A New Pack
(A/N: Thank you to the reviewer who has reviewed this story, and to any who may review in future. Feedback from them is much appreciated, so thank you again.)
Strut watched the herd eat, curious. He'd never been around so many in his life! He nursed his own egg slowly while they were gobbling theirs up. When they were all finished—still hungry yes, but good to go a little longer and good to rest—Strut said, "You can sleep here if you want. It's more protected than out on that place you were before."
The others looked warily up at him. He seemed oblivious as to why they should be wary. "Maybe we will," the leader finally replied.
"Thank you, err…" one of the females began.
"Oh. How silly of me. I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Strut," Strut said, smiling.
"Thank you, Strut," the female who had been nosing around him finished for the other.
"Suppose we should return the favor. The two little ones? Their names are Hop and Skip. Their folks are Rudy and Julie. These two other males, they're Don and Marcus. The females are Deborah, Janine, Sienna, Rylie, and Christine," the leader introduced. Strut recognized Christine as the one who had been nosing around him, and Sienna as the one with the bewitching eyes that probably had lots of males scampering for her when she was in heat. "Me, I'm Thief," the leader said. Strut looked back at him and nodded. He probably wouldn't remember all the names, but at least he had them to put to faces or try.
"How did you learn to find eggs so efficiently?" the female named Janine questioned. Deborah had been the one fishing for his name.
"Oh, I-I learned from… from my brother," Ozzie answered.
"You mentioned a brother. What's his name? Is he as cute as you?" Rylie asked with a giggle, which earned her an annoyed glare from Marcus. He was probably her mate, Strut figured, as Rylie shot him a teasing look right after saying it.
Strut was quiet. "Ozzie," he answered after a moment. "And I wouldn't know if he is or isn't as, um, cute as me."
"From your brother, eh? Care to share a few tips?" Don questioned.
"W-Well, first I go around and ask dinosaurs with nests if they knew of any nests that are recently abandoned or orphaned, or if they have any eggs that won't hatch," Strut replied. "Then I get those ones first. Ozzie told me to do that because I don't feel comfortable or safe taking from nests that aren't abandoned. Ozzie always did the stealing part because I don't like it." Again, because he could hear the movement inside the eggs if there was any, so yeah…
"You… ask…?" Rudy incredulously questioned. That was an interesting tactic.
"We had to when we were small. We didn't have enough strength to be able to move an egg very far from its nest. We usually just ate green food then. I didn't want eggs so if we ever got one Ozzie would usually have it. He was sick of green food by then. I think it was kind of an act of defiance on his part, though I never figured out why. He just didn't like green food. Anyway, that kind of stuck even when we grew up, and it was still efficient. Egg hunting was practically second nature to Ozzie. If no one could tell us anything, then we would follow predators. Ozzie said that following predators was good because whenever they killed a flattooth or something else, a nest was newly orphaned, most of the time, because flatteeth usually won't run away from sharpteeth if they're trying to protect their eggs. More often than not, when the prey fell, there was a nest not far off and we could get it because the sharpteeth would be too busy eating their kill to bother with us. That got us tons. That's where most of these eggs came from, actually. If we couldn't get by on that, like if there were no predators somewhere, then we stole. Well, Ozzie stole. I don't like doing that and I didn't like him doing it because it was always dangerous and lots of parents tend to seek revenge. We had to run for our lives plenty of times. If there weren't any eggs at all, we usually went hungry until we found a river and maybe had a few fish, or swallowed bits of meat from a predator's kill that had been abandoned, or ate vegetation. Well, I did, but Ozzie didn't like me to. Something about it not being enough to sustain me anymore, I think. He was trying to wean me away from green food, but I, personally, like it better than anything else we eat." The others looked amazed. Strut looked around. "What?" he asked.
"Kid, you're talking about tactics not even some of the best egg stealers have mastered. And you're saying they're second nature to your brother?" Thief remarked.
"That's amazing!" Julie added. The young ones looked awed.
"W-well they had to be," Strut replied. "Mother died when we were younger than Hop and Skip," Strut said, pointing at the two little ones. "Well, I was. Ozzie was probably their age or a bit younger. He had to be the one to step up and take care of us and keep us alive, so he had to learn really early how to get enough food to survive, and find water and shelter." Strut paused. Wow… he'd never realized, before, how much Ozzie had had to do for their sakes. How fast he'd had to grow up. Could he remember Ozzie ever acting like a child after mummy had died? He realized with a jolt that he couldn't, no matter how hard he thought about it. Even when they played, Ozzie always seemed alert and on guard and not completely into it.
"Hmm… I'd like to meet this brother of yours. When is he coming back?" Thief questioned.
Strut was silent. After a moment he looked sadly down, hanging his head low. "He… isn't coming back…" he finally murmured.
The others gasped, some murmuring. Don turned to Strut, "You mean…" he began.
"We were chased by a pair of tyrannosaurus. Err, sharpteeth," Strut replied. He wasn't sure how many others knew the names of even their own species let alone others. He still didn't know where Ozzie had learned, he probably never wanted to know, but Ozzie had been sure to teach him all sorts of them. We'd tried to steal their egg then get rid of the baby when it hatched. They came and chased us out into the Mysterious Beyond. They had us cornered on a ledge, if they jumped they could snatch us, but there was a log crossing the ravine they were in that would bring us to another higher up ledge… But the ground was jolted loose and while Ozzie was crossing it first to make sure it was safe, it fell and he landed in the ravine. He was trapped, but the sharpteeth couldn't get him. Even when they left, though, I… I wasn't strong enough to free him… He told me he didn't think it would matter even if I could because he wasn't sure he'd be able to move anyway, but I wouldn't abandon him. I brought him water and food. I hoped he would recover and be able to help me get him out finally… He didn't get a chance to… I left to go find food and when I got back, he wasn't there anymore… There was blood on the ground and bones and so…" He trailed off. He couldn't keep going. So he'd believed his brother had been… been devoured…
The others were quiet. "I'm sorry, Strut," Chris finally said. Strut didn't answer, still hanging his head low. "You must have been close." Strut was silent. He wished they'd been closer, but Oz hadn't had time to really get close to him. He'd had time to protect him and keep him alive, but not get close. "He must have been a good brother," she tried again.
"He wasn't," Strut murmured. "At least, he didn't think so. And not like you'd think anyway either. I thought he was a good brother, but it didn't change the fact he was mean most of the time. And hit me a lot when I annoyed him. And always got the first bite of an egg and gave what was left to me."
"Then why did you love him and why are you so sad he's gone?" Sienna questioned, laying down to sleep.
"Because he was my brother," Strut answered, frowning at her.
"There has to have been more than that," she replied.
Strut was quiet. "Because he never left me…" he finally said. "He could have, it would have been easier for him to and more beneficial, but he didn't. He never did. He protected me. He kept me alive. He took care of us even if he was rough… He loved me… At least I think he did. I don't know why he would have done all of that for me if he hadn't. Look, can we not talk about Ozzie right now? It's only just been a week since… I just don't want to talk about him." And he didn't have answers anyway. They were questions he'd never had to ask or reply to before, and he couldn't find the right words to say to get his point across. He lay down and closed his eyes to sleep. Soon enough he'd drifted off.
"Maybe he can travel with us now," Marcus remarked. He turned to Thief. "The kid's tricks for finding food will be beneficial to us, Thief. He can help teach us some of the nuances of the trade."
Thief's gaze hardened slightly as he looked warily back at Strut. He didn't like the idea. Mainly because if Strut got too good, he might end up becoming a threat to the leadership around here. That was something Thief wasn't about to tolerate.
"Let him in, Thief," Deborah said. "It can't hurt."
Oh yes it could, Thief inwardly replied. "Fine," he relented. "Just for a trial, though. If he doesn't work out, he goes. He isn't like us. He may only slow us down."
"Maybe, but his egg hunting tricks will save us from starvation," Rudy said. Thief growled warningly at Rudy. Rudy immediately shut up, cringing, and laid back down. Soon they were all asleep in the cave.
LBT
Strut was dreaming, he knew. He couldn't really explain why he was in a foggy flatland any other way. Surrounded by… were those bones? He looked around uneasily and swallowed. Hesitantly he started moving forward. "Hello?" he called out. There was a sound. Footsteps. "Hello?!" Strut uneasily called again, prepared to run if need be. Suddenly a figure appeared in the mist and he gasped. It looked like one of his kind. He squinted ahead curiously. The other's eyes opened and Strut gasped, fear coming to his expression followed quickly by misery. "O-Ozzie?" he asked, voice breaking and tears threatening his eyes. Ozzie said nothing, just tossed his head in a gesture to follow. He began running. "Ozzie, wait for me!" Strut cried out, racing after his sibling top speed.
Every time he seemed to get near, fog would swirl and Ozzie would be far ahead of him again. He ran faster. Harder. Pushed himself to keep up… Ozzie always drove him to push himself to be better. Better runner, better thinker, better planner, better seeker. Ozzie was forcing him to have to be better again, it seemed, so he pushed harder than before. This time, when the fog swirled, he found himself running beside his sibling. He looked over at Ozzie, tears of longing and disbelief in his eyes. Ozzie didn't spare him a glance. They kept running, running, running, over the land, through the bones, passed mountains next, and fields, and deserts, and oceans, and valleys, and predators until finally Ozzie stopped, as did Strut. They were overlooking a valley. Strut knew this valley. The Valley of the Mists. Their ancient haunt. He hadn't seen the place in years. Time hadn't been kind to it. He looked questioningly at Ozzie. "Ozzie, why are you showing me this?" he asked.
"Because here, dear little brother, is where two worlds meet. Here is where you must go. Here is safety, because the Great Valley will not keep you or them alive and sustained. It is too well guarded; and should you stay in the Mysterious Beyond, it will only mean your death," Ozzie answered, looking at him.
"M-my death? B-but why?" Strut questioned.
Ozzie looked back over the view. "Because something big and deadly and inherently dangerous has come where you are. To be caught by him is to die. You have to leave," he answered.
"Maybe I would rather stay," Strut murmured. Rather die, he inwardly corrected. He didn't want to be alone… He didn't want to be without his brother… Ozzie had always been his whole world, all he knew… Without him there was nothing…
Ozzie looked back at the valley. "Here is where we will meet again," he said.
Strut stiffened. "Meet again?" he asked, looking over at him. Of course, this was just a dream. It probably didn't mean anything.
Suddenly the scene changed. Strut gasped and looked around. Then ahead. Anguish filed his eyes. He was back where his brother had died… Ozzie was sleeping. Then he woke up, alerted to something, and gasped. Four raptors appeared in front of him, one dragging a fresh kill in its mouth Strut didn't want to see. This was his brother's death… But he couldn't turn away. "Ozzie!" he screamed as three of the raptors shot forward, leaving the fourth to guard the already killed portion of their meal. Ozzie gave a warning screech, but he knew it would mean nothing. He was defenseless. One fast-biter leapt at him and onto his back. Ozzie started crying out in pain and calling for help as it sank its claws into his body, tearing and ripping at his flesh. The others were moving to join it!
Suddenly there was a flash of grey. Ozzie stopped crying out in pain and looked stunned and afraid. The grey thing drew back. The raptor had been lashed and was now sprawled on the ground. The others were looking on in fear. What did this mean? Any of it? Ozzie was fading again from the scene, looking up and meeting Strut's eyes once more. "Ozzie!" Strut cried out, running towards him as if reaching him would mean that when he woke up, his sibling would be next to him… He wasn't. He never would be. It was Christine shaking him awake.
LBT
"Strut, Strut, wake up!" she insisted, shaking him. Strut's eyes flew open. He was aware he was crying in his sleep. The others were looking at him worriedly. Strut sobbed and sat up with a gasp, willing himself to recover. He looked around at the others of his kind. "You were calling your brother's name and crying," Chris gently and worriedly said. Strut sniffed, bowing his head.
"I was seeing his death," he murmured in response. It was his death, wasn't it?
"Ooh… Ouch," Don said, cringing. "If anything ever happened to Deborah…"
"She's your sister?" Strut asked.
Don smiled. "Yes," he confirmed, looking affectionately at her. She smiled at him.
"Strut, we were thinking. Maybe, if you want, you can come with our group. The skills your brother taught you for searching out food might be really useful to have, and I'm not sure if you have any place in particular you plan to go to, but…" Julie began, drawing her children close to her.
"Actually…" Strut began. Should he say? What if the dream wasn't bogus after all? "The Valley of the Mists… I think, I know, that's where I'm heading. It was… It was where Ozzie and I lived for a long time… It's not the safest place, but there's still lots of food there. And I think it might be safer than staying out in the Mysterious Beyond." At least, if that dream meant anything more than a dream.
"The Valley of the Mists is days away from here," Thief said. "We would more likely die along the way."
"Not really. There's a river not far away from it. I think I can find it. It goes to a waterfall—err, the falling water—and next to the falling water there was a cave, I think. It's been years since we left there. I believe it was a way into the valley. And green food, at least, grows beside the river, not to mention there's all sorts of fish in it," Strut offered.
Thief was quiet a long moment. All the others looked at him, waiting for his answer. Feeling the pressure, Thief grimaced and said, "Fine, we'll try it. But if we haven't gotten somewhere safe in three days, we're changing paths."
"It'll take at least four," Strut protested. "At least with the little ones."
"We're fast!" Hop insisted.
"Yeah, we can handle it," Skip agreed defiantly.
"Can you run as fast as us at top speed?" Strut questioned, frowning at them.
The two blinked and cringed. "No," they admitted together, bowing their heads and looking annoyed that they couldn't.
"Then you can't," Strut victoriously said, sticking out his tongue teasingly at them. They giggled and stuck theirs out right back. Strut looked at the others. "Come on! I'll show you the way. After we get breakfast that is. I'm starving." The others cringed, recalling how starving they themselves were as well.
LBT
The group was amazed at the haul Strut had led them to. A whole nest, freshly orphaned, in a particularly green area not far from a predator's latest abandoned kill. Unfortunately they wouldn't always be this lucky, but for now they would eat to their heart's content. And drink. A small stream was running not far off. The children devoured the vegetation and bits of meat their parents were feeding them. The others devoured the eggs and meat as well, and drank heartily.
"There are a few places like this in the Mysterious Beyond," Strut said, gulping down a bit of the vegetation. Ozzie couldn't slap him for eating the green food now. One of the only pluses to his sibling not being around anymore… Of course remembering that his sibling wasn't going to be around anymore just killed the enjoyment for him in a second. Suddenly the food didn't taste so good. In fact, it tasted bitter in his mouth because in a way it felt like a betrayal to his dead brother. "Ozzie always nosed them out. Every so often we could come back and another nest would be around. Most of the time, though, the parents were still alive so if we wanted to eat Ozzie had to steal. Or we'd go to the next spot and he'd hope there was a fresh kill or a newly orphaned nest there. Or eggs that wouldn't hatch."
"Why didn't you like eggs?" Janine asked.
Strut cringed. "I… just didn't like the idea of stealing them from their parents," he answered.
"It's all part of the circle of life. If eggs have to be eaten to keep us alive, they have to be eaten," Rylie pointed out.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact they're someone else's kids," Strut muttered. "It's just hard for me to eat them because…"
"Because…" Janine pressed.
Strut was quiet. "Because I can hear the little ones inside…" he finally admitted. The other started, looking at him in shock.
"You can hear the babies moving in them?" Chris asked in horror. That had to be horrible! At least they could pretend, when they couldn't hear the movement, that there was nothing growing inside.
"That's why Ozzie always took the eggs and ate part of them before me. Because I just… I don't know. I didn't have the heart to," Strut admitted. "I only resorted to stealing them because my brother needed me to…" Not that it had saved him in the end anyway…
"Hmm. Interesting tale. Now, if everyone has eaten their fill and drank enough water to keep going, we need to get a move on. This valley had better be worth the trouble, Strut," Thief said, rising and shaking himself off.
"I hope so too," Strut answered. "But I haven't been there for years." And if the dream was anything to go by, it was nowhere as nice as it had once been. But at least it was there.
"That's more your problem than ours," Thief said. Strut cringed as Thief moved ahead to join Deborah, Janine, and Julie, Deborah of which nodded and rose to follow him, as did the others.
LBT
Chris and Sienna came up next to Ozzie. "I don't think he likes me very much," Strut said to them.
"He doesn't like many," Chris answered, shrugging. "He's very suspicious and protective."
"He doesn't like a threat, that's what he doesn't like," Sienna said. "He sees you as a challenge to his leadership."
"Me? Why? I've never been a leader in my life," Strut replied.
"Because you're better at finding food than he is, and you know a place where there'll be plenty, which also means you might prove yourself more capable than him," Rudy said, coming up alongside them with the two babies.
"We want to travel with Strut, papa!" Hop said.
"Yeah! Uncle Strut plays games with us," Skip agreed.
"Probably because 'Uncle' Strut isn't even fully grown himself," Marcus said to the children. "You're still an sub-adult, aren't you boy?"
"Well, yes, I mean, I'm almost not!" Strut replied.
"Keep telling yourself that, kid," Don teased Strut, playfully smacking him with his tail. Strut 'oomphed' and frowned at Don coldly before his look became submissive and resigned again. It was rare when the cold side of him slipped through. Really the only one who had ever seen just how dangerous he could look and be was Ozzie, and even then only when Ozzie was bullying him particularly cruelly. It was enough to alert Ozzie, though, that if he pushed too far, things would get ugly very quickly. Ozzie knew Strut would only be the butt monkey for so long before he'd lash out...
LBT
"Something the matter, Ozzie?" Strut questioned, noticing his brother suspiciously watching him from a rock while Strut was eating a shellfish.
"I can't help but fear you're only biding your time," Ozzie replied.
"Biding my time? For what?" Strut questioned.
"For the moment you will have the chance to strike out against me and put an end to my cruelty once and for all," Ozzie answered. "I've seen the way you look at me, brother. Don't think me blind."
Strut blinked blankly, turned back to the shellfish, then smirked. "When did you decide I hid more than I let through?" he asked.
"Around the time you got into middle adolescence," Ozzie answered. "And started muttering behind my back and looking at me with those 'one of these days' sorts of looks. It makes me nervous."
Strut turned to him again. "Well I should hope so. After all, I learned them from you, Ozzie. You always tell me to try and look more intimidating when we're facing off against things that are challenging us, and you always look intimidating so I thought that maybe if I could copy your look, I could put enemies on edge like you do! I'm afraid I'm not really good at it yet, at least not always in a real threatening situation—I can't keep it up for long then—but at least I can do it well enough that it makes you nervous," Strut said.
"You can be as devious as me sometimes, you know. It's aggravating. Leave the deviousness to me," Ozzie warned.
"You shouldn't be so worried, Ozzie. It's not like I'd hurt you, not ever!" Strut insisted.
"Forgive my skepticism given how often you end up on the wrong side of my tail or foot. Or words, for that matter," Ozzie replied.
"Even if I was plotting I couldn't now. You know about it each time I look at you like that, so it wouldn't exactly be unexpected, would it?" Strut said.
Ozzie smirked dryly. "You are my brother straight through," he said, shaking his head. "More so than even I would like to admit."
"Hey!" Strut protested to the insult, frowning. Ozzie chuckled and curled up to sleep on the rock in the sun. Strut stuck out his tongue and went back to eating before curling up to nap again with a yawn.
