Angelique: The Life of an Allosaurus

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Season of Angelique's Birth 

Darkness. Now there was darkness. Before, there was nothing. But suddenly, there was darkness. The young chick could no longer distinguish the two, she could not remember when there was nothing. Angelique was alive. The young Allosaur chick was enveloped by a strong heat, and a hot liquid. She heard something; for the very first time. Noise. A new concept. Angelique knew not what it meant, but she knew it was coming from somewhere. She was tempted to go towards it, but was stopped. Something was blocking her way, and kept her from moving much at all. Whatever this was, it had to go. But how? Angelique somehow...knew. 

She couldn't understand why, but something in her head told her that if she pushed hard enough, she would break free, out to where the noises were. She began repeatedly stabbing at the barrier, and could feel it pushing out. Brightness was leaking in, and stained the baby Allo's eyes. One last bash of the head, and she had shoved a nice piece of the wall away, and could peer out to see a vast void of blue. She could see tall structures with rustling parts, making loud yet calming noise. The second thing she noticed was that it was a lot cooler outside her shell. Angelique almost didn't want to leave her protective, warm home, but curiosity got the better of her. Her instinct took over again and before she knew it, she stood. Angelique shook on her two frail little legs, moving one forward, her body soon following. As she prepared to step outside, she tripped over her own shell, falling face first into dust. 

Now, she didn't know how, but she was rising herself from the ground on her little legs already. It's like she already knew, besides the fact that she didn't. This was getting confusing, but the little theropod was starting to get the hang of things. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. She was moving. She didn't even really need to think about it, and she was moving. 

One of the first things she noticed the first few meters from her empty shattered shell was two other chicks, laying next to each other. One of them immediately caught her gaze, staring right back, while the other lifted their head lazily at her, and back down on the ground just as lazily. These two had light red bumps over their eyes, and jet black stripes running down their grey backs and down their pointed tails. The first chick, the once staring at her, lets out a chirp. The chick rises to its two feet, struggling as much as Angelique was, and staggered toward her. 

The chick sneezed as he kicked up dirt and dust clouds from dragging his feet along the ground so clumsily, when suddenly a shrill cry filled the air. It was the loudest noise Angelique had heard in her short, new life, and accompanying it was a lard shadow the manifested over Angelique and the chick. The chick looked to the sky in terror, letting out frantic squeak after squeak. This prompted Angelique to look up, and saw the looming creature casting the shadow, descending from the skies. It had an elongated mouth, a long circular crest and two, long modified arms. It was the most gigantic creature Angelique had ever seen. 

The strange creature touched down on land. As it did, more dirt clouds stirred up, making it difficult for Angelique to see as the creature's shrill and unpleasant voice filled the air again. She could see it dart its head down into the cloud of dust, and rise back up with the other chick dangling from its mouth by the leg. Upon seeing this, a new feeling swirled up inside the tiny Allosaur. She felt fear, anxiety, panic. What this thing was doing to the other Allosaurus chick wasn't good. Why was it doing this? The chick clearly did not like it, evident in the constant shrieks flooding into Angelique's ears. She was beginning to wish she did not know what hearing was, and that she could unhear and unsee the horrible, horrible things happening before her eyes. With another flick of its head, almost faster than Angelique's little mind could process, the horrible creature had enveloped the tiny chick in its long mouth, only its tail still visible. Even so, the terrified screams could still be heard. The voice in Angelique's head that had instructed her until now was only telling her on thing. Hide. 

Angelique whipped her head from side to side, up and down, desperately looking for a place the beast would not find her. The only thing she could see the could possibly conceal her was the nest behind her, but it was too far away. The creature had already swallowed the chick, and silence once again filled the air. By the time she made it to the nest, she would already be in its clutches. There was nothing she could do, except hope that the creature had its fill, and would be on its way. The horrible creature turned its, head, surveying the area. It did not take long at all for it to spy the young chick as she hoped for some kind of mercy. It squawked another shrill cry as it unfolded its long arms, and turned in her direction. But in the moment Angelique needed it most, another noise filled the air. This was several times louder than the creature, but deeper, more bold, and ferocious. This took the creature aback, and it flapped its arms a few times, readying itself to take to the skies again. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a gigantic beast brought its jaws down on the creature. It was much larger, and looked like a massive version of the chick Angelique just saw die. It had black crests instead of red and lacked the stripes on its back, instead having faint black spots. It closed its jaws around the creatures body, and the loud crunch it made was drowned by the painful shriek of the horrible creature. A red substance rained from down Angelique's savior's jaws as it shook the creature side to side, spraying the substance all over the ground. The cries of the creature stopped, and all the could be heard were the crunching of its broken body, accompanied by the angry yet gentle breathing of the savior. This was a fully grown Allosaurus, and Angelique could tell that this massive animal was what gave life to her. This was her mother. 

Angelique called out to her, in her tiny, shrill chirping voice. Her mother quickly responded, turning her ginormous head  to her, and set the dead creature to the ground. As her head rose from the corpse she let out a grumble that Angelique found comforting. Her mother brought her head to Angelique, who could feel the warm air from her nostrils as she sniffed her, making sure she was unharmed. She then grunted again, and Angelique recognized this as an invitation to eat. 

Her mother bent her neck down over the fresh carcass, and using her sharp teeth and jaws, tore into the creatures belly, revealing the soft insides. The smell that came after was all too enticing for Angelique and she rushed over, but not before tripping twice into the dirt. Her mother turned to tend back to the nest, and from behind her an entire legion of chicks came rushing over, pushing each other aside to get first pickings. Luckily, Angelique made it first, and sank her teeth into the red, juicy bits of meat. The taste filled her mouth as red fluids dripped over her teeth and down her chin. Her first bite of food was heavenly. The creature that had served as the most traumatic event in her short life was now nothing more than a meal to Angelique and her siblings. She ate until her belly felt heavy and was satisfied. 

That night, when the sky was dark, Angelique joined her siblings in the nest, while her mother slept close by. She snuggled up to one of her brothers who she recognized as the lazier of the pair she met before. The familiarity comforted her, and gave her hope for her future as she drifted off, thinking about the future, becoming big as her mother with all her brothers and sisters, and ruling this land, and even having children of her own one day. 

These thoughts, however, were interrupted by nightmares filled with that singular, terrifying creature, and she would continue to have these dreams for weeks to come. 

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Fauna of Chapter 1

Allosaurus fragilis. 7.5-10.5 meters long, 2.7- 3.3 meters tall.

Angelique: Allosaur Chick, 0.5 meters long 

Alicia: Adult Female Allosaurus, Angelique's mother. 10.5 meters long. 

Kepodactylus insperatus. Pterodactyloid pterosaur. Wingspan: 2.4 meters.