The Law Of The Jungle

The Law of the Jungle

TW: Dinosaurs, you know the drill

Chapter 1: The Headhunters

"Where the hell are we?" "The Kings Lair"

The waves of the pacific rocked the sides of the large metal ship, causing it to bob and sway gently. The feeling would be soothing, if the boat wasn't filled with some of the greatest mercenary teams in the world. The Jackals, Death Fighters, and White Claw were all present on the ship. This did not phase the young Jacob Marvin "Leatherback", captain of the mercenary crew "Headhunters." He instead sat on the hard metal seat, playing out the beat to his music on his leg. Jacob was a tall well muscled man, with long spikey dark brown hair, that stuck stubbornly out of the back of his head. He wore a leather eyepatch over his left eye, which when combined with his beard scruff, gave him a rough, rugged appearance. He wore a green camo tank top, and dark green pants, which helped deal with the humid heat of the tropical atmosphere.

He lifted his wide brown hat and turned to face the man sitting next to him, the crew's sniper, Troy Hall, "Copperhead". Troy was slightly leaner than Jacob, with his long light colored hair spilling out from underneath the back of his patrol cap and headset. His most defining feature was the black mask that covered his mouth and nose that he always wore. He had sharp eyes with longer eyelashes that were the color of ice, the kind that pierced deep into anyone's heart. Troy turned to his captain and nodded, standing up and grabbing his gear. It was time to get the crew together, they were inbound.

Jacob led them up the stairs, as two more followed behind. These were Jack Wilds "Lagoon," the scout, and William Hager "Gator." Jack was a taller, lean man with dirty blonde hair, tucked neatly away in a grey patrol cap. Will was a short but stocky maori man, with long curly black hair that reached the base of his shoulderblades. As they all reached the deck of the metal ship, the light shone down on them brightly, causing those who weren't wearing sunglasses or a hat to squint and see what was ahead. It was a large tropical island, with an extrodinary view. "Damn fine place they're taking us" said Jacob, putting a hand on his hat. "Indeed captain" says Troy, putting his hands on the rail of the ship, trying not to get motion sick. This made Will laugh, and he slapped Troy's back "Don't get sick on us now" he said in his thick aussie accent "We still got a job to do" "Shut up" Troy snaps back with a glare, causing Will to laugh harder, "So where are we Cap'n?" Jacob paused, he had no idea where they were, the scientists who hired them said it was confidential, but the pay for this guard and escort duty was high, too high. It only meant one thing, this job was going to be one hell of a time "We're inbound to some rando island, but if the report is anything, it's supposed to be teeming with 'Dangerous Wildlife' so stay sharp" They all readied for the landing, each loaded up with their individual packs. These packs were specialized for them, containing equipment for long distance jungle treks. As they set foot on the island, regrouping with the rest of the mercenaries, they got to see the scientists they were escorting for the first time. There were 8 scientists in total, leading the pack was a female scientist with short red hair. "All right, we'll be heading to the eastern corner of the island, and in 2 weeks we'll be out of this green hell" she shouts to the mercenaries, who respond with the usual grumbles, as they begin hacking a path through the jungle.

Only 2 hours into the trek, and the whole of the Headhunters were sweaty, tired messes. Sweat stuck Jacob's shirt right onto his chest, his breathing heavy as he held his gun up, searching the jungle for any of the "Dangerous Wildlife" the doctor had talked about earlier. The things he and the crew had heard in the forest were unnatural, the chirps of some unknown creature. Troy had trouble identifying the birdlike prints on the ground. As he continued down the path, he froze, a familiar feeling washing over his body. He was being watched no, hunted. He searched the jungle, but could see nothing. Until he looked up, looked way up. Towering above him was a large leathery beast, with rough red skin, covered in scars. From what he could see, it's lip peeled up from a scar, showing a missing bottom tooth, it's nose topped with a single bone horn. As it gazed at him with an empty eye socket, he realized what he was looking at.

He was looking at a dinosaur

If you made it this far, it means you read it! Thank you beautiful reader, for reading my thingie. It means a lot, and I hope to see you again in chapter two!

The character must survive the test of meat by allowing a tyrannosaurus (or similar large dinosaur) to swallow him whole. The prospective cultist must then begin praying to the dinosaur god for acceptance. Each round the cultist remains inside the dinosaur’s gizzard, he suffers normal gizzard damage and must make a level check (modified by his Wisdom modifier, DC 20) to be heard by the dinosaur god. Failure indicates nothing happens but the prospective cultist may attempt the level check again next round. Success indicates that the dinosaur god has heard the cultist’s pleas and accepts him as a new cultist; the tyrannosaurus immediately regurgitates the new cultist, cleans him off with its tongue, then leaves him in peace to serve the dinosaur god.

Special prestige class requirement for Dinosaur Cultist class. Villains: Rebirth. Copyright 2003, Bastion Press, Inc. Author: James Jacobs.

Normally prestige classes require a player character be able to use certain abilities or have certain skills at a high enough rank, and some of the more setting-specific ones require you to be a part of a certain organization. A few of them require some sort of outlandish feat be completed, and the Dinosaur Cultist's special requirement has "test of meat" and "normal gizzard damage" and "praying to the dinosaur god for acceptance".

The Law of the Jungle

TW: Clifford the big red dinosaur eats people in this one, so Dismemberment, blood, gore, violence, that sort of thing

Chapter 2: One-Eyed Beast

"That's a big fucking dinosaur"

Troy stood frozen by fear. This was a genuine dinosaur, a real fucking dinosaur. "Jesus Christ" He said in a hushed voice, as he slowly backed away from the massive beast. The red creature, which he knew to be a ceratosaurus, cocked it's head, looking at him with one good amber eye. Troy kept his guard up, as the ceratosaurus stepped off into the pathway, leaving deep prints in the muddy ground. It let out a large bellow, causing Troy to cover his ear and wince, as he slowly crept back to the rest of the group just as they were arriving.

Jacob felt the fear wash over all of them as the small army of mercenaries beheld the dinosaur. It was then that it clicked for Jacob, he knew where they were, they were on the abandoned Lost World National Park. It was supposed to be closed off since the incident, but Jacob figured this wasn't exactly a legal job. It was as he made this realization, that the beast attacked. it lunged forward, scooping a man up in its jaws, just barely missing Troy, who tumbled out of the way. The man screamed as he was torn apart and mutilated by the one eyed beast's mouth

"Scatter!" one of the mercenaries yelled, and all hell broke loose. Some marines tried taking shots at the ceratosaur, but nothing seemed to faze the dinosaur, as it trampled over mercenaries, taking bites out of those who could not escape it's jaws. Jacob found himself desperately searching for his crew, who were all scattered in the panic. In the chaos, he eyed the doctor he had seen earlier, the red haired woman running frantically into the woods, alongside another dark skinned man with glasses. Remembering his job, he chased after them, deeper into the jungle

Troy had gotten knocked back by a large red tail, and awoke to find himself lying helplessly next to a tree. He rubbed his head with his right hand, trying to ease the throbbing pain in his mind. As he stood up, he found his elbow had been lodged in the tree. Panic began to creep in the back on his head, as he tugged. The rumble of heavy, mighty footsteps crept closer and closer. Frantically, breaking his usual cool and calm composure, he pulled even harder at his arm, threatening to tear it off.

The monstrous red beast finally came into view, pushing the jungle aside with its massive bulk. Troy knew what this meant, but he stayed as still as he could as the creature approached. It stopped right before his limp forearm, sniffing it once, twice. Troy could feel its thick, hot breath against his skin. He forced back the urge to shudder as the beast ran its long, powerful tongue across his arm. Troy held his breath, and closed his eyes, praying for it to go away, to leave him alone.

That's when the ceratosaurus stuck, with a crack and the sickening sound of tearing flesh. It ripped off Troy's arm as if it were nothing but paper. Pain and addrenaline surged through his body as he took off running, stumbling through the jungle as the dinosaur roared after him. Clutching his arm, he tumbled over a vine, rolling further down the muddy slope, hitting his head on a root. The world faded into black as he landed on riverbed, the blood from his arm trickling into the river.

The Law of the Jungle

TW: More Dinosaur related gore and violence. mostly just the usual

Chapter 4: The Terrible Claw

"Quiet, we're being hunted"

Jacob followed the trail of blood, his weapon trained on the hallway ahead, his breath becoming focused and methodical. Now that he knew the enemy, he could be prepared for it. He methodically checked every room, observing the strange, long dead moniters. It was nostalgic, looking back on the past of this national park. He grabbed a keycard on the desk, as something from further down the hallway began walking. Ducking behind a desk, he peered out into the dark hallway. It was like staring into a black void. He held his breath as the dinosaur finally showed itself. It was large and long, as it's neck craned into the office. It let out a small hiss as it entered, a large, viscious claw tapping on the metal floor. Jacob swallowed and held his breath, "This isn't good" he thought, as the dinosaur sniffed the ground, and began its hunt. It was almost nostalgic to Jacob, in a weird way. It reminded him of a mission in Peru, where he accidentally ended up being hunted by a jaguar. At the memory, Jacob instinctively scratched his eyepatch, and quietly slung his rifle over his shoulder.

He needed to play his cards carefully. If this dinosaur was anything like the jaguar, then it was a powerful animal, and a dangerous threat. So he began his own steathly approach, as the dinosaur continued to stalk him. It was uncanny the way the creature moved, like a bird, but it hunted like any other predatory animal. Navigating the office did not help ease his nerves, as the metal labyrinth continued to twist and turn. He could feel his heart pound in his ears, and he prayed that the creature couldn't hear it. It was as he paused to calm his breathing that the creature jumped up onto a desk, letting out a loud screech.

The sound nearly gave Jacob a heart attack, as he clutched his chest. Shaking his head, he steeled his nerves, and made a break for the exit. The dinosaur whirled around and hissed at him, before lunging after the merc. The chase was on, and it was anyone's game. He knew he couldn't outrun the beast, so he just had to outwit it somehow. But he had to come up with something soon, or else he was going to be extinct.

Law of the Jungle

TW: Missing an arm, blood, more dinosaurs choosing violence, the usual

Chapter 3: Blood in the Water

"Numerous dangers lurk below the murky waters of this ancient river, waiting for it's next meal. Don't let it be you"

Troy awoke suddenly, as the pain in the stump of his forearm surged back like a flood. "Fucking hell" He groaned, his breaths growing slowed and sharp as he gripped the stump, quickly tearing a strip of fabric from his shirt to tie a tourniquet. The bleeding quickly stopped as he began wrapping bandages where only seconds before his arm had been. He weakly stood to his feet, brushing off his pants and picking up his hat, placing it back on his dirty hair with a dusty thump.

Further up the river, Jack came to his senses. All he remembered was nearly getting trampled by a homicidal lizard. "Glad to see you up mate. Thought I lost you there" Jack turned to see William paddling the large raft he found himself in. "Where is everyone else?" William set down the paddle, squatting down to look his best friend in the eyes. "After that one guy yelled scatter, we all went seperate ways, I saw Jacob go chase after some scientists, and I saw Troy get smacked and fly down the hill." He said, his voice a bit more serious than usual "Then I saw you passed out on the ground, and I couldn't leave you to get eaten or anything, so I grabbed you and booked it" William punches Jack's shoulder gently. "Those two can handle themselves, I couldn't let you get eaten" Jack smiled, happy that if he was stuck in this green hell, he was stuck with in it with his best friend.

Troy trudged deeper down the river, waist deep in the cloudy river. He pushed the thoughts of whatever horrors lie beneath his view aside. His bare calves would occasionally brush against what felt to be slimy prehistoric fish, or something far worse. He eyed the shore, where the red devil of a dinosaur lurked, watching him with it's hollow empty socket. Troy had no doubt that it was eager to get enough bite of him, to finish the job. "Go find another meal, you red bastard!" He shouted to the beast, which responded back with a bellow. What Troy didn't realize as he vented his rage out at the dinosaur, was that there was a very important reason why it wouldn't enter the river, a reason that was slithering it's way towards the one armed sniper.

Deep in the jungle Jacob trailed behind the scientists. It was easy to track them, not only did they leave prints in the wet mud, but their path crosses into what appeared to be a maintenance road. Jacob readied his gun, as he made his way to a large gray building surrounded by fencing. Creeping into the facility, he heard sounds reminicent of a bird call. As the midday began to grow darker, turning to evening, he opened the front door, turning on the flashlight. His flashlight illuminated the facility, casting dark moving shadows as he crept deeper down the halls, his footsteps creating quiet echoes. Jacob rounded the corner to find a disturbing sight, a trail of blood and bloody footsteps leading down the hall, where a single birdlike call could be heard.

All he could do is walk forward.

The Future

Hey Law of the Jungle fans, my jungleheads, it's been a while since the last chapter, and I kinda dropped the series for a while. Thankfully, I've been reinvigorated back into the writing sphere with some news for you all. 1 Law of the Jungle will be resuming, and I'm going back to editing some of the past couple chapters that I'm not quite satisfied with. When they are edited I will send out an announcement that the edits are complete. ALSO I think I'm gonna start posting the chapters onto AO3 after recently learning about the site. 2 This is the cool one. Under a new pen name "Skin" I'm working on a weird west comic book called "Wizardworld" which is being posted to Tapas, check it out if you have the time or want to. If you just happened to see this without a clue as to what this is or who I am, take this as a sign to start or finish that book you've been wanting to write.

YIC (Yours in Creating) Gone Imagining