EDIT: I'm going to make a list to different chapters. This might be a long fanfic... I'm not too sure yet though. I hope that it'll make it easier for everyone here. The links will take you to the post that has that chapter in it. The first one isn't a link because you'll find that in this post.

Chapter 1: First Meeting
Chapter 2: Learning
Chapter 3: Making New Friends
Chapter 4: A Change in the Wind
Chapter 5: A New Day
Chapter 6: Going on an Adventure
Chapter 7: The Taste of Danger
Chapter 8: The Dry Time
Chapter 9: Disaster
Chapter 10: Some Cold Times Later
Chapter 11: Shockers and Storytellers
Chapter 12: Reunions and Revelations
Chapter 13: Fate of Friends
Chapter 14: The Fight for Family

~~~~~

Oh boy... what am I doing...?

Seeing as Ducky showed us all a preview of his fic, I supposed I should show you guys what I've been up to. Not much, really. No artwork, only one chapter... and today, I shall show you that chapter.

So, my story... Since it's set waaay before Littlefoot and co. are born (well, they are in it but don't appear until near the end, sorry), and since it's about mostly longnecks (did you expect much else from me, really?), this is quite heavily OC-based, and there are characters you will know here just under different names.

Actually, this is the life story of two longnecks we all know and should love. Some of you probably already know, some of you probably would have guessed by the last sentence, or maybe not. Anyway, this fanfiction is about how two longnecks met and how they came to be the ones we know.

Keep in mind, this is going to be quite tragic in some parts, and this will contain character death... mostly in the middle. Hey, I like putting characters through tragedy, and I suppose it's a bit of juxtaposition or whatever it is to the title. Anyway, since I'm waffling as usual now, start Chapter 1! And be warned, it's over 2000 words long, so make sure you have time to read this. Sorry, I like writing long chapters...

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Chapter 1: First Meeting

The herd looked over the valley, the leader and his mate at the front. The female was proudly carrying her youngest child, who beamed when she saw her new home. She was getting tired of living in the same herd since nobody else had nested their eggs. It was a dangerous time and most of the females had gone to the nesting grounds to leave their eggs to raise themselves, but this little girl had been lucky. Her mother had taken the risk to stay at home and wait until her eggs had hatched, but in the end only little Tosa made it. Their old home had been stripped of food by this longneck herd, and there was a drought going on, so hardly any food grew back. After the leader's daughter was born, they left immediately into the world of danger, but the child knew hardly anything about the negatives of the world. She had no grandparents, all having died from the drought, illness and sharpteeth that were seeking stragglers. However, Tosa had no idea about this, or death in particular. In her eyes, everything was perfect, and everything lived forever. Her grandparents had just left ahead of the herd, any dead dinosaur she saw on the trail was sleeping, and her missing older brother had joined her cousin's herd for a while.

The herd moved in, and Tosa was very excited, shaking with happiness and clutching the sides of her mother's face, who groaned at her but didn't do much else. The little one just hoped that she would meet someone new, someone she could be best friends with. She may have seen the world as perfect, but she wasn't completely stupid. She knew her parents and the other herd members were hiding something from her. They always got edgy whenever she asked about something which could be sensitive to some, such as why there was no food in their last home or what happened if someone got eaten by a sharptooth. The herd members had been told by the leading male that they were not allowed to tell Tosa any different to what he had told her, and they all agreed, not wanting to get on his bad side. Tosa squealed when they entered the land, and her eyes widened with amazement. It was a lush, green valley, with fresh pools of water everywhere and a great wall surrounding it, protecting the land from dangerous predators.

At the same time, another herd was entering the valley, along with another young child. However, he didn't seem all too thrilled with arriving. He had to leave his home after a severe food shortage due to a harsh cold time. Big sharpteeth took territory in the parts that did have food and everyone was forced to eat swamp sticks, but eventually all of those also ran out. There were many little ones within this herd, since the nesting grounds were at their home so all of the females nested and looked after their eggs, and so the herd was blooming with new life. This young one was lying on the back of his grandfather, who was fairly close to the front of the herd, and he was the exact opposite of Tosa. He knew all too well about death and illness, and didn't see much positive in the world at all. He was recovering from something that no child should have had to face. There were no parents there for him.

“Well, Thunderfoot,” his grandfather announced. “We're here.”

“Mmm,” was all he got in reply. Thunderfoot had been very depressed since the tragic event, not talking or playing much, and on some occasions even refusing to eat. His grandfather was the last dinosaur who could look after him in his family as far as he knew.

The two different herds came in two different directions, and settled in on different sides of the huge valley. Tosa slid down her mother's tail and ran between her legs, clearly excited and rearing to go and explore this new place.

“Can I go now?” she asked her parents. “Please? Please, please, please?”

“You need to eat first,” said her father, pulling some treestars from a nearby tree and dropping them next to his daughter. She just gobbled them up as quickly as possible, not taking in how good they tasted compared to her last meal.

“Now can I go?” she pleaded. Her mother chuckled.

“Of course you can, little one,” she said, nuzzling her child lovingly. “But be careful and don't talk to any strangers, okay?”

“Okay!” Tosa replied, running off into the bushes. Her mother giggled, but her father seemed worried. Tosa usually followed his rules without question, but most of the time she was with them, since they hadn't been in such a safe place before.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, Thunderfoot was struggling to finish his meal. He had been thinking too much about that day again and had lost his appetite. His grandfather had to pretty much shove the food down his throat in panic; he didn't want his grandson to starve himself to death.

“Why don't you go and explore for a bit?” he finally suggested. Thunderfoot looked at him but didn't answer. “You never know, you might make some new friends... and it'll take your mind off things for a while, huh?” Thunderfoot just shrugged in reply. His grandpa pushed him to his feet. “Go on,” he said. “I heard another herd has also arrived... you need to go and make some new friends.” Thunderfoot nodded this time and walked off, his grandfather sighing as he did so. He didn't want to be harsh, but being too soft wouldn't help either. He had accepted what had happened as part of the circle of life, but Thunderfoot was still too young to understand that, and he thought that it was too unfair.

Thunderfoot walked on for a bit, before coming to a small pond. He slumped down on its banks, looking down at his reflection sadly. He fell into another of his daydreams, thinking about those he had lost.

Tosa ran through the valley, looking in wonder at all of the green around her. Soon enough, she spotted a flying buzzer, and chased it for a while, wandering very far from where her herd was resting. However, eventually the buzzer flew out of her reach, and she groaned in disappointment, before she heard someone sighing. She curiously poked her head through the tall grass where she had heard the sound, and was amazed at what she saw. There was another little longneck who seemed to be her exact age laying by a small pool. She examined him for a bit, and then she quickly ran up to the other little one.

“Hello!” she exclaimed, but the other longneck did little more than shift in reply. Tosa moved around and walked into the shallow pool in front of the other longneck to get a better look at it's face. She could tell now that it was a young male, and he seemed very depressed. “I said hello!” she said again, but he didn't even look up at her. Soon enough, her patience ran out. She pushed her face right up against his.

“Hellooooooo?”

The male looked up in shock at her.  “H-h-hi...” he stammered. Tosa giggled; the male seemed a little bit scared of her, backing off slightly.

“What's your name?” she asked him, forgetting all about what her mother had said about not talking to strangers.

“Er... Thunderfoot,” the young male replied as Tosa trotted up next to him.

“Pleasure to meet you, Thunderfoot!” she exclaimed, circling him. “I'm Tosa.”

“Erm... nice to meet you too, Tosa,” he answered hesitantly. Tosa stopped and suddenly put her face right up to his again.

“Do you wanna play, Thunderfoot?” she asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

“Well... I'm not really a playing... dinosaur,” Thunderfoot sighed, feeling bad when he saw Tosa's face turn disappointed, so he decided to suggest something else. “Have you been here long?”

“No, we just got here,” Tosa explained.

“How about we go exploring together, then?” he suggested, smiling weakly when Tosa's face lit up again.

“Sure!” she exclaimed. “Let's go!”

The two young longnecks sprinted into the trees, Tosa laughing and giggling hysterically, while Thunderfoot smiled for the first time in ages. They found many wondrous places in this valley, and searched high and low. They tried many different delicious foods, such as treestars and a variety of treesweets. Neither of them realised how late it was getting; they were having too much fun. Soon enough, they stopped for a quick rest, and Tosa was eager to know more about this child.

“So, do you have any other friends?” she asked him hopefully.

“Well... not really,” Thunderfoot answered. “Everyone keeps to their own family in my herd.”

“But there are other kids?” Tosa asked, getting a nod in reply. “We haven't got any in mine. There are a few who aren't quite adults yet... but they're too old to play. I guess the only dinosaurs that would play with me are my parents.” She noticed that Thunderfoot flinched at the last word. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Thunderfoot answered bluntly, leaving the female confused.

“Is it... something about your parents?” she asked, noticing that his mood downgraded every time she mentioned that word.

“Yes... I can never see them again,” Thunderfoot explained.

“Why not?” Tosa questioned, not understanding what he meant.

“They... they're lost,” Thunderfoot told her.

“Can't you go and find them?”

“It's not like that,” the young male sighed, now realising that the girl had no idea what he was talking about. “Is it okay if we stop talking about this, please?”

Tosa gave him a confused look but nodded, understanding that whatever it was, it wasn't putting her new friend in a very good mood. She rolled onto her back and sighed, stuffed with the wondrous food that grew here. Thunderfoot looked over at her, having strange feelings for the female. She was the only longneck that had made him smile since that day when his parents left him behind. Her bright and bouncy personality had lifted Thunderfoot's mood quite dramatically. Even if he still seemed depressed now, he was at least walking around and smiling, and of course he was eating, too. He also rolled on his back and yawned as the two watched the sky turn orange together.

“Tosa!” came a male voice, looking for his daughter. Tosa got up immediately.

“That's my f-” She cut herself off, realising what the young male had said earlier. “I've gotta go,” she said, before giving him a gentle lick on his cheek. She giggled when he blushed and looked extremely awkward. “Goodbye!”

“B...Bye!” Thunderfoot called after her as she ran off, before making his own way back to his grandfather.

Tosa soon found both of her parents.

“You're late,” said the male.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Sorrel,” said Patrice, Tosa's mother. “She's been out exploring the place! Did you have fun, dear?”

“I sure did!” Tosa exclaimed, jumping onto her mother's head with excitement. “I met someone new, Mother!”

“Oh, that's nice,” said Patrice, smiling up at her daughter. Tosa however, sighed, thinking about what he had said earlier.

“Can I ask you something?” she finally asked.

“Of course, Tosa,” said Sorrel. “What is it?”

“Thunderfoot, the boy I met...” she started. Sorrel glanced at her when he realised it was a male, but let her carry on. “He said something about his parents being lost, and that he wasn't able to see them again. What did he mean?”

At this both of the adults stopped, glancing at each other with worry. Patrice gave Sorrel a concerned look, wondering if they should tell their daughter what they should have told her since she was a hatchling. The male nodded and his mate sighed.

“Tosa,” the male spoke up. “There's... something we need to tell you. Something that we should have told you a long time ago...”

“Perhaps we should wait until the morning, though,” his mate said. “It's.... You're not going to like it, dear...”

Thunderfoot walked quickly back to his grandpa, who was also starting to get worried about him.

“There you are,” he said as the little one strolled up to him. The old longneck was surprised to see his grandson in such a good mood. “I take it you had a good day?” he asked.

“It was great!” Thunderfoot answered, nuzzling his grandfather. “I made a new friend!”

“Well, that's great!” his grandpa answered. “Are you getting tired yet? I think it's time you got some rest.”

Thunderfoot yawned and went next to his grandpa's side. “Okay. Goodnight Grandpa,” he said.

“Goodnight, Thunderfoot,” said the old longneck, nuzzling him before quickly falling asleep. The little one stayed awake for a little while longer, before spotting a bright star in the sky.

“Thank you...” he whispered, before also closing his eyes and falling asleep.

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Well, there you go, I'm just going to clear up a few things here.

Names and why I chose them:
Tosa: A female name that I managed to derive straight from Apatosaurus.
Thunderfoot: From the meaning of Brontosaurus and also a reference to Littlefoot's production name.
Patrice: I dunno. The "Pat" start from Apatosaurus, besides that, I just like the name.
Sorrel: It means sour. It fits him, okay?

Nahla you ruined my post

Well, now that it already is clear who is who(wanted to make a sarcastic comment ^^ ), some feedback:
Firstly I think your fic will be a full success I don't think that someone tried to write about the Grandparents' past before
The whole chapter is good so far, your ideas are quite interesting

Now some thoughts about the main characters:
Thunderfoot aka. Grandpa: It's very sad that he has to deal with death, grief and sorrow that early in his life, that his parents are dead and that he's so depressed that he even doesn't want to interact and to play with the little Longneckgirl at first...
He seems to be very shy.

Tosa aka. Grandma: Tosa is in fact the only child of the herd. So she gained a lot of attention from the adults. That's the main reason for her self confident, happy character, if you ask me.

I think it's also important to mention that Thunderfoot and Tosa as well as their herds are completely different from each other...
Thunderfoot is very shy, while Tosa is very vivacious,
Thunderfoot has an old, probably very wise grandfather, while Tosa has her parents,
Thunderfoot's herd has a lot of children, while Tosa is the other herd's only child,
Thunderfoot knows everything about death and things like that, while Tosa isn't allowed to know those things,
and isn't it strange that the Grandparent's roles changed???It is always Grandpa, who tries to stop the arguments, who mainly fights against sharpteeth.. just to mention some aspects, while Grandma is the more shy one of them.

However I like the idea of Thunderfoot loosing his parents( so Grandpa could understand Littlefoot very good since he has a similar childhood like his grandson).
Well done, somerandomfangirl!

I love it!

I love how Tosa/Grandma and Thunderfoot/Grandpa are the opposite of their adult selves.

yay! chapter 2

Ah, I see Thunderfoot is happy now

So he changed positions with Tosa.. now he's happy and Tosa depressed..

I really like their dialogue, I can understand Tosa's sadness, anger and her fear to go to her parents to apologise for her quite logical behavior that morning.

And I can really understand why Thunderfoot ran off

Well, I dunno what to say so I'll just say two words:

That's nice!

seriously, this chapter is well written! I like your style and the action is very understandable and it keeps the reader exited(at least me :)

I can't wait for the next one  

Finally, I have the motivation to post Chapter 3! This was completed just a day after I uploaded Chapter 2, but decided to wait a while before uploading this one. Chapter 4 is mostly done too, but that probably won't be uploaded until next week, either.

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Chapter 3: Making New Friends

When he woke up, Thunderfoot's grandpa was surprised to his grandson back so early. The little one was curled up into a small ball and was sleeping peacefully. The old one smiled faintly at him before getting up to get a drink from the nearby watering hole. He was happy he had found this place; it was almost the perfect home to live in. Besides a few irksome fast biters here and there on the outskirts, nothing seemed to come as a threat to the herd. He helped himself to some of the fresh water before looking around, thinking. In his childhood, the old longneck was told many stories about a place called the Great Valley, and while he was convinced that it was a myth, Grandpa was surprised at how close this new home was compared to how he had imagined the Great Valley to be like in his younger days. However, deep down he knew it wasn't the real place; he had gone searching for the famous landmarks from the stories he was told earlier that day when Thunderfoot had left, but had found nothing. He chuckled to himself as he thought about this. He couldn't help being like a big kid when it came to stories. The elderly longneck had a passion for them, much like his father before him, and he had spent most of his life as a story speaker. Although his own children had never shown much interest, Thunderfoot seemed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, and wanted to learn every story he could from him.

“Hi Grandpa,” came a voice, snapping the old longneck out of his thoughts.

“Oh, hello Thunderfoot,” his grandpa greeted as his grandson walked up to the bank of the watering hole and got a drink. “You came back earlier than I expected today.”

“Yeah... Tosa had to go back to her parents,” Thunderfoot sighed. “Grandpa?”

“Yes?”

“I... I seem to be struggling a bit with this,” Thunderfoot admitted hesitantly. “I can't seem to go near Tosa's parents without thinking about... you know...”

“Ah... I understand,” Grandpa answered calmly, gently nuzzling the young longneck. He knew what it felt like to lose family members too well, and sadly, Thunderfoot was almost on his own. His grandpa's mate had passed away soon after Thunderfoot had hatched due to an unknown illness, and of course, there was the tragic incident with Thunderfoot's parents. Thunderfoot was not an only child, either. A sharptooth came into their old home once, and it soon found a feast.  The adults had left the children unguarded for just a few moments, and it cost many lives. Thunderfoot was just lucky that he had wandered from the nest that day...

“Grandpa?” The old longneck was snapped away from his thoughts again.

“Yes, Thunderfoot?” he answered.

“Is there anything I can do?” Thunderfoot asked. “I don't want Tosa thinking that I'm rude because I keep running away whenever I see her parents. I mean... she's the only friend I've got right now, and I don't want to lose her as one.”

“Well...” his grandpa paused to think for a few moments. “I understand that you're still grieving for your own parents, Thunderfoot, but I think that one day you'll have to let go.”

“I know...” Thunderfoot said half-heartedly. “I am getting used to them not being here. I think I'm... jealous, more than anything.”

“Jealousy is not a good thing,” said Grandpa. “I'm sure Tosa's life isn't perfect either, Thunderfoot.”

“No, it isn't,” his grandson agreed. “She seemed almost terrified of going back to her parents today. Saying that, she did say she hated them...”

“Why so?” Grandpa asked, puzzled at the girl's behaviour.

“They... they only just told her about the circle of life,” Thunderfoot answered sadly. “Until today she thought that everything lived forever.”

“I see, so she was probably angry and upset that they hadn't been truthful to her, then,” Grandpa assumed. “But does that sound like a perfect family to you?”

“No,” Thunderfoot admitted.

“Then you shouldn't be jealous of her,” said Grandpa. “She has her own problems too.”

“Yes... I guess so...” the young one sighed.

Thunderfoot lay down for a while, and he and his grandpa watched the sky puffies for a bit, trying to see different shapes among them. The two would play this game all of the time when Thunderfoot was younger, mostly when his parents had to go off to do something. The herd had no leader, but instead had a council where everyone got to have their say, and Thunderfoot's parents were both part of that council. When the food shortage and sharptooth problem got out of hand, they had apparently offered to go and find another home with a small group of other longnecks, thinking that they wouldn't be too long and were doing it for the good of their son. However, only one of the group came back in the end. Grandpa had been told some time later that the group had gone towards what was thought to be a normal mountain, but had actually turned out to be a smoking mountain. They were too close to get away in time when it suddenly exploded, and the ash had probably buried them all. It had broken the old one's heart to see Thunderfoot's face that evening when he told him what had happened. He had lost his daughter and son-in-law, and Thunderfoot had lost almost everything. Things had never been the same for them since then.

“I'm going to go for a walk,” Thunderfoot said plainly. “See you later, Grandpa.”

“Bye,” Grandpa answered as Thunderfoot walked off. The words of his grandfather had helped him, and Thunderfoot had finally decided that it was time to let go. He walked into the bushes where he knew he would probably be alone, and thought about Tosa. She had probably stayed with her parents after going back to them, but he didn't mind. Slowly but surely, he was starting to accept his own parents' passing as part of the circle of life, and he realised that he had others supporting him, like his grandpa and Tosa, and other adults in his herd had tried to help, too, even though he had pretty much shrugged them off.

Unfortunately, he was thinking so much that he walked out of the bushes and into a game of tag that most of the other children in his herd were playing. When he realised this, he tried to sneak his way around, but someone soon spotted him.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” an older male sneered, approaching Thunderfoot. “If it isn't the creep with no parents.” He laughed as the other children walked up to the two. Most of them just stared at Thunderfoot, surprised to see him away from his grandpa.

The bully walked right up to Thunderfoot. “Listen closely, Thunderfoot. If you think you can walk in my game and think you can join in, you have another thing coming,” he snarled viciously. “Why don't you just go home to your parents? Oh, right, you have none!” He laughed again, and this time a young girl stepped forward, too disgusted with the child's behaviour to hold back now.

“Don't be so mean,” she said sternly. “It's not his fault he doesn't have any parents.”

“Yeah, he's so useless and pathetic that his parents just ditched him with his grandpa and went far, far away,” the other child answered.

“My parents didn't ditch me!” Thunderfoot suddenly yelled. “They are dead!”

“Yeah, dead bored of you,” the bully answered before laughing again. The female that had spoken gave him a look of disgust.

“You know what, Rye?” she started. “You think you're so big, making those around you feel miserable. And I for one, am sick of it. I'm not going to join in with your games any more, and you can't make me. I'm outta here.”

The young longneck who had spoken up turned tail and walked up to Thunderfoot. “Are you coming?” she asked.

“Oh... okay,” Thunderfoot stammered, surprised that someone had stood up for him. The two longnecks quickly walked away from the scene. Rye scoffed as he watched them.

“Well, she's not welcome to play any more,” he muttered angrily. He glared at the other longnecks, who were staring at him. “What are you looking at? Scram!” The children immediately scattered in fear.

“Why did you do that?” Thunderfoot asked when the two got a fair distance away from the other children.

“I hate seeing someone get bullied,” the girl sighed. “I decided I should finally stand up and say something.”

“Well... thank you,” said Thunderfoot, smiling at her. “What's your name?”

“Camara,” she answered. “You're Thunderfoot, I take it?”

“Yeah, that's me,” said Thunderfoot. “I don't want to sound rude, but I don't recall seeing you before...”

Camara chuckled. “Yes, my family and I joined this herd quite recently.”

“Ah... I see.”

“Have you... got any other friends?” Camara asked with concern, noticing that he was alone when Rye seemed to have the whole herd with him.

“Not in this herd,” Thunderfoot admitted, “but I recently made a new friend who's in that new herd that settled in on the other side of the valley.”

“Oh, that's nice,” said Camara. “It's a shame about the others, though. I think they're probably forced into it by that Rye kid. I know I didn't get much choice.”

“Yeah, he's pretty mean,” said Thunderfoot. “He turned almost everyone against me.”

“I'm sorry...” Camara said quietly, feeling quite guilty that she hadn't even spoken to Thunderfoot before.

“No worries,” Thunderfoot assured her. “I got used to it. Besides, until we got here I didn't really talk to anyone or do much other than lay around pitying myself.”

Camara gave him a puzzled look. “Is... that about your parents?” she asked.

“Yeah, but I'm starting to get over it now,” said Thunderfoot.

“Wow... I don't know what I'd do if I lost my parents...” Camara said, looking at
Thunderfoot with sympathy.

Suddenly, something crashed into Thunderfoot, making him topple over. He yelled in surprise, but was even more shocked to see who was on top of him, grinning at him.

“Tosa?!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi!” Tosa greeted enthusiastically. It took her a few moments before she noticed that someone else was there. “Who are you?” she asked the smaller longneck.

“I'm Camara,” she said.

“Oh... nice to meet you,” said Tosa, smiling at her.

“Same here,” Camara said happily. She turned to Thunderfoot. “Is this the friend from the other herd you were talking about?” Thunderfoot nodded in reply.

“Yeah, that's me,” said Tosa. “My father kept on talking about... stuff, but I got bored and snook off.”

“Naughty,” Thunderfoot commented jokingly. “Could you get off me now, please?”

“Oh, sorry!” said Tosa, immediately getting off.

“I'm sorry too,” Thunderfoot said after a few moments. “For... running off earlier.”

“Oh, that's okay,” said Tosa. “I... think I can understand why you did.”

“Yes, well... I've finally decided that I can't keep holding onto it,” Thunderfoot sighed. “I just have to accept the fact that my parents aren't here, and never will be.”

The two young girls exchanged sad glances before Camara approached Thunderfoot.

“You know,” she started, “my parents always say that those who have passed on live within you, and that... in a way, you'll never be apart from them.”

“My parents were saying this morning that they're always watching from the stars during the night, and from the bright circle during the day,” said Tosa, looking up to the sky. “So if you want to talk to them, they're always there, watching and listening...”

“I guess we'll never know, huh?” Thunderfoot said almost absent-mindedly.

“I suppose not,” Camara agreed. “Don't completely forget about your parents, Thunderfoot. That'll only make things worse.”

“I think that may have been what I was doing,” Thunderfoot admitted sadly. “I was trying to block it all out, but when I saw Tosa with her mother, it all came back to me, and I almost couldn't bare it...”

“Sorry,” Tosa said quietly. “I shouldn't have made you come with me.”

“You didn't know,” Thunderfoot answered with a smile. “Besides, I thought I could handle it.”

“Shall we play something?” Camara suggested after a few moments.

“Sure!” Tosa exclaimed happily. “What shall we play?”

“I don't mind,” said Thunderfoot.

“How about toss the tree sweet? I'm bored of playing tag all of the time with Rye,” Camara said before sticking out her tongue.

“Who's Rye?” Tosa asked.
“This herd's bully,” Thunderfoot quickly explained. “Anyway, toss the tree sweet sounds good to me. I'll go and find a few tree sweets for us to play with.”

Thunderfoot walked away, towards a place where he knew he would find a lot of good tree sweets to play with. He looked around, searching for a bush that would have good few on it that would be suitable for tossing around, but he accidentally bumped into another young longneck.

“Oh, great...” he muttered sarcastically under his breath when he saw who it was.

----------

Yes... I gave Thunderfoot a new friend in his herd too, and I also went a bit more into his grandpa. I did give the old guy a name, but he'll reveal that himself in Chapter 4.

And now... introducing the antagonist! Trust me, by the end of this you guys are all going to hate Rye with a passion. I already do.

I'm not too sure about this chapter since it's got another friend in there, but I was thinking of introducing a fourth and making it a guy to make it more even. Anyway, since Camara the Camarasaurus (very original naming there ) is obviously not the same species, I would think that Thunderfoot feels differently towards her than he does towards Tosa. Also, I don't plan to make this girl completely interfere; she'll be just a playing partner with these two/possibly three.

Oh, seems like Thunderfoot's finally starting to accept his parents' deaths. He's getting over this quite quickly now, huh?

Okay, enough of that. Enjoy!

^^
Thanks Ducky.

Chapter 4 is done, but I just need to proof read it a few times and I want to start Chapter 5 before I upload it. I also need to carry on with correcting your fic.

Elbridge sure sounds like a name for someone pretty old

YES SORREL! SHOW THIS BULLY WHO RULEZ THE VALLEY!!!

Ah, I knew Grandpa is a storyteller...

The only thing I'd have liked to see is what Grandpa and Tosa's parents were talking about

Again an enjoyable, well-done chapter

I just read this yesterday. Good job!  

By the way, I noticed this:

“Hello!” she exclaimed, but the other longneck did little more than shift in reply. Tosa moved around and walked into the shallow pool in front of the other longneck to get a better look at it's face. She could tell now that it was a young male, and he seemed very depressed. “I said hello!” she said again, but he didn't even look up at her.

Is this a shout out to the original movie?  :!

Hi everyone! I actually had Chapter 5 done since Thursday or Friday, but kinda forgot to upload it, so here it is.

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Chapter 5: A New Day

The next day, Tosa met Thunderfoot at his resting place after her father had successfully moved his herd so that both herds were closer to each other. As promised, Eldridge told Tosa some of the longneck stories, and it managed to last the whole day. The day was calm in Thunderfoot's herd; the children had stayed with their own families, none wanting to play with Rye today after he was proven to not be as brave as he had originally made out to be. Surprisingly, many of them went to Thunderfoot's resting place to apologise to him before going back to spend the day with their families, most of them too guilt-ridden to play. Thunderfoot was not expecting that, but he decided to forgive them, thinking that they were probably dragged into it like Camara was.

“See, I really don't understand why Rye is so mean to me about my parents,” he said to Tosa while his grandfather was away getting them both something to eat for dinner. “I mean, he only has his father to look after him.”

“What happened to his mother? ...If you don't mind me asking,” Tosa added, not wanting to sound as insensitive about the missing parent situation as she had done just two days before.

“She left,” Thunderfoot answered. “She and Rye's father had a big argument and soon she had had enough. Apparently there was...”

“What?” Tosa asked, intrigued.

“…Never mind,” Thunderfoot answered hesitantly. The incident with Rye’s mother was a very touchy subject to talk about, and if he was caught explaining it to Tosa, Thunderfoot knew that he would get into big trouble.

“So, how come you don’t just get back at him and say things about his mother?” Tosa asked, earning her a strange look from her friend.

“Because I’m not him,” he answered. “I’d never say or do anything to hurt someone else on purpose, even if I hated them more than anything else.”

“Yeah… I probably wouldn’t, either,” Tosa said quietly after a short silence. “I don’t understand why there are some like Rye out there.”

“Rye was just a bad egg, and he’s being raised by the longneck everyone in this herd tries to avoid,” Thunderfoot explained.

“What? Is Rye’s father scary?” Tosa questioned.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Thunderfoot answered. “It’s just… he has that look in his eyes… like he wants to do something horrible to you. My grandpa always says to never cross paths with him.”

“Why?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “Apparently he did something terrible to another hatchling of this herd. It was a young female, but I wasn’t told anything besides that.”

A shiver ran down Tosa’s spine as she unintentionally came up with a number of different scenarios of what could have happened to that hatchling.

“I guess I can understand why,” she said finally, before resting her head on Thunderfoot’s neck. After a long day of story-telling, and a not so good sleep the night before, she was starting to feel tired.

“Er… what are you doing?” Thunderfoot asked when he turned his head around to see who or what had rested something on his neck.

“You’re more comfortable than the ground,” she answered as she smiled back at his shocked face.

“Oh… well-” Thunderfoot was interrupted when he heard loud footsteps coming closer. Eldridge had arrived back with a variety of food for the two youngsters.

Thunderfoot frowned when he saw the sheer amount his grandfather was carrying.

“You didn’t need to bring so much…” he said as the plant food was dropped in front of him.

“You’ll be surprised,” Eldridge answered as Tosa immediately lifted her head and tucked into the food, easily finishing around half of it. “I believe that’s how much a healthy longneck should be eating,” the old longneck commented.

“I really don’t eat much, do I?” Thunderfoot asked, blankly staring at the food.

“Well, depressed young dinosaurs don’t usually eat much.” Eldridge sighed as his grandson stared at the ground. “We’ll take it slowly for now. Just eat what you can.” Thunderfoot just nodded and ate as much as he could, but he could only manage just over half of what Tosa had eaten before he had had enough. He groaned quietly, unable to take another bite.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa…” he moaned. “I shouldn’t have to make you worry like this…”

“Now, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Eldridge disagreed, gently nuzzling his grandson. “I know you couldn’t help it.”

Thunderfoot turned to Tosa, who gave him a sweet smile.

“Thanks,” he said. Tosa’s smile turned into a confused look.

“What did I do?” she asked.

“Much more than you know,” Thunderfoot answered with a smile. Eldridge chuckled as he watched the two young ones.

“My, you two are cute together,” he said, which immediately grabbed their attention. “Why, it’s as if I’m looking into the future here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Grandpa?” Thunderfoot questioned.

“Well, I can just imagine you two being mates someday,” said Eldridge.

The two looked at each other for a brief moment before pulling disgusted faces, making the old longneck laugh.

“That’s gross!” Thunderfoot exclaimed.

“Yeah, that would be so weird. I mean, we’re just friends,” said Tosa.

“That’s exactly what Thunderfoot’s grandmother said when we were kids,” Eldridge countered. “And, well, you can probably guess what happened.”

“I’ve only heard THAT so many times,” Thunderfoot complained. “You and Grandma were childhood sweethearts. Me and Tosa aren’t… are we?”

“Nope,” Tosa immediately agreed.

“Well, I know many longneck couples who were also childhood sweethearts,” said Eldridge. “There are even a couple of stories on the subject.”

“Well then, the soppy romance stories will be out of the valley straight away when I become a story speaker,” Thunderfoot mumbled. Eldridge rolled his eyes sarcastically.

“You’ll change your mind about that when you’re older,” he said. “Anyway, shall I take you home, Tosa?”

“Okay,” she answered, jumping onto his head when he lowered it, with Thunderfoot following her lead.

“Also, don’t tell your father about the suggestion I made,” said Eldridge as he was walking towards Tosa’s herd. “I don’t want him exploding in my face.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Tosa promised with a chuckle.

“I still can’t believe you said that,” said Thunderfoot, shaking his head in shame and disbelief.

“Oh, Thunderfoot. It’s a fact of life, deal with it,” Eldridge lightly scolded. “I’d be more than happy for you both if such a thing ever happened.”

“It won’t,” said Thunderfoot.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Tosa.

“What?”

“Well, it could happen,” she teased, gently stroking the side of Thunderfoot’s face with her tail. “You never know.”

“Oh, come on!” Thunderfoot yelled, pulling his head away.  Tosa and Eldridge laughed as he muttered something under his breath.

Much to Thunderfoot’s annoyance, the two carried on teasing him about the subject until they finally found Tosa’s parents. He had actually never been so glad when the sight of Sorrel finally shut the other two longnecks up. The two older males got caught up in conversation again while Tosa joined her mother, leaving Thunderfoot alone with his thoughts. Sure, he liked Tosa. In the span of just a couple of days she had made his life happy again, and he just wished there was a way to repay her. He had feared he had almost ruined her life when he mentioned the death of his parents when she knew about no such thing, but considering she had grown up thus far without being told, she had taken it fairly well. Her father had scared off the one longneck that had made Thunderfoot’s life a complete misery, and now with the support of his grandfather and his new friend, he was finally getting his life back on track. He could see himself and Tosa being good friends and growing up together as such, and maybe his grandpa was right, though he tried not to think about that one for now.

Thunderfoot was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t realise when he was back at his resting place. It was still fairly early, so he decided to take a short walk by himself. The bright circle was just above the peak of one of the mountains that surrounded his new home. He soon found himself at the small pond where he first met Tosa, and took a look at his reflection. It didn’t surprise him to see a much happier longneck looking back at him, and he soon turned away, realising that he didn’t need this place any more. He calmly walked on, the only sounds being the gentle breeze swaying the trees and his own footsteps.

“Hi, Thunderfoot!” came a voice, disturbing the quiet atmosphere that Thunderfoot was starting to enjoy. He quickly turned around to see a young longneck behind him.

“Hi, Camara,” he greeted. “What are you doing?”

“Out for a walk, just like you,” Camara answered. “It was really quiet today, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” Thunderfoot agreed.

“I saw Rye earlier with his dad,” the younger longneck continued. “He looked ready to smack someone, and his dad looked even angrier.”

“I dread to think,” said Thunderfoot. “Apparently he can be a right nasty piece of work sometimes.”

“So my mother was telling me,” said Camara. “I know my brother got quite scared when he heard.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Yeah… he’s really shy, though. He’s the complete opposite of me.” Camara sighed as she carried on walking. “I really hope he comes out of his shell soon, though. I’m sure that once he makes a couple of friends he’ll be just fine.”

“Well, it helped me,” said Thunderfoot as he followed her.

Camara didn’t say anything to that, instead thinking about what this other longneck must have gone through. His parents were gone, he had no friends to help him until recently, and only his grandfather was there to look after him. He had gone through so much, but only now was he getting the help he truly needed. Camara couldn’t even begin to imagine the emotional turmoil that Thunderfoot must have been through, and she felt terrible for him.

“I suppose I’ll try and introduce him to you tomorrow, then,” she said after drifting away from her thoughts. “And Tosa, if she comes along.”

“I’m sure she will,” Thunderfoot answered. “It’s hard to keep her away right now.”

“I’m not surprised.” Camara grinned at the young male. “She seems to really like you.”

Thunderfoot said nothing to that. He really hoped Camara wouldn’t start about him and Tosa being a bit more than friends when they grow up.

“Can’t say I blame her, though,” the other longneck continued, not acknowledging the fact that Thunderfoot no longer seemed to be listening. “I mean, you were her first friend around her age, right?”

“Yep,” Thunderfoot answered absent-mindedly. “Well, I guess.”

“Yeah... well, I suppose I should go home. The bright circle’s almost gone down,” said Camara. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Thunderfoot answered, watching as his other new friend ran off back to her family.

He started to walk back to his grandpa, and quickly made his way through a maze of other longnecks from his herd who were settling down for the night. A lot of the children stared at him as he bounded past them, but he took no notice of them for now. He would usually go around the herd on most nights, but with Rye’s father obviously not very happy, it was safer to stay within the herd until he reached his resting place.

Although nobody had confirmed it for him, Thunderfoot had heard many rumours of children going missing every now and then. Most of the time it was blamed on sharpteeth, but there were some who came up with the conspiracy that the danger was actually within the herd. Rye’s father never seemed to show his face much when the herd wasn’t travelling, and even then he would stray off behind. Thunderfoot had not seen the longneck since the herd had arrived in the valley, and that was something he was grateful for. The forceful footsteps that threatened to crush any hatchling that got in the way, the tail that would constantly swing back and forth ready to smack anything without mercy, and those cold, cruel eyes that would send shivers up anyone’s spine, made every child petrified of him. Even a few of the adults, including Eldridge, who stayed very calm in pretty much every bad situation, seemed uneasy around him.

Thunderfoot had heard that when Rye’s father was angry, something bad happened in the herd, and although he wasn’t sure whether or not it was actually true, it scared him. Why Rye had chosen to stay with him instead of going with his mother all that time ago, Thunderfoot would never know.

He finally reached his resting place, where his grandfather was patiently waiting to put him to sleep.

“You know I was only joking earlier when I said that about you and Tosa, right?” Eldridge asked.

“I know,” Thunderfoot assured him. He snuggled up close to his grandpa, who curled around him, as if protecting him. However, instead of falling asleep straight away, the two stayed awake and talked until it got quite late, which was something they hadn’t done together for quite a long time. The conversation was actually quite serious, as most of it was about Thunderfoot’s depression, and what they needed to do to make him completely well again. Despite that, Thunderfoot felt better after the pep talk, and easily drifted off into the world of sleep once more.

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Fun fact: Most of this was written in school when I was actually meant to be doing work that I didn't understand. Yes, I am a rebel.

Pfft, Eldridge can predict the future. Thunderfoot doesn't seem too impressed with the idea, though. I dunno what else to say about this chapter. I thought I'd add Camara in again, cause we all just love Camara, don't we?

I was debating whether to make Saro the fourth guy of the gang, but I'm going to leave him out for now. I have my reasons.

Anyway, I think we'll be nearing the end of Tosa and Thunderfoot's childhood soon. Well, maybe in the next month, since I'm going for two weeks without being able to write anything. I'm just glad I got this chapter done before I go on holiday on Tuesday.

Yeah, you can't have a fic without some mysterious evil dude lurking in your herd, can you?

Don't worry, I'll be getting to that soon. :