CHAPTER 3: Hopeless
What's the dumbest thing to do in an underground tropical jungle with dinosaurs? run in it at night time, precisely what Sid was doing at the moment. Although the air was cooler and it wasn't nearly as noisy, with the neutral dinosaurs sleeping, night time spells the emergence of all the dangerous dinosaurs; specifically, including Rudy and all that lot. He's most likely came back, but so far, the sloth was lucky to have not encountered him if that was the case.
Sid eventually gave up, as he couldn't seem to find Momma Dino. He sat down besides one of the tropical trees as the scent of burning was rushing around his nostrils. He could taste coal, due to sucking in the burning scent from running just now. The sloth was not only exhausted, he was somewhat heartbroken that in the midst of all of his efforts, he couldn't find the kids or Momma Dino. He figured, as a result, that it'd probably be best for him to now sleep here, concealed within the thick collection of giant leaves, to be fully awake for the morning. There was no way he was going to find that cave that Momma Dino took him into, either. Not by himself, anyways.
"Why me...Momma...where are you...?" Sid whimpered to himself, as he ripped off a giant piece of leaf from the tropical tree, in which there was a large lake of water nearby.
Sid had no idea if this was going to work; the downside to staying here rather than returning with the herd was that now, he couldn't sleep at night without worrying about a dinosaur stumbling upon his sleeping body and being eaten alive brutally. He sat up, holding the ripped leaf, looking around the vicinity; it was quiet, but perhaps, a bit too quiet. What he realized was that these forests of the dinosaur world had different sets of giant plants that were similar to ferns and palm trees, and because he too was green, he could maybe sleep amongst the forest to ensure his safety for the night by a camouflage.
Sid, groggily walking, got next to a thick fern, where he was far from distinguishable. Laying down on his back on the ground as he stared up towards the 'sky' of the dinosaur world, which is really just a collection of ice from the 'above world', Sid felt himself sniff emotionally. He started generating tears as he felt like his bones were melting inside. He just misses Momma Dino so much, and he wants to be safe and secure with her and treated like one of her kids, but then he was also starting to contemplate if it was a good idea at all to come back here, when he could've been safe with his friends. It made him feel all the more guilty to realize that all of that time that went into saving him initially was now wasted because of this.
As he whimpered and whined from not only missing his friends, but also Momma Dino, he eventually relaxed enough to go to sleep, and it was hard to point out if he was going to be the victim of a dinosaur roaming the night, snatching out whatever helpless prey it may come across; Rudy might be out, or some other dinosaur, but for now, Sid's green body had allowed him to somewhat camouflage with the ferns.
Sid had suddenly found himself standing near another pool of water, in which the surrounding area was a maze of tropical ferns, trees, and a combination of steaming air mixed in with the absolute glaring light of the sun, as if it was glued in the sky. But then, the sloth had heard three, chuckling laughs as it dawned on him that he was being approached from behind. As he heard this, it felt like an earthquake was forming due to the stomping vibrations emerging, one second after each other. The sloth cautiously turned around, only to be tackled down like a prey from its predator; Egbert, Yoko, Shelly had all pounced him down to the ground as the sloth naturally wrapped his arms around their soft, yet scaly heads as he too began laughing.
It was like being in a family again, but that feeling was only enhanced by the presence that had emerged next. A large, over-sized Tyrannosaurus Rex had stomped her way in slowly from the direction that these three baby T-Rexes had just pounced on Sid from, and soon as she made her presence crystal clear, Sid sat up, besides Egbert, Yoko and Shelly; it was her; Momma Dino was back, and Sid was overwhelmed with excitement. The one dinosaur who had saved his life from Rudy last night was here, after a full day of searching for her; he felt like the luckiest sloth going. Who can honestly claim that they've been saved by a DINOSAUR before? and even more so, who can claim that they've got a family-like-bond with a bunch of DINOSAURS? the only one who can, is of course, Sid.
As the sun's shiny glare of light was shining the pink sky up behind her tall head, Sid had a lump in his throat; he wanted to stay with her and her kids, because he's come to bond with them that much he feels like a member of their family, and honestly, he felt lucky too; nobody else is lucky enough to be amongst dinosaurs in this manner.
"M-Momma? I'm back..." Sid said, walking closer towards Momma Dino as she lowered her head down towards Sid.
She nuzzled him gently, as he patted her above her nostrils.
"I couldn't do it, Momma...I couldn't leave...I was heartbroken like...like I was seeing my own family abandoning me..when you all walked off...I've came back because I wanna stay with you...can I?" Sid asked.
Momma Dino diverged her fierce eyes over to her kids behind Sid, as they all had their teeth out with their energetic smiles. Upon looking back at Sid, she ascended her head up with her tongue out, sending it licking off of Sid's body entirely. This was her way of saying 'yes', as the slobber covered the majority of his face, before the sloth started wiping it off.
Although she initially hated Sid and was going to eat him for stealing her kids when she first took him here, she eventually came to like the sloth, and when she had allowed him to sleep in their cave that night, just as Rudy was approaching, that was when her liking of Sid had been sealed completely. She had no problem in allowing Sid to stay amongst her three dino babies, as if he was apart of their family.
She growled a gentle growl at Sid, as she stood straight up again. Sid felt like he had found a treasure full of gold; he was super excited; the dinosaur he's came to bond with has just basically said that he can stay with her. At first, he thought he was going to be eaten by her when she kidnapped him, but he eventually grew careless of her fierce nature, which in turn led to their gradual friendship building up, and this was mainly the case when Sid was trying to convince her that the three kids should eat vegetables, rather than meat. Now, it's all culminated to this.
"Thank you Momma...I have a family to stay with now..." Sid said, unable to contain his smile as he stared up at Momma Dino, with her tower-like height.
Shelly, Egbert and Yoko had all cuddled up to Sid from behind, with Sid's hand going onto their heads as he too embraced their cuddle. Their purs had only made the moment feel more good. But as they were cuddling within the heat and the coal-scented atmosphere of the dinosaur world, where some of the dino-birds were looking down at Sid, Momma Dino let off a signalling call, as she looked at Sid, and the three babies. She did this as she started walking with her earthquake-bringing feet, as a way to tell them to follow her. Sid was already buzzing with excitement; he was now in the exact same path as Momma Dino, and he already feels welcome in their family. With each step, Momma Dino's thunderous collisions had led to some of the smaller dinosaurs rushing out from the nearby tropical trees to make a run for it.
They ended up near the exact same lake where Sid and Momma Dino had that 'argument' about whether the kids should have meat or vegetables. The stone table from then was still intact, so Momma Dino would always come here to feed her kids. As she slowly ducked her neck and head down into the thick trees to look for fresh meat, surrounding this area of the dinosaur world, Sid managed to pluck out some more vegetables from nearby, as he was with the three baby dinos whilst they were anticipating their meat from Momma Dino. Sid felt completely energetic as he ate; he was in the care of a dinosaur, what more needs to be said?
"Sid?!" a familiar voice had yelled from above.
"SID?!" it repeated, before Sid was getting on edge.
"SIIIDD?!"
"SSSSSSIIIIIDDD?!" Buck yelled, as he was standing besides Sid's sleeping body next to these ferns as the sun was rising up; this made Sid jump slightly, but it wasn't enough to make him jump up onto his feet instantly.
"W-What..." Sid stuttered, shocked; was that all...just a dream?
"Well, punch me in the face and call me punchbag...you're alive...I had no idea if you were dead just now...what gives with you sleeping out here? you're lucky that you survived the night pal, so I'll give you that..."
"W-Wait...I slept for an entire night? so that meant I wasn't with M-"
"Wasn't with a mauling dinosaur? that's a good thing, mate. He'd have mauled your sleeping self into pieces..." Buck said, not realizing that 'mauling dinosaur' was not the thing Sid was going to refer to.
Sid genuinely felt like that was all real, that dream with Momma Dino, as if he had just traveled to another universe. He still had that ripped leaf on his chest as he sat up, and he felt all the more weaker. He felt fragile, frozen, and as if he was going to burst out into tears, but the heat emerging from the sun-rise had at least helped with the atmosphere. Still, to dream about the one thing you want to happen, and then for you to realize it didn't actually happen? that was the worst thing possible.
"You still figuring out a way outta here?" Buck asked.
"No, I still want to find that..." he couldn't make himself mention Momma Dino, because if he did, he'll probably cry.
"Find what? water? I can help you out with that. Follow me buddy, you'll get uh...unthirstied up in no time!" Buck energetically said.
Sid stood up, as he could hear some roars from a far distance beyond these tropical forests; whether or not they came from Rudy or Momma Dino didn't matter to Sid. All he wants is to get to the latter, so he can finally live within a family. He couldn't handle the thought of not staying with Momma Dino after everything she did for him whilst the herd was still in this underground world, trying to rescue him.
"Top of the lot over there, Sid!" Buck said, using Rudy's tooth to point towards the pool, as it seemed to be in the more open part of this tropical forest.
"T-Thanks, Buck..."
"Now now hold on a second...what's with the long face, ol' Sidney?"
Buck acknowledged that Sid clearly wasn't feeling 100%. Although he's been acting 'tough' against Sid, he still had a caring heart, especially after his experience alongside the herd's one in this underground heat paradise. Sid, at this point, felt like he couldn't do this by himself. If there was anyone who could help him, it'll be Buck, since he's been living here for the longest.
"Okay, okay Buck...can you help me get to Momma?" Sid asked.
"M-momma? you have names for these beasts? that's a new one for me, buddy.."
"No, this is serious, Buck...I wanna go to her and stay with her...didn't you see me yesterday? I had to say goodbye to them, but now I wanna go back...please...can you help me out?"
"You want me...to guide you to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, is that what you want?" Buck asked, raising up an eyebrow.
"If you do, you can be a sloth's best pal?"
"Ahahaha, Sid, don't worry about it. I'm everybody's best pal. I find though that if you have one person as your 'top' bud, you'll just cancel out the rest of your friends, but hey, I'm a weasel who swings in a dinosaur land for cryin' out loud, what do I know? haha. You know what? I think I will give you a helping hand with your...emotional crisis I guess?"
"It's more of a personal thing, I suppose..."
"Alright then. You get yourself watered and fed up and I'll make these next steps our journey to this Tyrannosaurus Rex of yours..."