Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The earth trembled under her feet as she ran after the bright light. She had done this before, played with humans that screamed hey hey and waved flaring red lights to attract her. She had saved them, too, from Velociraptors. She didn't like those very much, even now. She still bore the scars from her fights with the smaller creatures, the faster ones that were her rivals. They take a step above her only because she is a solitary animal and they thrive in packs.
But now, this solitary animal is about to seek revenge, but when the flare is thrown, it isn't a Velociraptor looking for a beating. It's an entirely new animal.
The female Tyrannosaur rose to her full height and roared, slowly lowering back so her belly was parallel to the ground. The rival turned her massive head and got on all four legs as she let loose a similar roar. The Tyrannosaur took offense and charged, driving her heavy head into ribs, biting and digging her trivial claws into the hide of the other, but the silvery beast was quicker, younger, and madder.
Soon, teeth were around her neck, claws on her face. The young beast wasn't going to go down without a fight, and the female Tyrannosaur found herself lying on her side at the mercy of the pale one. And then there was a caw.
She had taught herself to either run after the caw with an angry roar or flee from it as it often times meant trouble. This time, she felt relief as the female Raptor used the Tyrannosaur as a launch pad to get onto the pale back of the young female.
She rolled onto her feet and attacked the invader with renewed strength, carefully avoiding the female Raptor. Together, they stole ground from the young one, and the stare down began as soon as the Tyrannosaur threw the young one against a fence. While she pushed herself to her feet and stared down at the Tyrannosaur and the Raptor, a bigger creature was lurking in the lake. With a mighty push, a water beast latched its jaws around the pale neck of the young invader. The Tyrannosaur watched fear and terror fill the opposer's eyes before the water beast drug her backwards. There was a bellow that vibrated the ground beneath her feet, and then there was quiet.
The Raptor chirped and moved her body to see the Tyrannosaur. Blood dripped to the ground. Neither of them were up to fight again, though the Tyrannosaur felt her blood boil in her veins. The blue and silver Raptor tilted her head and chirruped, a strange noise that meant apology. The Tyrannosaur gave a low groan, meaning forgiveness, and then she turned away. She saw the humans out of the corner of her eye, watched the Raptor being dismissed by the human Alpha, and she half expected the humans to come at her with weapons bristling, but they let her walk away. The female quickened her pace in case they changed their mind.
While the sun rose, she trekked up to the highest point of the island. She had stopped bleeding during the journey, and if she turned her head she could see her new battle wounds over her scars. She climbed the cool stone that the humans laid down over her soft grass and she gazed out at the island that looked broken with shiny bits of hardness jutting out. Flying beasts dotted the skies, shrieking their shrill songs.
She was still in her prime, and she was going to make the most of what she had left. She had a son, once. Humans broke its leg and more humans fixed it. They returned it, but she was still mad, and so she took her anger out on them. She wondered if they had died. Her mate had gave that structure the final push over the edge while her son cheered him on. She had just wanted them to get the message that they did not, under any circumstances, touch her baby. Her mate was going to make sure it never happened again, and then while he hunted, he was killed by a Spinosaurus, a male who had no business being in her territory. They had fought, but the Spinosaur's longer arms resulted in a snapped neck, and so she lost her mate.
Now was a new time, a new chance, to have what she had lost. And so, she summoned every fiber of her being to call a new roar to her vocals, a roar she had only used once before. When she finished, she could hear the faint echo of it, and when she strained her ears, she earned a familiar caw from her friend, the Raptor.
She padded down to the sound, to the lone Raptor without her pack. She gently nosed the thing as it laid on its belly, studying the forest floor. Another nudge got the little Raptor to her feet and she snapped a little at the larger beast. The Tyrannosaur tossed her head in mock offense, then grumbled a low question. What are you doing?
There were gaps in their vocabulary, words that did not make it through. Their accents and different terms divided them. The Raptor cawed her name. Blue. She did that several times, then made a strange clicking noise that a fat male human had made to get her to do some petty tricks. She had ignored them, and she ignored that strange sound that came from the Raptor. Instead she focused on the name. Blue. Did the Tyrannosaur have such a designation? She didn't remember. Her mate called her something, but it was buried in sad memories and she didn't want to dig too deep to find it. It didn't matter anyway.
The Raptor was cawing again. Echo. Delta. Charlie. Where? The Raptor cawed a new word, one that the Tyrannosaur understood immediately. Alpha?
The human that had shaken its head. That was her Alpha, which meant this Blue might have been a step or two lower. Beta, perhaps. Second in command. No wonder she was conflicted: follow or lead? Follow because she had lost her Alpha or lead because of that same reason? Seek or be sought. That was the question. And the Tyrannosaur had no answer. She only regarded the small thing like a cat might regard a worm: not predatory, but not uninterested.
The Raptor tipped her head this way and that before she turned and sprinted off. The Tyrannosaur let her, not expecting to see her again. She turned her head and roared again, waiting for an answering roar of another female or even a male. If it was a female, she would fight. If it was a male, she would show off. If it was a Raptor pack, she would try to immitate Blue's caw to bring her in. That was a strange thought for her to have, and the Tyrannosaur snorted, shaking her head as if to rid herself of it.
She gave another roar before she walked off.
ooo
Claire helped Owen open all the paddocks, stepping aside to let the Spinosaurs room to run out, coaxing the Allosaurs to give chase to a boar, and pulling babies of all carnivore species out of the nurseries by their horns, heads, or arms. That was about when the ground shook with a roar.
Owen lifted his head and held his breath. "Sounds like a Tyrannosaur."
"The female," Claire whispered. She pushed a baby Tyrannosaur out of its nest. It snapped at her, roaring a little, but after seeing the showdown between Raptor, Indominus, and the Tyrannosaur, she wasn't afraid. She growled back.
"The Queen has returned," Owen joked, then he lifted another cage to be tossed. "She's probably looking for a King."
Claire looked at him. "We do have other males, both older and younger. It was just that one female. We thought we could study her, find out the stories behind her scars. Also, females that we tried to make didn't survive infancy. That's why we were worried about Indominus..."
Owen shrugged as he watched the baby carnivores run after each other, snapping and biting. They were safe so long as the babies weren't interested in them. Once the babies started throwing a tantrum, it would bring the other carnivores in like flies to meat.
When all the paddocks were open, Claire looked at Owen. "The last ship is leaving in twenty minutes."
Owen leaned against a paddock, his arms crossed. "Blue is out there."
"She can take care of herself."
"She's a Beta without a pack or an Alpha. She needs me as much as I need her."
"So, you're saying-"
"I'm staying right here, taking care of these dinosaurs. I don't want anyone coming onto this island with hostile intent. No one is turning them into weapons."
Claire nodded, then looked him in the eye. "Then I'm staying here, too, sticking with you for survival."
ooo
The Tyrannosaur marked her territory in a large forest area full of promising prey. Soon, she thought, mates would come and she would have a good nursery for her eggs. She even had a spot picked out in the middle of her territory for her young to be placed.
She roared again to attract males, and this time there was a response. Digging her claws into the dirt, she ran towards the source.
