"Wake up, Sid"

The small albino baryonyx regained consciousness, as he heard those words said in a deep and harsh tone. When the creature fully understood where he found himself, saw the scaly and rough back of his "father" in front of the tired red eyes.

"Rudy?" Sid yawned and stretched both of his limbs as a sign of interrupted sleep. "How long did you carry me on your back? You also interrupted my nap"

"Few seconds" the adult carnivore dinosaur replied placidly.

"What?" the young baryonyx quirked an eyebrow, annoyed. "Is that a kind of deja-vu? I thought I was in this position a little longer than I thought"

"The length of our trip depends on the length of your sleep"

"Oh, really?" Sid awkwardly blinked and then let out a sigh. "I regret that I fell asleep at such a moment and made you waste half your precious time"

The little dinosaur spotted Rudy's snout opening with a snicker.

"You have nothing to blame for" the adult albino baryonyx answered without hesitation. "You are young enough that sometimes you can barely make ends meet with fatigue, a little mouthful"

Sid folded his claws and blushed.

"Please..." he groaned. "Don't call me that way"

The adult beast shrugged and focused on the road through which he safely stomped. "As you wish, a little bite"

Rudy could only imagine how the cheeks of the young dinosaur on the summit of his back become like a tomato. That's how Sid looked then.

"Alright, If you want war, you'll get the war" the young dinosaur angirly teased under his breath. "...big unpleasant meanie..."

Gladly, Rudy didn't hear that and continued the simple moving motion in front.

Sid smirked when the prank call came to his mind. All he had to do was act on the part of his plan.

"RUDY!" the young baryonyx shouted, trying hard to make his voice sound scared, everything was going as planned when Rudy started looking around. "YOUR TAIL IS ON THE FIRE!"

"WHAT!?"

The adult carnivore reptile trembled and quickly wagged his tail in the hope or thought, that this thing would help him blow out all fake fire there. Sid laughed uncontrollably at the time as soon as he saw it with his own eyes. Such a large monster and easily believed in someone's joke.

"WHERE DID THE FIRE ON MY TAIL COME FROM!?" the adult albino baryonyx yelled out.

The young dinosaur stopped giggling and felt dizzy, as Rudy shook his torso thinking it would be a better solution for a fire... that wasn't there.

The scared white beast waved his body in different directions unintentionally causing a small dinosaur by his side to want to barf. A childish fear dominated Rudy's mind.

"Rudy?" Sid felt stupid to throw a joke to a large dinosaur at this point. "I'm sorry, it was just a silly joke"

The adult dinosaur stopped "dancing" in place and made a terrible groan. Sid felt terribly ill at the thought of harming his guardian in this way. The little albino Baryonyx spat in his face that he behaved like his friends, Manny and Diego who made jokes about him in the past.

How he missed them and their families.

Sid suddenly picked up how the pathetic moans of an adult predator turned into strange coughs that then morphed into silly and stupid laughter.

"Gotcha!" the adult baryonyx glanced at the young dinosaur with a friendly smile. "Hit and sink, little guy"

Unbelievable. The joke master was extinguished by an overgrown meat eater who used his own weapon. Feelings and emotions of the former hunted creature in the underground world.

"Y-you... Did you pretend it all?" the young baryonyx stammered with appearing shock in his voice. "How dare you... I took it seriously!"

Rudy remained with a sly smile on his narrow snout, but his red eyes followed a mysterious sound in the far distance of the jungle.

"Shhh..." the adult white baryonyx looked at his protege. "Now I will find some cave and you stay quiet, understood?"

When Sid also heard the mysterious sound, he nodded.

"...But what was that?" the young reptile asked anxiously. "What were those weird roars?"

The adult baryonyx looked around in search of the nearest shelter to hide while removing the lianas. When he noticed a large hole in the wall, almost immediately with Sid came inside.

Just in case, Rudy looked outside thinking that no one was following him. Fortunately, no other predator was visible.

"Rudy..." Sid continued to ask with nervous tone. "What were those sounds?"

The adult baryonyx gingerly laid on the ground that a a small dinosaur could easily go down to the stone ground.

"Velociraptors..." the albino carnivore replied in a calm whisper. "For me they are not a threat but for you"

The little dinosaur gulped in response.

"You are snack for them, little guy..." Rudy murmured, as he glanced at his "son". "Put simply... You would be defenseless without me..."

Sid sighed and lay back to stare directly at the stone ceiling.

"I don't understand something here... friend, that's how I should call you?"

Rudy shrugged with indifference. "Too much said..."

The young baryonyx took a deep breath before asking the question.

"Why are you looking after me?" he asked. "...After all I've done to you?"

There was a momentary silence throughout the cave. No one could guess whether awkward or simply plain without a word choice.

Finally Rudy forced himself to choke out the answer for his "son's" question.

"Even if I'm still not happy because you insert my own tooth in my forehead. I was not a saint myself. I lived a sadistic life with the only thought being about food and holding vendetta on Buck"

Sid tilted his head at the mention of the last thing. He felt drowsy with every thought inside.

"...And no..." Rudy turned to the little dinosaur and shook his head. "I did not recognize him as a rival as he told himself in his stupid head. Only a tooth connected us"

The white baryonyx slowly approached the young dinosaur.

"However, I feel kinship with you, Sid" he mumbled. "A relationship I can't describe"

With every word from Rudy, Sid felt more tired. After a couple of seconds, he let himself be drawn into sweet dreams.

"Goodnight, Sid"