Here we go with another chapter! Nothing new to say really, apart from my general comments and disclaimers that you can find on the previous chapters. But I would like to say if you want to see anything out of this story in particular, feel free to leave it in the reviews or PM me and I'll consider it. Enjoy!
Chapter 17 – Gathering New Help
Despite the challenges of holding such a disparate group together, the plan to split the secret spot up initially worked like a charm. Tricia and her friends were true to their word, and kept the secret amongst themselves. And due to the chaos of the situation with finding them and the quick effects of the healing flowers, they were able to keep Earl's attack amongst themselves as well. Whenever their guardians asked what they were up to, they would truthfully say they spent their days playing with their friends. They were also surprisingly respectful of the boundaries Hyp and his friends insisted upon, and stayed firmly within their side of the secret spot.
Hyp and his friends were also holding up their end of the bargain. As Ann and Dispo had no family in the Valley, both of them decided to stay in the secret spot over the night, only coming out to the rest of the Valley to fulfill bodily functions and finish their punishments. This allowed the two to deal with their respective problems in peace, along with being a source of company for one another. Dispo had been getting less irritable with his cravings and his broken bones slowly began to recover, while Ann's eggs had begun to move on occasion. Both of them were very pleasant with Littlefoot and his friends, grateful for their help, as well as Tricia's gang, not seeing any harm in them.
Hyp on the other hand was still very wary of Tricia and her friends. Whenever he passed them playing in the secret spot, he couldn't hide his contempt, frequently glaring at them. Several times, he looked as though he wanted to pound them, and it was only upon Mutt and Nod's innocent questioning as to what he was doing that brought him back down to earth. He was on thin enough hard water as it was, and knew one loss of his temper could lead to exile.
Through it all, Littlefoot and his friends generally mediated between the groups, and often found they had to spend time in the secret spot to rest. They needed to, for keeping the secret spot secret proved to be a surprisingly large challenge. Littlefoot, Cera and Spike had to move the big boulder multiple times a day every time someone wanted in or out, as none of the others had the physical strength to move it. Ducky, Petrie, Chomper and Ruby meanwhile had to play lookout not only to make sure no one else was seeing them move the boulder, but to keep an eye out for anyone who might be looking for them. This meant not only watching out for Mr. Thicknose, who regularly was still looking out for Hyp and his friends to complete their daily tasks, but also the kids' parents and guardi-ans, who frequently were looking for their children. The gang had to make sure the children left the secret spot when their parents were out looking so they'd be found in different places and not alert them to the area.
Through it all, Littlefoot was getting antsy. He struggled to find time to see his dad, Ali and Shorty, which was made even harder by the fact that Earl apparently had an injury that for some reason Shorty was very disgruntledly tending to, Bron seemed to always be busy talking to other elders both in and out of his herd, Cam and Mia were often busily chatting with Ali and would break into a giggle fit every time he approached, and whenever he got too close to the herd, Gus and Len would pester Littlefoot if he had committed to "the cause". This was making Littlefoot very frustrated, and he struggled to hold it all in.
But he knew he had to, for his other friends had their share of problems. Like Littlefoot, both Cera and Petrie were being pestered about "the cause", from Monty and Brara respectively, creeping Petrie out and making Cera annoyed, with all four of Gus, Len, Monty and Brara urging their respective target to be more supportive of their relative's bid to take power and to act like a true son, daughter or nephew. While Littlefoot, Cera and Petrie did not yield, this only made the four of them more persistent. Spike meanwhile was getting visibly depressed. His having to oversee the Secret Spot prevented him from seeing the spiketail herd much, and Ducky could tell that he missed both Tippy and his "special someone", as she liked to playfully tease. Petrie likewise was also missing Guido, for between everything that happened, the two of them did not get a good chance to talk since the Flyers' disastrous get-together.
Things came to a head when three hours before the Bright Circle was even due to rise one morning, Littlefoot and Cera were awoken by Tricia's entire gang. They tickled the two of them awake until finally they couldn't ignore it any longer.
"What is it?" Cera barked angrily, to which Tricia said. "You know what Sis. Can you let us in?"
Littlefoot groggily answered, "You kids can't wait till a bit later? The Bright Circle's not even up yet."
"And you know what this place is called?" Cera asked exasperatedly. "A sleeping spot! And you know what you're supposed to do here, right?"
"Uh, sleep?" Tricia asked blankly.
"That's right! So let Littlefoot and I sleep!" Cera snapped.
"But we can't," Cassia insisted.
"We tried, really!" Oplax agreed.
"But we were all too excited," Garnet said.
"To play together!" Rachelle said.
"In our special spot," Sam agreed.
"Pretty please?" Perri asked.
Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other, but they knew there was no chance of getting any sleep now with ten kids pleading at them. "Okay, fine," Littlefoot sighed. "But please, don't make a habit of this."
"Yeah, got it?" Cera asked, but to her disdain, she was ignored as the kids cheered.
So reluctantly, they plodded out and woke Spike up. He too was not happy about being awakened, but he sighed as he traipsed along with them to move the boulder to open the secret spot. The three of them then had to push the boulder back again before finally being able to get back to sleep.
It seemed no sooner than when they finally fell back asleep that they were awakened again. Petrie landed on Littlefoot's head and whispered in his ear, "Psst … Littlefoot, wake up!"
Littlefoot did, and momentarily, Cera and Spike followed. "What now?" Cera growled exasperatedly.
"Sorry," Petrie said. "But Hyp, Mutt and Nod can't get in. They stuck outside, and though they, Ducky, Chomper and Ruby try moving boulder together, they can't do it."
So once again, Littlefoot, Cera and Spike had to move the boulder aside, revealing a drowsy Ducky, Chomper and Ruby, all of whom were exhausted from trying to push the boulder, and a peeved Hyp. "All right you three, why the heck are you sleeping…" Hyp began, but then his eyes narrowed as he saw Tricia and her friends. "I should've known it was you pests."
"Pests?" Cassia asked confusedly.
"Yeah, pests! The whole lot of you kids!" Hyp said angrily. "I'm gonna …"
"Do what?" Mono jeered back at Hyp.
Sensing a conflict brewing, Littlefoot quickly stepped in. "Everyone, calm down! Me and my friends will talk this out and come up with a solution, promise."
"Hmph, talking, a fat lotta good that does," Hyp mocked.
"Well guess what?" Cera said angrily. "Littlefoot, Spike and I are the only ones strong enough to move that boulder. So unless you stop fighting, we won't let anyone in the secret spot!"
That did the trick as Hyp, Mutt and Nod headed over to their side of the secret spot, while Tricia and her friends stayed on their side.
"You want to make sure no one is fighting, Spike?" Ducky asked and Spike nodded, putting himself in between the two halves of the secret spot and monitoring dozily. With that, the rest of the gang went outside the secret spot, moving the boulder shut once again.
"Ugh," Cera groaned. "My frill's getting sore from all that pushing."
"I don't know how you guys are able to do it," Chomper agreed.
"Well, it would help if you didn't have such puny little arms," Cera smirked teasingly as Chomper chuckled. "Hey, I could use my mouth or my foot … But that'd be too much, right?"
"Well I know one thing, trying to move the boulder open and shut hurts, it does, it does," Ducky said.
"Me sure you two and Spike must be getting tired," Petrie told Littlefoot and Cera.
"We're just getting by," Littlefoot said, moving his front leg. "But you're right. It's wearing us out too … I'm feeling kinda achy."
"You can say that again," Cera agreed.
"That is not good," Ducky. "Because you will not feel better if you do it more, you will not."
"Yeah, you only feel worse," Petrie added.
"Yeah … When you put it that way, I guess we need help," Littlefoot sighed.
"And since we don't have help, that means we have to get help," Ruby said. "But to get more help, we have to let help know what we need help with."
The gang paused with this suggestion. It was clear there was no way they could move the boulder anytime someone wanted in or out of the secret spot. It seemed they had no choice but to let others know about it.
Chomper however couldn't help but snicker. This peeved Cera. "What's so funny?" she asked.
"Well let's see, who's big enough to help move the boulder who already knows Ann's secret?" Chomper asked playfully.
The gang briefly pondered that seemingly obvious realization as they knew not only one but two dinosaurs who fit that description. "Which one you talking about?" Petrie said curiously.
"Both really," said Chomper with a shrug. "I think we can trust them."
"Well obviously we can trust Ali," Cera snorted.
"Me feel safe about it," Petrie agreed.
"I trust Ali, I do," Ducky piped up.
"She'll keep the secret spot secret," Ruby agreed.
"Yeah," Littlefoot smiled. "I feel pretty safe in trusting her … But she's only a little bit bigger than I am, and if I can't move the boulder myself, I don't think she can either."
Everyone paused again as everyone looked at Cera and Petrie. While Cera and Petrie had forgiven each other from their feud, neither of them had made amends with Shorty yet. What's more, Littlefoot knew Shorty could come across as downright nasty, and seeing Cera and Petrie humbled from their argument could make him want to gloat. And besides, everyone knew that unlike Ali, Shorty was impulsive, volatile, and could forget any promise he may make in a moment of passion. Could they really be safe in trusting him?
"I don't know," Ruby said cautiously. "Do you think we can trust Shorty to keep a secret secret?"
"He's got a big bod, but he's got an even bigger mouth," Cera smirked.
"Yeah," Petrie agreed. "Me no sure we can really trust him.
"But he's got a good heart," Chomper said. "And he's kept Ann's secret, right?"
"And I do not think he would like being left out, he would not," Ducky added.
"I think we should at least be open to giving him a chance," Littlefoot said cautiously. "I know what's at stake … But I kind of have to agree with Chomper and Ducky here."
"Of course you would," Cera snorted.
Littlefoot glared at his mate briefly and said, "Well, why don't we ask the others and see for ourselves if we can trust Shorty on this."
Returning back to the secret spot, Littlefoot and his friends gathered everyone over to them. "Okay, we've talked about it, and we've realized the problem is Cera, Spike and I can't keep on moving the boulder by ourselves. We know you guys all need to go in and out, but we just can't move the boulder as often as we need to."
"Well we won't be causing the problem soon," Hyp said, turning to Mutt and Nod. "Didn't you say Thicknose told you how many days we have left?"
"Uh, he told Mutt, not me," Nod quickly said, before Mutt said. "Let's see … He said, uh, ten more days. Or was it nine? Uh, I can't remember now."
"But when did he tell you that?" Hyp snapped.
"Uh … I thought you said you'd remember how many days it was?" Mutt asked Nod.
"Me? I don't remember saying that," Nod replied. "I thought you were gonna do that."
"Well uh …" Mutt said as Hyp facepalmed, saying, "Seriously you two."
"Well, we thought about getting Ali to help," Littlefoot said. "I'm sure she can keep this place secret."
None of Tricia's gang had any problem with this, and even all of Hyp's gang could agree on letting Ali in, especially with Ali already in on Ann's secret.
Spike meanwhile, grunted hopefully, to which Ducky enthusiastically translated. "Spike is saying maybe Sophie and Tippy can help out! You think we can trust them, Spike?" Ducky asked, to which Spike happily nodded.
Littlefoot and his friends were all comfortable with the prospect, and Tricia's gang already knew and liked Sophie and were eager to meet Tippy, so they welcomed the prospect. Hyp's on the other hand was a lot less comfortable.
"We shouldn't tell these spiketails," Hyp said simply. "How do we know they can be trusted?"
"Yeah, what he said," Nod agreed.
"I … don't want them finding out about my eggs," Ann said worriedly, and Dispo said, "They might tell their herd on us."
"Well Tippy and Spike have been friends for a long time," Ducky reasoned. "And Sophie …" she began but trailed off as Spike began to blush. "Spike likes Sophie and Sophie likes him, she finally said, stifling a giggle.
"They're both really nice," Chomper smiled. "And plus, they're spiketails! The two of them and Ali can probably move the rock by themselves."
"I think we can trust them," Littlefoot said. "Sophie's really quiet, and Tippy doesn't really have a closer friend than Spike."
"And if we tell them, we're gonna make them promise to keep this place secret," Cera reassured.
The older dinosaurs looked at one another, but could see the upsides of letting Sophie and Tippy in on the secret spot outweighed the downs. "All right, so we're gonna let your three friends in on the secret," Hyp said begrudgingly. "Let's make it even. If we'll be okay with letting them in, you better be fine with us letting Rana, Weald and Ceph in. Okay?"
"But … Me think we should let Guido in," Petrie interjected.
"That featherbrain? No way," Hyp said, but Cera snorted. "It's not like Guido'd tell anyone. He's got no one of in his kind in the Valley and his best friend's Petrie."
"Yeah, I think we can be pretty safe with Guido," Littlefoot said.
"He's not big enough to move that rock," Chomper smiled. "But who knows, he might find his own way to help!"
"Uh, fine," Hyp said. "Let's see … That makes … Ugh, how many is that of us now?"
"Including me, thirty," came a cool voice, and everyone gasped as Avie swooped in.
The kids gasped as they came to look at the glider. "You're pretty!" Perri exclaimed happily.
"You've got feathers just like us!" Pearl exclaimed.
"Except more of them," laughed Garnet.
"And you're bright red just like me!" Mono exclaimed.
"Everyone, this is Avie," Littlefoot said reassuringly, for Hyp and his friends looked quite alarmed at the prospect of someone watching them.
"Forgive me for eavesdropping. But I promise to keep your secret. You and your friends taught me all about friendship, Littlefoot. And the least I can do is keep your secrets safe. You picked a good place by the way. I've lived in this place several times in the past, knowing that I can be safe from dangers both inside and outside the Great Valley. And indeed, this is the spot where I currently sleep … My nest is in the trees here."
"So you've known we've been here the whole time?" Littlefoot marveled.
"And you didn't bother to tell us?" Cera asked.
"My dears, it would've been much too tiresome to explain everything to you. But fear not. I will let you carry on while I go back to sleep in my rest, and they saw to their surprise that Avie flew right into a cluster of trees that had red leaves, which camouflaged her in perfectly.
"All right," Hyp said. "If that flyer or whatever she is can get in this place, who's to say the other flyers won't?"
"Me can explain that," Petrie said, pointing to the red tree stars. "See those? Me Uncle Pterano say they bring bad luck. So if Uncle Pterano say they bring bad luck, everyone who believe in him think they bring bad luck too, and they no come here."
"Oh, so that is the reason?" Avie laughed. "Well, it must have worked. I don't think I've ever seen a flyer come here."
"Sheesh, what crazy nonsense," Cera said.
"Petrie know it nonsense now," Petrie snickered. "But me brothers and sisters don't!"
"Well, we've got that going for us," Littlefoot laughed.
"Hey," asked Dispo, turning to Littlefoot. "Don't you have a boxhead brother that's really big?"
"Yeah," Littlefoot said. "We were thinking about inviting him … But wondering what you thought."
"Well we're all for it, right?" Tricia asked as her friends nodded, ignoring her big sister sighing exasperatedly. "Shorty saved me from …"
"From what?" Cera said. "What trouble have you gotten into this time, Sis?"
"Uh," Tricia said uneasily, grinning nervously. "I'll tell you later if you don't tell Dad, promise?"
"Ugh, all right. But you've got to hold your tongue when you have a secret!" Cera said.
"All right," Tricia replied.
Hyp was getting frustrated. "See? That's why we shouldn't have let those tykes in on this!"
"Who are you calling tykes, you big bully!" Mono said threateningly.
"Enough!" Littlefoot said, getting in the way. "Hyp, feel free to invite your friends in whenever you want. We're going to go out and find the others and see if they'd help us with the secret."
"Yeah, well, we've got one big problem," Cera spoke up. "How are we supposed to let them all know without anyone else noticing?"
Littlefoot said thoughtfully, "Yeah … I was just wondering about that."
"Maybe we could help!" a voice exclaimed, and sure enough, there stood Tricia and her gang, all giving the gang wide, pleading eyes.
Littlefoot and his friends all looked at each other. "Maybe you could," Littlefoot smiled.
And together, they all began to come up with a plan.
Littlefoot's and Tricia's gangs headed out into the Valley. As they were in the deepest of corners in the Valley to start with, they encountered few others along the way as they waded through the tall grasses, such as Tuck the tiny bothtooth determinedly digging for dead roots. It also turned out the tall grasses were a prime dating spot, for they found Hyp's bonehead friend Ceph and Ceph's girlfriend Halle cuddling in the grass as they snogged each other madly, rolling in the tall grasses. Not far away were the new interspecies couple Bella and Leigh, who were moaning loudly as they passed. "Why are they doing that?" Perri asked innocently.
"Don't ask," Rachelle said simply.
"Please don't tell me you guys are like that," Mono groaned.
"Well knowing Big Sis …"
"TRICIA!" Cera shouted as she and Littlefoot felt their faces go hot, and Ducky and Petrie too began to feel self-conscious.
Spike however, grunted loudly and nodded. "You kids will understand someday, you will," Ducky said cheerfully. "Right Spike?"
Spike nodded happily, his eyes reminiscently shutting as he thought of someone with sparkling light grey skin and plates radiating the bright circle's light …
"So are you and Sophie together now Spike?" Littlefoot asked.
Spike shrugged. "Spike says they kinda are," Ducky answered. "He says they share an understanding between them. They both do not like to talk much, they do not, but they love to keep each other warm and cuddle together and … Have a special snuggle they only do for each other. Right Spike?"
Spike, slightly embarrassed now, nodded dreamily. The way Ducky put it was enough even to get the kids to feel warm and fuzzy inside. Luckily for Mono, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye that would end this awkward moment. "Uh guys … I think we're being watched."
"Yeah," Rachelle piped up. "It's those domeheads Kirt and Naz. But we can distract them, right Mono?"
"Way ahead of you," Mono smiled, and together, the two onehorns ran off from the rest of the group. The domeheads, curious, followed Mono and Rachelle, leaving the others in the clear.
"All right guys," Tricia exclaimed. "I'll keep my eye out for you and tell Big Sis and friends if you get in any trouble."
With that, Tricia's friends split off to their different destinations while Littlefoot and his friends waited. Destiny and Cassia went over first to make sure Gus and Len were distracted. Knowing Cam and Len were madly in love with one another, the kids knew just the way to get both Cam and Len out of the way. Still Tricia, couldn't help being nervous about them in particular. While Earl was not in any condition to attack them again, and Gus and Len would be without their leader, the two were still much bigger than the kids. So of all her friends, she watched them most closely, and was prepared to call the gang over at a moment's notice.
Cassia too was especially nervous. "I don't know if we can do this," Cassia said nervously.
"My Dad gave them plenty of warning," Destiny smiled kindly. "I'm kinda scared too but … I really don't think they'd want to mess with him, would they? The Lone Dinosaur and all that."
"So he really is the Lone Dinosaur?" Cassia asked.
"Well, he didn't quite say that," Destiny said. "But I can dream, can't I?"
"Yeah," Cassia smiled. "And I guess it helps we're not with Trish anymore. They really hate her for some reason. And if we don't see Earl, maybe we'll be okay."
Finding Len and Gus was not difficult. The two of them were chatting to each other as they were taking a drink, and luckily, were well out of Earl's way. Plucking up the courage, Cassia and Destiny went to approach them.
"Uh … Mr. Len?" Cassia said politely, causing the two longnecks to look at them.
"Yes?" Len asked in surprise.
"Well …. I found a really nice flower and thought Cam might like it," Cassia said, holding a large flower she found in the secret spot.
Len put his head down to sniff the flower. "Mmm, you're right!" he exclaimed. "Can I have it?"
"Sure," Cassia said, and Len promptly took it.
"Gee thanks," said Len. "Cam'll love this!" he exclaimed, and quickly hurried away.
Gus couldn't help but laugh. "That Len," he said. "He'd do anything for his lady," before he turned to the two kids. "That was very sweet of you. I'm sorry for the way my other friend treated your friend. In fact, I would like to show my thanks and my apologies by doing something for you."
Destiny and Cassia looked at each other. "Well," Cassia said. "We're kinda tired. Can you take us to our parents' spots?" Out of the corner of her eye, Cassia saw Tricia watching, who nodded approvingly. Gus however seemed to not take notice.
"Why sure thing," he said, and Cassia and Destiny climbed up Gus' tail as he set off.
"Two down," Tricia said cheerfully as she went on to check on Sam next.
Sam was going to the area where Ali, Cam and Mia slept. To his surprise, Ali was not there, but the other two longneck girls were sitting together, chatting and giggling. Sam was so small the others didn't even notice him until he was right in front of them.
"Hi cutie!" Mia exclaimed as she lifted out her very long neck. "Can we help you with anything?"
"Well, I just wanted to tell Cam something," Sam said.
Cam and Mia looked at each other, intrigued, and began to giggle. "Well, climb on!" Mia said
Sam did, and Mia lifted her up to her and Cam's much taller level. Cam looked at Sam curiously.
"So what did you want to tell me?" Cam asked excitedly.
"Have you taken Len to the Thundering Falls yet?" Sam asked curiously.
Cam and Mia immediately began giggling. "Why … No," Cam said. "It sounds like a great idea though!"
"Why don't you take him there this afternoon! I've been behind the waterfall, and it's really nice. My big sister and her boyfriend have gone there too, and they really like it," Sam suggested.
Cam and Mia looked at each other impressed. "You are one smart kid! I think I'll do just that!" she exclaimed, and gleefully, she ran off to meet Len. Mia smiled. "She gets so excited like that … But thanks! You made her very happy."
"You're welcome," Sam said, then looking to the third sleeping spot. "Hey, doesn't Ali sleep here?"
"Yeah, but she's out seeing Earl … Don't tell anybody this, but," she smirked before whispering, "I think she has a thing for him. She's just kinda shy … So if you wanna play matchmaker with them too, I'm sure she'd love it."
"Er … Right," Sam said awkwardly.
"Only thing is … I think she has the hots for Shorty too … And I can't blame her, they're both major superstuds!" Mia giggled as Sam looked at her curiously. "Aww, who am I kidding? If they both want her, neither would want me … Ah well. Go run along, and thanks for making Cam happy."
So Mia cheerfully let Sam off, and Tricia happily gave Sam a nod from far away as he headed back.
Finding Guido was considerably harder than finding the longnecks. After all, he was so much smaller, and Petrie didn't know all the spots in the Great Valley to find crawlers. Luckily, he had two good sniffers with Pearl and Garnet by his side. While their noses weren't as powerful as Chomper's, being noteeth gave them a better sense of smell than any of the Valley's flatteeth. Pearl and Garnet each sniffed for Guido, while Petrie kept a lookout for anyone who might disturb them. It wasn't that long before they located Guido in a tree hollow.
When they got to the tree, the three of them couldn't help but be surprised. Large grubs were protruding from the hollow, climbing down the bark and even on the forest floor. Many of them as big as the twins' heads, and they couldn't even see Guido for all they could see was a thick wall of grubs.
"Um … Guido?" Petrie said uncertainly, not completely able to hide his disgust.
There was no response, until at last, Guido poked a hand out of the grubs, later poking the rest of his body through it. "Hi Petrie," Guido said. "Thanks for coming to distract me. I like grubs but … This is getting to be a bit much."
"Yeah, that way too many grubs!" Petrie exclaimed.
"Maybe we can help," Pearl said. "That is … When our herd is cleared from poop duty."
"Yeah, they're so close," Garnet said. "Maybe we can ask Thicknose."
"Well one thing's for sure, I can't eat this many grubs by myself! There's probably even enough to make Chomper full … But it just gives me a bellyache."
"Yeah," Petrie said supportively. "You know what? Me have something to show you to get mind off things."
"Yeah?" Guido said hopefully, and together, they all went to the secret spot.
Ducky and Spike meanwhile, lay in wait as they watched Perri and Oplax walk over to the spike tail herd. Sophie and Tippy, the only young members of the herd, were on opposite sides of the herd's space, both figuratively and literally. Tippy was kicking a large rock around and watching it roll, as if he was desperately looking for something to do. Sophie on the other hand, was dozing at the far back by the wall, looking as though she hardly had a care in the world.
Hoping that they could coax both Sophie and Tippy out without the other spiketails really noticing, Ducky and Spike thought it best for the much smaller Perri and Oplax to get the two of them to come over. Ducky and Spike waited while the two kids went over to greet the young spiketails. They were not worried, for the spiketail herd was very friendly and relaxed. But still, if they could avert attention from Sophie and Tippy going to the same place, so much the better, for the only thing they had in common besides being young spiketails was their friendship with Spike.
Perri approached Tippy. The only member of the herd who was not eating or sleeping, Tippy was trying to entertain himself, and Perri couldn't help but feel he was lonely. As Tippy kicked the rock another time, he accidentally knocked it right above Perri's head, causing her to fall over with a thud to the ground.
Tippy approached the little hollowhorn concernedly. "You all right?" he asked.
"I'm okay," Perri said shyly.
"Great," Tippy smiled. "Back to fun, fun, fun!"
"Hey Tippy?" Perri asked. "Come and see Spike! He wants to show you something!"
Tippy, turned back, his eyes gleaming. "Sounds like fun, fun, fun!" he exclaimed, and hurriedly, he let Perri climb his back and he took off.
"Whee!" Perri exclaimed, loving the rush of air as she hugged the bigger spiketail.
Oplax meanwhile, strolled over to Sophie. The other spiketails noticed him, but just as quickly went back to carrying on with what they were doing. When Sophie saw Oplax approach her, she just smiled and allowed Oplax to sit himself next to her. To Oplax's surprise, Sophie didn't say a word as she just sat and dozed off again. He could immediately see how she and Spike bonded so well, especially since while she was warm, she didn't show the same cuddly nature to him that Ducky described. Nevertheless, whenever she looked at him, she always smiled, before going back to doze again. Sophie's presence was so soothing, it made Oplax want to take a nap right then and there. But then he remembered why he was there.
"Um, Ms. Sophie?" Oplax asked quietly, realizing Sophie wasn't going to ask her what he was doing.
Sophie slowly turned to face him. "Yes?"
"Spike and his friends would like to show you something," Oplax said. "Uh … Nothing romantic."
"I see," Sophie said quietly, though her eyes couldn't help but melt a little bit at the mention of Spike's name. "I'll come."
And like that, Sophie strolled languidly away from the sleeping spot and over to Ducky and Spike.
Spike ran to greet Sophie and Tippy as Ducky too gave them a friendly greeting, who curiously looked at one another just as much as they looked at Spike. "So what kind of fun do you want to show us, Spike?" Tippy asked excitedly.
"Yes," Sophie added.
"Well," Ducky whispered quietly. "Our friends found a secret spot in the Great Valley … And we wonder if you could help us out with it."
Tippy's eyes lit up. "Ooh, a secret spot! Sounds like fun, fun, fun!"
"Is it nice?" Sophie asked.
"Yes it does, and it is," Ducky giggled as Spike nodded. "But we do need a little help. There is a big boulder in front, and we need help opening and unopening the place," Ducky said. "Littlefoot, Cera and Spike are trying, but they can't move the boulder all the time."
"A big boulder!" exclaimed Tippy. "That sounds fun!"
"We'll help," Sophie gladly said, and they went on their way.
Soon, Tricia and Sam went back to Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper and Ruby, who were rejoined by Mono and Rachelle, who had gotten the domeheads off their tails. "All good with Cam, Len and Gus," Tria said.
"And Mia's at her nest, I don't think Mia's going anywhere," Sam agreed. "Only … What's a superstud?"
"Well, er, a handsome guy," Littlefoot tried explaining as Cera, Chomper and Ruby couldn't help but snicker.
"Looks like this, see?" Chomper said, baring his smile teasingly as he tried to show off his puny arm muscles, causing more giggles.
"Mia will always be Mia," Ruby smiled. "And Mia wouldn't be Mia if she wasn't boy crazy."
" Let's just hope she doesn't think Earl's a superstud," Cera deadpanned.
"Well, Mia says both Earl and Shorty are," Sam said.
Cera rolled her eyes. "Well, some things never change. At least she's not saying Littlefoot's a superstud anymore," causing Littlefoot to chuckle embarrassedly. "Only I get to say that!"
"Really? You call Littlefoot a superstud?" Tricia teased.
"What? Of course not! I don't talk like that!" Cera barked.
Tricia looked at Mono and Rachelle, who both eyed her knowingly. "Wonder what Sis does talk like in their sleeping spot?"
"Maybe we can find out!" Mono teased as he, Tricia and Rachelle snickered.
They playfully bickered all the way to the longneck's place. Like with the spiketails, the longnecks did not pay much notice to their visitors, instead happily eating and chatting amongst themselves. Littlefoot looked for his father, but saw he was not in the vicinity. As they came to a rocky edge however, they saw both Ali and Shorty, along with Earl who was lying sprawled on the ground. Ali was looking at Earl in concern, tending to his numerous broken bones and puncture wounds that he sustained from the attack. Earl meanwhile, was looking at Shorty with a smug smile, who was pacing around aimlessly.
"You know, you don't have to be here," Earl smirked. "Now that Ali's taking care of me, I don't need you. Unless you want to take care of me too, that is … That's fine too …"
Shorty said nothing. Nor did he budge as he continued to pace. But one look at his stiff body, clenched jaw and narrowed eyes betrayed his feelings entirely. Sensing brewing trouble, Ruby whispered, "You kids go back, all right?"
Surprisingly, Tricia and her friends didn't argue and quickly scattered. Earl meanwhile, kept right on going. "Really, Shorty. I don't need you here."
"Well, my dad said I had to be here," Shorty retorted. "So I am."
"Your dad knows someone has to watch over me," Earl said subtly. "But it doesn't need to be you. Ali's taking care of me just fine. So just run along. I'll tell Bron I don't need you."
"Why should I listen to you, you big, skinny, piece of carcass …. AAAH!"
"AAAH!"
With a sickening crunch, Shorty stepped right on the edge of Earl's long, whiplike tail, causing Earl's bones to snap under the sheer mass of Shorty's foot. At the same time, Earl's tail writhing in agony was enough to knock Shorty off balance, and he fell on his right belly next to Earl, causing a tremendous earthshake in the nearby area.
"That was your fault!" the two longnecks yelled at one another, shouting in each other's faces.
"You did that on purpose!" Shorty roared at Earl.
"Me? It's not my fault you're a clumsy clod." Earl retorted. "I said I didn't need you, and now we're both more injured thanks to you!"
"Yeah? Well it's your fault you're injured in the first place! By attacking that kid …"
"It was just a little scare," Earl said calmly. "Not like you, who could've killed me with that temper of yours."
Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper and Ruby looked at each other in shock as Ali looked confused. "Wait … What? Earl, I thought you got hurt by a rockslide?"
Shorty stuttered, but Earl suavely took control of the situation. "Well, that's what everyone is supposed to know. But the truth here is Shorty attacked me and he was supposed to take care of me because of his punishment."
Ali gasped in horror as she looked at Shorty with wide, fearful eyes. "Is this … True?" she stuttered. "You … did this to him?"
Shorty however stomped on the ground. "You'll pay for that Earl! I'm gonna …"
"Do what?" Earl said coolly as Ali backed away. "Lay one more paw on me, and you're going straight to the Mysterious Beyond. You know that, right? Besides, you know as I know that us fighting won't look good on Bron, will it? You and me both don't want Bron's bid to lead the herd to fail, but if it did because of your behavior … He'd never call you his son again, would he? And you'd be out on your own, rejected …"
With a large snort, Shorty roared and aimed his neck straight at Earl's front paw, and chomped at Earl's paw as hard as he could, drawing blood as Earl winced. "I'm not laying a paw on you, am I?" he laughed defiantly. But his smile faded as quickly as it came, for Ali, her jaw dropping in disbelief, ran off as quickly as she could.
"Now look," Earl simpered. "You drove my girl away from me."
"Your girl?" Shorty asked hoarsely, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Oh yes. Have you seen that look of concern in her eyes? She obviously wants me." Earl said.
"Bu … Bu … But … You're lying!" Shorty shouted.
"Aww, look who's all riled up," Earl mocked. "Face it, even if I wasn't there, there's zero chance she'd want you. Unlike me and her, you're a boxhead … Not to mention she obviously still has feelings for her first love, Rhett. And probably still even has some for your "brother" … Bron's only actual son … I suppose maybe you think you can pull off being the next best thing now that her next best thing is taken. But it would take someone special to get her beyond that grief. Someone like me, with all my charms, and my massive length, that will get her to forget about her old crushes. You'll find that she can't … Resist me. Not like you, you pathetic overgrown orphan. Rejected by your own parents and siblings, no doubt …"
With a massive bellow, Shorty attempted to rear on his hind legs. His eyes were fixated on Earl with pure hatred, glaring down at him, preparing to strike.
"That. Is. Enough," commanded a stern, fierce growl.
Shorty and Earl looked to see that Bron had returned breathless, Ali at his side.
"I thought putting you two together for punishment would force you two to grow up," Bron said, an icy chill in his voice. "Clearly I underestimated how immature both of you are. Earl, Ali's told me how nasty you've been to Shorty. You may be injured and you may not have been raised properly, but that doesn't give you the right to be a complete and total jerk. I'm ashamed of you, and frankly, I'm at my wit's end. If you want to be part of my herd, shape up and show some decency for once."
"Yes sir," Earl sighed as Shorty snorted. Then however, Bron turned to Shorty. He shut his eyes, as if he was in pain, and took a deep breath, but the resulting tone of his voice seemed to remove any doubts he might have.
"Clearly I've been too lenient with you. I warned you about violence, and it's not sinking in. I don't care what anyone might say to make you upset. Attacking a herd member, or any peaceful dinosaur really, is out of line. You need to learn self-control, and fast. To that end, I am doing the last thing I can short of banishment …"
Bron paused, before saying, "For thirty passings of the Bright Circle, you and I will not be speaking to each other."
"But …" Shorty interrupted.
"We will not be seeing each other either. I will ignore you every time you try to get my attention. You cannot sleep at my sleeping spot. You will live these days without a father, and only then, after I see you've really learned from your mistakes, will I reconsider. Try defying your punishment and we'll start back at the beginning. And if I see you getting into any more fights with Earl, you will be banished. Your punishment starts now."
And coldly, Bron turned around and headed away.
"Sir?" Earl asked, barely trying to hide a snicker. "Now that Shorty can't take care of me … Can Ali do it?"
Shorty's eyes very briefly shot to Earl's in one last glance of hatred, but quickly looked up before Bron could notice. "We'll make sure you're taken care of," Bron said bitterly, before lumbering off. Ali, glancing back at Shorty and Earl followed suit, before Shorty let out a shout of rage before running the other way, while Earl lay on the ground, his face flush with triumph.
