Queen's notes: well this is a story I've been working on and its been evolving for over six years now. This is the organic, 'primal' hordika, before the Great Beings started changing them, as well as Vorox and Zesk into the beings of Toa, Matoran, Glatorain and Agori. I'm calling the Great Beings 'Grecret' for now, as I cannot find a race name that's not 'The Great Beings' for them anywhere. X.x even checked the few comics before moving. So that works out.

This is sort of an intro thing, the story will fallow two cubs as they grow to help with the hordika pack culture, as well as some study logs off and on from the researchers.

Hope you enjoy this story!

The Savage Side Of Me

Preface: King of the Rangers

The big creature lifted his head out of his fallen prey, drops of purple-red falling off his muzzle. The head of the big reptile was scarred; even the gray, back swept horns that shaded his eyes had a few marks, groves in them and along the golden tan hide. The alpha predator that humans might call dragon-like being, it was a creature that had been named Hordika by the beings in the silver craft above that the predator cubs were starting to growl at now as it came close.

"What is that thing sire?" One of the cubs at his feet asked, hiding under the massive male with her sisters.

"I don't know really, some kind of raft for the air," The big male lowered his head to give the cub a lick to clean off some of the dirt on her back, "But it and other things like it, have been around since before I was a cub, and before my grand sire was a cub."

He snorted and turned back to shredding his kill into much smaller bits for the cubs to chew and eat. The male lifted his head only to check for the Vorax scavengers that would be attracted by the scent of the exposed meet drifting down, and that female Zesk were still hovering around the Hordika cubs as nurses. Their own cubs were back at the nesting dens of home, with the just hatching eggs and the Mothers for the best protection of all.

"But what is it?" a little blue female with black ring markings asked as she came out from under her sire's twitching tail, only to climb up on the golden hide until she was grasping onto the thick grey spines of the male, "Its shiny! And things are moving inside! Something's lifting-" she gasped, sliding down the tail, "Is it going to eat us?!"

One of the Zesk mothers laughed at hearing that, clicking to her own sisters to explain what was said, they chuckled and trilled their own laughs with the Alpha hordika male. Dropping to all fours the tan and black stripped female came over to crouch at peer at the cub, "No-no lil' huntress, the silver ones do not eat lil' Hordika or Zesk." She leaned forward to pick the cub up behind the shoulders, where as an adult a grey saddle patch would form like on the one adult with the group.

Walking to a high angled tree branch on their perch she jumped up, still caring the chirping cub before setting her down. The nurse purred and looked to the wide, long silver thing that shined brighter then the warned to polished wood of their home. "See? It come close some times lil' one, but never hurt, sometimes it may takes injured Hordika an' Zesk, an' bring back them healthy an' healed." Her words were accented as she spoke Hordika.

"Sometimes it drops food," the Alpha male said as he looked back, chirping for the Zesk to bring the fascinated cub back down to eat now that he was done. Leaving the other two nurses to get to the sweat-soft meats inside the prey for the four cubs and them, he had hunted more for the nurses to eat after giving birth to their litters. He sat back down to groom himself clean, then moved once the silver raft-hollow log thing settled down. Nothing got out, very rarely did the creatures inside come out, the last time he remembered seeing the little ones, was...

Well, it had been a long time ago in the sands of the great Bara Dessert Planes. The big light breed Hordika tilted his head, the cresting horn on his head shading his eyes better before coming closer. The mech placed one forepaw and then the other one the shinning surface, leaning over to try and look inside the area that was sometimes clear. He remembered finding a dyeing raft once, after he was taken to the bright room in the white...tree of metal? Stone tree? He still wasn't sure what it had been, but the little creatures must have used the power of the Great Hordika's elemental energy to heal him. In return he had carried the surviving creature from the hollow-raft to another, at first in his jaws and then on his back. That had been so strange, but he had always been different from the start, with a fire breed as a sire and a ranger sun breed mother...and really, his own sire was the first true Alpha-king in ages, able to pull a pack and then super pack together as well as working and leading other alpha males and females.

Taking a deep breath, the current Alpha and co-leader of the Mata Tree leaned forward to lick over the silver, a quick groom despite the raft tasting bad. He stepped off to sit and watch his cubs until they were flopped over and stuffed, only then did the Zesk really settle in for eating a meal themselves.

A soft, so very soft sound drew the Hordika's attention away from standing... or rather sitting guard. The long neck dipped, looking at the small creature that was edging closer to him, "So you came out after so many breeding and storm seasons…" he tried a careful purr, so not to scare the cub sized creature back to the raft. He sniffed, then scented, "...are you the same I helped?" he asked, even knowing the strange rahi didn't speak, either proper Hordika, Zesk or even what the Vorax spoke.

Head lowered to the same level, the male had to praise the bravery of something small enough to be an easy quick snack would dare come to his bulk, as he was bigger then the normal sized Hordika. He felt the small paws on his muzzle before poking his tongue out playfully, not knowing a glass tub was used to get a sample, nor would he understand why the scientist would want samples to identify him.

"Ta...ku'a?"

The hordika blinked both sets of lids, turning his head to look down and focus on the creature, surprised to say the least as he heard what sounded like his old name, "Are you learning to talk?" Taka wondered, impressed at the little chirping attempt and grinned as the paws stroked over his muzzle. "Maybe there's some hope for you little."

There was a long pause, filled with the soft sounds of happy, contended Zesk nurses, sleepy cubs and the odd chirps of the little creature that circled the Alpha. Petting his tail to his amusement, at least until there was a not so distant screak.

The big male's head shot up, turning with a growl as he recognized the sound.

"King-king!" the older of the three Zesks yipped, "Big male Vorox… might be fallowing scent of us?" She looked at her pack sisters, they didn't want their own breeding season intervening with their status in the Hordika pack. There were many advantages of being in a pack of the bigger predators, not just getting good food but another aspect of protection. The presence of the big hordika kept over aggressive males away from the smaller Zesk females, and their own cubs were raised just as protected with the young of the pack.

Becoming a nurse in the pack had been a great easing of Bor'eek's life several years ago. She had been pregnant early in the season back then, with only one of cubs surviving from her litter after one of the more savage Vorox males found her nest. The Zesk of the pack then had found her, and led her to one of the nest guards, and then the pack where she stayed. Bor'eek loved her new home very much, loved that her litters were kept safe to grow up in the dens of the Mata Tree.

"Not your fault." The hordika said as rose, using the side of his leg to push the small creature back to the silver raft, standing and shaking. "Take the cubs back to the Mata Tree, I'm going to make sure that Vorox stays away. After the cubs are safe you can go out if you want to meet a male." The alpha male stepped over to lick one of his cubs.

The big hordika shifted and jumped, from the thick branch of the tree they were all in, to another branch lower down. Taka glanced back, willing to loose the bird he hunted, as his pack, the young would be safe. He was willing to hunt for the Zesk again if needed, and in a way the kill wouldn't go to waste, those in the silver raft seemed to like taking some bits from what Hordika hunted.

"Aruma, Lhikan...Vakama?" the light breed male said to himself as he walked, glancing up to the sky and the two moons he knew were in the sky beyond the jungle canopy, "Grand sires, please let this peace last." He turned his head in the direction of the planes, where the shadow pack once was. Then he jumped and fell into a run, ready to chase off the scavenger.

Though the Hordika was aware the 'silver raft' was fallowing him at a distance, he wasn't aware of the conversation inside the ship, and wouldn't exactly know what the 'little beings' were talking about. Maybe understanding a word or two, but not the conversation in full, or in context.

"You shouldn't have gotten out of the ship Ma'ri," one male form said, still frowning at a female sitting not far from him, to the left of the pilot and he on the right.

"Peace Odicte," Ma'ri said looking up from the DNA samples, "We know that creature, and he remembers us. Even now."

"It doesn't change the fact those predators can eat us in one go." The pilot started to say before trailing off as the two sciences started at him, the expression of Ma'ri was completely flat and her red eyes were unimpressed. "Er..."

"I am perfectly aware of the danger the Hordika can do." Ma'ri said with her chin lifted, "But we all know that they are capable of compassion for no reason other than that, we've seen some caring for Vorox cubs and a few adults. This world has so much potential, and even more the Hordika."

Odicte sighed, running a hand over his head, "Yes, I know, that's why I had the outposts set up. And the recovery arena too..."

"And the hatchery," Ma'ri said brightly, smiling as she turned to look back to the improvised nest in their collection bay. Being lucky to get some Gacko bird eggs, and the one Hordika egg they found. Not abandoned but in the open like a raid gone wrong by another adult Hordika or even one of the Vorox. "As we'll have a Matoran-cub from that soon, to start the next phase to see if we can domesticate the Hordika, like the Cybertronians can. Or better start fostering to see if we can speed and alter their evaluation for this planet."

"But that metallic race is considerably larger than us." Odicte lifted a copper colored finger, his Safire eyes bright in the light coming from the observing dome, "We Grecret are greatly advanced than many other perhaps, but we do not have that height or mass without any sort of exco-suit to be able to handle an exited Hordika like those Cybertronians can."

"True..." the female smiled, rubbing her own exposed arms. Then smiled, "But the horikda are a beautiful race, maybe a see if we can start the next phase with making dwarfed subspecies first."

"That is a good idea," the head researcher considered that idea.

"Looks like your big male's charging now." The pilot said, moving the hover craft around so the other two could watch as attention was turned to recording the interaction.