[Trade] The Start of a Great Adventure

Barracuda, still completely lost in a blissful slumber, rolled onto his other side, nestling up against one of his brothers. The male sighed, opening and closing his eyes again and again – he himself did not yet know whether he wanted to shake off his sleep or maybe just sink back into it. The cryolophosaurus lay in the centre of a rocky cave, carefully lined with soft grass, leaves and small twigs, forming a comfortable mattress on the floor.

He was not alone here – lying beside him was an adult female acrocanthosaurus, with the young of the same species huddled around her. The small male stood out starkly from this diverse group. What was most striking was the significant difference in his colouring – he was the only one with a body marked by broad, black stripes, and his starkly white head, concealing eyes as red as blood, bore no resemblance to the rest of his siblings. Yet there was something else that troubled this youngster far more. From the very beginning, the male had been visibly smaller than his brothers and sisters, and now that each of them had already lived for over a dozen months, this difference had become even more apparent – Barracuda was downright pitifully small. It wasn’t just about height (that he might have been able to get over somehow), but about absolutely every dimension. The male was shorter, smaller, lighter and much slimmer than his companions. This was, of course, not merely an aesthetic flaw. Despite the practically negligible age difference between them, Barracuda could not hold his own against his siblings in skirmishes – as the clearly weaker, less combat-ready link, he always lost.

Although this fact weighed heavily on the banded male, there was really nothing strange about it. After all, Barracuda was adopted. When he was just a hatchling newly hatched in this world, Viper found him whilst searching the area for shelter for her clutch. Of course, it was a lifesaver for him – without her, he would have perished. Despite this, spending every day in the company of those bigger and stronger than himself was rather depressing for him.

Suddenly, Barracuda felt a strong, though not particularly painful, blow to his side. The male instinctively jumped back with an indignant hiss. When he looked in the direction from which the stimulus had come, everything became clear.

Octane’s violet eyes, fixed on him, were practically glowing with excitement. The male, looking at his adopted brother, was wagging his tail like a happy dog, clearly waiting for some sort of reaction. Barracuda immediately softened – despite the hefty nudge he’d been given, he found it hard to be angry with Octane.

The green male must have woken up some time ago, for he was excessively hyperactive – he had likely been suppressing his excess energy for over a dozen minutes, trying not to wake his siblings and to fall back asleep himself. He had failed, however, and Octane himself had finally given in – he had good reason to do so.

The juvenile acrocanthosaurus, without breaking eye contact with Barracuda, gave a quick nod towards the cave exit. The signal was so clear that Barracuda knew exactly what his brother meant even before he turned around. The exit from their hideout at that hour was usually closely guarded by Viper. The female, though exceptionally protective, had a rather authoritarian nature – once she’d decided her offspring shouldn’t be running off into the surrounding forest first thing in the morning, her will was ironclad and no amount of pleading could break it. Only trickery or, as in this case, an exceptional stroke of luck could achieve that.

Octane’s signal, of course, was linked to the fact that this morning, exceptionally, the entrance to the cave was not guarded by the unyielding Viper. Quite the contrary – the gap in the rock gaped with the morning light, drawing them in like a magnet. Viper, who was lying there just a few moments before, must have left. To Barracuda, this sight was like a refreshing, cold bath. All his fatigue suddenly left him, replaced by new energy. Such an opportunity might never arise again.

Neither of them intended to delay for a moment – every second of hesitation carried the risk that Viper would return and thwart their plans. Consequently, they had no time to wake their siblings and invite them along on their adventure. They intended to act as only a pair, not as a full group.

Barracuda led the way, being the smaller and more agile of the pair. The male took careful steps – he didn’t want to make any noise or accidentally step on the tail of one of his brothers or sisters. Right behind him, far less gracefully but with unmatched determination, walked Octane. They didn’t have far to go. Even at their slow pace, they reached the entrance to the cave in the blink of an eye. The banded cryolophosaurus peered cautiously from behind a rock, fearing that he would soon see Viper’s angry blue eyes. Fortunately, however, this did not happen – the female must have set out exceptionally early today to hunt or patrol their territory. She had more important matters on her mind.

Despite these favourable conditions, they could not take too many risks. Upon leaving the cave, they had to find another hiding place as quickly as possible.

Barracuda and Octane, despite the significant difference in size, surprisingly ran forward in perfect synchrony with all the strength in their legs. The cave where they lived was surrounded by the marginal part of the forest – a place that, thanks to its many hiding spots, offered a sense of security, but which now did not seem like a good option at all. Viper, though a strong, large female, like most acrocanthosaurus, preferred to hunt from ambush. If she had indeed gone hunting, she was now hiding somewhere under the cover of the trees.

The choice was therefore trivially simple – they had to run all the way to the very edge of the forest, towards the coast.

Once again, the much faster Barracuda was in the lead, weaving between the tree trunks with admirable agility, disappearing into the thick bushes every now and then. Octane couldn’t afford such daring manoeuvres – if he crashed into the tangled clumps of vegetation with all his weight, he’d make a huge racket. So he had to choose a safer route.

Octane, though he tried with all his might to remain serious and focused on the task, laughed out loud. Barracuda, though normally far more composed, also lost the battle with his emotions – he too reacted with a cheerful laugh. At last they had succeeded; for the first time, they had made it out of the cave on their own!

The edge of the forest was now clearly visible before them, tempting them mercilessly. The rays of the morning sun streamed through the towering trees, as if invitingly reaching out their greedy hands to the two brothers. Even though it seemed the juveniles had already used up all their energy, at this sight they both sped up.

Finally, after an exhausting run, almost out of breath from the effort, they reached the edge of the forest. Barracuda, seeing this promised land before him, leapt forward, making no attempt whatsoever to keep his balance. He crashed onto the soft grass, feeling his muscles burn with a searing heat. Octane stopped beside him so abruptly that he skidded to a halt. He fell onto the green grass right next to Barracuda.

They both gazed blissfully at the cloudless blue sky, still breathing heavily, exhausted by the sudden exertion and the emotions that were still overwhelming them. They’d done it!

Now there was just one thing left to sort out – figuring out why, in fact, they had fled the cave. What could one even do on one’s first unsupervised adventure?

1312 words