Three chapters in one day!!!

Any requests/suggestions before I get too entrenched in this story? Just review and tell me what to do, but due to someone's complaint by PM I will have to introduce my female character much, much earlier than I anticipated. The story, unfortunately, is going to speed up, and might be hard to follow. A lot of things that were supposed to happen over the course of a few months will now have to be compressed to a few weeks AT THE MOST, and things are going to go zipping by, so reread if you have to get it all. As a man once said in JP1…

"Hang on to your butts…"

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Chapter 9

The Core Raptors

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They had been traveling through nothing but jungle for some time, and when they finally came to a large plain of high grass it was a great surprise. Mikah looked out over the plain to the trees and hills on the far side, raising an eyebrow.

"Something tells me that we shouldn't go this way, but I don't see any other way to go."

"That's your instincts telling you what to do…it's telling me the same thing. We aren't alone out here, but I don't smell anything." Raptor strode forward slowly, and Mikah followed close behind. "I don't like this tall grass…there's too much that could hide in it. Maybe even other raptors…" Mikah breathed deep, smelling something in the air.

"I smell water…stagnant too, maybe a bog nearby."

"No, it's just rainwater. A bog smells like dead things. Your sense of smell may be getting a little better."

They had gotten nearly halfway across the field when the first sign of company appeared. The grass around them rustled, the wind dying down as if on cue, even the insects silent. The first attacker came from behind, and Mikah heard a screech. He ducked as a thin, small velociraptor sailed overhead, hissing angrily at him. Within seconds they were surrounded on all sides by hissing, chirping raptors. These were different from the ones that had been chasing Raptor; they had grey stripes down their backs, and some had strange markings around their eyes, like a raccoon. One of them had feathers, and it stepped forward, hissing angrily.

"We don't want a fight, we're just passing through." Raptor said, though even Mikah could see his fear.

The other raptor hissed and snarled.

"I can't understand him, Raptor." Mikah said, raising his rifle to point behind them. "What is he saying?"

"He is speaking the Core language; I speak the Edge language most of the time. He isn't really saying anything, but he is conveying thoughts and emotion with his voice. I can translate it into what he would be saying if he was intelligent." Raptor cleared his throat, making a harsh growl towards the other male.

"He says that we are intruding in their territory, and we have to leave the way we came or be killed." Raptor translated as the raptor hissed. "I don't know what to say…"

"Tell him we only want to get to the human buildings." Mikah whispered. Several of the raptors appeared to be getting anxious. Raptor hissed back and forth with the other for a few seconds.

"I can't convince him. We either turn back or we die. I think I can do something, though."

"And what would that be?"

"Would you happen to have a grenade on you?" Mikah turned to stare at Raptor in shock. "I think those are the green things with the pins."

"Where did you learn so much about human weapons?"

"I watched daytime television. Larx is to thank for that." Mikah reached down to his left pants leg, unclipping a silver cylinder. "That isn't a grenade…"

"It's a flashbang." Mikah tossed it to Raptor, who gripped it with his right claws and the pin with his teeth. He hissed in a low tone to the other raptor, who stepped back, the head-feathers lowering. The other began hissing excitedly.

"He says that he will let us pass only if we give up information on the other pack, so they can steal more territory. I think threats work, since they have seen a human weapon like this grenade before."

"What information might we have?"

Raptor began a long conversation with the other raptor, and while this was happening a female raptor stepped closer to Mikah, head low and eyes wide. "Raptor…what's she doing?" Raptor halted for a moment to look over his shoulder.

"She's courting you."

"She's what?!"

"She wants to be your mate, from what I can smell."

"Can you stop her?" Mikah asked, watching the raptor closely.

"No, only you can. Just hiss at her and raise your foot." Mikah looked back at the raptor as Raptor began his conversation again, and he tried to think about what might happen.

I trust Raptor on this one. He thought. He bared his teeth, hissing loudly, and he raised his right foot, the claws automatically locking to slash. The female raptor chirped in surprise and leapt backwards, shivering. Wow, it worked. That's one up for Raptor and his diplomacy skills. If he were human I'd recommend him as an ambassador.

"Mikah, we can pass through their territory." Raptor said, interrupting his line of thought. "You took care of the female?"

"Scared her off…I don't see her anymore, must have left."

"I see…"Raptor shook his head, watching as the raptors left, one by one. "We have to go. Here's your flashbang back." Raptor dropped the cylinder into Mikah's hand, and he clipped it back on his leg. "Don't wait to use it if we run into anything larger than a raptor."

"I think I owe you my life three times over now." Mikah muttered, following Raptor as he continued. They were nearly out of the plain area when Raptor spoke again.

"One of the raptors is following us…"

"Isn't it just making sure we leave their territory?"

"If it is, we better hurry." Raptor increased his pace, and Mikah struggled to keep up, even with raptor feet. "How far do you think the complex where the communications is?"

"I think it's near the very center of the island, maybe several miles, but I haven't seen a map in a while." Mikah heard something following them now, and he turned around, but saw nothing. "That raptor is still after us."

"I can smell it…it isn't the male, but most certainly of that pack. I don't think she is hostile, or I would smell it." Raptor shook his head, chirping.

"Let's pick up the pace so we aren't stuck in their territory come nightfall."

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"Mikah…look at this." Raptor said quietly, pointing towards a drab shed off in the trees. "Like you said, they must have been retarded to place things in such a random way."

"Let's see if there's anything we can use in it…" Mikah ran to the door, Raptor watching the forest around them as he broke the lock with his rifle. He opened the door, slipping inside. Raptor heard him gasp and quickly followed him.

In the shed were various tools, the handles long ago rotted. There were a few two-way radios on a shelf, but they were so old that they would probably never work. What really caught their attention, however, was a glass cylinder on a shelf, labeled at the bottom with metal etching. It had metal on the top and bottom, and was filled with a glowing orange liquid.

"Are these people genetic researchers or aliens, because they have a hell of a lot of tubes full of shit that glows." Mikah picked the tube off the shelf, holding it up to the light. "Cyrosyl…never heard of it before. I don't think we should mess with this thing." He set it back on the shelf. "It looks dangerous, not to mention violently explosive, if it's glowing."

"Anything you see that we can use?"

"Not really…" Mikah dug through some boxes and bits of rotten wood, but nothing turned up. "Why would they put a supply shed in the middle of nowhere?"

"They are humans, why do they do anything?"

"Hey, I'm human too!" Mikah cried, raising an eyebrow. Raptor looked at his claws and elongated canines.

"You sure don't look human anymore."

"Thanks to InGen and their little Mirror Room." Mikah growled, shoving the door open. "Come on, we can't waste time in a place that has nothing we can use."

"I agree, let's go."

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The female raptor looked at the door of the shed for a while, then nudged it open with her snout. The males had been here, she could smell it. There was nothing in here except for a tube filled with something that glowed orange, and it was covered in the scent of the male she had been trying to court. She nudged it with her snout, and it wobbled, falling off the shelf.

She jumped back when the tube shattered on the floor, releasing the glowing orange liquid. She stared at the orange fumes that rose from it, and then stepped forward to sniff it. To her it smelled good, and she licked the puddle. It was a little bitter, but tasted much better than any meat she had tasted before, and she lapped in up as fast as she could, before it soaked into the wooden boards that made up the floor.

The female hissed as she realized she had drank it all, sighing and looking around. There were no more tubes like it, so she left, sniffing the air to pick up the trail of the two raptors she had been tracking. Her pack would be angry that she had left, but if she brought back a strong male that would help them hunt, she would not be exiled into the wilderness beyond their borders.

She felt a tingling in her throat and shook her head, her vision going blurry. She felt something over her, as if a heavy layer of warm leaves was pushing down on her mind. She staggered, trying to see what was happening around her, but something felt wrong. Her legs went stiff and she fell, her whole body numb. She was terrified, but there was nothing she could do, unable to feel anything or move anything, and her vision going black. Though she could now see nothing, she remained conscious for what seemed like hours, and then her vision began to clear…

For the first time in her life, the female was able to think clearly, to understand what was going on around her. She understood that she was away from her pack, and she understood why, and most importantly she understood that she would not go back without the male.

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"Raptor, it's getting dark…shouldn't we find shelter in the trees for the night?"

"I think you have a point." Raptor hissed, stopping their forced march towards the center of the isle. "I hope we reach the place soon…I haven't moved about so much in my life, and I'm getting hungry." Mikah's stomach growled.

"I think I am too. I need food, but there isn't anything around this island that I can eat."

"I will have to hunt tomorrow, the nutrient solution I had in my pen is finally wearing off."

"I'll have to cook my food, if I can catch anything."

"I can just get something for you…"

"I don't want you to have to go through the trouble." Mikah said.

"No trouble at all, you need to eat, and I can hunt better that you."

"I'm the one with the assault-rifle, remember?"

"Use that for predators, not prey."

"Good idea." Mikah yawned, looking down at his hands, which shook a little from going two days without sleep. He was used to this, but not when he had been marching the entire time. Even Army soldiers could only take so much walking through a tropical jungle. "Let's find a tree that's a little higher off the ground, that raptor is still following us."

"Their territory must be pretty big…they must be a strong pack."

"And I don't want to meet them again."