"B-Ben?"
It can't be...I-it can't...there's no way!
Despite having recently felt that my brother was alive, that he was somewhere out in the jungle waiting for help, I'm still shocked. I'd watched Ben get dragged out of a train, watched him fall over fifty feet over the edge of a track. I watched him, dropped him, let him, fall into a dark abyss followed by a heard of hungry bird-beasts.
I watched him die!
But...he's here, standing directly in front of me.
And I can't tell if I'm dreaming or not...
"Hey, sis."
Ben, though it was almost hard to recognize him. His face was patterned with mud and dirt, and even bits of bruises and cuts that made me almost horrified, while the rest of him...I couldn't even bare to comprehend it.
He'd changed drastically!
He was barely the brother I remembered losing.
"Oh...oh my god." I cried, finally starting to realize that no, this was no prank nor dream. This was real, this was my brother. Ben's alive.
I push away the pain in my chest and get up, not sparing a single second to breath before lunging at my brother. He lets out a small "oof" as I collide with him, my arms wrapping around him tighter than I ever thought I could. He felt a little bigger than he once was (not in a bad way, of course), but he kept the lanky appearance up pretty well aside from the strange small muscles he seemed to have accumulated.
What the hell happened to him?
"Oh my god..." I whisper into his shoulder, ignoring as the other two get up behind me. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...B-Ben, you're...you're actually here! I thought you..."
I finish my sentence with a sob, and he wraps his arms around me and holds me tight against him.
I'd never felt more safe in that moment, more relieved, just being back in his arms. I missed them so much!
"I missed you." I finally say, and I feel him smile into my shoulder.
"Me too. So much!"
After what had to be hours, I was sure, we pulled away. My fingers lingered on his arms, afraid that if I fully stepped away he'd disappear again. I take a moment to look at him, really look at him, and feel my chest sting again.
His eyes look...dimmer, than they'd been. Both physically and in the way I can see he's been through a lot. As I noted before, his face was dirtier than it has ever been, something so uncharacteristic of him that I wanted to faint in shock.
Not only that, but his hair was matted and spiked up, the gel he once wore no longer lathering it down. The bottom portion of this look was covered by a familiar blue strip of cloth made into a bandana, no doubt from what once was his button up.
Then of course, there was...well, the way he acted and the way he looked.
He was standing straighter than he ever had, with courage and remarkable strength. His wrists were covered by strips of bark tied with vines, while the rest of himself went unprotected and dirty.
Oh, and let's not forget to mention the staff that he held in his hand that was just used to knock Hap out!
Ben changed, that was clear.
Whatever happened to him the past month and a half...he wasn't the same person.
"What...what happened to you?"
Before my brother can answer, Brooklyn and Kon suddenly run up and practically tackle Ben the way I had before.
There's a flash of anger within me for a moment — after all, they were the ones responsible for his fall, they shouldn't be allowed to hug him — but it's blocked by the bigger emotion of utter relief and joy.
After pulling away, Ben smiles. It makes me sob harder because I haven't seen such joy from Ben almost...ever!
"How'd you survive?" Brooklyn asks, still in shock, as much as Kon and I.
Ben sighed.
"Well, Bumpy here-"
"Bumpy!"
I shove past everyone and jump at the grown ankylosaurus, who groans and shoved her head into my chest as I wrap my arms around her neck.
It was crazy to think that in just over a month, Bumpy had grown from a palm-sized baby to a tree-sized dinosaur. She was gorgeous, far past her adorable stage, and I almost expected to get trampled.
Instead, however, Bumpy seemed to recognize me in an instant and leaned into my body. I smile against her warmly.
"Wait, that's Bumpy?" Brooklyn gapes. "But wasn't she-"
"Yeah." Ben laughed. "She's...grown."
Bumpy chirps, and I rub a hand over her bumpy head. Her face remains the same asymmetrical shape as it did when she was young, maintaining her younger appearance to an extent.
"You've gotten big, girl." I giggle, and she chirps again. "I thought we lost you."
Then I turn to Ben, my eyes growing watery again.
"And...And I thought we lost you too."
Ben smiles sadly.
"Me...Me too."
Suddenly, the body below is starts to groan, and I leap back.
Ben clutches his stick and glares at the man in the ground. "Right...we should probably deal with that."
————
"Fell off the monorail, got savaged by pteranodons, found Bumpy, survived in the jungle, defeated Toro, and then I overheard that fancy couple conspiring with this guy, Hap. I figured you guys needed my help when I realized what was going on."
Ben finished tying up the still-unconscious Hap and got up from the ground, he turned to face us with a satisfied smirk. We were all staring at him in disbelief, me the most astounded.
I still couldn't believe how much he'd changed, and that little mini-tale barely provided any information as to why and how.
Not to mention how he said he'd defeated Toro of all dinosaurs-
"I still have your dork pouch! Here- wait." Kon stops from reaching down once he finds my brother's fanny pack gone from his hip.
Ben reveals he swiped it off of him as he unzips the pouch now strapped around his own waist, and takes out some hand sanitizer.
Well, at least some part of him still remains...
Oh, wait, that reminds me!
"Oh, Ben, I...um..."
I reach into my pocket and pull out his watch, and he gasps when he sees it.
"Where did you-"
"I found it the other day while walking through the jungle." I explain. "I-I knew you were still alive, but it wasn't until I found the watch that I felt it. When I picked it up I felt something, a feeling, that you were still alive. I tried looking for you, but..." I trail off, and I feel Brooklyn's eyes on me from behind.
I change subjects and walk forward to Ben, handing him the watch. He smiles and straps it securely on his wrist, before we both embrace again.
Once we pull away, Ben crouched down and picks Hap's shocker stick up. He twirls it around in his hands and elbows Bumpy playfully.
"Could have used this while fighting ol' Toro, eh, Bumpy?"
"Ben, what exactly did the couple say?" Brooklyn asks.
"Not too much." He informs, standing straight and hanging the stick at his side. "But they're definitely up to something; Hap too." He turns and glares down at the man coldly. "I say we feed him to the Mosasaurus or the T. Rex."
I gasp. "Woah, Ben! No, we shouldn't-"
"Or you could listen to me."
"Ah!"