The Gang of Five
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Sleep and Remember

Ratiasu · 411 · 39407

Raptor

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This wasn't what he wanted. Days had turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Nothing was worse then what was happening now. Reesk's instictive need for a pack was now knawing at his mind every waking moment. He'd make a pack with a Bellydragger at the moment. Reesk ran his tounge along his razor teeth. Worse yet, he was hungry. Or rather, he'd been hungry. For days. Without a pack, a Dienonychus didn't have hope to catch anything more then a Lizard or two. The desert seemed to strech on foever. Then, he smelt it. It was a scent that gave him hope. The scent of blood. Reesk didn't care who's blood it was. His usual, cautious and intelligent nature was overidden by the scent. Reesk even ignored the scent of a Pachycepholosaurus. All thoughts were centers on the possibility of his first meal in months.


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A second predator appeared and seemed to be challenging the first.  Strafe took advantage of the distraction and dashed at top speed for her herd.  The young iguanodon never bothered to look back.  She just kept running.  Finally, she reached the safety of the herd.  She crept over to where her parents slept and lied down between them.  Although she tried, Strafe was unable to get to sleep.  She remained awake for the remainder of the night.  Morning eventually came and the herd continued on its way.  They were passing through a desolate valley filled with stone arches and rocky towers.  The steep valley walls loomed menacingly overhead.
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OCC: (Elsewhere, Chuck Norris appeared and began to beat up the sharpteeth.  Just kidding! :DD )
Elsewhere, Snork's small herd was continuing on its endless journey.  After an imaginary breakfast which consisted of imaginary treestars, Snork took his position at the back of the herd.  It appeared that this was just going to be another meaningless day in his meaningless life.  Snork growled angrily and followed his orders to keep watch for predators.


Raptor

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Reesk's brain finally caught up to the rest of his body. Stupid, you can't go running off to eat something that you haven't even seen! He sniffed. The bleeding came from the same area of the scent of the Pachycapholsaurus. Reesk approached warily. Reesk had no knowledge of what he was going up agansit. He had to be careful...


General Grievous

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Shriek roared with rage.  The prey got away!  Prey was *not* supposed to get away!  And it was all because some little interloper.  Shriek began to advance towards the newcomer, having decided to make a meal of it for spoiling his intended meal.


Ratiasu

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Odottaen froze. His orange eyes widened. He took a step back, then, feeling a surge of panic for a reason he could not understand, ran forward. He kept close to the near-vertical, smooth wall of the canyon, only stopping when he rounded a corner. There was shade here. Breathing hard, more in confusion than tiredness, the bonehead realized what had made him so scared. Being in the open. In the open, with no place to hide, in direct daylight, with traces of blood from the Gallimimus he had eaten. He leaned against the cold stone wall, trying to calm his racing heart, to slow his darting eyes. It was not enough.


General Grievous

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Kaga wandered alone across the vast, empty landscape.  Huge rock formations towered above the flat, dusty plains.  Oh, how sick he was of seeing nothing but rocky flats and rocky bluffs and canyons.  The green iguanodon slogged along sluggishly in the heat.  He wanted to find water.  Food.  Shade.  It was sudden and short.  A low rumbling sound came from deep under the ground and the world around Kaga began to shake.  The loose pebbles on the ground bounced along and small rocks and dust rained down from the massive rock pillars.  Kaga quickly moved away from the pillars in case a larger chunk of rock broke off.  No such thing happened.  The earthquake ended as abruptly as it had started.  A few stones tumbled down from a nearby tower, making a cracking sound as they impacted with the ground.  Kaga continued on, hoping that this was only a small tremor and not part of something much bigger.

"That's all I need.  An earthshake." he said to himself as he continued onward.


Raptor

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Reesk neared a large, sheer cliff. He sniffed. The scents of both blood and Pachycephlosaurs were stronger here. He looked down the side. There were a few small protrusions, large enough for an dinosaur about his size, to stand on. Hunger stabbed at Reesk's stomach. He looked at the nearest cliff, and lept. Reesk opened his eyes when he felt his feet on solid ground. He looked down to his feet, and let out a scree of relief when he saw solid ground below them. Reesk turned to the next rock, and lept to it. As he landed, he reflected that this would take a while. It was then when the rock crumbled beneath him. With a screech of terror, Reesk was sent tumbling down the slope. He struck the ground, left-side first, with a thump. Reesk raised his head and blinked. His left side was throbbing, but nothing felt broken. Reesk rose numbly to his feet, and blinked once again. Well, the scent was stronger here. But he had several nasty cuts along his back, and the scent of his own blood mixed with the blood scent he was following.


Ratiasu

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[Bleh! I would type more, but I can't think of much at the moment - I've had a stressful day.]

The gray Pachycephalosaurus thought he heard something. Something loud. Something dangerous. It had been accompanied by a noise the dinosaur couldn't identify - the shifting tumble of rocks. Still, Odottaen remained rooted to his shady spot. He would not attack until whatever it was that was near was seen with his own two small orange eyes. Smell and hearing weren't enough to go by sometimes.


Raptor

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Reesk blinked. This search was getting very, very tireing. He needed shade. Reesk could not decide between food or shelter. It was all going very fuzzy. Rest. Rest is what he needed. Reesk made his way to a shadey spot nearby, so tired he ignored the warning beacons going off in his mind.


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Snork gazed tiredly across the vast, endless plains.  The monotony of the landscape, the young swimmer feared, was beginning to mess with his mind.  All he could see in every direction was red or orange plains and the jagged mountains looming off to the north.  Nobody spoke to him and Snork felt that his life had hit a new low.  How much longer could he take this pitiful excuse for an existence?  This wasn't a life.  Snork didn't know what to call it.  He felt that he was a slave of his father with no free will.  Snork longed to leave the herd and live on his own but he had no place to go.  He wouldn't last long by himselfe with all the sharpteeth around.  And then there was the issue of food and water.  Snork just wished something would happen.  Something to break the monotony of this endless journey.
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Strafe's herd had located a small clump of green bushes and a tiny water hole.  The young iguanodon drank feverishly after going so long without water.  How much longer would this terrible journey last?  For almost her whole life, Strafe had traveled with her herd searching for the Great Valley.  Did the place even exist?  Strafe had officially stopped believing so.  To her, life was now just a matter of finding her next meal without becomming someone else's next meal.  She was utterly exhausted from the previous night's adventure and wanted nothing more than to get a good rest.


Ratiasu

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[Ack! I'm sorry for not replying - I didn't see anyone had replied!...But...I'm a bit lost as to what to type. Any ideas?]


Raptor

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OOC: Well, Reesk is really tired and wants to sleep in Odo's hiding spot, and has no idea there's a Pachy there, so you could have Odo reacting to that.


Ratiasu

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[Thank you - that will work quite nicely.]

Odottaen's nostrils flared with a loud snort. He rose his head and flared his nostrils a second time, before lowly angling his gray head to the Deinonychus coming towards him. Odo did not look the predator over and had no interest in reading its body language. Fear were sharpteeth, hunger was danger, fights are gifts. Odo leapt forward towards Reesk, legs spread and braced, body bent and angled downward. He flailed his arms and let loose a small roar, chuffing and snorting, orange eyes wide, but the madness did not come yet.

Odottaen paused for a few moments to throw his body up and toss his head back, paw the ground with his foot and swing his tail from side to side, snorting and chuffing, exhaling from his nose, opening and closing his jaws and flexing his small arms. One movement was all the Pachycephalosaurus needed from the Fastbiter to lose himself to madness that overcame all of his kind when faced with another that was not their own. It faded quickly, but oh, it was dangerous.


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Strafe's feet hurt.  Bad.  They were sore and stiff from all the walking.  Just once, the young iguanodon wished the herd could find some place that had green food where they could rest up for a few days.  The endless hungar and discomfort of this journey was really wearing her down.  Strafe's eyelids felt heavy from her lack of slep the previous night and were constantly trying to close over her green eyes.  When would this journey ever end?  
Presently, Strafe's father announced to the rest of the herd, "We will be arriving in the canyon lands soon.  This place is dangerous because there are falling rocks and predators throughout the canyons.  There is no way around so we have to go through the canyons."
Oh great. thought Strafe. More sharp rocks and sharpteeth.
The young iguanodon trodded alongside her parents as they led the herd towards the deep canyons that made up the canyon lands.  At least the scenery would look different now.
Her mother cautioned, "Strafe, watch out for predators.  Stay close to us."
Strafe nodded and got between her parents, feeling as if she could drop from exhaustion where she stood.


Raptor

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Reesk blinked blearily. His vision was clouded. There was something there, he was sure of it, but he couldn't make out what. When the snorting came, he nearily fell backwards. But Reesk was so tired-Even if he tried to escape the blurry, snorting thing, he would never make it. Then, though the fog of fagitued(sp), he thought of something. Reesk toppled over and lay still, slowing his breathing to a crawl. He closed his eyes tightly, and hoped the blur wouldn't trample him.


Ratiasu

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The Deinonychus moved. Odottaen's pupils dilated and he once again lost himself to the madness completely, lost what little sentience and sapience Pachycephalosaurus had. Since he is unable to remember what he does in that short time span, I might as well describe it.

His dilated pupils made everything look much brighter - almost on a glowing white, holy level. The canyon walls looked like vast solid, near-shapeless, blurred blocks, and for a while he had forgotten about Reesk. Instead the Pachy had instantly head butted the wall and gripped a low overhanging rock he could not see and began to scratch marks into it with the little rooting horns on the end of his snout. He began to drool and the scent glands on his ankles began to release their ironically sweet, papaya-like smell. After Odo's brain had been satisfied, the Pachy had whirled around to search for the green Fastbitter he could smell, but not hear, and due to the dilated brilliance of the landscape, could hardly see.

He had come very close to stepping on Reesk's tail or, when the several amount of times the Pachy had aggressively head butted the ground, mere inches away from breaking the sharptooth's leg or head. The green only registered to Odo right now as a dark smudgey blob that smelled funny, and thus was obligated to be destroyed, but then the wind shifted and the scents of the Iguanodon herd reached his nose, and the Pachy bucked and again slammed himself to the canyon wall, snarled and ripped up the dry, baked earth with his back claws, and suddenly the madness faded. Odo's orange eyes went back to normal, and he could see again.

The Pachy was still for a very long time. His hands flexed, and the sudden attack of pain from his foot cause him to nonverbally signal distress, something no other dinosaur understood. The bonehead, very withdrawn and showing no signs of caring for Reesk's presence, laid down and carefully examined his foot, and found, to his dismay, the badly bleeding, empty toe where his claw had been.


General Grievous

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The blistering heat baked the ground and burned relentlessly upon Kaga's back.  He was once again thirsty and in need of finding water.  This world was a very unforgiving place for a lone, young iguanodon.  Was he wrong to leave his herd?  Would he have been better off with the herd?  Kaga was completely exhausted but he could not stop.  There was no place to rest and he would be vulnerable to predators.  In the sky to the west, dark clouds gathered and thunder rumbled across the plains.  Maybe the storm would being rain.  Thirst and exhaustion was beginning to overwhelm him.  Kaga didn't know how much longer he could last.  
"Water..." gasped the iguanodon as his legs wobbled beneath him.  He panted and wheezed as his hind legs gave out.  Kaga's vision faded and he collapsed to the ground with a thud and blacked out.  High overhead, the clouds began to cover the sun and the scent of rain filled the air.


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(Uh oh!  That isn't good!)
Snork glanced upward and saw the looming clouds.  It had been the rumble of thunder that had caught his attention first.  The scent of wet earth hung heavy in the air.  Snork was really hoping for rain to make puddles of drinking water and to settle the dust kicked up by the herd.  He had drank very little for the past week and was very thirsty.  As the sky grew darker from the approaching storm, drops of rain began to fall from the sky.  The parasaurolophus tilted his crested hear back and opened his dry mouth and allowed the raindrops to land on his parched tongue.  Then, Snork squated down and dug a hole in a smal depression in the ground to collect some of the rainwater for himself.  The rain picked up and soon filled the "bowl" Snork had made.  He drank feverishly, quickly quenching his thirst.  The swimmer lied down on the ground and allowed the cool rain to flow over him, gladly welcoming the moisture.
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Miles away, Strafe could hear thunder echoing through the canyons.  They blocked her view from seeing the approaching clouds but she could tell there was a storm coming.  That could be either a good thing or a bad thing.  Good because it would mean water.  Bad because these narrow, deep ravines could quickly flood and become death traps.  
Strafe's mother reasured, "Don't worry.  There are plenty of ledges we can get on if there is a flood."
Strafe nodded in agreement although she knew thaat if there was actually a flood then there would be no place to go.  Hopefully there would be no flood.  The sun faded away as the storm clouds rolled over the canyons.  Wind whistled through the ravines and a light mist blew down from the sky.  It clung to the dinosaurs' skins like beads of dew on grass.  Then, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the dark crevases in the ravines.  A loud crack of thunder followed.  The herd of iguanodons settled down to wait for the storm to pass.  Strafe huddled next to her mother and father.  WHen she was close to them, the spikethumb felt safe.  She rested her head on her front paws and closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.


Raptor

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Reesk blinked his eyes open. The water had begun to bead on his scales. He slowly rose, blinking drops of water from his eyes. Had his wish come true? Had the sky answered his plight? He doubted this. Reesk lapped some water up from a depression the the ground, before craning his head to search for the threat from before. He does not see it. Reesk spots a small lizard, and snatches it with as much speed as he can muster. He gulps it up, and sniffs the air. A herd of Iguanodons, and the still lingering scent of Pachy. He heads for the Iguanodon's scent, hopeing ther may be soom dead or wounded.


Ratiasu

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The weather had changed. Oh, lovely lovely rain. The Pachy winced repeatedly as he felt the stinging pain of his torn, bleeding toe. But the rain was welcomed. Slowly the Pachycephalosaurus looked up at the sky. The burning place. Would the rain douse it out? His tail flicked in uncertainty, then he simply opened his mouth and let the rain drops quench his thirst. It wasn't enough. He required more, and with his bleeding, injured foot, finding food would be difficult. Again the Pachy studied the horizon, and the dark, booming clouds, as he had been taught not to, and found, to his dismay, that it was raining harder than it had been two minutes ago. A warning. He flared his nostrils. His brain was telling him to get away. Okay then. Okay, then.

The gray dinosaur pushed himself up and began to limp back the way he had come. The ground was turning to mud. My, the water was coming fast. Odo shivered from head to tail, eye to toe, his neck swiveling about as if he were having a seizure. Then he continued onward. Iguanodons. He could smell them, barely. His hands flexed in anticipation, his orange eyes became wide and blank. And he was completely still for several moments. Even the booming crash of thunder did not stir him. And as suddenly as it had come, this stillness had gone, and Odottaen began to hurry towards the mouth of the canyon. His brain was telling him he was going in the wrong direction. That was okay. His brain was warning him of something bad coming, or happening, or that had already happened and was going to happen again, and that was okay, too.