Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter!
This time, we've got a special announcement, though if you've visited my DeviantArt or Fanfiction profile pages, you know what this is already. I want to reward my readers with a treat, so be sure to stick around for the opportunity at the end. Special thanks to users Greymonfire108, Zee Docking and The Jewelstone Queen for already taking advantage of the opportunity, the results of which you can see in this chapter. Special thanks also to Zee Docking, whose suggestion of a Cera-Ducky talk really helped flesh out this chapter.
Also, I've got a new Reference Page up for the story. Make sure to check that out if you want some details! Because of the time-sensitive nature of these current chapters and the dual stories of the gang and inside the Valley, I will be putting up days since Chomper and Shorty were accused, as they only have 10 in which they must be saved.
Okay, Land Before Time belongs to Universal, and here we go!
Chapter 24 – One Tough Dino
Day 1 – Mysterious Beyond
When the Bright Circle rose the next morning, it revealed a desolate, dried out sandy brushland covered with large rocks yet hardly a tree in sight. But by far the largest thing in the area was a sleeping pile of five young dinosaurs, closely snuggled together with one another as they sighed dreamily in their sleep, warm smiles spread across all of their faces.
Someone else on the other hand had woken up just as the Bright Circle began to shine. The golden-colored flyer stretched her wings out as she sat up, looking at her unfamiliar surroundings. Then she remembered. The handsome young flyer, who in the face of the crisis breaking out in the Great Valley, had made a mad dash to save his and his friends' wedding prints. She smirked. He too, just like the longneck he was cuddled next to, reminded her of her cousin who put her head in the mouth of a sharptooth to help a friend. Luckily, she was there that time to prevent anything bad from happening.
It then occurred to her that she couldn't remember anything after her effort to save him. She realized then that she must have fallen unconscious and he must have taken her out the Valley, and that if it hadn't been for him, she could have easily been killed in her sleep. Perhaps their recklessness was rubbing off on her …
"They're the same ol' kids, all right," Etta muttered, smiling as she saw each of them twitching in their sleep, still with unmistakable grins. "They may be a lot bigger, but the way they bond with one another, you'd think they're family." Then she looked at the wedding prints lying slightly off to the side, next to which were two pairs of small footprints where unbeknownst to Etta, the Rainbow Faces had stood. "Well, I better hold onto those for safekeeping," she said, shuffling over to the wedding prints and taking them in her hands.
It was then that the sleeping gang finally began to stretch and slowly began to awaken. First little Petrie moved, then Ducky. Then Spike, then Cera, and then at last, Littlefoot. Etta chuckled. They moved in just the right order to prevent anyone from getting squished. It was as if they had woken up together like this their whole lives.
"Rise and shine, kiddos," she walked over to them.
"Etta, you're awake!" Littlefoot exclaimed.
Etta chuckled. "I'm still not used to hearing your voice change, Littlefoot," she smiled. "If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were your father."
Etta paused, having just realized she had trod on potentially sensitive ground now that the young ones were cut off from their families back in the Valley. What she didn't expect however, was the triumphant grins upon each of their faces.
"You all're acting like you came out of the same ol' sleep story," Etta said, shaking her head in bewilderment.
"Yeah, so what if we did?" Cera smirked significantly at the others, who were only doing slightly better at concealing their grins.
"All right then, so who's ready to save the Great Valley?" Littlefoot asked, and shocked, Etta saw that at once, the others all cheered, their eyes blazing with fierce determination.
Etta shook her head and facepalmed. How could they, having just escaped the Great Valley, be stupid enough to go right back to the place where they had nearly been killed? Hurriedly, Etta said, "Um, I hate to be a party pooper, but don't you realize there's a big angry mob back there just waiting to beat you to a pulp?"
"We know Etta," Littlefoot laughed with a knowing smirk. "But we're not going to see the mob."
"Oh no no no," Ducky said happily. "For we have a secret hideout right at the edge of the Great Valley, we do!"
"That bad guys no know about!" Petrie added as Spike happily shook his head and grunted.
Etta stared in disbelief. "You sure you kiddos aren't on any of those spiky flowers?"
"Oh no no no," Ducky laughed, thinking back to Dispo's predicament.
"We see way too much of spiky flowers," Petrie agreed.
"Well I'll be," Etta smiled in wonder. "You sure come up with the darnedest things."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Cera said impatiently. "Let's stop talking and …"
"Hold on there, you go-getters," Etta said. "How do you know which way to get home?"
"Uh …" Littlefoot paused, racking his brain. Running away from something was a lot easier than finding your way back. Not knowing which whey they had to go, it was time to do their tried and true method of navigation …
"Petrie, can you fly up and check what way the Great Valley is?" Littlefoot asked.
"You got it," Petrie said, and flew high up into the skies in an effort to navigate. As he floated through the sky puffies, he looked down to see if he could see the Great Valley. Unfortunately, a thin layer of sky puffies were blocking his vision, and he knew he needed to look for the Valley a lower height, which in turn reduced his breadth of vision. Thus, he was forced to fly outward in different directions, trying to find which way the Valley could be …
"What's taking him so long?" Cera asked after a while, getting annoyed. "The mob could be halfway on our tails right now."
"Oh, do not worry Cera," Ducky said reassuringly. "I do not think the mob will be …"
But she never got to finish her sentence, for at that moment, everybody screamed. Four one-horned sharpteeth, not the biggest of sharpteeth but still formidable adversaries nonetheless, especially in packs, had closed in on them.
"Oh great," Cera said, shaking her head. "Now we've got these rockheads."
"Here we go again," Littlefoot sighed. Then it suddenly dawned on him how vulnerable they were compared to last time. For starters, there was no Shorty or Ali to take on the biggest sharpteeth, let alone a last-minute rescue from Sue and Ross. Nor was there Chomper and along with him their ability to speak to sharpteeth and also their speediest, scariest and most lethal member. Ruby also wasn't there to provide valuable support with her quick speed and nimble hands, and now even Petrie, being forced to navigate and unable to hear them, was gone, unable to drop rocks on the heads of their opponents.
"I still can't fly very good," Etta said apologetically, revealing how bruised her wing was. "So I ain't much use in a fight."
Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike sighed. They only had the four of each other so long as Petrie was still navigating, and now that they had to protect Etta, they had more than just their own bodies to worry about …
As the four sharpeeth crowded in, Littlefoot, Cera and Spike sprang into action. Spike swung his spiked tail, Cera lowered her frill, and Littlefoot got his tail at the ready. But upon looking at each other, they realized they were crowding one another. They were too close, for if they were to launch their full attacks, they could potentially risk hurting one another. So they had to move outward, forming a triangle to protect Etta and Ducky, each covering one side.
They had just barely adjusted their positions when the sharpteeth drew in. Roaring and with gnashing teeth, a sharptooth each began to engage with Littlefoot, Cera and Spike. It was then that they began to realize how hungry and exhausted they were. The gang hadn't eaten since they were last in the Secret Spot, and since that time, they had to fight the group of rogue leafeaters, break up their relatives from fighting, and hightail it out of the Great Valley and go deep into the Mysterious Beyond, all the while suffering from a lack of sleep due to how long the day's events drew out. This manifested in them feeling slightly dizzy as they stood, their stomachs feeling very hollow, their physical strength not seeming to be quite top-notch, and only the danger of the situation was enough to keep them sufficiently alert.
Luckily, horned sharpteeth had their share of vulnerabilities. While almost as long as Cera and Spike from front to back, they were relative lightweights, and would be easily knocked aside by any strength attack that Littlefoot, Cera or Spike could muster. In addition, their skulls were long and narrow, meaning their bite, while still painful, didn't have anywhere near the bonecrushing capabilities of twoclaws or browridges, and if they could prevent the fight from dragging out too long, they could limit any potential damage.
Unfortunately, their lighter build did make the horned sharpteeth quite fast, so while they were not physically strong, they were able to easily dodge Littlefoot, Cera and Spike's direct attacks, especially given their slowed reactions. Curiously, the sharpteeth didn't seem interested in attacking back. Rather, they seemed content to wait and take their time.
"Maybe they're waiting for us to get tired," Littlefoot huffed as he lashed his tail out at a sharptooth, only for the sharptooth to rush further away, yards out of range of being hit.
"Yeah, and I hate it," Cera growled, as she tried charging into a sharptooth only for the sharptooth to jump well out of the way and force Cera to halt as the sharptooth turned around to attack at another angle.
It soon became apparent however, what the sharpteeth were up to. By moving outward, the quick-moving sharpteeth were drawing the gang further away from one another, so that their once tight-knit triangle had changed into a very large one, where the gang could barely hear one another due to sheer distance. And they didn't really realize the sharpteeth's strategy until they could hear ….
"You will not hurt Etta, oh no no no!" came a desperate cry.
Turning, Littlefoot, Cera and Spike saw that while they had each been fighting a sharptooth, the fourth sharptooth had managed to get all the way over to Ducky and Etta. Unlike their three sharpteeth however, Ducky's sharptooth was not afraid to get close to her. Growling with determination as it made a snap for her arm, Ducky was only able to just barely dodge its vicious bite. Drool coating its lips, the sharptooth tried making another lunge for Ducky, only for Ducky to grab it by the tail. With a great heave, Ducky struggled to move the relatively light sharptooth into the air as it snapped its jaws ferociously and roared. "Get away from us!" she shouted as it swung from her grasp.
Then, the sharptooth swerved, and with a lightning quick motion, made a well-aimed bite right at Ducky's belly. It broke through her skin, and Ducky screamed as she was knocked backward butt-first onto the ground, losing her grip on the sharptooth in the process. As Littlefoot, Cera and Spike gasped in horror, they had completely forgotten about their sharpteeth, who had made a dash toward Ducky's fallen form. smelling fresh blood …
"No!" Littlefoot and Cera both screamed, and even Spike shouted, "Ducky!" And as fast as they could, the three larger dinosaurs turned around and ran straight toward Ducky. But the agile sharpteeth were much quicker and had already gotten to Ducky just as they started moving. While Ducky managed to get back up, she was now facing four sharpteeth at once, and Littlefoot, Cera and Spike could feel their blood pressure spike as they realized the danger she was in. Though she had grown a lot, Ducky was much lighter than they were, still being able to ride on all three of them without much trouble, and even being able to take downward rides on Petrie's back. And unlike them, Ducky lacked natural bodily defenses, and while she could aim punches and kicks at her opponents if they got too close, she was much slower than the swift sharpteeth. As Etta desperately tried to warn Ducky of the dangers around her, she couldn't keep up fast enough, and the sharpteeth landed several more bites to her belly and tail, leaving behind several gory gashes.
As Ducky screamed in pain and struggling to stand up, the four sharpteeth were all getting into position, looking at Ducky hungrily. Racing toward her, Littlefoot, Cera and Spike knew in horror just how much damage the sharpteeth could land. While they were not strong enough to bring Ducky down individually, if the sharpteeth all made a concentrated effort, they could knock her down, pin her to the ground, and move in for the kill …
"Oh no you don't!" Cera screamed angrily, hurling herself at one of the sharpteeth and headbutting it behind her.
"You're not hurting Ducky!" Littlefoot exclaimed, extending his whiptail to knock one of the sharpteeth down.
Spike in all his rage at seeing his sister attacked meanwhile charged right into two sharpteeth, careening his body right into one of them, killing it with the sheer force of his impact and knocking the other down with his tail.
Ducky could only watch with wide, fear-filled eyes as she saw each of her friends begin to fight with a remaining sharptooth. She couldn't believe how livid and hateful each of her friends' narrowed eyes looked, devoid of all pity as they began to attack the sharpteeth mercilessly. Littlefoot was flogging his sharptooth with his whiptail, pounding it into the ground as it shrieked and writhed as he gritted his teeth, Cera was hammering her front paw down on her sharptooth's neck, glaring at it with sheer fury and cutting off its air as it gasped for breath, and Spike was angriest of all, his mouth twisted into a contorted grimace and loathsome leer as he dug his thagomizer as deeply as he could into the sharptooth's belly, holding its tail down with his paws.
Before long, all the sharpteeth were dead, and after one last chilling glare at their dead bodies, Littlefoot's, Cera's, and Spike's expressions softened as they turned to look at one another, Ducky and Etta. As they drew closer, Ducky saw that they were limping, and what she thought was dirt and dust on their legs actually covered numerous wounds … Wounds that she was completely powerless to stop …
"Way to go, guys!" Etta congratulated as Littlefoot, Cera and Spike collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. "You really handled those sharpteeth! You can handle anything I reckon!"
"You think so?" Cera asked eagerly, huffing with exhaustion.
"You bet," Etta said, turning to Littlefoot. "And I know your dad would be proud of ya."
"Thanks Etta," Littlefoot smiled gently.
Spike meanwhile, nuzzled Ducky, looking plaintively into her eyes with a soft grunt, asking if she was all right. Ducky tearfully smiled at her little brother. It was hard to believe he had gotten so terrifyingly mad, and how much hate there had been in his, Littlefoot's, and Cera's eyes … No, it wasn't hate. It was love, love that looked like hate because of their fear of something happening to her … Because they loved her so much … And she couldn't do anything to show her love for them in return …
"Are you all right, Ducky?" Littlefoot asked concernedly as he and Cera stared at their friend.
"Me?" Ducky asked, battling back the tears in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was her friends to worry on her behalf, when they already went out and did what she couldn't …
"Oh … Of course, yep, yep … yep … I just want a little space for a while."
And unsteadily, Ducky stood up, her head held low, tail dragging and body drooping as she slowly sidled across the barren, rocky ground, making sure to keep her eyes out of everyone's sight.
Ducky kept on walking, without any sense of direction as to where she was going. But in truth, it didn't matter. Nor actually did she. For while her friends had so valiantly fought off the sharpteeth, she was completely useless. While they could whip, horn, or spike to attack their adversaries, not to mention their formidable sizes being enough to take down any sharptooth, she had no way of helping them. Even Petrie was a better fighter than she was, for as at least he could fly and drop boulders on enemies' heads, and Ruby was fast and nimble … She was just big and slow, yet also weak and clumsy. The odd one out of the group that any sharptooth would have their eyes on for dinner … The one who always had to be protected, putting her friends' lives in danger as they always had to focus on saving her …
"You're not okay, are you?" came a pointed, yet soft voice.
It was a statement, not a question. Turning, Ducky looked and saw Cera solemnly approaching her. Ducky sighed. She knew she couldn't shake Cera off, no matter how much she wanted to – the threehorn was far too stubborn from that. And Cera plainly could see right through her vain attempts to sound fine. This was just another failure on her part, something else she couldn't do right …
Sighing, Ducky sat down on the rocky ground, pulling her knees in as she wrapped her arms around them, hanging her head as she didn't answer, waiting for Cera to approach. "The others are still back there waiting for Petrie. It's just you and me."
Still, Ducky said nothing, not even looking at Cera. Cera looked at Ducky thoughtfully. This wasn't really her style, but it certainly was Ducky's …
"There, there, it's okay," Cera said gently as she wrapped a paw around her back. Slowly, Ducky lifted her head and blinked her eyes open as she felt Cera's warm body cradle her. This was a side of Cera Ducky knew that she reserved just for her, almost as if Cera was the big sister she never had …
Her eyes still teary, Ducky leaned in to hug Cera back, placing both her hands on either one of Cera's sides as Cera stroked her gently. For a while, they just sat there, embracing one another and keeping each other safe. But then Ducky heard the words she knew had to come eventually. "Tell me what's going on."
Ducky sighed as she looked at Cera's concerned face tearfully. "I am useless in big fights, I am," Ducky said sadly. "I do not like fighting, oh no no no. That is not who I am inside. But I do not want to see my friends get hurt trying to keep me safe ... Getting hurt all because of me."
"You're not useless," Cera said, almost automatically. "You helped keep Etta safe during the fight."
"Maybe," Ducky said doubtfully. "But none of you guys got hurt until those sharpteeth all went after me. Now you are all hurt … All because of me, because I cannot do anything helpful, no no no …"
Cera stared thoughtfully. It was unlike Ducky to give such negative self-talk. But she did have a fair point. There was no point denying that of the five of them, apart from Petrie who more than made up for it with his flight, Ducky was physically the weakest of the group, and with a large body full of meat and no bodily armor to protect her, she would naturally be the preferred target of sharpteeth. She thought of all sorts of ways that she could keep Ducky safe while at the same time boosting her self-esteem, but nothing came. That was, until she remembered the story her father told her in threehorn trainings, and even when she and Littlefoot went to her parents' place for dinner … And suddenly, it all became clear to her.
"Of course!" Cera exclaimed, springing to her feet. "Why didn't I think of it before?"
Ducky looked confused. "Think of what?" she asked blankly.
Cera just grinned. "Trust me, Ducky. I've got it all figured out."
Littlefoot stared as Cera and Ducky arrived back. It looked as though they had a mind transplant. Whereas Ducky, while not crying anymore, was looking doubtful and pessimistic, looking at Cera with puzzlement, Cera was positively ebullient, her eyes alive and struggling to keep it all in.
"Are you two all right?" Littlefoot asked, trying not to disturb Etta, who had taken a nap.
"Just wait till you guys hear this!" Cera exclaimed as Ducky shrugged. "Where's Petrie?" she asked breathlessly.
"Uh …" Littlefoot said, but at that moment, Petrie had just descended and perched himself on Littlefoot's back. "Good news! Me found way to Great Valley. It that …" Then he saw the look on his mate's face. "Ducky? You all right?"
"She will be," Cera interrupted. "Once she hears what I've gotta say!"
Petrie looked blankly at Littlefoot, who could only shrug back. Cera however, began to pace, and Littlefoot knew that once she got like this, there was no stopping her.
"Okay gang," she spat out, as if she was about to vomit from holding it all in. "We got beat up pretty bad, didn't we?"
"What?" Petrie asked as Littlefoot, Ducky and Spike all nodded.
"Of course we did. Because all this time, we've been fighting the wrong way!" Cera exclaimed, her eyes blazing. "But what if there's a way where we can clobber anyone without getting hurt? What if there's a way to fight where Ducky will never have to feel bad about herself again?"
Everyone stared, and now she had their attention, Cera visibly began to smirk, feeling so proud and satisfied with what she was about to say …
"All right. I suppose I've never told you guys about threehorn training, have I?" she asked as the others looked blankly. "Of course I haven't. I always hated it, and thought it was a waste of time. Why would I wanna be stuck with a bunch of bossy threehorns when I could be having adventures and get all the practice I need? But it did have one technique called the Circular Cohesive, which even I thought was cool. It's all about the herd joining together as one, and was how the grownups defended hatchlings from sharpteeth, see?"
"Oh yeah!" Littlefoot exclaimed, remembering his father-in-law's story as Cera nodded encouragingly. "Cera's dad told us about it! He said that his old herd stood in a big circle to protect their hatchlings, their horns at the ready in case any sharpteeth attacked! And that way, no sharpteeth could sneak in and hurt anyone!"
"But we no have horns," Petrie said quickly, looking at them as if to make sure they weren't growing any.
Cera shook her head. "I know that! But we've got something even better … A killer move that no single-species herd can do … Something I'll call the Cross-Strength Cohesive!"
Grinning broadly, Cera turned to Spike excitedly. "Spike, get behind Ducky."
Perplexedly, Spike did. Satisfied, Cera continued, "Petrie, fly above Ducky's head."
Petrie did. "Littlefoot, you're by Ducky's side."
Littlefoot obliged, before Cera backed up in front of Ducky, taking her place with a triumphant smirk. "Hee! We're all in formation! We're all … one tough dino!"
The others still looked confused, except for Littlefoot, as a flicker of comprehension began to appear in his eyes, noticing how Cera was in the front and Spike was in the back. "Wait … Are we doing what Mono, Rachelle, Oplax and Perri did with that shieldback skeleton? With Mono and Rachelle's horns at the front and Oplax's clubtail at the back?"
"Yup!" Cera grinned. "Only we're so tough we don't need the skeleton. Because between us, we've got everything! I've got the horns, and Spike's got the tail, so we've got both ends covered. As for you Littlefoot, you wanna know why Dad's always complained about longnecks? Because you can do things even we threehorns can't!"
"I guess we can see farther," Littlefoot said thoughtfully. "Because we're taller. We're heavier so we can squish anyone that gets too close. And we've got that whiptail that can hit enemies from far away."
"Yeah, but there's even more than that. For instance, try whipping your tail on the ground!"
"Like this?" Littlefoot said, whipping his tail hard on the ground. While it hurt, it did make a crackling sound which temporarily shook everyone for a moment.
"Yeah!" Cera exclaimed. "That sound hurts everyone's ears, just like Perri's scream did! Now try getting really, really, really mad … And let it all out with one big stomp!"
Littlefoot closed his eyes, trying to relive the moments in which Ducky was in grave danger. As the wrath began to coarse through him again, he slammed his foot to the ground, creating a minor yet feelable earthshake, that even caused Ducky to wobble a little.
"Hee!" Cera cheered. "That's just right! Because guess what? We're heavier than most sharpteeth! It's not bad enough to knock us down, but those sharpteeth will fall straight to the ground and smash their bones!" Turning to Petrie, she said, "Petrie, you know what to do, right?"
"Yeah," Petrie said. "Me drop rocks on heads of sharpteeth. And maybe me blind them if they get distracted."
"Yep!" Cera said. "Just keep on hitting them from above and they'll keep on falling!"
They paused, trying to take it all in. One thing was for sure, as awkward as moving in this way would be, it had its advantages. Apart from Petrie who was safely in the skies and brought little defensive value, they didn't need to spread apart to take on sharpteeth. And apart from Littlefoot who had a wide variety of techniques at his disposal, they only really needed to focus on honing their primary modes of combat. They could even move together like this, for unlike the threehorn version, they were all facing the same direction and could keep on traveling while fighting. But there was still one problem.
"Um … Cera?" Ducky asked tentatively, not wanting to burst Cera's bubble. "This sounds really great, but … You guys are all still having to protect me. And I cannot do anything to help you."
Cera however, only smiled. "This reminds me of something Daddy taught me. He says that the best offense is a good defense, and the best defense is a good offense."
Ducky still looked puzzled. "I am sorry, Cera … I still do not understand."
"Let me put it like this," Cera explained, smiling triumphantly. "All this time, we've been fighting with Littlefoot, Spike and I on offense, for we're the ones going out and inflicting damage on our opponents. But what if I tell you we've got it all backwards? What if it should be Littlefoot, Spike and I who are on defense, and the two of you that should be on offense?"
Ducky and Petrie looked at each other. "Us?" they both asked incredulously.
"Yep," Cera said. "Petrie, you're on offense because you already have a defense, you can fly! So you can just drop rocks on enemies we can't reach because we're too far away!"
"All right," Petrie said. "But why that make you defense?"
"Because we've got to protect Ducky," Cera explained, as Ducky couldn't help but to sigh in frustration. "The best offense needs a good defense … And Ducky is the best offense we have."
Ducky's jaw dropped. "Me?" she asked in disbelief, before stuttering, "I am … Our ... our best offense?"
"Yep," Cera said confidently.
"But … how?" Ducky asked meekly.
Littlefoot however, looked knowingly at Cera, who knew by the look in his eyes that Littlefoot was thinking just the same thing that she was. Nodding, she let Littlefoot take over, who knew that just as the Rainbow Faces said, that in order to boost Ducky's confidence, it would be best to show, not tell her their thinking. "Ducky, what's something you can do that the rest of us can't?"
"Well, I can swim well," Ducky said doubtfully. "But that does not help when there is no water."
"You're right, but that's not it," Littlefoot said, starting to smile himself now. "I'll give you a hint … It's something that you weren't always the best of us at. But now that you're bigger ... You definitely are."
Ducky still looked dumbfounded. "I do not understand," she said meekly.
Littlefoot gently asked, "Well when we were little, what's a game that you were great at, but Cera, Spike and I couldn't play in? Without getting hurt, that is."
"Don't go there," Cera teased warningly,
Ducky gasped. "Log running," Ducky realized. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Why couldn't we play it?" Littlefoot asked.
"Because you're four-footers," Ducky said, gasping. "Oh … Is it because I am a two-footer?"
Littlefoot nodded encouragingly. "Yep! But it's not just that. Ruby used to be the best of us at this. But now that you've gotten bigger than Ruby, and Chomper never could do it well … You can do it better that any of us can!"
"Ooh, let me tell her!" Cera said impatiently, but at that moment, Spike approached Ducky's side, looking at her expectantly. Reaching down to pet Spike on the head, she said, "Spike, what …"
"There, right there," Littlefoot interrupted, beaming at her. "How come you can touch him?"
"Because … I have long arms … " Ducky said, before her she said in wonder, "I have long arms …" Suddenly, Ducky gasped. "You mean … My arms can help us?"
"Yep," Cera smirked. "Now go throw a rock!"
"Huh?" Ducky asked blankly.
"Just do it!"
Uncertainly, Ducky grabbed a large rock near her feet and taking a deep breath, she threw it. It crashed as it hit the ground, splitting apart as it hit the other rocks, in turn scattering other rocks around it, creating a little rockslide. Ducky couldn't help but gasp at the impact she had made.
"I … I did that?" Ducky asked, confused.
"Now grab the biggest rock you can find … And chuck it! As hard as you can!" Cera ordered.
"Cera, give it a rest," Littlefoot chuckled.
"No way," Cera shook her head. "Ducky needs to see what she's capable of!"
Ducky did, picking up a small boulder weighing roughly as much as a fast biter. She groaned and grunted as she tried lifting it up, but upon holding it, she gritted her teeth and gave it a big heave, as if she was throwing a shot put. At once, the rock went flying up into the air, only to go hurling back toward the ground, landing with a gigantic kaboom. The rock cracked apart at once, resulting an ensuing explosion, where the surrounding rocks flew up into the air and landed harshly on the ground, like ripples on the water, causing even more rocks to react. The impact was so severe it even created a small earthshake, to which Ducky could only marvel at.
"Oh … I did that, I did … Yep, yep, yep," Ducky said thoughtfully before she exclaimed, "I forgot how big I am now! I am not little like I used to be … I have strong arms that can carry things, and so now I can throw big rocks now, yep yep yep!"
"Now what would happen if that rock hit a sharptooth's head?" Cera asked mischievously.
Suddenly, Ducky's eyes lit up. "I would stop it … Before it would get a chance to hurt us!"
"Now you're catching on!" Cera exclaimed breathlessly. "See? We've got the perfect lineup. I'm front defense, Littlefoot is middle defense and special moves, Spike is back defense, Petrie is sky offense, and Ducky is ground offense. And once we get the others back, we'll be even stronger! By fighting side by side, sticking to our positions and using each other's strengths, we can take on sharpteeth without anyone getting hurt. Now let's get to work!"
Ducky looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"We can practice our skills right here," Cera explained. "Petrie can drop rocks for Littlefoot and Spike to hit away with their tails. And you can throw rocks right at me."
"But … I do not want to hurt you," Ducky said worriedly.
Cera laughed. "You won't! My frill's so hard and tough it can take it. Besides, I need practice hitting those rocks with my horns!"
"Well … Okay," Ducky said hesitatingly.
So at once, they got to work. Having already had to drop rocks on sharpteeth, Petrie focused on lifting heavier rocks that could land a greater impact and dropped them for Littlefoot and Spike to hit, the two of them whapping the rocks away, first working on accuracy before incorporating speed and power into their technique. While Petrie was giving Spike turns with the boulders, Littlefoot began to practice his earthshake-producing stomp and earsplitting ground whip. As he practiced these enfeebling maneuvers, Cera, Ducky and Spike practiced learning not to flinch from them, while Petrie focused on clearing his mind from the noise, and they all slowly began to gain immunity as they became adjusted to Littlefoot's new moves.
Meanwhile, Ducky began throwing rocks at Cera's frill. She was very tentative and missed wildly at first. But soon, she got better, hitting Cera's head most of the time, sometimes throwing so hard that when her throw missed Cera's horns, it forced Cera to rub the spot with her paw. Cera didn't mind though, on the contrary, she could only smirk in triumph. With their great chemistry already in place and now with their skills being honed, combined with a new strategy where each of them were being empowered to their fullest potential, they were about to become tougher than any threehorn herd there ever was. "Wonder what those jerks who kicked Dad out of their herd would think now?" she thought to herself with a smirk.
Through all the noise, Etta woke up almost as soon as they started, but pretended to sleep, not wanting to upset their progress or stall their momentum. "They sure are a bunch of spitfires," Etta smiled to herself as she watched them. "Perhaps they could have a chance."
Then she heard growling nearby. Two browridge sharpteeth had arrived, and Etta knew she had no choice but to interrupt practice. Flying clumsily over, Etta yelled, "Sharpteeth!"
At once, the five of them stopped their practice, saw the sharpteeth and surrounded Etta, immediately getting back into formation, Petrie and Ducky with rocks at the ready. "You sure you wanna take us on?" Cera shouted daringly at the sharpteeth.
Though the sharpteeth could not understand her, they could see how formidable the gang looked as they stood there, with whiptail, spikes, horns, and rocks at the ready. Looking at each other, they saw the bodies of the dead horned sharpteeth. While not as filling as the gang, the two sharpteeth clearly liked their odds against the dead bodies better, so instead, they turned their attention to those, which they began to gorge on.
"Hee!" Cera said triumphantly. "You can't hurt us!" she said, blowing a raspberry at them.
"Um Cera?" Petrie asked fearfully. "Maybe not good idea to get them mad."
"Aww, I was just having fun," Cera said as the gang headed off, the sharpteeth choosing to remain behind and scavenge rather than fight them.
"Wow," said Littlefoot, impressed, turning around and seeing the sharpteeth continue to eat. "They didn't even make a go at us."
"That's because we're unstoppable!" Cera boasted.
"Now I see why you kiddos have gotten away with all those crazy things," Etta laughed, as they made their way onward.
"Follow me," Petrie said happily. "Me found entrance to Hidden Canyon!"
So as Petrie led the way, flying above them, the rest of the original gang and Etta followed him. As they moved, Spike's stomach began to rumble again, and indeed, the others were growing very hungry as well.
"How much farther is it?" Ducky asked, translating Spike's plaintive look at her.
"Still a little while," Petrie said sadly.
"You think we better look for food first?" Littlefoot asked thoughtfully.
"There one big tree along the way," Petrie answered. "Me see it already."
"Great," said Littlefoot, licking his lips as he tried to imagine the succulent taste of tree stars.
His thoughts were cut short however as they began to see the tree appear on the horizon. They couldn't see it well at first, so they weren't even completely sure it was a tree. But it turned out that the tree was surrounded by a thick layer of sand clouds, distorting its shape and blocking their view.
"Those not there before," Petrie said confusedly.
But then they could hear the pandemonium. A low rumble, complete with shouts and roars, booms and bams, crashes and thuds, was occurring right at the site of the treestar tree. Knowing they were heading for trouble as they drew closer, they could then see what the noise was coming from as they saw several bodies flinging themselves at one another through the sand clouds …
"You kids better stay back from that one!" warned Etta. "That's a wild, full-out brawl, that is!"
"Oh no no no!" Ducky exclaimed, grabbing her head with her hands in horror.
"It must be because there's hardly any food left in the Mysterious Beyond," said Littlefoot understandingly. "They're probably all really hungry!"
"Well, so much for us getting it," Cera said, but at that point, Ducky pushed past Littlefoot and ran in front of Cera, completely forgetting about their formation as she threw her rocks to the side, and charged ahead, straight into the fight.
"Ducky, what do you think you are doing?" Etta asked.
"Going to help everybody, yep yep yep!" Ducky insisted, still sprinting onward
"Ducky, wait!" Petrie cried out as he followed, but by the time he caught up, he and Ducky had already reached the conflict zone, leaving the rest of the gang and Etta far behind with their injured feet.
Ducky could only gasp as she looked on at the sight before her. About two-dozen adolescent leafeaters, all of whom with looks of rage and out of control hunger in their eyes, were engaged in a complete and utter free-for-all. Screams of pain, anger and desperation poured through the crowd after every audible smack, and even a few puddles of blood could be found on the ground. They all seemed to be loners, uninterested in anything but being the one to get sole access to the tree. And in their hunger, they seemed to be willing to stop at nothing to achieve their goal, even resorting to fighting dirty, with horns and spikes puncturing skin and even normally docile longnecks and swimmers biting on their rivals' tails, in addition to the countless punches, jabs and kicks being launched. Through all the primal shrieking, she could hear some of what they were saying.
"That's my tree!"
"What're you talking about? I found it first!"
"No, I did!"
"Please ... Stop the fighting ..."
"No way!"
"Yeah, because that tree's mine!"
"No, it's mine!"
"I have to stop this," Ducky said, and taking a deep breath, she focused in on talking big, just as she had the prior night …
"Enough!" Ducky screamed, using her crest to make an additional call that succeeded in the getting the group's attention and to pause the fighting.
All of them stared at the young swimmer, with surprisingly soft, large and warm azure eyes. Being a relatively small but fully grown swimmer, she was still bigger than most of the group, even the longnecks, who were fairly small in size, and they all looked at her confusedly as she waited to gain their attention.
"Hey, another swimmer!" came a voice, and out walked a swimmer almost but not quite Ducky's kind, with a very similar crest, a blue patch on his back, and darker olive green on the rest of his body. And in contrast with Ducky's light and slightly flabby build, He had a bleeding lip, and well-worn arms and muscles that were evidently skilled at combat.
"Um … hi," he said awkwardly as Ducky looked at him curiously. "My name's Seth. We're both swimmers, right? Maybe if the two of us fight together, we can share the tree between us," he offered. "You don't have to fight too much, I can do most of the sparring," he said self-assuredly as the others glared at both of them.
That was, except for one short-necked longneck, slightly bigger than Ducky, with pointed spines on her neck, black in color with reddish-yellow markings and green eyes. She was at the edge of the group, not seeming to have taken part in much of the combat, her eyes averted from the rest of the group, and she had several markings on her indicative of past injuries.
"Um, I don't mind sharing," she said, and Ducky could make her voice out as the one who had asked them to stop the fighting. "Um … My name's Jada. And, uh … I don't want to fight over the tree either."
Seth looked at Jada, and then at Ducky, who nodded along with her. "I think you are right, Jada," she said thoughtfully, before turning to everyone with a friendly smile. "My name is Ducky. And this is my friend Petrie. And we would like to be your friends too, we would. For we do not have to fight over the tree if we can all share it with each other. Yep yep yep," Ducky said brightly.
While Seth and Jada seemed to like the idea, many of the adolescents looked at each other in disbelief, many with visible smirks on their faces. Even Seth however was surprised. "You are friends with a flyer?"
"That right," Petrie said. "We be best friends ever since we grow up."
One of the spiketails snorted. "You two are weird."
"Oh, it is not just us," Ducky said, nodding the other direction as Littlefoot, Cera and Spike were just finally beginning to catch up, slowed with their foot injuries and carrying the rocks Ducky dropped as Etta rode along. "Those are our friends Littlefoot, Cera and Spike. And that is Etta, who is very nice as well, she is."
The group of teenagers looked at each other, and many began to shake their heads, some even snickering.
"What so funny?" Petrie asked defensively, not liking to see his mate laughed at.
"You guys are totally crazy, that's what" said a longneck dismissively as Littlefoot, Cera, Spike and Etta arrived.
"You can't like each other if you're different kinds!" agreed a flyer.
"Well, we do," Littlefoot said firmly, as Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike fervently nodded. "We're best friends with one another, and nothing will ever change that."
"Huh," Seth said thoughtfully, looking at Ducky with increasing respect. "You're something, Ducky."
"Yeah," Jada said, her eyes melting slightly, a smile forming.
"Something stupid," cut in a twofooter.
"Hey! Nobody speak to Ducky like that!" exclaimed Petrie.
"You saps are way too touchy," said a threehorn cockily. "You act like hatchlings. Not to mention you're way too close to one another for your own good. The way you're acting, you'd think you'd be mates."
"Well, Littlefoot and I are, got a problem with that?" Cera asked daringly.
"And so are me and Petrie," said Ducky proudly.
There was a stunned silence, before slowly, a wave of laughter broke out among most of the group, only Seth and Jada refraining as they stared in confusion. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike looked at one another, expecting this as the others fell on their stomachs, pounding the ground with their fists and paws, and rolling out insults and taunting jeers.
"Ugh, gross!"
"Race traitors!"
"What'll the Bright Circle think?"
"You freaks!"
"Did someone hit you on the head?"
"What's wrong with you?"
Seth and Jada looked saddened as the others laughed, but Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike stood firmly together, maintaining their dignity as they stared defiantly back at them.
"That's right!" Littlefoot snapped. "We're friends and lovers! The five of us are true companions, ever since our fifth cold time, and we always will be!"
"And nothing you flatheads say will ever change that!" roared Cera.
Petrie however, looked up and saw someone, just about his size as a hatchling, shaking on one of the branches of the tree. He looked to be ten cold times old, covered with feathers and had one claw on each hand, with a visibly agitated look he knew he himself so often had at that age. Following his heart and ignoring the stares of the others, Petrie flew right up to the hatchling as he flinched slightly.
"Hey there," Petrie said gently. "Who you?"
"My name's Cricket," he said, shaking. "Please don't … hurt me,"
"Why me do that?" Petrie asked.
"Because … I eat crawlers," Cricket explained. "And ... I have no one to protect me."
Petrie smiled knowingly, his heart going out to the little oneclaw, and gave him a warm, enveloping hug. "Me make sure you no get hurt. Me will protect you."
Petrie felt the tickle of Cricket's feathers against his leathery wings, even hearing a little laugh coming from the little one clow. His heart at ease, Petrie didn't care what the others thought he might be doing, for he knew he was doing the right thing. This however drew the attention of the others, who were looking at him expectantly.
"Come on, stupid flyer, kill the sharptooth!"
"What are you waiting for?"
Cricket tensed up again, but Petrie protectively stood in front of him.
"No!" he said firmly. "Me can tell he good inside."
"No sharptooth is good inside!"
"It can suck our blood!"
"No he will not," Ducky scolded as Petrie embraced Cricket supportively, who hugged him back. "Look at him? He is just a hatchling who wants a little love."
"Besides, Cricket can speak leafeater just like us!" Littlefoot added.
"And he's way too little to hurt anyone," Cera agreed.
"He still eats red food!"
"Yeah, well we have good friends who eat crawlers," said Petrie firmly as Cricket looked up at him in surprise, his eyes twinkling. "And me know we can trust them."
"And we even have a friend who's a friendly sharptooth," added Littlefoot proudly. "And he's the purest, most innocent soul you can ever meet."
Once again, the group started to quake with mirth, rolling on the ground, laughing and pointing at them as they continued a stream of insults, again only Seth and Jada holding back. Petrie shielded Cricket's eyes, giving him a little hug with his wing to which he felt the little oneclaw cry into, while the others remained unflinching, feeling a flush of pride of stand up for their friends.
"You're not from around here, are you? Because you lot won't last long round these parts."
"Oh yeah?" Cera said daringly back. "Well guess what? It's because we're so close to our friends that we're tougher than anyone."
But at that moment, the argument suddenly ceased, for everyone could hear the sound of what had to be the roars of several sharpteeth. Gasping, Cricket clung onto the tree to hide while the others began to run away for dear life. And as tempting as it was for Littlefoot to just let them go, he didn't feel right inside doing it ...
"Stay there!" said Littlefoot in a firm voice, earning confused looks from the adolescents. "The sharpteeth can't get you if you stay with us."
"What?"
"You flathead, you must be crazy!"
"It is either that, or the sharpteeth will hurt you all, one by one," Ducky said, picking back up her rocks as Petrie came down to join them, picking up a rock himself and another one that Etta handed to him before she moved to guard the adolescents.
"And then none of you will survive!" Petrie agreed.
"You're willing to fight for us?"
"Yeah. Just watch and learn," Cera said confidently as the gang finished getting into formation.
At once however, they knew that they were in for a difficult fight, more than they had bargained for. Several fast biters appeared, each licking their chops as they stared hungrily at the mob of quarreling adolescents, each trying to hide behind each other to expose the least amount of skin possible. But the fast biters were not alone. Accompanying was them by a familiar scarlet, lithe, smirking twoclaw, and the look in her eyes plainly revealed she was the same one who had previously attacked them when rescuing Shorty and the one who had led the assault on the Great Valley.
"Ugh, even I'm recognizing that sharptooth!" Cera said in annoyance.
"Why she bother us so much?" Petrie asked.
Her piercing eyes were fixated on them determinedly, as she licked her lips. She however also had a larger accomplice. Accompanying her was a burly light brown young threeclaw, with a peach belly, dark eyes, and a ridged darker back, with serious, determined expression on his face. He however was massive, heavier than Chomper and the scarlet sharptooth by a considerable amount, and plainly would be a challenge to take down.
"Oh great, she has a new crony," Cera snapped.
"All right guys," Littlefoot said, nodding determinedly. "Let's take care of them!"
And at once, Littlefoot stomped the ground with his paw. It had the desired effect, for not only did the fast biters lose their balance, but it allowed time for Petrie to drop rocks on two of them before they could even get up. Ducky meanwhile began shooting big rocks at the others, hitting them squarely on the head, neck, or other sensitive areas as Spike guarded her rear protectively. Only one of the fast biters managed to avoid losing their balance, as it had jumped at the gang before Littlefoot could move, claws at the ready. But Cera had raised her frill up and caught it with her horns, and punctured, it keeled over to the side.
Hearing gasps and even cheers from the adolescents, the gang didn't dare look back as they surveyed the battle scene. While their new techniques downed the fast biters rapidly, the two larger sharpteeth were immune from the earthshake and hung back, watching the gang intently.
Sensing her vulnerability, the scarlet sharptooth hid behind her packmate as he stepped toward them, shaking the earth as he did and snapping threateningly. One thing became increasingly obvious as he moved over to them, he wouldn't be a pushover to knock aside.
"I do not know if rocks can take this one out," Ducky said as she threw one at the threeclaw's head, stunning him for a moment, but unable to stop him from drawing closer.
"Here, me try," Petrie said, carrying another rock and flying high above the sharptooth's head. With a grunt, he chucked the rock down onto the threeclaw's head, where it landed with a ka-thunk. The threeclaw fell to the ground with a sickening crunch, dazed, and as Ducky had a rock at the ready in case the threeclaw got back up, Cera ran the little ways forward required and stabbed him in the chest with her horn, dashing back before the sharptooth could respond and retaking her position in the cohesive.
Spike however, noticed that while Petrie, Ducky and Cera were fighting the threeclaw, the twoclaw was stealthily making its way behind him, before charging to attack Littlefoot from the left. Hurriedly, Spike nudged Littlefoot's back left foot, and Littlefoot looked up just in time. As the twoclaw jumped, Littlefoot concentrated, brandishing his whiptail, before it collided with her with a hard smack and sent her flying to the ground.
As the five of them stayed in formation, readying their next moves, both the twoclaw and the threeclaw were able to get back up. The threeclaw roared and bared its teeth, readying for another lunge. However, the twoclaw looked at Littlefoot's brandished tail, the threeclaw's puncture wound, and the bodies of the dead fast biters. She quietly growled and shook her head with an authoritative roar. Reluctantly, the threeclaw backed down, and together, the two of them tore off in the way from which they came.
"They are leaving," Ducky said in wonder, as the threeclaw began to limp along while the twoclaw glared hatefully back at them.
"Yeah, we showed them good!" Cera said, boasting. "I knew this would work!"
"And no one get hurt!" Petrie exclaimed.
"Uh … Guys?" Littlefoot asked tentatively, sensing something behind him.
Turning around, they looked behind them, half expecting to find another sharptooth. But instead, they found an even more unexpected sight.
Far from looking at them with contempt or mocking, the adolescents had gotten into five neat rows of five, their heads all looking downward as they stared at the ground, the two-footers all in a kneel, the four-footers squatting with their bellies so low they were touching the dirt beneath, all without making a sound.
"Well kiddos," Etta said, with a smirk on her face. "I think your little stunt might've just done and earned their respect."
All right everybody, as promised, here's the announcement! I am holding an OC adoption fair for all you readers as thanks to everyone for getting this far. Everyone can submit a single OC to fill the role of one of these adolescent characters. As you can probably tell, these characters will individually have small roles, and they won't be featured throughout the whole rest of the story. However, together they will be instrumental for this story arc to help the gang further develop!
The three OCs introduced in this chapter (Cricket, Seth and Jada) have already been created by readers The Jewelstone Queen, Greymonfire108, and Zee Docking respectively. The descriptions of these OCs from their creators can be found on the new Reference Page, which I am going to be uploading alongside this chapter. Again, one of these characters will have major roles as I've already got the story planned out. But I feel like thanking my readers by giving them this opportunity, so here we are!
For each OC, provide a name, coloring, species, age and relative size for their species. This is a generally teenaged group, and should be no older than 19 years old. Characters will appear in my DeviantArt photo manips as the chapters grow.
I might not be responding to PMs about OCs right away, as I need to take a break from fanfic writing for a bit. But I will respond when I can!
This offer expires when I publish the next chapter as I will have to commit to these characters at that point, and I will fill out the remaining characters on my own.
You can leave your response as a PM, DeviantArt comment on my profile (AllegroGiocoso), a DeviantArt message, or a review. Guests can submit these too on this website, as long as they give a name they wish to be credited by. And if you have none, no worries, for I've got plenty of ideas to fill the remaining spots with.
