Hello, dear readers!

Once again, I would like to thank you for all the comments and reviews on the last chapter, especially the ones in the last month or so, as they motivated me to finish this new chapter before the new year.

This chapter took longer to write for a number of reasons, but mostly because as I was half way done I decided to rewrite large parts of it that I wasn't happy with. All of that in addition to the approaching climax turned what was supposed to be a quick update into a monthly struggle. Nevertheless, I couldn't let the year end without at least providing one more chapter, so I pushed myself to get this done.

The next chapter after this one is very important for the story, so it's hard to say how long it will be and when I will finish it, but you all can remain calm and know that I'm very happy with this story and will keep writing it until it's done.

As always, thank you all for reading and please leave a comment or review, as I love reading every single one of them.

(Also, as of this update, the story has reached over 10k views, which is quite impressive and makes me very happy)

-x-

Chapter 11: Trust

Out of the many things Samantha takes into consideration for her survival, it might come as a surprise that food, shelter or fire are not on top of the list. No, aside from water, there was one thing in particular that she considered the most essential: decent footwear.

When you don't walk a lot, it's harder to notice the strain a bad shoe can put on your feet. The constant grind of fabric against each foot, even when wearing socks, can harm the skin and cause small lacerations. The weight of the body crashing down on the soles can create cracks and painful bubbles within days. In short, a bad shoe can be almost as bad as walking barefoot.

It was this knowledge that made Sam acquire the pair of boots she was currently wearing. They were robust and well made, while providing some good measure of comfort. The insides were covered in a soft padded material to avoid damaging her skin, while the soles were thick and flexible enough to absorb some of the force behind each step. They had been with her for years now and were still in excellent shape. Even after her long journey throughout the island, all the humidity, rough terrain and steep climbs, her boots still worked like new, and her feet were perfectly healthy.

Of course, now there was even more walking ahead. The next part of her journey was about to begin.

Wiping some sweat from her forehead, she finished setting up her personal belongings. Everything was packed tightly and organized, and the time had come to move out. The first rays of sunlight had yet to bring the warmer tropical temperatures which dominated most of the day. Instead, it was a bright but fairly cool morning, the best time to start walking.

The raptor at her side was acting a bit more agitated than before, and she couldn't tell why. Maybe next time they tried to improve their communication she should focus on questions and emotions.

It was strange, he looked around a bit, as if looking for predators, but wasn't acting aggressive or ready for a fight. It was almost as if he was just waiting for something. Maybe for a prey to eat?

Sam didn't know, and she supposed that if Chaser was indeed hungry, they could soon find something to eat once they began walking. There were plenty of dinosaur herds and small groups of Compsognathus all over the island, so it wouldn't take long.

Despite sharing a bed once again – "God, this still sounds awkward…" she whispered – they had remained, thankfully, separated. Still, while Samantha hadn't woken up cuddling with him, it seemed Chaser wasn't that keen on personal space, as he was quite lazily sprawled on the bed, with his meaty tail draped over her legs and snout almost touching her hair.

One day she would need to teach him about personal space. Though if she was honest with herself, she didn't mind it that much. It was a unique experience, for sure, and Sam could appreciate it for that. She half wondered if this was how raptors normally slept, or if it was a particular quirk of his. Hopefully she could learn about it under a better circumstance.

The light outside was almost unbearable. As the woman and raptor stepped outside, she was forced to raise a hand to protect her sensitive eyes from the sudden brightness. It felt hotter than yesterday, partially due to the higher humidity caused by the previous storms. With the sky clear of any clouds, it had actually become a bit harder to see things far away, beyond the heat waves rising from the ground and the light reflecting all around. Still, it meant they wouldn't need to worry about rain and also gave them some extra time of sunlight to use.

With a compass in hand, Samantha marched towards the old road next to the research center. As she moved, she couldn't help but to notice Chaser lagging behind further than usual. A quick glance behind showed he continued to look around, almost as if… hesitant. "What has gotten into him?" She wondered, with a raised brow. His behavior was starting to make her uneasy, but she dismissed those emotions.

Her mind reassured her. She has a loaded shotgun by her side, a machete hanging on her belt and a big raptor besides her. Nothing, short of an adult t-rex, could beat them, especially in an open area like this, where they could spot threats with plenty of warning.

As they reached the broken concrete and asphalt that once made up the road, Samantha checked her directions and took a moment to make sure everything was right. It was still fairly early in the morning, and based on her progress so far, she was confident they could make it to the watchtower before the sun was down. Of course, that was assuming there were no problems along the way, but she tried to remain optimistic about it.

In the distance, she could see some Compsognathus running around and a small herd of Gallimimus. The sight of them made some wheels begin to turn inside her head, and soon there was a plan forming. She was well aware that a predator as big as Chaser probably required a very big amount of meat daily to sustain himself, something well above the meager comps and single dilophosaurus he had consumed during his time here. Sam knew he was hungry and had likely forgone going hunting for a bigger meal so he could watch over her (the realization of that made her feel awkward, but happy), so maybe now she could compensate that by killing one of those bigger herbivores. It was far more than what she needed, so there would be plenty left for Chaser to satiate his appetite.

She turned around, intending to try and explain her intentions to her feathered companion. Instead of looking at the herd ahead of them, she was surprised to see the raptor completely disinterested, and instead continuing to search for something out in the tree line.

At this point, her worry was begging to climb up her spine. While the raptor wasn't acting aggressive, he was clearly looking for something. What could he possibly be waiting for that would make him this distracted, but otherwise calm?

A single hand rested against the firearm near her hip. Whatever it was, Samantha was having a hard time keeping calm about it. The two of them had gone through hell and back in the span of a couple of days, and the woman couldn't bear the thought of having to fight for her life again. Images of the raptors chasing her through the lab and of almost dying covered in venom flashed through her mind, and her grip became stronger.

With a deep breath, she faced Chaser once again. This time, the raptor noticed something was off and locked his eyes on her. Samantha tried to think of a way to convey what she planned to do. Her mind looked over her limited vocabulary, trying to string a sentence together. His staring didn't help things either, even though she wanted his attention. She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, lifting a hand up to gesture but just freezing in place instead. Chaser, for his part, cooked his head to the side in comical manner, confused by her behavior. A small part of her noted how birdlike his body language could be. "Jesus, come on girl, get your shit together!" Her mind screamed.

"Uh… C-Chaser, I need walk?" She mumbled in his language.

Were he a human, he would have frowned. Instead, Chaser just stood there trying to figure out what she meant.

The woman tried again. "I, uh, n-need walking, many walkings," The sheer embarrassment over her lack of skill almost made her slap herself.

Luckly for her personal pride, the raptor was too confused to judge her. What did she mean by needing a walk? Was she sad or angry and wanted to cool off? No, that didn't make any sense. Was it some sort of soft skin thing he didn't know about?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was missing something crucial. He tried think back to what they were doing right now. Chaser had been so focused on the meeting that was supposed to happen today that he didn't pay much attention to Sam. He analyzed the soft skin, looking for anything that might indicate what she meant.

He noted how she was carrying all her weird soft skin stuff, which was very unusual. Throughout the time they had spent together, she had always left most of her things in her shelter, only carrying a fraction of it in her body coverings and weird limbs. Not only that, but the few things she carried were often for a very specific purpose. So why would she have everything now?

Thinking back to his first encounter with her, he began to connect the dots. The first time he followed her, she was travelling light, similar to how she had been in the past few days. Once she made it back to her shelter, inside a half buried hollowed rock, the soft skin had stayed there over the night and emerged carrying all her things, just like right now. Then, after their brief, but intense, fight where she spared him, she had walked all the way to this other hollow rock and… made a new shelter.

A lightbulb lit up in his mind.

She only carried all her things when she intended to leave her shelter permanently, Chaser realized. "Is this what she means by needing to walk?" He thought. If that was the case, he couldn't really understand why, as the place she was currently using seemed fine to him. It was located near water, was well secured and had that comfortable thing they used for sleep. Worst of all, however, was that moving today would also pose a problem with the meeting. Not that his clanmates wouldn't find them, as they could probably follow their tracks quite easily if necessary. No, the problem is that if they were to come upon them by surprise, without proper warning, he knew that Sam would probably panic. Hell, even if they did have a lot of warning, the girl might still get afraid and lash out with her thunderer.

"Wouldn't be surprising…" He thought bitterly. She had almost been killed by the other clan during his absence, so it was understandable she would be at the very least weary of other raptors. When the time came, his only hope was that all his actions had earned enough trust from her to actually listen to him.

Still, that was all in the future. Right now, the best he could do is keep an eye on her and make sure nothing bad happens until his clanmates arrive. With that in mind, he gave her the simplest answer he could come up with: "Chaser walk with Sam" It felt weird switching pronunciation to speak her name in that strange soft skin tongue, but he was satisfied with the result.

Sam regarded him for a moment, before nodding. He was unfamiliar with the gesture, but he could see on her body language that she seemed relived at his answer. "Is she… thankful that I'm going with her?" The realization made him feel funny. It was a bit surreal considering where they stood just a few days ago, but overall, he felt happy that she wanted his company. It really showed the level of trust they had developed.

The duo left the ruins behind and made their way along the remnants of the road. In reality, there wasn't much of the original path left. Grass and small bushes had already seized the ground, and there were plenty of young trees rising above, slowly taking over the open area. Still, Sam could see many large tracks along the way, belonging to a variety of dinosaur species. She theorized they might be using the roads as an alternative trail to migrate. It made sense, as it provided more open space to look out for predators.

They walked side by side. A human and a raptor. Despite Sam's slow speed when compared to Chaser, the raptor didn't seem to mind. He was more focused on the small herds of Gallimimus wondering in the open grass. He hasn't eaten anything yet, and his hunger was beginning to show. Not only that, but he wanted to eat something more substantial than the comps the two of them had gotten lately.

Still, that wouldn't be easy to do by himself. He knew how to hunt alone, but he wasn't that used to it, especially against something that could keep up with him in terms of speed. Would Sam be willing to help him?

She was, of course, already toying with the idea. Though her mind was also preoccupied with things they might face during their journey. She wondered what kind of large predators could pose a threat, possible alternate routes to keep in mind, type of terrain along the way and so on. For the first question, she knew they were going through a denser area, covered in jungles and swamps, which meant less tyrannosaurus and similar breeds of large dinosaurs, as they preferred areas with more open spaces. There weren't any parallel roads, so there was a real danger of getting lost if she was forced to leave the road. Thankfully, she did have a map and a compass, so theoretically she could still go in the general direction of the observation post.

The woman was so absorbed on her thinking that she didn't notice her feathered companion trying to get her attention. It was only after some frustration that Chaser decided for a more physical approach… by headbutting her lightly.

The sudden contact almost made her jump in fright, only to become confused when she saw him standing next to her. He had never done that before. "Ares? What's going on?"

He remained silent, but his gaze turned to the tree line behind her. She turned around and faced the direction he was looking, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Sam frowned, trying to understand what was going on. Honestly, her previous fear had begun to turn into frustration, as it was quite clear there wasn't any danger lurking around. This was further reinforced by her inability to properly communicate with him, and while she was fully aware of how difficult it was to learn a new language – one that was unknown to humanity, and which belonged to a different species – It was still annoying to be unable to talk freely with him.

Instead of wasting more time looking for something that wasn't there, Samantha turned around and, with a frustrated sigh, continued walking. She only made it a few steps before Chaser blocked her path.

With both hands on her hips, she locked eyes with him and frowned. "What the fuck? Seriously, what do you want?" Unbeknownst to Sam, the raptor was also frustrated by his inability to explain.

They had arrived. He could smell them just beyond their field of view, waiting in the shadows for a signal to come out. His mind was quickly being taken by waves of relief and fear. This was the moment that could change everything for better or worse, and he was stuck right in the middle of it. Were he a human, he would be hyperventilating and on the verge of a panic attack. He had spent countless hours thinking through every step of this meeting, every detail to make sure it went as smoothly as possible. Yet now he found himself nearly frozen, unable to act. He didn't know what to do, if he should first try to talk with Sam or call for his clanmates. Almost all previous language exchanges were lost somewhere in his brain, and he was having a near impossible time trying to remember the right words to talk with Sam.

The woman, on the other hand, couldn't notice the mental state of the raptor, as she was still unfamiliar with much of his body language. Instead, all she could do is stand there with crossed arms and wait to see what this was about.

"Does he want me to go back?" She wondered. "No, that doesn't make any fucking sense!"

It was Chaser's time to become angry at the situation and the sheer difficulty of overcoming the language barrier between them. "Samm…" The woman looked at him in attention, but he couldn't figure out how to explain things. He did his best to come up with something she would understand.

"There are others in t-the jungle," he said slowly, hoping she could figure out the general meaning of what he said.

Samantha, for her part, understood the words for location and jungle, as well as the meaning that there was something there, but she couldn't understand the word for what exactly. Still, something in the jungle was more than enough to make her afraid.

Her voice came out more scared than she intended. "Danger?" she asked in his language.

The raptor watched anxiously as the soft skin gripped her thunderer closer to her chest. "No, no danger" He answered while shaking his head carefully. The gesture wasn't natural, it was mechanical and calculated, trying to replicate what he had observed her doing in hopes of emphasizing his words.

His answer had mixed results. It briefly brought on a wave of calmness to Sam, only for it to be quickly substituted by confusion. "Wait… so there's something in the jungle but it's safe?" She asked herself. Well, that wasn't exactly helpful. There were plenty of things in the jungle that were safe, at all times, like ants, birds, small lizards and all sorts of herbivore dinosaurs. Why was he making such a big deal out of it?

She gave a quick glance at the tree line. "Whatt iss in the jungle, C-Chaser?"

"My clan" He answered in a laconic way.

The woman frowned at that. The word he used was familiar. Thinking through their exchanges, she remembered him explaining it as a sort of a plural for his kind but… closer? Something like a family unit, or a large group, a… a pack or a clan?

At that moment, the woman froze in fear.

She understood what he meant. His family, or something like it, was waiting at the jungle, watching them.

As if to confirm her fears, just as she concluded her line of thought a very characteristic calling broke the relative silence of the jungle. It was a raptor call, coming from just beyond the tree line.

Her emotions, fueled by fear and panic, took control before her rational mind could assess the situation, and she did what her instincts told her to: She turned around and pointed her shotgun.