M
Foxtrot was livid.
He knew he should've fought harder against sleep; then, maybe, he could've fought off whoever had come and just tore his mate from his arms as they slumbered. They ambushed the three raptors as they slept and had taken Gamma from him, something so honorless that he spat at the one behind this. Of course, he knew exactly who had done this, who had so little honor as to attack them while they were vulnerable instead of facing them, something he'd mastered and practiced for months.
Hawk.
Just thinking of the gray traitor's name made him growl loudly and slash at a tree, roaring in frustration as Indy just did what he could to avoid the alpha's wrath. Foxtrot slashed his claws at every tree in the general vicinity, picturing Hawk's snout in place of the poor plants as he hacked away at the wood beneath the bark.
When he was done wailing on the tree he was focused on, he growled and started to walk away, beckoning for Indy to follow him, which the brown male did with a wince.
The green raptor shook slightly in rage as they walked, trying harder than ever to pick up Hawk's scent, something that should've been impossible, as it had rained two days previous. However, he was easily able to pick up on the trail, meaning that Hawk had traveled through as of recent, solidifying the claim in his mind that Hawk was the one responsible for Gamma's disappearance. He narrowed his eyes and broke out into a run, following the scent path as a growl built up in his throat, thinking about all the different ways he was going to tear that weasel limb from limb. Indy, meanwhile, was having a bit of trouble keeping up because of his aches, but somehow managed to keep the green male at least in sight.
Eventually, the two of them reached a large clearing where the trail ended. However, Hawk was nowhere to be seen. Foxtrot was about to start chopping at the nearing tree, but something from up above stopped them from moving. Indy slowly looked up, but by that time it was already too late.
A blur of gray scales jumped down from the trees and landed on Foxtrot's back. The male roared and thrashed under the figure as it stood up, his fierce red eyes aflame with perverse and unrestrained glee.
"Nice of you two to finally visit me," Hawk grinned.
Foxtrot finally threw the gray raptor off his back. "Where is she?!" he roared.
"Where's who?"
The green male snarled, practically foaming at the mouth as he got ready to lunge at Hawk. "You know damn well who!"
"You mean your new girlfriend?" he asked teasingly. "In all honesty, I have no clue, so you won't be getting anything from me."
Foxtrot roared and pounced at where Hawk was standing, but the gray raptor had already sidestepped with ease, taking advantage of the alpha's angered state, knowing it was blinding his judgement. He adopted a wicked grin as he started to circle around Foxtrot.
"If it means anything, I'm truly happy for you." He smirked. "You two weaklings were meant for each other."
The green raptor once again lunged, but Hawk once again dodged with ease, baiting the already weak-minded male and making him angrier to ensure his victory. He caught a glimpse of the bite mark Gamma had put on his neck, and his sinister smirk widened as he knew this was just more ammo for him to piss off Foxtrot more.
"So you two bonded, eh?" he chuckled. "Makes me wonder what you had to do to lose your bitch."
The green male let out another roar as he leapt at Hawk, but unlike the other times, the other raptor wasn't prepared for the blinding speed at which Foxtrot was coming at him, hardly having time to dodge him. In fact, he wouldn't have if something hadn't gotten in Foxtrot's way.
Indy jumped and tackled the alpha straight out of the air, bringing them both to the ground with a grunt. Foxtrot locked his eyes on the brown raptor, a feral look in his eyes.
"Traitor!" he spat.
Indy grunted as his stomach flared up again, but he got up and darted away before the larger raptor could strike, getting right in between the two.
"Please, stop fighting!" he begged, trying to take on the role that Gamma had.
"What're you gonna do about it, miscreant?" Hawk growled as he narrowed his eyes at the green male.
"He took my mate!" Foxtrot screeched. "If you get in my way from tearing his throat out, I'll tear yours out too!"
Indy was torn on what to do; on one hand, he could keep trying to defuse the situation, but even he knew that he wasn't as good as Gamma was at that. On the other, he could choose a side like he'd done in the past, but whose side was the right side? On one hand, Hawk was practically mentally deranged at this point and had already made it clear he already thought of Indy as nothing more than a marionette, and of himself as the puppet master. However, he was still the only one he'd thought of as a friend these past few years, the only companion he'd had for most of their time in the enclosure; when they splintered and Indy was left wondering about the future, it was Hawk that assured him that they would one day be happy. And with that in mind, he chose his side.
He faced Foxtrot with a reluctant look in his eyes, not wanting to fight the bigger raptor, but ready to do so should it come to that. He knew he was at a disadvantage; the beginning stages of his transformation had left him a little bit smaller than he had been. That didn't matter to him, though. All he cared about was defending Hawk long enough for Foxtrot to calm down, and then hopefully they could work things out.
The green male narrowed his eyes and snarled. "Move."
"Please, don't let it come to this…"
"Move."
"I don't want to fight you!" Indy begged.
"I'm not going to ask again," Foxtrot growled. "Move."
Indy almost gave in at seeing the look in the larger raptor's eyes, but still he stood his ground, still silently pleading with his eyes.
Foxtrot, however, saw this as a challenge, a challenge that was getting in between him and his mate. He wasn't about to let anything get between him and finding out what that rat had done to the love of his life. And so, he accepted the wordless challenge that Indy had unintentionally started. He lunged, but this time at the brown male, shrieking as he stuck his killing claw out so that it would meet Indy's scales the moment he touched down. The brown male, however, was quicker now that he'd lost a few pounds, his smaller size allowing him to be more agile and dodge Foxtrot, taking a step back as he landed.
Knowing there wouldn't be a peaceful solution at this point, he sighed and gave in, but vowing to only incapacitate Foxtrot for a little while, hoping that there was still some sort of reason in the alpha. He snapped at Foxtrot's neck, but missed his mark, which the other raptor quickly took advantage of; he whipped his tail around, slamming it into Indy's side. The smaller raptor grunted as the blow sent white hot pain shooting through his chest. He wasn't out of the fight yet, though.
He lunged at Foxtrot with the intent of a successful bite this time. Foxtrot predicted this and spun around again to hit Indy with his tail a second time. He didn't know, though, that Indy had foreseen the move and was able to duck under it, his teeth finding their mark on the side of Foxtrot's neck. The green male roared out in pain and anger as crimson blood spilled from the wound, reaching up with his claws and slashing at Indy's side. The raptor yelped and let go, giving Foxtrot the space he needed to lunge at him, slashing and biting at his brown scales, leaving his white feathers stained red.
Indy put up a good fight, though, taking each blow and returning the punishment with his own clawing, which stained Foxtrot's green scales crimson. Their bodies slammed against each other's time and time again as they each delivered their separate blows.
While they were fighting, however, Foxtrot noticed out of the corner of his eye that Hawk was no longer standing over to the side watching them, having slipped away when they were both distracted. He growled and knocked Indy to the ground, before roaring as he gave chase, tracking the gray raptor by scent and sprinting through the brush at blinding speeds. Indy got up and followed, hot in pursuit. He hadn't expected the other raptor to just leave while they were fighting, but he couldn't say he was surprised that he was so selfish as to leave him behind.
By the time Foxtrot had caught up with Hawk, the gray raptor had already made it to the iron wall. He realized his mistake and made to backtrack, but was met by a snarling, bleeding Foxtrot, who slowly advanced on him. Hawk backed up, growling back as he prepared to fight, but grinned as he saw Indy sneak out of the bushes and behind Foxtrot. The brown male came up and slammed into the larger raptor, knocking him off his feet as Indy once again took his place in between Foxtrot and Hawk. He looked like hell; blood was dripping from his scales, staining his pure white feathers. Every once in a while, he grunted in pain from a combination of all the slashed Foxtrot had afflicted on him and his stomach cramps signalling his change.
Foxtrot didn't even say anything, just puffing his chest out and growling, trying to intimidate Indy. It didn't work, as Indy stood his ground, that same reluctant look still in his eyes.
"Please, don't do this…" he begged one last time.
The green raptor still said nothing and tried to run around, but Indy was right there to body slam him, both of the raptors resuming their scrap as Hawk tried to slip away again. However, Foxtrot had almost won the fight, and would have if Indy didn't slip away and stand in between the alpha and beta.
"Don't… don't hurt my mate…" he whispered.
He surprised himself with the words that came out of his mouth, but, even as he spoke them, he knew them to be true. Apparently, though, his feelings weren't received so well.
Hawk growled. "Why would I want a traitorous weakling as my mate?"
Indy felt his heart twist up and crumble inside his chest, and as Foxtrot leapt at him, he only gave Hawk one last look of utter hopelessness before the end. The green male showed him no mercy, slashing and tearing as his scales as he roared in rage, but the most unsettling part was that Indy didn't put up a fight. He just laid there, accepting of his fate. Before the end, though, he felt someone tackle Foxtrot off of him with a screech, and he looked up to see Hawk. It was a surprise to see the beta throw himself in danger for the sake of another, especially after he so carelessly ran away.
When their eyes met, Hawk leaned down and growled, "Don't worry, I'll avenge you, and I'll rule my pack with you in mind."
Indy only went limp on the ground as black started to creep into his vision, giving up entirely as Hawk said those words, knowing that all he did was futile. All he did to show Hawk that he meant more to Indy than just a friend was for nothing, because Hawk would never change.
And with that thought, the brown raptor breathed his last, the light disappearing from his eyes as he accepted the black abyss that awaited him.
Hawk didn't even turn around to see his companion die, his red eyes fixed on the one who'd slaughtered him. He flashed his claws and growled as he got low to the ground, ready to pounce, knowing that the alpha was weak by the slight sway of his stance. He was weak, and Hawk was going to take advantage of that weakness.
The pack was his.
He shrieked and lunged with his killing claw outstretched, bringing it down and gouging it into Foxtrot's side. The green male roared out in pain as Hawk climbed up on his back and continued Indy's work, slashing away and painting the ground around them red with the fake-alpha's blood, using his killing claw to keep himself stable as Foxtrot tried in vain to reach up and throw the other male off.
Eventually, he'd had enough of Hawk and decided to simply jump upward with all his strength, landing on his back to hopefully knock the other raptor loose. The garbled speech of the overseers rang out above as the gray raptor let out a loud yelp of pain, his claw finally dislodged from Foxtrot's scales as he scampered away to regain himself, limping slightly. Foxtrot noticed the limp and how he favored his left leg, narrowing his eyes as he charged at the weakened Hawk, slashing a few times at his gray scales. He was faster than the alpha anticipated, though, and dodged all of his blows with what seemed like hardly any effort, grinning as he used Foxtrot's own move against him. He spun around, his tail whizzing behind him, but instead of aiming randomly, he deliberately struck Foxtrot's leg, bringing the green raptor down to the ground. Immediately, he seized his change and pounced on top of him, slashing at his snout with a psychotic grin, the look in his eyes telling that he was mentally gone.
He stopped for a moment and got close to Foxtrot's face. "Your pack is now mine. I am the true alpha. I'll find your mate, and take her for myself."
Foxtrot wheezed as he tried to get up, Hawk lifting his claws to deliver the final blow.
But it never came. Instead, Hawk yelped as he was struck with a dart on the side. Foxtrot looked up to see that there were more coming their way from the iron wall, growling as he kicked Hawk off of him, their roles suddenly reversed. Unlike the deranged raptor, Foxtrot didn't have a big speech planned, nor did he really have anything planned. The only thing that went through his mind was rage as he positioned his killing claw on Hawk's throat.
The gray raptor now looked up in fear, gulping as the dart slowly numbed him and put him to sleep. The last conscious thought that went through his mind was just a testament to Indy's: if only he'd been better, then maybe he could've saved himself.
And with that, Foxtrot slit Hawk's throat open, the blood gushing out and painting the grass below them dark red. He felt several darts strike him, growling as he turned to look up at the scrawny overseers trying to take him down, but he wouldn't let those get in the way of him finding his mate.
He took a couple steps, ready to simply climb the iron wall and take down each and every one of those overseers, but his legs gave out from under him, and soon, blackness enveloped his vision, but he still fought the sleeping toxins in his veins valiantly, fending off sleep for several minutes.
The last thing he heard before going unconscious was the distorted speech of the overseers having a conversation.
"What should we do with him?" one asked.
"Put him down," another grunted. "He's too dangerous to be kept alive."
Foxtrot didn't understand any of this, but he still tried to fight as they loaded him into a van, before going limp as he finally succumbed to sleep, not knowing that that was the last time he'd ever do so.
M
Gamma sat alone in a padded white room, just like the one she had occupied as a hatchling. Every once in a while, she'd come to, groggily making her way to the latest portion they'd leave in her room, hardly nibbling on it before once again passing out. She didn't know how long she'd been in there, having no sense of time to go off of. But one thing she did know was that she was worried sick about Foxtrot and Indy with every waking moment. She wanted to get back to them, but she didn't know how she would do that when the overseers kept her so sedated.
However, the next time she woke, the room was dark, and the door was left wide open. She groaned as she blinked the sleep from her eyes and got to her feet, stumbling towards it and making her way out into the hallway.
She knew that something was wrong when she realized that the corridor was dark as well.
She fought off the last remains of whatever they'd drugged her with and sluggishly moved down the hall, using the wall as support as she made her way around the maze of halls and doors, none of which were blocked off to her. Something was seriously wrong here, and it put her on edge. This turned out to be a good thing, though, as it made her more aware and allowed her to fight off the medicine more and more, but it was a slow process.
She made her way to a door larger than the rest, and almost fell as her side left the wall. She managed to keep herself up, however, and pushed on the door slightly. It didn't budge at first, but Gamma could feel that it was very heavy, so she just leaned her body against it, and it gave way with a metallic scrape, which somewhat disoriented Gamma. It seemed that the world decided to hate her, because as her eyes were introduced to the bright sun for what was probably the first time in weeks, she was left blinded, stumbling out of whatever facility she was being held at. She shook her head as her eyes adjusted, blinking the spots out of her vision as she looked up, her heart dropping into her stomach.
Outside was a whole different world of all sorts of colors and scents, a lot of which she'd never experienced. She saw large buildings she never could've dreamed of, and architecture that surpassed anything she could've ever imagined. What took away her breath the most was the massive cone-like structure down the hill from where she stood, and she wondered how anything could build something so big.
But it was all derelict, covered in vines and completely abandoned. She would've figured that what inhabited these builds would've been down there chattering about, but she heard nothing other than the faint noises of the forest. She took a step closer, before the snapping of twigs and branches under something heavy alerted her to its presence. Her heart stopped in her chest as she slowly turned around to see a massive brown creature emerge from the jungle.
It was almost like her in a way, but its arms were much tinier and its frame more muscular than even Foxtrot's. She could tell that it was built for strength, and that it wouldn't have a single issue with turning her into its next meal, and by the dangerous growl it gave off, she knew that it was seriously considering it. She backed away, looking behind her every once in a while to make sure she didn't trip on anything as the brown creature approached her, its tiny eyes narrowing as the ground shook with every step it took.
As it got closer, she saw the white outlines of scars all over its hide, some of which looked like they were inflicted by her kind. This creature had clearly had some not-so-friendly run-ins with raptors, and Gamma didn't want to at all stick around to see if it still held a grudge.
She slowly turned back around, before breaking out into a full-on sprint, but her wobbly legs were hardly able to carry her at the speeds she was used to running at. She didn't look behind her, but she could tell from the heavy footfalls behind her that the large creature was in pursuit.
Then, came the loudest noise she'd ever heard in her life: a deafening, mind-bogglingly loud roar that shook the ground nearly as much as its footfalls.
It left Gamma's ears ringing as she made for the cluster of buildings, hoping to lose the giant creature in the tight pathways. However, she wasn't sure she could even get there with how slow she was compared to before, whimpering as her legs threatened to give out beneath her from overuse after so long. The massive animal was catching up with her quickly, so she tried to run in zig-zags to confuse it, but that did nothing but make her nearly lose her balance, so she was stuck with running in a straight line.
Then, she remembered: her pack.
She let out a loud cry for help, the noise resounding throughout the jungle and the buildings as she approached them, trying to escape the colossal beast. She called for help a second time and panicked as she glanced over her shoulder to see that it was almost close enough to snap her up, and she doubled her efforts, ignoring the burning in her legs as she gained just a little speed.
Thankfully, just before the brute was able to make a move, she was able to duck inside the first building she could, bursting through the glass door and moving deep in the building. She curled up in a corner and whimpered as it let out another thunderous roar, trying to find something to cover her ears with as she hid from the brown beast. However, it was stopped when another raptor responded to her cry.
She perked up as she looked from behind the counter she'd hid behind, but the raptor she saw facing off against the beast wasn't any of her pack members. Not only that, it was another female.
She had light gray scales as opposed to Hawk's smokey-gray scales, along with a stripe of royal blue running from her eyes all the way down her sides. Her eyes were a striking shade of yellow, a bit darker than Foxtrot's, but clearly no less sharp.
She slowly stood out from the counter as the two interacted quietly, the gray female speaking too quietly for Gamma to understand, but she wasn't about to get closer with that beast out there. After a moment more, though, it stomped off, leaving the other raptor behind. She looked into the store and saw Gamma peeking out from the counter.
"You," she said in a light voice, but it carried an undertone of authority that Gamma felt obliged to listen to.
"Yes…?"
"Who are you?"
Gamma hesitated before stepping out from behind the counter, avoiding the other female's piercing gaze; clearly she was a leader, much like Foxtrot was, but also decisive like Hawk. Whether that was good or bad, Gamma had no clue, but she was sure she'd find out.
"I'm Gamma…" she said. "You…?"
The female puffed her chest out and declared, "I'm Blue, sister and beta to my pack." She let out a scoff and turned away, muttering, "If I had a pack left, that is…"
"I'm looking for my pack too…" Gamma spoke up.
"Forget it," Blue said. "There aren't any other raptors on this forsaken spit of land." She looked over the beige female and said, "What'd you do to piss off old Rexy?"
Gamma was confused; was Rexy that creature chasing her? Was it chasing her because she'd accidentally angered it somehow?
"Who's… Rexy?"
Blue hummed. "Wow, you really are clueless," she said, but it clearly wasn't malicious like it would've been if it were from someone like Hawk. "All you need to know is that the Queen doesn't like to be disturbed. Stay away from her territory, and she'll leave you alone." She chuckled softly and looked at Gamma. "You've gotta be one crazy son of a bitch to venture in there; even the carnos fear her."
The other female didn't even know what to say to that. She had no clue the building she was being held in was part of this so-called Rexy's territory. If she'd known how dangerous it was to leave, she would've stayed cooped up there for however long she could, build her strength up, then made her silent escape. But now, she'd angered who Blue called the Queen and made a terrible first impression, and now she figured that Rexy would be out for her.
Blue saw the fear in her eyes and hummed again. "Don't worry; I could tell from the moment I saw you that you were fresh meat. I told her you were with me, that I just found you, and that you didn't know that that was her territory. She seemed to understand." She chuckled. "When she's not chasing you, she's a really good Queen: understanding, peaceful, equal, and powerful."
"Like… like an alpha?"
"Exactly like an alpha," the other female affirmed. She smiled. "You pick up on things quickly; I'll give you that."
"Thanks…" Gamma said quietly.
Blue looked around the shop for a second before turning around to go back outside. Gamma, however, was hesitant to follow, unsure if Rexy was still close, despite Blue's words of reassurance. However, she felt a pang of familiarity as Blue turned around.
"Coming?"
It was exactly like how her first interaction with Foxtrot had gone. With that, she picked herself up and started to ask where they were going, but she remembered that, as the alpha's mate, she was technically above Blue.
"I need to find my mate," she said.
Blue sighed. "I'm sorry, but there aren't any raptors on this island."
"I have to try," Gamma insisted. "I need to find my pack's home."
"Where is it?"
Gamma stopped and thought. She had no clue where her pack's home was in relation to where she was; for all she knew, this was all just a bad dream, or an alien world. It might as well have been, because she didn't know anything about anything in these parts.
The gray female sighed again. "Just… what does it look like?"
"Well… there are these big iron walls -"
"Stop right there," Blue said. "I know exactly where that is."
She walked out of the shop, Gamma doing the same weakly as she followed Blue closely, trusting that the beta knew the way.
M