Hello everyone! I have another chapter for ya'll, a more lighthearted one this time. I' going to try to post chapter 10 later today or at some point during the week, and then chapter 11 which goes back to the rainbow faces. This chapter isn't too exciting, but I had fun writing it. Enjoy!
"I think it's safe now, Miriam."
The grass crunched beneath Mackenzie's feet as she trudged forward, sniffing the valley air.
Miriam peeked her head out of the bushes, scanning the landscape. "Are you sure?"
"Of course," answered Mackenzie. "Why are you so afraid? There's nothing to be afraid of here."
"I suppose," said Miriam, creeping out into the open. "Still, there's something about this place that feels…weird, I guess."
"You just need some time to get used to it," said Mackenzie, turning her head. "Gabriel, Adam. Are you two going to stay in there all day?"
"We're coming," said Gabriel. "Come on, Adam."
"So, what do you want to do?" Mackenzie peered at her sister with a blank expression, awaiting a response.
"I don't know," answered Miriam. "I want to eat. We never got to eat this much back at our old home."
"True," agreed Gabriel, who nodded his head.
Mackenzie narrowed her eyes at the male rainbow face walking beside her. "You guys were surrounded with green food," she pointed out. "What are you talking about?"
"You're right," stated Gabriel, pausing briefly. "..But we could never tell how long we'd get to eat. We didn't exactly prefer safety over food." He shook his head. "Not very bright."
"I don't think it matters," interjected Adam. "We're here, and we have all the green food we can eat. They even have tree sweets!"
"Come on Miriam," urged Mackenzie. "Let's see if you can find us some ferns. If you can't, no one can."
Miriam skittered forward, bringing her nose close to the ground. After a few minutes, she picked up the scent of ferns sprouting near some tall grass.
"I found some!" She cried out eagerly.
As she reached for the plants, another dinosaur put their foot forward on top of the ferns, keeping Miriam from being able to obtain them.
Mackenzie looked up at the dinosaur, a large and grey adolescent with a wild gleam in his golden eyes. Next to him was a clubtail, and some other dinosaur that she'd never seen before.
"Hey, she found it," said Mackenzie, staring disdainfully at the trio of dinosaurs standing before her.
"And we'll eat it," retorted the grey dinosaur, who seemed to be the leader.
Adam stepped up, his mouth curved into a tight frown. "No you won't, you ugly—"
"Adam," Gabriel scolded calmly. "Mind your manners. Just because they don't act their age, doesn't mean you shouldn't."
Mackenzie raised her brows, a smug and mischievous smirk on her face. Letting out a snort, she lunged forward and knocked the other dinosaur over before running off with the ferns.
...
Nearby, Littlefoot and Cera were watching the entire scene unfold.
"Wow," said Littlefoot. "That rainbow face totally just knocked him over! We should help him."
Cera scoffed. "About time somebody stood up to him." She looked to Littlefoot and then back to the opposite side of the stream.
The rest of their friends came running up to them.
"Did you guys see that?" Said a little sharptooth. "Hyp just fell!"
Littlefoot nodded. "We did, Chomper."
"He had it coming," said a little duckbilled swimmer riding on top of a spiketail. "Yep, yep, yep!"
"But Ducky," said Petrie, "we no even see what happen!"
Ducky gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Littlefoot, do you know what happened?"
"Yeah," said Littlefoot. "Hyp tried to steal those rainbow faces' food, and one of them knocked him over."
"It would seem he was asking for it," chirped Ruby. "And he got what he asked for."
"We should talk to them," suggested Littlefoot.
Cera groaned under her breath. "I don't know."
...
"Who were those knuckleheads?" Mackenzie frowned as she looked behind her, her mood having been ruined by the group of bullies.
"Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "Let's just try to enjoy the morning." With that, she joined her sister and her friends, and resorted to happily munching on the green food.
Several shadows loomed over them, and Mackenzie looked up to see a rather diverse group of dinosaur standing above them.
"Great," Mackenzie muttered under her breath. "There's no sharpteeth, but I can't even eat in peace." Letting out a sigh, she begrudgingly acknowledged them. "Yes?"
"Hi," greeted Littlefoot, "We saw what just happened over here. With that one dinosaur who you pushed."
Mackenzie slouched slightly. "Am I in trouble?"
"No," interjected Cera. "As long as none of the grown ups hear about it, why would you be? We don't even like that group of bullies."
"Oh," Mackenzie said flatly, returning to her meal. With her mouth full of green food, she glanced at the others from the corner of her eye. "Will that be all?"
"Actually," replied Littlefoot. "We were wondering if you'd like to hang out with us."
Mackenzie looked at her sister, who shrugged. She swallowed her food, gulping it down. "Why would I want to do that?"
"We know a place where you can get really good tree stars," said the threehorn. "What Littlefoot is trying to say is that we can show you where to get the really good green food, if you keep Hyp and his nasty friends away from us."
Mackenzie raised a brow. "Is that his name?"
"We'd also like to get to know you guys, added Littlefoot, not wanting the rainbow faces to be under the impression that they were befriending them just for the sake of protection. "And you don't have to protect us from Hyp." He shot a glare towards Cera.
Mackenzie weighed the decision, her eyes drifting towards the little sharptooth standing near the runner. "What's a sharptooth doing here? I thought there were no sharpteeth here."
Miriam looked over, her face contorting into a smile of adoration at the little predator.
"This is Chomper," said Littlefoot. "He's been living with us for a while."
Mackenzie looked down at Chomper, who gave a smile. He wasn't very intimidating at all.
"Hello," she finally said. She wasn't the most fond of sharpteeth, but she knew better than to berate someone for something they couldn't help being, especially when they hardly posed a threat at all.
"So," she resumed. "Where exactly is this place that you speak of?"
"Follow us and we'll show you." Littlefoot turned, and began walking.
"Come on," Mackenzie said to the others.
So, the four rainbow faces followed the group of young dinosaurs, allowing them to be their guide.
The longneck and his friends eventually led them to a pond near the tall grass surrounded by trees full of tree stars. It was a bit secluded, but the isolation was what made it so relaxing.
"Hm," mused Gabriel, looking around the area. "Not too shabby…what do you think, Adam?"
"It's okay," said Adam, his opinion uncertain.
"Hey, hatchlings!"
They all recognized that voice, and the snickers that followed.
Hyp crept towards them, his two lackeys following close behind, sneering.
"I thought we made it clear to you babies that this place was ours!"
Miriam looked to her sister, bewildered and confused. She hadn't heard anything about areas of the valley 'belonging' to anyone.
Mackenzie scowled at Hyp, running up to him and coming to a screeching halt so abrupt that the other nearly lost his balance. "I pummeled you before and I'll do it again."
Hyp chuckled amusingly, and turned to look at his friend. "Hey Nod, Mutt, this oughta be good."
Nod, the clubtail, glanced at his friend worriedly. "Uh, Hyp, maybe you shouldn't…"
"Uh, yeah," added Mutt.
Without another word, Mackenzie rammed her head into Hyp's, knocking him into the pond. She lingered to watch him recover from the blow.
"Told you I'd do it again." She lifted her head, and pranced away.
Mutt and Nod ambled over to help their friend back onto his feet.
"Uh, Hyp," said Nod, "maybe we should go somewhere else, huh?"
"Yeah," said Mutt, who seemed to have only one word in his vocabulary.
Hyp clenched his jaw. "Aw, fine. Whatever. But we'll be back." He angrily stomped away, his lackeys trailing after him.
"Amateurs," scoffed Mackenzie, who managed to make everyone laugh with her comment.