Chapter 1: The Pack
Chapter Text
Isla Nublar lay surrounded by a lulling ocean womb misted in ocean spray that lapped upon the cliffs and shores of the isle, causing the scent of salt to waft upon the wind and be carried adrift towards the tropical forests. It was just three years ago when Nublar witnessed the last drop of human blood soak her fertile soil. It was just three years ago when the Indominus Rex raged across her sacred lands, and turned Isla Nublar from an isle of peace, to an isle of death.
A characteristic fitting for one of the Five Deaths to dot the tropical seas-to house a creature so efficient as to harbinger death with such reckless and merciless gaiety, that it did not realize the swift abadement of its own life.
It was just three years ago when Blue and her siblings faced The White One.
It was just three years ago when the sisters flanked and slashed and overwhelmed the beast, and made its white scales turn red.
In the end, it was Echo that struck with such feral zeal that her killing claw gored out the beast's eye, and then gutted its throat open wide.
Delta watched with caution as The White One sputtered, faltered in stride, and fell to the ground, gasping and reeling for breath. It was as if she expected the Indominus to make a move, or to have one last plan of strike. But when she hit the ground, Delta realized she was wrong. The Indominus had nothing left to give. She had no more strength.
Charlie chittered anxiously, nervously, head warbling and claws tapping upon the ruined stone walkway of Jurassic World. She looked to her sisters for guidance-or perhaps reassurance. Her body was tense, and her posture unsure-perhaps even fearful. She did not know so much blood could escape such a large beast so quickly, hot and tasting of iron as it pooled around the pack's taloned feet. Charlie did not know there was so much blood in the Indominus. The scent of iron and the taste of metal upon her tongue in such large quantities was making her stomach churn and lurch. The green striped female wondered if her sisters were beginning to feel as ill as her?
Echo watched with golden eyes, scarred maw twisted into a sneer as she watched the aftermath of her strike. Her chest was puffed with pride, claws and talons flexing, as if to display her battle won trophy in the glistening of the moonlight. The female released a call in triumph, drunk on victory and pride as the yellow raptor began to trot around, claws clacking against the stone walkway of the park, silently gloating.
Blue looked upon the Indominus Rex, breath returning to her lungs and recovering from the heat of battle. She knew she shouldn't feel sorry for this beast. The White One tried to kill her. Kill her sisters. Kill her alpha. But Blue saw the look in the Indominus' remaining eye. She saw terror, and fear. And her heart ached upon hearing the gargled, desperate plea of The White One calling for help. Begging for help.
Blue knew she shouldn't have, but she did. Her sisters ignored the plea causing her, alone, to approach.
Blue approached, and shortly after, the Indominus slipped from the world, her blood soaking the soil of Nublar, as her victims' did before her.
That night was just three years ago. To Blue, it seemed even longer, for that was the last time she saw her alpha. Her human alpha.
It was hard to remember him. Remember Owen. Sometimes she did, but most of the times, she didn't.
Owen may as well have been from another lifetime ago.
Because in this lifetime, Blue and her sisters had a new alpha.
Amethyst.
Her mate.
Their mate.
And the father of the developing eggs within Charlie's swollen belly.
Indeed, the youngest was gravid, belly swollen and having gained weight due to her condition. The green striped female was carefully-if clumsily-making her nest, claws digging into the ground, tilling the soil of the pack's nesting site, making a bed to harbor her future young. Charlie paused in her tilling, head warbling slightly, as if judging the hole in the ground. The youngest judged the latest nest not good enough, for she shifted, and began to dig another.
Blue pattered out from the dense foliage surrounding their thicket, light trot slowing to a stop as she neared her youngest sister. Ferns and various soft plant matter were held within her jaws, which the grey female lowered to the ground, and set near Charlie. The green striped female craned her head towards Blue, neck twisting. Upon seeing the gift before her, Charlie ushered a soft chirp in appreciation, before returning to her nest building.
Blue warbled her head, responding with a quiet chitter as she attempted to get a better view of Charlie's nest, before pattering off to get her sister more nest materials.
This was the third nest Charlie attempted to build. Whatever her definition of a good nest was, it was beyond her sisters-even if Blue was the designated nest helper builder, she did not seem to mind.
Echo's golden eyes lingered upon Charlie, scarred maw twisted in a sneer.
Her eyes were jaded with envy, and jealousy.
Charlie may have been the first to have a nest, but she was not the first to lay eggs.
Echo and her sisters were inexperienced with breeding, and offspring.
Echo did not associate breeding with eggs, and she did not associate eggs with offspring.
Eggs with food, yes, but not young dinosaurs.
Not of her own kind.
When Echo became ill, and swollen, she and her pack did not know what was wrong with her.
When she developed the pains of labor, her sisters were distressed, and Amethyst, confused and anxious.
They thought something was killing their sister, and they were helpless.
And then Echo laid an egg.
The pack was confused as to how an egg came out of the scarred female.
They were even more confused when another egg appeared a day later, and then a third the day after that.
Five eggs were laid over the course of five days.
The eggs were then considered something of an oddity that the pack could not comprehend. Eggs were eaten. They ate eggs. But these eggs were from Echo...should they be eaten?
And thus, the pack simply ignored their instincts, and their hunger, and left the eggs be-if only because they came from the scarred raptor.
The eggs were then simply abandoned, and the pack paid little to no attention to them as if they were rocks within the earth.
Over a month later, the eggs began to do something in the darkness of the night.
They began to chirp, and make shrill, yet soft noises.
The eggs began to warble, and slowly crack and chip.
By the next night, they hatched.
Echo did not know what to make of them.
They were ugly, deformed little things with bulbous heads, thin, nigh useless limbs, pudgy bellies and round bulges of flesh that would be their eyes.
They called and chirped, and when Echo approached them, the deformed little creatures, still within the confines of their eggs, extended their skeletal neck upwards, and gaped their maws open wide-almost impossibly so.
It was an action that caused Echo to retract her head, a perplexed rasp escaping her. Her retraction caused the strange creatures to settle back down, chirping quietly among themselves.
When the scarred female went closer to sniff them, the little beasts shot their heads up once more, mouths agape.
Echo's nared flared, chest expanding as she breathed in the scent of yolk and egg fluids, her breath escaping her serrated maw in hot puffs. Her golden eyes narrowed upon the hapless creatures, instinct and hunger gnawing at the back of her mind.
After a brief moment of pause, she lunged, and devoured the creature whole.
She devoured them all, droplets of blood, yolk and cracked egg shells being all that was left by the time the sun rose in the early morn.
And with the birth of a new dawn, her sins were brought to light.
For it was in the rays of the early morn, that Echo saw something. She saw the tiny, half eaten remains of one of the dead deformed creatures from the night's feeding frenzy.
What she saw upon the tiny body, she knew well. She saw what resembled a tiny, broken version of her mate, the strange creature sporting a purple coloration, with black upon its belly. But it's back sported more yellowed, golden hued stripes with tinges of green.
Echo's colors.
It was Echo. A part of her, at least, from what she had seen of herself. It was also Amethyst.
It was both of them.
Echo's head cocked to the side, warbling with a quite, perplexed chitter, as if trying to make better sense of the creature that looked so unlike her, yet so familiar.
It was then realization hit her.
The thing came from one of the eggs she laid. One of the eggs that came from her. If the thing came from the egg that came from her, then that meant the little creature...
...It looked just like Charlie, when they were younger.
Echo barely remembered when they were hatchlings.
Barely remembered the now resurfacing memories of her youth.
She did not see Blue, or Delta when they were tiny and helpless. But she did see Charlie, when she was small.
Small like the offspring of the prey they sometimes hunted.
Small, helpless, like the little creature was that looked just like Charlie...
That came from an egg she laid...
...It was her offspring.
The realization struck Echo, and it made the female's breath hitch.
For a long time, it felt like she did not breathe. It felt like she couldn't.
She could still taste the blood of her offspring upon her tongue, feel the flesh stuck between her serrated teeth.
Her stomach lurched, and saliva coated and welled within her throat. Echo's body suddenly heaved, and she began to retch with such force her back arched and twisted, saliva dribbling from her gaping maw. She retched, and heaved until the contents of her stomach were expelled, and her belly now empty.
Echo resumed to heave and retch after, yet nothing else was expelled.
The remains of her hapless children lay in a pool of their own mother's saliva and bile.
The stench made Echo repulsed, but the female forced herself to lower towards her children, nudging the tiny remains of one, as if urging it to rise, to call.
She knew better.
But she still tried.
Echo did not understand what came over her. She did not understand what was happening, or how this happened. But these little creatures were a part of her. They couldn't die! She didn't know! She couldn't have a part of her die! She didn't know they were a part of her!
The yellowed female fought the impulse to pull away from the scent of bile to once more nudge a tiny body.
She knew better, now.
But she didn't know at the time.
Slowly, shakily, Echo pulled herself back, muscular legs quivering and breathing labored.
Echo didn't understand what was going on.
Why did she hurt?
Why did her chest hurt?
She wasn't injured!
Why was she in such pain?
The scarred raptor released a low, desperate call from her throat that barely sounded like a quiet rumble. She could not find her voice. Echo did not know what to do. The scarred raptor looked around for her pack, her sisters, her mate, desperation, grief and panic welling within her.
When she called, it was a broken, shaken, quivering beckon for help that turned into a harrowing wail of pain. When Echo attempted her second cry, she found her call was broken, and trembling. The female's pain grew, and her wails turned into violent thrashing, as if she were reacting to physical pain.
Echo did not understand this pain.
But it was far worse than the time her jaw was broken.
When her pack located her, they were startled, perplexed, and distressed. Echo was acting as if she were physically attacked, yet they could see no intruder, nor smell any foreign scent.
They did not understand what was going on.
Like before, they did not know how to help their sister.
All they saw was Echo, and the remains of the little creatures that looked like her, but didn't.
In the following days, Echo did little but lay around the pack's domain.
She did not join for hunts.
She did not eat.
She did not drink.
When Charlie would urge her sister to play, and nudge and poke her with her snout, Echo would just snarl in warning.
When Delta would urge her sister to rise for the hunt, Echo would move not.
When Blue would lay beside Echo, and preen her scales and nuzzle her sister, Echo would not respond.
When Amethyst would bring the scarred sister prey, he would nudge the flesh towards her snout, and urge her to eat. Echo would not feed.
It was then, one day, that Echo vanished.
Amethyst called for her, but she did not answer.
Her sisters searched for her, but they did not find her.
The sisters fell into a state of mourning, for they missed their sister.
Echo did not return until two weeks later.
Now, two months after Echo's return, things within the pack were beginning to fall into normalcy.
Only now, rather than Echo being gravid, it was Charlie.
The pack knew better now, all because Echo did not.
The scarred female's ever present sneer was dominating as she watched her green striped sister work upon her nest. Echo could not help but to have a frustrated, riveting hiss escape her scaled maw, taloned hands clenching and unclenching, killer claws twitching in a building fit of envy, jealously, and rage.
It was these subtle, minor actions that caught the attention of Delta, the pale green, almost grey toned female looking upon her more earthen toned sister, gaze sharp and alert. A low rumble of warning ruptured from Delta's throat. It was a warning Echo's gaze met, and the sisters fell into a silent war, a silent challenge, a silent dare.
Delta did not resume the preening of her scales, as much as she would desire to. No, she knew her sister well. Echo was prone to breaks in command. Fits of feral rage. Delta would not allow such actions of baser instincts to harm her younger sister. Charlie was not the reason Echo's young perished. Echo knew that. Delta knew that. And yet, Echo had no one to take out her smoldering rage upon-save for the object of her envy-their youngest sister.
The yellow hued female flexed her claws, which dug into the mossy ground and tore at the roots of grasses, tail flicking. With a huff of breath, Echo released a snort. She would relent, for now. Delta was not the one Echo needed to worry about. She could handle her sister. What she had to worry about was Blue. Blue, and their mate.
The sound of movement and crushed foliage could be heard from the outside borders of their thicket haven. Charlie paused in her nest building, a leaved branch between her scaled lips as she looked towards the source of the noise. The disturbance caused her older sisters to break their staring contest, Echo and Delta turning towards the approaching animal.
It was too large to be Blue.
That meant it was their mate.
From the dense thicket, a massive raptor like beast emerged from the darkness of the foliage, and entered into the faint rays that managed to cascade passed the canopy and soak the ground.
Amethyst was stocky, densely muscular, and thrice the size of the sisters. He was like them, but not. He called like them, he looked like them. But he was not entirely like the sisters. The hulking beast walked not upon his hind legs, but rather, upon all fours. His uncharacteristically muscular forearms allowed him to crawl upon the ground, clawed hands digging and grasping as he pulled himself along, powerful hind legs rippling with muscle and veins under his scales.
He was like them, but not. The male's arms pulsed with veins just under his vivid scales, solid muscle adorning his form. Far too much for a raptor's body to bare, for his stride and gait were not like the sisters.
He did not move like them, but he was like them. As close to them as he could get.
As Amethyst moved into the light, his golden eyes flicked from female to female, pupils small and round. His posture was erect, purposeful and regal, his scales amethyst in coloration. Black hued scales ran upon the sides of his neck, throat, inner forearms, thighs, hips and both sides of his tail. Within these black scaled patches, were two variations of golden scales, which appeared to have a high luster concentration, for they shimmered within the rays that the sun cast askew within their home. A vibrant, golden stripe ran down the black hued scales within each side of his neck, hips and tail. Fainter, softer flecks of gold dotted and shimmered upon his black throat, inner forearms and thighs.
Amethyst sported a mane of feathers atop his head that one would find akin to the Harpy's Eagle. The feathers were downy at the base of his crown, and were purple in hue. Mature feathers dominated further up the crown, and shifted black in coloration with golden flecks. The tips of the feathered crown turned gold.
Mature feathers of black coloration intermixed with golden flecks and gold tips run down his neck, flanked by soft, amethyst downy feathers. The feathers lessened, and faded upon reaching his shoulders, which briefly began again upon his tail.
His underbelly was black, with a golden inner coloration. The claws upon his built forearms were black with thick, overlapping scales running over his fingers and toes, the scales black in color.
Yes.
Amethyst was like the sisters. But he was not like them as well.
The massive male looked towards each one of his females, head cocking. He sensed something wrong. Why were they tense?
The feathered raptor moved himself along, lumbering form casting a shadow that skulked upon the ground as he moved. As the male moved closer, he released a soft chitter in greeting towards Echo. It was a response the yellow female begrudgingly replied to, her own greeting reluctant, and sounding almost forced.
Charlie chirped in greeting upon seeing her mate approach, her eyes bright as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, tail swaying. When Amethyst approached his gravid mate, the feathered male lowered his head, snout facing down towards the ground, and lightly booped the youngest sister with his head in greeting, a low purr escaping from his throat. Charlie nuzzled against her mate's larger head, crooning softly and producing a series of soft chirps in contentment. She nuzzled her snout into the male's feathered crown, nares flaring as the green striped female inhaled his scent.
Amethyst released a low grumble from his maw, tail swaying gently. The male, however, slowly pulled away. Charlie made a low, sad sounding whine. Until she lunged forth, and smooshed her snout with her mate's larger one.
Boop.
The action startled the male, and despite Charlie's playful nature, Amethyst pulled away, head cocking in confusion, a perplexed chitter escaping him.
Charlie merely barked in play, swollen belly wadding back and forth as her body shook in excitement.
Amethyst was about to respond, though his attention fell upon Blue returning, foliage in her maw once more. Charlie turned towards her sister, and chirped in greeting, as well as appreciation.
A rumble only escaped Blue as she set the leaves down.
Delta resumed the preening of her scales, though Echo's gaze remained transfixed upon the spectacle before her. The ground before her was churned and ruined, her claws caked in earth and root. It was killing her...that should be her!
Amethyst briefly greeted Blue with a nuzzle, to which the grey female gave a swift lick upon his jaw. She then pattered away towards Delta, her gaze briefly flicking upon Echo.
The male once more returned his attention towards Charlie-if only so he could regurgitate the contents of his stomach, the remains of a freshly killed and eaten herbivore calf now laying before the nest.
Gaping his maw in a yawn, the feathered raptor then made his way towards Echo. He noticed the ground around her. She was not happy. She should be. Perhaps he should not have bred with each female? Then he would not have had this headache and dealing with jealously. It was quite hard to divide his attention between four females, hunting, and patrolling his territory. Still, Amethyst knew one thing regrading Echo: They could always try again. There was always next time. They knew better, now.
The purple raptor sauntered around Echo, finally collapsing in a great exhale of breath besides her. She did not respond. Was she ignoring him?
Amethyst raised his head, and produced a quiet chitter, his feathered tail curling around the scarred female as his head booped and nuzzled into her form, purring gently, attempting to get a response from her.
Nothing.
She didn't even look at him.
But she didn't hiss or snap at him.
She was just ignoring him.
Amethyst kept his feathered head against Echo, his purrs and soft croons slowly dying, tail flicking in unease. It was then Amethyst heard something. Faintly, almost non existent. Echo was purring in a series of quiet, almost inaudible rumbles. She was just pretending she wasn't.
A quiet chitter escaped the male, which blended into a purr as he nuzzled the smaller raptor, serpentine tongue slipping passed his scaled lips to preen her scales. As much as Echo didn't want to admit, she was pleased, and content. As much as she wanted to be irritated and grumpy...she had her mate. Their mate. The yellow female turned her head towards the larger raptor, a soft rasp escaping her. Slowly, hesitantly, the scarred female pressed her form into Amethyst's more muscular form, his heat and scent calming her.
The feathered raptor released a low croon, and his tongue moved to clean Echo's clawed hands of dirt and root. Echo decided to at least return the favor, and craned her neck slightly to begin to groom her mate's feathered mane.
For the first time in a long time that Echo could remember, she was happy, and content. In this moment, her mate was hers. She knew better now. She knew he didn't hate her. Did not want to be mates with her, and just be mates with Charlie instead. He didn't blame her for killing their offspring.
Everything was-
Boop.
Echo paused in her preening to see the familiar green stripes of Charlie.
Booping her mate.
Booping.
Her.
Mate.
Amethyst paused in his cleaning of the scarred female to turn his attention towards Charlie, the gravid female now rubbing against the larger male akin to cat, her swollen belly rubbing and bumping against him. The youngest was cooing, and her throat was vibrating in a purr, her eyes closed.
Charlie's act was enough to throw Echo into a rage.
In a fit of explosive jealously-or perhaps envy-Echo rose in one sudden, feline leap, and knocked over her sister. Charlie shrieked in terror, muscular legs moving to protect her swollen belly as her scarred sister was poised over her, teeth bared and saliva spraying forth from her maw in her shrieking.
Before Charlie could make a move to escape or counter, she found that her offending sister was shoved off of her by a forceful strike of the head from Amethyst. Echo cried in shock as she was knocked to the ground, swiftly righting herself to her feet, a hiss in warning ringing out, claws bared. Her gaze met that of Delta's, the other female between Echo, herself, and their downed sister.
Delta's gaze was hard, teeth barely withheld behind scaled lips, talons flexing. A low rumble in warning riveted from her throat. She did not want to fight her sister, but she would, if she must. Echo was not going to harm Charlie.
Blue pattered towards Charlie, chittering quietly as she nuzzled her sister, and attempted to calm the gravid female as she righted herself.
Slowly, Echo's posture changed from that of an aggressive animal, to that of a shamed dog. They were all staring at her. All watching her. Echo's arms dropped, and hung limply, her head warbling ever so slightly, trying to see Charlie. Trying to see if her sister was okay.
What she saw, was something she never saw towards her in her youngest sister's eyes before. She saw fear, and hurt, and treason. Charlie was afraid of her.
Echo's gaze then fell upon Delta. She saw mistrust.
Echo chittered quietly, almost too softly for the others to hear. She craned her neck up towards Amethyst. She saw smoldering anger. Yet her alpha bared his teeth not.
What the scarred female attempted to call for-or to whom- was unknown. In a shameful downcast, eyes adverting her pack mates like an unwelcome stray, Echo suddenly turned upon her heels, and swiftly scurried away into the foliage.
Amethyst began to rise from his position, briefly raising upon his hind legs. The male called for her, a haunting wail of a trill that resounded through the forests.
She did not come back.
Blue looked upon the direction her sister fled, and briefly looking upon her alpha, gave a brief bark of attention, followed by a quiet series of clicks. The alpha looked down upon the blue striped female, and released a call in approval, head flicking in the direction their pack mate fled.
Blue wasted no time.
In three great bounds, she was at full sprint, her powerful legs pounding into the ground.
She was not going to lose her sister.
Not again.
Chapter 2
Notes:
This chapter was supposed to have Blue and Echo. It focuses on Delta, Charlie and Amethyst instead. :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The prey the pack hunted was normally small mammals and dinosaurs. A common tactic was for the sisters to chase and shepard prey along a worn torn trail used by various animals. Grasses worn and broken along the path, but thick and rich with foliage and shadows on all sides. A ripe place for ambush, allowing a sister to rest whilst another leapt from her hidden lair and resumed the hunt, leading their quarry ever closer towards the killing field. When death came, it came swift.
Death was shaped like a sickle upon a single scaled toe.
The pack mainly hunted small prey, for they did not have the numbers, and risk of injury was too high.
This meant that only one pack member would feed at a time, and the others would go hungry until it was their turn to reap.
Now, however, things were different.
The pack was even more splintered.
Echo and Blue were still gone, and in Charlie's state, the youngest sister could not hunt.
The pack was, for all intents and purposes, down to only two hunters.
And Delta was, by far, the better of the two.
The green hued female with coloration so light, she was nigh grey, was accurate with her strikes and slashes. She was swift. She was agile. She was precise. She was stealthy.
All things Amethyst was not. The hulking Utahraptor was too large to run down prey for long distances. Too large to be as agile as any of his mates. Too heavy to be as agile as his females. Too vivid of hue to properly ambush.
The pack normally hunted small prey, fatigued from being run down and only enough for one sister.
Now, they were being forced to target more dangerous prey.
They were targeting prey that was normally only hunted by The Scarred One.
Amethyst and Delta were hunting down the stocky, frilled horned prey that sported thick armored hides, and were prone to charging.
Or, rather, the pair were after their young.
Delta's golden, serpentine eyes dully glittered in the dim light that broke through the darkness of the canopy, her gaze sharp and focused. Her clawed hands clenched and unclenched in anticipation, breath deep, yet controlled as she awaited for the moment to stripe. Her killings claws twitched and dully tapped upon the leaf and grass trodden forest floor. Beyond the shadows of her hidden lair, lay sunlight.
A small herd of the horned prey meandered and trudged along their grazing fields, the gentle wind of the valley casting the grasses to and fro in a dance, carrying with it the faint scent of the sea. There were several females, and a large, old bull, horned frill scarred from previous battles-but if from predators, or from other males, Delta was unsure.
And she didn't entirely care.
She was more focused upon the calves that were romping around, snorting, kicking up grass and dirt, and butting each other's heads.
As the young calves played, a few of them neared closer and closer to Delta's hiding spot. The female Raptor skulked back slightly, as if fearful of being seen. Though she fought the urge to lunge forth from her hidden sanctuary, instinct beckoning for her to pounce upon such hapless prey.
But Delta couldn't.
She wouldn't.
That would ruin the plan.
And hearing the harrowing, wailing trill of her alpha echo on the opposite end of her shadowed lair, Delta knew the plan had begun.
Charlie wasn't used to being alone.
Completely alone.
Utterly alone.
It made the youngest, green striped sister nervous.
And it didn't help that she was beginning to feel sharp, twisting, stabbing pain in her belly.
Thus, the youngest sister was forced to lay down upon her nest, instinct instructing her.
Charlie's breath was swift and hitched, a soft, pained squawk involuntarily rising from her throat as another piercing wave struck her swollen belly.
Body tense, Charlie's golden eyes were wide with fear, head swiveling, breath becoming ragged. Her tail flicked in agitation, and in a nervous tic. She attempted to shuffle the best she could upon her crouched legs, muscles rippling and quivering under green scales.
Her chest expanded and decompressed with her panicked breathing, anxiety and fear rising.
Charlie was alone!
Charlie was in pain, and she was alone!
The youngest sister attempted to call for help, but her breath was stolen from her as another stab of pain came from her belly.
This time, the pain was far stronger than the others. More intense. More frightening.
It felt like she was being split in half.
The pain was so intense that Charlie ceased to breathe, before sucking in a ragged breath, head hitting the earthen ground, eyes tightly closed. Her clawed hands dug and raked as the ground, a killing claw thumping, pounding desperately into the earth.
The pain became almost too much as her body heaved, and in an act of desperation, and fear, Charlie forced her maw agape, and released a quivering cry for help.
She didn't understand!
Where were her sisters?
Where was her mate?
Why did they leave her all alone?
All alone, while she was in pain?
All alone, while she was vulnerable?
Why weren't any of her pack mates answering?
Why weren't any of them coming?
Charlie opened her golden hued eyes when she heard the brush rustle, and felt footfalls tremor the earth.
Charlie couldn't help it!
The youngest sister released an excited chirp-if quivering from her discomfort-upon hearing her mate return!
Her alpha was coming!
Her mate answered!
Charlie wasn't alone anymore!
Out of the foliage, and into the clearing of the thicket, came not the hulking, vivid hue of her mate.
What came out, was of a crimson hued predator, with teeth and twin horns, attracted by the cries of easy prey.
The haunting, shrill wail produced by the alpha predator was enough to bring about the herd's attention-and the old bull was the first to charge.
The scarred bull, lowered his frilled head, nares flaring and casting askew dust in his wrath, horns shaking in display and warning. A front leg pawed at the ground, hind feet digging into the earth in preparation in charge. The females, while joining the male from several feet behind him, were focused upon putting themselves between the their calves, and this large predator.
The calves themselves looked on in curiosity, and fear at the nearby danger, huddled together for safety.
Amethyst suppressed a rumble from his throat, nares flaring as a forked tongue briefly slipped passed his scaled lips. The hulking beast was now upon his hind legs, towering over the horned prey, an armed claw raking the air, killing claws poised.
The crowned feathers upon the Utahraptor's head stood erect, a mane of downy purple, mature black and golden tipped feathers rising along his back. When the odd predator opened his maw, a serpentine hiss escaped him, fangs extending, before an echoed crack rang out as his jaws closed shut.
The alpha then charged forth, ceasing in his mock charge just before the herd's old bull lunged forth, and went to ram the predator. The male's horns got no where close to the purple hued predator, but it did not stop Amethyst from raising a hind leg, and swinging his killing claw downwards, a slice being heard as it cut through the air.
Amethyst was, however, forced to back up as a female gained enough courage to briefly charge, and in fear of getting skewered, the alpha male fell back down upon all fours, tail flicking. A forceful hiss ruptured from his maw, a wad of spit launching at the female's eyes, which caused her to snort, and bray, horned head shaking and feet stomping in rage.
Upon seeing one of his females in danger-that was when the old bull charged.
And it wasn't a mock.
The hulking beast barely had time to rise upon his hind legs to avoid his belly being gorged, Amethyst's muscular forearms rising and slamming onto the bull's scarred frill. Amethyst grunted as he felt himself be pushed backwards by the bull's weight, a killing claw digging into the ground, feet planting down. But as much as he could feel the bull pushing him back, he could also feel the bull struggle to push forward-and not be pushed back himself.
Muscles rippling and veins pulsating just under his scales, Amethyst's belly convulsed as he briefly felt the tip of a horn brush against his stomach. The old bull grunted, hind legs shaking and rippling with raw muscle as he attempted to gain just enough ground to push forward.
Amethyst, in desperation, rose one of his hind legs, and raked his massive gutting claw along the side of the bull's face. The sudden pain caused the bull to buck and bray, and retreat from the deadlock, head shaking and stocky legs stomping with rage.
The high pitched, panicked squeals of the calves, however, soon turned the herd's attention away from Amethyst, to Delta.
The grey-green sister was currently wrestling a horned calf into submission, Delta riding atop the bucking quarry, killing claw jamming into its hide to wound and not fall off. Her jaws were currently attempting to get around its throat.
The call of the wounded calf, however, earned the ire of the females.
Specifically, the calf's mother.
And when Delta barely noticed the charging mother-that was when the female was forced to cease her attack, and flee.
In one smooth, feline leap, Delta's feet slammed into the ground, before taking off in full sprint into the brush.
While some females remained with the bull, several of them returned to defend their calves.
And like buffalo to a lion hiding within the brush, the irate females did not stop at the dense foliage that held the crafty sister.
They charged right through, and broke tree and bush, foliage snapping and wood splintering and snapping.
If the females couldn't find Delta, they were going to trample her out of hiding.
Delta herself was scurrying through the dense brush that now seemed to be exploding around her, the horned prey charging forth and goring tree and ground. Their angry footfalls shaking the earth to her front, to her back, and to her sides. Delta would run one way, and a female would suddenly be there, or explode right behind her, horns lowered to gore her and feet stomping to crush.
Leaves, wood and dirt spritzed through the air, the almost deafening noise of massive armored beasts charging and destroying everything they could all at once was disorienting, and confusing.
Delta's heart was pounding in her chest, breathing swift and deep, eyes focused and muscles rippling as her legs burned to escape and carry her to safety. But Delta didn't know where safety even was. For all she knew, she was running in circles!
In her panicking, the grey-green sister ended up face to face with a female of the herd, head down and horns ready.
Delta released a shrill cry in panic, before her tired legs gave one last, desperate leap.
The female Raptor leapt onto the thick back of the horned beast, and in another, feline leap, Delta sought the only safe place she could think of.
In the trees.
Body slamming against the rough bark of a tree, Delta's clawed arms and killing claws clung desperately to the bark. With haste, the female scurried her way up the tree as best she could-nearly falling in her panic as the sounds of the chaos below hung heavy in her mind. Clawing her way to a thick and sturdy limb, Delta watched below, before flicking her golden gaze out towards the clearing-which she could see through the now sparse trees.
A cry suddenly rang out from Delta, however, as she almost lost her balance, and fell. Looking down once more, the Raptor saw that one of the females was currently charging at the tree, attempting to knock Delta off her safe perch.
And for a second time, Delta almost did-the grey-green sister barely catching herself, arms burning as her legs tried to swing up and over to regain purchase. When she looked down, all she saw was horns.
In fear, it was then that Delta did something she rarely did.
Delta called for help.
Amethyst's head snapped towards the call of his mate's plea.
Impulsively-instinctively-the alpha answered Delta's call in a wail, and rising upon his hind legs once more-made his way towards her.
So enraptured was the alpha in answering his mate's call, that he briefly forgot the situation he was in.
Reality became known when Amethyst was stopped in his stride by a horn embedding itself into his thigh.
In a shriek of pain, the large male fell to the ground, body twisting as he did so-and stabbed the killing claw of his uninjured leg into the old bull's eye.
Almost instantly did the bull retract himself away, once more bucking and braying, injured side being rubbed against the ground.
Killing claw flicking flecks of crimson, Amethyst moved to rise.
To get up.
To answer the call of his mate.
To go to Delta.
Only to realize something.
The alpha was surrounded by stocky, frilled horned prey that sported thick armored hides, and were prone to charging.
Notes:
Thank you for reading! Hunting behavior for Raptors is based on aves that hunt in packs, like Harris Hawks.
Chapter 3
Notes:
Writing cliff hangers makes me write faster. Who'da thunk?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A crimson hued predator with teeth and twin horns, attracted by the cries of easy prey.
That was what answered Charlie's cries for aid.
Not her sisters.
Not her mate.
Her pack left her, all alone.
Her family left her, all alone.
Charlie's neck craned, head swiveling in a better attempt to see the new threat that encroached upon the sanctum of her pack's nesting ground. The green striped female's scaled lips curled back in a snarl, serrated teeth displaying. A growl riveted from the the female's cream colored neck, throat muscles spasming. A hiss, then an enraged scream tore from Charlie's throat, leg muscles tensing and straining, attempting to rise from her nest.
The stabbing like pain within her belly stopped her, the green striped Raptor released a strained groan, which she attempted to keep quiet.
Attempted to put on a bravado of aggression and rage, and not one of fear and pain.
Charlie only hoped the quiver in her scream wasn't heard by the the larger red beast.
She saw it's kind before.
She saw them, sometimes, scavenging the kills from the Scarred One.
Or even being chased off their killed by her.
The horned predator suppressed a growl from its throat, jaws opening wide to released a throaty, almost raspy call in response. It's muscular chest expanded with each deep breath it took, arms tiny and pressed flat to its body. The beast briefly shook its head, as if displaying its horns in threat before it took a step closer. The ground briefly quaked from the monster's weight, its eyes tiny, and beady.
That was the thing that scared Charlie the most.
Charlie could read another just by looking at another's eyes. Where they flickered and focused upon, how long they lingered, how long they diverted from attention, if they were glossed over with feral rage, or pain, or fear-even lust. She could see many things just be looking at her sisters' eyes. And they could see many things about her, too.
But with this beast-it's eyes were too small to see. Too beady to study.
All Charlie saw was horns and teeth.
Teeth that were jagged and broken, others that were just growing in after the previous fell out. Strands of old flesh were caked between its teeth, or even around the base towards the gums.
Charlie could read eyes well.
But she could also read teeth well, too.
Because teeth and claws and horns were simple.
Teeth were unfeeling and merciless.
Claws were sharp and deadly.
Horns were crushing and piercing.
Eyes held many things.
Teeth and claws and horns held nothing but mercilessness.
Looking upon the beast's teeth, the way they swayed as the red monster moved in stride-it was almost hypnotic. Watching as the saliva shimmered in the sunlight that trickled down through the canopy, sparkling and glistening in a pattern to the beast's approaching gait.
Charlie was only brought to reality when the quake of the horned monster's footfalls caused a tremor to be felt.
But even then, looking into its beady eyes now visible-it didn't feel real.
It felt as if Charlie was in a haze, a cloudy dream.
It felt like she should be anywhere but here.
It felt like she wasn't really here-staring down a red monster with merciless teeth and beady eyes.
She should be with her sisters!
Her mate!
Her pack!
Charlie didn't understand!
Why didn't they answer her!?
This didn't feel real.
Because it shouldn't be.
Looking into its beady eyes, Charlie saw all she needed to know.
She saw what she already knew.
She saw hunger.
She saw no mercy.
Her whole body was trembling, her heart beating so hard it was all she could hear within her own head. She felt like she could barely breathe.
She could barely feel the piercing pain in her belly anymore-or perhaps it went away?
The red horned monster now stood not five feet from the green striped sister, saliva frothing and lazily running down its scaled jaws. Charlie could almost hear the powerful muscles in its legs tense, and its jaw crack as it prepared to strike.
Then Charlie heard something she thought was impossible.
She heard the scream of one of her sisters, shrill and hoarse with rage.
The call divided the horned monster's attention, and its concentration was broken as it pivoted towards the shriek.
Exploding from the thicket, and in three powerful strides and a feline leap-a sister slammed upon the horned monster's hip, attacking with teeth and claw.
But if she saw a blue blur, or a yellow one, Charlie was unsure.
She didn't remember much on what ensued next.
Delta shrieked as she felt the tree shake and tremble under the force of the wrathful mother's charge. Leaves fell off of their branches and trickled down to the forest floor, the base of the tree seeming to groan under the force, bark chipping away from sharp horns.
Pupil's sharp and constricted into thin slits, Delta's breath emerged from her nares and agape jaws in hot puffs. Her killings claws clung to the branch she was on, claws hands grasping desperately to her only safe haven. Golden eyes flicking around, the chaos below her seemed to lessen, the females seeming to give up.
All, save for the enraged mother.
She wasn't giving up, and Delta knew it.
On the third charge, the tree shook, and a deafening crack was heard.
It was the sound of the Delta's branch breaking.
In a fearful squawk, the green-grey female fell, wind whooshing and body twisting, hind legs bracing for impact.
In a forceful thud, Delta hit the ground, and did not hesitate.
She began to run, releasing a shrill call. The only thing louder than the sound of the female's feet pounding against the ground, was the sound of her own beating heart.
The Raptor could hear the horned mother thrash, snort and rage as she attempted to give chase, though the dense foliage of the trees began to slow her down.
Delta only stopped until she could not longer hear the heavy pounding of thick feet and the echoing of horn upon wood.
Her legs were aching, and it was only upon stopping in her stride did she realize one of her feet hurt, having been injured in the fall.
But as instantly as the grey-green sister stopped, she quickly spun around towards whence she came. A quiet chitter escaped the female, and her head warbled side to side, as if debating, or studying.
She did not hear the prey, but her mate was still back there.
Delta knew she could not leave her alpha.
Thus, she went back for him, and towards prey that was prone to charging.
There Amethyst was, facing a wall of bony frills and piercing horns.
The alpha made a mistake.
He became fixated upon his mate's call, and became surrounded.
And so, the hulking beast was currently stuck in place, muscles tense and veins pulsing under his scales. His jaws were agape in a serpentine hiss, feathered crown and mane erect, belly low slung to the ground and tail flicking in warning. The scales between his belly and hind legs rubbed together and vibrated, producing a sizzling hiss.
While Amethyst did not move, a forked tongue slipped out into the air briefly, his eyes rotating and flicking, circular pupils dilated and alert.
Only when a horned beast took a step forward did the vivid Raptor strike-sudden and swift.
The sudden lurch of the alpha's head caused the horned prey to snort in panic, and retreat away from the predator, fear of being bite.
While the strike did connect, the herbivore was unharmed-and far more cautious.
Amethyst did not strike with his teeth.
He struck with his teeth sheathed, as if a violent poke of the snout.
The Utahraptor then shifted his weight, injured leg buckling and staining his scales a shade of crimson as he noticed a horned beast nearing from behind, horns lowered in preparation to charge.
In an explosion of power, Amethyst sprung from his hide legs and twisted himself around to face the new threat, a shrill hiss ringing out as a forearm reached to rake and claw. His clawed hand scratched flesh and sharp beak, the herbivore bucking and braying as it backed up, head shaking. Drops of crimson painted the green grasses beneath the armored beast, which was followed by a broken and bloody molar.
The injury caused the animal to retreat towards the main section of the heard, the one eyed bull still shrunk away from the offending predator. The gorged out eye from the alpha's killing claw hung limply out of the eye socket, only attached by the thick optic nerve. The old male huffed in pain, red painting the side of his face.
Upon seeing a break in the wall of frills and horns following the injured female's retreat, Amethyst suddenly rose upon his hind legs, and charged forth in a hoarse wail. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to break through the wall, or slowly be worn down and skewered to death.
Rather than charge down, heads lowered towards the large predator-the defending females faltered, and broke rank-backing up in haste before turning around to stampede away to the safety of the main herd.
Amethyst released a chortled wail of a call towards the fleeing prey, his great weight causing his feet to pound forcefully into the earth and uproot rock and grasses. While two brave females charged after the vivid beast, the horned prey skid to a halt upon spying the Utahraptor retreat into the lush forest. One female released a rumbling bellow in agitation, shaking her frilled head. The other pawed at the ground, and snorted, nares flaring as she kicked up grass and earth.
The alpha of the pack breathed deep and swift as he lumbered off into the woods, mindlessly ramming into trees and causing lesser plants to bend and break. A few of his feathers were lost in his flight, downy and mature being cast upon the wind. However, the male's stamina soon faded, and his stride lessened, and slowed. Amethyst soon fell upon all four legs, and began to crawl. His crawl then slowed to a halt, and after a few brief intakes of breath, the Utahraptor retched, and expelled what little remains of prey was in his stomach.
The vivid male released a low, gurgling grumble, head shaking as his feathers slowly began to relax and fall flat. He could feel the pumping of his blood all over his body, and the pulsing pain radiating to his skewered thigh. The pain was beginning to be more noticeable now.
But it was a pain that could wait.
Feathers becoming erect once more, Amethyst jerked suddenly, violently, posture alert and rigid.
Delta was back there!
He needed to find her!
But he didn't hear her call in a while.
Unless she did, and he just didn't hear?
Amethyst released a low chitter in thought, killing claws thumping, head cocking and warbling.
He didn't see any horned beasts following him.
But he didn't see or hear Delta, either.
Forcing himself to rise upon his hind legs once more, muscles quivering under fatigue, the alpha male craned his neck skyward, and ushered forth a chortling trill, calling for his mate.
Briefly relaxing in posture and feathers lowering, the male warbled his head, and waited.
Listening.
Nothing.
Head cocking, and feathers slightly rising, Amethyst released a quiet chitter once more. Killing claws piercing the ground in rising anxiety, the male waited, if ever slightly longer.
Why was she not answering?
The silence prompted the large male to produce another call, haunting and far louder.
He hoped his mate heard, this time.
Once more, Amethyst waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until a brief, barking call was heard in the distance.
Then there was a second, far closer, more near.
Then Amethyst could hear the patter of agile feet, if masked by the rustle of bushes.
Then Delta emerged from the brush, and released another short, choppy bark, followed by a low rumble from her throat.
Amethyst lowered himself upon all fours, feathers lowering, neck extending to inspect his mate. She seemed uninjured, all things considering.
Pleased, the alpha male pressed his large head against Delta's form, brushing his crowned head against her, nares flaring. A deep, rumbling purr escaped the Utahraptor, and he felt the grey-green female nibble and preen his feathers, her throat vibrating in a purr against his skin.
And then Amethyst felt a sudden, sharp pain upon his head, and a slight snap.
Releasing a hiss, flinching as he pulled away, circular pupils narrowing upon his female.
Within Delta's maw was a feather, shaft broken.
The peeling back of his scaled lips, and a deep hiss riveting from his throat was enough to make Delta lower herself in submission, her body low slung to the ground, feather falling.
He got the message, and she got the warning.
Neither would need a repeat.
Echo was a creature of wrath and spite.
Her weapons came in the form of scythes, which she used to rake and slash at the red predator's hide.
The horned monster released a hoarse cry and thrashed in rage, body twisting and short jaws snapping to try and get the yellow Raptor off. Feet stomping and bucking, the larger predator then charged forth, aiming to ram the side of its body against a tree, and crush the attacking pest.
In one swift and fluid motion, Echo used her forearms and hind legs to swing herself up and over the red beast's hide, talons digging upon its spiked back. Jaws biting and snapping, no sooner had the scarred female perched herself atop her foe's hips did she grunt, and almost fall off from the force the monster slamming against the rough bark. Echo's taloned toes scraped against its rough hide, and her arms gripped its back to prevent herself from falling.
The earthen toned female moved to hoist herself up, grunting and hissing, before noticing short jaws opened wide to grasp her.
Echo swiftly dropped from the horned predator, feet hitting the ground and swiftly jumping backwards, a shrill, hoarse roar erupting from her, clawed poised and ready. The red monster released a low bellow of its own, which was cut off by the larger animal twisting towards the Raptor, and lunging forth to charge, horns lowered.
Echo produced a surprised squawk, jumping off to the side and slashing a toed claw at the predator's neck. While her killing claw slashed the red beast's scales, the haste of the blow and lack of precision failed to cut deep. Echo, herself, failed to recover fast enough in order to dodge the beast's next strike.
A sudden, upwards ram of the horned predator's head was enough to launch the scarred sister off of her feet in a shriek of pain, and land with a hard thud upon the ground. Echo skidded to a halt, scales scraping against sharp rocks and rough earth.
The scarred female was swift to recover, rising to her feet. A hoarse, viscous scream tore from her throat, which was only halted by the brief pain she felt within her chest.
The red predator looked upon the Raptor with beady eyes, and released a throaty, rumbling bellow as it readied to charge once more, taloned toes scraping into the earth.
The shrill call of another sister came from the nearby thicket.
Blue emerged, movements swift and a combination between a run and a hop. The blue striped female focused her golden eyes upon the horned threat, claws at the ready. The grey female released a series of barks in warning, before releasing a high pitched call that carried.
It was a call for help.
Echo looked towards her sister, before looking towards Charlie.
The young female appeared to not be responding to the events around her, despite her still trembling form. The earthen toned sister, however, made an attempt to position herself between her youngest sister, the the horned monster, a warning hiss escaping from her throat.
Blue looked on at the threat, pose alert and ready to pounce.
The red predator blinked its beady eyes, looking from Echo and Charlie, then to the blue striped female.
Releasing a low, raspy roar, the horned beast slowly began to back away, before completely turning and retreating from whence it came.
Echo released a shrill, barking call, and briefly chased after the larger predator, halting once she reached the edge of their sacred thicket.
Blue warbled her head slightly, before returning her attention to Charlie. The grey female released a quiet chitter towards her youngest sister.
Charlie did not respond.
The female cocked her head, a confused noise escaping from her scaled lips.
Charlie had to hear?
Why was her sister not responding?
Blue briefly turned her head towards Echo, who was pattering back. The grey female produced a slight rasp, before flicking her head towards Charlie.
Echo blinked, and briefly lowered her neck to be more at Charlie's eye level, as if studying her sister. After a few seconds of study, Echo retracted her neck, and turned towards her blue striped sister. The scarred sister chittered quietly, and cocked her head, confused.
A concerned grumble escaped Blue's throat, and the Raptor moved to approached the green striped female.
Nearing Charlie, Blue briefly sniffed the youngest, chittering quietly. Charlie didn't respond, save for a blink. Blue cocked her head, and tenderly pressed her snout against her sister's own, nuzzling the gravid female.
It was then that Charlie chirped, jumped in start, and blinked, breath ragged.
When Charlie noticed Blue, the green striped female pressed herself against the older Raptor, desperately nuzzling. When Blue would briefly pull away, Charlie would instantly press herself against her sister's form.
The youngest was still shaking, and Blue would faintly heard rapid, quiet chirps coming from her sister, as if cries of a frightened hatchling.
Blue gave a quiet rumble from her throat, and settled down beside her younger sister, her more lithe form pressing against Charlie's more gravid one.
Charlie did not cease the desperate pressing of herself against her sister, chirping frantically.
Blue did not pull away.
When Amethyst and Delta returned to the pack's nesting ground, the alpha was instantly on alert.
He could smell it.
The horned predator.
The male's feathers once more became erect, and his nares flared. As Delta returned to her sisters, the hulking Utahraptor forced his tired body to move off and mark the borders of their territory.
The alpha would return some time later, and crawl his way back to the nesting ground.
Charlie would still be against Blue, chirps now faint, and tremblings light. Still, a low rumble escaped Amethyst's throat, and the male slowly neared his females.
Upon approaching the sisters, the Utahraptor's golden eyes flicked from Charlie, to Blue. Both shared a gaze, before Amethyst refocused his attention to the green striped female. The vivid male tenderly brushed snout against the gravid female. She didn't respond.
The male craned his neck backwards, head cocking. A perplexed, quiet chitter came from him.
Then came the next thing Amethyst could think of.
Boop.
Nothing.
Amethyst didn't understand. Charlie loved booping.
And now she didn't like booping.
The male's tail briefly flicked in unease, before the Utahraptor curled around Charlie, and slumped down with a thud, head resting upon Blue's back. Blue released a series of soft purrs, which Amethyst could feel vibrate his jaw.
Delta briefly looked at the huggle pile, before pattering towards the trio with a slight chitter. Delta wedged herself between Charlie and Amethyst, her head briefly resting upon Charlie's back, before her neck craned towards the Utahraptor. The grey-green sister began to lick and preen her mate's wounded leg.
Blue released a quiet chitter, briefly watching Charlie rest her head upon Blue's arms. The blue striped female then turned her head towards Echo.
Echo was stubborn.
She didn't want to join in the stupid pack huggle!
But Echo never saw Charlie like this before, and that worried the more earthen toned sister.
Was Charlie broken?
Slowly, hesitantly, Echo neared her tiny pack, and settled down beside Blue.
Gently, tenderly, the scarred female placed her head upon Charlie's.
Faintly, ever so faintly, even Echo could be heard purring.
For now, the future of their pack-the freshly laid egg within Charlie's nest-was safe.
Notes:
The plot is moving slower than I thought, but I quite like it. It displays some of the pack's better moments and life style.
Hopefully Owen will come in the next chapter or two. If I can't squeeze all the fluffy/family pack moments in due to an increase in plot action, I might do a series of random one shots (like I really need any fucking more Jurassic Park/World shit).
I unfortunately write on the fly, so I basically write whatever I feel like on the spot. This makes for spotty updates (like when I tried to update (Un)Natural Hybrids but The Suitor got made instead).
I plan to finish all of my Jurassic Park stories (Roberta/The Bull centered, and this one), but they will probably take a long ass time.
So thank you all for supporting and putting up with my bullshit and shitty ideas and stories.
I'm also up for writing suggestions in case I get writers block! :D
Feel free to give me your thoughts. Reviewing tends to help me write faster, for some reason.
Poor Charlie is traumatized and will need time to recover. I really like writing the sisters and feel they don't get enough attention as Blue does, which is a shame.
And The Magnificent One is a shitty OC.
But everyone already knows that. :D
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this!
Chapter 4
Notes:
Shot gun chapter. I only own The Magnificent One/Amethyst and Ellen. Ellen was written on the spot, so she sucks.
I'll more than likely comb through the chapter at some point to fix any spelling/grammar errors I find.
I rushed Owen's entrance because the chapter would have been at least twice as long.
I suck at writing Raptor-Daddy-Owen.
Next chapter Owen will look for his girls, though! :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Today was a playful day for the pack.
It was 'Hunt Amethyst Day'.
Which just happened to be any day the sisters were bored, and not sleepy, hungry or tired. It was a day the females took advantage of their mate's massive size, and used their smaller, more lithe builds to stalk, and ambush.
As of now, the purple hued male stood among tall grasses, body lowered, clawed arms pawing and raking an old, hallowed log. Amethyst's killing claws dully pierced into the earth with a thud, head cocking and feathers rising slightly in perplexity. He could not get the log to roll, no matter how hard he tried. A quiet, confused chitter escaped the Utahraptor as he once more grasped and raked at the dead tree, muscular arms tensing to try and move the object. After a brief exhale of breath, the alpha decided to give up using his arms.
A low rumble escaped from his throat as a clawed hand rose to idly scratch his jaw, the sound of claw upon scale audible. After a brief shake of his head, and a sudden erection of his feathered crown, Amethyst ceased his itching. His muscular arm lowered, and his feathers slowly moved to lay flat.
The male's golden eyes flicked to the dead prey that lay beside him, circular pupils narrowing in the bright rays of the sun.
Today was a good day today. The Island of Nublar was bright and peaceful, puffy clouds floating lazily within the sky, breeze soft and day warm.
It was a good day for relaxing.
And it was a good day for hunting.
Which was why the alpha male was attempting to hide his recent kill, however small. The Utahraptor had a habit of storing surplus prey and hiding it. He would hide prey in any location he deemed suitable-a tree, the ground, or under a rock. Even in a hallowed out log. Though Amethyst was much less interested in stuffing his prey inside as he was interested in digging and cramming the surplus underneath the log.
Amethyst's distracted state, unfortunately, was just what his hunter desired.
Because it was 'Hunt Amethyst Day'.
The male just didn't know about it yet.
Belly low slung to the ground, claws poised and leg muscles tense, a sister watched the oblivious male from the safety of her shadowed domain. Golden eyes sharpening and focusing upon her prey, the sister shifted her powerful legs in preparation to strike.
At first, there was nothing but faint, steady noise. Nothing but the gentle sound of the wind blowing the tall grasses, and the raking of the vivid hued male's claws through the roots and dirt whilst he dug.
The peace of the day was broken by a shrill scream as a sister launched herself forward, and slammed onto Amethyst's back.
The force of such a sudden weight upon him caused the large male to shriek in start, and tumble forward onto the log. The fall caused Charlie to roll forward off of her mate, the green striped female landing with a slight grunt upon her back.
Upon recovering from the ambush attack, Amethyst shook his head, golden eyes narrowing upon the green striped sister, pupils small. Charlie looked up upon her mate, cream colored belly showing as she peeled back her scaled lips, and produced a series of chitters and chirps that sounded more akin to laugh. The female playfully swung her feet to lightly kick at the male, her arms pawing.
Amethyst closed his eyes as the small female clawed him. The Utahraptor releasing a bark in play, huffing as his thick neck bent forward, and his snout gave a swift boop of her neck.
The vivid hued male booped his mate again-this time Charlie's belly-which was now slim from a lack of eggs, if still sporting more adipose.
Charlie took advantage of her mate's position to bat upon his head, clawed fingers raking through some of the feathers upon his head.
A series of short, choppy barks could be heard in the distance-a signal that the other sisters were near.
It was a noise that briefly drew Amethyst's attention away, huffs of breath escaping from him, chest expanding. Charlie still lay upon her back, wiggling upon the ground as she gave herself a good back rub. The youngest resumed to make soft, cooing noises, breath escaping in happy chuffs and snorts, her tongue lolling passed her scaled lips.
One moment Charlie was laying upon the ground, wiggling all around-and the next thing Amethyst knew-the youngest was gone.
A chitter of confusion escaped the male, feathers rising ever so slightly, head cocking. Tail flicking in anticipation, Amethyst settled himself upon all fours, belly low slung to the ground, muscles tensing.
If his pack mates were thinking they could ambush him now, they were surely wrong!
Now Amethyst knew!
The purple hued beast ever so slightly rose his hips into the air, as if a cat preparing to strike, hips wiggling.
He could hear the barking of Echo and Blue in the distance, and could barely hear the pair running and leaping through the grasses in play chase. Briefly did Amethyst manage to see the sisters, each jumping at once, claws briefly interlocked as they danced and twirled in mid air.
Brief flickers of blue and yellow could be seen over the tall grasses, but as for Charlie and Delta-Amethyst was unsure where they were.
But he was almost positive the youngest was hunting him.
Again.
It was just a matter of when she would strike.
Blue and Echo ceased their hopping and jumping, and focused their attention upon something even better than each other-a stick!
The only problem was, both sisters wanted the stick.
They needed the stick.
They would kill for the stick.
Thus, the two sisters were currently jaw locked in a tug of war on opposite ends of the stick. Golden eyes alert and pupils sharp, both sisters didn't want to let go.
Echo's gnarled sneer turned into something even more ugly looking as she peeled back her scaled lips, serrated teeth displaying in a hiss. Blue didn't respond with anything more than a snort, followed by a sudden tug.
It was a strength, however playful, that Echo matched.
Neither were refusing to let go.
They needed the stick.
They would kill for the stick.
And both sisters-would, for better or worse-lose the stick as Charlie burst forth, screaming as if the Scarred One was after her. In her haste, the youngest didn't notice that her sisters were in the flight of her path until it was too late.
Panicked squawks and screams rang out as the sisters collided.
Charlie was the first to recover with a chirp, eyes blinking rapidly from her position upon the ground.
Then her eyes flicked to something.
Oooh-a stick!
Stick in her jaws, the striped sister began to prance around, feet dully hitting the ground and crunching fallen grasses. Charlie's head was held high, chest puffing in pride as she pranced around with her prize.
Charlie was pleased!
Blue and Echo-not so much.
The two losers, however, soon decided to play another game. In three great bounds, the sisters took off into the grasses, once more unseen.
And now Amethyst didn't have to wait!
Though rather than Charlie leaping out of the grasses-it was Echo and Blue.
When the sisters sprung forth, Echo did so in a straight charge-skidding to halt before the feathered Raptor and releasing a series of short, choppy barks, high pitched in play. Blue emerged from the brush in a series of skips, leaping in place before twirling around in a brief spin, releasing a chortled trill.
Amethyst snorted and chuffed in play, lightly bouncing up and down in place, muscular forearms lifting and hitting the ground. Another snort escaped the male as he bounced in play, hind legs never leaving the ground.
The pack's play, however, soon ceased as a strange, loud noise echoed in the sky. Blue looked towards the sky, ears picking up what sounding like a loud, rapid pulsing from the sky. The blue striped female's head cocked, and a confused chitter escaped her throat. Echo looked towards the blue sky, and gave out a startled squawk upon seeing five, large black objects in the sky. The objects were shiny and metallic.
They seemed familiar to the sisters, but where, they could barely remember.
That old life was so long ago, after all.
The odd, black objects floated against the sky with haste, the noises they produced seeming to vibrate the earth and cause powerful gusts of wind.
The Raptor's only ceased looking at the spectacle after they sky objects disappeared behind the mountain range.
Amethyst still remained locked upon the direction that the strange objects disappeared to, feathers raised and head cocked. A quiet, confused chitter escaped his maw, killer claws twitching and thumping in anxious thought, and concern.
Blue and Echo looked upon each other, a concerned rumble coming from the scarred female's throat, before both turned towards the larger Raptor.
After several seconds, the vivid male flicked his gaze towards the sisters, a series of soft clicks escaped him, followed by a rasp.
The two sisters warbled their heads slightly, before Blue released a slight bark, and pattered back to the nesting ground. Echo stayed behind, if ever so slightly, before following her sister.
The Utahraptor's throat riveted with a low rumble, head swiveling to his two retreating mates, to the direction the odd black things went to, then back to his prey.
Noise once more calming, the male resumed to dig and hide his prey. The horned predators were becoming more brazen, lately. More dangerous. They were slowly chipping at the pack's territory, or even trespassing and scouting-hunting.
But they seemed different, lately. More fearless. The horned predators used to flee whenever the sisters would be together-at least two or three. Even when Amethyst would arrive, the other predators would back off-for Amethyst was larger than them. Almost as big as the Scarred One, perhaps.
But the Utahraptor didn't intent to find out. He preferred to avoid the Scarred One. It was often easy to do, given her booming bellows every so often.
Maybe the horned predators were becoming as brazen towards the Scarred One as they were for his pack?
The very last encounter with the horned carnivores almost became physical.
And with Charlie's eggs at the nesting ground, the pack couldn't afford to be tolerant of threats.
Not anymore.
Charlie pattered towards her nest, Delta sitting nearby, preening her scales.
Upon noticing her sister arrive, the grey-green female released a soft bark in greeting, before shifting over so her sister could be closer towards the nest.
Charlie chirped in response, head lowering to inspect her eggs as she neared.
Seven she laid, and seven yet remained.
The youngest was very pleased, but laying an egg everyday was certainly not a fun experience.
Breath escaping in hot puffs, a soft purring coo escaped Charlie's throat as she inspected each egg, tenderly nudging and shifting them around in the nest. The green striped sister paused to adjust some of the foliage within the nest, making sure it was just right.
Nest now passing her inspection, Charlie shifted herself, and gently, carefully, settled herself upon her nest.
As Blue and Echo returned, the more earthen toned sister couldn't help but notice the puff of her youngest sister's chest in pride.
Echo had to suppress a low, guttural growl from escaping her throat.
After all, that should have been her.
But it was all stolen from her.
Owen didn't think he would even return to Isla Nublar again.
He wished he never did.
A part of him still didn't want to be here, on this island.
Owen told himself, again and again and again that he was doing it for Claire. Doing it for the sake of the dinosaurs. Doing it for the sake of the next generation.
But anything Owen told himself to make himself feel better about coming to Isla Nublar was a lie.
Owen wasn't a good man. He never said he was.
People just viewed him as one, for some reason.
Owen didn't care what Claire wanted.
He didn't truly care what happened to the dinosaurs-he wanted this nightmare to be left behind him.
He didn't truly care about the next generation, and about them living in a world without dinosaurs.
No, Owen didn't care about any of that greater good bullshit.
But what he did care about, was his girls.
Owen wasn't a good man.
Owen was selfish.
He didn't care if this disease that apparently was being reported by the DPG was dangerous, spreading, threatening to make the dinosaurs extinct once more.
No. Owen just cared if it affected his girls.
And this disease could very well affect his girls.
He tried to ignore them, to forget.
But each and every day he was reminded. By birds, by whales and dolphins with their trainers at Sea World, by animals at zoos.
Owen didn't spend much time with his Raptors. He only spent two years with them-watching them grow, getting to know them, training them. Learning to respect them.
As much as he hated to admit it, the ex marine still cared. The Raptors were just like his dolphins he trained when a marine. Each was unique. Each was different in mannerisms and personality. Each member of his pack was just special.
For some reason, Owen just couldn't let them go.
But still-questions rang out.
Were they still even alive, after three years of being on their own?
Were they injured?
Were they sick?
Would they even remember him, were he to find them?
Owen wasn't sure what to think-other than thinking that he never even should have agreed to even join this stupid operation.
Sure, everything went okay.
Everything went swell-fine and dandy as the black hawks landed and a perimeter was set.
Everything was fine and dandy as drones were sent up into the sky to scout out the surrounding area.
Everything was fine and dandy as corrals and pens were being constructed and medical tents were being set up.
Everything was fine and dandy.
Until it wasn't.
Big ol' Rexy made her way towards the makeshift camp, attracted by the noises of the helicopters.
As much as Owen loved ol' Rexy, he really, really, fuckin' hated her sometimes.
The old Rex sowed chaos within the operation's headquarters, destroying pens, tents and eating soldiers.
In the end, everything wasn't fuckin' fine.
Because Owen ended up separated from the rest of his unit-and even worse-was lost.
At least until he decided to make his way towards the old ruins of Jurassic World, and to an area that he knew like the back of his hand.
Yup.
Everything was fine and dandy again.
Until it wasn't.
Owen expected to be hunted down by dinosaurs.
He didn't expect to get knocked out by the butt of a rifle that belonged to a Biosyn soldier.
A low, strained groan escaped Owen as his eyes rolled behind closed lids. Swiftly his eyes fluttered open, pupils adjusting to the harsh light of a bulb that was too bright.
His head was pounding, his mouth was dry, and scrapes and bruises dotted the man's rugged features. Wherever Owen was, he appeared to be in someone's domicile, and it took the ex marine a moment to realize he was laying upon a bed. When Owen went to rub one of the bruises upon his face, he noticed one of his hands were chained to the bed post.
The man frowned, and began to tug upon upon the hand cuffs, trying to test the metal chains. His attention was drawn to the rustle of a tarp being opened, and a short woman stepping inside.
The woman was petite in build, blonde hair lazily tied and twisted into a bun, strands loosely falling and cascading down her shoulders and brow. A film of perspiration illuminated her fair skin, green eyes sharp and hard, magnified by the prescription of her glasses. While the woman wore a simple white tank top, stained with dirt and grime and sweat, her pants were a dull green color, abit torn and used. Her boots were of good make, if showing signs of use.
The blonde looked upon Owen, nose scrunching slightly, "Well, fuck, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. And here I was, going to come in and yell at ya to rise and fuckin' shine, O bitch O mine. Way to steal my thunder." The woman mumbled slightly, though meandered over to a cooler, and with a rather rough jerk of the hand that looked more like a slap, the lid slip back with force, rocking the plastic box. The blonde's hand pulled out a bottle of water, and the cooler was closed with an equally rough slap. The short woman's stride was more masculine than feminine, and she offered the water to the ex marine.
Owen quirked a brow upon seeing the woman's antics, though it didn't stop a snarky response from escaping him, "You know, you really do things backwards. I usually have a drink with a girl first before being chained up in bed. But you skipped drinks and went right to kinky."
The blonde scowled. It was almost hilarious that a woman so tiny could be so bitchy. She reminded Owen of a chihuahua.
"You gonna take the water or not? I didn't spit in it. Yet."
Owen frowned at that remark, though soon shrugged it off, reaching for the water bottle with his free hand, "Hey, spit gives it flavor." The man's hand seemed to dwarf the chihuahua woman's own as he took the bottle, and shifted slightly to twist the cap off. The man couldn't think of anything to say at first, and decided to avoid the awkward silence by gulping the water, tilting the bottle downward, adam's apple bobbing.
"So-come back for your Raptors?" The woman asked, Owen pausing in his drinking-choking slightly. The man coughed, and sputtered some water forth that dribbled down his stubbled chin, "I-Pardon?"
The blonde practically rolled her eyes, "Come on-I know who you are. Owen-Fucking-Grady, right? Right? Cause, well, if you ain't, well-fuck me in the ass, right?" That would be embarrassing.
By, God, this woman was fuckin' weird...
"Yeah...name's Owen Grady...How do you-"
"Name's Ellen. But you can call me Ellie. Or Ellen. Or El. I don't give a donkey's nutsack, yeah? All you need to know, is that the only reason you ain't dead, if because we're both probably gonna fuckin' die anyway, so instead of killing each other, we work together and die by something else instead. Yeah? Good? Good."
Owen looked at the woman long and hard, brow furrowing, attempting to understand what the fuck this woman was blabbering about, "Lady, what are you even talking about? How long had you been on Isla Nublar? Do you need help, or-" The man briefly looked towards his chained hand, and frowned, "Okay...maybe I need a bit more help than you right now, but-why are you here? How did you get here? Do you even know what's going on with the animals on this island?"
Ellen furrowed her brow, arms folding across her chest, "Yeah, I know that all the fucking things here are trying to kill me and my team, and I know you ain't a part of my team, boy. Those choppers you flew in on-why you here? What are you after?"
Okay...this bitch was haughty...What was she looking for?
"Look, lady-Ellen, did you ever hear of the DPG? The Dinosaur Projection Group?" Owen questioned, taking another sip of his drink, if ever briefly.
He could practically see the heated breath of anger escape from the blonde's nares, "Oh, those lizard humping tree huggers? Yeah. What of 'em?"
Owen paused, mainly because he wasn't sure he should even trust this woman. Hell, he knew he shouldn't trust her. He knew he shouldn't give much information out on his mission. But what was she doing here? What was she fishing for-protecting? Owen thought he saw the Biosyn symbol on a soldier...was she with Biosyn?
"A disease is affecting the carnivores. So, the DPG is trying to stop it before it spreads even more."
Ellen cocked her head, and for once, she appeared interested, thoughtful even, "Oh? What kind of disease? Do you know?"
"Reports say it's rabies? Or something similar to it. But...I thought rabies only affects, like, you know...raccoons?"
"Hmmph. Rabies only affects mammals. So why would it affect dinosaurs? Interesting...But, not my fuckin' concern. So if you're hear to play dinosaur vet-you...ain't here for the little...something-something that, uhhh...may have...washed upon the shore of this place via cargo ship-two, three years back?" Ellen questioned, an almost sweet, innocent tone to her voice, hands folded behind her back.
Owen was not even more confused, "Uhhhh...?"
"...Aaaand I can see you have no idea what I'm talking about! Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic!" The blonde woman cheered, doing a little victory jump, "Sorry. I downed three cups of coffee this morning. Who needs time for sleep? I'll sleep when I'm fucking dead!"
Too much research and experimentation to be done...
"So...you..." Owen started off slowly, unsurely, trying to comprehend this strange, strange woman, "...Don't know about the dinosaurs being sick? And...you're looking for something...that was lost? Almost three years ago?"
Ellen nodded, "Yup."
"And...have you been looking for it here? All this time, or-?"
"Nope. This puppy of an operation has been kicking for eight months. Eight. long. Months. Do you know how much I'd kill for a proper shower? And don't get me started on the sanitation...It makes sterile procedures almost impossible to do..." The blonde frowned, lower lip jutting out in a pout.
Sterile procedures? So...this woman was a...doctor? Of some kind?
"So...what exactly are you trying to find?"
"Technically-missing properly from Biosyn. I'm not supposed to tell you this shit, but, everyone knows Biosyn has more lawyers than actual scientists-and I'm one of the few fuckin' scientists they have...and if you're familiar with Biosyn-you shouldn't be surprised that it's an animal."
Owen frowned at that, brow creasing in concern, "And what was the animal they cooked up?" Like damn this island needed another animal running around. Like damn there needed to be another Indominus Rex.
Ellen smiled, if ever faintly, "Something not too different from your little pets in Jurassic World. Velociraptor's, right? Or...was it Deinonychus? Doesn't matter-either way-Biosyn made an animal Ingen never did. It's a...Utahraptor." The woman cleared her throat, almost mumbling the last word. It was a change in her tone that Owen caught.
"And why did you hesitate?" Owen questioned. His eyes scanned the woman. He saw what looked like the outline of a key in her pocket. Was it a key for his cuffs? If he could distract her, make her come close enough...maybe he could get them?
"It's...we bred a Utahraptor. But it...it was so different from what we anticipated. If you see him out there-you won't miss him." Ellen spoke, taking out the key from her pocket, briefly looking upon it, "Look, I don't give a shit about your mission to play hero. I just want that asset back, and I need help tracking him. I don't know the layout of this island like you do, but...if what you're saying about a disease really socking it to the carnivores, I'd rather have him back. So, I'm gonna uncuff you. And you ain't gonna be an asshole, are ya?"
"No, ma'am." The man replied, though his body was tense, as if expecting her to do something as she briefly leaned over him. The clicking of the handcuff caused Owen to release a sigh, and his hand went to rub the wrist that was clamped, "...Thanks...This one special to you?"
Ellen snorted slightly, taking a step back, "What makes you say that, Mr. Grady?"
"I know a special bond when I see one. And when you try to make it not obvious." The man grinned, if ever so slightly, but then grimaced when pain surged from his busted lip, "Ooowe..."
"Was it like that with your Raptors? That bond?" The blonde asked with a faint frown. Owen only nodded through his closed eyes.
"Yeah. With four of the girls. I helped raise them since they were babies, and they imprinted on me, so I became their alpha." The man spoke, exhaling deeply, "That's...why I'm here. Not to be the good guy, or anything. I'm just...I don't know. I want to come to peace with things. Find out if they're still alive, or dead. I mean, either way I'll find out, and either way I'll get some peace."
Ellen shrugged slightly, "And if you meet them?"
"Hopefully they remember me, and don't eat me. But, hey, if they do eat me..." Owen tried to think of a joke or funny remark. He couldn't. So, his words simply died off on the tip of his tongue.
"Must be painful for you, huh? Did they have names?" The woman asked, turning around and beginning to walk away slightly. In one, fluid movement, the walking, talking, human chihuahua pulled her tank top over her head, fabric now inside out. Despite the woman wearing a bra, Owen still found himself adverting his gaze to the floor, a faint red hue tinting his cheeks under the bruises and dirt.
The man cleared his throat, "Uh, yes. Blue-she's named because, well, she's blue. Grey, I mean. Grey, but has a blue stripe. Two, blue stripes, I mean. One on each side. She was the beta. And, uh, Delta. She always showed a bit more problem solving than her sisters. Fast thinker. Echo, and Echo, she was a fireball. We joked, and called her Elvis, sometimes, because she always looked at you with a sneer. Blue broke her jaw, once, so, you know...the scar kind of made her look like Elvis...and then there, there was Charlie. She was the youngest..."
Owen didn't dare to look up. For all he knew the woman was completely naked right now. Or clothed. Completely clothed. But he didn't want to risk looking up.
"Huh...Well, Alpha-Owen, you can look up now. I ain't gonna bite. Much." Ellen spoke, and to Owen's relief-the woman was fully clothed, and sporting cleaner, more casual wear. Huh...she took her pants and boots off? That was quick!
Owen frowned slightly, clearing his throat, "Sorry, I just..." The man faltered to try and think of something, anything, but just couldn't, "...What is his name? The Utahraptor?"
The blonde cocked her head slightly, as if intrigued by that question, "Officially? Don't have one, unless you count Unit Seven, or T-7. Test Subject Seven. But if you run that by me-I call him Pretty Boy. Or Spyro. But I just call him Amethyst, or Ame for short. That's it." The woman shrugged.
"T-7? So there are six others like him?" The ex marine asked, shifting it sit up slightly upon the bed and stretch his legs.
"Were, yes. All the others are dead. T-7 is the latest subject of study. And profit."
Owen cocked a brow, curious, "And what was Biosyn aiming for, that the others failed? What of the profit?"
The woman shrugged. She didn't entirely care about sensitive subject matter. And if this man was going to help her, he'd best know everything he could about his quarry, "Profit-what Biosyn always wants. But that doesn't answer your damn question, does it? Biosyn's project is-a bit more like a-limited event, time sensitive. You see, people are always paying big money for thrill seeking and hunting exotic animals. Biosyn wanted to cash onto that. They have enough lawyers to slip passed the legal grey areas, so, by all rights, completely legal. Completely fine. My team was assigned to create the most exotic big game trophy hunt ever. And what better prey than the only animal of its kind in existence? A beast large enough to put an African Elephant to shame, and dangerous enough to turn the tables on the hunters? Granted, I don't think hunters and thrill seekers dying is completely legal, buuut...profit."
The man blinked, attempting understand that logic, "So...you created an animal, just to have it cultivated and hunted down for sport?"
Ellen nodded, "Yup. Shame, really. He was a cute little button as a hatchling. Now he's a big fucker. I'd rather not have him...put in a cage who knows how big it in and have him running for his life until he's snared in a trap and shot, but...I'd rather not have him get sick with this carnivore disease, either. At least if we get him, I can test him, and see if he's okay."
Owen released a snort, the man scowling in disgust, "And you expect me to help you catch an animal, and have that animal to be shot for some guy's bragging rights?!" What if it was Echo in the Utahraptor's place? Or Charlie? Or Delta? Or Blue?
The blonde woman frowned, adjusting her glasses, "I don't want him to be shot by some limp dick. I just want him to be safe. Er. If we locate him, I can test him, maybe...unless it's rabies...I can't do that." Ellen released a sigh, a hand rubbing her brow, smearing sweat and brushing her bangs,
"Why can't you test him for rabies?" The soldier asked. Shouldn't that be easy?
"You need the brain in tact to test for rabies." Ellen spoke, making a motion of cutting off one's head. Owen looked rather grim.
"Oh..."
"But you'd see symptoms of rabies in animals, first. Changes in behavior, suddenly shy, suddenly aggressive...either way, can't be rabies. Only affects mammals. Might be some kind of prion disease or parasite like brain worm? Hmmmm...just brain worm has vectors in deer...perhaps it jumped vectors to the deer around here? Bah, it doesn't matter worth a shit. So-you gonna help me get my asset back?" The blonde woman questioned.
"Only if you help me find my girls. Only if." Owen answered, "And you don't let Biosyn touch them. Not even one scale." The ex marine spoke, tone a low hiss.
Ellen only smiled, "Of course, Mr. Grady. I'll keep my boys in check. I always do. Now-let me teach you about all I know about Pretty Boy. How's that for a first date, Alpha-Man?" The blonde questioned, a hint of a jest in her tone.
Owen chuckled slightly. But only slightly, "At least let me get you a drink, first. I'll spit in it for flavor."
The short woman snorted in a laugh, "Ha! Good one, kid."
Perhaps they shouldn't be swapping information so freely, but Ellen didn't care.
She just wanted her asset back.
Owen just wanted his Raptors back.
Both just knew the faster they found their targets, the sooner they'd be off this secret hell.
But what they would do with the animals once finding them, and capturing them?
Hell if they knew.
Notes:
Shit chapter is shit chapter. Shit characters are shit characters.
Next chapter will detail most information regarding Amethyst, as well as backstory. Owen will share background info about his Raptor Ladies just 'cause.
Might show more of virus outbreak.
Owen and Ellen will look for their various animals.
And may or may not find them.
I doubt I'll update anymore this week, but might update more next week. I at least want to get to more Raptor Pack/Owen drama. I was going to have Claire in this story, but scraped her, at least for now.
Thank you for reading this story and getting it to over five hundred views! Not bad for a story solely birthed from a dream, huh? :P
Please let me know what you think of Ellen. I just wrote whatever came to my head, and I quite like her. Biosyn is very rarely ever used, so I wanted to at least let them have some involvement in this genetics war ground.
I am also-for better or worse-thinking of offspring for the Raptor Squad ladies.
So far, the only offspring to most likely be story canon is from Charlie' clutch-Charles for male-or Charla for female.
For potential future use, I worked on Charles' appearance:
Charles is a Raptor mix that is primarily green in coloration, darker green stripes running down his body. His underbelly is cream colored. Flecks of gold dot his throat, inner forearms and thighs. Charles resembles more like his mother, though sports a mane of feathers atop his head akin to the Harpy's Eagle. The feathers are downy at the base of his crown, and are green. Mature feathers dominate further up the crown, and turn black, with flecks of oily greens and blues. Towards the tips of the crown, the feathers turn a deep green.
Mature feathers of black coloration intermixed with oily green to blue flecks and dark green tips run down his neck, flanked by soft, green downy feathers. The feathers lessen and fade upon reaching his shoulders, but the pattern briefly begins again upon his tail.
Charles has a 'horn' upon the very tip of his snout, which simply is his egg tooth that never fell off.
His eyes are a golden hue, and his pupils are round.
He is around the same size as his mother-if slightly larger, and more stocky.
If I decide to give Charles a sex change and make him Charla, the design will be different, and Charla would have no feathers. I want to keep the feathers sex linked to males for courtship and mate display.
The other offspring are still in the works (and some will probably have stupid names).
I apologize for mating this note so long, but I'm wondering on what your thoughts are.
Should the Raptor Squad have young for future material?
Opinions on Charles' appearance?
Ideas for other Raptor Squad babies?
Should Charles be Charla?
Or should there be both Charles and Charla?
Questions, questions. I wish my mind wouldn't be so hypercreative as of late. I apologize.
Regardless, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my bullshit.
Have a good day! :)
Chapter 5
Notes:
This was sitting in my docs for months and I finally just decided to pop it out.
Oh, well. I do want to refocus on the raptors a bit for the next chapter, and explore the effects of the diseased animals on their livelihood.
I only own The Magnificent One (TMO)/Amethyst/T-7 and Chihuahua Lady (Ellen/Ellie), and two other OCs.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"So...T-7...T-7, T-7, where are youuuu~~Ahah, there you are." Ellen hummed as she rummaged through a file bin, pulling out a folder that was almost four inches thick. The folder was ready to fall apart from the girth of the contents, beaten and aged. A mere paperclip tried to hold everything together, but even that was ready to fail.
The blonde woman then moved to a nearby desk, and opened up the folder, blue eyes flicking over the content behind her thick rimmed glasses. Her feminine fingers trailed along the edges of her papers-sections marked with multi colored flaps of paper. Owen was nearby, arms crossed over his chest, veins bulging underneath his skin.
His brown eyes studied the occupied blonde woman intently. He could so easily overpower her.
So easily harm her, get out of here-this tent.
But he guessed that wasn't the wisest of ideas.
Not when this woman could apparently act as a buffer between him the and Biosyn dicks.
That-and the thought of hitting a woman wasn't the most comfortable thing.
More so because Owen himself was pretty damn sure this blonde lady was only around five feet.
That would be a dick move.
"So...genetic make up...base genome is a Utahraptor-yada, yada, you already know that. Other genetic components: Harpy Eagle, African Crowned Eagle, Harris' Hawk, three species of Vampire Bats-the Common, White Winged and Hairy...Common Raven, Fae's Viper, and the Mangrove Pit Viper." Ellen finished, fingers tilling and toiling at the aged edges, flipping to another page.
Owen's chest expanded as he breathed in, muscles tensing, a slight scowl upon his stubbled face as he took in the information, "You put viper DNA in it? The Indominus had viper. Is this thing going to go on a mass rampage towards the biggest heat source, too?"
The blonde woman's eyes flicked towards the ex-marine behind thick lenses, "I don't think you should be worried about the pits, Raptor-Boy. You should be worried about the venom."
At that, the tanned man had to do a double take in the woman's direction. His blood began to boil, gaze narrowing and hardening, jaw tensing, "It's poisonous?!"
Ellen's eyes refocused from her work, to Owen's features dark in rage, "Venomous."
Heavy, angry footsteps-and then the slam of calloused hands upon the table, "I don't give a fuck what it's called! How do you even think it's okay to make something so genetically fucked up that one bite can drop an elephant?! Why would you take something, used and designed for a super predator, and think, 'Hey, let's use it to make this dinosaur, too!', and end up making something poisonous, and think it's fucking better than the Indominus?!"
"Venomous-"
"I. Don't. Care."
For a brief moment, Ellen was silent.
"Mister Grady. Shut. The fuck. Up. I would very much like it if I spoke, and you listen, and not go on a post traumatic stress disorder rant. Do I make myself clear?" The blonde's tone was hard. Dominant. One of authority.
Owen leered upon the woman, jaw tense and hard. His veins were bulging with rage upon his trembling hands. He inhaled, "Fine."
"Good." Ellen remarked, as if she were beginning to start a board meeting. If she were scared shitless of the large man's outburst, or felt threatened, she had a damn good poker face, "There is no such proof that one bite can harm an adult African Elephant, for one. Two, he doesn't bite things willy nilly. Venom is costly and metabolically expensive to make. The most common observations were that he follows the typical pattern of most venomous snakes-the three bite strike. Are you familiar with that?"
Grady's eyes were locked upon the short woman, muscles still tense in seething rage, "No. What's that?"
He was an ex marine that used to work with dolphins, damn it. Not a herpetologist.
"I see...First bite is generally a mock. A warning. No teeth-no bite-just a rough strike of the snout. The second warning is an actual bite. But there's usually no venom injected-it's why you get people going around thinking they're immune to snake venom after they got bit, but had no reaction to the venom-because there was none in their system. The third strike is everything. Teeth, injection, typical venom reaction. Since the venom is from a viper-it acts the same reaction. You get necrotic tissue, and the formation of thrombus-blood clots." The blonde woman then cleared her throat, turning to another section, "Buuuut...with the addition of the vampire bats..."
Owen's scowl only deepened, "I'm not going to like what I'll hear, will I."
"Probably not...Normally, viper venom causes tissue destruction, as well as the formation of blood clots. The problem is..." Ellen exhaled sharply, as if anticipating a painful experience, "Vampire bats have properties within their saliva that causes anticoagulation. Which prevents the formation of thrombus."
"So...are you saying this raptor's bite can inject venom...cause skin to die...and make people bleed to death?" Grady questioned, features dark and grim.
Ellen merely nodded, "Faster than just biting a person, yes. You have to understand, even if a bite is not venomous, it is still carrying those anticoagulant properties. Bleeding and venom are the largest concerns. If we are to look for my raptor, and your pack, I would rather you be fully aware of just how potentially dangerous he is-how extremely dangerous he is."
The blonde woman then straightened herself, "I have medications. I have anticoagulants-heparin and warfarin if need be, fuck, I have aspirin if someone does develop of blood clot-but I can't give them those medications if they happen to develop a blood clot because the fucking viper venom works like it should, but then that saliva is causing them to bleed out. I can't give them a thrombolytic medication to bust that fucker up. My patients will bleed out. And I can't stop them from bleeding out-there's no medications for that. I have antivenom-but sure as fuck not much. And I don't even know if the antivenom will actually help. It's stopping the tissue from dying, but it's not stopping the bleeding. There will still be bleeding. I have nothing for that. I may not trust you, Grady, but I trust those fuckers out there even less. If they find him, more people will die. Either in the process of capturing him, or wherever the fuck they plan on taking him to get hunted. I don't want people to die. And I don't want that animal to die. It's not his fault he was made that way. It's not his fault he was never supposed to exist. I hate feeling helpless. So this is what I want to do. I want to make sure that animal is safe from this disease, and safe from whatever Biosyn has planned."
"He's smart, you know. You see that look in their eyes, and you know something's going on through their heads when they look at you. You see them working things out, in their mind. We did tests on him, Owen. Tests of cognitive development. Self awareness...It was..." The blonde shook her head, "Never mind. Not important."
At that, the ex marine briefly softened, "Sounds a bit like Blue, the way you talk about him."
But Blue wasn't a fucked up poison spitting thing.
"I suppose. Though, Mister Grady, there is one other thing you must know. T-7 is big. Big, and purple and colorful. You can't miss him unless you're blind as a bat like me. And even I can see him."
Owen's brow furrowed, "So he's big? How big?"
"Big. Like...I don't know. An Allosaurus?"
"Do you have any measurements?"
Ellen paused to look down at her papers, flipping through the records, "Uuuuuuh...Okay. Here. Height: 5.5 meters. Length: 14.6 meters...So...that's..."
"That ain't an Allosaurus, Ellen. That's a fucking Tyrannosaurus! There is no way in hell a raptor is that big!" Owen shouted, absolutely flabbergasted.
What the fuck were they feeding this thing?!
Fucking steroids!?
"Well-," The blonde paused to collect herself, "He's not that big. At least I don't think. It's not like he stayed still during measurements. And he's usually on all fours-"
"Do I even want to know why it's on all fours?"
"Because. He's big?" Ellen answered. Though her answer sounded more like a question.
Owen wasn't sure what to say. This thing sounded like another Indominus. Only fucking purple, and had venom. It sounded like this thing shouldn't even fucking exist, "You're sure this thing's base genome is a Utahraptor?"
"I designed him. I know it is. We took the base DNA and modified the gaps. We fertilized a Harpy Eagle's egg."
"...Why did you use an eagle's egg?"
Ellen blinked, "Where do you think we get eggs for fertilization? You think we pull them out our ass?"
"Well with the way you're making this thing sound, it does sound like you're pulling shit out of your ass." Owen huffed, arteries fluttering just underneath his tanned skin.
The blonde woman frowned at that, her thin lips pressing together in a single lined frown that molded into her features, "I wish I was. But I'm not. We knew what we were trying to make, but trying and assuming, predicting? What we hoped for paled compared to what we created, in all reality. Not too different from your Indominus." Ellen quieted briefly, readjusting and organizing her papers.
"When he started growing, he grew exponentially. He grew too fast-too large. We weren't sure why. It's not like we used anything in his genome that would be much larger than the park's raptors."
"Were you feeding him steroids?" The ex marine questioned, a brow raising in accusation.
Ellen shook her head, "No. Not without authorization from me, and most certainly not to my knowledge if someone was giving him steroids. I don't see why anyone would give him steroids whilst he was growing, since they would flush out of his system by the time he's ready to be hunted. Unless they wanted to increase his size swiftly and rapidly-it certainly looked like he was being given them. We even suspected he was being given steroids at first, perhaps by one of the staff. We did multiple urine tests at random. There was never any trace of steroids. But we did start thinking he had some kind of hormonal imbalance, or chromosomal mutation. Hell, for all we know he just has a pituitary tumor that's just triggering his brain to release massive amounts of growth hormone."
"So, you never tested him to see what was wrong?"
"He's too large to handle without a great margin of error for safety, so, no. We didn't realize something was that wrong until he grew far too large to properly control. And even then-Biosyn didn't care. He was shipped out. And then lost. And now we're here." The woman exhaled deeply through her nose, before closing the folder, "I don't know if whatever he has is killing him, or what. But he more than likely has underlying health problems. Or maybe he doesn't. Fuck, I don't know. I would just want him to live as viable and as peaceful-uh, natural a life as possible with the time he has. Disease and the recover mission aside. Well...Now you know what you need to know. So...What do you say? You ready, Raptor Boy?"
Owen breathed deep through his nares, calloused hands briefly forming into fists, and tightening, knuckling popping before releasing, "Fine. Yeah, let's go. Let's track Barney the purple fuckin' dinosaur and then let's find my girls."
Ellen snorted, "Ahaa-Barney. Good one."
Grady did not appear too pleased. That freak of a raptor better got have poisoned his raptors or anything...
Owen was not pleased. Not at all.
Seeing a massive ship dock upon Isla Nublar's shores just a few miles down the coast just made him feel even worse.
Like a sinking pit was planted deep in his stomach.
"...You expecting anything from Biosyn?" The ex marine questioned, Ellen pausing from spraying bug spray upon herself, the heat of the day and humidity in the air heavy. The pair trekked not too far from the base.
"No. That your DPG buddies?"
"...No."
"Maybe it's the Costa Rican government?"
Fuck if she knew. But why bring a freighter ship to an island unless it wasn't affiliated with either of the two groups? Was there a third party?
Or-Wait-
-Why was it docking near the shipwrecked cargo barge? Ellie wished she could see better, but the ship itself was too far away, "I think it might be Biosyn."
Owen pressed his lips together, which molded into a stern, serious frown. A hand moving into his bag, he pulled out a pair of binoculars, and began to spy.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
The docking ship lower the ramp, and expose its cargo hold. He saw no one outside upon the shore. They were all upon the ship.
No one was getting off.
He soon found out why.
What came out of the large, cavernous hold was an Indominus Rex, black scaled and sporting a camera upon its head.
The large black beast looked around, jagged maw gaping as it breathed deep. The ramp of the cargo hold quaked, and footprints became visible in the sandy shores.
Being made without a body.
There wasn't just one Indominus.
There was two.
Slowly, gently, fluidly, the sand seemed to morph, and form the second Indominus.
It almost looked just like her.
White, like winter.
White, but accented in gold.
Owen's binocular's almost dropped from his is trembling hands, mouth agape in building terror.
When he heard one roar, it was something he never wished to ever hear again.
He'd hoped to hell he never would.
Hell wouldn't be so merciful.
Owen was brought back to reality by the short little woman by his side, gripping a shoulder, "Owen? Owen? New plan-okay? You find your DPG buddies or your raptors, okay? Whatever first. Warn them about those things. I need to go dig and find information on those things and why they're here." If they even were from Biosyn. If they weren't? Who would they be from? Henry Wu? But that didn't entirely make sense to Ellen.
But then again, nothing made sense on this fucking island, and since Wu was a rogue scientist, God only knew who had him in their pocket...Probably a third party.
Owen blinked, and looked upon the woman, refocusing, "Right...Okay. Hey-your radio-I'll be on channel three. Contact me if you learn something or if you need help."
The short blonde woman nodded, "Alright. I will. Be safe, Grady." Good fucking thing they weren't very far from her base. It had to be fuckin' Biosyn, "And if I have any questions, I'll contact you."
Because Owen probably knew more about Indominus than her.
This was getting to be a fucking shit show.
It was hard enough when Ellen just wanted to get her fucking animal back.
But now a disease, a soldier man wanting his fucking pets back, and now murderous fucking camouflaging monsters were unleashed on the beach.
Fuck her.
She should have never accepted this job.
Notes:
I wrote this to help keep my thoughts in order, and to better explain what Amethyst is that I never bothered to go into detail narrative wise (Ex. TMO's size being thrice the size of the sisters is only mentioned once in the very first chapter, and thus is easy to miss). Don't blame me-Blame my dream~~~~
The sexy hulk of a purple raptor that managed to charm the scales off of the Raptor Squad Ladies, baby~~~~
The anticoagulation properties of his saliva vs the coagulation properties of his venom would more than likely vary greatly based upon 1. How much venom was actually injected. 2. How panicked the victim is (venom travels faster with increased heart rate). 3. The fact that the vemon will affect deeper tissues than the saliva, which would more than likely just affect the actual bite puncture.
His weight, height, are not truly accurate to what his BMI would probably really be. So they're rough guestimates.
Since I find writing people boring, the next chapter will either focus upon the Carnotaurus harassing the raptor pack, or the Indominus pair beginning to hunt down the pack, and probably fighting the defending pack.
I do not know when I will update Dynasties.
I do not plan on updating Dynasties anytime soon.
I am, however, slowly working on the next chapter of Broken Raptors.
Thank you for reading and supporting this work.
Stay safe!
Bikerguy91 on Chapter 4 Fri 24 Jul 2020 10:56AM UTC
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