Author's Pre-Note: Well, looks like I'm bak at this story again, aren't I? It's been awhile since I updated it and I think it's time that the crew gets some of their lives shown to us besides the rescues, don't you agree?

Anyways, this story takes place just after the rescue of Bistahi in Bistahi Destroyer, but prior to Tristan telling Nigel about his friends. So, without further adieu, enjoy!

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Tristan was stunned at the sight of his lodgings: a giant treehouse? Built into a living tree? That was still growing? How could his father have kept this all a secret, from both him, his siblings and his mom? He knew that the dinosaur part would have been an necessary secret, but the rest of the park would probably have been easier to notice: he always tended to leave some parts of his projects out at his main house.

Now that he thought about it, though, Tristan did remember seeing pictures of these trees back at home: his father had been showing them to his mom a few years back. 'Maybe he told her about the project?' he wondered. After all, his mother was an excellent botanist, doctor, and chemical engineer, and his father would've probably found himself sleeping on the couch if his wife found out he'd been hiding this from her.

In fact, he probably would've also ended up with a few slap marks on his skin too: Mrs. Saurus (nee Chen) really did not like being betrayed. The mere thought of his mom being angry made Tristan shudder: she was someone you really didn't want to piss off. There was a reason Tristan got good grades from school.

But that was all far away at the moment: now, he wanted to focus on the abode provided for him.

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The inside of his lodging were just as amazing as their exteriors: they were filled with plenty of creature comforts: a large bathroom, giant bedroom, decently sized living and dining rooms, a game room, and a porch where you could sit out and watch the animals that inhabited the park (with binoculars provided for ease of viewing). Even without those, though, Tristan could make out the distant sight of the park's pair of Alamosaurus, browsing among a clump of redwoods. How the park was able to get the trees to grow to a size they'd need centuries of growth to achieve within a decade was beyond him. Not that he cared, though.

The viewing area also allowed Tristan a great view of some of the park's other area's of importance: the local pumping station for water, a geothermal power plant, and some farmland set aside to grow food for the animals, as well as some products important for working at the park. He could make out a large field of coffee plants on a small hill.

Before he could see any more sights, however, a loud roar filled the air. It was more rumbly that he had expected, and distinctly reptilian, but at the same time unique in its own right. To Tristan, it was clear a dinosaur had made the noise, and that said dinosaur must have been very large.

And there was only one type of large predatory dinosaur this close to his abode.

Feeling caution give way to curiosity, Tristan unpacked as fast as possible and headed toward a nearby hill, eager to meet the kings of Prehistoric Park.

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Carefully, Tristan made his way to the edge of the fence. It was already dusk, and most of the keepers were busy cleaning up for the day as the night shift came to begin their duties. For Tristan, this meant few people would be watching the fences, giving him plenty of time to try and catch a glimpse of the tyrants.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see any of them near the edge of exhibit, nor could he see any hiding in the brush. Though he was loath to admit it, they'd probably already bedded down for the night, and were probably deeper inside the exhibit than he would be able to see. Disheartened, he began to leave.

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Instantly, Tristan froze, then, slowly, began turning his head. Back at the exhibit, by the fence, he saw the shape of a tyrannosaur. It was a large creature, but it still felt small to Tristan; probably an adolescent, if he had to hazard a guess. It was very brightly colored, or at least the area from its head to its neck was: the rest of its body was a light brown, with green feathers covering its back. It's face, though, was just as bright as a turkey's, and that was discounting the orange and purple feathers. The blue and red head was wide, but still seemed too narrow to Tristan, reinforcing the belief that the dinosaur he was staring at was an adolescent, while also giving him reason to assume it was a male. Additionally, for some reason, he felt a certain familiarity to the creature.

At first, the bull Tyrannosaurus only stared at Tristan. Then, slowly, the coelurosaur made its way toward the gate of its enclosure. Tiny hands soon found themselves around the wooden bar that held the exhibit shut, and it only took a few twists and pivots of them to release the seal on the door. A gentle nudge from the predator's snout was all it took to release the gate. Then, the tyrannosaur started walking toward Tristan.

Fear briefly rose in his chest, only to give way to awe at the sight of such a majestic, if dangerous, creature, one which now stood only a few meters before him. Cautiously, Tristan began digging into his pocket, and, after a moment, removed a piece of dry meat from it. The jerky had been made of turkey flesh, and would probably have been the most appealing to the carnivore. He had wanted to offer it a tastier meal, but the smell of the meat, as well as the crumpling of any bags he would have put it into to avoid a mess, would have given his plan away long before he could have set it in motion.

Slowly, he held up the meat to the tyrannosaur. Now that he had a better look at it, Tristan realized the reason for his familiarity with it: it was Terence, the one he had used to help pull the Bistahieversor out of the mud. A part of his mind reminded him how odd it had been that such a predator had allowed him to tie rope around it without trying to attack him, but Tristan wasn't ready to devote any thought to that at the moment. A greater part of his mind, though, was bothered by the fact that the tyrannosaur felt familiar to him in some other way that he couldn't recognize. Hell, it smelled familiar, which was an impressive feat given the average sense of smell most humans had, and which Tristan felt his sense of smell was well within.

Terence, for his part, seemed relatively tame in regards to the meal offered to him. He eyed the meat cautiously, but never made any moves to grab it. The reason for this eluded Tristan, perhaps it was still sizing him up. Well, if it was sizing him up, then he better feed the rex before it decided to eat him. So, without further delay, Tristan threw the jerky at the rex, which backed up and allowed it to hit the ground, before moving over to feed.

For some reason, Tristan, rather than deciding to run, instead held out his hand. Even he was surprised with his course of action, but couldn't muster the will to fight it off. Then, he started advancing toward Terence. The rex hissed at him, to which Tristan could only responded by saying "Easy, easy" to the tyrant reptile. Somehow, this managed to calm the predator, which slowly grew calmer as the boy approached him. Much to the surprise of both man and dinosaur, when Tristan was close enough, Terence brought his snout to the boy's palm, allowing him to grasp the reptile's maw.

For a moment, reptile and mammal could only stare at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. Tristan felt that the tyrannosaur was examining him, looking over his relatively drab park uniform, along with the rather expensive watch on his left arm and the beetle in his head-wait what?

At the instant, Tristan and Terence broke contact, the boy hitting the ground in surprise as the rhinoceros beetle on his head took flight. As he tried to right himself, his eyes turned back toward the tyrannosaur, revealing a peculiar detail: the back of the rex had two lines on it where the feathers seemed to thin out. On its belly were a matching pair of scars in the skin, albeit heavily faded: evidence of an injury in its youth.

Meanwhile, the rex noticed that Tristan had a similar set of scar around his stomach, with his navel sandwiched in-between them. They extended to his back as well, and lined up perfectly as far as the tyrant reptile could see.

Both beings stared at the scars, feeling that they were significant. But why? Why were they... so...important...oh.

Instantly, recognition covered Tristan's face, with a similar expression occupying Terence's. For a moment, both could only stare at each other in absolute silence. Then, the sound of an engine filled the air. Though distant, it signified that the night shift was arriving, forcing man and dinosaur to separate. Terence retreated back into his exhibit, which Tristan quickly closed, before heading back toward the park's mess hall, hoping (Correctly) that he would be able to arrive without incident.

When the staff saw the two later, none could sense anything different about them. But deep down, something had changed, and distant memories the two apex predators had thought long forgotten had begun to resurface...

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AN: Well, looks like our hero has a secret to hide.

Just a heads up, but Tristan's mom IS aware of the park. Her husband actually asked her if she was okay with sending Tristan to work there and she gave her approval. She's usually devoted to nature stuff. She's of Chinese origin, and DO NOT MAKE HER MAD.

More trivia will be put up later. Read an Review. This is Flameal15k, signing off!