Root of the Problem

Duststorm is saying some weird stuff.

Apparently while on his little trip to the beach, good thing he got me a deer to keep me full for a while, he found a new species of dinosaur. From his description, it’s not something that my parents have ever told me about.

“So, this weird dinosaur, after you attacked it, told you that it came from a human-tunnel? Those words? And more importantly, you attacked him?"

I’m a little angry about that. Actually, a bit more than angry.

“After I keep lecturing you on being nicer to dinosaurs, you attack someone!”

He backs away a little. Despite his faults, at least he feels bad.

Dang it. I can’t stay mad at him. Stupid me being a nice dinosaur.

“Fine, we can talk about your social skills later.”

He mumbles a bit. Something like “I knew you’d say that.”

I sigh. I really need to talk to him about this later.

“So, this weird dinosaur, called an Oviraptor, is spreading seds for someone? And they’re dangerous?”

He nods. “Yeah, pretty much. Not our problem though. We don’t leave the scrubland, and as a plus, I don’t have to see Pokie again. Don’t want to deal with that…”

I shake my head. “Nope. We’re not just going to not deal with it! We’re going to stop the problem, and then get you to apologize to Pokie! And see this dinosaur who told him to spread seeds while we’re at it.”

“But I just got back from-”

“Nope. Not gonna hear it!”

I walk away. We have a trip planned.

---

Lilac has calmed down a bit. It’s weird when she’s angry. It’s not really anger as much as it is frustration at me. Anyway, she’s happier now. Seems she’s forgiven me. 

Lilac is still focused on going to the home of the Oviraptors. It’s a diplomatic mission, according to her. I think she just feels like I need to make up for it, and wants me to get better socially.

And so, we’re walking to the nearest human nest. Or a city, as she calls it.

“So, are you sure we’re going in the right direction? You’re not the best at, well, this kind of stuff.”

Survival. I mean survival. She’s not good at surviving.

She looks back at me.

“I know, I know. But I’ve actually been to the city. Once. When I was a hatchling.”

“That fills me with so much confidence.”

“Don’t use that tone! This is going to be exciting! Besides, it’s cool for once!”

Maybe for her. For me it’s freezing.

We’re out of my area of the scrubland. We’re out the entire scrubland. We’re in a forest. There are trees everywhere, and they’re bigger than me. There’s no sand, and I hate it. Lilac seems to like it though. 

At least it’s pretty. The way the sunlight goes through the green leaves and goes across the leaf-strewn ground is nice. And it makes Lilac happy. Good for her.

It’s still cold though.

“So, how long to the city?”

She looks at her surroundings.

She looks away from me. She’s hiding her expression. “Um, really, really soon?”

Her voice says everything. She’s not very confident.

“Uh huh. Sure.”

We walk through more trees. They seem to be clearing up to a clearing.

“Okay, I think we should turn around. It’s been almost a day, and it’s going to get dark soon and-”

We see the city. It’s… A lot.

There are tall and shiny… Things everywhere.

Lilac seems to read my mind. “They’re called buildings, I’m pretty sure. It’s been a while. Humans built them, somehow, and lived in them. Maybe. I don’t know how my parents knew this.”

She nudges my side.

“Now, time to find the tunnel!”

---

Okay, maybe it wasn’t as easy to find the tunnel as I thought. Either it’s not here, or it’s hidden. 

Duststorm is a little grumpy about it though.

He doesn’t like the lack of visibility. Grass seems to grow a lot between the rocks by the buildings, and it’s tall. He’s used to open plains of sparse plains of sand and sparse shrubbery. Not being able to see everything makes his paranoia of being hunted go into overdrive.

And he keeps complaining about the cold.

“C’mon, I found a weird building. It’s away from everything, is surrounded by tall walls, and is by the beach. We should explore it!”

He grumbles a bit, but follows me when I start walking away. He may not be happy, but he’s not going to leave me. Good. He better not.

We make our way to the beach the city is. I walk onto the sand.

“Okay, the I think it was-”

Duststorm runs by me, and jumps onto the sand. He then covers himself in it.

I snort. That’s kinda cute to see.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy. You should be like that more.”

He stands up, letting the sand fall off of him. He apparently isn’t happy to see him like that. He glares at me with those red eyes of his.

“You saw nothing.”

He then starts walking down the shore away from me.

“Um, wrong way!”

He turns around.

“Got it.”

---

We’re finally at the building. It looks a bit run down, like every other building here. It’s overgrown by plants, like every other building here.

But these plants have giant spikes, giant flowers, and a bunch of dead animals around them. Chipmunks, mice and stuff.

Lilac timidly speaks. “So, um, don’t touch the flowers? I think they might be poisonous…”

I sigh.

“We’re doing this? We’re doing this. Let’s go.”

I carefully walk between the plants. One touches me, and…

It only hurts a bit. Right. We’re big dinosaurs. Poison that kills a small little mouse isn’t going to really harm us.

It still hurts though, so I run quickly, and then once I’m past turn around.

“It’s fine! Just brace yourself and run quickly!”

Lilac looks at me in a way that she’s not going to do it.

“If you do it, we’ll be able to talk to the Oviraptors.”

Once I remind her of that, she runs through the plants, but does so screaming the whole time.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!”

SHe makes her way past me, and then collapses onto the ground, whimpering a little.

“How do you just not react to pain…?”

She lays her head on the ground. I respond simply.“I got bit by snakes too much before I met you.”

I walk into the building, and here Lilac mumble something like “I have so many questions…”

I look back at her.

“What did you say?”

She looks at me. 

“Nothing. Let’s go!”

She runs past me and stops.

“Woah.”

Before us is a large tunnel. However it is see-through. And goes underwater.

Fish swarm around us, and seaweed and seagrass lick the sides of the tunnel. This is weird.I look at Lilac.

“So, ready to go to the homeland of the Oviraptors?”