Hi everyone! It took me a long time to write this chapter because I had some roadblocks, but at last I got it done. Thanks to everyone still reading despite my long delay in getting an update! Please fav/follow/review if you like the story, I always appreciate it! As always, the Land Before Time and its universe belongs to Universal. Some species terms I'm using for new OCs:

- Giant Bigmouth: Edmontosaurus

- Small Spikethumb: Camptosaurus

- Sailbacked Spikethumb: Ouranosaurus

And to clarify, spikethumb is Iguanodon and bonehead is Pachycephalosaurus.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5 - The Hearings

Hyp the runner was not happy. All morning long he had spent clearing rocks off his father's nest. He didn't want to do it, he just knew it was the only way to to get his father off his case. Aching all over, Hyp ambled to his favorite watering hole, a place where only he and some other cool dinosaurs his age dared went to. He needed that, for it was his only place free of bossy elders and annoying hatchlings.

To his dismay, Hyp found that while the usual crew was there, two of the clubtail hatchlings were also drinking right at his spot. He looked at his lackeys Mutt and Nod who were indifferently standing around on either side as the hatchlings continued to drink.

"Hey hatchlings," Hyp growled, causing the two clubtails to look up in surprise. "This is my spot. Go away!"

The clubtails, much smaller than the fully grown Hyp, darted away without a second thought. Groaning, Hyp turned to Mutt and Nod. "Can't you two guard my spot when I'm not around?"

"Uh sorry Hyp, but they just wanted a drink," Mutt said.

"Yeah, well, they can go drink somewhere else," Hyp said irritably. "I've been working my butt off all morning."

Then he turned to the other dinosaurs gathered around the watering hole, all his age, all like him in shades of gray – Ann the giant bigmouth, Dispo the small spikethumb, Ceph the bonehead, Weald the spikethumb, and Rana the sailbacked spikethumb. "Couldn't any of you get those pipsqueaks out of here?" Hyp asked exasperatedly.

"It's your spot, your problem," answered Ann dismissively.

"Fine, I won't stop them from taking your spot next time," Hyp shot back.

"Like you'd be any help anyway," Dispo scoffed to the smaller dinosaur.

"Oh yeah? You saw how I scared off those hatchlings?" Hyp said.

"Pfft … Anybody could do that," Rana said dismissively.

"Yeah right," Hyp said. "I could scare hatchlings off better than any of you … Hey!"

For Weald had just thrown a wad of mud right into Hyp's eyes, causing the others, even Mutt and Nod, to laugh.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" Hyp said, wiping his eyes, and lobbing a rock at the bigger dino. While the two of them engaged, Ann threw a stick at Weald too, and soon the others all joined in the fight, loudly and crudely taunting one another. But secretly, Hyp was having a good time. Here was a bunch of other dinosaurs with whom he could say whatever he wanted and do whatever he pleased and not have to worry about the consequences … That was, until Rana said, "Psst … Hornface alert."

Sure enough, Mr. Threehorn arrived on the scene, looking stern as always. "Hey Hornface!" Mutt yelled, echoing Rana. "Get out of our spot!"

Mr. Threehorn was in no mood for nonsense. "You youngsters are causing trouble again, I see," he growled. "I've heard what you've done with the clubtail kids and rest assured you'll have your punishment."

The younger dinosaurs groaned. "Why are you bothering us again? Just because we're not like your perfect daughter and her friends?" Ann asked.

"Leave my family out of this," Mr. Threehorn scolded.

"Why should we? After all, your daughter and her friends get treated like heroes when they cause trouble, and we just get yelled at!" Hyp said to agreement from the others.

Mr. Threehorn growled. "Lucky for you your punishment will have to wait for another time. Right now, we have a herd meeting."

"Not another one," groaned Nod.

Mr. Threehorn stared sternly at them. "Show up pronto if you know what's good for you," he said and lumbered away.

"Geez," Hyp snarled. "I wonder what this one is about?"

Hyp and the others found out soon enough. The entire Great Valley herd was gathered around the rock circle, where the group of elders – Mr. Thicknose, Topps, Tria, Mama Swimmer, Mama Flyer and Mr. Clubtail, were gathered. Everyone's attention however, was focused on a large group of newcomers; the spiketail herd who had been here before, four new hatchlings, several noteeth, and Littlefoot's father and his reduced and beleaguered herd. Not surprisingly, he saw that Littlefoot and his friends were nearby – once again, they seemed to be the reason for this trouble.

"Greetings," Mr. Thicknose said at last, and everyone quieted down. "Welcome to this herd meeting. As some of you may know, we are gathered here because of the unexpected arrival of a large number of farwalkers. Rather than decide this matter as elders, we as a group are leaving it up to the herd as to determine who can stay. That way, we can take everyone's opinion into account as we settle this matter. Of course, we will still be offering our input to help you decide. Is that understood?"

A general murmur of assent came from the crowd. "Good," Mr. Thicknose said. "Then I would like to call the leader of the spiketail herd to the front please."

Stella Spiketail stepped forward. "As you all know," Mr. Thicknose said, "We have asked the spiketails to come here to deal with our prickly plant situation. Spiketails seem to be the only kind of dinosaur that can eat these prickly plants, and we currently have only one resident spiketail, which is simply not enough to keep our prickly plants under control. So is everyone in agreement with allowing the spiketails to stay in the valley?"

A broad consensus of approval emerged. "Very well. Spiketails, settle in wherever you may like in the Great Valley, for we officially give you our welcome."

"Thank you so much sir," Stella said. "But might I ask you to consider the needs of …" she began, her voice trailing off as both several Valley elders and dinosaurs in her herd looked at her. "Well, thank you," she said, and they joined the rest of the crowd. Tippy happily bounded up to Spike, and they began communicating back and forth, and seeing the old friends happily together again solidified the crowd's belief they made the right choice.

"Well that part went well," Petrie said happily.

"I am so happy Spike and Tippy are together again," Ducky agreed.

"Yeah, but what about everyone else?" Littlefoot asked uncertainly.

"Right then," Mr. Thicknose said, looking a little bit more anxious. "I see we have some hatchlings who bear a certain resemblance to some kids we once had," he said as several of the crowd chuckled knowingly. Mono, Rachelle, Oplax and Perri however, didn't get the reference.

"He means you," Tricia whispered to them. "Good luck!"

The four hatchlings, fatigued from their journey, klutzily walked over, their round heads, big eyes, and cute behavior earning the awws of many of the herd at once. Mr. Thicknose gently asked them questions about where they came from, why they came and how they got here, and the kids, though plainly exhausted, explained their story. They quickly gained the sympathy of many of the adults, and Tria in particular was intrigued with their story.

"Huh," she said. "Considering the places you've been to get here and what my old home was like … I think you came from the same place Mrs. Twoped and I came from," she said to the hatchlings, who looked surprised as Mrs. Twoped, a golden-colored round-crested hollowhorn, nodded in agreement. "Like us, you tend to have quite bright colors for your species, you describe a forest with many types of dinosaurs, all the kinds of dinosaur I remember growing up, and yet there were no longnecks and spiketails," she said thoughtfully. "Do you agree Rythe?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Twoped. "Some of you even look like the dinosaurs I knew growing up," she said. "Do you know Tut Clubtail?"

"That's my dad," Oplax said in surprise, as the crowd murmured.

"Small world," Tria smiled. "We must have a chat some time. And now I can really understand how hard it was to get here." She turned to the others. "I don't see what harm there could be in letting these children stay, do you?"

The crowd generally murmured in agreement, but Littlefoot noticed she was especially aiming the question toward her mate, who seemed less convinced. "You sure you kids can really be a part of our Valley?" Topps asked skeptically, before turning on the crowd. "How do we know they're not just covering for a mass migration for their families?"

The kids, confused with this question and intimidated by the much larger dinosaur and also by the buzzing of the crowd, lost their voices as Topps leered down at them.

"Topsy!" Tria scolded. "I know those dinosaurs wouldn't do that."

"Well I was just asking the question, Tria," Topps said fairly.

To his surprise however, he saw a little pink blur rush forward and there stood his own daughter, standing in front of them. "Daddy!" Tricia gasped. "You've got to let my new friends stay here. They're really nice, I promise! And …" she lifted her head up in the air in that defiant way Littlefoot had seen so often from Cera, "If you don't let them in, I'm gonna leave with them!"

The crowd gasped with Tricia's surprise declaration as Cassia visibly tensed up, fearing what Mr. Threehorn might do to her best friend, even if she was his daughter. But the crowd also seemed to be unconvinced with his suggestions and in favor of the hatchlings staying, and Mr. Threehorn knew there was no point in increasing the scrutiny any further. Let alone there was no point trying to resist that melting look in his little daughter's eyes ...

"Well," he sighed at last. "I don't see any real reason why we can't let these kids stay here, do you Thicknose?"

"No, not at all, that is, if everyone else is in agreement," Mr. Thicknose said.

Indeed, despite their unexpected arrival, the agreement to let the hatchlings stay was unanimous.

"Very well then," Mr. Thicknose said. "Mono, Rachelle, Oplax, Perri, welcome to the Great Valley."

The crowd was happy, especially Tricia, who cheered in delight as Cassia went up to hug her, crying tears of relief. Then she turned to her new friends, who all looked at her in amazement and wonder as they settled back into the crowd.

"Wow," Mono said. "That was awesome to stand up to your dad like that!"

"Yeah," Rachelle agreed. "You acted just like those kids in our stories did!"

"Gee thanks," Tricia said, deeply flattered with that comment. "And we'll be friends forever, right?"

"Right!" they all said as they happily began to playfully wrestle together.

Meanwhile, the gang had been watching them as the elders began to talk amongst themselves once again.

"I did not know Tricia was so brave," Ducky said in surprise.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get when you have a big sister like me," Cera said proudly, before smirking. "Mind you, whenever Tricia begs, Dad always falls for it."

"Me wish he could be that way with everybody just once," Petrie said as Tricia bounded over to her parents again.

"Hey Mom, Dad, can Garnet and Pearl stay too?" she asked hopefully.

At once however, a wave of silence immediately hushed the crowd, followed by a round of buzzing. Mr. Threehorn averted Tricia's gaze as Tria hurriedly muttered, "Go back to the circle, Tricia."

The buzzing finally ended when Mr. Thicknose said, "Very well. Garnet, Pearl, please step forward."

Ruby's little siblings did, somewhat reluctantly. The dinosaurs of the crowd were so much bigger than they were, and unlike with the other new hatchlings, the looks to them weren't as friendly. "Now Ruby," Mr. Thicknose asked as she stepped forward. "These are your siblings, yes?"

"They are," Ruby answered.

"I see," Mr. Thicknose said. "And do they eat a largely green diet?"

"As far as I know," Ruby answered uncertainly, knowing well how serious the question was.

Juana, the older mother spikethumb who once discouraged her children from interacting with Chomper shook her head. "That's not good enough. I want some assurances. Explain their diet."

"Well," Ruby said, taken aback. "They eat like me I think," she said as Garnet and Pearl nodded fearfully. "Mostly green food with a few snapping shells every now and then."

"I see," Juana said coldly, before asking the crowd, "And do we really think someone with a diet like that can be trusted?"

Chomper had enough. "Excuse me," he growled. "But Ruby eats like that, and I can only eat red food! And you can trust us, right?" Unfortunately however, Chomper still wasn't used to just how fierce his growl was getting, and accidentally put many of the crowd on even further edge.

"Well yes," Juana said reluctantly. "But you two have already proven yourselves."

"Yes," agreed Mrs. Maia. "Letting in questionable dinos from the Mysterious Beyond is another matter."

"Grandma and Grandpa Longneck didn't have a problem letting Ruby and me in, even though we lived in the Mysterious Beyond," Chomper retorted back. "They had nothing but my friends' word that they could trust us."

"Well some of us have always thought the Longnecks were too trusting and displayed a lack of judgment," said Lance Bonehead, an elder bonehead who was Ceph's father.

Littlefoot felt a hot rush of anger as he said, "My grandparents kept the herds together since before we even got here!"

"Which really isn't that much time," scoffed an elder shieldback dismissively.

Furious with their attitudes, Littlefoot was about to retort back, but Mr. Threehorn stepped in. "All right, break it up!"

"Eh Threehorn, trying to bail your son-in-law out?" jeered the shieldback.

"I'm not gonna take any more crap from you, Ed," Topps growled, losing his cool as he lunged at the shieldback, causing Mr. Thicknose to shake his head in exasperation, hoping for the fighting to end.

"That's enough, break it up!" said Bron from the crowd. Many of the valley dinosaurs looked at him, an outsider, indignantly for telling them what to do. "Sorry," Bron said respectfully. "But someone ought to stop this fighting."

"I agree," Mr. Thicknose said, finally getting his breath back. "Enough with the personal arguments. Please remain silent while we try to come up with a solution."

There was a pause as Mr. Thicknose spoke with Topps, Mr. Clubtail, Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer, before at last turning. "After much deliberation, we recommend accepting Garnet and Pearl into the Valley under one condition, that they be subject to continuous waste tests. If they really do eat green food as they say, they may stay in the Valley for as long as they would like. If they violate our trust, we will send them away immediately," Mr. Thicknose said, trying to stress both sides as well as he could. "I hope that makes everyone happy."

The objecting dinosaurs and a few others seemed irritated, but most of the rest of the Valley seemed agreeable and murmured their consent. "Now as for you two," Mr. Thicknose said to Ruby's parents as they approached. "As you are Ruby's parents and you helped raise her, and since we all know we can trust Ruby very well, I propose to say that we can trust you. It is certainly something Grandma and Grandpa Longneck would have done. Not to mention we do not condone the separation of hatchlings from their parents. I propose we grant them some leniency in allowing them to stay."

Several mutters occurred from this reaction as Ruby's parents looked surprised. Ed, Lance, Juana and Mrs. Maia all looked very doubtful in particular. "Do you still want to stay in the Great Valley?"

"Well … Not if it would cause any trouble," Ruby's father answered.

"But we would like to be with our hatchlings," Ruby's mother agreed.

"Hang on there," said Ed suspiciously. "How we can be sure they can be trusted?"

"That is easy," Topps growled confidently, glaring at Ed as he did. "A violation of our trust shall result in their instant and brutal deaths. If caught, we will kill the culprit on sight, and if they somehow escape, we will track them down and do the work out there. We may not be willing to execute hatchlings, but for any adult responsible for eggstealing …" Topps grimaced and nodded.

Ruby's parents looked uneasy and Garnet and Pearl looked visibly scared, but Topps' strong words seemed to satisfy the skeptics and got them to join in consent.

"Excellent," Mr. Thicknose said. "So I am going to make our new residents take an oath. Here goes," he said uncomfortably before he asked, "Kneel, please."

Surprised, Ruby's parents and siblings nonetheless knew better than to think twice and obliged. "Jasper, Coral, Garnet, and Pearl Fast Runner, would you like to pledge your loyalty to the Great Valley as your new home?"

They all promised as Mr. Thicknose continued. "That you would all agree to be in peace with every other dinosaur, and promise to not eat a dinosaur or egg under any circumstance?"

Again, they nodded. "And can we depend upon you to give back to our Great Valley shall we require your help?"

One last time, they nodded.

"Very well," Mr. Thicknose said. "Hyp?"

The young runner came out, surprised. "What?"

"I deem you to be our new residents' stool monitor," Mr. Thicknose ordered. "You shall examine their waste for their provisional period."

"What?" Hyp asked indignantly.

"That's right, boy," Topps said. "What would you expect for a punishment?"

Hyp groaned but knew better than to argue further and so reluctantly rejoined the crowd.

Ducky turned to Ruby in surprise. "I had no idea they would have to go through a series of vows like that."

"It is okay," Ruby assured her. "Chomper and I did them too."

"Yeah, how else would Cera's dad have accepted me?" Chomper laughed.

"But as long as they keep to their vows, they don't have to worry about them, for there would be nothing to worry about," Ruby said. "And I know I can trust my family."

"Me wonder what Hyp did to get put on poop duty," Petrie asked.

"It must've been really bad," Cera smirked. "I've gotta ask Dad."

Mr. Thicknose then turned to the other noteeth. "Circle of Elders, what do you think about inducting them into potential Valley citizenship?"

"I don't see why not," Mama Swimmer suggested, although there were many skeptical murmurs.

"With all of the precautions we're taking with Ruby's family, of course," Mama Flyer agreed, helping reassure the skeptics.

"I would suggest adding another security measure as well," Mr. Clubtail asked. "Why don't we quarantine these newcomers for a little while before allowing them into the rest of the Valley? To see if they really want to live here."

"And anyone who wants to can leave the Valley if they choose not to stay," Mr. Thicknose said.

The hodgepodge group of noteeth, though some quite nervously, agreed to the terms, and underwent the same vows that Ruby's family took. There was some intense murmuring going on in the crowd, only interrupted by Hyp stepping out. "Hang on there," he said. "I'm not doing any more poop duty."

"No, you do have enough I think," Mr. Thicknose said.

"But your accomplices should be more than ready," Topps said. "Mutt, Nod," he said. "Ann, Dispo, Ceph, Weald, Rana …"

"Hang on there!" exclaimed Ann angrily. "None of us …"

"You were all at the scene," Topps said curtly. "Therefore, you're all on poop duty."

Howls occurred from the group of young adults, but Topps was unperturbed.

"Very well," Mr. Thicknose said. "Does everyone agree with these provisions? A period of quarantine, continued waste monitoring and prompt retaliation if you fail to abide by your vows, in exchange for residency in the Valley?"

The crowd by in large agreed, fortunately, the comments about poop duty decreased the tension at the Rock Circle and caused several dinosaurs to chuckle in embarrassment. However, Topps' eyes narrowed as he looked at Bron. Littlefoot noticed a clear look of mistrust, dislike, and even loathing on his father-in-law's face. "Hey you," he said bossily. "You're up."

Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other confusedly with Topps' sudden change in tone, and Bron himself seemed taken aback. So did Mr. Thicknose. "I believe it is my job to call everyone forth," he reprimanded Topps, who was unperturbed. "But please Mr. Longneck, it is you who I need to speak with next."

Bron stepped forward, giving a quick glare to Mr. Threehorn as he did, which was returned. "So Mr. Longneck," Mr. Thicknose said. "I understand your herd was attacked by sharpteeth and needs to recover, and thus you have brought forth considerably more than the couple longnecks you suggested. Naturally, we have received these kinds of requests from your herd in the past, and as part of Littlefoot's family, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck have always obliged, so it would only be …"

"Hang on there," Mr. Threehorn growled. "Have we forgotten something? Longnecks eat a lot. Yes we need a couple more to help out, I see that. But do you really think we can allow a whole herd of them to stay here? When we have another longneck herd staying here as well?"

"We have been here before," Bron said, trying to disguise his irritation, but Topps did generate some murmuring in the crowd. "And the way I see it, there is plenty of vegetation in the Great Valley."

"Yeah, until you longnecks start eating it all up," Topps spat back. "Getting fat and lazy and taking advantage of our land. Manipulating us so you can have your whole herd gobble ..."

"Hey, watch your tongue, Threehorn!" Shorty bellowed out menacingly from the crowd.

"Why should I? I'm a Great Valley elder, I've earned the right to speak, unlike you," Topps said. "And I think I can speak for all of us in saying we've got to keep our food supply safe," he said, to several murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

Bron was not pleased. "Look here, I did not expect any of this. Most of my herd is very severely injured, and two in my herd are in critical condition, a long arm named Wild Arms and a flyer named Etta," he said impatiently. "They need to be tended to quickly or else they will die! Do you want that on your conscience?"

"Oh, is that our fault you have such poor leadership that you would put your own herd members in danger?" Topps asked daringly. "Or that you left my son-in-law's mother when you should have been there to protect her?"

Fierce murmuring occurred in the crowd, and Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other in shock, stunned with how personal the fight between their fathers had suddenly become.

Bron looked at Topps in icy fury. "That was uncalled for," he said sternly among gasps in the crowd. "Take it back."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try," Mr. Threehorn sneered.

"Enough!" came a shout, and everyone turned to see Mr. Thicknose, hyperventilating, staring at the two of them in annoyance. He said, "Audience, please figure this out yourselves. But I recommend that Mr. Longneck, you and your herd can stay as long as we have plenty of green food in the Great Valley, otherwise, we'll have to talk about other …"

"But …" Bron and Mr. Threehorn both began, but Mr. Thicknose cut them off. "No more fighting! Let's just leave this matter settled for …"

And then abruptly and without warning, Mr. Thicknose made a big wretching noise, and out of his mouth poured a steady stream of vomit, surprising both Topps and Bron, before he slumped to the ground in a daze. Tria, Mr. Clubtail, Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer looked at each other uncomfortably. "Meeting adjourned," Mama Swimmer said as neutrally as she could.

Most of the crowd dispersed, but Littlefoot wanted to check on Mr. Thicknose to see if he was all right. Carefully avoiding the eye contact of his father and father-in-law in order not to escalate their argument further, he bent down so he was face to face with Mr. Thicknose. "Mr. Thicknose?" he asked, nudging him a little.

"Huh … Oh, hello, Mr. Longneck, I …"

"No Mr. Thicknose, it's me," Littlefoot said respectfully.

"Oh … Good gracious me Littlefoot, I forgot you grew up," Mr. Thicknose said, dazed.

Seeing as Mr. Thicknose was not well, Littlefoot offered, "Here, climb on my back. I'll take you to your sleeping spot."

And Mr. Thicknose obliged as he crawled upon Littlefoot's back as Littlefoot took him back, not knowing exactly what to expect next.

We'll be seeing more of the gang next time in what happens next!