...
...
... ... Ali?... Is that you?...
Ali smiled warmly at him-- a smile too distinct to be anyone but Ali's-- and said nothing.
He found that he was laying belly down on wet, mucky grass that smelled strongly of duckweed and limestone. Even without looking around, and without inferring, he knew exactly where he was.
He shakily got to his feet, eyes on Ali.
...Is this the great beyond?...
Ali didn't answer, and he frowned. There was something about the way Ali looked-- something in the glint of her eyes-- that made him feel uneasy. As he opened his mouth to ask her why and how he was here, she abruptly turned her back and began to walk away from him.
Littlefoot blinked.
H-hey! Ali?...
He ran up to follow her, wincing as he heard something caw loudly in the cyprus trees overhead. A sudden vivid image of Ichy passed before his eyes, and then faded. She walked over a thin isthmus of peppery grey sand flanked by two dank looking ponds.
Ali, I don't know what's going on, Littlefoot said, But I need your help. My family and all the adults in the great valley are sick. I-I know there's only so much that grows here, but please. We need more night-
Something lunged out of the pond to their right with the speed and force of a charging threehorn. It had launched itself so hard that it was briefly airborne, and in a fraction of a moment he registered something large and black with glistening skin and a colossal head. He had just enough time to see a beady pair of cold, alien eyes before the creature latched it's massive jaws around Ali and dragged her into the opposite pond with a splash.
ALI!!
Littlefoot charged at the pond, not knowing what the thing he just saw was or what he could possibly do to it, but before he reached the part of the isthmus where Ali disappeared, both ponds began to dry up before his very eyes.
He opened his mouth to shout, and suddenly felt cold water pouring out of his mouth. He gagged, clutching at his throat with his forepaw.
As the last droplets of water drained away in the ponds, day turned to night around him. He heard the caw from again, this time so loudly it made his ears ring. He looked up a bright swollen moon that seemed disturbingly large.
A-Ali! he choked, sputtering more water. Something very large was flying high above the air, casting a silhouette against the great glaring night circle. He looked around for somewhere to hide, and saw that the pond beds were full of night flowers
They wilted before his eyes.
... Littlefoot...
A sudden sharp pain filled his chest, and water rushed out of his mouth and nose in an awful gush.
The silhouette in front of the moon was getting bigger-- closer--
Littlefoot.
Littlefoot scrambled down into the pond bank, snatching at the dying night flowers. They felt like frigid hardwater. Another sharp pain filled his chest as heard the sound of giant wing ears behind him, and a loud, air-rending caw.
"LITTLEFOOT!"
Littlefoot's eyes shot open just in time to see water rushing out of his mouth and into the dry Great Valley grass, and gasped a deep clean gulp of air that burned his throat and lungs.
