"ROAR—"
Scientificus Tyrannosaurus stood at the summit, unleashing a roar that pierced the heavens, seemingly declaring her absolute dominion.
Carnotaurus Two galloped across the grassland, lowering her head and charging in a violent rush to flip an Ouranosaurus onto its back. Three Albertosaurus were busy hauling branches, constructing a new nest deep within the forest. Helped by the Primeval Organization, the Carcharodontosaurus had recovered his damaged upper jaw; he looked up toward the summit, paused for a moment, and then faded back into the jungle.
The Parasaurolophus raised by Carlo had found their own place of refuge along the lakeshore. A Triceratops jammed its massive horns into a rocky crevice, scraping them against the stone. Brachiosaurus raised their heads in the lake, gazing toward the rising sun.
Lockwood's vision had truly been realized: the dinosaurs were living in peace on his island.
No fences, no cages, no humans... Well, humans were present, of course. After all, mixing dinosaurs from different eras together created a veritable hellscape; without someone to ensure the stability of the ecosystem, these dinosaurs would likely have driven themselves to extinction.
THUD.
Scientificus Tyrannosaurus finally sated her hunger. She slowly flopped down under the shade of a tree, watching the dinosaurs from different eras coexist, her expression growing increasingly bewildered.
A chaotic stew of dinosaurs, terrifyingly large Giganotosaurus, a human society no different from the 21st century... Where on earth did this land bring me?
This Scientificus Tyrannosaurus actually had another name: Solist. She did not belong to this era, nor was she brought back by humans. Instead, she was...
Drowsiness washed over her. Solist closed her eyes, entering a light doze. She had been truly exhausted lately: evading humans, filling her stomach, fighting crazed dinosaurs... Life in the Cretaceous was so much better.
...
Everything before her was pitch black, and her body felt sticky. Solist felt as though she were curled into a ball, deeply uncomfortable.
Crack...
With a burst of effort, she shattered the prison that held her. Sunlight squeezed through the cracks in the shell, illuminating her green body. It wasn't exactly cute, nor was it ugly, but it certainly gave off a feeling of innocence.
Hmm... Tyrannosaurus rex hatchlings were essentially this color. Perhaps it was to avoid other predators that might hunt them; they would fade in color throughout adolescence until they finally displayed their true colors as sub-adults.
Solist had four other unborn siblings, yet from the moment of her birth, she displayed her difference: her body wasn't driven purely by instinct, but by conscious thought and reasoning.
Di... Dinosaur?!
Solist locked eyes with a male T-Rex. If nothing else, that was her Dinosaur Father.
Surprised, she stretched her body, shattering the eggshell entirely. It was the first thing she had ever destroyed in her life.
Gurgle...
Hunger surged. A newborn hatchling needed food; surely, Solist was about to taste some delicious dinosaur milk...
Plop...
The adult T-rex tore a long strip of meat from a dinosaur carcass nearby and tossed it, rather roughly, in front of the nest.
Oh, right. Dinosaurs are reptiles; how could they drink milk? Who (the author) actually invented the concept of dinosaur milk? That is just moronic. How could dinosaurs have something like that? Haha... haha... ha.
Hilarious.
Before Solist could recover from the reality of being a dinosaur, the gnawing hunger drove her to consume the raw meat.
Chew... crunch...
Though Solist was only a hatchling, her bite force already showed promise. She tried to tear the meat apart but found her tiny teeth couldn't quite cut through it, so she stepped on the meat with her little foot and whipped her head back violently!
Blood stained the sides of her jaws. Accompanied by the sounds of tearing and swallowing, Solist consumed her first meal.
The meat wasn't exactly fresh, but it didn't show signs of rot either. It must have been something her Dinosaur Father had prepared beforehand.
Crack...
From the nest behind her, the sound of eggshells shattering rang out once more.
And with it, a voice echoed in Solist's mind.
...
"Roar—"
Now having reached adolescence, Solist led her three siblings in a hunt. Her skin remained a deep, lush green, though patches of gray were beginning to emerge.
Under her genius leadership, the adult T-rex successfully distracted a large Triceratops, while she and the other sibling isolated a juvenile from the herd!
Come to think of it... was the independence age for T-Rexes a bit too early? Perhaps it was Solist's size, a full circle larger than her peers, that led her Dinosaur Father to misjudge her age?
"Aunnng!"
The young Triceratops bolted through the forest, the pleasant blue sky revealing itself as the trees gave way to an open clearing.
A cliff edge blocked its escape route.
The Triceratops turned around, aiming its long brow horns at the T-Rexes, slowly retreating toward the abyss.
Solist burst from the forest and skidded to a halt. She knew the dangers of fighting near a cliff, so she didn't act rashly.
Low growl...
In a one-on-one, a juvenile Triceratops and an adolescent T-Rex might have had a fighting chance, but...
Three more adolescent T-Rexes sprinted out from behind Solist. Every one of their gazes was locked onto the Triceratops at the cliff's edge.
The standoff lasted a moment. With a light roar from Solist, the Scientificus Tyrannosaurus pack followed her back into the jungle. After a brief flurry of movement, peace returned.
The only sound left at the cliff's edge was the whistling of the wind as it blew over the rock pillars.
The Triceratops didn't leave; it remained at the very precipice. A gamble had begun. Though it might have been an unnecessary game, it was one the Triceratops couldn't afford to lose.
Hope for its kin to come and save it? The possibility was slim to none, but it was the only way to significantly improve its survival rate.
Dusk crept across the western horizon; the moon surfaced in the bright night sky, then vanished into the dark; the morning sun rose in the east, streaking across the sky before turning to dusk once more.
Two days later, the young Triceratops gave up on waiting. It stepped forward, walking into the forest. Had the Tyrannosaurus pack left?
Indeed, when facing predators, blind panic is always useless. Only through patience and caution can one...
"Roar!"
An adolescent T-Rex couldn't wait any longer, lunging out to bite down on the Triceratops's back! Another T-Rex followed closely, tearing into the Triceratops's frill!
The prey had patience, but didn't the hunters as well?
The Triceratops whipped its head, the spikes on the edge of its frill raking across the snout of one T-Rex, before it spun rapidly, driving its as-yet-ungrown brow horns into the hind leg of another!
The two young T-Rexes were defeated, bearing the first scars of their lives.
The young Triceratops breathed heavily. With nowhere left to retreat, it seemed determined to fight to the death.
Solist did not join the two T-Rexes in the assault; after all, too many teammates could often be detrimental to a hunt.
The crazed young Triceratops noticed her, lowered its head, and charged! Solist shifted her body to the side, and just as it reached her, she engaged her massive bite force, locking onto the opponent's long horn!
Crack...
The young Triceratops's weapon shattered into fragments. Finally, the last T-Rex moved in for the kill, locking onto the prey's throat and ending its life.
The hunt was a success.
Solist released the cracked horn from her jaws. Watching her "Brother One" begin to feast, she prepared to join in.
"Roar—"
Brother One let out an angry bellow. What is going on?
Before Solist could react, "Sister One" and "Brother Two," who had been injured earlier, rushed forward and began fighting with Brother One!
Bush.
Solist was a competent hunter, and she could be a fine leader, but the kinship of Tyrannosaurus rex was far more indifferent than she had ever imagined.
...
The morning sun dyed the coastline a golden yellow, as if the earth had been sprinkled with shards of gold. Fine sand shimmered in the sunlight; ocean waves lapped gently against the beach, white foam brushing against the paws of the Tyrannosaurus.
Solist walked along the coast alone. She didn't know why she had come here, perhaps to clear her mind, or perhaps just to watch the scenery.
A dark, grayish hue had now spread across her body. While her slightly less jagged teeth lacked a bit of that razor-sharp edge, combined with her massive, powerful frame, she carried an aura of innate, unquestionable authority.
The continents of the Cretaceous were beginning to drift apart. Solist stopped, looking at the landmasses separated by the ocean, her thoughts swirling.
"Roar—"
Suddenly, a loud roar came from across the ocean. Solist narrowed her eyes, spotting only a black shadow that seemed small against the backdrop of the mountains.
It was a Giganotosaurus.
"Roar—"
Solist replied.
The Demon King of South America and the Tyrant of North America locked gazes for the very first time.
Just then, a blue starlight streaked across the sky, falling into the forest. A strange sensation surged through her. Solist stopped wandering the coast and chased after the falling star, discovering a figure that was incredibly familiar, yet strange and completely irrational!
"I just thought of something fun."
The familiar voice echoed in her mind again! After a dizzying whirl, Solist found herself high in the sky, plummeting rapidly toward the island below!
...
A strange-shaped meteor streaked across the sky. Carlo sat by the great lake, feeling the tremors of the volcano while watching the falling star.
I hope everyone makes it out alive...
He wished silently to himself.
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