A Raptor's History
"You know my name as well?" Peregrine asked the Utahraptor.
"Of course I do. I was the caretaker for you and your younger brother on Isla Sorna." The Utahraptor said. "You and him always had this quizzical look you did whenever something peaked your interests. You tilted your head to the right and he tilted his to the left. That's how I recognized who you were, young master Peregrine. Your parents called it your, 'that's interesting' look."
"Wait...were you the raptor that often sat in the trees watching us?" Peregrine inquired.
"That's right." The Utahraptor answered. "But I only sat in the trees when I was guarding the nest."
"Your name was...Ray...no wait...it was Rale...or maybe..." Peregrine struggled to remember. He tapped an impatient claw on the ground. The Utahraptor only shook his head and laughed which sounded a lot like the velociraptor's laugh but the chirps were much deeper.
"Let me help refresh your memory." The Utahraptor laughed.
XXXXXX
"Rile!" The adolescent Utahraptor lifted his head from the carcass he was currently eating when he heard his named called. "Rile! Where are you?" The female voice called out.
"Over here!" Rile answered after swallowing a chunk of meat. An adult female velociraptor emerged from the bushes next to Rile. Rile was the same size as her eventhough he was half her age, but his species of raptor did grow much larger. "Hello, Sazarie. How may I be of service?"
"Can you find my youngest son, and bring him to the naming ceremony? My mate wishes me to tend to the others in the pack." Sazarie asked.
"It will be an honor my Alpha." Rile deeply inclined his head to the point his nose almost touched the ground. Sazarie laughed at this action.
"Rile, how many times must I tell you there is no need for formalities. You are practically family." Sazarie laughed.
"But I insist my Alpha. You and your mate should always be treated with the upmost respect. Especially since you were kind enough to take a in seperate species of treheol as myslef."
"Very well Rile." Sazarie chuckled. "If there are any difficulties, you know where to find me." With that statemet Sazarie turned and left into the bushes. It took a total of three minutes for Rile to find the youngest hatchling of Sazarie. The whining noise he was making was too irratating to ignore. Rile found the young velociraptor wrestled to the ground by his slightly older brother.
"Young master Peregrine Featherclaw!" The Utahraptor growled. "Get off your younger brother this instant!" A very young Peregrine quickly hopped up from his sitting position on his brothers chest.
"Awe Rile, We were just tussling." Peregrine whined.
"More like you were beating me up, jerk." The smaller velociraptor brother said.
"Don't be such a hatchling." Peregrine complained.
"Just because your 5 full earth cycles , and I am only 3 earth cycles does not make me a hatchling." The younger velociraptor said. "It is only a 2 earth cycle difference."
"Both of you should act more mature no matter your age. You are the only sons of the alpha pair which means you are expected to challenge your father for his position one day." Rile chastised. "Now, I was sent here by your mother to fetch young master...uhhh...young master...umm...well that's why I'm here. To bring your younger brother to his naming ceremony."
"Finally!" The younger velociraptor hopped up and down with excitement.
"About time." Peregrine grumbled. "It's gotten old calling him 'baby brother'."
"You're welcome to come, young master Peregrine. A naming ceremony only happens once in a lifetime." Rile offered.
"No thanks. I think I'll just chill with dad. Naming ceremonies are a female thing." A hatchling Peregrine said.
"As you wish. Come young fawtreheol. Your name calls to you." Rile said to the younger of the brothers as he guided him through the brush of the open velociraptor enclosure on Isla Sorna.
XXXXXX
"Rile!" Peregrine shouted in realization. "I remember well now. You watched over me and my brother for nearly fives years, but back then you were my current size..." Peregrine trailed off. The lone raptor looked Rile up and down. "Am I losing it, or have you done some serious growing?"
"Most likely it's both." Rile joked. "And I only watched over you for five years, master Peregrine. I watched over your brother for three. Unfortunately, I was not able to see your growth further due to the humans running the island."
"Wait. Hold on. I don't remember humans feeding us on the other island like they did here." Peregrine said befuddled.
Rile gave a heavy sigh. "That's because they let the animals on the other island have free roam. They mostly studied us from afar." The Utahraptor tapped his claw on the ground. "We raptors were one of the few Saurilieds aware of their presence there." Rile took a long pause. The ruffled feathers atop his drooped low. "We should have been more cautious of them, then maybe you and your brother would not have been taken from your family."
"I doubt you could have did mcuh to stop the humans." Peregrine said in a stern and serious tone. "It isn't your fault my brother was captured, and neither was it your fault I was captured."
"You're wrong!" Rile snapped. He let loose a loud resonating sound that bordered on a roar. "It is entirely my fault. I was your caretaker and I failed at my responsibility! I failed you, your brother, your parents, and the pack!" Rile stomped back and forward pacing.
"I refuse to believe that." Peregrine snorted.
"Then let me enlighten you, young master Peregrine." Rile began.
XXXXXX
"Rile?" The young velociraptor asked.
"Yes, young master?" Rile asked.
"Why didn't Peregrine want to come?" The hatchling asked sadly.
Rile looked down at the young raptor and smiled. "Your brother takes his personality traits from your mother. He is bold, headstrong and often stubborn. He likes to think he's a tough guy sometimes, and since a naming ceremony is performed by females he feels as though it is too feminine for him."
"So that is why he did not wish to come?"
"Yes that is why, young master." Rile answered. Rile led the raptor chick to the open clearing the velocraptors used for their traditional events. Already the females of the pack, about 16 total, were waiting on the young raptor in a triangle. His mother, Sazarie, stood in the middle of the triangle waiting for him. Rile looked to the hatchling, expecting him to run out towards the group with joy, but he stayed glued in his spot next to the Utahraptor. "Go on. No need to be afraid, young master." Rile nudged the chick forward with his head.
"Come on, little one. There's nothing to be afraid of." Sazarie encouraged. Hesitantly, the small raptor stepped forward into the triangle. Rile sat down on the ground and watched as the females began to run in the shape of the triangle around the unnamed chick. Sazarie stood in the middle with the chick as the female raptors began to pick up speed and change the shape of their form to a circle, then to square, then to a hexagon. Soon the running females became all but a blur, but Rile could still see into the middle where Sazarie was talking to the young raptor now. "So, little one, what shall we call you?" Sazarie walked circles around her youngest son.
"They are fast." The small raptor proclaimed in awe at the running raptors around him. He hadn't even heard his mother's question. Sazarie noticed this.
"What do you think suits you most, my son? A strong name? A bold name? A name of power?" Sazarie asked, but she could see that her son was too fascinated in the speed of the other raptors.
"I want to move that fast one day." The chick said while still staring at the running raptors around him. Sazarie took a closer look at what she first assumed was a short attention span and noticed something odd. Her son's eyes were moving in slight intervals which only meant one thing. He was able to track the movements of the raptors around him.
"Quite unheard of for a hatchling." Sazarie vocalized her thoughts.
"What?" Her son finally turned his attention to his mother.
"If you're able to keep track of speed like that at this age, little one, you will indeed grow to be a very very quick velociraptor, with very quick timing control." Sazarie stated. "Hmm? Quick...that seems to fit you quite nicely."
"I like that word; quick. It reminds me of speed." The young raptor announced.
"Then I believe I have a name for you, my son." Sazarie grinned.
"What is it? What is it? Tell me mom." The young chick hopped up and down with energy.
"Alright, settle yourself young one. You have much energy you contain." The Alpha female laughed. "How does Quicksickles sound?"
"It sounds...cooool." The young raptor said in awe. "But that's the last half of my full name. What will be the first half?"
"With all that energy you have, how about..." Sazarie thought for a second before her face lit up. "Zeal...Zeal Quicksickles will be your name, little one." The chick jumped up and down with excitement. "Now we will make it official." Sazarie beagan to drag her killer claw through the ground in patterns.
"This is always my favorite part." Rile said to himself as he watched his pack leader spell out Zeal Quicksickles in the Ancient Saurilied letters on the ground. The letters consisted of wierd swirls, dots, shapes, and angles.
"Stand here, little one." Sazarie told her son. The chick did as he was told and stood in the middle of his name spelling. "Alright, now sit tight and don't move." Sazarie slammed her tail on the ground behind her. The running females instinctively changed to the opposite direction in which they ran. Sazarie made a deep low bellow that could be felt more so than it could be heard. The letters under the little raptor's feet began to glow white. The running females increased their speed tenfold and started to form a wind funnel. They changed the hexagon shape back into a triangle.
"Coooool." The chick said looking around himself.
"Almost done, little one. Just one more thing." Sazarie said in a clearly audible normal voice level, eventhough the wind funnel around them was roaing loud. Sazarie slammed her tail a second time and a blinding burst of light shot out from the ground beneath the young raptor's feet. When the light receded Rile was able to see that the written name on the ground was no longer there; instead, there was just scorched earth. The females had also stopped running and now were facing the center of the circle. "You are now a true member of the pack, Zeal Quicksickles." Sazarie picked up her son an placed him on her back.
"I see you finished naming the boy." A deep and strong male voice said.
"Late as usual my mate?" Sazarie observed jokingly. Rile looked to his left and saw the alpha male exiting the brush with Peregrine on his back.
"The borders of our territory do not patrol themselves. Had to make sure those humans around here were not getting too nosey. They can make a move any day now." The Alpha male stated with a smile. He was a very large velociraptor. His voice carried the air of stern confidence, power, and authority. His very presence commanded respect. "But I am not here to burden you with woes of an alpha male. Tell me, my mate, what name has my son been bestowed?"
"Zeal Quicksickles." Sazarie answered with a toothy smile.
"Pretty awesome name, brother." Peregrine complimented.
The Alpha male gave a hardy laugh. "No doubt for that quick eye of his. The elders are going to have a fun time teaching that boy perfect timing techniques."
"So you knew already of his little talent then?" Sazarie questioned.
"Of course, my dear." The Alpha male smiled. "Just as I knew of Peregrine's little talent as well before his name was chosen. Now I have a son of the ground as well as a son of the sky." The Alpha male gave a hardy laugh again, but suddenly cut it short as he took on serious demeanor. He pointed his nose to the ground so that it was perpendicular to the landscape. He was listneing intently to the surroundings.
"What is it?" Sazarie asked in a hushed voice.
The Alpha male did not answer right away instead he began to bark out orders. "Fang, Izerenz go to the south border and report back what you see." The Alpha male commanded. Without hesitation the females sprinted to the south to carry out their orders as fast as possible. "Tesreal, go to the west border and link up with your brother." Another female sprinted off on command.
"What is it, my mate?" Sazarie asked in an urgent tone.
"Humans. Their moving into our territory and fast." The Alpha male replied. He picked up Peregrine and placed him on the ground. "I'm leaving the rest of the females to your command, Sazarie. I'll notify the rest of our pack of the situation."
"But what of Zeal and Peregrine?" The concerned mother asked as she placed Zeal on the ground next to his brother.
"I will take care of them." Rile spoke up. He approached the Alpha pair. "It is my duty."
"That it is." The Alpha male agreed.
"Are you sure you will be alright taking care of them?" Sazarie asked concerned.
"Yes, I am sure. I will guard them with my life." Rile stated.
"Let us hope it does not come to that, Rile" The Alpha male said. "Now be one your way to the nesting site before the humans can cut off the route that leads there."
"Right away, my Alpha" Rile bowed. He picked up a confused looking Zeal and Peregrine and placed them on his back. He dashed off into the thick of the jungle. In the background, he could here the Alpha male's booming bark traveling through the jungle to the rest of the pack.
"Where are we going, Rile?" Zeal asked.
"Back to the nest, young master Zeal. You and your brother are not safe at the moment, and I will see to it that you are." Rile answered as he sprinted into another open clearing.
"Well you better hurry up then." Peregrine said. "Cause something's behind us." Rile glanced over his shoulder to see a human on a small machine holding something in his hand.
"A motorcycle and gun." Rile mumbled to himself. He remembered the name of the items because he had seen them countless times before in his younger years when he was held captive by the humans. And he knew that both items were bad news. "Hold on, young masters. It might get a little rough." Riled pushed himself to move as fast as he could, but the motorcycle was steadily gaining on him due to the open flat terrain. Something pink whispered through the air past Rile's head. It landed further ahead of him and implanted in the ground. As Rile ran past it he recognized it to be one of the sleeping feathers the humans used. "If they're not trying to kill us, then they must want to capture us." Rile growled. The Utahraptor was almost to the jungle across the clearing when he saw another motorcylce pull up next to the first one. They both were on the raptor's heels.
"Rile. That something I mentioned before has a friend!" Peregrined panicked.
"Do something Rile!" Zeal shouted.
"I'm working on it!" Rile replied. Two more pink feathers whispered past Rile's head and implanted themselves into a tree just as he made it into the jungle. Unfortunately the motorcycles kept up pursuit. The Utahraptor veered to the right of a large tree hoping to lose the humans. The first human excuted the turn to steeply and flipped over and off his machine with a yell. The second, however, did not make the same mistake and stayed on the raptor's tail. The human took aim and shot his gun. Rile hissed as he felt a sharp prick in his right leg.
"They got you." Zeal panicked.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." The Utahraptor lied. He could already feel his right leg going numb. On top of that he was becoming drowsy. The motorcycle no longer tried to keep up with Rile, but instead only moved fast enough to keep the Utahraptor in sight.
"Your slowing down, Rile." A frightened Peregrine noticed.
"Come on, Rile, you can make it." Zeal chirped from on the Utahraptor's back.
"I will make it." Rile promised drowsily. "I will not let them take you, young masters." Right then, Rile tripped over his numb leg and tumbled forward head first. Zeal and Peregrine were flung off his back and through the air. "NOOOOO!" Rile cried out. Zeal hit the ground and tumbled until he was stopped when his head bumped up against a large rock. He was out cold. Peregrine landed closer to Rile, but still tumbled a good distance before he was stopped by his head bumping a tree trunk. Peregrine lay out cold as well. "I will...protect...you." Rile pushed his body off the ground and started hobbling to where the small velociraptors lay.
"And where do you think you're going?" The human on the mototrcycle had pulled up behind the Utahraptor and gotten off his machine. Rile turned on the spot in a defensive stance.
"You will not touch them!" The Utahraptor drowsily hissed. He was now stuggling to stand and his eyelids were growing heavier every second, but Rile refused to give up. He raised his toe claws and lowered his body in an attack ready stance.
"Gimme a break." The human sighed. He pointed his gun and fired. Rile cried out as his left arm felt the sting of the pink sleeping feather. The dinosaur recomposed himself.
"I...refuse...to let...you...take...them." Rile grolwed as he prepared to leap at the man. He jumped with every once of strength he had left. The man shot his gun again as the raptor leapt. The pink feather stuck itself into the raptor's side as the man easily side-stepped the pounce. Rile hit the ground hard with a loud thud.
"That should keep you down for a while." The humand said as he walked over the smaller velociraptors. The Utahraptor attempted to push himself up, but all he could was turn himself around to witness the man picking up the hatchlings he was suppose to protect with his life and shove them into two small cages.
"I...will...not...fail." Rile denied as his eyeslids blinked with heaviness. The last thing he saw was the humans feet facing him, and hearing the man say something.
"Man, you guys refuse to go down. And people wonder why I freaking hate the raptors." After hearing that, Rile blacked out.
XXXXXX
"So your telling me Zeal is my brother?" Peregrine asked flabergasted. "I knew I had a brother, but I would have never have expected him to be Zeal."
"Yes, your brother is Zeal. I was overwhelmed with joy when I heard of his ventures across the island from Reker. I felt as though my failure was only half as bad then. I thought you might have been with him, but I guess not since you don't even remember his name." Rile admitted. "It seems my failure continues to haunt me."
"Now listen here you overgrown treheol." Peregrine walked up to Rile and stared him snout to snout, though Peregrine had to gaze upwards and Rile had to gaze down slightly. "You. Are. NOT! A. Failure." Peregrine emphasized 'not'. "And if I here you say that you are one time, I'm going to personally kick you tail." There was a long pause. The raptors stared each other down. Rile broke the silence with shaking laughter.
"You haven't changed a bit, master Peregrine." Rile settled his laughter. "Alright, you win my young friend. I see an iron will of yours quite out matches my old sorrow."
Peregrine grinned. "Good. Now since that's settled tell me more about what you know of Zeal, cause I have no memory of his naming ceremony, or of my family...Or of most of my life before this island for that matter. I only remember bits and pieces."
"That bump against the tree that knocked you out could explain your lack of memory." Rile explained. "You were still very small, and that hit could have damaged much of your memory at that age. Master Zeal took an even harder hit to th head."
"Just great. I wonder if he even remembers anything about our family." Peregrine complained. "I barely even remember the trip on the boat over to this island. I was put with a random pack of raptors that adopted me into their parqou."
"A thought just occured to me, master Peregrine." Rile announced. "I was initially going to ask you what were you doing out on the plains, but then I remembered seeing a human pass by here earlier today on the back of a gallimimus. Grant, I believe his name was. You wouldn't happen to be pursuing that human as your brother had previously did."
"So you saw him? Which direction did he go? Was he really riding a gallimimus? And...wait..." Peregirne gave Rile a suspicious look. "I never spoke his name? How did you know that."
"Reker informed me." Rile grinned slyly.
"Who in the world is Reker?" Peregrine questioned. "You know what never mind, I don't need to know. I just need you to tell me where the man went and I'll be on my way."
"Slow down, young one. Don't you have time to catch up with your old caretaker?" Rile smiled. "It has been 10 years."
"Sorry, but no. Every minute here is a minute Grant gets further away and his trail gets colder." Peregrine was about to dash off but felt a pressure on his tail holding him back. Peregrine gazed over his shoulder and saw Rile holding the tip of his tail in his clawed hand.
"I've already lost you once before. I'm not going to let that happen again." Rile said in a deadly serious tone. "So before you leave me this time I'm going to make sure you can at least use your primal ability." Rile let go of Peregrine's tail. Peregrine straightened himself and listened to the older raptor. "I will help you pursue Grant, but first I want you to take a break and come back with me to our pack's nesting site."
"But Grant will-" Peregrine started.
"He will not get away, master Peregrine. Grant was heading in the direction of the river and he will most likely use the boat there. The river is very, very, very, very long. He will be on it for some time. Probably a for a few days" Rile reasured with a dagger toothy smile. "I will tell you of a shortcut through the jungle to get ahead of him tomorrow. And then I will have Reker assit you from there."
"Seriously, who is Reker?" Peregrine asked slightly irritated. He was already upset at the fact Rile would not let him leave yet. He was really only cooperating because he did not know how to use the primal ability and he didn't see any harm in trying to learn how.
"He's a Spinosaurus." Rile answered.
"WHAT! Noes sangso lesta!" Peregrine shouted in the Saurilied language.
"Calm yourself, master Peregrine. He's friendly...most of the time. But for the time being you should relax and recuperate. Now let us go to the Utahraptor nesting site. We have much to talk about." Rile said walking away. Peregrine huffed and relunctantly trotted up beside his old care taker. "You hungry? We have a fresh kill at the nests."
"Are you kidding, I'm starving." Peregrine happily answered. Rile could only laugh at Peregrine's sudden mood swing. "What? What's so funny?"
Me: Here you go. The next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. It was certainly interesting to write.
Peregrine: I did.
Me: Didn't I tell you to read from the script for this?
Peregrine: Oh yeah...uhhh...*rifles through papers* Oh. Wow. my. brother. is. Zeal! What. a. twist! Wait. till. Zeal. hears. about. this!
Me: Dude...That was terrible. You read like a robot.
Peregrine: Just go get Zeal so we can tell him.
Zeal: I'm here. What did you want to tell me?
Me: Peregrine's your brother.
Zeal: ...
Me: Zeal?
Zeal: ...
Me: Zeal? *waves hand in front of snout*
Zeal: *faints and falls backwards onto the floor*
Peregrine: Oh, come on! It can't be that bad having me as a brother.
Me: Zeal apparently thinks so...Ummm, we're going to have to cut this little session short guys. Sorry...Peregrine, can you thank everyone for reading while I go get Kenduari to help lift Zeal.
Peregrine: No problemo. Thank you everyone for reading this series of stories to this point. Thank you for all your favs, alerts, and reviews. They are greatly appreciated. Any of your constructive critique is greatly welcomed. Your input and comments drive the author to write to his best degree...And between you and me it makes him update faster too.
Me: Okay, I'm back with Kenduari...and I heard that last part Peregrine.
Kenduari: *looks over Zeal's fainted body* So I'm assuming you told Quicksickles his brother was Peregrine?
Me: Yep.
Kenduari: I can see why he would faint.
Peregrine: Oh, come on!