Chapter 3: An act of war

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Josiah's POV-

I had setup the tripod and camera to capture the conversation I was having with Kara. Some of the younger raptors around us were sniffing at the camera and tripod legs with curiosity. I didn't mind so much as long as they didn't knock it over.

While me and Kara talked Phaganax stayed where he was. He still had a look of loathing on his face as he watched us. Boy, this guy sure didn't like me.

Kara and the other pack members paid no attention to him. Tholestes sat by my side along with his brother, which was good because I liked having them with me for company.

Our conversation went on for another half hour. The pack listened intently to my story about Jurassic Park and about John Hammond, the man behind the miracle of Jurassic Park itself. Kara listened and asked question after question, which I answered as best I could. Everything else I've read in the journal I was able to tell her more adverbially. In the end the female raptor understood what my purpose of being here was and at that moment her liking towards me increased.

Phaganax didn't seem all that impressed. He snorted and hissed and occasionally growled whenever I spoke about dinosaurs in cages and such stuff like that. I ignored him. I didn't care what he thought of me. Kara seemed to like me a little and even showed some patients whenever I paused to adjust my camera or make myself more comfortable on the grassy ground that I was sitting on.

But then suddenly, the afternoon air was pierced by a series loud howling and yipping. All the raptors around me froze and stood up, their heads swivelling toward the jungle. Kara stood up, raised her head and let out a an answering barking yip. There was another loud howl followed by a bark. But it sounded like it was weak. But that weak bark was enough to get all the raptors moving. Kara and Phaganax led the way back into the jungle, the pack right behind them.

I gathered up my tripod and rifle and followed after them. Pity I didn't have the speed of a raptor because I was falling behind them fast. Tholestes stayed ahead of me so that I could keep him in my sight. His brother had gone ahead with the others. I didn't know how long we were running or how deep we had gone into the jungle. I assumed we were heading back to the nest through a faster way through the jungle.

I finally forced myself to slow down, catch my breath, and readjust my rifle and camera. Tholestes stopped and turned to me.

"What's the matter?"

"I need...to catch my breath...whew!" I breathed.

Tholestes snorted in mild amusement. "Humans! how do you live?"

"Hey," I said defensively. "my kind can't exactly run as fast like you guys."

"That is why you are not a raptor, human." Tholestes chirped teasingly.

I rolled my eyes. Raptor pity. That was a new one.

After having my breather for about minute, and readying my rifle, we set off again toward the nests.

But when we got there after a few minutes of running, both me and Tholestes were met with horrible sight.

The nesting site of the raptor's home had been attacked. Several injured young raptors were lying in the dirt, their bodies baring the wounds of an attack from other raptors. Some of them were bleeding while others were not moving at all. The air was filled with the sounds of agonized screeches and howling. Tholestes and his brother were already tending to the wounded while some of the older raptors tended to the nests. I saw that some of the eggs were missing and the mothers were whimpering in sadness. Their mates, though wounded themselves, tried their best to comfort them. Some eggs were smashed and broken. The dead fetus of the unborn chicks were proof of that. Good thing some of this years eggs had hatched.

The whole entire scene was saddening. And I couldn't bring myself to document this. I didn't care if the public didn't see this, it didn't feel right to exploit the raptors. Not like this.

But what could have done this? Was it Compies? No, not them. They wouldn't be stupid enough to raid a nest of raptors. A larger carnivore like a T-Rex? Hardly. There weren't any footprints of an attack from one. And a Tyrannosaur would have caused much more damage. No. This was caused by another pack of dinosaurs.

I decided not enter the nesting ground just yet. instead, I stayed where I was so I wouldn't be in the way.

I heard Kara make a resonating sound, unlike any thing I'd ever heard before on the island. The pack members, including Tholestes and his brother, gathered around at Phaganax's and Kara's nest, which was centred on a high mound of dirt and tall grass. I was sad to see that their nest had been hit too.

"Everyone," Phaganax announced in his deep, rough voice, "the black stripes have invaded and defiled our territory. They've raided and smashed our eggs like cowardly thieves in the night. This crime will not go unpunished."

The orange light made his mighty frame all the more terrible and impossible to resist. The raptor subordinates drew back a bit, not daring to interrupt their alpha male.

"The black stripes think that they can get away with this? They wont!" he continued. "we've marked this territory and the boundaries and game trails around it and claimed it as our own. What Darger and his pack have done today is an act of war. And he'll pay for it dearly."

There was an unsteady feeling in the air as the other older raptors in the pack growled and hissed their approval. One raptor walked timidly up to Phaganax and respectively bowed his head before saying to him, "Are you saying, Alpha Phaganax, that we should stoop to their level?"

Phaganax rounded on him and got right into his face and hissed with suppressed fury, "This is war, omega! And anything goes in war. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Alpha Phaganax," He whimpered slightly and got back in line with the others.

Kara took this time to speak to her pack. "The black stripes have smashed my eggs and have also killed any chance of me and Phaganax from having hairs. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to strike back while we can. But the black stripes have the tall grass and the high canyons to their advantage. It would be a massacre if we blindly go after them out of rage. It's not a risk we can take."

The pack mumbled in agreement. Even Tholestes nodded his head in understanding.

Phaganax stiffened and barked, "Are you saying that our pack should just roll over onto our backs like whimpering scavengers while the black stripes eviscerate us in our sleep?"

Kara turned to him and hissed softly, "I will not condone your course of action that could lead this pack to a war, Phaganax. Blind rage in a raptor like you will only get this pack killed. We will not engage the black stripes in battle."

Phaganax growled softly and turned away from her, a look of frustration on his scared snout.

"However," She continued. "we will place more sentries around our territory and game trails. And if a black stripe should even dare to set one toe claw in them again, you all have my permission to kill it."

This got several of the older raptors to yip and bark in approval. The decision had been made.

I thought that it was a good compromise as well. I didn't want to see this pack of raptors go to war with another pack of raptors who only hunted for pleasure rather then for food. I saw that Phaganax still didn't seem to be satisfied with his mate's decision. His neck quills rattled in irritation and his tail thrashed back and forth.

For some reason, I felt like me and Phaganax had something in common. We both had our homes trespassed on by an enemy, yet my home wasn't broken into. We both felt self-righteous that another course of action should be taken. The thugs who had almost robbed my house back home had gone to prison for their attempted crime. Here on Isla Sorna, where dinosaurs had to fight for territory, it was a whole different story. Phaganax's course of action was to kill the black stripe pack for what they had done. But Kara wanted to keep the remaining members of her pack alive. There was an old saying, 'Don't cut off your nose to spite your face'. I guess I was seeing it now among Phaganax and Kara. I used to think that it was just a stupid saying. But it seemed especially true now.

Deep down, I knew that this island would be dangerous. And now it was starting to grow.

The afternoon soon started change into evening. The wounded raptors were being taken care while the dead ones...had to be disposed of. Tholestes and Terias helped with that part. Fern and her grandfather mended to the wounded. I felt like a third-wheel around here so I decided to be as helpful as I could. Kara permitted it but only because I still had some discussing to do with her.

I brought water from the small stream by the nest to the wounded pack members, who were too weak to get water themselves. I filled my canteen to the brim with fresh-cool water and brought it to the raptors who needed it. It was an easy task and I felt like I was doing some good for these guys. Even though Hammond said that we should step aside and trust in nature, I didn't care right now.

While I worked on getting water, I noticed that Kara was observing me intently. I wondered what she thought of me, a mere human among a pack of raptors?

Tholeste's POV-

My grandfather and Fern had managed to tend to the injured members of the pack who'd survived, but the nests were in shambles. Mother raptors wept over their broken eggs.

I watched Josiah bring water to the injured juveniles, which was good. I liked the fact that he was here to help. Phaganax, I saw, didn't seem to pleased at having him here at our nest. His eyes would narrow with disapproval every time they made eye-contact.

Alpha Kara came up to me and I bowed my head respectively before she spoke.

"What do you think of him, Tholestes?" She asked me.

"Of Josiah, you mean?" I said, her question catching me off-guard a little. "Well, Alpha Kara, he doesn't seem to be like any of the keepers my grandfather told me about. He's not cruel or mean-spirited. He's a little green around edges about how the island works, but he's learning."

"He knows more about our origins then the all-knowing long-necks of the island's great plains." She said. "They weren't put in pens though like us. They were given their freedom alongside the other plant-eaters."

She hissed gently. I didn't blame her.

"It wasn't fair, was it, Alpha?" I said.

"No, it wasn't, Tholestes," She growled bitterly. "had it not been for the great storm that hit the island long ago, we still would've been in those pens for the rest of our lives."

"There's an old saying, Alpha Kara, freedom can't be given, only earned."

Kara replied, "We didn't earn it, Tholestes. We never did. The keepers were forced to give it to us. The plant-eaters earned it. We didn't. I wanted my future pack to one day live free in a world without restrictions by humans."

"We have that now, don't we?" I said.

Kara scratched the side of her snout with a foreclaw, thinking it over. "No, little one. Freedom is something with a price, it is dangerous and hard. The danger we've been able to handle on this island. The hardships with Derger and his pack are just ahead."

She got up and went back to her nest.

She was right. I used to think that our freedom from the keepers and their pens were a blessing to our hardships of captivity like my grandfather always said. It seems she didn't like that we were freed by a third party, rather than 'earning' it through our own ingenuity and resourcefulness.

All the things she imagined freedom to be for our pack were turned on our head.

My grandfather once had pictured the dinosaurs working together to free themselves, and escaping to a bountiful, wild paradise. Instead, we're unintentionally freed by a hurricane, and were thrown into a bleak, wild landscape where we had to struggle to survive.

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First chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park titles, logos, merchandise, or any other materials that are related in any shape and/or form. I am only one of many of the biggest fans of Jurassic Park movies and games and love anything about dinosaur. I do not wish to make any profit(nor expect any anyway).