If You Love Something...

"Welcome to Vivosaur Island, where dinosaurs of the past come back to life and partake in thrilling battles. These creatures, called vivosaurs, are not true dinosaurs for they come back with extraordinary abilities, and some are not dinosaurs at all. They are trained by Fossil Fighters, men and women who are not satisfied just watching. They dig for their own fossils, revive their own vivosaurs, and fight their own battles. The most well known Fossil Fighter is Hunter, who began fighting at the age of fourteen and defeated Gunash, the planet eater, and formed a peace treaty with the dinaurians, the dinosaur people,"

The speakers of the small boat would repeat this message every time Captain Travers would take his usual route from the mainland to Vivosaur Island, taking the tourists and future fighters with him. This time, however, he had a unique job. As well as the usual people, he was bringing the dinaurians that were on the crashed ship as well, along with King Dynal's highest ranked agents: Duna and Raptin. He crossed his fingers that he would not offend them.

In the hull, the somewhat nervous dinaurians stood in perfect rows of six, with Duna and Raptin at the front, watching. As soon as the message reached the part about Hunter, Raptin playfully punched Duna's shoulder,

"I guess now you will have some actual competition with your Huntie!"

Duna raised an eyebrow,

"'Huntie'? Then, what do you mean by competition? Rosie is already enough..."

Raptin laughed,

"I was joking. Honestly, you take everything so seriously! Anyways, if Hunter doesn't choose you over an ungrateful human girl who just cries when she has problems instead of thinking, he is surely mad."

He glanced at the ground. Of course Hunter would choose her, and Raptin would lead the battle form simulation testing. Everything would go according to King Dynal's plan, and Raptin would gain all he has ever wanted: his king's approval. It was so close, so why did he feel a sickening sense of dread? It was almost exactly like how he felt when Duna had helped Hunter end Project: Mother Planet...what had he said?

"So it is true, Duna. You have betrayed us..."

"And you have betrayed me" he had thought.

"Raptin? Are you alright?"

He cleared his head, realizing that Duna was speaking to him. He nodded, and Duna offered one of her rare smiles,

"With you here, I had nearly forgotten what silence was like until now. Anyways, we are here,"

Raptin kicked himself. How could he feel sorry for himself when Duna was going to be happy for the first time in goodness knows how long? He remembered the human saying: If you love something, give it up. If it never comes back, it was never yours to begin with. Wise words for what he had once considered to be an inferior species, but painful, nonetheless.

By the time Duna got off the ship, she was nearly trembling with excitement. She struggled to keep her face straight as she walked towards Beth, looking around for Hunter. Beth smiled automatically,

"Hello, welcome to Vivosaur Island. May I have your name and age?"

Duna opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Raptin shook his head, grinning, and said,

"I am Raptin and she is Duna. She is fourteen and I eighteen."

Beth jumped,

"Oh, of course! The dinaurians? Yes, you are already all registered. Hunter is waiting for Duna in the Fossil Centre, and King Dynal needs Raptin in the Fossil Stadium. Have a nice day."

Raptin sighed as he shot Duna a helpless glance, walking away. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that she had giggled.

Duna ran to the Fossil Centre, stopping at the door in attempt to make it look like she had not been so exited and nervous. Today, Hunter had promised to tell them who he had chosen. She had to keep reminding herself that just because Hunter had chosen to bring Rosie to fight Gunash did not mean that she was his favourite.

Favourite...how she had come to hate that word. Oh, well. Hunter was waiting for her. As she walked in, she realized that Hunter had always thought of her as a curiosity rather than another intelligent being. Surely he had a good reason, though. He had probably just never seen a dinaurian before. A nasty voice in her head scolded her,

"You had always warned yourself never to fall in love. Now you have, and are trying to convince yourself that it was a good idea. Run away now before it's too late"

She sighed, and tried push the thoughts out of her head. She walked into the Cleaning Room, only to find Rosie and Hunter curled up in a corner, whispering and giggling, cleaning a fossil rock together, which Duna analyzed as a Siamo leg, Rosie's favourite vivosaur and, as she recalled, the only bone that was missing from it. Hunter looked up, noticed Duna, and went quite pale,

"Duna, I-"

"No! Save it," She replied as calmly as she could, "I cannot blame you for your emotions, and only hope that you will be happy. Goodbye, Hunter"

She walked out slowly, then, when certain no one could see her, fled to the park weeping. The place held so many memories. It was where Hunter had once...Duna stopped herself just in time. She must do everything in her power to forget all about him. She sat on the dock and closed her eyes, listening to the waves.

It was hard to say how long she sat there for, but she eventually felt a cool hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and realized it was near midnight. Glancing up, she saw Raptin standing over her. He looked down, trying to mask the hope that had sprung up in him.

"How horrid," he thought, "That her pain could ever cause a positive emotion..."

Raptin drew in a breath, and said softly,

"May I join you?"

When she nodded curtly, he sat next to her, trying to telepathically determine what was happening to save him from feeling awkward, but evidently failing. The whole series of events was too much for Duna, and began laughing hysterically, but before long, her laughs faded into sobs.

"Hunter was with Rosie," she began, "but did not even bother to really tell me. He-, I-..."

Raptin stopped her stuttering by shocking her with a pale flower.

"I believe that this was how humans say that they care about someone. I know this is sudden, but I wanted you to know that he is not the only one who would be there for you while I can speak to you alone. He is a fool for not choosing you."

Duna stared at him for a moment, her jaw hanging open. Raptin laughed softly and closed it for her.

"Best not let the flies in. I hear they carry diseases here."

Duna blinked once as a smile broke out on her face. She leaped up and threw her arms around him. Now it was Raptin's turn to freeze, but he quickly recovered and returned the embrace. The two of them slowly separated and turned to watch the sunrise.