What's this?? A late-night fanfic post? Never let it be said that I don't meet deadlines, folks, even if it's just barely. Here's my part of the summer fanfic challenge! The prompt was, "Write a spiritual story involving any Gang member and a deceased member of his/her family." I'm embarrassed at how short this really is given all the time it's taken me to submit it, but I kept wanting to edit stuff. I've never really written anything like this before, and I wanted to make sure I hit the right mood. Of course, it's still possible that it's off, but hopefully this at least isn't terrible. Let me know what you guys think!
I've also finished up some of the recent obligations that made my activity here take a nosedive, so hopefully I'll be around more often again!
I have to admit this site redesign isn't my favorite, though...the text seems tinier than ever and is already giving me major eye strain. Guess that's what the zoom button is for, though. Hopefully, I'll adjust.
Life is not a game, my friend, for losing or for winning…The Rainbow Faces’ words weighed on Littlefoot’s mind as he trotted down the moonlit hill with his friends. Their adventure over the past few days had taught the young longneck many things, among them the beauty of not knowing everything, leaving mysteries left unsolved. He still didn’t know who the rainbow faces were or why they had come. He had never discovered what made the supposed “stone of cold fire” different than any other flying rock. And that was okay.
And when you think you’ve reached the end, it’s only the beginning…But those cryptic parting words from the Rainbow Faces refused to leave Littlefoot alone. Something about them sent a chill down his back, and his throat had gone dry as he stared back at their messengers, unable to come up with any response other than a gulp and a shaken gaze. He was sure there was more to those words, and he rummaged through his mind over and over, hoping to come up with a breakthrough. Unfortunately, however, the elusive answers kept taunting the boy, dancing out of reach on the edge of his thoughts like the stars glistening far away in the vast sky above.
“Littlefoot, are you okay?”
Cera’s harsh tone snapped Littlefoot out of his thoughtful trance. He was brought back into the moment as he stared, blank-faced, at her confused expression. Behind her, the rest of the gang eyed Littlefoot uncertainly as well.
“Did you not hear your grandparents calling you?” Ducky piped up.
“Yeah,” Petrie added, pointing off to the right, “me thought your nest over way there. Why you go other way?”
“Uh,” Littlefoot mumbled, “I wasn’t paying attention, I’m really, um…tired.”
Guilt streaked across his mind as he told this fib, but at the same time, the longneck wasn’t sure this was something he wanted to share. Maybe he was just being silly.
“Um, good night,” he said, turning towards his nest as he began walking again. “See you guys tomorrow.”
The others returned Littlefoot’s words, though they exchanged some skeptical glances and shrugs once he was out of sight. By morning, however, new shenanigans would be on their minds, and this incident would be written off as nothing more than a lapse of weariness.
Littlefoot yawned as he made his way across the tall grass. He couldn’t deny that he was tired. Maybe he’d be able to solve his mystery in the morning, when he was well-rested.
“Littlefoot…”
Littlefoot stopped in his tracks. He could have sworn he heard someone say his name. Perhaps he was more tired than he had thought?
“Littlefoot.”
That time, there was no mistaking it. The longneck took a few hurried steps backwards in response to the peculiar whisper. It didn’t sound like anyone he knew. Weirder yet, it was so muffled and strained that he couldn’t tell if it was adult or child, male or female.
“Uh…who’s there?” Littlefoot asked timidly. “Where—where are you?” He began tiptoeing through the grass, scanning all directions within his vision in search of the voice.
“Here, Littlefoot,” cooed the voice from off to his left. It sounded more concrete this time, and the boy could tell it was female, though he still couldn’t distinguish who it was. Puzzled, he kept walking in the direction the sound had come from.
What he found waiting for him was a shock.
A blue glow flickered out from between the long blades of grass. Littlefoot’s initial thoughts were of Night Flowers, since he’d never seen anything else comparable to such a thing before. However, as he got closer, he realized he was looking at something else, and he gasped. Bathing the longneck in brilliant sapphire light, a fragment of cratered stone lay on the ground.
A fragment of the Stone.
It must have gotten blasted into the valley after the explosion on Threehorn Peak, Littlefoot realized. But how was it glowing? How was it speaking? It was just an ordinary rock all along…
Unless it wasn’t.
A message. Littlefoot’s heart nearly thumped right into his throat as he recalled what the Rainbow Faces had said of the Stone before. A message from beyond the Mysterious Beyond.
“Littlefoot.”
The voice shattered Littlefoot’s thoughts when he heard it again. Now that he was this close, it was as tangible as if its owner was standing right in front of him, and this time, he instantly could recognize who it was.
“Mother?” Littlefoot blurted in a shaky breath. He hardly dared believe what he was hearing, but his mouth went dry just the same.
“Hello, Littlefoot,” his mother’s voice replied. He could tell that she was smiling, hear it in the warmth of her tone.
Overcome with a knot of emotions, Littlefoot said nothing, but his eyes were big and fragile as he stepped closer to the fragment, as he laid his paw on it…
In an instant, the valley around Littlefoot vanished into darkness. It was as if he had gone blind. With a whimper of fear, the boy instinctively wilted against the ground, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Don’t be frightened,” his mother’s voice cooed.
Shaking with fear, Littlefoot opened his eyes, and he was relieved to see that lights were coming into focus around him. The darkness had brightened enough to give way to a deep indigo sky, illuminated further by stars winking out of the expanse. Standing up, Littlefoot craned his neck around to take the scene in. Wherever he was, there were far more stars here than he had ever seen from the valley. More unusual yet, what appeared to be some kind of wispy clouds drifted past, spreading their pastel shades of pink and yellow across the sky.
Littlefoot tore his gaze away from the wondrous sight overhead to see what the ground looked like—and that was when he realized there was none. He was standing in the open air, suspended above more stars and clouds.
“Aaaaahhh!” Littlefoot screamed, curling up in fright once again. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribs as he gasped for breath, panicked.
“Shhhhh…” his mother’s soft voice whispered reassuringly, right beside his ear.
Littlefoot’s eyes flew open as he expected to see his mother standing right next to him, but there was no one there. “M-Mother, where are you?” the longneck stammered.
“I’m right here with you,” her voice said patiently. “Some things, you see with your eyes…”
“…others, you see with your heart,” the two longnecks said in unison, Littlefoot’s voice coming out in an astonished squeak.
More than ever, thought Littlefoot, he could tell how true this was. The more he listened to his mother’s voice, the more he could feel her presence, though he couldn’t see her physical form. He didn’t know how, but he could sense that she was walking around him to stand in front of him. He felt her kind eyes smiling down at him.
“But how are you here?” Littlefoot asked, wide-eyed. “Where is this? What is this?”
“You’ll find out someday,” Littlefoot’s mother said. “You cannot know too much yet, and I don’t have much time to stay. This journey was very difficult to make.”
Littlefoot took that in. “Why did you come?” he asked. “I mean, I’m so glad you came! But why?”
She replied with a gentle laugh. “I wanted to tell you how proud I am,” she told him. “You’ve grown to be such a strong, smart boy.”
Littlefoot opened and closed his mouth twice before finally managing to say, “Thanks,” though he wished he had more words.
“But most importantly, you’re so kind,” said his mother. “More so than I ever would have thought to hope for.”
“Really?” Littlefoot muttered, bashful.
“Yes,” his mother replied. “Littlefoot…I made mistakes in my time on earth.”
Littlefoot could feel that she had broken her eye contact with him, and his heart saddened. “What do you mean?”
“Just because life is a certain way does not always mean that’s how it should be,” she answered. “But I assumed that was the case. I saw that the different herds never came together, and I thought that was how things were meant to be.” She paused. “And that was what I taught you. That was my reply when you asked why threehorns and longnecks couldn’t play together.”
Littlefoot’s face trembled as he heard her let out a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry,” said Littlefoot’s mother.
“Mother,” Littlefoot blurted, though he wasn’t sure what he could say. “It’s… it’s okay.” He added, “Threehorns and longnecks—we do play together now. All the time!”
His mother laughed softly. “I know you do.”
“I-I wish you could meet my friends,” Littlefoot told her. “They’re the greatest. Even though we’re all different. That’s one of the best things about them! Petrie always flies up and helps us see things, and Ducky, she can swim—”
“Yes, they’re all wonderful,” Littlefoot’s mother warmly agreed. “I see you playing with them every day. And that’s when I’m proudest of you. You’re still a little one, but you always saw something that I couldn’t understand even as an adult.”
A lump of emotion seemed to be growing in Littlefoot’s throat, and he gulped it down, not wanting to cry.
“I’ve always remembered you,” Littlefoot said. “All these years—you were in my heart.”
“As I promised I would be,” his mother’s voice responded. “And that’s where I’ll stay, always.”
Misty-eyed, Littlefoot smiled and nodded.
“You spread friendship between different kinds everywhere you go,” his mother told him. “You show others kindness, bring them together, help them to share. Why, even sharpteeth are among your friends.”
Littlefoot smiled. “Chomper’s one of the nicest dinosaurs I’ve ever met.”
“Your heart knows no bounds,” Littlefoot’s mother continued. “I can’t say enough how proud I am. Carry that loving spirit with you always, my darling. You have done great things for your world, and you’re destined for greater things yet.”
“Really?” Littlefoot tilted his head, astonished. “What kind of things?” But as soon as he sensed his mother grinning in amusement, he had the feeling he wasn’t getting an answer.
“I should have known you would ask,” his mother’s voice laughed. “But that’s for you to find out later.”
“Oh,” said Littlefoot. “Well…that’s okay. I understand.”
“All I can say is that your acceptance will do great things,” Littlefoot’s mother said. “That is the gift you were given. That is what I wanted to tell you. Use it well.”
“I will,” Littlefoot breathed, awestruck. But an emptiness was starting to descend upon him, and he soon realized why. “Mother?” he blurted. “Are you—are you leaving?”
“I’m afraid our connection is beginning to fade,” his mother responded. “I have to leave very soon. It is time for you to return the Great Valley—”
“But I don’t want to go,” Littlefoot protested.
“I’m sorry,” his mother’s voice replied in a pained whisper. “You must, sweet Littlefoot.”
Her presence was slipping away, and a cold sensation was coming over Littlefoot’s body as she faded.
“No!” Littlefoot cried. “Don’t leave, Mother!”
A fierce rush of wind blew in, loud and threatening.
Littlefoot shuddered, but he was determined to stand his ground. “I-I can’t leave you again!” he screamed. Panting desperately, he cried, “I’m going to stay here with you! Mother! I won’t go!”
But then the longneck noticed that the stars had shrank to red pinpricks of light against a jet-black darkness. The pastel clouds had been swept out of sight, and the roar of the wind was growing louder.
“Littlefoot!” his mother shouted.
As the wind gained strength, Littlefoot could feel the air pushing him forward. “Mother! Help!” he screamed. “MOTHER!”
“Littlefoot, calm down!” his mother’s voice shouted over the chaos.
Littlefoot pressed himself against the invisible ground and put his paws over his ears, desperate to stay strong against the deafening wind. Still, the wind was able to push him, and he didn’t know how long he could resist its force.
“Shhh,” his mother whispered, just as she had when he got upset as a baby and needed calming down. “Shhhh…”
With his eyes shut tight, Littlefoot took breaths in and out.
“Shhhhhh…”
Littlefoot felt himself come to a stop as the roar of the wind gradually quieted. Still taking deep breaths, he opened his eyes again, and he found that the night sky around him was luminous and calm once again.
“Mother—what was that?” he panted, still recovering.
“Losing your grasp on the concrete world is dangerous,” Littlefoot’s mother said. “That is why you can’t stay here too long. We’ll meet again, I promise. But only when the moment is right.”
Littlefoot choked back a sob and nodded in firm determination.
“There are many more adventures waiting to be had,” his mother said. “The world needs someone like you. Full of acceptance. Full of the courage to spread it.”
Littlefoot smiled, though a sniffle escaped, and whispered, “I love you, Mother.”
He felt a sensation of weightlessness as the warmth of his mother’s unseen eyes passed over him again.
“I love you, too, dearest Littlefoot,” her voice cooed.
As he felt a warm, soft sensation caress his nose, Littlefoot’s breath caught in his throat. Tears sparkled in the young one’s eyes as he recalled the tender gesture he didn’t know he could still remember: the gentle lick of his mother’s tongue.
He closed his eyes, letting bittersweet tears seep out of them.
“Littlefoot…”
On the edge of his consciousness, the longneck could hear a male voice saying his name.
“Littlefoot—Littlefoot!”
Littlefoot opened his eyes, but the rush of nausea that immediately hit him prevented him from seeing a thing. Everything around him blurred together, and there was a light in the corner of his eye that appeared to be growing larger, threatening to blind him.
“He’s waking up!”
“Thank goodness—I’m coming with the pill.”
“Hurry, he might be slipping away again.”
Littlefoot felt someone shove something into his mouth, and he gagged and swallowed the bitter-tasting object. Immediately, his wooziness vanished, and he sat up, breathing rapidly.
The male Rainbow Face jumped back as Littlefoot’s head nearly hit him right in the beak. “Phew…he’s fine. That did just the trick.”
“He’s very lucky,” said the female, standing to Littlefoot’s side.
“You guys again?” Littlefoot gasped. Then he noticed his surroundings, and his mouth fell open.
This place was like nothing he had ever seen before. The best guess he had was that he was in some sort of cave, but whatever this place was made of was much smoother and shinier than any cave he had ever seen. He and the Rainbow Faces were inside a silver dome, with brightly glowing orbs hanging from the ceiling. The ground was impossibly smooth, and the thing the longneck was sitting on was a weird, flat, rectangular surface.
“Whoa,” Littlefoot gasped. “Where are we?”
“We’ll explain everything soon,” the female Rainbow Face quickly replied, “just hold still a moment.” She picked up an odd, rounded, hollow thing from the floor and shoved it onto Littlefoot’s head.
“But wait, I—” Littlefoot’s sentence was interrupted when an overwhelming wave of tiredness hit him. “I…”
He could hear part of the Rainbow Faces’ conversation before he fell asleep.
“Is it right to make him forget?”
“Whoever sent him that message couldn’t have been aware how risky it was. There was more going on here than even we could have realized. We have no choice.”
“But what if the message reached him for a reason? We’re dealing with a realm whose ways we don’t even fully know. Rather than erasing fate, perhaps we could…”
That was the last thing Littlefoot heard before he blacked out.
Curled up in his sleeping spot, the young longneck was greeted by the warmth of the Bright Circle, welcoming him to another new day. Littlefoot stretched and yawned, smiling as he opened his eyes. His first thought was of the wonderful dream he’d had last night. It was one he knew he would remember forever.
