Jurassic Park: The Broken Lives Saga by Dinohunter55
Chapter 16: Winds of Change
Amanda walked the inside of the velociraptor pen, tracing the wires with her fingers. The midday sun lay hidden behind light clouds. A sprinkle of rain misted the island. She did not care about getting wet. The deep pain of loss and regret had resurfaced in the days following her radio transmission. It might have been better if she never had done it. There were more batteries. She could call for help and leave the island.
What was the point of going home?
Ellie was gone. Amanda considered her remaining family. She had some aunts and uncles left that were not on the boat but she barely knew them. They might as well be strangers. Her last grandparent, her grandmother, died a month before her birthday. She missed her dearly but was able to be at her side when the end came.
She thought about her younger sister Julie. She had become sick again right before the trip. An ongoing illness plagued her from childhood, one that made it unlikely that she would to survive into adulthood. Just before the trip, Julie and Amanda had a fight, a bad one. The last thing Amanda heard from her little sister was that she wished Amanda were never born. Julie resented Amanda since hitting puberty despite Amanda's best efforts to reconcile the relationship. Maybe it was best if Julie continued to think Amanda died with the rest of her family. Amanda was not sure what brought about this change in her sister, only the claim that Amanda was the favorite seemed common among the insults thrown. She missed her sister despite it all and wished to reconcile. The fact that everyone died during Amanda's birthday trip would likely cement any feelings Julie had towards her.
Her brother was overseas on deployment in the army. He probably had some sort of leave to sort out the family affairs and might have taken Julie in or set something up with the money left to them. Julie liked him. Michael left for the military while Amanda was still in middle school. She barely recognized him the last time she saw him. He was always too busy to talk with her for any length of time these days. She still missed him a lot.
The few real friends Amanda had were on the yacht. They were dead.
"It's odd to be on this side of the fence," a female velociraptor said.
Amanda looked up at Sara.
"Hello Amanda," Sara said. She walked along the outside of the fence parallel to Amanda.
"Hi Sara," Amanda said. She dropped her arm from the wires but kept walking. She was amazed that Sara got so close without Amanda hearing a single step of it. It sent a chill down her spine at just how outmatched she was against the velociraptors. Maybe it would be best if she went home, even if it was to a broken one.
"Silver Claw finally left your side?"
"He needed to hunt for us," Amanda said. "I'm sure he won't be gone for long."
"I'm sure he won't," Sara said. Amanda saw the look of deep thoughts lurking behind those amber eyes.
"What brings you here?" Amanda asked. She turned at the next corner and kept walking. She could see the river through the thin treeline. She thought she heard a rustling nearby but Sara did not acknowledge it so she paid it no mind, probably a fleeing rat.
"I wanted to check in on you."
"Not Silver Claw?" Amanda raised an eyebrow at that.
"I know my little one is distraught over the loss of your friend," Sara said. "He does not hide it well. Time will heal that loss in him but I suspect it will never truly heal in you."
Amanda slowed to a stop and sat with her back against the concrete base of the fence. "Why are you here?"
Amanda heard Sara settle in behind her. She was silent for a long time.
"I've seen this before," Sara said a hint of sorrow in her voice. "I know how it ends."
"How does it end," Amanda glanced over at Sara.
"In heartbreak," Sara replied.
"What do you mean?" Amanda pulled her knees to her chest.
"You and Silver Claw," Sara said after a moment. "I've seen it before."
"When?" Amanda turned and looked Sara in the eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Amanda saw the pupil contract a little and she turned her gaze aside before Sara took it as a challenge. Silver Claw warned her against making direct eye contact with the other velociraptors. She found that a difficult rule to follow. Same with smiling as it sometime meant a threat to flash ones teeth at another although it also showed amusement as well as other emotions. It was a hard rule to figure out the nuances to but Amanda had little to smile about recently.
"When our places were reversed," Sara relaxed a little.
"You're talking about Silver Claw's father?"
"I am," Sara looked out towards the river. "Seth was different, like Silver Claw. He could understand human language." Sara stood and gestured for Amanda to follow.
Amanda slowly rose and followed.
"I don't want to see Silver Claw suffer the same heartbreak."
"Silver Claw's father was close to a human?"
"Seth was," Sara glanced at Amanda. She stopped near a large flat stone between the fence and the river. "The human would sit here and talk to him almost every day."
Amanda touched the fence and she leaned forward for a good look. The stone was only a meter away from the base of the fence. Only a few meters beyond, lay the muddy bank of the river. She wondered what this human looked like.
"She was not one of the humans watching over us from the beginning," Sara said. "She came after our escape that left Seth's clutch mates dead."
Amanda's shoulders dropped, as did her hands. "He was in pain."
"He was," Sara agreed. "It devastated him that the two others he trusted most in this world were lost. They also had his unique ability though the rest of us did not believe it at the time. I still find it difficult to comprehend what it must be like to understand another creature's language innately, especially one that is so different from our own. When you speak like a human, I only hear sounds that I find no different from any other creature."
"Do you know how they understood humans?"
"No," Sara circled the rock. She moved on from the question. "It started off slowly. She would walk the fence and take notes on her papers. We attacked the fence and startled her often but she was persistent." Sara's tail brushed the wires briefly and flinched away.
"Why did you attack the fence? Surely it hurt you?"
"It hurt, a lot." Sara paused and then looked Amanda in the eyes. "We wanted our freedom and attacked it in different places looking for any weakness we could use against the humans."
"I see," Amanda met the gaze for a second and then looked down.
"She took a liking to Seth not long after her arrival I think. He started mirroring her on her walks and kept us from startling her a while after that." Sara started walking again. "Since he understood humans, he would listen to her talk and relay the details that mattered to the pack later. He played dumb at first when she tried to teach him simple games of pick the right object or identify the color."
Sara snorted and her gaze fell upon the distant horizon of recollection.
"Eventually, Seth played along. It brought the human joy when he did something correctly and I suspect he grew to like the activities as well."
"She was probably a researcher," Amanda said. "She wanted to learn as much about the velociraptors as she could."
"That was what Seth said as well," Sara rounded the corner of the fence near the base of the watchtower and kept walking. "She introduced toys to occupy our minds." She nodded towards an old tired near the base of a tree with fragments of rope still attached. "Seth forbade us from using them to disrupt the fence. He said that the humans would take them away if we did. I'll admit that they were something to take away the mind numbing monotony of our entrapment between feedings."
"I think it is called enrichment," Amanda said. "They do it with animals in the zoo all the time to keep them busy and happy..."
Sara spared her a second's judgement but continued, "Seth earned her trust enough that this human actually reached through the fence to touch him."
Amanda stopped, "Really?"
"Yes and the other humans reprimanded her for it." Sara said. "She continued to do it away from the prying eyes of the other humans after that. Seth grew to enjoy the attention. I suspect Silver Claw is the same?"
"It's mutual," Amanda said. She caught up to Sara near one of the breaks in the fence. "We enjoy each other's company. We've been through a lot together."
Sara stepped through the hole in the fence and faced Amanda.
Amanda felt Sara's eyes fall upon her and the full scrutiny of her cunning mind bear down.
"What are your intentions?"
Amanda met the gaze for a second. She considered the question and the direction of the conversation. "I've made my choice to stay here."
"Have you?" Sara lowered her head until she looked at Amanda face to face.
Amanda swallowed nervously but dared to look at Sara directly. "I could have called for help to come get me any time over the last few days but I didn't."
"This option is open to you still?"
"It is, I think."
"What truly keeps you here?"
"Silver Claw," Amanda said without hesitation. "I've lost everything but I found him."
A sorrow tainted the stern amber eyes.
"I'll admit that I've considered going home to what's left of my broken family. I really have, especially now that I lost Ellie. It has been a long few days. However, I like Silver Claw and I cannot leave him behind after all we have been through together. I could never take him with me so I remained with him. I know he would be at home with your pack. I want him to be happy and I know he would be with your pack. But, I don't think he would settle well without me. And, I know that I would not be happy without him around anymore."
"So it is your own selfishness that keeps you from leaving?" Sara reared up and looked down on Amanda.
"No," Amanda protested but quickly apologized for her tone. "No, I think leaving him would hurt us both for the rest of our lives."
Sara started circling Amanda. "I will tell you something in confidence that we've held from Silver Claw. I expect you to keep it to yourself."
"Why would you tell me?" Amanda stood still, allowing Sara to drift in and out of her field of view without turning her head. She felt it was some sort of trap.
"Seth became so attached to this human that he actually fell in love with her." Sara said. "Strange, isn't it? A velociraptor actually developed feelings for a human who was our jailer. It took my daughter a long time to earn his affections but I do wonder if after all that, he still secretly held on to hope that he would see his human again."
Amanda was silent. A thousand thoughts fell like shooting stars through her mind. She tried to focus on any one of them before they faded away, to comprehend the reality that Sara shared with her. It was strange. It was unusual. It might be a trap. Why had they withheld this from Silver Claw? Why was Sara telling her?
"You're worried that Silver Claw will fall in love with me?" Amanda said at last, "Like his father fell in love with that human."
"You are going to die on this island Amanda," Sara stated matter-of-factly. "It is only a matter of time. You are not strong enough to survive the dangers that lurk here and you are not fast enough to outrun them. I would spare him the heartbreak that I witnessed in his father."
"We're close," Amanda admitted. "But he doesn't love me."
"Oh?" Sara cocked her head and then gestured for Amanda to leave the pen.
Amanda followed the directions and stepped out. Sara lingered for a moment, watching Amanda through the wires.
"Seth watched his human dying on the ground with a tear through her spine and could do nothing," Sara said. "Tyrannous left her like that for Seth to find during our escape. She was just over there." Sara gestured towards some stacked crates. Nothing remained of that event. "The humans tore down the enclosure in this space so they could ferry supplies to the waiting ships offshore using helicopters. Seth's human was one of the last to leave and had to wait out the worst of the storm before the helicopters could return for her and a few others. That was when we made our escape."
"Why does Tyrannous hate Seth so much?" Amanda said. Her mind lingered on the previous information but Sara was leading the conversation where she wanted it. Amanda was just along for the ride.
"The humans tried to introduce Tyrannous's kind with our own. Our pack had no room for new comers as a few of our females were about to lay a clutch of eggs. Seth nearly killed Tyrannous. The humans saved him, somehow." Sara stepped from the pen and stood beside Amanda. "I don't know how your kind can put organs back inside a body and have the creature live afterwards. At least that is what I heard that they did. I was not around yet to see it."
Amanda paled at the thought. No wonder there was hatred between them.
Sara led Amanda to the door of the cafeteria and stopped. "Silver Claw should return soon and I will be leaving before then."
"You're not waiting to see him?"
"No," Sara said. "I will see my little one again soon enough."
"Why do you call him your little one?"
Sara chuckled. "He was the smallest of his clutch. That is why. And before you ask, his name came from the color of his little claws on that day." Sara beamed at the recollection. "They turned a normal color a few weeks later."
Amanda smiled but tried to hide her teeth. "I wish I could have seen it."
Sara cocked her head. "You are strange for a human Amanda." Sara paused for a while, as she looked Amanda over. "I am starting to see the traits that Sunayana has remarked upon and why Silver Claw likes you."
"Sunayana talks about me?"
"She has," Sara admitted. "Your little insight about getting to know the pack has worked in your favor it seems and not just for Silver Claw."
Amanda flushed. "She told you about that."
"My daughter tells me a great deal." Sara said. "You spoke earlier about Silver Claw being happy with our pack. Would you be?"
"I…" Amanda hesitated. "I hadn't really thought about it to be honest. I didn't think it was ever an option." It was the truth.
"I see," Sara said. "Do you know what it means to be a pack?"
Amanda looked at Sara and considered.
"A pack is more than family and familiar bonds," Sara said. "It is trust and necessity built on cooperation. You must be able to work alongside others even when you dislike them for the betterment of all the pack, not just yourself. Yet also, you must not allow yourself to become weak in service to the others. A pack is only as strong as its weakest member."
"And I would be that weakest member dragging everyone else down." Amanda looked at the dirt by her feet and prodded a leaf with her foot.
"Could you put aside your anger towards Talon and Rebecca for what they did," Sara asked.
"I…" Amanda felt the rage rise hot in her chest.
"Ah," Sara said, "Probably not right now. It is too soon I see."
Amanda looked up at Sara and gazed into her eyes. Realization dawned on her. "Was this all a test?"
Sara showed her teeth, "Perhaps." She turned and walked off silently, leaving Amanda alone with her thoughts.
Silver Claw returned to the building and found Amanda safe in the cafeteria. Relief relaxed his tense muscles. He carried the leg of a microceratops in his mouth for her.
Amanda was sitting by the window of the cafeteria and gazing out. She acknowledged his entry but seemed otherwise occupied. He felt helpless to ease the pain she felt at the loss of Ellie. He still found it hard to believe she was gone.
Silver Claw dropped the leg on the table and nudged it towards her. Amanda looked at it and smiled briefly.
"Thanks Silver Claw," Amanda said. She moved the leg in front of her but did not eat it.
"Are you hungry?" Silver Claw asked.
"Not at the moment," Amanda said. "I just have something on my mind."
Silver Claw nuzzled her.
"Sara stopped by," Amanda relented under his affection and wrapped one arm over his shoulder.
That surprised Silver Claw, "Where is she?"
"She left," Amanda rested her head against his neck. "She said she would see you again soon."
"Why did she stop by then?"
"Believe it or not," Amanda said and then chuckled softly, "She came to see how I was doing."
Silver Claw settled onto the bench as best as he could. It left him positioned awkwardly beside Amanda. "And how are you doing?"
Amanda smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm doing as best as I can be under the circumstances."
"Can I do anything to help?" Silver Claw met her eyes. He felt a flush of warmth as he stared into her blue eyes.
"You've done more than enough," Amanda rested her head against his for a while and then pulled away. "I think you're crest is turning red. I didn't notice it before."
Silver Claw cocked his head.
"I guess you're maturing," Amanda said. She traced her finger around his eyes and along his crest. "I see the color is coming in all over. I think I see more quills coming in too."
"I am getting older," Silver Claw said.
"You and me both," Amanda placed her head against his again. "I wish I knew which day you hatched on so we could celebrate it." Amanda smiled, "Little one."
Silver Claw turned an eye on her. "Sara asked you more than just how you were doing, didn't she?"
"She did," Amanda admitted. She sighed. Obviously, there was something on her mind but she was not willing to share it at the moment.
Silver Claw pushed Amanda to her feet.
"Hey!" Amanda giggled. "What are you doing?"
"Go put your meal somewhere safe and then we will go for a walk." Silver Claw said. It was getting late and soon the sun would disappear behind the mountains, cooling the valley before night fell. He did not want her feeling cold while they walked.
"Taking charge are you?" Amanda said. She did as told however.
Silver Claw led Amanda out of the cafeteria. He caught a whiff of Sara's scent and the indistinct scent of another. They walked together along the velociraptor pen and followed to the river. There, Silver Claw led Amanda along the shore. He glanced at the slow water's briefly but knew the spinosaurus was east of the valley from the roars he heard during his return to the building.
A gentle breeze stirred the air. Birds sang. Insects buzzed. Silver Claw kept looking at Amanda. She looked about, wonder in her eyes. He enjoyed that about her. She still loved life despite everything that happened.
"I had an unusual dream the other day," Amanda said, partially distracted by the splash of a fish in the river.
"What was it about?" Silver Claw asked.
"I was a velociraptor," Amanda said. She blushed. He noticed her eyes darted to him briefly.
"Sounds like a good dream," Silver Claw said.
"Life would be better if I fit in with the pack," Amanda said.
"You fit in just fine in our pack," Silver Claw cocked his head.
Amanda sighed. "You do everything for us though. I don't really help with anything."
"You want to do more?"
"I don't want to be the weakest member," Amanda said. "I want to learn how to hunt and the other things that velociraptors do in a pack. I'll never be as strong or fast as you but I can do more." Amanda stopped and looked away for a while before turning her eyes to his. "Can you teach me how to hunt?"
Silver Claw stopped. "You want me to teach you how to hunt?" The thought delighted him and worried him at the same time in equal measure.
"Yes!" Amanda smiled. He melted under her pleading eyes. "Please, will you teach me?"
Silver Claw sighed and relented. "I will teach you how to hunt but only small things for now. Pack tactics can come later and you will need to see them in action before you try them."
"Of course," Amanda said. "I got lucky with the gallimimus. I don't think I can repeat it again so soon."
Silver Claw relaxed, letting his quills smooth out. "I will take you tomorrow." He looked up the valley. "Maybe we should start in this valley. It might be the safest option."
Amanda hugged him tightly. "Thank you, I won't let you down!"
"Don't be too assured of success," Silver Claw warned. He did not want to get her hopes too high just yet. "Most hunts end in failure. I failed to catch eight creatures before I got the microceratops today and it nearly escaped me. This will take time."
Another tight squeeze, "Ok, I'm still going to try my best."
"I'd expect nothing less," Silver Claw said.
A sound caught his attention.
"What is it?" Amanda asked at let go of him.
A low rumbling grew steadily louder until a helicopter swooped past them, following the river. It continued past the building and disappeared to the south. The engine noise faded.
Silver Claw looked into Amanda's eyes and saw her concern. He felt a growing unease building. They would need to investigate if it landed close. The idea sat poorly in his mind however. He did not like potential outcomes if they landed within the pack's territory. Either way, he would protect Amanda.