Hey, everyone.

So this is my fic for the monthly prompt challenge. I hope some of you are doing it as well.

Not much else to say, except that I hope you all enjoy. I wrote this in two days, so I hope I did the idea justice.

-TheWasp

The Way I Am

A young orange threehorn, no older than seven or eight in human years, woke up with a such a fright, it caused her to jump straight up out of the nesting area and onto her back.

She looked around, panting. Peering back towards her sleeping spot, she saw that she had not woken up her sisters. She looked over at her parents, specifically her mother. They were both still fast asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief, as far as she was concerned if her mom wanted to sleep in instead of her usual habit of getting up at daybreak that was fine with her. The bright circle had not yet risen, but there was a faint glow on the horizon indicating its rise. All was quiet in the early morning, with only the sounds of insects and the occasional frog disrupting the peaceful sounds of sleeping dinosaurs.

Silently thanking the fates for avoiding a potential humiliation, the threehorn attempted to return to bed.

That is until she heard a soft voice call her name.

"Cera?"

Freezing in her tracks, she slowly turned around and saw the drowsy form of her mother rising, her father still snoozing away.

"Cera, what's wrong? I heard you scream."

Oh no! she thought. She can't find out I had another scary sleep story!

But her mother deduced exactly that.

"Did you have another night terror?"

She got up, careful not to rouse her mate or other daughters and made her ways towards her youngest. Though not as big as Topps, she was still quite large. The coloration of her skin was a lighter shade of brown but above all it was her eyes that distinguished her appearance. They were bright green, same as Cera's, and held a deep sense of compassion.

"No, mommy. A buzzer startled me, that's all.'

Though the young threehorn knew it was basically impossible to lie to her mother, she still attempted anyway. Better that than looking weak.

As she had guessed her mother saw right through the fib.

"Cera, you know you can't fool me. You had another night terror, didn't you?"

Bowing her head, Cera started to shed tears.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm not supposed to get these terrible sleep stories anymore. But they keep happening. Please don't be mad."

She felt the light touch of her mother's horn lifting her own head up and she found herself peering directly into her eyes.

"Sweetheart, there's no shame in having these night terrors. I used to get them when I was your age. It's a natural part of life."

"But I'm not supposed to be scared," Cera almost argued. "I want to be strong and brave. I want to be the bravest threehorn there ever was."

Her mother gave a small smile, lowering her eyes slightly.

"How very much like your father you are," she said softly. Lowering her head once more, she nuzzled Cera lovingly, one which she returned.

"Cera, my beautiful girl. You are a brave threehorn and you make me proud every day. But being brave doesn't mean the absence of fear. It means you do the things you have to do in spite of it."

Cera nodded in response, but she did not completely understand. She hoped her mom wasn't testing her.

"I am brave, mom. I can face anything on my own. I know I can."

Shaking her frill slightly, but chuckling all the same, the mother threehorn gazed lovingly at her stubborn daughter.

"I have no doubt that you can and will. But even the bravest of threehorns need help sometimes. Your father too. Life would be quite lonely and difficult without the company of others."

After a pause, she spoke again, this time more softly.

"What I'm trying to say, Cera, is never be too proud to admit when you are scared, when you are vulnerable, when you need help. In those moments, we must rely on those we call our friends. And it doesn't make you weak, it makes you normal. Do you understand?"

Cera nodded to indicate that she did, feeling the comfort of her mother's words like a gentle, warm breeze in the morning sun. It was an effect no one else had on her. Smiling, she hugged her mother's front leg, while she gave another affectionate nudge in return.

"Mom, can I go play?" she said, energy surging through her like a current.

"Yes, I suppose so," she replied. "I'll go and wake your father and sisters. I'll try to find some food before we resume our journey to the Great Valley."

"When are we gonna get there?" Cera asked as her stomach growled. "The green food around here isn't even green and it tastes like dirt."

Her mother audibly sighed. "We still have some ways to go yet, honey. For now, we have to sustain ourselves with what still grows out here. But don't concern yourself with that. Run along and have fun."

Eager to find something fun to do, the little threehorn willingly obliged, running off towards the west.

"Don't stray too far, sweetheart!" she could hear her calling as she ran past a group of thorn bushes, adding, "I love you!"

However, she went far beyond the boundaries of the herds and in her hastiness to find something to do, was out of sight of even the tallest longneck or protective threehorn.

Soon, Cera came upon the entrance to a small tunnel. Sniffing, she could sense a swampy odor coming from its depths. Which meant there was some sort of goo or pond below.

Might as well have some fun before mom calls me back, she thought to herself. Even if daddy might get a bit mad for getting dirty.

She entered the tunnel and could see the pond below. A giant tree stood atop a small enclosure, its roots visible before disappearing into the murky water below.

However, before she took another step, she heard a loud *ribbit followed by laughter. Her threehorn instincts kicking, she immediately ran to see who it was. Arriving at another entrance to the enclosure, she saw a hopper go by and it was being chased by a young male longneck. Upon inspection, it was the same one that had laughed at her the other day.

"Hey, hopper! Come back!" the brown longneck called.

Cera's mood immediately turned confrontational. She thought she had driven this flathead off the other day. In any case, she was not about to share her pond with the likes of him.

She charged forward, getting right up in his face with her small horn, trying to drive home the point that he was not welcome.

"You again?" she practically sneered. "Go away! That's my hopper!"

Turning back towards her pond, she followed the path the hopper had just taken into the pond, intending to catch it for herself.

"Uh..I saw him first," the longneck protested.

"Well he's in my pond," she shot back.

Cera hoped that would settle the matter, but clearly the dumb flathead didn't get the message. As she slid down on a small ramp and into the mangrove, the other dinosaur followed in after her, bumping her from behind with his body.

Positively annoyed, she was about to turn around and give the flathead a piece of her horn, when she noticed the hopper once more. It caught enough of her attention to forget about the longneck, and she prepared to pounce on it with all her might.

Unfortunately for Cera, the hopper turned out to be an illusion. She flung into herself into what was actually a large bubble. Though the swamp was full of them, this puzzled her as she could hear multiple hoppers all around her, the croaking and ribbiting echoing throughout the enclosure. But none were in sight.

Where are you?

Another bubble appeared underneath the longneck, toppling him over, but with the same reflection of the hopper within.

Gotcha!

She sprung forward again, only to come up empty handed once more. She repeated this action two more times, both yielding the same result. In the background, Cera could hear the longneck laughing happily, but truth be told she was beginning to enjoy herself as well.

She began laughing too and they both started to pop bubbles simultaneously.

"Hey, this is kinda fun!" she exclaimed, happily.

This continued for a few minutes among the threehorn and the longneck, the discord between them temporarily forgotten. But the moment was not to last. For as they played among the swamp bubbles, a large shadow descended upon them.

The ground began to shake. The bright circle, now full arisen in the mid morning, was blocked from view. A low, ominous growl could be heard among the sounds of the dinosaur world.

It didn't take long for either Cera or the longneck to notice these developments. Looking around frantically, they spotted a huge, dark green, hulking mass moving towards them with great speed. With evil red eyes, razor sharp teeth, and an appetite to match, he was the walking menace that stalked these herds. The symbol of terror in the beyond. If he had a name it had long been forgotten. He was only known now as 'The Terrible One'-the most vicious, ruthless, sadistic Tyrannosaurus that had ever lived.

"Sharptooth!" Cera screamed, as the ferocious predator roared with malice.

Fear consumed her entire being as she scrambled to get her small legs churning, slipping and sliding in the swampy goo. She could hear the longneck screaming for his mother. None of that mattered now. The only thing that did, was escaping out of this alive.

She ran continually and by this time the longneck nowhere to be found. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, the little threehorn pushed herself to go faster, but the more she tried, the closer the sharptooth seemed to get.

I'm going to get eaten!

The land seemed to melt into a brown haze with only her and the sharptooth being discernable. Space and time itself seemed to fall away. Faster she went, but the sharptooth was faster. All of a sudden, he leapt into the air with a terrifying roar and landed right in front of her.

Paralyzed with fear, Cera could no longer move. It was no longer a question of 'if'. It was simply when. There was now way out.

Saliva dripped disgustingly from the monster's mouth, eyes blood red from the thrill of the hunt, tongue licking his teeth greedily. He roared once more, and Cera found herself staring into the black jaws of death. With one strike, it would all be over. Not even attempting to run at this juncture, Cera only hoped for a quick, painless death as sharptooth reared back his ugly head and lunged towards her.

All she could do was scream...
_______________________________________________________________

Her eyes opened as she awoke with a start. She could hear flyers in the air, the soft wind blowing against her head. The light of the bright circle was all around and it provided a natural antidote to the pounding that still thumped against her chest.

Realizing she was on her back, she quickly sat up and cleared her head.

Breathing heavily, Cera couldn't believe how vivid the dream was. Slowly, she came back to herself.

"That felt way too real," she muttered to herself. Still struggling to calm down, she mentally chastised herself.

Get a grip, it was only a sleep story…a really bad one.

She recalled what had transpired in the dream. The sharptooth they had previously killed all those years ago had attacked them and was half a second from devouring her…no need to analyze that. She had also dreamt about one of the first times she had met Littlefoot. Not the most amiable of meetings, but they had long since settled most of their differences. Chasing that hopper had been fun after all. Yet these recollections were not what gave Cera a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Then the memory struck her like an asteroid. Someone had appeared in her sleep story she had not thought of in a long time.

"Mom," she said aloud in a whisper.

"Cera?" said a voice she recognized anywhere. The lumbering figure of her father came into view. He was chewing on something, probably water plants.

He must have gone to the Thundering Falls, Cera mused.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said as he reached their sleep spot. "You missed breakfast." Then, catching that not all was not well, he eyed her curiously.

"Is something the matter?"

Cera swallowed nervously. "No daddy, just a bad sleep story. I'm fine."

The threehorn patriarch snorted at this. "Bad sleep story? I thought you stopped having those awhile back."

She shrugged in response, trying to play it cool. "Guess it was just random."

Her father proceeded to humph and give her a stern look. Cera knew what the lecture would be before it even happened.

"Cera, sleep stories are for hatchlings not adults. I can't even remember the last time I had one. You can't be a threehorn and fear something as silly as a sleep story. It's nonsense."

She was in no mood to argue, or rather she simply did not have the mental energy.

"Yes, daddy."

"That's my girl. Remember what I taught you. A threehorn shows no fear and never backs down from anything." He shook his horns and stamped on the ground for dramatic effect.

Cera nodded as the words from her memory whispered to her, "Never be too proud to admit when you are scared, when you are vulnerable, when you need help…"

"I'm going to find Littlefoot," she announced. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stay around her dad. Luckily, he didn't object to her proclamation.

"Alright," he grunted. "Be back before the evening."

And without another word, she ran off to seek her friends. Anything to get her mind off the emotional turmoil that raged inside.
________________________________________________________________

It didn't take long for Cera to find them. As per usual, they were sitting around the tall grass at the edge of the plains chatting.

Probably waiting for me. I am a bit late.

"Hey, Cera!" Littlefoot called as she approached.

"What's up guys?"

They were sitting a loose circle, with Ducky lying on her back and Petrie resting on Spike's big shoulders. Even Littlefoot was in a rather lazy position.

"Uh..are we going to do anything?"

"Oh yeah, of course," said Littlefoot. "We were just talking about our sleep stories."

Cera's heart skipped a beat. Of all the things they had to be talking about…

"Why would you do that?"

"We thought it might be interesting," Littlefoot shrugged. "We also needed something to do before you got here."

Petrie rose from Spike's back and began zooming around.

"Me still think I have the best the one."

"No you didn't," argued Ducky. "Your sleep story was just you flying over a mountain."

"Yeah! Me don't see you able to do that."

"Well you can't have a sleep story about swimming under an entire lake. No, no, no."

Cera rolled her eyes at the argument. This was not how she wanted to start off the day.

"Do you have sleep stories Spike?" Littlefoot asked.

The Stegosaurus gave a small nod, and proceeded to chomp on the grass they were sitting on.

"Gee I wonder what they're about," said Cera sarcastically.

"Is something the matter, Cera?" Ducky asked, getting up out of concern.

What is it with everyone being able to guess my mood today? She thought grouchily as her stomach gave a rather unnatural twist.

"I'm just peachy," she replied shortly. "Now come on, let's go do something already."

"Hold on, I never got to share my own sleep story," Littlefoot protested.

Cera huffed loudly.

"Must you regale us with this tale?"

"I want to hear it. Oh yes, yes, yes."

"Me too!"

Even Spike grunted in approval.

"Oh alright!" she relented. "But make it quick."

The longneck beamed and eagerly told them of the dream.

"In my sleep story I was Doc! I was walking along this rocky edge, when two sharpteeth came out of nowhere…"

Cera wasn't really listening. She knew how the story would go and in the end she guessed correctly, Littlefoot saved the day and the sharpteeth were left toothless. But she couldn't focus on Littlefoot even if she wanted to. For a comforting image of a large threehorn with bright green eyes kept entering her mind.

"Cera, my beautiful daughter…" the whisper said to her and for a brief moment it was almost as if she were there…as if she were alive again.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Littlefoot kept calling out her name.

"Cera? Cera?"

She came back to reality.

"What?!" she said a bit too aggressively.

Taken aback, the longneck became hesitant.

"Sorry, I was just asking you if you have any cool sleep stories."

A twinge of regret went through the orange threehorn for being too sharp with Littlefoot, but she felt more than just that. Peering into the amber eyes of her best friend (and blushing slightly), there was a sudden urge to tell him everything. About her sleep story, about meeting him for the first time, her fears, her hopes, her mother….

"Even the bravest of threehorns need help sometimes."

And just as quickly as that feeling came, it went, replaced by the cloud of fear.

Without hesitation she stuck her horn up arrogantly and brushed past her friends.

"No. Sleep stories are for babies and threehorns don't have them. Especially not this one!"

The rest of the gang looked confused and a more than a little put off.

"But Cera, everyone has sleep stories. They do, they do," Ducky interjected.

"Besides, you've admitted you've had them before," agreed Littlefoot. "So what's the big…"

He was cut off before he could finish his sentence, as the next thing he knew, a horn and a pair of angry green eyes bore down him like a thundering rain.

"I said, I don't-get-sleep-stories!" she said furiously, pushing him back a little further with each word until finally knocking him over.

She saw that the rest of the group was so shocked by her actions, that none of them said anything. Even Littlefoot, who usually never hesitated to get into an argument with her, was speechless.

In her gut, Cera knew she was wrong. Her temper made her difficult to be around sometimes, and it pained her to see Littlefoot looking at her like that. He was the one dinosaur that would always be there for her, the one she admired above everyone else, the one that would understand more than anyone what it was like to lose a mom…all she could do was push him away.

Yet she was not in the habit of apologizing once a deed was done and above all, she was not about to lose face. So pretending as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, she trudged ahead, horn in the air, appearing as proud as ever.

"I'm going to find a pinecone so we can play. If any of you want to come with, follow me. Otherwise, you can go back to talking about your dumb sleep stories."

Cera didn't look back to see what their decision was, but she could hear them get up from the ground and slowly fall in behind her.

In the distance she could hear them talking about had just transpired.

"Me no get it," Petrie said quietly. "Why she act like that?"

"I don't know either, Petrie," Littlefoot said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "It's just the way she is. I don't pretend to understand it."

What they didn't realize or see, was that the orange threehorn was silently weeping. Tears silently ran down her cheeks, lightly touching the grass as they fell from her face. The illusion of her pride all but vanished.

Out of nowhere, a soft, warm wind picked up from the west. It reached Cera, wiping the tears from her eyes. Within the Great Valley, it spoke gently.

"I love you, Cera."

Sniffing, she whispered ever so softly.

"I love you too, mom…I miss you."

FIN.

Probably the saddest thing I've written in awhile. Maybe ever. Hope you all liked it.

Hey, everyone!

Third chapter is up. Any feedback or review is greatly appreciated!

Chapter 3. Dangerous and Dirty Subjects

The next day, Littlefoot told his friends exactly what he and his grandparents had discussed the previous night while munching on treestars. Needless to say, the reaction was predictable.

“So those club tails were…”

“Mating? Yeah” he replied nonchalantly. He normally took more satisfaction in proving Cera wrong. But the implications of what they had all just learned subdued the mood significantly.

Petri looked at the treestar he held in his hand and gulped.

“All of a sudden me not so hungry anymore.”

“Me neither. Yup, yup, yup.”

Spike nodded his head in agreement as well. He may not say much but it did not make him stupid.

“So what happens now?” Cera asked, poking at her food with her paw.

Littlefoot shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll get married and have babies of our own someday. That’s the way the circle of life works. At least that’s what my grandparents said.”

“Well what if I don’t want to get married or have babies?” Cera asked sounding defiant. “This whole process sounds gross.”

“My grandparents said they had the same reaction when they were our age. But as they grew up more the idea became more appealing.”

They then exchanged glances, as Littlefoot rested himself down upon the grass.

“I do not want any of that at all, I do not,” Ducky said throwing her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, besides” Cera chimed in. “We do most things now without the adults anyway. We’re already grown up.”

“Eh kind of” Littlefoot said.

“Sort of” shrugged Petri.

Spike grumbled in his own unique way.

“Spike is right. We may be bigger but we are not yet grownups,” Ducky translated. She had her own unique of understanding what her adopted brother was trying to say.

“So why even bother learning about this?” Cera asked as she slumped down on a nearby rock.

“Because this is the age where it all starts. This is the age, where we start changing,” Littlefoot said.

“Changing how?”

“Me thought we just get bigger,” Petri said swooping down on Spike’s back.

“It’s more than that. At least that’s what my grandparents said,” Littlefoot replied. “They didn’t tell me anything beyond mating”

“ ëMating’, what a weird word,” Cera muttered.

“It’s how we all exist,” Littlefoot countered.

Then he got a really devious idea. One sure to get a rise out of his three horn friend.

“Hey, it just occurred to me your dad and Tria had to mate in order to conceive Tricia. Tell me, how does that make you feel? Knowing that your dad had to get on top of her and…”

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, because Cera charged at him so quick he barely had time to get out of the way to avoid her wrath.

“Why you! Come here!” she yelled in fury as she charged again.

“Gotta catch me first slow-horn!”

“Littlefoot I’m warning you!” she said through clenched teeth, face turning beet red.

All he could do is laugh as Cera chased him around in a circle desperately trying to catch him. The others started to laugh too, that is until Cera managed to ram him into the ground and topple him over. He quickly got back up and started to push back with his own strength sending her sliding backwards.

“Oh no you don’t!” Cera snarled. And with a mighty push she sent him flying on his back.

Groaning, Littlefoot was about to get up again until he noticed the female three horn standing over him. She did not look pleased.

Laughing still but not as hard, Littlefoot gave her a toothy grin.

“Gee, Cera easy with the horns. Pretty soon you’ll need them to keep your future husband in line.”

For a split second, he thought he had just teased the wrong horns, but just as soon as he said it, Cera rolled her eyes and gave a small smile herself.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

The rest of the gang, who had been holding in their collective breath in fear that Cera might blow her top, began to laugh again and after a moment or so, so did she.

Littlefoot got up and grinned sheepishly.

“I am quite the charmer, aren’t I?”

“Don’t push it longneck” but she beamed at him just the same.

She’s a lot cuter when she smiles, I wish she did it more, Littlefoot thought to himself.

Wait what?

“Well I’m feeling much better now, yup, yup, yup,” said Ducky happily.

“Me too. This whole mating thing stinks,” Petri remarked, flying above their heads.

“Ditto on that,” agreed Cera. “What are we so worried about? I’m not having babies any time soon. This conversation is getting old anyway.”

Littlefoot agreed, though the thought still made him a bit unnerved, he wanted to move on from this.

“Yeah, I guess it is. Come on, let’s find some more treestars. I can reach most of the tallest trees now.”

“Please, I can just knock them down on my own.”

And so they set down the old beaten path towards their favorite spot to eat treestars, although Spike stopped along the way to smell the roses (and subsequently eat them). It seemed that the
issue at hand was at an end. Or so they all thought.

________________________________________

The evening slowly turned to dusk as Littlefoot and his grandparents began settling down for the night. Stars appeared like diamonds, twinkling down on the dinosaur world, constellations shone brightly as they had for millions of years and for millions of years yet to come.

“Well I think it’s about that time,” Grandpa Longneck observed.

“Yes it’s time to rest,” agreed his wife. She glanced down at her grandson. “Littlefoot are you ok? What we told you yesterday is a lot to take in at once.”

“I’m fine, Grandma, don’t worry. I learned something really important. As you guys said, it’s part of life.”

She smiled. “Good. You really are quite mature for your age. You amaze your grandfather and I every day.”

“Thanks, Grandma” Littlefoot said happily as she nuzzled him.

“Well now, I think it’s time for some…” his grandfather stopped and narrowed his eyes, the darkness clouding his older vision.

“What in the name of sanity is that?”

Slowly but surely, a group of dinosaurs were getting closer and their voices louder.

They do not sound happy, Littlefoot observed. Then after a few more moments he recognized the group as the parents of his friends.

Uh oh…

His grandparents looked stunned, as Mr. Threehorn and the rest of the group approached.

“Longneck!” he thundered.

 Littlefoot could see Ducky and Spike’s mom as well as Petri’s. He did not have a good feeling about this.

“Mr. Threehorn what on earth is so important that you felt the need to intrude upon us at this time of night? We are trying to sleep.”

“Your grandson, that’s what,” the large triceratops replied aggressively. “He’s been filling my daughter’s head with…dangerous and dirty subjects,” he ended shivering.

The other adults murmured in agreement.

“What kind of example is this?”

“Our children are being corrupted!”

“Absolutely shameful!”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Grandpa Longneck, ever the voice of rationality, attempted to reason with his fellow adults.

“Please, please my friends there is no reason to get upset at Littlefoot. If you should be upset at anyone it’s us, we were the ones who told Littlefoot about this delicate subject.”

Mr. Threehorn snorted in disgust.

“Be that as it may, he felt the need to share it with the rest of our kids when they are entirely too young to hear about such matters.”

Littlefoot glanced over at Cera, who appeared very uncomfortable and even regretful.

“Daddy, please…” she started, but she was quickly shouted down by her father.

“Hush Cera, I will handle this.”

He turned back towards the three Longnecks.

“You’ve got some explaining to do. Especially you, young one.”

Littlefoot at this point felt slightly betrayed by his friends.

“Guys!” he said. “Why did you tell your parents?”

Cera, Spike, Petri and Ducky looked away bashfully. “Me no know we wasn’t supposed to tell nobody,” Petri said.

“Me neither. Nope, nope, nope.”

Mr. Threehorn took advantage of this confession to pounce.

“Aha! So you admit it? Our children came to us tonight telling us what you told them. Have you no proper manners boy?”

At this stage, Grandma Longneck stepped in with far more resolve than she normally gave. She was used to Topsy Threehorn’s antics by now, but this was going beyond the pale.

“Mr. Threehorn you are entirely out of line. Littlefoot merely observed what we all know to be a natural part of life. There is no fault to be had here.”

More murmuring, but this time there was seemingly less outrage.

“Still,” Mr. Threehorn said but noticeably more subdued. “This subject is not something our
children should be learning about.”

Grandpa Longneck spoke up now.

“My friend, you are blind to the fact that your daughter, our children are growing up before our very eyes. They are not hatchlings anymore, but young adults. We all knew that sooner or later that this would happen. The day has come to teach them about the natural ways of the world.”

The talking persisted and opinion seemed to be turning in favor of the old longnecks.

“There’s no getting around it,” Susa Duckbill said at last, lowering her head. “They aren’t children
any longer. They need to know the truth. But…” and without warning she started shedding tears.

“There, there” Petri’s mother said, comforting the swimmer. “Initially I was angry too, but I agree with Grandma Longneck, we cannot blame Littlefoot for acknowledging what we too were once ignorant of.”

Mr. Threehorn was especially sheepish at this point, knowing he had overreacted and frightened the young longneck, as well as his daughter.

“Daddy,” a small voice spoke up. “I already told you, Littlefoot didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t be upset.”

His daughter’s words softened the old Triceratops’s heart. He cared for her wellbeing and sometimes that drove him to rash actions.

“Oh…well I suppose you’re right. But what are we to do? If our kids are to learn about this how are we to go about it? My own father would never speak of it.”

Another round of murmuring and discussion took place in which the grownups seemed inclined as usual to argue amongst themselves. That is until grandpa Longneck managed to become the voice of reason again.

“My friends please, we all realize the implications of this. But now is not the time to discuss the matter. We are all tired and just a bit overwhelmed. Let’s all agree to meet tomorrow and decide what must be done. For now, we need to rest.”

The adults and even the young teens agreed.

“He right. Me pooped from today,” Petri said, eyelids drooping.

“Might as well wait until we’re all more refreshed,” agreed Mr. Threehorn. “Come on everyone.”

Slowly the crowd began to disperse, but the large male triceratops stopped suddenly.

“My apologies, Grandpa Longneck, you too Littlefoot. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s quite alright Tops,” Grandpa said kindly. “No lasting harm done.”

Nodding his head, he turned around and began to walk home.

“Let’s go, Cera.”

She followed him obediently but not before glancing at Littlefoot one last time, giving an apologetic glance and he couldn’t be sure, but was she blushing?

“Come, Littlefoot. The night circle is already rising,” said his grandma.

“Right.”

Littlefoot made his way back to his favorite sleeping spot and soon began to doze. He could hear the soft snoring of his grandparents beside him. He was glad that he wasn’t in trouble, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that after the last couple of days, things would never quite be the same.
____________________________

I say keep some of that strong language. They're still kids, but they're growing up ya know? It's what happens when you reach that age. Sometimes those words make statements that regular ones don't.

Man you've got me hooked. I love this story already.

I wonder what's making Cera so upset. She's gruff, but not usually that mean. And I'm kinda glad Littlefoot is sticking up for himself a bit, he's passive by nature but when pushed he can fight back. I hope whatever is going on with Ducky and Spike's mom isn't too serious as well. This is all very intriguing and I can't wait to read more.

Rock on man!

Really love the art here guys.

That picture is especially good. Great job! Coloring is nice and the landscape is quite realistic.

Hey everyone.

So I joined the GOF awhile back, but quickly became swamped with work, school, and playing the lead role in the musical. I had no time to post. Well Rhombus recently informed me of an upcoming writing prompt contest and I will be entering it.

Furthermore, I'm writing my own LBT fic called 'This Is Growing Up'. It's basically my own tale about our favorite group of dinosaurs going through the pains of puberty while dealing with the consequences of mating, the herd, hormones, love, and much more. It's on fanfiction but I know many of you are not on there. So I also decided to post it here to get more feedback.

I hope you all enjoy. I'll be posting a chapter every few days as I currently have 10 up at the moment. It most likely will be around 17-18 chapters long.

Thanks again! Can't wait to hear what you all think.

Chapter 1. Witnessing 'Nature'

“Pass the rock! Over here!”

“Come on, I’m open!”

It was another magnificent day in the Great Valley. The leaves were green, the sky a bright turquoise, and the sun shone far and wide over the land of the largest and most fantastic creatures on the earth, the dinosaurs.

To Littlefoot, the now teenage Apatosaurus, life went on much as it had for the past 14 years of his existence. He had his grandma and grandpa along with his father Bron, whom he still saw once a year when his herd made its way to the Valley. There was plenty of green food to eat, water to drink, and mud to jump in. Above all, he still had his friends, Petri (the Pteranodon), Ducky (the Saurolophus), Spike (the Stegosaurus) and Cera (the Triceratops).

He was bigger now, much bigger. His worries about not growing had all but vanished. Littlefoot, though only a juvenile, was well on his way to becoming as big as his father and grandfather before him. He could reach parts of trees he couldn’t before and was gaining in strength every day. Indeed, they had all reached a considerable size for each of their species.

However, despite the maturity of their bodies, Littlefoot and company still loved their relatively carefree life. They ate and drank as they pleased. Games were still fun and a great way to pass the time. They went about their days as they had when they were barely out of hatchling-hood.

Of course, even for dinosaurs, nothing ever truly stays the same.
The rock skipped passed Petri and into Cera who hit it with her forehead towards Spike. Running along the edges of the trees, they were doing their best to keep along the path and avoid having to search among the heavy vegetation.

Ducky laughed, “Spike pass it to me!”

Unlike when they were younger, she was now large enough to use her own tail. She caught the pass and tossed it over to Littlefoot.

“Hey guys watch this!” he said catching the rock with his foot. “My dad taught me this trick last year.”

Using his head, he flipped the rock in the air, landing on his neck, upon which it slid to the end of his tail. Littlefoot then fired it with such speed, the others were forced to duck to avoid impact. It soared into the underbrush and out of sight.

“Yeesh, glad me missed that one” Petri muttered.

“Great job, Littlefoot” Cera said rolling her eyes. “Not much a trick since you almost took out an eye.”

“Sorry, guys. Don’t worry, I’ll find it.”

He walked into the bushes to begin his search.

“Don’t get lost, lest I have to save you again” Cera called after him.

Littlefoot chuckled to himself. He was more than used to Cera’s ribbing by now. She still had her headstrong nature (typical among three horns) but was far less obnoxious in her attitude and more playful now. Besides, he had gotten her out of tight spots at least as much as she had for him. She knew this as well as he did.

He checked the bushes along the edge without any luck and decided to push further into the trees. The underbrush was especially thick this time of year so he needed to search more thoroughly than usual.

After a couple of more minutes he was beginning to slightly regret his little stunt. So were his friends apparently.

“Littlefoot! What’s taking so long?” Cera called from afar.

“Hold on! Just give me a sec!”

He searched around with more urgency, going yet farther into the trees until he saw a lump of gray near the base of a large bush.

“Gotcha” he said with satisfaction.

Just as he was about to grab the rock and head back towards his friends he heard the strangest noise. A loud, grunting sound that was somewhat similar to Mr. Threehorn’s dismissive growls. Only this was much more guttural, and dare he say it? Animalistic?

Taking note of the direction of the sound, Littlefoot’s natural inquisitiveness got the better of him, as it usually did. Poking his head through the bushes, he came upon the edge of a clearing within the forest.

What he saw defied his own comprehension. In the middle of the clearing stood Mr. Clubtail but he wasn’t alone. Another clubtail was with him, and he was standing in an awkward position on top of it. At first glance, they appeared to be fighting, but as Littlefoot watched more closely that did not appear to be the case. Come to think of it, when had he ever seen two dinosaurs fight like that before?

Upon further inspection he saw that the second clubtail was female. Littlefoot couldn’t be sure, but were they both…enjoying whatever this was? All he knew is that the longer he watched, the more uncomfortable he became and the more he wished he hadn’t stumbled upon the two clubtails.

He removed his head from the bush and attempted to back away slowly as to not get caught eavesdropping, when he tripped on the very same rock he had been searching for. He fell hard on his back with a mighty thud. In the past he might have gone unnoticed, but he wasn’t exactly small anymore. He must’ve made quite a noise as he heard Mr. Clubtail exclaim,

“What was that?”

“I don’t know dear” a female voice replied soothingly.

“Someone’s out there”

“Relax dear, I’m sure it was just a fallen tree branch of some sort.”

“I’d rather check it’s not some sharptooth lying in wait…”

“Really you’re being paranoid hun. Come back and snuggle, after all it’s so rare we get any alone time.”

“Well alright then…” and he heard the clubtails giggling to each other.

Not wanting to wait around for a repeat performance, Littlefoot took off running as fast he could in the other direction, all concerns for the rock left behind in the dust.

When he finally made it back to his friends he burst through the bushes, panting like mad, trying to formulate words to what he had just witnessed.

“You guys! You guys!”

“Littlefoot, what is the matter?” Ducky asked, quite perturbed.

“Yeah you look you just saw sharptooth,” Petri added.

“No it’s not that it’s…something else.”

Cera walked forward and tried to console her friend.

“Alright Littlefoot, relax and take it easy. Now what exactly happened back there that made you so shaken up? You don’t exactly scare easy.”

Still slightly panting, the young longneck attempted to explain.

“Well I was looking for the rock, and I finally found it. But then I heard weird noises coming from in front of me. Like this weird grunting, growling sound.”

“When me hear weird noses I just fly in opposite direction.”

“Yeah, so I’m guessing you just had to know what it was you heard,” Cera remarked.

“Well yeah, I mean I had to make sure it wasn’t anything bad.”

“But was it anything bad?” Ducky asked.

“Obviously not or he wouldn’t be here right now,” Cera said with her trademark sarcasm.

Spike simply grunted as he turned his attention to some grass nearby.

“Anyway, so I poked my head through the bushes to see what it was and well…it was really weird.”

“Weird how?”

“Well I saw Mr. Clubtail and he was with another clubtail, a girl one. And he had his front legs on top of her back bumping against her.”

Totally perplexed, the other juvenile dinosaurs didn’t seem to have an answer for this.

“You said they were making weird noses? Growling at each other?” Cera asked.

“Kinda but…”

“Well that’s it then, Mr. Clubtail was just fighting another one of his kind, no big deal.”

“There’s more to it than that. They seemed to like it.”

There was a slight pause in which only the sound of Spike eating could be heard.

“What do you mean ëlike’?” Ducky inquired.

“Of course they liked it. All dinosaurs like fighting” Cera said dismissively.

“Me thinks threehorns like it too much,” Petri muttered, but not quietly enough.

“What was that?” she turned on him aggressively.

“Nothing!” he said quickly.

“Anyway Littlefoot you’re making this into a big deal. We fight, we play, we wrestle, it’s how things work. Nothing to be alarmed about.”

Littlefoot wanted to believe her, but he was not at all convinced that this was a simple case of a territory dispute.

“But the position they were in, he was mounting her.”

He even put his front two feet upon a nearby rock to demonstrate. The others laughed at the show, much to his annoyance.

“Guys come on.”

“Sorry, Littlefoot, but you look funny, you do, you do,” Ducky giggled.

“Littlefoot forget it. We got a whole day ahead of us and we’re wasting it by standing here, quit mounting that rock and let’s go do something fun,” said Cera. “Anyone want to play pinecone bowling?”

The suggestion was met with enthusiasm, even Littlefoot found himself wanting to join in.

“Alright, I’m in.”

“Yes!”

“Me call Spike’s team!”

“You’re always on Spike’s team Petri.”

“Yeah cuz me no throw rock well.”

“That’s not our problem…”

Littlefoot laughed inwardly at the antics of his friends. However, even as they ran down towards the deepest part of the valley, he couldn’t help but wonder just what those clubtails were up to. The images were simply too vivid in his head not to.

Thank you, everyone. Especially to our most esteemed administrator.