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LBT Fanfiction / Re: Shorty's Dark Past 2.0
« Last post by Ducky123 on Today at 02:29:19 PM »Chapter 14: Footprints
Ali’s mother crashed to the ground with a groan. No matter how hard she tried, she had to realize that her body wouldn’t be able to keep up with the things she wanted it to do. In order to rescue Ali, she’d have to walk day and night at her fastest pace, however she wasn’t as young as she used to be; her mid-aged body had limits which were entirely oblivious of her magnificent quest to find the girl. Moreover, her bottomless worry about her daughter's well-being was eating up all her remaining energy. It was a maddening condition. Didn't she have to mobilize everything she got in order to maximize the odds of success? Or, maybe, was this all her body could do?
It was barely nightbreak when she had to surrender for the day and lie down to sleep, her legs hurting from the fast pace she had maintained all day. Certainly, she had been going at double the speed they would travel at during their migrations. Ali couldn't possibly be traveling at such a rate, considering the fact that she was a lot smaller and couldn't cover nearly enough distance even if she broke into a jog.
As the longneck took a gaze into the distance, a number of bad feelings began to emerge. Somewhere out there, Ali was probably sleeping all by herself, a little lonely longneck with no means of direction and protection from predators. Although Ali's journey appeared to be roughly following the vague sense of direction so far which she could sense somewhere inside of her there was no telling if the child was able to feel it too. It might just be a case of luck; purely coincidental.
"More importantly, could I even protect her?"
Of course, sharpteeth could sneak up on Ali while she was wandering around all alone, all the more reason to hurry. However, even if she managed to find the girl could she prompt Ali to follow her back home? And even if she did manage to convince her, a feat quite unlikely after their horrendous quarrel, how could she even protect the child? How could she protect herself to begin with? Returning home to the herd was something as unlikely as sharpteeth being nice now that she was banned. There would be no safety for either of them.
Ali's words had stung but the little girl, even in her fury, did say a few things that weren't outright delusional. Her calling the herd members 'cowards' was certainly correct and she could tell that Ali's words had also referred to her own mother. In a world where survival was the most important thing to strive for, cowardice wasn't a sin. It was a life-preserving character trait; it had kept her alive all these harsh years. Throughout her life, she had always been surrounded by stronger longnecks to keep herself from danger. Only after Ali had lost her father back then, she had been forced to be the protective parent. Her cowardice had led her to join the first herd of longnecks that she had come across, a decision she regretted now. The adult knew exactly what Old One had meant when she had called her a useless member. She had never fought a predator.
She couldn't protect anyone.
Adding to the fear for Ali's safety as well as her own, the feelings of regret and low self-esteem became ever so profound as the last light slowly retreated in the west, the night now fully dark and gloomy.
Suddenly, she felt a sense of fright creep up her spine. What if a predator was just lying in wait to eat her once she had fallen asleep? What if Ali was targeted? Would she ever be able to find her sweet little Ali before something happened to either of them? The trails were thankfully still recognizable in the loose layer of dust and sand which covered a layer of sunbaked soil becoming hard as rock. One windy day and the dust would be stirred up; any clues about Ali's whereabouts would be gone forever. She absolutely mustn’t let that happen but there was nothing she could do to influence the wind. She felt powerless. For now, all she could do was rest her legs and hope that tomorrow she’d be able to walk further.
Worries were continuing to gnaw at her even as she attempted to rest. Tears falling from her eyes for quite a while, she eventually found into an uneasy sleep.
*
If by some peculiar instinct, Bron woke up when the night was still not quite over yet. The Night Circle still roamed on the sky although it was already sinking close to the horizon at this point. Dawn was only an hour away at best.
As he lay awake, unable to fall back asleep, a lot of worries plagued him. The brown longneck was once again reminded of the fight with the other herd as he threw a glance into the forest behind him. Even though Old One had claimed to grant him and his herd reluctant permission to stay for a night, Bron had an awful feeling. The old longneck might have enough spite inside of her to exploit the limits of her statement to the maximum. There was a possibility, at least, that they wouldn't let them have a full night of rest, appearing at the first sign of dawn to chase them out. Bron knew for a fact that the old leader wouldn't back down a second time if he challenged her sense of time. A fight between the two herds mustn't break out!
On a whim, Bron decided to wake his herd just before the Night Circle left the sky. As it turned out, his predictions were perfectly accurate. The sky was barely beginning to light up in the east and Bron’s herd had hardly finished eating another few days’ worth of food while drinking plenty of water when a line of longnecks emerged from the central parts of the valley.
“I see you weren’t lying about your ambitions at all, young one.” Old One emerged from the line of longnecks, approaching Bron who quickly rushed to the scene while his herd gathered behind him again.
“Unfortunately, that also goes for the amount of food you stole from us so greedily…” she sighed with a hint of anger, looking at the whole area which was pretty much stripped of its food. “I take it you are leaving now?”
“Yes, we will be on our way any moment now,” Bron confirmed with a nod, noting that Old One wasn’t nearly as rude as on the previous evening although this probably had something to do with the fact that his deputy was glaring at the old dinosaur rather sharply.
“Just out of curiosity, where are you headed to?” Old One interrogated almost formally. Bron could only muse where that sudden interest arose from but he answered her nevertheless, appreciating the more diplomatic encounter for what it was after expecting to be chased out.
“As I mentioned yesterday, we are embarking on a journey to find out what the sleepstories are telling us,” Bron explained calmly. “I take it you are thinking little of it?”
“Quite correctly so,” Old One growled. “You have got to be delusional to go on a journey, blindly following some intuition or whatever else is giving you directions. There is no gain if safety is at stake.”
“I beg to differ,” Bron replied with a smile. “If you honestly paid any attention to your sleepstories then you would know that there’s a great event all longnecks are supposed to be seeing and participating in. Who knows, maybe it’ll be something incredible or maybe there’s something we need to do? I really can’t tell but sitting around with this feeling would drive me crazy, not knowing what I might encounter, not knowing what I might miss. Don’t you feel the same, Old One?”
“Stop talking about this nonsense already,” the old dinosaur demanded. “Anyway, what direction are you headed to?”
“Gee, I wonder why that even concerns you after everything you’ve said,” Bron answered with a mirthful glance. “Well, you’ll probably spy after us either way so I might as well… You see, we’re walking with the Great Circle in our backs, moving slightly towards its evening position each day. That’s the rough direction we need to go but I’m certain that you, too, can feel it, right?”
“That does not concern you, young one,” Old One said drily with a derogative look at Bron. “Either way, that’s excellent. In return for granting you food and a place to stay, I demand that you follow and find a fugitive from our ranks who dared challenge my leadership. They should be headed the same direction so capture them and return them to this oasis!”
Bron deadpanned.
“Uhm, excuse me but what exactly are you planning to do with that fugitive longneck?” the brown-ish coloured longneck requested with a befuddled look.
“That is a matter of my herd, it does not concern you,” Old One shrugged him off.
“Also, if I may,” Will chimed in. “What’s in for us? We don’t gain a thing from such a deal.”
“Indeed, you are in my debt after all,” Old One said in direct response to the deputy with a matter-of-fact, sly grin. “And, as such, I expect – no, demand that you take my quest.”
“Well, we’re on a tight schedule so… I respectfully decline,” Bron explained with a grin. “After all, it’s none of our concern. I humbly recommend that you take your herd matters into your own responsibility.”
“You…” Old one hissed but Will stepped forward.
“You bunch of lunatics shall not pursue us or cause us any trouble, is that clear?” he said quietly but it had just the same effect as yelling around. Old One slowly backed away.
“Well, we’ll be on our way,” Bron said, apparently in great spirits. “If you change your mind about going, you'd better hurry or you won’t make it!”
“Not bloody thinking about it…” Old One mumbled through gritted teeth.”
“Very well, longnecks, follow me!” Bron called and, before sunrise they had left the small valley.
Shorty looked back at the valley where the other herd was still standing, still observing and making sure they were really departing.
“What a crazy herd indeed…” he muttered as the first rays of the Bright Circle enriched the land with light and warmth, soon to turn into unbearable heat.
“Capturing someone… what a funny request,” Bron wondered out loud too.
“You know,” Shorty piped up as his focus returned to the path ahead, rocky and somewhat dusty wasteland with nothing but the occasional boulder standing out from the monotony wherever he looked. “I’ve just been thinking, Bron… I’m really happy I didn’t bump into some old witch like Old One back then. I’m glad I found you instead.”
Bron slowed down significantly to look down at the green-coloured boy.
“Oh my, I didn’t realize but, every once in a season, you actually say something nice, Shorty.” Bron bent down his neck to nuzzle Shorty who backed away at first until he reluctantly endured it. “I’m glad that I met you too. Life would be boring without you. Come along now.”
Although a bit embarrassed, Shorty returned Bron’s smile and they continued to walk for a while. Soon the valley was out of sight, nothing but endless wastelands surrounding them. The longer he thought about it, the more it actually began to bother Shorty. He certainly wasn’t born with great empathy for others but being kicked out of a herd sounded a bit harsh in his ears. Old One may have called them a fugitive but even Shorty could read between the lines.
“A fugitive questioning her leadership… they must have left knowing they’d be booted…”
Sending a longneck away like that to travel such a dangerous and hostile landscape all alone didn’t sit well with him no matter from what perspective he tried to look at the situation. Or perhaps he could simply relate?
“Bron, can’t we do something about that longneck they kicked out? I kinda wanna help them, you know?”
Bron raised his eyebrows quite a lot as his attention turned to Shorty.
“My, what’s up with you today?” he wondered curiously. “You haven’t done something bad, acting all nice so I don’t get suspicious of you, have you?”
Shorty responded with a shocked expression.
“Uhm, what? No, I didn’t do anything, honestly! It’s just… it kinda bothers me what happened to that longneck…”
“Speaking from experience there, are we?” Bron raised another eyebrow.
“I guess so,” Shorty simply replied with a shrug, not feeling like reminiscing in the past right now. “I wouldn’t wanna be kicked from my herd… then again… I wouldn’t wanna be in that herd to begin with!”
“Neither would I want to be in that herd,” Bron confirmed with a sigh. “Well, I can relate to your concerns and, to be frank, I share them too. If that longneck is following their sleepstories too, then we should bump into them sooner or later unless they’re really fast.”
“Maybe we could look for their foot trails?” Shorty suggested.
“Brilliant!” Bron exclaimed happily. “Keep your eyes open then.”
“Okay!” Shorty immediately began looking although it would take him until late in the evening to spot the trail far to their right.
"Bron, I think I'm seeing it!" the boy eventually exclaimed. The Bright Circle stood low, helping with the discovery as the long shadows increased the contrast of anything that wasn't too flat to throw a shadow in the first place.
Immediately after confirming Shorty's discovery with his own eyes, Bron adapted their course slightly so they could inspect it.
“Hmm, a trail of just one longneck heading roughly the same direction as we do,” Bron spoke as he slowly followed the trail for a moment. The desert was particularly dusty where they were, almost sandy in some patches even, so trails were very well visible.
“I guess it won’t hurt to follow as long as that longneck doesn’t deviate from our path too much, right?”
“Yeah!” Shorty agreed eagerly. “Let’s go after them!”
“Wait a second, Bron…” both Bron and Shorty turned around to see deputy Will approach them, apparently overhearing their talk. The tall longneck wore an uneasy expression.
“Hey Will, what’s the matter?” Bron interrogated with a happy smile. “It’s not sharpteeth, is it?”
“No, although one can never rule that out…” Will replied drily. “Bron, don’t you think it’s better to stay out of that herd’s business? We can only guess how lunatic that leader is… she might just try to hunt that longneck down on her own or try to assault us… I think meddling with their business only leads to no good!”
“Hmm…” Bron pondered. “Can’t argue there but what can those guys really do? There isn’t anyone following us, is there?”
“Who knows, wouldn't surprise me,” Will grunted. “We should leave that longneck be and be on our way.”
“I see your point but we’re headed the same direction so I think it’s safe to follow those footprints for now. If they start to differ from our path, we can think about it again? I feel like there’s something we can gain if we follow that longneck.” Bron tried to convince his deputy but it wasn’t quite as easy.
“Urgh, Bron, I don’t know…”
Meanwhile, Shorty continued to study the footprints. Every now and then, smaller footprints seemed to stick out between the big ones, almost as if another, much smaller longneck, had walked this path too. A child? Shorty's curiosity was immediately awakened. As Bron began to try arguing with emotions and empathy, the boy investigated the footprints with utmost concentration, glad to have something to do as boredom was a common problem during their journey. No matter how far he looked, it always seemed like the grown-up had stepped onto the small ones which meant…
“Bron, can I say something real quick?” he piped up excitedly.
“What is it?” Will grunted angrily, strongly disliking Shorty for all the mischief he would often cause. “Don’t you see we’re busy here?!”
“It’s about the footprints!” Shorty cried. “Look at them closely, there’s a second pair and it belongs to someone with feet of my size!”
“A child’s footprints?” Bron bent down his neck to take a closer look. Indeed, Shorty hadn’t been lying. Although a little washed out from the wind and constantly covered up by the bigger ones, one could clearly recognize a second trail - the trail of a child about Shorty’s size.
“Maybe that longneck had a child and took it along?” Shorty suggested.
“Those trails are older than the ones the adult left,” Will grunted. “Probably that child’s a runaway, a no-good and the parent is going after them.”
“Shut up…” Shorty grunted sourly. “They might need our help…”
“I’d say forget them and move on!” the deputy thundered. “Bron?”
“Well, I also believe that we should follow them, especially if your guess about the runaway is true, Will…” Bron said in a troubled voice. “They wouldn’t last long against the sharpteeth here and I’d rather save them if it’s within my range of possibilities.”
“Urgh, do whatever you want then, Bron!” Will ranted and turned away, leaving him alone with Shorty.
“What’s his problem?!” Shorty grunted in annoyance.
“Beats me,” Bron shrugged. “Well, let’s follow the footprints for a little longer and see if we can catch up to them.”
“Yeah, thanks Bron!” Shorty agreed and so they walked well into the night that day.
*
Ali looked up at the starry sky. Her legs hurt like crazy and the combined efforts of hunger, thirst and exhaustion were beginning to take a serious toll on her. Moreover so, loneliness was eventually creeping up on her like an old friend as she spent day and night all by herself without a soul to accompany her. At first, the outlook of meeting Littlefoot and his friends was enough to comfort her but, gradually, being the only dinosaur in an endless desert began gnawing at her. Had it really been the right thing to leave home, leave her herd, leave her mother? Hadn’t she been a little bit too rash in her desperate attempt to run away?
No matter how long these thoughts continued to spiral in her head that night, Ali knew that it was already too late to turn around. Regret was growing stronger within her heart but all she could do was hoping it’d somehow work out.
The moment she gave up was the moment she lost the game after all and Ali wouldn’t lose faith that easily. Tomorrow, she would rise again and walk endless distances through neverending dry lands, hoping that her sleepstories wouldn’t lead her astray…
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
A little unusual to have no feedback but I suppose a 1-year hiatus can do that to you
This chapter continues where I left off last year. Bron leaves the small valley where Old One resides and decides to follow Ali's mother who trying to find Ali while struggling with insecurities from a (not quite yet) disclosed past. I know Ali's part is really short again but there is little to write. Going chronologically, it made sense to write a small update about her mental and physical state as she continues her reckless journey. She'll certainly have a somewhat bigger scene in the next chapter
This chapter was only grazing a 2k word count (wrote it way over a year ago) but I did a lot of editing here (now slightly over 3k). Particularly the initial scene about Ali's Mother and the scene before Bron has another chat with Old One have been extended quite a bit. There's also another idea that's been brought to my attention (Shorty finding Ali's foofprints could be written better) but, for now, I'll save it for an eventual overhaul of the earlier chapters (it's definitely coming, I wasn't aware of certain things back then and my writing style evolved a bit since then). For now, my priority is to keep the updates strong and regular though.
Chapters for SDP are definitely going to be much shorter than chapters for other stories, at least for the moment as there's only so much I can pack into these right now. I'm trying to stay within the bounds of 2,5-7.5k for now.
The next chapter will elaborate on the events of chapter 14. Are they going to find Ali's Mother? Is Ali's Mother going to find Ali? How's Ali faring? And how is Bron going to deal with a new discovery they make? Come back next week to find out!
Ali’s mother crashed to the ground with a groan. No matter how hard she tried, she had to realize that her body wouldn’t be able to keep up with the things she wanted it to do. In order to rescue Ali, she’d have to walk day and night at her fastest pace, however she wasn’t as young as she used to be; her mid-aged body had limits which were entirely oblivious of her magnificent quest to find the girl. Moreover, her bottomless worry about her daughter's well-being was eating up all her remaining energy. It was a maddening condition. Didn't she have to mobilize everything she got in order to maximize the odds of success? Or, maybe, was this all her body could do?
It was barely nightbreak when she had to surrender for the day and lie down to sleep, her legs hurting from the fast pace she had maintained all day. Certainly, she had been going at double the speed they would travel at during their migrations. Ali couldn't possibly be traveling at such a rate, considering the fact that she was a lot smaller and couldn't cover nearly enough distance even if she broke into a jog.
As the longneck took a gaze into the distance, a number of bad feelings began to emerge. Somewhere out there, Ali was probably sleeping all by herself, a little lonely longneck with no means of direction and protection from predators. Although Ali's journey appeared to be roughly following the vague sense of direction so far which she could sense somewhere inside of her there was no telling if the child was able to feel it too. It might just be a case of luck; purely coincidental.
"More importantly, could I even protect her?"
Of course, sharpteeth could sneak up on Ali while she was wandering around all alone, all the more reason to hurry. However, even if she managed to find the girl could she prompt Ali to follow her back home? And even if she did manage to convince her, a feat quite unlikely after their horrendous quarrel, how could she even protect the child? How could she protect herself to begin with? Returning home to the herd was something as unlikely as sharpteeth being nice now that she was banned. There would be no safety for either of them.
Ali's words had stung but the little girl, even in her fury, did say a few things that weren't outright delusional. Her calling the herd members 'cowards' was certainly correct and she could tell that Ali's words had also referred to her own mother. In a world where survival was the most important thing to strive for, cowardice wasn't a sin. It was a life-preserving character trait; it had kept her alive all these harsh years. Throughout her life, she had always been surrounded by stronger longnecks to keep herself from danger. Only after Ali had lost her father back then, she had been forced to be the protective parent. Her cowardice had led her to join the first herd of longnecks that she had come across, a decision she regretted now. The adult knew exactly what Old One had meant when she had called her a useless member. She had never fought a predator.
She couldn't protect anyone.
Adding to the fear for Ali's safety as well as her own, the feelings of regret and low self-esteem became ever so profound as the last light slowly retreated in the west, the night now fully dark and gloomy.
Suddenly, she felt a sense of fright creep up her spine. What if a predator was just lying in wait to eat her once she had fallen asleep? What if Ali was targeted? Would she ever be able to find her sweet little Ali before something happened to either of them? The trails were thankfully still recognizable in the loose layer of dust and sand which covered a layer of sunbaked soil becoming hard as rock. One windy day and the dust would be stirred up; any clues about Ali's whereabouts would be gone forever. She absolutely mustn’t let that happen but there was nothing she could do to influence the wind. She felt powerless. For now, all she could do was rest her legs and hope that tomorrow she’d be able to walk further.
Worries were continuing to gnaw at her even as she attempted to rest. Tears falling from her eyes for quite a while, she eventually found into an uneasy sleep.
*
If by some peculiar instinct, Bron woke up when the night was still not quite over yet. The Night Circle still roamed on the sky although it was already sinking close to the horizon at this point. Dawn was only an hour away at best.
As he lay awake, unable to fall back asleep, a lot of worries plagued him. The brown longneck was once again reminded of the fight with the other herd as he threw a glance into the forest behind him. Even though Old One had claimed to grant him and his herd reluctant permission to stay for a night, Bron had an awful feeling. The old longneck might have enough spite inside of her to exploit the limits of her statement to the maximum. There was a possibility, at least, that they wouldn't let them have a full night of rest, appearing at the first sign of dawn to chase them out. Bron knew for a fact that the old leader wouldn't back down a second time if he challenged her sense of time. A fight between the two herds mustn't break out!
On a whim, Bron decided to wake his herd just before the Night Circle left the sky. As it turned out, his predictions were perfectly accurate. The sky was barely beginning to light up in the east and Bron’s herd had hardly finished eating another few days’ worth of food while drinking plenty of water when a line of longnecks emerged from the central parts of the valley.
“I see you weren’t lying about your ambitions at all, young one.” Old One emerged from the line of longnecks, approaching Bron who quickly rushed to the scene while his herd gathered behind him again.
“Unfortunately, that also goes for the amount of food you stole from us so greedily…” she sighed with a hint of anger, looking at the whole area which was pretty much stripped of its food. “I take it you are leaving now?”
“Yes, we will be on our way any moment now,” Bron confirmed with a nod, noting that Old One wasn’t nearly as rude as on the previous evening although this probably had something to do with the fact that his deputy was glaring at the old dinosaur rather sharply.
“Just out of curiosity, where are you headed to?” Old One interrogated almost formally. Bron could only muse where that sudden interest arose from but he answered her nevertheless, appreciating the more diplomatic encounter for what it was after expecting to be chased out.
“As I mentioned yesterday, we are embarking on a journey to find out what the sleepstories are telling us,” Bron explained calmly. “I take it you are thinking little of it?”
“Quite correctly so,” Old One growled. “You have got to be delusional to go on a journey, blindly following some intuition or whatever else is giving you directions. There is no gain if safety is at stake.”
“I beg to differ,” Bron replied with a smile. “If you honestly paid any attention to your sleepstories then you would know that there’s a great event all longnecks are supposed to be seeing and participating in. Who knows, maybe it’ll be something incredible or maybe there’s something we need to do? I really can’t tell but sitting around with this feeling would drive me crazy, not knowing what I might encounter, not knowing what I might miss. Don’t you feel the same, Old One?”
“Stop talking about this nonsense already,” the old dinosaur demanded. “Anyway, what direction are you headed to?”
“Gee, I wonder why that even concerns you after everything you’ve said,” Bron answered with a mirthful glance. “Well, you’ll probably spy after us either way so I might as well… You see, we’re walking with the Great Circle in our backs, moving slightly towards its evening position each day. That’s the rough direction we need to go but I’m certain that you, too, can feel it, right?”
“That does not concern you, young one,” Old One said drily with a derogative look at Bron. “Either way, that’s excellent. In return for granting you food and a place to stay, I demand that you follow and find a fugitive from our ranks who dared challenge my leadership. They should be headed the same direction so capture them and return them to this oasis!”
Bron deadpanned.
“Uhm, excuse me but what exactly are you planning to do with that fugitive longneck?” the brown-ish coloured longneck requested with a befuddled look.
“That is a matter of my herd, it does not concern you,” Old One shrugged him off.
“Also, if I may,” Will chimed in. “What’s in for us? We don’t gain a thing from such a deal.”
“Indeed, you are in my debt after all,” Old One said in direct response to the deputy with a matter-of-fact, sly grin. “And, as such, I expect – no, demand that you take my quest.”
“Well, we’re on a tight schedule so… I respectfully decline,” Bron explained with a grin. “After all, it’s none of our concern. I humbly recommend that you take your herd matters into your own responsibility.”
“You…” Old one hissed but Will stepped forward.
“You bunch of lunatics shall not pursue us or cause us any trouble, is that clear?” he said quietly but it had just the same effect as yelling around. Old One slowly backed away.
“Well, we’ll be on our way,” Bron said, apparently in great spirits. “If you change your mind about going, you'd better hurry or you won’t make it!”
“Not bloody thinking about it…” Old One mumbled through gritted teeth.”
“Very well, longnecks, follow me!” Bron called and, before sunrise they had left the small valley.
Shorty looked back at the valley where the other herd was still standing, still observing and making sure they were really departing.
“What a crazy herd indeed…” he muttered as the first rays of the Bright Circle enriched the land with light and warmth, soon to turn into unbearable heat.
“Capturing someone… what a funny request,” Bron wondered out loud too.
“You know,” Shorty piped up as his focus returned to the path ahead, rocky and somewhat dusty wasteland with nothing but the occasional boulder standing out from the monotony wherever he looked. “I’ve just been thinking, Bron… I’m really happy I didn’t bump into some old witch like Old One back then. I’m glad I found you instead.”
Bron slowed down significantly to look down at the green-coloured boy.
“Oh my, I didn’t realize but, every once in a season, you actually say something nice, Shorty.” Bron bent down his neck to nuzzle Shorty who backed away at first until he reluctantly endured it. “I’m glad that I met you too. Life would be boring without you. Come along now.”
Although a bit embarrassed, Shorty returned Bron’s smile and they continued to walk for a while. Soon the valley was out of sight, nothing but endless wastelands surrounding them. The longer he thought about it, the more it actually began to bother Shorty. He certainly wasn’t born with great empathy for others but being kicked out of a herd sounded a bit harsh in his ears. Old One may have called them a fugitive but even Shorty could read between the lines.
“A fugitive questioning her leadership… they must have left knowing they’d be booted…”
Sending a longneck away like that to travel such a dangerous and hostile landscape all alone didn’t sit well with him no matter from what perspective he tried to look at the situation. Or perhaps he could simply relate?
“Bron, can’t we do something about that longneck they kicked out? I kinda wanna help them, you know?”
Bron raised his eyebrows quite a lot as his attention turned to Shorty.
“My, what’s up with you today?” he wondered curiously. “You haven’t done something bad, acting all nice so I don’t get suspicious of you, have you?”
Shorty responded with a shocked expression.
“Uhm, what? No, I didn’t do anything, honestly! It’s just… it kinda bothers me what happened to that longneck…”
“Speaking from experience there, are we?” Bron raised another eyebrow.
“I guess so,” Shorty simply replied with a shrug, not feeling like reminiscing in the past right now. “I wouldn’t wanna be kicked from my herd… then again… I wouldn’t wanna be in that herd to begin with!”
“Neither would I want to be in that herd,” Bron confirmed with a sigh. “Well, I can relate to your concerns and, to be frank, I share them too. If that longneck is following their sleepstories too, then we should bump into them sooner or later unless they’re really fast.”
“Maybe we could look for their foot trails?” Shorty suggested.
“Brilliant!” Bron exclaimed happily. “Keep your eyes open then.”
“Okay!” Shorty immediately began looking although it would take him until late in the evening to spot the trail far to their right.
"Bron, I think I'm seeing it!" the boy eventually exclaimed. The Bright Circle stood low, helping with the discovery as the long shadows increased the contrast of anything that wasn't too flat to throw a shadow in the first place.
Immediately after confirming Shorty's discovery with his own eyes, Bron adapted their course slightly so they could inspect it.
“Hmm, a trail of just one longneck heading roughly the same direction as we do,” Bron spoke as he slowly followed the trail for a moment. The desert was particularly dusty where they were, almost sandy in some patches even, so trails were very well visible.
“I guess it won’t hurt to follow as long as that longneck doesn’t deviate from our path too much, right?”
“Yeah!” Shorty agreed eagerly. “Let’s go after them!”
“Wait a second, Bron…” both Bron and Shorty turned around to see deputy Will approach them, apparently overhearing their talk. The tall longneck wore an uneasy expression.
“Hey Will, what’s the matter?” Bron interrogated with a happy smile. “It’s not sharpteeth, is it?”
“No, although one can never rule that out…” Will replied drily. “Bron, don’t you think it’s better to stay out of that herd’s business? We can only guess how lunatic that leader is… she might just try to hunt that longneck down on her own or try to assault us… I think meddling with their business only leads to no good!”
“Hmm…” Bron pondered. “Can’t argue there but what can those guys really do? There isn’t anyone following us, is there?”
“Who knows, wouldn't surprise me,” Will grunted. “We should leave that longneck be and be on our way.”
“I see your point but we’re headed the same direction so I think it’s safe to follow those footprints for now. If they start to differ from our path, we can think about it again? I feel like there’s something we can gain if we follow that longneck.” Bron tried to convince his deputy but it wasn’t quite as easy.
“Urgh, Bron, I don’t know…”
Meanwhile, Shorty continued to study the footprints. Every now and then, smaller footprints seemed to stick out between the big ones, almost as if another, much smaller longneck, had walked this path too. A child? Shorty's curiosity was immediately awakened. As Bron began to try arguing with emotions and empathy, the boy investigated the footprints with utmost concentration, glad to have something to do as boredom was a common problem during their journey. No matter how far he looked, it always seemed like the grown-up had stepped onto the small ones which meant…
“Bron, can I say something real quick?” he piped up excitedly.
“What is it?” Will grunted angrily, strongly disliking Shorty for all the mischief he would often cause. “Don’t you see we’re busy here?!”
“It’s about the footprints!” Shorty cried. “Look at them closely, there’s a second pair and it belongs to someone with feet of my size!”
“A child’s footprints?” Bron bent down his neck to take a closer look. Indeed, Shorty hadn’t been lying. Although a little washed out from the wind and constantly covered up by the bigger ones, one could clearly recognize a second trail - the trail of a child about Shorty’s size.
“Maybe that longneck had a child and took it along?” Shorty suggested.
“Those trails are older than the ones the adult left,” Will grunted. “Probably that child’s a runaway, a no-good and the parent is going after them.”
“Shut up…” Shorty grunted sourly. “They might need our help…”
“I’d say forget them and move on!” the deputy thundered. “Bron?”
“Well, I also believe that we should follow them, especially if your guess about the runaway is true, Will…” Bron said in a troubled voice. “They wouldn’t last long against the sharpteeth here and I’d rather save them if it’s within my range of possibilities.”
“Urgh, do whatever you want then, Bron!” Will ranted and turned away, leaving him alone with Shorty.
“What’s his problem?!” Shorty grunted in annoyance.
“Beats me,” Bron shrugged. “Well, let’s follow the footprints for a little longer and see if we can catch up to them.”
“Yeah, thanks Bron!” Shorty agreed and so they walked well into the night that day.
*
Ali looked up at the starry sky. Her legs hurt like crazy and the combined efforts of hunger, thirst and exhaustion were beginning to take a serious toll on her. Moreover so, loneliness was eventually creeping up on her like an old friend as she spent day and night all by herself without a soul to accompany her. At first, the outlook of meeting Littlefoot and his friends was enough to comfort her but, gradually, being the only dinosaur in an endless desert began gnawing at her. Had it really been the right thing to leave home, leave her herd, leave her mother? Hadn’t she been a little bit too rash in her desperate attempt to run away?
No matter how long these thoughts continued to spiral in her head that night, Ali knew that it was already too late to turn around. Regret was growing stronger within her heart but all she could do was hoping it’d somehow work out.
The moment she gave up was the moment she lost the game after all and Ali wouldn’t lose faith that easily. Tomorrow, she would rise again and walk endless distances through neverending dry lands, hoping that her sleepstories wouldn’t lead her astray…
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A little unusual to have no feedback but I suppose a 1-year hiatus can do that to you
This chapter continues where I left off last year. Bron leaves the small valley where Old One resides and decides to follow Ali's mother who trying to find Ali while struggling with insecurities from a (not quite yet) disclosed past. I know Ali's part is really short again but there is little to write. Going chronologically, it made sense to write a small update about her mental and physical state as she continues her reckless journey. She'll certainly have a somewhat bigger scene in the next chapter
This chapter was only grazing a 2k word count (wrote it way over a year ago) but I did a lot of editing here (now slightly over 3k). Particularly the initial scene about Ali's Mother and the scene before Bron has another chat with Old One have been extended quite a bit. There's also another idea that's been brought to my attention (Shorty finding Ali's foofprints could be written better) but, for now, I'll save it for an eventual overhaul of the earlier chapters (it's definitely coming, I wasn't aware of certain things back then and my writing style evolved a bit since then). For now, my priority is to keep the updates strong and regular though.
Chapters for SDP are definitely going to be much shorter than chapters for other stories, at least for the moment as there's only so much I can pack into these right now. I'm trying to stay within the bounds of 2,5-7.5k for now.
The next chapter will elaborate on the events of chapter 14. Are they going to find Ali's Mother? Is Ali's Mother going to find Ali? How's Ali faring? And how is Bron going to deal with a new discovery they make? Come back next week to find out!
)
The elder meant well but made it worse lol (from a medical point of view, he did the right thing though)
