“We could go look for him…” said Noseen.

“We might need to. He’s the one who knows how to set up the crystal and fly the ship.” I could fly it if I absolutely needed to, maybe, but mounting the crystal needed to happen first, and I knew nothing about engineering or any of that sort of thing.

My fingers tapped on the console and I stood up, glancing at the note again. The charcoal he’d used rested on one of the buttons. I quickly added a line to the note.

'John, if you get back, don’t leave the shuttle. I went to go look for you, but I’ll be back soon. Alex.'

I headed toward the back of the ship, but paused before climbing on the crate and took out the full jug of water that I still had in my inventory from the compound. Then I took out the rest of the ration bars. I set both next to the crystal on the floor. If he’d gone out looking for water and didn't come back with any, at least he'd have something to drink, along with ration bars. It wasn’t like I could eat the ration bars anymore, anyway.

Something sparkled near the other cargo crate, which was open. The shattered crystal was inside. It looked like John had broken it into smaller pieces for some reason. I didn’t know why he'd do that.

Either way, I had to move and find him before I ran out of daylight.

I climbed out the hatch and rested the lid on top without locking it, just like I’d found it. From there, I studied both sides of the shuttle before heading down the far side. I’d seen faint signs of a trail, and while it may be nothing, it gave me a direction.

Time to see if I could find my brother. Worry swirled inside me. I’d just spent several days in the jungle, but John searching for water felt like a bad idea. While he was a higher level than me, his class was weird and not suited for groundwork. Plus, at this point I believed I was stronger than he was, despite the level gap.

Getting to the edge of the underbrush, it was easy to see the path someone had taken through the bushes, someone who hadn’t even tried to cover their steps. Using my nose, I thought I caught a whiff of something, but I wasn’t sure. It felt like this was the way to go. I pulled the cloak close to my body and set off, keeping my spear in my hand.

“Noseen, if you spot something, let me know.”

A confirmation buzz was all I got.

It was good enough.

The sounds of birds and other insects filled the air, but they served as the background noise I was used to, letting me know everything was okay in the area. No large predators were hiding in the bushes, or it would be a lot quieter.

It was easy following the trail through the underbrush, which shouldn't be the case if he’d passed the hunter's test. Then again, I doubted he’d even had to take it. His class was just not that sort of thing, and his value as the only one who could fly the shuttle was enough to get him out of a lot. It was clear now that that was a mistake. What if he crashed again, and needed to deal with a similar situation to this? The third time was the charm, right? Once we arrived back at the colony, I'd bring it up with Dad. He'd be the one to figure out what to do about John and his survival skills.

Shaking my head, I kept going, following my brother’s literal footsteps in the soft dirt. I tried to listen for anyone breathing, other footsteps, or even for the sound of water. Those three things would easily lead me to him.

The trail wasn’t a straight line, and turned suddenly in a random direction, which was strange. I paused to look at a different print in the dirt. Something had chased him, that's why the direction had changed, but I couldn't make out enough to identify the creature that had been doing the chasing.

My heart pounded as I hurried, following the trail through the tall trees and ferns. Spots of sunlight let me know time was ticking towards sunset, but that didn’t matter. Soon, I would need to turn back or climb a tree to prepare myself for nighttime. If that storm was on track, heading back was the safer choice. I didn’t need a tree to fall on me in the dark. But my brother was clearly out here, and he needed help. I could walk in the rain if I had to, for him.

The footsteps continued on a mad dash through the forest, then I hit an area that didn’t make sense. I faintly smelled blood, but it smelled good, which led me to scraps left from a kill sitting on the trail, a Compy body.

What would stop to kill a Compy while it chased my brother? And after killing it, why not eat it? It didn't make sense.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I tried to figure out what was going on. I touched one of the leaves near the kill, lifting it closer to my face. It smelled like something I kind-of recognized, but I didn’t know what. It didn’t smell like prey.

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As soon as I thought of prey, a variety of smells highlighted in my brain. More Compys were down a trail to the west, a group of at least five had been scared off by whatever had killed this one. A large group of Parasaurolophus had passed through the area several hours ago, unhurried. Then the last smell was full of fear. It followed right along the footprints.

My stomach almost roiled, but I ignored it. My skill thought John was prey, even though he was above me in level. I almost couldn’t believe it, but then again I had thrived in the jungle. Whatever killed the Compy wasn’t prey, though, and that worried me.

I let out a shallow breath and followed the trail. John had better be at the end of it, and still breathing.

Maybe we’d even have time to figure out where the Parasaurolophus had gone. They were tasty, after all.

The day drew darker as the canopy grew thicker in this part of the jungle. The undergrowth was more sparse. Something gray caught my eye, up in a tree.

John!

I raced forward, and quickly climbed up the branches, going higher than I thought John would have climbed. He lay in the crook of two branches, and his head was resting on one of them. I touched his leg and he jerked, his eyes fluttering. It took moments for them to focus on me, longer than it should have.

“Alex,” he mumbled.

I yanked out my canteen and fed it between his lips. Once the water reached his mouth, his hands came up to hold it. He took a long drink and then pushed it away.

“There's a beast,” he whispered. “Toying with me…” He sounded delirious.

I yanked out the only ration bar I’d kept and handed it over. It didn’t take long for him to scarf half of it down. I waited for him to gain his composure as the sky darkened. The air smelled damp.

“Something is out there, waiting." His eyes were wide and his hands shook. "It chased me to the tree, but that’s it.”

“Beasts don’t act like that.”

Buzzing near my ear drew my attention. “You need to get back to the shuttle, and soon.”

An unsettled feeling came over me at Noseen’s words. Beasts didn’t act like that. Right?

“Let’s hurry back to the ship. Can you walk?”

John waited a few seconds and ate the rest of the ration bar before responding. “Yeah, I think so.”

I wanted to ask how long he’d been up in the tree, but it seemed like he didn’t want to talk more than needed. He motioned for my canteen again and I handed it over. He drank some more, but not much, leaving plenty for later.

The trip out here hadn’t taken me too long, and I’d been going slow. Hopefully, we could move faster back to the shuttle. The storm, if it hit, would cover our trail.

I climbed down first, keeping an eye out for any movement. John quickly followed, yet he wasn’t as fast as me moving through the jungle. I took the lead, keeping my eyes peeled and trying to figure out what had chased John into a tree.

What was smart enough to do that? And more importantly, why would anything do that?

I stuck to the same trail that I’d followed to find John, backtracking. The scent trail lingered, and the breeze picked up from the west with the scent of Parasaurolophus. Nothing to be concerned about. We kept moving. I guessed we were about halfway back when a roar froze the normal sounds of the jungle. The birds stopped making noise, and even the bugs paused. I knew that roar.

“You need to hurry,” said Noseen.

I shoved John in front of me. “Go!” I hissed.

It was that freaking cat. Noseen had warned me he might come after me, but sending my brother up a tree? That spoke of a much higher intelligence than anything any of us had seen in the jungle.

Beasts didn’t set traps.

Also, how did it find my brother? Or did it think my brother was me?

I hadn’t a clue as we raced through the ferns. The roar came from a distance behind us, maybe near the tree John had hidden in. We didn't have long.

John tripped over a root and I easily yanked him to his feet. We had to keep going. If we could get to the shuttle, we’d be fine. That thing couldn’t claw its way through the armored siding.

Yet, John moved even slower after tripping, limping on the same leg that had been injured in the crash. He winced with each step. Time slowed down as my mind raced. There wasn’t a chance we would make it back to the ship. Not like this.

“John, run back to the ship and close the hatch. The crystal is inside, along with water and some ration bars. I’ll meet you there.” My words came out in a rush, but I glanced back the way we'd come as I spoke.

“What! I can’t leave you behind!”

“Go! I have a better chance here than you do!” I spun around in the direction we had come, searching for what I needed. John kept going down the trail, and I smirked, glad he’d listened. I moved faster than I ever had, climbing up a tree right next to the trail. I needed to be high enough.

Yanking the cloak around me, I stared, keeping my eyes on the trail. Two could play at this game. All I could hope was that John would make it back to the shuttle. A thought crossed my mind, and I spit on the tip of my knife, coating it in my saliva. I'd take any advantage I could get.

A large gray and green cat raced through the undergrowth, its head focused on the movement in the distance. I waited, ready.

I leaped. Gravity took control.

I slammed like a rock into the upper back of the cat, my spear flashing as it sliced into the giant predator’s armored side. It twisted around and swatted me away like a fly. The smell of its blood filled the air as I slammed into a tree, gasping for breath.

“Run!” buzzed Noseen.

The command hit me like a slap to the face, and I got up to flee.