Well, here you go
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Chapter 2: The LessonThe meeting place was a small, secluded clearing in the middle of one of the many forests within the Great Valley. The location was surrounded by really old trees which blocked out the rays of the Bright Circle with their massive crowns, whose trunks were really thick and strong – some even as thick as the leg of a grown-up Longneck, and whose roots were sticking out of the ground at some spots. Big, flat rocks and a couple treetrunks were positioned around a big rock in the center of the clearing where Mr. Thicknose would always stand when he taught his wisdom to the children who would take a seat on the rocks or treetrunks though some just made themselves comfortable on the ground which was painted with soft, green grass with the occasional flower dotting the green. On the edge of the clearing, bushes and ferns were forming an almost unpassable wall. However, it wasn't surrounding the place completely...
Located not too far away from where the Longnecks were residing, Littlefoot was the first to arrive at the meeting place despite not hurrying to get there quick at all. Slipping through a hole in a bush (that Spike had devoured some weeks prior), he walked to the rock he would usually rest on and, sighing, made himself comfortable, hanging about lazily.
Cera was the next to arrive, making her arrival known to everybody in the vicinity. With a loud roar, she sprinted towards one of the big ferns whose stem was a few centimetres in diametre, ramming into it with her horned frill and cutting it down easily.
"Breakfast, Littlefoot?" Cera called over to her longnecked friend, looking quite pleased with herself.
Littlefoot took a deep yawn before responding. "Meh, I'm still too tired for food... but thanks for the offer, Cera."
"Well, more for me then," Cera spoke before pulling the fern to her personal rock and tucking into the food.
"You wouldn't have let me eat the fern you downed anyway..." Littlefoot remarked, yawning yet again.
"How smart you are..." Cera teased with her mouth full.
The next to arrive was Mr. Thicknose, entering through the only bigger opening in the vegetation.
"Morning kids," he greeted them, slowly trotting towards his rock in the centre of the clearing.
"Good morning Mr. Thicknose..." Littlefoot and Cera replied in the same, monotonous and bored tone.
"Today is a beautiful day, isn't it?" the elderly Threehorn exclaimed happily, looking up to the sky, peeking through the few holes in the leavy crown of the surrounding forest. Not a single cloud was visible.
"Oh yes... perfect," Cera answered unclearly since she was busy munching on the fern.
"Totally," Littlefoot replied, some sarcasm ringing in his voice.
"Hey, better than those endless days of Sky Water falling all day!" Cera retorted in annoyance.
"Of course," Mr. Thicknose chimed in. "Sky Water is just as important as the Bright Circle for our Valley to flourish. As I told you some time ago. Didn't I?"
"I remember..." Cera sighed.
"So do I..." Littlefoot agreed, yawning.
Thicknose gave the Longneck a stern look but didn't say more.
A few minutes went by with nothing happening, except that Cera finished her meal, also making herself comfortable on her rock, relaxing. Meanwhile, Thicknose began looking around, his mood slowly dropping. Where were the others?
Then, Ducky's voice could be heard in the distance.
"Spiky, stop eating! We are going to be late, yes we are!"
"Humpff! Spike is more interested in eating than in the lesson again!" Cera grunted in annoyance. "And I have to wait for them as always!"
"Like you're interested in the lesson, Cera..." Littlefoot hissed in her direction.
"Watch your mouth or I'll ram you against every tree here!" Cera hissed back in a threatening manner.
Littlefoot simply shook his head and put it back onto the rock, trying not to fall asleep.
"Hello Mr. Thicknose, hello Littlefoot, hello Cera..." Ducky piped up, crawling out of a fallen, hollow log. With a munching sound, a bush right next to her suddenly disappeared as Spike gobbled it up completely.
"Good morning, Ducky and Spike," Thicknose replied neutrally.
"I am very sorry for being late but..."
Suddenly, the distant laughter of Ruby and Chomper could be heard, rapidly advancing.
"... but Spike kept on stopping on the way for a snack, yes he did!" Ducky explained, glaring at her brother who simply smiled and giggled.
"This is not funny, Spike, no, no, no! We are too late again and now Mr. Thicknose is mad at us, yes he is..." Ducky scolded.
"First!" Ruby suddenly shouted, entering the clearing by breaking through the undergrowth.
"More like almost last..." Cera teased. "Even Spike came earlier than you..."
"Children please!" Mr. Thicknose exclaimed. "Is it really that difficult to be on time?! Now go to your places so we can begin!"
"See? Now he is mad at us, Spike!" Ducky hissed at Spike who just shrugged. Angrily, Ducky jumped off the Spiketail's back, walking to her usual spot in the grass herself, Spike following in a trot.
Meanwhile, Chomper, too, entered the scene. "Damn, you beat me again, Ruby..." he panted. "Could we play the game the other way around so that the slowest wins for a change?"
"Well, in that case, the one with more patience not to move would win and that's also me," Ruby teased.
"Not true!" Chomper retorted.
"Admit it, Chomper, your patience really is very short," Cera exclaimed matter of factly.
"And that's coming from you?" Littlefoot chimed in.
"Watch your..."
"Quiet!" Thicknose demanded. "You go to your spot as well, Chomper! I won't ask for the reason of you two being late..."
"We are very sorry, very sorry we are," Ruby spoke up. "Chomper needed some breakfast first,
breakfast he needed..."
"I can't concentrate with an empty belly..." Chomper replied shyly. As if on command, his stomach growled angrily. "Well, it's still too empty... unlike you guys, I have to work to get my food and my food isn't nearly as plentiful as yours, you know?"
"Well, there is enough food for you in the Great Valley, Chomper..." Ducky spoke up hesitantly. "But you may not have it, nope, nope, nope!"
"He's perfectly aware of that, you know?" Cera grunted.
"Of course, I do, I do..." Ducky answered conciliatorily.
"Now sit down everybody and listen!" Mr. Thicknose yelled. "You're almost as annoying as Petrie's siblings lately!"
"Speaking of Petrie... where's that freak???" Cera wondered, stomping her foot.
"Cera, he is not a freak but a friend!" Ducky retorted.
"Oh yeah? Let me know when you're celebrating your mating then!"
Chomper began laughing at that while Ruby and Littlefoot shook their heads and Spike looked at Cera angrily.
"That was not nice, Cera, no, no, no!" Ducky shouted.
"Guys, calm down..." Littlefoot sighed. "The longer you banter, the longer we'll be stuck here..."
"Thank you, Littlefoot, albeit I do not like your wording..." Thicknose sighed. "Well, I cannot afford to wait any longer. We'll begin without Petrie, assuming that'll be in everyone's favor?"
The Gang all nodded solemnly.
"So... what will our lesson today be about?" Chomper questioned curiously.
"Well, today I would like to tell you about the effects food can have on your body if it is not good anymore." Mr. Thicknose explained to the gang.
"What do you mean!?" Cera wondered.
"Dried leaves?" Littlefoot suggested half-heartedly.
"Foul Tree Sweets?" Ducky submitted.
"Overripe berries perhaps?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, these are good examples," Thicknose replied, his mood slightly improving again.
"At least they're listening and answering other than these crazy flyers...""Uhm, Mr. Thicknose?" Chomper piped up hesitantly.
"Yes, Chomper?"
"What about... rotten meat?"
"Chomper!" Cera shouted.
"Yuck, yuck, yuck!" Ducky complained in disgust.
Littlefoot sighed while Spike looked like he was terribly sick, his eyes rolling.
"Chomper, that was uncalled for..." Ruby whispered into his ear.
"Uhh, sorry..." the little Sharptooth apologised innocently.
"I am afraid my knowledge of your diet is not sufficient to answer your question to your full satisfaction," Mr. Thicknose replied. "However, I wouldn't be surprised if rotten meat had a negative effect on you if you ate it."
"Err... thanks, Mr. Thicknose..." Chomper replied.
"Right, where was I again?" the old Threehorn wondered – Chomper's questions had disrupted his concept.
"You were about to tell us about the effects of bad food, about the effects of bad food you were going to talk," Ruby explained in her unique way of talking.
"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky agreed.
"You know, Ruby, I can hear just fine," Mr. Thicknose said in amusement. "You do not need to repeat everything you say." Nodding approvingly, he added. "Thank you for the reminder though."
"You're welcome, welcome you are," Ruby replied, chuckling.
"Ahem, so you've already named a few sources of bad food," Thicknose went on. "Do you know what negative effects these could have on your body?"
"Dried leaves simply taste horrible!" Cera grunted.
"Oh yes they do!" Ducky agreed. "They are so dry that they will stick to the inside of your mouth, yes they will!"
"They also may get stuck in your neck," Ruby added.
"They'll make you spit them out again!" Chomper explained.
"You'd spit out ANY green food, Chomper..." Littlefoot remarked. "I couldn't make you change your diet when you were a baby, unfortunately..."
"All of your answers were more or less correct," Thicknose told the group. "The main issue of dry leaves of course is the lack of water in them. They will make you thirsty. What is really problematic is that you'd usually find dry leaves in times where water is scarce as well."
"So... they'll make us even more thirsty than we already are?" Ruby asked, finishing her teacher's thought.
"Indeed Ruby," Thicknose replied, smiling at the Fastrunner. "Of course, it is also dangerous to eat them. As our Ruby here has pointed out, they may get stuck in your throat. This may or may not disrupt your breathing. However, if it does, you may not live to tell the tale if there isn't water nearby to wash it out of your throat quickly!"
"Isn't there another possibility, Mr. Thicknose?" Ruby inquired.
"Yeah... what if there isn't any bloody water nearby?" Cera demanded.
"Well uhm... there is something you can do but I am not sure if you'll like that method..." Thicknose answered hesitantly.
"What would that be, huh?" Ducky asked curiously.
"You see, children... if you can't wash it out from the outside, you'll need to wash it out from the inside..." Thicknose responded hesitantly again. The reaction of the Gang came immediately.
"Wait a second... so you need to make them puke???" Cera concluded, shocked.
"There goes my appetite..." Littlefoot sighed.
"Yuck, yuck, yuck!" Ducky stated in disgust.
"I'd prefer the term "throwing up"," Thicknose amended Cera's answer. "Nonetheless, your conclusion is correct, Cera."
"How would you do that?" Ruby wondered.
"Well, there are a few methods..." Thicknose explained thoughtfully. "If you're a two-footer, it's easier... reason being that you can cause yourself to throw-up."
"But... how?" Ducky and Ruby asked simultaneously.
"You see, did you ever wonder what that red thing back in your throat, that looks like a drop of water, does? If it is being touched, you will start to choke. If you keep touching it, you will ultimately end up emptying what you got in your stomach... and pushing out what is stuck in your throat."
"Neat..." Cera murmured.
"And what about four-footers like Spiky?" Ducky wondered. "They do not have any arms they can stick into their mouths, no, no, no..."
"Glad you ask, Ducky," Thicknose responded approvingly. "Of course, if a two footer is nearby, they could do just that. However, there is another way to make somebody throw-up although it is not as reliable as the option we discussed previously."
"How can this get any worse???" Cera hissed in Littlefoot's direction.
"Don't say it too loud or it will..." the Longneck warned, sighing.
"If you give somebody a hard and painful push or kick into the belly, you may end up making them throw-up if your hit was accurate."
"Ugh, I'm sick! Can we talk about something else?!" Cera requested, turning somewhat pale.
"Of course, Cera, of course," Thicknose replied.
"Much appreciated..."
"There is another aspect I would like to mention shortly," the elderly Threehorn continued. "Please remember, that leaves not only lose their taste when they get dry. They will also lose some value for our bodies and won't provide nearly as much food as the same amount of green leaves."
"So that means you will have to eat more of them, more of them you will have to eat?" Ruby concluded.
"You got that right, Ruby," Thicknose nodded.
"At least now we fiiiiiiinally know how to prevent Spike from turning fat..." Cera mused. "Just let him eat all the bad food, it'll make him full too."
"Spike's hunger is never ever satisfied, oh no, no, no," Ducky chuckled.
"Uh-huh," Spike nodded, chuckling. Being reminded of eating, he spontaneously targetted a field of flowers that were yellow in the middle with white, feather-like blossoms and took a bite out of it.
"SPIKY!!!" Ducky suddenly screamed. "How many times do I need to tell you that flowers are not to be eated-ed???"
Spike, the mixture of grass and flowers still in his mouth, realised his mistake, looking scared of the small girl, clenching her fists.
"Flowers are to be admired-ed and not to be eated-ed, no, no, no..." the Swimmer spoke a little bit calmer.
"Just like boys, huh?" Ruby suddenly piped up. Cera knew the saying as well and they performed it together. "Don't touch, just gawk awkwardly," causing them to start giggling.
"Uhm, do you think that's true for my sort of food too?" Chomper adressed their teacher, trying to ignore the girls' banter.
"As I already told you, my knowledge about your kind is very limited, Chomper," Thicknose replied apologetically. "I am sorry but I cannot answer that question."
"No problem..." Chomper caught a threatening glare of Cera.
"Right," Mr. Thicknose said, taking a deep breath. "Let us move on to the next problematic source of food. Foul Tree Sweets. Has anybody ever had the pleasure to deal with the aftereffect of eating Tree Sweets which were not good anymore?"
Everyone looked around to see if anybody wanted to share their experiences. Of course, they all had had the displeasure to feel the consequences of bad fruits already but nobody felt like sharing these details.
Unexpectedly, a figure came down, descending from the sky, eventually landing on one of the smaller rocks in the circle... Petrie's rock.
"Uh, me been eating funny food many times. It not funny story though..." Petrie spoke up hesitantly.
"Oh Petrie, I was worried where you had been!" Ducky exclaimed, happy to see her friend.
"Where have you been!?" Cera growled as unfriendly as ever.
"I am curious what caused your delayed arrival as well..." Mr. Thicknose agreed, looking at the little Flyer sternly though he didn't express any anger at this point.
"Err... me can explain..." Petrie promised awkwardly. He'd already made up a story to cover up his true reason for being late... "Me was on way to here when brothers and sisters blocked way and tied Petrie to a tree. Me had to wait until mommy make ties loose again so me could come here."
"Likely story, Petrie, likely story..." Cera teased, entertained. "Who is going to believe THAT???"
"Well, I do!" Ducky retorted angrily.
"Actually, I am pretty sure that he is not saying the truth though..." Ducky felt that something was foul here. She had caught Petrie lying but still defended him.
"I think I know why he is late...""It true!" Petrie argued.
"He is not looking good today, nope, nope, nope," the Swimmer observed.
"He must be really upset about something and I will find out, yes I will!""Well, knowing his siblings, it's actually quite possible that he's telling the truth..." Littlefoot mused.
"Yeah, sounds like something those little pranksters would do," Chomper agreed. "Funny idea though." The Sharptooth laughed for a short moment.
"Well, although I do have the impression that you are not telling the full truth, I will not question this further," Mr. Thicknose announced somewhat sourly. "Take your place and listen to today's lesson which is about the effects of bad food on you. Your friends may tell you about what you missed after the lesson."
"Okay, me sorry, it not my fault." Petrie replied, making himself comfortable on his rock, looking somewhat sad.
"I still don't take that story..." Cera hissed in his direction.
"Right... where was I?" Thicknose pondered.
While the old Threehorn was busy recollecting his thoughts, Ducky quickly moved over to Petrie. "You were lying, were you not, Petrie?" Ducky stated matter-of-factly.
The Flyer turned to the Swimmer girl, his head hanging low. "Yes, but why you say you believe Petrie?"
"Oh Petrie, you look very upset, yes you do... what is wrong? Did your siblings say mean things to you again, huh?" Ducky enquired. "Or is it what we were talking about some time ago?" she added, whispering.
Petrie simply nodded.
Ducky wanted to say something in response but Mr. Thicknose had apparently recollected his mind and was just about to continue so the Swimmer quickly lollopped back to her seat, giving her friend an apologetic look.
"So anyway, Petrie," the old Threehorn continued. "You were stating that you have already been in the unfortunate situation to have eaten foul Tree Sweets. How did it affect you?"
"Me think that too disgusting..." the Flyer spoke hesitantly.
"Looks like it CAN get worse after all..." Littlefoot mumbled.
"Yeah..." Cera replied in suppressed anger.
"That is correct, the reaction it causes is usually not very harmful – at least I've never heard of a case where eating too many foul Tree Sweets actually killed a dinosaur. However, it can be very unpleasant for the dinosaur who gets sick from them," the old Threehorn expounded. "Usually, it all starts with a stomach-ache. Sometimes, you will get sick, sometimes you will not. After a few hours, the pain will move to another part of your stomach amd you will start to feel inflated."
"Yes, yes... and then we all go to the relieving spot for a whole day... thanks for ruining my appetite!" Cera ranted.
"I beg your pardon," Thicknose replied. "I do not like getting interrupted, you know?"
"Sooooorry..." Cera replied in a placatory manner. "You still make me sick with all these details though!"
Thicknose chuckled. "Not as tough in that field, are you, Cera?"
"Hey!" Cera shouted.
The rest of the Gang's reactions came immediately. Chomper roared with laughter, Ducky held her stomach laughing, Spike and Ruby were chuckling as well and even grumpy, sleep deprived Littlefoot couldn't help but grin at Cera.
Only Petrie didn't laugh at all... as Ducky noticed as soon as she had caught her breath again.
"Hmm, usually he is always laughing when Cera embarrasses herself, yes he is...""Anyway," Thicknose continued, speaking a little louder as a signal to the gang that he wanted to continue the lesson. "Cera, you were mostly correct in your statements. Ultimately, you will end up spending a lot of time painfully getting rid of the bad food to put it mildly. Not as dangerous as the dried leaves but certainly you'll be better off avoiding this at all costs..."
"Oh yeah..." Cera agreed in her usual sarcastic manner.
"Right, that leads us to our final source of food-related trouble," Thicknose went on.
"Can't get worse now?" Cera hissed in Littlefoot's direction.
"Who knows?" Littlefoot shrugged. "Maybe the next thing will be something you even like? You certainly like berries so why not like them a bit overripe as well?"
"Berries?!" Cera hissed back in confusion.
"Oh do you ever listen to what he's saying???" Littlefoot facepalmed. "We were collecting things you shouldn't eat, remember? I entered the leaves, Ducky the Tree Sweets and Ruby the..."
"Yes, yes, okay you won, smartass..." Cera resigned, saying that part aloud in her frustration which earned her a stern look from their lecturer.
"I'm sure you all have already eaten overripe berries by accident before, haven't you?" the old Threehorn wondered.
Everybody nodded, except Chomper of course.
"And I bet you all will agree that it tastes somewhat... funny," Thicknose further interrogated.
"Oh yes, yes, yes..." Ducky agreed. "It tastes very funny... sweet but... funny."
"Very funny, Ducky," Chomper remarked. "And I still don't know how it tastes..."
"Then you need to try it, trying you need to do," Ruby suggested half heartedly.
"Whatever these things do to you guys they'll do worse things with me..."
"Possibly yes..." Thicknose chimed in. "Anyway, here's what I am presuming to be the cause for the funny taste. Through extended studies I did a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that the ingredient of the berries which make them so wonderfully sweet in taste once they get ripe is, in the event that they are not devoured, slowly changing into another ingredient causing the not so sweet taste. Consequently, as I was testing by eating berries in different stadiums of overripeness, the longer they've surpassed their time of ripeness, the stronger the not so sweet taste got."
"Did you eat them on purpose, did you?" Ducky wondered in amazement.
"Considering that these are probably not healthy - because otherwise we wouldn't be talking about them in a lesson about bad food, I consider that to be highly risky..." Ruby spoke.
"So does it not have any bad effects on us if we eat overripe berries?" the Swimmer queried.
"Good thinking, girls," Thicknose praised. "Indeed, it can be harmful to eat too many of them. Eating small amounts is not as harmful as eating small amounts of bad Tree Sweets, however, eating many of them will cause similar unpleasant troubles although it usually does not involve pain unlike when you're eating Tree Sweets..."
"Lovely..." Cera rolled her eyes.
"Doesn't sound too bad..." Littlefoot spoke up. "Is that all they do to us?"
Thicknose laughed. "Oh no, there is something else they do to you which is, by far, the most important and valueful information I would like to pass on to you today."
"Oh what is it?" Ducky wondered excitedly.
"I wanna know too!" Chomper agreed, Ruby nodding eagerly as well.
"Well, I think this is a perfect opportunity to tell you children a story about my very personal first experiences with overripe berries and their effects on me," Thicknose announced, smiling.
"Oh, that sounds... great," Littlefoot exclaimed hesitantly.
"That's an understatement..." Cera fawned.
"Oh a story? I like stories, yes I do!" Ducky exclaimed happily, clapping her hands in excitement.
"Well, and I llllllllllove stories!" Chomper replied exaggeratingly.
"I'm sure that'll be valueful, valueful it will be," Ruby mentioned with mild excitement.
"Well, it's supposed to," Mr. Thicknose laughed. "I'll go ahead then, if you children are listening."
Ducky cast another glance at Petrie. The Flyer seemed to be paying attention to the lesson yet he was somewhat indifferent, distant and thoughtful.
"First of all..." the old Threehorn began. "I need to make clear that, at the time, I did not know anything about the effects you're about to learn. Well... how to put it? I learned it the hard way. I am sincerely hoping you will be spared that experience through the wisdom I pass on to you..."
Thicknose took a deep breath, cleared his throat and then began with the actual story...
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...which you will be hear until like... next weekend... maybe?
Sincere apologies for that cliffhanger
After the first chapter got a lot of feedback, I have high expectations now
Keep those reviews coming, guys. I appreciate the great support, it keeps me from wasting my time doing unproductive things
What will the next chapter be about?
No hard guess!
Don't be afraid to say it aloud,
It'll be an excess!
Don't ask... it's 4am here ....
EDIT: Made some minor edits to chapter 1 that people were suggesting in their reviews
