Chapter 12: Old One vs Bron

After walking two days and a whole night without a break, Bron's herd finally arrived at the small valley at the base of a tall mountain range. They were sourced up and tired but the sight of green food and water was well worth their efforts. Greedily, they spread out to eat their fill.

Shorty was overjoyed when he saw the green valley, although it wasn't quite as lush as the lands they usually roamed. Bron watched him with a smile as the boy was feasting upon the leaves he had shaken from a tall tree. Though that smile didn't last long. His herd had hardly arrived when trouble arose…

It was evening when Old One finally returned from her thorough search. That insolent mother of that even more insolent child may have agreed to take her leave but Old One didn't like to trust a word of someone she despised. All day long she had combed through the small valley only to realize that it hadn't been necessary. The longneck who dared to question her leadership was no longer around but it never hurt to make sure.

A little later, the herd had gathered and Old One made the announcement of the banishment. Old One's word was truth and the announcement was therefore taken without any questions whatsoever just as always. Old One had always made sure only to keep those around her that had absolute faith in her lest she'd be overthrown one day. The herd was just about to be disbanded when distant chatter arose, the gentle breeze carrying faint voices that clearly didn't belong to her kin.

"Intruders?" Old One puzzled. If there truly were other dinosaurs entering their valley, she'd have to make sure that they drove those bastards out. It'd take them several months until they could travel on due to the eggs that were being raised after they'd met up with a smaller herd of males. Their valley could hardly grow back the food they ate so they absolutely couldn't share it with anyone. Absolutely not!

"Longnecks, we must find the origin of these voices and drive them out of this place!" Old one shouted. "This valley is ours for as long as we roam here. This is our place; this is our food! Spread out, follow the voices! They should lead us to the culprits!"

Bron was just about to start digging in when the trees further inside the valley began to rumble. He squeezed his eyes to make out what was approaching his herd. Was it something dangerous or just whoever was living there? Would it be a happy greeting? His herd wasn't migratory in nature so meeting other herds was a rather rare situation he didn't have much experience with. His expression lighted up when the images of numerous longnecks emerging from the forests greeted his eyes, however it quickly darkened when he realized that their overall behavior didn't appear all that friendly and aggressive.

"A huge herd of longnecks is living here? And they're… they're all females? What's going on here?" Bron's confusion grew bigger by the second. What should he do in this situation?

"Bron, who are they?" Shorty said through a mouthful of leaves but stopped in the middle of chewing when he noticed Bron's troubled glance. "Bron?"

"I… I don't know but… they look like trouble…" Bron said through gritted teeth. With a sigh, he raised his voice above the carefree chatter of his fellow kin.

"Everyone, enter formation at once! We're not alone here so let's greet our neighbors!"

Quickly, as the other herd of longnecks arrived at the scene, member's of Bron's herd abandoned their meals halfway to aggregate around their leader in a formation that resembled a semi-circle. In the middle of it stood Bron and his first deputy, Will, who was second-in-command. Old One's herd lined up behind their leader with rather firm expressions. Both leaders stepped forward.

"What are you doing here on our lands, stranger?! Leave at once!" Old One spoke up first, taking an aggressive stance and facing Bron bravely who was not only taller but also in much better condition than her. Bron studied the old female with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. This wasn't how to greet other herds for sure, that much he could tell.

"Excuse me, old lady, but… isn't it a little rude to make demands without giving someone your name?" Bron spoke politely, putting a fake smile on as he conversed with the old longneck leading the other herd. "Well, I suppose it'd be rude of me as well to say that without telling you mine, right?" He gave a small wink. "Bron's the name. I'm the leader of this herd behind me."

Old One looked at the younger male with a hateful expressions and a frown. At first, it seemed like she was unwilling to give in to the words of the other herd leader (some members of her herd had been gasping) but, eventually, her lips moved.

"My people refer to me as "Old One". I am the wisest of our kin and thus the one in charge. Perhaps you should show some more respect, young one?"

"Crap, she is sensitive about that?" Bron cursed, realizing his faux pas at once.

"Please forgive me, Old One," he spoke formally while bowing slightly. "It wasn't my intention to come off as rude at all. However, I sense that my herd isn't welcome here."

"That is correct," Old One said drily. "Leave at once, you are not welcome here."

"Great, we are dealing with a witch of all personalities…" Bron realized with obvious discomfort. Diplomacy wasn't something he was accustomed to but, he surmised, he simply had to learn it as he was dealing with this Old One person for the sake of his herd who had travelled all this way for a recharge of energy. For them to be denied access to the large amount of food this valley offered… it was simply something he couldn't allow.

"I'm afraid that we can't accept such a request," Bron explained with a calm but firm voice. "We don't want to intrude but would you give me a chance to explain ourselves? I assure you, Old One, that we won't be here for long."

"You need not explain yourselves. There is no place for another herd of longnecks here. Begone!" Old One shouted rather angrily.

Bron mustered the old female and her followers again, his keen eyes seeing through the game the other herd leader was playing.

"Once again, I request that you hear us out and I assure you that I will listen to your story too," Bron explained calmly but then he added with a sly undertone. "Don't you think I'm easily fooled; I can tell easily that you're not residents. Your legs are sturdy and your bodies strong. You're a migrating herd after all."

Old One's expression froze a little but she recovered almost instantly.

"It does not matter whether we are a herd migratory in nature! Right now, this is where we reside and this is as far as we're letting you in!"

Bron flinched a little. No matter what he said, no matter how polite he was acting, he was talking to a wall thicker than the skull of a threehorn. The other herd did not falter even though he had numbers in his favors. He didn't like to give in that easily though.

"Listen, we are on a great journey and we do not, I repeat, we do not intend to stay!" Bron repeated, almost begging for the old female to understand. "Let us have a meal and allow us to rest for a night and we'll be gone again. I'm giving you my word on that."

"Oh?" Old One said, unimpressed. "Listen, young one, no matter what nonsense you are throwing at me, my decision has already been cast. You shall not enter this valley!"

Shorty trembled with rage. What problem did this big old longneck even have? He was about to scream at Bron to start acting more fierce but Bron had no intention of doing so just yet.

"May I ask why you won't let us in?" Bron inquired, calm on the outside but annoyance and anger growing within his stomach. "I hate to repeat myself but we're just peaceful travellers stopping by at this valley for a quick snack before going our way again. Don't you think it'd be a little cruel to send us back into the deserts?"

"There is no fair when it comes to survival!" Old One blurted out angrily. "I have a herd to feed and food needs to last us until our offspring is ready to move! Only the wellbeing of my people concerns me, you're in the way!"

"Offspring without males? Well, I'm not gonna ask…"

"Unfortunately," Bron said in a stern voice. "You're not the only one with a herd to feed. Let's not fight but come to an agreement. Shall we?"

"There is no agreement with your kin that would turn out in our favor, unless you were to strengthen our ranks but, if I take a good look at your people, I doubt they would be of any use for me…"

Suddenly, Bron's deputy, Will, stepped forward to whisper something into Bron's ear. Bron quickly considered and then nodded.

"Well, I regret that you're not willing to negotiate, Old One," he exclaimed, his voice making painfully sure that he meant it. "Before we continue this, allow me to verify something… you haven't had… issues with sleepstories, have you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Old One grunted but the reaction of her followers gave her away. Bron smiled.

"Very well, so you have decided against going? That is too unfortunate… don't you wonder what's going to happen?"

"You can die in the deserts for all I care, take your leave now!" the old dinosaur screamed furiously, her followers stepping closer to their leader to symbolize the threat hanging tangible in the air.

"Very well, I got the information I wanted anyhow…" Bron grunted. His face hardening, nodding towards his deputy, his tone changed.

"Make demands until your bones fall apart, old lady," he said with authority that matched Old One's. The punch definitely showed its effects immediately. The old dinosaur staggered.

"H-how dare you belittle me, young one?! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME?!" Old one was furious now.

"I'm sorry but my herd is tired from walking and starved. If you won't let us eat here, we'll have to resort to violence and if I take a good look at your herd… well, I daresay that we're more likely to get what we want," Bron gave Old One a firm look. "If the wellbeing of your herd is really what you care about most, then you should back down now."

"You little…" Old One hissed, unwilling to back down but slowly catching that the other herd was indeed bigger in numbers and stature.

"Alternatively, if I may speak…" the deep, threatening voice of Will, Bron's deputy, shook the forest as he stepped forward to stand aside his leader. "We could also settle this with a fight between the strongest of each herd only. I have faith in my herd and their strength but a serious fight with a herd of your size would surely result in unnecessary casualties on both ends."

Will was not only very tall but his muscles and overall mass were quite an asset to consider. His dark-grey skin and his orange eyes glimmering with aggression only aided his intimidating presence. Walking up to Old One he added.

"I will offer to fight for my herd. If you have anyone matching my strength in your herd, then we could settle things this way… of course you could also back away. Your choice, old hag…"

Old One stammered but didn't bring out any coherent words anymore. Bron took the opportunity to underline his deputies words.

"Longnecks, form a wall five longnecks thick and slowly advance. Let's show them our strength and make them grant us a meal and a place to stay the night!" Bron ordered and noted with a smile when his herd listened without complaints. His herd was the closest to a family he had left and he was willing to protect it with everything he had and, likewise, his herd had absolute faith in him.

Old One had a terrified look on her face. Members of her herd soon began to back away as the wall of longnecks under Bron's command slowly drove them further into the valley.

"FINE!" Old One eventually screamed. "Have your meal and then leave at once!"

"Thank you," Bron simply said with a slightly smug smile. "You could have granted us just that right from the start, you know?"

"Old hag, try to pull something funny and we'll definitely be fighting for survival, is that clear?" Will added with a fierce stare, Old One almost falling as she stumbled across a root while on the retreat, timid as a youngling. Angrily, she scowled before turning around and leading her herd back into the deeper parts of the valley but not before making one last, desperate attempt to scare them.

"I'll kill anyone still roaming this land tomorrow after the mighty Great Circle rises… Enjoy your stay while it lasts… although it will be awfully, awfully short…"

Bron and Will watched the old dinosaur take her leave until she disappeared in the foliage of the forest. Exchanging glances while everyone resumed their feast, Bron commented.

"Well, I don't think I'd be staying here for very long even if I wanted to…"

"This "Old One" has a screw loose if yer ask me…" Will grunted.

"Let's have a meal too, shall we?" Bron suggested.

"We really showed them!" Shorty boasted as he gobbled up more and more green food greedily.

Bron had soon reunited with the little troublemaker, stuffing himself with as much food as he could and, instinctively, everyone did the same, not knowing when the next meal would wait for them.

"We sure did, huh?" he mused as he ate. "Although I had hoped for this to go more smoothly. Oh well…"

"Why did that old longneck act like a moron anyway? She had no chance to begin with!" Shorty puzzled aloud with some anger and confusion mixing into his statement.

"There was a clash of interest, that's all," Bron spoke sadly. "About one thing, she was perfectly correct. There's no fair when it comes to survival. She was fighting for the survival of her herd. Still, I wouldn't say she was approaching us correctly… Shorty?"

"Hmm?" Shorty mumbled through his stuffed mouth. Had the boy even been listening?

"Have you noticed anything strange about that old herd leader? Or about her herd?"

"You mean other than her being a moron? Nope."

Bron chuckled at this.

"Well, I suppose that wasn't hard to catch, was it?" He gave Shorty a wink. "Anyway, I suppose she's a great example to teach you a few things about herds…"

"Huh?" Shorty looked up from his meal.

"You see, Shorty, that wasn't an ordinary herd we just met…" Bron began explaining to the boy. "Take that leader for instance. There are various qualifications a herd leader should have. Any come to your mind?"

"You've gotta be brave and strong!" Shorty answered promptly with slight admiration apparent on his expression. Bron laughed.

"Haha, is that how you think of me, Shorty?" The grown-up gave the little boy a playful push. "Well, that's certainly one quality favouring a leading position, however just being brave isn't getting you very far, you know? If you look at that old herd leader we fought with, she certainly didn't obtain that position through strength. She's old after all. If old dinosaurs are in charge, it's often because they're experienced and wise. Wisdom can get others to follow you just as much as strength and bravery."

"I suppose so…" Shorty said with a funny look on his face. "But that leader wasn't wise at all… I mean she shoulda known we're stronger than them but she still tried to chase us away. You gotta be the stronger one if you're picking a fight with someone or you're just stupid!"

"Can't argue with you there though I wonder who taught you that mindset…" Bron said, his curious glance resting on Shorty's back for a second who had gone back to munching very suddenly. "Well, to be frank, I don't know why that old longneck is the leader of that herd either. She held a lot of authority and pride which are also qualities favourable for a leading position, however that's the only qualities I could sense. She had no tact and didn't even consider negotiating with us. Besides, I don't think she's fair. Shorty, remember one thing."

Shorty finally looked up again.

"The most important thing is that you are fair to the people that are following you."

"I… see," Shorty mumbled thoughtfully though he didn't really grasp onto it.

"From what I can gather from our encounter, that herd is led in a very authoritative manner. That old longneck's word is rule and anyone disobeying her will be tossed out… well, that's the vibe I'm getting from that herd anyway. There were no males either as far as I could tell."

"Oh really?" Shorty piped up.

"Do you ever pay attention?" Bron teased with a witty look on his face.

"I usually do but I was hungry," Shorty said innocently which made Bron laugh.

"Oh well, just remember what I just told you, alright?"

"Sure but… what exactly makes you a fair leader?" Shorty puzzled. "I didn't really get it yet…"

"Being fair means treating everyone the same; being fair also means giving everyone a voice," Bron explained with a slight smile. "You see, Shorty, I could make most decisions on my own just fine but every now and then I might make one that the herd disapproves of. Part of the reason why I'm the undisputed leader of our herd is because I listen to my followers. In the herd I was part of when I was a kid like you, there would be constant fighting by the higher-ups because they all wanted to lead the herd but everyone had a different idea about leadership. It… wasn't pretty and I was trying to avoid that at all costs when I became leader of this herd, you see?"

"Oh, that totally makes sense!" Shorty declared after a while.

"I'm glad that you understand," Bron said with a smile. "Well, eat up. After taking a sip from the nearby watering hole, it's time to rest."

"Alright!" Shorty replied, quite unusually so without any resistance. The long march had taken its toll on him after all, Bron mused with a slightly mirthful smile.

Little later, they fell to sleep like rocks without another word, the combination of no sleep and full bellies doing its effective work.

Another day had passed for Ali. The Bright Circle had finally taken her leave and the unchanging deserts were finally a little more bearable to travel. Albeit Ali was extremely exhausted and quite sleepy, she knew that she had to take advantage of the cooler temperatures at night to get closer to her goal and escape from those deserts before they could take their toll on her young body. It wasn't that unusual to walk well into the night during migrations so Ali was used to it although she would usually let her mother carry her from time to time. A few days with only half a night of sleep were probably no big deal if it meant escaping those hostile, lifeless lands a day or two sooner so Ali kept pushing her little legs on, walking with double speed, the fear of a search party finding her or starving before achieving her goal powering her on regardless of how much those little legs ached. She could lose here. She simply mustn't. Only when the Night Circle passed its highest point on the night sky, did Ali allow her body to rest but at the first sign of the next day, she would rise again and continue to push on… until she'd arrive at that place… where Littlefoot would be!

Here you go, a heavily improved version of the old scene. Bron wasn't even present in the old version which completely changed my options here. I hope I was able to work out the central theme of this chapter, to point out the differences in leadership between these two herds. Meanwhile, Ali is racing away from her mother. Though, will she be able to keep up that pace for very long? Time will tell ;)

Next chapter should be about Littlefoot.

The Rhombus chapter 12 . Jul 9

"The banter at the beginning of this chapter was quite well done. The interchange between a food-obsessed Shorty and a wise (and a bit teasing) Bron made for a relatable exchange between the two. It also highlights what the herd is risking in this journey in following their feelings to go to a totally new, and unknown, destination.

The use of voting here again shows the somewhat democratic nature of Bron's herd, which is understandable considering the nature of its genesis. It was born of other longnecks joining it of their own free will and thus some degree of democratic choice is understandable when a major decision needs to be made, even if Bron is the leader in most day-to-day respects.

The parting of Littlefoot from his friends was handled in a rather straightforward fashion, but the characterizations of each of the gang was handled well. One can clearly get an appreciation for Cera's annoyance of Littlefoot dashing off on an adventure to follow something he saw in a sleep story. That being said there is some delicious irony in her emotions here on that the gang has certainly gone on adventures for sillier reasons in the past… which I am sure will factor in to their decisions later on in this story.

As for Ali's storyline it seems that her decision in the heat of the moment has had more of an immediate effect than I would have assumed. Here we can see the 'collective responsibility' of a family for its young being applied in the herd, and it is clear the tensions from Ali's insolence has spilled over in the Old One's opinion of the situation. The reaction of Ali's mother is understandable considering the Old One's annoyance and lack of empathy, but it has placed her in just as perilous of a situation as her daughter.

Overall this chapter has moved forward all three storylines quite nicely. Although I am unsure of the characterization of the Old One in her meeting with Ali's mother, the other characters seemed quite in-character to me and their banter and thoughts were quite relatable. I look forward to seeing how all three of our journeying parties fare in the coming chapter. :)"

Thanks for your review, rhombus! ::)

I'm glad that you like the Bron-Shorty dialogue here. Moreover, you are completely right that the genesis of Bron's herd contributes to the democratic nature of it although there are a few more factors as to why Bron chose that kind of style to lead.

Oh, that comment about the gang going on adventures is glorious, I should really make the others say something like that to convince Cera of going after Littlefoot :DD

Quite so have Ali's action an immediate effect. You're quite right that Ali's mother is in hardly a better spot now that she's wandering around on her own too but what options did she have really after getting banned from the herd? Time will tell if she'll be able to catch up with Ali.

Old One's characterization is not canon quite on purpose. It's essentially my personal headcanon that she's a bit evil, leading a herd consisting of females only, acting up to the role of a dictatory matriach. Ali never seemed to have any friends in her herd and, since this would contribute greatly to a lack of children in the herd, I think it makes sense in a way.

Guest chapter 12 . Jul 9

"I like what you've continued to do with Shorty here, hilhis dynamic with Bron definitely makes him a more three dimensional character than the previous interpretation from the original. Hopefully this development continues to some extent even when he begins to deal with the repercussions of his past. As for Littlefoot, I'm glad you made his departure more emotional than it was in the film. Dealing with relative isolation is something he clearly struggles with throughout the series although I hardly ever see it used by authors. Typical they give him PTSD, but a form of separation anxiety seems far more applicable given what we see in the films. Additionally making it emotional lends more gravitas to going into the mysterious beyond. The films eventually forgot that this is a big deal and I like that it isn't treated nonchalantly here. I'm glad that, while cera is initially cold towards Littlefoot, she quickly regrets her actions. Good sign of personal growth. Regarding Ali and her mother, as I've said before, I'm glad you didn't demonize her. Yes their fight got heated and she said some things she shouldn't have, but she clearly still cares about her daughter. The Old One's cold response towards the news that Ali is missing and banishing her mother is callous but not out of character for her. After all she never sent a rescue party to the land of mists to retrieve Littlefoot and Ali despite knowing exactly where they were and having the resources to do so."

Thanks for the review!

I shall be attempting to make Shorty 4-dimensional even, how about that? :P Kidding of course but I'll try my best haha

I completely agree about Littlefoot here. His journey to the Mysterious Beyond shouldn't sound like it's a happy-go-lucky trip with no hardship whatsoever. I just need to remind myself not to ignore this as I write his part, given that I'm still referencing the movie to a great extend at least as far as locations are concerned.

I'm glad that you like my portrayal of Ali, her mother and Old One too! You're indeed right about Old One's behavior in 4!