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Post by Christopher on Jun 24, 2005 16:03:48 GMT -5
The dolphinback had already walked a fair distance away from the two giant beasts he saw. Currently he was satisfied that he was away from the danger. On his march, he occasionaly would stop to examine a plant, or marks, no doubt left behind by whatever creatures were on this island. It would be best if he kept moving, for now. He had no clue, that he was likely being followed.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jun 27, 2005 0:00:25 GMT -5
OOC: Where on Dinotopia is this?
IC: The cryolophosaur spun on his foot and followed after the human's scent. It wasn't often that humans had to tangle with belligerent theropods, but it happened ever so often, and at times it was disastrous. He counted himself lucky for being where he was, when he was: the hatred in Stiletto of the Bloodclaw's heart was legendary.
Now, this human was an odd case as, apparently, he was not seen, not tracked -- the dolphins didn't seem to have reported his arrival yet, or a welcoming commitee would have been out in force -- or at least a protoceratops. Why this one should be left to wander alone was beyond him. Regardless, it would be dangerous with the Bloodclaw about, and, though, there weren't many other carnivores in this region, it would be foolish to think this man would survive in the wilderness of a strange land.
He would take him as far as the nearest village.
He paused. Most Dinotopians found carnosaurs frightenin?
Well, the Cryolophosaur thought, he would just have to find out.
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Post by Christopher on Jun 27, 2005 0:15:01 GMT -5
(OOC: According to Stiletto, it is somewhere in the North Plains.)
The dolphinback had found a nice shady spot to sit under, and prepare for anymore possible attacks. He was very fortunate that that creature had shown up and fought the smaller one. Using his handgun would have proven a disaster, since the powder had been ruined by the sea. He patiently sat, and cleaned each cylinder of the wasted powder, and shot.
Once that was finished with, he opened a small leather pouch on his belt, which revealed a tin case. The young man removed the tin case, and opened it. Much to his dismay, the tin had managed to do its job, and kept the ammunition inside dry, even from the waters of the sea. It didn't take him long to reload the heavy handgun; he had done it so many times, he could probably do it in his sleep.
Though he knew he should have gone to find something to hunt, the young man was too comftorable in the shade to move. While relaxing for a while under the tree that provided him with shade, the soldier in gray opened an even smaller leather pouch, and pulled a small brown leaf out of it. He then placed the leaf in his mouth. He shut his eyes, and sat against the tree. He was completely at peace.
The peace was shortly intterupted, when he heard the approach of another one of the giant creatures, or possibly the same one. Either way, it made no difference to him. With great agility, the young man scampered up the tree, and sat down on one of the branches. He was sure the large beast couldn't climb trees.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jun 27, 2005 10:30:39 GMT -5
The cryoloph could smell the man. He was here and yet...where was he? The dinosaur swung his head to and fro over the ground, holding his mouth slightly open so as to take the scent in better. The smell of this human was especially pungent at the base of a tree. He must have lain there, and yet the smell was very recent...faintly even present. But where was he? The tree absolutely reaked of him and yet he was nowhere to be found. He had to resist the predatory instinct to bellow and roar until his quarry scampered out of its hiding place, terrified. That approach would hardly making me any friends, here, the cryoloph thought.
It seldom occured to carnosaurs to look up. The thought struck the cryoloph, and he felt ridiculous for not thinking of it sooner. He closed his right eye and rolled his head to that side, pointing his left eye skyward. (His neck would not have bent all the way up.) There, sitting on a branch, was the man, looking -- predictably -- shaken.
The carnosaur was unsure of what to do next, had not really planned beyond actually finding the man. How to demonstrate to this confused, wary man that the large, pointy-toothed creature before him meant him no harm, was, in fact an intelligent creature seeking to aid him? The cryoloph backed up a few paces, sat, watched the man in the tree, thought his staring might be misinterpreted as hungry longing and so deliberately looked away, looked at other things without seeing them, thinking, thinking.
It struck him. He stood up quickly -- which caused the man in the tree to recoil, startled -- and walked away, disappearing into the brush, searching. He found the tree he was looking for, plucked a fruit from its limbs and carried it in his jaws. He walked back to where he had been, arriving just in time to see the man, who had begun to descend in comfort, scramble back up onto the tree limb that had been his refuge. The carnosaur walked in to the shade of the tree, and held the fruit up in his jaw. He had seen humans on convoys eat these, and so knew they were edible. The man wouldn't take it. He looked suspiciously at it, retreated a bit further into the foliage. The cryoloph threw the fruit to the ground, frustrated. This man was just going to have to trust. The dinosaur remembered a gesture he and a human had shared once, one of the few times he had entered a village...
The cryoloph reached up with his snout and knocked the tree branch. The man held on tightly. The dinosaur knocked it again, sending the man tumbling to the ground. He landed in a heap. The man tried to recover, at the same time trying to fend off the predator. The cryoloph approached swiftly, and the man threw his hands up over his head to defend himself. He felt hot breath on his neck and the clamp of the creature's jaws. He felt himself being lifted by the collar of his garment off the ground and being dropped on his feet. The man's hand went to his waist to search for his firearm -- nothing was there! It lay, glistening, on the ground five feet to his left. He was defenseless.
But the creature did not attack. Instead, it stood with its arm outstretched, its clawed hand hovering a foot in front of the man's face, expectantly. It stood there, unmoving, staring into the man's eyes, and the man stared right back.
The two stood unmoving for a full minute.
The beast looked down at its own hand, then at the man again. He repeated this gesture, snorting this time, withdrawing and then reextending its paw. The man never broke eye contact, never stopped waiting for the creature to make its move.
Another minute passed.
The cryoloph had expected it to take some time for the human to recognize his intentions, but not this long.
Suddenly, the man struck. His plan was to reach out, slap away the beast's hand, dive for his revolver, roll onto his back and plant a bullet in the creature's eye. Instead, when his hand made contact with the creature's the creature caught it, and, holding it loosely in his claws, raised it once, lowered it, raised it again, lowered it, raised it a third time, lowered it.
The man drew his hand back, his eyes wide in shock. He drew back three steps and leaned against the tree, amazed, confused, shocked. He examined his palm, looked back at the creature, examined his hand again. Finally, he accepted the truth and let his arms drop to his side. The man laughed, slapped his forehead, absolutely certain that he had lost his mind.
The monster had shook his hand.
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Post by Christopher on Jun 27, 2005 11:11:37 GMT -5
Now that he had a better chance to examine the magnificent beast up close, he did so. Never in his life did he dream of ever seeing a creature like this, not to mention shake its hand...er...claw. He did not know what the beast wanted from him, but as long as it wasn't a meal, he didn't care. Before saying anything to the giant in front of him, the soldier turned his head, and spit out the tobacco leaf, that was still sitting in between his lip and gum. The leaf had turned blackish, and stuck to the base of the tree, where it landed. The young man then turned to the beast and spoke.
"Uhh...hello, there..." He spoke with a drawl
He knew many animals were smart, and most could even understand a few words in English, but he still felt a little dumb talking to the beast.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jun 27, 2005 13:12:06 GMT -5
The cryolophosaur nodded, thinking of no other way to communicate a greeting to the human.
He walked past the man, turned, and jerked his head in the direction of his path. The human seemed a little confused at first, then followed the dinosaur.
They headed off towards Cornucopia.
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Post by Christopher on Jun 27, 2005 13:20:07 GMT -5
The man returned the nod, and started to follow the dinosaur, but paused for a moment. Using his right foot, he scooped up the revolver, and tossed it into the air. He then caught it, did a quick twirl with it, and made it come to rest in his holster. Once he reclaimed his weapoon, he turned and ran after the large beast. He didn't know where they were going, but he would soon find out.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 11, 2005 11:20:43 GMT -5
The two journeyed onward, stopping ever so often so the human could rest. It was becoming difficult to travel with a human -- his soft body was frail, and his habit of perspiring wasted precious water.
The cryoloph was getting sick of him. But he journeyed onward, choosing to worry instead how he was going to enter a populated city without being gored by a horn or a spear. He hoped the human would have enough sense to say something...
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Stiletto
Dolphinback
violent chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent neanderthal
Posts: 40
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Post by Stiletto on Jul 13, 2005 8:05:37 GMT -5
*OOC* I havent' abandoned the story, but I thought in reference to proper chronological passage, that stiletto should next make an appearance in the story the next day, as my story ends with night falling and him sleeping
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Post by Christopher on Jul 16, 2005 13:29:18 GMT -5
The human continued to follow the creature that was kind enough to take him...to wherever it was they were going. He could sense the beasts dislike in him, and wished he could keep up better, but riding boots were not ideal for walking.
"How much furhter, until we arrive?"
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Post by Stouthorn the Wise on Jul 16, 2005 14:49:36 GMT -5
The cryoloph grunted. He wasn't sure he had ever heard the language the human spoke, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to respond-- the dinosaur could understand some human speech well enough, but was physically incapable of reproducing it.
Judging by the man's weary, curious expression, the cryoloph was able to reasonably guess at the man's question. By way of response, he jerked his head in the direction of the horizon -- a column of smoke rose to the sky, and a city, tiny in the distance, could be seen.
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Post by Christopher on Jul 16, 2005 14:56:16 GMT -5
The human couldn't believe it. There was a city around here. He glimpsed at the creature, then back to the city. The human reached into a pouch, and pulled out a brass telescope, to get a better view of the distant city.
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Post by Croco and Speedwing on Oct 8, 2005 23:47:59 GMT -5
(OOC: I hope I don't mess this up!)
The human and cryolophosaur were nearing the city of Cornucopia when a loud, piercing cry filled the air above them, causing them both to turn their eyes skyward. The saurian thought nothing of it; he had heard the cries of Skybaxes as they approached cities before...but the human, still trying to adjust to life in this new and somewhat scary world, looked up with a feeling of awe and wonder. He turned his telescope skyward and was able to locate the great flying creature...but as it flew, he thought he could make out the shape of a man when its wings folded down. He couldn't believe it when he was able to put two and two together...there was a man riding on the back of that winged beast!
"What is that?" he asked. The cryolophosaur grumbled...he couldn't explain the concept of Skybax Riders very well as they neared Cornucopia, the city growing closer and closer.
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Post by Christopher on Oct 9, 2005 12:22:18 GMT -5
(OOC: Mess it up? Nowhere close! You probably just saved it from a permanent death.)
The dolphinback couldn't take his eyes off the flying creature. Not only were these beasts huge, they could also fly!
Then, the dinosaur he was riding came to a stop. This sudden stop was enough to bring the human's attention off the skybax rider, and look for the reason he stopped. It didn't take long to see, the two had arrived at the city.
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sil
Junior Scholar
Leader of one, Lover of Music, Liver of Life
Posts: 202
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Post by sil on Oct 9, 2005 12:50:14 GMT -5
OOC: I hope this doesn't throw the story out of whack. But I've been dying to introduce Me into a story. If this doesn't work I can change it.
Xepher looked over her shoulder at her rider, Sil. The teenage boy contiued looking ahead. His eyes set on the veiw of Cornicopia from the north.
"You know, we could have flown," the green Mountain Dragon told her rider.
"After you had torn that ligament? No way was I going to risk you crashing into the backbones, because of your stuborness. Besides I never get a ground eye veiw of the country anymore." Sil replied, never taking his eyes off the road. "Do you see that?" he asked.
"See what?" Xepher asked.
"That crylophosaur with thats walking with the human," Sil told his mount, taking a good grip of the reins infront of him. "I think if we escorted them into the city, we could avoid confrontation."
"And what confrontation would we be avoiding, may I ask?" Xepher was tired of all this wlaking.
"Isn't it obvious? That man is obviously a dolphinback, his clothing has no reseblance to modern dinotopian attire. And if a cryloph anter the city with a dragon and Rider, people would be less likely to attack now, and ask questions later." Sil responded, as if the answer was obvious.
"I suppose. And I have been wanting to test out my carnosaur." Xepher replied, moving into an easy trot.
"Then it's decided."
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