Chapter 29

Ali, despite not liking to admit it, had to admit that the treesweets were indeed a little too big to fit into her mouth. Watching Littlefoot's technique, she tried to copy it. Instead of grabbing the whole fruit to shove it into her throat at once, she only took a bite out of it. Soon, she took another bite since she could undoubtedly chew safely on more than she just had in her mouth. It didn't take her long until, ultimately, she had the whole treesweet in her mouth again, enjoying its wonderful taste longer than she usually would have done. Spending time with Littlefoot was important to her and the fruits were yummy so the Longneck girl couldn't see any reason whatsoever to hurry.

Littlefoot rolled his eyes. "Ali sure must be enjoying these..." he deduced as he was watching Ali eating yet again. She was utterly relaxed and constantly smiling with her eyes closed. Then Ali saw his gaze. She instantly put on an expression that was likely to be seen on a kid who accidently knocked a plant off the windowledge, accompanied with a sheepish grin while she carefully swallowed a piece.

"Ali, Ali... I believe I need to feed you," Littlefoot teased. At Ali's confused look, he added. "Sorta..." He pondered how to make Ali eat a normal amount of food per bite. Then it clicked in his mind.

"Look Ali, just do what I tell you, yeah?" he spoke.

"Okay..." Ali said, not revealing her opinion on Littlefoot's action yet. "What might he be up to?" she wondered. Knowing her friend, it could be literally everything weird enough to consider.

"See this tempting treesweet?" Littlefoot asked, choosing a random one. It was the size of a swimmer-egg, roughly round, though rather long like an egg, and its colour was a light orange. At the long ends, the fruit had small "bumps" and the lower part was slightly thicker and more massive than the upper part. The colour-range of all the treesweets was from a yellow-ish orange to a bloody-dark-orange.

"To make sure you don't eat up the whole thing at once, we're going to... erm... share the fruit..." the boy explained.

"Good idea!" Ali exclaimed. "Though how do you make sure that I don't get the bigger part?" A smirk appeared on her face.

"Well... er... I get the first bite and make sure it's divided fairly," Littlefoot replied quickly.

"Never heard of girls go always first?" Ali teased.

"You'd eat more than just half of it, wouldn't you?" Littlefoot retorted playfully.

"Depends..." Ali smirked.

"Hmm..." Littlefoot's brain rattled. "Let's make it a competition then?"

"Oh yes!" Ali shouted joyfully. "That'll be fun, I bet!"

"Okay, I..." Ali gave the boy a threatening glare, "... well - you count down from three and there we go," Littlefoot said.

"Sounds fair," Ali admitted. She, like Littlefoot, put on a more serious face and concentrated on her task.

"Ready?" she whispered.

"Always!" Littlefoot called self-confidently.

Ali counted down.

"GO!" she eventually cried. The two Longnecks both opened their jaws, tucked into the treesweet and...

"OWW!" they both whined as their heads bumped together. Their eyes met for an instant and it was enough to make them giggle about their apparent mishap.

Shorty grunted. It was only morning and he was already beginning to adopt some serious boredom. "HOW am I supposed to stay here all day?!" his mind raced. He seriously considered sneaking off since Bron was nowhere to be seen but, looking around uneasily, he had to admit that he was being supervised by the herd members all the time. He made a few steps away from his current position as if about to sneak off, analysing the reaction of a few nearby families and individuals. Some weren't looking of course - they couldn't keep an eye on him all the time - but due to their number somebody was always watching. Those who were gave him a stern look. "Okay, no sneaking off then..." he grunted downheartedly. "So what to do?!" The fact that he was stuck at his nesting place made him mad. He was growing more aggressive again and he liked it despite knowing that he wasn't supposed to be. His thoughts wandered to the girl he had beaten up so violently. "Cho, the ugly Shadow..."He couldn't suppress a smirk. He remembered how it felt to punch her, how it felt to laugh at her begging for mercy, how it felt to see her terror-stricken eyes when he tortured her... "Oh yeah..." Shorty thought, relaxed. If only he could repeat that...

He heard laughter, coming from the direction he had seen Ali and Littlefoot walking away with Bron. Indeed, some distance away he spotted the two, rolling around in laughter. Abruptly, rage ran through his body. "They have fun while I'm stuck here! NO FAIR!" Shorty began pacing around to diminish his rage but it didn't work. He was filled with energy bound to be let out sooner or later. "NO FAIR!" he screamed, making some nearby Longnecks give him a stern look. Shorty didn't mind them staring at him. He didn't care what they thought about him; the only emotion that dominated his feelings was rage. He sought revenge for being grounded and he needed a victim. And he soon found one.

"I'm gonna KILL him! I'm gonna BEAT THE GUTS OUTTA THIS ROCKHEAD!" Shorty's blood was boiling. He stared at the one he had chosen to be his drain valve of all of the problems and anger that were troubling him. "Ali is my girl..." he thought, gnashing his teeth and growling deeply. Littlefoot would pay for taking her away from him...

Just then, one of the foster mothers of the hatchlings, one of whom Cho was too, came by, inspecting Shorty with examining eyes. She noticed Shorty's gestures and she quickly realised what the, in her view, mentally unbalanced boy might be up to.

"Don't even think about it!" she said coolly.

Shorty slowly turned to the adult, his muscles tensing up, his face distorted in wrath.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"I want you to stay put and stop acting like somebody who has hit his head a little too hard," the female answered. "Oh, and you could try to be nice for a change, not so snappy, aggressive and..."

"SHUT UP!" Shorty cried. "That's NONE of your business and besides I'm not allowed to talk to anybody!" Shorty didn't know whether that was actually true but not being allowed to meet anyone included not being allowed to talk to anybody in his opinion as well.

"Just what I meant... you're a shame for Bron, are you aware of that?"

Shorty remained silent - he focused on his plan.

"Let's go, little one..." she mumbled to her son who was walking besides her.

"Loser!" he called before obeying.

Something in Shorty's head snapped. His voice of reason being suppressed by his madness, he charged at the little one wildly... and bumped into the tail of the adult.

"I should seriously persuade Bron to reject you from the herd. You're a thread to our children!" With that she stormed off, placing her startled son on her head.

Shorty, now calming down a little, began to feel the pain in his head due to bumping into the grown-up's tail. Angrily, he watched them go away. Then he saw the young one poking out his tongue and then waving around his tail provocatively.

Shorty roared and screamed in wrath...

The rest of the treesweets were being eaten in a more mannered way. Littlefoot and Ali managed to share them in the way the boy had originally intended – each of them eating one half of the fruits. Both of them were enjoying that way of having their breakfast. After all, sharing was important – especially when travelling in a group or even as members of a herd. The sharing was also a symbol for their friendship. Both youngsters were aware of that but sharing wasn't the only reason they were enjoying their special way of eating so much.

Littlefoot was happy that he didn't have to worry about Ali choking on fruit anymore. Though, more importantly, he was happy that they were together which included eating together as well.

Ali, on the other hand, though happy about being together with Littlefoot just as much as the brown Longneck, was bright because she got really close to her friend and crush – not only physically. Their mouths would meet occasionally but what Ali was really seeking for, aside from feeling really close to him due to them doing things together, was getting a glimpse into Littlefoot's wonderful eyes. Though, whenever their eyes did meet, Ali didn't dare to lock eyes with Littlefoot. Instead, she would stare at the ground or at the fruit they were eating. On the one hand, she really wanted to look into his brown eyes, seeing her own reflection in them and a twinkle only his eyes seemed to have. On the other hand, she didn't feel ready to let her crush know that she liked him a little more than she claimed to. Her shyness was in the way again.

The two noticed that there was only one treesweet left and both felt rather stuffed-up, their bellies filled with a few fruits too many for their liking. Littlefoot could already tell that they wouldn't be doing much for the next few hours.

"Eugh! I can't swallow another one!" Littlefoot protested as Ali went to get the last one and rolled it towards him. "You can have it."

"Ugh! Now that you mention it..." Ali chuckled. "My belly feels like I ate rocks. I don't want it either."

Littlefoot gave Ali a knowing look.

"Well, do you want to leave it here, Ali?" Littlefoot asked.

"Hmm..." Ali pondered. "I might not need it myself but I do know somebody who needs it urgently..."

"Yes?" Littlefoot insisted. He had grabbed a stick that Bron had seemingly shaken off the tree.

"Well, I thought I could give it to..." the girl wanted to answer but Ali didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Littlefoot used the stick to tickle Ali's underbelly.

"Hey, STOP THAT!" Ali cried in laughter – she was ticklish.

"Hmm, I don't sense any rocks in your belly..." Littlefoot murmured, having a hard time staying serious, not ceasing the tickling at all.

"PLEEEEEEASE?" Ali screamed imploringly. As Littlefoot continued, she began rolling around to avoid his stick, almost flattening the treesweet.

Littlefoot decided to join in and started rolling around as well, giggling and calling loudly.

All of a sudden, as easy as the fun had started, it went away as somebody uttered a scream of pure wrath...

"What the..." Littlefoot exclaimed, startled. He and Ali jumped to their feet.

"Who's that?!" Ali cried in confusion.

"Somebody having a really awful day, it seems..." Littlefoot remarked. "And I know someone who very certainly has a terrible day..." He gave Ali a knowing look; the girl understood.

"Shorty..." she sighed. "Yeah, he should feel nasty right now! Maybe he remembers my final words before I stormed off ..." Ali said a little grimly.

"What did you tell him again?" Littlefoot asked. "You mentioned it earlier, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," Ali grunted. "I told him that – CAN'T HE SHUT UP?!" Ali screamed because Shorty was roaring so loud that Littlefoot couldn't understand her. Raising her sweet voice, she continued. "I told him that I'm going to have fun with you the whole day while he's stuck at his nesting area with nobody talking to him."

"Good blow!" Littlefoot stated, raising his eyebrows. "That's probably just going through his mind and he's exploding in rage."

"It is," Ali agreed. "Look how he's jumping around madly..." Ali snickered.

"Hahaha!" Littlefoot joined in the laughter, amused.

"If he hadn't done this to Cho, I might feel sorry for him..." Ali then said, turning serious. "But I can't, not now..."

"Yeah, I know... I wouldn't be so concerned if you didn't know him so well. He does like you, Ali, and he will try everything to get what he wants... you."

"Well, yes... Do you think he would dare to attack... you?" Ali was really concerned about this possibility.

Shorty finally stopped roaring.

"Hey, you know him!" Littlefoot retorted playfully.

"True..." Ali admitted. "But still... I would like you to tell me how you judge him."

"Why Ali?" Littlefoot didn't quite get what Ali was trying to achieve.

"See Littlefoot..." Ali forced herself to look Littlefoot in the eyes, hoping she wouldn't begin smiling awkwardly. "I might be preoccupied since I know him... or, at least, I thought I knew him." She looked at Littlefoot expectantly.

"Alright... I believe he would do it if he sees no chance to win your affection anymore. He'll blame me and attack me."

"That's what scares me a little," Ali admitted, moving a little closer to Littlefoot instinctively.

They fell silent. Littlefoot was watching the trees moving by the wind whereas Ali was watching Shorty in the distance who seemed to be pondering about something.

Eventually, Shorty stopped roaring madly for his voice became husky. Breathing heavily, he began to calm down and his mind began working in a more or less normal manner. He began to remember Ali's words in the morning. "Has it really been that long?" he wondered, feeling like it had been years ago since they had their talk. Ali felt so far away, now that Littlefoot was with her.

Slowly, he began to realise that everything had been his own fault, actually. Ali would still like him if he hadn't acted like a complete jerk earlier. "On top of that, she really has something for that excuse of a Longneck..." his mind added grimly. Ali seemed to be fond of Cho indeed. "Can't remember her having any friends... so why of all dinosaurs in the world did she HAVE to make friends with Ali? WHY!?" It was a miracle to the green boy. " If I hadn't beaten the crap outta that hideous thing, I wouldn't be grounded now," he noted matter-of-factly. "Though, I've done the right thing, haven't I? What's the matter with beating something that doesn't have any right to live anyway? It's been great; I'd do it again!" Even though Shorty knew exactly that his attack on Cho resulted in his miserable situation, he couldn't fault himself but the others, not understanding their fondness of Cho. "I'll show 'em!" he thought in determination.

"Bron, that bullhard..." it shot through Shorty's mind. He realised that Bron was actually just as big a jerk as his actual father was. Hatred developed in Shorty; he began to plot against Bron; he began to plan how to get out of this situation... That was when he heard a scream coming from Ali...