Long time no update me guess? Well, haven't been working on it anyway
I'm so out of ideas for this one as opposed to my other fic where I have more than I can write down
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Chapter 58: What's the matter with Petrie?Cera got ready to listen closely to Littlefoot's story. The Longneck was standing in front of her, keeping his neck low to talk to her on the same level. Spike was standing next to him; Ducky had climbed up his body and had taken a seat on his head, both ready to listen to a story they probably already knew with the anticipation of somebody who hadn't heard the story yet - like Cera. Petrie stood a little off the others, looking to the ground.
"Gee, did my little prank scare him THAT much?" Cera thought.
"He sure looks upset...""Alright, so we were pretty worried when we couldn't wake you up anymore," Littlefoot narrated. "Ducky told us about a special leaf that is said to cure injuries like yours, Cera."
"Oh yes, yes, yes. They have saved-ed one of my sisters who stepped on a pointy rock in the water, they did," Ducky explained.
"Yeah, so we searched for them. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any."
"So how did ya find them then?" Cera questioned.
"Well, the credit goes to Spike here..." Littlefoot spoke, giving Spike an acknowledging look, both recalling their talk earlier. "It was his idea and effort that saved your life, Cera. It was even he himself who got the leaves."
"You gotta explain THAT!" Cera requested in an irritated fashion.
"Well, Spike's idea was to go to a lonely place and search for our special lights in the sky where our loved ones are," Littlefoot continued. "All of us managed to talk to those who have passed on during the Sharptooth attack. We were told things, some of them we didn't understand, and all of us got a special thing: Ducky got one of those pebbles she wanted to have so much, Petrie got a... well, I dunno what it is."
"It my snuggling stick. Me sleep better with it," Petrie explained defiantly.
"Right, I got a treestar and Spike," he gazed at the Spiketail. "And Spike got those leaves on your back, Cera."
"WHAT?!? Spike... saved my life?" Cera muttered in disbelief and confusion.
"My life was saved by a hornless?! How nice..." her mind added sardonically. Usually, she would have thought the one telling her such a thing would have hit his head a little too hard but her mother's words softened her way of thinking in these situations in a way.
"Yep, he did," Littlefoot replied firmly.
"Ohh..." Cera was at loss as for what to say.
"Spike is so very nice, is he not?" Ducky chattered. "I have been right, he has been very helpful to our group and has not slowed us down at all, yep, yep, yep."
"Yeah, 'coz that was my job... stupid stonetooth!" Cera cursed.
"Well, it wasn't your fault, Cera," Littlefoot spoke softly. "I could have been hit instead of you too. Guess it was bad luck eh?"
"Nope, nope, nope, we were having good luck because we are still all here, we are," Ducky piped up.
"So very true, Ducky!" Littlefoot exclaimed. He nuzzled the Swimmer in appreciation. Ducky chuckled.
"Soo, what happened after that anyway?" Cera asked.
"Right... back to the story..." Littlefoot said. "We returned to this place to cover your injury with the curing leaves. You looked really bad. In fact, you weren't breathing or showing any sign of vitality at all. For a day we thought you were dead."
"Gee, was it really that bad?" Cera wondered, stunned.
"I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are not dead, Cera," Ducky spoke. "I was so sad, I was, I was."
"We all were..." Littlefoot added.
"Man, I thought you guys don't like me..."
"Well, we sorta didn't like you but all these catastrophies have welded us together, I guess," Littlefoot explained.
"Fair enough... so that's the end?" Cera asked.
"Just about, yeah. Today in the morning, Spike woke up early and saw you breath again. I suppose you can tell how big a relief that was..."
"Yeah, I can," Cera answered. "Y'know before I woke up earlier, I had a dream..."
"Yay, another story..." Ducky cheered.
"Cool, what was it about?" Littlefoot asked.
"Well, I met my mum and she told me some things that really made me think about many things..."
"Like what?"
"That, sometimes, I have to contemplate other values than threehornish ones... She told me that I need to work in a team... And she told me that you guys do care about me... which is probably why I'm still here, right?"
"Your mother must be very wise, yep, yep, yep," Ducky exclaimed.
"Yeah, she is... Anyway, you guys think I can move again soon? I hate to admit it but that damn injury still hurts whenever I try to move..."
"It should heal up soon, right Ducky?" Littlefoot stated.
"My sister could walk again after two days I believe, yep, yep, yep," the Swimmer responded.
"See, don't worry. You'll be fine in a few days and then we can finally leave this dark place," Littlefoot said.
"I can't wait to see THAT happen," Cera growled sardonically.
The Gang laughed.
The group soon dissipated. Cera was left alone so she could recover, rest and eat her dinner, Petrie sought refuge in a dark corner where he continued to mourn about his timorousness, Littlefoot had gone outside to look at the stars in an attempt to talk to his mother again and Ducky and Spike were quietly whispering to each other.
"Spiky?"
The Spiketail hummed something, indicating that he was listening to his close friend.
"Do you know what Petrie's problem is?" Ducky asked. "He does seem to be very sad and depressed tonight, yes he does..." She gazed over to where the Flyer was.
Spike put on a thoughtful expression. He eventually pointed at Cera in the distance and mumbled something.
"Yes, that might be it," Ducky replied, having understood the babbling of the Spiketail. "Do you think we should talk to him? He does seem to need some words of encouragement, yep, yep, yep."
Spike yawned, his mouth widely opened.
"Oh, you are tired... I will go without you, yep, yep, yep," Ducky declared. "You cannot talk anyway..." Chuckling, she gave Spike a quick hug before walking over to Petrie.
Petrie was curled up. He hid his head below his wings and weeped silently in self-pity.
"Least wings are good for hiding..." he thought bitterly.
"Me worst Flyer ever! Me no can fly and me scaredy-egg!"Ducky walked closer carefully. She didn't want to wake the jumpy Flyer up in case he was already asleep.
"He sure looks like he is asleep, yep, yep, yep," the young Swimmer thought.
As soon as she had arrived at her friend, she listened to the sounds that were surrounding her. Her ears received a clattering snoring.
"Spike must have passed out already..." Ducky deduced, smiling. The young Swimmer envied the ability of the Spiketail to fall asleep so easily. She often had trouble getting her much needed rest - not only because she missed her mother, who would have always made sure that all of her children were tucked in savely before she fell asleep herself, but also because of the sleepstories that so often disrupted her peaceful slumber in a displeasing way.
Another friend of her, Cera, had seemingly entered the world of dreams too as her breath went very constantly. Footsteps that came out of the path that lead out of their cave told her that Littlefoot was just on his way back to them.
"So what about you, Petrie?" Ducky wondered. After a few moments of concentrated listening, the Swimmer came to a result:
"He is not sleeping, no, no, no..." Believing that she was right she spoke up. "Petrie?" It was only whispered in order not to wake up Cera or Spike but Petrie heard his friend's sweet voice nevertheless.
"Me no wanna talk, Ducky. Not now..." he sighed, not moving in his curled-up position.
"What is the matter with you, Petrie? Why are you so sad?" the Swimmer questioned gingerly.
"Please leave Petrie alone..." Petrie whispered.
Ducky had a sort of de-ja-vu.
"Did not I have said that not too long ago?" She remembered what she was told back then and what way she had reacted, reacting to Petrie's decline of her company in accordance of her experiences.
"Will you let me know when you are ready to, heh?"
Petrie's response was only a nod.
"I will be there when you need me, I will. See you..." Ducky spoke before she turned around to return to Spike's side.
A little later - Ducky had meanwhile cuddled up with Spike in an attempt to fall asleep - Petrie decided to walk over to Ducky.
"Maybe it better for me... me been there for Ducky and now she there for me..." he thought grimly.
"Ducky? Me ready now..." he piped up.
Ducky, having already been very sleepy, yawned before she got up.
"Hey Petrie, how are you feeling?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Me dunno... not good, that for sure," he replied crestfallen.
"Oh, do not feel sad, Petrie. I am here, yes I am," Ducky spoke softly and embraced her friend.
"Me goof up everything... me worst Flyer ever!" Petrie cried.
"Oh Petrie, do not think so. You are not a bad Flyer, oh no, no, no," she hummed.
"Me no can fly! Me useless!" Tears left his eyes at a fast pace.
"Hey, do not cry..." Ducky appealed. It was no use though; Petrie clung his winged arms around his friend and snivelled. Ducky patted his shoulders softly and nursed him, waiting until her friend would regain his composure.
Spike eventually woke up due to Petrie weeping right next to him. At first, the Spiketail was slightly annoyed because he had been woken rudely but then he considered that Petrie's problems would be worse than him not being able to sleep. Though reluctant, he got up and gave Ducky a questioning look.
"Oh Spike, do not worry about Petrie," Ducky assured in response. "He is only a little sad because he cannot fly yet, he is." Ducky looked at Spike, wondering why he had a sort of grumpy expression. She soon realised... "Are you mad at Petrie because he woke you up, heh?" she asked carefully.
Spike's face indicated that he was but he shook his head.
"It all my fault..." Petrie cried. "Me useless!"
"Oh, do not say such a thing, Petrie," Ducky said sadly. "You are not useless, you are my bestestest friend and you have supported me so much whenever I am so sad..."
"But me no can help group, me no can fly, me no can lead, me no can scout, me no can fight, me no good at anything!" Petrie bawled.
"If it wasn't for you, I might not have escaped that Sharptooth back then, remember?" Ducky replied.
"Yeah, but my mum saved us..." Petrie retorted.
"Still, he would have eaten me already before she had been able to come to our rescue, yep, yep, yep," Ducky countered, smiling a little.
Spike licked Petrie to support Ducky's point. He totally agreed that Petrie was not as useless as he claimed to be... though being able to fly would be very useful since they would have a scout who could check the way from up above.
"We wouldn't be surprised by a Sharptooth attacking, that's for sure," Spike thought.
"Maybe you should see it this way, Petrie..." Ducky spoke up again. "Imagine how Cera must feel now. She is the main reason why we are still here in this cave and not searching for our mommies and daddies... or grandparents. We might have found them if we had left Cera alone, yep, yep, yep. But we are all friends and friends hold on together until the end, they do! My mommy always told me that friendship is the most important thing and that true friends would always be there for each other, no matter the situation. I had a disagreement with Littlefoot when we were searching for the leaves Cera needed so urgently, I did. I was disappointed because Littlefoot left Cera all alone..."
"Huh? What's the matter?" spoke a voice to Ducky's left.
"Oh, it is you Littlefoot," Ducky said relieved, having jerked somewhat. "You scared-ed me for a moment, hehehe."
"Sorry, my fault," Littlefoot chuckled. "What's going on?"
"I was just explaining something to Petrie, I was, I was," Ducky informed the Longneck.
"Oh, why's that? And why's he crying? Did something bad happen while I was out there?!" Littlefoot shouted in concern.
"Nooooo..." Ducky chuckled. "Petrie is just a little upset about something."
"Me upset 'coz me no can fly," Petrie piped up dejectedly. "Me feel useless..."
"Yes, and I was just telling him that he is not useless. Petrie, like I said, I had that disagreement with Littlefoot... I was thinking that he planned to leave Cera dieing in this cave and continue our search for our families without her."
"Ah, I remember..." Littlefoot piped up. "I left her alone to get the curing leaves faster in case there were any and I formed teams since there is safety in numbers... not that we could rely on it but I felt and still feel better when nobody is forced to go alone. Cera was in safety from Sharpteeth so I could leave her alone..."
"So what you wanna tell Petrie???" Petrie questioned, still crying.
"We want to tell you that you are not useless simply because you are a member of this group," Littlefoot explained.
"And more importantly, we are all friends, we are," Ducky amended.
"So... me not useless c--coz me your friend?" Petrie questioned.
"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky called.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Littlefoot answered, smiling.
Spike nodded as well. Now they were finished and he could finally get back to sleeping. Yawning noisily, he settled down and began snoring again.
"Hehehe, Spike is sleeping already," Ducky snickered.
"Yeah, guess we should do that also. Cera must be sleeping too I assume?" Littlefoot looked around.
"Last time I checked, she was sleeping, yes she was," Ducky replied.
"Right, I'll walk over to Cera and sleep over there so she doesn't feel left out next morning," Littlefoot announced. "Night Ducky, night Petrie!"
"Night..." Petrie mumbled - he was still sobbing in Ducky's arms a little.
"Good night, Littlefoot!" Ducky called and yawned. "Let us try to get some rest, Petrie," she suggested.
"Me no mind..." Petrie whispered.
Ducky loosened her embrace and walked a few steps until she plopped down and cuddled up next to Spike's belly, pulling Petrie along. The Flyer plopped down next to Ducky and curled up.
"Have a good night too..." Ducky spoke sleepily.
"Ducky?" Petrie whispered.
"Yes, what is it?" Ducky questioned quietly.
"You really think it not bad that I no can fly?"
"Yes, Petrie. And I am convinced that you can fly just like all Flyers. You only need to stop worrying about it. You will do fine. I know it, I do," Ducky spoke, smiling at Petrie.
"Me hope so, night!" Petrie shifted a little closer to his friend.
"Sleep well, yep, yep, yep."
Then they fell asleep.
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Ducky is giving Petrie the pep talk
Hope you like this chapter as it's one of the better ones imho
The next chapter is gonna have a few shorter scenes.
