Taka couldn't believe it. He was back, although the 2 that brought him here were nowhere to be seen. But he was in the Great Valley, he couldn't believe it. He was back, he was home. He made his way looking for his friends. There were plenty of dinosaurs, he never forgot how big they could be. He continued his search, until he heard a familiar voice. "Taka, is that you"?

He turned in excitement to see Littlefoot. They both said no words for a few seconds, then they rushed over to the other.

"I thought you had to leave".

Taka smiled. "I did but I was aloud to come back. How's it been since I saw you".

Littlefoot smirked. "I briefly raised a little sharptooth I named Chomper".

Taka was surprised. "You? Raise a sharptooth"?

Littlefoot giggled. "I know. He's back with his parents now, but I'll never forget him".

Taka smirked. "It would have been cool to meet a fellow carnivore, but oh well".

Littlefoot nudged him. "Come on, the others will be glad to see you".

It didn't take long for them to find the others playing. They didn't notice him until Petrie called out. "Look. Taka back".

The others saw and rushed to him in excitement. They all asked their own questions, Taka had trouble keeping up. After they quieted down, he spoke. "I missed you all, including Cera".

The threehorn huffed. "Very funny". She smiled though.

Ducky asked. "Did you go back to your family"?

He sighed. "I did. Not much changed. I was able to impress my father, that was a surprise. But my mother and Mufasa continued to make me miserable.

Ducky was sad. "Nobody should do that to their family, no, no, no".

Petrie was curious. "How you get back"?

Taka sighed. "It's a complicated story. I heard Littlefoot raised a sharptooth".

Cera huffed. Taka sighed. "What happened"?

Littlefoot answered. "He bit Cera".

Taka rolled his eyes. "Classic Cera".

Cera glared. "Taka, I'm glad your back, so let's not go back to annoying each other".

Taka nodded. "Sorry".

Littlefoot had an idea. "Want to play toss the seed"?

Taka was confused. "I don't know how to play that game".

"We'll show you".

For the next half hour, they played. Taka quickly learned the rules and managed to score against the other team. After two own goals on his part.

A new voice called Littlefoot's name. It was his grandpa.

"Littlefoot, I was looking everywhere for you. You were supposed to be back already".

"Sorry Grandpa. I was on my way back when I ran into Taka, then I had to bring him to my friends".

Grandpa turned to Taka who looked absolutely terrified. He could crush him with one move.

"So, you're the Taka Littlefoot has told me about, I'm not so surprised, he did see I would get to meet you some day".

Taka looked at Littlefoot in surprise. Taka thought he would never come back, but the longneck knew he would. He coughed. "I'm pleased to meet you. Your grandson is one of the smartest creatures I ever met".

Grandpa nodded. "He sure is quite clever for his age. So, Taka, would you like to join us. We were about to eat".

"No thanks, I don't eat green food".

Grandpa looked confused. "What do you eat"?

Taka chose his words carefully. "Fish and bugs".

Grandpa nodded.

"Cera".

Taka turned to see a big threehorn heading towards them. "Cera, it's time to go home".

She nodded. "Yes dad".

Topps noticed the cub. "Who are you"?

Taka felt uncomfortable. Not what you call a friendly greeting or tone. "My name's Taka, sir".

Topps looked angry. "Your kind isn't welcome here".

Taka looked confused. "My kind"?

"You eat like sharpteeth do and that's unacceptable here".

Taka turned to Cera who looked sorry. "I didn't think I would see you again so why bother covering it up".

Taka couldn't deny the logic there.

Grandpa looked as surprised, but nonetheless spoke in Taka's defence. "Come now, Mr. Threehorn, he's only a child, what would you have us do".

"Throw him out. We live in the Great Valley to get away from creatures like that".

"We live in the Great Valley to get away from sharpteeth. Littlefoot said he was a lion. We don't have many details apart from what the children tell us".

Cera looked concerned. "Daddy, you can't, his family hates him, he has nowhere else to go".

Topps was tired of this. "I say we let the Great Valley decide".


In the Pridelands, Ahadi and Uru were furious Taka got away again. Ahadi heard that all the way in the Elephant Graveyard, the hyenas were mocking him since, Taka escaped him, not once but twice. They even had a little tune to describe it.

Old Ahadi was a king

Who couldn't tell a thing

His parenting came at a price

Because Taka escaped not once but twice

King Ahadi will be mad

Because it's now known that his parenting is bad

Ahadi felt pathetic that hyenas of all creatures were making fun of him. As for Uru she had Zuzu and lionesses check outside the Pridelands. She couldn't believe that he escaped after the measures she took. Making her look like an incompetent full. When she finds him, she won't let him leave her sight until he's an adult. Some might think it's because she misses her son and cares for his safety. The harsh truth is simply she wants to win and him to lose.

As for Mufasa, he was trying to get Sarafina to tell him where he. It wasn't easy. Although Sarabi was mean to Taka, she considered Sarafina her best friend after Mufasa and she would protect her from Mufasa trying to interrogate her like a criminal. Sarafina hoped that wherever Taka was, he was happy. Mufasa didn't want to admit it but he was starting to get concerned for his brother.


Taka was brought before many residents of the Valley, it was a debate on wither he should be allowed to stay or not. Littlefoot's grandpa pleaded his case while Mr. Threehorn argued that he should leave.

Littlefoot's grandpa spoke his opinion. "Littlefoot told me that he was with them until he came to the valley. The way he described this… lion I think you call it, was nowhere like a sharptooth".

Another resident butted in. "It doesn't matter, what about our children, even if he's harmless now, what will happen when he gets bigger"?

Another spoke. Mr. Thicknose was what he went by. "He's also a kid. While his preference of food does raise concern, we should consider the moral choice of leaving him in the Mysterious Beyond to fend for himself".

Petrie's Mother spoke. "I don't feel comfortable letting him stay, but I don' feel comfortable leaving him to fend for himself either. Perhaps he can be a temporary resident, until he's old enough fend for himself".

Topps was getting more fed up by the minute. "Do you hear yourselves. Like I told the longneck, we live in the Great Valley in peace. To get away from creatures like him".

Many muttered in agreement.

Taka was too nervous to speak and kept silent.

"You can't"! That voice didn't come from an adult, it came from Littlefoot.

"Littlefoot, this meeting is for adults to discuss".

Topps huffed. "You think you can control this thing; you can't even control your own grandson".

Another voice interfered. "No daddy, he's right".

To Topp's surprise, it was his daughter who came butting in. And she was followed by Petrie, Ducky and Spike.

Cera continued to speak. "He was with us until we got here. He was with us when we beaten Sharptooth. He never tried to eat us when he had may chances to do it".

Littlefoot nodded. "You didn't even ask him anything about himself. How can you judge him when you won't even talk to him".

The adults muttered again. Grandpa Longneck nodded. "The children are right. He should be allowed the chance to talk".

For a few seconds Taka kept silent. Cera was unamused. "You had no problem talking your mind to me every chance you got, so you better not lose your voice now".

This actually did give him a confidence boost.

"Residents of the Great Valley. Some of you remind me of my old home. You judge me before you get to know me. Do you know my parents despised me; my brother considered me a disappointment. I'm aware you don't know a lot about lions, so let me explain. It is true that lions eat meat". This got some angry shouts, but he continued. "It is considered a part of the Circle of Life. It's true we eat other animals but we also respect them, to me it was the norm growing up. But if I get the chance to stay, I promise to eat only fish and bugs. And maybe the odd lizard. And so far, many of you treated me like some sort of security risk. I'm considered weak and scrawny for my species. If my old pride was here, they'd be laughing at you, not with you, at you!

He turned to Topps. "I know a little about you from what Cera told me. "You remind me of my father and that's a bad thing. His idea of a perfect family is a strong royal family, but I destroyed that dream with my mere presence. It seems you thought Cera to believe that a threehorn needs to be fearless. Yet you're terrified of me, you could crush me with one stomp and yet I scare you".

Some actually laughed and Topps didn't do his cause justice by replying. "I'm a threehorn, I'm not afraid of a little runt like you"!

"Then why does my presence make you uncomfortable. Like I told you, I'm considered a disgrace back home. My family hates me. You know when I left the first time, they didn't miss me and they made no attempt to find me, they told me that to my face. When they made sure that I wouldn't escape a second time to simply spite me. Tell me, do you think I suffered badly or do you think because I don't eat the same food as a lot of you, I don't suffer like everyone else. I thank those that supported me in this meeting". He sighed. "But I know you're going to throw me out. You all act superior, yet I doubt many of you cared about how my family treated me. Have your vote, I'm not leaving until it's made official.

He nodded at his friends.

The 6 of them were now alone.

Cera smirked. "That was some speech you gave, I never heard anyone talk to my dad like that, any other situation and I would have been mad at you".

Ducky looked concerned. "What will the vote be"?

Taka sighed. "I think my speech only made them madder".

Soon Littlefoot's grandmother showed up. Littlefoot looked nervous. "What did they decide"?

"The majority agreed that he can stay, for the time being". They all cheered at the small victory they had.

She spoke to Taka. "While you're here, you're going to need a guardian".

Taka nodded. "Did you decide yet".

She nodded. "The final choice is yours".

"Who offered".

"I offered for one, Mr. Thicknose also. And so did Mr. Threehorn".

The last option took them by surprise. "WHAT"?