Bird Cage

Wooo! Yeah!"A young velociraptor shouted in joy as he slid down a branch of a large tree trunk at a high speed. He dismounted at the end of the branch with a front flip and landed perfectly on his feet. "That was cool!" The young raptor shouted. He stretched his body out to its full length of 12 feet, and then stretched upward to his full height of 6"2'.

"Peregrine Featherclaw!" The young raptor snapped his head in the direction of the female voice. "What are you doing?" Luliera, the head of the pack of velociraptors, was angrily making her way to him through the tall grass. "I've been back for two days reorganizing this parqou and all you have been doing is surfing through the trees! I swear, I would expect this from Vare, but not from a fawltreheol of 15 full earth cycles!"

"I'm practicing for when I leave for the Bird Cage." Peregrine answered.

"The Bird Cage?" Luliera said in surprise. "What on earth could you possibly…OH NO! No way am I allowing another fawltreheol to leave this pack to chase a human!"

"But Luliera, you saw the crash just like I did. You even said the guy was friendly." Peregrine argued.

"My answer remains no. Grant is probably dead anyway." Luliera huffed.

"You know just as well as I do that the pterosaur most likely caught this…Grant…and took him to its nest before he ever hit the ground." Peregrine pointed out.

"I am not letting you leave the pack!" Luliera growled.

"Why not? The only members that even remotely like me here is Rave, Vare and you." Peregrine said.

"And Wiesen too." Luliera sighed. "You reminded both of us a lot of Zeal." Luliera thought to herself for a second and then spoke, "You win Peregrine. You may leave the pack. I have no right to hold you here if you wish to leave."

"But I…Wait really?" Peregrine questioned.

"Yes really. But I will only let you leave on one condition!" Luliera growled.

"Name it."

"Do not...I repeat…Do NOT call for our aide." Luliera snorted. "In your search for freedom, you will be on your own young fawltreheol. Got it?"

"I understand." Peregrine nodded excitedly.

"I cannot risk the safety of my pack on another rescue attempt." Luliera said returning into the tall grass. "I suggest you leave now before Rave and Vare are able to maul you out of anger. I will let them know that you have left." Luliera disappeared into the grass. "Good luck Peregrine. If by any chance you run into Zeal, tell him that he is well missed."

"Will do." Peregrine said taking off in the direction of the Bird Cage.

XXXXXX

"My head." Grant said as he woke from his black out. Still in a daze, Grant looked at his surroundings. He seemed to be sitting in the middle of a big flat pile of sticks and branches. Around the edge of the perimeter of the pile was a wall of braches nearly as tall as Grant. "This is a nest." Grant said in awe. The nest was almost 20 feet wide. "What animal makes a nest this big?" Grant soon received his answer when a pterosaur with a 43 foot wingspan glided a few feet over his head, and just as quickly as it appeared, dove out of sight below a tree line. Grant rushed to the edge of the nest to watch as the large flying reptile banked to the right of a humungous tree and leave his sight. "That was a quetzalcoatlus! And I'm in its nest!" Grant yelled. He looked over the edge of the nest into a forest far below. Trees ranging in every size surrounded the massive tree Grant currently sat in. There were three bridges crossing the open spaces from tree to tree in the giant dome. "Wait…That means I'm still on the island! ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" Grant screamed in frustration.

XXXXXX

Peregrine perked up his head when he heard the yell of the only human in the Bird Cage. "Either he's being attacked, or he's really upset about something." Peregrine laughed. "Either way, he's still alive. I better find him and soon." Peregrine stood at the very bottom of the Bird Cage. He was at the base of an enormous tree that towered to very top of the glass dome. "I can only assume the quetzalcoatlus would take the man to its nest." The raptor sighed. "This of course would be at the very top of this structure." Peregrine looked straight up, craning his neck to see if he could determine an easy route through the trees. He spotted the long metal bridges held up by thick rope humans had made going from tree to tree. "I can use those to make my climb easier, but first I have to reach that height."

The lone raptor began his trek up through the trees. He jumped and flipped from branch to branch, slowly increasing his distance from the ground. Before he knew it he had reached the first human made bridge. He cautiously placed a foot on the metal structure. It shook slightly, but nothing more.

"Awesome." Peregrine said jogging out into the middle of the bridge. The bird of prey became hesitant to continue though when the bridge started to sway more with his added weight. "Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down." Peregrine repeated in his mind.

A screeching cry of a large pterosaur sounded out behind Peregrine. The raptor felt something hit him in the back of the head. The blow forced him snout first onto the floor of the bridge. His eyes immediately saw just how far off the ground he was. Fortunately for the raptor that was not the only thing he saw. A shadow of a pterosaur passed through his vision as well.

"Crap!" Peregrine jumped to his feet. "I looked down!" Another screeching cry sounded behind Peregrine, but this the time the cunning carnivore was prepared. The raptor, with great reluctance, watched the floor of the bridge and the shadow of a large flying reptile. Peregrine waited for the moment he believed the pterosaur would attack, and swiftly ducked his head. Following his quick time maneuver, the raptor used his tail to swat the pterosaur's underbelly. The flying reptile screeched in discontent and banked away from the bridge. Peregrine snorted as he watched the pterosaur fly above him and circle the bridge. "Hurts, doesn't it?" He shouted. The pterosaur dove down at the lone raptor, and that's when Peregrine recognized just how large it was. "I was just kidding!" The raptor shouted as he ducked from the dive bomber.

Peregrine prepared to duck again as the pterosaur circled back, but, instead of attacking, the large predator flapped its wings to slow down for a landing. Peregrine was then able to get a good look at his attacker.

"The quetzalcoatlus!" He gasped.

"Feeble minded carnivore." The feminine voice of the pterosaur rang out. Her flapping wings produced a gust that nearly knocked over the small raptor as she touched down on the side of the bridge the raptor had been heading towards. The talons on her feet gripped each side of the rope to sustain her perched position. Her long neck craned low to eye level with the bird of prey. "Why dare you enter this territory? Dienosaurilieds are not welcome within the kingdom ruled by the Tearosaurilieds. Explain yourself."

"See…I just thought…that maybe…" Peregrine's nervousness faltered his words.

"Out with it, fawltreheol. Before I lose further patience." The quetzalcoatlus demanded, beating her wings to produce gust.

"You wouldn't have happened to snag a human earlier today?" Peregrine finally asked meekly.

"And what business would you have with said human?" The quetzalcoatlus's interest was piqued.

"I just want to speak with him, if possible." Peregrine replied. "You really have no use for him. Your kind mostly eats fish."

"The key word is mostly, fawltreheol. Saurilieds of the sky enjoy the occasional carnivorous diet as well." The pterosaur said.

"So he is in your nest?" Peregrine questioned.

"I never spoke such words. And you have still yet to speak your business here." The quetzalcoatlus said narrowing her eyes on the small carnivore.

"I told you, I just want to speak with the man." Peregrine said.

"I am too old for half-truths, young one." The flying reptile stated. "What do you really want with the human!" She beat her large wings and screeched.

Peregrine saw the quetzalcoatlus was not going to take anything but the truth for an answer. "I just want to find the human so he can escort me off of this island and back to my home island. All I ask of you is that you permit me to take him from your nest." Peregrine said truthfully. The pterosaur eyed him warily.

"Permission denied." The quetzalcoatlus opened her wings to their full width. "Be gone by the hour or I shall see to it personally that you leave." The giant flying reptile leaned to the side and dove off of the bridge. She flapped her wings a few times, ascending into the trees above. "That was your only warning." The pterosaur's voice echoed out.

XXXXXX

Grant searched the nest looking for anything he could use to escape to the floor of the glass dome. He stumbled across the remains of another human, possibly the pilot of the helicopter, who had a parachute in his grasps. Grant snatched the parachute and put it on right away. He ran over to the edge of nest and readied to jump, but just when he was about to leap the quetzalcoatlus ascended and hovered directly in his path.

"Whoa!" Grant fell backwards into the nest. The quetzalcoatlus screeched at the paleontologist and then perched itself on the edge of the nest, keeping a wary eye on him. "There goes that plan. I need a new one." Grant mumbled.

XXXXXX

Peregrine continued to flip from branch to branch in the massive trees. He had just reached the third bridge in the dome. "How many of these things did the humans make? I hate crossing them." Peregrine sprinted across the bridge without incident. "Humph…I was expecting something bad to happen." After the quetzalcoatlus left Peregrine on the first bridge, he had been attacked by pteranodons, and at the second bridge he had been dived bomb by pterodactyls. An odd sound caught Peregrine's attention. He perked his head up and noticed the sound was coming from above him. It sounded like someone was yelling, and it was getting closer.

"THIS IS AWWWSSSSSOOOOOOME!" Grant yelled as he dove by the bridge on which the raptor stood. Peregrine only got a quick glimpse of the man before he left his sight.

"What the!" Peregrine rushed to the middle of the bridge and looked over the edge. The man he was after had just went diving by towards the ground. The raptor could see Grant pull a cord on a backpack, and also see the red chute open as he neared the ground. Peregrine continued to watch as the paleontologist touched down safely and ditched the parachute as he ran in the direction of the Bird Cage's second entrance.

"YOU!" Screeched the quetzalcoatlus as she dove past Peregrine. She rolled to her left an under the bridge, ascending back upward to become level with the bridge again. Her wings, which she had tucked near her body to dive, now shot open to their full width and flapped slowly so that she could hover at Peregrine's level.

"What was all that about?" Peregrine inquired indicating where Grant's parachute lay far on the ground below.

"Did I not tell you to leave earlier?" The giant pterosaur ignored the raptor's question.

"Why can't you just answer my question, for once?" Peregrine growled.

"Because…I just don't like you." The quetzalcoatlus stated.

"Fine. Don't answer my question. I'll just leave now anyway since my target just left as well." Peregrine snorted. "See you around bird brain!" He stuck his tongue out at the giant pterosaur and sprinted off the bridge. The agile raptor front flipped onto a downward sloping tree branch and began to surf down the trees to the ground.

"It's too late to retreat now!" The quetzalcoatlus let out a deafening cry that silenced all the natural noises in the Bird Cage. Almost every piece of greenery in the glass dome began to shake with life. Pterosaurs of all shapes and sizes burst from trees and started circling the quetzalcoatlus in anticipation. "KILL THE FAWLTREHEOL!" She ordered. Every flying reptile dove in Peregrine's direction on the quetzalcoatlus's command.

"HA!…bird brain. I amuse myself sometimes." Peregrine chuckled as he hopped to another branch and kept sliding down.

"You grossly over estimate your own sense of humor!" Peregrine's head snapped to his left. The quetzalcoatlus was next to him, diving at the same speed the raptor was sliding down the tree.

"Whoa! You're fast. I'm at least surfing at 35 miles per hour!" Peregrine laughed. "Does that big beak of yours help with aerodynamics?" The raptor laughed harder as he jumped to another branch.

"Why do you insist on taunting a creature far more deadly than yourself?" The pterosaur snarled.

"Because…I just don't like you." Peregrine sarcastically remarked and then laughed at his own antics. The quetzalcoatlus snorted in annoyance and twirled her body upward and away from the lone raptor. She left Peregrine's visual range, but her presence was replaced with hundreds of other pterosaurs surrounding the raptor on every side. "Well this sucks." Peregrine lowered his body to gain speed and sped out of the range of the smaller pterosaurs but the pteranodons and pterodactyls easily kept pace with him.

The first attack came from behind Peregrine. The lone raptor swung his tail and knocked the attacking pterodactyl out of the sky. He could hear the snapping and breaking of branches and bones as the flying reptile crashed through the foliage. Two pteranodons dove at him from each side. The moment their beaks would have hit him, the raptor jumped, letting the pterosaurs collide into each other. Peregrine landed on another branch and kept tree surfing as the two reptiles spun from the force of the collision into a tree trunk. Peregrine ducked as a pterodactyl and pteranodon alternated a diving pattern in a coordinated attack. The intelligent raptor analyzed the pterosaurs' pattern of attack. When the pteranodon dove at him next, Peregrine ducked under it and caught its leathery wing with his teeth once it passed over his head. The agile bird of prey jumped and turned on the spot so that he was sliding down the branch tail first. He threw the caught reptile at the oncoming pterodactyl. The pterosaurs crashed in midair and hit two other flying reptiles as the spun out of control.

"This is way too easy." Peregrine announced to the remaining large pterosaurs which were about only 45 without all the smaller flying reptiles around them. "You can give up now, or die fighting." The raptor grinned. It seemed the pterosaurs headed his words, for the remaining pterodactyls and pteranodons dispersed and flew away. "I guess they really gave up." Peregrine soon heard the real reason the flying reptiles left. A bellowing honk echoed out as the shape of a pterosaur with a wingspan of 36 feet dove towards Peregrine out of the sky. Its distinguishing feature was its round beak at the tip with sharp teeth jutting out. "Crud, an ornithocheirus."

Peregrine jumped off the branch he slid on to another branch that was level and horizontal, so he could stop sliding. He braced himself for the incoming ornithocheirus. The large flying reptile came at the raptor spinning with its beak wide open. Peregrine couldn't tell where he could hit the creature so he decided to dodge the attacker instead. The ornithocheirus zoomed by the raptor, just missing the dinosaur's tail. It flapped its powerful wings and banked for another pass by.

"Need a plan! Need a plan!" Peregrine panicked in his mind as he barely dodged getting knocked off the branch he stood on by the pterosaur's wide wing. The creature banked again to make a third pass by. "There's no way I can take that thing down with just my strength alone…wait! That's it." Peregrine grinned deviously as he turned to look at one of the larger branches of the tree he was in. The cunning bird of prey dodged the third pass of the large reptile. He then immediately ran over to the branch he gazed at beforehand and latched onto it with his clawed hands. He used a great deal of his power to bend the branch back.

The ornithocheirus came rushing at the raptor once more, but failed to notice the large tree branch within the dinosaur's grip until it was basically in front of the raptor. The large pterosaur tried to slow itself to a stop, but it was too far-gone.

"Gotcha." Peregrine said as he let go of the branch. A resonating 'whack' bounced off the walls of the glass dome. The ornithocheirus honked out a shrill cry as it was sent flying into the side of a tree trunk. It peeled off the tree and lifelessly fell to the forest floor below.

"Impressive." The quetzalcoatlus said ascending from below a tree to become level with Peregrine. "But now you deal with a true master of the skies!" She cried out in a deafening screech.

Peregrine cringed at the screech, but did quickly recover and said, "First you have to catch me." The slick raptor leapt off the branch onto another that he could slide down. The quetzalcoatlus immediately pursued.

"Let's see how a Dienosaurilied handles a primal ability of a Tearosaurilied." The quetzalcoatlus's said flying directly above the tree surfing raptor.

"Primal what now?" Peregrine questioned.

"Primal this!" The pterosaur yelled. She opened her wings as far as she possibly could and then quickly and heavily flapped them once. The resulting gust was aimed at Peregrine, but missed its mark and instead hit right behind him. The branches behind the raptor were completely destroyed into nothing but woodchips.

"OH, NEXCREEG!" Peregrine watched the complete obliteration of the branch in surprise. The gust had been visible. "I saw the gust! You're using that ability thing Wiesen explained to me!"

"Look on the bright side; when you die at least you'll see it coming." The pterosaur said.

"No way. Not today." Peregrine lowered his body to gain extra speed again, but the quetzalcoatlus kept pace. She opened her beak wide and screeched in the raptor's direction. A visible gust shot from her mouth. It tore through the branches ahead of where the raptor was surfing like a thousand razor sharp blades. The branches fell through the air in chunks, leaving a gap too wide for a raptor to leap. "Crud." Peregrine dismounted from his surfing branch with a flip onto the top of a flat tree. The quetzalcoatlus passed by him over head, but banked to the right in the distance into a hover to face the smaller carnivore.

"What's the matter, out of branches to surf, and tricks to use, fawltreheol?" She asked sarcastically. Peregrine threateningly snarled at her. "You were so close to the ground too. Only 100 feet or so left."

"Come and get me!" Peregrine shouted.

"Happily!" The quetzalcoatlus obliged. She ascended 50 feet into the air and closed her wings. She started spinning in a dive at a high velocity, aiming at Peregrine at a tilted angle. The raptor could see the air forming around her like a drill, cutting through any foliage that stood in her way.

"I may be out of branches to surf…" Peregrine braced himself for the attack. The huge pterosaur drilled the spot Peregrine was in. She twirled to level herself out and began to glide, looking for where the raptor's body might lay. "But I'm far from running out of tricks to use." Peregrine said from his sitting position on the quetzalcoatlus's back.

"Pest!" The quetzalcoatlus hissed. She was about to spin again, but the cunning raptor shifted all his weight to the base of the pterosaur's neck. The act prevented the flying reptile from properly being able to control her wings.

"Nice try, but now I call the shots." Peregrine growled. He shoved his foot down on the pterosaur's neck to force her into a dive. "And I say we go down." The two predators quickly gained speed in the dive. They were fast approaching the ground from 90 feet, to 80 feet, to 70, 60 and 50 ft.

"Fool! You'll kill us both." The enraged quetzalcoatlus struggled to retake control of her body, but failed.

"No, just you." Peregrine said in a calm voice. They were at 40 feet, to 30 feet, to 20 feet. At 15 feet, the lone raptor dismounted the pterosaur. He went flipping through the air, until he met the hard unforgiving ground, and transferred his flip into a roughly constructed roll. The quetzalcoatlus, on the other hand, smashed chest first into the forest floor. She bounced once, and tried to flap to gain altitude, but her wing clipped the ground and sent her into a tumble. Peregrine stood reluctantly and stretched. "Ow, my aching back." He whined.

"You're back? Look what you've done to my wing!" Peregrine looked to where the quetzalcoatlus had tumbled. She was sitting up with her wings tucked in. One wing anyway. The left was bent awkwardly inward at the tip and was noticeably broken in several places. "This is all your fault!"

"My fault? You attacked me!" Peregrine growled raising his toe claws in ready attack.

"If you had never entered this territory-OW!" The grounded flying reptile had tried to move towards the raptor, but her broken wing prevented it. "Just perfect. I cannot even walk on it." The quetzalcoatlus hissed. She tried to use her beak to reach her wing so she could at the least snap her bones back into place so they would heal properly. Peregrine slowly let his guard down as he watched the giant flyer struggle with the simple task.

"I should help." Peregrine thought to himself. "This is partly my fault. I did taunt her and everything." He sighed aloud. "I'll do it. But I'll hate myself for it later." Peregrine cautiously approached the pterosaur. "Let me help you."

"You have already 'helped' enough!" The quetzalcoatlus snorted still tending to her wing. "Leave, before I call for aide once more."

"You know just as well as I do that after I knocked that ornithocheirus out of the sky, no Tearosaurilied in here is willing to fight me head on." Peregrine pointed out. "Just let me help you snap your bones back into place."

"How do I know you won't try to kill me?" The larger predator asked.

"I give you my word." Peregrine stated.

"Say it in the Ancient Saurilied tongue." The Tearosaurilied growled.

Peregrine snorted but complied. "Wai sap evas lex." He repeated his promise.

The quetzalcoatlus hesitated. "Very well. I accept your assistance." She turned to the side and presented her large wing to the raptor. Peregrine looked over the damage and found that he could snap all the bones back into place with one motion.

"This may hurt a little, so when it does don't attack me." Peregrine said. The pterosaur nodded in agreement. "3…2…1" Peregrine jumped onto the midsection of the wing. The pterosaur screeched out in pain as its bones fell back into place. Peregrine immediately jumped off her wing.

"Much better…" The quetzalcoatlus sighed in relief examining her wing. She turned towards the raptor. "Thank…you." She struggled to say.

"You got to admit, we Dienosaurilieds aren't all that bad." Peregrine smiled.

"It would appear that I have foolishly judged your kind." The pterosaur admitted. "I must ask; why help me, even after our little confrontation?"

"I figure you never had a personal beef with me. But I do believe you have some resentment to Dienosaurilieds in general. Whatever your reason may be, I know I have no part in that." Peregrine explained.

"It is true that in my past, experiences with your kind have turned out foul. But now I see no reason to judge so many for what a few have done to me. What is your namesake young one?" The quetzalcoatlus asked.

"My name is Peregrine Featherclaw." Peregrine puffed himself up with pride.

"A fitting name for a fawltreheol who navigates the trees so well." The quetzalcoatlus complimented. "You may call me Skyaeirah. If you happen to ever be in a great time of need, just come to the Bird Cage and call my name. I shall see what I can do to aide you. But I wouldn't suggest asking me to help anytime soon because I will be on the ground for at least a week until my wing heals."

"I appreciate the offer, Skyaeirah." Peregrine inclined his head. "Now if you'll excuse me, my target human is escaping and his trail grows cold."

"Be on your own then, Peregrine. I wish you sectosess on your adventure." Skyaeirah said using the Ancient Saurilied term for 'success'. Peregrine inclined his head once more and then turned in the direction Grant had ran off. Skyaeirah watched the velociraptor leave, and said to herself, "I can't wait to tell Kenduari what I just found."

Me: Yes! FINALLY! My writer's block has ended...i think.

Peregrine: I have a suggestion.

Me: WHAT THE!...what are you doing here?

Peregrine: My story, duh.

Me: This is true. So what is your suggestion?

Peregrine: My suggestion is to ask the readers do 'they' think your writer's block is fully over.

Me: Elaborate...

Peregrine: Well if it really is over then your writing should reflect what you wrote in the previous A Raptor's Tale. Or hopefully have become better...if not then, well you get the picture.

Me: Makes sense. You all heard the velociraptor. I would really really really greatly appreciate if you gave me feed back on this chapter to let me know if my writings are keeping true to the previous story's standards. Please give constructive criticism. It helps a great deal.

Peregrine: Oh yeah, and if you have a suggestion of what might be neat to see in the story, let the writer know.

Me: Yes. I'll try to work it into consideration if it fits into the plot I have planned. And Thanks for reading my stories you guys. I appreciate it alot. *corny thumbs up pose*

Peregrine: *sigh*Please...don't ever do that pose again.