Tristan fell.
His impact on the ground was a bit softer than he expected - he managed to hit a loose pile of san and dirt, rather than hard packed Earth. That wasn't exactly his primary concern, though - rather, eh was more worried about the heat. HIs sudden exit from the portal had initially left him unable to sense the change in temperature, but it had only taken a few seconds for him to register that he was in a different environment - one that was both hotter and dryer than what he was used to.
At least, from staying at the park - it certainly felt a lot more like home during the summer. And that was only compounded by his first look at the scenery. Oh sure, there were plenty of different plants - a few different types of trees, bushes, grasses and flowers - but there was one type of plant that dominated the area.
Cacti.
Myriad forms of the plant dominated the landscape - some recognizable, others unfamiliar. The shapes and sizes formed a diversity of plants one would expect to see in a rainforest, not a desert...and yet here they were, growing in harmony.
All around, animals went about there lives, with their familiarity matching up with the plants - some known, others not. Woodpeckers and hummingbirds flitted about, looking for insects and nectar, while lizards and insects crawled across the ground, playing out the endless struggle of hunter and hunted.
The sound of something large moving nearby turned Tristan's attention to his right. There, Terence was standing up, having finally shaken off the surprise of where they had arrived. The tyrannosaur's eyes were filled both with uncertainty and curiosity - he had never seen this environment before, and was eager to figure out what dwelled within this strange landscape.
Tristan wondered how long it would take for him to step on some cholla cactus - those things were annoying as hell.
Turing his attention away from the giant reptile, Tristan took stock of what equipment he had. While his transit into an unknonw part of time (probably the relatively recent past, given the presence of cacti) had left him without most provisions, Nigel had encouraged the team to start carrying emergency supplies in case this kind of incident happened, so he had enough food on hand to last a few days. If push came to shove, he could probably find something to eat - he could already spot some berries he knew were edible, and while eating an extinct species was something he'd rather not do, if survival was on the line, then he was willing to take a bite.
The problem of getting back to the present was, ironically enough, the easiest one to solve - the surprise portal opening had taken not only the portal device, but also all of the tools and materials used to fix it with him into the past, alongside detailed manuals on how to fix it. There was even a portable generator, so he could power up all of the electric tools.
Although he would probably miss all those login rewards for his games...
Why was he thinking about that of all things?
Sighing in exasperation at himself, Tristan whistled to Terence, getting the tyrannosaur's attention squarely on him. Then, somewhat hilariously, he tried to ask Terence to carry the various tools and doodads needed to fix the portal - there was only so much room on the bags that had come through, to say nothing of the limits to what one human could carry.
After a few tries, the dinosaur figured out his meaning, and helped out with the carrying. With his most obvious problem handled, Tristan turned his attention toward a nearby hill. Getting a lay of the land was important - especially if he wanted to find water.
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Ob looked at Long Fang.
Long Fang looked back.
Then they both turned to look at the door.
Tristan had left over an hour ago. That he had been gone that long had not been a surprise. Their human friend usually was gone for long period of time. Yet for some reason, this time felt different.
Somehow, they felt as if he wasn't coming back. Not soon, anyway.
The rest of their companions had been reacting to this in their own ways - some hiding away, others pacing in distress - but all of them knew that something was wrong. Their instincts told them that a problem had arisen. What it was, though, eluded them.
They'd already eaten a portion more than normal out of stress, and if this continued, then another portion would soon vanish.
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Sue, Stan and Matilda paced back and forth, wondering where Terence was. He had left with the two humans to play around with that funny flying thing, but he hadn't come back, and his absence was now approaching two hours. Jane had joined them, also wondering where her mate had vanished too. She, in particular, was both worried and annoyed by the lack of her chosen male - besides fear of what might have happened to him, she had a certain itch that needed scratching. Her biological clock (along with those of every other animal not native to the present that called the park home) had needed time to realign, but now, hers was ticking on as normal...and it had just reached the point where it was time to send her into heat.
As for Willow and Fuzz the Alverezsaur, they were also wondering where their friend was. Of course, they were doing so from within a burrow, so as to avoidbecoming food for the other tyrannosaurs. Still, they wanted to know where their friend had gone.
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Only a few more meters from the summit of the hill, Terence and Tristan came to a stop. The reason stood right before them - a predator feasting on the remains of a mule deer.
That was hardly a surprise - mule deer dominated the western half of the United States, and were fair game for most large predators. The surprise factor here was what was eating the deer - it wasn't a wolf, or a mountain lion, or a coyote, or even a jaguar.
It was a reptile - a Gila monster specifically. And this one was very big.
As in, monitor lizard big.
The creature continued to feed for a moment, before lifting its head out of the carcass and turning to stare at the human and his tyrannosaur companion. It stared only for a moment, then grabbed its kill and moved into the shelter of some nearby bushes to resume eating.
Tristan turned to his companion, before making the final trek of his journey. It took about a minute to crest the summit of the hill.
What Tristan saw, though, stunned him into silence.
It was...more cacti.
A forest, if you will, of cacti.
That would hardly be surprising to those familiar with the desert. Saguaros formed a sparse forest of sorts in certain parts of the sonoran and painted deserts. What was really surprising here was not the presence of cacti, but their size.
Like the Gila monster before them, the cacti here were a recognizable breed - the Saguaro.
Also like the Gila monster, they were far larger than any Tristan had ever seen.
As in, they were about a third of the height of a redwood - which is to say, more than a hundred feet tall.
Tristan took in the sight for a moment. Then he looked back at the Gila monster, who was now fighting with what looked like a road runner for the right to feast on the carcass. The road runner was also much bigger and stranger looking than what was normal.
The possibility of the two predators being creatures lost to history was something Tristan could believe - history was filled with many lost species, and these would hardly be the most absurd animals he had seen. But this forest, made of plants that he'd never imagine getting this big?
There was no way they were from the past.
Which left only one possible option.
The malfunction time portal had not sent him into the past...
IT had sent him forward in time - to the future.
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AN: Welcome to the Future.
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