Chapter 11: Cave conversations
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Night had fallen upon the landscape that evening. The pitch-black clouds above threatened rain and thunder.
Below, still travelling to catch up with the herd, was Aladar and his group.
Sophie was driving behind Baylene and Url, with Shelly and Ken following close to her. It had been five minutes or six minutes ago that the small group had left the lake behind and had tried to catch up with Kron and the herd.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what was happening anytime soon. The tracks of the herd had disappeared and only the faint scent of them kept the group moving forward. And the walk for the dinosaurs was still gruelling. The time buggy had charged-up it's internal batteries back at the lake, so there was no worries about travelling at night. Shelly and Ken offered to scout ahead to find the herd, but Sophie told them that it was best that they stay together. No point in getting lost out here in the prehistoric world.
As thunder rumbled in the sky above their heads, Baylene took that moment to say sarcastically, "Oh joy. Blisters."
"I've got blisters on my blisters." Eema groaned next.
"You don't want to know where I've got blisters," Yar said and sat up straight from where he was.
Everyone was caught off guard when a bellow sounded near. The small group stopped abruptly and looked around the area. The sound was not a bellow, but more of a low groan. It definitely came from something living. However, this groan sounded like a call for help.
Eema asked, "What was that?"
"It came from up ahead." Said Baylene. She lifted her head up to get a good look around the area.
"Okay, what's the worst thing it could be?" Asked Zini.
"A Carnotaur?" Suri guessed, cowering behind her uncle.
"Okay what's the second worst thing it could be?" Zini asked again.
"Two Carnotaurs!" The elderly Brachiosaurus cried and started retreating the other way.
"That's it! I'm gone!" Eema seconded and turned to leave.
"Great," Groaned Ken loudly. "What else can happen tonight?"
"Everybody! We don't know for sure," Aladar said and walked on. "It could be the herd. Let's go check it out."
"Oh my goodness," Baylene whimpered while crouching down.
Reluctantly, everyone followed. Slowly, they inched towards the end of the pass. Both dinosaurs and humans grouped together in case this was a predator. Sophie drove next to Aladar, the headlights of the rover turned off. Aladar slowly peaked from behind the hill and noticed something on the path. But to his relief it wasn't a Carnotaur. It was actually Bruton, struggling to continue walking. Sophie let out a small gasp when she noticed that there were a few gashes on the dinosaur's rear leg, neck, and side of his body.
"I can't believe it," Sophie said as she drove the buggy up the hill next to Bruton.
"Oh it's Bruton." Eema said upon noticing the wounded dinosaur.
"Appears we're not the only ones left behind" Baylene commented, nodding toward the lieutenant.
"It looks like he got hurt pretty bad," Said Shelly.
After Bruton groaned again and almost collapsed, Aladar walked on over to him. He stood next to the weakened dinosaur, who was apparently trying to ignore the whole group.
"What happened?" Aladar wondered.
"Carnotaurs!" Eema figured with a short gasp, and walked on. "Oh, We should keep moving."
"We can't just leave him here." Plio said, expressing concern over Bruton.
"Plio's right, Eema," Said Sophie. "We can't leave him here like this."
"We can if we move fast enough!" Eema said contemptuously and kept walking.
But Aladar thought it was best to give Bruton another chance. "Hey, you don't look so good," Aladar said to him. "Here, let me help you."
Bruton breathed sharply. "Save your pity. I just need some rest. Now get away from me!"
Aladar scoffed at Bruton's attitude. "Suit yourself," He said dryly.
Ken said under his breath. "We were only trying to help you, you big jerk."
"Ken!" Sophie scolded, giving the ten year old a glare.
"Well that's what he's acting like," He complained.
Streaks of light flashed above and a crash of thunder followed. Everyone winced at the sight and even took a step back in shock. A storm was coming.
"Looks like rain," Said Shelly, looking up.
Aladar was looking up at the sky as well when a thump was heard right in front of him. He looked down and noticed Url had placed a chewed stalagmite at his feet. The young Ankylosaur panted for a few seconds then gave the rock a nudge and a snort. Aladar watched him walk away to the east. When he did, he noticed Url walking towards a wide cave entrance. The cave was lighted for a few seconds by another streak of lightning.
"If you change your mind, we'll be in those caves." Aladar said to Bruton as he and the others went to the caves.
The cave was pretty huge though when they all got inside. There was more than enough space to fit everyone. Baylene had to bend a bit just so that she wouldn't hit the stone ceiling.
upon entering the cave, Aladar said, "It's dark, but at least it's dry."
"I like dry, it's the dark part I'm having trouble with." Eema remarked before accidentally stepping on Url's back spikes, "OUCH! Oh, Sorry Url. Sturdy little thing ain't he?"
"I'll say," Said Ken as he got out of the time buggy.
While Aladar and Sophie chuckled, Baylene noticed something outside the cave. "Ahem, we appear to have a visitor." She said.
Outside the cave, in the heavy rain, Bruton struggled to get inside the cave. His wounds were slowing him down painfully. He breathed heavily and tried with all his strength to get into the cave, but he collapsed onto the ground with a pained groan. Aladar felt bad for the lieutenant and went outside to help him.
Sophie meanwhile had parked the time rover next to a wall and Shelly did the same with the buggy.
Slowly, the two dinosaur walked inside the cave, away from the downpour outside. The water dripped from their scaly skins and the faint light made it look like they were shining. With a grunt, Bruton limped away from the group that was now huddled closely together on the left side of the cave and made his way for a ledge at the right.
"You can lie down with us," Aladar offered. "It's warmer."
But Bruton snorted and walked away from Aladar, declining his offer. He limbered up to the ledge and collapsed onto it with a groan.
Baylene said to Aladar, "May I remind you that he's one of them."
"Well, looks like he's one of us now," Replied Aladar.
Sophie took that moment to say to Shelly, "He's does a point, Shelly. Mitch may have been a little obnoxious and everything, but he's still your cousin and— "
"— he's no cousin of ours if he tried to put my family in danger." Shelly interjected angrily. "How can I... I mean how can we trust him after what he tried to do?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't have gone through with it, Shelly." Sophie continued obstinately. "Deep down I think he's hurting inside. You and Ken have always shunted him to one side and made him feel alienated."
Shelly snorted. "Oh, please, Sophie. Do you really believe that? Our parents have invited Mitch over to our house all the time during the summer, and we never even saw him look alienated."
"Did you ever talk to him or hang out?"
Shelly made a face. "Of course not! Me and Ken had our own thing. Mitch was just the cousin visiting. We... really never did hang out with him. I mean with the T.W.C and everything to talk about, there was no reason to, you know?"
Sophie nodded. "I understand, Shelly. But was the T.W.C and time-travelling worth ignoring a member of your family?"
Shelly shook her head. "No, of course not. Me and Ken just never really paid attention to him. I guess he kinda felt a little neglected."
Sophie sighed. "If that's so, Shelly, then maybe that's the reason why he tattles and blackmails you and Ken all the time. He just tries to get your attention."
Shelly thought about that just as Eema laid down and sighed, "Who booked this trip anyway?"
"Ah, you'll be at the nesting grounds soon enough." Aladar said as he lied down as well.
"Well, when I get there, I'm gonna give Kron a piece of my mind," Said Eema.
"You tell 'em, Eema." Aladar said with a chuckle.
Ken and Shelly found a spot to sleep on their mats, but Sophie decided to stay awake for a little while.
As everyone tucked themselves in for the night, Aladar noticed the lemurs laughing at Url, who lay on his back and yawned before falling asleep.
"If I could sleep that deep, I'd be in paradise." Yar stated.
"If you could sleep that deep, honey, you'd be dead." Eema said, earning laughter from all of her friends, including the three humans.
Later, while everyone slept, Sophie had taken Mitch's camera-phone from Shelly. When she turned it on and scrolled through the gallery, she saw that Mitch had taken tones of photos of the dinosaurs and the time vehicles. She frowned slightly and was about to tap on the delete icon to erase all of the photos, when she stopped and turned off the phone. She thought it would be best if Mitch erased the photos himself, if he chose to. She, like Aladar with Bruton, wanted to give the eleven year old another chance to try and redeem himself. She only hoped that somewhere out there Mitch was all right with herd in the pouring rain.
(*)
Mitch was not having a nice time. He was riding on the back of one of the dinosaurs in the herd, a Pachyrhinosaur, and was completely drenched in the rain. When he had started out after the herd to get away from his cousins, he had not been prepared for what was going to happen next. For the first few minutes with the herd, Mitch had to walk, trudging along behind the dinosaurs. None of the herd knew he was there with them. A few members who did see him occasionally gave him some curious sniffs, but he shooed them away from him and told them to leave him alone. He was, however, able to hitch a ride on the back of a Pachyrhinosaur when his feet got tired from walking. And the dinosaur didn't even seem to mind or didn't seem to notice.
But the pouring rain didn't make the ride any easier to endure. The cold air was another problem as well. Mitch was shivering all over. His hair was plastered to his forehead and over his eyes and his clothes felt heavy.
When he was hungry, he had eaten his last energy bar. It helped a little, but wasn't enough to fill his belly all that much.
"I swear when I get home..." Mitch muttered to himself. "Shelly and Ken are going to pay for this. I mean they got me into this damned mess. If they had just told me about their time travelling secret, I wouldn't have snuck onto the time rover and ended up here. And now they have my camera-phone and are doing who knows what with it."
in disgust, Mitch squeezed out his shirt and shifted himself on the Pachyrhinosaur's back. Sleep was not possible, even if it was nighttime. The rain and cold pretty much kept him awake.
"I just hope I can get to this nesting ground soon," Mitch said to himself with a shiver. "I don't know how long I can last out here."
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(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.
Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert