Raptor at Heart - Unfamiliar World

[SamWiser]

As Sam hears Laurens instructions he slowly brings himself to his feet... paw... things.

"I'm Sam" he calls out to the group. He goes to eat a little more of the trike before they take off.

[Theis2]

Umm.. I'm John
John looks down at triceraptor beneath him and makes a weird wave with his "hand".
John then looks up and down at the ground as he silently "talks" to those closest to him. Umm maybe we should take some of the meat with us for later.. If these bodies are like regular wild animals, then I uhmm guess we should resist bacterial infections better and uhmm be able to endure a bit older raw meat than we usually could. I'm not sure though..
i

[Mereneth]

Baik eyed Brigitte for a moment in response to her command to make room. Had Maieieh egg-addled her when they made contact? Why would she cater so to a raptor who wouldn't put forth his own effort to get his share of flesh? Disgruntled, he snorts and backs away from the corpse, quietly chirping his displeasure at her decision.

He perks up as he, too, hears the tumult from the pond, and tips his head in curiosity before it dawns on him what the sound belongs too.

"Lessers. They will pick this body clean in no time if they aren't full when they catch whatever quarry they've cornered up there. It is usually entertaining to watch whatever poor egg-sucker they are after as they wear it down."

He pauses a moment as what she said registered.

"So there are more of you than just the three of you? How did my old pack not run into you already if you are all already setup in such a close territory?"

He quirks his head to the side as he chirps and chirrups his query, growing more puzzled as he tries to consider just what he is dealing with.

Niyazaki rises from the carcass and steps back so he can look eye to eye with Baik. Jealousy and anger boil in his eyes, though he keeps his tongue in check as he barks out a response.

"We just got here. We have been traveling for a long time, trying to find a good home since we were chased out of our old one by something we couldn't make out...but we did know it was stronger and far more able than we, whatever it was."

Niyazaki nodded his head in confirmation as he finished, satisfied with the tale. It wasn't an outright lie... just a web made of the truth. When Baik didn't respond and ignored him instead, though, he whipped his gaze over to Brigitte and chirruped questioningly for support.

---

The swarm's new leader screeches in mixed emotion as her quarry flings her dead at her. She bobs her head in puzzled confusion and snaps her head from looking at the corpses and back to her prey. She squawks indignantly at the unresponsive corpses, initially trying to demand why they had returned until it dawned on her what had happened.

"CanNOT! LaRGe BLEEDS; bLEeD is food. WilL cAlL others. You cannot outmatch. You can feed tribe, yes. You bleed!?"

She cocks her head sideways again in confusion, knowing only one way how Alex could feed her swarm. Her tail whips back and forth in irritation as she stares out over the water where he lurks. The concept wasn't entirely sinking in of what he was trying to suggest, though it certainly seemed she was making the effort.

"Feed tribe! Leave POOL and FEed. You bleed!??"

---

Jorge groans from the tender pain of his wound, but finally manages to simply bear it and returns to the group. He casually rips into the carcass of the triceratops, doing his best to avoid looking over at the corpses of his short term friends. Not three days had he known them, but in this alien world they had become something of a family, and it was hard to let the death of anyone he considered family not hurt him deeply.

He cast his glance to the others, listening to Lauren as she seemed to fill the void Doug had left by taking charge. A leader...yes, that is what he needed till the pain in his chest ebbed enough to stiffen his spine. With no further thought he ripped another bleeding chunk of flesh from the body and gulped it down, forgetting entirely about her request that they get to know each others names and ignoring the flatulence entirely.

Anoki jumped nearly six feet in the air as the triceratops corpse blasted a noxious fart, scaring her into whipping around in search of some threat before it dawned on her what had happened. Embarrassed, she moved to Lauren's side and bobbed her head as she chirped to her,

"I am Anoki. I... i don't know how we're going to make it here. This world is so incredibly hostile, if it is even earth. You'll have to forgive me, but I don't really feel like eating right now."

She settled onto her haunches to wait, still shaken by the experience.

[BadgeAddict]

Alex performed an action that was all too human, he let out a loud sigh and then placed his hand against his forehead, only to nearly cut himself again, which would have made the situation worse. The whole situation was starting to frustrate him and the water was beginning to chill him. As a cold-blooded animal he quickly realized this would lead to far worse problems, though not as bad as being eaten alive by several dozen tiny mouths. ÔÇ£HmmmÔÇØ he thought ÔÇ£Perhaps if I yelled loudly enough some of the others could hear me and aid a hand in this situation.ÔÇØ At this thought, Alex took a deep breathe and bellow out the loudest help that he had ever managed in his life. He then turned toward the minis again and took a momentary pause. Alex then began to, at length and using very short words, try and explain the situation. ÔÇ£I not die and I find you bigger bleed, more bleed, more often. I find and kill bigger bleed to feed me and you again and again many times."

[nikohl]

"Alright, you two. We'll talk more when we've finished working, not now. Let's take advantage of those little things while they're still there." Brigitte looks between Niyazaki and Baik, flicking her tail in slight annoyance at what she sees as the beginnings of a pissing contest, deciding she hasn't got time to babysit either of them. She grabs Maieieh's corpse by the neck, underneath the jaw, and heaves herself upright, planting one sharp-toed foot in front of the other and starting to drag it with her, hurrying in the direction of the pond - hopeful that at least one of the others helps, but not really expecting it. She keeps her eyes open around her for more raptors, then jerks her head up when she hears the loud yell - a little worried that the rest of Baik's pack are about to emerge from the leaves.

[Mereneth]

The whole swarm of minis got to chittering as he bellowed for help, though the female quickly barked out demands, bringing them back to silence and refocusing them. With another series of whistles and barks they backed away from the pool and most of them fled into the bushes, while the remaining six lined up around their leader. She leans forward and glares at Alex while her remaining crew chitter among themselves.

"We not eat you? You show us other food, or others bring more and we eat you. If you tell truth, we follow."

She snaps her attention away from him to hiss at two of her group who had begun snapping at each other over some something.

[BadgeAddict]

Alex slowly, as not to invoke panic among the minis, rose up out of the water onto the bank. The only sound that was created was the rippling and dripping of the water as it splashed into the water and splattered into the muddy bank. Realizing that he was at the mercies of the minis Alex bowed his head slightly and said, ÔÇ£You can either follow me to the food or I can bring the food to you.ÔÇØ After these words he straightened himself out, letting the warm sun dry the water that still lay against his scaly skin. He was quite sure that the drenched feathers on his body made him look somewhat like a drowned chicken. At least the pain in his chest had subsided and he was sure it had scabbed over at this point, though any kind of pressure would surely open the wound again.

Thinking back about the direction he had come he took a few sniffs, which sounded like the snorting of a wild hog, of the surrounding area. The trail was at first difficult to find. However, after looking around a bit, he noticed the broken twigs and branches that he had so haplessly broken when he fled in terror from the tri-horned dinosaur.

Looking back at the minis and their leader to make sure they were following, Alex grunted ÔÇ£Food this way, follow.ÔÇØ At this point, Alex starting doing something he hadnÔÇÖt done since he was a small child, pray. He prayed to any god or goddess who may or may not exist at where-ever and when-ever he was. He simply prayed and hoped with all his might that the distant bellowing he had heard earlier was indeed the sounds of death.

(Action: after finding the path that leads back to the clearing, Alex marches to what he hopes is large dead food)

[kurik]

Regaining enough composure to stand back up and speak, Brock says "I'm Brock. I should have introduced myself earlier. Sorry about that. Thinking you all were figments of a crazed mind is no excuse for bad manners."

[GathersIngredients]

As Sam hears Laurens instructions he slowly brings himself to his feet... paw... things.

"I'm Sam" he calls out to the group. He goes to eat a little more of the trike before they take off.

"Nice to meet you, Sam. Would that be short for Sammuel, or Samatha? I'm sorry, but I haven't figured out yet how to tell the gender of whatever creatures we ended up being now." Lauren replies to Sam.
Then she notices the strangely shaped tip of Sam's tail. "Oh no, what happened to your tail? There's blood all over it, do you want me to lick it off, so it doesn't attract predators?"
(If the answer is yes, she'll do it very gently and carefully not to hurt them further.)

---

Umm.. I'm John
John looks down at triceraptor beneath him and makes a weird wave with his "hand".
John then looks up and down at the ground as he silently "talks" to those closest to him. Umm maybe we should take some of the meat with us for later.. If these bodies are like regular wild animals, then I uhmm guess we should resist bacterial infections better and uhmm be able to endure a bit older raw meat than we usually could. I'm not sure though..

"Hi John. Good to know your name. I like your idea, but we have to make sure not to leave any trails while we are carrying stuff. No scratch marks on the ground from dragging stuff, no blood trail from dripping. Else other meateaters will be able to follow us way too easily. Do you think you could maybe bite off chunks that are easy to carry and won't bleed too much from the three-horn for all of us, when you are done eating?" Lauren welcomes John and his idea.

---

"I am Anoki. I... i don't know how we're going to make it here. This world is so incredibly hostile, if it is even earth. You'll have to forgive me, but I don't really feel like eating right now."

"Anoki... I've been wondering before, where does this name come from?
I'm not going to give you any crap about how Doug would have wanted you to eat, because I haven't know him all that long, to be able to make even an educated guess about what he would have wanted. But as you said, the world is hostile and who knows when we'll be able to get something to eat again.
But, if you really don't want to eat, could you maybe keep an eye out for anyone approaching us? Oh, and, before you go, what was the little one's name?" Lauren walks over to [Alyssa's] body and plucks one of her feathers, too, which she also tucks away safely in her own feathers around her neck. "We should honor our dead by at least remembering their names."

Then she walks over to Jorge, gently nudges him into the upper body in a non-threatening way and reminds him. "Hey, orange one, I still don't know your name yet."

---

Then she walks over to Hoff. "Hey, aren't you going to tell us your name? 'Gutsy little guy that didn't let go off the triceratop's throat and probably saved us all from suffering worse' is a bit long and doesn't roll off the tongue too well."

---

Regaining enough composure to stand back up and speak, Brock says "I'm Brock. I should have introduced myself earlier. Sorry about that. Thinking you all were figments of a crazed mind is no excuse for bad manners."

"Aw, I was hoping I could keep calling you 'Red'. But Brock it is. And if this really is your imagination we're in, I'm going to have to find you in the real world after I wake up and kick your butt all the way to the 22nd century for what you are putting us through." Lauren winks at Brock and chuckles, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

[kurik]

"Eh, Red works to. And I'm starting to think that this is all to real. Either way, we should probably eat up and get out of here, I've watched enough PBS to know that something's liable to have heard that commotion and come investigate."

[Jibjib]

Terrence hops from foot to foot nervously, wondering aloud:


"We should get back to the others, we're twice as exposed with two groups."

[SamWiser]

"Nice to meet you, Sam. Would that be short for Sammuel, or Samatha? I'm sorry, but I haven't figured out yet how to tell the gender of whatever creatures we ended up being now."

"Oh no, what happened to your tail? There's blood all over it, do you want me to lick it off, so it doesn't attract predators?"

"Just Sam, but I'm a guy. At least I think so. Terrence here seemed to think differently. And yeah, I think licking the blood off would be a good idea. If taking on an herbivore was this tough I don't want to meet a carnivore."

[Mereneth]

A small stampede of dinosaurs smaller than the raptors pour into the clearing from the path plowed out by the triceratops and race past the dining pack. Little scavengers pepper the crowd among them, but ignore the bounty the triceratops corpse represents and hurry on by. Every one of them bleeds an odor of grand fear and self preservation as they pour past, eyes wide and dancing with concern, chittering incoherently as their little feet carry them as fast as they can manage. No sounds of dismay come from the north where the triceratops came from, though an uneasy air settles into place.

As the pack feasts on the triceratops and converses, Hoff's face suddenly glows brightly, painlessly blazing into three slashes from each cheek and the center of his forehead and lancing down till mere inches from the end of his muzzle. The slashes rapidly take shape, forming into horn shaped imagery that settles into a permanent tattoo on his face. The coloring of each horn marking are similar to his own, yet different enough to notably stand out.

Further away, the right side of Brigitte's neck glares as she receives a mark of her own, taking on the shape of a raptors claw and a slitted eye.

At the pool, the mini raptors stare warily as Alex steps out and heads back towards the scene of the triceratops death, unaware as his left thigh is emblazoned, much to his followers surprise, with a circle surrounding a small claw with five smaller circles forming a semi circle on the outside of the larger one.

Simultaneously, each member of the pack has a single bracelet like marking gleam into existence on the end of their tail, barbed circularly on the tail tip side of the ring.

[BeanDip]

► Show Spoiler

Okay. Going to try and catch up quick. Still recovering and trying to get Hoff in the present so it will mostly be summary. Here goes but I can't promise quality right now.

Normally Hoff would brag but today was certainly not a normal day. Something inside him awoke as he bit deeply into the dinosaur's flesh and felt the hot blood flow into his mouth. It tasted better than any alcohol he ever had and his head swam. He didn't feel like himself when the beast went down. He screeched in victory.

It didn't last long though. His humanity quickly came back when he saw Doug pinned and dying. He watched in silence as Doug passed.

"Ain't right to just leave him in the open. Should dig him a grave."

Dig him a grave? With what shovel? With what hands? Stupid. But he still felt he was right. A soldier like Doug deserved better. He looked around until he found a loose branch covered in thick leaves. He used his mouth to awkwardly carry the branch back and used to cover Doug. His body wasn't hidden perfectly but it would have to do and it was better than leaving the body exposed. He hasn't known Doug long but he knew him as a soldier and soldiers stick together. He found another leafy branch and covered Alyssa as well. He figured that Doug would've wanted him too.

"Call me Hoff." He says when everyone is introducing themselves.

When the smaller dinosaurs swarm around him, he tries to look sharply and spot anything unusual in the direction that the swarm is coming from.

[kurik]

Seeing the horde of little dinosaurs scurry past, Brock is reminded of several scenes from various movies he had seen where large groups of birds or rats evacuate an area, and it never ends well. Ever. The sight of the beasties, and the realization of what it means collides with the dawning awareness that the situation he was in was in fact real leaves him dumbstruck for a moment, to the point that he fails to notice the magic tattoo appear on Hoff. As he snaps out of it he shakes his head in a human like way, as if to clear cobwebs from his mind, and with just a slight hint of fear says "Guys, I've seen this movie before, we need to get out of here now. Right now." He takes a few steps in the direction the horde is moving before turning back to the others. "I'm not kidding, stop eating and lets go! Something bad is coming and I'm not going to stick around to see what it is." He makes his way to the edge of the clearing and checks that the others are following, urging them hurry if not.

Once he's sure that the others are coming, Brock turns and runs, careful to not trip in his largely untested new body.

[GathersIngredients]

Lauren recognized the signs of the fleeing dinos as a warning that something way bigger was about to make an entrance. "I have to agree with Brock here, we need to move out. NOW!"

She took the direction the smaller dinos were moving in as general point of aim and got her new, still unfamiliar body into motion, running as fast as she dared. She constantly scanned her surroundings, both before herself, to spot any roots not to stumble over, or any hidey-holes they could fit into, as well as occasionally looking back, to check if all the raptors of "her" pack (this doesn't include Brigitte, Zaki and Alex, atm, because she doesn't know where they are to begin with) were following; ready to attend any problems as soon as they occurred.

As long as we are faster than the slowest of the smaller dinos, we should be ok.
...
Nonsense, as long as we are faster than the dead three-horn, we should be ok. Lauren thought and felt a little less anxious.

[nikohl]

Brigitte notices a bright light in her periphery, but can't really see her own tattoo - she looks around in confusion to try and locate the source of the light, but eventually gives up and continues dragging Maieieh's corpse to the pool. She arrives and drops her hold on the dead raptoress' neck, panting heavily. "Woman, you are fat." she snaps at the corpse, then clicks in dismay as she finds no minis at the pond. "Where did they go? Here, chooki chooki, lunch time..." She doesn't wait to see if any minis or other wildlife return though, she just kicks at the corpse until it is mostly or completely in the pond.

[BadgeAddict]

Alex meandered along the path that he had plowed earlier with care so as not to lose his footing and fall down lest he be swarmed by the ravaging pack of minis that trailed behind him. When the land was flat enough and free of enough obstacles he would break into a bit of a jog, not to flee the following pack of minis but rather to get there faster, at least this is what he told the minis.

As he jogged the last distance before getting to the clearing, he noticed something rather alarming, other smaller dinosaurs of various kinds were running toward him and away from the clearing. This could not bode well, but heedless of the warning bells that rang in his mind he pressed on in order to fulfill his promise to the small terrors that tailed him.

As he reached the edge of the clearing he saw that the other raptors of the group that had appeared with him were starting to take leave of the clearing. However, there, mostly in the center of the clearing was a large steaming pile of fresh meat. Nearby lay the bodies of the young one named Allysa that he had followed into the forest initially and the older one who had been the self proclaimed leader.

He looked back at the leader of the pack of minis and said, ÔÇ£there it is my little Queen, meat to feed you and your pack many times over. However, it seems there is not much time to eat before a larger predator comes to make a meal of it, wait here I have a plan.ÔÇØ

Against his better judgment and against his moral code of eating potential friends, Alex quickly darted out of the trees and bushes lining the edges of the clearing. Painfully aware of what would most likely happen to him if he remained behind for too long in the clearing, he quickly scampered out into the opening and found himself staring at the large but very dead body of a Raptor. It looked as if the others had tried to bury him as their were claw marks scaring the dirt surrounding the clobs of dirt that had been hastily thrown on top of him. Luckily for Alex, the raptors tail remained on the surface. "I think his name was Doug", Alex thought to himself, "oh well, rest in yummy pieces (RIYP) Doug." Taking a quick glance back at the minis that waited impatiently, he bit into the dead raptors tail and began to pull. Though it took some effort, Alex was able to drag Doug out from under the other raptors attempt at burying him and dragged it into the brush surrounding the clearing. "We'll need to come up with a better way to bury the dead then eating them in the future, Alex mused to himself, perhaps we'll find a cave where we can place them to keep their honor intact. It took more effort than he had thought, but once he reached the relative safety of the clearings edge, the Minis quickly helped in the only way they knew how. Every bite they took became less dead weight that he was hauling and before long he found that he had reached a point in which he could no longer see through the foliage into the clearing. Alex dropped the body onto the ground and spoke to Queen (Queen of the minis) ÔÇ£Here is what I offer for now, I fear that something larger is coming for the tri-horn corpse. Once you have feasted, follow me and my friends and I will find you more to feast upon.ÔÇØ

As he looked down at the mini-leader he noticed something that he should have seen earlier. From the clearing to the body was a trail of blood, and the blood smelled very fresh, he only hoped that whatever was coming towards the clearing would be more interested in the dead tri-horn corpse. As a bit of an after thought, he looked around and took notice of the direction that the other raptors were heading in, with any luck he would be able to find them if he followed the trail of fleeing dinosaurs.

As the minis munched on the meal he had dragged for them, Alex called out after the other raptors that he had come awake to, "I will try to join you shortly". He then turned once more to the Queen of the minis and said "Once you have finished this meal, we will run this way" Alex nods his head in the direction of his departing allies.

► Show Spoiler

(Action: Ready to run in the direction (you may do this for me) away from the clearing, after the fleeing dinos, after the minis make short work of their food.)

[Theis2]

John starts ripping up haunches of meat. He notice the smaller dinos running past them on the ground and how the other raptors are about to move out. He grabs the biggest piece of meat he had ripped off with his mouth and starts running with others.

Hmm didn't the old raptors talk about running from a T-rex or something like that? I hope it didn't follow them here, because we might not be able to loose it unless it settle for the triceratop and goes home in the other direction than we are running now!

With these thoughts John speeds up to catch up with those who ran just a bit before he got moving.

[SamWiser]

As the smaller dinos run past Sam notices the smell and pieces together enough to know that they are in danger.

"Come On!" he screams.

Sam tries to stay with the fleeing raptors, going in the same direction as Lauren. He stumbles a bit, getting used to his shorter tail, with blood and tissue covering most of his new tattoo.

[BeanDip]

Hoff really wants to wait and see what is coming, maybe hide in the trees but he's not stupid enough to get left behind. He will run with the others in the pack, same as Lauren and Sam.

[Mereneth]

As the mass of small dinosaurs swarmed the area, Anoki spooked and fled after the others, nothing more than instinctive terror driving her forward with her pack as it fled whatever greater danger was coming. On impulse she looked to each member of her pack nearby and noted their positions before maneuvering head to tail with Lauren, subconsciously acknowledging her as the new leader.

"You said you were called Lauren, yes?"

She barked out her question, but continued before receiving an answer,

"How far do you think we need to run? Surely whatever it is will be satisfied with the triceratop's corpse, right?"

The worry in her chirps was masked by the cracking of branches and undergrowth, though it read clear in her eyes that she was concerned for the peers they had left behind.

---

Jorge winced as he tried to flee, almost sending him to his belly as pain lanced through his injured leg. As he heaved himself up and bared the pain he watched as Alex tugged Doug's corpse and dragged it out of the middle of the clearing. At first a great pride swelled in him at the new raptor, only to flash-burn to anger as he watched the smaller dino's run out of the forest edge and begin ripping little chunks of flesh off without so much as a snap from Alex to ward them off. He could feel himself practically growling as he stared at the spot he'd seen them disappear into, images rushing through his mind of what he wanted to do to the ungrateful whelp until he heard a familiar yet impossible beat.

The sound grew closer and more bewildering as he reactively bobbed his head in response to the familiar cadence. He pulled his attention from Alex's hiding place and faced north, down the trampled path of torn up terrain and downed trees and stared. In short order, a bizarre duck billed plant eater, an adult if he were to guess, stumbled into the clearing, bleating in terror as music seemed to pour from the top of its head. Jorge squinted as his spirits soared, trying to decide if he was really seeing and hearing what he thought he was.

With cord wrapped around a bony protrusion atop its skull, the panicked and exhausted dinosaur slumped forward as "Bon Bon" filled the clearing from the speakers dangling at the cords ends. Jorge couldn't help but grin as he limped forward to the downed beast, helplessly tossing his head in tune with the song.

---

Baik and Niyazaki follow along behind Brigitte, each giving the other the evil eye from time to time until they reach the pool. As Brigitte works the corpse into the water, Baik begins to snuffle about the footprints in the sands of the pool until he comes upon a set of raptor prints leaving the pool with no blood to show for it. He jerks his head up in confusion as he follows the prints till they vanish into the forest, not at a pace of a creature being chased, but at a leisure marked in both the lessers and the raptor as they left the area.

He opens his mouth to remark his puzzled findings, only to be interrupted as a swarm of smaller beings poured out of the forest and on past. His first instinct was to flee, though as other raptors suddenly crowded around the pool he rushed to Brigitte's side and bristled up his feathers, prepared to defend against them.

Niyazaki, however, immediately recognized the raptors as those he'd left behind when he fled before. He chirruped happily.

"You made it! What happened? Where is Doug and Jorge?"

[nikohl]

Brigitte scuffs up the edge of the pool a little to disguise the tracks and obvious smudges where she dropped Maieieh into the water, then perks her head up as the others arrive at the pool.

"Guys! Hey! We were just coming back to find out what happened to you. Where are the others?" she echoes Niyazaki's question. She looks to Baik's shocked and defensive stance as he stood next to her, and grinned a little, nudging him with the tip of her nose. "It's OK, this is our pack. Or, some of it." She takes the few moments of rest while they talk as a chance to lick blood from her mouth and cheeks, and catch her breath. She dips her claws into the pool and swishes them around to rid them of the last bits of blood and guts.

[GathersIngredients]

[Anoki]"You said you were called Lauren, yes?"
"How far do you think we need to run? Surely whatever it is will be satisfied with the triceratop's corpse, right?"

"Correct" Lauren replied to the first question, as short, precise and to the point as she could, both because it was her nature, as well as because she needed most of her breath to run.
When the second question was asked, Lauren thought for a second about possible dangers lurking in this world, extrapolating from what little she knew about Earth, when beasts like the one she was now had roamed the planet.
"Personally, I'd run as long as the other dinos are running, trying not to get behind. If 'it' is a volcano erupting, spewing molten stone, ashes and whatnot else, that 'it' will not stop for the three-horn's nor anyone else's body." Her mind made her body shrug and Lauren wondered for a moment how this would look in her new raptor form.

---

Niyazaki, however, immediately recognized the raptors as those he'd left behind when he fled before. He chirruped happily.
"You made it! What happened? Where is Doug and Jorge?"

Lauren was pleased to have run into the other "human-raptors", and that nothing seemed to have happened to them. There even was a new face. Another victim to whatever joke the universe was having with them?
"Brigitte, Zaki, good to see you. I'm glad you're unharmed. Who's the new guy?" she asked, but didn't stop her flight.

After waiting a bit for a response, if any, she says "Welcome [name, if given], I'm Lauren. If we can trust their" Lauren motioned with her head into the general direction of the other fleeing dinos as she jogged on, "instincts, something bad must be happening back there, we really should run and talk.
Alas, Doug didn't make it and... Jorge..."after looking lost for a second, her brain quickly reminded her of the one raptor that didn't answer her introduction request, "... should be right behind us. He's the one with the bad leg, right? Probably slowing him down a bit, I guess we should check if he's ok..."
Lauren slowed down a bit, after all, to turn her head and look into the direction she just came from, urging all her senses to search for some sign of the missing pack member, while subconsciously her mind did a head count, which caused an important question to pop up.
"Say... wasn't there one more of us? The brown and red, molting guy with white stripes?"

[kurik]

Realizing that he hadn't drank anything since waking up in this body, Brock stops and says "Hold up for a minute, I need to get a drink." He walks over to the pool, and starts to dip his hands into the water before realizing that cupping them probably isn't going to work. He cocks his head quizzically, trying to work out how best drink his fill when he catches his reflection in the water. "So that what I look like? Can't say it's much of an improvement, but I suppose it's not bad. For a dinosaur anyway." He opens his mouth to admire his teeth for a moment, then he leans down and tries to lap at the water like a dog would. He quickly realizes that it isn't working well, so he holds his breath and sticks his entire head under the water and gulps down a few mouthfuls. "There's gotta be a better way to do that" he gasps, returning to his full height.

Finally noticing Brigitte and Niyazaki, he turns to them. "Hi, uh, you two. Who's the new guy?"