ORIGIN

"Snow, again," was all he'd lamented, a wry smile in his words, as he'd tromped into Ursa. It wasn't easy going. The snow was deep, and a creature like Rex sank heavily with every step, crushed down to his ankles--sometimes, even to his knees.

He also wasn't made for snow. He wasn't one of those fancy dinosaurs covered in feathers; whoever had designed him had gone 'old school' and he wound up shuddering against Ursa's biting winds.

"Well, if it helps, I think you'll grow into the stone?" he suggested, for a moment forgetting the cub was on his head and trying to glance back at him. He quickly corrected, though, levelling out so as not to throw Qflugr off. He thought it over, then. "My friend--Andy?--she has her stone on her shoulder. When she was a baby it was huge! Now she grew into it, I guess. I think mine was in my back, because that always used to feel uncomfortable but it went away when I got big. The tail thing sounds awful!" he added, with empathy in his voice.

Onward he trudged, sparing the gentlest nod off in the general direction of Tunnel D. "Well, I've never been here so I'm just about as lost as you are!" There was amusement in his voice. "But I'd heard there was another cave through this snow cave and along this wall that's like where I grew up. Uhh--you ever heard of Fornax? Of Lacerta?" He paused, sniffing.

"Hey, Qflugr, you hungry? 'Cause I'm hungry. Hold on tight?" he suggested. He could smell food ahead--a deer, he thought--and wondered if he could catch them both a snack.

He picked up speed, striding forward, and--"There!" he hissed. Up ahead, a woolly white deer, pawing about in the snow. Rex again warned "Hold on!" and then charged, breaking into a shambling run.

He crested the little hill in a spray of white powder; the deer bolted, but not quickly enough. The ledge of rock and snow had done enough to hide their coming. A moment later, Rex--a proud big brother--had given the deer a single hard shake and let it drop into the snow. "Right! Lunchtime!" he laughed, ignoring the gore as best he could. He lowered himself down into a crouch, tilting his head so Qflugr could get down, if he wanted.

"Oh! And a Benjamin's like... Prey, but not woolly, and its legs are real short," he explained, tilting his massive skull to eye the dead sheep, comparing it in his mind. "They're brown, and their necks can come out like WHOOSH, their heads extend all high up or pull back in. And if you bite 'em they blow up really big, and try to squish you. So don't go near 'em. I haven't seen them outside Lacerta, though," he mused.

Lesson offered, he turned, trodding off along his way. With very big, very thumpy steps. He'd come back, of course; but keeping watch during mealtime here was important!