Hi guys, Darksage and Marc Ello-Re Yes here with another chapter for Dinosaur: A Prehistoric Park Adventure Part 2. This was a lot of fun to write and we hope that you enjoy it. ^.^ Disclaimer: We do not own Prehistoric Park or Disney's Dinosaur.
Soundtrack: The Courtship Ritual by James Newton Howard
The Nesting Grounds 65 million years ago….
The next morning, Hazel was up and early, ready to enjoy the Cretaceous period once more. She couldn't sleep a wink last night because of the looming threat of the meteor coming in less than a day or so. So Hazel had to psyche herself up to prepare to break the news to her friends. But she remembered that today was the day of the lemur's "Courtship ritual".
"No, I can't tell them today… after the ritual. Yes, I'll tell them after." Hazel spoke to herself, trying to ignore what her common sense was telling her so she could still preserve her relationships with her Prehistoric Friends.
She fixed up her green sleeping bag and brushed her hair to make herself look presentable. Right afterwards, she picked up her communicator from the left side of the tent and activated it once it was in her ear. She also ate a few granola bars just so that she could have a quick breakfast. Then she exited her tent, once again pushing the dire situation from her mind for the time being.
It was also when she left the camp that she stumbled upon an excited Suri. Apparently she wanted to greet her good morning before going off to meet her mom. She seemed pretty giddy about something today, which Hazel wanted to find out. After greeting each other, the young woman inquired her about her mood. Her immediate answer was the courtship ritual. The traveler told her that Zini had mentioned about it, but did not give any details. Naturally, Suri sated Hazel's curiosity with an explanation on the matter before leaving her for the forest.
A few minutes of wandering around the Nesting Grounds had found her by the lake's edge with a prepping Nigel. He was washing his face with the water so that he could wake himself up. His reaction of finding her behind him had almost caused him to fall in. The sight nearly made Hazel giggle.
After briefly apologizing, the two got up and walked around the perimeter while admiring the multitude of animals going about their daily business.
"Today is the lemur courtship ritual. So things around here are going to get a little busy. At least that's what Suri told me."
Nigel's eyes widened in surprise. "Courtship ritual? Now the lemurs practice some sort of religion?"
Hazel was explaining the significance of today to her mentor. It gave her something else to focus on than the disaster, so it was a perfect distraction to discuss the ins and outs of the lemur's ritual.
Hazel paused and corrected Nigel's assumption.
"Um… not really. Suri said it's an annual thing. This day is when first time bachelors and bachelorettes come together and find their first 'True Love'. Something along those lines."
She was trying to put it into terms that Nigel understood. Luckily, Nigel seemed to understand what the young woman was describing. He shook his head in amazement at the lemur's tradition.
"First lemurs pop up in the Cretaceous period, then they have rituals...what kind of world did we come into?"
Both time travelers shared a laugh.
The once again broke off again, with Nigel exploring the valley's inhabitants again. This left Hazel alone to do as she wished. The sun of the Nesting Grounds shined through the clear blue sky, signifying another seemingly perfect day.
"If only that were the case..." Hazel whispered to herself, remembering the fate that was set in stone for the Cretaceous.
Her depressing thoughts were broken by laughter coming by the lake's beach. Hazel's attention was now focused on the lemur females lounging by the waterside. They were almost like modern day stereotypical beach babes, sunning themselves, giggling, and splashing in the water.
"And the questions just keep piling up…" Hazel thought while she was witnessing the lemur girls acting eerily similar to modern man. Maybe it was genetics?
Nigel was right. What kind of world did they come into? She then noticed nearby that a little lemur was hiding behind a rock. Unlike the other lemurs she had seen, this one had pure white fur, save for the black patch on the tip of her tail. Another striking feature was her grey eyes. She was trying to emulate some of the confident strides of the beach goers and mouthing what they were saying with the hand gestures they were making. Taking interest, she slowly sneaked over to the shy primate.
"That's some funky strut you're doing there." Hazel whispered now that she was right next to the young lemur. The lemur girl practically jumped out of her skin when she realized that she was no longer alone.
"AHH—oh! H-Hello, I didn't see you there." The white lemur's demure voice answered, while she tried to look as casual as possible.
"You're that human from yesterday. Hazel, right?"
"Yup, that's me. Hazel the time traveling explorer, at your service!" Hazel smiled, greeting the curious primate.
"I'm Aya. Pleased to meet you!" the now identified Aya said.
"So Aya, any reason why you're trying to act like those prehistoric 'Kardashians'?" Hazel nodded toward the giggling beach lemurs. Just watching them perform those antics made her cringe a little. She was never a fan of the Kardashians after all.
Aya retreated into herself as she debated whether to tell the traveling stranger or not.
"Kardashians?" she blurted in curiosity. "What are those?"
The human shook her head and sighed. "Nothing. But still, what's up?"
'Well, I guess it won't hurt to tell her. I'm already out of time. Maybe she can help me with the ritual today.' Aya decided to give Hazel the truth of her actions.
"I'm observing the other females. They are just so confident. I-I wanted to practice what they do so I can impress Z-Z-Zini t-tonight."
Hazel was surprised that Aya was genuinely trying to get her friend's affection. From what she saw with the others, they were not trying to be WITH Zini, just his status as "the new bachelor" and possibly because he had close relations with the leader of the herd. Hazel picked up the young lemur walking away from the beach side.
"Oh Aya, I'm gonna help you out and get you your man. All you have to do is follow Hazel's '6 easy steps to get a guy,'" she said, trying to copy those cheesy dating articles in her magazines back home.
"W-W-What?" Aya stammered out.
"Hush now grasshopper. We have work to do."
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Meanwhile, in the forest…
Aladar had been roaming around the valley for the last couple of hours or so. As the leader, it was his job to make sure that everyone in the herd and his extended family were happy and that problems were resolved. As a result, he would usually walk around to see if there was anything that needed tending to, whether it was a member that would go to him for help or if something needed his attention.
He had already checked the main part of the valley and was now in the forest to check on the lemurs. So far, nothing was out of the ordinary, save for the bustling activity in the trees due to the oncoming courtship ritual tonight.
The blue-green Iguanodon shook his head in amusement at the memories from his past. He knew of this time, as he was raised by lemurs for most of his life. For years, he had witnessed numerous lemurs gather at the great tree on the island he grew up on and perform their ritual. When Neera and his children had asked about that, Aladar was happy to tell them. All of them were intrigued by his explanation and could not wait to watch the event at sundown.
It was also during his reminisces that he was reminded of one of his best friends and adopted uncle. After finding the Nesting Grounds, Zini had found a number of female lemurs that were interested in him. Just seeing the lemur with those girls made him and everybody think that he was finally happy. In fact, when he met up with Plio earlier, she had asked the Iguanodon to go and check up on him, just in case.
Eventually, Aladar had found him sitting on a tree branch overlooking the main part of the valley. The dinosaur could not believe that his buddy was actually near the area where he first entered the forest, right in front of the valley lake.
"Hey Zini! Enjoying the view?" he called up to him.
The yellow-furred lemur jumped at that and looked behind him. At first, he couldn't see anyone, until he found his nephew down on the ground looking at him curiously.
"Oh hey. Yeah, the view's nice," he said nonchalantly.
"You sure you're enjoying it? Because you looked upset there for a second."
Zini shook his head and stared at him in surprise. "What!? No! I'm totally fine!"
Aladar eyed him blankly at that statement. "Come on Zini. I've known you for a long time. I can tell when something's bothering you."
The lemur shot glares at him in a futile attempt at defending face, but then surrendered as it was no use. He wasn't feeling right on the inside. In fact, he did not even tell anyone about it as he was afraid they would all laugh at him, save for Hazel. Zini had even planned on talking to her about it, as he would get some insight on how a girl thought, but maybe his nephew could give him some helpful advice too.
Zini hopped down from the branches in a series of turns and acrobatics until he was on the branch closest to his friend. It was then that they were at the same eye level.
"Alright fine, you caught me. I'm…not really looking forward to tonight."
Aladar lifted an eye ridge and chuckled a little. "Wait what? I thought you were happy with being with all those girls."
The mammal scratched the back of his neck with his left hand. "Yeah…see…the spark in that part of my personality is starting to fade out. Sure they're great, but I found myself…still empty on the inside even after all this time."
"Whoa whoa hold up!" the larger ornithopod interjected. "Are you saying that you want to settle down?"
"Uh…" Zini froze at that. He never really liked that phrase, but it was the best one that described his feelings as of now. He let out a sigh and nodded.
Aladar smiled at that. "Well what do you know? You've actually gone back to square one! Now you're wanting to find the One in your life."
The lemur laughed sheepishly. "Guilty. I…actually wanted to ask you about that…my techniques way back then didn't work. And you along with the rest of the family know that I've been trying to attract girls for a long time. So…you and Neera…how did you do it after I helped break the ice?"
Aladar remembered that day. Back when Neera viewed him as a "Jerkasaurus" due to Zini's "love monkey" call. She viewed him as an idiot from that day and had no interest in him. But it was not until they reached the lake that he turned the tables in his favor. It was actually thanks to his uncle that he and Neera were what they are now.
"Well…it's all about charm, respect, being there for them, and just being yourself," he explained.
Zini sputtered at that. "Are you kidding me? I've got all of those! But the girls never liked me for that."
It was at that mention that Aladar wondered about the female lemurs that always hung out with him. Weren't they there because of his romantic antics? How could Zini be upset about this matter when he has a horde of girls in his disposal?
"But what about the girls that are with you?"
The lemur shook his head. "I've been a little suspicious about those girls. After being with them for a while, I've noticed that they only want to be with me because I've got ties with you. So they're only with me for the popularity."
Aladar did not need his uncle to explain any more. He already understood what he was saying from that point. They were only around him for the status, not for who he was. And it was that realization that made him feel sorry for the little guy.
"Alright, tell you what, I'll help you out."
Zini looked at him in excitement and grinned. "You will!?"
"Yup, but there are a few things you need to do if you want to get the right girl," he further told him.
"The first thing you need to do is-"
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"To be yourself," Hazel told Aya.
They were walking alongside the very edge of the valley, where a wall of trees blocked their way. From her flight with Flia yesterday, Hazel saw that the edge of the valley had a forest wall that divided this area for miles from the wastelands further out. The herd members did not really get into this area much as it was slightly mountainous, meaning that it would be slightly difficult to traverse just to get to some food. Plus, they preferred to be around the other members of the herd in the main part of the valley.
Now occasionally, they would encounter a few lemurs along the way. No doubt they too were preparing for tonight's ritual. Some of them were practicing some acrobatics in the trees. Others were practicing some catchphrases, a few of them she found to be funny. Then there were some who were searching for peculiar red flowers in the trees. Just seeing them do all of these made her even more curious.
This area was not that far from a few members of the herd, but it was perfect to the duo as it served as a private place to walk around for a conversation like this.
"But why?" the female lemur inquired. "I thought Zini would like that kind of personality."
"Yeah, see, that's another bit you need to fix. You shouldn't try to be something that you're not. It's a bad reflection on yourself."
"Besides, you're great just the way you are," she continued.
Aya stopped hopping next to her and stared at the human. Hazel noticed that and looked back at the flabbergasted lemur.
"But I'm not that social…and I can't talk very well…"
One of Hazel's eyebrows went up at that. "Really, then how come you got to strike a conversation with me?"
The lemur fell silent. The only reason why she managed to strike up a conversation with this human was because she was not some towering creature like the herd in the valley or another lemur like herself. Sure she could have tried talking to Plio, but she along with the other members of the family were preparing for tonight's ritual.
"So what do I have to do?"
Hazel went up to her and knelt down on one knee. She did so not only to get some rest from the walk, but also to be a little closer to her.
"Like I said, be yourself. Zini likes cute girls, and you're just that. He also likes girls with charm and those that are outgoing."
"Outgoing?" she looked at her nervously. "But…I don't know how."
"Well that brings me to my next tip," Hazel added. "Be confident. Not only is it a good way to get yourself out there and face challenges head on, but guys also find it attractive. Just believe in yourself."
Aya stared at her as if she were speaking in another language. This girl was telling to do things that she had never done before. She herself was a shy, timid, and insecure lemur who had no confidence in herself. But if this human is telling her things that are not impossible, then what right does she have to doubt her. Perhaps there is more to her and this Hazel than meets the eye.
"Okay…you listed two things. What is the third?"
Hazel cleared her throat. "Alright. The third thing is-"
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"Be respectful," Aladar said. "Suave sayings and comments can attract a girl, but make sure you respect them. Otherwise your goal's going to go downhill."
Zini eyed him blankly and put his hands on his hips by their backs. "Oh come on! I'm respectful! I am the Professor of Love, and as such, being respectful is part of the code."
The dinosaur rolled his eyes. He has heard his childhood friend go on and on about being the "Professor of Love" for so long that it's now been ingrained into his brain.
"Right but don't forget that word. You don't respect them, they won't respect you. It's as simple as that."
The lemur waved his right hand as a way to show that he understood. "Right right. What's next? I have to fix my fur or something?"
Aladar chuckled. "Well, you can do that. But I was going to say 'it's all about her, not you.' You say and do things that only you find interesting would make the girl lose interest. Appeal to her better nature. But you should already know that."
"Yeah yeah, Yar made us repeat that a million times way back when," Zini snuffed.
"Good, you keep that in mind. Four, think before you act," he added. "Like the third one, you should already know that. You screw up on a saying, then the girl won't like that."
The lemur groaned and looked up at the treetops in desperation then back at his adopted nephew. "Ugh…I know that. I've been through multiple rejections just for me to learn that."
"And it's common sense," Aladar said. "Next up is-"
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"Body language," the human told her. They had been walking for a while and had traversed towards the middle of the valley, which was quite a ways from the main part. However, there were still numerous dinosaurs around so they had to take care in not colliding with them.
"Amongst my species, body language is what helps in a date. Walk the walk, stand up straight, make eye contact, hold hands, and all that. But your case is different. I'm not sure how lemurs handle the body language bit, but it probably goes along the lines of making yourself presentable and doing actions that make you a proper woman…er…girl lemur."
Aya kept hopping alongside the human as she spoke. For a creature that walks on both of her legs, she is a challenge to keep up with. This was because she was exhausted from hopping throughout the expanse of the valley. The white primate had been listening the whole time, but would then request that they stop for a bit just to catch her breath. When she breathed out the word "stop", the human would do so and allow the ancient monkey to rest up.
Sometimes various dinosaurs would stop and stare at the strange duo, but would then go back to their daily business. Even the ones that were passing by would give them a double take before proceeding onward. Thankfully, the girls did not mind that.
Hazel stared at the lemur as she bent down to take in deep breaths. Although she felt sorry for walking all this way, she was also amused by the sight of her doing that.
"The…girls…would just make sure our appearances were good and staying close to the boys would show that we are interested…at least during the ritual," she breathed out then stared up at the human.
"Okay. Then you do that. Now I've told you all that you needed to know, but there is one thing that ties it all together," Hazel said as if she were in the peaking moment in a lecture.
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Both human and Iguanodon at the same time…
"Be your best self," they trumpeted with confidence towards the lemurs they were trying to help.
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Zini stared at his nephew in silence. Although most of those tips he gave him were common sense and were prior information he heard before, he had never heard about the other ones before. Sure he was respectful towards the opposite sex, always talked to them and not about himself, and all that, but he had no clue as to how he got those other tips. Maybe Neera had told him all of that? Zini had no clue.
"Hope I helped there," Aladar said with uncertainty.
The lemur shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah you did. Looks like I've got some brushing up to do. So if I follow all of those, I'll be sure to get my girl?"
The dinosaur nodded in strong agreement. "Oh yeah. Big time. Follow what I say and you can't go wrong."
Zini thought about that for a moment then smiled at him. "Alright. I'll do it!"
"Great!" Aladar laughed when he saw his uncle all pumped up. He was also relieved that his advice had helped. "Now go get yourself ready. Courtship's at sundown, so you've got some time before then."
The ancient primate scoffed at that and hopped off from the branch. "No need to tell me twice."
The Iguanodon watched his uncle scurry off into the underbrush off to his right. Once he was gone, Aladar proceeded to exit the forest. The ornithopod felt satisfied that he had helped him out, though deep down, he hoped that what he told him would be enough.
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Back in Prehistoric Park…
While Hazel and Aladar were giving their new wards their pep talks, the park's residents were also bitten by the "Love-Bug". The Ornithomimus laying their next clutch of eggs, with Prehistoric Park employees monitoring the process to make sure no complications occur. The Therizinosaurs were scratching up trees to make their enormous talons sharp and presentable for prospective mates. As for the Plateosaurus, the males sung out ancient serenades to impress the females. One pair of Plateosaurus were in the process of courtship, which would eventually lead to the … "propagation" of their species.
Many of the residents were trying their hand at love, all having success except one.
Theo was in a pickle as he and his new companion Eleanor, or Ellie, were trying to court each other. Or more accurately, Theo was using cheap one-liners while chasing Ellie all over the enclosure trying to win her affection.
"Hey baby, wait up! Do you have a map? Cause I'm getting lost in your eyes!" Theo called out to the running Triceratops female.
"Go away Theo! I am not in the mood!"
Ellie was running away to try to get some alone time. She was still coming to grips with being in the future and was having a hard time adjusting. And the enamored male was NOT making things easier for the poor girl.
"Come on give me a chance! If I can rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together. ~"
"Fortunately, 'U' and 'I' are nowhere near each other!" Ellie quickly deflected Theo's latest pickup line.
While this was happening, Suzanne and Bob were documenting the process of the Triceratops's "mating ritual", with their cameraman capturing the two keepers and the act simultaneously. Nigel had hired the cameraman to document and record all of their prehistoric findings to further enhance their field research. Nigel and his crew of Park Keepers make comments and speculate to the camera, taking verbal notes of their prehistoric "wards" actions and habits.
"Look at that Bob. Theo and Ellie are engaged in a type of 'courtship chase'. It's probably like how modern day rhinos court their potential mates."
"I don't know, Ellie looks like she wants to get rid of the bloke." Bob eyed the two animals, noting the irritated grunts and barks coming from the female to ward off the male. Little did he know that he pretty much hit the nail on the head in his observation on Theo's "courting".
Suzanne, thinking that Bob was joking, just laughed.
"I'm sure this is a normal process," she said, still watching the ceratopsians' game of "cat and mouse". Bob still looked concerned for Theo's wellbeing. He developed a soft spot for the first resident of the park (excluding the Orinthumimus chicks he "mothered").
"Theo will be fine," Suzanne waved off his concern, "If mating rituals of Triceratops are like modern rhinos, then Ellie will either submit, then be Theo's mate, or Theo will stop his pursuit if Ellie doesn't accep—!"
Suzanne was cut off by a primal bellow. Apparently, Ellie was fed up with Theo's shows of affections and did what her mother taught her to tell undeserving suitors that she was "not interested". She turned on a dime to meet Theo's surprised face and proceeded to charge at him. Theo was caught off guard and barely had time to brace himself against his "Angel's" show of power.
Bob, Suzanne, and the camera-guy witnessed Ellie slam her horns against Theo's. With them promptly locked together, the female ceratopsian began to push back and drive her male counterpart backwards. Then Ellie, as she decided she made enough momentum, shifted her head to the side. Theo's head also shifted in that direction so much that it overturned him, causing him to greet the unforgiving ground in pain. Ellie roared out her displeasure at him while she stomped off to get some water. The male was flailing on his back after the being capsized and rejected. Theo groaned out, one part embarrassment the other part pain.
"Maybe the 'You're cold, use me as a blanket' line was a bit much. Ow…" the thrashed Triceratops wheezed out, while trying to right himself back on his feet.
The senior keepers were flabbergasted at what they saw. Theo, a nearly 6-ton budding adolescent male Triceratops, was easily overturned and thrown to the side by the petite in comparison Ellie, who was only 4-tons. Bob and Suzanne's silence was broken when their cameraman burst out laughing at the predicament of the dinosaur.
"'Like modern rhinos,'" the cameraman snickered.
"Was that supposed to happen?" he tried to regain his breath, while failing to reign in his amusement after Suzanne jinxed herself.
"'Cause Theo looks like my buddy getting rejected by girls at the bar!"
He broke out in laughter again. Suzanne had the decency to blush at her incorrect assumption of Triceratops interactions. Bob just shook his head while walking off to the vehicle depot.
"I'll get the tractor to tow him back to his feet."
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Nesting Grounds 65 million years ago…high noon
"So…," Nigel said after he bit into his red delicious apple.
The time travelers had spent the last hour or so by the lake as they ate their lunch. It was not much, as Nigel had a handful of fruits while Hazel had a tuna sandwich and an orange. Next to them were their traveling bags, which they used to store their trash and some other supplies in case they were needed today.
"You spent all morning helping a young female lemur by giving her some dating advice?"
The girl nodded flatly. "Pretty much yeah."
"How did you know what to tell her?" he asked curiously.
"Two things Nigel," she said and took a mouthful of her tuna sandwich before replying. "Experience and movies."
Nigel eyed her at that, especially at the word "experience". He now wondered whether she had gone through some relationship issues before she came to Prehistoric Park or had helped someone with those kind of issues. Either that, or it could be both.
"What do you mean experience?"
Hazel was about to take a bite when he said that. She turned slowly to him and let out a sigh. "I've had some bad luck in the past. Guys who liked me for the wrong reasons. Turned them all down when I found out. Don't worry, nothing bad happened to me."
The man let out a sigh of relief. He was worried that she had gotten herself into some…inappropriate situations. Now that he heard that, he was grateful that she was raised with a right mind and knew right from wrong.
"Well I'm not an expert in relationships, but whatever you went through, those guys were wrong to do so," he reassured her.
The girl stared at him as if he thought she was upset about it. In truth, she was not at all. If she was, she would be crying at the moment. "Don't worry, I'm over all that. But thanks."
"There you are!" a voice echoed from behind them.
Both humans turned around to see a familiar elderly Styracosaurus and an Iguanodon with blue-green scales walk up towards them. Quickly, they stored all of their food away into their backpacks before walking up to meet them.
"Hi Aladar. Hi Eema. What's up?" Hazel asked.
"Not much," Aladar replied. "Though I have no idea what's going on. Apparently it involves all of us."
"Oh it's something alright," the old woman grizzled out. "Definitely involves our leader here, but I'm sure you two will be enlightened by it too."
The younger dinosaur looked at the elder on his left. "Wait how does it involve me?"
"Well you just come along and you'll find out," she nonchalantly remarked and walked on ahead slowly passed them.
Nigel turned to Hazel to cue her on a translation. Naturally, she was prepared for it. "She says she wants us to follow her."
Both humans and Iguanodon watched her go before catching up to her.
Nearly twenty minutes had passed since Eema had said that. The quartet had already walked passed numerous herd members and walked along the eastern portion of the valley, northern if you were at the cave entrance. They had even walked alongside the forest edge, even though they were not going in it. Finally, they had gotten to a particular part of the valley where a grassy pathway led up the mountain.
The elder began to traverse it slowly and carefully. Thankfully, the hill was not so bad, so all of them could easily go up. Next to Eema was Aladar, who was making sure she did not lose her footing. Nigel and Hazel were directly behind her.
"Phew…" Eema gasped as she kept walking. "Getting here always takes a climb."
"So what's the big mystery?" the ornithischian asked her.
"Yeah Eema," Hazel added. "Why bring us all the way out here? And why not bring the others?"
"I uh…wanted to meet an old friend of mine," she replied while not looking back at them. "Plus they were elsewhere. Couldn't find them."
As they continued to walk up, the Prehistoric Park creator took the time to observe their surroundings. All around them were the same type of trees found in the forest and a whole lot of grass everywhere. There were even some rock formations on some ends of the pathway, or at least just a few piles of moss covered rocks. He could not place it, but there was something familiar about the area.
"Hazel," he whispered to her. Calling her had brought her to his attention. "Is it just me, or does this area seem a little familiar to you?"
She looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Nigel continued to stare at her. "I don't know. Call it a hunch, but it feels like we've been here before."
When he said that, she began to think about what else about this area she was not considering. This was an area that had not been visited for quite some time due to the lack of footprints/matted grass. Not a lot of animals had come here, which would explain why the vegetation looked untouched. Then there was the location; wherever they were going overlooked nearly the entire valley, which would explain the tiring climb.
As she pondered about that, the quartet had reached the top and began making their way through a hidden pathway that was covered by what seemed to be a relative of a willow tree. The drooping branches looked like they could be like a curtain, except the leaves were larger. When they parted the leaves, they were making their way through a dimmer path that was nearly covered by the trees above them. A few rays of sunlight shimmered through the gaps, providing light for the way. Ahead of them was the rest of the path, but it turned to the right.
Hazel's eyes widened when she thought of this area. They were at the northeastern part of the Nesting Grounds. If this pathway led up to a certain part of the valley wall which overlooked the entire valley, and this area was Prehistoric Park in the ancient past, then that would mean…
The girl wasted no time in thinking about that and sprinted on ahead. All of them were surprised at this sudden action from Hazel, even the dinosaurs. As for Nigel, when he saw her do that, he realized that there was a reason for it. The area they were in, the pathway they went up, now it was starting to piece together.
Hazel turned the corner and rushed up to the end of the forest pathway. Up ahead was another curtain of leaves, this time there was less of it. When she reached it, she quickly parted the curtain and took in the sight. What she saw took her breath away.
It was a hidden grove, complete with a small pond with lilypads on the left and an overview of the whole valley off to the right. Hazel strode forward slowly while making sure she did not fall over from the shock. Although she was enchanted by the hidden oasis, she was completely fixated on what stood vigil before her.
Nigel was right. They had been here before, 65 million years in the future. Back in their time. There, imbedded in the rock like a permanent testimony against time, was a complete fossil of an Iguanodon. Just looking at it caused Hazel to relax and breathe out a sigh of relief. Her fears of the remains being one of her friends had finally been settled.
"He was here long before us…we call him Old Gotoma," Eema said as she walked by the stunned human. The girl with black hair did not need to look back to see that her friends had arrived.
As for Nigel, he was just as surprised as his student. His theory on this area was confirmed right when he noticed that skeleton. How it had gotten there or even how it survived until the present day uncovered like that was a complete mystery to him. One that he would like to delve into once this was all over.
"The skeleton back at the park…" he muttered as he slowly strode forward.
Aladar, who was admiring the grove and the skeleton before him, walked up to the old woman as she examined the remains. Like her, he was entranced by it and wondered on how it got there.
"Legend says he was the first one who brought us here...long long ago. The herd comes and the herd goes but Old Gotoma is always here. Some say that when he found this valley, he had it in his heart to share it with everybody," she explained then turned to the cliff that overlooked the valley.
After a few moments of looking at the remains, the leader turned to the elder at the cliff and followed her there. He stood on her left and looked at the valley before him, where his herd and his family lived. Below, numerous dinosaurs were thriving in their home. The crystal lake sparkled under the sun and the white clouds slowly breezed by in the sky.
"What's Eema saying?" Nigel whispered to Hazel on her left. The girl walked up to the fossil and placed a hand on one of his hooves.
"This is Old Gotoma. According to Eema, legend has it that this is the dinosaur that discovered the Nesting Grounds. She also said that when he found this valley, he shared it with everyone," she explained then turned to the Styracosaurus.
"Did I get that right?"
"Sure did hun," she glanced back and gave her a wink before looking back at the valley.
"Somewhere in time, the herd started losing the spirit of the Nesting Grounds. I would have lost it too if it weren't for any of you. Folks may come from different places, but all are welcome here."
Eema then looked at the herd leader next to her. "And now…you're carrying the flame."
"Aladar! Aladar I need your help!" a voice cried out from behind the semi-covered forest pathway.
Everyone turned their attention to it and found a young Stygimoloch stagger passed the leafy curtain. How he had gotten here so quickly had baffled all of them, as this was supposed to be a secret area. Perhaps he was following close behind? He was breathing heavily as it appeared he had been running for quite a bit. When he found Aladar, he rushed up to him and jumped in urgency.
"Please…my friend…he was doing some practice charges and got his head stuck in a tree!"
"Uh oh," he uttered then chuckled a little. "That doesn't sound good. Okay I'll help. Lead the way."
With that said, the little pachycephalosaur, which was almost the size of Hazel, scurried off into the forest pathway, with Aladar close behind. Within a matter of seconds, the duo had disappeared.
"Well, I should follow them. In case any of them need my help," Eema excused herself and lumbered towards the curtain, leaving the two humans behind.
After watching her go, Hazel returned her gaze out towards the valley. Seeing the remains of Old Gotoma had calmed her immensely. Her fear now sated, she now thought that this mission would be a success. For now, anything was possible.
Nigel stood next to her and took in the view as well. "How are you feeling?"
The girl replied without looking at him. "Better I guess. I'm just glad to know that there's still a chance."
The man folded his arms. "You know, if Eema says that this is the dinosaur that founded this valley, then in a way, he also founded Prehistoric Park too."
A small smile creased on the girl's face. "I'm sure that Old Gotoma will be proud knowing that this valley is still being shared. Eema's right...no matter the species, all are welcome here."
The duo stood on the oasis outcrop for a few more minutes before they decided to head back down. It was already the middle of the afternoon by the time they returned to the base. When they did, they decided to head back to camp to have an early dinner. That climb had tired them out and even made them hungry. They planned on resting for a bit before watching the long-awaited courtship ritual of the lemurs.
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At sundown…by the great tree near the lake
It had been a long day, but it was finally time for the courtship ritual. Aladar had already told the entire friend circle, including the humans, that the event would take place at the great tree that was near the lake. When Hazel first arrived in the Nesting Grounds last year, she did not really pay much attention to it, as the entirety of the area had already dazzled her. But she did remember that this was the very tree that Suri scaled when they first broke through the cave to get here. It did seem fitting for this event, as it was large enough and contained enough vines for the lemurs to use.
Everyone was there for the event; Neera, Flia, Eema, Baylene, Url, Plio, Yar, and even Suri. As for the arrangement, they sat wherever they wanted. The elders and Neera mostly sat off to the left while the humans and Flia were off to the right. Other than that, they were pretty much close together. The children wanted to attend the event at first, but were then repulsed as they were told that it involved a lot of...smooching. They knew it was something adult related so they did not want to see what it looked like. As a result, they decided to go to bed early. The only one that remained was Suri, who was more experienced with this kind of matter.
The female lemurs that were going to be participating in the ritual sat at the base of the tree on various roots. All of them were shifting in their positions as they were anxious about the event. They even held those peculiar red flowers that Hazel noticed a while back during her walk with Aya. Speaking of Aya, she was sitting at the very edge of the group on the right, nervously twirling the flower in her hands. It was apparent that her face was full of anxiety and looked like she was about to keel over.
Hazel put two fingers on the edges of her mouth and blew to create a high-pitched, yet not as loud whistle. Nigel and Flia were even attracted to it and were looking at the human, who was gesturing to the pure white lemur. Aya noticed this and stared at the human, only to see that she was pointing at her own smiling face. The lemur understood with a nod. Then, she copied her teacher and made a small smile.
"Hazel, what was that?" the herd's sky scout wondered.
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Just...giving some support. Nothing more."
"So what are we supposed to expect from this courtship?" Hazel wondered.
"I don't know," Flia immediately replied. "Aladar didn't tell us much. Except it's girl lemurs and boy lemurs having some fun."
"Well I bet there's going to be a lot of making out…" the girl chuckled. "And hopefully we don't see any one of them 'making love'."
The Pteranodon tensed up at that and looked at her in confusion. As for Nigel, he did so as well and gave her an "are you kidding me?" gesture.
"Making love?" Flia repeated that phrase. "What's that mean?"
Hazel let out a sigh. "Girl and guy getting it on."
Right when she said that, the pterosaur shuddered and closed her eyes. "Okay you really didn't have to say that."
"You asked."
"Thank you Hazel," Nigel said sarcastically. "For putting that image into our minds. Now onto another point. Has anyone seen Aladar?"
Neither one of them knew the answer to that. The lemurs turned to their human comrades and were about to tell them when Neera had beaten them to it. When she spoke, all of them directed their attention to her.
"I think I saw him head into the forest earlier. I don't know what he's doing, but I think we're about to find out soon enough," she said slyly, as if she knew what was going to happen.
Hazel let out a scoff. "Neera, judging from how you said that, you know what he's up to. Come on, spill it."
The female Iguanodon smiled and shook her head. "Nope. My lips are sealed."
"Neera!" the time traveler whined, now more than ever wanting to know what Neera's mate was doing.
Just then, Hazel felt a poke on her leg. She looked down and saw an amused Suri staring at her. The young Asian woman cocked her head on confusion at the little mammal's expression on her face.
"Suri?"
"You don't have to ask Neera for an answer. Because it's coming right towards us," she then pointed off at the forest.
When she did, a trumpeting bellow echoed. All of them diverted their attention to the forest line only to see Aladar running towards them. The Iguanodon bellowed again, this time in a higher pitch. He seemed pretty excited about something, most likely because it was the courtship ritual. Except for the lemurs and Neera, neither of them had no idea what he was doing in the forest. That answer came to them when he went passed the group.
Hazel's mouth dropped like a rock. She gawked at the numerous male lemurs that were on her friend's back. Nearly all of them were a dark brown or black in color. The only one that stood out among them was Zini, who was riding at the very front of the group on Aladar's neck.
"Hey girls! Look who just pulled into town!" Aladar announced by turning his side towards them to show the males on his back.
"Hey ladies!" a male in that group called out.
"Your buffet table of love," the dinosaur said like a waiter serving a guest some food.
As a result, the girls on the tree giggled and even blushed at that comment. As for the audience, a number of them shook their heads in amusement or just did not understand it at all. For Hazel, she was mildly repulsed by it.
"Buffet table of love? Okay I have to admit, that was a little cheesy…" she groaned yet was amused by it.
"And that's what he said the last time," Plio told her offhandedly.
Back to the courting lemurs, the males were already calling out to the potential mates with chatters and romantic phrases. Even Zini was doing his best to get himself out there. Especially with a series of jumps and flips on his nephew's back.
"Zini be mine!" one of the girls on the tree called out to him.
Another one of the girls shoved that random female away, making her fall on her face on the root. "Don't listen to her! She's not as hot as me! Take me!"
"No me!" Another one on the left went.
"Take me!" said a fourth.
While a number of the females were not so much into Zini, nearly half of the group of girls were focused on the acrobatic lemur. Even some of the males were overshadowed by his awkward performance and were getting annoyed by it.
For Aya, the more Zini showed off, the more she blushed. Pretty soon, her face was an even lighter shade of red, figuratively speaking. The white lemur wanted to hide her face from seeing him and from allowing anyone else to see her reaction.
"Hey free samples!" the brother of the matriarch announced and twirled in the air. "Get me while I'm hot!"
As a result for his attempted stunt, he nearly fell off. Thankfully, he caught on to Aladar's tail and got himself back up. The dinosaur made a turn and then stopped under a group of vines. All of the males on his back jumped up and climbed, relieving the slight amount of weight on his back.
When they were all off, he proceeded to make his way to his friends. He stood over next to Neera, who shared a touching moment by gently nuzzling each other.
Just then, Suri hopped forward and began making some vocalizations. When she did, the males that were now hanging at the vines began making vocalizations of their own. With the young female making her sounds, the rest of her family joined in, including Aladar. His initiative to join in the calls prompted the other dinosaurs and pterosaur to follow. Hazel and Nigel covered their ears for a moment and shared a laugh at the moment.
Meanwhile, Zini was performing some acrobatic tricks and flips on his vine. The girls were pretty impressed by it, including Aya. However, during his performance, he accidentally lost some grip on his vine and started to fall to the ground below.
The audience was horrified at it and became very worried. Hazel took the initiative and ran up to the falling lemur. Thankfully, she caught him in her arms, relieving everyone.
The courtship still went on full swing. The females giggled at all of the males' antics and Zini's little screw-up that they decided to join in. They jumped from the roots, with the flowers in their mouths by the stem, and climbed up to the vines to meet the males.
Hazel let out a laugh after watching them go and lowered Zini a little to prepare to launch him. "Come on Zini! You're missing out on all the fun!"
"Hey I invented that word!" he hollered but was then hurled upwards by the human. The lemur successfully caught onto one of the vines and began swinging around doing his tricks.
The girl let out a breath and was about to return to her post, but was entranced by the sight of the lemur ritual. All of them were jumping from vine to vine, creating vocalizations, and doing acrobatic tricks. The vines they swung on would twirl around with the other vines as the lemurs of opposite genders investigated each other.
Off to the western portion of the tree, Hazel noticed Zini doing some somersaults and swinging on vines a considerable distance from a group of at least ten female lemurs. She was curious at first, as she thought he was just trying to impress them all. That was what she thought until she noticed two lemurs swinging towards him from opposite sides to meet him head on. The yellow-furred primate jumped to another vine and avoided the collision, causing the girls to groan in pain and rub their heads.
"Alright girls! Check this out!" he hollered then did a cartwheel in the air to another vine.
When he did another one, he narrowly avoided crashing into a female lemur that was jumping towards him. The brown and gray female collided with another on a vine and fell down. The girls screamed, but where then tangled up in the numerous nature ropes, just a few inches from the grass.
Although Hazel was shocked at that at first, she was grateful that they weren't really hurt. She returned her gaze to the other lemurs and saw that they were having a hard time keeping up with Zini. With all the tricks and acrobatics he was performing, the female lemurs had trouble predicting on what he would do next. That was, until she noticed Aya. She out of all the female lemurs was keeping up with Zini easily.
Hazel had no idea that she was this active. Not only that, but a look of determination replaced the female's shyness. A warm feeling enveloped Hazel as she knew that her pep talk with Aya was paying off.
The girls were now mostly incapacitated from all the acrobatics or had given up on their goal of being with Zini. All of them except for the white-furred lemur. She did a few flips in the air and soon caught up with the young bachelor. When they locked eyes on to each other, it was as if time had stopped for them.
Zini was close to falling off when he noticed Aya. Her fur was pure white, save for the black splotch on her tail, and her eyes were the grayest he had ever seen. In contrast to his messy fur, hers was smooth and silky, even more so than the other girls he had seen.
"Whoa...I...haven't seen you before," he breathed out after swinging onto another vine.
"Oh...um…" her reply was muffled by the flower in her mouth.
"Let's see if you can keep up with this," Zini blurted out then jumped onto a twirling root on the tree.
All of the dinosaurs, pterosaur, and humans were stunned by what the young bachelor was doing. For the first time, a lemur was surfing down a root! This root was large and thick enough for him that it spiraled around the tree until it ended in a sort of ramp before the audience.
"What on earth is he doing!?" Eema exclaimed.
"Am I going mad, or is he doing the same thing he did when we first arrived here?" Baylene asked as she remembered the day they first arrived in the Nesting Grounds last time. While they were playing in the lake, the lemur had managed to use her great neck as a sort of ramp, which tickled her immensely.
Even Hazel was amazed. She compared this event to something like Tarzan, which was one of her favorite Disney movies. Hazel was well aware of that character's stunts, as he always used his environment and improvisation to his advantage. That was what was happening now. What was even better was that Aya was keeping up by surfing on that root the same way. The two lemurs spiraled around the tree until they were at the natural ramp, where they jumped and hung onto the same vine. When they did, Aya tentatively gave him the flower, which he surprisingly accepted for the first time in his life.
Both Zini and Aya stared into each other's eyes and drifted off into their gazes.
"Hi...name's Zini. What's your name?"
"I'm...um...Ah...Aya," she stammered as she stared into those yellow eyes.
"Well," he chuckled. "Looks like someone needs a little help from the Professor of Love. And lucky for you, school is now in session."
With that said, both lemurs climbed up the vine, along with the others, to gaze at the sunset. The courtship ritual was now over, and the couples were each other's embraces. Well, except for a number of the female lemurs who tried to get Zini to be their mate. They were not happy when they saw Aya with him and leaped away in jealousy.
"Way to go Zini!" Aladar cheered from the far back.
"Nice job Aya! I knew you could do it!" Hazel went next and then proceeded to rejoin Nigel and the others.
With the ritual over, the dinosaurs, humans, lemurs, and pterosaur vacated the area and moved elsewhere, as the new couples would want to have some privacy. With the sky becoming darker by the minute, the shadow of night would soon be upon them. Hazel and Nigel decided to clock in for the night, so they greeted their friends before making their way to the camp near the cave.
"Ah...another day in paradise…" Nigel sighed as he walked alongside his time travelling partner. "Who knew that ancient primates could have mating rituals like those? I'm starting to think we have a lot in common with our earliest ancestors."
Hazel laughed at that joke. "Yeah the girl lemurs I saw at the beach were pretty similar to some women back in our time. Is it safe to say that we're direct descendants of these guys?"
"Well, it is possible. Especially that Zini fellow. We might be descended from him!"
The two explorers shared a laugh at the thought of that lemur being their ancestor. Hazel could clearly imagine them being his descendants. The human race in their time shared a number of characteristics with Zini. Perhaps genetics did have a role between the lemurs of the ancient past and the humans of the present day.
"As amazing as this place is, it's hard to believe that it will all fade into history by tomorrow…" the park creator remarked with a hint of sadness.
The girl stopped walking and turned at her mentor. Of all the times he had to bring that up, did it have to be now? Right when she was in a good mood? Now she was reminded of the looming threat that was to come in less than twenty-four hours. She clenched her fists and glared at him in frustration.
"Did you have to bring that up?" she gritted her teeth.
"Hazel, it's true. You know why we came here. Have you even told them yet?" he met her with calmness.
Her lack of response to that question confirmed Nigel's suspicions that she had not done so. He shook his head in disappointment and eyed her with urgency.
"Hazel, we're almost out of time. If you don't act now, then-"
"I'm well aware of that!" she screamed at him in anger. "You don't know what it's like do you!? Having to keep something that big from those you care about and risking their friendships!"
"Hazel, you can't run away from this. It's now or never. They have to know what's coming, even though it risks the bonds you share with them," he replied in a louder tone.
Nigel took in a breath and continued in his attempt to persuade her. "You told them almost a year ago that you were from the future. When you did, they trusted you. They did not care who you were or where you came from. If they trusted you then, then they should trust you now. Your fears are holding you back from what we came here to do. You have to tell them. It's the only possible way for this situation to have a happy ending."
The young woman closed her eyes to prevent the tears that were about to fall. Nigel's words burned her mind like a hot coal. As much as she wanted to believe that, there was also a chance that they would not view her the same way again. Now, she was regretting not convincing them to return with her to the past all those months ago. She did not want to think it, but she was now seeing that everything is all her fault.
"Leave me alone Nigel…" she choked back a sob. "I ne-I need to think…"
With that said, she turned away from him and ran as fast as she could towards the camp. Nigel, now left alone, looked up in the sky only to see streaks of light shooting by. The shooting stars did look beautiful and accompanied the stars that decorated the sky like diamonds. But the man knew all too well that those shooting stars were a precursor for what was to come.
Both Hazel and Nigel were well aware of one thing, even before they started this mission. Time was now their mortal enemy.
Tada! Chapter 7 is done! Once again, I'd like to thank Marc Ello-Re Yes for helping me out with this chapter. We both had fun in writing this chapter. The dialogue between Aladar/Zini and Hazel/Aya was slightly difficult, but I made it so that they were talking to their students at the same time, just like with Plio with the female lemurs and Yar with the males in the movie.
Now a few things:
I did not put in a part where Plio and Yar would be having their talk with the females and males respectively. Let's just assume that it already happened in the chapter.
I did not mention this before, and I realized that I neglected to, but Hazel is of Asian descent. Her family emigrated from Southeast Asia to the US, then that leads up to her father's involvement (and pretty soon Hazel herself) with Nigel.
I did some research on the Titanosaurs in Prehistoric Park and found that they are most likely Borealosaurus, as they were mostly found in that area of prehistoric China.
The Old Gotoma part here was actually from a deleted scene from Disney's Dinosaur. It was listed as one of the special features.
With that said, we hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for Chapter 8 :)
