Holy. Muffins, I am so sorry that it took me so long to get a freaking chapter posted.
Been very busy on my end, all last month I was visiting family and I couldn't find time to do any writing and here recently my husband and I are trying to prepare ourselves for the future.
So, to sum it all up without a boring page full for why I haven't been active...Real Life keeps getting in the way. -_-
But, I do hope that you like this chapter, I'll try and stay up a little extra to get some more wrapped up for posting.
When Robin started to come to, the first thing she noticed was that she felt something rather heavy laying on her, and when she opened her eyes, she made a quick note that it was still rather dark out before she looked over to see that Littlefoot had laid his neck over her at some point in the night while she was still asleep.
She blinked in surprise, just lying there a few seconds, but then she gently began to sit up and eased his head to the ground, careful not to wake him up. But as she sat back up, a sharp twinge on her lower back made her clap her hands over her mouth as it almost caused her to yell.
Wondering what was going on, she stuck a hand around under her jersey, wincing as she touched a rough line of skin. And when she pulled it back, she saw that there was a bit of blood on her fingers.
She looked at it in surprise, but then she remembered the fight the other day, Cera probably got her with her horn the last time she knocked her down.
Robin glanced over to Littlefoot and his Grandparents were, they were still fast asleep, but she didn't want to wake them anyway, she'd just go find a water hole somewhere to check it out herself.
Plus she needed a good wash, her skin was starting to feel really grimy.
Careful not to make any noise, Robin pushed herself to her feet with the help of the log she had slept on and she put some weight on her ankle for a quick test. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did last night, which she felt good about. After she had a bath, she would stay off of it as much as she could, that way she'd be able to take the splint off tomorrow.
Making sure not to wake any of the Apatosauruses, she ventured off to find some water.
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Robin didn't know how long it had been when she left Littlefoots' sleeping area, but it felt like forever, especially since her ankle was starting to sting again.
This place was so big, she could easily get lost with one wrong turn. But sure enough, she finally heard the sound of running water and ,thankfully, it sounded like it was close by.
After walking a ways in the direction of the sound, she stopped when a familiar shape to her right suddenly caught her eye, and she looked over to see the entire Triceratops family all sleeping together.
She gave a glare when she saw two of her least favorite members, she was still very angry at Mr. Threehorn, and especially at Cera for what she did.
Robin figured that she probably meant to cut her yesterday.
She gave a loud 'humph!' and looked away before she stormed/limped off with a huff. Entirely too mad to notice that a little pair of big, round eyes were watching her as she walked away.
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When Robin finally came upon a river, the first thing she did as sit down and roll up the hem of her jersey and tied it in a knot so she would be able to see how cut was.
It actually didn't look that bad considering how much it stung, but she was gonna need to clean it out.
She dipped her hands in the water and scrubbed at them a moment, then cupped her right hand and carried a few handfuls of water to pour over the injury.
After Robin finally got it cleaned, she decided to keep her jersey up for a while and got to work on her ankle.
She carefully untied the vines so that they wouldn't tear and then took off her shoe, shin guard and sock; wiggling her bare toes before scooting closer to the edge of the bank.
But just when she was about to put her foot in the cool water, she gave a gasp when she suddenly heard rustling in the leaves behind her. She whirled around to look at the jostling bushes, surprised at first, but it soon turned to irritation.
"Come out and quite hiding!" Robin demanded boldly.
She kept her eyes up, expecting a larger Dinosaur to come out from spying on her, but after the rustling stopped she didn't see anyone appear.
"~Gaaahhh~,"
Her vision instantly fell downward at the noise, and she met eyes with a baby Triceratops.
"Well, hey there," Robin said to the little pink Dinosaur with a smile appearing on her face, all hostility lost. If there was one thing in the world she absolutely adored just on sight, it was babies.
The infant just looked at Robin a moment with wide, curious eyes, but she soon came closer. Robin just sat quietly, watching as she started getting used to her.
She nudged her arm with her nubby little horn and sniffed her skin. She then went behind her, taking a small mouthful of her ponytail and tugged.
Robin laughed, "Hey, that's not food!" she said, pulling her hair back as Tricia gave a bubbly laugh.
"You're Tricia, right? I think I heard your parents call you that before." Robin said as she remembered to put her ankle in the water, she jumped slightly at how cold it was, but she made herself keep her foot submerged. "You're mom seems kinda nice, but I hope you realize your dad's a total jerk."
Tricia just wagged her tail before coming back around and resting her legs on Robins lap, her eyes big and doe-like with a large smile on her sweet face.
Robin just gave a goofy grin and a high pitched hum at how adorable she was before leaning over and gently hugging her arms around her neck. "You're so cute!"
"Tricia!" A voice suddenly called nearly making Robin jump out of her skin before pulling her arms back from the little Dinosaur just as someone walked out in the open.
It was Cera.
A relieved look appeared on elder Triceratops' face when she saw that her sister was okay, but it was immediately overshadowed by a sour one when she saw who she was with.
"Oh…it's you." She stated in distaste.
"Humph, nice to see that you're even more unpleasant in the morning!" Robin retorted turning away from her and wishing she would just go away.
"Only when someone lures my baby sister away from our nest!" she heard the young Triceratops angrily start to say. "Why don't you do us all a favor and just…just uh…
"Hey, what happened to you?"
Robin turned and looked at her in confusion at her sudden drop in hostility, but then she realized that she was looking at down at her cut and quickly undid the knot on her jersey and covered it up. "Why are you so concerned?" Robin asked. "You're the one who did it."
"I did?" Cera said in surprise, "When? How?"
"Yesterday, when you knocked me down the last time." Robin answered. "You're horn got me."
"But I didn't even try to use my horn on you like that." Cera insisted, suddenly appearing at Robin's side. "Littlefoot and me get into fights sometimes and I always do the same thing, but I've never done something like that to him."
Robin turned her face to the side. "Well then that means Littlefoots' skin is a lot tougher than mine." she concluded. "I'm human, there are probably lots of things that can easily hurt me."
Despite how coarse she was acting, Robin felt a bit surprised that Cera seemed so worried about it, especially considering how she treated her yesterday.
And when quietly took a little peek at her from the corner of her eye, she saw a sad look appeared on Ceras' features and she slowly began to relax. "But…You really didn't do it on purpose?" she asked.
Cera nodded, a very earnest expression on her face. And that was when Robin noticed something looked off on her.
There was a spot of skin on her shoulder that looked a bit discolored; it took her a seconded to realize that was the spot the rock hit after Robin threw it. She must have thrown it pretty hard to have left any kind of bruise on a Dinosaur.
And now, instead of feeling pleased that she caused at least a little bit of damage after all that happened, Robin just felt terrible.
"Then, I'm sorry I threw that rock at you yesterday…."she finally said.
"I'm sorry too, for cutting you." Cera apologized as well, "And for pushing you down those two times."
"The first one doesn't count, I wasn't expecting it." Robin said, a smirk appearing on her face before she turned back to Tricia as she playfully butted her arm with her nose.
Cera only gave a little smile too and took a seat next to her
The three of them just sat by the bank in silence for a few moments, but it was finally broken when Tricia gave a cute little laugh because of Robin tickling under her chin.
"You're sister's really cute…" Robin complemented, a little hesitant.
Cera scuffed at the dirt with her foot, smiling. "Thanks."
"Tricia, Cera!" came a voice with the sound of footfalls coming closer until Cera and Tricia's mother finally appeared.
"There you two are!" she stated in relief. "Cera, you know I don't like it when you and Tricia wonder off without saying anything, I was worried."
"Oh, Hi Tria," Cera said, sounding as though she was caught doing something she shouldn't have. "Sorry, but, when I woke up, Tricia was gone, so I went to look for her.
"But, we're fine, we're just uh, sitting here with Robin."
"Robin?" she asked as looked over at the girl sitting on the waters' edge with one leg in.
"Uh, hi…" Robin began with a hesitant wave.
"Well hello there," Tria said kindly with a warm smile.
Robin couldn't help but give a small smile back, feeling a bit satisfied that she had guess correctly that the mother Triceratops was the nicer one of the two adults, but it was quickly lost when more footfalls stomped towards them until meaner one finally showed up.
"Tria, have you found the girls yet?" came a gruff voice before Mr. Threehorn finally came in sight. It didn't take long for him to notice that Robin was there.
"And just what do you think you're doing in my territory?!" the Triceratops demanded rather rudely.
"Oh I'm sorry, I must've missed the 'Private Property' sign on my way here." Robin answered as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and turned away to face the river. "I'm just soaking the foot that you hurt, remember?"
He seemed to pause for a moment, but he soon gave a loud huff and sneered at her. "Well, then once you're done, get out of here." He growled out. "I don't want anything like you polluting the air my family breaths!"
"Oh Topsy, don't be like that!" Tria said in distaste. "Robin seems like a very sweet girl."
"Bah! Ridiculous!" Mr. Threehorn snorted. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"Come along Cera, and make sure Tricia's with you!" He added crossly before turning away and stomping away with an irritated shake of his head as his two daughters followed close behind.
But Tria stayed behind.
"Don't take what he says to heart, dear." Tria told Robin once he was out of hearing range. "Though he won't admit it, he is sorry for hurting your leg the other day; he's really a very sensitive Threehorn under all that thick skin."
"Ha! I'll believe that when I see it!" she said in a disbelieving tone as she turned her nose up in the air.
Tria only gave a short laugh at how similar she was acting to her mate. "Well, we'll see you around, Robin; take care of yourself." She said as she turned and followed after her family; leaving the young girl to herself as she continued to soak her ankle.
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It had been quite a while after Robin found the stream, she had washed her skin and tidied her jersey and her hair before tying it back in a pony tail, but now decided it was time to go back to Littlefoot and his Grandparents. She figured that they probably woke up a long time ago and were now wondering where she was.
She took her foot out of the water, shaking off the droplets before she put her sock, shin guards and shoes back on. And just when she was tying up the laces, she suddenly heard aloud "Psst!" from behind her.
Look around, she saw Cera poke her head out from the leaves. "Hey Robin!"
"Cera?" she asked. "You came back?"
"Yeah, I told my dad I was going to meet Littlefoot and the others to play." She said. "I thought I'd come by and see if you needed some help going over there."
Robin cocked her head to the side, wondering why she came back to get her. Sure they called a truce before, but why go as far as telling a white lie to her parents, er, telling it to her father to be more precise.
She really must have felt bad for cutting her yesterday.
"Alright, I guess I can't let your sneaking all the way back go to waste." Robin said carefully getting to her feet. "Thanks, Cera."
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When Cera finally caught up with her friends, they were shocked to see that Robin was riding on her back. But after explaining what had happened at the stream by Ceras' nest, they were all relived that the two of them were on better terms with each other.
And Happy to know that Robin was still in the Great Valley.
Apparently, Littlefoot had gotten a bit upset when he awoke to see that Robin had gone off on her own, and was everyone had gotten a little sad as they thought that she had left for good. Though reason as to exactly why they felt that way was lost to Robin as they didn't didn't really know her that well.
But despite her confusion, she promised them all that she still had a day or two before she could even think of heading out anywhere.
They five little Dino's were very eager to show her around their home, and Robin had to admit, it was quite a beautiful place now that she didn't have to focus on her ankle like she did this morning.
The land was lush and green, the waters sparkled like there were glittering diamonds in them and the air was so fresh, Robin felt healthier just by breathing.
It truly was a paradise, and a welcome change from the crowded, frustrating world she knew before.
And the young Dinosaurs were very friendly, during the time they all spent with the five of them showing her around, she would alternate from riding on the back Cera, Littlefoot and Spike.
And during her first exchange over to Spike, Ducky picked a spot on her shoulder, and she felt so marveled at how tall she felt whenever Robin would stand up, she decided to stay with the young girl for the day. After making sure that Spike was alright with it, of coarse.
Petrie would sometimes perch on Robin's head, but he stuck to flying when they were on the move to another spot in the Valley because Cera, Littlefoot and Spike would sometimes race each other, and the sudden change in pace would make him accidentally pull her hair.
Robin was actually having so much fun with them, it felt like the day just decided to move along without them, and the others had to hurry home before the sun set over the horizon.
Robin decided to go home with Littlefoot again that night, and saw that his Grandfather was waiting for them. "Well there you are," Grandpa Longneck started, giving Robin a small smile
"Nope, still here." Robin told him, smiling back.
"Littlefoot, you're Grandma's waiting for you over there, it's time for your bath." the elder Dinosaur said to his Grandson.
Littlefoot gave a little groan, he didn't really want to have a bath yet. But after Robin slide off his back, he hurried over to his Grandmother so he wouldn't make her wait.
"So Robin, did you have a good day?" Grandpa Longneck asked once Littlefoot made it for his wash.
"It was a lot better than yesterday, I think me and Cera are on better terms with each other now." Robin said, walking over to the moss covered log she slept on last night.
"Well that's nice to hear." He said with a nod.
"Yeah, but her dad is still as mean as ever." Robin stated with a frown as she sat down. "I bet he's itching for my leg to get better, he doesn't like me at all."
"Not that I care though, I don't need someone like him to like me anyway."
She heard the old Apatosaurus give a slight sigh. "I have to admit, he is very set in his own mindset, and difficult to get along with at times,"
"But he isn't without feelings."
He brought his head down to meet her eyes. "Mr. Threehorn would probably learn to like you... if you would only let him."
"Pfft, right," Robin said dismissively. "Even if I wanted him to like me, which I don't, it will never happen."
"You won't ever know what might happen if you make the effort to try." Grandpa Longneck told her. "And pushing others away all the time, that will leave very lonely one day, don't you realize that?"
"Well, I just won't have friends then." Robin said. "It'll be easy."
"Oh? And what make you say that." Grandpa Longneck asked, his brow quirking at her odd solution.
"All people give me is nothing but hassle and disappointment." Robin told him crossing her arms and looking at the ground. "If it's just me, it'll be better and I won't feel lonely."
"I don't have to have friends..."
Grandpa Longneck only looked at her in silence for a few moments before he slowly pulled away and gazed at the sky above that was painted pink and purple with the disappearing sun. And after thinking about it carefully, he finally spoke.
"With friends that you keep, there will always come frustrations, hurt feelings, even anger at some points." He started, making Robin look up at him. "But there will also be laughter, happiness, and especially love."
"Just as friends sometimes will let you down, they will always be there to lift you up, and bring the best out of situations… you shouldn't let fears and setbacks stop you from making, and keeping, friends at your side, and you shouldn't turn tail when things seem to take a troubling turn. You need to confront them, and find ways to make them better."
He looked back down at her, a soft smile forming along his wrinkled face.
"That is how the bonds we hold with those dear to us grow…how they get stronger."
Robin only stared at him, and for a second, she suddenly saw her own Grandfather smiling back at her. But after a moment she looked away, scuffing her foot along in the dirt. "Wow, that… kind of sounds like something my Grandfather would say."
"Then he's smart fellow, your Grandpa." Grandpa Longneck said. "And what about Littlefoot and the other young ones?" he suddenly added.
"They've certainly taken a liking to you, don't you like them as well?"
" Well, yes, I do like them, they're all very nice to me but..." Robin started slowly. "But I don't know if I need to be...friends, friends with them..."
"Every child needs to friends, my dear, including you." Grandpa Longneck said with a soft chuckle, shacking his head at her stubbornness before leaning down and nudging her shoulder with his nose. "Give it time, you'll see that you want others around you, and maybe you'll find that you even miss the ones you have back home."
After he bid her goodnight, he went on his way to settle down for the night, leaving Robin alone with her thoughts. Even though everything he said made sense, she still wasn't convinced about her needing to have anyone as friends.
She still thought that she would do better on her own.
"Hey Robin!" She heard Littlefoot's voice call, making her turn to see a freshly washed Apatosaurus running towards her before coming to a halt by her side. "Can I sleep by you tonight?" he asked.
"Why not?" Robin said with a careless shrug of her shoulders, scooting off the log and getting herself comfortable.
"It'll save you the trouble of doing it anyway while I'm asleep."
Well, that's it for chapter 4, sorry again for taking so long to get a chapter up.
Let me know what you think, okay:)