Buck stood in a battle ready pose, with three raptors surrounding him from all sides. Each roughly half a meter in length, they were among the smaller of the saurian predators among these parts, but that only afforded them more precision. Buck knew better than to underestimate a small creature.
"Come on, guys... I'm all out of smoke bombs and other family-friendly gadgets. So if you're gonna pick a fight..."
He twirled the dinosaur tooth knife in his hand.
"...well, someone's going to get hurt."
He was technically correct - the worst kind of correct. He could take on a singular beast of that size okay. Three of them at once? That wasn't gonna be pleasant. He looked around some more, in case there was something advantageous in the barren canyon he found himself in, but by now he had little hope for an easy way out. Finally, one of the raptors broke the dramatic tension and leaped at him.
Thankfully, the trio wasn't too interested in a snack that bites back. A few successful hits was enough to scare the wannabe predators away. Too bad Buck wasn't the only one with a sharp tool at his disposal - the little beasties were equipped with some unreasonably large claws, and although their aim wasn't the best, it was sufficient. Once the troublemakers were all out of sight and Buck's adrenaline started to drain, he found that it wasn't just exertion making him ache. Examining his body carefully, he found several shallow but still highly unpleasant cuts that haven't been there before. It would all heal nicely given time, but that didn't change the fact that Buck was hardly even able to walk at the moment. Not a good situation to be in, out in the open.
Right on cue, Buck felt the ground tremble beneath him, and he knew what was coming. He could recognize the infamous Baryonyx by footsteps alone at this point. At least he wasn't going to die to anything random, huh?
Sure enough, the towering alabaster visage of his nemesis was closing on him fast. Not one to give up easily, he made an attempt to scramble away to safety, but his body was too sore and fatigued. An errant vibration from a gargantuan footstep, a speck of dust irritating a cut on his leg, and Buck found himself lying on the ground, unable to get up. He rolled over to his back, on the off chance that he might find some stabbable weak points on the approaching maw of death... or, at the very least, to face death with dignity.
The latter option now seemed more likely than ever, although the dignity part was still up for debate. Rather than getting swiftly snatched up by the awfully familiar maw right away, Buck found himself pinned to the ground beneath the dinosaur's paw. The impact was enough to send his trusty knife flying from his tired hand, though surprisingly enough all of Buck's ribs seemed to remain in one piece. Sadly, that didn't improve his circumstances a lot.
"So you finally got me, huh. Took you long enough." - Buck said with a nervous chuckle. The dinosaur lowered his head all the way to his prey's face, until Buck could feel the air from the beast's nostrils wash over him.
"You knew it had to happen eventually, didn't you."
The weasel's eyes widened at the sound. Rudy never spoke to him before, not once in all that time. He never spoke much at all, the lone wolf that he was, although he wasn't an entirely silent predator either. Buck was well accustomed to the Baryonyx's boastful roars, the expressions not translating too well to any familiar phrase, but clear in their meaning. But it wasn't much of a conversation. Other dinosaurs talked more often, to each other at least, and yet the weasel had a feeling that Rudy would end up striking a proper conversation with him sooner than anyone else. At least now Buck could check that off the list before he died.
"I... considered it as a possibility" - he replied calmly, even as his heart beat hard against his nemesis' scaly digit. Out of habit, Buck brainstormed escape tactics in the back of his mind, but he was well resigned to his fate at this point. Sure, he got lucky in a similarly hopeless situation once, but that was before this relentless predator really knew him. This time, the beast certainly won't forget to chew his meal.
That said, it seemed the Baryonyx wasn't yet done savoring his victory.
"After all those days, I finally got my hands on you..."
Rudy paused, glancing into the distance. Far away, a small raptor stumbled back as if stung by the larger reptile's gaze, then dashed out of sight.
"...and all it took was someone else doing most of the work" - the Baryonyx snorted after turning back towards his victim, the gust of air making the weasel wince.
Buck shrugged, as much as it was feasible in his position. Yeah, it wasn't much of a grand final battle. Maybe we should give this another go, huh?
He very nearly said just that, but he stopped the words before they reached his throat. If Buck was in the big mean dinosaur's place and heard that, biting his prey in half right there out of spite wouldn't be out of question. And so the weasel held his tongue for the while, deciding to only make the suggestion once it becomes really clear that he's about to get eaten otherwise. This wasn't that moment already, was it?
Shockingly, the pressure on Buck's chest lessened. He stared in amazement at the claw slowly lifting off of him. Not so murder-happy anymore? Maybe this was also the reason behind his bones not getting all crushed earlier. He took a cautious deep breath. He might be able to make a quick dash away now... but he was still hesitant to make any sudden moves. What if his freshly acquired wounds act up again all out of sudden?
"After this one day, you never managed to hurt me any further. So perhaps it wouldn't hurt to play with you for a little longer..." - the Baryonyx went on. - "Don't think I ever needed a lucky happenstance serving you to me on a platter. Do your best. Stay as safe as you can. I will find you, and I will kill you. You may die before that if you're stupid enough, but no amount of good luck and advantages will let you survive."
The giant dinosaur then reached out with his forelimb and plucked something off the ground besides Buck. To the weasel's dismay, it was the Baryonyx's missing tooth fashioned into a knife. Buck reached his hand out, then immediately thought better of it and allowed his arm to fall.
"I will be taking this, though." - came another phrase from his hunter's mouth.
With Rudy not in much of a hurry to destroy him, Buck carefully sat up.
"I suppose it would be stupid to try getting it back" - he stated cautiously. Even as he was in the process of miraculously surviving an encounter with a Baryonyx, the weasel felt a pang of pain at the sight of his weapon being taken away. Or was the pain just from one of his freshly earned cuts? No, not entirely. Ever since he had the knife in his possession, he felt safer and more capable than ever. Having escaped the jaws of a beast of this caliber, all by himself, didn't hurt the confidence either... and he did that without a knife, but losing the symbol of his accomplishment would hurt a lot.
"It would be deliciously stupid" - the monstrous dinosaur growled in agreement. "Feel free to do so, once you get tired of running."
Yes, Buckminster was going to get his knife back eventually... if the dinosaur was really letting him go right now.
"You're not tired already, are you? Go on. You have ten seconds."
Buck didn't need any further encouragement. He ran, the cuts sustained from the raptors no longer impeding his movement. He will need to find a place to hide and recuperate soon. But for now, he could feel the sweet adrenaline pumping all over again.
