Ten days later.
Late night.
The Primeval Ecological Zone, north of the Giganotosaurus territory.
Carlo was slinking stealthily through a herd of sleeping Diplodocus, hand-picking his prey.
This lovely Miss Diplodocus right here.
Your sleeping posture is truly tranquil and graceful. Would the lady care to dance with me?
He intentionally caused a slight stir. Several Diplodocus were jolted awake, but his positioning was surgical, cutting off the "lady" at the edge of the herd and isolating her instantly.
"Aunnng—"
The Diplodocus let out a panicked cry. Carlo snapped his jaws at the air in front of her, making a sharp clack.
Paralyzed by intimidation, the Diplodocus lost all capacity for rational thought. Her only instinct was to get as far away from the behemoth in front of her as possible.
To Carlo, her running speed was no different from a Cephalaspis, yet he played along, trailing behind her and weaving left and right to herd her toward a relatively open clearing.
When the timing was right, Carlo lunged alongside her. This time, however, he didn't go for the standard top-down neck snap. Instead, he lowered his head and tore a massive chunk of flesh from beneath her ribcage.
The Diplodocus stumbled a few steps, collapsed to the ground, and ceased to move.
Seeing the job was done, Carlo swallowed the scrap of meat and let out a low roar toward the treeline.
Shasha...
The bushes rustled as Kafka came trotting out eagerly. She immediately began to feast on the opening Carlo had torn into the prey's chest.
Carlo sat nearby, waiting for Kafka to finish.
A few days ago, Kafka had sought him out in the middle of the night. Carlo had been shocked to discover that she had never actually seen her parents hunt. Thus, after finishing a Brachiosaurus earlier, he had brought her out for a midnight snack, and a live demonstration of hunting techniques. How much she learned was entirely up to her.
Carlo looked up, noticing the eastern sky beginning to pale as the curtain of night slowly receded. A streak of crimson dawn was quietly spreading across the horizon.
"Roar."
Time to go home.
He let out a soft huff to Kafka, who obediently crawled out from the Diplodocus's chest cavity. She gave Carlo a chirp and began running back toward her parents' territory.
"Roar."
Carlo called out to her again, reminding her to wash the scent of blood off her body before returning to her nest.
"Eeng—"
Kafka chirped in response and changed course, heading toward the nearest river.
Watching her run with such youthful energy, Carlo suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for the days when he used to sneak out to play behind his parents' backs. He gave a low, throaty chuckle, which, to anyone else, would have sounded like a heavy, menacing growl, and began to follow at a leisurely pace.
…
"Kenji! If you spend forty-five minutes in the shower one more time, I swear I'm cutting off your water supply!"
"Hey! Staying handsome is part of my brand!"
"Well! Then every time you finish, remember to go to the river and refill the buckets yourself!"
The treehouse platform was starting to take shape. Aside from the beds, the first "utility" the group had built was the shower. Brooklynn and Kenji were currently arguing over water usage, mostly because Kenji managed to go through an entire water cooler jug per shower without ever replacing it.
"Here we go again," Yasmina grumbled. She was doing her physical therapy exercises on the ground below; after being inactive for so long, she felt like her bones were starting to rust.
"Emm... they just need time to adjust to each other," Sammy said, sitting nearby and weaving a small tool. She was trying to play peacemaker.
Darius was lying on a patch of open ground, scribbling away in a small notebook spread out before him.
"Alright, I think I've recovered enough. Darius, when are we going to the Great Lake?" Yasmina stood up and stretched. Brooklynn had given them a vivid description of the scenery there, but Yaz's ankle had been too badly injured for her to see it firsthand.
Darius had been documenting dinosaur behavior patterns lately and was dying to go back himself. The two hit it off immediately, deciding to head out as soon as Yasmina felt her foot was ready.
"Yaz... your ankle..." Sammy looked worried, wanting to convince her to rest a bit longer. But after being cooped up in camp for over ten days, Yasmina was restless.
"It's fine. The sprain medicine Brooklynn brought is working wonders. I can run now."
"Mhm... it's midday. I think now is the perfect time to head out," Darius added once he confirmed her status. He stood up and began packing his gear.
Seeing she couldn't stop them, Sammy stopped protesting and turned her attention to Darius with a stern warning:
"Darius, you cannot get 'possessed' like you did last time. You hear me?"
"Okay, I get it. I promise it won't happen again." Darius responded quickly, even raising his right hand in a mock oath.
…
Carlo was sprawled in a semi-circle by the lakeside, but this time, the Parasaurolophus hatchlings weren't around him. The little ones had wandered off to eat low-hanging leaves on their own. Carlo had clearly picked some choice branches from the trees for them, but they still chose to graze on the scrubby bushes instead.
Carlo was puzzled, looking at the tree he had partially stripped bare.
Do Parasaurolophus just not like these leaves?
Sensing a familiar scent approaching, Carlo turned his head slightly and saw two humans arriving.
They bathed this time. Good, good.
Yasmina still seemed a bit wary of the dinosaurs. She sat on a protruding rock some distance away, holding her sketchbook and quietly beginning to draw.
By contrast, Darius was far more audacious. He blended right in between two Triceratops, took a sip of water, and sat down in the middle of the herd to start his observations.
Is that little girl peeking at me?
Carlo's gaze flicked toward Yasmina, who was sitting on the rock directly facing him.
She was making a major mistake. Unless you've been marked by a predator, you should never maintain a constant stare for long periods, not even for a second. At best, it piques a predator's interest; at worst, it makes them think you're planning something "indecent."
Yasmina used her left hand as a makeshift brace behind the sketchbook while her right hand swept a pencil across the paper, defining shadows and tones on the rough outline she'd just finished.
She looked up to check the lighting on Carlo, only to find that the spot where he had been lying was now empty.
Where did he go?
She started to look around, but before she could even turn her head, she felt a sudden wave of heat radiating from behind her.
Oh no...
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