Next chapter... though it took me half of the night to finish it
It's quite long with above 4000 words
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Chapter 41:
"There, I won!" Littlefoot declared proudly after both he and Ali entered the cave simultaneously.
"You didn't win. We tied!" Ali assured her friend determinedly.
"Can you prove that?" Littlefoot grinned.
"Can you?" Ali retorted, poking out her tongue.
"Well, guess neither of us can prove it," Littlefoot admitted, sighing.
Suddenly, there was an eery breeze behind them and a shadow appeared out of nowhere.
"You need someone to judge?" a deep, growling and mysterious voice came from behind the two children out of the dark.
Littlefoot and Ali jerked in surprise and looked at each other in horror, then turning around to see who had just spoken.
"W-w-who are you?!" Ali asked, sounding a bit more scared than she actually was.
"N-no thanks, b-but thanks for the offer!" Littlefoot replied, trying to stay cool and failing horribly at it.
"Name's Hart..." the mysterious voice answered quietly. "You kiddies sure you don't need a judge? I've seen ya; I can tell the winner," he spoke, trying to sound somewhat friendly.
"That's kind of you but it really doesn't matter to us who won in the end, does it Ali?" Littlefoot answered.
Ali shook her head.
"Very well then..." Hart spoke in a drawled way.
"What kind of dinosaur is he? I can't see!" Littlefoot whispered to Ali.
"A Longneck most likely. See, There's a bunch of them at this place..." Ali replied quietly. "I"d be more concerned about what he's going to do with us though. He seems creepy to me..."
"Yeah... I know," Littlefoot agreed.
"Matters to me though..." Hart suddenly hissed. "Now I'm curious."
Littlefoot and Ali looked at each other, alarmed.
"Would you two have another race?" Hart asked seductively. "Please?" he added sweetly.
"Ehm... no thanks," Ali replied shyly and cautiously.
"We uhh... wanted to go anyway, right Ali?" Littlefoot spoke nervously.
"Oh yes, you know how worried sick my mum will be if I'm home late," Ali replied, faking an amused laugh while jumping on Littlefoot's train.
"Why not race your pal on the way home, young lady?" Hart suggested.
"B-but I'm exhausted!" Ali lied.
"A-and we have a long way home," Littlefoot jumped in to support Ali. Technically, he was even saying the truth.
"I insist on it!" The stranger's voice was now demanding and threatening.
"Littlefoot, let's go!" Ali urged her friend. She was beginning to get scared.
"Yes, we'll leave now," he answered, trying to stay calm.
"Yes, you will," Hart spoke harshly. "But you will RUN!!!"
Littlefoot and Ali who had already turned around to walk out of the cave jumped in surprise and fear when the mysterious dinosaur suddenly started yelling at them.
"We better do..." Littlefoot thought. He didn't know who or what was lurking in the shadow but if it chose to chase them, they'd better be the ones with a head start.
"Run!" he hissed at Ali who didn't question his suggestion the slightest.
"THIS IS MY CAVE! I DON'T WANNA SEE YOU HERE AGAIN!!! GOT THAT!?" Hart yelled at the two youngsters furiously. "AND NEVER WAKE ME UP AGAIN OR YOU'LL PAY FOR IT!!!"
Littlefoot and Ali sprinted down the pathway they previously used to get to the cave in the first place – climbing down the steep slope was not an option just like it wasn't possible for them to climb up earlier. They were unmistakenly panicked, running as if a sharptooth was pursuing them.
"Why don't you give chase, sir?" Ricky questioned in annoyance. The two youngsters had woken him up as well as his father with their silly laughing. Due to travelling through the other night, he was still heavily sleep-deprived.
"Not worth the effort..." Hart grunted. "They won't show up again, that's all that matters."
"Still, they've disturbed your important sleep, sir!" Ricky argued. "I really desperately want to see these kids suffer!"
"So do I..." Hart mumbled to himself evilly.
"So I thought, sir!" Ricky exclaimed.
"If I engaged in a chase, I'd be wide awake. I need my sleep, y'know," Hart explained to his son.
"I see..." Ricky spoke thoughtfully. "So you want to snooze until the dawn of night then?"
"Exactly," Hart yawned. "I'd prefer not to be seen by anyone when I leave our hideout. Stirrin' up trouble is the last thing we need."
"But now I'm wide awake..." Ricky complained. "There's no way I can go back to sleep now!"
"Hmm, then how about you go out there to do some exploring and look for these plants, son?" Hart suggested.
"Of course! I'll do whatever you want me to do, sir!" Ricky exclaimed, salutating.
"Good lad, that's what your other siblings unfortunately lacked... obedience," Hart spoke in a mixture of amusement and bitterness. "You've never been a dinosaur seeking the dark like me but that's probably something we're hatched with. In a way, that proves to be useful in times like this... Now go and explore, be back at dawn and don't stir up any trouble, will ya? Don't be conspicuous and stay hidden."
"Sure, I won't disappoint you, sir!" Ricky declared proudly before turning around and walking out of the cave, hearing the distant laughter of the youngsters who woke him up. He'd get them for that one day. He wouldn't forget their names nor how these two looked like.
"You'll wish you've never been born...""Is it following us???" Ali screamed in panic as she raced down the path with dangerous speed.
"I'm too scared to look!!!" Littlefoot shouted back at her. "Just don't trip! Then we'd be in trouble!"
"Don't worry, Littlefoot!" Ali replied, panting. "I'll watch my st- AARRRRGH!"
"ALI!" Littlefoot screamed in panic as Ali did trip over a small rock, tumbling down the path.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ali screamed. She was scared for her life, unable to stop her wild momentum.
"I'll help you!" Littlefoot shouted, picking up even more speed to overtake Ali and stop her rolling down the path, the slope still being steep enough to keep her body in motion and him at high risk of tripping too.
At first it seemed to work – Littlefoot had almost sprinted past his friend, about to take the impact, hoping that he could slow Ali down and manage not to fall himself, but fate meant things to go differently...
Bron stood high above the little valley on its high, steep walls, his back turned to the valley while his gaze wandered through the hostile land surrounding the little paradise he and his herd currently resided at.
He had come up here in order to meet somebody – somebody he had long given up until, the other day, he had finally found him. It was his son Littlefoot. However, Bron was still a bit early. Littlefoot wouldn't turn up in another hour or so but Bron needed some time alone anyway. A lot had happened since he had entered this valley and Bron needed a break from his duties as a leader as well as from his duties as a caregiver and father to have the opportunity to process everything that's happened and plan how to proceed.
Until very recently, he had thought he was the only one left from his family and herd. Long ago he had been told about the death of his mate and the fate of his son and parents-in-law had been uncertain. They could have been dead or prospering somewhere the big drought hadn't striked yet. Bron didn't know.
However, everything changed when he finally got an answer – when he met those he had lost long ago or, in case of his son Littlefoot, hasn't even met yet. Despite everything that had happened the other day other than meeting his long-lost relatives, it was still one of the best days he's had in a long while.
Bron was really proud of them. They managed to do something he had never succeeded at. They found the Great Valley and made it their home. Back then, as Bron noted with some bitterness, it was his task to find it in order to provide his family and herd and, most importantly, his son with a bright future. He failed. He could've been back before the big earthshake split the lands if he hadn't been looking for it for so long. He could've been there, protecting them, but he wasn't. He was simply glad that his failure only cost the life of his mate and not eradicated his entire herd. Ironically, despite his obvious failure as a herd leader, he managed to become the leader of a new herd that formed around him. It was a development he didn't like at first but slowly but surely he came to accept what had happened and decided to have a fresh start and things went really well. He was respected among his herd members and he'd always managed to find water and food.
Still, it meant not having a family. Taking Shorty in did help a little but obviously it wasn't the same like caring for his real son.
However, Bron was most proud of his son. He had grown into a very fine, young Longneck. Bron didn't know him very well yet but he assumed he was just as adventurous as he used to be.
"I will change that later though..." Bron thought. He'd been talking about himself during their first meeting, explaining himself. Now it was time that Littlefoot told him about himself...
There was another issue Bron had to think about. He hadn't only found his son but his in-laws too. They had taken on the role as Littlefoot's caregivers and loving grandparents, raising him to be a well-behaved (or so Bron hoped), smart and strong young Longneck. It was a role he should have had along with his mate.
Bron had always been on good terms with them yet he didn't like all of their decisions and methods. His biggest wish was to reunite the family and, particularly, spend time with his son. Unfortunately, he couldn't abandon his herd either. After all, he didn't just become the leader of any herd – he became the leader of a herd that formed around his personality, strength and methods. Over time, they became his family he had to take care of. Abandoning them would feel like betrayal to Bron. Long ago, he had decided to dedicate his life to the well-being of all of these Longnecks. He would not undo that decision; he would lead them until his death or until he felt like it was the right time to step down and appoint a new leader. He would persuade Littlefoot of joining him; whether his grandparents would join him or not was secundary...
Littlefoot felt something hit his hind limps hard, causing him to fall over, faceplant and start tumbling down the path as well. He sweared and cursed audibly.
"Sorry..." Ali exclaimed as she rolled right into Littlefoot, slowing her body a little bit on the bright side.
Luckily for the two young Longnecks, they had almost reached the end of the path where it didn't go very steep anymore. Eventually, both came to a stop after crashing into each other a couple more times.
"Watching your step, huh?" Littlefoot groaned.
"S-sorry, Littlefoot, I think it was my tail that tripped you," Ali replied in worry. "Are you alright?"
"I should be asking you this..." Littlefoot muttered, getting to his feet again. "I'm fine, looks like whatever was lurking in that cave didn't follow us at least."
"Yeah..."Ali stood up carefully as well. "I could be worse. I don't think I'm hurt too much."
"That's good to hear," Littlefoot answered. "Looks like we're just a bit bruised."
"And scratched..." Ali chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Littlefoot wondered.
"Oh, well we look like we've had a fight, you see?" Ali replied, still giggling.
"If anybody asks, Shorty beat us up, okay?" Now it was Littlefoot's turn to chuckle at his own words.
Ali gave him a stern look though.
"Well, I was just kidding. He's grounded anyway so it couldn't be him. Then we've been beat up by some bullies?"
"We were playing, our parents will believe that," Ali suggested.
"Playing wild games..." Littlefoot mentioned.
"Oh yes!" Ali laughed. "It's so much fun to play with you, Littlefoot. I will miss this time once it's over..."
"Me too, but now's not the time to think about that. Let's have fun!"
"Yep, yep, yep... as Ducky would say."
Littlefoot smiled.
"So... I guess we won't be exploring this cave then," Ali eventually sighed.
"Well, maybe there's a way but for now let's go back," Littlefoot suggested, taking a look at the sky. "The Bright Circle is slowly beginning its descent from the sky. I'll be meeting Bron soon I guess."
"Oh right, I almost forgot about that," Ali admitted. Looking at Littlefoot, she added. "But do you really want to meet him like... that?"
"Huh?" Littlefoot was confused.
Ali could hardly talk while she erupted in laughter. "Well, just look how d-d-dirty you are!"
"Oh... right." Littlefoot realised that he wasn't just bruised but also covered in a lot of dirt and dust... which also applied to Ali. "You should see your reflection in the water though," he remarked.
"Well, looks like we're due to another bath today," Ali said as soon as she had recovered from laughing.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Littlefoot replied, grinning. "Let's go then!"
The two kids walked back into the jungle back to the watering hole where they had started their adventure.
Hart sighed. It really annoyed him that he'd been woken up. The children would feel his wrath, should they dare waking him up again. Yawning, he retreated deeper into the darkness of the cave he had fortunately discovered to find some more hours of sleep before the Night Circle would replace the Bright Circle from the sky. It served him as a hideout just perfectly – hard to reach and even harder to find in the first place but Hart had experience in finding hidden gems like this cavern. Hart was a strong fighter, ruthless enough to kill anyone without any mercy. It seemed odd that he needed a place to hide but the green giant had his reasons. Like all other Longnecks, he took a long and exhausting journey upon himself to arrive at this place. He was certain that his sleep-stories would guide him to a place where he'd finally find the plant he needed so desperately to be truly happy. He hadn't found any since the traitor had run away from him – quite a few seasons had passed since that day and the deprivation slowly drove him mad. He'd kill if it meant getting his leaves... though he'd also kill for less important aims of his. He slumbered away, smirking evilly.
Ricky smirked. Despite his orders, he had decided to spy on the two kids who had disrupted his sleep. Following them at a save distance, hid by the plentiful vegetation, he listened to their occasional conversations but there was nothing of interest for him. The girl annoyed the shit out of him in fact, stopping all the time and gawking at flowers and the like, but Ricky stayed on their track. He had a feeling it would be rewarding to follow them. How right he was...
"Littlefoot! That's disgusting!" Ali shouted at her friend, grimacing.
"Sorry," Littlefoot replied meekly. A huge number of bubbles rose to the surface of the watering hole he and Ali were just bathing in, removing the dirt and the dust from their skin. "I'll never eat so many Tree Sweets again – at least not these, I promise..."
"Not while I'm around," Ali suggested, chuckling. "Well, I won't risk such a rumbly tummy any time soon either."
"Yeah, might be for the best," Littlefoot admitted. "Or else all the gas inside of you will make you look really fat."
"How dare you..." Ali hissed dangerously, raising her tail.
"Uh oh..." Littlefoot muttered, realising that his comment might have been too rude.
Then Ali gave her friend a shower. "Take that!" she shouted, using her tail to splash a huge amount of water at the boy.
Littlefoot laughed. "Whew, for a moment I thought you'd slap me, Ali."
"It's never too late..." Ali replied, smirking and raising her tail again, splashing more water at Littlefoot.
"Thanks for the free bath anyway," Littlefoot giggled.
"You're welcome," Ali answered, also giggling. "Now I can finally look at you again!"
"Hey!" Littlefoot shouted, laughing. "Mind if I return the favor?"
"Sure, if you can catch me..." Ali teased, wading through the shallow water towards the deeper water in the middle of the watering hole. Littlefoot gave chase.
Grandpa was smiling warmly as he watched his grandson play in the water.
"Oh, sometimes I really wish I could go back in time to be young again," he spoke dreamily which earned him a light chuckle from his mate.
"Oh yes, so do I, dear," Grandma replied, snuggling her head against Grandpa's.
Ali reached the deep water before Littlefoot could get close enough to splash water at her. Here the small pond was so deep that they couldn't stand on their feet anymore. Littlefoot, therefore, couldn't use his tail anymore since he'd be too busy keeping himself above the surface.
"Wanna dive?" Littlefoot asked, curious what was underneath him.
"Sure!" Ali exclaimed, taking a deep breath and diving.
Littlefoot did the same. He still remembered the sheer beauty of the underwater world his swimmer friend Mo once showed him. The watering hole wasn't nearly as interesting but Littlefoot had something in his mind anyway. He dived as deep as he could where the water got murky. He waited until Ali resurfaced. Then, beginning to get short on air, he quickly swam upwards until he was right underneath Ali who didn't notice him, looking above the surface instead. Performing a somersault, Littlefoot, in the middle of the move, stuck out his tail towards Ali and gently touched her underbelly.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ali screamed; something had touched her.
"Surpriiiiiiiise!" Littlefoot called once he had resurfaced and taken a deep breath of air.
"Littlefoot! You scared me!" Ali accused him.
"Well, that's what it was all about..." Littlefoot grinned.
Ali gave her friend a look full of anger but as Littlefoot tried to look as innocent as he could, Ali just couldn't keep her grudge and laughed.
"You're so much fun, Littlefoot!" Ali eventually told Littlefoot.
"You too," Littlefoot smiled.
"See, I also had a lot of fun with Shorty back then but it's just hilarious hanging around with you," Ali explained. "You really make my day."
"Well, I'm just glad to see you again," Littlefoot answered, slightly blushing at the compliment.
"Speaking of Shorty..." Ali spoke, changing the topic. "What do you think about him?"
"Huh?" Littlefoot replied. "I've hardly met him. How can I have an opinion on him without really knowing him?"
"True..." Ali admitted. "See, I was just wondering... you've barely interacted with him and most of what you know about him is either what I've told you from the time before I met you or what you've seen yesterday."
"Well, I'll admit that I'm still quite shocked about that," Littlefoot answered. "But I'm... not sure. I mean, he hasn't done such things before, has he?"
"Well, while I was there, he was entertained and peaceful towards others," Ali replied. "But Bron has told me that he'd often bully other kids, including Cho, when he's bored. Well... particularly Cho..."
"Why's that?" Littlefoot wondered.
"Nobody really knows," Ali explained. "Bron has told me that he's like that because of his father who abused him before he ran away and eventually met Bron."
"Bron also told me that he met Shorty on his long journey in search of me," Littlefoot chided in. "Though... why would that cause him to be like... that?" the young Longneck wondered.
"See... Shorty probably had to endure and see a lot of violence in his early childhood and the way Bron described his father sounds as if he was raised by a fanatic and violent jerk..." Ali explained.
"So... you wanna tell me the way his dad acted towards him has rubbed off on Shorty?" Littlefoot asked, unbelievingly.
"Yes... education decides what kind of dinosaur you will grow up to be." When Littlefoot gave her a puzzled gaze, Ali added. "Well, Old One always said that anyway. There are probably exceptions..."
Littlefoot suddenly got very thoughtful. If Ali's words were true, how had his mother influenced his very own personality? She was the kindest dinosaur Littlefoot ever got to know but then who passed on their adventurous nature to him? His grandpa? Surely it couldn't be Bron since he didn't raise him...
"Littlefoot?" Ali voiced up. "What are you thinking about?"
"Huh?" Littlefoot hadn't paid any attention to his surroundings or Ali. "Well ehm... I was just wondering how my mother influenced me through her education, y'know..." Littlefoot answered. "
"Oh, I know you lost her quite early..." Ali spoke tentatively. "She must have been a great mother –very kind and loving. She's certainly gifted you these traits." Ali smiled.
"L-loving?" Littlefoot chuckled. "You think I'm loving?"
"You know what I mean!" Ali shouted in defence, blushing slightly.
"I know my mother was the most loving dinosaur on the whole dinosaur world until Sharptooth took her life. Thanks for the compliment anyway." Now Littlefoot smiled.
"You're welcome," Ali replied quietly.
After a short pause, Littlefoot picked up the conversation again. "So anyway... you wanted to hear my opinion on Shorty, right?" Not waiting for a reply, he continued. "I still don't know if he is as terrible a dinosaur as his attack on poor Cho suggests. After all, he's shown his good side towards you before – though maybe only because he desires you..."
Ali rolled her eyes.
"I admit I'm not to eager to meet him again but... maybe I'd give him a second chance. Would you?" Littlefoot looked at his friend, questioning.
"Well, I've told him everything that needed to be told. It's up to him now," Ali said firmly.
"You're angry at him, aren't you Ali?" Littlefoot asked after observing the girl's reaction.
"Of course!" Ali shouted. "He hurt my friend Cho... and I thought he was my friend as well. I have offered him to be friends with him again if he truly changes but I doubt it'll be like nothing happened ever again. I hope he realises that and never does it again!"
"I hope so too," Littlefoot admitted.
Both sighed.
"Well, I'm just glad Cho didn't die. According to some herd members, she was very close to death," Ali stated.
"Shorty would have been banned. I doubt Bron would have allowed him to stay in his herd. Adopted son of him or not, the herd would have demanded him to leave because of the threat he poses to the children... to us," Littlefoot spoke.
"Yeah, you're right," Ali replied. "See, I think there are quite a few members in the herd who would have preferred to see him leave. In my old herd, he would have been banished for sure."
"Bron is the leader, he'll know the right decision," Littlefoot argued optimistically. "He's probably talked to Shorty, maybe yelled at him too... but... he-he sure wouldn't have let Shorty get away with his actions if he knew he'd do it again, right?"
"Yes, I think so too," Ali replied. "By the way, why don't you ask Bron when you meet him? I'm sure he'll answer you," she assured him.
"Right... how late is it?" Littlefoot realised that he almost forgot about the meeting with his father. His gaze wandered over to the supposed meeting location... where his father was already waiting, appearing to look into his direction.
"Oh crap...""Ali, I really gotta go now!" Littlefoot exclaimed in a hurry. "I'll seeya later!"
"Sure, but... where do we meet again? Here? At the berry bushes?" Ali asked.
"The berry bushes sound good," Littlefoot affirmed. "Seeya later, Ali!" He rushed away towards the wall where Bron was waiting.
"See you, Littlefoot!" Ali called, smiling, before turning around to visit Cho again.
Shorty lay on the cool ground under the shade of the huge trees surrounding his nesting area. This would be the only location he'd see of the valley for a long time. He was so bored – there was absolutely nothing to do. Even observing other Longnecks and any other kind of creature – even watching the leaves gently sway in the flow of the wind was already beginning to bore him. But Shorty knew he deserved all of this. He had accepted Bron's hard punishment, knowing he would probably lift it sooner or later anyway. Just like him, Bron wasn't very good at holding grudges. Shorty would cooperate in order to be released as soon as possible.
In hindsight, he deeply regretted his attack on Cho. He still hated her – he always would, but he knew he went too far. Not only once he was considering banging his head against one of the many trees around him in a mixture of frustration and self-directed anger. What annoyed him more than anything else – even more than the boredom he was to face for a long time, was the fact that Ali who should be spending time with him was playing with Littlefoot all day while he probably lost every chance to ever conquer the girl's heart. He wondered how anybody could like something like Cho but then again Ali didn't know what he knew...
Suddenly, Shorty was on alert as he heard a rustling in the undergrowth that was too unnatural to be caused by the wind...
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Yeah, there you go. Lots of stuff happens but I'll leave it to you to analyse that (I'm in a bit of a hurry right now
) One thing I do request is the following: Could you please tell me if my dialogues are good? I get a feeling it's always just a block of lines between the respective speakers, lacking description inbetween. But I think that would often disrupt the natural flow of the dialogues... I never see the dialogues in other writer's fanfictions the way I handle them so I wonder if there's something I can improve there?
Anyway, hope you like the chapter (and the plentiful cliffhangers I hid in there
) While writing this, I've finally decided a few things concerning certain character's backstories... most of it won't be revealed in quite a while though
