If there was one universal truth in the prehistoric world, it was this—you loaf, you lose.
Kerl learned that lesson real fast when he saw other predators eyeing his freshly cooked T. rex.
«Ah, hell naww» he thought. «i did not just risk my tiny raptor life for some oversized freeloaders to swoop in and take my FREAKIN DINNER.»
A mix of carnivores closed in—dromeosaurs, smaller theropods, even a scavenger or two. Some were circling, waiting for an opening. Others? They were bold enough to start creeping forward.
Kerl wasn't about to let them take his kill.
With a flick of his tail, he grabbed the boleadoras he had prepped earlier and hurled it.
Direct hit.
It snared one of the smaller predators—some feathered theropod that had clearly been eyeing a chunk of T. rex steak. The poor thing tripped, screeching as it hit the dirt hard. Completely immobilized
Immediately, another dino turned on it. Opportunistic piece of shit.
And just like that—chaos.
Kerl eyes winced in responce, upon watching the dinosaurs bite the fallen one, after seeing they were closer targets. Finally realising something. «i get it.. they're not in for teamwork. they're all interested in the reward. i can use this!»
When some drew closer, he would grapple and toss them towards another direction. Making sure to always try aiming to a different type of dinosaurs, just so they would blame each other. In his attempt of sowing discord. Kerl grabbed a bunch of rocks and aimed them at the opposing team's legs.
And his attempt at playing instigator was rather effective.
Some of the scavengers turned on each other, interpreting the fall as a sign of weakness. The fight escalated as more dinos joined the free-for-all, biting and clawing for dominance. What once was competition over the t-rex dead carcasses turned to brawl.
«bunch of dumbasses, a little provoking and they started killing each other.» he marveled in their stupidity.
«Perfect.» kerl thought
But it wasn't enough.
A few smart ones ignored the fight and kept moving toward the meat.
Kerl clicked his claws against the ground, signaling his raptors. «Alright, Plan B.»
His tail whipped through the air. Rocks.
He flung them with practiced ease. Not just randomly. Every shot was calculated with deep theory and placed strategically.
Doubting his own skills, Kerl decided to use a little bit more strength to ensure they would land.
«I hope this lands too..» Prayed Kerl before performing the pitch throw.
The goal was those dinos of course.
minus point if they missed. And an extra point for Vitals.
For the first time in his life, Kerl throw a rock hoping it'll kill somebody instead of getting home run.
«now that i am trying to survive in a dangerous ecosystem, i am nor so sure which one i would want more. the homerun or kills.»
One stone cracked against the head of a hungry carnivore, making it stumble into another. That one turned with a snarl, thinking it was under attack.
More infighting.
Kerl wanted to celebrate but he still had matters at hand. Almost immediately after, he lifted a rock and attempted to shoot again.
It landed again.
«AHAH! my genius could NEVER be defeated!» drowning in his ego, he was starting to enjoy this.
A part of the enemy realised they can't win and just avoided the fight as the raptors gang got even more into the flow state.
They were defending very well.
But some dinosaurs weren't fooled. They could see that the group of velociraptor was overwhelmed and is just desperately putting up a front.
A pair of mid-sized theropods—bigger than him, but not as massive as the T. rex.
They lunged towards him.
Kerl couldn't dodge, and got lunged sideways as razor-sharp teeth snapped where his head had been. But he was quick to retaliate.
«AAHH!»
No more distractions. They wanted the meat.
Kerl screeched, and his pack moved as one.
They swarmed those that attacked him and aided in defending the meal.
His raptors leapt, slashing and biting. One chomped onto a theropod's tail while another went for its side.
Kerl, meanwhile, took a deep breath and examined his arm that he used to block.
Feather surrounding it decreased because they fell, revealing a scar which was caused by the enemies.
He had no time to dwell on the misery and focused onto the second attacker.
Using his smaller size to his advantage, he dashed underneath it, slicing at its legs with his claws. The dino roared, stumbling as pain shot through its limbs.
That was all Kerl needed.
He jumped onto its back, digging his claws into their eyes.
It thrashed, trying to throw him off, but his pack was already overwhelming its partner. Kerl made sure to pull it's eyes out before jumping down and running off towards the next prey
A few more coordinated strikes later, and the intruders were forced to retreat.
After several minutes, the outcome has been decided. If this was an mma fight, kerl was sure that he.. won the match by finish.
Kerl huffed. «Annoying freeloaders.»
His pack had held their ground. The T. rex kill was still theirs. And he gained an extra from the fallen intruders.
Not that they were needed though.
He already gained enough high quality resource from the T-rex's dead body. Any excess stuff would just be thrown away like garbage. He could take theirs too for variation of food but he did not wanna take item he hadn't tried out, from the looks of it. His pack prefered the T-rex's meat, meaning the quality is proven to be superior. His reaction was the same. «well, it was the ancestor of chicken. certainly better than all these other dino which i do not know would be similar to who.»
Besides, he wasn't here to be a gourmet. He just needed to grab what he know.
Time was also running out.
The blood trails has been around for minutes, he tried looking afar and senses disturbance in the route they went through.
Before any more predators were coming he knew what he had to do.
«i gotta leave. where are my team?»
And his raptors? Still bickering over meat.
"Oh, for the love of— GOD!!"
Calling them wasn't working. Of course, it wasn't.
Maybe he needed to sound more like a raptor.
Practice time.
He puffed out his chest, raised his head, and went for it.
"UOURKH!"
His dignified sound was met with silence.
A few raptors gave him side-eyes.
Okay, maybe that wasn't quite right.
He tried again. "QUAAACK!"
More side-eyes.
One of them actually tilted its head in confusion.
Kerl clenched his long raptor jaw «Alright, one more time…»
He focused. Dug deep. Channeled his inner raptor before delivering his best one yet.
"SKREEEE—"
That did it.
His pack snapped to attention, their instincts reacting before their brains could.
The distress call worked.
Kerl was momentarily stunned. «Huh. That actually did something?» Clearly surprised he actually succeded.
But when he turned back, he saw even more and more dinos were following the traces of blood dropped.
There was no opportunity to process. They needed to go.
Solace in this place was merely a lucury the Apex predator could hold.
His raptors grabbed what they could of the T. rex and bolted.
---
Once they were far enough, Kerl finally let himself take a momentary breather.
Walking at a slower pace, his day was intense already. Anymore and he would die from stress
The deep, dense jungle stretched endlessly around them. Lush green leaves swayed with the wind, and golden sunlight broke through the canopy in dazzling patterns.
His head turned around to observe, taking in the minute details.
He had to admit… it was beautiful.
It was moments like this that made him appreciate the raw, untamed beauty of the world before humans.
Not that it changed the fact he was still stuck in a raptor's body.
And if he wanted to survive, he needed to do more than just run and fight.
He needed to communicate. He wanted to figure out how but he felt there was still one thing he needed to do before the day ends.
As they continued their journey, something weird started happening. Memories that weren't his own kept creeping into his mind. Instincts. Urges. The leftover thoughts of whatever raptor body he was inhabiting. He finally settled in this body properly.
Something that should've happened if only his machine wasn't so ridiculously bad.
They were pretty useful in deepening his control over this body.
«a level up in my skill, i guess.»
It made him move more naturally, his posture adjusting without thought. Even the way he flicked his tail or made certain noises… it all started making sense.
«With time, i could master this.»
And he'd need to.
He also needed to be fluent in raptornese, if he wanted to be a leader- he have to know how to communicate
The next step was expanding the pack.
Kerl rallied his group and began searching for more velociraptors.
But soon, a new problem presented itself—
They were thirsty.
His raptors had eaten, but they hadn't drunk a single drop of water.
Kerl sighed. «Great, i gotta find prehistoric hydration...»
He knew he had to start wandering again.
He was not surrounded by desert but he was very very thirsty.
«where is dr.pepper when you need him?»
Splitting off from the group for a moment, he started exploring.
East of the forest, he found berries. Small, plump, deep red in color. Probably edible. Probably poisonous. Who the hell knew?
Nearby, some weird prehistoric plants caught his eye. Ferns, cycads, and something that looked like a mix between a cactus and a pinecone.
Useless for now, but he gathered them anyway, stuffing them into a makeshift pouch he had crafted.
«Maybe I can use these to bait prey later.»
Then, he found it.
A river.
Before he could even react, his pack rushed forward, plunging their heads into the water and drinking furiously.
«figures. no animals or man could be patient when they need water.»
Kerl was about to do the same when—
A deep, trumpeting sound shook the air.
His instincts screamed DANGER, but his brain went— «Wait, was that a— are humans here?»
He turned.
Towering Brachiosaurus loomed over the trees, their long necks swaying like massive, living flutes.
Kerl stared.
They were huge.
Majestic, even.
Because looking at these gigantic prehistoric titans, the only thing his brain could process was—
«Damn. Those are some CHONKY fellas. and here i thought the t-rex was big...»
For a moment, he relaxed, watching the gentle giants sip from the same river.
It was a momentary solace, but a welcomed one nontheless.
It was nice to have, something that's not really here to hurt you. Just vibes
He stopped hesitating and actually tried dipping his head into the river like the others raptor did.
He did not hold his bread and just let the water in and sucked them into his mouth before pulling his head out to take a breath.
«WOW, it was actually pretty nice to drink like that»
After finally getting some time to relax— The sky darkened. and they had to find some shelter
His first day here was almost over.
He thought back on everything that had happened—the fights, the running, the discoveries. It was a lot.
As he was reminiscing, the winds were getting stronger and caused his feathers to swing like leaves.
With that as reminder, he set off to find a shelter.
If they wanted a safe place to sleep, they needed to move.
Kerl led the pack up the mountains.
The logic was simple—big dinosaurs don't climb mountains.
Velociraptors, on the other hand? Super mobile.
The perfect shelter.
Or so he thought.
Because he forgot.
The first thing he had eaten in this era— the very thing that crashed to his time machine, had nested here.
Quetzalcoatlus. The biggest entity to live high above the ground
And they were here.
A dark shape loomed above. Then another.
Giant, prehistoric birds of death.
Kerl erde, had never ran so fast before.
His pack followed without hesitation, bolting straight back into the jungle.
Kerl gritted his teeth. «WHY is everything in this era trynna kill me?!»
Ducking under an enormous trunk, he finally found a good hiding spot.
Annoyed but exhausted, he collapsed.
His pack curled up around him, settling down for the night.
Never in a million years did Kerl think he'd ever be cuddling with raptors.
Yet here he was.
Too tired to even do anything anymore, he just let his body fell to the pile of avians.
before he fell to slumber, he swore to himself.
"I... it's all that damn junk's fault."