Luckily, whether it was because of her short nap, or because her body was too exhausted, Noah had no dreams or nightmares. But it didn't seem like it was very long after she closed her eyes before she began to wake up.

At first, she had no idea why. She didn't feel anyone shoving her, and the sun was still bearing down on her. And no one was calling out her name, or for her to get up on her feet. So, why couldn't she just curl up tighter and drift off again?

Her eyes popped open at the sudden realization: someone was staring at her.

She lifted her head up. There were three Iguanodon bulls, none of whom she recognized, standing around her. They were all tan, with shades of blue and green. They were all staring at her.

"... Can I help you?" she asked shortly.

"You're the new girl, aren't you?" one asked as another sniffed where her neck met her shoulder.

"Yeah, so?" Normally, she wasn't so rude. But she had just been woken up, and she was sure she didn't sleep for the whole hour.

"The one with the brother?" another asked as she stood up.

"... Yes?" She stepped away as the third Iguanodon began to sniff her. Why did he emphasize 'brother'?

They all glanced at each other. Their grins looked hopeful and excited. It made Noah feel a little uneasy, but mostly confused. Like she wasn't in on the joke, but everyone expected her to be.

Then, as quickly as they appeared, the grins disappeared. One of the bulls suddenly swung a foreleg at another with a growl. The second bull jumped away, and then growled back. The first bull spun around and let out a small bellow at the third bull. This bull didn't move away, though. Instead, he turned and hit his opponent with his tail, knocking him into the sand.

While those two were fighting, the second bull turned back to Noah. He stood up tall and puffed his chest out. He began to slowly strut in front of her, bobbing his head forward and back.

Noah stood there, eyes wide, one eyebrow quirked, and jaw slacked. What... what is he doing? She started to wonder if she should try and leave.

One of the fighting bulls finally managed to knock his opponent down again; this time, the loser scurried off to the side. Snorting after him, the winner glared at the still-strutting bull. He shoved his shoulder against him, knocking him to the ground with a surprised squawk. He puffed out his chest and began bobbing his head as well. But the felled bull stood up suddenly, shoving his head against the other's chest.

Though some would find a fight entertaining, Noah found it incredibly awkward. Mostly because she had a feeling it was all for her benefit. But she had no idea why she thought that, or even how she came to that conclusion.

Now that the two bulls were distracted, she began to slowly walk away, taking long strides. She kept her head turned towards the fight, ready to run if either of them spotted her.

Then, something nuzzled her under her jaw. She reared up on her hind legs with a yell. It was the bull that had snuck away. He was now looking up at her, confused. He took a step forward, and she stepped back away from him.

The two bulls finally noticed Noah was gone, and that their third rival was trying to approach her. They charged towards him, snorting loudly.

While they were distracted, she began to try and get away again. This time, she didn't bother with sneaking, and just galloped away. But in no less than a second, she heard their footsteps following after her.

Finally at her wit's end, she stopped, spun around, and shouted directly at them, "Leave me alone!"

They all skidded to a stop, looking startled and confused. Noah gritted her beak and stood up on her hind legs. She inhaled deeply, prepared to bellow right into their faces.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turned to see Bruton approaching them. He was scowling, as usual, as he looked between the group of bulls and Noah, who was still standing up. "Well?"

Bruton was the last person she wanted to see. But at the same time, he was her best option at breaking up this weirdness. He clearly didn't appreciate this nonsense.

But before she could answer, one of the bulls grinned. "N-nothing, Bruton!"

"Yeah, we're just having a bit of fun with... what was her name again?" another whispered to his friend.

Noah growled angrily. "These three won't leave me alone!" She fell back onto all four feet.

"C'mon, baby," one of the other bulls crooned. "You know you like it." He tried strutting up to her.

She swiped at him with a foreleg. He jumped back with a pained yell. Blood droplets flew onto the sand from his scratched chin.

Normally, Noah felt horrible about hurting someone, and usually tried to be gentle in the first place—it helped that she grew up around far more fragile creatures than herself and Aladar. But now, given the circumstance, she didn't feel a bit of remorse or pity in her being; only disgust.

"All right, break it up," Bruton said, moving to stand between the group and Noah. "She obviously doesn't like any of you. Get back to the herd, we're heading out."

The injured bull shook his head again, and joined his friends in leaving. They were grumbling among themselves and glaring at Noah the whole way.

"You get yourself in a lot of trouble, don't you?" Bruton remarked.

"I didn't do anything," she protested. "They were the ones who woke me up!"

"I didn't say you did anything. Now, get back to your... family. Kron's gathering everyone. If you dawdle, you're on your own." Without another word, he began to walk in the direction of the herd.

Noah wanted to shout at him for embarrassing her earlier that day. To yell that she didn't need help. That he should leave her alone too.

But her rational side won the argument: this was the third time he had helped her in any capacity. He never had to help her up the dune, talk Kron into taking a break, or get rid of the bulls. And how did she thank him? By calling him names, hitting him with her tail, wanting to scream at him, and getting needlessly angry at him. Yes, he did push her down the dune in the first place. But she realized that if he hadn't stopped her, Kron would have either done it himself, or left her behind entirely.

Bruton had done her more favors than Kron had ever since she met the two. And she had been nothing but a brat to him.

"Th-thank you!" she finally called out. Her voice felt uncertain, like she didn't know if she should even verbally express her gratitude. She wondered if she should also apologize for her behavior.

But he only paused a moment before continuing on his way, giving little indication he heard or accepted her thanks.

A/N The male Iguanodons flirting (or attempting to flirt) with Noah was heavily inspired by Silver as the Rain's fanfic, Across the Desert, which had also inspired this fanfic as a whole. But beyond that, it makes sense; Noah's a new girl in the herd, and the unmated males are gonna try their luck. If Iguanodon females also participated in flirt-fighting, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the unmated females tried with Aladar. But in nature, it's usually the males attracting females, and this is in Noah's POV, so we won't be seeing anything like that XD

Seeing as we don't know how dinosaurs attempted to attract mates, I took inspiration from iguanas and ostriches for their fighting and mating dances. I don't know if animals know instinctually what mating dances are, or if they're taught about them in their own language. But I thought it'd be more interesting and funny for Noah to not know what's going on, having been raised among lemurs and their version of courtships, to be like "WTF are these weirdos doing?" XD