The Leap

Maes's Adobe, Mantah Corp Island:

P.O.V Change: Yaz

"We could make disguises for all the dinosaurs." I hear Ben say from the living areas of the cave. I roll my eyes and turn to Sammy. We are in the kitchen, preparing cups of cocoa for everyone. Sammy points her finger to her temple, twirling it, implying that Ben is crazy. We giggle at her antics as I finish the last cup and start to head back to the living area. "Ok, I know I said no idea is a bad idea..." I hear Darius say before Ryan follows him up. "But that's a terribly bad idea." We enter the living and see Ben with a pout on his face, Darius sitting upside down beside him. Ryan, leaning on the cave wall adjacent to them. I see Ben's pout and Darius's tapping his finger on the couch. "Uh-oh. Looks like Ben and Darius have their thinking caps on. Don't think too hard, boys. You might cause an aneurysm." I say jokingly as Sammy puts down their cups on the table. I put Brooklynn's on the table as well before walking over to Ryan. I pass the cup to him as he smiles. "Thanks, luv." He says as he pecks me on the cheek. I blush at the action and pull a strand of hair behind my ear. I playfully slap him on the chest. "Stop...that's embarrassing." I whisper to him as he smirks. "You love it and don't even try to deny it." He whispers back as I playfully scoff and slap him again. We chuckle at our own antics and turn to see everyone, minus Brooklynn, staring at us with amused expressions. "Are we a show or something?" Yaz asks them in a jokingly stern voice...but they don't know the difference. They quickly look away, with Ben going the extra mile and starts to whistle inconspicuously.

Me and Ryan just laugh while slipping our cocoa. The cave door opens as Brooklynn waltzes in. She puts her foot on the table, giving us cause to look down at her shoe. "I can't believe I finally got these babies clean." She says happily as I raise an eyebrow. I glance around and see that I'm not the only one either. "Nothing's changed." "They look exactly like they did before." Ryan and Ben say respectively as Brooklynn gasps in mock horror. "The audacity." She says playfully. Sammy smirks and holds Brooklynn's cup up to her. "I can tell that they're cleaner." She says as Brooklynn smiles. "Tha k you Sammy. It's nice to be complimented. Some are just plain rude." She says while eyeing Ryan and Ben. Ben shrugs while Ryan holds up a middle finger. I slap him upside the head as he looks bewildered at me. I give him a hard stare, silently telling him to behave. He nods and hangs his head in submission while also kissing the on top of my head. I pull the cup up to my lips and take a sip...but secretly smile at Ryan's submission. I lean into Ryan's chest as he pulls me into his embrace, he wraps an arm around my waist. I rest my loose hand on his arm while holding my cup up. Sammy sits on the recliner chair while Brooklynn sits in-between Darius and Ben. "So...what were you talking about?" I ask the boys as Darius puts his cup down. "We might have destroyed Mr. Kon's way to make more dino control chips. but he's already one step ahead of us." Darius says as Ryan speaks up. "Destroying the chips and getting the files was the right way to go but we still have to contend with the dinos that are still chipped here. Not to mention the ones that Kon will bring back from Nublar." He says as Ben follows up. "So, we're trying to come up with ideas and ways to protect them from whatever Kon has up his sleeve. But apparently...disguises are off the table." He says while drinking. "Sure, we can do disguises." Ryan says as Ben goes wide eyed and spits his cocoa out in surprise. "We can?" "What?" Ben and the rest of us say respectively while looking at Ryan who has a mischievous smirk on his face. "Yeah...if you want, you can do them alone." He says while looking at Ben. He goes to retort but stops at finally realizing the stupidity of his suggestion. Yeah...let's disguise giant finishes that can eat, tear, impale and squish us...great idea. We all laugh at Ben who pouts but I can see the happy, joking smile that he is trying to hide. "This is so nice. All of us, warm and cosy...sharing a cup of cocoa together." Sammy says as we all smile at her sentiment. "Too bad we can't do this for the dinos. It'll be a lot easier to keep them safe if they were all snuggled in one place." She says while sipping her drink. I take my own sip but notice the pondered look on Darius's face. "What...if they could?" He says while we all look at him. "How do you mean?" Ryan asks as Darius puts his cup down and heads out of the cave. We put ours down and follow after him.

We stand behind Darius as we look at the waterfall and its path into the forest biomes mini lake. "What's the one place on Nublar where all the dinosaurs got along?" He asks as our eyes light up. "The watering hole." Sammy says excitedly as Darius turns sharply to us. "Exactly." He says with a snapping gun salute. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that but it's a sound plan. The forest biome is connected to the arctic and the jungle, having a watering hole here would bring all the animals of each, together." Ryan says as I raise an eyebrow. "That's all well and good. But not to be a downer but is there enough water, though?" I question as we look at the waterfall. "That would be a problem." Darius says sadly, thinking that his idea just got shot down. I walk up to him and place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's a good plan...we just have to figure out how to get the water up higher." I say as he smiles. "What about buckets, we could carry water to fill it up?" Sammy asks as Brooklynn crosses her arms. "That'll take too long, and we don't know when the Kon's are going to be back, we have to get it down soon." She says with reason as I ponder for a quick minute. "We will have to get the dinosaurs away so that we can work. I don't particularly want Big or Little Eatie breathing down my neck." I say as Ryan follows up. "We can distract the Rexes with some food, lure them to the far side of the biome, how we are going to do that, I have no idea." He says as Ben raises his hands in a dramatic fashion. "One word, 'disguises'." He says as we look at him with zero amusement.

I see Darius walking along the bank. He turns to us sharply while pointing at something in the distance. "Hey, check that out!" He says as he runs over to the far end of the lake's edge. We follow after him as he stands on top of a rock. Ryan kneels down and looks underneath. "Well, I'll be...it's a drain." He says while hopping back to his feet. "If we can plug it up...then this whole area will fill with water." Brooklynn says as I smile. "Hello...watering hole." I say dramatically while playfully punching Ben in the arm. He groans and smiles weakly at me while running his arm. "Let's not think too far ahead. We have to make sure that this drain stays clogged when the water raises up." Ryan says as Darius stands. "We have to act fast, we don't know when the Kon's are getting back, so time is not on anyone's side. What we need to do, uh? Water and dinosaurs, right?" He says as we stare at him. "That sums it up pretty well. But first, one...how do we get the water up, and two...who are the unlucky ones that have to go get the dinosaurs?" Ryan asks for which Ben scoffs. "Don't worry, I got that second one covered. Firecracker's my girl, and I can grab Pierce too." He says as I nod in agreement. "I'll come as well. We can swing by the arctic and get Angel and Rebel while we're at it." I say as we nod at each other. "Great. Then, me, Brooklynn, Sammy and Ryan can stay here and plug up the drain. Cool?" He asks. Sammy and Brooklynn nod in agreement but Ryan has his eyes down in a slight frown. I stare worriedly at him, he raises his eye, and they meet mine. I can see fear and worry in them. "One sec." Ryan says when Darius turned to him. Ryan walks up to me. "Let me go." He says in a soft voice as I gaze wide eyed at him. "What?" I question confusedly as he takes my hands in his. "Let me go with Ben, you stay here and help Darius and the others. Me and Ben can grab the dinos." He says which makes me narrow my eyes at him. "What? Do you think I can't handle it?" I say in an annoyed tone as I let go of his hands. I can handle myself, I don't need you to coddle me like a child. "That's not it and you know it." He says with a faint, angry growl in his voice. "Uh, guys, maybe this isn't the best-." Ben goes to say but both me and Ryan stare at him heatedly. He gets the warning and moves away. "So, tell me then...what is it? What has you so worked up?" I say with a glare as he gets closer to my face. "It's just..." He goes to say with frustration but just...deflates in defeat. I drop my anger and look up at him, with concern in my eyes. "Ryan. What is it?" I ask soothingly as he looks into my eyes. "I...don't want to lose you." He says quietly, so softly that I don't think the others heard him. I gaze up at him in surprise at his confession. "It's just... you're going to the arctic biome, where the Yutyrannus is and I don't want you to have another 'episode'. I don't want Ben to come back and say that you are gone. I...can't bear the thought of losing you, Yaz, so please...let me go instead." He pleads to me. He hangs his head as I see a tear starting to leak out of his eye. I smile lovingly at him as I lean his head up so he is looking at me, I will the tear away as I draw him closer to me. "It'll be ok. I love that you would do this...wish that you want about it differently, but that doesn't matter. I thank you for looking out for me. But it's because of you that I want to go. You, everyone, have made me realize that it's ok to be afraid, ok to be scared...but I'm done...letting my fear get the better of me. You have protected me for so long. Plus, you know that I'm stubborn." I say softly as he laughs at my joke. We just hold each other close, just staying in the comfort of each other's arms. We look into each other's eyes, lean closer and kiss lovingly for a good few seconds before breaking for air. "Be safe." He says as I smile. "I will." I say, giving him one last peck before breaking the embrace. He straightens himself and sniffles his tears away. "I'll be ok...I promise." I say to him as he smiles. "I know." He says as I blush and go to walk away, I give him one last glance before following after Ben. "You guys are adorable, you know that?" Ben says to me as I blush and pull a hair strand behind my ear. "Thanks." I say, embarrassingly at Ben, of all people.

P.O.V Change: Ryan

I wipe my tears away as I watch Yaz leave. She and Ben get to the tree line, Yaz turns and looks back at me as I nod and wave at her. I can see that she smiles and waves back before entering the trees and heading to be airlock. I release a breath that I didn't know I was holding and turn back to the others. Sammy looks at me with a happy and caring smile. Darius and Brooklynn look at me with worry. "I'm ok...I'm good now." I say with wiping away the rest of my tears. "Let's get this done." I say as I go to walk past Darius, but he places a hand on my chest, stopping me in my tracks. I look down at his hand and turn to him. He gives me a sympathetic look before suddenly embracing me. Brooklynn and Sammy join in as I stare wide eyed but eventually loosen my tense muscles and hug them back. They don't say anything, but I know what they are saying all the same. "Thanks guys." I say as they break away. "No matter what...we all always here for you. For both of you." Sammy says in a time that I never expected but I smile, nonetheless. "Thank you, Sammy." I say as they nod and turn to the drain. "Let's get this thing plugged up." Brooklynn says as we split apart and head into different directions, trying to find the perfect items to block the drain. I found a small rock collection near the waterfall. I pull out my knife and dig around some good size rocks and pull them out.

I pull out the last rock and grab that, plus the three others. I grunt as I lift and carry them, probably should have carried one at a time but not point on crying over spilt milk. I get back to the water and see the other three blocking the drain with sticks and leaves. "Hey, guys?" I ask as they turn to me, we stare at each other before Darius points to the rocks. "What are they for?" He asks as I raise an eyebrow at the ridiculous question. He realizes his mistake and slaps himself in the head. I drop the rocks onto the soft, muddy ground. "What did you guys' grab?" I ask as I walk over and see their handy work. "We thought the sticks would be enough." Brooklynn says. I kneel down and see that they have clogged the drain but the only thing I'm worried about is when the water raises, that they will become loose and get washed away. I go to speak my worries, but a rumbling of the ground is felt, forcing us gasp in fright.

I look up at the surrounding trees for the familiar Tyrannosaurs. I hear the roar of both Rexes, we turn and run for cover as the tumbling gets louder and louder. We find two large, moss-covered stones and hide behind them, with me Darius and Brooklynn behind or and me and Sammy behind the other. We glance over the stone and see the two Rexes strolling out of the trees and stand by the water's edge. "Oh, great." Darius says tiredly as I continue to watch the Rexes. They appear to be jumping about and nipping at each other but showing any severe aggressive behavior. "Just what we need, hungry dinosaurs." Brooklynn says but I shake my head. "They're not hungry. They're playing." I say. Big Eatie turns her head towards is as we gasp in fear and duck behind the rock. With my back against the stone, I glance towards Darius. "This is bad. With them playing, they're not going to be going anywhere anytime soon." He says before narrowing his eyes and getting up to his feet. I stare wide eyed at him and see him walk off, away from us. "What are you doing?" Sammy questions as Daris turns back to us. "We can't plug the drain with them around, so I'm gonna distract them." He says as I shake my head, always trying to do things alone. "How?" Brooklynn asks as Darius smirks. "They want to play, right? I'll give them something to play with." He says as bolts away. "Wait, Darius. Get ba-." I go to say but he was already too far away. I grunt in frustration and look over the stone. Sammy and Brooklynn sit beside me as we watch Darius move between the trees, just behind the two Tyrannosaurs. "Hey! Over here!" He shouts out, revealing himself from behind a tree, I wince in preparation for the Rexes to charge him by they seem to either uninterested or just didn't hear him. "Idiot is gonna get himself killed." I say in frustration. "I know. Love that he thinks that he can do all of this alone. I'm gonna go help him." She says before going to walk away. I turn sharply to her and pull her back down. "Whoa, whoa...you can't just go and help him with no plan. How the hell are two going to get away from them?" I ask as she shrugs and walks away. "We'll figure it out." She says as I mentally slap myself. I'm surrounded by idiots, can we, for just once, just once...come up with a plan that doesn't involve us running for our lives because we couldn't think of a plan? "Wait. Maybe you should stay here. You're better than me at clogging the drain." Sammy suggests to Brooklynn who looks down at Sammy's muddy clothes and boots. Brooklynn pulls her feet away as I raise an eyebrow. "No! I mean...you two got this." Brooklynn tried to play off but we already knew. "Are you just going cause you don't want to get your shoes dirty again?" Sammy sarcastically asks, knowing the answer already but what's to hear it out of Brooklynn's own mouth. "I believe I'm you. Go team Sammy and Ryan!" She shouts while running off. "No, Brooklynn we still don't have...!" I start to say but she's already gone. "Fucking hell, what doesn't anyone listen?" I vent on frustration. Me and Sammy look over the rock and see the Rexes are still playing. Darius is out on the open and trying to get there afternoon, but they simply don't care. Brooklynn appears next to him and whistles. The echoing sounds catches Little Eatie's attention who roars aggressively and goes to charge after Darius and Brooklynn. Big Eatie trails behind as the two Tyrannosaurs leave the area. "That's one problem, done." I say as I get up. "Yeah. Just need to plug up the drain." Sammy says as we walk over and look at drain. We see that the water has risen a bit, but the sticks are not a good clog as we watch as they are pushed out of the way. The water sinks back done to its original level. "Let's get those rocks over here, their weight will help with blocking it." I say as Sammy nods in agreement.

P.O.V Change: Yaz

The jungle biomes airlock opens as Angel and Rebel squeak in excitement as they run out. Me and Ben laugh at seeing them run around and bump into each other, obviously enjoying themselves. "They'll be ok out of the cold, right?" Ben asks as I turn to him. "It's all good. Last time they were fine for a few days before they needed an arctic recharge." I say as I google at Rebel charging Angel playfully. "I'm surprised King Richard let them go with us." Ben says as I shrug. "I don't really know either, that mammoth has gone through quite a lot for the past few weeks, guess we'll never know." I say as I remember our interaction with the mammoths. We saw that while, still part of the herd, the mammoths didn't really care about Angel and Rebel, not that they cared anyway, with the way that we found them playing in a snow dune. King Richard did see us but he didn't grace us any mind, simply passed us over as the herd continued on. I break from my thoughts as Angel and Rebel whinny in glee and run off into the shrubbery. "But right now, we just have to keep up with them."

We run after the two hybrids, coming out of the foliage near the compound and to our surprise, we find Pierce standing there, bellowing and moaning a greeting to the two hybrids. "Well, that was easier than expected." Ben says as I glance at him. "Now, all we need is Firecracker and we'll be all set to go." I say as he walks over and pulls a good size stick with some large leaves off. "'Leaf' that to me." He says while swaying the stick near me, I back away from the close stick as Ben laughs awkwardly. "Hehe. Sorry about that." He says as I just give him an unamused stare. "Cause I'm going to lure her out...with leaves." He says while gesturing to the stick. "Yeah. I think I got it, dingus." I say tiredly as he walks away. I follow him, while also calling out for Firecracker. "Firecracker!" I shout as I move some bushes aside, trying to find any Brachiosaur tracks. "Firecracker! Hey, FC! Where are you, girl?!" Ben calls out. I hear leaves rustling as I look around for them but then I hear a bellow. I turn and see the familiar juvenile Brachiosaur, knocking Ben over. I smile at Firecracker who lowers her head down and brushes against Ben affectionately. Ben holds up the leaves, for which Firecracker devours with a happy moan. "See? What did I tell ya?" He says while gesturing to the leaves and Brachiosaur. I shake my head but don't even try and hide the smile on my face.

We get back to the hybrids and Pierce. The hybrids are buying heads and Pierce is simply grazing on some grass. I pick a stick that has some berries on it as I wave it in front of the hybrids. "Ok, crew!" I shout. The hybrids turn to me, they faces filled with happiness at seeing the berries. Pierce rises his head and turns to follow the hybrids. "Follow me, guys!" I shout as Angel, Rebel and Pierce follow behind. We started to walk to the airlock that will take us to the direct biome. The hybrids stayed the closest to me and Ben while Pierce was off to the side of us. I look back and frown at seeing Firecracker's downcast expression and sad look. "Firecracker's usually so outgoing, but she's kinda keeping to herself." I say to Ben who walks backwards, next to me. "I get it. This is the biggest group that she's ever been around." Ben says while training to walk normally. "I mean, it took me a while to warm up to large groups too. You remember how I was back at Camp Cretaceous?" He asks with a smile. I return with a laugh as I remember his attitude. "Yeah. Remember how we both were?" I say with a chuckle as I remember back to these times. I can't even remember the person I was before...before all of this. All I remember is a screen girl that was afraid of talking to people...or being near people. "I guess, it's a good thing that I had Bumpy...and you had Ryan, huh?" Ben asks as I'm taken aback by his question. I think back to everything...yeah, he's right.

All of the things that held me back, they were unraveled by Ryan. He made me come out of my shell and showed me how to step into the light of friendship...he gave me feelings and joys that I hadn't felt in so long. Gave me memories that will last to the day that I die. I smile, bashfully, before turning back to Ben. "Yeah...our best friends." I say, smiling at the memories, I suddenly remember but to this morning before we left. We have disagreed on things, but it wasn't the argument that surprised me...it was Ryan's worry. Ryan has always tried to remain the levelheaded one of the group. Always making sure that everyone is ok and alright, he always looks out for everyone, for us. But seeing him, the worry etched on his face, the pleading in his voice...I saw the fear in his eyes, fear for me...but also the care that he has for me. I felt something within me, when I saw his worry and fear in his eyes...I knew then...I might have not said the words, but I know it in my heart...when I saw him, saw his eyes, filed with that care and worry...I knew in my soul...that I loved him, with every fiver of my being.

"Yaz." I hear Ben say. I gasp when he pulls me away from the tree that I nearly walked into. "Thanks, Ben." I say with an embarrassed smile and look away from him. "Damn, Yaz...what made you drone out?" He asks as I hang my head and smile softly...I see his questioning eyes as I speed ahead of him. "Ohh! You were thinking about Ryan!" He says as I stop and turn back to him. His stick is stolen as Angel and Rebel start to play tug of war. I look down at my own stick, a look of ponder on my face. "It's just...I've had boyfriends before...but, I've never felt this way before...feeling what I feel for Ryan." I say with hunched shoulders, I hold the stick close to me as I look at Ben. He stares back with an even gaze but nothing is said...this is so awkward. "So..." I start, trying to edge him to give me his thoughts. "So..." He sends back as I narrow my eyes and start tapping the floor. "So...I don't know what to think! I thought that I did and now I don't even know. I mean...I like Ryan, ridiculously so but I've never had this really happen before. All the other boyfriends weren't that important to me, I felt happy with them, yes, but with Ryan..." I say quickly...I realize that I'm rambling as I glance at Ben to see his worried eyes. "It's just...I, I think that I'm...in love with Ryan." I say hesitantly, finally getting it out. Ben's eyes go wide and smiles happily. "That's great, Yaz." He says but I just groan in frustration and walk away. I sit on a rock as I think about everything. "I thought that was a good thing." Ben says as I lean my head in my hands. "It is but I'm just..." I start to say but finish with a sigh. "Yaz, what's on your mind, what has you so worked up?" I hear Ben ask as I see him sit beside me. "I, I don't know what. This morning...I saw a side Ryan that I've rarely ever seen. To see him so... vulnerable. It made me want to hold him close and never let go, to comfort him. The any other time I've seen him like that is the morning after the incident with Allison. I just wanted to sit with him and say that everything is going to be ok. This morning was the same thing, sort of. He didn't want me to go because of my nightmares. His eyes were filled with so much worry. He pleaded with me to stay behind because he was worried for me, because he cared about my safety. Everything about Ryan, just draws me closer to him, makes me feel more for him..." I say as I ramble again, I look to Ben and see a happy smile on his face. "I think I get it." Ben says as I smile. Angel calls out to us as we turn to her, she jumps around happily before removing her brother and Pierce. I look up and see that all of them are present...but Firecracker. "Wait. Where's Firecracker?" I say with worry as I stand and look around for the Brachiosaur.

We head to the airlock, keeping the others close. "Firecracker!" Ben calls out as he opens the airlock. I move foliage to see nothing that would indicate that Firecracker was here. "Firecracker!" I shout out, hoping that the Brachiosaur will call out. I hear Firecracker's crying call as I turn and see her running out of the shrubs. "Ben, behind you!" I shout as I try to grab her, but she turns and runs through the airlock. Ben tries to grab her but he is knocked into the ground by the Brach. "FC!" Ben calls out as he runs after her, I follow after him through the airlock.

P.O.V Change: Darius

We continue to run for as long as we can but exertion and tiredness is starting to sink into us. I glance over my shoulder and see Big Eatie moving between the trees, roar at us. "It's...it's working." I say with a pant as I look at Brooklynn. She looks back over her shoulder before turning to me. "Maybe too well." She says as I glance and see Little Eatie catching up, running almost side by side with Big Eatie. I go to look ahead but something catches my eye. The lookout platform. "There! Go, go!" I shout as we turn and head to the ladder. Big Eatie tries to snap at us but she misses and collides with a tree. Little Eatie misses her turn and collides into Big Eatie, nearly forcing the tree to be uprooted from the impact. Their little mishap has given us enough time and distance to get to and up the ladder. I get to the top and reach down to help Brooklynn. She grabs hold of my hand as I pull her up. At the same time, Big Eatie collides headfirst with the ladder, causing it and the platform to shake form the impact. We sit up from the floor and lean over the edge to see the Eatie's circling us. "Well, the good news is we got them away from the watering hole." I say to Brooklynn, thing to remain optimistic. Especially in the face of now realizing that we have no way down. "The bad, is we are now trapped." She says as I look down and see the Eatie's pacing about, but their eyes never lower, always keeping their gaze on us. Brooklynn sighs as she collapses on her back, she has the right idea. We might be trapped but at least we have time to get some rest...however tense it may be with the two Rexes that are pacing 30 feet below us.

P.O.V Change: Sammy

I walk over to Ryan with the last rock. "Here you go." I say to him as he grunts his thanks and takes the rock from me and places it against the drain. I gaze at him with worry, at him being so quiet. He's never usually like this, he may be silent for a few moments but only when he is observing something, analyzing it, but here...it's different. I see the scowl on his face but it's not one of anger or frustration but rather...that he is thinking really hard. "Hey, you ok?" I ask as I shake him from his thoughts. He turns up at me and smiles. "Yeah, I'm alright." He says while fixing a few loose sticks. "That should hold it." I say as I look over and see our handy work It was decided, between the two of us, that sticks, and stones would be used to block the drain. The rocks for the water while the stick would fill in the gaps. "No water's getting through you, drain." I say as I place my hands on my hips, a smile of pride spreads across my face. Ryan hops up from the ground and wipes his dirty hands on his clothes. We look at the water and to my disappointment, the water hasn't risen. "Come on! Fill up faster." I complain but I feel Ryan's put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's be patient, the water is going to take a while." He says as I nod. "I get that...but...stopping the water from draining isn't enough." I say to him as he nods in understanding. "What do you suggest, them?" He asks as I ponder for a minute. Glancing at the water, I follow it back to the waterfall and to the top. "If we can add more water from the up there, maybe it will be." I say as Ryan follows my gaze to the top of the waterfall. "Ok, ok...let's do it." He says as I do a double take to him. "What? Really?" I say with an excited smile. "Of course. I don't have a better plan and we need to get the water up. So...why the hell not?" He says as I squeal and give a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, Ryan!" I say happily as I hug him. "Yeah, all good, Sammy...mind letting me go, I can't breathe." He says with short, strained breaths as I let go. "Oh, sorry." I say as he coughs and smiles. "It's alright. Come on, let's go." He says as we walk to the door of the waterfall's cliff face. "Any idea on how to get up?" She asks me for which I shrug. "Darius and Kenji said that they climbed the waterfall back on Nublar when the river got blocked. But this is too high to rush climbing." He says as I nod at his reasoning. I gaze around and see a tree trunk, broken off but leaning against the cliff face. "How about that?" I say while pointing out the tree. I hear Ryan wince, thinking about the risk of climbing the tree. "We don't have anything else." I reason to him as he ponders before sighing in defeat. "Ok." He says as we walk over to the tree.

We stand before the massive tree trunk and gaze up at the cliff face. I see that the tree is far bigger and more broken than I thought. I have second thoughts about climbing it. "Hey." I hear Ryan say as he nudges me, I gaze up at him and see belief in his eyes. "You got this. I'll be right behind you." He says comfortingly as I nod. I breathed a relaxing breath and nod my readiness at him. He cups his hands low as I rise one foot and place it in his hands. He pushes me up the trunk as I grab hold of the broken edge, carefully pulling myself up, while also not trying to get splinters. I look down and see Ryan jump up and get a nice hold on the tree before pulling himself up. I look at him with an amused smile as he returns with a smug one. "Show off." I say as he shrugs. We look up at the tree as I steel my resolve and climb up the trunk. My foot slips a bit and I almost panic, but Ryan is able to grab hold of me and keep my steady. "Hey." He says as I glance back at him. "Like I said, you got this... I'm right behind you." He says while passing me one of his knives. I take the blade as I nod at his reassurance. I nod and turn back to the tree. "All right, tree, we got this, we got this." I say to myself as I slam the blade into the trunk, creating an anchor for me to hold onto.

I take slow movements up the tree, O hear Ryan unsheathe his axe, creating a small anchor for him. I get closer to the cliff top, but against my better judgement...I look down to the ground. I whimper at the high as I feel bile build up in my gut. "Don't look. Look up." Ryan says, I look away from the ground and close my eyes, trying to forget the image of the ground. "Just keep going, we're nearly there." He says as I nod and continue on. The tree gets steeper as we get closer to the cliff top. I shallow my fear and push myself to my feet and get to the end of the tree. I look behind and see Ryan close behind, hooking the axe head on a branch. He nods to me as I go to reach for the top, but the tree starts to slip off the rock. I gasp I. Shock and grip the bark and slam the knife blade in the trunk. "Steady...steady." Ryan says as I try to keep as still as possible. I hear the bark creaking and rattling behind me. "Go! Go! Go!" Ryan shouts as I whimper, and I crawl up to the tree top and jump for the cliff top. My hands slip from the top but I just reach out and grab an edge. Ryan shouts in effort and grips onto the same edge as me. He reaches his axe up and slams it onto the stone. Ryan pulls himself up onto the ledge, he turns and grabs my arm and pulls me up. "I got ya." He says as I get up onto the ledge and draw Ryan into a fierce hug. I whimper quietly as I look down at the tree, it had loosened on the trunk base and had finally fallen completely to the ground. "It's alright, we're alright." He says soothingly as I nod and break from him. We look up at the cliff top above us. I resolve my nerve and narrow my eyes before grabbing anything to grip onto. I start to climb up the rock with Ryan following close behind me.

P.O.V Change: Ben

Me and Yaz walk through the swamp biome with trepidation. I gaze around, keeping my eyes open for any of those Dilophosaurs. Out of everything on this island, it's these and the Sarcosuchus down below that I do not want to deal with. I look back at Yaz who is looking at the ground with a very serious contemplative look on her face. "So, you're either searching the ground for baby Brach footprints or you still have a lot on your mind?" I say to her as she raises her eyes to meet mine. "Both...I guess." She admitted with a sigh. "But...mostly the second thing...sorry." She says quietly a so draw back to stand beside her. "Well, if you could talk to Ryan about it, what would you say?" I ask, she tries to come up with a response, I see her thinking about it and getting upset when nothing seems to come to mind. "Yaz, this is Ryan that we are talking about. The guy that has been through thick and thin with us, for us. Come on...lets pretend that I'm Ryan for a minute." I say as I clear my throat. "Hey luv, how are you doing today? Do you want to go hack something to pieces with our sharp ass blades." I say in a deep voice, trying to mimic Ryan's voice and tone. I straighten my back, trying to appear taller. Yaz laughs at my failed comparison. "Sorry Ben but that sounds nothing like Ryan." She says as I shrug. "What can I do? Although it did sound better in my head." I say to her with a chuckle. Her eyes turn from amusement to downcast. "When I'm with Ryan, it feels awesome...I feel so many things that I can't name them all. I feel happy, safe, peaceful and...love, when I'm with him. When we met, I didn't think that I would be friends with him let alone get into a relationship. But after talking, all the running and screaming for our lives...even the arguments I had with him, I realized that I felt a kindred spirit with him. I felt comfortable in talking to him, without having to put on a mask of indifference. Even now, when I look back, I don't even remember who I was before. And when I look ahead, I can't see myself without him. Is this what love is, Ben? I need to know." She asks frantically as I turn wide eyed to her. I go to answer but the leaves rustling behind her catch my attention. "Uh, Yaz?" I say as we start to hear chirping. We turn to the leaves, to our surprise we hear the cries of Firecracker as well. "Something is wrong." Yaz says as Firecracker bolts at us, crying and whimpering in terror as two Dilo's jump out. They snarl and flexes their frills at us. "Go! Run!" Yaz shouts as we turn and bolt, Firecracker runs alongside us as we head for the airlock.

P.O.V Change: Ryan

I get to the top of the cliff face and dust myself off of any sort and grime. I holster my axe and turn to see Sammy looking down at the tree. I walk up to her and stand beside. I nudge Sammy to get her attention, she turns to me and I see her frighten look and nervous being. I offer her a sympathetic gaze and a comforting smile. She takes it in stride and centres herself, I smile at her determination and resolve. We walk over to the waterfall edge and trail the water back to a drain. Sammy nudges me and points to the sewer entrance that is sitting adjacent to the stream. I open the hatch and right away, we are hot by the foul smell of the sewer. Sammy coves her nose and almost retches up her cocoa from this morning. "There's gotta be something done there that controls all the water." She says as she goes to hold her breath. I stop her before she can climb down. "Let me go, just in case." I say, she nods at my reasoning. I pull out my axe and hold it at the ready as I start to climb down. I groan at the smell, but I take it as best as I can.

I reach the bottom and have a look around, the sewer is quiet and seemingly abandoned. I should hope so, Brooklynn shut down all the BRADs and drones so the only thing that should be worried about is the Sarcosuchus. "Ok, you can come down, Sammy." I call out to her above me as I move aside. We walk down the tunnels of the sewer, Sammy is keeping her eyes out for a control panel or wheel that can divert the water and I'm keeping my eye on the water, making sure that big ass croc doesn't get the jump on us. I stop and glance at Sammy and see her with her ear against some pipes, if I had to guess they are water mains of some kind. I glance back at the water, but I catch a glimpse of something in the distance. "Over there." I say as I run over. I get to what I saw and smile at it being two water valves. "Aha, good spotting, Ryan. Let there be...water." Sammy says dramatically as she turns the smaller valve, the one managing the pressure...only to have the well not budge at all. "I said...let there be...water." She says again only with more exertion this time. I chuckle at her. "Let me try." I say as she moves out of the way. I try to move it, but it doesn't budge either. I blink embarrassingly as I slowly glance at Sammy...who is wearing a smug smile on her face. "Ok, we may have a problem." I say tensely, let's just forget that ever happened. "Do we now?" Sammy teases...I playfully glare at her as she chuckles. "Haha, very funny. No more games let's get back on track. We have to get this water, otherwise Darius and Brooklynn are in for a long day." I say reasoningly. Sammy nods in agreement and tries to help me turn the valve. Still nothing...this is going to take longer than I thought. Darius, Brooklynn...just hold on for a little bit longer.

P.O.V Change: Brooklynn

I watch the pinecone spin as I sit with my back against the tree. I tense when I feel a hard thump against my back. I look down through a slight gap and see Little Eatie shaking her head of the impact. I sigh as I spin the pinecone again. I hear Darius mumble to himself, just trying to pass time...I sigh when it starts to get on my nerves. "Darius...the Eatie's are annoying enough, you don't have to make it worse." I say tiredly. I valence at him and see him nod. "Sorry, if that come off harsh." I say to him, I feel bad now, I didn't mean to sound, well...mean. "No, it's ok." He says just as Big Eatie thumps the tree again. We gasp as the tree shakes violently, causes Ng us to nearly fall to the side. I look down and see Big Eatie roaring up at us in fury and impatience. "Damnit. They're not going to leave as long as they know we're up here." I say in frustration. "We're basically chew toys to them." I say tiredly, we are stuck up here, with nowhere to go...I guess it could be worse. "That's not all we have to worry about." Darius says while nudging me, he points up to the sky as I follow his trajectory. I gasp fearfully at the sight of the three Pteranodons, circling the canopy. Yep... definitely worse. Death below...and now above, great. We shudder at the realization of being tapped between the Rexes and the Pteranodons as we back up against the tree. "What are they gonna do if they see us?" I whisper to him, trying not to draw any attention from flying reptiles. The tree thumps again as pinecones start to fall. One lands in my lap as I look down at it. I look back up at the Pteranodons and see that they still haven't seen us. "Or...maybe we want them to." Darius says as I rise my eyebrow at him, what are you thinking about? Darius picks up a pinecone and throws it up and down. "How's your throwing arm?" He asks with a smile. I look at the pinecone in my lap before trying back to Darius, looking at him with an uneasy gaze.

We gather our 'ammo' and look up at the Pteranodons. They have gotten closer to us, but their attention hasn't been caught by us...not yet at least. I steel my nerves and throw a cone at one of them, hitting it square in the throat. The pterosaur turns and spots us, even from where we are, I can see its pupils narrow. The Pteranodon screeches in fury and dive bomb towards us, with the other two following close behind. We throw ourselves to the ground, hoping g to avoid the sharp beak and talons of the pterosaurs. Darius rolls out of the way, avoiding one of the Pteranodons from landing on him. The reptile screeches at me as I get to me and charge it. It points its beak at me, spearing ahead to try and gore me but I move at the last second and boot the pterosaur in the head. The animal is stunned from the kick as it moves back to the ledge, trying to get it's bearing back together. The pterosaur fumbles its footing and falls down to the ground. I race over and look down to see the Pteranodon avoid the snapping jaws of Little Eatie. The other two Pteranodons, seeing it's friend in trouble, turns its attention away from us and dives after the Rexes. Big Eatie and Little Eatie snap their jaws to try and catch the pterosaurs, but they are unsuccessful. The Pteranodons rejoin with their comrade and fly off through the trees, choosing not to tangle with the Tyrannosaurs any more...but the Eatie's have a better idea. Both mother and daughter chase after the fleeing pterosaurs, hoping to get something out of this. Me and Darius look at each with panting breaths. We tiredly give each other a high five before nearly passing out in exhaustion.

P.O.V Change: Yaz

Firecracker whimpers in fright as she dodges a spray of venom. I glance over my shoulder and see the two Dilo's are still on our tail. The Dilo's open those frills and screech so loudly that I feel it rattle in my bones. The screeching scares Firecracker so much that she bolts out of mine and Ben's grasp, we panic and run faster to keep up with the terrified Brach. I look over my shoulder and see one of the Dilo's spraying a shot of venom at Ben who gasps in fear of the black poison. I move over and tackle him to the ground, as to avoid the shot. I get back to my feet, pulling him up with me as we continue to run. We're still quite ahead of the Dilo's but they are slowly but surely, closing the distance. "Thanks." Ben says gratefully as I give him a quick nod and we quicken our pace.

I see ahead that Firecracker has stopped within a diverting path, confused as to each way to go. She moans on confusion and fear as we get to her. I try to push her to get her to move as Ben tries to pull her by the neck, but she doesn't want to budge. "Come on...go!" I shout as I rear my hand back and slap her behind. She rears her legs up and runs into the maze of tree roots ahead of us. "Yaz, look out!" Ben shouts as I glance over and see the Dilo's spraying their venom, I narrowly avoid the dangerous venom, I hear it squelch on the tree root beside me. "Through the roots. Go, go!" Ben shouts as he hauls me to my feet, dragging me into the twisting roots. I move over a large root, I gasp when one of the Dilo's reaches its head in and snap bites down on my foot, I pull myself forward and find myself beside Firecracker. I crawl out of the roots as Ben jumps down from the top of them, Firecracker nearly gets herself out, but her large frame was hindering her escape. Me and Ben grab on to her tightly and pull with everything we have. Firecracker tears her body back and thrusts forward, pulling herself free from the roots. Ben and Firecracker make a run for it as I glance back at the Dilo's, they are climbing their way through the roots, but their size is making it very difficult to do so. "Yaz, come on!" Ben shouts as I break my gaze and chase after the duo. I turn a corner and see Ben and Firecracker at the airlock, the door opens as they enter, beige they can turn fully, I enter and close the door behind me. Seeing the red light on the door, I sigh in relief and slide down to the floor. Ben mirrors me along the wall, Firecracker stands not far from him, looking around for any potential danger. Ben and I look at each other...just staring beige smiling. Wide, happy smiles spreads across our faces as we just start laughing hysterically. That was too close, way to close...let's laugh at our near death. It's sad how much we are now used to this.

P.O.V Change: Sammy

We push with all our might to the. The damn valve but nothing we did, did anything to make it move. "This is starting to piss me off." Ryan says as he pulls his axe out and hooks the blade on the valve. "Together now." He says to me for which I nod. "Three, two...one." Ryan says as we pull with everything. We grunt and groan in exertion, I see the valve moving slowly. I beam with happiness at seeing it...until it breaks off. "For fucks sake!" Ryan shouts angrily as he gets to his feet, picking up the valve and throwing it down the tunnel. The sound of metal hitting metal echoes throughout the tunnel. Ryan turns and starts pacing, veins popping out of his neck. "Ahhhhhhhh!" He screams as he slides down the wall, sitting defeated, with his head hanging in his hands. I look at him with sympathy as I get up and walk over to him. He doesn't acknowledge me, but I smile sadly at him and sit down, wrapping my arms around him in a comforting hug. "It's ok, we'll figure it out." I say to him but a shake of his head forces me to look at him with confusion. "It's not that, Sammy." He says as he holds his head and leans it against the pipes. His eyes are closed, but his face says a thousand words...he is worried...and scared. "Talk to me, what's wrong?" I ask as he glances at me. He looks at me with sadness but shakes his head 'no'. But not in a way that tells me he doesn't want to, but more like he doesn't want to acknowledge it. "Ryan, whatever it is, I promise that I'll listen. Please." I say to him, trying to tell him that he can trust me. He looks at me and hangs his head. "I'm worried. Worried about Yaz." He says as I nod my head in understanding. "That's ok. It's ok to feel worried." I say to him, but he shakes his head. "I know but what I feel...it's more than just worry...I'm afraid. Afraid that I'm going to lose her." He says as he smiles and turns his face away from me. I see the depth of his worry now, no...it's not worry. It's fear, fear that something bad might happen. "Ryan..." I start to say as I place my hand on his shoulder. "I know that she's capable of defending herself...but I can't help but be afraid. What I don't know is why...why do I feel afraid when I know that she is capable? Why do I feel like everything is about to fall apart and be torn away?" He says while he wipes tears away, I look at him with sadness, he is hurting but I feel that it's all for the wrong reasons...it's in that moment that I have an epiphany. "Ryan. I think I know why you fell this way. Why you are afraid?" I say as she turns to me. "Why? Why am I like this?" He says questioning as I smile at him. "Because you love her." I say simply as he eyes widen. He turns away and I see that his thoughts are running at a million miles an hour. To help him, I decide to explain why.

"Ryan, you and Yaz have been through so much, done so much for each other. You two have had each other's back since the start of, well...everything. You have helped each other deal with problems and issues that have haunted you both for a long time. You have defended each other from everything that has been thrown at us. You two bring out the very best within each other. Every time I see you two together, it just warms my heart seeing the two of you together. I see the truth. I know that the others see it...and I think, that deep down inside...you know it too. Your fear, Ryan, is not one out of worry...but out of your love for Yaz." I say with every emotion, belief and fiber of my being. I have known, for a long time that both Ryan and Yaz have had feelings for each other. The first time that I believed it was when Yaz hurt her ankle, after escaping from Moses. Seeing Ryan with that much worry for her, it made me realize that he has feelings for her. The second and definite reason was when Yaz volunteered to get the anti-venom of the Scorpius. Ryan was basically on the edge of death and Yaz risked her life to save him, I knew in that moment, that these two were meant for each other. It helps also when they thought they were being secretive with their coy glances and blushing smiles when they thought no one was watching but I saw, and it made me happy that these two...lonely souls, have found joy and comfort with each other...they definitely deserve it after the shit hand that life and people slash dinosaurs have dealt them.

Ryan looks at me with tears in his eyes as he smiles. I shuffle closer to him and hug him, he gives up holding back his tears as he leans into me and hugs me back. "You're right, you know." He says to me and he sits up. "I think...I think I've known for a while but I don't think I knew what it meant...until you, Sammy, opened my eyes to the truth. I do love her. I thank you, Sammy for helping me realize...I don't know how I can repay you. But, how do I know if she'll love me back." He says and I can feel that is his doubt, the black thoughts and fears that he is merely just dreaming about his feelings, or Yaz's feelings for him. I smile and take his hand and hold it up on a prayer shape. "Ryan, you know that's not true, you are creating false doubts and that's ok, it's alright to have those thoughts but you know that deep down, she loves you too...because in the end, you have to keep faith in what is true, and not a figment of doubt." I say to him as he looks up at me with tears streaming down his cheeks. "A leap of faith?" He asks questioningly as I nod. "Yeah, a leap of faith. Just promise me, before all of this is over...that you tell her. I can see it in her eyes that she loves you too. Promise me, that you'll tell her." I say as he smiles. "I promise." He says as we hug again, tears streaming down out of our eyes...the happiness that I feel cannot be measured, and that's fine by me.

We break apart as we get to our feet. Ryan breathes several deep, calming breaths as he wipes his tears away. "I'm ok, I'm good now." He says as I smile and giggle to myself. "Good. Now let's get this water running." I say as he nods. We start to head back to the broken valve, but a clanking of metal catches our attention. We turn and see the familiar, dreaded green glow of one of the BRADs. We look down the tunnel and see the robot come into view. "What the hell?" Ryan says in disbelief. "I thought Brooklynn tuned them all off." I follow him up as he gestures for me to back away. "She did, that's what's confusing the shit out of me." He backs up to me, keeping his axe at the ready as the robot walks ever close to us. The green light of its scanner, steadily scanning over everything within its vicinity.

We are almost sitting on top of one another as we sink back further into the corner. The BRAD than and scans down another tunnel but soon turns its attention back on our one. Ryan glances down and sees some crack stone and picks one up. He gets up and heaves a particularly good size one and throws it down the tunnel. The echoing sound of rock hitting metal catches the BRADs attention which goes a 180 and turns to scan the stone. Ryan aces over to the bigger valve and turns it, managing to keep his exertion down to a minimal as to not alert the BRAD. I hear him gasp as he turns and looks at the water, I follow his gaze and see the water being funneled down a drain, heading to the waterfall drain. I get up and stand beside him as I silently cheer.

Our celebration is cut short when the BRADs light washes over us. The BRADs eyes turn to malicious red as it opens its jaws. "Unauthorizedlife form detected." It says its usual phrase but what shocks me is that its electric charge is not charging but rather a yellow and red glow. "Alright, we get it." "We know." Ryan and I say respectively as it fired at us. We dive out of the wall as the shot hits the wall behind us. We hear a loud boom as we turn out gazes and see a red ball of fire forming and a cloud of smoke. "Incendiary charges." Ryan says, he pulls me out of the way of another charge. The charge lands where we just were, the stone being blasted, and debris kicked up in the air. "Go, into the water!" Ryan says as I don't even hesitate and jump into the water. I look over and see the BDAD running alongside the walkway as Ryan dives into the water. I don't see him come up, just as the BRAD stands on the connecting bridge, aiming it's charge directly at me. I move out of the way as the charge is sent beside me, blasting the drain crate out of the way. The BRAD behind to charge a bigger shit at me as I back up against the water besides the drain...fearing that this, right here...is where it ends for me. Before the shot can be sent, Ryan shoots up from the water, shouting as he slams his axe right on the left eye of the BRAD, causing the BRAD to buck up and pull Ryan out of the water. "Go, Sammy!" Ryan tells me as I see him kick himself off the robot, pulling the axe with him as he quickly turns and dives back into the water. I follow his instructions and follow the water through the crate, before I can be swept away, I pull myself to the side and up o to the walkway. I spit out any water that found its way into my mouth and throat beige turning back to see if Ryan is behind me, he's not. I look around for him and jump in shock when his head comes out of the water with a gasping breath. He swims over and pulls himself up and onto the walkway. He breathes heavily as inlay beside him, staring up at the ceiling. "That was fun." Ryan says sarcastically as I 'tsk' and playfully hit him. He just laughs at me when I do so.

We waited a good ten minutes before finding out way back to the hatch. Ryan advised to exercise caution when heading back. With one BRAD still active, it can be entirely possible that more can be so. He checked every corner, stopped at every unnatural sound that was heard and always kept our guard up. We hour back to the hatch and breathe a sigh of relief at not running back in that BRAD. These incendiary charges are the real deal, that BRAD was not messing around, not one bit. We climb up and out of the hatch and sigh lovingly at inhaling the rich aroma of fresh, clean air. I sigh in exhaustion and glance over my shoulder to look at Ryan. "Please tell me the watering hole filled up, cause I'm not going back down there." I say, pointing back towards the hatch. Before Ryan can answer me, we Gao's as we hear the screeching and calling of the Pteranodons. We look up and see the three pterosaurs spotting us and diving towards us. "Really?" I say in frustration before turning tail and making a run for it. Ryan follows close behind as he glares at the Pteranodons. "I fucking hate Pteranodons." He growls in annoyance as he catches up to me. I try to jump across the small stream of the waterfall, but Ryan moves me to run to the edge. "Say are you-?' I being to ask but he grabs my arm. "Not time, just jump!" He shouts as we run closer to the edge. The Pteranodons swoop down to us as I start praying. "Please be deep enough. Please be deep enough!" I shout and together...we jump.

We splash down into the eye and to my quick relief, the water is deep enough. I go to get air, but Ryan pulls me down, holding a finger to his lips, I nod at the realization that the Pteranodons could be waiting for us to come back up. Ryan grabs my arm and points towards a gap between the water's edge. We swim through it and come back to the surface, gasping with air to refill out lungs. I look around and see that the Pteranodons have given up and left and to my amazement, the small pool of water has nearly doubled in size. "Ahaha. Yes!" I shout as I let my body float down the steam and to the larger part of the watering hole. Ryan laughs at me and swims to the edge and gets out of the water. He follows me down the stream to the string hole, laughing along the way as I continue to cheer and celebrate our success.

P.O.V Change: Yaz

We had gathered out bearings and headed to the jungle biome, unsung that as a short cut, we would arrive back at the forest biome in no time. Ben had kept Angel and Rebel occupied with leaving trails of berries behind him. Pierce was the easiest to manage as he was comfortable with Ben leading him to the next airlock. I look behind and see that Firecracker is still hanging at the back of the group, her head still hung low, picking at the left-over berries that Angel and Rebel missed. I sigh and tail back to stand not that far in front of her. "Alright. Come on, Firecracker. You know Angel and Rebel. You don't have to be shy. Come on." I say as I wave a stick with some berries on it. Firecracker moans softly and takes a step back from me. I see some berries out of the corner of my eye as I pick one up and throw it down my gob. "Mmm, taste so good." I say dramatically as I chuck some more berries at her feet. She takes a moment but eventually does lean down and picks them up. I walk forward, and gently hold the stick close to her. Her head rises up as she tries to take more. I smile as I move back and let her come to me. "That's it. That a girl." I congratulate her as she eventually walks up beside Angel and Rebel, not bothered by their presence now. I walk ahead and stand beside Ben.

"Do you want me to answer the question that you asked earlier? You know...before the Dilo's shower up?" Ben asks out of nowhere as I stare wide eyed at him. "What? No, no, no. You...you don't have to...if you don't want to." I say with an embarrassing blush on my face, remembering what the question was. "I want to...and I think that I have an answer for you." He says as I stop and look at him. "You do?" I ask questioningly as he takes a deep breath. "Yaz. I think that what you are feeling...is love. Everything that you have told me. Of your feelings...I think that you know the answer already, but you want me to confirm it for you." He says with a smirk as I blush embarrassingly. "Yeah." I say quietly as Ben chuckles. He places a comforting hand on my shoulder, I look at him as he smiles an encouraging smile. "Then you don't need me, Yaz. I might tell you why, how and for what reasons as to why but that would just be repeating back what you already know. So, I'm just going to tell you upfront. I'm not a relationship person, I don't know anything about them...but what I see between you and Ryan, the bond that you share, it goes beyond just being friends. You two have seen and shared so much hardship and have helped each other come out of some of your darkest thoughts and feelings. Both of you have brought out the best in each other. Yes, you're both very bossy, quick to temper, terrifying when mad..." Ben starts to ramble as I send a raised eye two at him. He stood his ranking and corrected himself. "...and even with all of that, you two make the other person...more than just themselves, you both make each other...whole, is the right word. So to answer your question, Yaz. What you are feeling...that is love. And I think that is it, in its realest form." Ben says as I started crying from his heart felt speech. Without warning and completely out of character of myself...I throw my arms around him and draw him into a fierce hug.

I can't even begin to try and express my gratitude to him, because in all honesty, nothing I can say can explain the level of my gratitude. "Thank you, Ben." I say as I sniffle my happy tears away. He finally relents of my impromptu hug and returns its tenfold. "Not a problem Yaz. I'm glad to help." He says as I break away from him. "You have done more than that. You've opened my eyes to what I was feeling, to what I thought I knew. Thank you, Ben...for everything." I say as I smile gratefully at him, wiping my happy tears away. Ben smiles back with a beaming smile and hugs me again, I return the hug with a happy smile, but not before Firecracker comes up in between us with a happy chirp, we laugh as we watch her jump around playfully. She runs ahead along the dirt road as Angel and Rebel chase after her. Pierce bellows happily and quickens his pace to catch up with the babies. Me and Ben laugh and run after the dinos, cheering and whooping in just pure joy.

After a few minutes playing, we eventually got back on track back to the forest biome. After making our way through the trees, we made it back to the waterfall. Moving some shrubbery out of the way for Rebel, I gasp in amazement at the change. The small pond of water had doubled in size, now being similar to a small lake rather than a pond. "Hey y'all." I hear Sammy say happily as I turn and see her and Ryan sitting down on some rocks by the water's edge. "Sammy, Ryan! This...is amazing." Ben shouts as he darts ahead, meeting Sammy in the middle. Angel, Rebel, Pierce and Firecracker bolt away, gleefully and curiously inspecting the new starting hole. I glance over past Sammy and see Ryan standing behind, hanging his head but I can see the smile on his face. His eyes rise up and meet mine from the across clearing. "Turns out, Team Sammy and Ryan were enough to get the job done." Sammy says as Angel barrels over to Sammy, tackling her to the ground, Sammy just giggles at the hybrid's affection.

I walk up to Ryan who slowly walks over to meet me. "Hey." He says softly to me, his voice laced with care and love...how the hell did I never notice this? I smile at the simple greeting but hearing his voice, knowing what I know now, know what my feelings really are. That simple 'hey' said a thousand words. "Hey." I reply back, my voice filed with the same love and care. No further words are said as Ryan moves closer and wraps his arms around me, bringing me into a deep but gentle embrace, I return his hug immediately. "I promised, didn't I?" I say jokingly to him as he chuckles. "Yeah, you did." He says with a chuckle as he slightly breaks away, but still keeps his arms around me. I look up into his eyes as he leans his head on mine. We close our eyes and just...feel. No words, no nothing...just each other. "Ryan." "Yaz." Both of us say respectively as we open our eyes, staring into each other's own, we chuckle at our simultaneous speech. "You go first." Ryan says with a smile as I nod softly. "Ok...I just want to say...that...I, I lo-." I go to tell him but the rustling of leaves and bellow of one of the Rexes breaks our moment apart. "You're back." Ben says as Darius and Brooklynn come back. The growling and roaring is faint but getting closer. Pierce bellows behind me and Ryan, he comes up and stands beside while wrapping his tail around us protectively. Firecracker whimpers nervously as Ben tries to calm her. Sammy kneels and holds angel softly, while Brooklynn holds onto Rebels frill. Darius stands at the this of the group as the ground tumbles from the thudding of the Eatie's approach.

The Eatie's blast out of the darkness from across the starting hole, their roars echos across the water and throughout the biome. We stand at the ready, hopeful that the watering hole will be enough to halt their aggression. The T-Rex duo roars and begins to walk up to the water, but their attention is strictly on us and the dinks rather than the water. "It's not working. They're gonna fight." Brooklynn says as we slowly back away from the Rexes, but Big Eatie takes the first step, but her foot hits the water. We watch as the bigger Rex looks away from us and gazes down at the water. Little Eatie walks up and sniffs at the water, before dipping her snout into it, drinking at her leisure. Big Eatie watches her daughter drink before turning her eyes up at us. We all hold out breath waiting for the bigger Rex to take a drink. Big Eatie snorts out air from her nose and leans down to take a drink from the water.

We release our tense breath as we watch the Rexes. Me and Ryan hear a snort as we look to Pierce who has lessen his defensive posture. He drops his tail and walks up to the water. We watch in amazement as Pierce drinks from the hole, completely at ease with the Rexes just about 10 metres from him on the other side. Rebel, seeing Pierce drink, runs ahead with a happy Chopra and stands beside him, drinking as well. Angel, seeing her brother go, follows after him. "Let's go, y'all." Sammy says as she runs ahead and kneels beside Angel, cupping her hands to drink the water. We all relax at seeing that our plan has worked, the watering hole is now complete and the dinos have accepted it as neutral ground.

I chicken at seeing Firecracker chirp happily and runs up the water as well. "Hey FC, wait for me." Ben says as he chases after her. "You did good here." I say softly as I watch the dinos, Sammy and Ben chirping and laughing. I look up at Ryan and see him smile and draw me into a side hug. "You did too. I'm sorry about what I said this morning." He says somberly as I shake my head and cup his cheek. "It's ok. You were worried and I can't fault you for that and I never will. I thank you for looking out for me. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." I say as he smiles and leans down to kiss me, I return it with a slight moan. That sets him off and draws me closer into him. I wrap my arms around his neck a so return his passion. "God, get a room, will you?" Brooklynn says as we break apart again. Me and Ryan laugh at the little inside joke but nonetheless, smile embarrassingly at our moment. "Yaz, what were you going to say, before the Eatie's got here?" He asks as I look up at him. I smile, I want to tell him, but we deserve to have it at the right moment. I thought I had it, but the damn Rexes ruined the moment. But soon, I guarantee, very soon, I will tell him. "I'll tell you later, let's just enjoy this successful day." I say as he nods and hugs me. I don't want anything more than to tell him but right now, this is our victory...let's celebrate our success, for tomorrow is a new day.

P.O.V Change: Ryan

We spent the rest of the day just watching the dinos enjoy their newfound peace at the watering hole. The group had asked whether we could set up a relaxing spot on the top of the waterfall. I said that it is possible, but we need another way of getting up. Me and Ben had decided to go out and find some strong vines so we could make a 'vine' rope to climb up to get to the top of the waterfall. I had decided to head into sewers again and use the hatch already on top to anchor the rope. Me and Sammy had told the group about the still online BRAD. Darius, Ben and Brooklynn were shocked about the news, and no one came up with a reason as to why this BRAD was still active. "Alright, it's tight." I shout out as I walk to the edge and look down to see the others at the bottom, standing next to the tree. "Vine away!" I shout as I throw the vine ripe down to Ben, he catches it and ties it to the tree.

After everyone had climbed up the rope, we just lounged around at the top, gazing at the setting sun. "Great job, guys. The dinos needed a place to chill, but so did we." Darius says as me and Sammy turn to him. "I knew that they could do it. They got mad skills." Brooklynn says smugly as I playfully scoff and pick up some dirt and throw it at her shoes. "Ryan!" Brooklynn shouts in annoyance as we all just laugh. "That's for dipping out on me and Sammy. Plus...they were going to get dirty again anyway." I say as Darius playfully wipes his dirty soles on Brooklynn's other shoe. "Darius!" She should as she begins chasing him. Darius laughs and runs off, Brooklynn tires to catch him but they just keeping running circles around each other. Ben decided to join in on the fun, Sammy did as well. Darius ran to the edge and jumped. "See ya, suckers!" He should as we watch him splash safely down in the water. "Hehe. Bombs away!" Brooklynn follows with a shout as she jumps as well. Sammy giggles and drums ahead too. "Whoo-hoo." Me and Yaz star to the side and watch they jump, smiles plastered across out faces. Ben stops at the edge and gives us both a thumbs up, but his eyes are mainly on Yaz. I glanced, confusedly, at Yaz who raises her thumb up as well. "Geronimo!" Ben shouts as he jumps down the fall. "Wanna go together?" Yaz asks me as I look down at her. I don't answer but simply smile and lift her up in a bridal carry. "Ryan! What are you doing?!" She asks with laughter as I walk to the edge. "You said you wanted to go together." I say with a smirk as she smiles back. She wraps her as around my neck to hold on, while leaning her head into the crook of my neck. "Yeah...together." She says softly as I smile lovingly at her. God, she is beautiful. Sammy was right...I do love her, and no matter what happens, no matter the trials and tribulations we will face...I will always love her. I hold her close to me and I take a running leap off the waterfall...we both just laugh and cheer as we fall to the water. We splash down, creating a wave that accidentally washes over everyone else. We come up to the surface with a gasping breaths and happy smiles. I look at her, as she looks at me...both drenched in water as I pull her close, our lips meet in a passionate lock. We hear the cheering and catcalling of the others, but we don't care. All we care about, in this moment, is each other...and I wouldn't have any other way.

A.N: Ok, slight changes to the story guys. In Taking Control chapter, Yaz and Ryan say the 'L' word to each other after Ryan comes back from beating up Kash. I have updated the chapter as to that they haven't. This chapter is when they come to realizethat they are beginning to see that they are in love with each other. I hope that clears up any confusion. Thank you.