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Chapter 11: Hospitality of the Enemy
Sauria looked up at the brown fastbiter with utter incomprehension. He was Seeker? The dinosaur who used to be known as Littlefoot? These were the sharpteeth that had saved the valley those years ago? Her brother... It was almost too much to process.
She looked over at the other fastbiters, who were standing many feet behind their leader. The horrific scene of a half-eaten swimmer being devoured by the fastbiter younglings was thankfully hidden by the body of the massive purple sharptooth.
Chomper... she deduced, which caused her to look at the other fastbiters. The orange colored fastbiter was talking to another orange predator with black stripes, That must be Cera, she thought with some amazement, Tricia's sister. She will be glad to know she is doing well. Beside her were the others that her mother had taught her in the stories. Spike, Ducky, and the flyer Petrie.
She swallowed as she turned back to her brother again. She now knew that his words were not false. Despite the misgivings that Ali and her mother had for Littlefoot, they both told her that he was a good sharptooth. But sometimes even good sharpteeth had to kill. She had nightmares for days when her mother had told her the importance of protecting eggs by explaining what Littlefoot and the others had done to her old herd.
Now the nightmare was standing in front of her...
"Are... are you going to kill us?" was her pitiful response. Despite this being her long-lost brother, she knew what fate awaited defenseless leaf-eaters who crossed sharpteeth.
The brown fastbiter looked at her with a mix of horror and guilt.
"No!" he choked out, which caused her to cower at his raised voice, "No, I would never hurt family, Sauria. Not now, not ever." he finished in a firm, but calmer voice. He kept his claws noticeably closer to his body than they were previously.
"But that swimmer wasn't so lucky, huh?!" came Charger's enraged reaction.
Datum shrunk back as he tried to stop his friend, "Charger..."
But the threehorn would have none of it. The shock of their situation was too much for him. The smell of fear and distress was almost overwhelming to the fastbiters as Charger continued to rant, "My daddy warned me about this. He warned me that sharpteeth could not be trusted, and now look where that has gotten us! Biter has betrayed us and now his parents are here..." he bowed his head as his legs began to shake. Charger's bravery had made its final stand and now only fear remained. All Sauria could do was to look at her friend with concern. She had never seen him in such a state.
"Biter did not betray you, little threehorn," Ruby corrected Charger, "I saw your rainbowface friend here and made Biter tell me what was happening." Datum looked down in shame as Ruby continued, "We do not eat friends, and if you are friends of Biter, then you are friends of us."
Charger sat down on his haunches as he tried to recompose himself. Sauria sighed as she closed her eyes. Charger was not the only one who was having trouble dealing with this new reality.
"Uh... aunt Sauria?"
Sauria looked up at the little brown fastbiter who was fidgeting awkwardly by his father's tail. Had the situation not been so surreal, she might have thought of it as cute. She mutely nodded for him to continue, as she did not trust her voice at that moment.
"I'm... I'm sorry for all of this," he looked down, "I... uh... never knew you existed."
Sauria nodded at this, "My mommy..." her voice cracked at mentioning her. She knew that she would never see her again. "My mommy told me that the seven had children of their own."
Littlefoot looked at her closely for several moments with a morose expression. He then carefully examined the others and noted their smells. It wasn't just the smell of fear that remained, it was also the smell of something else. Something far more bitter.
Littlefoot laid down on the ground in a placative gesture, as Ruby did the same. After a confused pause Biter did the same. The sharpteeth were all silent for a moment as Littlefoot gazed into Ruby's eyes. Their non-verbal conversation confirmed that she had the same suspicion that he did. Sighing, he tried to ask the question as gently as possible.
"Children, where are your parents?"
In the instant that the words had left his mouth the three leaf-eaters took on expressions of profound grief. Sauria looked down as she struggled to hold back tears, Datum closed his eyes and clinched his hands, while the threehorn...
Charger had curled up in a ball as he hid his horned head between his massive forelimbs. Littlefoot had only seen threehorns cry during the aftermath of the Battle for the Valley, and it was something that he had hoped to never see again. However, his reaction and that of his friends confirmed the worst for Littlefoot.
Their parents were dead. Ali's mother... the threehorn's parents... Chronos and Logos... It was enough to almost make him want to weep as well. He owed much to his friends in the valley, especially the two rainbowfaces. The fact that his sister was left without a mother and that Datum was all that was left of the legacy of his friends was almost too much to bear. That was when the other realization hit him.
Bron...
Littlefoot's eyes went wide as the full ramifications of their reactions came to him. If Ali's mother were with Sauria then Bron would surely be there as well; he would not want to leave his mate alone as he did with his mother so long ago. His father...
Shaking, Littlefoot looked towards Ruby, who quickly leaned against him in a show of support. Biter, who had not yet made the same deduction his father had, leaned against his father as well while giving him a confused expression.
"Sister," Littlefoot croaked as he took a deep breath, "was my father with your mother when..." he shook his head, "what exactly happened?"
He didn't even finish as Sauria nodded tearfully, "The sharpteeth came and we were all too far away from our mommies and daddies," she choked back a sob as seeing the morose fastbiter only made her grief worse, "it was all out fault! We shouldn't have been playing away from the sleeping area." she looked away in shame as Ruby silently cooed for her to continue, "We heard the sharpteeth when we were playing a game..."
Several days prior, the day of the attack:
"You're it!"
Datum sighed as he felt Sauria nudge his leg. His bright coloration certainly did not do him any favors when it came to Hide and Seek.
"Alright, Sauria," Datum rolled his eyes at the longneck's enthusiasm in telling him that he had been found, "go and try to hide your freakishly long neck somewhere."
His mild insult earned him the sight of Sauria sticking out her tongue at him. He prepared himself to cover his eyes when the agitated sound of Charger reached his ears.
"Damn it, you two! I have been hiding in the bushes all this time, while you two have been catching one another!"
Datum could only smile at his friend's agitated response, "It isn't my fault that I am flashy," he posed as if to show off his rainbow snout which cause Charger to roll his eyes, "or that Sauria's neck makes her stand out like a tree."
Charger grumbled something about 'arrogant rainbow asses' which made Sauria laugh.
"Do you talk to your mother with that mouth, Charger?" Sauria asked playfully.
"Ha!" Charger smiled, "My mother curses even worse! We threehorns aren't afraid of words like you flatheads and rainbow butts are."
Datum rolled his eyes, but smiled at his friend's antics. For he knew that Charger was in a good mood if he were bragging about the exploits of his kind.
"Alright," Datum proposed, "I say that we change games. Perhaps we could race?"
Charger rolled his eyes, "And have you beat us? How about we play Head-Basher instead?"
Sauria laughed at this, "I don't think there would be much of you after that, Datum!"
Datum was not one to be outdone by her wits, "And your head would be even flatter, Sauria!"
Charger smiled as he sat down to watch the show. Sauria and Datum could certainly hurl insults when they were animated, and, much as he would not admit it to anyone else, he preferred to be the spectator in their little battles.
"Kids!"
The three children sighed as the distant call of Bron could be heard from the sleeping area. It seemed that their absence had been noticed by their families. They had wanted to play, but knew that they couldn't do that close to their families, lest they wake them up and be forced to resume the journey early. Taking a look at Bron's massive form in the distance, they noticed the small form of Axiom with her hands planted firmly on her hips.
"I guess sis is mad that we didn't wake her," Datum deduced.
Sauria nodded, "Well, she did have the coughing sickness..."
Datum deadpanned, "Do you honestly think that is going to save me from her wrath?"
Sauria laughed, "Nope. Have fun, Datum!"
As he began to walk in the direction of the sleeping area he muttered back, "She is going to yell at you too, you know?"
Charger made his presence known again from beside Datum, "Yeah, but you have to live with her!"
Datum rolled his eyes, "You two are enjoying this."
Charger laughed to himself, "Immensely."
Roar!
The present:
Sauria choked up as she recounted the terrible moments that followed. The others were silent except for their soft crying at the reopening of their emotional wounds. Even Biter was clinging to his mother upon realizing what the children lost. Finally, however, Sauria built up the strength to continue.
"The sharpteeth went between us and our mommies and daddies. We heard screams... terrible screams. Then Charger's daddy screamed at us to run. We ran as fast as we could."
The day of the attack:
"Momma!"
Sauria looked over at her threehorn friend as the screams of his mother echoed across the plain. She could see him begin to slow, but the growls of the tyrannosaurus behind them confirmed the continued danger.
"Keep going, Charger!" Sauria screamed despite her terror and exhaustion, "We have to get out of here!"
Sauria continued to pump her legs despite the burning sensation that was coursing up her legs. She knew that the predator was advancing on them, but yet safety did not seem anywhere to be found. It was looking increasingly likely that she would meet her end with her friends. Just another youngling to meet her end at the claws of a carnivore.
"Look!" Datum screamed from several body-lengths ahead of the others. This caused Sauria to look ahead with renewed vigor.
Looking ahead of their current position she could see that the plains seemed to give way to brambles and dry roots. However, upon further observation, she could see that the ground was sloping downwards. They could seek shelter in the brambles! The predator would not seek them out there!
Doing her best to ignore her burning lungs, Sauria redoubled her efforts and tried to outrun her pursuer. However, the thunderous sounds of its footsteps and the terrible vibrations from the ground told her that she had little time. The air from the strikes of the predator's feet were beginning to make itself known to the longneck's back. She wasn't going to make it...
"Sauria, look out!"
Before she had time to react, Charger collided with her full force as the tyrannosaurus's massive maw dug into the ground where she was an instant before. Then the ground began to dance around her as the longneck and the threehorn rolled end over end into the brambles and roots. That was when everything went black.
The present:
"We both woke up to Datum slapping us. It was only then that I noticed that my leg hurt and that Charger had lost an eye." Sauria looked down as she recounted the horrors that they had faced. This was the first time that she had a chance to recount their tale, and the emotional impact surprised even her. She finally sucked in a deep breath, "Charger got sick and we got healing plants to make him better, but we had to stay here until we could move again. Then your son met Datum and... well... you know the rest."
Silence greeted Sauria's tale as Littlefoot continued to stare at the ground. Both his mate and his son looked towards him with concern. The rest of the pack kept their distance behind him out of respect. They would let their leader mourn in peace.
Despite his apprehension, Biter was the first to speak. His voice betraying his youthful innocence, "Daddy? Does that mean that grandpa is dead?" Even though Biter had only heard of the massive longneck from his father's stories, his voice were tinged with loss.
Littlefoot swallowed, his expression blank, "Yes, son." He paused for several moments as his own words echoed in his mind. "My father is dead. At least mom isn't alone anymore."
As he bowed his head and closed his eyes, Ruby took the opportunity to embrace him. Despite his loss, Littlefoot did not weep or shake as he had when he first heard the news. Now he was simply numb.
The three leaf-eaters looked at one another apprehensively as the silence again became repressive. With Biter matching his father's expression and Ruby comforting the brown fastbiter, they were left to themselves. It was only several minutes later that a brown sharptooth flyer silently landed beside the other three sharpteeth and bowed in a deferential manner.
At first Littlefoot did not react, but after a few moments he looked up at the flyer. Only now did he think to speak in leaf-eater again, so that the leaf-eaters could understand what was being said.
"I take it... that you heard all of that?"
Petrie nodded mutely, "We all did, Seeker."
Littlefoot closed his eyes for a moment as he sighed, "If my father..." he nearly lost his composure, but quickly retook control, "and the others are dead, then the valley doesn't know. We will need to tell them what happened, and that some of the children are safe."
Petrie paused for a moment as if he wasn't sure that his leader was done, but quickly gave a nod when he realized that Littlefoot had said all that he was going to say. Nonetheless he stayed present waiting for more specific instructions.
"Children?" Ruby began uncertainly, "Where did you say this happened? Could you describe the place to us?"
Datum stepped forward slightly, "Well... there were the brambles that we tried to hide in... then there was the forest where our families were sleeping." he thought for a moment, "we had to cross quite a bit of grass to get to this forest."
Littlefoot's eyes went wide, "The attack happened in the field outside of this forest?!"
Datum was frightened into silence, and simply nodded at Littlefoot's exclamation.
Ruby placed both hands on her face in a stunned expression, "How did we miss this?"
"It is a large field, and we only patrol part of it," Taunt noted, making himself known the group, "the attack could have happened when we were hunting deep in the forest."
"It is still too close for comfort," Cera noted, "Path is only one two-footer. If there are more than one wanting our territory..."
"If they want a fight then I will give it to them!"
The three leaf-eaters cowered as Chomper's massive form came towards the impromptu meeting. As the predators had switched back to their native language, they had no idea what was going on.
"I appreciate the thought, Path," Spike offered, "but we need to plan. They might know about our ways. If so then we need to be prepared for anything."
"The Orange Death?" Ducky questioned.
"The Orange Death." Spike confirmed.
By this point the fastbiter children had heard the commotion and had arrived on the scene as well. Their concerned faces joined in the chorus of confusion and surprise.
"Children?"
The pack looked upon Littlefoot with a confused expression as he looked in the direction of the leaf-eater children. The looks of his packmates communicated the obvious question: how could these leaf-eater be of any help?
Seeing that the children were frozen in fear, Biter walked towards them but then stopped and looked back towards his father. Finally receiving a nod from Littlefoot, he continued to walk towards them and began to speak.
"It's alright, guys."
Biter's rainbowface friend remained frozen in place as the other children cowered at the pack before them. That was when Biter had a revelation. Their fear smell is different. It isn't like it was with me and daddy. It's...
"Would you feel better if Path backed away?" Biter asked gently.
A simple nod from Datum caused an immediate response in the purple sharptooth as he backed away back towards the carcass of the swimmer. It was only now that their fear smells became less extreme.
He is the same kind that killed their parents... and my grandpa, Biter observed. The thought unnerved him in a way that he couldn't explain.
"Sorry, children." Littlefoot cooed, breaking Biter from his thoughts, "I didn't even think about Path being the same kind that..." he sighed, "look... if we are going to know what we are facing then we need you to lead us to where it happened."
The looks of horror from the children were immediate.
"I don't look forward to this either, but if we can find their tracks then we can find out where they have gone... and decide on the best way to lead you all home."
Littlefoot looked down as the scent of fear was replaced with dread and acceptance from the leaf-eaters, a less pungent smell. Even though they remained silent after his request, he already knew that they would agree. Before the three began to lead the pack towards the fateful site, however, Biter could barely hear a few words from his father's whispered sigh.
"Father... keep mother company for me."
Swipe walked behind the adults with an emotion building in her that she couldn't describe. Her grandfather was dead. She had never met him, nor seen him even from afar, but she had certainly heard of his exploits from her father. However, the emotion that this elicited in her was curiously muted. It was difficult to feel too emotional for someone you had never met.
But her father's reaction...
She had never seen her father mourn, but from her vantage point by the swimmer she could hear the choked sob. Despite her hunger, she had immediately lost her appetite as Littlefoot heard the news. It was his reaction more than anything else that colored her perception of what had transpired. It was that which made her shake with agitation. These two-footers, whoever they were, had made her father cry. She would never forgive them for that.
She looked to her side for a moment. Pouncer was giving her a concerned expression, but said nothing. Neither was there any cutting remark from Nibble about her brother making friends with the food. No, even her friends understood the magnitude of the situation and had taken on an ominous quiet. It was something out of their training.
"What do we do when the pack might be in danger?" Ruby asked the assembled fastbiters.
A shout rose as they spoke in unison, "Be quiet, sneak, and listen is the way to win the mission!"
Ruby smiled. They were such quick learners.
"Look there!"
Swipe looked up at where Pouncer was gesturing. Petrie and Soar were rising into the air and falling in the distance. They could barely be seen, but it was obvious that they had found something.
"Children..."
Swipe looked up at her father, only to realize that by using the leaf-eater language he obviously was talking to their three leaf-eater guests.
"Children, you don't have to follow us up here if you don't want to. You have done enough."
Swipe considered her father's words. If her parents had died, would she be willing to go back to the place where it happened? To see what was left? It was a horrifying thought that gave her pause. She had always thought of leaf-eaters as food. Even though her parents had told her stories about their leaf-eater days, it seemed like an afterthought. Even her father had stressed that she would have to kill leaf-eaters one day and that it was best to only think of them as food. She had taken his advice to heart.
But her brother hadn't...
She looked towards her brother, as he kept his place right beside the rainbowface he had allied with. For this transgression she so wanted to berate him... to criticize him... to make him do the right thing... but had he not done this then they would not have learned about her grandfather. Likewise, the pack would have unknowingly killed her aunt. It was enough to make her doubt her former views. If her brother was so wrong in befriending the leaf-eater, then why did it turn out so right this time?
"I will go ahead."
She looked towards the threehorn with surprise. His right eye and much of the right side of his body were marred by deep gashes and scars. It was as if he had challenged a fastbiter to a fight and lost. Nonetheless, both his face and scent communicated pride. Though he could not hide his fear from her sniffer. This dinosaur was an enigma to her. He was so much like Cera and her kids now that she thought about it. Had he had feathers and claws he could almost have fit in to her family...
"So will I."
The small little longneck stepped forward as well. In many ways, Swipe noted, she was even a greater enigma than Charger. The threehorn's pride and sense of duty compelled him to act the way that he did. The scent of it was all over him. But for the longneck, her scents were far more confusing. There was sadness and more than a little fear, but there was little pride overriding those distinct scents. In fact, the only other scent that she could pick up with her sniffer was...
Guilt. Swipe quickly deduced. But this only served to confuse her more. What did the longneck have to feel guilty about? It wasn't her fault that she and her parents are food.
"I will go too."
Finally, Swipe turned her gaze to the leaf-eater that had supposedly started this all. He had been the one to risk everything to save his threehorn friend from being discovered by Biter. He had been the one to talk to her brother and start the fateful friendship. He had been the one that got discovered by Ruby. In many ways this was all because of Biter and him.
His scents were far more obvious to the little fastbiter. She could smell great sadness on him, but little in the way of other strong emotions. In some ways this is what Swipe expected from the rainbowface. In her father's songs the rainbowfaces seemed far too logical for anything in the way of lingering over regrets. In some ways, he smelled like how a fastbiter would smell in a similar situation. The predator would mourn what had happened, but reluctantly move on nonetheless.
Without any comment from her father or mother, the pack resumed their journey towards where Petrie had signaled. Despite her own self-assurance earlier, she could feel a slight tremor in her legs as the realization of what awaited her tormented her mind.
"It's alright, Swipe."
She turned towards the source of the assurance. Dive and Lift, two of Petrie's children, spoke from slightly above her other packmates. It seemed that they had noticed her distress.
"I am fine," Swipe dismissed their concerns, though her voice gave away her apprehension. Thankfully none of the others seemed willing to press the point as she continued to advance with the others towards the site of the attack. Her legs were beginning to ache from the quick pace of their journey, but she allowed the pain to occupy her mind. At least it was something other than her own uncertain emotions.
The journey continued in its unending monotony. Under normal circumstances she would have complained, but these were not normal circumstances. Not even Cera's children said anything in the way of complaints. Only the soft conversation of Ducky's children and the distant songs of flyers added diversity to the sounds of their steady footsteps.
It was a choked sob that finally caught her attention.
Ahead of the adults stood the tell-tale bones of a threehorn's crest. Charger's emotional outburst needed no further explanation.
"Stop here, children," came Cera's reassuring voice, "it is time for us to check for tracks."
Swipe could only look on as Leap stayed with the children and Chomper kept watch from many longneck-lengths behind them. It would be up to their parents to assess the danger and determine what to do next.
Littlefoot gazed upon the white bones of the massive dinosaur. Its crest glistened in the fading rays of daylight. Despite being stripped bare by many days of gnawing by scavengers and the relentless action of the elements, the skull and vertebral column of the threehorn was still mostly intact.
"Sorry... mom. I shouldn't have strayed."
Littlefoot frowned sadly at Charger's belated goodbye to his mother. He obviously had seen something on the skeleton that confirmed its identity, though he had enough tact to not ask him what it was at that moment. But this opened up another question.
Where was Charger's father? For that matter, where was Littlefoot's dad?
The massive form of the threehorn was the only sight that he and the others had seen. The few indentations that Petrie had helped track from the air had confirmed that the predators had long since moved on from this sight of carnage, but what could have happened to the others?
"I'm sorry too, mommy... daddy... sis."
Littlefoot then turned his attention to the rainbowface. He had sat on the ground and appeared to be hugging himself in his profound grief. Biter stood beside him, simply offering him comfort through his presence. It appeared that Datum had no bones to say his goodbyes. His parents and his sister must have been eaten whole.
He then turned his attention to Sauria. She was looking around in confusion, as if she had no idea where to go. The bones of her parents would have been far too massive to simply be eaten whole or to disappear in the span of a few weeks. That was when a sudden realization hit him.
"Sauria?"
The small longneck looked in Littlefoot's direction after some hesitation. After a moment she worked up the courage to speak.
"I can't find mommy and daddy! They should be here... this is where..."
She looked down at her predicament. However, Littlefoot had quite a different reaction.
"Did any of you... actually see your parents be killed?"
Charger screamed in rage, "Yes, you damn child killer! Who in the hell do you think I am trying to say goodbye to!?"
Littlefoot ignored Charger's anger, as it was justifiable under the circumstances. Instead, he pressed his line of thinking.
"Besides your brave mother, did any of you see your parents die?"
Datum began to pace as the questions of the sharptooth began to lead his mind in the same direction, "Uh... no."
Sauria then added, "...but we heard them scream!"
Littlefoot gazed into the longneck's eyes, "Out of fear for all of you... and for Charger's mom."
Silence reigned for several moments as Littlefoot, Ruby, and Spike began to walk away from carcass, their heads firmly focused on the ground ahead of them. They had checked for two-footer tracks, but they had neglected to focus on any other tracks. In particular one pair caught Littlefoot's attention. An alternating sequence of larger indentations in the soft ground. The weathered, but lingering footprints of running longnecks. Almost imperceptible... unless one was looking for it.
"What is it, daddy?" Biter questioned his father.
"What do you mean?" Datum demanded, "What do you see?"
Littlefoot looked up from the ground and turned towards the two dinosaurs. Gone was the mournful fastbiter. He had been replaced with a determined predator that his friends all knew and loved.
Littlefoot smiled.
"Hope."
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Now that the more reasonable summer schedule has started at my workplace, I hope to start posting weekly now. Accordingly, you should expect to see the next chapter on next Friday.
RichardTerminator: Yep, the leaf-eater have finally met the pack that has entered into the stuff of legend. Sauria's reactions moving forward might be quite interesting. How do you converse with your brother when you know that he eats younglings like you for breakfast? And to think that I thought my family reunions were awkward...
FlyingButter: Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately there was no more kids playing in blood in this chapter. In fact, we have seen little of Thud's pack in this latest chapter. The reaction of his pack in the next chapter will be quite important in what comes next.
bryan mccloud: You are quite right about the importance of the blood pact. Without that, Datum and his friends would have been lunch for the pack's kids. Likewise, the discussion on who gets to lead the children back home will be quite interesting. With possible competition in the area, the pack might be less than keen on leaving their territory for an extended period of time.
More Dakka: Indeed. Yet more drama is soon to follow...
SuperCyclone1987: Thanks! I hope that you like the latest chapter.
gordhanx: Thanks for the review. Yeah, Taunt has developed a bit more as a character, though he and the others still retain their very unique personalities. I hope that you enjoyed the introduction to Seeker and Sauria's relationship. It will be interesting to see how his sister reacts to Seeker in the coming days.