Reply To: The Land Before Time XVIII: Journey Under the Great Valley
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: SMILODON ENCOUNTER
“Wakey wakey!”
“Huh? What?” muttered Littlefoot sleepily. It was the middle of the night. It could only have been like an hour or two after he fell asleep. It seemed quiet. Nothing was stirring around them. Everyone was asleep. The moon was slightly past its midpoint in the sky.
“What Cera?” he asked, still half asleep. He assumed it might be another adventure.
“I’m not Cera. I’m a way cooler than that!”
Littlefoot got up. “Oh, it’s you Liam.” he said, yawning and stretching.
“Yes. We’re going to go looking for the Fire Rock again.” said Liam.
Ten minutes later, the group headed into the cave. They made their way down to the Flowing Fire and crossed on the bridge they had made the last time they were there. Sometime later, they approached the spot where they had met the Sharpteeth before. “I don’t see them here this time.” said Littlefoot.
“That’s a relief.” remarked Mandi.
They continued on. Up ahead, they noticed a steep drop. This time, it wasn’t Flowing Fire but what appeared to be an underground bubbling spring. They shined the weak light from the Glowing Buzzers around, trying to find a way across. Louise flew across. She searched on the other side. She noticed a pathway heading down and found that it lead to the stream. There were some rocks they could hop across on the stream down there. After further inspection, they found a path from their side down to the stream.
“Ok, so we’ll have to go down that way.” Louise reported.
“Preferably without breaking our necks.” said Littlefoot. The group laughed.
They began to head down the path. It was quite steep. “Careful, I don’t want any of you to trip and knock me into that Bubbling Water. ” Liam said to them.
They slowly clambered down the pathway. Eventually, they reached the bottom. They used the Glowing Buzzers to illuminate the water.
“We have to go across on those?” whined Aang, noticing how unsafe the stones leading across the stream were.
“I don’t see another way.” said Mandi.
They slowly crossed. Littlefoot nearly fell in, but he managed to stable himself. Eventually, they all crossed over. They started climbing up the path on the other side. When they reached the top, however, they met an unpleasant surprise.
ROAR! The Sharptooth Tickly Fuzzies were back. “Ut oh!” the group of dinosaurs cried in alarm.
Aang kicked one and it fell down and into the stream below. It howled in pain and made its way to the other side, where it limped off. Two tried to bite Littlefoot in the neck. “Ahhhh!” Littlefoot cried in a panic. He moved aside just in time, and the two collided and fell over.
“This way!” cried Liam. He headed off away from the Sharpteeth, heading the way the Smilodons had come. Littlefoot and the others followed him. Littlefoot was at the rear of the group. He really hoped that this way didn’t lead to a dead end.
They found a split in the passageway up ahead. There seemed to be two paths. From one path, they thought they could hear snarling. Some, naturally, they took off down the other path. The Smildons chased after them. The group of dinosaurs would have come under attack, had not, by dumb luck, the Smilodons that had chased them earlier collided with the new groups of Smilodons after them when the two passages had met. Littlefoot and his group kept running and didn’t look back. Eventually, they once more came to the Flowing Fire but were at a different spot than the spot they had crossed. Luckily, they were able to find their way back to the bridge and cross over.
“That” panted Littlefoot, “was too close!”
“At least now we know the shortcut back there can help us avoid some of them.” said Liam.
“Let’s hope so.” said Rebauke. The group made their way back to out of the cave. It was dawn. Littlefoot went to sleep but was woken up a short time later by his grandparents.
“Aw come on!” moaned Littlefoot. “I’m tired!”
“It’s time for another lesson with Mr. Thicknose.” said Grandma Longneck.
“Teenagers. They like to sleep in till the Bright Circle is in the middle of the sky.” said Grandpa Longneck, shaking his head.
