Chapter Seven: Bleeding Wounds

Just a warning: Lots of Gore throughout the whole chapter.

“How could you lead Coldbreath to us?” Pine shouted. The brown Stegosaurus strode up to the healer, flank facing the red Triceratops. He lashed his tail back and forth, readying to defend the yellow-scaled sprinter if the older male three-horn decided to charge. “He almost killed a passer-by yesterday. Now you brought him back to kill one of the herd?”
 
“How was I supposed to shake off a rabid sharptooth thirsting for my blood?” the Triceratops roared back. He took a step forward, only to have his left back leg almost give out. Blood glanced back at his wounded leg, much of the muscle and tendons ripped to shreds. One small patch even revealed bits of bone. It was a miracle that he was able to run this far to the herd.

“What the hell did you do, Blood?” Pine asked, panic lacing his deep voice as fear swirled within his green eyes. “What the hell did you do?”

Just as Pine asked this question, another roar echoed throughout the forest. A few dinosaurs not already paralyzed by fear, fled. There was no way they would be sticking around to, if not be killed by Coldbreath, watch one of the herd members die at his jaws. They were cowards and would not stand to defend their herd.

Hyacinth and Orchid did not flee. They could not. Orchid stood beside her gray longneck friend, who had painfully managed to climb to her feet when she first heard the roar. She leaned against her purple spiketail friend, still weak from yesterday’s battle. Hyacinth would have ran off with the others if it was not for her wounds. Orchid, on the other hand, was scared stiff, unable to move, memories of not only yesterday, but also of her friend Pebble’s death, replying in her mind. As far as the two adolescent females knew, Coldbreath was back for revenge.

Blood looked over his shoulder again, fuchsia eyes filled with terror as the ground shook with each step the massive carnivore slowly took. Each step silently telling him his end of nearing closer and closer. The threehorn turned back to Pine, completely forgetting about the question the younger male had asked. He tried to take a step forward again, this time his leg giving way. The adrenaline finally wearing off from the surprise attack and savage bite Coldbreath had given him.

Letting out a groan of pain, Blood looked back at his leg once more only to notice the clearly visible trail of blood he had left. He had made it ten times easier for the dark feathered backed rex to follow him. He had put everyone in danger, just like the last few times that he had acted so recklessly without thought. He thought he was doing something good this time for the plant eater world by getting rid of one more carnivore.  

The red Triceratops tore his fuchsia eyes from his wounded leg to his left flank. He gave a hard swallow at the sight of blood oozing out of a deep wound caused by the gray Tyrannosaurus rex’s razor sharp teeth grazing over his side in a glancing bite. He would surely die from blood loss, if not from the jaws of Coldbreath. Tearing his eyes away from his bleeding wounds, Blood focused his gaze onto Pine. “Please, help me. He’s going to kill me. I’m going to die.”

“Then be it,” retorted the orange Antarctosaurus whom had winked at Hyacinth earlier that day.

“Heat!” Pine snapped. “Let me speak.” The brown Stegosaurus took a few steps forward to stand in front of the fallen Triceratops. “Answer my question. What did you do?”

“I crushed a sharptooth egg,” Blood cried out. “I thought I was doing something good. I was getting rid of one more sharptooth that could split a family a part. I didn’t think he would find out and chase after me.”

“Was it Coldbreath’s?”

“I don’t know. Just don’t let him kill me. I have children. My son, Crash, is sick. I was looking for a healer. I came back to you Crooked, to see if you knew any healer that could help me. I want to return to them, alive.”

Pine said nothing, only turning his green gaze away from the terrified threehorn. Crooked turned to him before taking his own steps forward to comfort Blood. He placed a hand-like paw on the Triceratop’s nose horn. “I am very sorry, but I do not know of any other healers that could even come close to healing your son’s illness. I can though, help you get back to your daughter and son, alive.”

The yellow Dryosaurus then turned to his mixed herd. “To all who are left. We must help Blood. He may have been kicked out of the herd for his reckless actions and endangerment to it, but he is still one of us, a plant eater. We must defend him from Coldbreath.”  

A ripple of murmurs flittered among the remaining herd members. They were wary of helping someone who had put their lives in danger more than once. Just as a few began to step cautiously forward, a thunderous roar ripped through the air, the temperature dropping drastically as the sound faded away. Only a moment of pure silence passed before all chaos broke loose.

Coldbreath emerged from the trees. The predator lunged forward and his scaly gray jaws clamped down on Blood’s lower back, causing the Triceratops to roar out in pain. He pulled the herbivore back and away from the waiting herd who was once again paralyzed with fear. Releasing his grip on Blood, Coldbreath looked up at the watching herbivores, red eyes scrutinizing every single one of them. He gave a deafening roar, warning them to not intervene.

The massive beast turned to Blood. He let out a low rumbling roar, lowering himself close to the Triceratops’s head. He gave a huff, bathing the older male in his icy cold breath. He parted his jaws slightly, letting Blood gaze at the monstrous, slimy saliva coated fangs, which had been used to slaughter many. The red threehorn could see the predator’s tongue move as he gave another, louder growl as if he was trying to say something to him. As if mocking him for crushing his beloved’s lone egg.

Blood clenched his bright pink eyes shut, not wanting to see anymore. When Coldbreath noticed this, he snapped his jaws closed. Blood flinched at the sound, his eyes slowly opening. He did not want to see, but he could not keep his eyes close for more than a few seconds.

Coldbreath moved his snout to Blood’s belly. As he did with the threehorn’s head, he let out a long breath, bathing his underside with his icy breath. This time, the red threehorn shivered, his underside much more sensitive than his frilled and horned head. It felt unprotected, even the creamy peach scales were softer.

Blood let out a loud yelp when he felt the carnivore’s snout press into his belly. Coldbreath was truly toying with him. Making him suffer not from pain, but postponing each wound he could inflict with a simple touch. The Tyrannosaurus rex gave another low, rumbling growl before his tongue flicked out. Slowly he licked upwards, leaving an icy trail of saliva on the creamy peach scales of Blood’s underside. As Coldbreath drew back, ice crystals were visible where he had licked the herbivore.

The bonecrusher sharptooth stared down at his prey. His eyes, the same color as Blood’s freshly spilt life retaining liquid, gazed over the wounded threehorn. A low hum resonated from the beast’s chest as he continued to calculate, a delighted twinkled flickering in his red eyes. In one swift motion, he lunged forward; steel jaws clamping down on Blood’s wounded leg.

Coldbreath gave a vicious tug, pulling the herbivore back with the force. The threehorn cried out as pain radiated throughout his body. Teeth scraping against bone. Muscle and tendons straining to stay attached to the femur. The beast gave another brutal tug. The pop of Blood’s hip dislocating echoed through the forest along with his pained bellows that only grew louder in volume and intensity. Another tug. The sound of ripping flesh and sinew either detaching from bone or tearing by the Coldbreath’s fangs. One more jerk of his head, Blood’s leg came loose, spraying bright crimson blood onto the ground and the predator’s face.

Most of the still standing herbivores of the mixed herd looked away. A few vomiting their lunch. Many were also crying, Blood’s howls tearing into their hearts. For any who wanted to help before, there was no way that they could intervene now. Blood was as good as dead, if not from Coldbreath’s jaws, then blood loss. Even Crooked’s miraculous ability to heal wounds quickly were of no use now. The sprinter’s earlier words would not be kept.

Coldbreath turned to the watching herd, having finally noticed their crying and the sound of retching. He stared at them for a moment, Blood’s leg hanging in his jaws. With a loud huff, the carnivore tossed the limb into the crowd, causing many to scream in horror and scatter. Letting out of a sound akin to a coughing, chortling-like laugh, the rex turned back to his dying prey.

He dove forward, jaws clamping down on Blood’s upper back. Coldbreath applied as much pressure as he could, crushing both ribs and spinal cord. The Triceratops could no longer move anything other than his head. Coldbreath had done what his kind were named for, crushing bone.

The predator drew back once more, jaws drenched in blood. He stared down at the herbivore; his shallow breathing and the random blink of his fuchsia eyes were the only indications that his prey was still alive. The gray Tyrannosaurus rex took a step forward. Slowly, he lowered his jaws to the back of Blood’s neck, icy cold breath bathing the dying threehorn. The carnivore hovered there for a long moment, bloody jaws parted slightly, as if teasing Blood. The rex then spoke in a mocking tone, which held a strange smoothness to it. “See what happens when you anger a carnivore?”

Blood’s bright pink eyes widened in horror. A sharptooth had just spooken to him. His living nightmare had just spoke to him. Breathing hard, he moved his head around in a frantic panic. He would not die here. He had to see his daughter and his son. He had to live for them. Sadly, his dying wish would not come true.

The bonecrusher sharptooth moved agonizingly slow towards Blood’s neck. He opened his jaws slightly wider, enabling him to slide them around the plant eater’s neck, large teeth just grazing his red scales. Time seemed to slow as the carnivore stalled, again, in a scene of mocking. Then, he suddenly snapped his jaws shut around Blood’s neck, killing him instantly.

Every dinosaur still watching flinched at the action. Coldbreath released the now dead threehorn from his jaws, staring over at the other herbivores. He red eyes looked them over for a moment before letting out a mighty roar, as if warning them to stay back. He then leaned down and picked up the fresh kill in his jaws, half carrying, half dragging it away.

A high-pitched bellow suddenly echoed through the trees before a dull red dinosaur came charging forward from the underbrush. It was an adolescent threehorn, only a few seasons younger than Hyacinth. She was clearly the daughter of Blood, having followed her father’s blood trail after she had heard him attacked by the massive beast.

Her dull red body slammed into Coldbreath’s left leg, one of her brow horns slicing cleanly through his calf muscle. Coldbreath’s deafening, agonizing roar ripped through the forest, causing many to winch in pain before it faded to ringing in their ears. The feathered Tyrannosaurs rex dropped his prey as he turned on the dull red herbivore, her horn still lodged in his leg. He was too enraged to even notice the pain after the fact of the stab. The temperature around the two dropped significantly. The female’s breath was visible by quick puff of steam floating out from her boney beaked jaws. Steam seemed to roll off Coldbreath’s body as he began to lean forward, mighty jaws agape.

He lunged forward, causing the Triceratops to take a step back, her horn sliding out of the carnivore’s leg.  Coldbreath’s jaws still caught onto her frill. He pulled towards himself, aiming to bring her closer. The young female gave a cry of distress as she thrashed her head from side to side, trying to dislodge the predator’s teeth from her shield. She was already panicking. Her frill had become strangely numb with cold.

The threehorn suddenly felt something soft and squishy press against her frill. It was Coldbreath’s tongue. But as he did this, her head shield become incredibly cold until she could not feel any sensation on her head. She could only feel a strange presser on her frill, no doubt from Coldbreath’s tongue. The sudden sound akin to a thick sheet of ice breaking, rang through the forest. Coldbreath drew back, the female Triceratops’ dark brown eyes staring up at him in disbelief and horror. She knew what had happened not only by the sight of him crunching on her broken piece of frill, but also due to the lightness of her head. He had broken her beautiful head shield.

Rage quickly filled her entire being. With a roar that could match any carnivore’s, she charged forward. Coldbreath stepped out of the way, only to stumble onto the ground, his left leg giving out underneath him. He turned to it, watching the bright crimson blood pour from the gaping hole. Glancing up at the female herbivore, he looked back down at his wound. Leaning forward as best as he could in the positon he was in, he lapped at his wound, tongue still as icy cold as it had been when he had broken the Triceratops’s shield. As soon as he licked it, the blood pouring from his wound began to freeze. With only a few more licks, the wound was frozen shut with blood. He would not die of blood lost or even infection, the frozen blood much too cold for bacteria to thrive in.

Just as he turned away from his wound, he found his face full of horns. Just before the female could stab him in the eye, Coldbreath grabbed onto one of her horns with his jaws. He tugged downwards, blood red eyes staring into the female’s dark brown ones. “I suggest you back off unless you want to lose a horn.”

She glared at him for a long moment before backing off. She understood every word he growled out. Losing a horn would be much worse than what had happened to her frill. Not only was there a chance of her bleeding out, but it would be an enormous dent in her pride. A threehorn with only two horns was pathetic.

Satisfied that the threehorn would stay down, Coldbreath turned to the rest of the paralyzed herbivores, his red eyes landing on Hyacinth. Knowing that she could somewhat understand him, he began to speak slowly in carnivore. “You do not mess with a carnivore as big as me. When one of you idiotic plant eaters think you are doing yourself good by crushing an egg or killing a newly hatched infant, you are only giving yourself a death sentence.”

With those words, the massive beast gave a loud huff. As he began to turn away, he gave himself a shake before walking over to his kill. Just as he bent down to pick up Blood’s mutilated body, he noticed the dull red Triceratops brandishing her horns, clearly getting ready to charge him again. Giving a grunt, he turned to her. “You’re all the same. Hornfaces too blinded by their own pride to back down.”

He approached her, jaws only slightly parted. Lowering his head, he let out a low, rumbling snarl. With a snap of his jaws, he lunged forward, only a faint, but still frightening the already shaken Triceratops. Seeing that she had taken a step back, Coldbreath used his massive head as a battering ram, slamming it against the adolescent’s flank.

The female stumbled and before she could regain her breath or footing, Coldbreath’s jaws clamped down on her back. He was not aiming to kill her though. No, he was going to do something much worse. He forced her down with a thrust of his head. She now lay on her side, and to keep her there, the feather backed rex placed a massive foot onto her side. His three, enormous clawed toes digging into her side, reducing her struggles. She may be prideful, but she did not want to be killed.

Her dark brown eyes watched as Coldbreath leaned forward, jaws slightly parted. Slowly, he slide her bloody left horn into his jaws, the one that had stabbed him in the calf. Knowing exactly what he was going to do, the female began to struggle again, distressed whimpers sounding from deep in her throat. He was going to fulfill his promise, to rip off her horn.

Coldbreath gave a mock tug, causing the female to let out a loud whine and clench her eyes shut. At this, he gave a chuckle before releasing the horn. He licked at the base of her horn, icy crystals forming on the dull red scales of the adolescent’s head. He continued to lick and the base of the horn steadily decreased in temperature until the female could no longer feel were that horn was on her head. Only the heaviness of it told her it was still there.

The Tyrannosaurus rex pressed his nose to the threehorn’s neck, letting out a slow breath, which bathed her in icy cold air just as he had done with her father. In a menacing whisper that only the terrified female could hear, he spoke to her in herbivore. “I don’t want to kill you, so I’m just helping your chance of survival by freezing your flesh and bone. It’s pretty lucky that the infamous healer Crooked is here.” He paused, letting out a low rumbling growl before touching his nose to the underside of her neck, tongue flicking out to ever so slowly lick at the ash colored scales.  “Impale,” he breathed. “No, I will not kill you, dear Impale. I will just let you live a miserable life of torture, knowing that it was your prideful mistake of even thinking about charging me once more. Now you’re a threehorn with only two horns.”

The dull red threehorn’s eyes snapped open as sheer panic pumped through her veins. The carnivore had just spoked her name in leaf-eater. Breathing hard she looked at Coldbreath, an evil glint in his eyes. Suddenly, he lunged forward, jaws clamping down on her horn. He only had to give one powerful yank for the horn to come loose, the base of the horn shattering like ice.

Coldbreath stepped back, dropping the horn in front of Impale. “Here’s your present,” his voice rumbled out mockingly. He then leaned forward, giving one lasting impression to terrorize the threehorn’s dreams at night. His tongue snaked out to lap at the slightly bleeding wound on her forehead, freezing the oozing blood. “There, now you don’t need to worry about bleeding out for a while.”

Turning back to the watching herd, the gray scaled Tyrannosaurus rex gave a loud huff, satisfied that his message had been received across the herbivores. Do not mess with a carnivore. Leaning down, he picked up Impale’s dead father once again, carrying the heavy body as best as he could back to the cave he lived in. Now he had food to feed his beloved and to comfort her from the loss of her lone egg. She was so weak and small, he did not know if she would survive another egg laying, or if she could even create another one.

The herbivories could only stare in stunned silence as they watched their biggest nightmare slowly disappear into the forest.

Awesome! I’ll have to get reading your story then. I’ve always skimmed over the chapters after they were posted. You’re story will be my next story to listen to once I finish re-listening to the Land Before Time Retold series. (I have an app that reads stories, so I can just listen to stories while I do stuff.)

Sharptooth’s child/children: How has someone other than me and another story I read not write about this?

Redclaw’s child/children: I have read some that say Sharptooth is Redclaw’s son…but how about some oc children, hmm?

Dimension Travel of a Human: I’m a big fan of the Land Before Time Retold series and I’m doing my own fanfiction with humans in it. I would personally like to see more fics with people getting to the LBT Universe by more fantasy means, like the Time Stones in LBTR. I’m not the biggest fan of science-fiction, which is what most of the larger human-fics are. I would prefer no guns, no technology and the human staying in the LBT universe for most if not all the story (Which is what I’m doing in my own fanfic)

Superpowers: I know AnthroLover has one he is writing, which is awesome. I also read at least one other that fell into that category. I would like to see a few more of these

Next Generation: The gang of five all grown up with their kids going on adventures, heck yeah!

Odd/Even Crack Parings: The most common I see on here is AliXLittlefoot, CeraXLittlefoot, and DuckXPetrie. How about a few mixed up ones. I tend to get a little irritated when I see couples of different species get together, only because they can no way create offspring let alone have any romantic interest with something so different, but I can get past this after a little bit. I’ll still end of reading the story. Anywho, I would like to see maybe a few more ShortyXAli ones and looking forward to the PteranoXEtta parings that I’m sure will show up after the newest movie comes out. I would also like to see some new ones people haven’t talked about. Maybe BronXOC after Littlefoot’s mom dies? Or a ShortyXCera?

Hybrids: I absolutely adore hybrids. Even though I don’t totally agree with the different species producing offspring, it’s still fun reading about them. I do think that most people whom have written these fics need to mixed the characters a bit better.

That Character in the Background: Have any of you thought of writing a story for any of those random characters you see in the background. Like that one ceratopsian with its two pick colored children in the beginning credits of the 10th movie.

 Siblings: Littlefoot has siblings. This is another one I don’t understand why people don’t write more. When you watch the first movie, the other eggs are NOT SMASHED! They look broken and muddy, like they hatched, probably before the rainstorm. What if Cera’s sibs survived? What if Chomper had a nestmate or a younger or older sib?

Main character with an OC: They are a few of these out there, but I just feel like there isn’t enough. (CeraXOC, LittlefootXOC…)

Not their parent: You can do this with anyone, but the most obvious is Cera and Chomper. Cera is orange with green eyes while both her parents are gray with black eyes. Chomper is purple while both his parents are green. I know genes can be recessive and all, but doesn’t it make you wonder?

The Past: The best one would be seeing what happened to Spike’s parents.

Chapter Four: Unearthly Beast

Several days had passed since the two adolescent herbivories’ journey began. The past ten days were spent in comfortable companionship; the pair managing to find enough food and water to sustain themselves. It became easier to forage for food as they traveled northward, the warm barren land turning to a cooler temperate climate. It now flourished with plant life along with many dinosaurs, big and small, herbivores and carnivores.

When Hyacinth and Orchid had entered the forest just a day ago, the Stegosaurs knew they were going the correct way. Even though they were traveling north, they had to push a bit towards the west to ensure that they would reach the cave where Sorrel would arrive at.

The adolescent females had shared many stories over their journey. From Hyacinth’s many adventures with Angela, even the few near death situations they faced, to Orchid ranting about her mother’s insane obsession with pinecones. At the moment, the pair was slowly walking down a warn path used by many of the migrating herds, including a select few of Orchid’s old herd whom could not handle the colder months of the year. They were singing a childish song Angela had taught Hyacinth when she was young, voices alternating from silly high pitched, squeaky, to low rumbling growls. Soon enough, the pair was giggling too much from their antics and began stumbling over their feet as laughter coursed through their large bodies.

“Oh!” Orchid suddenly said though her fading giggles. “Maybe I should find a really cool pinecone for my mom. Maybe we’ll met my herd. That would be so cool. Wouldn’t that be cool? You could met my family, Hyacinth.”

The gray Apatosaurus just grinned back at her friend, having also recovered from her laughter. Her grief over her adoptive mother’s death still lingered, but it no longer weighed her down like the first few days. It helped that the purple spiketail was so talkative and friendly; the longneck would easily get distracted from her thoughts about Angela’s death. This was what it was like to have a true friend.

Hyacinth’s thoughts turned to something else. Her teal eyes stared up at the sky, which was filled with big, fluffy clouds. The sun hung low in the sky, signaling nighttime would be here within little over an hour, meaning the pair would have to stop soon. Both knew it was dangerous to travel through the night, not only because of the predators that lurked in the veil of darkness, but because they needed sleep to keep their energy up. “We should come across a herd that we could sleep with soon.”

“Yeah. Hopefully we won’t have to find separate herds like that one night. Other dinosaurs too proud or scared or whatever to let in someone different than their own kind. We’re all leaf eaters here! Heck, we’re even both big dinosaurs that walk on four legs, we’re less different than a domehead and a flyer traveling together. No one has territory staked out either and it’s not like we’re going to hurt anyone, we just want to be safe since there are vicious predators out there. It’s not like we’re going to eat them!”

Hyacinth only silently nodded as she walked beside the ranting spiketail. As Orchid continued her tirade that was now trailing to how prideful all the hornedfaced dinosaurs could get, the longneck let her teal gaze wander to any herd that would possibly allow them both to sleep in. There was no way she or Orchid would sleep as just the two of them, alone tonight in this forest. They had already heard others warning them that sharpteeth infested this forest and always came out at night. A dinosaur that does not have the protection of a herd or seems to be injured, weak, or sick, became a perfect target for a ravenous sharptooth to prey upon.

“Hey,” Hyacinth spoke up, halting Orchid in her rant which had now turned to the subject of her mother’s pinecone obsession. “Do you think we should try that herd?”

The purple Stegosaurus looked out into the trees left of the path. It was a mixed herd. Ceratopsians, Sauropods, plated dinosaurs, and armored dinosaurs. It was small, but would be good protection with the other large herbivores. Orchid’s brown eyes continued to wonder over the group, until they stopped on a large, brown scaled male Stegosaurs. “Hmm…he doesn’t look too bad. Hey, maybe we should hook up with someone in this herd. I’m sure you can find a longneck for yourself. What do you think?”

Hyacinth only stared out at the small mixed herd before shaking her head. “No. I have to find Sorrel. If we begin flirting with boys and end up having them come along, they will just slow us down. I would like to find her a soon as possible.”

“Yeah, but they could protect us too. I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Orchid mused as she continued to watch the brown spiketail.

The gray Apatosaurus did not reply, only narrowing her eyes at the mixed herd. A few of them seemed anxious as they chatted in harsh whispers with one another. Feeling a little uneasy about this, she spoke up as the two companions approached the herd. “Excuse me. Would it be possible for my friend and me to stay with your herd for the night?”

The brown Stegosaurs walked forward, having heard the question. He glanced at Orchid, causing the purple female to grin and let out a small giggle of excitement. “You can. We could use all the dinosaurs we can get. Rumor has it that Coldbreath is in the area.”

At those words, Orchid’s smile slipped from her face. “Wh-what? He’s here? I thought he lived farther north. Like almost in the mountains where my herd sometime stays.”

“That may be so, but we can only assume that he is traveling, possibly looking for a larger territory. A few dinosaurs say that they spotted him here in this forest. I would keep your guard up. I am glad that you joined us. Only for the night though?”

“Yes,” Hyacinth answered, giving a concerned glanced back at Orchid as the spiketail stumbled behind her.

The male gave a small nod before stopping abruptly, head raising sharply. His intense gaze slowly scanned the forest surrounding them before giving a hard swallow. Hyacinth shudder, noticing how cold the air had suddenly become. She nervously glanced to her side to see Orchid next to her, brown eyes wide with fear and her breath coming out in short gasps. The air had cooled down so much now, that every dinosaur’s breath in the area turned to vapor when it hit the now frosty air.

“He’s here,” the brown Stegosaurus breathed as many of his herd began to back away in fear. A few had already turned tail, too fearful to face off with the massive beast that awaited them.

A loud crunch sounded behind Hyacinth causing the gray Apatosaurus to swing around. She was just as terrified as the rest of the mixed herd. From the stories Orchid had told her, this rex was ruthless and could kill her with a simple snap of his jaws.

The large conifers in front of the mixed herd began to shake as the Tyrannosaurus rex gradually approached but still remained hidden from their sight. His deep breathing was easily heard by every listening ear as it echoed through the forest, along with the crunch of underbrush with every thunderous step he took. A deep ragged exhale from Coldbreath caused Hyacinth’s blood to run cold. The trees closest to the group began to tremble and a gray-scaled snout peaked out, nostrils flaring with the intake and outtake of breath. The carnivore took another step, reveling slightly parted jaws and rows of saliva coated, elven inch, thick, bone crushing fangs. His massive silhouette could be seen from behind the trees as he took yet another step, this time revealing his head and muscular neck.

Hyacinth let out a small whimper, taking a step back. This was a big mistake as the carnivore’s blood red eyes locked onto the sudden movement. With a low rumbling growl, the terrifying beast completely emerged from the trees. As in Orchid stories, he was massive. Where the tip of a full-grown Stegosaurus’s largest plate would reach mid-chest on an average sized Tyrannosaurus rex, on Coldbreath it would only reach his thigh. Other than his massive size, the rex possessed another unique trait that Orchid failed to mention to the longneck. From the top of his head, covering his back, upper tail and ending in a thick fluff, were dark gray, almost black feathers. His underside, like most dinosaurs, was a lighter color, his being a paler gray than his main dark-gray body.

Lowering his massive head, the carnivore snapped steal jaws shut, but his lips were still pulled back, displaying impressive, deadly teeth. He was grinning. “This is going to be fun.”

Hyacinth’s teal eyes widened in fear. She could understand some carnivore language, as Angela had taught her. This simple phrase struck fear in her heart. “Run,” she hissed to Orchid. “We have to start running now.” With those words and without waiting from her friend, Hyacinth tore off from the group, running as fast as a creature of her size could. Luckily for her, Coldbreath could not run very fast either with his massive bulk and the large trees posing obstacles.

The Apatosaurus frantically glanced to her side, seeing Orchid running alongside her. She also heard the gray rex thunder past the mixed herd, locking his sights on her. The beast’s strides were long and powerful as he pushed himself to catch up to the pair. And he did.

The Tyrannosaurus rex barreled up between the terrified adolescent females, staring down at Hyacinth, but he did not open his jaws. Instead, the carnivore lowered his head and used it like a battering ram, slamming into the longneck’s side. Hyacinth stumbled, almost losing her footing as she gasped for air. She had stopped, but Orchid continued running, Coldbreath looming right beside her. The carnivore had his jaws now open towards the purple Stegosaurs.

“Orchid!” Hyacinth cried out, only to girt her teeth in pain at the ache in her side. Still, she did not take her eyes off her friend, fearing for the other female’s life.

Coldbreath snapped his jaws close, causing the spiketail to let out a scream and stumble to the ground. Hyacinth looked on in horror, only to quickly realize that there was no blood on Orchid. It was just a mock bite; the massive predator taunting his prey. The gray Tyrannosaurs stood in front of the pair, jaws parted once more. He looked them over before letting out a menacing growl. “Come on. You have to make this at least a little bit entertaining for me. Fight back.”

Hyacinth only stood, shell-shocked at the carnivore’s deep, rumbling voice that seemed to echo in her mind after he was done speaking.  Orchid was standing once again, but her entire body was shaking. The adolescent stegosaurus was no match against this massive beast.

Coldbreath gave a snort. “So you’re just going to stand there like all the other frightened prey, aren’t you? Fine.” He then gave a roar a kin to thunder, charging forward, each step shaking the ground. His jaws spread wide open, aiming for the Stegosaurus paralyzed by fear.

“Orchid!” Hyacinth called out, running forward. “No!” The gray Apatosaurus skidded to a stop in front of her friend, flank facing Coldbreath as her tail lashed forward. It hit its mark.

The Tyrannosaurus rex gave a loud snort, shaking his head in aggravation. Hyacinth’s solid tail had created a nasty gash just above his right eye. He would surly have a headache by the end of the day. Blood welled up from the wound, scarlet drops rolling away from the wound and falling to the ground, staining the dirt below with his blood. He shook his head one more time before looking back to the two adolescent herbivores. They were now a ways ahead of him.

The gray carnivore let out a low rumbling growl of annoyance before resuming the chase once more. He had not expected the Apatosaurus to lash out with her tail like that. Almost always his prey was too scared to move, even to save their precious friends and family. He would kill one and let the other live. Sure he liked to toy with his prey, but he had no need to kill more than one big herbivore. Besides, it would be the other dinosaurs fault for not trying to save their friend. They could come back and try to take revenge on him if they wanted to. It was always fun to have a good fight.

As Coldbreath rapidly drew up to the pair once more, he let out a mighty roar, causing the air around the beast to cool down even more. This time, instead of coming up between them, he approached on Orchid’s side, lunging forward, teeth scraping against one of Orchid’s biggest back plates. He bit down harder, fangs cracking into the dark purple, bony armor.

The purple spiketail let out a blood curdling scream. She began twisting and turning, frantically trying to get away from the massive carnivore’s jaws.  She managed to swing her tail out, sharp spike grazing against his leg, but he refused to let go. The only thing that happened was the air began to become increasingly colder and colder with every passing moment. Orchid’s terrified screams continued to echo through the forest as Coldbreath gripped her plate tighter in his jaws and a painful coldness began to seep over her body. As all this was going on, all Hyacinth could do was stand, frozen in fear once more. She felt so helpless, so weak. She wanted to push the rex away from her friend but her body would not move.

A sudden crack, a kin to the sound of breaking ice filled the air. Orchid gave a high-pitched scream of pain as she struggled forward, Coldbreath’s jaws still clamped on her plate. With a savage jerk of the predator’s head, the spiketail was suddenly loose, stumbling away, only an inch or so left of her plate. Tears fell from her brown eyes as she lay on the ground, pain coursing through her entire body. The gray carnivore just stared down at her as he crunched on the now missing plate. He swallowed before taking a step forward, readying to kill the wounded spiketail.

Hyacinth suddenly charged forward, just like she did to protect Orchid the first time, giving a bellow. She plowed into the carnivore with her entire body. This only caused him to stumble a few steps sideways, not toppling him over like she had hoped. Hyacinth turned her body sideways, lashing her tail back and forth. She was ready to wound him as best as she could. The gray Apatosaurus swung her tail out, putting as much power into it as she could. Her tail tip cracked like a whip as it broke the sound barrier. It lashed across the massive predator’s neck.

Coldbreath let out a pained roar, stumbling back in surprise at the scorching pain emanating from his neck. He could feel his warm blood well up from the wound and flow down his neck. He watch as droplets fell to the ground below. It had been a while since someone dared to wound him this badly. Maybe it was because he had not hunted any ceratopsian lately.

He turned back to Hyacinth only to see that the longneck had reared up on her hind legs.  Staggering forward, she brought her weight down. The feathered rex took a step back just in time, Hyacinth’s sharp toe claws just grazing the tip of his snout, drawing more blood.

As she landed back onto the ground, Coldbreath lunged forward, jaws clamping down onto the longneck’s lower back. She was now the one in trouble, screaming in pain just as Orchid had done. This time, Hyacinth was the one to feel a strange yet agonizing freezing pain sweep over her body. Just as Hyacinth thought she could hear and feel her bones cracking as Coldbreath bite down harder, Orchid came to the rescue. The purple Stegosaurus swung her tail, the milky white spikes cutting deep into the carnivore’s jaws.

The gray rex instantly let go, letting out a roar of pain himself. Giving himself a shake, spraying droplets of blood from his wounds everywhere, he glared at the two herbivores. Now it was time for them to die. They were both wounded. The Stegosaur was in immense pain from the breaking of one of her biggest plates and the Apatosaurus sported a nasty back wound. This would be one of the few times he killed more than one leaf eater in a single hunt.

Coldbreath lunged forward, jaws open for Hyacinth’s neck. The gray sauropod clenched her eyes shut as she waited for the pain to come. A least she would get to see Angela after this. The snap of jaws sounded close to Hyacinth, teeth grazing her neck as icy cold breath bathed her. A pained carnivore’s roar echoed far away in the distance. Why had he stopped?

The feather Tyrannosaurus drew back, red eyes staring out into the distance, worry swirling in his eyes. The distressed roar sounded again before Coldbreath backed off, calling out with his own roar. “Lily!” he roar before turning back to the two herbivories. “Consider yourselves lucky.” With those words he ran off towards the other carnivore.  

Chapter Two: Journey North

   Hyacinth awoke the next morning in the shade of the flowering trees. She still lay at Angela’s grave, stains of the tears she cried last night evident on her scaly cheeks. She slowly lifted her head up from the ground, only to look over at the upturned dirt near her front feet. Her teal color eyes became moist at the sight. Closing them tight, Hyacinth lowered her head to the ground, tears silently spilling from her eyes. Giving a small sniff, the gray Apatosaurus moved her head to the grave, nuzzling it.

   “Hey…,” a female voice spoke from behind Hyacinth.

   The gray longneck raised her head from the grave, tears rolling down her cheeks as she wearily stared at the sandy feathered Utahraptor. The Apatosaurus gave another sniff and a blink of her teal eyes, causing even more tears to roll down her scaly cheeks, before laying her head back down on the ground. She did not want to leave yet. She could not leave her beloved caretaker just yet. Angela had not even been gone for a full day.

   “I came by the check on you,” Shifting Sand spoke, her voice soft, yet holding the predatory growl that most flat-tooth speaking carnivores possessed.

The large raptor slowly approached Hyacinth, careful not to startle the larger dinosaur as she did not know if the herbivore had heard her. She did not need a broken limb or ribs from an angry whip of the Apatosaurus’s tail.

With a few more cautious steps, Shifting Sand stood next to Hyacinth’s lower back, the place where she had jumped onto the Apatosaurus. Making sure the longneck was fine with her presences; she lowered her head to the wounds, sniffing them. They seemed fine, but it was only last night that Shifting Sand had caused them. Carefully, the sandy feathered carnivore began to lick at Hyacinth’s wounds, cleaning any dirt they may have gotten into them from last night.

Hyacinth did not respond to the soft licks, knowing what Shifting Sand was doing. She did not have to worry about the carnivore biting her, even if she was tasting her blood. Angela had told her that the Utahraptors of Shifting Sand’s pack had extremely good self-control when it came to hunting instincts around leaf eaters. Even with that knowledge, the longneck could honestly care less what the raptor was doing at the moment, all she wanted was to have her adoptive mother back.

   “Hyacinth?” the sickleclaw spoke again, having finished her cleaning. “You need to get moving. I know you would like to spend a bit more time with Angela, but you’ll miss Sorrel. I have no idea when she’ll be coming to this dimension. The only thing I know is that she has not already. We have a scout set at the cave entrance every night, but our pack is not very trusting of humans. They will not let her in the pack caves, even if she is related to Angela. She could freeze to death if this happens.”

   The Apatosaurus raised her head once more. She turned to look at Shifting Sand with distaste, but none the less stood up from her spot. Gazing mournfully at the freshly turned dirt of her caretaker’s grave, Hyacinth turned back to Shifting Sand. “Okay.”

   Shifting Sand gave a small nod before turning away from the adolescent longneck. She led Hyacinth out of the flowering grove and to the edge of the oasis. Many of the herbivores from last night had already moved on, fearing that a pack of sickleclaws was now making their home in the oasis. Still, some of the brave souls stayed behind, most being the ones that had witnessed Hyacinth and Shifting Sand speaking to one another.

All of the remaining plant eaters stiffened at the sight of the large raptor traveling just in front of Hyacinth. They watched from afar as the two walked to the edge of the oasis, breathe baited. No one estylepets","o":2},{"i":1moved a muscle, as they did not know if the female sickleclaw would turn on them or not. They did not know exactly what was going on between the predator and the longneck. The idea of them working together crossed a few of the herbivores’ minds but it quickly vanished as they thought it was impossible. Still, it seemed to be happening right in front of their eyes.

Once standing in the sparse, sandy soil where a few clumps of grass grew, Shifting Sand turned to Hyacinth. “Travel north. Far north. It is where my pack lives. I wish I could lead you there, but I have another mission to take care of in the near area.”

   The gray longneck only gave a small nod in response and with that began to sluggishly amble northwards, her heart heavy with sadness. Shifting Sand frowned at the sight, watching Hyacinth slowly lumber off. After a long moment, the large raptor called out, “remember to eat and drink. I, nor Sorrel or the rest of my pack want you dying on this journey. Please take care of yourself.”

   The only response Shifting Sand received was a flick of Hyacinth’s tail. The frown did not disappear from the raptor’s muzzle but there was nothing she could do. She could only hope that the gray Apatosaurus would listen to her advice and not starve herself to death in her grief. With a small sigh, Shifting Sand turned away from the fading form of Hyacinth. She needed to begin her next task as soon as possible. There was no point in worrying about the longneck. She would learn what happened to the herbivore once she arrived home in the next few cycles of the moon.

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Only a few hours into her travel and Hyacinth already felt like giving up. Even though she had never noticed Angela’s presence before on her back before, now it felt empty. There was no warmth or even the slightest bit of pressure on her back from where the elderly woman would sit or lay. The longneck’s mind was full of thoughts she never knew she had, as it had always been filled with the woman’s fascinating tales. Her soul was numb with grief at the death of her caretaker.  She missed Angela so much. She was the mother she never had, she was the aunt she never had, and she was the friend she never had. They had taken so many adventures together and met so many different kinds of dinosaurs. They could not do that anymore now that the elderly woman was dead.

   Even with these thoughts, Hyacinth continued as best as she could. She had to, for Angela. She needed to find Sornd tell her the stories of Angela and the legends Angela told her. There was also the feeling that Hyacinth should find Sorrel for another, deeper reason. It was as if something was gnawing at her soul, pulling her toward the young woman that would await her. This was the only thing that truly kept to longneck going. This feeling made her feel like she was still alive. It was the only thing that had not been numbed by her caretaker’s death.

Hyacinth gave a small sigh as her gaze drifted from one side of the horizon to the other. She only spotted a few plants here and there along with an occasional puddle. Neither would be enough to even satisfy the slight pangs of hunger that would come to her from time to time or wet her parched tongue. It was not like she cared though. The feelings of physical discomfort disappeared when her thoughts drifted back to Angela.

When Hyacinth’s teal gaze swept the horizon several hours later, she spotted a patch of green in the distance. Frowning, the gray longneck changed her path slightly so that she would arrive in the forest by nightfall. The adolescent knew she would not eat when she came to the forest. She had no appetite and the mere thought of food made her stomach churn.  She was only going to the forest for protection. She still wanted to live and being killed by sharpteeth in her sleep was not her idea of a good death.

   “Remember to eat and drink…” Shifting Sand’s words suddenly echoed through Hyacinth’s mind. The gray Apatosaurus looked to the patch of green she was traveling towards, giving a small sigh. The feathered carnivore was right. She needed to eat and drink if she wanted to stay healthy during the trip. Angela had insisted she get in contact with Sorrel, and she wasn’t going to let her beloved caretaker down. There was no doubt that the longneck would encounter a predator or two on the trip north to the cave where Angela’s kin would appear. She would eat and drink for Sorrel, she needed to let the young woman know of her great-aunt’s fate and also impress upon her how much the older woman meant to Hyacinth. But now, the adolescent longneck focused on the long hours that it would take for her to get to the tiny clump of trees in the distance.

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Nightfall arrived as Hyacinth laid her massive, weary body next to the nearest tree; an immense, elderly oak with a trunk as thick as one of her legs. She would eat in a minute, she just needed to rest her achy body. Normally she could handle this much travel. She had, had much worse, but with the death of Angela, everything became three times as hard as it used to be. Even the thought of eating tired the Apatosaurus, but she had to.

   “Hey there,” a female voice greeted Hyacinth from behind.

   The longneck raised her head from the ground, turning to find a Stegosaurus around her age. The spiketail was a rich purple color with her throat, underbelly, and underneath her tail a cream color. Her plates were fully-grown and were a few shades darker than the rest of her body. The four tail spikes at the tip of her tail were also fully grown in, though they were a milky white color.  

   Hyacinth said nothing to the newcomer, only resting her head back on the ground. She did not want to talk to anyone right now. She still needed to get herself to eat and having another dinosaur around would just make the struggle harder. Sadly, the spiketail did not get the unsaid message and approached the gray longneck. She began to nibble on a nearby bush, happily swaying as she chewed.

   “Spiketails always love their food,” Hyacinth thought scornfully. Her teal eyes watched the other female rip apart the leaves of the shrubbery with her sharp, bone-like beak. As she grounded the food, she turned to Hyacinth, as if feeling the other female’s eyes on her. The Stegosaurus continued to chew in silence as her brown eyes watched the longneck. When she was satisfied with her chewed up greens, the purple spiketail swallowed, then licked her beak to clear it of any remaining plant matter.

   “Do you want any?” she asked, moving aside for Hyacinth.

   The Apatosaurus said nothing, only turning her teal gaze back to the ground, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

   “Hey, hey. What’s wrong? Was it something I said? Oh, I hope not. I don’t like hurting other dinosaurs’ feelings.”

   Hyacinth just shook her head, tears spilling over her eyes. “No,” she sniffed. “You didn’t say anything wrong. It’s just…my…mother passed away only a day ago.” She gave another sniff as she turned away from the purple spiketail. “I couldn’t mourn her because I need to find someone as fast as I can.”

   “Oh my! I’m really sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? Maybe gather some tasty treestars, berries, and flowers, or show you were there is fresh water.”

   “Umm…” Hyacinth mumbled, teary eyes looking over the forest landscape as she thought. “Some berries would be nice, but…you should probably lead me there. You couldn’t possibly bring enough for me.”
 
   “Right,” the adolescent Stegosaurus grinned. “Come on, follow me.” With a hop in her step, the purple female walked away from the small clump of trees before stopping a few feet away. She glanced over her shoulder, waiting for the other female. Her grin turned back to a frown as she watched Hyacinth struggle to her feet, almost too weak from hunger and grief to stand. The longneck did manage to get to her feet and began to lumber over to the concerned spiketail.

   “So,” the purple Stegosaurus asked, wanting to start a conversation as they walked. “What’s your name?”

   “Hyacinth,” the gray Apatosaurus muttered, teal eyes already locked onto the berry bushes ahead.

   “That’s a pretty name. It’s a flower like mine. I’m Orchid.” The spiketail paused, looking Hyacinth over. “So what are you doing out here. I’m mean if your mother just…died only a day ago. Shouldn’t you be with the rest of your family mourning her?”

   “I don’t have any other family. It was just me and her. I’m…” Hyacinth paused, not knowing if she should tell the purple spiketail where she was heading. “I’m traveling north to find…my cousin.”

   “North?” Orchid spoke, looking up at the gray longneck. “My father’s side of the family lives in the north. Do you know where you’re going? I could probably help you there. I know where all the plants grow and which ones are best to eat. The roots of the needle-trees are always really tasty once you chew through the tough bark. The leaves are pretty good but they could hurt your mouth if you don’t eat them right because of their weird and spikey shaped.”

   “Um…I’m going to a cave near a sickleclaw pack. My mother said that my cousin could be found there.”

   “Near a sickleclaw pack?” Orchid questioned, brown eyes growing wide at the thought of the large, feathered predators. “Why would a longneck go anywhere near that big pack of raptors? I know where the pack lives and I’m sure the cave you are looking for is somewhere on the outskirts of their territory, but still. I have heard that they are rather strange, not acting like most raptor packs. Like they don’t really go after many leaf eaters. They just live in this giant cave system and eat smaller creatures such as lizards. I have also heard that they only kill larger herbivores that would otherwise not survive due to illness or injury.”

   Hyacinth just gave a small tilt of her head, equivalent to a dinosaur shrug. It was then that the two came up to a large clump of berry bushes. The gray Apatosaurus could not help but smile at the sight of the colorful berries. They were probably her second most favorite food. The large, red berries were always so filled with flavor and so colorful. The only problem was that to fill her enormous belly, she ended up eating a few bushes before she was satisfied. Most of the other dinosaurs would get angry with her for eating the entire bush and not just the berries. Because of that, it was a rare occurrence that she allowed herself the succulent treat.  

Hyacinth gave Orchid a small smile of thanks and lowered her head to eat a bush full of bright red berries. Orchid smiled at the sight before digging into the nearest berry bush, one containing succulent, tart, dark purple fruit.

   “Well,” Orchid started with a mouthful of her dark berries. “Since I have nothing better to do, I guess I’m helping you find your cousin.”

Chapter Nine: Parting Ways  

Only a few days had passed since the raptor pair had left the Ceratopsian plains and were now wandering through a semi-desert landscape in search for food. The only vegetation their eyes fell upon where sparse plants here and there, though not enough for a large herbivore.  The water was just as scarce, only accumulating in massive amounts following a rare, heavy downpour.  A herd of dinosaurs could usually be found congregating at these oases, but there was no way the raptors would be able to sneak in without being spotting by at least one of the herbivores.  

Blood Stone and her son causally walked through the dry, desert landscape. They may have been hungry, but not enough to start a hunt. The lizard and rodents that scampered around their feet when the pair disturbed a bush on their travels were enough to satisfy them for the day.  Luckily, they did happen to came across a half-eaten Magnapaulia carcass around mid-day.

The raptor pair stopped, sniffing the air for any looming predator that may have taken down the prey. A familiar scent reached Blood Stone’s nostrils as her gaze fell upon a family of small raptors dozing on the other side of the large carcass. The larger raptor smiled in recognition; surely they would share the meat.

Blood Stone gave a small croak as she walked around the Magnapaulia. The brown feathered head of a female Velociraptor appeared over the large hadrosaur’s forelimb. She sleepily blinked her yellow eyes at the larger raptor standing a few feet in front of her. After a moment, her eyes widened, recognition dawning on her.

“Blood Stone!” she cried, jumping over the dead herbivore’s leg to greet the red feathered raptor. “I haven’t seen you for so long.” She then turned to Night Glare, letting out a small coo, “Oh, look how much you have gown.” She approached the dark blue scaly hybrid aiming to exchange nuzzles. Sadly, he only took a step back, giving a loud hiss and raising his wings in an aggressive display.

Blood Stone watched her child before rounding the Magnapaulia. She glanced over at Pebble. “Mind if I and Night Glare have a bite?”

“No, I don’t mind,” Pebble said, watching Night Glare with a wary eye.

Blood Stone gave the younger female a nod before she turned her brown gaze back to the carcass. Night Glare was quickly at her side, instantly diving his head into the already half-eaten stomach. His mother did not feast right away, too occupied at gazing over the two newcomers of Torrent and Pebble’s brood. Torrent was huddled up with Mist, River, and Ivy along with the two new additions, a pair of muddy blue colored males.  
“Who are those two?” Blood Stone asked as Pebble walked back over to her brood.

“Mud and Puddle. Mud is the bigger one,” the Velociraptor answered, beginning to nuzzle her family awake.

Groggily, Torrent opened his eyes, gazing up at his mate. He gave her a small smile before giving his five children a nudge of his own. Slowly, the young Velociraptors began to wake up, giving yawns and squeaks. Mist, the blue, yellow-green eyed female gave a shake of her feathers before noticing Blood Stone. She gave an excited squawk, jumping up to the larger Deinonychus. Blood Stone stared down at the tiny raptor before she began to eat.

Mist turned to Night Glare who was still gorging himself on hadrosaur flesh. The little blue female grinned mischievously as she shook her hind end. She then leaped, landing on Night Glare’s back. Almost instantly the hybrid whipped his head out of the Magnapaulia, letting out a screech at the little raptor on his back. Seeing that she was in danger, Mist leaped off before Night Glare’s jaws could close around her. She ran off, the larger raptor chasing after her.

Blood Stone gave a snarl, standing in front of her son before he could do any damage to the Velociraptor. Torrent stood over Mist banishing his claws at the hybrid. Night Glare only gave another loud hiss, almost completely ignoring his mother. Blood Stone gave a low growl, pushing Night Glare away. The scaly raptor gave another growl but tore his gaze away, turning back to his meal.

“Keep that thing away from my children,” Torrent snarled, still standing over Mist.

“But Daddy, I was just playing with him,” the little blue female said. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

“No. He defiantly did,” Blood Stone spoke, turning to Mist. “He doesn’t do will with anyone other than me. He’s an excellent hunter, though. Probably the best I’ve seen.”

   The little female turned to Night Glare who had finished his fill and was now gazing up at the sky, blood still coating his jaws and clawed hands. Mist looked back at Blood Stone. “Does he speak?”
   
“No. But he communicates well by other means.”

   Mist only gave a confused blink of her yellow green eyes. She then turned to her siblings, not wanting to risk playing with Night Glare again. She was flocked by her newest siblings, Mud and Puddle. The two little males possessed the same yellow-green eyes as she. The two males gave small squeaks of joy as they jumped up and down, nipping at their sister’s jaws.

   The dark blue scaled hybrid watched the trio for a long moment before laying down. He belly was full and his mother was still eating, so he may as well get some sleep. Within seconds Night Glare was fast asleep, his mother looking over him.

   It did not take long for Blood Stone to finish her fill and she to, curled up for a nap. The mother and son pair slept for a few hours, the Velociraptors nibbling at the carcass or play fighting with one another while the time past. It was only after the sun began to paint the sky orange and stain the clouds pink that the pair woke up, and that was only because a certain male voice called out to the elderly Deinonychus.

   “Mom?”

   Blood Stone’s brown eyes opened at the male voice. Quickly noticing a presence standing above her, she looked up. It was a silvery red Deinonychus with blue eyes filled with shock at the sight of the elderly blood red female at his feet. He took a step back, enabling her to stand up. He watched her slowly pull herself to her feet, a small smile gracing his lips. “Nice seeing you again, Mom.”

   “White Havoc,” Blood Stone breathed before jumping forward. She nuzzled the slightly larger male on the side of the neck, he returning the gesture. “I didn’t think I would ever see you again.” She pulled away, gazing at the silvery red feathered male. “A mother like me never thinks she’ll see her children again. Especially when her mate has died.”

   “Dad’s dead?” White Havoc questioned, sadness quickly filling his blue eyes. “How…?”

   “Sickness,” Blood Stone whisper before turning the Night Glare, who was now sitting up, brown eyes starting at the newcomer. She gave him a small nod before turning back to her older son. “White Havoc, this is my newest hatchling, Night Glare. Night Glare, this is your half-brother, White Havoc and part of the last clutch I ever thought I would have.”
   The scaly hybrid only gave a blink before turning his gaze away from his mother and half-brother. He honestly did not care. He gave a small whiff of the air before standing up, walking over to where the scent emanated from. He gave a low growl as a hiss sounded behind a bush. A squawk then sounded followed by a pointed shriek and Night Glare lunged forward, jaws grabbing onto something.

   “Shadow Watcher!” White Havoc cried out, spirting towards the winged dinosaur before leaping onto his back. His deadly claws instantly hooked into Night Glare’s back before he leaned forward, jaws closing around the back of the hybrid’s neck. The dark blue raptor took a step back, dropping the creature he had bit.

   Blood Stone stared down in shock at the marron colored Deinonychus chick, her shoulders and back now drenched in her own blood. A large, black feathered female Deinonychus walked up to the chick, nuzzling her. She gave a small coo before looking up, rage flashing in her pale yellow eyes. With a screech, the female also leaped forward, joining her mate on the attack of the thing that had harmed her daughter.

   The elderly, red feathered raptor watched in horror as her older son and his mate tried to rip apart Night Glare. They had managed a few deep gashes in his sides and back, but the hybrid fought back fiercely. He had ripped White Havoc from his back before jumping around in circles, trying to shake the larger black Deinonychus off him. It was quite a surprise that he could hold her weigh when she was larger than himself.

   The female bit down on Night Glare’s right wing before jumping off the young male. He gave a loud screech in pain as his wing was pulled out of the socket before the membrane began to rip from his side.
 
   “Stop!” Blood Stone shouted. “Stop, there is no more reason to harm him. I’m sure he has learned his lesson. I may have not wanted him when I laid his egg, but he is still my son. You’re done. I’m sorry for what he has done to your daughter…my granddaughter, but…his mind seems to work differently than yours and mine.”

   The black female let go of Night Glare’s wing, watching the elderly female for a long moment before approaching her daughter who still lay motionless on the ground. Blood Stone did the same with her own son, nuzzling his bloody, broken wing. She only got a face full of teeth and a loud hiss of pain and anger in return. Blood Stone backed away, letting Night Glare deal with his wounds as she turned to her other son. He was nuzzling the maroon feathered child, muttering her name as his mate licked the chick’s wounds clean. White Havoc looked up at his mother, blue eyes glaring at her. “What kind of monster have you hatched?” The silvery red raptor then stood up, nudging his mate forward. “Come on, Evening Inferno. I want to get away from that thing.”

    The black female nodded. Leaning down, she picked up her daughter in her jaws as gently as she could, placing the hatchling onto her father’s back. White Havoc looked over the wounded chick before walking away, not sparing a glance at his mother.

   Blood Stone watched them for a long moment, before giving a sigh. She then turned to Night Glare, a snarl escaping her throat. “How could you do this? That was you brother’s child, my granddaughter, your own kind and you just attack them like that. Was your father’s kind some type of cannibalistic alien?”

   The dark blue raptor did not respond, only looking off into the distance, giving the air a small sniff. Turning to his broken right wing, he nuzzled it. Wincing in pain, he shook it off, stalking forward with a swish of his black feather tipped tail. Blood Stone only glared at her son, having been ignored. Still, she followed him.

   After a long trek over the dry landscape and though a bit of dense foliage, Night Glare stopped, his mother walking up beside him. She glared at her son, only to hear a loud bellow of a large herbivore. She turned and peered out of the bushes to see a young adult, dark green Stegosaurus. It was clear by the newly laid egg at her hind feet that this was a female. She gave another bellow, as if sensing the two waiting predators. She turned to the side, flashing her massive, triangular shaped, dark brown plates at the bushes Night Glare and Blood Stone stood within. The Stegosaurus then began to wave her tail back and forth, showing off her deadly spikes at its tip.

   The female gave another bellow, trashing her tail even more. This caused Night Glare to stand up, a small growl emitting from his throat. Blood Stone started at him with disbelief in her eyes. “Night Glare!” she hissed. “You can’t kill that Stegosaurus on your own. Even with my help. We’re too small.”

   The dark blue raptor ignored his mother, suddenly shooting out from the bushes. He dived between the herbivore’s legs to the egg she was guarding. The new mother gave a loud bellow of distress, taking a step back, almost crushing Night Glare. She then took another step back, swinging her tail once more, aiming for the Deinonychus hybrid’s head.

   Blood Stone gave a small shout, running forward towards Night Glare. She pushed her son aside with her body, but paid the consequence. One of the female Stegosaurus’s spikes impaled the elderly Deinonychus’s head. The herbivore looked over at the dead predator stuck on her tail. It was not the one she had seen after her egg. With a snort, she gave a flick of her tail, dislodging Blood Stone from her spike and causing the raptor to be flung into the bushes. The dark green Stegosaurus then looked around for the dark blue, winged raptor she had seen before. Not catching sight of the young male’s scaly hide, she looked down at her lone egg, making sure it was okay.

   When the new mother had turned away from the limp body of Blood Stone, Night Glare reappeared in the bushes. He looked down at his mother’s body, giving a slow blink of his brown eyes. He took a small step forward, sniffing at the dead Deinonychus. His tongue flickered out, lapping at the wound on top of the elderly female’s head. She had died protecting him. Night Glare gave his mother’s body another sniff before turning away. He stopped, looking over his shoulder and spoke for the first time. “Death is everywhere, Momma.”


Whoo! I finally finished it! This chapter took way too long to write, but I just lost interest after the eighth one. Hey, now it’s finished, so that’s good.  

I will be writing another Land Before Time fic, but not a sequel. I’ll probably start posting around the weekend of my first week of school so that I have a few chapters typed up. I really don’t want to have such a long span between chapters like this story.  Also, the chapters won’t be too long, maybe 1,000 – 2,000 or so words each. I will say that my new story will be about Thin Skins (humans if you haven’t figured it out yet), missing siblings, half-siblings, and a few other special elements.

I also would like to say that if I stop posting around the middle of the school year, it’s probably because I have a full school schedule with, hopefully, two AP classes. My original works are also WAY more important and I’ll probably be working on those most weekends, if I can think of ideas.
Thanks to everyone who have read my story. Hope you enjoyed.

Quote from: Kittybubbles,Jul 4 2015 on  10:58 AM

Different species can produce offspring with one another as long as they are in the same family, animal kingdom wise. For example, a horse with a donkey would make a mule or a lion and a tiger could create a liger or a tigon. I know the hybrid offspring most likely would be infertile, but I°¶m only interested in the original Tyrannosaurs rex hybrid for my fanfic.

I am aware of that. I know about tigons and I know about mules. What I was saying is that two species breeding together would be difficult as the genes have to be genetically close enough to be able to produce an offspring. They have to have enough in common genetically, otherwise it wouldn't work. So yes, your chances are at their best if they are of the same family, but I don't know if that's always the case. I'm not sure if two species of the same family could always produce an offspring.

A friend of mine created a dinosaur character that was a cross between my alimon species (fictional four-legged theropod related to herrerrasaurus) and a carnotaurus (her fav dino). Such a pairing would never work in a realistic setting, but she did it anyway. So I don't see why you couldn't forego realism to have the hybrid dino that you wanted, since this is a fictional setting. But that's up to you.

Okay, I agree with you . I remember reading something about a wolf and fox cannot produce offspring. So I looked some things up and found this little thing.
   
°ßCanid hybrids are the result of interbreeding between different species of the canine (dog) family ( Canidae ). They often occur in the wild, in particular between domestic or feral dogs and wild native canid. Members of the dog genus Canis: wolves , domestic dogs, dingoes, Ethiopian Wolves, coyotes, and golden jackals cannot interbreed with members of the wider dog family: the Canidae , such as South American canids, foxes, African wild dogs, bat-eared foxes or raccoon dogs ; or, if they could, their offspring would be infertile. They could meet but couldn't produce offspring.°®

After reading this I had to look up the taxonomy of the Canidae family. Kind of interesting to look at but now I still don°¶t know how I would hybridize those. Eh, I can look up that stuff if I ever need that. So, if I want a hybrid of a dinosaur, I°¶ll just stay with the family and similar sizes since we wouldn°¶t exactly know if they could produce offspring or not.

The main thing about this stuff is that I like science-y things. So, even though it is fiction, I like to keep in realistic-ish, until I start adding my favorite fantasy elements like shape shifters and manipulators of elements of nature.

Thanks for the interesting discussion  

Even if spinosaurus and tyrannosaurus lived at the same time together, they most likely would not have been able to make an offspring as they would be too genetically different from each other.

Yeah…I kinda figured that. Even though I said this up above in like the third comment that I was going to go with the Spinosaurus hybrid, now I’m not. I wanted to go with the seemingly more able Giganotosaurus T-rex combo until I noticed that they were of different families. So, they cannot produce offspring either, so now I have to look at tyrannosauridae family and find which one I like best and have it breed with the cannon character I wanted to produce the hybrid offspring. Sigh, I guess I can’t totally have my massive carnivore with longer arms.

Has anyone noticed that Chomper nor Cera look anything like their parents? Chomper is lavender and his parents are green, though he does share their red eyes. Cera and her sisters also look nothing like their parents, which are gray and black/dark brown eyed. Another interesting note I noticed is that Dinah and Dana are both a gray coloration.

Could a Spinosaurus produce offspring with a Tyrannosaurus rex?

Just a little thing I was wondering about since I kinda wanted to make a hybrid for a new/sequel fanfiction that I already started writing. (If anyone is wondering about my other one, I’m trying to get myself rereading to last chapter, but I haven’t been up to it this week. Hopefully next week when I get my new Kindle with its keyboard so I can type outside.)

Now, I know I can do whatever I want in a story since it is fiction (like some of those LittlefootXCera and PetrieXDucky stories) but I like making my stories more realistic-ish.  I can just go with the Giganotosaurus hybrid (Giganotosaurus X Tyrannosaurs rex) if I have to, but I preferred to have the offspring be bigger with longer arms and longer jaws. (, I might just go with the Spinosaurus hybrid anyway now that I think about it…).

But seriously, if the Tyrannosaurus rex and Spinosaurus lived in the same time period (I don’t think they do but I never bothered to look it up cuz I’m lazy ) and lived in around the same habitat and had no other of their kind to breed with, would they be able to produce viable, healthy-ish offspring? (Which would more than likely be sterile).

I don’t even know if I put this in the right form…