Ch.6: A Herd Divided

As the Night Circle finally rose, and all mouths yawned for bed, a lonely set sat staring off into the darkness, his mind tormented by the earlier cruelty of his words. With his wife sleeping gently beside him, Grandpa Longneck swallowed the guilt that remained in his dusk, ready to take on a difficult task.

"Hi Grandpa," greeted Littlefoot, as he ran in, ready to be tucked into bed.

"Littlefoot" said Grandpa, placing his tail between the young one and the nest " wait, we need to talk for bit."

Noting the seriousness in his Grandpa's tone, Littlefoot looked to the larger dinosaur to listen. It was rare when Grandpa kept Littlefoot up late just to talk, so whatever he had to say, it must be important.

"I'm sorry Littlefoot" said Grandpa, looking shyly away " about the incident at the waterhole."

Littlefoot was a little stunned at first by the apology, but then looked upon his Grandpa with innocent eyes.

"It's okay Grandpa" said Littlefoot " I just don't understand. Why did you act that way towards Megumi?"

"Heh, it's a long story Littlefoot" said Grandpa " and explains about the division of our herd. You see, before you were ever born, Megumi's father, Bigtail and I, used to be brothers. We grew up together, played and laughed, eventually becoming defenders of the herd, keeping rival longnecks and sharpteeth at bay. I never could have asked for a closer friendship."

"Bigtail became admired in our leader's eyes, and was known as the strongest warrior in our herd. However, along with that title came overconfidence, which would eventually cost Bigtail his mind."

"One day, a herd of mean-spirited longnecks attacked our herd, and made off with one of our young ones as hostage. They were led by a red-scaled giant named Brutus, and his reputation as a devil was well known. Bigtail was outraged, and set out to rescue the young-ling, despite our leader's commands to not engage, knowing that this rival herd was to strong."

"If Bigtail had stayed behind instead of running off to fight, perhaps Brutus and his herd would have simply demanded for more grazing space. It was not 'till later it was learned that Brutus had done all this simply for a trap."

"When Bigtail finally found the young-ling, she was cornered in a pit by two sharpteeth, and he bravely jumped in to save her. It was a fierce struggle, and he was injured bad, but he managed to hold his ground and climb the young one back out to safety."

"However, once Bigtail came out of the pit, he was greeted by Brutus and his herd. The villain had been watching the struggle the whole, and was more than ready to take out Bigtail in his wounded state."

"By the time I arrived with reinforcements, the battle was on, and Bigtail was pinned helplessly on the ground. Enraged, our herd scared off Brutus and his thugs, and took Bigtail back home so that he could heal."

"A few days after that incident, it was clear to everyone that something dark had awakened in Bigtail's mind. The trauma over what Brutus did to him made Bigtail even more aggressive and rude. Our herd was worried about his sanity, yet fearful at the same time. Bigtail was so far from the brother I knew as a child, now he was only a bully wrapped in scales."

"When mating season came, that's when I met your grandma and fell deeply in love. But for Bigtail, because of his aggression, the rest of us even doubted that he would ever find a mate of his own. However, one female longneck was compassionate enough to take up the task."

"Ashanti was a beautiful, brown-scaled female, with the kindest heart our herd have ever come to know. It was a big surprise to all of us when she and Bigtail became mates, but despite her progress in calming him down, Bigtail became really defiant towards our leader, especially when it was rumored that Brutus and his herd had returned."

"Vulaan had been leading us for a long time now, but grew more weary with age. When Bigtail challenged him for leadership of the herd, all of us watched back in horror as Vulaan was pummeled into the ground, and died before our eyes."

"For those who would follow him into battle, Bigtail led them against Brutus. He returned victorious from the fight, but many good longnecks lost their lives that day. All of the anger I had been holding in up to this point burst out as I berated Bigtail for turning into an aggressive thug."

"No doubt all of this would have escalated into a fight, had not Ashanti stepped in to stop us. Our herd from that point became divided. For those that agreed with me that Bigtail was wrong, they followed me and Grandma to the East, while Ashanti and the rest followed Bigtail to the West. It was a terrible day for us all."

Grandpa sighed as he finished his tale, looking upon young Littlefoot whose eyes were wide with wonder.

"Wow" said Littlefoot stunned " I can't believe you've never told me this before."

"Some stories you have to save until you're older" said Grandpa " so that others can understand. You're grown up enough now to finally hear the truth."

"But…" said Littlefoot, a little confused " if Bigtail and you guys separated right then, then how did you know his kid would be named Megumi?"

"After mating season" said Grandpa " Ashanti and your Grandma became best friends, and had discussions on what to call their young ones if any were to be born. Ashanti made it clear that if she ever had a girl, she would name her Megumi, a blessing upon the earth."

Littlefoot was silent for a second after that explanation, and felt his eyes beginning to droop, indicating that it was way past time for him to go to sleep. Grandpa immediately noticed the signs, and gently picked up Littlefoot, placing him in the nest.

A yawn escaped from Littlefoot's mouth, as he looked towards his grandpa with weary lids.

"She's really nice you know?" said Littlefoot "Just give her a chance Grandpa."

"Alright" said Grandpa, nudging the young one to sleep " I will."