Claire sobbed heavily with her head resting in Owen's lap. She could feel his tears falling on her face, mixing with her own. She knew that he was doing his best to stop himself from crying, but although he was very good at doing so, the overwhelming sense of loss was too much for him to bear. He joined Claire in her mourning, shedding tears like never before. Charlie, it seemed, was doing the same. She sat sniffling in the corner of the room, arms wrapped around her legs. She clearly wasn't comfortable sharing her emotions with anyone for the time being. The rest of the squad watched the depressing scene with sad faces. Well, everyone except for Blue. She had methodically positioned herself so that no one could see her facial expression. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because Claire was too busy weeping to care what she was up to.

"We should have told her! We should have told her right from the start!" she wailed.

Owen stroked her muzzle.

"Shhh . . . We'll find her . . . We'll find her . . . We'll make things right."

Claire writhed around in agony.

"This is all my fault! She left because of what I wrote in that stupid diary! I drove my own daughter out of our home!"

In her lonely little corner, Charlie could no longer control her tears.

"I shouldn't have let her go upstairs! If I had gone to get you instead, none of this would have happened. We were supposed to be sisters, and I failed her!"

Claire sniffled and walked over to the distressed raptor.

"Don't blame yourself. This happened because of my mistake. You had nothing to do with it."

She hugged the poor girl, who seemed surprised by the action. Owen stood up quickly when he saw headlights through the window.

"Barry has the truck. Blue, Echo, Foxtrot, go with him. Charlie, Delta, stay here in case Lily comes back. Claire, we'll track her on our own."

Claire gave Charlie a quick nuzzle before following Owen outside. He grabbed a flashlight that was lying by the door on his way out, then took a deep breath to steady his voice.

"Are you sure the note didn't say where she was going?"

Claire nodded.

"I double-checked. She wouldn't have a plan, anyway, since she's never been this far from home."

Her voice broke at the end of her sentence. Owen winced and scanned the ground for footprints.

"Barry said that he wasn't able to find a trail. I wish she had taken the damn motorcycle, but at least this means she'll travel slowly. It's dark, but if we look hard enough-"

"No," Claire interrupted, "We've already wasted enough time. If she's headed down the main road, Barry and the others will reach her before she gets too close to the nearest town. If she's anywhere else, we need to be the ones to find her, which means we can't expend all of our energy on a task that may prove to be futile. We need to find out where, precisely, she went."

"How? She didn't leave a trail!"

"Not the kind of trail you're thinking of . . ."

Claire pressed her nose to the ground and started rooting around. After waddling through the grass a little, she lifted her head.

"This way."

***TSJWFEW***

Lily gasped as she tripped over an exposed root. She fell to her knees, tearing up out of surprise and humiliation. She had been crying for a very long time. Whenever she thought she was done, something would trigger her into weeping again. She wanted to feel warm and safe at home, but she also wanted her mother to be happy, and that meant that she would have to leave forever. When she thought about how much her mother must hate her, Lily's lip began to quiver. She sat down, dropping her backpack, and sniffled heavily. As fresh tears streaked down her face, she lifted her hand and looked at it in the moonlight. Until now, it had never occurred to her that she was ugly, but she was beginning to see herself with different eyes. She was not a human and not a stegoceratops. She was practically nothing. Or maybe it was worse than that. Maybe she was a monster. A terrifying, disgusting monster that no one loved.

Lily opened her mouth and let out a heartbroken moo. Now that she knew what she truly was, she would have to live out the rest of her life as a lonely hermit, wandering the woods for decades and never seeing another person for as long as she lived. She'd stay far away from the world that despised her, and in doing so, she would reconcile her horrid existence. As long as she remained distant from people, there would be no one to hate her.

Determined to travel as far away from her home as possible, Lily picked up her backpack and started walking again. She had barely moved ten paces when she heard a twig snap. She froze, replaying the sound in her mind to analyze what it was. After a moment, she decided that it wasn't anything sinister and kept going.

"SCREEEEEEEEE!"

Lily screamed in terror as something landed on her back and dug its claws into her skin. She bolted forward and slammed her body against a tree, dislodging the creature. It tumbled through the grass, then sprung to its feet. Lily adopted a defensive pose, ready to fight if necessary, but when she saw who her attacker was, her face softened. Eyes wide, she examined the raptor from head to toe, jaw hanging in disbelief.

"Liam? . . ."

The raptor pulled his head back in surprise.

"How do you know my name?"

"We went to the same school. Don't you remember me?"

Liam narrowed his eyes. When he recognized her, he seemed shocked.

"Lily?!"

She nodded.

"Yes, it's me. I'm not sure who you thought I was. Maybe you're used to other dinosaurs . . ."

Liam blinked.

"What? Oh, yeah. I thought you were a camel or something. I didn't recognize you. You've grown."

Lily's face fell.

"A camel? . . ."

Liam smoothed back his crest of red feathers suavely.

"Sorry for jumping on you like that. I haven't eaten for days, and you seemed like kind of an easy target."

Lily frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Liam shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno. You were just kind of sitting there, that's all."

Lily glowered at him.

"For your information, I'm in the depths of despair because my mother despises me, and if that wasn't the case, you would have walked away from our fight with more than light bruising."

Liam scoffed.

"Typical. You know, if you spent less time caring about your mother and more time doing anything else, you'd be a lot happier."

Lily cocked her head.

"I don't understand."

Liam puffed out his chest proudly.

"I ran away from home to learn how to be a real raptor. Nobody appreciates me where I come from, so I decided to be a lone dinosaur. A few days ago, I snuck through a magic portal thing and came out in this world, where no one can follow. If I cared about what my mother thought, I wouldn't be here."

Lily grinned.

"You're running away? Me too! Do you want to run away together?"

Liam cringed.

"Uh . . ."

"What's the matter?" Lily asked.

"Nothing. It's just . . . um . . . Well, you're not exactly helpful towards my plan."

Lily shrunk away in embarrassment.

"I . . . I just thought . . ."

"Look, it's nothing personal. I just don't like to associate myself with non-raptors, that's all."

Lily looked down at her feet.

"You think I'm ugly, don't you?"

Liam hummed.

"Yeah, kind of, but I won't hold that against you."

Lily started sniffling. Seeing that he'd upset her, Liam backed away awkwardly.

"Um . . . What I meant to say was . . . uh . . . while you're not what most people would consider 'traditionally good-looking', you have a kind of unique . . . flavor . . ."

Lily wailed and buried her face in her hands, falling forward like a dead tree. Liam gulped and inched towards her, reaching out very slowly.

"Um, don't cry, okay? I really don't like the crying . . ."

Lily ignored him. Liam watched her bawl her eyes out for a while, then gave a sigh of defeat.

"Do you want to come with me?"

She peeked out at him from between her fingers.

"Come with you where?"

"Wherever we decide to go," he said cheerfully, "We're independent now, which means there are no adults to tell us what to do."

Lily's face lit up. She reached out and grabbed him before he could run away, squeezing the air out of her new friend's lungs as she gave him an enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Lily . . ."

"You're the best!"

"Lily . . ."

"Seriously. The best."

"LILY!"

"Am I squeezing you too tight?"

"LILY, RUN!"

"What do you m-"

Suddenly, there was a loud roar. Lily dropped the frightened raptor and turned around. A giant grizzly bear was standing right behind her. She screamed and charged through the forest, stumbling down a steep hill. Liam followed, pursued by the bear. Because he was faster and more agile, he passed Lily in a matter of seconds. At the base of the hill, Lily slipped and fell. She landed painfully on her side. As the grizzly approached her, she tried to get to her feet, but found that her tail had become tangled in a nearby bush. She shrieked and kicked her legs, but it was no use. She was stuck.

"HELP!" Lily cried, "PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Liam skidded to a halt and turned around. Lily looked at him with pleading eyes. Although he was undoubtedly as afraid as she was, Liam changed his path, going back to save her. He tugged on the branches she was caught in, grunting with effort. His eyes went wide as the bear drew near.

"Lily . . ."

"Don't leave me!" she shrieked.

"I . . . I don't know if-"

They squinted as a bright light shone in their eyes. There was a shrill whistle, and for a moment, Lily thought that an even worse monster was trying to destroy them. Fortunately, the light and whistle did not belong to a living creature, but rather, a train. Although it posed no threat, the bear seemed to be intimidated by the vehicle, and promptly retreated into the woods. Lily let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close."

"Too close, if you ask me!"

She blinked in confusion at the energetic voice. A slim hand turned the light of the train to its original setting, and when the spots cleared from Lily's vision, she saw a woman standing on top of the engine. She jumped down and landed a few feet away from Lily, then stood up and strutted forward, tapping a black cane merrily. She was wearing a very odd outfit, Lily remarked. Her black, sparkling coat had long tails and sharp shoulders, and her boots went all the way up to her knees. There was a large, purple plume in her top hat, fastened in place by a violet gem. The woman lifted her cane, and Lily shrunk away in fear, but she simply tapped the bush that was wrapped around her tail, causing it to wither and fall apart as if by magic. Lily hesitated before taking the woman's hand, but decided that it would be best to accept whatever help she was offered.

"Looks like you got into a bit of a scrap with that Ursus arctos, but you're safe now. Name's Tesseract Goop. Sounds odd, but nobody cares when you're in the circus."

Lily cocked her head.

"Circus?"

The woman gave a sharp nod.

"Best circus in the world, kid! I travel across the country, performing for millions of adoring fans. Say, you look like you're running away. Maybe you'd like to join me!"

Lily's face lit up.

"Really?"

Tesseract Goop nodded.

"Sure, sure. Almost all of my cast were once lonely children who decided to run away from home. You'd fit right in!"

Before Lily could accept, Liam stepped in front of her protectively.

"Wait, wait, wait. Something's not right here. Lily ain't your average dinosaur. How come you didn't ask her where she came from?"

Tesseract Goop shrugged.

"Why would I? She seems like a pretty normal girl to me. Maybe even above average in the looks department."

Lily beamed.

"Really? You think so?"

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't admire horns like that, am I right?"

Lily blushed.

"Thank you Tesser- um, Tessera-"

"Call me Tess," the woman chirped, "Much shorter, much easier. You're gonna want to save time if we're to work together."

Liam snorted.

"She's not working for you."

Lily frowned.

"Says who? I can do what I want. I'm almost sixteen."

Tess nodded.

"Ain't no use arguing with a lady who's made up her mind. You've made a wise decision, Lily. I'm no ordinary ringmaster, you see. I have access to powerful magic, and in return for your services, I can grant you your heart's desire."

With this, Liam perked up.

"Heart's desire? Like wishes and stuff?" he asked.

Tess winked.

"Of course. I can make all of your dreams come true . . . Well, actually just one, unless you want to work for more. But I can do anything. Almost anything."

Liam rubbed his chin.

"Hm . . . That might not be such a bad idea. If I work for you, can I have a wish too?"

She nodded.

"Absolutely. Follow me to the train, and we'll get started."

The two young dinosaurs gave each other an excited look, then boarded the locomotive as it began to chug through the mountains. Wherever they were headed, Lily was certain that it would be better than where she had come from.