Carrying a skyscraper-sized murder stork was not how he envisioned his first day as a dinosaur.
The Quetzalcoatlus let out a pitiful honk, shifting slightly on his back. He adjusted his grip, muscles burning as he trudged through the dense underbrush. «Yup. This is my life now. Hauling prehistoric plane while trying not to die,» he muttered.
Still, this wasn't even the worst part of his day. That honor belonged to the realization that he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
sigh
«Adam and eve must be hella smart or divine gifted to be able to survive getting thrown from heaven to earth»
«Okay, i got no use complainin. i have to lock in» he grunted, stepping over a massive root, "find shelter. Step two— figure out how to eat without poisoning myself. Step three, don't get eaten by something bigger.»
The forest was a fever dream—towering ferns, weird bioluminescent fungi, and trees that looked suspiciously like they could eat him. Vines coiled around trunks thicker than his old lab's water tanks, and somewhere in the distance, a deep, weird noise rumbled through the canopy.
He felt the tension and suffocating feel in his chest.
«Oh great» he grumbled. «Haven't been this uncomfortable walking around since I got bullied in high school. Nostalgia, am I right?»
Yeah. He needed a plan—fast. Like real fast
Every part of him screamed to go get the time machine, but charging straight into prehistoric chaos? That was practically suicide. He was off-course, wildly unprepared, and if this world had one thing, it was way too many things that could eat him.
Rushing in blind? Dead.
Staying put forever? Also dead.
Playing it smart? Maybe not dead.
He exhaled through his raptor nostrils, flaring them more dramatically than necessary. «Alright. Priorities arreee shelter, food and backup.»
He adjusted the Quetzalcoatlus on his back. «And you, my big feathery friend, are going to help me with that.»
Carefully, he set the giant birdie down, gripping its limp form with clawed hands and powerful jaws to drag it forward.
Narrating to his bored self, he imagined, «I show up to the pack. They see stranger. I bring them giant KFC. They see a hero.»
Speaking of which—
Time to find the locals.
He breathed in, and breathed out before running around the vast wilderness. Breeze moving past him as he acceletaed.
«WOOHOO!» He was excited deep in his mind, but when he tried making sound. All he let out was a peculiar blend of lizard and chicken's voice. "AEAEAEAE"
He quickly shut his mouth out of fear of attracting predators. And just raced within the nooks and cranny of this forest
Mist was thicker bthan modern earth, judging by the look of it. A hypothesis was made primal world's infinitely less polution, with many plankton producing oxygen. Maybe he is in a pinch, but that did not stop him from enjoying the view. «Ahh... my childhood fantasy finally real.»
It brought him joy seeing this with his own eyes.
The jungle was alive with movement.
Tiny, feathery dinosaurs darted through the undergrowth, snapping at insects. A group of armored, porcupine-looking creatures (Ankylosaurs?) rumbled by in the distance, clubbed tails swinging like wrecking balls.
But he was looking for something specific.
Velociraptors.
And as if the universe heard him, he found them.
A small pack—maybe five or six—lounging near a rocky outcrop, basking in the sun like a lfeathered lizard with murder in their eyes and extra skinny build.
His heart pounded.
«Alright, don't be an idiot. Play this right, or they'll rip you apart faster than a Black Friday sale.»
He slowly set the Quetzalcoatlus down and took a step forward.
Instantly, heads snapped up.
Eyes locked onto him.
One of them—a larger, scarred-up one—rattled its throat and stood, tail swaying.
Alpha.
He took a slow breath. «Okay. No sudden movements.»
They could smell it. Instinct told them: This guy doesn't belong.
Time to fix that.
Lowering his posture, he mimicked their stance. «God, this is awkward. How do NatGeo guys and researchers do this? i don't understand how they successfully befriended animals!»
While this mad scientist was nervous, the raptors gang drew closer to figure out why the newcomer was shaking.
The alpha tilted its head.
Another raptor let out a low chirp while creeping closer.
Mad scientist, still wary... exhaled as he steeled his resolve. «One shot at this.»
So, naturally, he did the most logical thing imaginable.
He screeched.
"QUACK."
The pack froze.
The alpha narrowed its eyes. A long, tense moment stretched between them.
His mind swirled, heart pounding in his raptor chest.
«Oh lord, is this what every unfunny comedian feels like?» He mulled.
His internal monologue spiraled. «God, help me. I'm starting to question all my life choices. But hey! I'm the idiot who decided to play god with a time machine. What right do I have asking for salvation now?»
Then—
The alpha screeched back. "skree."
The tension cracked like a dropped test tube. The pack shifted, tails twitching.
Backing out would be a mistake. He needed to own this.
He ripped a chunk off the Quetzalcoatlus and tossed it toward them. Carefully, he made another noise, thinking, «i sure hope i did it right..»
The raptors nudged the meat before cautiously eating it.
«Okay. Good start.»
He tossed another chunk of meat before forcing out another voice.
"QUACK!"
The raptors reacted strangely but kept accepting his offering.
Each of them digging in the food he brought and screeching back in return as if cheering for his antics.
seeing one of them quacked back. followed by more.. He knew he was on the right track
His eye twitched. he could almost hear an imaginary voice inside his head saying "charisma check, successful."
As he proceeded with the plan, the pack was turning lively and accepting of the act even more.
He went "QUACK" very loudly. Then the gang of velociraptor followed suit with their own noises.
A thought crept in his head.
«Do I look like some kind of deranged idol throwing food at fans? damnit, i'm going insane.» His attempt of communicating with them ended up looking like someone screaming and doing some emote.
Regardless, the pack was warming up to him. He settled amongst them—awkwardly, but progress was progress.
He immediately noted what else he need to do, as well as the steps ahead.
«step one... thrive»
«step two. Become king of the dinosaurs.»
«Step three. Get the damn time machine back.»
As the raptors rested, full from their unexpected feast, he looked at what they were doing and seized the opportunity. «OH! they're resting, i have to use the advantage of having a pack and prepare my tools now.»
He didn't have the balls to make weapon before, at least—not when he has no one taking care of his back.
With difficulty, he scavenged sticks and stones, clumsily crafting makeshift tools.
Upon gathering wooden branches, vines and leaves— He stopped for a second to consider «should i make campfire?»
He dismissed that idea almost immediately and snapped back to what he was doing.
«a fire would scare those raptors, so much that i would probably be back to being an outcast.» He pondered as he piled the materials laying around that he found.
Finding it amusing. «whether a dinosaur or a humanoid. i'm always an eccentric huh?»
As he was preparing them, he thought about himself. «wait, what if i wanted to eat?»
He turned around to see the raptors.
«they did eat it raw..»
He turned his heads towards the dead quetzalcoatlus and started debating with himself.
«ugh, fine. tartarre and sashimi are raw anyway. this won't be any different.» He walked towards the flying giant's carcasses and tried biting a small chunk.
Nervous, he chewed them rather slowly..
«that... isn't half bad. i suppose this new body is suited for raw eating.» He rejoiced, he also got the raptors tastebuds.
Immediately after, he took more pieced and started yanking off meats from the quatzal's corpse. Savouring the flavour and feeling a little joyful he did quite well just a few hours after landing in this era.
The raptors gang already ate quite a big portion from the quetzal, so he was left with a few.
After finishing lunch, The mad scienist—or raptor now, decided he should continue working.
«if i don't hurry, this may become my very last meal.» A brief consumption did replenish his vigor but it made him a little drowsy like the other raptors.
Yet he still kept his mind on the material he gathered. He couldn't let the sleepyness get to him, there are matters at stake here.
Whether or not the tools would be used, it was nice to know he had backups at hand.
He tried reaching but saw that his arm couldn't.
«ugh, short limbs»
So he bent down and grabbed the vines, knitting them together with his fingers.
Hours passed as he fumbled through the process, claws and lack of dexterity working against him.
Luckily, his genius came in handy. He used every bits of skills and theory that could come to play, and managed to tie a bunch of vines together to make ropes.
«alright.. what's next? sharp stuff? no, my claws are enough.. i guess i should just make a lots ropes if i needed a bunch of boleadoras.» Eliminating what he doesn't need.
The process of making ropes were rather simple, he could take long plant or anything with fiber for that matter, to tie together.
In a spiral like pattern or just trying them together over and over again until they were firm enough for use. Of course, his claws were in the way. Often times, he had to redo and gather more fiber to make ropes.
He grabbed the finished product and learned how to throw them around.
With his arms? too weak, plus, his claws were disrupting the throw momentum.
«should i try using my tails?»
«oh well, better try first.» He had no time o question himself. Adaptability was crucial, and time waits for no man.
Except a time traveler of course.
He spun with his tails, aimed and let go.
It was hard but there was certainly a better strength than his arms.
---
Later on, he finished making the tools.
He was now left with another question.
«How do i carry them?»
He looked at his remaining fiber which were running low.
sigh
«no break for me i suppose?» He analysed before running off to the area with plants.
After finally finishing another batch of ropes, he tied them togeether with some wooden sticks, he made himself an outfit that allowed him to store items.
He made sure to cover only his sides, if he covered much of his feathers— the pack would think he was different species of dinosaur and assault him.
Ropes tied around his back and body area, with handles as part of the fit, allowing him to tie the items he gathered, as well as the boleadora he made. It wasn't as good as a backpack but it worked.
He snorted, «gucci would be proud of my work, heh!» proud of the trash he made.
«if i had to rate, this is my second worst creation. behind that time machine, of course.» he graded it confidently..
«Well,»
He mulled, examining his crude handiwork, «velociraptors were built for biting, not arts and crafts. you don't see them makin any cave mosaic..»
As he checked for flaws, he adjusted the ropes. «this look like a raptor bondage...»
Soon after, the pack stirred, stretching out and preparing to move. He strapped the little tools he made– to his back and tagged along with them.
Traversing the jungle, he studied them.
«They're like lions—always on the prowl.»
Except, not really. They weren't strong apex predators, just cunning little demons who relied on teamwork and persistence to eat.
«wait… they're nothing like lions. What was I even thinking?» He shook his head
He noted mentally that his tendency to think too much remains even in a foreign body.. «tch, My brain's running wild again.»
Being alone in an era with no music, no internet, no civilization? A special kind of hell for a modern man. The ominous rattles of ancient creatures had officially replaced his playlist. His only company now is raptors instead of beautiful wife at home. «leah, popcorn, netflix and chill... i miss you.»
«Lucky I got stuck as a raptor instead of an Ankylosaurus. Those things have the brainpower of a brick,»
Honestly, considering how screwed up the time machine was, he should be grateful he wasn't something worse—
Then he saw it.
A shadow.
A huge one.
His stomach dropped.
«No way.»
That wasn't—
It was.
The pack froze. His eyes widened.
His mind screamed.
«Oh. Crap.»
Towering ahead, feathered but monstrous, was the last thing he wanted to see this soon.
The apex predator.
The prehistoric nightmare. Tyrannosaurus
Its massive frame loomed like a living mountain, blending the worst traits of birds and lizards into something that made every instinct in his body scream: RUN.
But he couldn't.
Not yet.
Because no matter how his instinct screamed, he knew not to let his body dictate his choices. He had to stay calm
«if i recall, their unique build makes them relatively weak at grappling. I have chances but with raptor's small body... can i do it?»