Ch.2: Sleepless Nights
The glow of the Bright Circle was nice and warm, refracting its light, and dancing along Megumi's unscarred scales. The little longneck's face was beaming with joy, running through the tall green grass, as if the nothing in the world could go wrong.
"Megumi," called out a soft, sweet voice attracting the young one's attention.
"Coming Mom," yelled Megumi, running over to the large, female longeneck.
The rosy-brown behemoth grinned down at her daughter, and nudged a bushel of tree stars she had gathered on the ground, urging her child to eat. Megumi dug in hungrily.
The succulent taste of the leaves burst through Megumi's entire soul. Nothing in the whole world could spoil this day. But like always, she was wrong, for that is when he appeared.
With scales shining dark grey, almost black, a huge, rough-looking male longneck soon approached, his yellow eyes glaring down at Megumi, capturing the helpless longneck in his stare.
Megumi shivered under his intense gaze, and then suddenly felt the ground crack and rumble beneath her feet. The Earth's mouth opened, and Megumi fell into blackness, crying out her little heart in pain.
Suddenly, her descent stopped, and Megumi was looking upon a different landscape, scarce of trees and endless air. Rocks towered over everything, and growls could be heard whispering from the dark. Then, the raptors appeared.
Flashing out their bright, diamond-shaped teeth and fierce red eyes, a pack of five stood out from Megumi, ready for the hunt. Scared out of her wits, Megumi fled, desperate to leave the Sharpteeth behind.
The raptors chased after the little dinosaur, snapping their jaws. Their speedy feet caused them to catch with Megumi is no time, and claws tore at her flesh.
"Their ripping me apart!" thought Megumi, as she watched her blood spill on the ground " I'm going to die!"
Then there was a light, and a nuzzle, as Megumi reopened her eyes that had closed due to the intense pain. She was surrounded now by a group of Longnecks, who had stopped to offer aid and heal her scars. The leader, an almost white-looking elder, grinned down at Megumi with a look of compassion, before the little longneck shook back awake in the real world.
"Huh, huh," Megumi breathed, waking up to the full Night Circle as it shown down in the Great Valley's plain " just a dream."
Shaking her mind from the sleep story, Megumi stood up and stretched out her legs for an attempt to take a more peaceful nap, when suddenly her eyes caught sight of something bizarre on the rise.
Walking around, heedless on the hill, was the little, green-feathered dinosaur Megumi witnessed greet her when the nomads entered the valley today. But, what was he doing out so late at night?
Curious for answers, Megumi decided to approach him. It was only then, when she got really close, she could tell what was going on; sleepwalking. This little dino had an affliction where his body was completely unrest at night.
Stumbling around in the dark like he was, Guido had no clue about the Great Valley's terrain. Megumi's eyes widened in fear as she watched the poor, green dino step and fall into a nearby pond with a splash.
The shock of hitting the cold water woke Guido up in an instant. Desperately, his wings flapped and trashed, working hard to paddle him back towards shore.
Not one to stand by and watch someone hopelessly drown, Megumi immediately ran over to help Guido, and leant him the aid of her tail. Grateful, Guido grabbed hold tight, and breathed out a huge sigh of relief once he was back on shore.
"Thanks," he said to Megumi.
"No problem" the longneck responded " it's not every day I rescue a sleepwalker."
"Yeah well" said Guido, studying his surroundings "I guess that explains why I'm no longer in Petrie's nest anymore. It's been a long time since my last sleepwalking trip though."
"How long have you had them?" asked Megumi.
"Eh" said Guido, shrugging his shoulders " I'm not really sure. Could have been a long time, but it's nice to have friends here to help me out. Hey, wait a minute, aren't you the longneck we met near the entrance this morning?"
"The same" smiled Megumi " but I didn't expect to run into you guys so soon,"
"Me neither" said Guido " not that I didn't want to! You look fun and all…eh."
Megumi laughed as Guido stumbled.
"That's okay" said Megumi " I think I get the point. So, are there any others like you in this valley?"
"Uh, not really" said Guido " I'm the only one like me I've ever seen, so I don't really know where I come from or if I had parents of any kind."
"You're lucky" said Megumi " sometimes I wish I could forget my parents."
"Why would you want to that?" asked Guido.
"It's not important right now" said Megumi, dismissing the subject " So, you want me to walk you back home? Your friends are probably worried?"
"Hey yeah, sure, thanks," said Guido, leading Megumi the way back to Petrie's nest.
As they walked, Megumi shook her head free of the dire thoughts that had come up before, and wondered maybe, just maybe, that if the others asked tomorrow she would play. It would great to have some fun while the nomads were here.
"See you tomorrow Megumi!" called Guido, when he finally climbed up and disappeared inside of Petrie's nest.
Megumi just smiled in response. Yes, tomorrow she would play.