Chapter Text
The days were long and relaxing in the Great Valley, something Littlefoot was still getting used to. After traveling for so long, having to watch every corner for Sharptooth, the feeling of safety almost felt...not real.
To hear the rushing sound of the river, the sway of the leaves on the branches, and without the threat of hunger, the Great Valley truly was all his mother had ever told him about.
"Littlefoot! Are you daydreaming again?" A familiar voice called out, one that brought warmth to Littlefoot's heart. He glanced away from the river he had been watching, only to get tackled into the dirt by a familiar, orange dinosaur. Cera grinned down at him smugly, the Three-Horn obviously proud of herself.
"Just...taking in the view, I guess." Littlefoot mumbled, but grinned back at his friend as he playfully shoved her off, causing her to fall on her back with a grunt.
"It is a pretty river, yep yep yep!" Littlefoot could see the rest of his friends coming from the bushes, with Ducky, the swimmer, riding on Spike's, the Spike-tail, back. Petrie, the flier, did just that, flying above the duo before circling above Littlefoot, finally landing on the Long-Neck.
"Petrie don't like water! Water is wet, and scary, and wet!" The flier exclaimed, dramatically shivering, though Littlefoot knew he was eyeing the water warily. After their run-in with the Sharptooth, the flier had stayed away from deep water, despite the rest of his friends reassuring him that they wouldn't let him drown. Still, they made sure to only play in the shallow waters in the Great Valley, since they could understand their friend's concern.
"Who cares about a dumb river? I want to play toss the rock again!" Cera butted in, giving the river a small glare, huffing. Spike brightened, grunting his own agreement to the game.
"Oh, but Cera, didn't your papa not want you playing with us?" Ducky squeaked, looking around as if even mentioning the male Three-Horn would summon him. Littlefoot frowned, remembering Cera's dad. He had been a rather...grumpy fellow, and always seemed to be trying to separate Cera from the others, due to the whole 'sticking to your own kind' thing. He hadn't questioned it much before, but now he hated that rule. Why couldn't he just play with his friends without some older dinosaur shaking their head at them?
"Well, what he doesn't know won't kill-hurt him," Cera sniffed, lifting her head up haughtily, as did her tail, a little thing that always made her friends giggle softly. "Besides, the grown-ups do nothing but munch on green food and talk about...the clouds or whatever! I'd much rather hang out with you guys than do that!"
Littlefoot glanced up at the sky, though the familiar cloud shape he wanted wasn't there, so he sighed and dropped his head. "I don't know...last time we played toss a rock, Spike landed it right on your dad's head, and he almost ground you to the nest permanently! What if..." The Long-Neck stuck his tongue out as he thought, glancing around the valley, before spotting a nearby cave, just up the hill from the river. "I know! Let's explore that cave! Maybe it'll have tasty mushrooms!"
"Or pretty rocks! I like pretty rocks, I do, I do, I do!" Ducky leaned forward, as if trying to peer into the cave from here, though the group of friends were already moving towards it. "What do you think is in there, Petrie?"
Said flier hummed, his little claws scrabbling on Littlefoot's head as he tried to look into the cave as well, though the Long-Neck had gotten used to the feeling, and only huffed playfully. "W-what if there's a monster in there? Like a S-Sharptooth?"
That made the friends freeze, with Littlefoot lifting his head high and looking around, waiting for that familiar growl, the loud, thudding sounds of a Sharptooth nearby, waiting to catch them unprepared. But the only noise that greeted him were the distant chatter of other leaf eaters, the cries of fliers as they graced the sky with their call, and of course, the breathing from his friends nearby as they too checked their surroundings, slowly relaxing when they found nothing amiss.
Cera was the first to speak, scoffing as she huddled close to Spike's left flank. "Oh, please! As if any Sharptooth would dare enter the valley with us around! Besides, that cave is far too small for a Sharptooth, I would know!" She huffed.
Littlefoot huddled on Spike's other side, keeping his tail curled to touch the Spike-tail's own, relaxing when he found both it and Cera's there as well. "That's true. We'll only take a peek, then we'll be back to our families before the bright circle lowers in the sky." He reassured, pressing his head against Spike's own, both in comfort and to allow Petrie to scramble onto the large dinosaur's back.
If there was a Sharptooth in that cave, however unlikely, he and Cera would be able to fight it off while Spike carried the others to safety.
The group of friends, now more cautious than before, traveled up the hill towards the cave, always making sure either their flanks or their tails touched each other. At the foot of the cave, it didn't exactly look special, but the five continued on, hoping to find something interesting.
"No pretty stones, or yummy mushrooms." Petrie groaned, flopping on Spike's back, causing Ducky to giggle.
"Maybe they're further inside!"
"Why not be near the entrance? That don't make no sense!"
"Well, my grandparents said that patience brings the best rewards." Littlefoot piped up, then frowned, remembering that he hadn't told either of his grandparents where he would be. What if something terrible happened, and none of the grown-ups would be able to find them? It'd be his fault...no, he didn't want to think those thoughts anymore.
"Have you noticed how bossy the grown-ups are? They act like we didn't travel to the Great Valley by ourselves! They act like we can't handle ourselves!" Cera growled, looking ready to bash her head into the nearest rock in frustration.
"They only want what's best for us, Cera." Littlefoot protested, though his voice was weak. He didn't hate his grandparents, and he liked the feeling of knowing that his next meal was always only a few feet away, but...
"It feels...weird. Not moving around all the time." Ducky sighed, leaning against her baby brother's snout, who flicked out his tongue to lick her face, causing her to giggle.
"Like...weird." Petrie agreed, wringing his claws together nervously. Spike offered his own set of noises, none of which the others could
"Like there's an itch on your back that you just can't reach? " Littlefoot suggested, relieved that he wasn't the only one feeling this way. He had felt guilty, having so much and yet not feeling as happy as he should be for it. And it wasn't exactly something he could talk to his grandparents about either. He was briefly brought out of his thoughts as he ducked under a part of the cave that dipped, the cave suddenly feeling smaller than before. He didn't know if that was comforting or not.
"Well, maybe we should just run away then, who cares about what the adults think?" Cera grinned at them, obviously excited about the idea, but the rest were uncertain.
"But Cera, there's green food here, and our families are here." Littlefoot mumbled, turning his neck to look back, only to realize how small the cave had truly gotten. With the three of them side by side, it was getting difficult to move freely, and yet none of them wanted to move too far away from each other.
Cera glared at him, opening her mouth to retort, when Petrie let out an excited squawk. "There's something glowing in that little hole! Over there! Over there!" He hopped and pointed to a small crag, where there was indeed a blue glow shining from it. The friends all gasped in excitement, trying to get a better look at what exactly was hiding in there. Petrie and Ducky climb off Spike, darting to the crag and peeking inside. Ducky let out a happy squeak, reaching her hands in and pulling out a dazzling stone, one unlike any of them have seen before.
"It's so pretty!" Ducky whispered, examining the stone closely, before waddling back to the group, with Petrie following close behind. "Spike, look! Isn't it pretty?" The green dinosaur cooed, opening his mouth wide, and would've taken a bite out of the stone if not for Ducky pulling it out of reach at the last second. "Oh, stones aren't for eating, Spike, no no no!" She giggled.
"What do we do with it? Play toss with it?" Cera asked, eyeing the stone, but didn't seem to find it that interesting.
"Or it could be a gift to mama!" Ducky suggested, hugging the stone close as she crawled onto Spike's back, the Spike-tail keeping absolutely still for his older sister.
"But we technically all found it, so maybe...we each get turns with it?" Petrie grinned hopefully, climbing up as well and rubbing a claw on the stone's shiny surface, as if to polish it. "My mama likes shiny things too!"
"Well, my father could care less about shiny stones. We Three-Horns like smashing through them instead." Cera sniffed, though even she seemed to be considering the idea.
"Well, I guess Petrie can have the first turn, since he's the one who spotted it first." Littlefoot decided, smiling as Ducky handed the stone over to the flier, who struggled to hold it for a moment, almost falling off Spike's back entirely, causing Littlefoot to catch him with his mouth and put the flier on his own back.
"Littlefoot!" The distant call of his name caused everyone to freeze for a moment, before Littlefoot and his friends quickly backed out of the cave the way they came.
"That sounded like Grandpa, but it's not time to eat yet." The Long-Neck worried, glancing up briefly at the bright circle, confirming his words. What other reason would his grandparents want him for?
"Cera!" That was Cera's dad, and he did not sound happy.
"He sounds angry." Petrie gulped, then glanced around at his friends. "Well...angry-ier."
"We didn't do anything to be in trouble for, did we?" Ducky whispered, glancing up at Littlefoot nervously. The small Long-Neck tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"I don't think so, maybe it's nothing important. We should go see what's happening either way." He sighed, and the group of friends trudged back to the grassy plains of the Great Valley.
There, Littlefoot could see his grandparents and his friends' parents waiting for them. While his grandparents only look disappointed, Cera's father had a thunderous look on his face, letting out a loud, angry snort.
"Cera! Get over here at once!" He growled, stomping his foot and causing a cloud of dust to rise from beneath it. Cera winced, glancing between her friends and her father before sighing and waddling back to his side, though she looked far from happy about it.
"Ducky, Spike, over here." Ducky's own mother called out, looking far more forgiving, and the sibling duo ran over, hiding behind their mother's tail.
"Petrie!" Petrie's mother called from the tree she was perched on, arms crossed, seeming both concerned and stern at the same time. Petrie ducked his head, giving Littlefoot an apologetic look as he gently dropped the shiny stone before the Long-Neck's feet and flew over to his mother, who quickly embraced him.
Lastly, without needing any prompting, Littlefoot wandered over to his grandparents, head lowered, feeling guilty despite not knowing why.
"Littlefoot, where have you been? We couldn't find you anywhere in the valley, and were worried sick." His grandmother whispered, lowering her head to nuzzle their faces together, a gesture Littlefoot gratefully accepted.
"I'm sorry, Grandma, I just...I just wanted to go exploring a cave with my friends." Littlefoot whispered, though he knew that probably wasn't a good answer to the grown-ups.
"A cave? You took my daughter to a cave?" Mr. Three-Horn exclaimed angrily, glaring at the child as he used his body to block Cera from view, the smaller Three-Horn protesting. "Keep that Long-Neck away from my daughter, he's a bad influence!"
"Topps, don't you think that's a bit too harsh?" Petrie's mother scolded lightly, though the larger dinosaur just ignored her as he turned his attention to Littlefoot's grandparents.
"You need to be tougher on him, you're letting him run wild and dragging all our children into dangerous places!"
Littlefoot's grandfather narrowed his eyes, stepping in front of his own grandson protectively. "Now, Mr. Three-Horn, all of our children decided to go to that cave, not just Littlefoot. Besides, he just wanted to spend time with his...friends." The old Long-Neck hesitated on the word, still not used to the thought of a Long-Neck being friends with others not of its own kind.
Littlefoot ducked his head, feeling guilty once more. "But...I was the one who suggested we go in." He confessed, closing his eyes as to not meet the disappointed looks on his grandparents faces.
"So he admits it!" Topps growled, stomping his foot again. "This is why Three-Horns are never friends with Long-Necks! Their tiny brains are always getting them in trouble!"
"If you would just calm down-" The grown-ups immediately began to argue, with their children secretly slinking back together, watching the argument with wide eyes.
"W-what do we do?" Petrie stuttered, clinging onto Ducky, who had slid off Spike's back to hide behind his leg.
"The adults are so loud when they argue." Ducky whined, wincing at a particularly loud shout from Cera's dad.
"This is exactly why we should run away, the adults will never understand us. All they do is argue about stupid things like hatchlings!" Cera huffed, glaring at said adults as she tucked herself to Littlefoot's side, with Spike quickly pressing against the other, burying his head into the soft dirt below.
Littlefoot sighed, ducking his head lower. "I just wish they could have seen what we went through before we got to the Great Valley, maybe then they'd understand." He whispered.
The forgotten stone at his feet flared to life suddenly, and the ground began to quake. Every dinosaur went silent as the entire place seemed to tilt, and it seemed Littlefoot only blinked for a second before everything changed. They were still in the Great Valley, but...there were no other dinosaurs besides them. Now everything seemed eerily quiet, leaving only Littlefoot, his grandparents, his friends, and their parents in the now silent valley.
"W-what happened? Was it an earthshake?" Petrie squeaked, hugging Ducky tighter, who held on just as tight.
"Earthshakes don't usually end that quickly." His mother hummed, flying into the sky to examine the terrain. There truly were no dinosaurs beyond them, so she flew back down to perch on the branch she was on before.
"Littlefoot, what's that rock by your feet?" Littlefoot's grandmother spoke up suddenly, squinting down at the dazzling blue stone, so he nudged it closer, allowing his grandparents to look closer.
"It's a stone Petrie found in the cave we were exploring...we just thought it was a pretty stone." Littlefoot explained, his friends nodding along.
His grandfather hummed, pulling his head back with a sigh. "Well...it's no ordinary stone. There had been legends of strange rocks falling from the sky, rocks with the ability to grant whatever wish someone could want, but only once. Little one, did you wish for anything recently?"
Littlefoot gulped, glancing back at his friends guiltily. "I...may have wished for you guys to see what we went through before we made it to the Great Valley." He confessed.
"Then are you saying we're going to see exactly that? Long-Neck, do you realize how crazy this sounds?" Topps grumbled, glaring at Littlefoot's dad.
"There's no other explanation to it, Mr. Three-Horn. It truly seems we'll be seeing our little ones on their journey." Littlefoot's grandmother piped up, and as if reacting to her words, the stone began to roll by itself, sprouting nests made of leaves and moss in all kinds of sizes before stopping at the front of said nests. As if it couldn't get weirder, its shine created a weird, see through blue square that was projected from the rock.
Littlefoot's eyes widened as his grandmother's words registered inside his head, and from the looks on his friends faces, he could tell they reached the same conclusion. Their families truly were going to see their journey.
"We probably should've just played toss the rock." Littlefoot mumbled.