I wasn't really happy with the last chapter seeing how I wrote it on my lunch break yesterday and just posted it when I got home because I was too tired to do anything. But I'm going to work on a chapter a day, maybe two if I happen to be off one day and have no plans.
Maria regarded the men in front of her as they sat around the kitchen table. Her nerves were alight as she looked over at Owen, his own concerns plastered on his face. The two of them had given the four men papers detailing the history of their assets, and what to expect before their official meeting. It'd been an hour already, they've read through them twice and even three times now. Owen had even caged Blue in the spare paddock by Ripper's enclosure during the time. They had no choice now, they had to make the introductions.
"Right," Maria inhaled heavily as she stood upright. "You guys have read everything?"
"Twice," an agent quipped.
Maria bit her bottom lip as she tossed a slight glare at him before nodding at the rest of them. "Right, okay. So let's, let's do this," she said as she clasped her hands together and led them out of the kitchen. Billy and Claire were already waiting outside, encouraging smiles on their faces as Maria and Owen led the four towards the paddock.
"Okay, so here's the thing, Ripper is not fond of men," Maria explained as they drew nearer to the barn. "So I need you all to promise not to get too close to the fence," she looked at them all intently as they paused.
"I swear," Eric said immediately, earning a smile from her as the others slowly followed suit.
Pleased with the promise, Maria continued them on the way and stopped in front of the fence. With a frown, she looked around the paddock trying to locate Ripper within it. He wasn't in the barn, she had shut the doors leaving him outside before she had gone into the house. And Owen certainly didn't do it, Ripper wouldn't have it if he had came near the barn.
"It seems you've lost your asset, Miss Brennan," agent Wilson said as he looked at her disapprovingly.
Maria threw him a glare before a shift in the air caught her attention. Ripper was invisible. "Ripper, if you make one more move towards that fence, I will stop beef treats for a week," she warned, giving the air ripple a stern look.
The air shifted for a brief second before Ripper realized she was serious. Turning visible again, he was frozen in place. One arm outstretched towards the fence as he was crouched down preparing to jump. At her raised brow, the ten foot tall dinosaur slowly took a few steps backwards before standing at his normal height, sickle claw tapping nervously against the ground.
"My apologies," Maria said sweetly as she turned to face the equally amused and alarmed men behind her. "He apparently thinks this is amature hour," she threw that last bit at Ripper who cawed softly in weak defense of himself. "Gentlemen, please, meet Ripper our Indoraptor."
The men looked up at the dinosaur who regained some of his dignity as he raised up higher, light glinting off of his teeth as he growled lowly at them all. He was smart, he knew Maria told him not to attack them, she didn't say that he couldn't scare them. Blue had told him that scaring humans was fun, and he knew from experience with Maria that it was highly entertaining.
"Does he do any tricks?" One of the agents, the one who gave her attitude back in the kitchen, asked with a snicker.
Maria and Ripper both slowly turned to look at the man, icey glares on their faces. "He is a dinosaur explicitly designed and trained to be a killing machine, he is trained with the expectation of military involvement. The only "tricks" he knows is how to bite a man's arm off in one go, would you like to help demonstrate that?" she said evenly.
The agent stood straight, eyes glaring through his sunglasses. "Don't you threaten me, girl-"
"Then don't patronize me," Maria snapped, internally smiling when Blue let out a screech of agreement. Trust Blue to have her back. "I've built a career on raising dangerous animals, you think Ripper was my first rodeo? I know what I'm doing, you focus on your job," she said as she rose to her full height. Yeah she was the shortest on the island, but she really did know how to make those around her feel small in times like these. " I assure you, gentlemen, he may seem tame around me but he would kill you all in a heartbeat," a part of her missed the days back in Lockwood's manor. At least the men there knew she had everything under control and didn't dare speak down to her for fear of what Ripper would do. Maybe she should have let him scare them…
She looked over to Owen and nodded, it was probably best if they moved on to the agitated raptor next to them. Owen nodded back and cleared his throat, "this here is Blue," he said in introductions. "It's important that for the next week we get familiar with her so she knows your scent. Unlike our Ripper here, she doesn't understand that she can't eat you all. So if she thinks you're pack, or at least associated with pack, then she'll likely be less hostile to you."
"It worked that way with Barry," Maria supplied as she caught skeptical looks. "And myself. We aren't explicitly pack, but the girls never tried to harm us because we were present with Owen a lot."
Blue paced as the men drew close, only Eric keeping a respectful distance away. The raptor looked downright offended at the sight of pristine black suits and gave an enraged screech at them. She looked at Owen for help, only to be met with a stern look. The raptor faltered then looked to Maria to override her alpha's command. Maria gave her a sympathetic look, then casually glanced at the ground. It would be a shame if some of that dirt made its way onto the men in front of the dinosaur.
Blue followed her gaze to the ground and chirped excitedly, she was always down for mischief and Maria always let her get away with it. In the blink of an eye, the raptor turned and used her strong tail to sweep a heap of dirt at the men. The three let out shouts of surprise and irritation as they jumped back far too late. Eric was the first to laugh, Maria following suit as she leaned against the fence and listened to Ripper's huffs beside her. Owen was physically biting his cheeks as he tried not to look like he approved of his beta's actions. But Maria knew as soon as the men left, he'd be laughing his big laugh.
"She's a tad… ornery," Owen said as he finally got himself under control. "It might be best to not wear your fancy clothes when you're around her." He tossed Ripper a look, taking in the delighted look on his face. "Or Ripper for that matter."
"So look like you're actually human," Eric suggested lightly, giving an innocent look when agent Wilson shot him a glare. "What? I'm dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, do you see any dirt on me?"
"You ordered that raptor to do that," another agent hissed to Owen. He looked down at his clothing in disgust.
"I assure you I didn't," Owen said with a shrug. "She's her own dinosaur at the end of the day, if she wants to throw dirt who am I to stop her?"
"Her handler," the agent who insulted Ripper snapped.
"We stopped being the raptors handlers the day the indominus got out," Maria said now with a shrug. That was also the day three out of the four perished, but she wasn't ready to say that still. "Go ahead and get cleaned up," she nodded to the house with a friendly smile. "Despite that, this was a good introduction."
She and Owen watched as the three agents made their way back to the house and looked over at Eric who remained. "I still wanted to try to introduce myself," he said as he nodded at the fences. "If that's okay with you all," he added.
"Yeah, of course," Maria gave the man a smile as she leaned off of the fence and stood by it, clicking her tongue for Ripper to stop sniffing around the divider between his and Blue's cage. "Ripper, meet our most important addition, Eric Kirby," she said as she gestured to the man who now came and stood a foot away from her and the fence. "He's going to be our guide so be extra nice to him, no funny business." She noticed the look in his eyes and stage whispered to him, "the funny suited men are free game for pranks."
Ripper let out a pleased chuff before bending down and sniffing at the new man. He was slightly shorter than this Owen, but unlike Owen he was respectful of the cage. And Maria. He let out a soft growl as he stood back up and regarded him, most important addition? Surely his Maria was joking, what could this man do? Guide? Was her nose that weak that she couldn't find things? Why didn't she just tell him, he'd be happy to find them for her.
But, the man was better than the funny suited men. Maybe he'd kill him last when Maria gave the orders to do so. He hoped that first man, the one who asked if he knew tricks was first on the list. He wanted to show him exactly what he could do.
"He's really gorgeous," the man, Eric was it? Whispered to Maria. "Especially with that stripe, was that intentional?" Ripper decided he liked this Eric, for he was indeed a gorgeous creature.
"Wu isn't known for aesthetics," Maria whispered back. "I think it was natural."
Ripper perked up at Wu's name, he strangely missed that man. He remembered he was there during the auction and then… nothing. Did he die there? Ripper surely didn't kill him, he had left the room shortly after those foul men dragged his Maria away. Maybe they killed him when he tried to help her, Wu was always helping his Maria. If that was the case, then he was glad that they were among the first he killed, right after that elevator full of snacks…
"Let's head inside, I'm sure we're going to get yelled at," Owen suggested as he checked his watch. "If not by Wilson, Claire will do it."
"You can't vouch for us?" Maria asked as she and Eric stepped away and followed the man. Throwing a look over her shoulder, she gave her hybrid a quick air kiss goodbye. She'd come visit later tonight, hopefully alone. He missed their alone time, it was harder to have it after they got to the island.
Ripper watched as they left, not quite liking how close Eric seemed to Maria and relaxed slightly when he broke off to be with her… sibling? Ripper didn't know anything about siblings, it had just been him and Maria. He was… alone, no other like him.
Blue let out a caw beside him and he snapped out of his thoughts. Even if there were no other indoraptors like him in the world, he still had dinosaurs that he could communicate with. Like Blue and Rexy, the two often came up when the humans were going to bed to talk with the young dinosaur.
Blue would tell him more about her siblings, telling stories that even Maria didn't know about. He liked Blue, he realized, she was smart and hated most of the humans like he did. But she loved Maria, he knew that without her ever saying it. The way the raptor perked up at the sight of his precious one made his heart warm for some reason.
And Rexy! That old dinosaur was stunning, majestic even in her age. Ripper wasn't a fool, he knew that Rexy could kill him in a heartbeat, and yet she sat there most nights and humored him with tales about her life on her old home. She alway sounded so sad when she talked about it, and he'd do his best to comfort the tyrannosaur. She had offered once, to get him out of the paddock, but he declined. He wasn't ready to leave Maria yet, even if he couldn't go far. He knew it would hurt her, to not see him so easily.
He slowly moved over to the fence dividing their enclosure and laid down on the soft grass. He turned his head towards the house, smiling when he saw Maria on the porch talking with a few men. She glanced over at him every now and then, a soft smile on her face. No, he wasn't ready to leave her at all, he decided.
Not ever.
whoops, looks like Maria didn't tell Ripper the reason why they're going to the Isla Sorna, so that'll be a whirlwind of emotions for our boy.
This will be the last chapter for the leadup, next chapter will be them actually going to and arriving on the island. maybe some drama, maybe some dinosaurs making an appearance. Who knows?