The Story of Cleo, Episode 1: In the Time of the Pharaoh

An egg has just been laid, and we will follow this egg through the course of it's life. The father is named Chase , and the mother is named Clarice, the egg will turn out to be a little female Deltadromeus named Cleo. This is the time before the egg hatches, and the trouble the parents have to go through to ensure the survival of their offspring. Clarice has just laid an egg, and Chase has just brought down an Ouranosaurus, and now the parents are eating. They live in a marsh, with islands every so often. Nile hears a splashing sound off in the distance, a Kryptops is splashing through the water, and is coming to steal the meal. The two adult Deltadromeus roar at the intruder, who, even though it is just as long as they are, is nearly twice as heavy, and can inflict serious wounds to the light Delta. They keep roaring, until Clarice runs in and scratches at the Kryptops's face, blinding it in one eye. The Kryptops tries to headbutt Clarice, but she is too fast. Then Chase runs in and bites the Kryptops's leg. The Kryptops tries to bite Chase, but misses because of the Deltadromeus's speed. Finally, Clarice jumps onto the back of the Kryptops, and starts weighing it down. Then Chase jumps onto the Kryptops's back, and makes it fall because of the combined weight. Then Clarice puts her foot on the Kryptops's throat, and pushes down, killing it. Clarice and Chase then proceed to eat their new meal, having taken it down without any injuries. Several weeks later, it is in the middle of the wet season, and it is raining heavily. Chase and Clarice are eating an Ouranosaurus, when they notice that the water is starting to turn red. They don't think about it, until,they remember that they are a ways up on their little island. They then look around and see that the island is flooding at an alarming rate. They know that the water will reach the nest where the egg that contains Cleo, and drown their only offspring before she is ever born. Clarice runs over to the nest and removes the egg with her jaws and keeps it up high. She now feels water at her feet, the water has already covered the ground. There are only the tops of bushes and most of the tree in the center of the island. Now nothing but the tree and the two Deltadromeus are above the water. Clarice and Chase get very close to the tree, knowing that they might have to climb it if the water gets to high. The water is now up to their necks, but the weight in their feet is light, so they start swimming. That's when Chase notices a Sarcosuchus duck under the water and is heading their way. Clarice notices that too, and she starts to climb up the tree by grabbing onto a branch and kicking her feet. Chase does the same, and they make it up onto the lowest branch. The water is still rising though, and they jump to a branch higher than the last. They see the Sarcosuchus look up,at them, knowing that he can't reach them. The Sarcosuchus sees the dead Ouranosaurus at the bottom and settles for that instead. The next day, the flood waters recede, and Clarice and Chase hop down from the tree they were in. Then Clarice walks over to the base of the tree, and gathers some dirt and leaves, makes a nest, and puts the egg down in it. She then watches it until it hatches. A couple months later, the egg finally hatches, and out comes little Cleo. She looks around at the world, and then at her parents, and finally at the foot that has been placed in front of her. She quickly eats it up, and then practices running around, already growing strong leg muscles. Cleo grows rapidly for the next couple of months, and now she is nearing one year old. Cleo can already run and jump quite well, but still stays at the nest because the water around her is too deep. She is just learning to swim from her father when a large wave hits her and washes her up onto the shore. Another large wave comes, and Cleo runs away from it. More and more waves are coming, and they are getting bigger. The waves are coming from the deeper parts of the marsh, and then the two adult Deltadromeus see what is causing the waves. They only see a glimpse of it before it goes underwater, but they know it is the unmistakeable sail if a Spinosaurus. Chase goes back up onto land and hopes that the Spino is just passing through the area, when its head emerges from the water, and it roars at the Deltadromeus family. That tells Clarice and Chase that it is time to go, so Clarice lightly grabs Cleo in her jaws and runs. The Spinoaurus isn't going to let them go easily though, and it runs up onto the is and follows the family. The Deltadromeus are very fast, but the water is so deep that it slows them down a lot, and Spino isn't a slouch when it came to running either. The Spinosaurus catches up to the family of Deltadromeus and is about to bite down on Clarice when they hit dry land the and Chase and Clarice with Cleo in her mouth bolt out of the way at nearly 40 miles per hour. The Spino gives a deafening roar at them and slows down, letting the family live another day. Clarice and Chase don't stop running until they know that are safe, but now they don't have a territory, and will have to take one another animal if they want Cleo to be safe. They are all okay for now though, and Clarice puts Cleo down, and they wander the forest as a family.