Chapter 35

Five minutes later and quite a distance away from the herd's nesting area, Ali stopped in her tracks, her legs aching, her ribs stinging, her heart mightily and forcefully pushing and pumping her blood into her muscles. Her breathing was hectic; the young Longneck was gasping for oxygen. How come? Ali and Littlefoot had been having a game of tag until moments ago. Littlefoot had tricked her, getting a head start. Despite the injuries healing very well, Ali still hadn't regained her full strength and endurance that she as a travelling dinosaur could usually rely on in such a game. Usually...

"That bastard!" Ali cursed. "I'll get him for that!" Of course, the young Longneck was smart enough not to rage about a defeat in a game meant to be fun. It was just a playful manner. Referring to a stranger as a "bastard" would usually result in a fight, especially if you were unlucky to have pissed off a hotheaded individual. Calling a friend a "bastard", especially a close friend, had a different meaning though. It was meant to tease the other, showing that they knew and trusted each other very well. Ali didn't have to wait very long until she got her fair share while trying to recover from the pursuit.

"Can't catch me?" Littlefoot sneered, snickering in amusement. His breathing was heavy as well but his steps indicated that he wasn't exhausted yet. "I'm too fast for you, Ali!"

"Well," Ali responded, staring at her friend. "Maybe I can't... but you will never have my looks!"

"Hey!" Littlefoot protested as his friend was firing back a tease of her own. "Well, you're not THAT wrong about this one..." he mused to himself.

Both children broke into laughter for some moments.

"Uhm, what are we gonna play now?" Littlefoot then piped up. "I really hate to admit this but I don't fancy doing another sprint across the whole valley..."

"I don't think I could," Ali stated truthfully. "My legs have gone weak and exhausted and they need some rest."

"Yes, mine too," Littlefoot agreed. "Somewhat..."

Ali chuckled. "Well, now we're even anyway." When Littlefoot gave her a questioning look, she explained herself. "I've tricked you into a game of tag in the morning and you've just done the same to me... and I don't need to avenge your revenge."

"Oh, right," Littlefoot mumbled. "But I won both games, didn't I?" He gave a cheeky grin.

"Yes, Speedyfoot!" Ali countered, rolling her eyes. "So how about Hide and Seek? This game is less exhausting, you see?"

"Oh yes! I like that idea!" Littlefoot replied happily.

"Not it!" Ali called out loudly, laughing at seeing Littlefoot's face.

"H-how dare you!" Littlefoot cussed playfully.

"Walk twenty circles around that old tree," the girl instructed. "And DO NOT walk too fast!"

"Yes, yes... I will, Ali. I swear!" the young boy answered honestly. "I shall find you in no time anyway!"

"We'll see. Now close your eyes and start!"

Ali began to sneak away so she didn't give away the direction she was taking while Littlefoot slowly walked around the old tree with his eyes closed...

Shorty immediately recognised who had interrupted his foster father. With a slight portion of madness, he mumbled. "You..." It was the hatchling and its mother again and that couldn't end well for him.

"Why hello, what's the matter?" Bron asked politely.

"You must throw Shorty out of the herd; he's a threat to our children!" the female grown-up shouted in anger and worry.

"Hey, hey. Take a breath," Bron suggested. "Don't you think that I've considered this already? I have talked to Shorty yesterday and I was just continuing where I left off. I've also sentenced Shorty so he'll stay where he's always supervised. At the moment, he can't hurt any child and I'm sure he won't try."

"What do you know?!" the female growled. "He attacked my little one earlier!"

"Well, did he?" Bron gave Shorty a questioning look. His adopted son stayed neutral in expression. "Your youngling doesn't seem hurt..."

"Well, that's because I protected him!" The angry mother screamed.

"Well, is that true, Shorty?" Bron inquired sternly.

"Yeah..." Shorty hissed grimly.

"Let me guess... he provoked you?" Bron assumed.

"Yes! He did!" Shorty exclaimed angrily. He was a little bewildered, however, since Bron seemed to be supporting him all of a sudden.

"NEVER! My son would never show such an awful behavior! Your Shorty is dangerous!" the mother roared accusingly.

"He poked out his tongue and waved his tail at me..." Shorty muttered quietly, suppressing his anger not to come off as aggressive again. "He also insulted me..."

"NO! He would never do that! My son..."

"Quiet!" Bron ordered. "Did you provoke Shorty earlier, little guy?" He was now addressing the hatchling – one of the bunch that he had been supervising during his journey in search of Littlefoot. He remembered him and he also remembered some of his character traits... one of which was constant blundering.

"No," the young one answered shyly.

"That was poor..." Bron mused.

"You see, he's guilty! The green pest is guilty!" the female shouted in wrath.

"No..." Bron objected, slightly amused. "He lies. Shorty has spoken the truth."

"WHAT?!"

"I've had enough time to study how kids lie," Bron explained in a calm manner. "Shorty, in fact, is a master at lying but I always know when he lies nevertheless. Your kid is a poor liar. His eyes give him away."

"You're only supporting that violent kid!" the other Longneck accused. "As a herd leader, you should judge and treat everybody equally!"

"Which I am doing!" Bron snapped back. "Don't you think that I have considered all options? What Shorty has done was terrible but he's still young and stupid."

Shorty cleared his throat.

"He deserves to be granted the chance to redeem himself and make things better again. That's why I kept him in the herd despite his gruesome attack." Bron nodded towards Shorty. "Besides, wouldn't it be harsh to send him back into the barren lands on his own, without any protection from those Sharpteeth?"

"So that's how he thinks about me?" Shorty wondered. "Redeem myself... wonder if I could do that..."

"Do you think he ever will? I doubt he'll ever be nice and I'm certain that he'll attack again!" the female argued. "What if that girl had died anyway?"

"Well, then the situation would be different of course," Bron admitted. "I assure you that I have explained Shorty the consequences of that – or a future attack."

"What makes you so sure I can't change?" Shorty piped up suddenly, questioning the grown-up, his eyes glowing.

"Well, I-I just know, stupid boy!" she snapped.

"Enough now!" Bron ordered fiercely. "I'm very glad for the report but now I need to talk to Shorty! Have a nice day!"

"You're wasting your time, Bron!" the female shouted before turning around. "And if I ever get to know that you're harming my son, Shorty," she snarled. "I swear I'm gonna make sure you'll never forget it!" With that she strutted away.

"He's never going to find me in here..." Ali whispered to herself. She had wandered around a little, seeking a hideout and finding one that suited her expectations of a good hiding spot extremely well. A huge tree, long since fallen, was leaning against another large tree. Only the massive tree trunk and some of the thicker branches still told the story of a once living thing, now rotting to waste to give new, uprising vegetation the minerals, space and light they needed and several crawling creatures too small to see a home and food. The tree trunk's inside was hollow. Ali had some difficulty to enter her hideout since she was fairly big while it was very narrow. Crawling up the mildly ascending tunnel, she finally found a former branch that ended in an opening so she could observe the area around her... "Or laugh my ass off if Littlefoot can't find me," the young Longneck thought in a mixture of anticipation, joy and excitement. She made herself comfortable at her best and waited for something to happen, her limbs slowly regaining strength as they were getting some well needed rest after the match of tag...

"Twenty!" Finally he could stop walking around the tree, getting all dizzy because of it. Littlefoot took some moments to resolve the issue of his surrounding moving in front of his eyes – it was an additional task for the "Seeker" since they were distracted for a little longer. The Longneck walked a few careful steps to make sure he had regained his balance before he set off...

Bron gave Shorty a bemused look and rolled his eyes. "Accusing you and she can't even control her temper either..."

"Uhh, yeah," Shorty replied, dumbfounded. "Why did'cha defend me. I thought you were mad at me..."

"You know Shorty, I just can't stay mad for longer than a few hours," Bron answered truthfully. "Besides, I had to defend my style of education..." At seeing Shorty's wondrous expression, he added. "I don't like the way she raises her son y'know?"

"Adopted son..." Shorty muttered.

"Uh yeah. Anyway, where did we leave off?"