Jurassic Park III and ½: The Lost Hat

Part III: Chapter III

Of course it wasn't deserted; that would make for a very bad plot. The compound did, however, appear to be deserted, which relaxed Alan and Billy a great deal – which, of course, was what the Velociraptors wanted. Billy barred the door using some scaffolding from the still incomplete reception area, and then the trio began the strenuous job of sticking together and inspecting the compound for any stray dinosaurs that might have wandered in and needed to be shooed out.

Eventually, however, they decided to take a break and stop for a while. It was getting late; traveling and inspecting the compound had taken up the better part of the day. The sun was just setting, and the three watched in silence as the orangey-red rays fell below the horizon, spilling pink light everywhere. It gave all three of them an inexplicable sense of calm and security, nevermind the fact they were being stalked by a bunch of walking turkeys, nevermind they would probably never see home again – right then, all that mattered was the sunset, and the fact they were safe – for the time being.

Soon, however, the last ray of light disappeared, and the only light source now was that of the moon. The nice, warm, fuzzy feeling passed and Alan and Billy made preparations for the night, while Trevor sat and watched the moon, wishing he were with his grandfather, fishing.

.·•·.

Outside the Lab Compound…

A pair of orange eyes continued to watch through the window, observing the three humans at work. Unmoving, they watched as the oldest one began talking to the younger one, and as the youngest, still a child, began slowly nodding off to sleep, unaware of the company. Eventually, the older one fell asleep too, leaving the other one on guard. Obviously, none of the humans had noticed their prehistoric visitor, or none of them cared.

However, the owner of the orange eyes wasn't intent on watching the humans; oh, no, no, no. Its gaze settled on the headgear situated next to the oldest human; and to a nearby onlooker, the reptilian face might just seem to break out into a grin.

.·•·.

A week after the events of Jurassic Park III…

Only the soft squish of mud was audible as the Velociraptor made its way towards the river. Somewhere to the left, its senses picked out its assigned partner sniffing around the edge of the bank. But that wasn't what it was concentrating on – oh, no. Lying a few feet in front of it was a strange, unfamiliar object. Or rather…

It lowered its head to smell it. Oddly enough, it smelt quite familiar…

With sudden realization, the Velociraptor jerked its head up to call to the other. Soon enough, they were both standing there, sniffing the object, slowly realizing what it was. The one who had found it picked it up, and dashed back the way it came, closely followed by its partner.

The hat now belonged to the Velociraptors.

.·•·.

It had been a few days before they realized something was wrong. The pack had been having trouble finding food; quite a few of the youngsters kept getting lost, most killed and eaten by another predator; and then, possibly worst of all, the lead female had died on a chase, crushed to death by the mother of the young Parasaurolophis which they had been trying to kill. And all this started after the arrival of the hat.

The alpha male soon discovered the mix up, and upon the arrival of the humans, instantly recognized the hat Alan wore. Something had to be done. The hat was rightfully theirs, and they were determined to get it back, no matter the consequences.

But first, they needed a plan.

.·•·.

It's well known that Velociraptors have near-primate intelligence. They are quite able to form plans and put them into action. This, on top of their quick reflexes and sharp claws, make them one of the deadliest creatures ever to walk the planet. They are quite skilled at the art of stalking prey, and this was precisely what the pack on Isla Sorna were doing – stalking Alan, Billy and Trevor.

Morning soon arrived, and with it, a now-deserted exterior to the Lab Compound. The human population of Isla Sorna was having breakfast, blissfully unaware of any late-night guests they might have had. Their biggest concern right now (or at least, Trevor's biggest concern) was the fact all they had had to eat for the past two days were baked beans; and, to top it all off, they had left quite a few of the supplies back at Camp Site #1. Right now, their biggest priority was food, and the adults had planned to do a thorough search of the compound to find some supplies that weren't beans. Trevor was to stay behind, and yell if he saw anything strange and/or involving Velociraptors. It might have been wiser to ask somebody who actually knew what the reptilian creatures looked like; but this way was a lot safer, since if there was a raptor-attack, they would know where Trevor would be.

So, with that, Alan and Billy took their leave, leaving Trevor, who was looking forward to a chance to prove his worth; he was quite sure Alan considered him a burden, and Billy a tagalong. But now he had a chance to show he could help, and he was quite determined to use it.

An incident-less hour later, and he wasn't quite sure he felt the same way.

.·•·.

The Velociraptor silently peered into the window, looking for the hat, which wasn't there. Instead, the youth took its place, staring forlornly at the ground, evidently miserable. Normally, the Velociraptor would have attacked – the human was only young, and didn't look like a threat – but not today. It had a job to do. But later – yes, later – it would get the little one, and then…

It turned to leave, silent as always, tail swinging back and forth gently.

Then it hit the side of the window, and the Velociraptor had been spotted.

Trevor looked up at the sudden thud on the window, and stiffened as he saw the profile of the Velociraptor staring at him. Holding his breath, he began to slowly scramble away from the window, counting under his breath to determine when to start yelling for help. The Velociraptor was small, smaller than the Rex, but still seemed as if it could do a lot of damage. Its skin was a rough, pebbly brown that looked as though it might have been rough and smooth in one touch. Feathers on its head stood up as it watched the human through orangey eyes. They were interlocked in a gaze, raptor and human, and suddenly, Trevor wasn't afraid of the dinosaur anymore; he felt he understood it, and what it wanted, and what it was trying to say…

Then the Velociraptor opened its mouth, exposing its teeth, and called for backup.

Trevor began to scream.

End of Part III: Chapter III
DISCLAIMER: Come on, people, you know who I own and who I don't by now. :3
A/N: Nice long chapter for you lot today, eh? ^^ I thought it might be interesting to have some of it from the raptors' POV. And in case you're wondering about the other hat, the 'fake' hat - I'm going into that. It's all to be revealed in future chapters. Nerg. :] Have fun!