RP:How To Train Your Carcharodontosaurus, Part 3

From HollowWiki

With the raptors taken care of, it was time to head into the city and finish this quest once and for all. Of course, things very rarely go as planned...

The RP

Kreekitaka charged down the path atop Vindicator, with Pilar riding in the back and a whole pack of raptors chasing after them. You know, like any other day. They'd just detected a roar coming from somewhere deeper in the city and were headed that way at top speed. It was time to catch this beast once and for all--and hopefully before the city guards had rallied to kill it with pikes and arrows.

Pilar held onto Kree's shoulders as they skittered down the road, shouting apologies as people dove out of the way. There was another roar, and Pilar could hear screams now, too. "That way!" she called, and they barreled down a different street, raptors still on their tail. They soon made it to the center of the city, where the dinosaur was terrorizing the citizenry.

Those poor citizens. They were gonna need another Boomer. Or three. For the most part, people who could find shelter were okay, however. Honestly, it wasn't like this was the first time this had happened to this city. Still, it happened infrequently enough--and hadn't happened in a while--that several were caught off-guard by the massive theropod stomping through the streets, overturning vendor's shops and generally making a colossal nuisance of itself. If it were on any narrower streets, it might find itself hemmed in, but here in the main square it was free to turn around as it liked--especially when it smelled the familiar scent of carapace. So, that crab-thing wanted back for more? The carcharodontosaurus roared another challenge to them, though this time it was a little more wary--it was tougher than it looked. and this time it had a larger animal with it. ==== Kreekitaka shifted his stance and lifted his jawblade--and his lance. Oh yes. He'd set the shield down and gone for the heavy weaponry this time. A large orthocone lance, reinforced with metal and resin, pointed forward towards the monster. To Pilar, after she'd finished covering her ears, he said, "See if you can make your creatures keep iTAH! occupieDAH! whioh I snag HHHTHe ropes wiHHHTH my yance!" Time to see if those raptors were as good at getting underfoot as they looked.

Pilar hadn't the foggiest clue how to make the raptors do ANYTHING. If they even understood Common She pointed at the large dinosaur, and shouted, "Sic him!" Nothing. The raptors looked at her blankly. She sighed. Sure, they followed her, but that's because she'd fed them. Wait... of course! Sliding off the scorpion, Pilar pulled more jerky from her bag. Immediately the raptors crowded around her. She pushed her way through the crowd and ran towards the theropod. She hurled the handful of meat at it, and it blinked at her in confusion. She quickly made herself scarce as the horde of raptors descended on the meat. The theropod tried to move and inadvertently kicked a raptor, causing it to hiss and bite at its foot.

Kreekitaka waited for the raptors to begin attacking the larger dinosaur in earnest--one of them had retaliated, therefore the pack needed to show strength, defending the kill against the larger monster. And when the fight really started--with the raptors pouncing and clinging to its legs and causing the greater predator to stagger a little--Kree urged Vindicator forward, lance pointed directly at the distracted creature. The lance slipped in between the ropes, and with a flick of Kree's wrist he tugged them down and into the claws of Vindicator. With a clattered command and a kick or two, the scorpion grabbed onto the ropes and locked himself down, tugging back and down on the huge dinosaur to hold it in place. Kree dropped the lance and smacked it in the nose with his jawblade to get its attention, staring it down. "I'm going TAH!oo cyimb onboarDAH! an' make you mine," the uyeer said to it, then grabbed the ropes and started doing exactly that, climbing up its body. "Piyar! Have you any suggestions for TAH!aming iTAH!.? Mus' I make iTAH! unconscious or mereyee guiDAH! iTAH! where I wish iTAH! TAH!oo go?"

Pilar watched Kreekitaka work with not a little bit of wonder. How such a creature could be so destrous on land, she'd never know. When asked about taming it, she replied, "Hurting it will not work, it will only upset it! Food is usually the best way to a beast's heart!"

Kreekitaka grunted. That much was true enough, he surmised--he'd developed his bond with Kingmaker in roughly the same way, by guiding it towards food supplies. Now he was going to have to prove to this creature that it would do better with him on top. Once he was back in the "saddle", so to speak, he gripped the ropes and let out a clattering command to Vindicator to start pulling. "Have HHHTHe rapTAH!ors come back," he ordered Pilar, "so I can make it walk where I wanTAH!" The scorpion started dragging it forwards, and since Kree was keeping it from dragging Vindicator around with his legs and jawblade, it was forced to go along with their wishes and start moving towards the exit. "An' have someHHHTHing aromaTAH!ic an' meaTAH!y reaDAH!y for ITAH! TAH!oo foyow!"

Pilar whistled and the raptors looked at her. Then they went back to harassing the theropod. Frustrated, Pilar went to one of the few stores not damaged by the rampage; a meat store. No one was manning the place, so she just plopped some gold on the counter and grabbed some meat. She whistled again, and waved a large sausage around. This time, the raptors came running. She broke it apart into little pieces to feed them, then took the other piece of meat she'd grabbed and ran towards the scorpion. She walked alongside Vindicator and held up the brisket. Unfortunately, the raptors were as entranced by the meat as the theropod was hopefully going to be, and crowded around her. Luckily, they were far enough away that the large dino had room to walk, but still. Pilar did not like get jostled around.

This--was--unacceptable! Other creatures had it bound, and in such a way that it was forced to comply?! It had fought others of its own kind and broken them. It had feasted on many powerful dinosaurs. And yet here it was, surrounded by tiny non-threats, and forced to comply with them. And struggling only made it worse, because then would come the biting pain of that toothed stick the crab was carrying--but pride would not permit it to surrender. It struggled against every step, fought to go the other way when guided to the left--and then caught the scent of something good. In its hatred, it had been blinded to all manner of food sources, but one moment of relaxation allowed it the one of the most delicious scents it had smelled in a long while. And these creatures were trying to show it there. It struggled some more, but with less effort. Surely it would have found this scent on its own, wouldn't it? These beings were unnecessary. They were trying to help, though, which was something... ==== Kree could feel the shift in the animal's demeanor, having tamed many a sea creature with a very similar brain structure, and he knew that he was winning. Fight it 'til it tires, then show it to food, then care for it and love on it until it realizes that the benefits to your survival outweigh the problems involved. "We're winning!" he called down to Pilar, raising the jawblade high overhead. Of course, it didn't look like they were winning. The carcharodontosaurus was still fighting every step. Whatever it was that had caused this shift must be something subtle that had to be felt.

Pilar pulled a piece off the brisket and pushed her way through the raptors. She held it up to the large dinosaur's mouth, offering it the meat. She hoped it didn't try to eat both it and her in one gulp, and was ready to dive out of the way if such a thing happened. She stood there, tense, waiting...

Kreekitaka made a warning noise and sent an urgent clattering command to Vindicator, whose tail stiffened and jerked back. Made for punching through armored bone, the trident-tipped stinger was more than adequate enough to put a serious halt to this entire escapade should the dinosaur make the wrong move. The moment was incredibly tense. Having seen tail weapons before and knowing just how lethal they could be, the huge theropod roared in confusion--was it supposed to take the meat? Would the scorpion attack if it accepted? And what about the biting-stick? It could tell from the scent that the meat right in front of it was different from the one offering, but it would be so easy to just sweep them up in one bite... Decision made, the carcharodontosaurus took a single massive step forward and ducked low, raking the claws of its arm down to try and knock the meat from the little woman's hands.

Pilar jumped back with a shout, dropping the meat. A raptor swooped in and grabbed it, leading to another scuffle amongst the small creatures. "Ay, no!" Pilar cried. She tried one last-ditch effort to give the creature its meat. Hefting the remainder of the brisket up, she hurled it through the air towards the theropod's mouth.

Now this might be a problem. The much larger dinosaur already had its sights on that particularly delicious piece of meat, and now it was gone--taken by feathered things barely big enough to consider annoying. One does not simply take food from a fifty-food theropod. Scorpion be darned, biting-stick be darned, it was all set to cut loose and it drew in a breath for a thunderous challenge-roar to try and scatter the raptors--and then a new piece of that meat landed on its tongue. There was a momentary pause while it tilted its head back to swallow the meat, and then considered, taking in a deep breath to smell. The woman smelled of residue, but didn't seem to have any more on her. The raptors, meanwhile, where still fighting over its own rightful piece. Which it still wanted. If it waited much longer, it would be gone--and now the moment had been lost. It struggled and let out another roar, but a less concerted effort than before to escape the ropes. Either it was tiring or distracted, but for whatever reason it seemed a little more willing to cooperate. Well, for now, at any rate. Kree gave the command to keep walking and it moved, though Pilar, who could probably see its eyes, could probably tell it had plans...

Pilar got out of the way of the creature, hands clapped over her ears. The roar was wreaking havoc on her sensitive hearing. She looked up at Kreekitaka, lowering her hands. "Mr. Kreekitaka!" she called, "be careful! It isn't completely tame yet!"

Kreekitaka nodded--he could feel it. Maybe not the actual plans of the creature, but the fact that it wasn't his yet. "I am sure a beasTAH! HHHTHis strong will TAH!ake many weeks of training before iTAH! is reaDAH!ee TAH!oo give me controh." For now, though, it seemed to be cooperating. "If you can, fin' someHHHTHing more for iTAH! as a reward, whioh iTAH! is unresisTAH!ing!"

Pilar ran back to the meat shop, dumping more coin on the counter and leaving with an armful if meat. She ran back to Vindicator's side, waving a T-bone steak around. The raptors, finished with the piece kf meat from before, excitedly ran at her, but she kept backing away, most of her attention on the big one.

Well now this was interesting. The carcharodontosaurus, as it opened its mouth and extended its tongue to receive the meat offering, considered what was going on. It was being pointed in a certain direction--namely, out towards the woods, away from the fire and stone and tight spaces. It was being given some small yet very tasty morsels for cooperating, and there had been no hits from on top in a while. Of course it would still be better to eat these little things and be done with it, but so far they seemed mostly benevolent. Might stick around a while longer and see what happened. And as it relaxed a little and began to cooperate more, Kreekitaka knew they'd won. It would need training. It needed to know precisely who its master was. But it would eventually become a most impressive mount--one fit for a king indeed.

Pilar tossed the steak to the theropod, cooing over how good it was. She shared some more meat with the raptors, to prevent them getting jealous, but remained focused on the large dinosaur. Soon, they were well out of the city, and Pilar was out of meat. The raptors still crowded around her, prodding with their noses for more, and Pilar nervously looked to Kree. "What now, Mr. Kreekitaka?"

Kreekitaka had been planning for this moment ever since they'd left the city. What this dinosaur needed, in his mind, was an opportunity to cut loose a bit and properly hunt something with somebody guiding it. Possibly the raptors, too. "HHHTHese are carnivores," he said, rippling his paddles and signaling for Vindicator's attention. "Hyu makes such creatures for HHHTHe hunTAH!. If HHHTHe onyee fooDAH! HHHTHey know is given TAH!oo HHHTHem, HHHTHey grow purposeyess an' DAH!im. Even VinDAH!icaTAH!or mus' hunTAH! for himseff someTAH!imes. So, we mus' show our beasTAH!s--you aoso, if you wish TAH!oo mainTAH!ain your position as pack yeaDAH!er--HHHTHaTAH! we can bring HHHTHem gooDAH! fortune." Kree snapped a claw open and tapped one of his uppermost paddles against one of the prongs. Vindicator released the ropes, which Kree grabbed, reaching in between them to haul out the lance. He pointed it forward, lightly tapped the dinosaur in the leg with his jawblade, and urged the beast forward.

Suddenly released and unsure quite how to react, the carcharodontosaurus decided to continue following instructions--for now. It sent a glare at Vindicator and showed its teeth, but continued forward down the path--until it broke into a dead run, hoping to scrape off the thing on its back by going under a tree branch. This earned it a vicious yank on the ropes holding it in place, however, as well as a blow from the biting-stick. It let out another loud roar--and found itself clonked on the head by the uyeer. Somewhat dazed now, it was a little more compliant when Kree gently urged it forward again.

Pilar wasn't sure she wanted to be pack leader. She just wanted the raptors to leave her be, and go back to hunting in the wilds. Right now they were still crowding around her, making it hard to move. When the theropod took off, she did her best to follow. "Shoo, shoo," she said, gently trying to rid herself of the raptors. "Go on. Go!" But they didn't leave. She showed them her empty hands. "I have nothing. Please, leave!"

The roar and thunder of the huge dinosaur's passing was causing nearby wildlife to go ballistic, which was aggravating the spirits in the mist off to the west, which was sending the wildlife right back towards them. In an extraordinary feat of coincidence, Pilar's action of showing her hands happened to mirror a "go attack in that direction" gesture that a pack leader might make--and in a smiliar yet related extraordinary feat, there happened to be a wild boar running across the path at that time. With hoots and hisses, the pack began to give chase--though a few individuals looked back at Pilar expectantly, wondering why she wasn't pursuing the animal with them.

In a similar vein, Kreekitaka was using his lance to stir the trees and the bushes around him, hoping to startle something into crossing their path. What eventually did show up, however, was very different than a deer. Something that wasn't terrified of a much larger predator. It was a large, odd creature-- almost bovine in nature, though its head featured both horns and tusks. It was taller than a man at the shoulder, and its back had armored scales. Its eyes flashed with a strange light and both Kree and the beast he was riding began to feel nauseous simply looking at it for some reason. "Piyar!" he called, though his voice was immediately made a murmur in comparison to the horrendous roar let out by the carcharodontosaurus, who had suddenly found itself challenged by something else that it didn't understand and who was rapidly getting fed up with all this.

Pilar watched her pack run off to attack the boar, gesturing to the stragglers to go. Then the creature appeared and stared down the dinosaur. Pilar looked at it and began to feel strange. Whatever this creature was, there was something WRONG about it. She looked to Kreekitaka, not sure what to do.

Kreekitaka could feel that roar vibrating his insides, but he agreed with the dinosaur wholeheartedly--this thing needed to be challenged. The bizarre animal grunted at them and pawed the ground, as if it were getting ready to charge. Noticing this and deciding that it shouldn't be ignored, Kree urged his mount into a forward charge--something else they agreed on--and lowered his lance towards it, with the intention of spearing it through...

Pilar knew what this beast was, even if she didn't recall the name. "Mr. Kreekitaka! Be careful!" she called, "It's poisonous!"

Poisonous? That wasn't good. Kreekitaka folded his gill slits shut as the creatures charged towards each other, locking his arm--and the lance glanced near-harmlessly off the creature's armored scales. The dinosaur was used to armored opponents, however--ankylosaurs had armor everywhere but their underbellies, and this monster reminded it very much of one of those. It swung its head low with a snort to try and shove it over--but it happened to catch another glimpse of its horrible eyes as it did so and the blow wasn't quite strong enough to knock it over--in fact, it made the carcharodontosaurus even more unsteady than before. Something was going wrong here. The beast took this opportunity and swung its heavy head into the theropod's hip, knocking the larger creature sideways--the impact sending the two titans crashing into and through a huge tree.

"Mr. Kreekitaka!" Pilar yelled. She saw the horrible creature turn towards the uyeer and the dinosaur, and she knew she had to act fast. Concentrating her magic, she threw out her hand and the duo became invisible. Using her other hand, she conjured an illusion of a fire, surrounding the creature on three sides. She hoped it would retreat towards the woods, the only route it had.

Dazed by the impact with the tree, Kreekitaka was slower to come around than the carcharodontosaurus was. The other creature had backed off and was preparing for another run at them, when suddenly they disappeared, and in their place was fire. Fire and smoke, all around in front of it--but none behind! But it wasn't just smoke--it could still smell the dinosaur and the plants, and those weren't being burned. So what was going on? The confusion was too much for it and, after bucking and kicking, it turned and stormed away. This, of course, was the opportunity the dinosaur had been waiting for. It charged forward, unaware it was invisible, and let loose another full-bodied roar, smashing into it from behind and successfully knocking it over this time.

Pilar doused her flames, but kept the carcharodontosaurus invisible. She ran over to Kreekitaka, who she let turn visible, and knelt by his side. "Mr. Kreekitaka!" She checked him over for injuries, though it wasn't like she had inkling of how to treat an injured uyeer.

Kreekitaka hadn't realized he'd been thrown off the carcharodontosaurus, and when as Pilar started to look him over he slowly came to--and then he realized what was going on. HIs paddles and facial crushers flared. "Oh no," he said, slowly and unsteadily climbing to his feet. That was two major hits he'd taken in one afternoon. HIs body wasn't going to hold up to this kind of punishment much longer. "Any more potions?" he asked, repeating the gesture he'd used earlier to summon Vindicator to his side. "I fear any more DAH!ismounTAH!ings an' Io come aparTAH! by HHHTHe seams," he murmured quietly, unwilling to show weakness but also needing to be honest with the only ally he had in this struggle. "I neeDAH! resTAH!--however, I mus' have HHHTHis creature firsTAH!" As the scorpion trotted up the path, in the background the invisible dinosaur was having a rougher time getting through the monster's defenses than it had anticipated--a strange greenish gas was rising up around it and every stare of its eyes made it feel sicker and heavier. Even after flipping it over, it was hard to get close--and it was starting to rise up again.

Pilar had forgotten about the potions. She checked her satchel and discovered two more bottles. She offered them to Kreekitaka. "Here... But is capturing this monster really worth your life? It's out of the city, we can leave, and let them live as they were." She looked over to the creature as it got to its feet. The carcharodontosaurus may not last against it... But they were part of the same ecosystem. This fight could have, would have, happened eventually. They should let nature take its course.

Kreekitaka took the potions while giving Pilar a look--probably one difficult to read. His paddles rippled and he flared his facial crushers as he dumped one of the potions into his water tanks. "I refuse TAH!oo be beaTAH!en by an animoh, regarDAH!yess of size. If I can wrestoh a haekshnivehknrn inTAH!oo submission, I can conquer anyHHHTHing wiHHHTH yegs." Vindicator arrived and Kree gathered up his weapons. "I beyeev my scorpion can pierce HHHTHis creature's armor an' rip open a gap for my yance." He took the other potion and funneled it into the scorpion's mouth. Vindicator protested but obeyed. "Your pyan?"

Pilar had no idea what a haekshnivehknrn was, but it sounded ridiculous. Kreekitaka's determination stay made her sigh. "I don't have a plan. I just want to leave... But that wouldn't be right. So i guess... I'm just going to help you how I can." She looked over to where the beast was trying to fight against the invisible dinosaur. "I can turn you invisible again... But I'm starting to get tired. I can't do it forever."

Kreekitaka shook his head. "No. HHHTHe one I wanTAH! mus' see me assisTAH!. Save your power, HHHTHen. ResTAH!... an' observe your king in action." He mounted Vindicator and beat his chest with a claw, urging his mount forward into the fray. As they approached the strange monster, it turned to face them and charged, its eyes boring into Kree. Tentacles lashing onto Vindicator's harness to hold him steady, he ordered the scorpion to retaliate with a series of kicks. Its claws shot out and latched onto its horns, its tail spearing downwards and smashing a hole into its armor. Kree, too dazed by the animal's strange eyebeams and breath and feeling a peculiar sensation overcome his limbs, wasn't focused enough to capitalize on the stinger. The invisible carcharodontosaurus, however, was. Claws tore into the gap as it used one of its powerful legs to peel off the monster's scales, and then it brought its teeth to bear. The whole thing was over shortly but Kree was oddly silent about it...

The carcharodontosaurus came back into view as the beast was downed. Pilar, holding her head, approached slowly. "Mr. Kreekitaka?" She looked up at the dinosaur nervously as it ravaged the beast. Was it going to move on to them when it finished, or would it be friendly?

As she approached, she might notice something a little odd about Kree--he'd turned grey. And extra-stiff. There was a muted hissing and sounds of straining from inside, but it would appear that the monster's gaze was capable of turning at least one's outer layer to stone. Kreekitaka was lucky he already had a hardened outer shell.

"Oh no. Ohhhh no," Pilar said. She placed her ear to the stone, listening. Hearing signs of life, she sighed. Okay, so there was hope yet. "Mr. Kreekitaka! I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to get you out of there! Just, just be patient!" She didn't want to just break the stone; that would be like breaking off someone's skin, leaving their muscles exposed to the elements. Ouch. But she didn't have the knowledge of how to reverse the effects. She looked up at the dinosaur, which blinked at her quizzically. She then looked at Vindicator, who seemed rather upset by his master's plight. Well, she couldn't just leave him out there. With a sigh, she grabbed hold of Kreekitaka. With a grunt of effort, she lifted the uyeer up and hefted him over her petite shoulder. Being a vampire did have its benefits.