father.

    After a long sob, Sotara was calm enough. Boha explained, "Now, Sotara, what you should know is why I make you promise that. It is because I don't want you to destroy yourself, I know that my death would hurt you so much, right?"

    "Right, father. It... it was too much for me," Sotara answered with a sniff.

    "I don't want you to fight Aliwal with anger. If you need to stop him from taking the valley, don't you, ever again, let your anger get the better of you, understand?" Sotara just nodded for the answer.

    "Use your skills, I'm sure that you are good enough to fight him. Remember, the only one who can defeat Aliwal is Sotara, not the Sotara I saw in the river, but the one that I can be proud of when others mention his name.... I have to go now. You have my blessings, farewell, son," Boha said before he walked away. But just before Boha disappeared from Sotara's view, Sotara called out his uncle's name. As Boha turned to Sotara, Sotara quickly ran to him, nuzzled him gently, and said, "Thank you for everything. An orphan like me wouldn't have this day without you. I shall never forget you, father."

    "You're not an orphan. Remember, you'll always have me," Boha said before he faded to the distance.

    "Sotara...," a voice can be heard, from somewhere. "Sotara...," the voice repeated, this time closer and louder, yet, it didn't remind Sotara of anyone he knew. "Who are you? What do you want?" Sotara asked, turning around to find the source of the sound, but after several times of turning, he still couldn't see.

    He started walking randomly, the voice continued calling his name, time after time. As soon as the voice started to turn from a ghostly echoing one to the one he somehow recognized. Suddenly, a great pain caught him on his ribs, where Aliwal had hit him. He, suddenly, fell to the ground; his limbs clawed the air, and his back arched, but the pain didn't relieve just a little.

    The voice didn't stop as well. Despite the pain, Sotara could now tell whose it was, "Plat... Platinum?"

    "Well, you're awake, finally," the grey Herrerasaurus said.

    Sotara closed his eyes tightly, enduring the pain, tried to get up from where he was.

    "Whoa! Hey, calm down, hero. That will make you feel worse," Platinum said.

    "Platinum.... You are... the one... who saved me... from the fall...?"

    "Oh! Oh! Not me, you, yourself, walked here in your sleep! Believe me?" Platinum said in an extremely sarcastic way, just as he always was.

    "Platinum, is that your way to speak to a guest?" someone else spoke up, and walked out from the deeper part of the cave.

    "Sorra..., I'm sorry."

    "Sorra?" Sotara repeated the name, trying to think where did he heard that name before.

    As the sand-coloured female Herrerasaurus showed herself, Sotara laid eyes on her, "Are you...?"

    "Yes, I'm Nebbia's friend, Sorra. And you must be Sotara, the one who Nebbia always talks about," Sorra answered as if she knew what Sotara was going to say, "She appreciates you so much, you know?"

    Before Sorra could say more, Platinum asked, "So, what is it in the world that brought you to me in this condition?"

    Sotara shifted his position so he can look at the two more comfortably, he yelped in pain as his weight crushed on his injured ribs. It took more effort than he had expected to make such a little move. "Let's not... talk about that... right now, please," he begged.

    Platinum didn't put the subject down, now not because he want to displease Sotara, just his curiousity get the best of him, "Let me guess, you tried that giant, didn't you?"

    "Just push that aside, will you?" Sorra scolded him, for she wanted Sotara to be as comfortable as he could. Sotara just answered Platinum with a nod, he was too tired to say a word, all he needed now is a good sleep.

    After Sotara fell asleep, Sorra walked toward to entrance of their cave. "Where are you going?" Platinum asked.

    "I'm going to tell Nebbia that Sotara is here. I don't want her to be worried," Sorra turned around and said, "I'll be back before sunset," then she left.

    Nebbia and Aleu were now by the river, where they saw the footprint last night. For more than half an hour, there was only silence, Aleu had her muzzle low to the ground all the time and her back was now aching. Finally, she stood up straight. "Got something?" Nebbia asked.

    "Nothing, the rain might have washed all the scents and the prints away," Aleu sighed hopelessly then lowered her nose once more, but this time, she quickly lifted it up high in the air; there was something in the air that grabbed her attention. "There is someone coming, a female of your kind, I think," Aleu told Nebbia.

    Like what Aleu said, after a moment, a light brown female Herrerasaurus appeared in sight.

    "Nebbia, what are you doing here?" she started.

    "Sorra! Oh, I'm really glad to see you. Last night, Sotara fell down the fall. But the storm, I couldn't find him. Have you...," Nebbia said with worry.

    "Calm down, Nebbia. I'm going to your cave to tell you that Sotara is okay, he's at my cave," Sorra cut Nebbia off.

    "Really!?" Nebbia asked. Although her voice was still shaking a lot, but unlike last night, this time, it was nothing but pure joy that shook it.

    "Oh, thank you, thank you, Sorra. Without you, I don't know what to do. I... I don't know what to say."

    "Then don't, my friend," Sorra smiled as she found her decision to come tell Nebbia was right, "Look at you, I've never seen you so happy." It was then, when she noticed Aleu sitting beside her friend, "I bet this is your mammal friend you talked about? Aren't she supposed to stay in the cave?"

    "She has been helping me finding Sotara since last night. But, we can only reach here."

    "Well, Platinum took him from here. I'm sorry I didn't go to you immediately, you know, the storm is...," a question popped in Sorra's thought as she mentioned the storm, "How did you track Sotara to this place in that weather?"

    "I... umm... smelled," Aleu answered her, her sentence came out slowly as she yawned. Knowing that Sotara was safe, she had nothing to keep her from a good sleep anymore. After that long night, her body was now asking her for a rest.

    "It's okay, Aleu. You still have another chance to tell me your story. But, for now, it really seems like you need to get back to the cave with Nebbia."

    "No, I don't. I still want to see Sotara with my eyes, I want to make sure that he's all right," Aleu said.

    Before Sorra could say anymore word, Nebbia interrupted, "Aleu. now we have nothing to worry, Sotara is okay, and I'm sure that Sotara doesn't want to see you outside of the cave. I think we should go home for now."

    Aleu yawned again before she said, "Oh, okay, Nebbia."

    Nebbia turned her head to Sorra, smiled, "Thank you again for everything, Sorra. Now we have to go, see you again soon, friend," said she.

    "Same to you, friend. I will tell him your story, he must be proud of you two," Sorra replied with a smile. With that Nebbia and Aleu headed back to Sotara's cave.

    While Sorra was out, Sotara had already waken up, and now was having his first friendly conversation with Platinum. "Well..., after all this..., I think... I owe you my life.... How can I repay you...?" Sotara asked.

    "Nah! don't think like that. See this as my repay for your help back there in the pack. We're even now, okay?"

    "Come on..., Platinum. Let me do... something for you," Sotara pleaded

    "All right, all right, hmm...," after some seconds of thinking, Platinum spoke, "How about a friendly duel after we've done with that Aliwal?"

    "What...? What do you mean... by 'we?'" Sotara asked, not in confusion nor curiousity, but he didn't want to drag his new friend along in this danger situation.

    "I won't let you fight that gigantic thing alone. Besides, I've let you carry the title 'hero' alone for so long," he said with a small laugh. Sotara couldn't help smiling; he, then, shook his head slowly before getting some more rest.

    After a moment, Sorra walked into the cave. "Ah! There you are, Sorra. How is your friend and her furry friend?" Platinum asked

    "They're totally happy. I can say they are happier than I can imagine. Let's say they finally find out that the friend they spent all night to search is now safe," she answered. She smiled as she thought of how Nebbia and Aleu loved Sotara, she couldn't wait to tell Sotara their story.

    "They..., they what? They were up all night trying... to find me? What kind of a