Chapter Text
She had been on an emotional high since leaving the valley with her mate and newly hatched son. The female tyrannosaur hadn’t let her little one out of her sight once since they had returned to their territory, which proved challenging, since the little hatchling was quite the adventurous one and seemed inclined to take everything in.
The tyrannosaur pair had spent the remainder of the evening seeking out a more suitable territory that wasn’t quite so treacherous for their new son. They had spent their first night together sleeping in shifts, both of them being too paranoid that their son would vanish from sight if one of them was not awake to keep watch. They knew they’d probably both look back on it and laugh at their overprotectiveness, but for the moment they felt it was better to be safe than sorry. It would take some time before they felt certain he wouldn’t wander off in the night.
“You know, Terra…we’ve had him with us a full day and we still haven’t decided on a name for him.”
Terra glanced at her mate before looking back at her son thoughtfully. “Well…did you have any ideas?”
Ranno turned to the little one, watching him scamper after a small crawler while squawking excitedly.
“We could name him after my father?” he suggested as he looked back at his mate hopefully. She seemed to consider it for a moment, her gaze softening as she smiled.
“Tyran...I like it,” she replied with a nod, earning a proud smile from her mate. She looked back to her son and called him over. It took a minute for the child to finally tear his attention away from the crawler to scurry back over to his parents. He looked up at them both with adoring eyes, chirping happily while bouncing from one foot to the next. Terra beamed at him, dipping her head down to nuzzle his cheek with her nose. “How does Tyran sound for a name, little one?” she asked him, hardly expecting him to have any sort of opinion on the matter. The child cocked his head questioningly, not entirely sure what his mother was asking.
Terra chuckled as she lovingly bumped him with her nose again. “Tyran,” she repeated, and then glanced at her husband, pointing a claw at him. “Ranno…” she then pointed to herself, “Terra.” Smiling sweetly, she added, “Those are our names…and Tyran’s the name we’ve picked for you.” She reached her hand out towards her son and gently touched it to his head. “Tyran,” she repeated, hoping the hatchling finally understood. However, the young sharptooth surprised her with a grunt of disapproval.
Terra blinked, glancing at her mate. “Did he…just say ‘ no ’?”
“That’s what it sounded like,” Ranno replied, looking equally stunned. “Huh…barely two days old and he’s already being defiant.”
Perplexed, Terra looked back down at the boy. “Well…what do you want it to be?”
Ranno gaped at her. “Terra, you aren’t serious. Are we really going to let him pick the name?” He spared another glance at the hatchling as he happily bounced around his parents.
“Well why not?” his mate replied with a shrug. “It’s his name, and it’s going to be his name for the rest of his life. Why not let him choose?”
She smiled when she noticed the boy bouncing up and down excitedly, emitting joyful chirps and clicks. She cycled through a few name suggestions, but the little sharptooth was quick to shoot them all down, making a face as he did so. What was even more confusing was that he kept biting at the air and looking up at his parents as though expecting them to understand what he was trying to convey.
“What’s he even doing?” Ranno asked as he watched the boy bite at nothing.
“I think he’s trying to give us a hint.”
“What, does he want his name to be Biter?” the male replied sarcastically.
“Mmm…maybe something similar?” Terra chuckled as she watched her boy resume biting at the air. “What’s another word for ‘Biter’?
Ranno didn’t respond, still too flabbergasted by the situation.
“Uh…Snapper? Cruncher?”
Again, the boy kept shaking his head, looking a bit frustrated, while Ranno balked at her name suggestions. Terra thought it over a little longer before finally answering, “Chomper?”
Finally, the tiny sharptooth gave his approval, bouncing up and down as he chirped and squeaked happily. Terra beamed as she looked back at her mate, looking quite proud of herself. She snickered as he deadpanned.
“We are not calling him that,” he said firmly, wrinkling his nose as though he had just smelled something foul.
“Why not? That’s the name he picked.”
“It sounds…juvenile. It sounds like a child named him! He needs a name fit for a sharptooth!”
Terra rolled her eyes. “I think it’s cute, and he seems to really like it.”
The male’s jaw nearly hit the ground. “I don’t want his name to be cute! He’s a sharptooth!”
Terra gave him a disapproving look before glancing back down at her son, her frown deepening as she noticed how disheartened he looked over his father’s disapproval. The boy dipped his head sadly, a single tear trickling down his cheek. His mother turned to glare at her mate, who was already looking guilty.
“Oh…fine,” he sighed dramatically as he threw an annoyed look to the sky. “If that’s the name he wants…”
Her smile returning, Terra glanced back down at her infant son, noticing he had immediately perked upon his father’s reluctant approval. The child scurried over to settle in next to the olive sharptooth, letting out a happy coo as she drew her face close to him. It didn’t take long for the little one to drift off to sleep, a small content smile on his face.
“He’s perfect, isn’t he?” his mother hummed, purring softly.
Ranno smiled proudly. “He’s going to be a clawful, I can already see it,” he answered, earning a quizzical look from his wife.
“Why would you think that?”
“Do you really have to ask after what just happened the other day?” the male laughed. “We turn our backs for one minute and he disappears! And he hadn’t even hatched yet! I can only imagine his teenage years.”
The female snorted, still gazing lovingly at her snoozing child. “Well…if he’s anything like his father…” she mumbled teasingly.
“Exactly my point!” her husband agreed, grinning when he caught her laughing. He nestled closely to his family, feeling an overwhelming sense of protectiveness. He then frowned as he caught his wife surveying their surroundings with an uncertain gaze, which eventually settled back on the sleeping infant nestled against her.
“What are you thinking about?” he finally asked, though he was certain he already knew the answer.
The lighter predator sighed as she looked back out over the landscape. “His future.” Her tone was soft and laced with worry.
Ranno glanced down at their sleeping son momentarily before shifting his gaze back to his mate with a knowing look. “You don’t think we can stay here,” he said. It was a statement, not a question.
“Do you?” his wife asked as she met his gaze.
“Honestly? No. Not when he’s this young. I’ll never be able to rest easy.”
Terra nodded, looking back down at their child as he cooed softly in his sleep. “We should probably leave as soon as possible. But we’ll need to tell Onyx and Lophie first. We can’t leave without telling them.”
The male hummed in agreement.
“Did someone mention me?”
The two adults startled as they looked towards the source of the voice. Glancing upwards, they found a female twocrest resting casually atop a high rock, smiling down at the family as she gave a little wave.
“Lophie, how do you always manage to sneak up without us noticing?” Ranno quipped.
“I am that good,” the twocrest replied cheekily as she gracefully hopped down from rock to rock until she was standing on level ground. “You two had me worried,” she said as she approached the pair, arms crossed.
“We had a bit of a crisis,” Terra replied before smiling down at her son. “But everything’s fine now.”
Lophie followed her gaze, a wide smile stretching across her face as she saw the little hatchling curled up beside her. She took a few steps closer, her heart swelling as she got a better look at the little one.
“Go ahead,” Terra laughed. “I know you’re dying to hold him.”
Smiling, Lophie reached down and very gingerly scooped the hatchling into her arms, cradling him against her chest. “I hate that I wasn’t there when he hatched! What’s his name?”
“Chomper,” Terra replied with a smile. Lophie snorted in amusement, while Ranno rolled his eyes.
“I like it,” the twocrest replied, grinning down at the hatchling, who she noticed was beginning to stir. “Hey there, cutie,” she said as his eyes fluttered open. The infant sharptooth let out a frightened squeak as he tried to scramble out of the adult’s arms. She lowered him to the ground before he could fall, watching apologetically as he scurried back to his mother.
“It’s all right, little one,” Terra said soothingly as she nuzzled his cheek with her nose. “This is your Aunt Lophie. We’ve known her a very long time.”
The child looked from his mother to the twocrest, still a bit apprehensive.
“She’s been very eager to meet you.”
Lophie only smiled at the child, allowing him to come to her when he felt comfortable enough. She awkwardly held her hands close to her chest, watching anxiously as he made a few nervous steps towards her. His confidence steadily grew and he finally bounded up to her, squeaking out a happy greeting. She scooped him back up without hesitation. “You’re too cute for words!”
“So…where’s Onyx?” Ranno asked.
“My guess? Probably trying and failing miserably to land a mate,” Lophie replied without taking her adoring eyes off the hatchling in her arms.
“And what about you?” Terra quipped playfully as she rolled over to lounge on her side, resting her chin atop a rock as she watched her friend bounce her son. “Still not looking?”
“Who would have her?” a fourth voice chimed in, drawing everyone’s attention to its source. “I mean…have you ever spent five minutes with yourself?”
Narrowing her eyes, Lophie snapped her jaws at the blue carnivore’s tail as he walked past her. “Go fall in a tar pit.”
“Been there, done that,” the newcomer arrived replied dryly.
“More like jumped in,” Ranno muttered under his breath.
The long-snouted sharptooth suddenly did a double-take as he noticed the little hatchling in Lophie’s arms. “Well…look who’s finally here,” he said as he took a step closer, lowering his head to get a better look. He grinned as the infant cocked his head, gazing up at him with wide, curious eyes. “Congratulations, he doesn’t look anything like you two!” he jabbed as he glanced over his shoulder at the lounging pair of tyrannosaurs a few feet away.
“Thanks, Onyx,” came Ranno’s flat reply.
“He sure looks like his grandpa, though,” Onyx added, looking back to the cooing hatchling.
“Which was one of the reasons I wanted to name him after him,” Ranno said irritably as he narrowed his eyes at his smirking mate. “But Terra thought it best if we let him pick the name.”
“His name’s Chomper,” Terra said, ignoring her mate’s annoyed glare, which he quickly shifted to Onyx when he heard his snicker.
“Just shut it, Onyx.”
“So what happened, anyway?” Lophie asked, changing the subject. She finally placed the hatchling back on the ground, who was now gazing up at the new arrival in wonder. “What was this ‘crisis’ you two had to deal with?”
Onyx blinked, looking from the hatchling to the sharptooth couple with concern. “Something didn’t happen with the kid, did it?”
Terra sighed. “Well…yes. We were returning from a hunt and we noticed his egg was gone. We had seen some egg-stealers in the area a day earlier, so naturally we feared the worst. However, just as soon as we noticed his egg was missing, we picked up multiple scents of leafeaters that had been near the nest. We tracked the scents back to the valley beyond the Great Wall. There was an opening there that hadn’t been there before.” Terra looked down and smiled as she saw her son waddling up to her. “A bunch of hatchlings had the nerve to steal his egg, but fortunately we found him unharmed. He had already hatched when we found him.”
The two smaller sharpteeth looked perplexed by this. “Why in the world would a bunch of hatchlings steal a sharptooth egg?” Lophie asked. “Did you have any trouble getting him back?”
“We had a run in with some adults when we had the hatchlings cornered,” Ranno answered with clear disdain. “Nearly got impaled by a threehorn,” he added as he rolled his eyes.
“And I got smacked around by a pair of longnecks,” said Terra, adding under her breath, “Among other things.”
Their friends appeared startled upon hearing this.
“You should have come and got us before going in there,” Onyx said seriously, Lophie hastily nodding in agreement. “We would have given you backup.”
“Look, everything’s fine now,” Terra assured. “We’re fine, and so is our son. Let’s not dwell on it.”
Lophie suddenly remembered the couple’s earlier conversation she had dropped in on. “Wait, what was that you two were saying about leaving earlier?”
Onyx glanced at the twocrest and then back up at the couple, brows furrowed. “Leave? You two want to leave?”
By this point, Chomper had made his way over to his father, who bowed his head to lick his cheek lovingly.
“Yes,” Terra answered, sitting up. “At least while Chomper’s at this vulnerable age. Our current territory is just too hostile for an infant.” Terra paused for a moment, looking incredibly pained as she added, “We all remember what happened with Tarbo. I’m not about to let that happen again. We’d sleep a lot easier if we could retreat somewhere less dangerous.”
“I get that but why are you ditching us?” Lophie crossed her arms, looking offended. “You’re just gonna leave us here?”
The couple shared a glance. “Well…we figured you two wouldn’t want to come,” Ranno countered. “Things aren’t exactly going to be the way they used to. We just thought…you know…that you wouldn’t really want to be a part of this. So much of our time is going to be devoted to our son now.”
Lophie tilted her head. “A part of what exactly? Raising a family? You know, considering how long we’ve known each other, I thought for certain you’d know us better than that.”
“So…you’re saying you want to come?” Terra asked, glancing between the two sharpteeth in front of her.
Onyx chuckled. “Come on, Terra. We go where you go, remember? It’s been that way ever since we were hatchlings. Maybe we’re not the most conventional family…but we’re family nonetheless.”
Lophie only smiled, nodding her head in agreement.
Terra glanced down as she felt her son nuzzling against her, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Well…I guess it’s settled, then.”
The small pack of sharpteeth had set out in search of safer territory the following morning, just as the Bright Circle was beginning to peek over the horizon. Terra and Ranno shared the responsibility of carrying their son for the majority of the journey, though they allowed him to walk on foot from time to time when he started getting restless. For nearly three days they searched, sometimes traveling in silence and sometimes engaging in heavy conversation to keep their spirits high. Meals were few and far between, as so much of the land they traversed was barren, something they had anticipated before they left. They had all made sure they departed on full stomachs.
By the end of their third day of travel, they were just about to settle down for the evening when the strong scent of water caught their attention.
“Well, if water’s nearby then maybe that means we’ll find something to eat,” Ranno commented as he gained a spring in his step, moving further ahead of the group.
Onyx opened his mouth in a wide yawn. “I don’t think I even have the energy to hunt. I’m ready to call it a day.” He glanced at the little hatchling sleeping soundly on his mother’s nose and smiled. “The kid’s already way ahead of us.”
Ranno eagerly climbed to the top of the hill in front of him, expecting to find a lake of some sort, but what he found instead was far more vast than anything he had ever seen before. “You’re not gonna believe this,” he said as he glanced back at his wife and companions, who all rushed to the top of the hill to join him. Their jaws dropped as they gazed out over the endless blue waterscape.
“I…I can’t even see the end of it,” said Lophie.
Onyx soured immediately as he waved a hand dismissively. “I’ve heard of big bodies of water like this before. You can’t even drink ‘em! They taste foul!”
“Well…maybe we can’t drink it, but at the very least we can cool off in it,” Terra replied as she very carefully started making her way down the rocky hill. “Wake up, little one,” she said to her son as she took a few steps onto the moist sand, lowering her nose to the ground.
“WHOOO!” Onyx shouted as he ran past them, sprinting into the water and startling the poor hatchling from his sleep. He jumped with a terrified squeak, sliding right off his mother’s nose and falling face first into the sand.
“Onyx, I could kill you,” Terra growled as she glared up at the longsnout, who kicked and splashed through the moving water as though he was a hatchling himself. “So much for not having energy,” she mumbled under her breath.
Chomper clumsily got to his feet, shaking the sand from his lavender scales. Curious, ruby eyes immediately honed in on the moving water in front of him and he tilted his head with a curious chirp. Unable to quell his curiosity, he scurried over to the water as it began to recede, but then he quickly turned tail and ran with a yelp as the water moved in again at rapid speed. He ducked behind his mother’s foot as the water surrounded him, shutting his eyes as he pressed his face against her scales.
“The water won’t hurt you, Chomper,” Terra soothed, stifling a laugh. She noticed Ranno walk ahead of her out of the corner of her eye and wade out into the water. She could see Onyx eying him mischievously and she immediately knew what was coming. “Here they go,” she sighed.
Seconds later, Onyx charged at the larger sharptooth, leaping into the air and landing directly beside his friend, splashing him heavily. The baryonyx bolted immediately, knowing his friend would be quick to retaliate, which he did within seconds. He caught up with him quickly, headbutting him in his ribs and knocking him down into the water.
Terra watched their antics from the shoreline, smirking and shaking her head. “Those are your role models, Chomper,” she said as she glanced down at the hatchling by her feet, who still seemed distracted by the moving water. He took a few cautious steps forward and allowed the water to rush over his feet, his fear lessening as he watched it recede again.
“Hey, Terra! Come check this out!” Terra heard Lophie call to her from a short distance away. She lowered her head to the ground, urging Chomper to hop on her nose. She walked along the shore as Ranno and Onyx continued their roughhousing, stepping up onto the rocks where Lophie was perched. “Have a look at that,” the twocrest said as she pointed out over the water at the lush, green island that looked like nothing more than just a green blur from where they were standing. Lophie then pointed down at the rocky path that seemed to lead straight to the isolated paradise. “What’d you think?” she asked, looking up at her companion.
“I…I don’t know. What do you think?”
Lophie shrugged. “Hard to say. We won’t know what it’s like until we actually see it for ourselves, but…it might work.”
By this point, Ranno and Onyx had ceased their rough play and had come over to see what it was that had the two females’ attention.
“What’d you think, Ranno?” Terra asked her mate as she nodded her head to the island. “Looks like it might be promising.”
Ranno followed her gaze, appearing thoughtful as he gazed at the distant mass of land, which was soon becoming a black mass against the red and orange sky. “Maybe…but what about food? Really, we don’t even know if it’s safe or not.”
Terra glanced towards the sky as she noticed a flyer of some sort making their way towards the shore. As it drew closer, she soon recognized it to be a sharptooth flyer. “Well…maybe we should ask?” she said as she nodded her head towards the flyer. “Excuse me!” she called to said flyer as it drew closer.
Immediately acknowledging the large sharptooth’s call, the flyer descended, perching herself on a large rock that placed her nearly at eye level with the predator. “Yes?” She asked, eying the group with a noticeable air of suspicion.
“We were wondering about that island,” Terra began as she nodded her head to the landmass in the open water. “Do you live there?”
“I nest there,” the flyer responded with a nod, relaxing somewhat.
“How is it there?” Terra continued to question. “Would you say it’s an ideal place to raise a family?”
“I would say it’s about as close to perfect as it can be, yes. I’ve nested there for the last two Cold Times.”
“Is there enough to eat?” Ranno questioned this time. “What about other sharpteeth?”
“Besides you?” She raised a brow at them. “A sharptooth might wander in from time to time in search of food...which there might not be enough to go around with you lot hanging around,” she said rather disdainfully.
Terra and Ranno both glared slightly, while Lophie and Onyx looked uncomfortable.
“We’re looking to raise our young one there. Our old territory wasn’t safe,” Ranno retorted. “So is there food or not?”“There’s food. It’ll sustain you if you’re smart about it. There aren’t large herds of leafeaters, but sometimes small families will come to nest there. For me, it’s not really an issue. If food becomes scarce, I can just fly to shore to find something.”
“I hope that’s not why you’re over here now?” Terra asked.
“No...I like a change of scenery and a chance to stretch my wings.” The flyer cocked her head. “Was there anything else? I’d like to be on my way.”
Terra shook her head. “No...I think you’ve given us enough to think about.”
The flyer nodded and took to the sky once again without another word, leaving the group to contemplate their next move.
“Well…I think it’s as good a place as any,” Terra remarked as she looked between her mate and companions.
“Maybe…” Ranno began with a hint of doubt.
Anticipating an incoming protest, Terra was quick to add, “Ranno, I don’t really think we’re going to find anything better. I mean, at the very least we should check it out. We can always leave later if we don’t think it can sustain us. But as far as I can tell, it sounds perfect.”
The male tyrannosaur gave a hesitant nod. “I just hope there aren’t other sharpteeth besides the flyers. Having any kind of competition would only make things more difficult in a place like that.”
Both Onyx and Lophie winced at hearing this.
“We better get moving, otherwise the bright circle will fall before we reach it,” Ranno said as he started traversing across the narrow land path, Terra following his lead. “Be careful, though…you can hardly walk on this thing.” They only managed to take a few steps before they realized Onyx and Lophie weren’t following. “Hey, what’s the hold up?”
The pair’s concern swelled as they noticed their friends glance sadly at each other.
“I think…this is where we say goodbye,” Lophie answered softly as she looked back to her friends, saddened at their startled expressions.
“Goodbye?” Ranno balked as he carefully followed his wife back across the land path, nearly losing his balance as he did so. “What are you on about, Loph?” He glanced to Onyx for clarification, whose head he noticed was hanging as he stared at his feet. “Onyx?"
“Look…” the longsnout began with a sigh. “You…heard what that flyer said about the food. It’s way too iffy. Lophie and I…we would just be competition.”
Ranno appeared startled for a moment. “Look, if this is about what I said earlier, I wasn’t—”
“We know that, Ranno,” Lophie cut in. “But…you and Terra have a baby to raise. Having us around would only create more of a burden if food becomes scarce.”
In an attempt to mask his growing despair, Ranno made a swift attempt at throwing humor into the conversation. “Don’t worry about it, Loph. If food becomes scarce, we’ll just eat Onyx.”
Smirking, the longsnout was quick to match his friend’s quip. “I’ll go straight to your hips.”
Terra was hardly in the mood to joke around, throwing glares between the two males. “You two can’t be serious! You came all this way and now you want to leave? We want you with us! ‘We go where you you’. That’s what you said, Onyx!”
Ranno nodded in agreement. “Before we left you two were insisting that you come along, that we need to stick together. Now you’re ditching us?” he snapped, fully realizing his emotions were getting the better of him.
“No!” Lophie shouted back before heaving a loud sigh.
“We’ll go somewhere else,” Terra suggested desperately.
“Terra, c’mon…I don’t think you’re going to find a better place to raise that kid,” Onyx told her gently. “He’s the one you gotta worry about, not us. We’ll be fine. Please…we want you to go.”
“Besides, it’s not forever,” Lophie reassured. “When you guys are ready to come back, we’ll be waiting for you.” Her smile doubled in size as she gazed lovingly at the little lavender hatchling nestled comfortably on his mother’s snout. “Let me see him,” she asked as she took a step forward, extending her arms out. Terra lowered her head to the ground, allowing her friend to gingerly take her son into her arms. “I’m really gonna miss that adorable face. You better be good for your mom and dad.” She smiled warmly as she looked up at the two large sharpteeth with moist eyes. “I’m gonna miss you.” The hatchling squeaked happily as she nuzzled his face.
“You’re gonna tell him all about us, right?” Onyx asked as he smirked up at the couple.
“Of course,” Terra replied, nodding.
Onyx reached over to rub the hatchling’s tiny head. “And make sure to tell him how awesome and badass I am!” he added.
“I don’t want to set him up for disappointment when he meets you again,” Ranno replied dryly.
“You could always come visit?” Terra suggested. She knelt down so that the twocrest could place her son on her snout. “No harm in that.”
“Yeah...maybe we can do that. We’ll see you later,” she said, her words heavy with emotion.
“Later,” Ranno replied softly with a nod.
“Be careful,” Terra told them, blinking back tears. Their companions simply smiled as they finally turned away and began their slow retreat. Hearing the tiniest whimper, Terra glanced down at the hatchling in her claws, noticing him stretching his arms out towards the retreating sharpteeth, squeaking pitifully. “I’m sorry, little one,” she said as she drew her son towards her face to give him a comforting nuzzle. “You’ll see them again some day.”
The family watched their friends’ retreating forms disappear from the top of the rocky hillside, though not before taking a moment to look back one last time before doing so.
“It’s going to be hard…not having them around,” Terra commented softly, still staring at the top of the hill where her companions had just stood moments ago. “They always made it easier.” She finally looked down at the tiny hatchling in her hands as she heard another pitiful squeak. She heard her mate hum in agreement as he leaned against her, pressing his cheek to hers in comfort. “What if…what if something happens to them while we’re away? What if we never find them, or if-”
“Terra,” Ranno cut her off firmly, “we’ll see them again. Those two are experts at getting themselves out of tight situations.”
“They’re also experts at getting themselves in to tight situations,” Terra sighed. “And Onyx...he can’t even sneeze without it nearly getting him killed.”
Ranno gave her another comforting nudge before carefully turning his massive frame in the direction of their soon-to-be new home. “C’mon…we should get moving. I don’t want to be trying to walk across this thing in the dark.”
It was nightfall by the time they reached their destination. Given their new home was completely unfamiliar to them, the couple stayed close, being careful not to stomp about too loudly and always listening and smelling for anything dangerous.
They scouted the island for roughly an hour, Chomper having already fallen asleep some time ago. As they passed through dense forest, they came into a grassy clearing, its surroundings partially illuminated by the still rising Night Circle.
“How about this?” Terra inquired her mate as she scoped the area.
Ranno had a look back at the forest as he stepped out into the clearing. “Not sure I like being surrounded by this many trees. Too easy for something to stalk us.”
As gently as she could, Terra touched her nose to the ground and let Chomper slide off. He stirred somewhat, but he quickly curled up on the mossy ground and was out again.
“What’s going to stalk us, Ranno?” she asked quietly as she looked back at him.
“Another big biter like us? One of our kind, maybe? Or a sailback? Or worse, what about something that's harder to see, like a fastbiter? It’s our son I’m concerned about, not us.”
Terra searched the area for nesting material. “I wasn’t intending for this to be a permanent home, Ranno. I’m exhausted, and so are you. We need rest. We can start fresh again in the morning.”
Her mate sighed, nodding reluctantly. He was exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to plop down in the soft grass beneath his feet and sleep, but his unease over their newborn’s safety plagued him relentlessly.
“Maybe I can stay up? At least part of the night?” he suggested as he kept scanning the tree line suspiciously. He startled slightly as he felt his mate’s nuzzle brush his cheek.
“Baby, you need sleep. C’mon,” she nodded for him to follow her back to where their son lay. She had managed to hastily throw together a nest of rocks, twigs and long grass for their son to nestle in. Ranno did the honors of gently lifting him by the tail with his mouth, making sure to only grab with his lips. The boy didn’t stir as he was carefully placed into the nest. He noticed his mate cock her head as she studied their son’s sleeping form.
“Do you think he’s warm enough?”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“How can you be sure? What if he’s cold?”
Ranno chuckled. “He’s fine, Terra, look at him. He’s sleeping soundly, and he’s not shivering.” The male tyrannosaur nestled down close to the nest, watching as Terra laid down on the other side of it.
“Do you think Lophie and Onyx are safe?”
“As long as those two are traveling together, I’m not that worried.”
Terra let out a pained whine at the loss of their companions. “We could have made it work. Lophie’s not that big, and Onyx prefers the scaly swimmers, anyway. Chomper would be safer with them around.”
“Chomper’s the one they were worried about. You can see where they were coming from.”
“I still think they made a mistake by leaving.”
“Maybe, but it was their decision. We’ll see them again.”
Terra’s gaze shifted to their son as he cooed and chittered in his sleep. Ranno watched her expression shift between adoration and heartache, and he knew immediately what she was thinking about. When she finally looked at him again, he offered her a look of understanding.
“We’re not losing this one,” she said to him.
“No...we won’t.”