[Camp cretaceous season 1- episode original- chapter 3- - 4535 words - Ocs, camp fam,]
[ch1] [ch2]
It was a Saturday early morning and someone was already awake. Or maybe she had never slept.
Sammy silently got up from bed, used to the early mornings thanks to her lifestyle at the ranch, where work started as early as the sun rose. There was no time to sleep when everything revolved around the well being of the animals.Yes her cattle were destined to become food for the park carnivores, but this didn’t mean that for the time they breathed they didn’t deserve only the best life.
She wonders if it is the same here, if the dinosaurs were really well taken care of, if the workers got up as the sun rays started peaking over the horizon, to feed, to clean, to let them out. This early she would have been just out the stalls, letting out the cows in the pastures, playing with Bessie, her favorite cow, the one she herself raised. Oh. How much she was missing home. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling, and not a good one, that things were not going to be easy. Not after what she did, what she was doing. It lingered in the depths of her soul. She would screw up at some point.
Getting out of the girls room she noticed she was not the only one up. A shadow was moving through the still dark common room, rummaging through the shelves for probably an early snack. The sound had her halt in her steps, a slight anxiety washing over but soon managed. She had nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about. She proceeded with confidence, going for the breakfast table. The figure, whoever it was, still hadn’t noticed her, moving to the faux rock wall on one side of the room, the chosen snack, a chocolate glazed donut, kept between their teeth, grabbing onto one of the holds and trying to swing up. With her own snack she got closer to watch better and worried by the struggle the boy was showing.
“That doesn’t seem safe.” She said, not a brilliant idea cause the figure flinched and lost hold on the wall, ending with a sound thud and a string of muffled swears she didn’t understand on the pavement. She quickly apologized and helped them back up, being able to now recognize the boy: the messy hair and striped shirt being now more visible as the light poured in from the windows
“Ah don’t worry, my fault, shoul've paid more at-tention.” Commented Raven as he took a bite out of the donut, making a face that didn’t seem that convinced by the food, “Whatcha doing up?” he then asked, looking at her, green eyes being accentuated by the morning golds.
“Could ask you the same,” Sammy laughed, “I’m used to the early hours, and you? Other than choking on a donut and falling on your back?” She playfully joked, hands on her hips.
Raven just raised his eyebrows, scoffing. “Woke up. Not that I want to, I'm going to be tired for the rest of -day. But there is not much I can do. Staying in bed can last only so long before it gets boring and is not like there is much to do there other than to watch how Kenji drools all over his pillow.” The image made her laugh, “Wait, you were watching Kenji, uh?” she teased.
“As I said there is not much. Not without a phone to distract me.”
“You could ask Brooklynn for hers, I don’t think she’ll mind sharing it a b–”
“I ain’t asking Brooklynn anything, nothin, Niente.” The boy stated, Italian slipping out in his still half asleep state. Plus he was hungry. And that donut was not of his taste. How could someone eat something so sickly sweet? His stomach turned with every bite, but he had committed to it now and was not going to spend more time searching for something else. Breakfast with everyone sure was not going to be too late? Right? “Ehi you said you have a ranch, right?” He asked.
The two spent the rest of the early hours like that, talking a bit with each other, settling in front of the balcony as the breeze was still chill, watching as the sky got lighter and the forest shone with the morning dew. He had to admit he wasn’t really much of a talker; in fact talking with people was the last thing on his list of things for the morning. He let her talk for most of the time, even when in the end she took the donut from him, seeing his struggle to finish it. If while talking something was revealed on both sides accidentally, he was too tired to care and she was too nice to inquire more. It was slow as one at a time the others joined the common area with calm, Darius the last one to exit the bedrooms.
–
“Ok kids, are you ready for today's rocky adventure?” asked Dave, enthusiastic as always. “Today’s program includes rock climbing and an exclusive visit to a new, still closed to the public, side of the famous Jurassic World aviary!” The announcement was followed by mostly cheers, a couple of complaints and Sammy shooting a look at Raven with a laugh, the boy also finding the coincidence funny.
“We weren’t supposed to say that,” hissed Roxie, “that had to be a surprise.”
Dave gave an apologetic look. “Even the best of us make mistakes Dave-man, bro. Am I right? Of course.” Said Kenji, “It’s hard to not share cool things, after all.” He smiled, giving a look around, Darius looking at him unimpressed. He really could not keep that mouth shout and was going to give them away.
“Is there an alternative activity? I'd pass on the rock climbing, I don’t want to risk my equipment.” Raising his camera to get the attention, Daniel tried to cop out of the day; he had had enough with heights with the zipline, no matter the good shots he could get from the top.
“Uuh yeah..I. I’d like to know too.” Said Ben, raising his arm, “It is a possibility, right?”
Dave and Roxie shared a look, “Uh. Yeah? We’ll see what we can find.” Tried Roxie. “At least come see what it is about before deciding you don’t want to do it. OK?” Added Dave. The two sighted and followed the rest when they got to the jeep. “You really don’t want to do rock climbing?” asked Darius, “But it will be fun. And safe, I’m sure, or they wouldn’t let kids do it.”
“I wouldn’t trust this place when it comes to safety. Knowing what happens apparently.” Scoffed Yaz, side-eyeing Kenji, “And if they don’t want to, it's their loss.”
“Laaaame.” Brooklynn was annoyed, “Rock climbing isn’t even that cool, I’ve already done it so many times.”
“Oh! You are basically an expert already!!” excited Sammy shouted “Those vlogs were breathtaking!”
“Glad someone appreciates it.” Murmured the Super-star.
It didn’t take long to reach the rock climbing area, a tall sharp cliff looming on top of them. Two other Jurassic World workers waiting. “Good day kids, I’m Cole, I’ll be your climbing instructor for today and me and my partner here will help you during the ascent, together with your camp counselors.”
There was a long explanation about equipment safety, climbing techniques and other stuff, with some quick tries and examples shown with the help of Brooklynn and then they grabbed all the gear.
“I confirm that I pass.” Stated Daniel taking a few steps back.
“Alright Daniel, Dave will stay with you and take you to the meeting point.” Roxie finished clipping her harness and helping with the kids' ones, “What about you Ben? What do you want to do?” She asked.
Ben was looking at the top of the cliff, where a metallic cage was barely visible, “I... uh...” he spared another glance at the equipment and the two instructors, Cole’s partner, Jessica, having everything ready. He had paid a lot of attention to the explanation and it seemed to be safe enough, maybe, probably? He was unsure.
“Come on, man” -“We are all doing it”-“Well, kinda all.”-“Raven, come on don’t be mean!”-“It’s way easier than it looks!” Everyone's voices mixed up in his ears, making it hard to actually think what to do.
“Can you all shut up and let him be.” Yaz’s voice cut through. She was already at the base of the wall, rope attached. Waiting for the climb to start.
Brooklynn shrugged and prepared her phone to start recording, attaching it to the holder on her helmet. She fixed the rope between the clasps. Sooner the climb started sooner she could show something exclusive. Cole helped the others with the ropes as they got ready.
“If you think you’ll regret it, you should go.” Ben jumped in his skin, turning to Daniel who was setting his Reflex for some photos. “Just a suggestion, Bro. I’ll be ok on my own.” Somehow he had read his mind.
“I’ll either regret going or I’ll regret not going.” He sighed, used to these dilemmas and knowing there was no winning with himself, but a weird bout of bravery was coursing through him and he raised his arm jogging over the instructors, “I’m coming up too!” He kept on questioning the decision as he felt the weight of the harness fastened around him and the ropes getting attached, the line ready to start.
“Woo-hoo, let's start this Rocking up!!” incited instructor Jessica. The kids laughed more for compliance than anything else, starting to get up in order: Cole in the front, Roxie keeping the middle and Jessica closing the rows; so that it would be easier to monitor the kids' safety. Dave and Daniel moved back to the jeep, taking the long road to the cliff top.
–
The climbing proceeded without too many problems, going quite smoothly for the first half. Cracking some climbers' jokes as they got up, with even Roxie knowing some and Darius managing to make a pun mixing climbing and dinosaurs – “What’s a mountain stegosaurus called? A Ste-Rocky-Saurus” –. They were around halfway through the climb, with Brooklynn leading in company of Cole; surprisingly just behind her was Ben, who after some troubles at the start had at that point scaled his way to the front. Next to him was Yaz followed by Sammy. The rest of the boys hanging behind Roxie, Kenji in the end with Jessica, seemingly hitting it pretty well with her as they chatted along. Truthfully she had to help him more than once get over a ledge.
Then a little scare happened. Yasmina’s hold briefly slips, having her sliding down the side for a second before the safety equipment did its job, leaving her half hanging facing the ground. With her heart still beating she moved her gaze from the ground, and the rest of the group’s scared looks.
“I’m fine.” She said, planting her feet back on the rock face as she turned. Roxie was quickly climbing up to check on her, but her gaze focused on another worried face, hand gripped around the back straps of her harness.
“Are you sure everything’s ok?” Asked Sammy while Roxie reached them.
“I knew it was a bad idea.” Whispered Ben, hugging the side of the cliff as if trying to merge with it. “Come on, we are almost to the top.” Reassured Brooklynn swinging at his side, “Just don’t look down.”
After getting everything back in order, and making extra sure all equipment was properly secured, they started climbing again. Just don’t look down, that was easy to say, not so easy to do. Especially when searching for a good foot hold.
“Ehi, what’s that? Up ahead!” shouted Darius from the back. Some sticks were protruding out of a ledge just at the side of where they were climbing. Going up more sticks and straw became visible, forming a sort of conical shape in what was now clearly recognizable as…
“A nest!” Excited Brooklynn climbed closer. Something shrieked as the girl peeked inside, getting slightly startled before laughing it off. It was a prop, a fake nest with fake eggs, an animatronic guarding it: its movements jerky and the sound having that metallic pitch to it. “It’s fake guys!”.
One by one they passed next to it with different reactions. Ben stuck to the rock, even if the “dinosaur” was fake it still had scared him. Sammy made for it a funny face as she passed. Yaz almost punched it when it moved. Darius and Raven stopped and tried on guessing what the flying reptile was supposed to be, asking questions to Jessica that was with them, the woman happily answering, – “The nest is accurate to what we have seen our pteranodons build during their mating season. Both males and f–”, “I told you it was a pteranodon!” “Why does it have teeth then, not much ‘toothless wing’ of them!” – while Kenji waited for them to be done, looking at the attraction,“Can we move on? That thing is creeping me out.”
“You know kids, the climbing was initially supposed to be an activity inside the main aviary, with the pteranodons actually flying freely around, but … we had some problems with that.” Said Jessica as she helped Darius better place his leg.
“What kind of problems?” asked Kenji, regretting it instantly. On second thought he didn’t really want to know that. “Oh, they learned how to untie the ropes from the cliff and dragged the tester mannequins into their nests.” Yeah, he definitely did not want to know. Looking up he managed to see the first group had just reached the top, catching the bottom of Ben’s boots disappear over the edge. He smiled. “Ehi Nerds. Get quicker. They have all gone.”
“You are the one that’s last and keeps getting stuck, maybe if you stopped flirting with the instructor we’d be at the top.” There was no malice in Raven’s tone, but a slight laugh as he propped his upper body up following Darius. Kenji leaned a bit back, cocking his head to the side. “You are being last on purpose aren’t you?” He turned to Jessica at his side, a puff of laugh coming out as he waved a hand. “Pfft , no what makes you think so? I’m just taking it easy, can’t risk wrinkling with too much fatigue.” He smiled again and started climbing, not needing that much help this time.
“Good to see you again guys.” Greeted Daniel, “So how was it?” He looked at them after having taken a few photos, sitting on a log with Dave. “Did you wait much?” asked Roxie as she sat next to Dave. “Not much, we arrived just a few minutes ago, stopped to watch some young pachys that blocked the road. You know how they are.” He answered, handing her a bottle of water.
They all got refreshed and rested a few minutes, stomachs growling for lunch as Dave threw them some heavily stuffed sandwiches.
“Get your energies back up kids, the day isn’t done yet.” Informed them Roxie, pointing at the aviary’s cage and a gate on the side of it.
–
“I thought we were done with heights!!”
The caged walk-through tunnel rattled with the weight of a Cearadactylus who chose to perch on top of it, few feet from where the kids were doing their tour. The flying reptile waited only for a few seconds before launching back in the air, diving down to the river and snatching a fish with his gnarly toothed beak. The cage shook and rattled again, forcing everyone to hold to the nearest railing… or person. Another Cearadactylus swooped on the one with the fish, twirling and screeching as they flew away fighting. “Those things are ugly, man. And they stink damn.” Kenji waved a hand in front of his face while talking.
“Ehi Brooklanders, have you seen how close we got to this dinosaur!” Exclaimed Brooklynn at her phone recording, “I know it may be tempting to touch them when so close but remember that not only it isn’t allowed but it’s best to resist the urge for both yours and the animal's safety,” She smirked with a wink, “But I will not be the one to try and stop you if you try.” She then whispered.
“Aemh,” Darius started, next to her, “technically these aren’t dinosaurs but flying reptiles, Pterosauria is it’s own separate clade from Dinosauria…” he looked at her a bit sorry for butting in like this, specially considering the brief look she gave him with a raised brow and a slightly annoyed expression, before changing back to the internet persona. “Well that sure is interesting, don’t you guys think! We always learn something new!” She chirped as she walked away down the tunnel, leaving Darius sighing despondently. A blue sleeved arm was then around Darius’s shoulders. “Man, that was depressing. You should try a different pick up line bro.”
“What?” He raised his head at Kenji, “It was not that! It was just a correction of factually incorrect information!”
“Bro, you don’t have to try a cover up story, come on, I’m your friend. But next time don’t be afraid to ask the great Kenji for some advice uh, I know how to get girls’ attention.” He patted his chest and smirked at him. “For real, it was really embarrassing bro.” Darius just blinked at him. Was it worth it trying to change his mind? No, the experience with explaining how the atmosphere worked was enough. “Uh, Ok Kenji, I will ask for your advice then… next time.” He got another pat on the chest and a solemn nod from the taller teen before he walked off to rejoin the rest of the group, at which Darius looked up towards Raven, who was barely holding a chuckle.
“I would have corrected her too if you didn’t beat me to it. Thanks for taking the spotlight kid.” He smiled ruffling his hair.
At the back of everyone Daniel was holding onto the railing with one hand and on his Reflex with the other, feeling his feet slip on the metal. It took everything to not look down. Something quickly flew past him, in a small blur of flapping wings and cackling chirps. With colorful crests, the small reptiles stopped on a feeding station attached to the central viewing platform. Cole just finished closing a small sliding door, similar to the one Darius and the others crawled through in the Carnotaurus enclosure, rolling out an assortment of fruits.
“What are these?” asked Daniel, putting the lens closer and getting some quick shots of the animals eating.
“These are Tapejaras. As you can see they eat mainly fruits. We provide them with a variety of modern and prehistoric hard shelled fruits we recreated in our labs. They can make quick work of them with their sturdy beaks.” Jessica explained, showing some of the fruits still in the bucket, ready for other feeders, “But we do sneak in some sweets sometimes.” She laughed, passing a slice of papaya through the gate. One Tapejara with a bright orange crest gently grabbed the piece and quickly swallowed it down, flapping the wings and cooing.
“Someone has a favorite here I see.” Commented Brooklynn recording the scene. Jessica just had to admit it, the young male Tapejara was her favorite, and the best thing was the animal reciprocated. Even as the companion left he stayed there until they walked on, flying next to the tunnel for a while before leaving, making for great views.
“The Tapejaras are the smallest species of the three we have in this aviary,” continued Cole after a while, “now let’s hope that we can see the biggest resident too.”
“Oh I hope we do! I love big animals.” Grasping on the metal grid Sammy looked up and down, if it was big surely it couldn’t be missed, looking around being a great excuse; between her fingers a small dotted fur-like fiber, swiftly put in her pocket.
Then a sound like rocks falling, rolling, hitting each other reverberated, filling the air. One, two, three. The clacking loudly repeated itself. On the lower section of the aviary, emerging from the foliage, a pterosaur with an even bigger and backswept crest, colored in bright blues and yellows, walked with majesty. The sound made by it snapping its beak and a low gurgling vibration coming from its throat. It’s appearance was followed by exclamation of awe from everyone.
“That’s a Thalassodromeus sethi!” shouted Darius, instantly followed by Raven, “Seth’s Sea Runner! That’s amazing!”
“How does that thing keep its head up!? It’s massive on that tiny neck?”
“It may be tiny but it sure is strong”
“And you are telling me that it flies?”
“Well he is more ground dwelling, where it feeds and hunts small animals, but yes, it also flies and quite well.”
They spent a few more minutes observing the Thalassodromeus moving through the tropical foliage, massive head used to open a way and search for anything it may fancy, until it was time to move on.
The exit door opened inside a shop where they were given freedom to look and grab what they wanted.
After Darius lamented not being able to afford a few books he saw, Kenji acted by taking out a black card and giving everyone the green light and grab whatever they wanted. Raven was the first to jump to action, cruising every island and coming out with handfuls of plushies and colorful dinosaur pens.
“What?” he asked as everyone looked at him. “You may need another suitcase for when we go home. I’m not helping with the extra fees.” Snorted Daniel, while searching for the most expensive thing. Darius had already taken out the book he had seen – A Theoretical Emotional Journey with Theropods– and since he was already there he also got a new dinosaur model to add in his room, a running gallimimus with a fallen trunk background. Sammy spent some time reading through a guide on big dinosaur care and the backgrounds of the park, then went searching for some gifts, a big shirt with a Nasutoceratops design for her brother ,a globe with a Maiasaura herd for abuela, some Pentaceratops earrings for her sister,... her arms were soon full!
There was nothing that really interested Yaz, she didn’t want useless tourist trinkets that would only get dusty and ugly with time, or break at the first use. In the end she got a pair of shorts that she could use when training, running Dryosaurus more colorful than the boring ones with the logo her sponsor gave her. A cartoon dinosaur christmas sweater and a mug that said “Dad, You are Tricera-Tops” were Brooklynn’s choice gifts for her dads, for herself she choose a small Baryonyx acrylic charm for phones and a Pc stand in the shape of one of the flying reptiles.
“You not getting anything?” Kenji had looked as everyone eagerly filled the cash desk with their findings, everyone except one. Ben still was empty handed. “I can offer you anything you want.” He twirled the card between his fingers and gave one of his smiles, just to drive the point home.
“I’m looking, let me decide.”
“You are taking so long dude, like the stuff is what it is you are not going to find the holy grail.” He laughed off.
“Why are you exactly doing this? Just to show off?” the small boy retorted, while taking a vinyl album, the flashing Tapejara’s crest illustrated on the cover.
“I’m trying to be nice, it’s not an everyday thing,” continued Kenji, then paused. “I mean that others can get whatever they want, not me being nice, I'm always nice!” He tried to salvage himself. “Why you got that tho?”
“For mom. I think she will like the christmas songs with the dinosaur calls added to them,” that if she didn’t already have it, Ben hoped. “By the way, you are not the only one with money, just to say.” He added as he walked to the cash register, trying to find a spot in between all the plushies.
It took at least another half hour to get everything scanned, and every minute that passed, Kenji's face lost a bit of color as the numbers got higher and higher. He didn’t let it affect it too much as he scanned the card and paid fully, keeping his breath until the confirmation came up and everyone got the gift bags with their purchase.
–
The last thing she needed was for the Wi-Fi to not work on this remote island. For multiple reasons.
First she could not upload her videos, check her channel or likes and comments. Second, everyone who took her phone for whatever reason complained when they couldn’t get what they wanted. So now she was crouched behind the desk in the counselor's office with the modem cables, trying to get the stupid thing to work, and the last user of her phone taking selfies to send himself and not helping at all.
When everything finally got back in working order she went back to the table she claimed. Her PC connected to the cloud, editing software ready to go with the videos of the day, getting lost in the process. Until an expensive camera was gently put next to her and she got distracted.
“What’s this?” she asked, mildly annoyed.
Daniel brushed a hand between his hair in nervousness, not sure how to approach this, carefully thinking the words. English not being his first language and him not even being that good at it making this more difficult. “I took some videos. And photos. Can you please check it out? Like to tell me how it is. I want to work in photography and video making or editing and I figured, you have experience.”
“Take a seat.” She said while taking the camera and connecting it to the pc to have a better view.
“There is a cool fight between the male pac-pachy. The ones with the smashing heads.” He said while she put it on.
“It’s not bad, you mind if I use it in my video? I’m still editing and I can find a spot for some of these.” She was impressed by how steady the video was for someone just starting, then she offered, “I can also save it to my cloud so you can take more without worrying, and once we are home I’ll send them back to you,” she smiled at the surprised face on the older boy, glasses slipping down his nose, until he fixed them and answered.
“Davvero?? Cioè. Si! Va bene. Grazie!!” He took her hand shaking it and punched the air happily. She just had to interpret that as an affirmative answer, and got back to work with Daniel at her side to learn, asking questions every now and then. It definitely was more fun than doing it alone.
“Ready for the Sunday program?”
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