Chapter 3: When the Bug Bites, Part 2
Littlefoot awoke, groggily. He hadn't slept well the night before; pain from his chest had kept him up. At this point, he was sure the pain wouldn't go away without some kind of treatment. Thankfully, he realized, Bron had said he would bring a healer to observe him. Slowly, he got up onto his front feet, looking around. Fyn was right next to him, snoring away, as were his parents.
"I hope I wasn't too hard on him last night," Littlefoot thought, recalling how he'd teased his friend. He supposed he'd find out when Fyn awoke. He stretched his back legs, trying to avoid putting any strain on his chest, and relaxed, waiting for everyone else to greet the day.
…
By the time everyone else began to wake up, Littlefoot had grown very bored. He tried to amuse himself by looking at clouds, but so far, the day had been nearly cloudless. When he heard Fyn stirring, he almost jumped for joy. Almost.
"Fyn," he called out, "you awake?"
Fyn groaned, "I am now." He opened his sleep-blurred eyes and looked at Littlefoot. "Why so eager?"
"I've been sitting here for too long," Littlefoot answered. "I couldn't go back to sleep when I woke up, so I had nothing to do until you got up."
"That must be hard," Fyn said, "not being able to move at all for a few days."
"A few days?" Littlefoot said, "did they really say it would take that long to heal?"
Fyn shrugged, "that's just my guess. Want me to get you some Treestars?"
"Sure," Littlefoot said, "and Fyn-"
The orange Fin-Neck turned around.
"No hard feelings about last night, right?"
"None at all. I just overreacted. I'll be right back." Fyn headed over to the trees, leaving Littlefoot alone again. Littlefoot yawned once more. Until Fyn got back, things were only going to get boring again.
…
Fyn walked to the trees, to find Littlefoot's Treestars. Today, he had an extra spring in his step, smiling and walking along happily. Now that he knew he was truly in love, he didn't feel quite so bad about it. Truth be told, the fact made him quite excited, and a little nervous. He wanted desperately to meet Shael again, perhaps impress her, but he had no idea how to go about doing it. He decided he'd have to form a plan. He was still formulating his plan when he almost ran into a Treestar tree. Shaking his head, he spoke to himself.
"Come on, now. Don't let your guard down just because you're in love."
And there it was again. That four-letter word: love. As soon as he thought about it, it became the most important thing in his mind again. He stood on his back legs with his front legs against the tree's trunk, halfheartedly trying to decide which branch held the best Treestars. Mostly, however, his mind was occupied elsewhere, specifically: Shael."
He'd finally selected a branch, but it was high in the tree. For extra height, he removed his front legs from the tree, balancing on his back ones. He reached for the branch, stretching out as much as he could...
"Hello," a familiar voice said.
"Whoa!" Fyn, startled, lost his balance and crashed into the tree, toppling it. He, naturally, went down with it.
"Oh no," the voice said, "are you okay?"
Fyn looked up from his leafy crash and froze. It was Shael.
"Oh, I'm- I'm fine."
"Good," she said, "that looked like a bad fall."
"Bad fall?" Fyn said, distractedly, "oh yes, yes it was, but I'm alright now."
Shael looked at him with an amused grin. "What are you doing out here this early?"
"Well, I was, um, I was looking for... Treestars, for my friend."
"He can't get them himself?"
"Nope," Fyn said, becoming more comfortable, "he's injured."
"Oh, I see. He must be the one Bron is having Taria examine."
"Taria?" Fyn asked, confused, "is she the healer?"
"I guess so," Shael said.
Fyn gulped and took a deep breath. An idea suddenly occurred to him. Why not ask Shael if she wanted a look around her new home, the Great Valley? It was as good a place as any to start, and they'd be able to talk a little longer.
"Do you want to come with me to meet my friend?" he asked, quickly.
"Your friend? You mean Littlefoot?"
"Yep, that's him. I could even show you around the Great Valley if you wanted to."
"Well," she said, "that sounds great."
"Excellent," Fyn said, "let's go."
"Oh, wait!" Shael said, "what about Littlefoot's Treestars?"
"Oh, right," Fyn said, embarrassed at having forgotten something so simple. He walked back to the tree and separated a branch.
"'Ollow 'ee," he said, with a mouthful of tree.
Shael laughed; this other Fin-Neck was turning out to be a lot of fun. A bit on the jumpy side, perhaps, but a good dinosaur, nonetheless. She was anxious to see his friend, Littlefoot, as well. She'd heard a lot about her herd leader's son, and was anxious to say hello. The two Fin-Necks plodded along, back to Fyn's nest, where Littlefoot was surely waiting, bored.
…
"Here we are," Fyn said, arriving at the nest. Littlefoot was still the only one awake, "and that's Littlefoot," he said, nodding to his injured friend.
"Pleased to meet you, Littlefoot. I'm Shael." The blue Fin-Neck walked over to Littlefoot.
"The pleasure is mine," Littlefoot said. When Shael looked away for a moment, Littlefoot wagged his eyebrows up and down jokingly, eliciting a snarl from Fyn.
"Now I must ask," Shael said, turning back to Littlefoot, "what were you doing that injured you?"
"Well," said Littlefoot, "long story short, Fast Claws attacked us. I was injured, but we all managed to fight them off, with a little help from a Sharptooth of course."
"A Sharptooth? What do you mean?"
"We used to have a friend who was a Sharptooth," Fyn explained, but he moved out into the Mysterious Beyond."
"Wow, that's pretty neat," Shael said. She turned to look at the Valley. "Ah, I see Bron and Taria approaching. We'll leave you to your treatment," she said to Littlefoot.
"Ready for a look around?" Fyn asked.
"Of course," Shael answered.
Littlefoot watched them go, happy that his friend had found someone, perhaps someone who could be more than a friend. He felt somewhat sad as well, though. He wondered if the same would ever happen to him. He felt the ground shake with approaching footsteps; his father was on his way. As he watched, Bron's head appeared over the ridge of the hill that Fyn's nest was on. As Bron made his way up the hill, Littlefoot's jaw practically dropped when he saw who was following. Behind him was a Longneck, Littlefoot noticed, much like himself. She was tan, and slightly shorter than Bron, about Littlefoot's age, and she had deep green eyes. What had Shael said her name was? Taria? In any case, she was the most beautiful Longneck Littlefoot had ever set eyes on. Her mouth was moving, but Littlefoot couldn't make out the words, he was so entranced.
"Hello? Are you alright?"
"Huh?" Littlefoot said, shaking himself out of his trance, "oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"You'll have to forgive my son," Bron said, "he tends to lose focus occasionally."
Taria nodded absently, moving to Littlefoot's side. She knelt down, and spoke to him.
"What hurts?"
Littlefoot answered, trying to sound tough, "oh, nothing really, I think I'll be fine."
"Don't try to play tough. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Her sharpness convinced Littlefoot that perhaps telling the truth would be the best course of action.
"Alright, then. There's some pain right here," he said, nudging his sore chest with his nose."
"Let me take a look."Taria moved her head forward, touching Littlefoot's chest. Littlefoot felt a shock course through his body. She'd touched him! He looked over at Bron. Evidently, his dad had already determined what Littlefoot was thinking, and was having a hard time holding back his amusement. Finally, Taria stood up.
"I've seen this before. It can be treated, but I need the right plants."
"Just tell us what you need and we'll get them." Grandpa and Grandma Longneck said, waking up behind Littlefoot.
"Oh, could you? That would help a lot."
"Absolutely," said Grandpa Longneck. He studied Taria closely, "I don't think I've seen you here before."
"That's right," Taria answered, "I came here with Bron's herd."
"I see," said Grandma Longneck, "well, let us know what Littlefoot needs and we'll find it."
Taria, overjoyed to have some help, ran down a list of plants that would speed up Littlefoot's healing process and ease the pain. Right away, the grandparents set off. Taria turned to Bron.
"I'll be back later, when Littlefoot's grandparents return. There are others who were hurt in the Fast Biter attack that need my help."
Bron nodded. "Fine with me. I'll stay with my son. See you later."
Taria turned away, and walked back down the hill. When she was out of earshot, Bron spoke to Littlefoot.
"So... Taria. Pretty, isn't she?"
Littlefoot tried to play dumb. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know very well what I mean. I wouldn't have missed the look on your face when she showed up for all of the Treestars in the Great Valley."
"Was I that obvious?" Littlefoot asked.
Bron considered this for a moment. "Yes, you were."
Littlefoot cast his eyes downward. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'd probably better not even try to start something."
"What's this? My son, who found the Great Valley nearly on his own, who helped me save the world from the Bright Circle, and who just recently fought off a pack of Fast Claws wants to quit? This early?"
"Why try?" Littlefoot said, "she never seemed interested in me."
"Well, females are strange like that," Bron said. They were quiet for a moment, each with his own thoughts. Finally, Bron broke the silence.
"Want to know how your mother and I met?"
Littlefoot looked up. "I thought you just saw each other one day and knew."
"Oh no," Bron said, "if only it were that easy." He drew closer to Littlefoot, laying by his side. "I saw her when my herd met another out in the Mysterious Beyond," he began. "Both herds decided to merge, for safety, and as it turned out, we were both going in the same direction. Well, your mother was among the other herd, and when I saw her, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I spent most of our journey just trying to figure out how to talk to her, and when I did, I'll tell you now, I was more scared than a Fastrunner facing a Sharptooth. I was stammering all over the place, and shaking like a leaf in the breeze, but we found some common interests we had, and once we began to talk about those, my fear disappeared. We became friends, and in time, mates. I could never have asked for anyone better." He stared off into space, wistfully, with tears in his eyes as he recalled his memories of Littlefoot's mother.
"Common interests," Littlefoot said, "you may have a point there."
"I do," Bron said, "just don't give up. This is another goal for you, Littlefoot, and goals are seldom ever easy to achieve, but if you're truly interested in her, and I think you are, then you shouldn't give up now. Give her a chance to know you."
"Thanks, Dad," Littlefoot said, "I will."
"Any time," Bron said, starting the walk back to his herd, "That's what I'm your father for, after all." He walked away, then, as an afterthought, he turned his head back to Littlefoot.
"You know, the Day of Mates celebration is coming up this season. Might want to look into it." He turned away.
Littlefoot watched his father leave. He was already trying to figure out a plan to speak with Taria. Perhaps later, when she returned. He also considered what his father had said. The Day of Mates? That was something worth looking into. He rolled back over, and soon dozed off. There would be time enough later to put his plan into action. Now was the time for sleep.
Who knew an entirely different genre could be so much fun to write? Look for more chapters coming this week!
