Here we go with another chapter! Enjoy everyone. As always, favs/follows/reviews are appreciated, no matter when - it could be years from when I publish this and I'll still appreciate it! And of course, Land Before Time and its universe belong to Universal.

Chapter 18 – The Lost Longneck

Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper and Ruby were all appalled to see the exchange that had just occurred in front of them. Not surprisingly, it was Cera who spoke up first. "I'm gonna show that Earl a thing or two …"

Littlefoot held a paw out. "No, Cera! That'll get Shorty in bigger trouble."

"I don't care!" Cera snapped. "That Earl has a bad attitude for claiming Ali as his, and I hate guys with that attitude! Besides, Ali's way too good for the likes of him. And you know what? I bet when Shorty said Earl attacked that kid, I think he was talking about Sis … Why else were she and her friends looking for healing flowers, why else was she riding on Oplax's back, and what else would Shorty save her from? The more I think about it, the madder I get!"

"Yeah," Littlefoot said, having pieced together the same realization. "But don't do anything that could hurt Earl, okay? Because he's already injured, and if you hurt him, you could get kicked out! And I … don't want to lose you," Littlefoot said earnestly.

To Littlefoot's relief, Cera sighed and shook her head. "It's not like he doesn't deserve a piece of my mind," Cera said angrily. "But I'll keep my cool, promise."

"Good," Littlefoot smiled.

"Besides," said Chomper with a laugh. "You don't need to do the scaring. A sharptooth standing by him should give him more than enough to be scared about!"

"Especially when he cannot move, there is nowhere he can move to," Ruby agreed.

"Still, that doesn't mean we can't tell him exactly what we think," Littlefoot said as the others nodded, and then left their hiding place in the trees and approached the wounded longneck splayed on the ground.

Earl looked at them in surprise. Making sure to wipe any savage emotion from his face, he said politely, "Oh, hello there. You're Bron's son, right?"

"Uh … Yeah," Littlefoot said puzzledly. It then occurred to him that despite all of Earl's bad behavior, he and Earl never had a proper conversation. "Hey listen, Earl. About Shorty …"

Earl snorted. "Pathetic, isn't he? I don't know what your father sees in him."

Littlefoot shook his head. "He's a great friend, and we're like brothers ... And he really is an adoptive son to my dad."

"That doesn't mean I have to like him," Earl sneered.

"You don't have to," Littlefoot asked. "But please, treat him with respect, all right? He's been through more than you and even I know and I think you really hurt him."

Earl looked at Littlefoot in surprise, "Respect? What has he done to deserve respect from me? If you're like his brother, you must have seen that temper of his. He's the reason I'm injured, you know."

"Yeah, because you attacked my sis," Cera said. "You worthless piece of sharptooth dirt …"

Earl snorted. "Well, with that kind of attitude, you may be Old Threehorn's daughter after all. I thought you had to be related to someone else, if you are unprejudiced enough to marry a longneck ..." Then he turned to Littlefoot. "And if that's true, I must say I question your judgment. I'm not bigoted by any means, but what did you think you were doing, marrying the daughter of your father's biggest nemesis? Your father is giving everything he has to protect this Valley, and you return his gratitude by marrying the daughter of the one standing in the way of his rightful rise to power, poisoning the Valley by being a racist, insufferable jerk! Who obviously his little daughter is just like ... I was not attacking an innocent child, I was attacking a legitimate threat to the Great Valley!"

Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper and Ruby looked at each other in shock. Here Earl was, not trying to deny his actions, but instead, seeming to truly believe he was firmly in the right. Then Littlefoot remembered what his father told him and what Earl even said about his past. Suddenly, things began to make some kind of twisted, distorted sense. As he gave a serious nod to Cera's fury-filled face, he decided to take a new tack.

"Hey Earl, " Littlefoot asked. "How long have you been without your parents?"

Whatever Earl was expecting, it was not that. He looked inquisitively as he asked, "Since I was five. So?"

"Well, I was wondering …" Littlefoot said, even the gang looking perplexedly at him. "What do you think a parent does?"

Littlefoot braced for this being a very emotionally sensitive question, for it made him think of both his mother and his grandparents and how much he missed them all. However, Earl was very matter-of-fact when he answered. "They bring you into the world and give you orders. Which you must follow. Which is why I don't understand why you two are mated. How could the children of enemies be married? Shouldn't you be fighting each other instead?"

Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other, and Cera couldn't help but laugh. "Oh sure, Littlefoot and I fight all the time."

"But not in that kind of way," Littlefoot clarified. "First of all, our parents are not enemies."

"Yeah right," Earl laughed. "Bron wants to lead the Valley and so does Old Threehorn. They can't both lead the Valley, so that makes them enemies. Who will fight to the death until one emerges victorious."

Chomper then asked the obvious. "Then how come they haven't killed each other yet?"

"Give them time," Earl said simply. "Give them time."

"Yeah, well, I don't think that's gonna happen," Littlefoot said, trying to sound as polite as he could through Earl's offensive absurdity. "They're not enemies like that. They both want to lead the Great Valley because they care for the Valley and everyone in it, and they both think they'd be the best one to protect it. They have the same goal, just … Different ideas of how to get there."

"And though our fathers argue a lot, that doesn't mean they're going to fight each other to the death," Cera snickered. "Even my dad has his limits on what he'd do to get power."

Earl turned his head questioningly. "You speak of your dad with such a lack of respect. Do you … Not like that he's your father?"

Cera snorted. "Oh no. I love him, just like I love Littlefoot. But that doesn't mean I agree with him on everything. I don't think he should lead the Valley, in case you're wondering."

"And I'm not convinced Bron should lead the Valley either," Littlefoot said.

"You two are both … Disobeying your fathers?" Earl said blankly. "But, but … Aren't you afraid of being rejected by them?"

"Trust me," Chomper laughed. "This isn't the first time they've disobeyed their parents. If they always listened to their folks, I wouldn't even be here! And I've disobeyed mine too. I got to the point where I just couldn't hunt leafeaters anymore. And my parents didn't get that right away, and kept asking me to hunt … But after meeting my friends again, I ... I just couldn't do it, and well, that's part of how I got here," Chomper explained.

"But our parents love us not because we follow them," Ruby explained. "They love us because of who we are. Including the ways we differ from them."

"So … Children don't always follow their parents' orders?" Earl asked bewilderedly.

"Yeah, that's right," Littlefoot said. It was still surreal having this conversation, like a lesson to a hatchling, with the longneck who had both tormented his brother, attacked Cera's sister and creeped out Ali. It was such a basic and intuitive concept for Littlefoot and his friends, but if Earl had really been roaming around the Mysterious Beyond for multiple cold times with no positive adult influence, perhaps he might really have never had the chance to learn these things …

"Hey Earl," Littlefoot said puzzledly. "What … Did your parents tell you to do?"

Earl laughed. "What do you think? To eat as much as I can to grow big and tough so I can protect myself against sharpteeth, and to mate with the prettiest girl who can pass my blood on to the next generation. What else? Turns out it wasn't a sharptooth that did them in."

"What was it?" Littlefoot asked.

"Big, stupid boxheads, what else?" Earl said matter-of-factly. "They have a vendetta against my family. They ate all the food around us so my parents didn't have any. They and my siblings starved to death. No doubt those boxheads got rid of our food on purpose. They were my parents' enemies for food first of all. And no doubt stupid Shorty, like his parents before him, is following their legacy by doing his best to hurt me. He's a boxhead just like they are. And what does he try to do? Go out and try to take the prettiest girl right out from under me, just like his forebearers took all the food from my parents. The least I could do is make him unattractive in my girl's eyes, right? That way I could show her what a temper problem he has and she won't be unfaithful to me again."

Cera looked repulsively at Earl, but Ruby, giving her a warning glance, stepped forward. "Earl, why do you think Ali is your girl?"

"Because she's the prettiest," Earl said simply. "Not to mention when we came to the Valley, Len fell in love with Cam, and it's only natural that Gus and I fall in love with Mia and Ali. Three longneck girls and three longneck boys can't be an accident, right? And besides, Ali can carry on my bloodline with fine, young hatchlings, fulfilling my parents' wishes."

"Right, but has Ali ever told you that she is your girl?" Ruby said.

"Uh … She hasn't got there yet," Earl admitted. "So what? That's not her choice, is it? Males pick females for breeding and go on with their lives, knowing they've done their part to keep the circle of life alive."

"Earl, you've got it backwards," Littlefoot said, shaking his head. "It is absolutely Ali's choice on who she wants to be with, or not to be with anyone."

"And about my sister," Cera said coldly. "First of all, my father is not a racist jerk like you said. He may have been once, but he's ... Changed and gotten much better through the cold times. But even if he still was, that doesn't mean my sister is like that. None of her friends are threehorns, in case you haven't noticed."

"That's right, my little siblings are among Tricia's friends," Ruby said. "And since Tricia was born after Cera's dad let go of his prejudices, those prejudices were not part of Tricia's growing up!"

"Right," said Cera. "And what you did with her was absolutely not okay. Got it?"

Earl looked at all of them thoughtfully, clearly taking in all of their words. Still however, his expression was full of perplexment. "What's wrong with you, all of you? Seriously? Why can't you all make sense?"

Exasperatedly, the gang looked at each other. Cera was beginning to look really peeved, and even Littlefoot was getting exhausted with trying to explain so much. Luckily and right on cue, Ducky, Petrie and Spike arrived.

"Hey guys, sorry to erupt," Petrie said. "But we got herd meeting at Rock Circle. We must go."

And trying to do their best to conceal their relief, they said goodbye to Earl and went to the meeting. As they left though, Littlefoot peered back, and saw that Earl seemed to look down at the ground. Could some of what they had said sunk in, and perhaps, he was finally feeling some shame for his actions?

"So, why you guys talking with Earl?" Petrie asked curiously.

"Don't ask," said Cera gruffly.

"He's … Got a lot of, well … Stuff clouding his thinking," Littlefoot said carefully, to which Cera snorted. "And he got into it with Shorty again."

"That is not good, no no no," Ducky sighed. "I hope Shorty did not get hurted."

"Yeah, but Dad gave him a pretty bad punishment," Littlefoot said concernedly. "The thing is … I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do."

"Shorty'll get through it," Cera reassured Littlefoot. "You got it easy with your grandparents, but my dad was real tough on me after all the crazy things we did. But even he didn't do anything that would really hurt me."

"Yeah," Littlefoot said. "I just hope that Shorty will see it that way." Turning to Ducky, Petrie and Spike he said, "You guys told the others?"

"Oh yes yes yes, we did, Sophie and Tippy were happy to help," Ducky said. "The two of them, Spike and I pushed the boulder shut when we heard about the meeting, we did."

"And Guido know about Secret Spot too," Petrie said. "He happy to keep it secret just between us."

"That's great," Littlefoot smiled.

When they got to the Rock Circle, nearly the rest of the Valley was already gathered. Scanning the crowd, Littlefoot was relieved to see that Hyp and his friends had all made it back together, standing quite a ways from them, along with their other friends Weald, Rana, and Ceph and his girlfriend Halle. Tricia's gang each were standing by their guardians, with the exception of Tricia, who was standing with Cassia and the Twopeds as both of her parents were in the middle of the circle, and Sam, who was standing with his older siblings, his mother also being in the middle. Sophie and Tippy too were standing with the spiketail herd, not looking as if they had found out any big secret. Littlefoot looked for Ali and Shorty in the crowd, looking for the group of young longnecks, but while he found Cam, Mia, Len and Gus chatting together, he could not find Ali and Shorty anywhere.

In the middle of the circle stood Mr. Thicknose, who once again looked very agitated. Nearby were the other elders, including Mr. Threehorn, Tria, Mr. Clubtail, Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer. Also in the inner circle were Bron and Tippy's mother, the leaders of their respective herds, and three older swimmers who had long been close friends, widely known as the Swimmer Trio, consisting of Sua the round-crested hollowhorn, Melissa the nesting bigmouth, and Lyle the tall-crested hollowhorn. While the Swimmer Trio had been Valley residents for many cold times, they rarely took center stage at herd meetings, and today, the three of them in particular looked miffed, and Mr. Thicknose noticeably tried to avert their gaze as they looked at him expectantly.

"Greetings," Mr. Thicknose said once everyone had settled in. "I have called this meeting together, for I have received word of some … Rather unwelcome developments," he said, nodding to the three swimmers, who all looked surprised to be put on the spot. "If you would please explain to everyone, just exactly what you saw happen at your nests?"

Mumbling broke out as the three swimmers looked at each other, unsure who should speak first. Then they all looked to Mr. Thicknose who sighed. "Very well, I will explain it," he said irritably. "The three swimmers have experienced a …"

"Disaster, that's what!" Sua loudly said, causing the audience to murmur.

"Our trees!" explained Lyle. "They've … gone!"

Topps snorted. "What do you mean, gone?"

"We mean … We went to eat off them one morning, and they just fell over," Melissa said, veering to the side in an attempt to imitate a falling tree.

"Yeah, like that," said Lyle. "They just … Died."

"Six whole trees in our eating spot did that!" said Sua.

More murmuring broke out. "Everyone, please be calm!" Mr. Thicknose desperately said, but the wave of murmuring did not subside as Littlefoot watched uneasily. Mr. Thicknose did not have that aura of confident authority that his grandfather did, and the lack of that calming influence on the crowd was very apparent as the crowd continued to restlessly talk.

"Oh no! Trees died on them!"

"How could this happen?"

"What if it's our trees next?"

"What if all the trees will die?"

Mr. Thicknose tried his best to take control of the meeting but saw nothing he could do was effective. Sighing, he stood patiently as the crowd continue to murmur to one another in panic. However, no amount of time quelled their murmuring. To the contrary, it only seemed to be getting worse, and only ended when Pterano soared up to the Rock Circle's arch and stood on top of it, holding his wings out dramatically. "Everyone," he said calmly, effectively quieting the crowd as Brara and some of Petrie's siblings cheered. "I'm sure Mr. Thicknose has something preciously important to say."

"Er ... Yes," Mr. Thicknose said as Pterano smirked, Bron and Topps glaring his way suspiciously. "What was I saying? Oh yes. While a bit concerning, we must remain calm. It's only a few trees, and there are hundreds of trees in the Great Valley. We must not make a bigger deal of the problem than it is."

"Mr. Thicknose," said Bron importantly. "As a herd leader, you must consider all possibilities. What if this is not just a few trees? What if this problem is more severe than we realize?"

"For once, I've got to agree with Longneck here," Topps added. "We must prepare for the worst."

"Well," Mr. Thicknose said uncomfortably. "I suppose it couldn't hurt if everyone was a bit more careful about what they ate. If we all try to set a goal to limit our consumption while this problem is being investigated, that would be much appreciated."

"Nice words aren't gonna get the job done, Thicknose," Topps replied. "We all know some of us won't follow your good intentions. I propose we set a limit. No one can eat from more than ten trees on a single passing of the Bright Circle."

"Mr. Threehorn, that is a blatantly unfair idea and you know it," Bron scolded as the crowd began to murmur again.

"What's unfair about it?" Topps said. "Everyone gets the same, right?"

"Yes, but you know as well as I do that we all need different amounts of food! I propose that we adjust these limits to how much the given individual needs."

"Pah! That won't solve anything. How would you measure that? Besides, we didn't have a food problem before we had to feed some certain far-walkers' big bellies. Who I might add have very small heads," he sneered.

Bron angrily took a stance. "All right Threehorn. That has gone too far. How dare you slur my kind like that?"

"I'm not slurring anyone's kind," Topps responded back. "I have deep respect for your parents-in-law and my son-in-law, who you so callously abandoned…"

"That's it Threehorn, not another crack at my family like that!" Bron snapped. "Or else should I point out the obvious case of the Bright Circle calling the Night Circle white?"

"What are you saying?" Topps asked aggressively.

"Well, why I don't I point out that you failed to protect my daughter-in-law's mother as well? And from what I've heard, put my daughter-in-law in danger as well due to your carelessness?"

Topps froze, his eyes livid with fury as he eyed Bron. "You … wouldn't … dare."

"Why wouldn't I?" Bron said. "There's some truth in what I said, is there not? No less than the attacks you've lobbed at me."

"Tut, tut, see what I mean?" Pterano loftily said as he swooped down. "These two simply have no vision to lead the herd, and resort to petty bickering with one another instead. Whereas if it were up to me, I would have the perfect solution to this problem."

"You stay out of this, wingbrain!" Topps said angrily. "After all, whose fault is it that my first wife is dead?"

Pterano did not answer, but merely said, "Ah, I see you're deflecting, you pompous, overgrown, bigheaded …"

Bron loudly sighed as he said, "My apologies everyone for this embarrassing argument. It's not often that I come across others this … Unreasonable."

"Unreasonable?" Topps and Pterano shouted.

"You're making me really angry, Longneck!" Topps shouted. "One of these days, you're gonna feel my full wrath!"

"Oh, really?" Bron asked. "Beyond your usual bluster?"

Mr. Threehorn roared in fury, his eyes narrowed, and briefly reared up on two legs, almost as if he was preparing to charge. But before he could do anything, everyone heard an ominous hissing sound as Mr. Thicknose began to fidget uncomfortably. His eyes were dilating frantically as suddenly, his cheeks began to bulge, and before he knew it, he lost his footing and hitting the ground with a belly-first crash, a gigantic retching sound occurred as a thick wave of gobs of sickly green sludge came pouring from his mouth for a full ten seconds.

Everyone was shocked into silence as they backed up, all hoping to get as far away as possible from Mr. Thicknose's vomit. While the bile didn't hit anyone, the putrid smell was horrid enough for everyone to want to steer as clear from it as possible.

Murmuring broke out as Mr. Thicknose woozily stirred. But this time, he determinedly stood up, and looked at everyone seriously. Taking in several deep breaths, he said, "Apologies everyone for my, uh … incident," he wheezed. "But I must confess … There's only so much stress I can manage. As I've said before, I'm not someone who does well with conflict. You asked me to lead the herd because I would be agreeable to everyone, and I accepted it hoping I could help keep the peace and harmony Grandma and Grandpa Longneck have left us with. But that's not what this role is requiring of me … Rather, as I am always finding out, being herd leader requires skills I do not and could not really ever hope to have."

Mr. Thicknose sighed, before saying, "I must confess to you all the difficulties I'm facing. This job is not made for me and I'm not made for it, and at this point … But I must try to persevere, for until … I must do my best … To … to …"

And then, with a little bit of bile still hanging from his mouth, Mr. Thicknose's eyes began to sag and his legs slid from under him as he once again hit the ground, this time losing consciousness. With that, Tria, Mama Swimmer, Mr. Clubtail and Tippy's mother each grabbed a hold of one of Mr. Thicknose's paws and carried him back to his nest. Still looking daggers at each other, Bron, Topps and Pterano regarded each other one last time before turning their separate ways as the rest of the crowd too began to disperse.

Just when Littlefoot and his friends were figuring out what to do however, they saw Ali running over to them, panting heavily as she desperately looked around her. Ignoring the looks she got from others leaving the Rock Circle, she continued her frantic pace right to Littlefoot and her friends.

"Hi Ali," Littlefoot greeted. "What's up?"

It took a little while for Ali to get her breath back. From her huffing to the tinge of color and sweat on her face, it was clear that she had been running for quite a long time. When she finally did, Ali said, "Have you guys seen Shorty?"

The gang looked at each other. Cera said, "We saw him arguing with that jerk Earl before the herd meeting."

"Yeah, but since then?" Ali asked desperately. "Was he at the herd meeting?"

"Uh … No," Littlefoot said in surprise. "You haven't seen him?"

Ali frantically shook her head. "I've been looking for him everywhere, but I can't find him!"

"Don't worry," Chomper said brightly. "My sniffer can track him down in no time. I know just what he smells like."

"I think even we know what he smells like," Cera snarked.

"Well, let's hurry!" Ali insisted.

"Hurry where?" Petrie asked.

"Oh … I don't know!" Ali said frustratedly. "Just somewhere!"

"Well let's think of where we could find her," Littlefoot said, trying to bring calm into his voice.

"Well, as Shorty is part of your herd, his herd's place is where you should start," Ruby suggested.

"Oh yes yes yes, Chomper can sniff him out from there, he can," said Ducky.

So the gang headed off to the longnecks' sleeping grounds. Most of the herd was talking amongst themselves, and from bits and pieces, Littlefoot could hear disparaging words directed towards Topps. Gus and Len were at the watering hole with Cam and Mia, and the four of them were the only ones who actually seemed to notice Littlefoot and his friends. "Hey Ali, whatcha …" Mia began.

"Not now!" Ali uncharacteristically snapped, causing the four bewildered young longnecks to murmur amongst each other.

They headed all around the longneck grounds, following Chomper's nose. But Chomper led them straight to Earl, who was watching them, still laying on the ground. "Oh great, not this jerk again!" Cera shouted.

"Who are you calling a jerk?" Earl said suddenly.

"Hmm, I don't know, how 'bout the one who attacked my sister and is a creep to my friend!" Cera retorted.

"Cera, I can handle this," said Ali seriously, as she strode up to Earl, who smirked in triumph as she did.

"Ah, just who I wanted to see," Earl said smugly. "I knew you'd want me in the end."

"Earl, have you seen Shorty?" Ali asked seriously.

Earl rolled his eyes. "Who cares about him? The two of us are together, and that's all that matters."

"Earl, listen! Shorty could be in real …"

"You have nice, beautiful eyes, you know that?" Earl cooed seductively. "You and I can make great hatchlings together. All you have to do is accept your fate and be my mate …"

"Earl, stop!" Ali shouted. "I'm not your mate!"

"Well not yet you are, but soon enough … You'll find that I'm irresistible and -" Earl purred continually, but Ali cut him off.

"Listen Earl, have you seen Shorty or not?"

"All right, all right, lovely lips …"

"For the last time, I'm not your mate!" Ali shouted. "I'm not even interested! You know what? Cera's right, you are acting like a jerk."

"What? Me? But that can't be right … I'm doing everything I should on courtship," Earl said incredulously.

"Earl, listen! I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm truly not interested, and I ... I don't think I ever will be …" Ali said. Saying it in such hard language harshly made her feel kind of sad, but it had the effect of getting Earl to back off. He even looked a tad regretful, and once again, Littlefoot saw he looked deep in thought. After a long pause, he finally said, "I see … You say I'm being a jerk. Just like they told me ... Maybe I am after all ... But how can I … Prove to you I'm not?"

"Well, you can tell me where Shorty is," Ali insisted.

Earl scoffed. "What does it matter?"

"Well, if you know where Shorty is, and you tell me, I'll be very thankful," Ali answered.

Earl looked at Ali seriously. "I don't want to see you get hurt," he said cautiously. "You know he's got a nasty temper, right?"

"I know," Ali sighed. "But I still want to know where he is."

Earl sighed, "I still don't like him. Nor do I care what happens to him, all right? But I don't like seeing you so upset." Nodding up to a nearby rocky hill, he said, "He went out of the Valley a while ago that way. And I haven't seen him come back."

"What?" the gang asked in horror as Earl nodded. "Honestly, I don't know more than that … The last time I saw him was when he left the Great Valley."

Chomper ran over to the direction Earl indicated and began to sniff the ground determinedly as the others watched with bated breath. Soon he returned, his face visibly showing the results of his find.

"Yep, he went that way," Chomper said brightly, giving Earl a smile.

"I guess you do have some good inside, yep yep yep," Ducky told Earl happily, who smiled a little.

"Yeah yeah, well you're not a total jerk," Cera admitted.

"Thank you Earl," Ali said, smiling at him, causing Earl to smile back at her.

"Don't do anything to get yourself hurt," Earl warned seriously. "And watch out for that guy's bad temper."

"I think we've kinda figured that out," Cera snarked, before with a last grateful thanks and goodbye, they headed out to the Mysterious Beyond.


Still blackened and charred from the fires, the Mysterious Beyond hostilely greeted them with its dead, leafless trees and forlorn emptiness. All they could hear was the sound of their footsteps.

"I wonder when life will ever come back here?" Chomper wondered. "All I can smell is dead stuff."

"Yeah," said Littlefoot. "It's not been this bad since we first came to the Great Valley."

"I do hope it gets better soon, I do," Ducky said as Spike moaned sadly as a branch fell off a burnt bush, which Spike knew would taste good if it was still alive.

"Me go up and look for Shorty," Petrie suggested. "Shorty real big, so he be easy to find."

So Petrie promptly flew up and began to scan the area for Shorty's massive form. "Nope, me see nothing," Petrie called out, to which he flew up further and higher as he continued to look.

"Ugh, I'm sick of waiting!" came an impatient voice, and everyone looked to Cera, but saw instead that she looked dumbstruck, for the abrasive, impatient voice was not coming out of her mouth.

"Hey!" Ali snapped. "Aren't you listening to me?"

"We are listening, Ali," Littlefoot reassured her.

"And when Petrie finds Shorty, we will find Shorty too," Ruby added.

"Be patient, all right?" Cera asked, seeming to notice the irony as everyone looked at her bewilderedly. "Just relax. That rockhead will be just …"

"Don't call him that!" Ali suddenly shouted, causing Cera to be taken aback.

"Sorry," Cera said sheepishly as Littlefoot eyed Ali concernedly.

"Petrie's doing the best that he can, Ali," he said kindly. "But it's gonna take a little time."

"We don't have time!" Ali insisted. "What if something happens to him? What if he's eaten by a terrible sharptooth!"

Littlefoot eyed Ali in surprise. In contrast to the time the two were separated by a rockslide when Ali remained calm despite the trouble they were in, here she was, pessimistic and panicking. "Shorty will be fine, Ali," Littlefoot reassured her. "I know he will be. You've just got to have faith, all right?"

"He's way too big for any sharptooth to want to pick a fight with him, trust me," Cera smirked. "He could just stomp one of them to death. That is …" She trailed off, for Petrie was urgently flapping towards them, a look of panic on his face.

"Me found Shorty! But he in real trouble! You guys come quickly!" Petrie cried out.

There was no time to lose. Everyone followed Petrie quickly deep into the Mysterious Beyond, Chomper leading the others with his nose following Shorty's scent, and soon, they could hear Shorty bellowing out words. As they approached, they could hear what he was saying, but they couldn't respond for they were out of breath with the effort of trying to reach him.

"Hey, you rockheads!" Shorty bellowed coarsely. "You're all a bunch of little cowards! I'm a free and easy meal for every one of you! That's right! I'm so worthless I won't even try to fight you sickos. You could tear me down, I don't care! Just get my sorry life over with, you creeps!"

Horror filled all of the gang's eyes as they closed in. "Where … Is … He?" Ruby asked breathlessly.

"Up there," Petrie said, and everyone saw that at the top of a hill, Shorty was posing provocatively, holding his neck high up, standing in a wide stance, and waggling his tail around, daring the sharpteeth to come and get him.

"Ugh, I told you he was a rockhead!" Cera snorted angrily.

"Do you think the sharpteeth can understand him?" Ducky asked worriedly.

"Nah," Chomper said confidently. "He's just making leafeater noise. But we've still gotta hurry, for they sure can hear him!"

"Let's make sure we get to Shorty before anyone else does," Littlefoot exclaimed.

And with that, the gang dropped any intention of trying to stick together as they all hurdled to Shorty as fast as they could. The sooner they could disrupt Shorty's attempts to have himself killed, the better.

Ruby reached Shorty first. "Shorty!" she called out, but Shorty ignored her completely as he continued shouting. She even tried ramming into him and hitting his foot, but it didn't do any good, for her small stature was nothing to Shorty's immense size.

"Me help!" Petrie said as he arrived, and immediately flew right on top of Shorty's nose. This succeeded at stopping Shorty from bellowing as he turned his attention to Petrie.

"Hey! Get off my nose!" he exclaimed.

"Shorty, me know you no wanna do this!" Petrie said urgently.

"Oh yeah?" Shorty growled, waving his head vigorously as he tried to knock Petrie off. "I'm a worthless piece of sharptooth crap! Everyone knows that!"

"No you not!" Petrie insisted. "Me definitely no know that!"

"Me neither!" Ruby called out. "Nor do any of your friends!"

"Friends? What friends?" Shorty said mockingly. "Certainly not you guys!"

"But we are your friends!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Heh, some friends you are. You still hate me after that herd meeting when I insulted your uncle and Old Threehorn," he told Petrie.

Petrie sighed, remembering the bitter fight the three friends had, and knew he had to set things right. "Me no hate you," he said firmly. "Me like you very much! Me even know that you kind of right now," Petrie admitted. "Me know Pterano not good to lead Great Valley."

"Congrats, wingbrain," Shorty huffed sarcastically. "You figured something out."

"You no get what me saying," Petrie said. "We still your friends! All of us! We all still be your friends!"

"It's true, Shorty!" Ruby added. "We are your friends! And we like you because you're you!"

"Yeah right!" Shorty laughed.

"Why else would we follow you to the Mysterious Beyond?" Ruby called out.

"Just get out of my way!" Shorty roared. "Or else I'll squish you both! I'm getting killed, whether you like it or not!"

"No Shorty, we're not leaving!" Ruby replied.

"And friends coming too! We all worried about you!" Petrie said. "We all your friends!"

"You don't know anything about me, all right?" Shorty said in exasperation. "All the crap I've been through … Oh finally, a sharptooth!" Shorty said eagerly, his eyes blazing in mad excitement. "Hey, idiot! Come and get me!"

Ruby and Petrie turned but in relief saw that it was Chomper who was arriving. This made Shorty howl in fury. "Oh, not you! Just leave me alone!"

"No Shorty!" Chomper said. "Don't you realize you're gonna get yourself killed?"

"Well, yeah," Shorty said simply. "That's the point! I just want my crappy life to be over with. Hey, you have some killer teeth, Chomper! Just bite into my worthless heart so we can get this all over with and you lot don't have to deal with any sharpteeth."

Chomper looked at Ruby and Petrie in shock, who nodded grimly, and he said, "But Shorty! You're my friend!"

"Heh, yeah right!" Shorty shouted. "All of it! You're just say that because you're my goodie-four-paws little brother's friends. Bron's real son."

"No Shorty, we really do care about you!" Ruby insisted. "All of us!"

"That's right!" Petrie agreed. "See? Even Cera does!"

Sure enough, Cera bounded onto the scene. "Hang on Shorty, don't do anything stupid!"

"I knew it, you think I'm stupid," Shorty said smugly. "Some friend you are."

"Ugh, that's not what I mean!" Cera shouted angrily. "Look, we got in a big fight, but that doesn't mean I don't like you! Turns out you were kinda right about my dad."

"What's this, you admitting you're wrong?" Shorty smirked.

"Yeah, well I don't care, I'm worried for you," Cera said, causing Ruby, Petrie and Chomper to look at Cera in surprise. "And I don't say that when I don't mean it!"

"You four are pathetic," Shorty smirked. "Even worse than I am! You just want to prolong my misery. So get out of the way and let me get my sucky life over with!"

"No!" they all shouted back.

"You don't care for me, none of you!" Shorty roared. "If you did, you'd let me become sharptooth food!"

"Never Shorty!" called another voice, and bounding out toward the mountain was Littlefoot, thoroughly out of breath. "Look who it is, Daddy's golden boy," Shorty smirked. "The perfect one who never did anything out of line."

"Shorty, stop this!" Littlefoot called out. "We all care about you too much! Especially me Shorty … You're my brother! You're my family!"

And with that, Shorty finally stopped writhing and turned to look at the five of them. As he stepped toward Littlefoot, he looked at him. "Heh, easy for you to say, Dad's real son," he sneered. "Whose mom and dad always loved you so much, and you never had any question about that. What did I get, huh? A family who never wanted me and now my adoptive father isn't speaking to me!"

"Shorty, I ... I think Dad's wrong on this," Littlefoot said. "He shouldn't have left you alone like that. But I only think he did that because he loves you. He was trying to prevent you from getting banished. And though it might not seem like it, I think he was trying to help you. Just like we are doing right now. Your dad loves you, Shorty ... And so do I."

"You … You really mean that?" Shorty asked.

"Yes Shorty," Littlefoot said gently. "You're my brother … I know we're not related by blood, but ... Well ... When I was little, even though I had my friends, I didn't have any brothers and sisters. I even told my grandparents I wish my mom had given me a brother. But ever since I met you, well ... It's kinda funny, but ever since then, I never felt like that again."

Shorty looked at Littlefoot for a moment before snorting. "Pleh! That's only because your dad told you to say that crap."

"Everything I said is how I really feel, Shorty! And he's your dad too!" Littlefoot insisted.

"Of course you'd say that," Shorty mocked. "How could you possibly know what I'm going through?"

"I can't, really," Littlefoot answered simply. "I know you must have been through things I can't imagine ... But well … I think I might have some idea, remember?"

Shorty paused in puzzlement before slowly, a look of comprehension dawned onto his face, and looking into Littlefoot's eyes, he sat down. "You mean … You were …"

"That's right," Littlefoot said gently, putting a paw on Shorty bracingly. "When my grandparents left me, I … I didn't think I could handle it," Littlefoot admitted, with a sigh. "I just missed them so much, you know? And through all the pain I was feeling, I was in a very dark place. Where I thought all hope was lost, and nothing could possibly bring it back. And I thought about my mother then too, and about all I lost ... And that could end the ache in my heart and be with them all sooner if I just ended it all," Littlefoot said seriously. "And well, you saw what I did."

Shorty paused thoughtfully as Littlefoot continued, "But in that moment … I forgot how much my friends cared about me. They came through for me just as they always did. They were always there for me, just as we are always here for you."

Shorty paused in thought as Littlefoot said, "I know you feel lost," Littlefoot said warmly. "But we're your friends, and well, you'll never truly be alone as we'll be at your side forever."

Shorty nodded slowly, before shaking his head. "Maybe," he said slowly, "But still ... You don't understand. You never will. You have a dad who loves you. And even though your mom and grandparents are gone … They've always loved you. And … You've got a soulmate. I've seen the way the two of you look at each other. No one could ever care about me like that."

But just as he said that, Ali arrived, out of breath as she hurriedly hustled in. Having been running and frantically looking for Shorty both in the Valley and in the Mysterious Beyond longer than any of the others, she had pushed herself to the limit, and as she arrived, she skidded in, flopping onto her belly, for her legs could not carry her any further.

"Ali?" Shorty said blankly. "You … You came?"

"Of course," Ali panted. "Please Shorty … I know Earl said some awful stuff. But ... Please don't do this. I … I care for you too much."

"You do?" Shorty asked slowly as Ali nodded. "Even after what Earl told you? You still like me?"

"I do," Ali nodded. "I know you've got to get through some things, but I can see the good inside you, and well …" she giggled slightly before saying, "What can I say? I still like you," she giggled, before leaning in to give Shorty a quick peck on the cheek.

Everyone gasped as Shorty began to blubber bewilderedly. Littlefoot, however, saw something else. Unlike the times she made similar gestures to him and to Petrie, a clear, unmistakable blush had appeared on her face as she demurely lowered it to the ground, as her eyes began to soften and water a bit, and a sweet grin began to slowly spread. Which was certainly more of a reaction than the affectionate, innocent nuzzles she gave him and Petrie when they were young, in which they were the ones who had reacted ...

Shorty stuttered, his eyes widening. For a moment, it looked like he was trying to say something but in the end he only nodded weakly. "Why? Why'd you all come for me?" he eventually asked to break the long awkward silence.

"Because we're your friends," Littlefoot said kindly. "We all care about you very much. And we were worried for you."

"You really were, huh?" Shorty asked.

"Well, duh," Cera said teasingly. "You think we went through the Mysterious Beyond to find you for fun?" she asked as the others laughed, and even Shorty laughed a little.

"Boy, I was being a rockhead, wasn't I?" Shorty muttered.

"You think?" Cera asked before Littlefoot said warmly. "All that matters is that you got through it, and we're all very happy for you, but especially proud of you."

"Yeah!" Chomper exclaimed, before he began singing, "I feel so happy I want everyone to see …"

"We get the idea, Chomper," Cera smirked, to which Chomper giggled and Shorty smirked.

"Hey, have you guys seen Ducky and Spike?" Littlefoot asked the others.

"Uh …" Ruby thought aloud.

"Me go look," Petrie said, but Chomper cut him off.

"You don't need to, I can smell them. They're coming right now," Chomper said, in an oddly tense voice. "Only they're not alone!"

Sure enough, Ducky and Spike arrived on top of the hill, both looking exhausted and with a look of terror in their eyes. "What's wrong now?" Cera asked exasperatedly.

"Sharpteeth are following us, they are!" Ducky cried out.

"What? Now?" Petrie asked, shocked.

"I guess sharpteeth will be wherever leafeaters are," Ruby said reasonably.

Cera then looked to Shorty. "All right, bumphead. You got us into this mess. How the …"

"I know, okay?" Shorty replied. "And that's why I've got to fix it. I'm gonna battle them myself, and you guys don't need to help me."

"Shorty, don't!" Littlefoot shouted as Ali looked at him in shock, but Shorty ignored him and started heading the other way. But before anyone could do anything else, Ali began to follow after him. Shorty quickly turned and looked at her seriously. "You stay back."

"Shorty, please!" Ali said. "I … I mean we, can help you!"

Shorty snorted. "No one else get involved. Especially you. Uh no offense … Uh … Because you haven't gotten into trouble like the others have!"

And charging away, Shorty headed off to meet the sharpteeth. Ali was about to take a step forward, but Littlefoot said, "Don't worry Ali, we'll make sure he's safe."

"Besides, he's a big guy, he can handle some dumb old sharpteeth … No offense," said Cera.

"None taken," Chomper smiled. "But maybe we don't need to fight them! Maybe I can try talking! They wouldn't really want to take on a boxhead who'd fight back! Let alone all of us."

So Chomper issued a warning call to the sharpteeth, threatening them in sharptooth, and then, curiously, a mumbling roar replied, to which another one curtly responded. Chomper paused as the rest of the gang intently waited. "What did they say Chomper?" Littlefoot asked curiously.

"Well," Chomper said puzzledly. "One said they had no choice, and another said to shut up."

"I wonder what that was about," Littlefoot said.

"Who cares," Cera interrupted. "If they're thinking about attacking Shorty, let's get them!"

"Yes!" Ali agreed at once, and spurred on by Ali's curious and uncharacteristic determination to fight, the gang raced forward.

They arrived just as Shorty began exchanging blows with his pursuers. Interestingly, the group attacking him was a large, mixed-species pack, consisting mostly of fast biters, but a few horned sharpteeth and smaller browridges littered the group as well. However, one sharptooth stood out from the rest of the pack. It was the only twoclaw in the group, with a bright scarlet skin color and large, piercing turquoise eyes. It was about Chomper's size, but that's where their similarities ended. While Chomper was relatively skinny for his kind due to his preference for lean meat, he was still stocky and big-boned. This twoclaw, however, was svelte, had proportionately much longer, leaner legs, and had a jaw that while smaller than Chomper's, had just as large teeth that were bared in a sinister smirk. And while not participating in the battle itself, it seemed to be the unquestionable leader of its pack, roaring orders to the others as they snapped and bit.

Shorty, meanwhile, seemed to be impervious to the attacks of the sharpteeth. Every time a sharptooth got too close, Shorty slightly reared, putting his legs out of danger as he tried to crush the sharpteeth as he pounded them back into the ground. But the sharpteeth were too agile, and dodged Shorty's counterattacks with ease.

"Let's give them one last warning," Littlefoot said, to which Chomper nodded and as they all posed determinedly, Chomper roared, getting the pack's attention.

They all paused and looked at one another in hesitation. But then they turned to face the scarlet sharptooth, who made a growl that almost sounded like a snort, and once again, the sharpteeth continued their attack.

"Well, they've asked for it," Cera said matter-of-factly as she dashed toward the pack of sharpteeth. The others followed, and soon, they found themselves in a full-on brawl with the sharpteeth. Littlefoot, Cera, Spike were fighting a few fast biters a piece, Petrie dropped rocks on the ground-bound sharpteeth's heads, while Ducky and Ruby, being less skilled at combat, kept an eye out for sneak attacks. And after several grueling clashes, the gang's size advantages and use of their skills were paying off, for they were able to whip, horn, bombard, spike, and stomp their opponents with ease, although they got several painful slashes from the fast biters' thick claws, especially to their front paws.

Chomper meanwhile, tried to individually convince members of the pack that it wasn't a good idea to attack his friends. Emphasizing the danger this fight had entailed, he argued they would get an easier meal somewhere else, for there was not much more challenging than taking on fully-grown, young, healthy large adult dinosaurs. And while not actually fighting, Chomper's words proved to be just as effective. Many of them paused to listen, and some of them, especially the ones that were wounded, saw his reasoning and left, though they seemed to look back in fear as they did.

Other fast biters however, were far less cooperative. No matter how many times they were knocked down, pushed aside, or even bloodily injured, they refused to give up and continually sprang attacks on Littlefoot, Cera and Spike. This perturbed the three of them, who had often held back from landing full blows on the fast biters. They knew that they must have desperately been struggling to find food in the even harsher Mysterious Beyond of late, and the three of them didn't want to kill anyone unnecessarily, even if such concerns didn't seem to bother the fast biters.

"You'd think they'd be grateful we're not killing them," Cera sighed exasperatedly. "Most of them, anyway," she said, after dispatching one particular fast biter who was snarling ferociously while sprawled upon the ground.

"Yeah," Littlefoot said sadly, having to pound another one down, who was relentlessly continuing to chomp down on his foot. "At least Chomper's convincing some of them to stop fighting." Spike meanwhile let out a cry of pain, but luckily, Petrie was there to drop a stone right on the fast biter's head, while Ducky quickly worked to bandage the wound.

Continuing to fight to the death was unfortunately something far too many of the fast biters did, so much so that by the time the skirmish was over, they had to kill roughly as many sharpteeth as Chomper convinced to retreat. All the same, several of the fast biters had managed to get some teeth stuck in their fleshy front pads, which made walking on them painful, and forcing them to walk in a clumsy biped way in a dysfunctional attempt to avoid digging the teeth in further.

The scarlet sharptooth meanwhile, had led the bigger sharpteeth to the two biggest longnecks. While some of them cornered Ali off, the rest of them made a beeline straight to Shorty. The prospect of taking down a boxhead, which would last several passings of the Bright Circle even for many large sharpteeth, was too good for many of the starving sharpteeth struggling to find food in the still-burned Mysterious Beyond to pass up, and so unflinchingly and recklessly tried attacking the giant boxhead.

As Shorty braced himself, he gritted his teeth as he tried to concentrate on his attackers. Unlike his friends growing up in the peaceful Great Valley, he had grown up watching his herd battle sharptooth attacks and was accustomed to showing them no mercy. As many of them tried jumping up to claw onto Shorty's side, all Shorty had to do was move slightly, and the force generated by his body was more than enough to knock them off balance and send them falling to the ground. However, as he tried to drill his massive paw down on a grounded sharptooth, the sharpteeth kept on escaping, either by darting away quick enough to avoid Shorty's powerful but slow attacks, or by the aid of other sharpteeth taking an opportunity to make their move. All the while, Shorty couldn't help but look behind the corner of his eye, watching Ali deal with three large sharpteeth. His heart panged as he thought about her fighting the sharpteeth. It had been his fault that they were all in this mess … If only he was not so stupid …

"Need help?" came a gentle voice, and feeling a rush of sweetness pass over him, he felt Ali join his side, evidently having broken through the three sharpteeth, who had come to join the others in the attack. But then with a high-pitched shriek, the sharpteeth abruptly quieted down, and while some formed a protective wall to block Ali and Shorty from attacking, most of them had turned to face the twoclaw, who surveyed the other sharpteeth intently. Though Ali and Shorty couldn't understand a word, they could hear the twoclaw talking to the others in clicks and growls as they listened intently.

"That must be the pack leader," Ali whispered in wonder. Through all her experiences with sharptooth attacks, she had never seen a sharptooth actually give its packmates orders.

"Well, that just means I've gotta kill it," Shorty said simply, and at once, he took a step toward the sharpteeth.

"Shorty, wait!" Ali cried out, but it was too late. As Shorty took a few steps toward the lead sharptooth, its packmates watching them instantly lunged at all four of his feet, bringing him down. Ali tried to help, but other sharpteeth succeeded in grounding her, bringing her down as well. Losing blood and in intense pain, the two screamed in desperation, but with the others still fighting a large squadron of snarling fast biters, they were unable to come to their aid. Ali and Shorty tried using their tails to fight off the sharpteeth, but they dodged every whip with apparent ease.

The twoclaw meanwhile ravenously watched both of them, licking its lips in a smirk as it lightly stepped forward, right toward Shorty's chest. It had an unmistakable sneer on its face as it positioned itself, preparing to make a lunge right at Shorty's heart …

Then suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. At once, the sharpteeth lost their grip on Ali and Shorty's legs and were knocked to the ground, and as the shaking continuing and getting worse, the sharpteeth found it harder and harder to get up. This gave Ali and Shorty, who were heavier and less affected by the earthshake, critical time to rise back onto their legs, and with the ground preventing the sharpteeth from getting a good balance, they were unable to launch a counterattack. As the twoclaw gave a roar of frustration, it abruptly made a last ditch effort to leap onto Shorty's chest again, resuming its pursuit for the heart. Ready for it this time however, Ali aimed her tail right at Shorty's chest, and while causing Shorty to flinch, hit the leaping sharptooth with a giant slap. The twoclaw plummeted to the ground, and with a sickening crunch, Ali and Shorty saw it land, its leg twisted, and despite its scarlet skin, they could still plainly see a bloody whiplash mark on its right hip.

Ali looked down at the fallen twoclaw, wondering if the force of her attack had killed it. However, it quickly stirred and stumbling as it got up, it rapidly glared at Ali with its piercing eyes. To her surprise, the sharptooth's eyes were not one of desperate, ravenous hunger, but filled with pure, venomous malice directed at her, almost as though it bore a personal grudge. But no sooner had Ali saw this when the source of the noise was revealed. Two gigantic longnecks, one a whiptail in a shade of mauve, the other a boxhead in a dark gray shade arrived. They towered over Ali and Shorty, and made the sharpteeth they were facing seem tiny by comparison.

With one whiplash, the whiptail brutally knocked two horned sharpteeth down, cracking their necks while a browridge got pounded by the boxhead's massive foot. At this point, the sharpteeth, their ranks already depleted and now with these two new combatants rapidly turning the battle's tide, knew the odds were against them, and they began exchanging glances with the twoclaw desperately. With a shriek and a vengeful growl, the twoclaw ordered its remaining followers to retreat as it limped away, surrounded by several of the other large sharpteeth, almost like a guard to protect it.

As what was left of the sharptooth pack retreated, the others joined up with Ali and Shorty, Littlefoot, Cera and Spike stumbling as they did from puncture wounds. Their wounds were not as deep as Ali and Shorty's however, who had deep gashes to their legs from the persistent sharptooth attacks, and streams of blood trickling down to the ground.

Ali looked up at the two longnecks. "Thanks for helping us with the sharpteeth," she said simply.

"Of course," said the whiptail, who despite her age, had a soft, almost girlish tone to her voice. Then she eyed Shorty curiously, and then looked at Littlefoot. "Is it just me or are you the two boys who with awfully cute names who sat on my head once?"