Shorty's Dark Past

[Ducky123]

No reviews yet  :blink: That's... worrisome

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Chapter 23:

Ali was shocked and relieved at the same time; shocked because Shorty was sentenced pretty harshly; and relieved because Shorty wasn't thrown out of the herd for his unforgivable actions - in that point even Ali admitted that he deserved his punishment. She would visit Cho in the evening... if she still was...
"I'm not sure if I want to see Bron again..." Littlefoot muttered. "He seemed to be nice but the way he treated Shorty..."
"Well, you got to admit that he deserved that sentence," Ali replied. "From what Bron told me, Shorty has always been like that... treating the younger Longnecks badly and bullying them."
"I see..."
"He usually tries to avoid hard methods to rule and lead the herd," Ali explained with a stern expression. "Shorty's actions have never lead to more than a lecture and I guess you can tell that Shorty wasn't bothered at all..."
"So Bron has to show the herd that things aren't out of control, right?" Littlefoot asked, beginning to understand Ali's reasoning..
"Yep, such a severe attack against a herd member can't be dealt with by lecturing. I hope that doesn't hurt your attempts to get to know your dad, Littlefoot."
"Well... it isn't helping..." Littlefoot objected. "I guess I'll ask him about that tomorrow."
"Yeah, though he mustn't figure out that we were secretly listening, Littlefoot..." Ali mentioned.
"Right, guess we need to prepare a little story then," Littlefoot mused. "Ali, will you talk to Shorty later? You said you would try to earlier."
"Well...yes, I said I would try to but..." Ali responded hesitantly. "However, I'm afraid I won't be allowed to..."
Littlefoot gave her a surprised gaze.
"See Littlefoot, if he's grounded, he's technically not allowed to meet anybody. That's the way it was defined in my old herd anyway."
"Hmm... then you gotta make sure that you're neither seen nor heard," Littlefoot suggested.
"Kind of difficult if he's under the watchful eyes of the whole herd, isn't it?" Ali replied with the sort of sarcasm Cera would usually make use of. "They won't leave him a second without surveillance."
"Well, then you gotta try it when everybody's fast asleep..." Littlefoot spoke, witnessing how Ali's expression turned from concerned to happy and excited.
"Littlefoot, that's it!" she exclaimed merrily, looking straight into Littlefoot's brown eyes.
Littlefoot lost himself in Ali's eyes for a moment. "Gee, I can't blame Shorty for falling for her beauty..." Littlefoot thought before he returned to reality.
"Yeah, uhm... that should work as long as you're uhm careful," Littlefoot stammered.
Ali chuckled. She had noticed Littlefoot's short absentmindedness and she knew exactly why the Longneck she really liked acted that way. She gave him a sweet smile.
"Sure I'll be careful," she replied.
There was a short pause; they both watched a bunch of hatchlings playing tag in the distance.
"So..what are we going to do now?" Ali questioned, chuckling shyly.
"I dunno... hmm... maybe..."
"Liiiiiiittlefoot! Liiiiiiiiittlefoot!!!" Grandpa Longneck called after his grandson.
"Damn!" Littlefoot cursed which made Ali laugh again. "Guess I gotta go, huh?"
"Is it already that time again?!?" Ali complained. Turning her head towards the Bright Circle that was about to disappear behind the high walls of the valley, she quickly realised that it was getting late. "Damn!" she stated which now made Littlefoot giggle in amusement about Ali's complaint. "Why must you be too little to stay away from the nest until the Bright Circle has set, Littlefoot???" Ali whined teasingly.
"Hey!" Littlefoot objected. "I'm taller than you, little Ali!" He rose to his hind limbs
"Bet I am?" Ali countered, poking out her tongue. The pink girl rose to her hind limbs as well, having put a challenging and grim expression on.
Balancing on their hind legs the two young Longnecks stared at each other.
"Let's see who can push the other to the ground," Littlefoot exclaimed in anticipation.
"Okay, but I'll do the countdown," Ali insisted.
"Alright, female's first as the saying goes," Littlefoot snickered before turning serious again, concentration on a high level.
Ali concentrated on the task ahead. She was aware of the weakness that traced back to her daring attempt to cross a huge desert - a journey that was almost her last one. Nevertheless, she faced Littlefoot's challange. It was rather a game than a real challange anyway and the main aim in those games was always to win. Of course games weren't played for the sake of winning them but for the sake of having fun and doing things together with others. What counted was the attempt.
Looking at Littlefoot again and nodding to display her readiness to start, she awaited Littlefoot's response before she would start counting down. Littlefoot nodded slightly.
"Five... Four... Three... Two... Ooooooooone........ GO!" Ali screamed.
Both of them let themselves fall forward until their paws made contact. Ali already knew the winner when Littlefoot's impact almost caused her to fall onto her back. She was just able to push him enough to keep her defensive state while Littlefoot was grinning at her smugly, only using his weight thus far. "Damn!"
Littlefoot was enjoying this little game/challange a lot since he didn't have to do much. "I'm winning," he realised. "I shall go for the kill..." He slowly but continuously increased the pressure on Ali.
Ali struggled to resist the "attack" but her muscles became tired quickly. Only about ten seconds after the "fight" had begun, it was over already when Littlefoot managed to push Ali so far back that her centre of gravity turned from in front of her to behind her, causing Ali to fall onto her back and himself to fall onto Ali bellyfirst.
Both young Longnecks were roaring in laughter. Ali was laughing so hard that she ended up snapping for air. They remained in their rather awkward position, Littlefoot lying on top of his friend and pinning her to the ground, until Ali got enough oxygen again.
"Beautiful..." Ali thought as she looked into the sky. Littlefoot's head and neck were blocking part of it though. The Bright Circle was just in the progress of setting, producing an increasingly red sky. Ali gawked at the sight - watching sunsets was the absolutely favourite thing she would do before getting ready for the night. Though the girl couldn't decide what was astonishing her to a greater extent... the ongoing sunset or the handsome boy lying on top of her and smiling at her...
"Liiiiiiiiiiiittlefoot!!!" Grandpa called again, this time under the support of his mate as well.
"Right... I almost forgot..." Littlefoot thought. "Well, I did."
"Too bad that you have to leave," Ali said a little sadly.
"Yeah, though we'll have plenty time for playing tomorrow," Littlefoot answered optimistically.
"You're right," Ali answered, smiling.
"Coming!" Littlefoot shouted. "Well..." He got to his feet and released his friend. "Guess I gotta get going... see you tomorrow, Ali!"
"Yeah, it's been the best day in an incredibly long time," Ali mentioned. "Night!"
Littlefoot was just about to leave his friend for the day being when Ali called him again.
"Wait Littlefoot!" She walked a few steps towards her friend until she was very close to him. "I just want you to know that you're..." she paused because of smiling without control and looking to the ground ashamed. "... That you're my best friend," she managed to say before her emotions became too strong. She took Littlefoot by surprise when she snuggled her head against his. Littlefoot enjoyed the sudden moment of fondness.
"Well, I really gotta go now, Ali," Littlefoot eventually spoke. "I'm not sure if you're my best friend but you're the most special one since we hardly see each other."
"True..." Ali chuckled. "I will try to talk to Shorty tonight. Seeya Littlefoot!"
"Seeya!"
Littlefoot ran off - his grandparents were probably already considering to call after him a third time.

Ali stayed where she was for a while, watching the blaze of colours on the sky. She was so lost in thoughts that her mother had to nudge her to be noticed by the young one.
"Had a good day?" Ali heard her mother question her.
"Yep," she responded.
"You know Ali... realising how happy you seem to be now, I feel even worse for my... behavior before we - you decided to leave the herd," Ali's Mother spoke. "I honestly don't know why I was thinking that the Old One's rules were good for you... I mean... they were imposed for safety's sake but mostly not necessary."
"I'm glad that we've made it, mum!" Ali exclaimed merrily. "Now my life is worth living again."
Fiona noticed her daughter's dreaminess but didn't think much about it for Ali was often like that.
"There's one thing I'm worried about however..." she then spoke. "Have you heard of Shorty's... actions?"
Ali's expression changed considerably at the mention of Shorty's attack on Cho.
"Well, no..." she mumbled. "I have not only heard of it... I have witnessed how he pushed Cho against that rock."
Fiona was shocked. Even imagining the cruel scene sent a chill down her spine...
"Now you got to tell me, young lady," she said in concern. "How come you don't appear to be disturbed by this?"
"I was disturbed... ask Littlefoot if you don't believe me..." Ali retorted.
"I believe you completely," Fiona quickly added. "I only wonder why you don't really show that."
"See, I just had a really great day with Littlefoot after I hadn't seen him in an eternity.  The happy memories prevail the not so happy ones and I'd be more than happy if that stayed this way," Ali explained.
"It's okay, dear, " Ali's Mother said softly. "It's getting dark. We should go home now."
"I know, mum, but could I give Cho a quick visit? Only a few moments?" Ali begged.
"Well, actually..."
"Pleeeeease Mommy?" Ali did the puppy face.
"Alright... but only a minute, okay?"
"Thaaaaaaaanks! She'll be asleep anyway, likely..."
So mother and daughter took a longer way to their resting place.

"Hello Littlefoot," Grandpa said, greeting his grandson.
Littlefoot had soon met him halfway to their current resting location since Grandpa knew Littlefoot too well to assume he would come home right away.
"I take it you had a veeeery cool day?" he questioned, smiling at the young one warmly.
"Well, it's been a great day but there are also things that make me sad."
"Such as?"
"Well, my biggest concern is... Br... I mean, my dad." It took Littlefoot a lot of will to call Bron his dad since he really didn't consider him his dad yet. "He... I'm not sure what to think of him."
"Hop on," Grandpa offered. Littlefoot did as his Grandpa said. They slowly trotted back to the nest.

"Sleep now! Bron ordered. He and Shorty were back at their nesting area.
"But I ain't tired..." Shorty muttered indifferently.
"Shorty... must I remind of what we just talked about?!" Bron shouted in annoyance. "Why couldn't this boy just do as he is instructed?!?"
"Yeah, whatever!" Shorty snorted, turning away from Bron and lying down in his sleeping position.
"That you always have to make things so difficult..." Bron thought aloud. "Night!"
Shorty didn't bother replying to that. He now hated Bron deeply. He neither wanted to see nor hear him nor smell him, nor feel him. He thought about a way to avenge Bron's hard sentence but everything his mind produced would only be an invitation into the life of an orphan he was so used to in his younger days – and he hated it. The young one eventually calmed down his anger and managed to find some sleep.

Ali and Fiona soon arrived at the nesting place of Cho and her mother Yuyun. While Fiona exchanged a few words with Cho's mother, Ali visited the young girl. Cho was completely covered in different kinds of leaf but at some spots Ali could imagine the deep cuts beneath them. The young one took deep, rattling breaths.
Ali stayed with her for a few minutes until her mother urged her to move to their nest. She hadn't even attempted the wake up the young one for she really needed the rest and probably wouldn't have woken up anyway.
They went to their nest and quickly fell into a deep slumber - the day had been pretty eventful after all. Ali's dreams were dominated by the butterflies that were swarming around in her belly...

Grandpa soon arrived at their nest. Littlefoot hopped off him and greeted his Grandma warmly. She asked the same questions, he answered accordingly.
"So what have you been talking about?" Grandma kindly asked.
"Well, Bron told me his story..." Littlefoot responded. "The reason why we haven't met until today..."
"He has told us about it after you had run off," Grandpa spoke. "Do you believe every single fact?"
Littlefoot was taken by surprise. "This surely is a weird question... Grandpa usually isn't like that..."
"Well, I think so. Why should he tell me lies?" Littlefoot asked innocently.
"He could have tried to convince you of him..." Grandma explained. "What things did he tell you?"
"Well, he said he has a herd and that's undoubtedly true," Littlefoot started.
"Yes, that one is true indeed..." Grandpa sighed.
"Why are you sighing, Grandpa?" the young Longneck asked.
"You know Littlefoot... We have also talked about the future of our family and... Bron seemed to be unwilling to go to the Great Valley."
"We are therefore very concerned," Grandma added. "We won't join his herd; we have friends in the Great Valley and a settled life that old dinosaurs like us need."
"I see..." Littlefoot muttered, thinking about the matter. "I don't feel like joining his herd either. What about my friends?"
"We know, Littlefoot, we know, "Grandpa spoke. "Is there anything else that he told you?"
"Well, he said he'd be good at fighting Sharpteeth..."
"Good? He is a great fighter! Without him, we might not have survived long enough to hatch you, Littlefoot," Grandpa explained, an admiration of true sort in his voice.
"Oh well... Do you think I should try to get to know him better?" Littlefoot asked. "I'm not sure if I should because... well, things have been alright before he showed up. I.. I never needed a dad because I have you... you are like a mother and a father..."
"We are glad that you think so, Littlefoot," Grandma said with a smile and nuzzled Littlefoot.
"I suggest you to get to know him better," Grandpa exclaimed. "You might not consider him your father yet but if you spend some time with him, you might one day."
"Besides, he will be much more willing to join us if he has a strong connection to you," Grandma added. "But now it is time to sleep, the Night Circle has already rosen to the sky and the blinky lights are twinkling upon us."
"You are right, it sure was an eventful day," Littlefoot replied. He chose the softest spot of grass and plopped to the ground. "Night!"
"Goodnight, my little one," Grandma spoke softly, nuzzling her grandson one last time before he fell asleep - digesting the events of the day in his sleepstories...

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I had a lot of fun writing this The part where Littlefoot and Ali are playing is a little random but I don't want to push the plot forward too fast... I want to show how the two play and have fun
This might be among the longest chapters I've written so far btw...

In chapter 24, a lot of things you probably won't expect will happen... I'll just say that it's a chapter in which things occur that don't happen in reality but happen nevertheless... if you catch my drift

[rhombus]

Well, things have certainly picked up in the last two chapters.  Shorty has been placed on a suspended sentence of sorts with the death of Cho (if it happens) resulting in his exile.  Undoubtedly a very harsh punishment, but very understandable under these circumstances.  If Bron was shown to give favorable treatment to Shorty then he might lose control over his herd members due to the perceived loss of control.  Furthermore, the other herd members might be tempted to resort to vigilante justice if Bron was seen as too lenient.  I rather like that Ali stresses this point to Littlefoot in the beginning of the latest chapter.  Ali, having lived in a herd prior to her time with Bron, would have more understanding of her dynamics and would be able to understand the concept better than Littlefoot - so that is an entirely believable conversation.  

So now Ali is going to try to talk to Shorty... Interesting.  There are several ways that this plot development can go.  I also like the way that you depicted Littlefoot's and Ali's game.  It is interesting that the form of challenge (raising up on hind limbs and pushing against one another) is indicative to how a longneck mating challenge might have proceeded between two males, based upon how other herd animals from our epoch approach the matter.  Ali and Littlefoot are obviously unaware of that context.

The final conversation between Littlefoot and his grandfather is also a nice touch.  I like the slight suspicion between the grandparents and Bron as that would certainly be justifiable under the circumstances.  I also like the outright indication of the grandparents plan to entice Bron to go back with them.  It will be interesting to see how this develops.  

[Ducky123]

Thank you for the review

Well, things have certainly picked up in the last two chapters. Shorty has been placed on a suspended sentence of sorts with the death of Cho (if it happens) resulting in his exile. Undoubtedly a very harsh punishment, but very understandable under these circumstances. If Bron was shown to give favorable treatment to Shorty then he might lose control over his herd members due to the perceived loss of control. Furthermore, the other herd members might be tempted to resort to vigilante justice if Bron was seen as too lenient. I rather like that Ali stresses this point to Littlefoot in the beginning of the latest chapter. Ali, having lived in a herd prior to her time with Bron, would have more understanding of her dynamics and would be able to understand the concept better than Littlefoot - so that is an entirely believable conversation. in-yes.gif

A harsh yet fair punishment indeed. As you have pointed out, Bron needs to show the herd that everything is under control and that such an accident is never going to be repeated. Bron himself doesn't really like to punish Shorty so badly but he's hardly showing it, mostly since Shorty isn't exactly acting innocent.
You are right. Ali has lived in a herd prior to having joined up Bron's and has learned the dynamics of herd life.

So now Ali is going to try to talk to Shorty... Interesting. There are several ways that this plot development can go. I also like the way that you depicted Littlefoot's and Ali's game. It is interesting that the form of challenge (raising up on hind limbs and pushing against one another) is indicative to how a longneck mating challenge might have proceeded between two males, based upon how other herd animals from our epoch approach the matter. Ali and Littlefoot are obviously unaware of that context.

Yes, the talk will be very interesting... not only due to the things happening in the next chapter (The actual talk is in chapter 25 I think) Ali, after all, knows Shorty for quite some time now, having spend a couple of weeks with him the whole day, basically. She knows that Shorty likes her and therefore might make use of that. Ali obviously isn't happy about Shorty's actions though...
Frankly, I didn't  think about the game that way when I wrote the scene It might indeed have been a way of challenging back in the time of dinosaurs...

The final conversation between Littlefoot and his grandfather is also a nice touch. I like the slight suspicion between the grandparents and Bron as that would certainly be justifiable under the circumstances. I also like the outright indication of the grandparents plan to entice Bron to go back with them. It will be interesting to see how this develops. in-yes.gif

Yeah Even though we didn't see what the Grandparents thought about their grandson sleeping and spending the day with Bron in LBT 10, I sort of believe that they were slightly sad about it. Littlefoot has been a huge part of their lifes and watching him gives them an important role to play (elder people often need such a "sense in life" ) It's apparent that both parties want a reunification that lasts... only they have divergant aim as for where to live and in what way? Herdlife vs. settled life in the Valley...

I'm glad that you like my latest installments

[Ducky123]

Sorry for the hiatus ^^ Was waiting for the corrections... Not that I would have needed it urgently considering the low number of mistakes Posting schedule will stay weekly ^^

WARNING:Violence in this one. Don't read if you're offended by these things!!!

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Chapter 24:

Littlefoot sat on a cliff, looking into the distance. The sight was astonishing; from up there he could see far, far into the distance, and he could watch many dinosaurs going after their businesses in the friendly, green place beneath him.
"Huh? Where am I?" the Longneck boy wondered. The answer wasn't difficult to guess though. Littlefoot quickly discovered plenty of landmarks he knew by heart. He was at the Great Valley.
"How'd I get here? I've been wandering far away..."
Littlefoot gazed down at the crowds chatting, eating, drinking or playing. Many children - some younger and some older than he was - were having various sorts of games. "So where's the bunch of kids that I usually have games with?" Littlefoot questioned himself. Where were Cera, Petrie, Ducky and Spike? Where was Ali? Where was Bron - his dad?
Luckily for Littlefoot, he happened to find himself at a high elevated place in the Valley. Therefore, he could make use of that since he could overlook a wide variety of highly populated areas. Though he wasn't able to peek through the thick, green roofs of the uncountable amount of trees that were growing in the Valley and providing its inhabitants with all sorts of food in abundance.
The boy quickly spotted his friends close to the big river that was making its way through the Valley, providing his home with water that made the plants grow. How important the water from that very river was, he had witnessed when a shower of falling rocks blocked the river in the Mysterious Beyond so his home had dried up pretty fast which eventually lead to a dangerous fire. Littlefoot didn't want to be reminded of that...
"What are they doing there?!" he questioned himself, rubbing his eyes in order to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him. They weren't. To him, it looked like Ali and Shorty were with his friends. He couldn't exactly make out what exactly was going on over there but it didn't look good.
"What's Shorty up to?!" Shorty stood in front of everyone as if he was a grown-up lecturing them for disobeying... in front of everyone but Ali, the Longneck noticed.
"Why's Ali so... shaky???" Littlefoot was deeply concerned now that he saw his friend looking to the left and the right very frequently. "As if she is expecting an attack any moment..."  he mused.
Suddenly he heard a terrified shriek. "DUCKY!" Littlefoot cursed for not paying attention to the scenery for a second. He quickly took in the sight. Ali was curled up on the ground, apparently crying in fear; Cera was on the ground for reasons beyond the Longnecks knowledge; Spike and Ducky were running... "Running from WHAT!?" his mind raced. He then spotted the green Longneck chasing them, then catching Ducky and...
"HEEEEEEELP!!!!" Littlefoot heard Ducky and Petrie scream in unison.
Littlefoot didn't spend any further thought on this. His friends were in danger and he had to come to the rescue...

Ali was sitting on a wide meadow that was covered in all sorts of red, yellow, orange and rose flowers. The Bright Circle was about to touch the mountains in the distance before disappearing beyond them to introduce the time of the Night Circle.
Ali heard sounds behind her; Littlefoot was returning. Though she neither knew where she was nor what was going on but the scenery was simply astonishing thus she didn't care about those questions.
Ali loved flowers of all sorts - not only for their colourful beauty that she openly admired but also for their rather sweet taste.
The brown Longneck that was approaching her smiled at her sweetly. A strange yet pleasant tickle built up in her belly and Ali immediately recognised it. She always felt it when she was with Littlefoot or even in times where she would only imagine being with him. At the same time, her sniffer was catching a strong scent - and a familiar one at that...
"My favourite flowers!" her mind screamed excitedly. She hadn't had these flowers since she had been really young. It had probably been a fair while before she even met Littlefoot... She would never forget this sweet scent and this even sweeter taste... Littlefoot was carrying a whole bunch of her favourite flowers on his back and his smile grew the wider the closer he came.
"Hey Littlefoot," Ali greeted her friend formally.
"Hi again," Littlefoot snickered. "I found a lot of those flowers on my way to check back with my grandparents. I remember you mentioning them earlier today and, since you described them pretty well, I've been able to recognise them. Oh, and my folks said I could stay the night with your er..my dad's herd; so we could sleep together."
Ali's heart skipped a few beats while she was flying a big loop to Jupiter, Mars and back to planet earth. Her body was trembling in a vicious mixture of emotions. Her instincts told her to return the favor somehow.
"But how?" Ali already knew... though she'd save that for a later moment...
"Thaaaaaaaanks!" Ali exclaimed appreciatively. She approached her friend shyly and they tenderly rubbed their necks together. "This is very kind of you, you want to share the flowers?" Ali asked after she had stopped their gentle moment. "You’ve got to take a bite because they'll change your life forever."
Littlefoot chuckled at hearing that statement. "Sure, I'll take a bite," he answered. "But you get the first one."
"But-but I can't decide which flower is the best..." Ali objected.
Littlefoot chuckled once more. "You want me to choose the best one?" he offered.
"Hmm... oh yes, it would be an honour," Ali replied shyly.
That being discussed, Littlefoot gave the pile of rose flowers a closer look to pick the best of the best. The flowers were fairly big. Their wide, rounded, rose leaves had some white lines that were getting thicker the closer they were to the centre of the flower which consisted of a yellow pool of pollen, plant material and - the tastiest part - some sort of golden syrup. But most of all, they were pretty wonderful - even Littlefoot had to admit that, being a boy.
The Longneck boy soon decided upon a flower that was of a particular bright pink colour. He grabbed the flower with his mouth and took his position in front of Ali. "Dinnersch ready," he mumbled through his gritted teeth.
Ali almost lost herself while she was staring into Littlefoot's brown eyes. Smiling shyly, she moved her neck and opened her mouth a little bit. She softly touched Littlefoot's nose before she grabbed the flower. However, in a playful way to keep the fond moment a little longer, Littlefoot didn't release the flower. Ali didn't try to steal it from her friend. Instead, she began to munch on it, slowly approaching Littlefoot's mouth.
The boy watched the pink Longneck in excitement. Just when Ali touched Littlefoot, both of them heard a piece of wood crack as if somebody stepped on it.
Littlefoot immediately let go of the flower and alertfully observed his surroundings while Ali almost swallowed the whole flower without chewing due to the surprising event that destroyed the perfect moment for her possible first kiss.
"What was that?!" Littlefoot shouted slightly annoyed though rather concerned of Ali's safety.
"Whatever it was, I'll make sure it won't do that again," Ali growled angrily, a move that was hardly seen of her. She was usually hard to anger, Littlefoot reflected.
Ali felt actual wrath since a perfect opportunity to admit her love to Littlefoot by kissing him was forcefully destroyed. She looked around, but had to admit that there were little chances to hide in such an open area. "Well, I can still try in a bit..."  Ali thought as she was remembering the fact that she wanted to watch the sunset with Littlefoot. And the sun was just about to set...
"Littlefoot, let's just grab a few and eat the rest later or we'll miss the sunset," the girl suggested.
"Yeah, you're right," Littlefoot agreed. "Let's go!"
The two young Longnecks walked up a nearby hill. They were basically walking very close, touching one another very often.

Littlefoot's lungs were aching, his legs were tiring and his belly and back were stinging like crazy for they screamed after blood that they didn't get because his legs and his racing wrath used it all up. He desperately tried to reach them as soon as possible but it was an attempt that was doomed to fail.
When he finally arrived at the scene, he was shocked. He couldn't spot a single member of his gang but Ducky who was gasping for air terribly. Ali was there as well though she was a shaking piece of misery. She appeared to be unhurt however which relieved Littlefoot somewhat. Ducky, on the other hand, had turned blue. That observation horrified the boy. Simultaneously, he spotted Shorty standing in the water in a way that could only imply he was standing on top of somebody... somebody who was under the water surface!
Littlefoot was hit by a tsunami of wrath and that very wrath urged his exhausted legs to run towards Shorty with an incredible speed. While he was running, he noticed Ducky's problem. Her mouth was filled with a mixture of vomit and blood, the blood making up a much higher percentage. Since she lied on her back and since she was completely knocked out, her body fluids prevented her from breathing. Littlefoot hit his friend with his tail to turn her around while he was storming past her. He didn't even look back whether it had worked.
Shorty quickly noticed that he had a new opponent so he reluctantly released whoever he was standing on.
Littlefoot aimed straight at him and Shorty only grinned evilly as he watched Littlefoot approach in raging anger. Just in time, the green Longneck jumped out of Littlefoot's path of destruction so that the brown Longneck didn't hit him but charged straight into Cera who had just managed to break through the surface again. Littlefoot quickly dragged her onto dry land and continued his mindless approach on Shorty. However, he wasn't supposed to ever hit his target as he was becoming the target himself. Before Littlefoot could make out the danger, he was hit by something big. He immediately passed out...

"OUCH!!!!!!!!" Littlefoot yelled into the peaceful night. Even though he wasn't feeling any pain at all, his mind had connected the image of an egg-sized rock smashing into his face with brutal force with that particular reaction.
"Gee, that was some creepy sleepstory..." Littlefoot spoke to himself, his heart hammering in his chest. The boy looked up to the sky. "The Bright Circle will appear at the sky soon," he concluded as the sky was just becoming lighter in the east. Now the question at hand was whether he should get some more rest or get up. He considered for a while, then decided...

Ali and Littlefoot were sitting very close together on a hill that was ascending very smoothly in the east - where the two lovebirds came from - but descending very abruptly in front of them. They were enjoying a few of the sweet tasting flowers.
"Isn't it beautiful..." Ali mumbled dreamily. They were watching the Bright Circle's setting.
"Yeah, just like you..." Littlefoot answered just as dreamily. "You're prettier than anything I've ever seen and sweeter than the sweetest treesweet." Littlefoot looked Ali deep into her eyes blue like the sky on a sunny summer day.
"Did he really just said that?! He loves me?!" Ali thought excitedly. The butterflies in her tummy were dancing a quick waltz.
"Littlefoot..." Ali said, chuckling. "You're so sweet..." She got lost in his eyes.
Littlefoot struggled a little before he voiced up his mind. "Ali, I-I..." he shyly looked at the ground for a moment for he couldn't stare into Ali's eyes for a long time. Locking eyes again, he tried again. "I love you, Ali."
A simple sentence; subject, verb, object. To Ali, it meant a whole lot more. "I wanted to say that!" she chuckled insidely.
"Close your eyes," Littlefoot instructed calmly.
"He's going to kiss me, isn't he?" Ali thought. She closed her eyes as instructed and delighted in a memory that had yet to be made. She felt Littlefoot's breath, she felt his warm body beside her, and she felt his head touching hers. Softly, Littlefoot opened his lips and started to kiss her.
Ali was extremely shaky. She had never kissed before and the flood of emotions did the rest. A warm feeling appeared in her heart and instantly spread in her whole body as she opened her lips as well, returning the kiss. If she had had the possibility, Ali would have stopped time, preserving the powerful moment of fondness between the two young souls. However, their lips eventually separated.
Ali opened her eyes, smiling uncontrolledly. She was now the happiest Longneck girl in the world. "Littlefoot, I..." she was about the say when a whacking sound disturbed her. While she was turning around to see what was the cause of the sound, she heard another sound right next to her; a sound like something hard smashing bones. The heavy thud right next to her confirmed her worst fear. "Littlefoot had been hit by something!"
Upon turning to her friend, she received a shock. Littlefoot was down and lacking all conscience; though his head was a bloody mass.
"LITTLEFOOT!!! HELP!!!" Ali's mind screamed. "WHAT'S HAPPENED!?!" She rushed to her friend, tears beginning to moisten her eyes. She could tell that the injury was fatal since the boy's skull was not only broken but shattered into pieces. A sharp rock that was covered in some stuff that must have been his brain once was still stuck in the injury.
"LITTLEFOOT!!!" Ali screamed in terror.
"He can't hear you anymore, my sweet flower," a voice spoke smugly, chuckling slightly.
"SHORTY!!! You godawful son of a tar pit... LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!! I'M GONNA..."
"Calm down, I removed the betrayer. Now you're my little girl, Ali. You're safe now; I'll protect you." Shorty spoke.
"How dare you, HE WAS MY FRIEND!!!" Ali yelled at the appoaching green boy.
"So? He was weak and he was trying to fool you," Shorty retorted.
"LIAR!!! I NEVER LIKED YOU, I HATE YOU!!! I. HATE. YOU!!!" Ali roared furiously, deeply in grief about the loss of her friend and about to go for Shorty's throat.
"Oh, now you will have to like me... love me," Shorty snickered.
"I HATE YOU!!!" Ali cried. Tears erupted from her eyes. " OH I'M GONNA, I-I'M G-G-GON-N-N-NNA..."
"What are you gonna do, eh? Cry like a baby?" Shorty replied, amused.
Ali's resistance broke as she was collapsing, wailing on the ground.
"Awww, I guess I need to cheer ya up then, hmm? How 'bout some love, little Ali? I'll make it quick... and you'll enjoy it...
Ali rose to her feet, collecting all the strength that was left to direct it against Shorty. "CREEP!!!" she shouted and attacked.
Shorty merely chuckled and dodged the charging girl with ease. Ali tripped and fell.
"You fool, now that doesn't give me any other choice..." Shorty snarled. "It would have been so cool... you and me."
Ali weeped on the floor.
"Get up!" Shorty instructed, grabbing the rock he used earlier to murder his concurrent in terms of Ali's love.
Ali obeyed, much to the green Longneck's surprise.
"Farewell, my little flower..." he whispered before he raised his tail and flinged the rock.
Ali didn't care about anything anymore. She didn't even care about the rock that tore into her head. With a last scream, she was finally returning to reality. The horror was over... but the images in her head stayed...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In case you have not figured this out yet... Littlefoot and Ali are having dreams
I'm very interested how people are going to receive this chapter as some elements are quite cruel and violent (not to mention the foul language   ). Since Littlefoot and Ali are dreaming, digesting what they have experienced during the day, I thought I could be a little more extreme than I could have been in reality. I sure assume that all of you have had weird dreams in your life so that's just what Littlefoot and Ali are being haunted by...
Feedback, suggestions etc is much appreciated as always

In chapter 25... well, Littlefoot and Ali have had their dreams but they will have to react to them... and of course Shorty shall have a sleepstory of his own as well ^^

[rhombus]

Oh wow.   Ali's and Littlefoot's concerns are now on full display.  Littlefoot is fearful of Shorty's aggressiveness and protective of his friends (as is his nature), whereas Ali is not only having romantic thoughts about Littlefoot, but she is also having thoughts of Shorty which interrupt the pleasant dream.  Her subconscious knows that Shorty and Littlefoot are both acting as rivals for her affections (at least in her mind) and the fact that she has known few of her kind is only exasperating that effect.  I wonder how each dinosaur will react to their dreams.  Will they accept the obvious implications of their dreams or will they ignore the disturbing thoughts that they bring?

I look forward to seeing how this develops.  

[Ducky123]

Oh wow. dino_wow.gif Ali's and Littlefoot's concerns are now on full display. Littlefoot is fearful of Shorty's aggressiveness and protective of his friends (as is his nature), whereas Ali is not only having romantic thoughts about Littlefoot, but she is also having thoughts of Shorty which interrupt the pleasant dream.

That's some good summary!   I think I haven't pointed out Littlefoot's thoughts about Shorty enough yet so his dream is a start. The conflict Littlefoot-Shorty will become more important later in the story and Ali, as will be seen in chapter 25, is aware of that - at least subliminal "Protective" is a good word here. Littlefoot will show that a little more often soon.
Yes, Ali is having romantic thoughts No good story without a proper love story Well, a love triangle of some sort is always interesting; it'll also become increasingly important as the story moves on... She has a crush on Littlefoot while Shorty is just a good friend - well, of course their friendship is in danger now after the attack on Cho. Shorty has a crush on Ali though his interpretation of "love" is a little different from Ali's. The relationship bwtween Shorty and Ali will be interesting as well (as almost everything of this story ^^)

Her subconscious knows that Shorty and Littlefoot are both acting as rivals for her affections (at least in her mind) and the fact that she has known few of her kind is only exasperating that effect.

Exactly. Though Ali adores Littlefoot who hasn't shown anything that could imply that he has similar feelings and Shorty adores Ali... It's complicated And yes, maybe not something I thought about but very true...

I wonder how each dinosaur will react to their dreams. Will they accept the obvious implications of their dreams or will they ignore the disturbing thoughts that they bring?

Have fun discovering next Monday

That being said, thanks for you review!

[Ducky123]

Next chapter guys! It's quite dark however so you've been warned

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 25:

Ali's scream echoed through the oasis. The pink girl quickly observed her surroundings. She had, physically, returned to the real world despite her mind still being stuck in her bad sleepstory. In fact, her sleepstory had been that big a shock that the young Longneck began to cry. The impression of Littlefoot's smashed skull and all the blood that was carved into her memory freaked Ali out.
   
Shorty walked across a meadow. It was a small area within a rather sinister wood that was not covered by the main kind of vegetation - coniferes. His aim was a small pond only little distance away... Well, to be exact, his actual aim was the jetblack Longneck that was playing with the bubbles that kept building and popping. "That'll be so much fun..." the green boy who wasn't only much bigger and stronger but also cleverer than his victim thought in anticipation. Beating others was so funny...

Fiona woke up from a pleasant slumber. "Ehh what is it? I want to rest..." she thought when she heard her daughter's cries. Absentmindedly, she shifted around at her sleeping spot and addressed Ali.
"What's the matter with you, Ali? You're going to disturb the sleep of others if you don't quit crying."
Ali neither responded nor did she become any quieter.
"Had a scary sleepstory, dear?" Ali's Mother asked, being somewhat clueless.
At this, Ali nodded and moved over to her mother.
"Aww, it's alright. Nobody can harm you while I'm here," Fiona spoke in a calm tone. She consoled Ali for a few minutes until the young one finally recovered from her bad dream. Then Fiona fell asleep again. Ali did not.

Shorty walked on silent paws, slowly gaining on the girl. She didn't notice him until he was standing right behind her. "Surprise!"
"Fancy playin' all alone? Why not playin' with your friends, eh?" Shorty questioned  smugly. "Oh right, you don't have any friends, hahahaha!" he teased the girl.
"What do you want?" the young Longneck retorted.
"Hmm, dunno," Shorty said, smirking. "Playin' with ya?"
"I do not want to play with you!" the girl stated defiantly.
"Why not? We could play... bully," Shorty mused. "Haha, good idea..."
"Yeah, and you are the bully? No thanks!" She turned around and started walking away from Shorty.
"She ain't thaaaaaaat stupid..little shadow."
"Awww, I like girls who yell back. You really sure you don't wanna play?" Shorty questioned. "If she chooses to run away..."
"I don't heeeeaaaaar you!" the young one shouted at nobody in particular.
"Hey Sue," Shorty called. "It's Sue, right?"
"My name is CHO!!!" Cho shouted, not stopping in her quick walk. "See. Age. Oh!"
"I love it when she gets furious."
"Oh right... must've forgotten..." Shorty said sweetly. "Now to business..." "So Cho... what if I make you play with me?"
"I won't play, you can't make me!" Cho shouted defiantly.
"Well, I will. You return to this pond right now or you're in serious trouble!" Shorty threatened.
"Eat dust, you jerk!" Cho yelled and began to run away into the sinister forest.
"Well, you asked for it, shadow... I'll get'cha sooner or later anyway." Shorty went after her though he wasn't running very fast. Cho would be exhausted very soon...

Still being fairly shaky on her legs, Ali eventually got up from her curled up position and tried to make out where Shorty slept during the night. It was still very dark but the first signs of the approaching day were already recognisable far in the east.
The young girl hadn't forgotten her task to talk some sense into Shorty - at least that was her aim. Aimlessly, she walked past her snoring mother and many other Longnecks of the herd she was now a member of to seek out Shorty...

Shorty's assumption had been correct. Without putting much effort into his pursue of the young, dark-coloured Longneck, he quickly caught up. The area was very hilly and the ground was covered by quite a few rocks. Shorty observed a large hill that was fairly steep and Cho was heading that way so he decided to try chase her uphill. "She'll run out of breath if she tries to climb that hill," Shorty reckoned.
Having almost caught up, Shorty ran faster. At that, he tried to chase her up the hill by cutting all other escape options. Cho then did as expected and started to climb up the steep path.
Shorty smirked; the plan began to work.
While he was chasing her up the hill, Shorty yelled several insults at Cho. He could see the panic in her actions and even though Cho didn't yell back this time - for she was struggling to catch enough air anyway - Shorty could tell that they worked.
After about five minutes, Cho considerably slowed down. The two children were almost at the top, just having passed the steepest part of the hill. As a matter of fact, they had to climb rather than to run.
Cho's breath had become exceedingly heavy. Consequently, her legs eventually gave way. Snapping for air, she remained lying on the slippery and rocky ground.
"Perfect! She's done!" Shorty celebrated, smiling evilly in anticipation. Now he could finally do what he wanted to do much sooner already. But first...
"Hey Shadow, out of breath, ain't ya?" he teased her, being in a fairly good state himself. Cho was panting too heavily to reply. "You rotten hatchling, get up, will ya!?" When Cho didn't obey, he kicked her into the side. "Get up you lazy piece of trash!" Shorty shouted.
After receiving another kick, Cho attempted to get up and succeeded at that despite her still heavy breath. "Leave me... alone," she panted weakly.
"Why should I, eh? You deserve some company." "Okay, that sounded a little weird but whatever..." "Well, not really but you get the point..."
"I do not... deserve any... company. Not yours at least. You... are the one who is always... alone and... the one who doesn't... have any... friends."
"Well, she does have a point... Love it when she gets angry..."
"Friends are for losers, for such misfits like you. Though you're too ugly. Who'd want to be your friend? Right, nobody."
"Stop it, STOP IT!!!" Cho roared, tears beginning to build in her eyes. "I will... I will..."
"Cry? Go tell Mommy? B-b-beat me?" Shorty roared in laughter.
"GO AWAY!!!"
"What if I choose not to?"
"Then I will!" With that, Cho attempted to escape but Shorty reacted quickly and ruthlessly. He rammed the girl; Cho crashed against a boulder. Shorty quickly approached, a never-ceasing gleeful grin on his face. "I love it!"
"Now, what should I do with you? Hmm, a good ol' kick in the butt has never missed its effect..."
"PLEASE..." Cho begged but Shorty showed no mercy. First, he kicked the young girl until his legs got tired. Then he decided to whip some sense into her, using his tail. Eventually, he let go.
Cho was snivelling on the ground both in physical and mental pain.
"Fancy some more?" Shorty questioned smugly. "Well, seriously, how'd you stand all this? Hated by everyone... I would have killed myself already..." Shorty snickered. "Wanna kill yourself? You're a failure of a Longneck anyway..." "Wonder if she actually does it..."
Cho just cried louder.
"Awww, need your mommy? Oh, your real mommy's dead, ain't she? Guess she killed herself because she couldn't stand you?"
That was ultimately too much for the young girl. Blinded by rage, she jumped to her feet and rammed into the much taller, green Longneck boy. Being on top of him, she trashed her forelegs around blindly but Shorty pushed her off and rammed into the girl himself, pushing her against the boulder he had used earlier already. Extremely scared, Cho jumped to her feet yet again and tried to run away. Shorty gave chase. He already had a nice idea as for how to bully the girl further... well, his plan couldn't exactly be considered bullying but, in fact, Shorty was just doing that.
He cut her escape path a couple times until he had trapped her. Behind Cho was a very steep part of the hill - too steep to climb down and too big a drop to dare jump down. A wet treetrunk build a sort of ledge, and that was exactly where he wanted her to be...
"Why'd ya beat me?" Shorty asked, calm but threatening.
Cho sobbed in fear and despair.
"You know I'm gonna pay it back..."
Cho jumped onto the treetrunk and walked backwards, step by step. Shorty slowly approached her, smirking madly. "Wonder if she jumps..."
Eventually, Cho was at the end of the treetrunk. Behind her was a deep drop, in front of her was her torturer.
"Still sure you wanna end it now?" Shorty teased.
Cho curled up into a tight ball, awaiting any attack. "P-p-please d-don't hurt m-m-me."
"Aww , cute..." Shorty prepared to beat her once again but...
*Crack*
"Crap!" Shorty thought. He instantly tried to get away from the ledge as far as he could as quickly as he could.
Cho needed a long time to react; when she was finally on her feet again, the treetrunk cracked completely. Shorty was at the safe side of it already; Cho was not. Along with her half of the treetrunk, she fell down. The mighty impact on the ground threw her off the wood and right against a huge rock, and a tree, and another tree and so on. Incredibly fast, she rolled down the steep hill, crashing against all sorts of obstacles.
The sight even concerned Shorty. Even though he was a reckless bully, he was worried about the girl. "If she dies from this drop, I'll need to find a new victim..." he figured. Cursing, he climbed down the hill...

Littlefoot headed to the place where he met his father the day before. He decided it would be no use to try to fall asleep again as the sleepstory made him too thoughtful. Rather, he had decided to watch the sun rising. "Maybe it'll help me think..." he guessed. He made himself comfortable on the floor and did exactly that... thinking.

Shorty soon found Cho. She had only stopped her fall close to the bottom of the hill where the gradient wasn't big anymore. Shorty immediately noticed that the girl was injured. "Not surprising after such a drop and fall..." In fact, he noticed that she was bleeding quite badly and her neck was in a creepy position, so was one of her front legs.
Shorty's heart skipped a few beats upon realising what he was just seeing. Cho's injuries were fatal. She didn't breath anymore and Shorty wasn't foolish enough to try reanimate her .
"Ehh... fuck!" Shorty cussed. It wasn't her death that was really bugging him but rather the fact that he had to find a new victim. "Cho was just perfect as a victim..."He then decided to speak to the dead body. "I'm sorry, Shadow. Didn't really want you dead, actually. Well, you will be remembered as the ugliest thing that ever dared to enter this world. Your mum must be proud! Well, rest in peace, misfit..."
Just as Shorty began to walk away from the dead Longneck, he heard wood shattering. "Crap..."Helplessly, Shorty had to watch his adopted father approaching him in rage. He was greeted by a severe hit of Bron's tail that cracked all ribs in his chest. The impact on the ground that followed soon after, added one of his hind legs to his injuries.
"The punishment for killing is death, Shorty. I can't protect you anymore..." Bron approached Shorty slowly. Then he raised his forelegs...
"I DIDN'T KILL HER, SHE FELL DOWN ON HER OWN!!!" Shorty screamed in despair and panic.
"Yes, and I'm a Ground Crawler... farewell!" With that, he crushed the young Longneck that he once considered his son under his weight. Shorty screamed...

Ali didn't need long to discover the green Longneck. The slowly lightening up sky spend enough light to recognise her surroundings. Bron and Shorty had only slept a stone's throw away from her.
"Alright, here comes the tricky part..." Ali realised. Her task was now to wake up Shorty without startling him and to talk to him without anybody seeing or hearing them.
She then walked over to Shorty, making sure to move as quiet as possible. When she saw Shorty shifting around in his sleeping spot, she instantly knew that he was having a sleepstory too - quite possibly a bad one since he was murmuring in his unsettled slumber. "If he's mumbling any louder he's going to give me away!" Ali cursed. Carefully, she approached the restless sleeper.
Just when she had arrived, opening her mouth to take a breath and softly call his name, Shorty began to roll around on the floor and eventually awoke with a startled scream.
"AHHHHHHHH!!! I didn't kill her, trust me, I didn't!!!" Shorty cried.
"You didn't kill whom?" Ali questioned.
"Waaaaahh! A-a-ali, w-what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" Shorty pointed out.
"Well, I wanted to have a few words with you yesterday but since you are... grounded - for a good reason - I figured I need to talk to you while everybody else is asleep..." Ali replied, keeping her voice low and not failing to sound accusing. "I suggest we walk a little distance to get away from everyone. They won't get up that early in the morning I hope..."
"Uh sure," Shorty replied. He followed Ali, still being kind of freaked out by his sleepstory.
"This place should be alright," Ali eventually declared, having stopped at a small pond where some lizards were making some noise anyway.
"Yeah, I guess... Now what do you wanna talk about, my little flower?" Shorty gave her a chatting up look.
"Don't call me that!" Ali snapped back which surprised Shorty.
"Hey, stay cool, will ya?" the green Longneck replied placatorily.
"If I were you, I'd be glad that I visit you at all!" Ali shouted. "You actually deserve to be left alone!"
"Oh, come on! Ali, what's the problem?"
"The problem?! You don't know? I tell you!"
"Go ahead..."
"See, you know violence is something that I don't like."
"So what? I don't like you playing with that Littleneck either and I don't get furious about it."
"You're such an ignorant son of a tarpit! Do you know how Cho felt when you rammed her against that rock, huh? You don't, right?"
"Calm down, Ali. She doesn't deserve any better treatment. She's a misfit, a worthless being."
"So that's how you function?! You jerk! What if I tell you YOU'RE a misfit? How'd you feel, heh? Everyone has a right to live, and nobody has a right to take it away! You were threatening her survival! Now tell me how she felt; how you'd feel! Tell me!"
"Ali, I..."
"Tell me!"
"Fiiine! I'd feel pain, so what? No big deal, I'm used to feel it."
"You think you're cool, right? I tell you, your macho behavior is so off! You'd want Bron to push you against those rocks?"
"If he must..."
"Shorty, this is leading us nowhere! What you did was wrong!!! No, disgusting, just disgusting... I thought you're a good friend but the only term that describes you properly is cruel. You're so coldhearted! I'm wasting my time here... Bye!" Ali ran away in tears.
"Ali wait!" Shorty called.
"Tomorrow, same time, same place! THINK about what you've done! THINK about your life... You'll have more than enough time to do that. You have no friends, and you're supposed to stay at the herd's resting place, all day, all alone. I wouldn't want to be you..."
"Will do, Ali. I swear..."
"You better do... In the meantime, I'll have a nice day with Littlefoot. He, other than you, has a heart and likes me for what I am, not so he has SOMEbody he could call a friend! Think about my words!" Ali finally ran away, leaving behind Shorty, bewildered. The boy eventually returned to his sleeping spot. He fell asleep again soon...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take a breath and swallow what you've just read   Shorty's dream is pretty dark and his reaction in the talk with Ali is pretty... hard to swallow. Yes, the Shorty we got to know in LBT 10 is a jerk... but the Shorty in this fic is worse... at least at the current stage of this story Tell me what you think Did I go too far?

About the next chapter, I can only say that there will be a change in emotion as opposed to the darkness lately and I promise you you will be surprised

[rhombus]

Whoa.  

Shorty's internal thoughts have certainly shed some light on the green longneck.  He seems almost sociopathic in his concern for the bullied girl ("If she dies from this drop, I'll need to find a new victim...") and definitely shows no remorse when talking to Ali about the situation.  This would make sense as secondary psychopaths are made that way by environmental factors (like abuse and neglect) as opposed to being born without empathy.  He also has a much greater emotional reaction to stimuli in the way that a person on the secondary psychopath spectrum would, whereas a full-blown primary psychopath (like Sierra, for example) would have little emotional connection to others at all.  If Shorty is near the secondary side of the spectrum, then there is still some hope for him.  He could gain more socialization with those who he does care for and be taught that even those who he does not care for have some value.  However, you have definitely painted a much darker picture of Shorty and one that actually makes a lot of sense psychologically.  When I took a course in personality psychology, I encountered several examples in case studies of people with similar backgrounds developing the traits that you have shown in your story.  In fact, some of the parallels are chilling.  

All that being said, I do like this darker turn.  Shorty is still capable of empathy for a choice few people and this shows that he is not beyond redemption.  He will need to expand his empathy (or at least develop a code of conduct for those 'unworthy' of his empathy) in order to constrain his destructive influences and not drive off those who love him.

I am very interested in where this is going.  

[Ducky123]

Whoa, looks like I have succeeded in making his behavior believable and, on top of that, it even fits this typical sociopathic profile... In all honesty, I haven't made any studies on that subject prior to writing this. I was just imagining how Shorty might think and react to all this
I'm glad that you are fond of this darker turn However, the next chapters won't be as dark as the previous ones

Thanks for you review and analysis of Shorty's behavior

[RockingScorpion]

So, finally I found time to write down my reviews of the last two chapters in this thread. Starting with 24.

Uhm...sheesh, those two have some dreams there. But I guess that's not surprising after everything that has happened.
Was it intended by you to confuse your readers for a while? If yes, you succeeded. xD

And to 25:
Woah, Shorty. That guy has some nerves. Calling Ali "little flower" again and then acting like he did nothing bad at all and, long story short(y): Being pretty much an idiot. Way to go to impress her. Not. No wonder she's leaving short(l)y after that.

This isn't settled at all. I can imagine that the situation will calm down in the end, but not so soon. I can smell some fights between Littlefoot and Shorty coming up.

That's it for now, I don't know what I could add here. But...
I said it sometimes already but you know how to keep your readers. Next chapter. NAOW.

[Ducky123]

Thank you for reviewing

Uhm...sheesh, those two have some dreams there. But I guess that's not surprising after everything that has happened.
Was it intended by you to confuse your readers for a while? If yes, you succeeded. xD

In a way, I intended to confuse you guys Well, I was rather afraid some people might not get what's happening   My idea was to have the three main characters at this point coping with the experiences they have made at day and process their emotions. That of course can happen quite in an extreme way... if you're having weird dreams occasionally, you know what I mean

And to 25:
Woah, Shorty. That guy has some nerves. Calling Ali "little flower" again and then acting like he did nothing bad at all and, long story short(y): Being pretty much an idiot. Way to go to impress her. Not. No wonder she's leaving short(l)y after that.

Yeah, Shorty acted very... funny. Ali said she'd meet him again so let's see how the next meeting goes (it's already written down)

This isn't settled at all. I can imagine that the situation will calm down in the end, but not so soon. I can smell some fights between Littlefoot and Shorty coming up. biggrin.gif

Yes, the situation will calm down somewhat but who knows if it's just the silence before the storm strikes with all his might?
Fights? Well, I think it's no secret that Shorty hates Littlefoot for he's a rival. There might not be fights anytime soon... but things always need some time to grow... and that needs some time:P

I said it sometimes already but you know how to keep your readers. Next chapter. NAOW. biggrin.gif

Well, that's good to hear Thank you!

[Nahla]

Dark

I know I know-I can talk right? xD

Scary dreams for all three of them.

Shorty is such a...beep beep.


I love how Littlefoot and Ali are kinda in love,some light on this story of darkness and depression. Shall we see more romance in the future? xD though I doubt Shorty will approve of 'Littleneck' stealing his 'little flower.

Also looking forward to more Littlefoot and Bron moments I want to see their relationship build to where Littlefoot accepts him as his 'real' father,cause he did say Grandma and Grandpa were like both a mother and father to him now he has to accept one who is pretty much a stranger as his father. Also his 'adopted brother' is a psychopath..just saying

Sorry lame review but I don't have time to give a full detail review these days.

 :

[Ducky123]

I'm always very happy if people review and if it's just one or two lines... I highly appreciate it. Thanks for the review Nahla

Dark

I know I know-I can talk right? xD

Yes, the story has quite a dark touch as of late but it's gonna be less dark from now on   At least for a while

Scary dreams for all three of them.

Yep, you got it

Shorty is such a...beep beep.

 Lol you're so right about that! Shorty is... being quite a jerk to put it mildly ^^

I love how Littlefoot and Ali are kinda in love,some light on this story of darkness and depression. Shall we see more romance in the future? xD though I doubt Shorty will approve of 'Littleneck' stealing his 'little flower.

Yeah, like I always say: "there ain't a good story without some romance to it." Of course there are stories that work without romance very well... but Littlefoot and Ali just being friends is just so boring isn't it? Shorty's crush on Ali is what makes this really interesting ^^

Also looking forward to more Littlefoot and Bron moments I want to see their relationship build to where Littlefoot accepts him as his 'real' father,cause he did say Grandma and Grandpa were like both a mother and father to him now he has to accept one who is pretty much a stranger as his father. Also his 'adopted brother' is a psychopath..just saying dino_laugh.gif

Very true. Other than in LBT 10, I have decided to make this a whole lot tougher. In my opinion, Littlefoot accepted him way too quick. The next chapter with direct interaction between those two will be one of the next couple chapters but then there's going to be a long break just coz so much stuff happens I have at least half a dozen of scenes that are going on at the same time so the progress is very slow

Sorry lame review but I don't have time to give a full detail review these days.

It was okay, really. Thanks for it again!  

[Ducky123]

Chapter 26:

"A beautiful sight..." Littlefoot noted as the Bright Circle was slowly appearing in the east; a big, orange ball of fire. "I wish Ali could see this with me... or my friends. Gee, I miss them. Wonder what they're doing all day.." His friends... Would they miss him too? "Sure they do!" Littlefoot was determined about that. Their relationship was too strong not to miss each other.
Littlefoot's thoughts shifted over to Ali again. "Hmm, I wonder if she has managed to talk to Shorty... if my sleepstory turns out to come true one day... No, that would be too shocking to imagine," Littlefoot figured. Shorty was suspicious to him, especially after he had almost injured the tiny Longneck almost fatally. "If he attacks Ali like that..." Littlefoot would never forgive the green boy if he injured Ali like he injured Cho.
He turned around to see if he could spot Ali anywhere but the trees were blocking the view into the area where Bron's herd was residing. But then he saw a figure breaking out of the trees. "Ali?" Littlefoot wondered. It was a Longneck of his age and she appeared to be pink just like Ali... at least from some distance. "It ought to be her but why's she running? Is Shorty pursuing her?!" Littlefoot was worried about his friend. "If Shorty..."
However, Littlefoot realised soon that Ali wasn't chased by anybody. She seemed to head towards his nest though.
"Here I am!" Littlefoot called as loud as he could, hoping Ali would hear him. Littlefoot saw her looking up to where he was standing and changing her way. "Good, she has heard me but still... why is she running?"
A few moments later he knew why... As Ali was climbing the wall, she was finally close enough for Littlefoot to see her expression. To his surprise and fear, she was crying.
"Ali, what's wrong?" he questioned her as soon as she had arrived at the top where he was standing. Ali sobbed violently instead of giving an answer.
"Hey, I'm here, Ali..." Littlefoot whispered sympathetically. He went to her and began to comfort Ali.
After a few minutes, the girl calmed down again.
"What's wrong, Ali?" Littlefoot repeated his previous question.
"It's Shorty, he..."
"Did he hurt you!?" Littlefoot almost shouted.
"No, he didn't. But if you hear him talk... he's just so cruel and he seems as if he doesn't even care about the harm he's done... He's almost as coldhearted as a Sharptooth!"
"Worse..." Littlefoot muttered. "Sharpteeth do what they have to but Shorty could easily drop that attitude of his... I don't understand why he acts like this...."
"But I do..." Ali muttered, sighing.
"Something about his mysterious past?" Littlefoot asked at a guess.
"Yes, you see... Shorty was abused by his father before he ran off finally," Ali explained. "And he's slowly becoming just like him which is what worries me most..."
"I'm amazed that you actually bother with him... he's only making you upset anyway." Littlefoot couldn't understand. "Though Cera was really bitchy when we travelled to the Great Valley and we're still friends even though she often makes me upset..." Littlefoot thought.
"Well, try to imagine how Shorty feels," Ali spoke. "He has no friends except me..."
"Ali, guess WHY he doesn't have any friends! He scares everyone off and insults or even hurts them, including you. He's not exactly trying to find any friends either..."
"He has a point..." Ali admitted to herself. "But maybe I can save him..."
"Yes, I know Littlefoot. But he has probably never been taught the values of friendship... Hence he has always been a loner so far." Ali paused. "B-but I thought that I can save him from becoming the monster his father is according to what he has told me..."
"Yeah... maybe but why do you care about him? Just because I'm not calling you sweet flower on every occasion?!" Littlefoot questioned ruder than he intended to. "Why am I so jealous? Ali's just a good friend and nobody could possibly change that!" Trying to sound less accusing, he continued. "I mean... be honest. What's so special about him?"
"I...I don't know, Littlefoot..." came Ali's answer. "He's just a friend... he used to be really funny and we used to share a lot... like not having had a great childhood."
"I think we should try to use the limited time we got to have fun together," Littlefoot suggested. "We've both missed each other dearly and we're probably forced to separate again soon."
"Maybe you're right, Littlefoot. Still, I will try to talk some sense into Shorty. He can be a good guy if he wants to. Just give him a chance, please?"
"Fine, as long as you leave me out of this," Littlefoot shrugged.
"Okay, I will... So what are we going to do in our limited time together?"
"Well, er... since the sun has risen already, we can't watch that together so let's get ourselves some breakfast. How does this sound?"
"Sounds fine, Littlefoot. Though, maybe, I should tell my mum where I am first..." Ali mused.
"Yeah, might be good advice to do so as well," Littlefoot chuckled. "Where are we gonna meet again? At my nesting place? Maybe my grandparents are kindly getting us some treesweets from the tree, you remember?"
"Yes, that sounds good. See you soon!" Ali called.
"Yep, seeya Ali!" Littlefoot replied.
They separated, returning to their respective nesting area...

The green Longneck stood on top of the big wall that bordered the fertile, tiny oasis against the rough wastelands that dominated the land he was used to travelling through. He took in the beautiful sight. The Longneck, being neither particularly tall nor small, wouldn't normally pay such things any attention but this was a special place. Something wonderful would happen here and all Longnecks longed to see it - even he who had always been... different. He didn't like playing when he was young except the games that included hurting others. He never had anybody he could consider a friend; his parents didn't care about him. Even his mate, he didn't choose because he loved her, but because he wanted children he could teach his values... He was still amazed that she stayed with him until shortly before the eggs would hatch and that he didn't have to force her to give him the kids, one of whom had made it throughout all the hardships of living in the Mysterious Beyond. His name was Hart...

"Grandpa? Grandma?" Littlefoot asked quietly. He had just arrived at the clearing which his grandparents had decided to be their sleeping area. The two elders were still fast asleep.
"Ohh, what is it, Littlefoot? Why are you up so early in the morning?" his Grandpa grunted sleepily.
"Well, I just wanted to ask you whether you could get me some treesweets I can't reach... A-and I'm up so early because a scary sleepstory woke me up and I couldn't fall asleep again so I went off to watch the Bright Circle rise." Littlefoot paused. "I just wanted you to know where I am so you aren't worried."
"Very well, Littlefoot..." Grandma yawned. "Though could you get yourself some other stuff for breakfast? Grandpa and I are still very tired from our long journey..."
"Oh, I see..." Littlefoot mumbled, a little disappointed. "Well, later you're gonna get me some, aren't you?" Littlefoot pressed on.
"Perhaps... Go play now Littlefoot, please," Grandpa begged, being very tired.
"Okay... I'll be with Ali, most likely," Littlefoot called before turning around and getting to move over to Ali's nesting area.
"Have fun..." Grandma managed to say before her eyes shut again, falling into deep slumber once again as was Grandpa...

"Such a wonderful place, such a llllllovely place..." Hart noted. Somewhere in this mess of trees, bushes and longnecked dinosaurs had to be some of the leaves he enjoyed eating so much, enjoying being too weak a term to describe the lust that even thinking about the leaf caused... He hasn't had any of them in ages and it drove him crazy and he needed them like the daily drink at the watering hole and the nightly sleep...

"Mum?" Ali spoke quietly.
Grunting, Fiona opened her eyes and turned to her daughter.
"What is it, dear?" she questioned sleepily.
"Uhm, may I go play with Littlefoot?" Ali questioned.
"Sure you may but don't you wanna have some breakfast first?" Ali's Mother wondered, yawning.
"We had planned to have our breakfast together..." Ali said shyly.
"Oh, that's fine. Will you return at some time of the day or will I have a whole day to relax?" the grown-up chuckled.
"I don't know. If Littlefoot needn't, I won't either I guess," Ali said, shrugging her hips.
"Just be careful, little one..." Fiona said before falling asleep again.
"What a sleepy egg!" Ali snickered. Happily, she turned tail and ran back to meet up with her friend again.

Hart craned his neck. His son Ricky still hadn't made it up the steep wall...
"Hurry up, will ya!" he yelled.
"Yes, sir!" came the response of a young, blue-ish Longneck. He picked up speed and was right next to his father in no time.
"Good lad..." he mumbled absentmindedly. His son had just reminded him of the other children of him... the two girls died not soon after the brat ran off because they ran out of water during one of the many journeys through endless deserts. His other son was taken from him by a Bellydragger when he hadn't been watching for a second. "Well, and the brat ran off..." It would honestly surprise Hart if he survived. "Well, if he did he's gonna have to explain himself... or else..."
"Come on, Ricky!" he ordered. "Let's find us a suitable spot to sleep for the next few days."
"Yes sir!" Ricky responded immediately, setting to motion.
"So it's good, son..." Hart mumbled, getting himself to move as well. "I suggest we snooze off for some time before we explore a little..."
"Yes, I agree, sir..." Ricky yawned, having walked the whole night.
Soon, they found a place that was a little off the heavy populated area so they wouldn't be seen or disturbed by playing kids or curious neighbors. They lay down and fell asleep right away.

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Uuuuiiiii, who's dat stranger? Well, I suppose it is quite possible to guess...
Hope you like the read

The next chapter could be considered a filler very well but I hope you're gonna enjoy it anyway

[Nahla]

Ooh it's...wait you'll kill me if I say it.


I'm happy Ali is giving Shorty a chance,everyone deserves a chance.


Oooh,Littlefoot's jealous,he is in looooooooooooove.  .


Nice chapter,gotta love Littlefoot and Ali moments.


I really don't have much to say,sorry.

[Ducky123]

Hehe, thanks again for your comments

I'm happy Ali is giving Shorty a chance,everyone deserves a chance.

Ali does know that Shorty has done a terrible mistake but she also knows that the battle isn't lost. Shorty is one of the very few friends she ever had and, obviously, she doesn't want to lose him again. She is in a kind of struggle because she knows Littlefoot has no understanding of this but she likes him very much. And she just knows that Littlefoot and Shorty aren't thinking high of each other...
Everyone deserves a chance indeed

Oooh,Littlefoot's jealous,he is in looooooooooooove. dino_laugh.gif.

Well, Ali is the one who has a crush but she sure activates some feelings in Littlefoot Like jealousy

Nice chapter,gotta love Littlefoot and Ali moments.

Can't argue with you. Love them as well, hence you can expect more of that. I'm considerably slowing down the progress of the plot now since there's so much stuff happening anyway that some rather random scenes do fit in very well in my view

I really don't have much to say,sorry.

Hey, you're only keeping things short You see how much I could reply to your few words ^^

[rhombus]

There are several interesting twists in this chapter.  

First of all, I rather enjoy the interchange between Littlefoot and Ali.  Littlefoot's jealousy is believable here, but also makes some very good points.  For whatever it is worth, I would also advise Ali to say away from Shorty under these circumstances.  It is generally a bad idea to associate with others which display sociopathic tendencies (even if they are family).  We may know that Shorty has some redeeming characteristics, but Littlefoot has no indication yet that that is the case.  

Secondly, the arrival of Hart is an interesting development.  I highly suspect that I know who this character is.    But I am curious to see how this develops in the future.

Overall, a rather good chapter.  

I only had one correction to suggest.

"I'm amazed that you actually bother him... he's only making you upset anyway."

"I'm amazed that you actually bother with him... he's only making you upset anyway."

[Ducky123]

Thank you for the review. I have corrected the small mistake

First of all, I rather enjoy the interchange between Littlefoot and Ali. Littlefoot's jealousy is believable here, but also makes some very good points. For whatever it is worth, I would also advise Ali to say away from Shorty under these circumstances. It is generally a bad idea to associate with others which display sociopathic tendencies (even if they are family). We may know that Shorty has some redeeming characteristics, but Littlefoot has no indication yet that that is the case.

Yes, staying away from Shorty is the thing most people would do in this situation but Ali tries to "save" him. This is on the one hand because she doesn't want to lose a friend and on the other hand because she fears that Shorty might do harm to those she cares about. That,  of course, will be hard since Bron has basically isolated Shorty when sentencing him. Despite Shorty's tendencies to be a loner - to be someone who doesn't have any friends, isolating him is certainly leading him further away from what is commonly considered "normal". He has time to plot, he is frustrated, jealous, angry and embittered... and most of all he enjoys when others are in pain and torment... and he's more than willingly the one causing it
It is not too late of course... and Ali knows that. Of course Littlefoot doesn't approve of it, being the protective leader of his friends that he is. It might be a sllight portion of selfishness as well but more than everything else, he is scared of Shorty and therefore avoids him. As people have pointed out recently, the relationship of these started very poor and fights are quite possible. And, knowing Shorty's accuracy in flinging stones, this is nothing Littlefoot should look forward to...

Secondly, the arrival of Hart is an interesting development. I highly suspect that I know who this character is. dino_tongue.gif But I am curious to see how this develops in the future.

You will be surprised. I promise you that However, it will take some time until he will appear again since a lot of things are going to happen within the next few hours in the story - and quite some of them concurrently

I'm happy that you liked this chapter

[Ducky123]

Next chapter guys! Uhm, you sure remember back then when I was having a huge writer's block issue? Well, this chapter marks the point where I got new ideas and still counting Well, try figure out where exactly that turning point is in this chapter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+

Chapter 27:

Littlefoot and Ali met halfway between their respective nesting areas.
"Hey again!" Littlefoot called, smiling.
"Hi..." Ali said shyly, returning the smile.
"I'm afraid we can't have treesweets this morning because my grandparents are sleepy eggs," Littlefoot complained.
"Hehe, my mum fell asleep while telling me something," Ali chuckled.
"Oh gee, those grown-ups..." Littlefoot said, joining the laughter.
"Yeah..." Ali sighed, still chuckling.
"So... what are we gonna do? Just get SOME breakfast?" Littlefoot asked. "I wanted a special breakfast this morning to celebrate that we have met again... and to return the favor for your berries... They were yummy!"
"You're welcome. You were sad so I wanted to cheer you up... and you did cheer me up earlier and also yesterday when..."
"I know, Ali... Now what to do?"
Both fell silent for a moment, pondering.
"We could ask Bron..." Ali eventually mused.
"You think that's a good idea?" Littlefoot questioned doubtfully. "I still don't know what to make of him..."
"It needs time, Littlefoot," Ali assured. "He's our only option at the moment I believe..."
"I really don't think he's gonna get us the..."
"Littlefoot, are you not going to make me happy, heh?" Ali teased, making puppy eyes.
"She cornered me..." Littlefoot cursed. "But I really don't want to ask Bron... ehh my dad... gotta call him dad..."
"Do you want me to c-c-cry?" Ali continued, acting as if about to burst into tears.
"As long as you ask..." Littlefoot answered, having seen through Ali's wrong sniffing. "I really don't want this place to be flooded after all..."
Both collapsed to the ground due to an attack of laughter.
"Hehehe, alright I'm going to ask, come along!" Ali called as soon as she had recovered from laughing very hard.
"Cool," Littlefoot replied. His eyes widened when he realised that Ali was running very fast. "Darn! She called a race and I didn't get it!" Littlefoot cursed, abruptly getting to motion as well. "I'll have my revenge later..."

Bron woke up. The Bright Circle's warm rays started to warm up the small valley and its current inhabitants. The tall Longneck stretched his muscles and checked his surroundings. All around him, he could see other Longnecks - members of his great herd, some of them still asleep and some of them already awake, having their breakfast or following up other activities that came to their minds.
Bron's attention switched to the green young one, sleeping a little distance away. "I would be amazed if he didn't try sneak off at night..." Bron mused. He mindfully observed the boy and tried to make out any signs that would speak for his assumption that was based on knowing Shorty for a long time already. The boy had never been one to obey easily. Often, he would seemingly obey but ignore his orders behind his back. Being the herd leader, he was often too busy to have an extra eye on Shorty after all.
"Hmm... he is still sleeping at the same spot where he fell asleep in the evening..." Bron observed but then something fishy caught his attention.
"He did leave the nest at night," he concluded as there were trails in the soft ground. After some more detailed observation, he also noticed that somebody must have approached him. Shorty must have followed that dinosaur. The footprints were invitingly reliable so that Bron had a pretty good guess who that somebody was...
He decided not to wake Shorty for the time being. He would have to spend enough time at the nesting area already - all alone with nobody to talk to...

"Gotcha!" Littlefoot exclaimed in triumph. After an intense chase, he had caught up with Ali and, since he wanted some revenge for being challenged but not precisely told, he tackled the pink girl and pushed her to the ground playfully.
"Hahaha, I won!" Littlefoot declared happily. Ali joined in his laughter.
"Whoa, next time we walk... I'm exhausted," Littlefoot chuckled.
"Well, you should be stronger than me but you're complaining and I'm not," Ali teased, poking her tongue at Littlefoot while regaining her breath that was indeed going a little heavier than Littlefoot's but not by much.
"I'm not complaining, I'm just lazy," Littlefoot prostested but Ali didn't take his words seriously.
"Of course... boys are always lazy. We girls do the real work..." Ali stated matter-of-factly.
"Yeah whatever, I'm too lazy to discuss this now..." Littlefoot said defiantly, making Ali chuckle slightly. "Let's continue our way to Bron... and breakfast."
"Yep, I'm hungry too," Ali said agreeingly.
"Then let's go!"

A few minutes later - Bron was talking to a few members of his herd, Ali and Littlefoot arrived at the sleeping area of Bron and Shorty.
The green Longneck awoke just when they came into sight. He uncurled himself and got up, wondering what the two had in mind in coming to his sleeping area. He was grounded after all..
As Bron spotted the two young ones approaching, he finished his talk with some Longneck of his herd and turned his attention to them. He was quite surprised to see his very son visiting him prior to the time they agreed on.
"Littlefoot, Ali... what a surprise," he exclaimed, undoubtedly excited and happy about their visit. "You're sure morning dinos, aren't you?"
"Well, not really, we were both just haunted by sleepstories so..." Ali began.
"So we met up and tried to get our folks to get us breakfast," Littlefoot added nervously.
"Yeah, and they sure aren't morning dinos," Ali chuckled.
"Cool," came Bron's response. "Well, I'm sorry neither of you got his beauty sleep... Shorty here is the most grumpy dinosaur in the morning you can imagine by the way..." Bron snickered.
"I can hear you..." Shorty grunted from the distance.
"Funny, last time I checked he was still asleep..." Bron mused, gently overhearing Shorty's sardonic comment. "Anyway... why did you come to visit me? Especially you, my son?"
Ali looked at her friend, deciding that, despite their earlier agreement, it was Littlefoot's turn to reply to Bron. She nodded at the boy.
"Well, w-we wanted to ask you if you could... help us get some breakfast..." Littlefoot answered shyly. His legs were shaking a little due to his nervousness.
"You need my help?" Bron laughed. "There's plenty of food in your reach..."
"See, we are looking for something that only grows high in the trees; out of our reach," Ali explained.
"Yeah... you-you remember yesterday?" Littlefoot wondered. "When we tried to climb up that treesweet tree..."
"Well, I climbed up," Ali made an amendment. "You and Shorty were helping me..."
"Yeah... I do remember," Bron sighed. "Y'know I'm still a little shocked that you actually climbed up there in your condition, Ali..."
"Yes... it was silly," Ali admitted in embarrassment.
"Yep, it was. Whose idea was it anyway?" Littlefoot wondered.
"It was Shorty who wanted to get the treesweets for me in the first place..." Ali spoke. "But it was my idea to climb up."
"Well, I'll grab you some treesweets but then I have to take care of the herd, okay?" Bron offered.
"Sounds good," Ali cheered.
"Yeah, thanks..." Littlefoot murmured.
Bron grabbed some tasty treesweets off the tree and dropped them to the ground, grinning at the two young ones sheepishly.
"Thanks!" the two young ones called before Bron left them again. Grinning at each other, they started their breakfast.

Ali fixed her gaze on a particularly juicy looking treesweet while her mouth was still too full to talk with another fruit in it, being shredded by her teeth into little pieces that not only were more wholesome to her tummy and easier to swallow but that also created an even more intense, sweet taste on her tongue that was busy touching as much of the stuff as possible to maximize the pleasure. Ali couldn't remember having had such a delicious meal in a long while and she could only think of one thing that was even tastier...
The pieces were finally small enough to be swallowed down, being transported into her tummy where they would be digested, giving her new energy for the day and, quite possibly, a sugar rush. Ali grabbed the treesweet she was studying just moments ago and somehow managed to fit it into her mouth whole.
Littlefoot, enjoying the sweet fruits just as much as his friend did, almost spit out the content of his very own mouth as he was watching the girl eating greedily and, moreover, unmannerly. As soon as he had emptied his throat, he spoke up.
"Ali, don't you think they're a little too big to eat whole?" he questioned, his voice conveying serious concerns for the wellbeing of his friend - she could choke on the stuff after all; his facial expression conveying the strong will to crack a smile. His mind decided to allow him to show his amusement openly.
"Nohhh, day are nottt..." the pink youngster managed to say. It was a miracle to Littlefoot how she could speak at all with her mouth so full.
"I wish you could watch yourself eat..." Littlefoot mused, snickering. "Wait, I'll show you!" He grabbed a rather big fruit, gave Ali a twinkle and stuffed it into his mouth. The young Longneck acclamatorily munched on the fruit, half of which he spattered around madly.
Ali teared up due to laughing hard, or maybe due to almost choking on some fruit that happened to have gone down the wrong throat? Whatever the case, Littlefoot sensed the danger and rescued his friend by softly patting her back with his tail so that she could cough the fruit out of her trachea easier. He himself somehow managed to swallow what was left in his mouth before bursting into laughter.
"Better?"
"Yeah..." Ali coughed.
"You still... think they're... not too... big?" he managed to cry out in between his laughter.
"Uhh... maybe?" Ali chuckled once she had got rid of her cough attack.
Only now the boy noticed just how much of a mess he had created himself. Parts of the fruit and its juice were everywhere on the ground around him, including on himself and Ali. "Gee, talking 'bout eating unmannerly..." he mused. Ali noticed this as well; both had to suppress yet another chuckle before they could continue their breakfast.
"Gee, hope Bron - Dad didn't see that..." Littlefoot thought before tucking into his next treesweet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uhm... like I indicated in my last update, this chapter could very well be considered a classic filler and even I myself think it is one. Still, every sentence, every action, thought, dialogue etc. is meant to show something. It might seem pretty random and it's not really pushing the plot forward but I do have an intention. Try to figure out if you like ^^
On top of that, I thought some happy and funny/hillarious scenes are a good contrast to the previous, darker ones Oh, and I also meant to practise descriptive writing in the last paragraph  

I really hope you like this chapter. I promise things will pick up soon enough ^^

So yeah... next chapter. Well, there will only be one active character though others are mentioned and/or thought about. That's all I say ^^

[rhombus]

A rather nice chapter.   Yeah, every story news an occasional respite in order to provide for characterization and a break from the action of the plot.  This installment seems to cover both of these objectives quite well.  The interactions between Littlefoot and Ali were well done and quite believable, whereas Littlefoot's struggles to think of Bron as 'Dad' was also quite cute.  After years of not having a father present, he must now try to adapt to having one in his life.  I can see a lot of inner struggle later on when he may have to decide to join with his father or to return with his grandparents.  The addition of Shorty and Ali into the mix will complicate matters quite a bit.  

I look forward to the next chapter.