Hello everyone! Here are some species terms for this chapter, a couple canon to the series.
Browridge Sharptooth = Allosaurus
Clawhand = Struthiomimus (the ones that aren't eggstealers)
Long Arm = Falcarius
Long-Crested Hollowhorn = Parasaurolophus
Nesting Bigmouth = Maiasaura
Onehorn = Centrosaurus
One-Horned Sharptooth = Ceratosaurus
Rainbow Face = Gallimimus
Spiked Onehorn - Styracosaurus
Tall-Plated Clubtail = Euoplocephalus
As always, please fav/follow/review if you'd like, and Land Before Time and its universe belongs to Universal.
Chapter 4 - A Cascade of Wanderers
As the Bright Circle began to rise, Ducky and Petrie were snuggled closely together in their sleeping spot. Both had just woken up, and were drowsily appreciating each other's warmth as they continued to tightly embrace.
"Morning Petrie," Ducky cooed, reaching her hand out to tickle Petrie's face.
"Morning Ducky!" Petrie giggled in response. "Gee, me sure like waking up with you by me side!"
"Me too, yep yep yep," Ducky agreed as the two leaned in for a kiss. The two were locked in an embrace as they held their kiss until suddenly, Petrie leaned back and said, "Mom?"
Ducky turned, and sure enough, Mama Flyer was swooping down to see them. Both felt slightly embarrassed. "Mama, me no expect to see you this early!"
"Sorry to drop in on a special moment," Mama Flyer said, to which Petrie chuckled embarrassedly.
"Mama Flyer, we were ... We were," Ducky stuttered, but Mama Flyer smiled. "I'm always happy to see you two happy. Besides, you two remind me of when me and your father was young," she told Petrie warmly, yet at the same time, she yawned and rubbed her eyes.
Petrie noticed this. "Mama, you not sleep well?"
"No, not really," Mama Flyer admitted. "Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about. Me and some of the other flyers went out to look for Tippy's herd of spiketails last night. We found them, a ways beyond the Thundering Falls. We told them about the prickly plant situation and they agreed to come after resting up for the night. So now I'm going to fly back and show them the way to the Valley."
"But Mom, you tired," Petrie pointed out.
"I'll be all right, Petrie," she said wearily, but Petrie interjected.
"Me can do that," he volunteered. "Go get rest Mom."
"Oh Petrie, you don't need to do that," Mama Flyer said.
"I would like to go with Petrie too to find the spiketails," Ducky added. "And maybe our friends would like to come along too. I know Spike would, he would."
"Well, I won't deny I am tired. All right, I'll take you up on it," Mama Flyer yawned. "Thanks. They're at a big watering hole, beyond the Thundering Falls, with lots of longnecks nearby. Petrie, you'll be able to see them if you fly high enough, and it'll probably take you all day to get there and back by foot. You sure you still want to do this?"
"Yep yep yep," Ducky said as Petrie agreed.
"Well thanks. Good luck, and see you soon," she said, before flying off.
Spike's sleeping spot was not far from Ducky and Petrie's, so it took hardly any time for Ducky and Petrie to wake him up. After telling Spike that they were going to get Tippy's herd, he seemed quite eager, and he agreed to come along. Then they woke up Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper and Ruby, all of whom were also more than willing to go on another adventure. So after eating a quick breakfast, they prepared to head out. Just when they reached the Thundering Falls however, they were noticed by Tricia, accompanied by her friend Cassia.
"Hey Sis!" Tricia called out excitedly. "You're going to the Mysterious Beyond?"
"Yeah," Cera said. "We're gonna show the spiketails how to get here."
"Oh! Can Cass and I come along?" Tricia asked, looking at her sister pleadingly as Cassia nodded along.
"Oh all right," Cera sighed reluctantly. "But it's a long walk, you better be up for it."
"It's okay Cera, they can just ride on me if they get tired," Littlefoot said, for indeed, the two youngsters weighed next to nothing compared to Littlefoot's newly massive size.
"Well, you're lucky Littlefoot's so nice," Cera grumbled as Tricia and Cassia cheered.
So after Tricia went to let Tria know, the nine of them headed out to the Mysterious Beyond. Going beyond the Valley's walls, Petrie flew up in the air to look for the spiketails. He flew high, and unable to see anything but vast open land and scattered trees and dinosaurs, he flew even higher. There on the distant horizon he could see the large watering hole his mom had talked about, along with several forms he could make out as longnecks. He saw several smaller forms too, one of which seemed to be a large group, of which he could assume was the spiketails.
"Me see them!" Petrie called out as he swooped down. "Follow me!"
They followed Petrie as they trekked through the Mysterious Beyond. Littlefoot put his neck up in the air to scan around them while Chomper sniffed the air to ensure no predators were around. Apart from that, they casually talked as they strolled along, enjoying each other's company.
Suddenly, Chomper turned to the others. "I smell a sharptooth," he said darkly as Tricia and Cassia both indeed seemed quite scared.
"How big a sharptooth?" Cera asked.
Chomper sniffed again. "It's a one-horned sharptooth. Not that big, but big enough that we need to be careful," he warned.
"Stick with me kids," Ruby said as they obliged, while everyone else made sure to keep the smaller dinosaurs protected.
Then they heard a high-pitched shriek, a roar and some screams. "Oh no no no," Ducky said. "Those sound like kids ... They need our help, they do!"
"Petrie, can you see them?" Littlefoot asked. As Petrie flew up in the air, he gasped. "Oh no! Kids be trapped if we don't hurry!"
"Tricia, Cassia, in here," Ruby said, seeing a clump of ferns, to which she and the two kids hid.
"Come on," Littlefoot urged, and the rest of the group went over to answer the cries for help.
They got there just in time. Down below in a long but narrow crevice were four hatchlings; a pale red male onehorn with a crimson back and brown eyes, a light orange female spiked onehorn with a peach-colored back and blue eyes, a spring-green male spiked clubtail with darker green armor and eyes, and a pale blue female long-crested hollowhorn with a sky blue back and dark blue eyes. Chasing them was indeed the one-horned sharptooth that Chomper smelled before. While the kids were a ways ahead, they saw that they were approaching a dead end.
"Oh no!" the hollowhorn gasped. "We're trapped! Maybe I didn't call for help loud enough!"
"Close your eyes Perri, it'll be all right," the clubtail tried to assuage, but sounded as though he didn't believe it himself.
"Yeah, we don't need help, we can fight that thing," the red onehorn growled, kicking the dirt in anticipation.
"You said it! We've come so far, and we're gonna make it to the Great Valley!" the spiked onehorn agreed.
And at once, the two onehorns charged in front of their friends. "Back off sharptooth!" the spiked one shouted.
"Or you're gonna get it!" the red one added.
Meanwhile, the gang, impressed with the kids' friendship, bravery and resolve and desperately wanting to help them, whispered a hurried plan. So just as the sharptooth was about to move in for the kill, drooling with hunger, Petrie swooped down to blind the sharptooth. While the sharptooth roared in rage, Littlefoot dropped his tail down. "Climb aboard kids!" he called out while Ducky stood alongside, prepared to protect the kids from further harm.
As they did, the sharptooth tried to attack Petrie, but Cera and Spike jumped into the crevice and began forcing the sharptooth back. Smelling that its prey got away, the sharptooth tried to attack them, but Chomper leaped inside and hurriedly dispatched of the smaller sharptooth before it could do any damage.
"Are you kids all right?" Littlefoot asked once everyone got to higher ground.
The kids didn't answer at first, for they were looking at Chomper fearfully. "I'm a friendly sharptooth," Chomper said softly, trying his best to give a smile that wouldn't appear threatening by accident. "I won't hurt you."
Shocked both to hear a sharptooth talking and to see that he was not going to eat them, the kids began to fully realize they were safe, and they began to cheer excitedly. "I'll go get Ruby and the others," he said, before heading out to do so.
The kids meanwhile began to stare at Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike, their eyes alive with awe and excitement. "Wow, you guys saved our lives!" the spiked onehorn exclaimed.
"That was great teamwork!" the clubtail added.
"Yeah," the red onehorn said in amazement. "How did you do it?"
"And who are you, anyway?" asked the hollowhorn curiously.
Peppered with questions, the gang first decided to introduce themselves. "I'm Littlefoot," he smiled.
"What's your kind called?" the spiked onehorn asked.
Perplexed, Littlefoot answered, "Uh, a longneck. See? My neck is long."
"Makes sense," the clubtail said. "Just we don't know of any dinosaurs like you where we come from. Or your kind, for that matter," he said to Spike.
"This is Spike. He is a spiketail," she explained as Spike showed his tail. "He cannot talk much, but he is happy to meet you just the same," she said as Spike nodded. "Oh, and my name is Ducky, yep yep yep."
"Me Petrie," Petrie introduced.
"And I'm Cera," she finished.
"We've been best of friends ever since we were your age," Littlefoot said happily.
Just then, Chomper, Ruby, Tricia and Cassia arrived. Ruby and Cassia looked relieved, but Tricia seemed a bit upset. "I wish I could've watched," she grumbled, before she saw the other kids, all of whom were just her size and age. Her mood instantly brightening, her eyes lit up as she gregariously ran up to them, grinning eagerly. "Hey! I'm Tricia. This is my friend Cassia. What are your names?"
"Mono," the red onehorn said confidently, lifting his horn up into the air.
"Periwinkle, but you can call me Perri for short," the hollowhorn said softly.
"I am Oplax," the clubtail smiled warmly.
"Well that leaves me, I'm Rachelle," the spiked onehorn said cheerfully. "By the way, we're looking for a place called the Great Valley. Do you know where it is?"
Tricia beamed. "That's where we live!" she exclaimed, her eyes radiant with excitement.
The kids looked shocked. "You mean it does exist?" Mono asked. "Cool!"
"Can you ... Take us there?" Oplax asked tentatively.
"Sure, I don't see why not," Littlefoot answered and the kids cheered. "We're actually going out to show some spiketails the way to the Great Valley, and if you come along with us, we'll take you there too."
"Oh I can't believe this, this is so great!" Rachelle smiled excitedly. "You have no idea how long we've been trying to find it!"
"Why don't we get to know each other as we keep going?" Littlefoot said. "It'll be fun."
So they went on their way, Petrie continuing to navigate and Chomper continuing to keep a look out for predators, but otherwise mostly talking about themselves.
"Cera, Ducky, Petrie and I met on our first journey to the Valley," Littlefoot smiled. "We had a long journey to get to the Valley too, and it wasn't easy."
"You can say that again," Cera smirked. "We were always fighting, not to mention we had a ferocious sharptooth on our tails. But we took care of him once we knocked him off that cliff with a big boulder."
"Tell us more!" they asked, and so the group recounted their entire original adventure to the Great Valley. By the end, the newcomers were looking at each other in awe, and Tricia and Cassia, who've heard the story multiple times, also clearly enjoyed it.
"Hey, we've heard that story!" Mono exclaimed. "About some kids finding their way to the Great Valley! Don't tell me it was you who raised a sharptooth ..." he trailed off, looking at Chomper in realization.
"Yep, that's me," he smiled. "I'm Chomper. They found me as an egg and well, we grew up together as friends."
The kids stared at one another before Rachelle asked, "Was that you who ... Stopped a drought, saved a grownup who was sick, kept a splitting herd together ..."
"Brought an end to the bad luck, stopped a group of scheming flyers, saved a herd from a big cold time, and helped a big water creature get back home? Yep, that's Sis and her friends," Tricia finished. "All before I was born."
Mono, Rachelle, Oplax and Perri all oohed, looking at them in admiration. "We ... We thought those were just stories," Rachelle said. "The Fire Mountain rescue too?"
"Uh ... Yeah," Littlefoot said modestly.
The kids were speechless. "And we've kept having adventures," Ruby said. "I'm Ruby. I helped raise Chomper too and have been their friend and went on a few adventures with them," she said modestly.
"Come on Ruby, you have been our friend for cold times and went adventuring with us lots, yep yep yep," Ducky said brightly.
"Well ... I guess you're right," Ruby said, and indeed, the kids knew about several of the adventures all seven of them went on as well.
"So what's your story?" Littlefoot asked.
"Yeah, tell us," Cera agreed.
"You kinda remind us of us when we your age," Petrie added.
Flattered, the kids began.
"We come from a nice forest way back that way," Rachelle explained.
"Hold on, that way to Great Valley," Petrie explained.
The kids looked at each other in shock. "You mean we already went by it?" Mono asked in disappointment.
"Don't worry," Littlefoot said reassuringly, lowering his tail. "Just climb on my back and I'll carry you the rest of the way. Tricia, Cassia, you can climb on too."
So all six kids got aboard Littlefoot's back and they continued onward. "So why did you leave such a nice place?" Ducky asked.
"Fights over territory between the herds," Oplax explained sadly. "Our families used to get along, but they began to fight and our parents ordered each herd to keep to themselves."
"But we couldn't do that," Rachelle said, shaking her head. "Because we were already friends."
"So if we couldn't be with our friends there, we had to go somewhere else," Mono said determinedly. "We've heard of a place called the Great Valley far to the south, where all leafeaters would be welcome."
"Well you're going to the right place," Tricia said cheerfully. "Lots of different leafeaters are there! And everybody's friends regardless of kind, right Cass?"
"Uh-huh," Cassia said warmly. "Everyone in the Great Valley gets along!"
"And I know we're gonna be the best of friends!" Tricia said excitedly, as the others smiled, feeling a connection forming between them already.
"Great, just what I need, babysitting more hatchlings," Cera groaned, as all six kids began to giggle together, Tricia and Cassia and the four newcomers looking at each other with increasing enthusiasm and fondness.
The trek to the watering hole, just as Mama Flyer said, was long and exhausting. Barren plain after barren plain rolled by as Petrie had to check multiple times to make sure they were still going in the right direction. Bored, they played I spy a lot, observing the other herds they saw, to which Mono, Rachelle, Oplax and Perri displayed a great interest at first. But even this became less of a novelty as the fauna became nearly exclusively longnecks, spiketails, small spikethumbs and runners. Worse still, as they got closer, the amount of sharpteeth seemed to increase, with lots of both one-horned sharpteeth and browridge sharpteeth scattering the landscape. While fortunately many were resting or gruesomely eating a kill, many looked at the group, especially the hatchlings, hungrily, only backing down upon seeing that the group as a whole looked too formidable.
It was a harrowing experience, but at last, they got to the watering hole. Lots of longnecks were drinking from the water and eating from the nearby tall conifers. Many of them noticed Chomper and growled warningly, causing the others to encircle Chomper, both protecting him from the longnecks and keeping him from arousing them. Through the enormous behemoths, they saw some individual spiketails until at last noticing the large group of spiketails. "That them!" Petrie exclaimed.
As they approached the group standing around, waiting, drinking and keeping a lookout for predators, they saw an orange blur running toward them. Realizing who it was, Spike tore at him as well. They collided as Spike grunted his excitement, having no problem recognizing the young adult spiketail despite the years that had passed.
"Hiya Spike!" Tippy said bubblily, happily moving around him. "I didn't think I'd be seein' ya again! It's gonna be fun fun fun!"
Spike grunted in happy agreement, and then the two of them began to play wrestle on the dirt, laughing away as they did. This allowed time for both the rest of the group and the other spiketails to catch up to them.
"Hi Tippy," Ducky waved. "It is nice to see you again!"
"Yeah!" Tippy said brightly. "You mean we can really stay in the Great Valley?"
"Yep yep yep," Ducky smiled as Tippy cheered.
"Hey Tippy, where's your mom?" Littlefoot asked, not seeing her in the crowd. For a moment he wished he hadn't asked out of fear of the worst, but fortunately, Tippy smiled.
"She's talking with a friend. But she'll be back soon. Because she's herd leader now!" Tippy exclaimed.
Spike nodded approvingly, remembering that of all the adult spiketails, she was the one who convinced their herd to follow him to the underground spring.
"Wow," Littlefoot said. "That's great ..." But then he trailed off, for Tippy's mom returned with the last dinosaur he expected to see. Littlefoot stared, but there could be no doubt who that was.
"Dad?" Littlefoot said confusedly.
Bron looked just as surprised to see Littlefoot as he did. "Hello Littlefoot," Bron said, before turning to Tippy's mom. "You and Littlefoot know each other, Stella?" he asked.
"Yes actually," she said thoughtfully before asking, "Do you mean Littlefoot is your son? Huh! What a surprise. I should have guessed, you both have that heroic streak to you," she chuckled.
"So Dad, what brings you here?" Littlefoot asked.
"This is my where my herd is," Bron said darkly. "Or rather ... What's left of it."
A tinge of darkness filled Bron's voice as he lowered his head. "I was so foolish. As herd leader, it was my job to protect my herd. But when I went off with Shorty, I must not have given good enough instructions to my protege to manage the herd in my absence. When I was gone, they were attacked by a large pack of browridge sharpteeth, and so many of them, including my protege himself, were killed. I thought he was ready to lead the herd ... But I should have never left them. It's all my fault, and I'll never forgive myself," Bron said bitterly. "When I got back, I found all my herd was either injured or worse."
Littlefoot rubbed his cheek against his father's. "I'm so sorry," he said sympathetically. Bron however, looked at Littlefoot imploringly.
"Littlefoot, I hate to ask this, but ... My herd really needs help," he said desperately. "Everyone who's still alive is really hurt and needs a sanctuary to recover in. So can we ... All of us I mean, not just a couple longnecks, follow you back to the Great Valley and speak to Mr. Thicknose?"
"Sure," Littlefoot said, sensing just how urgent this was.
"I'm really sorry to put you in this position," Bron said. "But ... Well, my herd needs all the help we can get, and it's really all my fault."
"I'm sure you did the best you could," Littlefoot said consolingly, trying to cheer his father up. "But I know it's not all your fault. You taught me well with the Big Longneck Test, and I'm sure you taught your protege well too. Sometimes it's just bad luck," he said, making feel Bron a little better.
"Thanks," Bron said, before sighing. "Well, I better go get everybody."
A little while later, the whole group was assembled. The gang of seven, just accompanied by Tricia and Cassia to start with, was now accompanied by four hatchlings, a decent-sized herd of spiketails, and two dozen wounded dinosaurs, most of whom were longnecks. It had just occurred to them how many dinosaurs they were bringing home and were a little overwhelmed. Tippy's mom and Bron had given their herds instructions to follow the gang of seven, and so they did.
"All right everybody," Littlefoot said, unnerved by leading such a large herd. "Follow us to the Great Valley."
So they trudged back home, at a slower pace than before due to the elderly and wounded members now in their party. The journey was very difficult, and feeling deflated, Littlefoot and his friends were more than relieved to get to the Valley's edge. That was, until Chomper took a big sniff and his face fell.
"Uh ... Ruby?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes?" she said, alarmed with his sudden change of tone.
"Well, I smell ... Your parents," Chomper muttered, unable to bear looking at Ruby's eyes. "And ... I smell blood."
Ruby froze in shock as she stared in Chomper in horror. "Where?" she asked softly.
"That way," Chomper said, and with no time to lose, the two of them ran as fast as they could.
They found Ruby's family along with several other small two-footers sprawled out in the dirt. Alarmingly, most of them were injured, but rather than tooth or claw marks, their wounds seemed to be more from bruises.
"Mom! Dad! Garnet! Pearl!" Ruby gasped, running to her family. "What happened?"
"We were attacked by nesting bigmouths," Ruby's mother said.
"But I thought nesting bigmouths were peaceful!" Ruby gasped.
"They thought we were eggstealers and before we could explain, we were attacked," Ruby's father explained.
Ruby shook her head. "You've got to heal up at once, and I will do for you just what you would do for me. You've got to come to the Great Valley to rest up."
Garnet and Pearl's eyes came to life as they looked excited.
"Really?" Garnet asked.
"You're gonna take us with you?" added Pearl.
Ruby's parents, however, looked a bit more skeptical. "You sure they wouldn't suspect us of being eggstealers either?" Ruby's father asked.
"Well I've lived in the Great Valley for a long time and they're fine with me, so they're gonna be fine with you too," Ruby said, hoping desperately that would be true.
Chomper meanwhile was talking with the rest of Ruby's parents' mixed herd, consisting of a few rainbow faces, clawhands and long arms. After consoling their fears of him, Chomper bent down to them.
"I know a place where leafeaters will accept you!" Chomper exclaimed. "It's called the Great Valley. It's a leafeater paradise, but Ruby and I still live there. I'm sure they'll take other noteeth as well, especially since Ruby's family is part of your herd."
"Well, that might be a good idea," a clawhand said.
Seeing Chomper talk with the rest of the herd, Ruby and her family approached. "Has Chomper asked you what we think Ruby asked us?" Ruby's father asked the rest of the herd, who nodded.
"I think we should go," Ruby's mother said. "What have we got to lose? We're all hurt as it is and if we stay out here, we'll be vulnerable to sharpteeth."
"You'd be joining a group of other newcomers to the Valley, and you'll be accepted just fine, especially if you stick to green food like I know you already do," Ruby pointed out hopefully.
The small herd of noteeth was hesitant, but they all agreed that going to the Great Valley was the best option.
When they arrived back, Ruby explained the situation, and the gang of seven looked at everyone they met that day. Not only were there the spiketails who they were supposed to meet, but there were also four parentless hatchlings and two herds of injured dinosaurs. But with everyone having a very good reason to move to the Great Valley and with their unexpected guests all having traumatic stories, they knew they couldn't turn anyone down. So Garnet and Pearl climbed onto Littlefoot's back with the other kids and the others all walked along as a combined herd to the Great Valley.
Fortunately, Tricia, Cassia and their new friends seemed excited to meet Garnet and Pearl.
"I'm Garnet, Ruby's little brother," he introduced himself.
"And I'm Pearl, Ruby's little sister," she introduced herself.
"Awesome to finally meet you!" Tricia exclaimed. "I'm Tricia ... And these are my friends!"
"You mean ... You already call us your friends?" Oplax asked hopefully.
"Sure!" Tricia beamed. "Because I can feel we already are!"
"Trish is the best friend you can ever meet," Cassia smiled, and before they knew it, Tricia's group of six had become a group of eight.
Still, as they returned to the Valley's entrance, the gang was getting increasingly apprehensive.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Cera asked Littlefoot as she looked at the large group.
"Yeah, what will grownups think?" Petrie asked.
"I don't know," Littlefoot said as they just got to the Valley's entrance. "I just hope things will be all right."
