Unite, Prevail
(Disclaimer: 'The Land Before Time' belongs to Universal, Don Bluth, and every other original owner. My characters belong to me. This is for show, not dough.)
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Slither!
Something caught the eye of the hatchling Digger. The puny blue-schemed fastrunner perked up from her nap and saw a small tail waggle behind a rock. Determined, the naive fastrunner raised her skinny tail into the air like a flag waving into war. Creeping on both her forepaws and hindpaws, Digger began to dog after the creature.
She happened to catch the attention of her adoptive brother, a hatchling longneck named Littlefoot. The two were a few days apart, even though there was a size difference between the young dinosaurs. Littlefoot was a good few sizes larger and dwarfed the bipedal dinosaur. The taupe longneck fluttered open his large brown eyes, glancing around. His mother was sound asleep beside him, her head merely inches away from his. His grandparents were also sprawled out near his mother.
He noticed his young sibling was absent. Standing on his stubby legs, he sniffed the air and screwed around in several directions. He then caught the scent of her. Scampering after it, he turned at a rock and began to track her.
Meanwhile, Digger became closer and closer to the creature. She altered between stalking on her fore and hind paws and just her hind paws. When she suddenly came upon it, the fastrunner gasped as it whipped around and let out a hiss! It was some kind of legless creature with a long, slender body, a tiny tongue, narrow eyes and sharp fangs. Digger crouched and tilted her head from side to side, entranced by this new being. Was it a legless longneck sort of like her family? Reaching out her forepaw, the creature took the ignorant invitation and lashed out at Digger. Quickly jerking her hand back, Digger squeaked and attempted to make a run for it when she stumbled upon a root of a great, bare tree.
Screwing her head around, the legless creature hissed and launched itself forward. Attempting to let out a cry, Digger only managed to let out a shrill caw. She barely rolled out of the way and found her footing, racing away from the pursuiting predator. She continued to caw and squeal as she ambled away in vain. The fastrunner suddenly felt the breath leave her as she barreled into something. Bowling over with it, she soon came snout to snout with her startled sibling, Littlefoot. He beamed and let out a friendly squeak. Digger let out a frightened chirp and tumbled off of her sibling. She yanked Littlefoot by his neck and gestured for him to follow. He just barely evaded a snap from the slitherfang.
Halfheartedly understanding the problem at bay, he joined Digger in their dash as said fastrunner let out caws and yelps. Littlefoot wailed as well as he suddenly lost his footing and collided into Digger. The pair tumbled down a sharp incline as they were suddenly cornered at a large cliff at the basin of the slope. The two huddled together as the slitherfang advanced on them, flicking out it's slender, forked tongue and eyeing them in malice.
Sibilating, the slitherfang readying a bite onto the two. A sudden protective rage filled Digger as a thought raced across her mind. Littlefoot! Bowing up, the fastrunner leered up at the beast and let out a screech. The slitherfang was petrified for a few moments at the ear-ringing sound. Digger tensed and braced herself as she fanned out her small feathers that lined her spine, part of her hind legs, tail tip, and her forelegs. Littlefoot peeked from his forepaws as a shadow loomed over the trio.
He gasped as Digger straightened up. The slitherfang arched a brow and glanced behind itself. It wheezed as its throat was caught in between two claws, another digging into its windpipe. It let out a strained hiss as it suddenly went limp from the choke hold. Digger and Littlefoot gazed skyward as a tall, slim silver-blue fastbiter stood over them, it's mauve eyes piercing into their emerald and brown.
Quickly slipping the long creature into its jaws and clamping them down, the fastbiter flicked its head to the left. It then took off to the right as fast as it appeared. Digger and Littlefoot were bewildered. Not only had they encountered a slitherfang, but a fastbiter incoincidensely saved them by just catching its next meal?
The scent of their mother soon filled their nostrils. The two leaned against each other as they saw the gray longneck came sliding down the slope to them. As she reached them, she lowered her head and checked for any wounds on them.
"Oh, don't run off like that again, you two," their mother scolded them. "Why did you wander so far?"
The two only glanced over in the direction the fastbiter took off with that large slitherfang. Their mother slowly noticed the faint figure of the fastbiter carrying its prey off into the shadows of a small ravine. Sighing, she returned her head back over to her hatchlings and gave them nuzzles and laps. Scooping Littlefoot on her head and allowed Digger to clamber into her mouth. She had always wondered why Digger found saftey and shelter on the palate of her tongue, but she speculated it was how fastrunners protected their newborns from threats. It didn't bother her of the different nature of the hatchling. The longneck began her way up the incline once more to reunite with her parents.
Digger had began to lull asleep and curled up on her tongue. Littlefoot let out a yawn and stretched. Chuckling in relief, she continued her way to her parents.
Staring at her from a distance, the silver-blue fastbiter watched the longneck transverse the cliff. It gave a small nod and continued off on its own way.
***
Food was scarce. Mother had told Digger that her and Littlefoot had been born in unfortunate times. Half the time, Digger found herself face with barren ground, arid air, and dried up plant life. The young fastrunner sometimes found herself chasing after flying insects or stalking small reptiles. Other times, she would eat what plants they could forage along with Mother, Littlefoot, Grandpa, and Grandma. Though their herd was the smallest ever to be known, they thrived. One advantage was that it meant less threats of losing members, since it only contained five, three being fully grown and seasoned with surviving.
Notes:
Digger- Oviraptor
Silvery blue and mauve-eyed Fastbiter- Velociraptor
Littlefoot, Mother, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck- Apatosuarus
Slitherfang- Dinilysia (Basically a prehistoric snake)
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Unite, Prevail
AventuraA few days after the glorious birth of her son, Littlefoot’s mother soon discovers a the orphaned fastrunner (oviraptor) and only survivor of her fallen family. Though reluctant at first, her parents agree to take her in and raise her, soon naming h...
