Because You Needed Help
Strut walked listlessly through the mysterious beyond, head bowed low and eyes shut in grief. Alone. Completely and totally alone. No one and nothing. Just… just him. By himself. Hoping and praying he didn't run into a predator he couldn't deal with. He sluggishly looked up and around, hearing thunder. A bad storm was coming, probably. Which meant he needed to find shelter. He looked up a cliff. There was a cave there. He leapt up towards it and finally reached the ledge it was on. He peered inside cautiously. It didn't seem anything had claimed it already, so he guessed he would. He entered it just as the clouds broke open and sky water poured from above. Strut whimpered and huddled up into a tight ball, watching it nervously. He hated rain and storms. He hated them so much. They terrified him ever since they had watched their father and all their unhatched siblings get washed away by it, when the rocks collapsed and toppled them all into a flood of the stuff from a river - running water as others called it - that burst its banks. Only their mother and he and Ozzie got away. Strut could still hear his father's scream…
Thunder cracked and Strut gasped, covering his head. "Ozzie!" he cried out. Before remembering, of course, that this time his brother wasn't there to get snippy and ask something like 'What is it this time?', even though Ozzie would know exactly what was wrong. Strut's expression filled with grief and he sobbed, closing his eyes tightly.
LBT
"Ozzie!" Strut cried out in terror.
"What is it this time?" Ozzie asked in annoyance, cracking and eye open and glaring darkly at his brother.
"Ozzie, the sky is roaring again!" Strut exclaimed.
"You mean thunder? Just close your eyes and go to sleep, Strut," Ozzie replied. Strut whimpered and closed his eyes again. It cracked loudly and he screamed in fear, leaping up and diving into the back of the cave where his brother slept. "What on Earth?!" Ozzie exclaimed, even though Ozzie was used to this sort of behavior from Strut and honestly had seen it coming. Sure enough Strut was huddled up close to him, shivering like a leaf. "Oh for the love of… It's only a storm!" Ozzie shot. The thunder roared so loudly and shook the cave and this time even Ozzie jumped a little. Strut huddled closer.
"Make it go away," he begged. He may have been fully grown—well, not totally, but close to it at least—but he just couldn't get over this fear no matter how hard he tried or how hard Ozzie tried to make him.
"Pathetic," Ozzie sneered. "You're acting like a hatchling!" Strut didn't move, still shaking. "Fine! But this is the last time, do you understand? I expect you to grow up and learn to weather these things. If it's the last thing I do I'll see you brave enough to sleep alone in a storm." It never was the last time. Ozzie always said that but then always allowed him to sleep next to him when he got too scared and couldn't manage to weather the storm. Which was never, no matter how hard he tried to. Ozzie wrapped his tail around his brother and rested his head over the other one's. Strut whimpered as the thunder cracked again. Ozzie rolled his eyes and held his tail a little tighter around his sibling, nuzzling him reassuringly. "Go to sleep, Strut. It's only a storm. It will pass. Like it always does. Every time. Haven't you learned by now there's nothing to fear from it?"
LBT
Strut grimaced in sadness and opened his eyes, looking out at the storm. Thunder boomed practically right outside, shaking the cave. Strut gasped and crept back a little ways, but he didn't look away from it. Ozzie wasn't here this time. He had to do this by himself.
If it's the last thing I do I'll see you brave enough to sleep alone in a storm…
Strut's eyes narrowed in determination. Thunder echoed again. He winced, but he didn't jump this time, or crawl back. He crawled a bit ahead, in fact, almost defiantly. His brother had wanted him to be brave. His brother would be so proud to see him now, creeping towards it instead of away. Even if Ozzie wouldn't show he was proud, and would probably say something passively insulting, he would be, because that was just Ozzie's way. He imagined how proud his sibling would be if he could face the storm tonight and sleep…
Would have been… Ozzie was gone… He was really gone. That pain and terror frightened him far more than any storm ever had, and Strut gazed tearfully out into the downpour. He wished he could see his brother coming towards him, trying to find him. If he could just hear Ozzie's voice again and be able to call out to him. Of course he didn't, and he couldn't. He never would be able to again… But if he imagined hard enough, he could almost feel Ozzie's presence at his side like he used to be, sleeping next to him and protecting and comforting him… If he closed his eyes he could see his brother there, and even when he opened them, for a brief second he would see Ozzie sleeping beside him dreaming of eggs, probably, or opening an eye and giving him a wry little smirk. Then the image would fade and reality would hit, but he felt braver. He felt peaceful. He closed his eyes, laying down his head, and imagined and dreamt, and he could almost see his brother looking back at him from the entrance of the cave and giving him a sly yet somehow proud smirk before racing off into the torrent forever…
LBT
Strut's eyes flickered open with the morning light, and he yawned. "Morning Oz," he said with a smile. Wait. Said smile faded and he looked around. Ozzie wasn't there, and memory and sadness crushed down around him once more. He'd almost hoped it had all been some nightmare and his brother wasn't really gone after all. It seemed that wasn't so. He felt an all too familiar burning in his eyes and closed them tightly, grimacing. He stood up, stretching, then went sadly to the entrance of the cave, looking around. There was more than enough water to drink now. He would start there then work on the food issue later. He leapt down from his cave and lapped up some of the water. There was a bit of grass and he hesitated to try it. He knew Ozzie wouldn't like it, but Ozzie wasn't here, and it wasn't like green food wasn't part of the diet their kind ate. They could make do with pretty well anything they could manage to eat or catch. He nibbled on some of the grasses and went after a few bugs that he spotted. He remembered Ozzie's words. Eggs thrice a day at least. Well, maybe he could start with once or twice a day instead. He didn't really like the idea of robbing eggs. It seemed… wrong in a way. Maybe, though, he could find an abandoned nest.
Ozzie said a good way to find eggs was to follow the predators. Most paid no attention to them, they weren't their main food, and if you stayed far enough away from them they didn't bother going after you. When they took down flatteeth, though, most of the time the reason the flatteeth didn't run was because they were protecting their nests. Which meant that more often than not, when a flattooth was killed, a nest was newly orphaned and fresh for raiding. Sometimes, if they were up to it or if Ozzie wanted something extra special and unique, they would nose around in leftovers that the sharpteeth left behind and swallow some of those bits of meat and whatnot. Maybe even go after fish to swallow sometimes, if they wanted a treat. They weren't really scavengers, they were omnivores who ate whatever they were able to in order to survive. With a heavy preference for eggs and vegetation. Ozzie had always been totally obsessed with eggs, though, more than anything else. Those 'treats' of meat and fish were usually just for Strut's sake. Ozzie would have taken eggs always if given the chance.
Strut climbed up to higher ground and looked around. He saw a sharptooth some distance away, battling with a badly injured plant eater. He could tell the sharptooth was winning. Sure enough, only moments later the flattooth gave a death bellow and lay still. Strut started cautiously towards them both. They were far, but he could cover a lot of distance really fast. His kind were faster than even velociraptors were. Quickly enough he was there, crouching behind a rock and watching as the sharptooth ate. When he saw it was preoccupied and not likely to go after him unless he came too close to its kill, Strut began walking around sniffing out the nest that might be nearby. Ozzie always had the better sniffer. Strut hadn't been born with a very good one. Something went wrong, he supposed, but he could still manage with it. If he really tried. His hearing was better than Ozzie's though, and most of their species apparently, because his nose wasn't great and so he compensated with hearing… He could always hear the movement inside of the eggs… That was another reason he avoided nest robbing, and another reason Ozzie sniffed out the nests and not him…Another reason Ozzie sniffed out the nests and not him… He wanted his brother back…
Leaping over a rock, he spotted the nest. It looked recently dug, which meant it hadn't been long ago that the flattooth had mated. These eggs wouldn't likely survive without their mother, he believed, and given there was no father around he would bet the male was dead too. He cringed, bowing his head guiltily, but Ozzie was right. Vegetation wasn't enough anymore. Not for him. He needed the nutrients of the eggs to survive. His brother would want him to survive… He would die eagerly, though, if it meant it got his brother back… He began raiding the nest. He would get these eggs back to his cave. He'd have enough to last him a few days. He didn't need to search again for a while, considering no other egg-eaters came by while he was carting the eggs back.
LBT
Strut was in the process of transporting the eggs back along the ridge towards his cave when he heard something. He turned in the direction of the sound and gasped. Across the ravine there was a group of his own kind! He hadn't seen another of his own—aside from Ozzie—in years, let alone a whole group! He was a little nervous about being spotted by them. He wouldn't know how to greet them or even if he'd be received kindly. Maybe he was better off with just Oz. Wait. There was no Ozzie anymore… Just him alone. Did he really think he could survive like that, alone? He honestly didn't know. He was about to leave when he saw some of them holding their stomachs as if starving. There weren't many babies, but those that were there were crying in hunger while their parents tried to reassure them. There were a good number of his kind, about twelve. Two babies—which struck a painful chord in Strut's heart as he remembered Ozzie—their mom and dad, three more males, and five more females. They must not have had anything to eat for a while now.
Strut cringed and looked back at his hoard. There were twelve eggs in total that he had collected from the area. Just enough to feed all of them one each—except the babies, who would have to share one—and himself. He looked down at them. They seemed like they planned to rest there the night and sleep hungry. It didn't look like the children would survive another night without food, and their parents seemed to know it too, as they were crying. Strut shifted uneasily. So much for having eggs enough to last him a few days, but he couldn't let them just starve now, could he? He hurried along his ridge, searching for a way across. A narrow gap right here. He could jump that. He leapt, landing perfectly, and ran towards the others.
Nearing them, Strut began to slow, approaching cautiously. They caught wind of him and immediately the males turned with growls, forming a line between him and the females and babies. "Um, hello there, sorry to bother you but, um, I was watching you all from up there," Strut awkwardly said, pointing towards his ridge. The herd glared at him a long moment before turning to look up. They turned back to him.
"Go away, lone one. We aren't about to accept strays into this herd. We can hardly feed ourselves as it is," one of the males said, the apparent leader of them.
"Oh I didn't come to join you, no. I just, I couldn't help but notice you were, um, hungry, and I happened to have collected a good number of eggs. Twelve, at least, and I saw the little ones starving and I thought that twelve was a bit much for me anyway so maybe, if you wanted, you could each have one? The babies would have to share one together, but the eggs are rather big so I don't think they could eat a whole one themselves anyway," Strut awkwardly said. Oh what he wouldn't have given for Ozzie to be here and doing the talking. Of course if Ozzie were here, the last thing he would have done was share the eggs with this random herd they—just he now, Strut sadly reminded himself—didn't even know.
"You're… offering to share your plunder?" one of the other males asked incredulously.
"Um, yes? Why? Is that not the right thing to do?" Strut questioned.
"Is something wrong with you?" another male asked.
"W-With me? N-no! I mean, I don't have the best sniffer, I wasn't hatched with a very good sense of smell, but other than that…" Strut began.
"We don't mean like that, boy. You aren't behaving… naturally," the father of the two little ones said.
"Oh, um, sorry. I'm, um, not exactly sure how to. Behave in a 'natural' way with a herd, that is, whatever 'natural way' means. It's only been just me and my brother since we were not much more than hatchlings. He's the only other struthiomimus, err, egg stealer, I've ever actually, well, encountered. Ever. Since mother died when we were very young," Strut said. "I just want to help."
"You won't last long out here, stranger. Not if you share your food," one of the females—one with a very sly and sassy look in her eyes—said to him.
Strut was quiet. He wasn't sure he wanted to last long out here anyway. Not without his brother. Ozzie was gone and he just… he felt so incomplete and scared and vulnerable. "I'll take that chance," Strut finally said.
"Why? Why would you do this?" one of the other females questioned, curiously approaching him. She was the only one brave enough to have sniffed around him yet. He watched curiously and guardedly, tensed up. He was feeling threatened by this group.
"Well, because you need help," Strut confusedly answered. Wasn't that reason enough? That was the reason Ozzie always gave for not abandoning him after mother died. Or killing him or letting him die…
Flashback
Strut sat by his mother's body, sniffing and shaking her for the dozenth time. He heard footsteps. He didn't need to turn to know who it was. "When will mummy wake up?" he asked his brother, voice breaking. His brother didn't answer. Strut sniffed again, wiping his nose and huddling close to her. He made a pitiful sound, a plea for her to respond. She didn't. She kept lying still. "Mummy, I'm hungry!" Strut insisted. Maybe mommy would wake up to feed them finally. It had been two days and he hadn't left the cave once. He was too little to find eggs and break their shells, and it was too dangerous for a small hatchling to go out searching for water alone. Ozzie had. He wasn't supposed to, mommy said he wasn't supposed to, but the first day mommy fell asleep Ozzie left… Ozzie hadn't come back for two days either. It had been just him all alone, begging mommy to get up.
"She won't wake up," Ozzie's voice replied. "Ever again."
"Why?" Strut asked, looking miserably back at his sibling.
Ozzie was quiet. "Because mommy is dead…" he answered bluntly, no hint of emotion, tone hollow. Ozzie left the cave crying, when mommy had first lain down and not got up. Maybe Ozzie had no more tears to shed. Strut did, though, and he burst into sobs, screaming for his mother to get up again. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't!
LBT
Ozzie had dragged him outside of the cave now. Strut was all huddled up looking miserable. Ozzie was quiet, sitting and watching from their perch. "Where did you go?" Strut asked finally, voice breaking.
Ozzie was quiet. "I left," he finally answered.
"Why?" Strut questioned. Ozzie was again silent.
Because I have a better chance of surviving without you. One mouth to feed is easier than feeding two. For me to survive, you had to die…
"Because I needed to find food for us," he answered out loud. What was he doing? He should throw his brother from the cliff. His brother, so trusting, so young, so weak and naïve. It would be painless, he told himself. When Strut fell asleep he would throw him off of the cliff. Strut wouldn't feel anything, after all, and he would have food. Maybe. He could try at least, because he hadn't found any other food anywhere and even though he wasn't a meat eater—they didn't even have much for teeth really—he could swallow strips of meat. It was all he had right now. If he couldn't eat soon, he would die. He might die anyway.
"Did you?" Strut questioned.
Ozzie looked at him a moment. "None that I had the stomach to eat," he answered.
"But Ozzie, we're going to starve without mummy! We have to eat something! Anything," Strut insisted.
"No… not anything…" Ozzie answered. Strut was confused at the reply but didn't press. He sniffed, bowing his head low again. His tummy hurt. And he felt so, so thirsty. "Follow me. There's water not far," Ozzie said.
Strut looked meekly up. "I don't want to leave," he said, voice breaking.
"Then die here," Ozzie bitterly answered. Strut gasped at the cruelty in his brother's words. He watched Ozzie leap down from their cave and run off, leaving him behind again. This time Ozzie wouldn't come back, and he wasn't big enough or fast enough to catch his brother even if he tried to go after him now. Strut's eyes welled with tears and he turned around, slinking back into the cave to lay beside mummy.
Die here…
And he would… He began sobbing again, cuddling close to mummy.
LBT
Strut felt someone nuzzling him. He didn't have the strength or will to open his eyes. If it was a predator, he hoped it would eat him swiftly. He felt the nuzzle again. He tried to open his eyes but just couldn't. "Strut! Get up!" a familiar voice sharply ordered.
Strut managed to flicker open his eyes this time, working with the little bit of strength hope had just brought him now. That was Ozzie's voice! He hoped it wasn't a dream. He blinked to clear his blurry vision. It was Ozzie! "Ozzie!" he tried to cry, but his voice came out rough and hoarse. His throat was dry and his mouth felt like sandpaper.
"Drink up already," Ozzie commanded. Strut looked down. There was a tree star filled with water laying in front of him! He looked up at his brother gratefully and began lapping it up thirstily. Ozzie pushed another one up to Strut. Strut drank that one just as fast, and five more besides before feeling alive again. "Eat up. We have a journey to make," Ozzie commanded, urging Strut to eat the tree stars as well, and the other vegetation he'd gathered together. Which was a lot. Greedily and hungrily Strut ate.
"Oz, aren't you having any?" he questioned his sibling.
"I already ate," Ozzie answered. Which was true. He had. He'd ensured he'd eaten first and drank his fill. He'd half hoped Strut would be dead by the time he got back, but at the same time he'd hoped he wouldn't be too late. If Strut died, he'd be all alone. Soon Strut was filled up.
"What journey are we going on, Ozzie?" Strut questioned.
"A long one. To a place where there is lots of food and water. I heard about it from a passing group of our kind. They had only just come from it," Ozzie answered.
"Why did they leave it?" Strut wondered.
"They hoped to find better," Ozzie answered. "But what they lose is our gain. Now those grounds will be ours alone."
"Where is the place, Ozzie?" Strut asked.
"It's called the Valley of the Mists. There's a great valley out there somewhere as well, so I'm told, but it's farther away. Much farther. We'll have to be much bigger if we want to make that trip, so we'll settle in the misty one for now," Ozzie stated. "We will be okay there, Strut, I promise."
"I thought you were going to leave me," Strut admitted, head bowed. "Why didn't you when I made you so mad?"
"Because you needed help," Ozzie answered. And truth be told, he felt that he would too. Strut grinned widely at his sibling. This time, after they said goodbye to mummy one last time, he followed his brother into their new lives.
End Flashback
The herd looked curiously at Strut when he gave his reason for offering to aid them. Because you need help… Finally, the leader answered, "Lead the way. Strut nodded and raced off. They followed him."
