Disclaimer: I do not own Dinosaur or any of its characters. They belong to the Disney Company and I am by NO means making any money off this. This is purely for the enjoyment of the few Dinosaur fans to read. The only characters I own are Tabitha, Mackenzie, and some more Oc's that will appear later on in the fic.
It took a while for Tabitha to finally calm down enough so that Neera could get back to her own nest. The pink iguanodon's mind was reeling at all the new information that she had learned that day. Then again, she should have known that something was up once Kron started changing during the migration. At first she thought it was because of the fireball changing the layout of the land, and that could have been partially the reason, but never in a thousand years would she have thought it was because he had a pregnant mate.
'Oh Kron.' She thought with a sigh and shook her head. If he would have told at least her, his own sister, then perhaps they could have worked something out. Perhaps Kron had panicked when Tabitha told him she was expecting, thus him wanting to rush the herd. Had he told Neera, she would have reassured him that everything would be alright, and if it really meant that much to him, she would have keep the secret as well.
She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear her own mate calling her name repeatedly.
"Neera!"
The pink female jumped slightly and turned to look up at an amused Aladar. "I don't think I've ever seen you so deep in thought." The blue male mused with a slight smirk. Neera gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry, it's just that I found out some really shocking things today." She explained as the two started to make their way back to their eggs.
Aladar quirked a brow, "Really? About what?" he questioned.
"About my brother." Neera replied softly. Aladar's smile dropped. Neera knew this was a bit of a touchy subject for her mate didn't exactly favor Kron or his ways of thinking.
"So…what did you learn about your brother?" He asked casually though Neera knew he was only asking out of politeness and that he really didn't care much for the old leader. None the less, Neera took a breath and replied, "Kron had a secret mate."
Aladar blinked as his mouth dropped open. "Really?"
Neera fought the urge to smirk when she heard the curious tone in his voice, and instead, she settled in nodding, "You know that orange and white female, Tabitha?"
Aladar tilted his head in thought, "I don't know her name, but I think I know who you're talking about." He admitted and Neera continued. "Well, she was Kron's lady friend that he spent several nights with during the migration." Aladar shivered.
"I really didn't need to know that." He groaned as disturbing images flashed though his mind. Neera chuckled at her mate's response. Once the young male composed himself, he frowned, "And you're just learning about this now? Didn't he tell you?"
Neera shook her head, "Apparently it was a secret that he didn't trust anyone, not even me, with. And that's not all. Tabitha was pregnant during the migration."
Aladar's brows rose up, "So you mean the reason why he drove the herd so was because of…"
Neera nodded in confirmation and Aladar shook his head in disbelief. "I can understand him wanting to get his mate here as fast as he could, but to put the rest of the herd in jeopardy like that was…"
"Stupid?" Neera offered.
"That and it was plain reckless!" Aladar added.
"Who's stupid and reckless? You aren't talking about me are you?"
The two dinosaurs turned to see Zini perched on a dear by rock observing the iguanodons with interest. Aladar smiled at his adopted uncle, "No Zini we weren't talking about you. We were talking about…somebody else." He assured while the lemur hopped closer.
"Then who were you guys talking about? Come on don't keep all the juicy gossip to yourselves!" Zini begged eagerly. Aladar shared a look with Neera that silently said, 'it was your brother, you tell him'. Neera winced slightly. Despite Zini being her mates 'uncle', she was still hesitant in letting him in on the news. The last thing she wanted was for the lemur to start spreading gossip and for the whole herd to start spreading rumors about Kron and Tabitha.
Deciding that it would be best not to risk it, Neera shook her head, "We were talking about Kron."
Zini scowled, "Oh…yeah he was a jerk, no offense Neera!" He voiced and then apologized when Neera gave him a small glare. He may have not been the nicest male in the herd, but she still didn't like anyone talking about her brother like that. Sensing a bit of hostility, Aladar swiftly put himself between his uncle and mate.
"Zini, why don't you go see what those other female lemurs are doing since Neera and I have to get back and check on the eggs?" He suggested with a hinting smile. Luckily the yellow lemur got the message and nodded "Good idea, I'll just go and do that. Bye!" He chirped and hopped away.
Once he was out of sight, the two dinos turned back to each other. "So about your brother," Aladar started as they continued walking at a slow, casual pace, "I'm assuming that he was the father of that orange females eggs?"
"Her names Tabitha, and yes, you would be correct." Neera sighed.
"No way! Kron was going to be a dad?!"
Aladar and Neera jumped at the unexpected exclamation and swirled around to; once again, find Zini hiding behind a rock.
"Zini!" Aladar scolded.
"What?! Look I'm sorry it's just that I really wanted to know what you two were talking about!" Zini defended while stumbling around the rock he had been hiding behind. Neera groaned in dismay. She should have just kept her mouth shut about the whole thing. Now this crazy little mammal was probably going to go around spreading rumors and damaging not only Kron's but Tabitha's reputation. She knew it would. Gossip spread like wild fire in her herd. 'Tabitha's going to regret telling me her and Kron's story.' Neera thought with a frustrated sigh.
Seeing his mate distraught, Aladar leaned in towards Zini and whispered, "Zini, this is personal stuff, so you can't go around telling everyone you see! Got it?"
Zini nodded, "Alright, I won't tell everyone. Just the ones in our close circle." He gave Aladar a thumbs up to which Aladar shook his head,
"No, you can't tell anybody!"
Zini was silent, "What about Yar?"
"No."
"Plio?"
"No."
"…Suri?"
Aladar furrowed his brows in frustration, "What part of 'no one' don't you understand?"
Zini crossed his arms, "Oh come on!"
Neera leaned in as well, "Zini, this is serious, the herd can't know about this. If they find out, they could give Tabitha a hard time, and she's already been through enough. Understand?" She ordered. Zini gave a reluctant nod, "Alright fine, I won't say anything." Neera gave a satisfied nod, "Good." She confirmed.
With that, she turned and made her way back to her nest once more.
Aladar looked down at his friend and uncle, "Make sure you keep your word Zini." He reminded before following after his mate, leaving Zini alone.
The lemur watched his friends go, though inside he was jumping with anxiety. He knew he had promised not to tell anyone this 'secret to anyone, yet he was still dying to tell at least one person. Surely if he told this 'just one' and made them promise not to tell anyone else, it wouldn't hurt. It was just the fact of having such a juicy secret and not being allowed to tell anyone was driving him crazy! He had to tell someone!
Quickly glancing around, he looked for someone worthy enough to tell. But who? Baylene was a possibility, but she would probably end up confronting Neera about it thus exposing him for breaking his promise. Eema would probably go off and tell as many dinosaurs as she could. Yar would probably get pissed and also confront Neera. Suri…she would probably go off and ask Aladar if it was true, so she was another 'no'. Plio was probably the best way to go. Sure she would go into 'big sister mode' and scold him for telling somebody else's secrets, but she would at least keep her word and not tell everybody else.
Yes that was definitely the person to tell, and with a large grin, Zini quickly made his way to the tree that his family lived in.
As he arrived, he was delighted to see that his sister was alone. She was sleeping, but she was alone, and that was all he needed. As long as no one accidently overheard, he would be able to get away with spreading a tiny bit of gossip.
Scampering up the tree and onto the branch Plio was napping on; he carefully shook his sister awake. Plio mumbled something incoherently as she groggily opened her yellow eyes. "What is it Zini?" She questioned with a yawn before glaring at her brother for waking her up.
Zini grinned in response, "You'll never guess what I just found out!" he chirped happily. Plio gave him an amused look, "Do I really want to know?" she wondered. Zini nodded, "I think you do!"
Plio shifted herself and looked back at the yellow lemur and rolled her eyes, "Alright, what did you want to tell me?"
"You know that orange female that lost all her eggs?" Zini started. Plio nodded,
"Yes?"
"Well, as it turns out, they were Kron's eggs!"
Plio's eyes widened, "What? Are you sure? Who told you this?" she interrogated. Zini pointed a finger in the direction of where Aladar and Neera slept, "I overheard Neera tell Aladar not to long ago." He answered. Plio narrowed her eyes, "Do they know you're telling me this?" she asked suspiciously. Zini's ears dropped, "Eh…no…in fact I wasn't supposed to say anything or else it would damage Kron and Tabitha's reputation of something." He said sheepishly.
His sister frowned, "What has dad told you about starting rumors and spreading gossip?"
Zini let out an exasperated sigh, "Come on Plio, I had to tell someone! Just promise not to tell anyone that Kron was Tabitha's baby daddy! Aladar will kill me if he found out!" he pleaded while wrapping his arms around his older sister.
Plio pried his arms off her, "I won't say anything, but it's not me you have to worry about. It's him." She pointed behind Zini, who slowly turned and let out a startled squeak.
Standing just below the branch the two lemurs were sitting on was none other than Bruton, who was staring up at the male with a pissed off expression. Zini gulped.
He knew that ever since Kron had left Bruton to die, the brown iguanodon had developed a strong disliking for his ex-leader. Zini and everyone else could see it whenever they mentioned Kron in a conversation, he would tense up slightly and his face would twist into a hateful scowl. So to say that it was bad that Bruton found this out, was putting it in simple terms.
The ex-second in command turned leader, let out a low growl. "I really hope that was just a rumor that you're spreading and not the truth."
Zini gulped. While Aladar and the lemurs had gotten on Bruton's good side, there were still times that the gigantic iguanodon scared the living day lights out of Zini. The lemur gave a nervous chuckle, "Oh well…I don't know true it is, but that's just what I heard from Neera."
Bruton bristled up and Plio decided to intervene, "Please Bruton, there's no need to get worked up. Kron's gone now so there's no sense in making a big deal out of it." She reasoned. Bruton gave a snort, "I'll leave it for now, but I will speak to Neera about this." With that he turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Zini.
'I'm so dead!' he thought frantically as Plio shook her head.
Knowing that there was only one way he could possibly redeem himself and save Neera and possibly Tabitha from Bruton's wrath, was to confess that he broke his promise. Talking a deep breath, he looked over at Plio, "I'm…I'm going to go warn Aladar and Neera." He announced before scaling down the tree and making a break for Aladar's nest.
Plio shook her head after her brother. 'The things he gets himself into.' She thought and settled herself back into a comfortable position and went back to her nap. 'He got himself into this mess, he can get himself out.' She reasoned as darkness overtook her once more.
Meanwhile,
Zini was running as fast as he could to where his adopted nephew and niece were and called out to them.
"Aladar! Neera!" he yelled desperately. The two dinosaurs perked up at the shout and gazed over at the panicked lemur and shared a questioning look. Aladar promptly stood up, "Zini, what's wrong?" he questioned worriedly. Zini finally made it in front of Aladar and hopped up and down in his panic, "Aladar, its Bruton! He knows about Kron and Tabitha!"
By now Neera had stood up as well, "What do you mean? How did he find out?"
Zini's ears dropped down in shame, "Well…uh…he may have overheard me when I…told…Plio." He flinched in anticipation, his hands covering his head, waiting for the explosion in three…two…one…
"ZINI!"
He flinched at the yells from the two, much, much larger than him, dinosaurs, who were both now glaring down at him in anger.
"You promised not to tell anyone!" Neera hissed.
"It was an accident! I didn't know Bruton was in the area!" Zini rubbed the back of his head, "But uh…is it really as bad as we think it is? I mean I doubt he's gonna tell anyone. He really doesn't look the type that would go up to someone to pass around news like that. In fact, I doubt anyone's gonna really care." He reasoned in an attempt to calm everyone, or at least himself, down.
Neera shook her head, "Bruton may not tell everyone, but he's going to be in a bad mood for a while, and I'm afraid that he's going to go harass Tabitha that it was her fault that she made Kron rush the herd and made us loose so many member, and I'm sure he's going to find a way to blame her for making Kron so cruel as to leave his own second in command behind!" By now the pink female was pacing in agitation. Scenarios ran though her mind, one in particular stood out. She could just see Bruton confronting poor Tabitha and putting all the blame on her; the other dinosaurs finding out about her and Kron as well, and harassing her to no end until she would eventually be forced to leave the herd.
There was no way she could let that happen to her brothers lover…even if they did put themselves into this situation. She just couldn't stand by and watch someone get run out of their home like that. Neera figured she owed it to her brother to at least protect Tabitha.
Aladar meanwhile, was watching his distressed mate before frowning at Zini, "You just had to go and tell someone." He shook his head in disappointment. Zini gave a sheepish grin and shrugged.
"I need to go talk to Bruton." Neera announced, startling the two boys.
"Neera…are you sure that's a good idea?" Aladar asked softly. As the new leader, Bruton was fair most of the time, but there were still other times where he could be quite the hot head as he still had his short temper that even Mackenzie couldn't take away.
Neera turned to her mate, "It'll be better for everyone if I spoke to him before he gets to Tabitha and makes a big deal out of this."
"Maybe I should go with you-"
"Aladar, I'll be fine. Just wait here till I get back alright?" She gave him a quick nuzzle and trotted off to find the brown male. She really hoped that Bruton would listen to her and go easy on the orange female.
Luckily, it didn't take long to find him as he was seemingly making his way to where Tabitha lived.
"Bruton!" Neera called as she broke out into a light run.
Having heard his name, Bruton stopped and turned towards Neera. A scowl was etched into his face and Neera nearly backed down, but forced herself to continue forward. "Bruton." She greeted casually and froze. How did she go on about this? Was she just supposed to say 'Hello Bruton! I heard that you heard about my brother that you now hate and his secret mate who just happened to be pregnant and is pretty much the reason why Kron grew colder. Listen, I know you're probably not happy about this, but can you just leave Tabitha alone and forget about all of this?'
She may have known Bruton for years, but she wasn't close enough to him to make such a request. Taking a breath, she finally spoke, "Bruton…I know you herd something about my brother and Tabitha." She started slowly.
Bruton nodded, "I assume you knew about this?"
Neera gulped, "Not at the time. I was just as clueless as you and everyone else. In fact, I also just learned about it today!"
"I find that hard to believe." Bruton grunted with a snort.
"I assure you it's the truth! I know it sounds crazy, but Kron never said anything about his affair to me during the migration." Neera reasoned.
Bruton studied her for a moment before snorting once more and looking away. "I'm still not happy that this was kept from me."
Neera sighed, "It's unfortunate that this was kept from us, but please don't give Tabitha a hard time. She told me her side of the story, and trust me, she's been through enough." She begged. Bruton stared at Neera and growled in frustration. "Fine, I'll leave her be, but only because you asked me to, and only because I have nothing against you."
"That's all I'm asking for, and thank you Bruton." Neera sighed in relief.
The two iguanodons gave a nod, signaling goodbye and turned to leave. Neera smiled. Crisis adverted…for now, until someone else discovered their secret. But at least for now, everything was going to be fine and dandy.
Later that evening in a distant valley
A large herd of dinosaurs of mixed species were settling down for the night. Loud snores filled the air as various members began to fall asleep.
In one area, a group of iguanodons slumbered together near the center of the valley.
Too anyone else, this was just a regular herd, yet had anyone from the Nesting Grounds cast a glance at them, they would be shocked at just who was peacefully sleeping near the other members.
Slumbering besides the other dinosaurs was a very familiar lavender iguanodon who went by a name belonging to a dinosaur that was thought to be dead.
Sleeping within the herd was…Kron.
A/N: Alright, now all the main iguanodons know about Kron and Tabitha. Obviously Bruton is gonna have hard feelings for Kron since Kron did leave him behind to die.
And speaking of Kron, I bet y'all weren't expecting that ending! ;) I'm already working on the next chapter which should be up pretty soon. :)
