Isla Sorna Stories: Rebirth

[dinoman666]

They could practically smell the fear and pain coming from the injured male raptor. It was perfect. Yellow, orb-like eyes watched from the undergrowth, their owners as silent as ghosts, as they waited. Dusk would come soon, and when it did, they would have their prey and, hopefully, another nest...

The only sound the hunters made when they drew back to a safer distance was a trilling, rattling chitter that sounded like no other creature on the island...

[Pyronychus]

Sylicora and Rhojis hopped down from the small rocky outcrop at the mouth of the cave, exchanging glances that conveyed the same fear. After seeing the state their father was in, neither felt like going back into the denser forest to practice maneuvering through trees, so they simply fell into step side by side and began to walk aimlessly away, going nowhere in particular, their minds wandering much farther than their legs would take them. After a moment, when they thought they were too far away for their father to hear their muttered tones, Rhojis hissed quietly, "Sy... do you think we're ready for this?" The olive raptor looked grim. She didn't bother to ask what he meant, since she knew what the answer would be. "I don't know," she muttered, eyes flicking up to meet her brother's. "But you can't really think he..." Rhojis didn't reply, leaving the words hanging in the air like a dark fog as they silently continued walking...

Meanwhile, with the twins out of his sight for the moment, Beryl again tried to make himself more comfortable, bunching and scratching the ferns into place around his discolored limb. When he had expended as much energy as the pain would allow, he let his head fall to the leafy bed and let out a low hissing groan, lips drawn back in a grimace, eyes on the verge of clouding. It was getting more difficult to move, he suddenly noticed, as if his strength was failing. No. I'm going the wrong way. I must be strong for them... he thought, but didn't truly believe what he was telling himself...

[dinoman666]

The raptor's weakness was too tantalizing an offer to pass up, and his two charges' departure made the prize even more attractive. They had waited long enough. With more quiet chitters, the stalkers moved towards the mouth of the cave after the two juvenile raptors walked off...

One by one, pairs of yellow, glowing eyes penetrated the gloom of Beryl's cave, as well a single pair of red ones. The creatures chittered and hissed as they crept into the cavern, their bodies hard to discern in the darkness. All that could be made out by the weakened raptor was low-slung, bipedal bodies with long snouts and scrawny limbs. They were each smaller than Beryl, that much was certain, but there was at least six of them, and Beryl certainly wasn't in any state to fend them off. The red-eyed one hissed in a low, disturbingly melodious whisper, "A fine afternoon to you, friend..."

[Pyronychus]

The injured raptor jerked his head up from the leaves, causing a fresh spasm of agony to wrack his leg. He blinked, trying to stop the clouds from forming in his eyes. It was difficult enough to see in the gloom of the cave already without blurry vision. "Who's there?" he demanded, trying to half-push himself up with his arms, but feeling suddenly dizzy, his elbows shaking from the effort, the cave now blurry and spinning in his shadowy field of view, several yellow and red points revolving within the darkness...

[dinoman666]

"Aw, what's the matter?" the red-eyed creature hissed. "Feeling under the weather? How sad. I've seen that happen to so many good dinosaurs: cut down in their prime. It's so... deliciously tragic." The rest of the predators (for that was no doubt what they were) made chittering snickers that faded away as their leader spoke up again. "I do suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Nighteye, and these," the shadowy creature indicated his surrounding companions with a scrawny arm, "are my Daycrawlers. You know, some of my compatriots here once considered that a derogatory term that our prey would spit at us just before the sleeping sickness enveloped them." The shadowy forms seemed to shift uncomfortably as the red eyes turned to stare at them for a few moments. "I have recently fixed that little issue, however. But enough about me. Tell me about yourself, raptor. How could such a mighty hunter such as one of you wind up in such a... sorry state?"

[Pyronychus]

Though his arms continued shaking badly, Beryl fought to keep himself propped up. He realized he was in a very bad position, and knew he couldn't fight off all of... whatever they were. Blasted vision. With an irritated snarl, he growled, "I wouldn't be in a sorry state if I hadn't-" One of his elbows buckled and he struggled to keep himself from collapsing, head still spinning alarmingly. "It... was an accident," he finished shortly, becoming increasingly frustrated that he couldn't blink the clouds away to see who he was talking to. The red and yellow eyes swimming in the shadows were his only indicators. The more he thought back to the incident, the more pointless and avoidable it seemed. It was all his fault that he lay here now, facing an unavoidable fate. "But I don't think you really care what happened to me... I know what y... you're probably here f... for." His arms buckled again, and finally lost their strength, the raptor sinking to the ferns, only his head still raised...

[dinoman666]

Nighteye didn't seem particularly perturbed by Beryl's rapidly declining health. "Well, if you're so sure, why don't you tell me? Please, I'm curious..." While the creature was speaking, his companions had slowly moved outward, surrounding the raptor in a loose U-shaped formation...

[Pyronychus]

Beryl squinted around the dim cave, only able to clear the image enough to see vague outlines, but he at least could gauge their size and shape enough to tell what category their species might fit into. "You look like... opportunists. Big packs of little things that hide and wait for something sick or injured to come along and die for you..." An image of the twins flashed in his mind, along with a pang of regret for sending them off so abruptly. "But what if I'm not going to die? After all, I have a pack to take care of..." He squinted harder at the creatures, trying to figure out exactly what they were, and a thought occurred to him that made any comfort he had left coldly drain away. "But if you're not scavengers... then... you might not wait for your victims to die..." His voice sounded hollow, and was for the first time tinged with fear. "What are you? Is... is that what you do?! No... No, I am not dying like that!" Fueled by a sudden burst of adrenaline, he once again tried to push himself up, snarling loudly at the pain that wracked his body...

[dinoman666]

Nighteye chuckled, though his laugh was anything but friendly and reassuring. "Kill you? No, of course not! In fact, we have something much better in mind." As if on cue, pain lanced up Beryl's tail as one of the creatures lunged forward with lightning speed, clamping its long, narrow jaws about midway up the raptor's tail, before viciously pulling backwards. Numerous curved, serrated teeth sliced through Beryl's flesh, and the wound burned like a hot brand, but was surprisingly shallow. The creature backed off, licking its bloody fangs clean as Nighteye moved closer, staring down at Beryl. The creature leaned forward, bringing his head into clear view of the raptor for the first time: long snout, with pale scales splotched with dark color. Numerous, vicious-looking fangs jutted from his jaws, and quills topped his head, as well as the back of his long, slim neck and even his chin, which had a patch of startling red coloration. However, his eyes were the most distinctive trait: massive and round, protruding from the sides of Nighteye's skull, devoid of pupils, with only a red glow that gave the creature's gaze a hollow, soulless appearance. The Troodon grinned as maliciously as such an alien-looking beast could, before hissing, "You will be much more than simple food for us, my friend. Of that, you can be certain. You will be of much use to us. A pity your children will not reap the benefits..."

[Pyronychus]

Beryl drew in a sharp, hissing breath at the unexpected sting, almost attempted to turn around, then froze as the creature's face came into better focus. Stunned and unnerved by both the creature's words and appearance, the raptor realized he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, and that real fear was biting at his insides as painfully as the creature had bitten his tail. "Food? A plaything? That's what my life means now?" Beryl rasped, looking around wildly. "What else do you do to your victims?" Changing his mind, he squinted back at the leader, shook his head frantically, and hissed, "Y'know, never mind that last one. I don't want to know." Then with what strength he could muster, he hefted himself up on his elbow, stretched his neck toward the cave entrance, and let out a loud, screeching alarm call...

[dinoman666]

Nighteye delivered a swift kick to the side of Beryl's neck, stunning him and cutting his cry short. Using the same foot, he pinned the raptor's throat to the ground, his sickle claw millimeters away from an artery, so close he could feel Beryl's heartbeat. Leaning in close again, Nighteye hissed, "I don't think plaything is the proper word to describe it. You're a father, aren't you? Surely you know how important it is to take care of your hatchlings? Keep them warm, keep them happy, keep them... well-fed..." As he let that sink in, he chittered at two of his followers. "Go. Outside. Make sure the little ones do not get in. They wouldn't want to see their father like this after all, would they?" The two Troodons gave cruel chuckles, then vanished into the shadows, heading for the cave entrance...

[The Kingpin]

"Well well...s'pose it was inevitable you'd crawl out of those pathetic cracks you call a home. Bladetooth's dung not enough to feed you anymore?" hissed a voice in the depths of the cave, a pair of shimmering amber eyes looking down at the pack with an expression that could be called lazy. The Raptor's scent was almost completely masked by that of the surrounding forest, as if his hide had been covered in it...

[Pyronychus]

Beryl let out a spluttering coughed and groaned, the pain that wracked his body reaching a torturous level. Even so, he remained still, uneven breaths hissing through his clenched teeth, the raptor not daring to struggle right under the creature's claws. Despite his feeble effort to ignore the Troodon's words, he felt a mixture of fear and guilt, partly because they reminded him of how... insufficient he had been as a father. In the last few weeks, he had been dwelling so much on his own sorrow that he'd barely been able to catch enough food to keep what was left of his family alive, and knew all too well that none of them had been anywhere near happy in that time. Happy... Well-fed... He heard those words several times in his head, and thought of the irony of the situation. "Guess someone'll finally get a decent meal out of me..." he muttered almost inaudibly into the cave floor, disgusted and ashamed by the thought, wishing he had the strength to lash out at the alien-looking dinosaur. Then he shifted his head slightly, eyes sweeping blearily around the cave. The wounded raptor was so focused on the overwhelming mental and physical discomfort that at first he didn't register the additional voice. Even with his pain-addled senses, he could vaguely tell that the voice didn't fit with those of the Troodons...

In a sparse patch of forest a distance away, the two juvenile raptors stopped in their tracks, the female turning and cocking her head at a sound that seemed to come from behind them. "What was that?" she asked, instantly alert. Rhojis' eyes narrowed slightly in concern. "Sounded a little like an alarm..." "Was it Dad!?" she hissed, eyes going wide. "I couldn't tell. We should check on him. Come on!" With that, the off-white-striped male spun around and pelted back the way they had come, the olive raptor hot on his trail. At their speed, it wouldn't be long before the cave would come into view...

[dinoman666]

Nighteye gently released his pin on Beryl as he glanced up to look at the hiding Raptor. He couldn't smell him very easily, but he could definitely make him out, even in the gloom of the cave. "Here to save your friend, Raptor?" he hissed. "Good luck. The sleeping sickness has already started its course." Nighteye's glowing gaze turned back to Beryl, as if examining an interesting-looking insect under a microscope. He kept his distance, however. In mere minutes, the hallucinations would begin, and he'd rather not be too close to a flailing raptor, no matter how injured...

[The Kingpin]

"I have no illusions as to his chances. Odds are he'll die right there. Then again, I've dealt with this kind of poisoning before, so perhaps he'll live. Come to think of it...I dare say his chances at this point are probably better than your own" hissed the Raptor, his gaze running across each of the predators in turn, an eerie intensity in the amber orbs that seemed better suited to a Rex than a Raptor...

[dinoman666]

"I'm sorry, it must be the acoustics of this cave, but I don't believe I heard you correctly," Nighteye hissed calmly, but flatly. "Did you just threaten us?" He gestured towards Beryl. "If you could so easily stop us, you would have done so before we bit your friend here. You are either bluffing, or you want this raptor dead. Either way, I don't see how this is any business of yours..."

[Pyronychus]

Beryl tried to keep listening to the Troodon's conversation with the unknown creature, but even laying still on the cave floor, his head was still aching and spinning, his concentration wavering. Realizing that the foot that had been holding him down was gone, he tried raising his head slightly and turning toward the new voice, but his clouded eyes could make out no more than shadows...

The two juveniles slowed down as they reached the edge of the trees, both peering past the leaves at the rocky outcrop in which the cave was hidden. "Is it just me, or is there something in the cave mouth... no, two of them..." "Oh, that's really not good..."

[The Kingpin]

"Do not presume to tell me what is and what isn't my business, whelp" hissed Ripper dangerously. "Had I been here early enough to prevent that Raptor from being bitten, I can assure you we would not be having this conversation. What you perceive of my words is your assumption. I will however warn you; Anger can be a fearsome weapon to be put up against. You have enough enemies without bringing upon yourself the wrath of another pack" growled the Raptor through narrowed eyes...

[dinoman666]

Nighteye made a hissing chuckle. "Someone sounds awfully upset. Why don't you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show? It's always quite fascinating to watch someone succumb to the sleeping sickness. Different for every victim, you know. Marvelous..."

The two Troodon guards, their outlines more visible in the light at the front of the cave, stared impassively out into the jungle, watching for intruders...

[The Kingpin]

a series of chittering calls and whistles began to echo through the cave, the shockingly complex tones undecipherable even to the most intelligent of Raptors, Ripper rising to his feet before leaping, hitting the ground with a light thud as the calls rang out all around him, seemingly independent of his own voice, the raptor unleashing a trilling screech that was almost deafening in it's sharpness, the tone far above the range of a Raptor's calls, the echoing of the calls ricocheting off the walls, echoing long after the Elder had fallen silent. The call would be audible for over a mile, easily reaching into the turf of the Liliensternus pack nearby. the Raptor's gaze lay on the leader, the entire pack in his field of view as he locked his gaze with Nighteyes, Amber eyes boring into blood red ones, Ripper's expression completely indifferent in spite of the startling call he had unleashed...


The Triceratops seemed to have crossed an invisible line as it edged closer, the smaller herbivores charging at it and pecking at it's flanks and neck, unable to allow it to get any closer to their home, the chain reaction sending everything spiralling out of control as the Triceratops bellowed irritably, stomping as it slammed it's massive head into a small tree, the plant shuddering violently just above the nest as it was struck again, a loud crack coming from it as it's trunk was severely damaged, it's upper half weighing it down and bringing it crashing downwards...