Skip's Journey

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EPISODE 42: SKIP’S JOURNEY
CHARACTERS
Littlefoot
Cera
Ducky
Petrie
Spike
Chomper
Ruby
Skip
Skip’s Parents (Tickly Fuzzy OCs)
Red Claw
Screech
Thud
Talio (Longbeak OC)
Bambiraptor Pack (Feathered Fast Biter) (OCs)
Songs
Adventuring
Remembering
Skip the Tickly Fuzzy lived in the Great Valley. However, he had been from the Mysterious Beyond and had come to the Great Valley after being rescued from a fire by Chomper, Ruby, Spike, and Ducky. His parents had been chased off by Red Claw many years earlier. He still wondered about them. Were they still alive? Red Claw may well have eaten them, and he’d always feared to check the area he’d last seen them headed, in case he did indeed find solid evidence that they had died. They’d told him to run the other way and he’d obeyed, though later he had several sleepless nights where he stayed up wondering what would have befallen had he stayed with them.
The young Didelphodon lay inside a hollowed-out hole in a Wollemi pine tree, fast asleep at the moment. A cold blast of wind hit him, causing him to roll onto his side, still asleep. He dreamed that he was walking through a meadow. He’d been there before a few times. After traveling for a few minutes, he reached the end of the meadow and approached a rather foreboding-looking forest. In his waking time, he’d never ventured into here, save once, for he didn’t like the look of the place. The time that he’d been here had been with his parents, for he’d never have come in here alone, and that was so long ago that he couldn’t recall much about the place, other than that he liked it even less on the inside than by merely observing it from the outside. It certainly was creepy. As it was night in his dream, he saw many pairs of eyes staring at him from behind tall grass and from up in the trees. There were red eyes, yellow eyes, orange eyes, and brown eyes all staring at him. He wasn’t sure what sort of creatures they belonged to, but their presence definitely unnerved him. He braved the dark forest and reached the other side. Here, he came across the beginning of a marsh. It had many pools of bubbling mud, and, here and there, a few patches of Sinking Sand. It was covered with many sections of bamboo shoots, which were the prominent feature of the marsh. The place looked vaguely familiar, as if he’d been here once long ago. But when had he been here?
He suddenly heard a voice calling to him “Skip, come here!” He hadn’t heard that voice in a long time. Could it possibly be?
“Dad?” he replied.
“Skip! We’ve missed you! We’re so glad to see you!” It was his mother.
“Mom, Dad, I’m so glad to see you!” he cried excitedly.
As he ran toward his parents, however, the Fast Biters Screech and Thud ran out from behind a section of bamboo shoots and charged at him. He wasn’t sure if he should try and get to his parents or away from the Fast Biters and away from his parents. He decided to head toward his family. However, as he ran toward them, he tripped over a rock and fell to the ground, leaving him open to the Fast Biters. As Screech’s maw came down at him, he let out a yell.
He woke up. It was slightly past dawn. He was not in the mysterious marsh with his family, nor were there any Fast Biters around. He was alone in the Great Valley.
He was bothered by this dream all morning long. Where was this place that he had seen in his Sleep Story? Were his parents still alive? Were they at the place that he’d seen in his dream? Was the place even real or just something that his mind had invented?
“Skip, what is bothering you?” Ruby asked him.
Skip told her about his dream. When he was done, he said “Mom and Dad were chased off by Red Claw. I don’t know if they are still around.”
“A Sleep Story is often just a Sleep Story. However, it seems like you’ve been to some of the places that you saw in your Sleep Story, even if you can’t recall where these places you’ve been are. Where did you last see your parents?” asked Ruby.
“Halfway between Hanging Rock and the Great Valley. But that was long ago. Many cold times have passed since then. They’re likely dead,” sighed Skip mournfully.
“You won’t know for sure what happened to them until you know for sure what happened to them,” said Ruby.
“I can’t ask you to go out there looking for them. What if Red Claw got you?” said Skip.
“Red Claw has chased us before. Though he has chased us, he hasn’t ever eaten us. We’re willing to risk being chased by him again in order to help you,” said Ruby. “What do they look like?”
“Like me. Dad is brown eyed and Mom is green eyed,” Replied Skip.
“Do you have any idea where they might go to hide from Red Claw?” Ruby asked.
“No, I don’t think I…..” said Skip. He paused, for he recalled something. “Wait a minute! There is a place they might have gone. Tallweed Marsh. It’s a sort of swampy area that has some foul-smelling plants around it. Those should scare off Red Claw. Can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. They’ve hid there before.” said Skip excitedly. “Can’t believe I didn’t check there sooner!” he lamented.
“Good, now that we know where they might be, then we’ll go with you to see if they really are where you think they are,” said Ruby.
(Theme song: All I see is the day in front of us. All I see is the day in front of us. Burning bright with a new-born sun. Burning bright with a new-born sun. Come follow me
Hills to climb and valleys to roam
Oh, streams to follow all the way home
To the Land Before Time
Before time
)
“I don’t know guys. I mean, what if they aren’t there anymore? Red Claw chased them back many cold times ago,” Skip said a short time later.
“We won’t know unless we go,” Ruby replied.
“How were you able to get away from Red Claw the day he went after your parents?” Littlefoot asked.
“I was small enough that I was able to curl up in a ball and pass for grass. Luckily, Red Claw didn’t sniff for me or I’d have been a meal.”
They set out. “Do you know how far it is to Tallweed Marsh?” Cera asked.
“Not really. I haven’t been there in a long time.”
“Do you know the way? We don’t,” Cera asked.
“I know some landmarks on the way there but not a general direction, unfortunately.”
“A lot of help that’s going to be!” Cera grumbled.
“It’s better than nothing.”
“If you say so, Littlefoot.”
“We’re going to go adventuring, adventuring, adventuring.
We’re going to go adventuring and Skip’s lost family find,” Littlefoot began to sing.
“We’re going to look for them at Tallweed Marsh. Travel across lands wet and harsh,” Skip sang.
“Hope me no meet Sharpteeth there,” Petrie sang.
“We won’t if we’re careful and aware,” Littlefoot sang.
“Will we find lots of good places to hide,
In case a Sharptooth comes beside?” Ducky sang.
“You’d best hope so,” Cera sang.
“Me not sure me want to go!” Petrie sang nervously.
“So if you go adventuring, adventuring, adventuring.
There’s just one thing you’re going to have to do,” Littlefoot sang.
“You’re going to have to take us all with you,” all of them except Littlefoot sang.
And so they set out. After traveling for a while, the children approached a stream of what appeared to be water. It didn’t appear to be deep. As Ducky, Chomper, Ruby, and Skip tried to wade across it, however, they realized with horror that it was not just mere water but quicksand. “Sinking Sand!” they cried.
Petrie tried to help free them, but he only succeeded in being pulled into the Sinking Sands himself. Littlefoot, Cera, Spike grabbed onto Ruby and, with much tugging, were able to free her from the Sinking Sands and get her to shore.
Littlefoot, Ruby, Cera, and Spike pulled on Skip and helped free him next. They then recused Chomper and Ducky. “Guess we’ll have to go a different way,” Chomper said.
After they had traveled for two more hours, it began to rain. As time went on, the rain intensified until it was pouring. “Just great! Sky Water!” Cera groaned.
“We need to find someplace dry,” Littlefoot said.
“How about under those trees?” Skip suggested, pointing at a large group of trees.
“Good idea.”
However, as they approached, lightning struck one of the trees, setting it ablaze. Flaming branches fell toward them. They ran away from the conflagration. Clearly that wasn’t a safe place to hide from the rain! “How about in there?” Cera suggested, pointing toward a cave. It was up about fifteen feet above along a narrow ledge.
“It seems our best hope,” Littlefoot said.
They made their way up the rocky path to the cave. Just after Skip, the last one in the group, had successfully made his way into the cave, lightning struck a tree which was on a ledge a few feet higher up from the cave. The tree fell with a loud crash, knocking over many rocks. None of the children were hurt, but the fallen rocks and tree had sealed off their path back out the way they had come.
“Oh no, we’re trapped!” Skip cried. “I’m sorry I brought you guys this way. It’s all my fault.”
“You can say that again!” Cera grumbled.
“Knock it off Cera! Nobody made you come!” Littlefoot snapped.
“We should just find a way out of here and stop arguing,” Chomper said.
“You’re a Sharptooth Chomper. You’d have the best eyes in the dark,” Skip said.
The Tickly Fuzzy was correct; Chomper’s eyesight was great. “Follow me,” Chomper said. They walked slowly behind Chomper. Petrie held on to Chomper and Ducky held on to Petrie. Skip in turn held on to Petrie. Littlefoot grabbed on to Skip and Cera grabbed on to Littlefoot and Spike grabbed on to Cera and Ruby, taking up the rear, held on to Cera. After walking for a few minutes, they brushed up against something in the dark.
“Ouch!” they heard someone cry.
“Who’s there?” Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Chomper, Ruby, and Skip all asked.
“My name is Talio.”
What are you? Littlefoot asked.
“I’m a Longbeak.”
“What are you doing here?” Cera asked.
“I live here,” Talio replied.
“Where are your parents?” Ruby asked.
“Dead. Died years ago. Killed by a Fast Biter. I was able to hide in a small crevice but they wouldn’t fit as they were too big and were eaten. I’ve been an orphan, going from place to place. I liked this cave and so made it my permanent home.”
“My name’s Skip. I used to live alone too until I came to the Great Valley.”
“Where’s that?”
“It’s a wonderful place with lots of green food and no Sharpteeth,” he said. “Well, almost no Sharpteeth. Chomper here lives there.”
“You have a Sharptooth with you?” Talio gasped.
“Chomper is a friendly Sharptooth. Don’t worry,” Ruby replied.
“I’ve never heard of a friendly Sharptooth before.”
“Don’t worry, he’s only bitten me once,” Cera said.
“He bit you???”
“When he was a baby.”
“Sorry about that Cera,” Chomper said.
“What are you guys doing out here anyway?”
“We are looking for Skip’s family,” Ducky replied.
“Where are they?”
“We’re not really sure, but we think that they’re at Tallweed Marsh,” Littlefoot said.
“I know where that is and have been there before. It’s quite a ways from here, though.”
“Could you take us there?” Skip asked.
“Yes, I could. But could you please take me to the Great Valley afterward?”
“Certainly.”
“Do you know way out of this cave? The way we came in get blocked,” Petrie said.
“Sure, there are several ways out of this cave.”
After following Talio for ten minutes, they found a route out of the cave. “I could travel that cave in my sleep, I’ve been there so long,” she said in response to their astonishment of her finding a way out despite the cave being pitch black.
It was still pouring rain, however, and they didn’t want to get soaked. “I hope it lets up soon,” Cera sighed.
Luckily, it did. They set out toward Tallweed Marsh, Talio leading the way. After traveling for an hour, they came across a marshy area. “Is this Tallweed Marsh?” Skip asked.
Talio shook her head. “Not even close. This is Biting Buzzer Bog.”
“Why do they call it that?” Littlefoot asked. His question was answered a few seconds later as several mosquitoes bit him in the tail. “Ouch!”
“Why are there so many Biting Buzzers here?” Cera asked, trying to swat a group of them with her tail.
“Not sure. Guess they like to bite dinosaurs that come through,” Talio replied.
“I wish they’d find something else to bite besides us,” Ruby sighed.
“If only there was some way we had of getting rid of them,” Ducky sighed as she swatted a swarm of mosquitoes trying to bite her in the back.
“Wait, there is!” Littlefoot exlaimed.
“What?” Talio inquired.
“We have Chomper. He’s a Sharptooth so he can eat the Biting Buzzers.”
“Ouch!” One of the Biting Buzzers had bitten Chomper in the tail. “Not a bad idea.”
Soon, Chomper had taken care of all of the mosquitoes around them and the rest had decided to avoid them. “Thanks for taking care of the Biting Buzzers, Chomper,” Skip said.
“They were delicious.”
GRRRRRRR! They heard a growling sound. “What that?” Petrie asked in alarm.
“Well, it’s not my stomach. I just ate,” Chomper replied.
They turned and saw a pack of small Feathered Fast Biters (Bambiraptor) coming toward them. “Sharpteeth!” the children all cried.
“I think we should split up. It’ll make it harder for them to catch us,” Talio said.
“Or maybe they’ll just go after whichever one of us they think is easiest to catch,” Chomper demurred.
“So, what should we do then? How can we outrun all of them?” Talio asked.
“We’ll have to work together to get away from them.”
“I’ve never done this before. I’ve always had to work alone.”
“Well, now you have us,” Ducky said.
“You have any ideas?”
“Not at the moment, but we tend to often come up with them as we go anyway.”
“Could you come up with one soon? Those Feathered Fast Biters are getting closer and closer.”
Littlefoot thought as he ran. He scanned his surroundings, looking for another to help him and his friends get away from the pursuing raptors. Climbing tress wouldn’t do. Even if they could get up them safely, he’d seen a Sharptooth chew on a tree and knock it down before, and, even if they couldn’t chew on a tree, they could guard the tree in shifts and keep them stuck up there forever. He spotted water. He, Ruby, Ducky, and Cera knew how to swim and Petrie could fly. Perhaps they could swim away from the raptors. However, Spike and Chomper weren’t the best swimmers and he wasn’t sure about Skip and Talio.
So if hiding in a tree wouldn’t work and it wasn’t certain if they all could swim away, then what could they do? There were some vines nearby that they could use to trip the bambiraptors, but they probably would only knock down a few of them before the others simply were able to sidestep them. Maybe he could use some combination of the above to deal with the raptors. He quickly told the others his plan while they continued to run.
“Sounds kind of risky,” Talio remarked.
“You have a better idea?”
“No.”
“Hey you!” Littlefoot cried. He shook his rear end at the Sharpteeth, taunting them.
The Feathered Fast Biters all ran toward him. Ducky ran toward the water, jumped in, and swam to safety. Ruby and Cera ran some distance ahead of Littlefoot and held out some vines. Littlefoot leaped over them, but, as expected, some of the raptors tripped over them and fell. As also predicted, the other bambiraptors saw their fellows fall and were able to avoid the children’s trap. Chomper, meanwhile, had climbed up a tree. Petrie flew up to the top of the tree and grabbed Chomper and took him to safety on the other side of the water. Ducky, Ruby, and Littlefoot swam across the water. Skip and Talio climbed up a large tree that was by the water. Cera ran at it and rammed it so hard that it fell down, causing the tree to fall into the water. Spike and Cera quickly hopped on board and paddled out of reach of the Fast Biters.
“Nah nah!” Cera taunted them, shaking her hind end at them.
After they all had reached the opposite shore, Littlefoot said to Talio “Do you know how to get to Tallweed Marsh from this side?”
“I think so.”
Meanwhile, some distance away, the Sharptooth Red Claw had discovered the scent of Chomper and Ruby. Time to pay them a visit. he thought. Find the children and come at them from the opposite side as me. They won’t get away this time. he told his minions, Screech and Thud.
Meanwhile, Littlefoot and the others continued toward Tallweed Marsh; having crossed the river, they would now have to travel longer to get there. Up ahead was a very steep hill. They had already been traveling for hours by this point. “I think we should rest for a bit before we try and climb that. I do not think I can climb that right now.” Ducky said. ROAARRRR! Red Claw, Screech, and Thud began to approach them. “Of course, I could be wrong.” she quickly added.
They began to run up the steep hill. They had all reached the top, except Ducky who was in the rear. She slipped and began to fall backwards, toward the hungry mouth of Screech. “Me coming Ducky!” Petrie cried. He zoomed through the air and grabbed onto Ducky, pulling her, just in time, out of the reach of Screech’s maw. The Fast Biter instead bit into a much less appetizing rock. Screech angrily spat out the broken rock bits as Petrie flew off with Ducky.
“Thank you Petrie,” Ducky said.
After Petrie had set Ducky safely beside the others at the top of the hill, Cera asked “How are we going to get away from these guys?”
“How about we ride down on these?” Talio suggested, pointing at some small trees.
“How we going to ride down on those?” Petrie asked.
“Leave that to me,” Cera replied. She quickly rammed down the trees. “Now let’s go!” They quickly hopped onto the logs and began to ride them down the steep hill.
Red Claw, Screech, and Thud arrived at the top of the hill shortly after the children had left it. They were, of course, too big to slide down on a tree, so they had to run on foot. Red Claw wasn’t foolish enough to run down the steep hill with his large legs; thus, he sent Screech and Thud after the children. The two Fast Biters couldn’t travel as fast as the children. However, they arrived at the bottom of the hill and got off of their logs and ran. Screech and Thud arrived at the bottom a moment later; the children were about 40 feet ahead of them.
“We need to find some way to lose those Rockheads. They’re getting closer and closer,” Talio said.
“We have another problem,” Skip said.
“What’s that?”
“That!” she cried, pointing at a river of lava ahead of them.
“Flowing Fire!” Littlefoot cried in alarm.
“Just great. So we get to choose between being fried and being eaten!” Cera sighed.
“Or we could go where Spike going.” Petrie suggested.
Spike had found a log bridge across. “We’re supposed to go across Flowing Fire on that rickety thing?” Cera asked, raising her eyebrows.
“It better than getting eaten by Fast Biters.”
“Easy for you to say Petrie, you can fly!”
“Come on Cera!” Littlefoot yelled, nudging her forward with his head.
“Don’t look down! Don’t look down!” she muttered to herself as she began to cross.
“Hurry up Cera, they’re getting closer!” Ruby, who was behind Littlefoot, cried.
“I’m going as fast as I can!”
Soon, Chomper, Skip, and Ducky were behind Talio, who had not yet crossed. The others had made it across successfully. Talio, like Cera, was afraid of heights, though, in her case, she was even more afraid of heights. “Come on Talio, hurry up!” Chomper cried. Talio stood by the log, too terrified to move forward. “Talio!” he cried. Still, she did not move. Finally, though he knew the residents of the Great Valley would have considered it improper behavior, but feeling that he had no choice, he snapped his jaw around Talio’s tail, not hard enough to tear it off or cause serious injury, but enough to induce pain.
“OUCH!” she cried, running forward as fast as she could. This opened the way for Chomper, Skip, and Ducky to cross. As soon as Ducky had crossed, Cera and Spike moved pushed the log off the edge, causing it to fall down into the canyon just as Screech and Thud reached it.
“Looks like you guys arrived too late! No way across now!” Cera laughed.
Spike shook his rear end at them, mocking the two Fast Biters. Cera joined in, shaking her rear end at them as well, chanting “Nah nah nah nah nah, you can’t get us!” Soon, all of the children were shaking their rears at Screech and Thud, laughing and mocking them. The two Fast Biters couldn’t leap across as the distance was too far for them. However, their looks of annoyance turned to amusement when Red Claw arrived. “Ut oh.” Cera whimpered. Red Claw was capable of jumping across. “Run!”
The children were fifteen feet away from the cliff’s edge by the time Red Claw had made the jump across. “We need to find some way to lose him or we’re never going to lose him.” Ruby said.
They saw a river up ahead; there was a log on the shore big enough to hold all of them. “Quick, onto the log!” Cera yelled. They all jumped onto the log, paddling away fast as they could. Red Claw waded into the water after them, but, being unable to swim, was forced to halt when the children sailed out of his depth range.
“Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!” the children taunted him, shaking their rear ends at him. Red Claw snarled in disgust and stormed off.
Several minutes later, the children disembarked on shore. “Well, that was close.” Talio said.
“I hope we don’t encounter any more Sharpteeth today.” Skip remarked.
Ruby looked up at the sky. “The Bright Circle is going to go down soon. We won’t be getting to Tallweed Marsh before it goes down so we should go find a place to rest as going there in the dark would be a bad idea.”
“I agree.” Skip said.
“Our parents will be worrying about us, though. They will.” Ducky said.
Back in the Great Valley, their parents were indeed worried. “Littlefoot said he’d be back by dark.” Grandma Longneck said to her mate.
“I know. It’s not like him to break his word. He must have run into trouble.”
“That grandson of yours seems to have a knack for finding trouble!” Mr. Threehorn grumbled. “And he brought Cera along with him.”
“Phyra and Saru can’t find Ducky, Spike, or Petrie either. Chomper and Ruby also are missing.” Grandma Longneck said.
“Naturally.” Topps grumbled.
“We’ve searched all over the Great Valley and haven’t found them. It’s likely they’ve gone into the Mysterious Beyond. And if they have, it’s likely they’re staying some place safe for the night.” Grandpa Longneck said.
“I sure hope so!” Mr. Threehorn said.
Meanwhile, the children looked around for a good place to spend the night. “It’s so dark. I can’t see much at all!” Talio whined.
“I can see a cave way over there across that small stream,” Chomper, whose eyes were the best, said.
However, as Talio stepped into the “small stream”, she found that it was not a stream of water, but actually quicksand. “Help, it’s Sinking Sand!” she cried.
“Where is Talio? I can’t see her!” Littlefoot cried.
“We should not have stayeded out so long after dark! Oh no, no, no!” Ducky moaned.
“I’m coming Talio!” Cera yelled, running in the direction of Talio’s voice. However, she didn’t see the quicksand and ran into it herself. “Help!” she cried, struggling in the quicksand.
“Oh no, now Cera is trapped too and we don’t even know where she’s trapped at!” Ruby cried out in a panic.
“Cera, where are…..” Ducky called out, looking for Cera. She too fell into the Sinking Sands. “you?” She began to flail around in the quicksand. She caught ahold of one of Cera’s horns. “Cera, I founded you!” she cried.
“Great job,” she replied sarcastically. Ducky used Cera’s horn to pull herself out of the quicksand and climbed up onto her head. She suddenly noticed some glowing dots floating around her.
“What are those?” she wondered to herself aloud.
Petrie wondered what they were as well. However, more important to him than flying glowing lights was Ducky, who was still in danger of sinking as Cera slowly sunk. He flew toward Ducky, grabbed her, and carried her to safety. He then came back for Cera. “Me going to help!”
“How are you going to help?” Cera asked, rolling her eyes.
“Me going to…..me, um……” Petrie paused, wondering how exactly he, being so small, could help Cera. He recalled the incident some years earlier when he had tried to get his friends out of Sinking Sand and had ended up trapped himself. “Me going to get Ruby.”
Talio, meanwhile, was half submerged in the quicksand. “I’m over here!” she yelled.
Littlefoot ran over to the edge of the quicksand, using the light of what he now realized were fireflies. He grabbed onto her head and shoulders and began to pull. Spike found his way over to Littlefoot and helped out and soon the two of them had freed Talio.
Cera, meanwhile, had sunk so much that only her head was above the surface. “Uh, guys, I could use help right about now!” she cried.
“I’m coming Cera!” Ruby called. Petrie led her to Cera. “Looks like I got here just in time,” the Fast Runner said. With the help of Ruby and Petrie, Cera was soon freed from the quicksand.
Chomper, meanwhile, began to eat the fireflies. “Chomper, why are you eating the Glowing Bugs?” Talio asked. “They just helped us out.”
“I know. But I’m so hungry. Haven’t eaten all day, unlike you guys. Green food tastes awful so I didn’t eat it when you guys did.”
“Still, it seems all you Sharpteeth think about is eating.”
“Hey, I can survive on just bugs, despite being a Strongbiter. It’s Spike here who has an eating problem!” Spike began to nod absentmindedly. Then, he realized what Chomper was saying and his expression changed to a look of incredulity.
Having had enough adventure for the night, they headed into the cave. Most of the children went to sleep immediately, but Skip stayed awake. “What’s wrong Skip?” Littlefoot asked.
“I haven’t seen my family in ages. What if they are angry that I never went looking for them before? What if they aren’t even at Tallweed Marsh and we just wasted our time?”
“Skip, you’re worrying too much.”
“I barely even remember what my parents look like anymore.”
“That doesn’t matter, soon you’ll get to see them again.”
“Remembering, remembering
is a very lovely thing.
It makes you think of great times from years gone by.
Of fond memories that never die.
Even if my family I cannot see.
In my heart they’re still close to me.
So even if I can’t see my mom or dad.
Fond memories keep me from being sad.
I’ll always have my remembering.
My remembering.” Skip sang.
“Well, I’m going to bed Skip.” Littlefoot said, laying down and closing his eyes.
“Me too.” Skip replied.
The following morning, they awoke later than they had intended. It was Cera who awoke first. “Oh no!” she gasped. “We were supposed to be up by the time the Bright Circle came over the horizon. Why didn’t any of you guys wake me up?”
The others were awakened by her shouting, several of them jumping up in alarm. “What’s wrong Cera?” Littlefoot asked sleepily.
“We were supposed to get up by the time the Bright Circle rose. But it’s several hours past. You guys didn’t wake me up.”
“It’s not our job to wake you up for you. Oh no, no, no,” Ducky said.
“Well, we should get going now since we didn’t get going earlier,” Ruby remarked.
An hour after they had set out, they thought they heard something following them. “What that?” Petrie asked nervously. The scampering sound of feet continued to approach. Luckily, it turned out to be just a group of small lizards scuttling by.
“You were scared of a group of lizards?” Cera sighed.
“Me thought it something else.”
“You worry too much Petrie.”
“Cera’s right. There’s nobody following us,” said Littlefoot.
But he was wrong. About a mile away from the children, Red Claw, Screech, and Thud had just caught a whiff of their scents and taken off on their trail.
The children, unaware that they were being followed, came within sight of Tallweed Marsh.
“I don’t see them,” Skip sighed.
“Maybe they are hiding,” Ducky suggested.
“With these tall weeds everywhere, they sure have lots of places to hide,” Petrie remarked.
“Well, we do have a lot of time to look so we might as well look, now that we’re here,” Ruby said.
“We really don’t have all day, though. Our parents are probably getting more and more worried about us, so the sooner we can find Skip’s parents and get back, the better,” Cera remarked.
“Cera right,” Petrie said.
“It would be best if we found Skip’s parents before going back, though. We’ll get in less trouble that way,” Littlefoot said.
“If I were a Tickly Fuzzy hiding here from Red Claw, where we I be hiding here?” Ruby mused aloud to herself.
Skip, of course being a Tickly Fuzzy, had some ideas. The most obvious place he’d think to look would be near something that would mask their scent and which would have many places to hide in or behind. He checked near a pile of rocks, which had some crevices underneath that a Tickly Fuzzy could hide inside, near some foul-smelling mud pools. He had hidden in various places and had had Chomper sniff to see if he could find him; this place had been the first place that Chomper hadn’t been able to find him.
As Skip began to crawl into one the crevices, he heard a voice snap “Go away!” The gruff voice was that of a male.
“Who’s there?”
“I said to go away. Are you deaf?”
“Who are you?”
“What’s it to you?”
“My name is Skip. I’m looking for my lost parents and I thought they might be here. Have you seen them?”
“Skip?”
“Yes, that’s my name.”
The creature jumped out of the hole and at Skip and hugged him. “What are you doing?” Skip demanded, startled. It was another Didelphodon like himself.
“I never thought I’d see you again!”
“Dad?” The Tickly Fuzzy nodded. “Dad!”
“I thought we’d never see you again!”
“Dear, who are you talking to?” came a female voice.
“It’s our son Skip! He found us!”
“Skip? He’s here?”
“Mom?”
“Skip!” She ran out of the hole and hugged her son. “I’m so glad to see you!”
“I’m so glad to see you too Mom!”
“How did you find us?” his father asked.
“I suddenly had remembered that you might have gone here to hide from Red Claw.”
“Well, you were right.” his mother said.
The group suddenly heard a loud pounding sound, followed by two smaller, but still alarming, pounding sounds. “What’s that?” Talio asked.
Her question was answered a few seconds later as Red Claw came into sight, flanked by his two Fast Biter minions. “Oh no, you led them to us!” Skip’s mother cried.
“How are we going to get away from them this time?” Talio asked.
“I have an idea.” Littlefoot replied.
“Me hope it good one.” Petrie said.
“Me too.” Cera said.
“The foul-smelling mud.” Littlefoot said.
“What about it?” Talio asked.
Chomper, however, knew what Littlefoot was going to say. “If we hide in it, then the Sharpteeth can’t smell us.”
“Correct.”
“Sounds like a good idea. But how do we get away from them long enough to hide in it and have them lose our scent?” Skip’s mother asked.
“One of us will need to distract them,” Littlefoot said.
“Who, though?” Skip’s father asked.
“How about Petrie?”
“Me? Why me? Can’t you get someone else?”
“Petrie, you can fly. You have the best chance of distracting them without getting hurt.”
“Ok, me do it.”
“Thanks Petrie.”
“Hey Red Claw, over here! Me think you stupid!” Petrie taunted Red Claw. Red Claw turned to glare at him. Petrie flew closer to Red Claw. “Neiner neiner neiner! You no catch Petrie!”
SNAP! Red Claw snapped at Petrie, who just barely dodged him. “You miss Petrie again!” the Flyer taunted. Screech and Thud, meanwhile, advanced toward Petrie’s friends.
“I thought Petrie was supposed to be distracting them,” Talio said to Littlefoot.
“Hey Rockheads, over here!” Petrie yelled at Screech and Thud. The two Fast Biters turned to stare at him. “Yes, me talking to you!” He stuck out his tongue at them.
The two Fast Biters advanced toward Petrie, as did Red Claw; Petrie flew off, leading the Sharpteeth away from his friends, who took the opportunity to hide in the mud.
“I hope Petrie can lose them,” Skip said.
“I think he can manage it,” Littlefoot replied.
Meanwhile, Screech, Thud, and Red Claw were all going after Petrie. Petrie wondered briefly how he could manage to get away from all three of them before a plan slowly began to form in his mind. He could see that Screech and Thud were some distance away, and on opposite sides of him, and that Red Claw was right behind him. He first flew toward Thud on the left and then did a 180 and flew the other way toward Screech and did another 180 before he could get too near him.
Screech was now coming at him from one direction and Thud from the other. Petrie pulled up at the last minute, right before he reached Red Claw. The Strongbiter snapped at him, but Petrie was able to get out of his reach. However, while Red Claw had been focusing on Petrie, he hadn’t seen Screech and Thud, still aiming at Petrie, coming until it was too late. The two had snapped at where the Flyer had been, but where Red Claw’s arms now were. ROOOOOOAR! Red Claw let out a bellow of pain as his two Deinonychus minions bit in the arms. In a fury, he shook his arms as hard as he could, knocking Screech and Thud loose and sending them flying several feet into the air before they crashed into the ground.
While Red Claw scolded his two minions, Petrie took the opportunity to fly to where his friends were and cover himself in smelly mud. Red Claw, Screech, and Thud soon looked around again for Littlefoot and his friends. However, they were unable to find them due to their scent being masked and eventually left in disgust.
As soon as they were gone, Littlefoot and his companions came out of their hiding spot, which had been in some brush beside the mud.
“Hurrah, they’re gone!” Talio cried.
“Now we can go back to the Great Valley together,” Skip said to his parents.
“What’s the Great Valley?” Skip’s mother asked.
“It’s a wonderful place. No Sharpteeth, except Chomper here, and he’s nice.”
“Sounds like a great place to live. Lead the way Skip,” said his father.
And so Skip and his family have lived in the Great Valley ever since. And as for Talio, she also had found a new home and new friends.

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