Chapter 8: Sky Fruit and Jealousy
Once more, the rag-tag group was inside the forest, trudging deeper and deeper through the shadows and canopy of green. No one else had been seen since they passed the waterfall. Only the squawks of small flyers and the chatter of the bird-like tiny-teeth filled the air. A calm wind whispered through the trees, bringing a refreshing breath with it. It really was an unexplored part of the Valley.
Littlefoot stopped. "There it is," he breathed, staring up at a massive, ancient tree laden with bright, sky-blue fruit. "Both my grandparents could easily fit under it, and I don't think the tallest long-neck could even reach the fruit on the very top. Don't you think it's cool?" Littlefoot turned to his friends, unable to keep the grin off his face as he nearly danced in place.
"It's just a fruit tree…" Cera muttered. "What's so special about it?"
Before Littlefoot could utter a word, Remy butted in. "But look at the tree, Cera. It's massive. I don't even know if my world has a tree this big. And the fruit is so bright."
"The fruit is delicious, too. Here, let me get you some." Littlefoot walked through the tall grasses. He didn't have to weave through other trees since none had taken root around the ancient plant. A natural border spanned around it, about a whip-tail long-neck in length. Grasses and flowers grew thick in the treeless border, and ivy even climbed the ancient tree's trunk. Something strange and wonderful hung in the air around the tree. If the dinosaurs and pterosaur didn't know any better, they would call it magic.
Littlefoot reared up on his hindlegs, planting them onto the tree's thick trunk, which was as wide as the adolescent sauropod, if not wider. Reaching his long neck into the tree, Littlefoot plucked several bright blue fruits from the fruit-laden branches.
Fruit scattered around him, Littlefoot dropped back to his four feet, the earth shaking with the heavy thud. Littlefoot gestured with his head for the others to come closer. "Come on, the fruit's delicious." He picked one off the ground and offered it to Remy. "I wanted Remy to see it because she loves the fruit from the Valley. And…well…their color reminds me of her Shard."
"I guess they are the same color as my necklace." Remy held the fruit closer to her chest, comparing the colors.
"There is still a lot we do not know about the Great Valley. There is, there is." Ducky added, walking up to the tree and picking several fruits off the ground. She offered three to Spike. He gratefully took the fruit, eating them as slowly as his ravenous appetite would allow him. The swimmer giggled, nibbling on her bright blue fruit.
"It is good, yep, yep, yep." The thin skin she had peeled away with her beak revealed pale blue, almost white, soft flesh. "And the inside is blue too, see?" Ducky offered it for the others to look at.
"Petrie try one." Instead of taking one that Littlefoot had knocked to the ground, the flyer flew to the very top of the tree in search of the perfect one.
Spike had already inhaled the third fruit and was sprawled in the grass under the tree, content as ever. As the others watched Petrie search for the perfect fruit, Remy inspected the piece Littlefoot had given her. The skin was sleek and shiny like an apple but as blue as the sky. With a quick wipe down from her shirt, Remy took a hesitant bite, revealing pale blue, soft flesh. She chewed slowly, savoring the flavors and textures. The sensation in her mouth was warm and cool at the same time, almost like a mix of hot cinnamon and chilled mint. There was an overall exotic sweetness to the fruit with sparkling notes of something she had never tasted.
"Wow," Remy finally mumbled, hand in front of her mouth as she still chewed. "This is really good."
"Isn't it?" Littlefoot nosed another fruit toward Remy. "That's half the reason why I wanted to keep the tree a secret. I think it's nice having our own place to hang out, away from everyone else. Sometimes it gets exhausting when you're known for killing Sharptooth. All the younglings keep asking questions, and the suspicious adults don't believe us. Then there are the jealous residents."
"Yes, yes, yes," Ducky dropped the fruit stem. "And I do not like how the others look at Spike because he's living by us. And I do not like how the other singers do not like us because we live by the water. We cannot help that we are swimmers, oh, no, no, no."
Littlefoot smiled sadly at Ducky. "So that's why I think it would be great to make this tree our hideaway. No one will bother us here, and we have delicious food to eat."
Petrie returned with his piece of fruit, one smaller than those Littlefoot had knocked from the tree. He landed on Littlefoot's back and jabbed the fruit with his beak. The others laughed, the flyer not having a successful time eating the fruit. After a few more attempts, he broke off a small chunk of fruit and devour it whole. "Very tasty!"
"Did you even taste it?" Remy asked, staring up at the flyer from where she stood by Littlefoot's side.
"Yes."
"Here, let me get you one, Cera." Littlefoot had already picked up a fruit before the three-horn could protest. She had only managed to get to her feet before Littlefoot dropped one of the larger blue fruits in front of her. "You're the only one that didn't eat one. Come on, you have to try it." He nudged it closer to her feet.
Cera's eyes narrowed. Littlefoot smiled innocently back at her and stepped back. With a snort, she bit into the fruit, chewing without looking up at the others. When a moment passed, everyone waiting for her reply, she finally mumbled, "it's good."
"See?" Littlefoot grinned. "I told you it was delicious."
The long-neck turned to retrieve another fruit for himself, but a dark chuckle sounded behind him.
"What do we have here? A special fruit tree just for me?" A beige thick-nose strode from the shadows. The female was a bit larger than Cera due to being a few years older. Even though she was a horn-face, she sported no nose or brow horns. Rather, she had a thick, rough covering of bone over the upper portion of her snout and a pair of short, outward curving horns adorned the top of her frill.
"Just for you, Rhina? Or would you let me have some too?" Another frill-head emerged from the shadows, this one a bit smaller than the female. He bore a lone nose horn and a spine-rimmed frill that curled forward. The male's kind was aptly named curl-frills for their oddly shaped frills.
A loud sigh sounded from Rhina as she rolled her pale blue eyes. "I was hoping I lost you, Sharpfrill. Move your orange face out of my way."
"Not even your ugly, hornless face can make me move. You promised me something edible days ago for finding that stupid stone you lost. And those blue fruits look mighty delicious. Now go get me some while I have a chat with our friends." As Sharpfrill walked past the larger female, he bumped his hip against hers, sending her a leer as he clicked his beak.
Rhina just huffed and rolled her eyes. She shoved past the bigger adolescents, making sure to give Cera an extra harsh shove. Cera retaliated, never one to be pushed around by anyone. Rhina was stopped in her tracks, pushed back by a face full of raging horns. Cera's nose horn rubbed against the rough boney mass where Rhina's horn would have been if she were a three-horn.
"You letting that orange flower push you around, Rhina? Come on, I want some food." Sharpfrill shouted, but there was a hungry glint in his eyes as he watched the two females push each other around. "Though, I guess I always love a show."
"Shut up, Sharpfrill." With a harsh shove, Rhina dislodged Cera and gave the orange female a headbutt to the flank.
Cera collapsed into a heap, her breath knocked out from her lungs. Immediately, Littlefoot was beside her, attempting to help her up, only to receive a grunt and an eye almost gouged out.
Sharpfrill laughed. "Look at that. A long-neck trying to help a three-horn. What is this place coming to? Go on, delicate orange flower. Run away with your stupid long-neck boyfriend. I'd love—" Before he could say another word, Sharpfrill was toppled to his side, Cera's horns bared against him, nearly puncturing his rough grey scales.
"Did I make the flower angry? Are you going to run to daddy and tell on me?" Sharpfrill snapped his beak at Cera, the same hungry grin curling the corners of his mouth. "How about I take you back to my nest and show you how to really fight."
Sharpfrill's pain-filled bellow filled the air, Cera's horns breaking the skin and drawing blood.
"Sharpfrill." Rhina's voice drifted from where she stood by the tree, pawing some of the fallen fruit. "How many times do I have to tell you? Females don't want a male like you. You chase them away if you act like that. Next time you say something or give me that look, I'll break your ribs. Again."
The curl-frill still lay on his side, gasping for air as he struggled through the pain. His legs wheeled, one just managing to hit Cera. The orange female finally backed off, still brandishing her blood-tipped horns at the downed male. When Sharpfrill struggled to his feet, he flashed her a shaky smile. He opened his beak to say something, but when Cera lowered her horns more, he snapped it shut.
"I'll just…" The pale-grey male walked away, circling the rest of the dinosaurs, though he gave them a wide birth. "So…" he cleared his throat, shaking off the incident that had just happened. "You're the kids that supposedly killed the Great Walking Terror of the Mysterious Beyond. How did it feel to kill Sharptooth?"
"Technically, his name was Savage-Carnage," Remy butted in.
"Does it look like I care, thin-skin?"
"We did kill Sharptooth," Littlefoot grounded out, standing his ground as the curl-frill stared him down.
Sharpfrill looked them over again as he circled. "Honestly, I don't believe you." He raised an eye-ridge. "I guess you could have taken down a regular ol' sharp-tooth, then I might believe you. But we're talking about the Walking Terror. The Great Sharptooth. The tormentor of flat-teeth and sharp-teeth alike. There was no way a rag-tag group like you could have killed him. I mean, look at you."
He stopped his circling, standing in front of Littlefoot once more. "An undersized whip-tail long-neck, a plate-back that can't speak, a three-horn horn-face with the worst temper I've ever seen. And those are the only ones that could have fought a sharp-tooth. The strange small-crest singer and long-crest flyer are obviously useless, and how much can this thin-skin magic really do? Really, you guys are nothing at all."
"Why you…" Cera brandished her horns again, pawing the ground. "I'll skewer you. Then you can think whether we killed Sharptooth or not."
Sharpfrill laughed. "And then you'll get kicked out of the Valley."
"Maybe it'd be worth it." Cera stepped forward, but the slightly larger beige form of Rhina stepped in front of her. Rhina's pale blue eyes burned in Cera's jade green ones, but Cera did not dare look away. However, she couldn't help but flinch when Rhina slammed a foot onto the ground.
"Calm down, everyone," Littlefoot pushed himself between the two female frill-heads. He swallowed hard when he looked over at Sharpfrill, who was looking rather smug. "Sharpfrill, you shouldn't have said such…stuff to Cera like that." He then turned back to Rhina, though he addressed both of them. "We can share the tree. I wasn't going to tell anyone else but… If you guys want some, I'll let you. There's more than enough."
"Littlefoot!" Cera snarled, swinging her head to glare up at the long-neck, nearly grazing Rhina's flank with her horns. "Don't you dare say that. We need to stand up to these bullies."
"Keep your beak shut, three-horn, and let the long-neck speak for himself." Rhina shoved Cera backward, avoiding the orange three-horn's horns.
"Don't you dare touch me." Cera swung her head. This time, her horns skimmed Rhina's beige hide. "Just because you're bigger than me doesn't mean you can tell me what to do, thick-nose." She stepped forward, nearly thrusting her horns into Rhina's side. "I can't believe your Mr. Thicknose's granddaughter."
Rhina snorted, spinning around and shoving her boney nose into Cera's face. "I can't believe I'm that crazy old dinosaur's granddaughter either. I wish I wasn't." She pushed Cera backward, nearly toppling her over.
"Hey!" Littlefoot shouted, trying to step between the tussling dinosaurs. "Stop!"
None of them listened. Before the others knew it, it was a tussle between the two other frill-heads, Littlefoot and Cera. Only a moment passed before Spike joined the battle, trying to keep the other frill-heads off his friends. Ducky and Petrie stood back fearfully. Remy could only stand back, unable to comprehend what was happening. Her fingers twitched to grab her bow and an arrow, but she knew she could risk hurting one of her friends or even fatally wounding the two antagonists. Littlefoot had already tried to break up the fight, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Still, she tried to shout at them to stop, but there was no use. Even when she tried to wrap grasses around their legs, it wasn't anywhere strong enough to restrain the fighting dinosaurs.
"What is the meaning of this?"
The tussling adolescents stopped as a large grey three-horn strode through the shadows.
"Dad…" Cera backed away from the throngs of the battle, her gaze lowered to the ground.
"All of you, back to your nests! Now!" He shoved Cera aside, leading her to their lonely nest. "I'll have a talk with all your parents." Even though it had been the other frill-heads who started the fight, his gaze burned down on the non-horned creatures.
No longer in the throngs of the fight, everyone slowly slunk off to their nests. The larger of the three dinosaurs sported small cuts and gashes, but the smaller two looked just as guilty. Remy was the only one that didn't seem affected by the entire situation. She just shook her head as she followed behind them.
"Teenagers."