The Land Before Time: Secret of Saurus Rock Retold

Prologue

The Gang is back once again. Join Littlefoot, Aylene, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike as they embark on their next adventure. Joined by Aylene's grandmother, Elaine, they soon encounter a friend from her past. Eager to learn more about the past, the Gang travels to an ancient landmark that is rumored to be enchanted: Saurus Rock.

Many years ago…

The sun began to set behind the horizon of a rocky and deserted plain. The heat of the day was still very scorching, but a strong wind coming from the east help ease the pain of the heat.

Beside the edge of a wide river were two creatures. One was very large. So large that it would be very hard to miss, even from a great distance away. It was an adult male Diplodocus dinosaur, with skin as grey as a thundercloud. His neck was long and limber, his shoulders broad and lean. His eyes were as high as the morning sky, and his vision was keen.

Beside him was a much smaller creature. Standing next to him, the creature looked no bigger than a kitten beside a Great Dane.

It was a young human woman, roughly in her early twenties. She had fair skin that was slightly tanned from the rays of the sun. She wore a grey t-shirt that had the sleeves torn off, sand-colored shorts, and hiking boots. Her hair was as brown as the healthiest tree bark, and her eyes as blue as the sparkling sea.

Around her neck on a thin brass neck chain was a shining green stone. It was as green as the purest emerald jewel in the world.

At the moment, the Diplodocus had his head down to her level. The young woman was slowly removing a large bandage that was covering his right eye and little ways down his neck.

"Does it feel better?" the woman asked.

"I'm fine, Elaine," the long-necked dinosaur replied, his voice low and gravelly. "You worry too much."

"Well, I feel like I have the right to, Doc." Elaine said. "You're so reckless. We're just lucky that Sharptooth just barely missed your eye."

Elaine removed the last of the bandages. She exhaled deeply and frowned when she saw that nasty scar running centimeters above her friend's eye and down his neck. Doc slowly opened his right eye and blinked a few times to clear up its fuzzy vision. He then raised his neck a little so that he was towering over his human friend just a little bit.

Elaine knelt down to a backpack beside her and opened it. She rolled up the bandages and stuffed them back inside before closing the bag again.

"Not that our fight with Sharptooth matters anyway." Doc said with dissatisfaction. "He survived the fall."

"I know." Elaine sighed heavily. "It's like he's invincible. As far as I know, you and I are the only ones who had been able to land so much as a scratch on him. How can one T-Rex be so strong?"

"Just be glad we got out of there with our lives." Doc reminded. "Most of the ones who decided to challenge that monster didn't walk away alive."

"Still," Elaine looked down guiltily, "we didn't exactly get out of it unscathed, especially you."

"Don't worry about me," the Diplodocus said, looking at Elaine with a kind of sternness in his eyes. "He didn't blind me. He just scratched me. And I can live with this scar."

"Sure, whatever you say." Elaine's voice was low.

"Now enough of that. We have to come up with another plan to defeat that monster once and for all."

Elaine turned and looked at Doc. That's when she became concerned. There was something the face of her friend that made her uneasy.

She had been around Doc long enough to know that he rarely expressed any emotions. Most of the time, he just had this stoic look that made him come across as distant and mysterious. It was only those who knew him really well that knew when he was feeling a certain way.

But this time, Doc had a clear expression on his face. While it might have appeared to a low key expression to others, Elaine knew what that expression meant.

Doc was getting angry. Worse than that, he looked as if he wanted revenge.

"Doc," Elaine quickly spoke up, "don't become obsessed with this. I know you have a thing against predators, and especially Sharptooth. But don't let that get in the way of thinking clearly."

"Elaine," Doc replied sharply, "you know just as well as I do that Sharptooth needs to be stopped."

"Yes, I know. But I also know that look on your face. You only get that way when you hear stories of predators attacking herbivores. And it's regardless of whether it's Sharptooth or not."

Doc looked away with a subtle look of distain.

"If you ask me, if we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn't be any predators," he muttered. "This place would be much better without them. All they do is hunt and destroy. And they tear families apart. Nothing good can come from them."

"Doc, now your just being bigoted." Elaine rebuked.

This made Doc turn his head back to look at her. She was now standing up tall and had her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes and stared straight into his with a stern expression. Despite Elaine being much smaller than him, she had this passionate fire in her that expressed how strongly she believed in her beliefs. At times, it kind of made her scary.

"Did you forget that it was a predator that told us where to find Sharptooth?" Elaine went on. "If it wasn't for him, we would've been too late to save the Great Valley. Sharptooth might be part of a group of predators that hunt and kill for pleasure, but not all predators in this world are like that. And I'm sure you can admit that there are also bad apples among the herbivore dinosaurs. Nearly everywhere we go, we see them discriminate against one another just because of their species. Did you forget that time at the oasis with those domeheads and duckbills?"

"Okay, I get it, Elaine." Doc said dully, his ire dying down a bit. "I'm sorry. I just want this to be over with."

Elaine took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"And I do too," she admitted. "But I don't want it to become an obsession. We've seen what happens to those who let their anger and frustration take hold of them. Sharptooth being the prime example. That and his pride. And if we follow that example, then we're no better than him."

Doc just fell silent. That was enough to tell Elaine that he knew that she had a point. He didn't respond to her because his pride had been dented, but because he knew he didn't have to say anything.

Doc and Elaine's friendship was so close that they could just tell what the other was thinking. They had been together for such a long time that they trusted each other with their lives. They loved each other like brother and sister. They never had to say it, they both knew it was true.

And it was because of this that they didn't have to dwell on their problems and differences of opinion.

"Alright," Doc finally said, "but we should at least plan ahead for our next battle. As it stands, we're the only ones who have a prayer of defeating Sharptooth."

Elaine nodded.

She and Doc talked about their strategy for their next fight. They thought back to their last battle, trying to remember most of what had happened, and what had worked the best, as well as what could help improve their chances of winning. After a while, they decided that they would try to lure Sharptooth the edge of a pond full of deep water. While Elaine would be on defense and shoot at Sharptooth with her archery arrows to distract him, Doc would come in with the finishing blow and knock the T-Rex into the water. Whether Sharptooth would be conscious or not, if he was stunned with the right amount of force, he just might not be able to recover in time to save himself from drowning.

As the two discussed their plan, the sun slowly drifted down behind the edge of the horizon. Before the two realized it, the sky had turned dark blue and the stars began to sparkle in the sky. The only thing that lit up the barren landscape was the full moon shining brightly in the heavens.

It was only after they had settled on their plan of attack that Doc and Elaine realized just how late it had become.

"It's dark." Elaine pointed out. She also looked inside her backpack. "I'm running low on provisions."

The human closed her bag and touched the shining stone around her neck. Doc knew what that gesture meant.

"Doc," Elaine said to her friend, "I really hate to do this, especially at such a critical time, but…"

"You don't have to apologize." Doc shook his head. "I understand. Besides, I'd rather you go back and get what you need than lose what you have at the worst time. Don't worry, I'll wait here until you come back."

"Thanks, Doc." Elaine replied graciously. "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

Elaine gathered up her backpack, quiver full of arrows, and archery bow. Once she had all that stuff on, she looked down at her stone. She was about to say a command and open a portal, when a thought came to her mind.

"Hey, Doc," she said softly. "I know this is random, but I am really glad I met you."

Doc blinked in confusion. That was kind of a random thing to say.

"Sorry," Elaine smiled self-consciously, "I guess I just felt like saying it. It's just…I'm glad I discovered this world and you. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Doc stayed silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded and gave one of his rare smiles.

"Same here," he said. "The trail of life has led me down many paths, and I'm glad that it intersected with yours, my friend."

Elaine felt a warm glow inside her with those words. Oh, how lucky she was to get to be part of this world. To meet so many amazing creatures and to have so many adventures. She wanted it to be this way forever.

With that, Elaine turned away and cleared her mind.

"Portal Open," she commanded in a clear voice.

Instantly, a beam of light shot from the stone around her neck and stuck an invisible wall. The light expanded out into a large circle that grew until it was as tall as Elaine herself. The young woman then walked through it, waving to her dinosaur friend as she passed into the world of humans. She saw Doc acknowledge her wave before the portal closed like nothing had happened.

As soon as the portal closed, Doc heard a strange sound coming from the sky. It sounded like the crackling of fire.

Was it another meteorite falling towards earth?

Doc looked up into the sky do see the meteorite, but he saw something else. Up in the sky, falling closer and closer to earth, was a giant stone that seemed to be glowing icy blue. He had to squint as its light seemed to burn his eyes. It sailed high above him as it traveled on its course. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, no matter how much it hurt them. He stared at it with wonder and curiosity. He continued to watch it until it disappeared beyond the horizon. The only thing he could see that indicated that it landed on earth was a distant burst of light that lasted for a second or two before disappearing again.

"What was that?" he asked himself.

A week had passed for Elaine, and her Time Stone refused to shine again. She waited and waited, but it didn't shine. One week turned into two weeks. Two weeks turned into a month. More than once, Elaine tried to get a portal to open despite the lack of illumination. But it didn't work.

Nothing was working.

A horrible feeling began to grow in Elaine.

On one last desperate attempted, she drove out to the woods some miles away from the town she was living in. She gathered up all her equipment and headed into the forest. Once she was a good way in, she stopped and clutched the Time Stone around her neck.

"Please, please work," she pleaded in a whisper.

Taking a deep breath, Elaine cleared her mind and focused on only one thing.

"Portal Open!" she commanded in the strongest voice she had ever given.

Still nothing.

Nothing happened.

Elaine tried again and again, but the result was the same. The Time Stone didn't open a portal for her.

Elaine had already running low on faith before this moment, and now that faith was gone completely. She didn't know why, but the Time Stone wasn't responding to her anymore. It wasn't letting her go back to her special world.

Elaine's hands clasped around her stone and began to tremble with painful sadness. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and began to stream down her face as she brought the stone up to her bottom lip. She clutched it with what little strength she had left as reality finally sunk in. And it sunk her heart like a stone.

She was never going back to her special world. She was never going back to the Land Before Time.

She was never going to see her best friend again. Doc was now a whole world away, and she didn't even get the chance to say good-bye.

"I'm sorry, Doc!" Elaine cried, her heart breaking with each falling tear. "I'm so sorry."

Elaine then fell to her knees and shed bitter tears.

Present day…

"Elaine?"

Elaine lifted her gaze. Across the table from her was her husband, Richard.

"Are you alright?" Richard asked. "You looked lost in thought."

"Oh, I'm fine, Richard." Elaine smiled softly. "I was just thinking about the past, that's all."

"I see," the man said in a low voice. "Was it something bad?"

"No, not really." Elaine shook her head. "Just bittersweet I guess. But I'm fine, really."

Richard shrugged and went back to eating his dinner. Elaine followed his lead and did the same thing.

It had been forty-five years. Forty-five years since she had set foot in that wonderful world beyond hers. In those forty-five years, she had met Richard and married him. The two had a daughter, who was now all grown up and had a family of her own. And now, Elaine also had two wonderful grandchildren.

And one of those grandchildren, the youngest in her family, now carried the Time Stone. Elaine's granddaughter, Aylene, was exploring the wonders of the Land Before Time. She was crossing between the worlds, having adventures, and finding herself in a world beyond this one.

And it wasn't just her now. Her older brother, Derek, was also joining her on her adventures. Like Aylene, he seemed to have grown up ever since he began going to that other world. He was becoming more of a man every day.

As happy as Elaine was for Aylene to experience the happiness and joy she had felt when in that world, and as proud as she was to see Aylene grow into the person she was meant to be because of that world, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as well. It wasn't Aylene's fault by any means, but Elaine wanted back what her granddaughter now had.

Even if it was one last time, she wanted to return to that world. Just to have one last adventure. Just to see her best friend one last time and tell him how sorry she was, and to say good-bye to his face.

She wanted that. Even if it was one last time, she would treasure every moment.