Hello all again, Books here.
So this was meant to come out Wednesday, but something came up and I was delayed. But better late than never right?!
I worked hard on this chapter, and there are some things I'm anxious to see what you guys think of. So please! Drop in a review when you're done and let me know what you thought!
Soeaking of reviews, I would like to again thank those who have already done so. So very encouraging.
And to answer XenoRex's review; I'd be happy to talk with you once you get started. :) I have recently signed on to Wattpad as well under the same name "WhenBooksFly101" so if it would be easy to contact me through there go right ahead. Id be happy to help with anything you need.
(Im easy that way.)
Anyways! Hope you enjoy chapter 10, and look foreword what you have to say!
"Jurassic World: Why So Blue?"
Chapter 10
"The Instincts We Hold"
She had to get Owen out of the area; that was her priority. The Utahraptors were nothing but a danger and a thing to avoid.
Rigid, Blue began to hurry back to Alpha.
Through the grasses she slinked and kept her alert eyes on the land around her. Scents of death and blood flowed ever stronger on the wind and made her nostrils quiver in heightened sensitivity.
She didnt understand. Why of all the times she had heard or seen sign of a kill taken place on Nublar, would she would react so highly to this event? The Utahraptors were a distance away and she had no interest in whatever creature they were currently attacking.
Yet her body walked stiff; talons snapping up and down, tail swishing back and forth in agitation, and nostrils quivering with the ocassional snort of breath. Her heart was racing as though she were running.
Angry at herself for the loss of control, Blue growled sharply as she topped the small incline where she had left Owen hiding in the bushes. Her teeth clicked together, and she found herself glancing over her shoulder at the valley below.
She saw nothing but the distant herds as they began to wander about in mild fear. They were afraid, and it only made her agitation intensify.
With that agitation Blue felt curious...curious of the scent she could smell but not recognize with the distance between her and the ridges.
It spoke of desperation and pain that seemed to call out to her; unlike that of the scent or cries of a dying herbivore. She couldn't tell if it was a herbivore, and for some reason it was worrying her.
Suddenly, a snap of a twig behind her grabbed the raptor's attention, and she whirled with a flash of her fangs and a fierce hiss. But she only found Owen before her; hands up and eyes sharp with a warning as he gave a stern but gentle voice.
"Easy, Blue. Its just me."
She blinked in shock at the sight of him and immediatly dropped her hostile posture. Her body then raised, and her jaws parted in a weak churr of apology, as Owen gazed with confusion her way.
Avoiding his questioning gaze Blue turned away and gazed out once again over the valley below; scanning the hillside and what laid beyond.
It was then that she noticed that the wind was stronger up there; rustling through the trees and Owen's hair as well as sliding gently across her scales.
It would bring on a stronger scent, the raptor realized. Maybe she could identify the cause of her unrest and put her sudden burst of instinct to ease, before they drove her insane.
But, before Blue could test the air, she heard a shift of movement beside her. She turned, and found Owen standing there. His eyes were dark with thought and his face was scrunched up in a worried way.
"You alright?"
Alright?...Blue didnt seem to know the answer to that question. She still felt on edge...spurred on so suddenly by the scent that was riding on the wind. So quickly it changed her.
She only wished that the human senses weren't so inferior. Maybe Alpha could smell what she smelled, and share in her worry. Maybe he could tell her what to do.
Thinking this, all the while staring at her Alpha, something whispered against Blue's mind.
No, she was actually hearing something this time.
Attention shifting the raptor warbled and lifted her head, just as the distant sound again rose to her hearing.
A cry, full of pain and agony, lifted on the wind over the valley. It called for help, and rang with a familiarity that made Blue go tense and wide eyed.
It was a Velociraptor...
Like the death cries of her sisters the distress calls hit her, and she shifted with a low chitter. Her tail whipped about and her gaze distanced.
The Utahraptors had found another of her kind to sink their fangs into, and it had the whole valley in distress. With each faint cry and scent of blood on the wind, the herds began to move and call to each other.
She was beginning to feel that same fear herself.
Staring out in the distance Blue sucked in a breath and wriggled her claws as an instinct whispered insistintly. Memories stirred of her sisters and her past months alone.
Protect, save the pack, dont run. Don't let them die.
It came on so suddenly that she snorted in shock, and scolded herself for daring to inch a foot foreword.
No. Ignore the cries. Get out and stay alive.
Blue almost didnt notice Owen moving beside her, and nearly missed his worried voice as she clenched her jaw tight.
"Blue?"
She growled and breathed in the smell of death. Each breath it pleaded to her and her mind went into a mess of frantic thoughts.
This raptor was of no interest to her. She was rejected by her kind not days before; she had no entitlement to its defense. It could fend for itself, as she had for all this time.
Blue gave another snort and tore her gaze from the valley before facing Owen. He was staring at her; visibly concerned as he tilted his head, "Whats wrong?"
She arched her neck and tensed her body. Nothing was wrong. Nothing of interest to them.
She fought the torment inside; forcing it down while she panicked to leave the valley. Her body was tense and her senses were blocked in order to ignore the cries of agony.
Blue was about to urge Owen back into the trees, when a louder noise rose from the ridge in the distance; from where Blue assumed all this trouble was coming from.
It was a battle cry; more throaty than that of a Velociraptor's voice and crying out loud in a statement of dominance and hostility.
A Utahraptor cry, that made Blue stop in her tracks.
All those months of lonliness and feelings of abandonement and loss. All her efforts to save her sisters just to fail in the end; just to hear that same cry roaring from the mouth of the Indominus.
Blue turned with eyes that glistened with inner conflict. All of that pain returned to her in that second and she felt the protective urges as though the raptor in distress was Delta, Charlie, or Echo.
She couldnt deny that she felt pain for that raptor, or that she didnt want it to die.
Curse these pack instincts.
Almost growling in defeat, Blue snapped her tail and clicked her jaw all in one motion. It caused Owen to flinch, and she turned to him with on last thought of hesitation.
What if something happened to her? What if this bore more consequences than her insincts cared to recognize?
It wasnt as if she could take Owen with her either. Even with his gun he would be at risk without raptor defenses...and he would only slow her down.
He would be angry, for her leaving him behind again.
Knowing this Blue grumbled, but the ringing insistence of the endangered raptor kept her attention. Her muscles bound in preparation and her eyes grew sharp.
Owen saw the change and blinked as if he knew something was wrong. Maybe he knew, and he hadnt even realized it yet.
"Blue?"
She looked at him with a mild remorse, and almost didnt notice she had taken a slow step backwards. He frowned, and she chittered before a look of shock spread over his face, "No, no Blue. Wait!"
She could hear the fear in his voice and grimaced, as he stepped towards her with hands raised as if to will her to stay. She reacted with her own strides back, and a warble of apology.
She had to do this. Maybe it would ease her pain...
Owen spoke a little more sternly, "Dont you walk out on me again, Blue."
He stepped towards her, and when she stepped back she saw a flash of pain on his face. Blue was confused by this, until she realized with a gentle snort and lift of her head.
He was frightened that she would leave him again...maybe he was frightened she wouldn't come back?
Her Alpha shook his head, "How am I supposed to know you'll be safe here if you keep running off without me?"
Blue growled softly and flicked her muzzle. Alpha couldn't come. He was slow walking and he did not pocess tooth and claw; the Utahraptor's would take advantage of that, and Blue could somehow sense that even the Velociraptors would not be very accepting of him.
So she snorted, and he pursed his lips.
The next moment she spun on her haunches, and fixed her eyes towards the coast as Owen called out behind her, "Blue!"
Blue wined softly and kept her eyes ahead, before launching foreword on strong legs and racing down the hillside. Grass swept past her until she made it to the riverbank, then turning she followed it upriver; running amidst a spray of dirt and water kicked up by her strides.
She was coming for the raptors. She only hoped for their sake, that she was fast enough.
...
Racing. Running against time Blue sped across the valley bed; reflection whisping across the surface of the slow moving water as she headed for the coast, and the black ridges that stood before it.
Closer, they were more like ominous cliffs than the ridges of mountain. Rising up over the edge of the valley they bore no vegetation growing on the side, or even on the top that Blue could see.
Big dark cliffs, with a single slender waterfall tumbling down from its rocks to feed the valley's river. They didnt seem to be the kind of place Blue would detect all the scents and sounds, but this was where they were coming from; growing stronger as she approached.
Breath heaving in and out from the exertion, Blue slowed at the base of the waterfall; looking about with alert eyes as she studied her surroundings in confusion.
Bushes and foilage lined the base of the otherwise barren cliffs, and grass was overgrown here...nearly passing her belly. This confused her that the herbivores had not trampled or eaten it down like other places in the valley.
She could sense something here though...a presence...a message...
Tail flicking as she stood in the shadow of the rocks, Blue tested the air and growled uneasily. Her nostrils quivered, and she blinked when she was met by a strong musk that made her snort slightly.
The distinct scent of male raptor, both Utaraptor and Velociraptor. Both were familiar to her, but each gave a different message.
The Utaraptor male, stating dominance and agression.
And the Velociraptor male, specifically the black scarred male she had previously met, stating territory and posessiveness.
So...that meant the cliffs lay inside the black male's territory...and the raptor in distress...
Blue snorted. It could be one or many of his pack; the raptors whom had chased her off so willingly a few days before.
Suddenly she was feeling a little less eager to help them.
Her eyes took on a distasteful look, until from ahead, came an echoing call.
It bounced off of the rocks with a muffled cry of pain and ferocity, followed by a yowl that made Blue flinch and go stiff.
A roar soon erupted; Utaraptor, in tone.
The pack must be under siege...and she had the choice of helping them or not.
She didnt like the thought of it, but after the cries coming from the cliffs, Blue was rigid once again in anger and the instinct to protect. All the Utahraptor's roars reminded her of was the Indominus.
Blue hissed to herself, and strode foreword past the haze of the waterfall's mist and towards the rocks. The sound seemed to be coming from there...but how?
Her eyes darted about in search of any clue, as a wall of darkness formed before her. It concerned her for a moment, until through the mist she realized it was a split in the cliffs; a canyon.
At its entrance the grass melded into black stone, and stopping at its line Blue stood up to peer down the shadowed passegeway.
It wound and twisted into the distance, before she lost sense of its direction. It put worry in Blue's heart but she took a slow breath.
She had to hurry if she was to make it in time to save the pack.
So the raptor strode foreword; talons clicking on the stone as she ventured into the passage and took the first right.
Winding and turning she followed it; past holes in the walls and pillars or piles of rubble in the path. Sometimes there was a fork, and she had to depend upon her sense of smell to follow the raptor's scent track.
It was a maze, and with an odd mist overhead. The water clinging to every surface dampened the scents and caused a bit of confusion in some areas.
Blue's confusion only heightened, when she followed one last trace of the raptor scent, to a end in a pathway. It was a dead end; air choked with the spray of a second waterfall covering the back wall of rock.
Stepping over a stream, Blue churred softly and tilted her head.
Surely there was something here...the scents came in this direction... yet.
She snorted. This would be her luck; to get lost in a canyon maze tortured by raptor cries she could not find.
Currently they were muffled by the waterfall, but Blue knew they were still there. She just had to look harder.
Wait...was that light?
As she glanced over the end, and lingered momentarily on the waterfall, Blue thought she saw a sliver of golden light through the water.
Was it possible?
Intrigued, the raptor stepped over the rocks of the stream and approached the waterfall to find a small pathway carved by the ages into the side of the rock wall. It led beside the water, then behind the falls.
She tilted her head, then slowly, carefully, made her way up the path through the haze of the mist. It clung to her scales, and gathered into drops of moisture that trickled down her side.
But, eyes fixed on the space between the waterfall and the wall, Blue pressed on. Her feet fought to grip to the rock and her hearing was filled with a roar, but she drove into the darkness behind the falls.
Talons clicking through puddles on the stone Blue found herself in a cave, and gazed about with awe before noticing a wall of light ahead.
It shone bright against her eyes and called her from the darkness, with the eerie sound of silence amidst the falls.
It was silent, until a sharp chorus of snarls and roars erupted from ahead; closer than before.
Blue found them...
Attention ripping upwards at this Blue curled her lips and growled softly, as a sharp yowl shot through the air followed by crashes and cries from brawling raptors.
Her feet slid foreword, then quickened into a quiet stride that brought her to the mouth of the cave and the wall of blinding light.
Blue squinted, then reaching a leg foreword she stepped into the outside world, and soon followed it with the rest of her body.
She was blinded for a moment, and forced to take a moment to recover before she could open her eyes. When she did, she was met with an amazing sight.
Blue stood in a small meadow; grass beneath her feet and young trees reaching up in thickets around her. Flowers and plants grew and the steady trickle of water rose of the background of the waterfall.
It wasnt a very big meadow; closed off on all sides by the cliff walls and scattered with trees. On one end at the edge of her vision Blue could see a shallow watering pool fed from a small flow off the above ridge.
It was safe, and beautiful...until the moment was destroyed by savage cries and crashes that tore Blue's attention from the scenery.
It was coming from the trees.
Lips curling again in aggression Blue hissed and lowered into a defensive stance before slinking into the thicket along a faint path, recently disturbed by what she assumed were the Utaraptors.
Through the shadows of the plants she crept, until she found a break, and came to a tree line.
There was another clearing; filled with flowing grass and the place of the meadow where a small cave could be seen in the rock. A den...and the source of the cries and ruckus.
Blue hesitated a moment in the trees, before her senses were blasted by the scent of death; strong with the small ammount of distance and causing her to snort in alarm.
Up ahead in the trampled grasses, she could see the mangled body of a dead raptor.
It's flesh lay torn open in great gashes and its innards were strewn over the ground in a mess of blood. It was a young female raptor...one Blue had not yet seen.
Stepping out of the treeline and lingering over the body, Blue grit her teeth and warbled gently.
The Utahraptors made short work of the Velociraptor, and her heart sunk at the sight of the corpse.
But she could hear the chaos of battle within the cave, and her body tensed. This was it...
Her talons extended, and her lips curled to show white teeth as she made cautious steps towards the rock and peered into the cave's dark entrance. It was larger than her, and on the stone floor of the entrance waited a pool of bright red blood.
Not far away from that lay another dead raptor.
Blue faltered at this, but sidestepped around and continued on with slow steps into the shadows. Her surprise depended upon her silence and her victory delended on her strength and cunning.
She ran over the possibilities of the battle, as she entered the first cave chamber. It surprised her actually, and she gazed about in wonder of the den.
In the ceiling above, holes worn into the rock provided shards of light in random places to illuminate the darkness, and from her place she could tell that beyond there were many more chambers to come.
Surprisingly, aside from a bit of moisture, the cave was dry and warm. The earthy scent was bearable.
Blue was intrigued, untill from just ahead she heard a sharp scuffle and screech, followed by a loud thunk against the rock.
Talons scrabbled for purchase, and teeth snapped shut with empty clicks as Blue inched towards the entrance of another chamber.
This one too had light, and was where the battle was taking place.
Blue hadn't seen so much blood. Her eyes widened at the scene and her heart stopped.
Bodies, two more in total, lay about in pools of their own entrails wounded with gaping slash marks into their flesh. But Blue's attention didn't remain there.
Not far away she could see the dimmed form of a massive raptor as it stooped over a corpse; golden muzzle stained red with blood as it ate from the carcass.
Like its mouth, its claws and forearms were equally bloody, as well as its feet and talons. Its golden and black spotted hide was free of wounds...aside from a single bloody puncture in the muscle of its right thigh.
Blue was positive Owen's bullet was still in there. She could see how the Utahraptor female favored that leg and did not put full pressure on it as she stood.
As she was eating on the smaller raptor, her mate was nearby in the shadows; snarling and whipping his tail about as he tore into something in the darkness. Blue could hear it's cries, and went wide eyed when she saw a flash of blood.
The next moment the male Utahraptor spun, and in his jaws dragged a flailing Velociraptor; mouth open in a pained screech as its tail was bitten into and it was lifted off the ground.
It then crashed against the opposite wall, and Blue heard the sharp snap of a bone before it cried out in agony, and she shifted in her place behind the shadows.
Protect, save the pack! Her instincts wailed in response as the raptor scrambled about in a weak attempt to get to its feet and keep fighting.
It was a male judging by its scent; scales a deep grey beneath his wounds and blood. From her distance Blue could just make out the occasional white mark dotted over his back.
She could also see the way his broken leg lay twisted beneath him.
Standing with a wide stance across the room the male Utahraptor snarled with a flash of his fangs and whipped his tail. Its mate continued to eat nearby...
It appeared as though they had deccimated the entire pack, until from the shadows the raptors heard a faint cry.
It was small and weak, and seemed to call out in response to the male Velociraptor's cries. It was a velociraptor itself, but different. Young, if Blue was recognizing its tone correctly.
She could still remember the days when she and her sisters were still young as well; just tiny vulnerable hatchlings that depended on their human Owen for food and comfort.
Her memory was interrupted, by a sharp cackle, and her golden eyes shot up to see that the female Utaraptor had looked away from her current meal.
Another faint wail sounded from deeper in the cave, and the larger female's lips curled into a sneer.
The pack must be destroyed, that was their mission if they should claim this territory as their own.
She stepped foreword slowly, and the male Velociraptor released a savage snarl before attempting to lunge for her. His attack was met with a brutal slash of the male Utah's claws however, and Blue flinched.
Her instincts screamed as the female Utah limped into the shadows and left her mate to the sad pile of broken dinosaur before him.
Save the pack! Danger! Protect! Fight!
Her lips twitched and her body quivered, as she struggled to contain herself amidst a flux of bitter memories.
Images of her sisters crushed and burned flashed before her, and she heard the I-Rex's roars. Her heart pounded against her chest and her eyes took on a wild gleam.
Save the pack! Save the pack!
They begged her...until she heard the ruckus of scrabbling feet, and the hiss of the female Utah, followed by a tiny cry broken with pain then cutting short into silence.
The male Velociraptor snarled sadly, and Blue's last ounce of restraint snapped.
Kill! Tear the Indominus apart!
Her jaws opened in a savage snarl, and her talons struck the tone before all muscle in her body launched her from the darkness.
Another tiny cry shot from ahead, and all her attention locked onto the female Utah.
Running past the male as he made a squawk of surprise, Blue charged into battle with a challenging roar. Her eyes lusted for blood and her teeth longed to sink deep into the enemy's hide.
All she saw was the Indominus...and all she wanted was to rip out her throat; for her sisters, and the pack. Her instincts called out in rejoice.
Not a second had passed, as Blue erupted into the back chamber and found the female Utah standing over a nest of grass and sticks; her jaw coated with more blood and murder in her eyes.
Blue's own eyes shone with that same gleam, and she cried out before leaping up from the stone. Her talons poised for flesh and her jaws parted, then she collided.
All 300 pounds of her slammed into the Utahraptor, and Blue cackled at the feeling of her talons sinking into its side. Her teeth closed around the top of her neck and she sliced downwards with powerful thrusts of the legs.
The larger raptor screeched, as its ribcage was torn and flesh and cleaved from bone. The needles of Blue's teeth pricked her spine and she exploded into a thrashing panicking mess of movement.
But Blue clung on.
Rip out her throat! Save the pack! Rang over and over in her head.
Her feet slashed again and again covered in blood; up her side, over her shoulder, as they traveled slowly towards her throat.
Blue felt the crushing force as she was slammed into the stone wall; felt her bones threaten to break. But she kept slashing, until she felt the skin of the Utah's neck tear beneath her talon and smelled the blood pour from her life vein.
She heard its gurgled cry, and felt her body slow and weaken.
Satisfaction shone in her eyes, as Blue went down with the Utah; as her body began to shiver and the life leave her. To the ground they sunk until the larger dinosaur's head flopped to the ston, and Blue stood atop her limp frame.
Moments of silence passed until the Velociraptor broke free, and tasted the blood on her lips with a sharp hiss. Her lungs sucked in long breaths of air and her heart raced from the pure exhileration of it.
She won.
Her rage dimmed, and Blue's wild search for death quieted until she stared at the body of the Utah.
She almost didn't hear the click of tiny feet approaching, or the gentle chirps that called out to her as if seeing she was safe...she was not familiar.
Slowly, Blue's gaze lifted, and was met with three other tiny pairs of eyes. Two were gold, one was green.
She was surprised at first, when a tiny hesitant chirp called out to her, and felt a tug on her heart. She wanted to answer; churr of reassurance stuck in her throat.
There was silence for a moment as the raptor stared into the shadows at the unseen little ones, but it wa shattered, by a savage roar that stung against her ears.
Blue spun on her feet, and came face to face with the male Utaraptor at the entrance of the chamber. His face was obscured by a shard of darkness but she saw the gleam of hatred in his eyes.
All he saw was the dead body of his mate on the floor, and the raptor whom killed her.
Blue's instinct shouted a second before he charged. Run!
Her feet scrabbled on the floor, and she felt the wind of the passing talons as he lunged for her, but she ducked under. Recovery was a second, and Blue dove out of the chamber in an attempt to gain an advantage of ground.
She was smaller and more agile in the confines of the cave, but she needed a larger space in order to move swiftly; without the male Utah constantly ontop of her.
He followed close behind, and Blue snarled as she felt the heat of his breath on her tail. She heard his hiss, just before she felt the stinging pain of his teeth sinking into the flesh of her tail.
The next thing she knew, Blue was in the air as he flicked his head sharply, and tossed her across the chamber as if she were a ragdoll. The impact into the wall forced the breath from her lungs, and she felt the burning pain of her ribs as they snapped against the stone.
Gasping, writhing in pain Blue whimpered sharply on the floor as the Utaraptor towered above her.
His pain and rage shone in his eyes and reflected in the prey's eyes below him. His foot lifted, and Blue felt his crushing weight on her broken side as he pressed it against her and pinned her to the ground.
She cried, and lashed out at him even if she was unable. Desperation and pain burned in her own body, as she called out for help into the lonely darkness.
She knew there was no one there to come to her aid, but it was merely a reaction to the pain and fear.
The Utahraptor hissed above her and she felt the point of his talon on her scales. She expected its peircing stab into her side and waited to feel its pain.
But it never came.
Instead the air came alive with snarls and calls, and Blue felt the vibrations of multiple feet through the stone she lay upon.
A roar, deep and filled with rage, filled the cave louder than the Utah's.
This one was Velociraptor.
From the entrance of the cave through the light, came a blurr of blackness and the flash of fangs, just before Blue felt it collide with the Utahraptor ontop of her.
It was enough to knock the larger male off, and Blue took in a gasping breath before looking up with wide eyes.
There, squaring off in front of the dazed Utah stood a black raptor; hide littered with scars from claws and teeth. A single golden eye burned with hatred, and Blue made a grunt.
The scarred Alpha. He had come to his pack's aid.
The male snarled and whipped his tail with a strike of his talons on the stone. His stance screamed dominance and his voice gave challenge.
The Utahraptor was stunned at first, but gathering his wits he shook his head, and hissed back in retalliation.
But he wasnt confident for long.
Trying to pick herself up off the ground Blue whimpered, and looked up to see five more raptors burst into the cave opening.
An Albino with red eyes, a grey female with green spots, a brown elder with a missing death talon, a tan female with golden stripes, and a jet black female with blood red markings down her spine.
The pack must have been out hunting.
Staring in awe, Blue watched the black female dart up to side her Alpha; snarling with him in challenge to the Utah.
With her came the others, and Blue saw the enemy's confidence melt. Six against one...the odds were not in his favor.
And he knew it, as the Velociraptors crept closer and forced him against the wall; snarling and snapping their jaws at him making him hiss.
He hesitated, But Blue saw the fear come into his eyes as they darted towards the cave entrance.
Yes. Flee. Flee and never come back.
Blue still struggled to right herself, as the pack pushed against him and drove him towards the exit. Slow but fierce they challenged him and with each second he was loosing his will to fight back.
Then, with one last final hiss and glare to the female laying in the corner, he turned, and sped out of the cave for his life.
Three raptors gave chase; to assure he would leave the meadow and their home.
But three remained behind, and Blue found herself feeling a slice of worry as she watched them stare out after their foe.
She remembered their hostility towards her, and made a small grunt before attempting to stand. She had to get out of there, before...
Hearing the scuffle behind him, the Alpha male stiffened, and Blue whined as his head slowly turned.
A sharp golden eye rested on her, and she saw the flash of his teeth with his growl.
Oh no.
Cliffie time! Lol (Sorry)
Next update will be coming out Saturday (I hope), so keep an eye out!
And again, please review. :) I fretted alot over this chapter and I'm anxious to see what you all have to say for it.
BOOKS OUT!
