The afternoon sunlight created interesting shadows from the canopy as I hiked through the jungle. My goal was to find the campsite, rest there tonight, and head out in the morning. A good night's rest while safe and sound felt like the best idea before I went searching for the drop ship. Well, technically, to the tunnel from Sanctuary, then to the drop ship. I figured if I triggered Hammy's alarm near the tunnel exit, he'd come find me.

I followed the very old scent trail back to the campsite. Or at least, I assumed it was the correct path. Hammy's sweaty self left spots, but it might have rained, since I just wasn't sure and I didn't recognize anything. It was just trees, underbrush, and more trees. Not to mention vines,which I kept a wary eye on after the dungeon.

The buzzing of insects made me wonder about Noseen, and if he'd visit tonight once I finally managed to get to sleep.

A snap of a twig beyond a tree over to my right broke my wandering thoughts.

I triggered my stealth and crouched down with my spear in one hand. My senses didn't show anything about prey, and I focused on blending in with the fern next to me. The skin on the backs of my hands deepened, turning to a dark green pattern.

It reminded me of Lenna, but with spots.

If it wasn't for my clothes, this would be easier. Just like the lemurs from the dungeon.

A purring sound came from the left, and I concentrated on trying to spot where it came from.

The tops of three different ferns shook. Whatever it was was clearly headed in a different direction.

My limbs felt weary.

Fighting the spiders had taken time and energy, some of which I'd recovered, but there wasn't a chance I was eating spider. Not when its insides were a stinky black ichor. Unfortunately, that meant I had to be careful with my dwindling supply of meat.

I waited to make sure whatever was out there had moved on. After a few quiet moments, I snuck out from behind the fern. From my new position, I spotted a large tree in the distance.

Hopefully, that was the campsite.

A bright idea came to me and I tried to push my senses out to find crystals. The campsite had a ceiling full of them, maybe I could find it that way.

The tree in the distance was a bust, or they were too small to sense.

Thinking back, it had taken a few hours to go from the lake to the campsite, and I hadn't been traveling that long. Maybe an hour, but it was hard to tell anymore without a watch.

The hair rose on the back of my neck, and I stepped back into the shadows from the giant fern. My eyes narrowed as my breathing slowed down, getting ready.

The rustling came back, slightly louder, and this time coming from the direction I'd walked. Like it might be following my scent.

Weary or not, it looked like I'd have to deal with whatever this was.

A head popped up in the bushes, with bright yellow eyes. Deep green stripes surrounded the eyes as it searched the underbrush.

[Raptor, level 40, Predator. Tasty]

Its scales stretched down its neck where feathers suddenly sprouted, before flowing down its back and ending in a flared tail.

So freaking pretty, the sharp teeth in its mouth notwithstanding.

It blended in beautifully with the surrounding leaves, and all I thought of was the golden egg in my inventory. Maybe it'd want to bond with me.

Now wasn't the time for that, but I didn't want to get into a fight with the creature. It looked too much like Dengu. What if he knew them?

Sorry, I killed your friend and ate him? Or her?

It sniffed the air as a low growl came from deep in its chest. Its lips pulled back, showing those sharp teeth again.

Looks like I'd need to apologize to Dengu. Hopefully, he took bribes.

My fingers tightened on my spear, and I readied myself. My breathing steadied.

It glanced upward and to the right, tilting its head. The growl cut off.

I blinked at the sudden change in stance.

In the far distance, I heard a faint humming sound from high above, that slowly grew louder. The faint tingle of two crystals appeared on my radar.

No way.

It couldn't be.

The bushes nearby rippled as another Raptor jumped between us.

I froze, but a familiar purple head made me smile.

[Dengu, Bonded Raptor, level 36, Friend, Not Food.]

I ignored the quip that appeared, even though it made me want to chuckle.

Dengu glared at the higher leveled raptor, then he growled, before barking, twice.

The unknown Raptor barked back, staring at Dengu.

My fingers tightened on my spear as the other Raptor lowered itself, like it was going to fight.

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Not a chance I'd let him hurt my friend.

'Get!' came from Dengu. Another bark followed it, along with a single step forward.

The green Raptor's eyes widened, and it took one step back. Then another.

From the canopy, the humming grew louder, and now I was certain that had to be the shuttle.

The green raptor barked once before turning and padding off into the ferns. They continued away, evidenced by the shaking of bushes into the distance.

Dengu stared after them, his eyes narrowed. Once the bushes stopped moving, he raised his snout and chirped twice into the air.

I waited one more second, just in case.

"Alpha?"

"Here," I said, as I crept into the open, my spear pointed to the ground.

"Alpha!" This time he sounded so happy. His head snapped in my direction and I was glad I didn't need to hurt his friend.

"Hey, buddy," I said with a smile. It was good to see he was okay, though I wondered where Lenna was. Hopefully, she was fine.

He moved closer and nudged my shoulder.

"I didn't expect to see you out here." I patted his neck with a smile.

"Find Alpha, go lake. Friends lake."

He'd learned more words, and could almost say a sentence. That was so cool!

I smiled brightly at him and went to give him another pat when the words actually sunk in.

"Why?" I asked, worried.

Dengu tilted his head to one side, but only chirped in a slightly frustrated way.

He must not have all the words he needed to explain.

"Lenna told," he added.

"Lenna told what?" I didn't wait for an answer as I turned back the way I'd come, to retrace my steps to the lake. Dengu stuck by my side but nudged me at certain points until the path I followed was completely different from the one I'd taken to get here.

I measured the distance between us and the two crystals from the shuttle. We weren't hiking in a straight line, but didn't end up needing to go around giant boulders or trees. I trusted Dengu to get us to the lake.

Flashes of the late afternoon sun glistening off of the water poked out between tree trunks and leaves sooner than I'd expected.

So very close to whatever waited for me.

The front of the shuttle rested partially in the water, but the ramp faced the jungle on the sandy beach. The ramp wasn't open, but I spotted Lenna and my father on the roof.

Lenna pointed in my direction and I strolled out of the leaves, waving at the pair of them.

"You look horrible", said Lenna as she walked closer to the edge, peering down at me.

"I thought Dengu looked mighty handsome and strong," I replied with a smirk.

I heard a deep chuckle from my father, but he didn't appear. Instead, the ramp lowered.

Various people stood in the cargo hold, all staring in my direction. My father appeared then, climbing down the ladder from the roof hatch.

"Well, come on, we don't have time to waste," he said as he reached the floor. Lenna started down the ladder after him. Dengu barked as a presence flashed, just for a millisecond.

One I knew well. Something pressed down on my shoulder and buzzed, just for a moment.

"At least you are a little less squishy," said Noseen.

No one else seemed to notice the words, and I only chuckled in response.

Dengu chirped again.

This time, Lenna froze, then her eyes widened.

"We need to go," she said, motioning for Dengu to get on the ship. "My mother's bonded is nearby, and warned Dengu the others are coming. They're watching the dungeon, and spotted the ship."

I quickly stepped onto the ramp, followed by Dengu. He jerked forward as the ramp rose underneath us.

People stamped back, making room, as my father packed up the ladder.

"Everyone is going to need to squeeze in tight," ordered my father. "Lenna, back to the front. Alex, you too… Ugh, Dengu, try not to knock anyone out with your tail."

Dengu blinked, then sat down as the ramp locked into place.

I followed Lenna to the front, aware of the many triggers of Insight being used on me.

"Woah, Alex, you're even higher than Lenna!" Benny's voice came out loud in the quiet shuttle. "No offense, Lenna."

"Alex has always been at a higher level than me. I don't expect that to change," answered Lenna, as she headed to the front of the ship.

The rest of the female members of the group all sat in chairs, and a new bench in the front of the shuttle. That had to be my Dad's orders. After the crash, he tried to protect everyone, especially the chicks. My almost dying had hit him hard.

"So, what'd I miss?" I asked, kind of sarcastically. Somehow, Lenna knew my dad, and now we were in the air.

"Lenna's people aren't happy we have Crystal Singers," said Sang.

The large healing crystal in my makeshift bag suddenly felt heavy, but I kept that to myself.

John cut in. "You also took forever to show up, when we expected you to be waiting. You're lucky Hammy filled us in."

I nodded slowly as the shuttle twisted in the air, going a little higher than I expected.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, looking around at everyone.

"To the south," said my father, finally joining the conversation. "Lenna's father recommended it."

Lenna's eyes went wide as she clutched onto the bench under her.

The shuttle hummed under my feet, and I reached out to my brother's seat to hold on.

"You need to finish your third quest," buzzed Noseen softly in my ear.

I'd forgotten about it and opened the quest to confirm.

[Third Quest(Path to Citizenship): Craft a needed gift for a friend!]

"Hey Benny, I made something for you." I pulled the Bloomstone off my belt and moved around my father to reach into the cargo hold.

Benny stepped closer, staring at the green crystal. His lips parted.

"What is that?" he asked, with awe.

"A gift, something special I made while I was away."

He took it carefully from me.

[You have completed the Third Quest(Path to Citizenship): Craft a needed gift for a friend! ]

[You have unlocked the Fourth Quest(Path to Citizenship): Complete a quest from the local quest board. ]

"Quest board?" I asked under my breath, as it suddenly popped up. For a second, all the words were in a language I didn't understand. There weren't many quests listed. After only a moment, a new one appeared at the very top.

[Quest: Claim the territory of the Aggressive Spinosaurus, Level 50. From: Noseen.]

I accepted. Suddenly, a strange sensation washed over me, pointing to the south. Like sensing the crystals, but also very, very different.

"Woah," I muttered.

"What'd you do?" asked my father. "Your eyes flashed a weird color."

"I finished the third quest and I'm at the fourth," I explained.

Muttering came from Doc, and Hawk just laughed.

"I need to go claim the territory of a Spinosaurus. It's to the south." I stared at the level 50 next to its name. That meant it was Rank Two, though I didn't understand how that worked.

"That…" My father's voice trailed off. "Coincidental."

"Not really," I said, scratching the back of my head. "A friend put it up."

"I spoke to your father," buzzed Noseen. Yet, no one else reacted to his words.

"You might have spoken to him," I said carefully, wondering what had transpired between the two of them.

My father's eyes narrowed, but he gave me a sharp nod.

"Don't worry, he really is a trusted friend."

"Do you have any information on the quest?" asked my father as he turned back to the window.

"Just that it's level 50," I said casually.

The silence as everyone in the ship froze was so complete, only the engines would have prevented you hearing a pin drop. I heard a slight buzzing, and all I could picture was a cartoon of a mosquito, laughing.

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