Greetings and salutations! In case you're wondering that's a reference from the 1989 movie 'Heathers' of which I am starring as JD in the musical that I'm involved in.
Sorry again for a long wait. I only recently was able to find time to edit this chapter to its final copy, in due part to the amount of work I have to do combined with the musical. And holy shit was this a long chapter to write. But it came out really well and I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 10 is currently in progress, and I hope to have it out before Thanksgiving.
Thank you all for supporting me in this fic. I hope you enjoy! As always, please read and review:)
Chapter 9. Many Meetings
The bright circle slowly crept over the walls of the Great Valley, its rays spreading down upon a hole on the side of a cliff on the western side of the encirclement.
Petrie slowly opened his eyes, smacking his lips in thirst, still very drowsy from sleep. He somewhat lamented the fact that his mother chose this spot to make her nest. Every morning the sun would strike almost precisely within their confine among the rocks onto his sleeping spot, which made further snoozing basically impossible. He supposed he should be used to it by now, but that didn't make it any less of a nuisance.
Might as well get up, he thought groggily, as his mother and siblings continued their slumber.
He lifted up his body and made his way down the ledge towards his favorite take off spot. It had a particularly nice overview of the Valley in all its splendor, it also offered a prime route to the watering hole.
However, someone was already there.
Squinting his eyes, Petrie saw that it was none other than his Uncle Pterano. While it was not uncommon for him to visit his nieces and nephews after a week of observation in the Mysterious Beyond, he never arrived at this time of day. His uncle was a creature of habit, and did not do anything out of sync without reason.
Puzzled, Petrie flew down next to Pterano.
"Hello, Uncle, what you doing up so early?"
Pterano gave a warm smile.
"Hello, Petrie. It just so happens my favorite time of the day is the rising of the Bright Circle. I usually find a nice secluded spot to observe it take its place in the sky. It holds the promise of a brand new day, a fresh start, a beacon of hope to all who witness its beauty."
The young flyer nodded sleepily. He normally was more taken in by his uncle's broad proclamations but he was too tired for that kind of enthusiasm.
"I could also ask you the same thing," Pterano continued. "Why are you up this early? At your age, my mother could scarcely move me out of the nest," he said with a chuckle.
"Sun woke me," Petrie squeaked tiredly, then quickly covered his mouth in his embarrassment. This did not go unnoticed by Pterano.
"Yes," he said scratching his chin. "I thought something was off with your voice the other day. If I am not mistaken, you are going through the Great Change are you not?"
"How you know that?" Petrie asked, slightly surprised.
"My dear boy, I went through the same changes as you did. We grown ups were all young once. We are no strangers to your predicaments."
Petrie acknowledged this with a nod.
"Wish others knew what it's like," he said indicating his siblings, still fast asleep up in the nest.
"Yes, your mother mentioned you've been having trouble with them lately. In particular one incident where you screeched at your brother. He was quite frightened."
The teenage flyer looked down guiltily.
"You heard about that huh?"
He felt his face turn upwards towards his uncle's, who gazed at him with compassion and without judgement.
"Petrie, none of this is easy for you. It wasn't for me, your mother, or anyone else in our family. Your brothers and sisters can expect the same when the time comes. It just so happens you are an early bloomer in the Time of the Great Change."
"And it stink worse than Sharptooth breath."
His uncle chuckled slightly at that remark.
"Be that as it may, I must encourage you to have patience when it comes to your siblings and their ignorance. As I said before, what is happening to you while happen to them in time and they will understand your frustration. As for your voice, be aware of the effect it can have on others. It may sound rather…unimpressive now, but I can already tell it will powerful and strong."
Petrie was more than a little surprised. For all he knew, the cracks in his voice indicated nothing of the sort.
"How you know?"
"I had the exact same problem at your age. My voice creaked and cracked like trees in a great storm," he embellished dramatically. "But as I grew older, I developed one of the strongest, sophisticated calls among the flyers."
"Call?" Petrie asked, not entirely understanding his uncle.
Pterano cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, and shifted his head towards the slowly rising sun.
"There is another matter I need to speak to you about, Petrie," he said softly. "One that you have been unaware of your whole life, but old enough to comprehend now. One that pertains specifically to our species."
"Me not get what you saying, Uncle Pterano."
"Your mother has told me of your lessons with the Thicknose regarding the Great Change."
"Me no want to get into details…"
"Understandable of course. By now you must know the basic idea of mating and marriage. For us Flyers, part of that process involves a particular call. When a male flyer desires a female, he issues a sound from his throat that will attract her. Each male has a call unique to him and some are more desirable than others."
"So you saying I have strong call?"
"Yes, I believe you will have a particularly unique call when you mature and will have no trouble in getting the attention of many female flyers," Pterano said with a wink. However, he soon frowned.
"But there is a particular problem with our way of 'procreating' so to speak. And this is what I want to impress upon you most of all."
Petrie did not often see his uncle like this. He often liked to exaggerate and create an aura of finesse and strength others did not possess. But this was different. There was no self importance or grand proclamations.
Pterano seemed to be taken in by the sunrise, complimented by a gentle breeze, for a moment before continuing.
"Petrie, our species have many fine qualities and capabilities not found in other dinosaurs. We soar above them, able to see far and wide, reach the highest peaks and cross the widest oceans. However, what I have come to realize over the years, especially during my time in exile, is that we Flyers are not without our flaws. I and many others of our kind suffer too often from grandeur and the overestimation of our own importance, especially among the males."
He looked at Petrie more seriously than he ever did.
"Have you ever wondered where your father is?"
It was such an odd question the young flyer almost didn't know what to make of it. It didn't seem all that relevant to the conversation.
"Me no know. Me never meet him."
Come to think of it, Petrie thought, it strange me never meet my dad. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Spike all have one, but not me.
"There is a reason for that," Pterano explained. "You see, unlike most dinosaurs in the Valley, raising young is a single parent job among Flyers. It is common among males to leave the nest after the female has laid her eggs for the reasons I just explained to you. As a consequence, most young Flyers never meet their fathers."
Petrie really didn't know what to say. Part of him felt numb, but the other half felt confused at the revelation.
"Mr. Thicknose no mention that part of Great Change," he muttered.
"How should he know?" said Pterano. "For all his wisdom, he is a creature of the ground, and likely has very little experience with the habits of flyers. Especially the more intricate ones."
"Why you telling me this, Uncle?" Petrie asked suddenly. He wasn't sure why, just that his uncle never did anything without reason.
"Because, Petrie," the older flyer replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I care about you a great deal and I don't want you to repeat the same mistakes I did. The mistakes that too many a flyer have made throughout our lives. You have a great adventurous spirit, but that must not get in the way of what matters most: family."
He turned towards the nest, observing his sister with care.
"Uncle, did you ever have family you never meet?"
It was a potent question, but one Pterano knew he needed to answer honestly.
He trusts me even if others of the Valley do not. I owe him the truth at the very least.
"Yes I have. I was involved with many female flyers after my first exile from the Valley. There are probably some within the Mysterious Beyond that carry my bloodline that will never know my name. I'm not proud of that fact, which is why I hope that you will heed my words, Petrie. There is more to life than ourselves, we must be vigilant in showing our love and care for those closest to us."
Petrie could sense another motivation within his Uncle's words. Not anything sinister, but guilt. The mark of a flyer who has seen much and lost even more.
"Uncle, I know you still feel bad about the past but…"
"As I should my growing nephew. But if there has been one benefit to all that has happened, it's that I have grown wiser for it. I am not the same creature I once was. I can help your mother; I can help the Great Valley. I can teach you these lessons I'm still learning. It's my way of giving back, but above all else, I want you to grow into the fabulous, fearless flyer I know you will become one day."
The teenage flyer was still processing this information. That his gender was notorious for abandoning their nests was only half the shock, the fact remained there was still much about his own species he did not know. It was disconcerting to say the least.
The sun was almost over the peaks of the mountain that spread all around the valley. Some dinosaurs below were already waking from their slumber, preparing for another day.
"Promise me, you will not make the same errors your foolish uncle did," Pterano. "When you grow and find a wife, stay and cherish her. Please, remain grounded, do not lose your heads in the clouds like so many of our species have."
"Me promise," Petrie said sincerely. "Though me no like girls yet."
"Neither did I at the beginning of the Great Change," laughed Pterano. "But you will soon enough. There are plenty of females out there, and I'm sure more than one will take a liking to you."
Petrie rolled his eyes at his only Uncle's teasing, but smiled just the same. They both peered down at the Valley below, the falls sparkling in the distance, dew dripping of the trees making the tree stars' succulent and ripe for eating.
"Look at them, Petrie," Pterano said in barely more than a whisper. "Look at what's around us. We have the blessing of living in this beautiful place, and the ability to see it all from where no other creature can observe. A long time ago I thought this gave us divine right as the true rulers of our world, the right to do anything we pleased. But it does not do to go through life being selfish. That's one thing I can say for certain."
Turning his beak back towards his nephew he cleared his throat.
"Well, I believe I've nearly talked you to death," he joked. "I daresay you're thirsty, let's go to the falls for an early morning drink, shall we? Your mother and siblings can join us once they awaken."
"You read my mind, Uncle," Petrie replied.
Without another word, the two Flyers took off through the air, soaring into the sky on their way to the Thundering Falls in the land they both called 'paradise'.
Ducky knew she was in trouble.
Though she and her mother had not been on great terms of late, this latest incident would probably prove to be the straw that broke the Longneck's back.
Sitting by the nest, she could hear her mother in fervent discussion from Mrs. Mia.
Crossing her arms, she frowned while contemplating just how badly she was going to get yelled at when that conversation was over.
She felt a nudge from behind her and saw it was Spike trying to cheer her up, to which she gave a small smile but did not soothe her spirits.
"Oh, Spike, I would rather be trapped in the sinking sand than deal with this. Yup, yup, yup."
The Stegosaurus gave a small noise of sympathy before nestling himself beside her in a show of support. He then groaned mightily and it was no mystery why. The plates on his back and had grown quite a bit since their talk with Mr. Thicknose, and small spikes were beginning to protrude from his tail. But the process was still quite painful for Spike, and to make matters worse, his appetite showed no signs of slowing down.
Ducky empathized with her poor brother. Though she did not have to worry about her own stomach quite as much, nor plates and spikes on her tail, she had struggling with problems of her own. Emotionally she felt bewildered, her mood could change at the drop of a rock and without warning. One day she had been happily munching on some water plants, the next she had felt so sad that she took refuge in the sheltering grass as to not show herself crying. Anything could set her off, and that was the main reason she found herself in her current predicament.
Her mother had just finished with Mrs. Mia and was marching back over to her and Spike, and she did not look pleased.
"Well," she said putting her hands on her hips, as stern as she ever had been. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"It wasn't my fault, Momma, I…"
"I don't want to hear excuses young lady, this time you've simply gone too far. You nearly ruined Mrs. Mia's nest and crushed her eggs!"
"It was an accident!" Ducky protested. "I didn't mean to."
"Ducky, it's not just that that concerns me. When she saw you had tripped and fallen over her nest, you didn't even offer an apology. In fact, you insulted her!"
"It's not my problem she always chooses the worst places for her babies. Honestly, who builds a nest in the middle of a pile of dirt?"
"That's not the point!" her mother cried. "Honestly, what has gotten into you? You as well!" she said indicating Spike.
The spiketail grunted in protest but was cut off.
"Spike, you nearly ate the entire grassy knoll the other day! I understand your kind eats more than other dinosaurs but…"
"Do not talk to Spike that way! No, no, no!" Ducky yelled angrily. "Or have you forgotten he's your son? It is not his fault he is the way he is."
"Ducky, I'm warning you. You do not want me to get your father involved…"
"Go ahead! It would be a nice change from you nagging at me all day."
Her mother looked angrier than Ducky had ever seen her, but just as soon as she looked like a volcano about to explode, she calmed down and sighed.
"Ducky, Spike, I understand you two are going through some difficult changes right now but that does not give the right to act irresponsibly. Soon you will be adults and…"
"It would help if you actually decided to talk to us every now and then about it instead of ignoring and then yelling at us when we do something you think is bad," Ducky countered. "Littlefoot gets showed all kinds of things from his dad and grandparents, Cera and her dad too, Petrie and his family…"
"I am sorry I'm such a poor parent to you," Mrs. Swimmer replied coldly. "But I am not Littlefoot's, Cera's, or Petrie's guardians. They can do as they please. With you two I…"
"You just don't get it do you?!" Ducky yelled. "You never have! I'm beginning to think Spike and I are better off on our own, we would, we would."
Her mother's mouth dropped open wide in shock, but before she could retort, a loud call was echoed throughout the valley. All members of the Valley were required.
"We are not done with this conversation," she said turning back to them.
"No, but I am," Ducky huffed. "Come on, Spike."
Angrily she got up, her brother along with her and they walked past their mother towards the meeting site, as if she were barely there.
Susa Duckbill sighed, tears forming in her eyes. Quickly she wiped them and began her own trudge towards the meeting site.
Where did I go wrong with them? She thought to herself.
And worst of all, there was no answer to be had.
The dinosaurs of the Great Valley gathered around the plains that laid before the entrance to their home. Many dinosaurs had come during the most fertile part of the year, many searching for greener pastures, some to escape the Mysterious Beyond, others to congregate and meet others of their kind. It was as Pterano had said.
But above all, Littlefoot was just happy to see his dad again. He could hardly contain his excitement as a large herd of longnecks arrived, with an enormous, copper colored longneck at the forefront.
At first glance, father and son ran over to each other in ecstatic happiness.
"Dad!"
"Littlefoot!"
They embraced by nuzzling their heads against each other, taking in one another's presence with relish.
As they broke apart, Bron surveyed his son with a mix of surprise and amazement.
"Will you look at that? You're twice as large since the last time I saw you. What a fine, young Longneck you've become," he said proudly.
"Haha thanks, Dad," Littlefoot laughed, getting an extra nuzzle from his dad. "I can't take all the credit. The Time of Great Growing has a lot to do with it."
"Of course, how could I forget?" Bron said. "I only wish I had been there to witness the start of it. I've already missed too many crucial moments in your life."
"Don't feel guilty, Bron," said Grandpa Longneck appearing now with his wife by his side. "You couldn't have possibly known when this time would come for Littlefoot. We've been teaching him quite well."
"Papa Longneck," Bron greeted warmly. "Mama Longneck."
"It's good to see you, Bron," Grandma Longneck said smiling. "Littlefoot has hardly slept since the knowledge of your coming."
"Neither have I quite frankly," Bron laughed. "Nor has someone else."
He stepped aside to reveal a green Brachiosaurus, just as large as Littlefoot but no less enthusiastic.
"Hey, Shorty," Littlefoot grinned.
"Hey yourself," Shorty grinned back.
Soon enough the two Longnecks were laughing and wrestling with each other, each coming perilously close to knocking other members of Bron's herd off balance.
"Careful you two," chuckled Bron as the adult Longnecks scrambled to get out of the way.
The sentiment was not shared by all however, as Topps came up to survey the crowd for himself, eyeing Bron suspiciously.
"So…you're Littlefoot's father eh?"
"That's right."
"How do we know you and your lot won't eat more than your share of green food here in the Valley?"
"Mr. Threehorn…" started Grandpa but Bron cut him off wisely.
"It's quite alright, Papa Longneck," Bron said easily. He turned his head towards the cynical old Triceratops.
"I understand your concerns sir, but rest assured, me and my herd will not be staying longer past the warm season. And despite our size I can also assure you we will not consume more than we need."
Topps seemed so taken aback by the politeness and easy going demeanor of the huge longneck, he seemed momentarily at a loss for words. Clearly, he had been expecting more of a fight.
"Well I…uh…yes. See that you do."
Chuckling good naturedly, Bron stood tall, as if to make an announcement.
"Excuse me, where are my manners? There are several others here I'm sure you'd like to meet."
He moved aside his enormous body to reveal a whole herd of dinosaurs, around 30 strong. Many longnecks were among them, but there were also around half a dozen threehorns, swimmers, and even a few flyers. Immediately, they began to converse with their hosts, mingling accordingly.
As Littlefoot watched, he noticed how tired and relieved the visiting combined herd seemed. Come to think of it, it wasn't that common for different leaf eating species to interact with one another outside the Great Valley. Looking at Shorty, he had the same exhausted appearance. He was about to ask about this, until his dad interrupted his train of thought.
"Littlefoot, I almost forgot," he said stepping towards his two sons. "There's someone here who claims she knows you. In fact, she's been talking about you nonstop ever our entire way here."
Shorty snickered at this, leaving Littlefoot puzzled as to who this could be, but this question was put to rest in a matter of seconds as a familiar female longneck ran up to greet him.
"Littlefoot!"
"Ali?"
She too had grown quite a bit since the last time he saw her, almost as big as he was, and still as energetic as ever. She tackled him to the ground, licking his face, and he laughed at the gesture of affection. There was no doubt about it, his cousins were among the herd as well.
"Wow, Ali," he said getting back up. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Neither was I until about a week ago when my herd and I joined up with your dad here."
Littlefoot smiled and gave her a small nudge.
"Well then, this is quite the party isn't it?"
"I'll say," agreed Shorty. "There's more longnecks here than you can shake a stick at."
"So where's your mom?" Littlefoot asked.
"Over there," Ali said indicating her head towards a paler, green longneck who was currently conversing with Littlefoot's grandparents.
"Seems like your whole herd is here." The he noticed something.
"Hey, where's the Old One?"
At this, Ali looked downcast.
"She died not too long ago. That's partially the reason why we joined your dad's herd. We needed to…"
All of a sudden, Shorty coughed loudly and subtlety shook his head at the female. It didn't go unnoticed. It only confirmed to Littlefoot there was more to this little visit met the eye. But he decided to let it go for now and try to get an answer later when he and Shorty were alone. He knew his brother wouldn't hold back the truth from him.
Or would he?
"So," he said, acting as if he didn't see their little exchange. "I assume you know Shorty then."
"I have!" she exclaimed brightly. "I actually scared him half to death when we first met."
Shorty rolled his eyes and assumed a defensive posture. "Please, you did not," he said while Ali giggled.
Meanwhile, Cera was dealing with introductions of her own. Unfortunately, they were not as pleasant as Littlefoot's.
Her dad was chatting up a threehorn family that had traveled with Bron, a family that just so happened to have three young bulls. She had no desire to stand there and watch her father size up these potential suitors, but it was a cardinal sin among her kind to turn your back to another group of threehorns. It was considered both an insult and a weakness.
"Cera! Come here," her father said calling her over.
Reluctantly, she stepped up alongside him.
"Yes, daddy?" she asked as politely as she could muster without blowing a fuse.
"I'd like you to meet Blackhorn and his family."
Cera looked at the adult threehorns. Blackhorn was a beige color with very dark brown horns, and held an unreadable expression of neutrality. The yellow threehorn to his right appeared to be his wife, and she gave a small smile.
Cera knew what to do in these situations. As was custom, she gave a strong but polite gesture by lowering her head slightly, and looking at Blackhorn directly in the eye.
"Please to meet you, Blackhorn."
Nodding his head in approval, the big male Triceratops replied,
"The same to you, young Cera. This of course, is Tina, my wife," he said directing his head towards the yellow female.
"Hello, Cera," she said kindly.
"And these are my boys," Blackhorn said with beaming pride, as three others stepped forward. "Frank, Tumar, and Pummel."
Wow, that's original, Cera thought with an inside chuckle to herself.
"Turns out, they have three young males around your age," Topps laughed awkwardly. "Who knew?"
Yeah, who knew? Way to go dad.
"Yes, it was quite the pleasant surprise to us as well," Tina said giving another smile.
Cera observed the young males up and down, and what she saw did not impress her. Frank seemed to be the oldest, as he was the bigger of the three. He was of a similar color to his father and also held the same neutral expression, but with it, an air of cockiness and superiority. Underneath that tough exterior was another muscleheaded bull.
Tree sweet didn't fall far from the tree there.
As for the rest, Tumar was the middle child, having a more brownish color and was slightly smaller than Frank. He appeared to bored and wholly unimpressed by this whole affair. Pummel was the smallest and had his mother's color. His attention was focused on a big rock nearby, preparing to charge in order to knock it down. In other words, this was pretty typical for Cera.
Frank stepped forward and gave an arrogant grin.
"Hey, Cera," he said in what he probably thought was the smoothest tone in the world.
"Hey," she said back, not wanting to encourage this jerk to try anything more than that.
"You ever met a threehorn like me?" he said waggling his eyebrows.
Cera forced herself not to retch at that statement.
"Nope," she replied masking her sarcasm.
"Well I should think not," Frank grinned toothily, completely missing her barb.
Cera's anger was on the rise and at this point, she was very close to giving this idiot a piece of her mind, decorum be damned. Fortunately, Tria caught onto this and intervened.
"Cera, why don't you go find your friends," she said cautiously. "Your father and I need to talk privately with our guests."
Topps looked as though he objected to this, but a stern look from Tria prevented him from outright voicing his displeasure.
Not about to question her good fortune, Cera nodded vigorously and wasted no time in scampering off to find Petrie, Ducky, and Spike. As she ran, she could hear the faint voices of the adults in the background.
"I'm sorry about that Blackhorn, Cera can be a bit mistrustful towards those she first meets
"I do hope you're correct Topps. My oldest is looking to mate soon and he does not like taking 'no' for answer."
Oh I'll give you more than a 'no' you pompous old windbag, Cera thought furiously, the anger again threatening to explode from within her.
She took a deep breath and counted to ten. It was not the time to unleash her fury. There was a time and place to get mad, and losing her cool now would be unwise.
Just find the others, she consoled herself.
It was just about all she could do at this point.
Littlefoot was laughing and making good chatter with Shorty and Ali when his grandparents came up to them.
"Well, Shorty, nice to see you again," Grandpa Longneck said brightly.
"You as well, sir," Shorty said respectfully.
"My boy, please, I've told before. Call me Grandpa."
"Yes, sir, Grandpa."
"Some things never change," laughed the old longneck.
"Funny, you're never this polite around me or Bron," Littlefoot muttered in his brother's ear, which earned him a prompt whack on the tail.
"And Ali, good to see you as well," Grandma Longneck said, turning her gaze towards the young female.
"Thank you, Mrs. Longneck," Ali said giving a bow.
"I must admit, when we heard Bron was coming with his herd, we were not expecting our cousins. The Old one is never very precise in her visits."
"Speaking of which, where is she?" inquired Grandpa Longneck. "I've not seen her at all since you and your herd arrived."
Ali appeared nervous, as though she did not want to talk about the experience a second time. But then again, Littlefoot did not recall Ali specifying what had happened to their leader, only that she had died. Before she could speak however, Bron came up and interjected.
"It's a long story Papa Longneck," he said softly. "I won't burden Ali here with having to tell it."
"Indeed, her mother seemed reluctant as well to tell us what occurred on their journey."
"Bron," Grandma Longneck said, catching on that all was not well with their visitors. "What's going on?"
Littlefoot's concern rose another level at the confirmation something was truly wrong. But before he could brood further on those thoughts, an incredible force knocked him on the ground and on his side out of nowhere.
"ARGH!"
He looked up to see a confident, vivacious orange threehorn looking down on him.
"Hiya Longneck."
"Why am I not surprised?" he groaned. He could hear Ali giggling behind him, while Petrie, Ducky, and Spike were laughing. Even his dad and grandparents shared a chuckle.
"You have got to stop doing that," Littlefoot said getting back up.
"Oh come on, that was just a love tap," Cera teased.
"Yeah, try 'earthshake."
"Ah, you must be that young threehorn my son likes to talk about," Bron said eyeing Cera with great amusement.
"Oh really? Does he talk about how I always knock his tail in the dirt?" the Triceratops smirked.
"He did fail to mention that part," Bron laughed, while Littlefoot gave Cera a half-dirty look, which she responded with batting her eyelashes at him, causing his heart to skip a beat.
It was then that Ducky noticed the two other Longnecks in their midst.
"Ali?"
"Shorty here too!" cried Petrie.
Immediately the gang circled around and began to cheerfully great their old friends, talking as though no time had passed between them.
"My, my it's quite a small world isn't it?" Grandma Longneck said, marveling at how the teenagers seemed to treat each other as family.
"Indeed it is," agreed Grandpa.
"Much needed in times like these," observed Bron. "Littlefoot, will you give me a moment with your grandparents? There are a few things I need to discuss with them. Then we can spend some quality time together, just you and me."
Littlefoot never enjoyed being on the outside looking in, especially not when he was old enough to know when he was purposefully being left in the dark. However, if there was anyone he trusted with these matters, it was his dad.
Besides, I know he'd never hold back anything from me. Him or Shorty. Would they?
He resolved to fully get to the bottom of just what was going on here.
"Come on, guys!" Shorty said excitedly. "I want to show you this new thing I learned…"
"Shorty," said Bron gazing at his adopted son with a suspicious look. "You aren't talking about that new prank I forbid you from doing are you?"
"No, of course not," Shorty smiled innocently, followed by a not so innocent wink to his brother. "I was just going to show them a new way to hit pinecones."
His father didn't look completely convinced, but nevertheless nodded his head and said, "Alright, just stay out of trouble. I wish I didn't always have to remind you of that."
"Don't worry, Bron. We'll be fine. Let's go guys!"
Shrugging to each other, the other six teenage dinosaurs followed in behind Shorty. Littlefoot shook his head and smiled to himself at the mischief that his brother must surely be up to.
Cera too was looking forward to what was in store, until she noticed that Ducky was lagging behind. She was hunched over, and had a look that she could only recall on the swimmer's face once before: anger. She knew all too well what that felt like, especially now. Shorty could wait, figuring out what was wrong with Ducky was more important.
"Hey guys, I think Ducky and I are gonna hang back."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, we just need to talk about something. No big deal."
"But I-"
Ducky was cut off by a nudge from the threehorn, who gave her a knowing glance.
I bet she noticed that I am not at my happiest today. Yup, yup, yup.
"Oh okay, can we come too?" Petrie asked.
"Sorry," said Cera haughtily. "Girls only. No boys allowed. Come on Ali, you can join us too."
"What? Um ok," the female Longneck said in confusion, but nevertheless accepted Cera's invitation. And they began walking a separate way, diagonal from where Shorty was taking them.
"Well that was random," muttered Littlefoot.
"Girls are weird," said Shorty shaking his head.
"Yeah, who need them anyway," Petrie huffed. "Come on, let go have fun."
They resumed their path towards the grassy plains where many a dinosaur was currently grazing. Littlefoot turned towards Spike.
"Hey Spike, do you know what's going on with them?"
The teenage Stegosaurus held back a grunt of pain as his plates and spikes were still throbbing quite severely. Truthfully, he knew that Ducky was having a hard time as of late, especially earlier this morning with their mother. But what Cera wanted with her (as well as Ali) well, his guess was as good as anyone else's. So he simply shrugged.
Littlefoot didn't bother pretending that he was more than a little confused. But since the beginning of the 'Time of the Great Growing' that seemed to be a common theme. From his dad, to Shorty, to Ali, right down to Cera, everyone was hiding something.
People and their secrets lately, he thought to himself.
Of course, Littlefoot knew that they weren't the only ones keeping things very tightly to the chest.
Well, well, as always I leave you with an interesting place to leave off:) Until next time! Rock on! ~Punkrocka23