Chapter 2
Arrogance Of Triceratopses

Five years have passed since Littlefoot's hatching. Nothing much has changed apart from the fact that he was now bigger and at the same height with his "father" Bryan. Both of them were still searching for the Great Valley even after all these years of travelling. Neither of them ever hinted that they wanted to give up at this point, though food and water were becoming scarcer and scarcer by the day.

By now the two had stopped at a row of dead trees. There was nothing much they could eat but then, the human finds something quite out of place, a Cassava plant. This plant shouldn't have existed until the arrival of humans and yet despite the scorching sun and apparent lack of water, here they were growing near a row of dead trees.

"Since when did Cassava grow in the realm of dinosaurs?" he inspected the plant. "This thing shouldn't have existed till the era of humans."

"Maybe we lucked out?" Littlefoot suggested. "Or maybe they do grow here."

"But if they do, then why didn't we see them before? Are the forces from beyond saving us from possible death by starvation?"

"That might be it."

"Whatever, I'm not complaining. There is more than enough here to fill our bellies."

Without further ado, Littlefoot and Bryan proceed to feed on the Cassava plant. While the young Apatosaurus ate the leaves, his human father fed on the roots. Once they had satisfied their hunger, the two proceed to gather whatever was left to be saved for later. As they have already learnt in the past, food was becoming increasingly scarce and a reserve food supply would come in handy when hunger becomes unbearable.

Just then, a roar sounds through the area, gathering the attention of both "father" and "son". It was a Triceratops roar, one which the human recognized as a call to arms. This was an indication of a herd in distress, most likely being attacked by a massive pack of Theropods. Conflict filled Bryan's mind. On one hand he didn't want to deviate from his original trek westwards but on the other, his conscience was telling him to help.

Sure it might delay his and Littlefoot's arrival but if he didn't help, how could he live with the fact that he potentially ended the lives of an entire Triceratops herd? Bryan singles for Littlefoot to follow him and the two crouch walk towards the sound of violence. They find a patch of dried grass which they conceal themselves within while watching the battle unfold at the same time.

Bryan gets down onto the prone position and shoulders his rifle. He flicks the selector to "Fire" and looks down the old school Iron sights, keeping his finger off the trigger as he chose his target. At this point there were no less than ten or so Utahraptors attacking the Triceratopses. Three were dead and two were wounded. Those able to continue fighting formed a defensive circle around the young ones

One of the Utahraptors stood out amongst the rest. He was the Alpha of the pack, a prime target. To truly kill a snake, one must first cut off its head and now the head of the snake was the Alpha. No pack could function without an Alpha or leader at the top. The human holds his breath as he inched his finger onto the trigger. His sights were squarely on the Alpha's head.

Up ahead, the Alpha grinned. He now had the "dumb herbivores" rounded up and readied for a final massacre. He was just about to give the order to kill when…

ZAP

ZAP

ZAP

One bullet hits the Alpha, killing him. The other two came in quick follow up shots, killing two more Utahraptors and reducing the pack from ten members down to seven. The survivors looked around, trying to find out who killed their Alpha without touching them. All they heard before Alpha went down was a loud "banging" noise. For the first time in their lives, the Theropods experience fear.

All of them snarled in distress, no longer able to function as a team without a leader.

BANG

ZAP

Yet another predator goes down with a bullet to his head. Now the Raptors could stay put no more. All of the survivors broke ranks and ran for their lives, mostly in the opposite direction. The Triceratopses were confused and shocked at the same time. How could someone possible kill someone else without showing themselves?

Bryan emerges from his concealed position, clutching his rifle.

"All clear." He said.

"Stay where you are." A middle aged Triceratops who was clearly the leader, spoke. "And stay as far away from my herd as you can."

"W-What? I just saved you and your herd's sorry asses and this is how you thank me?"

"We needed no help, human."

"Least you got my species right."

"Just stay away from us unless you want a horn up your rear end."

"Fuckin' A, arrogant sonofabitch."

That was the end of the conversation between the Triceratops herd leader and the human. Bryan didn't want a confrontation to happen, especially since a herd like this could easily overwhelm him should it decide to charge. He returns to Littlefoot, who was conversing with one of the herd's younger ones, a female Triceratops by the name of Cera. The two had just become friends and while Cera was arrogant like her father, she tolerated Littlefoot, seeing him as an associate who might be of use to her in the time of need.

"Let's go, Littlefoot." The male human said. "We have a valley to get to."

"Aww, but I just became friends with Cera." He sighed.

"We'll meet her again when we get to the Great Valley."

"Okay…" the young Apatosaurus turns back towards Cera. "Bye I guess?"

"Just go." She said.

No further words were spoken between Cera and Littlefoot as the young Apatosaurus departed the plains with his "father", continuing their trek westwards in the search for the Great Valley.