A Traitor of Reluctance
#7 of Out of the Shadows: AnthroLover's Version
Part 7 is up.
Mr. Threehorn could sense their nervousness. In a soft voice, he said, "I'm not angry. Just concerned."
Littlefoot and Ducky sighed with relief. "Concerned? About what?"
The old threehorn lowered his head and sighed. "About Cera. I heard her scream, and I heard the sharptooth's roar." He shook his head. "I sure hope she's all right..."
"Yeah well...about Cera..." Ducky's voice trailed off.
Topsy lifted his head. "She was killed?" He asked, as if he knew already what they were going to tell him.
Littlefoot nodded. "Yes. I found her body in the eastern part of the valley. Looked as if it was a quick battle."
Now it was Ducky's turn to speak. "She died protecting me." She said shamefully. Spike looked at her. He could feel the pain that was growing inside Ducky's heart. He couldn't blame her. Maybe it would've been better if they all just sticked together, just like they had in the past.
Topsy's expression changed from stunned, to horror, to anguish, then to anger! "You mean the reason the sharptooth got her was because you were moping around!" He shouted at Ducky, stunning the swimmer. "Why you no good...!"
Littlefoot jumped in the threehorn's path. "Don't you dare blame her!" He boldy faced the threehorn. He may be old, but old age wasn't a hinder to the dinosaur.
Mr. Threehorn cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, then I suppose it's you to blame."
"No! Ducky wasn't moping around. She was searching for Petrie!"
For a few seconds, there was nothing but an erie silence among the group. "Well still," Threehorn said, breaking the silence, "she should've fought the sharptooth."
"He was too strong." Ducky said. "I mean that sharptooth took down a threehorn like she was a baby swimmer! How do you think I would fare against something like that?"
Littlefoot nodded. "That's right, Mr. Threehorn." He eyed the old dinosaur challengingly. "Cera chose to sacrifice her life to save Ducky's. It's not like she didn't try to save Cera."
Topsy seemed to cool down a little, but there was still a hint of rage in his eyes. "All right, but..." He growled. He was stopped though, as an old female threehorn stepped in from behind.
"Now now, Topsy. No need to get too worked up." The female threehorn said, smiling grimly as she approached her mate. "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Tria..." Topsy started, "...did you hear what happened?"
Tria nodded slowly. "Yes, I overheard everything. Poor Cera..." She shook her head. "But blaming Ducky and Littlefoot will not change what happened, Topsy, and you know that."
"I know, but..."
"But nothing. Danger's lurking around! This is no time to be blaming others for deaths!" Tria yelled at her old mate.
Littlefoot, Spike, and Ducky watched the two old threehorns.
"Who do you think will win?" asked Littlefoot.
"Messa bet on oldy threehorn." Spike said almost happily.
"I think Tria will win, yep yep yep."
"Yeah, well I think..." Suddenly a loud roar clashed through the forest, followed by a blood-curtling scream. Littlefoot raised his head to look in the direction of the sound. The threehorns became silent. Ducky and Spike looked nervously in the direction their friend was looking in.
Ducky murmured softly, "Littlefoot...? What was that...?"
Spike shuddered. "Messa not know..."
"I think I know..." Littlefoot said gravely. "The sharptooth's gotten to Shorty..."
About a month ago, Bron's herd had moved into the great valley. From what Bron said, there was a horrible falling rock incident which destroyed their valley. Only a small fraction of the herd, including Bron and Shorty, managed to get out alive. Littlefoot welcomed the herd with open arms, estatic to see his father and stepbrother again.
Littlefoot raced through the forest, followed closely by Spike and Ducky. "We've...got...to...hurry...!"
They finally came to a clearing, and stopped as they saw a huge pool of blood! Horror registered in their minds as they found Shorty, laying on his side. His stomach was ripped wide open, spilling his intestines across the floor. Bloody gashes were present on his front legs, and blood poured heavily from his mouth. The stench of flesh decaying was already sticking to the still air. Flies were buzzing around the open wound in Short's side.
"Shorty...no..." Littlefoot whispered. He walked to his brother's side. Ducky and Spike stepped back, watching as Littlefoot tried to wake his mortally wounded brother. After a few failed attempts, Shorty's eyes slowly opened. They were glassy and unfocused, and it looked as if he was blind. His pupils were dull gray instead of black.
"L-Littlefoot...? Is that you...?" He choked.
"Yes." Littlefoot nuzzled Shorty's head gently. "What happened here...?"
Shorty wheezed painfully. "I was just...just grazing the trees, minding my own...b-bu-business. Th-Then suddenly, a sharptooth attack-attack-attacked m-m-me." He breathed in heavily. "H-H-He demanded t-t-to know wh-where your f-f-f-father was..."
"My father...?" Littlefoot gasped. "Why?"
"I-I don't know..." Shorty choked out. "B-But when I didn't tell him, he-he did this to-to me." He moaned in agony. "So..strong..."
"Shhh..." Littlefoot whispered as he once again brought his head to Shorty's.
The longneck wheezed, and gasped for air. His dull eyes rolled back inside his head, and his body become limp. Littlefoot pulled himself away, and stared at Shorty's body for several minutes. Ducky and Spike slowly approached their friend, being extremely cautious.
"L-Littlefoot...?"
The longneck didn't answer. Instead he lowered his head and started crying. Ducky tried to say something, but nothing came to mind. She watched helplessly as Littlefoot cried over Shorty's body.
Finally Littlefoot looked up at the skies, and yelled into the skies, his cry of anguish echoing throughout the Great Valley. When he was finally done, he heaved in heavy breaths of air, a look of anger and hatred in his eyes.
"Um...Littlefoot?" Spike asked nervously.
"He'll pay..." He gritted his teeth. "He'll pay! He's going to stop this now!"
Spike and Ducky couldn't do anything except watch Littlefoot stomp away. They reluctantly followed him, unsure of what was going to happen next.
"I hope he'll be okay." Ducky said softly.
"Messa hope so too." Spike whispered, walking beside his stepsister.
"And we still haven't found Petrie. Nope nope nope..." Her voice trailed off. "I hope he's okay as well. Hopefully he escaped the sharptooth."
Spike only nodded.
Somewhere, miles away, the sharptooth was walking through towards the exit of the valley. He started climbing up the wall, struggling to hang onto something in one of his hands. The little creature squirmed, but could not escape the thick leaf it was tied in. "Put me down!" It shouted angrily.
"Shut up yourself, or I will eat you right now!" The sharptooth growled, shaking the leaf harshly.
As he finally made it out of the valley, he came across the cave that he was hiding in. It was the same cave where Ozzy and Strut used to live, and the same cave where Littlefoot encountered the egg stealers. The egg stealers no longer lived there, and the sharptooth soon called it home. It was convenient. It was right next to the valley, and nobody would suspect to search in this cave.
The meat-eater stepped into the darkness of the cave. He sniffed the air. "Come on out, you guys." He said.
"Put me down!" Annoyed, the sharptooth threw it into the dark shadows. Something winged emerged and tried to fly away. Before it could even enter the light, something bigger knocked it down. It grabbed it with its clawed feet and pushed it into the ground.
"Let me have him! Let me have him!" A female voice shouted excitedly.
"No! You know what the boss says." The other voice was male.
"Aww...Ichy, that's not fair!"
"Sorry, Dil." Ichy the sharpbeak spoke, poking his head into the light. "We have to do what he says. After all, he was nice enough to share some of his kills with us."
The bellydragger emerged from the darkness. She and Ichy were clearly older. Dil had lost some of her teeth, and was slower than before. Ichy's black feathers were now gray. "I still want a piece of him." She eyed the flying creature pinned down by Ichy.
"Now now," the adolescent sharptooth said, approaching them. "No need to be arguing. You two will get some action soon enough."
Ichy grinned. "Sure, boss! I can't wait to rip out one of those no good kids' throats!"
"In due time, in due time." The sharptooth grinned evilly. "But I shouldn't be the hero here." He looked towards a section of the cave where the shadows were not to dark. "After all, I'm not the one who found this cave, and found this entrance to the valley. Isn't that right?" He stepped to the side.
Emerging from the shadows was a young female longneck. Her blue eyes bore the look of shame, lowering her head as she walked into the light. The flying creature spotted the longneck, and seemed to gasp in shock.
"...Ali...?"