Chapter 4

Birth of fear

Prehistoric South America, Argentina to be precise, it was a very different world from today. The environment had vast wide open spaces and plains along with prairies covering much of the landscape, with large tall trees scattered evenly across the vast area of land, along with being a rather warm and moist climate which made it perfect for the dinosaurs of this time. In a shaded grove not too far away from the prairie, a pair of dinosaurs had settled there for some time, and the female, a purplish carnotaurus had laid a clutch of eggs months ago and days ago, they hatched. Now the mother carnotaurus lay down on her belly and looked upon her 4 hatchlings who gathered around to play with one another under her watchful eyes.

Her 4 young, 2 females and 2 males, the first 3 were black, grey, brown and the 4th, the eldest of them was indigo blue. This was Ace, and as the eldest of his siblings he wasn't just older he was also stronger, faster and much more daring than they were as he was seen climbing onto his mother's head playfully while his siblings tried as they could they just couldn't hold on or reach where he was in their game of chase as they hung on and fell or just failed to grab him as they jumped, as he barked playfully at them while he looked down upon them.

Their mother though was getting rather tired of playing referee to her band of misfits….at least all by herself….

As some footsteps came in, the 4 young stopped playing and perked their heads up as their mother began to push herself up onto her legs, prompting Ace to get off her as she stepped forth to make sure the coast was clear. She narrowed her eyes and hissed as the steps got closer, and before long a larger carnotaurus, black with yellow stripes on his back, appeared from behind some dense shrubs and approached the family. Upon seeing him, Ace's mother reacted with an aggressive growl making the male stop in his tracks. She was wary, given male carnivores were very likely to target the young of rivals so that only their genes could proceed to the next generation.

The young hid behind her, only peeping from behind her legs nervously as she held her ground and bared her sharp teeth at the newcomer. Only when the male lowered his head submissively and revealed his throat, a gesture of vulnerability, does mom allow dad clearance to enter the nest. Sensing there was no danger, mom stepped to the side and allowed dad to come in to see his 4 kids as they felt security in him as they ran up to him and jumped up and down with excitement. He then lowered his head down to where they were as they began licking him with affection before he settled and lay down for a rest, with mom joining him by his side.

With their parents dozing the day away, their young began exploring the wonders of their world. Either peeping into logs or trying to go through bushes in search of grubs. One female hatchling noticed a beetle crawling upon a slightly perched rock, as she climbed up to try and grab it, it took off causing her to slip and fall down clumsily onto a her sister. Meanwhile Ace stared down his brother as they began to shove and headbutt their miniature sized horns at one another. This was a crucial skill especially for the males since strength was key to securing territory or a future mate. As the brothers shoved and pushed hard at each other, eventually Ace was able to come out on top as he flipped his younger brother onto the ground and then pinned him under his foot! After letting out a victory screech, his other siblings decided to submit to him as their superior, which made Ace feel rather proud of himself as he grinned and barked with excitement getting his first taste of victory and glory.

A while later as dad stirred he yawned a bit before getting up on his feet and leaving the nest as his mate looked on, as it was time to go hunting and he had a family to feed as he sped off into the distance in search of suitable prey. At the moment, his young were too small to go out with them, though when the time comes they may join the hunt themselves and would have to learn fast if they were to survive on their own. For the time being they could rely on their parents' protection and care, and their mother, believing it was time they went out for a bit, stretched herself out as she deciding to lead their brood to the watering hole to drink. Ace being the most eager of the bunch was never far behind mom when they were going out, as he began leaving his siblings behind in the dust as they struggled to keep up with him. Enthusiasm and curiosity is part of Ace's charm, but today….it would soon be his pitfall…..

Before long the family came upon the large lake which was in the middle of the savannah landscape, and on one side a herd of saltasaurus had came down for an afternoon drink themselves. Mom and her hatchlings kept to the other side, seeing saltasaurus were normally prime targets though for their children they were way more than they could chew at their size, so she felt it would be best they keep to insects and any other bite sized morsels they could get their teeth into. And there were plenty of those around the watering hole, so it was a double win for her, where the kids could learn and play more to get some exercise while she could get some water. While mother lowered her head down to drink, the young carnivores stayed near the edge of the bank, chasing after small flies that flew about as they leapt up to try and snap at them mid flight only to miss and end up tumbling back down on the ground.

Ace, feeling bold after beating his other siblings in their wrestle match earlier, tried to bite at a scorpion he found crawling near some rocks at the bank. He barked eagerly and made his way to it, thinking it would be easy prey as he snapped any it! Unfortunately for him, as soon as he leaned in closer, the arachnid retaliated with a sting to his nose, causing him to back away as a result. Shaking his head in disorientation he had to rub his nose against the rocks to scratch the itch. After that he saw a dragonfly resting on a reed right above the water, thinking it to be an easier meal and ignoring the water below it believing that it was shallow enough for him.

Ace licked his lips and began stalking it slowly and carefully. He jumped up to grab it, but only succeeded in swallowing a mouthful of air as the insect took off before he could sink his teeth in it. Unfortunately his jump was a bit too strong as he ended up falling into the water! He then cried out and struggled immensely to keep his head above the water but his tiny arms and little legs couldn't do much to keep hm afloat! Every second as he lost energy he could feel as though the water was slowly beginning to swallow him whole and it would be the end of him soon, and seeing how his siblings were still on the banks playing and not realising he was about to drown made him feel abandoned and alone…..as his head slowly fell beneath the surface…..

Luckily at the last crucial moment his mother heard his cries for help, looking up from where she drank, she growled in surprise as she charged over and reached in, grabbing him with her teeth and bringing him back to shore in time! Nuzzling him at his chest he coughed out water violently and breathed deeply with relief to see she had come to his aid as she liked him all over dry. After that he came close to her legs and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go, and as he eyed the lake ahead of him he shivered in fear as the memory of his near death experience had burnt deep into his mind. All he could think of the moment he saw it was death and its' slow, silent but deadly grip….Once it got you, it was over….

This story begins Ace's life where he started out happy and full of energy and how he developed his fear of water. His life will be full of challenges to come too so stay tuned.

He started out real confident and excited but as they say one bad day can turn your world upside down as given with water here, and you can see there will be more problems regarding that for him in chapters to come.

Reply to reviews

tsukikami02

Every dino has to move on eventually to start their own life, tho0ugh Spiny had quite a hard one in the past given Africa's climate and even later on in the Alpha Gang how he gets hurt most of the time.

Yup Rex's dad here saved Spiny in time, though for the micro raptor part I didn't remember that maybe I can see if I can find a chance for it, though at the end of the anime and my story they do get a micro raptor in the end.

Hope you like Ace's start will try to touch on the dinosaurs' personalities too.

Drew Luczynski

Yeah Spiny can take a beating and he got more than his fair share of them too, guess life with the Alpha Gang made him a little more lax and less pressured thus slowing him down a bit at times but then getting stronger in other places too.

I'd say the carcharodontosaurus that lost is the one Dr Ancient gets later.

Not quite I chose to do Ace next here since I think he came at the next earlier time. I don't have much for Tank but will try to make it good.