It has been a few days since Taka made his return and was taken in by Topps. Taka enjoyed each day he got with his friends and treasured them. Currently they were playing with a rock. It was funner than it sounded.

"I got it", called Littlefoot.

"Now me got it"! Petrie tried and failed to kick the rock that was bigger than him. "Ow, oh".

"Go Spike", encouraged Ducky who was on his neck. Spike leaped and Petrie let out a noise and got out of the way.

"Did you get it, Spike? Did you, huh"? She got her answer when he stood up and revealed the crushed rock underneath him. Ducky giggled. "Yep, yep, yep! You got it".

Cera sang. "I found another one! I found another one"! She flipped it with her horn and laughed after she finished her singing.

Littlefoot and Taka caught up with the rock. Littlefoot panted as he almost had it.

A grey toed foot landed on the rock and both slowly looked up to see Hyp with his 2 followers, Nod and Mutt.

Taka sighed. It was only a day after he moved in with Cera and her dad. He met the bullies. Petrie literally used all his strength to keep Taka's mouth from making a comeback. Taka was warned that while they were harmless usually, they won't hesitate to get violent if you get on their nerves too much.

Littlefoot continued panting. "Hi, Hyp. Can we have our back, please"?

Hyp picked it up. "Your rock? Who said it was your rock"?

Nod joined in. "Yeah, who said it was your rock, huh? Who said? Who said"?

They both looked at Mutt who remained silent. He then got the hint. "Oh! Ah, yeah"! Taka often referred to Mutt as the 'Ed of the Great Valley'.

Littlefoot answered. "Well, gee, no one. We were just playing with it".

"So give it back, Hyp". Cera directly ordered it.

"But I didn't here you say please".

"That's because I didn't"! Cera growled at him while he snarled back.

Taka decided to end this tiresome argument. "You know what Hyp, keep it we can easily find another".

Cera didn't like this. That would mean letting him Hyp win. And Hyp wasn't grateful either. "I don't need permission from a bunch of babies".

Taka had like 3 comebacks but kept his mouth shut. Some gasped at the insult while Cera was annoyed. "Babies? Who's he calling babies"?

Ducky answered like it was a question "Us"?

Petrie replied. "Hmph! Me no baby". Petrie took a deep breath. "Me big"!

Hyp pushed the flyer with his finger while insulting him. "Yeah, a big baby"! Hyp and his friends laughed. Petrie glared. "Me no like them".

"Me neither". Cera was getting prepared to charge. "I'll show 'em".

Taka tried to reason with her. "Wait a minute".

She ignored him. "I'm busy". They easily got out of the way and she ran into a hedge.

Taka sighed. "I meant wait a minute, don't charge yet, they can simply get out of the way".

Cera had to admit, that might have been useful advice.

The bullies were amused. Mutt made a mocking face. "Nyah! Nyah"!

"Try and get us", taunted Hyp.

Taka didn't even listen to Nod join in. He was about to make sure she wouldn't miss a second time. But as Cera prepared to charge again, a rumble interrupted everything.

It sure got the attention of Hyp. "Whoa! What's that"?

Nod tried to answer. "It's a-a-a".

"Earthshake", screamed cera.

Petrie gasped. "Rocks fly"?

Taka was focused on the sky although he did catch a glimpse of Hyp and his friends escaping. It all felt blurry after that.

"Hey Taka, wake up".

Taka tried to regain his vision. "What happened"?

"An earthshake".

He nodded. "I remember that but why can't I remember anything else".

"You ran into a tree when you tried to flee, I had to carry you on my back".

"Is there any damage".

"I don't think so. Not that I personally know. It probably damaged some homes if I had to guess".

"I probably had it easy, being knocked out".

"It was scary, not that it scared me but you know, I could see how it might scare some".

Taka chuckled. "Yes, of course".

"Daddy will be pleased. He said to tell him when you woke up. But you didn't hear that from me".

Taka laughed. He was glad he picked the Threehorns.


Taka and Littlefoot were playing in the water. Littlefoot stuck his head in the water. Seeing a fish, he made bubbles, causing in to flee. The 2 laughed until they noticed. The water stopped coming.

An adult voice spoke. "What? Look, everyone! Where did the water go"?

"It stopped flowing"!

"How can that be"?

"What will we do without water"?

Littlefoot was confused. "Grandpa, why did the Thundering Falls stop"?

"I don't know, Littlefoot. I don't know".

Grandma spoke next. "Littlefoot, Taka. Go and play. Grandpa and I must talk with the other grown-ups".

"Sure Grandma". He walked away and Taka followed. "See ya later grandpa", called Littlefoot and he ran to find his friends while the adults chatted about the situation.

Taka was curious. "What do you think caused the waterfall to stop"?

"No clue, but we should tell the others".

When they found them, Taka spoke. "We got news".

They saw Spike hold up Ducky who went into a broken tree.

Taka continued. "I'm sorry are you to busy at the moment, because it's really important".

"Shh", replied Ducky. "We are trying to find Cera. She had hided from us".

Littlefoot gave a 'but' only for Petrie to appear. "Uh, me no find Cera anywhere".

Taka sighed out loud. "She's over there". He pointed to leaves and ferns. Cera was not amused. "You take the fun out of everything I was planning to scare them".

Taka shrugged. "Games over. We got big news, you need to hear".

Cera sighed. "Fine, but hurry up. We want to play".

Littlefoot took over. "We saw". Spike walked away over to the side to get some food. "Hey"!

Ducky giggled. "Spike is taking your turn for you, Littlefoot".

The others, including Taka laughed while Spike found something to eat.

Taka chuckled. "You don't need me to find him. But seriously, we got important news you need to hear".

Ducky was curious. "What is it"?

Littlefoot explained. "It's the Thundering Falls. It's not giving us any water. You gotta come see".

A new voice spoke. "Why don't you hatchlings go run and see".

Nod, who had Hyp relaxing on his back parroted the words. "Yeah, run and see. Run and see"!

Mutt who was shading Hyp with a fern got a dirty look. Mutt got the hint. "Oh. Bah. Yeah"! He then had his tongue out stupidly".

Cera refused to back down. "Try and make us"!

"No, Cera, no", pleaded Ducky.

"Oh, don't worry I won't hurt 'em much". She stuck out her tongue and even made a sound with it.

Mutt and Nod did the same back. Hyp wasn't amused by this. "Put those away". They did as they were told.

"How come all you ever wanna do is fight, Hyp"?

Petrie agreed. "Yeah, fight". He punched himself, landing on Littlefoot's nose. "Ow! Fighting hurt"!

Mutt wondered too. "Yeah, it does always give you 'ow-wees' Hyp. Why do we do it"?

"Why? Why"? Hyp hopped off Nod. "Because we're bigger. And bigger is smarter! Bigger is meaner! And bigger is better"!

This sent Petrie flying of Littlefoot, onto his back. And a song started with Hyp. "When you're big, you can push all the little ones around. They're looking' up while you are looking down. You can snap a tree in two, like it was just a twig". Nod broke a tree with his back legs while Mutt tore a branch from a tree. "Things are better when you're big".

The other 2 joined in. "When you're big".

Hyp sung solo again. "You can do anything you want to do".

Mutt and Nod sang. "Wah-oh".

"All the rules that grownups make; they don't apply to you".

Mutt and Nodd repeated. "Not to you".

"You can smash in all the puddles, gulp, slurp and swig"

"Oh, wah".

"The world is wetter when you're big".

"Glug, glug. Glug".

"You can snort".

The other 2 repeated, getting in the face of Littlefoot and Taka.

"You can growl".

The 2 repeated, appearing in the bushes, scaring away Cera, leaving a terrified Petrie.

"You can stomp".

"You can stomp".

"You can howl".

"You can howl".

As Hyp sang, Petrie evaded Nod and Mutt headbutting. "You can bonk someone smaller on the head".

"On the head".

"You can take what you want, play all day in the swamp. And you never ever have to go to bed".

"When you're big".

Taka got Ducky out of the way. "You can step on little people's toes".

"Oh, wah".

"Munch on their lunch".

"Lunch".

"And bop them in the nose".

"Oh yeah".

"Threehorns, and longnecks and lions to".

"Lions, too".

"They all have to do anything you want them to".

"You want them too".

"And if they don't you can plop them in the goo"!

"Don't you forget". Mutt growled and pretended to punch Littlefoot. "What you want, you get".

Nod growled at Cera.

"Things are better when you're big".

Taka had to admit, it was an impressive song, Mufasa and Sarabi could never come up with anything like that.

"When you're big".

Taka found it catchy as he listened to Nod and Mutt 'la la' away for the second time.

And finally, all of them together. "When you're big"!

After Hyp finished, Littlefoot pointed something out. "But, Hyp, when you're all grown up, you won't be very big at all".

"Yeah", said Cera. "Your kind never gets very big. When we grow up, we'll be much bigger".

Taka didn't hear Ducky agree as he realized he will be smaller that Hyp.

Hyp didn't back down. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'm going to see to it that you never grow up".

"Ah, yeah"!

Nod repeated Hyp's words. "Never grow up. Never"!

Mutt was curious. "Ah, how are you gonna do that, Hyp"?

"Sheesh, you're dumb. Let me lay it out for you. First, we chase' em. Second, we catch' em. Third we hurt' em". Hyp failed to notice them sneak away. "See"?

"Ah, no Hyp. I don't see anybody", said Mutt looking around.

Same for Nod. "Me neither".

"What"? Hyp saw they were nowhere in sight. He was annoyed. "Ugh! Come on! We'll pound them later".

They unknowingly walked past Spike, whose been eaten the whole time". Not bad for someone who's bad at hiding.