A little Bug

The arid landscape rolls and undulates like the back of a great beast, peppered with jagged rocks, gnarled trees, and tenacious shrubs. It is a harsh land, where everything clings to life and survives by sheer force of will. Despite the conditions, there is indeed life here. Small reptiles make their homes in the cooler crevices of rocks and caves. Small mammals burrow under the semi-loose dusty ground. But its the much larger creatures here that must be smart to survive.

A dusky-purple Styracosaurus moves steadily across a large clearing. A female in her prime, yet she possesses much harsher features that betray a hard nature. The horns on her crest taper to severe points. The bone structure of her eyebrows and cheeks are exaggerated, the equivalent of Cruella deVil’s high cheekbones. Her eyes are sharp and unforgiving. Zenobia.

Following in her shadow is a much younger Styracosaurus. Her son. Ghazi. He sports a similar purple hide to his mother, only a few shades darker. He is several years away from proudly displaying his adult patterns, but there is no questioning who he is related to. 

The pair continue to march through the dry landscape, the youngster trotting diligently by his mother’s side. One of the first things that Zenobia instilled in her child was discipline. The second thing was observation.

It is not long before Zenobia notices that her son is not always in her field of vision. He keeps slipping out of it before running to get back to her side. Zenobia lifts a brow and can feel the corners of her mouth start to pull in to a snarl. She would not tolerate tiredness. Her children will be strong. 

She keeps walking but starts to angle her head towards Ghazi, ready to chastise. But it is immediately clear that the youngster is fixated on something to their left. His gaze is so intense, fixed on a point near a small outcrop of shallow boulders and a poor wispy tree.

“What do you see, my dearest?” Zenobia’s voice is warm but not in a pleasant way. 

Ghazi is startled from his intent stare and looks up at his mother. 

“I…I don’t know…what it is…but I keep…seeing something…” he replies, concentrating very hard on keeping his voice steady and calm. For one so young, he is learning to mask his fear so soon. 

“I think it…has been following us…” Ghazi adds, almost an after thought, but it suddenly changes the atmosphere.

Zenobia’s ‘herd’ - if you could call a collection of morally aligned scoundrels and ruffians a herd - poured a lot of time and effort into keeping this modest territory free from danger. Because that’s exactly the way Zenobia liked it. And heaven forbid that you should displease a queen in her kingdom…

If something is following them, then it has somehow evaded the dinosaurs that patrol the territory regularly. The next thought on her mind is - friend or foe? Without missing a step, Zenobia shifts into strategy mode and begins to formulate a plan.

“We will handle it. It is time for another lesson,” Zenobia coos, her voice dripping with malice.

===

The arid landscape slowly becomes a little more dense, with evidence of greenery in the form of small clearings of grass and wildflowers. The trees are still tall and stark but the upper branches are peppered with fresh green leaves. A tempting little oasis. Zenobia strolls with confidence, completely unbothered by the little shadowy creature that definitely is following the pair. Ghazi has been growing a little more concerned. In his youth, he cannot stem the tide of fear and worry. What is it? Is it dangerous? Any attempt to look back at it as it scurries between cover and shade is met with a disapproving grumble from Zenobia.

Large, peaked boulders begin to break up the surroundings. Zenobia carefully steers Ghazi towards an almost valley of these boulders, a wry smile on her face. Ghazi must trust his mother, but still…what was she planning?

The little creature keeps its distance and uses the various boulders as perfect places to hide. Hide, then peek, then move. Repeat. Hide, peek, move. Hide, peek…huh? Where’d they go?

The creature betrays its naivety and lack of knowledge by stepping out into the wide open, looking around for the pair of larger creatures it was following…

-WHAMPF-

With hardly any approaching noise, Zenobia has rushed forward and firmly swatted the creature under her foot, pinning it to the ground. Ghazi runs up to join her side, keeping a safe distance at first.

“…well…this is…” Zenobia begins to speak, not entirely sure what to make of the dinosaur under her foot.

It is a young Cryolophosaurus. A hatchling, perhaps a few weeks old. Left to fend for itself no doubt, though Zenobia had no first-hand experience of what carnivores did with their young. They probably ate half of them for all she knew.

Its small size explains how it evaded her guards. It must have moved into her territory at some point, because there’s definitely no way her herd would have allowed an adult Cryolophosaurus to stay around long enough to lay eggs. 

The spindly little creature looks up at Zenobia with wild, panicked eyes. It breathes fast and hard, she can feel its chest rising and falling under her foot.

“…what is it…” Ghazi creeps a little closer. The pinned hatchling is a few weeks younger than he is and significantly more skinny. Curiosity outweighs any empathy at the moment.

Zenobia cranes her neck down to inspect it closer. No definitive markings as yet but a clear smoky-purple skin. It was only a few shades different to her own and to that of her son. 

Now it is important to state that Zenobia is not superstitious in the slightest, and has always believed that you make your own luck in this world. But that was being called into question as she stares down at this baby *carnivore* who could so easily have slotted into her own family unit…would it be so bad to keep a carnivore around? 

She begins to lift her foot and relieve the pressure on the young Cryolophosaurus. Ghazi panics briefly and takes some hurried steps backward.

“What are you doing? It might bite us!” He bleats.

“And what if it does? Mere pinpricks on my skin, and not much worse on yours…” Zenobia responds, calmly but words laced with sharpness. Not even her children are safe from her cutting attitude.

The Cryolophosaurus doesn’t move. He stays laid on the ground, breathing heavily and eyes looking up. You can just detect the subtle movement of his eyes as his focus switches from Zenobia to Ghazi and back again, repeatedly. He wants to curl up and hope they move on. He also regrets every decision he has made up to this point. The young Styracosaurus was not a huge threat, but the giant one? Yup, most definitely a threat.

Zenobia continues to wait and watch the baby carnivore, whilst Ghazi looks at him with a mix of disgust and disappointment. Is it going to do something? Or just lay there? It is Zenobia that moves next, extending her foot again. The Cryolophosaurus flinches, and then braces himself as Zenobia nudges him.

“Come now, get to your feet. I won’t abide laziness,” Zenobia says with a smile, but you know she means business.

The Cryolophosaurus lifts his head just a little bit. His eyes flick from Ghazi to Zenobia, lingering on her. He never breaks his gaze as he eventually wriggles awkwardly to his feet. Once standing, he takes a submissive crouched position, still looking at the towering angular figure of Zenobia.

“…so you’re just going to let it go?” Ghazi asks quizzically. 

“More than that. It’s going to join us. In our herd,” Zenobia states firmly.

Ghazi looks at the young Cryolophosaurus. He knows enough about the world to recognise a carnivore (even if it is a small one). He also knows that carnivores are threats - to himself, to his mother, to their growing herd. So…if the creature was going to be a bigger threat as it grew, why was she welcoming it?

“…but…but…” Ghazi searches for words and arguments.

“My dearest,” Zenobia begins in that pointed tone. “Trust me. You will understand more when you’re older. You will learn about decisions that take time to bear fruit.”

“…fruit…?” Ghazi continues, more confused than ever and now looking at the other youngster wondering how it would turn in to a fruit tree.

Zenobia lets out a long sigh, her warm breath just reaching the Cryolophosaurus youngster. His posture has started to relax slightly as the two Styracosaurus showed no immediate signs of wishing to trample him. Though…the youngster…does not look best pleased…

Moving slowly, Zenobia begins to lead Ghazi and the new youngster. She gestures with her head for both of them to follow, or get left behind. The Cryolophosaurus is surprisingly eager, perhaps spellbound by the larger dinosaur or perhaps desperate for anything that feels like maternal affection. He pauses only a second before scurrying to walk beside Zenobia.

Ghazi is furious. There is no way a little runt carnivore is going to take his place next to his own mother! The stocky little Styracosaurus youngster feels the anger well up inside, he gives out a growly huff through gritted teeth and beak, and then charges forward. He shoulder-checks the Cryolophosaurus and takes his place beside his mother. The other youngster is not prepared and stumbles. He manages to recover fairly quickly and was thankfully not knocked entirely to the floor. He scurrys back to try to walk beside Ghazi this time, but is met with a glare that could freeze lava and a small threatening lunge. 

Zenobia observes this in the corner of her vision and smiles.

Ghazi does not want a sibling, even less so a *carnivore* sibling. Now he has to contend with the confusion around his mother’s decision and with the incredible ire of having to share his mother’s attention.

Meanwhile, the Cryolophosaurus - soon to be named Bug (short for Buglawton) - is just happy to be alive, trotting merrily beside two new friends. Oblivious to the life ahead of him.