Fully supplied, Roam, Tarla, Coralian, Ajax, Kerensa, and Foozle depart from Kelanio well in advance of the end of the Wild Walk.  With Coralian and Roam being more comfortable in the wilds, and Dr. Lewis being clearly exciting to go, none are disappointed to be leaving early.  Also, any ruffians, bandits, or thieves will likely be either looking for victims inside Kelanio, or timing their attacks for when the Wild Walk ends, which makes it safer to head north now, particularly as they won't be on the Chalk Road.

Their destination is just short of the exceptionally dangerous Redjaw Wilds, but the land is bursting with life and the brave can carve out a living, or find exceptional things to study here, from large dinosaurs that don't often stray south of the Chalk Road, to strong time anomalies, to abandoned SATI facilities or towns.

And, of course, a stretch of badlands abutting a small forest that seems to be the home of white and spotted dinosaurs.

The group sets out along what paths have been set to the north, checking their progress frequently to make sure they're not getting off-track.  The vegetation grows quickly, so any paths neglected for even as little as a fortnight can become nearly impassible if not kept in check.  But with so many people coming to Kelanio, the paths are much more clear.

The first day goes fairly smoothly, though Dr. Lewis is looking around with wide-eyed wonder and trying to keep Foozle from investigating every new noise or smell.  As it draws towards dusk, it's getting about time to make camp.  As you are seeking a source of water, you hear a pained dinosaur moan further up the path.

--

Hemon, Tap, Rebekah, and Blue were following a herd of hadrosaurs they were tending for a couple who went to the Wild Walk, herding them to their new feeding grounds where there were ward-offs installed to keep out predators.  Unfortunately a pack of velociraptors had tried to go after a mama hadro as she'd been trying to transport her babies during the herding, and she'd run off before the group could spook off the 'raptors.  Now they have a wounded mama and her babies she was carrying in her mouth to track!

Bek kneels down and gingerly traces her deft fingertips along the imprint of a hadrosaur track. She lifts her hand and rubs crumbling dirt between her fingers. Even an amateur tracker could see where this one has gone. That is without even considering the blood trails. Raptors are amazing creatures, certainly, with many gifts, but subtlety is not one of them.

You always recognized raptor work.

Blue sniffs the air, and Rebekah cranes her head up to look at the small (for her kind, anyway) tyrannosaur. "These ones aren't for eating, Blue." Bek says it half in jest, because she knows Blue will behave. She's more curious than anything, as befits an intelligent young tyrannosaur.

"The trail won't be terribly hard to find, I think, Hem." Rebekah stands up and dusts off her jeans. "I just worry that the raptors think the same thing."

Coralian had been riding on Ajax's back recently, occasionally standing to get a better view of the terrain.  When she heard the moaning, she jumped to the ground and stood beside his wide head.

"That sounded close enough to investigate.  Since we haven't found clean water yet, shall we head that direction a bit farther?  See what's going on?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Fri 17 Jan 2020.

Hemon simply nods at Rebekah. Tracking dinosaurs is like a second nature for him, even when he is on the ground. "Yes, we shouldn't be long until we find that mama. I still wonder how we missed that 'raptors pack however."
Grumbling to himself, the man is chewing over what he considers a failure and tries to understand which details he hasn't spotted. If the Hadrosaur is killed, he will not be able to pardon himself and it could mean an end to his work in this region which would not be great for him and Rebekah.

Shaking his head to get his mind focused on the actual problem, he looks up in the sky, noticing Tap flying in circles above their heads. Usually riding his Tapejara when he is herding, Hemon is on the ground rather than on the air when Rebekah accompanies him so they can talk together. And for a few days now, he has this untamed Nerezza that he keeps attached to him with a rope. With a subtle move, he notifies Tap to be on the lookout for the lost Hadrosaurs and he finally turns toward Rebekah again. "Let's follow this trail quickly. Last thing we want is to lost a dinosaurs I had to watch. I don't want to force you to move again."

"Don't you worry about me, Hemi," Rebekah says with a slight smirk. A little nickname for him.

Bek shades her eyes with one hand as she looks toward the dense line of trees. "Don't blame yourself." She has some idea how he's feeling, but it's not really fair. "Raptors hunt. No way to prevent this all the time. No herders could ever be free of risk completely."

She sets off on the trail with long, sure strides, gaze moving from one thicket to another. Any place that dromaeosaurids might be hiding in wait. A small pack wouldn't likely tangle with a group like theirs, but taking anything for granted in this place was a sure way to get yourself killed.

"I'll be fine. We'll be fine. This won't break us. But let's see if we can't save that hadro and her calves."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:50, Fri 17 Jan 2020.

Hemon smiles at Rebekah when she tries to cheer him up. He takes a deep breath and nods once. "You're right. As far as we know, these Hadrosaurs are still alive so it could be worse."

Pulling on the rope attached to his Nerezza to catch it, he starts to follow the young woman along the blood trail. Looking at her from behind (before catching up quickly with her), he starts thinking how lucky he was to met her in the first place and how his life would have been different if he had not met her. And he promises himself once again that he will do anything he can to help her and make her happy.

Roam walks solemnly along.  His eyes taken to scanning the distance and then the ground around them.  He is not unhappy in any way.  In fact it seems easier for him to breath out of the city.  He varies between walking point in front of the others or out on the wing.  Coralian and Ajax making a good strong center to the group.

He was happy to talk to the Doc when she asked a question, but he was distant from them enough that conversation was far between.  During one rest stop he placed himself on the other side of Ajax to make sure Kerensa couldn't overhear him talking to Coralian.

"Do you have any intention of making this difficult for her?  I know what the man said, but out here that is dangerous.  Everyone should be at their best and alert.  I will do what I can to help her."

with the moaning Roam became alert and motioned for Tarla hide herself.  "I'm okay with that, but lets be cautious.  Not sure who else would be out this far.  I can go ahead with Tarla and find out if you like, or we can stick together."

To Roam's earlier question, Coralian would have responded, "I have no intention of making this journey any harder than it needs to be for any of us.  She'll likely get us into more trouble than we've bargained for without any help."  Coralian seems neither eager nor anxious about this assessment.

To his offer to scout ahead, she merely nods and continues her way forward cautiously.  She nocks an arrow, but does not draw.

Roam nods and spins slipping in the scree and catching himself on his hands.  Embarrassed he brushes his hands and hides his red cheeks.  He looks to where Tarla disappeared and gives a low whistle before running ahead.  What an idiot he thought to himself.  No wonder he hated being around other people.  He always managed to seem clumsy and stupid.  He could keep Mira and Quill alive in Haven, but fall on his butt out here in the wilds.

Focus.

His attention returned to the path ahead.  He knew Tarla was close, but couldn't see her.  He slowed and started to stick to cover and not be easily spotted again.

As Roam, Kerensa, and Coralian draw closer, they can see that across their path ahead is a large hadrosaur with a nasty claw wound over her flank recently done.  In her mouth are four squirming hadro hatchlings, peeping piteously.  The mama hadro is breathing hard, but can't seem to get to her feet.

Kerensa gasps and dismounts from Foozle to run forward. "Oh, you poor thing!  And you have babies!  I need my bag, I think I have something for the bleeding in there."

--

Hemon and Rebekah were close on the heels of their missing hadro when they suddenly hear voices just up ahead through a screening of thick ferns, along with moans from a wounded dino...

Coralian, seeing the wounded state of the wild dino (and the cargo she was protecting) immediately jumps to the back of Ajax and starts scanning the surrounding area for whatever may have caused the visible damage.  As Dr. Lewis is still unpacking, she would whisper a quiet, urgent, "Wait!"

As they moves following bthe trail of blood, Hemon tries to calm the Nerezza that is not keen on staying attached to a man. He turns toward Rebekah and asks "What do you think could be a good name for this cutie?" All the while, he quickly removes his fingers from reach of the Pterosaur's beak who is trying to taste them.

When they suddenly hear voices, he becomes serious again and falls on his knees. "You hear them? Looks like some people found out Hadro before we could. What should we do?" While asking, he puts some kind of cloth bag on the Nerezza to make it quieter and more tranquil.

Roam moves quickly and grabs Kerensa's bag and drops it at her side.  Roam gives a cursory check of the wounds.

"Keep an eye on her."  Roam starts moving about looking at the ground.  There has to be some sign of what did this.  He had to make sure it was no longer a threat.  If it was for food, it was just waiting.  The Hadrosaur would be unable to fight back and fall victim to whatever did this in short order.

Roams hands tightened on his laser.  He looked at the tracks in the direction the Hadro had come from.

Bek frowns, dropping low into a crouch. "This is pretty far out for festival-goers, I think." What could it be? Poachers? Not likely this close to civilization, not unless the hadrosaur had some value in its augmentations or something.

"We don't know how many. Maybe we should keep low, see if we can suss out who it is." She looks back at her tyrannosaur, keeping her voice quiet. "Help me sniff them out, Blue." Opening her eyes and ears to potential trouble, Rebekah pushes ahead cautiously.

Hemon smiles at the mention of festival-goers but keeps his focus on the task at hand. He looks up in the sky to see Tap flying in round but renounce to contact him to get more information about what's happening as he would have to cry or gesture widely likely breaking their cover. Thus, he nods at Rebekah's comment and follows her silently.

Dr. Lewis slows down in her unpacking, taking out a small bottle of some kind of cleanser and looking at you quizzically.  "Wait for what?"

Coralian, the jungle seems to be holding its breath, and the smaller sounds of small creatures have started to fall off.



Roam concentrates hard, expanding his senses to find out what is out there.