Has anyone reading this checked out Old Chuck's fanfic, "Chayton"? If so, take a look at my newest, two part speedpaint on YouTube, where I draw his main characters, Chayton and Nadine. Search "Old Chuck's Chayton and Nadine Speedpaint" and you should find both parts quite easily.
Well, besides that, I have something deep and philosophical to tell you. It reflects my take on much of what I see in modern philosophy. Are you ready? You sure? Okay, here it goes. Adjaofdjfwoefnddncvidfadfjoafdaajsof. There. Scholars for generations to come will rack their minds trying to figure that one out, (despite the fact that many have come up with just that). Don't worry, though. Between you and me, it was utter nonsense. ^_~.
We should be careful what we hear and believe.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
Three Months Later
Taberah immersed his hands in the fresh, cool water, drawing out a handful and dousing his face with it. He shook a spray of droplets from his long, raven hair and took a moment of silence to gaze across the brook, kneeling amid a carpet of smooth river stones. The humid morning air was animated with the sound of Isla Sorna's exotic array of life, from the chirps of birds, ancient and modern, to the distant bay of titanic sauropods.
He packed a plant fiber sack full of prehistoric fish into his knapsack and hefted it onto his back before turning and heading towards the shade of the jungle. Scarcely had he taken three steps before stopping. His brow furrowed as he gazed at the foliage, then looked down the length of the river. Taberah seemed thoughtful, but not particularly wary of his surroundings. Good.
He swivelled on a heel and began to leisurely jog down the river side. Within the bushes, a shadowy spectre followed him.
The day was beautiful. The Sun hung in a cloudless sky, bathing the island in golden warmth. An invigorating breeze lapped at his well-ventilated velociraptor leather armour, stained with various hues of green from plant pigment for camouflage. It was a newer design, more streamlined than the first, which was damaged and discarded from another run in with the predators.
He reached a point where the river narrowed to just a few yards wide and suddenly took a running leap across it, resuming his jog and heading into the jungle on the other side. Once deep within the underbrush, a crackling thud met his ears: quiet, but audible. It came from the river side. He knew the sound. It was a sound he had made not too long ago, when his feet met the river stones after his leap. Something had made the leap behind him.
He reached an area where epic, lichen-encrusted rocks were strewn across the forest floor, creating a kind of natural maze. Slipping behind a boulder, he drew his crossbow and angled it towards the path he had been traveling. If a predator were following him, it would take the easiest route – his route – and walk into the line of fire.
The seconds ticked by… and by… and by…. His sensitive ears caught the tiny snap of a twig behind him.
He grinned. "Clever girl."
Taberah spun and fired. It vanished in a flash of green.
He silently sprinted deeper into the complex and hid in the shade of another rock. Spotting the creature in a bloom of ferns, partly concealed by boulder, he took aim. Then it was gone.
There was a tiny rustle here and there… the occasional flutter of a fern… then silence…
A squealing blur flew at him. He prepared to fire but it struck his crossbow – he missed – and it fled to the shadows. It was trying to disarm him.
He rushed into the open and it came like a banshee – wailing, invisible, deathly. Every time it came he chased it with his arrows – every time it came closer. He spun to fire but it knocked him down, though he scarcely hit the ground before launching two arrows. It streaked away, but one struck.
Taberah sprang to his feet and dashed for a boulder, sensing the creature on his heels. He shot behind him and heard it flee before clambering up the rock with grace and speed. Leaping from the top and landing with a roll on the other side, he drew his crossbow and waited.
He had landed in a clearing surrounded by a rough circle of rock and rotten, fallen trees, populated by feathery ferns growing hip-high. Again, silence. Taberah kept his crossbow at ready, but he knew something the creature didn't – it was out of arrows.
He reached back to reload… then an eruption of leaves and motion blasted from the edge of the clearing as the creature exploded towards him in a leap. He rolled and it passed above him, killing claws barely glancing his armour. Quick to get up, Taberah and his enemy turned to face one and other. Its azure feathers bristled, and sapphire eyes were alight with ferocity.
"Hello, Unseen," he greeted evenly.
She released a bloodcurdling squeal and charged.
Taberah swung around and her jaws nabbed his backpack instead of his head. He slipped out of the straps as she tore it off and hurled it away, depriving him of the quiver attached. In the same instant he drew his sword and swung at the raptor who jumped away. What followed was like an elaborate dance – he, slashing, she, lashing with her tail, both, untouchable to the other. She aborted each attack as he blocked with his blade, knowing how easily she could lose her tail. Unseen was put on the defensive as he unleashed furious sword melee, but he was unable to land a hit. The raptor could turn on a dime, moving one way then the next with split-second speed. However, she was unable to get around the sword.
Unseen advanced and spun to flee as the katana came, but in spinning her tail struck his swinging arm, throwing him off. She whipped around and shot her jaws around his head, but stopped, feeling the cold tip of a dagger under her neck. The two froze. Her teeth lightly pricked the leather hood protecting his skull. He held his position. Though seemingly off balanced by her previous attack, one leg in the air to compensate weight, it became clear that he would not fall. He wasn't off balanced at all.
Stalemate.
They both withdrew but she quickly slipped her jaws around his arm, instantly receiving an elbow strike to the neck. Barely holding on with the splitting pain, she wrenched his arm but he jumped and flipped 360 degrees with the momentum, landing on his feet and throwing her to the ground with her own force.
He ran for the backpack and she shot after him, rapidly catching up, not expecting him to reel and thunder a kick into her chest. The raptor slid slightly with the impact before retaliating with a kick of her own, sending him rolling to a stop right next to the backpack. No! She shrieked with outrage and rushed in but he had already reloaded the crossbow.
In the fraction of a second it would have taken her to reach him, he fired. She banked left in a fraction of a fraction of a second, the arrow delicately skimming her tough, mottled hide as it passed.
But he had fired again. It was aimed for the heart.
He had anticipated her movements and shot according to where she was going to be. She couldn't dodge, couldn't take the hit. In a last-chance attempt to save herself, she flicked her talons upwards. Half by luck, half by skill, she had deflected the arrow, swatting it with the back of her mitt.
Unseen instantly threw her jaws around the crossbow, crushed it and twisted Taberah to the ground, pinning his back with a sickle-clawed foot and keeping his arm wrenched in the air. She could dislocate it at a moment's notice and there was no conceivable way for him to escape that prone position. Unseen had won.
"Very good, Unseen," Taberah commended. "That concludes this training exercise. You may release me, now."
But Unseen did not let go.
Taberah craned his neck to look at her. "Unseen?"
A low, satisfied coo like the purr of a cat rumbled in her chest as she shook her head. The coo evolved into a statement: no, she would not let him go. This time she would eat him.
Taberah raised an inquiring eyebrow.
She explained. He had been holding back the entire time, and she knew that. Had he fought her to the death like a real enemy – no blunted arrows, no staged moves – he may not be in this position. No matter. She had learned all she wanted from him, and now she was his superior. Unseen declared that she had never really forgiven him for humiliating her on that fateful night when they met. As she swore before they fought for the first time, either he would die or she would. How she had longed to exact her revenge, but she simply wasn't skilled enough. Now, trained by the most deadly of creatures, she had no further use for him. The only thing left to do was devour him, for utahraptors believed that they would absorb the strength of whatever they ate. In some ways, they were right. However, she was giving him a chance. If he could escape from that position and kill her before she decided to finish him, of course, he would go free.
A heavy silence fell on the following moment. Neither really moved.
Finally, Taberah broke into a hearty, chilling chuckle. "You really are clever, Unseen, but not clever enough. Do you know what kind of lie is most convincing? Of course you do: one that is patterned off of the truth. That way it looks like the real thing, tastes like the real thing, but is not. It is a counterfeit. Yes, I have been holding back, mostly because I do not want to kill you. However, you don't want to kill me either."
Unseen tightened her grip. The leather armour deflected her teeth, but the pressure was enough to make a normal human scream in pain. The raptor snarled that she would kill him, but her breathing and risen heart rate told another story.
Taberah shook his head. "You want to fight the real Taberah. The scourge of his species. Defeating me in a training exercise is not enough for your self-affirmation and you figure that in threatening my life, you may evoke that side of me. Pride comes before destruction. That's a dangerous game to play. It's both clever and foolish, and you know what? It almost, almost worked. I could have killed you."
She snorted with disdain and asked: how could he possibly kill her from this position?
A shadow of a smirk laced his lips. "Like this."
With his free hand he removed a tiny vial from his utility belt. He tossed it with his fingers and it shattered against Unseen's muzzle. Her eyes erupted tears and her nostrils seared. The smell was so intense that it hurt. Her jaws loosened and he slipped away, getting his knees beneath him and dealing her chin a cracking elbow strike. He wrapped his arms around her neck, pushed underneath her in a crouch, and flipped the raptors entire body into the air in an arching movement. She sailed over him and slammed into the ground back first, disoriented beyond reason. The only thing she recognised was Taberah's serrated gauntlet braced on her throat, then the feeling of his weight pinning her chest. She couldn't kick him from this angle, couldn't slash with her arms pinned beneath his knees, and wouldn't chance a tail whip.
Checkmate.
Taberah removed himself and got up, extending a helping hand to the raptor. Her surprise gave way to dismay as she digested the situation. Unseen reached out her fore limb and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He stooped at his backpack and removed a sea sponge and a bottle of water. Wetting the sponge, he stood.
"That was excellent, Unseen," Taberah commended as he wiped the pungent liquid off Unseen's face. "Your skill grows with every week, particularly in stealth. Half the time I didn't know where you were - of course, until you openly revealed yourself."
Unseen wouldn't make eye contact, feathers drooping, but nodded distantly.
He packed up the sponge and water before placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Hey," he breathed, gentle yet firm. "Unseen, look at me," she looked "Stop, being, so hard on yourself. You performed exceptionally, especially considering having only started this training two months ago. Don't shortchange yourself the credit. I've been at it my whole life. Strive for perfection, but know that you're not perfect. Don't ever think that you have to be."
She noted the conviction in his eyes. He believed in her. Why couldn't she? Her feathers perked up a bit and she nodded, then seemed puzzled and repeated: "sssrrrt-chnnnge?". She was trying to say "shortchange", asking about its meaning. Taberah had taught her English, and though she had become very proficient in understanding it, her articulation of the language was next to gibberish. He understood, though.
Taberah explained. "It means to withhold something that is due, especially unfairly." He reiterated himself in her language with a series of whistles and cackles. She had taught him the utahraptor tongue as well, and he learned it with uncanny speed. However, there was something about his speaking it that made it clear that he was not an utahraptor – something he lacked, the soul in an utahraptor's voice. She couldn't figure out what it was, for it was subtle and subconscious.
Unseen looked at Taberah's backpack and mentioned that she smelled fish.
"Yeah," he admitted. "That was dinner, but I'm afraid it was destroyed in the battle."
She was disappointed.
"Either way, you can still eat it if you want, and the day is young. We could get more. How 'bout it?" Taberah asked, ruffling her head feathers.
The young raptor wriggled away and pretended not to like it, but they both knew she did. She lightened up and nodded.
He flashed a smirk, hoisting the backpack onto his shoulders. "Great. Race you."
With that, he took off into the jungle of tree, rock and fern, destined for the river. Now this was something Unseen knew she could do – beat Taberah at a race.
Night had descended upon the island in a blanket of pleasant chill and moon-lit darkness.
Beneath a brief break in the jungle canopy, Unseen stood in a small, shallow pond created by recent rainfall, staring at her reflection. Her skin matched the sky behind her so perfectly that from her viewpoint, she was practically invisible. She was the sky. A backdrop of pitch black adorned her scales while airy clouds drifted through her like phantoms of the heavens. It was a kind of game she enjoyed playing with herself – finding a reflective surface and trying her best to perfectly blend into the background. Her cloaking ability was greatly enhanced when she could see herself and her surroundings at the same time. The only hitch used to be the fact that her skin couldn't emulate light. Not anymore. There were so many new little features her body had developed since shedding, and she had discovered that her skin now possessed a slight bioluminescent ability. Thus, the stars actually twinkled on her scales, and the moon that was her iris glowed milky white.
She grew bored of the game and resumed her natural colours, admiring the powerful raptor that looked back at her. A combination between her renewed body and Taberah's training had left her with a physique of streamlined muscle.
Unseen's head jerked away from her reflection as Taberah's call reached her, a distant whisper. Dinner.
She splashed out of the puddle and tore through the jungle at breakneck speed. Little nocturnal, bioluminescent dino birds flit among the bushes like whimsical creatures. The exquisite aromas of night-blooming flowers and ocean air wafted across the island, delighting Unseen's finely tuned sensory palate. At times Isla Sorna possessed such a charm, it was hard to believe how deadly it could be.
That familiar barricade surrounding their home came into view – a 30 foot tall wall of tree-trunks, branches, all manners of wood interlocked in a complex structure, bedecked with jagged, splintered protrusions jutting outward. It was a defensive hedge built by the mighty quetzalcoatlus to protect their nest against giant predators. Of course, the titanic pterosaurs had long since abandoned this one. It was unusual of them to settle so low to the ground. They most often resided in the mountains, so Unseen and Taberah were very lucky to find this ready-made fortress.
She weaved between the spear-like sticks driven into the ground to deter large footed carnivores from the complex.
Then it hit her like a solid wall and she stopped. Every night she ran headlong into the invisible barrier, forgetting it was there, and every time it was the same surprise. She and Taberah had chased the local velociraptors out of the area. It was a small pack, and Taberah had wiped out most of them when they pursued her into the canyon. However, the remaining few had stalked them relentlessly. The ensuing conflict was short, but in order to make sure that any other predators thought twice before attacking their home, they had to set up a scent barrier. Female utahraptors generally had males do it for them, since they didn't have the… um… chemicals to get the job done. Unseen didn't want to ask Taberah to do it, but fortunately she didn't have to. He had found a solution: citronella – the plant which he used the extracts of to mask his scent on the night when they met, and to throw her off when she had him earlier. He had strategically planted it around the compound and predators hated the scent, she included. The smell wasn't unpleasant so much as it was jarring – like a really loud noise that K. your eardrums.
Unseen skirted the barrier and found the hidden entrance to the fortress, concealed with ferns. She held her breath and whisked inside, finding herself in a large, courtyard-like space where no trees grew except a large baobab in the far corner. Its meaty branches housed a gigantic nest – a marvel of pterosaur architecture.
The young raptor raced towards the tree, slowing and stopping at a sleeping, carnelian-red pteranodon roped to the wall. They captured the aggressive male when it tried to seize their nest for itself, breaking its wing in the process. Unseen had wanted to eat it. That only seemed fair to her, but Taberah thought it could be useful. Since then he gradually nursed it back to health, earning its trust, "taming" it. He had even given the winged lizard a name – "Ziz", after the flying beast of Hebrew legend, though Unseen and the winged lizard remained at odds.
She crept towards the pteranodon and screeched, running off as it awoke with a livid shriek. Unseen had her moments. In two twos she reached the tree, shot up the wooden stairs spiralling around it and entered the nest from beneath. What followed was standard procedure for their dinners: she smelled the intoxicating aroma of the fish stew, went completely rabid and Taberah had to dive out of the way to avoid getting mowed down. He had scarcely finished dishing out before she literally attacked her clay bowl, spilling most of the contents in the process and devouring the rest voraciously. Taberah's cooking: guaranteed insanity at first bite.
He was laughing like crazy, clapping in whole-hearted humour. "Unseen, it's already dead! You don't have to kill it all over again!"
Unseen grinned as best she could, but was unable to tear her snout away from the sumptuous feast.
She loved his laugh.
If there was any reason she didn't exercise better self-control, it was to hear him do it every night. She finished in quick time and asked for more, sitting on her haunches as he got to work refilling her extra-large bowl. Having curbed her hunger a little bit, she relaxed and looked around. Home. A glowing, amber fungus grew in eccentric formations on little logs in the corners of the spacious chamber of interconnected branch that they occupied. It was a different variety of the blue fungus they had found in the cave, easy to cultivate, lighting the nest day and night like living embers. This was a nursery area, carpeted with soft bedding, waterproof and protected from the elements. Taberah's various paraphernalia – tools, weapons, leather armour and other articles were hung or laid out around his hammock. She slept on the other side of the room and had fewer belongings, most of which he had created for her. Never before had she felt such a sense of warmth and security in a place.
"Unseen, catch," Taberah called.
She turned to see a fruit hurtling towards her. Unseen snatched it out the air with her jaws and crunched into the sweet, fibrous, yellow flesh. It was the fruit of the ambarella tree, known by many names. Some called it June plumb. Others, golden apple, and the list went on. She may have been a carnivore, but the occasional fruit was a treat.
He returned from the clay pot on the fire and placed her bowl in front of her, before sitting down, legs crossed, to eat his dinner. She ate a little less aggressively, noting how much smaller his serving was. His body didn't need as much fuel as hers did.
"So," Taberah began. "Did you have anything to do with this?" He jerked his thumb towards the angry wails of the pteranodon outside.
She gave her best attempt at a shrug. Ziz was always melodramatic.
Taberah smiled and shook his head.
She loved his smile.
It was a facial expression that she could not mimic, no matter how much she wanted to. Even though it wasn't a natural expression of her species, not being able to do it left her somehow emotionally constipated. The best she could do was grin, which looked more menacing than anything else.
"Watch this," Taberah said suddenly.
He picked up a hollow, twisted, 2 foot wooden form he had been carving for days (why was beyond her), and put it to his lips. Taberah blew, and out came a loud noise that sounded like Ziz. The pteranodon outside instantly silenced.
Surprised, Unseen asked if he could somehow talk to Ziz.
"In a way, yes," Taberah began. "Ziz's kind possess a complex form of communication, though not nearly as complex as yours. This instrument simulates a pteranodon voice, and allows me to communicate with him over distances."
She cooed. How interesting.
They continued eating and completed their meals at roughly the same time. He began to clean up after her. She watched him with adoration, thinking of the attention he lavished on her.
She loved him.
It wasn't the kind of love she could have for a male raptor. No, it was the love of a daughter for a father, or the love of a lifelong friend. The utahraptors she knew almost never allowed themselves to harbour such an emotion. If they did, they kept it dead secret, with virtually no exceptions. They knew how easily it could become a weakness, but unfortunately knew little else.
The young raptor sang a quiet thank you in her wind instrument-like voice.
"'Thank you'?" asked Taberah, furrowing his brow. "For what?"
She looked him in the eye and explained: for loving her.
A long moment of silence fell on the two. Taberah returned her gaze with a blank stare, unreadable. There was a subtle change in his manner, only understood by her subconscious. Perhaps it was the way his pupils shrank slightly, or a faint tightening in the muscles of his neck.
He picked up their bowls and placed them in a corner to be washed the next day. There was something in his body language that she didn't like – something reminiscent of the first time she saw him. It was as if a shadow had suddenly enveloped his being, and the easy-going Taberah she knew had vanished.
Taberah disrobed his armour, wearing a black tee and track pants underneath. "Do you need the light?"
She shook her head, knowing how good her night vision was, and stood as she asked if something was wrong.
He draped the leather suit over his shoulder and, one by one, covered up the growths of yellow fungus at the corners of the room with the pots laid beside them for that purpose. The chamber had grown dim, and the only light that remained was beside his hammock.
Taberah made his way to the hammock and hung up his armour before pausing. "Unseen, may I be brutally honest with you?"
She didn't like the sound of that either, but nodded none the less.
"Your wellbeing is my concern," he began "but I have no capacity for love, or anything of the like. I just don't. Good night, Unseen."
With that, he covered up the last light, leaving her in darkness.
Again, if you follow Old Chuck's story, "Chayton", be sure to search "Old Chuck's Chayton and Nadine Speedpaint" on YouTube to see the two-part video where I draw my interpretation of his characters.
Thank you all for reading and thank you, Emobunnyninja (rockin' name, by the way), for reviewing.
Did anyone feel a difference in the flow of this chapter's battle scene? If so, what is it? Does it work? Be sure to share your opinion in the reviews: what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong. What you liked, what you didn't like. Until next time!
I am the known of me,
I am the Mr E