This isn't your territory.

The day started off like the rest. Training, breakfast, sex, and on to traveling. All in all the routine was enjoyable. Towards the middle of the day you found Copper waiting for you. Usually this meant he'd found something he wanted you to see. On this part of the journey you were traveling on a fairly thick grass, but occasionally there were open spots of soil. You came up to Copper standing next to one of these patches of soil. However, you didn't like what he'd found. Right in the center was a rather large Dino footprint. It was easily twice the size of Copper's foot, and clearly a predator of some sort. Copper seemed agitated, but calmed down when you stroked his neck. Judging by the direction the footprint was facing whatever it was walked into a forest about one hundred yards to the left of your path of travel. Either it moved on to hunt something else, or it was hanging out in the forest to watch you. It wasn't promising that the wind was traveling towards the forest, so if it had a decent sense of smell it likely knew your group was around.

"Oh my Gods...look at the size of it" an excited Jane exclaimed when the group came to see what you were looking at. It earned her some questionable looks from the rest of the group.

"What...I like Dinos" is all she defended herself with. You just chuckled and shook your head. Looking from face to face there wasn't anything that needed to be said really. You all knew that large predators were out here. The group all watched the forest as travel started up again. You notice everyone seemed to stick closer together trying to listen or see anything to alert them to whatever it was. Copper decided to stick closer to the group as well, and was never out of view from the group even once. You couldn't ever see anything, but it did seem like you were being watched. You weren't sure if that was just your nerves talking or if your instincts were kicking in.

It was towards the end of the day when you were about to call a halt for the day when Copper came rushing into the group. He seemed very agitated and issued several loud barks in a tone you'd never heard before. You weren't sure what was about to happen, but you ordered the women behind Bruce for now until you figured it out. Copper wasn't leaving your side though and the hairs on the back of your neck were starting to stand up. You heard a deep rumbling coming from the trees, and then you saw some movement. Some big movement. From the shadows a Carnotaurus stepped out into the open. You were shocked at its size and features. Again, this wasn't some realistic looking Dino which seems to be the theme in this world. A normal Carno would certainly be intimidating, but this one was easily twenty feet tall, and you couldn't guess at how long it was. Its other features seemed to be more what you'd expect in a fantasy game as well with everything a little exaggerated.

Suddenly you found yourself a little less excited about trying to tame it as it cautiously approached your group. Copper was posturing in a defensive display. Barking loudly and tearing up the ground with his feet. You weren't sure if he could take on creature twice his size if it came to it, but you resolved to not allow that to happen if you could help it. You reached out with your spell and allowed magic to flow through it into the Carno. You were almost overwhelmed by the sheer sense of anger coming from the Carno. Pushing more magic through it became apparent that you were in its territory and it was angry at the trespass. You weren't sure you could use that in any way so you pushed more magic through. Deeper you could sense it was a female and wanted a mate, that wasn't something you could offer, but it hinted at something more. You dug deeper. Family. An overwhelming sense of desire for a family. It was a strikingly different feeling than Copper had with his desire for a pack. It felt loving almost. You weren't sure if this was the difference between a male and female dino, but the Carno was still approaching and you needed to act.

You pushed through the sense of family you had with your group and that the Carno could be part of that. It stopped in its tracks and let out softer warbles and growls from before. Copper immediately shifted from being defensive to standing up proud and he also began to warble and bark in softer tones. The two of them almost seemed to be talking, and you had to wonder if that was possible. Suddenly the spell ended and you felt for the first time a significant drain on yourself. It wasn't so much that you physically had to rest, but you could tell the spell has used up some of your endurance. You pushed that aside and wondered if the spell had worked, when suddenly a notification popped up for you congratulating you on taming your second Dino. You'd almost forgotten that would happen, and you wondered how that worked if this was a real world and not a game world. You suspected Remi might not be a good source of information in that regard so you resolved that you might have to find answers somewhere else.

Copper trotted forward towards the Carno suddenly earning gasps and calls of "What's happening" from the group behind Bruce. They were clearly concerned for Copper, but you just raised your hand to hold off their concern as the Carno and Copper met. They briefly circled each other before sniffing nose to nose. The Carno suddenly licked Copper atop his head with its giant tongue like a big cat. Then after their meeting the Carno's attention turned to you. With a single minded determination the Carno quickly approached you and shoved its snout into your chest forcing you to grab on so you didn't fall. It snuggled into the embrace, and you although her head was a little rougher than you expected, you couldn't help but give her a few pats. Satisfied the Carno stood up to full height and you got your first good look at her. Her color was mostly a dark brown with dark green stripes along the length of her back and tail. It was no wonder she was hard to see in the forest. Petting her side you rubbed her skin earning a trill from her, and you couldn't help but think just how difficult it would be to cut her skin. It felt almost like armor. The vestigial arms were really fascinating to you. There was no way they served any purpose, and so far she kept them tucked against her making them almost non-existent. Her head was huge compared to Copper, and her mouth was intimidating to say the least.

"Well Miss Carno, welcome to your new family" you said stepping aside and motioning to Bruce and the group still cautiously huddled behind him. The Carno approached Bruce, with Copper following along, and they did the same nose to nose sniffing she'd done with Copper. There wasn't much fan fare to the sniff this time though as both seemed to decide there was no threat between them. The Carno walked around Bruce and stared down at the women. You could see Yvette, Annabel, and Rene seemed cautious, but seemed to trust nothing was going to happen. Jane on the other hand looked like she was about to pee herself in excitement. The Carno lowered her head into the middle of the group. Yvette, Annabel, and Rene tentatively reached out to pet her, but Jane couldn't wait longer and immediately hugged the giant head. The other women seemingly calmed their nerves more and began to earnestly pet and scratch the Carno who let out a noise that seemed like a hum crossed with a purr. Raising her head back up the Carno made a point to lick Jane from her knees all the way up her face. Jane stood there stunned a little with her bangs sticking straight up in the air from the giant tongue, but quickly squealed and happily jumped up and down.

You let out a sigh of relief that it had all gone well enough, and you could feel yourself recovering even then from the magic you expended. Further, you were happy to start getting a grasp on the taming spell. You just needed to figure out what you had to offer the Dino. It did make you wonder if there would eventually be a Dino you would have nothing to offer. The thought of that frightened you a little bit, but you quickly put it aside as that may never be the case. Food for thought at least, and something worth asking Nadine about.

"She's going to need a name" you stated to everyone "Anyone have any good suggestions" you ask.

"She's a she" Jane asked excitedly. You nodded your head to confirm her question.

"Lily" Annabel offered. "Dawn" Rene offers. "Xena" Yvette offers. "