Hello guys!

First off, I would like to apologize for disappearing and failing to update Why So Blue. Life just hasn't been allowing much free time and writer's block has ruined the time I do have. Too many nights have been spent staring at a black screen.

I would like to thank all of you, for being so kind and patience despite my poor updating skills. I really do appreciate it, after the promises I have failed to go by. You have no idea.

Before we start with the story, I would like to throw out a few things.

One, due to an unimaginable boom in word count and the destruction of writer's block, this chapter was nearing 15k words. I felt this was much too large to post all at once, so I split it into a part #2 and #3. (The third part is nearly done and I'm home all day, so its positive that I will be posting it in a few hours.)

Two, I've been wanting to give a shoutout to my readers, specifically the ones whom have been so kind as to make me fanart for Why So Blue.

If you guys would like to check out the awesomeness, go to Deviant Art and find me under the usual username "WhenBooksFly101". On my user page you will find loads of fanart, commissioned work, and my own art all focused on the story and its characters. There's animation clips, clay models, illustrations, and loads of pictures showing what the Waterfall Pack looks like.

Also, if you have an account of your own, you can follow me and get updates on Why So Blue's progress. Its easier to communicate and I love everything from art requests to ideas for the story's plot line.

Thank you so much, to the readers whom have created art for my characters and the story. They're all so amazing and I'm so honored to have so many fantastic followers!

Now that we have those few notes out of the way. Let's get on with the story.

If you have anything to say about the new chapters, please leave a review and let me know what you thought. I would love some feedback on these crucial points in the story, to see if anything needs fixed or to see how you react to what I have planned.

Thank you again everyone! You're all so awesome!


"Jurassic World: Why So Blue?"

Chapter 20

"Field Day - Pt. #2"

"Lesson Two: Safety In the Trees"


~Blue's POV~


Usually Blue liked a good puzzle. Being a sharp minded raptor with a drive of curiosity, it amused her to study things and discover how they worked and how they behaved. It was instinctive nature wired into her being. It was her first reaction when finding new things that confused her, as somewhat of a safety precaution to know them before they became a danger and tried to kill you. It was how she was made and sooner or later she solved the puzzle.

For example, Blue knew a lot about the Waterfall pack and its members. She knew a lot of their quirks and habits, the basics of their personalities, what they liked and disliked, how they would react to different scenarios, and how they treated one another. She learned those things to keep herself safe and comfortable within the pack. By solving their puzzles she knew how to act around each member.

Until it came to alpha Kilo.

From the very first day Blue met Kilo, she had a hard time knowing how to act in his presence. She considered him a puzzle that had not yet been solved or understood, difficult for even the most crafty of thinkers. Every moment she thought she had figured him out, the male would do something completely uncharacteristic and thwart her previous investigative evidence.

As time went on Blue came to know Kilo as two separate raptors, very different from one another. One was a raptor she feared, short tempered and stern with his orders. The other was one she had come to enjoy; caring, gentle, patient, protective, and clearly...playful. At times he would flash back and forth so much that Blue didn't know how to act in his presence. Sometimes she chose to be friendly but it would only get her into trouble. Sometimes she chose to be submissive only for it to be unnecessary. It got her into such a tizzy she often couldn't keep her head on straight, frustrating her and weighing down on her confidence.

The "Playing Incident" only pushed Blue's confliction further. It made her happy... but conflicted just the same. One second alpha Kilo was hellbent to kill her, the next he was bouncing and frolicking with more happiness than she had ever seen him express. For the smallest of moments, Blue thought she broke through and befriended him, but just as quickly as Kilo changed he went back to his usual self. The "cold and stern" Kilo. After the game of tag he became very quiet and began ignoring Blue, as though showing compassion and happiness in her presence were beneath him.

Very mysterious was this alpha of hers. Blue was beginning to wonder if she would ever figure him out, or if there was ever to be a pack bond between them.

Laying in the grass, shielded from the hot sun, Blue rested her head between her forelimbs and let her body spread out in a relaxed position. Her tail flicked lazily back and forth in time to eased breaths. Her eyes gazed ahead with small flickers of curiosity and thought, not really looking at anything due to the intensity of her daydreaming.

After Kilo started ignoring her, Blue let the younglings continue their games while she rested in the grass and had some alone time. She had been there for almost an hour, while Kilo himself had gone back to his rock shelf on the water's edge, to lay and soak up some more sun. She could see him through the grass, neck arched gracefully and sharp eye surveying the land surrounding him.

Kilo...playful. The very concept of those words together sounded wrong, but-

Suddenly, cutting off Blue's thoughts, a sharp shriek filled the air and her body shot into tension. Movement filled the corner of her vision, the grass rustled, then a small gray creature collided with her shoulder. Little claws scraped her scales as it clambered up onto her back, causing Blue to go wide eyed and chuff in a small scolding.

Star! It wasn't nice to scare her like that!

Wiggling slightly atop Blue's back, Star chirped happily and nuzzled her. With curious eyes she asked the older female what she was doing. Was she doing anything interesting? Exciting? Fun? She looked around, expecting something, but realizing Blue was simply laying there her tail drooped in disappointment.

Was she doing anything?

Blue lifted her head and chuffed in amusement of the hatchling's actions. She was laying and relaxing for a bit. That was something, wasn't it?

Star gurgled. No that wasn't something! That was nothing! Playing was something! Exploring was something!

Blue would have raised an eyebrow if she had one. She tilted her muzzle up, then leaned it close to the youngling with a soft teasing growl. She just got done playing. To that reminder Star purred and wagged her tail. Yah, and it was amazing! She hadn't seen Kilo play like that in forever! Could they do it again?

Blue blinked. Again?

Slowly, lifting her eyes, the female turned and looked at the watering hole where Kilo was. As before he was on the rock shelf, but he was standing up with his back turned to her. It seemed he was watching something off in the distance that Blue could not see. Her lips pressed together and she exhaled.

No...no they wouldn't be playing again anytime soon.

Star blinked and tilted her head. Why? Didn't Blue have fun playing with alpha?

Blue simply responded with a low grumble. Yes, she liked it, but that didn't mean it was going to happen again.

Why?

Because Kilo didn't want to play with her anymore.

Why?

Because-...well she didn't know. He just didn't.

Why?

Unsure how to respond and a little annoyed by Star's questioning, Blue looked to the ground and stared at it for a single silent moment. She let everything around her slip away just a bit, until she felt Star shift forward to the base of her neck. The hatchling cooed softly in her ear.

Hey, Blue?

The older female looked over her shoulder and managed a semi-patient sounding purr. Yes?

Star parted her jaws in a pleading way, just as her stomach gave an audible protest and gurgled. When were they going to get food? She was really hungry and so far Kilo didn't seem to remember that they missed breakfast.

Blue blinked. Breakfast? Were the younglings hungry already?

A little mind-voice scolded her. Of course they were hungry! They were young and had far more demanding diets than adults, to make up for their growth spurts and vulnerable metabolisms. Adult raptors could make it some time in between meals, whereas the young had to be fed every few hours to keep them happy.

The task of hunting had slipped Blue's mind when they arrived at the watering hole. Playing had distracted her and obviously it had distracted alpha Kilo as well.

Arching her neck and taking on a guilty look, Blue purred. She nodded her head to Star and reassured her with little sounds that food would be found in due time; lots of food that would fill their bellies and make them happy.

Star chirped. Could she help hunt? They said she could!

A pause, then Blue sighed. Her eyes lifted up and over to the watering hole, back to alpha Kilo, before turning skyward in what some would call a raptor's prayer.

Yes, they said that didn't they. Well, she couldn't go back on her word, now could she?

Certainly not to Star.

Star wiggled happily and jumped from Blue's back. She rubbed up against her chest in a gesture of appreciation, before darting off into the grass and declaring she was going to tell Mike and Curare the good news. For a few moments, Blue could hear her footsteps and voice. They faded swiftly away and soon everything was quiet again.

With the silence came a realization. If there was to be any hunt, Blue would have to first get permission from alpha Kilo. This required that she talk to him, despite their current differences. That thought didn't sit well with her. It made her anxious and a little reluctant to move from her spot.

The little voice scolded again. Do it for Star! Be brave! Be bold! Be like the beta you once were!

Blue grumbled, but got her feet underneath her and stood up over the tall grass. She shook the dirt out of her scales, stretched, then turned and fixed her eyes on the watering hole. For the third time, she found the rock shelves and the male raptor standing upon them. For the third time, she pursed her lips in tension but she forced her feet forward. She approached with head high and tail arched.

The younglings needed food. She would simply tell Kilo that and ask him what she could do to help. Maybe they could take them somewhere near the watering hole to hunt?

Pulling up to the rock shelves, head suddenly not so high and tail not so proudly arched, Blue sucked in a breath. She wriggled her claws in anticipation, then tilted her muzzle up and found Kilo upon the rocks. Her voice came out soft and with the slightest of breaks.

Alpha?


~Kilo's POV~


This changed things. He wasn't counting on such an unexpected turn of events. He wasn't prepared.

Kilo stood tall on the rock shelf back at the water's edge, gazing off into the distance like a bird perched on a watch tower. His head was tilted to the side of his good eye, which flicked about and fixed on hills that could be seen in the distance. On those hills were multiple dark blobs of movement drawing closer and closer. From between Kilo's twitching lips, he grumbled and growled.

It was midday, some time after they arrived at the watering hole, and the herd animals were coming in to drink. From where the alpha raptor stood he could see the Hadrosaurs, Triceratops, and other lumbering creatures across the next rise. He heard their bellowing and it unsettled him. Very soon the watering hole was going to be full of thirsty big bodied brutes. Like daily clockwork they were coming to line up at the water and send the place into a crowded mess, drinking and eating the ripe plant life, shoving each other until little fights were started between them.

The herd animals were creatures of habit. Like every other day they came down, but in such large numbers, Kilo's threats and efforts to push them back would only be ignored. Because of that, his group was in danger. In such conditions the younglings were at risk to be crushed underfoot, or mauled if they accidentally bumped into someone they shouldn't.

It wouldn't be safe for them to stick around, thus they would move to a more secluded area.

Of course...Kilo would have remembered the midday rush hour if it wasn't for getting distracted. The male grunted and flicked his tail, while his eye turned to the water and his chest fell on a heavy exhale. His emotions swarmed in conflicted opinions. His mind, although he knew there were more important things to worry about, lingered on the "playing incident" from nearly an hour before. It lingered on the moment in which he, the alpha, indulged in rough play with omega Blue.

He acted so foolishly...so immature and undisciplined. At first his chest swelled and his heart reeled at the feeling of joy, thinking about playing and having fun with another, but immediately after that the feeling deflated. It shifted to an uneasy regret that weighed heavily on his instincts.

The little voice insisted that alphas do not play, and certainly not with omegas. Alphas do not lose focus. Alphas do not go romping around as though they are only a few weeks old.

The other half of his subconscious countered. But wasn't it fun? Didn't he enjoy the romping? Didn't he enjoy chasing and wrestling?

In recent days, Kilo had heard from his 'second half' more often, and with greater enthusiasm. It was the half that he liked to hide away. It was the half that he once thought forgotten, behind alpha duty and old painful memories. It was the half he wanted to forget for the betterment of himself...but then omega Blue came along, and more often he felt his hidden half come crawling back into the light. It wanted to sneak out and so often he found himself fighting it back.

How dare the omega, making him feel so at war with himself. How dare she lure him into such reckless behavior.

Suddenly, as Kilo mused again over his woes, a voice from below came to his hearing. It called with a soft caution, broken in tone but loud enough for him to easily detect and immediately know the creature speaking. In turning Kilo found himself gazing at omega Blue herself, whom gazed back with bright golden eyes that caught at his senses. She was standing beneath him and his rock throne, to which his tail flicked.

He had not sensed her coming. Distracted again, alpha?

Tail slowly arching, chest puffing out, Kilo snorted and regarded the female. A very small part of him wanted to show friendliness, but he chuffed before bothering to discover what Blue wanted or why she had approached him. He remembered his duties at hand and in turn all thoughts geared towards acting on them, with utmost priority.

Omega. Come here.

For a moment Blue seemed caught off guard. She reeled her head back with a small gurgle, and he saw her body display gestures of timid uncertainty. When she didn't move he persisted with a stern growl.

Don't dawdle. This wasn't the time to hesitate.

Blue chirped sharply in frantic obedience, then lifted her leg and climbed up the rock shelf towards him. After a few moments she reached his level, lingered at the edge of the platform, then stepped up with a submissive bow of her head. She came to a stop beside him, at the point of his shoulder but not too close.

Yes, alpha?

Looking into the smaller female's eyes Kilo was quiet for a moment. He watched her micro-expressions and translated them with swift thoughts until he saw every hint of curiosity, fear, excitement, and hope.

Kilo blinked, then shook his head and began explaining himself. He informed Blue of the herbivores coming in, pointing them out on the horizon with his muzzle, and emphasizing the danger of their presence with low vocalizations.

It was no longer safe. As Kilo explained that Blue seemed to understand, but in turn she seemed disconcerted, as though she had something important to tell him but he had interrupted her.

The female bobbed her head. Where would they go if the watering hole was no longer safe?

Kilo snorted. That was simple; they would go north, to the outer forest that made up the Prey Valley's borders. The trees there were thick and difficult for large creatures to move through, which would provide a semi-secluded area for them to continue the field day. Such a place would be much safer for the younglings.

For a long moment there was silence as Blue stared at the ground, lips twitching and tail quivering behind troubled thought. This made Kilo chuff sharply. Was there something wrong with his plan?

The omega looked up and shook her head. No! No, there was nothing wrong with his plan!

Then why did she seem so concerned?

Blue blinked, staring at her alpha in silence, before bowing her head again in submissive gestures. She did not disapprove of his plans...not necessarily...but she didn't tell him that. She expressed to him that she accepted his plan, before ever so softly she crooned in an effort to change the subject.

Would there be good prey to hunt in the new location?

Kilo made a choked sound as if stifling a chortle. Good prey? Well, of course there would be good prey! Why did she ask such a thing?

Blue chirped sheepishly and swished her tail. Very tentatively she told him what she had originally come to say, that the younglings were hungry. She told him that Star wanted to hunt, to which he lifted his head and snorted.

He'd forgotten that the younglings would be needing food. It had slipped his mind, behind playing and guarding and thinking about his duties.

The male spoke with a softer tone before turning in a 360 and facing away from Blue. Yes...once they got into the forest, they could find food and give the younglings their breakfast.

Turning, jumping down from the rock shelves to the ground, Kilo arched his neck and gave a sharp call for Star and the adolescents. Just as Blue began to follow, they came racing from the grass. With little screeches of excitement they slid to a stop kicking up dust, before turning their eyes up to the adults and wagging their tails with loud chittering. Immediately Star lifted her head and jumped forward with a shrill voice.

Were they going hunting?

Of course, Kilo wasn't all that surprised when Star burst out with the lead question. He stooped low over his niece and reassured her that the hunt would soon begin. First, they had to leave the watering hole and find a new place to stay. His top priority was keeping everyone safe. She understood that, right?

To that, Star wagged her tail in excitement, while Mike and Curare grumbled softly with drooping tails.

They were leaving? Why! The watering hole was fun!

Kilo snorted softly and bent down to nudge Star north bound towards the grass, while his answer to the adolescents was simply a stern "because", and they asked no more questions. Instead, they fell in behind Star and Blue walked up behind them, whilst Kilo took the lead as before.

As the group went on, into the grasses and away from the watering hole, Star chittered hesitantly. Rather than asking her uncle Kilo directly, she cast a sideways glance to Blue, whom she considered her "go to" raptor for questions of honest curiosity.

Would they find lots of food where they were going?

Kilo chuffed from his place at the lead. Not two moments ago the omega asked that same question.

Blue chuffed and flicked her tail before Kilo himself could answer. A purr rose from her throat in gentle reassurance and a promise, that the second they reached their destination, they would find some food. Everyone would eat in due time...

Crying out in happiness, Star bounced on her toes while Kilo wriggled his claws and stared ahead. For a few long moments the little one went on with her celebration, until she became very quiet and took on a thoughtful expression.

Without looking back at her to see the gleam in her eyes, Kilo let out a heaving sigh. What was it Star?

His niece very quietly chirped, then strengthened her voice into a hesitant whimper. Could she hunt with Blue?

Blue flinched and Kilo blinked. He looked over his shoulder to Star, then the omega who he stared at for a long moment. A little voice wanted to speak up. It told him it wasn't Blue's place to teach his niece how to hunt, but the other half argued that she was indeed qualified. Kilo hesitated, unsure, but breaking down beneath Star's gaze he agreed. ONLY on the condition that they remain in his sight, and close enough for him to help should anything happen. Was that clear?

Blue chuffed in a vaguely tense tone. It was crystal clear.

Good. Things were settled then.

Without anything more said, Kilo went onwards so that the watering hole got smaller and smaller behind them. The herbivore's calls got quieter, and the air began to fill with a more broad range of scents.

He tried to ignore Star's whispering sounds of excitement, and rather focused on the task at hand.

Once they were in the forest, there would be much more to worry about and keep track of. It would be good lessons for the younglings on navigation and safety, so long as he was careful and kept a good eye on everyone. If Blue did her part by listening to his rules and staying close with Star on the hunt, everything would go according to plan.

"Field Day Training - Lesson Two: Safety in the Trees" was beginning.


~Blue's POV~


Blue lied to Kilo, when she told him she wasn't concerned for his decision to move the group. She wanted to tell him her fears but in the same way those fears stopped her, making her worry what he would think if she questioned his judgement. She kept quiet for the sake of her own hide, but in the process she tormented her mind with paranoia and concern.

All memories and experiences of thick forest life were harsh for Blue. In the two months Blue lived alone on Isla Nublar, she learned more things than years in the raptor enclosure ever taught her. Her small territory surrounding the abandoned facilities was dangerous and sparse of prey. The trees were dense and difficult to move through, which made hunting more of a challenge than it already was. Too many times she found prey and lost it through a thicket, or was ambushed by a larger carnivore and nearly killed.

Blue's memories of her old home were poisoned with emotions of anxiety and frustration, thus it poisoned her expectations of Isla Sorna's forests and Kilo's decision to enter it. Was it safe to take the younglings into the forest? Was it wise?

Blue had only been in the forest once or twice since Owen brought her to the island, but what she had seen of it didn't bring her hopes up. It held nasty creatures like massive Utahraptors, and things she had never smelled or seen before. It was so much bigger and more inhabited, there was no way of knowing how many dangers waited for them in the trees.

The realization that Sorna was more dangerous than Nublar had come to Blue long ago, when she first woke up on the beach and took in all the scents.

Was alpha making a mistake?

Confused and worried, Blue ducked her head and stared at the ground as she walked. She tried to sound optimistic when one of the younglings asked her a question, answering them to the best of her abilities even when the subject went beyond her own experience.

All Blue knew about the forest was that there were three rules to follow. If you obeyed them you lived. If you ignored them, then something bigger might try to kill you.

#1: Always keep track of scents

#2: Always listen

#3: Always watch the shadows and guard your back

In that moment Blue decided that, even though she was afraid, she would follow her alpha and help him in any way that she could. She would protect the younglings, make them behave, and keep a good eye out for danger. She would help Kilo by teaching the younglings what she knew, even if she knew very little.

If there was anything Blue was good at, it was running and hiding. Learning such things wouldn't be bad for the younglings...would it? But then...she did have more dues to pay other than lessons of caution. She had promised Star there would be a hunt, which she would lead and advise under Kilo's supervision.

After many failed solo hunts this was concerning. It made her want to drop out of the task, but her insides curled at the thought of denying Star a promise.

Just try it, her conscience demanded. Do it for Star and do it for the old beta inside you!

Suddenly, breaking through Blue's inner pep talk, the younglings froze on the trail and let out a chorus of uncertain chuffs. She nearly tripped on them but a quick swing of her tail gave balance, saving her from a nasty collision.

What happened? Why did they stop?

Feeling concerned Blue crouched into a cautious stance and looked up. Her lips curled ever so slightly and her eyes narrowed, but immediately after doing so they widened and her aggression disappeared. Her heart stopped in her chest and she glanced over her shoulder in bewilderment, as though something behind her was of great confusion.

Actually, everything around her was of great confusion. They had arrived at the northern forest line, on the other side of the valley from where the watering hole was located. Already? How long had they been walking? How long had she been thinking to herself, failing to see the distance they covered?

The forest was before them like an ominous wall, massive trees reaching up into the sky with thick canopies of foliage and vine leaves. It was so dark that one could only see some dozen feet forward, but here and there a streak of sunlight would break through the canopy, dotting the damp forest floor with gold. Blue could see ferns and thick upward growing vines, typical of tropical environments.

Outside the tree line, the grass was surprisingly thick and spared major traffic, yet worn in many different paths used by smaller creatures than that of lumbering Triceratops and Parasaurolophus. They were all worked down to dirt from heavy use, and all paths led one direction into the trees.

How peculiar. Blue could not pick out a set of tracks, nor could she pick up a fresh scent when she put her muzzle close to the ground. She chuffed uneasily, but an answering gurgle sounded from ahead and she turned her eyes to alpha Kilo. He was stopped at the head of the group facing her, head up and eye holding a gleam of serious determination. It flicked around ever so slightly when a noise caught his attention, making him as cautious and alert as Blue was herself.

The forest was loud. Blue could hear the birds singing in the upper canopy, the buzzing of large insects, the cries of distant dinosaurs, and the softer voices of resident rodents. The raptor's keen hearing picked up everything in a miles radius, and that area only grew for her sense of smell when she took a breath.

Rotting plants, humid and damp air, bird smell, rodent smell, moist earth, and a flood of unfamiliar dinosaur scents. She was immediately intimidated by the foreign smells, but another gurgle from Kilo made her refocus on the task at hand.

Enter forest. Protect younglings.

Blue looked to her alpha and bobbed her head, then attempted to step forward. She intended to herd the younglings up to his side but the male snapped his teeth and hissed sternly.

Wait, omega. It wasn't time yet.

Wasn't time? What did he mean?

Blue blinked with wide eyes, but Kilo stepped closer and bowed down over the younglings. He pressed his muzzle against their backs so that they crouched onto their bellies, then purred in encouragement for them to remain still and quiet. Once they were settled he turned to Blue. He stared for a minute, then chuffed and instructed for her to do the same.

Lay down with the younglings and keep watch. Stay put until he returned.

Blue's breath hitched. Return? Was alpha going somewhere?

The female shifted nervously and whimpered, nervous being so close to the forest when Kilo said he was leaving. She was worried for him going out alone, and worried for the younglings whom she would be left behind with. Little fears of the past creeped up on her in instinctive screams, recalling months of being alone and scared on Nublar.

No! No one goes alone! Its not safe!

Kilo snorted and puffed out his chest. It hushed Blue, so that he could chitter gently in reassurance. His tail flicked but he maintained a composed demeanor despite his frustration.

There was no need to be afraid, remember omega? His job was to make sure everyone was safe, and the only way to do that was to check the area for danger. He would go in, make a quick sweep, then come back and get them. He was trusting her to watch the young until then. Could she do that for him?

Blue flinched. She ducked her head and looked away from Kilo, while her fearful thoughts ran amok in challenge to her obedience of him. They told her that splitting up was a bad idea, but obedience said that alpha Kilo was strong and smart.

He knew was he was doing, and he knew more than she did. Listen to alpha, Blue.

So, the female bobbed her head and slowly lowered down into the grass, propped against her legs in a half-crouch and half-lay position. She said nothing, but Kilo nodded his head in approval and turned towards the forest. His tail arched, his neck extended, then he stepped forward with long exaggerated strides.

From her place in the grass, Blue watched Kilo slink onto a dirt trail and follow it into the trees. She watched him sniff the ground and air, step a few feet forward, then repeat. He rocked up and down on his feet pads, and bobbed his head up and down in graceful dips of the muzzle.

Alpha was alright...alpha was strong and brave...alpha was going to be alright...

Blue closed her eyes when she lost sight of the male. She tried to focus on the sound of his fading footsteps, but before long the only thing that remained was his scent.

Slowly, Star tried to whimper impatiently, but Blue chuffed.

Hush little one...he would be back soon.


~...~


Some minutes passed. Blue eased onto her belly and began to wait uneasily, while the younglings closed their eyes and took a small nap. She appreciated the calm but her heart was restless, making her gaze flicker repeatedly to the trees in which alpha Kilo had disappeared.

It wasn't until Blue's own eyes began to flutter closed that a snapping twig caught her attention. As her eyes opened her lips curled in instinctive aggression, arching her neck and looking up to the tree line. She searched the shadows for a threat, but in doing so she saw a black scarred raptor and her actions melted behind relief. She stood up from the grass, and the three younglings woke with little yawns.

Alpha!

Kilo came striding down a path from behind the foliage. His head was high and he seemed pleased, just as healthy as he had left and with no hint to seeing anything that would concern him. As he got closer he confirmed Blue's hopes with a nod.

It was safe to enter here. They were to go in cautious, but at the moment he could sense nothing more than a ruckus of compies about three hundred yards in. Blue growled softly at that to which he held back an amusement sound.

Was everyone ready?

The younglings got up from the grass and stretched out their legs. Mike wobbled a bit and Curare sneezed, but Star wagged her tail and chirped. She walked up to Blue and rubbed against her legs, then did the same for Kilo before he turned and led the way towards the forest.

Thus, the group went after him.

As Blue walked into the shadows behind the younglings, she glanced about with little breaths and tests of the air. Her lips twitched and curled, and her eyes narrowed into sharp slits of gold, which seemed to glow after reflecting the limited sunlight. Every shadow was a monster; every flap of a bird's wings was a trigger for her defenses. The younglings were chirping happily. Blue didn't notice until Star hung back and bumped her, smiling a raptor's toothy smile.

Omega Blue looked scared. Why was she scared?

One of her voices piped up. Of course she was scared! She had plenty of reasons to be scared!

Blue looked up and ahead to where Kilo walked. He was leading them straight into the trees, down a heavily used dirt path which he seemed to know very well. His one eye glanced about with an air of caution, but unlike her he was confident and calm.

If alpha was brave...then she needed to be brave as well and trust him. Alpha knew best...

Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths, But looked down at Star and chirped.

Well...little one...sometimes it was good to be scared.

Star seemed to think for a moment, before bobbing her head in agreement. She remembered being scared, when the Utahraptor attacked her pack. She remembered how terrified and sick she felt as she heard the death cries of pack members.

Star remembered, when the female Utahraptor entered the den's rear chamber, how her siblings stood out in the open and gazed upon the enemy with no fear in their eyes.

While she was scared and hidden in a corner, her siblings were murdered because of being ignorantly brave.

As the group ventured forth, Blue looked down at Star and pursed her lips. She felt sadness for the youngling and how calmly she addressed her siblings' deaths, and guilt touched her for failing to save them. As Kilo took a bend in the path and they continued walking, she ducked her head and nudged Star with a gentle bump of her muzzle, to which the youngling swayed and chittered happily. Pulling close she licked the older female's cheek, before looking ahead and running off to catch up with Mike and Curare.

More time passed. With each minute that went uneventful, Blue began to feel more at peace in her surroundings. She began to walk with a greater confidence, chittering to herself, until looking ahead she began to notice something odd.

Walking slower than before alpha Kilo had his muzzle to the dirt. Even from her position at the back of the group, Blue could hear his rushing breaths and clicking teeth, scenting the trail and expressing deep thought through his actions. It made her blink and tilt her head before uttering a curious chuff.

Alpha? Was something wrong?

The male replied with a distracted croon, reassuring her that all was well. He went back to sniffing the dirt, walking along with a swinging gait and arched tail. The younglings jumped after him and inspected the ground as well, working up a storm of excitement for the what ifs.

What if it was a plaything? What if alpha scented prey?

Kilo gurgled and shrugged the little ones off, before walking up to a thicket of trees just off the beaten path. His eye was slit with concentration, flicking back and forth as he stopped at a few choice trees and smelled their trunks.

Blue chuffed again. Alpha?

No answer, and Kilo continued his search. Coming to a stop before a large redwood tree just alongside the trail, a series of short rushing snorts escaped him, before he lifted his head and followed a scent from the roots up the trunk. About six feet up he froze at an odd group of marks, long and deep gashes down to the inner wood, dried sap formed like blood clogged inside a flesh wound. There the male snorted again and stepped even closer.

Blue tilted her head. With great confusion she and the younglings watched, until the omega chuffed and walked up to one of the first trees Kilo inspected. She sniffed the ground and flared her nostrils in an effort to understand what alpha had found. Her olfactory senses were kicking into overdrive in order to analyze scent tags she had not sensed before.

At first, Blue found it difficult to pick anything out from the smell of bark and sweet sap. Like the tree Kilo stood before, it was marked with long jagged gashes Blue could only assume were claw marks, but from what?

Another deep breath and the first scent came to her. It was dim from aging for a few days, but going through her brain it translated and identified by instinctive memory. The scent was raptor, and Blue could tell it was a male judging from the vague musky smell. Ever so slightly she detected a familiarity, and once she realized what that was, the female pulled her head back with wide eyes.

The tree was covered in scent from elder Alden. It was weak but she could easily tell it was him, as well as translate the underlying message behind his scent. All scents held a message, and through Blue's senses they might as well have been human words, spoken and understood clear as day.

"My pack's territory. All tresspssers take heed and beware."

The warning was something Blue didnt expect. She looked up with a shocked gurgle upon realizing what it meant, to find such a thing so far out in the forest.

If the tree was a territory marking...it meant the land they covered that day was all Kilo's. The prey valley was his, and the forest line was his. To think he owned such a large space amazed Blue, which in comparison to her own small territory on isla Nublar, made her feel just how much more powerful he was than her.

Intrigued, Blue stepped forward to the next tree with claw marks on it. She sniffed it and studied its scents, to find male scent from elder Hook. His message was the same, although stronger and more agressive in tone than Alden's.

After that there was a tree marked by Tango, a tree heavily wounded and marked by Lima, and an old scent mark from beta Shadow. It was so faint that Blue could just barely detect it, so she concluded that it was because the female hadn't left the den since her mate was wounded.

Another thing Blue noticed was the difference in tone between male and female territory markings. At first she didn't bother to address it, but upon smelling each tree the curiosity got to be persistent.

Why was male smell so much stronger? Why did it smell different, with undertones and aromas that made her brain spark alive with extra activity?

Suddenly, Blue heard a chorus of sounds from ahead, rushing snorts mixed with the sound of talons raking against something hard. Her body tensed and her eyes lifted to where Kilo was. Immediatly she blinked and made a confused warble.

Alpha Kilo was standing before the big redwood tree, braced up on the tips of his toes and leaning against the trunk with palms forward. With a sharp tug downwards across the bark, using every muscle in his upper torso, he slashed deep wounds into the tree he chose victim. Almost immediatly after his claws dug in sticky sap bled outwards, sweet smelling and attractive to the senses. Blue's nostrils qivered and ever so slightly her head tilted to the side.

What was alpha doing?

Failing to answer for a second time, the male continued his task of re-marking the tree until great sections of inner wood was visible. Only once he felt the damage was acceptable he detached himself, considering his next move before leaning forward to brace the length of his throat against the tree. Such an action caught Blue off guard but he began to rub his scales up and down, almost in a frantic way as he bared his teeth and growled softly.

Unknown to Blue, Kilo was using utilities given to him by raptor ancestors; one of the original gene traits that made it through the artificial customization of cloning, adding in impure DNA. Just under his jaw in the crook of his throat there were small scent glands, which secreted a thin oily substance that served as a scent distributer. It was strong smelling and easily applicable, but was a tool only seen in males of raptor species.

Blue had no idea of the oil gland's existence, but then, she had only known of male dinosaur existence since she came to Isla Sorna.

For a long moment Kilo pasted his scent onto the marking tree, imbedding it into the sap now oozing down from his talon wounds. Once that was done he pulled back and smelled the mark with a flare of his nostrils. His eye focused, studying, then glanced back at Blue upon realizing she was staring.

The alpha male arched his neck and snorted. What was she looking at?

Blue ducked her head with a sheepish look. Nothing!

Kilo's eyes narrowed, but flicking his tail he strode away from the tree and called to the three younglings. They went running to him with loud chirps and he nodded.

As part of their lesson in the forest, they would be making a patrol across the territory's perimeter. They would learn the importance of doing such a thing, to discourage rival packs and dangerous carnivores.

Star showed her teeth. And hunt?

Yes. They would hunt in the meantime.

As the group was busy preparing to move on, Blue stole a glance to Kilo's marking tree and felt her curiosity rise. Her lips pursed, her legs stiffened, then without her consent her body slunk forward to investigate.

Just one smell.

Quietly moving up to the tree, Blue hesitated and glanced over her shoulder at Kilo. Once she was sure he wasn't looking, she turned her muzzle up to the mark and took a deep breath. Her nostrils flared and her brain buzzed. Immediately she was bombarded with many different messages and smells.

Translated to words, Kilo's message was bold, similar to that of Alden's scent marking yet much more powerful in means of authority. When Blue smelled it her head ducked behind submission and her eyes widened with somewhat of a thrill, responding as she used to respond to alpha Owen when he came to their enclosure for training.

"I am a strong alpha male, and owner of this territory. Stay away from my pack, or trespassers beware."

As a pack animal it was in Blue's wiring to desire a strong alpha, one that would protect the pack and give it priority. She had viewed Owen as a good alpha...and it was clear to see that although alpha Kilo was blunt and hard to understand, deep down his every intention was to be a good alpha for his pack.

A snort sounded, and Blue looked up to meet with Kilo's eye. She blinked and ducked her head, but he arched his neck with pride and chuffed.

It was time to go. Was she coming?

Blue quickly crooned and stepped back onto the trail, to which he gave his approval.

Alright then. Star?

The little female came to attention and her uncle crooned. He gave her permission to lead the group, so long as they remained within the territory. If her and Blue went together, then they could start tracking prey to hunt.

Blue blinked, but Star gave a loud shriek of joy and bounced on her toes. She raced in circles around Kilo and the adolescents, until the male chuffed sternly.

Star.

Agan the little one came to attention. Kilo clicked his teeth.

You cant catch prey if you scare them away.

Star lowered her head and took on a very serious demeanor. She puffed out her chest and arched her tail, in such a way it took almost all of Blue's efforts not to gurgle in amusement.

Looking up Star chirped softly. Come on Blue! Let's find prey for the pack!

Blue felt her fear of the unknown rise, but she forced it down and chirped in reply to the little raptor, choosing to indulge in her excitement.

Lead the way, Star. Find a fresh scent.