Desire

The nomadic life was serving Kyrien well. Every day, there was something new to see (or eat), and new dinosaurs to meet. Not all were friendly, but it made Kyrien feel more grown-up to have seen so much variety.

(Whether or not he had actually gotten any more mature was up for debate.)

Still, he missed his old pack at times. Things could be very… quiet, without them. Yes, the whole reason he left was for some peace and quiet. But sometimes, after spending a whole day with no sapient creatures in sight, he couldn’t help but wish that Fainel or Vanim was there with him, to be a reassuring presence if nothing else. He had Jolene, but she was a lone wolf, and liked her space. It had been a while since he’d seen her…

With his mind made up, Kyrien began searching for her. It was a tall order; she, by admission, didn’t like to stay in one place for very long. It made her restless. Hunting her down was always a challenge.

But he was determined to find her. He missed her terribly when they were apart. He would like to travel with her forever, but that wasn’t what she wanted. And he wouldn’t deprive her of what she wanted.

It took many days of meandering. He’d last seen her near the center of the island, by the mountains, so that was where he was checking first. He sniffed every stone, checked every patch of dirt for tracks, everything. Yet there was no sign of her.

As he chewed on a deer’s leg, he pondered where else she might be. She’d spent time in the plains, since that was where Kyrien was used to being, but she preferred being sheltered. He knew she’d grown up in a city, sleeping in overturned dumpsters.

There were canyons nearby, weren’t there?

Bones crunched between Kyrien’s teeth. That was where he had to go next.

He hadn’t spent much time at such low altitudes. He was born in the highlands, and only started roaming recently. It was strange, to see the towering rock walls all around him, blocking both sight lines and sunlight. How did Jolene find this comforting? It made Kyrien feel like the walls were closing in on him, or that something would drop from above and crush him in an instant…

A familiar scent drifted to his nose.

Jolene!

His pace quickened. If he found her down here, it would make the terrible journey worth it.

Even after knowing for certain she was nearby, he didn’t find her right away. The canyon was labyrinthine, winding in odd directions and circling back on itself. But Kyrien persevered.

“Kyrien?”

Yes, that was her voice. Kyrien would recognize it anywhere. She must have smelled him, and she always liked to get her word in first, be the one to start and end the conversation.

“Jolene? Jolene, where are you?”

“Over here,” she said, before realizing that the echoes made it hard to tell where “here” was. “Ah… Look for the pond, then follow the stream.”

“Okay.” A pond. Kyrien walked until he found it. A shallow depression in the ground had filled with rainwater, making a small pool, good to drink from but not much else. And coming off of it was a small trickle that was a stream only by the most generous definition. He followed it.

She was in a cave, a hole carved out of the side of the canyon’s edge. It was very dark inside. Jolene was only a faint outline at the back of it.

“Hi, Jolene.”

She huffed, which was a laugh from her. “Kyrien.” She shifted, slowly getting to her feet. “I’m glad to see you. You’re just in time.”

“In time for what?”

“Come closer.”

That was easier said than done, given their size compared to the cave. Jolene moved to the side so that Kyrien could slip past her.

“Stop!” she snapped suddenly, startling Kyrien so badly he nearly fell over. “Watch… Watch your step, please.”

“I am watching, I don’t want to bump into you-”

“Not on me. Look down.”

Kyrien did, and strained his eyes to see in the dark. Eventually, his eyes got used to the low light, and he saw that the ground was lined with soft moss, and sitting on it was several oblong, round shapes…

“Eggs?!”

“Yes.”

“Yours? Mine?”

He felt Jolene’s eyes on him, and he couldn’t tell if she was charmed or exasperated. “Whose else would they be? Yes, they’re mine. And yours.”

Kyrien had more to ask her, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words. Eggs! They had eggs! A clutch on the way! Kyrien was going to be a father!

He heard Jolene settling down on her side of the cave. “Like I said, it’s good that you’re here. It’s hard to head out and hunt when I have to keep an eye on the all the time.”

This time, Kyrien managed to find his voice. “When was the last time you ate something?”

She paused for longer than he would have liked. “A week ago, maybe. Laying them was such an effort that I didn’t have the energy to feel hungry.”

“Wait here,” Kyrien said, carefully turning himself around in the confined space. “I’ll get you something nice to eat.”

Jolene didn’t object.

#

Kyrien returned to the cave as the sun was setting, casting the canyon in a warm, orange glow. He carried several fish in his mouth. Jolene guessed he’d gone to higher ground to find it; it certainly couldn’t have come from the puddle right outside. She didn’t even like fish, but she accepted it anyway. It felt good to have something in her stomach. Other than her eggs.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Kyrien settled next to her. “You weren’t planning on raising them all on your own, were you?”

“I raised myself all on my own.”

“Seriously?”

“My parents believed me and my siblings would be stronger if we learned to fend for ourselves as soon as possible.”

“Well, I had someone raise me. Just one, but still.”

“And you ended up leaving anyway, didn’t you?”

“That’s different. I was already practically an adult by then.”

“But it all ended the same way.”

He stared at her as she swallowed another fish. “He can talk more about this later. I think we could both use some rest.”

She supposed that was fair; he had managed to track her down and find a meal for her.

“Fine. A conversation for the morning, then.”

And she was sure she’d get him to see her way by then.

He could never deprive her of what she wanted.