Hello there!
Sorry for the 2 months of waiting. Not only was this a difficult chapter to write, but in early January I got a new job, which while great also consumes a lot of my time. Sadly, as a new semester begins for me on college, progress will remain slow. Therefore, I predict the next two chapters will come out in a similar time.
But enough with the bad news. This is an important chapter, and I did my best to show everything with as much depth as possible. I won't say I'm 100% happy with the result, but I'm confident enough to publish. Please tell me what you think about it, if there are any parts you enjoyed or didn't. Your feedback helps me a lot with both self-esteem and giving me new ideas of how to develop the story.
Lastly, I'm happy to say we are approaching a climax, so the next chapters will be very exciting... in many ways, hehe.
As always, thank you for reading and please leave a review/comment!
-x-
Chapter 12: Two Worlds
The first time Samantha saw a large predator, it had been scary. Sure, it was behind a big fence and inside an enclosed habitat, but the sheer size of a Bengal Tiger was still impressive. The roar, in particular, was chilling. She could only imagine what it would be like to have that massive creature charging at her in full speed without any barriers to protect her. Of course, now she didn't have to wonder anymore. Ever since being stranded on this forsaken island, she had the privilege of know exactly what is like to be hunted by something bigger. It was a different kind of fear. A type of dread that took over her body like fire. This was something normally hidden from the modern human experience, a relic of instincts left over from past when humans were part of the natural food chain. Yet, in a few days the woman had become very much familiar with this fear, the fear of being hunted and devoured.
As Sam stood there underneath the relentless tropical sun, her emotions were dominated by that very feeling. Her limbs were rigid, muscles locked by her fight-or-flight response. Her jaw was set, and her eyes were narrowed, focusing on the iron sights of her SPAS-12. Her hands were almost shaking from the rising adrenaline levels, trigger finger twitching at every possible sign of movement coming from the jungle.
Yet she didn't fire, because if there was one thing stronger than her base instincts, was the teachings her father had drilled into her head about firearm safety. Thus, she always kept her finger off the trigger automatically, unless she had clear intent of shooting something. At the same time, the seasoned hunter inside her was quickly assessing the situation, thinking about her ammo count, wind direction and speed, everything necessary to ensure a good kill.
Her mind was so focused on her internal struggle that she had nearly forgotten her feathered companion.
"Sam!" A large brownish shape appeared at the right corner of her vision. "NoO! N-o dangerr!"
Just like that, the spell was broken, not by the meaning of Chaser's words, but by the sheer emotion behind them. This was the first time she had heard something similar to a human emotion in his voice, and it wasn't something good.
Chaser sounded afraid. He was afraid of her, of what she was about to do.
Her hands were shaking. She stole a quick glance towards him, noticing his wide eyes and fearful expression. Despite fully understanding what he said, her mind screamed at her to keep her weapon up. It was too risky to let her guard down around multiple raptors.
Yet, at the same time, the more rational side of her smashed against her instincts. Samantha trusted Chaser with her life, he had protected her many times already and she was only alive thanks to him. Not once since they met had he ever given a reason for her not to trust him, so why was she so weary of his words now? Was it because it she didn't trust the other raptors?
Yes, just because Chaser had been kind to her, doesn't mean the rest of his kin would. But still, he wouldn't do this if he didn't think it was safe, right? What if he's wrong, though?
A million thoughts rushed through Sam's mind as she debated what to do. It felt as if time had slowed down to a crawl, as the woman grew more and more frustrated with herself. Her breath was shaky, and her hands were sweating. Meanwhile, the raptor held still and just hoped for the best. He knew that any sudden movements would spell disaster, and he prayed his clanmates didn't do anything stupid.
Seconds passed, and Samantha began to realize this was a very important moment. If what Chaser said was true and those raptors didn't mean any harm, then she would have the opportunity to replicate what she had done with him. She could attempt to communicate the same way the two of them had done, and while the rest of his family might not be as patient or curious as he was, if she found even a small indication that they were equally capable as he was it would go a long way to help her prove what she saw was real, and not just her lonely mind trying to humanize a particularly intelligent dinosaur.
Despite her limbs feeling like they were made of stone, she slowly forced her weapon downwards, leaving out a long sigh as she did so. Her legs felt weak, and the adrenaline pumping through her blood was making her shiver. A slight movement caught her attention, and her eyes turned to find Chaser standing right next to her. She realized he had been perfectly still this whole time she had debated with herself and was very thankful for it. Who knows what she would've done if he had moved?
The raptor, for his part, allowed himself to calm down and move around a bit to disperse the tension. This was good, they were making progress. Now it was time to take the next step.
As if hearing his thoughts, another raptor call came from beyond the tree line. He recognized it. His clanmates were asking for permission to approach. While he wasn't a hundred percent sure everything was going to work, he was confident enough to keep going. After giving one last look at the soft skin, to make sure she was truly calmer, he gave a step forward and answered the call with one of his own.
To Samantha, who was watching him from behind, it looked weird. It was another of the many things that made him so… uncanny to her. It was just so weird how human he could act sometimes, speaking English as if he was just a random guy with a funny accent, while also displaying so many inhuman actions and qualities. He was both familiar and foreign at times, and it always filled her with sense of wonder.
Her thoughts were interrupted by movement near the tree line. This was it, she realized, his family was coming here. Her raptor was going to present her to his family. "God, that sounded terrible!" Sam had to invoke all her mental will to stop herself from slapping her face at that stupid thought. Still, at least the embarrassment helped distract her from the bubbling anxiety creeping up her spine.
Of course, it wasn't enough to keep her fear at bay, especially after she spotted five distinct shapes emerging from the jungle. Five adult raptors just as big as Chaser. The sight by itself was enough to make her reconsider this whole think. "Shit, shit, shit, what the fuck am I doing?!" Each step they gave towards the duo gave Sam an even bigger feeling of utter doom.
Focusing on each dinosaur, she could make out some individual details. Firstly, most of them were covered in colorful feathers, indicating they were probably males, while the other two had a much simpler and contained schemes, which she assumed made them female. "Okay, three males and two females…" She tried to ignore some of her fear through her analysis, but it didn't work. Her body was noticeably shaking. One of the males was mostly black and grey, with a few golden spots along the arms and on top of his head, almost like a crown. The other two looked a bit like Chaser, with a mix of brown and white. As for the females, they sported a more neutral grey color, almost like a very subdued brown.
It was while looking at the larger female that she noticed something different. Most of the raptors were evenly spaced, as if in a military formation, except for one male next to the larger female. It was almost as if the female was… leaning against him?
With a frown, Samantha kept her focus on the raptor couple. As they got closer, she saw a patch of feathers near the left shoulder missing, from a scar probably. There was also a missing finger on the same hand. The most surprising thing, however, was the noticeable limp with which the raptor walked. Her eyes were drawn downwards, and she saw a missing killing claw too. "Damn, that's one badass raptor" She thought to herself. With the apparent limp, it was easier to understand why the male raptor was by her side.
"He's… he's helping her to walk!" again, Sam was having clear evidence of the raptor's capability to show empathy and cooperate. Seeing them helping each other was… strange, somewhat. It made her think of Chaser and his own attempts to help her out. Seeing the large female being aided put all of that into perspective, showing Chaser's actions weren't just a particular trait. More and more, Sam was beginning to realize the scope of what she was uncovering, and it gave her a mix of wonder and anxiety.
The raptor procession advanced in an inverted v formation, with the limping female and supporting male hanging further back. The duo stopped at the tree line, while the other raptors moved on each flank, forming almost a semi-circle around Samantha and Chaser. From what she had gathered from his body language, she could guess the raptors were both agitated and hesitant to advance. It didn't surprise Sam, as she knew through Chaser that raptors were very much aware of what her gun was. She debated if it might be best to drop it on the ground but decided against it. Last thing she wanted was to move her hands near the shotgun, as it could easily be interpreted as a threat. In truth, she didn't wish to move at all, not until the tension lowered. For now, Sam was content to just stand still and observe the raptors.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the raptors stopped. Instead of relief, the atmosphere began to feel awkward, as both sides simply stood there, observing one another. The woman looked at her companion for guidance, but it seemed as if he was just as lost as her on what to do. Fucking great, her best link to the raptors was having a mental block.
The sheer tension combined with the relentless heat was making her sick. Each second of this standoff drained both her energy and patience. Adding to all this was the frustration at their inability to do something about it. Sam knew it would be best for Chaser to start with… whatever raptors did to start a conversation and maybe explain what was going on. As more and more time passed, the woman's stress climbed into a breaking point.
Her eyes once again focused on Chaser, hoping for guidance, but the raptor continued to look lost and frozen on the spot. Shifting to the other raptors revealed an equal amount of awkwardness. The whole atmosphere was unbearable. It felt as if as soon as someone moved, the island would explode.
Samantha's eyes closed for a second. A deep breath filled her lungs as she decided to do something incredibly stupid. It was quite obvious the raptors were ready to tear her to pieces at the slightest sudden move, or anything that could be interpreted as aggression, but she had to do something. Her eyes analyzed each individual, trying to decide which one would be the best candidate. The big female was an obvious choice, as she seemed to hold the authority within the group, but it might also be too bold of Sam to go for her directly. She was only familiar with human and certain animal hierarchies, none of which might work with a different sentient species, one that was separated from humanity by millions of years.
Still, the woman had made up her mind. If Chaser and the raptors were too afraid to start the first contact, them she would do it herself.
At that moment, all the raptors surrounding the duo recoiled as if hit by a shockwave. The origin of this was a single step given by Sam towards the large female. In a split second, the raptors recovered and took more aggressive postures, with some even giving a few barks of warning. To Sam, the meaning was clear: another step and you're dead.
In hopes of keeping things under control, she carefully went down to her knees, making sure her hands stayed far away from her shotgun. A glance behind her revealed a nearly panicked Chaser, who seemed torn between staring at her and looking at his raptor mates. His muscles were tensed, ready to snap into movement, but he held himself in place.
Once again facing ahead, the girl locked eyes with the large female raptor, who watched her with intense yellowish eyes. The raptor appeared both distrustful and intrigued by her. The woman closed her eyes for a second and thought about the right word to say. The stress of the situation didn't help, but her efforts to learn the language paid off, allowing her to quickly remember how to pronounce the correct word.
"Ggreetingss!" She tried to keep her voice loud enough for all raptors to hear, but not too much that it could be mistaken by something else. The effect was immediate. All the raptors froze on their spots, even Chaser and the large female. Their previous stance of suspicion and aggressiveness was replaced by complete confusion and disbelief, as if they were at a complete loss to what they had heard. Samantha, for her part, didn't know if this was good or bad.
The first to recover was Chaser, who saw this moment as an opportunity to get things going. Walking over to Sam's side, he looked around one last time and spoke.
"Uh… Fallen Rock!" It sounded a bit stupid now. He was supposed to say this before they were face to face, as it was custom. Still, maybe hearing something friendly would help a bit. No immediate answer came, and Chaser shuffled awkwardly.
After what felt like an eternity, the large female gave a single limp forward.
"Fallen Rock, nephew," Her voice carried the wisdom and authority expected of someone as old and experienced as her, but also with a touch of amusement. "Explain… this."
Her eyes fixated on Samantha. "Is this why you've been missing for days? A soft-skin?"
"Yes… uh, no, I mean…" Having this conversation for real was much more difficult than what he had imagined. "I… I saw the soft-skin getting separated from the others during the attack and we gave chase, as we were supposed to but…" But he was stubborn, he knew it. His stubbornness when chasing prey is what had given him his adult name, and it was the reason why he had gone alone. "I decided to keep going after the others gave up, I followed her tracks for a few hours and found her hideout. All I had to do was wait for the opportunity to ambush her, and would probably been successful if it wasn't for that little…"
Elder Swift narrowed her eyes, making Chaser stop his rant before he said something stupid. She didn't approve throwing curses at hatchlings, and he knew it.
"I know this already. Tree-climber has told me quite the amazing tale about what supposedly happened. I came here because I couldn't believe a single word."
Chaser swallowed his words, and the elder raptor focused her an attention on Samantha, who was struggling to understand the conversation.
"I couldn't believe you had made peace with your prey and somehow taught it how to speak our tongue, yet she was the first to greet us. How exactly have you overcome a state of conflict which has existed since before the soft-skins left our lands?"
If he were a human, Chaser would be sweating profusely "Mutual aid and… luck, I guess? She saved me from a horned tyrant, showed me and the hatchling mercy, when she could've easily killed us with her thunderer. This made me curious, so I followed her ended up saving her from a group of venom spitters. After she woke up, I managed to get across that I meant no harm, and from there things just took off."
He stole a glance towards Sam. "She deserves a lot of credit, too. After a while, we both got frustrated by the lack of understanding, but she was able to teach me a few a word in her tongue. Honestly, she's even more eager to learn than I am, and most of our exchanges were led by her, not me. It's almost as if she was hatchling sitter."
While still mostly in the dark about what the two raptors were talking, it was quite obvious to Sam that she was the main subject, which is to be expected. Her difficulty in understanding came not only from the lack of vocabulary, but because the speed and pace in which they spoke was noticeably different from humans. She remembered one of her linguistics teachers telling how human speech is partially influenced by natural cycles like heartbeats and breathing. If the same applied to raptors, then it's no surprise the pacing appears wrong to her. She knew for sure their breathing was different, as she had felt it back when she was cuddling Chaser.
"At least I got something useful out of that whole embarrassment…" She thought to herself.
The smaller female, standing to the left of the duo, was getting impatient. Her eyes were fixated on Samantha's shotgun. While she had never seen a firearm before, the elders had always made sure newer generations knew as much as possible about them, as they recognized the inherent danger posed by armed soft skins. "This is too dangerous; we shouldn't be here."
"I'll be the judge of that," Elder Swift stated. Of course, she agreed with the younger female that this was a precarious situation, but what she had seen and heard so far was enough to make her curious. She needed to get to the bottom of… whatever this is. "How proficient is the soft skin with our tongue?"
"Well, she's…" Chaser struggled to put into words, "able to form some sentences, and has enough vocabulary to figure out the meaning I'm trying to convey… mostly?"
He let out a frustrated sigh. "I've only had a few days to try to figure it out, so obviously there's still a long way to go."
"But, well… look, this isn't why I wanted all of you here!"
"Then what is it, nephew?"
"I, well…" He didn't actually know. Was it to help his clan get better understanding about the soft skins? To somehow avoid conflict with them? The truth was, he didn't really have a goal in mind. All he knows is that ever since Samantha had saved him, he had been fixated on her, wanting to figure out this puzzle of a woman. The more he learned about her and her kind, the more curious he became.
However, curiosity over a single soft skin wasn't enough. If he wanted his clan to give her a chance and help him learn more, he would need a tangible beneficial reason that could improve the whole community. They weren't about to risk their home and their safety over a single raptor's curiosity, and he knew it.
"If… if we learn how to communicate, we can learn more about the soft skins and their artefacts, which would help us in future encounters" He avoided using the word "fight" to describe further meetings with Sam's kin, as he himself would probably hesitate if he were to come across more soft skins. "We can learn about how and why they come from beyond the great waters, what they think of us and m-maybe, uh… maybe we can even avoid fighting!"
To even suggest such things would be absurd, were he not accompanied by Sam. Despite his struggle to make his case, he knew from the lack of interruptions that he had their attention. He could see it in their eyes that, while skeptical, they were considering his words.
Midnight was the first to speak. "I don't like this one bit. Sure, it's interesting to know the soft skins are able to talk, but even if we could reason with it and their kind in general, it would not eliminate their magic, their tools and their thunderers. This fight isn't just because of mistrust, it's because we know the power they once held over us, of their ability to spit flames and instant death upon us" Unlike Star-gazer, Midnight didn't hold hatred or mistrust in his words. He was simply stating the obvious. While considerably larger and heavier than humans, the raptors were very much aware of humanity's capability to overcome those disadvantages through the use of technology and tactics.
"I'm sorry, Chaser, but I'm inclined to agree with him," the elder said. "Just be because our kind can understand each other, doesn't stop our clans from occasionally fighting and spilling blood. Communication alone is hardly enough to actually change our circumstances."
The raptor in question was growing more and more frustrated. "B-but what about her? Learning to talk made her trust me! She never once tried to harm me after I made her understand I didn't want to hurt her!"
Swift was quick to counter it. "But that's still too limited to draw any major conclusions, especially regarding the rest of the soft skins. Even if all of this has worked with this one specifically, it doesn't mean it would help with others."
"Even if it did, it's still too risky. Chaser had to place himself in an incredibly vulnerable and dangerous position to do this, and there was no guarantee of success," Stargazer added.
Before Chaser could attempt to rebuke their arguments, a bird-like thrill came from Tree-climber, who had been watching the whole conversation in silence. As all eyes were drawn to him (even Samantha's), the young raptor seemed to freeze for a moment from nervousness.
"I… well, uh"
"What is it, hatchling?" Stargazer asked.
He shuffled a bit on his spot, roughing his feathers a bit. "You see, I think both sides have a point here but, well… aren't you forgetting the soft skin standing there?"
All the raptors glanced towards Sam, who did her best to avoid meeting their gazes.
"What about it?"
After taking a deep breath, Tree-climber continued. "For one, the simple fact that she's standing there despite being absolutely terrified of us!"
It was true, and very easy for the raptors to notice. Despite her best efforts, and the raptor's unfamiliarity with human expression, it was near impossible to contain her shaking limbs and labored breaths. She was, after all, surrounded by beings that had every reason to tear her apart.
"I mean, Chaser didn't just make her trust him, he managed to make the soft skin come out here, in full view of us, knowing we could kill her at any moment. Like, the soft skin is trusting us with her life!" Tree-climber's words had a profound effect on the other raptors. It revealed to them another side of this encounter they hadn't fully considered. This wasn't just about what Chaser was doing and what the raptors could use it for, it was also about the soft skin who was willingly putting herself into a vulnerable position at Chaser's request.
"What I'm trying to say is, even if this doesn't help us with the rest of the soft skins, we should at least give this one a chance."
The elder raptor considered his words for a few moments. "There's wisdom on your words, young one. Perhaps we are indeed being inconsiderate to the soft skin's willingness to come here, but then, what should we do? There's still the issue of how the rest of the clan would react and how to keep them safe, should things go wrong."
"We don't have to go that far!" Chaser quickly answered. "We can take things slowly. I just want to show you what we've been doing all this time, so that you can judge for yourselves."
While still mistrustful, Stargazer relented. "That's… reasonable, I guess?"
"I guess so," Midnight agreed. "I don't see why not."
The other male, who had remained silent so far, decided to speak. "This certainly got me curious, I want to see the soft skin speak again!" His adult name was Fisher, given due to his unusual preference for fish on his diet, unlike most of the clan.
With an unspoken agreement, all raptors decided they wanted to see just that. Once again, all eyes were on the human, who was getting more and more confused by the second. The raptors were speaking at a very fast pace, and she could barely separate different words. Avoiding their glances, she instead turned to met Chaser's eyes, in hopes he could provide some guidance.
The male raptor, while still a bit weary and undecided, met her eyes and began conveying what they wanted her to do.
"Need wooordds" He spoke softly. "Need Aress speak"
He kept it as simple as he could, avoiding the more complex vocabulary Samantha had tried teaching him. This was no time to try new words, he needed to get the meaning across as quickly as possible.
Samantha became even more uncomfortable. "Alright, he wants me to speak again," She thought to herself, "Piece of cake, I can do it… right?".
With an unpleasant swallow, she blurted out a small sentence:
"Greetingss, I n-name Sam," It sounded pathetic even to herself, but she couldn't stop now. "I with Chaser, don't mean danger."
She knew for a fact there were a lot of things either wrong or missing on her sentences, but she couldn't focus. It was one thing to try speaking with the raptor she had grown to trust, not a large group of unknown dinosaurs who were, at best, mistrustful of her and could slice her into bits if they so wished.
Still, her words had once again swept through the raptors like a wave. The effect was immediate. Their ears had indeed not deceived them, the soft skin really knew how to speak their tongue. It was just enough to get Stargazer and elder Swift a bit more curious about this whole affair.
"Huh, alright nephew, you got my attention. I'll allow this to go on." Her words brought a tsunami of relief over him. "Tell her she's safe, we won't harm her."
He conveyed her words, which helped dissipate some of Samantha's fears. What followed was a slow, but somewhat functional conversation. Each raptor tried to introduce themselves to Sam, who could only stare in awe at the whole thing. It all felt surreal, having a conversation with a group of raptors, creatures she (and all of humanity) believed were just another particularly smart predator. Chaser, thankfully, had guided the raptors to speak in a way easier for Sam to understand, while she also did her best to try communicating as well.
From what she gathered, each one had a unique name, which occasionally seemed to take meaning from objects or actions. One raptor, in particular, had a name composed of the words for "tree" and for "climbing". Sam wondered if his name was something akin of "Tree-climber", and if the other names were also tied to specific actions and the like.
Most of the raptors were very quick to learn her name, and seemed pretty happy to just say it repeatedly, almost like children learning a funny word for the first time. She supposed this was indeed very different for them, and perhaps fun in a way. While she obviously couldn't know if all raptors spoke the same language, it would be reasonable to assume so, given the growing but still fairly small populations combined with the geographical limitations of the island.
Of course, with time the questions became more complex and difficult.
"Question to Sam," The raptors had decided to also make it clear when they spoke to Sam if they were making a question or not, as she couldn't always pick up on their natural cues and tones for different types of sentences. "Soft skins always fight our kin, and Chaser was fighting you. Why did you not fight him?"
It was a simple, but very difficult question. Sam faced the brown feathered raptor, uncomfortably trying to come up with an explanation.
"Uhhhh, one soft skin not equal to all soft skins" Honestly, she herself still didn't know exactly what had motivated her to spare Chaser, but she had to give some sort of answer. "After horned tyrant left… Chaser not danger, so I not attack Chaser" It was the most basic way she could explain it. She didn't have enough vocabulary on emotions and other abstract concepts to explain her decision.
"Do soft skins only attack dangerous people?" The raptor added.
Samantha once again had to wrack her brain to figure out the proper way to answer. "Some soft skins don't want fight, others do," There was, of course, also the issue of what exactly someone came to the island for. Ingen agents and the occasional poachers were very trigger happy and eager to get their hands on dinosaurs, especially difficult ones like raptors. "I only fight when in danger, but sometimes I attack because I be afraid".
The raptors knew this was likely a simplified answer, but it was still nice to hear Sam saying it. It further reinforced their positive opinion of her and made them more comfortable. While doubt still existed about the full extent of her motivations, as well as how exactly the rest of the soft skins viewed them, her answer had been enough to satiate their immediate curiosity.
The younger female approached Sam and asked another question. "What do you think of Chaser?" The words got a confused glance from Tree-climber and an angry glare from Chaser.
The woman frowned a bit. "I not understand?"
"To you," Stargazer tried again, putting emphasis on the last word. "Is Chaser good, bad?"
"Oh!" As if a lightbulb had lit above her head, Samantha gave a quick nod of understanding. "Chaser very good, he helped against danger many times! I be dead if not for Chaser" She replied excitedly. "He followed me and help with food and shelter."
Sam had unknowingly made their relationship sound a bit too friendly, which the raptors found amusing. They all looked at Chaser, who did his best not to look embarrassed.
Midnight, seeing how Chaser looked, decided to take the opportunity for a free jab at his ego. "My, my, did you snare this soft skin?" The words had the predicted effect.
Chaser was at a loss of words, trying to come up with an answer while simultaneously trying to maintain his composure. "What?! No! Stop thinking with your dick!"
"Wow, calm down Chaser, I didn't mean it like that!" He totally did, and Chaser knew it. "I mean, I'm just wondering why you're going around giving free hunts and making nests with her."
"Of course you did! I'm just trying to learn more about her kind, nothing else."
Were he a human, he would've given Chaser a cheeky smile. "So, if none of this is what it looks like, you wouldn't mind if me and her went dancing?" By that, Midnight referred to the raptor's custom of dancing as part of courtship, which had the desired effect on Chaser.
"Don't you dare!" In turn, if Chaser was also a human, he would be glowing red in embarrassment and anger. "Uh, I mean… not that I care, but you can't!"
Meanwhile, Sam watched the little argument with nearly as much amusement as the other raptors surrounding her. She couldn't really tell what they were talking about, but it was easy to guess it was just some petty squabble between the two. "Perhaps they're siblings?" She thought, "It sure looks like it".
Instead of human laughter, the raptors moved their tails and let out a small purr. While Midnight was usually a very stoic individual, he and Chaser had a bit of a friendly rivalry from their hatchling days. They often competed against one another, sparring and doing all sorts of challenges. Still, deep down they were friends, and their occasional arguments were mostly just friendly banter, such as now.
"As much as I enjoy seeing you two acting as hatchlings, I think we have bigger concerns at the moment," Elder Swift said. The two of them ceased their little argument, much to Midnight's displeasure.
With that settled, she focused on the soft skin girl, who was a bit intimidated by the large raptor covered in scars. "You," Swift began, "What you plan to do in the future?"
"I don't think she knows some of those words yet" Chaser warned.
Indeed, she didn't, and Swift noticed her confusion.
"Alright, what you do in distant sun?"
It was still a bit difficult, but Samantha picked up on the meaning quickly. "Distant sun… she's asking what I'll do on the next day?" It could also simply mean the future in general; she didn't know for sure.
"I uh… I not know," Sam answered honestly. "In past, I was going to big waters. Hoped to find other soft skins I know, but…"
The next words were difficult not only on a grammatical level, but mentally as well. "But now I with Chaser. Want to speak, to learn, tell other soft skins about learning" It was an admission of what she hadn't been able to tell herself these last days. She no longer cared to escape, at least not as a primary goal. All her energy and determination were focused on Chaser and the raptor puzzle she had found herself into.
Her words had a profound effect on the raptor in question, who realized he meant more to her than he originally assumed. She was forfeiting her own safety and her clan (or whatever soft skins had for clans) to learn from him. Honestly, it was more than he was probably willing to sacrifice, because although he was away from Fallen Rock and his clan, he was still within travel distance of them. At any moment he could stop, turn around and head home. Yet Sam was clearly separated and lost from her kind, away from wherever her home was beyond the great waters, but still willing to stay and interact with beings who were very much mistrustful of here and ready to kill her at any moment.
"I'm with you too, and I also wish to learn about your kind" Chaser said to her.
What followed was more questions about her, but more and more the raptors also began to share little bits of information about themselves. They attempted to teach her how to pronounce their names, with varying degrees of success. Most importantly, however, was that Sam began to realize there was a sort of naming convention amongst raptors. All of them were named after a skill or specific behavior. This in turn made her wonder what the meaning behind Chaser's name was, something she decided to try asking them along the conversation.
The raptors, in turn, did their best to help, though they needed some guidance from Swift, who was the most experienced with teaching amongst them, due to her status as an elder. After a while, Samantha began to understand the name of the raptor who had saved her so many times.
At first, she assumed it was something akin of "follower" or "watcher". His name seemed to be about someone who followed something else. With some further explanation, she figured his name was something more specific related to hunts or fights leading her to change her previous assumptions to either "chaser" or "pursuer".
Between those two options, both of which more or less fit, Sam decided to settle for the simpler one: Chaser.
To her, this felt important. Now she knew something very personal about him, she could associate the word with something, and in turn understand her raptor companion a bit more. On that regard, she couldn't help but to chuckle at the name, for he was indeed an avid chaser of his prey. Thank God he no longer saw her like that, last thing she needed was someone as determined (and perhaps a bit stubborn) as Chaser wanting to kill her.
As minutes turned into hours, both groups become more and more comfortable, and what had begun as a tense and awkward encounter, had now bloomed into a somewhat friendly chat. It wasn't perfect, and neither side fully trusted the other yet, but they had achieved the first step into a whole new world for both species.