Chapter Five - Act 1 - Doubtful Destinies
She didn't exactly expect to be woken up in the middle of the night, especially not after the long walking they had been through. The others were asleep however, so whatever had disturbed her wasn't too loud. Yep, definitely gonna be tired by morning, she thought as she carefully walked away from her brothers. With only Arlie and Ben between her and the exit, she made sure not to make a sound. It was a tedious endeavor, but she eventually managed to escape the home. Though the moon lit up the mere edges of any object, she could clearly make out the tall individual at standing beside the ever-flowing river. It wasn't until she was right by him that he even noticed her.
"Jess!" Henry exclaimed, though kept below a certain volume, "What are you doing up so early?"
Jess couldn't help by smile at the question. "I thought I'd ask you the same thing but, you come out here often." She waited until Henry looked at her puzzled before explaining, "Arlie told me a few months ago, I just didn't think I'd ever meet you out here."
"You know sometimes I wonder which of you two is the more observant."
"I'm not observant, you just make it too obvious sometimes. So why are you out here?" She decided to get to the point, not wanting the night to be robbed from her too much. The topic seemed to easily loose any meaning as they observed the ever-flowing river than moved past them to the mountains they lived under.
Some time had passed before Henry had realised a question was even asked. "It's just that... ever since he showed up that night, I've always felt that this homestead isn't as safe as I would like it to be."
Jess thought for a moment as the apatosaur sat down beside her. She knew who he was referring to; the mysterious sauropod with an unsolved riddle that was rarely ever mentioned. While she herself had been curious as to who had stepped into their land, it had been over a year since the incident, and it wasn't likely for them to come back. For Henry to still be bothered by the individual and in extension the riddle was somewhat surprising for her, though in retrospect it wasn't too surprising given the security of the homestead being put at risk. It had been obvious why they hadn't yet sought after the solution to the riddle: what was to be gained except a conclusion to the mild inconvenience that had little consequence, plus the fact that looking for answers to something of little relevance was asking for more trouble than what it seemed to be worth.
"If you're that worried about it, we're all here to make sure nothing gets damaged and no one gets harmed. It is our homestead too after all." Jess hoped to reassure Henry, but was curious when he shook his head in response.
Lowering his head a little, he gave little eye contact with her. "That's not the problem Jess," he paused, and Jess almost suspected that he was pondering whether or not to admit something. "he looked so familiar, but I've never met him before."
Now Jess understood her friend's troubles. "Maybe they were just one of those that came here during the big flood, and they only came back to-"
"They know something personal about me, they recognised this place as being familiar to them, and the riddle is more like a set of directions than anything to figure out. It's almost like they wanted me to visit their place."
Though Henry had interrupted her, she soon adjusted to the information given. "Didn't you say before about a 'wall of' something? No one here seems to know about it, and any one we do meet on our trips also don't recognise it. Whatever this place is, it's something that can only be found out by going there." Patiently she awaited some kind of response from her friend, though grew weary when Henry remained silent while getting up and walking from the river bank. Following him seemed the only option until they were almost at the fence-line.
A quiet sigh from her friend told her that what Henry had on mind was not something he wanted to think about. "Every time I see you lot go out there, a part of me tells me to tag along, to reach for an answer. At the same time though, I always stay here to protect everyone and the homestead. I wish I could just promise that I would never go out there but... I can't even trust myself with that." Henry had almost lowered his head to Jess' height, the latter coming to terms with the woes of her companion.
Of course only now hearing of this, she did not immediately have a solution or a way to mitigate these problems. And with those options out of the bag, only one remained. "If it's really bothering you that much, we can arrange an expedition to this location. You could even have one of the tyrannosaurs come along while the other two maintain the farm, I know some of your family would like to come and it would be up to you-"
"Who?" Henry asked, raising his head again with full attention. While Jess had been caught off guard, she didn't hesitate for too long. "I may have overheard a conversation between Ben and Buck while sorting out the fruit. Not that I heard much, but it sounded like your son wants to see something that isn't these mountains. I don't know whether or not Ben was agreeing to the idea or not, so I wouldn't ask either of them about it unless any one of them come to you about it. But aside from that, I think you should at least take him with you."
Though she expected an almost immediate answer, Henry looked away in thought for a good few seconds. "There's a discussion over the next trip tomorrow, we should mention it either then or when the selected group leave."
"You're considering going out on an expedition while there are already others away from the farm? I guess that could be done if we were to limit the size of the group leaving. This should really be discussed when it's actually daytime, there's no use figuring things out in the middle of the night." She saw a nod of appreciation, which was a definite relief for her. While the conversation was nice and all, having it at night came with its quirks. Slowly walking to their respective homes, they exchanged glances once more before fully going in.
Inside she saw Arlie, Ben, the other two supersaurs as well as Spot and his family still resting inside, for the night remained temporarily permanent. Hoping not to be tired come morning, she took initiative to find the most comfortable place to sleep without disturbing the others. Eventually finding it right next to Arlie, she made sure not to accidentally make contact with Chris and Mike who were resting on top of the ankylosaur as she settled down. With one final look at the starry sky, she closed her eyes to await for the new day.
Though night time had passed hours before, the moon illuminated the edges of leaves and branches, forever silhouetting the forestry. Although relieved that Zerxes was allowing them to listen in on Clay's conversation with Spinos Jr., Mary was still unconvinced that things were going to go smoothly for them. It wasn't that they didn't trust Clay- they were best friends after all, but this new friend they hadn't heard of before definitely raised questions about Clay's past, questions which before the trio didn't think needed answering. They hadn't known where Clay came from before they first met, and didn't know why Clay went to these lengths to get answers from the homesteaders. That curiosity was the prime reason for the trio being where they were.
Mary always hated curiosity, the mere temptation of knowing more at the cost of some unknown consequences was something she knew shouldn't be meddled with. Trust was a fine line, and they were now putting that to the test by being here. Hiding behind a protruding boulder, they could look over to see the small lake along with everything surrounding the banks. On almost the opposite side rested a large sail-like shape made visible by the moon. Instantly she knew who it was, and felt some relief knowing that the spinosaur was facing away from their location. As if by clockwork, the snapping of twigs sounded near where the forest cleared, disturbing the large carnivore.
Watching the form standing up, she could instantly make out how large Spinos Jr. was, especially when Clay emerged from the trees. At first neither Clay nor Spinos Jr. spoke, something that Mary was unsure about. Just as Jack and Will peeked further out, Spinos Jr. emitted a low growl and stepped closer to the apatosaur. Clay gave no sign that anything was wrong until the spinosaur was practically within breathing distance. Suddenly Clay began to step backwards, apparently saying something that couldn't be heard from the trio's distance.
Only after being backed into a corner did Clay raise his voice enough to be audible, "Junior it's me Clay!" as if by instinct Spinos Jr. stopped, and for all Mary could do she had no idea what the spinosaur was thinking at that moment.
On queue, Spinos Jr. gave a gruff response. "Prove it, or your stay here may not be so welcomed for long." Clay had given a small nod, before straightening his posture. "You and I would always go to that crater when we had the chance, given your home and my home weren't too far apart. Always making sure no one would see or follow us, we had a couple of close calls." Though Clay's tone lightened near the end, Spinos Jr. remained unimpressed.
Upon a large sigh, Clay continued. "For example your parents wanted to know who I was, so you came up with that idea to put a piece of wood on my back and covered me in mud hoping it would work. I still don't know how that fooled them if it ever did. But I guess that still won't convince you..." Out of nowhere Spinos Jr. started backing off, before Clay got close enough to say something that managed to go by all three of the eavesdroppers.
"What did he say?" Jack had whispered as the trio fully hid behind the large boulder. Mary glanced at Will in case he knew, but even that was enough to know that none of them had heard whatever Clay said. By the time they peeked out again Spinos Jr. had gotten much closer to Clay, with the outcome of the reunion still unclear to Mary.
She could barely hear Spinos Jr's voice, but it was clear what it meant. "It is you." A moment of silence came forth, as she could make out a smile from Clay before anything else happened. Spinos Jr. soon put Clay into a headlock with his arm, "All this time I thought you were gone for good, and here I find you coming back to me." Clay didn't seem to mind the headlock as he still wore a smile while the spinosaur kept talking. Mary had seen a lot, but to see Spinos Jr. smiling and occasionally laughing with Clay made Mary sigh in relief. A weight Mary hadn't known was even present lifted, allowing her to see just how much the two had missed each other. Definitely childhood friends, Mary thought.
Though that did leave one thing unanswered, if they were childhood friends, what happened for them to never see each other for as long as they were? She did hear Spinos Jr. saying something about thinking Clay was 'gone for good', so she could get a sense for what may have occurred. Still, she wouldn't ask Clay if it meant them having more time being like they were. It wasn't surprising that she still had doubts, what would Spinos Jr. even think of them, what about Zerxes? She could only guess for now.
"Shall we leave them alone?" Will asked. Jack nodded while Mary had already silently agreed, but before she could say anything a large snapping sound came from the tree line behind them. All three turned to see what had caused such a noise, only to find nothing behind them. She could only guess that the two dinosaurs across the lake were looking in their direction, for which she was so glad that the rock had still hidden them. Though no one dared to speak, the trio began to leave at the same time. Just as they were about to reach the edge of the forest, something had entered the lake behind them, and by the sound of the water was moving fast.
So close to the forest the trio were when whatever was in the lake had reached the other side. Mary was unfortunate to look behind and knew instantly who had found them, wasting no time she stopped the other two, as running from that point on would've only made things worse. "You three have some nerve being here." Spinos Jr. spat, neither Mary nor her friends had anything to say that could calm the spinosaur. A particularly tense standoff that was only ended when Clay managed to catch up.
"Junior please, they're not here to cause mischief." Spinos Jr. finally turned away from the trio, instead focusing on the apatosaur. "You know them?" Mary felt sorry for Clay, who was now having to make up for their mistakes. "I was going to introduce you to them once we were done, but it seems as if fate had other plans." Clay had looked past Spinos Jr. to look at them all with disappointment, to which Mary knew they were going to have to do some explaining if they were ever alone.
The spinosaur on the other hand gave no immediate response other than focusing back on the trio, eyeing each of them for an almost uncomfortable amount of time. With a low sigh of annoyance Spinos Jr. finally replied. "I guess we could get along, as long as none of you get too annoying." Mary instinctively glanced at Jack and Will who both nodded, though she herself didn't nod with the others, Spinos Jr. didn't seem to notice as he continued. "Right then, I believe I'm caught up with the plan you four have made. Rest for the night, head on over to Clawtooth and talk to the homesteaders. Is that right?"
Clay hadn't said anything to the spinosaur's question, mostly because Jack was the first to answer. "Don't you mean us five?" Everyone practically stared at Jack at that moment, including Spinos Jr. Mary had almost forgotten about Zerxes, but if Clay hadn't mentioned him to Spinos Jr. then it must've had been for a reason. Perhaps having to explain another friend alongside the trio of fairly chaotic friends was too risky on Clay's end, or that Zerxes' tendency to shy away was too awkward for a first-night reunion, or even that he just hadn't got the chance.
With Spinos Jr. looking a bit too confused, it was no surprise that Clay had to eventually explain. "Right, so there's another friend of mine who's tagging along, however they not exactly... social, you probably won't see him that often if at all." To Mary's surprise Spinos Jr. hung his head low, emitting a rather elongated groan, before asking. "Just how many friends are you going to have me introduced to? Don't get me wrong I'm glad you've made some friends, but with the way I'm finding out about these friends, you seem to have a habit for keeping secrets."
Before Clay had any chance to defend himself, Will added "You're not the only one. We didn't know about you until this evening." and though Clay looked livid at the situation, Spinos Jr. gave a short laugh. "Well at least you three and I have that in common," Glancing at Clay, Spinos Jr. took notice of the apatosaur's frustration. "don't worry about it, we're just messing with 'ya. If you want we can go back to where you lot came from and rest."
Mary was surprised by how annoyed Clay had become, gritting his teeth. "That would be swell, thank you very much." His tone was all she needed to know just how desperate the apatosaur was to have something else as the main topic. With things now calm once more, everyone began to head back into the forestry.
With them all now heading back to their resting spot, Mary had a chance to get a better look at Spinos Jr., seeing the side that was now fully lit up by the moon. One thing that managed to catch her attention was the lower jaw, which looked misaligned with the upper jaw such that it was skewed to the right. While she was curious to know more about the condition, she felt that it was best saved for another day. She knew he wasn't going to be happy with her asking personal questions.
After a long time of consideration, Mary decided to block Spinos Jr's path just before they reached their destination. A bold move even for her, but she hoped it would pay off. Sure enough the spinosaur didn't immediately look too annoyed, instead looking as if waiting for her to say something. She made sure to look up at Spinos Jr. when saying "I know you and I met on bad terms, but I thought it would be worth you knowing not to sleep too close to Clay. He snores pretty loudly sometimes." Now looking directly at her, Spinos Jr. simply smiled. "He can't be that bad, right?"
"Well, that's for you to find out now isn't it?" Mary was already beginning to turn around when an arm stopped her in her tracks. Looking back at him, he gave a more sympathetic look as he responded with a "Thanks." before walking ahead of the stegosaur. She knew it was a start, but that was enough for her to see that things would be much better in the future. Being the last to arrive, she could already see Clay, Jack and Will beginning to rest. Spinos Jr. gave once last look at her, before resting nearby. While tomorrow was still up for anything to happen, she knew that whatever came their way, they would get through it together.
A/N: I believe Spinos Jr. is the final new character being introduced to this story, which should make for an interesting team heading to the homesteaders. There's not too many chapters within act 1, so there won't be many to post after this one. I do know that there are more for act 2, so it'll take longer to get those done, but that also means more chapters to upload once I get that done.
Next Chapter: Planned Out Estimation