Slowly Earning a Place

(A/N: Not to happy with this chapter, but hopefully my readers like it. Enjoy.)

Strut raced ahead with the children, laughing and playing with them. They were thrilled to have someone play with them. Their parents were always too busy trying to keep them alive, and themselves. There wasn't much time for play in the pack. Thief always had them all on their guard. The two children couldn't remember the last time they'd had anyone other than each other to play with. They laughed, leaping on Strut and knocking him down. Strut laughed, squirming under them as they tickled him.

Panting, the three stopped and laid down to wait for the others whom they'd left far behind, though not far enough that they couldn't be seen. "Uncle Strut, did you and your brother play lots like this?" Skip asked.

"Not really. Ozzie wasn't very big on play. But sometimes, when we had nothing to do, we did. It was always chasing each other or tickling. A lot like this," Strut answered. "But Ozzie was never totally into it. I never knew why but now I guess he was watching out for predators that might attack us."

"Like what you're doing?" Hop asked.

"I am?" Strut questioned, looking at them in surprise.

"Yes. You're looking around everywhere for predators, and seeing how far away the others are," Hop said.

"Well, I guess I am," Strut replied, lighting up. Wow, he felt proud and responsible. He'd never had to before. Ozzie always looked out for them so Strut could do whatever he felt like without worrying about being taken off guard. Ozzie was always there to do that… Hmm, looking back he felt kind of bad now. Ozzie could have used the help, probably, but he'd never been able to focus long and Ozzie couldn't always take the time to stop and lecture him to pay attention, or fight with him to help out. In the Mysterious Beyond, even a moment of inattention could mean death. All his kind really had going for them in defense was their speed. They were the fastest sorts of dinosaurs on Earth. They also had abnormally long claws, and really powerful legs and strong tails, but that didn't always cut it. Speed was their key. Strut listened hard. He heard water rushing in the distance. They weren't far from the river now. Which meant it was time to be more alert again. Lots of dinosaurs, predator and prey both, would gather around that river.

LBT

"How much older than you was your brother?" Skip questioned.

Strut cringed and bowed his head. "Not a lot, but enough to make a difference," he answered. Ozzie had been hatched about a year or two earlier than him, maybe. Ozzie had been the only egg that year. Times were hard and it was a miracle their mother had had one at all, let alone one that was viable. Their mother hadn't had another clutch until his own. There had been about five there, but he'd been the only one that made it. One egg had been stolen. Their parents had found it smashed and eaten two days later. Another had been stepped on and shattered. A third had died and wasn't viable anymore, so their parents had had to eat it because there was no food anywhere else. He and the other had actually hatched, but the other had died shortly after. It had been too weak to survive, and because their parents were away from the nest, it had been taken by a small predator. He was almost too weak too. He didn't remember how he'd survived, but Ozzie did. Ozzie had told him how, when he'd asked about his birth.

Ozzie said that after the other baby was taken, him and mummy and daddy had come back just in time to see the predator trying to take him away too. Mom and dad had leapt into action, chasing the predator away in grief and leaving Ozzie behind with the baby. Ozzie said that mom and dad hadn't expected him to still be alive when they got back, because Strut had been very weak and hurt, and it hadn't looked good. Ozzie said that he had nearly died many times, but Ozzie had kept nudging him and forcing him to try and struggle away or fight or stay awake. Ozzie remembered Strut's little roars too, when he'd tried to scare him away fearfully. Ozzie had just kept on nudging and nudging and nudging until Strut had gotten to his feet. He had fallen right after, but Ozzie had kept nudging him persistently and had given him some food and water, which Strut had hardly been able to eat. By the time mother and father had come back, little Strut was sitting up and roaring and squeaking and nickering back and forth with his brother as they sniffed at each other. That marked the first time Ozzie had saved his life… Also the last time for a long time after.

A few months later another batch of eggs had been born, and it looked good because things were picking up. Unfortunately, the storm hit then. The storm that took papa away, and all their unhatched siblings. They were trying to run, taking the eggs with them. The mountainside was falling. Including the ridge their nest had been on. They were almost there, but papa hadn't made it. The ledge had crumbled under his feet, sending him toppling to his death in the raging water, all the eggs going with him and breaking on the way down or sinking beneath the river. Mother had been grief stricken. She tried to save the eggs that might have still been saved, but the ledge broke before she could and those ones fell too. She'd only been able to get Ozzie and him to safety. When the storm passed and she went down to see if any of the eggs that had fallen in the water were still okay… All that could be found were broken shells and the couple that were intact weren't viable anymore. Mother had been devastated all over again… After that, nothing made her better. She tried to be strong for her little ones, but keeping them alive had meant neglecting herself, and that had been her biggest mistake. That had been what had killed her. She'd let herself get too weak. She wouldn't eat until her babies were full. She always did that, and when a sickness came they had been strong enough to resist it. Mother hadn't…

Ozzie hadn't made that mistake, Strut remembered. Ozzie had been sure to keep himself fed and up to snuff first and foremost so that he could actually be useful in keeping Strut alive too. Sometimes, if things were really bad, he'd let that rule slip, but never like mother had done. Ozzie knew, from watching mother, that to protect the little ones, you had to be able to protect yourself, not get weakened or sick, because then they'd have no one to take care of them. If they had been ill, she could have protected and nursed them. But they hadn't gotten ill, she had, and they hadn't known how to help her at all so she died. And Ozzie had left.

For the longest time Strut didn't understand Ozzie's true reasoning back then, but as he'd grown he'd realized all that had nearly befallen him. His brother had abandoned him. When Ozzie had come back it was with the thought of throwing him off of a cliff and eating him, but he hadn't had the stomach for that even if it did mean survival for himself in the end. Ozzie almost left him again when it seemed Strut wouldn't fight, just like when he'd first hatched, and this time Ozzie hadn't intended to keep nudging him, so to speak, to keep him alive. In the end, though, he had. Ozzie had never really told him the reason why. Only that he'd known Strut needed help, but it was apparent he'd known as much for a long time and had left even when he knew it, so Strut was left to wonder, now, why Ozzie had kept coming back. He felt that it had something to do with not wanting to be alone… Much like what he was now… And maybe there had been love on Ozzie's part too? He didn't know. Ozzie seemed not to love anyone but at the same time did.

LBT

"You really miss him, huh?" Hop asked, snapping Strut out of his memories.

Strut blinked at them and felt a threatening burning in his eyes. He shut them tight, whimpering slightly. He didn't dare try to talk right now. He just nodded his head. Suddenly he heard something and gasped, looking up and standing straight, scanning the area.

"What is it, Uncle Strut?" Skip questioned.

"I-I'm not sure. I thought I heard something," Strut answered. He sniffed the air and stiffened. Whatever it was, it was close enough for him to smell. Which was bad. Worse because it smelled like trouble. "Um, kids, you, um, might want to run back to the pack," he said, uneasily shifting and nuzzling the two little ones ahead of him. "Like now." Uneasily the children began to run towards the others—who by now looked guarded as well—with Strut following.

Suddenly there was a roar and a pachycephalosaurus, err the head-butting ones, leapt down in front of them with a roar! The children screamed in terror, as did Strut. "Mama!" the little ones screamed.

"Hop, Skip!" Julie shrieked, charging ahead with Rudy hot on her tail.

"Run for it kids!" Strut insisted, lunging at the pachycephalosaurus and tackling it. They were probably on its territory now, which meant it was willing to drive them off. Violently. The bone-headed dinosaur tumbled and Strut leapt back. "N-now look, we-we're only trying to get to the river," Strut stammered uneasily. "We don't want any trouble." Another leapt onto the scene with a roar. Which meant they were probably mates and were probably guarding a nest. So much for being peaceful. The pachycephalosaurus knew full well what they were. "We're not interested in your eggs!" Strut tried in vain to insist. They both lunged at him, one head butting him down. He cried out in pain.

"Strut!" he heard Christine call in alarm. He gasped, looking up. The others in the pack were racing to help, Rudy and Julie staying back to make sure Hop and Skip were okay. Strut got up and began uneasily backing away from the two dome-heads. They lunged again. He cried out in fear and leapt over them both, racing back towards the pack. Safety in numbers, right?

"What are you doing? Don't lead them here!" Thief angrily called out. Strut slid to a stop in confusion. Then what was he supposed to do?! He cried out in pain as they tackled him from behind, sending him to the ground. He cried out in pain and rolled over, scratching at them with the claws on his hands and feet desperately. And striking with his tail if he could. One leapt up, intending to stomp down on his head or on some other vulnerable part. Strut screamed in fear. Suddenly Janine was there with Don, tackling it away and screeching at it, forcing it to back away.

The other dome-head growled darkly then lunged at them from behind. Strut gasped, fearful for his new pack. Thief and Marcus leapt forward, landing on it and screeching, clawing at it. It shook them both off and backed away, as did the other. The two dome-heads joined up again, retreating from the screeching pack of Struthiomimus. Finally roaring once more, they turned and fled, probably running back to their nest.

LBT

The pack joined up, each one asking the others if they were okay. Strut stayed back, feeling out of place. He got the bad feeling he was going to be in trouble. When the concern bit was done, they turned to him. "You. This is your fault!" Thief shot sharply at Strut. Strut winced and looked away.

"I didn't mean to," he meekly defended. "I mean I didn't know…"

"That's no excuse! You should have smelled or heard them coming from a long ways away!" Thief snapped.

"Thief, please, he didn't know any better," Deborah soothed gently. "He's only a subadult."

"That could have gotten us killed if those had been anything more than dome-heads!" Thief shot. Strut cringed, bowing his head. Thief was right…

"How did your brother put up with you?" Marcus bit. Strut cringed again, sinking lower to the ground. Honestly he didn't even know how Ozzie had managed.

"I'm sorry…" he said.

"Marcus, enough," Riley bit.

"Right. Leave him alone. Live and learn, after all," Janine agreed.

"Not here in this place," Thief said.

"If that's your policy, Thief, then perhaps my family and I are better off on our own," Rudy bit. "Children and adolescents and subadults, and even adults—cough, cough you—make mistakes! You can't go turning on them every time they do! Why it will be a marvel if my children survive to be adolescents if you start going off like this every time they make a mistake!"

"Just because you feel threatened by the kid doesn't give you any right to lash out at him!" Julie agreed sharply. "Or you, Marcus, or any of you!"

"He's one of us now, Thief. Deal with it," Sienna agreed, glaring coldly at their leader.

"Thief makes a point," Don defended. "Things like this can't keep happening. We're on precarious ground right now. Mistakes can only be forgiven within reason. Thief's being too harsh right now, maybe, but he can't forgive every error made in future."

"True as that is, he's still out of line," Deborah said, glaring at Thief warningly. Thief scowled but then relented with a sigh.

"Fine. My apologies, Strut. I lost myself," Thief said.

"It-it's okay," Strut stammered. It was nice to have someone sticking up for him for once. Or many someone's, rather. He gave them all a weak and apologetic smile. Hop and Skip quickly joined him.

"Are you okay, Uncle Strut?" Hop asked.

"Perfectly okay. Plus I hear the river not far off! All we have to do then is follow it until I find the cave that leads to the Valley of the Mists," Strut said, daring to straighten up a bit.

"Then lead on, Strut," Chris said, playfully bumping him and smiling proudly at him. "You did good, protecting the kids and distracting the hard-heads."

"You really think so, Chris? Thanks!" Strut said, brightening up a bit. "Okay everyone, follow me!" Immediately he raced off feeling a bit better and happier. The others followed.

LBT

They wandered down the river, the children every so often playing around in the shallows under the watchful eyes of their parents. Strut was silent and looking around, troubled. "I hear something," he finally said, pausing. Thief looked suspiciously at him then ahead, smelling the air.

"Hmm… I smell it… It smells like a predator," Thief said.

"We can't pass predators without being attacked," Janine worriedly said.

"If they're eating we can," Riley pointed out.

"Only I don't smell blood. There's no kill. They're searching," Sienna said seriously. "And if it's a pack of fast-biters, we're done for."

"We need to either find a way around or one of us has to distract them," Don said.

"I'll distract them," Strut offered. He wanted to make up for last time.

"No way. It's too dangerous, son," Rudy said, shaking his head negatively at Strut.

"I can do it!" Strut insisted. "I've run away from plenty in my life."

"Well you don't have to this time," Sienna said. "The water just up ahead seems shallow enough to wade through. Hop and Skip will have to be carried, but we can make it."

"But for all we know, the fast-biters could be just around that same bend," Christine pointed out worriedly.

"I'll check it out," Strut said.

"Hold up, kid. I'll go with you," Thief said. The two darted ahead, the rest following at a slower pace.

LBT

Peering around the corner, the two gasped. The fast-biters weren't even twenty feet away! Thief turned, beckoning for his pack to follow. Quickly they did so. He put a finger to his lips, shushing them, then pointed for them to cross. "Go with them," he ordered Strut.

Strut nodded and quickly returned as Thief kept watch. The females and the little ones went across first. "You next, boy. Youngest to oldest from here on," Rudy said.

"That means you and Thief cross last," Marcus replied.

"You may be the oldest ones, but we're more capable of fighting if those fast-biters show up," Don agreed.

"Like heck you are," Rudy replied, frowning at them.

"If we stand here arguing, none of us are going to make it," Thief said, racing back. "The fast-biters are coming!"

Immediately they gasped. Quickly Strut, Don, and Marcus scrambled into the river, hurrying quickly through it. It was a good thing those rocks over there were keeping the river at a relatively slow flow, and keeping it shallow, Strut noticed. Up ahead, you see, there was something of a blockage of the river. Not the most stable blockage, but a blockage nonetheless.

They were across quickly. Rudy was heading over with Thief. Suddenly the Fast-Biters were there. The others screamed. Strut gasped, speeding up with Don and Marcus, quickly crossing over. They looked back in horror. "Rudy!" Julie cried out.

"Papa!" the little ones screamed. The fast-biters were going after Rudy and Thief!

Strut gasped and looked ahead at the blockage. "Tell them to get across and not to stop to fight them!" Strut exclaimed. He doubted they'd be much better swimmers than the fast-biters. He raced towards the rocks. The others didn't question, just started shouting for Rudy and Thief to run. The two looked ahead and did so, the raptors quickly crossing after them. But Rudy and Thief were faster, so they were pulling ahead.

Strut reached the blockage and immediately began shoving a stabilizing rock. Julie, Skip, Hop, and Chris ran up to help. The rock tumbled and the blockage broke. Water roared, charging down the river. They turned with gasps, hoping Rudy and Thief were out. They were just coming onto the bank, Thief taking up the back, when the river rushed in. The raptors turned sharply and their eyes widened in terror. They screeched and roared in horror as the wall of water swept them off their feet and downstream!

LBT

The others cheered. Julie and her children raced down to embrace Rudy. Strut leapt off of the rocks and landed beside Chris. They grinned excitedly at each other and started back as well. The others, seeing them, raced ahead to congratulate Strut on his spur-of-the-moment plan. Thief blinked blankly and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He harrumphed, folding his arms and not moving.

Strut smiled excitedly at the others as they all thanked and congratulated him. "Well done, son," Rudy said, playfully rubbing Strut's head. Strut grinned and looked back towards Thief. His smile fell to one of uncertainty. Thief was glowering darkly at him. Strut cringed and bowed his head. He went back to smiling, pretending he didn't notice Thief's displeasure. He glanced back only once. It was a good thing he did. Two of the raptor pack were crawling out of the water!

Strut gasped. "Thief!" he exclaimed, darting forward in alarm. Thief started and turned. He gasped as the raptors leapt on him with furious roars. Thief desperately fought to get them off, screeching in pain and anger, trying to fight back. The raptors went for his throat! Thief moved slightly, just in time for it to bite his shoulder instead. He screamed in pain. Strut was suddenly there, leaping on one of the raptors and knocking it back. He tail whipped the other off of Thief then leapt back again, next to the older struthiomimus who was staggering up. Thief was panting, in pain, and bleeding badly. Strut worriedly looked at him. "Get back to the pack!" Strut exclaimed.

Thief looked at him in shock. Strut ran at the raptors again, tail whipping one and scratching another. This was a losing fight, he knew that effective immediately. The raptor he'd tail whipped leapt up, pouncing on his back. He cried out in pain as it pulled him down. Strut rolled quickly into the water and dug his claws into the bank as he went under. The raptor was swept off of him and downstream. It made it to the bank again, but this time it was too exhausted to bother pursuing a second time. Strut, panting, pulled himself back onto the bank only for the second raptor to bite at his face! He cried out in far. Thief was suddenly there, tackling it away. It fell over and Thief pulled Strut up. Quickly the two retreated to the pack. The two raptors glared at them and roared. The pack screeched back, challenging the fast-biters to come at them. They advanced dangerously. The raptors began backing away. They roared again then turned tail and ran.

LBT

The pack was immediately cheering again and animatedly talking. Strut was wide-eyed with excitement. "We did it? We did it!" Strut cheered. "I feel kind of bad for them. They were only trying to eat. But oh well, we did it! We…" He gasped in horror as he turned and came face-to-face with the glaring Thief. Everything went quiet. "Um, thank you. For saving me?" Strut lamely said.

"Get this very clear. I may owe you my thanks, outcast, but I owe you nothing more," Thief answered. Strut bowed his head sadly. Thief roughly walked passed him, shoving him slightly. "Let's get moving." The others gave apologetic looks to Strut and followed. Strut didn't move for a moment. Finally, though, he went after them dejectedly.

"Thief, what was that about? He risked his life to save you," Deborah chastised.

"We wouldn't have needed saving if we hadn't decided to follow him," Thief scoffed.

"He had promises of a better life, Thief. What did you have?" Janine demanded.

Thief tensed up. Janine bit her tongue, cursing herself. She got the feeling she'd only made this worse. Thief shot her a dangerous glare. "If he's so much better, go follow him."

"I didn't mean it like that," Janine murmured.

"Thief, there is no better leader for us than you. We've been loyal to you for many cold times now. That isn't going to change because of this kid," Don promised. "Have a little faith in us, my friend. Like we've had faith in you… And cut the boy a break. He's only trying to fit in."

Thief paused and looked back at Strut with something of a guilty look in his eyes. Maybe… Maybe they were right… He sighed then paused, tossing his head to gesture for them to keep going. They did so. Strut slowed down, seeing Thief waiting for him. Timidly he approached. "You have your uses, kid," Thief said. "Thank you. For saving my life… I think your brother taught you well. He'd… he'd be proud…"

Strut's eyes widened in hope and pain. "I wish I'd listened to him better," Strut admitted. "I never really paid attention to him a lot of the time."

"Whatever attention you paid was enough, it seems," Thief said. "I'm… sorry if I'm coming off as rough, but the safety of my pack is my top priority, and to be honest, sharing leadership isn't something I'm willing to do."

"Then don't think of me as a leader, think of me as a guide," Strut said. "I couldn't be a leader anyway. I'm no good at it."

"You've done pretty well so far," Thief answered, smiling at him. Strut blinked then lit up proudly. Thief chuckled and hurried to get to the front of the group again. Strut followed proudly. Oh he wished Ozzie could see him now. His smile fell. But Ozzie never would again, he realized… He bowed his head low.