DISCLAIMER: I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

"Animals do not survive by rational thought. They survive through inborn reflexes and sensory-perceptual association. They cannot reason. They cannot learn a code of ethics. A lion is not immoral for eating a zebra (or even for attacking a man). Predation is their natural and only means of survival; they do not have the capacity to learn any other." - Edwin A. Locke

Eyes of the Alpha Predator

By Corvus no Genmu

Amber eyes narrowed, black talons griping floating stone on a perch high and above most of the floating stones and crystals that made up a generous portion of his territory. Deadly obsidian fangs shined in the daylight as featherlike membrane rustled to show his obvious agitation. No, that is not the correct way of assuming the creature's mood. To be agitated one had to be afraid and if there was one thing this creature wasn't feeling it was fear. He lived forever with the knowledge and assurance that his kind were the kings of the sky, the alpha predator who stood atop the proverbial food pyramid, the one creature with no natural enemy to warrant such a pathetically useless emotion as fear.

No, it was not fear that had him acting like a skittish pa'li foal on the highmost cliff of his territory. Cold avian eyes looked to the west, seeing the smoke rising from where a once grand tree stood as lord over its forests. Again, he could not help but let loose a terrific roar that echoed amongst the floating mountains, scaring their dwellers into deeper hiding lest they draw his anger upon them. A disdainful snort brought his head down, tearing his eyes away from the awful sight of the destroyed tree.

By the Law of the Predator, death and destruction came claw-in-fang with one another; to believe otherwise would sooner see one's end than one's beginning. An equal exchange had to be made, especially in the case of the hunter; for they to live so must the prey die. This was no such thing, the death of the tree, of the People… what point did it serve these Outsiders, these monsters from beyond the Cold Sky? He had seen them digging into the dirt, tearing up whole groves to obtain their shiny rocks and, finding their recent holes empty of their worthless treasures, would move on further and further into the forests, drawing ever closer to the boundaries of his territory.

Foul beasts though they were, the Outsiders were quick learners and made sure to avoid his sight whenever his hunts brought him bearing the fine line of territorial boundaries, and when not able to avoid him, to at least have a heavy flight of those strange rock flyers nearby to chase him away with their annoying stings. He knew that this feeling of unease and restlessness was caused by their recent actions. The All Mother would withstand hurt upon Herself for the sake of Her children but an attack on Her brood… Though yet unmated, even he knew that there was nothing more dangerous than a mother defending her child.

All he needed now was a sign.

Crested head twisted sharply, pupils wide as eyelids pulled back as far as possible. A soft ethereal light landed gently upon the obsidian of his wing-claw, tendrils twirling of their own accord. His muscles coiled tightly beneath his vibrant flesh, both pairs of wings tensing in their folds as wide eyes stared unblinking at the Messenger. He had seen them in his flights but never had one approached him before and never so deep into his territory so high from the forests below… He blinked in sudden surprise as a strong gust of wind suddenly blew past and with it went the little seedling, twisting and turning in a spiritual dance as it vanished into the clouds below.

He craned forward, eyes narrowing before leaning back and shooting forward without a sound, diving down towards the forest canopy and pulling off into a lazy flight with no clear destination in mind or any true prey worth the effort of hunting. The All Mother, for whatever reason beyond his understanding, wanted him away from his lair, wanted him to fly near the lands of the People. Curiousity was not something his species ever involved themselves in but opportunity, especially an open one such as this, was not below his breed's sense of pride.

He knew very well that the People made a partnership with his choice prey and he did not doubt that a few of them would have remained behind, their riders dead and gone to the embrace of the All Mother with nothing left for them here, they'd make easy prey. Were he able, he would have spat in disgust at the idea of such a partnership. Such a thing was reserved only for one's mate and the All Mother, to do such a thing with another species was sickening and foul. Never would he succumb to such a dishonor.

Then there came a hard impact on his back, just below his collarbone and for a brief moment he felt a sudden rush of shock before that surprise was buried beneath a terrible storm of pure fury. Foreign though the feeling was, he recognized the limbs of one of the People scrambiling to maintain its grip upon his neck. He screamed in a blinding rage, twisting tightly in midair, corkscrewing downwards in tight turns before shooting upwards at such a sharp angle, he was sure his unwanted passenger would meet its end in the branches below if his claws didn't get it first.

No such thing, the little creature maintained its grip with its legs one arm reaching out to grasp…

Eyes widened and he jerked his head to the side, hissing angrily at the Person on his back. He turned his head downwards and dove sharply once more, through the forest canopy and into the arms of the forest. Branches whipped past at blinding speed as he twisted and turned to avoid those that his crest could not slice through, his eyes narrowed at the sickening feeling of the Person still astride his back and holding on with a determination almost befitting one of his own kind.

If a rough flight above and through the forest would rid him of his unwanted passenger, he would just have to do things the hard way. Catching sight of a suitable branch, he shot down and landed roughly upon it, large body jerking forward from the sudden halt to his flight. Black talons scrambled for purchase as bark tore easily beneath them but he remained atop his perch while the Person—

He screamed in frustration. The Person was stubborn as the great land predator! Though no longer on his back, the Person had a firm grip of his tendrils and was dangling just beneath his head, the little creature's que just out of reach to connect with him, to create the dishonor of bondship. Sharp beak opening wide, he was prepared to simply bite the Person in two when something soft and white shot past his eyes, trailing ethereal tendrils along his antennae until it reached the hand of the Person. It balanced precariously at the knuckles of dexterious fingers before falling away to the forest below.

Another feral snarl and he jerked his head back, tired of the games and hidden meanings behind the All Mother's words. He dropped the Person down before him and watched with fierce resentment as he reacted quickly. Nerve tendrils stretched out and met in a firm embrace.

A sudden painful burst of lightning through their minds and suddenly he was in two places at once. He was still himself but the other was made of the Dreamwalker astride his neck. There was a sickening flash of double vision that was more than slightly unnerving for he had never seen himself through the eyes of the prey before. There was a strange balance of fear and respect in this little creature, this… Jake Sully…

He steadied himself on the thick branch, wings half-spread for balance as he and his would-be passenger tried to make sense of the other's strange presence within themselves. Words and spoken language had little meaning to him; he was a beast of the hunt, instinct and the winds guided him, nothing else. The Person spoke a great deal but it was not the words that he heeded, it was the memories and feelings behind them. He saw what the Outsiders had done to their Mother, he dreamed of the nightmare that would befall his own.

He felt the foreign feelings of despair, self-loathing, joy, hope, and the love-between-mates. Everything his passenger had ever seen, ever experienced, ever felt, was like an open book to him and though the pages lay waiting to be read he had no true desire to do so. He knew now what the All Mother wanted of him and, through his passenger, no… his Rider's mind, he knew what the People needed of him.

His eyes opened and turned down upon the Person before him, sharp eyes of the predator meeting soft amber of the warrior.

Jake kneeled with a tired lurch on his back, the adrenaline fading from his body with the sudden connection between him and the Toruk. He did not break his firm grip nor did he look away as he took long breaths of air before speaking, "Well?"

Toruk remained staring impassively before his beak opened in a roar and he bent down low before Jake, who needed no further prompting to rise to his feet and come astride the massive Toruk. Another fierce roar and the great leonopteryx launched skyward with a foreign sense of determination, of purpose, driving him toward a destiny he would naught have ever dreamed of. There would be more senseless destruction ahead of him and though he was not sure how, a strange commederie would be made between all of the children of the All Mother, of Ewya. Though he was not the first, and likely not the last, their partnership was not one to be dismissed easily.

For the Rider of Last Shadow, Toruk Makto… has returned…

End