LBT roleplay in the style of the original movie!

[The Lone Dragon]

Aquarius saw the Threehorn raise his tail in an obvious preparation for a strike and he assumed that it wasn't going to be a soft blow but he was not willing to let that happen. Aquarius may have been wounded but he could still push himself up and judging by the relaxed stance this stupid Threehorn was making he was sure that a 'wounded, helpless hatchling' was no threat whatsoever.

Well, he had made a terrible mistake.


"Never underestimate your opponent" said Aquarius inwardly. He had heard many great tales and legends from his kinds past and he often recited them and now he could see how useful they were. A stone was not much but if it was used correctly it was deadly and that's exactly what he intended to use it for.

His body tensed as the tail swung down, leaving the Threehorn's flank and rear exposed with his head turned slightly away. Perfect. Aquarius closed his eyes and despite all the pain that his beaten body was feeling at that exact moment he jumped forward, just before the tail could come down and landed on all fours beneath the arrogant Threehorn.

Aqaurius wasted no time in running over to the neck of the Threehorn from underneath. He had no intention to hurt him but rather to humble him as he held the sharp end of the rock to his throat. In a dramatic turn of tables The Threehorn was now at his mercy, he could kill him if he wanted to and there was nothing that could be done to stop him. He held the stone firmly to the skin of the neck so The Threehorn would know his situation and said firmly:

"Not so tough now! I don't want this, stop calling me names and I won't do anything to you in return and as for my story I don't care of you believe it but it won't change me view on things. So just please leave me alone!" Aquarius shouted out the last part and pulled the rock away from the shocked Threehorn and walked a couple of paces till he was out in the open then promptly fell to the ground with the terrible pain that he no longer needed to keep at bay, his back to the Threehorn as he crawled away to the cave wall slowly and in agonising pain.

[Sovereign]

Gasps of disbelief accompanied Rinen as he looked at the swimmer’s slowly departing form. What had just happened? Had this swimmer really been in a position to kill him? Had he actually been that blind and stupid? If… if that was the case, he was just as big a failure as he had been told. Once again, he had dishonored his kind by losing to this swimmer weakling but he had also embarrassed himself. At this terrible moment, Rinen’s shocked eyes bored into Aquarius’ back, seeing that the smaller dinosaur had clearly reached his limits. Without a thought, Rinen growled in deep anger and started to charge towards the swimmer, advancing towards him with a vengeful look. Aquarius turned to look at him but he had no time to escape.

However, just as Rinen was about to crush his insufferable companion, the threehorn realized he was only digging himself deeper and deeper into the pit of self-loathing and dishonor by attacking a helpless dinosaur who had already bested him. With a sick feeling in his mind, the threehorn’s focus turned away from Aquarius and just before the threehorn was about to reach him, Rinen crashed into the wall of the cave with an extremely violent force. Rocks started to fall around the threehorn as his head hit three more times against the hard rock, Rinen determined to punish himself for his terrible mistake and miserable existence. After those hits, the threehorn stayed still for a few moments before he rose up to his feet and turned around. He whispered in a beaten voice, not caring if the swimmer heard it or not.

“You win. Keep your cave, swimmer. I hope we never meet again.” The threehorn fought to keep his tears in check when he spoke but as he moved back towards the outside and the merciless, freezing winds, thick tears started to drop to the ground. This humiliation had been the final straw: if this would be his end, so be it. Each every day in his life seemed to only bring more humiliations upon him and his kind.

[DarkWolf91]

Wyoh was deep in thought, trying to remember the details of bright circle navigation she'd learned so long ago- had she kept it to one side or the other while she had been walking? She couldn't remember, and so she settled on trying to identify familiar landmarks to get her bearings. Opting quickly for a direction that she wasn't quite sure about, she stood, shook the dust off, and started on her way.

"I would advise not going that way then... the longneck youngling was coming from that way and it did not end will for him."

She chirped a bit in surprise, and turned back toward the tangle of roots and thorns. So, he was still there.

"... Longneck youngling?" She soon spotted the unfortunate young one, or what was left of it, and moved over to investigate. After a few scraps of dried meat that only served to make her thirsty, she turned her attention back to the problem of the stranger. She approached his hiding spot and peeked tentatively between the roots, careful not to get too close. She couldn't quite see how far back he'd gone, and she preffered to keep her face and eyes out of reach in case he decided to strike.

"Hello?" This seemed like a poor greeting on it's own. "Are you a fastrunner? You smell like one." Not much better, but these were strange circumstances. She wasn't exactly sure if talking to him was a good idea, particularly since he was understandably wary of her. However, she preferred to get a better idea of who this stranger was, rather than turn her back to a potential threat.

[rhombus]

Buko hesitated a moment, torn between kicking himself for his lack of discipline and feeling elated that the dinosaur did not appear to be hostile.

But looks could be deceiving.

"The longneck youngling had signs of eating poorly... so if we go the way he came then we will probably meet the same fate."

With deliberate speed, and being careful to stay close in case he needed to dart back into his shelter, he emerged through what he had originally intended to be his point of escape.

He turned to look at his counterpart.  The Tallcrest feathers were mottled brown and white in the typical juvenile coloration, a sign of just how much he had overreacted to the 'threat'.  Though with her size advantage over him he certainly would not want to get into a dispute with her.  Due in part to the size difference it did not register in his mind that he was dealing with a younger Tallcrest.

In any case there was no need to be impolite.

"The name's Buko, son of Rizan.  And yours?"

[DarkWolf91]

Wyoh nodded knowingly at his comment about the longneck's condition. In truth, she could not figure out what "signs" he was referring to, but she decided that it was best to keep this information to herself.

She stepped back to watch as he emerged from his shelter, the light glinting off of his bright feathers in the spots that his hurried dust bath had missed. She stared for a bit in quizzical interest. Her kind rarely grew feathers so bright, and the novelty of it was enough to hold her attention for a moment. She noted with relief that she was, in fact, a bit larger than him. Though she was not much of a fighter and had never had an opportunity to learn, she at least felt that she wouldn't be at a major disadvantage if things went badly.

"I am Wyoh." Her kind didn't usually adress themselves using their relations, but she, too, did not want to seem impolite. "Daughter of..." she wondered if Rizan had been his mother or father, and which parent she was supposed to name. "Daughter of Heta."

It was nice to speak to another fastrunner again, even if he wasn't a tallcrest. Her kind were mostly solitary by nature, but as desperately as she tried, she was still too young to commit to that lifestyle. She missed the company of her family.

"Do you... know which way we should go, Buko?" She was not sure of this stranger yet, but anything was better than wandering in circles.

[rhombus]

Buko considered his counterpart for a moment.  The hesitation in naming her lineage lacked any obvious malicious intent, which left several possibilities.  The most notable was that she was not accustomed to announcing her parentage.  The hesitation in the next question indicating a far more innocent possibility, however.

"Do you... know which way we should go, Buko?"

So she is wandering without a plan as well.  Lovely. He sighed slightly. So instead of leading myself nowhere I can have company.  Company that can use me as a meal when I inevitably lead us nowhere.

Despite his cynicism he was more fond of this possibility than the idea of being alone once more.  With the places his thoughts had gone since he lost his family any company would be better company than his own thoughts and regrets.

"Well... where the longneck came from is out," he gestured at the pile of broken bones, "And trust me you don't want to go where I came from unless you enjoy the company of fastbiters and hunger."

He pointed at the hills in the distance.  "But there are some clouds over the hills... so maybe we can find some water over there...  And where there is water there often is food."

[The Lone Dragon]

Aquarius shivered at the emotional display that he had just witnessed but he couldn't help but feel a little confused. He didn't think that any Threehorn would react well to a wounded pride and indeed this Threehorn had charged him but changed his course at the last minute. A decision that baffled Aquarius, when he saw that Threehorn coming he expected him to run straight through him, yet he didn't. "Why?" asked Aquarius to himself.

He knew he should feel grateful that the Threehorn had not crushed him but his mind was focused on the fact that any normal Threehorn should've crushed him, it was what he expected from Threehorns but this one didn't and seeing his ferocious pummelling of the wall made him wonder."Did Something happen to him? He looks really...angry and sad but why didn't he crush me then?"

However what really struck Aquarius was the Threehorn's whispered heartbroken words and the tears that fell as he trudged towards the entrance of the cave. Aquarius felt his stomach drop, even though he hated Threehorn's and his father had taught him not to trust anyone but his own kind, he felt sympathy. This Threehorn had evidently been through a lot and ever since he had come in all Aquarius had done was go head to head with The Threehorn in a hostile manner.

A voice that made Aquarius heart shake spoke in his mind  "A little compassion goes a long way, little one. It may be tricky to give at times but ultimately if we show others a little friendship and kindness when they need it then they will give it to you in return" Aquarius brushed a tear away as he remembered his mother's words that she adopted as her code to uphold and indeed she did, she would always put other before herself, thinking about her like this just made Aquarius more depressed at his current situation. He probably never see his mother again.

The least he could do was honour his mother's memory by adopting her code of caring as well besides he didn't want to be alone, not now. "Wait!" he yelled to the Threehorn who stopped where he was. Aquarius took a deep breath and swallowed his pride. "I'm sorry about how I treated you, I just don't have good experiences with your kind. You don't have to go, you can stay here as long as you want, I have a little food and water" Aquarius pointed to the ground star plant and spring.

As soon as he said those words he felt a little better, he just hoped it was the right decision.

[Sovereign]

The swimmer’s words hit Rinen with a mixture of astonishment and ever-deepening shame. After all Aquarius had done to chase him away, now he was pleading for him to stay? Rinen felt his rage dying down a bit inside him as he heard the swimmer’s suddenly-kind voice, genuinely begging for him to stay. However, all of that mattered very little at this point. The sad irony of this moment washed over the threehorn as he realized the implications of the situation he was in: he had sank low enough for a swimmer to be able to offer him help. The mere thought of this scenario was a preposterous one and Rinen knew the brief window for accepting that kind of offer had closed. Either he would survive on his own or face his end. Rinen turned his head slowly at the small dinosaur who was looking at him in clear confusion.

“Save it, swimmer. You clearly don’t know anything about threehorns: we don’t live in the mercy of your kind. I don’t deserve any pity at this point. Save that for someone who does.” Rinen turned his head to the raging mouth of the cave. A real storm had risen during his relatively short stay in the cave but all of that seemed like faraway things of little importance. The flurry of raindrops and lightning drowned under his grandfather’s voice in his head, a painful remainder of the life he had thrown away and trust he had proven misplaced.

There will be times when you will be tested but you are a threehorn and our kind never gives up in the face of danger. Carry your name and heritage with pride but don’t take it for granted.  You are my grandson and I trust you to make me proud.

Despite the feeling of betrayal, Rinen could feel his legs grow wobbly as the depth of his misery dawned on him. With a sudden urge to overcome his growing despair, Rinen took a step forward, preparing to head off into the rain… when a giant bolt of lightning hit the hill just above opening. With a roaring rage, it seemed like a huge rock had exploded in the air and after a few seconds, massive formations of rock begun pounding the ground in front of the cave. For a brief moment, Rinen thought of trying to run out of the closing opening but he realized the risk of being crushed by a falling rock was too great.

With a sickening feeling, the young threehorn heard further cracks in the cavern’s interior which seemed to be originating from the opening. They quickly stopped spreading but small rocks started to fall from the ceiling. With a terrified cry, Rinen yelled to Aquarius who also was looking in horror around himself.

“Run, move deeper into the cave! The whole front of this place is collapsing!”

[jorrdy12]

Samara shivered, cold from the wind and tired after crying, she no longer knew what to do, to continue, or to stay where she is and let Death claim her miserable existence. Multiple times she considered the option of simply jumping down the tree and falling head first into the ground, where she hopefully broke her neck and died. Would her parents be happy to see her, would they even be in whatever came after Death, maybe they were still alive... Would she let them have hope that she lived, and crush it with despair as they realized she hadn't survived the journey? Would she risk it, simply because she thought her parents were dead, could she live with the pain, that her parents may, or may not be alive and waiting for her at the end, at the place where she was supposed to go? Could she...

Suddenly she heard a twig snap somewhere under her tree, and tried to get her body to be as small as possible, and she laid down again when she heard mutterings from below....

[Ducky123]

"Where's the one who cried?"

Lizzie had been following the distant cries only for them to die down soon after she started looking. As usual, the young longneck didn't think much about what she was doing, merely following her instincts and right now they were telling her to keep pursuing her plan to seek out the voice she heard to see if there was anything she could do - save another dinosaur the pain she was enduring day after day and every damn night. The nightmare she just had was just another sign of the mental wreck that she was deep inside. Being all alone for the last few months sure had taken its toll on her, both physically and mentally.

*snap*

Deep in thought, the longneck had momentarily forgotten to keep an eye on her surroundings, stepping on a fallen, rotten tree branch, snapping it into multiple splittered pieces loudly.

"Way to go Lizzie, might as well wave with your tail at the sharpteeth!" Not that she cared much about her existence anymore but the thought of dieing was nonetheless an unpleasant one. If she died, it should either be because she wanted to or because she could not survive a situation - but clearly not because of doing something reckless and silly. As the sound of cracking wood echoed through the dead forest, Lizzie held her breath, quickly taking a scan if her immediate surroundings to see if she had gotten herself into trouble or not.

"I could have sworn I saw something move above me... just from the corner of my eye but still... what if it is a sharpbeak flyer trying to cut my neck?" One could never be cautious enough, the longneck reasoned. For about two minutes she kept on walking a tight circle to keep every corner under watch, including the trees above her, but no apparent threat met her eye.

"Gee, I must be getting paranoid from this being alone..." she quietly mumbled to herself, finally coming to a standstill, thinking. Had this been a voice in her head after all? Was she going insane now? No, it couldn't be, she was still capable of thinking and reasoning clearly. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep or the long time of wandering around in her lonely journey away from the neverending deserts. Not that she had any clue where to go precisely...

*crack*

Lizzie was back to her feet, ready to run, immediately as a branch above her gave a cracking, creaking sound almost as if someone was up there putting their weigth on the dead wood.

"W-who is there!?" Lizzie shouted in fright, looking up into the trees to determine where the danger might be lurking. One of high branches was shaking even though there was hardly any breeze in this forest. And it almost sounded as if... "someone is... breathing!" And quite hectically at that. Lizzy was now certain there was SOMEone up there hiding for whatever reason. Whether an enemy or the one crying earlier, she could not determine as of now - and there was only one way to find out. Lizzie was very shy and calm in nature even before becoming an orphan but this was a moment she needed to show courage.

"W-whoever you are high up in the trees, s-show yourself!"

[DarkWolf91]

Wyoh nodded. The area from which she had come was out as well, so the hills did seem to be the only viable option. Additionally, Buko's observation regarding the clouds made sense, and she was terribly thirsty.

Her relief at finally getting some direction was tainted with misgivings. Though she was happy for the company, his feathers shone like a beacon in the waste; something she recognized as a huge liability. She also wasn't exactly sure how to talk to him, as he was obviously older than her, and she wasn't familiar with the customs of his kind. Her parents had never spoken highly of other types of fastrunners, and she found herself becoming more wary of this stranger- one of the few pieces of mother's advice that she could remember stood fast in her mind:

Keep your enemies where you can see them.

 She didn't need another enemy, and she hoped her paranoia was unfounded. But for now, she would be cautious.

"The hills do seem like our best chance. I only hope they aren't as far away as they look." She started off in that direction, and turned to see if he was following.

[rhombus]

Buko followed from a distance, while watching the newcomer with curiosity.  Whether her willingness to take the lead was a byproduct of bravado or youthful naivete was of little concern to him at that moment. What was important was that they now had two pairs of eyes and ears to protect them in the next leg of their journey.

"Lead on, Wyoh.  Hopefully the hills will give us better pickings than dust and bones."

[The Lone Dragon]

A sickening feeling of dread came over the wounded Swimmer when he felt the whole cave rumble. In that moment he felt cursed to be followed by misfortune, he's already lost his family to the Great Wave and now when he was drained and injured the cave was starting to collapse and after a run in with a rather irate Threehorn. Said Threehorn was about to walk out into the storm when the rumbling started and ran back inside and through yelling for him to run which would have surprised Aquarius had it not been for the impending life or death situation that he found himself in. Aquarius gave a gasp as he forced himself quickly to his feet as pain racked through his body and he instinctively recoiled and gripped his side where the stab wound was. A large rock, over three times his size fell down right next to him and the Threehorn was already running deep into the cave which was there only hope of survival. Aquarius rushed forward but remembered the spring. It had food which they might need in the near future, without regarding the imminent danger he was in Aquarius ran back towards the spring as fast as he's sore legs which he ignored through sheer will power as fast as they could go.

Large rocks fell all around him and he heard the Threehorn call something but Aquarius continued through the mine field of rocks, his body was pummelled with small pebbles which only added to his pain but he pushed on to the spring and grabbed all the last tree stars and took one last gulp of water and ran back in the cave but at this point in time the entire ceiling was caving in rapidly from the entrance, sending huge rocks that where larger then the Threehorn down. Aquarius was breathing unsteadily and his vision was blurred with tears from all the pain and dust but he ran blindly on. However his body took to much pummelling and a large rock fell on his tail and tripping him just as the ceiling collapsed above him. Aquarius closed his eyes tightly but instead nothing happened. He heard the crash but there was no new pain. He opened his eyes and vaguely saw that the rock above was held up by large rocks on the side. Breathing a sigh of relief he began crawling his way through the debris and deeper into the cave, hoping that the rocks would clear soon and that none would collapse on him.

[Sovereign]

This sudden, additional disaster made Rinen’s mind run cold as he saw large formations of rock fall from the cavern’s ceiling. To his luck, he had just enough time to retreat deeper into the cavern before the larger rocks begun to fall. Or so he thought. Just as he was about to escape to the area which seemed safe, the threehorn could see a threatening shadow over him. Instinctually, Rinen managed to dodge the deathtrap but a few sharp rocks still hit his legs, cutting some small wounds to them. However, soon another thing caught his eye.

The swimmer was darting to save the green food he had gathered before they would be crushed by the rocks. Rinen’s mind screamed in outrage as he followed Aquarius’ fearless steps. Was the swimmer insane? Couldn’t he see that there was no time to worry about such things? Rinen still felt nothing but distrust and grudge towards the swimmer but his surprising and heartfelt offer had seemed to stir something within Rinen, something that made him wish Aquarius wouldn’t meet his end here. However, after a few moments the obvious happened. Another grouping of rocks suddenly fell upon the small dinosaur, almost burying him under their weight and more than likely crushing him under their weight.

Seconds passed slowly and Rinen’s mind was slowly resigning to the fact that he was all alone once again. The threehorn’s head fell slightly towards the ground when he heard slight rustle behind him. Rinen turned to look at the voice’s source and to his astonishment, he saw a few rocks beginning to roll away from their positions, revealing the swimmer’s arm and head under it. The threehorn stared at the sight in disbelief, not realizing how Aquarius was able to survive such a disaster. Rinen stuttered a moment before he managed to form a few intelligible words. His tone was a mix of astonishment and mental conflict and his mind was a flux of different emotions at this point.

“H… how? You were clearly… don’t you realize you almost died because of a few leaves!? Are you completely crazy?”

[jorrdy12]

Fear, that's what was going on in her mind, so much fear like she never experienced before, how could she have been found? Oh, right, it was when she accidentally put too much weight on the branch she was standing on. If only she stayed still, maybe she could've prevented this from happening.

"W-whoever you are high up in the trees, s-show yourself!"

She knew that she had been found, the question was now, what should she do? Reveal herself and hopefully reason with whoever was down there, or try to fly away and try to scavenge for food that hopefully was still somewhere in this deserted wasteland. She had made up her mind, she would reveal herself and reason with whoever was down there. As she slowly began walking to the edge of the branch she looked down, and saw a strange dark yellow with brown creature with a long neck looking up at her location with a curious yet afraid gaze. She tried to still her trembling frame and spoke,

"H-hello, a-are you f-friendly? W-who are you and w-what do you want from m-me, and b-biggest of all, w-what are y-you?"

[Hypno]

Slash entered a small clearing and spotted the dead Sailbeak corpse that he had sniffed out. Unfortunately, it was being eaten by a pair of Bigbiter sharpteeth (Tyrannosaurus). They immediately detected him, and with blood all over their mouthes, they looked at Slash and snarled multiple times in quick succession. Slash wasn't too hungry and he didn't want to risk life and limb at the moment so he turned back and continued searching for an easy meal. He knew it wasn't worth serious injury or death, after all, Bigbiters were king.

The predator strolled on, continuing to look for something to eat, when something interesting had caught his eye. Slash noticed a small cave that had collapsed. He assumed that it was from the earthquake, but he investigated further because it looked recent. Little did he know that Aquarius and Rinen were deep inside. There was no way that Slash would be able to get in, so they were safe from his jaws, for now. He laid back down and rested near the closed off entrance.

[Ducky123]

"H-hello, a-are you f-friendly? W-who are you and w-what do you want from m-me, and b-biggest of all, w-what are y-you?"

Lizzie still couldn't see who or what exactly was hiding high up in the trees but there was one thing she could already rule out.

It's not a predator, it can talk...

Furthermore, there was only one emotion present in the voice that she had heard responding to her.

Fear...they must be afraid of me as well!

The girl decided to respond.

"Hey you, up there," Lizzie exclaimed as she gathered the words she wanted to say. Being a lone child sure didn't give you a lot of opportunities to talk or use your voice at all. Well, that was not counting the countless times she'd spent crying at night...

"I... I am just a kid, you don't need to be afraid! I heard somebody scream in agony and decided to investigate... see if someone needs help..."

The longneck tried to remember the sound of the screams. Taking into account the words she'd just heard the other creature uttering, the similarity was hard to overlook. Above all, the voice sounded female just like the screams and it was very shaky - probably due to fear although Lizzie knew too well how hard it was to talk in full sentences after crying a lot. So maybe...

"You do not happen to be the one I heard crying like that, do you?" Lizzie asked as kindly as she could muster, her social skills a bit rusty. Could the voice up there belong to another lone child like her? Her neck bent up, looking intently up above, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was hiding from her.

[The Lone Dragon]

Aquarius crawled out of the rubble with the tree stars he had saved still in his grasp and gazed up at the rocks in almost a daze and suddenly began to laugh hard and uncontrollably at how he had managed to survive that. The irony that he had lost so much and yet luck was somehow on his side? What a messed up world this was. It made him laugh harder after he heard Rinen's astonished words and the look on his face was utterly priceless. He had to stop though and reign his laughter in because it was really hurting his body. "Feel free to call me mad" he said "but we needed those leaves, we don't know when we'll have our next meal" Aquarius pulled himself up and leaned against the rocks panting heavily from laughter and fatigue, though he didn't want to admit it but the rock fall had taken a lot out of him. The fact that he referred to himself with Rinen instead of a stand alone was not lost on him but the fact that they were now stuck in the same situation it looked like they were in this together despite both their wishes. Now they had to get out of here. Aquarius looked into the darkness ahead of him and pointed at the dark and foreboding passage. "If there is a way out then it's probably that way."

[Sovereign]

The initial astonishment in Rinen’s mind started to wear off as he heard the swimmer’s answer. Not only was he unharmed, he was also apparently amused by the threehorn’s shock which didn’t sit well with Rinen’s mentality. However, the boy was somewhat relieved to see the other dinosaur alive and well even if the threehorn would never accept the food he had saved. Even now, it went against everything Rinen had learned during his life: to trust only himself and not to live by others’ mercy. Still, he knew Aquarius was right in his assessment about the duo’s chances of escape. The darkness filled the mouth leading to the deeper parts of the cave and Rinen was more than ready to begin searching for another exit. Rinen turned to look at Aquarius and spoke in a forcefully confident voice.

“Only a crazy dinosaur risks his life for food but at least you have something to eat during the search. But you are right: it’s more than likely there’s an opening somewhere out there. You may follow if you wish but I’m not going to slow down because of you! Do as you please!” Rinen turned his head away from Aquarius and headed into the blackness, knowing the door to freedom waited in some part of the cave. He waited eagerly to see if the swimmer would swallow his own pride and follow the threehorn or if he’d stay in this dark tomb alone.

[Hypno]

Slash sat up. He was still hungry and really wanted to eat something. He pulled himself to his feet and stretched as much as he could. The multi-ton predator walked around the side of the cave and kept on searching for food. There was nothing in the area, nothing at all. He started to get frustrated. He let out a huge roar that could be heard from miles away, right near the outside walls of the large surface area cavern.