The seconds passed on ever so slowly as Rinen listened to the endless darkness around him, expecting for the jaws of a sharptooth appear from the dark void and end his struggles in this world for good. The thought that his already broken life would come into a fitting ending, all alone and forgotten in this place was a fate the threehorn would be willing to accept, no matter how much he hoped it wouldn’t come to pass. Rinen stared into the cave around him but… the final attack never came. As the worst panic started to wear off, the boy realized he heard only his own fearful breathing, the scene around him deafening him with its complete silence. No sharptooth would be able to move completely silently, regardless of how much it tried. No matter how his emotions fought against that outcome, Rinen realized he was all alone. There was no trace of his supposed “friends” nor of the sharptooth That thought overwhelmed Rinen completely. He was safe.
His legs shuddered with pain and relief as he rose to his feet, willing to check if things truly were as they seemed. Despite the beast’s apparent absence, the threehorn put his feet to the ground with extreme care as he moved forward, not willing to take a chance of blowing his cover now. But everywhere he looked, there were no suspicious shadows nor moving forms: everything was completely still. For a short moment, Rinen hesitated as the overwhelming rays of the Bright Circle shone from the hole in the cavern’s wall, wondering whether it would be safe just yet to exit the cave. The sharptooth could still be nearby and if it would catch his scent again, it would be all over. But… he couldn’t hide in this dark hole forever, could he? Rinen’s face turned into an anxious frown as he headed towards the opening but to his astonishment, the sharptooth was nowhere to be seen. Slowly but surely, a wide smile crept to the boy’s face and he collapsed to the ground, completely stunned by his luck. He had already resigned to his fate but here he was, alive and nearly unscathed considering the circumstances! However, he was far from safe waters yet.
What now? I may be safe but I’m all alone once again. Those bastards probably left me to die on purpose! I only wish I knew what kind of face they’d make if they knew I still live! Heh, probably similar to my grandfather’s! But who cares about them right now? All I need at this point is some water…
Rinen realized his throat was completely dry and he glanced into the distance, his eyes slowly noticing something he had missed before. Far, far in the distance opened a narrow sliver of blue which could only be a distant river. Immediately, Rinen licked his lips, only thanking his luck that everything seemed to be falling into place now. However, a river would most likely draw other dinosaurs towards it as well, like sharpteeth or…
A sudden wave of bitterness washed over the threehorn as he realized that his companions could be heading that way as well. In the back of his mind he realized there was nothing they could have done to help him but the sight of the fast runners running away in his hour of need would be one he’d never forget. As for the swimmer, the threehorn’s thoughts were conflicted. If the fast runners hadn’t eaten him already, his flight hurt Rinen the most as the two had already shared one adventure but… what could a badly injured, young swimmer like him had done against the sharptooth? Rinen suddenly felt a headache invading his mind as he thought about the possible reunion, knowing it would not be either easy or pleasant. He simply gritted his teeth together as he once again headed downhill from the cave and towards the oasis of water in the middle of the driest parts of the Mysterious Beyond.