Ch.9: A Loner's Origin's
Meanwhile, far away from the Great Valley, Doc, also known as the Lone Dinosaur, too stopped and rested for the night. However, no matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come, his mind still at unease with the longneck he had met some time ago.
Bigtail, the name kept flashing through his mind. His father had once known a longneck named Bigtail, could this one be the same?
Before Doc was even born, his father, Zorro, had lived among a herd led by a longneck named Bigtail. In Zorro's mind, they were the strongest of herds, willing to go extreme lengths on punishing injustice, even if their own ways had to become violent.
Bigtail was especially brutal when achieving these values, beating down enemies with hardly a glint of mercy in his eyes. His brutality was even more obvious at home, when he reflected that rage towards his mate.
It brought horror to Zorro's eyes to see Ashanti just sit there and take a lashing from Bigtail. The brave, female longneck barely put on a show to fight back, taking the abuse in like it was completely natural to be beat this way.
Even though Zorro agreed with the most of Bigtail had said, that they should destroy their enemies without any questions, he hardly saw the justice that could support with the abuse of a mate. Zorro would never strike down his wife, that much was for sure!
Things only grew worse when the hatching season came, and Ashanti gave birth to a child who she called Megumi. Bigtail was a very bad-tempered father, and often Ashanti had to step in to take the longneck's hits before they could brush Megumi's hide.
After one particular beating, Zorro approached Ashanti and asked why she stayed when she suffered all of this abuse. Her answer was clean and simple, because she loved him.
Zorro would lay stunned under Ashanti's answer for many days until the Great Earthshake came to shatter the land.
The destruction it inflicted was terrible, and more than half the herd died. The biggest loss that day however was Ashanti.
To weak to handle the shocks of the rumbles, Megumi nearly fell into one of the cracks until Ashanti came in to save her life. Megumi was saved, tossed close towards Bigtail, but Ashanti was swallowed up by the crack and met her end.
After the Earthshake was over, Bigtail mourned over the crack for hours, Megumi curled up by his side, to young to deal with the horror of death.
With no reason left to stay, Zorro and his mate, who had fortunately survived, left the herd, traveling their own path.
They went many places before settling down and having a child of their own. Those were the happy times, as Doc remembered, cherishing his parents company and delighting in endless play.
But then that all changed when the Sharptooth came and killed his mother. Never before had Doc seen so much blood.
Frozen still by the sight, Doc nearly missed seeing his father beat down the T-Rex, and end the carnivore's existence with a slide of rock.
"Let's go Doc," his father said.
And since then Doc's mind was a spindle of hatred towards all Sharpteeth, taking on the toothed-lizards whenever one crossed his path.
Now a little wiser after his father's death, Doc's mind had settled somewhat to his young rage. But, if that longneck truly was the abusive Bigtail, did he settle his?
A strange howl suddenly shattered through the night, shocking Doc. Now, just what could that be?