Sage Frontier Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of two Fakes! ❯ Unreal Tournament: Jurassic Style ( Chapter 41 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own SaGa Frontier. SquareSoft does, and they're completely blown apart by the fact that my story's only got a few chapters left. They were so sure I'd make it to a hundred chapters. Also, I owe them fifty bucks now.

 

Rouge hadn't offered a complaint at first. When they first began the trek, the Time Lord thought this was a good thing. But he soon realized that his key reasoning were those two little words: at first. At first, Rouge was perfectly dandy with having to hike nearly twenty miles just to reach the base of the ranges he had chosen. At first, he was nice and quiet and kept himself completely occupied by looking at the lone life force they had found. It ended up being a cactus, but it was something. At first, that was enough for Rouge to hold out. And when it wasn't, he simply moved onto the next thing, though only Rouge could say for certain what that was. At first…

 

And oh, what a pleasant few hours that had been. Now, however, as they came slowly, so crawlingly slowly toward the foot of those gray mountains, those two words seemed like such a mockery. The Time Lord couldn't even laugh silently for his foolish underestimation of time; once again, time had reminded him that it could never truly die by marching forward and bringing Rouge his boredom. Whatever had crushed the terminal and all of its holdings hadn't managed to completely obliterate time. Namely, even though the sun did not move, time still continued for the three of them. And that was just ironic. If time had just stayed still, Rouge wouldn't be able to get bored. He wouldn't be able to move period.

 

“Are we any closer?” Rouge whined for what felt like the millionth time since he began his complaints, “My feet are going to fall off.” Blue almost thought about arguing with the logic that it was physically impossible for that to happen, but hell with it. It was about one hundred degrees outside already, and he wanted to save his energy for something useful. Perhaps for slamming Rouge with an Energy Chain.

 

“We'll get there when we get there,” was all Blue managed, and for a powerful magician like him, Rouge was almost disappointed at the lack of scolding. But he knew he was wearing his poor brother out, and in all honesty, he wished he didn't. He loved Blue; he didn't want to be any more trouble than he usually was. But god, it was so boring!

 

“Can we at least rest?” Rouge asked quietly, and Blue just let out a sigh. The Time Lord, however, looked back at them and smiled mischievously. He knew something, like always.

 

“Rest?” he repeated, amused, “Why, boys, we do not need rest here.” Rouge just blinked, and Blue rose a brow. Obviously, neither of them believed him.

 

“Why's that?” Rouge asked, not caring how flat his tone was. To him, this was getting more and more ridiculous anyway. If the Time Lord had a good enough reason, maybe he'd think about believing him.

 

“Because time hasn't passed since we've arrived here. Notice, do you feel hungry at all?” the old Mystic asked him cryptically, “Or tired? Are you truly tired, or do you just think you are?” Rouge thought about it for a moment. He hadn't yawned or anything like that; he simply didn't want to walk all of that way.

 

But now that he considered it, he understood that he didn't feel tired. In fact, he felt the same as he had when he first woke up. There was no hunger, despite the fact that it felt like an eternity passed since they'd begun toward the mountains. And he certainly didn't need to sleep. How very odd. And how utterly convenient that the Time Lord failed to even tell them of this beforehand. Rouge just shrugged.

 

“I guess we're fine then,” he said simply, and added, “But if my feet do fall off, can I blame you?”

 

“Rouge, your feet aren't going to fall off!” Blue finally yelled, and threw up his arms in frustration, “Where the hell did you get the idea that they would?” Rouge stared at him for a long moment.

 

“I saw it on Looney Toons,” the younger mage said, as if Blue were the stupidest person in the world for asking that. Blue's eyes narrowed flatly. He shouldn't have had to explain that that was a cartoon, and right now they were in the real world, yet he understood that Rouge probably didn't know that. Hell, he tried swinging over a pit of vipers once just because he saw Indiana Jones do it. That was a road Blue never wanted to go down again. He just sighed, shaking his head.

 

“Of course you did,” the older magician mumbled, and looked at the Time Lord, “Do you feel anything yet? Any sign of the shard?” The Time Lord glanced around, nearly forgetting that he was supposed to be looking for it. Then again, he was probably the only one who'd know what the waves of energy would even feel like. He chuckled.

 

“Not for some time, I'm afraid,” the old Mystic replied with a warm smile, “This range is very big. We may not find a clue for days.” Rouge's mouth dropped and he stopped abruptly, right in the middle of the path. Blue looked back at him, and so did the Time Lord. Neither looked too sympathetic, though the Time Lord easily looked the kinder about it.

 

“Days!?” Rouge repeated in exasperation, “Days! We're spending days out here!?”

 

“How long did you expect it to take?” the Time Lord asked him plainly. Now he sounded just on the verge of being mildly annoyed. But Rouge was far worse than that.

 

“Certainly not days, that's for sure!” he exclaimed, waving a hand wildly, “I mean, come on! These are tools of time! We should feel them, like, hundreds of miles away!” The Time Lord certainly knew better than that, and he just snorted and turned toward the path again. Blue stared at his little brother for a long, hard moment. Then he shook his head again, holding it up with one hand. He actually looked tired.

 

“Rouge, why don't you be quiet and let me and the Time Lord think for a bit,” Blue suggested, and his tone told Rouge he wasn't in the mood to play. And although Rouge didn't like the implication that he was annoying, he knew there was a time to annoy Blue and a time to heed him. Now seemed like a good time to heed him.

 

They had gone nearly three miles before reaching the base of the mountains. Now the temperature began to drop a bit as the mountains' considerable shadows dominated the northern half of the desert. Here, signs of life slowly began to present themselves. Grass grew in sparse, light green blankets that dotted the edges of the rocks, forming even thinner patterns as the sand met it not even a hundred feet from the rocky paths. And as Blue looked, he saw that tree roots jutted from the thin cracks along some of the lower rocks, crawling up along until they ended in short, green barbs that promised a full bloom soon. That was good to see. Perhaps there was hope up there, after all.

 

But looking up further, Blue began to realize that the mountain was far taller than he had anticipated, and possibly exceeding even the Time Lord's knowledgeable guesswork. It rose higher in the sky than even the clouds could go, so high that Blue couldn't even see the summit from his vantage point. The sun, he knew, was hidden beneath its peaks, giving its already intimidating shadows more depth than he was comfortable with. But how long would it take before he could see the sun beyond the range?

 

Taking a breath, Blue began on the trail that wound and wove around the base of the mountain, trees suddenly springing to life on either side of him. Rouge and the Time Lord were already ahead, and knowing that there could be danger lurking in any of these deep shadows, Blue didn't want them to get too far away. But even though they were barely twenty yards away, the shadows and the trees seemed to obscure them. Blue had to stop for a moment before he even got a considerable distance within. Something wasn't right here.

 

He spent the next few minutes simply observing, simply listening. Years in the Magic Kingdom had taught him that sight wasn't the only way to detect when something was off. Visibly, nothing was wrong. The trees swayed a bit, but Blue considered it to be only the wind. And yet still, something was wrong. He closed his eyes, letting his ears and nose become stronger. Sight was no use to him, so he relied on his other senses to point the way. And quite suddenly, he smelled something. It had an earthy smell to it. Not offensive, but not normal, either. There was hardly enough vegetation to give off such a sharp scent. And he also heard something, too. It was a skrit-skrit sort of sound, as if something were being raked across the bark of the trees. Blue couldn't recall anything scratching the trees. He simply saw them swaying…

 

Blue opened his eyes suddenly, looking around at the trees. Somehow, they seemed closer than before, as if crowding around him. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he was aware of that strange skrit-skrit noise, he heard it, even now. The trees swayed gently… but Blue was aware now that there was no wind. Time had been frozen; wind could not have possibly blown about. He looked down. Roots, tiny, pointed spikes of them, bored through the ground, writhing a bit with the feel of the air. Blue backed away, falling to the ground and looked up with terrified eyes. He had made a horrifying discovery.

 

The trees were quite alive.

 

“Rouge!” he cried out, standing and leaping out of the way just as a root tunneled the ground where he had been, trying to ensnare him, “Rouge!” He ran down the path, but somehow, he could not see his brother anywhere. Trees swayed, some blocking the path, some simply creeping closer. Blue swallowed hard. If neither Rouge nor the Time Lord noticed this, there was a good chance they simply walked off the path, thinking the trees to be a natural obstruction. Blue knew far better.

 

He rushed off the path at the first opening, weaving between two trunks whose branches shook and whirled as he went by. He ducked under one and held the other two branches at bay with two consecutive shots of Energy Chains, both linking to the earth and pulling the branches with them. Continuing, Blue saw the roots of another tree uprooting themselves, and leapt up onto the nearest one. He ran its length and leapt again, planting one foot solidly on the side of the tree and using that as leverage as he planned his next jump.

 

It took him to the swooping branch of an angry oak as it threw a punch on the trunk he was just at. He yelped as chunks of bark were ripped off, shrapnel of the damaged tree pelting him from the back. But he knew he had little time before the branch was whipped back. He ran as fast as he could, leaping as he felt the branch pull back. He was glad he'd done so; he'd have been crushed against the mountain walls if he hadn't. He plummeted to the ground, and came out in a roll, standing before the roots had a chance to surface and trap him. And when they appeared, he was long gone, darting forward toward another tree.

 

This tree was prepared for him, and he saw the spiny bristles of the pine tree rise and aim directly for him. He stopped abruptly, just as they spat out toward him. But he, too, was prepared. He quickly recited one of his many spells, and kept chanting even as the bristled spikes came closer. At the last second, just as one was about to hit him, he released his powerful spell.

 

“Mega Wind Blast!” he cried out, and shot a blast of wind as he thrust his palms outward. That tiny blast soon turned into a horizontal cyclone that barraged the pine that assaulted him, shredding the projectiles before they came near its caster and decimating every bristle on that tree. It reeled back, tipping until its roots nearly came up, spraying dirt around it as the wind grew in power. When the spell ended, and the tree recovered, it was completely bare, as were the three trees behind it. Violently, furiously, they shook. But Blue had no choice. He weaved around, easily dodging their futile hooks as he continued on.

 

The path came into view again, and Blue understood he had cut quite a distance through the forest. Yet neither Rouge nor the Time Lord were anywhere in sight. Blue stopped as his foot hit the rocky path, and he looked both ways. It was a worthless effort; every direction seemed to become obscured with green haze and those horribly hostile trees. Blue took a breath. If he had any chance of finding his brother, he had to remain calm. But damn it, which way did they go!?

 

Blue didn't have much time to decide. Behind him, he heard loud cracks as trees uprooted themselves in pursuit. He knew instinctively that if he didn't move it, he'd be caught in less than three minutes. He dove toward the left; it led deeper into the range, and he doubted the Time Lord would head backwards when magic was so obviously present. But as he stumbled and fell into that hazy mist, he doubted his choice. What if he had taken the wrong turn and wound up even farther from them than before? What if they were being killed right then? No! Blue couldn't think like that. He shook his head to deny the thought as much as he was to clear it. Rouge wouldn't let them die so easily, and the Time Lord was much too powerful for this. Surely, they had to be alive…

 

Blue heard a scream to the northwest, and rushed off the path in pursuit. He agilely avoided roots and jumped over stumps as he made a path, and when a branch swung in too close, he slammed it with a blast of his Energy Chain. But there were too many trees, and Blue couldn't deflect all of them. He took many minor cuts, diving as best he could when the trees reeled for a stronger blow. A wrong turn, however, ensnared him in one of the angry trees. And that tree didn't hold back its strength. It heaved with all its might, sending Blue screaming clear over the horizon. The forest flew beneath him, until he slammed into the ground mercilessly.

 

Luckily, he hadn't passed out. Blue managed to survive, and he landed with a roll that, while disorienting him, saved him from most of the damage. He landed squarely on his back, and saw that the scream had originated from, and he hand landed near, his own brother. Rouge and the Time Lord were in the clearing with him, but they were surrounded by a group of thin, yet sturdy birch trees. The young mage blasted the nearest one with a shot of his Saber card, but it didn't even knick the trunk. And the Time Lord, Blue could see, wasn't faring much better. He'd have to help them. He stood up quickly, eyes locked on the encircling trees. And he held out his hand.

 

“FLASHFIRE!” he yelled, and at first, only a tiny flame jumped from his palm, to the trees before him. Then, that flame ignited into a mighty burst of fire, which roared again as it flared up into a burning cyclone. Blue heard the screams of hundreds of voices as the plants were burned alive, but he didn't care. Rouge was in trouble.

 

And just as quickly, the spell ended. It incinerated every tree around them until all that was left were piles of ash at their feet. Rouge looked down, kicking a bit of ash up, and then looked back to his brother. His mouth dropped. Never before had he felt such raw power! And it all came from Blue! His face then broke in a proud grin. Of course it was Blue. If anyone could've produced such a terror, it should have been Blue.

 

“Nice shot, bro!” Rouge exclaimed, running over. Blue laughed heartily as his brother tackled him, hugging him tightly as he said, “Damn, I didn't think we'd make it, either.” Blue didn't think they'd make it, himself, but he knew saying so would just depress Rouge. He gave his little brother a pat on the head, and looked up as the Time Lord walked over, dusting a bit of ash off of his vest and smiling serenely at Blue, as if everything in the world were that perfect. Which, of course, it wasn't.

 

“I suppose now that's proof enough that there's a shard here,” the old Mystic commented in amusement, and Blue was more than a little inclined to agree. He looked around critically, making sure nothing was prepared to leap at them as they spoke.

 

“What form of magic could bring these trees to life, is my question?” Blue asked him curiously, letting go of Rouge, “Certainly not anything we've encountered before!” The Time Lord nodded now, his serenity dissipating into a grim visage. Blue hit the mark perfectly, he understood.

 

“That is the thing I wish to know as well,” the Mystic said gravely, and looked up, “Shards, if big enough, sometimes have very negative effects on the landscape they reside in. Sometimes to the point of mutating the inhabitants of that world.” Blue nodded. That made sense; magic was capable of warping minds at high levels. Why not bodies and souls as well? Rouge looked at his twin. He thought the same exact thing.

 

“Must be a pretty big shard here, then,” he concluded simply, and took a breath, “So, where do we find it? Think it's here, in the forest?” He gestured with his hand over most of the area they were facing. By now, it was a waste of what it used to be, but the forests still surrounded them, and the green haze was still clinging to the wet ground.

 

“If not directly in the forest itself, then it's atop the range,” the Time Lord told him seriously, and tapped his foot, “But, by the gods, it must be here! I've never felt so much magic embedded in anything before!” Rouge just shivered at the Mystic's happy tone. Neither had he, and it terrified him to see it. He had fought Treants, surely, but not even they compared to these hostile beasts of nature and wood. He shook his head.

 

“Yeah, I say we run before any more of those magical trees come back and see what we did,” Rouge suggested wisely, almost imposingly. Blue just snorted. He knew what Rouge said was probably right; if anyone saw what he had done, they'd deal with far worse than a police squad.

 

They left the clearing behind them after walking through it, toward the densest part of the forest. The path, which had wound around the clearing instead of cutting through it, came into view again, and its pebbly surface was a relief. Being on a road spelled some level of safety, if only because it helped them find where they were going. But quickly, the road wound up, and soon steep cliff walls climbed up on either side of it. That clearing must've been the end of the forest floor; though the forest dotted the entire range, they wouldn't be seeing another tree for some time. That was probably a good thing.

 

They continued on, following the twisting path as it continued to wind up. It narrowed after a point, now with only one side being blocked by the high cliff walls. The other side was abruptly cut by a very precarious edge, which dropped off at what looked like a hundred feet. From there, Blue could see the forest. It looked chill and damp, with the mist thickest on the lowest level. The sun didn't even penetrate the thick canopy of leaves above them, and he saw that, past his original line of vision, the forest was shrouded in black. He did not want to know how many angry eyes watched them climb.

 

“So, how will we know if we're close to this shard of yours?” Rouge asked, as Blue tore his gaze from the view and followed them, “I mean, I can't feel anything.” The Time Lord stopped for a second, glanced down at his watch, and then looked down at Rouge with a gentle smile. Personally, Rouge didn't see what was worth smiling about.

 

“That is because you didn't exist in this time,” the Mystic told him simply, putting the watch back into his pocket, “Your connection to magic won't exist, either. As for the shard… there will be visible signs as well as sensitive ones. I'll point them out, when we come closer.” He walked up a large rock - normally so impassable to mortals! - and pulled Rouge and Blue up as he spoke. Then he turned, reached the top of a smaller cliff face, and climbed that, too.

 

“But we're definitely going the right way?” Rouge inquired, and a nod from the Time Lord confirmed his hopes. That was good news. The sooner they escaped this place, the better, in his mind. Not that, aside from those trees, they'd seen anything else of apparent danger. Rouge shrugged as he followed the Mystic's path, looking down at his brother as Blue secured the ledge last. Rouge said, “As long as we find it, I guess.”

 

“What'll you do when we find the shard, sir?” Blue asked, when they were ten feet higher, and on stable ground. The Time Lord hummed. That was a nice thing to consider. With his amazing power and control of time, he could do anything he pleased. But it was his job to repair the time-space continuum first. He gave a wry smile, one that suggested he didn't exactly like that reasoning. Neither brother blamed him.

 

“If we're lucky, I can tap into it, warp into the future, and find some humans to determine what world this is,” he replied easily, and glanced at the sky, “It's no doubt this isn't our world. Our world is quite young compared to the others, no more than perhaps five hundred thousand years old.” Rouge's mouth dropped. That meant that human life, as he'd been taught, hadn't originated in the Magic Kingdom. Those sons of bitches lied to him again!

 

“Then where are we?” Rouge asked, and knowing it sounded like a redundant question, he asked, “I mean, what part of the universes? What realm?”

 

“Definitely the Plane of the Living,” the Time Lord said to him assuredly, “Magic is a barely conscious source in this era. I doubt the planes of Death, Magic, or Spirit even exist yet, as there is no human life capable of comprehending it.” Rouge cast a furtive glance at Blue.

 

“So there's no abyss yet? Guess that means there aren't any monsters, either,” the younger mage said with a sigh of relief. Blue, however, wasn't that hopeful. On the contrary, there were monsters all around them. Especially if the shard was close by, they could be dealing with far worse than even a dinosaur, should such creatures even exist. Monster had no true meaning, after all. A person could be considered a monster.

 

“On the contrary, Rouge, there are monsters,” the Time Lord said to him, suspecting Blue's darker thoughts, “Not from the abyss, surely, but we are not alone in this desolate world. That is why I've advised caution.” Rouge rose a brow. He couldn't remember the Time Lord saying specifically to `be careful.' Then again, Mystics were cryptic. To them, something as unrelated as `I saw a spider' might mean `danger's close, so get running.' He never did quite understand Mystic language, despite studying and even using it for five years of his life.

 

“Okay, so when you said time is frozen, you were kidding?” Rouge asked him pointedly, and Blue nearly snorted. The Time Lord actually froze for a minute. It was true, he did say that. But it was also true that time wasn't really frozen; they were still moving, after all. His genuine smile returned.

 

“Well, no, but frozen is a relative term,” the stumped Mystic explained, though it sounded as if he barely convinced himself of his words, “When I say a world is frozen, literally, it is. Think of a world as a computer.”

 

“I hate computers,” Rouge said quickly, earning himself a slap on the back of his head by Blue as the Time Lord's eyes narrowed.

 

“Pretend that you like them,” the Mystic advised, and even though he was calm, Rouge heeded him, “Now, when a computer freezes, things are still running even though physically, it looks as if the computer isn't. It's the same with a world. Even though time doesn't go on right now, we're still physically able to move about.” Unfortunately, Rouge didn't get that too well. He continued to stare at the Time Lord blankly, as if not a word of that made sense. It probably hadn't. Blue, however, seemed to understand the general terms. He grinned a bit.

 

“So what you're saying is, even though time has stopped, we aren't the only ones moving around here,” he summarized, and now Rouge understood why there was still a problem, “I think we've already established that with those damned trees.”

 

“Those trees were brought to life due to magic. They aren't affected by time,” the Time Lord countered gently, and then sighed, “My goodness, this is difficult to explain. Let's just say that the sun is frozen in time and leave it at that.” Though that hardly accounted for much of anything, Rouge was more than willing to agree. He simply shrugged as the Time Lord hopped off of the boulder, heading up another gentle incline that leveled out some feet later.

 

It was a surprise to see that the forest actually thinned as they climbed higher up on the mountain. Most of what they passed were meadows and copses, looking quite out of place atop such a steep climb. But it meant that there wouldn't be many trees willing to harm them for passing through. That was good; Blue had nearly exhausted his magic in his last excursion, and he guessed Rouge was growing weak in his spell reservoir as well. If what the Time Lord said rang true, there wouldn't even be a way to replenish their magic. Not for a good few millennia. Though, for good measure, Rouge took out his staff and made sure to stare at every tree, just to see any sign of movement from them. There was none.

 

However, it did become evident that there was a semblance of life in this world. Twice, they heard a screech from far away, though on the second time, it sounded much closer than they were comfortable with. That sound couldn't have come from nothing. Blue looked around, and then over the edge to see what could've made such a noise. Unfortunately, he saw nothing but rocks. He arched a brow. Had he imagined it?

 

When Rouge tapped his shoulder and pointed right into the sky, he knew he hadn't. It was far off, but he could see something was hovering in the air, its jaw opening to make that earsplitting call again. He squinted his eyes, and even though his magic was rapidly depleting, he used a simple spell to enhance his vision, to zoom in and see what he was staring at. He should've guessed the answer: what he was looking at was a pterodactyl. A small one, no doubt, but it was still one of them. And it was technically a dinosaur. All he could do was give a thin, grim-looking smile. He really, really should've guessed they'd see one. And when he turned to Rouge, he knew his brother understood his look, too.

 

“Dinosaur?” Rouge asked, and at Blue's nod, he added, “Does this mean we're close to the shard?” The Time Lord regarded him for a moment, his usual smile still on his lips. Now he just seemed smug about it.

 

“We're closer,” he corrected, and Rouge found that, not for the first time, he hated the Mystics' sense of being cryptic. It was more like being annoying, just for the sake of annoying everyone else. And that was only because the Time Lord knew that was more or less the answer Rouge wanted. Rouge crossed his arms.

 

“Of course we are,” he mumbled, and then screamed when the pterodactyl suddenly sprang forth, nearly bowling them over as it soared across the path and out toward the desert far below them. Rouge blinked profusely as the winged monster suddenly changed direction, soaring quickly to another range some miles away. This one, he saw, was the highest peak in the area, stretching so high that snow capped its top. He turned to Blue and asked, “Coincidence?”

 

“You think it wants us to follow it?” the older magician asked him incredulously. Rouge shrugged. He wasn't sure what he thought, but that was an awfully odd thing for a dinosaur to do. Normally, a dinosaur would've eaten them on sight. That one didn't do squat. Besides, it was heading toward something.

 

“Well, it's looking for something,” he pointed out, and frowned, “What if we're not the only ones who can feel magic?” Blue obviously didn't believe him, but the Time Lord clapped his hands and nodded approvingly. The Mystic smiled warmly.

 

“You're right,” he said, and Rouge stared at him, “We aren't the only ones who can feel the magic in this area. But how do we get up there, Rouge? Are you sure the shard's there?” Rouge's eyes widened as he regarded the Mystic. How the hell could he even answer that? The truth was, he wasn't sure. But he had this nagging feeling that told him that dinosaur was a good clue. It only solidified when he turned again and saw three more pterodactyls following the first. Apparently, the call from before was for that purpose. Rouge turned back to the Mystic.

 

“No, but you said we'd know. I just know,” Rouge replied seriously, and grinned, “As to getting there…” Blue knew that mischievous look all too well. It spelled just one word: trouble.

 

Blue had always regretted when Rouge left his side at the Magic Kingdom to go to Fascinaturu. It had always felt as if half of him had been torn away, and for five years, he never knew what it was Rouge left to do. Now he had a firm understanding that he didn't actually want to know what Rouge did for those five years. And that was because, from a force Blue couldn't even begin to comprehend, Rouge had managed to talk to one of the flying pterodactyls as it passed. Not with words, of course, but with a shriek very similar to the ones they heard just moments before. The creature, flying toward the range with the others, had stopped full force as soon as it heard Rouge. Blue wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling his brother had insulted the creature. Why else would such a thing stop so violently, other than to kill them all?

 

“What in the world is he saying?” The Time Lord whispered, as Rouge continued shrieking at the beast in its own tongue, “My lord, it's as if someone is scratching a sword on a chalkboard!” Blue admitted, as he covered his ears, that the Mystic's description was roughly accurate. It was painful to listen to Rouge `communicate' with the dinosaur. It must've been more so to speak it than to hear it.

 

“Knowing my brother, you don't want to find out,” Blue mumbled, and finally, the pterodactyl let out a terrible scream, its brows creased in anger. Blue prayed that anger wasn't aimed at them as he turned to Rouge and said, “What the hell are you doing!?”

 

“I'm getting us a ride,” was all the crafty, young mage replied, and Blue shook his head in disbelief. Of all the dumb things Rouge ever did, this had to be one of the worst. If it had been a car, Blue might've been okay with Rouge hitching a ride. But no, it was a dinosaur Rouge was trying to steal.

 

After about fifteen minutes, thankfully, the screeching ended. Blue had stopped watching long before that, but when he heard a mighty crash behind him, he forced himself to look, fully expecting to see Rouge flattened into a pancake. Instead, he saw that the pterodactyl was lying on the ground, on its stomach, waiting for them to get on. And his mouth dropped. Rouge did it. Rouge actually managed to talk to that thing, and he had been understood. How he did it, Blue didn't know, but he had done it. At least, they hoped he had. As the Time Lord shrugged and strode to the creature, Blue looked at his grinning, smug, cocky brother with wide eyes. Rouge knew what he was thinking, no doubt. The damn idiot was proud of it, too.

 

“Rouge, how did you do that!?” Blue demanded, as his brother helped him climb onto the dinosaur's shoulder. Rouge's smug smile didn't disappear in the least.

 

“I talked to it,” came the easy, vague answer. And that was bullshit. Dinosaurs were… well, dinosaurs. They didn't just listen when someone spoke to them. Blue knew there was something else. His eyes narrowed.

 

“What did you say?” he asked, more specifically. Rouge's smile widened a bit. Blue needed no other answer. And yet Rouge was already talking.

 

“Basically, I told him he was a wussy and that he'd look cooler if he brought us along for the ride,” Rouge said, and Blue's mouth dropped further, “Oh, come on! Dinosaurs have social structure, too, Blue. Apparently, Stink here is like the sad, little emo kid no one likes. All he wants is to be cool. I told him we'd help him if he took us to that range over there.”

 

“And he agreed?” Blue asked, and when Rouge nodded, he said, “But he sounded pissed off! What was that about?”

 

“Probably because I called him a stinky, little wussy,” Rouge replied, and then stopped for a moment, “Or maybe I called his mother that. It's hard to know. Dinosaur is a very complicated language.” Blue wasn't sure what to say at that point. So many things were running through his head, it was hard to decide which seemed most fitting. But as Rouge got on and gave another shrill screech, Blue decided to say nothing at all. As long as they were on their way, he found it was useless to complain.

 

It took Stink less than ten minutes to get from the first range to the second, and that was all Blue needed to know that he hated flying on dinosaurs. As they soared across the forest below, Blue had the stupidity to look down. And he regretted it. Instantly, his stomach leapt into his throat, and he was sure that, if he'd eaten anything earlier in the day, he'd have thrown it up right then and there. He forced himself to look away as the dizziness swept over him, and was glad that Stink was a quick flyer. It occurred to him more than once that, had it not been for the dinosaur, they'd have to go back down and deal with those damn trees again. If the pterodactyl didn't eat him, he'd have to remember to thank the thing before they departed.

 

Stink landed on the summit, which was a barren, sandy patch hundreds of feet into the sky. Blue was surprised by this; he was sure they'd be dealing with snow as well as a monster or three. But oddly enough, there was nothing on this summit. Blue, Rouge, and the Time Lord slid off of Stink's back, and the fidgety pterodactyl stayed put. Blue took a good look before saying anything. All that greeted them was sand, strong wind, and silence. There was no shard in sight, no monster to slay. If Blue didn't have the knowledge that that wasn't good, he'd be pissed. But something was wrong. He looked at Rouge.

 

“Where's the shard of time?” he asked curiously, as Rouge shrugged, looking over the edge. He had been so sure it'd be here. He felt something in the air, moments before. But now, amidst nothing but hundreds of feet from the ground, Rouge wasn't so sure. Maybe he'd made the feeling up.

 

“Think it fell over the edge?” the young mage suggested, and Blue almost agreed. Except that the Time Lord snorted, shaking his head. Both brothers turned to him.

 

“What's so damn funny!?” Rouge demanded, as Blue said, “I've had enough of your games. Tell us what you know!”

 

“I'm sorry, boys, but the thought that such a thing could happen is funny,” the Mystic replied calmly, as if they weren't threatening him, “It's impossible. Once a shard takes residence, not even the end of a world would move it.”

 

“Then where is it?” Rouge asked emphatically, “You said we'd feel it if we were close. I felt it.” The Time Lord hummed, tapping his chin as he looked about. He too felt its awesome might in the passages below, and clearly it pointed them in this general area. But there was nothing. This sourly confused him, needless to say.

 

“It should be here,” he said, taking out his pocket watch and looking into it, “By all general accounts, it is here. The coordinates are correct, and the space-time directories for this world are in order. But… why isn't it here?” No one could answer that. Blue's lips thinned and he took a few steps forward. But nothing remarkable happened. It was just too disappointing. The Time Lord had said that the shard should be in an area remote and away from outside activity. This was a good place to search. Was it possible they were too high up? He looked at Rouge.

 

“It could be inside the mountain. Magic can pierce through rock and soil,” he reminded them both. But when he stopped speaking, he saw that Rouge was white as a sheet, and the Time Lord was frozen in terror. He blinked, wondering what he said that scared them. Tentatively, he asked, “What's wrong?”

 

“Bro, I'm not an expert, but I think you'd better look behind you,” Rouge said, as cryptic as a Mystic would be. Blue's eyes narrowed. What the hell was Rouge so worried about? He had looked behind himself just seconds ago. What could've possibly changed?

 

“Why?” Blue urged, arching a brow. But Rouge didn't answer, save to point a shaking finger behind his brother. Blue sighed. Whatever Rouge was terrified of, it was making it impossible for him to answer. If Blue was going to figure out what was wrong, he'd have to humor his brother. He turned.

 

And he instantly regretted it. Blue suddenly found that, instead of nothing being there, like he expected, a dinosaur was now standing right behind him. A very big dinosaur, easily forty times his height, maybe even more than that. And it had an equally big mouth full of very sharp, pointy, slimy fangs waiting to bore into him. Blue's eye twitched. He wasn't sure just how a dinosaur managed to randomly appear from out of nowhere, but some god had to be laughing at him right then. He swallowed hard. With no magic to even help him out - he doubted any of his spells could damage such a massive bulk! - he'd have to be pretty crafty to avoid being murdered.

 

“Guys?” he called nervously, not daring to take his eyes off the dinosaur before him, “Help?” Behind him, he felt Rouge stare at the dinosaur in disbelief. Then he felt Rouge stare at him.

 

“You expect us to fight a dinosaur!?” his brother asked, and turned to the Time Lord, “Where the hell did it come from!?” Blue audibly growled. As much as he felt his brother's confusion was warranted, now wasn't exactly the best time for him to question why a dinosaur was ready and waiting to eat him. It wasn't like the Time Lord had an answer, anyway. Damned Mystics always had a way to dance around everything, it seemed.

 

“My guess is, from nothing,” the Mystic answered simply, smiling. It seemed so out of place, considering the danger. Rouge wanted nothing more than to slap that smile off. It was only the knowledge that he could be killed that stopped him.

 

“You said the abyss didn't exist yet!” Rouge cried, and he heard Blue sigh in frustration. He knew his brother was more worried about the dinosaur than about spatial mumbo-jumbo. But this was important!

 

“No, I merely said certain planes don't exist,” the Time Lord replied easily, “And I didn't list space as one of them.” Rouge visibly shook in outrage. He should've expected such a half-assed answer. He also should've expected such a thing to happen, too; magic was unpredictable, after all.

 

“So it literally hid in space, no doubt from the shard of time,” he concluded, and the Mystic nodded, “Goody. Now how do we kill it?” Unfortunately, whatever knowledge the Time Lord had ended there. He wasn't an expert at killing dinosaurs, after all. In fact, there weren't any in most of the worlds; this was the second one he'd seen. The first one, he merely blasted with a shot of his Time Stream.

 

Sadly, there wasn't much time to figure out a decent strategy. Blue was already right in front of the damned thing, and there was no doubt he was scared absolutely shitless. Rouge doubted the Time Lord had any ideas, anyway. Taking a breath, he took out his staff, and Blue did likewise. They weren't sure what they could do, but they had to try something. It was just a shame; transforming into Aubergine would've been a nice thing to do here. But Blue severely doubted they could tap into that magic, and Rouge was of like opinion.

 

“You ready, bro?” Rouge asked, standing beside his brother. Blue gave a firm nod. In all honesty, he wasn't ready to die, but why terrify Rouge further? At least they'd die together. What was sad was that, in any other case, they'd be nearly unbeatable. Now, however, in a different era, a different world, and without their magic, they were no stronger than a standard human with no natural gifts. Now they'd see just how they'd fare against such a huge opponent.

 

It was all just too ironic for either of them.

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

And so, after nearly getting killed by a grove of killer trees, Blue, Rouge, and the Time Lord have finally managed to find the shard of time. Unfortunately, they're up against the biggest opponent they've ever seen. And with no readily available magic, and no way to replenish what they've spent, it'll be a taxing encounter indeed. Can the twins find a way to win without their most precious ability? Will the Time Lord be able to lend support, despite time already being frozen? What will Stink do, being caught in the middle so subtly? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!