Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The girl from the woods

On a remote mountain region, with three peaks highlighting the valley below, a flock of winged animals launched themselves into the air.

They were trying to catch the warm currents left of the midday sun to try and soar beyond and find food; and once at the right altitude they began to glide away from the rocky environment and into the empty valley below. Barely flapping their wings, the animals glided for miles, until something in their path caught their attention. A group of furry mammals called Woffs were also taking flight… somehow.

The two flocks soon joined and together soared the skies as the immense grasslands turned into dense coniferous forests, in which the cries and bellows of a different variety of animals could be heard; as the immense group reached a riverbank, the winged animals peeled off and followed it while the Woffs carried on, with seemingly no idea of where to go.

The sun was just beginning to drop from the top of the sky and vast groups of Woffs descended from the sky to gather around and have a drink. By this time many of them had traveled for miles beyond the grasslands and mountains that surrounded the area, and a few of them now had some helpful passengers on board.

The lake they chose to quench their thirst was a huge one, stretching to the horizon from their point of view; the flock soon began to pile up to rest after they drank as much as they could, and that’s when they saw them: a group of dozens, all large, with horns and moving along with their young.

A pup decided to peel off and investigate on its own, and when he got close, the strange herd became curious towards it. This herd was more used to creatures like them, whether they were large or small, carnivorous or herbivorous, like them, scaly or feathered; and the furry animals were something new for them.

As the herd inspected the Woff pup, another animal popped into view, this one however was much smaller and covered in feathers, and it darted straight for the pup; when it caught up to it, however, it simply plucked a strand of fur off and ran away into the woods.

As the hours passed and both species quenched their thirst, the herd of horned animals moved on, following the edge of the lake and keeping their young in the middle to protect them; meanwhile, the Woffs began to pile up to rest before taking off again in the night.

While the flock cuddled together, something became aware of their presence, something… big. Its eyes soon fixed on the tiny pup, and began to silently approach the herd; the Woffs were beginning to feel sleepy and dropped their guard, allowing the pup to escape and try to explore the lakeside. It soon followed a small butterfly that was feeding on a nearby flower and hopped all the way to the forest edge.

The hunter soon stopped moving as the pup began to approach it, and when the moment was right, it quickly snapped its jaw to catch it, but missed by a few centimeters.

In a desperate move, the pup flew away from the forest and into the open, with the predator on pursuit; one adult Woff soon noticed the large animal running at them and immediately howled in alert, waking up the entire flock; the predator then switched target and as the flock flew away, it snatched an adult by the tail and brought it down to its level to deliver a finishing blow.

The flock hurried away with the pup on toe, and while the pup may have survived the attack, the flock had lost a member who now became food for a hunter who announced its triumph with a roar.

Late afternoon…

On a small wood cabin outside the woods, a young mother is waiting for her daughter to return. The sun was already setting over the mountains and the calls of birds that were heard all day began to fade as the noise of insects started to warm up, her vision was headed towards the forest, on the darkest part of the foliage.

She was waiting to hear that particular noise from her daughter’s deerfox, a sign that the two of them were nearly there, but as the sun finished setting, she began to get a bit worried.

Just as she was about to go back inside to get her coat and look for her daughter, the bark of an animal changed her mood; the deerfox was back, and behind it, a blue haired girl, with a smile on her face.

"Mom! I’m back!" she yelled as she ran out of the woods behind her deerfox friend; "Oh Hilda" the mum replied back as her daughter leapt in for a hug "what took you so long this time?", "Oh, I took a little bit longer to finish a small sketch and lost track of time" she replied as they both went inside.

"So how was your day out?" she asked her daughter as she served her a cup of peppermint tea, "well, I only encountered a water spirit, and did a couple of drawings, but besides that Twig and I did nothing but stroll around in the woods" she replied. "ounds like you had a good day" she replied "I’ve only managed to do one or two sketches for a logo on the city; the owner isn’t that fuzzy to convince however, I sent him my early concept and he did seem to like it", "That does sound great, mom!" Hilda replied.

The toaster soon popped some bread up while the mom chopped a cucumber and her daughter soon turned on the television to watch some news, and the moment she did, a special report started to play:

"Since 1995, the discovery of fossilized DNA has changed the route of science forever, but people filled with greed exploited it to their “maximum potential” twice; with the latter attempt now ending with a much bigger problem than just a failure. Now, these genetically created creatures roam all over the world, whether is in the air, the land or the sea, we are all now trying to co-exist with these animals; and while almost the majority of the population around the world wants to get rid of them, all of us must ask ourselves: now that we have created these animals, is it our responsibility to learn how to live alongside them?"

"We probably won’t have to" said Hilda as she turned off the television in her house and went to check up on her mom, "Oh Hilda, we live alongside a lot of wild creatures and you think what the news is saying isn’t going to happen?" her mother stated as she finished making some more peppermint tea for her daughter.

"Well, if what those people were saying was true, we would’ve seen a few of them already" Hilda argued "but since we haven’t I’m not sure if they’re really telling the truth."

Her daughter had a point: ever since that event supposedly happened, she had become more cautious when her daughter went exploring in the forest with her little furry friend, but like she stated, nothing bad had happened in the last two years.

That however didn’t mean that she was going to become less worried about her safety, the forest was still filled with deadly creatures: from large wolves and cunning foxes, to the large beasts known as trolls who simply wanted to be left alone; however, most of these animals always came out at night, so her daughter usually went to explore during daylight, but now that the day had ended, it was better to stay at home and have a little chat before a game of “Dragon panic” ‘til they fell asleep on the couch.

"I wouldn’t consider it a lie" said a small, wooden creature as he entered the room, "Oh, Hilda, you let the Woodman in again" her mom said as she took the tray with cups back to the kitchen, giving space for the Woodman to lie next to the chimney, "What do you mean by “it’s not a lie”?" Hilda asked him, "Well, everything has their roots" the Woodman stated "you sometimes have to dig deeper to find the truth".

As Hilda placed some more logs on the chimney, her mum served her another round of Peppermint tea and the Woodman began to read a small, dirty pamphlet he found on the woods; Hilda then decided to give a closer look at the pamphlet the Woodman was reading and noticed an odd logo in the front page.

"You know spying on others is rude, right?" the Woodman stated, "Where did you find that?" Hilda asked, "Somewhere" the Woodman replied. Hilda’s mum also picked interest in that pamphlet, and having turned on the computer to check on the reply of the shop owner, she decided to look up the logo on the cover, "That pamphlet seems to be very old by the looks of it" she stated "it apparently was printed around 2015."

"One can’t read something without being spied on, can’t I?" said the Woodman as he stood up and left the house for the night.

A few hours later, after Hilda’s mum beat her on the board game, both decided to eat dinner and go to sleep; her mom and the deerfox managed to sleep easily, but Hilda couldn’t fall asleep.

She was thinking about an encounter she faced a few weeks ago, in which somehow, a hairy creature appeared agonizing from a bite mark. Its cries of pain still rumbled on her head, and the steaming liquid from the injury was a present picture all around her mind; suddenly, all of those thoughts vanished as she heard the window of her room swiftly open and close, and all the objects on her shelf began to move, as if someone was looking for cover.

"Who’s there?" she silently stated as she grabbed her pillow, "Human, please!" a voice yelled "I mean no harm! I just want to hide", "From what?" she asked, and her question soon was answered: outside the window, a strange, feathered creature was looking in her direction.

It tried to peck the window, as if to signal its intentions, but it was too small to cause damage. Hilda, however, seemed intrigued by the new discovery, and decided to get closer to look at it.

"This thing is chasing you?" she asked as she opened the window and let it in, "DON’T BE FOOLED HUMAN!!!" the voice yelled in panic "that THING and its other friends have been causing a massive slaughter!"

The small animal soon took focus on the “thing” that was making that voice, and leapt off Hilda’s hand and onto the shelf, chasing whatever it was out of its hiding spot.

"OK, I think that’s enough" said Hilda as she grabbed the tiny animal and placed it outside her window "why is that thing after you anyway?", "I don’t know" said the voice "that thing just appeared out of nowhere."

Hilda took another look at the window and saw two more of those creatures in the open, seemingly hunting whatever that voice was. "Are you sure I am not dreaming?" Hilda suddenly questioned herself, "I can assure you’re not" the voice said "but I’m afraid you won’t be able to see me unless you sign some contracts", "Why did this situation turn into some policy stuff all of a sudden?" she said to herself.

Hilda had to sign almost twenty-two contracts before the author of the voice popped into her view: a small, white person with a red cone hat, "Hello!" the guy said as he popped from Hilda’s ear, "You’re very small" she claimed "I thought you’d be a bit bigger", "Hey, I am on the bigger side for elf standards" the guy said "my name is Alfur by the way."

"So… Alfur, how big is that “massacre”?"  Hilda asked, "I think you should see it for yourself" Alfur replied; Hilda soon took another peek out of her window and saw the scale of the attack: those creatures were flipping houses over and killing any elf who came out of it. "We need your help human!" Alfur then stated "help us drive those beasts away!"

Hilda soon went downstairs, and with a pillow in her hands, she slowly opened the door and charged at the creatures, the animals soon faced towards her and jumped backwards to avoid being smacked, "Afraid to attack little buggers?" she stated as she swung the pillow left and right repeatedly; soon, the animals backed off, and Hilda took a breath of air as she saw her work done, but the elves around her gave her a scared face. "Fear not guys" Alfur stated as he jumped off Hilda "I brought some help", but the elves weren’t gasping at Hilda, but rather at something behind her.

Hilda slowly turned around and she saw a bigger creature behind her. it was almost her size, and had a pair of blue stripes around its sides; she slowly tried to back off but the creature had its sights on her. It then slowly inched forwards, giving her a menacing look, seemingly hissing at her.

In a panic move, Hilda tripped and fell on her back. The elves made a run for cover while Hilda tried to crawl away from the creature, the animal, however, caught up with her and placed its feet on her chest, the second toe showing a razor, sharp claw. Hilda silently screamed, hoping it didn’t alert her mom nor her deerfox friend, but also because she was extremely scared of that creature using that weapon to rip through and disembowel her.

The animal bowed its head at her to inspect her up close, but in a last second decision it simply stepped on her and bolted away; the elves soon came out of their houses to try and console Hilda, who was mere moments from crying from trauma.

"DID YOU GUYS SET ME UP?!" She yelled at them, but the elves were as confused as she was, after all, not even they saw that animal coming; "We only were attacked by those other smaller ones" an elf stated, "they are everywhere now" another one stated while holding a letter "I have a cousin who lives near a waterfall and saw more of them there", "We need your help" a third elf stated "those animals will keep coming night after night, and who knows how big the slaughter…", "And lose my life in the process?! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!" she yelled as she ran back into her house and shut the door.

Alfur tried to follow her by climbing a pipe near the roof, but when he tried to open the window, he noticed it was locked. "Get out of here, Alfur" Hilda warned him as she hid beneath her blanket, "Hilda, I know it looked like a set up" Alfur stated "but I am not kidding when I say they’re everywhere…", "You and your other elf friends probably made that up too" she stated as she curled tighter inside the blanket, "Look, I know it sounds like it has to do with us hating you because we want you gone" Alfur stated "but trust me when I say I have no intensions of seeing you go". Hilda finally peered off the blanket, and looked directly at the tiny elf on the window.

"I am interested in your kind, human" Alfur reassured her "I really wish I could learn about your culture"; Hilda didn’t fully take that for granted, but it was enough for her to get out of the bed and open the window for Alfur to get in.

"So… what do you exactly want to learn about me and my mum?" she asked.

The next morning, Hilda woke up late, having suffered trauma and venting a bit of it out to Alfur along with telling him some stuff about herself took “some” hours, but at least she had forgotten about the incident… for the most part.

"Good morning Hilda!" her mom greeted her as she came down to eat breakfast, "Hi mom" she replied with a deep, depressed voice, and her mom took quick notice of it.

"Oh dear, did you not sleep well last night?" she asked. How was she supposed to tell her that she nearly got disemboweled by some animal while protecting some invisible elves?

"I don’t blame you. I had to wake up early because there was this weird earthquake" she replied "and also some loud bellows", "I must be still dreaming" she said to herself as she sat down the table and ate her bowl of oatmeal. "Are you sure you don’t want to say what’s going on?" her mom persisted, "It’s really nothing, mom" Hilda lied "I just didn’t had a good sleep". Her mom then started to make her own breakfast, and that’s when Hilda decided to “tell” her about it.

"Last night…" she stated "I was… awoken by… a noise", "Was it the tremor?" her mom tried to guess, "No- she replied, almost sobbing "I was… scared by something"; "What happened?" she asked her; the feeling that she had a nightmare was beginning to swoop over her head. "I… was alone on the woods" she began to narrate "I… I didn’t knew where I was… and then… something came up to me..."

Her mom went up to Hilda and gave her a warm hug. "It’s OK" she told her as she gave her a kiss on the forehead "you know you can count on me if you need it", "Thanks mom" Hilda replied as she started sobbing, she still felt that telling her about the creature would drive her mad, but at least by telling her about it as a nightmare brought in some comfort.

As her mom also sat down to eat a sandwich, a trumpet-like call was heard from outside, "What was that?" Alfur stated as he hid behind Hilda’s ear, "Who said that?" Hilda’s mom asked as she also heard the voice of the invisible elf.

Her mom then went to peek out of the window, with Hilda sweating and pleading it wasn’t the creature from yesterday, but instead her mom was in awe as she noticed some large, crested creatures.

"Hilda, come look at this!" her mom told her, she was rather hesitant about it, but eventually she had enough confidence to go to her side; once there, however, the view was wonderful: a herd of almost seven of those animals were wondering near the forest edge.

"What are they?" Hilda asked, "I have no idea, to be honest" her mom replied; the deerfox tried to climb to see the creatures, but Hilda decided to go outside to see them up close.

"Hilda, don’t go outside!" her mom warned her "we don’t know if they’re dangerous!".

Her mom had a point: everything new had to be approached with caution, and after that encounter last night, she felt like it was better to be more cautious and weary of her surroundings; and so she and her mom went out together to check on the animals but not that far from the house, in case whatever those things were decided to attack.

The animals seemed to be eating bushes, as well as socializing with each other; Hilda decided to make a drawing of one of the youngest individuals, who had white and blue stripes, that had made eye contact with her. The young herbivore suddenly approached towards her with caution, its muscles tense in case it needed to escape. Hilda, however, was the one wanting to back up, after that first encounter, anything that seemed scaly was terrifying for her.

"What on elf’s land are these things?" Alfur whispered to Hilda, "I have no idea" she silently replied as the creature looked at her in the eyes.

All of a sudden, a bellow alerted the herd, and they soon began to move frurther away from the forest; out of the trees now came a giant, and not the kind Hilda was used to see. "What is that?!" Alfur asked alarmed, as he had never seen such a gigantic animal before, and neither had Hilda or her mom.

The massive animal soon took notice of them and began to move in a different direction; as if it was trying to look for something or someone in the open. "Mom, should we go back inside?" Hilda asked nervously as the giant bellowed again, "I… I think we should" her mom replied as she pulled Hilda towards the house in a hurry.

The giant soon heard a reply to its call, and out of the forest came another giant, similar in size but different in color. The two giants soon came closer to one another, as if they knew each other, and one of them began to raise its neck first, revealing a deep red coloration underneath. The herd of crested animals soon began to move towards the house, as they knew that when two long necked animals raised necks, it meant that there would be courting.

The elves around the house ducked for cover once again, but unlike those beasts from last night, these ones seemed passive, with the occasional trample over a house that is.

Back inside the house, Hilda and the deerfox admired the presence of the animals outside their house, while her mom decided to do more research about that pamphlet Woodman had been reading last night.

At first, her initial findings were only references about a closed park on 2015, but the more and more she tried to dig into the rabbit hole, the more worried she was getting. Videos, images, and even news articles about creatures similar to the ones she and her daughter saw showed more about the aggresive side of the animals, and soon, she found an article that wasn’t going to just bring terrifying thoughts to her…

but It would make her take a drastic decision.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Creatures from the forest

As the day ended, Hilda decided to try and make some cucumber sandwiches for herself and sat down in the living room while the herd of crested creatures left for the safety of the forest; her mum, on the other hand, was still trying to process her findings, trying to contain her fear driven by the thoughts of every worse case scenario that ran through her head.

She knew the forest was dangerous. She had almost lost her daughter when she was six once, and if it wasn't for the little deerfox that was at her side, who knows what would've happened next.

"Hilda," she finally spoke, "is it alright if we talk?"

Hilda leapt off the couch and sat down on the one nearest to her mom. "Listen, I know… we just saw those things in the open, and they were awe-inspiring and incredebly wonderful, but… I’m starting to feel worried about how many of them there could be."

"What do you mean, mum?" Hilda asked in reply "those things looked to be friendly", "I know, but you’ve seen the news last night. I would dare to say that if we weren’t careful, those things would’ve attacked us anyway."

"I don’t think that would’ve happened- Hilda tried to calm her "besides, those were different from what the news showed, you heard they were called “monsters”, but are they really?", "Well, at least they aren’t trolls" her mom joked; to which Hilda laughed as well. "But in all seriousness, Hilda" her mom continued "I’ve started to think that we should move to the city."

"But… why?" Hilda asked, "I don’t want to risk any chances, Hilda" she replied "If this was about something like trolls or those elves that keep bothering us I would at least be more patient, but this is just more dangerous!", "But mom…" Hilda continued, "Listen, I know I’m probably overreacting" she replied "but we both don’t know anything about these creatures, they could be as dangerous as trolls or as tame as woffs, but if those things keep on appearing, maybe at some point they’ll reveal their true colors."

Frustrated, Hilda left for her room and closed the door; she was angry at the fact that the one place she called home was now at risk of being left behind just because of the presence of new creatures.

"I hate this" she ranted while the deerfox jumped to her side on the bed "I’ve been living in the wilderness all my life, and with new things appearing she grows worried?", "To be fair, she does have a reason to worry" Alfur stated as he popped out of Hilda’s ear "You barely saw those things for one day, if we count from last night’s encounter that is, and besides the existence of those four creatures we don’t know anything about them."

"Then I guess we’ll figure it out" she replied, but immediately felt tired as she said that, "If you want to do that I can help you" Alfur suggested "but I feel like we should start tomorrow", "I think you’re right" Hilda replied as she yawned "do you have a place to sleep?", "Well, I… I sleep inside your cuckoo clock" Alfur replied "your house was actually built on top of mine, so I had to find a way to coexist with you."

"So you’re telling me you’ve been living here all this time?!" Hilda asked in shock, "Well… yes?" Alfur nervously replied, hoping Hilda didn’t lash out at him; instead, she only sighed, being too tired to even ask for his background. "I hope you can explain to me about this tomorrow" she stated before tucking herself in bed "Goodnight Alfur", "Goodnight… Hilda" Alfur replied as he opened the cuckoo clock and went inside.

Outside, the moon was beginning to shine on the plains below, and for the creatures of the night, it was time to do their daily routines.

From out of a small burrow at the edge of a forest, a small, almost feathery animal popped its head up to watch out for danger; once the coast was clear, it came out of the hole with two youngsters on toe, they were also covered in feathers and all three sported a brown and white pattern with yellow stripes, but their main characteristic was their elongated tails, seemingly twice the size of their bodies.

The two youngsters were the only survivors from her clutch of seven, and now that they were big enough to follow her, they could finally go all together to look for food.

The elves soon spotted the trio approaching them, and not wanting to have another situation like yesterday, they all bolted for their homes; as the family reached the edge of their town however, they spotted something of their interest: wild berries.

The adult approached the tiny bush, making sure the fruit wasn’t from a poisonous plant, and once it determined it was safe to eat, she made a call, to which the youngsters raced to her side and started to nibble the berries.

"They’re not after us?" one elf asked confused as he peered through the window and saw the family eating from the bush "why?", "I have no idea" his wife replied in a low voice "but we shouldn’t try to go out."

One of the youngsters heard their voices and slowly approached to their house; the couple tried to hide behind some furniture as the animal peered through the small window, they could only peek and see the massive eyeball that was covering the entire window, but soon they caught a break when a loud call made the curious animal run back with its mother.

The other young one hid behind her mother as the curious one joined its twin; the mother then erected the feathers on her body to appear larger and puffy as it tried to find where the noise was coming from.

Eventually, the two youngsters retreated back to the burrow while their mother slowly backed up, looking in all directions before making a break for the safety of the hole.

Minutes passed before the maker of the noise showed itself: the same creature that attacked Hilda last night was back. All the elves stood silent once again as they prayed for that animal to not step on their houses, but they became even more worried when the animal climbed onto the roof of the house of the “giant”. Once there, the animal let out another loud call, right next to Hilda’s window, waking her up in shock; she and the deerfox immediately rushed to hide beneath the bed and peeked to see if the animal was preparing to burst through the window, however, the animal continued calling, the tone being long and depressive, as if it was looking for someone.

"IS THAT…!" Alfur stated in panic as he was also awaken by the call; Hilda simply nodded frantically and hid her head beneath the bed once again.

The animal let out one last call before giving up for the night; it then simply sat down and placed its head next to its right arm. "I think it fell asleep" Alfur noted, "Are you sure?" Hilda asked nervously, "I’ll go check out" he replied "if it wakes up don’t leave your hiding spot."

Alfur then dropped off the stand the cuckoo clock was standing and approached the window silently, he then tried to open it as silently as possible and closed it with the same carefulness.

The animal was huge for his perspective, but Alfur was keen on seeing if it was really asleep, or if it was playing; he went round it and tried to find its head, but its nostrils were tucked in below the right arm, "Dang" he whispered "maybe I could check its eyes."

With that said, Alfur climbed the neck of the animal and tried to inspect the exposed side of the face, but while he was doing so Hilda had left her hiding spot and approached the window; Alfur signaled her to fall back, but given his size it was difficult for Hilda to make up what he was saying.

"You want me to go out?" she asked confused, "No! stay inside!" Alfur tried to reply, "Are you sure?" Hilda asked, "Yes!" Alfur shouted. Hilda then proceeded to open the window and exit her room slowly; Alfur couldn’t do nothing but face-palm.

"I thought you called me outside" she whispered, "I was telling you to stay inside" Alfur whispered back, "I could barely hear you from the window!" she replied, nearly raising up her voice.

"We should probably head back inside" Alfur proposed as both of them heard the creature growl and move its head to the other side, "Yeah, we definitely should" Hilda agreed. With that said, Alfur hopped on Hilda’s hand and she placed him on her ear; she then carefully moved around the creature and was about to open the window when the beast moved its tail and she accidentally stepped on it, waking up the animal instantly.

"Just… don’t… move" Alfur tried to suggest, but both were too scared to even flee; however, the creature just hissed at them and jumped off the roof, running back into the forest where it came from.

"Well… that was a bit unexpected" Hilda comically stated, but given they were still shaking and sweating, the joke flew over and it was ignored.

The next morning, Hilda woke up and prepared to explore the wilderness once again, but this time, her mother had other ideas.

"Oh, I see you’re ready to go out!" she stated, "Yep! you know I’m always ready for adventure, mom!" she cheerfully replied, "Well, that’s the spirit" her mom continued "by the way, did you hear those noises yesterday?", "What noises?" she nervously replied, "Oh, I thought you heard them too" her mom replied to her statement "anyway, we’re going to visit Trolberg today, so I hope you keep that excitement…", "WHAT?!" Hilda interrupted her "WHY?", "I feel like staying out here for too long may have been a bit prejudicial for you" she replied "besides, I feel like you may need to make friends eventually", "But I like it here" Hilda tried to argue "I don’t want to abandon this place."

"Oh!" her mother suddenly realized what her daughter assumed "do you think we’re going to move out today?", Hilda only nodded in confusion as that was actually what she thought was the reason.

"Oh don’t worry Hilda" her mother tried to calm her down "we’re only going there so you can visit the city"; Hilda let out a sigh of relief, which calmed her mom down, "How long will be in the city?" Hilda then asked "I kinda wanted to visit the waterfall to draw some wild flowers I saw the other day", "Oh, we won’t take that long" her mother lied "besides, I also need to do some groceries for the week".

Her mom soon went outside to turn on the car while Hilda tried to convince her deerfox to stay, "We won’t take long, Twig, I promise" she stated, and the fluffy animal rubbed its head next to her cheek; afterwards, Hilda went to join her mother in the car, with Alfur hidden on her ear, and set off to Trolberg.

"I assume we’ll go to the market first when we get there?" Hilda asked, "Yes, I’ve made a list of things we’ll need to make food for the weekend" her mom replied as she handed the list to Hilda.

"Why are we buying lots of snacks?" she asked, "I thought we could have a movie night when we get back" her mom replied "it’s been weeks since we had one."

"What are we going to watch?" she continued to ask, but before her mom could answer she slammed the brakes as she saw a massive leg stomp the road in front of her.

"What the…" her mom spoke as she recovered from the shock, in front of them stood a giant, like the one they saw yesterday, and as her mom tried to drive around it, it let out a massive bellow.

"Wasn’t that the same giant we saw yesterday near the forest edge?" Hilda broke the silence as her mom kept driving forwards, "I think it was" she replied "but how did it got there that fast"; her question was soon answered as both of them felt the earth tremble, and when they looked left, they saw a large herd of giants moving about.

"That one has a red neck" Alfur stated as he saw one stretch its neck and look at them. The gigantic animal bellowed, raising its neck and showing a series of spikes below its neck; this in turn, attracted the attention of two other ones.

As the car left the scene, the two other longnecks approached the red neck longneck, who in turn tried to show off as a way to flirt them; but his attempt is then put short when another longneck appeared. This one, with a much brighter neck and seemingly older than the one flirting the two other ones, and he quickly gained their attention, but the other longneck bellowed and raised on its hind legs.

The other longneck quickly responded by raising itself on its hindlegs too, as if trying to warn the other to back down, but the contender refused to back down. Before a fight could begin however, gunshots were heard, and the longnecks started to move back into the forest.

Hilda and her mom wondered why gunshots were made, but as they reached the gates of the city, their question was answered:  a lot of people in brown uniforms were guarding the entrance; other cars were stuck in a jam in front of them, and they both knew this would take a while.

"Why are they shooting the longnecks?" Hilda asked, "They’re not trying to kill them" her mom replied "they’re just trying to drive them away", "It doesn’t seem like" she replied back. Almost ten minutes passed before the two finally got inside the city; and as Hilda expected, it was all squared buildings, some made of wood, others from concrete, and they were all in different colors.

"The market shouldn’t be too far in the center of town" her mom stated, "What’s that place?" Hilda stated as she pointed out an open field with a building in the center, "That’s a school" her mom replied "I used to study there", "Is that basically the place you went to as a small girl?" she asked, "Pretty much" she replied "You’d find it interesting if you went there", "Maybe" she lied.

As they drove past blocks and blocks of buildings, they soon arrived at the center, which was a small plaza with a tower in the middle. "Why the bell tower?" Hilda asked as she and her mom passed by, "Well, history says that this was the first defense mechanism against trolls since the town was created" her mom replied "the townsfolk also believe it’s a sign of luck", "I feel like that might be a sign of exaggeration" Hilda argued "it just looks like a bell tower, and that’s it."

After two more blocks, the two finally arrived at the supermarket; her mom quickly tried to find a place to park before she and her daughter went off inside. "Alright" her mom spoke as the two left the car parked "let’s get some food, shall we?", "Can we also get some other stuff?" Hilda asked "I do need some new color pencils". "Sure, I don’t see why not" her mom replied.

Hilda quickly ran with excitement towards the supermarket door, and once inside, she quickly went into the school materials aisle,

"Oh sweet!" she said to herself as she gave a glance to the end of the aisle "there’s the color pencils I need!"

Hilda quickly made her way to grab the pencil box, but before she could reach it she heard a couple of voices from the other side of the shelf she was looking at.

"You heard about the herd of Apatosaurus that came to close to the wall earlier?" a boy stated "those things were massive!", "I can surely agree" a girl replied to him "although I’m thankful they didn’t try to burst through; imagine the trouble those things would cause!", "I assume by “Apatosaurus” they mean the longnecks we saw earlier and yesterday" Alfur whispered to Hilda, "I guess so" she silently replied and continued to eavesdrop into their conversation.

"I’m beginning to worry about the Sparrow scouts field trip now that you say that" the girl spoke "with all of those dinosaurs out there, it is surely dangerous", "You don’t say" the boy agreed "but I do want to see one of those animals close and personal one day", "Oh, you surely won’t" Hilda silently stated.

The two kids soon began to move away and Hilda took the color box and left to find her mom, she meanwhile had already picked up everything on the list and was heading for the checkout; "Oh, I see you found a new color box- her mom stated, "Yeah" she replied "but I also heard some kids talking about those longnecks that we saw earlier", "Hilda, you know very well you shouldn’t eavesdrop into other people’s conversations" her mom complained, "Sorry, I was just about to grab the box when I heard about it" she apologized, "It’s ok then" her mom understood "well, let’s pay for the things and head home, shall we?"

Back at the house, the deerfox was beginning to get bored of being alone, and soon it began to find a way to go outside and frolic around.

At first, it attempted to open the windows with its antlers, but that proved to be ineffective as they were locked; it then tried to exit through the chimney, but that ended up being a disastrous idea, as it ended up being covered in dust, its last option now was the window in Hilda’s room, and so it ran up the stairs and into her room to try one final attempt, and this time it was successful.

Outside there wasn’t that much activity: the elves were doing their daily chores, and the herd of crested animals was once again grazing at the edge of the forest; the deerfox jumped down the roof and began to rub itself on the ground to try and clean off the dust from the chimney.

"Aw c’mon!" an elf complained as the chimney dust was laid next to his house "I just cleaned my garden!", "Oh don’t blame the giant’s mascot" his wife replied to him "it’s such a sight to see", "On that I can agree" her husband complemented "at least that thing won’t try to eat us".

The deerfox soon stopped rolling as it, along with the other elves, heard a loud bellow. On the forest edge, the crested animals moved away from their pasture zone and into the open as a pair of young Apatosaurus emerged from the trees. "Oh god, the longnecks are back!" one elf yelled as the others quickly ran for the safety of their homes; the giants soon stopped and began to below once again, it was as if they were looking for someone.

The deerfox also tried to head for cover, seeing their size was enough for it to run away, but unlike the elves, it was having more trouble getting back into its house; meanwhile, the chorus of the Apatosaurus continued, and after a few minutes, a reply came, but not from who they were expecting: out of the woods now came a large bipedal animal, it had stripes on its sides and sharp teeth on its mouth; it was without a doubt, a carnivore.

The deerfox, now panicking after seeing the predator in the distance, tried desperately to find a way inside the house; meanwhile, the two Apatosaurus closed ranks, keeping each other as close as possible, while the carnivore closed in to test them both.

"Oh crickey!" one elf stated as he peered through his window, the two longnecks soon began to slowly back up, as the predator was getting closer, and in a last effort to deter it, one of them reared up on its hind legs to appear bigger, which made it stop; meanwhile, the deerfox made it back up the roof and bolted for the window, once there, it could do nothing but to watch the drama that was about to ensue.

A brief calm settled between predator and prey before one of them made the next move; the carnivore, now weary of how its prey could fight back, tried to circle around them both, but as it did so, one of the Apatosaurus turned around to face it, positioning its tail close to the other’s neck.

Now, both animals were protecting each other from all angles, and the predator was once again left to think of a strategy; another moment of silence and tension ensued, with both sides at stalemate, but as the predator was about to leave, a familiar sound alerted the longnecks: the sound of a car approaching.

The deerfox peered out of the window and saw the car approaching the house, and its instinctive reaction to bark with happiness alerted the Apatosaurus; with a distraction settled, the predator took its chance, and bolted towards them both, causing one of the Apatosaurus to panic and break ranks.

"HOLY SH...!" Hilda’s mother shouted as she quickly pressed the breaks at the sight of the two Apatosaurus running directly towards the house.

"Mom! We got to get Twig out of there!" Hilda yelled at her mom, but she was rather petrified on the spot.

The two Apatosaurs soon spotted the house and tried to go around it, but only one of them did so, as the other stood its ground once again. Inside the house it felt like a massive earthquake, as the other Apatosaurus ran next to the wall; objects were flying everywhere and Twig tried to get below Hilda’s bed for safety.

Outside, the other Apatosaurus once again stood on its hind legs, challenging its hunter to charge at him, but it waited until it gave up to bite its front leg; the Apatosaurus bellowed in pain, as it tried to make its hunter release its leg.

"I’m going after Twig" Hilda stated in desperation as she opened the door, which finally caused her mom to react, "HILDA, NO!!" she yelled in panic as she tried to go after her.

The predator soon let go of its leg and aimed for its side, tearing a small chunk of flesh from near its back; and its prey, now with a wounded leg and a scar on its back, once again attempted to make an escape. Meanwhile, as the hunter and hunted drama went on, Hilda managed to reach the door of the house without being trampled.

"TWIG!!!" she yelled for his deerfox friend to come out as the duel of giants once again began to make the walls tremble; outside, her mom tried to catch up, but a near hit from the Apatosaurus’ tail halted her advance. For now, she could do no more than scream for her daughter to come out quickly.

"TWIG!!!" Hilda yelled once more as the walls began to show signs of breaking, and at long last, her deerfox answered; but the barks from his friend turned out to come from the upper level of the house. "Hilda, we got to hurry!!!" Alfur stated in panic –the whole house is going to fall down!!!"

Hilda bolted for her bedroom, as she knew her deerfox would most likely be hiding under the bed, outside, the Apatosaurus managed to land a hit with his other front leg and made the predator fall back long enough to change position once again, this in turn gave Hilda’s mom a chance to get inside the house and get her daughter out.

"Twig!" Hilda yelled as she reached her bedroom, and Twig quickly rushed to her side in a dime, "Hilda, we got to go!" her mom stated as she caught up with her.

Suddenly, a loud bellow made everyone motionless: outside, a much larger Apatosaurus was marching towards the house; both Hilda and her mum now had seconds to leave before the rampaging herbivore reached their position.

The hunter now faced a tough choice: does it try to finish its prey, or try and leave quickly as well; regardless of the decision, chances were both results would end up with it failing the hunt, either from injury or size inferiority, and so, with the animal in sight, the predator slowly stepped back.

Hilda and her mom managed to exit the house just as the larger Apatosaurus reached the small one, and rearing on its hind legs, it managed to scare away the predator; but when it decided to give way to its weight, it did so with a tremendous amount of strength it crushed the house under its feet.

Hilda’s mom could only watch as the Apatosaurus accidentally destroyed her father’s legacy, but while the damage was material, at least she was glad her daughter was safe; the same could not be said for the latter however, as her mother turned to see her, she was already beginning to sob.

"Our house- she cried –it’s… it’s gone", "There was nothing we could’ve done" her mother tried to sympathize as Hilda hugged her for comfort; meanwhile, the adult Apatosaurus tried to make the smaller one move, but its leg injury made the task painful, with no danger near however, the adult could afford to wait for the young one to recover.

A few hours later, when the sun was setting once again, and the two Apatosaurus moved back into the safety of the forest, Hilda and her mom approached what remained of the house and tried to salvage what they could.

"Oh my, what happened" said Woodman as he had brought more wood for the night, "some dinosaur trampled the house" Hilda’s mom replied, "Oh, yet another reminder that humans are not the ones in control" Woodman whispered, "What?" Hilda asked, "Nothing" Woodman quickly replied "ignore that, I’ll just leave the wood here for a fire, if you plan on camping for the night", "No" Hilda replied with a depressed tone "I think... we’ll just move to the city."

In her head, Hilda knew this was probably good for her mom, but even she didn’t know how to react to the moment; soon, both she and her mom saved enough stuff that survived the fight and placed it in the bonnet, and after giving a glance to the old house for one last time, Hilda joined her mom on the way to Trolberg.

Hours later, the family of small, feathered dinosaurs emerged from their burrow once again and approached the destroyed house, but unlike last night, there was a much eerie feeling in the scenery; as one of the young ones followed its mother to the same bush to feed, the other peered through the window of an elf house, but inside, the sight was horrific: the bodies of the couple were nothing more but pure squished guts; in every house, barely anyone stood, all of them either died from the conflict or had successfully escaped and moved away immediately.

"You damn beasts!" an elf yelled as he threw a pebble at the young dinosaur "this has been our home all our lives, and you come in and claim it as your own!"

The young one scrambled back to her mother’s side as she and the other youngster moved along in search of another bush while the elf grabbed its bags and left.

The creature that startled Hilda a night ago now made its appearance; closing in to examine the house, it made the small family to rush for cover. It tried to look for a perch to once again sing its sonnet, and to hopefully locate a partner; but in this new, larger environment, such chances were slim.

Meanwhile, few hours before midnight, Hilda and her mom reached the city; without a home, however, they both were forced to sleep in the car for the night.

"Mom?" Hilda asked "will we have to live here forever now?", "I’m not so sure" her mom replied as she covered her with a warm blanket "but so long as we have each other, everything will be alright."

Soon after, her daughter fell asleep, and she was left to look at the starry sky through the window of the car, only to wonder if things could only get better from here

And hopefully, they will.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: The new normal

The next morning, Hilda’s mom drove around the city, looking for a house on sale or for rent to settle themselves in, and after a couple of hours, the car stopped in front of a building, and both got out of the car to try and see if there was an available spot.

"Ok, this place apparently has an apartment with almost 5 rooms" Hilda’s mom stated "it should be enough to accommodate us both", "I guess that… works?" Hilda replied, she wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of living in the city, but given that there was nowhere else to go, she had no other choice. "I promise this is going to be a nice experience" her mom reassured her "trust me", "Ok" she replied with a shy voice.

The two of them then left the car with Twig on their toes; Hilda’s mom then knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. "Oh! Good morning, ma’am!" an old person greeted her as he opened the door, "Good morning sir" she replied "I saw on a newspaper that there was a space available; is it by any chance still for sale?", "Oh it sure is!" the old man replied "come along, I’ll show you around."

The old man guided both Hilda and her mom to the second floor of the building, and soon stopped in front of a door; "Here’s the apartment" he stated as he opened the door "have a look around to see if you like it."

Hilda’s mom entered the living room and explored around; the furniture seemed clean and in good state, and the colors were nearly identical to their old home.

"This place does feel a bit cozy" Hilda stated as she entered the room, Twig followed close behind and accidentally startled the old person.

"Is this a deerfox by any chance?" he asked Hilda, "Oh, yes" she replied with nervousness "his name is Twig", "Oh wow, my wife told me about these animals before" he complemented "she usually says it’s related with bad luck, but I don’t really believe in such a thing, especially with such an adorable fluffball", "That’s a bit unnerving" Hilda nervously replied.

As Hilda and her mom explored the apartment, Alfur decided to hop off Hilda’s ear and onto the window to admire the view. "Wow, I’m not very impressed with the view outside- Alfur said to himself -but on the bright side, the window is made of good material."

Alfur then proceeded to make a temporary camp and also to take some notes of his surroundings. "It’s gonna be a lot of work for me today" he said to himself as he took out a large piece of paper and placed it on a table "I may as well make myself comfortable."

While the little elf began to map the environment, Hilda’s mom and the old man discussed the pricing of the flat. "So how much is the place worth for?" Hilda’s mom asked the old man, "I initially planned to sell it for 1220 pounds- the old man replied -but I feel like 990 should be more reasonable", "We’ll take it- Hilda’s mom agreed.

Soon enough, her mom made the payment, and the two began to move their things inside. "You want to go out and explore later, Hilda?" her mom asked her, but her daughter still seemed like she didn’t want to talk; -You’re still hurt over our old house?" she asked her daughter as the two sat down on the building’s staircase, and she only nodded in return, "I know the change was sudden, but we’ll just be here until the danger is gone. I promise you that once those creatures are gone, we’ll move back to the woods; we’ll just have to wait", "But what if they never go away?" Hilda asked while sobbing, "Well, the trolls stopped attacking the city as well, and we’re both at peace; remember?" her mom tried to lift her up "I’m sure there will be a way to coexist with those animals."

Her mom then gave her a hug as she started to shed her tears; Twig also joined in the hug and there was some silence as the three shared a warm embrace. "Well, let’s finish getting our stuff up to our home" her mom stated as she let go of the hug and stood up, Hilda soon followed along with Twig behind her.

Meanwhile, in the house, Alfur had already started making a map from the limited view the windows gave him. "Alright, so there is a bakery across the street, some sort of restaurant on the left corner, and some unidentified shop on the other corner" he stated as he gave another check to his map "there’s no sign of a green area on the perimeter, but there are a lot of lamp posts and other houses. I doubt this may be a neighborhood". Hilda and her mom soon entered the room, startling Alfur.

"You’ve been doing some work, haven’t you Alfur?" Hilda asked him, "Oh yes, and it’s quite the work" Alfur replied as he showed his map to Hilda; "I can’t see anything" Hilda complained, "How though? The map is pretty clear to me" Alfur argued "there’s a bakery here, a restaurant on the other corner, and lots of homes in between!", "Hilda, who are you talking to?" her mom asked as she saw her daughter talking alone to the window, "Oh, uh…" Hilda tried to think of a lie "It’s… uh… an imaginary friend!", "Oh" her mother replied "you’re feeling a bit lonely?"

"I think you just made it worse" Alfur stated, "It’s OK, Hilda" her mom stated "When I first moved out, I thought I’d be lonely for how long I stayed here; but I know you’ll eventually make friends", "Yeah" she nervously stated, and then thought of how to change topics. "Do you need help with that box?" she asked, "If you can withstand the weight" her mom joked.

The morning passed quickly; Hilda and her mom were almost done unpacking what was left in the car, and Hilda’s now “imaginary friend” had now made a house inside a cuckoo clock that Hilda had managed to recover from the rubble.

"Well, that should be the last of the kitchen dishes" Hilda’s mom stated as she admired the new kitchen fully assembled, "I do feel like we may need more stuff- Hilda suggested, "Yeah, I can see what you mean" her mom replied "I’ll probably go out and buy more kitchenware tomorrow."

Tired from the unboxing, Hilda and her mom sat on the couch and watched TV together. At this time of the day, both would be watching documentaries about the Trolberg wildlife or cooking shows, but their usual TV schedule got interrupted by a “special” announcement.

"We interrupt our regular programming to give you an urgent announcement" a voice on the TV stated as it cut to a news report, "THIS JUST IN! The Trolberg department of wildlife has announced open slots for volunteers to help drive the dinosaurs away from the area" the news reporter stated "after the earlier report of a cottage being destroyed by an Apatosaurus, the TDF has also confirmed a partnership with global giant Biosyn to secure the animals into a currently in-development sanctuary. More details on this collaboration later at 4pm"

"Well, I think we may not need to stay here for that long" Hilda cheerfully stated, "I’m not so sure about this, Hilda" her mom replied "that organization has been promising to get rid of the dinosaurs ever since they were first seen here, but nothing has really been achieved so far". "Maybe this time it could be different?" she asked her mom, "You could be right" her mom “agreed” with her "but we probably should be getting accustomed to city life, just in case."

Hilda quickly got upset by that statement, but having witnessed the power and strength of one in person, maybe her mom was right on this decision.

"So… what do we do for now?" Hilda asked, "Well, I could take you around the city to know around" her mom suggested "I know a place where we could get sandwiches…", "WHERE?!" Hilda instantly jumped, making her mom giggle, "Well, we could go so you can learn where it is, but I heard that you don’t like this environment…", "I didn’t say that!" Hilda refuted, "Are you sure?" her mom asked before she started tickling Hilda, "OK! OK! I DID!" Hilda replied in between laughs.

While Hilda and her mom were “arguing”, Alfur was still revising his map to find his way around this new area. "I’m going to need a much bigger view of the city if I want to make a map of this place" he said to himself as he wrote down some notes of what he had seen so far "I could contact a pigeon carrier for some help, but I doubt I’d be helped given I don’t have a passport for the city."

As Alfur was processing his notes, Hilda got into the room to put in her boots and bouquet. "Hey, Alfur!" Hilda alerted him "do you want to go out and get a cucumber sandwich with me and my mom?", "I’d like to go, Hilda, but I’m a bit busy with something" Alfur stated, "OK, I’ll see you later!" Hilda replied and left the room with Twig; Alfur, however, having just realized what she had asked him, quickly changed his opinion, but she had already left.

"Dang, how do I catch up to her?" Alfur asked himself, and then saw the open window of the room; "Oh, don’t be silly, Alfur!" he said to himself "You won’t be able to get to her, even on foot."

Suddenly, a bird flew into the room and started to flap around in confusion, "Well, thank lord I didn’t try to go out that way" Alfur said to himself in relief.

The bird then landed, not on the floor, but rather on the wall; Alfur was left confused, as he’s seen plenty of birds perching in branches, and on the floor, but never in a flat, vertical surface. "Oh my! This is definitely worth of a report!" he said to himself out loud as he went to grab a notebook and a pen, but when he came back to document the animal, it had disappeared.

"Dang! I was a bit slow on that one" he said to himself "never mind though, at least I know it lives around here."

Alfur then focused once again to try to find a way to try and get a better knowledge of the city, and so he decided to try and go into the roof of the building; but as soon as he left the cuckoo clock, the bird grabbed him from his bag with its teeth and flew out of the window.

"LET GO OF ME YOU NASTY BIRD!!!!" Alfur yelled out loud as the bird took him away of the house, but the animal obviously ignored him, and continued to fly away; Alfur could do nothing but yell for help and wait for the inevitable to happen.

After walking a couple of blocks away from their home, Hilda and her mom reached a small kiosk just across a park. "I thought I’d be like a large store" Hilda claimed, "Not all shops are indoors" her mom replied "there’s some that are located outside and next to places like schools, parks, or stadiums."

As the two approached to order some sandwiches, Hilda saw a group of kids across the street playing with balls and reading books. "Hilda, what sandwich would you like?" her mom asked her, snapping her out of her trance; "Oh uh…" Hilda tried to think of a choice, but having just seen the menu, she wasn’t so sure of what to pick.

"Uhh.. Can I get a ham and lettuce sandwich?" Hilda asked, "Sure; anything else, ma’am?" the kiosk owner asked Hilda’s mom, "No, that’ll be everything" she replied; the owner then began to make the sandwiches, and Hilda, once again, went to watch the kids play.

"You’d like to join them?" her mom asked, "I… I’m not sure" Hilda nervously replied, "It’s OK if you feel nervous, Hilda" her mom stated "I’m not going to pressure you". Hilda felt conflicted: she wanted to try and take part in what those kids were doing, but she felt too anxious to try and join them, even if her mother didn't pressure her.

After some minutes, the kiosk owner finished the sandwiches for both Hilda and her mother. "Thanks for the sandwich, mom!" Hilda thanked her mom as the two enjoyed their meals, "Now you know where to go at least when you want to move quickly around" Hilda’s mom stated "which reminds me, now I want to show you around somewhere I used to like to go as a kid."

As the two headed for said location, Hilda heard Alfur’s cries of help, but when she looked around to try and spot him, she couldn’t find him at all; the only thing she could see was a small bird fluttering around her.

"Is everything alright?" Hilda’s mom asked, startling Hilda; "Oh, I’m OK" she replied "I just thought I heard something."

Hilda and her mom moved on, and the bird flew away too; but Alfur, tired of being dragged for so long, tried to poke the bird’s eye, and the animal let him go. "I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT THIS PART!!!!" he yelled out loud as he fell down from the sky; he thought he was doomed, but luckily for him, he landed on a store awning, then in a balloon, and finally, on top of another elf.

"AAAHHH" Alfur screamed as he landed on the elf, and to make matters worse, that elf wasn’t alone. "OI! Who’s that guy?" an elf asked as Alfur stood up and tried to help the one he landed on top of, "Oh, I… I’m deeply sorry" he apologized as the other elves surrounded him, "Hey, he looks like a country elf" another elf pointed out, "Oh… uh… yes I am?" Alfur nervously replied, "Well then, come with us" another elf replied "I think our commander may like a talk with a victim", "Victim of what?" Alfur asked, but before he could say anything, everything went black.

While Alfur was being abducted, Hilda and her mom were heading towards a bigger building; before they arrived there, however, Twig caught the scent of something.

"What is it, boy?" Hilda asked Twig as he pointed his face at an open area; Twig then moved towards the open area with Hilda behind him; only now did her mother notice them both trailing off the way.

Twig led Hilda towards the road, for the area he had caught the smell from was across a road. "HILDA!" her mom called out as she caught up with her "don’t trail off like that! It’s dangerous to go alone to an unknown place!", "Sorry, mum" Hilda apologized "it’s just that Twig went somewhere else."

Seeing that the street was clear, Twig crossed the road with Hilda and her mother close behind; Twig then tried to cross, but there was a fence in the way. "What’s this place?" Hilda asked, but before her mom could answer, a bell began to ring, causing a large group of children to run away from a big building in the middle of the open area.

"What’s happening?!" Hilda nervously asked as she hid behind her mom in a hurry, "Don’t worry, Hilda" her mom replied "it’s just the break bell", "Break bell?" Hilda asked in confusion, "Well, I should first explain to you what this place is" Hilda’s mom replied "this is a school, and that bell usually tells the time for everyone, whether it is to go into that building, or to go out and play", "So it’s like a prison?" Hilda asked, "No…?" her mom replied "school is a place to learn new things, who told you that?", "You joked about it last week" Hilda replied.

Suddenly, a ball flew over Hilda and onto the road behind her; Twig, by instinct, went after it and brought it back to Hilda. "Hey! Can you give us the ball back?" a boy yelled, seeing that Hilda had it, "Here!" Hilda yelled back as she threw the ball over the fence; the kid tried to catch it, but he got too nervous at the last second. Fortunately for him, a girl caught the ball for him. "David, don’t hesitate when the ball comes at you" the girl advised him, "Sorry, Frida" David replied "Oh, and, thank you, blue-haired girl!", "You’re welcome!" Hilda replied.

Hilda and her mom left to go where the latter had planned earlier, leaving the two kids playing in the playground.

"Isn’t that the girl who heard us in the supermarket?" David suddenly asked, "It could’ve been anyone" Frida replied as she threw the ball at David for him to catch, "I swear, her voice is literally the one of the person who heard us there" David replied as he threw the ball back at Frida, "You’re probably being a bit paranoid with this one, David" Frida stated "besides, it’s not like we would randomly share personal information anywhere", "Yeah, maybe you’re right" David replied.

A flash of bright light started Alfur as he was finally let go; around him, he noticed he was in an office room, with plenty of documents and archives on the shelves around him.

"You may be wondering why we brought you in here in such a brutish manner" an elf stated as he entered the room "for that I do apologize, my men usually do their job a little bit too… exaggerating", "Oh… It.. It’s fine" Alfur nervously stated -I… I noticed", "Now… I must ask you something" the elf calmly stated as he approached Alfur "how did you manage to ride an Anurognathus?", "A… A what?" Alfur asked nervously, "The elves that brought you here told me that you fell off an Anurognathus" he replied "how did you manage to ride it?", "Well… uh…" Alfur tried to reply "I jumped on top of it, but accidentally fell off."

The elf then moved towards his counter and opened the curtains, revealing a view towards the coast. "You’re a country elf, right?" the elf asked, "Y… Yeah" Alfur replied, "Then you must have witnessed firsthand the destructive power of the Dinosaurs" the elf replied; Alfur definitely didn’t like where this was going.

"Well… I… I did" Alfur replied, trying to calm down, "And… Tell me" the elf then asked as he approached him once again "how many victims did their wrath leave behind?", "I… I’d say… Uh" Alfur tried to reply, but he was now at the point of trying to escape through the door; "Was it a lot?" the elf asked, "Well… yeah?" Alfur finally replied, "Oh my, that is alarming news, then" he replied "I appreciate the information you’ve given me."

Alfur let out a puff of relief, as at least it didn’t seem like the elf wanted to kill him; "Pardon if I scared you like that" the elf replied "I’ve been suggested that inducing fear in suspects works well… at least, most of the time", "Oh… Well, it did certainly work on me!" Alfur nervously giggled, "Pardon if I haven’t introduced myself as well" the elf replied "My name is Aloysius; I’m head of the biological and geological officers, and our job is to assess the dangers to elf society, whether they’re inert or alive."

"Oh, I’ve heard of you in some reports before!" Alfur remembered out loud -you’re a very important person from what I’ve read!", "Indeed, young elf!" Aloysius replied "and I’m afraid my work is getting complicated as we speak", "Wait, how?" Alfur asked "you and your team members always manage to get stuff under control, both here and in the countryside!"

Aloysius took Alfur outside the room and down a corridor. He then opened a door and revealed a mural of medals and uniforms. "These are all the uniforms from all our fallen comrades" Aloysius stated with a depressing tone "we’d usually have them in a special room, but unfortunately, the amount of lost members we’ve had in the last few months surpasses our usual year’s expectation", "Oh yikes" Alfur replied, "They served well to our community, and fought with bravery and honor" Aloysius stated "but in the end… those creatures proved to be invincible."

Aloysius then took Alfur to another room, where some injured elves were being treated. "These are survivors from recent and previous encounters" he stated "most were victims of accidental stomping by humans, but now, we’ve noticed peck wounds and bite marks have become more common."

A medic elf then approached Aloysius and informed him of a new batch of officers being injured by a creature. "Sir, our recent patients were attacked by an Ikrandraco" the medic stated "two are still missing, but the rest are here and in critical condition", "Thanks for the report" Aloysius replied, -What’s an Ikrandraco?" Alfur nervously replied.

Aloysius then took Alfur into another room, this one full of elves documenting papers of creatures spotted and encountered with in the wild. "Ulrik, give me creature report #236" Aloysius stated, and the officer quickly brought him in the report, "Ikrandraco is a winged beast, or as humans call it, a Pterosaur" he read "they’re identified by a blue head and spotted wings, and can swoop in to snatch you with their jaws."

"Oh… that is… terrifying" Alfur nervously replied, "It is indeed" Aloysius agreed "but if our brave elves hadn’t managed to study this creature, we wouldn’t know how to avoid it."

Aloysius then took Alfur back to his office. "Now that you know some of our work, I must ask you a favor" he stated "this may sound a bit rushed on my behalf, but… would you like to work for us?", "WHAT?!" Alfur replied, "I know, it’s a risky job, but you’ve survived an experience barely any elf would come out alive from, twice even!", "Well… uh…" Alfur tried to reply, but before he could, another elf entered Aloysius’ office in a hurry.

"Sir! We have a situation!" the elf replied, "Adeline, this is a personal meeting" Aloysius replied "if it’s about the food again…", "No! I got special info from an elf community!" Adeline replied "they’ve spotted a flock of Ornithocheirus flocking in from the north!", "Well then, send some scouts to warn those on the northern edge of the city!" he replied "that’s your job after all", "On it, sir!" Adeline replied and left the room.

"Well, now that that’s over, what was going to be your reply?" Aloysius asked Alfur, "Yes?" he asked back, but the commander assumed he was accepting the offer. "Well said, Alfur!" Aloysius replied "I expect you to come here tomorrow early afternoon!", "Wait but…" Alfur tried to reply, but he only got a handshake from Aloysius. "Adeline, come into my office immediately" he stated "take Alfur to the registration room and give him some instructions along the way", "Yes sir!" she replied, "Oh man, what have I done" Alfur said to himself.

While Alfur’s day had become more confusing, Hilda’s city experience was getting better and better. She and her mom had gone to different places in the city, from a huge mall to the only public library, and with every new location, Hilda’s interest in the city had begun to grow.

"Where are we going next?!" Hilda asked in excitement, "Calm down, Hilda!" her mom giggled "there’s plenty of other places to go, but I want to show you one more special place before the day ends", "is it a theater? A museum? Another food stand?!" Hilda kept on asking, "You’ll see soon enough" her mom replied "and I bet you it’ll take your breath away."

Hilda’s mom took Hilda to a small alley that led to a staircase, she questioned what the place would look like, but when she and her mom got there, Hilda could not believe the view. "This looks beautiful!" Hilda replied -you can see the coast from here!", "This was the place I used to go when I was studying" her mom stated "the view usually relieved my stress and let me focus", "Are you sure this helped you focus?" Hilda asked "it seems more distracting to me."

Twig spotted a bench to sit on and encouraged Hilda to sit down and admire the view, "I feel like this view would rival the many places I’ve seen around our old cabin" she stated, "It would indeed" her mom replied "but at least here you could have a snack without worrying that a bird would steal it."

Her mom then joined Hilda on the bench, with the latter resting her head on her arm as the mom sat down.

"I’m starting to feel like this place could be called home too" Hilda confessed to her mom "it feels like it has everything one needs", "Well, that’s the thing about cities" her mom replied "everything that anyone needs is much closer than you expect."

The rays of the sun, as they now began to drop, shone the roofs of the buildings, making the ambient much more relaxing and admiring for Hilda. "I still don’t understand how such a view isn’t distracting for you" Hilda stated, "Well, you have to get used to it in order to avoid getting distracted by it" her mom admitted "there was only one time that I actually got distracted by the view, but it wasn’t the environment itself", -Then what was it?" Hilda asked, "Well, one day, as I finished a project and was about to leave, someone sat down next to me. I didn’t mind him at first, but then he talked to me."

Hilda seemed confused about it; her mom never told her she had friends, so hearing her say she once talked to someone was weird. "He… well… was a nice person, and I, while not being a talkative person back when I was young, was nervous to reply" she stated "but… that was the first person I ended up being open to". "That sounds nice" Hilda replied "and, what happened after?", "Well…" her mom stated, but Hilda noticed her eyes were getting watery, "he and I ended up being close friends" she continued "and, after a few more years, he became your father."

Hilda then noticed her mother was beginning to sob after that statement and hugged her. "He was a nice person, you know?" her mom replied as she calmed down "if he were to see you now… he’d be hugging you with the warmest of hugs", "I know he would, mom" Hilda replied. With her mom slowly stopping crying, the two of them continued to admire the view when suddenly, Twig spotted a group of flying animals coming right towards them, and started to bark at them. "Woah! Mom! Look at those birds!" Hilda pointed them out, her mom observed them as well, but her face soon changed from awe to worry. "Those… don’t seem like birds to me" her mom replied, and she was right.

As the flock flew over their heads, one individual landed next to them; the animal folded its wings upwards, and after spotting them, it directed its view towards Twig. "We… we should probably move" her mom insisted as the animal began to approach them, but Twig, by instinct, stood his ground. "Twig! Come here!" Hilda tried to encourage him, but Twig was now snorting as a warning, something that the creature took as a challenge.

Meanwhile, on the street, the two kids Hilda met in the schoolyard were walking down near the alley when they saw the winged creatures fly above. "Look Frida! There’s some pterosaurs above!" David stated, but Frida quickly pulled him towards the alley, "Have you forgotten about what the TDW stated?" she reminded him -those things can be aggressive if they’re hungry!", "but they’re flying inland" David argued "doesn’t that mean they’re trying to find somewhere to rest?"

Before Frida could answer back, the two of them heard growling atop the staircase. "I think whatever is atop could be more dangerous" David nervously stated. Frida was about to suggest that they leave the alley, but the voice of a young girl alerted them; "I think someone’s already being attacked" Frida stated "we’ve got to help them!", "I’m not sure about this" David nervously replied, but Frida had already started climbing up the staircase.

Atop, Hilda was trying to make Twig fall back, but the deerfox was well fixed on the pterosaur; it lunged at it, trying to bite its wings, but the animal dodged and nearly bit its antlers. "Hilda! Don’t approach it!" her mom warned her, but she was only trying to get Twig back; her movements, however, had now put the pterosaur on a fight-or-flight response, its muscles showing tension on what to do.

"Hey!, is everyone alright?" Frida asked as she entered the scene, causing the pterosaur to panic and flee by lunging upwards and flying away; "Well… we are now" Hilda’s mom awkwardly replied, "I told you… We shouldn’t… have bothered" David stated as he finally caught up, "Aren’t you the boy I threw the ball back to?" Hilda asked as she recognized the boy, "Oh… Uh" David grew nervous, as he wasn’t used to being recognized, "Oh, yeah" Frida replied "I saw you at the edge of the schoolyard, are you like… new around here?, "Well… I am" Hilda answered nervously.

Twig approached the two kids with curiosity as Hilda was talking to them, "Oh, is this a deerfox?!" Frida asked in surprise, "Yep, his name is Twig" Hilda replied, "I’ve heard these creatures are rare, well, at least... this kind is" Frida stated "they only appear in a few special nights on winter", "I don’t want to be rude, but do you all think we should head inside somewhere in case the Pterosaur comes back?" David asked, "We could go to my house if you want" Hilda suggested "would that be alright, mom?", "I don’t see why not" her mom replied "it’s also getting a little late anyway."

While Hilda’s group began their way home, things were getting more confusing for Alfur at his location. "Remember, once you register yourself in the system, you’ll receive a code with which you must go to the office on the left and claim your ID, uniform, and file case" Adeline stated "you got that?". Alfur was left speechless; he was entirely confused about the instructions that he felt his brain suffer a cramp. "Can you repeat all of it again?" Alfur asked nervously, "Well, I can make it much simpler if you want" Adeline replied "but you’re probably going to have a couple of doubts."

Adeline told Alfur the steps of registration for the third time, and for him, it was a surprise she hadn’t gotten angry after that request. -"You got it this time, right?" Adeline asked, "I… I think so" Alfur replied "do I go to the office to the right now?", "Not necessarily, registration procedures usually end by these hours" Adeline replied "I’d suggest coming back early and being punctual, so you get the process done quicker."

As Adeline stated, a bell rang, marking the end of the afternoon shift. "Well, shift is over" she stated as she prepared her bag and cleaned her desk "I’ll be back here in the afternoon if you need any help", "Well… I actually have a problem at the moment as well" Alfur claimed, "What’s it about?" Adeline asked, "Well… I was brought here… somehow, but… I don’t know how to get back home" Alfur replied "is it alright if I could get a lift?", "Sure" Adeline replied "and just in case, ask if you can be authorized to ride a sparrow tomorrow as well."

Alfur and Adeline left through the front door of the building, and Alfur finally got to see the exterior of the building: It seemed like it had the structure of a museum, with everything but the walls made out of marble. "It’s impressive, isn’t it?" Adeline stated as Alfur was left with his mouth open "you should consider yourself lucky to have the chance to work here". Alfur wasn’t sure about that statement, but the building on its own was an impressive sight.

"C’mon, Alfur!" Adeline called him as she brought out her sparrow "just remember to hold on tight to the seat". Alfur was a bit nervous about riding the bird, his earlier experience with that Anurognathus had shown that he wasn’t a good handler, but at least he had company to ride home… this time; "It’s not going to go that fast, won’t it?" Alfur nervously asked, "Relax, Alfur" Adeline replied "I know how to ride these since I was a teen."

Still nervous, Alfur climbed onto the back of the sparrow, and Adeline ordered it to take off. "Hold tight, Alfur!" Adeline told him as the sparrow flew upward. Fearing he was going to fall off, Alfur hugged Adeline tightly in a panic as the sparrow was flying faster than he had imagined.

As they flew higher, the sparrow’s speed began to decrease, signaling it has reached a stable altitude; Alfur, however, wasn’t convinced about it, and kept on hugging tight to Adeline. "You really don’t like heights, don’t you?" Adeline joked, "Not really!" Alfur replied "especially after what happened in the morning!", "It’s OK, Alfur. Not everyone likes it at first" Adeline replied in an attempt to calm Alfur down "just relax, and slowly open your eyes."

Alfur obeyed, and as he opened his eyes, his first sight was toward the ground. "IDON’TWANTTOLOOK! IDON’TWANTTOLOOK! IDON’TWANTTOLOOK!!!" Alfur stated in panic as he saw how high they were, "I kind of forgot to say that you shouldn’t look down" Adeline stated "just try again, but this time, breathe calmly before doing so". Alfur tried what Adeline suggested; he took deep breaths and then opened his eyes. "Don’t look at the ground: look at me" Adeline stated, "O… OK" Alfur nervously replied

He gave Adeline a nervous stare, but her smile slowly calmed him down, and he slowly let go of her. "See! It’s easy" Adeline replied before turning back towards the sparrow’s head to guide it.

The two were now gliding across the city, Alfur was still fixed on Adeline like she told her to do, but his curiosity soon took over, and he looked to his side; the sun was now setting, and the view from that altitude was majestic. "You’re OK, Alfur?" Adeline asked as she noticed he was looking at something else, "Well… I definitely am now" he replied. Adeline soon noticed they were beginning to fly out of the city, so she made a turn to try and get back into the safe flight zone.

"So where is your house?" Adeline asked. "It’s in a building that had red and white walls" Alfur replied "that’s what I mostly remember", "Is it near a park?" Adeline asked "because I’ve seen a building like that near that place", "I think it was" Alfur replied; "I’ll head over there so you can check it out" she stated "hold on tight!"

With that stated, Adeline commanded the sparrow to dive down towards the east; Alfur once again held Adeline in a hurry as he sensed they were dropping, but this time, he felt like it was fun.

"We’re close to the park" Adeline warned "I’m going to quickly swoop over it, so hold on!"; with that stated, the sparrow turned and flew over a small block before reaching the park. "You see your house?" Adeline asked, Alfur tried to seek the building, but there was none that matched the colors; "Unfortunately no…" he replied, but then he saw Hilda crossing the park with her mom "but that girl is from the same building I live in", "Do I follow her?2 Adeline asked, "Yes, please!" Alfur replied.

While Adeline and Alfur were swooping over Hilda and her mom, she was getting to know Frida and David. "So that’s why you always get bugs over you?" Hilda asked in amazement after David’s reply, "Well, that’s my theory" he replied "but I can’t say for certain", "I still stick to my theory of the clothing material" Frida insisted "although I can see that makes a lot of sense."

"Frida, you say that about every theory you have" David stated, "Well, I have optimism, my old friend" she replied with a smirky smile "until it’s proven wrong, that is", "You two always discuss theories?- Hilda asked, "Well, it is something we often do to keep a chat going" David replied, "And… don’t arguments sometimes go too far?" Hilda asked, "Sometimes" Frida admitted "but we never throw punches at each other", "That’s… reassuring" Hilda replied.

Soon, the group reached the house as night fell, and once in the living room, the three children sat down to keep on chatting while Hilda’s mom prepared some tea. "I’m sorry for what happened to your old house" Frida sympathized "dinosaurs seem to be everywhere these days", "People even say that small dinosaurs are making it over the walls now" David stated "that’s why it’s very rare to see people up that late", "Well, part of that is true" Frida argued "there are a few dinosaurs that are managing to burrow or climb the walls of the city."

Having heard that statement, Hilda’s mom became nervous. The whole point of her trying to move to the city was to get away from those animals, but it seems like they are everywhere. "How… big are those dinosaurs?" she asked nervously, "Well… the largest so far has been the size of your deerfox" Frida replied "so I wouldn’t worry unless you leave Twig on its own"; Hilda’s mom let out a breath of relief as she continued to make tea, and Frida then turned to ask Hilda about why did she got a bit paranoid.

"Well… we had to move here because… an Apatosaurus destroyed our cabin by accident" Hilda stated, "Oh… That’s… I don’t know how to reply to that" David admitted, "Why was it an accident, though?" Frida asked, "Well… I saw it trying to stop a large, two-legged beast" she replied -it tried to attack one smaller Apatosaurus", "It must’ve been a parent then" David concluded "Apatosaurs are known to move in family herds", "You mean they were “designed” to do so" Frida argued, "You don’t have to ruin someone’s imagination like that, Frida" David replied.

While Hilda and her new friends were discussing in the living room, the sparrow landed on the open window of Hilda’s room. Alfur then got off the sparrow and took a bag with him; "Well, thanks for the ride home, Adeline" Alfur thanked Adeline, "You can ask me to give you a lift anytime!" she cheerfully replied "it’s nice to talk with someone on the way home", "Can I ask you one question before you leave?" Alfur asked before Adeline took off, "Sure, what is it?" she asked back, "Can you give me one more lift tomorrow?" he asked "I… well… I don’t have a way to get back there too", "Sure thing" she replied "but you must remember that work starts early, around… 10am I’d say", "Oh, no need to worry!" Alfur stated "I am as punctual as a file that’s due the same day!"; Adeline giggled at his statement and then said goodbye before flying away from the window perch, "Well… today’s been a not-so-bad day after all" Alfur said to himself.

Back in the living room, Hilda’s mom had finished and served up the tea for everyone, and the four were discussing more about the dinosaurs in the area. "I know being close to a dinosaur could be traumatizing, but I am amazed, and a bit jealous, that you got to see one just moving about in the wild" David stated, "Well, it wasn’t the only one I saw before moving here" Hilda replied "I got to see one with a crest pointing backwards, and then there’s that big one that attacked the Apatosaurus", "You saw a Parasaurolophus?!" Frida asked "oh, those are beautiful! Their calls are like songs that are dedicated to someone special!", "A bit exaggerated, but considering they do move in herds too, I get that" David added "and about the thing that attacked the Apatosaurus… I don't think there's enough to make a guess, but I can say for sure it was a carnivore."

"What other animals do you kids know off?" Hilda’s mom asked, "Well… there’s plenty" David answered "but I’d say the ones that usually get into the city are creatures like Compsognathus, Moros, and Atrociraptors", "And… are they… that dangerous?" she asked nervously, "Well, they are small" Frida answered "but I wouldn’t say they’re out to kill anything, they may cloned animals, but not monsters". "I agree" David replied "people say that these animals don’t think, but they are pretty much trying to survive in a place that isn’t their home", "If you say that they’re not from here… where is their home then?" Hilda asked.

David was about to reply when he noticed the time, and he saw it was way past 7pm.

"Oh cruddlesticks!" David stated "Frida, we need to go before both our parents get worried", "Oh true!" she agreed "I’m sorry, but we lost track of time; we really need to go!", "It’s OK" Hilda’s mom replied "maybe we can chat another time", "I’m looking forward to it!" David replied as he opened the door for both Frida and himself to leave "Oh, pardon for the late question, but… what were your names again?", "I’m Hilda" Hilda replied "and my mum’s name is Johanna!", "Well, bye Hilda!" said David as he left "see you again soon!"

As the two children left the flat, Hilda and her mom began to clean up. "I’m pretty certain you can say that you’ve made friends today" Johanna stated as she picked up the empty tea cups, "Well… I think I have" Hilda replied "but… maybe if I talk to them more often, I could assure it", "I’m sure it’ll happen" her mom reassured her and gave her a hug "you’re a very nice and friendly person after all", "Thanks, mom" Hilda replied.

The rest of the night was just a breeze for the two as they played Dragon panic and watched a documentary on the couch, and eventually, it was time to go to sleep. "Tomorrow I’ll take you out to visit more exciting places" Johanna stated to Hilda as she tucked herself and Twig in her bed "what do you say?", "I sure want to!" she replied in excitement; her mom then hugged her one last time and kissed her goodnight. "Sleep well, Hilda!" her mother told her, "Goodnight, mom!" Hilda replied, and her mom closed the door to her bedroom.

As soon as she did so, Alfur opened the clock of the cuckoo to turn off a candle and also to take some air before going to sleep as well; "It surely was an interesting day for both of us, wasn’t it?" Alfur asked Hilda, "It sure was" she replied with a tired voice "and hopefully tomorrow will be even better", "Yeah…" Alfur nervously agreed "I sure hope so."

Alfur then stretched one last time and headed inside the clock to sleep; Hilda, on the other hand, hugged Twig and looked outside the window. "Y’know, I don’t like the city for how it lacks the greenery of the forest" she told Twig "but… after today… I think I’m starting to have second thoughts."

Hilda then kept looking outside the window until she fell asleep, unaware that a gigantic, long-necked beast was now roosting atop her building.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: From the mountains to the city

The next morning, before Hilda or her mom woke up, Alfur silently left for the window, where he was expecting Adeline to arrive on her sparrow. "I’m now starting to worry I woke up a bit late" Alfur said to himself as he walked from side to side.

Suddenly, Alfur heard wing flapping, and soon after, Adeline arrived. "Sorry for being a bit late" Adeline apologized "my sparrow was a bit picky with its morning meal", "It’s OK, I kinda thought I was late anyway" Alfur replied.

Not wanting to lose more time, Alfur then hopped on the sparrow, and the two flew back to the headquarters. "Do all elves have to fly birds to get around here?" Alfur asked, "Well, not really" Adeline replied "but I find it more comfortable than riding a squirrel or a rabbit."

Alfur nervously laughed at her statement as the two once again were above the city. The rising sun at least, was a distracting factor for Alfur to focus on, instead of the hundreds or thousands of miles above ground, in elf terms, that is.

"So… I wanna know, what brought you to the city" Adeline asked, "Uh… sorry?" Alfur asked back, as he was still distracted by the view, "I asked, What brought you to the city?" Adeline repeated "was it a new chance in life? Better life quality? Or just to be close to a family member?", "Ehh… actually it wasn’t for any of those reasons" Alfur replied, "Oh, what was the reason then?" Adeline asked, "Well, it may have to do with a giant stepping on our town" Alfur replied with a nervous laugh, "Oh my! Is everyone back there okay or…?" Adeline asked, "Well… I’m not sure" Alfur replied "I left immediately on top of a smaller giant and arrived here", "Well… That’s one way to get to the big city, I guess" Adeline concluded.

After a few more minutes of flight, both Alfur and Adeline arrived at the main building from yesterday, and as Adeline landed the sparrow, all eyes were focused on them. "Is it normal for everyone to look at you?" Alfur asked nervously, "It usually happens when there’s a new recruit" Adeline replied as she hopped off the sparrow’s back, making Alfur more nervous "usually, new peeps don’t last a day given how hard the first assignments are, but I think you’ll persevere", "Yeah, right…" Alfur replied, laughing nervously.

Alfur and Adeline entered the building and made their way to the registration office, where, after a few minutes, Alfur completed his registration. "I’m aware that you got appointed by our commander" the registration elf asked Alfur "is that right?", "Y…yeah" Alfur nervously replied as laid down a pen, "That’s a first; usually candidates just come and register for the insurance" the registration elf joked "hopefully you’re different."

Alfur then left the registration room and moved to an office to the left in order to claim the rest of his stuff: A blue and red uniform, a bag with some folders inside, and an ID.

"You’re set to go, new recruit!" a worker stated as he gave Alfur his new equipment "just head to the office to the left on the second floor to receive an assignment", Alfur nodded and then picked up his things to head out of the office, where Adeline once again is waiting for him.

"Well, now you’re an official member of the organization" Adeline said "how does it feel", "Well… it’s… exciting?" Alfur nervously replied, "Good! It’s nice to see that you’re excited!" Adeline agreed "I assume the office elf also told you that there are assignments to be done as well, right?", "Yeah, he said it was on the second floor to the left, I believe?" Alfur replied, "That’s right" Adeline replied "well, I’ll leave you to go check your tasks, and if you need help, you can ask anyone for information", "Yeah… I’ll do that" Alfur replied, "Well, see you later, Alfur" Adeline said before she left for her post next to the commander’s office, leaving Alfur to head towards the second floor; "Man, what am I doing" he whispered to himself.

A few hours later, back at the house, Hilda woke up, with Twig by her side as always. She immediately changed clothes to start her day, and after doing that, she approached the cuckoo clock on the shelves to see how Alfur was doing, but she didn’t get a response. "Hmm… Maybe Alfur is asleep" she said to herself before she heard the voice of her mom calling her for breakfast, "I’m coming, mom!" she replied out loud as she left the clock back on the shelf.

In the kitchen, her mom just finished making breakfast: oatmeal for her daughter and bacon and eggs for herself. Hilda soon arrived in the kitchen and sat down on the table to eat breakfast.

"Did you sleep well?" Johanna asked as she began eating her fried egg, "Well, after seeing that the city may not be that bad… I kinda slept well" Hilda replied "the only issue I probably had was when I heard something landing in the roof", "It was probably just a bird" her mom replied "the city still has its share of wildlife after all."

As the two enjoyed their meal, the bell rang from the hall; Twig, being the one closest to the door, went near to smell who it was. "Ma’am" said someone from the door "is anyone home?", Johanna went to open the door to see who it was, and it turned out to be the old man that had sold the flat to her.

"Oh, good morning" she replied "is everything alright?", "If I’m being honest, no" he replied "people woke up alarmed today after a large animal was seen perched on the roof of the building!", "Excuse me?" Johanna asked in confusion "what do you mean by a large animal?".

The old man then took his phone out and showed her a picture of what had happened earlier. "Oh my god! What is that?" Johanna asked in a low tone, knowing that if she spoke louder, Hilda would pick interest; "The TDW said it’s a large… pterodactyl or something like that" the old man replied "I don’t exactly remember the name of it, but the important thing is that it flew away with no trouble", "Well, I’m glad to hear that" Johanna replied.

Back at the table, Hilda finished her oatmeal and was about to head for her room when she heard the conversation and decided to eavesdrop.

"I’m surprised neither you nor your daughter woke up to that noise" the old man stated, "Well… when you live in a cabin in the woods for almost all your parenthood years, wild noises are just too easy to ignore" Johanna joked "is there any chance it could even come back", "Most certainly yes" the old man replied "it's said that those things always circle around the globe, and it’s most likely something as big as that or even bigger could fly and perch on the roofs of Trolberg", "A large creature that can perch on roofs?" Hilda asked to herself "it must be a big bird to cause such panic."

After her mom finished the conversation with the old man, she closed the door and went to check on her. Hilda quickly noticed and faked coming back from the bathroom.

"Oh, there you are" her mom said as Hilda approached her "you finished your meal quick", "Yeah, I definitely was hungry" she replied "is it alright if I help you with the dishes?", "I was going to ask you that regardless" her mom replied and giggled "I need to finish something from work on the computer", "Well, don’t worry mom!" Hilda stated 2I’ll be done with the dishes real quick."

With that said, Hilda began to wash while her mom went to work. Hilda quickly washed the dishes, as there’s not that many, and once she finished, she went to her mom’s side to ask if she could go out. "Well, you can explore if you want" she replied before giving Hilda some cents "but if you get lost, look for a red box with a phone inside and call me from there; I’ll pick you up in no time", "Ok mom!" Hilda stated before she went to put on a yellow scarf and red boots "is it alright if Twig comes with me?", "Yeah, he can go too" she replied "but remember not to stray too far from the neighborhood."

With that said, Hilda left the house with Twig on her toe, and out of the building she went.

"Well, there’s a new world for me to explore, Twig- she said to her deerfox "let’s see what’s around here on our own, shall we?"; with that said, Hilda headed in the same direction as yesterday to avoid getting lost as well as to see if she had missed something around, and it doesn’t take long before she spots something, or rather someone familiar.

"Hey!" she yells at two kids that are walking her way: Frida and David, "Oh hey!... Uh… what was your name again?" David asked as he and Frida caught up to Hilda, "My name is Hilda" she replied "I’m surprised I stumbled upon you two again", "Well, we were on our way to the library" Frida replied "I need to give back a book I borrowed for some homework", "Is it alright if I can come too?" she then asked Frida, "Sure, why not" she replied, and so now the four begin their way to the library, all while something spotted them from an alley.

Back at the organization building, Alfur was getting started on examining his assignments, some which contained names he’d never heard of before. "Herrerasaurus? Mononykus? Wenupteryx?" Alfur said to himself "are there even real names?", "They pretty much are" said another elf as he examined his assignments "are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before", "Oh… Uh… yeah!" Alfur replied "I’m Alfur, and you’re…?", "Name’s Alvin" the elf replied "it’s a pleasure to see a new recruit", "Yeah…" Alfur replied nervously "are these actual names or…" Alfur added as he pointed at the documents, "Oh, they are" Alvin replied "the humans say the names out loud, and there are some elves in the library who also catalog information from human books as well", "Really?" Alfur asked in surprise "I’m impressed; I though most information came from the field."

"Oh it does" said Alvin before grabbing a file and putting it in front of Alfur "it’s just that we get information from human sources as a backup in case we find something inaccurate in our findings", "What’s this one about?" Alfur asked as he picked up the file Alvin left in front of him, "Well, you need an assignment that has an easy name by the looks of it" Alvin replied "so why not start with this creature", "Microtuban?" Alfur asked as he read the name, "Some elves from a mountain village need help getting some advice about coexisting with this creature" Alvin replied "I have seen those creatures before, and there hasn’t been a fatal incident with those… yet."

Alfur double checked on the file to see if he was right, and indeed there were zero reports of casualties by this creature.

"Ok, I’ll start with this one" he replied "and… what creature are you going to get information about", "I’m going after something called a Stegouros" Alvin replied "it’s an herbivore, so it should be easy."

With that said, Alvin left the room, and Alfur was left to examine his file, and he then received another visit. "Have you chosen any assignment yet?" Adeline asked, startling Alfur, "Oh… Uh, yeah, I think I have one" he replied "what do I do now?", "Well, just go to the office next door and ask for a sparrow" Adeline replied, putting Alfur nervous as he had never flown a sparrow before.

Still, Alfur obeyed Adeline and went to the office next to the one he was in and met another elf. "Your assignment, please!" the elf asked, and Alfur gave her the file, "Hmm… going to the mountains? As a new recruit? Bold" the elf replied with amazement "well, pick a saddle and go to the other side of the building, in the backyard, to pick a sparrow and head there. I trust you have your map at least", "Oh, yes, I do indeed" Alfur replied with a hint of nervousness, "Well, good luck then, and don’t forget: if the sparrow dives down on its own, it means there’s an aerial predator nearby" she replied "trust the bird!"

Alfur then left the building and headed for the back of the building, where a set of elves were caring for some sparrows, and one elf noticed him approaching the flock.

"Woah! Easy there, you’re going to startle them!" he warned Alfur, "Oh, sorry" he replied nervously "I… I’m here for a sparrow to fly here"; he then showed the file to the sparrow carer, and he in turn gave him a saddle. "Feel free to choose your bird" he replied "benefit for a new guy", Alfur then carefully wandered around the sparrows until one, curious at him, moved to peck the saddle. "I think that one likes you" the sparrow carer laughed out loud as Alfur tried to retrieve the saddle; in the end, he managed to do so, but now he faced the challenge of placing it on the bird.

"Need some help with that?" another elf asked Alfur as he was struggling with the saddle, "Yes please!" he replied as the sparrow jumped again and again, with Alfur clinging to its beak.

The elf calmed the bird down and attached the saddle to the sparrow. "There, it should be ready now" the elf replied, and Alfur climbed on top of it, "You’re set to go!" the sparrow carer stated, and without Alfur even doing anything, the bird took off, almost making Alfur fall off. "IT'S ALL FINE!!!!" he yelled as the bird flew up and away with him on its back.

While Alfur’s crazy flight began, Hilda and the rest soon arrived at the library, and Hilda’s initial reaction was pure amazement. "Woah! I have heard about this place in the news, but I wasn’t expecting the front to be this big!" Hilda stated, "Oh, this is just the entrance" Frida replied "wait until you see how it is inside."

With that said, Hilda and the rest entered the library, and Hilda’s amazement doubled as she saw how big and varied the place was.

"WOAH!…" Hilda yelled out loud, but David covered her mouth. "You got to keep quiet here" he advised "noise isn’t a thing that’s welcomed here, specially by the librarian", "What’s wrong with her?" Hilda asked silently.

"Well, people say I’m weird and a straight-up witch" the librarian stated, startling the group, "Oh, I see you’ve brought in the book you borrowed three days, two hours, and fifty minutes ago" the librarian added as Frida nervously gave her the book back "you’re welcome to pick another book, but don’t bring it back late, or else…"

With that said, the librarian moved away to work on organizing another pile of books, giving the group a space to breathe. "Now I get why you’re afraid of her" Hilda whispered to David.

The group headed away from the entrance and into the library, exploring the shelves filled with a variety of books.

"What book are you trying to find now?" Hilda asked David, "I need one about birds" he replied "it’s mainly to find some information about migration patterns", "David, the internet exists" Frida argued, "Yeah, I know" David replied "but hey, you like this place as much as I do", "You’re not wrong on that" Frida agreed before looking at a shelf with a book about marine ecosystems.

"Need that one?" asked the librarian, startling Frida, "I assume that’s a yes" she added before she picked the book and gave it to her, "You also need that book?" she asked as she looked at David, and he nervously nodded in reply.

The librarian then passed the book to David and then looked at Hilda and Twig, "Huh, you’re new here?" she asked Hilda, as she had never seen her around before "you know you can’t bring animals here, right?", "Uh… yeah" she lied "sorry", "I assume you want a book about the city?", "Uh… yeah, I do need one" she replied nervously, and the librarian quickly passed her one about the history of Trolberg, "Just ask if you need anything else" the librarian stated before she left to keep on organizing, "And that’s why I feel like the internet is a safer place to search through" Frida whispered to Hilda.

Eventually, the three sat down around a desk and started to read their books, silently pacing through the pages; Twig made himself comfortable on Hilda’s lap while she read the history book, learning about other places in the city, celebrations, and myths her mom never told her about.

"A rat that grants you secrets from others" she said in her head "well, that sounds terrifying", Twig looked at the image of the supposed “rat” and slowly hid its face below the desk, a bit frightened, something Hilda noticed; "It’s OK, boy" she whispered, calming Twig down before she scrolled over the page.

Meanwhile, Frida and David were also getting more information from their books, with David seeing how the migratory routes of barnacle geese were pathed out and Frida learning about the difference between cold and warm sea floor environments.

"Coral grows in warm waters, and algae in cold" Frida said in her head "interesting", "You found something about the kelp forest you were looking for?" David whispered to Frida, "Not yet, I was actually looking for something else" she replied "although from what I see, there are more of those in colder waters", "You’re really into marine life, aren’t you?" Hilda asked Frida, "Well, I kind of am" she quietly replied "it was my grandpa that usually showed me about fish and other sea animals when I was a kid", "And you?" Hilda asked David "are you interested in animals as well?", "Well… I am" he replied "but I like birds mostly; there’s just something about the way they gracefully move in the air that’s inspiring."

"And what about you, Hilda" Frida asked "what are your interests?", "Well… I like nature" she replied "I also like adventuring and… I’d say cooking as well, although my mom is the one who enjoys it most", "My dad likes cooking too" David replied "but he’s more into stars and space", "My parents are more into numbers" Frida stated "it’s a bit boring, but hey, I can’t complain when I’m sort of good with them", "Are they accountants?" Hilda asked, "Well, my mom is" Frida replied "but my dad is a software designer."

"What about your mom?" David asked Hilda, "Well… My mom is a graphic designer" she replied, "So she likes designing and art?" David concluded, "I guess you can say that" Hilda replied "although she doesn’t draw on paper anymore", "That’s technology for you" Frida stated "making life easier but also reshaping everything."

On the air, Alfur’s sparrow was making pirouette after pirouette, making Alfur cling onto the saddle for dear life.

"A SQUIRREL WOULD’VE BEEN EASIER!!!!" he yelled as the bird seemed to fly out of control, but the bird was simply having fun, something Alfur didn’t seem to notice. The bird soon stopped and flew straight, giving Alfur a break and a chance to throw up. "I swear, if I get to see that commander, I’m going to have some words" he said out loud.

The view below was that of awe as things calmed down, with the towers of concrete from the city soon turning green from the trees of the valley.

"Well, at least this is more relaxing" Alfur stated as he flew above the forest. Below, some commotion was already happening; Alfur tried to perch on a branch to see what was going on, but he wasn’t fully able to steer it properly yet, so he only circled around to watch the drama from above.

On the ground, a bunch of feathered animals called Rinchenia were circling each other, a few trying to display themselves to some dull-colored individuals; it was clearly a mating ritual of some sort. Alfur, being a curious elf, decided to write down what was going on, and while he was doing so, the bird landed on a branch at last. "Well, thanks for stopping" Alfur said to his bird, who in turn chirped from joy.

One individual seemed eager to show off and tried to find a spot among the crowd, but given the best spots were already used by more vibrant males, its only chance was to either fight or show off on the edge of the flock. Eventually, the male tried his luck and challenged a much larger male, inflating a sort of pouch on his throat and erecting some head feathers to appear intimidating; the larger male replied by doing the same, and by circling around his challenger. A fight was about to begin.

"Well, this is certainly interesting" Alfur stated as he wrote down what he saw. The two males locked their sights on their weak spots, and as soon as they stopped circling each other, the large male lunged first, kicking its long legs towards his opponent; the young contender stepped back to avoid the attack and then tried to bite the neck of the rival. As the two fought, some females began to eagerly watch the confrontation, making the stakes higher. The large male then charged at the same time as the young one, clashing their chests against one another and using their feathered arms to scratch each other.

The two seemed equally matched, but then, as the large male charged, the young one stepped aside and charged the side of his opponent, knocking him to the ground.

"Ouch, that’s got to hurt" Alfur said as he saw the blow from afar; the large male was down but not defeated yet, as it quickly stood up and kept his guard.

Once again, the two clashed forward, slashing at each other as well as trying to peck at each other’s throats; the fight seemed like it was going to be long, but then, a decisive blow: the large male knocked the young one to the ground and, with a firm grip on one of his arms, it broke it, causing the young male to back down in pain. The fight was over.

"Man, that poor creature" Alfur stated as the defeated male left the flock to tend to his broken arm; meanwhile, having won over his challenger, the large male began to show off to a female, and she seemed to accept his moves. Before the two could have a more developed act, however, Alfur ordered his bird to take off, and it swiftly did so, leaving the courting pair to do their thing.

A few miles later, Alfur and the bird soon reached the edge of the forest and flew over a large grassland. The environment here seemed much calmer than in the forest, for there didn’t seem to be any activity at the moment, and for Alfur, that meant no more distractions between him and his destination.

"We’re almost there; I can feel it" he whispered to his bird. On the ground below, the grass began to be replaced by barren land and rocks, and soon enough, he arrived at the mountains beyond the valley.

As he reached his destination, he ordered his bird to start to descend in order to spot the village he was supposed to attend to, but the bird was rather hesitant to do so.

"Come on now, we need to get down there" Alfur tried to convince the bird, but it still didn’t want to land, "Ok… what if… down there there’s food!" Alfur tried again "I think you would like a snack, wouldn’t you?"; still the bird refused, and this was beginning to annoy Alfur.

"Are you really being annoying on purpose?" he yelled to his bird "we need to land!". Alfur then tried to force the bird down, but it still refused to try and land. Alfur was about to rage when he spotted something down on the ground, almost camouflaged with the rocky environment, looking directly at them; the bird chirped and remained in place, a sign to the predator that he’d been spotted, and so it stood up and left.

"Well… I did not expect that" Alfur said as the hunter left the scene, and once it did, the bird landed at last, and not soon after, someone called for him from behind a tiny boulder. "Hey! You!" an elf stated as Alfur and his bird landed -you’re from those elf scouts?", "Uhh.. yeah" Alfur replied and the elf walked towards him, "Well, I can tell you’re probably new- he added "next time you should trust the bird to avoid being eaten by a Dromaeosaurus", "A what?" Alfur asks and the elf laughs, "Yeah, I can tell you’re new" he replied and giggled "anyway, follow me! I’ll show you the way to the village!"

Alfur and his sparrow then follow the elf through the ragged terrain, jumping and climbing over tiny boulders that are the equivalent to mountains for the elves.

"So… what’s the situation with these… Microtuban?" Alfur asked as he followed the elf, "Well, it isn’t that bad" he replied "they don’t attack us, but the only issue we have is that sometimes, when they fly off in a large flock, the wind they cause can send light tents flying", "I see" Alfur replies as he carefully descends from a boulder. Soon, after some more trekking, the elf and Alfur arrive at the village: a small, flat area covered in small fields and some houses.

"Welcome to Klippbyn!" the elf stated as he entered the town "you can leave your sparrow here on the field; it’ll be comfortable while I guide you through town", "Oh, thank you" Alfur replied thankful and let his sparrow feed on a small mount of seeds on a field; the elf then took Alfur around town and showed him what his community does.

"We’re mostly farmers of high altitude crops" he states as he and Alfur walk by some villagers harvesting some turnips "they’re our main income", "Really? And does the wildlife steal some of the food?" Alfur asked, "Not really, we’re barely even noticed" the elf replied "oh also, call me Andrew. Sorry if I forgot to say my name at the start", "Oh, it’s OK" Alfur replied, continuing to wander through the village with Andrew.

The pair then arrived at the main building of the village, where the town’s mayor was waiting for the organization’s representative.

"Ah, so the representative is here!" said the mayor, getting up from his chair to greet Alfur, "Yes, he’s here to assess the Microtuban situation" Andrew replied, "Good to know" the mayor said, and then looked at Alfur "now, please come with me."

The mayor then took Alfur to a balcony, where a roosting colony of Microtuban could be spotted in the distance, "Those creatures are usually the sight to behold" the mayor said "they never caused problems, as we seemed to be out of their menu, but now, they’ve been causing rock slides every now and then."

The mayor then pointed at a destroyed part of the village, with boulders on top of destroyed houses and farmland. "I need you to find out why the Microtubans are getting alarmed and causing such damage to our village" the mayor then stated, "I’ll do my best" Alfur replied.

A few hours have now passed, and Hilda and the rest have now left the library with some borrowed books and are now eating sandwiches next to a duck pond.

"Do you guys ever leave the city?" Hilda asked as she gave a bite to her sandwich, "Well… we used to" David replied "but now that those dinosaurs have appeared, going out to the wilderness can be risky, "Yeah, everyone outside the city is trying to move here because of the dinosaurs" Frida added "with time, the city is probably going to be overcrowded, depending on how many people live outside the walls that is."

While the group was eating, Twig approached the water’s edge to try and grab a bread crumb that was close to the edge of the water, but then a weird-like animal approached him; the animal stretched its tiny arms and hissed at Twig, trying to get him away from the meal. Hilda then noticed the animal and quickly grabbed Twig and pulled him away, allowing the animal to secure its meal.

"What is that?" Hilda asked in confusion, as it looked like a goose or heron with a long tail, "Well, it’s a dinosaur" David replied "one of many that live in the city for some reason, but… the name is kinda hard to pronounce", "Really?" Hilda asked back before she saw the animal take the bread crumb away and throwing it in the water again, -I think it was Hal… Halts… something along the lines of that- David replied.

The animal was a Halszkaraptor, a sort of long-necked, feathered dinosaur that hunts near the water, and judging by its attitude, it was clearly trying to lure fish.

"I’m still confused at what its doing" Frida stated as the Halszkaraptor moved the bread crumb to another location, "I think it’s trying to lure fish with it" David replied "I’ve seen herons do that in TV before, but…", "But… what?" Hilda asked and David chuckled a bit, "Well, there’s no fish in this pond" David replied and giggled a bit.

The Halszkaraptor didn’t seem to notice there wasn’t any prey, and to make matters worse, some ducks were closing in, trying to eat the bread. The creature then grabbed the crumb and moved to another location, but once again, the ducks followed. The Halszkaraptor then hissed at the ducks, trying to drive them away, and the ducks retreated for the moment. The dinosaur then grabbed the crumb again and placed it in the water, still trying to catch a fish and still unaware that it was a waste of time.

"Do other dinosaurs creep into the city as well?" Hilda asked, "Well, there are small ones like the ones I mentioned yesterday" Frida replied "but… besides those, there aren’t really any big ones to worry about", "Yeah, the walls really cover the city well" David added "if they protected us from Trolls, so they should protect us from the dinosaurs as well", "Let’s hope so" Hilda replied before she finished her sandwich "are there any other interesting parts of the city?", "Well… what have you seem so far?" David asked back, "Well, my mom took me to a mall, a school, a sandwich store, and a lookout post" Hilda replied, "Hmm… would you like to see the pier?" Frida asked, "Are there dinosaurs around that place?" Hilda asked back with a hint of fear, "Not really" David replied "there are pterosaurs, but besides that… nothing dangerous really", "Well, I guess going there should be safe then" Hilda concluded and smiled.

The group then stood up and made their way to the pier, leaving the Halszkaraptor to try and catch nothing. Twig took the lead on the walk as he tried to understand the new scents the city offered, while Hilda and her newfound friends chatted about their lives.

"You survived a Troll attack?!" Frida asked in shock as Hilda narrated her experience, "Well, the Troll just wanted the bell off his nose" Hilda replied "it’s just that… well… roars aren’t really understandable", "You really seem to be akin to how to handle yourself in the wild" David complemented her "you should join the Sparrow Scouts with those skills", "Sparrow Scouts?" Hilda asked, "It’s like a camping group that teaches kids and teens skills to survive in worst-case scenarios in the wild" Frida replied "David and I usually go there on the weekends", "Yeah, and Frida really is into it" David added and laughs a bit "her badge collection is like HUUUUGE."

"He’s not wrong" Frida replied "if you ever go to my house and to my room, you’d see a panel showing off almost a hundred badges I earned", "How can you even keep them organized?!" Hilda asked Frida, "Well… it wasn’t easy given there’s a lot of ‘em" Frida replied "I almost lost a couple when I tried to move them to a new stand, but I managed to quickly find them", "That’s relieving" Hilda stated, "Yeah, Frida can be organized, but she also loses some things every now and then" David adds and giggles, "Says the boy who keeps forgetting his glasses back home" Frida replied back and made David scratch the back of his neck, "Fair" he replied.

"Does he really wear glasses?" Hilda asked. "He does, but forgets to do so very often" Frida replied, "That and I also get bugs to land on my body every time" David adds, making Hilda giggle. "How does that even happen?" Hilda asked in confusion, "I have no idea" David replied "I feel like it’s more a curse that a rare coincidence."

After a couple more blocks and more chatting, the group finally arrived at the pier as the sun began to move from the middle of the sky; Hilda immediately spotted fishermen taking their catch to a small market next to the beach, as well as some gulls flying and landing around the place.

"This place is pretty" Hilda spoke as she walked around the place, "It’s usually busy at this time of the day" Frida stated "many fishermen return from a morning’s catch and then leave again as the sun sets to catch some nocturnal fish", "Sounds like a lot of effort" Hilda replied before something big swooped over them.

The fishermen looked alarmed as the flying animal landed, and once on the ground, it moved around the pier, looking for a chance to steal the fishermen’s catch of the day. "What’s that?" Hilda asked, "I think it’s a Pteranodon" David replied "usually they’d be hunting away in the sea, but because some have found this place to have lots of food, sometimes they come here to steal", "They’re mostly a nuisance" Frida added "but these at least are normal; back when news spread of dinosaurs released onto the mainland, there were reports and saying that some could grab a person with their talons."

Hilda heard this and shook a bit, with Twig getting close to comfort her and calm her down; meanwhile, the Pteranodon tried to wander around to snatch a fish, but the fishermen were quick to try and drive it off, using brooms and sticks to scare it away.

Suddenly, one man tried to drive the attack home but left its post open; the Pteranodon dodged the attack and ran to snatch a fish before flying off to the beach to eat his stolen prize. "They’re really cunning" Frida stated as the Pteranodon ate the fish whole, but soon other Pteranodons and other species began to gather around.

"Now there’s some Ornithocheirus and Ikrandraco on the scene" David said out loud as the pterosaurs began to circle, trying to snatch a fish any time they could. With so many pterosaurs around, fights between them broke out. "They’re on a frenzy now" Frida said while the pterosaurs fought for the stolen catches, forcing the fishermen to dump their waste to lure them away.

Now, with the bounty being gifted to them, the pterosaurs quickly scrambled over the fish remains, but then, as the thieves began to have their fill, an even larger pterosaur landed. It was taller than any of the other pterosaurs, it had a long neck and bill, and it quickly bullied the competition away.

"That’s a big one" Hilda stated as she nervously watched the scene unfold, "It’s a big one indeed" David replied "and it’s dangerous too".

The giant, once it secured the bounty for itself, began to feast on the waste while the rest of the pterosaurs either moved on or waited to see if the giant would leave anything to eat.

"Does that thing have a name?" Hilda asked, "Quetzalcoatlus" Frida replied "David usually jokes about this one, but it is a creature you don’t want to be next to", "Yeah, one single strike from its beak can kill you" David added "there was one news report where one was seen swallowing a wolf whole. You don't need to worry too much about this one though, it's just a juvenile."

Twig heard this and hid behind Hilda, and she in turn tried to comfort her deerfox friend. "But… they don’t fly around here often, right?" Hilda asked nervously, "Well… they can fly around the world with bare effort" David replied "so, I would expect some flying by or even perch on rooftops…", "ROOFTOPS?!" Hilda asked in panic, "Y…Yes?" David asked nervously, "THAT’S WHAT LANDED ON THE ROOF OF MY HOUSE LAST NIGHT?!- Hilda asked out loud, shocking Frida and David, "That… was on your roof?!" Frida asked alarmed "how did you live?!", "Well, I didn’t saw it in person" Hilda replied "I heard it from the news, and a neighbor saw it from the ground."

David and Frida let out a sigh of relief, as their new friend wasn’t lost in a single night.

"Well, if you see one, just run next time" Frida stated, "Or hide" David added "I doubt running will work with a giant animal like that" he added, and then pointed at the Quetzalcoatlus, who by this time had had its fill and began to move away, leaving few scraps to be fought for by the other pterosaurs. "And why does it not attack the fishermen?" Hilda asked, "Well, the thing is… even though that thing is more of a predator, it’s actually scared of populated areas" David replied "it may roost on rooftops, but… if spooked, it’ll leave quickly."

Soon, the Quetzalcoatlus flew away, and the rest of the pterosaurs left as well after eating what was left. The fishermen could once again sell their catch in peace, and the group moved on, leaving the pier and heading back into the city again.

"That… probably wasn’t the best first impression of the pier you hoped for" Frida stated, breaking the silence after they had moved away from the coastline, "I don’t think it was a bad first impression" Hilda replied "but those are definitely not the animals I was expecting to see", "Well, you’re probably going to see them frequently when fishermen have a good fishing day" David stated and giggled a bit "the city will have plenty of surprises", "I’m sure of it" Hilda replied, looking at the cover of the book she had borrowed "and I really want to learn more about these creatures."

Back on the mountains, Alfur mounted his sparrow once again and flew close to the colony of Microtuban, and the flock began to get a bit nervous. "They easily seem to be scared by anything close" Alfur noted down as he and his sparrow flew by, but it seemed that, even with how close he was, it seemed like a small bird wasn’t a reason for the colony to panic. "Well, that’s another theory down" Alfur said as he crossed another theory off his notebook. He then landed his bird close to the colony to keep observing and drank some water from a canteen he was carrying "this is really hard."

Suddenly, a large shadow moved above the colony, and as it flew by, the Microtuban began to panic and take to the air, sending small boulders down a slope and crashing into the already damaged buildings. "Watch out! Boulders incoming!!!" a villager stated in panic as rocks were falling once again, crushing the already damaged buildings even more. "Ow, dangit!" the mayor stated from afar "we were making such good reparation progress."

Alfur then looked up and saw the shadow circle the flock of Microtubans; it seemed like it was hunting them, and it wasn’t alone, as a second shadow appeared in the sky. "I’m going to need a closer look" Alfur stated out loud, the adventuring spirit now getting a hold of him, and quickly mounted his sparrow again to fly next to the now panicked Microtuban. "Is he flying into the flock?!" Andrew asked from afar, "I’m not sure, but I think I now see why the first recruits are the dumbest" the mayor replied, only standing back and fearfully watching the scene unfold.

Once Alfur got close enough, he spotted the shadows circling around the flock, teasing it into breaking apart. "Are those… eagles?!" Alfur asked to himself as he saw the pair try to dive bomb towards the flock.

The Microtubans dropped quickly when the birds of prey attempted to grab them with their talons, but the birds were trying to drive the flock into the mountain in an attempt to make them crash; it was clear that these hunters were still inexperienced with this new source of prey.

"Well, looks like these eagles may be what’s causing the Microtuban to cause rock slides" Alfur said and wrote down a conclusion before he flew back to the town; the mayor looked at him relieved to know he was fine, and the townsfolk soon surrounded him to see what his verdict was.

"I think I’ve cracked the case" Alfur spoke as he got down from his sparrow and took out his notes "the Microtuban are not disturbed by regular working noise or sparrows, but if there are aerial hunters like eagles, they will panic and take off, dropping boulders while doing so", "And how can we drive off the eagles?" the mayor asked Alfur, but he was clueless, that was one question he hadn’t even thought off; "Well… uh… I’m not sure if that’s possible right now" Alfur replied instinctively "they could be nesting close by, or they’re just trying to catch the Microtuban", "So there’s no way to be safe for now?" Andrew asked nervously, and Alfur simply shook his head, giving no hope for the villagers. "Well, I think the only action we can take is build a cover around town" the mayor suggested, but the villagers rejected the idea. "If we cover the town, there won’t be sunlight for the crops" one villager argued, "If the cover is made of glass we could harm ourselves when it breaks!" another villager argued.

More pebbles were now starting to fall, making everyone rush into cover, but to the villagers’ confusion, it wasn’t the Microtubans that were causing it since the whole flock was on the air. Alfur’s bird took to the air in fright of the rock slide and spotted the culprits: two small, dome-headed dinosaurs called Alaskacephale, and they seemed to be duking it out, their steps causing small rocks to fall on the village.

"What are those up there?!" the mayor asked in panic, as neither he nor the other villagers have seen it before. The villagers then ran away to their houses in panic as the two dinosaurs descended to continue their fight, and one nearly trampled the mayor, but fortunately, Alfur moved him out of the way of the dueling lizards.

Their fight didn’t seem like it was as aggressive as the Rinchenia in the forest, however, as the two weren’t that aggressive to each other, but regardless of their aggression, their steps were crushing elves and ruining pastures.

"How do we drive them off?!" the mayor asked Alfur in panic, but Alfur was as clueless as to what to do, and to make matters worse, the eagles were now pushing the flock against the rocky wall of the mountain, causing winds to pick up and lift elves like paper, as well as startling the dinosaurs.

"Everyone, GET DOWN!" Andrew yelled as the Microtuban were flying low to the ground, and all the villagers did their best to try and hold on; even Alfur’s bird was struggling, as it was now flying with the flock to avoid being hunted by the eagles.

The flock flew back into the open as quickly as they swooped over the town, bringing a window of relief for the villagers. "Well, that’s one thing out of the way" Andrew stated silently as the flock moved back into the skies again, but the problems weren’t over, as the dinosaurs were still around and playing after the danger had passed; little did they know however, that it hasn’t, as minutes after the eagles soon stopped chasing the Microtuban, they started to swoop over in circles over the town.

"Is that normal?" the mayor asked out loud, as most elves knew that whenever a bird of prey was doing that, it meant that it was watching over its target. "I… am not so sure" Alfur replied nervously, his bird now with him and shivering from fear as well.

Suddenly, one of the eagles started to dive down towards the villagers, causing everyone to panic. Alfur quickly mounted his sparrow and, with the mayor and Andrew on its back as well, quickly flew away. Little did they know, however, that the eagle was after a bigger target. The eagle then deployed its talons and grasped the head of one of the dinosaurs. The animal tried to get the eagle off its dome-shaped head, as the small spikes on the back of its skull were giving the eagle a place to take a grip, but the eagle held on, flapping its wings to balance itself, and dragging the dinosaur down the slope.

The second eagle flew close by, as a heavy target like this dinosaur would be able to break the wing of an eagle; nonetheless, the eagle took off, with the dinosaur still held firm by its skull on its talons, and then, when it was away from the mountain wall, it let go.

Alfur, the mayor, and Andrew watched in horror from the safety of Alfur’s sparrow, as the dinosaur fell, and hit the ground with such force that it killed it instantly. The eagles then swooped down to see if their catch survived, and after a couple of minutes, they descended to eat their catch.

"I… think we’ve seen enough for today" Andrew stated out loud, traumatized by what he had seen. The sparrow then landed back on the village, and the villagers slowly emerged from their hiding spots.

"Is everything safe now?" one villager asked as the three got off the sparrow, "I think so" Alfur replied, looking around the now devastated village. "What was all of that?" the mayor asked dumbfoundedly, "I have no idea" Alfur replied, still in a state of shock "but... I think we can still rebuild safely now", "Well, we must" the mayor replied "but how can we make sure those things never return?", "I…I'm not sure about that" Alfur replied "but… it’s better to just… focus on rebuilding right now, I guess?". "Alfur’s right" Andrew backed him up "we must rebuild as much as we can before nightfall", "Well said, fellow villager" the mayor added "now, let’s get the houses back on their feet!"

The villagers then quickly got to work, trying to quickly fix the destroyed houses with what spare material they could find. Alfur and his bird brought some materials from the forest, spotting a group of Telmatosaurus emerge from a cave along the way, while the rest of the villagers used stones and mud to build the walls and seal the gaps between them.

Soon, with almost all the houses done, Alfur and his bird brought in some last materials as the sun began to set.

"Well, at least the houses are kind of back on their feet" Andrew stated "I think we can work on fixing the fields tomorrow", "It’s good that at least all of you have a roof under which to sleep after all of this" Alfur added, patting Andrew’s shoulder.

The Microtubans, after being airborne for some hours after the attack, proceeded to land below the town this time around, almost close together to keep warmth, as the night on the mountains would bring out cold and other predators.

"Alright everyone, the sun’s setting" the mayor warned everyone "pick up the last of the remaining crops before going to bed so they don’t freeze overnight!"

With that said, the villagers picked up whatever vegetables they could salvage and headed into their homes, for tomorrow they had to send them to town to get money to sustain their families.

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye for now" the mayor then stated to Alfur "I must write a report of our production tomorrow as well as about the incident of today for your commander", "Oh, I almost forgot about that part!" Alfur stated as he followed the mayor back to his building; the mayor then wrote in the events of today’s incident on a little note and gave it to Alfur, who in turn placed it on his file. "Also, have this as a plus" the mayor added, and he gave Alfur a couple of fine turnips "make sure to use them well to make soup!", "I sure will!" Alfur replied.

With the day now almost over, Alfur mounted on his bird for the last time on the day, and once he secured in every note and paper he wrote on his file, he flew off back to Trolberg, guided by his sparrow.

Below, the Telmatosaurus herd that Alfur had seen while recollecting materials was also moving away from the mountain, presumably to forage during the night or perhaps to look for a place to rest. These herbivores have had a long day inside a cave below the mountain, trying to find salt to supplement their diet, and now they need to fill their stomachs up after a long trek.

"Looks like they had a long day too" Alfur wondered out loud as he saw the herd on the move. It had really been a long day for everyone, and surprisingly for an elf like him, the only thing on his mind now was to go to sleep.

In the city, Johanna’s day had been busy as well, as she had to redesign a logo she had submitted a few weeks ago to meet the client’s expectations, but after a couple of sketches and resends, her new logo finally got accepted.

"Ugh, I sometimes wonder why I have such luck with clients like these" she said to herself as she drank some peppermint tea "I wonder where has Hilda been all day; hopefully she hasn’t gone lost".

To her relief, Hilda and Twig soon arrived home after she said goodbye to Frida and David at the door.

"Hi mom!" Hilda saluted as she hung her scarf and took off her boots "how’s work", "Oh, don’t get me started" her mom replied and giggled a bit "you want some peppermint tea?", "Yes please!" Hilda thanked before she sat down on the couch as her mom served her some tea.

"Today I spent the day with the two kids we met yesterday", "Really?" Johanna asked as she gave her daughter a cup of tea "were they nice?", "Yeah, they were" she replied before taking a sip "they showed me around some other places in town, like the library and the pier."

Johanna then sat down next to Hilda and relaxed after a long day’s work, "I’m glad you’re getting used to the city" she stated "I was a bit worried when I let you out on your own here, thinking you’d run in trouble", "Well…" Hilda replied, and that word alone got her mom nervous "I did find some dinosaurs in the city", "What?!" Johanna asked in panic "did you get attacked?! Please tell me your new friends didn’t force you to get closer!!", "No, no, they didn’t" Hilda replied and tried to calm her mom down "it was just a small creature near a pond, I think David said the name of it, but I can’t remember it", "Hilda, listen, you can’t get close to those creatures, no matter how big or small they are" her mom stated "they’re dangerous after all", "But the one we found was trying to eat fish" Hilda argued "David told me that, since he seems to know a lot about dinosaurs"

Johanna then let out a sigh and ran her hand through Hilda’s hair, "I know you trust your new friend" her mom stated "but still, don’t try to get close to one again, promise?", "I promise" Hilda replied, a bit reluctantly, "Good, now, what else did you find?" her mom asked "you said you went to the library too, right?", "Oh yeah, I did" Hilda said before showing the book she borrowed to her mom "I found a book about some myths of the city; the librarian said I could borrow it for a week", "Well that’s nice" Johanna replied, taking a look at the cover of the book before giving it back to Hilda -what about the pier? Was the ocean view pretty for your first time seeing it?-, -Oh it was- her daughter replied -although it was a bit busy with fishermen taking their catch to the market, and some flying things like we saw yesterday were stealing fish-, -Oh my- her mom replied -you didn’t get close, right?-, -Nope- Hilda replied back -specially since there was a tall flying thing, I think David called it Quetzal… something-.

"Was it… tall?" her mom asked nervously, "Yeah…" Hilda replied, not liking where this was going "why?", "Uh… nothing" her mom lied, but Hilda already knew why she asked, "Ok…" she replied "can we watch some TV before we go to sleep?", "Sure" Johanna replied "I really need to take my mind off from work after today. Hilda then turned on the TV, and it immediately showed some footage of the eagle attack from the mountains, as the footage was captured by drone.

"Incredible sighting today near the mountains, as a new sort of behavior was captured on camera for the first time" the news reporter stated "a pair of golden eagles have managed to kill an Alaskacephale by using the same technique the birds use when hunting ungulates like ibex or chamois. Researchers suspect that this kill may be a result of the absence of ungulates brought about by the appearance of these creatures, but more information is needed to make such conclusion."

"I think… we should change channel" Johanna stated in shock after seeing the news, and Hilda quickly changed channels to a cooking show as a result.

Meanwhile, back at the organization building, Alfur landed his sparrow back on the back of the building and quickly rushed to turn in his reports on the incident of today.

"Hey, Alfur!" Adeline called him as he ran inside the building and up to the second floor "the reports are turned in in the office on the first floor to the left!", "Oh, thanks!" Alfur said and quickly ran down the stairs and went to the office Adeline designated him to go to, and once he turned in his report, an elf quickly revised it and sent a note up a tube to a different office.

"Looks like you survived your first day as a new recruit" the elf stated "that’s a first", "Yep" Alfur replied, "Well then, a team will be sent tomorrow to that location to assess the damage and provide further aid to the villagers" the elf added "you’re now dismissed for the day, recruit."

With a sigh of relief, Alfur left the office just as the rest of the elves were finishing their reports for the day and leaving their posts. Adeline soon met him outside and offered him a lift back home. "So… first time luck for your first assignment?" she asked Alfur, "Oh… uh… yeah- he replied "the place was nice, and… those Microtubans weren’t as dangerous as I thought", "You got lucky to pick that as your first assignment" Adeline stated "others had a tough day, especially with those who went after creatures like Sinosauropteryx or Stygimoloch", "Those are aggressive?" Alfur asked nervously, -Well, as far as I remember, the Sinosauropteryx is- Adeline replied -but I’m not sure about the Stygimoloch; I’ve never encountered one before."

Soon, after flying over the city and witnessing the sun set, Adeline and Alfur arrived at Hilda’s house, where Alfur got off the sparrow and picked up his stuff from a pocket on the sparrow’s mount.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Alfur!" Adeline said before she took off and headed home, "Bye, Adeline!" Alfur yelled as he saw her fly off, and he entered through the window back to the house; once inside, he made his way back to the cuckoo clock up on the shelves and settled back in, exhausted after the long day.

"Well, time to write in a daily report" he said to himself as he took off his uniform and hung it on a perch before sitting down and opening a notebook "I’m probably going to have nightmares after that eagle hunt."

After a few more hours of watching TV, Hilda and her mom also decided to call it a day, as the two began to yawn more often.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Johanna said as she got up from the couch "I’m not sure how you’re going to like this, but… I’m thinking about sending you to school starting next month, does that sound… good?"

Hilda was left with her mouth open as her mom said that, she usually had lessons at home by her mom but now, she was about to go to a new place to learn stuff. "I… I think I’ll like it" she nervously replied and gave her mom a hug "but I’ll certainly miss your lessons."

Her mom hugged her back with a warm embrace before kissing her forehead. "I know you will, but I’m sure you’ll also learn some more stuff there too" her mom replied, giving her another kiss on her forehead "besides, maybe you can make more friends there too."

Hilda then broke the hug and smiled at her mom, the idea of more friends giving her a bit more excitement. "Can I ask something else?" Hilda asked her mom, "Sure, what is it?" her mom asked, "When I was with those kids, Frida said that with my skills I’d be a good Sparrow Scout" Hilda replied "do you think… I should join?"

"The Sparrow Scouts?" her mom asked out loud "now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time", "You’ve heard about the Scouts before?" Hilda asked, "Well, I was one when I was a young girl like you" her mom replied "I had almost all the badges before me and my group reached the limit age", "And was it fun?" Hilda asked, "It sure was" her mom replied "and I’d be honestly honored if you were to join", "Really?!" Hilda asked excitedly, "Yeah, I’m sure you’d be a good sparrow scout like your friend said" her mom replied, and Hilda gave her another hug.

"Thanks mom" Hilda said while she hugged her mom, "no problem, my little adventurer" her mom replied "now, this little adventurer needs to go to sleep so she can explore some more tomorrow", "Ok, mom!" Hilda replied back and quickly went to her room to put on her pajamas.

Once done she quickly went back to the living room to kiss her mom goodnight. "Good night, mom!" said Hilda before going to her room with Twig and closing her door, "She’s really one of a kind" Johanna said to herself before heading to her room and closing her door as well.

Hilda closed her window and then sat on the bed, but before she could lay down to sleep, she remembered about Alfur and quickly checked the cuckoo clock to see if he was back.

"Hey, Alfur!" she whispered, startling him. "Hilda, don’t scare me like that!" Alfur replied a bit angrily, "Sorry" Hilda apologized "where were you? I thought you overslept", "Me?, OVERSLEEPING?!" Alfur replied in shock "I feel offended by that! No elf is ever late to anything!", "Well… then… what happened?" Hilda asked, "It’s… kind of a long story" Alfur replied "let’s just say I had to go out and… find something earlier in the morning", "Oh, I see" Hilda replied "well, I hope you managed to find whatever that was", "I surely did!" Alfur said and let out a sigh "but it sure was a struggle!", "Well, good night Alfur!" Hilda replied and left Alfur to finish his notes, and once done that, she covered herself with the blankets on the bed and finally fell asleep, with Twig sleeping by her side, as always.

Alfur soon finished writing and also got himself ready to go to sleep, and he had to make sure to also get up early, for tomorrow he had to go back to work.

"Well, hopefully tomorrow isn’t as crazy as today" Alfur said to himself as he programmed his alarm clock "I hope those villagers don’t get cold either; those dinosaurs really are a pain on the bum."

Once his clock was programmed, Alfur then laid down on his bed and finally went to sleep. The house was now silent, and the streets too were finally quiet, with no giant pterosaurs landing on rooftops, but over the mountains, on Klippbyn, the villagers and the Microtuban were startled by something; the pterosaurs, alarmed, kept close to each other, but for the villagers, the resonating noise was an indicator of good times to come.

For it was the unmistakable noise… of thunder.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Bountiful land

Another morning rises in Trolberg’s wilderness, and the mountains are shone by the rising sun.

The water from the recent thunderstorms has now begun a journey downwards, passing through rocks and crevasses on the mountain’s surface before finally joining together to form small creeks, slowly carrying water to the rivers of the land. The sole presence of flowing water now meant that the times of plenty had arrived in the forest, and for the local creatures as well as for the dinosaurs in the area, this marked the beginning of their breeding season.

On one open patch of forest, an annual breeding ground was beginning to form: small herds of Pachyrhinosaurus, mostly consisting of adults and young, were beginning to build small mounds while adding leaves from bushes as a soft bed; then, once sure their nests were coated enough, they started to lay eggs, with each female laying up to a dozen.

It is unlikely that all of those will survive to adulthood, but with the minority having beaten the odds in the last year, there may be more hatchlings that will add more numbers to the herds.

The mega-herd, having laid their broods, starts to move back to the forest, with some individuals staying behind to guard the nests; a behavior like this is common on nesting colonies, and it’s not so different here, for even in an “alien” environment like this, there’s still egg thieves. The remaining Pachyrhinosaurus wonder around, checking on the nests to see if there’s no intruders, but on one edge of the colony, a thief is already making its move: the blue-striped raptor that attacked Hilda back when her cabin was still intact slowly approached a nest.

The animal is larger than its more accurate cousins, but even with such size, it’s not risking to be discovered, and the raptor isn’t the only one eager to eat eggs. Foxes and other small dinosaurs stalk in the shadows, each waiting for the guards to lower their attention, but the Pachyrhinosaurus aren’t easily fooled.

A fox tries its luck and sneaks behind a nest undetected. Using its canine teeth, it cracks an egg as silently as it can and begins to eat the juicy yolk inside. Not long after, a Sinosauropteryx, a kind of small dinosaur, tries its luck, but in doing so, it alerts the fox, who, having eaten three eggs already, started to bark to avoid losing its prize pool.

The commotion alerted one of the guarding Pachyrhinosaurus, and it quickly trots towards the noise, causing both thieves to run back into the forest, with the fox carrying an egg on its jaws. The Pachyrhinosaurus then checked the damaged nest, and it seemed that only a couple of eggs were cracked and eaten by the thieves. With the competition out of the way, the blue-striped raptor now had a chance, and as the ceratopsian moved away, it started to slowly approach the already-raided nest.

Once the eggs were in sight, the raptor grasped one with its arms, securing an extra prize, and then it began to crack the shell of another to eat it. Its time is limited, however, as at any moment, a Pachyrhinosaurus could spot it, so the raptor quickly ate the yolk of the already-broken egg and began to crack another.

Suddenly, a female who had heard the crack spotted it, and as it charged at him, the raptor fled back to the forest, its extra reward still held firmly against its chest. The Pachyrhinosaurus then returned to check the damaged nest, and unfortunately for whoever had laid the clutch, only five eggs now remained.

This was only the beginning of the struggle for these animals, for the danger of thieves was still present even after sixty-five million years. But even with the complete loss of dozens of eggs, there will be enough hatchlings to take care of, and even then, only a few will survive their first year. The guarding Pachyrhinosaurus then continued its watch, waiting for those who were browsing on the leaves and ferns of the nearby patch of forest to return so it could leave to find food on its own.

It's not only the dinosaurs who are taking their time to start a new generation; all across the forest, the calls of newborn animals of all kinds can be heard anywhere you go. From small chirps from day-old sparrows and robins to the howls of fox cubs and wolves, even the native animals of the region, such as woffs or deerfox, were now having pups to care for.

Flowers were also blooming, attracting their pollinators to them for a sweet reward and to reproduce with their help, and pollinators like bumblebees are now busy with such a bloom.

Not all animals were in a rush to breed, however; the blue-striped raptor that stole the egg from the Pachyrhinosaurus earlier still had to refuel its lost calories from the lean winter, like many of the large carnivorous dinosaurs that roam the area.

The egg, although a mere snack, is one of many choices it now has now that prey is more abundant, but its size only allows it to catch things smaller or almost as fast as it. Nonetheless, it has many days to secure another easy meal or even make a kill of its own, so there’s no rush… for now.

In the city, the rains also marked a special date on the city’s calendar: the harvest festival. It is one of great historical importance, for it was a reminder of how the first settlers managed to survive after a season of famine thanks to a mysterious large bird bringing thunder and rain to the land. The streets of the cities were starting to get colorful as people placed decorations and banners outside their homes and workplaces; the Sparrow Scouts were building parade cars for the evening party; and even the local elementary school was assembling a small band to play that night.

Meanwhile, at Hilda’s house, things were going rather slowly, as she and her mom were just waking up, and none of them seemed to notice that it was almost midday by now. Johanna went to the kitchen to cook breakfast for her and her daughter, preparing some cheese and ham grilled sandwiches.

"Morning mom" Hilda said as she went into the kitchen to see her mom and laughed as she saw her having messy hair, "Morning, Hilda" she replied before she continued cooking "slept well?", "I think I overslept this time- she replied and yawned "the city really feels a bit quieter than the forest, but I still miss it", "Me too, Hilda" her mom replied before looking outside the window of the kitchen. "Huh, looks like today’s going to be the harvest festival" she said, and Hilda quickly rushed to see outside the window.

"Oooo, are those for that festival?" she asked and pointed at a pair of carnival carts, "Yes, they indeed are" her mom replied "those carts will be driven around at night, during which the city will light up with fireworks and music."

"Sounds a bit uncomfortable if you’re trying to sleep during all of that" Hilda said and laughed, "Well, almost no one will be trying to sleep today" her mom replied "this festival always brings everyone in Trolberg together, and I think you’ll enjoy today’s celebration too."

After that little talk, Johanna then served breakfast, and the two of them sat down to eat.

"Do you plan on going to the festival to explore later?" Hilda asked her mom, "Well, I do hope I can" she replied "I’m probably going to have to finish some work first, but I should be free to take you around in the evening."

Hilda smiled at the thought of her and her mom walking around in a colorful display, a joyful daughter-mom moment.

"Hilda, would you mind running some groceries for me after breakfast?" her mom asked, interrupting her thoughts, "Sure, the store is nearby anyway. What’s on the list?" Hilda asked, "We’re out of eggs, so we need a box or two" she replied "we also need… a box of peppermint tea bags, a bar of soap because the one we have has shrunk a lot, and… I think we need some oranges too", "Can I buy a bag of Jorts too?" Hilda asked, "Well, only if you bring a big bag for us two" she replied.

Hilda then quickly finished her breakfast and rushed to wash the dishes before going back to her mom, who was starting on her work.

"Be careful outside, Hilda" her mom advised her as she put on her scarf and boots "there’s a lot of people outside today, so don’t get lost!", "I’ll do my best, mom!" Hilda replied and grabbed her mom’s wallet. Once she got to the door, with Twig following behind as usual, she got out of the house and off the building. Immediately after doing so, a group of kids ran by, seemingly carrying a bag with pebbles, but Hilda didn’t give the group much attention before the kids ran around the corner.

While on the move, Hilda tried to remember what her mom had asked her to get, while Twig still tried to catch a scent he had caught yesterday, but he still had no luck.

"What is it, boy?" Hilda asked Twig as it tried to sniff the air, and once again, something quickly moved through an alley. Hilda tried to chase whatever it was out, but whatever it was, it had already disappeared. "How come something moved that quickly?" Hilda asked herself, but seeing how this question wasn’t going anywhere for the moment, she resumed her trip to the store.

Across the streets, the cars for the parade were starting to be decorated; some were painted, others were just statues made from either rock or hay. Some sparrow scouts were also joining in the decorating part, and that included both Frida and David, who were trying to figure out a way to attach the head of a bird they made to the rest of the body.

"You two really put effort on this" Hilda said, catching both off guard and making the head fall on David; "Oh, sorry!" Hilda quickly apologized and helped Frida take the head of the statue off David. "It’s fine" David said once his head was free "also, most of the work was by Frida. I just brought in the materials", "Oh don’t discourage yourself like that!" Frida replied and patted David’s shoulder "getting all that hay would’ve been harder if you didn’t know where to get it."

Twig, being curious, approached the bird statue and tried to sniff it, but Frida quickly pulled him away. "Don’t do that!" she warned him, "Sorry, he’s really curious" Hilda apologized for her deerfox’s instincts, "It’s ok, but the statue has to be in good condition for later" she replied "after all, it’s supposed to be at the lead of the caravan."

Hilda then looked at the bird statue, and it resembled a little like a raven, "Is the bird supposed to be a sort of crow or raven?" she asked, "Indeed" Frida replied "the statue represents the mythical bird who saved the town from famine", "and it has always flown over the city every year at this exact date" David added, "And… what happens if it doesn’t show up?" Hilda asked, "Well… no one knows" Frida answered "there hasn’t been a year where the bird didn’t show up since that famine, and if there was one… I don’t remember exactly."

The sparrow scout leader soon called the scouts to follow her back to HQ since the cars were ready to roll. "Shoot! We have to place the head in the statue quickly before we head back!" Frida stated "David, give me a hand!"

David and Frida then tried to place the head in the statue, and with an extra hand from Hilda, the pair finally finished their decorations. "Well, that’s done" Frida stated. The raven statue now finished "come on, David! We need to head back before we get in trouble again!", "Right behind you!" David stated before turning to face Hilda "Bye, Hilda!", "See you guys later!" she replied while Frida and David left.

Hilda then moved on, heading for the supermarket her mom told her to go to, and after a couple more blocks, she finally reached her destination. "Alright, Twig" she said to her deerfox friend "let’s get those errands done!"

Away from the city commotion, further into the wilderness, the blue-striped raptor walked by a now shallow river, looking for a spot to drink. The middle of the day was now approaching, and it was best to cool down by quenching its thirst. Suddenly, as the raptor began to drink, something made the water ripple. The raptor slowly backed away, thinking it could be a large herbivore, but in fact, it wasn’t a big animal but a large flock.

From the forest behind it, a flock of long-necked, feathered dinosaurs passed around it, crossing the shallow river and stopping at the other side. They seemed like ostriches with feathered arms, and they were almost twice as tall, a suitable description for these fleet-footed animals named Ornithomimus.

The flock, once it crossed the shallow river, stopped to examine the other side before starting to show off to each other; it was a breeding ground, and unlike the Pachyrhinosaurus from earlier, these dinosaurs didn’t seem to have paired yet.

The more crimson males soon began to shake their feathered arms and strut around the flock, intending on catching the eye of a partner; some females instantly responded, but they were not just examining the males but started to move along with them.

One male, having caught the eye of a female, now began to display his feathers at her; she in turn moved closer to examine him, and after flailing her tail, she started to move away in a small chase.

The male followed at the same pace as the female, and that is exactly what the female wants, for unlike most herbivores, their test for a partner doesn’t consist of brute strength but of endurance. The pair’s rhythm soon began to pick up as the female began to trot faster and the male followed pace, but soon, other males began to follow the pair, intent on showing off and convincing the female.

Sensing how the competition began to increase, the female began to run, and all the males who were following her began to run after her. With the small flock of admirers now after her, the endurance test began as the female ran around the flock with her pretenders on her toes.

The raptor watched from afar before heading back to the forest as the contest drew on, and one by one, males were stopping in their tracks and giving up, only to follow other females; now, only two males still chased after the female, and with the competition limited, she started to run away from the flock, testing for how far the males would chase her.

She ran as fast as she could, sprinting over a long distance as if a predator were after her, and eventually, one of the two males gave up; the female continued, however, as even with one male on her tail, she needed to determine if her chaser could keep up.

In the end, after some more chasing, the female began to finally slow down, and the first male that followed her soon joined her side; the two Ornithomimus, now exhausted, started to circle each other, the female now inspecting the victor and the male coordinating his moves with the female’s. A new pair has now been formed, and if the male can keep up with the female during the next year’s courtship, the bond between the two may strengthen.

Other males were now forming pairs as well after chasing partners around the valley, and soon enough, most of them paired up, with the few remaining ones either uninterested this season or still too young to keep up.

The male and female Ornithomimus soon rejoined the flock after such a long race. Exhausted and vulnerable, it was best for them to stay with the flock in case of an attack, but for the moment, the new pair groomed each other as a sign of love. With most pairs formed up, now the task of building their nests and starting the new generation was underway, and if their clutch succeeds, the new pair would be parents of up to a dozen chicks; for now, though, the nest of pebbles is the priority, and so both began to select a place through the crowd before they started to find materials.

Back on Trolberg, Hilda and Twig had managed to enter the market and find almost all the items on their list; all that was left to find were the last two items on the list: oranges and Jorts.

While looking through the fruits and vegetables alley, however, the pair stumbled into something they’d never seen before: a group of people were standing in line while one woman placed her bag of fruits on a kind of metal plate. After a few seconds, she just pressed a button, grabbed a sticker, pasted it to her fruit bag, and left.

"What is that?" Hilda asked herself; Twig meanwhile, managed to sniff out the oranges and tried to push Hilda towards them.

"Oh, thanks boy!" Hilda thanked Twig and scratched his chin; she then tried to pick up a bag and started to select some oranges to put inside it; once she placed some in the bag, she stood in line and awaited her turn.

"How are you supposed to use it?" she asked out loud, "Oh, you simply place it and wait until the scale measures the price by weight" and old lady in front of her spoke "the price will be registered in a sticker and you then take it and paste it in the bag", "Is that it?" Hilda asked, "Pretty much" she replied "I’m surprised a young girl like you didn’t know how to use an electronic scale."

After waiting in line for a bit, it was Hilda’s turn to weigh the oranges; she immediately placed her bag on the scale and waited for it to calculate the price like the old lady told her it’d do, but even after a few minutes of waiting, nothing was happening.

"I think I broke it- Hilda stated out loud, worryingly, "Oh, the scale is fine" the old lady replied -you just need to press that orange button in the bottom". Following her instructions, Hilda pressed the button, and the sticker finally popped up. "Thanks!" Hilda replied to the old lady, and once she pasted the price sticker on the bag, she left to find the last item in the list, which Twig managed to sniff out easily.

"Hey, thanks for finding the Jorts, boy!" Hilda stated and scratched Twig’s chin. She then grabbed the bag and placed it in a basket she had carried all along and made her way to the counter to pay, but where she expected a long line like her mom usually told her, there was barely anyone waiting in lines.

With no time to lose, Hilda then headed for an empty counter, paid with her mom’s money, and got everything in bags before starting to make her way home.

Back at the house, Johanna finally managed to get a break from work. Exhausted, she immediately went to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water, as it had been a long early afternoon. "Where is Hilda?" she asked to herself "she should've been here by now."

She then decided to open the window to let in some air when she saw a car roll through the street, and she grew nervous once she saw the logo of the TDW on the door. "I’ll look for her" she said to herself before grabbing a light coat and putting it on as she left the house and headed for the market, worried that if a TWD car was patrolling, there could be a dangerous dinosaur on the loose.

Johanna quickly left the front door of the building and walked in a hurry towards the supermarket, unaware that Hilda was already on her way back. She, on the other hand, spotted some commotion near a playground: the group of kids that passed earlier were doing something to a tree. Hilda went to investigate, but Twig, nervous by a strange aroma in the area, tried to push her back on track.

"It’s ok, boy" she reassured Twig "I’ll just peek for a moment and then get back on track"; Hilda then went to see what was happening and noticed the kids were throwing pebbles at the trunk of the tree, scaring away some songbirds in the process, except for a raven who was trying to fight back.

"Hey! What are you guys doing?!" Hilda asked as the kids tried to hit the raven, "That bird tried to attack us when we were playing football earlier!" one of the kids replied before the raven swooped and took its hat off "HEY! GIVE IT BACK!!!".

The raven kept on flying in circles with the kid’s hat on its beak, taunting the kids to throw more pebbles, until one lucky pebble hit him on his head, causing it to fly straight into a wall and down to the floor. "Finally!" the kid stated as he took his hat back, "Trevor, you killed it!" one of the kids scolded him, "Hey, it’s not my fault your pebbled aced the shot!" he replied back. Hilda quickly went to check if the bird was ok, and for everyone’s fortune, the raven was still alive… and then it talked.

"Oww… that hit me right in the head!" the raven whispered, causing shock to Hilda and Trevor, who approached her to check on the situation. "Did it just… talk?!" Trevor asked in fear and slowly backed up, "Uhh…" Hilda tried to reply, but she was as speechless as him. Twig, who had been watching from afar and guarding the shopping bags closed in, caused the kids to fall back as well. "Is that a deerfox?!" one of the kids asked alarmed, "Don’t let it close to me!" another kid yelled in fear "it’s bad luck!"

One of the kids tried to throw a pebble at him, but Trevor pushed the kid before he could throw the pebble at it, causing the shot to fall on a bush nearby.

Twig saw the pebble hit the bush, and it suddenly growled. Neither the kids nor Hilda heard it, but instinctively, Twig growled at the bush, smelling something in it. "Hey, calm down, Twig" Hilda stated as she went to soothe her deerfox friend, the raven still in her arms.

"You befriended a bad omen?!" a kid asked in shock, "He’s not a bad omen!" Hilda argued, unaware that something was emerging from the bush; Twig spotted it and tried to push Hilda, but while she did move, it was mainly to confront the kids. "Guys, cool it! The raven is down; everything is done, alright?" Trevor tried to calm everyone down, but the others lowly backed away from him, Hilda and Twig nervously.

"What? You too think he’s a bad omen?" Hilda asked angrily as Trevor too backed up, but as soon as she picked up Twig, he pointed at her back. Hilda slowly turned around and saw why everyone was backing down: the pebble Trevor blocked had fallen right on top of a dinosaur that was hidden in the bush, angering it. "You better back down slowly" Trevor advised as he slowly backed up, not looking away from the predator. Hilda also backed up slowly, with Twig and the injured raven on her arms, while the predator hissed at them, as if it was trying to drive them away before attacking.

In pure instinct, the raven tried to struggle free from Hilda’s grasp and tried to fly away, but being dizzy from the hit, it flopped on the ground, making itself vulnerable to the predator. In response to the sudden move, the carnivore attacked the raven, chasing it into the street.

Hilda quickly went after it, trying to get the raven out of there, but in doing so, the creature doubled back and hissed at Hilda, arms splayed open as a threat display. Twig charged in defense, growling at the dinosaur, but worsening the situation. The raven then took the chance to hide in the shopping bag as Twig and the dinosaur now exchanged looks. Suddenly, a tranquilizer hit the back of the dinosaur, and it made it charge towards his back, where a man with a rifle stood.

"Stay back, kids!" he advised them "you don’t want to be in the way of an angered carnivore". Hilda quickly picked up the shopping bag and Twig before moving back.

The dinosaur was a bit dizzy as the effects from the tranquilizer were starting to take effect. Another person then fired a net to immobilize the animal, and it finally fell to the ground due to the effects of the dart.

"Is the creature ok?" one woman asked the man in the rifle as he went to check on it, "It’s sleeping" he replied "let’s move it before it wakes up". Him and the woman then brought a small cage for the animal to be put in, while the kids, and particularly Hilda, watched with curiosity.

"Are you going to… kill it?" Hilda asked, walking a bit close to the dinosaur, "No, we’re just relocating it" the woman replied "it’s TDW protocol", "You’re TDW personnel?" Hilda asked "I thought you’d be covered in special police armor or perhaps in a hazmat suit", "Clearly a misconception, kiddo" the man with the rifle replied before helping the woman move the sedated dinosaur into the cage "now, all of you go home, there’s nothing to see here."

Trevor and the other kids started to move away to play again while Hilda picked up the shopping bag and left with Twig. "Well, at least this Masiakasaurus will be in a better place soon" said the man as he got inside the vehicle again, "What about the bird the girl had in her arms?" the woman asked "it looked hurt", "If we find it, we’ll see if it’s fine or not" he replied before driving off.

After walking by another block, Hilda stumbled into her mom, seemingly worried. as she immediately hugged her. "Oh my god! Are you fine?! Why were you taking so long?!" her mom asked as she hugged Hilda, "Oh… uh… I met Frida and David on my way to the market" she replied "sorry for taking too long", "Well, you’re at least fine" her mom stated before letting her go "let me help you with the bag."

Johanna then picked up a bag and noticed it felt heavy, "How many oranges did you buy?" she asked playfully as she lifted the bag, "I think around eight" Hilda replied "I don’t remember exactly" she added with a smile, and so she, Twig, and her mom walked back to the house together, unaware that they were carrying a stowaway.

As the afternoon now rolled around, the city began to be even more busy as the festival was only hours away; people were leaving their workplaces to get ready, shops closed early, and families were reuniting. And on the other side of the city, on the shores, another animal was leaving its commuting area to pair once again. The sandy shores on the northern part of the city were the stage for a mass gathering of not a dinosaur but… a bird.

From out of the water, weird flightless birds began to clumsily walk on the shoreline. They had long legs with enormous webbed feet and a long neck with a sharp beak full of teeth, a surprising feature for a bird.

These birds are Hesperornis, and they seemed hesitant to move further away from the crash zone. The noises away from the beach made the birds nervous, but eventually, the animals began their waddling march up the beach. The birds, after a short walk, began to divide and reform the same pairs from last year; each male wooed their monogamous partner, mimicking their every move gently, and began to build their nests afterwards using pebbles and seaweed scattered across the beach.

Not all the nesting pairs had much material to work with, as this year, people have been cleaning up the beaches from most of the usual “pebbles” they used, and so the pairs now began to steal from each other.

One male, having only some pebbles and a piece of seaweed on its nest, began to look for an unattended nest to steal a pebble from, but most pairs fiercely guarded their ground, biting any bird who went too close; so, in turn, one of the two left the nest and headed away from the colony in search of material, while its partner stood guard of the little material they had, fiercely guarding it like everyone else.

Given they were flightless, traveling was an arduous work, especially when the beach provided little to no material; the only other place they’d get something would be the sea, but getting wet also had its risks, for predators patrol these waters. The male, having found nothing so far, joined a small flock that was heading to the shallows and dove down in search of material. Below the water, algae, rocks, and even other materials were everywhere and available to pick, but securing them was tricky.

Keeping a stone or a piece of algae was a challenge, for as soon as someone finds something, others immediately chase after the owner to steal what it had found; justles like this usually end with the material destroyed, torn by their toothed beaks, but pebbles at least were a much tougher material.

The male, having found some seaweed, quickly snatched it off the seafloor, but as soon as it began to swim up, a young female spotted his catch and began to chase it. Their powerful long legs, combined with their large webbed feet, propelled them underwater with ease, but the advantage of the juvenile is that it has more stamina and agility. The male tried to turn away, but the young female managed to catch up and snatch a piece off its beak.

Once away from his chaser, it quickly began to swim back to the beach before other Hesperornis chased it after its materials, and it wasn’t long before another squabble began, this time not after seaweed but after a plastic bag.

The male finally reached the shore, with the task of waddling back to his partner being the only thing left; it was, however, as tricky as not attracting the attention of others, especially those still on their nest, who would attempt to steal his materials as he passed by. The male has to move quickly amidst the bombardment of pecks, holding firm to his seaweed piece as others tried to drive it away from their nests, and in the end, it finally reached his partner; the two nuzzled their beaks before trying to fit the piece on their nest, now filled with some pebbles the female managed to steal from others.

The Hesperornis’ nests soon began to be formed with pebbles, algae, and plastic found around, some of it stolen from others to the point that one single material would have made its way around the colony without anyone noticing. These birds, however, weren’t the only ones collecting material for their nests; from above, a pterosaur flew around the colony, waiting for something, and as soon as it spotted a chance, it quickly dove down to snatch a small pebble from an unguarded nest.

This pterosaur, a Wenupteryx, didn’t make its nest on the ground but on a cliff some meters away from the beach; however, unlike the Hesperornis, all the competition it had were other males, for in their species, they were the ones that arrived first.

The male, having secured a pebble, flew back to his unfinished nest as quickly as it could, for, like in the case of the Hesperornis below, its nesting material was at risk of being stolen; however, the Wenupteryx have a different strategy: instead of breeding close to each other, their nests were scattered on different ledges across the cliff, and the only way to access another male’s nest was to fly over it and steal a pebble. The male arrived back just as another male had landed, and it quickly pecked it away from his nest; the thief flew off, but not without a pebble in its jaws.

The owner placed the pebble it snatched where the missing one was, as well as rearranging the pebbles it had collected already; then, it waited for the arrival of his partner, guarding its tiny nest fiercely against any other males who wanted to steal from it.

Only a few minutes later, after almost a couple of weeks since the males’ arrival, the females finally arrived, swooping over the males as each tried to find their long-term partner. The males started to call, signaling to their mates “I’m here! Come down!”, but while most started to descend, our male’s songs were unanswered. His partner didn’t seem to be among the flock.

A close-by neighbor’s partner landed, and the two started to nuzzle as they renewed their bond; our male could only watch and keep on singing, hoping for his partner to answer his call, yet as the females flew by, none answered his song. Most females usually arrive on time, with a few delayed by either weather or the distance of their feeding grounds, and with the climate having changed lately, it is most likely his partner was still out in the sea… hopefully.

Other couples were already preparing themselves for the task of being parents, with the females giving a hand to the males to make the finishing touches to their nests, and as the nests were slowly being decorated with extra materials, most of the males flew off, their stomachs empty from guarding their materials until their partners arrived. Our male, however, still singed and waited for his partner, his hunger ignored by the urge to call her. It may take some days for her to arrive, but it must be soon, for if she doesn’t, not only will their bond be broken, but he’ll leave for the sea, as waiting for too long could make him starve.

At the house, Hilda and her mom finally arrived, and the latter placed the bags on the table before sitting on her table again as she went back to work.

"Hey, Hilda, could you place what you can on the cupboards?" her mom asked her "I’ll put what’s left in its place later when I finish the last of my work", "Sure!" Hilda replied before getting up the table and grabbing the bag, but when she opened it, she found the raven unconscious inside it, giving her a shock.

"Is everything ok?" her mom asked, worried, "I… I’m fine, mom!- Hilda replied nervously "I nearly dropped the eggs by accident!", "Be careful, Hilda!" her mom replied back and continued her work while Hilda, with the raven on her arms, slowly passed by as silently as she could before dropping the bird in her room; then, she quickly headed to the table to resume her task.

In her room, the bird began to wake up, and still dizzy from the hit, it tried to walk around in a clumsy way, and while it moved, his movements caught the attention of someone else who had just arrived in the room. "What the…?!- Alfur asked in shock as he saw the raven "Hey, are you lost?", "Huh?, Who’s there?" the raven asked as he tried to stand up yet again, "Well… I’m here in the window" Alfur replied, but the raven couldn’t see him. "Where?" the raven asked, "Oh, where’s my modals- Alfur said before trying to climb down to where the bird is "if you could place your feet here to sign this, you’ll be able to see me."

Confused, the bird tried to follow the voices, accidentally trampling Alfur in the process. "I.. think… you should just stay in place… for the moment" Alfur stated as he recovered from being trampled.

The raven then stood still, until he saw a tiny piece of paper heading his way. "Are you the paper?" he asked, "Yeah, just lift your feet for a second, please!" Alfur replied before trying to spray ink over his talons, "There, now place it in the paper" Alfur stated, and the raven placed its foot on it.

With the paper signed, the raven finally managed to spot Alfur next to him. "So… first of all, hello, I’m alfur" Alfur said as the raven looked at him "second of all, how did you get here?", "Oh.. uh… I don’t remember" the raven replied, "Ok… Well, what about… your name?" Alfur asked, "Uh… I don’t remember that either" he replied, making Alfur sigh, "Well… this is going to be a long talk" he stated.

Hilda, having finished her task, then came to the room with Twig, and the raven quickly jumped backwards, nearly trampling Alfur again.

"You… I remember you!" he cried out "you’re the girl who saved me from that creature!", "Did you really do that?" Alfur asked "and… what creature attacked you this time?", "Well… I did" Hilda replied before holding the raven again and placing it somewhere comfortable for it "but before saving him, he was attacking some kids for some unknown reason", "Oh… that’s because… uh…- the raven tried to speak, but he couldn’t remember why he did that "I don’t remember", "He isn’t really the best creature to talk to" Alfur joked.

"Well, what do you remember?- Hilda asked, and the raven did his best to try to come up with something, "I… uh… I remember… a big man!" he replied "a big man with a long beard! And I was supposed to be on his shoulder!", "Ok… that’s… something useful?" Alfur replied "is there anything else you remember?"

The raven was about to say something when Johanna came to her room, and she quickly jumped back when she saw the bird.

"Hilda, why is there a bird in your room?!" she asked alarmed, "Mom, it’s OK! I saved it from some kids earlier…" Hilda replied and then noticed she spoke out loud something she hadn’t told her mom, "What do you mean by “earlier”? Did Frida and David hurt it?" her mom asked, confused, "No, no! They didn’t" she replied "there were some kids throwing pebbles at a tree, and one accidentally hit it", "Well, why didn’t you take it to a veterinary…?" Johanna asked, and then realized she hadn’t told Hilda how to get there yet -never mind, just… is the bird alright? Can it fly?", "What’s flying again?" the raven asked, causing Johanna to faint for a moment.

"Mom? Mom!" Hilda tried to wake her mom up while the raven looked at them confused. "Is she alright?" Alfur asked worryingly, and thankfully, Johanna slowly regained consciousness. "Did the bird just… talk?" she asked, still dizzy, "Well… it’s a long story" she replied nervously; Hilda then helped her mom sit up before telling her what happened before she found her, although she omitted the part about her encounter with the Masiakasaurus, worried that she might scold her for breaking her rule.

Her mom was still confused by her story, but she started to grow interested in the bird.

"You’re telling me… this bird was annoying some kids on that playground, and then it got hit by a pebble… and talked?" her mom asked, still confused, "As far as I’ve seen, yeah" Hilda replied. Her mom then gently grabbed the raven and checked if it had any other injuries. "Well… he looks like he’s got no broken bones" she stated, placing the raven down, "That means it can still fly, right?" Hilda asked, "I… think I can" the raven said before trying to climb to the window, but Johanna quickly grabbed him before he could leap off.

"Maybe… It’s best to try in an open area" she suggested nervously "like… in a park!", "Didn’t you say today would be too crowded because of the parade?" Hilda asked, "Well, I do know a few spots where usually there’s no people around" her mom replied "and I know some shortcuts to reach those parts; what I hope is that they’re not crowded by now."

Hilda felt like her mom trying to help her was weird, as she usually wouldn’t help her unless it was something important, but seeing how she too didn’t know what to do with the bird as well, she agreed.

"Mom, are you sure you’re not going to miss anything important on your job?" Hilda asked as she carried the raven while her mom got ready to go out "aren’t you still supposed to be working", "Well, that is true" she replied "but I’m just getting everything ready as soon as my job is done for today. You keep an eye on the bird until I finish with my work for the day."

Hilda took the raven back to her room, Twig and Alfur following behind, and decided to ask some questions to the bird to get more information about it.

"So… You said that you remember that the only thing you remember is a man with a beard, right?" Hilda asked the raven, "I… think so?" he replied "I don’t even remember if that’s what I said earlier. Oh! Why am I forgetting more stuff now?!?!", "I think that pebble really hit you hard" Hilda said out loud, making the raving panic. "Woah! Woah! Calm down!- Alfur told the raven -breathe!"

The raven then slowly began to compose himself, sitting down and taking heavy breaths. "Ok, let’s just start again. Do you remember anything else besides the man with a beard?" Hilda asked, and the raven tried to remember what he could.

"I remember… a village… in the wilderness" he stated "I was… walking around… and then I stopped… next to a man with a beard!". "You were next to someone? Now that is a clue!" Alfur said, also taking notes of what the raven was saying in case the bird forgets what he said, "I think so" he replied -was I by his right side or his left?-.

Hilda then had a quick thought and tried to look through the books she had for a book about Trolberg her mom gave her; she quickly scrolled through the pages and showed a picture of a statue to the raven. "Is this person who you meant by “a man with a beard”?" Hilda asked, "Maybe? I.. I don’t even remember saying that" the raven replied nervously "did I even say that?, "This guy is killing me" Alfur stated sarcastically.

Suddenly, the clang of bells signaling the time startled the raven but also seemed to make him anxious; he started to panic again, walking from one side of the room to the other, as if he were worried.

"I… I feel like those bells… they’re important" he stated "I think I’m important!", "Everyone feels that way" Alfur stated, receiving a smack from Twig’s tail, "I… I have to go!" the raven stated, making his way to the window again "I must find the man! I need to get to him!"

Hilda quickly went to stop him, but he quickly jumped off the window ledge, flapping its wings in an attempt to stay airborne, but unfortunately, given his memory loss, he had forgotten the essential skill of flying and, as such, fell on a garbage pile.

"I’m fine!" he stated, having fallen on some trash bags. "Wait there! We’ll come for you!" Hilda yelled and went to grab her jacket in a hurry; Twig followed her too, with Alfur quickly jumping on top of his head. "Hilda! Where are you going?" her mom asked as Hilda ran through the living room, "The raven fell off the window!" she claimed before putting on her boots "I’ll get him back", "I’ll come with you" she replied and stood up, grabbing her jacket on the way.

Meanwhile, the raven, not understanding what Hilda meant, started to walk away into the street, noticing a lot of people wearing bird costumes as well as cars with bird statues. "These look pretty" he said to himself before walking away into the crowd just before Hilda and her mom arrived at where he had fallen.

"He’s not here!" Hilda stated, trying to look for him in the trash. Twig, however, caught a scent and started to track it down. "I think Twig found something!" Johanna pointed out, alerting Hilda "come on!"

Hilda left the trash bags behind and followed her mom and Twig into the crowd. "Stick close to me" her mom said to her, to which Hilda nodded and grabbed her hand before the two continued to follow Twig.

"Look at the car go!" David stated as the car he and Frida helped decorate was starting to roll on the street, lining up before the parade started. "The yellow lights you found really make it stick up a bit more" Frida complemented "you’re a genius for thinking about it", "Hey, you’re the one who said it needed to be brighter" David replied and giggled. The two of them kept on watching the preparations, unaware that the raven was coming their way.

"This is a lot of tall people" he said to himself before trying to walk between the two kids, "Hey!" David yelled at the bird, "Oh, sorry" the raven replied before he moved away into an alley, "No prob…" David replied, before realizing what happened "did that bird just… talk?", "Oh, don’t tell me you’re having a Trevor moment?" Frida asked jokingly, "What?!" David asked, feeling offended "the bird did talk! I’m not being Trevor!"

Just as Frida was about to laugh, Twig walked between them as well. "You’re going to say he talks too?" Frida asked with a small, smug smile as Twig trotted by, "Sorry!" Hilda stated as she ran by, startling both; "Hilda?" Frida asked, "Oh, hi" she quickly replied before her mom caught up, "Where did Twig go?" she asked her, "Over there" David pointed at an alley before Hilda and Johanna ran towards it. "Why were they in such a hurry?" Frida asked, "I’m not sure" he replied "want to get some apple juice?", "Sure" Frida replied "that’s my favorite."

Back with the raven, he started to get confused as to where to go, given that the alley he had walked to was connected to others, forming a maze.

"Have I been here already?" he asked out loud before walking back into another dead end. "Hmmm… this one is different" he said before turning around and hearing steps coming is his direction. "Tilda? Is that you?" he asked as the steps sounded closer, only for what peaked over the corner not to even be a person.

The raven was confused at what was staring at him, as it didn’t seem like the human it saw earlier. Slowly, the creature approached, provoking fear in the raven. It then suddenly pounced at it, but the raven dodged the initial attack and began to run out of the corner and into another one. This time, however, he had some boxes to climb through before the creature caught up, although it still bit off some of his rear feathers.

On the entry to the alley maze, Twig stood nervous, for he smelled the presence of something in there. "What’s wrong, boy?" Hilda asked him as she caught up, and soon her mom caught up too. "What happened? Why did Twig stop moving?" she asked in concern, "I think it smelled something bad there" Hilda replied before a low echo resonated on the walls, concerning Johanna. "Follow me; I think I know an exit" Johanna replied, and Hilda and Twig soon followed.

Once back in the streets, the raven kept on walking in a random direction until he found himself blocked by a wall of people, all eager to see the parade from a giant television on the town square.

"What kind of mirror is that?" the raven asked out loud, startling the crowd. Everyone immediately backed up or simply started to record the bird, with the videos being uploaded to social media instantly. "Wha… why are you all staring at me like that?" the raven asked nervously, some people claimed to stand back and give the bird space, while others were telling the bird words to repeat like if he was a parrot.

Hilda and her mom soon caught up, but when Hilda tried to rush to the bird’s side, her mom stopped her. "Mom, we need to get the raven back!" she argued, "Trust me, Hilda. A stressed and cornered creature is the last thing you want to face against" Johanna replied, Hilda giving her an odd look. "When did you learned that?" Hilda asked her "have you watched documentaries without me lately?"

The crowd seemingly didn’t know about this, as the raven was beginning to get even more nervous, and to make matters worse, a police car rolled into the scene to try and disperse the crowd, making the raven run off again without looking and crash into a light post.

"Is it alright?" one person asked as the crowd began to try and see what happened to the bird, with one police officer approaching the dizzy bird, "I… assure you… are faint" the raven spoke, alarming the officer and impressing the crowd.

The raven, dazed but still conscious, suddenly began running away again, heading towards another alley. "Mom, we’re going to loose it!" Hilda claimed as it disappeared into the alley, but Johanna seemed calmed about this. "Follow me" she told her daughter "I think I know where that alley leads up to."

With that said, Hilda and Twig followed Johanna as she went around the block and into another alley, one that was short and quickly led to the other side of the block, and just as she predicted, the raven just popped into view, having left the alley it had gone into.

"Oh, hey Tilda" the raven saluted as Johanna grabbed him before he could flee, "Next time, just stay put" said Johanna, annoyed, "Oh, my worries, I was just trying to reach a sound" the raven replied, making Hilda and Johanna confused. "I… think you meant apologies, not worries" Hilda replied, trying to hold her laugh, "Oh no… I’VE FORGOTTEN GRAMMAR!!!- the raven yelled in panic, flapping his wings to Johanna’s face "I love grammar! I can’t believe my horror!"

"Well… can you… try and… calm down… first?!" Johanna tried to argue as the raven’s wings hit her face; the raven started to calm down, letting Johanna speak clearly. "Listen, it’s ok to forget some things like grammar, especially if you’re nervous" she clarified, "Oh, but you don’t understand, I need my grammar to remember, for I am important!" the raven replied "I need to be somewhere, and my grammar is something someone is expecting!"

This left Johanna confused, but Hilda explained to her what happened before the raven fell off the house. "Oh… he’s been saying that since he spoke?" she asked her daughter, "Yeah, and I still don’t understand what he means- Hilda replied. With the raven calmed down, Johanna started to walk her way to the park she wanted to go earlier, but a TDW patrol car suddenly stopped their tracks. "Uh… can we help you?" asked Johanna nervously as she held the raven in her arms, "Ma’am, we’d require you to give the bird to us" the guard stated, "Why?" Hilda asked, "This bird is injured as we saw earlier" the officer stated "we’re just going to take it into the medical center."

Hilda was confused; her first encounter with them had them use tranquilizer darts and a net gun, why is it now that they’re not armed but have a different vehicle?.

Her questioning, however, was cut short by another round of clanging bells, and once again, the raven panicked, except this time, sparks were coming out of its tiny wings, shocking Johanna.

"Ow Ow OW!" she yelled in pain and let go of the raven, who in turn tried to escape. "Get the net gun!" one officer replied as the raven made its way across the street in a hurry. Hilda and Twig quickly tried to catch up to the raven first, but this time around, the raven was going much faster now that it had begun to fly again.

"His memory loss isn’t such a problem now, isn’t it?" Alfur stated as he tried to grab tightly to Twig’s antler, "I’m not sure, but if those people want him, it must be because of something!" Hilda replied as she tried to follow the raven’s path; soon enough, however, she lost sight of him, and Twig couldn’t even smell his scent.

"Hilda!" her mom yelled as she managed to catch up with her "where… did it… go?", "I don’t know- Hilda replied, worried "it started to fly away as soon as me and Twig tried to catch up to him", "Well, at least we know he’s doing alright" her mom replied.

The raven, now back in the sky, desperately tried to find the statue of the man he had tried to remember, but his sparkling display was attracting more attention than he expected. A small crowd now gathered where the raven was trying to soar, with David and Frida among the people in the group.

"That’s certainly not the thing you see every day" Frida stated, "It could be weirder anyway" David replied, but his words were soon manifested when a V-shaped flock of long-crested pterosaurs called Barbaridactylus flew by the raven’s side. Panicked, the raven accidentally released sparks that startled the reptiles, but the raven couldn’t control it, causing more sparks to fly out of his feathers.

Hilda and her mom soon caught up to the group as the raven was provoking the flock, but getting through the crowd wasn’t going to be easy. To make things worse, the TDW arrived at the scene to try and disperse the aerial fighters, as the more sparks the raven produced, the more it panicked the pterosaurs.

"Everyone stand back!" a TWD guard stated as he tried to drive the pterosaurs away from the bird by shooting a flare into the air, but that only made the raven even more scared.

Suddenly, the pterosaurs had enough, and a few individuals began to fly up, only to dive down and try to make the raven lose its balance. "Oh no no no no!" Hilda cried in panic "mom! We got to do something!". Johanna, however, was stunned; this was one thing she never had to face back in the forest when she and Hilda lived there alone.

The bombarding pterosaurs were now causing the raven to emit stronger bolts of electricity, but this sent the pterosaurs into a frenzy. "Fire tranquilizers!" a TWD guard stated, and two other guards prepared their rifles, "Are they going to shoot the pterosaurs or the raven?" Frida asked as she and David watched the scene unfold, "I’m afraid it could be both" David said out loud "if they hit the raven or the reptiles they could fall into the ground hard!". Hearing this, Hilda tried to make her way across the crowd, pulling her mom along.

The raven soon emitted huge lightning bolts, scaring away most of the pterosaurs, but at the worst time possible. One man fired a tranquilizer and hit him right on its chest, and to make matters worse, one pterosaur who didn’t flee dove down one last time, and his momentum knocked the bird off balance, making it fall down into a river. Hilda and her mom just arrived as the bird splashed down, the bird now struggling to swim. "Stay back, Hilda" her mom stated, and jumped into the river. Hilda stood there nervously as her mom tried to find the bird in the murky water.

"HELP!" the raven stated as he tried to stay afloat. Johanna swam to his position, but the bird became desperate and tried to climb on top of her. "Hey! Calm down!" Johanna tried to talk to the raven as it tried to get above the water by climbing her head, "Help me! Please" the raven stated as it was still panicking, small sparks dangerously wanting to be released from his wings. "If the raven sends shocks into the water it could kill her!" Alfur stated in panic, and without thinking it twice, Hilda jumped into the river, leaving Twig and Alfur to watch what happens next.

Hilda swam to her mother’s side and helped her grab the raven off her head. "Hey! Relax now!" she yelled at the raven as she held him in her hands, "I need to go! The man is waiting for me!" the raven yelled and started to glow with sparks of electricity; Hilda and her mom quickly tried to get out of the water, but the raven wasn’t making it easy. Johanna quickly swam ashore and tried to look for something for her daughter to grab on, while Hilda tried her best to calm the raven down.

Despite her efforts, the raven got off her hands and tried to fly, only to fall down into the murky waters again. "Stay there! I’m coming!" Hilda stated, but just as she grabbed the raven, something else got a hold of it: a Wels catfish emerged to the surface and grabbed the raven’s feet with such force that it pulled both the raven and Hilda underwater.

"HILDA!!!" Johanna yelled as she saw the fish drag the two down and quickly got back into the river and dove down to find them. The murky waters weren’t helping, and Johanna quickly lost sight of them.

Suddenly, the water below her began to glow with lightning, and then an immense glow of bright thunderbolts shot from the water, blinding everyone nearby.

From the river now flew a gigantic raven, one that seemed to rival the largest of planes, and on its back, Hilda and her mom hanged for dear life as the bird flew higher and higher.

"OH! I FEEL ALIVE AGAIN!!!!" it yelled out loud as it flew into the clouds "LOOK AT ME!!! ALL REJUVENATED!!!". The huge raven made pirouettes in the air as it soared over the city, his presence signaling the citizens that the harvest festival could begin.

Eventually, the raven stopped showing off and flew in circles around the city, giving Hilda and Johanna some room to breathe. "What… just happened?!" Johanna asked, confused "you were… and you sounded sleepy… and", "Oh! Yeah, I am a total mess when it comes to my shapeshifting" the raven replied "when I stay in that form for too long, I begin to lose my memories", "So you weren’t making the whole thing of “the statue” up?" Hilda asked, and the raven flew down towards the town center, where a statue of a big bearded man stood.

"Long ago, when this place was only a village, I was trying to find something that would impulse me back to my original form again. The land looked barren without rain, and I had stayed in my small form for far too long. Iwas lost, and then he found me" the raven replied and looked at the statue "that man didn’t have much time left, but he told me about how the land was once filled with wonders, and that made me sorry for its present state. And so, in his final breath, I tried with all might to grow again and cast a large storm, causing rain to fall down from the mountains and into the valley; and when the rains stopped, the land was fertile once again!"

"And that’s why you are celebrated here!" Hilda concluded, "Well… yeah, but in reality, it is the old man who should be recognized, for without him, I would’ve remained amnesiac, this land wouldn’t have become this bountiful, and it would’ve stayed as a dry prairie" he replied "and I sometimes do get annoyed when people call me the “great raven" ", "But aren’t you a raven?" Johanna asked, confused, "That’s how you humans call me" he replied before flying up into the clouds again

"I’m not a raven; I’m a THUNDERBIRD!!!"

The raven then released massive lightning bolts across the clouds, making them ripple across them and make dazzling shapes in the sky, "Well… I guess we shouldn’t use the term “raven” on you then" Hilda replied nervously, her hair and her mom’s static from the presence of lightning, "Oh, you can, just… don’t use it too often!" the raven stated and dove back down, soaring over the parade cars as they were lightened up with light bulbs and floating lamps.

Hilda saw down and admired the large number of decorations glowing in shades of red, orange, and yellow, and yelled from joy as she and her mom flew over the parade. "Was that Hilda?" David asked as the raven flew over him and Frida, "You’re definitely having a Trevor moment" Frida giggled in reply.

Soon, the raven changed back to his small form as he let Hilda and her mom back down. Twig, who had tried to follow the scent of the bird, finally caught up, exhausted from how much he had to run.

"That was probably one of the craziest moments we’ve ever had, heh?" Johanna joked as Hilda grabbed Twig, "For you, it certainly was" the raven replied as it flew and landed in Johanna’s head "and I have to thank you two for… uh, oh, dang it! I already forgot, but I owe you guys a lot!", "It hasn’t even been a minute, and you’re already forgetting stuff again?" Hilda joked as she carried Twig in her arms, "I guess it’s in my nature" the raven sighed.

Suddenly, fireworks began to light up the sky, and Johanna suddenly had an idea. She started to walk towards an alley and up some stairs; Hilda, Twig, and the raven followed behind, and soon they all saw where Johanna was going: a small wall.

"Up you go!" Johanna said to her daughter as she helped Hilda climb up before helping Twig as well; the raven then let Alfur get up in his head before he flew next to Twig.

"This view looks pretty" Hilda said as she admired the fireworks show and the parade cars drive by, "This was the spot I used to see the parade when I was little" she stated, letting her daughter rest her head in her side "me and your grandmother used to go here every year as the rav… I mean, the thunderbird flew above the skies and lit up the clouds". "I’m glad to have put on a show to you and your mum Ms… uh" the raven tried to thank Johanna, and she giggled. "You’re probably going to have to leave soon, right?" Hilda asked the raven, "I sure will, I have a migration route to follow" he said "but I’ll always fly by. If you ever hear erratic thunder, you know I’m right above you"

The fireworks went on, and Johanna hugged Hilda as the two admired the view, relaxed after a long afternoon. Everyone in the city cheered on the event, with the school band playing music for everyone. It was a good ending for Hilda and her mom, but back on the shore, there was still someone waiting for his good ending.

The male Wenupteryx had now waited all day for his partner to return, but it seemed like this year she was going to be late. The rain of fireworks shined over the waves and the sky, a dazzling display for all animals, dinosaurs, and beasts that were on the shore, the forest, even beyond.

Suddenly, amidst the colors of the fireworks, a familiar call was drowned in between the bangs; a shape was heading towards the male’s nest.

Was it a stranger? A predator? Or could that be…?

It was her!

The female, late and exhausted, finally popped into view, and while the colors shone in the sky, his partner tried to land on the rocky cliff. It was certainly a difficult task, as the flashing light and noise were disorientating, and if she missed the landing, she could hurt herself, but since she and her mate have been separated for so long, caution is no longer of such importance.

The female swooped down, and with what she could make out from the blinding flashes, she landed in the nest; immediately, her partner warbled at her, and the two sang together, a sign that the two still shared their connection, even after such a long wait. Their beaks nuzzled, and soon the two stopped to gaze at each other.

After a couple of weeks of waiting, the two “lovebirds” finally were reunited; their struggle to raise a family could now begin… tomorrow, as for now, the two continued to reconnect their bond as the fireworks shined above the city and across the sky.

Their stay in this wonderful land has only just begun.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: A tale of scouts and critters

Afternoon, and Hilda and her mom returned from eating lunch out and were heading back home, with Hilda eating some ice cream she got for dessert. Twig followed behind, still trying to sniff out a scent he’s been tracking for weeks but usually getting distracted by other things.

"Twig! Come on!" Hilda yelled as Twig soon found himself lagging behind; the deerfox sprinted back to Hilda’s side "I wonder why you always lag behind."

"Since when has he been doing that?" her mom asked, "I’m… not sure" Hilda replied "I think it was the day after we moved in, but he’s probably just curious about what lies around in the city."

Johanna then stopped to wait for a traffic light to change, and then remembered something important. "Oh, I forgot to tell you: I signed you up for the sparrow scouts a couple days ago!" her mom stated; Hilda took a bit of time to understand what she said, and then she smiled. "OH! Yeah! I forgot I asked you if I could join them!" she remembered "when do they start?", "Well, it’s only been like three weeks since the Sparrow scouts started" her mom replied "but the raven leader said their activities got delayed due to the parade preparations, so you don’t have a lot to catch up to."

Soon, the light changed, and Hilda, Twig, and her mom safely crossed to the other side. "When do I start to attend the Sparrow scouts?" Hilda asked her mom, "You start this Saturday" she replied "but if you want to enjoy the experience better, I’d suggest getting your homework done."

That statement made Hilda pout. It had already been two weeks since she had also begun to go to school physically instead of being taught at home.

The experience wasn’t bad, since the friends she had made since she got to Trolberg were also at her level and classroom, but it was still somewhat tedious to get up earlier every morning getting to bed early; it would definitely take a while to get accustomed to this.

The family arrived back at their house, and Hilda quickly rushed up the stairs and opened the door to the apartment. "Hey! Slow down!" her mom said as she tried to catch up, but Hilda was certainly fast to open the door and lie down on the couch. "I’m glad I can go back out to the forest!" Hilda said "it’s been a while since I ever saw trees that aren’t the ones in the park". "Oh, Hilda" her mom said as she finally caught up and sat next to her on the couch "the scouts have their own patch of forest inside the city walls. It has been like that since I joined them when I was a little girl", "Wait, so the scouts don’t go outside the wall?" Hilda asked, her smile gone "aww, I wanted to go back to the forest again."

Her mom sighed and patted her back. "Hilda, I know you love the forest, and I do too, but with those creatures out there… It certainly isn’t safe" she stated, "but even before they appeared it wasn’t!" Hilda argued "trolls were around and are still dangerous!", "Well they are! her mom replied !but only at night, and besides them, that was the only physical danger we had to worry about. Now, however, it’s all different."

Hilda looked down, sad that her chance didn’t turn out to be how she expected. "But…" her mom interrupted her thoughts "that doesn’t mean the forest where the Sparrow scouts do their activities is all man-made", "What do you mean?" Hilda asked confused, "The forest was a batch that was already cut off when the wall was built" her mom replied "it’s only because of tourism and the scouts that the area wasn’t deforested, so you pretty much have a true replica of what’s beyond the wall."

Hilda’s smile slowly returned as she heard that perhaps a piece of her past could still be next to her inside the walls.

Hilda then hugged her mom, and she returned the hug, adding a kiss to her head as well. "So… You said I start on Saturday, right?" Hilda asked, "Pretty much" her mom replied "I’ll go pick up your uniform tomorrow before the day of the initiation ceremony". "A ceremony?" she asked, curious, "Yeah, every new scout has to accept an oath before becoming one of the Sparrows" her mom replied, "And… is it difficult?" Hilda asked, "No, you pretty much have to swear to an agreement, and that’s it- her mom replied "although I was personally nervous when I had to say my oath. It did go well in the end, and during my time, I managed to earn lots of badges."

That last part reminded Hilda of something Frida had said about the scouts: their achievements are usually portrayed in the badges they earned, and there were certainly a lot, given that David had also said Frida almost lost a couple due to how many she had.

"You think I have a chance to get a badge too?" she asked, "I’m sure you’ll earn lots of badges" her mom replied "and even if you don’t, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun while being a Sparrow scout."

Hilda smiled and hugged her mom again. "Now, let me see your math homework so I can help you" her mom said "I’m sure that math problem isn’t so hard."

Hilda then went to her room and picked up her notebook. She then went back to the living room and showed her mom the question.

"It says Oliver needs to purchase 26 apples. If they cost $0.75 each, how much will it cost Oliver?" her mom read out loud, "I don’t understand how to multiply decimals that well, mom" Hilda replied "could you help me?", "I’ll always help you when you need it" her mom replied, giving her a pat on the head before grabbing a pencil to teach her how to solve the problem.

The days went by, and soon Saturday arrived. Johanna and Hilda woke up early and drove to the Sparrow Scouts HQ while chatting about what Hilda would do on her first day.

"I think I’ll probably end up doing gardening- Hilda replied "Oh! Or perhaps I’ll do a tracking sign activity!", "I’m sure the first activity you’ll do after the oath will be fun" Johanna replied "but you do remember the words of the oath, right?", "I think I do" Hilda replied, "Well, I think the raven leader will remind you of the phrases when we get there" her mom replied.

Soon, the two arrived at the headquarters; Johanna parked her car, and Hilda quickly hopped out, Twig right behind her as always. "Hilda!" said a familiar voice as she got around to the entrance, "David! Frida!" Hilda replied as she spotted both her friends and rushed to hug them, "Looks like you’re finally joining us in the scouts, heh?" Frida said enthusiastically, "Yep! And I’m excited for what we’ll do later!" Hilda replied.

The trio soon went inside, with Johanna following them behind, and while she sat down alongside some other parents as soon as she entered the cabin, Hilda and her friends were approached by the raven leader.

"You must be Hilda, right?" the raven leader asked her, "Oh, yeah! That’s me!" Hilda replied, "Good! Please be ready for the initiation ceremony in a minute" she replied before heading to check on other scouts who were just arriving.

"It’s normal to be nervous if that’s how you feel" David stated "I felt nervous when I had to take the oath too", "I… sorta didn’t" Frida added "but it’ll be fine! Don’t worry!", "Ok, I trust you two" Hilda replied nervously. Soon, all the kids were circled around the stage, with the raven leader waiting for Hilda to come up for her initiation oath.

"Alright, here we go" Hilda said to herself nervously, and while the raven leader was making a small speech, she slowly climbed up the stage and stood next to the other scouts.

Meanwhile, outside the city, another gathering diorama was about to begin. On a lake, close to where Hilda’s old house remained, a herd of Telmatosaurus arrived to drink some water when a few individuals spotted some carp-like fish swimming in the shallows. In a few instances, their mouths gaped for air as they seemed to try and catch food, their back fins cutting the water’s surface as they did so.

These are Huldrefish, and they were feeding on some smaller fish in the lake, having driven them to the shallows. They’re getting ready for a journey of their own back into a nurturing river in order to spawn, and their journey is to be a long one, as they must swim from river to river until they end in a different prairie close to a place named Toføten.

Usually, their journey would be straightforward, with only water levels being a hazard, but in the last couple years, their migration has caught the attention of other creatures.

As the fish kept on feeding and the Telmatosaurus quenched their thirst, something else emerged from the forest: a group of Pyroraptors; their presence put the herbivores on alert as the group began to approach the lake.

The raptors, however, had their sights on a much easier and more manageable prey: the Huldrefish. Placing themselves in different rocks, each raptor tried to follow a fish as the Hadrosaurs looked at the predators.

One of them took aim and pounced on top of a Huldrefish; the prey tried to wiggle free, but the grasp of the raptor’s teeth and foot claws soon dragged the fish out of the water.

The other Huldrefish swam away from the shallows and into deeper waters as other raptors caught any fish in their vicinity, but not everyone was successful. One rookie hunter, who had pounced too early, missed his chance as the fish swam away from the lake shore.

Frustrated and hungry, his only chance to secure something to eat was to wait for the fish to swim back or try to snatch a piece of someone else’s catch.

For the young Pyroraptor, stealing was one act that may result in small wounds, as disputes for food were common; still, if it was to fill its stomach, it must be bold. One of the adults had already eaten the choice cuts and headed off to a rock to rest up; this was the chance the juvenile was waiting for. Slowly and carefully, the young Pyroraptor moved in to try and have a bite, but he suddenly found himself in competition with someone else.

From behind the rock the adult was sleeping atop, a nimbler cousin, a Halszkaraptor, approached to steal a piece of the dead Huldrefish as well. It was certainly smaller than it, but much feistier in attitude, as once it rushed to the carcass, it started to hiss at the young Pyroraptor.

Despite the minor nuisance, the young Pyroraptor took its chance and approached the Huldrefish carcass, wings displayed at the Halszkaraptor and hissing back at it to try and drive it off the carcass, but the fisty Halszkaraptor wasn’t going to give up that easily. The longneck stood its ground and pecked at the young Pyroraptor, attempting to drive it off its prize, but before the two would have a fight, all the noise awoke the adult Pyroraptor, who immediately got up and charged at the fighters.

With the owner now alert and the prize once again secured away from it, the young Pyroraptor headed back to the shore, where the Huldrefish had gathered again after many of the hunters had their fill. Choosing another spot, it looked at the moving fish, waiting for the perfect moment to strike; its chance to feed depended on this hit.

The raptor then hesitates and moves early, causing the fish to swim back into deeper water. The Pyroraptor gave chase up to where it could walk and managed to get a grip on the tail of a Huldrefish. The raptor now had to drag the fish out of the water, but having barely any floor to have a footing made the task difficult.

In a desperate attempt to escape, the Huldrefish tried to turn towards the shore, but this gave the Pyroraptor a chance to reposition and lock its jaws on the fish’s back. With a better grip, the raptor paddled back to firm ground and dragged the fish into the sand exhausted, and by using its claws, the raptor gripped the fish as it reaped the rewards, but its victory wasn’t fully secured.

The Halszkaraptor, seeing a new opportunity, charged at the raptor and tried to steal its catch. Exhausted from the struggle, the raptor could only stand its ground for so long, but then, just before the determined longneck could claim victory, another young Pyroraptor charged at the Halszkaraptor.

Now, the tables turned in favor of the fire thieves, and soon enough, the longneck retreated.

The exhausted raptor immediately started to consume its catch, but unlike the adult it tried to steal from, the juvenile allowed the other raptor to feed as well. A social behavior like this is rare, especially in raptors, but juveniles usually share their catches as part of coalitions, as hunting together gives them more power to even steal from adults or other competition, and in this case, the unexpected pair has managed to do so, securing a meal for the moment.

With the Huldrefish remaining in this lake for a few more weeks, the juvenile Pyroraptors and other piscivores have a chance to try and catch their own meals before their window of opportunity disappears until winter, and while the young may have food today, it will most certainly need to hunt again tomorrow.

"I promise to be trustworthy, useful, and helpful to others, to be a friend of all people, animals, and spirits; to not be a snob; to be courageous; to do a good thing every day; to smile and to whistle; and to keep the Sparrow Scout law!" Hilda stated as she held her hand in the air, saying the oath in front of the other scouts; "Now that you’ve taken the oath, you may wear the sash" the raven leader announced, and Frida stepped up with a red band and wrapped it around Hilda’s shoulder, though it seemed a bit big for her.

"Sparrow scouts, we officially have a new member among our ranks" the raven leader then stated. The rest of the people in the room then started to clap, including Johanna; this was a new experience for Hilda, as she had never gotten this much attention.

"Alright sparrows, as it is usual in every new sparrow scout initiation… We must do one crucial activity to finalize the event" the raven leader spoke, and all the adults started to step back; the kids did the same, including David and Frida, leaving Hilda in the center.

"And that is…" Hilda said out loud, nervously; suddenly, all the kids showed up with red balls in their hands, this could only end one way.

"DODGEBALL!!!!" Frida yelled out loud before the game began; Hilda immediately ducked as the balls were thrown against each other. "Why did mom not tell me about this?!" Hilda said to herself, but as the balls started to land on the other kids, Hilda slowly began to stand up, careful not to be hit, and joined in on the fun.

While the adults sat back and watched, Hilda tried to dodge the balls and tried to throw some back at others. Slowly but surely, she got the hang of the game, but there were some kids who were really hard to hit.

"I need cover!" David yelled out loud as he tried to hide from two players trying to aim for him, but it was a lost cause, as he soon felt the balls hit him in the back. Frida, on the other hand, was dodging the balls with ease, shocking Hilda.

"Alright sparrows! Game’s up!" the raven leader finally called an end to the killing spree, with Hilda having been hit a couple times, David a dozen, and Frida intact "now that all of you have had a bit of a warm"up, you’re now ready to head out and collect your first badge of the year!".

Hilda and the other kids circled around the raven leader to pay attention to her instructions. "This badge will require taking care of a green area around the protected area. I will give you the equipment to deal with your selected patch, but before that, you all must join in groups of three."

Hilda spotted the other kids joining together quickly, perhaps because of previous friendships or from experience, and instinctively joined Frida and David’s group. "Alright everyone! I’ll go around, and everyone must give me a team name before I give you a map and tools" the raven leader stated as the kids had already begun to form groups.

"What should we call ourselves?" David asked. "I’d suggest something related to the badge" Frida replied and pulled out a small notebook "let’s see... How about “Plant fighters” ", "Uh… we’re caring for plants, not fighting them" Hilda replied and giggled. "I know, it’s just an idea" Frida replied "let’s use something not too literal then". " "Green carers!" " David suggested and an awkward moment of silence followed, "Yeah… it doesn’t roll off the tongue nicely" Frida replied.

There were only a couple more groups before the raven leader came to their side; time was running out for the trio. "Let’s just go with something random- Hilda suggested, "I at least think we can have a name with a simple meaning to it" Frida argued. The raven leader soon came to their side as she gave the map and tools to the previous group. "Oh, I see you added the new recruit to your group, Frida" she pointed out "that’s five points for your level three “Friendly and Helpful” badge!", "Thank you, raven leader!" she replied, leaving Hilda a bit confused, "Now, what’s the name of your group this time?" the raven leader then asked "the past few names have been quite innovative."

Frida didn’t know what to say, no good ideas were brought to the table this time around, but someone else already had a backup plan.

"Uh… is it alright if we just go with “team green” for now?" David spoke "not as our definitive name though, but more like a placeholder", "I’ll keep that in mind" the raven leader replied, writing down the placeholder name and giving the trio the map and gardening tools they need.

"Alright sparrows! We’ll meet at the edge of the forest to start our activity!" the raven leader stated "you got 10 minutes to decide your location!". Hilda, David, and Frida then opened the map and started to search for a good spot. "I’d say we could do something simple and choose the patch closest to the HQ" Hilda suggested, "Not the best of ideas" Frida replied "many groups always choose those areas as they’re the easiest ones to care for", "And because they don’t give enough points for a golden badge with wings" David added playfully, making Frida roll her eyes and giggle.

"Well… then how about this spot?" Hilda asked and pointed at a patch near a river, "Too many bugs in that area" David nervously stated, "Hmm… how about here? Near the wall?" Hilda suggested, but her two friends quickly shook their heads. "The wall is certainly the last area you want to be near!" David replied, "Yeah, and while the plants there may be rare and golden-badge worthy, it’s one place no sparrow scout dares get close to" Frida added, "Excellent then!" Hilda replied, making the two other friends question Hilda’s sanity.

"Time’s up!" the raven leader stated as she also blew an airhorn, alerting everyone "form up a line and place your spot on this map with a marker!". All the groups had already made a choice, except for the trio, who again didn’t know what place to pick. Slowly, the board was filled in with spots taken by other groups, including the one near the HQ cabin and the one in the river. "Oh cruddlesticks! We may end with the one near the wall" David nervously stated, "It’s a 50/50, don’t worry" Frida tried to calm him down, but unfortunately, they ended up with that spot.

"I’m sorry you three had to be at the end of the list this time" the raven leader apologized to the three "but I’m sure you’ll do a great work with those rare plants! Plus, you may get a golden badge if you do a good job!", "Yep, we sure will!" Frida nervously replied before the raven leader left them to decide what to do next. "Why did I had to be right?" David asked in a depressed tone.

"Oh, come on guys!" Hilda tried to cheer him and Frida up "you said the scouts were supposed to train to survive in the wild! Why not then tackle a challenge like that to prove it!", "Well… You’re right" Frida nervously replied "but… we’ve never had a challenge like that before", "Yeah, we usually go for the safe challenges and put a lot of effort on them" David added, "Well, I guess we now have a chance to get out of that comfort zone!" Hilda replied enthusiastically.

Soon, all the teams got ready to leave for the forest, and while Frida and David stood in line, Hilda quickly went back to her mother’s side to pick up some extra things. -Thanks for making lunch ahead, mom!- Hilda said to her mom as she picked up a lunch box with some sandwiches and peppermint tea in a thermos.

"I’ll come back for you when your activity is done" Johanna replied to her daughter before giving her a kiss on the forehead "good luck and be safe!", "I will!" Hilda replied before joining her friends’ side.

As Hilda, Frida, and David walked to their designated gardening spot near the wall, the latter two were discussing how to approach the challenge; Hilda, on the other hand, was admiring the trail to the spot, as she was always fascinated by the forest around her. It may not be like the one she always explored back when she lived in the cabin with her mom and Twig, but it still took her back to those times.

"Hilda, we’re close" Frida warned her "don’t trail behind!", "Coming!" said Hilda as she rushed back to the group, "You seem to be a bit nostalgic when you see the trees" David stated as Hilda caught up, "Yeah, it’s still a bit hard not to feel sad about where I used to live" Hilda replied in a bit of a sad tone, "I understand the feeling" Frida replied "although neither I nor David come from somewhere else. I understand it because of a cousin who had to leave Trolberg a few years ago", "I see" Hilda replied "I wish I could still live in the woods, just nothing but the calm forest, the flowing rivers…", "The amount of a mess the garden is!" David suddenly interrupted her as the three arrived at the spot.

It was certainly a mess: plenty of weeds were growing around, outnumbering the rare flowers that were supposed to grow there; the soil was spilled everywhere, and there were multiple holes around the wall. "Well… guess we have a lot of work to do" Frida stated "luckily, I always come prepared for moments like this!" she added before pulling a file with some notes in it.

"That… is certainly a lot of documents" Hilda said nervously as Frida looked through the pages before stopping at a blank page. "Alright! Seeing how this is a huge mess, we need to divide and conquer" Frida stated "David, you’ll enclose the area with nails and rope, then Hilda and I will start to patch up the holes before you and I start to pick up the weeds.

Once all of them are pulled out, Hilda will take them in a wheelbarrow to the junkyard before nightfall", "Sounds like a plan!" Hilda stated cheerfully, and David nodded along, "Alright, let’s get this operation started!- Frida cheered; David quickly grabbed the wooden nails and rope inside the wheelbarrow before he started to place them around the messy ground. Hilda then gave him a hammer while Frida untied the rope just as David nailed down the wooden nails.

"Here, tie it around the area" Frida stated, and she gave the rope to David afterwards; David then tied it around, making knots around each nail, while Frida and Hilda took out the shovels. "Alright, let’s patch the holes up" Hilda stated before she and Frida started to fill the holes with the soil around. "I’ll go grab the seeds" David said before heading for the wheelbarrow again; however, on his way back, he saw something move in a bush but paid little attention.

"David, give me the tulip seeds!" Hilda asked David, and he quickly gave the two girls the seeds before he went back to pick up different ones.

The hours quickly passed by, and before the sun began to head for the back of the trees, the area was almost cleaned up. The three took a little break before doing the last task on the file book, removing the weeds, and enjoyed the sandwiches Hilda had brought.

"I’ll admit, your mom makes some good cucumber sandwiches" Frida stated after munching a bit of the food, "Yeah, on paper, it’s not really the best of ideas, but your mom certainly knows how to execute the idea nicely!" David added before sipping some mango juice from a thermos cup. "My mom is good at cooking" Hilda replied, eating some of her sandwich as well "she and I usually watch cooking shows before we go to bed, and sometimes, when she’s free of work, we end up cooking together", "I’d be surprised if one day you could cook us a nice meal" David stated before finishing his sandwich "you’d even get the cooking badge on the first try!"

Hilda giggled a bit before eating more of her sandwich, and soon enough, all the food and drink had been consumed. "We can afford to relax a bit more before we get to remove the big weeds" Frida said before laying back and relaxing on the floor "I think we’ve done a good job so far", "I agree" David replied before also leaning back, and Hilda soon followed.

"You know, I want to go out of the wall and back into the wilderness" Hilda stated as she looked to the trees "it feels like it’s been an eternity for me, and I still miss the woods", "I wish we could go outside too" Frida replied "but… with those creatures out there… I’m not sure how long it’ll take before the alert is dropped". "I agree" David added "I remember me and my family going on a camping trip next to a large lake; the view was amazing! I wish I could go there again."

Hilda relaxed after hearing her friends’ thoughts before a sudden movement alerted the three. "I knew I had heard something" David whispered to himself. The trio looked around before noticing one of the weeds move; it seemed like it was trying to dig itself out of the ground but was being pulled back down. Then, suddenly, the leaf stopped shaking, and the trio slowly got up and approached the weeds.

"Should we… Dig it out?" David nervously asked, but no one else seemed to want to risk it; eventually, Hilda grabbed a shovel and tried to dig the plant out, but what seemed to be a simple weed turned out to be a whole bulb of soil. "What is that?" Frida asked nervously as the three investigated the bulb, and Hilda soon noticed a chunk of it was missing. "Is that… A torso?" David asked and started to panic "oh, what if it’s a corpse?!", "I doubt it" Hilda replied before one of the patched up holes began to move, and a weed-like creature suddenly emerged from it.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!" it yelled before grabbing Hilda’s shovel and standing his ground. The trio stood behind the living plant before whatever caused the weed to move revealed itself: a weird reptile-like creature with tusks facing downwards. "STAY BACK!!! THAT THING IS A DEMON!!!" the plant spoke, swinging the shovel around to try and scare it; the creature then went back inside the hole, and the plant finally dropped the shovel.

"What… was that?" Frida asked, confused, "A demon! That’s what it was!" the plant replied before looking around and seeing the cleaned patch of soil. "Wait, why is this place tidy?" he asked out loud before looking at the wheelbarrow "Hold on, WERE YOU THREE GOING TO DIG UP MY FRIENDS?!" the plant asked angrily, "Friends?" Frida asked back before David realized something. "OH! The corpse is one of them!" he stated, shocking the plant.

He rushed to see the damaged bulb and dug it out, only to see a deceased plant creature. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! THEY GOT LIL’ JORGIE!!!" he yelled and started to cry in pain, "I… I’m sorry for your loss" Hilda tried to be compassionate over what was happening, but the plant then turned around to face the three. "You humans need to help us! If they did this to Lil’ Jorgie, they’ll do that to the rest of us!" he yelled, "What even are you?" Frida asked, "I’m a Vittra, you know, the thing that people call “stinky weed” when we’re dug out while hibernating?" he stated.

David moved closer and sniffed the Vittra, which the latter felt weird about. "Huh, you do have a nice smell" he said, making the Vittra feel weird, "Well, now that you three know what I am, would you help with our problem?!" the Vittra asked in desperation, but the three were still confused. "What are those things even? What do they do?" Hilda asked, "Well, they’re certainly cold blooded killers!" the Vittra replied, "But they must have a reason to do so" Hilda argued "did you annoy them? Or perhaps you moved into their land?", "ARE YOU CALLING US INVADERS?!" the Vittra angrily replied at Hilda "I’LL LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE USED THIS SIDE OF THE WALL AS OUR HIBERNATING LOCATION FOR DECADES!!!", "Ok! Ok! Relax!" Frida tried to calm him down.

Meanwhile, David went closer to the hole and tried to inspect it, but while it was certainly large enough to enter, going inside was probably not the best idea.

"I’m going to need a lure" David said, "OH, YOU’RE NOT USING JORGIE’S BODY!!!" the Vittra argued before putting himself in front of the dead Vittra "use one of those things humans use, the ones that have things to fire from that hurt!", "You mean a gun?" Frida asked in confusion, "If you can, use a bigger one!" the Vittra replied.

Seeing how this was going nowhere and that, with the sun setting, the three had to go back to the HQ cabin, so they made a decision. "Ok, listen, we can’t stay here for long due to… Some assignments" Frida tried to lie "but, we’ll come back tomorrow to help you and those left to fend against… That thing", "YOU BETTER!" the Vittra warned her as he stood in front of Frida "because as of now… you’re letting DOZENS of lives be taken away by those things!"

The trio then picked up their things and started to make their way back through the trail to the cabin, all while the angry Vittra stared at them in both anger and a hint of despair. "Are we really going to come back to help him?" David asked silently, "I’m… not sure" Frida replied "we don’t even know what’s attacking it", "But we can’t leave him there to suffer to whatever is attacking it" Hilda argued, "And we still need to finish the gardening challenge" David added. Frida sighed as she knew there was no way to avoid coming back to the wall; "Well, if we come back, we’re coming to finish the challenge, even though it’s in the span of a week" Frida replied.

While the trio headed back to the cabin, on the other side of the wall, tensions were starting to rise. As the tusked creatures emerged from holes on the other side of the wall, a black, feathered creature watched them from above; it wasn’t certainly interested much in what these animals were doing but in what they scared away, as it was hungry for a snack.

Usually, it would hunt prey in the canopy, flying around and trying to catch anything in the branches, but these tusked animals drove rodents out of the holes as they went in and out, and for this four-winged predator called Microraptor, this was an opportunity that could be exploited all year around.

As the sun disappeared over the wall, some mice who were in the tunnels began to emerge as the tusked creatures left the holes to find a place to sleep. Even though they could fit in the holes, they preferred an open place to rest and one without screams of panic.

Before the Microraptor could focus on a target on the ground, however, a loud, defiant howl shook everyone, from the animals to the trio on the other side of the wall.

"What was that?!" David asked in panic, "We should hurry back!" Frida replied before trying to hurry David and Hilda back on course, the latter interested in the mysterious noise as she had never heard it before. On the other side, however, there was certainly no interest in finding out, as the tusked creatures rushed back into the holes while the Microraptor flew away from the tree it was perched in.

Another howl soon followed before growling; whatever was on the other side of the wall, it was certainly angry. The feathered creature soon perched on another tree, and the howls and growls continued to sound in the air. Then, a low roar joined in the mix before cries of biting and movements of thrashing shook the trees, sending leaves and branches into the floor.

The Microraptor then flew away once again, this time further away from the battle beneath the trees to look for a meal in peace, and then a loud crash shook it; it sounded like one of the fighters rammed the other against the city wall, and the noise repeated a couple more times before one of the fighters howled in pain, shaking the trees as it made its escape. The other fighter simply let out a low roar of victory before the forest went silent once again.

With the forest silent and the sun set, the Microraptor now had a much calmer ambience to soar through the canopy, looking around for something to eat, and it didn’t take it long before finding something. Just close by a hole in a tree, an Eurasian red squirrel entered and made herself comfortable for the night, warming her young pups with her tail as one of them yawned.

For the winged raptor, this could be a chance for a meal, but like every predator, it must certainly weigh the risks before making its move, and in this case, the raptor decided to look for a different target, as the teeth of the rodent and the narrow space could work against it. The Microraptor then flew around once again, using the light of the moon to look out for potential prey, and once again, it didn’t take long for it to find another target.

This time, it was a pair of sparrows perched on a branch, either asleep or still awake, and exposed in the open. Silently, the predator landed in a branch close to the prey’s location, and, given the clear path and no way for the prey to fight back, it was a safer ambush than with the squirrel. The Microraptor then positioned itself in a launch trajectory silently, careful not to make noise to scare its prey, and once in position, it waited for the perfect moment.

As the predator lingered, so did its prey, as they didn’t move. From above, the Microraptor could also hear the voice of an elf; what she was doing wasn’t important for it, but given elves don’t usually go out at night in the forest, it was weird.

The Microraptor then launched itself into the air, seizing the moment, and flew towards the sparrows; one, unfortunately, turned around just at the last second and spotted the incoming danger, chirping away as it flew off and alerted the other one.

The Microraptor landed on the branch, but it was too late; the sparrows flew off onto another branch and directly looked at it. A sign like this meant to any hunter “I know you’re there; you can’t surprise me”, and so the Microraptor flew off to search for another target.

For predators, most hunts end in failure, but the night was still young, and so there could be other choices for the Microraptor, if it manages to survive the night, for in these forests, dinosaurs may be successful, but not out of danger.

The next morning, inside the city, Hilda searched for information about the Vittra and if they had any natural predators.

"Any luck with your search?" her mom asked as she served her a warm cup of milk, "Not much" Hilda replied "I tried revising some information from the TDW, but… Their information is SOOO vague!" Hilda replied after taking a sip from her cup "now I see why you had problems when you went to college". "Pretty much" her mom joked and patted her head "but I’m sure you’ll find useful information soon!"

The whole research thing wasn’t usually something she’d do on her own, as Hilda would at least have some extra help from Alfur whenever she had to look for some information, but since he hadn’t come back from his “job” last night, she was on her own for this one. "Hilda?" her mom suddenly interrupted her search "you got visitors!"; Hilda went out of her room and went to the living room, where David and Frida were, surprisingly, waiting for her.

"Oh! I… Didn’t expect you guys to be here" Hilda stated in a bit of surprise "I was going to meet you guys at the HQ", "It’s fine, we just decided to hop by to pick you up!" David apologized "anyways, Frida and I went to pick up a book in the library because we couldn’t find anything on the internet yesterday about the Vittra", "Yeah, I found out the hard way" Hilda replied and sighed -anyway, what did you find?", "Well, for one, Vittra tastes foul for the human palate, but in old times, Vittra sap would act as medicine" Frida stated as she looked for the page where she got that information "but… if it was used for anything else that’s medicine-related, there’s no extra information about it in this book at least."

"So… If something is killing Vittra for medicine… Why dozens?" Hilda asked, "It’s a very good question" Frida replied "for one… I wouldn’t be surprised if this was something related to illegal actions, but then again, we saw what was trying to kill them yesterday, and… It didn’t seem like a dog or something related to it", "Yeah, and that’s when I found this" David added as he took out some pictures he had found in a gallery book "tusks looking down, can borrow underground, is vegetarian… It can only be a Dicynodont of some sort."

The complexity of the name left Hilda bamboozled for a moment. "Is… that really the name of it?" Hilda asked in confusion, "Science can give weird words sometimes" David replied, "Well, anyway, how did someone even take photos of these animals?" Hilda asked as she examined the photos, "I’m… not so sure, but they’re certainly useful right now" David replied, "We should probably get to the gardening spot soon and see if we can catch… Whatever that thing David said" Frida stated, unable to say the name.

Hilda quickly went to her room to change into her scout uniform and to pack up some stuff while her friends waited for her in the living room. She placed a notebook and some pencils inside, and once she got out, her mom gave her a packed lunch, and Twig followed her to the door.

"Remember to come back before dinner!" her mom told her before Hilda left the house, and the three kids quickly rushed down the stairs and made their way back to the sparrow scout HQ by bus.

"You think this whole Vittra ordeal could be worth a badge?" Hilda asked as it had been a minute of silence since the three got on the bus, "Badges are usually related to things about survival skills, but… Knowing there’s a “friend to creatures” badge, perhaps" Frida replied "but you’d need to convince the raven leader about it, because that badge is rare to get nowadays", "You’re saying you haven’t got it yet?" Hilda asked, "Nope, and… I probably will leave it for last along with the more difficult ones" Frida replied "I’d personally rather tackle a challenge suited for my level than risk losing my streak."

"I bet if I understand my bug issue, perhaps I could get that badge" David joked. "You surely would, but so far there’s been no clear logic to distinguish" Frida replied with a giggle, "One day I’ll figure it out, just you wait" David replied before he leaned back on his seat as the bus drove away from the main city and into the inner countryside.

Soon, after a couple more stops, the bus arrived at their destination, and the three hopped off and headed for the HQ. As they arrived, other groups had already headed off to finish their gardening plans while the Raven leader waited for other groups to arrive.

"Oh, there’s the group I was expecting to see" the raven leader greeted them, "Morning, raven leader!" Frida replied and saluted her; David did the same, and Hilda simply copied, not understanding the need to salute.

"Your materials are in the left corner, still untouched" the raven leader stated "remember to be back here before the sun sets, it’s safety protocol!", "Noted!" Frida replied before she and the rest went inside to pick them up and headed into the forest once again after doing so.

"I’m still worried about how many “dozens” were killed like that Vittra said" David said out loud, "I doubt it is that many" Frida replied before Hilda stopped cold in her tracks, "I… Think he meant it when he said “dozens”" Hilda replied, feeling a bit sick at what she was looking at: disemboweled bodies of Vittra all laying around, the ground all ruined, and the culprit not being one, but four creatures already consuming another hibernating Vittra.

"I told you… DOZENS!" the Vittra from yesterday whispered from a bush, scaring the trio; he was missing a leg and was terrified of being found "you need to help us!"

The three tried to help the Vittra, with Frida trying her best to close his wound with what she could find. "Lystrosaurus" David whispered "they’re Lystrosaurus", "Why would a dinosaur hunt Vittra?" Hilda asked as Twig tried to help the injured Vittra to stand up, "They’re not dinosaurs, but… well, how can I say this?" David replied to Hilda "let’s just say… They’re related to mammals."

"So they’re like tusked rats?!" the Vittra replied in an agonizing voice, still feeling pain from his wound despite Frida having closed it, "Kinda?" David replied before Hilda spotted one approaching them.

"Don’t let it get close to me!!!!" the Vittra yelled in panic and tried to hide behind Twig, but as soon as the Lystrosaurus saw the trio, it slowly backed up and went back to join the others.

"Are there any survivors?" Hilda asked, "There’s some underground, hidden in a chamber with those still hibernating" the Vittra replied "you need to help them!", "Well…" Frida doubted, knowing that, while they can help, their main focus was to get the garden tidy for their badge, and digging more holes may ruin it more than it is now; "How do we get to the chamber?" Hilda asked, interrupting her thoughts, "If your deerfox friend allows me to stay in his back, I may help guide the way" he replied before trying to get on Twig’s back, and Hilda nodded in agreement.

Emerging from the bush, the trio’s presence alerted the Lystrosaurus and sent them back down a Vittra hole, -You could’ve just hit them with your shovels, but I won’t complain- the Vittra stated. Hilda then approached the entrance of the Vittra’s tunnel system; she looked down and saw that climbing down would be a problem.

"David, Frida, I’m going to need a rope" Hilda asked them, "Alright!" Frida replied and went to the wheelbarrow to pick one up; she and David then held it firm while Hilda carried him and Twig down the entrance until they touched the floor.

"Hold it there and wait until I come back!" Hilda then stated, "We’re coming down with you!" David replied "you may need some help", "I’m all good!" Hilda replied back "just wait up there!". She then let go of the rope and turned her attention to the wounded Vittra.

"Ok, where now?" Hilda asked, placing Twig down and the crippled Vittra atop him, "Go straight" the Vittra stated and pointed out at a tunnel, and Hilda went towards it with a flashlight on.

On the surface, Frida helped David wrap the rope around a stone and firmly secure it with a tight knot. "These Lystrosaurus things really left a mess" Frida said as she looked around where they had made their progress "we’re probably going to have to start again after this", "Hey, we did it pretty quickly yesterday" David tried to cheered her up "how hard can it be?" he asked as he picked up some of the wooden nails that were now scattered everywhere.

"We should probably wait for Hilda though" Frida replied "she won’t get credit for the badge if we do it all ourselves", "well, we should at least do something, because I feel like Hilda may take a while as she searches down there" David stated "and let’s just hope she also comes back without injuries, because I’m not sure what else can be down there."

And indeed, it seemed like it, as Hilda soon got lost underground by following the Vittra’s directions. "Are you sure you know where you’re going?" Hilda asked, "Well… I… I know my way down these tunnels!" the Vittra replied "it’s just that I… feel a bit… dizzy."

Twig soon stopped as he heard this, and gave the Vittra some room to breathe, "I’m just… going to rest here a bit" the Vittra stated "just remember this path: two turns to the left, you’ll see the root of a big tree, go right from it, and… You’ll find them", "Ok…?" Hilda replied, confused, and having written down the directions on the notebook, she followed the path the Vittra told him, unaware she was silently being followed.

"You smell them, Twig?" Hilda asked her deerfox friend as she took the first turn, finding a path full of different roots, a few having the same bite marks as the dead Vittra.

Twig sniffed around and marched towards another path, one blocked by wooden walls. "They’re really taking precautions now" Hilda stated as she tried to find a way through; suddenly, footsteps alerted Twig, and it quickly turned to face whatever was coming.

More nervous than ever, Hilda tried to push the wall open as a shadow began to form in the corner, and soon enough, she dislodged one plank and pulled Twig through before placing it back up again. "Phew, that was clo…" Hilda whispered before a Vittra shut her up, "SHHHH!" he stated as the footsteps drew near the wall. The breathing of the creature could be faintly heard as it tried to sniff the wall. Could it be a Lystrosaurus? Or something else?.

Whatever it was, it soon retreated, giving everyone room to breathe. "How did you find us?" a Vittra asked Hilda, "One of you guided me here" she replied "I’m here to take you guys out", "YOU WANT TO PUT US OUT OF OUR MISERY BEFORE THEY DO?!" a Vittra misinterpreted, making Hilda facepalm, "No! I mean taking you guys out of here" she corrected her wording, making the Vittra sigh in relief.

"Well, there’s only 2 tunnels that lead outside" another Vittra commented "and those creatures have overrun them", "I knew we should’ve made our entrances thinner!" yet another Vittra spoke, "Oh, shush! We would have less air to breathe if we did that!" another Vittra spoke, igniting an argument. "Guys! Don’t make much noise! You’ll alert the creatures!" Hilda tried to warn them, "They do this every few minutes" another Vittra replied to her "it’s their usual thing."

Back on the surface, Frida and David finished fixing part of the garden site, but they were now starting to get worried about how long Hilda had been down in the tunnels.

"I’m starting to feel like Hilda is lost down there" David stated worryingly as he looked in the direction of the tunnel entrance "it’s been like… Minutes since she went down there", "It’s ok, I bet she’s found the Vittra already and is on her way back" Frida replied, patting his shoulder "she probably has done this many times before since she lived outside the wall until now", "Yeah, perhaps you’re right" David replied, both of them looking at the entrance tunnel with unease.

Suddenly, a girl approached the pair in a hurry, making them act like they were doing the task. "Hey, did you guys hear the warning?" the girl asked, "Oh, uh… No? What warning?" David asked nervously, "The raven leader said that today the activity will be finished earlier than expected, so she told me to warn everyone that we’re wrapping up soon."

David and Frida were now more nervous than ever; if Hilda didn’t come back out soon, the raven leader could suspect something had gone wrong with them.

"We’ll… Be back at HQ soon, then! Don’t worry!" Frida nervously replied before the girl left. "Owww, now what do we do!" David asked, trying not to panic, but Frida was already ahead of him, beginning to tie a knot around a nearby tree.

"You’re going to have to help me here" Frida stated, and David quickly rushed to grab the rope around the tree, "We’re going to have to go down there and find her" Frida stated afterwards "let’s hope the rope holds our weight on our way back", "It better" David said nervously "I don’t feel like staying down there would be good, even if those Lystrosaurus are herbivores."

Frida and David then descended into the hole, making sure the rope held their weight, and started to look around for Hilda and Twig.

Meanwhile, inside the chamber, the Vittra argument had now turned into an all-out brawl, with the sentient plants punching against one another and even releasing miniature cows to ram each other.

"Guys!" Hilda tried to calm them down "Guys!! HEY!!!"; Twig then stepped in and howled, making everyone silent. "Thanks, Twig" Hilda thanked her deerfox friend before she turned her attention to the Vittra "Listen everyone. I’m afraid that, perhaps, those things won’t leave you alone anymore, so the best solution we can do is to just find a new place for you to live in". "Why do we have to leave? Can’t we fight back?!" a Vittra hinted, but Twig growled at him to shut him up before another argument erupted.

"As I was saying, I’ll help you guys get out of these tunnels and make a new home somewhere away from this part of the wall" Hilda replied "but I need everyone to watch each other’s backs in case those… Lystro… whatever those were called, come back."

The Vittra then gathered to carry their still hibernating fellas and mini-cows and got ready to leave. "No one’s forgetting anything?" Hilda asked as she got ready to open the wooden wall, and all the Vittra shook their heads in response, "Alright, let’s go then" Hilda stated, opening the wall and letting Twig go first.

"Sniff away, boy!" Hilda ordered Twig and then turned to the Vittra as they started to come out of the chamber and form a group "follow him closely; I’ll guard from behind."

The Vittra nodded and followed Twig as he traveled through the tunnels. Hilda then tore off a plank to use it as defense and followed the caravan from behind as they made their first turn, and soon enough, Twig guided the caravan halfway to the exit tunnels.

"Who’s that?" a Vittra suddenly asked as he heard faint breathing. Twig immediately put himself on guard, alerting everyone else and making them close ranks, but Hilda soon recognized the erratic breath pattern and rushed to follow the noise; soon enough, she found the wounded Vittra she had left earlier, surprisingly still alive.

"Hey" he spoke with a faint voice "did you find them?", "Yep, they’re all still alive" she replied, lifting the wounded Vittra on her arms and carrying it back to Twig and the others.

"She ate him!!! SHE’S GOING TO EAT US!!!" a Vittra shouted as Hilda came back with the wounded Vittra, "Relax… She’s the girl I… Talked about yesterday… before we were attacked again" the wounded Vittra replied, calming the others down, "Do we keep on moving boss?" a small Vittra asked him, "Guide us out, blue-haired girl!" the wounded Vittra told Hilda, and Twig immediately resumed course.

"Which way do you think they went?" David asked as he and Frida explored the tunnels, "Well, in every maze, it’s always a rule to go left" Frida replied, trying to think of the route Hilda took "so… We should go left". She and David then followed Frida’s proposed route, turning left every chance they could, and soon enough, they heard footsteps.

"I think she’s close! Come on!" Frida stated as she slowly approached the sound, but David stopped her in her tracks as he heard a low growl. "That’s not her" David warned her as he tried to make Frida back up slowly; she followed his lead, and soon it became evident David had good reason to fear: from the corner of a turn, a snout poked into view, and then the animal revealed itself.

"What’s that?" Frida whispered, trying to remain calm, "Proceratosaurus" David whispered; the carnivore looked at the two, and David slowly pushed Frida as he backed up, looking at the predator in the eyes to not cause it to strike. "Do we run?" Frida asked nervously. Her scout training definitely did not fit for a situation like this, "Not yet" David whispered nervously in reply "we can’t show fear or it could attack."

The Proceratosaurus soon began to approach towards the pair, particularly towards David, who was trying his best to keep a straight face; but before it could be face-to-face with him, the faint noise of a marching troop distracted it, making it walk by and head for a nearby exit.

"Well… that was… Intense" Frida stated as she finally relaxed. David soon heard the footsteps and saw Twig on the corner not long after. "More humans?" a Vittra asked as it also popped into view "how many of you have gotten lost in here?"

David and Frida looked at it confused, not understanding why he asked that, until Hilda popped into view. "Oh, hey!" Hilda said as the rest of the Vittra came into view "I found them all, we can get out of here!", "Yeah, we better" Frida stated "the raven leader called the activity off earlier than usual, so we must go back out before we get into trouble", "And evade a carnivore in the process" David added, putting Hilda nervous "if it’s still around, that is."

Twig once again went ahead to sniff out the entrance, but this time, David and Frida walked beside him.

"So… Have you guys not seen those… Lystro… Things in here at all when you went down here?" Hilda asked them, "Nope, and with that dinosaur me and Frida just encountered, it’s no wonder why" David replied before Twig hurried up ahead. "I think he’s found the way back!" Hilda said excitedly and rushed ahead, with David, Frida, and the Vittra running behind them as well.

Twig soon waved his tail as it pointed at the entrance, which made the trio relieved, but the smile soon disappeared from their faces when they saw the rope being dragged upwards by something. "STOP IT!" Frida yelled as she ran towards it to try and hold it in place; David and Hilda rushed to pull the rope down, but whatever was pulling it up above seemed to have more strength, and the tension from both sides soon broke the rope, leaving the kids stranded in the hole.

"Ok, let’s not panic!" Frida spoke before anyone could scream "David, climb up and check what pulled the rope above!"; David soon followed her orders as Frida boosted him up just enough so he could try and peek over the edge, and immediately he was met with a set of teeth almost biting his hair, causing him to tumble back down the hole.

"Yeah, let’s just find another way up" David nervously suggested as he brushed soil off his uniform. "I’m… Afraid… There’s only another entrance… Besides this one" the wounded Vittra spoke -but it leads to… The other side of the wall", "Yeah… we may need to face whatever is up there" Frida stated, not wanting to go outside the wall. "I agree" David replied "boost me up again, Frida!"

David, once he got a foot on the tunnel entrance, tried to check if there were any creatures in the vicinity. "Coast is clear!" David replied, "Get another rope! There’s a spare one in the wheelbarrow!" Frida ordered him, and David immediately went towards it, only to find most of the stuff trashed out. "Seems like someone came here and grabbed it!" David yelled from atop, "WHAT?!" Frida asked in shock -HOW?! WHO?!", "I’m not sure, but I’ll go grab one…" David replied before being interrupted, "No need!" the wounded Vittra spoke before whistling.

The other Vittra soon formed a ladder of bodies, firming it by linking each other as best as they could. "There… You can get us out afterwards" the wounded Vittra stated, "Oh, thank you!" Hilda replied before carrying him and climbing out. David immediately brought the wheelbarrow to help place the hibernating Vittra inside while Frida helped with the mini-cows; Hilda then grabbed the hand of one Vittra while the others broke formation and climbed up each other, not leaving anyone behind.

"Alright, humans, guide us to sanctuary!" a Vittra said enthusiastically, but Frida finally broke the façade. "Well… we’d love to right now but…" she spoke, but Hilda interrupted her, again. "Just follow me! I’ll find you a place" Hilda replied, annoying Frida. "Hilda, we’re supposed to go back to the cabin!" Frida stated, "This early? Why?" she asked, "The raven leader said that she’s calling off the activity early" David replied, "Well, you guys can go ahead" Hilda replied "I won’t take long, I promise!", "But Hilda" David stated "all three of us have to be back there or the raven leader will take points off!"

Hilda had now a dilemma: she had always helped any creature she could back in the forest, no matter how big or small it was, but her new friends seem to have “rules” for her to follow and that, if broken, may affect them too. "Ok, we’ll go back to the HQ" Hilda replied, a bit annoyed "BUT, after that, I’m helping the Vittra", "Deal" Frida replied, a bit guilty but knowing that this, perhaps, may be the best choice.

The Vittra then hopped on the wheelbarrow, and Hilda pushed it along the way as she and her friends headed back to the cabin, with the mini-cows following them behind along with Twig.

"How do you guys prefer your new spot to be?" Hilda asked the Vittra, "We’ll, I’d say perhaps we need an open area for our hibernation" one Vittra replied, "Oh, we need tree sap too!" another Vittra replied "after hibernation, we must refuel!". "We also need it to be close to the wall!" a turnip-like Vittra spoke "for a more secure hideout", "Just don’t make your tunnels too wide this time!" Hilda joked, making the Vittra laugh.

After a few minutes of walking, the trio soon arrived back at the HQ, where the raven leader was worryingly waiting for the trio to arrive. "Oh, there you are!" she spoke worryingly as the trio entered the cabin "I was about to send two scouts to look for you", "Oh, it’s OK,  we… tried to work further on our garden" Frida lied, "Ah, I see" the raven leader replied, sighing in relief "you can leave the wheelbarrow on the back; the garbage cleaners will pick up and dump any excess soil left later."

The trio then headed for the back of the cabin once they were dismissed in order to leave the wheelbarrow, with the Vittra still inside but silent to avoid commotion. "Well, that’s done" Hilda stated "should we go now and find the Vittra a place to live in peace?", "Well…- David was about to answer when the raven leader called everyone once again, "Dammit!" Hilda said out loud before turning to the Vittra "you guys, hide and don’t make noise!", "You got it" the Vittra said at the same time, and they chose to hide inside a plastic bag while they also guided the mini cows into a wooden box, granting the trio the right to leave to join the other scouts… Just as the dump truck arrived to take out the garbage.

"Attention, sparrow scouts!" the raven leader began her speech as the trio arrived "due to some circumstances from last night, our activities will be moved to our northeast headquarters. Now, this will affect the progress of this week’s garden badge challenge, and as compensation, everyone will earn the badge automatically. Our activities will continue as normal in the new location starting next Saturday, and I require you all to be early as we will be recovering the hours we’re missing today". "Well, at least you’ve earned a badge already" David said to Hilda.

Soon, the raven leader once again dismissed the reunion, and all the scouts grouped up before heading for the bus stop to go home, all… But three. Hilda and her friends went to the back of the cabin, where Hilda had last left the wheelbarrow, but she soon found all the wheelbarrows empty, including the one the Vittra were in.

"Oh, no! no! NO!" Hilda tried not to panic, "What’s wrong?" Frida asked, "What do you mean what’s wrong?! The Vittra are gone!!!" Hilda panicked "where did they go?!", "They probably just… Left for the woods again?" David replied, "I wouldn’t say that" a small Vittra spoke, having hidden in a potato bag "I only heard a loud truck and people saying “let’s take this to the junkyard for disposal”, I then tried to lay dormant for a moment, and then your screams woke me up". Hilda’s worries only worsened when she heard that, and immediately took the Vittra with her.

"Where are you going?" Frida asked as she and David chased after, "Where’s the junkyard?!" Hilda asked in panic, "In the city?" David replied innocently, making Frida nudge him with a serious stare, "It’s close to the southern train station, on the other side of the city" Frida added "but we won’t be able to get there quickly if we walk."

Hilda tried not to panic as Frida stated about the time of travel, but it would be only a matter of time before the Vittra ended up in the junkyard. "If there’s no other choice, we have to take the bus, now!" Hilda stated before quickly grabbing her backpack and Twig on her arms as well and rushing towards the bus station.

Fortunately for her, she was the first to arrive; unfortunately, the bus was late, making Hilda impatient. "Does the bus always have to be this late when I need it" she mumbled as she impatiently walked back and forth, "It always is like that" a brown-haired girl told her as she joined the queue, scaring Hilda as she did not see her coming, "it’s the middle of the day though; why the rush?" she then asked curiously to Hilda, "Uh… well… my mom said she’s got a surprise for me!" she lied, but the girl didn’t seem to be falling for it.

"Hilda!" Frida yelled as she and David caught up "we forgot to say something!", "What is it?" Hilda asked, still nervous as the bus hadn’t arrived yet, "The junkyard won’t open until the afternoon" David stated, catching his breath in the process. While the news calmed Hilda down a bit, she was still impatient to wait for the bus. "You guys look too eager to get there" the brown-haired girl asked Hilda "do your parents work there?", "Oh, uh…" Hilda tried to think of something, but Frida intervened for her.

"Louise, you don’t need to bombard every new scout with questions like that" Frida replied, "It’s just curiosity, Frida" she replied, innocently touching her hair as she argued, "Oh, you human kid, curiosity gets the best of us" the Vittra spoke as he popped from Hilda’s backpack, scaring Louise, "Where did you find one?!" she asked, putting Hilda nervous. Surprisingly, Frida and David simply covered their eyes; it was something that confused Hilda until she was blinded by the repeated flash of a camera.

"I’ve never seen one of these before! How did you find one?!" Louise said with enthusiasm as she took pictures of Hilda and the Vittra, "Well… I found a group… Of them in a… Tunnel system near the… Wall" Hilda tried to reply amidst Louise’s camera flash bombardment, "Near the wall? Where you were planting your garden?" Louise asked, finally stopping with the photos and giving Hilda room to breathe, "Pretty much" Frida replied for her, "Must’ve been a pain to deal with, or even to capture one of those weeds!" Louise stated, angering the Vittra, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" he answered angrily, ready to pounce.

"Hey! She didn’t mean it!" David tried to calm the Vittra down. "Oh, humans always mean their words" the Vittra reluctantly replied as he stood down and hid in the backpack, "Now I see why they’re called annoying…" Louise was about to comment before Frida placed a hand over her mouth. "Anyway, I’m sure the Vittra will be fine" Frida stated "all the garbage trucks won’t return to the junkyard until sunset; we can just wait until they all come back to check in which truck the Vittra are and get them out, simple!"

Hilda felt uneasy with that suggestion. The Vittra pretty much looked defenseless back there against the Lystrosaurus; a piece of machinery would perhaps be too much. Then again, the afternoon was just starting, and like Frida said, no trucks would return to the junkyard until sunset, and so, against her helping spirit, Hilda decided to wait it out for now.

"I hope you’re right" Hilda replied to Frida in a bit of frustration before leaning on the bus stop sign to wait for the bus to arrive. "They’ll be fine, I’m sure of it" David tried to reassure her, but even he felt guilty of not helping the Vittra straight away, for he nor Frida were usual “rule-breakers” by nature.

Back on the house, Johanna was once again doing her usual job: sketching out a logo for another client; this time, however, her task was to be a feat, as what she needed to make this time was a logo for a limited-edition chips bag, one from a brand the whole city was infamous for. For her, this was something she couldn’t afford to mess up, especially since it was a big opportunity, but while the material she was provided with was good, she still didn’t know where to start with the design.

"Perhaps… The logo should be closer to the center?" Johanna asked herself, and then changed her mind, opting for putting the logo in the bottom right corner. The satisfaction of the placement didn’t last for long, as she soon debated where to bring the logo back on the center of the design; it was something of a common issue for her, as she always wanted to aim for perfection with her designs.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted, however, when she heard the front door open.

"Oh, hi Hilda!" Johanna greeted her daughter as she rushed into the house, "Hi mom, I need to go out quickly, but I need to leave the scout uniform first!" she said as she rushed into her bedroom to change. Her mom was confused, but it could be that her daughter was just leaving quickly to go out and play with her friends.

Inside her room, however, she quickly let the Vittra out of her backpack before she checked to see if her mom was coming. "How long until we can leave?" the Vittra asked, "We’ll be out in no time; just stay here" Hilda advised the Vittra and left to give an excuse to her mom.

"Do you need some money for a snack?" Johanna asked as Hilda came out of her room quickly "or is it alright if I make you a quick sandwich?", "I’m ok mom! I just need to go to the junkyard to pick up something David lost" she lied as she ran past her mom back to her bedroom, but she stood up and stopped her. "Hilda, the junkyard usually works during the night" she said as she tried to slow her daughter down "it’s too early for you to go there", "I know, but…" she tried to argue, but she didn’t know how to stretch the lie.

"Why don’t you stay here and go later? There’s plenty of time before the evening" Johanna suggested as she went to the kitchen to make Hilda a quick cup of peppermint tea "also, shouldn’t you and your friends be in the Sparrow scouts cabin?", "Well… the raven leader called off the activity for today" Hilda replied "and she also said that we’ll be going to a different cabin by next week", "That’s strange" Johanna replied "but I guess it could be to remodel the cabin? When I first came to that place to become a Sparrow scout, the wooden walls were certainly more polished than now."

"I see…" Hilda replied before also remembering something else that happened "Oh! I also gained my first badge as well!", "Really? That was faster than I managed to gain mine" Johanna complemented her daughter "what’s the badge about?", "Gardening" Hilda replied, and then noticed her mom almost letting out a giggle. "What?" Hilda asked afterwards, "Oh… nothing" Johanna replied "don’t take offense, but I… I’m surprised that was your first badge. Remember back in our cabin when I tried to teach you how to take care of some flowers?", "Yeah?" Hilda replied, "Well… you somehow ended up causing the water hose to get out of control and ended up nearly breaking the windows" her mom replied before letting out a little giggle.

Hilda didn’t remember at first, but it did surprise her how such a thing didn’t happen when she and her friends were working on the garden. "Is that why we never planted a garden afterwards?" Hilda asked, "You… Could say that" Johanna replied; she actually didn’t know why they never gave it a second try, but perhaps it could’ve been destroyed anyway by that dinosaur nowadays.

"Well, since you have some hours to wait, why don’t you help me with something important?" Johanna asked Hilda, switching the conversation. Hilda raised an eyebrow but followed her mother back to the computer. "Do you think the logo should go in the center or in any of the bottom corners?" her mom asked, "Mom, you know most packages have the logo at the top middle" Hilda replied and giggled, her mom showing a smile as she realized the simplicity of the choice.

Johanna followed Hilda’s advice for a moment, but right afterwards she began to doubt again. "I’ve never seen you so worried about a design before, mom" Hilda said a bit worryingly as she felt like her mom was about to start sweating, "Well… it’s sort of an important design" Johanna replied to her daughter, "You always say that about every design you make" Hilda joked, her mom giggling in response. "In every design I work on, I make it feel like it’s very important" she replied "that’s how I stay motivated and focused, and it certainly brings good results."

Hilda then watched her mom get back to work, coloring the bag design, before she once again faced the logo dilemma.

"But why put all that much effort into those works that are just… Simple requests?" Hilda asked, "When you do an excellent job, and exceed someone’s work expectations, you gain a level of trust and respect. In a way, it’s a sort of small rule I set myself to follow, and while there are times where I can’t seem to get my ideas flowing, like now, I always end up finding a way to make the simple outstanding."

While Johanna gave her daughter a talk, Twig and the Vittra wondered in the bedroom, the latter getting impatient for Hilda to bring some news. "Why is she taking so long?" the Vittra asked out loud before trying to find something to distract himself with in the room. Soon enough, his gaze turned into a small frame on Hilda’s desk; the Vittra climbed up the bed and jumped onto the desk, wading through some loose papers with doodles drawn on them, until he grabbed the frame and examined it.

"You certainly look bigger now than you do here" the Vittra stated as he looked down at Twig, and continued to examine the photo until he spotted something familiar in the background. "Wait, this is our one of our previous hibernation grounds" the Vittra spoke "I remember some folks saying a family used to live there and declared war when they made a picnic over the winter sanctuary"; Twig looked at the Vittra in confusion, but the Vittra had a mixed look towards the photo.

Hours passed, and the Vittra kept on waiting, walking from side to side of the room, trying unsuccessfully to play ball with Twig, even trying to doodle on a piece of paper with little understanding of a pencil, and then, as the sun began to shine on the window, Hilda finally came to the room. "Took you long enough!" the Vittra whispered, a bit annoyed in tone, "I’m sorry, my mom dragged me into a long conversation and lunch" Hilda whispered in reply as she got ready to leave for the junkyard "but hey, it’s only been an hour", "Uh… it’s been four hours" the Vittra pointed out, causing Hilda to not only look at her cuckoo clock and panic but also shove the Vittra in her backpack quickly.

"Alright mom, I’ll be back before dinner!" Hilda said as she ran towards the door again, Twig right behind her as always, "Okay! And don’t forget! Tonight we finish our round of “Dragon panic”!" her mom reminded her before Hilda left, "I won’t forget!" she replied before she closed the door and quickly ran out towards the building door and towards the bus station.

The sun was starting to go down as Hilda got off the bus and sprinted towards the junkyard; the Vittra held tightly on her backpack as she started to frantically search for his peers, but somehow, they were nowhere to be found. "The grinder isn’t operating at the moment, at least" Hilda said as she continued to search for the Vittra, "That’s no safety guarantee" the Vittra stated as he got off the backpack "let’s keep looking! They should be around here somewhere."

Just as the Vittra said that, something moved by a pile of dusty cans; the Vittra hid behind Twig while he growled at the pile. Hilda moved closely with caution, making Twig nervous to the point where he tried to stop her. "it’s ok, boy" she tried to calm him "I don’t think it’s anything menacing."

With that said, Hilda continued to approach the pile of cans, and when she got close enough to lift one up, she found a tiny rat nibbling away some food at the bottom of the can she picked up. "See Twig, nothing to worry about" Hilda said before dozens of footsteps surrounded her and Twig. "Well, if it isn’t the blue-haired girl who told us hiding in a trash bag was a good idea" the injured Vittra spoke as he made his way towards Hilda, "I’m very sorry about it" Hilda apologized "I didn’t know there was a garbage truck coming, and I certainly would’ve gotten in trouble if the raven leader saw me with dozens of Vittra with me."

"Oh, not to worry, we understand" the injured Vittra replied "but you could’ve just said to dig into the ground; we’re pretty quick with that", "Oh, good to know!" Hilda stated, happy that everything seemed well and alright "now, let’s get out of here and find you guys a new home". "Yeah, about that, we need a little help with something first" the injured Vittra told Hilda and looked towards a pile of rubble "two of our friends ended up in that pile. If you could help before we try to sneak out, we’d be thankful."

Hilda nodded before heading for the pile to look for the missing Vittra, but when she got close to the pile, the two lunged at her with ropes on their hands and tied her legs; another small group quickly tied some ropes around her arms, tying them against her back. "HEY!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Hilda asked, angry and confused; Twig immediately rushed to help, but he was stopped by some Vittra holding shovels and pitchforks.

"I’m sorry we had to spring a trap on you, but it was the only way we could get back at you for what you’ve done to us" the injured Vittra stated as he walked towards Hilda, immobilized on the floor, "Listen, if you were the one I accidentally ripped a leaf out of, I’m seriously sorry! I thought you were a weed and tried to move you to another spot, that’s all!" Hilda tried to apologize.

"Oh, no no, I’m not talking about that" he replied "also, you didn’t pull a leaf out of one of my friends, perhaps that was a Vittra from a different group. But never mind that; I’m talking about your picnic site."

Hilda was confused, back when she and her mom lived in the forest, the place where they had picnics was empty of Vittra. There were simply nowhere to be found, as if they had moved away, so what did he mean by saying she and her mom were a problem for them?

"You see, the reason why no Vittra ever appeared where you have picnics with that other human, in case you ask, is because long ago, a family used to camp there, always eating their potato cakes and driving us away with those irritating flute songs!- the Vittra explained as he walked around Hilda "we’ve had to abandon what was our original winter hibernation grounds and move to the wall, where at least there’s barely any human intervention, but now… These creatures are forcing us to MOVE!!!"

All the Vittra around cheered as the injured Vittra continued his tale, the one that was on the backpack starting to worry about what the elder had planned. "We WILL NOT stand by these invaders!!! WE WILL TAKE BACK WHAT’S OURS!!!!" he continued "and for everyone to heed our warning, to see that we’re not playing games… WE SHALL BURRY THIS VICTIM!!! ALIVE!!!!"

Hilda was shocked as soon as she heard it. The one Vittra she decided to help was about to bury her alive in the junkyard, using her as a reminder to others not to mess with some living weeds.

Twig, seeing an opportunity, tried to book it towards Hilda, but one Vittra managed to shove it backwards with a pitchfork. "TWIG! GO GET HELP!!!" Hilda yelled as some of the Vittra started to drag her into the center of the junkyard; the Vittra immediately tried to block his path, but what Twig lacked in numbers, he compensated with agility. Seeing a clear path, Twig dodged around the Vittra, hopped over one low fence of the site, and hurried back home.

"Well, let’s just get this over with" the injured Vittra stated, and, with surprising strength, he regrew his missing parts. He was clearly dozy after it, but after a couple of seconds, he was rejuvenated.

"Take her to the hole! Hurry up!!" he ordered; Hilda tried to struggle by shaking around, and the Vittra struggled to carry her, even as more joined in. "It’s no use sir" one stated as she tried to help keep Hilda still "permission for lights out?", "Permission granted!" the now-recovered Vittra stated.

Hilda tried her best to shake herself at least off the Vittra’s grasp, but with seven pulling the ropes in different directions to keep her still, it was of little use. A Vittra prepared to hit her with a shovel, aiming straight for her right side, when suddenly, some metal clangs were heard. "Who’s there?!" the alpha Vittra asked, taking the shovel off the Vittra that was going to hit Hilda and looking at where the noise came from.

The noise soon repeated from the opposite site of where it was first heard, and footsteps of something running began to startle the weakest Vittra. "Check around the corner" the alpha Vittra ordered, and two of them, armed with a pitchfork and a metal pipe each, went to check around the corner, but they didn’t need to go the whole way before finding out who was causing so much noise.

From around the corner, their mini cows stampeded away from something, and behind them, a carnivorous dinosaur popped into view, looking at the Vittra in curiosity as it held the carcass of a decapitated cow in its jaws.

"Uh… are we supposed to attack?" one Vittra asked in shock, "Stay firm!" he initially ordered, but then, to the Vittra’s luck, it focused on Hilda, who was in a vulnerable state. "HEY! THAT’S OUR WARNING SIGN!!!" one Vittra tried to dissuade the dinosaur, swinging the metal pipe towards it and making the predator drop its prize. The creature took a step back and looked at the Vittra before it let out short, noisy calls.

Hilda took the distraction as an opportunity to try and shake herself away from the Vittra, and to put the odds even more in her favor, two more of the same species of carnivore appeared and stared down at the Vittra. "We’re not backing down from this one" the alpha Vittra stated, looking at the dinosaurs with angry eyes "DRIVE THEM OFF AND KEEP OUR TOKEN SAFE!!!" he ordered before the armed Vittra charged at the carnivores, who at first retreated from the sudden charge, but soon they began to fight back.

The rest, with all the strength they had, kept Hilda immobilized as they tried to find a safe spot to put her before joining the fight, and in the end, they opted for a stand with a black cover and left her above it. "Don’t move! Its for your own good" one Vittra warned her before picking up a piece of metal and charging alongside its peers, "Like I have a choice" Hilda said sarcastically.

With the Vittra gone, Hilda once again tried to free herself from the ropes, but surprisingly, the knots the Vittra made were surprisingly well done. As she struggled to get free, a familiar bark alerted her: Twig appeared on the other side of the fence, trying to dig his way under the fence. "Did you bring help, boy?!" Hilda asked Twig as she tried in vain to untie her arms, and just as she asked that, two other figures popped into view.

"Hold on, Hilda!" said the familiar voice of Frida as she immediately climbed atop the fence. David was more nervous about doing so, but he followed too as he carried Twig above the fence as well. "Ok… this is… not what I expected" Frida stated as she saw the battle between Vittra and the carnivores. "Better hurry! Those Moros are not going to be dissuaded for long!" David added while he helped untie the knots, but he too found it difficult.

"Oh, no you DON’T!" the alpha Vittra suddenly threw a shovel at them, nearly hitting Frida, and charged along with another few while the rest kept on keeping the Moros at bay. Frida jumped atop where Hilda was placed while Twig and David did their best to distract the charging Vittra. "You better leave our warning sign intact!" the alpha Vittra warned Frida as he prepared to charge at her, but Frida didn’t move. "Try me" she dared the Vittra, who immediately swung the shovel at her. Frida, being somewhat good at athletics, managed to dodge the first swing and grabbed hold of the shovel just as she recovered her footing.

Meanwhile, the other Vittra were beginning to push the Moros towards a fence; David saw it and immediately panicked. "Wait!!!! DON’T PUSH THEM AGAINST A CORNER!!!" David tried to warn them, but the Vittra were certainly not experienced in knowing when to stop, as one of the Moros took charge and pushed one of the Vittra out of the way, biting the head off another one afterwards.

The alpha Vittra knocked Frida backwards as he landed a hit to her leg before noticing his peers being attacked by the Moros. "Stand your ground! Deter the intruders!!! STAY STRONG!!!" he cheered them, prompting some of the Vittra to split up and charge at David and Twig; in doing so, however, he gave Frida a window of opportunity, and she quickly tossed him away by grabbing the leaves atop his head. "Get her off the conveyer belt!" David said as he struggled to get the Vittra off him and Twig; Frida quickly obeyed, but once again, the alpha Vittra attacked her, pulling her by her hair and trying to punch her face.

In the ensuing struggle, Frida accidentally pressed a switch and turned on the conveyer belt, causing it to carry Hilda up towards something, and she certainly did not want to find out. The Moros pack soon managed to drive the Vittra back towards where David and Frida were being attacked: the alpha Vittra was now torn between helping his peers or keeping the meddling kids from reaching his prize.

"OH, NOT THIS TIME!!!!" the Vittra yelled as he forced Frida to crash against one of the Moros, leaping off her head at the last minute and using the shovel to attack the other two. Frida quickly got up on her feet and tried to evade the enraged theropod as it now chased her around. David, meanwhile, was finally getting the upper hand on the Vittra as he stole a shovel from them and began swatting them away from Twig, giving him a chance to climb up the conveyer belt and rush towards Hilda.

"Try to pull me down!!!" Hilda begged Twig as she was halfway to the top, and he immediately tried to pull her backwards by biting on the rope and doing his best with the strength he had, but the belt prevented progress due to how it was designed. Suddenly, Twig felt someone hopping on top of him and leaping towards Hilda; he growled at first, but as soon as he saw what it was doing, he helped pull the ropes off.

Back on the ground, Frida stood behind a large cartwheel in order to avoid being bitten by the Moros; she quickly glanced up and noticed Hilda was back on her feet but several meters above her. "I’ll think of something!!!" she yelled at Hilda before dodging an attack from the Moros and quickly moving to the other side of the cart -just stay there!!!"

Hilda heard Frida’s warning, but also saw that she was in trouble. "We need something to toss at it" she said at the young Vittra who was helping her, "and something to toss at him!" he replied as he saw the alpha Vittra make his way towards them. Twig got ready to charge, but when he threw a pitchfork at them, Hilda pulled him out of the way.

"You’re not going anywhere" the alpha threatened Hilda "the humans will receive our warning, for all they understand is blood and violence", "It certainly doesn’t have to be that way!" the young Vittra replied as he hid behind Hilda, "I knew sending you as bait to drag the victim here was a bad idea" he stated "I guess you too must fall!"

With that said, the Vittra charged at Hilda’s legs and caused her to lose balance; Frida saw what was going on above, and as she saw Hilda fall, she tried to quickly think of something.

The Moros once again lunged, but David was pushed against the cart by someone. "PULL THE CART!" he yelled as he hurried to get up before the Moros lunged at him, and Frida quickly did so. Hilda, Twig, and the young Vittra landed atop the cart, while the alpha landed on top of the Moros as it got up.

"Get up and go!" Frida rushed Hilda as she tried to get off the cart; David also helped her out, and they quickly hid from the dinosaur. The alpha Vittra stood up and looked at the Moros as the two exchanged angry looks.

"You’re certainly not going to get to eat me tonight!" he said in frustration, but the other two Moros soon joined their peer, putting the alpha a bit nervous. Still, he stood his ground before gunshots were heard, scaring the dinosaurs away. "HA! SEE THAT!!! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT US VITTRA!!!" he feverishly chanted "WE ARE THE LORDS OF THE UNDERGROWTH!!!! NO ONE CAN TAKE US DOWN!!!" he added before a net landed on top of him.

"Capture as many as you can!" a TWD worker stated before he and a couple other workers began to capture the Vittra and the mini cows that were around. Some managed to escape by digging, but the majority were caught and placed in containers with soil.

"That should keep them happy" a worker stated as he placed some of the last Vittra in the containers "any sign of the dinosaurs?", "Nada" another worker replied "they probably didn’t go far". The workers then left with the captured Vittra on the back of the truck, and as the vehicle moved away, the group left the junkyard in silence.

"Sorry if I couldn’t warn you earlier" the young Vittra stated as the group caught their breathafter running some distance away from the junkyard "I kinda tried to intentionally do so, but I got sidetracked by how late it was". "Are you serious?!" Frida angrily asked "you tried to put our friend in trouble!!!", "Well, technically… It’s my fault" Hilda argued "in fact, I feel like if you had followed me earlier, we’d all perhaps be chum from that grinder". "No need to apologize from your part, Hilda" David counter-argued "we would’ve had a better chance against them if we were all together… As a team."

Hilda recovered her breath and stretched before looking at the Vittra and Twig. "Listen, I’m sorry if your group was driven away, but I’m sure if we can talk to them… Maybe we could convince them to come back?" Hilda offered, "Are you crazy?!" Frida asked Hilda "they’ll probably try to kill you again!!!", "I have to try" she replied, "You don’t need to force yourself to do something that will perhaps happen again" David argued, putting a hand on her shoulder "if they were driven away, it was most likely due to the city expanding, and perhaps more Vittra groups could rebel like his."

"We really weren’t going to, if I’m being honest" the Vittra replied "but… when that one Vittra decided to try and rally the others up, only a few stood against it, and being a majority vote, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few."

Hilda looked at the Vittra with a worried look before lifting the Vittra up with her arms for a moment. "I promise I’ll try and help other Vittra to avoid conflict" she told him "and perhaps you can help too"; "I will certainly" he replied before Hilda put him down "in fact, I’ll start… Next morning."

Frida and David looked uneasy about Hilda’s decision at first, and she noticed. "It’s ok, guys" she told them "I’m not going to drag you into this", "Hey, we owe you one after today" Frida replied, "She’s right" David added "we’re a team after all. “Team green” to be exact", "Remind me to change the name of our team when we speak to the raven leader next weekend" Frida joked, causing Hilda to giggle, "Hey, I’m starting to get accustomed to it!" David replied, and the trio began to make their way home, Twig and the young Vittra following suit.

After a number of blocks, and as Frida and David returned to their homes, Hilda and Twig finally arrived at their house, and surprisingly, just early for dinner. "I guess I should also get going" the young Vittra stated "I should look for a spot to warm up and begin to speak to other Vittra", "Yeah" Hilda replied "thanks for helping me get out of that conveyer belt", " didn’t want to have blood on my hands" the Vittra replied "I may be from a group of now-turned savages, but I’m certainly not one."

Hilda laughed before she opened the door of the building and waved goodbye to her plant friend. "Until we meet again… Uh…" Hilda tried to say goodbye, "Call me Rapscallion!" the Vittra replied before he left to try to find soil to sleep in, and Hilda went inside with Twig and up to her house.

Her mom was certainly not going to like how dirty she was, but she already knew an excuse to minimize her worries, and it certainly worked, as after she told her story, Johanna simply recommended Hilda take a quick bath before dinner, and she quickly went to do so.

"I’ve never seen her be so excited for a bath" Johanna said to herself as she prepared the dishes to serve dinner.

Dinner was relatively quick once Hilda came out of the bathroom in her pajamas, and because it was a weekend, it meant that she and her mom would stay on the couch playing a round of dragon panic and watching TV until they felt the need to go to sleep.

"This was certainly a long day" Hilda stated before she let out a yawn, making her mom laugh, "At least you got to stretch your legs as always" she joked, making Hilda laugh back "Imagine being sat down in front of a drawing desk; that would certainly bore you to death, wouldn’t it?".

Hilda and her mom continued to exchange jokes and enjoyed the mother-daughter moment they were having before time went by and forced them to go to sleep. Hilda tiredly got into her bed, pulled her blanket over her, and allowed Twig to rest atop her. "Sleep well, Hilda" her mom said before she kissed her goodnight, and soon after, Hilda fell asleep. After a busy day running around, digging, and fighting off some ravage weeds, she deserved some rest.

Midnight soon arrived, and most of the city was now silent. The forest near the wall was silent as well, only interrupted by the bellows and calls of the creatures that lived on it every now and then. The Lystrosaurus that lived on the wall now slept peacefully on the Vittra holes now that they were gone, the tunnels stretching along part of the wall; one tried to find a spot to sleep peacefully in, but accidentally came up an entrance and out into the forest.

However, as it looked around, there was forest on both sides, and the wall seemed to be torn in two. The noise of a slumbering giant soon drove it back into the tunnels, and not soon after, a large carnivore woke up and left to find a meal in the forest.

It wasn’t clear at first, but the wall that protected the city was now broken.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: The nature of learning

Nightfall on the forest edge of Trolberg. The stars shone bright on the clear spring night, with only a few clouds blocking the light of the moon every now and then. A chill breeze blew among the grass and bushes of the prairie beyond uninterrupted until it began to circle around small hills on the ground. For a little cricket moving around them, they felt like a windy maze in the badlands, but for those that were sat on the mounds, the breeze wasn’t much discomfort.

Atop each mound, peacefully watching out for danger and to the skies above occasionally, was a brooding Corythoraptor. The mounds around were their nests, built while the rain allowed the ground to be shaped into a nest much easier, and their clutches of eggs were spread around the border, within perfect reach of their parent’s arm feathers to give shade or warmth.

Usually, back when these feathered dinosaurs brood, the environment around them was less forested, allowing them to keep a better eye on anything that could be a threat to their nests. Now, in these modern times, they were forced to nest closer to forested areas for protection, for in these prairies, new dangers loomed.

A broken branch soon caught everyone’s attention, as they all looked towards the forest in unison. The instinct to protect their eggs was about to be challenged if whatever made that noise was another egg thief or predator; some prepared to either charge or flee as they stood up from their nests, particularly the ones closer to the forest, by the edge of the colony.

Leaves from some bushes began to move, and footsteps that sounded like something was approaching were soon heard after. The flight instinct triggered as soon as whatever was making noise emerged from the bushes, but in reality, it was just another Corythoraptor that was full and ready to retake its brooding duty.

These oviraptorids, despite how nervous they are, have an effective nesting strategy: aside from nesting together, they take turns to find food at night, for during the day, they stay on watch with no breaks. This comes with flaws, however, as while each individual can have a time to feed, that still meant their nest would become vulnerable, even if there are neighbors on watch.

This was one nighttime routine they’d have to do for the next few weeks until the eggs hatched, and with incubation already clocking on halfway, nights like these were about to become either more busy or relaxed, depending on the attitude of each brood. Now, with the new arrival returned to its nest, another brooding parent took its turn to feed alongside a few others.

These animals are omnivorous, settling on anything they could catch, but for their size, larger fruit and prey would have to suffice. At this time of the night, plenty of mammalian prey like shrews or large bugs like crickets came out to feed, and some seeds and berries that the diurnal herbivores hadn’t consumed were there for the taking. Living near the food source for these Corythoraptors was a winning strategy, but they have also learned that their new Eden wasn’t a safe paradise.

As it approached the forest edge, something stopped it in its tracks. It sensed there was something wrong, but it could certainly not spot it, partly because the thick vegetation camouflaged whatever was in there, but most importantly because the clouds caused the night to be particularly dark at times. The other Corythoraptors that were moving in to forage also stopped, each making chattering calls and looking around to try and spot or hear any abnormal movement.

Their nervousness was to be confirmed, for hidden from their view, something was stalking them, waiting for the perfect moment and one inexperienced or innocent individual to stray too far from the flock. The chattering dinosaurs kept their stance as they tried to spot what was hidden among the vegetation, their keen hearing having caught some branch being broken by something.

It's now a waiting game to see who makes the first move, as the nervous flock refused to enter the foliage, and the stalking beast behind the woods began to grow impatient. Its tongue licking the top of his snout as it desired fresh meat, and it soon centered its focus on a seemingly smaller individual amongst the flock. It now waited for that perfect opportunity, that sweet moment where it turned its back… And it soon happened.

A cloud soon covered the moon for just enough time to dim the light of the environment, and the Corythoraptors began to get nervous. While their night vision was good, their stalker’s was better, and with the perfect cover, it finally pounced. The flock immediately scattered, a few sprinting towards the forest for shelter, while others ran back to the colony.

Being bigger, the predator closed the gap with its target in seconds, but its prey, being smaller, had the advantage of being nimble, and so as it tried to sink its teeth, the Corythoraptor dodged at the last second, losing a bunch of tail feathers in the process. A minor price to pay to live another night.

As the clouds gave way to the moonlight once more, the colony could spot what jumpscared them: a large canid, dark on fur; its eyes shone yellow, and it was almost as tall as the trees it had been concealed in. Without the advantage of cover, every animal in the vicinity now laid eyes on it, watching in case it made a sudden move; it’s the price to pay for a failed hunt, for even for the most skillful, success… is never guaranteed.

For a large predator like him, however, this wasn’t the end of the world. There’s still a lot of forest, a lot of territory for it to move about, and with the night having only started, it was soon to seize another opportunity to gain a meal. And so, it retreated back into the dark vegetation, allowing the panicked Corythoraptors to drop their guard and finally seek food in peace… for now.

7:00 in the morning, and the alarm hadn’t gone off yet. Steps could be heard outside the room, and the door slowly opened as they came to a stop.

“David! Wake up, son!!!” his dad hurried him “breakfast is ready!!!”

David certainly wasn’t in that much of a hurry, as he lazily began to stir and stretch his arms, letting out a long yawn.

“What time is it again?” he dumbfoundedly asked, “It’s almost 7:20!!!” his dad lied, and it certainly worked, as without even consulting his alarm clock, David got up and rushed to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Once he finished, he rushed back to his room to prepare his backpack and change to his uniform, and then he quickly went to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

“David relax!! It’s not that late” her mom playfully stated as her son sat at the table, eager to eat his flakes with milk. “Sorry mom, dad rushed me as always” David replied, having finally noticed the time by looking at the clock in the kitchen, “Hey, it’s best to be early to wherever you have to go!” his dad stated as he sat on the kitchen stool as well.

As the family ate breakfast, David soon remembered something important, and he quickly went to his room to pack a book he had borrowed from someone.

“Sorry, I almost forgot to pack something” he apologized as he came back to the table to finish his breakfast; once he did, he went to his room one final time to put on his backpack and prepared to leave for school.

“Don’t forget: always look before crossing!!” her mom told him as he went to give her and his dad a hug, “I always do that, mom” David replied, letting out a small giggle, and so he rushed to the door and started to make his way to school.

The whole city is now getting on the move as the morning routine started to swing: kiosk owners began to get ready for business, office workers began to drive or take the bus to go to work, and like David, many kids and teens were starting their daily commute towards the schools and colleges of Trolberg.

David had a moderate walking pace when walking towards his destination, neither rushed nor too slow, and there was certainly no rush for him; he knew he was early, and he could afford a couple of minutes out of track.

As he turned around a corner and kept en route to school, someone suddenly jumpscared him as he felt someone’s weight on his back.

“Gotcha!” Frida said as David nearly screamed out loud from getting scared, “How is it that you always manage to get me?” David asked as he caught his breath from the scare, “You’re easy to scare” Frida replied putting an arm on his shoulder “but hey, one day I bet you’ll be able to scare me”, “You bet” he playfully replied.

With a new companion on the trip, David continued his way to school, chatting with Frida about some homework along the way.

“I did manage to find an answer to the history question” Frida stated “but I must say: if Hilda actually wrote down that King Olaf Tryggvason had the advantage during the battle of Svolder, Ms. Hallgim is going to get triggered!”, “Hey, we pretty much established history is not her forte” David argued “it’s kinda like me and math, two things that don’t get along well”, “Only difference is that she at least is starting to get the hang of that” Frida replied, making David feel offended, “Hey! It’s not my fault there are so many basic rules to remember when doing fractions!” he replied.

After a couple more blocks and a shared sandwich along the way, David and Frida finally arrived at school 10 minutes before the bell rings; once inside, the two headed for their lockers to get the books and notebooks ready for the first class of the day: biology.

“You’re probably going to ace it today” Frida said as David closed his locker “reading that one book about evolution in the library will perhaps give you a clearer view”, “I don’t know” David replied “there’s no test today, but I also don’t want to show off like you and your badges”, “Hey!” Frida nudged him as he laughed “I don’t do that very often!”, “No, but you still mention it every now and then when making groups for a badge activity” David added, causing Frida to roll her eyes.

As Frida closed her locker door, the two heard an unmistakable voice rushing through the halls.

“Excuse me! Coming through! Sorry!!” Hilda said as she tried to avoid disturbing other classmates before finally arriving at her locker next to Frida’s “did I arrive late?”, “No, you’re actually earlier than usual” David replied, “Phew, that’s good to hear” she replied back as she caught her breath, opening her locker to take out her books “I thought I’d be late because of the path I took.”

Before a conversation could start, the bell finally rang, and everyone began to head for their classrooms; the trio immediately headed for theirs, with Hilda almost forgetting her science book and quickly rejoining her friends afterwards.

The halls now ran silent, and it was the time of the day when the janitors and cafeteria chefs began their routine; outside, however, something was about to make their day different.

A few blocks away, in an alley, a small, feathered dinosaur, an Ubirajara, was returning from a successful hunt, having managed to catch a rat unaware, and was now settling in to eat its catch.

Suddenly, it heard something breathing, as if it was trying to catch the scent of something; it wasn’t certainly a direct threat to the hunter, but in the urban jungle, watching your surroundings is essential.

The creature then began to eat its meal when something big came into view, and it wasn’t alone; two stray dogs were now staring down at the small dinosaur, and they looked hungry.

Instinctively, the dinosaur raised its long shoulder feathers, a pair on each side, and it wagged its tail as it hissed at them; it was trying to appear bigger, the only defense it had, but against two larger animals than it, this could work for so long.

One of the dogs closed in, letting out a growl as it tried to move it out of its way to steal what it had caught, but the dinosaur certainly wasn’t going to let its catch be stolen that easily.

It charged at the dog, causing it to stumble back, but it soon charged again, its peer joining in. Outnumbered, the dinosaur gave up its prize and moved aside, keeping a defensive stance in case they attacked, and now they began to eat the dead rat.

For the small dinosaur, it was back to the hunting grounds once again, and that involved a long walk through the streets, keeping a low profile as it certainly didn’t like to catch attention. Finding another rat wasn’t an easy task; the last one he managed to catch was in a large, white building with a bell that rang every hour or so, but now that people were around, its prey could be alerted or driven off quickly.

Still, having not eaten for 3 days, its hunger was enough to drive it towards the building again. It first sought an entrance around the fence that was surrounding the building, but the one it used last time was being guarded by a janitor who was cleaning the floor of a playground; if the hunter wanted to get in, it’ll have to be sneaky.

“Alright class, open your books to chapter 4, page 43” Ms. Hallgrim ordered her students as she began to write the theme of the class on the chalkboard “today’s lesson will be about the balance of an ecosystem.” David cheered in his head while Hilda was preparing to take notes; after all, she didn’t want to cause a debate like yesterday’s history class.

“In every habitat, there is an established niche that every organism covers” Ms. Hallgrim began to explain “the plants and animals can share the same niche, but they can also become specialized in it. This is why the specialized organisms are always the ones that suffer the most when an abrupt change occurs to their habitat”.

Hilda took a note of what Hallgrim had just said, and a mere thought came to her head as she wrote the main idea in her notebook: if by the time her house was accidentally destroyed, would the dinosaurs have become specialized? She would certainly think that some of the usual creatures she saw in the forest back when she roamed free through the woods would perhaps not have been doing well with the new creatures filling the niches...

“Hilda?” Ms. Hallgrim called her, interrupting her thoughts, “Oh, yes, Ms. Hallgrim?” she replied in a hurry, “I want you to tell me an example of the local food chain” she replied back “it must be with the creatures of the forest or the city”.

Hilda saw this as an easy question; after all, she spent almost her entire life in the wilderness. “Well, there are the wild berries that would act as the base of the food chain” she stated to explain “then, you have the herbivores like the deer and rabbits, followed by foxes and lynxes as the secondary predators, and finally you have the wolves and bears as the apex predators”.

“Well said, Hilda” Ms. Hallgrim congratulated her, for once. She then went to call another student to ask about a different example, and that was when she noticed the little dinosaur outside the window as it was making a break for the school. “David!” Hilda tried to whisper to him, but he was trying to write down the example she just mentioned.

“What’s going on?” Frida whispered as she noticed Hilda trying to get David’s attention in a hurry, “I think I just saw a dinosaur run towards the school!” Hilda whispered back, “That’s ridiculous, Hilda” she argued “the fences are too big to let any small creature in”, “Trust me! I saw one just run by the playground!” Hilda whispered back before someone interrupted at the classroom door.

“Pardon the interruption, Mrs. Hallgrim” an old man excused himself as he proceeded with his announcement “I’d just like to remind all of you students that after the break we’ll all have a meeting with some TDW personnel who came in here to share some safety tips and tricks on the amphitheater”, “Yes, I’m sure they were aware, Principal Magnusson” Ms. Hallgrim whispered out loud, “I’m afraid this is going to cancel the next 2 hours of studies, but this is something of much importance. Do not be late!” he ended his announcement and left to warn the other classrooms.

For many of the students, a thing like this meant that some tests were going to be skipped for the next day or week, as well as some homework assignments not being revised, or in the case of students like Frida, classes like algebra being skipped over. While all were either joyful, annoyed, or plain-out emotionless over the announcement, only one student was now beginning to worry even more: Hilda.

A few more minutes of biology class and some questions about the class towards Hilda, the break bell finally rang, and all the students left for the playground or the cafeteria; Hilda, however, quickly dragged David and Frida with her to explain what she had seen.

“Are you sure you saw a dinosaur running towards the school?” David asked, “I’m sure about it” Hilda replied, “and with the TDW coming here, imagine what would happen if they spot a dinosaur”, “Oh cruddlesticks!” David replied in alarm “They could close down the school for a week!”, “I’m still not sure if what Hilda saw is a dinosaur” Frida added “it could’ve just been a squirrel or a Vittra”, “You better hope it’s not the latter” David added “remember last time?”.

“I’m 100% sure it was a dinosaur” Hilda affirmed “it was on two legs, it was feathered, and it even looked like a bird!”, “Well, if it is a dinosaur, we best catch it and get it out of the school before the auditory talk” Frida stated, “I do not want to miss out on more algebra classes like today.”

That comment made Hilda and David give her a look of doubt, but they nevertheless nodded in agreement. “Given it may be a small dinosaur, I’d suggest we perhaps try and catch it with a trap” Frida stated as she tried to come up with a plan “we could set up a lure and trap it with either a bag or a trash bin”, “What if it fights back?” David asked, “Well… we’d have to give it some space perhaps?” she replied nervously “none of us have been this close to a dinosaur, except…”

Frida and David soon looked at Hilda, who soon understood why the look was towards her.

“OH, I’M NOT GRABBING THAT THING!!!” she almost yelled in panic, “Hilda, we just need you to restrain it for a second if it fights back” David replied “you have the most experience with creatures here”, “But why not Frida? She’s probably got a badge to prove she can handle a wild animal!” Hilda argued, “Would you believe me when I say I actually don’t?” she replied.

“Ok, let’s just settle this quickly” David hurried up “we only have half an hour to catch it, if we don’t…”, “We will” Frida replied “we can catch it before it causes problems!”, “That’s… highly optimistic, but yeah, I think we can!” Hilda added “let’s get to it, team!”.

As the sun reached the middle of the sky, on an open grassland close to a dense lake, it was time for a herd of deerfoxes to begin grazing on the humid vegetation. These ungulates with canid characteristics are one of many subspecies that live around the wilderness, with these ones being more adept for open areas as well as swampy terrain.

Their hooves were more like those of a waterbuck, perfect to walk across flooded plains and still good enough to outrun their usual predators. The herd also has pups who stuck next to their mothers as protection, their major disadvantage being the fact that they weren’t good swimmers yet, as their tails still needed to shrink as they grew.

The herd began to move away from the forest edge and began to peacefully graze, a few, including the dominant male, kept watch for danger. The curious pups were eager to play with each other while their mothers fed under the midday sun, their blue and white fur being a bit of a giveaway in such a yellowish landscape.

Nevertheless, on the open grasslands they call home, animals like wolves are easy to spot, whether it’s the usual Eurasian wolves hunting in packs or the more elusive red wolf that often is more successful in securing a meal. Now, however, there are new predators that they must contend with, and a few of these new hunters are putting pressure on the herds to find new ways to outsmart them.

From the forest edge, just under the cover of the thickest trees, lay one of them. A young female Nanuqsaurus, hungry, and stalking its prey from afar. This Tyrannosaur is the largest in the forests of Trolberg, and it’s also one of the fastest new predators; its slender, less robust body is quite different from the more famous members of the family, yet it’s just enough to allow it to keep up with this slender, fast prey animal.

However, like in most hunts, success will depend on knowing when to approach, how to do it, and selecting the ideal target. In this case, the cover of the forest is already a perfect start, but the deerfoxes were now grazing on open ground, and whilst their prey sticks out like a sore thumb, the Nanuqsaurus’ colors didn’t help it either.

Its best approach now was to stalk them from downwind, hoping her scent wasn’t detected by their acute sense of smell or her steps being heard by their ears. The feet of a predator like Nanuqsaurus usually are covered in fleshy cushion pads, making them much more silent when stepping on a noisy terrain like dry grass or twigs; nevertheless, it’s best to stay still at the slightest sign of the prey laying an eye on you.

And there’s another factor the young female needed to consider: sentries. Songbirds and waterfowl usually hang around herds of deerfoxes, and they act as an extra pair of eyes when they feed alongside each other. This extra layer of defense, this partnership between species, often leads to the prey detecting the hunter in time, and unfortunately for the Nanuqsaurus, this was the case.

A small robin who flew towards the herd spotted it as it began to close in, prompting the herd to check their surroundings; the Nanuqsaurus laid still, hoping her minimal camouflage and the deerfoxes’ vision would keep her presence minimal. Both were now at a standstill, waiting for one to make a move, one simple mistake to take advantage of.

And soon enough, the deerfoxes dropped their guard and continued grazing. It was a big mistake, or it would’ve had the Nanuqsaurus not rush in too early as they began to graze again.

Now the chase was on. The deerfoxes quickly packed together as they ran towards the lakeside, the mothers and pups sticking in the middle of the herd while the bulkier males covered the flanks with their massive antlers.

The Nanuqsaurus, however, already spotted a target. In the middle of the grouping, one small portion of the herd split up, most of them consisting of young, inexperienced individuals. The hunter began to sprint towards them, closing the gap quickly and prompting panic among the herbivores as they broke up and headed in different directions.

One of the young deerfoxes was now being chased by the Nanuqsaurus, the hunterr having the advantage of stamina while the hunted had the superior speed. So long as it could sidestep and turn quicker, the young herbivore would live another day. Each turn it managed to dodge, every missed bite from the hunter, its chances of survival increased, and the Nanuqsaurus was also beginning to tire.

In the end, the deerfox spotted an opportunity and sprinted towards the water, splashing down and swimming further into it. The Nanuqsaurus, exhausted from the chase, simply came to a halt as its prey swam away from it.

It was another failed hunt for the polar bear lizard, and it had certainly taken a lot of energy. There was always the chance the prey would need to come back to land, but wasting time waiting for that to happen was something it could not afford. She needs to catch something to feed herself after a long week of failure after failure, but from every failed hunt comes a lesson to learn.

As the Nanuqsaurus left the lakeside in defeat and moved back towards the forest, the young deerfox swam back ashore once the coast was clear. The hunter may have failed, but next time, she may succeed… Hopefully.

Back in the school, David was gathering up some materials to attempt to build a trap while Frida and Hilda sought after clues as to where the dinosaur may be hidden.

“Is there anything that could attract a hungry dinosaur without causing chaos?” Hilda whispered as she dissimulated looking for a seat to eat, “Well, if we’re being logical, the trash around the back may be the best bet” Frida whispered back “that could also attract flies and rats, and if it’s a small carnivore we may be dealing with, it could be what it may be after.”

Getting to the back of the cafeteria wasn’t going to be easy. There are lots of eyes watching them, ready to question why they need to check out the trash, and the quickest path to it was directly through the school kitchen.

Hilda and Frida began to walk towards the serving area, trying to dodge looks from others while acting as naturally as possible; this was certainly easy for Frida, but Hilda’s movements soon caught the attention of someone.

“You realize the door to the play yard is the other way?” a boy asked Frida, “I know, Trevor” she replied back, shooting an annoyed glare at him, “I was just saying, relax!” he replied “it’s not like I’m going to rat you out on whatever you and your blue-haired friend are up to”, “You better” Frida warned him, “Wait, you were actually planning something?” Trevor asked, and Frida realized she opened her mouth too much.

Outside the windows, a commotion was stirring, as some TDW members were beginning to walk towards the amphitheater; some of the younger students immediately surrounded them, eager to ask questions.

“What do you think they’ll talk about?” Trevor asked, but by the time he did, Hilda and Frida were already gone, “Yeah, something tells me something wrong is going to happen” he said to himself before making his way outside to join the crowd.

Frida and Hilda soon scurried past the serving area and waited for someone to leave the kitchen door open; once they saw their chance, they quickly made their way through to the back of the school.

“How did he know we were up to something?!” Hilda asked while Frida began to search among the trash bags, careful not to get too dirty. “Well, Trevor has a bit of a tick when things are about to go wrong” she replied, “or at least most of the time, and from those instances, he’s right in like… 1/10 of the time.”

The two girls searched for any trace, be it a footprint, carcass, or even signs of rats, and soon enough, Hilda found a set of footprints.

“Told you I saw one” she stated as she showed Frida her finding, “Well, I’ll give you that” she replied, “at least we know we’re dealing with something small”, “Yeah, now let’s go and tell David” Frida replied, but before the two could move, they heard the kitchen door close.

“NONONONONO!” Frida panicked as she tried to force open the door, but it seemed that it was locked, “Okay, let’s not panic” Hilda tried to calm her down “there has to be another way to get back from the halls from here…”

“There is none!” Frida replied “the only way back is through that hallway that leads to the front yard, but that means risking being spotted by someone and being told that we were outside doing something, and perhaps we will end up in detention, and we’ll get a bad conduct grade and perhaps worse!”

Hilda then began to try and find a way out while her friend panicked and noticed that the hallway led into two directions.

“Frida? You said the only way back is the front yard” she asked “but, where does the other way lead to?”

“Another locked door” she replied, “Well, there’s a small hope it could give us an exit” Hilda argued, trying to sound positive.

Once she composed her breath, Frida joined Hilda as she headed towards the crossroad, and to their luck, that door Frida mentioned was open.

“Well, that’s certainly a stroke of luck” Hilda said out loud, “and where do you think this goes?” Frida asked, “I thought you’d knew” Hilda replied, “I only know where students are allowed to be” she replied.

The sound of the kitchen door opening suddenly jolted the pair, and they immediately hid behind the corner. The kitchen lady soon went out to throw some trash bags and stayed out there to listen to some music.

Without thinking it twice, Hilda and Frida booked it inside the open door as silently as they could; once inside, the task was to know what part of the school they were in.

“I have a feeling we could be in the corridor that leads to the amphitheater” Hilda whispered, careful not to attract any attention as she and Frida peeked around the corners, “I’m not sure” Frida whispered back “the hall towards it would have two drinking fountains; this one has none.”

Suddenly, the duo heard footsteps, and they hid back around the corner. Hilda then tried to deduce what was coming based on the noise, and to her surprise, whoever it was, was relatively small.

“What is it?” Frida whispered, but Hilda raised a finger, silencing her as she risked taking a peek.

It turned out that what was coming their way was the creature they were looking for. It was small, as she had thought, with two pairs of long, golden feathers protruding from its shoulders, and as it looked at a trash bin, she noticed that, like Frida had suspected, it was attracted to what was inside.

“I think whatever we were searching is here too” Hilda whispered as silently as she could, and Frida too then took a peek just as the small creature was getting ready to leap towards the edge of the bin, where a cockroach was just leaving the inside.

The creature then leaped just as the bug took flight, catching it by its leg and slamming it against the ground, pinning it with its foot before tearing its head off.

“That’s… gruesome” Hilda whispered.

As the creature ate, Frida kept looking around for any clues as to what part of the school they had ended up in, but with the view limited, she soon knew they had to explore around more.

“We may need to move” Frida warned Hilda, “If we move, we may scare the creature” Hilda argued, “Well, then grab it!” she replied.

Hilda was now nervous; the time she had encountered small dinosaurs the same size as that one didn’t end much well, and while the place would already be alerted if something as big as that blue striped animal from last time was around, she was still hesitant.

To make matters worse, as soon as the dinosaur finished consuming its prey, it began to move away.

“Ok, great, it’s gone” Frida stated, a bit annoyed “let’s try to figure out where we are before someone spots us!”

Frida and Hilda wandered around for a few hallways until they finally reached familiar territory, ending up near the amphitheater. Once they took one more turn, however, the megaphone lit up, and the principal began to speak.

“Attention students, in 10 minutes the auditory with the Trolberg department of wildlife will begin. Do not arrive late!”

“Crap, we only have ten minutes!” Frida stated in panic “we better tell David if we are to try and catch that thing.”

“I have a feeling we may not be able to” Hilda replied, nervous “ten minutes isn’t going to be enough”. “Not with that attitude!” Frida argued “now come on!”

While the duo returned to where they had left David, he was having a problem of his own. With all the limited material he had gathered, he still had no idea how big or what bait the animal would fall for.

“Oh cruddlesticks!” he said to himself as he heard the announcement. He had to come up with something before the girls returned, and to make things worse, he knew that Mrs. Hallgrim would also come to lock the door of the classroom. If she spotted him with all the junk, he’d get in trouble.

“David!” Frida’s voice soon alerted him, and the pair then rushed inside “we found the animal, but it’s in a remote hallway”, “Ok, what the size?” he asked “and please tell me it’s small enough to fit in a bucket”, “Well… I don’t think it’ll fit in that small bucket particularly” Frida replied “but we know it eats bugs, so we need to find some bug that can’t escape easily.”

David then tossed some of the junk into the classroom locker, keeping only a couple of items before getting up. “Let’s go!” David told the others as they left the classroom, unaware someone had just seen them leave.

With time running down, Frida and Hilda guided David as carefully and fast as they could; once in the area, they began to search for any clues.

“Where did you see the animal go when you were spying on it?” David asked, “It went to the left” Frida replied “straight ahead from where we’re standing basically.”

The trio marched forwards and then took a right turn, for the hallway led in that direction. Hilda then spotted some footprints left by the animal that led to a door, and the trio then realized where they were.

“This is the school warehouse” Frida deduced, “I didn’t know it had one” Hilda replied.

As they carefully entered, the place was dark, and there were certainly no light switches by the wall next to the door. Frida then took out a small flashlight she had in her pocket and shone a path for the trio.

Looking around, they spotted a few things that, while new for Hilda, were nostalgic for Frida and David. “Isn’t that the inflatable castle from that school fete from a couple of years back?” Frida whispered to David, “The one where you almost bounced out?” he joked, making Frida nudge him on the ribs with a chuckle.

“What about that broken soccer net?” David then pointed out silently as Hilda stumbled upon a goal arch, “Oh, that kick from that guy certainly did end it” Frida whispered back “it certainly needed to go.” She added.

Hilda then signaled them to keep quiet as she heard something moving near a few boxes. David got a bag ready while Frida dimmed the light of the flashlight to not alert whatever was close.

Hilda was the first to approach, silently stepping closer towards the box pile, and once close, she signaled the others to join. Then, peeking behind a metal bar, they saw the creature trying to rip open a large mouse it just caught.

“I can’t look” Hilda whispered as she turned away from the scene, while David was amazed by the animal.

“It’s an Ubirajara” he whispered “see those shoulder feathers? That means it’s a male”, “Ok, how do we trap it?” Frida asked, “We can’t do it now!” David argued “you never interact with an animal while it’s eating its food. It’ll perceive it as competition”

While David and Frida argued about how to approach the Ubirajara, Hilda noticed a large shadow from the entrance about to close the door; her reaction wasn’t fast enough, however, as the noise of the door closing brought Hilda to her senses.

“WAIT!” she yelled, accidentally alerting the Ubirajara; Frida immediately made her move, lunging at the animal and trying her best to retain it without letting her arms be in range of a bite. Next, David, using a sock, wrapped it over the dinosaur’s eyes, blinding it so it could calm down.

“Well… that animal handling badge is certainly in the bag next time!” Frida said to herself, only now paying attention to why Hilda had yelled.

“It’s LOCKED!” Hilda said, frustrated “is there no window or something to use to get out?!”

David and Frida immediately searched for something, watching for the restrained Ubirajara in the latter’s arms as it had now calmed down; unfortunately for them, the only window they could spot was a thin one at the very top of the wall.

They were trapped.

Minutes passed as the countdown to the talk began, and students soon began to enter the amphitheater. As principal Magnusson talked to the personnel who had come to give a talk, Mrs. Hallgrim began to take note of who was and wasn’t there.

“Uh, Mrs. Hallgrim?” a boy asked her, “Yes?” she replied back, “is it really necessary to keep track of who isn’t here”, “Not really, but I do it mainly to see who’s with the time” she replied, and then she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, I forgot to lock the door of the classroom!” she said out loud “would it be alright if you could close it for me?”, “Sure!” he replied.

With that, Mrs. Hallgrim gave the keys to the boy, and he went on his way to lock the door, and he didn’t take long to arrive at the classroom; when he did, however, he spotted Hilda, Frida, and David rush away from the classroom, and out of curiosity, he decided to follow, feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Carefully following without causing suspicion, he soon found himself in front of the school warehouse, watching them get inside with a small flashlight and a bag. What were they up to?

He didn’t get the chance to ask them, as not a moment too soon, a new set of footsteps was heard. Trevor hid behind a corner, hoping for whoever was coming not to notice him. Maybe it was Mrs. Hallgrim looking for him; maybe it was the principal; to his partial relief, however, it was just the janitor, but he soon closed the door where Hilda and company were inside of.

Keeping a low profile, he saw the janitor leave and soon heard the door handle moving. They were trapped inside.

“Man, I knew something bad was going to happen” he said to himself. He then checked a clock on the wall.

There were only 5 minutes before the talk began.

He then took a choice and left the scene to lock the classroom door, as that was his priority. Once done, he returned with Mrs. Hallgrim, who was still taking notes of who was arriving.

“Mrs. Hallgrim!” the boy said “I locked the door as you asked!”, “Good!” she replied “now, take a seat, talk’s beginning in five minutes.”

“I will in a minute!” he replied “I just need to use the bathroom first”, “Don’t take too long” she warned him; he then took off back out of the amphitheater, and off to the bathroom he went.

Back in the locked warehouse, Hilda, Frida, and David haven’t managed to find a way to open the door, and they knew time was running out.

“What do you think Mrs. Hallgrim is going to do when she notices we’re not in time?” David asked, trying to break the silence, “What do you think?” Frida replied, her voice one of frustration “if we’re lucky, all we’ll get is just a point less on our conduct in the report card.”

“What about the dinosaur?” he replied, “Well, on that I don’t know!” Frida replied “I doubt it knows how to leave without needing that door to be open.”

Silence then reigned over the room, and soon Hilda broke it.

“I should’ve grabbed it while I had the chance” she said out loud, “What do you mean?” David asked, “Me and Hilda saw the creature earlier before we went back to get you” Frida replied “but Hilda hesitated, and so we had to get you.”

“I don’t blame you, to be honest” David replied, looking at Hilda “grabbing a dinosaur is nothing easy to talk about, especially…”, “When you’ve encountered one already and nearly killed you?” Hilda interrupted him, leaving him and Frida speechless.

“What… do you exactly mean?” Frida asked; Hilda only sighed before she began to tell them about that encounter with the blue-striped creature. “One night, I was approached by some elves wanting help with some small dinosaurs, almost similar to the one you’re carrying” Hilda began “but when I managed to help them, something else jumped into the scene.”

David sat down next to Frida as Hilda continued her story. “It was certainly larger, it had a curved claw on its foot, and then… I tripped, and it took the chance to pin me down” she continued “its mouth was so close to my face… I felt its breath on my cheek…”

Hilda then wiped off a tear as she tried not to sob, and Frida placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, that moment has passed” she tried to comfort her, “I know, but I can’t get close to something like that without thinking of that event” Hilda argued as she pointed at the Ubirajara, who was on alert. Something neither of the trio noticed.

“That’s why I didn’t want to grab it, and why I thought you two could help on that part” Hilda replied “and I’m sorry if I even got you into trouble for this.”

David soon moved to her other side and placed his hand on the other shoulder. “Well, this wasn’t something selfish of yours if I’m being honest” he replied “if anything, if you hadn’t told us about it, we probably would’ve allowed it to be around, eventually making the TDW notice and shut the school down for a week.”

“Well, not just that, but we definitely would’ve been angrier at you” Frida added, a bit ashamed of her opinion “if there’s ever a case like this’ we’ll handle the creature”, “or we could teach you how to properly get close to one” David proposed “obviously, little by little, without rushing.”

Hilda sighed before wrapping her arms around her friends. “Thanks guys” she replied “although we certainly could do that once we get out of here and with Hallgrim perhaps calling our parents for having a dinosaur with us because she’d think we stowed it here and…”

Before she could continue, she heard the door of the warehouse open. The trio got up, and Frida and David made sure to be behind Hilda, hiding the Ubirajara behind them.

The door soon opened, and for a moment, the light from the outside blinded them.

“Mrs. Hallgrim, this isn’t what it seems…” Hilda began to apologize, but she stopped when the trio noticed who had opened the door.

“TREVOR?!” they asked all in unison.

“Hi” he nervously replied “I… I saw you three enter here before the janitor locked the door. I’d say you were lucky I had that feeling something would be wrong” he added, giving a deadpan look to Frida, who simply frowned.

“Well, thanks for the help!” Hilda replied, “No problem” Trevor replied “now let’s get to the amphitheater before someone actually sees us!”, “Well…” David argued “we need to do something first.”

Trevor looked at them weird, but followed along as Hilda and Frida guided him towards the door to the outside.

“Please tell me you’re not locking me out here” Trevor stated nervously, “Relax, you’re not the one who needs to go” Frida replied before she and David placed the Ubirajara down, slowly wrapping the sock off its eyes and then letting it go.

Immediately, the creature made a rush towards the front yard, and the quartet went back inside.

“How much time we got left?” David asked before he heard the bell ring. Time was up. “SHOOT! We better go!” Trevor replied.

The group made their way to the amphitheater as some stragglers too made a break for the door; just as they were about to reach it, Trevor peeled off into another hallway. Hilda wanted to stop him, for that was the wrong way, but time was short, and she didn’t want to get in trouble.

Mrs. Hallgrim began to count the stragglers before the door on the east entrance closed, and the trio just made it inside.

“Well, would you look at that, right on time” she stated, and just before the left entrance closed, Trevor made it in. “I almost missed it” Trevor argued “sorry Mrs. Hallgrim”, “It’s ok you four” she replied “now, take a seat before the talk begins.”

While the trio went up, Trevor sat a few rows lower, next to some other classmates. “Well, that was certainly close” Hilda stated “but…”, “Such is the life of an adventurer?” David and Frida asked with a deadpan face, making Hilda lower her head. “It’s ok, we’re just playing around” Frida replied before she and David patted her back “it’s a funny catchphrase.”

Hilda giggled before the lights began to dim, and Principal Magnusson made his way to the center of the stage.

“Today we have some representatives of the Trolberg department of wildlife to talk to us about some important stuff” he started “I’d like to welcome rangers Alve Sergeant, Sarah Sjöberg, and the elite ranger of the TDW, Gerald Olesen!”

Three TDW rangers then walked on the stage; the one in the middle grabbed the microphone before speaking. He looked oddly similar to the guy who caught the Masiakasaurus before the bird parade.

“Greetings, Ahlberg Elementary School,” the front man stated “my name is Gerald Olesen, and today I’ve come to give you all a bit of a talk about something the TDW is offering to teach you kids how to deal with wild dinosaurs in a safe manner, for as you all know, there are now small creatures from millions of years ago that shouldn’t be here that are now coexisting with us, and as our mission, we must contain as well as help prevent lethal encounters across Trolberg.”

While David and Frida simply listened, Hilda and, surprisingly, Trevor, were taking notes, listening to what to do. For the two of them, seeing Hilda paying attention to the talk was a good start to help her overcome her fear, but the surprise of the talk was Trevor, for he was taking random notes rather than what preventions Gerald was stating.

The talk went on, and outside the school, the Ubirajara only turned to look back once before it escaped through the same gap in the fence, sprinting back into the urban jungle without looking back.

The forest beyond the wall was starting to change its melody as the afternoon was beginning to roll around. The sunlight was penetrating through the thick canopy of the pine trees, and a few animals took the time to rest.

The herd of deerfoxes, having fed on the open during the morning, were now taking time to rest on the safety of the forest floor. A few adults, as always, kept watch while some still-active pups played around.

A light breeze soon began to flow, driving the wind against the noses of the adults, and the soft rattling of the leaves was distracting. The pups began to chase a random leaf falling from a branch, and some adults soon followed them.

The conditions were just perfect… for yet another ambush.

After failing its first attempt, the young female Nanuqsaurus began her stalk again, taking her steps carefully, for the forest floor was less kind than the open prairies. Approaching downwind once again, the hunter prevented its scent from being caught by the watching adults, and its feathered coat was better suited for this environment than in the open.

There was a new disadvantage this time around: the trees prevented a straight sprint towards the herd; this, however, was countered by the lesser room for maneuverability for the prey, and so if the Nanuqsaurus reached the right distance, a quick sprint would close the distance.

The pups, moving away from the herd, made a big group of adults move with them to watch out in case of attack, leaving only a few to watch over the sleepy herd.

With every inch forward, the chances of success were becoming higher until she reached a perfect distance to run towards the herd. This time, however, she waited for the perfect moment to strike, careful not to tackle too early.

The adults suddenly got scared as one of the deerfoxes tried to chase away a Corythoraptor that got too close. The animal was only after a fallen fruit from a bush, but the adults were certainly not taking any chances.

Yet that small distraction was enough for the Nanuqsaurus, for as the calm returned to the herd, the predator was already sprinting towards the herd.

The deerfoxes howled, alerting everyone, and failed to group up, given the trees prevented a mass gathering. Their only option now was to sidestep and turn around the trees until they reached the open prairie again in order to prolong the chase and tire their pursuer.

The Nanuqsaurus, once again, focused on one small group that was trying to flee deeper into the forest instead of attempting to flee towards the open. The individuals were mixed, a few adults and some juveniles, a fair game for the predator.

Suddenly, one of the adults made a mistake: in the moment the predator closed in, a male turned around, almost getting its tail bitten in the process.

The Nanuqsaurus had the distance shortened now that the target had made a wrong turn, and the antlers of the male deerfox were not allowing it to maneuver easily among the trees. It was now only a matter of time until the predator managed to sink its jaws into its flesh.

The final nail in the coffin came when the deerfox placed one wrong foot, tripping over and giving the predator a wide room to pin and bite down on its neck until it stopped howling from pain.

There was no noise of celebration once the kill was made. Instead, the Nanuqsaurus held on even after the deerfox was dead. It finally let go to catch her breath after the chase, and without losing time, it gripped the catch on her jaws and took it away.

After a long week of failed attempts, she had finally made a catch, but this large prize wasn’t for her alone.

A few miles from her, in some bushes, lay three perfectly still babies, waiting for the unmistakable noise of their mother. A few minutes later, a few purring calls signaled to them that dinner was served.

The three youngsters rushed to their mother, who dropped the dead deerfox next to them. She immediately gave them a few chunks of meat after opening the flesh, and the trio fought over who would get the bigger piece.

For this first-time mother, every successful hunt will increase the chances of these small hunters reaching adulthood. If they survive their first year, their mother will teach them how to hunt until they’re big enough to join her in the hunt.

The youngsters, having established their portions by a quick fight, ate their fill while their mother gorged on the rest of her kill. Today, the family had something to eat, but tomorrow, she would have to go through the same struggle all over again.

With the predator satisfied, the peace soon returned to the deerfox herd. It’ll be inevitable that they’ll lose more members than usual these days, but so long as they can raise the new litters to adulthood successfully, the losses will be reduced.

The duel between predator and prey is often decided by many factors; luck is just one of them. And as spring continues, many lives, new and old, will cease to exist, either by predators or of other causes.

The family soon also gathered together to rest, their mother keeping watch, and as the young rested, their mother looked at the foliage, exhausted from the hunt.

For this first-time mother, the struggles to raise her offspring were just beginning.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: The mystery of the papers

3 weeks ago…

As the kids dispersed from the scene, Trevor went back to his house in a hurry. The whole deal with the raven and that dinosaur was certainly enough to call it a day.

Then, just before he got home, he suddenly remembered something his mom had told him earlier.

“Shoot! The soy beans!” he yelled out loud and quickly headed for the supermarket, for his mom had sent him out on an errand way earlier. The bird parade was certainly going to make the stores close early today, so he had to hurry if he was to get what his mom told him to buy, or there would be consequences.

A few minutes later, he got what he needed, and once again, he was making his way back home as the last preparations for the arrival of the great raven took place.

Tired, he lazily opened the door and finally entered his house, and as he expected, his mom was waiting for him, and she certainly wasn’t happy.

“You went out with those kids again, didn’t you?” she asked, and Trevor only rubbed his arm. “Why is it always that when you go out, you always end up going with those…” she scolded him, sighing as she could not complete her sentence.

“I wanted to help them get a hat back from a bird” he replied, “Is it because you owned them?” she asked, and Trevor didn’t know how to reply. His mom, instead of scolding him further, simply guided him to the living room to talk.

“Trevor, we’ve talked about this many times” his mom stated “you can’t go out and help people without knowing who they are; that behavior can be exploited by anyone.”

Trevor sighed and shamefully looked away, but his mom placed a hand on his cheek and made him face her. “Making friends is a two-way street. If you do something good for them, they at least should help you out when you need it too” she replied, “I know” Trevor sighed “I… I still think they’ll help me one day.”

“Given your track record… I doubt it” his mom said out loud “but I also think you should try and make a friend at school.”, “I’ve tried it already” he replied “though I shouldn’t have started with the best of the class; she seems to have standards.”

“Well, there are other classmates you can try and be friends with” she replied “try giving it another shot; school is not eternal after all. Nothing is.”

Trevor then gave her mom a hug before they prepared lunch together. By late afternoon, they were getting ready to go to the parade, and Trevor was sitting on the living room watching TV while he waited for his mom, scrolling by the channels as he tried to find something to watch.

“And with the weather clear and the great raven expected to appear in a few hours, it’s time to give one quick rundown of the major news today.” The news reporter stated as Trevor stopped at the news channel for a few seconds “the search for a girl with blonde hair and rumored to be a human clone continues, as authorities claim.”

“Trevor? Are you ready to go?” his mom asked as he changed channel, “Yep!” he quickly jumped up from the couch and turned off the TV “it’s time to go!”

Outside, a crowd of people was gathering near the principal avenue as the time of the raven’s arrival came near. Trevor and his mum found it difficult to move around, and in the middle of the way out, a girl bumped into Trevor before leaving.

“HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!!!” his mom yelled as Trevor rubbed the push, but then, he noticed a folder with a bunch of papers on the floor.

Picking them up quickly, Trevor folded them and hid them in his jacket to read later.

The wait was prolonged, given the raven didn’t show up until a few minutes later, with a few bystanders claiming they saw a mom and daughter riding its back. It was a crazy claim, but in a lesser way than a giant bird emitting lightning was.

Trevor’s night went as it had many years during the parade: a walk by the Sparrow scouts’ cart showcase, some sandwiches and soda, enjoying the closure firework show, and finally, back home.

It was only an hour before midnight, and surprisingly for his mom, Trevor was still full of energy. “Must’ve been that caramel apple” she joked to herself as she went to her room to go to sleep “don’t forget to wash your teeth!” she ordered her son before closing the door.

Trevor, meanwhile, had also gotten ready to sleep, and after brushing his teeth like his mom told him, he closed the door and sat at his desktop, interested to check what the papers he had found said.

The writing on them seemed to be handmade, and only one paper was a printed one, yet what was in it didn’t seem to be words in English, at least to him, but it was certainly a list of some sort, with some names having a number or text that said “to be delivered”.

“Must be for some museum” he thought at first, but when he began to read the handmade papers, he noticed this was more of an article for a newspaper than a listing of creatures and items.

Giving it a quick read, Trevor highlighted a few sentences in his head, such as “Ingen is held accountable for the release of creatures in the mainland” and “These animals need to be put out of their misery for the better of the global ecosystems.”

Trevor was certainly puzzled; it seemed that these papers spoke badly about the dinosaurs, but the mention of “InGen” puzzled him. What was it? Why is it being blamed for the dinosaur breakout?

“Trevor?” a voice suddenly jumpscared him, making him almost fall off his chair “what are you doing?”, “Oh… I was just… checking some papers I found!” he replied, getting a weird look from his mom in reply.

“Well, have you seen my sleep visor?” she asked before yawning “I can’t find it for some reason”, “I thought you left it on your cabinet” Trevor replied, “It’s not there, surprisingly” she replied back “well, I guess I’m going to have to take some sleep pills.”

“Mom, you don’t need them to sleep” he replied, getting up from his chair before he went with her to her bedroom “it’s easy to close your eyes and keep your mind blank. That’s how you told me sleeping is.”

His mom let out a chuckle before hugging Trevor. “It’s ok mom” he simply whispered before he stayed with her until she fell asleep.

Present day

School was over for the day. The talk at the amphitheater took almost the rest of the day, and with all Trevor had taken notes of, he immediately rushed home to continue his research.

As soon as he got home, however, his mom greeted him and got him to rerun errands. He was a bit grumpy for having to leave the house again, but it was better to get the task done than have his mom be angry at him for the rest of the day.

The errand was simple: a box of eggs and a bag of shrimp from the supermarket, and it didn’t take him long before he reached his destination.

“Alright, let’s get this over with” he said to himself as he entered the store, looking around to find the dairy aisle, and once he got to it, he looked around to find only a box left.

“They really need to restock soon” Trevor said in his head before grabbing the box of eggs and moving towards the frozen food section to get the shrimp. Before he got there, a familiar face crossed his path, almost making him drop the box of eggs.

“Sorry!” Trevor apologized “I should’ve given way”, “No, it’s ok” Louise replied “I was the one who almost made you drop the box”

As Trevor balanced out the box of eggs in his arms again, Louise then spotted what she was looking for behind him: oranges.

“Are you… planning to make orange juice?” Trevor asked awkwardly. “Oh! Uh… yeah” Louise replied “easy to guess”.

An awkward silence followed for a few seconds before Trevor broke it.

“Well… I’m gonna go now. See you later!” he replied before hurrying to grab the seafood, “Bye! Don’t forget the group homework for tomorrow!” Louise replied.

Those words stopped Trevor in his tracks again. “SH*T! I FORGOT!!!” he yelled in his head, and Louise could see his panic. “Maybe it’s luck, but I don’t mind if I get a last-minute partner for the homework” Louise proposed.

Trevor turned around in a jiffy, almost dropping the box of eggs once again. “Please tell me you already have a topic!” he asked desperately, “Well, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t know” she joked.

As soon as he got home and left the groceries in the kitchen, Trevor made a rush to his bedroom, waiting for a response mail from Louise. He didn’t know if she’d arrive home quickly as well, and to kill time, he looked around his notebooks to see what the homework was about.

“Trevor! Lunch is ready!” his mom called him, “In a minute!” he replied before continuing his search.

He was forced to go as soon as his mom’s steps were heard on the stairs.

Lunch was good anyway. A dish of green rice with scattered veggies and a juicy piece of chicken, as well as a purple drink that looked like wine (Trevor forgot the name of it)

Once the meal was eaten, it was back to business.

Louise had responded to his message, and it was time to get to work.

“Hey! So, we need to make something about the forest wildlife for biology class” Louise wrote “I already have something done already; see if you can help me add something!”

With that, the next mail shared Louise’s presentation:



“Wildlife of Trolberg: a phylogeny tree presentation”



Louise had already filled in the resident creatures that lived in the forest with impeccable organization that nearly rivaled that of that Frida girl.

But then he saw the part he was supposed to fill in: the prehistoric creature phylogeny tree.

“You want me to fill in THAT?!” he typed back to her, “It’s that or a 0 in your homework” Louise replied. He had no choice; it was time to rush at the last minute.

The search on the internet gave him dead ends. TDW reports were either blank, complex, or paywalled (that last part was to blame for journalist blogs). “This is what I get for skipping homework” he said to himself after an hour of search “mom’s gonna kill me and break my console.”

Then, as he decided to check those papers to ease his mind, a realization. A double check, and another, and another… and he suddenly yelled.

The papers had the creatures listed, every single one.

“Trevor?! ¡¿Mijo estas bien?!” his mom asked. Trevor slowly turned around with the papers in hand. “Nothing to worry about!” he replied hastily “just random excitement.”

His mom left him alone to continue with his homework, his eyes gliding from page to page, his fingers typing, scrolling, and clicking on his computer as he checked the papers about the extinct animals, and now that he knew the specific animals that lived out there, building the tree would be easy.

As it turned out, however, it wasn’t.

A couple hours later, Trevor was faceplanted into his keyboard, wishing to build a bridge and jump off it. He didn’t take into account how a phylogeny tree worked before he started, and now, even while the shape of the tree was done, the more he researched, the more the information got confusing.

“I hate biology” he muttered under his breath as he continued; he had only a few hours before midnight, and the race was on.

As he continued, he tried his best to find reliable and recent pages, double-checking to make sure he didn’t read wrong before placing a name on the tree branch, and fixing any branch that had the wrong name in it.

By 11:20 pm, he had finished. He sent it to Louise, changed into his pajamas, and waited for a response that didn’t come.

When his mom came to check on him before going to sleep, she found him sleeping on his computer; the keyboard was covered in a bit of saliva as the echo of his snoring shook some notes stuck to the pile of notes.

“Mi pequeño Trevor” she whispered before giving him a kiss on his head and going to her room to sleep.

As the city plunged into midnight, the largest park in Trolberg now became busy, as, out of a burrow entrance, dirt was kicked out of it.

From the burrow came a small creature with quills on its back and a sharp beak. A Psittacosaurus began cleaning the entrance of its family home, and as it started its cleaning operation, other neighboring families began to do the same, a few even clearing away the grass around their entrances.

At this time of the year, many were producing egg clutches, each pair having around 14 eggs on their nests. These were due to hatch soon, so for the hidden community, the anticipation grew, and so did the tension.

Anything that came by, being animal or human, caused alarm to the small dinosaurs, forcing them to retreat into their burrows, rears at the ready to kick dirt or, as a last resort, eject their urine at the attackers. However, the latest comer to the neighborhood was just a homeless Vittra, and so their behavior changed.

The Vittra was sent running as the Psittacosaurus charged as a mob, pecking at the “stinky weed” until he kept a distance. Good riddance.

Rapscallion, now homeless from doing a good act, had to figure out a way to pass by without getting bitten and pecked to death. One of the Psittacosaurus had already done a good bite of one of his fingers; he’d have to wait until hibernation to regrow it.

The dinosaurs peeked out of their burrows to keep an eye on him as he paced back and forth, thinking of a plan, when suddenly a faint scream put them on edge. Rapscallion then saw a dark figure around the corner of the block ahead, and he immediately hid behind a tree.

The Psittacosaurus chirped and looked at the shadow move. For a moment, it walked like a normal person, and then, suddenly, it began to slide like a worm and crawl on the wall until it entered the thin opening of a window.

Even dinosaurs knew to be on guard when a Marra was around.

Rapscallion used the lingering presence to make a break for it, running across the colony as they rushed into their burrows from the sudden movement. This in turn made the Psittacosaurus chirp in distress, and due to the loud noises, the teen in the room where the Marra was about to strike next suddenly saw the lights go on.

“I swear, these things need to go” the teen said in a groggy voice as he looked at the Psittacosaurus chirping in the park. The Marra behind him, not wanting her cover blown, escaped through the keyhole of his bedroom, sliding all the way out until she reached an alley out of sight.

“That kid is right. Those things need to go!” she said in frustration before slipping away to find another victim.

With the tension subsiding, Rapscallion continued his search for a place to pass the night. Choices were far and few in between, for the modern world was harsh for a Vitra nowadays. Gardens were guarded by people, and parks were guarded as well but are now also invaded by small dinosaurs, and beyond the wall was a certain death sentence.

Vitra were basically trapped inside the walls, and Rapscallion was no exception.

His search ultimately ended in an alley that led to the back stairs of a building. Tired and with his legs sore from walking, he looked for a place to rest, somewhere at least safe and camouflaged, and in the end, he dug inside an empty pot and called it a night.

The next morning, Rapscallion woke up to the feeling of his head leaf being pecked. He immediately jumped out and scared whatever it was away. Only now did he notice where he was, back at the house of the blue-haired girl whom he befriended.

“That’s lucky” he said to himself. Maybe he could ask for some help to try and find a home somewhere. After all, the news of him siding with a human had already caused him trouble the last few days, and so he was completely homeless, with no Vittra allowing him to join a gang.

When Hilda eventually got out of the building and headed to school, Rapscallion almost made her trip on accident. It was only because of her reflexes that she avoided the fall.

“Oh, hey!” Hilda reacted as she caught her breath “didn’t expect to stumble into you”, “Yeah, sorry!” Rapscallion apologized “it has been a bit of an adventure since we last met”, “Well, that certainly sounds exciting!” Hilda claimed “and how has it been”, “Not good, if I’m being honest” he replied.

“I haven’t been able to sleep much; there aren’t really good places to sleep in the city” he told Hilda as both began to walk down the street “it’s not just those Lystrosaurus that have caused problems, but there are more burrowers now in the parks.”

“I’m sorry to hear that” Hilda replied “maybe you can stay at the rooftop of my house! I can arrange a pot with dirt for you to rest in. You must be exhausted after all”, “Sure, but now I need to find food” Rapscallion answered “I may as well refill my stomach first.”

Before either could cross the street, Trevor accidentally bumped into the pair. “Sorry! Need to go!” he said as he nearly tripped over the pavement, “That was rude” Rapscallion stated before Trevor disappeared in the distance.

He was rushing to meet Louise early to plan out how they were going to present the slides, which, for him, was the hardest part.

Most of the times he had to present were both on his own and ended up with him forgetting what he was going to say. Today, perhaps, with a partner and the papers, it may be different.

“Is that kid always like that?” Rapscallion asked once he and Hilda got across the street, “I guess?” Hilda replied “I don’t talk to him, but I’ve heard from Frida he usually hurries up last minute to do some things”, “Relatable” the Vittra concluded.

Hilda and Rapscallion continued to chat as they moved along the streets, the latter being careful not to cause questions, for people give Vittra a reputation around the city. Then, Hilda suddenly had an idea in her head.

“Hey, you don’t mind if I can use a bit of Vittra knowledge for something, do you?” She asked Rapscallion.

Watching over the lunch table as the clock ticked towards 8 am, Louise was getting her part ready for the presentation. Notes were pasted on her notebook as she read them each in order once more to memorize them.

She had to make sure she got her information right, for Ms. Hallgrim wasn’t going to be the only one about to be asking questions.

More often than not, whenever the teacher asked for “any questions,” Frida would ask something to the groups. She claims that it’s to help groups “be on their toes” and “to get them a higher grade,” but it was fastidious nevertheless.

Yet in this case, since it was about animals, Frida wouldn’t be the main threat, but David would. The kid may be a little shy outdoors; after all, Louise has seen firsthand how he was inches away from staining his pants over a creepy story around the fireplace, but when it comes to animals, he would sometimes surpass Frida in smarts.

And given the two often pair together for projects, and this being a biology class presentation…

“HEY!” a voice interrupted Louise’s thoughts as she looked at the cafeteria door to spot Trevor sprinting towards her with a folder, the papers almost sliding off it. “Oh, hey!” Louise greeted him as Trevor sat down and caught his breath.

“You ready for the presentation?” Louise asked, “I’m… somewhat ready” he replied “I had a hard time finding information last minute, but I owe these for completing it quickly.”

Trevor then showed Louise the papers in the folder, and while Louise read them, Trevor caught her expression change from interest to questioning.

“Trevor, where did you find these?” Louise asked, “I… found them on the internet” he lied, “These don’t look like public information” she replied, inviting him closer for a better look.

“TDW papers certainly don’t have this logo, let alone have their info be public most of the time” Louise explained “again, where did you find these?”

“I told you already! I found them on the internet!” Trevor reaffirmed his statement.

Louise was certainly perplexed about the papers, but given their priority was to pass the presentation, finding the origin would have to wait.

As the bell rang, everyone made their way into the classroom to start the presentation task. Hallgrim was ready with a clipboard and pen to qualify the students, a knife in the eyes of them, and every group made some final preparations.

None were certainly ready for the last presentation, however.

“Ok, Louise, your group is up!” Mrs. Hallgrim ordered her; she and Trevor immediately stood up, and once their slides showed from the projector, Louise began to narrate her part.

Trevor was nervous; he had managed to secure good information by luck, but telling it in front of the entire class and the piercing eyes of Mrs. Hallgrim was certainly intimidating enough.

“…And now, my partner will give you a talk about some of the ‘extinct’ fauna of Trolberg” said Louise as she concluded her part. It hadn’t even been five minutes, and she had already finished it.

Still shaking, Trevor took a deep breath and took the stage. From the back, as the slide changed into the first one he had made, he noticed Frida and David already talking, perhaps already preparing a question that may take some points away from a perfect grade, but it wasn’t like that was achievable for him in the first place.

“So, to begin… There are separate families of creatures that are in the forest” Trevor explained as he pointed at his slide “you have some of the Ornithopods on this side of the tree, and there are mainly more of the clade Marginocephalia.”

“There’s a total of 5 genera that are part of the clade, while the second closest ones, Ankylopollexia and Thyreophora, have only 4 genera each. The ones that have the least are both the Elasmaria and Rhabdodontidae clades, each with only one.”

As the presentation continued, Trevor did his best to not mess up the names in his slides, all while also doing his best to explain what he had read in the files. Words that he didn’t fully understand were certainly going to come back to bite him at the end, but he was more focused on using all the time available he had to say everything he knew the way he understood it.

“Lastly, I’d like to point out that while these are the species so far found, there are a few that are still to be confirmed or to be debunked.” Trevor concluded, “It is always suspected that there is more stuff out there to find, but with creatures like the ones I’ve presented to you, it is for the best to be extremely cautious, but it’s not like any of us would be out there looking for some! Thanks for listening!”

At the end of his speech, a few classmates clapped, others looked at the time, dreading being next, and David seemed to be at the ready to pull the question trigger.

“Alright, thanks for the good presentation” Mrs. Hallgrim announced, “Now, due to time, I will skip questions for the last few groups, but I will be expecting a fine presentation such as the one I’ve just seen.”

That statement got a relief huff from Trevor and a grudging pout from Frida, who was ready to raise her hand.

“Now, who wants to be the next person up to present?” Mrs. Hallgrim then asked, and as expected, there was complete silence. Then, to everyone’s shock, Hilda raised her hand.

“Ok, come up!” the teacher replied as Hilda got up in front of the class, her backpack in her hands, oddly enough. “Make it quick but don’t skip important information!”

Back on his seat, Trevor relaxed, having gotten a good compliment for his last-minute work and getting a score up against Frida for dodging questions. On the other hand, Louise was getting some notes ready, perhaps to write down whatever Hilda was about to say about her slides.

Neither of them was expecting her to present a Vittra on stage and have a question-and-answer with it, though.

When the school finally ended, Trevor was exhausted. Sports class saw him save almost all the penalties involving him, chemistry was somewhat painful, and he definitely did not want to talk about the algebra incident.

All he wanted to do now was head home, have lunch, and think of how to do the next group assignment, which was due next week. Plenty of time, but Trevor knew that doing it alone was going to cut that abundance short. This, however, was just the usual work routine for him since last year, so there was nothing new to expect for him.

Except for the fact that Louise suddenly caught up to him at the school entrance.

“Hey! We certainly did good on that presentation!” Louise joyfully stated as Trevor stood in the doorway, “Yeah…” he replied “I was certainly lucky to find something last second”. “That reminds me, is it alright if you can help me with something?” she then asked “you can meet me at the park in a couple hours from now. Is that ok?”

Trevor didn’t know what to say. On one hand, this was the first time someone asked him for help. Not even the peers from the block would come to ask; he would just arrive at a “perfect moment” to do something. On the other, this was Louise. She was somewhat of an extrovert and, as he had heard before, liked to ask a lot of questions when talking.

Still, this saved grade was all thanks to her, so it’d only make sense if he was to return her a favor.

“Sure” he replied “I… I can meet you there in a bit”. “Thanks Trevor!” Louise replied “if you can, bring those papers! I want to give them a look!”

Louise and Trevor soon parted ways after that little conversation, with the latter still smiling after getting a higher than average grade for once. As he made his way home, he began to think about what kind of help Louise would need—perhaps some scout activity she hadn’t finished yet? Some homework of her own? Perhaps just a walk around?

The last one certainly didn’t make sense for him given she asked for “help”, and a scenario like that definitely didn’t fit the criteria.

As he got to the front of his house, Trevor suddenly remembered one detail Louise had told him before they parted ways.

If you can, bring those papers!

Does Louise want to just read them? That doesn’t seem like it needed help from him; after all, David was the nerd in that regard. More importantly, the papers were his, or at least… He had found them. Why the sudden interest? Was he thinking too hard about this?

“Trevor!” his mom greeted him as she opened the door for him, “Hi mom!” he replied, hugging her before they got inside. “Tell me, how did that presentation go?” his mom then asked, “I think it went well” he answered as he left his backpack on the sofa and sat down “Mrs. Hallgrim didn’t ask us any questions, so I think my presentation was clear as day.”

Lunch went quickly for Trevor. A good dish of green pasta next to some chicha morada down his stomach (he finally remembered the name of the drink), and it was back towards his bedroom afterwards to prepare to meet with Louise. His usual beanie was just on his porch by the time he changed uniform when he noticed a strange flash popping out of the corner of his bed.

Fearing the worst, he immediately snatched the papers before something happened to them, and surely enough, he was right in doing so. He had barely missed a hand about to grab them, but he didn’t manage to see where that thing went after, for all he spotted afterwards was another flash on a corner of his room.

“Trevor?” his mom called as he heard a little commotion from his room “everything ok?”, “Yeah, I just... almost let my books fall over” he replied “I’ll be going out for a bit to meet with the same classmate for more homework!”

“Alright! By the way, mind if you get me a few things from the supermarket?” his mom asked as Trevor came back from his room, ready to go out, “Sure mom!” he replied “just send me the list, and I’ll buy the things later!”

The streets were already filled by people commuting back home from work when Trevor arrived at the park. Some of the passersby walked through the green area to save time, while others were admiring the greenery at a slow pace. Louise, however, was in a more secluded area, as Trevor soon found out.

“Come here! Quickly!” she whispered to him, and upon him coming closer, she pulled him towards a bush. “You got those papers you used on our presentation?” Louise then asked, and Trevor pulled them out of his bag. “I sure do” he replied “but… why are you so interested in them?”

Louise then peeked out of the bush, making sure no one was eavesdropping, before paying attention back to the papers at hand. “Ok, before I tell you the details, let me tell you a little backstory” Louise replied.

“A few months ago, there was this… mysterious site where I found an entire description of every species brought back from extinction in the world” Louise narrated “and for months on end, the site would update with new information, live tracking, and most importantly, videos of these animals adapting on the wild. But then… a year ago, the site was closed down. Its owner, for some reason, shared a file with all the species registered so far before disappearing.”

“A file so detailed, it looked exactly like the one you found” Louise concluded.

“So… You’re saying the papers I have that I used for the presentation… are from the dark web?” Trevor asked, “Not entirely illegal, but the person seemed to have… a background to say the least” Louise replied “moreover, these papers are exactly what I’ve been trying to look for lately. I couldn’t manage to get the file myself; after all, there are age restrictions for a reason, but now that you have them…”

“OK, hold on. So you basically wanted me to bring them so you could have a read?” Trevor asked “but… it’s just a list! Why would anyone but the TDW be interested in these…”

Louise suddenly placed her hand on Trevor’s mouth as she heard a familiar set of footsteps passing by the bush they were hidden in. Out of the spaces between the leaves, she spotted a blonde girl in a coat, looking at the Psittacosaurus of the park in disgust, before moving along across the park.

“What was that for?!” Trevor whispered, “That girl’s been trying to spy on me every time I look about these for some reason” Louise replied, “Are you sure that’s the case, or are you being paranoid?” Trevor argued, “I’m serious!” Louise replied “she followed me to the library, on the beach, and even in this park! I don’t know why, but it always happened when I wanted to meet someone who knows about these papers.”

“Ok, I think I’m starting to get confused” Trevor replied “you’re saying that these papers that I found are from a dark site that you say belonged to a mysterious person and that some girl is stalking you for them? Has a Marra haunted you recently?”

“I’m not being haunted!” Louise claimed “perhaps not yet, but I’m serious when I say that if that girl is always around when I’m trying to seek those papers, then there must be a connection!”

Trevor’s confusion was now full of layers, and it would be reasonable for him to simply give the papers to Louise. After all, he only had done notes and hadn’t even corroborated his findings at all, but he also wanted more answers.

“Ok, I’ll give them to you” he stated “BUT you have to also tell me more about this whole… mystery”, “Say less!” Louise replied before looking around one last time and grabbing Trevor’s hand and guiding him away.

Trevor was expecting Louise to bring him to her house for further talk, and to an extent, he was correct. However, it wasn’t a room where she guided him once they arrived, but towards a place he had never seen before.


A treehouse

“You… made that?” Trevor asked as Louise climbed up, “Well, I and my parents did” Louise replied before giving Trevor a hand “now, I stay here with my aunt while they’re away working.”

Inside, the wooden room was filled with photos, papers, and a desktop filled to the brim with files.

“You… seem to be a bit of an archivist” Trevor stated as he looked around, “Well, I… have a bit of a documenter hobby” Louise replied “always taking pictures, trying to talk with people, and don’t even get me started with mysteries! Those are always the hard nuts to crack that I love looking into!”

“I… see” Trevor replied as he looked into a folder about the other kids he used to hang out with, noticing how Louise marked the word “bullies” with a highlighter.

“Ok, now, about this whole paper thing…” Louise addressed him as she invited Trevor to sit down, looking between the folders for a particular red one “This whole search started a few months ago with the site I mentioned to you, but there’s also a few other things that I’ve found that are related to it that I believe have influenced or parallelly happened alongside the takedown of the site.”

Louise then opened the folder and shuffled around the papers inside until she stopped at a few she deemed important.

“Exhibit A” she started explaining “Two years ago, far away from the town, there were reports of a breakout of different species of dinosaurs. There were a total of 20+ species known from the breakout, along with a missing child, but that’s obfuscation.”

“Exhibit B” Louise continued as she showed another paper, this time, a newspaper article “An excerpt of the Trolberg diary that hints at a small facility outside the wall, which was once a research station for a company named InGen…”

“Hey! That’s the same name I saw on my papers!” Trevor interrupted her before he also showed Louise the exact page the company’s name was mentioned. “Interesting detail” Louise concluded “I’ll remember to link it to this article later.”

“Anyways, the station here in Trolberg was abandoned for undisclosed reasons two years ago” Louise continued before also showing another newspaper article “exactly the same time around when InGen was bought by its competitor BioSyn.”

“Couldn’t it not be because of financial cuts, though?” Trevor asked, “BioSyn would’ve kept it running for a different purpose if that was the case” Louise argued “I’m not sure you know, but BioSyn always repurposes buildings of previous companies they buy to expand their research reach. Why they haven’t repurposed the one here immediately means that something must’ve happened for them to not want to reuse the site.”

“Ok…?” Trevor replied, confused. “And here’s exhibit C” Louise continued “News of an illegal ring of dinosaur traffickers began to spread only four months after the breakout I mentioned earlier. There was also a group of people who tried to investigate it, but I believe due to the ranch girl of the group being mauled by a Utahraptor, they disbanded.”

“Yikes…” Trevor grimaced at the thought, “Certainly a terrible way to go” Louise affirmed “but now, you may be asking, how do all of these things relate to the papers you brought and the site that got taken down?”

Trevor simply raised his shoulders as a response.

“Well, the site owner didn’t clarify its identity, of course, but before the site was taken down, there was footage of a one-eyed Allosaurus, and that same individual was also sighted during the breakout” Louise concluded “and that individual was, of course, genetically bred by InGen since they were the ones who created that theme park close to Costa Rica!”

“Are you… sure it is the same individual?” Trevor asked “because if it was the same one like in the picture of this article you showed me, why is the one that was reported here not the same in detail?”

“Well… that’s one bump on my theory” Louise argued, “And do every creature in these papers look like the ones from the news?” Trevor added “because if these animals that are in this list are here too, which I at least can confirm most of them are, they must look like the ones from the breakout.”

“Ok, for one, there were only around twenty-ish species on the stampede” Louise argued “the presentation you gave had 75, so you’d only have to circle down to less than thirty to corroborate the counterargument”, “And… how do you plan to do that if you can’t leave the city?” Trevor challenged Louise “the site was taken down, and more importantly, it’s prohibited until the authorities say so.”

“Well, my friend, I believe we need to sneak out” Louise replied before standing up and opening a closet with a few clothes and items. “I used a map of the wilderness to try and narrow down the location of the abandoned facility” she continued “and I believe that the facility is roughly here. Close between the whispering waterfall and screaming stones.”

“How sure are you?” Trevor asked as he looked at the map, “I’d say I’m 80% sure” Louise replied “my second guess would be around the northern coast, but that’s actually further away from this location. You could argue that the further it was, the more reason to think InGen would’ve wanted to seclude the things inside it, and I agree with that, but being in a place full of trolls, elves, and even other Scandinavian critters, the closer to the city, the safer.”

“Right… makes sense” Trevor replied, looking at the folder he brought. “Well, I guess… You should read it now?” Trevor added before giving the folder to Louise.

Louise opened the papers to check them out, her eyes showing admirable interest as she sorted through the documents inside.

“There are indeed around 75 species here… and one unclassified one” Louise stated as she checked on the list Trevor had used for their homework “and you were certainly right. The Allosaurus here does not match with the one from the newspaper. Perhaps it’s a different breed, or species, or… maybe a juvenile or elder individual. So many possibilities!!!”

Trevor watched as Louise kept on reading the papers like a kid who got a new present for Sonstansil Day, and she even looked like she wasn’t breathing at times with the amount of information in the documents.

“I’m still surprised you somehow managed to get these” Louise thanked Trevor as she finished checking the papers, “I owe you at least for the homework grade” Trevor replied nervously, “Well, if I’m being honest, you were lucky with that too” Louise replied “the partner I originally had switched before the presentation, and you know how Mrs. Hallgrim is with uneven groups. It’s a miracle she didn’t call out Hilda on her presentation, but then again… That was one way to do a presentation.”

“You don’t say” Trevor chuckled before looking at the time on his phone. “OH SHOOT!” he suddenly panicked “I need to go get the things my mom wanted me to get! I’ll probably gonna have to see you… well… after the weekend!”, “Well… you can come visit tomorrow if you want!” Louise asserted him “you don’t mind if I keep the papers, right?”

Trevor was taken aback by that sentence. While those peers of his were usually the only people he stuck with, none ever invited him to their houses to chat or do anything else that wasn’t on the streets. He was certainly unsure they’d ever do it, especially after what they told him the day after the parade. But this was different.

Here was a classmate who was more sociable (though perhaps a bit too much at times), was into mysteries more than him, and seemed to be more open to chat than on only one occasion.

“Hello? Trolberg to Trevor!” Louise snapped him off his thoughts, “Oh! Sorry!” Trevor replied, “It’s Ok” Louise brushed it off “you don’t mind if I keep the papers tonight?”, “Sure! I can pick them up when you’re done with them” Trevor replied. “That may be a while, but I’ll be sure to give them back!” Louise reassured him “now you better go if you said you were late.”

Trevor waved Louise goodbye before climbing down the treehouse and passing through Louise’s house, waving goodbye to her aunt along the way, before getting back to the street and running towards the supermarket. All while someone watched him from a street corner.

“That kid was certainly quick to leave after some time” Louise’s aunt chuckled “did you spook him again with your mystery thing?”, “No, he had to leave for groceries” she replied as she got down from the treehouse. “I hope at least he comes back to talk some more. I can tell he’s… interested too.”

The line at the market was long when he arrived, but a quick update to his mom solved the worry of having to explain why he was so late.

All he had to do now was to wait to get his turn at the checkout. But someone else had other plans.

“Hey Trev!” one of his peers waved at him “Where have you been? We were waiting for you at the courtyard!”, “Oh! Well… you know” Trevor hastily replied while pointing at the basket, “I see. Well, don’t forget we’re going to be having a game o’er on Thursday!” he warned Trevor “may as well come after ye left us behind during the parade, ya dingus!”

“Yeah! I’ll be there! Don’t worry” Trevor replied nervously before the kid went back into the snack aisle. He had forgotten he was going to help them with their dodgeball match today, and by “help” it was to rig the game in their favor… somehow.

Once back home, Trevor left the shopping bags on the table while his mother watched her novela over the TV.

“Oh hi my little one!” his mom greeted him with a hug and a smooch on his cheek “did you and your classmate finish that homework?”, “Well… We did a good start before we got somewhat sidetracked” Trevor replied as he and his mother sat down on the couch “but we’re on a good track nonetheless!”, “That’s my son!” she complemented him “always responsible, right?”

His laughter said it all.

The night went by, and by the time Trevor hit the bed, his head was running with different thoughts. The kids from the neighborhood were certainly not going to take it lightly if he forgets to help them; that was something to be concerned about, but that thought was shadowed by the fact that someone, a classmate even, invited him to chat over at her house.

His mom always told him that friends are a two-way street, that if he does something to help them, they at least would help back when he needed it too. Louise was the one who offered him help with the homework, and he in turn gave her a thing she was looking for all over the place.

A favor for another favor, and a chat along with it. A further invitation to keep the connection…

Was this a sign that he was starting to have a true friend?