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Waking up a few hours later, the sky was full of stars still as the fire began to dissipate near Oddclaw's feet. The moon was reaching over to the west, a shining orb almost round but not quite due to the slight wane upon its edge as he roused Moonclaw gently.

"Nnnnnhhhh...morning?"

"Not quite. The stars are still out and look there is the moon."

"Hmmmm...that is good, the fire has gone I see. What a wonderful moon to see."

She glanced at it before the light captured her cheeks. Oddclaw watched her face become bright from the lunar gleam with a soft pause in his breath, enraptured by how strangely ethereal she seemed by her ashen skin now turned pale. The raptor female sighed with bliss before she turned towards him to see his expression.

"Well, shall we go? Or have I trapped you with my lack of beauty?"

"I...I-i-i-i um s-sorry, I just...you truly are beautiful."

"HHHHAH! Hahahahaha, your lies are improving but I will take that as it is now, shall we go?

"U-u-um yes, please?!"

They left their small sanctuary and headed on through the desert, the night turning it into a different place almost entirely. Most creatures had long disappeared into their burrows as other beasts made their presence known. Larger creatures began to roam both reptilian and mammal, ranging from familiar saurians to ragged huge rodents that reached up to his knees and hunted in packs of a formidable size. Just as Moonclaw said, the cold of the desert plains made them shiver through their scales but that only further encouraged them to start running. The ground shifted between the sand and the hard earth with every few steps, scrunching granules between their toes as they crossed over dunes, skirted round roaming packs and hunted the lone easy prey that they could find in the form of curious creatures and foolish wanderers.

The raptors never stopped, keeping their feet on the move to stay warm as they climbed dunes and skirted round rocks. Some of the wasteland's residents kept lying in wait, their eyes piercing into the back of Oddclaw's neck as he felt shivers run up his spine urging him onwards. Morning would come by the time they just passed the heart of the desert. Unbearable heat like the fires of Hell started to simmer and bake the land with the sun looming upon their backs. Skittering slithers crept beneath the dunes as monsters would start to awake, the scorpions arising with black thick armoured bodies they would deftly avoid in as wide an arcing berth as possible. On the second day of their time in the desert, the land would become but a neverending illusion as the horizon and dunes would blend into one thin stream of ancient sand despite Moonclaw's guidance. They struggled the higher the sun went, but trouble soon came on the horizon in the form of a hulking shape.

"Be careful," she warned. "I can sense his intent."

"I sense it too...is that...a leaf-eater?"

"It appears to be...I do not recognise it."

The creature that approached would resemble a large shell-less turtle with wide-bodied hips, reaching to a height of 10 feet with deep green scales and standing upon two legs. But it was the long wicked claws that caught their attention first, huge gleaming scythes on its fingers with each one a good three feet of death. A Therizinosaurus according to palaeontologists unknown.

"Are you hunters?" he asked.

"Yes. Are you not?"

"Where are you headed?"

"To the Lake of the Longnecks."

"...I've been looking for you."

The smell of aggression fumed as he raised his claws against.

"You're not getting past me."

"What?"

"I won't let you take the life of another hatchling, not here, not ever."

"What are you saying?!"

"Die in the sand you FILTH!"

The long-clawed beast suddenly lunged with a sweeping slash, tearing across the air in front of their faces as they leapt back with shock. The raptors quickly nodded by a mutual instinct, swiftly running to opposite sides of the creature in a pincer formation to try and attack his legs. The claws spun in a sweeping circle to keep them back, raking across the sands with ruthless efficiency as the raptors dodged and leapt over the low-striking slash. Oddclaw waited for Moonclaw to distract him, taunting the scythe-fingered saurian who swung with monstrous force with the wind whooshing past Moonclaw's head, one of his hands slamming down onto the dirt to send up a thick cloud of dust. He leapt onto his back and bit hard upon his shoulder, latching on with reckless abandon as the bipedal beast roared and stomped with frenzied rage.

Struggling to reach back and scratch him, the creature felt the biting jaws and raking against his back, claws of his feet sinking in to shred his skin until he had the idea to slam himself down on his back into the sand. This caused Oddclaw to panic as he leapt off quickly, but the beast rolled himself back on his feet and rushed towards the male raptor with three lunging blades on each hand. He dodged fast with a sideroll and readied to pull out his shotgun, but the beast swung with a backhand fist cracking the blunt edge of his claws upon his face and hand.

The gun clattered on the sand as he dived for it in a tight forwards roll, the giant beast coming from behind with claws raised high ready to slash him in two. But Moonclaw lunged from the side and mauled his leg with a gnashing of her teeth, twisting and rending her fangs across the thick heel as the beast struggled to kick her off. Slicing with a whirling force, he shredded the sands underneath but managed to knock Moonclaw off with a gashing cut across her face that streaked deep down her snout. She rushed him once again as he struck twice in a scissor-like attack, but she dodged underneath where the two hands crossed before snapping up to bite at his crotch and tear at the belly. He panicked with gasping flail before falling forwards in an attempt to crush her, but the raptor released and slid through his legs to shred at his feet once more. The long-clawed beast raised his foot and swung with devastating force, cracking a blow across her face and adding another scar that just barely managed to claw her eye from its socket by a few centimetres, sending her off into the sands. But It was enough time for Oddclaw to get back on his feet and fire, but the saurian swung back and managed to knock his aim off enough to avoid being shot.

"WHA-GAAAH!"

"GET BACK LEAF-EATER!"

"Wh-wh-what...what was THAT?!"

"I will not ask again! If you fight us then I will shatter your head APART!"

"YOU STOP STEALIN' EGGS OR ELSE, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE YOU ROTTEN-BREATH-"

"HEY HEY HEY THAT'S ENOUGH, SLASH!"

Coming from the wastes between a pair of large rocks was another beast that looked just as intimidating as the clawed herbivore. Reaching almost 12 feet in height despite a rather stooped pose, his body was wholly coated red like a painting of magma trapped in time, his head coated in horns along the back of his skull and with a prominent smooth black dome that crowned his forehead. To a human it would resemble a dragon without wings of satanic appearance, or rather a Stygimoloch, but to Oddclaw it was yet another odd herbivore who spoke with calm voice.

"These aren't the egg thieves."

"What?! How'd you know?!"

"Because I actually saw them idiot, they were way smaller than these two."

"WELL-...you could've told me before I started slashing 'em!"

"I agree!" cried Moonclaw. "I almost lost my face!"

"Sorry sorry sheeesh..."

The dome-headed beast scratched his cheek in awkwardness.

"My friend went ahead of me and well, I have a bad leg so I can't really get up to speed ya know?"

"Who are you two?" she asked. "And what was that about egg thieves?"

"OH, sorry I'm uh Firetail and this is-"

"Plainslash," said the therizinosaurus, "just Plainslash."

"I am Moonclaw, and this is Oddclaw."

"Nice to meetcha!" added Firetail smiling. "So uh what you guys doing?"

"We are travelling to the Lake of the Longnecks as we said to your friend. BUT, we are not hunting for eggs, I am simply trying to get my friend back home to his tribe."

"Ohhhhh right." The stygimoloch butted his friend's shoulder. "Heh, you really messed up Slash."

"Oh come on!" he cried. "You were the one that told me they were hunters!"

"Yeah but not THOSE hunters come on I told you they were small."

"EVERYTHING IS SMALL TO ME, DO YOU SEE THESE CLAWS?!"

"Heheh yeah well I'm bigger than you so you don't have an excuse, I told you they were small enough to just reach your knee, not like your belly like these two."

"Oh I'm sorry, maybe you should mark it on my body like THIS one here!"

He pointed to the skin-deep gash on his belly to which Moonclaw simply licked the blood off her lips in response. The hornheaded beast shook his head and leaned against Plainslash with a condescending look.

"You should've been my brother, that way when you fell out of your mom you wouldn't hit your head so hard."

"Oh, sure!" Slash waved his claws above his head. "Make fun of the leaf-eater that can REACH with these claws, what are you gonna do?! Headbutt the tree until leaves come down on you?!"

"Uhm, yes? That's what I do Slash."

"Well enjoy eating your leaves off the ground in mud because I almost got killed by these two thanks to you!"

"I didn't tell you to go right at them with claws open!"

"YOU SAID IF WE FOUND ANY EGG THIEVES WE KILL THEM RIGHT THERE!"

"Yeah and THEY'RE not egg thieves ya shitvent!"

Oddclaw slowly walked up towards Moonclaw and carefully licked her clean, tasting the blood from her wounds trying to heal.

"These two are odd," he said.

"From you that must be something."

"Are you alright?"

"I will live, do not fear."

Both raptors turned their heads to the bickering leafeaters, grinding their skulls against each other with sibling rage frothing at the mouth.

"They speak like hatchlings," muttered Odd.

"They must have come from great eggs."

"Hmhmhah, I think they are older than that."

"Are you sure about that?"

"UM, excuse me!"

He cried out to stop them from breaking into a full-on brawl as they snarled at each other.

"You spoke of egg thieves, are you hunting them?"

"Yeah," said Plainslash, "they've been hunting around the lake stealing eggs from the other tribes and we wanna put a stop to it."

"If...if we help you hunt down the egg thieves, can you take us to the lake so I can find my way home?"

"Wha-huh?!"

"What?!"

"REALLY?!"

They all stared at him with astonishment, Moonclaw moreso as she whispered:

"What are you doing?!"

"I just want to help!"

"We do not NEED their help!"

"I know that, but egg thieves threaten us all, they must be stopped!"

"That is their problem!" she snarled with samping feet.

"Egg thieves are EVERY tribe's problem, like the skyflesh."

"Wha-what do skyflesh have to do with this?"

"They are filthy scum and nothing else but we are not dealing with them right now when egg thieves must be stopped!"

"Damn right!" cried Firetail swaggering forwards. "You really wanna help us?"

"If you take us to the lake after we hunt them yes," reminded Oddclaw.

"...what do you think Slash?"

"Well I already screwed up," muttered Slash, "so this is now YOUR problem, you lead us this time hardhead!"

The stygimoloch sighed and simply shrugged before he bent himself to the raptors politely.

"If you wanna help us then sure, but...you try to betray us or have those eggs for yourselves, we're absolutely killing you."

"I understand," said Oddclaw. "We will do our best, but YOU promise to take us to the lake."

"We promise. Don't you worry."

"Which way did the egg thieves go?"

"Uhhhhh that's the problem, we're not sure. But you two got better snouts, right?"

"Well, I-"

"We do," chimed in Moonclaw. "Follow us, we shall find these egg thieves."

"Do you have a scent we can follow?"

"Yep!"

Firetail led them towards the rocks showing evidence of some creature's markings. Urine was at least a day old but it was clear enough that they caught the scent as it sent both raptors darting towards the north region. The herbivores followed with an eager spring in their step as they crossed the shifting sands with Moonclaw sprinting deviously fast, racing almost to be the first at the presumed lair of the egg thieves. Forty long minutes of solid running beneath the most intense glare of the sun's daily cycle made it much more strenuous for both herbivore and carnivore. It would then take another fifty minutes to find some shade from overhanging rocks which helped the smaller raptors, but for Firetail and Plainslash they had little opportunity to wedge themselves in underneath the stony pit as they rested. Oddclaw sighed and tucked himself away as far into the shade as he could with Moonclaw whilst the two herbivores scouted from the edge.

"Uuuugh I hate the desert," mumbled Firetail.

"Well YOU wanted to come here," said Plainslash, "I just wanted to go down to the lake and check out that sweet three-horn."

"Oh come on Slash she is not gonna let you breed her."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! Have you SEEN her horns they're enormous!"

"I really do not care."

"Oh no course not, she doesn't have a cock so why would you care?"

"Exactly."

The stonehead smirked with little care as he slumped against the rock's base. Moonclaw kept sniffing the air to try and guess which direction the thieves had went. Oddclaw noticed then the reason for Firetail's name as he stared at the styigomoloch's back and saw with surprise his tail had been charred black, burnt to a crisp of hardened stubby flesh.

"What...happened to you?"

"Hmm?"

"Your tail, why is it..."

"Oh, that, the Firesea did that."

"The Firesea?"

"Yeah it's this huge mountain way over to the west just past the longnecks' lake and it's right over next to the sea. Nothing but fire all across the shore, I took a wrong turn and well, next thing I knew the fire just crawled over my tail and well it's...well, gone."

"Oh...I am so sorry."

"Ahhhh don't worry I got used to it. I have problems balancing but I'm still alive."

"I...okay."

He could not imagine life without a tail, starting to feel much more sensitive about his own as he pulled it close and stroked it against his side. Then the raptor remembered Kevin with his stone legs and pondered on if the humans would possibly make a replacement for the stygimoloch's tail. But Firetail mistook his look for something else.

"I'm not interested."

"What?"

"You have a nice cock but I don't breed with hunters, sorry."

"OH, n-n-no I was, not wanting to breed with you!"

"Hhhhahahaha, why, you already have someone?"

"N-no, I...I do not."

"How old are you?" asked Plainslash.

"I am...um...less than thirty cycles old."

"You don't have a mate by now?! Jeez you're getting old already."

"What about you two?! You do not have mates!"

"I'm younger than you, I'm eighteen-and-two cycles old!"

"And I just don't like females," said Firetail shrugging. "Just can't get my cock up for them, only time I really felt good was breeding males."

"You do not like females?" asked Oddclaw. "I have a friend who also does not like females."

"Really?"

"Yes, he would breed me often. He was a very good friend, I loved him."

"What happened to him?"

Oddclaw scratched his head with a growing remorse as the sun beat against his neck.

"We...I had to leave, he has his tribe and I have mine to go back home to."

"Ahhhh, long-distance always the worst isn't it? I wish there was a way to talk to others across the world."

"How would you do that?" asked Plainslash.

"Well you know, like some kind of um...I dunno, a long long LONG way of calling someone."

"Like a longneck to call for you?"

"YEAH! You know they can call to each other from a long way away, we can uh...call it a...I-i don't know it would be great!"

"I hear them!"

Moonclaw signalled them to keep quiet as they craned their necks to hear as best they could the approaching egg thieves. There were three of them together, skittish things that stood around 4.5 feet with crested heads and desert-skinned bodies carrying eggs in their jaws carefully, what the humans would call the Oviraptor. Running towards a burrow that was hidden inside a large dune some feet away, the egg thieves scuttled inside as the raptors followed after to find a small underground cave made accessible by a horde of at least twelve oviraptors.

"Phew! Those waterbeaks never saw us."

"You ALMOST lost your head."

"Nah-uh!"

"Yeah-uh!"

"Enough, put the eggs over there and we shall feast when we are ready."

It was a small colony with 10 eggs in captivity, dropped into a nest as they licked their lips with anticipation beneath the eyes of their pursuers.

"Can we eat them now?!"

"Mother is not ready yet, you know she eats first!"

"Awwwwwww but I want to eat this now!"

"Be quiet, you had the last egg the night before!"

"But I'm hungryyyyyyy, I want that juicy egg!"

"I just hope I get a hatchling in one of these...mmmmmph...remember the last time we had a hatchling in one of these?"

"Ohhhhhh yeeeees...bleeding in its own egg, s-so good."

The ravenous hunger made the raptors sick along with the herbivores who almost retched with disgust.

"U-ugh jeez," murmured Slash, "disgusting shits, how we gonna do this?"

"We will attack first," said Moonclaw, "Oddclaw and I shall run around to behind and if they try to run and escape, you two surprise them and stop any from getting past."

"Got it, keep this blocked."

Moonclaw headed first, taking Oddclaw with her as they skirted round the thick rocky walls of the miniature cavern. The cragged stone hid them well enough as they waited for the leader of the pack to make her presence.

"What a good haul you found!"

"They are waterbeak eggs!"

"I can smell that, son of mine. Now, bring me that one."

Two of them carried the largest egg towards her, placing it down before her as she sniffed it with salivating hunger.

"Hhhhhhh...I can almost taste the life in this one, I think this one may be near hatching."

"Wha-...h-how do you know?!"

"In future my son, you will learn which ones are...full of meat."

"NOT TODAY!"

Leaping down with a shrieking strike, the raptors came hard upon two thieves by crushing them with their weight in a bodyslamming crunch. Panic went rife through the place as the mother screeched:

"INTRUDERS! KILL THEM!"

"PROTECT THE FOOD! THEY WANT OUR FOOD!"

The egg hunters rushed them as the raptors waited, keeping their distance from the eggs to make certain they were not harmed during the conflict that ensued. While not as strong as the Sunmoon hunters, they were much faster and lithe in climbing stones and leaping down on their heads with crying squawks of fearful frenzy. Moonclaw dodged swiftly to her side before lunging back with a raking bite swinging her whole body back towards them, crushing their throat in her jaws as blood squirted across the red sturdy rock. Oddclaw took no prisoners, grabbing one of their heads into an armlock and twisting it sharp with a violent crack in his thick muscular arms before grabbing the next one by the throat.

With five oviraptors rushing against the attackers, the others gathered as much as they could of the eggs including the mother as they scarpered to the entrance, but only to find two great shadows stopping them with a braying roar of fury.

"GUESS WHAT YOU SMALL SHITS!"

"IT'S TIME TO DIE!"

Forcing them back into the cave, they clutched their bounty carefully as the mother of the horde shrieked:

"THESE ARE NOT YOUR EGGS!"

"THEY'RE NOT YOURS EITHER YOU THIEVING COCKHOLE!" roared Plainslash.

"And what are YOU going to do about it?! You try to hurt us we will drop these eggs all over the ground!"

"You do THAT and I will shove my cock SO FAR up your vent I will breed you right up HIS vent!"

"W-w-wait wait WHAT?!" stammered Firetail in disgust. "Wha-ju-no, that is-N-NO!"

"Bro shut up it's a threat!"

"I am NOT taking your cock up my vent, that's just UGH!"

"What's wrong with ME?!"

"You've had that thing in females!"

"Oh you are not serious!"

"I tasted that thing before Slash, I could taste HER!"

"Oh NOW you say that I can breed a female right!"

"I never said you CAN'T I just said that one three-horn wasn't going to-"

"ENOUGH!" screamed the mother egg thief. "YOU cannot take our eggs you leaf-eating degenerates so either let us free, or we DROP these- GH-GHHRRRKH!"

The dual attack of Oddclaw and Moonclaw came without warning, her jaws wrapped neatly round her throat to crack it wide open until the bone shattered in pieces, whilst Oddclaw grabbed the eggs from her dying grasp. With the rest of the group now panicking at their mother deceased, they dropped the eggs into the sand and ran straight for the exit. But Slash and Firetail had their orders and clawed harshly through the escaping beasts, the therizinosaurus gouging two of them with monstrous blades forked through their hearts whilst Firetail rammed one straight through the head with such force he crushed its skull inwards, causing it to stumble and collapse with eyes watering into sunken streams of compressed jelly down its cheeks. One almost managed to escape if not for Oddclaw rushing past to divetackle the thief.

"N-NO, NOOOO PLEASE!"

"You know what happens to thieves."

"I, I-i-i-i won't steal, I WON'T STEAL EVER AGAIN I PROMISE!"

"Do you promise? I will make you suffer if you dare break that promise."

"YES YES, YES I PROMISE, I PROMI-I-I-IIIIIISE, PLEAAAAASE DON'T KILL MEEEEE!"

Something in Oddclaw stayed his hand from slicing the little thief's throat. His first instinct was just to gut him by the trachea and leave his corpse on the sands but something flickered in the back of his mind leaving him rather out of sorts. He could not shake the feeling that somehow he would be committing a personal act of wrong from killing this unarmed fleeing beast.

"......I will let you live."

"H-h-hhhhwhat?"

"IF you promise me that you shall never hunt for eggs from this day forth now, do you understand?"

"I...I-i-i-i um...wh-what would I eat?"

"Stonefish, you have a small beak that will work well for breaking open their shells instead."

"O-o-oh-kay...th-thank you, thank you for not killing me."

"If I see you again and I smell a hatchling on your breath, I will make certain you wish I killed you here. Now go."

He stood up and let the thief free, scattering sand behind him as he ran far as he could in frantic fearful glee with his heart almost pounding out of his chest. The oviraptor soon disappeared as the sound of his sobbing cries faded into the desert whilst Slash and Moonclaw came up behind him.

"Why'd you let him go?!" he cried. "He's gonna steal again!"

"No, he will not."

"Wha-why?! Why would he not steal-"

"Because he promised me. I know he will not break that."

"You expect a THIEF to keep his promise?! Wow your mother must have birthed you last."

"If I am wrong then we can kill him."

"Fine fine, we got all these eggs at least so I guess I should thank you."

"I believe you should," said Moonclaw condescending. "Now will you take us to the lake?"

"Well first off," said Firetail coming up, "we need to get all these eggs back to their homes!"

"What?! That was not part of the deal!"

"What, you were just gonna LEAVE them here, you're a female you should know how bad that is!"

"How do you plan for us to carry these back!?"

"I have an idea."

They turned to meet Oddclaw's gaze as he saw the flesh of thieves still hanging from Plainslash's claws which gave him the idea. The process took at least a full thirty-eight minutes for him to flense the skin off the oviraptors in the cave as he constructed a grisly measure for egg-carrying. He formed a set of slings from eight oviraptors by making their backs into the main deep pocket and their arms into the knots to tie them round each of their bodies. The larger beasts took three eggs each whilst the raptors took two each in their new scaly pouches which hung firmly against their chests.

"This is...odd," chimed Moonclaw.

"But useful!" replied Plainslash. "How'd you even make something like this?!"

"I learned some tricks," said Oddclaw proudly. "My friend taught me how to make these out of...well, not flesh but it felt like the same."

"Well whatever your friend is sure knows their stuff, now we can carry these eggs straight back to their mommies!"

"Is it far to the lake?"

"Nah we can get there in a day, don't you worry! Alright let's go!"

"TO THE LAKE!"

The long walk towards the lake was both inspiring and also frought with tension in keeping the eggs safe from harm, clutching them close against their chests like children in a caboose across the sands. When night would come they kept their eggs tucked beside their bodies with great care and consideration. Despite Oddclaw making a campfire still for them, the herbivores did not sit too close but they were astonished at his skill, utilising all they could to make certain their eggs would not become cold at any point. The third day of their long trek would soon reward them with the first sight of green and the warm grass beneath their heels. The scents of many creatures came flooding to their nostrils from the great serene paradise of the plains.

Sprawling fields of sweet verdant dawn across the length of the horizon meeting glorious blue skies that reflected the lakewater perfectly. The lake was immense stretching thirty kilometres long by fifteen kilometres wide as creatures both great and small roamed the ancient savannah. Braying moans and whooping calls resonated across the land as Oddclaw could see the faintest red farther off to the west but the one thing he noticed first and foremost would make his heart swell with joy. The Skylands south of him, the dreaded mountain home of the Skyflesh he so despised as Firetail said:

"Welcome to our home. Heh, whaddaya think?"

"Hhhhhaaaaaah...hhhhohhhhh I have missed the leaves until now. Mmmmmhhhh...quick, let us go to the lake."

"Hhhehehehahaha, that's not the lake. That one's much further."

"Wait THAT is not the lake?!"

"No, this is what we call the Birthlands. The longnecks' lake you'll see soon enough so you can't miss them. Let's get these eggs back home first."

"Right."

Heading down the rolling hills into the valley, the grass became much more sumptuous with a thick zestful vitality as creatures turned their heads briefly to stare amidst their chewing, mating and defecating. They found mostly herbivores amidst this nirvana of luscious green and while they kept their distance with low murmurs of threat to warn the two raptors away, they were rather confused by the two big beasts carefully guiding them through the land towards the lake. Oddclaw had to wonder how much bigger the Lake of the Longnecks would be in comparison as they strolled onwards, between the roaming herds of herbivores with a few rare hunters minding their own business for the time being. He was surprised to see that other carnivores also respected each other's territory as well as that of their prey in an odd sense of community. Soon their party had reached the lake as Firetail called out to the length of the shore:

"HEY! Hey you, mama waterbeak!"

Looming their heads up from the bullrushes of the lake were a small family of hadrosaurs, duckbilled dinosaurs with curved heads reaching backwards. Their scent burned with fright at the raptors approaching but were stayed by Slash's outburst.

"N-N-NO, NO IT-IT'S OKAY, THEY'RE JUST FRIENDS, WE GOT YOUR EGGS BACK!"

"E-eggs?! What do you mean?!"

"You remember your eggs that those thieves stole before? We got them back!"

"Wh-WHAT?! You...you did?!"

"Yeah look!"

He walked forwards with his sling, carefully depositing the lumpy hadrosaur eggs into a spare nest much to their shock. Then Firetail brought his, before Oddclaw and Moonclaw gave theirs over to the rightful mothers.

"WH-AH! AAAAAH MY BABIES! MY LITTLE HATCHLINGS H-H-HOW, how did you...oh...ohhh thank you. Thank you THANK YOU I-i thought I had lost them!"

"We are happy to bring your children back," said Oddclaw smiling without teeth. "I hope they live long fertile lives."

"You...but you are a hu-...hunter, why would you-"

"Egg thieves threaten us all, I would want my children back if they had been stolen."

"I...I do not know what to say. You are s-so...kind. I have never...known a hunter to do this."

"It was not us alone," stated Moonclaw, "your friends insisted that we help them."

"Well...thank you, all of you."

The mothers sat in their nests to reunite fully with their unborn children, whimpering almost to tears with heartfelt joy as they walked away to leave them be. Firetail and Plainslash soon spoke to the raptors once they were a reasonable distance.

"Hey. Thanks for helping us."

"We are glad to have saved the lives of hatchlings," said Moonclaw nodding. "All creatures should have the right to be born."

"Even you guys," added Plainslash. "Hah, naaaah I'm teasing, you two are wonderful. I guess this is where we part?"

"Yes, we have our journey still. I hope your lives are long and full of happiness."

"Awww thanks...I mean from a hunter that's pretty good!"

"I say so," stated Slash, "you two have a safe journey, g'bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Both herbivores walked off to banter with each other as the raptors had a moment to themselves before deciding to go drink and sate their thirst. Refilling his bottle, Oddclaw noticed the difference between the lake's water and that of the volcanic Death Nest which he now long missed the taste of its nutrients.

"The waters of your home was delicious compared to this."

"Hmhmhm, I am glad you said it first. We cannot be unappreciative, especially after the plains."

"Yes."

"Should we rid ourselves of these things?"

She brought up the sling harness made of oviraptor skin as he shrugged.

"I will not make you keep yours however I will keep mine."

"Very well."

Moonclaw slid off the grisly thing forwards from her neck and swung it with her teeth off to the side.

"I must admit, you surprise me again."

"What do you mean?"

"Making fire was one thing, but putting your journey aside to rescue the eggs of leaf-eaters?"

"Would you not have done the same?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"It does not concern me. I would not aid nor would I impede them."

"An egg that is lost should concern all of us. One day it can be their egg, but another day it could be ours."

"Ours?"

She cocked her head slightly with a curious smirk as he blushed all of a sudden.

"I-i-i-i mean, ours as in our kind, the hunters! If an egg from my tribe or, or yours was stolen, we, w-w-we would, we would want them to be found safe!"

"Hahahaha please do not fear, I understand. You are cute when you are panicking."

Oddclaw flustered with a short whimper until she slurped his cheek, swishing her tail to him as she walked away after drinking her fill. He followed her as they crossed the great savannah towards the west, amidst the flowering wilds of transient beasts that roamed the fertile land. The plains were almost larger than that of the desert as the two raptors enjoyed a moderate pace over the course of four days between hunting the lone and foolish prey, and sleeping in the peaceful grass beside the trees. It was the most peaceful Oddclaw had been since he had been washed away by his family, and with each new step they took he found himself staring at Moonclaw more often. The sun turned her scales into shining silver, her scent almost blossomed in his nostrils and the grace with which she slaughtered their prey made his heart whisper sweet nothings. He was not sure what it was about her that was attracting him, but he tried to keep his head clear thinking that he was just lonely. That perhaps he was just so desperate for company he was going to cling to the first raptor he met.

"Are you alright?"

Her voice broke through his thoughts as they stared into the star-lit night, sitting on a lone hill that faced towards the deep burned horizon of the west.

"I...I am fine."

"You seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"I am...just fearful of my family. I hope in my heart that my brother is safe."

"What of the rest of your family?"

"They can look after themselves. Barkclaw cannot. It would be easy for Sunscreech to hurt him, that...that is my great fear."

"I am sure your family will protect him. They must know how vulnerable he is."

"My mother does not think he is. She just thinks he is difficult because he can, not like Sunscreech."

"......ah, the moon is fading."

"Hmm?"

She nodded towards the moon which had now slowly turned into a half-crescent shape.

"Before I met you, not too long before, the moon came close to me."

"Really?"

"I have seen it happen. Sometimes the moon is small, and other times it is great. I always wondered why and for cycles I could not think why the moon kept changing its size. My family did not believe me, but I always watched the moon every night. I realised that the moon is moving across the world, and into the sea. But what if it has its own cycle?"

Oddclaw knew this to be true. Brightman had explained to him of the stars, the sun and moon and them orbiting around the earth but he let her speak.

"Tell me what you think about the moon."

"Well...the moon sinks into the sea to the west, and rises from the sea to the east, yes?"

"Yes."

"But sometimes it is great and sometimes it is small, even though it enters and leaves the sea the same every night. I think the moon is moving around the land like the skyflesh do. They fly over the sea, and disappear, but what if there is more beyond the sea to the west? Now fly even further, and what if...they come back from the east like walking around a mountain to return back to your starting point?"

"Hmmmm...that is interesting. I think you may be right."

"Really?!"

"I believe so. It makes sense to me."

"Hahaha...hah...thank you! No one believed me when I told them this, they said it was stupid."

"I know you are not stupid, so it cannot be that."

Moonclaw blushed with a tender smile at his compliment as he smiled back.

"So why do you think the moon becomes great some nights?"

"Well...a skyflesh is great when it is near you...but small when far away. So what if the moon is just that, a flying...thing that sometimes comes close?"

"Then why does it not land on the earth?"

"There might not be enough space! It could be a mountain in the sky, a mountain that could flatten the ENTIRE earth if it came to us."

"So it is simply...flying always?"

"I think so. It happens every one-and-a-half cycles, the moon becomes great, a greatmoon I call it and it...it looks beautiful."

"When did it last happen?"

"Hmmmmm...it was not long before I met you."

She counted to the best of her ability, staring at her claws as she tried to go backwards in the days that had passed.

"Eighteen...and-one days before today."

"Ahhh...I did wonder why they call you Moonclaw."

"Hmhmhmhm!"

"What do you think about the stars?"

"I am not as interested in them, I always thought they were pieces of the moon that it sheds like its skin."

"Really? In my tribe we believe they are the hopes and dreams of those who died, both hunter and prey."

"...really?"

"Yes."

"......that is a wonderful thing to think."

Her eyes twinkled with a sense of inspiration. But then sadness came and thickened in her scent, snuffing out the light in her ruby red eyes. Somehow it was the first time Oddclaw had noticed the colour of them before they went to sleep. The fifth morning of their time in the Birthlands came with a new resolution as they finally discovered the Lake of the Longnecks.

It was not a loch so much as it was an inland sea in itself, a flooded plain that swamped the entirety of the land between them and the Skylands to the south. The ocean stood on either side of them, salted scents carried by the breeze despite the "lake" itself still being freshwater except on the outermost perimeters, which were guarded by sturdy sea walls built up over eons of natural sculpture. The place was littered with the longnecked beasts, ranging from Brachiosaurus to Apatosaurus to Diplodocus, all of them towering at a height of 60 feet and above, with enormous tails that could crush an entire pack of hunters. They dotted the waterlogged landscape like living trees, eating from the watercress despite the multitude of other beasts that swam within the lake.

Fish were of course present, but even more intriguing was a beast Oddclaw had never seen before. Crocodiles, thick welt-skinned bumpy backs pretending to be like logs, coated in brown and green with long flat snouts full of ruthless teeth. One poorly three-horn child went too deep, and the croc grabbed its foot hard before dragging it in to a watery death, twisting into a vicious spiral to sever the leg and rip it straight from the bone before feasting on its young corpse. They soon approached the shore with caution, keeping their distance from the water as Moonclaw huffed with disappointment.

"The land is flooded, as I feared."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we will have to wait until the land dries out. I do not know how long that will take."

"But I have to get home!"

"Well you can try to swim."

"......I cannot swim."

"Nor can I, so you are stuck between me and the waterjaws."

"I have never seen a...waterjaw."

"Really? They are cruel beasts, step too far into the lake and you will die a painful death."

"......HEY! HEY YOU!"

"Wh-what are you-"

"LONGNECK, HELLO?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! I MUST SPEAK WITH YOU! HELLO?! DOWN HERE!"

The closest of the huge beasts loomed over them by turning its head slowly towards the raptor. Its face alone with crested top was big enough to eat him in one bite, if he were so inclined as his voice gave a rumbling deep tremor into their bones.

"Please do not shriek at me while I eat, small hunter."

"I am sorry to disturb you, but I need to cross the lake."

"Oh? Why not swim?"

"I cannot swim, and the waterjaws are fierce."

"A pity. You are stuck then."

"I...wanted to ask if my friend and I could climb on your back and you take us across."

"HAH! You two on my BACK?! HA HA HA HA HA!"

His booming laugh almost deafened him like a typhoon in a cave, blustering with a force that knocked Oddclaw off his feet.

"HEY! TREESTAR, THIS SMALLTOOTH WANTS TO GET ON MY BACK TO CROSS THE LAKE!"

More laughter came from the lake as the longneck shook his head patronising.

"Why do you think I would let you on my back? You are biting far great than you can eat."

"I have no intention of eating you. I need to get home to my tribe and they are across the lake."

"There is nothing but the Skylands there."

"I mean BEYOND the Skylands!"

"Oh...I never look past those so I would not know. You really think I can trust two smallteeth on my back?"

"We have better food to hunt than you," said Moonclaw obstinate, "do not flatter yourself, I have seen and smelt plenty of what you leave behind."

"Careful hunter, remember my vent is aimed towards you, I can mark you from this distance no matter how far you run."

"We did not come through a desert just to be denied a way forwards, I had to carry a leaf-eater's eggs for this!"

"Wait......eggs?"

The brachiosaur turned to speak with a friend close by.

"HEY! TREESTAR, DID YOU SAY TWO HUNTERS RESCUED EGGS?!"

"YES, I HEARD IT FROM THE THREE-HORN!"

"WHAT DID THEY LOOK LIKE?!"

"ONE LOOKS LIKE ASH, THE OTHER STANDS REALLY ODD LIKE HE'S HANGING OFF A TREE!"

Oddclaw looked at himself with sudden self-awareness.

"I-i-i do not stand odd, do I?"

"You...I did not want to say," murmured Moonclaw.

"You think I stand odd!?"

"I was not going to say, I do not mind!"

"But you think it is odd?!"

"Your name IS Oddclaw."

"Yes it is not OddFEET is it?! Is NOTHING about me normal?!"

"I think it makes you look wonderful. There is no other like you."

She gave a tender lick to comfort him as he stuttered bashfully, before the longneck turned his great head back towards them.

"SO!"

"A-AAAH MY EARS!"

"Sorry, sorry I forget how small you are. So I hear that you two were the hunters that rescued the waterbeaks' eggs."

"Yes, we did."

"Hmmm...you are not like other hunters, not so full of greed......perhaps...if you do something for me, I will let you cross the lake on my back."

"Y-yes, really?! You would do that?!"

"If you can prove to me your kindness, I will trust you enough to cross with me. There is a flower that grows in the Firesea, I want you to find it for me."

"The...F-firesea?" gasped the female.

"All you have to do is climb the third peak, where the flowers grow and bring me two. ONLY two."

"You want us to cross the sea of FIRE to get you some food?!"

"It is not just any food! It is a very special flower I wish to give to a friend, that is all I will say."

"I will bring you the flower," said Oddclaw firmly. "But you must promise to take us across after."

"I will, I promise. What are your names by the way?"

"I am Oddclaw, son of Oddscar."

"I am Moonclaw, daughter of none."

"And I am Seagazer. I wish you luck and a safe return from the Firesea, they are to the west of here. You cannot miss the scent nor the sight of it."

The raptors headed off as Seagazer returned to his feeding and socialising, despite Moonclaw's sour mood as she ranted:

"I am a hunter, not some leaf-eating gatherer!"

"If he will allow us to cross then we must try."

"I hope he honours his promise, or I shall claw his eyes out and shit in his skull!"

Oddclaw could not help but start laughing at her brazen frustration, giggling into a fit.

"What is so funny?!"

"Y-you, you are um...v-very...you are so different when you are angry, but I do not know if you are more honest."

"I just do not have time to be patient nor suffer the problems of others."

"That is not true and you know that."

"What?!"

"If you had no patience, then you would not be here with me, would you Moonclaw? I think you are kind just as me, you do not have to pretend."

"Who said I was not kind? I am simply not patient."

"Then why come here with me? You could have told me which way to cross and I would have gone without you. But you insisted to come with me, I did not ask you first. You offered to come with me. So are you only patient with me, or is it perhaps something else?"

She tried to counter his argument but failed, scratching her head in annoyance as she sighed and headed off towards the Firesea. She hoped at the very least that there would be a battle for her to vent her needs.