Chapter Five: Nests Abundant

Remy knelt beside the nest, ever so gently stroking one of the eggs. "They're beautiful, Aura." The teenager smiled up at the brown-scaled mother standing over her. Ducky's siblings were also gathered around, happily watching their future siblings.

"This is my first nest in the Great Valley," Ducky's mother mumbled, leaning down to nuzzle one of the three eggs. "Now, I don't have to watch my children die anymore." Her sorrowful dark eyes swept over her remaining children, stopping on the two youngest of the five. The two young, brown-scaled males stared back at their mother, their eyes the same bright blue as Ducky's and their father's.

"I've lost three children. I've seen many lose children by the teeth and claws of sharp-teeth or the painful clutches of sickness." She wrapped an arm around the smaller of the brown males. "Osborn almost died from water-lung when he was just a youngling. He still is a youngling. It's a miracle that he survived." Aura squeezed him to her chest.

"Mom…" the young swimmer whined, struggling from his mother's grasp.

Aura released him, a deep sadness in her eyes. "Many others of my herd, hatchlings, younglings, adolescents, adults, elders… I've lost so many of them this past season. I've lost a daughter to a sharp-tooth. I've seen others succumbed to hunger and thirst. Others fell from great depths with no way to survive, and some were crushed to death. A terrible sickness even managed to ravaged the elders."

"Aura…" a smaller adult male with scales the color of newly budding leaves walked up to Ducky's mother. He gave her a gentle nuzzle, wiping away the tear that slipped away from her eye. "Please, stop thinking about this. I've asked you so many times to try and push the past aside. It's happened. There's nothing you can do about it. We must enjoy the present. Enjoy the new life we'll be welcoming into the Valley. We made the journey to the Great Valley for so many reasons, Aura."

"I know, Taro. I know." Aura returned her mate's nuzzle, but her gaze did not leave her nest. "I hope nothing happens to these little ones. I just want them all to hatch healthy and live a happy life in the Great Valley. I wish…" she sniffled, unable to list the numerous names that she wanted to see her newest brood, but who never would.

The brown swimmer leaned down again, giving each egg a nuzzle. "These eggs are why we journeyed to the Great Valley. We are in this paradise so that our future children and their future children can have a peaceful life." She looked over the mixture of greens and brown bodies standing around her. "And so that my remaining children no longer have to struggle to survive or live in fear anymore."

"Mama…" Osborn pressed against his mother's leg. "I love you."

"I love you too. I love all my children. I just wish I could have been a better mother and kept all of them alive."

"You are a great mother." Taro nuzzled his mate again. "Sometimes there's nothing we can do. Sharp-teeth are meant to eat meat, and that means they must kill. Sometimes we are in the wrong place and the wrong time. Sometimes the world around us takes a turn for the worse. And sometimes, there's nothing we can do about it."

"But—"

Taro pressed a finger to his mate's beak. "No. There was nothing you could do. And there is nothing you can do now. Aura, push the past behind you. There's nothing you can change. Just keep their memories alive and let us take care of our children. I love you, Aura, and I don't blame you for anything that's ever happened. You are a great mother."

Even as he said this, the female's eyes swam with many emotions. There was a need to refuse her mate's words, but she couldn't speak. When Taro removed his paw, she pressed against his neck, more tears falling from her eyes. No words were said as the rest of their children gathered around them, sharing in the sorrow.

"Sorry."

Spike's ragged, gravelly voice sounded from beside Remy and Littlefoot. He, too, watched the family of swimmers hug, but he did not join them. There was a sorrow in his magenta eyes that told a deeper story—an understanding of shared experience.

When the swimmers parted, Remy stepped forward. "I'm sorry you lost children and so many herd members." She gave the brown swimmer a sad smile.

Ducky's sage-green sister placed a paw on Remy's shoulder. "We are here now. You helped bring my clutch-mate back home, along with an amazing protector. Not that we need him much in the Valley." The swimmer looked over at the spike-tail with a watery-eyed smile. "Spike may not speak much, but it's great to know that he's always around. Us singer-swimmers don't have the same defenses as spike-tails or horn-faces. And we don't have the massive size of your long-neck friend. Still, I can't thank you and Littlefoot enough."

"You're welcome, Creek."

A trumpeting call filled the air from somewhere off in the marsh. Creek smiled and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I better go. Olo is calling. Oh, he'll be worried when he sees me like this. I should take a dip in the stream." Nonetheless, the swimmer waved good-bye to her family, walking off in the direction of the trumpet.

"Olo?" Remy looked over at Ducky in question.

"A handsome male singer has taken an interest in Creek," Taro answered, a slight smirk playing on his features, though his bright blue eyes held a loving warmth. "I'm glad she found someone in the Valley, and I hope the rest of our young ones can too." His gaze fell on Ducky, who was the same age as Creek and oldest among her still-present siblings.

"Papa," the adolescent whined. "I'm not interested in stuff like that. Maybe you should keep a closer eye on Stira. She is already flirting with boys older than her, and she is four seasons younger than me. Better watch out, or she might have a nest before Creek does." Ducky stuck her tongue out at her younger sister, the murky green swimmer returning the gesture. "I have time to worry about a mate. Right now, all I care about is hanging out with my friends."

"And going on dangerous adventures," young Osborn commented, still clinging to his mother. "Angust already told Mama that he saw you and your friends outside the Great Wall. And you're going places you aren't supposed to in the Valley."

Ducky crossed her arms over her chest. "I am almost full-grown, Osborn. I can do what I want, and I can take care of myself. I do not need Mama and Papa anymore." She then looked up at her parents. "Not that I would want to leave the nest yet. Not for a few more years, no, no, no."

Her father shook his head. "Go on, Ducky. Go play with your friends. And bring Spike too. I think he's getting restless."

"Yes, Papa." Ducky gestured for Littlefoot and Remy to follow her. "Come on, we can see if Mrs. Maia's nest has hatched yet. Spike! You come too!"

As the four walked through the marsh, Ducky gave an apologetic smile to Littlefoot and Remy. "I am sorry that my family was emotional. I did not expect them to get so sad, no, no, no. You were supposed to visit my unhatched siblings, and everyone was supposed to be happy, but mama…" She looked away, wringing her paws.

"It's okay, Ducky. I understand. It must be so hard for your parents." Remy gave her a reassuring pat on the arm as she walked beside Littlefoot.

"It is, it is."

It wasn't long before the four parted ways with the swamp and were traversing the banks of one of the many rivers in the Valley. When the clear blue water forked, they veered away and walked through a grassy meadow. Several singer families were strewn about, along with spike-thumbs and sprinters. They climbed a rocky mound, a nest of two eggs nestled amongst the rocks and the mother nowhere to be seen.

"Mrs. Maia?" Ducky called, approaching the nest.

When there was no response, the swimmer looked down at the eggs, only to gasp, paws pressed to her beak. "One of her eggs is missing!"

A brown singer slipped through the long grasses, dried reeds gripped in her flat, beaked jaws. The dark yellow stripe running from the tip of her snout, down the length of her back, and to the tip of her tail helped her blend in with the grasses. When her eyes fell upon the four dinosaurs crowded around her nest, her gaze darkened, something snapping inside her.

The large dinosaur crashed through the meadow, swiping a forepaw at Ducky. The swimmer lost her balance and fell, tumbling away from the nest. Mrs. Maia stood over her two eggs, bellowing at the downed swimmer and stomping her feet. The irate mother then turned to the other three, hunches bunched and ready to strike a powerful blow to their side with her forepaw if they came too close.

"Ducky, are you okay?" Littlefoot helped the swimmer to her feet, flabbergasted at the yellow-backed singer's anger.

"I am okay, yep, yep, yep." Ducky rubbed her sore back. "I am sorry, Mrs. Maia. We were only looking at your nest. We wanted to see if your eggs had hatched yet."

"Even if they had, I wouldn't let any of you visit my children. I don't want you heavy-weights stomping around my nest, not looking where you put your giant feet." Her glare was directed at Littlefoot and Spike. Her dark eyes then slid over to where Remy stood beside Littlefoot, and her anger flared. "And there's no way I'll let a thin-skin twenty tail-lengths near my children." She lunged, swiping at Remy, but the teenager was standing out of reach.

"Hey!" Littlefoot stepped back to Remy's side. "She didn't do anything. She just got here."

"Sure, but those other thin-skins may have. Someone took one of my eggs last night. I know it had to be one of you thin-skins. I've seen your kind eat eggs before. The dark-skinned elder or that golden-furred troop took my precious baby."

Remy raised her hands to show that she was no threat. "I would never eat an egg from this realm. I only eat eggs in my home realm, and they don't have babies growing in them since there's no male around. Suri already mentioned that more than just your egg has gone missing from the Valley. Ebrima's vegan. He refuses to eat any sort of meat, eggs included. I don't know about the other humans in the Valley, but I doubt any of us are the culprit."

Mrs. Maia snorted in disbelief and lowered herself over her nest. "Just get away from my nest and me. I'm already missing an egg. I don't need another one gone because of you."

"I could possibly help you, though. Maybe if I set up a trap near your nest, I could trap whatever took your eggs. It might be some rodent running around the Valley. They could get in easy enough and would go unnoticed until…this happens." Remy gestured to the singer and the nest she was hunkered over.

"No. Get lost. No one will go near my nest. This is all I have to remember my mate by. I lost everything last season. I won't lose these children."

"I'm…" Remy's arm dropped. "I'm sorry." She bowed to the dinosaur and retreated to Littlefoot's side.

"Sorry," Ducky muttered, sneaking one last glance at the eggs under Mrs. Maia.

The group left in silence. Walking through the meadow's long grasses, a flash of beige and brown caught Remy's eye. She stopped, peering into a thick patch of grass. Parting the grass revealed nothing. The teenager followed where she thought the movement had gone, but she could see nothing.

"Is something wrong, Remy?" Littlefoot asked, head lowered to speak to her.

"Nothing. I just thought I saw something. Maybe it was one of the sprinters." She stared in the direction where she had seen the colors. With a shake of her head, she ushered the others to keep moving. "Wasn't there something you wanted to show me, Littlefoot?"

"Oh! Right!" This perked up the long-neck and pushed the group forward to the thicker, more forested part of the Great Valley.