The light of the false sun soaked the valley in a warm glow. Every now and then, a cloud would drift by, making the ground cool and shady. It was a welcomed blessing on such a hot day. Below, all five hundred stegoceratopses were busy weaving what looked like a giant net. They worked in teams, using their horns to pinch the vines and tie the ends together the way Owen instructed them to. He examined every knot, moving from row to row until he was satisfied. He frowned in concentration, tightening the loops and securing what lay in between. Claire followed him, unsure of what to do.

"Owen, we can't catch elephants with a net made of vines."

Owen crossed his arms and frowned.

"That's not the plan."

Claire raised her eyebrow.

"Then what is?"

Owen beamed proudly.

"We'll tie the ends of this net to the supports on the mountain pillars. Then, we'll cover it with leaves. When the elephants arrive, they'll come the way we did, and the net will look like the ground. It's like a pitfall. When they're all on top of it, we'll let it drop, and they'll plummet into the canyon below."

Claire frowned.

"Alright. Do you want to hear everything wrong with your plan?"

Owen's whiskers twitched.

"Go ahead."

Claire cleared her throat.

"First of all, what if they use the entrance Barry came from?"

"Bo blocked it off already."

"What if the vines break before all the elephants are on?"

"I learned this knot from the navy. It's strong enough to hold the elephants."

"What if there are more than you expect?"

"Barry's radar says that there are thirty elephants."

"What if the net sags or the leaves blow away? They'll discover our plan."

"Elephants are smart, but probably not that smart."

Claire rolled her eyes.

"There will be people riding them, genius."

Owen shrugged.

"Alright. So, we'll scare them onto the net by sneaking up behind them, like a buffalo jump."

Claire twisted her mouth.

"Do you think they'll be scared of dinosaurs?"

"They will be if we set their thagomizers on fire."

Claire's eyes went wide.

"That sounds dangerous."

"We're fighting elephants. It's not exactly going to be a cakewalk."

Claire grimaced.

"Owen, I'm not sure about this."

He put his paw on her horn.

"Claire, trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"Owen . . ."

"You don't have to worry about a thing. We'll get rid of the elephants, say goodbye, and be on our merry way."

Claire blinked.

"You're coming back with me?"

Owen nodded.

"I am. I love you, Claire."

She smiled, and was surprised to feel tears trickling down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly.

"Sorry. I think I have allergies."

Owen smiled and continued to adjust the giant net, his little hands flying. Claire watched him for a while, then left to help the others. She found a comfortable spot on the opposite end of the net and sat down, waiting to answer any questions that the workers had. Sandy lumbered over and stood beside her, smiling eagerly. It was obvious that she had good news, and was itching to share it with the queen. Claire smiled pleasantly and cocked her head.

"What's new?"

"I took your advice and talked to Rock!" Sandy trilled.

Claire blinked.

"My advice? . . ."

Sandy nodded.

"Yeah. I sent Owen to ask you about my predicament, and he told me that you said to have confidence in myself."

Claire hummed.

"He . . . Um, yes. I remember. Go on."

Sandy beamed.

"Well, it turns out that Rock is interested in a relationship!"

Claire nodded politely.

"Right. So, do stegoceratopses go on dates, or how does that work?"

When Claire saw the confused look on Sandy's face, she knew that she had slipped up.

"Um . . . What I meant was, I only ever date rodents, so I don't know how it works for you guys."

Sandy narrowed her eyes.

"Why do you only date rodents? . . ."

Claire gulped.

"Well . . . If they try to dump me, I can just step on them."

Sandy nodded.

"That makes sense."

Claire was positive that it didn't make sense, but as long as it shut her up, she wouldn't bring up the lack of logic.

"I'm really glad we could be friends," Sandy said sincerely.

Claire was caught off guard by the remark, and it took her a moment to respond.

"You consider me a friend?"

Sandy nodded rapidly.

"Of course. You're the best friend I've ever had. Most people can't stand listening to me for more than five minutes."

Claire bit her lip.

"Oh, Sandy . . . I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it, dear," the stegoceratops replied, "I feel so much more at home when you're around. I'm sure Sky would say the same thing. You inspired him to take up cave-painting."

Claire took a deep breath.

"Wow. I had no idea you guys liked me so much. I haven't done anything to deserve your respect."

"Well, you are helping us win a war . . ."

Claire shook her head.

"No, it was Owen's idea. He's the real war hero. He was in the Na-"

She coughed.

"Erm, he was in a special band of military rodents."

Sandy grinned.

"Speaking of military . . ."

Suddenly, a small stegoceratops crashed into Claire's leg. She winced and shook him off.

"Yeah! I got you!" the child growled.

"You're Olive, aren't you?" Claire asked.

The stegoceratops puffed out his chest.

"Yeah! Did I hurt you?"

Claire shook her head.

"No, Sweetheart. You don't have to worry."

Olive hummed disappointedly.

"Oh, poo. Now they won't let me fight the el'phunts."

Claire giggled.

"Olive, they wouldn't let you fight anyway. You're only a child."

Olive frowned.

"I am not a child! And I'm very brave!"

Claire smiled.

"Of course you are, Sweetheart. Just don't go looking for trouble, okay?"

Olive snorted.

"You aren't my mother!"

Sandy stepped between them.

"No, but she's your queen. Smarten up, or I'll give you a smacking."

Olive pouted bitterly and scuttled away. Claire gave Sandy a worried look.

"You weren't serious about the smacking, were you?"

Sandy laughed.

"No. I just like to give him a scare now and then. He's a little brat. God, I hate kids."

Claire's eyes went wide.

"But you have to- I mean- Don't you ever consider-"

Sandy shook her head.

"No. Babies are fine. They're cute and they don't talk back. Kids are trouble. They're sticky and smelly and-"

"Sandy! Don't say that!" Claire shrieked, "Without you, Olive and his sister will have no guidance! And Flow- Erm, Olive's sister . . . she's so nice. Oh, Sandy, if you could just get to know her, you'd think she's the sweetest kid around. She's so cute and innocent and she loves everyone no matter what. She's wonderful."

"Why don't you adopt her, then?"

Claire looked away quickly.

"I- I can't. I have to go home."

"Take her with you."

Claire shook her head.

"That's impossible."

Sandy hummed ominously.

"Well, you'd better tell her that before it's too late. She's still hoping that you'll stay."

"How do you know?"

Sandy shrugged.

"I heard her praying last night. She said, 'Please, let Claire change her mind. I know I probably don't deserve a mom like her, but I love her so much'. Something along those lines, anyway."

Claire felt her heart being ripped out of her chest. She took a few shaky breaths and turned away from Sandy.

"I have to go."

"Where?"

"Nowhere, probably."

***TSJWFEW***

Owen handed Flower the end of a vine. He was teaching her how to tie his special knot, and she was certainly learning fast. She looped the vine through one of the crosses and tugged with all of her might. Owen yanked it to make sure it was secure and smiled.

"That's five. You're really good at this, you know."

Flower grinned.

"You showed me how. Are you going to teach me more things?"

"Like what?"

"Like how to start fires."

Owen laughed.

"No, Peanut, I don't think I will. Fire is dangerous. You could hurt yourself. Besides, it would take too long."

Flower nuzzled her face against him.

"I don't mind. We have all the time in the world."

Owen tried not to give away his sentiments, but he couldn't help but fold his ears back sadly. Flower frowned and cocked her head.

"Do you not want to teach me?"

Owen gulped.

"No, it's not that . . ."

"Do you think I couldn't learn?" Flower pressed.

Owen shuffled his feet.

"No."

"What, then?"

Owen looked down at the ground.

"Flower, we may not have forever . . ."

After a pause, her face fell.

"You're leaving."

Owen tried not to cry when he saw the expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Flower. Really, I am. I'd love to stay here with you, but I can't leave Claire."

Without warning, Flower collapsed and started sobbing into her front feet.

"You're leaving with Claire because she doesn't want to be here. She doesn't love me."

Owen shook his head fiercely.

"No, no, Peanut, that's not true . . ."

"It was the same with my parents. They left one night and didn't come back. I didn't know they were dead until my uncle told me."

Owen felt tears soaking his fur.

"Flower, don't be upset. I'll visit you, I promise. It's not like we won't see each other again . . ."

Flower whimpered and covered her eyes.

"You don't love me . . . You don't love me . . ."

Owen pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her seriously.

"Flower, I love you. Don't ever think that I don't. If I had the choice to stay here-"

He saw Claire approaching and fell silent. Flower noticed that he was trying to be quiet, so she tried to suppress her sniffling as well. Claire stood above them both, looking down at them with a neutral expression. Even though she knew perfectly well what they were crying about, she asked anyway.

"What's wrong?"

Flower squealed and covered her eyes again, shaking fiercely. Owen bit his lip and looked up at Claire.

"She's just a little upset because I told her I'm leaving."

Claire pulled back her head in a slightly exaggerated gesture.

"Why'd you do that?"

Owen frowned.

"Well, I can't just tell her that I'm staying . . ."

"Why not?"

Owen's jaw dropped.

"Claire, I'm following you!"

She gave a sneaky smile.

"That means you won't be leaving. I'm staying here."

Flower peeked out from under her feet and looked up at Claire with wide eyes.

". . . Really?"

Claire nodded.

"Mhm. I've decided to take care of you and all of the other stegoceratopses."

When she was absolutely sure that Claire was telling the truth, Flower leapt to her feet and ran over to give Claire a hug. Claire sat down and caught the child with open arms, laughing happily. Owen joined in too, scampering onto Claire's shoulder. Flower began giggling uncontrollably.

"I have a mom! I have a dad! I have parents!"

Claire gave a wide smile.

"That's right, and we'll never let you down. I promise, we'll do everything within our power to make you happy."

Flower nuzzled her face against Claire's chest.

"I love you, Claire!"

She squeezed her tight.

"I love you too, Flower."

Claire didn't realize her mistake until it was too late. Her grip loosened as she felt a wave of nausea wash over her, and Flower slid down her stomach. Owen pricked his ears in alarm. He knew.

"Flower, we have to go for a minute," he said, trying desperately to conceal the fear in his voice.

"Why?" Flower asked.

"We- urk! We just have to check on something," Claire winced.

"But-"

"Shhh! Just listen to us, Flower!" Claire snapped.

To her horror, saying the word twice increased the rate of transformation. She quickly ducked under the net of vines to conceal herself, seeing no other hiding place. The rest of the tribe, meanwhile, had noticed that something was wrong. They approached the shrinking bump beneath the tangled foliage and began to whisper anxiously.

"Claire? Claire, are you alright?" Sandy asked.

She waddled over to the edge of the net and began to lift it with one horn. Owen darted forward and tried to hold her back.

"SANDY, NO!"

It was too late. Sandy trumpeted with fear and reared up on her hind legs. She dashed away, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"HUMAN! HUMAN! HUMAN!"

Unclear on the meaning of her words, Rock moved forward.

"Claire, what's going on under there?"

Claire poked her fully-changed head out from underneath the blanket of vegetation. Rock froze, unsure of how to react.

"Don't panic . . ." Claire said weakly.

"Oh my god, it's Claire!" Rock gasped.

"Yes, yes, it's me, but I can explain . . ."

"CLAIRE IS A HUMAN!"

With this, the colony erupted into stampeding chaos. Claire struggled to keep herself from falling under the pounding feet and thrashing horns. She noticed that Flower was having trouble finding her way out of the mess, and scooped her up before she could be trampled. The child tried to wiggle out of her grasp, screaming shrilly all the while.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! OWEN, HELP!"

Finally, she swiped her tail across Claire's face, leaving a small cut on her cheek. Startled, Claire dropped the child and fell to her knees.

"Flower! Come back!"

The other stegoceratopses had already thundered out of the field, and Flower had a clear path to Owen, who had been cowering behind a small rock to avoid being squished. She scurried over and tried to push him away from Claire with her face.

"Run, Owen! She's a human! We're not safe!"

Owen nodded rapidly.

"I know she's a human, Flower, but we're perfectly safe. It's still Claire. She's the same as she always was."

Flower shook her head.

"No! No! No! She's a human!"

"Yes, but so am I."

Owen wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish by admitting this. Maybe he was just fed up with all of the lies. In any case, it didn't help their predicament, because Flower gave up on protecting him from Claire and began to back away in fear.

"Flower, don't be afraid . . ." Owen said, reaching out gently.

The child continued to back up until she bumped into Claire's leg. She turned around and looked up at the person who she had, not ten minutes earlier, been calling "mother" and shrunk away in horror. Claire felt tears stinging at her eyes as she crouched down to speak with her.

"Flower . . . I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me. I'm on your side."

She reached out slowly. For a moment, it seemed as though Flower would let Claire touch her. Then, she whipped around and bolted away, leaving Owen and Claire alone. They watched her leave with heavy hearts. Their sadness was so great that they didn't even notice Barry driving out of the jungle.

"Hey, guys! What'd I miss?"