Korac greedily drank up the water. The sudden change in temperature had left all of the men sweltering, making the canteen offered by the strange boy a lifesaver. Nearby, Marek and Bhanigob were resting in one of his huts, eagerly drinking up their own gifts of water.

A low rumble turned Korac's attention toward the camp's last resident - the only one who Korac wasn't entirely friendly with yet.

The short-armed carnivore was staring at what looked like small, somewhat tan colored wolves. The canids appeared to be trying to sneak into the camp, likely in search of food, but so far, they had not found away in.

Korac was confused by the sights of the new land - the creatures he had seen so far were similar to what he knew, yet also different. It seemed that bison and peccaries roamed this land, as did bears, but others were missing. There had been no lions here, for example. Oxen were also missing. Most disconcerting, however, was the lack of mammoths - besides the bull that had followed them here, the hunters had yet to see a single mammoth in this land. And to those who depended on the mammoth for food, that very idea was anathema - how would they feed their families?

...How would they get back home.

Such questions would need to be answered at a later date, though, because right now, Korac's host was gesturing to him. Confused, the hunter approached, and followed as the boy took him around the camp, gesturing at various different tents. Some held water, others food, others weird metal tools...oh.

As the boy called for his strange creature to join him, Korac understood what was being asked of him - the boy was going to leave camp, and wanted the hunters to guard it. Perhaps he was searching for more rations, or he could simply be looking to take a walk. Either way, the boy was entrusting his guests to protect the camp.

Korac nodded at the boy, spear held firm. He would repay the kindness he had been shown.

And then, maybe, his host could help him return to his camp, where his kin waited...

XXXXXXXX

"Found another one!"

"Quick, catch it!"

"He's veering left!"

"And gotcha!"

Smiling, Curtis gave a thumbs up gesture to Chris. Only a meter away, the Drinker growled at him, trying desperately to break free from his grip. The fibers held firm, though, and Chris was strong enough that the small dinosaur could do little beyond cry out in annoyance.

Nigel and his team's habit of bringing back so many animals had made chases like these more and more common. All too often, creatures would slip through the staff's notice, leading to haphazard searches for those who had disappeared into the wilderness. So far, no new arrivals had been lost to the wilds of the island, but the staff really didn't want to press their luck too much further in that regard.

A nearby grunt turns the duos' attention to a nearby tree. There, uncaring of their presence, is a female Sarahsaurus. The medium sized herbivore is not an escapee - she lives nearby, and has been let out to feed on a immature New Caledonian Pine, a modern variety of the trees she would have feasted on in the past. The plant matter is still easily digestible, despite having undergone millions of years of evolution, ensuring she will be well fed.

After watching the prosauropod feed, the duo turn their attention back toward bringing the Drinker to his exhibit - preferably before another of his kind shows up.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Tristan watched as the birds flitted through the cactus forest, chasing insects and themselves being changed by new varieties of birds of prey. Yet they were only a secondary concern - he was more interested in the cacti themselves.

At certain points along the cacti's bodies, red objects could be found. These were cactus fruit - the origin of the next generation for this species. Unlike the rest of the plant, the red organs lacked spines, so as to encourage herbivores to eat them. This would lead to the plant eaters carrying the seeds far and wide, and when the seeds completed their journey through the herbivore's digestive system, they would be deposited in new lands, away from their parents, who would provide only competition.

What was strange, however, were the various creatures gathering the fruits. It made sense for the mice and birds to gather up the edible morsels, but for spiders, scorpions and lizards to also do so? Something odd was happening.

Further examination of this bizarre phenomenon was derailed, however, when Tristan noticed something shining in the distance. Unable to examine it in depth from where he was, he slowly trudged forward, Terence close behind. He was not going to retreat until he found out what it was.

As he approached the object, its features became more apparent - it was hard and...metallic?

Tristan soon came to a halt. At last the object had come into focus. It was a...structure of some sort. Strange, to be sure, but not an oddity in nature - termite mounds, ant hills, and certain bird nests counted as structures, despite what some may say.

This structure, however, was definitely of human origin.

Instantly, a thousand questions came to Tristan's mind, all concerning the structure...only for all of them to be put aside when the teen turned to look at the setting sun. IF he tried to reach the building now, he would not be able to return to camp before night fell.

And thus, with some annoyance, Tristan turned to make his way back to camp.

XXXX

Unnoticed to the human, a long limbed creature observed his retreat with an eyeless stare. The long limb and its kind had not seen a human in some time, not since they has exhausted their last stores of meat - the predators lacked the intelligence to understand how to dress the meat and preserve it for later feedings. Now, however, one of their favored meals was right before them.

Cautiously, a trio of long limbs moved to follow the teen. Hopefully, he was not the only one of his kind here, despite last night's scents suggesting otherwise.

After all, the pack was rather large...

XXXXXXXXX

AN: AT LAST I RETURN!

I have finally managed to sync up all of my stories across FFN, SB, and SV! So no more delays from syncing things!

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!