Chapter 6:
Life's Cruel Decisions
Comis snapped his head up and began gazing into the forest to his right. Under the shade of a large palm tree stood a Velociraptor, staring hungrily at the small club tail that Comis stood over. Comis let out a loud hiss and snapped his jaws, taking a threatening step towards the Velociraptor. The small sharptooth snapped back before turning and dashing into the forest. Great, he'll be back with some of his friends before long the Utahraptor thought to himself. Killing a single Velociraptor would be as easy as squashing a bug, but when they attack in a group they can be extremely dangerous. Comis knew she needed to move on, and soon.
The Utahraptor had been following Luca and Littlefoot ever since she had killed Stoneclaw. She knew the way to Animus, but not to the Cornu Valde's birthing cave. The sharptooth knew it was somewhere north west of the actual mountain, hidden behind a massive waterfall. It actually sounded very beautiful, but few knew of its location. But if she wanted her revenge on Him, she would have to go there.
She heard the sound of tiny footsteps approaching and saw six Velociraptors peeking out from the trees. Comis knew more were probably hiding somewhere further into the forest. Time to get out she thought to herself before taking one final chunk of meat and dashing off.
* * *
The sun was slowly setting in the west and the sky had orange-red hue. Littlefoot could see for miles in all directions from the mountain top he now stood upon. To the west was a flat and desolate landscape stretching to the horizon, the mysterious beyond. Only the occasional smudge of green stood out in the dirt brown environment. The wasteland slowly grew to the thin forest that made up the fringe until developing into a dense forest, a forest in which Animus stood. The long neck could see several mountains in the distance, but he did not know which was Luca's home.
Littlefoot slowly turned his head from the beautiful scene in front of him to the long neck standing beside him. The memories of his time with Ali began to flash through his mind. There weren't many of them, but they still brought a smile to his face. He looked deep into her eyes blazing green eyes and could see a gentle warmth within him. "It's good to see you again Ali" Littlefoot blurted out, realizing how stupidly simple the sentence was for such a special moment. Ali giggled and nodded then leaned her head in, lying it on Littlefoot's neck for support. Littlefoot wasn't sure how to take it, she seemed pretty tired but he knew the gesture meant much more.
Leaning in and giving Ali a more then friendly nuzzle crossed Littlefoot's mind when his thoughts turned to Cera. A sudden realization hit Littlefoot at that moment, he didn't love Cera, at least not in the way he thought he did. Cera was still more than a friend to him, and the long neck began to realize that Cera was like a sister he never had. They had first met when they were just a few days old, and have lived side by side ever since. So many journeys, adventures and struggles spent together. He had a unique form of love for her, but standing next to him was quite literally the girl of his dreams.
Littlefoot had felt lonely, there were no female long necks his age in the Great Valley, so he attached himself to the dinosaur he felt closest to besides his grandparents. He almost nuzzled Ali and he almost did it in a very affectionate way, but he couldn't. "What's wrong Littlefoot?" Ali asked as another minute went by without Littlefoot taking any action. "I have a lot to tell you" he replied. Littlefoot went on to tell Ali all about what had happened between him and Cera, and how he believed it was a mistake. Still, mistake or not, Littlefoot knew what the right thing to do was.
* * *
Luca and Rhett looked up at the two long necks above them and uttered the same expletive in unison. "I hate my life" they whispered to themselves.
* * *
"What's that?" Tricia said as she, Ducky, Spike and Petrie were continuing their journey to Animus. Ducky had been lying on her belly on top of Spike's back, lazily kicking her feet through the air as she propped her head up with her hands. Lost in space, she was staring at the distant northern horizon, watching the shapes that appeared as the clouds interacted with tiny lumps the big mouth knew to be a far off mountain range. Tricia's statement brought her back to earth though and she turned to look at what the three horn was referring too.
A few hundred feet to the south of them was a tiny grove of about twenty trees and tightly clustered bushes. They had seen many of these small, densely packed patches of vegetation that broke up the desolate wasteland of the mysterious beyond. Ducky had no idea why they existed but was sure glad they did, they provided all the food they needed. The big mouth could see that Tricia was referring what at first seemed like a large mound of dirt that was previously concealed by the grove. She could soon see though that it was no mound of dirt.
The lump of brown was actually the body of a large sharptooth. Ducky felt a quick jolt of fear course through her body before noticing the pool of congealed blood around the sharptooth. It was obviously dead. Ducky was about to tell the others to just move on before she noticed something smaller lying next to the dead dinosaur. The big mouth squinted her eyes and as they drew closer she was able to make the smaller object. It was another sharptooth, of the same kind as the dead one, standing in the pool of blood. It was obviously very young, just a child, and Ducky could now tell that it was crying.
"Don't go near it" said a deep, rough voice from behind the four travelers. Ducky looked behind her and saw dark blue fast runner. The dinosaur had obviously been through quite a rough life, with tough cracked skin and numerous scars. "Now that its mother is dead it won't last a week" he added with a hint of satisfaction. "B-B-B-But we have to help it" Petrie stammered, obviously concerned about the fast runner's reaction. "No we don't, if it lives it'll go on to kill a hundred others in its life" he replied.
The five dinosaurs were still for a moment until Spike turned away and began walking towards the young sharptooth. "What if you're one of those hundred!" the fast runner called after Spike in an attempt to stop him. The large spike tail stopped in his tracks and turned his head back to the stranger, a dead serious look on his face. "I would rather die innocent then live guilty" Spike said firmly and with conviction before turning back towards the sharptooth.
The fast runner looked down to Tricia and Petrie, who were still standing beside him. "If the spike tail actually says it, its final" Tricia told the fast runner in a flat tone before following Spike and Ducky. The fast runner stood on the spot seemingly confused as he watched the four young dinosaurs approach the baby sharptooth. After a short pause, he turned and left.
* * *
"WHAT!" Cera yelled at the top of her lungs as the sun began to set. "Oh…. You didn't know that?" Chomper asked in a subdued tone, fearful of Cera's anger. "No I didn't know that! Who did it?" she cried, shaking in anger. "It was Luca" Chomper said flatly, unsure of how the three horn would react.
Cera was silent for a moment but then she began to visibly shake. The shaking grew more and more violent until she let out the loudest and most ear shattering roar Chomper believed he had ever heard. The sharptooth wasn't sure if it was the actually force of the roar or simply the surprise from such a loud sound but Chomper fell backward onto the ground. He rubbed his head where hit a rock and smiled nervously at the three horn. Chomper could almost see the blinding white hot anger pouring out of Cera as her mind struggled to analyze the implications.
"We have to go find Littlefoot, he could be in trouble!" she said, her mind focusing on the first thing to cross it. She took a step on her injured leg and it landed in an awkward position. Pain shot up the injured leg and Cera gasped in pain, falling to the ground. "Uggghhhhh!!!!!!" she screamed, pounding her healthy leg onto the ground and kicking up a small puff dirt and dust into the air.
"You're going to have to help me Chomper" Cera said as she turned to the nervous Sharptooth. "Help you? You're twice my weight!" Chomper shot back before he realized what he had just said. "What! Are you calling me fat!" the three horn screamed, her less then cheery mood only getting worse. "N-N-N-No! I'm just saying your bigger than me, how am I supposed to help you all the way to Animus?" Chomper stammered back.
Cera knew the sharptooth was right, she couldn't make it that far on her own and Chomper wasn't anywhere near large enough to help her. Suddenly Cera felt herself being lifted up. She looked up and saw the Healer standing next to her, picking her up and positioning the three horn so the her weight was supported. "Lead the way, sharptooth" the Healer said. Chomper and Cera looked at each, shrugged, and where on their way.