Been a while, but now I am back!
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Beneath the baking sun, the Dilophosaurus watched on as the herd of pack of strange two legged creatures moved through the forest, taking care not to be seen by them. While it had already eaten a scute runner, those animals were slim pickings for predators like this one. It would need to eat again later, and these animals were looking to be appetizing meals. So far, they hadn't seen it, which would make ambushing them all the easier.
Suddenly, the group came to a stop. The carnivore was perplexed as to why for a moment, until it heard several low bellows and immediately grew still. A moment later, the ferns to the right of the two legs parted as a plate back emerged, followed by more of its kind. Joining them were a small group of scute runners, taking advantage of their larger relatives for protection. Not too far away, tiny runner crocs were eyeing the group, trying to find an opening to attack.
This was not good. Scute runners had good sight, while plate backs had good smell and hearing. It would have to be extra cautious around them, lest they ruin its ambush of the two legs.
Now, its hunt had become much harder.
XXXXXXXXX
"Are those Scelidosaurus," asked Tai.
"Yes, and I think the small ones are Scutellosaurus," replied Violet.
"Weren't the American Scelidosaurus reclassified as indeterminate thyreophorans?"questioned Sean.
"...Yes, yes they were," responded Tristan. "So what should we call them?"
"Let's just keep it simple and name them Kayentapelta," was Elise's answer.
"Fair enough," came Sean's reply. "We can rescue them, right? I mean, it won't screw up the timeline if so, will it?"
"...Well, actually, the portal always opens up to alternate timelines so that we don't ever mess up history by rescuing animals (and I am sorry we forgot to tell you that), but we could rescue these dinosaurs even if we were in the prime timeline - they've only got a short while left before stegosaurs and ankylosaurs show up and outcompete them into extinction."
"...Why didn't you tell me and Sean that earlier?"
"We did, but you guys were listening to some loud music, and Bob called you guys over to help him with the titanosaurs before we could do it again," was
"...Okay, fair enough. Now let me get out some fruit for bait."
"Why fruit?"
"Dinosaurs can see in color, so maybe a colorful fruit will attract them to us. Plus the only fruits we have are also rather nice smelling, so maybe the smell will lure them over if the color doesn't."
"...Your reasoning is sound," replied Tristan. "You guys lead the way."
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the park, Matilda is still on the prowl.
Standing atop one of the park's hills, Matilda took a moment to sniff the air, trying to determine if their was any new scents coming from the corpse field. Much to her discomfort, it was at that a cool breeze buffeted her, sapping the heat from her body. She shook vigorously, as best she could to warm up her sparsely feathered body.
While Terence and Matilda certainly had massively different temperaments, there was quite a bit more seperating thenteo tyrannosaur siblings than gender and personality. While Terence was a shaggy giant, covered in feathers, Matilda was a smooth scaled Titan, rather bland in appearance for a large dinosaur. Only a sparse mane on her head and large plumes along both her arms and her tail offered any evidence that she had once been a feathery creature, no bigger than a chicken. The siblings owed their divergent appearances to their parents, though most would be surprised to learn that Matilda looked more like her father than her mother.
Though neither sibling new this, their father had been a native of what would one day become the United States, with ancestors coming both from the Hell Creek area and farther south, where the climate had been drier and warmer, meaning that a large number of feathers was unnecessary, if it a burden. By contrast, their mother had come from what was now the Yukon, where colder temperatures were the norm, and feathers more useful for a giant carnivore. Terence had inherited his mother's cold adapted exterior, while Matilda had inherited her father's heat resilient one. Granted, their mother's ancestors had spent some time in the Hell Creek area, allowing their coats to adapt to the semi-tropical environment, but that was besides the point.
Not one single Iota of this mattered to Matilda, though. All she was interested in was filling her belly.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the past, the team is putting the finishing touches onto their plan to rescue the armored Dinosaurs.
While the thyreophorans watch on, oblivious, the team quickly worked to finish their plan. Sean, Tristan and Tai moved the past rocks into place to complete the stony funnel they were setting up in front of the portal, while Nigel, Aiden and the girls were collecting as many plants as possible and lining them up along the funnel.
"We really use the bait funnel a lot, don't we?" Noted Tristan.
"Well, it works, so why change it?" Was Tai's response.
"Touché."
The girls could only nod at this...which ended up revealing something very surprising to Elise.
"Guys, I think we have company."
"Really? What is it?" Questioned Shaun.
"Looks like a land living crocodile of some sort. They have green backs, but with yellow bellies. Only land living crocodilians from this time and place would be Kayentasuchus, so I think that's what I'm seeing."
"Okay. Why are they so close to these herbivores? Those things are tiny compared to the Kayentapelta."
"Just to them. The Scutellosaurus are still small enough to make a good snack."
"Well, then I guess we'll rescue three species instead of two today."
XXXXXXXX
The king of the Kayenta forests watched on, confused, as the new creatures had begun to split up, some gathering large rocks, others foliage. This would have been advantageous, as smaller groups meant less eyes watching for danger, except that each group had designated one member as sentry, looking out for predators. Combined with thenarmored herbivores, this had made it far more difficult to approach them.
Still, it had refused to give up, and against all odds he had actually managed to circle around them and get close enough to strike. His target was the second largest of the two legs, who was too busy putting in a shiny pair of sticks into the ground to notice him approaching.
Then the two leg (likely a male, given its scent) twisted the sticks, and thenstrnage light reappeared.
The king tensed, instinctively freezing to avoid detection, even though the light could not see. It did, however, serve to mesmerize the herbivores, as well as the runner crocs. Soon, curiosity outweighed caution, as the armored plant eaters advanced toward the light, as did the runner crocs. Oddly, it appeared that the two legs were aware of the runner crocs' presence, yet they didn't seem to be worried. Did they have a hidden defense he did not know about?
Then the second largest two leg turned toward him.
The two locked eyes.
Time seemed to stop.
Attack or retreat?
The prey was within striking distance, and he might not get a second chance, but there were a lot of animals in the way between him and his target.
The two leg opened his mouth.
The choice was made.
Snarling in the hopes of causing the herbivores to stampede, the grown male Dilophosaurus charged.
XXXXXXXXX
AN: Took long enough, but here it is!
Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
