Chapter 2

Ruler of the Rivers

Years later, a herd of Ouranosaurus were grazing peacefully within the marshes of the swamp forest where Spiny lived, and for them business went on as usual such as foraging for food such as leaves, moss or swamp sticks. One of them, having wandered farther from the rest of them and remained own the edge of their feeding ground, heard the sounds of mud squishing and approaching footsteps looked up, its senses on alert as it tried to pinpoint where the sound came from through the mists around the forest. As the sound came closer, the unmistakable silhouette of a theropod with a huge sail began to slowly appear, till it revealed a juvenile purple and grey spinosaurus! Spiny, now an adolescent had made his appearance before the unsuspecting Ouranosaurus which let out a terrified cry as it ran back to the herd in a panic!

The herd looked up in surprise and confusion to see their member returned in a panic as it let out terrified warning cries, and as the approaching foot steps came in, they came face to face with Spiny who towered over them massively! The massive theropod eyed each member of the herd closely while the hadrosaurs kept their gaze fixated on him, on alert and prepared to flee at the first sight of danger. It was a standoff that lasted a few minutes with tension thick in the air….till eventually Spiny looked away from them to the herd's relief.

Luckily, for the time being the ouranosaurus were off Spiny's menu, for he knew better than to chase after fast prey who weren't only on alert but also out of his element. Plus he had something far better in mind for lunch today which wouldn't require expending as much energy. Turning his head away from the herd with disinterest he began walking away from them in the opposite direction to the outskirts of the forest, as they eyed him carefully and kept their guard up till he was out of sight before returning to their business of grazing. Passing by them uncaringly without a backwards glance, Spiny made his way out of the forest, following the streams that coursed out of the swamp and further down the valley where the ground became far more rockier and the water currents flowed much faster until they became fast flowing rivers.

As he approached a suitable spot to fish, a crocodile that was resting on the sandy banks took notice of him having felt the vibrations of his footsteps approaching. As it looked up and hissed in annoyance at having its' rest disturbed, though Spiny paid no attention to it seeing it as no more than a minor nuisance, given it was far smaller than he was. Seeing it had no hope of scaring Spiny off, the croc gave up and retreated into the water swimming off, as Spiny surveyed his surroundings. Further across on the other side of the river, a suchomimus which had gotten there first was about to go fishing itself before he noticed Spiny. At first he tried snarling at the larger spinosaur in the hopes of driving him off, but Spiny in return roared back and flashed out his high claws threateningly, which was enough to scare off his smaller relative who retreated the other way, unwilling to pick a fight with its superior.

With the intruder gone from his territory Spiny looked back at the river, having remembered this very spot his mother showed him years ago, he memorised it as the ideal fishing spot where this time of year during the peak of the wet season, the waters would be filled to the brim with his favourite prey. Scanning the surface of the flowing river, he saw the shadows of his targets, onchopristis, very large giant sawfish. Licking his lips he remembered what they tasted like and he looked forward to catching as much as he could, an event he looked forward to every year since he first came.

From what he learnt, the sawfish migrated upstream during the breeding season which also timed during the wet season where the rivers were at their fullest in order to provide a safe haven for their young though the adults expose themselves to danger along the way. Taking position Spiny stepped into the shallow end of the river and aimed his snout into the water, thankfully with his nostrils higher above his snout he could still breathe while holding his ideal position. He was already perfectly equipped for this situation, his sail not only helped him warm up faster during the early mornings but it also helped create a shade where the fish could feel safer and thus take refuge in, though unaware they'd be drawn in closer to striking range.

With the pressure sensors on his jaws detecting the approaching of a few sawfish, with a swift strike he grabbed hold of the body of an unfortunate sawfish and yanked it out of the water! As it struggled and writhed in vain as he gripped harder into it, he proceeded to use his front claws to grab hold of and tear into it before dropping it on the ground where it had a chunk of its back ripped out! Carefully Spiny moved to around the sawfish's side knowing the saw could still nick him rather badly, though he was an experienced fisher a he skilfully used his foot to step down on the saw, restraining it completely before tearing into it further with his claws and jaws! Eventually with it dead he began to feast on it ravenously, tearing bits and pieces of it till a good portion of it was now gone.

Still hungry though, he moved back to the river for seconds, and with prey in such plentiful supply he could afford to be a little wasteful….a fact that some scavengers took full advantage of, such as a deltadromeus that had observed him from behind some rocks, as she snuck carefully behind and began feasting on the leftovers, which the spinosaurus didn't seem to mind or care. It wasn't long before Spiny, with his talent and experience in catching fish, soon ended up grabbing another sawfish from the river and soon repeating the process over again like a replay. Yes truly times were good and nothing could ruin his perfect day today….or so he believed. Attracted by the smell of blood oozing from the dead sawfish into the river, a gang of crocs began to emerge from the water baring their teeth and growling at Spiny, who turned to face them and roared out infuriated his lunch was being disturbed!

The situation growing tense the deltadromeus beat a hasty retreat into the brush, while Spiny held his ground and stood up high as he could flaring out his claws and swinging them at the crocodiles like daggers! The smaller crocodiles were easily warded off as some retreated back into the water while others held their ground, as a large shadow began to emerge from the river to Spiny's surprise! It was a massive sarcosuchus, having recently moved to this section of the river from downstream and intending to claim new territory, it snarled viciously as its smaller minions began to back off as their leader went face to face with Spiny!

Spiny narrowed his eyes and snarled back, unwilling to let his favourite fishing spot be taken over by an intruder as he flared out his claws and swiped out at the large crocodile hoping to warn it off. While an expert swimmer himself, he was also cautious for a croc was way better suited to water than he was so he had to be cautious, not to mention his precious sail was also a vulnerability he had to keep safe at any cost given it was connected to his neural spine. The sarchosuchus didn't back off, instead it was rather angered that Spiny didn't back away. In retaliation, it lunged out and swung out its tail at Spiny forcing him to leap back in surprise! Recovering from the shock he roared and charged at it, only to be surprised when the croc quickly turned and clamped its huge jaws on his leg instead!

He roared in pain as he could feel the croc's powerful jaws and teeth began to bite through his scales and into his legs! He had to act quickly knowing that if this continued his leg could snap and he could end up being dragged into a watery grave himself! Reacting fast Spiny swiped out his claws and slashed at the croc's neck drawing out blood and making it loosen its grip on his leg in pain! A second slash nearly tearing out its' eye finally made the massive behemoth let go and back away quickly into the water to avoid further injury! The rest of the crocodiles, shocked at their leader being beaten back saw Spiny let out a vicious snarl their way as they quickly slid back into the water and swam away as fast as they could.

Victorious, Spiny let out a roar in triumph before slipping into the water himself for a victory swim as he swam along to cool himself down and feeling confident enough he could handle anything that came his way. Yes indeed, he truly felt as though he were king of this river and nothing would ever dethrone him, for he had the tools of the trade and everything was pretty much his to lay claim to. Though little did he know was that times would soon change and he ought to appreciate the good times while they lasted, for very soon his entire world would be turned upside down.

And with this a scene from Spiny's teenage years, showing how he learnt under his mother's guidance and is now thriving well in his natural habitat, though rest assured good things must come to an end at some point to keep things in balance as you will see him face new challenges in his adult years next chapter.

Not sure if suchomimus lived the same time as Spinosaurus but this can be an example of previous species being outcompeted by more successful ones.

For my Fossil League chapter finished my dialogue today so stay tuned.

Reply to reviews

tsukikami02

Wow you reviewed quite fast. Yup I plan about 18 chapters altogether with a brief story in each dino's life.

Spiny was indeed a lucky one yes and also you can see here he's learnt well and now is an effective hunter too. If he seems really different here compared to in Dinosaur King we can assume the Alpha Gang may have altered him too with the Alpha Controller.

Drew Luczyński

Glad you like this interesting new take. Yeah some parts I used Big Al but the ending I didn't think about Jurassic Fight Club but a good reference.

Yeah Spiny was obedient to the Trio lots of time even if they treated him badly in battles and him preferring Rod and Laura. Glad you approve of how I portrayed him, and a biot here too his intelligence is like how he found the shortcut when chasing the suchomimus in Monaco.