On a fine clear-view morning across the prehistoric realm, Jacob headed out with Oddclaw to the western reach of the Hunters Nest.  Wandering through dozens of nests where raptors screeched and played, he watched their savage-looking games where friendly teeth nipped at their necks and rolling through the dirt kicking up clouds of dust with a nervous grin.

        "Heh, reminds me of the island wrestling I saw on a trip."

        "Really?" asked Oddclaw walking in front.

        "Yeah, yoshis on the islands do this wrestling stuff in the sand, the way you guys tussle make me think of that."

        "Do you playfight as well?"

        "I mean, sure, what you wanna wrestle?"

        "If you would like."  The raptor grinned.  "Your roundstone will not help you though."

        "Oh nah nah we'd be going barehanded come on, I done some wrestling."

        "After I am done guarding we can, if you like."

        "Sure!"

Standing on the edge of the territory, he stood with a few other guards who marched in a careful circuit keeping eyes everywhere they could from the southern seas to the northern mountains.

        "That is the Skylands," Oddclaw pointed to the golden peaks, "the flyers live there, there are also mountains along there but nothing much is there other than prey."

        "So, you just hunt and eat stuff out here?" Jacob swept his hand over the plains.

        "It is how we live yes."

        "But...you understand what your um 'prey' are saying, and they think the same as you?"

        "Yes."

        "...okay," the yoshi rubbed his head, "and this doesn't feel bad, like you're hurting things out there that got families the same as you."

        "We hunt to feed our families," Oddclaw turned to face the sea, "flyers hunt the fish, our prey hunt for leaves and we hunt them."

        "Doesn't that seem kinda...mean?"

        "Only if you do not kill them swift.  Then it is cruel, to make them suffer is cruel, a true hunter ensures that the death of their prey is swift and without pain."

        "That, doesn't really make it any better," the yoshi rubbed his fingers.

        "The hairless said the same thing."  Oddclaw looked back to him.  "I know that our life is different, and things seem odd to you-"

        "I don't mind that things are a little odd, Odd, but heh, just...you're taking families apart, just because someone is gone without any pain doesn't mean that their families aren't hurting cuz you took them away."

        "I know.  But they are not weak, they can fight, they can protect themselves and if they can protect their families, then we cannot eat, and they are safe."

        "So..." Jacob rubbed his hair, "wait, I don't like what you're saying-"

        "I am sorry Jacob," the raptor shook his head, "I know you do not like this."

        "I...y-yeah, just...there really isn't any other way you can eat?"

        "We are hunters, we hunt meat."

        "So how come you're friends with those flyers, they're meat too right?  What about Seaclaw's fish friend?"

        "Friends are important, we do not eat friends."

        "So you eat everyone else that's not your friend?"

        "Yes."  Oddclaw shrugged.

        "So...if the humans weren't your friends-"

        "We would have eaten them.  Friends protect each other, friends help each other and we become stronger.  Those who are not friends-"

        "Are just food."

        "Yes!"

        "But...if you made friends with one of those guys that you hunt-"

        "Then they are not food!  Ah, there are my friends now!"

The yoshi clutched himself with a nervous shudder trying not to think too deep into Oddclaw's words as a glorious-looking pterosaur fluttered down to meet them, joined by two others who croaked their presence as the raptor guards backed up.

        "Good morning Oddclaw!"

        "Hello Stonesea!" the raptor bowed.  "How is your family?"

        "Very good thank you," the pterosaur dipped his head, "how is yours?!"

        "Also good, thank you, anything new?"

        "The fish are very good today!  Firetail and Plainslash were fighting again out on the Birthlands."

        "I asked if anything was new," Oddclaw rolled his eyes.

        "Well they are fighting over a NEW female that caught their eye," the prince chuckled with a clack of his beak, "the warmbloods near the Deep Mountains are keeping to themselves, hunting as always, though a scout of mine did see something odd near the Death Nest."

        "Ohh?" the raptor sat on the grass.

        "A swiftclaw she said, out on its own digging around inside the mountain with a tail that shone like stone."

        "Wait, did you say a shining tail?" asked Jacob scratching his head.  "Also hi I'm Jacob I don't think we've met?"

        "Ahhh yes the new starbeast," said the pterosaur sweeping out his wings, "I am Stonesea, Prince of the Flyers."

        "OH, s-sorry!" he knelt down on one knee with his head deeply bowed.  "Uhh, f-forgive me your highness, I didn't realise you were royalty, my apologies!"

        "HHhahahaha, well, what a polite starbeast you are!" he patted the yoshi's head with his wingclaw.  "Do not fear, any friend of Oddclaw is a friend of us."

        "Right, sorry again your highness."  Jacob stood back up and brushed his knees.  "But you were saying about a raptor with a shining tail, like it was made of steel?"

        "Yes, our scout saw it."

        "Cuz back a couple months ago when I first landed, I saw Oddclaw's son being attacked by four of them!"

        "AH!"  Oddclaw gasped clicking his fingers.  "You are right, I remember one of them too from cycles before."

        "What's the deal with those guys anyway, you know 'em?"

        "Only one, they are a tribe from far away, swiftclaws with stone tails, one of whom tried to kill my mate after tricking my son."

        "Huh..." the yoshi scratched his chin, "they were wanting your kid too, not like attacking him like they did with me, like they wanted to just grab him."

        "Hmm."

        "Is something wrong?" Stonesea tilted his head towards the raptor.

        "I am not sure.  But thank you for telling me."

        "Glad to help," the pterosaur flapped himself up, "I was just passing so I hope you forgive me for taking off so sudden."

        "It is fine, I am always glad to see you friend."

Oddclaw gave him a hug before the prince flew off into the sky with his guards, fading to a black dot as Jacob looked over to the raptor.

        "You think those uh...steel raptors are up to something?"

        "I do not know," he looked back to the yoshi, "but you said they wanted Seaclaw to take to someone?"

        "I think so, he can tell you more, I didn't understand them when I was fighting them."

        "Alright.  That does worry me though," the raptor rubbed his chin, "why did they want my son...unless."

        "Unless what?" Jacob leaned in.

        "Well...my son became friends with one of those stonetail raptors, the one who tried to kill my mate."

        "Oooooh," the yoshi shook his head, "you think they wanted like, revenge?  Cuz they weren't trying to hurt him, actually they tried to hurt me WAY more than with him, they were holding back with him."

        "So they did not want to hurt him, but take him with them."

        "Like a kidnapping?!"

        "That would make sense."  He patted Jacob's arm with a smile of relief.  "Thank you again, I do not know why they wanted him but I am glad you were there to stop it."

        "Hey, n-no prob," he grinned blushing, "just, yanno, I was there, I just wish we coulda found his friend."

        "Who is this friend, do you know?"

        "Uhhh...when I was following them, he looked really old and badly torn-up, like I kinda worried he was gonna hurt him cuz he looked so nasty."

        "What did he look like?"

        "He...well," Jacob tucked in his arms, "he had these tiny stumps for arms, and his face was COVERED in scars like all down this side, and his eye was missing."

Oddclaw's eyes widened with a sudden fear.  Then an even quicker burning rage that twisted his face into a snarl that frightened Jacob briefly before the raptor ran through the nests and into the woods.  He tracked down Seaclaw from the scent as he found the boy clashing his wooden sword against Chanoch in a bracing battle, scattering leaves underfoot in a dance of blades.

        "HWAH, HYAAH, RRRAAAGH!"

        "Seaclaw, Seaclaw wait!"

        "OH, hi father!"  They stopped in mid-swing as the boy smirked.

        "Seaclaw, I must ask you about your friend," he gripped his shoulders firm.

        "Uhhh, wh-what happened, did ya find him?!"

        "No no, I just forgot to ask, what did your friend call himself?"

        "OH, yah, Shaderunner!"

His smile faded from the look on his father's face.  Something frightened him in the twitching eye as Chanoch stepped close with a warning pull of Seaclaw's arm to step back.

        "F-father?  What's wrong?"

        "...Seaclaw."  The raptor shuddered a breath through his teeth.  "You...must never...NEVER-"

        "GOOO OFF ON YOUR OWN-WHOA!"  Jacob barged through tripping over a log.  "Y-YEAH, yeah uhhh, your dad was JUST about to say hooooow you should never go off on your own without someone in your family!"

        "Ummmm...o-okayyyy?" the boy squinted.

        "And ALSO that," the yoshi stepped between them, "that I should go look for your friend because, I'm not doing anything right now until I have to get back home, and yanno, your dad is like SUPER busy with all the huntiiiing and guardiiing, right?  Right?"

Turning towards Oddclaw with his back to Seaclaw, the yoshi gave a firm wink as the father gritted his teeth and bared them sharp when Jacob tried to touch him.  He grabbed the yoshi's shoulder and forced him aside before taking a deeper breath and gripped his son once more.

        "I...am worried about you."

        "Wh-what?"

        "This was the second time that you went off on your own, with a hunter none of us knew.  I want you to promise me, to NEVER go off on your own without any of your family."

        "Um...o-okay father."

        "Promise me, now."

        "I, I promise but what about me an' Highwave, can we not-"

        "No, absolutely not."

        "WHAT?!"

        "W-wait, wait hold on," Jacob waved his hand, "that's, that's his friend you can't just stop him fro-"

        "Do NOT tell me how to raise my son!"  He thrust his claw towards the yoshi.  "You are a starbeast, you do not understand how life is here!"

        "But you know Highwave!" Seaclaw stomped his foot.  "She's your friend too, she, sh-she helped you save me from the starbeasts that took me!"

        "And what if some beast out on the sea takes you away?!" he swung his hand to the south.  "Highwave did not know where you went when you ran off with some OTHER beast, how do you know he did not lure you to those stonetails to be taken away again?!"

        "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" the boy screeched with quivering lip.  "YOU, y-you, you never met him, he coulda killed me but he didn't, we hunted together a-an' he was nice to me!"

        "YOU JUST SAID HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"

        "BUT HE DIDN'T, I BEAT HIM BECAUSE I'M A HUNTER, WHY DON'T YOU TRUST ME?!"

        "I do trust you, it is THEM I do not trust!"

        "BUT I CAN HUNT ON MY OWN!"

        "You are not going ANYWHERE without one of your family and that is THAT!"

        "ENOUGH."

Chanoch's voice shook through the trees with a demonic timbre as he stepped in wth a a pained look.

        "Your father is frightened, Seaclaw.  He is not angry, he is frightened."

        "B-but, but he doesn't trust me!"

        "No, he does not trust others."

        "Exactly," Oddclaw nodded, "I am sorry Seaclaw, but I-"

        "I was not agreeing with you."  The lizardman turned to him.  "You want to protect your son, so be with him.  Do not force him to stay with you, go with him instead."

        "Y-yeah, yeah!"  Jacob nodded standing beside him.  "See that's, that's a lot better right, what if you could just go with him?!"

        "Across the sea?!" he snapped.

        "Well why not, what's stopping you, you can swim right?!"

        "Not across the ENTIRE SEA, Highwave is only one fish!"

        "Then build a boat."  Chanoch swept his arms.  "You do not have to swim, only be with your son."

        "That's a GREAT idea!" the yoshi grabbed his arm.  "That way Seaclaw can go out on the sea with his friend, and you get to hang out with him, see everybody wins!"

        "I...hmm."  The thought stuck in his mind enough to defuse the father's anger.  "Well...that would help."

        "Well Seaclaw?" the lizardman looked down at him.  "That is good, yes?"

        "C-can I...um..." the boy rubbed his head feeling humbled with a quivering heart, "i-if we...can I still play with Highwave if you're with us father?"

        "That...yes."  He sighed with a tightening chest.  "If I or your mother, or your siblings can be with you then, yes."

        "Then it's settled!" Jacob clapped.  "Let's build us a boat, I know exactly what we'll need!"

Rushing off into the woods and heading down onto the beach, Jacob grabbed all that he could in building a raft.  The forest offered plenty in abundance for the wood and vines he gathered with Chanoch lifting entire logs and dragging them down the shore whilst Oddclaw and Seaclaw sat together weaving vines into knots.  Jacob built the mast, whilst Jarogniew filed down the logs with his sword in chopping lengths and smoothing them out to a sturdy platform when tied together, giving it a sunken depth when he filed out one log to put in the centre of the raft with a fine hollowed space.  Hours would pass, but the long heat of anger had gone from the father and son who tied each other up in knots and cackled running after each other across the sands until the sunset was approaching.  The pure blue sky had faded in almost the blink of an eye for how long they spent staring upon the wood, and it wasn't until they were almost finished that they looked up to see the sky turn a rose magenta when they locked the mast into place.

        "Alright, now tie that thing there!"

        "Like this?!"

        "Yeah yeah that's good, now just put these two together...aaaaand, DONE!"

Stepping back from their masterpiece, they gazed upon a gorgeous little raft made of solid wood, logs shorn and bound together with tightened vines with a sail made of thin saurian flesh that flapped in the summer breeze.

        "Woooow!" Seaclaw giggled bouncing on the sand.  "It looks GREAT!"

        "I'm still not liking that sail," Jacob cringed, "it's really gross."

        "There was nothing else I had!" Oddclaw cried.

        "I have never built a ship," Chanoch smiled dusting his hands, "that felt good!"

        "Yeah you did awesome!" Jacob patted his arm.  "It looks real good, now your dad can come with you on your adventures!"

        "Y-yah, thank you Longtongue, thank you Stonetree!"  The boy hugged them both tight.

        "How did you learn to make this?" asked the father patting his shoulder.

        "Well, my uncle taught me!"  The yoshi smiled.  "He's a tour guide so he's been to lots of different places and knows about survival skills, one time we all went camping together and he taught me to make a raft yanno in case I get stranded!  Like this."

He swept his arms out across the beach as the sun glistened down on their backs.

        "Dang though this place is super nice, there's worse places to get stranded."

        "You learned well," Chanoch petted Seaclaw before the boy ran off.  "It is a good raft, will it hold all of us?"

        "One way to find out!"

        "How do you make it go?!" the little lad leapt onto the raft.

        "Well first you need the wind behind you," Jacob joined him on the boat, "once it's heading outwards you-"

        "But that's upwind, won't others smell you?"

        "It's the ocean, it all smells like fish!"

        "Heehehaha!"

        "Now, once the wind is heading that way, you pull this."  He pulled a rope from the mast to unfurl the sail.  "Then you tighten it here aaaand that keeps the sail up, then if you want to put it down to just drift, you just loosen it again."

         "And this is for pushing it when there is no wind?"  Oddclaw grabbed a long oar with paddle.

        "Yep yep and you can store it in here!" Jacob opened a small door in the middle of the raft.  "That's for all your food, your drinking water and your oar so you don't lose it."

        "Very good!" the lizardman nodded stepping on as the raft slipped into the water.  "This boat feels strong."

        "Yeah thanks to you," the yoshi punched his arm, "you got a real knack for carpentry!"

        "I learned many things in younger days.  Never built a boat before, this was fun."

        "Can we go now?!" Seaclaw cried jumping at the tip.

        "Only to make certain it swims," said Oddclaw patting his head, "we are not going out today, but maybe in a few days."

        "Okay, let's go!"

        "SPLICE THE MAINBRACE AN' BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!" Jacob cried tying the sailknot.  "First mate Chanoch guide us out!"

        "What, you are captain now?" he snorted.

        "I mean, do you wanna be captain?"

        "I AM captain, boy."

        "Not on the sea you're not, that's a different principality!"

        "I WANNA BE ALPHA!" Seaclaw shrieked throwing his hands.  "We gooooo THAT WAY!"

        "Hah, aye-aye captain Seaclaw."

The knight saluted as he grabbed the rudder on the back of the raft, guiding it out towards the east as the boat slipped off from the shore and took a gentle stroll down the shallow reef.  The crashing waves caused it to wobble as the raptors stumbled, yelping when Oddclaw grabbed his son tight to keep him on the boat as Chanoch steadied his feet with Jacob leaning on the mast.  It was a short voyage, just around the eastern coast and curling up to the north to follow the ocean currents, testing the weight of the raft and learning how to use both sail and rudder with Seaclaw then Oddie getting a turn on steeering.  The salt of the sea brushed against their nostrils and soaked on their feet as they sometimes paddled towards the wind and steer through the crest of the waves until the water became too choppy and close to the cliffs causing them to steer back once the pink-belled clouds began to turn an amber hue.  Landing back on the beach they dragged the raft up into a hidden cove on the far east end that Seaclaw pointed them out to, Jacob tying the raft to a rock within the quiet cul-de-sac.

        "Alrighty, mission complete!" he high-fived his crewmembers.  "So what you guys up to now?"

        "I have sword training with Seaclaw," he rubbed the boy's head, "then we head back to the base."

        "Mmmmmnnngh I'm tired," Seaclaw slumped against Chanoch's leg.

        "A warrior never rests," he picked him up onto his shoulders, "come, we must fight!"

        "I dun wannaaaaa!"

        "You are a warrior, show me your heart!"

        "NOOO, S-STOP IIIIT HEEHEHAHAHA!"

The lumbering knight charged off into the forest much to the boy's protests, his cries turning to screeching cackles as Oddclaw sighed with a hand sweeping his brow.

        "Well," Jacob stretched his arms, "nnnnthat was a real adventure, I'm glad you like your boat!"

        "I do."  Oddclaw nodded.  "It was a good idea from Chanoch."

        "Sooo what are you gonna do?"

        "I will head back to the nest, Moonclaw should be returning soon with the hunt.  But, one last thing."

He grabbed Jacob's shoulder with a tightened grip and a deepened voice.

        "Never tell me how to raise my son again."

        "Uhhh...y-yes, sir."

        "Also, if Seaclaw asks you to find his 'friend', you will not do so.  You will say that you did, and that you tried, but you will NEVER find him."

        "Uhh," the yoshi blinked, "do you...do you know this guy-"

        "IF you find him, you will not speak to him nor look at him."  Oddclaw lowered his head with claws digging sharper into Jacob's skin.  "He is not Seaclaw's friend, he is no one's friend and you will never say anything but 'I have not found him' if Seaclaw ever asks.  Do you understand?"

        "...okay," Jacob nodded, "I understand."

        "Good."

        "IF you tell me who he really is."  The yoshi swung his arms back with a growing grin.  "Cuz, I can't really keep up a lie if I don't know wha-AAAGH!"

Suddenly the raptor pounced on him, his arms pinned with a valley of teeth pressing against his snout and his chest grinding hard against Jacob's own.

        "You are a good beast Jacob...and you are kind to my family and my friends."

        "N-NNNGH!"

        "I like you as a friend...so I will only ask you once."  He pressed his eyes like daggers of green against Jacob's brown pupils.  "Do not...open this wound that would tear my family apart.  I beg of you."

There was a moment of sadness that he caught in the raptor's eyes.  A deepening pain that silenced him enough to nod gently with understanding as he stopped resisting and laid back against the grass.  Oddclaw sighed and rolled off of him, groaning with his hands clasped to his face as they stared towards the deep orange sky.

        "I am sorry Jacob."

        "I-it's fine," he sighed, "I...I think I understand now."

        "Good.  I do not want to frighten you, but this wound is too deep."

        "Right.  Well...I won't see him...ever."

        "Thank you."

        "...wow."  Jacob looked towards the horizon.  "I never realised how...close this sunset looks like to home."

        "Really?" the raptor sat up with him.

        "From my window back home, I can see the docks at sunset.  It always makes me feel...like I belong.  Somewhere."

Jacob said nothing more until it was time to leave, staring at the sunset with Oddclaw beside who rubbed his back in a softer apology.  The yoshi returned to base with Chanoch in tow who waved farewell to a tired Seaclaw, a short hop over the waters bringing them back to the Brokentooth Sands where they both greeted the guards who saluted to Chanoch and nodded to Jacob.

        "Sooo uhhh what you wanna do?" the youngster asked.

        "I would like to rest," said Jarogniew, "I have a book waiting for me."

        "Awesome, think I might have some movies to watch later on-OH, hey doc!"

He saw Andrea with a wave who smiled at first, before seeing Chanoch behind as she turned down another corridor quickly.

        "Doc, hey doc wait um...huh."  The yoshi turned back to Chanoch.  "Is she...avoiding you?"

        "Hmm."  The knight walked past him with a shrug.  "It is fine."

        "Well, no, it's not, why is she avoiding you?"

        "Because of James.  We were together."

        "But, that's...you're not him."

        "I know, it is fine."

        "No no no, no, look," Jacob grabbed his hand, "it's been like two months right?  What is she just gonna ignore you forever now?"

        "I do not know, that is her choice."

The yoshi looked forlorn upon the lizardman, his shoulders hunched as he returned to his room whilst Jacob walked on to where Dixon kept walking.

        "Um, hey doc?"

        "Oh, yeah?"  She looked back once and kept walking.  "I'm sorry we still haven't found a way for you to-"

        "Nah nah it's cool that's not what I'm here about um...so, you know Chanoch right?"

        "Yeeees?"  Dixon side-eyed him as he stepped to her side.

        "Why do you keep avoiding him?"

        "That's not any of your business."

        "Well he's pretty upset about it," shrugged Jacob.

        "Then why doesn't he tell me about it himself?"

        "Because you keep avoiding him, sheesh!"

Andrea stopped to tighten her lip with a firm sigh through her nostrils.

        "Do you make it a habit to pry into others' affairs, or are you just doing it to me?"

        "Well," the yoshi rubbed his neck, "Chanoch's a nice guy, he's not done anything to you, so why are you avoiding him?"

        "It's complicated and I don't want to get into it."

        "You don't have to tell me what it is, just talk to him, you're not gonna solve anything by-"

        "Stop it."  She planted her an inch from his snout.  "If I want to spill my problems to someone that's Dr. Addison's job, not yours, I just don't want to see Chanoch right now."

        "Alright, alright."

Stepping back, she tried to walk away before her legs failed her, her mind torn two ways in a struggle to go back or forth before she resigned herself to just slumping down in the hall and taking a deep breath.  She clutched her face with a sigh as people turned away from the growing scene of discomfort.

        "You know..." Jacob sat down beside her, "my dad used to have really bad nightmares, about stuff that happened when he was a lot younger.  He kept it to himself, because he didn't want other people to feel bad about the stuff that he was feeling bad about."

        "Mmhmm," Andrea nodded.

        "But then he met my mom, and it got too hard for him to keep it all inside because she would feel him all restless at night, and some days he just started crying.  So she asked him, just straight up, to tell him everything in the nightmares, because if they were gonna live together, they should share problems that they're having, even if they're just dreams and bad thoughts churning away in the back of your head."

        "Ah huh," she stared ahead.

        "So he told her everything," Jacob sighed rubbing his hands, "he told her...well, I don't know what he told her, but mom told me that when dad was having it real rough, he tried to be too strong for everyone else and that just hurt him really badly.  Sometimes, trying to hold it all in because people expect you to, is like the worst thing you can do because-"

        "You just end up breaking into a thousand pieces?"  She turned to him.  "That what you're trying to tell me?"

        "Yeah," he nodded.  "So...tell me what happened.  I wanna know."

        "Why do you care?"

        "Because I don't like seeing people hurting themselves."  He patted her shoulder.  "My dad felt a lot better when he told my mom everything, all the stuff he feared and kept thinking about and the nightmares, even when it really upset her...but they were happy.  He stopped having nightmares because he finally had someone else to share things with."

        "Are your folks still together?" Dixon rubbed her eyes.

        "Yeah they been together for like twenty years!  So...you wanna talk?"

Andrea gave a deeper sigh and clenched her fists with steady trembling.

        "James was Chanoch's lover.  Him and his master, Haytham, came from another world and we became friends with them, sharing stuff about magic and, later, science and well, we got along well.  Haytham and I fell in love because we understood each other and he...he was the only one who understood me."

        "Sounds like a cool dude," Jacob grinned.

        "He was a wonderful, brilliant...god damn it," she pinched between her eyes, "Haytham was a mind that I had rarely ever met, he understood what it was like, to have all this in your head and to have so much rely on you just to keep it together.  We read theses, we discussed, we debated, he treated me like a fellow scientist despite the fact he was just basically some kinda wizard but I LOVED it, I loved him, I loved that he...he...made me feel I was the greatest person he ever met."

Her head pressed against her knees in a deeper sob, Jacob rubbing her shoulder and patting her back to let her tears run free.

        "James had his own thing...that was fine, him and Chanoch fell in love, we had separate relations it was good...just...what WASN'T fine, was the fact that for the last two years that he was with us, he was plotting, scheming something because he had an obsession to beat this darkness that was looming over his village back home, and it drove him to do STUPID things.  The last entire year, he, LOOKED me in the eye, knowing that he killed the man I loved and not a fucking shred of guilt in him.  H-he...he...he knew what he did to us, he took advantage of us, abused my experiment and took the one person who ever understood me!"

She broke down harder for the next few minutes.  Jacob let her weep in silence, waiting until she calmed herself to pick his words carefully.

        "Nothing's worse than feeling you're all alone against the world.  I don't know what that's like, I've always had my family around me.  I don't know what it's like to lose someone you love either."

        "You're very lucky," she sighed, "how old are you Jacob?"

        "Seventeen."

        "...oh god."  Her fingers curled against her cheeks.  "God you're that young?"

        "Y-yeah," he muttered hugging his knees.

        "Jesus...you...oh god you don't deserve to be here, you're just-"

        "Hey, h-hey it's alright, I know you'll get me back."

        "No you don't."  Dixon looked up to him.  "I've been stuck here, WE have been stuck here for almost thirty goddamn years and we are not any step closer to getting back home."

        "But you keep fighting right?!" he patted her calmly.  "You keep on pushing because that's what you do!"

        "And it was easier when I had Haytham, he gave me hope, he gave me opportunities and different things and god, f-fuck I miss him so much.          "So why don't you talk to her about it?" Jacob crossed his arms.  "You're making Chanoch feel bad, it's not his fault what happened to Jam-"

        "DON'T bring up his fucking name."  She jabbed closer to his eye.  "You're stuck here because of him, you know damn well the shit he caused, I explained it to you-"

        "And none of that is Chanoch's fault, so why are you avoiding him!?"

        "I DON'T KNOW!"  She threw her hands and slammed her fists into the wall.  "I don't...know, okay, I know it's not his fault, but everytime I see him, I see that little lemming FUCK wrapped around his arm plotting some bullshit, PLOTTING to take advantage of me and the fact he killed the one I loved AND THE ENTIRE FUCKING YEAR HE WAS HERE, HE KNEW WHAT HE DID!"

        "I...I'm so sorry.  I didn't know about...that part."

        "N-no...no you, couldn't have."

        "That's really awful, I'm sorry doctor."

        "It...no, it...it's not fine.  It'll never be fine."  She gasped with shvering tears.  "I have...everyone, on my head, on my shoulders, expecting me to carry them INCLUDING you.  I have to get everyone home, do you know how hard it is...to have a hundred people, their entire futures on your BACK and you are all alone, with no one to help carry that because you are the only person to figure out this FUCKING third-energy bullshit?!"

        "No, I don't."

Breaking down into tears once more Andrea shuddered hard with her head in her hands, rocking softly to herself as Jacob hugged her tight.

        "I know you're trying really hard, everybody knows, like even in the short time I been here they all talk about how super smart you are with like, stuff I got no idea what it's about, I am the WORST at science."

        "H-heh, heh."

        "And you're right, it was easier when you had someone who could lift you up and be on your level and just...hold onto you when you feel like you're about to fall."

        "Right, exactly."

        "And it feels even worse when nobody wants to talk to you, you're just trying to keep on going and people-"

        "Turn away from you...hhhh."  She looked up with her eyes closed.  "I get it.  I get it.  I just don't want to be reminded of him, and Chanoch reminds me too much."

        "He knows that," Jacob said, "he feels awful, you know he took like a whole vow of silence because he was torn up over it, he just couldn't handle it and didn't know how to even talk to you about it cuz you...have to deal with so much more."

        "Nnnngh...you think I should just go talk to him?"

        "I mean, he wants to talk to you, he just...didn't want to bother you."

        "Yeah, that's like him.  Alright."  Dixon stood up and clapped her cheeks.  "Let's just rip off the bandaid right now before it gets worse, none of us asked to be here."

The yoshi nodded and walked behind her to the soldier's room.  Knocking on the door she was met by the lizardman who stood tense before her and Jacob.

        "I'm...sorry," said Andrea clenching her fingers, "I know it wasn't your fault.  I've been avoiding you because I...don't want to think about him because of-"

        "I understand," said Jarogniew bowing, "you have much work to do.  I miss Haytham too, he was a good man."

        "That's very...kind of you, thank you."

She offered her hand as he grasped it in return, Jacob smiling with a sigh of relief as they felt a weight lift off their chests.  Not entirely, but just enough for them to breathe again.

Third Energy Research - Subject Nineteen ("Jacob's Return")

13-01-2050

Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon

As proposed in our previous reports leading up to the next anomaly, we are planning to use the coordinates we gleamed from James' damaged book from where Jacob had come from.  I do not expect us to find his home so easily due to the basic fact that James' calculations differed vastly from my own, but with no other avenue to choose from we have to try.  Much as I want to return home, I do not want to be responsible for separating a child from his family anymore than I already am by proxy of James' scheme.

Hopefully someone from his world will come to us and the feedback system we engaged with Lea Monde will work the same way.  Our attempts to comprehend or even reactivate the linking book have proven futile for its irreparable damage, and lacking anyone versed in actual magic, this is the only option left to us.

        "Alright," Jacob patted the ball with his boot, "you ever played soccer?"

        "No," Chanoch shook his head.

        "You mean football dab," Holt smacked his lips.

        "Nooo," Jacob shook his head, "that's the one with the bodypads and the ball that you throw."

        "That's called pussy football," Kevin snickered.

        "Technically it's a derivative of rugby football," Amy raised her hand.

        "Wh-whatever we call it soccer where I come from!" Jacob tossed the ball up high and caught it in his other hand.  "So what you gotta do is, you get the ball down to THAT goal without using your hands.  The goalkeeper's the only one who can pick it up."

        "Alright," Chanoch stretched his legs with a grunt, "I have never played any sports."

        "Really?" Jane cocked her head.  "But football's been around since the 2nd century!"

        "You musta had like wrestling an' such," Jeremy scoffed.

        "Ah, yes," the lizardman nodded, "I have done wrestling, boxing-"

        "So combat sports," the reploid nodded, "okay well hey I never played this before so we're equal on that."

        "Alright I got a coin," Kevin dug one out of his shorts, "call it, heads or tails."

        "HEADS!"

Jane shouted before anyone had the chance and it landed thusly on heads.  Passing the ball to her, they split themselves up in two teams across the large rectangular court of rubber flooring in the gymnasium between two goals on opposite sides.  Jacob, Chanoch and Amy wore Red shirts and shorts, whilst Kevin, Jane and Holt were decked in Blue.

The soldier and the lizardman both opted to go in goal as Jane made her first move, taking a cautious running kick towards Kevin who caught the ball with a spin of his robotic leg and came charging towards Amy and Jacob trying to block him.  The yoshi tried to kick between his legs but Kevin cackled with a bop of the ball between his legs and swerved round with surprising speed, but Amy was faster in snatching it away to come tearing towards Jane.

        "KEV, HERE!"

        "I'm on it!"

He came running beside the wolf who grinned with a calculating blink towards the goal, taking the chance to kick the ball far past Jane's reach and straight to the net where Jeremy punched it out of the air back towards Addison who tried to evade Amy.  Kevin blocked her off in time as their legs clashed together, steel on steel with a grind that made them both blush enough for a distraction with the therapist kicking towards the lizardman in goal who spread out his arms with steely-eye.  Jacob went for a sliding tackle, causing Jane to jump and kick at the same time to hurtle the ball at Chanoch who just grabbed it from the air with firm claws squeezing the rubber.

        "Not bad."

The lizardman tossed it to Jacob who had rushed to the side of the pitch and bopped the ball on his chest before turning to run and kick to Amy further up in the field.  Kevin tried to lock her down but the wolf was more slippery than she looked when she faked him out and ran a circle round him to header the ball and ran with it towards Jeremy.  She strafed to the left and caught him out when he tried to leap, kicking hard into the corner of the net.

        "AWWW FUCK!" Holt slammed the ground.

        "WHOOOHOOO NICE ONE!" Jacob ran up to high-five Amy.

        "You like that?" she winked at Kevin with a smooch.

        "I mean it's not the first time you wrapped your legs round-"

        "UM, KEVIN!" Jane shouted.  "There's a child here!"

        "I'm eighteen ma'am!" Jacob swung his arms grinning wide.  "You forget I've been here a whole year?!"

        "What?  Oh...well, in that case just w-watch yourselves alright?!"

        "No promises."

The chemist waved her off with a snicker towards Amy as they went back to their spots.  The game continued on with a passive audience from the sidelines, watching and cheering with humans, reploids and badniks gathering up and even starting to take part as the teams grew to the maximum size of 11 each.  For the next 90 minutes they forgot about today's experiment, even Jacob who had been anxiously ticking it over in the back of his head for the past 14 months.  But none were as concerned as Andrea, who stood in her control room at the lab staring upon the great third energy gate looming with promises of return.

        "Alright fingers crossed," she braced herself at the panel, "if this works we might get someone or someplace from Jacob's home or maybe even ours.  Meridian-five, what's your status?"

        "All good here chief," said the comms, "give us the readout."

        "Particle diffraction offset down to eight percent, Kirk-Roentgen frequency one-hundred-twelve, T.E. stability resonance to zero."

        "Wait, NO stability resonance?"

        "If it doesn't kill us, makes us stronger."

        "Yes boss...alright, locking numbers down now."

        "Let's hope we got this right."

She pumped the handle as the machine started up, bursting with a sudden force that trembled throughout the room and a shudder ran through her spine.  Across the entire base the alarm went off indicating the experiment occurring, as everyone braced themselves mentally for what would come and Jacob wished deep as he could into his heart for her success.  The gate burst with energy, and somewhere within prehistoria a cold fire burst with shocking strength that caused the ocean to seethe and mountains to shiver.  it was the longest most fearful twenty minutes they had experienced as it soon stopped.

        "Did...did it work?"

Dixon looked around with a suspicious look before she clicked onto the local channel.

        "Radar, you pick up anything?"

        "Yep!" crackled the comms.  "Hundred-and-thirty TEFs, this one then it just blipped off out of existence."

        "Wait, what?"

        "We caught it just when it was entering then it went dark, like there's some sorta cloaking field on it."

        "Seriously?" she cocked her head.  "That's not good."

        "Yeah I sure hope we didn't pick up some other secret government's ops or something."

        "Where did you last catch it?"

        "South of us," said the radio, "that's all we got before it went out."

        "Got it."

Stepping out of the lab she walked down to the gymnasium where she found Jacob waiting at the door, fingers twitching nervously as she rubbed her hand whilst the ball game continued on behind him in the booming echo of the hall.

        "Soooo?" the yoshi grinned biting his lip.

        "Well," she rubbed her neck, "Jacob have you ever heard of cloaking technology?"

        "Uhhh, no, what's that?"

        "When someone or something disguises themselves by pretending to be invisible so people can't track them."

        "OH, you mean like a boo?"

        "Maybe," Andrea shrugged, "just we tracked something landed here but we can't find it on our radar, it seems to be hiding."

        "Well the only thing that sounds like that is a boo."

        "Is a boo the size of a small island?"

        "N-no?"  The yoshi shook his head.  "Wow something came here THAT big?!"

        "Apparently."

        "Yeah I got no idea what that is, sorry."

        "Hmmm...well, we'll let you know if there's any updates but if you do think of something it could be, let me know."

        "You got it ma'am," he saluted.

A flyby was organised as a small fleet of Duckys were sent out to scan over the southern reach, racing over the sea and cutting carefully around the Hunters' Nest without directly flying over it in a long two-day search.  Nothing was found but they kept watch as best as they could whilst Jacob returned to Oddclaw's tribe one day to keep himself busy, joining the raptor for a small quest towards the Land Before as they arrived within Mohberrin Village.

        "So that's the pumping station," said Adenine, "that helps us process all the gunk so it goes into the fields."

        "Ahhh huh," Jacob nodded adjusting his collar, "so why you growing flowers, I mean they're real nice but what about your vegetables?"

        "They're down there," he pointed his red-and-white sleeve, "the flowers are for special chemicals, like uhhh refining steel and stuff."

        "Wooow...flowers for steel?"

        "Yep, polysulfides you know it?"

        "Nah, I got nothing on chemistry sorry, my science is baaaad."

        "Hahaha, it's fine," Ade waved his hand, "that collar on Hylian or raptor?"

        "Uhhh raptor."

        "Alright just wanted to check, how are you coping?"

        "Ehhh...can I be honest?" Jacob rubbed his hair.

        "I mean, sure, I am a doctor so you can tell me anything in secret."

        "Well...it's been kinda rough," the yoshi sighed, "I mean, I know the base is really trying, but hearing how all of you been stuck here for like, literal years is not a great confidence booster!"

        "I mean to be fair we all CHOSE to stay here," he wagged his sleeve, "and people got stuck here awhile before we managed to send them home."

        "Yeah but Andrea told me that only happens if we get something from my world to send me back, like a feedback thing?"

        "Yeaaaaah but, we've done it!" the alchemist grinned under his hood.  "We just gotta hit the sweet spot and send you back!"

        "Yeah...yeah, I'm sure you guys got something figured out, for sure!" he pushed a grin through his cheeks.  "Sooo anything I can do to help?"

        "Nah yer good, take a load off and relax until Oddclaw's done with whatever he's off doing."

The village was somewhat more excitable than usual, having unique visitors in the form of Eggfang, Oddclaw and Jacob roaming around being pestered by children that grabbed at their legs and babbled in Hylian speak whilst splashing through the swampy grounds.  The moblins were training with their spears, the lizalfos were hammering armours in a forge, and the bokoblins were busy cooking food for everyone.

        "//Now you put in this,//" said Bokorie, "//then add some of this spice...now taste it.//"

She offered a spoon to a small lizalfos who squeaked with a happy pant.

        "//W-WOW iz yummy!//"

        "//Eeyup!//" said Bokonette.  "//Now who's hungry?!//"

        "//ME ME!//"

The two black bokoblins scooped up bowls to offer to the children all seated, savouring the dleicious spicy stew as Adenine joined them with Jacob following.

        "//Everything good?//" asked Ade in Hylian.

        "//Yep,//" Bokonette pulled him down to smooch his beak, "//your friend want a taste?//"

        "Jacob you want some?" he asked the yoshi.

        "S-sure, I love stew!"

Taking a bowl he sat amongst the children and slurped what was offered to him, savouring the delicious spicy soup as the bokoblin daughter fingered along Adenine's robe with him playfully patting her away.

        "//Soooo how are you?//"

        "//Not baaaad you know there's kids here right?//"

        "//I'm not doing anything.//"

        "//Nette please,//" her mother tapped her head with the spoon, "//it's not a good look to your future husband.//"

        "//MOOOM!//"

        "//Woa-woah wait, wait,//" Adenine raised his hands, "//what?//"

        "//Is that not what you're planning?//" Bokorie smiled with a devilish grin.  "//The way you two spend every night together-//"

        "//Sh-SHUT, SHUT, SHUT UP, NO, NO MORE WORDS!//" Nette clamped her fingers over her mother's face.

On the other side of the village, Oddclaw sat with Lizanaich and Eggfang inside the chieftain's hut, the cloaked lizalfos sitting under the skull of a triceratops.

        "//So you want us to like, protect the swamps out there but, moreso?//"

        "Yes," said Oddclaw with translating collar, "you have many weapons and if there is something terrible that may come, the waterjaws will need help too."

        "//May I ask why?//" he leaned forwards clasping his hands.  "//When I have my own village to protect, why would these waterjaws need help?//"

        "If you protect them, they protect you," he said nodding, "is it not better to have friends?"

        "//I mean I'd appreciate having more allies,//" the chief rubbed his chin, "//but I don't think they like me very much.//"

        "He says he does not think the waterjaws like his tribe," Oddclaw repeated to his sister.

        "I can tell you now the waterjaws do not mind this tribe," she snorted licking her claws as her brother translated, "the alpha has appreciated how you respect his home by keeping your tribe away, and when I asked the alpha if he would consider this tribe to help in protecting this land from other starbeasts, he was unsure at first, but I have convinced him after we spoke with Jane."

        "//Really?//" the lizalfos rubbed his head.  "//Well...gee that is nice of him, but wouldn't it be better if we at least got to talk and meet?//"

        "If you wish to meet him yourself I can have you both meet outside of your territories."

        "//That'd be a better idea, just so we can talk better, if you don't mind translating for me Oddie.//"

        "I would be happy to," the raptor bowed, "where is a good place to meet?"

        "//Uhhh yanno there's a nice open plain about north of here, not too far from the shore but not too close to here, also it's not a lot of hills so you can see for miles.//"

        "Very good," Eggfang purred scritching her head, "neither tribe can surprise the other, you enforce a trust between you."

        "//Exactly.  Alright then!//" the chief stood up to shake Oddclaw's hand.  "//We'll get started once we hear back from the waterjaw chief, tell him where I suggested and it's all good?//"

        "Yes, thank you," Oddclaw smiled as Eggfang took her leave, "see you soon Lizanaich!"

Heading out towards the gate, the two raptors sighed with some relief as the anthro waved to moblins in passing before scanning the village for Jacob.

        "It is impressive how you retain your role," said his sister.

        "What do you mean?" he replied.

        "The Voice of the Tribe, it seems you have made friends with every tribe around here."

        "Not the Bloodfeathers," he raised a claw, "that was more Jane's doing."

        "True, then most of them."

        "The waterjaws are more your friends than mine."

        "Brother, I am trying to compliment you please."

        "Hahaha, sorry."  He pulled her into a hug as she licked his neck.  "Are you alright?"

        "Ohhh quite good," she shivered warm through her body, "I hope our sisters have not missed me TOO much."

        "Only when it is feeding time, hahaha.  But what about you, are you not lonely out there with the waterjaws?"

        "Ohh I am fine, Frozentongue has been helping me settle in their tribe very nicely."

        "That is good!" he licked her head.  "So with this we will be able to protect the Land Before from whatever may come."

        "Do you know WHAT this beast from afar will be?" she purred looking up to the sky.

        "No, only that it may be great and fearsome."

        "That means nothing, a greatbeast was that and the only one that was here was killed by our tribe."

        "Hmph," he turned to her with a softened smile, "you are the only one who says that, everyone else says it was my father."

        "Only because of Eyeclaw constantly praising him," Eggfang looked back to him, "but I remember how it went, all of us fighting together against a maddened beast that stood before our freedom.  Your father may have dealt the killing blow, but we stood together."

        "And now, we stand with new friends."  Oddclaw patted her side.  "I just hope the hairless can return home before they grow too old."

        "YOOO!"  Jacob waved from afar hiking up towards them.  "They got some GREAT soup over there you guys hungry?!"

        "No thank you," he shook his head, "we were just about to return home, do you need anything before we leave?"

        "Nope," he dusted his hands, "I'm just thankful you took me along."

        "Only because Seaclaw begged me, he still worries for this friend of his that you may have seen."

        "I wish I knew where he was," Jacob shrugged, "sorry."

        "A pity you do not hunt," Eggfang added swishing her tail, "another claw helps when we travel the same lands."

        "O-oh, yeah sorry," he rubbed his head, "but I can keep you safe at least!"

        "A friend is always welcome," she licked his hand, "if you cannot offer food, protection is also good."

        "Heh, glad to hear!"

Heading out to the east they made their journey home, Jacob eating his supplies he had kept from the base whilst Oddclaw and Eggfang went hunting throughout the rest of the day until reaching the centre of the marshen plains.  The yoshi kept apart from their bloodied ventures as they dipped and rose through the hills beneath a darkening sky, clouds gathering slightly to turn from clear blue to a pallid pewter as they sat in a gully near the Greatbeast's Spine for fear of oncoming rain.  Night had soon fallen, a campfire was made and Jacob built a small roof to shelter them in case the waters broke.

        "Thank you for making a shelter," said the feral settling in, "keeps us well hidden too."

        "No prob," said Jacob patting the struts, "also hides the firelight so no predators come round."

        "Very good, hiding our presence."

        "Do you want me to burn your meat?" asked Oddclaw to his sister.

        "Oh you know I would, I miss your burned meats."

He smiled and put up a thin stone plate on the fire to sear the chunks of meat, the hot sizzling making her salivate with a growing excitement.

        "Jacob would you like some too?" the raptor asked.

        "Uhhh s-sure!" he grinned.  "If it's cooked I'll have some yeah."

        "It is much better when burned.  My children all say the same too."

        "How come you can't cook at home?"

        "The other families are frightened of fire.  My mother included."

        "Aww."  Jacob clacked his boots together with a click of his tongue.  "Gosh the sky looks so big around here."

        "How so?" said Oddclaw turning over the meat.

        "Maybe it's just, I dunno, how big this whole land is, like back home we have warp pipes and trains to get around but even my uncle Koopin said it never took more than a couple days to get anywhere walking."

        "Your uncle is a traveller?" asked Eggfang licking her lips.

        "Yeah he loves to walk all over the kingdom, not as much nowadays cuz he's kinda getting old and needs a cane but still loves to hike!"

        "That is good, you should not let age slow you down."

        "Yeah my uncle James says the same thing."

        "What?"  Oddclaw looked up blinking as he focused to speak English.  "Your uncle...James?"

        "Yeah, woah wait why you speaking-"

        "Is this...the uncle who you said looked very like me?"

        "Yyyyeaaaaah?" Jacob squinted.

        "...what is his full name?"

        "James Kennidon, why?"

        "...oh."  The raptor shook his head chuckling as he dipped back into native.  "Sorry, my mistake."

        "What, what is it?" Eggfang looked between them.

        "I thought his uncle was someone we knew."

        "Someone you know?" the yoshi cocked his head.  "Wait you thought it was that James guy who got banished?"

        "Well...no, someone else."

        "Ahhh gotcha, James isn't a common name so I can see why you got a li'l mixed up."

        "Yes it is fine.  Alright, food is ready!"

Splitting up the meat between them, Oddclaw served equal helpings as they savoured the rich pure juicy meat.  Jacob did his best to ignore where it came from in the midst of the wilds, relishing the thick gamey texture with a growing smile.

        "MMMMHHH!  Mmmmh wow this is GOOD!"

        "Oddclaw always can make the meat taste better," siad Eggfang tearing into her food, "mmmph, it is why I enjoy hunting with him."

        "Oh that is not why surely," said her brother patting her.

        "Well no, it is also the fact you are a very adaptable hunter.  Moreso than the rest of our family, though Fishclaw with his eyes and his Starleaf make for VERY good hunting."

        "Woah."

        "Yes it is impressive, have you seen him hunt?"

        "N-no, no look, up there, what is that?"

Pointing towards the sky they saw a trailing of lights floating across the clouds whilst being pursued by a small flock of winged beasts.  Oddclaw squinted best as he could with Eggfang joining.

        "What...is that, a stoneflyer?"

        "No, no that looks different to the ones the hairless have."

        "Is that a UFO?!  What the heck-WOAH!"

Something exploded from the unknown ship, lighting the sky in a crackling burst around it before it went spiralling with a sound of a heavy roaring that grew the closer it came.  The ship tried to correct itself as the pterosaurs followed after it, and whilst it couldn't fly again, it did manage to land relatively safe with a crunching of dirt and a long hard burn into the hills with trailing fire behind it, the sound of its crash alerting creatures far and wide with a shuddering tremendous boom.

        "WH-WHAT, what the-"

        "HEY!"  Oddclaw shouted to the pterosaurs.  "WHAT IS HAPPENING, I AM ODDCLAW, DO YOU NEED HELP?!"

        "Oddclaw?!"  One of the flyers broke off towards them as he lifted the roof to reveal himself.  "We need help, the stoneflyer it-"

        "What happened, why were you attacking it?!"

        "I-it, there were hairless, they were in the Birthlands, they were stealing eggs!"

        "WHAT?!"  He shot up with a start and walked up to him.  "That, b-but, they would never do that!"

        "No these are different hairless, the stoneflyer is different, their scent is different too!"

        "Other hairless?"  Eggfang whispered.

        "Plainslash and Firetail tried to stop them, but they got taken into the ship!"

        "How?!  What?!"

        "We have to help!"  Oddclaw looked to the smoking site.  "Come on, we have to find out what happened!"

        "Right behind ya!"  Jacob scarfed the last of his food and came rushing with shield in hand.

        "Do you have your fire?" Eggfang asked her brother as they ran.

        "No but I should be fine," he muttered, "we cannot let thieves get away from us."

        "M-maybe it's just a misunderstanding," suggested Jacob in mid-run.

        "A thief is always a thief, but an egg thief is the most vile."

A half-hour's run led them to the crash site, a large black plane shaped vaguely like a bird that buried its nose into the marsh with the rear opening its ramp where twelve humans took shots with their bullet-based rifles at the pterosaurs sweeping overhead, taking down at least two that went falling with a screech of tattered wings.  Oddclaw, Jacob and Eggfang kept hidden behind a rise as the pterosaur beside them tried to flap discreet.

        "You are right," said Oddclaw sniffing the air, "they are not the hairless we know."

        "That stoneflyer is different too," noted Eggfang, "what are they shouting?"

        "I do not...know, I do not recognise it."

        "But it is human yes?"

        "Yeah but it's another language," Jacob craned his head, "I can't understand it either."

        "Can you fight them?" asked the pterosaur.

        "If I can steal one of their fire," said Oddclaw nodding.

        "Woah woah hold up," the yoshi put a hand on him, "do we gotta just, go in so hard?"

        "They have stolen eggs," snarled the feral, "the worst thing one can do in this land."

        "Well maybe they didn't know the rules!"

        "Ignorance is NOT an excuse."

        "Look, maybe they're willing to put them back if we just explain, could we like get in close and ask?"

        "You can try," Oddclaw rolled his eyes, "but you do not even understand them."

        "Well...someone's gotta try."

        "Jacob, wait!"

Taking a step up with his shield in front the yoshi ran ahead, much to Oddclaw's frustration as he palmed his face.

        "We use this to our advantage," said Eggfang, "if they fight first, we run closer to the stoneflyer and kill the ones from the back."

        "You want us to distract?" asked the pterosaur beside them.

        "Only if you can, do not put yourselves in more danger."

Flapping off to rejoin his brethren, the flyer took her words to them as she motioned Oddclaw to follow around the ditch in the hills to where the ship's beak had buried itself.  Jacob walked across the muddy range as the soldiers kept firing, killing another pterosaur who went crunching with a squawk into the dirt making him flinch as the humans ranted amongst themselves.

        "Verdammte fliegende Ratten!"

        "Kannst du den Motor reparieren lassen?!"

        "Nein, die Teile flogen heraus, als einer von ihnen darauf traf."

        "Scheisse, ruf die Heimatbasis an, um uns abzuholen, und sag ihnen, dass wir Gegenstände zum Transport haben."

        "HELLO THERE!"

        "HALT!" a line of rifles pointed at the yoshi.  "WER IST DA?!"

        "NO NO IT'S COOL DON'T SHOOT!"  Jacob waved behind his shield.  "S-sorry, my name's Jacob and I think you guys made a mistake."

        "Zum Teufel ist das?" muttered one soldier.

        "Es spricht Englisch?!"

        "Sieht aus wie ein Dinosaurier."

        "Oder ein untermensch, schau auf die Haut."

        "Okay so," Jacob tried to walk closer, "I don't understand what you're saying, that's fine, but...could we just...cool it down a bit?"

He put down his shield as an indication then raised his hands up high, tensing his tongue as he watched for movement amongst the shining rifles as they continued to mutter amongst themselves, black armoured outfits with thick helmets wrapped in crimson goggles.  Close enough to the ship he now saw the symbol that emblazoned itself upon its wings half-covered in dirt.  A white circle with a four-legged cross in the centre of a crimson backdrop.

        "Huh," the yoshi squinted, "that's uh...weird to put on a plane, looks more like a cycling club...why is it kinda...familiar-"

        "YOU!"  One of the soldiers shouted in blunt English.  "COME.  HERE!"

        "Me?" he pointed to himself.  "Come over, there?"

        "YES, YOU!"

        "A-alright, I'll jus-"

        "NO!"  The guns tightened when he reached for his shield.  "LEAVE IT, COME HERE!"

        "...WHY?!" he shouted back.

        "WEAPON, IS...DANGER!"

        "You have like ALL your weapons, come on be reasonable!"

        "NO!  YOU COME HERE, OR WE SHOOT!"

        "What, I'm not even doing anything!"

        "COUNT, TO FIVE, THEN WE SHOOT!  ONE!  TWO!  DREI!"

The moment his voice changed Jacob felt their threat and kicked up his shield to block their firing bullets.  In that same moment two soldiers from the back grabbed and immediately silenced by claws and fangs before they could scream, dragged towards the plane ramp as Oddclaw picked up the rifles and retreated into the bushes, but not before someone inside the ship caught sight of them.

        "EINDRINGLING, EINDRINGLING!"

        "ODDCLAW NOW!"

Eggfang rushed out of sight as Oddclaw shot at the one who raised the alarm, alerting the soldiers who turned and shrieked with firing line when the raptor dodged beside the plane ramp for cover.  A few of the soldiers however kept sight on Jacob who blocked with the shield, running across the muddy marsh as he was pelted with bullets that pinged and sparked against the hard-cast steel.  Waiting for a lull in their time to reload he rushed close as he could and shot out his tongue to latch onto one of their guns and rip it from their grasp, tossing it hard into the swamp before shielding himself again.

        "HOW 'BOUT YOU DROP YOUR WEAPONS FIRST?!"

        "SCHEISSE, NIMM DAS!"

The soldier disarmed threw something from his belt, a long stick that came hurtling through the sky in an arc as Jacob quickly ran far as he could from it.  An explosion burst from behind as he rolled into the mud keeping his head covered with shield when the volley of bullets came back once again.  One soldier charged forwards, armed with a shotgun as he hammered shot after shot upon the yoshi crouching in the dirt hoping to just crack the shield with his savage recoiling force.

        "HAHAHA, kleiner schwarze Ratte, der in den Dreck kriecht, in dem du lebst-A-AAAGH!"

Shooting his tongue out from behind the shield Jacob slapped across the man's goggles and yanked them off his face, pulling the band hard enough that they went snapping straight back into his eyes to make him stagger and fall over before Jacob leapt on top of him, smashing his shield hard into his face to knock him out before throwing the gun away.

        "Didn't your moms tell you to think before shooting your mouths off?!"

        "VERDAMMTES UNTERMENSCH!"

Another soldier came rushing forwards with gun at the ready, the yoshi swinging his shield out in a spinning arc that clonked him surprised in the head and sent him staggering before he snatched the gun away with his tongue.  Tossing that one away in turn he came charging at the unarmed brute who put up his fists ready to fight, launching a hard haymaker towards Jacob who ducked fast and swung up his boot in a sudden snapkick to the helmeted face.  In his stagger the man pulled out a knife from his belt, marked with the four-legged cross as he stabbed vicious towards the yoshi who dodged a little too slow and felt the grazing cut to the side of his waist.

        "A-AAAAGH!"

He clutched himself on instinct, feeling the warmth drip between his fingers as he backed off quickly out of reach from the taunting soldier who waved his now red-tipped knife.  Thrusting at Jacob's face he made rapid movements to deter him, forcing him back further and further as the yoshi squeezed his waist tighter.  Then he felt something metal against his boot, and smiled when he hopped back and kickflipped his shield into the soldier's face, clanking hard to make him stagger before gripping the shield and slammed it hard in a charging rush, knocking him out cold before stomping on the arm to grab the knife and hurl it far as he could.

        "You, NNNGH, r-really oughta not play with knives, you coulda put someone's eye out with that!"

On the other side of the crash site, Oddclaw was taking shots with the rifle as the soldiers began to flank out and hide amongst gullies and dips in the land, constantly moving and firing down upon him whilst Eggfang slinked around the outer reach and waited for her chance.  Once a soldier had gone too far out of range and was out of the humans' eyeline, she pounced with a savage strength and tore into their throats, ripped their goggles off and gouged through the eyes one by one with Oddclaw distracting.  One soldier managed to sneak around the side of the ship and took pot shots at the raptor, scarring his shoulder as he shrieked and turned fast to hammer down a full automatic fire that crippled the man's legs and one arm, but not kill him.  With his ammo gone he tossed away the first gun and pulled up the second one, firing back amongst the other soldiers to keep them back before turning to finish off the one trying to sneak behind him as other men in the ship began shouting on the intercom.

        "DIES IST DAS WISSENSCHAFTSTEAM ACHTUNDACHTZIG!  WIR SUND FUNF KLICKS NACH NORDERN FIXIERT, UM DIE EVAKUIERUNG ZU BEANTRAGEN!"

        "Bestatigt, Nachricht erhalten Achtundachtzig, Ankunft in zehn Minuten."

        "EGGFANG!" Oddclaw shouted between shots.  "THEY ARE CALLING FOR HELP, I HEARD THEIR SPEAKSTONE!"

        "Get inside and find the eggs!" she cried back.  "I will have Jacob help me out here!"

Taking a few more shots at the soldiers he rushed inside the ship, a medium-sized plane with a cargo bay dappled in red lights that hurt his eyes to look.  Keeping the rifle close to hand he searched the bowels of the plane as other humans waited in the depths and fired immediately upon seeing him.  Oddclaw fired back with marked precision, sometimes pretending to make a wounded sound to lure them out thinking they had an easy kill before launching his claws into their throats and ripping them apart to venture deeper into the plane through narrow halls of groaning machinery and pipes of steam that burst heated exhaust at his face.

        "ODDCLAW, ODDCLAW!"

A familair bark brought him to the front of the hold where he found two large cages.  One had a therizinosaurus trying to slash the bars with his giant claws, the other a stygimoloch with burnt tail pounding his hardhead at the sides.

        "Firetail, Plainslash are you alright?!"

        "DO WE LOOK ALRIGHT?!" shrieked Firetail slamming his head.  "Why'd the hairless take us, I thought we were friends!"

        "Cuz they're not the ones we know idiot!" shouted Slash.  "These guys are different, right Odd?"

        "Yes," the raptor looked back down the hall with gun at the ready, "these ones are different, from beyond the coldfire."

        "Well if ya see any of 'em rip their throats out!" said the stygimoloch.  "They tried to steal our eggs!"

        "Yes the flyers told me, where are the eggs?!"

        "There!" Plainslash gestured with his claws to a long crate beside them.  "They didn't grab a lot of them, but one egg is bad enough."

        "Alright," Oddclaw shouldered the gun with its strap around him, "I will get the eggs out first, then come back for you."

        "Yeah yeah, good idea," said Firetail panting with his twitching tail, "please, just...don't let them take the eggs, I don't care what they do just don't, th-they're her eggs, I promised, I promised I'd keep them safe-"

        "Hey."  His friend chirped from the other cage.  "Calm down, Oddie's got this, like he did before."

        "Yeah...y-yeah..."

Taking a moment to calm himself as he sat down in waiting, Firetail turned quiet as Oddclaw hoisted the crate up as careful as he could.  It was too cumbersome to carry with one person alone, so he was forced instead to lay it on the floor and gently drag it back down the hall of the plane with gun out in front at the ready.  A few men arrived to stop him, not soldiers but engineers in work overalls armed with pistols as they fired upon him.  He ducked low against the walkway and took aim from his belly, ripping through their chests and popping their heads as he pulled the eggs behind him farther whilst in crouching position.  He took one of the handguns in passing to fire one-handed at another two engineers who came from up top, shouting orders before he made a run for the exit.

Outside Jacob aided Eggfang in distracting the remaining soldiers, the small army soon figuring out there was a third attacker somewhere in the bushes as they started to panic with wild strafing shots at anything that moved from the wind.  But she was never where they thought she would be, always avoiding the breeze and picking out the targets whom none were looking at in the exact moment their eyeline didn't cross each other.  One by one the feral killed the invading soldiers, the yoshi trying not to look out of fright and disgust whilst keeping up his own defence as they hammered down his shield with bullets and tossed out grenades that went whistling through the air he dodged out of reach.  Sometimes a lone soldier made an easy target for him to swing out his shield or fire his tongue towards them, wrapping round the gun to rip out their hands and toss into the marsh never to be seen again until the soldiers became wise and started covering each other.

Four of them now alive and conscious, they huddled up close and started firing in all directions so neither Jacob nor Eggfang could rush in to attack, until the yoshi made a daring plan to wait until they stopped to reload and grabbed his shield with his tongue to send it spinning outwards like a flail.  Two of them were bashed across the head sending them down, but the other two were more focused on the anthro raptor pulling a crate down.

        "HALTET DEN DIEB!"

        "SISTER, THE EGGS!"

One soldier hurled his grenade as Oddclaw tried to throw the crate down the ramp into the soft marsh out of harm's way.  The stick came whistling in slow-motion towards him as he backed up confused by what it was before something else came spinning in front of him.  Jacob's shield blocked the impending explosion, but not the force of it which sent Oddclaw flying with a hard crunch of his head against the strut of the plane in mid-flight before he went hurtling into the long grass of the marsh.

        "ODDCLAWWWW!"

        "ODDIE, OHHH JEEZ!"

Taking her brother's words to heart she went into the rushes and grabbed the crate in her teeth, pulling them hard into the deepest swamp and ducking low to hide from the soldiers who went chasing after where Oddclaw landed.  Before they could reach him however, Jacob leapt onto one of their backs and struggled in a brief wrestling to the ground before he grabbed the other soldier's neck, sweeped his leg and stomped his face hard with a cleaving axe kick, crunching his skull into the dirt to render him unconscious.

        "Th-there...THERE...s-see what happens when you try to act...t-tough?!  Talk trash, g-get bashed."

Gulping back a lungful into his chest Jacob looked around to try and find where Oddclaw had gone before remembering his shield and heading back to the plane's rear ramp.  The moment he bent down to grab it, something pinched his neck hard and he grabbed it quickly.

        "O-OWW!"

He felt a small metal pin pierce through his skin as a sudden drowsiness took over him.  His eyes flickered with stulted breaths as the world became blurry with his legs turning thick in a stumble.

        "Wh-whuhhh...nooo...O-oddie...O-odd..."

Jacob collapsed in the mud on top of his shield.  Voices came from inside the plane as he felt someone lift him up and drag him inside beneath the red lights.  The sound of a roaring engine came from above as Eggfang watched the scene unfold from the murk of the swamp, clutching the crate of eggs close to her body.  Another ship came and gone, taking all the supplies from the first ship to transfer before departing off towards the southern sea.

        "What...what are these beasts?" she muttered as they launched back up in the sky.  "Oddclaw?  Oddclaw!  Can you hear me?!"

She thought to look for him within the rushes, but then looked down to the crate and snarled with a bitter sigh as she grabbed the handle in her teeth and dragged it towards the Waterjaws' territory.

        "Forgive me brother, I will come back for you I promise."

Her promise would be broken.  An hour after she left, the sound of tracking feet could be heard from the south, as claws of shining blue parted the grass to find a wounded unconscious Oddclaw.