Chance Meeting
The Velociraptor crouched, powerful muscles in his legs bunching as he watched the rodent forage for food. It wasn’t much of a meal, but it would sustain him until he could find something more substantial. If there was anything...
He - was he a he?- waited for just the right moment leaping out and killing the thing before it even had time to move. With a single gulp it was gone. Perhaps it would be enough to quiet his belly for a few hours.
Hunger was a constant companion for the raptor. He had been born in a nest on the far side of the island, away from the pink fleshed creatures and all their noisy contraptions. His mother had been bred by the creatures, but escaped, along with two others. They had all been born female, his mother told him, but due to no males being around, one became male. And they had mated. Five babies had been born of that union. He was not the firstborn, nor the last, and had been given the name Claw. But it had been so long since anyone had called him that.
The raptor scratched idly at the ground, clicking his long toeclaw. All the others were gone now, his parents, the other adult, his siblings. The island was unforgiving to those who weren’t wary. And he knew for a fact two of his siblings had been captured by the creatures. Now he was alone, and idly wondered if his gender might change because of it.
He had hidden when the creatures came looking for them, in a cave several feet up from the base of the volcano. There he had watched as the creatures searched for the raptors. He was young then, not ready to take on several creatures with devices that bit deep into their skin and caused them to sleep. Or worse. One sibling had fought the sleep and attacked, and was killed for that.
That had been a long time ago, and he was alone now. Food might be scarce, but it was better than being caught. He hadn’t heard the creatures since they came for his family, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still be around. He always had to be careful.
Stomach breaking down the rodent he had just eaten, Claw cleaned his muzzle, out of habit more than anything, then walked around carefully until he located a dense overgrowth of bushes. His patterning would blend in nicely as long as he didn’t move. Carefully stepping through the bushes, he lay down in them, his tail close to his body.