Kaytlin's Adventures in The Land Before Time P3

Several hours later, the rainstorm slowly started to end. The night had already taken a very emotional toll on Littlefoot, but for Kaytlin, it was soon to make its mark. Having been separated from Littlefoot and his mother during the earthquake, but managing to survive, despite being traumatized by Sharptooth’s attack and the tremor, she nervously peaked around the area, getting out of a small cave she taking shelter in. It seemed the worst of the natural disaster was over. All around her were jagged cliffs, steep hills, and broken trees, all of which were caused and destroyed by the earthquake. Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound nearby that caused her to gasp and quickly crouch into a corner like a frightened child. “H-Hello,” she asked hesitantly.

A Struthiomimus, one of few lucky survivors from the earthquake, jumped out from behind a hill and ran off, paying no attention to Kaytlin. As he ran off, Kaytlin followed where he ran but stopped upon realizing something more devastating than the destroyed landscape. From miles around, there were the dead bodies of dinosaurs and other creatures that perished in the tremor. She slowly walked around the area, observing the dead corpses of countless creatures, feeling terrible that they didn’t survive. Tears rolled through her eyes as she looked out into the distance, seeing what had essentially become a graveyard. But another thought came into mind that caused her to look to where the great divide was. She ran to the edge of her cliff and looked down into the deep abyss below her. It was several miles deep, and it was too dark to see the bottom. “Kyle? KYLE,” she called, “KYLE!”

But she didn’t get a response. Her eyes got more watery as she kept calling for his name. “KYLE! PLEASE…PLEASE RESPOND,” she cried.

Panting frantically, she looked around the cliff for a way to get down there, when suddenly, the ground started to rumble again, giving Kaytlin another fright. She panted fearfully, expecting it to be another huge quake, but it was nowhere near the intensity of the earthquake she went through. This was just a small aftershock and it quickly faded away in seconds, but it was enough to send some chunks of the Earth down into the crevice. Realizing what could’ve happened to Kyle, Kaytlin panted at a very fast rate, fearing the worst had come to her friend, along with everyone else. “No…no…this can’t be happening! Please no! NOOOOOO,” she suddenly cried out loudly as she rushed to the edge of the cliff, “KYLE!”

Still no response, she looked around rapidly. “HELP! SOMEBODY,” she cried, “…please…anyone…help me!”

There was no response from that either. Unable to hold it in any longer, Kaytlin collapsed to the ground and started to cry. Kyle had just fallen into the crevice, she had barely survived an intense earthquake, had no idea where any of her friends were, and was all alone in this harsh, unforgiving landscape. Tears ran down Kaytlin’s face as she glimpsed back at the crevice before another aftershock started to occur. Terrified of that, and fearing another predator might be nearby, the whimpering girl fled the scene as fast as she could as more pieces of rock plummeted into the abyss.

A couple miles away from Kaytlin though, another person was taking in the damage of the land. It was Shine, having survived the earthquake as well, and only coming out of it with only a few bruises. She too was horrified by the amount of dead bodies around her, and was worried about her friends. “KYLE! KAYTLIN! GUYS,” she cried before ultimately coming to the divide, several miles away from Kaytlin.

Shine didn’t get a response. “KYLE? KAYTLIN? CAN YOU HEAR ME,” she asked as she looked up at the high portion.

Still no response, Shine sighed with despair, starting to fear the worst. But before she could do anything else, a faint call caught her attention. “Shine? Shine, where are you?”

Shine heard this call and gasped. Could this be one of her friends?

Meanwhile, miles away from Shine, Littlefoot had begun his solo journey to the Great Valley, slowly trudging across the land. Having left his mother’s body, he sadly moved on, barely noticing that he moved too close to a steep but small cliff. Slipping off and unable to stop himself, he slid down the cliff and landed on a bumpy surface. As he struggled to get up, the ground started move again, but not because of an aftershock. “Hey,” a gruff voice said as Littlefoot stumbled off his ground.

The surface that Littlefoot landed on wasn’t ground, but the back of another dinosaur. It was an old, gruff-looking Scolosaurus and he turned to the baby sauropod. “What’s going on here,” he asked.

Littlefoot, too frightened and sad to reply, whimpered as he stared at the unremorseful elder. “What’s your problem, you’re not hurt,” said the elder.

“It’s not fair,” said the despairing Littlefoot, “she should have known better. That was Sharptooth…it’s all her fault.”

“All whose fault,” asked the Scolosaurus, still grumpy.

“Mother’s,” cried Littlefoot.

Upon hearing this, the Scolosaurus suddenly lost his gruffness and turned sad himself. Now he knew what was going on with this young dinosaur and felt very sympathetic, for this was a little child with no guardian to protect him, and he had just lost his mother. “Oh,” he said quietly, “I see…I see.”

“Why did I wander so far from home,” cried Littlefoot, barely keeping in his emotional drama.

“Oh, it’s not your fault. It’s not your mother’s fault,” comforted the elder, “now…you pay attention to ol’ Rooter.”

Littlefoot sniffled before looking Rooter in the eye. “But…”

“It is nobody’s fault,” said Rooter gently, “the great circle of life has begun. But you see…not all of us arrive together at the end.”

“What’ll I do,” asked Littlefoot, still heartbroken, “I miss her so much.”

“Then you’ll always miss her, but she’ll always be with you as long as you remember the things she taught you,” replied Rooter, “…in a way, you’ll never be apart…for you are still a part of each other.”

“My tummy hurts,” said Littlefoot, feeling a stomachache.

“Well…that too will go in time little fella,” said Rooter before slowly making his departure, “…only in time.”

Rooter began walking off, leaving Littlefoot to himself to think over Rooter’s words of wisdom. Would these be enough to motivate Littlefoot to keep going though?

Later in the day, a little berry hung from a dry branch. It was very fresh, and for a little, blue flying reptile, a young Pteranodon, it looked good enough to eat. He flew around the berry, licking his beak, before picking the berry with his mouth and landing back on the ground. Its success is getting the berry did not go unnoticed though, for another Pteranodon, a red one and probably the blue ones’ sibling, saw the cherry and tried picking it from the other. The two briefly pulled on it, both getting it briefly, before a brown green one joined the fray. He tried getting the berry, but both he and the blue one started fighting over it before a yellow one grabbed it and hid in a tree. A purple one flew into the tree, looking for its sibling, as they poked their heads out of the tree in multiple holes. The purple one, seeing the brown green one with the berry, bit his tail before taking the berry for itself. It flew out of the tree, with the others in close pursuit, tripping just underneath the branch. It grabbed onto the branch as the other restless youngsters grabbed onto it from below. They piled underneath until a light blue flew up and grabbed the berry for itself, breaking the branch in the process. Before it could walk off in victory, the others ran after it and tried grabbing the berry for themselves, when suddenly, a long tongue came from behind and snatched up the berry for its host, a Proganochelys, a prehistoric turtle. The chicks looked at the turtle, sad that it took their berry, but quickly became happy when their mother appeared from behind, with a  huge leaf full of enough berries for them all. They each took a berry and began following their mother as she flew off. But one chick, the blue one, spotted Littlefoot resting nearby, still sad about his mother’s death, and too depressed to even take notice of what was going on. He looked at the little sauropod and felt sad that he was depressed. He slowly started to walk off before turning back to Littlefoot, thinking he needed some cheering up. Littlefoot, too depressed to pay attention, could only think about his mother. He hardly noticed his hunger and forgot about the Great Valley and that he must somehow reach it. The little flyer offered him his berry, but Littlefoot didn’t take it. He tried again to offer it, but the little Apatosaur simply turned away, leaving the flyer sad himself.

Further into the day, out on a hot desert, a trail of footprints led across the sand and pillars of rock. But high above the ground, a tree star flew around the land. “Littlefoot,” a voice called out as the tree star flew about, slowly getting closer and closer to the ground.

Down below, amongst the footprints of adult sauropods, Littlefoot snuggled inside one, still heartbroken over the loss of his mother. He whimpered quietly, wanting nothing more than to have her back. After snuggling in the footprint for a few seconds, Littlefoot sniffled before slowly walking out, missing his mother badly. But as he started to leave, a stream of light came down from above and shined on the footprint. Littlefoot was too sad to notice, but soon heard a voice speak to him. “Littlefoot.”

Littlefoot slowly recognized this voice and stopped. It was the voice of his mother, but how was it calling to him? He turned back to the footprint and saw the tree star slowly descend into it. Confused about what was going on, he slowly approached the tree star and looked into it. He could see a small puddle of water in the center, seeing his reflection, before hearing a voice that startled him. “Dear Littlefoot,” it called out, “do you remember the way to the Great Valley?”

Confused, Littlefoot slowly nodded no. “Follow the bright circle, past the great rock that looks like a longneck…and past the mountains that burn.”

Uncertain of how to comprehend this, but now remembering this as the advice his mother gave him before her passing, he nodded yes. “I’ll be in your heart Littlefoot,” said the calm voice, “let your heart guide you.”

Still unable to understand how he was hearing this voice, but remembering this tree star as the one that his mother gave him, he took it before proceeding off on his own once again.

A few hours later, Kaytlin, extremely depressed as well, was walking aimlessly through the desert. She had found no trace of Kyle, or any of her other friends. She was getting dirty, bruised and falling deeper and deeper into depression with each passing minute. As she walked, she spotted Littlefoot in the distance, still continuing his journey. Littlefoot, with the tree star now on his back, spotted something up ahead that made him hopeful. “Mother,” he gasped.

All Littlefoot was looking at though was his shadow on a cliff side. But the shadow was much bigger and it immediately reminded Littlefoot of his mother. “MOTHER,” cheered Littlefoot before rushing after his shadow, “MOTHER! IT’S YOU!”

But as Littlefoot ran after his shadow, the shadow kept getting further and further away. Kaytlin watched from a distance and felt her sadness return, for she had a feeling of what was happening. “Wait mother,” begged Littlefoot as he got closer to the wall, “wait!”

Littlefoot reached the wall, but his shadow got smaller and smaller until reaching Littlefoot’s height. He licked his own shadow before ultimately realizing that it was never his mother. With that, his heart and spirits sank once again, for he now knew for certain that he was alone. He lowered his head in sadness as Kaytlin, having seen the whole thing, couldn’t help but feel her sadness return too. She now saw that Littlefoot’s mother did not survive and that Littlefoot was all alone, just like her. This reminded her of her friends that were missing and she started crying again.

Eventually, Littlefoot resumed his walk. Although the Great Valley was far away, and the journey there was perilous, he would have to find his way, or the chain of life would be broken. Kaytlin, having not paid much attention to Littlefoot, and vice versa, slowly followed behind, having nowhere else to go and was losing her will to keep going. By now, they were near a section of the divide that wasn’t as big as the one from before. The abyss wasn’t as deep and the bottom was visible from the top. Suddenly, as Kaytlin wallowed in her never-ending grief, Littlefoot spotted someone up ahead that gave him hope. “CERA,” he called out.

He rushed over to Cera, who was strolling across the edge of the cliff, trying to find a way to the other side. Littlefoot met up with Cera as Kaytlin, having noticed her as well, slowly followed suit. “Cera,” said Littlefoot, getting Cera’s attention, “hello.”

“What do you want,” asked Cera, not pleased to see them again.

Littlefoot chuckled before replying, “nothing. Where are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find my OWN kind,” said Cera, “they’re on the other side.”

“I’ve looked all over here,” said Littlefoot, “you can’t climb up the other side.”

“Maybe YOU can’t,” replied Cera before she started to steadily climb down the cliff.

“Um…what makes you think you can get up there…while we can’t,” asked Kaytlin, reminded of the attitude Cera’s father gave her and Littlefoot.

“Because I’m a threehorn,” replied Cera, “that’s why.”

This comment made Kaytlin very uneasy, but Littlefoot, thinking Cera would make a good partner while travelling, spoke up. “Wait. I’m going to the Great Valley. We could, uh…” he said before seeing Cera nearly slip, “help each other.”

Cera struggled to get back to the top before asserting her arrogance again. “A threehorn,” she said as she struggled, “does not need help from a longneck…or whatever you’re supposed to be.”

“I’m an otter,” replied Kaytlin, annoyed.

“Ah, whatever,” said Cera, “the point is, I don’t need your help.”

Cera kicked some dust into Littlefoot’s face, but this caused her to lose her balance and slide down to the bottom of the crevice, screaming all the way down. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt from this and she stopped upon reaching the bottom. “W-Well, at least we wouldn’t be alone,” said Littlefoot as he watched Cera from above.

Cera got to her feet and said some final words to the duo. “Well, when I find my sisters, I won’t BE alone, and you have that OTTER, whatever that is, to be with you all you want. So go away,” she said before walking off into the underground, “threehorns can be very dangerous, and they only talk with other threehorns, and they only travel with other threehorns.”

Littlefoot watched Cera disappeared into the underground, offended by her comments, before slowly taking his tree star and walking off. Kaytlin however, had some words of her own to say. “I…I didn’t think that was wise to say,” she said, “hasn’t she ever heard of diversity?”

“Kaytlin,” someone asked from nearby before turning ecstatic, “KAYTLIN!”

Recognizing the voice, Kaytlin turned and to her surprise, she saw Shine running towards her, relieved that she was still alive. Shocked that a friend of hers from the Wuzzle Realm was there, alive and in the flesh, Kaytlin teared up again before happily rushing towards her. “SHINE! Shine,” she cried before flinging her arms around the singer and giving her a big hug.

Shine returned Kaytlin’s hug, though Kaytlin held her tightly, beyond relieved to see her again and not wanting to let go. “Oh Shine, thank goodness you’re here. I’m so happy to see you. I was all alone and, and then I couldn’t find Kyle…I…I thought everyone was gone. I…couldn’t…”

Before Kaytlin could break down again, Shine got to her knees and gently caressed the back of Kaytlin’s head. “Shh…shh,” she said kindly, like she was a mother comforting her daughter, “hey…it’s ok. It’s ok. I’m here Kaytlin…and we have each other now.”

“But…how did you survive that earthquake,” asked Kaytlin, “after we got separated, I feared the worst had happened.”

“I know…but as I slid down my patch of ground, I held on tightly and barely managed to get off and grab a nearby branch. I knew I had to take shelter immediately, but I couldn’t rush back to find you, or cry out to you or Kyle when that crack opened up,” said Shine, “all I could do was wait for the earthquake to stop…but I’m so happy you’re here…all safe and sound.”

“You too,” said Kaytlin, before remembering Kyle and turning sad again, “I…wish the same could be said about Kyle though,” she said before tearing up again, “he sacrificed himself to save me from falling into the abyss. He’s…he’s gone.”

Kaytlin burst into tears again as she buried her face into Shine. Shine comforted her with another warm hug as Littlefoot felt sorry for the otter, seeing that she too lost a loved one, like how he lost his mother. He slowly approached her and said, “I’m…sorry about your friend.”

Kaytlin glimpsed over at the sympathetic Littlefoot. “Huh,” she asked in between sobs.

“That was very brave of him to face Sharptooth like that,” he said, “I’m sorry he fell into the big underground.”

Kaytlin wiped her face with her hand, getting the tears off her face before replying with a sniffle, “thank you…he truly was a great friend. You would’ve loved him.”

“I-I’m Littlefoot by the way,” said Littlefoot, “I never got a chance to say hi before.”

“Hey there Littlefoot,” said Shine, happy to meet the sauropod, “I’m Shine and this is my friend Kaytlin.”

“Hello Shine. Hello Kaytlin. I’ve…never seen your kind before,” said Littlefoot, “where do you come from?”

“Oh…we’re from somewhere…f-far away,” said Kaytlin, unsure about explaining her society to the kid, “we’re not used to this world.”

“Yeah…” chuckled Shine awkwardly, “you can say that.”

“You know, I’m going to the Great Valley if you wanna come,” said Littlefoot, “that way you’ll have somewhere to go.”

“You know, we heard your family talk about the Great Valley earlier,” said Shine, “what’s it like?”

“Well, my mother said it’s a beautiful place with plenty of green food and fresh water,” said Littlefoot, “my grandparents are heading there…but you can come with me if you want.”

“You…really think so,” asked Kaytlin.

“We’d love to come with you Littlefoot,” said Shine, happy to come with Littlefoot, “that’s what Kyle told me when I came across the big divide, trying to find our group.”

This comment took Kaytlin by surprise. “Huh? What Kyle told you? But…but that’s impossible,” she said, “he fell into the underground.”

“Actually Kaytlin, when I was looking down into the divide, I heard him call out to me,” said Shine, “he told me to find you so we could travel to the Great Valley and reunite with the others there.”

“Wait…if he’s not with you, does that mean he’s just trapped underground. He’s still alive,” asked a shocked Kaytlin as Shine nodded yes, before gesturing toward the crevice, “we, we have to find him and get him outta there. Right now!”

“Kaytlin, wait, wait,” said Shine, stopping Kaytlin from going into the underground, “he told me not to worry about him. He wanted me to find you so we could get to the valley safely.”

“But Shine, he’s down there all by himself,” said Kaytlin, “please. We have to find him and get him out.”

“Kaytlin, listen to me, it’s the only way. Plus, he wants you safe and out of harms way,” said Shine, “he doesn’t want us to worry about him while we’re still above ground. He also doesn’t want us to worry about the scepter. Finding the Great Valley is now our top priority. Do you understand?”

Kaytlin looked back at the crevice one last time, still fearing Kyle could be in trouble. “Are…you sure,” asked Kaytlin, “what if he doesn’t make it?”

“He will Kaytlin,” said Shine, “I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s a brave adventurer who’s survived many dangerous missions. Plus, I know that it was him talking to me from down there. I’m not making that up.”

“But…but Kyle…”

“It’s the only way Kaytlin,” said Shine, getting firm, “trust me. He wants you safe. He doesn’t want you to worry about him. He just wants to make sure you get to safety as soon as possible.”

Kaytlin looked at Shine, seeing she couldn’t argue with the singer before taking one last look at the crevice. Seeing there was no way to argue against going off without Kyle, Kaytlin sighed with despair before giving in. “Alright,” she muttered quietly.

“Do you…really think that could’ve been your friend,” asked Littlefoot.

“It was Littlefoot. He’ll get outta there and he’ll find his way. I’m sure of it,” replied Shine before realizing that Littlefoot’s mother was nowhere in sight, “what happened to your mother?”

This question made Littlefoot sink in sadness again. Realizing what could’ve happened to her, Shine started feeling sad. “I’m…I’m so sorry,” said Kaytlin, feeling sorry for Littlefoot, “truly I am.”

Littlefoot sighed before replying, “it’s not your fault Kaytlin. I…I just wish it didn’t happen.”

“It’ll be ok Littlefoot,” said Shine, attempting to comfort him, “you have us to help you through this hard time. We’ll get to the Great Valley. Everything will be ok.”

“Thanks Shine,” said Littlefoot, still feeling down, “I…just hope we can make it.”

“Me too,” said Kaytlin, “But…where do we go? How do we even get there?”

“We just have to follow the bright circle,” said Littlefoot, “go past the great rock that looks like a longneck, past the mountains that burn, and we should find it…I hope.”

Together, the trio started heading out, toward the setting sun. Littlefoot, although glad to have some company alongside him, still felt depressed over his mother’s death and feeling bad for Kaytlin. With the tree star in his mouth, he walked alongside Kaytlin and Shine. Shine held onto Kayltin, comforting her as she leaned on her for emotional support. She glimpsed back at the crevice one last time, hoping that Shine was right about Kyle surviving, but also hoping that Kyle would get out of there ok if did survive. Shine caressed Kaytlin’s shoulder as they walked. They began their long journey towards the Great Valley, leaving the Great Divide far behind.