Raptor at Heart - Unfamiliar World

[Mereneth]

"Time unfolds in bizarre and unexplainable ways, often to the discomfort of those it affects. Often, such phenomena occur without anyone being the wiser, aside from those it has chosen for its experiments." ~ "Unknown"

---

We are gathered this night to tell a tale that has been passed down through the eons to each new generation of our kind. The stories of our ancestors hold the very secret to our intelligence, way of life and more. Some of you have been present in years past and chose to come again with the new generations as they learn that you, too, might yet benefit again from our brutal history. While the names of some have been forgotten, others still have been passed down to some of you; their direct descendants.

Now, curl up before me and wrap your tail about you for the long tale ahead of the trials and tribulations of our first ancestors.

---

The sun held its place in the sky, burning brightly over herds of herbivores consuming the bounty of the plains and forest edge. Thundering footfalls of a herd on the move fill the silence when the youth are not squealing in play or being called by their respective herd leaders to come closer, lest predators take them down.

For the most part, the young heed the warnings of the calls, though curiosity and naïve bold exploration urge a small male triceratops down a trampled path in the woods that leads into a clearing of untouched, lush, green grasses. He continues forward, ignoring the increasingly frantic calls of his herd as he feasts on the sweet, rich blades of his discovery, oblivious to the danger closing in around him. The only warning he has of the oncoming danger, a shadow drawing up on top of him, he misses as his attention is solely poured into the dinner he gleefully gorges on.

A squeal of terror fills the air as a pack of five velociraptors clumsily fall upon him; their fumbled attempts to kill the triceratops quickly spoiled by a seemingly odd lack of experience. They chirrup and bark commands back and forth at one another as they withdraw to attack again, their eyes dancing with the thrill of the hunt. The smallest of them darts in and snaps at a leg, only to be knocked aside by its tail as it flails about in futile effort to defend itself. The little triceratops squeals in pain as the raptors continue to make passes at it, gouging its flesh with their claws and teeth, each rending of its flesh eliciting another pained plea for help.

Finally, the weakened hatchling losing the energy and will to thrash against its attackers, one of the raptors number manages to sink his teeth into the little ones throat. Blood pours from the wound, filling the throat of the raptor clutching it and bubbling out from around its teeth to pour onto the ground. The hatchlingÔÇÖs squeals are cut short as the raptorÔÇÖs jaws clamp down upon its windpipe, strangling it as it bleeds out. The other four raptors surround the killer, staring with a mix of respect and confused awe until the body of the prey grows still.

The killer chirps something from around its mouthful of flesh, at which point his companions fall upon the corpse and grasp it with their jaws. As a team, albeit a clumsy one, the pack hauls its catch slowly to the far side of the grassy meadow, leaving the site of the kill behind. As they move, they chirp at each other proudly over the success until they reach a pile of unconscious raptors on the far side. With a nod from the impromptu leader they drop the corpse in front of the still forms of the others and wait, barking at each other in discussion over what to do next.

ÔÇ£Niyazaki, that was amazing! IÔÇÖd heard about VR games when I was dealing, but I never thought that you could learn something like this from them. If we get back, I am definitely coming to japan to try them out.ÔÇØ

The dappled orange and brown raptor tossed his head enthusiastically as he chirped, eyes darting to the corpse as the excitement of the hunt continued to burn through his blood. His lips pulled back in a toothy grin of pleasure as he finished raining praise on the pale blue raptor.

Niyazaki bobbed his head in pleasure at the compliments and licked at the blood he could reach on his face. There wasnÔÇÖt much he could do about what covered his darker blue splotches of color down his throat, but as he finished cleaning what he could he barked a response.

ÔÇ£It was nothing, Master Jorge. I am sure you could do the same, given your greater experience with death.ÔÇØ

Jorge stilled at the comment and his face darkened, but Niyazaki pushed on, unaware of the insult he had flung as he chirped his pleasure at the experience.

ÔÇ£VR could never have prepared me for how it felt to actually do the deed. The thrill that fills you as hot blood pours down your throat and the life of your prey fades in your grasp. I have never felt my heart beat faster!ÔÇØ

He chortled with pleasure and nudged the corpse with a foot, pricking the skin with a claw and sinking it into the scaley hide of their kill.

A vibrant green raptor streaked with bronze, easily a foot and a half shorter than the others, barked worriedly, though the adrenaline high of the hunt clearly still burned in her veins. She edged forward clumsily, her feet unsure of their balance, until she rested her snout on the wound that stole the life from the hatchling. She inhaled sharply, taking in the heady scent of blood and flesh, before chirping her worries to the others.

ÔÇ£WonÔÇÖt the parents come to try and rescue this? What will they do when they realize we killed their baby? I know the newcomers will need to eat, but-ÔÇ£

A loud snort interrupted her as one of the previously silent raptors broke in on her prattle. Her dark blue hide glistened in the sunlight as she stood up and went to her worried comradeÔÇÖs side. She nudged the raptor youth encouragingly and chirruped soothingly.

ÔÇ£Calm down, Alyssa, we have nothing to fear. That little one came into our clearing on its own; the parents might not even know where it went. Trust Anoki, ok?ÔÇØ

Alyssa settled onto her haunches and stared at the body.

I do, Anoki, but Im still afraid. I

She trailed off and cast her glance away from Anoki to the last member of their hunting party, a silver and grey splotched young raptor, in hopes of further assurance.

The silver raptor remained silent, unaware of AlyssaÔÇÖs hopes to hear encouragement as he stared across the field to the site of the hatchlings death. His breathing remained steady, though his eyes seemed to dance impatiently as he kept silent watch. Annoyed, Alyssa chirped at him again, discouraged and upset by being ignored.

ÔÇ£Earth to Doug, are you even listening? Hell-oooooooooo! Why do you always go silent like this after-ÔÇ£

The silver raptor turns his head to face her, cutting off her verbal assault with a deep-throated growl. He glances back to the kill site for a moment more before turning his full attention and rage on the little raptor.

Child, you are the most ignorant little pup Ive ever had to deal with. In my 92 years before

He gestures with his snout at the forest surrounding them and the corpse at their feet,

ÔÇ£all of this, I have never known a more disrespectful and clueless whelp when it comes to understanding the danger we are in. Yes, weÔÇÖve become predators, velociraptors at that, but your hay filled brain canÔÇÖt begin to comprehend what survival means.ÔÇØ

DougÔÇÖs nostrils flare as he snorts in derision and contempt, clearly upset, before turning to stare at the still forms of the unconscious raptors beside them.

ÔÇ£How long until they awaken? We need to get out of this area, and soon. You can bet your britches weÔÇÖll be getting a visitor soon; weÔÇÖd best hope itÔÇÖs this poor things parent, too, and not another one of those Tyranno-beasty things.ÔÇØ

Almost on cue, one of the raptors on the ground began to stir, provoking excited chirps from the five hunters as they rose to their feet to line up before them.

[BadgeAddict]

Alex stood there before the moon and held the small revolver to the right side of his temple. He looked one more time up at the moon, allowing its somber light to wash over him, and then he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Alex collapsed to the ground, twitching slightly as the electrical impulses of his brain jumped in excitement from the sudden and inexplicable change of moving from the inside of its protective shell to the outside. As he lay on the ground, his life blood pumping out of him, something changed or rather, something was different. As the world faded to black, Alex remembered the hot Australian desert sand pressing warmly against his face, but now, there was something different, now there was grass where there should be none.

The ground beneath his face had a hint of moisture to it, deep earthy undertones and (deep sniff) blood. Before opening his eyes, Alex performed his daily ritual of exploring his surroundings with all of his senses except for his sight. Unfamiliar sounds burst through his ears, and new smells exploded in his nostrils. Though Alex awoke from the blackness with a calm mind he quickly reached outright terror. Alarms started going off in his mind, things smelled wrong, things felt wrong. Alex opened his eyes and the world exploded. The alarms of things smelling and feeling wrong suddenly seemed minor and distant compared to the wrongness that he saw. (AlexÔÇÖs brain overloads and he passes out)

Alex again awoke from the blackness and again went through the waking up ritual, of exploring the world with his senses minus sight. Although his mental alarms still blared, they seemed familiar this time, as if this had happened before. Instead of giving into his growing fears, Alex slowly squeezed his eyes open. Before him, on the ground, lay a pack of velociraptors.

AlexÔÇÖs mind began to race as his brain tried to understand what was happening. Before accepting and trying to understand what was happening, he tried to remember what had happened. The gun...Alex remembered the gun, he remembered holding the gun to his head and pulling the trigger. The first question that leapt to the front of the line of so many other questions that were pouring out of his mind was ÔÇ£How am I alive?" His gram had always tried to tell him that there was an afterlife. "Maybe this is my afterlife.ÔÇØ Alex thought.

Somehow this thought made taking in this whole new world much easier. Alex decided at that moment, that everything he was about to discover was new and exciting and that, technically, the whole world was waiting to be explored. At this, Alex-raptor opened his eyes and bathed his eyes in this new world.

The smell of warm blood soon overcame his other senses, to his mind it smelled sickening, but to the senses of his new body it smelled delicious. His stomach gave a growling gurgle that at first made him twitch, as the noise scared him a little. Then the pangs of pain and desire for food started gnawing at him. Alex raised his head off the ground a bit and saw what could only be a triceratops child. Its body was torn and ripped and its flesh was steaming slightly. The light breeze that blew across the area, bringing the smells of the fresh kill and the temptations of a full stomach only made it worse.

Trying to stand up was a different chore all on its own. His first inclination was to use his hands to pull himself to his feet, this failed quickly. Slowly, steadily he stood up, only to trip himself with what had helped him stand. (kathump) AlexÔÇÖs body slammed into the ground, the Raptors that stood near the kill seemed to snicker with their bodies, sending a warm hotness over Alex of embarrassment and rage. Instead of allowing the rage to quicken his actions, slowly and steadily he again climbed to his feet. This time he used his tail to aid in standing and to keep him steady. Alex knew all this of course from being an understudy of an archeologist and knew that biped dinosaurs used their tail to balance themselves, but knowing something to be true and practicing it were indeed separate things.

Instead of rushing to the food Alex wandered out of the tangle of bodies on the ground toward a bit of open space. Upon reaching the open space Alex began to practice using his new body, realizing that although food would be important later, using his body would improve his chances of survival. First he took several moments to walk from one side of the clearing to the other. As his movements became steadier, he started to increase his gate into what he now would call a jog. As he hustled around the clearing, he suddenly swished his tail to one side. This had a most surprising result; his body snapped 90 degrees in the opposite direction. His feet however didnÔÇÖt know how to keep up with such a sudden change in direction and he found himself in the now familiar stance of face to ground. This time, standing up was easier and performed more quickly.

Alex stood and let out a long sigh (which came out as hissssss); having worked out on an empty stomach it felt as if his stomach had begun to eat his insides. Though it looked like the others had already started in on the meal, he was sure he could grab a bite to eat as well. Alex nudged through the pack of raptors until he could nab a few pieces of hot meat. He tried to shut off his mind to the rich iron taste of blood and raw meat as the pieces he ripped off slid down his throat. At one point, thinking about it made him up-chuck a little, at which point he tried to stop thinking about it and just eat.

[kurik]

It was Brock's last shift at the store, his very last. He had only found out that it was being sold three days prior, and that information had come from a fellow employee, his manager not wanting to be bothered to tell most of the workers herself. So here he was, his last day of work, no plans for the future, and in walks trouble. Hoodie pulled up, sunglasses on in the middle of the night, Brock figured the guy would try to run out with a case of beer. Instead he came right up to the counter and pulled out a gun.

As the BANG at the end of his dream faded, Brock noticed something wasn't right. Whatever he was laying on was harder than his bed, and there didn't seem to be any sheets covering him. The sunlight filtered through his closed eyelids, turning the blackness red. Odd, considering he kept his curtains closed, and strange chirping voices filled his ears. He slowly opened his eyes to the strangest sight he had ever seen, five dinosaurs standing over him. For a moment he froze as his mind processed this new information, and then the panic kicked in. Where the hell am I? What the hell is that? Look at those teeth! Oh crap ohcrapohcrapohcrap!

With a start, Brock scrambled to lift himself and run, managing only to trip over his own feet. As he picked himself up, he caught a glimpse of what should have been his arm, scaly and red and clawed. As he regained his footing, Brock's head snapped this way and that, his body frozen in terror. More data flooded into his conscious mind. The brown of tree trunks, green ferns, red blood leaking from a body just a few feet from him, his own pounding heart, and a hunger in his belly. A hunger that would wait until he knew just what the hell was happening.

He slowly backed away until his tail (TAIL?) was firmly against a tree, his eyes darting frantically from one creature to the next, be they standing and blooded or just stirring.

[GathersIngredients]

Lauren sat on the lid of the toilet, her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, her forehead resting upon them, her irregular going breath sending wave after wave of shaking through her body as she cried softly.
One hand loosely held onto a pregnancy test before it clattered to the ground; it was positive.
It can't be. It shouldn't be. Why is this happening? Lauren's thoughts repeated over and over again while a smaller part of her mind raced back to the events that had lead to her current situation.

Two weeks ago, her parents - who were both dentist - had this international congress or whatever to go, where dentists from all over the world would talk about new cleaning techniques, alternative filling materials and whatnot, to Lauren it wasn't all that interesting after all, except for the fact that it meant that her parents would go to London for this and left her in the care of her older brother, Benjamin.

Before the big trip the parents gave both of their children the usual speech and instructions about what they were and were not supposed to do and reminded them to be responsible and all that. Lauren used her well trained "attentive face" on them, to look like she was listening while her mind was hard at work, trying to figure out a way how to get rid of Benjamin, because she had promised to Jacob that she would figure out something for him to come over and be alone with him for some time.

She bid mom and dad a fond farewell, hugs and kisses were exchanged and then they were gone. Lauren was about to put her Impromptu plan into action, when Benjamin - to her complete surprise - pulled out an overnight bag from behind the sofa - how cunning of him to hide it so close at the risk of one of the parents to discover it - and with a boyishly careless grin said to her "So long, sis. See you in two days. Don't do anything stupid."

Her bafflement quickly turned into pleasant acceptance, and she didn't even care where he would be spending the weekend. The less she was involved and the less she knew about it, the less she could be pulled into any mess or punishment if Benjamin would get caught. On top of that, she and Jacob would be completely alone and undisturbed for two whole days - safe any annoying neighbors would come over. A broad grin dawned on her own face at that thought. "Have a great time, Benjy, and make sure you're back safe and sound and most importantly ON TIME." she teased her big brother a little, because he was constantly too late to everywhere he was expected.

A phone call and about an hour later, Jacob arrived and they had spend a wonderful time together, kissing and petting and ... more, all weekend long. The first time had been a bit painful for Lauren initially, but that sensation soon made room for much more pleasant feelings.

But... they had been careful, how could she be pregnant?! Maybe one of the condoms had been faulty. Maybe their inexperience had lead to them making a mistake when handling them. Maybe...

It doesn't matter how or why, the important thing to find out is how you get out of this mess, a voice of reason in the jumbled mess that were her thoughts raging around in her spinning mind called out to her. ...because you can't bear a child. You are a girl from a respectable family, you get good grades, you have your whole life ahead of you. You can not afford to be pregnant right now.
And think about what Jacob would do. Remember how he reacted when you confided in him about being late with your period? He wasn't happy about that and wasn't afraid to let you know. If you tell him that you carry his child, he will outright break up with you, deny that he has ever been with you and try to mark you as a slut that has been sleeping around with god knows who just so he can get out of it. It won't matter that none of that is true and that you can prove with a DNA test some day that the child is, indeed, his. Your reputation will be ruined for good and your family will be disgraced in the meantime.
Lauren's body shook with sobs, as these words and the truth they carried sunk in, and she tried to clutch her own knees even tighter than before.

But... all of a sudden, there were no knees to clutch, at least not where she expected them to be. Her whole body was aching and she lay sprawled on the ground for some reason. She quickly opened her eyes, only to wish that she hadn't.
A steaming corpse reeking of blood was just in front of her nose, causing her to retch a bit, but she just barely managed to hold it in. Panicked, she scrambled away from it, on hands and knees. At least she tired.
Kind of sitting on her own butt while she flailed her arms and legs, she managed to get very little distance between her and the freshly killed animal, because her own limbs were all wrong. When she caught a glimpse of her own legs, the were long and scaly and greenish-brown with huge claws at the end.
Oh my gosh what has happened to me? This has to be a dream, right? RIGHT?! When she moved her "arm" to try an pinch herself in order to wake up... it was greenish-brown, scaly and armed with claws, too. And there were feathers at her ... elbows.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!" she yelled, not even paying attention to how her own voice was a mixture of chirps and caws and guttural sounds, because something else demanded her whole attention: several nearby creatures that were all scaly, armed with claws just as big as her own, and most importantly, really scary, as they had their whole face full of long, pointy carnivore teeth, each of them as long and sharp as a dagger. Due to her outbreak, they were now all looking at her and, terrified, Lauren fell utterly silent.

► Show Spoiler

Also, I wanted to say: I'm happy that I voted for Doug to stay alive, he seems to have some grasp of the situation. I feel bad for the japanese guy and Allysa, though.

Great job on depicting their characters so vividly with just a few sentences!

[Theis2]

John opened the closet and grabbed the bottle and went back to his workstation. He was looking forward to todays lab experiments where they had to disolve rocks to free a fossil inside of it. He poured the hydrofluoric acid into the glass container and looked around. Plenty of the others were already doing it and he quickly grabbed a fossil to catch up to the others. He put on his gloves and used a plier to slowly put down the fossil into the container. At first the process came along as expected but suddenly small sparks of light came from the container. John and a few others came to check out why it had these quick burst of bright light. John let his curiosity take hold and stood with his face in the same height as the sparks and only a short distance away. A big and bright light shone from the container right before it ruptured shooting shards of glass and hydrofluoric acid at his face and those around him. John heard screaming as he tried to cover his face to protect him from pain.

The screams seemed to have faded but John still heard them echoing in his mind. He were lying on the ground twitching in pain, even though it seemed to have disappeared, yet he still tried to cover his face with his arms. It all felt weird and wrong in some way but he was certain it was because of the acid, and the smell of blood was coming from himself. It took a few minutes before John dared to look and once he did he saw his scaly arms and the velociraptors behind them. He remembered having watched Jurrasic park and just remembered something about dinosaurs only were able to see movements and he just lies silently on the ground for now still not really aware of his own transformation and watches the others in horror.

[Jibjib]

Terrence turned off the radio and blew out the gas lamp that lit the study of his small highland cottage. The pile of ungraded papers on the desk, he decided, could wait for another day. His left arm was stiff from writing for so long, and he had terrible indigestion. "Must have been the hotpot." he muttered to himself. He wandered through the small stone cottage, bolting doors and windows, more out of habit than for want of safety; he was miles from the nearest town. Even the new postman, after the retirement of old Bill Smith, had refused to continue delivering Terrence's letters, on complaint of 'the dangerous road next to the loch'. No matter though, with little family, and few friends outside of the university, he didn't have much cause to send correspondence anymore. His musings were interrupted by a hot wave of pain through his chest.

"Blast it all. Hmmm, I need a nightcap."

Taking a heavy key from the fireplace, Terrence walked to the kitchen and unlocked a sturdy oak door. Lighting a candle, he padded down into the subterranean depths, the wooden stairs creaking eerily as he did so. People, his colleagues remarked on their infrequent visits, might find the austere little cottage creepy, but to Terrence, it was his sanctuary, his refuge from the business of the world. Holding the torch as high as he could with the burgeoning pain in his arm, he surveyed the rows upon rows of bottles before him as one would a dear child. His admittedly large salary from the university, with no family to support, not only furnished a comfortable flat in Glasgow during term time; it also payed for the cottage and allowed him to build up an extensive, and expensive wine collection. He paced down the wooden racks til he found a suitable vintage, then walked back over to the small bar and picked up a clean glass to taste it. As he poured though, a lightning bolt of pain exploded down his left side, and he felt like his chest was caught in the fists of some great giant, who was trying to squeeze the life out of him. The glass and the bottle fell from his nerveless hands, as he thought to himself:

"Aspirin! I need to get aspirin!" He left the candle and started blundering up the wooden stairs. After only a few steps he was breathless, cold and sweaty, but he carried on. The pain in his heart was increasing by orders of magnitude now, but by some superhuman effort, he forced himself up to the final small landing, and started up the last ten steps. Ten. His vision swam with dancing lights, and his head was reeling with dizziness. Nine. Eight. He clutched on to the hand rail and vomited, the acrid stench seeming oddly strong to his nostrils. Seven. Six. Five. Terrence felt a tear roll down his cheek. For all his loneliness and self-imposed solitude, suddenly he wanted somebody, anybody, there to help him. "God, I've never been so scared. Somebody help me." He sobbed. Four. Three. His eyes began to grow dark, and he almost stumbled on the next step. Two. Suddenly, he became calm. Even in the chill of the stone stairwell, he was oddly warm. Drowsily, he mumbled to himself:

"I'll just rest here for a second. Yes, just a second."

Then his grip on the handrail slackened and he was falling, unknowing, backwards.


Whump!

Terrence struggled to open his eyes. How had he got outside? The harsh sunlight burned into his eyes painfully. What had happened behind the wooden cellar door? He was sure that he'd felt his heart weaken, but now it pulsed with youthful energy, strong and fast. His eyes uncrossing, he gave a start. There, lying in a bed of ferns, was a... creature! It was scaled, had wicked looking claws and sharp teeth, and patches of feathers at points around its body. He saw it try to stand, and then tumble to the ground, and then stand again, walking groggily around the small clearing. Its attention seemed to be caught by... yes, down the way a piece there was a terrible, wonderful scent. He lay his head back down on to the loamy earth for a moment to clear his swimming brain, then attempted to shift himself upright. He jumped again, as he realised that looking down, his skin had been replaced with scales, his fingers with the same wicked claws. "This is impossible! This is simply impossible!" He chuckled to himself. If this was what the Great Beyond looked like, his old Sunday school teacher had some explaining to do. Suddenly, another of the creatures gave a string of distressed chirps, and Terrence felt himself struck with a great concern, like a parent whose child has fallen. He struggled up and rushed over, saying: "Hush, young lady, the pack's here." At least, he tried to say it. He was surprised to hear his own voice come out as a throaty caw, and the words seemed to translate directly into actions, his blunt scaly snout nuzzling against the younger creature's neck. Wait. The pack? Where had that come from? For the first time, Terrence straightened up, flexing his newly powerful muscles, and took a look around at the bewildering scenery.

► Show Spoiler

I didn't realise the detail we'd be putting into these so my apologies if I'm a terrible story teller, I was always terrible at English at school

[BadgeAddict]

► Show Spoiler

He saw it try to stand, and then tumble to the ground, and then stand again, walking groggily around the small clearing.

I'm sorry if it felt that I had set a precedence with that first post. I felt that for the first post, a large opening would be acceptable. Also, the more information we give, the more others can use. I don't know if you took it from me or not, but i love how you included the above line in with your post jibjib.

[nikohl]

Brigitte rummaged around in the claustrophobic, pressing darkness - ass in the air and bare toes just scraping the warm, damp asphalt. She knew that pizza place used this dumpster, she'd seen the guy come in here only a few minutes ago, and she could practically SMELL the pies, but where were they? She shoved another black trash bag to one side and held it there, worming her way deeper with her free hand. Eww, soggy - don't think about what it is, girl, just keep digging - aha! Strong little fingers closed around the handle of an in tact bag and she dragged it upwards, feet scrabbling for purchase on the floor and eventually finding it. She straightened up, shook bits of cigarette butt and candy wrapper from her hair, and heaved the bag out of the dumpster. She undid the knot and peeked inside - jackpot. There must have been six or seven big pie bases in there, stale but filling, and what looked like half a salami that had seen better days.

Closing the bag up again, she looked around to make sure she hadn't been seen, and hightailed it out of the alley before anyone from the restaurant or the apartments came out. She only lived a block away, but the journey wasn't without peril. This area was frequented by gangs, patrolling policemen, other homeless people...even dogwalkers were a problem for her. She hoped that no-one else was around this evening, and that she could make it back to her spot in time for her meeting with Big Paul. He was an asshole, and he'd never made a fair trade in his life, but she needed what he had and the pies wouldn't keep more than a day. She smiled to herself at the thought of the particular product he said he'd be bringing her today. Soap and speed-stick, said he'd got it from the men's shelter. Pure bliss. She'd get into the bathroom at the Denny's and be out again before they saw her, wash up and get all this crap out of her hair. Maybe she should use their mirrors while she could, and cut it. The hair helped with the begging, made her look younger and scruffier and a little more helpless, but it got too dirty and heavy.

Just as she rounded the corner into the little dead-end road she called home, she felt a hand close round her arm. How? No-one could sneak up on her, she was too good. Cops? No, no warning, they always talk before they grab. Paul? He knew better than to touch her. She yanked her arm free and turned to look but saw nothing other than white pain and a burst of stars, then black.

--

Someone's touching you. Someone's ON you. Move. MOVE! Get your knife!

Brigitte lurched to her feet from the bottom of the pile, all flailing limbs and tail for a second before her natural balance kicked in and got her upright, legs apart, head down and little feathered arms up, talons flexing in angry anticipation. ...Talons? She felt them move, claws instead of fingers and toes, but the part of her that would register sensations was quieted and ignored by the part that demanded survival, demanded attention be given only to her surroundings and not her body. It took a second or two of backing up and trying to put her hands in her pockets before her eyes started speaking to her brain, telling her that there was no person in front of her, no would-be thief or rapist - just a group of dinosaurs. Talking dinosaurs. Confused, loudly-talking, blood-covered dinosaurs.

Oh god, someone had spiked her food again, or stuck her with something and left her face-down in a corner paralysed and tripping. Worse this time though. Last time it was carebears and pretty colours for a few hours, and she woke up missing most of her stuff but relatively unharmed. This time it must have been some serious shit; she could've sworn she WAS a dinosaur, she could feel damp air on her scales and a faint breeze through her feathers. Alright, ride it out. Don't do anything stupid, don't wake up in a cell or a ward. Just play along, keep it calm, and wait to wake up.

[Mereneth]

► Show Spoiler

He saw it try to stand, and then tumble to the ground, and then stand again, walking groggily around the small clearing.

I'm sorry if it felt that I had set a precedence with that first post. I felt that for the first post, a large opening would be acceptable. Also, the more information we give, the more others can use. I don't know if you took it from me or not, but i love how you included the above line in with your post jibjib.

Technically your characters can't use the information of course, though it does make the story itself better as a reader! I'm going to look into making an OOC thread, but until I do please keep this kind of thing in the recruitment thread.

[SamWiser]

ÔÇ£Alright guys, good meeting. IÔÇÖll see you next week.ÔÇØ

As the kids walked out, Sam started to clean up. He heard laughter as the kids talked to each other. The laughter he was focusing on wasnÔÇÖt a childÔÇÖs. It was AshleyÔÇÖs musical laughter that filled his ears. She had started helping out at his churches youth group after she moved here from the Midwest, and had quickly become the highlight of SamÔÇÖs week.

ÔÇ£So, this week was eventfulÔÇØ she said to him.

ÔÇ£Yes, because I love it when my shirt becomes mottled shades of blue and redÔÇØ Sam replied, looking at his shirt stained with kool aid and spaghetti sauce. Ashley laughed again. It was easy to make her laugh. He liked that. ÔÇ£Well, IÔÇÖll see you next week.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bye!ÔÇØ Ashley called, walking out the door.

Sam sat down at one of the tables and closed his eyes for a minute. He had ran farther than normal today, and it left him sore. Despite his exhaustion (or perhaps because of it) the kids had been more rowdy than usual. After a busy two hour meeting he had no energy left. You have a paper due tomorrow, and you havenÔÇÖt even started it his brain reminded him. While calculating how much his grade would suffer if he skipped the paper a new wave of soreness came over him. He stood up and started stretching, but something felt off.


He opened his eyes, and saw something. A reflection in the water. Where had the water come from, he had been inside. There was more important things to worry about than the water. He was looking at something alien. No, not alien something primal, and yet familiar. It was him. He didnt know how, but he knew that this creature was him. Oh God, what are you doing to me? Seriously, this has to be one of the worst things you have ever done. Take my house, take my money, take whatever you want, but to turn me into a dinosaur? Really? Not Cool! Sam slowly moved in place, getting used to his new body. He tested his balance by slowly bending over and taking a drink of water from the pool. After that, he slowly turns around.

He saw a small group of dinosaurs around him. Most were on the ground, but one was walking around, though clumsily. He tried to deduct if any of them would be hostile. St. Michael protect me from danger. I suspect you will have a big job ahead of you. Sam slowly walked forward, taking it step by step. He was a little wobbley, but managed to avoid falling over.

A though occurred to him. Could he speak? ÔÇ£Hello?ÔÇØ he says, tentatively. It comes out as a soft chirp, similar to the ones he had been hearing off and on for the past few minutes. Suddenly one of the other dinosaurs freaked out. Next to a dead triceratops, it let out a string of loud chirps, that suddenly had meaning.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!" the creature yelled.

Another dinosaur walked up to her offering words of comfort. Sam walked, a little quicker this time, towards the distressed female. ÔÇ£It will be ok. DonÔÇÖt worry, weÔÇÖll get through this, whatever this itÔÇØ.

[BeanDip]

In the darkest corner of the laundry room there is an industrial-sized dryer that is pushed just far enough away from the concrete wall to form an alcove. A popular spot for drug deals, murders and rape this is where Hoff stood with Twitch, a man so burned out that he could barely be called human.

ÔÇ£You sure this stuff is good?ÔÇØ Hoff asks, inspecting the small ziplock baggie of black liquid. ÔÇ£I ainÔÇÖt never seen a drug like this.ÔÇØ

Twitch scratches his arms and rubs his neck. HeÔÇÖs looking everywhere, sniffing the air and clicking his tongue against black teeth. Breathing quickly. ÔÇ£New drug. Safe, man. ItÔÇÖs safe.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I didnÔÇÖt ask if it was safe. I asked if it was good.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yeah. Good. Great. Best.ÔÇØ Twitch startles at some noise, either imagined or so silent Hoff had not heard it. He shakes his head, breathes a little quicker, shifts his weight from heel to toe and back again. ÔÇ£Just gimme the payment. All yours, two packs. Strong stuff.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Fine.ÔÇØ Hoff took two crumpled packs of cigarettes from the pocket of his jumpsuit and put them in TwitchÔÇÖs shaking hands. Twitch almost made a damn sprint from the laundry room as soon as he gripped the packs. Hoff was left alone with the smell of detergent, the soft, wet whir of washing machines and the ziplock bag. He put it in his pocket for now and returned to his cell.

The cell was a single or at least it had been since Hoff bounced his cellmateÔÇÖs head off the stainless toilet and cracked the bone. Got five extra years for that but Hoff bet the bastard knew better than to cheat at cards now. He waited til lightÔÇÖs out and took the bag out from his pocket.

The black liquid swished from side to side inside the clear plastic. This is stupid, Hoff knows. Twitch is an idiot and a liar but goddamn Hoff needs this, even if there was just a chance of getting high. ThereÔÇÖs also the chance of death but itÔÇÖd been weeks since anything decent had moved through the prison and Hoff was in deep withdrawl.

He tore a corner of the bag with his teeth and tilted the liquid into his mouth. The liquid was actually sweet but slimy. Hoff drank the whole bag and waited for several hours for the drug to kick in. Nothing, nada, squat. Hoff stood up from his bed and grabbed the small shiv from under the mattress and tucked it into his waistband.

ÔÇ£Gonna kill that little bastard.ÔÇØ

He took one step and collapsed. His stomach suddenly burned like a raging fire and he vomited once, twice, three times in rapid succession. His eyes bulged and his muscles spasmed. Foam rolled from his mouth as blackness surrounded him and colds hands took him under.

HoffÔÇÖs head swam in the darkness but he felt no pain. MustÔÇÖve ended up in the infirmary, he thinks, pumped full of painkillers. Good stuff. He keeps his eyes closed and enjoys the gentle sounds of nature around him and the feeling of grass underneath him.

Grass? That canÔÇÖt be right. Hoff opens his eyes and in front of him is a twitching, downy tail. Past the tail he can see a lush forest and a blue sky. Stranger still, he can feel the tail moving as if it belonged to him but that canÔÇÖt be.

He stood up slowly, well tried to. His legs seemed wrong and didnÔÇÖt work right and his hands wouldnÔÇÖt push him up like normal. Awkwardly he stood up and saw the reason why. His hands, formerly thick and scarred are now spindly and scaled. Still thereÔÇÖs an unmistakably power inside every muscle and he twitches with energy.

Every sense seems sharper, his vision clearer and he can smell everything. He turns and sees several dinosaurs already standing there, heÔÇÖs not sure what type. They look like something heÔÇÖd seen in a movie a long time ago but the name escapes him. Their hands look like his hands though so Hoff can imagine what he looks like.

His feathers bristle and he says simply: ÔÇ£Damn. ThatÔÇÖs a helluva drug.ÔÇØ

[Mereneth]

Heavy footfalls shook the ground as the herds of massive herbivores continued to mill about beyond the clearing. The air fills with a numbing, low pitched call; an urgent plea for the now deceased young triceratops to return to the herd, that they might move on. The sound comes from no where near the path leading through the forest, though distress laces the higher pitched tones at the end of each bellow.

Douglas turns his attention away from the clumsy lot of raptors rising to their feet, protesting the change with angry barks and scoring the loamy soil with their claws as they scrambled about in confused disarray and mixed success at walking. He chuckles in mild amusement at the scenario, knowing now that he must have looked the same when he came to, thrashing in phantom pain from the ghost of a heart attack he left behind, only to discover himself changed into some bizarre beast. He hadn't even learned they were called velociraptors until Niyazaki had gotten control of himself and managed to explain it to the rest of them as they came about.

The whole experience was far more primal than any of the conflict of wars he had experienced, yet oddly similar while far more satisfying. Kill or be killed took on a baser meaning that made it all feel much more justified and easy to swallow.

"You get used to it, kid. Seen a soldier lose his leg when he stopped to pet a dog, only to notice the IED strapped under its tail, and he handled that better. Hush your squawking and fill your gullet."

He barked out the last words and walked into the grass to resume his post, mixed amusement and disgust in his tone. Anoki flared her nostrils and snorted as he left, making her displeasure known.

"You may be an old spirit, but one thing I was taught growing up was that not every old spirit is a spirit to call upon for answers. Don't be so hard on them."

She didn't bother to face him as she barked out her distaste in how he treated their new companions. Instead she followed the movements of one of the newcomers who had backed himself into the nearby trees. As she drew near she began to chirp softly, eager to express her good intentions.

"Don't fret, I won't bite. My name is Anoki and I recently found myself here the same way you and all the others here have. One moment you were living your normal life, everything was as expected; you close your eyes, open them and you are here."

She chirruped and tried to emphasize herself as someone to trust, as she had done before when encountering lost children at the casino, and gave the friendliest smile she could manage. This, of course, only served to turn her visage from a simple velociraptor to a potentially hungry or psychotic one, leaving her unaware of her error while continuing to try to coo at the fellow.

Alyssa couldn't contain herself at the sight of Anoki and began laughing, which came out sounding more like a chain or short barks. She paused, surprised, and proceeded to simply laugh at herself as well until a peculiar sensation zinged through her system. Her amusement cut short, she stared down at her gut as she tried to process what her body was trying to tell her. She cast her head about and sniffed at the air, searching for possible danger as doug had taught her to do early on in response to her body's signals, though her search proved futile. Doug didn't seem bothered, she noted. But what...

*zing*

Now that her attention was prepared to try and interpret the signal, it all made sense. She bit her lip, flashing her sight from raptor to raptor before giving up and just deciding to announce her intentions.

"Now, I know this is all weird, but none of you follow me right now. I need to go..."

She trailed off as Jorge locked eyes with her, inadvertently interrupting her with his dreamy gaze. Raptor or no, he was-

"Go on,"

He chirped reassuringly, confused as to why she grew silent,

"You have to go where?"

Doug's attention was back on the pack suddenly as he closed the distance between them again.

"Is there something you know about you haven't told us yet?"

He barked angrily. His nostrils flared and each word seemed accented by his horrible teeth coming together like a pair of scissors from hell. Alyssa started to trembled as he continued his onslaught.

"You know why we're here, don't you? What have you been hiding from us? Tell us, now!"

Jorge and Niyazaki could only stare slack jawed and at a lack of words to try and rescue her until, as flushed as a velociraptor could get, she cried out in a loud, long, high pitched call that ended as bluntly as it had began sharp.

"I HAVE TO PEE"

If a raptor could contort its face in distress and aggravation at the same time, Alyssa managed it as she stared down the now dead silent Doug as she shivered with rage and biological need. Doug chirruped quietly and he flushed as he crept away, his hide turning from silver to almost pink in embarrassment at his failed impromptu interrogation. Jorge and Niyazaki quickly found themselves rolling on their sides as laughter rocked their systems, despite any previous wishes either had held to support her.

"I hate you all. I don't like this place any more than you do. I'm confused, lost and scared out of my pants, quite literally since I can't even wear them anymore and all you can do is laugh at me or make the whole experience a living hell!"

With the last set of barks, rage tainting her words, she rushed for the woods downwind of the pack and into the trees.

Niyazaki had stilled his laughter the moment she spoke up and watched in disappointment as she fled, though he noticed she stopped only just out of view, save for her tail, which he watched with curiosity until it bobbed a few times before she vanished completely. Had she, was that? He shook his head of the perverted fantasy his mind tried to concoct and scrambled to his feet, leaving Jorge behind to lay where he had fallen as he bore down on the triceratops corpse.

Ignoring the newcomer nearest the body, it's lips already covered with blood, he planted a foot on the carcass and leaned over and sank his teeth into the warm flesh and ripped open its side, pulling away a chunk of bloody flesh and spilling open the hatchling's guts. Continuing with his single-minded progression, he leapt over the remains and made a bee-line for the burnt orange raptor that seemed to be trying to hide in plain sight. His eyes begged forgiveness of her as he set the flesh down before her and lowered himself into a crouch and pressed himself flat to the ground from belly to chin, eyes locked on the female in hopes of a response.

Anoki's focus had been diverted from her original target the moment the outburst had begun, and she had watched in bewildered silence as the scene unfolded. Her eyes lingered on Doug, who held silent, embarrassed, self counsel as he stared at the earth. Niyazaki's actions soon pull her attention away at the wet sound of flesh slopping to the ground. She watch in puzzlement as he trotted off with the massive chunk of flesh until his intentions became more obvious. Slowly an idea wormed its way into her head as she found herself looking back at the blooded corpse.

"Perhaps... are you hungry?"

She cast her target a hopeful look, speaking more with her eyes of the sincerity of her offer.

Another bellow from the Triceratops herd leader rocked the area with forceful command, edged with hysteria, for its child rejoin the herd for its own safety. The trees seemed to quiver from the sound, though the site of the kill remained empty, save for a few spindly scavenger dinosaurs licking at the drying blood and shuffling through the grass in search of left overs.

[kurik]

"Raw?" Brock chirps. "That's not healthy, you'll get sick. But I guess it doesn't matter, because this is a dream. I know it's a dream, because you're a dinosaur. Because I'M a dinosaur. Clearly this is a dream. So why doesn't it feel like a dream?" Half speaking to Anoki, half talking to himself.

Brock slowly walks to the dead triceratops. "This is a weird dream. I never dream about dinosaurs, it's almost always zombies." He cautiously sniffs the corpse before ripping off a hunk of muscle and swallowing it. "Ugh, that's... not bad actually." Brock's eyes open wider, and are followed by a look of what could only be described as surrender.

"So. No zombies, someone besides me has to pee, and I feel awake. That means either I've gone completely mad or..." He turns his head in the direction of the triceratops calls "...should we be worried about those other 'Trikes?" Not to mention that guy he thinks to himself, glancing at Doug for half a moment as he turns his head.

[nikohl]

Brigitte watched the situation unfold, ridge-feathers twitching as a now-raptor face tried to approximate a human reaction. This was weird, too weird. Nothing was normal, and there's always something real or solid inside a trip like this. But there's no alley, no dumpsters, not even the distant grumble of passing traffic to latch onto and tell herself that this isn't real.

Her raised-eyebrow expression changed briefly to a frown as Allysa fled for some privacy and Niyazaki approached her. She might not be a dinosaur, but she spent enough time around dogs and might-as-well-be-dogs to understand the body language. It wasn't just placating, it was downright submissive. Made no sense - she was the new kid and it was his food. What's his angle? She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, head raised and mouth slightly open, then decided Screw it, its free food. If he thinks I owe him now, he's dumber than I would have guessed.

She tilted her head slightly, keeping sharp eyes locked on the lowered blue raptor, and took stock of the situation. No arms, or at least not fighting ones. Awkward tail, probably useful once you get the hang of it. Legs, though. They're the main thing, like always. If he moves, jump on him, stamp and kick. It should work. Breathing out, she kept her head raised and stuck out one lithely muscled leg, flexing her hook-claw and snagging the hunk of meat, dragging it back to beneath her.

"...Thanks. So, who are you? And these guys?"

[Mereneth]

Niyazaki drew himself upright and settled onto his haunches when the female took his offering and nodded in deference. Her reaction had been better than he'd hoped for, though not necessarily for the same hope that drove him to act in the first place. He chirped softly at first, eventually growing in confidence as he began to explain himself.

"I am Niyazaki Arita. Please, forgive our companions their outbursts and Master Doug for his exchange... We have only been here three days, ourselves. We had eight of us, like your group, when we began..."

His confidence and the volume of his barks lower drop significantly as he mentions the lost,

"We lost two of them on the first day. One ate a small creature that filled her throat with needle like spines; she suffocated in her own blood. The next was slain, while he mourned her, by a Tyrannosaur. Doug told us later that they were a married couple around his human age..."

He paused after that and made a funny face before raising a clawed forearm with a short dismissive wave.

"I am sorry, Miss, I failed to mention something important. We were all human before this happened to us."

His tail curled around his legs and up into his clawed forearms, which he began to rub nervously.

"I forgot to ask your name..."

[nikohl]

Brigitte awkwardly grasps the chunk of meat in her claws, wobbling on one leg and half-throwing it towards her face then grabbing it with her mouth. It comes off a lot clumsier than she'd intended, but at least she managed to get the food in her mouth without falling over or flailing her claws around in a dangerous way. Note to self - probably easier to lean down and pick it up with your mouth next time. She listens to Niyazaki talk as she chew-gulp-swallows the offered food, pausing only when he mentions spiny needles that killed another person when she ate them. She finishes swallowing just in time to answer him.

"Before what happened? Some kind of weird drug that gives everyone the same trip?"

She waits for a minute, then shakes her head. "Sorry, rude. I'm Brigitte. Nice to meet you, I guess."

[BadgeAddict]

Alex continued to eat at the meat until his stomach was stuffed. The growling in his mid-section subsided and he noticed that the red tinge along the edge of his vision and mind receded away as well. Not thinking about the moment seemed to have allowed the basic primal urges to take control. Alex began a lengthy internal monologue with himself. ÔÇ£Perhaps this is similar to being john malkovich, perhaps I am simply cohabiting the body of a real Raptor.ÔÇØ So many questions popped into his mind that remained unanswered.

As soon as he had eaten his fill, he politely backed away from the dead tri-top and found a nice spot where there werenÔÇÖt many others to sit and think. Alex discovered immediately that sitting was difficult, so he ended up simply crouching.

Around the small clearing he heard the chir-rups of the many raptors. He again found, that if he stopped trying to understand them with his human brain, and allowed the beast to take control that he could make out what they were saying. At this, Alex let out a howl of laughter and loudly retorted ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre dinosaurs that speak EnglishÔÇØ he howled in laughter again.

Immediately following his strange guttural howls of laughter (which sounded like howls of a different nature) was a very loud bellowing. The sound quivered through the underbrush like the bass of one of those damn kids as they drive by with stereos pump as they destroy their own hearing and everyone else's. With or without the raptors knowledge, Alex could read the intense fear and anger in the bellow.

In the moment of intense clarity that followed, Alex realized just how much this wasnÔÇÖt a game. As he heard one of the many raptors complain about needing to pee, he suddenly realized of his own strong urgings to do the same. Although the awkwardness of being naked was there, the fact that everyone else was naked too helped. Besides that, Alex deemed it necessary to keep some semblance of a civilized aura about him and as Gram said ÔÇ£You should never shit where you eat!ÔÇØ Alex moved to the edge of the clearing, near some trees, ducked behind the first one, made sure no one was watching and let loose.

[Theis2]

John listen to the other raptors with a feeling of confusion. Why are these noises making that much sense to me?
He slowly looks down at his own body realising that he himself isn't human anymore. John slowly moves his limbs back and forth one by one to test out how to proper use them before even considering to get up. John listen to the raptors around him, and hearing one of them suddenly have to go without being followed he quickly realises that she has to pee. Listening to the following confrontation John couldn't prevent snickering to himself.
I better get up before they leave me behind. Is this what happens to people with a brain damage from injury or when in a coma? I guess it doesn't matter that much, as long as I just follow along.

John rolls for a bit in an attempt to get one foot on the ground and push himself upwards allowing him to stand on both feet. The bush he is under makes some noise as he gets up and away from the bush making it obvious he's moving. He clumsily move as if his legs were sleeping and moves away from the bush to a bit more open area. He straighten his tail and move as far forward with his head in a slow manner to make sure he doesn't loose his balance. He continues the stretching by moving his down near the ground and the tail towards the air.
Wow, that's a weird feeling to have a tail. He waves the tail a bit before standing up in full height in an attempt to stretch his legs.
As he stands up he looks at his surroundings and the other raptors.

[GathersIngredients]

Lauren watched in terror as one of the scaly creatures with the big teeth and claws (Terrence) approached her. She wanted to stand up and get the hell out of there, but much to her horror, she found that she couldn't willingly move a muscle.

Which, as it later turned out, was a good thing, as the creature was only trying to comfort her. The slow and gentle movements, the body posture and the noises it made were instinctively understood by a part of her, and when the screaming panicky voice that was her human mind yelled "RUN!" at the top of its "lungs" stopped for but a moment, the other creatures communication eventually translated to "Hush, young lady, the pack's here." What the heck was that supposed to mean?!

But in the meantime, Lauren's feathers were all puffed up, as her body, confused by the signals it was getting from the conscious mind, instinctively tried to avoid confrontation with the fellow specimen by making itself appear to be bigger and more threatening that in reality was the case.

Ever since she had opened her eyes, the reported hundreds of little observations a minute and dutifully reported them to the raptor brain, which would normally filter them and translate the more important ones into useful information, like the shade of light that was typical for a certain time of day, which correlated with what prey could be found at certain places, the surrounding plants and how good a cover it would offer, both when being hunted or when being the hunter, the movement - or the absence thereof - of leaves and such, which would indicate the direction the wind was blowing from, the texture of the ground below her, which would modify the way she would have to move, if she wanted her presence to remain unnoticed, and many, many thing more. Her ears, nose and tactile sensors were just as busy swamping Lauren with way more sensations than she could process, utterly confusing her, especially the part of her that still thought of herself as human.

When she concentrated on the being that closed in on her, she managed to notice, that the specimen was healthy, adult and seemingly in somewhat good shape. When it came even closer, her nostrils felt assaulted with it's musky odor, and on some primal subconscious level reminded her of Jacob for some reason.

Part of her wanted to return the nuzzling in kind, part of her wanted to slap him for invading her private space like that, part of her felt embarrassed and she thought that she felt the familiar sensation of her blushing. Which brought up an interesting question: Was she she, in this crazy lizard form, even able to blush? "Now that would be crazy reptile form, young lady" she heard the voice of her biology teacher correcting her in her mind, probably triggered by the use of the words "young lady" from the creature.

In spite of herself, her tail swooshed back and forth to express her confusion and annoyance of this situation, but other than that, she remained watchfully passive.


Then another raptor (Sam) approached her, and also tried to calm her, Lauren, down. It smelled completely different, and without being aware of that and therefore unable to explain why, Lauren felt more comfortable immediately, while the first creatures attempts had only agitated her more on some level she couldn't quite put her finger on. She slowly relaxed somewhat, and the frequency of her tail whips died down to almost nothing. Her feathers were now much closer to her body, smooth and shining.

Yet another raptor weighed in on the situation, only vocally though, never leaving his outlook, remarking something like "You get used to it, kid. Seen a soldier lose his leg when he stopped to pet a dog, only to notice the IED strapped under its tail, and he handled that better. Hush your squawking and fill your gullet."

Suddenly, Lauren felt her tummy rumble and figured it would only be sensible to do something about that, while she could. She covered what little distance she had brought between her and the recently deceased animal (?) a bit clumsily, but quickly and tried not to think about anything too closely as she dug her teeth into the flesh. At least this poor thing never has seen the inside of any industrial fattening unit, or was fed sustenance that wasn't suitable to its needs, like back at home, where cows were fed the ground remains of other animals even though they were herbivores, only in order to fatten them up faster. Instead it knew the warmth of the sun's rays on its skin, the taste of fresh green grass and the freedom to roam wherever it liked.

After a few chunks of meat had found their way down her esophagus, Lauren noticed some kind of dispute in the group nearby, and witnessed with her own eyes that the kind of creature she had been turned into, indeed was capable of blushing. Her eyes darted over to the guy (Terrence) - was it even a guy? How did you tell which gender these things were? - from before, in order to find out whether or not he had noticed that in her before. Of course, it was much too late for that now, but that didn't stop her trying...
Aside of that, she felt pretty bad for the little one (Allysa) for being laughed at by her own companions. She would have to watch her own reactions closely, so she didn't become their next target. Therefore, she just went back to eating her fill.

When the red one, that was feeding beside Lauren, (Brock) pointed out that they might have to worry about Trikes - whatever that was supposed to mean - she perked up and only just now realized, that there were probably others of her new species around, that wouldn't be all that friendly, or, even worse, bigger and scarier creatures yet, and that they had to watch out for them, if they didn't want to end up like the little green one she was still pulling muscle tissue off. Lauren wanted to express her worries about the little one (Allysa) wandering off completely by themselves, but then quickly thought better of it. Being in the lower sixth meant years of ample experience in never sticking your neck out too far for others, never drawing too much attention to oneself and generally trying to blend in as much as possible. Being one of the crowd made life so much easier than being the one that cried "wolf!", whether that was true or not. So, instead, she made a mental note to ask a fellow female for company the next time she would have to evacuate her bladder - or worse - once she had found out who actually WAS a female...

Another raptor (Niyazaki) aproached the carcass and ripped a piece out, only to carry it to someone else (Brigitte). They had a little chat Lauren could overhear, since they were that close.
Names! Now that was finally something that her human mind was more than ready to process. So the one who carried the chunk of meat called himseld Niyazaki - how am I ever supposed to remember that? - and the wise guy, as Lauren had dubbed him for the time being, was called "Master Doug". How fitting. Did he think he was better than the rest of us? He seems to try and boss the others around, too... Lauren thought.
The one that received the meat was a Brigitte. Now that's a name I never have heard before, either. I wonder where she's from.
When there was a pause in their conversation, Lauren gulped down the last piece of meat that she felt would fit into the stomach of her new body, and interjected to introduce herself. "I'm Lauren, and before this, I have been a human, too. Please to meat you, I'm sure." she tried to break the ice with a little joke and attempted to smile at the others in a friendly way.

[BeanDip]

Hoff watched in silence as the scene unfolded before him. He took a look at the corpse before him, raw and steaming, the skin pulled back and ripped open like paper to reveal pink muscles and colorful offal underneath. He'd seen death before so it didn't bother him but the idea of eating the corpse disgusted him. Still, his stomach growled furiously and churned with hunger and some part of him, an inexplicable force, urged him on towards the corpse. It smelled so good, so unlike the death he'd experienced before, and made him ache for a taste like smelling someone-else's grill on a hot summer day. He did his best to ignore the urge by speaking to the others to distract his mind.

He spoke to the dinosaur that had been called Douglas by the other. Seemed like a bit of a bastard but deadset on survival at any cost, Hoff could respect that. "You said soldier? You been in war, then? I served the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. Seen my own share of death. Watched a buddy get toetagged by a little boy, man. About ten years old. Rolls in on a fucking bicycle to our checkpoint and asks if we've seen his mother. As soon as my buddy gets close to help the kid, this little asshole pulls a pistol from under his bikeseat and blows the top off my buddy. Shit changes you."

[Jibjib]

Terrence peered around with his strange new eyes, taking stock of his surroundings. He could see that he was in a large clearing, amongst roughly a dozen other creatures like him. His head clearing a little, he watched as several of the other dinosaurs conversed. He was bewildered at the young female's reaction, but not as much as he was with his own action. It felt almost like he was fighting within his own mind: his normal, rational human self against the mad instincts of whatever creature he'd become. A cognitive dissonance, Professor Taylor at the university would've called it. He decided that this couldn't be the afterlife; his vague agnosticism had never made him consider the Great Beyond, but now he was awake and thinking more clearly, surely this couldn't be it.

'I must be asleep, or I hit my head when I fell back into the cellar,' he thought to himself. Pondering this for a few moments, he decided to see how this hallucination played out; at the very least, this could merit being written into a lecture when he returned to the university. Something about the Ethics of the Kill or Be Killed mentality innate in humans...

With this new resolve, Terrence let the animal hiding in his mind slip into greater control, and he felt himself bound over and enthusiastically and pick up a few morsels of flesh, revelling in the hot iron scent of the blood.

[BadgeAddict]

After returning from his shit/piss break, Alex crouched along the edge of the clearing and just watched the others. Afraid to actually go up and talk to anyone, he learned by listening that he wasn't the only one who suddenly woke up in a new body. After a short time of watching, Alex approached the ones who spoke as if they had been here a little while longer than the ones (including himself) who woke up from the ground. "Have any of you explored much in the surrounding area, is there somewhere safe to hide, I heard you mention the threat some of the larger species of dinosaurs." The questions poured out of Alex faster than he thought they would, he hadn't even realized how many questions he had until he opened his mouth.

[SamWiser]

Seeing that the other dinosaur has calmed down, Sam starts to look around. He sees other dinosaurs (velociraptors, he realizes, thanks Jurassic Park), and a dead triceratops. A few of them are eating the flesh of the dead dino, and recognized the dark blue one that first went to calmed the freaked out raptor. Deciding to further test his physical ability, he decides to jump to the triceratops, seeing of can make it. He does, but messes up the landing, falling into the innards of the dino. Shaking off the impact, he starts to eat, introducing himself in between bites.

"Hi, I'm Sam" he says to the blue raptor, extending his paw. He looks down at it, seeing that it is ill suited to shaking, he brings it back, laughing nervously. "What is your name?"

[Mereneth]

Niyazaki grins toothily as she offers her name and he edges closer.

"It is good to meet you too.

He dared not go beyond the apparent safe point Brigitte had set when retrieving his offering, though. They had easily upset the whole group with their outburst before and he didn't dare lose any ground he could recover by over-stepping the boundaries of his current companion. His nostrils widen slightly as he takes a breath before responding, disguising the act of taking in her welcome scent.

"Drugs? No, not drugs. This is just what we are now. I wish I could explain..."

He faced the ground off to his right, dissatisfied with his own answer. He had no other answer to offer Brigitte, and it bothered him. His own stomach growled, filling the silence and reminding him just how hungry he was. His hide flushed a purple tint in response.

"We should eat. Doug keeps us moving."

---

Doug, surprised to be addressed at all after the scene he caused, abandoned his embarrassed slump to face Nathan. The little raptor chirped of wars and death with an understanding none of the others had yet shown signs of sharing. He could feel his blood beginning to burn hot as nostalgia and old memories reminded him even further of his past; ones that, despite the pain they caused, he refused to forget for the sake of the soldiers he had learned to call brother.

"The world has a cruel sense of humor to put us where we are, doesn't it? An old, decrepit man who was finally going to die and leave his pained life behind him, and a marine, crammed into the body of a raptor kid. When you were in school did you learn about the Deception War? That kind of horror doesn't leave you..."

He plodded over to Nathan's side and settled onto his haunches. His eyes ran the length of the raptor youth, gauging him and assessing what he might be able to do with what little he'd learned so far.

"Was army myself. Just another grunt at first, though that quickly changed when our Captain had his head replaced by air. Only reason I and the three others that survived that assault made it was we were the slackers. We had signed up, all cheery and baby faced, because of the money they waved in our faces. We had no clue what we were getting into."

He clamped his mouth shut to choke out a small sob, his eyes begging to tear up despite their inability to.

"We learned right quick how real and deadly our job was... called in for reinforcements, but they field promoted us instead. On of the boys just put his rifle to his chin and took off his own head when we got that news."

He shook his head, saddened by the memories, and met Nathan's eyes with a cold, knowing stare.

"Once you turn the key of the beasts cage, you can never cage him again."

---

Jorge joined the group of feasting newcomers as they ate. Questions were filling the air faster than any of the four of them present seemed able to respond. He let his jaw hinge open in a big grin of amusement at how well they seemed to be adjusting to things and turn to face Alex as he prattled out question after question.

"We're a good ways from where our group woke up, given we had to flee a T-rex. We've barely had any time to do more than survive until we found you guys. Hell, that triceratops is the biggest thing we've been able to bring down so far. We were hoping that by getting you lot on your feet we might have a chance to bring down some bigger prey.

He tossed his head in the direction Alyssa had fled.

"Poor girl is probably the only one of us so far who had a normal life before this. Everyone else talks about how they were in some life or death situation for the most part it seems."

"I wish we could answer all the questions you guys have, but Doug wants you lot on your feet and moving on with us once you've had a bite to eat. Keeps going on about how it isn't safe. Old fool needs to back off. I liked it better before we lost Chirche. She was a looker for a raptor and had smarts, too."

He leaned over and greedily tore into the carcass, his own hunger leading him abandon talk.

---

Ayoki groaned in frustration. Talking to the raptor she'd picked was like trying to convince a drunk gambler to go home for the night. Why did she always end up being the one to talk to the weird ones? She started to walk after Brock until she noticed that one of their number, John, still stood apart from the rest and, as best she could tell, was making little effort to be noticed. Probably felt lost and confused as she had, waking up to find herself covered in scaley flesh and sporting the wicked weaponry of prehistoric carnivorous 'lizards'. She heaved a sigh and chirped a quiet remark to the ground.

"Please be a little more normal than the last one..."

With the comment in the wind, she set her course for him.

"You should really come eat some of this, you know. I know you're hungry as hell; I sure as hell was when I woke up here."

She blushed, much to her surprise, though it was more a feeling than a noticeable thing, given her dark blue scales. It brought a little smile to her heart as she sidled up next to the lone raptor and tried to urge her forward, pressing against her side with her own as they moved. It was a confusing reaction, to be sure, though she filed the feelings away as her casino training kicked in again.

[nikohl]

"Moving to where?" Brigitte looks around and listens to the nature around them for a moment. "Doesn't sound like there's anywhere empty nearby, plenty of things moving around out there. So where's he think is safe?"

She eats her share of the remaining meat he brought her, though doesn't approach him any closer to get it. Something about him creeped her out, he seemed too eager to get her on side. It could just be his nature, it could be that she's misinterpreted his body language now said body isn't human... But she's not usually too wrong about that. So why did he want in her good books so bad? Probably pissed off one or two of the others so far, burned a couple of bridges. Hm. Keep an eye on things, see how it goes, but for now having someone try a bit too hard and sharing their stuff is better than being alone and hungry. She nodded her head a few times in appreciation of the food (not bad compared to stale crusts and over-ripe fruit, easy to get used to) and spoke again.

"Which one is Doug? The grey one who shouted? If he's the boss man, I'd better go say hi. Thanks for the grub, 'zaki. You're a good guy."

With that, she licked the remnants of blood from her lips and strode purposefully past Niyazaki. She slowed down as she approached Doug and Hoff, waiting what she considered a 'polite' distance away and shuffling her feet a little, 'til he acknowledged her.