Open the Door, Get on the Floor... (Active/Open)

[stand2gether]

Characters: Aladar, anyone wanting to find a dinosaur.
Content: Aladar appears in a world completely different from his own...
Location: De Witt Clinton Park (for convenience)
Time of day: Late morning
Warnings: None

Comments

[goldenskyking]

Despite the warnings of the new crab types and how dangerous they were, Haruka was not going to bother Michiru every time she wanted to get out and go for a jog. It was silly really. Haruka probably should have been a lot more concerned with an attack, but she was used to fighting things like this. She insisted she would be fine and she was. Besides, she was too restless these days. Staying couped up inside was simply not something she could do.

Haruka hadn't expected to run into anyone. Which was fine by her. It had been a peaceful morning and with spring on the way the weather was starting to warm up a little.

Of course, all of that was ruined when an unnaturally loud voice cut through the air. Haruka slowed to a stop and looked in the direction it had come from. She debated just leaving but something told her Usagi-chan would have scolded her for leaving someone like that. With a shake of her head she turned in the direction and jogged over, moving through the park. It was probably someone lost and trying to find a familiar face.

"Hello? Need some--," Haruka trailed off as she finally stepped out onto the new path and stared up at the very large thing.

Was that a dinosaur?

[stand2gether]

Aladar stood on his back legs, sniffing the air. There was something nearby. It smelled... Sort of like a lemur. But then came the voice from behind. His scaled hide twitched slightly in mild surprise and he half turned his body and craned his neck around. He looked bewildered and unsure of how to even ask his question.

"You... you're one of them. Did the others make it? And the thing you rode on?" His tone was one of genuine concern for the female... whatever she was. It was female, he could tell that much from her scent.

[goldenskyking]

Haruka stared up at the dinosaur for a few moments, the look of amazement not at all masked. Honestly, she'd seen a lot of things in her time, you would think a talking dinosaur wouldn't phase her as much as it was. She registered that it had asked her some questions, but it was taking some time to process them.

Finally she shook herself, running a hand through her hair and taking a breath. "I'm...sorry. What others do you mean exactly," Haruka asked, looking back up at the dinosaur.

[stand2gether]

Aladar gave her an odd look, wondering what her problem was. Maybe just like he'd never seen one of her before, she'd never seen an iguanodon before.

"More like you. A bunch of you were riding on something like those." With his snout he motioned to the crippled cars. "...Except it wasn't dead like of course. Weirdest animals I've ever seen."

He looked back to her again. "So, you weren't one of them? You weren't being chased by a carnotaur?"

[goldenskyking]

Haruka glanced over at the car and then back at the dinosaur, "A car? Those aren't animals they're...never mind, point is they weren't living and never were." Was she really explaining cars to a dinosaur? Haruka sighed, this was starting to get a little too bizarre even for her.

"And no, I wasn't being chased by a...carnotaur...nor have I ever been. I've been here, in Manhattan, for several months now," Haruka explained, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What---who are you, anyway, and where do you come from that has dinosaurs and humans coexisting," Haruka finally asked.

[stand2gether]

(OOC: Size Comparison)

Looking utterly perplexed, Aladar replied, "...But I saw one move. But they don't smell like they were ever alive." It both did and didn't make sense.

Aladar brought his massive head close, looking at her curiously. The dinosaur lowered his voice accordingly. Rather than being fowl, his breath smelled faintly sweet from the plants he ate. "I'm Aladar. And I'm guessing you're a human? Until just a little while ago, I've never seen one of you before."

[goldenskyking]

She was a little perplexed on how to explain how a car worked to a dinosaur, so she decided to drop it. If anything, it would probably be easier to show him, but the nearby cars hardly looked like they were ready to start driving again.

Haruka took a step back. It was an unconscious movement, friendly or not the dinosaur was HUGE. It was a tad intimidating having him so close. She supposed at least his breath didn't smell bad, and she was able to see that his teeth were flat. This indicating that he was, in fact, a herbivore. It put her a little more at ease.

"Yes, though you can call me Haruka," she said, figuring going by a name was better than just being referred to as 'human.' Interesting, so he wasn't from a world with humans and dinosaurs. Then how had he met humans before? Time travel? She shook her head, it didn't matter she supposed, he was here now. "There are a lot of humans here," she continued, "I think they'll be a little surprised to see you." Her eyes narrowed a bit, "There's also some other things here...they aren't as friendly," she looked back up at Aladar, "in fact, they might be about as dangerous as that Carnotaur you mentioned."

[stand2gether]

"Why?" he chuckled, finally laying down on his stomach. "They haven't seen an iguanodon before?" If none of them had, he'd be amazed. He knew his herd wasn't the only one, although it was one of the most diverse. Since Aladar had come to lead the herd, he learned more about the land and came to wonder if there wasn't one without some version of his race.

Mention of a potential predator certainly garnered the dinosaur's attention. "What kind of things? Raptors are pretty nasty, but they're not as bad."

[goldenskyking]

"I doubt it," Haruka muttered. To be honest, she didn't know that many people here, so for all she knew there could be someone out there who had seen an iquanodon before. She shrugged, "You could ask around through, who knows what people here have seen."

Sighing she turned away from the dinosaur, "There are three big ones," she paused and added, "much, much bigger than you. They don't come through often but they cause a lot of damage where ever they go. The smaller ones though, they're called crabs. They're numerous and tend to travel in packs. Also, their bite is nasty and poisonous...you'll get sick if you get bit by one."

"Although, you might have an easier time fending them off than most."

[stand2gether]

"Well, I hear Yar hadn't met any iguanodons before me, so you guys must be isolated, too." The reptile's smile was warm and understanding.

"Bigger than me. I can imagine that, though I really wouldn't like to see something the size of Baylene in a bad mood." He continued to listen. "Poisonous crabs. I'll keep that in mind. But crabs aren't that big. The ones with tails are pretty slow, too." Aladar cocked his head slightly at her next comment. "I'm guessing most of you are... humans, then?"

(OOC: Crabs existed during the Late Cretaceous, though most were horseshoe crabs, which is what he's mentioning second.)

[goldenskyking]

Haruka shook her head, "These crabs are different. I'd be happy if they were slower." She had a feeling he was thinking of a more prehistoric crab, granted she wasn't as big a history buff as, say, someone like Hotaru or Setsuna. Thinking of the senshi of time made her wonder how Setsuna would be reacting right now in the presence of a dinosaur, a talking one at that. She'd probably go on about how much it was messing with the flow of space/time and how everything as going to be ruined now.

Somehow, Haruka couldn't imagine the situation in Manhattan getting much worse because of a dinosaur showing up.

"Yes, I think most of us are humans...although I've heard of a few exceptions."

[stand2gether]

"Hmm. Go figure." The dinosaur lifted his head and looked around at his strange new surroundings. "What a strange land this is. Why is most of it barren like that?" He gestured to the streets and the relative lack of foliage beyond the park.

"Like what?" Aladar shifted his forelegs in what might have been a quadruped's shrug. "Iguanodons? Styracosaurs?"

[goldenskyking]

"There's a few spots of green, called parks, but this is a big city...most people like to hide from nature nowadays," Haruka explained, off-handedly.

Haruka sighed, this was going to be a long day. "No, nothing like that, there's some cats and dogs, some people that look like humans but aren't really, and some kind of dragon looking man," she looked up at the dinosaur, smiling slightly, "but I'm going to guess you haven't heard of any of those things anyway."

She looked off to the street, "Why don't I just show you around, it'll make it easier...I think."

[stand2gether]

Aladar gave Haruka the oddest look. "How do you hide from nature?" It seemed about as insane as someone hiding from the air they breathe. It wasn't something one could physically do.

With a smile, the dinosaur shook his head. "At least out have me figured out that far."

"I'd like that. Can't say this place makes much sense to me."

[goldenskyking]

Haruka blinked, well, actually he did have a point. "You build places like this...I guess it's more trying to control nature or something. Don't ask me, the world's been this way for a long time," Haruka tried to explain but had a feeling she was always just falling short.

She gestured to Aladar, "Follow me and just ask questions as we go so I can sort you out."

[stand2gether]

Aladar just stopped. "Built? Wait, are these cliffs your nests?" He'd seen plenty of lemur nests, though these looked more like termite mounds gone awry.

"Hmm. ...I can't even know where to begin. I guess... well, if a car isn't alive, how does it move like that?" Aladar followed with his head low so as to better speak to Haruka.