Darksage: And now…the chapter you have all been waiting for…the biggest rumble perhaps has ever happened in the Jurassic period…

Marc: Sage, don't spoil the whole thing!

Darksage: Okay okay fine.

Marc: Um…what's with the drink cap?

Darksage: What? It's a big event. It's like watching a huge game. I even brought popcorn! *brings out a huge tub of buttery popcorn*

Marc: Uh huh… I thought you didn't like soda.

Darksage: I don't. I filled the bottles with juice.

Marc: Whatever. Anyway, for you folks out there, you already know this, but we don't own Disney's Dinosaur, Walking with Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Park, or Dinosaur Revolution. We only own the characters we made.

Darksage: And we don't own the music either. Oh, and just a fair warning, this chapter has graphic material. And by graphic, we mean Jurassic Fight Club graphic. Now let's get this show on the road!

Marc: Pass the popcorn! *Darksage hands the large tub to him*

Soundtrack: Battle of the Salt Plains by Benjamin Bartlett

When someone thinks of the word "salt", they would think of the miniscule minerals that are found in containers on a dining table that are used as common seasoning for food. In a more scientific approach, experts would refer to it by its scientific name, sodium chloride. This mineral has its many uses, such as for industrial chemicals, water conditioning, highway deicing, and even agriculture. Other uses for salt include medicinal purposes and preservation techniques.

For any creature living in prehistory, especially those that are terrestrial, salt is something that serves as a harbinger of death.

In a part of the western United States, 145 million years ago, lies a vast wasteland devoid of greenery. Mountain formations surrounded the perimeter of this area like a widespread fortress. Sand and gravel were absent here, for only salt was present. No living creature would ever live in this harsh landscape for there would be no resources to support them. Even if there was water from a rare rainstorm, if any happened at all, it would be much too saline for them and would kill them almost instantly for the liquid would absorb the compounds of the saline rocks. There was no vegetation growing here, for the grounds would be much too toxic for them.

While this place was a deathtrap, this did not stop herds from passing through to get to where they needed to go. Any herbivore traveling through here would know this would be a grim journey. The weak would be weeded out by the heat and lack of resources.

But for those that have meat as their diet, this place is a prime hunting ground, especially during the times when herds would make the trek.

For a young, 6-year-old Allosaurus fragilis, this was to be a milestone for him. Now at the cusp of his adulthood, this predator walked through this white, barren landscape, ready to take on his first real hunt in the main part of the Salt Plains. Up ahead was a small herd of Diplodocus making its way through the Salt Plains to some feeding grounds. They looked like large boulders from afar, but that was due to how far he was from them.

He did not spend too much time with scanning the herd, but from afar, he could see that one of them was lagging the rest. The walking gait was a bit slow. Sometimes, the sauropod would rear its head back and then shake its neck in an undulating motion. His hunter instincts told him this one was probably sick, meaning it could be an easy kill unlike the rest.

For the last six years of his life, he has been making do with scavenging for carcasses or eating smaller animals. Getting a sizable prey that would last him for days was something he would find on occasion, assuming there was no other large predator to chase him out. Now he was old enough, for today was the first time he would have a feast. And he was not the only one…at least twenty others of his kind came for this biannual hunt.

The grey-colored, red crested adolescent glanced around him with uncertainty. For the past day, he had been walking alone on the Salt Plains. Now, he was joined by his species brethren. However, none of them gave any sympathy towards a youngster like him. Some of them either ignored him whenever he asked questions or they told him to mind his own business…in a harsh manner.

He let out a resigned breath after his tenth try. He was used to this kind of thing. Ever since he turned a year old, the predator had been living on his own. It was rare for his kind to stay with their mother after they reached their first year. Normally, by the time they reached that age, she would view her offspring as food, or even potential rivals. The only reason a female would not reject her offspring would be if she was looking to build a pack.

Another hour passed, and he walked on by himself. The sun was already at its zenith. The salt on the ground illuminated into a pure white that, if anyone were to stare at it long enough, would have their vision obscured. The heat rose too at an accelerating level. Since this was a salt flat, the heat coming from the sun hitting the salt would be rebounded at significant levels. Not only that, but this was also the middle of a drought. As of right now, the temperature was at 113 degrees F rather than a normal 95 degrees F.

But this Allosaurus paid no heed to the scorching heat. He was used to hot days, but this day would be considered hotter than normal in his standards.

"Ugh, I never expected this place to be so...hot," he complained to himself.

Surprisingly, his comment had attracted some attention he was not expecting.

"You a first timer?"

The adolescent looked over to his left and noticed the figure of an elder Allosaurus closing up on him. At first, he tensed up, until he noticed the elder matching his gait. The older predator was taller than him by a foot or so, and longer than him by a couple feet. Like him, he had the black vertical stripes along his ribs and the same red crests over his eyes. His slate grey hide was a little lighter in contrast to his. Upon further inspection, the young hunter noticed a large grey scar run across the right side of his body, most likely a scar from a previous battle.

"Unfortunately..." the younger one resisted a gulp.

The elder carnivore chuckled, his voice sounding a little airy yet sounded like an old male's. "Don't worry kid. You stick with me and I'll show you what to do."

"Thanks...um, who are you?"

"Name's Takomo," he introduced himself with a sense of pride. "And you kid?"

The youngster looked away, trying to hide the blushing that occurred on his cheeks. "Oh, well my name's a bit of a jawful."

Takomo chuckled, amused by the budding hunter's sheepishness. "Really? Well, you can tell it to me if you want. Unless you'd rather wait until after the hunt."

A resigned breath escaped his maw. "Alright fine. I'll tell you after we get some food." He then looked at him with such interest. None of the other Allosaurus wanted to commune with him, yet this one here showed such interest. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I was in your place one time. Don't know why, but I see myself in you. Must be my old senses acting up."

The first-time hunter stared at him incredulously. Seriously, everyone in the Salt Plains either ignored him or told him to buzz off. Yet, this elder was going out of his way to help him? This world was unforgiving in its own way, where you would have to be strong to survive. One mistake could mean life or death. Either today was a lucky day or this one was not like the others.

"Um...okay? Thanks?"

Takomo cleared his throat, his tone turning serious. "Well kid, if this is your first time out here in the Salt Plains, then listen up. I don't like repeating anything twice so I expect you to understand everything I say. Those huge leaf eaters may look slow because they're huge, but don't let that fool you. They're fast on their feet, but can only run for so long. Avoid their tails and try not to run close to their necks. Their blind spots are their sides and underneath them. You see them angle their bodies a certain way, you can bet they're going to swipe those huge tails at you. Always give them a lot of space. And most importantly, always keep an eye on your surroundings. You never know when there's another one coming at you."

"Blind sides and tails. Got it," he acknowledged with a nod.

"And one more thing," the veteran added, attracting his attention once more. "Don't expect anyone here to help you if you get injured. Out here, it's every Allo for themselves. The only help you're going to see is one that will aim to take down our target, or targets."

Now that, he already knew. But then again, this was the main part of the Salt Plains and this was his first hunt for a large herbivore. There were rules that he had to learn, and he had to learn them quickly. However, when he looked at him again, he saw that his warning expression told him otherwise. He was not referring to his own safety, but to the hunt itself.

"What do you mean?"

"Use your eyes, boy. I see another prospective kill for us."

Looking ahead, the newcomer observed the herd once more. Moments passed and he did not find anything unusual about the herd, save for the large Diplodocus at the front who had a gap in his spines on his back and the sickly individual that was lagging behind. Looking a little more closely, he thought he saw two smaller creatures riding in that gap, but they could also be deformed spines. He also could have sworn he noticed two smaller creatures traveling under one of the sauropods in the middle of the herd, but it could just be a trick of light from the heat.

Right when he was about to call it quits, he caught sight of what Takomo was referring to. When one Diplodocus in the back of the herd caught up to the middle of the group, he noticed two more individuals that he nearly mistook for the same species. Both of them were sauropods, just like the rest of the herd, except they had a number of differences. The first one, coming from the largest, had a red, black and white cobweb pattern along its hide. This one had the same body stature as the others, except it was taller and longer by several feet. The tail was a stump and had a white covering instead of having the usual whip-like fashion; a previous injury perhaps, however the white covering was a complete mystery.

The other individual, the young hunter found out, was what Takomo wanted him to see. This one had a paler complexion and lacked the pattern of its supposed parent. It was a youngster and was a quarter of the adult's height. Everything was fine about this youngling except for how it was walking. He squinted then gasped in realization; one of its feet was bent inward, causing it to walk on its ankle.

"It's a youngling with a bad leg. Looks like an easy kill," he licked his teeth, imagining its juicy flesh in his jaws.

"Don't get cocky, boy," Takomo warned, veering him from his reckless thinking. "That one is staying close to its mother, meaning that she'll protect her kid with her life. That makes her extra dangerous. You just keep in mind what I told you. You get that youngster, you call yourself a true hunter out here in the Plains."

Just then, their little pep talk was interrupted by some cackling and guffaws. Looking over to their left, they saw another pack of Allosaurus walking parallel to the Diplodocus herd. The young hunter scrutinized their appearance as they drew closer to them. The inspection he gave revealed that these newcomers had a drastically different appearance than him, or more specifically, his own kind. They possessed the same eye crests over their eyes and were about the same size, more or less. However, the yellows, browns, reds, and the white markings that drew down or across their eyes greatly differed from the usual grey markings of his kind. The spines along the back down to their tails were also a dead giveaway of a different species.

"Who are they?" the adolescent inquired. "I've never seen the likes of them before."

Takomo gruffly responded, showing some slight disgust. "Yellow Skins. They always leap before they look and are pretty damn reckless in nature. Not to mention they'll pick a fight with anything, even things that are bigger than them. Everyone here knows better than to mess with the likes of them. It's best not to associate with their kind."

He nodded in acknowledgement. Memories of his childhood streamed back to him. He had heard about Yellow Skins before when he was still with his mother. She had told him to watch out for beings that had "golden hides and spines on their backs that looked just like them". His mother emphasized that they were savage ruffians who would tear them apart without a thought. Now that he had seen them in the flesh, he knew that her words on them were true.

But if there was one thing he did not even think about before, it was why his mother strongly urged her children to stay away from them. She never told him because she did not know why; her own mother told her the same thing she told him and his siblings.

"Hey Takomo? How come the Yellow Skins are…well…the way they are? Why do we have to stay away from them?" he asked the elder, wanting to see if he can get an answer to this age-old question.

The veteran hunter eyed him with astonishment. "What? No one's ever told you why we don't like them?"

He shook his head innocently.

"Bah, guess it makes sense. Your mama probably didn't know herself," he cleared his throat then began to explain everything from his memory. "My mother knew full well why the Yellow Skins and us are this way. Legend has it that long ago, they used to be like us; same appearance and personality and all. Then, one day, a dark time fell upon us. All the green died off, and soon, the leaf eaters that ate those greens went with them. Those that survived started to move south for better places to live."

Takomo swallowed, wetting his dry throat from his extensive explanation. "Our kind is a pretty resilient one. See, we're pretty patient and can wait out periods for a certain time. Most of us decided to stay and wait out the famine. But, some of us decided to go down south. The ones that migrated out were never heard from again for some time. Those that did stay found that the famine lasted for a brief period."

"So how did those guys that left turn into the Yellow Skins?" the youngster inquired.

"It's a simple answer. The lands that border this part of the Salt Plains were harsher than the ones we're used to. There's less water to be found and less green. Yet there was prey if you knew where to look. One had to be tough to survive those dry areas. Believe me, I've only been to their territory once during my wanderings; I'd much prefer the lands that we're both from. The group that left our kind changed when they migrated south; their hides became brighter, their bodies became more fearsome, and most of all, their personalities drastically changed. No longer were they wise and cautious like us. The land changed them."

"I see," the young hunter understood.

"Then, there came a time when our two tribes met again. It was when we both found the leaf eaters crossing this area, which, as it turns out, was in between our lands. When our kind met with the Yellow Skins, they were so different from us that we had no idea they used to look like us. Those that did remember the old days taunted us for being too cowardly or too lazy to venture out to find a new home. They kept saying their change made them stronger. Dung holes, they belittle us for making the right decision."

"Well, whatever the case, the point is they're different," the novice concluded, wanting to avoid his teacher from going off about any ill feelings he had towards the rival tribe.

The two turned their attention back to the Yellow Skins when they heard them laugh loudly. They saw them bicker and do some "play fighting"; that was if attacking each other and putting their opponents in submission holds then leaving them with minor scars on their bodies was considered a way to fight for dominance. Right when he was going to ignore their presence and continue with the hunt, another one of their kind ran up to them from the direction of the Diplodocus herd. Why a predator would be coming from that vicinity was beyond him. But what really drew his attention was the appearance of that particular Yellow Skin.

Unlike the Yellow Skin gang he took note of, this one had a misaligned lower jaw that looked like something stepped on it then healed in a crooked manner. In short, it looked like a snapped stick that was reattached in the wrong place.

"Who the heck is that? The one with the ugly mug?" the young predator asked the elder.

Takomo returned his gaze to the Allosaurus lucasi. His expression turned from indifferent to intrigued in a second. "Ah, I've heard of that one. If my eyes aren't deceiving me, then that is the Yellow Skin known as Broken Jaw. I heard rumors that he was the top killer in his land before he was driven out by something much bigger than him. I'm not surprised to find him all the way out here. With that mangled jaw of his, I doubt he'll survive long in this place. Never seen him once out in these here plains."

The novice carnivore could not help but gulp. This Broken Jaw sounded like a tough one. Just from appearances alone, he looked like to be about the same age as he was. If he was able to hold one whole bit of land for years with that sort of handicap, then he sounds like a strong individual. Though he had no idea what could have caused him to leave his own territory, there was one thing he was certain of; stay away from him.

The two of them then witnessed something that was not only diverting, but also disturbing. From afar, they saw the Yellow Skin gang approach the one known as Broken Jaw with much enthusiasm. The young hunter deduced they somehow knew each other and were reacquainting themselves. However, he was wrong when he overheard some nasty words come from their mouths. Words such as "weak cripple", "ugly jaw", and "the sniveling wreck that lost his dirt mound" echoed in the air as they surrounded the intruder. From what he was hearing, these Yellow Skins knew Broken Jaw at one point, but only perceived him as a personal punching bag.

Enraged at the comments he was receiving, the ex-King of the Hill charged at one of the Yellow Skins that circled him. In one quick movement, he bit down on the individual's throat. The victim screamed out in agony at the sudden attack. Broken Jaw pulled back and, with short work, shredded open the Allosaur's throat. Blood spewed out in a never-ending fountain from the wound. Torn flesh dangled outward like deformed leaves. The carnivore collapsed on the ground, jerking around for a few seconds before coming to a standstill. The blood that oozed out painted the salt in a horrifying red.

The other Yellow Skins that taunted him and witnessed the act quickly backed away. Their maws shut tight, silencing themselves from making any more insults. Broken Jaw looked around at them, gave them a huff, and then walked on, spitting out the torn flesh of the other Allosaur onto the ground.

"Ew...yeah definitely staying away from them. I wouldn't want to get mixed up with them," the novice swallowed, drying his parched throat.

"Very wise," Takomo agreed.

As the new hunter watched Broken Jaw walk, he noticed that he was approaching another Yellow Skin that was among that group. This one had stayed back from the others that taunted him before. Broken Jaw stopped a few feet from this one, and the two engaged in conversation.

The Allosaurus he had approached looked different from a couple of them. This one retained most of the desert-toned colors from the others in the pack, however, this individual had rusty-red in its color scheme. All along the back were a few gold accents that outlined the pattern. On its eyes were some white markings that spanned out in a horizontal fashion. In all honesty, the individual looked similar to a couple of the individuals from the pack. Judging from the slender build and the color accents, the budding predator deduced this one and the others like it as female.

Takomo, who had observed the boy's curiosity on the by standing Yellow Skin, leaned a little closer to him. His presence alerted the individual as he began to explain her identity. "That one there is Red Sand. Rumor has it she's the most brutal Yellow Skin to roam the Salt Plains. She has no regards for the hardships of others, even if they are her kin. She's so tough, she's pretty much a legend among the Yellow Skins. If there's a Yellow Skin you should avoid, it's her. The only mercy she'll give you if you get on her bad side is if she gives you a quick death."

"Brutal. Definitely not going near her," he understood promptly.

"Good. Now come on. We've got some hunting to do," the elder told him and walked ahead.

The young hunter drew his attention away from the conversing Yellow Skins. Although he wanted to know more about their kind and the lore of their tribes, he did not want to miss out on the only feast he would get in several months. The young hunter walked alongside Takomo, his eyes trained on the Supersaurus youngling with a bad leg.

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At the same time…

Broken Jaw had survived a lot of things before, a number of which were either out of luck or because he was able to overcome it without outside help. Large herbivores he could take on with precision and timing. That he learned after the second time he took on Woodstock and amputated her tail. Smaller carnivores, unless they were Caius and Flit, were easy for him. Huge carnivores like that Torvosaurus at the Water Hole were a stick in the mud, but that was because he had assistance from some unexpected help.

This one…was something he never thought he would be able to take on.

Approaching the family that abandoned him after he got his handicap was one thing. Savagely attacking one of his elder siblings that called him weak was another. In his book, that was well-deserved payback. Going up to the one female that no longer saw him as one of her own blood for years? Now that was different.

One minute, he was watching his own sibling die from his wounds. And the next, he was looking upon the one female who he once called his mother. The years had done little to affect the female's stature. Broken Jaw may be barely out of his adolescence, but he now saw himself as nearly as tall as her. Fury and hatred built up within his insides like a raging fire as he approached the most vicious predator to ever walk the Salt Plains, even more ruthless than the Torvosaurus that ruined his pride at the Water Hole.

"That was the eldest and strongest of my clutch, broken-jawed child," she said in a surly, yet cold voice while eyeing the bleeding Allosaurus on the ground.

"So it was," Broken Jaw narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth at her.

Red Sand looked upon him like he was an ant to a tree. The look she gave him made him utter a low growl in annoyance. "I taught my entire clutch to be the strongest they could be, so they could better survive the dunes of the Plains."

The female then let out a low, seemingly calculated, chuckle. "But, it appears my efforts were wasted on them. And yet, here you are, broken one, still alive and standing over one that had been taught all of my wisdom."

The spawn of the Salt Plains tyrant snorted in irritation. "Sorry to disappoint."

"You are mistaken," she said, revealing a not-so easily shown side of her, one where she was clearly impressed. She slowly walked over to the elder sibling and gave him a heartless glance. "I am not disappointed."

The Allosaurus that was bleeding out was gasping, yet his wound only made his situation even worse. Every breath he let out just caused more blood to spew out. His breathing was ragged, like something was jumping on his chest like a little trampoline. The last thing he saw was his own mother raise her feet then plant it on his throat.

A crack sounded from where Red Sand had stepped. The body of the hunter jerked for a moment before becoming still. Her feet were now stained from the blood of the dead offspring. In her eyes, and those she gave birth to, this was her way of showing mercy.

She then walked away towards the one she had abandoned long ago. Each step she took was marked by the blood of her eldest sibling on the ground; the pure white canvas of earth became painted by gruesome tracks. When she stood before him, her expression became steely, yet amused.

"I am proud. Well done. Perhaps if I hadn't cast you aside, you would have been the epitome of my legacy."

"I don't care for what you think!" Broken Jaw roared at her. The head female stood her ground, not fazed by her son's sudden outburst. "You tossed me aside! I want NOTHING from you."

With that said, Broken Jaw turned tail and stormed away. He passed his six other siblings without giving them a glance. Not that he wanted to anyway; he did not like them as much as he hated his mother. The other Allosaurus watched him rush back towards the Diplodocus herd, whether it was to partake in the hunt or for some other objective, they had no idea.

Red Sand took in a deep breath, her pride having survived the bulk of that verbal attack. She could care less about the offspring she left behind. But in her mind, she could not help but almost admire how strong he had become over the years. Almost…

"Of course, Broken one," she muttered under her breath.

She then snapped her head towards each and every one of her remaining clutch. Their looks radiated hunger and patience on her next move.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she said gesturing to the corpse of her eldest son. "This sorry carcass isn't going to eat itself."

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Over with the Diplodocus Herd…several minutes later

Hazel let out a begrudged sigh. With the sun sending its scorching rays down on her and the land being as hot as it can be due to the wide expanse of the salt flat, being hot was an understatement. For a human like Hazel, who lacked the large girth of the sauropods and quickly lost water in the form of sweat, she was being roasted to death. Her forehead, pits, legs, and everywhere else on her body was leaking out water nonstop in an effort to stay cool in the intense heat.

Human beings can tolerate extreme temperatures, but only to a certain extent. In addition, this would be if they were equipped with the proper clothing and had the much needed supplies. In extremely hot environments, humans could get hypothermia in 140 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, unless they kept themselves hydrated. Hazel did just that; taking a few squirts of water from her water bottles and then giving some to Flia to save her that same trouble. All while rationing that precious liquid until they made it across the salt flat. Then Flia occasionally flapped her wings to keep the both of them cool.

But Hazel could not do this forever. She only brought so much water and she was down to her last two bottles. Her thirst was heightened due to the intense heat and the salt drying her only made it worse. They had been in this part of the Salt Plains for the last 24 hours. When they first set foot in the vast geologic expanse, Hazel wished they found a way around it; the desert landscape they were in before was a lot better than here.

The only good thing was the transportation they were on. She and the Pteranodon had been riding on the gap of Charles' back for pretty much the whole trip since they left the Water Hole. The leading Diplodocus did not mind their company and barely noticed their weights. At least they did not have to walk or fly, otherwise they would have been in a worse situation.

"Ugh...good gravy! I've been in hot deserts before, but this place takes the cake! It's hotter than a sauna in the Bahamas!" Hazel complained for the umpteenth time.

"I don't know what that place is," Flia said, seemingly aroused from her dazed state from staring out into the salty horizon. "But this is worse than crossing the desert in previous migrations. How can anyone survive this kind of heat?"

"I did warn you two of the dangers of this place," Charles told them, craning his head back to look upon the beings that were hitching a ride on him. "The Salt Plains is always hot around this time, but due to the Scorch season we're in, it's hotter than usual. We should get to the other side in two days. Or if we're fast enough, by the end of the next day."

Hazel laughed sarcastically, though it partially sounded like a cry of torture. "Oh lovely... What I would kill for an ice room. Or some AC. Or an ice bath!"

"Easy Hazel. We'll be out of here soon," Flia reassured her.

She turned away from her human comrade and sophisticated herbivorous companion. Flying out to scout for potential dangers was out of her list at the moment due to the scorching heat of the day. She would rather do so when the day was cooler or when the sun was going down. For now, she settled with looking out in the distance, spotting what could be reprieve for them or not. Minutes of staring out and she was starting to see images that looked like dark, triangular shapes.

Flia's eyes beamed with hope. The shapes broadened out at the bottom before thinning down when they touched the ground. At the top, she could see they ended in a point. There were at least twenty or so that she was looking at, some of them were closely grouped together. They were dark in color, but she believed her vision.

"Look! I can see some trees! Apparently, there is life in this wasteland. With any luck, we could find some water here."

Hazel snapped her head to her left. Charles did the same, but only for a brief moment. He looked away, his relief having died down after looking at what the pterosaur saw. The Diplodocus had been traveling through the Salt Plains to know what was real and what was not. Not once had he seen any green here, or any water for that matter. He resumed his thoughts on leading the herd, not wanting to be swayed by fantastical visions.

For Hazel, she was a bit more open-minded. However, thinking about where they were at and the area they were in, her scientific mind had told her otherwise.

"Trees?" she eyed her with uncertainty. "In these kind of salt flats? Impossible."

"But they're right there!" the sky scout defended and pointed a wing in the distance. "I can see them right now!"

The human looked over, wanting to quickly debunk this absurd vision so she could get with taking a nap she had planned. Hazel took note of the odd shapes in the distance. Flia described them as looking like trees. To the human, they looked rounder and were slate grey in color. Then there were some off to the right of the main group that looked dark gold like moldy yellow leaves.

Hazel shook her head and gave the pterosaur a frown. "Flia, that's called a mirage. Don't fall for it. Besides, there are no trees here. The salt would be too toxic for plant vegetation to grow. And even if there was water, it would be much too salty. It would kill you in a matter of seconds if you drink it. Also, I think what you're seeing are rocks. They're most likely leftovers from some geologic event or something."

While Flia tried to comprehend this "geologic" knowledge that her human companion spewed out, there was one thing that puzzled her.

"Hazel, if you say it's a mirage, then how come you're seeing it too?"

The flyer then looked at the images again. Her beak quivered at the visions getting bigger…or in this case, closer to them.

"And if they are rocks, then why are they coming towards us?"

A scream sounded off from within the herd. Charles stopped his march and craned his neck back to see what had happened. Hazel and Flia did the same, only to find that the one screaming was one of the female Diplodocus several hundred feet behind them. The others around the herd stopped and looked at her, wanting to discern the cause of her stress. They got their answer from one single word, followed by another scream.

"Predators!"

That one single word was enough to cause chaos. The sauropods screamed their heads off, all clamoring about the incoming danger. Only looking over in the direction she looked at only made things worse. The members rushed forward, as fast as their large trunks could take them. The earth trembled at their passing, almost to the point that the tremors could have been mistaken for mini earthquakes. Salt dust threw up in the air in clouds. Their tails waved around vigorously like palms in a strong breeze.

Charles yelped at the sight and took off running as well. His action caused his two riders to gasp in surprise at the sudden burst of speed. Both had to hang onto his hide, or in Hazel's case, hang onto one of his spines to prevent herself from falling forward. The Diplodocus spines they were situated in between may be about the size of cardboard boxes, but Hazel did not want to risk hitting herself against one of those protrusions. She could lose an eye or worse if that happened.

When they looked over in the horizon again, where the images were, both blinked several times to make sure neither of them were hallucinating. Rushing towards the herd was a large group of carnivores. Their slate-grey hides, black vertical stripes, and red crests over their eyes alerted the two of them of the danger the herd was in. And for only a moment, they could have sworn that nearby, before zipping towards the back of the herd, was a small group of similar creatures with golden, terracotta hides and spines on their back.

Flia's expression turned into one of horror. But for Hazel, her face contorted into a beaming grin.

"Hazel, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" the flyer darted her head on both sides. Her fears turned into a reality when she saw another group of those creatures come from the other side.

"Oh yeah! Allosaurus! Both fragilis and lucasi!" Hazel happily blurted out.

Charles let out a frightened bellow, alerting the two time travelers to his distress of the situation. "The end of the Salt Plains is at the other side of this place. We won't be able to make it there by nightfall! We can run fast, but not for long; these monsters will run us down before we can catch our breaths! We don't stand a chance at all!"

It was at that moment the human thought up an idea. A couple days ago, when she and Flia encountered Charles and his herd again, they spoke about the possibility of leaving the Salt Plains for someplace more livable. Charles did mention he was not opposed to living in a land with so much greenery, endless sources of water, and being among creatures he could live in peace with. What the Diplodocus did not know was that they were referring to living in Prehistoric Park and were merely asking him indirectly if he and his herd would like to be brought to the 21st century.

Now that they were on the search for more food and were trying to escape a hungry pack of carnivores, this was something Hazel could not pass up. In addition, having both species of Allosaurus here meant that she could hit three birds with one stone. It was a prehistoric jackpot!

"Charles! Remember what we spoke about a couple days ago on where you'd rather live than here?" the human brought up the memory of their previous conversation days ago. "About living in a paradise that has all the food and water you can wish for?"

"Dear Hazel, this is no time to be fantasizing!" Charles scolded at her like a child who did not see the bigger picture.

The human shook her head in denial. "I'm not! We were telling the truth! The place Flia and I were talking about was the place we both came from! It's called Prehistoric Park! If you let us help you, we can get everyone to safety!"

The alpha Diplodocus craned his neck over to them once more. His face radiated complete suspicion on their words and was met with heartfelt determination from his riders. Of all the years he lived on the Salt Plains, he had never heard of a place that was so full of life and promise. Herbivores that lived in a place like this always had to keep moving to the next area with bountiful food. To live in a place with so many resources and not have to migrate was anybody's dream. But hearing something like that come from two beings that claim to come from another land sounds like something absurd.

"You won't have to worry about constantly traveling for food," Hazel added, almost begging him to accept. "It's a paradise. Please, we want to help you."

Charles looked away for a moment. Everything they had ever known was the Salt Plains; from their moment of hatching to their reasons to migrate, to the hardships they went through. Now these two were offering them an opportunity to leave all that behind for something better. The carnivores running about now also added reason on why the Salt Plains were a harsh place to live in, which only supported Charles to give his final decision to them.

The sauropod briskly nodded, as he saw no other choice. If he refused, the herd would die, either by being hunted down by the carnivores or slowly dying by the harshness of the Salt Plains. But it was a decision he gladly accepted.

"Very well, but hurry! We can't run forever!"

Both human and Pteranodon gave him a nod of relief. The sauropod watched the large flyer quickly turn her back to him and spread her wings. The young human stood up and grabbed onto the saddle of the pterosaur's back after shooting him a smile.

"We won't let you down. Come on Flia!"

The both of them took off to the skies, speeding off away from the herd towards the north. The large sauropod then looked back at his herd. All of them were frantically trying to escape the pestering of the Allosaurus. The screaming and roars they were giving off pained his heart as they ran for their lives. Looking back, he saw the familiar shapes of Woodstock and Clearwater trying to keep up with them; they too were frightened with the sudden onset of the predators. Living in the Salt Plains for so long, the alpha sauropod knew that with a youngling like Clearwater not being old enough to fend off attackers and having a bad leg, he would be a primary target for them.

Charles could go back and help them, but doing so would mean leaving his herd to go off in random directions. They had to run to where Hazel and Flia were going. The only thing he can do now would be to listen to the two travelers from another land.

"Keep moving everyone!" he boomed. "Hazel and Flia will get us out of here! Follow them!"

The herd stormed forward, going as fast as their weight could take them. Their stampede in the direction the scouts took left behind a constant stream of dust, along with several Allosaurus that chased after them for food.

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Minutes passed and Hazel and Flia finally landed onto the ground. The Pteranodon had to power through the prehistoric air in an effort to put in a lot of distance between where the portal would be set up and the sauropod herd. The constant heat bearing down on them and the weight of Hazel's bag were causing her wings to feel strained.

When Hazel looked back, she saw the distant shapes of the frightened Diplodocus, Supersaurus family, and the combined gang of Allosaurus species coming towards them. A quick guestimate on their distance and she calculated they were about a mile and a half from where they originally were. The distant mountains to her right and further up north when they were flying meant they were too far to be brought to the safety of more promising parts of the desert. It would take days to get out of this Salt Flat, but less than an hour to get to the Time Poles.

Once Hazel dismounted from the flyer, she hauled her bag off her back onto the salt. She unzipped the largest pocket and took out two silver poles from its reaches. The human then closed the bag and began to place the poles in their respective spots.

*Chick*

The first pole was stabbed into the salt. The girl grasped the switch at the top and pulled until she was met with a click at the top. The lights at the top of the pole ignited to a bright blue. Hazel ran a considerable distance away; about 40 feet from the first pole.

*Chick*

Again, she stabbed the second pole into the ground and activated it as well.

Once the poles were set up, Hazel ran back to Flia. Climbing onto her back and grasping onto the strap near her neck, the scouts took to the sky. As they gained altitude, Hazel took this chance to retrieve the phone from her pocket. The phone that she carefully preserved power throughout their time in the Jurassic period was turned on by the button on the top. The pitch black screen illuminated to life and in mere seconds, the main screen switched to the contacts list. She pressed the one person that she needed to contact before putting the phone against her ear.

The phone rang thrice and then a familiar voice sounded off on the other side.

"Nigel! Thank God you picked up!"

"Hazel? What's the matter?" her mentor asked her calmly despite being concerned for her worry.

"Can't explain a lot now! Trying to keep myself and everyone else here from getting baked then eaten, or the other way around. But I need you to set the Time Poles in the Valley Plains pronto!" she screamed over the winds of the salt plain. The speed she and Flia were going at was so fast that the wind was creating interference in the call, making her raise her voice. On top of that, the roars of the Allosaurus attacking the Diplodocus were so loud she tried to focus on her mentor's voice.

"Of course, but why's that?" Nigel questioned which Hazel barely heard due to the disturbance nearby.

A sudden wind turbulence they encountered caused the Pteranodon to screech in surprise and Hazel to hug the saddle tightly. "Let's just say the Holding Pens won't hold the rescues we're planning to save!"

"Okay, I'll get the Time Poles ready along with a team to take care of the rescues that will be coming through. I can get everything ready within the next 40 minutes. Can you handle that?" he explained the plan to her.

In Prehistoric Park, there were two Time Poles that were always situated nearby the Holding Pens. The last time they had to be transferred to a new location, it was when Hazel and Nigel were rescuing Aladar and Neera's herd, along with the Lemur Clan, from the meteor that hit the earth in the Late Cretaceous. The setup of the Time Poles would take some time, but if the setup was rushed, it could be ready in less than an hour.

The worry in Hazel's pit intensified. The Time Poles were a mile and a half away. Going at the speed these sauropods were going, they could reach the Time Poles in time, but perhaps barely. If the Time Poles in Prehistoric Park were not set up in time, she would have no choice but to retrieve the Time Poles and transfer them to a further distance, all the while risking the livelihood of the Diplodocus herd.

Hazel gulped. "Um...I think so! I hope..."

Just then, she looked over to her right and saw that they were flying parallel to the herd. One of the Allosaurus fragilis roared and was running towards one of the smaller Diplodocus that was making his way to Charles for protection. The predator may be several feet away from making an actual direct attack on the herbivore, but Hazel did not want to take a chance.

"Flia! Starboard side!" Hazel screamed, pulling her face away from the phone.

"What!?" Flia squawked in confusion.

The girl slapped her forehead, once again forgetting that she had no knowledge of the 21st century phrases.

"The right!" she reiterated.

Flia looked in that direction and angled her body so that they were headed straight for the predator. Hazel quickly ended the call and stashed her phone into her right pocket, hoping her mentor got the message to get started immediately. The sky scouts quickly closed in on the Allosaurus before he could get too close to the herbivores. The Pteranodon slammed her weight against the carnivore, putting him off balance and causing him to fall forward.

The hunter barked in surprise as he rolled away. The younger Diplodocus bellowed a "Thank you" and continued to catch up to his leader.

Flia and Hazel looked back and smiled before making their way around the perimeter of the herd. At this time, the sky scouts now became the herd's defenders.

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Veer to the left. Dodge a neck swipe coming in at the right. Duck under an underbelly. The young hunter kept moving passed the masses of the grey behemoths.

The herbivores, in their panic, all swiped their tails and necks from side to side to attack the ones that were attempting to kill them. But, they had no idea of their intentions. An Allosaurus did indeed have the potential to kill large prey, but only with some assistance or if said prey was weakened to begin with. These Diplodocus were much too strong to handle alone.

Not only that, but his kind were well-informed with nature's balance. To kill off any prey they came across frivolously without regards to the availability to other hunters would lead to overhunting and eventual extinction. First it would come to the prey disappearing, then those that hunted them. The young hunter and those like him only hunted for what they needed.

Right now, what he needed to do was to get to that Supersaurus youngling. Per Takomo's advice on the hunt, he was careful of the sauropods' blind sides and how they moved. He even managed to dodge a few neck swipes and even some stomping.

"Keep moving boy! Don't stop!" Takomo yelled as they ran side by side.

"I don't intend to!" he replied back, huffing out large breaths from running so much.

"Watch out!"

The young hunter looked ahead and saw a massive shape come at him. Upon instinct, he skidded to a stop and angled his body to the side to avoid falling forward. The Allosaurus crouched down, allowing the massive object to pass over him with a whoosh. He stood back up, unharmed.

But as he did, he saw the shape come swishing back. He ducked again, allowing it to pass over, before darting off ahead to avoid getting hit.

One quick look back and he determined he had dodged an attack from an incoming Diplodocus that was trying to swipe him away with a whip-tail attack.

An airy laugh sounded off next to him. Looking over, the grey adolescent took in the form of Takomo running alongside him again. His facial feature was that of amusement.

"Nice move boy!" the elder congratulated.

"Thanks!" he accepted the comment. It was not every day he was praised for quick thinking.

A roar erupted from behind them. One quick look back and the adolescent saw that same Diplodocus that nearly hit him fight off against another Allosaurus. He was about to deduce it was another one of his kind until he noticed it had a deep yellow hide mixed with some red. The size, white vertical markings on the eyes, and the fact that it was female revealed the new hunter's identity. His quick analysis had told him that this adult Allosaurus was Red Sand, the Yellow Skin that he heard of from Takomo.

From where he was, he could clearly see again why his kind would not get along with these Yellow Skins. She attacked him with a frontal attack, landing a bite onto one of the front legs. The Diplodocus, letting out a bellow and was clearly aggravated, lifted itself up. The Allosaurus released her grip from the leg and landed back onto the ground with a thump.

Her prey bellowed out again, this time in rage, before bringing itself down; its intent was to squish her beneath the weight. The ferocious carnivore managed to roll out of the way in time, allowing the feet to pound the earth and create a huge dust cloud.

The young hunter looked away. As much as he wanted to watch the battle occur before him, he wanted to focus on his own hunt. He did not want any more distractions to impede his judgement on his first hunt in the true Salt Plains.

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While the chaos ensued between the fleeing sauropods and the hungry Allosaurus, two certain carnivores were caught in the middle of the fray. One grey and black Ornitholestes and his golden-hued Rhamphorhynchus companion scurried within the giant group with their lives, all while trying to avoid getting crushed by their massive girths and getting eaten by whatever giant predators were attacking them.

Before this mess even started, Caius and Flit were just minding their own business on traveling with the herd. Per Broken Jaw's instruction, they remained hidden by walking under one of the giant's underbellies, both to avoid detection and to have some protection from the outside elements. Neither of the plant eaters noticed their presence, not that they cared anyway. Their small size was not a threat to herbivores that were at least ninety feet in length.

So, they traveled undetected with the herd, while Broken Jaw went away to take care of some "personal business". Whatever it was, they had no idea. What they did know was that when he tells them to stay behind and that his errand was "personal", they knew better than to interfere. He had been gone for a long time, and it was not long before the herd was being besieged by a gang of creatures that looked like him.

Caius weaved around the huge sauropods; his gift of speed and stealth kept him and his flyer friend alive. Poor Flit held onto the lithe meat eater's neck for life to prevent him from flying off…hopefully not into a predator's mouth. The Ornitholestes dodged the huge feet of the herbivores, all to find where their own piece of the family went.

"Man, what the heck is going on!? Some kind of party we weren't invited to!?" Flit cawed inquisitively out of fear over the screaming longnecks.

"It's an ambush! That's what it is!" Caius yelled back, stating the obvious.

The pterosaur gripped onto the slender hunter's skin tightly, drawing tiny bits of blood from the winged fingers. "We gotta get out of here before we get crushed by those huge feet, or eaten!"

"We do that and we'll expose ourselves!"

Flit strained from a sudden turn Caius made. "Where's BJ!?"

"I don't know! He hasn't returned!"

Caius veered around another Diplodocus, just barely avoiding it swinging its neck while it contended with one of the Allosaurus fragilis. The attacking predator was knocked off its feet and sent flying. Once he went under the belly to the outside of the herd, the small hunter was met by an unsuspecting sight. Skidding to a stop and angling his body so complete the action, the duo looked upon an Allosaurus lucasi that was staring down at them. The sun's rays obscured the face of the carnivore they raised for years.

"BJ! Where the heck were you!? I thought you left us to get eaten!" Flit squawked in a scolding manner.

Said carnivore replied with a roar. To a human who was in the vicinity, it sounded like a cross between a chainsaw motor and a tiger's roar. While the two friends were slightly fazed by the sudden outburst, they knew for years that kind of roar was one of intimidation. Broken Jaw would never do something like that unless it was to joke around with them. Why he was doing it now was odd.

Caius let out a frightened gasp. While Flit could not see due to the sun beaming down on him, he did catch the Ornitholestes' reaction.

"Uh...BJ? You okay?" the ocean-going pterosaur asked, trying to keep his crawling fear under control.

The large carnivore leaned his head down. When he did, the duo saw the one thing that confirmed their fears. While this one had the same golden-brown coloration of an Allosaurus lucasi, the jaw was, in fact, intact. The eyes they grew to know showed that of a monster that was ready to devour its prey. The creature's jaw opened, revealing sharp teeth as large as knives and dripping with globs of saliva.

"That's not Broken Jaw..." Caius quivered, taking a few steps back slowly from the new hunter.

The carnivore roared again, this time at a louder intensity. The little hunter scurried away in the other direction, his flyer friend just barely flying off his back.

"Not BJ! Definitely NOT BJ! RUN!"

The Allosaur snorted and gave chase to the hitchhiking carnivores. The feet of the giant meat eater carried him to his prey in no time flat. Caius, who had the legs built for speed, knew full well that he could only run for so long. While before he was only running in short bursts to escape getting crushed by titanic sauropods, he was now using his full stamina to escape from getting eaten. His lungs ached and his legs started to burn.

"Can't you run any faster!?" Flit hollered at him after looking back at the incoming Allosaurus. The creature was already closing in on them, and was soon just a mere three feet away.

Just then, something golden broadsided against the hungry predator. Caius stopped and looked back; gasping for air after running at his fastest. The duo looked upon the sight and were welcomed by the arrival of their savior. Before them, their attacker was on the ground, tussling with tooth and claw against a creature much like him, except he had a lower jawline that was crooked.

Broken Jaw moved away from his sibling's attacks and managed to swipe his claws across his face. He then ran up to his guardians and gave them a nudge with his snout. Caius jumped forward and soon, they were running back towards the Diplodocus fray side by side.

"BJ!" Flit laughed heartily.

"No time! Keep running! Follow the herd!"

The carnivore trio left the Allosaurus lucasi stranger squirming on the ground. The hunter, who eventually found his footing, stood back up, and roared in anger at the fleeing opponents.

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If things with the Diplodocus getting pestered by the Allosaurus gang were bad, then what the Supersaurus mother and child were going through was worse. All around, the predators kept on coming, focusing their attention on the pale-hued youngling with the handicap. An Allosaurus, regardless of what species they were, were strategic in nature. Whether they analyzed the situation first or attacked head on, they would always have a plan in mind.

The hunt that was occurring was mostly the work of the Grey Skins, however, a couple of the Yellow Skins were piggy-backing off of them. The plan the Greys had was to disrupt the unity of the Diplodocus herd so they could separate the weak from the healthy. In this case, they were mostly after the Supersaurus youngling that had the broken leg.

But their mission was easier said than done as Clearwater's mother was not letting up on keeping the hunter's away from her son.

Woodstock bellowed as she whipped two Allosaurus away with her stubbed tail. Though she was handicapped, she was still a force to be reckoned with. The grey lions of the Jurassic landed on their backs with thuds before rolling onto their stomachs; they hissed at the super lizard maliciously for her interference in their calculated plan.

Then she did the same to two more of them when they came in on the other side. Again, they were knocked away with a simple tail swipe.

But as Woodstock was dealing with the Allosaurus coming in on both directions, the Supersaurus failed to notice a couple of them coming from the front. Right when she looked away, her son was left in the open for two predators that could get a free shot.

"MOM!" he screamed and hobbled closer to her for protection. His fear of the Broken Jaw look-alikes made him hide under her in a futile attempt to conceal himself.

Woodstock looked ahead and saw the danger coming. "Hey! Buzz off skuzzbags!"

The Supersaurus craned her neck quickly towards them and batted them away, landing several feet away from the sauropods. Unlike the other Allosaurus, who all possessed grey hides and black vertical stripes, these two that came in had yellowish red skins and spines on their backs that Woodstock knew were Broken Jaw's kind. Woodstock was about to mistake one of them as Broken Jaw when she noticed neither of them had fractured lower jaws. The ex-alpha had come to realization that his kind was here and was joining in on the hunt.

The herd was fleeing about two hundred feet ahead. With the way clear of any predators, Woodstock snaked her neck to the left then towards her stomach; her eyes looking at her son with urgency. "Come on baby boy! Run! Get back with the herd!"

Going as fast as his small legs and broken right foot could take them, Clearwater rushed back to the herd. His mother was sticking close to him to make sure no predator laid a tooth or claw on her offspring.

As they rushed back, they were met by more opposition from the Allosaurus. Time and time again, Woodstock would beat them away with her neck and tail. One of the Allosaurus fragilis was about to run up from the right to knock Clearwater down when the predator was intercepted by Woodstock due to a brutal push. The carnivore was knocked to the ground and, before it could recover, the Supersaurus reared up and put her whole weight on the hunter. The crushed bones pierced the poor carnivore's internal organs, making an instant kill.

Just then, a roar sounded off from Woodstock's rear. Looking over, she saw three more grey Allosaurus coming towards her. They brandished their teeth and claws, ready for the attack. The red, cobweb patterned sauropod quickly turned around and angled her body horizontally, blocking their way.

The Allosaurus in the middle jumped up and landed onto her ribs, but she easily shook the predator off with a shove. Because he landed right next to one of her feet, she took the chance to lift her foot up and slam him on the neck, breaking it like a stick. The body jerked upward before becoming prone.

Another one, this time an elderly male from the battle cry he made, circled around her and readied for a frontal attack. However, he was stopped short when Woodstock beat her away with her neck.

When Woodstock was about to go for the third, she was horrified to see that the hunter was going after Clearwater, who was left out in the open. He may have been close to the rear of the Diplodocus herd, but he would not make it to safety with the speed the adolescent Allosaurus was going.

"Hey! Get back here!" Woodstock called to the carnivore.

Her outburst attracted Clearwater's attention. Looking back, he screamed when he noticed a grey-skinned Allosaurus a mere few feet from him. The predator opened its maw, revealing sharp teeth that were connected by streams of saliva.

"MOM! HELP!"

*CRACK*

The sudden appearance of a whip like tail above Clearwater saved him from becoming a mid-day meal. The Allosaurus that was hit was knocked back several feet away. The creature landed on its side, prone, but not dead. Those yellow eyes became shadowed by grey eyelids.

Both mother and son focused their gaze from the tail to the owner of the appendage that stopped the attack. They were grateful to see an elderly Diplodocus running towards them after angling his body for an attack. This one looked very much like the other members of the herd, except he had multiple battle scars on his body, presenting the many battles he went through in life.

"Go! I'll hold them off for as long as I can!" he told them, rushing passed the Supersaurus family to meet the incoming Allosaurus from the rear.

"Thanks my man! Come on kiddo, let's get back with the others," Woodstock thanked.

She caught up with her son and the two quickly caught up to the rest of the herd. Their savior in the back bellowed in fury as he battled against a small army of Allosaurus. Whiplashes, roars, and stomps echoed from the fight between titans that the herd left behind.

When Woodstock and Clearwater turned their heads away from the sauropod male, their eyes were met by a strange white light ahead of the herd. Seeing that the others were going towards it without hesitation, mother and child Supersaurus did not question the origin of the strange hole, or why they were seeing a green landscape on the other side.

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A few minutes before…

Hazel and Flia took back to the skies. For the past several minutes, they had been battling one Allosaurus after another. Although dive-bombs and dagger slashes did not cause significant damage to the two species of predators, they were able to buy the individual Diplodocus enough time to escape. The other reason they did minor damage was because a certain human wanted to rescue as many Allosaurus, both fragilis and lucasi, as she could.

The human quickly took her phone back out to check the time. When she did, she saw it was 1:35 PM. The last time she called Nigel was at 1:00 PM. Praying he gathered some volunteers and moved the Time Poles to the Valley Plains in Prehistoric Park, she prepared to unlock her phone so she could contact his status.

Coincidentally, before she could do so, a white text box appeared on her screen. One look at the message content and its sender eased her worry.

"Portal's ready. Bring everyone through. ~Nigel"

Hazel looked up to see where they were in terms of their position from the portal. Up ahead, at least fifty feet away, were two bright lights that were parallel to each other. The herd was not far behind and would reach the time point in a couple of minutes.

"Flia, we need to tell Charles we're going to open the portal! Everyone's ready back at the park!"

The Pteranodon glanced back and gave her a quick nod. One sharp turn later, the duo was flying back towards the herd. In no time at all, they were flying right next to a fleeing Charles, who was desperately trying to lead his fleeing troupe in the direction of the portal the time travelers set up.

"Charles! We're going to create a large hole up ahead that will get you and your herd out of here!" Hazel warned him, attracting the sauropod's attention. "It's going to look like a bright light at first, but then it will clear up! Just get your herd through it and my people on the other side will take care of you!"

"Do what you can, you two!" the southern-speaking Diplodocus replied fervently. "We're ready!"

The flyers took off back to where the portal was set up. Once they were within a significant distance, Hazel reached into her pocket to feel for a small remote. Feeling for the specific button she wanted, she pressed it hard with her thumb. The portal before them erupted to life, branching out like a huge puddle. A bright light emitted from the future technology, but that only obscured their vision for a few seconds.

Looking on the other side of the portal, the two could see their home; with its lush green fields and a cool, welcoming breeze.

The two then flew off to the side, not wanting to be in the way of a herd of stampeding, frantic sauropods. It was not long before the frightened herbivores were barging through the portal and into a strange, new world.

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Prehistoric Park…seconds later

One minute there was peace in the plains that bordered the Valley Plains and the Elephant grounds of Prehistoric Park. No one was occupying the vast space of greenery for the keepers of Prehistoric Park had to secure it for the new arrivals. There were even no other dinosaurs that were in the border, for they had been told by the alphas of the Valley Herd of the rescues that would come through the newly prepared portal shortly. The only ones who remained in that area were at least five jeeps filled with Prehistoric Park volunteers, who were equipped with stun guns and tranquilizers in case the newcomers caused too much trouble. Among them were Nigel Marven, Bob Arthur, and Marcus Rey.

Now Nigel did not exactly get the stationary Time Poles from the Holding Pens area, but instead got some spare mobile ones from the storage vault. Basically, he did the same thing Marcus did from their last rescue with Aladar and Neera's herd by rearranging the transmitters and making it receiver. Then, all he had to do was to take those Time Poles to the Valley Plains border and set them up. Doing so saved a lot of time and left him with enough opportunity to gather the much needed volunteers.

Marcus managed to do his tasks Nigel had assigned to him. With his ATV, he was able to make it to the Valley Plains to warn Aladar and Neera of the situation. Both alphas understood what was happening and told their herd to stay away from the lake shore nearest the border. They asked about what kind of rescues Hazel and Flia were bringing through the portal, but Marcus could not answer that because he did not know what they were. Regardless, the alphas went with his request and the lake in the Valley Plains was empty. But then going back to Titanosaur Treetops proved to be a bit of a challenge because he had forgotten it was in the other direction of where he was. Luckily, on his way there, he managed to find Bob, who was on his way to bring a wheelbarrow full of rocks the sauropods could gorge on to ease their digestion.

With Bob in tow, the two men were able to relay Nigel's message to the Borealosaurus to get to the Valley Plains to calm the new rescues. Needless to say, the sauropods had not argument against that. Unfortunately, they were still on their way to the rendezvous point by the time Nigel got everything set up in the border.

Then, right when everything was ready for the rescue, the Time Poles erupted to life. A large portal opened up, and a herd of giant, frightened Diplodocus came crashing through. Needless to say, the humans that were present were all freaking out over the sudden influx of giant herbivores.

"Holy shit!" Marcus cursed as he beheld the behemoths rumbling through.

"Oy vey…not again!" Bob seconded. He then turned to Nigel, who was sitting at the driver's seat of the jeep they were in. He was the least bit surprised, but was astonished by the rescue his protégé and her partner completed. "First you and Hazel bring in a herd of dinosaurs from prehistoric Africa, then you allow her to go back to the Jurassic to find a specific carnivore, and now she brings these guys in!? Where are we going to put them!?"

"We'll worry about that later. Right now, we've got to calm them all down!" Nigel told him. The man turned the keys of the jeep and revved the vehicle to life.

All five vehicles rocketed towards the frantic Diplodocus, carrying several humans who were trying to get the attention of some very tall dinosaurs who were too frightened to comprehend what was happening. If any of the keepers were paying any attention, they would have noticed a certain golden-hued Allosaurus, followed by a small Ornitholestes, and a yellow-toned Rhamphorhynchus that hung onto the small carnivore, escape the chaos and into one of the nearby forests.

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Broken Jaw panted, his chest hurt with every breath he took. It was like there were rocks in his lungs that were hindering his breathing. Not once in his whole life did he have to run for so long, or to escape from a danger so great as a stampeding group of Diplodocus.

When he and his guardians went through the strange light, they imagined the sun was messing with their visions due to the light refracting from the salt. They did not expect to be in a land lush with vegetation, where the heat was not scorching. The air smelled of lush forests and life. However, they had no time to admire the scenery as they had to escape the distraught herbivores.

It was a good thing they could take an opening between the chaos. As soon as they saw it, they bolted towards the tree line. Now, all three of them were under some dense brush, easing their lungs and looking down upon forest debris for the first time.

"You two…okay?" Broken Jaw coughed, looking back at his two, more vulnerable companions.

Caius, who had been running for longer than the Allosaurus the whole time, could barely keep his head up. He coughed sporadically, trying to get some relief through rest. However, the grey and black hunter managed to give the larger carnivore a quick nod.

Flit, on the other hand, was in better shape than the other two. The yellow pterosaur had been holding onto the Ornitholestes the whole time, and was merely shaking his head and body to get any salt bits that got onto his miniscule down. He too gave out coughs of his own, mainly due to some dust he accidentally swallowed. By the time he recovered, he hopped down from his perch on Caius' back and onto a terrain he had never set foot, or wing, on before. Leaves and grass.

"Whoa...where are we?" Flit said in wonder, looking around his surroundings. As an ocean-going pterosaur, he had seen tall trees before. But never ones that were like these. These trees had vines, leaves so green they nearly blocked out the sun, and trunks so indistinguishable from the ones he was used to seeing. What were those colorful shapes at the ends of some of those branches? Never before had he seen anything so colorful.

"I've never seen so much green before," Caius commented, observing their whereabouts. "The air here is not scorching, I can smell water in the distance, along with some...other scents of creatures I've never encountered."

The hook-beaked flyer turned his head curiously at his larger grey companion. "You think this is the place those huge lugs were traveling to?"

The bird robber peeked his head out of the opening they went through, the rest of his body sticking out at them. When he retracted, his features remained puzzled.

"I don't know. Our huge entourage seems overly anxious about this place. Whatever that light was we passed through, it's taken us to a new place entirely."

Flit flapped his wings in content, a smile creasing over his beak. "So, now what? I don't know about you guys, but this place seems better than where we were living at."

"Now don't jump to any conclusions. We still need to know more about this place. We should explore a bit first before we settle down."

His lecturing was cut short when the Allosaurus that was with them let out a loud yawn. Like a dog, his tongue rolled out then back in, except it dangled a little before retracting due to the fractured jaw he had. Broken Jaw flopped onto his stomach, sending a few of the leaves flying upward a couple of inches.

He may not look it, but Broken Jaw was too enamored by the new scenery. He wanted to go out and explore. Never before had he seen so much green. The problem was, his encounter with his former family, traveling so much, and running from the stampede of the Diplodocus had exhausted him. Broken Jaw made a mental note to start exploring once he got his strength back.

"Well you guys do that. I'm going to take a nap. All that running's made me tired," Broken Jaw said as he rested his head onto the forest floor.

He did little to stop his eyelids from falling. Minutes after Broken Jaw closed his eyes, quiet snores escaped the carnivore's throat.

Seeing no other way to object his decision, the two hunters looked out into the lush valley. Beyond some small hills, they could see the sauropod herd frantically running about in all directions. Their screaming permeated the air and was accompanied by the many bellows they made. Off to the opposite direction of them, Caius and Flit could faintly hear the sounds of similar bellows coming to them, which they wrongly perceived as an echo.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the Jurassic period…

"Keep going you two, and don't look back!" the human pressed on the last remaining members of the herd.

Hazel and Flia watched the mother and child Supersaurus amble through the portal. For the last several minutes they were watching the grey, spine-backed sauropods rush through the window into the 21st century. The rushing of the giants along with the cries of terror they were giving off gave the two scouts memories of the last time a rescue like this happened. To them, this was just like when their own herd in the valley was escaping their own destruction at the hands of a flaming rock of fire from outer space. This time was exactly like that in terms of fleeing to safety. The only difference being the danger was more miniscule.

When Woodstock and Clearwater's bodies disappeared into the portal, Hazel let out a sigh of relief. Now that the gentle giants were safely in, the only thing they had left to do was to get as many Allosaurus, both fragilis and lucasi, into the portal. All they had to do was to lure some of them to the Time Portal, but then that would mean Nigel and his volunteers at the park would have to deal with rounding them up.

"Let them do that. We've got our own task to finish," Hazel thought to push that consequence aside.

"That should be everyone," Flia said triumphantly. "Now we just need-."

The woman on her back cursed under her breath. As soon as she looked over to her right, she was met by a horrifying sight. At the sound of her inappropriate words, the Pteranodon turned her head in that same direction. Fear and determination filled her features.

At least a hundred yards away was a lone Diplodocus wildly moving around; his neck and tail waving around like sturdy whips in the wind. Surrounding him on all sides, attacking like a coordinated wolf pack, were several Allosaurus fragilis.

The duo sped off to the lone herbivore. The flyer flew as fast as she could, even though she had the combined weights of her human ward and her large bag of supplies on her back. She flew faster than she did when she escaped the Fireball, faster than they did when they flew through the canyon to rescue Kron, and perhaps even faster when they were saving Twitch from falling to his death during the recent breakout many months ago. The ground below them sped by in a blur.

As they flew, they noticed a few yellow-skinned Allosaurus chasing after them. The flyers did not need to confide in themselves to fight them off. Flia swooped down and knocked a number away, stunning them temporarily. The hunters squirmed on the ground, badly bruised or contained a couple scratch marks on their hides.

Hazel took note of their downed attackers. While she'd rather they led them through the portal to get a number of them into the sanctuary, her mind was set on rescuing the lone Diplodocus that was fending off a whole army of the grey-skinned hunters. Turning around and leading the others to the portal would only delay the victim's help. Or worse, if they returned, he would probably be dead. No, Hazel would not let that happen. She gave the carnivores one last look before returning her attention to the task at hand, making a mental note to come back for them later.

By the time they arrived, they already pulled themselves into the fray. Flia effortlessly took out three Allosaurus with just a few dive-bombs and peck attacks. Hazel contributed by slashing at another three with her dagger when the Pteranodon was flying over some she was unable to get a clear attack on.

The seventh one they took out with a joint attack; Flia swooped down to confuse the opponent but they swerved into a tight turn, as close as she could. This was a risky move, but it allowed Hazel to create a huge gash on its chest. The monster screamed in agony and collapsed onto the salt, small bits of blood staining the white earth.

The two of them cheered at their small victory, but it was short lived. In a split second, they were besieged by a roar behind them. The two had no time to process that information when they saw a set of sharp teeth coming straight at them.

Just when they were about to become Jurassic chow, a huge appendage slammed onto the carnivore. The Allosaurus had been driven onto the ground, unconscious. The attack they had witnessed was comparable to what Charles did to save them from the Marshosaurus attack when they met again days ago. Except this time, the alpha Diplodocus was not here; they personally saw him pass through the portal into Prehistoric Park.

Hazel and Flia did not need to think too much to see that it was the remaining herbivore that had saved them. When they looked over, they saw he was riddled with many bite marks and scratches. Blood poured from his wounds, adding red streaks to the light grey skin.

"You two get out of here!" the warrior, apparently an elder due to his aged voice, told them. He batted another Allosaurus away with his neck, sending it squirming on the ground.

"What!? But what about you!?" Flia cried out to him, just narrowly dodging another attack by flying higher.

"I'll keep them busy! Just make sure the others get out of here!" the elder said, not tearing his eyes away from the growling hunters around him.

"We're not leaving here without you! And the rest of the herd has gone on ahead!" Hazel said next with much determination.

"Hazel, there's too many of them! If we try to fight them now, they'll overcome us!" Flia cawed under the pressure.

Taking one quick look around, the sight of the thirty individual Allosaurus surrounding them was enough to make the human shudder. Her partner was right; if they managed to take one out, another would come in and attack them. Even if they did take on a few at a time and were extremely careful, the chances of them escaping unscathed were slim to none. Not to mention she could clearly hear Flia breathing heavily; all of the physical activity of attacking the predators plus flying at top speed was making her tire. Under normal circumstances, she would not tire so easily had they been lax in their flight. She had been carrying Hazel and her bag for days when they first came to the Jurassic period. However, due to the heat and the amount of energy used today in their attacks, they could fall out of the sky from exhaustion.

"I'm afraid this time, you're goin' to have to leave me," the elder male grey longneck rumbled in submission. A cough escaped the creature's throat, which was then followed by several louder ones in succession. His breathing became wheezes as soon as he finished. "I'm not doin' so great myself...haven't been for days. My limbs are shaky and so's my breathin'. My head's poundin' on itself for a while."

He looked over at the time travelers with fierce content in his eyes. "I can't last much longer out here...but I've lived long enough. So if I'm goin' to die, I'd rather go down fightin'."

Red hot tears built up in Hazel's eyes. She shook her head madly; the hot drops fell from her face. "Stop saying that! Come with us! I've got some people who can help you! You can keep living!"

The sick sauropod chuckled weakly. "That's a mighty fine offer... but I've already made up my mind." He swished his tail in an intimidating manner, the end of the appendage almost touching the flyers, who quickly backed away to avoid the mock attack. "Now go! Before I send you packin' myself!"

"No! No we're not leaving you! Flia, we have to help him!" Hazel pounded her fist onto the saddle. Her breaths turned into shaky cries.

The Pteranodon groaned from the slams she got on her back. The female Cretaceous scout stared at the sickly male. His eyes radiated sadness, yet they also appeared content. A fiery determination was also present. Flia had seen many things on her travels. When she saw something like that, she knew that whoever was making that face meant they were serious. They would fight to the end. Flia knew better than to go against his judgement. It hurt her to leave him, but it was what he wants.

"If that is your wish," she nodded in understanding. A cry of sorrow escaped the human that rode her. "Good luck, stranger."

"Tell Charles and the others not to grieve for me. It was an honor to travel alongside them. Tell them all…that Joel wishes good fortune in their future."

"I will. Goodbye," Flia flew away with grief on her shoulders.

Her human ward screamed for her to turn around and stay with the Diplodocus. As they flew towards the portal, they found that none of the Allosaurus were following them; they were more preoccupied with the large prey they had subdued.

"Flia what are you doing!? Turn around! We're not leaving him behind!"

But Flia did not listen. The crested pterosaur flew on, despite Hazel's protests. The human cried and cried, practically begging her to turn back to help the herbivore. She pulled at the single leather handle strap in an effort to get her to change direction. But to no avail. The strap was there to hang on for support in-flight; it was not designed for steering.

Behind them, the roars of Joel the Diplodocus and the shrieks of the Allosaurus sounded off in a furious cacophony. The two of them disappeared through the ripple in time, leaving the Jurassic period for the present. The portal closed behind them at the orders of Flia over the commands of her human ward.

The duo flew over the rampaging herd of Diplodocus and the two Supersaurus. Neither of them paid any attention to the commotion they were making. Driving around the perimeter of the chaos were Nigel and the rest of the volunteers he rounded up. On and off, they sent shouts at the sauropods, telling them to stop. Some of the employees fired minor electric bolts from the stun guns at the giants' feet, causing them to change direction.

Going over one of the larger hills, they made out the huge forms of the Borealosaurus coming from within the park. Common sense told them they were called over to help quell the chaos that ensued behind them. Yin and her Flock rushed towards the border of the Elephant Grounds and the Valley Plains as quickly as their huge girths could.

But Flia paid no mind to them. She nimbly set herself down on one of the hills that overlooked that part of the valley. Her human friend dismounted and faced her; her features red with anger and tears streamed from her face.

"What the hell was that!?" Hazel waved her arms in frustration. "Why'd you retreat?"

"I had to Hazel!" the flyer defended. "It was too dangerous! There were too many of those things around! They would have killed us with their numbers!"

"Yeah, but you took on a pack of Velociraptors and won!" Hazel protested, remembering the first time they met many months ago.

"That was different! And I only did so to save you!"

The Asian balled her hands into fists. Her teeth clenched hard, up to the point where her teeth looked like they might crack. A fierce rage burned in her irises. "We could have saved that Diplodocus AND gotten a huge pack of Allosaurus! It was a prehistoric jackpot!"

Flia shook her head in frustration. Honestly, how can this girl be so dense? "You're not getting the point! If we remained there any longer, we would have suffered the same fate as that poor elder! Are you willing to throw away your own life just to accomplish something that would be in vain? Help that elder or not, he was dead to begin with. He was sick and would eventually die."

"Then we could have brought him back here so the vets could take care of him!" she yelled at her, folding her arms.

"Hazel stop being stubborn! Don't you remember what we discussed days ago? When we saw Broken Jaw get severely injured by Woodstock, we had to leave him behind because of the fear of his mother killing us for being present at the attack! She would have blamed us had we not escaped! There was nothing we could do for him. It's the same right now."

Of course, Hazel remembered that clearly. The sight of Broken Jaw's limp form and a pool of blood beneath his head burned in her mind. Woodstock and her father cheering for that victory was like an army of fire ants raging in her stomach. Being forced to leave that poor youngling to escape the rage of his mother reminded Hazel of how cruel the world could be. Not long after, she was in a similar situation when the Allosaurus fragilis named Alyssa was being rescued from a mud bank, all while her friends fended off a pack of Ceratosaurus. Lethe the Parasaurolophus was about to end the life of a young Ceratosaurus when Hazel stopped her. This caused a rift between her and her friends, which they made amends later on when she promised she would adjust to the idea that not everyone would deviate from Darwinism immediately.

Now it was happening again. They left Joel behind at the mercy of those predators…and they were unable to rescue one single Allosaurus.

"I thought you said you were against "survival of the fittest"! What, are you supporting it now?" Hazel spat in defiance.

"No! And you're still not accepting the views of others!"

The woman cursed under her breath. She was accepting the thinking of others! How dare she think she was not! "What the hell!? No! The one here who's not thinking straight is you!"

With a scream of exasperation, Hazel stormed off in the general direction of the park. Flia hobbled to where she once was and screamed at her loudest.

"Hazel! Get back here! We're not finished!" went the Pteranodon as if she were a mother scolding her child.

Hazel glanced back and shot her a malicious glare. "Yes we are! Butt out!"

Neither of them exchanged protests after that. The only thing that resulted between the two of them was the scorn they felt from each other and the faint sobs of the retreating Hazel. Flia sighed and turned around, now gazing at the rest of the Diplodocus herd. Yin and her Flock were now among them, busily corralling their Jurassic cousins into one group. She could hear from afar the Borealosaurus leader reassuring their longer relatives they were in no danger.

The victory of rescuing Charles and his herd did nothing to calm the tempest of emotions within the Pteranodon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Get up, boy. We got ourselves a kill."

The young Allosaurus novice hunter groaned. His eyes fluttered, slowly revealing his yellow, predatory eyes. His vision was blurry at first; all he could see was a bright light followed by a looming figure over him. By the time they readjusted, he found himself looking up at an individual like him. The only difference was he was bigger and sounded older.

"Takomo?" he said groggily.

He slowly got up and looked around. He was surprised to see that there were no Diplodocus around him. The others of his kind were nowhere to be found. What had happened while he was out? How long was he out?

The only things he could remember were running through the herd, and then making it to the Supersaurus youngling. After that, something large batted him away. He knew no more after that.

"Wh-where's-?" the adolescent frantically looked around for any sign of the others or where the prey was. He feared he had been left behind or the herd had moved on.

"Went through some light bit of a ways from here," Takomo finished for him, confirming his fears of the loss of their prospects. "Vanished without a trace. Not that it matters now."

He got up on his feet. His face was riddled with shock. "But...but how?"

The elder hunter shrugged his arms and walked on. "Well, that's what I saw. Must be the heat though. The Salt Plains are known to mess with someone's mind. Now come on, let's get our share of the kill before it's all gone."

The novice watched Takomo walk away. Looking passed his diminishing form, he noticed that the rest of his kind were surrounding a large behemoth on all sides. The giant moved around madly, the tail and neck swaying in the wind like stiff appendages. It was then he understood what was happening. While he was out, the rest of the gang had managed to separate one of the Diplodocus from the herd. Judging from the undulating motion of the neck and the horrid gasps he could hear from far away, this was the one that was sickly.

While this was no Supersaurus youngling, this adult sauropod would support him for the next several weeks.

He dashed ahead, catching up to the scarred Allosaurus. It was not long until they too were part of the crowd that surrounded the Diplodocus. The roars and the commotion going on around them grew wilder by the minute. The two of them watched as members of their own kind attacked their prey simultaneously. Some of them were knocked away, leaving with minor injuries. Others were knocked out cold.

But their attacks were doing their work. More and more wounds appeared on his skin. Large puddles of blood formed on the salty ground. Soon, he would die from exhaustion, if not from the heat.

"Come on…I can still take you!" Joel panted; his eyes boring dirtily into the souls of the monsters that surrounded him. "You're bugs compared to me!"

The adolescent Allosaurus looked at Takomo, expecting orders due to his experience. "He doesn't look easy to kill. What do we do?"

Takomo glanced at him and gave him a toothy grin. "Now…we wait."

And wait they did. Two hours passed by with gradual progress. The large gang of predators attacked the herbivore; some individually and others in small groups, all in the effort to tire him out. Takomo and his young protégé watched them go about their strategy. While they wanted to help in the fight to bring this giant down, they had their reasons to stay out of the way. For one thing, Takomo would rather just sit back and observe for an opening for him. He would rather attack only when it seemed "right", when the Diplodocus was at his lowest point and he could use a more devastating attack, such as a bite to the neck. The other thing was his trainee; he was inexperienced with bringing down prey this size. He stayed back to observe how to take down a giant.

The only thing the two of them, and their kind, found to be annoying were the Yellow Skins that were among them. They laughed and cackled as their distant cousins were brought down one by one by their "stupid tactics". "Lazy bums" was what Takomo grumbled one time. They stayed back to watch their species rivals get tortured by their prey. They were not even contributing in bringing this behemoth down! This angered the adolescent hunter greatly.

But all that changed. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the Diplodocus was brought down to his knees. The heat and exhaustion had taken their toll on him. He let out a pained groan and collapsed on his side, the earth shaking at his sudden fall.

The young predator smiled. At last, he was down. He could finally have a proper meal, a FEAST at that.

His victory was short lived. Right when he was about to dart forward to claim part of his prize, yellow blurs zoomed up to the weakened prey. He watched in anger as the Yellow Skins ruthlessly attacked the sauropod on all sides before each of them put in the killing blow. Then, they dug their jaws into the body, gorging on their feast.

"Hey! We were that tired him out!" he roared furiously. He stomped the ground in the midst of his tantrum. Those around him watched in equal disapproval, but stayed back knowing better. "We should be the ones to get the first meal! They're muscling in on our spoils!"

"Let it go kid," Takomo said, hiding his disappointment in the situation. "Remember, out here, it's every Allo for themselves, especially when it comes to the Yellow Skins. Just wait for them to leave."

Just then, a scrap of meat from the huge carcass flew from one of the entrails of the Diplodocus. The two of them returned their attention and found the sizeable catch lying a few feet from them. It turns out that one of the Yellow Skins pulled a little too hard on one portion and caused parts of his meal to fly out.

The budding hunter's patience wore thin. His stomach growled like a creature moaning. The pangs of hunger ate at him incessantly. The Yellow Skins were busy eating away at the large carcass. No one else was coming for it. The least he could do was have a small taste.

He licked his teeth and slowly approached the scrap. Now, for the first time today, he was going to eat some fresh Diplodocus. He opened his jaw and leaned forward.

*Thump*

His procession was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a three-toed foot in front of him. The youngster jerked up. He was almost terrified to be staring into the face of one of the Yellow Skins. The blood on his jaw dripped down like water. The burning eyes showed off his sadistic nature, coupled with a cackle that escaped his maw.

"Sorry 'Greyhead'," the Yellow Skin, identified as a young male with a maniacal tone, cackled. "This one's mine."

The fragilis adolescent stood up straight, defiance shining brightly in his features. "Uh no! I saw it first! It belongs to me!"

The intruder cackled again, this time louder. His outburst had already attracted the attention of his other siblings…and the other Grey Skins who wisely stayed out of the way. "I don't think your head's on right. Because I was the one that saw it go here. Now, I'm in a good mood right now so you better not spoil it by trying to steal this little scrap. Now buzz off before I make you the second course!"

The youngster snorted in indignation. There was no way he was backing off now. He worked hard to get this piece of meat, even if this was his first time and he got hit around a lot. "No. I'm not leaving. We exhausted out this leaf eater while your kind stood by and watched. We did all the work. Therefore, we are the ones who get first dibs, not you!"

"Ooh! Look at you! Lookin' so tough!" the lucasi hunter mocked him, feigning astonishment. "Well, let me tell you this greyhead. I don't think you know who you're dealin' with here. Now I'm going to tell you this only once. If you want to stay in one piece, you go and stand right there while we get our fill."

The adolescent Grey Skin stood by, his face unchanged. A moment passed by with nothing happening. His rival stood there, waiting for an answer, but he looked on at him as if he were some other meal.

"The answer is still no," he replied calmly with dignity. "I'm not leaving until you back off."

The Yellow Skin sighed and then chuckled insanely. "Welp...I tried."

What happened next happened so fast. For a moment, the Yellow Skin maniac was about to snap his jaws around his neck. The novice flinched, expecting the feel of teeth digging into his skin. He was about to grab onto him and break his neck.

But that never came. Instead, something grey broadsided the Yellow Skin right when he was about to be brought down. He blinked several times and found that he was witnessing something he had never seen before.

In a tussle of claws, bites, roars, and scratches were the Yellow Skin intruder and another Grey Skin. He was about to dismiss him as another Grey Skin not worth his time when he saw something on the individual's body. The larger one looked much like him, except slightly more haggard and with one main factor: a huge faint scar that ran over his ribs.

Takomo had stepped in to save him.

The youngster backed off, not wanting to get involved in this fight. He watched the two of them exchange blows before switching to bashing their bodies against each other. The two went at it for the next several minutes. The other Allosaurus, both Yellow and Grey, looked on as the fight went on. They fought each other, tooth and nail, all the while trying to sink their teeth into each other's necks.

Then, in one quick movement, Takomo jumped onto the Yellow Skin. He dug his feet talons into his hide and drew down. The gashes opened up his stomach, spilling his guts. The Yellow Skin cried out in agony, but not before performing his last act of vengeance.

The Yellow Skin bit onto Takomo's throat…and pulled a piece of flesh from him. That part of his neck gushed out in blood. Bits of his flesh dangled out. A thin, tube-like protrusion shook around like a leaf. Takomo gasped, but by doing so, caused squirts of blood to gush out. The elder collapsed on the ground, right next to the Yellow Skin that immediately died from his wounds.

Takomo gagged, being unable to breathe. In a short minute, he too fell still.

Silence fell onto the combined tribes. Neither of them expected this sort of outcome to happen. But that silence did not last long. The Grey Skins looked on in shock…while their distant relatives started cackling away.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Senji got his butt handed to him by an old guy! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" one Yellow Skin that stood on the Diplodocus carcass laughed maniacally.

"That's what he gets for being so stupid!" Another went off in a more insulting tone.

The next one, a female, scoffed. "I'm glad he's gone! He was annoying! Always stealing my share..."

As they went on, the adolescent predator watched them in fury. While he did not know Takomo for very long, the fact that they were insulting both he and their pack member for dying this was just felt disgusting. True, if one of their own dies, there would be no reason to grieve. The fact that they are laughing it off was enough to make him want to berate them. Takomo may have been just a stranger, but he went out of his way to keep him out of trouble. He looked out for him, and taught him how to survive in this part of the Salt Plains.

He was like a guardian to him.

The youngster looked down at the corpse of the elder. A sense of sadness overwhelmed him. Takomo protected him even though there really was no reason to. He was a fool, challenging that Yellow Skin to a fight when there was no need to. And now, because of him, he caused the death of an old warrior.

"Alekanekelo," he muttered his true name to Takomo, the name he never got to tell him when he was alive. He remembered the promise they made before they started the hunt. It was only fitting to keep his end of it to uphold his honor. "My name is Alekanekelo."

Darksage: Tada! Well that was epic!

Marc: Epic is an understatement.

Darksage: So, you guys probably noticed we added a few things to the story, like some new characters and the new lore. Red Sand is a pretty tough girl and living in the Salt Plains has made her like that. We kind of based her off Raven Branwen in terms of personality. Yeah, we know, RWBY is hitting us hard. Then there's Takomo, who we decided would be a perfect tutor for our young budding warrior Alekanekelo and somehow played as a father figure to him, even though he didn't last long. For him, we had Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy on our minds.

Marc: Someone's been watching a little too much Marvel…

Darksage: What was that?

Marc: Nothing. As for the Grey Skin and Yellow Skin lore, we loosely based that off geologic speciation and biological dispersal. Then we personalized it a bit.

Darksage: And Alekanekelo is Hawaiian for "protector". That guy certainly lived up to his namesake in this story.

Marc: Chapter 13 is currently under works and we'll have that up soon…so stay tuned.

Darksage: We hope you guys enjoyed this one! See you on the next chapter!