Chapter 14
Tyrant's tragedy
Within the islands of greenery between lava flows, there were a handful of lowland plains outside of the Cretaceous forests where various herbivores congregated together to feed. In one such plain, housed species like torosaurus, anatotitan and triceratops where they could find refuge and sanctuary from the elements as they foraged for food calmly and peacefully tolerating one another's presence. While the hadrosaurs stood up to browse on leaves on lower branches of the trees, the ceratopsians kept mainly to ground level vegetation, and since they didn't eat all the same resources there was no need for any competition or hostility. However, in midst of their foraging none of them were aware of the fact that they themselves were on the menu and were being watched from deep within the shadows of the underbrush nearby.
Terry, now a juvenile tyrannosaurus rex who hid within the underbrush and maintaining a low profile keeping his body to the ground, was now put on scouting duty by his mother. She recently got injured during a hunt involving a triceratops, as she received a sharp slash from its horn at one of her legs and even a puncture on her thigh, though superficial it still was enough to hamper her quite a bit after blood loss and infection. Because of that, she wouldn't be at full strength for quite some time thus rendering her unable to support her young on her own, but fortunately for the family, Terry and his sister were now old enough to venture out further from home and even join their mom on hunting trips, now being the most fortunate and crucial of times. The young t rex knew the importance of this, while he may not have been treated the most fairly by his mom and sister, they were still his family and he owed to some extent, plus he also saw this at his chance to earn some respect and prove his worth to them too.
This was his first hunt so he had to make sure to make this count, having run reconnaissance of the area while remaining hidden and getting an idea of the terrain, his job now was to cause a panic and then herd a target farther away from the open plains and into an ambush. As much as he would prefer to do his first test as a hunter alone, given the situation his mother couldn't afford to take the chance, so for now he'll do his best to be a team player. Selecting his choice of prey, some anatotitan, believing them to be less trouble than the horned dinosaurs, he waited patiently until one came in range hoping to browse on the bush he was hiding in. As an inquisitive youngster came up close to the brush, smelling something rather new coming from it, he went closer, only for Terry to make himself known and roar out! His sudden appearance startled the herbivores, given they weren't the most intelligent of dinosaurs it was easy for them to be spooked or react in such a way in surprise to something so sudden not to mention deadly!
By instinct the herds knew that young predators often acted as scouts for the adults, so their first instinct was to run away as fast as they could! Unbeknowst to them, Terry having managed to isolate his chosen prey, was herding them away from the rest of the herd into the ambush zone, like a sheepdog directing the flock to a corral. As the anatotitan juvenile ran, panting exhaustedly and panicking as Terry caught up to him, his predator snarled ravenously with drooling saliva dripping to the forest floor with each step. Being the smallest and fastest of the family, he believed his role in this was perfect as he lived for the chase and the thrill of the hunt! As he immersed in his glory and at his time to shine, unfortunately, he didn't take into account the slightest oversight such as in attention span can derail an entire operation in an instant. He didn't notice a large log the anatotitan leapt over in time as he tripped over it and crashed to the ground!
He roared in pain and annoyance as he was snapped out of his thoughts only to widen his eyes to see his quarry break away from the hunting path they marked out and planned! Fortunately for the family, and unfortunately for Terry, his sister having planned in advance for this eventuality, as she leapt out from behind some trees roaring at the top of her lungs which startled the unwary hadrosaur and then bringing it back onto the game trail! Seeing this, Terry snorted in annoyance as he pushed himself up and resumed the chance, trailing behind his sister. Despite being faster than her normally, she was able to make bigger strides plus she was starting out with a full tank of stamina so Terry could only keep a steady pace behind her tail. As much as he tried to overtake her and take the lead again as they left the forest and made it out onto the rocky outcrops of the volcanic slopes, she kept blocking him intentionally to make sure he couldn't pass her much to his frustration, till eventually his window of opportunity closed as the anatotitan was driven right into the path where their mother awaited, as she lunged out taking the duckbill by surprise from behind some large rocks! In a flash it was over as she dove on the unsuspecting hadrosaur and with a single bite she crushed the neck and the life out of it, ending the hunt, its life and Terry's chance.
Roaring out in victory, Terry could only wait in the back as his mom began to divide the spoils, as she bit into one of the legs and ripped it clean off the body she dropped it before his sister as she greedily sunk her teeth into the meaty thigh. When it came to Terry's turn, he lowered his head in submission as his mom snarled with hostility his way, even giving him a little nip on his face since it was his incompetence that nearly botched the entire plan. Nevertheless she wasn't heartless as to leave him empty handed, as she cut a share for him, being the anatotitan's tail, as she crunched through its base and severed it from the main body and then handing it over to the smaller rex. As he eyed his so called share and the juicy morsel that his sister was awarded, Terry snarled himself angry at being rewarded so poorly, but his mother's mind was made up and less he wanted to be kicked out of the family, or worse seen as food, he had to deal with it. With reluctance he grabbed the tail and dragged it further away into a more secluded spot of the rocky outcrops, their new home apparently, as he moved away from his mother and sister unable to face them nor did he want to look at them either.
He snipped and snapped away at the meager bits of flesh the tail had, while crunching into the bones too. Being a young rex he wasn't fully able to bite through bone completely like his mother so it irritated him very much. Looking up from his spot and seeing how his mom and sister were gorging themselves on quiet the feast while he got stuck with the short end, he cursed his fate and misfortune, seeing at this point pleasing them would be impossible now as he was now pretty much deemed as a failure in their eyes. If only he could just break free and make his own way in the world right now, he vowed one day he would show them all that he should never be looked down upon. Little did he know he'd soon get his wish….in a manner he would never expect nor ever forget.
Foot stomps soon rumbled through the ground, causing the 3 rexes to look around, anticipating it to be an earthquake or a volcano about to erupt but then realised it wasn't the case given the rumblings happened within a few seconds time gap and not straight through. An unfamiliar roar soon sounded, as they turned to see in alarm an adult male tyrannosaurus rex had entered their territory! Colored a whitish grey in colour and dark organs patches around his body, he roared out at them, having tracked the scent of fresh meat to this location and the chance of an easy meal given the owner was weakened, this was an opportunity he wasn't going to pass up! Being a male he was slightly smaller than their mother, but his body showed the faint battlescars of a hard life, he was fearless having entered the territory of another tyrannosaurus and he intended to claim this hunting ground as his own! Sensing the danger, Terry remained where he stood, hiding behind the boulders while his sister retreated further behind her mother as she stood up and roared angrily at the male, warning him to leave now, but he refused to submit. Seeing this, there was no other way, a fight was inevitable as both t rexes roared out initiating a winner take all battle!
Squaring off, the male rex began to mark his territory on the very ground he stood on, spraying on it and then scraping the ground with his toe claws underneath. This act was already more than the mother could take, first this intruder barges into her territory demanding her food and now attempting to claim her domain as his own!? She roared out in forty slamming her tail on the ground as she mustered up whatever strength remained in both her legs before charging head first at the intruder, who did the same! As the 2 adults smashed into one another, the male having more strength despite his size was able to stop the mother in her tracks as they collided! Being larger, she then took advantage of her superior height to force the male downwards and then biting hard into his exposed neck!
The male rex roared in pain as he could feel his neck bones on the verge of being crushed and snapped like twigs! He then saw an opportunity, as the mother's arm came within range he then grabbed hold of it and chomped down hard, causing her to release her own grip as she roared in pain! Seizing his chance the intruding male ripped away her arm clean off and out of her socket! She staggered back roaring in pain, blood gush out all over the rocks and ground around them, as the male swallowed her arm! The tables turned, Terry and his sister looked on in horror as the male rex swung out his tail, smacking the mother's head right into the face of a boulder! The force caused her face to smash so hard in the rocky outcrop, blood and teeth fell out from her jaws as she collapsed to the ground unconsciously. The rex siblings could only watch helplessly as the male then stomped hard on their mother's neck underfoot, using all the force he had he crushed her neck bones completely in order to finish the job, as the mother rex coughed out blood violently with one last bloodied cry before her life ebbed away from her body while the male roared in triumph!
Terry remained hidden, for the first time in his life feeling fear as he froze stiff where he was, while his sister, having been left exposed and vulnerable found herself at the male's nonexistent mercy! Deciding to eliminate all traces of the previous ruler's bloodline and establish his own foothold in his new territory, along with eliminating a future rival, the male rex bared his fangs with hostility at the smaller defenceless female! Terry's sister, seeing no other way out tried to stand her ground, charging in to bite his leg! In response the male rex slammed his head on her forcing her to let go, before grabbing her with his jaws and throwing her at the rocks nearby! Lying down and helpless she cried out for help as the adult male ruthlessly reached in and tore right into her stomach!
Behind where he his, Terry had been long gone since the moment his mother died, having been able to escape just barely but a part of him felt deep regret for wanting out from his family like this. It was now Terry realised how cruel the world is not just within his own family, now it was up to him alone, more alone than ever….and yet feeling liberated somehow, he knew he was going to have to learn to survive or be destroyed….As an immense fiery rage erupted deep in his heart and his eyes narrowed with hatred and hostility as he stomped off into the distance to make his own path, his own way in the world.
With that Terry's teen story comes to a close. In case anyone hadn't noticed it, the t-rex that killed Terry's mom and sister was Gigas. You can be sure Maximus will also have a role in Chomp's story too, as to how they will eventually end up with the space pirates I won't spoil anything yet till next chapter comes.
Stay tuned as Terry's path will soon cross him with a dinosaur he will see a lot in times to come, as if it were written in the stars.
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tsukikami02
Unfortunately in the natural world animal parents would usually focus on the stronger young to raise so it can be assumed to be the same for dinosaurs, especially predators.
Since dinosaurs from different periods are mentioned maybe something happens at the end forcing the dinosaurs and humans to split apart to different times?
Drew Luczynski
Believe me what Terry has gone through here is worse than Terrence, but the hardships are what toughened him up to the dinosaur we all know him for, as his adult story will soon tell. Plus now you see he has a reason for his anger.