Me: *casually doesn't upload a chapter for an entire year*
Someone slap me for this? 
Okay good news is I still have a pretty decent amount of chapters pre-written and I've managed to work out how the upcoming travel arcs for Littlefoot and the Gang need to go (I just wish I was able to come up with more original scenes to make them distinct from the movie, but, alas, such an original scene is waiting for you now!)
I would like to apologize for the extreme hiatus and I hope that you will still continue to give this story a read despite its slow speed 
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Chapter 13: How to defeat fastbiters
The first two days of their journey were awfully uneventful, much to Littlefoot’s displeasure. Their journey took them right through the dry and barren deserts that surrounded the Great Valley safe for the area that was overlooked by Saurus Rock which had some forests. Heat, no food and water and the fact that he missed his friends greatly gave rise to a very foul mood that was even further supported by the sheer lack of things to see. Littlefoot had gone on this adventure, hoping to see many new and exciting things, however this desert was as far from these expectations as things could possibly be.
On the bright side, having started their adventure seemed to have a positive effect on the sleep story situation. His sleep story had changed somewhat; it was less horrifying that it used to be and waking up from it no longer felt like just having completed a game of catch with a hungry sharptooth.
A first glint of hope was rising in the young boy when, towards the end of the second day of their journey, some dry grass seemed to start growing, soon to be replaced by an actual forest.
“Looks like we’ve found a pretty good place to rest tonight,” Grandpa eventually announced as the small group stood in front of it just as the Bright Circle started approaching the horizon in the west.
“There’s even a small lake!” Littlefoot said excitedly as he, fueled by his adventure spirit, sprinted ahead into the foliage to satisfy his jammed up curiosity.
“Perfect,” Grandpa commented with a slight smile, seeing his grandson finally expressing something other than gloom.
The small family ate and stilled their thirst as evening turned into dusk. They were about to settle down and close their eyes when Littlefoot’s attention perked at a rattle in the nearby underbrush, ever so faint so that he had to doubletake.
“Grandpa?” he spoke quietly, trying to get his grandfather’s attention but the old longneck was already alert.
“Behind me, Littlefoot,” the old longneck muttered, his eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings to find the source. “We’re not alone in this forest.”
As Grandma Longneck, too, got into position, tail ready to smash any attacker, Littlefoot wasted no more time, rushing behind the protective line that his grandparents were setting up for his protection. If their attackers had planned a surprise attack, then they had obviously failed in that aspect. Some angry snarls could be heard in a neighboring area full with thick undergrowth and bushes before several creatures broke out of it.
“Fastbiters!” Littlefoot’s grandparents cried out simultaneously while swinging their tails at six approaching fastbiters who jumped out of range as they saw the incoming tails. Littlefoot noted with some surprise that they were pretty small, only about a neck taller and longer than he was but it didn’t change the fact that they were deadly, at least to a child like him
[Author's Note: The intended species of fastbiter is Deinonychus for better reference and understanding]. The claws on their arms and feet had a terrifying effect on him and, suddenly he couldn’t be more glad to have his grandparents with him. Had he been travelling with his friends exclusively, their only chance would be to outrun the predators but fastbiters didn’t get their name without a reason. They were super fast and relied on numbers and deadly claws to make up for their lack of strength. After their initial assault, the six fastbiters, all coloured dark-red with black stripes across their backs, snarled at his grandparents but didn’t attack just yet.
“Careful, they’re smart,” Grandpa muttered in a worrisome tone. “If they don’t attack you head-on, they probably have an ambush prepared…”
“Either that, or they thought we were old, weak and inexperienced despite being longnecks,” Grandma added grimly, not leaving her eyes from the group of predators staying just clear off their tails’ swinging range.
“Littlefoot, do you remember what we talked about before we left the Valley concerning sharpteeth?” his grandfather inquired rather sharply. Despite being no match for them, the fastbiters could still harm Littlefoot if they split up in a smart manner so the old longneck took the situation very serious.
Littlefoot quickly recollected the conversation from two days ago…
*
Littlefoot arrived at his nest with a very mixed expression, though the sight of his grandparents looking rather cheerful and determined brightened his mood somewhat.
“Are you ready to start our adventure, Littlefoot?” Grandma welcomed him with a warm smile, nuzzling the boy for a greeting which he took with a slight chuckle.
“I think I am, Grandma,” Littlefoot responded, some doubt remaining in his voice. “What direction are we going? I mean… we obviously don’t know where we are going, right?”
“That is true, Littlefoot,” his grandfather replied with his knowing smile that was so full of wisdom. “However, as I’m sure you can feel it too deep down, I think you should be able to tell by yourself. Go on, try to feel it, Littlefoot. It could be important if ever we were to be separated.”
Littlefoot couldn’t find any fault in his grandfather’s logic. Besides, he indeed had a certain, rough sense of direction and had actually been curious to find out if it matched the direction of their journey.
“Hmm, I think we need to follow the mid-afternoon position of the Bright Circle, maybe a little closer to its late afternoon position…”
Littlefoot was surprised when he saw both of his grandparents smile at him.
“Very good,” he heard his grandfather say with a pleased nod. “That is indeed the direction we will travel, at least for the time being. We have talked to some travellers and Mr. Thicknose of course who has spoken with countless travellers before and I think we roughly know where to go.”
“Cool!” Littlefoot exclaimed with a genuine smile, the adventure spirit slowly taking over.
“On another note, Littlefoot,” his grandmother suddenly began to speak up more seriously. “Since we will be travelling through dangerous lands, it is very important to know a few strategies to deal with sharpteeth and other dangers that we might encounter during our journey. Since you already know how to react to earthshakes, storms and smoking mountains, I think we only need to address sharpteeth.”
“Good idea,” Littlefoot agreed a little hesitantly. As amazing as adventures were, Sharpteeth could always ruin the day and, in the heat of the moment, it was better to have a plan in mind rather than having to make it up on the spot.
“What do you think is the worst that can happen?” Grandpa prompted the young boy with an inquiring expression.
Littlefoot pondered for a few seconds before he had an answer ready.
“Well, aside from you guys being taken out… I think it’d be really bad to be separated during the fight…”
“Yes, I see your thoughts are going in the right direction, very good, Littlefoot,” Grandpa said, nodding approvingly in Littlefoot’s direction before elaborating.
“You must always stay close to us, unless there happens to be a place where you can hide safely while Grandma and I take care of the threat. Never forget that you, due to your small size and lack of combat ability, are a welcome target, especially to smaller sharpteeth. To be honest with you, I am less concerned about fighting big and strong sharpteeth but packs of fastbiters can be a huge pain to deal with. Do you know why, Littlefoot?”
“Uhh… well, they aren’t very strong but they usually form packs… like that time when we were fighting a pack of them while trying to free the water!”
“And can you think of a possible threat that a normal big sharptooth wouldn’t pose to you, Littlefoot?” Grandma chimed in.
“Let me see…” Littlefoot took a little longer to ponder this time but, ultimately, he again arrived at the correct answer.
“Well, if there are a lot of them, some of them could just sneak around you to get to me, right?”
“Yes, or, even worse, set up an ambush, using one group as distraction while the other group goes in to attack the children. I have seen it happen many times in my life, believe me Littlefoot, and it has me very worried if it were to happen again…”
*
...and as fate would have it, hardly two days later, they found themselves in just that very situation: A group of small fastbiters with very pronounced claws facing them, trying to find a way to sneak up to Littlefoot.
“Yes, Grandpa, I remember it well,” Littlefoot declared, taking a similar stance to his grandparents despite not having the strength to fend off a fully grown fastbiter with his tail if one were to jump at him.
“We’ll do it as discussed, alright, Littlefoot? Grandma?”
Both nodded as Littlefoot once again recalled the conversation to make absolutely sure that he would act correctly in the worst case scenario...
*
“You see, Littlefoot, Grandpa and I have been members of a herd for much of our lives,” Grandma elaborated to underline the threat that fastbiters posed to him. “During all this time, we never lost a single child to grown sharpteeth, though they would turn many into orphans. On the other hand, while we hardly lost any grown longnecks to fastbiters, they would often manage to kill our young either by sneaking around or breaking through our defenses with smart attacks…”
“Oh no… even though you were in a big herd?” Littlefoot inquired with some concern.
“Yes, sometimes even numbers can’t deal with their speed and sneaky behavior…” Grandpa sighed. “That is why I would like to teach you a strategy to use if we ever get attacked by a pack of fastbiters. Please listen carefully and remember it well.”
“Of course, Grandpa, I understand why you’re so worried. I’ll make sure to remember what you’re about to tell me,” Littlefoot assured his old grandfather with a reassuring smile.
“Much appreciated, Littlefoot,” the old dinosaur spoke with a nod of approval before explaining the strategy.
“To protect you, we need to prevent exactly three things: First, they mustn’t break through our defense in a head-on attack. There is little you can do about this, Littlefoot, but rest assured that grandma and I have had fastbiters trying to bite us on almost all imaginable places before but we’ve always lived to tell the tale. Please do not panic if there are fastbiters clinging to us, they cannot deal fatal wounds to a grown longneck unless they manage to cut our necks open - which, of course, we will try to prevent at all costs.”
Now Grandma took over.
“What we need to be wary of are the other two options the fastbiters have to reach you, Littlefoot. And that’s where you come in.”
“How so?” Littlefoot wondered, listening with a very concentrated expression as he took the lesson very seriously.
“If they are trying to go around us, it gets very dangerous very quickly. Depending on how many there are, if Grandma and I try to use our tails to fight those trying to sneak around us, we are forced to create an opening to any fastbiters staying in front of us, waiting for the moment to charge right through our middle, towards where you are, Littlefoot.”
“Grandpa and I will coordinate if this happens; one of us will try to attack the flanks while the other keeps an eye on our front, switching these roles as necessary to keep both flanks safe for you. You can help us by aiding us with another pair of eyes, Littlefoot, trying to spot any sneaky fastbiters that our eyes might miss in the heat of the situation.”
“I will do, Grandma!” Littlefoot declared with a firm voice. Being able to help his grandparents sounded like a great idea to him rather than just being helpless which, of course, he still was for the most part.
“Even more important, though, is that you keep an eye out for any ambushes they might have planned for us and alert us immediately. It is impossible for us to have that many eyes out since we only have two each. Especially when fighting in a forest or in a canyon with many rocks, it is very easy for a fastbiter to hide somewhere, waiting for the right time to launch a devastating attack. You will have to watch any suspicious features of the terrain for signs of movement or unusual sounds. In doing so, you would make things a lot easier for us and also help to protect yourself, Littlefoot. Can we count on you?”
“Of course!” Littlefoot exclaimed readily, facing his two grandparents assertively. “Though I hope I’ll never have to.”
“Likewise, Littlefoot, likewise, but we need to be prepared for everything,” his grandpa sighed with a grave voice.
“There is one last thing we must ask you to do and remember. If a fastbiter does manage to get to you despite our best combined efforts, there is one back-up plan that we have,” Grandma explained in a very serious voice that indicated that this was the most important part of the lesson.
“We must ask you not to scream for help unless this very situation arises. That way, we know when we need to defend you and will prioritize fighting the fastbiters attacking you. Furthermore, depending on the situation, we might attempt to lift you onto our backs, in which case one of us would defend you while the other would attempt to go into the offensive to drive them off or kill them.”
“But Grandma, why aren’t we doing this in the first place? Wouldn’t it… be safer to be on your back?” Littlefoot puzzled.
“Yes and no,” Grandpa answered cryptically. “You see, Littlefoot, a fastbiter is quite capable to jump as high as our backs, however they aren’t likely to make it across which is why we prefer to use our huge bodies as a shield and our long tails and necks as a weapon. If we can’t keep up this protective shield, then we will switch to the aforementioned back-up plan, however it will be much more dangerous for you and we have to be more careful while fighting which limits us too.”
“What’s important is that you remember this, Littlefoot,” his grandma reminded him once again. “We will always prioritize your well-being over ours and, since we got this large and sturdy body, we can take some risks for ourselves to ensure that you aren’t being hurt.” Littlefoot once again felt himself nuzzled by his grandma, much to his liking.
“Don’t worry, I will remember and I know that you will keep me safe,” the young longneck replied with a smile.
Little later, the group would abandon their long-time home in the Great valley and set off towards Lands Unknown.
*
Despite feeling a lot of fear, Littlefoot fully trusted his grandparents in what they were doing, especially after hearing how many strategies they knew just to protect him. Reassured, he swallowed his fear and focussed on his task - keeping an eye out.
The fastbiters had split into three groups of two. While one group was keeping just shy of his grandparents’ range, snarling and growling at them, the other two groups slowly, as not to be too obvious, went around his grandparents, their intention obvious.
“Situation two... “ the young longneck muttered to himself and, to no surprise, his grandparents had already begun to react. While his grandma shifted her position slightly to be able to strike down any attack from the front or the right flank, which she was defending, Grandpa made a sudden leap towards the left flank, swinging his tail and hitting one of the two fastbiters with the tip of his tail while the other just barely dodged. As both retreated out of range, Littlefoot noticed that the remaining four fastbiters had started a simultaneous attack on his grandmother. Littlefoot felt like shouting out to warn her but he held himself back, knowing that all he’d achieve would be to distract his grandmother during a crucial moment. Communication was crucial but any unnecessary word could already be a distracting rather than a means of support.
The old longneck had enough time to prepare as the four fastbiters charged from the front and the rear. With a routine that amazed Littlefoot, the old longneck flicked her tail at the group charging from the flank, hitting them both rather forcefully as they prepared to leap. At the same time (she hadn’t even had her eyes on her flank), she swung her neck forward by whirling her whole body around, also catching the other two fastbiters just shy of leaping at her throat, pushing them to the ground with little effort as their size truly paled against that of a fully grown longneck.
“What amazing teamwork,” Littlefoot noted in awe.
“Grandma just coordinated two attacks at once, amazing!”As the fastbiters retreated slightly to regroup, Littlefoot’s grandparents also regrouped, rebuilding the protective wall of their bodies, tails facing towards the fastbiters. After a series of grunts and roars, they split up into three groups again.
“Same strategy?” Grandma muttered as she observed the fastbiters renewed attempt to sneak around their protective wall.
“Seems like it,” Grandpa replied shortly. “They communicated so they might try doing something different this time. Be on alert.”
“Littlefoot.” The boy perked up when his grandpa addressed him directly. “What mistake did the fastbiters do during their first attack?”
Littlefoot, surprised to be asked such a thing in the heat of the battle, quickly let the scene replay in front of his inner eye.
“They tried to attack Grandma from two directions but she is good so she deflected the attack.”
“Correct analysis,” Grandpa muttered as his eyes kept flickering between the fastbiters slowly trying to make a way around him. “If they learn to split up into six single fastbiters all attacking from different directions while one of them goes for you, Littlefoot, then we are in trouble. As you’ve just seen, a longneck can only focus on two targets at a time. Be prepared, they might be able to succeed going around us. Grandma, I will go for the flank again. Littlefoot, you know what you need to do…”
“Yes, Grandpa,” Littlefoot spoke through gritted teeth, keeping a focused eye on the situation. As soon as the fastbiters were about halfway past Grandpa and Grandma (they kept a little more distance this time, he noted), Grandpa abandoned his protective position to charge after the two fastbiters on the left. Due to the extended distance the fastbiters were keeping, this time the wall truly broke which the two fastbiters staying at the front immediately attempted to take advantage of, sprinting towards Grandma while splitting up just enough that the longneck couldn’t hit them both at the same time. Simultaneously, the right flank group also split up, one attempting a sprint at Grandma while the other started a sprint to get behind the two longnecks, staying out of range.
“This is bad!” Littlefoot immediately realized, making sure to reposition himself so that Grandma’s huge body would still protect him. His grandmother now had to stop four fastbiters, two of which were directly attacking her and two of which were going for him, one of them out of range for now. His grandmother had to react in a split-second and, once again, her great experience showed as she sprung into action. The fastbiter attacking from the rear had no chance as it was met with the tail of the furious longneck which struck down square across its chest, sending it crashing against a nearby tree with a sickening sound. Littlefoot started to worry as the other two got close enough to jump onto Grandma which one of them attempted while the other one was clearly going for him, Littlefoot retreating further behind. Meanwhile, his grandma rotated her body with a fierce motion, smacking the fastbiter attacking her directly with her neck and flinging it away with relative ease, then moving her legs to support further rotation. Her tail was suddenly able to reach the fastbiter going around her, hitting it straight into the face and knocking it over. The other fastbiter going around her was now almost in striking distance to him but Littlefoot didn’t have to scream for help as his grandmother had just enough time to stop the rotation and fling her tail the other way to fling it away just in time.
His grandmother had just defended him against no less than four fastbiters all attacking from different directions without even taking a scratch, however, her heavy breathing was also confirming her high age. She couldn’t do this multiple times and Littlefoot knew that. Quickly, he threw a glance over to Grandpa who was also confronted with the split up of his two fastbiters, trying to chase the one going around to get to Littlefoot while the other one was trying to exploit this to launch an attack on the large Longneck. Grandpa eventually managed to trip the sprinting fastbiter with the tip of his tail, causing it to somersault right into Grandma’s range, her tail coming down like a hammer on the grounded predator which knocked it unconscious.
The remaining fastbiter managed to jump onto Grandpa’s lower back just above his tail but the elder longneck knew plenty of ways to shake a fastbiter off. Ramming into a tree was certainly one of them. The tree was sturdy enough to withstand the impact but the fastbiter cried in pain, letting go and falling to the ground.
“Littlefoot, between us!” Grandma ordered and the little longneck obeyed immediately as Grandpa (with two claw marks on his back) and Grandma built an improvised circle around the child as fastbiters had been flung into several directions, out of which one was unconscious, one likely dead and one badly bruised. Those that could still run quickly regrouped at one side of the forest, allowing the two longnecks to return to their old formation as well. Again, lots of growls and snarls hinted at a strategy meeting, however, this prompted Littlefoot’s grandparents.
“Let’s chase them off before they get any fresh ideas!” Grandpa proposed with a rather angry voice and he didn’t need to wait for Grandma’s word on this as the two knew and trusted each other blindly. Littlefoot couldn’t remember any orders on how to act on such an occasion so he remained where he was as his grandparents entered a sprint (more like a fast jog as their bones wouldn’t allow for a full-fledged sprint anymore), keeping an eye on the two fastbiters that were knocked out during the latest assault.
*rattle*Suddenly, Littlefoot’s heart sank when there was movement in the vegetation behind him that could only be linked to something alive moving through it.
“Oh crap!” The little longneck turned to the source of the movement, quickly considering what to do in this situation and taking a split-second too long to make the correct decision. Although he managed to cry “AMBUSH!” in his grandparents’ direction, he was too far from them to get to their position in time (they had stopped their chase immediately upon hearing his warning). Helplessly, Littlefoot saw two figures leap out of the foliage, heading straight towards him with murderous intent. Although frightened to death, his eyes immediately picked up an important detail.
“They’re smaller than me, these are children!” Two juvenile fastbiters were attacking him, only being about two-thirds of his size each, carrying the same colour and stripes pattern as the grown-ups. They were just as fast as their parents though, too fast to outrun, anyway. His grandparents wouldn’t get to him in time which only left one option.
“I have to deflect their first attack until my grandparents can save me!” Littlefoot had never fought against a sharptooth before, however his usual disadvantage, his small size, was suddenly his advantage as the incoming juvenile fastbiters were smaller and weaker than he was. If he somehow managed to avoid their claws (which were no less sharp than those of their parents!), he had a decent chance. The only problem was that there were two of them. He was confident enough to apply the tricks he had seen his grandparents perform himself, however he could probably only hit one of them, unless…
“Grandma managed to do it too, if I rotate my body fast enough, I can hit one with my tail and the other with my neck! The speed should increase the impact too!” Although the adrenaline entering his blood system probably meddled with his flight or fight response, Littlefoot was more confident than he should be despite finding himself under direct assault by fastbiters for the first time in his life. Gathering all his courage, he took a firm stance, positioning his legs so that he could perform the rotation swiftly, his tail raised defensively. He could only hope that his two opponents were just as inexperienced as he was as he saw them get closer in slow-motion, their ugly faces painted with bloodlust and malice. One of them was a little faster than the other but it misjudged the right moment to jump, leaping one step too early and sailing right into Littlefoot’s waiting tail. The boy threw everything he had into that swing of his tail, feeling ecstatic as his tail connected with the fastbiter’s flank, his legs just strong enough to brace the impact and flinging the fastbiter a little to his side where it fell to the ground, which just happened to be right in the path of the second fastbiter who stumbled over its comrade just shy of leaping at him. That didn’t stop the two young fastbiters though. Littlefoot hadn’t managed to get enough distance between himself and the two predators during that short time and, with his grandparents still a few seconds away, he set up his defensive stance once again, knowing that he could handle them (besides, somewhere in the back of his mind, some part of him suddenly wanted to show off), disregarding the danger he was in at the moment. Once again, he was prepared to try rotating his body to get a double hit in and, this time, the two predators gave him a chance to try it. Both sprung to their feet in no time, entering a sprint so fast that Littlefoot couldn’t have outrun them even if he had wanted to. The flick of his tail came a little too late but still hit the first fastbiter to arrive at his position, stopping its assault and shoving it off to the side, however he didn’t have time to rotate his body in time for the second fastbiter using its momentum to leap head-first into his flank which threw him off balance to such a degree that Littlefoot fell with the fastbiter landing on-top of him.
“Crap, crap, CRAP!” Littlefoot’s mind was racing, fear and horror shoving every other emotion aside. The life-or-death situation mobilizing all energy he had stored in his little body, Littlefoot kicked his feet which, to his surprise, catapulted the fastbiter a fair distance off him. Despite their dangerous appearance, these creatures were light for their size. The other fastbiter was now leaping towards him but Littlefoot saw it coming just in time to deflect the attack with his tail, despite being on the ground. He hadn’t quite managed to push it away but it gave him a brief window to roll over and get to his feet. Neither of the two seemed willing to give up the chase despite the thundering footsteps of his grandparents approaching him rapidly. At worst, he had one attack to defend against before they would be able to reach him, though his two opponents wasted no time in trying to take him down just shy of his grandparents’ arrival. Once again, Littlefoot was confronted with the two young fastbiters launching themselves into motion with amazing speed and ferocity, however this time he managed to get the timing right, hitting the first one just right as he was accelerating to rotate his body, pushing it three body lengths away and whirling around swiftly to smash the other with his neck which didn’t fling it away but blocked off the attack nonetheless.
“I did it!” Littlefoot beamed as the arrival of his grandparents prompted the two younglings to dart off into the distance. He had just successfully (and with a lot of luck involved) fought off two juvenile fastbiters all alone without more than a light bruise from the headbutt he had received.
“Littlefoot!” he heard his grandparents shout with extreme concern in their voices, coming to a halt in front of him, completely out of breath.
“I’m fine… somehow…” Littlefoot replied, only now realizing that he had apparently forgotten to breathe properly during his fight, heavy exhaustion suddenly falling over his body like a the shadow of a dark rain cloud.
“Oh Littlefoot, I’m so s…” Grandma began but Littlefoot cut her short vehemently when he saw something he didn’t like at all.
“Save that for later, these guys aren’t done yet!” The four remaining fastbiters had used the distraction to launch another attack on the unsuspecting longnecks, leaping high into the air just as Littlefoot gave the alert.
“OH, I’ve HAD it with you guys!” Littlefoot heard his grandpa curse as he violently threw his tail around, smacking one of the incoming with such force that they were flung into a nearby tree which cracked in two upon the impact and, with it, probably every bone that fastbiter had, Littlefoot reckoned. His Grandma had done the same though her tail was sending one of the fastbiters high up into the air, way above the treetops while another one managed to grab onto her tail and sink its teeth into it. The fourth fastbiter made a landing on Grandpa’s back, sinking its sickle-like claws deep into his flesh to prevent falling off the irate longneck. Littlefoot’s eyes continued to follow the fastbiter that was tossed high into the air, screeching at the top of its lungs while it continued to sail for what seemed like an eternity before it crashed to the floor, never to screech again. His Grandma was rather quick to deal with the biter who dared to bite her tail. The predator still biting down, she raised her tail high up before slamming it with maximum strength into the ground, smashing the fastbiter hard against the floor. While that certainly wasn’t enough to kill it, Grandma didn’t hesitate to make sure that it would never bother them ever again, rearing up onto her hindlegs and then allowing herself to fall forwards, aiming her legs just for the fastbiter. Littlefoot cringed upon the impact which came with a skull-splitting, splattering sound. Not wanting to see what little was left of that particular fastbiter, his glance went over to his grandfather who had angrily grabbed the fastbiter’s tail with his mouth, swinging his head like a maze to build up momentum before, too, smashing it into the ground with a sickening sound and crushing it under his feet (Littlefoot looked away) in the same manner.
“Seriously, what were they trying to achieve?!” He thundered angrily as he took a quick glance at his minor injuries which were leaking some blood, certainly much less than the pool of blood that was quickly spreading under his and Grandma’s feet. Grandma’s tail was bleeding to some degree too but, in comparison to the longnecks’ sheer size, it was hardly more than a scratch to them and more of a stingy nuisance than an actual injury to brag about later.
“Well, it’s over at last,” Grandma sighed profoundly, her attention returning to Littlefoot while Grandpa checked the corpses of the fastbiters for any sign of movement. “Littlefoot, I am so sorry that you had to go through all of this just now, are you alright?”
Littlefoot took a moment to reply, still a little petrified by the brutality at display just now, anxiously eyeing the pool of blood at grandma’s feet.
“Well, I’m just glad I didn’t have too much for dinner after seeing… this happen,” he said rather quietly. His grandma quickly offered her bleeding tail to hop onto her while grandpa took care of one of the unconscious fast biters in the distance. Quickly, Littlefoot climbed on.
“That, I’m afraid, is part of fighting sharpteeth, Littlefoot,” she replied with a calmness in her voice that seemed unfitting for someone who had just put at least three fastbiters to their graves. “Grandpa and I were worried about being unable to protect you for much longer so we tried to attack the remaining fastbiters but we hadn’t considered the possibility of an ambush anymore. Thank goodness those were just children!”
Littlefoot could only second that after realizing how much luck he had had just now. He couldn’t have fought a grown-up version of the fastbiters that he had to deal with just now for he would simply lack the strength and body mass to withstand the force of their sprint.
“And thank goodness Littlefoot had his eyes open!”
Grandpa, still rather irate, returned to them, his feet coated in a fresh layer of fastbiter blood.
“Heaven knows what would have happened if you hadn’t noticed the ambush in time, Littlefoot. You alerting us was the right thing to do, however I still need an urgent word with you.”
Littlefoot looked at his rather angry grandfather from his perch on Grandma’s back, immediately knowing that he was going to be reprimanded about something even if he had no idea what he might have done wrong.
“It is very foolish of you to believe that you can take on two fastbiters even if they are smaller than you! A single swipe of their claws in the wrong place and you’re done for! With no experience and four feet to run, you still decided to fight them!”
“Well, I…” Littlefoot felt the sharp glance of his grandfather in his neck, awkwardly looking away as he realized what was the cause for his grandfather’s outburst. “For one thing, I think I couldn’t have outrun them, they were incredibly fast and the way the accelerated into a sprint was just brutal!” he tried to defend himself. “Between being bit in my tail while running and trying to hold them off until you would arrive, I think running was the poorer option as they would have definitely gotten me…” However, there was no denying his second motivation behind the decision to fight.
“I… might have been thinking I could handle them after seeing you two fight so well but, I guess, I was really lucky not to get hurt, right?” Not much to his surprise, both of his grandparents nodded, though his grandma was too worried to use a scolding expression on him.
“I won’t deny, Littlefoot, your actions have disappointed me today,” Littlefoot immediately sank a little lower, however the way his grandpa was pronouncing the words, there surely was bound to be a “but” to that statement.
“However… I am also very very proud.” All of a sudden, Littlefoot found himself nuzzled by both of his grandparents, his grandfather’s anger evaporated as suddenly as the flash of lightning.
“Huh?” Littlefoot uttered in confusion.
“Putting aside the fact that your keen eyes have limited our injuries to a minimum, despite my displeasure with your decision to fight, the bravery to make that decision and not give in to your fear is quite remarkable and I must say that it is largely your quick thinking and your ability to learn from observing others that prevented any significant injuries or worse. Well done, Littlefoot, well done!”
Littlefoot didn’t know what to feel anymore after going through so many emotions in such a short amount of time.
“Jeesh, I had a lot of luck too…” he replied weakly.
“We all did, Littlefoot, that second attack of theirs was extremely dangerous,” his grandmother admitted.
“Now I just want to sleep,” Littlefoot said with a slight groan as the tension slowly began to fall from his body at last.
“As do we, Littlefoot, as do we,” his grandfather spoke, throwing a last cautious glance over the battlefield. “I do suggest camping a little distance away from this mess, just in case another predator decides to pray on the cadavers. Also, one of us will have to stand watch as the juveniles are still alive.”
“On the other side of the pond over there, perhaps?” Grandma suggested. “We should probably clean our feet and wash the wounds anyway, given that we have an opportunity to do so.”
“Right, I agree,” Grandpa said, starting to move in that direction with Grandma following him. By the time they were at the pond, Littlefoot was already sound asleep which brought a momentary chuckle to the two elderly longnecks.
“Our brave Littlefoot…” Grandma cooed as she gently put him down on the floor next to the shore so she could clean herself. As the two elderly longnecks allowed the cool water to engulf their stinging wounds, a chat soon emerged between them.
“You know, this was to be expected at some point during our journey, but to be attacked so early during our adventure, how should I put it… it makes me worry that this journey is more dangerous than it is worth…” Grandpa sighed as he shared these thoughts with his mate. “Things got a little too close for Littlefoot just now, if things had gone just slightly different, we could have lost him just now. I am not saying that we should abandon this journey but…”
“I know, I wouldn’t want to turn around now after thinking this over for so long either,” Grandma admitted uneasily, sinking her neck a little deeper into the water. “Our ability to defend Littlefoot is limited by our old age and the fact that there is only the two of us. What we need is more protection if we want to continue this journey safely.”
“In other words, a herd?” Grandpa prompted.
“If our theory is right, many longnecks are making this journey so we should find some other longnecks to travel with sooner or later.”
“That’s what I hope,” Grandpa sighed as he, with some effort, dragged his tired body out of the water. “Come, dear, we should get some rest ourselves.”
Grandma didn’t need to be told twice as her bones didn’t like all the stress of journeying and fighting sharpteeth either. Grandpa decided to take the first shift of night watch just as night itself fell over the land, the Night Circle watching over the three longnecks.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oh boy, how do I write an Author's Note again? Oh right! 
I thought a journey without some sharpteeth to ruin the day would be a little boring and, besides, there was plenty of potential for character development here which I hopefully managed to exploit with this rather strategy-heavy battle. It was one of those chapters that you just start writing and then it starts writing itself and, given that I love to come up with strategies in games and what not, the rest was a piece of cake for me. I'm glad to see I haven't lost my touch though my writing speed could still see some improvements haha. This chapter took my an entire day from noon to early morning to get done (editing and discussing with my editor included). Either way, my writing energy has been more than replenished and I am enjoying spending day and night writing while listening to good music 
I do hope this action-rich chapter is a decent way to bring the story back to life and, at least for the next two months, I will be able to work on SDP at least once a week so updates should be somewhat reasonably frequent (I won't spam, you never know when you need some backlog). As always, any reviews, critique and praise are very much welcome and I'm looking forward to hearing them, yep yep yep! 
Next chapter is already written (probably way over a year ago lol) and will be continuing Ali's (mis)adventure 
It does feel awkward replying to 1 year old reviews but I still owe you guys a proper reply
Posted by: UnionRags123
« on: July 19, 2019, 10:05:43 PM » Insert Quote
Omg this is great!
Old One’s use of an “aggressive” approach really backfired...
And yes, a one shot of Old One v Topps would definitely be welcomed! 
Poor Ali...out in the desert by herself...
Sometimes being confrontional does indeed backfire as we see too frequently in politics and society or just every day life really. It can work if the pther person isn't strong-willed but more often than not a diplomatic approach will be the smarter one (unless we're talking computer games. Warmongering ftw! )
I still have a note to remind me of that particular crackfic idea which my editor once suggested half-jokingly
Yes, poor Ali. Also, stupid Ali. 
That does it! I have absolutely no respect for the Old One in this story whatsoever! I hate her here just as much as I hated the original Cera and her father! 
She is behaving like someone who only knows how to rule through fear, and after seeing a certain character like that on HBO for nine years, you know that characters like that will only leave behind a loathsome legacy. I'm honestly not sure how much longer she'll remain in her position with the over-authoritarian antics she's been showing.
Bron sure seemed to have done a good job at trying to keep things as peaceful as possible, even if his new enemy has no shred of compassion for practically, ... well, ... anyone, it seems. They are clearly complete opposites, and such personalities could never mix together, much like how it was once believed that different kinds could never mix together. I would say that this chapter was the beginning of the end of Old One's dominant influence over her herd, and it's only a matter of time before she begins to lose her power.
Poor Ali. All alone and in the middle of nowhere, but I suppose she is learning her lesson the hard way whether she succeeds on her journey or not. Just as we think this story is supposed to bring all Longnecks together, it's sure doing a good job at tearing some apart.
This was quite a nice surprise to brighten my boring day, ... aside from Old One's abysmal behavior.
The thing is, if someone like Old One manages to brainwash her followers into worshipping her regardless of what she does and says, she is likely to remain on top of command. 
I really like your comment about this story tearing some longnecks apart although I'd like to blame this on the sequels not keeping together what was supposed to remain together I think we can all tell that Ali's adventure won't go without consequences but how dire will they be? I'm glad I was able to free you of boredom for a little while on a random day a year ago This was quite an interesting scene and one that showed the highly differing personalities of Bron and your Old One. The difference between the former’s efforts to protect his herd and the latter’s hesitancy to help in that were really stark and showed just how capable a leader Bron really is. The argument was written quite well and the tension that rose during it were very tangible here. I liked the way Bron pushed her into a hesitant acceptance to acting the way any decent dinosaur should act. And indeed, he proved his capability to lead once again.
As for Ali, I’m not a fan of these kinds of one-scene sequences during a chapter as there is almost always something more to be built from scenes like that. It wasn’t too bothering but it’s something I prefer to avoid myself. And again, Old one seemed like a complete OC here and the herd is far from what we saw in the films. I know I’ve complained of it before but it strikes me again with every chapter. However, the main part of this installment was very good so well done with that
Thanks, I recall cringing at this scene in the original SDP when I reread it for reference so hearing you saying that Bron was written as a very capable leader showing his qualities in a well written argument means a lot to me
I will be frank, I agree with your statement about the short Ali sequence here. It's not a very bright way to cover this part of her story this way. My problem here is that I do not have enough things to cover during her journey to make this a full-fledged scene and any significant character development can only occur at a later point when her journey comes to a very difficult part. I simply wrote a short scene here as to prevent having a time skip of a few days without any signs of Ali doing anything whatsoever. I dislike timeskips if they can be prevented so sometimes even a small scene like this, while not extremely efficient, might find its way into a chapter. Certainly this is not something I do frequently and I will certainly keep the concerns you have raised concerning such scenes in the back of my mind from now on. If there's something you (or anyone else) would add to this scene if you were in my shoes, I'll gladly hear them and edit the chapter if it can be used without contradicting anything that comes later in the story Posted by: rhombus
« on: July 28, 2019, 03:13:56 AM » Insert Quote
Now this was quite an enjoyable read considering what I personally think of the Old One in this particular continuity. 
At first I thought that Bron would let the Old One have her way after exhausting every opportunity for a peaceful solution, but instead we get to see his abilities as leader firsthand. He expertly allows her to show herself to be intransigent in her demands and then he finally shows his hand - that he is willing to use force to achieve his just demands. Considering the Old One's desire to maintain power and to quash dissent I do wonder what will happen now that she has shown weakness here.
Thank you, like Sovereign, for confirming that this is a major improvement over the first iteration of this scene lol
I will be frank here as well, writing a side arc about Old One facing the consequences of her leadership in her herd could be very intriguing but, given just how many side plots this story is destined to have already now (Remember I have a tendency to develop random thoughts into spontaneous side stories, this is how Cho was born back then if you remember), I think may not want to dwell on that particular aspect on the story haha. Given Old One's tendency to disregard the sleepstories as mere nuisance as opposed to trying to understand them and given her overprotectiveness, we likely will not ever see her again in this story once Bron's herd will leave. I'm open to ideas though if you think this should be incorporated into the story
