Island of Secrets
Chapter 10: Nothing Personal
On a side note, to the most recent Guest Review: Alright, I'll try not to use so many periods. No promises though. I like my stories extra bloody.
Location: Site A
Time: 7:32am
Drako and Jett were in a conference room with a few InGen Chairholders, discussing the information they retrieved from Isla Sorna. Allthewhile, nobody mentioned the fact that there was still somebody alive at that island, since it had been a few days since Drako and Jett were transported to Site A via helicopter. They were all in casual attire, given that this reunion was unofficial.
"This should give us ample insight on asset management. Thank you so much for this, my good men." Said one of the holders (A white man with spiky and small heair, mid thirties). He stretched out in his chair, then smiled at the two mercenaries, who were standing by the single door in the room.
"Thank you for the transaction, Mr. Davenport. We'll make good use of it, no doubt." Said Jett, straightening out his baseball cap, which had dried blood stains from the ordeal a few days back. Drako nodded and crossed his arms.
"Well, now that you've collected your pay, what are you gonna do now?" Asked another holder (Black complexion, shaved head, mid twenties).
"Not sure... But one thing is certain, we're retiring now." Said Drako, then Jett nodded and smiled.
"Alright, dismissed. Feel free to stay in the park as long as you wish, courtesy of InGen." Said the third Chairholder (White complexion, short receeding hair, mid fifties).
Jett and Drako nodded in unison, then left the room, leaving the three Chairholders alone with the massive screen that was showing all the information gathered by the two hired guns.
"All the people that died to get us this information... Was it really worth it?" Asked Davenport.
"Of course it was! Now we'll be better prepared in case another case like the JP incident happens. And then some. This research is extensive, indeed..." Said holder number three.
"I just hope that those who died did so quickly..." Said holder number two.
"Agreed..." Said Davenport, getting up from his chair and walking out of the room, but not before grabbing the USB with all the information, followed by the other Chairholders, as they walked to a private helicopter that was waiting for them...
Location: Site B
Time: Unknown (Morning)
...I stirred as I woke, unable to open my eyes just yet, due to the intense glare the sun was pouring into the room. I had rested my eyes, but I got no sleep...
'A side effect from the syringe..?' I thought to myself, then sat up slowly, stretching as I did so.
Looking around, I noticed that there was still a fairly-sized lump of slowly ascending and descending hide on my lap. The dilophosaurus was still fast asleep, which is somewhat understandable. If I remember correctly, her name is Fleet-Fang...
'They must be hungry... And so am I.' My thoughts lingered towards a hunt, since I haven't put my body to the test for a while. But, I decided to wait a little bit, just to let the dilo and the raptor next to me get their sleep. Just because I can't sleep, doesn't mean I should prevent others from doing so.
As if on cue, the raptor began to stir. I had this dumb idea, so naturally, I went for it. I placed my right hand on her snout and began rubbing it slightly in order to help her wake up. It worked, as she opened her eyes slightly, and I shit you not that I heard a slight purr coming from her general direction, that and I felt my right hand vibrating slightly with the noise.
Suddenly, the raptor's eyes shoot open and she sits up on her haunches, looking at me quizically, tilted head included.
"Relax... I was just petting you, sheesh..." I said to her, but she just looked at me with more confusion. So, I dropped the subject altogether.
"Whatever... Listen, we need to hunt for something, cuz I'm fucking starving." I said. She perked up at the word 'hunt', so I'm guessing she understood me.
"Sounds li-*chirp* good id-*chirp*" She chirped out. I didn't want to seem rude, so I simply smiled at her and then began to pet Fleet-Fang with my left hand to wake her up.
The raptor noticed this, so she placed her snout close to my right hand. In fact, she nudged it slightly and gave it a small lick, earning a small chuckle from me.
"Alright, alright. I can take a hint." I said, then placed my right hand on the raptor's snout again, rubbing it slowly like before. And like before, I was certain she was purring to my touch now. I swear, I could almost make out a blush on her face, but I still think I'm insane, so I don't even know if I'm awake yet...
Fleet-Fang stirred, as she began to wake up. She sat up then, looking around, then noticing where she was. In another instant, she jumped off me and avoided my gaze, like always. I simply shook my head slowly in a joking matter, then stretched as I stood up. I looked around us again, only to realize that, despite my wishes, this wasn't a dream...
"I hope I get back someday... Shit..." I whispered to myself, but tried my damned hardest to remain strong, for my partners' sakes at least.
I noticed that my two roommates were looking at me with sheer curiosity. I then crossed my arms and smiled.
"I could go for a stegosaurus, how about you guys... um, girls..." I said... Jesus, it's gonna be a hassle getting used to this...
They nodded and walked out of the room slowly. I sighed just low enough for neither of them to hear me, then headed out.
We didn't speak as we walekd out of the complex, but at least I knew it was a safe haven from the bigger beasts out here.
I got low to the ground and moved some gravel, noticing a few markings on the marsh underneath.
"Looks like an herbivore, big..." I said, then looked around for more markings. Surely enough, I found three more, relatively close to the first one I found.
My partners sniffed at the markings, then chirped at me, craning their heads in a general direction... Judging from the sun's position, I'd say North to Northwest, somewhat towards a clearing in the trees, at a patch of tall grass...
"Alright, you two lead. I'm right behind you." I said, then unsheathed my katana. I held it backhanded, then got in a jogging position. The two dinosaurs readied up and began to sprint into the tall grass, so I followed suit.
This was incredible: Not only was I faster, I was actually caught up with both of them. Though I suspect they're taking it easy for me, something about me feels different, that's for damn sure now.
The tall grass felt somewhat insignificant, like it wasn't even hindering my steps, or my vision, for that matter.
My partners stopped abruptly, so I skidded to a halt, then looked around, my blade still held firmly in its backhanded stance. I crouched down and inspected the ground with my left hand. There were a few chewed up leaves and more recent markings which lead to a wet trail, hinting at a water hole or river.
"We're getting close, aren't we?" I asked. The two dinosaurs looked at me and nodded. The raptor tapped her sickle claw on the ground and Fleet-Fang expanded her frills slightly.
"Alright, let's get ready for the kill..." I said, then the three of us started stalking along the tracks of the four legged beast whose trail we were on.
It didn't take long for the three of us to reach a body of water, a river, from which there were four herbivorous dinosaurs drinking along the shore. One of them had portruding plates on its back and a spiked tail.
"Found you..." I said, now focusing my gaze at an avarage sized stegosaurus. I looked to my sides, noticing that my two partners were in an attack stance already...
"Alright, here's the plan... I'll distract the other three while you two separate the stegosaurus. Keep it focused on you until I finish scaring the others away..." I waited for a response, getting two low chirps as an answer. I nodded slowly, then stood up slightly.
"NOW!" I said, then charged at the group, with both hands on my blade. I wasn't planning on killing any of the other three, but I will, if it comes down to it.
The herbivores panicked when they saw me, not noticing the two shadows that quickly formed behind the group.
As soon as I nodded, the two hungry carnivores sprung out, barking at each other and hissing at the stegosaurus, making it step back. I ran, almost impossibly fast, next to y two partners, now facing the group of three dinos, made of two stegosaurus and a pachycephalosaurus. The two stegos were budging, but only slightly, moving back ever so slowly. I swung my katana in a few mock swings. The pachy however, was stroking the ground with its left hind leg. I knew what it was planning, so I readied up with my sword and closed my eyes.
In two seconds, the pachy ran towards me, with astounding speed, intent on killing me with a solid headbutt. But I reacted efficiently, moving out of the way and slashing simultaneously, managing to slash through the beast's neck, making it collapse in almost an instant. The two stegos wailed out in shock, then ran off into the thick brush. I turned around, noticing the commotion behind me. My partners had our prey cornered as it tried fruitlessly to hurt them by swinging its tail around, so I sprinted to finish the kill after whipping the blood off my blade. The raptor was doing mock lunges, while Fleet-Fang was flinging poison wads at its feet and its back, until she maneged to hit one of its eyes, causing to shriek out in both pain and annoyance.
"Keep it up!" I said, my hunting party not responding, clearly too invested in their panicked victim. I took my blade backhanded, then ran at the stegosaurus.
In a flash, I slid down under it, opening a large gash at its underbelly. In fact, the cut was filthy, as refrenced by the blood srpayed on me after the slice I did. I then rolled safely, affectively ridding myself of any blood covering my body and stopping my momentum.
The stegosaurus wailed out in pain, then laid down, too tired to move.
"Finish it now..!" I said and the raptor lunged for the stego's neck, gripping it firmly with her jaws. It was quick, a snapping and a shred, and the stegosaurus was now dead.
"You two girls deserve this. I'll take care of that one..." I said, pointing at the now bled out pachy. They nodded and didn't waste any time to start eating their fresh kill.
I walked to the pachy and whipped my bloodied blade once more, then sheathed it. I pulled out one of my karambits and cut off a piece of it.
"I'm getting used to this way too quickly." I said to myself, musing over my thoughts...
'Maybe I am finally ready to move on..?' I thought to myself, but quickly remembered why in God's name I chose to come here in the first place...
"I'll get back... I have to..." I said lowly, then began to eat, before my partners realize something is wrong...
The meat tasted rather well... Better than the last few times, actually... Just what the fuck did that syringe do to me..? Regardless, it was still chewy as all hell... And clumpy, too...
I decided to not think about it too much, so as to not go completely insane, and continued to eat silently.
I looked to the dead stego, to notice that the two dinosaurs appeared to make idle chit-chat. I couldn't tell if the communicator was glitched, or if I was too far, but I couldn't hear what they were chirping at each other occasionally.
We ate for a good ten minutes, somewhat quickly, given that I knew we understood the danger of eating out in the open.
Once I was full, I headed to the river and washed off the blood from my karambit and my hands and arms. But, I heard something... Something big, approaching fast... I knelt down and placed both my hands on the ground, feeling slight vibrations, getting gradually stronger.
"Girls, we need to move!" I said, catching the attention of the two carnivores that were just walking about next to their now bare kill.
They looked around and felt the vibrations as well...
'Did I detect the threat before them..?' I thought to myself, then jogged towards them. I noticed the big tree where the stegosaurs corpse was somewhat leaning against, then an idea crossed my mind.
"Under there... Let's go..." I said, pointing at the portruding branches of the tree, specifically to a hole, which looked wide enough for the three of us...
Fleet-Fang and the raptor nodded silently and dug into the hole. I followed shortly, now feeling the vibrations getting dangerously closer.
From the trees, a scarred spinosaurus emerged, its face covered in scorch marks that will never completely heal. I cursed silently at the sight of it, knowing full well that It'll never be the last time I see this beast following us. But its other scars prove it's been in a fight, somewhat recently, but I couldn't tell too much, since the hole we were in was farily small and far from this hideous and extremely dangerous creature. It sniffed at the air, but didn't glance our way. I took this chance and smothered my shirt with mud, covering my two partners with mud as well. They didn't complain, trusting my actions completely.
The spinosaurus headed to the pachy and swallowed it almost whole, which makes sense, given that I only ate about a fourth of it. It then stared at the stegosaurus carcass, and it walked slowly towards it. It sniffed at it cautiously and I swallowed, hard. If it caught us now, we were history. Luckily, it started eating, hunger clearly thinking for it at this point.
We didn't utter even the slightest sound, as we heard the crunching of bones and flesh, looking on as the spinosaurs took its sweet time feasting on the poor hebivore's remains. Once it was finished, it went to the river to grab a few tongue-fulls of water.
The three of us were shaking, nervously waiting for this super predator to go on its way.
A roar in the distance caught our attention, causing even the spinosaurus to look that way. It then responded with a similar roar, but in a somewhat elevated pitch, then headed in its direction...
'Please let that be a challenge and not another one of these fuckers...' My thoughts raged, as the three of us made our way out of the hole...
We headed to the river to rinse off, so I removed my shirt, letting what little sunlight went through the clearing shine on my old scars and some new ones. My sword was now at the edge of the river, stuck in the gravel, sheathe and all. Strangely enough, I wanted to lighten the mood. So, when both dinosaurs turned their backs to me to rinse their mud off, I smiled and cupped some water with my hands.
Without a second thought, I splashed it at the raptor, who shrieked in surprise, then stared back at me. She snarled and swished her tail to the front and back slowly.
"There we go, all clean." I said, then chuckled. I put my face down to clean my shirt, until I felt a massive water splash hit me, soaking me completely... I looked forward, only to notice both carnivores... smiling? Anyways, their fake innocence was showing clearly, so I smiled once more...
"So it's like that, huh..." I said, then looked at Fleet-Fang, who simply looked amused. I stood up and, before they could process what happened, I managed to grab them both and push their faces into the water. They both shrieked in surprise, then stepped away from me. They both got in an attack stance and began circling me...
"This is gonna be fun..." I said, as I walked closer to the shore, so the three of us have better movement in the water, until it reached my knees. This should do it...
***POV SWITCH***
White-Claw had been following the human's trail for a long time, to the point where her hunting party was tired...
"Return to the nest, everyone... I shall handle Serena and the human by myself..." She barked at the pack, earning some objections.
"I will stay with you, White-Claw... Serena was my friend, so I have to see this through to the end." Said a young male, with a pitch black hide and red frills on his head. His eyes were a piercing blue, which contrasted greatly with his hide, just like his tan coloured claws and talons. He swished his tail impatiently.
"Very well, Jewel-Gaze... The rest of you, head back..." White-Claw barked out in an even firmer tone. The other three raptors began to sprint their way back. White-Claw and Jewel-Gaze continued the hunt, stalking slowly.
They didn't say anything to each other, silently walking in the direction the marks of the human were headed. Strangely enough for them, there were raptor marks and tar-spitter marks close to the human's markings.
"Serena and Fleet-Fang are still with the human..." Chirped out White-Claw almost grimly, tapping her sickle talon on the ground and lowering her snout to smell the freshness of the trail. Her tail flicked, and she straightened out. Before she could begin to sprint, Jewel-Gaze spoke up.
"Wasn't the human called... Long-Claw..?" He chirped with caution, knowing full well how easy it was to upset his superior. White-Claw turned her head to him and hissed.
"Do not use that name..." If she were a tar-spitter, White-Claw would've burried Jewel-Gaze in the amount of posion her chirps dragged with them. Jewel-Gaze said nothing, merely nodding in response and getting ready to run. Then, they were off. The silence between them was too thick, like a fog that doesn't budge, no matter how hard you try to make it go away. As they sprinted through the woods and tall grass, they caught the three scents they were searching for, then headed in that direction, towards the river.
White-Claw and Jewel-Gaze made it to a clearing, with a perfect visual of the human and his two dinosaurs companions.
"What are they doing..?" Jewel-Gaze chirped, intrigued that Serena and Fleet-Fang were seemingly sparring with the human, as they synced their jumps, trying in vain to pin him down, as he merely stepped aside, or used one of his forelegs to push them away.
"It matters not. They will die all the same." White-Claw chirped out and began to walk towards them in anger. Jewel-Gaze followed right next to her.
It was clear to see that Jewel-Gaze wasn't exactly a fighter. True, he could hunt some herbivores, but he was nowhere near in terms of experience to White-Claw... Some of the clan members would also say he's undertrained, but they underestimated him slightly.
They were now within eyesight of the group of three, so they stood within ten feet of the group, who quickly took notice of them. White-Claw stood proudly in defiance, but Jewel-Gaze wasn't as sure of himself...
***POV SWITCH***
The three of us got out of the water and now stood next to each other, staring at the pale clawed raptor from before. And there was a male raptor, judging from his frills, but he looked... nervous, I guess.
"Give it up, you two... You're outnumbered..." I said to the pair. The white clawed raptor hissed and, in that instant, from the bushes emerged three other raptors, each one with a grave face and a wild intent to kill...
A/N: AANNNDDDD COCK BLOCK! This is a good tease, to be honest. We got to see some bonding between Shaun and the two straglers, which is nice. Scorch-Face is still lurking about, bringing more trouble than she's worth, and now White-Claw and Jewel-Gaze have appeared. What's gonna happen? Even I don't know!
Alright, don't forget to review on this chapter, or the story in general. It helps me improve or remove, depending on the situation.
Not much to say after this except that I am still accepting PM OC's. It's pretty easy, just title it 'My character' and message me. I'll review it and, if you're lucky, I'll accept it and give it some filler too. Though the OC's won't affect the general story, they'll get their fair share of exposition, I can assure that.
Alright, I'll catch y'all in the next chapter! Ciao!
-Blood Moons
PS: Kept you waiting, huh...