Broken Mirror

Staring into the yawning openings of the artificially built, twin-passage caves that lead into the underground, where the shadows swallowing up all natural sunlight that dared to reach where it did not belong, Petrichor was faced with the reality of the choice that she had made. She had, like a handful of Glass’s offspring already had done, decided that she wanted to experience life out from under her grandmother’s ever-watchful and controlling presence. Nothing that she had ever done in Glass’s name, nothing that she had ever gifted her grandmother with, no matter how much devotion she showed her - it was never enough to raise her to the same pedestal on which she held Belltoll, and it hurt.

It was worse because looked up and had once idolised Glass and all the strength and power that she wielded, but having her actions controlled by the elder utahraptor and being on the receiving end of a verbal lashing whenever someone didn’t listen or plans went awry was more than Petrichor could ultimately take. She had been faced with an ultimatum, one that she presented herself without her grandmother’s knowledge: she could stay and learn to accept that she would always be at the very most second-best, and always have her actions and movements controlled by Glass, or she could… leave. She could choose her own path.

When she started to hear rumours of another island, it seemed as though the answer to her ultimatum was being provided for her. It was a thought that she at first rebelled against, because that was still not her choosing her own path but following a path that destiny seemed to have laid out for her. The more she considered it, though, the more taking the underpass to the other island seemed appealing. At least fate did not berate her when she put a claw out of line after devoting her life to it.

Now that she was here, though, she was less sure of her choice.

The scents of other dinosaurs was heavy here. The allure of discovering this “new world” was strong, and had apparently drawn other dinosaurs to the underpass by the dozens - maybe hundreds. All of them had braved the dark in the hopes that they would come out on the other side. Whether or not they made it there was another question entirely.

She knew as well that this was the only path forwards. She had betrayed Glass by abandoning her family. There was no coming back from that.

The faintest cool breeze drifted out of the tunnel, channeled towards her by the large sections of concrete which flanked the opening. The breeze brushed against her hide and brought her a vision of what awaited her. Beneath the old, mixed scents of other dinosaurs, it smelled of mildew and metal. Wet concrete, rust, decaying rubber. There was also the faintest, faintest scent of something she couldn’t identify. Something smokey and dangerous. It was intriguing, and it tempted her into taking her first step into the dark shadows cast by the concrete overhang.

The road - and stairway which ran parallel to it - had a gentle slope to it as she descended into the depths. It was not as dark as it first appeared from the outside, though it was by no means illuminated by the sun. Dingy, yellow-tinted lights dotted the upper corners of the passage, tiny artificial suns which gave her some ability to see. Most of them, though, were blacked out. They had died long ago, and would never again spark to life like the ones that had flickered back into existence.

Her footsteps echoed quietly through the tunnel as she walked, claws clicking against the pavement. She could just make out a few scattered, identifiable shapes in the dimly lit space - cars, forever parked where only the adventurous would ever again see them. They would never again feel the warmth and light of the sun. She paused at one point to study her reflection in the windows of one of the decaying vehicles. A heavy layer of dust lay across the SUV like a blanket, but there were still enough reflective surfaces that she could see herself in it. When she was a hatchling she had hoped that she would one day grow up to be just like Glass. The reflection’s pale eyes and softly patterned hide looked nothing like her grandmother.

Petrichor noticed at one point, after having been descending through the dark for quite some time, that the air felt heavy down here. There was a dampness to it that clung to her hide, and there was a pressure down here that made her ears and the inside of her muzzle feel strange, like she was suffering a head cold without any of the watery eyes, coughing, or congestion that came with it. It was thankfully a feeling that was relatively short-lived, staying with her only a short ways after she noticed that the road was starting to slope upwards instead of being level or continuing to bring her deeper below the ocean.

With no way to tell the passage of time other than the ache in her legs and the soreness of the bottoms of her feet from walking on the strange, paved surface, Petrichor had no idea how long she had been walking. It could have been a few minutes, or it could have been several hours. All the same she was relieved when she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel; the promise that she would again feel the warmth of the sun on her back and smell something that was not cold, stale, dank air that scarcely moved in the deepest depths of the tunnel. She could hear seagulls calling as she stepped closer to the far entrance, and it hastened her footsteps until she was running towards the light.

She burst from the tunnel with a triumphant and joyful leap. When she landed on the asphalt road she took in deep breaths of fresh, salty air that tasted faintly of that strange, smokey scent. Her eyes were closed as she basked in the feeling of her newfound freedom, listening to the rush of waves crashing against an unfamiliar, black sand shore.

The journey through the tunnel had set her on the path to being in control of her own choices but now, being here… Petrichor opened her eyes to look upon the island which she knew nothing about, looking slowly over everything that was unfamiliar and familiar all at once until she turned her gaze towards the tunnel that she had come from - and towards Isla Kela, which she could only see in the very far distance. It was a shock, seeing just how far from home she was, but it filled her with a sort of joy as well. Everything that she chose to do now was well and truly her choice.