Nice painterly piece of fanart. From what I gleam from this forum's glossary and the LBT wiki, he is a Saltasaurus. I believe we also see his kind in movie 14 with Bron's integrated herd. The longneck is younger/chibier than the screenshot of that character you use as a example, but I don't mind and he's a very faithful depiction of how his species is designed/colored species in the movie. The shading and lighting is also great, and I like the blades of grass we can see. I like his expression, he seems to be cutely sad about something. I hope he gets to cheer up. Great job.

P2/2

Once again, there was the sound of Ichy diving for Ducky. She cringed again, the sound closing in, right on top of her…and then zooming past her with another brush of cold. Ichy’s voice was strangled.

“I can’t be missing – why? Again!”

For a third time, Ichy attempted to snatch Ducky and once more, Ducky heard him miss, that mysterious cold coming across her back again. Ichy was beside himself.

“Oh, not now. Not now! This is the worst time for me to lose my touch!”

Ichy swooped down for a fourth, fifth, and sixth time. Each time, she felt no pain, no contact, only the cool disturbance of air as Ichy kept somehow missing his target. Ducky opened her eyes and uncurled herself as she came to realize something was going very wrong for her would-be killer.

“What am I doing wrong?” Ichy groused. “I’ve done this dozens of times before! She’s not even moving, I should have gutted her. At the very least I should have scratched her! What’s going on?”

While he raged, Ducky tentatively got to her feet. She still couldn’t see Ichy in the darkness, but he didn’t appear to be paying attention to her. When his ranting about his feet reached another octave, Ducky took the opportunity to jog quickly up the passageway. She was still exhausted but the confusion had reinvigorated her with hope, which rose as Ichy’s voice didn’t follow her. Eventually, she stopped hearing him altogether and continued her journey.

The passageway was curving back to the tunnel by the time Ducky heard voices again, much more welcome than Ichy’s. She picked up her pace and found Cera, Petrie, and Chomper standing anxiously at a passageway intersection.
 
“What happened to her?” Cera was saying. “Oh, how can I face the others if Ducky was taken by that sharpbeak?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, because the sharpbeak couldn’t take me.” Ducky said, stepping into view.

The three jumped. After a second or two of staring, they rushed to her with relief.

“Ducky, you alright!” Petrie beamed, briefly embracing her. “We so worried.”

“When you were gone too long, we thought…” Chomper trailed off. “Wait, ësharpbeak couldn’t take me?’ You ran into him?”

“How did you escape?” Cera asked.

“I don’t know.” Ducky answered, brushing her chin in puzzlement. “I really thought I was a goner, but for some reason, I only felt cold wind as he kept missing me. That was confusing, since he caught me with his feet just fine in the Last of Mists. But I’m glad that confusing thing happened, I am.”

“You’re far from the only one.” Cera said, relieved. “Sorry I tripped you up like that. I tried not to listen but he seemed to know how to get into our heads and twist our brains and-”

“Hey do you smell that?” Chomper interrupted, frowning.

“You have best sniffer, so we probably don’t.” Petrie replied.

“But sometimes you can pick up what I smell too.” Chomper sniffed experimentally. “It’s kind of muffled by the water but I smell something like…flowers and grass and treestars. Those aren’t in caves, are they?”

Cera blinked, and her expression dawned. “Of course not. But if you’re smelling them, that means we must be near-”

“The river entrance!”

Hearts soaring, they followed Chomper through the passageways until they got back to the tunnel, where they walked a short distance. At last, they were back on track and they were going to fulfill the mission Littlefoot gave them. There was nothing that was going to stop them now.

Then they came across a thick, sturdy wall. The surface was rough and uneven, as though some rocks and boulders had been melted into the dark rock. Ducky and the others stopped before it in consternation, glancing at where the river lapped tepidly at the stone.

“What is this?” Cera said. “Did we take a wrong turn?”

“No.” Chomper said. “I’m sure we went the right way.”

“But river end here.” Petrie said. “That strange.”

“It is, it is.” Ducky agreed. “If water keeps flowing here, this should be flooded. Let me see what’s going on.”

Ducky moved to the edge and dived, briefly acclimating before she swam forward. A few fish moved past her and she blinked as they didn’t slow but lowered to the river floor, approached the wall, and wriggled right under it. Following their example, she descended until her stomach brushed sand and rock. From her low vantage point, she was able to see a shimmer of light shining below the entire wall, low but distinct. She surfaced near the others.

“There’s an opening near the bottom here.” Ducky said. “The water swimmers swam through it and I can see some light.”

“Of course.” Chomper said. “I thought the plant smell was kind of wet.”

“You mean to tell me we came all this way only to learn the bellydragger and sharpbeak can’t come through here anyway?” Cera said, outraged. “What a rip-off!”

“On bright side,” Petrie said, “bellydragger and sharpbeak can’t come through here. They just don’t know.”

“Maybe if they did know, that might discourage them from trying to take the valley.” Chomper said.

“Who says they won’t use these tunnels or another river to get into the valley?” Cera retorted. “We might still have to cause cave-ins, but we don’t know where. Oh, it’ll take forever to get rid of them.”

“Maybe Littlefoot and the others might have some idea about that.” Ducky suggested. “There must be a way to get rid of them, there must.”

“Not to mention that it would be a long walk for the bellydragger if she decided to enter from another river.” Chomper pointed out. “And not all the tunnels can fit her. If we can confuse the two enough, maybe we can get them lost.”

“If we don’t get lost first.” Petrie said.

“Let’s find Littlefoot and the others before we think about getting lost.” Cera said. “Chomper, use that sniffer. We need to get to them before the bellydragger gets them.”

--

Littlefoot’s lungs were searing. He, Ruby, and Spike had been all over the passageway network for an hour, leading Dil on a wild goose chase. They wedged her in tight passageways, trapped her in caves, and even collapsed rocks to pin her underwater. Each time, she used her strength to break or crack the stones enough to free herself and the chase was on again. Still, it bought the trio time to brainstorm solutions for their friends’ predicament and they used every second available to them.

Not that it led anywhere.

“We can’t split up.” Ruby said. “One of us will have to be alone, so splitting up is dangerous.”

“Cera and the others are in danger right now.” Littlefoot said heatedly. “We have to do something!”

“As I said before, if we go rescue our friends, the bellydragger will go with us and rescue her friend too.” Ruby replied evenly. “Even if we trap her somewhere good and leave, she might eventually free herself and go up the river to trap us or our friends.  Face it, there is little we can do with the plan we have. We’re going to have to trust they’ll know what to do. We know that trust hasn’t been broken in the past, right? Let’s focus on keeping the bellydragger unfocused until they get back.”

Littlefoot glared, but Ruby stood her ground. Spike looked between them, baying in confusion. Apparently, he could see Ruby’s point but wanted to make sure his sister and the others were unharmed too. After a moment, suppressing a flinch from another tail twinge, Littlefoot breathed out slowly.

“I know you’re right,” he murmured, “but I hate just not knowing what’s going on with them.”

Ruby laid a hand on Littlefoot’s shoulder, eyes distancing. “Yeah, I hate that kind of not knowing too.”

There was a groan. The trio looked down at the pit to find Dil shaking off broken rocks, dazed and tired. A few minutes earlier, the trio had almost stumbled into the shallow pit in this cave while fleeing from the bellydragger and quickly drafted up a plan. Ruby lured her in, her slender limbs and sharp fingers allowing her to climb back out while Dil slid and toppled into the pit. After seeing how her descent shook several stalactites from the ceiling, Littlefoot, Ruby, and Spike lobbed rocks until they all came crashing down, burying Dil in the remains of the stone teeth. That had knocked Dil out for a few minutes, allowing the trio time to try hashing out a plan. Now Dil examined them mutinously.

“You three are really going to pay for that,” she growled. “I was thinking of drawing out your suffering but since you made me so tired and hungry, I’ll eat you so fast you wouldn’t know what happened.”

“That’s if you can climb up first.” Littlefoot retorted.

Seething, Dil muttered in what she thought was an inaudible timber. “Ichy, I hope leaving me to flail in the dark was worth it.”

Littlefoot ignored her. “Spike, can you guide us back to the river.”

Spike sniffed and nodded agreeably. Littlefoot was really glad to have drafted Spike to the team. If it wasn’t for his nose, they would have gotten lost in all these passageways a long time ago. Ruby glanced back nervously.

“Not to hurry you up,” she said, “but the bellydragger found a way to hurry out of the pit, so we’d better get ready to hurry off again.”

Littlefoot and Spike followed her gaze, noting Dil found purchase on several protrusions on the curvature of the pit and was already halfway up. When she got back to solid footing on a passageway on the other side, the trio ran, the slap-dash of her footsteps a constant encouragement to keep going. Through a twist of passageways, they ended up back in the tunnel, quickly looking around to regain their bearings.

“Where now?” Ruby said.

“I don’t know.” Littlefoot replied. “I’m running out of ideas. How many ways can you bury a bellydragger before it actually has an effect?”

“We’ll come up with something on the run, like always. And speaking of running, I think we should come up with another tunnel before she comes back to the water.”

Glancing about, Littlefoot saw no passageway entrances in the immediate vicinity, so he picked a direction and led them in a jog. He just so happened to pick the direction where Cera and the others had last been seen but he didn’t expect to bump into the four while on the run. They were either busy sealing up the entrance up ahead or evading Ichy. Littlefoot hoped for the former but feared the latter, so he was quite surprised when he saw shapes running toward them in the distance, calling his name.

“Over here, Littlefoot!”

“Littlefoot, we’re back!”

“It’s the others!” Littlefoot said.

“One, two, three, four.” Ruby smiled. “Four out of four, all safe.”

Spike keyed joyfully and bounded forward. Littlefoot and Ruby didn’t hesitate to follow. The seven reunited, Spike almost pinning his sister to the ground as he nuzzled and licked her, their laughter food for the soul.

“Thank goodness you’re all alright.” Littlefoot said. “I thought the sharpbeak might have got you.”

“He did almost get us.” Ducky said. “But for some reason, he couldn’t.”

“He what?” Ruby shook her head. “You can tell us about that later. Can you tell us if you were able to seal up the tunnel?”

“We didn’t need to.” Chomper said. “There already was a wall there.”

“It pretty thick.” Petrie said. “Ducky said only itty bity space for water swimmers to swim through.”

Littlefoot was stunned. “Are you serious? Those two really can’t go through there?”

“Not unless they shrank.” Cera huffed. “Seriously, all that hassle to find that out. What a waste.”

“Maybe it’s not so wastey after all.” Ducky said slowly. “The sharpbeak did boast a lot while he was scaring us and we all know he and the bellydragger like to fight a lot. Why don’t we make them fight?”

“That is a good plan.” Ruby beamed. “From what we heard while running, the bellydragger doesn’t always like the suggestions and plans the sharpbeak gives her.”

“We just need to tell them the truth.” Littlefoot said. “At least enough of the truth they would be at each other’s throats. The trouble is how do we get them to listen to us?”

There was a snarl and the swirl of disturbed water. Dil had caught up at last, having followed the voices to track them down. She leered in their approximate direction.

“Give it up, kids.” Dil said. “You’re weak and divided.”

“Does it sound like we’re divided?” Cera said.

Dil stopped, stunned. “You four are back? Ichy should have taken care of you lot!”

“Shows what he know.” Petrie said. “He couldn’t even get Ducky.”

“He isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, oh no, no, no.” Ducky wagged a finger. “You can’t enter the Great Valley here. We found a great big thick wall that we couldn’t get through. There is only enough space for water and small water swimmers to get into the valley, which means you can’t get through.”

“What are you talking about?” Dil demanded. “Are you screwing with my head?”

“We’re telling the truth here.” Chomper said. “I smelled the other side of that wall and the Great Valley is out there. Your Ichy didn’t think to check first to make sure this route wasn’t blocked off.”

Dil’s anger drained into confusion and even distress. Her eyes darted about as she mentally digested this.

“No way, this can’t be true,” she muttered. “Ichy sounded so sure about his strategy. You’ve got to be pulling my leg.”

“If anyone’s doing the leg pulling, it’s your sharpbeak friend.” Littlefoot said. “Don’t tell me he hasn’t led you astray before. He couldn’t get us in the Land of Mists and he couldn’t get us now, so his plans aren’t foolproof.”

“His plans aren’t foolproof.” Dil repeated, lip curling. “Yes, I know. Why, if he really did mess up… if he can’t keep track of you brats-”

“Dil! Dil! There you are!”

There was a series of flaps and Ichy’s breathless voice became apparent.

“Have you managed to eat those brats? Mine somehow slipped off and it would do me good if you somehow gave a blow to their…there they are!” he exclaimed disbelievingly. “Yours managed to give you the slip too? Come on Dil, it shouldn’t have been that hard to get them! They’re smaller than you, swallowing them should’ve been a snap!”

“Easy for you to say!” Dil snarled. “They’ve been burying me in rocks left, right, and center ever since we started this chasing game. Did you forget I was blind or something when you went dallying off to play with those children?”

There was a slight gasp, as though Ichy hadn’t expected Dil to lash out quite like that. He replied frostily. “Well, I didn’t exactly hear any disagreement from you. Besides, grumping at me isn’t going to fill your stomach. What are you just floating there for? Attack them!”

“Have you actually checked that river exit thing?”

“What, river exit – we’re trying to eat these kids!”

“But what about eating other members of this stinking valley? Because I was just told we can’t get in through this tunnel!”

Ichy’s next pause held a bit of surprise. “We can’t?” Then, angrily, “They lie! They just want to make sure we can’t get out!”

“They seem pretty ticked they ran all that way to seal it up only to find it was block up anyway.” Dil retorted. “Have you actually checked to make sure there wasn’t a wall there or the kids caused a rockslide to stem us?”

“Well, um…” Littlefoot and the others could practically hear Ichy glance away. “I was busy making sure the kids didn’t actually get to the entrance by following them around. When they came back here, I thought we could team up to make sure they didn’t separate again and…”

Dil’s eyes narrowed. “Liar! You lost them and didn’t even think to check. You’re just covering your tail feathers! I should have known you’d screw this up!”

“I’d screw this up?” Ichy repeated incredulously. “You were the one who couldn’t even eat a slow spiketail!”

“And you couldn’t even catch a whimpering swimmer!”   

“It was dark, I couldn’t – wait, how do you know that?” Ichy then growled. “You mouthy tattle-tale!”

Ducky clasped her hands innocently. “You did try to catch me, like, six times. I thought it might be worth bringing up, I did, I did!”

“So it is true!” Dil hissed. “Your harebrained schemes have lost us food again!”

“Me! You couldn’t even catch those kids and there’s not a lot of ways to get lost in those tunnels!”

“You think? This place is a maze! If you hadn’t left me alone, I might have caught some of them!”
 
“You would have caught them if you paused and used that thing you call a brain!” Ichy snapped. “Then you wouldn’t be always falling into their traps every time like you say…”

The pair proceeded to argue, tones growing louder and bouncing off the walls. They totally forgot about Littlefoot and the others. If they noticed the seven at all, it was as a springboard to air out more grievances against the other. Littlefoot and the others just watched, bemused.

“There’s not much love lost between the two.” Ruby muttered to Ducky.

“Yeah, they did a lot of arguing in the Land of Mists too.” Ducky whispered.

“Now what do we do, Littlefoot?” Cera said.

“I don’t think there’s time to check every tunnel and make sure they don’t lead to the valley.” Littlefoot said. “But if we egg them on, maybe they’ll leave and not want to have anything to do with each other again.”

“But what about sharpbeak?” Petrie asked. “Bellydragger mightn’t come back but sharpbeak can fly. He can eat some of us small hatchlings like me and Ducky.”

Littlefoot winced. That was indeed a quandary. He looked back up to where Ichy’s voice emanated, mentally running through all the plans in his mind, even the ones that trembled his stomach. He had to make some hard choices in the past, but will he have do them again?

“It’s going to take forever to find another path!” Dil was ranting. “Do I look like the type that can walk long distances? A sharpteeth might make me its snack before we get to another river!”

“There must be another way to get in through these tunnels.” Ichy said. “We just need to learn them!”

“And by then, we’ll get lost and starve. These little water swimmers aren’t going to fill me up any good, Ichy! I should have known this plan of yours was dodgy.”

“Dodgy? I’ll tell you what’s dodgy? That I hang around with a blind musclehead who can’t strategize her way out of a tangle of seaweed! I should have contented myself with the fuzzy tree dwellers and runaway hatchlings! Ever since I met you, you’ve been nothing but a liability!”

“Right back at you!” Dil said. “Every time you tell me what to do, you give me a headache. And it isn’t even helpful! You said that learning leaf eater will be easy, that it’d give us the advantage, but instead it allowed the prey to know everything we’re doing. We’d have been better off not understanding them at all. Other predators get by just fine! All of your plans go up in flames this way, and you never own up to your mistakes. Honestly, I’d be better off just sitting in a bog on my own and waiting for idiot water swimmers to swim into my mouth. It’d mightn’t be a complex plan but unlike your plans, at least it’ll get the job done.”

Ichy’s teeth ground together. “Don’t pin all the blame on me! I’m sick of you having to rely on me for every obstacle you bump against when you could use your brain instead. Why should I bother giving better directions, you suck at following them and lose your temper as though that’s my fault. Dammit woman, if you ever thought of using that cranium of yours, I wouldn’t have ended up getting swallowed hole by you in the first place!”

His voice echoed out among the tunnel. A quiet followed like a sudden, cold draft.

“…what are you talking about, Ichy?” Dil’s voice held a different catch. Oddly, she winced as though a rock thudded her cranium. “Ow, now I really have a headache. C’mon Ichy, stop giving me the silent treatment.”

“I…I don’t know.” Ichy said uncertainly. “Those words…they just, they suddenly fell out of my mouth…”

“Now what are they complaining about?” Cera said. “I’m confused.”

“They seemed just as confused as we are.” Ducky said. “Oh yes, oh yes.”

“I still haven’t been able to see or smell this sharpbeak.” Chomper said, taking another vain draft of the air. “If he’s been flying around all over the place, he should be sweating enough for my sniffer to pick him up.”

“Me think me see him.” Petrie said, trembling.

“Where Petrie?” Littlefood scanned the high ceiling. “I can’t see anything.”

“He over there, halfway above her head but…me must be seeing things.”

Puzzled, Littlefoot and the others focused above Dil’s head, raising their gaze further and further until…they almost missed the flicker of a shape hovering there. He was easy to miss, like a whisp of smoke held in place, the caves so dark he was almost invisible. The five who went to the Land of Mists remembered well how Ichy blended into the fog and darkness, wings silent until he was almost upon their smaller brethren. But this form of stealth was different, impossible…

“Guys.” Ruby said. “Sharpbeaks can’t be see-through, can they?”

Ichy started and glanced down at himself. Behind the flyer’s black, grey, and white plumage was the tunnel wall, blurred like in a weak fog. Ichy’s breath clambered up a few notches even as he took in no air, his chest hitching in spreading fear.

“This can’t be possible,” he said. “Why can I see through myself? Dil, explain yourself. Dil, say something!”

“Why are you blaming me for your delusions?” Dil said, confused and slightly panicked. “The lack of food is messing with your head. Just eat one of the kids and everything will clear up.”

“I’m not delusional! I’m transparent and even those brats can see it. Look!”

Ichy darted down and landed on Dil’s snout, close to her eyes. His feet sunk down as though in mud and he gave a panicked flap to get them back on firm reptilian skin. Dil’s nose twitched in consternation.

“Hey Ichy, your feet are cold. Don’t I tell you not to stay on for long? I can see you fine now, you look great and healthy…and I can see right through you to my nose.”

Dil shrieked and slushed water as she backed away. Ichy remained where he was, feet standing on thin air. He didn’t need to flap his wings to stay in place. That only further horrified him.

“I don’t understand!” he said. “I’m so confused. Did I – was I…no, no!”

“Does anyone have an explanation for what’s going on?” Cera demanded.

“Maybe…maybe she did eat him.” Petrie gulped. “He said that because it true but he didn’t want to think about it until he too angry to ignore it.”

“So he’s a ghost who didn’t know he’s a ghost.” Ruby said softly.

“I’m a ghost?” Ichy squeaked. “If I’m a ghost, then I’m…that can’t be true, it can’t be!”

“And that means I – ” Dil’s voice became strangled. “No, no. I spat him out, I spat him out! I almost ate him, but I realized my mistake before it was too late and threw him up. That’s the only thing that makes sense. I should remember this. But why – why can’t I remember spitting him out.”

“Maybe you’re right and we’re both delusional.” Ichy said eagerly. “Yeah, hunger is messing with our brains, it’s making us see things. There’s no such thing as ghosts. You damn kids are just screwing with our heads. All we need to do is just gobble you up and this will all go away.”

“But if you haven’t eaten, how were you able to chase us all over the place?” Ducky said. “Doing that is very draining. You should have dropped, you should have, you should have.”

“Shut up!” Ichy snapped. “I’m just running on fumes, that’s all! All that workout should be making me famished. Any second now, I’ll be so hungry I can eat all of you without feeling full. That’s right, it all makes sense. I just need to wait and everything’ll be back to normal. You’ll see! You’ll be the ones who die!”

“And then you’ll be solid again?” Littlefoot shook his head, almost sad. “I’m sorry. You really are see-through and standing on thin air. You’re…dead.”

That gave Ichy no comfort. He rubbed at his neck and chest feathers, looking around desperately, searching for a way out. His breathing became more and more panicked until he let out a wrenching scream.

“I don’t want this, I don’t want this!” he shouted. “I don’t want to die! I had so many plans, I had so much to do! It can’t end like this, all because of a stupid mistake, all because of –”

Ichy’s eyes landed on Dil. Fury shook through him, and he jabbed an accusing finger toward her.

“This is all your fault!” he said, causing her to jump. “I should have left you to bumble around in that forest. But no, I had the bright idea you might be useful, that we could benefit each other. I can be the eyes and you could be the teeth. What an idiot I was! You never had good impulse control, I should have saw it coming!”

“I-it was an accident, Ichy.” Dil stuttered, sloshing away from him. Her face broke out in self-directed horror. “Oh goodness, this is actually happening. That means I really did –” She then shouted at him, at herself. “I didn’t know it was you, I didn’t know it was you! I’m telling the truth!”

“Oh really?” Ichy flapped closer, teeth barred. “Did the feathers not feel familiar, did the shape not remind you of a certain someone? How many times did I have to tell you to look before you leap, look and then leap! You didn’t stop to think about what you swallowed, did you? You were just satisfied you got a full stomach for once.”

“I didn’t want to fill my stomach with you!” Dil said desperately. “No matter how much you drove me up the wall, I never wanted to eat you.”

“Fat lot of good that does me!” he snapped. “You at least got your fill. I’ll never be able to eat again! I’m dead, and I hold you responsible! And you know what, bellydragger…I’m out of here!”

Ichy turned and flew away, back where he and Dil came from. Dil swam after him, so stricken.

“Ichy, wait! Please, let’s just talk this out! I didn’t want any of this to happen. I’m sorry!”

“Stop, stop!” Ichy whirled around. “I can’t stand to be with you. After killing me, I shouldn’t care about you anymore but when you speak to me and look at me like that…” his voice broke. “I’m dead, so why do you make my chest hurt?”

With that, Ichy opened his wings and flew off as though fleeing a truth he couldn’t stand. Scrambling, a devastated Dil went after him.

“Ichy, come back! I’m sure we can work this out! Ichy…Ichy!”

Soon, she too was gone. Littlefoot and the others stood there, stunned, having difficulty comprehending what they just witnessed.

“Ch-Chomper.” Littlefoot found his voice. “Can you sniff our way back to the entrance?”

Chomper nodded faintly. “Yes, yeah…I can do that.”

Numb, they began the long walk out. They were alive and had drove off the latest threat to the valley but there was no feeling of victory in what they did.

Their spirits only lifted slightly when they came across more and more of the glowing moss. They soon encountered the opening that curved up and led to the surface world. The gang would have immediately ran up to get out of this tunnel, but Littlefoot stopped them and began looking for loose rocks and long vines.

“But they aren’t coming back!” Cera protested.

“Even if they don’t, what if someone else does?” Littlefoot said. “We need to seal off this cave. For the good of the valley.”

Cera blew out a breath, but she and the others did as Littlefoot said. They also searched the river tunnel exit until they found a vine. They waited until they moved into the exit passage before they started pulling the vine, pawing and toppling loose rocks around the plant. It was slow work but there was a collapse and the dust cleared to reveal a pile of stones with nary a gap to glimpse the river or glowing moss. They traveled up the passage, Littlefoot looking around anxiously. He wasn’t content with one collapse. At about the halfway point, they found another vine and collapsed the passage there. It was as slow as last time and the rocks that burst down from the ceiling nearly led to more than one bruise but Littlefoot was willing to take the risks so he wouldn’t have to see what he just witnessed again…so no one in the valley would go through the agony and heartbreak of what those two predators experienced…

With a bit of pushing, there was a rumble and they backed away as the entrance to that whole nightmare was collapsed for good. They panted and fell onto the grass, reveling at the feeling of the warmth of the earth, the gentle glimmer of sunlight, of being on the surface at long last.

“What was that?” Cera said.

“I never saw anything like that before.” Littlefoot looked at the others. “You’re all here. Thank goodness. If anything happened to you…”

The others turned their heads to him, startled by Littlefoot’s statement, their faces for a moment communicating confusion and concern over his heightened protectiveness of the last several hours. But they put that aside for now and gave exhausted, reassuring smiles that filled him with such warmth he returned the expression. Even his tail tip getting another faint thrum of pain didn’t bother him much. Before they could bask in the moment, there was a distracted snort.

“Ugh, what was all that racket? Did you kids cause it?”

Littlefoot and the others scrambled to their feet. The sleeping spiketail had awakened, glaring through half-lidded eyes.

“Uh, we bumped into some rocks and they fell.” Littlefoot said sheepishly. “Sorry for disturbing you. We’ll be on our way.”

With that, they nodded in farewell and hastily marched off, retreating from the spiketail and the memories of the supernatural life and death peril they had just experienced.

--

Dil was finding breathing hard. Even in the water, she barely kept up with Ichy. When light came into her vision, she knew she finally escaped the confines of those caves, but that brought her no comfort. She couldn’t escape what had been discovered there, the guilt and horror of what she did. She had thought more than once jokingly or with annoyance that she should just eat him just to shut him up but for that to actually happen…chest hurting from more than exertion, she called out again.

“Ichy, are you still there? Come on, I can’t keep up this chase if I don’t know where you are.”

“That’s kind of the point.” Ichy’s voice said. “For someone said they were better off sitting in a bog on their own, you stick around like a leech.”

“I did think I’d better off in a bog without you but if you really go, what am I going to do?” Dil said. “We’ve been together for so long. I’m really sorry. Just stick around so we can do things as we always do them – I don’t care that you’re dead!”

“Don’t say that.” Ichy said, panicked. “I’ve been reminded too many times of what I am already, if this happens one more time, I’ll start to – to…”

The sound of the flapping slowed and Dil caught up enough to see the faint figure of Ichy hover quietly.

“Too late.” Then he murmured. “So this is what our meals felt. I never thought about it, but…”

“What are you on about?” Dil asked nervously.

“I hate being sappy.” Ichy said. “You were the last person I ever expected to be here for this, Dil. You always pissed me off but now…you’re the only one who will give a damn in the end.”

“Don’t say that.” Dil got closer. “Alright, I admit, it’s my fault. I own up to it, I should use my brain more often. Just…bring out your stubbornness, and do something.”

“I’m dead, Dil. No one can out-stubborn that. I just haven’t left yet. And I’m not mad about what you did. Not anymore. You were only obeying your hunger. If our sizes were reversed, I might have done the same thing. If I survived being eaten, I might have considered it a sign our partnership was doomed from the start and cut off ties with you. Except now…” Ichy laughed. “It’s funny. I thought I’d be glad of any way to be rid of you but the thought of going on without you…it burns. Now I know what ëcan’t live with them, can’t live without them’ really means.”

“I know now too.” Dil said, voice catching. “What would life be without your annoying squawk?”

“Oh, you’ll find some other voice to nag you. You got by without me before, and you’ll do the same again. At least we both know now that this alliance of ours actually had some meaning.”

Ichy was hovering away, becoming faint. Dil splashed hastily to follow.

“No. Wait. Don’t go!”

“It’s already started. Goodbye, Dil. My mind might have sucked at coming up with plans but at least it is good enough to remember all the times we had together.”

He was getting farther, fainter. Dil tried to keep up, swam with all her might but soon all her limited vision could see was blurry blue sky. Her eyes became blurrier, and she blinked hard.

“Ichy, come back. I take back every bad thing I said. Alright, I don’t, but I don’t care about that anymore, just be here with me. I don’t want to be alone. Are you still there, Ichy? Ichy?”

All that greeted her was a vacant wind that carried no trace of flapping feathers.

Next time…

Forgotten Lessons

--

Note: I'm aiming to post the next chapter within two weeks but that's not quite fixed. At any rate, I can be sure it'll be up sometime in July.

Thank you for the review. I admit, I didn’t think much about making Ichy and Dil more menacing than the film, but now that you mention it, I could see it. I was focused on other priorities. I’m pleased to hear I remained faithful to their characters while showing some depth at least through their dialogue, which was one of my priorities.

The bond between Littlefoot and his grandparents will be a major focus of the story. I always wanted to explore the relationship more closely, and this won’t be the only story where that’s done. Writing action scenes can be a challenge, so glad to hear those shown in this chapter were fun to read.

Yeah, the abrupt cliffhanger was a bit awkward. It was a challenge finding a natural cutoff point at the halfway point of my original 52 page chapter one and Spike being endangered seemed to be the closest fit. There is another point I could have chose a bit later, now I consider it but oh well. I’ll see if I can improve on that with the next long chapters I deal with.

I’m nervous and excited about showing readers like you what I have in mind in this story.

Fanfiction.net Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12535668/1/We-...Hold-On-Forever

Summary: A chance encounter with old enemies leads Littlefoot and friends to discover a phenomena they can barely comprehend. The answers to that phenomena shall lead to tough choices that will drive them to their very breaking point.

Notes: So, yeah, my first chaptered fic for this fandom. This is going to be a long one. This was originally going to be twenty-two chapters but with some chapters reaching as high as fifty or sixty pages, I decided I'll cut in half any that exceed forty and wait until next week to post the second part (Yes, if I have the second part mostly completed, I don't need to wait that long...but I'm Satan ). I'm not sure about consistent updates, since I'm planning on writing and mostly completing the next chapter before posting the current one. It might vacillate between weekly and monthly depending on. I'll try to figure that out as I adapt to writing and posting long fic.

So without further ado, here’s it begins:

---P1/2

We Will Hold On Forever

by

The Analyzer

Chapter 01: From The Mists Part 1

On a little known river in the Mysterious Beyond, two companions by convenience were once again in a foul mood.

“You really did it this time, Dil.” Ichy muttered.

He and Dil had been riding through the waters in mutual silence, stewing over the latest blunder in their never-ending search for nourishment. Lately, their prey in the Land of Mists had adapted to the changed environment and got cleverer, making getting a full belly an arduous challenge. New predators and other residents had moved in and they didn’t take too kindly to the old guard. The mists that helped Ichy and Dil in so many hunts had then disadvantaged them. The pair were often unaware of the presence of the aggressive competition until it was almost too late. They usually had to scramble away before being found. Dil’s stealth in the water in these cases was limited and nontransferable to land. With all these obstacles in the way, it was only a matter of time before the pair really ticked off someone bigger and meaner than them.

Dil’s eyes lowered. “Well, how was I supposed to know that longneck swimmer was there with how still he was?”

“You should have been more careful after the last time we nearly got caught.” Ichy said. “Always stay low while swimming. How hard is that to understand?”

“It’s kind of hard to be invisible and keep ears above water.” Dil growled. “C’mon Ichy, I did everything you asked. I kept quiet. I asked if there were any swimming longnecks in the area. I swam so slowly I might as well have stayed still. I did my best. But those swimming longnecks were everywhere! Face it Ichy, it just wasn’t a way to live.”

“It’s called adapting. You either shape up or ship out. Those regular longnecks shipped out, remember? We were going to be the ones who shaped up – fitting right in with the mists, taking advantage of the new rivers, making all the weird creatures our dinner. We might have even got used to those large swimming longnecks and carved out our own niche. But that takes time and look where your impatience to get somewhere got us – chased out of the Land of Mists on the threat of becoming someone’s dinner! We can never go back and lean on the advantages we had there. Now we have to go the even longer route to get our next meal.”

Dil grunted. “Don’t think because you’re the eyes you’re also the brain. You didn’t see him either. You couldn’t fast talk your way out of the situation - you barely got us out of there alive. Look, we can pass blame all week if we want, but what’s done is done. What’s important is how this longer route is going to give us a meal.”

Ichy was displeased to be denied the last word but he was tired from arguing and Dil did have a point. His gaze turned onward, to where the river bent and vanished into the distance.

“I’ve seen a few rivers like this whenever we neared the edge of the Land of Mists, and I’ve followed them some ways. Not much life kicking around but they do lead to some caves we can take advantage of. If we do this right, we can have all the morsels we need.”

“Morsels for me, more like.” Dil said. “You’re doing well for someone who hasn’t eaten much lately.”

“That’s because you thought I was some other feathered flyer and nearly ate me again!” Ichy snapped. “If that small domehead hadn’t slipped into the river, I believe you really would have finished me off. That’d scare the appetite out of anyone.”

“Still, you haven’t chomped on much of my later catches.” Dil paused, her next words laced with the slightest fraction of concern. “You should be too tired to fly by now.”

Ichy shrugged. “Maybe I’m adapting to the sparse pickings. Or that whole escape mess is still giving me a high. Either way, I’ll get my appetite back when we feast in the Great Valley.”

Dil stopped so abruptly Ichy was nearly flung off her snout. “The Great Valley? You’re kidding me!”

“No, but don’t you see how brilliant it is?” Ichy said eagerly. He waved expansively. “Only plant eaters live there. Any meat eaters that wander in get chased out – usually because they’re too big and stomping to stay hidden for long. But we’re small enough to sneak around and nip any tiny prey unfortunate enough that stray near us. They can’t know all the tunnels – by the time they think something’s up, we can disappear back into the dark. We can time ourselves enough that it would take forever for them to get suspicious. After all, some dinosaurs must disappear or die in the Great Valley. They can’t keep track of everyone.”

Dil turned this over in her mind. Those were good points. The pair’s smaller size might actually benefit them for once. It was hard to chase after intruders in a tunnel if you were larger than the tunnel. As long as they were quiet, they would be set for a while. Nevertheless…

“That still leaves us with even more big critters to be mad at us,” she pointed out. “We won’t have mists to keep us hidden. If we get caught too far from a cave, we’re screwed.”

“Ah, but without the mist we won’t get lost.” Ichy said. “I can scout the area and pick out potential targets. All we have to do is stay quiet and out of sight. This’ll work, you’ll see.”

Dil sighed. Some part of her remained wary when Ichy had that scheming tone in his voice but the possibility of having enough prey to not go hungry for a while…it was too hard to resist. She was tired of going with an empty stomach for longer than was comfortable and worrying about danger all the time. At least in the valley, she could lower her guard a bit. Not to mention Ichy schemes didn’t always go wrong. As much as he could drive her up the wall, she needed him for his eyes and brain. There was only one answer she could give him at the moment.

“If it gets us food, I’m not complaining,” she grumbled. “I just hope no one recognizes our tracks.”

Ichy waved dismissively. “I doubt they will. I’ve heard Great Valley born residents don’t wander out and those that migrate there tend to stay put. They probably haven’t encountered anyone like us. If anyone has, well…what are the odds we’ll run into them? Let’s just focus on the prospect of having a filling meal,” he rubbed his wings together, a sharp glint in his eyes. “Yes…I can already feel my full stomach now.”

--

Littlefoot yawned, working the stiffness out of his neck. He didn’t get any sleep stories but he had a fine rest all the same. In his often adventurous life, having an uninterrupted and full sleep was a treasure, and he appreciated any time he could have it. As he looked around, he saw his grandparents seemed to feel the same way. They lay near Littlefoot as always, eyes closed and expansive forms curled near each other. Littlefoot smiled. It was sweet to see how close they were to one another, and to him. Also, he was pleased to wake up first this time.

“Grandpa, Grandma, get up!” Littlefoot called. “Time to rise and shine. It’s a beautiful day.”

They didn’t stir. Littlefoot frowned. Well, hearing did fade a bit with age. Littlefoot sometimes had to raise his voice more than once to get their attention. He took a deep breath.

“C’mon, Grandpa, Grandma! You said you wanted the first taste of the water greens in the lake. You don’t want to back out now!”

At this point, they normally would have groaned and grumbled affectionately that if Littlefoot wanted them to be punctual, they might as well get up. But not so much as a peep. Frowning further, Littlefoot wandered over.

“Grandpa? Grandma? Are you alright?”

As Littlefoot got mere feet from his grandparents, he noticed their massive sides weren’t moving. Strange, everyone breathed in their sleep and it was especially noticeable in big dinosaurs like them. And even at their quietist, his grandparents made some noise. Yet he heard nothing.

That was when the smell hit his nostrils. Littlefoot twitched back at the sweet stench, which he couldn’t immediately identity but made his stomach curl. He encountered this smell before, and not within a particularly good context. After a reluctant moment, his mind went back to the time of that encounter, when the sky water dampened the intensity but it was still something he couldn’t ignore as he watched fruitlessly for life to come back to….

Littlefoot’s breath hitched. “No. No, no, no.”

Littlefoot raced forward, thrusted onto his hind legs to push on Grandpa’s face, and ran to Grandma to do the same thing.

“Get up, please get up. Get up!”

He pressed his head against their noses, trying by some miracle to move their heads and stir consciousness back into them. There, Littlefoot noticed his ears hadn’t been lying – he couldn’t feel their breaths, the air that should be breezing in and out of their mouths and nostrils, that which made all life healthy and able to move on. Littlefoot continued to push and shove, the exertion forcing him to inhale more of that sweet, putrid stench he attempted desperately to ignore.

“Not you two.” Littlefoot panted. “Oh, not you too!”

Littlefoot didn’t stop trying to wake his grandparents even when it was clear he would get no response, not a startled snort, an abrupt expanse of lungs, or even the twitch of a tail. Wet pricked his eyes, and his heart pumped from more than the exhaustion that started to settle in his legs. Only when he didn’t have any more energy to push and the stench became so unbearable did he stagger away and collapse. Littlefoot looked between Grandpa and Grandma helplessly, vision blurred, no longer able to stop himself from crying.

“Please, don’t leave me now,” he said “There’s so much I want to do with you. You’re the little family I have left. Grandpa! Grandma!”

“Littlefoot? Littlefoot!”

Littlefoot felt a nudge at his side, and his vision was blurring from more than tears. Blinking, he found himself right back in his sleeping spot and turned his head to see Grandpa and Grandma Longneck gazing at him with concern. They loomed over, his worried guardians, and very much alive.

“Are you okay?” Grandpa Longneck asked. “You’ve been making a lot of noise.”

“You look like you’ve been crying.” Grandma Longneck peered closer. “Did you have a bad sleep story?”

Littlefoot raised a paw and found wetness around one eye. He turned his head and rubbed the tears off.

“I’m fine.” Littlefoot said hastily, voice also wet. He cleared his throat and looked up, smiling warmly. “I did have a bad sleep story, but I feel better now that you’re here.”

His grandparents smiled, touched. Littlefoot was being truthful – seeing his grandpa and grandma here made all the terror of the sleep story distant and blurry. But he didn’t want to go into detail about it.

“We’re glad to hear that.” Grandpa Longneck replied. “But are you sure you’re alright? Grandma and I are always open to discussing whatever might be upsetting you.”

“As you’re probably reminded once in a while,” Grandma Longneck said wryly, “we’ve been around for a long time and seen a lot. We’ve even gone through struggles that might be similar to what you’re facing now. If there’s any way we can use our experience to help you, we wouldn’t mind giving out advice.”

Littlefoot hesitated, but shook his head. “I’m okay now. Maybe I’ll tell you about it later if it really bothers me.”

His grandparents nodded, ready to deal with such a response. Grandma Longneck looked at her husband.

“I believe there’s still time to get the water greens in the lake,” she said.

Grandpa Longneck nodded, chuckling. “There is. Come, no need to dawdle when we have bellies to fill.”

The pair turned and began walking, and Littlefoot scrambled out of his sleeping nook to follow. He kept up, swinging his head around curiously, happy to be up and drinking in the sights of his beautiful home. If his grandparents watched him out of the corner of their eye, they would be reassured whatever troubled him had passed and focus on how they could entertain themselves for the day.

For Littlefoot, that trouble hadn’t passed completely. Every once in a while that morning, he couldn’t help surreptitiously watching his grandparents’ gait, the way they drew in breath, how they got from point a to point b. Adult longnecks weren’t known for their swift movement and his grandparents’ pace wasn’t that much different, he mused. Their breathing sounded fine. They got to the lake and located the green food in the water with little trouble, so their sense of direction was as good as Littlefoot remembered. They were in great health, and it appeared they could go on for a while yet.

*But how long will that last?* Littlefoot thought.

He struggled with the question. Littlefoot had always known his grandparents would pass, sooner or later. He suspected other children knew this with their guardians but that was something they could wait to deal with until they were grownups. But Grandpa and Grandma Longneck were older. They might die before Littlefoot became an adult. He didn’t know what he would do if the signs came that their end was coming. Littlefoot jumped into action when Grandpa Longneck fell ill and risked his life to get him better. Littlefoot would do all he could to recuperate them but if there really was no delaying their demise, Littlefoot would be crushed.

*We’ve been with each other for so long but there’s still so much I want to do with them. I haven’t heard all of their stories. We haven’t played much, though at their age they can’t help that. At the very least, they can see me grow. I want them to be happy with who I’ll become – that I can take care of myself and have a good life. I just hope they live long enough to see that.*

“Hey, Littlefoot!”

Littlefoot raised his head from the water greens his grandparents fished out of the lake to see Cera standing expectantly on a hill, twitching her head back.

“You finished eating yet? The others are waiting, c’mon.”

“I’ll be done in a minute!” Littlefoot thrust down and began finishing off the last of the green food but paused and looked up to his grandparents. “Will you be okay, Grandpa, Grandma? I can stay if you want some company.”

Grandpa Longneck chuckled. “That’s very considerate of you, Littlefoot, but play with your friends. We’ll be fine.”

“Your grandfather is right.” Grandma Longneck said. “At your age, you should be enjoying your youth to the fullest. Trust us, we can find our own way of entertaining ourselves.”

“Um, okay.” With slight reluctance, Littlefoot returned to his green food. With a slurp, he swallowed the last of it and nodded to his grandparents. “See you later.”

Littlefoot scampered over to where Cera waited. She led him to the meeting spot with some impatience.

“You took your time eating.” Cera said.

“Sorry,” Littlefoot said, “I was busy thinking.”

“You can eat and think at the same time.”

“Let’s just say it was pretty hard thinking.”

Cera gave him a curious look but didn’t pursue the subject. They continued their jog until they found the rest of the gang near the cave Chomper and Ruby rested. Petrie was rocking from his perch on a rock, eyes lowered in oddly wistful thought but he perked up when Littlefoot and Cera arrived.

“Morning, Littlefoot,” he waved. “You came in time. Chomper was about to tell us what he found in cave.”

“Do they involve sky-colored stones?” Cera said. “I hope it won’t go like last time.”

The others looked at Ducky, who clasped her hands most innocently. “Oh don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson. Oh, I have. I’ll be on my best behavior with whatever we find.”

“I don’t believe what he found would interest you in that…interesting way.” Ruby chuckled. “Chomper found a cave system with a river that has interesting plants.”

“Interesting plants?” Cera asked. “What kind of interesting?”

“These plants grow on rocks.” Chomper replied. “I kind of saw them on the island me and my parents stayed on but these are…different. I think you’ll like them. There are also cool water swimmers, they can jump like they’re flying and everything!”

“Water swimmers can be flyers?” Petrie shook his head. “Me even more confused now than ever.”

“There is much we haven’t seen.” Ruby said. “Our job growing up is to see a lot and learn a lot.”

“Will it be the kind of growing and seeing that involves tasting these plants?” Cera asked. “Because the last time any part of my family tried that, me and Daddy had to look after Dinah and Dana because my big sister’s mate got sick eating a funny plant…”

“Don’t worry Cera.” Ducky said. “If anything’s wrong with the plants, I’m sure Spike will warn us. Right, Spike?”

Spike nodded proudly, and sniffed around, making a series of humming sounds that gave him joy. The others couldn’t resist smiling.

“Well, I heard spiketails have hardier stomachs.” Cera said wryly. “What might be delicious to Spike could make the rest of us hurl, so let’s not be too eager for a nibble.”

Spike gave her a bemused look but chuckled and shook his head. He wasn’t going to deny Cera’s assessment if it showed him in a positive light. Petrie meanwhile gave a shudder.

“Me hope there some light down there.” He then added quickly. “Me do find it interesting but…if there anything dangerous in caves, me prefer to see it…even if it scare me even more.”

Chomper smiled wisely. “Don’t worry. Let’s just say the lights will come from an interesting place. So, are you all up for it?”

There were nods and murmurs of assent. What Chomper hinted at tantalized their imaginations enough that they were willing to see it for themselves. Since this cavern was in another part of the valley, they began their trek, humming about adventuring and bantering like usual. Littlefoot became more cheerful. Nothing like a trek of exploration with friends to lift one’s spirits. The disturbing dreams were the furthest thing from his mind. He was more interested in Ducky’s amusing anecdote about two of her siblings switching places to stay with their father. The gang was so caught up with that, they barely noticed the local residents they passed, at least until one talked to them.

“Morning kids. Where are you off to?”

It was Mr. Clubtail, casually chewing some treestars that had luckily fallen from a tall tree. He spoke to Littlefoot and the others with a bit less of his characteristic gruffness but there was a keen gleam in his eyes that made the seven stop.

“Um morning, Mr. Clubtail.” Littlefoot said. “We’re just exploring some caves.”

“Just going to gawk at some weird plants and water swimmers.” Cera said. “Nothing unusual.”

“Nothing unusual, huh?” Mr. Clubtail said wryly. “That’s how it always starts.”

“We’ll be fine.” Ducky said. “There are days when nothing bad happens. There are, there are.”

Mr. Clubtail snorted. “That’s what you say in the morning but by the afternoon, I wouldn’t be surprised if you come back with tall tales about how you kids nearly got killed this time.”

Littlefoot winced as he felt a dull thud in the pit of his stomach, the dream rising back unbidden in his mind. Fortunately, no one noticed this unusual reaction. A few laughed and sighed in exasperation.

“Oh, you’re so dramatic.” Chomper chuckled.

“Just for that, if anything does happen, you won’t be told what happened.” Ruby teased. “After all, there are adventures we haven’t told everyone about.”

“Though we tell you if we need rescue from anything.” Petrie said nervously. “Just follow the screams. We make sure to be loud.”

Mr. Clubtail sighed. “Either way, I can’t help but think I’ll hear something about you lot. Try to actually be safe. Some rare sweet bubbles are becoming just the right amount of ripe today, and it’d be annoying having to abandon them to save your hides again.”

Cera rolled her eyes but Littlefoot stepped forward.

“We’ll stay out of trouble, Mr. Clubtail,” he said sincerely. “Enjoy your sweet bubbles.”

Mr. Clubtail gave them a look of amused skepticism, but returned Littlefoot’s nod of farewell all the same, and the gang moved on. Cera grumbled under her breath.

“It’s not like we ask for help that often from that lazy tail,” she said.

“He cares.” Ruby said. “He doesn’t want us to get hurt. He just shows his caring through grumpiness.”

“Why doesn’t he just show his caring straight out?”

“You don’t always show your caring straight out.” Ducky pointed out.

Cera opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out, so she resorted to glaring. Petrie landed on her frill, barely holding back a smile.

“Don’t worry Cera,” he said. “We find that your charm point.”

Cera sniffed and shook Petrie off her head. “Well, that concern might be true, but he could have put it in a better way.”

“He mightn’t have put it in the nicest way,” Littlefoot said reluctantly, “but caves can be dangerous. It wouldn’t be the first time we got in trouble in one of them. Let’s actually try to stay safe, okay?”

The others turned to stare at him for several seconds at the suddenly cautious tone in his voice.

“Okay?” Cera widened an eye quizzically. “It’s not like we’re planning to do anything else. We don’t exactly search for danger. Don’t think too much about it. Mr. Clubtail might be worried about us but I’m sure he also doesn’t want one of his gorge fests interrupted.”

Chomper nodded thoughtfully. “It is annoying when you’re in the middle of eating some delicious flaily crawlies and something distracts you before you can swallow them.”

Spike swished his head up and down in agreement, giving his friends a fond but exasperated expression. Littlefoot smiled at his friends’ antics as he and Chomper led the gang to another part of the Great Wall, trying to ignore the uneasy prickling still in his tummy.

* I’ll keep a better eye out for trouble.* Littlefoot thought. *Cera’s right, I shouldn’t think about this too much but…better safe than sorry. I might get a better view of what Chomper’s going to show us.*

He wouldn’t raise the issue again. It was clear from his friends’ reaction to what he blurted that they thought it was odd and that he was being paranoid. Littlefoot had to admit, they would be right. He was letting the dream get to him more he wanted to. He didn’t wish to bring down the mood when they were beginning a morning of fun and exploration. Time to just enjoy his day with his friends, as his grandparents told him to, and he wasn’t going to turn down good advice from them.

They quieted as they approached the cave opening. A sleeping spiketail lay against a nearby tree, her snores quiet but nasally, and they slinked past not wanting incur the annoyance of an adult by interrupting her rest. They entered the cave opening, only tall enough for Ruby’s head fin to brush the ceiling. The cave curved down, with the occasional sharp and narrow bends that were difficult to navigate in the lowering light level. Fortunately, the wider among them like Spike were able to squeeze through without much trouble and they soon heard the familiar sound of running water echoing off of cavern walls.

Chomper smiled. “We’re close. Be careful where you stare, guys.”

That vague comment left everyone bemused but Spike inhaled through his nostrils and he let out an intrigued bay. The others also worked their noses and identified an odd, not unpleasant wet plant smell. Interest tugged, they picked up their pace until they came out into a wider tunnel where their eyes were dazzled.

“Wow.” Littlefoot said, and then squinted. “Ow.”

Chomper chuckled. “Yeah, I said something like that when I first saw it too.”

For covering the tunnel walls was a moss that emitted a glow. It was dim, no brighter than the buzzers whose rear ends could glow, but the greenish-gold was wondrous. It was everywhere, most of the lights barely shining out as small pinpricks but a few were clumped together enough that they actually pricked at their vision if they stared too directly at it. A few holes from above glinted morning light into the tunnel, providing the moss with the source to glow. It was like watching the bright circle shine through the green of leaves, only stranger and more beautiful. Littlefoot and the others took a moment to admire this surprise of nature.

“You were right, Chomper.” Ducky said. “It is interesting. It is, it is.”

“These are far from the only glowy plants we’ve seen.” Cera said. “Still, they’re fun to look at.”

Petrie flapped up to examine the less bright moss. He didn’t get too close, as though suspecting it might bite, but the wariness was mixed in with growing, sincere interest.

“It spooky.” Petrie said. “But…it pretty too. I don’t think it so bad.”

“Maybe not so bad to look at.” Ruby said. “But is it bad to taste? What do you say, Spike?”

Spike approached a nearby wall of moss, sniffing speculatively. After getting his muzzle near one spot, he nasally drank it in and considered what he got. Spike stepped back and shook his head, making a “nu-uh” sound.  Everyone else laughed.

“If Spike’s not going to touch it, then I’m not going to either.” Littlefoot giggled. He smiled warmly. “Thanks for showing us this, Chomper.”

“Hey, why see something amazing and not share it with your friends?” Chomper said modestly. He suddenly grinned. “And I’m not done sharing. There’s the water swimmers I told you about.”

He pointed at the river cleaving the tunnel ground into narrow paths. Narrowly shaped fish had just leapt out of the water, sailing through the air with translucent fins before diving out of sight. The others gasped and laughed with delight. Ducky jumped closer to the river.

“I can swim like that, I can, I can. Oh, I’m sure my brothers and sisters would love this. They like imitating water swimmers,” she turned to the others. “Does anyone want to see me try it?”

“Sure!” Littlefoot said. “Maybe we can start practicing it.”

“I don’t think everyone’s bodies is built for that.” Cera said.

“You did fine with Ducky’s swimming lessons,” Ruby pointed out. “And we did fine with her swimming lessons. So why can’t you do fine with this?”

Caught off guard, she bore everyone’s looks before leaning toward the water and wiggling with her tongue stuck out determinedly.

“Alright, you asked for it! I’m going to master that swimming technique.”

“Me too, me too!” Petrie said excitedly. “Swimming is like flying underwater, and me should be able to do the flying part.”

“I don’t want to be left out of this either.” Chomper said.

“Alright, you guys!” Ducky made a beckoning motion. “Follow my lead!”

So saying, the seven stood near the river edge, and leapt in. They stroked underwater and noted the short distance to the bottom before surfacing and swimming after the flying fish, who sailed more quickly ahead, unnerved by these strange new pursuers. Ducky built up speed and imitated the fish’s leaps with near perfection. The others were much less graceful. Petrie twirled in the air but fell on his back, Spike only achieved a few inches before falling with a great splash, Cera returned to the water in a belly flop, Ruby and Chomper only slid through the water faster, and Littlefoot unbalanced and rolled onto his side. They stumbled and bumped into each other, sending waves splashing in all directions. They were a jumbled mess. It would take a while to get the swimming move perfected.

Littlefoot resisted choking on water as he laughed. He kept an eye out for anyone who might get hurt from the chaos but that didn’t mitigate his enjoyment of this silly game. They were chasing odd fish, in a cave with glowing plants. As far as Littlefoot was concerned, his spirits couldn’t be higher. Being with those he considered as precious as family, exploring what was out there and playing to their heart’s content was what living should be. He treasured such days and hoped there were innumerable more to come. He was so cheerful that even this morning’s troubling sleep stories were far from his mind…

Meanwhile, farther back in the tunnel, Dil swam with Ichy as her passenger. It took a bit of a climb to get in here but Ichy swung his gaze about smugly. At last, they were in the fabled Great Valley and the whole population was theirs for the taking. So far, the only noise he heard was the rushing of water, the movements of the fish, and the activity of the valley from the holes above. From what he could overhear, the valley residents were oblivious to the threat passing beneath them. Yes, Ichy thought. As long as that ignorance remained, the pair wouldn’t have to be hungry for a long time to come.

Which was why he was disconcerted to hear the laughter of children up ahead. Ichy hopped closer to Dil’s ear.

“Do you hear that?” he whispered. “I didn’t know kids played here.”

Dil slowed to listen, and frowned. “Maybe some swimmers or underground types like to hang around here?”

“No, it doesn’t smell like this place has regular visitors other than water swimmers. These kids have the scent of being the usual dinosaurs I hear live the valley. They don’t seem like the type to hang around here.”

Dil hummed. “They do sound kind of familiar. Should we make them our first main course?”

“Let’s make sure no one knows where they are. If someone does know and we attack...that spells trouble for us.”

“Good call.” Dil replied. “I was going to tell you to get off anyway, your feet are still a bit too cold for my liking. Can’t you get that fixed?”

“My feet are fine. You cold-blooded animals are just too sensitive.” Ichy shook his head. “Never mind that. Let’s see if we can warm ourselves with these kids’ flesh.”

Grumbling, Dill nevertheless went low into the water, her nostrils peaking out. Rolling his eyes, Ichy flew close to the ceiling so the annoying moss lights wouldn’t give him away. As he neared the sound of laughing children, it became clear Ichy’s sense of smell was correct. These youths were mostly land dwelling types and from their splashing in the river, they were exploring. Ichy flew even closer to the kids, seven in all, attempting to eavesdrop.

“How much farther can we swim anyway?” The threehorn said breathlessly. “If we topple over a waterfall, I’m going to be mad at you.”

“Don’t worry.” A flyer did the backstroke. “Me could fly ahead and make sure nothing dangerous there.”

“And we have Spike and Chomper to sniff out anything like that.” A big mouth swimmer briefly jumped above the water, leading this group. “Besides, the water speed would change if a waterfall is coming.”

“Even if there’s no danger, we should go back at some point.” The longneck said reluctantly. “We didn’t exactly tell Mr. Clubtail where we were going, so if we get lost, our folks might have difficulty finding us.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the group, including the spiketail and two other kids but Ichy barely paid any attention to the latter pair. His eyes were wide. Dil’s sense of smell was correct about these kids being familiar. The flyer flipped clumsily in his swimming and for a moment, his eyes were gazing in Ichy’s direction. Ichy flinched but kept still and silent. The flyer looked away and continues his swim without any particular reaction. No one else looked up. Thankful they were wrapped up in their fun, he carefully zipped back to Dill.

“They’re free pickings.” Ichy said. “Oh, this is a reunion I can’t wait to have.”

“Reunion?” Dil repeated. “So we did meet them before. Did they see you?”

“One of them did look up but I don’t think any of them noticed me.”

“Stealthy, again.” Dil’s expression turned teasing. “You know, I’m kind of glad I almost ate you. It seemed to have scared you into becoming much better at skulking around for food.”

Ichy huffed. “I’ve always been stealthy. Not many noticed me before and I always want to improve. It’s just that I have had a great learning curve lately. Don’t think too highly of your contributions.”

“Yeah, well…all I care about is that your more useful now anyway.” Dil said. “Anyway, who are these kids we met before?”

“Well...” Ichy smiled. “You might recognize them if you get close enough and have a taste.”

Littlefoot, in the meantime, found his good cheer giving way to concern. Their splashing slowed, their attempts to imitate the leaps of their query (some of which were starting to succeed) draining their energy. They had long lost sight of the flying fish. This game wasn’t going to last for much longer. Littlefoot examined his surroundings keenly. There wasn’t as much of that glowing moss here and the even dimmer light level gave his earlier voiced worries more weight.

“I think we went far enough.” Littlefoot said. “Want to head out?”

“Definitely.” Ruby said. “My arms are definitely swimmed out.”

Petrie nodded.  “Me swimmed out too.”

“Yeah.” Ducky said. “Besides, it’s getting too dark to swim.”

Cera wasn’t pleased but said, “Well, if Ducky’s says so, maybe we should trek back.”

“I’ll use my sniffer.” Chomper said. “I admit, I haven’t gone this far out before. But I’ll try to retrace our steps.” He sniffed, and his brow furrowed. “Hmm, I didn’t smell this before.”

“What haven’t you smelled before, Chomper?” Littlefoot asked.

I don’t know if his vocabulary indicates his level of knowledge either way, but he can be trusting and innocent, qualities he does share with Chomper. I do see the believer point. The Bright Circle Celebration does show he’s the kind of person who celebrates a holiday because he does believe the story around it (Whereas Mr. Threehorn disbelieves, and Tria just think it’s a good opportunity for family and community time). I didn’t find all of Petrie’s fears realistic ones either – the various times he believes in bad luck, among other incidents (Alright, the belief in bad luck mightn’t be too farfetched in-universe ;]).

I didn’t admittedly consider Chomper paranoid fears in the TV series to be farfetched to his character in his two movie appearances. I guess I surmised he might have developed some fears as he grew older (Well, grow older by kids cartoon show standards) as many of us do and I kind of felt we only saw a small slice of his life in movie 5.

As for movie 14, the extent of Chomper and Petrie’s interactions were at the end, where Petrie asks why he and Ruby came, Chomper said they came to rescue the gang, and Petrie thanks them but proudly states that instead they do rescuing (of Bron). Chomper and Ruby are surprisingly chill about not being asked to come along. (I watch the movie on US Netflix. As for the TV series…there are other ways. >.>)

Moving onto other interactions…one I’d be interested in seeing more of is that between Cera and Hyp. I know in Hyp’s two appearances, he was often paired up with Littlefoot, but I was intrigued by the blinks of interaction between Hyp and Cera. When Cera demands he give their ball back in Hyp’s posse’s first appearance, she growls at him and he growls back. In some ways, they are foils to each other, which is made explicit with their fathers. Cera didn’t have much fondness for Hyp and his friends for understandable reasons but as the latter improve themselves, I can see her warming to him slightly.

Though the pair might still find each other annoying. Even if Hyp moves away from being a bully, he’d likely still get into trouble and be a wise-butt, and that’d annoy Cera. Hyp might find Cera a pain because she can match (or maybe even surpass him) in the snark territory and wouldn’t hesitate to point out anything weird or absurd they might be doing. Nevertheless, I can see the pair coming to enjoy the battle of snark and insults that happens when they are in hailing range and that becomes how they express a sort-of affection for each other. When either of them need assistance, especially with family matters, they could either be blunt and direct in telling the other to get ahold of themselves or more gently suggest how to pull themselves out of a problem.

So basically, they could have a scrappy yet affectionate sort of friendship. I can picture Cera saying “He’s like the big brother I’m glad I never had” and Hyp clapping a hand on her before saying, “She’s like the little sister that makes me glad my parents stopped at me.” Then she’d throw his hand off. An amusing and often roughhousingy kind of friendship. When Cera is bigger than him and he’s being annoying, I can see her (gently) stepping on top of him, either saying some variation of “Did you hear something” or “Pardon him, he needs a bit of rough treatment to shut his mouth.” Complete with her occasionally turning up the pressure to elicit some amusing “oophs” out of him. And Hyp might retaliate or induce being stepped by climbing over her and using her horns as a resting place. They would be careful not to really hurt each other but they’d annoy and rough one another up as one way to express affection and it’d be all in good fun.

The most prominent interaction between Petrie and Chomper I remember is the TV episode where Petrie’s old nest is destroyed and have to move to a new one. Chomper assures him that it might scary but moving will be okay and Petrie defends Chomper from his siblings’ fear.

They do have more in common than you might suspect. They both have a sort of naÔve nature and can be a bit gullible. This comes into play especially in what they fear. Chomper can jump to the worst conclusions when nervous or scared, and he and Petrie can tend to believe any tall or scary tales others tell them.

I think that Chomper might be the sort to reassure Petrie of any worries he might have, though he mightn’t be always effective at it with his own occasional limited knowledge. I can see Chomper accidentally slipping some sharpteeth knowledge and conventions into his assurances, which would bemuse and disturb Petrie. But Petrie wouldn’t be too bothered by that, since that was how Chomper rolled.

Petrie might also assure Chomper of his worries as well, though the effectiveness might vary depending on the subject and Petrie’s knowledge. Chomper would appreciate the intent. I wouldn’t think they’re so naÔve or fearful that they might become a feedback loop of paranoia but I can see that occasionally rising up and either of them would stop it before it becomes too intense.

Several comments indicate that he actually enjoys moving around in high places, so he could go hang out with Petrie or explore someplace high the others mightn’t be too sure to climb or navigate. They can enjoy the wind and talk shop about current events and life there.

They’re also both energetic in ways. Petrie’s certainly not passive when a fear or worry starts to grip him. However, he can channel that nervous energy in loveably dorky ways in games. Chomper is pretty outgoing and cheerful sort. If there’s a game between them, I can picture it being quite outgoing and silly, though with either of them overwhelming the other like through, say, Chomper accidentally kicking a ball too hard at Petrie or Petrie overshooting in some way. They’d shake it off soon enough and not hold any grudges about it.

I don’t have much of a grasp on what their specific relationship would be like but it’d be pretty funny and sweet.

Fanfiction.net Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12451580/1/The-Heroine-Inside

Summary: While journeying through the edges of the Land of Mists, Rhett falls in sinking sands that will swallow him whole. With no one else around, can Ali rediscover the courage inside her and rescue him?

Notes: Much shorter than Familial Tour, only several paragraphs over eighteen pages. This was my challenge to myself, to have a story about Ali that doesn't involve romance at all. I learned a bit more about Ali and became fonder of her while writing. As before, I nipped and tucked and edited this through the past couple weeks until it was up to snuff.

As a aside, you don't know how many times I mentally double-taked to make sure I didn't misspell the title as some kind of drug. So without further to do:

--

The Heroine Inside

by

DaveTheAnalyzer

Ali skipped around between the roots, making sure to keep her mother’s legs in the corner of her eye. Being back near the Land of Mists wasn’t a pleasant experience but there were only so many lands they could migrate through before they found themselves back in familiar territory. Old One had opted the longneck herd go through the less dangerous areas of their former homeland, where there were a few unusual tree denizens and craggly roots snaking through the earth but otherwise nothing that could be truly deigned a threat. Ali didn’t mind the roots. It was an entertaining way to play hopscotch and she giggled as he jumped between one sets of roots to another, barely dodging some of the sharper ones.

“This is fun, Mother.” Ali said.

Ali’s mother chuckled. “At least someone is enjoying herself. I’m afraid I can’t join in. If me or any of other grownup decided to join in, we would be causing a earthshake.”

Ali smiled. The mental image of any adult herd member, particularly the solemn and dignified Old One, partaking in the game was quite amusing. Even if there was no one else participating, at least she had the image of the herd hopping along and causing an earthshake to make her giggle.

She neared a few of the bushes and chanced going near them to glance into the leaves. Ever since her meeting with Tickles, she had grown a bit less afraid of the wildlife around here and she got in trouble for talking to strange creatures more than once. It was true she didn’t know what creatures she encountered might be friend or foe but some of them were quite amazing and if she could make a friend out of them, why turn down the chance? She peaked in one bush and saw the scurry of a disturbed insect. She peaked into another and found nothing notable. She checked the third bush. Green eyes stared back at her.

Ali yelped. So did the bush. After a rustle of leaves, a fellow juvenile longneck fought his way out and blinked bemusedly at her. Ali felt a twinge in her stomach.

“Um, hello Rhett,” she said softly.

“Oh.” Rhett said, recognizing her. “Hi Ali…”

The two stood there awkwardly. Ever since they left the Great Valley, Ali hadn’t gone out of her way to interact with Rhett. Though the pair did get along when they played with Littlefoot and his friends, the full magnitude of Rhett’s lies and what they almost made their herdo do had since sunk in. Guilt flashed through Ali, and she had a hard time maintaining eye contact. When the silence stretched on, Rhett attempted to fill it.

“So…” he dug a foot into the dirt awkwardly. “What were you doing looking through the bushes?”

“Exploring.” Ali said. “What were you doing in the bushes?”

“Playing. I was pretending to be a stealthy hero against the wild but I got spotted so…” Rhett trailed off. “Anyway, I’d better get back to my mom and dad.”

He hastily moved out of the foliage but he tripped on a branch and stumbled. One leg got tangled in a vine, his body went under another vine, and through his clumsy attempts to get out, he soon found himself tied up and pinned where he was. The sounds of his exertion drew the attention of some herd members. Rhett’s parents walked in.

“Rhett, what are you doing?” Rhett’s mother said exasperatedly. “Get out from under there.”

“I didn’t exactly intend to do this.” Rhett said defensively. “I’m too tied up to get out.”

His parents sighed and went down, biting vines around their son until they went to pieces. They helped Rhett pull himself out and ushered him off. Ali caught Rhett’s father whispering as they went by.

“Those are what your lies nearly did to you, Rhett. Be careful. We’re in a delicate position with the herd now.”

Rhett put his head down and the family tried to disappear into the herd. Ali watched with a bit of shame in her stomach.

*Why did I ever believe him?*

She already knew the answer. She had been thinking about it ever since the truth had been revealed and there was a lot of time to think when you were migrating. She didn’t like the conclusions she came to but she couldn’t turn away from the facts laid out before her.

As a member of a migrating herd, there were few chances to meet fellow children she would click with and be able to play with for any length of time. She had been taught to have some wariness of strangers, especially those of different species, so she led somewhat of a solitary life. To compensate, when she did meet other kids, she played and committed mischief with all her heart. She rarely expected things to be much different.

Her expectations changed when she met Littlefoot and the others. The loyalty that eclipsed species, the way everyone helped each other in times of danger, and soldiered on…she never encountered such a bond from children around her own age and she was surprised to find she fit right in. There, she found friends she became close to during a span of time that felt a lot longer than two days. It was exciting, terrifying, uncertain, and overall wonderful.

And within twenty-four hours of returning to the valley, she rejoined her herd and everything was back to the usual routine.

Everything changed after that. Gradually, Ali found herself feeling lonely, which she didn’t notice before she experienced that tight bond with Littlefoot and the others. There weren’t that many children in Ali’s herd. When she did interact with the children that were present, it was hard to forge the same kind of tight bond. Eventually, Ali found herself alone and though she made the most of it and spent a lot of time with her mother and other favored adults, she soon found herself wishing she had someone she can be with.

That was where Rhett came in. When their two herds merged, Rhett appeared interested in playing with Ali and talked frequently about his heroic exploits. Though some of these tales stretched credibility, she told herself her experiences with Littlefoot’s group showed there were children who engaged in dangerous adventures and it was nice to have someone to play with. Even when it became clear Rhett was inclined to call the shots in their games, Ali was reluctant to call him out on it. Ali looked back on those moments with shame. She thought she was quite bold sort, always trying to be polite, but not willing to take someone’s nonsense when the chips were down. Here, though, Ali saw how her delicate her courage was in the face of loneliness.

Rhett himself was also lost. With his lies exposed and weighed with the knowledge of nearly having Chomper killed, he didn’t know how to present himself. He still occasionally indulged in hero games but the other children didn’t want to have much to do with him and that passion was a major topic in his lies in the first place. It appeared he didn’t want to have anything to do with that lying anymore, but Ali wasn’t sure if they could be friends again. They were too awkward around each other to do more than exchange a few sentences before leaving, each reminding the other of their major follies.

Ali shook her head. It was too much to think about now. She would leave the possibility of her and Rhett’s relationship for the future to decide. Currently, she put her concentration on walking like everyone else.

The herd eventually chose to rest sometime after noon, lying very closely together in one corner of a misty clearing as they deliberated on where to travel next. Old One wanted to scout ahead. There was a path up ahead that would take them swiftly to their next destination but there were steep slopes on either side and with the land changing, one can never be sure how stable it would be.

“It would be best if only a few of our smaller brethren accompanied me.” Old One was saying. “We don’t want to endanger ourselves any more than we have to. In the meantime, rest here and be on the lookout for any danger.”

There were a few nods and the herd settled in a wide clearing while Old One and a few volunteers disappeared up the path. Ali’s mother watched them go with some concern.

“I hope it will be safe. I don’t much like the thought of having to travel another way.”

“We should take that other route anyway,” said a herd member. “It might be longer but it hasn’t changed like everything else, so it’s safer.”

“It might have changed in ways we haven’t noticed,” said a third herd member. “We might have to check it too. Hopefully, Old One will find that path is still useable and we can be on our way.”

“Still, if and when it does breakdown, we’re going to have to look for other places and…”

Several grownups fell into a debate about whether to take new routes now or wait until the old route became unavailable. Ali tried to follow the conversation on her mother’s behalf but her eyes soon glazed over and it became so mind-numbing she wandered off a good distance until she could barely hear them. She could still see them, their figures slightly obscured by mist, but visible. She snacked from the bushes, hoping they would be done debating by the time she filled her stomach. If being an adult meant you still walked around in confusion and worry, she mused, than it didn’t live up to its hype.

There were steps behind her.

“Hey, mind if I eat here?”

Ali looked up and found Rhett standing there.

“Be my guest,” she kept her voice even. “There’s plenty of space.”

Rhett stood on the edge of the bush and began eating from it. Attempting not to step away, Ali kept chewing, aware of every movement he took, not sure what was the point of this association.

“So…it looks like we might be here for a while.” Ali said finally.

Rhett nodded vaguely. “The grownups are still arguing.”

“And those who aren’t are just resting. I don’t want to do that.”

“Me neither.” Rhett agreed. “So should we do something else?”

“Hmm?” Ali said. “How about hide and seek?”

“Together? Um, we won’t stray far from the herd, right?”

“There are plenty of places to hide here, right?”

“Of course.” Rhett said, encouraged. “You better hide good then?”

Ali stared. “I’m going to be the hider?”

“Yeah. Why, do you want something else?”

Ali hesitated. “It’s fine,” she couldn’t resist adding. “I guess evading you would be fun.”

“Hey, watch it.” Rhett said, though he appeared buoyed by the banter. “You’d better get hiding then.”

Rhett turned around and started counting. Smiling in spite of herself, Ali turned and began running around the edges of the clearing. There were so many bushes to hide in but they would be all obvious to a seeker. So where else could she go? There was a cave in the distance but he would think to look there. Ali discounted hiding in trees since climbing would be dangerous (unless it was a very small tree). Eventually, Ali found a hole near a tree trunk that she could just squeeze into. It was an easy to miss thing, a bit obscured by tree roots, and Ali pushed herself into the shadows as Rhett finished his countdown.

“Ready or not, here I come.”

Immediately, she heard a rustle as Rhett nosed through the immediate foliage. Ali held in her giggles as his footsteps went away, came back, and went away again in his search. Rhett’s voice sometimes became audible.

“I will find you…there aren’t that many places to hide…”

There was the creak of rocks being shifted, the crackle of wood being swept aside, among other sounds. Rhett was doing his best to be thorough. Ali’s regret at being unable to challenge Rhett’s suggestion was giving away. If Rhett had to be the seeker, at least Ali could have some fun by outwitting him. The footsteps suddenly came very close and Ali stilled as a shadow appeared and seemed to pause over the hole. She saw the shadow of his head swing and for a heart-stopping second, she thought he found the hole.

Then he walked on. “You’re harder to find than I thought…”

There was an odd tone in that voice, as though Rhett was both frustrated and amused by his lack of success. Rhett hadn’t been that way before. Ali allowed a smile to cross her face. Maybe there was a chance they could get along better after all. If any of his old habits came back and Ali pushed back, he might be more receptive to the critique. Ali hoped she would regain the metal to call him out on this but she couldn’t help but fear the pair were still on too tentative ground to be open about it. Ali shook her head. This was a time to have fun, not worry personal and relationship issues.

Rhett’s footsteps vanished up ahead and Ali prepared herself for a bit of a wait. With these games, there was sometimes an uncertainty about when to conclude them. Ali didn’t want to stay in here forever and wondered if she would leave when Rhett made a noise of surrender or when a certain amount of time had passed. Soon all she could hear were the trills of insects, the skitters of furry creatures, the whish of the early afternoon wind. She couldn’t even hear the arguments from the herd. She had wandered a bit far to get this hiding place. For a moment, there was a flash of worry that she and Rhett might be too distant from their herd. Then she dismissed the thought before it could clamp down on her. There was the rustle of rocks in the distance and Ali couldn’t hold back a quiet sigh. Either Rhett was going to find her or he wasn’t. She just hoped this wouldn’t go on so long she would get bored of the game.

She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of a petrified scream.

Heart in her throat, Ali jumped and squeezed out of her hideaway before sprinting as fast as possible. The mist cleared, revealing the screams were coming from a small cave opening in a hill of rock. It took more seconds than she liked to reach the cave, jump over the boulder covered in vines, and see inside.

“Help, Ali!” Rhett cried. “I can’t get out!”

For a moment, all Ali could do was stare, mind frozen in horror. Rhett was struggling in a pond of dark sinking sand a few feet into the cave, his forelegs moving desperately to stay above afloat. He was already halfway consumed and more of him was slowly but steadily sinking into the sand. His cries for help made Ali shake herself.

“Hang on, Rhett!” Ali said. “I’ll – I’ll do something!”

Ali dropped down from the boulder and got as close to the sinking sands as she dared. She didn’t know what she was doing but she got on her toes and swung her long neck out for him to grab. Rhett made a few swings with his hand but there was still plenty of feet between them.

“I can’t reach!” he said.

Ali tried out with her tail, stretching as far as it would go. She watched with a turned head as Rhett thrust his forelegs forward, attempting to use momentum to get himself closer to her, but his teeth kept napping at thin air over and over again.

“That doesn’t work either!” he cried. “Ali, help!”

Ali swung her head about, breathing rapidly. “What do I do? How do I help him – wait!”

Her eyes caught sight of the boulder covered in vines, recalling how similar vines had pinned Rhett down before. Quickly, she reared on her hind legs and searched for the most solid and well-connected vine of the bunch before she gripped her teeth on it and crunched down until she felt the thick plant matter part under her jaw muscles. Once that was secure, she returned to the sinking sands with the vine gripped in her mouth.

“Rhett, catch!”

She threw the vine over and Rhett made a grab for it. There was a small obscuring splash and Ali feared a moment that Rhett had missed again but he surfaced with the vine firmly gripped in his teeth. He grabbed more of the vine with his forelegs and gripped it tightly, stabilizing himself.

Even so, that wasn’t the solution to their problem. Rhett attempted to pull himself out with the vine but he could only move a few inches before the sinking sands sucked him back in. The sinking sands was a weaker version of tar – there was far more ability to move but it still stuck to anyone trapped within it like glue. Rhett panted, his briefly moderated fear now surging back out of control.

“I – I can’t get out!” Rhett said muffledly, panicked.

“Hold on, I’ll call for help!” Ali said. “Just hang on tight. We’ll get through this.”

“No, don’t leave me!”

Her heart trembled from that plea but there was nothing else she could do but get the assistance of those larger and stronger than her. She leapt out of the cave opening and went ahead a few paces, calling out.

“Help! Rhett is trapped in sinking sands in a cave! We need help!”

There was no response. The mist obscured the herd from view. She still couldn’t hear their debate or any sound from them. Have she and Rhett really wandered that far from the group? She took a few more steps out but found herself rooted to the spot. She couldn’t leave Rhett here. If his grip slipped and he needed help, there would be no one there to give it to him. Ali settled for shouting louder, raising the pitch of her voice until it cracked.

“Everyone, help! This is Ali! Rhett is stuck in the sinking sands of a cave! He needs to be rescued! Can anyone hear me? We – need – help!”
 
Her voice echoed out into the clearing, vanishing into the fog. Several seconds passed but there was no sound of response. Ignoring the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes, Ali screamed once more.

“Is there anyone out there who can hear this? Help us! Please…help us!”

Again, nothing. Ali panted, the full implications of the answering silence coming to her. Yes, they must be still debating about which path to take. In such an absorbing conversation, even those not taking part would be oblivious to any distant voice calling out for them, especially the voice of a child. No matter how loud Ali shouted, there was only so much distance her voice can be carried and right now she was too far to be heard by any members of the heard.

*That’s not all. They probably wouldn’t be able to fit.*

Ali turned to examine the cave opening. It was quite small – a longneck head wouldn’t be able to fit in and, though a tail might, not for very far. The tail wielder wouldn’t be able to see where they were going and could possibly cause a cave-in. The same result could happen if they attempted to make a bigger hole for their heads. Either way, the larger members of the herd would be of limited help to Rhett. Which left only one person that could really save him.

*It’s me. I have to do something.*

A trill of trepidation went from Ali’s heart down to her body. She really needed to find the right strategy to rescue Rhett. If she wasn’t careful, she could get dragged down with him. The sinking sands were sticky and difficult to get unhooked from. One wrong move, and no one would probably ever know what happened to the two. Would Ali be able to save Rhett successfully? Ali had little if any idea whatsoever of how to accomplish this. Saving another life was a huge responsibility and her mind buckled under its weight.

*Hang on. I did save someone else before.*

Immediately, she went back to the time she journeyed with Littlefoot and the others, when Cera had fallen into fast water and was menaced by that sharpbeak and bellydragger. For a moment, it didn’t seem like there was much that could really save her. But Ali looked around and a plan opened up to her, one that led her down to river shore, up atop a snarling bellydragger and to Cera’s rescue. Not much thought has been spared about the great risks involved. Despite her fears, whatever the consequences, she didn’t let anything stop her from doing the right thing and not only did it save Cera, it earned Ali her friendship. Ali always used to do right for herself and others but she let her loneliness in the cold times since weaken her resolve. Ali began to think if she let things be, it would sort itself out. But she was wrong. Sometimes, whatever might go wrong, the only solution was action.

And the only thing that would save Rhett, whatever the risks, was action.

Breathing carefully, Ali forced calm to cool through the fear buzzing in her veins. A solution. She needed a solution. She returned to the cave entrance, examining her environment as she did so. There was little she could do with leaves and it would take too long to cut down and drag a branch here. But as she walked on the boulder, she felt another kind of plant matter beneath her feet. Maybe the vines could be of help?

“Ali, did you get help? Are they coming?”

She saw Rhett, dirtier than ever, having sunk a bit deeper into the sinking sands and holding on desperately for dear life. The vine was already being used as a stopgap measure, Ali realized. It was only able to keep Rhett from sinking any further but there was only so long it would be able to fulfill that purpose. She couldn’t be able to pull him out of the muck with only her teeth while he barely held on with his own teeth and forelegs. Unless…there might be more than one way to use the vines.

“They couldn’t hear me.” Ali replied. “I couldn’t stray far but…hang on. I’m going to get you out. I have a plan. I just need you to be strong for a bit longer.”

Rhett whimpered. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

Still, he redoubled his hold on the vine. With his words in mind, Ali quickly inspected the rock and its vines, finding places to snip them here and there, making sure they were extra-long in case she misjudged the distance. At last, she dragged several ropes of vine off the rock before she sat down and started wrapping it around her legs, tail, middle, and other firm parts of her body.

“What are you doing?” Rhett demanded.

“Making sure all the vines will stay tied to me.” Ali replied, making sure each vine was knotted firmly. “I’m going to need all the strength I have for this. Making sure they’re all in the right place to use my strength is important. You’re going to have to tie those vines around your body before your front legs so you won’t slip out of them and I can pull you out.”

“Tie them around me? I might sink faster if I let go of this vine!”

“You’ll still hold on with your mouth but you’ll have your paws free to tie in the vines.” Ali admitted.

Rhett shuddered. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“It’ll be okay.” Ali said. “Just follow what I say. Please, try to be brave like the hero you pretended to be.”

Rhett’s breathing reluctantly calmed. “Okay. I’ll try.”

Nodding, Ali finished tying vines around herself before she dragged the loose ends to the edge of the sinking sands. She tossed out the vines around her neck. He freed his forefeet and barely caught it. She made a reassuring head gesture, grabbing the vine keeping Rhett afloat with her teeth and tail.

“Wrap that around yourself and when you tie it, make sure the knot’s in front of your chest.” Ali instructed.

“Easier said than done when you’re sinking.” Rhett muttered.

Nevertheless, he followed Ali’s careful instructions, quickly rolling one vine around his chest before tying it firmly. He did the same with the next vine Ali provided him and the next. Nearly every time, Rhett almost missed catching the vine. One time, he completely missed and had to fish it out of the sinking sands before it got stuck there. Nevertheless, he managed to keep hold until at last he had all of the vines tied around himself. Ali gave a tug from her tail vine to make sure it was solid

“Alright, when I say so, let go of the vine in your mouth and keep still.” Ali said. “I’m going to drag you out of there and it would help if I meet as little resistance as possible.”

“I’m not sure about this.” Rhett said, shaking a bit.

“We’ll get through this.” Ali replied firmly. She put her back to him and dug her feet into the dirt. “On my count. One, two…”

The vine Rhett held on to tremored, as though his fear was being transferred down it. Ali tried to ignore the tremors going through her as she steeled herself to pronounce the decisive number.

“…three! Now!”

There was a hesitant pause and then the vine in the grip of her teeth and tail went slack as she felt a great weight press at her skin. Letting go of that vine, Ali thrust one leg forward, then another, beginning the laborious process of pulling Rhett out of the sands.

She knew it would be hard, but she was guilty to be surprised at how hard it was. Putting one foot in front of the other was slow work. Her muscles seared with each movement, the vines tight and digging into her skin. It was a struggle to not be dragged back by Rhett’s weight. She could hear the sound of him being pulled through the sinking sands, with the slight crackle of the stickiness as it slowly thinned and snapped away from him. Rhett came across a batch that became particularly attached to him but Ali doubled her efforts and she managed to get him free and slide him through the next several inches. This happened two or three more times, but Ali was glad to find they weren’t insurmountable obstacles and a bit more effort got Rhett through it with only sore skin to show for it.

She could hear Rhett breathing hard as this happened. Glancing back a few times, Ali saw Rhett mostly kept still but there was panic just below his eyes and Ali feared how long he could keep it down. She was a quarter of the way to the cave entrance, she told herself. She was making progress, this wouldn’t take forever. She made sure her movements weren’t too abrupt or nervous less her own trepidations traveled down to him.

Rhett was more than halfway through the sinking sands and the vines attached to him never showed any signs of give. Ali wouldn’t have to worry about any of them snapping, she thought with relief. Rhett had worryingly sunk a bit lower along the way but he seemed to manage himself fine until he slowed to a stop amid a patch of particularly stubborn sticky sand.

“I’m stuck.” Rhett said.

“Don’t worry, I’m working on it.” Ali reassured.

Ali pulled hard, but she only felt the slightest give from the sand. Rhett’s breaths quickened.

“I’m not moving.” There was a slight sloshing, as though he attempted to jerk himself out. “It’s not getting off. What now…what now?”

“Stop moving!” Ali said. “You’ll only make it worse.”

“How much worse can things get? I’m going to die,” his breathing rose another octave. “Oh no, I’m going to die!”

“Don’t panic. That doesn’t lead anywhere and you’ll…”

Rhett had fallen beyond reason. He screamed in fear and flung his legs desperately in a futile attempt to free himself, only attaching other parts of himself to that strong sticky patch and quickening his descent into the sand. The struggling overcame her strength and Ali gasped as she was dragged back, leaving thicker grooves in the ground. She grappled the earth but no sooner did she put a foot in front of herself that it got pulled past where she started. She was being sucked toward the sinking sands and no matter what she grabbed or thought of, there was nothing that seemed to stop it. Despair rose in her.

*Maybe this was too big for me to begin with.* Ali thought.

Much less of Rhett could be seen now. Only the parts above his shoulders were visible and his flailing weakened, either by the constricting sand or exhaustion. The desperation drained out of him, leaving him shaking with fear. A little whimper escaped and a tear slid slowly down his cheek. He was terrified of death, he didn’t want to die, but he saw no way out and he could only despair at the fate the circle of life placed him in. Ali’s heart seized at the sight.

*I couldn’t save him. If only I really called for help, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.*

She felt her tail and then her rear feet come in contact with the sand. She attempted to pull herself out but her heart wasn’t really into it. She was moving on self-preserving instinct, helplessness numbing her. As more of her sank into the sand, she listlessly wished there was more she could have done.

*Wait…could there be more?*

It didn’t seem possible but she found herself thinking about the second time she visited the valley. Littlefoot and the others’ plot to reveal Rhett’s lies blew up in their faces when Rhett led the herd to deal with Chomper. Trying to stop a whole crowd of adult longnecks from hurting one sharptooth youth should have been considered hopeless. But Littlefoot and his friends rallied. The gang pinpointed where Chomper and the herd were going, found the quickest route to intercept them, and stood bravely in front of their friend as they pacified the herd with the truth. It had gotten the kids a scolding but everything worked out because they worked together. Without their hope and cooperation, their sharptooth friend mightn’t have survived that day. At that time, Ali learned that even if a mistake was made in a dangerous situation, there was always a way to survive, especially if you have friends and loved ones who trusted and listened to each other.

Ali didn’t have that many people by her side at the moment but there was one person with her who could cooperate. But he wasn’t listening, just as he always didn’t listen. A hot outrage seized her.

“Stop moving, Rhett!”

Rhett froze, shocked out of his own misery. He never heard Ali speak with such a whip-like tone. It was like the sound of a branch snapping after being bent too far for too long. Ali stared at Rhett, panting.

“Look at what you’re doing,” she said. “You’re endangering both of us.”

“What? But I didn’t -” Rhett stammered.

“Because you didn’t listen to me, you sank even deeper into the sinking sands and now I’m caught up in it too. We could both get swallowed up here.”

“I’m scared. How else should I react?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being scared.” Ali then glared. “But you should have trusted me to get you out of this. Rescue requires trust from both people but because you thought I couldn’t do anything, it’ll be a lot harder to get out.”

Rhett appeared floored. He looked at his own sunken state and how Ali was halfway enveloped by the sinking sands with new eyes. After a moment, shame settled in him.

“You’re…you’re right.” Rhett mumbled. “Because of me…we’re both going to die.”

Unexpectedly, Ali smiled. “I said it would be a lot harder. I didn’t say it was going to be impossible. My front feet are still on the ground and my back feet can still feel the wall. With a bit of teamwork, I’m sure we’ll be able to get out of here. Will you be able to do that?”

Rhett stared. Then he nodded slowly, not moving at all.

That was all the assurance Ali needed. She turned her attention forward, scrapping her forelegs hard against the edge, her rear legs finding the wall of the sinking sands and attempting to gain purchase. She dug and kicked and scraped with increasing persistence. She worked herself up until she could move faster than the sands could suck her in. Ali could feel how strong and sticky the sands were but slowly her forefeet inched forward, the sandy strands being pulled away. Soon all four of her feet were on firm earth and now the hard work was going to start.

Using all the strength in her body, she began the process of regaining ground. Though the vines were coated in sand, they were strong as ever. She felt them tighten and yet hold as she moved, feeling them constrict her limbs and cutoff some of her blood supply. She made one step and another, one step and another and Rhett was pulled along, not moving, alternating between closing his eyes to calm himself and staring at her in amazement. He got pulled up a bit but he was primarily tugged across, making slow and glacial progress.

Ali occasionally got stopped in her tracks by Rhett getting stuck in a particularly sticky sand spot but redoubling her efforts and not giving quarter usually freed him in the end. The challenge was made all the easier because Rhett remained perfectly still, making no more than the occasional grunt when some of the stickiness pulled away a bit of skin. That suited Ali just fine, because she needed as little distractions as possible.

By the time she neared the boulder, her muscles were sore and flaring with protest. It took all the will she had to make them move according to her decisions. Rhett was so close to the edge now, his forefeet inches away from grabbing solid terra firma. Ali just needed to use a bit more strength to pull him across. Gritting her teeth, she strained one front leg forward and then another. The sticky sand let out its biggest sound of protest from the exertion yet. Encouraged, Ali ignored the pain everywhere in her in favor of keeping going. Almost. So close, so close…

There was a hasty slop and Ali turned to see Rhett had his forefeet on dry land and was hastily pulling himself out of the muck, the sticky strands attached to him thinning and coming apart. Covered in dirt on almost every part of his body, he shook the last of the stubborn strands and galloped toward the cave exit as though the sinking sands pursued him. Ali didn’t object, also moving quickly to get out of this cave.

They scrambled up the boulder and managed to get back outside without somehow not falling flat on their faces, the vines flopping all around them. Ali laid against the boulder while Rhett flopped onto the ground. They both panted, exhausted to the bone, and putting everything else aside to just recover from their near death ordeal. Slowly, though, Rhett turned his head to Ali in wonder.

“That – amazing. You – you saved me.”

Ali didn’t answer right away. The two sentences lodged into her brain. Gradually she stood up. She wouldn’t go so far as to seriously call herself amazing – ingrained politeness still had some hold on her – but pride now filled her. She had saved someone. Through taking action and doing all she could, she pulled a fellow youth out of the sinking sands and he now lay alive beside her. She was sore, dirty, and exhausted but a completeness filled her that hadn’t been there for a long time. She had made the right decision. There were times where one needed to be brave and draw no quarter to anyone in order to get things done. Though she didn’t want to go out of her way to be mean, she felt much less hesitation with being honest with her companion as well.

“I did.” Ali said quietly. “You didn’t make it easy though.”

Rhett stiffened before he lowered his head. “I’m sorry. I’ve been screwing up, haven’t I?”

Ali stared ahead. “Something like that.”

“Did I screw you up?”

“It wasn’t just you.” Ali then added. “But you didn’t help matters.”

Rhett was quiet for a moment. “Why did you even save me, if I did those bad things to you?”

“Because it was the right thing to do.” Ali replied. “Not saving you never occurred to me.”

“I didn’t think that. When Chomper pretended to hunt us and you asked for my help, my first thought was just to run away. It all turned out to be fake…but I still abandoned you. And I hurt you enough that you didn’t do anything yourself but turn to me for help. I thought you were just a playmate before but…”

“You’re finding there’s more to me than meets the eye?” Ali suggested.

“Much more interesting than all the lies I came up with.” Rhett agreed with a bit of a laugh. “You had much more of an idea of what to do than I ever would. I wondered if I would make it and that you saved me even after all I did…” he shook his head. “I’ll listen to you more from now on. Count on it.”

“I’m not going to be wise all the time. I’m a kid like you too.” But Ali smiled, finally meeting his eyes. “Still, it’s nice to hear that. I’ll hear you over if you hear me over. Is that a fair deal?”

“Sure.” Rhett got to his feet. “Should we be getting home now? The others are sure to be worrying about-”

As he spoke, he began walking off and tripped over the vines tangled around him. He lay there stunned before shaking his head and standing up but the vines had tangled themselves even more between his legs. He could only move his limbs halfway and he wobbled before flopping on his side, twitching among his bindings.

“Um...I think I might need some help,” Rhett said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think this will be – whoa!”

Ali attempted to follow, only to find her own legs restricted by vines and she also fell. She blinked down and moved experimentally to find there wasn’t much give.

“Looks like we’re both stuck.” Ali admitted.

“Yeah, and we’re dirty too. We don’t exactly look like fine and mighty longnecks.”

Ali realized he was right. She appraised Rhett and saw he had been more tied up than he was earlier in the day, forcing his legs and tail to stick out at odd but harmless angles. He was covered from head to toe in sandy muck and even though his head hadn’t got enveloped it was still splattered from being dragged to safety. Ali was in a similar state. Though she hadn’t sank as far into the sinking sands as Rhett, she was just as messy and held hostage by the vines. That combined with the incredulous expressions they both wore caused Ali to giggle. She found it hard to stop.

“What’s so funny?” Rhett said, baffled.

“You’re right. We aren’t fine and mighty. Look at how silly we look.”

Ali continued laughing. Confused, Rhett looked at his own mucked up state, at Ali’s, and back again. Something clicked, and a grin split his face. His laughing started low but in spite of himself, it rose until it match Ali’s. Their hysterical laughter echoed throughout the clearing and they alternated between rolling on the ground and pounding the dirt. It was such a relief to find something to laugh about, especially something that contrasted so sharply with that frightening experience, and it took a while for the pair to come down enough to be able to form words.

“We – we should probably go.” Ali shook a tear from her face. “The herd is probably wondering where we are.”

“But we’re still stuck here.” Rhett said, breathless.

“Don’t worry, we just need to bite through them. It’s hard but if we choose the right vines…”

Looking down, Ali selectively bit the vines connected to her neck, legs, and tail. She tugged and pushed, and they eventually came apart enough that she could crawl out to freedom. Rhett watched her enviously.

“Um, a bit of help here. I would do the same, but they’re all covered in dirt.”

Ali gave Rhett a dry look and Rhett had the grace to appear sheepish. Grimacing, he put his teeth around the vines attached to his chest and Ali did the best she could to cut through the ones that connected to hers. Rhett had to spit out some grim but he freed himself all the same. Exchanging tired but amused shakes of the head, they made their way back to the herd’s resting spot.

They found an aggregate of worried longnecks, some searching the area while others whispered worriedly among themselves, their tones full of confusion and dread. Marshalling them all was Old One, who had returned from her scouting mission and was maintaining calm throughout the ordeal.

“…keep a clear head,” she was saying. “They can’t have wandered far. We must go to where they have last been seen, follow any tracks they might have left behind, and spread out from there. Now does anyone remember where they have last been seen?”

“I was kind of distracted but I’m sure they went in that – that…” Ali’s mother turned to point with her head but froze. “They’re coming in our direction.”

The others stared in confusion before they noticed Ali and Rhett’s return. They gawped at the pair’s sudden appearance and dirty personage before crowding in close, angry and concerned.

“Where have you been?” Ali’s mother demanded. “We’ve been worried.”

“You can’t just disappear on us like this.” Rhett’s father said. “Why are you in that state?”

“Um,” Rhett averted his gaze, “we – I kind of got stuck in sinking sands.”

“Sinking sands?” Rhett’s mother said sharply. “Where? When? How?”

“In the caves over there.” Ali answered, waving back to the where the pair came from. “We were playing hide and seek, so he looked in there and fell in. It was hard but we managed to get out.”

“You mean the sinking sands in the cave.” Old One asked. “Those sinking sands?”

“Are there any others around here?” Rhett replied, looking around nervously as though afraid those other sinking sands were about to pounce him.

The others exchanged looks of disbelief.

“Around this area, there is only the sinking sands in the cave.” Old One said finally. “And they have taken many young ones and smaller dinosaurs. We never heard of anyone escaping from them before.”

Whispers rose up from the herd. Ali took a moment to digest this. Now that she thought about it, that sinking sand was especially sticky. It took all of her efforts to pull Rhett through it. No wonder the herd stayed away from that part of the clearing. She knew that cave of sinking sands was dangerous while fighting for their lives but with this new information, Ali looked back on the experience with a bit of a chill.

“I didn’t know any of that.” Ali said quietly.

“Me either.” Rhett said, looking green.

“It’s a good thing your ignorance wasn’t your downfall then.” Old One replied sternly. “You should count yourselves fortunate for surviving such a danger, especially after wandering away from adult supervision. I hope this experience has taught you to think more carefully before you let boredom or curiosity lure you away from the herd.”

Guiltily, Ali and Rhett bowed their heads.

“I should have thought about that.” Ali murmured. “Sorry.”

“I got stuck in there, I should have been more careful.” Rhett said. “I would be a goner if it wasn’t for her.”

Old One surveyed the pair silently for a moment. Her expression softened.

“Well, at least you two appear to have learned something from that ordeal,” she said gently. “We still have some time before we move on. Clean yourselves up in the river over there and make sure to keep in sight of the grownups.”

“Thank you, Old One.” Ali said. “I’ve had enough adventure for one day.”

“After today, I wouldn’t want to be beyond adult supervision again.” Rhett muttered.

Old One nodded, the briefest of smiles flitting across her face before she moved on to talk about their next destination. Ali and Rhett went to the river a bit hidden by the trees, their parents trailing after them and watching like flying sharpteeth. The pair washed in the shallows, throwing water over themselves and scrubbing at dirty spots with their heads and tails. It was difficult – the grime was just as reluctant to get wiped away as the sinking sands were of giving up their catch. Ali’s skin was starting to feel a bit sore by the time she cleaned up a spot and she moved gingerly as she cleaned other parts of her body.

“So, you really forgive me?”

Ali looked up. Rhett was wincing from one foot to the other as he washed himself but not just because of soreness. From the way he averted his eyes, he had been working himself to speak. Ali was confused.

“I mean, after all I done.” Rhett continued. “From how you said you we were going to hear each other, you were okay with associating with me.”

“That’s what I meant.” Ali said.

“You said something similar after the mess with Chomper was cleared up. But why – even after all I did, why are you so forgiving?”

Ali stared and thought the question over. It was true Rhett had did some very selfish things that hurt her and hurt those she considered her friends. He only stopped because of some major shocks that those like him were usually unlikely to face. Any other person would have understandably cut all ties with Rhett after the truth of his lies got out. So why was Ali willing to let bygones be bygones and stay in contact with him? After some moments, the answer came to her.

“You appear to be willing to change.” Ali said slowly. “You realized you’re wrong and are attempting to work away from it. Not perfectly but…it’s more than I can say for some people. It’s kind of hard for me to hold a grudge unless it’s something really really bad. And I’ve made some mistakes too. I was nervous about Littlefoot’s friends and usually dissuaded him from them being around at first. When we went to rescue his ill grandfather, I didn’t exactly tell him all of what I did or didn’t know about the Land of Mists until I was pressed to. I got over some of these things but others I’m still working on too.”

“Really?” Rhett asked.

Ali nodded. “I have done some deceitful things myself. Not as extreme as many of your lies but…Littlefoot and the others have forgiven me for my mistakes and it’s hard for me to hold grudges. Not to mention…you’re figuring yourself out. I’m still figuring myself out. I’m thinking that maybe we could figure help each other figure ourselves out together. We have been through some amazing stuff, that few others have. With that in common, let’s try and see if we can really be friends.”

Rhett nodded, his unsureness disappearing into encouragement.

“Of course, just because I’ll be your friend, it doesn’t mean I won’t call you out if you do something wrong.” Ali said hastily. “You’ll be hearing a lot from me whether you like it or not.”

Rhett laughed. “I think I might need that anyway.”

By this time, they wiped off the last of the dirt. Other than looking a bit red in places, there was no sign they had been stuck in the sinking sands at all. Ali and Rhett shook themselves dry, relieved. As amusing as being dirty can be, there was no great feeling quite like splashing yourself clean. Something about that lodged an idea of mischief into Ali’s mind. She turned innocently to Rhett.

“Since you’ll be hearing a lot from me, you might hear me say a few things more than others.”

“Really? Like what?” Rhett asked, having no idea what was coming.

Ali flicked her tail and slapped it on Rhett’s side. “Tag! You’re it!”

Before he could react, Ali had already zoomed off, giggling to herself. She heard a strangled cry of consternation and there was a patter of footsteps that hastily tried to catch up with her. She made sure to stick close to the herd as she ran but fortunately there were many hiding places to take advantage of. With their parents and other herd members following them with their eyes, Ali jumped into a bush on the side of the path and waited until Rhett galloped past, slowing breathlessly.

“Where – where are you? I swear I’ll -”

Ali reached out and nipped Rhett’s tail before he could finish. He yelped and she raced off in the opposite direction, ducking into another bush around the bend. No sooner did she settle in that Rhett panted past.

“How can you move so fast?” he muttered.

Her answer was to slink around and accidentally-on-purpose brush past him. He jumped but she disappeared before he could catch her. She returned to the river and hid above in a small tree, watching as he moved cautiously, poking his head into foliage and on a general lookout for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t anticipate she would use higher ground to evade him. She waited until he walked into the river to make the next move. She leapt down and covered Rhett in a great splash, causing him to stumble. He shook his wet head and gazed woozily at her.

“For someone who just rescued me, you have a lot of energy.”

Ali giggled and backed away. “Well, what can I say? Learning can energize you – and I just learned one other thing – you can’t catch me!”

And Ali darted away. He stared after her retreating figure, his brain struggling to catch up with her words. Then he surged to his feet.

“He – hey! I can catch you! That’s not fair! I’ll-”

Rhett moved after her and there was laughter beneath his footsteps. Ali continued to evade him, sometimes nipping and touching to startle him. Rhett still made startled noises but amusement entered his voice more and more the longer this game of cat and mouse continued. Ali grinned. The pair of them might make more mistakes and were still figuring themselves out but Ali felt she was now on firmer ground on who she was as a person. After the confidence she regained, she had the feeling she could take on any challenges that awaited her in the future.

The End

Ah, Spike. I can’t remember what I thought of him when I first watched the series, but after rewatching several times in the past year or so, I gained a great appreciation for him. He’s one of my favorite characters. He doesn’t speak and shows little shame in his appetite, often wandering off to explore what interests him in ways that mark him off as odd. He occasionally licks people out of affection, and that does mark him as odd (Even if in an animal world like LBT, it shouldn’t be that odd, but whatever). Yet he shows little shame for who he is and his friends generally treat him well. The most they do is laugh fondly at his antics.

He is rather laidback and friendly, wanting to appreciate the extraordinary in the simple in life. From that TV episode where we get a peek into his thoughts, he does wish his friends would kick back and take a page out of his book. He seems a bit exasperated about the often dangerous adventures they find themselves in, as seen in the song he sings to himself in that episode. However, as shown in other episodes and movies, he does have a genuine interest in exploring and learning. In that same episode, he even smiles fondly to them. Whatever his complaints, he really enjoys being in their company.

As for if he understands…I’m kind of under the impression he does, he just tunes some talk out, like the arguing and the insistence that he follow them. In that same episode, there are times where he responds to specific things his friends say. When Littlefoot and Cera argue about the existence of Hard Water Sweets after surviving an avalanche, Spike thinks in frustration “But I know where they are!” This indicates that Spike finds speaking much harder than thought. It takes a life or death scenario like his sister on the verge of being eaten or him drowning for him to talk. Clearly, there’s more to his nonverbal nature than a disinclination to speak.

I’ve read of nonverbal people learning to be verbal when they grow up and that’s displayed in a few fics, but I’m interested in what happens if he can’t do anything more than be nonverbal or minimally verbal as an adult. Would he remain content with who he was or would this might be an issue or frustration to him? He’s been treated rather well by his friends and most people, but there’s always the chance they’ll meet someone who can’t understand or is a jerk and those who might expect him to talk when he grows up. That could affect him, especially if there are things he wants to say but are difficult to get across if you can’t use words. That might be a struggle awaiting him but hopefully his friends will support him into accepting himself.

I do like Ducky and Spike’s relationship. There’s obvious mutual affection. Though he can be at times exasperated with Ducky, he cheerfully plays along with her just as much. He appears to enjoy her cheerful spirit and he must be appreciative she looks after him so much. For the first days (and weeks?) of his life, she was his guardian and the gang the first family he knew. That’s got to color how he views them. I do like the glimpses of how he relates to the others. He’s given Littlefoot a few licks, appreciating his kindness and how he looks after everyone. That episode about Spike and Chomper was pretty sweet, since they’re both the youngest and with the best noses, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they bonded. Cera mightn’t be always the easiest to get along with, but I could see him liking her wit and occasions for mischief. I can see them becoming closer when they take mud baths with Tria and Ruby, in turns relaxing and maybe lobbing mud at one another. Spike and Ruby would get along, since the latter’s calm and thoughtful, which the former’s laidback nature would agree with. Spike does seem to get along with Petrie. He can relate to Petrie’s occasional fear of adventure and danger, and seems to find Petrie’s idiosyncrasies whether in fear or play fondly amusing. As someone small like Ducky, Spike seems protective of Petrie. I’m fond of his bond with the others and I’d like to see that more explored.

Yeah, I think Dara should have been given a bit more development, at least in quick brushstrokes, other than “Southern niceness.” Though there’s no way of knowing if Dara would want them to settle down. For all we know, she wants to walk the earth as well and they’re content with using the last years of their life doing that.

I think another reason Doc keeps a low profile besides not liking attention is that he sees fame and admiration as steps onto a bad path. Those can influence both him and others in ways that are less than healthy. He doesn’t want to become a Pterano (Who would make an interesting foil for Doc if they ever bumped into each other), and he doesn’t want to be swayed by the herd mentality that can lead to all sorts of screw-ups and tragedies. He wants to keep a cool, grounded mindset, unreservedly knowing his strengths but realistic about their limits and what can and can’t be done out in the world. He’s the sort who doesn’t tries not to be swayed or blinkered by emotion. Of course, even he isn’t immune to emotions and common opinion, as seen with Chomper (Even if the execution wasn’t up to snuff, I like the concept of the episode where Doc ends up being wrong about something and Littlefoot is right).

Since Tippy is addressed with male pronouns and words, I presume that the spiketail identifies as a male. He was voiced by Jeremy Suarez in movie VIII (aka Brother Bear’s Koda) and Cree Summer in his TV appearance (Lizzie, the Tinysaurus Cera befriended, as well as a zillion other roles) in a case of crossdressing voices. I would hope Tippy’s mother would be considerate enough to use the correct pronouns with the gender identity her child identifies as.

There isn’t that much to his character admittedly but his enthusiasm and friendliness are endearing. His mother must take good care of him to be so cheery and joyful. He and Spike getting into rough-and-tumble action is just adorable. There seems to be rarely anything more than simple good-nature behind his roughhousing tendencies. He can be oblivious and innocently insensitive sometimes, not noticing Ducky’s reactions to the pair of them becoming close. The TV episode did show he had some gumption and cleverness, sneaking away from her herd when they had a falling out with the valley and playing with Spike in some less populated places. When they found the green area, his first instinct is go tell the others about it but he had some misgivings about being the pair being found out. I don’t know if Spike helped them decide to go public or if Tippy did so on his own, but they were brave to come out in the open like that.

When Mr. Threehorn and the spiketail herd leader started arguing over who had dips on the green space, his tired expression of frustration and flouncing off with the gang was amusing. He tried to be cautious over the land bridge leading to the green space, but the ice was too slippery and they fell. But in the process of being saved, he seemed to get closer to Ducky, which is sweet. I think he’d appreciate Ducky’s cheerful and affectionate demeanor. I wonder if he’d become closer to other members of the gang in future visits or if he’d stick mostly with Spike and Ducky. He appears like someone who’d get along with most people no matter what.