Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A New Friend Storm has been following Synca for about nine months now. Young Storm has grown slightly in that time. He now measures about eight feet and weighs over one hundred sixty pounds. He is growing fast. The scar on his snout is still there and helps serve as a reminder of his close call. While he still hunts once and awhile, he get’s the majority of his food from Synca. With his speed, Synca is an expert at catching and killing ornithomimids. After he makes a kill, he usually rests. It’s during this resting period that he allows Storm to come in and finish off what’s left of the carcass. Right now, Storm is on his own. He knows where Synca is, but he wants to explore on his own now. The Nanotyrannus’ territory overlaps with Storm’s parent’s old territory. Right now, Storm is checking out an area he has not seen yet. He discovers a hot spring in a small clearing. Storm approaches the spring carefully. It looks like normal water, but something is different about it. Unbeknownst to Storm, Synca is actually watching from the trees. He knows what the spring is, but wants to see what Storm does. The young tyrannosaur sticks his tongue in the water to drink some. He immediately jumps back. His tongue feels like it’s on fire. He tries to bite the water as a punishment for causing him pain. Instead, he gets a very painful feeling on and in his nose. Once again, he jumps back in pain. From now on, he will avoid hot springs. If dinosaurs could smile, Synca would be grinning from ear to ear. About two weeks have passed since the hot spring incident. Storm has yet to catch and kill a dinosaur. So far, all of his kills have been fish, lizards, and other small animals. Today, he will, or at least try to, kill a dinosaur. Synca has not gone hunting yet and Storm is hungry. He can’t wait any longer. He begins to search for food. He comes across a herd of Parasaurolophus. Way too big. He moves on. As he is walking through the forest, he finds something that catches his interest. A Parksosaurus is feeding on some fallen branches and has his back to Storm. The ten foot long herbivore is not much bigger than Storm and should make a decent meal. Storm’s feathers match the forest around him and provide perfect camouflage. He’s seen Synca hunt these dinosaurs before. Although harmless, they can run fast, nearly twenty-five miles per hour. Storm knows he can run that fast, but not for too long. He needs to ambush the plant-eater. He begins to creep up on the parksosaur. He steps on a twig and the parksosaur quickly raises it’s head. Storm crouches as low to the ground as possible. The herbivore scans the area for danger, but can’t find any. He goes back to feeding. Storm continues to sneak up on the parksosaur. He’s only three yards away when he attacks. Storm runs as fast as possible. The parksosaur bolts, but Storm is already too close. The young carnivore leaps on top of the small herbivore and drags it down. After a short struggle, Storm is able to get his teeth into the throat of the parksosaur and it soon stops moving. Storm has killed his first dinosaur. Synca heard the commotion and decided to investigate. Storm expects him to try and take his meal, but Synca moves on. He can catch his own food and does not really want to take Storm’s. He moves off to hunt some ornithomimids he saw earlier. Storm is still eating when Synca passes by again. He is exhausted. He was unable to catch an Ornithomimus and all his energy is gone. He lies down a few yards away from Storm to rest. Storm decides it’s time to repay Synca for taking him in. He drags the carcass over to the Nanotyrannus. Synca looks at Storm and then realizes what he’s doing. Together, they eat until they can eat no more.