Chapter 6: Clash of the Loudsaurs.
I'm getting back to the tortoise real soon, but this idea popped into my head. The louds as terrible lizards…THE DINOSAURS. This one , though narrated is more like a story telling. Follow young Deinonychus Lincoln as he traverses his primeval world.
(A planet, lush and blue and green. All the continents are smashed into one big conglomeration of landmass, broken mostly only by shallow inland seas. Islands dot the waters around the coasts. Dawn breaks over a primeval landscape. On the coast line, Nothosaurus bask in the early sun, with several diving the rocks into the salty water to catch fish and squid under the surface. While out in the depths, real life Sea monsters like Liopleurodon and Kronosaurs and Tylosaurus rule as the killer whales of the primordial past. While Criorhynchus and Cearadactylus skim the surface for fish of its own. Further inland swarms of Rhamphorhynchus and Dimorphodon patrol the swamps for insects and small fish. While in the murky waters a Labyrinthodont, a crocodile like amphibian, lies in wait for a more substantial meal then the bite sized Pterosaurs. Herds of Scutosaurus browse the dense ferns and horse tails among the cycads, eyes peeled for their adversary Gorgonopsid. A Dimetrodon ambled by on its business.)
(An undisclosed female narrator begins.)
Narrator: Imagine a world where all the dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts that captured your imaginations as kids lived side by side. Everything from the gigantic sailback Spinosaurus to the tiny Compsognathus and Archaeopteryx. Life Here s all about staying alive day to day.
(In a valley floodplain, edging a thick forest, herds of Herbivores mixed and mingled together. Chowing down or lounging in the warm sun. Parasaurolophus with their backwards head crests. Iguanadon lean on trees to get at the succulent leaves. Brachytrachelopan drink from a lake, their tan bodies shudder with each powerful gulp. Groups of Ceratopsians like Styracosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus, Achelousaurus and Einiosaurus lumber along. While nearby, Domeheads like Dracorex and Stygimolach butt heads in playful jousts alongside smaller herbivores like Hypsilophodon, Dryosaurus and Zephyrosaurus. At their feet Ornitholestes and Compsognathus chase small lizards and insects.)
Narrator: It's May 4, Thursday.
(An Ornitholestes with yellowish green skin and red spots chases after a small lizard between the massive herbivores legs. They pay it no mind.)
Ornitholestes Rusty: Get..over..here!
(Rusty pursues the lizard through the herds of Herbivores into the forest. Once inside the lizard ducks inside a log as Rusty runs past, still hunting. After a few feet he stops.)
Rusty: Where'd it go?
(A thick sticky glob splatters beside him. Rusty jumps back.)
Rusty: (grossed out) Disgusting!...What's the big—(looks up)…Oh—
(Looming above him was a large theropod dinosaur, she's covered in red, pebble like scales, a short, squashed looking broad snout holds an array of long slender teeth. The most distinguished trait was the pair of short horns over each eye. Rusty panics and scurried away. But the larger carnivore wasn't interested, Rusty was too boney. It takes a few steps further, eyeing the herbivores.)
Narrator: This…is a Carnotaurus. The " meat eating bull". An apex predator, and she's on the hunt.
(A view through the predators eyes show it zeroing in on the small groups of Hypsilophodon. By herself, she wasn't willing to try and take down one of the Ceratopsians, even the hornless Pachyrhinosaurs and Achelousaurus could do serious damage if she got too close. Besides, while she was hungry…she wasn't starving. Best just grab a quick snack and hunt again later on when she was really hungry.)
(Out on the plain, Rusty runs as fast as he can awat from the trees. He breaks through the tree line and scurries across the semi-wet ground. He darts past the Hypsilophodon.)
Rusty: Gotta move! Gotta move!
(The Hypsilophodon are disturbed and look up as he darts past. A red one snorts.)
Hypsilophodon Carl: (hmph) Just that guy again. Wonder if it was just another Microrapter landed next to him again.?
(A pink one scoffs.)
Hypsilophodon Lola: Stupid clod! Can't he see I'm eating here?! Can't we go one day without him freaking out?!
(Suddenly, the Carnotaurus bursts from the tree line, sprinting towards the Herbivores.)
Carnotaurus Lynn: (roars) Lynnsanity in the house!
(She sees the Hypsilophodon and rushes towards them.)
Lynn: Come here, lunch!
(Instantly, panic fills the air as the small herbivores move away as fast as they can.)
Carl: Oh dino crap!
(The Hypsilophodon run, while the Ceratopsians alerted to the danger by the predators roar, immediately fall into a defensive circle, with their young in the middle of the bellowing adults.)
(The scene stops with the Carno in mid run.)
Narrator: While the arms of the Carnotaurus are small and vestigial, the legs are strong and..and…(laughs). I'm sorry, I can't help it. (zooms in on the arms). I mean just look at those little baby arms! That thing ain't gonna be winning any slap fights. Seriously those things make a T-rex look like bodybuilder arms! (clears throat). Ok, I'm done. (resumes) Ok, despite the complete uselessness of their arms, the Carnotaurus legs on the other hand, where very strong and muscular…it was estimated they could reach running speeds of up to 30-35 miles an hour. These guys are the Cheetahs of the dinosaur world.
(The chase resumes, Lynn races towards her prey. The Hypsilophodon retreat as Lynn charged them. Lola pushes several others out of the way.)
Lola: Move! Move! Beauty before everyone else!
(She moves several feet ahead before tripping on a rock. The other Hypsilophodon separate on either side as Lynn pounced. Lola yelps as Lynn's jaws come down.)
(The other plant eaters retreat a safe distance and turn in time to see Lynn lift her head with Lola in her jaws. Lynn shakes her head before throwing it back and swallowed up her prey. The Carnotaurus turns toward the lake and takes a drink, blood leaking from her jaws. Then the predator turned and headed back to the tree line, until ready to hunt again. As the Carnivores tail vanished into the shade the narrator continues.)
Narrator: This is life out here. One minute your just minding your own business, and the next your someone's late afternoon snack. Well, now that that's out of the way. Let's get on to the real main character of this thing.
…...
(In another part of the floodplain, a orange scaly head with a sheaf of white feathers on the back of his head peers out from some bushes.)
Narrator: Aha! There he is. This is a Deinonychus, meaning "terrible claw" in honor of the sickle claw on the second toe of each foot. The claw itself can grow to 5 inches long. He belongs to a group of dinosaurs called Dromeasaurs, pack hunters. While not the largest of the carnivores out here, what sets then apart is the brain to body ratio…meaning by dinosaur standards…has a smart cookie. When fully grown he'll be anywhere from 4-5 feet tall and 11-13 feet long. But as of now, has still barely out of juvenile hood and still learning the ropes.
(The Deinonychus stares at a spot a couple of dozen feet ahead of him. The partially eaten carcass of a Sivatherium lay amid the ferns. Standing over it was a theropod larger then the Carno. It's skin was dark purple with an array of tiger like stripes along its length, above the eyes was a pair of boney crests.)
Narrator: The fresh kill of this Allosaurus Fragiles, considered the Lion of the Jurassic, is his target. (he leaves the bushes) He'll need to be stealthy as a lone hunter without a pack, he could just as easily become a side dish for this Allosaurus. It's serrated teeth could make short work of him if it caught him.
(The Deinonychus moves carefully over the terrain. The Allosaurus tears another hunk of flesh from its kill and swallows it whole. The 'Nychus' closes in, he reaches out to snatch a long strip of meat when the heavy foot of the Allosaurus shifts and pins him down. The smaller carnivore scrabbles wildly to get free as the Allosaurus lifts its bloody muzzle from its meal to direct its attention at the intruder. The fangs stop inches from the Deinonychus neck, his feathers ruffle in the gusts of breath from its captors nostrils.)
Allosaurus: (amused) Nice try, Linc.
(The Deinonychus, Lincoln, stops struggling.)
Lincoln: As man, Luna. How'd you know I was here?
Luna: Watch the wind, little dude. If it shifts before your ready to pounce it'll give away your postion and you''ll find yourself fighting your prey…or losing it entirely. Not to mention if I wasn't your friend and you pulled this…I would most likely have eaten you by now. (lets him up) Now, you gonna eat or what?
(On his feet again. Lincoln happily hops beside Luna and buries his snout in the meat, tearing at flesh and hunks of liver and lung. When both predators had eaten their fill, they turn and wander away, leaving the half eaten carcass behind. But it wouldn't go unnoticed for long. Lo and behold when Lincoln looked back, several Troodons had leapt on the carcass, nipping at shreds of meat. Before long a loud roar sounded as a Ceratosaurus charged in, scattering the smaller carnivores. The three horned meat eater quickly dug in.)
(In a nearby tree, a small Archaeopteryx sat in the branches, observing. It then dived down, snagged a strip of flesh from the carcass and glided back to the branch, evading the jaws of the Ceratosaurus as it snapped at him. He then hopped from branch to branch after the Allosaurus and Raptor, before gliding down onto the 'Lincoln's back. He's got a mix of greenish blue and yellow feathers)
Lincoln: Oh there you are, Clyde. I was wondering where you got off too.
Clyde: Had to bid my time to get my own dinner. Could try it with the Troodons hanging around, they would've torn me apart. Bad enough having to dodge a Ceratosaurus. Least I can out maneuver those.
(Clyde starts chowing down on the meat he managed to get.)
Lincoln: (annoyed) Hey, hey! Watch my feathers. Last thing I need is another Dilophosaurus to come sniffing me out.
Luna: Don't worry, little brah. They'll probably be more interested in that carrion back there. And if one does try to give you a hard time…they gotta deal with me first.
(Luna leaned down and gave Linc an affectionate lick. While Lincoln laughed, Clyde fluttered over to Luna's back, fanning the air before him.)
Clyde: (winces) Ooh! Dino breath! Almost as bad as the time you tried to eat me.
Luna: What did you expect would happen. Linc was a baby and I though you were a scavenger.
Clyde: I was just as big as he was!
(The three head through the marshland to their sleeping area. It's on a level spot of semi-dry ground choked with horse tails and ferns by a stream of water. Lincoln and Luna both take a drink, washing the blood from their jaws.)
(When darkness fell, both Luna and Lincoln settled on their spot for the night. Clyde flutters up to a forked branch nearby and settles down as well.)
Lincoln: Hey Luna…
Luna: Yeah?
Lincoln: Can you tell me the story?
Luna: (chuckles) Again, bro. I must've already told it a hundred timez.
Lincoln: And I wanna her it for the hundred and one time. (begging) Please.
Luna: (shakes her head good naturedly)Ok fine…I was around…four season cycles old, I think. Just starting out on my own for the first time. It was dark…and rainy.
(Flashback. Luna is much smaller and younger. Just setting out on her own for the first time. After three years of being looked after and feed by her parents, learning how to hunt, Luna was ready to set for her own life. It was night, and the moon was full in a cloudy and rainy sky, dousing the ground in mud and large puddles. Nocturnal hunters prepared for the hunt. Luna wonders through the marshes looking for somewhere semi-dry and provided cover from the downpour, when she heard something. A small, pathetic crying. Curious anf thinking it could be a potential meal heads in the direction it originated, following the sound of crying in the night. Then right below herat her feet, was a small infant Deinonychus, barely more then a hatching. It was orange with small tufts of white feathers on its head, back of its arms, back and tail. It was nuzzling the still, bloody and trampled body of a full grown Deinonychus and crying. Beside them was a second trampled adult and another baby. Judging from the scent, they've been dead for quite a but, half a day at least.)
Luna: (to the hatchling) You all alone, little dude?
(The young Deinonychus let's out some pathetic chirps and noses the still form of the adult, trying to get it to move or show any signs of life. It doesn't respond, it's dead as are the others.)
Luna: (sympathetic) Sorry little one, they're gone from our world. It's part of the great circle of life. Comes for us all.
(The young Dromeasaur shrieks in despair. A herbivore would've ignored it, and any other carnivores would've made a quick meal of both the survivor and the deceased. Meat was meat, after all. But all Luna felt was pity for the youngster. He was all alone. No parents to look after him and teach him how to hunt and survive. No siblings to play and practice with. Deinonychus were pack animals, he wouldn't last long on his own.)
(Luna bent down and gently scooped up the infant on her muzzle. It was nature, and nothing would blame her for leaving it, but Luna felt in her heart she couldn't do that.)
Luna: (to the baby) No one deserves to be on their own and all alone, especially not one as young as you. I just set out on my own too. How about we keep each other company? (hmm) But you'll need a name.
(Feeling something warmer then the cold war ground it had sent the last while on, the infant ' Nychus' curled up in the snout of the larger carnivore and yawns before closing his eyes and going to sleep. Luna's heart melted at this.)
Luna: (amused and touched)Friendly aren't you, little one. (thinks for a moment) You know what, think I'll call you…Linc. In honor of the link that from this day forward binds us as friends…and maybe even siblings.
(Back in the present.)
Luna: And I looked after that baby Deinonychus I found cold and wet and alone from that day forward. I played with him, I kept him warm, I feed him and protected him. We kept each other company, comforted each other whenever the other was down. We became as close as siblings, surviving our wondrous and dangerous world together as a big sis and her little bro. There you go, Linc. One hundred and one times…Linc?
(Luna looks to see Lincoln had fallen asleep, snuggled against her neck, curled up just as he had been on her snout the night she found years ago.)
(Luna carefully leaned over and gave Linc another lick.)
Luna: Sleep well, little brother.
(Luna then yawned herself before lowering her head and drifted off as well. With her baby bro snuggled beside her.)
I know that Deinonychus and other Dromeasurs are known to be feathered and the pack hunting is up for debate, but I don't care for the fully feathered look, just picture the Raptors from ARK and that's how Lincoln looks.)
Criorhynchus and OrnitOrnithocheirus sometimes considered one and the same.
This is a world where creatures from all the different prehistoric time periods live together.