Big Rock National Park, Northern California
June, 2023
The heavy rain had finally subsided, leaving the ferns and redwoods shrouded in mist. The fog clung to everything, making it difficult to see more than a few dozen feet ahead. The forest was slowly, but surely, coming back to life after the downpour. Birds began singing and calling to each other, flitting between the branches. Squirrels chattered, chasing each other through the trees and underbrush.
A female black-tailed deer made her way to the edge of a small clearing. Under most circumstances, the doe would have waited until evening to feed, but something had changed in the forest in the last few weeks. She constantly smelled an unfamiliar scent on the wind during nighttime. It was a scent that made her uneasy in a similar way to the scent of a cougar or coyote. However, something in the scent struck at a primitive part of her brain.
The sensation was something that filled the doe with a deep, primal fear. It was akin to the terror she had felt when she had encountered a wildfire several years ago. She would have known that the flames were dangerous even if the wind hadn’t been tinged with the scent of seared and burning flesh. Whatever this new scent was, it was an unfamiliar predator, but it was as if the creature itself was the fear of fire made manifest.
She lifted her head and took in the scents on the wind. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to be afraid of. She couldn’t detect the smell of any predators like mountain lions or coyotes. She felt it was safe enough to let her guard down. The deer lowered her head and began grazing. Before long, the thoughts of the odd scent were forgotten.
The attack came from her left flank.
A blur of orange and black launched itself from the ferns at the doe. Razor-sharp talons dug into the doe's hide. Powerful jaws lined with dagger-like fangs closed around the deer's throat. The doe barely had time to let out a cry before her attacker had crushed her windpipe. The reptilian predator shook the deer's head and neck with quick, efficient brutality.
Once the predator was certain his prey was dead, he released the tension in his jaws and examined the carcass before him, giving a loud snort of satisfaction. He had been stalking this deer for some time now, patiently biding his time. Though he had no idea of it, he had been the main source of the doe’s unease. His species had gone extinct eighty million years ago, but now roamed the earth once more because of the actions of another species.
A Velociraptor.
At just over a year and a half old, he wasn’t fully grown yet. Adult members of his species regularly weighed in at around 300 pounds; the young male was roughly two-thirds that size. His body was fit, if a little lean from being able to hunt less successfully by himself than in a group. The raptor’s leathery hide was a fiery orange, adorned with black stripes across his body. Several scars marred his skin, namely a bite mark on his shoulder, traces of slashing hand claws on his side, and a single, round scar near the base of his tail that was newer than the others.
The male raptor had never been given a name by a parent; in fact, he'd never even seen another member of his species aside from his brother and sister. However, the strange, hairless mammals—humans—that kept them locked in a paddock had used a particular sound to get his attention or refer to him: Tora. Likewise, they made different sounds to refer to his siblings: they called his brother Ryu, and his sister Yae.
He was wary of humans. They were much weaker than most other animals, but what they lacked in strength and speed, they more than made up for with sheer intelligence. In Tora's time outside of captivity, he had yet to see another species create such a massive impact on the world around them. No other animals used tools, let alone tools that could kill something from a great distance.
Tora emitted a low chitter from his throat. A pang of sadness surged through his chest as he thought about his siblings. The three of them had escaped from their captors through sheer, dumb luck. One of the hairless mammals had failed to close the gate to their enclosure properly. It had only taken a little bit of effort to get the gate open, and once free, the humans had begun panicking. He still remembered smelling their fear. Most ran away from the three raptors, or did their best to hide. Shortly after their escape, a loud, shrill noise began blaring in the nearby buildings, accompanied by the sound of a voice. The pack’s immediate goal was to get as far away from the humans as possible. The scent of the nearby forest was tantalizing. Freedom had been so close.
Bright lights had suddenly shone down on them. The three raptors had been momentarily blinded. A pair of sharp, explosive cracks sounded out from somewhere above. When Tora opened his eyes again, his siblings lay on the ground, Ryu with a bloody hole behind his eye, and Yae wheezing and choking on her own blood as bubble-filled red ichor poured from a wound in her chest. Instinct told Tora to run away as fast as he could. Before he reached the tree line another crack rang out. Sharp, fiery pain had burst through his body from near the base of his tail.
But Tora had escaped, making his way into the wild.
The wound inflicted by the humans had healed. However the world seemed a bit less bright without Yae and Ryu. The three of them had been as close as any siblings could be. While Ryu and Tora were prone to bickering and getting into somewhat-playful tussles, Yae had been more reserved. Always watching, always listening. Being bigger than both of her brothers, she naturally became the leader of the small pack.
A sharp hunger pang brought Tora back to the present. He sniffed the deer’s carcass before using the talons on his hands to open up the torso. Fresh, steaming viscera fell from the stomach cavity onto the ground, and Tora used his snout to sort through them to find the choice bits he was looking for. How long had it been since he'd eaten something larger than a rodent? Or something laying beside a rock-hard trail after being killed by one of the humans' vehicles? It was difficult hunting without a pack, especially after it was almost all the young raptor knew.
The young Velociraptor lifted his head to check his surroundings, his maw stained red with blood. He could neither see nor hear anything nearby. When he sniffed the air, his nostrils were greeted by a strange, but familiar, scent.
It was unmistakably the scent of more Velociraptors.
Tora swallowed the chunk of flesh and viscera in his jaws, and then inhaled deeply. He was smelling Velociraptors, yes. But something about their scent was... off. It was noticeably different from the scent of his siblings. Not in the same way that Yae smelled different from Ryu, but a difference so pronounced that it gave the young male pause.
He looked back down at the body he'd been feeding on. Stalking the deer had taken hours, and several attacks on members of the same species had resulted in his targets fleeing into the forest. Living alone was difficult. It felt completely wrong to Tora, being without his siblings. The quiet alarm bell going off in his head be damned. Even if these raptors were different, reaching out to them was better than living alone feeding on carrion and small animals that amounted to little more than a mouthful of food.
Tora let several short, barking calls out into the misty forest- a sound that meant, "I am here, where are you?". For a good minute, there was silence. He called again, louder this time.
He was greeted by the same call from some distance away. Tora was encouraged, and called out one more time. He waited for a response silently, a sickle claw occasionally tapping the ground. The young raptor was nervous. He had never met other Velociraptors before outside of his siblings. Would they accept him? Or would they run him off of his kill and drive him away?
The ferns and undergrowth began rustling as something—no, multiple somethings—approached. Tora held still, not wanting to give off any impression of hostility. For a moment there was silence. Movement off to his left drew Tora's attention. He turned his head to get a better look at it, cocking his head to one side.
A triangular head peered at him from the underbrush with bright, clear blue eyes. The Velociraptor's skin was pale, like bone, adorned with black markings. A quick sniff confirmed that that the stranger was female. Tora let out a quiet bark in greeting, but the other raptor didn't move or respond. The rustling of ferns on the other side of Tora caught his attention, and his head snapped around to see what it was.
Another Velociraptor. A mature male, judging by size and scent. However, he also looked different than what Tora expected his kind to look like. Instead of orange and covered in black-brown stripes, the hide of the male raptor was gray, like stone. His eyes were ringed by muted blue markings, and a single, long stripe of white ran horizontally along each side of his back. Though, strangest of all to Tora, were the small crests above his eyes, as well a line of quills running down the back of his head.
The other male had perhaps forty to fifty pounds on him, as well as a good six inches in height. If he wanted to, he could kill Tora and leave his corpse for the scavengers. Tora lowered his head and hid his claws in an attempt to convey that he wasn't a threat.
The other male gave a soft caw to his companion, who moved out of the bushes and into full view. She was slightly smaller than her male counterpart, though still larger than Tora. Like her head, the rest of her body was pale off-white. Black stripes and markings covered her body, though her hands and feet were colored a soft red. The two strange Velociraptors chirped and warbled to each other, and Tora understood that they were trying to figure out how to deal with him.
Another, deeper bark rang out from the same direction that the male had come. The female Velociraptor cawed before turning her attention back to Tora. Soon a third raptor approached. Another male, he was the largest of the trio. Looking at him, Tora could tell he was quite old. His skin, colored a shade of gray so dark it was almost black, was crisscrossed with scars. One eye was milky white, evidently blinded in a fight at some point. The other was bright green, and his gaze seemed to pierce through Tora. The small crests and quills on his head were a deep red; in his younger years, they likely would have been bright and fiery. The last thing that stood out to Tora about the old male was his tail: the very end didn't end in a taper, as if something had cut off the very tip of it at some point.
The old male turned to his companions and emitted a short, trilling call before approaching the newcomer. Tora held still, keeping his eyes focused on the ground. The old male circled around him slowly, examining him with his good eye and occasionally sniffing the younger male. Once satisfied, the older raptor stood in front of Tora. His emerald eye turned in its socket to look at the slain mammal before locking on to Tora once again
The dark-colored male uttered a low growl. These Velociraptors seemed more vocal than Tora and his siblings. The three of them had communicated with vocalizations, yes, but they relied on body language and eye contact more than that in order to convey their feelings. Regardless, the old male wasn't threatening Tora. He was curious about the newcomer. Tora lifted his head slightly and let out a warble, using his snout to point at the deer carcass. The other two Velociraptors were silent, patiently waiting for the old male's decision.
The old male approached the dead mammal and eyed it, then turned his attention back to Tora. He had killed the herbivore swiftly, and didn't get injured in the process. The old male made a series of short clicking sounds in approval. Tora lifted his head, cocking it to one side. The old male turned his back to Tora, purposefully whipping the young male in the face with his tail, and made his way to the carcass to eat his fill.
To Tora, the action was a clear message: he was welcome to follow and interact with the group, but he was not a member of the pack. He would have to earn that privilege.
The other two raptors chattered to each other before following their alpha. The female turned to Tora and bobbed her head. Tora didn't understand the gesture, but he felt it was some kind of greeting. A soft purr emanated from her throat before she laid on the ground, waiting for her turn to feed.
Tora decided to make himself comfortable as well, and laid down on the ground. It would be a while before he was allowed his share of the carcass.
Crimson Flame,
JustAnna,
Pen Name,
Foster,
Carlyle,
Snowdrops,
BimboTheClown,
Ruki Eshra,
Velos,
Neziul
