Hello again, dear readers

Another chapter delivered within a month, which is a big victory for me when considering the beggining of a new semester on college. This one is fairly small and slow paced, but I felt it was necessary as a stepping stone for what comes next. However, I do feel like it might be a bit... cheesy? Cliché? I'm not sure, you people tell me in the comments.

Next chapter will be larger and will advance the plot quite a bit, but it does mean it will take longer to write. (It might also contain an explicit scene, depending how it goes).

As always, thank you for reading and please leave a review!

Chapter 9: Warm Bodies

Death was nothing new to Samantha. It was something she had been familiar with for most of her life. From learning the concept, when she was a child, to seeing it firsthand in her teenage years with the death of pets and old family members. As she grew into a woman, her years studying and later working in biology forced her to confront death even more frequently. It was, after all, the natural end of all living things. From single cell organisms to blue whales, all eventually succumbed to it, and understanding it was part of her job.

Killing, of course, was a concept that came hand-in-hand with death. Therefore, it was also something Samantha was very familiar with. Although she wasn't particularly fond of it, she understood there might be a need to defend herself when exploring the wild. Back when she hit puberty, her father had allowed her to come with him on a few hunting trips near their farm. Those experiences with nature were, in part, where her desire to explore biology had come from. With these hunting trips came basic survival skills and the knowledge of how to properly handle firearms, both of which would become more useful than she could ever imagine. Her later years travelling and doing field research would further solidify her skills, but nothing could prepare her for the challenges she would face on this island.

Throughout these years she had never been forced to take a life on self-defense. She had never crossed paths with a bear or a cougar while hunting with her father. Never had to worry about the lions outside her jeep in the savannah. No shark had ever mistaken her for a fish or a seal when swimming. Now here she was, having taken many lives to both eat and defend herself, fired more gunshots than she had in the last ten years of her life and having blood on her clothes more often than she hadn't.

Worst of all, however, was the growing realization that she wasn't killing wild animals. Unlike the Carnotaurus and dilophosaurus she had shot, the raptors were likely just as intelligent as she was. If Chaser was any indication, each raptor she had killed possessed its own personality and thoughts. It wasn't a case of wildlife attack, of just being exposed to the natural cycle, no, what Samantha had done was much closer to murder.

Obviously, it was easy to argue it was just self-defense. The raptors had attacked her first and she had done everything she could to avoid them. But no matter how much she told herself just that, there was a small part of her mind dominated by doubt. What if there was another way? Could she had tried to do something else to avoid the bloodshed?

Her mind would constantly go through the scattered memories of the fight, trying to see if there was anything at all she could've done differently. Of course the raptors would instantly assume she was a threat, because that's what humans have been ever since the park was created. But still, could she have showed them otherwise?

Dammit, if only she knew a bit more of how they speak, maybe she could've actually reasoned with them.

A few meters from her, Chaser was laying down, looking over his wounds. From what Sam could see, he was mostly alright, with the exception of a few scratches and bite marks on his chest and legs. None of them were bleeding profusely or appeared bad enough to be worrisome.

If Sam already had doubts about the fight, she could only wonder what was going on inside Chaser's mind. He had fought his own kind to protect her, someone of a different species whom he only knew for less than three days.

A shudder escaped her lips as she remembered his entrance. The sight of him bursting through the window had been absolutely terrifying, yet as soon as she realized who it was, a wave of surprise and happiness had crashed down her body.

He had fought so aggressively against the other raptors. Sam was almost struck by his quick movements and attacks.

Hell, it was even more aggressive than when he had been hunting her.

All this raised one big question: What exactly did he see in her?

What aspect of her could possibly drive him to fight his own kind to keep her safe? Whatever it was, Samantha was determined to find out. This fight and, most importantly, Chaser's efforts to protect her, were enough to force her to make a choice. Her priority wasn't to leave the island, no, that was now just a means to an end. Her main goal was to learn more about him and the raptors in general, to solve the puzzle of communication and figure out what Chaser thought about her.

However, she obviously couldn't go into such endeavor alone. She needed help and resources to properly document her findings and expand her research. For that, her only choice was to get into contact with her group – The ones still alive – and see if they could help.

There was just one problem.

Samantha knew her friends weren't going to simply stop whatever they were doing if she just told them about Chaser and the raptors. No, they were more likely to drop her in an insane asylum if she did that. Instead, she needed to bring them concrete proof about her claims.

The only prove she could possibly offer… was Chaser.

"Oh god, how the fuck am I going to do that?" She whispered bitterly.

She had to somehow find a way to bring Chaser to them, convince them not to kill him on sight and them figure out a way to prove Chaser was intelligent and capable of communication. By doing so, she could definitely grab their attention. Or at least Rose's attention, considering the woman was a paleontologist.

Nevertheless, that was all in the future. At the moment Samantha was more worried about dealing with the fallout of the recent fight.

It hadn't taken long to find her shotgun, which had been thrown away by one of the raptors. She felt the surface with her fingers and then held it against the moonlight to get a better sense of the damage.

There were clear marks of where the raptor's teeth had pressed down, but it hadn't deformed the weapon. At least on the surface, it seemed the weapon was still operational.

Sam, however, couldn't be too sure. The best course of action would be to disassemble it and check for internal damage. But that itself was a problem, because Sam was too unfamiliar with it. She was vaguely aware of how firearms, and shotguns specifically, worked – as part of what her father had taught her – but she had never used a SPAS-12 until the coming here. Unless there was a manual laying around, she was too scared of making a mistake or losing one of the components to attempt disassembling the weapon.

No, for now her only choice was to pray she didn't have any more dangerous encounters… or at the very least that Chaser was with her if it happens.

The woman couldn't help but to roll her eyes at that line of thinking. "Look at you, treating the raptor like a knight in shining armor…"

Speaking of the devil, Chaser stood up and approached her. His wounds were no longer bleeding. Samantha took a moment to look at him, appreciating how his feathers almost seen to glow in the moonlight.

Against her better judgement, she placed a hand on his shoulder (while being very careful not to touch any wounds). It felt almost surreal to do this, to be able to touch and feel a raptor without fear of having her hand bitten off. She didn't think she would ever get used to that.

"Alright," Sam whispered. "Ready to go, boy?"

It was more of a rhetorical question, but Chaser didn't get it. He cooked his head to the side, seemingly thinking through her words. "Hhheaady vooo" he crooked.

Sam could barely contain her giggles at his attempt. She turned around and gestured him to follow, which he understood. The two of them left the old research center and headed back to the apartments. The cool night was filled with noises from the surrounding jungle, while the sky was dominated by countless stars and the soft glow of the moon. The woman almost wanted to stop and just appreciate it all, but she knew it wasn't safe. Who knew what else could be lurking at this time?

Besides, she already had to fight for her life once tonight.

They made it back to the apartment without any issues. Sam wasted no time getting rid of her equipment, glad to be free of all the extra weight of her tools, belt and shotgun. She quickly organized them besides her backpack. Once it was done, she sat down on her bed – a double bed, to her delight – and drank some water from her canteen.

Time passed, and Samantha went through her usual activities before sleeping. She went through her things to make sure she hadn't lost anything and ate some fruits as a light dinner. Normally, she would barricade herself before sleeping, but with Chaser's presence right outside (the apartment was a little bit tight for him), she didn't feel like it was necessary.

Just as she was crawling beneath her blanket, she saw the raptor's head poking inside the bedroom. He seemed to scan the room for anything unusual before settling his eyes on her. Being the focus of those two golden orbs shining in the darkness was disturbing, but Sam was no longer afraid if them. On the contrary, she was surprised to realize they made her feel safe.

It made sense, really. She had been unconscious before, and all he did was keep her safe and find food for her. Hell, he had just fought two raptors to protect her. There was no bigger sign she could trust him.

And so, for the first time since getting stuck on the island, Sam slept peacefully. There were no major worries plaguing her mind, no constant fear of waking up to a dinosaur sinking his teeth and claws into her. Instead, her mind was calm, and her body relaxed.

It was such a good night that she even dreamed, something that had been absent due to the lack of quality in her sleep.

Her dreams were a mismatch of memories and experiences. There were times she was working back home, meeting her friends and family. Other times she was switching between walking in a jungle and a savannah, with all kinds of animals surrounding her, even dinosaurs. It felt wonderful, and at no point were there any negative memories of fearful moments. The dreams were confusing, but great all the same. They lasted throughout the night, until the first rays of sunlight began to reach her body, forcing her to slowly wake up.

As consciousness returned, Samantha let out a pleased sigh, slowly stretching her arms and legs. Her entire body felt rested and relaxed. Best of all was her blanket gripping her body and her warm pillow.

Oh, the pillow! It was so fluffy and warm. She happily pressed herself closer to it, feeling those fluffy bits caressing her skin.

Damn, when had she gotten a pillow this big? It was like a body pillow or something.

She thought briefly about last night. As far as she remembered, there were only two pillows good enough to use. Those were the ones she had placed on the bed before sleeping. They were normal pillows, not something this massive and fluffy.

Her thoughts were interrupted when became aware of a rhythmic breathing above her head. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat as she feared the worst, but soon calmed down when she remembered Chaser. Right, the raptor had stayed with her, but why was he so close?

Based on the sound, his head was just above hers. Was he in the bed too? But that would mean…

"Oh god…" She thought.

Her body froze as realization dawned on her. "Oh god, oh fuck, don't tell me…"

She slowly opened her eyes, revealing her worst fears: A mass of brown and white feathers.

She wasn't hugging a body pillow.

She was hugging Chaser. Her head was pressed against his chest and her arms were wrapped around him. Looking down, she spotted his hands and claws near her belly. Further down were his massive legs resting lazily amongst the sheets and his meaty tail laying around them.

Her eyes shot up towards his head. Sam let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when she saw his eyes firmly closed. "Okay, he's still sleeping," She whispered.

The more she became aware of her position, the more awkward it felt. Sam wasn't just hugging Chaser; she was cuddling with him. How the fuck had this happened? Her only guess is that at some point he had decided to sleep as well, and she had rolled over. Maybe her unconscious mind had been attracted to his warmth and had gotten closer as the night went on.

Shaking her head in embarrassment, Sam removed her arms as slowly and carefully as possible. Once that was done, she glanced up again and conformed he was still sleeping.

With a sigh of relief, she dragged herself to the opposite side of the bed. From there, she had a better view of him. He was large, but not as big as a raptor could get. In fact, he wasn't actually much bigger than she was, being more or less the same size as a large man. The exception, of course, was his long meaty tail, which was currently curled around his legs.

His sleeping position vaguely reminded her of a big dog, or maybe a lion. His head seemed quite comfortable on her pillows, looking almost cute in a way.

A happy grin adorned her lips as she thought about it. He did look cute like that. The way his body was all relaxed and sprawled on the bed. Sam could imagine this was a new experience for him, sleeping in an actual bed.

As Samantha looked upon his feathers, she found herself missing his warmth. The feathers themselves were very comfortable, something she hadn't fully realized when she hugged him last night. Hell, a small part of her was inclined to crawl back to him, but she quickly smashed those thoughts into bits. Hugging him had been risky enough.

It must look really funny. A redhead girl sharing a bed with a raptor. "Shit… that sounded wrong," She blushed a bit at the implication, especially considering he wasn't an animal, but an intelligent being, so therefore it wasn't that much of a stretch…

"Nope, I'm not finishing that thought," Deciding she had enough time gathering her thoughts, Sam threw her blanked aside and got up from bed. Glancing one last time at the sleeping Chaser, the woman thought about what to do.

From the top of her head, she could remember all the basic tasks she always did during the morning. Eating a small breakfast, boiling some fresh water, checking her map and notes, cleaning her equipment and a few other things.

But before she could pick one of those to start with, a memory popped in her mind. She remembered yesterday when she first woke up. Her close encounter with Chaser had been an intense and terrifying thing, but there was one particular moment that stood out: Him carrying the dead comps in his mouth. He had offered them to her, almost like some sort of gift. Based on his actions during the day, she could imagine it could be some sort of social gesture for his kind, maybe equivalent to a white flag or a parley. It could also be an offer of friendship and carry emotional value.

Whatever the case, now that she didn't see him as a monster the dead comps appeared in a different light. They were no longer just a strange detail of his menacing form, but an interesting behavioral puzzle.

"And now the tables have turned…" Sam muttered. "How about I repay you, Ares?"

Her mind was well aware it might not be a good idea. On one hand, it seemed pretty straight forward, give some free food to show you were friendly. But if her years traveling had taught her anything, it's that culture is a fickle thing, placing all sorts of hidden meanings into seemingly small things.

Still, Sam had reached a decision.

Being careful with her steps, she silently crept around the bed and picked her boots, belt and shotgun. The outside greeted her with a beautiful clear sky, warm sun and pleasant sounds of birds and wildlife all around her.

With one hand shielding her eyes from the sun, the woman scanned the landscape for possible targets. "Alright, let's find a raptor breakfast…"

Meanwhile, Chaser was having one of the best moments of his life. He couldn't believe how comfortable the strange material beneath him was. It most certainly beat the piles of leaves, animal hide and weeds his clan used to make nests. Was this how every soft skin slept? If it was, no wonder they were so productive. He could bet that if his kind could sleep so comfortably, they would also be able to create these amazing objects and structures.

He shifted a bit, feeling how the soft thing beneath him deformed itself to accommodate his body. The strange piece of cloth Sam had used to cover herself was also nice. Being covered in feathers, it was not necessary to keep his body warm, but he still appreciated how it would protect his more exposed parts – like his belly and lower legs – while also trapping the heat of his body.

Originally, he hadn't intended to sleep at all. Despite approving Sam's choice of nest, which was both well hidden and hard to get into, he didn't feel completely safe. Maybe it was sheer paranoia from having just saved her from two mountain clan members, but he wanted to make sure there were no surprises during the night.

However, he hadn't slept in almost two days now. Last night had been dedicated solely to save Samantha and watch over her until morning. He then used the early hours of the morning to hunt by himself. Now, as night had descended once again, his body was aching from the fight. No matter how hard he tried, it was becoming impossible to keep his eyes open.

Had he been with others of his clan, they would take turns to watch for dangers while the others slept. Here it wasn't possible, both because he couldn't communicate that to Sam, didn't know if soft skins had a similar concept and, frankly, didn't know if she was even capable of that. Whatever the case, the longer he waited, the more inclined he was to do like Sam.

At one point he was so tired he decided to ignore his paranoia and sleep. He reassured himself by noting how the room only had one small entrance, and therefore only one possible source of danger. His gaze shifted to the opposite wall, where Sam had placed her weapon and tools. If something bad happened, he could fight the attacker until Sam got to her weapon. He just hoped her aim was good enough to not kill him by mistake.

Then there was the problem of where to sleep exactly. He didn't feel like staying outside by himself. However, the room was small and most of it was occupied by the strange things he always found inside these soft skin structures. The only exceptions were the spot where Sam had left her things, which he didn't dare to lay down for fear of accidentally damaging something while he slept, and the large soft thing at the center of the room where Sam herself was sleeping.

It looked comfortable, and it could easily fit two – maybe even three – soft skins in it. Yes, there was definitely enough space for him and Sam, but he would be quite close to her. For his kind, it was normal to sleep very close to share body warmth and protection, but he didn't know if it was the same for soft skins.

"Well, they don't have much fur and they even cover themselves with those cloths, so they probably have a hard time keeping warm," He rationalized. Besides, the soft thing was clearly made for multiple soft skins to lay in it, so it wasn't much of a stretch to imagine it was normal for them to sleep close to one another as well. Still, he was well aware of how scary he was to her, but he figured she was familiar enough with him to not do anything harsh when she woke up.

With his mind made, the raptor carefully laid down on the bed. He was weirded out by the material, how it shifted beneath him with his weight. Eventually, he found a comfortable position and began to drift away. The last thing he remembered was how small and fragile Sam looked. It was amazing how something that appeared so harmless was capable of such endurance and sheer determination. She was like a cute hatchling that could blast him to pieces if he did the wrong thing.

"Cute," He chuckled at the thought. "Guess she does look kind of cute."