Hi everyone, Santa Giocoso here to give readers a present just in time for Christmas! Hope you like this big chapter filled with lots of different events and perspectives. How much can happen in such a short amount of time? Well apparently, enough to make for my longest chapter yet! For everyone who's reading at this time of publishing, Merry Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and/or Happy Holidays! If later, good tidings in advance for next year! Thanks to everyone who sends feedback, and be sure to fav/follow/review/PM and check out the character lineups on my DeviantArt page with each chapter. And of course, Land Before Time belongs to Universal.
Chapter 31 – The Great Valley Switcheroo
Day 2 - Evening
Sometimes, strategy was just a waiting game. While hardly in his physical prime anymore, the techniques he had learned as well as his mental sharpness were still very much intact, and he was a shrewd operator who knew just how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
He closed his eyes and began to think. The younger, prattling guards around him were growing restless. Indeed, thanks to the large number of longnecks required both at the central prison and to escort the big longneck herd away, there weren't reinforcements that could take over for them, and there wouldn't be until the escorts returned to the Valley. These whippersnappers had been posted to guard him ever since his arrest. All the while, he had not made a move, or even said a word, standing stoically by the Valley's southern wall. Which gave them nothing to do, and only fueled their boredom further …
He eyed his lady friend standing next to him, who also shrewdly did not say a word since her arrest. Doc smiled inside. Being a lone dinosaur for so many cold times, it came as a surprise to him when he first started developing feelings for her. But though she was more sociable than he was, Dara was never a dinosaur who talked pointlessly. On the contrary, the two of them could read each other so well that they hardly needed to say a word. He knew just by looking at her that like him, she had been relieved to not hear anything about Destiny, for no news about their adoptive daughter would be good news. And by her contemplative expression, he knew she realized too that it wouldn't be that much longer until the escorts would return, allowing for the current guards to be relieved of their duties and to be replaced with fresh ones. Who would no doubt be harder to deal with than these guards, who had to be growing careless and fatigued from being posted for so long.
Then he heard it. Apart from the distant sounds at the Rock Circle, there was hardly anything to hear, so he could easily decipher the sound of squabbling as it drew nearer and nearer. As he looked out, he saw two smallish longnecks, an olive green boxhead and a dark brown spikebacked longneck, arguing heatedly. Strangely, the boxhead was carrying several trees on his back, while the spikeback was berating him.
"What do you think you're doing? Feeding the prisoners?"
"N … no, Gus, honest!"
"You know Len, I could report you for vandalism and downright theft."
"I promise! I … I'm not feeding the prisoners! But don't tell anybody, please."
"You swear you're not going to give them any …"
"I swear, Gus! I won't!"
Gus sighed. "Okay. I'll keep your secret. What are friends for, after all. Which is why you need to do what you must for Earl. You know that that brute in effect killed Earl by immobilizing him. His spirit is watching you, Len. Do the right thing and stand for his honor. I'll even try to make a deal to get Cam out of trouble. Just so long as you cooperate."
"But what if …" Len asked, but Gus growled, "You heard me. You say you're our friend? Then act like it."
And Gus stormed off as Len looked at the ground sadly. Meanwhile, the guards, bored with watching the stationary Doc and Dara, had also been watching the argument from their posts, looking at each other maliciously.
"Hey guys … Think we might have some fun with the boxhead?" one of them asked excitedly. "The spikeback might not tell on him … But we see him carrying those trees, right? So we can arrest him anyway!"
"But what about the ones we have?" asked another, nodding toward Doc and Dara as Doc did his best to look completely impassive.
"Argh, they're just old fossils. They can't do anything," a third said.
"But …"
"Oh fine. You two, you're the youngest, so you stay behind. We'll go get the boxhead."
And chortling, most of the longneck prison guard went to ambush Len, while two guards stayed behind, one on Doc's left and one on Dara's right, watching the others enviously. Once the rest of the prison guard was far away enough, Doc and Dara looked at each other and nodded. The time for action had come.
Before the two guards could even process what was happening, Doc and Dara brought their tails forward, and just as they had with sharpteeth on innumerable occasions, managed to effortlessly bonk the guards right on the head with the underside of their tails. At once, the guards slumped to the ground unconscious, the only sound being them collapsing to their knees. Luckily however, the other guards were not paying attention, for they were too busy closing in on Len like a pack of fast biters. With the area now clear, Doc turned to Dara.
"You deal with the exit guards, I'll get those scoundrels," he suggested. Dara nodded her agreement with the plan, and the two longnecks split up without another word.
Stealth was not a natural maneuver for a longneck like Doc, but with these guards being so ravenously fixated on Len, Doc was able to move unnoticed behind them. Fortunately, he did not have to get right up close to his opposition. All he needed was to get within whipping range, a range he was very comfortable with estimating from fighting bad guys for so many cold times. As he approached, he mentally prepared his move in his head. He knew he had to act swiftly before any of the guards could see him coming or make a noise, and with his body not being as quick as it once was, getting it all worked out beforehand would save some vital time.
"Hey you," growled one of the guards as he glared at Len, who froze in panic. "You're trying to steal our food?"
"Me?" Len gasped, flustered. "I uh … I uh …"
"You wanna go to jail so you can see your girlie?" smirked another. "Well bad news for you, bud. We're gonna keep you right here."
"You might see her bones again in the smoking mountains though," chortled the third. "Because once we're done with you ..."
"You sure you feel up to it, friends?"
The low, gravely voice caused the young longnecks to turn, and when they saw who it was, they began to chortle. But their overconfidence proved to be their downfall, for a split second later, Doc lashed his tail out, hitting the younger longnecks on their back legs with a stinging crack. As their back legs gave way, bringing the rest of their bodies down with them, Len gaped in shock as the guards, no longer laughing, turned to glare at their attacker. Undeterred however, Doc seized upon their partially disabled bodies and hurriedly brought his tail around to their front end, and with a hurried movement, he crashed it down upon them, slamming their necks against the hard ground. He got some of them right on the head, knocking them out instantly, while others he had only managed to daze for a moment. But as he rapidly kept raining his tail down on the remaining longneck guards' heads, they too fell unconscious, until the only longneck left standing was Len, still gaping at him.
"You … You … How did you do that?" Len asked, amazed.
"Just got lucky, I guess," Doc said cryptically as Len stared. "Now come on. Let's move."
"Move?" Len said as his logs fell off his back. Hurriedly picking them back up, he explained, "But I've got to put these with the other logs!"
"Get all the logs," Doc said. "We've got to go."
"But …" Len gasped, before Doc cut him off. "Now. Hurry!"
So nodding, Len ran off, before returning with a few dozen trees that he had uprooted thrown haphazardly upon his back. "I got … All these …" he huffed.
"Nice work, kid," Doc said simply, reaching his neck over to place several of the trees upon his own back to lighten Len's load. "Now follow me."
So the two longnecks ran as quickly as they could through the abandoned longneck zone to the exit. There Dara stood waiting for them, alongside four knocked out guards.
"Wait, what are we doing?" Len asked as they approached her.
"Leaving," Doc said simply. "We're outlaws now. You stay here, you're dead."
Len opened his mouth, but Dara interrupted. "No time for talking, hun. You've gotta follow us before the rustlers find out."
Len sputtered, but as Doc and Dara began to move, looking back at him urgently, he sighed. The mysterious old whiptail did save him after all, and what other choice did he have? So reluctantly, he nodded, before the three longnecks all hurried out of the Great Valley.
The three longnecks kept running through the desolate Mysterious Beyond, not daring to stop until they came to a stretch of big water. Feeling far enough from the Great Valley at last, the three longnecks stopped to catch their breath.
"Wh … Where are we going?" Len asked breathlessly.
"Wherever the wandering trail takes us," Doc answered simply.
"But …" Len began, but Dara interrupted.
"I know it must be hard on you Len," she soothed. "But you're in danger from the regime, just like us. What were you even doing with those trees?"
Len sighed. "My herd leader told me to knock down as many trees as I can take from the bad longnecks and give them to the rest of my herd when they arrive."
"Smart move," Doc said thoughtfully.
"It's a good thing we got you out to safety though," Dara sighed. "We probably ought to start looking for your herd."
Len however, shook his head. "But … What about Gus? I know he's been acting kinda rough lately, but … Can't we save him?"
He trailed off, for Doc and Dara looked darkly at each other.
"Kid," Doc sighed. "There's something out there called bad luck. And bad luck can force you into situations that sometimes even turn friends against each other."
"But … Wait, no," Len insisted, but Dara cut him off.
"We heard him talking to you, hun. And it sounds like he's been consumed with a desire for revenge, and he'll stop at nothing, matter how many dinosaurs he hurts," Dara explained.
"He said he'd try to help Cam though," Len sniffed.
"But he didn't promise anything, did he?" Dara pointed out. "It was more important to him to see that the suspects were punished than to ensure the safety of your girlfriend. Besides, is it really right to be sentencing seven innocent dinosaurs to death just because one of them couldn't really control his own strength?"
Len sighed. "No … It's not. Earl and Shorty didn't like each other. But Shorty would never want him dead, even I know that. I just don't get why Gus is so stubborn."
"Revenge can really tear at who someone is inside," Doc said sadly. "What happened with Earl is tragic. But that's no excuse for Gus disregarding everyone else's life. For that is what he's doing by prosecuting the case. In the end, he's letting his vengeance control him. And sometimes, you've got to make tough decisions."
Len sniffled. "I tried talking to him … Tried telling him to let it go … But he wouldn't listen."
Doc nodded. "Sometimes, you've got to just accept what you can't change. Gus may have been your friend. Maybe he still is inside. Maybe there's still hope he'll come around. But for now, he is in effect working with the regime to murder your girlfriend, your herd leader, and other innocent dinosaurs."
Len wanted to argue with Doc, but knowing that he was right, he gulped and sighed wistfully. Looking at Len concernedly, Doc said, "However, while there are some things you can't change, there are others you can. You still have options available to you. And it may not be too late to find a way to fix those problems."
But before Len could ask Doc to explain, the three of them saw that from the distance, two giant longnecks were approaching, eyeing them curiously. Doc and Dara looked at each other uncertainly, wondering if they should make a run for it. Len, however, looked at them with intrigue. It was a mixed pair of longnecks, a boxhead and a whiptail, who by their body language seemed to be very fond of one another, so there was no way they could have been affiliated with the segregated herds. As they drew even closer, he realized that there were actually three longnecks, for there was a hatchling walking alongside them, who looked to be their child, which the two adults lovingly watched …
Without fully realizing what he was doing, Len went to approach them, realizing just how big they were as the top of his head only reached up to their chests. "Um, hi," Len said, "Who are you?"
The female, brownish mauve in color with blue-green eyes, smiled. "My name's Sue. This is my husband, Ross, and this is my son Herbie."
"Hi," Ross said warmly as Herbie giggled.
"Is this all of what's left of your herd, dear?" Sue asked concernedly.
"Well, not really," Len said, but trailed off as Doc and Dara approached, and he saw Sue was eyeing the scar near Doc's eye. "Oh my," Sue said.
"What is it?" Len asked.
"Oh nothing, it's just …" Sue giggled, "I just have to ask, Sir … Are you the Lone Dinosaur?"
"In a manner of speaking," Doc answered. "The name's Doc."
"Wow," Ross said, turning enthusiastically to his son. "Did you hear that Herbie? It's the real Lone Dinosaur."
Herbie giggled as Len gasped, "No way!"
"I'm the current holder of the title, yes," Doc explained. "My ancestors preceded me in days long ago."
"Wow … My old friends and I heard so many stories about … Well, all of you," Len said in awe.
"Me too, when I was a kid," Ross chuckled. "You Lone Dinosaurs must have inspired countless generations."
As Dara chuckled and Doc nodded, Sue looked at them. "I don't suppose … If you're the Lone Dinosaur, that you would be willing to help us in a rescue mission?"
Doc and Dara looked curiously at each other. "What kind of rescue mission?" Doc asked impassively, as Len eyed them with great intrigue.
"Well, we just saw an old friend of ours … Well, I should say a young one," laughed Sue. "He told us about all sorts of awful things going on in his home and asked if we could help."
At once, Len gasped and impulsively asked, "Does it involve … Four longnecks and a friendly sharptooth my age facing death sentences?"
Sue stared. "How do you know?"
"Because," Len said hurriedly. "One of the prisoners is my girlfriend, Cam. The other four are named Mia, Ali, Shorty and Chomper."
Sue and Ross looked at each other significantly. "Hmm … And are you three perhaps fugitives?" Ross asked.
As Doc, Dara and Len nodded, Sue smiled as Herbie cooed in delight. "Well, what do you know. I think we might all be going to the same place."
"That is … If you want to help rescue the prisoners with us," Ross smiled. "I assume you will, Mr. Lone Dinosaur?"
Doc nodded stoically. "Count on it."
"Yeah!" Len exclaimed. "Anything to save Cam!"
"We'd be honored to help," Dara agreed. "But where exactly are we supposed to go?"
Sue giggled. "We don't know. We're just supposed to wait for a messenger who'll make sure we're genuine. Besides … Our flyer friend told us we might be too tall to fit in their hideout. So we probably should find a place to stay until we're needed."
"You don't suppose you know where we might be able to stay, do you?" Ross asked.
"Well," said Len, looking behind him. "There's a big cave nearby. Maybe we can stay there!"
But just as the other longnecks looked at it, they heard some movement inside. As they stared, they gasped as they saw two large, green twoclaw sharpteeth appear from the cave's entrance and stepped onto the beach. The group froze with terror at first, then motioned to do battle, knowing they had to defend little Herbie in their midst. However, the two sharpteeth could only stagger forward in a slow shuffle. The longnecks stared at each other, perplexed. Sharpteeth with such injurious conditions were usually very cautious when it came to what prey they hunted, and even the most frail-looking longneck would prove to be far too much of a challenge for them. Why would they even bother approaching them in what could only be a suicidal hunt? But as the longnecks pondered, the lighter-colored sharptooth made a noise that despite being a low, gruff grunt, sounded distinctively feminine and came out surprisingly soft.
"Yoorrr Chorrrmmperr frrenndrrs?"
Transfixed, the longnecks stared at the sharpteeth, who despite their mouths being oddly bare, fixed their jaws in an expression that would ordinarily look ferocious, but when considering the rest of their body language, appeared to be almost a genial smile. Doc, Dara, Len, Sue, Ross, and Herbie could only look at each other in stunned disbelief. At last, Herbie broke the silence, as he inquisitively stared up at his parents.
"F … Fwendy shawptoof?"
With a lot of enthusiasm and cheer, the herd's twenty-five teenagers decided to take collective responsibility in gathering the big feast that they would all be sharing together. The gang offered to help their younger herdmates, but the teens insisted upon doing it themselves, and the gang could immediately understand why. Considering that they had all first met fighting over a tree, working together to gather the tree sweets and big leaves for a shared feast would be a perfect way for them to bookend their old ways and celebrate their new selves together. Indeed, as they watched afar from the Hidden Canyon's entrance, the gang could tell how therapeutic redoing the whole experience was for each of them, as they beamed at how peaceful, congenial, cooperative, and happy their new friends looked. The younger dinosaurs even chatted freely beyond their teams so that they really all looked like one big herd together.
While they left their herdmates to enjoy the task of gathering food and Etta and Wild Arms kept a lookout for both allies and enemies, the gang knew that as herd leaders, they had to discuss more sobering topics. Cera started, voicing what was perhaps the most obvious concern.
"We're gonna have to knock down that northern wall," she observed as the others nodded. Indeed, their supply of trees was getting low from the scrumptious feast that was getting prepared, so they knew they would soon be needing the trees that would be beyond the Hidden Canyon's northern wall. And with most, hopefully all, of Ruby's parents' herd and Petrie's family coming as well, the Hidden Canyon would start feeling really crowded if they didn't start making more space inside.
"Yeah," Littlefoot said. "And that's not all. Ruby and I worked it out, we have no choice but to break Chomper out tomorrow night, as well as Ali, Shorty, Cam and Mia, they're all in the same prison too. My dad and your dad are not imprisoned, but we've got to get them out of the Valley so they won't be sentenced too …"
"Wait, WHAT?" Cera roared.
"I know, Leigh's playing really dirty," Ruby sighed. "I've got a big diagram ready, and we'll explain everything once everyone's here for the herd meeting tonight. The point is, we've got a lot to do in a short amount of time."
"So how we gonna do all that?" Petrie asked worriedly.
So Littlefoot and Ruby explained the necessary objectives they had regarding the central prison – to dismantle the jail, to get the prisoners into the Secret Spot unseen, and to pull each of the prisoners out of the Secret Spot and up to safety. Each of the others looked amazed with just how much they needed to accomplish in the plan, and they had all come to the same conclusion as Littlefoot and Ruby.
"We do not have enough friends with us to be able to do all of that," Ducky sighed.
"Yeah," said Cera. "We've got to get more of them out."
"Yeah," Littlefoot agreed. "We need more help."
Petrie smiled. "Well, me have good news there. More help coming."
Littlefoot and Ruby looked at each other significantly as the others stared at him, knowing that Petrie was finally about to explain the reasoning for his sudden disappearance. "Me find Sue family. They mixed family just like us, and they happy to help. Plus, they huge, so they big help in lifting longnecks up. They no fit in Hidden Canyon, they too big to fit especially with all of us, but they be waiting for us, ready whenever we need them."
"Good thinking, Petrie!" Littlefoot beamed at him, his heart rising considerably.
"Thanks, me happy to help," Petrie said, but his enthusiasm was clearly limited. Ruby looked at him concernedly. She too had been worried just as he had been, and knowing what was on his mind, she put a hand bracingly on his shoulder.
"Maybe we should try checking in on our families. They might've come back since we last checked," she said, trying her best to sound confident, but really, she was almost trying to convince herself that they were safe as much as she was him.
"Well," Petrie said nervously, but at that moment, Etta came flying over to them. Being on patrol duty, Petrie and Ruby watched Etta concernedly, for she could easily be bringing good or bad news with her. Fortunately, as she drew closer, they saw that her body language looked promising.
"No need for the long faces, you two," Etta smiled to Petrie and Ruby. "I just came to tell you your folks got back. They're in that cave with the others. They're doing something with bones, but well, I've got no clue what they're up to, so I think it's best to let them tell you everything."
As Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike cheered, warm, soothing comfort filled both Petrie and Ruby's hearts as they looked at each other, their tense body language finally giving way to relief, and instinctively the two friends just wrapped their arms around each other. At last, the agonizing period of suspense was over with, and they could finally let go of all the fear that they had.
"Me … Me know what to say," Petrie told Etta as he sighed in relief. "Me so worried but now … Me so happy!"
"Yeah," Ruby smiled. "If our folks are safe, we don't have to worry about them being unsafe!"
"Me feel ready to see them right now!" Petrie exclaimed.
Ruby agreed, and turning to their four bigger friends, she asked, "You mind if we go?"
"Yeah, go ahead," said Cera. "We'll work on removing that stupid wall in the meantime."
"Yes yes yes, and it is getting dark, it is," Ducky added. "You should bring them here soon so we can welcome and induct them."
"Don't forget guys, we've got to get inducted too," Littlefoot chuckled. "Then we can all eat dinner together!" he exclaimed as Spike let out an enthusiastic cheer.
So with everyone agreeing, the group of friends split up, Petrie enthusiastically flapping over to the cave, his heart finally feeling free and light, as Ruby followed, feeling a spring in her step as she sprinted underneath him.
When they arrived inside the dark cave, they beamed as they looked at the scene before them. With clawhand hatchling Thio in the middle, all seventeen of the adult noteeth from Ruby's parents' herd and all eleven of Petrie's family members were seated in a circle, including Ruby's parents, Petrie's mother and Pterano, looking as though they had just paused telling an engrossing story. Sitting nearest the exit, Pterano was the first to greet them.
"Ah, hello Petrie, Ruby," Pterano smiled warmly. "So nice to see you drop in."
Instantly, Petrie and Ruby rushed over to hug their parental figures, who affectionally cuddled them back as they felt the smiles from the other flyers and noteeth around them.
"We're sorry for getting here late, Petrie," Mama Flyer said sympathetically. "We know you must have been worried about us. But we didn't get into any trouble. We were just working on creating some new tools for the noteeth." She chuckled, "The whole thing was Pterano's idea."
"Ah, I see you finally give me credit, Terese," Pterano teased his sister as they both laughed. As Pterano's smirk gave way to a solemn face, he continued, "I guess it all started with a dark memory from my past. See, through my disastrous experience of herd leadership, one thing I learned upon reflection is just how important it is for a herd to work together when warding off enemies. It was the one thing that perhaps more than any other led to my herd's downfall. When those fast biters attacked us, my herdmates each tried to fight them off as individuals, each utilizing their specialized defensive techniques. Don't get me wrong, this is an extremely effective approach for a lone dinosaur. But for a group in close quarters, it proved to be disastrous, to the point where they probably would have been safer if they were on their own. My herdmates were simply not able to flow together. They each had capable techniques, yes, but because they couldn't properly communicate with one another, they were not able to use them effectively. Instead, they only got in each other's way, to the point where they couldn't even see or move well, let alone land any blows on their enemies."
With a sigh, Pterano continued, "The combined abilities of a herd are only as effective as the herd's ability to work as a team, and I failed my herd by not properly training them to work together. If we had all fought alongside one another, all with the same goal of defeating the entire sharptooth pack rather than focusing on responding to individual attacks, who knows, things may have turned out completely differently."
Pterano then smiled. "I see however that it appears you are not making my mistakes. When I first saw your impressive group of trainees … Uh, how should I refer to them?"
"You can just call them our herdmates," Ruby chuckled, seeing Petrie's siblings look at each other in awe. "Of course, if they're my herdmates, then that means they're your herdmates too if you want."
"Right," Pterano nodded as Petrie's siblings excitedly looked at each other. "Well anyway, I saw your herdmates talking to each other about getting trained and working as a team. Knowing you and your friends, dare I say that this training of yours consists of your herdmates learning a method in which they can work together to keep each other safe while at the same time defeating the enemy?"
"You right," Petrie beamed. "It called Cross-Strength Cohesive. Cera make it up. We in teams of five. Frilled, tailed and longneck dinosaurs provide defense from front, back and side. They guard twofooter who throw rocks at bad guys, and team's flyer drop rocks on them from above."
"This way, the defensive dinosaurs can keep the offensive dinosaurs safe, and the offensive dinosaurs can keep the defensive dinosaurs safe," Ruby explained.
"Well, well," Pterano smiled. "I'm very impressed to see how you have adapted the old threehorn technique and transformed it to work for a combined herd. Mr. Threehorn would be most proud I dare say. But I hope you wouldn't mind if I ask additional questions."
"What you mean?" Petrie asked.
"Well, if you plan to incorporate noteeth into your herd, how would you fit them into your strategy?" Pterano asked. "No offense to all of you noteeth here, but I dare say that the strengths that you use in your technique are not ones that are naturally held by noteeth. The speedy, slender bodies of noteeth have little in the way of natural defense, they cannot fly and drop rocks from above, and they do not have the natural strength of swimmers and spikethumbs to make them effective rock throwers."
Petrie and Ruby looked at each other. "Well truth is, Cera invented cohesive when it was just the five of us," Petrie explained. "And we have no noteeth in class. So we not thought about way to fit them in yet."
Pterano nodded slowly. "Your technique works very well for your young herdmates, for apart from the flyers who can use the skies to work alongside the others by dropping rocks, the rest of them are all fourfooters or bulky twofooters, who despite their different roles, can all rely on their strength, size, and body armor to halt attackers. But noteeth do not ordinarily rely on halting attackers, for they lack those same abilities and instead make up for it with their speed, strength, and agility to evade them. Evading attackers however does nothing to halt them, and such conflicting strategies would lead to a herd with two different objectives that would have a hard time of working together."
As Pterano paused, Ruby's father then took over. "When Pterano pointed out to us that your herd mostly consisted of large, bulky dinosaurs, we realized that we had to come up with an alternative strategy to work alongside you and use our abilities to complement, not impede, yours."
"Right," Ruby's mother explained. "We knew that bigger dinosaurs cannot rely on a strategy of evading attackers the way we can. Therefore, it was up to us to come up with a way to help you halt attackers in a way that utilizes our own strengths. We don't have the same physical strength that bigger dinosaurs do. But what we lack in strength, we have in dexterity and precision, and thus ... We have created a tool that would allow us to use our skills to work alongside the bigger dinosaurs in halting attackers."
And each of the members of Ruby's parents' herd reached to their side to reveal a long, thick, oddly shaped bone that was pointed and sharp on one end and heavy and dull on the other. Petrie and Ruby stared at these through the dimly lit cave, eyeing them curiously.
"We decided to call these battle bones," said Ruby's mother. "Ever since the four of us came up with the idea, we have been working to create enough of these for every member of our notooth herd to wield. It took us a while to collect all the parts, and we know we will need a lot of practice before we know we can use them safely and effectively. But if they work like we hope they will, they will be multipurpose tools that can act as our offensive weaponry, like a clubtail's club or a threehorn's horn."
"These battle bones," Ruby's father continued, "Can be used in two ways. See the thick, heavy end? That is for hitting opponents on the head with to quickly knock them out. We noteeth may not be able to drop rocks on enemies' heads like flyers or throw them with the force of swimmers and spikethumbs, but by hitting opponents on just the right spot of their head, we can knock them out with precision rather than power."
"And this end … Well, we got the idea from you, Ruby," her mom chuckled. "This part of the battle bone is not actually bone, but the tooth of a sharptooth. The tooth has been attached to the bone by tar from the tarpits, allowing it to stay firmly in place. You need to be very careful not to stab yourself with this part of the battle bone. But as you know, you can use it to cause a small bleed in a certain spot, throwing an opponent off balance, and in urgent cases, you can use it to blind a particularly vicious enemy."
"When we learn to properly use these, we hope that we will be able to come to your assistance whenever it is required," Ruby's father said, to murmurs of agreement from the others in the herd. "That way, should danger arise, we can fight as part of, not apart from, the rest of you."
"We all want to do this, Ruby," smiled her mother. "Not only because we love you, but we've come to believe in the Great Valley just like you do, right everyone?"
As the combined group of flyers and noteeth all nodded in agreement, Petrie and Ruby looked at each other.
"You think we bring them now to Hidden Canyon and induct them as members of Great Valley family?" Petrie asked thoughtfully.
"I think it's time," Ruby smiled. "That is, if you all want to join us."
And to unanimous agreement, they all nodded.
"Okay," Petrie said brightly. "Me let others know, and we all be ready for you," he said, before flying off.
"One thing though," Ruby asked her parents curiously. "Where did you get all the sharptooth teeth?"
Ruby's parents looked at each other, and then at Mama Flyer and Pterano. "We got them from Chomper's parents," explained Mama Flyer slowly. "We went to visit them at their cave. They had some teeth that they had lost while eating stored in the cave, so that was some of them."
"But the others, we had to extract from their mouths, just like you did with Chomper's," explained Pterano. "They were remarkably patient and agreeable once they understood us. It was painful for them, but they knew that in their condition, they couldn't do anything to physically save their son, and the best thing that they could do was to provide us with their teeth."
"But how would they know Chomper was in danger, when Chomper would never want to tell them? How did you manage to tell them that you needed their teeth without Chomper there to translate? Unless …"
Ruby trailed off, her mouth open as she made a sudden gasp. Remembering way back to the visit she and her friends made to Chomper's parents' cave, she remembered something that Chomper had shared with them, something that they had all thought of as goodhearted but ultimately eccentric. After all, apart from Chomper himself, who was hatched in the Valley and first raised by Littlefoot and the others, no sharptooth had ever spoken the leafeater tongue. And indeed, Chomper's parents seemed to be no different then. But she had not been back to the cave since, while Chomper would have been there multiple times to gorge on the swimming sharpteeth to nourish himself, and while there, he would have spent plenty of time with his parents. Could perhaps his teaching them have been more serious than any of them realized?
"Chomper's parents ... Speak leafeater now?" she asked faintly.
As Ruby's mother looked at her, she smiled. "Only a few words, so we have to choose our words carefully, as well as speak very slowly and clearly for them to understand us. And they do have thick accents that make them hard to understand. But yes, it seems that Chomper has been able to teach them a little leafeater."
And Ruby could only just stare in wonder, imagining Chomper eagerly grinning at her for finally discovering the true nature of his ambitious project.
Soon, everyone had gathered at the edge of the Hidden Canyon. Ruby, the teens, Cricket and Wild Arms sat inside, as did Etta and Avie, who had just inducted one another as herd members. Meanwhile, just outside, Petrie's family lay in the front row, with Ruby's parents' herd behind them and in the rear were Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike, all prostrated as they waited to get their official herd inductions. The teens looked thrilled to be welcoming in this many new friends into their herd, and were very excited that this time, they would be the ones hosting the proceedings.
Flyer teens Welbie, Nessie, Tilden, Newcomb and Phoenix decided to be the ones to first greet the flyer family. Indeed, like Petrie when he first saw them, his siblings looked at the herd's five young flyers with great curiosity, for Nessie, Tilden and Newcomb were all rare kinds of flyers to the area, while Phoenix was bigger than any of them. Little Welbie however could feel that the stares in her direction had some anxiety in them, no doubt due to her resemblance to her notorious uncle, and she felt very self-conscious, especially around Petrie's uncle who knew him best. Wanting to get the discomfort over with and wanting to show Petrie's family what she was really like, she tentatively asked, "Um … May I say something to you, Petrie's uncle?"
Surprised, Pterano nodded as Welbie approached him. "Um … Hi. My name is Welbie. I know I look like an old, well … Acquaintance of yours named Rinkus, and in truth, well, he's my uncle," she confessed.
Pterano sighed as he eyed her understandingly. She did indeed resemble his old associate, but apart from being quite a lot smaller than he was, her soft, warm expression belied him entirely.
"I just want you to know that you don't have to be afraid of me, for I'm nothing like him," Welbie said gently. "I don't want to seek out any type of power or anything. I'm just very grateful to be a part of the herd, and well … I hope we can be friends, uh, Mister uh …"
"Pterano," he said warmly, smiling at her.
"You can trust Welbie, Uncle," Petrie told him encouragingly. "She really nice, and she a great member of our Great Valley family."
Pterano nodded. "I can tell you are, Welbie, and I would be honored to call myself not just your herdmate, but also your friend," he said, as Welbie beamed at him appreciatively. "In fact, I would like you to do the honor of inducting me into your herd."
"You really mean that, Mr. Pterano, sir?" Welbie asked, her eyes sparkling.
"Just Pterano is fine," Pterano smiled. "And yes, I would, Welbie. After I clarify my intentions."
He heaved a heavy sigh before saying, "I must first confess that I have had many problems with my own leadership ambitions in the past. And indeed, my thirst for power and the desire to prove myself have helped to create the instability that our enemies have used to take over the Valley. Well, let me make clear that I have learned my lesson, and I will not seek out any leadership positions as a member of your herd. However, I will be happy to act as a mentor and advisor to all of you, who will gladly give whatever wisdom I can provide through my unfortunate experiences."
"We'd be honored, Pterano," Welbie smiled at him as the rest of the teens murmured in agreement.
Nodding thankfully, Pterano sighed. "So as of this moment, I hereby promise that I will act as a loyal member of your herd, and this time, I really hope to contribute with the chance I have been given."
"I know you will," Welbie smiled, as she put her hand on the older, larger flyer's shoulder, smiling at him. "So welcome to our Great Valley family, Pterano!" And she launched herself at Pterano, giving him a great big hug.
"You really are nothing like your uncle," Pterano chuckled as Welbie beamed at him, before the herd happily performed the song and Pterano received his hugs from the other young flyers.
Mama Flyer was next, and Newcomb eagerly walked over to greet her.
"You're Petrie's mother, right?" he asked Mama Flyer in awe.
"I am," Mama Flyer smiled back. "And very proud of it as well."
"Hey, what are we, sharptooth dirt?" playfully grumbled Petrie's brother Storm as his other siblings nodded in playful indignation along with him.
"Well, we don't know," teased Phoenix. "Who knows, maybe you're as awesome as Petrie, though I doubt it," he said, as Petrie couldn't help but snicker. "But you've got to prove yourselves first ... Though I'm not sure any of them are worthy of you, Petrie."
"Me no know either," Petrie good-naturedly teased his siblings, who playfully glared back. "We have very high standards in herd."
"Don't worry guys," Brara smirked to Petrie's siblings. "We'll impress them, promise."
"I love and am proud of all of my children very much," Mama Flyer clarified, smiling at them. "Though of course, in different ways. In Petrie's case, he always has been the free spirit of the family and done things with his friends that I'd never imagine ... Including helping form this herd."
Tilden then walked up to Mama Flyer respectfully. "You are one of the Circle of Elders who lead the Great Valley, right?"
"I am, or at least, I was," Mama Flyer smiled modestly. "But just like my brother, while I will be happy to act as an advisor to you all, I have no intention of acting as a herd leader here. When I arrived, I saw at once how rich of a culture you all have developed, and I in my old ways would never want to suppress any new ideas or energy that a promising young herd like yourselves would naturally generate. Still though, I will be honored to join your herd, and will vow to assist you in whatever way possible."
Tilden nodded to Mama Flyer in understanding, before putting his hand on her shoulder. "Great! Then welcome to our Great Valley family, um …"
"My name is Terese, but you can call me Mama Flyer, like all your friends do," Mama Flyer chuckled.
"You know, that's a great idea," said Tilden, turning to his fellow orphaned teens, who also seemed to like the prospect. "Mama Flyer can act as a parent for all of us to help support us whenever we need help, since none of us have any parents ourselves. You mind, Petrie?"
"No, not at all. Actually, me think that great idea," Petrie smiled. "It help whole herd bond together if Mom get to know you guys. What you think Mom?"
"Well, I guess I kind of have acted as a motherly figure for not just my own children, but for all of you ever since you were kids," Mama Flyer said thoughtfully. "Of course, I am hardly the only one who has acted in this role, and I alone can hardly give each of you adequate parental love and attention. Perhaps once other old-timers like me join your herd however, we could all work together as herd guardians, always there to provide emotional support and help guide you young'uns whenever you need us."
"That sound like great idea," Petrie beamed.
Tilden nodded, before saying, "So … Welcome to our Great Valley family, Mama Flyer!"
After her song, cheers and hugs with the young flyers were done, Nessie went to approach Brara, who smoothly introduced herself.
"Hello there. I'm Peeping Petrie's cousin Brara," she smirked, as the young herd giggled at her nickname for Petrie.
"Well, well, well, you finally admit it!" Cera chortled. "You are Pterano's daughter!"
"I am indeed," Brara smiled. "But I didn't know for sure until I showed him these," she said, opening her mouth to reveal her back fangs. Much of the herd flinched at first, but as she reassuringly closed her mouth and smiled, their momentary discomfort quickly fizzled.
"Hey Light, you're right!" Nessie laughed, nudging her spikeside team leader. "I guess some of us flyers really can eat red food!"
"See? You never know until you try," Light laughed back.
"I am part sharptooth flyer from my mom, but don't worry, like the notooth herd here, I am a peaceable bothtooth who primarily eats green food. And I may not have acted my best in the past," Brara admitted. "Indeed, I confess to playing a major role in fueling my father's ambitions. But you can now trust in me as a member of your herd, and I will gladly swear my loyalty to you."
"She's really awesome," chuckled Petrie's sister Tilly. "And she's definitely with us. She used her fangs to bite all the bad flyers' wings so they can't fly anymore!"
"So they can't go snooping around to find this place!" agreed Petrie's brother Jett. "It's thanks to her that our secret's still safe!"
The herd gasped with amazement upon hearing what Brara had done for them.
"I've heard all about what your herd believes in, and I will be proud to call myself a faithful member of it," Brara said humbly.
"Light, why don't you go and induct her?" smiled Nessie.
Light nodded cheerfully, placing the edge of his paw gently on Brara's shoulder. "Welcome to our Great Valley family, Brara!"
And still with her usual smirk but a very good-natured one, Brara hugged Light, before hugging the five flyers and receiving her song and cheers.
"Let's just all go together and prove to Petrie's friends just how awesome we are too," Jett smiled. "We are Petrie's siblings and siblings-in-law, and like him, we believe in an open, diverse society that values love, harmony, and tolerance."
"We may tease Petrie sometimes," chuckled Perkins. "But at heart, we'll always be on his side, just as we will be with everyone else in this herd."
"Like Petrie, we have become outlaws from the Great Valley ourselves," Tilly snickered. "We don't usually get into trouble like Petrie. We know better than to go on all his crazy adventures. But we did save Ruby, Mom and Pterano from one of the regime's brutes, and helped sneak our notooth friends out of the Valley, and ever since then, we've been on the run, in as much trouble as our crazy brother for once."
As Petrie's siblings smiled at each other as the young teens oohed them in admiration, Storm continued, "Now that we're all outlaws too, we can take our efforts to the next level and become official members of your herd. We're all good flyers, and we'd be honored to perform any aerial services you require," added Storm.
"Curie and I are all in too, even though we're only Petrie's siblings-in-law," added Skyler. "But ever since I met Tilly, I've come to really appreciate how special the Great Valley is, not just for the place itself, but for the loving community that lives inside of it."
"Stern showed me what living in a diverse community where all dinosaurs are welcome is really like," agreed Curie. "And we too have become just as firm believers in the Great Valley way of life."
"We are all proud to become official members of your herd," said May, as the rest of the young flyers smiled humbly.
Mischievously, Phoenix glanced at Petrie, who couldn't help but snicker back as he knew what Phoenix was going to say. "Even if it means that Petrie will now be your herd leader?" he teased.
Stern rolled his eyes, before sighing, "You had to rub it in, didn't you? But yeah, even if."
"And we promise our loyalty to everyone else in the herd as well," Windy said, trying to salvage some dignity for the flyer siblings.
And so one by one, the five flyer teens put their hands on each of Petrie's siblings and siblings-in-laws' shoulders, welcoming them to their Great Valley family to hugs, songs and cheers. As they went into the Hidden Canyon to friendlily greet their other new herdmates, where they received several gentle squeezes from the bulkier teens as well, Storm, Perkins, Jett, Stern, May, Tilly, Windy, Skyler and Curie grinned as they joined Mama Flyer, Pterano and Brara in becoming official herd members. The whole flyer family was together, determined to join Petrie and the rest of their new herd to help rebuild the peaceful saurian society that they knew and loved.
Ruby then walked over to her parents' prostrated herd. "Are you all ready to join our herd too?" she asked happily.
Her mother nodded. "We will be honored, Ruby, but I have a suggestion for the structure of the herd. Knowing that we might not be the only existing herd to join up with yours, it might be easier for us existing herds, at least for starters, to operate as smaller herds within your herd. Those of us in herds of our own have already developed a lot of rapport with one another, and we can use our intimacy with one another to help adjust to getting to know everyone in the big herd together. This will allow us to have the best of both worlds, allowing us to remain close with our familiar herdmates while also branching out to build friendships with our new ones."
Ruby nodded understandingly, knowing that her parents' herd, as newcomers to the Valley who faced more than their share of discrimination, would likely need to be eased into the herd to feel fully comfortable. "That's a good idea. Just of course, so long as everyone knows that everyone is a friend here, and that we all truly belong to one happy Great Valley family."
The notooth herd nodded in understanding and agreement, but they still looked a bit apprehensive. Ruby however just remembered something. Speciesism could just as easily take hold among those who have been discriminated against as those who have been doing the discriminating. And considering that her parents' herd was attacked by nesting bigmouths which had prompted their stay in the Valley in the first place, not to mention nesting bigmouths Madge and Maia had just accused them of letting the sharpteeth in and being eggstealers, her parents' herd naturally would be a little wary around nesting bigmouths after their experiences. Thus, she knew it was time to root out any potential prejudice that could drive discomfort between fellow members of the herd before any relationship could even start to develop …
"Hey Aria?" Ruby asked. "Can you come here, please?"
Surprised, the young nesting bigmouth did so, kneeling right beside Ruby, who could feel her parents' herd involuntarily tensing up by her. Turning to them, she gently said, "I know your herd has had unpleasant experiences with nesting bigmouths that think of you as eggstealers," she said sagely. "But Aria isn't like that one bit. She is a true, loyal friend and a loving member of our herd who will never pass judgment on you."
"I won't," Aria smiled warmly to the noteeth. "I can see why you guys might be worried about me, for I know my kind can be very protective of their nests. But in our herd, we're all friends here! Who love each other for who we are, not what we are! I can already feel you're good dinosaurs inside who really belong with us in our herd, and I really hope we can be great friends! In fact, why don't I show how I feel about you by inducting you guys into our herd? Is that all right, Ruby?"
"I think that's a great idea, Aria," Ruby said, thinking of the idea herself and very proud to see the bigmouth teen come up with the idea on her own, and as Aria continued to kneel there, beaming at the noteeth friendlily with her eyes sparkling, she could feel the mistrust and wariness that the noteeth had toward her slowly begin to ebb away.
"We'd be honored, Aria," Ruby's father said, smiling warmly at her. Then turning to Ruby, he said, "If you can recall, we made an oath when we first took residence in the Great Valley. And while the oath's intent has been twisted, we remember the third part of our oath, that you can depend on us to give back to your Great Valley shall you require our help. By joining your resistance herd, we are hereby fulfilling that part of your oath, thereby following our entire oaths, despite what the Histrionic Hollowhead might say."
"Right," Ruby said thoughtfully, remembering how Leigh distorted the intent of the oath to place further charges upon her. Mama Flyer decided to come forward, and said, "Maybe we should try doing the oath for you noteeth again, but this time, revise it to clarify the actual spirit of the oath, rather than a vague word-for-word interpretation that could be easily distorted."
Loving the idea, Ruby nodded vigorously as she smiled at her parents' herd, who respectfully lay prostrated as she prepared to give the revised oath, thinking back to the exact wordage. "Okay everyone … Do you want to pledge your loyalty to our Great Valley family?"
They all murmured, "I do."
Ruby then continued, "Do you all agree to be in peace with every other member of our Great Valley family, and promise not to eat a living dinosaur or egg under any circumstance?"
They murmured their assent again, before Ruby asked, "And can we depend on you to give back to our Great Valley family shall we require your help?"
And as they murmured their assent one last time, Aria then began to go down the line, giving every notooth the opportunity to introduce themselves and to individually give their allegiance to the herd, before she gently put her hand on each of the noteeth's shoulders, said, "Welcome to our Great Valley family," and gave each of them a warm, cozy hug as the rest of the herd sang and cheered. Each of the noteeth felt their anxious hearts melt with affection for the young nesting bigmouth, and feeling more comfortable already, Ruby's parents, along with fellow fast runners Ovie, Wiley, Sander, Chapp, Kitty and Gov, clawhands Stevie, Rob, Rich, Jennifer and hatchling Thio, longarms Ced, Yelli and Ius, and rainbow faces Pet and Roy each happily became members of the herd.
"You know," Ruby said thoughtfully to the newly inducted noteeth. "If you guys don't know what you can do to help out here, I've got an idea. Remember that old story about the different kinds of noteeth with scouts, caretakers and guardians? We can use all of those roles in our herd! Rainbow faces and clawhands, you can be our scouts that run far and fast, keeping a lookout for distant bad guys, luring them away and warning the rest of us about them before they get here. Longarms, you can be caretakers, managing our food sources and helping to remove fire hazards and physical obstacles. And fast runners, you can be guardians who help watch over the hatchlings. We've already got some babies now and I'm sure we'll get more coming. And you all can help with tool construction, collecting and delivering prickly plants and tree sweets, and other handy tasks!"
Ruby's parents' herd murmured to the idea with intrigue, pleased to have readymade roles for them in the herd that would align nicely with their natural capabilities. Then they entered the Hidden Canyon along with most of the rest of the herd as they breathlessly watched, waiting for the last five herd members to get inducted.
As Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike lay in wait, the other herd members watched the teens get into five rows of five – Jada, Gara, Sheldon, Anndi and Vail in front, Felix, Keeter, Chantal, Kendall and Glenn in the second, Seth, Aria, Gabriel, Emery and Harmony in the third, Newcomb, Welbie, Tilden, Phoenix and Nessie in the fourth, and in the back, Eva, Light, Audrey, Dekker and Candy, all of whom grinned at each other happily. The gang looked at each other too, immediately recognizing this arrangement, for it was exactly how the teens had first arranged themselves after they had saved them. Only this time, it was the twenty-five teens who were standing, and the five of them who were prostrated before them.
"We as team leaders will speak on behalf of all our friends and teammates," Jada smiled humbly at the five of them, "In officially welcoming to our herd our five friends who made it all possible."
"We have all learned so much from them," smiled Seth. "We have come so far as a Great Valley family with them, and we all are proud to have them as part of our herd."
"They have proven themselves to be brave, loyal, compassionate leaders, everything good herd leaders should be," Keeter said proudly.
"They have opened our eyes to the world around us," said Light. "We all feel ourselves reaching our full potential with them, and we will only keep growing as an awesome team of friends together."
"I couldn't say it better than with that song of theirs, and I didn't even like singing before," Gara snickered. "But now, we will like to officially induct our mentors into the herd to become our herdmates. Do you have anything to say, friends?" she asked.
"We will always be friends and herdmates together," Littlefoot smiled. "Sharing a special bond of love with one another as one big, happy Great Valley family."
"You guys are cool and awesome," Cera snickered. "I wanted to flunk all you guys at first … But now I'm so glad you managed to beat me," she said to chortles from the teens.
"We as your family will always be there to give you guys lots of love and affection so you would never feel lost again," beamed Ducky.
"Me happy that we all friends," Petrie said. "Me like all of you so much. And we hope to be friends forever. Right Spike?" he asked, as Spike nodded, "Friends … forever."
Then excitedly, all the teens looked at each other, before Jada, Gara, Sheldon, Anndi and Vail all crowded around Littlefoot. "Would you like to become part of our Great Valley family?" Jada asked him.
"Yeah, I would!" Littlefoot beamed at each of them, before feeling the five longneck teens put their paws on his shoulders.
"Then welcome to our Great Valley family, Littlefoot!" Gara exclaimed.
And Littlefoot went to gently hug each of the younger, smaller longnecks before he crossed inside to his song and enthusiastic cheers.
Frilled teens Felix, Keeter, Chantal, Kendall and Glenn then surrounded Cera. "You ready to become part of our herd, Cera?" Keeter asked.
"You bet!" Cera exclaimed, before the five smaller frilled dinosaurs put their paws on Cera's shoulders. "Welcome to our Great Valley family, Cera!" Keeter exclaimed, before Cera hugged each of them as she enjoyed her song and eruption of cheers.
Seth, Aria, Gabriel, Emery and Harmony gathered around Ducky, bending down to stand right by her. "You ready to join our Great Valley family?" Seth asked.
"Yep yep yep!" Ducky grinned, as the five twofooter teens put their hands on her shoulders. "Welcome to our Great Valley family, Ducky!" Seth exclaimed, before Ducky and each of the twofooter teens exchanged squeezing hugs as everyone else excitedly cheered and sang for her.
Newcomb, Welbie, Tilden, Phoenix and Nessie all crawled over to gather around Petrie's outstretched wings. "Are you ready to join our Great Valley family, Petrie?" Nessie asked him.
"Me very ready," Petrie smiled at them, before the five flyers put their hands on his shoulders. "Then welcome to our Great Valley family, Petrie!" she said, as he received his song and cheers while hugging the younger flyers.
Then Eva, Light, Audrey, Dekker and Candy moved to encircle Spike. "You're ready to join our Great Valley family, Spike?" Light asked.
"Uh-huh," Spike happily grunted, and the five young tailed dinosaurs put their paws on Spike's shoulders. "Welcome to our Great Valley family, Spike!" Light exclaimed.
And to one last round of cheers and a song as Spike joined his first four friends inside, all grinning at one another, the young herd happily headed inside for their big feast. It had only been two days since their herd had first met, but it was already beginning to feel like a giant family inside. And with the eighteen noteeth and eleven flyers added to the group, the herd had now achieved a membership of sixty-five members. Of course, they knew they were still a long way from reaching the capability to rescue the Great Valley without losing a single friend, which would not only require a big herd but also time for each herd member to improve themselves and reach their full potential. But they were off to a real start, and they knew that very soon, they would be reuniting with more friends, who would soon join them in becoming members of the herd.
After a quick, balmy, steaming flowery bath which properly moisturized his skin and gave him an attractive, masculinely floral fragrance, Leigh felt appropriately cleansed and purified to deliver his masterful oration. Such a sweet smell would entice any bystander to savor all of his beautiful language and join the cause … Yet at the same time, he had to project an image powerful enough to know that he and his followers were a force to be reckoned with.
Indeed, as the Bright Circle was beginning to set, Leigh couldn't feel anything but pleased with the situation. Opposition had been squelched, for the border patrol reported that no one had managed to sneak past the borders all day long. The trials were moving along smoothly, with no sign of any of his handpicked judges, fellow believers in the natural order of things, wavering from their inevitable verdict. The new education program was also working wonders, finally teaching proper values to the children that would immunize them from contamination. Not to mention how enjoyable it was hearing how his new instructors managed to finally put the little gang brats in their place. Even the little threehorn brat's spirit had been broken.
Everything was going smoothly. Between the deaths of the five young troublemakers, the pending executions of several other key dissidents, the renouncements of the longneck herd and now the flyer and dirtbeak herds fleeing rather than face certain defeat, the number of dinosaurs who would try to stand in his way had already been dramatically reduced. The center of gravity was shifting right before his eyes, undoing cold times of meddling from the Circle of Elders, as the most troublesome voices would only continue to dwindle and weaken. All he had to do was to remain patient as he slowly continued to weed out his opposition, all the while keeping that gentle, friendly facade. Then he could implement his glorious vision even further, while all the while facing less argument and dissent. That way, he could become both a strong, transformative leader who would fully restore traditional saurian values to a Valley plagued by moral ruin, yet at the same time, keep his reputation as a gentle, benevolent messenger …
Smiling welcomingly at all his followers gathered around him, Leigh felt himself getting excited. There was nothing he loved more than the art of a masterful oration. For while apart from his large body size he had not been gifted much in the way of bodily weapons, the power of the tongue to manipulate and control was far more satisfying to deploy. Only a couple of heretics showed up, the soon-to-be deceased old longneck and threehorn among them. Perhaps he could enflame them enough to speak out of turn and justify an early execution … But the main purpose of this meeting was to address his followers, the fellow believers who shared his glorious vision. After the disappointment of not finding the clubtail brat and then hearing of the disappearance of the dirtbeak gangster, they needed to be re-energized with the proper dose of demagoguery, and a reminder on just how lawbreakers deserved to be treated. And perhaps with the huge crowd that had gathered behind him, he could put enough public pressure on that foolish Mr. Bonehead to stop standing in the way with obstructive technicalities …
"Good evening," Leigh purred sweetly. "I see everyone is in their proper places. How nice. That shall make the circles most pleased."
With a big grin stretched across his face, Leigh surveyed the audience. "Can you believe it? It has only been two days that this Valley has been under this order of newly found righteousness. Time flies when we live like this, basking in the Great Valley's greatness and thriving in a paradise of purity amongst our own kinds, without any fear of contamination. We have come so far in carrying out the circles' will to keep everyone in their proper places and ensuring good luck for all of us dinosaurs willing to be purified. And hopefully soon, we will reach the point when these herd meetings will no longer be necessary and we would never have to see a dinosaur outside of our own kinds again. The circles have told me all about this glorious vision, for I have been in deep communication with them, and they are delighted with the actions we have taken thus far."
Pausing dramatically to bask in the crowd's cheering, Leigh continued, "We have succeeded in taking our first steps to finally achieving true segregation in this Valley destined for greatness but besmirched with corruption, and only if we succeed will it finally achieve its full potential as a stronghold of old-fashioned values and leafeater power. Our border patrols have kept the order, our trials have been moving expeditiously, and our education has been reformed. The circles are very proud of all we have accomplished, and they have confided in me that it will soon be time to take the next steps towards achieving even further purification and strengthening of our Great Valley."
With most of the dissidents having boycotted the speech, the few who attended silently quavered in rage, but knowing that Leigh was trying to bait them into speaking out of turn, they knew they had to remain silent. Leigh's supporters on the other hand roared loudly and eagerly with his proclamations. Gaining more and more energy from the raucous cheering of his followers, Leigh began to beam at them excitedly. It was time to up the ante and get to the real point of the speech.
"With that said, things are not yet quite perfect within our lovely paradise. I am of course, speaking of the forces of evil, who unfortunately, have not proven to be fully cooperative as of yet. I had hoped that things on this front would not be so difficult. I had hoped that my thoughtful address this morning would deter criminals from partaking in further activity. I gave them a nicely worded warning, even accepting the numerous lenient recommendations from Mr. Bonehead without complaint. I am such a nice lead … I mean, kind and gentle messenger after all. But I'm afraid my concerns about dirtbeaks have proven to be well-founded. They have revealed themselves, as if there was any doubt, to be agents of darkness, especially the young dirtbeak gang member, whose very name spreads a wave of darkness across this Valley."
As his supporters loudly booed, Leigh sighed and said softly, "Indeed, her treachery has been deep. I would like The Honorable Judge Brucad to come forward, please."
Unsteadily, Brucad limped in, his left foot still throbbing from where Ruby had stabbed it.
"Would you kindly explain what happened to you, esteemed judge?" Leigh asked sympathetically.
Brucad nodded angrily. "I was disciplining a troublemaker. Then those flyers showed up, the one on the Circle of Elders and her no-good brother," he seethed, to more boos from the regime's supporters. "They attacked my guards and then went for me. I just about had them, but then the filthy dirtbeak gang member comes out of nowhere and stabs me with a sharptooth tooth. I would have had her, but then the flyers' spawn come out and drop rocks on my head."
Escorted back by his guards, Brucad retreated, while Leigh sighed sadly. "Tut, tut. Poor Judge Brucad. Life isn't fair, is it? I suppose it is not a surprise that a judge dedicated to serving the will of the circles would be attacked by the forces of evil. But the circles will make things right. At least we know now what we are up against and the true extent of their treachery. We have known that these corrupted beings have always had the darkest of thoughts, in their depraved, egg-eating states, such horribly deviant lifestyles ... But now we are seeing criminals taking their personal immorality even further, collaborating, ganging up against judges in horrific displays of lawlessness. Undoubtedly, the dirtbeak gang member is behind this. We know she is a crafty one, the one responsible for organizing this dastardly act. And rest assured, I have consulted with the circles, and we will not rest until we bring her to justice."
Excited chants of, "Get her head! Get her head! Get her head!" emerged from many of the regime's supporters, cheering louder and louder as Leigh smirked hungrily. He was getting them all warmed up for his big announcement.
"The circles are rightfully furious with her escape and subsequent crime spree," Leigh sighed. "So naturally, they have confided to me in how we shall respond. We shall first do a thorough perusal of our Valley for all actors involved in this crime. Every cave and crevice shall be investigated for not just the gang member and the fallen flyers, but also the whole colony of dirtbeaks, which may I remind you contains the gang member's parents. Isn't it funny that they have all gone into hiding after this incident? Indeed, the circles have told me that they are guilty parties as well, which of course is no surprise given the blackness of their filthy hearts. Anyone who finds any one of these perpetrators will be most highly rewarded, especially the one who captures the elusive gang member and brings her groveling to my feet. If we shall fail to discover any of these parties by the time the Bright Circle rises tomorrow, we shall expand our horizons and search for them out in the Mysterious Beyond! Any questions?"
"Yeah, I have one!" Topps shouted indignantly as Leigh's followers began to murmur excitedly. "What makes you think you have the right to violate your agreement? You agreed with Mr. Longneck that you would not form a search party outside the Great Valley's walls!"
"Uh-oh, was that a question or an accusation?" Leigh smirked, his eyes flashing maliciously. "Ah well, since I am such a nice guy, I will entertain you, heretic. I did agree not to form a search party for your treacherous daughter and the four other deceased heathens. Indeed, there is hardly reason to, for their blackened souls are being scorched away as we speak from within the smoking mountains. But I never said anything about not forming a search party to track down further criminals, did I?"
Topps had to bite his tongue down very hard to not retort to Leigh's needling, knowing that him losing his temper was exactly what Leigh wanted. Desperately, he looked at Bron, and saw that he looked surprisingly calm. Remembering that he had some scheme in mind, he knew that he had to have faith in his old rival. After all, it was only through his careful bargaining that Chomper and Shorty were still alive …
"Is there a problem with that, Mr. Threehorn?" Leigh asked coaxingly, with a big wide smirk, as Bron looked at Mr. Threehorn warningly. "Perhaps the real reason you're lodging such a curious objection is that you have something you're not telling me. Maybe you know perhaps where the dirtbeaks and flyers are hiding?"
"No," Mr. Threehorn said, realizing this was a trap as Bron nodded encouragingly. "There's no problem at all."
"Excellent," Leigh smirked. "So then, if no progress is made toward locating the missing flyers and dirtbeaks within the Valley by the time the Bright Circle rises, telling us to take further action, we shall then extend our search to outside of its walls with the new day."
Sighing, Leigh tutted in mock sorrow, "It is truly disheartening to hear that certain dark actors have decided to betray the Great Valley, especially now that its true greatness is finally being realized. But betray the Valley they have. And now … I would like to call Mr. Bonehead forward, please."
With his face impassive, Mr. Bonehead stepped forward.
"Mr. Bonehead, as the resident legal expert, I would like to ask you some questions," Leigh purred silkily.
Mr. Bonehead eyed Leigh warily. "Proceed, Mr. Hollowhorn."
"Well then, is it true that attacking a judge is in effect an attack on the rule of law here?"
Mr. Bonehead silently nodded.
"So am I therefore correct in saying that attacking the rule of law makes one an outlaw, and therefore not afforded its protections?"
"You are technically correct," Mr. Bonehead answered. "Presuming of course, that the defendant is found guilty of the action at trial."
"But if a suspect has chosen to leave the Great Valley, which by the way without a proper renouncement is another violation of the law, rather than submit to legal proceedings, can it be said that they have surrendered their legal rights, including the right to have a trial?"
"That is correct," Mr. Bonehead sighed. Bron and Topps looked at each other, knowing where this was going, but also that they were powerless to stop it.
"So therefore, it logically follows …" Leigh continued. "That if a suspect is accused of violating the rule of law and has surrendered their legal rights, that they are now outlaws that are no longer afforded the law's protection?"
As Mr. Bonehead very reluctantly nodded, Leigh had to fight a smirk as he asked his last question. "And outlaws who are no longer afforded the law's protection can be dealt with by however law enforcement deems necessary?" Leigh asked.
Closing his eyes, Mr. Bonehead nodded. "That is correct."
"Thank you, Mr. Bonehead." Leigh bowed politely, before turning to the crowd. "Well then … I trust that anyone seeking to protect this Valley from criminals will do so in whatever way they see fit."
As his supporters began to murmur ravenously, looking at each other with bloodthirsty smirks, Leigh sneered with triumph inside. Anyone who dared trying to make a break for it now had themselves marked for instant death, and by perfectly making the case for it being within the law's boundaries, there was nothing his opposition could do about it.
"With that said," Leigh smoothly purred, "Even with that tremendous step forward, our fight against crime is still not finished. We must turn our attention to the criminals we have who are still facing trial, who despite their heinous crimes still enjoy awfully lenient conditions. We must start with the corrupted clubtail who has attacked Judge Phuru. Do we really need a whole ten days to determine whether he should be punished? I propose his sentencing time shall be decreased, especially considering his actions undoubtedly inspired the dirtbeak to repeat the incident."
As the crowd began to darkly jeer, Leigh continued, "What's more, I propose we have given too many rights to our top-security prisoners in the central prison, which undoubtedly led to the dirtbeak's escape. Is it not a coincidence that we had a prison riot from her fellow prisoners just when she first went missing? Or that she was carrying a sharp tooth, suspiciously like the teeth in her depraved inmate's mouth? Undoubtedly, they all conspired together, as gangsters do, to break the dirtbeak out. For partaking in a prison riot and facilitating the dirtbeak's escape, I propose that we cut the time of our remaining defendants involved in the murder of Mr. Hordus even further to, let's say, right now. After all, we have had more than enough time to consider, and with this subsequent action, I am sure our esteemed jury, with their profound wisdom given to them by the circles, is more than ready to deliver a verdict. All we need is for our esteemed Mr. Bonehead to give a tiny little nod of approval."
As he finished with pointed iciness, the crowd, flushed with fury, began to rhythmically chant, "Kill them now! Kill them now! Kill them now!"
Pausing to let the chant go on for a while so that the foolish legal expert would get the message, Leigh asked, "With that said, Mr. Bonehead … I would like to ask you for your expert opinion on my more than reasonable proposals."
Mr. Bonehead looked at Leigh sternly, his face impassive. "Let me consider for a moment …" he said, as the audience watched with bated breath.
At last, Mr. Bonehead sighed. "Once again, I shall recommend a compromise, which will most likely make nobody happy, but which will address both an appropriate response to violating the law yet preserving the rights for defendants. I see Mr. Hollowhorn's point about Mr. Veno's actions encouraging lawless behavior, so I will condense his sentencing time to five days. I will also authorize solitary confinement within the central prison, so that each prisoner is surrounded by guards and can no longer physically collaborate with one another. I will also reduce Ms. Cam and Ms. Mia's sentencing time to five days as a warning for potential misbehavior. Yet I refuse to reduce sentencing times any further. Prosecutors and defendants need time to make their arguments before any verdict can be reached, and I will not budge from this position, especially with their trial times already being dramatically shortened. No verdicts shall be issued sooner than midday the day after tomorrow, and as legal expert, that is my final word."
While many of Leigh's supporters howled angrily at Mr. Bonehead, Leigh himself smiled gently at him. "Very well, Mr. Bonehead. I understand if you are not comfortable with the prospect of a shortened trial. Far be it for me to question your expert wisdom. But in the end, I trust that you will do what you must to ensure justice will prevail. Otherwise ... Well, let's not get into that, shall we?"
Turning to the audience, Leigh sighed. "So that will be all. I encourage every one of you to look for any missing dirtbeaks or corrupted flyers who might still be lurking in this Valley. Capture any criminal you see at once and bring them to a member of the border patrol, who will then deliver them to me personally. All who shall capture a traitor shall be most highly commended, especially the one who catches the escaped gang member. If we fail to find the criminals by the start of the new day, we shall extend our search to outside this Valley's walls. That will be all from me, and I encourage you all to take steps to bring this Valley to further glory and win the circles' favor."
And as the crowd slowly began to disperse, Bron couldn't help but smirk a little. Just as he had expected, the histrionic hollowhead had overstepped in his demands to Mr. Bonehead, leaving himself in a vulnerable position, making it the perfect time for Bron to come forward and make his own legal move.
"Mr. Bonehead?" he asked respectfully. "I would like legal clarification on a matter … And I would also like Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Thicknose to be present."
"Proceed," Mr. Bonehead said flatly.
And as Bron plotted on the exact wording he would speak to Mr. Bonehead as Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Thicknose watched him expectantly, he thought about what else might have already been accomplished. While Leigh had won the legal right to form search parties to investigate outside of the Great Valley and further cut defendant rights, he had given a typically vainglorious, lengthy, elaborate speech before actually getting his point across. During this time, so many of his supporters would have been attending the speech, and so many of the would-be border patrol agents would have been deployed as guards at the Rock Circle to keep order, leaving the rest of the Valley very sparsely populated. Perhaps others would have realized this sudden paucity of the regime's supporters, and seized the opportunity to make their own moves …
Following them from within the safety of the friendly twofooters' forest, Guido watched as Tricia's gang and Ducky's other little siblings hurriedly crammed themselves into the tiny longnecks' underground burrow before Cassia, Perri, Garnet and Pearl moved the rock back to close off the opening. As they did, Guido breathed a sigh of relief. The escape appeared to be a success, for through all the commotion of dinosaurs making their way toward the Rock Circle, no one had noticed the kids' quick sprint in the other direction. All he had to do now was to make sure that they entered the Secret Spot safely, upon which he could inform the herd that they could come and collect their future junior members, who would undoubtedly be eagerly waiting inside.
Passing Ducky's seven nestmates huddled together in a circle as they held hands and meditated to the circles above as he exited the forest, he knew that he would have to go through the hostile twofooters' area to enter the Secret Spot from the Valley. Lowering himself to just above the tall grasses, Guido proceeded to stealthily glide northward, knowing that as a critical surveillance agent for the herd, it was vital that he not be seen by any of the regime's supporters. Gliding low would allow him to blend right in with the greenery, and then he could just make a quick glide into the Secret Spot when no one was looking.
Feeling a little winded, he decided to take a quick rest at a small patch of a dirt near a large pile of giant rocks to catch his breath. Between sending messages, babysitting Cricket, supervising Tricia's gang's escape, and just overseeing the Valley in general, Guido had been very busy since the prior night, and knew he needed enough energy to glide all the way over to the Secret Spot without making a sound. Not knowing exactly where he was, for these big rocks were not familiar to him, he was just about to investigate when he heard a muttered whisper.
"Hey Weald, do you think your dad's out of earshot?"
Recognizing Hyp's voice, Guido froze in place as he heard Hyp's friend Weald reply, "Yeah, I think. But who knows when he might come back."
"Right," Hyp grunted.
As Guido peered through the rocks, he realized that he had stumbled upon Mr. Spikethumb's enclosed rocky nest, only there were more rocks inside than he had remembered. But as he looked more closely, he realized that what he thought were large gray rocks were really several gray-colored dinosaurs, huddled tightly together. Along with Hyp and Weald, he also saw Mutt, Ann and Dispo, along with their other friend Rana. There was also a curiously shaped rock in the back behind Rana and Weald. Peering over to look at it, he gasped once he realized that it was the form of a shieldback, folding his legs underneath and lowering his head so as to remain hidden. As Guido's heart pounded, it occurred to him that Hyp and his friends must have all been working together to keep Nod hidden, which would mean that Rana and Weald, despite not having known about the Secret Spot before, would be trustworthy too …
"All right," Hyp growled. "Now that all those dummies are attending that stupid speech, this is the best shot we've got to break into that Secret Spot."
"But Hyp, we can't do that!" Mutt exclaimed. "It's dangerous!"
"Yeah, but so's just sitting around here and waiting for one of those rockheads to find Nod. I know they're stupid, but they'll realize they haven't checked here eventually. If we get in, we don't have to worry about those jerks ever again. We can all be safely together, Nod will be safe, Ann can see her babies and Weald can eat those healing flowers inside. Now everyone, grab some rocks."
"Uh, for what?" Mutt asked as he along with the other twofooters grabbed some of the rocks at Mr. Spikethumb's place.
"For throwing at any of those creeps who try to get in our way," Hyp said with a smirk. "Okay everyone, surround Nod to keep him safe and out of sight. Now who's ready to start chucking?"
None of the others, however, stood up. "But Hyp," said Nod worriedly. "I thought you said the seven of us are only … Uh, how many shieldbacks were we again?"
"Ugh," Hyp groaned, facepalming. "Not this again."
"We know, you're zero shieldbacks," Dispo teased, playfully pushing Hyp's back side.
"I'm one and a half," Mutt said. "Only … What's a half?"
Knowing they had no time to explain, Nod continued, "I'm 1. 2 ½."
"I'm 1 and ¾, so 4 ¼," Ann continued.
"I'm a half, that's 4 ¾," added Dispo.
"I'm probably about your weight, Ann, another 1 ¾," said Rana. "So 6 ½."
"I'm 2 ¼, so 8 ¾," said Weald. "My dad would be another 2 ¼ if we tell him, so then we'd be at 11."
"What about Ceph? Has anyone seen him?" asked Mutt worriedly.
"He's still being surrounded by those stupid guards," growled Hyp. "No way we'd be able to get him."
But this time, Rana, Weald, Ann and Dispo all smirked at one another. "Hmm … I think our creepy crawler of a leader forgot the answer that came out of his mouth," Weald said mockingly.
"What?" Hyp asked.
But Ann smiled pointedly, "Isn't it obvious? We just throw rocks at them, just like you said."
"Yeah, we can knock them all out, then we can get him out of there," Dispo agreed.
"It'll be just like old times," Rana chuckled, as did the rest of them. "Throwing rocks at those who deserve it."
"Oh yeah, right," Hyp said as the others loudly sniggered. Glaring at them until they stopped, he said, "All right, I'll go looking for Ceph and those stupid guards. You guys just wait here till find I him. You stupid stompers would be hard to miss carrying rocks around. Then we'll go attack those creeps and free Ceph together."
As Hyp's gang nodded determinedly while Hyp went off, Guido paused to think. He too was old enough to have undergone shieldback scales training and passed his test from Mr. Spikethumb, and he had a good guess as to the weights of his friends. Knowing that Littlefoot, Cera and Spike could move the boulder and that Littlefoot was 8 ½ shieldbacks, Cera 4 ½ and Spike 3 ½, that added up to a total of 16 ½ shieldbacks. A bonehead like Ceph was only about half a shieldback, and even if they could bring Ceph's girlfriend Halle with them, that would still only put them at 12 shieldbacks, well short of 16 ½. They simply needed more help.
And then it came to him. He had already seen the solution before his eyes. Hurriedly gliding back to the forest, he did the mental calculations in his head. A young swimmer like Ducky was about ¾ shieldbacks in mass. One young swimmer alone would probably not be enough to move the boulder. But seven of them, combined with Hyp and his gang, would be enough to achieve the necessary strength, even without Mr. Spikethumb or one of the boneheads …
He sighed with relief as he saw that Ducky's nestmates Azul, Loph, Kiri, Delphine, Clive, Lena, and Day had not moved, still sitting together around in a circle within the forest. However, they had since finished their meditating, and now were busily talking amongst themselves.
"I wish I could fly," Lena sighed.
"What makes you say that?" Loph asked. "If we could fly, we wouldn't be able to swim as well."
"Yeah, but if we could fly, we could escape this Valley, just like our flyer friends," Lena explained.
"You know, I don't think they've just left to escape," muttered Clive. "Notice how the fast runners and the other halfteeth are gone too? I bet they're all up to something."
"Yeah, they've got to be, especially if they have Ruby with them," Kiri agreed. "She's in Ducky and Spike's gang, and you know those guys never give up! I bet she's rallying them all together to help stop Hiss Head!"
"I wish we could go help them," said Azul frustratedly. "If we could join up with the fast runners and flyers, I bet we could all work together to form a great team! We get along with the flyers so well, they're even our extended family now that they're the brothers and sisters of our brother-in-law, and I'm sure we can work with Ruby's family as well!"
"I agree, but how can we get out?" asked Day. "We're Ducky and Spike's siblings, there's no way the guards would believe us if we tried to renounce ourselves. What do you think, Delphine?"
"I think …" Delphine began, but at that point, Guido landed in the middle of their circle.
The swimmer siblings all looked taken aback. "Guido, what are you doing here?" Delphine asked.
"Telling you how to get out," Guido said simply, as he felt all seven young swimmers look incredulously at him.
"What? But how? You're just a little guy, no offense … We can't glide out like you can," Loph pointed out.
Hurriedly, Guido gestured them to come closer, which they all did eagerly, putting their heads next to his little body. "There's a great big boulder which blocks off a place we call the Secret Spot right at the northeast edge of the Valley that the bad guys don't know about. That's where Sam, your other little siblings, and the rest of his friends went."
"What? But how?" Kiri asked, as her siblings too had a hard time taking in everything Guido was explaining.
"They dug there," Guido explained hurriedly. "You're too big to fit in their hole, so you've got to move that boulder. But you're too light to do it by yourselves, you've got to wait for Hyp and his friends to help you move it."
"Hyp and his friends? But they're bullies!" Clive gasped.
"Maybe they were, but they don't like the bad guys any more than we do. Remember, they tried splitting Nod from the others," Guido told them as they all began to look at Guido in understanding. "You guys are all on the same side now, and they're already preparing to try to move that boulder themselves. But they won't be able to do it without you guys! Believe me, I took my shieldback scales test, and the only way for any of you to get in is for you all to work together!"
Ducky's siblings looked at each other. "Well," Day said uncertainly. "We're not sure about this … But it's better than doing nothing."
"Yeah," Loph agreed. "Anything to get out of this place and help our friends."
"Just carry some rocks, all right?" Guido asked, remembering Hyp's gang's strategy. "You might need them to knock some bad guys out. When it's all clear, you can follow me to the Secret Spot."
"Good point, and we will," Azul said, and in no time, the seven young swimmers managed to pick up some large rocks and keeping an eye out for regime sympathizers, Guido led them over to the Secret Spot's entrance.
The first dinosaurs they saw were Mr. Spikethumb, Hyp's father and Mutt's father, who apart from Mr. Bonehead were the only parents out of any of Hyp's gang in the Valley. They were chatting together, but as they saw the young swimmers carrying rocks around that were just the right size for throwing, they couldn't help but stare.
"What the?" Mutt's father said, not used to seeing Ducky's usually innocent, sweet-natured siblings acting like his son and the rest of their band of bruisers.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Spikethumb asked indignantly. "Did you take any rocks from my place?"
"Come join us," Guido hissed impulsively, knowing that the three fathers, loving their boys, would certainly not betray them. "No time to explain. But we're meeting up with your kids."
The three of them looked at each other. "Now what's that boy of mine up to?" Hyp's father sighed exasperatedly, but they followed Ducky's siblings as Guido led them all toward the Secret Spot as they entered the large stretch of land where the regime's twofooters lived.
As they approached the entrance, they saw that while most of the regime's twofooters had attended the speech, some of them had stayed behind, presumably to patrol or in hopes of catching a suspect. Seeing one of the regime's hollowhorns prowling nearby, Kiri put her finger on her lip, before sneaking up behind the hollowhorn and hitting her head with her rock. The hollowhorn toppled over, unconscious, as the others silently cheered Kiri for her success. A swimmer then approached, which Loph handily took care of, while Day took care of an incoming spikethumb. They knew they had to do this quietly and knock out the regime's twofooters one by one, for they couldn't do anything loud enough that would attract the attention of all the twofooters in this area.
Another regime swimmer arrived, and upon seeing him, Clive put down his rock and pretended to friendlily greet him. "Hi, how are you?"
The regime swimmer was not amused. "Out of my way, pest. I've got sharptooth dirt to track …"
With a quick smack, Azul managed to sneak behind the swimmer and knock him down. As the brothers high-fived, they saw that Lena ambushed a pair of bigmouths while Delphine managed to knock out a hollowhorn. With most of Leigh's followers gone at the speech, it wasn't long before the seven young swimmers managed to stealthily knock out all of Leigh's followers who had remained behind, to the amazement of Hyp's, Mutt's, and Weald's fathers, all while holding onto their rocks and leaving the fray without a scratch.
"We may not like fighting," Delphine explained. "But we are always ready to do what's right."
"And join up with the flyers and fast runners to help rescue our Valley!" exclaimed Clive as the three parents eyed them incredulously, wondering if the madness of their sister and adoptive brother had spread to the entire swimmer clan. Guido couldn't help but to chuckle under his breath. If Ducky's siblings were this excited about forming an alliance with just the flyers and fast runners, they sure would be in for a big surprise when they'd discover the Hidden Canyon.
As Guido took them to the entrance, the seven swimmers all kept watch, rocks at the ready. Inspired by the display of the younger dinosaurs, Mr. Spikethumb, Hyp's father and Mutt's father picked up rocks as well, waiting for the arrival of their children and their friends.
Then they saw it. A great dust cloud was heading straight toward them. Upon further inspection, they saw that at the front of it was Hyp and his friends, running for their lives, while tailing them was a small pack of boneheads, grunting and growling menacingly.
"All right everybody," Mr. Spikethumb said calculatingly. "Throw when I say so."
"Wait, what?" Mutt's father asked.
"I know my calculations," explained Mr. Spikethumb. "Right now!"
And at once, Ducky's siblings and the three parents of Hyp's gang chucked their rocks toward the dust cloud. Hyp's gang, seeing them prepare to throw the rocks, managed to duck right in time. All of the boneheads however were hit right on the skull, and despite their thick heads managing to break some of the rocks, the impact of the landing was enough to knock them all out, where they lay dazed and still.
"Perfect," Mr. Spikethumb said pompously, turning to his fellow parents. "This is why the two of you need to learn your basic throwing estimations. Now all the three of us need to do is move their bodies away where they would not be discovered."
"Ugh … You're an insufferable bossy know-it-all, you know that?" Hyp's father growled as he, Mutt's father and Mr. Spikethumb went to move the bonehead guard's bodies.
Meanwhile, Hyp's gang had managed to get back to their feet. Guido noticed that along with the seven of them at Mr. Spikethumb's place, they had also managed to bring Ceph along with them, who was looking bewildered. "Halle's okay," he explained to the others. "I told her to renounce herself, and they believed her because she wasn't here long. It's better than to always be supervised by these guys. But what are you guys up to?" he asked.
"I was about to ask them that," Hyp said, growling at Ducky's siblings. "What are you all doing here?"
Ducky's siblings, however, remembering Guido telling them that they should all be friends, made sure to treat Hyp and his friends accordingly. "Don't worry … We're here to help you," Delphine said soothingly.
"We're going to team up with you to move that boulder so we can all get into the Secret Spot together," explained Kiri.
Hyp's gang looked at each other in shock, and then indignantly looked at Ducky's siblings. "Who told you about the Secret Spot?" Hyp demanded as the others nodded.
"I did," Guido said simply, revealing himself to them. "I know we said we'd keep the Secret Spot between ourselves. But you guys don't have enough strength to move that boulder by yourselves, and you'd need some more twofooters to help you out. And who better to help you than Ducky's siblings? Because the truth is, you're all on the same side!"
"We trust you," Clive smiled. "And you can trust us."
There was a long pause as Hyp and his gang looked at each other. Not that long ago, they might have throttled Guido for betraying their secret. But Guido was right, for although they seemed to have very different personalities and behaviors, the two groups really were not that different where it really mattered. Hyp pondered as he eyed Ducky's siblings carefully. While they were not as adventurous, brave, or mischievous as their sister and adoptive brother, they nonetheless had the same open, warm hearts that he was beginning to really admire among their younger, dare he say it, friends? As he looked at Ann who gave him a nod, Hyp sighed, and knew that he had no choice but to put his doubts behind him.
"Okay, fine, let's move that stupid boulder before those dummies get up. All right?"
But despite his surly demeanor, Hyp and his gang couldn't help but look fondly at Ducky's siblings, warmly smiling back at him. They were now at the very least allies with a shared desire to leave the dark regime behind them. And as the three parents returned from moving the unconscious bonehead bodies and took watch, both groups of young dinosaurs began to really appreciate having each other as they all stood together, defying the regime as they would escape to safety together …
"Wait!" came a couple voices.
Turning, the group saw two little domeheads, both out of breath, running over to them.
"We just saw you guys fighting some bad guys," Naz explained.
"Can we come with you?" Kirt finished. "Sorry to ask … But we want to escape too. We don't want to be split up because I'm a boy and Naz is a girl, and you know what the bad guys are like about boys and girls being friends."
"We would've helped," Naz explained, eyeing her brother with a smirk. "Except we saw that Hiss Head didn't leave any of his guards behind to guard his cave."
"So you know what we had to do, right?" Kirt grinned naughtily. "We just snuck in … Put some stinkweed in his pool … And we might have put a little something else in there too."
"His water's gonna be so pure when he comes back," Naz smirked. "A pure stink."
At once, Hyp's gang burst out laughing, looking at each other as they cackled, incredulous that they did not come up with this idea themselves. Usually being the only ones who appreciated crass, bordering on meanspirited pranks to those who truly deserved it, they were surprised to see that they weren't the only ones laughing. Along with the two domeheads, Ducky's siblings were giggling too, looking surprisingly mischievous as they naughtily eyed each other. The parents too were laughing, with Mutt's father guffawing, Hyp's father shaking his head as he let out a gruff laugh, not even trying to reprimand his son, and even the austere, serious Mr. Spikethumb, who normally was above such nonsense, cracked a wry smile.
In the face of darkness, anything that would generate laughter would not only make them feel better, but would also bring those who shared in it together as well, even if they were from seemingly very disparate groups. Hyp smirked as he remembered how even Tricia and her gang resorted to such naughty tactics as he felt a kinship with them as well. Despite their bad start and his initial mistrust of them, there really was nothing wrong with those kids either, and indeed, they just wanted to have fun and be together, like he and his friends did …
"Okay, you two are pretty cool," Hyp chuckled, finally getting his breath back, and feeling oddly open, he smiled, "You can come with us if you want."
Beaming, Kirt and Naz nodded thankfully as they gladly joined the others, getting into position.
"Okay everybody, let's push this stupid thing," Hyp growled.
And nodding together with determination, the seventeen young dinosaurs, sixteen twofooters and one shieldback, began to push on the boulder. As they felt their combined strength fighting against the stubborn weight of the boulder, they felt a surprising amount of camaraderie building between them as they continued to push, grunting, growling, and groaning as they did. But soon, the combined force of their pushing caused the boulder to give way just enough so that there was a small crack in which they could squeeze through one by one. Together, the whole group smiled at their friends, old and new alike, as they as they reveled in their accomplishment.
"Heh heh heh, it's all ours," Hyp smirked with satisfaction as the others quietly cheered. Then one by one with the three parents keeping watch, they started to file into the Secret Spot.
"Hey Guido," asked Lena. "Could you tell Mom that we're safe and we found a way out of the Valley? She said she was going to be doing something with the other grownups, and that we should wait for her until she's ready."
"Right," Guido agreed, and he took off. Looking behind him, he saw that it wasn't long before each of seven swimmer siblings, the eight members of Hyp's gang, the two domeheads, and the three elders all made their way into the Secret Spot, upon which they quietly rolled the boulder from the inside to close off the hole they had made. Guido smiled. Between all of them and the junior gang already waiting inside, a whole bunch of friends had made their escape to safety. And just like that, he was going to have to tell Ruby that she had a massive party waiting for her inside, just waiting to be recruited into the herd …
"We're gonna be some crazy herd," Guido chuckled as he glided off.
Upon locating Mama Swimmer, Guido saw that indeed she appeared to be busy conducting a meeting of her own. What he didn't expect however was the sheer size of the group that showed up, for what had to be the Valley's entire swath of friendly swimmers was gathered around her. Mama Swimmer's siblings Merrill, Phora, Gingko, and Osborne were there, as were some more distant relatives and others of her kind Fallow, Sadie, Florio, Shore, Kimberley, and Xela. So of course were Cassia's parents Colby and Rythe Twoped and Perri's adoptive mother Beverly Hollowhorn, who through being fellow parents of members of Tricia's gang had become her most trusted allies in bringing the friendly swimmer community together. And bring them together they did, for the Twopeds brought their fellow round-crested hollowhorns Shelley, Parker, Derlie, Kaipan and Judith, while Beverly brought her fellow long-crested hollowhorns Ana, Walker, Martha, Cyrto and Tubi. Between the four of them, they also managed to recruit nesting bigmouths Glaze, Fero, and Suri, and tall-crested hollowhorns Lambe, Muth, Lulu and Lynn. In a bit of a surprise to the others present, Mama Swimmer had also managed to recruit the Swimmer Trio of Sua the round-crested hollowhorn, Melissa the nesting bigmouth and Lyle the tall-crested hollowhorn, bringing the group to a grand total of 34 large adult swimmers.
Guido couldn't help but gape at the impressive crowd that had been gathered. Over his many cold times in the Valley, he had gotten to know each of these swimmers a little, and despite his disconcerting habit of popping out of trees for crawlers which they were eating the treestars from, they had always greeted him friendlily and treated him with respect, never treating him differently because of his diet. Unlike his friends' parents, most of these swimmers were not active in the Valley's affairs, with spotty attendance records at herd meetings at best and preferring to remain in the background whenever they did show up, trusting in the Circle of Elders to make the challenging decisions for the Valley's best interests and preferring to stay out of conflict. But the new regime had spurred them all to uncharacteristic levels of anger and an unprecedented desire for action, and it was only through this display that he truly appreciated just how many goodhearted swimmers really lived in the Valley.
Mama Swimmer too surprised Guido. Though she was a prominent member of the Circle of Elders and highly regarded throughout the Valley among those who still believed in an integrated Great Valley, she had hardly flaunted her leadership capabilities in the way that Topps, Pterano, or even Bron did. But despite her generally lowkey personality, it was clear she effortlessly commanded the respect of the entire group as they aired their heated complaints in a vigorous indignation meeting.
"We are so thankful you told us about that tunnel," said Cyrto in a hushed voice, to many murmurs of agreement. "We sent all our kids through there. The hateful nonsense that Cryaz character was telling them is absolutely appalling."
"Yes," agreed Derlie. "Not to mention those kids of the segregated herds are horrible. My little River was so upset when he saw how badly your Cassia was picked on," she told Mrs. Twoped, who nodded gratefully.
"Same with my girl Gipa," explained Ana. "She tried her best to stand up for Perri, but there were just too many of them." As Beverly smiled thankfully, Ana sighed, "I just hope that whatever place your kids discovered is somewhere safe. The rest of our kids are nowhere near the adventurers they are."
"Our kids may be daredevils," Beverly chuckled. "But considering how happy Perri was after she first saw that tunnel, I'm sure it leads to somewhere safe. Safer than staying in the Valley, anyhow."
"My boy Lak told me they were trying to turn different kinds of twofooters against each other in that so-called class," sighed Lynn, to numerous murmurs of confirmation. "And the fact that we're tall-crested hollowhorns like Hiss Head is making him hate who he is. He told me he wishes to be a different kind of dinosaur."
"My girl Bea told me the same thing," agreed Muth sadly. "She loved who she was before Hiss Head showed up … But now she feels she has to close her eyes whenever she's drinking. And those kids who she had to sit in class with … They're all arguing over which of them has Leigh's bloodline when not picking on our kids."
"Poor kids," Mama Swimmer sighed understandingly to the tall-crested hollowhorn parents. "But you're showing them through your examples that it's who you are inside that really matters. That's what makes everyone here so special, we've all come here in defiance of the regime and remain loyal to what our Great Valley really stands for."
As the crowd nodded and murmured in agreement, the Swimmer Trio then decided to speak up.
"This horrible stuff they're putting in the kids' heads was finally the breaking point for us," Melissa sighed. "We don't have any kids, so we really didn't want to get involved … It's not like us to get into herd arguments."
"But upon hearing how they were trying to split the kids up, we realized that we too have to stand up for our friendship, or they'd try to split us up," explained Sua. "It's incredible that they think we can't be friends just because we're different kinds of swimmers!"
"You two think you have it bad? I'm the one who'd have to be stuck with Hiss Head. Can you imagine?" Lyle asked, trying to inject some humor into the bleak situation, but everyone was so disheartened that nobody could muster anything more than a faint chuckle. Mama Swimmer looked at all her fellow friendly swimmers sympathetically, yet she also knew that they couldn't just stand there to air grievances. It was time for her to explain how they could best stand up to the regime together.
"I know you are all upset," Mama Swimmer said gently. "But we've got limited time before Hiss Head, his guards, and his supporters return. I'm going to go quickly collect my older kids before …"
Mama Swimmer trailed off as Guido glided in, bowing respectfully to her as the other swimmers watched curiously. "Um … Ms. Swimmer? Sorry to interrupt, but your older kids have escaped to safety, along with Hyp and his friends and their parents."
Mama Swimmer breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, Guido. Anything else?"
Guido shook his head before gliding off, not wanting to waste any more of the swimmers' precious time.
Mama Swimmer turned to the combined swimmer herd. "Now that we have all sent our kids to safety, I am sure you all want to do something to stand up to the regime. But there is only so much we can do in our little area. Between Hiss Head, his guards and his followers to the north, and the border patrol to the west and south, any kind of protest we could make here would be quickly shut down. We need to join up with our allies … And luckily, our good friend Mrs. Threehorn set up a meeting with Mrs. Twoped that will help us do just that." Turning to Mrs. Twoped, she asked, "Rythe, do you want to lead the way?"
Mrs. Twoped nodded. Apart from her husband and Beverly however, the other swimmers looked at them confusedly.
"Um … What exactly are we doing?" asked Tubi.
The others stared as they saw an uncharacteristic twinkle of mischief in Mama Swimmer's eyes. "We are going to Tria's mud pool," she explained simply.
"But that's in the longneck zone!" gasped Kaipan.
Mama Swimmer smirked. "I know. But with Hiss Head relocating much of the border patrol to enforce order at his speech … I reckon there are enough of us here to defeat what's left of the border patrol together."
After eyeing her to make sure she was serious, the other swimmers looked at each other, incredulity in their eyes.
"We will meet Mrs. Threehorn in the mudpool," Mama Swimmer continued casually, as though their collective rebellion was nothing more than a trip to eat some treestars. "From there, we will all go to the frilled zone together, where we will meet the rest of their herd. You saw them at the herd meeting, so I'm sure they would be more than happy to have us. Together, we swimmers will join forces with them, standing in solidarity together as we defy the segregation order as one combined herd."
And though the group was a little bit nervous, they were even more excited as glimmers of hope, mischief and determination began to appear in their eyes.
"So who's ready to stand with our threehorn friends and teach Hiss Head a lesson?" Mama Swimmer asked coaxingly.
And she couldn't help but smile as every last member of the large group made a quiet but vigorous cheer, raising their fists up into the air together. Mama Swimmer smiled deviously. Swimmers may not have been given the bodily weapons of threehorns, spiketails, clubtails, or even longnecks. But what they did have was a large community of solidarity that wouldn't be put down easily.
So hurriedly and with great enthusiasm, the large group of twofooters began to head south into the longneck zone. Mama Swimmer was right, for most of the border patrol had been relocated to enforce order at Leigh's speech, leaving only six swimmer border guards remaining, all of whom ogled blankly at the massive wave of swimmers crossing their border with such open defiance. Eventually, the guards came to their senses and tried attacking the oncoming swimmers. But even though the guards were stronger than them individually, the combined herd of rebellious swimmers outnumbered the guards by over five to one, and feeling unusually alive and frisky, they had little trouble dispatching the guards by knocking them all out with tail swings. Then Mrs. Twoped showed them the way to the mudpool, where Albert and Ova Onehorn and of course her old friend were waiting for her.
"You made it," Tria beamed as Mrs. Twoped waded in, closely followed by Mama Swimmer, Colby and Beverly. But before she could say another word, she gasped as she saw that there was a whole crowd of friendly swimmers streaming in behind them. "Oh my," Tria said blankly, looking at Albert and Ova, who too looked shellshocked.
"Sorry about all the extra company," Mama Swimmer chuckled. "We know this is supposed to be a private mudpool. But we've all decided that it's time for us to stand together as one big Great Valley family."
"No, no, don't apologize," Tria smiled, beckoning them all forward. "It's a real pleasure seeing you're all willing to stand up for the Valley with us. Please, come in."
So slowly, the combined herd of swimmers trudged their way through the reeds and stood in the mudpool together. It was a tight fit, but once the swimmers tucked their tails around their legs, they found that they could all squeeze tightly yet comfortably inside.
"Where are your kids?" Albert asked concernedly.
Colby smiled. "They've all made it to safety. So now that we don't have to protect them and you don't have to protect your kids, we can all feel free to rebel against the regime. And what better way to do that than if we all rebel together?"
"So we've come to join up with your herd," Beverly explained. "We may not have the frills or horns that you do. But we'll stand right by your side and make it as hard as possible for them to break us up."
"That is, if your hubby will let us silly swimmers join up with his tough threehorn herd, Fourped," Mrs. Twoped smirked to Tria.
Tria guffawed. "He'd be honored, Twoped. Knowing Topsy, he'd think you're all worthy just by your breaking past two border patrols to get there. Unless you rub it in his face, that is. He has a fragile ego after all, especially now that we're all getting old," she said, and everyone laughed as the two childhood friends shared a warm hug.
"We've got some guards on our end," Albert warned. "There's no longnecks posted, but there are several spiked onehorns like us. You don't want to get too close to their heads."
"But they're not very smart," Ova chuckled. "I reckon if you just cover yourselves up with mud and walk back on all fours, they wouldn't know the difference."
The group chuckled heartily, easily seeing how this might work against a dimwitted group of guards. "We were actually hoping to bring some of you back with us … But we didn't expect this many of you! Hopefully there's enough mud to go around for all of you here. Cover yourselves as best as you can and then we can all go together to our place and stand together as a combined herd."
"You go first, Marina," said Parker warmly, as the other swimmers murmured in agreement as they moved off to the sides to give Mama Swimmer room to wallow in the mud. Nodding gratefully, Mama Swimmer dove in, making sure to cover every inch of herself with icky, brown goo before she strode out with a smirk, appreciating her new look as the others grinned mischievously at her. One by one, they each rolled themselves in the sticky mud, coming out looking like indistinguishable giant, sticky glob monsters as they waited to congregate together into one even bigger glob. As they dirtied themselves, they could hear Leigh spewing some sort of nonsense from the Rock Circle, undoubtedly trying to dazzle his supporters and frighten his opponents. But now that they were far away from the speech and openly defying him anyway, they found the faraway histrionics more amusing than terrifying.
"You know, Hiss Head is right," Lynn snickered as she got out of the mud pool. "I don't think any of us have ever been so dirty."
"Yeah, but being dirty never felt so good," Derlie laughed as she joined her.
"What would he say," Osborne chuckled as he waded out. "If he saw us getting dirty while he's talking about purity and cleansings?"
"Lots of histrionics, no doubt," Sadie snickered.
"It's almost like we'd be defying him," Merrill smirked.
"No, you think?" asked Lyle as everyone laughed. It felt so good to freely joke about Leigh and the regime without fear of his enforcers sentencing them. After all, when it came to collective rebellion, there truly was safety in numbers.
"You know what would be even funnier though?" Sua asked. "Getting Hiss Head covered with mud."
"He sure deserves it," laughed Kimberley. "Especially with all the muck coming out of his mouth."
"A nice, thick coat of mud," Cyrto said, relishing the prospect. "I love it."
"He wouldn't though," Walker smirked.
"I could just hear him wailing," Suri snickered.
"You sure? Because that smell he puts on for his speeches … Maybe it's really just mud," Muth chuckled.
"Really stinky mud," Lambe laughed.
"Nah … It's got to be eggstealer breath," Fero chuckled.
"You sure that's not his breath you're smelling?" asked Glaze.
"Maybe he was raised by eggstealers," Lulu suggested. "That would explain why he hates us so much."
"Knowing how crazy he is, he probably craves eggs himself," said Xela, before in a deadpan, hummed, "Egg-stacy."
And through all the jokes and laughter that they shared, it felt like no time until the big group of swimmers all coated themselves with thick layers of mud, becoming an icky, gooey mess together. Already having coated themselves in the mud, Tria, Albert and Ova took the lead of the group, while the swimmers gathered behind them, crouching down to use their hands as front paws, and clustering closely to one another, they felt themselves stick together as they all became one massive mound of mud.
Tria smirked as she looked at the excited gaggle of swimmers behind her. "Well, I guess it's time for all of us impure ones to make it home, isn't it?"
And chortling naughtily, the mucky mass started oozing westward, looking more like a giant clump of dung rather than a big herd of dinosaurs. They passed the onehorn guards heading the other way, and as they did, one of them turned back to see the great brown ball roll past the border.
"Uh … guys?"
"What?"
"Who had to go that bad?"
Turning, they could all see the brown muck moving deep into the frilled zone.
"Well, I sure didn't make that. It must be yours."
"Me? You're crazy."
"Maybe we should check it out."
"Are you kidding? I'm not getting anywhere near it. You do it."
"No way! I'm not doing it!"
"Me neither!"
"Fine. Let's just pretend we didn't see it."
"Yeah, sounds good."
As the pile of muck kept rolling on with none of the regime's frilled dinosaurs daring to get near it, Tria couldn't help but smirk as she saw her herd, watching her with disbelief stretched across their faces.
"What the …" Wan began as he saw Tria fronting the group, but Tria interrupted. "Calm down guys, it's only us," she said, as slowly, the friendly twofooters started to break apart and shake the mud off themselves to reveal their faces. "With a few others," she winked.
And at once, the threehorns' expressions turned from blank stares into shifty grins.
"Hey there, welcome to our herd," Shayle greeted them.
"Since when have you guys decided to become threehorns?" Ric chortled.
"Better late than never, I suppose," chuckled Cole.
"We've gotta catch you up on threehorn training," Lara snickered.
And laughing together, the threehorns and swimmers began to greet each other affectionately. Indeed, the separation had impacted all of them deeply. In the past, apart from their leaders on the Circle of Elders and of course the children, not many threehorns were particularly close to individual swimmers and vice versa. But now that the two groups had been split apart by the segregation order, they came to realize just how much they missed one another and how much in common they really had. They may have been herds with very different lifestyles and customs, but they were all loyal, goodhearted dinosaurs who valued and appreciated the Great Valley and its way of life. And as they stood together, proudly united, they resolved that they would never be split apart again.
Unlike most of her fellow herd leaders, Stella Spiketail was a relative newcomer to herd leadership. For most of the time in her herd, she was far too busy raising her curious and excitable son Tippy to even consider the possibility of leading her herd. But she had earned a lot of respect from her herdmates over the cold times, ever since the time when she had encouraged her herd to follow Spike in that particularly harsh cold time, potentially saving all their lives in the process. So by the time her predecessor Forrest had passed away, the herd had called upon her to take the mantle of leadership, and so she did her best to emulate her predecessor and several herd leaders whom she greatly admired, many of whom were right in this Valley. Like her, one thing they all believed in was that dinosaurs who shared a common goal had to stand together to overcome challenges. And she was not going to let any of her friends or allies down, in or outside of the herd.
Throughout the day, young Sophie had spread the message amongst the herd like a charm, with a knowing look and all of two softly, sleepily uttered words, "Spike alive." That effectively and concisely informed each of her herd members that not only were the young adventurous spiketail and his band of inseparable friends alive, but just by knowing them, the five brave, mischievous youngsters would soon be doing something to stand up to the regime. If there was doubt in any of their minds, the son of their herd leader had eliminated it, for Tippy had returned back to his usual chipper self upon hearing the news, zooming around and exclaiming his favorite catchphrase, "Fun fun fun."
The herd also knew that they had four more allies that they could count on. Kosh, Magnus, Laurel, and Tana Clubtail, now without any of their children to protect, were free to act as full partners in a tailed rebellion with them. Indeed, while the histrionic hollowhead had made his morning speech, Tria had managed to reach out to Laurel. While she came to invite Laurel and the other clubtails to a parent meeting at the mudpool, Tria also explained to her that protecting the southwest corner of the Valley was of vital importance. This convinced Laurel that rather than attending the parent meeting, the most effective thing she could do was to help get her family and the spiketails to join the threehorns in protecting that area.
Upon consulting Stella, who put two and two together, she agreed. She had instructed her herd to sneakily chop down trees throughout the day with their spiked tails and store them off to the side. They had succeeded in collecting a fair few without a hitch, and so by the time Leigh had called forth his meeting, the rebellious tailed dinosaurs were ready for a meeting of their own. Despite the spiketails being relatively new to the Valley, the clubtail parents already had developed a good relationship with them, between their numerous prior visits to the Valley and several pleasant interactions, especially as of late with both groups being staunchly against the regime. The clubtail parents had even gotten to the point where they could identify each of the members of Stella's herd – elders Stan, Matis, Stu, Maura, Jeff, Bloom, Walnut, Cabot, Steno, older teens Tippy and Sophie, and younger kids Laker, Amber and Lyra, and had begun to view them as a permanent part of their Great Valley community.
Like the horned dinosaurs, tailed dinosaurs had a circular defensive technique of their own, one that they called the Tail Turn. The maneuver, just as it sounded, was a lot less complicated than the horned dinosaurs' Circular Cohesive, for it was the simple act of putting their heads together while their bodies and tails faced outward. This not only was an effective defensive technique, preventing attackers from getting anywhere near the vulnerable neck and head areas, but it also allowed for quiet conversations to be easily held amongst one another, with their outstretched tails preventing any potential eavesdroppers from getting too close. It was this technique that the combined spiketail and clubtail herd was deploying, and indeed, Stella had never found a greater use for it than in this moment.
"All right everybody," Stella said quietly and calmly. "Is everyone prepared to help our friends in the Valley?"
Resolutely, the combined herd nodded, as Tippy beamed eagerly at her.
"Great," Stella smiled. "So we've got two things to accomplish. For one, we need to rescue Veno. I've already arranged with the clubtails and the kids on how we're going to go about doing this. Once they arrive with Veno, we will take advantage of the depleted guard caused by Hiss Head's speech and join our allies in the frilled zone. Laurel has told me that there is something of strategic importance in the deepest corner of the frilled zone which our friends there are guarding. Upon uniting with the threehorn herd, we will join them in forming a blockade around that corner, and see if they know of any other way in which we can help. Any questions?"
The spiketail herd, not usually prone to asking questions, had none.
"Now kids," Stella instructed, turning to her three youngest herd members. "Remember, just play in the general area. Don't get too close to the trouble. We don't want you getting hurt. But your noise can help cover up the sound and prevent bad guys from wanting to settle in the area."
"You mean we really get to be heroes?" asked Amber.
"Just by playing?" added Laker.
"You got it," Stella smiled. "Just come back to the herd once the others have accomplished their mission."
And happily, the three spiketail kids wandered off.
Next, Stella turned to her son.
"Well Tippy, are you ready for your part?" she asked.
Tippy nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It will be fun fun fun!"
"Great," Stella beamed, before turning to Sophie and the clubtails. "You all know what you have to do. The rest of us will collect the trees we have fallen and will be waiting here," she instructed. "Once we're all ready, we will then make our move."
Eagerly, Tippy nodded, tearing out of the circle, with Sophie casually strolling along not too far behind, while the clubtails hung further back to make last-minute plans amongst themselves. As Tippy waited for the others to catch up, he could hear Hiss Head making what had to be another dumb speech. Chuckling, Tippy couldn't help but smirk, for he was so happy that his herd chose to boycott the speech and pull off this plan instead. Rather than having to listen through all the crazy talk again, he could actually do something helpful this time, just by being himself … With a little extra naughtiness thrown in.
As he passed the kids loudly but innocently tussling with each other near the Valley's northwest corner, Tippy saw that four clubtails were standing guard over Veno, who looked to be slumbering despondently. Tippy knew that Veno was never seemed to be one who was up for fun but seeing him confined like this made him feel very sad. He wondered if he could help get Veno to lighten up upon breaking him out. But he had to put that thought aside for now as he arrived at the jail, with Sophie following closely by his side. Not surprisingly, the guards looked at their sudden visitors warily.
"What do you want?" a guard demanded.
"I'm his confidante," Sophie declared sleepily, throwing in a yawn for good measure that succeeded in hiding her smirk. The gimmick had worked, for as the guards loudly chortled, she knew she had succeeded in taking them off their guard.
"Hahaha, that's a good one," laughed one.
"You realize you'd just be giving yourself up?" asked another.
"Especially for a fool who doesn't talk," said the third, nodding toward Veno.
"Not like this one has anything to say anyway," added the fourth, but as they all laughed, they made way for her to enter the cell and sit by Veno's side. She could tell at once that the imprisoned clubtail's eyes were alert and he had been sneakily watching them the whole time. Now all they had to do was wait for Tippy's turn.
"Okay, then what are you, his legal representative?" jeered a guard.
"Nope," Tippy smiled, his innocent blue eyes flashing. "Guess again!"
As they continued to play guessing games with Tippy, their attention shifting completely to him, Sophie nudged Veno and whispered, "Stay with me."
Veno barely responded, but she saw him give a very slight nod in her direction as they continued to wait. Sophie could see the four clubtails slowly begin to approach them, but the guards were not watching, busily watching Tippy jumping around.
"Okay, what are you then?" one asked, finally having enough of the game.
"Aww, I thought you'd figure it out," Tippy sighed playfully. "Oh well, I'll just tell you. I'm here to make you laugh!"
The guards began to chortle at Tippy, who grinned broadly. "See? It worked! I got you to laugh!"
Affronted, the guards worked to straighten their faces. "We're not laughing," one of them said.
"We were just … Uh, sneezing," another said awkwardly.
"Oh, I know one of you was laughing," Tippy teased, his big eyes eyeing them mischievously.
"Well, it wasn't me. It must have been you."
"Me? You're crazy. It's him over there!"
"Nah … You're sleep storying!"
As the four guards continued arguing and the four parents drew nearer, Tippy chuckled to himself, knowing just what he was going to have them do next.
"I know a way to find out which one of you is lying!" Tippy smirked.
The clubtail guards looked at him, intrigued. "How?"
"A staring contest, of course!" Tippy said excitedly. "You four get your faces together and let's see who'll be the last one not to laugh!"
"Hah, I bet that's me!"
"No, it's me!"
"You losers are on."
And at once, the four clubtail guards turned to stare at each other determinedly, Sophie and Veno trying their hardest not to laugh as they lounged right behind them.
Slowly backing away from the staring contest, Tippy turned to see the four clubtail parents, waiting for him to give them the signal. As he nodded, he stood back and made room for each of the clubtail parents to draw in closer, just as one of the clubtail guards started to laugh.
"Hahaha!" roared another. "You lose!"
"Hey! You lost too!"
"I did not!"
"You did too!" You said hahaha. That's laughing!"
"You just said it too! I'm the only one who didn't say it! That means I …"
THUNK
In the spur of a moment, Magnus, Kosh, Laurel and Tana each managed to whack a guard on the head. Dazed, the four guards slumped over, falling to the ground unconscious.
"You all lose," Sophie sighed casually as Tippy and the clubtail parents chortled, while the kids, seeing what happened, giggled as they ran back to rejoin their herd and parents.
With the clubtail guards knocked out, the four clubtail parents each took a side around Veno, while Tippy joined Sophie to accompany Veno inside. Veno looked at his new company quizzically. "Uh … Who are you?"
"Don't mind us, we're just your new prison guard," Laurel snickered.
"Who's come to relocate you," Magnus chortled, and snickering together, the pretend prison guard started heading south to the tailed-frilled border. The walk there was very uneventful, for nearly all of Leigh's supporters had attended his speech, and those who didn't along with the bystanders didn't bother to give them a second look. It was just some prison guards moving a prisoner, his legal representative, and his personal confidante, after all.
When they arrived, they saw that two thin rows of guards, one of spiketails and one of threehorns, were patrolling the border. The spiketail patrol, not having interacted with any of the clubtails, did not seem to notice anything unusual about the prison guard, or that there even was a new prison guard altogether.
"Prison guard, coming through," ordered Kosh, doing his best to sound like a young, gruff prison guard.
The spiketails didn't think twice, nor did the threehorns, to whom all clubtails looked the same. Crossing deep into the frilled zone, the clubtails looked back to see that the prison guards were watching the rest of the spiketail herd approach, carrying the trees they had removed. Seeing this, they opened up a hole for Tippy to get through, and he rushed over to where the friendly threehorn herd lived. As he arrived, he gasped, for not only were Mr. Threehorn's seventeen herdmates all present along with the two onehorns, but so were thirty-four swimmers, led by Ducky's mom. Just as his herd had been taking action to unite with their frilled allies, the friendly swimmers had also seized the opportunity of Leigh's speech to band together. Tippy grinned broadly, his eyes sparkling, seeing just how big of a combined herd was coming together.
"Hello Tippy," Tria said calmly, as though he had just dropped in for dinner. "Does your herd need help to get across?"
As Tippy nodded, he exclaimed, "Follow me!"
And with a massive herd chortling behind him, Tippy determinedly sprinted over to the tailed-frilled border, where the spiketail herd had arrived, trying to break through the barricade of threehorn and spiketail guards. Carrying their trees with their tails and backs, the spiketail herd was not well-positioned to combat the bloodthirsty threehorn and spiketail guards, who all seemed determined to give them whatever injury possible. But reinforcements were on the way. While Topps' herd faced outward to prevent any more of the regime's supporters from joining the fray, the swimmers continued to venture out to the border. There they joined up with Sophie and the clubtails, with the clubtails trying to club the spiketails and threehorns on the knees to bring them down, while Sophie tried to keep the threehorns down by hitting their exposed back sides with the underside of her tail.
As Tippy joined Sophie in keeping the threehorns' backsides occupied, the swimmers entered the fray, using their tail undersides to knock the border patrol agents out at the front. Knocking the spiketail guards out was easy, for their unprotected heads had no weaponry to speak of, and so they each fell to the ground with one tail hit. The threehorns were harder to bring down with their long, sharp horns making tail swatting them a hazard, but once the spiketail guards were dispatched, the swimmers were able to work as a team, with some holding the guard in place while others did the actual tail swatting, hitting the threehorn guards right in the sweet spot between the horns and the frill, and soon they too became unconscious, and with that, the guard was dispatched, without any blood being spilt in the process.
"I guess we should get into position now," threehorn elder Marshall chuckled.
So with everyone grinning, Stella and the nine other elders of her herd joined the four clubtail parents, the thirty-four swimmers, and fifteen frilled elders in forming a line together, with the tailed dinosaurs facing inward and the swimmers and frilled dinosaurs facing outward, making sure that they had dinosaurs with different defensive techniques throughout every part of the line. Then together as a group of sixty-three elders, they all backed up together until one end of the line could touch the western wall and the other end could touch the southern wall. Smiling at their partners in defying the regime's authority, the big, combined herd branched out to form a long, completely connected curve, while Tippy, Sophie, Monty, Veno and the other young threehorns and spiketails stayed inside, ready to bring food to any of the elders so they wouldn't have to leave their positions. Looking at each other in pride and increasing affection as they finished arranging their blockade, the big group of elders knew that the regime would have a very hard time breaking up a tightly packed line of large frilled dinosaurs, swimmers, and tailed dinosaurs, all of whom were hard to move individually and even harder to move when standing firmly together, with allies determined to help them on either side. Smirking at each other, they realized that they had now effectively created a safe, integrated area of the Valley which the regime was powerless to stop.
Upon having established their positions, the tailed, twofooter and frilled elders, never having appreciated each other this much in their lives, began to happily converse with one another, almost as if they were all beginning to meet the first time. None of the elders however, were happier than Tria, Mama Swimmer, and Tippy's mother, proudly anchoring the line of rebels in the middle as they beamed at the combined herd they had all rallied together.
"My, it's so nice to see all of you drop in," Tria laughed to Stella as she chuckled back.
"You even brought snacks," Mama Swimmer observed.
"We better be prepared to make room for Topsy and Mr. Thicknose when they come back. Mr. Thicknose can squeeze in, but you know Topsy, he's got a pretty fat butt," Tria muttered quietly to her fellow elders as they snickered.
"I know what you mean, he got into so many fights with Forrest," Stella laughed.
"Isn't it so much nicer now that our herds are all cooperating rather than fighting each other?" Mama Swimmer smiled.
Tria nodded. "Topsy will be speechless when he gets back. He never thought that so many dinosaurs would be interested in joining his herd. It will probably go to his head … But considering everything you've just accomplished, I'm sure he'll never have a problem with your herd again," she said as Stella beamed at her appreciatively. "You've really proven you're a part of our Great Valley family."
"How did you break Veno out, anyway?" Mama Swimmer asked curiously.
Stella laughed. "Well, the clubtails knocked the guards out … But our precocious kids did the trickery." Lowering her voice, she muttered, "Speaking of which, does whatever we're guarding have to do with your children?"
Tria grinned deviously. "We should probably wait for Topsy to show us where it actually is. But from everything I've heard going on in there," she said, grinning furtively at Tippy, Sophie, Monty, Veno, and the younger threehorns and spiketails, "I'd expect them to feel right at home."
And as Tippy's mother nodded in slow understanding, the three mothers all snickered as they imagined the reactions of the remaining kids finding out just what was on the other side of the Valley's walls.
As Topps watched Bron approach Mr. Bonehead closely, he noticed how remarkably calm Bron seemed to be in his demeanor, even after having to endure another crackpot speech from Hiss Head. How Bron was able to keep his cool during such a disgusting display without shouting was something he in his hotheadedness could never fully comprehend. But being the victim of Bron's slow, unassuming, crafty style himself, he had learned the hard way never to underestimate the old longneck's flair for the logical, calmly delivered argument.
"Thank you, Mr. Bonehead," Bron said gracefully as Leigh, his guards, and other supporters of the regime who stayed behind eyed him suspiciously. "I would first like to ask, what is the legal definition of a herd?"
Leigh snorted. "I hardly see why this is relevant," he began, but Mr. Bonehead glared at Leigh warningly and he proceeded to answer Bron's question.
"A herd is a community of three or more dinosaurs, consisting of at least one leader and two other members, that all live together and are in good standing under the law," Mr. Bonehead answered impassively, though he had a hard time concealing his surprise with Bron's point.
"And as I am not imprisoned, am I still in good standing under the law?" Bron asked.
"Yes," Mr. Bonehead said simply.
Bron nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Mr. Bonehead. Now I would like to ask some questions regarding the application of that definition."
Mr. Bonehead nodded slowly, as he began. "As you may know, my herd has chosen to legally renounce their ties to the Great Valley, while I myself remain within its borders. Am I correct in saying thus that they have also legally renounced themselves from my herd?"
Mr. Bonehead answered, "That is correct."
As Bron nodded, he asked, "I would presume that as several of my remaining herdmates are incarcerated, they would fail to fulfill the good standing under the law provision and would not be considered active members of my herd. Is that correct?"
Once again, Mr. Bonehead nodded, "Correct."
"Aha!" Leigh declared, pointing as his allies muttered ravenously. "He just admitted that his herdmates are guilty. So we want to see some punishment!"
Mr. Bonehead raised his eyebrows. "That was not an admission of guilt. Proceed, Mr. Longneck."
Trying to hide his pleasure of seeing Leigh flustered among the angry growls of his supporters, Bron continued to make his case. "With that said, the only members of my herd who meet the requirements of being in the Valley and being in good standing would be myself, Mr. Len and Mr. Gus. But I would also like to point out that Mr. Gus, through prosecuting my adoptive son, is also in effect prosecuting me through Mr. Hollowhorn's legal representative clause, in which I would be subject to the same verdict as Mr. Shorty. Prosecuting a herd leader is an act of herd betrayal, is it not?"
Mr. Bonehead nodded. "It is," he said slowly, as Topps looked at Bron confusedly. What exactly was Longneck trying to pull here?
"So therefore, I would like to officially request that due to this act of betrayal, that Mr. Gus be removed from my herd," Bron asked suavely. "Is that request granted?"
Mr. Bonehead nodded. "It is."
Not understanding what Bron was up to, Leigh was getting visibly agitated. "Now wait just one moment …" he began, but Bron hurriedly cut him off.
"Thank you," Bron nodded respectfully. "With all that established, it would appear that Mr. Len would then be my only herd member. However, the law plainly states it takes at least three dinosaurs in good standing to legally define a herd. So by technical standards, because of the renouncements, imprisonments, and removal from my herd, my herd now consists of only two dinosaurs, which means it no longer constitutes a herd, which means that my herd has now been legally dissolved. Am I correct?"
"You are correct," Mr. Bonehead said again.
"So therefore," Bron smirked. "I am no longer considered a herd leader, but rather, an individual dinosaur. Is that correct?"
Mr. Bonehead nodded. "It is."
Fighting off a smirk, Bron continued. "Thank you, Mr. Bonehead. I would next like to pose … A question on legal family status."
As Mr. Bonehead, Mr. Thicknose, and Topps all stared, Leigh looked aghast. "What are you trying to do?" he asked politely, but he was not completely effective in disguising his apprehension. "You are not seeking to defy the law, are you, Mr. Longneck?"
"No, no," Bron said soothingly, but Topps could see just how much fun he was having leaving Leigh in utter confusion. "But there is a widely understood law, which does apply to the Great Valley, that families shall not be separated, is that correct?"
"That law does apply to the Valley, yes," Mr. Bonehead said slowly as Topps finally started to see where this was going. Struggling to not burst out laughing, he let Bron continue with his slow, methodical argument. "Well then … I would request to be under the authority of my closest remaining relative in good standing in the Valley."
Nervously, Leigh made an attempt of a mocking laugh. "You don't have any relatives in good standing in the Great Valley."
Bron however, smirked icily back. "I may not have any relatives by blood. In which case, the law would define my closest relative as being a legal relative. And I do in fact have one legal relative in this Valley. In fact, he is standing right among us."
And doing everything in his power to stifle a guffaw as he saw Leigh's eyes widen in horror and saw the glares of many of his supporters, Topps stepped forward. "I don't suppose … You are talking about me?"
"Yes I am, Mr. Threehorn," Bron said calmly. "For by your daughter being married to my son … We are legally related as co-fathers-in-law of our children. And so by nature of us being legally related, I propose that by the principle of keeping all families together … That I shall be relocated into the frilled zone, under the jurisdiction of Mr. Threehorn's herd."
Barely holding it all in with his broad, delighted smirk, Topps watched with deep satisfaction as Leigh's mouth dropped in incredulity. "But … Sir …" he spluttered feebly. "Interspecies marriages are now illegal in the Great Valley."
"They may be now. But they were not at the time when my son and daughter-in-law were married," Bron argued. "A marriage cannot be retroactively illegalized, is that correct?"
Mr. Bonehead nodded. "You are legally correct, Mr. Longneck," he said, doing his best to fight off a dry smile.
"My judges … I mean, the esteemed jury we have would declare their marriage illegal!" Leigh shouted.
Mr. Bonehead, however raised his eyebrows. "But the marriage vows did not happen under their jurisdiction, is that correct, Mr. Thicknose?"
"Correct," Mr. Thicknose said simply.
Leigh started to visibly seethe. "Marriages can be broken," he argued, turning to his guards around them. "Bring me … I mean the circles want to see their wedding prints," he ordered, as much of his guard dutifully nodded and went off to search for them.
As Leigh impatiently tutted, Bron had to bite his tongue down very hard to fight off a chortle. No doubt Leigh wanted to find their wedding prints so that his minions could physically break them apart and try to argue that the two had legally broken their marriage. But the gang had outflanked him, for he had seen Petrie take off with the very wedding prints that Leigh had so badly coveted when they had escaped the Great Valley. Knowing he got Leigh into a corner here, he patiently waited as he heard shouting coming from deep within the threehorn zone. Smirking, he realized that others must have indeed taken advantage of the opportunity to cause further mischief during Leigh's speech.
After a while, one of Leigh's guards returned, handing him two halves of a split wedding print. "Here," he said, handing them roughly to Mr. Bonehead. "Their wedding prints have been destroyed. There's the longneck footprint, and there's the threehorn footprint. Happy?"
Mr. Bonehead raised his eyebrows as he observed the print. "No," he said simply.
And Bron and Topps tried their hardest to fight off laughs as Leigh frustratedly rounded on the legal expert. "What do you mean, no?"
Mr. Bonehead sighed exasperatedly. "Do you really want me to elaborate?"
"Yes, why not?" Leigh asked angrily as Bron and Topps looked at each other, relishing every single moment.
"Very well," Mr. Bonehead shook his head. "This wedding print is obviously a forgery, given how recently the footprints were made. Notice how the clay hasn't even had time to dry yet. I know you are relatively new to the Valley Mr. Hollowhorn, so I will let you off with a warning that if you try to submit this as evidence, you will be subject to charges of perjury, with a jury that you will have no involvement in naming, and you could potentially be imprisoned for fraud. Do you understand?"
As Leigh nodded, his mouth twisted into a snarl, he turned back to his guards. "Go find their prints, if they actually exist," he ordered. Some of them went to search, before Leigh rounded on Mr. Bonehead again. "I see you're trying to make me look foolish by having me hunt for prints that do not exist, but …"
"Ahem," interrupted a voice, and Bron and Topps had to hold back laughs as they observed Leigh's red, seething, spluttering face. "I believe that my testimony is necessary in this matter," Mr. Thicknose declared.
Mr. Bonehead nodded in agreement. "Mr. Thicknose, did you conduct Littlefoot Longneck and Cera Threehorn's marriage?"
"That I did," Mr. Thicknose smiled.
"Did they create a wedding print together?"
"Yes, they did."
"Have you ever heard any desire from them to have their marriage revoked?"
"No, I have not."
"And has their wedding print been destroyed to your knowledge?"
"No, not to my knowledge."
"Very well," Mr. Bonehead finished, saying, "You may step down, Mr. Thicknose."
Mr. Thicknose did, before Mr. Bonehead continued, "We can now establish that Littlefoot Longneck and Cera Threehorn, even in death, are still technically married. The only thing required then to permit your request is consent from Mr. Threehorn to take you under his jurisdiction."
Desperately trying to keep a straight face as Leigh bared his hands into fists and he started shaking, Mr. Threehorn replied, "Very well. Mr. Longneck, by being the father of my son-in-law, you are legally part of my family as fellow co-father-in-laws."
And ignoring the howls of Leigh's followers in the crowd, Mr. Bonehead growled, "Then that is all there is to it. Mr. Longneck, you shall take residence in the frilled zone as part of Mr. Threehorn's herd. Anyone who tries to hinder this relocation or harm the parties involved shall be criminally prosecuted. Case closed," he ordered.
Spitting and sputtering with rage, Leigh screamed, "You disgusting, perverted, filthy heretics! Befouling our precious Valley with your disregard for purity with all your foul intermingling between the different kinds! The level of depravity and immorality you have committed will bring down bad luck from the circles condemning you for your actions! Sky fire will burn your tails and sand clouds will blind your eyes!"
Then, Leigh fell onto his knees and began to noisily weep. "Sorry circles ... I have tried my best to convey your wisdom … But unfortunately, corrupt heretics not worthy of your light stand in your way. The truth is we may love them as your creations, but we abhor their deviant lifestyle, for we know how saddened it makes you. I know how you are looking down on us with righteous condemnation, as you should. But please, please do not bring your wrath upon those of us who still believe in the purity you espouse. We are doing our best to …"
But he was interrupted by a very irate cluster of segregated threehorns, sprinting to him angrily. "Mr. Leigh! Mr. Bonehead!" one of them spat. "There are tons of criminals in our zone, violating the segregation order!"
"What?" Leigh shouted, getting up at once. "Hurry, let's investigate!"
But as they proceeded, Topps exchanged a knowing look with Bron. Seeing how well his longneck friend had used simple, cool logic and legal precedents to allow Mr. Bonehead to rule in his favor, he figured using similar tactics might be able to do the job without provoking any hostilities …
As Topps beamed proudly at the gigantic combined herd of spiketails, threehorns, onehorns, clubtails and swimmers all standing defiantly together against the face of furious glares from the segregated threehorns nearby, Mr. Bonehead rushed to the scene. "All right, this is quite enough. I do not want any kind of war breaking out in this Great Valley. No dispute between leafeaters is worth endangering the Valley to sharpteeth invasions. Everyone who is not frilled, return to your zones immediately and I will let you off with a warning."
But as Leigh smirked, the rebellious tailed and twofooter dinosaurs did not move, and Topps stepped forward. "Sir," he said, doing his absolute best not to laugh. "I would like to raise a legal question."
"Oh dear, what does the heretic have to say now?" Leigh simpered. "Trying to burn his daughter's blackened spirit even further?" he said, doing his best to needle Topps. Topps however, just ignored him, and raised his point.
"Sir," Topps said pleasantly. "I understand that the segregation order prevents individual dinosaurs from leaving their own zones. But with the inclusion of Mr. Longneck in my herd, we can establish that my herd is already legally integrated, correct?"
"Yes," Mr. Bonehead said, and Topps could see the knowing smirk in the old bonehead's eyes. Savoring the moment, he said, "In which case, I have the right to welcome dinosaurs of any kind into my herd, is that correct?"
"Mr. Bonehead, don't you dare …" Leigh snarled, but Mr. Bonehead ignored him. "That is correct."
"Very well then," Topps smirked. "I would officially like to bring all of these dinosaurs under my jurisdiction by them becoming members of my herd. Is that permission granted?"
"It is, so long as your prospective herd members agree to it," Mr. Bonehead answered.
And as the rebellious twofooters and tailed dinosaurs quickly nodded, Leigh began to seethe, clearly struggling not to explode.
"And because of the precedent that families or herds shall not be separated," Topps smirked, "All members are legally allowed to stay with me in the frilled zone. Is that correct?"
And with a wry smile, Mr. Bonehead silently nodded. At once, the regime's threehorns roared furiously, as Mr. Bonehead turned around to face them. "Enough! I understand there is great tension here. Some of you believe in cooperation, some of you believe in … tradition. But since it is of utmost importance to keep every leafeater in the Valley safe from sharpteeth, there will be no blood drawn in this Great Valley. As legal expert, I declare that a buffer zone is needed to ensure separation between the feuding parties. Mr. Threehorn, your herd can remain integrated, but only if you stay behind the line of boulders I will set up. If I catch any one of you on either side trying to move the boulders, you will face criminal charges. Do you understand? I am saying this, for it is a fair compromise, and I am doing everything in my power to preserve peace in the Great Valley."
"Yes, Mr. Bonehead," Topps agreed, trying his hardest not to laugh. "I promise none of my herd will cross your line."
"And as for you?" Mr. Bonehead asked the segregated threehorns, who merely huffed off without a word, leaving only Leigh standing there, glaring at the entire combined herd, as he raged. "You think you have outwitted me … Well, I have not had my final say, heretics. I will be consulting with the circles to make sure you all suffer for your defiance. There is still time for you to repent from your deviance and be saved … But you are testing the circles' patience, and don't say I didn't warn you." And flouncing back to his cave, Leigh huffed off dramatically.
As Mr. Bonehead too left the scene after setting up the border of boulders, the combined herd began to quietly chuckle to each other. "Well done, everybody," Topps said. "I congratulate each of you for finally seeing sense and deciding to become threehorns," he teased as the whole group snickered.
"So everyone," he continued, relishing every word. "I would like you all to meet the newest member of our herd, now officially legally defined as a member of my family … My fellow co-father-in-law."
And as Bron lowered himself to the ground in a respectful bow, his heart warmed as he looked at all the flushed, excited faces, delightedly welcoming him in with cheers and whoops. He felt a broad smile grow on his face as he took the time to really appreciate all of their faces. His long respect for Stella's spiketail herd was turning into a personal affection as he fondly regarded them. The swimmers, onehorns and clubtails, whom he had not really gotten to know well before, proved to be surprisingly steadfast yet open dinosaurs, deeply committed to their Great Valley yet opening their hearts up to him as well, and he resolved to get to know each of them better. And even the threehorns, with whom he had a strained relationship with as he feuded against their herd leader, were willing to let bygones be bygones and warmly welcome him into their herd.
It was once a mystery to Bron as to why his son had such feelings for the community that he was a part of to the point where he would reject even being reunited with his own father, or how he had even urged him not to try to lead the herd. But now that he had really met the Valley's dinosaurs for himself, he couldn't believe that he had the nerve to try to take control of such a rich community without even getting to know them first. And as they welcomed him in, he resolved that he would do his best to actually try to improve their community, not remake it ... And that he would be able to integrate his lost, wandering herd to join them, just as he was beginning to feel like a part of the Valley himself …
"Would you all mind letting me discuss how we do things in our herd with our newcomer?" Topps loudly asked, causing the members of the combined herd to chortle as the segregated frilled dinosaurs within earshot glared and seethed.
So letting them through the line, Bron and Topps went right over to the deepest part of their zone, where they knew they could not be eavesdropped upon.
"Nice legal work, my friend," Bron told Topps.
Topps beamed at him. "What are you thanking me for? You're the one who set it all up," he said, and the two of them chuckled together.
"So Longneck," Topps murmured, his eyes alive with mischief. "What have you got planned?"
"Well, I need to collect my herd from the Mysterious Beyond," Bron answered. "Do you know of any secret exits?"
Topps smirked deviously. "How much do you know?"
Bron smirked back. "Well … I have instructed Len to chop down trees in the longneck zone and hide them for … Later."
"Well well well," Topps said simply, with a knowing grin on his face. "I like your thinking. Maybe you've got a bit of threehorn in you after all."
Bron shook his head, knowing the threehorn was feeling too playful to just tell him everything. Feeling his hopes rise, he asked, "I suppose our kids have been up to something?"
Topps chortled shiftily. "You don't think they've been smoldering in the smoking mountains?"
Bron raised his eyebrows. "Not for a moment. You didn't really think I was flatheaded enough to believe Hiss Head, did you?" Bron teased, and the two fathers began to laugh.
"Well, knowing your son, I suppose the tree wouldn't be too far away from the treestar," Topps chuckled, before explaining. "Right, I'll fill you in. They've got a big youth revolt going on in a place called the Hidden Canyon … Which is right behind these walls."
Bron nodded slowly, flushed with pride at just what his son has been up to. "Think we should drop them a visit?" he smirked.
"I don't see why not," smiled Topps. "Besides," he said, eyeing Sophie, Tippy, Monty, Veno and the other young threehorns and spiketails. "We've probably got to deliver them some new recruits, don't you think?"
And Bron and Topps loudly snickered together. Not that long ago, the two herd leaders saw each other as the greatest danger to the Great Valley. But upon really getting to know each other as they stood together under pressure, just as their children had before them, the two strong-willed, loving fathers had really begun to feel a common bond growing between them. And as they eyed the walls where they could hear a faint but effervescent babble of chatter, the two of them both felt ready to help support the burgeoning young herd in whatever way possible.
As the large party of dinosaurs entered the Secret Spot, Ducky's siblings, Rana, Weald, Ceph, Kirt, Naz, and the three elders gasped at the beauty around them. They were in an area brand new to them, with no trace of Leigh's cruelty to speak of.
"Hahaha," Hyp chuckled. "Free at last."
"You don't think anyone's gonna find us, do you Hyp?" Mutt asked hopefully.
Hyp snorted. "Nah. Those dummies wouldn't go bother looking for us now!"
Ann however was looking considerably less than cheerful. As she knelt on the ground, she gasped, "Saska … Willow … Creek … They're gone! I don't …"
But then Ann trailed off, and her heart dropped as she saw Ducky's siblings eyeing her curiously. "Um … That is, uh, I mean, uh …"
"You guys better promise not to insult Ann, got it?" Hyp ordered Ducky's siblings
The seven of them looked confusedly at one another, before their eyes widened in comprehension.
"You're a mom now?" Delphine asked incredulously, as with a sigh, Ann nodded. "Yes … And their father is that disgusting Brucad … The one who attacked Ruby. He forced himself upon me."
As the others gasped and Ann hung her head with this revelation, Dispo wanted to take the heat off his friend. "This is why we found our Secret Spot in the first place," he sighed. "A place for Ann to keep her babies secret and for me to recover from my spiky flower …"
Then Dispo trailed off, realizing that he had just confessed his secret with three elders around. "Uhh …. I mean …"
But to everyone's surprise, Mutt's father approached the small spikethumb. "Don't worry about it, kid. Everyone makes mistakes."
Dispo looked up at him in surprise. "You mean … You're not gonna kick me out of the Valley?"
"Well, it's all academic now, since we have all been kicked out of the Valley for all intents and purposes," Mr. Spikethumb said with a wry smile. "But that was just a warning to try to instill character in you. We didn't believe there was any other way you would listen to us. And dare I say it, all of you have shown great courage in helping to protect Mr. Nod," he said, beaming at Hyp's gang, before smiling at Ducky's siblings. "As for you, I greatly admire you for leaving the safety of your home to assist my son and his friends with their rescue. You all are admirable youths, and you should all be very proud of yourselves."
"I suppose I should reveal my secret here too," Rana said slowly, looking down at the ground. "You wonder why you've never even heard of my parents? Well, it's because … I'm a bad egg," she said, with a heavy sigh. "You know why most of my kind come in greens, blues and purples, but I am gray and gold? It's because my parents are both a species of bigmouth that's gray and gold like me. My guess of what happened is that somewhere along the line, I had a sailbacked spikethumb ancestor who mated with a bigmouth, a child of which then joined a segregated bigmouth herd. They've probably been carrying a little spikethumb in their bloodline ever since … But I was the only egg of my clutch that came out as a spikethumb."
Mr. Spikethumb nodded slowly. "You are most likely correct, Ms. Rana. I have heard of rare cases where dinosaurs of the same kind have given birth to dinosaurs of another, which unfortunately are commonly described as bad eggs. This is most likely, as you mentioned, due to you carrying genes of an ancestor that express themselves as your phenotype, resulting in you phenotypically being a sailed spikethumb even though you have a primarily bigmouth ancestry. Needless to say, you were wise not to disclose this information, for this would make you a certain target of the regime, being the exact type of impurity that they rail against."
"I've been careful not to reveal this to anyone before," sighed Rana, feeling her sail. "There is no good that could from anyone knowing about it, and I've experienced from my old herd what bigotry was like growing up … But well, now why I will do my best to stand up to this regime."
Ann put her hand on Rana's shoulder. "You're not the only one harmed by them … Their culture of disrespecting girls is what caused me to have my eggs without a loving father to help me raise them."
"Yes, and what destroyed my childhood friendship with who was once a close childhood friend," Weald sighed. "Before they brainwashed her completely."
"Who think that because I'm a boy and you're a girl," Kirt began, as Naz finished, "That we can't be best of friends, even if we are brother and sister."
"Who try to subvert the intent of the law and twist it into evil intentions," agreed Ceph.
"Who tried splitting me off from you guys just because I have four legs and you guys have two," Nod added angrily.
"Who fail to show any mercy to dinosaurs who make mistakes and abandon them instead of trying to help them grow or learn from them," Dispo agreed firmly.
"These guys are a big bunch of bullies!" Mutt shouted, causing the others to hurriedly gesture him to quiet down. "Everyone thought we were bad … But we never really hurt anybody!"
"Until now," Hyp growled, as a malicious smirk formed on his face. "Because guess what? We're not gonna take it! We're gonna revolt against these crazies until they're really, really sorry!"
And as Hyp's gang let out a roar of solidarity, Ducky's siblings beamed at them. Having already decided to revolt, waited for Hyp and his friends to stop celebrating before filling them in on their plan. But before they could do so, they heard a little pitter-patter of footsteps, and turning, they saw a small pack of little dinosaurs running to them, all with mischievous grins on their faces.
"Hi Nod!" Oplax cheerfully greeted the older shieldback as he lovingly ran right to him, and Nod, his eyes melting, couldn't help but give the little clubtail a hug. Many of the others gasped, especially Rana, Weald and Ceph.
"You mean … You really know these guys?" Rana asked Nod, who nodded firmly. "We might not have always been best of buds," he chuckled. "But once we've gotten to know them … We've realized that, well, they're a lot like us."
As Tricia's gang smiled friendlily while Rana, Weald and Ceph looked at each other in disbelief, Ann, Dispo, Mutt and Hyp all smiled.
"These guys have shared the Secret Spot with us," smiled Ann. "We may have come here for different reasons. But we're both loyal groups of friends who will do anything for one another."
"Who kept the Secret Spot secret along with us, and who believe in the same Great Valley that we do," Dispo beamed.
"They're actually really nice," Mutt smiled. "Not to mention cute!"
"Yeah, but they're tough little guys with loads of guts who aren't gonna take any crap from anyone," Hyp boasted as Tricia's gang grinned at them, flattered. "You can count on them to be our allies … But more than that, our friends, who will be right there to stand with us! Right, guys?"
Tricia's friends grinned. "You said it!" Mono exclaimed, and still in disbelief, Rana, Ceph and Weald watched with disbelief as Hyp, Ann, Mutt and Dispo opened their arms up to the junior gang, who happily hopped inside, as if they were older and younger siblings.
"You guys are awesome!" Rachelle cooed.
"I knew you'd break into the Secret Spot and join us," Oplax beamed.
"Wait … How did you get into the Secret Spot without moving that boulder?" Weald asked, perplexed.
"We went underground!" Perri giggled.
"We went through lots of trouble to get here," Cassia laughed. "But it was sure worth it!"
"Cass, we haven't even seen the best part yet," Tricia snickered.
"Oh, yeah," Cassia laughed, as the twins naughtily smirked at each other. "It's time for us youth gangs to gang up together," Garnet told them.
Weald looked at them, impressed. "Wow … You guys are awesome. But what do you suppose we can do together?"
"We won't do anything until we join our herd," Pearl snickered as Tricia's gang grinned wickedly at Hyp's gang.
"Yeah, we've got to get instructions from the others first," Destiny giggled deviously.
"What are you talking about?" Hyp asked.
But before anyone could answer, they could see a familiar pink figure standing at the edge of the Secret Spot, with several long vine ropes in hand. At once, Tricia's gang whooped excitedly, instantly clamoring right to the edge of the Secret Spot, as Ruby threw down a vine for them to climb up, which they did, along with Ducky's other three little siblings and the clubtail babies clinging onto Oplax's back.
"We know all about your herd, Ruby!" Tricia beamed at her as she climbed up, her gang vigorously nodding as they followed her up to the top. "And we're all ready to join!"
"What herd?" Hyp asked irritably, as his gang and Ducky's older siblings approached, looking at Ruby curiously.
Ruby smiled. "Who here doesn't like Hiss Head?" she asked, to the immediate agreement of both groups present.
"Who's tired of the segregation orders and wants to live together as a big, combined herd?" she asked again.
Ducky's siblings enthusiastically nodded, while Hyp's gang looked intrigued as Ruby tailored her appeal.
"Who's ready to gang up on the regime as a great big youth gang to help save Chomper, Ali, Shorty, Cam and Mia and teach Hiss Head a lesson?" Ruby cheered.
Hyp's gang's expressions became ravenous as they looked at one another with big smirks, nodding enthusiastically, as the whole gaggle of young adults stared up at her.
"Well then … Come join our herd! I'm a herd leader, as are Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike! We're building a real herd of friends together, with many more friends than many! As one big Great Valley family standing together!"
And as they all gasped with the revelation that their five friends and in Ducky's siblings' case relatives were alive, Ruby threw down all the vines she had, and one by one, each of the young dinosaurs rushed to climb up, grinning madly as they did their best to remain silent, with only their eyes and smiles betraying their enthusiasm.
"We'll stay down here to make sure your place remains secret," said Hyp's father said, as Mr. Spikethumb and Mutt's father nodded.
"Okay," Perri said. "But we might get more kids coming through the tunnels."
"The tiny longnecks are looking for nice kids who don't like the bad guys," Cassia explained.
"And some of them might want to come and join us," Sam added.
"We can fly Avie, Guido or Etta over to bring them to our place," Ruby suggested as the kids happily cheered.
"But first, we'll be down there to keep an eye on the incoming kids and make sure none of them betray you," Hyp's father growled, to which everyone agreed, knowing that they had to do resort to anything to make sure that no enemies would find out about the Secret Spot.
"Well, see you," Ruby told the three elders, before she led the large group of young dinosaurs straight to the Hidden Canyon.
"Heh, you hatchlings are gonna be happy you're teamed up with us," Hyp chuckled to Tricia's gang, who looked at him with admiration. "You guys are pretty impressive for tykes. But do you wanna learn how to really cause trouble and show those dummies a thing or two? Well, no look no further, because we know all about how to be really bad. Right?" he asked his gang, who snickered mischievously as Tricia's gang beamed at them.
Their moment of laughter was cut short however, as they heard the sound of swift footsteps creeping up behind them. Everyone froze, wondering if their attempt to escape to freedom had been defeated before it could even start. But rather than a dark leafeater, what they saw were three little fast biters, one with purple skin and green eyes, one with bluish gray skin and brown eyes, and one olive green with blue eyes. As the three slowly approached them, Hyp's gang and Ducky's nestmates closed in to protect the kids, preparing to swing their tails against the oncoming sharpteeth.
But then the fast biter in the middle, the bluish gray one with brown eyes opened its mouth and began to hiss.
"Weeer knooowrr yourrr vorrrce," he hissed in a heavily accented voice, which despite being growly and raspy, was surprisingly high-pitched, sounding as though it came from a kid, no older than Tricia in age.
And as Hyp stared at the others bewilderedly, the fast biter kid continued to hiss.
"Weeerrr hearrr alpharr ... Weerrr smerr alpharr … Wherr irrrss alpharr?"
And while none of the others had a clue as to what they were talking about, Hyp, Mutt and Nod looked at each other, their jaws dropped in incredulity.
"No ..." Hyp said simply.
