A Dinosaur in the Nexus

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor smells prey everywhere, and he struggles with his own instincts not to attack the food-smells around him, especially the tailless two-legged ones, who he instinctively hates. Hunting isn't allowed here. No fun. He swishes his tail. The tailless two-legs were fun to hunt, and even more fun to kill. He's skulked around the darker corners of the Nexus for long enough to learn that there are rules he must follow if he is to live here undisturbed. He couldn't lay a claw on anyone anyway, so he has to play nice. Playing nice is not something in his instincts, but he's a quick learner. 

For once the hybrid dinosaur isn't going to cause trouble, as long as nobody starts any with him. The Indoraptor is a vicious predator, but he's also an intelligent one and he has a sense of self-preservation. He's here in the Nexus to lick his wounds, recover his pride, and think about what to do next with his life. He remembers being hurt badly - though the timeline of events is foggy - and does not care to repeat the experience. He's only just healed enough to walk again. Maybe he can learn about another way to find food. He is hungry, and while in captivity he wasn't particularly well-fed. He was a weapon for the tailless two-legs, not a pet. (Both ideas disgust him - he's already decided not to allow himself to be owned by anyone ever again. If anyone tries, he'll do to them what he did to the last ones. His only regret is that he didn't kill more of them.)

If he isn't allowed to eat anyone here, however, what can he eat? He is a carnivore. Garbage tastes bad and can't sustain him forever. The people here would be too frightened of him (with good reason) to help. But he hasn't dragged himself here to starve, and he's out of his cage for good.

Finally he reaches a decision. He has to ask one of the food-smells for help. Even the tailless two-legs. The only thing he cares about at the moment is his survival. Dignity as a predator comes second.

He has learned some two-leg words from his time with them, stealing papers from the trash and trying to teach himself to read. Learning more words and testing his intelligence are on his to-do list. He can't talk with his voice, so he has to find another way to communicate with the other Nexus inhabitants. He knows that letters are part of words, and words are another way the two-legs talk, so he decides to start a conversation, the first time he's lowered himself to speak to people who in any other situation would be his victims. The black dinosaur slithers out to face the first person he sees, sitting on his hind legs, baring his teeth in a none-too-comforting smile.

The question the Indoraptor asks, writing letters on the ground with a hand claw, is a simple one.

Are you scared? 

Comments

[chocolatechipbadass]

Some of the tailless two legs are bigger than others. Meatier than others. This one looks honestly not even worth the bite considering she wouldn't even be a full mouthful and it would probably all be hair and bones even if the hunt was successful.

Tina's busy with her stuffed rabbit when the dinosaur slithers up to her table, scratching a question in the dirt. The little human girl stares, her eyes wide with wonder.

"This is literally the coolest thing that has ever happened in my life. I'm gonna scream. Is that okay? Don't panic it's not like a terrified scream but a scream of excitement do you feel me? DO YOU FEEL ME DINO MAN!?"

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor is surprised by the small one's reaction. She's happy to see him. No one was ever happy to see him - they just screamed or tensed up or ran away. A part of his shrivelled reptilian heart is glad that someone's responding to his being there in a friendly way. Maybe he can be accepted here after all.

Another note in the dirt. You're happy? He kind of likes the happy reaction. He's used to pain and fear, and he had enjoyed making the twolegs suffer, but this feeling wasn't half bad. No one's ever liked him before, and the warm feeling is something new to him.

He gives a soft roar, keeping it quiet so he wouldn't scare the small one, and falls to all fours. Why isn't she scared of him? He'd met small twolegs before, and they were as scared of him as the grown-up ones.

[chocolatechipbadass]

"UHM YES why wouldn't I be happy to have a kickass dinosaur for a friend?! We're gonna be friends do you have a name? If not I'll name you I'm great with names. I'm Tina and this--"

Tina pulls up her battered stuffed animal who smells of gunpowder and old blood from where it was sitting on the table and holds it out for the Indoraptor to inspect. Sharing is caring after all!

"This is Princess Fluffybutt and she has an impeccable ability to read people and she thinks you're posh as fuck and this is gonna be AWESOME!"

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor is startled for a moment by the stuffed animal, something that looks like prey but doesn't smell like prey. He bends to sniff Princess Fluffybutt. At least that's what it sounded like the strange thing is called.

He doesn't quite understand why twolegs place so much value on things with no practical use, but that's probably just a twoleg thing. And this twolegs seems to like him. He chuffs as he gently brushes the toy with a hooked claw. He's touched by what the small twolegs says next.

Friends? What are friends? The Indoraptor thinks as he writes. The twolegs and the scaly-runner he met must have been friends, and that was why the blue scaly-runner fought him, to protect the twolegs. He saw twolegs being friends with other twolegs. But he had no friends, either twolegs or scaly-runners. No one had protected him. You want to be friends with me?

[thewiselion]

The mighty lion stops to watch the Indorapter write letters on the ground.

He stands his ground.

"No."

[hybriddino]

The dinosaur is actually a little relieved to meet someone who isn't scared of him - it'll make interaction easier. He hasn't met this kind of animal before, he only really has encountered the small scaly-runners and the two-legs, so he doesn't know whether or not they can usually talk, but he continues to be polite.

Another quick message. Hello. Who are you?

[thewiselion]

"I am well. Thank you." Aslan steps forward.

"I can understand your natural manner of speech, if you would rather..."

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor has seen many beasts in his lifetime, some smart enough to reason with, so he doesn't do much more than startle briefly at the sudden approach of a dark creature. But then it bends and scrawls in the dirt with a foreclaw, and he peers at the words with his remaining eye.

"Scared of what?" That's a hell of an open question, isn't it? Sure, some things frighten him - failure, a life wasted, the usual - but it doesn't occur to him to fear the creature standing before him, not for an instant.

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor gives a soft growl of confusion. The stranger doesn't seem to be scared of him, or have any idea of why he should be scared. Maybe he's met other creatures as dangerous as the black dinosaur could be, or he is giving the Indoraptor a chance.

Hello. The dinosaur tilts its head as it scrawls another message with a foreclaw. That's what the two-legs say to greet one another, so it seems like the right thing to say in this situation. Who are you?

[pirateangelbaby]

It's only after the creature doesn't answer that Thor realizes what it'd meant, and he smiles a little before he answers. "I am Thor, son of Odin. King of Asgard."

It must understand spoken speech if it expected an answer to its questions, right? So he doesn't bother to try writing his own message, not just yet, not unless it makes it clear it doesn't understand. "Is there something you need? Some aid I might give?" He's no expert on its body language, of course, but something about the way it stands, the movement of its tail, suggests some kind of anxiety, or anticipation.

[houmaprotector]

Buried deep in Alec Holland's subconscious is a T-Rex. Actually a T-Rex and a brontosaurus. Two creatures stolen from the red and regrown in the green. Their minds are a part of his but all they offer are instincts. Serve. Protect. Mate. Live. Die.

He's overtaken by their instincts. Predator. Hide. Prey, devour. It takes every ounce of control he has not to shift his form to something more familiar.

They never speak. They never see their own kind. It's always the hairless pink apes, the green wants intelligence, never the simplicity of their own kind, the sort of creatures who it took first -

"The wilds are full of prey."

Says the big green plant...being.

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor stops in his tracks. This creature was built like one of the twolegs, and knew the twoleg language, but was covered in a green mass. He was pretty sure that it was not a twoleg, at least not anymore. And it knows where he can find prey to hunt. That's a very good thing. A reliable food source would solve his problems.

He sits down, swishing his tail back and forth.

The stranger doesn't register as prey, either. Besides size, the being is made of plants, and as a strict carnivore the Indoraptor has no interest in that way.

He gives a confused chirrup. The being understands what he's looking for without him saying so. Something strange is going on, but he has no reason not to take up the offer.

The wilds? He has spent most of his time outside the Nexus, foraging, and he doesn't have a good sense of the place's geography just yet. His hands twitch. Are you sure?

[houmaprotector]

Somewhere the one parliament of the trees member who understands this creature, who is providing Alec with knowledge of how to treat this being, is filled with sadness. That's how he'd describe it. The avatar of his past has no word for the feeling. It's foreign. A feeling it learned from years of overseeing human beings.

It didn't feel sad. It only wanted prey. To eat, to hunt, then the green things came. Swallowed it. Ate it.

Alec shoves it out of his mind. You can't go hunt with the thing anymore. You know that better then I do.

Swamp thing raises a hand, "...I can lead you to a good hunting ground. Medium sized prey."

[chiron_survivor]

Lost in the pages of a book, Adia does not notice the dinosaur until he is nearly upon her. She lets out a startled yelp, book slipping out of her hands. Nerves already rattled from not one, but two god encounters, it takes her a few seconds before she even notices the writing on the ground.

"I.. yes?" She looks from the words to the dinosaur, a hand over her heart, willing it to slow down. "Sorry, I didn't see you." Her instinct may be telling her to run, but the rest of her is fascinated at getting to see such a being up close. And he can communicate, too! What's he doing in the Plaza, though? Shouldn't he be in the Wilds?

"Are you lost?" She asks softly. "Do you need some help?"

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor settles back on his haunches, his jaws clamped shut as he observes. The twoleg doesn't run, something he appreciates, even though she is clearly frightened of him. Usually they run, but in the Nexus people seem more accepting of strange things and creatures. The Indoraptor is a strange creature, so he may have a home here.

He can't read the book very well, but he wonders what it is. He still has some learning to do before he can read full-length books, but maybe in the future he will be able to do it. Learning to read and write at all was a major step for him, and if he can do that he can do anything.

He wipes away his message with a hand, adding another in its place. Yes. Help, please. That's how twolegs ask for help. "Please" is especially important.

[chiron_survivor]

While he writes out a new message, she retrieves her book from the floor and dusts off the cover. The title reads Norse Mythology. Looks like someone is bothering to get herself a proper education.

Considering that there is an AV field in place and the dinosaur is trying to communicate, it'd be rude of her to run, at least in her opinion. She looks over his words and any remaining fear turns to concern for his well-being. She'll always try to help an animal in need. Even if that animal is an apex predator with giant claws and teeth.

"How can I help you?" she asks. "Do you want to go to the Wilds?"

[fictionings]

“Scared?” He frowns, mildly puzzled, appearing to consider his answer. It’s been a long time since he felt that particular emotion. Or maybe not so long. It’s hard to say, having forgotten what most emotions actually feel like. If he ever knew.

Toward the dinosaur-monster, he doesn’t feel anything other than curiosity. Even though it looks hungry and like it lowkey wants to eat him. It’s hard having to control a ravenous appetite, isn’t it.

He interprets the monster’s bared teeth as a smile, and so smiles back. A relaxed, friendly smile. “No, I’m not scared. Do you need help? Are you lost...?”

He speaks in a kind and reassuring tone, as if the Indoraptor were a frightened child in need of assistance.

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor is surprised by the way the stranger talks to him, as if he's a lost pet. He isn't sure what to make of it, since all the twolegs he has met before were afraid of him. There's an odd confidence from this one that the dinosaur doesn't quite know how to interpret. He isn't intimidated, but he's as close to ill-at-ease as it's possible for a 24-foot-long carnivorous dinosaur to be.

He thinks about what to say next. There's a sense of strangeness about this twoleg, and he's curious. Why isn't he afraid? Why isn't he acting like prey? His predatory instincts warn him to be cautious about overly confident prey, since that's a sign of a trap.

Maybe twolegs in this place weren't used to being prey. Twolegs are predators themselves, that's why they carried things that fired painful metal balls. They didn't pierce his scales, but they did hurt.

No. I'm not lost. Is there food? He doesn't know if the stranger has answers, but it's worth a try.

[fictionings]

“There’s plenty of food. No one should go hungry.” He fixes the Indoraptor with a well-practiced look of sympathy, imagining what intelligent wariness and starved desperation might lie behind sharp teeth and reptile eyes. There is a naivete to the creature, a newness. Like he is only now learning the ways of the world. Where is he from? How was it he came to the Nexus? That is a story Johan would very much like to hear.

Once the monster is fed, of course. It would probably be best to take him to the Wilds, away from the commerce and crowds of the Plaza. But for a predator, Johan is also not unused to being prey. Maybe he’s the one being led into a trap? Maybe once they are alone, the monster will turn on him. And gobble him up just like the nameless monster does sooner or later to everyone it meets. It wouldn’t matter at all. What the Indoraptor took for unnerving confidence is equal parts unnerving apathy.

He briskly gathers whatever books he’d been reading and shoves them into a messenger bag. But otherwise makes no move to head for the Wilds just yet. “What would you like? Meat?” he asks, willing to accommodate. “Do you have any preferences?”

[poetwarrior]

Indoraptor would be more than forgiven if he mistakes the newcomer for another dinosaur, if one that's smaller than himself, roughly the size of an Earth tiger, with much of his length devoted to his tail. Faris can taste the scent of the stranger before he sees him, an impressive sight in battle-black, and walking on hind paws only, foreclaws drawn up closer to the body.

"Hello," he says, his own red-gold scales darkening a little at the root, alert for whatever danger may have led this larger creature to appear so ready for combat. Long ears perk forward, however, and an interested snout lowers to read the words being scratched out by larger claws than his own, in Terran English, no less.

"Do I have reason to be?" he asks, lifting glowing green eyes to regard the stranger. Up close, the scent isn't quite the same as a K'da, something... different. Perhaps the black is a natural coloring, then?

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor initially thinks the newcomer is one of the scaly-runners, like the blue one that fought him. He doesn't have a great history with scaly-runners. However, on a second glance it's something different, something new and making a friendly gesture. Anyway, scaly-runners are smaller and have shorter tails.

He gives a tentative chirrup, a test to see if the stranger knows his language as well as twoleg. He's more comfortable with his own tongue. They look similar enough that it's worth a chance.

Hello. The hybrid writes another note, willing to loosen up a little now. What are you? The stranger looks like him, but he can tell by sight and scent that he is looking at something that is not a dinosaur. He isn't sure exactly what it is, but he knows it isn't a dinosaur like him. But if not, what is it? He has to find out. He hasn't seen anything like him since the small scaly-runner.

[poetwarrior]

Now that's an interesting sound, one that reminds Faris much more of the Shontine tongue than his own. He tilts his head, sitting back on his haunches, but no, it doesn't appear to mean anything in the languages he knows. The written language is in English, but perhaps...? "Tu auei K'dah?" he asks politely, in his own tongue.

It was worth a try.

"I am a K'da," Faris answers, bowing his head a little. "My name is Faris. When I first saw you, I thought perhaps you were kin to my kind, but your scent is not the same."

[eumenis]

One of the things Furiosa enjoys about the Nexus is the wildlife, in all honesty. Where she comes from, there are few wild animals bigger than lizards and snakes. Occasionally you'll see a wild dog in the desert, close to oases, but mostly the only animals around are carefully cultivated livestock, and vultures, and crows.

So, yeah, a reptile easily five times her size is a novelty. Also a huge surprise.

Her heartbeat goes from zero to sixty in the space it takes to blink, fight or flight response kicking in at once, and she raises her metal arm in preparation to defend herself. The Indoraptor may at least be able to see something to approve of in that; this two-legs carries a set of claws with her on the left arm, even if they're metal and not as long or sharp as his.

She's not aggressive, though, just ready to use that arm as a shield, and when she sees he's writing in the dirt, curiosity overwhelms her startle response. "Am I scared? Of course I am. Within reason."

Violence isn't supposed to be possible here, though, she remembers, and her arm lowers slowly. "Not too scared to talk, though. Glory...what are you?"

[hybriddino]

Well, this two-leg is different. Brave. The dinosaur clicks a claw on the ground..

The Indoraptor sees the metal arm, with claws, and gives an approving grunt. He doesn't know about prosthetics, but he's able to figure out that this particular twoleg is tough, which is something he respects. Twolegs usually didn't fight head-on. They used tricks, or relied on a scaly-runner to help them. His encounters with humans left him with the impression that two-legs were cowards.

But maybe his assumptions are wrong. He trills, gently touching her metal arm with one of his claws. It's hard, not made of flesh like his arm was. His guess was that she lost her own arm in a fight, an injury that would kill a dinosaur, if not from blood loss then from starvation later. But twolegs looked out for each other. He noticed that as he chased them. Twolegs protected other twolegs.

That was what made twolegs dangerous, even though they didn't have teeth or claws like he did.

He thought for a moment about what he was. I don't know. The twolegs who made me called me an Indoraptor, so I guess that's what I am. I don't have a name. The people who made him didn't care enough to do that. He was born and trained to be a weapon for humans, nothing more.

[eumenis]

Well, when self-defense is your only option, you learn to use whatever means you have at hand. If she had no other means, Furiosa would quite literally bite and scratch in a fight, even against a formidable scaly hide. Even knowing she'd lose. That's just the kind of grit the Wasteland breeds.

She's very happy not to have to fight now, though. There is something strangely melodic about the noise he makes, and she stays still as he touches her arm. Claw and metal make a soft click as they bump together, and she looks quietly thrilled.

"Indoraptor? Well you're--absolutely shine. Shine and chrome." Her voice is quiet, but she can't quite mask the enthusiasm. "Like a nightmare crossed with an armful of knives."

She's self aware enough to keep the gushing to a minimum, and leaves it at that, but she's clearly impressed. "Did you want something? Or just to talk?"