The cloud-less sky was a beautiful light blue. The forest was made up of light green shrubs and mangrove trees, and the floor was made up of deep undergrowth. The background scenery had been changed from the usual peaceful ocean into high rocky mountains. The heavy smell of flowering foliage and damp earth filled the air and the distant calls of large creatures echoed through the jungle. Despite the colourful appearance, the constant aura of danger hung high in the air.
Making its way through the low undergrowth was a juvenile male raptor. He stood the size of an average man, reaching maybe six foot tall, if not bigger. Being brown in colour it stood out from the surrounding area, and had very faint orange stripes trailing down its back. Semi-erect feathers sprouted out onto the top of the creature's leather-like head.
The dinosaur swiftly and slowly made its way through the dense bush of the Cretaceous. His sleek bird-like body allowed him to move easily between the tree trunks and low hanging branches. The raptor leaped up onto a log, and scanned the surrounding undergrowth. It made bird-like glances around, franticly searching each direction.
The sharp snap of a branch, brought its attention to its left. A slim reptilian head emerged from behind a large mangrove tree. It was another raptor. This one released a deep-throated growl at the male. The male leaped down onto the dirty ground and took off. It surged deeper into the jungle, further away from the other raptor. Deeper into the forest he ran, occasionally leaping over a fallen log or avoiding a stray branch.
Breaking the tree line, the raptor leaped out of the forest and into a small glade. A quick scan around and it spotted a fallen tree. It quickly ducked behind it and slowly crawled the far right side of the trunk, concealing himself completely from view.
Announcing its arrival with a high pitched growl, the other raptor emerged into the glad shortly after. This raptor was as tall as the male, but lacked the colouration. Instead of light brown lines trailing down its back, they were replaced by glossy black and white spots. Its body was slender in form, even though it wouldn't reach full adult-hood for another year or two; one look at it could tell you it would have no problem taking down an herbivore twice its size. Seeing the differences between the male raptor and this one, it quite obvious this new raptor was female.
She walked slowly into the centre of the glade, scanning the surrounding area for the male.
She released a deep throated growl, unnerving the hiding male. The way she spoke was un-nerving and taunting. Her amber eyes scanned the area as she repeated the noise.
The male remained motion-less as the flared her nostrils, taking in the scents of the surrounding area. Her head slowly turned to the area the male was hiding. With a graceful, almost cat-like manner, she began edging her way over to the fallen tree. The way she moved, bobbing her as she walked, made her resample a rather large female was close, so close the male could hear he breathing. The male tensed his muscular legs, preparing the pounce. His head titled as her footsteps grew steadily louder. Once the female reached close enough, he jumped.
The raptor was mid-air, leg's bent, tail stiff before the female hadeven noticed. With his pearly teeth presented in their dagger-like form and slick black claws slashing viscously at the air in front of him; mid-air he presented a ferocious shriek. The female released a startled shriek and jumped back in surprise, losing her footing. She fell to the ground with a thud, still shrieking.
The female snarled at the male, who stood in a victorious pose above the fallen raptor. The male chirped happily.
The female rolled over and stood up and shook her head, shedding some of the moist soil that clung to her body. The black and white spots that covered her back were slightly distorted by the black soil. The female looked at her now dirt covered back. She snarled and turned back to the male. The male titled his head and lightly growled. The female let out a screech and lunged her head forwards. The female's snout collided into the male's chin, sending his head flying back, giving him whip-lash. The male pulled his head back and looked at the female.
He lent forwards and gently stroked the Female's neck with the tip of his snout. She raised her head, letting him gain access to all of her neck. She released an affectionate purr. The male rolled his eyes and retreated his head. The female happily chirped at him. The male cocked his head and snorted at her. She released a series of small barks and growls, only to be answered by almost identical barks and growl from the male. The two continued their playful conversation for another full two minutes.
The female raised her arm's up to her snout licked her claws clean. When she finished, she snorted and shook herself, brushing off the remaining dirt.
It was just then a thunderous roar sounded distantly in jungle. Both raptors heads snapped to the direction of the noise. The roar died down but replaced was an extreme ruckus coming from the direction; snapping branches, the occasional roar and footsteps that could be comparable to small explosions. The raptors looked from one another and back into the forest, horrified at what they could hear.
They set off running, blundering blindly into the trees the same direction they came. They passed through deep and dense foliage, nearly smashing into seven trees and tripping over five roots. They left the glade far behind, pushing deeper into the jungle. As the got closer something became obvious; the shrieks of other raptors. The female began over taking the male, who insisted in jumping over ever fallen tree they passed instead of running around it. The shrieks and calls of the other raptors fell silent, as well as the footsteps of their larger attacker. The two sped up. Finally they burst through the tree line and into another clearing, but froze.
The nesting area lay demolished before them. Chips of wood from the nests had been thrown all over the clearing, and the life-less bodies of their pack members lay scattered around the nests, a few of them missing. The disembowelled bodies were already swarming with flies. The trampled nests had crushed eggshells and the bodies of defence-less hatchlings lying limp around them. The nests had all been trampled by large footprints. The female stepped back towards the tree line, shocked at what she saw. If it was possible for raptors to cry, this one would have. The male stepped closer to her, equally upset. He lowered his head and began digging it into the female's neck.
This time, there came no effectuate purr, but instead a low-growl.
The growl was answered by another identical one near the edge of the clearing. The male's and female's head snapped over to the noise. A much older female lay on her back, bloody stains all over her body where her flesh had been torn up. She was much larger than our female, reaching about eight to ten feet in height. Her once colourful markings were blocked from view by large bloody gash's in every area of skin. The female groggily raised her head.
The younger raptors quickly ran to the side of the dying female. The older female looked at the younger. She released a low growl. It was unclear whether she was talking to the young female, or just herself. The female released a groan as her head fell back to the ground.
Suddenly the colossal jaws of a giant dinosaur burst from the tree line and grabbed the dying female. The younger female leaped forwards, attempting to defend the older raptor. She froze as the dinosaur's attention turned to her, the still body of the older raptor still clenched in its jaw's. The male began furiously head butting the female in her shoulder, pleading with her to run.
The female gave in and ran off into the tree line, quickly followed by the male. The bigger dinosaur growled and took chase, swallowing the older raptor as it did so.
The two raced through the jungle in fear that what just happened to their older family member, would soon happen to them. The raptor made a turn, leading them into the denser area of the jungle, hoping the chasing dinosaur would not be able to follow. The male glanced back at their purser and noticed something. There was a large fresh scar down one of its eyes. The dinosaur pushed through the trees, sending vines, leaves and branches flying in all directions. It easily tore apart the jungle that was meant to stop it. The male looked to his left at the running Female. She ran with purpose, determined not to go the same way as her family.
The male let out a shriek and jumped over a fallen log, one he was sure he had past while playing with the female moments before. He glanced back to see if the pursuing dinosaur had given up. It hadn't. In fact it had was closer. With a roar, it stamped on the fallen log, shattering it.
The great beast lunged forward. The Male heard a shriek to his left. He turned; expecting to see the female had fallen, or cut herself on a low hanging branch. But no, instead he saw, nothing. The female was gone. He looked back, expecting to see her behind him. But no, instead he saw the pursuing dinosaur, within biting distance. Then it hit him. Their attacker had got her. He'd eaten the female.
The pursuing dinosaur began to slow, giving up its chase after the male. The male didn't slow down, but instead looked franticly from left to right, searching for any signs of the female. But there was no sign. Eventually he began to slow, realising the chase was over.
He stopped just next to a Mangrove Tree, coincidently the one the Female had hidden behind while playing with him earlier. The Raptor carefully scanned the surrounding area, determined not to miss any signs of his Female still being alive. He called her name. No answer. Maybe she had survived and had gotten separated from him doing it. He called her name again. Still no answer. Just the distant moans of large herbivores and quiet ocean tide.
His pack was dead. His family was dead. His best friend was dead. Why wasn't he? He called her name one final time. When no answer came, he slowly took off into the bush, determine to search her or any other surviving members of his pack. He had no alternative, all in one day he had lost everything. His life was broken.
Then something caught his attention. A nearby clearing, a voice spoke. It was not raptor, or any he had ever heard for that matter. He ducked down into a close bush and slowly edged his way over to the owner of the noise, ready to attack.
The raptor quickly shot up and took in his surroundings. He was lying on his side in a cave. The cave was connected to the dried up river bed, it had once been to entrance to a series of underwater cave's, but now, the river and the caves had dried up. He could easily see the cave entrance from where he lay; knowing instantly that it was dusk. The dark jungle and dead river were clearly visible from his position. He was sure he saw some movement in the forest, but quickly dismissed it. There was a light groan from opposite him.
Abby Maitland lay on the opposite side of the cave. Her light brown dress had been torn in seven places', the most noticeable of which was straight down her cleavage and down her back. The dress in fact no longer even looked brown, but a much more charcoal shade. She lay on the cold ground, both hands tucked under her head, creating a temporal pillow. Each and every goose bum on her body was fully erect. She was freezing. The way you would be, sleeping in a cold cave with nothing to come you warm other than a small ripped dress.
The raptor stared at her as multiple thoughts clouded his head. Why hadn't he killed and eaten her? Why did he save her yesterday? Why could she speak his language? Why had he never seen one before? Why was she so scared of him? Was she only alive because he needed companionship?
She sifted in her sleep, a light groan escaping her lips. The sound made the raptor's feather's stand on end. He silently pushed himself up of the cold clay ground, carefully not to wake her. He titled his head. Why did he want to stay with her? He carefully tiptoed his way closer to her. When he reached her, he lowered his head and hissed. The hot air from his breath hit Abby in the face, making wince. Without a noise, he lowered his body down next to her. The raptor carefully shuffled closer to Abby, pressing the upper half of his body against hers'.
Abby moaned and reach forwards, wrapping her arms around his chest. The raptor looked down at her with his big amber eyes and did the only thing he could think of. He began rubbing the tip of his snout against her neck, as he had done to his female not a day earlier. Abby let out an affectionate noise and snuggled her head deeper into his neck. The raptor and human lay there for another two hours before the raptor drifted off back to a thankfully dreamless sleep.
