(A/N)
The bonfire snapped and crackled as it succumbed to the crisp, temperate Ribular night. Around it, several fossil fighters slept soundly. I checked my watch. 12:15 AM. Good, I thought, I don't want to disturb them. I tiptoed into the clearing. Someone moaned. I froze where I was. Carefully, I scanned the area. The guy in the far sleeping bag was tossing and turning. Curious, I walked on over. Hm... dark hair, an aqua-blue sleeping bag... I know I've seen him before. ...Aha! He looks like the guy who beat me in the Cup!
"Damon?" I whisper-asked.
The guy sat up, and his eyes darted around. "Who's there?"
Instinctively, I raised my hands. "Rubicon. We fought in the Cup."
He blinked awkwardly at me for a moment. "Oh yeah, I remember you."
"You alright?"
"Not... really. I just had this terrible dream..."
I was faintly interested. "What was it?"
"Well..." he scratched his head, "it's kind of hard to explain. I was an eighteen-year-old guy named Bob, and I had a Compso, and two other Vivosaurs that shouldn't exist. I was with my nineteen-year-old friend Jenna who had a T-Rex, a really BIG, lava-covered T-Rex, and two of those... Dinaurian... things."
He paused for a moment. "Anyway, an organization known as the Thunder Bones showed up at our local high school on a Sunday morning. Jenna went in there and defeated the boss (coincidentally named Bob) in one turn using her T-Rex and her random Dinaurian buddies. Then I wanted to crown her and her T-Rex as princesses. Some guy named Calen appeared. Then I woke up."
Glancing across the clearing, I spotted several specked melon rinds. "I'm hardly surprised." I said, under my breath.
"Wait! The worst part was everyone had absolutely TERRIBLE grammar. Like, almost to the point of them being incomprehensible."
"...Didn't anyone tell you not to eat melon spuds right before falling asleep?"
Next Chapter: [[Uncrossing_the_Rubicon/EX-Chapters/insert_title_name_here|EX-2. insert_title_name_here]]