Reasons
"The night in the cave, the first one before you met the pack, was not a dream…" Ozzie murmured, nuzzling his brother lightly as they curled up for the night. The pack had gotten much farther than Strut had even begun to imagine. It would take a bit of time to catch up. Hop and Skip were snuggling in the back, sleeping soundly.
Strut looked up at him, hurt in his eyes. "What?" he whispered.
"You were half asleep. What you saw wasn't a vision in the storm. It was me," Ozzie admitted.
"But-but why didn't you… why didn't you stay…?" Strut began.
"Because we both needed this," Ozzie answered. "And I saw the truth of that when I saw you weathering the storm alone… You needed this… You needed to grow and learn and expand. I couldn't stay and be your enabler. Not when you were growing so fast and so quickly right before my eyes, and I realized… I realized, then, that I was the one holding you back… And perhaps myself too… In a sense I needed that separation as bad as I saw you did… Our whole lives we have been only with each other. No one else, just us against the world."
"I liked it that way," Strut said.
"But it was hurting you… It was hurting us both, but you most of all. So many opportunities I took from you… We had chances to join packs before," Ozzie murmured.
"I remember the one pack. The one you said we couldn't join," Strut replied, thinking back. "I wanted to but you said we couldn't. But I was too young to make that kind of choice then, Ozzie."
"No… no you weren't…" Ozzie answered. "You were old enough, but I took that choice from you…"
"Why?" Strut asked, looking wounded.
"Because I would not have gone with you," Ozzie answered. "I am a dominant male, the leader of that pack was a dominant male. Two males as dominant as he and I could not have worked together. Not without bloodshed and pain. I wasn't about to back down and nor was he. It should have been your choice whether you wanted to go with them or not… I just didn't want it to be…"
Strut's eyes widened in understanding. "You… you were afraid I wouldn't choose you…" he said.
Ozzie was quiet, looking out over the view of the valley of mists. "Yes…" he admitted. "I was terrified you wouldn't choose me… I didn't want to be alone…"
"Was that always the only reason you stayed?" Strut sadly asked.
"No," Ozzie answered. "No… I stayed for more than that…"
"Why?" Strut asked.
Ozzie glared at him. "Are you really going to make me say it?" he growled. Strut blinked innocently, as if he didn't know what the other meant. "I stayed because you were my brother and I loved you. The idea of being separated from you terrified me more than anything ever had," Ozzie admitted with a frustrated sigh, turning to look at the view again. "As I said, the separation was good for us. Both of us. I needed to learn to be something more than a brother and provider. I needed to learn to be alone again. And you… you needed to know what it was to be someone other than the struthiomimus your brother forced you to be. You needed to know what it was to live and to be without abuse or cruelty or coldness… That was something I always took from you because you leaned so heavily on me and relied on me for everything. Food, shelter, water, life… You needed to learn to rely on you. To trust in yourself… But I watched… I followed and watched, when our paths would cross… I too dreamt of this valley. I too dreamt that it was where we would meet again… When I did, I left. I had to. I couldn't stay watching you forever because then the separation would do nothing for me… Just the promise we would see each other again was enough to help me let go and wander alone."
LBT
"I liked things as they were…" Strut murmured sadly.
"But it wasn't good for us," Ozzie answered.
"But now things might not ever be the same," Strut said tearfully. "I don't like change."
"No one does, but it's all part of life," Ozzie replied. He noted his sibling's forlorn expression. "Dear brother, things have not changed as much as you believe."
"They haven't?" Strut questioned.
"No, though perhaps it would have been better if they had," Ozzie replied, going to the back of the cave and laying down to sleep while Strut curled up in the front. "I was never so much your brother as I was the thing you could cling to for life and protection."
"That isn't true," Strut argued.
"Even if it isn't, the fact of the matter is you don't need me anymore, Strut. You are better off without me than you ever were with me. Those others, they care for you, admire you, appreciate you… They are everything I couldn't be. A family," Ozzie said.
"Don't say I don't need you anymore because I do! I am not better off without you, and you are everything I needed or wanted. You are my family, not them, you! You were my caregiver, you were my father and mother, and you were my best friend! Above everything else you are my brother and I love you!" Strut shot. "Don't say I'd be better off without you because then you might leave again!"
"It appears I wasn't gone away long enough," Ozzie bit, frowning at him. "I'm not leaving again, Strut. That I can promise. At least not forever… But you have them now. You are not alone. Even if I can't be with you always like we used to be, you are not alone. They are there for you now."
"But they aren't you," Strut replied stubbornly.
"Stubborn little… Go to sleep, Strut," Ozzie said. Strut tilted his head then sighed, laying down.
"You'll be here when I get up?" he asked.
"Of course I will," Ozzie replied. "And for every moment after, even if not right at your side." Namely because the same problem back then persisted now. Two dominant males would not bode well, and he was not going to take his brother from this pack too. He'd just… have to be around enough to alleviate Strut's suspicions so that he didn't choose to follow him instead of his new family. He watched as Strut fell asleep. Soon he too laid down and slept.
LBT
Thunder boomed, shaking the cave and jerking Ozzie awake with a gasp. He looked up and around, then sharply at Strut almost expecting the other to come to him like always… He didn't… Strut laid still, sleeping soundly. "If it's the last thing I do I'll see you weather a storm alone…" Ozzie murmured to his sibling's sleeping form. His smirk fell to a sad look. It just… didn't feel the same with Strut not practically diving over to his side. Ozzie laid down to try and sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. He gasped at another clap of thunder, looking worriedly up and around. He looked to Strut again. It made him a little sad, he noted, that the other wasn't diving over to his side to cower from it. It felt wrong. After a long moment he rose and silently moved over towards his sibling. This was so backwards. He realized, then, that he had needed his sibling as much as Strut had needed him… He came alongside his brother and laid awkwardly down next to him, glancing over. It was supposed to be the other way around, he couldn't help but think.
Strut started awake, feeling something snuggle close to him. He looked over. Ozzie. Strut realized the storm outside, suddenly, and looked sharply over, eyes wide… It didn't scare him like it used to… Maybe Ozzie had been right. The separation was good for him. For them. He looked over at his brother. But, he still preferred cuddling close to his sibling to being alone through it. He smiled and began to groom his big brother lightly. Ozzie glanced up at him with a vaguely annoyed look before closing his eyes and allowing it. When Strut paused, Ozzie returned the favor and soon the two were settled down and drifting to sleep soundly side by side. It seemed so much more right now…
"I love you, Ozzie," Strut murmured tiredly.
"I love you too, Strut," Ozzie replied.
LBT
Morning came. Strut yawned, waking up. He gasped, almost fearing last night had been a dream. He looked quickly over and was for a moment afraid. His brother wasn't there! No, no, please don't let it have been a dream. It couldn't have been, it couldn't! He'd never survive if it had been. He would sooner die! "Ozzie? Ozzie!" he called out. "Oz…" he began, starting to stand.
Suddenly his brother leapt in front of him. "Would you stop screaming? I told you I would be here now shh. The children are still sleeping," he said. Strut blinked at Ozzie then turned. Sure enough Hop and Skip were fast asleep. "Now eat up. As soon as they've eaten as well, we're on our way again to find your little pack. Preferably before the mother and father of those two hellions die in their grief."
"They aren't that bad, Ozzie," Strut defended, snuggling his brother briefly before taking the food Ozzie had brought.
"Oh yes they are," Ozzie answered, glaring at the children.
"How did you pull them out?" Strut asked.
"I waded in and grabbed them," Ozzie answered. "Fortunately for them, they weren't far out. Then they followed me as I chased you down the riverbank."
"So those weren't visions after all," Strut said.
"No they were not," Ozzie replied. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, taking on that blasted plesiosaurus yourself."
"I had to save them," Strut defended.
"Yes, quite," Ozzie deadpanned as he settled down and began eating. Strut shrugged and began eating his green food and shellfish. He was touched Ozzie had brought him greens and shellfish instead of eggs. Maybe Ozzie had changed for the better. At least for a little bit.
The children yawned. Ozzie looked back at them coldly. "Morning kids," Strut cheerily said to them. They yawned again, coming over.
"What's for breakfast?" Hop asked.
"Green food and shellfish," Strut replied, pointing at the pile Ozzie had brought back for them.
"Yay!" the children cheered, diving in.
"I get to grab lunch," Strut said to Ozzie, smiling.
Ozzie blinked then smirked. "Very well," he agreed. It felt… good not having to do all the work as he used to. It felt strange too, and that would take some getting used to, but in a good way...
LBT
Lunch had come and gone. It was coming on dinner, now, and the little ones were exhausted. Even Strut was yawning tiredly. Ozzie was rolling his eyes at them all. He darted around a corner and slid to a stop on seeing a figure approaching up ahead. "Doc!" he called out. The long-neck stopped, looking back.
"That's Doc?!" Strut exclaimed in shock, mouth agape.
"This the brother you always talked about?" Doc asked.
"Yes to both of you," Ozzie answered. "Have you seen a pack of our kind run by?"
"Matter of fact I have. That way. They've stopped for the night," Doc said, extending his neck in the direction they'd gone.
"Thank you," Ozzie said, hurrying on.
"You saved my brother," Strut said, not following immediately. Ozzie sighed in annoyance and stopped, folding his arms and tapping his foot as he waited impatiently for the conversation to end.
"I did," Doc confirmed. He blinked in shock as Strut suddenly hugged his leg.
"Thank you," Strut exclaimed, looking up at him gratefully.
"It was my pleasure," Doc replied. "He was good company, whenever we crossed paths afterwards. Final stretch to here was made together." Strut nodded then hurried to catch up to Ozzie and the kids. Ozzie harrumphed and nodded to Doc casually before darting off again.
"Mutual understanding," Ozzie explained vaguely to Strut. Strut didn't push, but he got the feeling it was more like friendship between the two by now. Which was definitely something Ozzie would never confess to ever. Not in a million years and not to anyone. Not even himself.
LBT
They arrived near to the settled struthiomimus pack coming on twilight. The children peered over and saw their parents huddled together and crying, looking at an empty nest they'd built. "Mommy, daddy!" the two little ones cried out, bursting through the bushes and causing all of the herd to look sharply up.
"Hop, Skip!" their mother and father screamed together, racing to their children and scooping them up, weeping and begging to know what happened. Strut stepped out too, carefully.
"Strut, you're alive!" Chris screamed, leaping up and running to him, hugging him tightly and making Strut cough and squirm a bit to loosen her grip, lightly holding her back. Immediately the others began to swarm Strut and the two children.
"How did you make it, all of you?" Thief demanded of the children and subadult.
"Strut's brother saved Hop and I!" Skip said together. Needless to say, that shut all of them up. On cue, from the bushes came another struthiomimus none of them had ever seen before, looking surly and suspicious and guarded.
"Your brother…?" Rylie finally managed to ask Strut, who wandered back to Ozzie.
"It's a long story. Everyone, meet my brother, Ozzie," Strut said, gesturing at Ozzie. He then proceeded to introduce Ozzie to the rest as they watched incredulously. And in Sienna's case, interestedly. What? He was cute. When introductions had been made, Ozzie, Strut, and the two children went through telling the whole story over again...
LBT
"What a tale," Don said at the close of it, while most of the others were drifting back to doing whatever it was they'd been doing.
"So, you're the brother Strut could hardly stop talking about. The one that taught him all his little survival tricks," Sienna remarked, pacing around Ozzie with a sly smirk on her face.
"At least something got through to him," Ozzie replied to her, suspiciously and guardedly watching the female pace around him with a bewitching look in her eyes. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his lips. Alright. He would admit intrigue. She was pretty enough. And unattached. And very fertile and very much in the middle of mate seeking if the pheromones she was secreting were anything to go by. Wait, what? He slapped himself and viciously turned away from her. He could feel her eyes boring into him from behind and could just imagine her chuckling at him. An unattached female in heat. Just what he needed now. Humph. He couldn't be bothered with a mess like that. And certainly not if it would produce, yuck, offspring. If he had been searching for a mate, she would have known it. He would have found her long before now. He'd certainly sensed a mate-seeking female for a long while now.
"Why so cold, stranger?" she purred, brushing up next to him. Ozzie blinked at her blankly as she walked on passed. And noticed a little late that his neck was stretching out after her. He mentally slapped himself this time, jerking back. It wasn't happening. Not now and not for a long while yet. What was with the sudden interest he was displaying anyway? Oh as if he didn't know. His mind wasn't consumed with keeping himself and his brother alive, this round. Strut could fend for himself now, and that was one thing less he needed to worry about which left a vacant spot in his thoughts to turn towards more… pleasurable possibilities. Would it hurt to pursue, he wondered? Ugh, he was doing it again! Another mental slap.
"Were I looking for a mate, I would have found you long ago," Ozzie answered bluntly, folding his arms in annoyance. "You've certainly been leaving an obvious enough trail."
"What's the harm in it?" she purred, rolling onto her back playfully, then her stomach again in a submissive pose, blinking seductively up at him. Ozzie's mouth dropped. She made a point… No! No, bad Ozzie! He slapped himself mentally again and leapt over her.
"You're too forward for my liking. I prefer pursuing," he said to her.
"You really think I'd be this easy for you to get?" she asked. Ozzie stopped, turning back to her and blinking. This had just gotten much more interesting. He did love a pursuit…
"Enough from you," Thief bit sharply at Sienna. Sienna frowned at him and got up, harrumphing. Ozzie shot Thief a cold look. Just as things were getting amusing too. Strut was looking at Ozzie in confusion and Ozzie snapped back to himself.
"Don't give me that look," Ozzie bit at his brother.
"What look?" Strut asked, playing dumb.
"You know the look very well!" Ozzie shot.
"You're welcome among the herd, friend. As long as you remember who's in charge here," Thief said coldly and guardedly to Ozzie. He sensed, you see, that this was a dominant male like him. A very dominant one. That meant he was a threat. A far more direct threat than Strut had ever been. Apparently Ozzie sensed the same, because he was watching him just as warily.
"As long as the one in charge seems worthy of the title of leader, I'll force myself to tolerate it," Ozzie replied. "So far running his group into a raging river and nearly getting my brother killed is all I've really seen of him yet. It hardly bodes well." Thief's eyes narrowed at Ozzie dangerously and he hissed. Ozzie hissed back.
"Ozzie, come on, leave it please," Strut pled, tapping his brother's shoulder. Ozzie turned to him then grimaced, backing down from Thief. For now.
"Well, this promises to get interesting," Don deadpanned to Marcus and Rudy. Marcus grimaced. Rudy sighed, shaking his head. Oh joy.
Eight Months Since Arrival
Strut heard movement. Movement? He snorted awake, blinking confusedly and looking guardedly around. Wait, where was Ozzie? He frowned in concern and stood up. "Ozzie?" he asked the darkness. He heard movement in the grass and looked over. Tilting his head curiously, he silently began to move towards it. He peeked into it and saw his sibling slinking through it. "Ozzie, where are you going?" Strut questioned.
Ozzie stopped and turned around sharply. He rose up to his full height. So much for slipping off undetected. Strut approached him curiously. "Since your 'leader' seems too intent on sleep to bother setting up watches for the night, I've taken it upon myself to do so," he answered. Which was mostly true. At least this time.
"So you're on patrol then?" Strut asked.
"I suppose," Ozzie answered.
"Oh, well I'll come with you," Strut cheerily said, smiling at his brother.
Ozzie cringed. He wasn't a fan of the idea. In fact he would much rather slip away undetected. He sighed, finally, and nodded. "Come on then," he said. He started off, Strut following.
LBT
Strut looked curiously at his sibling. Ozzie didn't seem happy about his being here. He didn't like it. His brother had never minded him tagging along before, had he? "Um, Ozzie?" Strut asked.
"What?" Ozzie asked.
"Why do you seem… I mean I feel like, well, like you don't… want me here," Strut finally mustered the courage to say, dreading the answer.
"That's because I don't," Ozzie replied.
Strut cringed. Ouch. "Why?" he asked sadly, stopping.
Ozzie stopped and glanced back at his sibling in annoyance. Finally he sighed and turned. "Because I may not return for a few days," he answered.
"Again?" Strut asked worriedly. "You've been disappearing for days at a time more and more often. I don't like it. What if something happened to you and no one ever knew? Why do you always go for so long?"
"Because I am not part of your pack, Strut!" Ozzie sharply barked.
Strut started, blinking. "Yes you are," he said in response, confused. "I mean you always stay with us, don't you?"
"What did I tell you, when I told you about the pack that I didn't give you the choice to join all those years ago?" Ozzie asked.
Strut looked confused. "That two dominant males couldn't be in one together, otherwise it would end badly," he answered. "But you've gotten along fine so far with Thief."
"Because I am not part of Thief's pack. I never have been and never will be. Think, brother. How often, really, am I with you all?" Ozzie asked.
"Well, pretty often," Strut answered uneasily, but he was starting to get the picture. Thinking about it now, Ozzie was on his own far more often than he was with the pack. How had he not clued into that yet?
"Often enough to ensure you don't miss me too greatly before coming back. At least once a week," Ozzie said. "And even that is rare. Usually it is twice," Ozzie said. Strut was quiet, head bowed. He wanted to protest, but he got the feeling he didn't want to speak right now. He didn't want to know. "You are fond of the pack," Ozzie said.
"Yes, but…" Strut began.
"I will not take you from another chance at friends, Strut. Or a chance to have a family of your own," Ozzie said.
"What, you mean Chris?" Strut asked, looking flustered. "Th-that's silly. We-we aren't looking to start up anything! I-I mean she's just a friend!"
"I said nothing about Christine, little brother," Ozzie deadpanned. Strut looked more flustered still.
"W-well you have a chance too! Sienna has an interest in you and everything. If you would just…" Strut began.
"If I stay, Strut, either Thief or I will end up dead," Ozzie deadpanned. Strut started, eyes wide as he blinked at his brother. "Two dominant males in one herd will only ever end in tears and death. I will not make you see that, I will not take away this herd from you, and I will not leave you alone again. I have come to visit as often as I can without causing friction between Thief and I, and even that is too often and too risky as it is."
Strut, head bowed, looked sharply up, eyes narrowing. "That isn't fair! Why can't things just be like they used to? I'm sure if you'd try you would fit in too! You just never bother trying!" he shot at his brother.
"Strut!" Ozzie sharply shot. Strut fell silent, looking at him with wide eyes. "That is enough. Things have not changed that much. You hardly know I'm gone half the time and when you know I've left, time passes quickly and I'm always back before you know it, am I not?"
"Yes," Strut admitted.
"You have made a home for yourself with them. You need to stop worrying about me. I have stayed with Doc and I have often returned here. I will continue to," Ozzie said.
"But-but what if the herd moves?" Strut asked.
"Then I will follow," Ozzie replied. "For now I will continue staying nearby and helping watch over them, that I promise, and you have seen as much."
LBT
Strut, head bowed, soon looked up at his sibling again. "What if something happens to you? Or what if another great earthquake separates us?" he asked.
"You, baby brother, are ridiculously paranoid," Ozzie replied. "When I say I'll do something, I'll do it. Get it through your head and for once don't be stubborn."
"Let me follow you, Oz," Strut said. "If I hardly know you're gone now, if we keep visiting the pack often, they'll hardly know either."
"If you follow me, brother, I will have no reason to return there," Ozzie replied.
"I get the feeling you will," Strut said. Sienna was still secreting pheromones and still mate seeking.
Ozzie started, blushed, and began sputtering before finally blurting, "I am not looking for a mate!"
"Excuse me, Ozzie…" Strut began.
"End of discussion!" Ozzie sharply shot.
"I think she really likes you! She's had lots of shots with other males but she's always turned them down flat even in heat! That she's showing interest in you at all is a miracle. I mean you must have something different about you, otherwise she wouldn't even give you the time of day let alone flirt with you. Sienna's frigid," Strut defended.
"Go back home. Now," Ozzie sharply ordered, pointing.
"My home is with my brother," Strut stubbornly refused.
"Why? Why are you so contrary? Where did I do wrong in raising you?" Ozzie demanded. "You have no reason to be showing me this much loyalty now go home. To your other home, if your primary home is with me."
Strut cringed and bowed his head. "Okay," he finally relented. "But I don't like this arrangement. Not at all." Sulkily he turned and went back. Ozzie sighed, looking down. Neither did he…
LBT
Doc, sleeping, glanced up as he heard Ozzie approaching. "Have a good visit?" he asked.
"More or less," Ozzie replied.
Doc watched him dubiously. "You'd like to stay with the herd," he remarked.
"The herd, yes, Thief no," he answered. "I am not about to submit to him. Goodness knows I've tried, but each time doesn't end well. And he certainly isn't about to submit to me. I'm not giving up my dominant position to him."
"You give up your dominant position or you give up your brother," Doc bluntly said. Ozzie started, stiffening, and looked sharply up. "What would you rather lose? Authority or family? Think about it."
Ozzie was quiet. "I'm not going to lose Strut regardless of my choice," he answered.
"Maybe not in the way you think, but in another way you might," Doc replied.
Ozzie was quiet. "Who asked you?" he finally replied, laying back down to sleep. Doc shrugged and lay down once more himself.
