Hey, guys! I had time to finish this chapter today, and I think I can upload what I have finished so far. Anyway, this chapter focuses on Tristan and Amelia (not gonna lie they're my favorite in this story), and it's pretty long, but I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you guys like it just as much as I do!

The translucent glow of the bright circle shimmered through the green leaves of the trees, and directly onto a family of rainbow faces slumbering peacefully inside a cave. The light felt warm, but it was a bothersome sort of warm.

Tristan groaned in disgust, turning the opposite direction; away from the light. Amelia however, welcomed the brightness with open arms. She sighed dreamily, opening her eyes. Upon awakening, she was met by Tristan's grouchy expression.

The female dinosaur gently nuzzled the crook of her mate's neck, a tight frown on her face. "Wake up," she urged him. "If you stay asleep any longer, your back's going to start hurting."

"Don't care," Tristan slurred groggily, overcome with drowsiness. He shifted his weight around a tad, making himself more comfortable in the nest of grass.

Amelia's patience and kindness was not to be mistaken for weakness, and Tristan knew this. Regardless, he still ended up receiving the short end of the stick.

Amelia rose to her feet, nudging him once more. Although this time, she used more force, so much in fact, that Tristan practically rolled out of the nest. He fell on his back, brown eyes opening to see Amelia standing over him.

"Good morning," she greeted with a smile that appeared genuine, but felt forced. "Glad you're awake. Now go wake up Miriam. Mackenzie woke up before either of us, maybe you should learn from her."

"But Amelia," Tristan whined as he stood up, resting his head on her shoulder. "I'm tired…"

"Tristan." Amelia's voice was firm, the frown returning to her face. "Stop complaining, and wake her up. Please?"

Tristan gave a sigh of defeat and marched over to the corner of the cave. There was another smaller nest of grass and leaves, and lying on top of it, was Miriam. He nudged her gently, attempting to bring her out of her slumber. "Miriam, it's time to wake up. You're the only one that's still sleeping."

Miriam had been drifting ceaselessly through a peaceful silence, through a sea of nothingness. However, upon hearing her father's unmistakeable voice, all that faded away. Slowly, she returned to reality, opening her eyes. She lifted her head, and almost instantly, she was hit with an intense rush of dizziness. Quickly, she lowered it and returned to snuggling with the leaves and grass that her nest consisted of.

Tristan tilted his head, confused. Usually, Miriam didn't need to be told twice to wake up. The only exception would be if her illness had flared up. He got down on his knees, sitting beside her.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," she rasped weakly, attempting to stand. "I'm okay." Her legs shook uncontrollably, rapidly contracting and relaxing. She placed one hand on the wall of the cave, using it to support the rest of her body.

Tristan's amber eyes shone in a way that expressed his concern without him having to voice it.

"Miriam," he repeated her name firmly, guiding her gently to the ground. "You look sick. Sit down."

Miriam didn't require any further coaxing, given how terrible she felt. "I feel sick," she said in a hoarse, but nearly inaudible voice. She sat down, lowering her head.

Tristan's expression softened, his face twisted with worry. "It's alright, don't get up. I'll go get your mother."

The last thing Miriam heard were her father's fading footsteps, and then his voice, which grew overwhelmingly distant. She began to feel comfortably numb, her senses dulling until there was nothing but silence and pitch darkness.

When she awoke later on, she felt tired and groggy. Her thoughts were in a jumbled disarray, and she couldn't seem to piece them together. When she peered forward, she saw her father. He was sitting not too far from her, his desolate eyes looking out towards the rest of the valley. She noticed that he appeared rather dejected and downcast.

"Dad…?" Her voice was hoarse.

Tristan was brought out of his trance by the sound of his daughter's voice, and directed his attention to her. "Miriam? How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Miriam replied. "What happened?"

"You passed out," explained Tristan. "We had to get Kyra to take a look at you. It was because of your illness, and you have to rest until you get better."

"Are you okay, dad? Where's mom?"

"I'm not sure. I yelled at her, and…"

Miriam gave him a questioning look.

"…she was limping. Still. And after what happened to you, it worried me. She was gathering food for you from trees that she couldn't easily reach and I got so angry, that I yelled at her. I don't know why I can't just be calm for once."

He still remembered the argument, and recalled every word.

"Amelia! What are you doing?"

Amelia jumped up and grabbed a handful of tree stars from a rather high tree, keeping one leg raised slightly when she landed. When she heard her name, she turned around and smiled at the familiar face she saw.

"Hello, Tristan." She chuckled. "I'm grabbing tree stars."

Tristan didn't look particularly amused. "Why? You're still limping."

She scoffed, and stood up. "So? I'm not paralyzed. And I was grabbing them for Miriam."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"Why are you yelling?"

"Because the more you use that leg, the worse off you're going to be!"

"Tristan." Amelia was trying to keep the calm in her voice. "I've had worse injuries than a limp. You're blowing this a bit out of proportion."

"Well, maybe, if you'd take better care of yourself, I wouldn't overreact!"

"Well, if you weren't so overbearing, then you wouldn't have to be so worried." She huffed and stormed off, still limping. She'd forgotten all about the tree stars, and was too angry to focus on anything but her anger.

When he looked up, Tristan found that Miriam was out cold. He let out a chuckle; he couldn't blame her. He couldn't blame Amelia either for yelling back. His mind drifted back to before they ever had children, or even got married. For as long as he knew her, Amelia had always been quite stubborn, and would always stand up for herself and what she believed in.

…The bright circle was barely touching the mountains, making them appear as if they were the color of fire. A younger Tristan was sleeping peacefully, having quite the sleep story.

Tristan was happily prancing around in the tall grass, watched by his mother and father. He skipped over to his father, who lovingly nuzzled him, happily closing his eyes. Tristan then went to his mother, whose smile was as radiant as the bright circle. His mother and father shared an intimate moment as they watched their young son run around happily, leaning on each other.

Suddenly, Tristan let out a startled cry. Fast biters were closing in on them, having used their distraction as an ambush opportunity. Tristan ran and hid behind his parents.

"Tristan, go," urged his mother, who pushed him away from the commotion.

Tristan whimpered, looking to his father.

"Son, just go! Get out of here!"

He ran off and hid in the grass elsewhere, watching the horror unfold from a distance, because there was nothing else he could do. His mother was cornered, and his father desperately called out to her while trying to hold off the agile fast biters. He would never forget the look on their faces for as long as he lived.

Tristan awoke suddenly to tears rolling down his cheeks. He shook his head, brushing the sleep story off. He'd been having the same one for quite some time now, and it didn't make coping with the death of his parents any easier. He let out a yawn, stretching out his limbs before sauntering out of his cave and watching the bright circle get higher in the sky.

Later on, he was walking with the closest thing he had to a best friend, Michael. He reluctantly listened to Michael ramble and boast on and on about something that really wasn't worth boasting about.

"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time that Molly and I tried to climb a tree?"

Tristan sighed in exasperation. "No, and I don't want you to."

As they made their way to the tall trees adorned with tree stars, they passed a trio of female rainbow faces about their age. Towards the left was Molly, a rather short dinosaur with calm brown eyes which lit up whenever she heard a bad joke. She was a bit jumpy, and found comfort and satisfaction in being a spectator.

Towards the right was Diana. She was tall and slender, with innocent teal eyes, despite her not being so innocent. She was shrewd yet sweet, and seemed to be more than fully capable of looking after herself.

Tristan liked Diana and Molly. They were smart and good natured, with a sense of humor, and not quite as stiff as others in the herd. But truthfully, he really only had eyes for the rainbow face in the middle, Amelia.

Amelia was about the same height as Tristan, with sea blue eyes that resembled the ever changing oceans. She was arrogant, but in the sense that she refused to let herself be walked all over. Tristan thought she was charming; in a stubborn, irritating kind of way.

"Hello, Tristan," she greeted. "Are you still going to the berry celebration tonight?" It was the end of one of the longest cold times the herd had ever known, so a celebration was to be held, in which the herd could indulge themselves to their hearts' content.

"Of course he is," Michael answered for him.

"She wasn't talking to you," Molly joked, even though she was technically correct.

"Molly." Michael placed a hand over his chest, conveying a tone of false sadness. "That was just cold."

Molly knew what was coming and ran off, with Michael chasing her.

Just then, Molly's brother, Andy, came along. He rested his sleepy head on her shoulder, finding comfort in his significant other's touch.

Diana let out a chuckle. "Overslept again?"

Andy yawned, blinking constantly to keep his weary light brown eyes open. "Mm…yeah."

"Well, you're probably going to fall asleep if you lean on me." She nudged him in the side, forcing him to stand upright. "Maybe eating so much before bed wasn't such a good idea, huh?"

Andy shook his head.

"Come on," Diana urged, motioning for him to follow her. "I have just the thing."

Now, Amelia and Tristan were alone.

"Anyway," continued Amelia. "Are you coming?"

Tristan hesitated a moment. He wasn't really one for celebrations; he preferred to stay at home and sleep.

"Uh…yes. I'll be there."

Amelia looked absolutely ecstatic to hear that Tristan would be going. It was endearing, really.

"Alright. I'll see you there."

Another rainbow face came up the path. He was for the most part, tall and lanky, walking with a slight limp. He had Amelia's blue eyes, but much colder. When those eyes looked into someone else's, they could tell that he was silently judging their every move.

"Amelia." His voice was surprisingly calm and gentle, like he was speaking to a hatchling. "Oh, hello, Tristan. It's good to see you."

"Hello, sir." Tristan nodded in his direction as a sign of respect.

"Come, Amelia. Help your mother and I gather berries for tonight." He smiled, and began to walk away after delivering his message.

"Coming!" Amelia yelled, briefly turning her attention to Tristan. "I have to go. I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course."

With that, she ran off towards the path.

...

At the celebration, Tristan and Amelia happily snacked on some berries, ripping apart the ripe fruits apart with their teeth from the inside out. Usually, Michael would accompany Tristan to celebrations, mostly after forcing him to go. But for the first time, Tristan didn't feel that he was forcing himself to keep up a happy façade.

When they'd eaten their fill, Amelia began to stray away from the herd, heading out towards the nearby waterfall. Tristan followed her, because one, he did not want to be alone, and two, because he wanted to ensure that she was safe.

"So, Tristan."

"Hm?"

"Tell me about your parents."

Tristan gave her a funny look. Nobody had ever asked about his parents before. Most times, when his parents were mentioned, it was followed by a 'are you okay?' or 'I'm so sorry,' or some other clearly artificial expression of sympathy. Most figured he was still reeling, which he was, but he liked to keep them in his memory by remembering how they were, not by their demise.

"Uh…who would you like to hear about?"

Amelia continued forward, and took a seat on a rock in the shallow end of the lake which the roaring falls pooled into. Tristan took a seat as well, sitting on the bottom of the lake.

"Tell me about your mother. What was her name?"

"Her name was Tara. And…she was good at finding green food. She loved my father and I a great deal. But she was a terrible runner, and a bit of a klutz. One time, we were playing tag and she was it, but she ran into a rock."

Amelia snickered. "She sounds adorable."

"She was," said Tristan. "When I hatched, my dad thought her reaction to me hatching was cuter than I was. He really did love her."

"I don't doubt it. What about your father? Wasn't his name Tom?"

"Timothy," he corrected her. "He looked kind of scary around others, but my mom and I both knew he was really sweet. He understood how shy I was, and didn't really force me to talk to everyone."

Amelia sighed, resting her head. "Your parents sound wonderful."

"They were.."

Tristan found himself lost in Amelia's eyes. He always thought she was pretty and more than easy on the eyes, but he figured he was fooling himself if she'd ever in a million years be interested in him. Still, he'd never connected with someone like this before. Who knew, maybe he was setting himself up to be hurt, but even so…

"Amelia?"

"Yes?"

"I have to tell you something."

"Oh? Go on."

"Um…well, I—"

"Wait. Shut up."

"What?"

"Listen." She paused, waited, and listened. "Do you hear that?"

Tristan looked around, listening carefully. He could very faintly hear growling, and felt the water rumbling under his feet. Whatever it was, it continued to grow closer.

Suddenly, Tristan and Amelia found themselves faced with a hideous looking green sharptooth. This was smaller compared to other sharpteeth, but significantly bigger than the two rainbow faces. Tristan quickly rose to his feet, fleeing the scene.

"Amelia." He whispered. "What are you doing?"

Amelia rose to her feet, and it appeared that she was going to actually fight the sharptooth. It advanced towards her, baring it's sharp yellowed teeth. She wasn't going to win this fight, and she realized it then. She darted towards the significantly deeper water, where the sharptooth would unarguably follow.

It did. Due to poor judgement, the beast lost it's balance and fell over. Being so heavily built, it struggled to get up. But it left a lethal bite on Amelia's back side as it fell, biting some of her flesh off.

Amelia made a narrow escape, shaking herself dry as soon as she was onto land. She glanced at her wound; she'd have to explain this to her parents.

"Amelia!" Tristan was furious. "What's wrong with you?" He took notice of the large chunk of flesh ripped off of her back. "Look at you, you're hurt. Come on, I'm taking you to the healer."

Amelia didn't argue or protest that it wasn't necessary, mostly because she felt faint, like she had been rolling around in a pile of leaves for hours without cessation. However, the group of fast biters waiting at the top of the cliffs had different ideas.

Tristan's heart sank when he noticed them. He extended a hand, gently pushing Amelia back.

"Stay behind me."

The fast biters hopped down from the cliffs, crowding around the two dinosaurs. There were about six of them, and they were the worst kind of biters to be cornered by. They had nothing but an intent to kill in their glowing eyes, and had a lethal toe claw that could shear right through a dinosaur's flesh.

One of them lunged for Tristan, but he whacked it away with his tail. Three more clung to him, while three others had Amelia in a corner. As he looked at her, he was reminded of his mother moments before her death. She had that same look of uncertainty and fear on her face, like she didn't know what was going to become of her.

"Amelia!" His voice was angry, but desperate. He wasn't about to watch someone he loved be killed in front of him. Not again. "Climb! There's ledges you can latch onto!"

A biter was digging it's huge toe claw into Amelia's side, creating huge tears in her skin. Somehow, she never even shed a tear as she struggled to break free of it's deadly grip.

There were too many. At two against six, Tristan and Amelia were woefully outnumbered. Tristan had been wounded, as well as Amelia, although nowhere near as badly as her. Just when they thought this would be how it would end and had accepted their fate, the fast biters suddenly forgot all about their intended prey and fled. Two more sharpteeth, both with huge sails on their backs, came into view. Their snouts were not pointed towards the air, and they did not stop to search.

"They're not interested," Tristan spat. "Come on, let's go."

"I can't move," whimpered Amelia. She'd put up quite the fight, and was bleeding profusely.

Without another word, Tristan helped her onto his back. This made for the most inelegant tango, but he managed it. With Amelia hitching a ride on his back, he began the tiresome trek back home.

Sometime along their trip, Amelia managed to rasp a sentence. "Tristan, I think I can walk now."

"Yes, and I eat longnecks for breakfast."

"Tristan, I mean it. I'm ready to walk, you don't have to carry me the entire way."

"No, you're not. You can barely stay conscious. And on that note, don't you dare close your eyes on me."

"I'm not a baby. I can walk."

Tristan came to a halt, frowning. "What's wrong with you? Why can't you just let me do this for you?"

"Because I can do it myself!"

"Goodness- you are so stubborn and hard headed!"

"Well, at least our kids would be able to stand up for themselves."

Tristan opened his mouth to argue, but caught himself. "I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. It was just a slip of the tongue. Just continue walking, will you?"

Tristan gave her a look that asked a million questions.

Amelia got the message. "Yes, I like you. I had a chance to tell you and I took it. That's why I wanted to come with you to the celebration. Now, will you just keep going?"

Tristan gave a smile which fluctuated between pleased and excited. He continued walking, his mood having been lifted.

When he brought her home, Amelia's parents did not react how Tristan expected them to.

Amelia's mother shook her head. "You tried fighting off sharpteeth again?"

Tristan furrowed his brows. Again? This wasn't the first time this had happened?

"You'll never learn," said her father, who looked to Tristan. "Thank you for bringing her back to us." He then went to nuzzle his wife. "I'm going to go bring the healer."

That night, Tristan didn't go home. He remained with Amelia. At some point, Michael and Molly rushed in, close to tears after they heard what had happened.

"You should have called for help," said Michael softly. "Diana and Andy weren't that far away."

"Neither were we," added Molly.

"I know," said Tristan, glancing over at the rainbow face sleeping next to him. "But I'm actually sort of grateful for that attack."

Michael looked at his friend strangely. "You are?"

"If it weren't for those fast biters, I would have never found out how Amelia felt about me."

Michael's eyes were wide. "Does that mean…?"

Tristan nodded.

"Wait until Diana and Andy hear about this!" Michael rushed outside, running towards where he knew the two dinosaurs were.

"Michael, no!" Molly rushed after him. "They're sleeping, don't bother them!"

Amelia lifted her head and opened one eye. She was still delirious and wondered if she'd missed something. Tristan touched her snout with his, speaking softly. "Shh, it's okay. Go to sleep. I'm here."

Amelia didn't have enough energy to question him, and quickly slipped back into her peaceful slumber.

Tristan looked up at the cloudy night sky; there was not a single star in sight. But Tristan knew that whether the nights were cloudy or starry, he would always be there.

...Tristan had fallen asleep, and hadn't even noticed. When he finally awoke, the bright circle was beginning to set. Mackenzie was asleep, and so was Miriam. Only Amelia was missing.

He set out to find her and eventually did, at the pond in which she had been wading in all day.

"Amelia?"

Amelia pulled her head out of the water. "Hm?"

Tristan climbed inside, allowing the water to soak his skin. "What are you doing out here, dear?"

He often used pet names for his wife, but he put a certain amount of emphasis on it this time around.

"Relaxing," Amelia answered flatly.

"Well, it's late. Come home."

Amelia stared into his eyes for a second, as if expecting something else.

"I'll come later on. You should go home and be with the girls."

"But it's not the same without you," insisted Tristan.

Amelia frowned. Tristan was making it difficult for her to be angry. "…You'll manage."

"Darling—"

"Don't 'darling' me," she interrupted. "You yelled at me for no reason, and I respect myself enough to not just let it slide."

Tristan knew it. His irrational behavior was the cause of all this, as if that wasn't already painfully obvious. He let out a sigh, and blew it all out, one by one.

"I know. I shouldn't have yelled, but it wasn't for no reason. I was worried about you. Remember that fast biter attack?"

"We've lived through many fast biter attacks, Tristan."

"Remember the one during the celebration? You asked me about my parents?"

Amelia looked up, trying to recall the incident. "Yes…I think I do."

"Do you remember how you tried to tell me you were fine and wanted to walk, and I yelled at you?"

"Yes. You called me stubborn and hardheaded."

"Well…that's what happens when I get worried. I get angry, and I yell."

"I'm aware."

"Yes, and it's not right. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I just…I worry about you."

Despite Tristan's harshness, Amelia knew that he truly did have her best interests at heart, and that he held her in such high regard that he actually stressed over her well being. He'd spent most of his life alone, and Amelia couldn't hold that against him. She sighed, and shook her head.

"Oh, I know, darling. I know…and I'm sorry for making you worry. I understand that I need to be a little less reckless."

"Please," said Tristan. "That would be a relief. I know how stubborn you are and that you just want to protect me and the kids, but…we are a team."

"I know." Amelia nuzzled his chin. "I just don't want to lose you."

"You won't." Tristan rested his head on top of hers. "Things have been rough, but I'm your husband. I'll always be here for you when you need me. Always."