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Chapter Fourteen: Instinct

"I was told, once… That sometimes, when life gets tough, you have to put it back into perspective. To remember that you are what you are, and you do what you have to do. If the moral question of what we do is right ever comes up… Just remember; if that were true, the balance of nature –predators and prey– well, that wouldn't exist now, would it?

"We're sabres. We are what we were born to be. Nothing is going to change us… not even death. We follow our instincts, no matter what they may be; we do what we have to live, even if that means taking other life in the process.

"A sabre's instincts are the honed reflexes of the heart's urges combined with the mind's logic. They give us power, they give us strength. They give us talents other creatures can only dream of. A sabre without instincts is a sabre without life. They are our everything.

"If your instincts told you to do this… I forgive you."

Those were the last words of a great and powerful sabre, Diego mused thoughtfully, his eyes sliding closed and his body beginning to shake with fatigue from the last few hours. A sabre who was everything to me – my father, my brother, my teacher, my tormentor, my leader, and my friend. A sabre who taught me everything I knew, and genuinely cared about me – even though he was grieving for his lost pack members.

A sabre who I'd left to die as he lay in the blood-stained snow, injured fatally by the large, sharp icicles which had pierced his body as he'd attacked a mammoth... A mammoth who had just a few hours before, saved my life…

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There are little moments in life that are often overlooked or sometimes simply forgotten – they're the moments where everyone falls silent, united in awe or respect or sorrow, emotions spilling over the mask that's kept locked into place….the moments where friendships can be made and shattered … the moments between sleeping, trapped in a dream and awakening, to find that the dream was real….

At that precise second in time, the second after which Buck (triumphantly astride a melancholy Rudy) and the sabre had announced themselves, one of those little moments had occurred. The pack were caught inside an unbelieving trance, astounded beyond belief and unable to move. The herd were backed into corners, nursing wounds and grimly hoping for the best to come of the new development. Even their joy at seeing Buck again was diminished by the terror that came with seeing yet another sabre and yet another dinosaur.

That moment was shattered, gentle whispers floating across snow-stained glass, as Akira murmured "Raze…?"

"Yes," the other sabre confirmed quietly, stirring from his bodyguard-like post beside Rudy to pad softly to the edge of the small cliff. Buck patted Rudy once on the head, sliding off him and joining his new-found friend there, wise enough for once not to say anything.

Almost silently, Akira mumbled "I… thought… you… were dead…"

"I'm indestructible," Raze answered solemnly, before an infectious, mischievous smirk grew on his face. "Haven't you learnt that by now?" he teased gently, easily leaping down from the cliff. There was something in the grace with which he did that – something so completely relaxed – that it was almost like all the fight seemed to drain out of the pack. Every visible member became less tense, the thrilling bloodlust which they'd had a moment before simply fading away. There was no great group hug; no screaming and yelling of joy; just quiet and incredibly grateful acceptance of the fact that their pack leader was alive – and with that simple reassurance, everything seemed to become much less daunting. The skittish energy which had possessed the pack was now gone, leaving in its place silent relief.

As the pack relaxed, the herd relaxed, somehow sensing that the fight that they had been holding a second ago was over.

It was a pity that that peace was destroyed within a minute of its arrival.

Forgotten until now, Ray had reappeared. And unlike the other sabre members he had arrived with, who had calmed down almost completely at Raze's entry, he had had the ultimate opposite reaction.

Ray now had yet another rival who threatened his existence, another adult male who disregarded him as nothing more than a runt. There was a dinosaur standing on the ledge of a mouth-watering mammoth's dwelling, and there was a baby mammoth – tender, succulent, and oh-so-lovely– sitting blindly not even six meters away.

Overwrought with uncontrollable energy, adrenaline pushed to the max and nerves stretched taut, he'd simply snapped. Following blind instinct, he'd shut his eyes and jumped into the unknown. But his claws had reached warm hair, and his nose was picking up the scent of fresh blood and tender meat, and he could almost taste her…

|###|

Ellie screamed as Ray launched himself towards her and her child, unable to react in time to save either of them. Even as terrible guilt and pain forced her heart to rip apart, Ray tore Peaches from her trunk and fled into the night. And even as Diego felt ready to collapse, even as the rest of the pack remained spellbound by Raze's return, he spun around and threw what strength he had left into perusing the one who had stolen his best friend's daughter. He didn't even know how he found the energy to do so… But he did.

Maybe it was just instinct.

|###|

There was no need for any discussion among the pack. Just as they were together again – just as they were reunited – and one of them had turned traitor. A member who had been with them for months on end, who had shared their meals and slept with their bodies pressed against each other for warmth, had stolen an innocent meal… who was no longer just a meal. It was simple instinct; react to an attack.

Just instinct.

|###|

Buck was back on Rudy, riding him with all the skill of an insane weasel, perusing the sabres. Crash and Eddie were beside him, having scampered up to join him. Sid was there too, barely clinging on. Manny was at Ellie's side, caring for her as best he could, unable to move as fast as any of the others and therefore blindly trusting Diego to return his daughter…

Instinct.