starving.

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