POLISHED DRAFT
Finished: 2020-06-20
Chapter Fourteen: An Offering of Fruit and an Unwilling Three-Horn
The shrub was no more than a few meters away from where Littlefoot and Remy rested. On the dead bush hung a lone fruit, and on that fruit, a little pterosaur hatchling clung. Another pair of hatchlings stared up at their sibling, squeaking and flapping their winged arms. It was clear that as soon as the blue sibling fell, they would be on them. However, when the fruit refused to fall, the other siblings fluttered up into the branches of the shrub, clambering onto their sibling, who squawked in protest. The tussle over the fruit continued between the three siblings, when several more of the little pterosaur hatchlings showed up, hungry for a morsel of fruit.
When one of the hatchlings successfully procured the fruit from their siblings, they proudly marched away, the bright red berry held high above their head, only for a long sticky tongue to shoot out over their head and snatch the fruit from their tiny hands. A strange creature about twice the size of them lumbered passed, chomping on the fruit without a care in the world.
Cooing sadly, the little blue flyer turned back to their siblings, who looked just as crestfallen as they did. Then, their mother popped out of a hole in the ground, a leaf filled with the same fruit they had been fighting over in her grasp. She handed each of her children a berry, and they marched single-file away from her. She then tossed the leaf to the sky and took flight over her hatchlings before they, too, took to the air. However, one remained.
It was the little blue hatchling that had found the fruit first, and Littlefoot's slumped form had caught their eye. Fruit clutched close to their chest, they cautiously approached Littlefoot. He was so much bigger than them, but he looked so sad. They dropped the sleek, bright red berry in front of Littlefoot's snout and squeaked. When Littlefoot didn't take it, they pushed it closer, but the long-neck turned away from the offering. Whimpering sadly, the tiny flyer looked away, only to finally notice Remy some feet away from Littlefoot.
They squawked, hiding beside Littlefoot's snout. Remy merely smiled back at them, glad she had just tossed the bones, guts, and skin of her meal into the fire before the hatchling could notice. She offered her hand, trying to show them that she meant no harm.
"Hello, little one." Remy's voice was soft as not to scare the hatchling.
With little hesitation, the flyer waddled up to her hand, wrapping their wings around her fingers. They were about twice the size of her hand. Carefully, Remy scooped them into her hand and stroked the top of their head.
"It was very kind of you to offer my friend the berry, but he hasn't been having a very good day, and that's why he won't eat it. But I'm sure he would have appreciated it if he wasn't in so much pain. See, his mama passed away this morning during that terrible earthquake. I'm sure you felt it."
The little flyer whimpered, nodding their head. They scampered over to the berry they had offered Littlefoot, picked it up, and then held it out to Remy. The teenager smiled at their offering, patting their head, but then pushed the fruit back into their tiny hands. "You need it more than I do. Go, follow your family. I'm sure they are waiting for you."
The hatchling squawked, tucked the berry close to their chest, and waddled off to where their siblings had disappeared. Remy watched for a long moment, making sure they were reunited with their family, before finally turning to Littlefoot. She patted the long-neck on the shoulder, smiling sadly down at him. "Come on, we have a few more hours of daylight, which we should take advantage of and keep moving."
Littlefoot wordlessly heaved himself to his feet, and the pair continued their travels along the massive ravine in hopes of finding someplace to rest before the sun set below the horizon. Like before, their journey was silent. At some point, Remy had climbed onto Littlefoot's back when she became too tired to walk. That was until a familiar orange shape was spotted traversing the same side of the ravine.
"Cera," Littlefoot breathed, his stride halting. He recognized the three-horn by the way she was carrying herself. Her gait was more rigid that Bright's fluid motions and her head wasn't held as high as Emberhorn would, who always found some way or another to flaunt her horns. The last of the orange scaled sisters, Rata, had a distinct ashy grey underbelly and grey back-stripe, unlike the peachy underbellies and chestnut-colored back-stripes Bright, Emberhorn, and Cera possessed. This had to be Cera, but why was she alone?
The three-horn was walking toward Littlefoot and Remy, her gaze sweeping across the land every now and then, but she had yet to notice them. There was a slight limp in her stride, but she seemed to be trying to hide it. She didn't want to look like a prey item to any sharp-tooth who wasn't satisfied with the carcasses currently strewn throughout the wasteland.
"Cera!" Littlefoot called out, picking up speed to meet up with the female.
Cera snapped her attention to the long-neck thundering towards her. Her jade-green gaze hardened the moment she recognized Littlefoot, along with Remy clinging to his neck. Snorting, she brandished her brow horns at the pair, her entire body tense and ready to charge. "What do you want?"
Littlefoot paused, confused at her response as he blinked at the three-horn. "I um…" He stepped back, unnerved by the orange scaled female's burning gaze. "I was just wondering where you were going. And...where's your sister?"
Cera thrusted her nose horn in the air. "I'm looking for my own kind." Her green gaze shifted to the ravine the trio stood by. "They are on the other side. I lost Bright when the earth split. I haven't been able to find her since the storm started. I just know my family is on the other side."
"Well, we've already looked all along the ravine. There's no pathway to climb across, nor trees close enough to knock over, even if they would hold Littlefoot's or your weight. And there's no way you can climb to the other side either."
Cera glared at Remy. "You don't think I already know that? I've been searching this ravine since dawn, stupid thin-skin." She scraped the ground with her paw, eyes drifting back to the ravine. "My family has already left to find another way across." With a snort, she turned away from the pair, following a steep slope into a dark cavern. "I need to find them and Bright."
"Cera! Wait!" Littlefoot stepped forward. "We're going to the Great Valley. You could come with us. Maybe your family is going there too. It's better if we travel in a group than alone."
"A three-horn doesn't need help from a long-neck," Cera grumbled under her breath. "And there's no way I'm traveling with a thin-skin either. And don't you dare follow me." Yet again, she thrusted her head into the air and made her way deeper into the cavern.
"At least you wouldn't be alone," Littlefoot called down to Cera, still clearly able to see her orange scales in the darkness.
The sharp laugh from the three-horn rebound through the cavern. "When I find my family, I won't be alone. You don't know how dangerous three-horns are, do you, long-neck?" And with that, Cera finally walked deeper into the cavern and disappeared into the darkness.
"Well, that didn't work." Littlefoot slowly backed away from the edge and continued walking along its length. "I thought she would be okay with us. If I was her, I wouldn't want to be alone, but I guess three-horns will take only their own company or nothing at all. Or maybe they like being alone."
"That's alright, Littlefoot." Remy rubbed his shoulder. "We don't need a hyper-aggressive three-horn traveling with us. I have a feeling all she would bring us is trouble. Let's just keep moving. Maybe we'll be lucky and run into Bright instead."
"Yeah, I guess…" Littlefoot's head hung.
The pair continued their trek, parting from the ravine and into the heart of the dying land.