Cassian PoV
I huffed and picked up a stick.
Damien snickered and jumped back. "What's wrong, Cass? Are you hiding something?"
I glared at him. "No, I'm not. I'm just annoyed you found me, that's all. Now, leave, unless you want to be defeated by the mighty Cassaurus!"
Toren laughed and pointed at Damien. "Dino gonna eat you too!"
Damien smirked and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so, Toren. You see, Cassian is pretty poisonous to be around. I'd hate for you to be poisoned too, little dino."
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Damien."
Toren frowned. "Cass no poisonous! Cass is a friend!"
Both Damien and I stared at the kid. He considered me a friend?
"Cass, rawr with me!" Toren said, holding out his hand.
I smiled. "Okay, little dino."
Damien sighed and shook his head. "Toren, I think you've forgotten we need to capture the Shellysaurus. I think I spotted it over there." He pointed at Shelly's hiding spot, his eyes glinting with triumph.
"No! No!" I said, panicking. "The Shellysaurus isn't there, Toren. It's over there!" I pointed in the opposite direction.
Toren tilted his head, looking between the two directions. He sniffed the air, his little brows furrowed, and then a grin spread across his face. "I know where the Shellysaurus is!"
Before I could stop him, Toren bounded over to the large root and tapped on it with his toy. "Shellysaurus, I got..." He looked at the root and saw she was gone. "Huh? Where did it go?"
Damien smirked. "She gave us the slip. We gotta go after her. Come on, little dino." He held out a hand to Toren, who grabbed it, and they both ran off.
I watched them go, my heart racing. I'd done it—I'd kept her hidden. But the look on Damien's face made it clear that he knew. He'd been testing me, seeing how far I'd go to protect her for this stupid game.
I huffed and followed them out. When I surfaced, my heart sank as Zara held Shelly victorious.
"Rawr! Zara got the Shellysaurus!" Toren said, running to them.
Damien chuckled and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, Cass, looks like Zara's one step ahead of you. Maybe you're losing your touch."
I growled. "Shut up, Damien."
Shelly glanced at me and laughed. "Well, that was fun."
Toren giggled and jumped in her arms. "Sis, sis, we're going to find the Shellysaurus again! Let's play again!"
Shelly giggled and hugged him. "I wanna be the seeker this time. I'm tired of being a dino food."
Damien laughed and ruffled her hair. "You'll never catch me, Shelly. I'm a master at this game."
She chuckled and swatted his hand away. "Oh, I'll catch you. I'm a better dino than you think. Rawr!"
Toren laughed and jumped up and down. "Okay! Shelly can be the dino hunter! Go hide!" He covered his eyes with his hands and began to count. "One...two..."
Damien chuckled and ran off. "Good luck finding me, Shelly."
Zara sighed and walked away. "I'll leave this game to you kids. I have some work to do."
"Thanks for playing with us, Zara," Shelly said. "Even if you're not into it."
A slight smile formed on Zara's face. "No problem, Shelly. Have fun."
I stretched. "Well, I better go back to cleaning my room."
Damien chuckled. "About time. You're always such a slob, Cass. It's a wonder how you ever find anything in there."
I grumbled and flipped him off. "Like you're any better."
He grumbled.
Shelly smiled. "How about we have a cleaning contest? Whoever cleans their room the fastest wins."
Toren hummed. "Our room isn't dirty. Sis always cleans it."
Damien chuckled. "I think Cass would win a dirty room contest. His room is such a mess it'll take him hours to clean it."
I growled. "Shut up, Damien. I already cleaned some of it."
Shelly hummed. "We could split into teams."
"I pick Damien!" Toren said, jumping up and down.
Damien grinned and ruffled his hair. "Ha! Looks like I have a teammate. Good choice, kid."
Shelly turned to me. "I guess we're a team, Cass."
I gulped. "Uh, yeah, sure."
Damien narrowed his eyes at me. He leaned in and whispered, "Don't try anything funny with her, Cass. Unless you want me to beat you into a pulp."
I scoffed. "Who says you can even beat me?"
Damien turned away, a glint in his eyes. "Don't test a crazy guy, Cass."
I gulped and looked at Shelly. She seemed unaware of our conversation, a small smile on her face as Toren ran around her.
"Come on, Damien! Cleaning Dinos need their trash piles!" Toren said, pulling Damien along.
Damien chuckled and let the boy lead him away.
Shelly turned to me. "Are you okay? You look a bit worried."
I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't mind Damien, he's just messing with me."
She hummed. "Is that because you slept with his girlfriend or something from before?"
"We've always been at odds with each other, even before the incident. It's a rivalry thing."
I glanced back at the root hollow and thought of when Damien and I were kids, back when we used to play in that hideout. It was our secret base, our sanctuary. But then, we started to drift apart. I don't remember when it happened or why, but we stopped playing together. Now, we're just rivals, always trying to one-up each other.
----
[Years ago]
"Cass!" Damien said, jumping on my back.
I laughed and spun around. "Damien, you're going to make me fall!"
He chuckled and held on tighter. "Then fall!"
We both fell to the ground, laughing and rolling around in the grass. We were best friends, and we loved to play together.
"Come on, let's go to our hideout!" Damien said, pulling me up.
I grinned. "Yeah, let's go!"
We ran through the gardens and found our hole. It was a secret place, just for us.
Inside were several bottles with stuff we found in the gardens and a pile of books. Damien and I loved to read, and we always shared our books.
We sat down, and Damien opened a book about dinosaurs. "Look at this one, Cass. It's a Tyrannosaurus Rex!"
I leaned closer to look. "Woah, it's huge! And look at those teeth!"
He grinned. "Yeah, it's awesome! Do you want to play dinosaurs later? We can pretend we're fighting a T-Rex!"
I laughed. "Sure, Damien. Just let me finish reading this book first, okay?"
He nodded and leaned on me. "Okay."
I smiled and read the book about the stars. "Did you know that the light from the stars is actually millions of years old?"
He hummed. "Really? That's cool. Do you think we could ever reach the stars, Cass?"
I thought about it. "I don't know. Maybe one day, we'll have a spaceship and we can go explore the stars together."
He chuckled. "That would be awesome. I would love to see the stars up close. Do you think there are aliens out there, Cass?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. But, even if there are, we'll be ready to fight them off!"
He laughed and pushed me lightly. "You're so silly, Cass. I can't wait to go on adventures with you."
I grinned. "Me neither. We'll have a blast together."
He smiled and leaned on me again. "Yeah, we will. I can't wait."
We read our books and then raced each other across the garden. We were best friends, and nothing could tear us apart.