Hermione Meadows's Story

Fortunately for Michael, this is enough to kill it. Its corpse falls heavily onto the grass, blood leaking out of its mouth and head. He was not out of the woods yet however. In the direction he was running he would encounter a four legged animal, a herbivore. It was a strange creature with a long neck like a sauropod, however it had hooves on its legs. This was Xamatoequus. It was busy browsing from a tree and not paying any mind to michael.

Michael almost runs into the Xamotoquus, and spends some time looking at it warily, unsure if it was hostile. He doesn't think it is. He then spends some time admiring the strange foliage and life all around him. He kind of wants to walk back to the corpse of the Vennoxamos, just to look at it, but decides not to. He doesn't yet trust the planet all around him.

The prosauropod continued eating the soft leaves of the nearby tree blissfully unaware of Michael. He would however encounter a strange new animal that looked out of place among the saurian residents. It was a small winged creature, one that looked like a rabbit. It flapped its wings and landed on the grass below. It had a pouch on its belly, indicating this was infact a marsupial.

Michael looks cautiously at the rabbit-like thing, holding his pike at his side in one hand. He's not really sure what to trust here, and so he decides to walk back after Kassandra. But she's gone, and he's not exactly a tracker. So he's stuck here. Damn.
He looks at the rabbit-thing for a bit, then decides to give it some distance. Those teeth look pretty sharp. He stands, just observing everything around him, and starts thinking.

The corpse of the Vennoxamos was next to him, already it started to smell like rot. This would attract scavengers, one of which was a small theropod. Its crane-like neck reached in and sniffed the corpse, and nipped at it. This was Coeloxamos, a mostly harmless scavenger that strangely smelled like honey.

Michael looks over at the scavenger, wary but not believing it presents any harm to him. So he sits down in the grass, a good distance away from each of the animals, and takes a small whetstone to the blade of his pike, and stores the rest of the blades in their respective sheathes, of which there were six, each a different size and shape.

He starts running the whetstone along the blade of his spear, making an ear grating scraping sound, about a second in interval between each pass of it along the blade. He seems absolutely focused on this task, but in reality he's focusing on his surroundings more. Not as much as he was earlier, but enough to know what was going on around him.
The slightly interesting note of this was that he made no vocal sound during his fight with the Vennoxamos, or any sound afterwards. His steps make almost no noise on the grass, his motions make close to no sound either. There is just the scrape of the whetstone on the blade.

The hadrosaur did nothing to annoy Michael, but they were a sort of a bother. He decides just to ignore them, despite how loud they were. He continues scraping away at his blades, but stands up. He plants the blunter end of his pike, the end that tapered to a point, not the blade, into the grass, so that it stands parallel to his body, and removes the blade from the shaft, using the whetstone to sharpen it. The loud honking of the hadrosaurs causes him to drop his whetstone and look over at them in annoyance, though. He picks it up and goes back to sharpening his blade.

The Xamatosaurolophus gathered near him thinking he was one of their own due to the scraping sounding similar to their honking. Soon however their curious honking became more frequent, as if they were trying to communicate with him. The tall grass all around was shuffling due to the breeze blowing and small animals running about. Something was amiss though, the hadrosaurs were keeping watch and their body language started turning from calm to steadily nervous.

Michael looks over at the Xamatosaurolophus's, near him, and puts the whetstone away. He glances at them and then looks at them a few seconds longer. They seem... Nervous? They were kind of agitated, for some reason.
He grabs up his pike from the ground and screws on the blade. He stays where he is, but holds his pike in his hands, ready if anything happens.

The nearby grass began to rustle, something was inside! The hadrosaurs began to move around and make agitated honks, they were scared. The grass began compressing forward, as if something was coming forward out of the grass. suddenly it revealed itself....to be a tiny little dinosaur. It was known as a Quilloxamos, a small bipedal herbivore with quills not unlike a porcupine lining its back. It made small squawks at Michael, curious of him.

Michael does not feel threatened by this small animal, so he puts his pike by his side, the blade pointing toward the ground. He doesn't mutter a word, but looks on as the loud ones shy away from this small, spiny one, a bit of an amusing sight. He's sure there are other people around here, he saw them at the corpse of the great beast. So he sets off toward where he thinks he came from, even waving goodbye to the loud, honking animals and the smaller, spiked one, smiling a bit as he does so. He shoulders his backpack and starts walking eastward, but he isn't entirely sure if this is the way he should be going. Eh, he'll figure it out.

It would certainly seem like it was a false alarm, but there was still something amiss. Suddenly the herd would find itself being ambushed, with Michael in the middle of it! It was a pack of Xamatoraptors, a large species of raptor easily two heads taller than Michael. They had noticeable frills around their necks composed of yellow feathers, they opened and closed them at each other as if it were a kind of language. One of them, the more dominant of the pack had went on ahead and the rest closed in and made their horrid screeches. The hadrosaurs were now in full fear mode, honking in terror and panic. They threatened to trample Michael as they ran.

Michael turns as he hears the loud honking and barely dodges the running herd, and then sees the cause of the panic. He can tell these ones are more hostile, they have more sharp bits, and why else would the Honkers be afraid? So he quickly takes out his pike and gets it into a combat position, but ultimately, there are too many. So he begins his slow retreat, not taking his eyes off of the Xamatoraptors. He wants to remove his backpack and pull out a different blade, but there's no time. These things are a bit bigger than him, and he's not all sure he wants to have to fight them off. So he whistles, very loudly and sharply, three times in quick succession and then three times slowly, then repeats the process. Any being around him that knew morse code would surely recognize the S.O.S. At least he hopes they do. He continues his slow retreat, pike at the ready.

Dani was enraptured by the massive, long-necked tree-eaters browsing in a wooded area just below the hill. Some of their heads were more or less level with hers, from her vantage. One even glanced over at Dani and let out a grumble of acknowledgment. The creature was so large, it resonated quietly through the earth beneath her feet. Then it went back to eating leaves casually.

Hearing the chirping from almost right behind her, Dani turned around slowly, so as not to spook whatever was there. She had to repress an urge to “squee” at the cuteness of the little quill-backed creatures. They were more interested in her bike, and didn’t notice her until she took a small step toward them. Dani immediately crouched down to about their height to seem less threatening. She almost reached up to pull down the Stenomask before a thought struck her: the mask looked very similar to the beaks on these Quillbacks.

“Hey, guys, aren’t you cute?” Dani said in a soothing voice, only somewhat muffled. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. Here... I think I have something for you!”

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a granola bar and offered it to the Quillbacks after unwrapping it. They sniffed at it skittishly, but didn’t seem to want to take it from her, so she dropped it in front of them. Her attention was torn away by a high, shrill whistle. Three short ones, three long ones, then three short again. It was repeated. Definitely Morse for S.O.S. Somebody was in trouble nearby.

Dani ran to the edge of the hill and looked down to see a large most definitely herbivorous herd stampeding away from her, being stalked by what looked like raptors. In the midst of the herd was a man holding some sort of long handled weapon, calmly threading his way through them. What worried her most was the raptors: they might decide the guy was an easier target. But how was she supposed to frighten them away? She had a large(ish) caliber pistol, but was loathe to use it unless absolutely necessary. Shooting it in the air would be a waste of ammunition. A plan began to form in her mind even as she went about doing so.

Dani hopped on her bike while calling to the Quillbacks: “If you guys want more of that stuff, follow me, please!”

It was a longshot that they would listen, but it might work. This side of the hill was very steep, so it would be a very rapid descent. With the height, it might seem to the raptors that the Quillbacks were bigger, so they might be spooked. If all else failed, maybe seeing a human racing at them yelling as viciously and loudly as possible racing down on them would scare them off. Dani pushed off and started heading down the hill...

The Xamatoraptors attention was diverted to the crazy person on the bike. They were surprised to discover a strange new creature that was not only not afraid but seemed to want to fight them. They opened and closed their frills to each other, once again using that strange bodily language to communicate with each other.

Through consecutive flapping and bird-like squacking toward each other they made a temporary retreat. All of them that is except for the alpha, he did not retreat. Instead he stood his ground and angrily screeched. He was not leaving without a meal, his pack could wait for him.

Michael watches as a person on a bike seems to rush over. The Xamatoraptors seemed to have scurried off, all but one. At least there's not as many anymore. The one screeched, he wasn't sure for what reason, but he rushes the creature anyway, and hits it in the throat with the blunt end of the pike, probably not killing it but almost definitely hurting it. He takes a couple quick steps back, then prepares his pike and takes on a fighting stance.

As predicted, it was a very, very rapid descent. Dani could barely keep her bike going in a straight line. but thankfully she only had one target now. The rest of the sizeable raptors did appear to be spooked by her unorthodox attack. The last one, definitely the Alpha, stood its ground. The dude with the spear rushed up and poked at the raptor’s neck, but Dani didn’t have time to see what effect it had. Suddenly she was almost upon the two. Hunching over the handlebars and shifting her center of gravity towards the back wheel, Dani wrenched the rear brake. Throwing that shifted gravity to the side now, the back wheel started skidding right into one of the raptor’s back legs, possibly breaking the thing’s knee-joint if it hit properly.

Not wanting to sit around waiting to have her head chomped off, Dani pushed down hard on the pedals after the momentum followed through on the strike. If she got free before the raptor could react to the attack on two fronts, Dani would throw down her Stenomask with one hand and then gesture at the spear-wielding fellow: “Throw me your spear! I have an idea!”

The Xamatoraptor alpha went in for a bite but was interrupted by Michaels spear handle strike to the neck. This injury would have it make a pained squeak sound. Suddenly Dani's attack to its knee joint would collide, causing its leg to fracture. The Xamatoraptor let out more pained sounds before falling over. It struggled onto its feet and yet....its attention was not on the two fighting it. One could see fear in its eyes. It did its best to limp away in the direction its pack mates went.

The reason for its fear quickly became apparent as hiding in the foliage nearby Dani and Michael were being watched. They were face to face with a Xamatosaurus Rex, the most feared and dangerous predator in the valley. It forward facing eyes were staring directly at them, having been attracted by the sound of combat. It made no sound, it awaited their next move and stayed stock still.

Michael was about to toss his spear to the woman when it becomes obvious to him that the animal is clearly injured and trying to get away, so he chooses the path of pity and allows it to escape. But it seemed afraid... He looks over his shoulder and sees exactly of what the thing feared. A Xamotosaurus Rex, which he wasn't sure was, but it was big and looked dangerous. He looks at the woman, pointing over his shoulder and trying to convey the message that something is there, then readies his spear and turns around, waiting for the beast to make a move.

Silence and strategy, all of it was interrupted by the sound of a deafening sonic boom that reverberated all throughout the jungles of Xamoyos.

The deafening boom was immediately followed by a brief roar, followed by a deafening crash, the shockwave from the crash moving out in all directions, tossing leaves, twigs, and other debris.

Roughly a dozen or so feet from the Xamoyos Rex, Michael, and Dani, an unusual metal structure could be seen in the scorched foliage, and soil. It's bottom still glowing red hot from it's entry into the planet's atmosphere. Steam rose from the impact where the strange pod landed.

But the show wasn't over, a metallic clank, followed by a loud pop followed, and the heavy armored front of the pod flew forward to reveal a slender figure clad in all black armor of some kind, the armor, like the figure was sleek, almost glossy black and worn with a glossy black full head helmet and visor. This completely obscured the figure's identity as they undid the straps that kept them restrained to the chair inside the pod.

The figure's eyes were on the large creature, it's form highlighted on a high-fidelity field of view, highlighted through the trees, and the grass. The figure reached above, grasping a long, sleek weapon encased in a dazzling fractal camouflage pattern.

The figure jumped from the pod, and landed with a soft crack on the ground, the muddy ground crunching under their weight. It brought it's weapon to their shoulder, and took keen aim at the Xamoyos Rex.

The raptor Alpha was definitely hurt now, hopefully not mortally. It managed to move off pretty gamely, but Dani figured fear might have been a factor in that. Pedaling a bit more slowly now that the immediate danger was gone (or so she thought), Dani turned back to see the fellow pointing behind him at... well, in her eyes it looked like a larger, meaner, Tyrannosaurus Rex. A Xamatosaurus Rex then? In typical fashion, some part of her mind was still being the biologist, trying to figure out the naming system of species, despite the imminent doom. Would the raptors then be called Xamatoraptors...?

No... this wasn’t helping at all. There was a creature most likely planning on eating both of them for snacks, with little trouble at all. Dani started pedaling toward the man and beast, planning on making a stand with another human being than run off and leave them on their own. Then all hell seemed to break loose in an instant.

First, the sonic boom of an object entering the atmosphere. Then the follow-up roar of impact, the shock wave actually picking Dani up off her bike and into the back of the man with the spear. If he hadn’t been there, she was certain she would have ended up almost directly beneath the X-rex’s feet. Dazed from the impact, Dani still managed to untangle herself and get up in time to see the occupant of the pod draw and aim a deadly-looking weapon at the Xamatosaurus Rex.

“Wait! Don’t kill it please!” Dani shouted at the armor-clad figure, and startled stumbling towards them in an attempt to throw off their aim at the X-rex and hopefully only wound it instead.

The X-rex's cover was blown, this much was obvious. It was originally hunting the Xamatosaurolophus that were here before the raptors had arrived. Its attention instead shifted to the much more glaring pod that had crash landed. It had never seen anything like it but it did not approach. It however saw that one of the humans was coming out of it, holding what looked like a weapon.

The X-rex leaned its head back some and let out a thunderous roar, shaking the ground slightly from the sheer force of it. The intent was to scare, if that failed then combat was inevitable.

Michael flinches at the loud roar of the X-Rex, and involuntarily takes a couple steps away. He turns around to face the X-Rex, and finally sees the man there, with what appeared to be a rifle. He's not sure how to act, and wants to take the self-preserving route, but he sees the woman try and get in between the man and his target, so he just runs over and just decides to back her up, but not saying a word. He tries to stay mindful of the X-Rex, and every instinct he has is to run, but he owes this woman a favor now. So he stands next to her, and holds his spear at his side.

The figures faceless gaze seemed to suffer no reaction at the woman who jumped between her and the beast, placing herself squarely inside the line of fire. But if one could see past the faceless visor, one would see grit teeth.

The figure angled down the aim of their weapon, no longer aiming at the beast, and unfazed by it's earth trembling roar.

Instead the figure called out in a distorted, reverberating voice.

"Get out of the way! Do you have a death wish!"

The figure adjusted it's stance, gaze affixed to the mighty x-rex, trying to get a better firing angle. They were watching every subtle move.

That was until they did the unpredictable, and raised their weapon into the air, firing a single shot, culminating in a blinding green flash of light, followed by a streak of light that shot into the sky, and sounded like a thunderclap that echoed through the valley. The figure lowered it's weapon back on the X-rex, waiting for it's next move.

As if her ears hadn’t already taken enough of a beating, the roar of the Xamatosaurus Rex quickly brought ringing back to Dani’s eardrums. She barely registered that the armor-clad figure had asked her if she had a death wish. Then that figure shot their weapon into the air, causing yet another jolt to her hearing, and a blinding flash of light thrown in for good measure. This time, Dani heard -and felt- something pop in her right ear, and imagined some blood coming out of it. She didn’t have time to confirm that suspicion, as something in her brain got “stuck” from all the sudden sensory input. Her legs got tangled up underneath her and she went sprawling, possibly striking her head on a rock, but all Dani knew in that moment was darkness.

Dani was only unconscious for a few moments, but apparently that was all the time needed for a frightening and vivid nightmare: She found herself standing in the stranger’s black armor, holding that highly advanced weapon. Dani was laying slaughter to any and all life she saw before her with that scary gun. What was truly horrifying (for her biologist mind, at least), was that there was some small part of her that was enjoying the slaying of these poor animals...