I was going to write more on Blue's pack drama, but it turned into an E centered chapter. This chapter is not as long as it could be (or the best), but it's better than nothing.
I'm sorry :(
E wanted to stay in a ball forever.
But her belly began to ache in hunger, and her mouth began to dry in thirst.
Her toes twitched, and flowered, followed by her leg muscles twitching. Slowly, E unfurled her body, and rose to her feet.
It hurt to rise.
She could still feel the pain of being stabbed between her legs when she moved.
Her stride was unsteady, and one of wound.
A noise escaped E-a croaked, sorrowful whine of a rasp, mixed with a faint whistle. Her blue eyes flicked from the ground, to her surrounds.
The male raptor was not in sight.
He was gone.
A part of E was glad-for he could not hurt her again.
The other part was frightened at being alone, and hurt.
It meant she was vulnerable, and easy prey.
But she could not remain idle.
She needed to carry on.
To survive.
E did not know how much time passed from when she last ate, but she knew she was hungry again.
And it was time to sate that hunger, if ever briefly.
The red and white female swiveled her head around, neck twisting to look around her. She still saw no sign of the Indoraptor. So sign of approaching creatures. She just saw how the leaves and earth were disturbed from their rutting, the nearby trees mere silent witnesses.
E began to patter off towards the sound of a lazily flowing stream. She did not even try to be cautious.
She was tired of being cautious.
Tired of living in fear.
Tired of being hungry.
Tired of being thirsty.
She was just too tired of everything.
It took too much of her energy to be paranoid and cautious all the time.
At least it was nice to feel pleasure, however briefly it lasted.
Nice to feel the warmth of another, his scales gliding against hers.
His breath heaving against her, breath hitching to her attentions.
E had no idea what they did-but it was nice.
But mating-however-was not.
E had difficulty getting the intimacy out of her head.
It felt like the black and gold male was engraved in her senses.
It was like she could still feel him-taste him-smell him-hear him-see him.
E could barely register the cool water that flowed passed her gaping jaws, moving to quench her thirst.
Quench her thirst so much, that it tricked her belly into thinking it was full, and not so hungry.
The scarred female shook her head-of the thoughts-of the excess water that dribbled down her scaled maw.
Attempting to clear her mind, and the memory the large male had upon her senses.
E's eyes closed tightly behind red scaled lids, and remained shut for quite some time.
The slow, heavy pattering of clawed feet upon the earth his the female raptor's ears.
E opened her eyes, pupils adjusting to the light of the day-and released a quiet rasp in start upon seeing another raptor, nearing, just across from her on the other side of the shallow stream.
The earthen red scales of Rust seemed to dominate E's field of view, his golden eyes focused upon her.
E forgot just how large the alpha of her pack was she had not seen him in so long. But compared to her new male companion-Rust was dwarfed.
Not that the Indoraptor was here.
Fear, and dread spread a cold chill deep within her chest, heart pounding hard and swift against her ribs.
Old fears, old traumas coming to a head.
E had yet to defeat them.
She remembered Rust as a large, aggressive male that did what he pleased when he pleased.
But the Rust she remembered was different from the Rust she was looking at now.
He was large, and powerful, but he had wounds upon his scales and tears within his flesh. The crimson upon his scales were darker than his natural coloration, the blood slowly drying and becoming coagulated.
His wounds were similar to hers, but deeper, brutal, more angry.
E was unsure if she should feel pity for her former alpha or not.
Rust was mean.
But at the same time-if Rust was injured-surely the ones who attacked him could hurt her.
What happened?
Did more of their kind come?
Was her former pack killed?
Was Rust the only survivor?
Or did another predator come by, and cause those wounds?
Or did the pack get tired of Rust's leadership?
E looked upon Rust.
Rust looked upon E.
Blue to calloused amber.
Gazes intent.
Cautious.
Curious.
It was then that Rust opened his maw-and produced a brief, if quiet greeting trill.
The call was soft.
Fatigued.
It was a noise that pertained such weakness, E never thought Rust could even produce such a noise. It was enough to cause E to flinch slightly in start, as if she were afraid of the large male to suddenly become aggressive, and strike. Her head warbled, then cocked to the side in confusion. Her killing claws twitched in nervousness, clawed hands clenching and unclenching.
Rust did not bother to wait for E to respond.
He, too, began to crouch low, seeking to quench his thirst in the lazily flowing stream.
E watched the male, and she began to feel her muscles unwind and relax-if ever slightly. The female opened her maw, and released a whistled rasp in greeting.
Attempting to be social.
Friendly.
Because even a male as nasty as Rust was a better companion than no one.
And if E was friendly to her former alpha, perhaps he would be friendly towards her?
Or at least tolerate her and not pick on her.
Rust cocked his head mid drink, water trickling from his scared maw, golden eyes flicking towards the odd female.
A guttural snort from his nares was the only response.
E figured it was better than nothing.
Because something was better than nothing.
Having her former alpha as a companion was odd.
It was even more strange that E expected Rust to be more-well, Rust.
Rust was not Rust.
He just was not.
The Rust she knew threw his weight around.
Knew how to push buttons and scare.
This Rust didn't try to antagonize.
Didn't try to scare.
Didn't try to dominate.
Didn't try to harm.
It was so strange, and his lack of offense only made E keep her eyes upon him even more.
Rust stood differently, too.
As if the former confidence he had within him was snuffed out.
Just gone.
Maybe that's why he chose to stay with her, now?
Because Rust now knew what it felt like to be a pariah.
An outsider.
A reject.
And truly-E did not mind.
It was better than being alone, and she did not know when the Indoraptor would return-if he would return.
Well-to say that Rust was completely different would be a lie.
E noticed him staring, sometimes. His golden eyes alert and predatory.
Observing her injured limp.
Gaze narrowing to focus between her legs.
His nares would flare, and slight drool would well within his jowls.
Yes, Rust was the same glutton for a carnal nature.
But E was not entirely innocent. She was not so shameful as to sway her hips in tease when she knew her former alpha was looking upon.
Showing faux interest in him.
In some small, petty way, it was vengeance.
It was control.
Because when Rust would near her to inspect, and test, nares flaring and jowls welling-E would snap at him.
Snap, and hiss, and make it very clear she was not interested.
It was quite clear that her actions was not what Rust envisioned-for the aggression would swiftly make him retreat, and back away.
Having Rust retreat and flee to a farther distance so easily was not something E anticipated.
Where was the male she was so fearful of?
Where was the male she knew was so brutish?
Pride swelled within E's chest.
This was the male she was afraid of, letting him bully her?
Ha!
And he thought she was interested in him?
E was not interested in such a male-one that used strength to force and scare.
E was interested in-
-Well, E supposed it didn't matter, now.
Her mate-would be mate?-were they even mates?-hurt her.
Hurt her on the inside.
E found herself more often than not looking around, blue eyes scanning the surrounding area, hoping the Indoraptor would return.
If only a little.
He showed her pleasure when others showed her pain.
Maybe he would come back?
But what if he didn't?
E guessed that meant he would not want to be around her anymore, is all.
Would not want to try and join with her again.
Huh.
E was thinking a lot about that now-joining with him-mating.
It was so strange.
It hurt, but she wanted to try again?
It was something E didn't understand.
And it was something E certainly didn't want to try again anytime soon.
Her inside still hurt...
E's thoughts were broken by a call from Rust.
For a moment, E forgot how to raptor.
It did not cross her mind that the large male was attempting to beckon her to hunt.
E's belly reminded her that water could only sate hunger for so long.
It would be nice, to hunt with another.
The Indoraptor skulked and crawled back towards the tiny clearing, golden eyes flicking and observing, pupils sharpening. A fawn, body broken and mangle, was held within his powerful jaws, tawny fur clumping to his scaled jowls and bloodied teeth.
A peace offering, and an apology was held within his jaws.
An apology for hurting the only one that did not hurt him.
It was something the Indoraptor had difficulty forgetting-seeing the little female's mouth agape in a silent cry, eyes wide and filled with terror, tears streaming down her scaled cheeks.
The noise she produced was one of sadness, and pain.
He never wanted to hear that noise from her.
He never meant to hurt her...
The Indoraptor knew little about gifts, and social behaviors.
He just knew what E taught him-that food made things okay.
Thus, the Indoraptor was hoping his offering of prey would be received well-and accepted.
It was such a strange feeling-a strange thought-to care for another.
To care whether they enjoyed his company.
Perhaps it would be best if he did not return?
Return to the nothing?
But, still...E was something.
And the hybrid decided he wanted to try for the something.
Whatever that was.
He was not entirely sure.
Thus, the onyx and gold hybrid was quite perplexed to realize the red and white female was not where he had left her.
E was not there, curled up in a tiny ball of scales.
E was not at the nearby stream.
E was not anywhere.
The quills upon the Indoraptor's head became erect, prey dropping to the ground. His killing claws clacked against the ground in a state of alert-or perhaps vexation. His neck craned, and his head warbled and swiveled, inspecting the area.
His nares flared.
-He smelt another.
-A third scent.
-A male's scent.
Slowly, his scaled lips peeled back into a snarl, an enraged trill escaping him.
Anger, that another male was near his female.
Betrayal, that his female would leave with another male.
Panic-
-Because what if E was hurt by this male?
-This intruder?
What if E was hurt?
In danger?
The Indoraptor's nares flared, golden eyes beginning to rim red.
They could not hide from him.
He would find them.
He would find E.
Hunting had been easier than E thought.
More so than it was less of hunting, and more of scavenging.
The pair were currently feasting upon scraps of flesh, piled within a small clearing of well trodden paths, grasses flat and trampled.
E was swift to feed upon these tiny morsels of flesh.
They tasted like the food that was at that strange nesting ground that made her feel funny.
E did not realize how much she was salivating as she eagerly devoured the scraps, completing with Rust for the prize.
There was other food strewn about in piles-food that her prey normally ate.
There were other food things around in clumps that E was unsure of what they were.
All she knew, was that she needed to eat as much as she could.
Because she did not know when her last meal would be.
E briefly paused from her eating to actually breathe, tongue lapping up the spices and salt upon her scaled lips.
It was then her blue eyes caught the reflection of something shiny up in a nearby tree, almost hidden by the branches.
Like a tiny light in the night.
But in the day, being reflected by the sun.
E craned her neck upward, and looked upon the shiny thing, head warbling and killing claws flexing.
A noise of curiosity escaped her throat, and her head cocked.
Shiny!
A sudden, booming noise that echoed like thunder from above was all it took for E to collapse.
I noticed I write more choppy sentences and fragments when writing Broken Raptors. There's barely any paragraphs. I chock this up to the characters basically having child level logic and intelligence.
If anyone's confused on what happened-they fell for bait and E got shot. E noticed the sun reflecting off the scope of a rifle.
I'm not sure what the next chapter will focus on: E and the Indoraptor or Blue's pack drama?
If you guys have any opinions, or which group you prefer reading, please let me know. As a general rule, I do seem to flip flop every chapter. But a part of the reason I wrote this chapter about E was because I have to prepare for the shit storm that's going to go down with Blue.
I plan for the next chapter with Blue (whenever that will be), to be mainly pack drama with shit exploding because they suffer from raging hormones. And then the second chapter will be very heavy into action, so it will more than likely be longer in length, since I probably won't be writing so many sentences and fragments.
I'm also still flippy floppy on who Blue's mate should be (or which male raptor I like in general). I originally planned for Bravo.
But Storm's growing on me as a character, in general.
I apologize for my rambling.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this shitty story.
Please stay safe, everyone!