That story update came rather quick for my standards...
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Chapter 48
“Littlefoot… oh Littlefoot…”
As the Bright Circle rose above the crater-like valley, Fiona’s eyes were fixated on her daughter sleeping next to her restlessly while mumbling the name of a certain Longneck.
“Ali… is she already reaching that age when boys are beginning to become interesting?” Fiona wondered as she continued to watch Ali in her sleep. Even though the fact that her daughter was growing up caused her to worry about her girl a little, she couldn’t fail to chuckle about that circumstance.
“Well, at least I have something else to tease her with now,” she thought with a mischievous grin - teasing her daughter was something she loved to do.
“Though it may also be about time to teach her about certain things… oh she’ll love that for sure.”Fiona watched Ali for a few more minutes before she decided that it was about time to shake her little angel out of her romantic dreams… or so she assumed.
“Ali, wake up, dear,” she cooed, softly nudging the girl.
Ali took her time - despite dreaming vividly (or maybe just because of that) she slept like a rock! When she, eventually, woke up, she was perplexed and confused at first, her mind still caught in her dreams.
“Mommy, where is Littlefoot? He was right next to me and now he is gone. Where is he?” the young girl mumbled dreamily.
“Dear, Littlefoot is sleeping with his family. You must have been dreaming,” Fiona responded, highly amused.
“Oh okay then…” Ali mumbled, turning around, attempting to fall back into a slumber.
“Ali… even though I allowed you to stay out later than usual, you’ll still have to get up as early as always, otherwise…” Fiona was grinning.
“I’m awake…” Ali yawned quickly, reluctantly getting to her feet.
“Well, this worked…” Fiona mused as she got to her feet in order to gather some breakfast for Ali.
*
At the first signs of daylight, Hart had returned to his hideout before the herds started their morning businesses. Due to the interruption of his sleep the previous day, he was sleep-deprived anyway. Now, it would be time for Ricky to take over.
“Ricky, are you ready?” Hart snarled once the boy was awake.
“Always, sir!” Ricky responded quickly, rising. “What is it that you wanted me to look for?”
“Ah, you remembered it, very good,” Hart spoke in a slightly acknowledging manner. “I would like you to find out if there are any females around here looking for… a closer relationship. I’m sure you understand, Ricky?” The gaze of the grown-up was faraway, almost distant and dreamy. Quite unlike Hart as Ricky noted.
“Hmm, sir, does that mean you want to have eggs like back then when Shorty ran away after finding out about it?” Ricky speculated carefully. “I would really love to have some brothers and sisters again…”
“Yes… ever since that brat spoiled my last attempt to give you more siblings, son, we haven’t met any useful female. This place here is full of gossip-spreading, jabbering females. Listen to their nonsense and try to locate some that are looking for a male. I’ll take care of the rest…”
“Okay, understood, sir!” Ricky exclaimed. “I suppose the watering holes are a good place to start?”
“Quite…” Hart mused as he prepared to sleep, slowly retreating deeper into the cave system
“Okay… and what about looking for the plant?” Ricky reassured himself.
“The females have priority right now,” Hart explained. “If you happen to stumble upon it, good. If you don’t, that’s okay. I’ll look for it at night. Now go. Awaiting your report in the evening…” With that, Hart laid down to rest while Ricky left their hideout. After having some breakfast, he began to do his job…
*
After Ali had finished her breakfast, she quickly jogged to the berry bushes which was the meeting place she and Littlefoot had previously agreed upon, excited to meet her friend again. When she arrived there, there was no sign of her friend yet.
“Oh well, maybe his grandparents didn’t wake him up as early…” Ali remarked, still being tired from the rather short night - after all, she’d been lying awake for a long time before sleep had finally come. So many wonderful things had happened that she had to replay in her head the previous night. Though, things didn’t work the way she wanted.
“I still don’t understand why Littlefoot was acting so funny yesterday though… doesn’t he like me? I mean, he does but… does he like me the way I like him? Why can’t he just be awesome and do all the things I want to do with him?” Ali didn’t understand. Right now, all she wanted was him. All she wanted was to be with Littlefoot, to look at his strong body, his handsome features and his beautiful eyes, to chase across the whole valley playing tag and wrestling with him, to goof around while swimming in the water and to relax in the warmth of the Bright Circle, lying very close to him. However, it didn’t seem like Littlefoot was up to some of that.
“Well, maybe I’ll have to find out more about him and his feelings before trying again? I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable around me…” It would take Ali some self-control to accomplish that but the girl was determined to try. Before she could think about the matter any further, however, she spotted another familiar Longneck.
“Shorty… accompanied by Bron. Interesting…” Ali saw the green Longneck, standing at the big watering hole close to her herd’s nesting areas, watching how Shorty took a drink under the supervision of Bron. She wasn’t within hearing range but Ali could see Bron talk about something to the green boy who appeared to be listening with little interest.
“You’re better off not giving me that look when I talk to you later today my friend…” Ali thought grimly.
“If Littlefoot doesn’t forget to ask Bron again, that is…maybe I should just ask him myself?”Suddenly, Shorty turned his head, looking right at her, his expression showing slight hints of anger and annoyance.
“He must have seen me before I saw him…” Ali concluded. After all, Shorty hadn’t just spotted her by chance. He had directed his gaze at her location with lots of determination and precision.
“Hmm, so should I try to ignore him or should I be friendly?” Ali had to admit that both options seemed inviting at this point. On the one hand, Ali was still extremely mad at the green Longneck, but, on the other hand, some part of her believed in his promise to change for the better. Wouldn’t a smile be more encouraging than a cold stare?
“Yes, it would!” the girl concluded, therefore giving Shorty a quick smile, curious to see his reaction. She didn’t see his response coming though...
*
“Do you think I’m stupid, girl?” Shorty was usually happy to see the pink girl but, today, seeing her only made everything worse - he hadn’t forgotten about her suggestive actions with a certain other Longneck…
“What do you think you’re doing there, Ali, huh? Acting all nice and friendly but stabbing me in the back with that Littlefoot guy, aren’t you?” Shorty knew it wouldn’t help the situation but there had to be some opportunity to release at least a small portion of his anger so he gave the girl the coldest stare he could perform.
“I still love you, Ali, but you deserve that…”*
“Idiot!” Ali’s expression turned from a friendly smile into an angry face in no time.
“And that’s what I get for trying to be nice! Oh wait until we talk, my friend…” Frustrated by the actions of the boy, Ali deliberately looked into every direction but towards the watering hole until she could finally see Littlefoot joining her.
*
At the same time, Cera opened her eyes to see that they had overslept.
“Oh crap! Now how are we supposed to catch those stupid flatheads!?” Without hesitating she got to her feet, looking at the swimmer sleeping at her side critically.
“Why did nobody wake me up? Urrrrghhh!!!”“Ducky, wake up!” the Threehorn shouted fiercely.
Still very, very sleepy from the previous day’s adventures, Ducky reluctantly opened her eyes just a little chink. As Cera got up to wake the others, the smaller girl took a mighty yawn.
“It cannot be morning already, no, no, no…” she spoke up sleepily, hardly capable of keeping her eyes open. Once Cera was out of side, she simply laid back down, closing her eyes again.
“Petrie, let’s go! Get up!” Cera commanded as she arrived at the spot where the flyer was sleeping peacefully.
Petrie knew Cera too well - when he heard her angry voice, even while sleeping, he just knew he’d better do what she said so he, almost sound asleep, got to his feet, almost losing his balance, tripping over and falling on his back. Barely awake enough to pull himself back into a position that would allow for a better balance on the ground, Petrie yawned, his beak wide open.
“Me so tired! We go so far already…” he complained - all he wanted was going back to sleep at this point. Cera had already walked back to where Ducky was still resting on the grass.
“That’s ëcause we’re trying to catch up with Littlefoot!?” Cera retorted, talking as if the matter was as obvious as the fact that said Longneck wasn’t with them at this very moment while stomping away from the group. Ducky sighed as she finally got to her feet, taking a few staggering steps towards the Threehorn.
“But we still do not know if we are still going in the right direction…” Ducky mentioned. After all, they had been able to follow the Longnecks’ foot trails up to this point. However, now that they had managed to cross the swamp into which those foot trails had lead them, they couldn’t see them anymore.
Cera considered for a short moment, taking a quick observation of their immediate surroundings.
“I say we go around that big ol’ boulder and look for foot marks coming out of the icky place,” the Threehorn suggested, smiling for the first time.
“Whatever you say…” Ducky sighed, neither feeling up to question the Threehorn’s idea nor knowing a better plan herself.
*
Littlefoot instantly noticed that something was off when he arrived at their meeting point though he could not quite deduce what that something was.
“Hi Ali!” he called upon entering her hearing range. He had not forgotten about Ali’s odd behavior the previous day but chose not to think too much about it right now. Maybe, she wouldn’t repeat it today.
“Hi Littlefoot,” Ali answered as soon as Littlefoot had arrived at the scene, giving him a somewhat shy smile which didn’t express her current emotional situation at all though. At heart, she was still angry and disappointed. Which Littlefoot noticed.
“Everything alright?” the boy scanned her with a questioning expression.
Ali sighed.
“Well, I saw Shorty at the watering hole a few moments ago. I tried to be nice and smile at him and he only stared at me as if he wanted to hurt me…” the girl didn’t even try to hide her disappointment.
“I still don’t get why you even bother to be nice to him, Ali…” Littlefoot replied cautiously. “As far as I can tell, he’s only upsetting you.”
“He was a pretty nice guy before you showed up…” Ali spoke quietly. “And a good friend too. I want the Shorty back I got to know back then…”
“Are you blaming me?” Littlefoot wondered. “Except for that one time, I never met him…”
“No, but for some strange reason, he suddenly did these horrible things to Cho after you came..” Ali reasoned. “Oh well, now I’m happy to see you, let’s forget about him.”
“Yeah,” Littlefoot agreed. “Though, isn’t Shorty under arrest anyway? Then how could he even go to the watering hole?”
“He was with Bron,” Ali stated quickly. “I guess he has to go with him whenever he’s thirsty.”
“Hmm, maybe…” After a few thoughtful moments, he decided to focus on happier things than Shorty. “Anyway, Ali, I hope you didn’t have to wait too long here, my grandma didn’t let me go until I’d eat up.” He rolled his eyes in annoyance as he was reminded of it.
“And my mom woke me up too early…” Ali complained. “See, I was having a sleep story about the two of us having so much fun…” That wasn’t the full truth of course but, either way, Ali had a lot of fun in her dream…. While it lasted.
Littlefoot snickered at that.
“Haha, looks like our folks just want to annoy us, huh?”
“Yeah!” Ali shouted indignantly. After making a few especially annoyed faces, both broke into a short fit of laughter.
“Anyway, what are we gonna do today? Any ideas?” Littlefoot wondered.
“First, we visit Cho,” Ali announced, smiling. “After that… let’s think about that later, come on!”
“Okay,” Littlefoot agreed, chasing after Ali who was speeding ahead towards the nesting area of the little girl.
*
Suddenly, a loud snore startled Cera and Ducky for a moment. As Cera soon realised, it came from Spike who was the only member of the group she hadn’t woken up yet. She sighed.
“Will somebody PLEASE wake up Spike?”
“Spike…” Petrie had meanwhile walked over to the Spiketail, attempting to do the impossible since Spike was a deep sleeper. Shaking his legs with his puny arms. “Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!!!” he sqeaked a little louder which finally had the desired effect. Spike’s eyes opened - only a little but they did so nonetheless. Confused, he looked at his friends.
“That’s better!” Cera declared, turning away from Spike to go ahead. However...
*
“First!” Ali exclaimed, breathing heavily as she arrived at the nesting area of Cho and her mother. Littlefoot was lagging behind significantly, only arriving about 15 seconds later.
“I’ll never race you so soon after my breakfast again!” the boy complained, the rich breakfast of his grandma having quite a negative effect on his condition.
Ali could only chuckle about that.
“Just admit that I’m faster than you, silly,” the girl teased.
“In your sleep-stories…” Littlefoot grumbled.
Suddenly, a female voice could be heard laughing audibly.
“I can see you two like each other quite a bit if you try so hard to annoy each other.”
“Yuyun!” Ali shouted while laughing.
“Good morning, Ali. And you too, Littlefoot,” the female greeted the two children, walking out of the forest where Cho was recovering. “Cho is awake, you can visit her.” A smile flashed across her face.
“How is she doing?” Ali questioned curiously, a hint of worry remaining in her voice.
“Much better,” Yuyun confirmed, the relief clearly visible on her features. “The healers of the herd found a few rare healing plants here that can be used to keep wounds clean and ease the pain a lot. Cho can move a little now, they replaced her bandages last evening with bandages that had this stuff on.”
“That’s great!” Ali cheered. “Come on, Littlefoot, now you can finally get to know her!”
“Does she want to, Ali?” Littlefoot inquired. “I remember you telling me that she can be a bit uncomfortable around strangers… I don’t want to upset her, you know…”
“I’ll ask her, just stay right there,” Ali chattered happily, turning around to meet the little Longneck while Littlefoot remained where he was.
“It’s not like my legs wanna move right now anyway…” Littlefoot muttered under his breath, still out of air.
“Awww, did Ali beat you in a race, Littlefoot?” Cho’s Mother chuckled as soon as Ali had disappeared behind the trees.
“My grandparents were fattening me with treestars this morning, I had a handicap!” Littlefoot replied, half laughing, half complaining.
“Well, try racing her in the afternoon again. Your disadvantage will turn into an advantage, you will see,” Yuyun spoke, smiling mischievously.
“Okay, I’ll try,” Littlefoot replied, shrugging.
“Oh, and I’m sure that Cho will be willing to get to know you, Littlefoot,” she added. “It’s correct that she doesn’t feel comfortable around strangers at all. However, Ali is around who means a lot to her. You’re a good friend of her so she’ll trust you.”
“I hope so,” Littlefoot sighed.
“I’m sure she will,” Yuyun reassured. “She has a few quirks but she is a very likeable dinosaur, especially since Ali is her friend. She’s much more open and less reclusive lately.”
“That’s good,” Littlefoot replied, still a bit nervous.
Meanwhile, Ali had arrived at Cho’s nest.
“Oh, hello Ali, I heard you coming,” the little Longneck spoke warmly as she spotted her only friend approaching her, attempting to perform a slight smile.
“Hello Cho, how are you doing?” Ali greeted the younger Longneck just as warmly.
Happiness and an almost familiar warmth spread through her whole body as Cho realised that she’d get to have another chat with her only friend today. Ali was so nice to her, visiting her every day at least once. It made her feel liked - a feeling still pretty unfamiliar to her as she was just starting to get used to it.
“Much better,” came the response of the girl with the black skin almost immediately. “The new medicine of the healers is a blessing! It stinks terribly but I only feel dull pain “nstead of the sharp, stinging one. I can also move a little, see?” Proudly, Cho rearranged her legs and wiggled with some of her toes as well as her tail.
“That’s great, Cho! The smell is not too bad. If it’s helping…”
“It is,” Cho reassured. “A lot.”
“Hopefully, we can go swimming soon!” Ali cheered, Cho joining in.
“Yes, I cannot wait, Ali!” the girl agreed, giggling a little which, however, seemed to cause her some pain. “Remind me not to laugh yet, that still hurts a lot.” She went for a sad smile instead.
“Sure, I’ll try not to be too funny then,” Ali promised.
“Did you make any progress on my puzzle, Ali?” Cho then wondered with a hint of a mischievous smile.
“Uhm, not yet,” Ali admitted. “I’ve thought about it quite a lot but... “
“It’s okay, Ali. I did not expect you to figure it out that fast,” Cho explained in her usual mysterious manner when she was talking in riddles. “It took me almost a full circle of the Night Circle to make the connection. Just keep your eyes open and use your head.” Cho advised.
“Wait…” Ali was confused now. “What are you talking about, Cho?”
“Well, before I could tell you the puzzle, I had to figure out myself that we have so much in common… and what,” Cho tried to explain. “Ehm… I must confess though that I know something that you don’t… but you can figure it out even without knowing that.” She gave a shy smile.
“One day she’ll figure it out either way…”“You’re so encouraging, Cho…” Ali sighed with slight sarcasm. “Instead of just telling me… silly girl.”
Cho grinned, taking Ali’s words as a compliment.
“Anyway, Cho. I brought my friend Littlefoot with me today. Would you like to meet him?” Now Ali was curious.
Cho seemed to be cautious at first. Her old ways told her to run away and hide somewhere where she could be alone. But part of her didn’t want to be that old self of her anymore. Part of her was trying to remind her of the fact that she now had a friend to look up to who accepted and liked her the way she was and unconditionally at that! It was because of this that Cho’s expression instead forged into a weak smile… and because of something else...
“You have a crush on him, Ali, do you not?” Cho failed to hide her amusement as she saw Ali’s grotesk face.
“Why no!” Ali protested even though she knew she couldn’t hide it from Cho who had long since seen right through her, apparently.
The girl gave a very meaningful sly grin before answering Ali’s actual question.
“Sure, I am curious,” Cho answered, speaking in a very formal manner. “If he is your friend, then I will try to be less odd.”
“I’m sure he’s going to appreciate that!” Ali laughed. “Be right back!”
“No need to hurry, I will be glued to this place for a few more days anyway,” Cho sighed with some self-irony.
Ali shook her head, laughing. Hardly a minute later, she was back at her side, Littlefoot making himself comfortable on the ground to be more on eye-level with the younger girl, though keeping a respectable distance. Both felt slightly awkward around each other
“R-right…” Ali voiced up to break the awkward moment. “Cho, this is my friend Littlefoot.”
“Friend or… friend?” the little girl had found her previous state of mind back, a mischievous look on her face.
Ali rolled her eyes.
“Cho, are you sure the medicine isn’t making you funny in the head?”
“I do not think so, Ali,” Cho replied, not changing her expression a tiny bit.
“Silly girl, she’s acting the very other kind of odd today…” Ali mused, not being able to refrain herself from noting that her friend was unusually merry today.
“And this, Littlefoot, is my friend Cho… who is trying to be witty today,” Ali continued, sending a little twinkle of her eye in the girl’s direction.
“Hello Cho, nice to meet you,” Littlefoot spoke up warmly.
“Hello Littlefoot, Ali has already told me a few things about you,” Cho replied, her tone switching back to formal. “If it is okay, I would like to know more about you, Littlefoot.”
“She’s curious,” Ali mentioned, grinning.
“Same here, I’m also curious,” Littlefoot spoke in a reply to both girls, directing the second part of his message directly at Cho though. “It looks like we’ll see each other more often, since Ali is our both friend so it’s important to know each other a bit, isn’t it?”
Cho nodded.
“Friend or… friend?” Despite the pain it caused her, Cho giggled.
Littlefoot and Ali joined her. Ali was just happy to see Cho happy which was a rare event as it was while Littlefoot simply did so out of politeness, not really understanding the joke.
“Well, go ahead then. Or would you like me to tell things about me?” Littlefoot offered with a kind smile.
“Oh, I think I could do that too…” Ali smirked… but Littlefoot ignored her.
“I will ask questions… if that is okay,” Cho answered, a little shy all of a sudden.
“Go ahead, I don’t bite.” Littlefoot was curious what kind of questions would expect him. So far, Cho had not shown any of the characteristics that she was known for. Much rather, she was acting quite like a normal kid in his opinion.
“A bit funny.. But I’ve seen worse.”“You are the son of my herd leader Bron, is that right?” It was a rhetorical question only but it served the young girl well in overcoming her social fear by starting off easy.
Littlefoot confirmed. Cho continued, the shyness slowly reducing itself.
“I have heard rumors about the story but never the truth so I would really like to know… why were you separated from your father, Littlefoot? Did you know him before you met him here?”
“Well, I can only repeat the story that my dad has told me, Cho. He was looking for a place to live for my family - the Great Valley, to be exact. He never found it. When he returned to our old home, he could only find a huge rift in the land - everything was abandoned. Well, he was trying to find me for a long time apparently but, eventually, ended up becoming a herd leader.”
“It is a sad story,” Cho stated matter-of-factly. “So, until now, you did not know your father?” The girl gave Littlefoot an apologetic look. She understood what he was feeling and what hardships he must have gone through.
“Even worse… I didn’t even know I had a father to begin with…” Littlefoot exclaimed, uttering a cold laugh. “I never thought much about having a father since I didn’t know it any other way…”
“I am sorry…” Cho spoke quietly. “If my questions are too personal, you do not need to answer them if you do not want to…”
“Hey, don’t worry, Cho,” Littlefoot replied, offering a kind smile. “Ask anything you want, only that way we can get to know each other.”
“As long as you quit asking what kind of friends we are…” Ali muttered in fake indignation.
Cho returned the smile weakly.
“Okay, I am just not used to being open and others being open towards me. I am not used to people being so kind towards me either…”
“Except for me?” Ali offered.
“Yes, of course, Ali,” Cho replied with the hint of a smile on her face.
“It’s fine, go on. Ask.” Littlefoot offered.
Cho cleared her throat, her nervosity easing down again.
“Okay, so… if your father did not raise you, you only had your mother?”
“... and grandparents,” Ali added, helping her friend out a little.
“Yes…” Littlefoot affirmed, though he was hesitant.
“Did I ask something wrong?” Cho wondered as she tried to analyse the older Longneck’s reaction - one of the few things she was talented at.
“He is hesitant so there must be something that he doesn’t like talking about… hmm.” Then, suddenly, realisation hit her.
“Oh no…”“You see, Cho… “ Littlefoot was trying to formulate his next words very carefully. He didn’t know if the younger child was familiar with death so he chose not to say his next message directly.
“My grandparents are taking care of me… just like Yuyun is taking care of you, Cho. She is not your real mother is she? You were one of the orphaned hatchlings that…”
“... that Shorty protected, yes,” Ali finished.
“Well, my mother is always there too even if I cannot see her. I just know she is watching over me wherever I am… and, if I need advice, I sometimes just have to listen to my heart… very closely.”
Nobody spoke for some moments as everybody present let the words sink in.
“Are-are these things your mother told you, Littlefoot?” Ali wondered, awe-struck, never having heard them herself.
“If so, then she must have been a very wise dinosaur. These words are so beautiful… and true.” Cho gave Littlefoot an extremely apologetic look. “I cannot put in words how sorry I am for your loss, Littlefoot, so sorry…”
“Okay, she does understand death, good…” the boy noted.
“Listen to your heart… it whispers… so listen closely… those were her last words,” Littlefoot confirmed with a sad smile. “It happened during the Great Earthshake, my mother was protecting me from the meanest, biggest and strongest Sharptooth and lost the fight. We got separated during the earthshake but I found her just before she died. That was a long time ago though - I must have been younger than you are right now, Cho…”
“What happened then? You must have been very sad and far too young to care for yourself…”
“Just tell her the short version for the time being, Littlefoot,” Ali suggested, snickering. “For the long version is a story for a whole afternoon!”
Littlefoot nodded.
“I was depressed, didn’t eat and didn’t care about life anymore. Eventually, I met a few friends who helped me to get over the loss. Together, we found the way to the Great Valley. My mother knew the way so I followed my heart whenever I didn’t know where to go. It lead me right there.”
“How long did that journey take you?” Cho continued to ask. There were so many questions. Ali’s friend was much more interesting than she had anticipated.
“At least two Night Circle cycles… I can only guess…” came Littlefoot’s response.
“Hence it takes so long to tell,” Ali mused.
“Is it still your home?”
“The Great Valley?” Littlefoot wondered. “Yes, it is.”
“And, how is it like?”
“Imagine this valley, Cho, just bigger and surrounded by even higher mountains,” Ali jumped in.
“And it’s filled with all sorts of kinds, other than this place which is Longnecks-only,” Littlefoot added.
As he was reminded of his beautiful home, a stinging sensation made itself known in the boy’s stomach for a few seconds. He missed his home. Even though this place was reaching very close in terms of food and water sources, it just wasn’t the same. And, although he had Ali and his dad here, he missed his friends greatly. However, just as quick as Cho had pushed him into this moment of homesickness through her words, she managed to pull him out of it again.
“I have so many more questions, but I would like to give you the chance to ask me, Littlefoot,” Cho suddenly announced, shifting in her nest a little - she was now looking up directly at Littlefoot who had taken a few steps towards her after coming to the realisation that Cho felt comfortable around him. Then, she gave the older Longneck a smile that almost had a hint of admiration in it.
“That’s kind of you, Cho,” Littlefoot replied while returning the gesture. “I’ve had quite a few questions as it is but now I have even more!” He chuckled, giving Ali a short questioning glance.
“Cho doesn’t seem odd to me at all, is she just acting or is this really how she usually behaves?” He’d have to interrogate Ali later about that.
“It is not any different for me,” Cho confirmed.
“Before I start bombarding you with questions, should I sit down?” Littlefoot spoke wondering upon inspecting the girl’s current resting position. Her head was looking almost straight upwards to him now that he stood right next to her.
“No, I am resting comfortably right now, do not worry,” Cho responded, moving her tail a little as she did so. “Now go ahead, I am curious.”
“Alright!” Littlefoot took a deep breath, trying to decide what to ask first. Should he ask her about her personality first? After all she acted unlike what he was told - quite to his liking, admittedly. On the other hand, though, he was also curious about her past. So far, he only knew that she was an orphan that Shorty found being an orphan himself who were taken in by Bron, his dad. But where did she come from? Why had she been an orphan to begin with? And what happened to her family and were they still alive? He knew that Shorty still had a family somewhere… a family he ran away from, frankly. And then there was the lingering question why Cho was despised by everybody around her, why others pushed her around, called her names and hurt her in more ways than he could name. That thought, ultimately, lead him to take a look at the girl with the black skin looking up at him expectantly. Littlefoot had been a witness of how she got her injuries so he could only imagine what pain she must have gone through and what kind of horrible injuries were hidden beneath those stinky bandages. He then decided to address just that.
“Well, Ali and I were kind of watching when this…” he pointed at Cho’s bandages with a downcast expression. “...when this happened. We heard you scream and we tried to get help. I can only faintly assume how much pain it must be causing you right now… and I wonder how you manage to smile despite of all that.”
Littlefoot noted Ali shifting closer to him upon him mentioning this - still remembering how upset the girl had been back then.
“Yes, I am feeling pain. It has become a part of being me,” Cho responded slowly. “Since the healers gave me improved bandages covered in a paste made out of healing plants, the pain is much easier to bear though.”
“So that’s what’s smelling so funny here?” Littlefoot joked, giving Ali a smirk. “Or have you eaten those sweet fruits again, Ali?”
Despite not fully understanding the context, Cho chuckled a little while Ali glared at her friend.
“Yes, it is the paste indeed,” Cho revealed. “Before I had it, the pain was so bad that I could hardly talk or move… but I am feeling so much better since.”
“Amazing, that girl has backbone…” Now it was Littlefoot to bestow the young girl with a look of admiration. Exchanging another glance with Ali, he continued.
“I know Ali already talked about it with you but… do you know why Shorty did this to you?”
“Well… I do understand his motivations quite well although I cannot say I am happy about the things he did. I instantly knew that he was changed when he attacked me this time…” Cho answered. “Though that was quite easy to understand. Shorty is very easy to understand if you know him like I do…”
“Which means?” Littlefoot pressed the matter. He noticed Ali communicating with the injured girl through gestures though he couldn’t deduce what it was all about. Though then, Ali saved him the trouble of finding out himself.
“You should know… Cho loves to talk in riddles…” Ali couldn’t hide the sarcasm of her words as she exchanged another meaningful glance with Cho.
“In other words, I will have to figure it out myself?” Littlefoot inquired.
Cho was expressing some mischief as she said her next words.
“Yes, you understood that right, Littlefoot.”
While Littlefoot began to realise that he had just been confronted with the kind of behavior he was warned of for the first time here, Ali leaned over to Cho.
“I think you should give him a few hints,” Ali whispered, both girls giggling though Cho stopped dead in her tracks when the wave of pain made her regret it instantly.
“Go ahead,” she instructed, giving a sore smile.
Ali quickly apologised before recalling what Cho had told her about Shorty’s motivations (or what she believed them to be, rather) the previous day before finding the right words.
“Something happened on this very day that affected not one but two Longnecks. Both were full of wrath - one crying and the other making others cry…”
“That was excellent, Ali, you are learning!” Cho mused, nodding when Ali looked in her direction. Meanwhile, Littlefoot was looking at the trees behind Cho as he considered Ali’s words with great care.
“Something happened but… what? Shorty attacked but that can’t be it - I already know that! It must be something else, something…” Littlefoot’s brain was steaming. He was determined to figure it out as soon as he could.
“One of those two Longnecks was Shorty but who was the other one? Ali?! After all, she did cry and she was angry… but that was BECAUSE of what he did! It can’t be that either! Ugh!”While her friend was puzzling about her riddle, Ali giggled.
“He is making so funny faces when he is thinking!” As she was just about to pull a few funny faces to distract him, Cho suddenly shook her head a little.
“Don’t disturb him,” she whispered. Ali listened - she knew Cho had her reasons when she asked her to do things even if they didn’t make sense in her ears. After all, what was more hilarious than trying to piss off Littlefoot?
“Hmm, it really can’t be that, it must have happened earlier than that… I need to go backwards in time… What were Ali and I doing before it happened?” Littlefoot had a feeling that the answer was close. Closing his eyes, he saw the scene in front of his inner eye again. He was walking down from the walls, seeing Ali who had prepared some flowers and berries for him. He remembered feeling sad.
“Why was that again? Oh…” That was when realisation hit him.
*
“... Well, I have to leave now,” Bron eventually spoke, after staying around Shorty at their nesting area for a little after returning from the watering hole, eating breakfast.
“About time he finally shuts up!” Shorty thought aggressively, Bron’s carefree chitchat annoying and boring him to the bone. A horny couple was less annoying to listen to…
“As I mentioned yesterday… if you continue to behave yourself, I will loosen the punishment a little as a reward as well as to give you a chance to prove that your word is rightful and true. I am trusting the word of those who watch you just as well as yours. Have a nice day, Shorty.” With that Bron walked away towards a group of Longnecks - members of the herd.
“Well, as annoying as he is… he won’t hold his grudge. I just have to bear his crap for a few more days I guess…” With that, Shorty took his position on the ground, closing his eyes and waiting for time to drag on.
*
“The answer is… me?” Littlefoot exclaimed, the girls’ eyes directed at him. “I am the reason for this, why though?”
“Well, this is only half true but close enough,” Cho spoke in a mysterious voice. “You see, Littlefoot, it is not so much you who made him so angry but your father and the fact that, all of a sudden, Shorty was not important to him anymore because he now had you!”
“And that’s the reason for Shorty to do such a horrible thing?!” Littlefoot didn’t want to believe the words of the younger dinosaur.
“Unfortunately, yes…” Ali sighed.
“Well, I hope he has talked to Bron about this!” Littlefoot exclaimed loudly. “I never meant to take Bron away from Shorty!”
“I’ll tell him, okay?” Ali offered. When Littlefoot gave her a questioning look, she added. “Remember, silly… I wanted to talk to him yesterday already. I’ll ask Bron whether I may while you are meeting him later…”
“Oh… right!” Littlefoot remembered now. “Uhh, anyway, I think I still owe Cho a few questions!”
*
Suddenly, just as Cera was about to start looking for the footprints of Littlefoot and his Grandparents, a much deeper and louder snore sounded across the little clearing they were residing in. Cera was beginning to get really pissed off by now.
“Spike, I mean it! Get up right…” That was, when Cera noticed that Spike was wide awake, staring at her, a questioning mark hanging in the air.
“What the heck is that???” Cera wondered, a slight amount of worry mixing into her annoyance.
“That. Not. Spike,” Petrie stated matter-of-factly.
Upon inspecting the boulder next to them a bit more closely, Ducky piped up as well.
“I did not know boulders could snore…”
That was when Cera noticed that something was wrong. Awfully wrong.
“They can’t… BUT SHARPTEETH CAN!!!”
~~~~~
Right, in this chapter, we get to know Cho completely different than she was being described thus far. Don't worry, this is not a continuity error
The chapter doesn't move the plot forward a lot but it has lots of character interaction and development, apparently
So yeah, I hope you liked it
I have also tried to apply the constructive feedback that I received during the Fanfiction Award Voting in this chapter, especially in the second half. I've revamped the earlier parts that I had already written before reading the reviews a few days ago but I still think the second half of it is where you have to look for improvement in terms of writing style. Feel free to point out any errors, as harsh as it is to hear about them, I can't eliminate them without somebody pointing it out to me since I, as a writer of my own story, am biased a lot in this regard when I try to find them myself
Uhh, what else? Ah right... In the next chapter, an event is going to occur which will have a significant importance for the future of the story. However, it's very small so keep your eyes open to find out whenever I get to finish the next one
