John Grady stayed on the Island for two more days. He and Owen had taken the time to explore the park, discussing training techniques, sports, and anything else that came to mind. The time that the two had spent together was refreshing and Owen had been saddened to see him board the ferry earlier this morning.
He had given Owen a tight hug, wishing him well and reminding him to not be a stranger, a skype call would be nice every now and then.
Then he was gone, and Owen was left with his thoughts.
Several months later the trainer sat in his company provided SUV, making the long quiet journey to the paddock. The thought of losing his animals to a 'failed' experiment or termination of his employment scared him. He had figured that if something happened to him, his work would be continued by someone else like Barry. To hear that the heads of Masrani Global cared so little for the animals that he was pouring his life into, it settled coldly in the bottom of his gut like a shard of ice. He had no doubt that InGen was likely just as bad, but at least they seemed to care a bit, if only for selfish reasons.
He had grown attached to the Velociraptors. It was unsurprising if he was honest. He had always grown attached to his falconry birds as well. They were never that attached to him, but after a while, he could just read their body language and tempers. He knew he was humanizing them, putting more stock into emotions that weren't there. He simply couldn't help it. When you spent enough time with an animal, you learned how to read it.
His girls on the other hand, he could swear that they expressed emotion. The way that they behaved, their vocalizations, their body language was all an odd mixture of mammalian logic and the near alien instincts birds and reptiles. But he was beginning to learn it and coming along with it was a better understanding of their personalities and quirks.
It had been months since the 'tame hack' as his father would call it. Although the raptors had never actually been uncontained during the process, the large space and perceived freedom had done wonders toward helping the animals mature as a pack. The craziest part to him was that somehow, he had become a part of that process as well.
There had of course been a few hurdles. The first few days back in the paddock had been rough. Owen had settled back into his routine easily enough, but Blue began acting more anxious and pent up than he had ever seen her. His initial guess was that she wanted to check on the territory they had marked during the outing. He figured it would wear off after a few days.
Days passed and she didn't seem to calm down. If anything, her anxiety was beginning to spread to the rest of the pack. It was making them jumpy and nervous. Barry had learned quickly to avoid entering the pen when the raptors were pacing. Dangerous growls and sharp talons had been the only thing to greet him. The last time, Delta had managed to flay the back of the man's leg. It had left a noticeable scar.
Finally, nearly a week after being returned by A.C.U., Owen stepped back into the paddock. He was prepared for the dangerous behavior that had been given to Barry. He cautiously stepped beyond the gate his hands already outstretched in a cautious warning. He called out with a soft but firm voice. A whistle would be more responsive, but a whistle meant training and training meant food. The last thing he wanted was four twitchy, anxious raptors that were expecting to be fed.
The four raptors stepped out into the paddock clearing, each animal spaced evenly apart to cover the most ground possible. Owen could feel his uneasiness forming a lump in his throat. They had recently spent a week in the field, but he was back on their territory now. Blue took another hesitant step forward, moving beyond the hunting line that had formed around Owen.
The blue streaked raptor extended her head, her eyes locked with his and she gave a few loud snorts as she tested his scent. Finally she pulled her head back and gave an inquisitive warble.
"Hey girl, it's just me."
Her head cocked to the side at the sound of his voice. Before he could react however, the large raptor had crossed the distance between him and shoved her snout forcefully into his outstretched palm.
"It's good to see you too."
The Alpha raptor crooned softly, moving from his hand and rubbing his chest and arms with her head and neck in what seemed to be an affectionate nuzzle. When she had finished, Blue backed away and gave the air several more sniffs. Finally satisfied with her work, she turned from him gave a light bark to her three sisters.
Charlie approached next, rubbing her tough hide against his arm. Delta and Echo both approached him, sniffing the air near him and greeting him with soft croons of their own. When the pack was finished, Owen could smell a faint reptilian musk clinging to his clothes. Blue and the pack had marked him.
Greeting finished, Blue had led him on a trail around the paddock wasting no time in returning to the routine they had begun to build in the research zone. When they had finished their rounds, Blue had nudged him over to where the other raptors had decided to sunbathe for the afternoon.
Owen had spent the entire afternoon sitting in the paddock, observing the raptors and simply being with them. Within the first hour Blue had collapsed into a comfortable nap, leaving him to watch her sisters and break up any squabbles that got too close to either of them with a sharp "Whoa!"
The next morning all the raptors had been calm and collected, the anxiety in the paddock finally broken.
The whole process was quickly added to the routine. Training was moved to the morning so Owen could spend the afternoon with the girls inside the paddock. Feeding time was pushed back to late evenings to help ensure that all of the cleaning and maintenance inside the paddock were completed when the raptors were least active in the afternoon sun. He may have been accepted into the pack, but he would never willingly get between any of the girls and their food.
Within a couple weeks, Charlie had finally healed enough to confidently challenge Blue for the Alpha position. He had been nearly asleep, his head resting against the paddock wall when Charlie had finally announced her challenge. Blue had met it with a confident bugle of her own, stepping up to face the large, green raptor.
The two dominant females circled each other for a time. Their heads lowered and their tails high as they each waited for their opponent's first move. Blue had moved first.
At first glance, it seemed like these competitions were deadly, but as Owen watched them butt heads and push into each other, he began to realize that there was not any purposeful bloodshed. They were competing to obtain leadership, but neither sought to injure the other purposefully. The display still ended with some flowing blood, but the scratches were superficial. Blue had won again, though the Owen could tell that the match had been far fairer than the bloodied squabble that had taken place outside the paddock.
The time he now spent with the pack was what really began to open his eyes to each individual raptor's personality and the way they behaved as a group. He could read Blue the best. She was quickly becoming a competent leader within the group. She commanded the pack naturally enough and Owen quickly realized that if he could convince her to do something, the pack would follow.
Unfortunately, she also had a rather tricky temperament. The cobalt streaked raptor was still just as short fused and stubborn now as she had been at only a week or two of age. Owen had been on the receiving end of this temper many times as she grew up and now that he was technically her Beta, he seemed to find himself the subject of her stubbornness more often than not.
Blue had spent several days convincing him to play fight with her. She had repeatedly approached him with a challenging posture that he was quick to decline or ignore. Frustrated, the raptor had finally pushed into him without a formal challenge. The 'fight' had ended quickly enough when Owen found himself pinned on his back by Alpha. He heard Barry give a worried shout from the railing, but he waved him down as best as he could with his pinned arms. She stared at him, gave him a hard snort, and lightly rammed her head into his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs.
She kept stubbornly insisting they 'play' for several days before Owen finally decided he'd had enough. Accepting her challenge, the young trainer thrown himself at the cobalt streaked raptor. He had even gone so far as to throw a punch toward the raptor's side.
Still, even as his fist made contact with her hide, Owen worried that the Alpha would take it as a real challenge or worse, a threat. She had barely noticed the impact. Choosing to simply ignore the impact of his fist, she had quickly snaked her head into his chest and shoved him to the ground pinning the human almost immediately and giving him a playful snort.
She had finally relaxed after that, accepting his effort as either good enough or as Barry had been quick to point out with a snorting laugh, she had likely accepted that he wasn't worth her time.
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The other raptors had begun to show him their personality as well. It was far more muted than Blue's, but it was there, and the more time Owen spent in or around the pack the easier it was becoming for him to notice it.
Charlie was the calmest and consequently the most stubborn of the Velociraptor pack. While she would spend most of her time lounging in the sun, she was always the first to question or challenge Blue. Her eyes were sharp and she watched everything, looking for any signs of weakness. The green raptor had even decided to challenge Owen himself after Blue had begun playing with him.
Blue had stepped between them lowering herself with a dangerous hiss. Charlie had backed down almost immediately giving a submissive snort. He knew that she wasn't ready to be beaten again by the alpha.
Despite this, Charlie had proven herself to be curious and accepting of Owen. She was the only raptor besides Blue who would actually greet him physically when he entered the paddock. Delta and Echo were still the most foreign to the young trainer.
They were by far the most submissive, cutting out obnoxious behavior the moment they heard his voice, but they were also the most skittish around him. When he stood above the paddock, they would shift and twitch with energy, but when he was inside the paddock, they would quickly make themselves scarce and almost never approach the handler.
He was learning very quickly that the pack was unique. And it stunned him every day to watch how the animals could go from a play, to a struggle for dominance, to an affectionate nuzzle all in the span of a few minutes.
His reflections over the past few months were interrupted as he rounded the corner and came into view of the cliffside paddock. Surprisingly there were a number of cars parked alongside Barry's motorcycle in the usually empty area. He had taken the morning off knowing specifically that they weren't expecting any visitors; a growing problem once Masrani Global learned of his and Barry's corporation had begun occasionally sending small groups of nicely dressed business people to the paddock for observation.
Barry had laughed for ten minutes straight when the young businessman had nearly passed out after seeing Blue pin Owen during one of her more playful streaks. Owen was pretty sure he would be fired. Oddly enough, the notice of termination never came; instead, on an almost weekly basis, someone representing Masrani Global would join them for part of the day, watching their progress, scribbling notes, or presenting to another finely dressed business person.
Today however, the cars out front weren't Masrani Global, and when Owen pulled up he could see the A.C.U. emblem adorning the vehicle doors. A mixture of worry and confusion settled in the trainer's stomach as he stepped out of the vehicle.
Even from the dirt lot he could clearly hear a commotion coming from inside the paddock. Men were yelling inside his paddock and he could just barely make out the barks and hisses of his girls between frantic shouting.
It was enough for him. Breaking into a sprint he rushed across the packed earth to the large enclosure. The trainer swung open the barred door and slammed it behind him with a heavy crash. Almost frantically he hit the button that would raise the gate and let him inside.
When he finally ducked inside the enclosure, what he saw made his breath catch in his throat.
Seven armed guards stood spread around his pack, keeping heavy stun rifles aimed at his girls. Four more A.C.U. guards stood on the catwalks above keeping their rifles trained on the Velociraptors.
His pack on the other hand, seemed to be holding the group at bay. Three of his girls were holding off the men with hisses and growls, snapping dangerously at anything that got too close to the group.
Their agitation was clearly visible and he could see that they were unsure about their course of action. Nervously each girl shifted their weight from side to side, and he could see their tails giving anxious twitches as their heads adjusted rapidly to focus on any movement in their field of vision.
Their behavior was odd though. They wouldn't let themselves get backed into a corner this easily. He had seen it enough times during Delta and Echo's wrestling matches. When one of the pack would back into the wall, they would dart away quickly before rounding on the competition in order to push them into the corner.
No, his girls were behaving far too defensively for this to be a normal response toward unknown threats. They we staying far too still, refusing to take the opening gaps along the wall. Before he even saw it, he knew that they were defending something.
Lowering himself, he peered through their legs and made out a distinct shape behind their nervous shifting and the dangerous tapping of their talons in the soft dirt.
One of his girls was lying still on the ground.