A/N: Firstly, let me apologize for how long it has taken me to return to the fanfiction world. I was beside myself with grief on account of what Disney had done to Star Wars (so to speak) and I had finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a published author. So I have been away with that and finishing my Bachelor's degree in Social Studies Teaching (which I'll get this May, if all goes well)! However, I finally found out about the original 1996 concept for the movie Dinosaur, one of my all-time faves, and I thought 'Why not take a gander as to what it could have been, had it been continued?' So here is Dinosaur: The Exodus of Sorrow, honoring that original concept with elements from the final product to bring it to life. Enjoy!

Dinosaur

The Exodus of Sorrow

By

Christopher Cleveland

Prologue

It had been many years since Zini had known danger, many years since the herd had reached the Nesting Grounds. In that time, he became the patriarch of his own clan of lemurs who enjoyed all the fruits of the sacrifices he made alongside Aladar the herd leader. Like Zini, Aladar was a grandfather as well and more than that a revered one too. Zini commanded similar respect among the lemurs but still, he remembered a time when he was an outcast. He remembered a time when his family had cast him aside and the only way to gain respect again was to find a new one.

As he watched his grandchildren and their parents bounce around with the herd, he decided it would be a good idea to visit the site of the dinosaur who first made it all happen. For dinosaurs like Aladar, the climb up to see Old Gotama was always a bit of effort but for lemurs? It was a different story since they could use the trees and vines to climb up, which wasn't difficult even for Zini at his age. Even at thirteen years old, Zini could still navigate branches, vines, jungle debris, as though he were five years old (the age he was when he met Aladar). Climbing up to the site, he gazed upon the bones of Old Gotama who had been there even before the eldest herd members of Aladar's day and would probably remain long after even Zini died.

He stared at the skeleton, pondering what first compelled Old Gotama to come to the Nesting Grounds. What had first compelled what was likely the first iguanodon to share the site with everyone and pass the legacy down (through many years of succession) to Aladar and Zini? It was fun speculation and there were times when his old friend would join him in such speculations. He could always tell when Aladar was approaching too, he had a limp in his right arm that developed from his battle with his predecessor Kron. This time, it looked like Aladar was not only coming to join him but brought a couple of his grandchildren with him too.

It's that time again, isn't it? When he introduces the eldest of the new generation to Old Gotama and explains why the spirit of sharing saved the herd from certain doom thought Zini. "Zini, old friend! How are you today!?" Aladar asked, excited to see his best and closest confidant again.

"Just peachy, Aladar. Remembering good times and bad from our youth with Old Gotama to help me out," Zini teased.

"Grandpa Aladar, how come you never told us the story of how we got here? And what's a Carnotaur?" asked one of Aladar's grandchildren. Zini shuddered, his spine fraught with chills the moment he heard the name "Carnotaur" again.

"Who told you about those things?" Aladar asked.

"My brother did, said you and Grandma Neera were talking about fighting them before you came here. Sorry, is that bad?" asked the kid.

"No, not at all. In fact, Zini?" Aladar asked. Zini piped up the moment his name was heard and asked Aladar what it was he would suggest. "Should we tell them the story of the journey here like we did for several of your grandkids?" Aladar offered.

"I don't see why not. We might not have had the threat of Carnotaurs or Raptors in many years but you can never be too careful. If they ever find the valley, our descendants will need to be ready to fight them the way we did to get here," Zini agreed. Aladar nodded, finding wisdom in his friends answer especially since so many other grandchildren of his already knew the story. So Aladar decided it was time to add seven more to the list of grandchildren who knew the truth about how the herd reached the Nesting Grounds to enjoy a life of leisure and safety.

"It was a long time ago, come to think of it, how long ago was it Zini?" Aladar began.

"Let's see, I'm thirteen now and I was five when we met. So I'm guessing that it's been eight years since we first came here?" Zini replied.

"Eight years since we met? Hot diggity, that it sure seemed like yesterday didn't it? Anyway, it all began eight years ago when I was a bit more youthful. I was already eleven when I first met him all those years ago when we were both young and impetuous like you guys now. Anyway, it began with a carnotaur attack, a reckless decision, and a fireball which fell from the heavens to force the hand of the herd to move somewhere safe and secluded from the perils of the old world," Aladar started.

He loves to go for the dramatic start, doesn't he? Still, it's more fun to watch him tell the story than it is to be the one telling it to my own grandkids Zini silently admitted. Then he sat down to join Aladar's grandkids as Aladar lied down to tell the story of the life they enjoyed. "You know Aladar, if I recall correctly, that Carnotaur attack was before you even hatched so that must have been eleven and half years ago or something?" Zini inquired aloud.

"Ha! You're on the rock, old friend. It was twenty years ago, anyway, young ones! The story began with an attack by a predator before I hatched," Aladar admitted.

Nineteen Years Earlier...

Chapter One

The forest was quiet as it usually was whenever there wasn't a predator on the prowl for their next meal. Before the great forest through which the herd had traversed, mere days before, was a great flat steppe where species of all kinds came to live, breathe, and nest. The day was peaceful in its start with the brachiosaurs dipping their feet in the river, the pachyrhinosaurs taking a mud bath, and the parasaurs drinking from the river's edge. In fact, the only ones not eating or drinking or cooling themselves in the water were the iguanodons who had already eaten their fill.

Besides that, many of the females were mothers with newly laid eggs to tend to after they ate their fill. One batch, however, belonged to the daughter of the dominant pair in the iguanodon herd. Suri, daughter of Yar and Plio the alpha iguanodons, had laid her first clutch of fresh eggs that now she needed to tend to for the next six months or so. The father was Bruton, a warrior iguanodon with some years under him though still youthful and impetuous. Already he'd proven himself by killing half the members of a raptor pack and scattering the rest of them.

He still had the scars from a couple of them slashing into his skin but now he wore those scars with dignity. One thing was for sure, Plio and Yar were proud to call them a son as a result of him and Suri becoming a mated pair. It was much better than having the sniveling, conniving upstart named Kron who yearned for Suri but knew better than to challenge Bruton or Yar. Bruton was making his rounds when his mate began regulating the temperature of the nest they had created together. He looked like a fierce warrior with the scars and his bulk (compared to other iguanodons) helped with that, immensely but around Suri?

Around Suri, there could have been no better mate, no gentler companion to help watch over the eggs of the future. "How are they doing, my love?" Bruton asked, his voice tender even as he caressed slowly his mate's neck with the top of his snout. Suri giggled with affection and he had to get his snout out from under her neck before she could speak.

"They're doing fine, Bruton. Don't you have a patrol to go on or something?" she asked. Bruton chuckled and caressed her neck again before he spoke about the patrols he did.

"Already did another sweep like your Mom and Pop asked, there isn't a single predator nearby that I can see. Least, not any that could think to camouflage itself: if there are any predators nearby, be they raptor or carnotaur, we'll know soon enough. That I can promise will be the case," Bruton said. Then he marched off to make another round but not before asking Yar and Plio if they wanted him to go with a scout this time.

"You never needed a scout, Bruton. Why should that change because we want you to join a group?" Yar teased.

"Ha! Fair point, Suri seems to have laid a good bunch. Twelve forming a perfect circle and a thirteenth in the dead center of the whole thing," Bruton told them.

"I think Suri's already given that one a name. If it's a girl, she said she wanted to name it Plio like her mother. But if it's a boy, she was thinking Aladar, like her great-grandfather," said Yar.

"Why do I always gotta go to you guys to hear this kind of stuff when I should be able to go to my mate and find out?" Bruton retorted.

"Oops, maybe she meant it as a surprise for you. Sorry about that," Yar snapped humorously. Plio thumped him on the shoulder with her head slightly, causing the older iguanodon to react with laughter and some pain. Bruton scoffed with slight humor before continuing on though it wasn't long before he was obstructed by Kron.

"What do you want this time, Kron?" asked Bruton. Kron was the type of iguanodon that was a coward, afraid to take the chances that Bruton and Yar were willing to take. Plio had even joked that if he were in charge, he'd kill half the herd just to compensate for his egotistic nature.

"Let me join you on a patrol, maybe even kill some raptors with you! I can't wait for my chance to prove myself to Suri and her parents," Kron offered. He had had his eye on Suri for as long as either one of them could remember but as always, Bruton wouldn't have any of it.

"You had your chance when that pack of raptors attacked us and I ended up wiping out half of them by myself. Where were you when that attack happened? I could have used a companion that could have killed the rest and besides me, you're fit as they come," Bruton replied. Then, before Kron could object, Bruton continued past to see to the other nests; he figured that Yar and Plio would want to know how well the rest of the herd was doing. As he looked around, he was impressed with what he saw: in addition to Suri, seventeen others in a herd of fifty had twelve or thirteen eggs.

In addition to that, the ones that didn't still had somewhere between the six to ten eggs in each nest. I haven't seen an exceptional year like this in my life, I wonder if Plio and Yar have ever seen a good year like this in a while. Gotama knows how long it's been since the last time the herd did this well in general thought Bruton with pride. In addition to that, the parasaurolophus herds seemed to be doing pretty well too and the pachyrhinosaurs herd. The only ones that didn't seem to be so abundant were the brachiosaurs and they always had a low hatch rate anyway.

There was one parasaurolophus infant who was messing around and sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted. Suri even shooed him away from her nest when he started looking around at the egg of Bruton's potential son and heir. The kid wasn't doing anything dangerous, he just should have learned better than to sneak around at nests of other herds without consent. He was driven from other nests soon enough before heading into the water which was both safe to drink from and swim in if the number of dinosaurs doing both was indication. Where is that kid's mother or father? Bruton wondered even if he still kept to his herd and no others.

As Bruton kept an eye on his herd and an eye on any outside threats approaching, he noticed the infant running further and further out of sight from the rest of the animals. While he had no reason to worry right at that moment, he did decide that maybe a chat with the herd alpha was in order. But Yar and Plio soon intervened when he spoke to them about it, telling him that he shouldn't be as concerned about it as he was being. "I'm sure the parasaur alpha will straighten that kid out the next time he comes back from his wanderings," Yar added. Bruton nodded in agreement before reporting the well-being oftheirherd.

"Yar, that's good! The last time we had such great success was when your father was leading the herd!" Plio said. Yar nodded and told Bruton that he could relax with Suri if he wished.

"I'm a little on the edge for some action but maybe staying with my clutch will help me settle down. The raptor attack was only a few weeks ago and who knows when the next predator attack could come to us," Bruton admitted. Yar nodded his agreement but he and Plio urged Bruton to relax and get down from the high of glory he was experiencing. Meanwhile, the infant parasaur that Suri had scared off earlier found a winged lizard to chase around and into the deeper forest. Despite being forbidden to explore the inside of the forest, his desire to chase the lizard overcame his reason and his mother's foreboding warnings.

After arriving several yards into the forest, the lizard finally stopped and the infant sniffed. He had never seen such a creature as this before and likely would never see another one like it again. But as he came close, it flew off again and head for what looked like a tree trunk with rigidness of the exterior and the apparent thickness of the cracked ridges. Then the infant heard something drop from above and splash on the branch but it didn't splash and dissipate the way water did. Instead, it pooled more like tree sap on the branches rather than dry like water would on the bark.

The infant sniffed and it had an unusual stench to it, like something rotted and dead rather than fecal. It looked up to see if he could detect the source but when he did, he wished he had never laid eyes upon it. The beast above him had sharp teeth, red eyes, a horn on each side of the face, and a menacing growl uttered from the depths of its carnivorous throat. It was the source of the saliva and though he didn't know what it was, he knew it was dangerous and that he should run away. At once, it fled knowing that the beast he had seen within the forest was following him as he could hear the rumbles of its footsteps.

He cried for help as he stepped out of the forest, cried for anyone that could make the scary beast go away. Bruton picked up the calls first and knew better than to not listen up when he heard them as he had heard danger calls from a parasaur before. "Yar, Plio, see that Suri knows to get ready to get out of here. That's a danger call that infant's emitting," Bruton ordered. Though Yar and Plio were the alphas of the herd, they had no problem listening to and agreeing with Bruton on that one.

As soon as Plio and Yar reached their daughter to warn her, Bruton saw what was causing the infant's distress call. Bursting out of the forest to make another meal out of one of the herds' weakest members was none other than a Carnotaur. "Suri, take an egg with your parents and get out of here! The same goes for everyone in the herd, save as many eggs as you can and get out of here!" Bruton exclaimed just before the herd broke into panic. But his order came in the nick of time as mated pairs took two to four eggs from their nests before retreating.

The pachyrhinosaurus herd did the best they could with carrying their eggs, each member of a mated pair being able to carry three in their mouths, same as the parasaurs. But Bruton wasn't planning on joininghis herd just yet, not just yet. While everyone else panicked and fled, he charged but not in the same direction as everyone else: he charged for the carnotaur. It was a young creature, not much bigger than him but still every bit as dangerous as the older ones were. Before he came face to face with the beast itself, it had been chasing down an old pachyrhinosaurs who gratefully ran past him as the carnotaur stopped when he showed his side to it.

The carnotaur was confused, having never encountered an iguanodon who was brave enough to fight it before. "Bruton! Bruton, where are you?" he could faintly hear Suri cry. Doing my job for the herd, love, doing my job for the good of the herd Bruton thought silently. The Carnotaur began to snap at him but he dodged it then stood upright to try deliver a thumb spike to its face.

It dodged this and tried to nip at him again but he whipped it right across the upper part of its snout with his tail. The beast roared in agitation at this hit and tried to bite him again and again but it didn't get its lucky break on him until it rammed one of its horns into his thigh. Bruton cried out in agony and he knew that now that the beast had smelled blood, it wouldn't give up until it had killed him. While it was pinned to his thigh by its horn, he looked to see if the rest of the herbivores had gained distance between him and themselves. So now he fought, not for their lives as he had before but for his own and did he fight hard.

He used all four thumb spikes to scratch and claw at it as only a fierce iguanodon could do. When it began to rear up, he hit it with his tail again but this time he landed a more direct hit just below its left eye. It was a hit that temporarily blackened its vision in that side but this lasted only for a few seconds. In the distance, he could hear Suri crying and begging for him to come back but he knew this couldn't be done. If he ran now in the herd's direction then he would only be endangering the future of his own herd.

Likewise, he knew he wouldn't last much longer if he stayed and fought the carnotaur on this patch of plain. Rather, he had to head back to the forest as best he could and put even more distance between the two of them and his charge. So when he got a chance to do so, he thwacked the carnotaur again then made for the watering hole the herds had been using. He hoped the herd would take advantage and put even more distance between himself and the beast if possible. Though they weren't moving as fast as he would have liked, they were indeed taking advantage of the situation.

Already the pachyrhinosaurs had disappeared and the parasaurs were soon to follow suit but many of the iguanodons were still there, including Suri. Perhaps I should give them a marking to remember my killer by before he eats me Bruton said just as the Carnotaur closed in. Bruton charged back toward it with enough force to offset the beast and stand upright just long enough to make his mark on the beast forever. As it reared up and prepared to break his spine with a single bite, he jabbed a thumb spike straight into its left eye just as its jaws closed down.