Movin' Out (Teopixqui's Song)

Kaiwi didn't give the impression that he was as wise as he really was, but Teo supposed you had to be a certain kind of sharp to survive in the Dead City. Despite his flippant attitude he doubted there was a better mentor across the islands for the children, nor one more thorough, to the point where even in their juvenile stages Teo found himself casting his mind back to the smaller carnivore's advice.  The raptor had been right about one crucial aspect of his advice, the hatchlings needed a home base to learn and grow, and it would have to change with them. The Acros grew quickly once the raptor had taught them to hunt, feeding their own ravenous appetites and becoming hardier with every passing season. He had named the female Moon and the male Sun, not only the celestial bodies that he revered but representative of their opposing colour schemes. They were simple names but the children seemed to enjoy them, even the reticent Sun who had taken so long to warm to him. Now though, the smile shone from his face as Teo informed them both that it was time to move again.

"Do we get to scout this one, papa?" Moon asked eagerly, her claws clicking together with excitement. 

"We're old enough," Sun protested, stamping his foot in an ironically childish manner. Teo restrained a chuckle and tried to answer in an even tone.

"Not on your own, but yes you can come with me to find a new home this time." The compromise conflicted them, he could tell from their delayed reactions. Ultimately they settled on excitement, chattering between themselves and speculating about how grand their new cave would be. Teo sighed to himself, wondering if a cave would ever be enough to hold two Acros at full size, though at that point he wasn't sure if they would even still live together. His heart ached at the thought of them growing apart and moving away from each other and him, so he stuffed the thought away to the back of his mind to be confronted another day. They were growing so quickly, he knew he couldn't avoid that day forever but he couldn't bear missing out on their childhood by being melancholic about their futures.

The long trek began in the early morning when dew still clung heavily to the grass and soaked their feathers as they trudged through the forest. The juveniles looked frequently over their shoulders at the old mossy cave they had called home for the last few months but their grief remained silent, hidden in cloudy expressions and unusually quiet walking. Teo let them be, knowing anything he had to say about the transient nature of life would only fall on rebellious, emotional ears at this point. Instead he watched the shadows, keeping both eyes on stalks for anything lurking within that might make a meal of two juveniles. They were more than a mouthful for most creatures at this point, but he felt he would never shake the habit from when they were hatchlings. He imagined himself checking the shadows for threats when they were his size or larger and smiled to himself.

"Are you happy about leaving?" Sun asked, ever observant. 

"A little bit," he admitted, "I'm sad to leave our old home behind but I'm happy we've all made it this far. Thank the heavens we've made it happy and healthy too, and now we begin a new chapter."

"You're always so optimistic papa," Moon teased, "Some might be annoyed at having to move out every couple of months."

"Well I certainly hope you two plan to stop growing at some point! Or am I going to be moving you around for the next fifty years?" Teo asked in mock horror, his theatrics making both juveniles giggle.

There wasn't much 'homemaking' to be done with an Iguandon and a pair of juvenile Acrocanthosauruses, no burrow could hold all three of them so their best bet was always going to be finding some niche carved out in a solid foundation. Something pre-built, as Kaiwi liked to say. A cave was always a good option, but it was also a good option for others too, making them more likely to be inhabited and jealously defended. Teo was a large dinosaur, solidly built and with the knowledge of Atlantean combat drilled into him since birth, but if a pack of raptors made their claim first he wouldn't be the one to contest them. Sun and Moon would huff and pout at not putting up a fight, but Teo reminded them gently that every fight carried the possibility of a crippling injury, something that could hinder them for life. He asked if that thirty second fight would be worth a lifetime of pain and they grumbled but agreed with him. By the time night fell, there was no sign of a new abode and they were forced to shelter under the heaviest tree cover they could find. With a heavy sigh, Teo settled in for the night, close to his two children to try and keep them warm. Still, both juveniles found themselves awake with the cold in the early hours of the morning.

"Cold out here," Moon shivered.

"It's nearly winter, nearly a year since papa found us," Sun noted, looking up at their sleeping guardian. 

"We should really find a new place, papa's already done so much for us," Moon lamented, loud enough that Teo stirred in his sleep and her brother cut her a sharp glare.

"I agree, but we don't really know what we're doing," he admitted softly.

"We didn't know how to hunt either, but we learned that pretty quick," Moon retorted.

"Because Kaiwi taught us," Sun argued, "If we want to find a new home by ourselves we should learn how to do it from papa first."

"Your brother's right, Moon," their father's voice rumbled from above them, making both of them flinch, "That's why you're both coming with me this time, remember?" Both juveniles mumbled some form of agreement and tucked themselves closer to Teo's side to stave off the cold, finding enough comfort to finally fall asleep. Though, perhaps the reassurance that he was encouraging their independence also made their minds more restful.

When the morning came, Teo watched the two children with envy as they bounced through the forest. He couldn't remember the last time he had woken up with that much energy, perhaps when he had been their age. He sent them ahead to burn some of their giddiness and grew tense when he realised he could no longer hear their giggling and bickering. 

"Papa!" Moon called suddenly from his left, sending his feathers standing on edge. He bit back the yelp that wanted to emerge and turned to face her calmly instead.

"Yes beloved?" he asked softly, hoping to encourage her to bring her own volume down.

"We found something!" No such luck on quieting her down but the excited declaration had him curious. They had turned towards the dark forest that stood in the shadow of the mountainous highlands, increasing their chances of finding a sturdy cave to make their home. He pushed through the trees to follow Moon's retreating form and found himself at the foot of the largest tree he had ever seen. The inside was entirely hollow, but still the bark looked alive and the leaves were thick and green in its canopy. Sun was waiting at the threshold, standing half in and half out of its massive trunk. 

"We have to check if it's waterproof," Sun said, trying to keep his voice steady but the hint of excitement was clear. Teo stepped into the opening, surprised at how much headroom there was above him. In the dark he nearly missed seeing Moon, who was hurrying back and forth, pushing leaves along with her snout to clear a patch of ground. The leaves were high along the edges of the wooden 'room', like they had been piling up there for years, blown in through the forest breezes with nowhere to escape. It made a thick mulch near the bottom, but even that didn't deter Moon from her frantic clean up duties. Sun refrained from joining her, like he was waiting for Teo's approval as some form of permission.

"How dry do the leaves feel, Moon?" he asked her directly. She lifted her snout from the black sludge and tilted her head to the side.

"It only really got wet along the bottom, the leaves on top were all dry," she reported cheerfully before returning to shoveling the detritus. 

"That might be our answer," Teo said to Sun, "Shall we get to work on making this place a little more homely?" At the suggestion Sun had already jumped to the leaves, beginning to shovel them with his tail, eschewing his sister's face-shovel technique. Teo followed suit, using his significantly lower and larger tail to sweep large piles of leaves out of their new front door. By the time night had fallen once more, the floor was clear, damp but cleared of leaves. Counterintuitively, they dragged in more foliage in the dark, putting a layer between them and the cold, wet ground. Teo hoped it would dry out over time, but if push came to shove they could always make a trip to the beach to bring sand back to dry it out. Satisfied with this plan, the juveniles had begun to make the tree hollow their own, marking out their separate beds that Teo knew would be pushed together eventually. Or perhaps not, maybe this was the turning point where they would begin to grow more independent of each other, and of him. That melancholy struck him again, but he quashed it. If Moon and Sun ended up thriving on their own with no help from him then surely that meant he had succeeded as a parent? The thought comforted him, even as the threat of losing them hung over his head. For now though, he still had them, both curled next to him in the new home they had found all by themselves. They were still a family for now, and he intended to cherish every moment.