Raptor at Heart - Unfamiliar World

[BadgeAddict]

Alex waited quietly as the group began to talk amongst itself, introducing one another, making plans and whatnot. Alex was beginning to remember why he had picked his field of study, that of archeology, in the first place. Digging up bones on long dead Dinosaurs was mostly a lonely career path, but Alex preferred it. He enjoyed the thrill of the hunt as he dug into the hills and cliffs of the mountains that he had begun to call home, seeking more bones that wanted to be found so that their story could be heard. Alex remembered all to well the feeling of the small brush that he would hold, doing his best to keep his trembling excitement from destroying any evidence.

The voices of the ÔÇ£packÔÇØ brought him back to reality and he was reminded how much he did in fact miss his life as a human. Alex never had cared much for humanity except for the few people that were dear to him, like Gran, and the woman that broke his heart, funny that he no longer remembered her name.

Alex brushed these uncomfortable thoughts to the back of his mind as he reminded himself that the matter at hand and survival was a much more pressing matter than staining his face with the tears of past memories and frets. He chuckled a little at the thought of a Raptor crying but then sobered quickly to the task at hand.

ÔÇ£I suggest that we do more than just introduce ourselves in such a human way of names and formalities. As creatures with a stronger sense of smell, I suggest that you take a moment to smell each other and do your best to remember our unique scent. This is, after all, how I found you lot. I will move North and scout out the area as the rest of you bring up the rear. This one here,ÔÇØ nodding his head in the direction of the gimp [Jorge], ÔÇ£will probably slow you down; if you put your noses to the ground, you will be able to follow my scent.ÔÇØ

Being a creature of forward movement Alex didnÔÇÖt really wait for anyone to say anything, but instead he looked up into the sky, found the sun and then headed north.

As Alex entered the denser jungle brush, he avoided his earlier habit of simply bull rushing, but rather walked carefully and meticulously through the trees. He kept his eyes open for any small streams or pools of water as well as another clearing. As he traveled north, he tried to make it a habit to stop and smell the ground from time to time, doing his best to familiarize himself with the scents that he came across.

[GathersIngredients]

Lauren takes a good whiff of everyone present, just like she did of the lingering smells left behind by Brigitte, Zaki and Baik when those three left, and tries to memorize the smells, and the distinctive differences, however small they may be. The human part of her mind is feeling incredibly silly and a bit embarrassed about this, but her raptor side embraces the olfactory attributes of her pack with satisfaction.

When John tries to scratch his head, but can't quite reach, she moves over to him. "Got an itch there you can't reach? I got your back, mate." she says, as she helpfully approaches him, pushes his upper body down gently to be able to reach his head and scratch him there. Her human side is making sure she does so very carefully, as not to draw blood with her razor sharp raptor claws.

As Alex takes off, she can't help but say "Be careful. There will be other dangers out there, not only the big bleed." after him. It's not so much a reprimand or a sign of lack of trust in his abilities, but an honest expression of worry for one of her traveling companions on this very strange journey she is on.

Since most of the pack, who have spoken up, seem to agree on getting away from Baik's pack's territory, she says: "Well, then, let's move out, shall we? I'll keep close to Jorge to make sure he is able to keep up, and holler, if he doesn't."

[Mereneth]

Jorge stumbles to a halt as the other raptors spill out into the trampled brush, all of them chirping and babbling to a point that it was nearly incoherent. It was... welcome, but incredibly odd to be back with the others, despite the short time they'd been separated.

He offers Lauren a short nod of thanks as she and the others decide where they'll be going, clearly showing signs that she'd been selected to replace Doug's role, as well as her statement of staying near him to make sure he wasn't left behind.

"So you're in charge now, eh? I'm a bit disappointed that Niyazaki left. He's a good kid."

He limps forward, though he makes every effort now to suppress the pain and move faster, intent on not slowing down the group. A brief glance away from Lauren landed his sight directly on Anoki's tail, and he grinned despite himself. There was some benefit to having to stay in the back.

[Mereneth]

Baik took the lead as they left the group, heading back to where they had first encountered each other, the edge of his packs territory, and silently contemplated that, in the end, Brigitte and Niyazaki would have a far better chance of surviving than if they stayed with their previous companions.

Silently he acknowledged himself for what this would mean for his position in Lika's pack. Bringing in new blood was a major boon, especially with Maieieh's timely demise opening the way for the two with him. A though occurred to him, suddenly, as they neared the territorial edge, given how little Brigitte's group seemed to know or remember about functioning normally. Bringing them into the pack wouldn't mean anything if they weren't much better than hatchlings when they arrived.

"Brig-et, I... you know I cannot call you Alpha in Lika's pack. You two will be as I, under her and the brood bred into the pack. Lika may look small, but she is far more cunning than Maieieh or myself combined and will kill either of you if you aren't willing to obey."

When Baik spoke, she nodded. "I figured. It's OK, I don't know jack about being an Alpha anyway. Just call me Brigitte. Or Jeet, if Brigitte's too long... doesn't sound like any of your names, really, does it?" She shrugged and looked back at Niyazaki. "And this is Zaki, if he's alright with me shortening it. Are those names, like, normal enough?"

As they walked, Brigitte nudged Niyazaki. "Look, it means a lot to me that you came with me. I know it can't have been easy to leave your friends. So...thanks. I'll look out for you as much as I can here, alright?"

Brigitte turned from Zaki to face Baik again. She didn't want to alienate the one 'human' raptor that had come with her, but she needed to get more from the natural one if either were to survive.

"So listen, you're going to need to tell us the rules, especially if we're going to get killed for the slightest fuck-up. Lauren wasn't lying when she said we're not from here. Not at all. We don't know - or remember - a damn thing. We'll learn, but you have to help us."

She fell silent after that, with not much more to say. She had plenty of questions for Baik, and would want answers before long, but for now she was just concentrating on getting away from the group that they'd left.

Baik bobbed his head in agreement, sniffing the air as they passed into the territory. He rubbed his head on the old mark, pressing his eye ridge against the bark before he continued.

"Zaki and Jeet...Those will work. Your friends had such odd names. You will need to explain more of this to me sometime after we are settled in."

He repeated the rub against another tree several feet forward, though not with as much force.

"Lika won't kill you for no reason. She simply doesn't tolerate insubordination. If she tells you to do something, you do it. She won't go so far as to kill, though, unless you're making a point of defying her. She doesn't want to lose able bodies for no reason."

Brigitte nodded, though she couldn't help but notice what Baik was doing as he lead them deeper into what she knew was potentially hostile territory.

"Alright, well. We can take orders. What are you doing now? Is it like marking your territory? Do we need to do that too?"

Brigitte stopped and sniffed the tree he'd rubbed his head on, trying to figure out if she could smell anything different about it. "They're not like you, that's why. They think they're human. Do you even have humans here? They stand on two legs but they have no tail, and they are fleshy not scaly, and their arms are long."


Baik looks back at the tree as she sniffs at it and nods.

"Your Law-ren never let me explain. Something right above the eye makes this...stuff. If you smell me, too, you'll understand. Don't know much more about it, but once you are familair with everyone and go on patrol, you'll be expected to remember whose scents are whose so we can keep the territory marks fresh."

There is a brief lull before he realizes he's left something unsaid.

"No, don't. Until Lika agrees, doing so would mean you're trying to steal our turf and prey."

He pauses to face her, confusion settling in once more as she describes humans.

"Hu man? Sounds like an easy kill; easy meat to bring to the pack and hatchlings. Maybe we should find these Hu man things. Lika would lay an egg in surprise at such easy flesh."

Brigitte grinned, her razor sharp teeth adding a twist to how much his reactions amused her despite being willing to explain.

"Humans are pretty squishy, yeah, and one on their own would be easy dinner. But the thing about them is they're clever and they work together, and their hands mean they can do things we can't. Did you see Brock trying to hold the stick? He remembers having proper hands. So those guys back there, they don't know the first thing about how to be a pack or how to hunt or anything, but they know lots of other stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if we come across them in future and they're doing fine."

Brigitte hops over to Baik and sniffs his head above his eye-ridge, and nods. "I can smell it. It's weird, you know. Everything is different. Humans can't smell that good. I think it would be safest if we didn't tell Lika or the others about this, though, don't you? Let's just tell them we weren't raised properly or something, or we got hit on the head and forgot.

"Tell us more about the rules - Lika's the boss, right? So who's next at the top? How do we show we know they're in charge?"

Baik coughed in doubt of the others surviving. They'd turn plant eaters into flesh hunters before they'd survive. He was sure of it. Though if they were as clever as Jeet suggested, if they did manage to survive he would need to inform Lika.

"I can tell her, but we can say you two got knocked on the heads by the... club tail, yes, that killed Maieieh. If we're going to lie to her about this, then she can't be told how you killed Maieieh."

He contemplated her next query for a moment, summoning up his memories rather than letting it all just happen on its own, before chirping a response.

"Well, Lika is the Alpha. Then come her young and then any mated into the brood. Last are those like us. I...might have been made part of the brood group had you not killed Maieieh...but she was a bitch."

He snorted and grinned despite himself, amused at being able to speak his mind.

"Lika decides who breeds, and when. She will smash a nest full of eggs if she discovers them and she didn't tell you to mate. She won't discipline for mating, but she won't allow any eggs to survive that weren't her decision."

"Anyhow, as to showing obedience, drop to your belly and stay there if she is giving orders; show your belly to her when I introduce you. Just lay before her and roll onto your side. Anything else she might take as a threat."

Brigitte chirped an affirmation, letting all the new information soak in and thirsting for more.

"Alright. I won't tell her. Zaki, you won't tell her either, right? You'll just say we got hit. What will we tell her about why we want to be in your pack? Won't she want to know where we came from?"

Brigitte sniffed at Niyazaki's head to get used to his scent as they walked, and contemplated what Baik had said. "Wait, so - you're going to get in trouble for going back without Maieieh? Even though we'll say it was the club tail?"

"Do you think they'll let us follow you around and stuff when we get there, so you can teach us more? What do you guys even do when you're not looking for food or sleeping?"

Zaki shook his head, then pretended to wince. He refrained from saying anything but instead offered a toothy grin.

Baik shook his head but grinned despite himself.

"I won't be disciplined for her death, I wasn't leading. All discipline falls on the leader; with her dead, she still bears that responsibility."

He continued on, taking note of unseen things as they moved, but continued to chirp as they went.

"You might be assigned to me, since I 'found' you. I'll be responsible for you until you are well. That is, until you can act as a normal raptor. Free time is your own, though once you are well don't expect a lot of it."

The fact that she'd have little free time didn't really surprise her, but Brigitte felt it was worth commenting on regardless.

"What am I gonna do with free time? Build a house? Heh. I don't mind being kept busy."

Brigitte watched him look around, and tried to do the same, looking for what he might be seeing. So far, all she could see were leaves and bugs, but she tried to look for tracks and things she thought might be useful to notice. She stared for a few moments at their own footprints, then moved on.

"So tell me, how do you live? Do you move around or is a place that you all sleep in and eat in and keep your eggs in? I hope they let us stay with you. Zaki told me that one of the others ate something that killed her straight away, I don't want to do that."

Baik turned onto a worn path and continued down it, sniffing at the air as he went. His eyes flared wide for a moment, prompting him to spin and snap his jaw over the tip of Jeet's snout, holding her mouth shut for a moment as he glared at her. The deed done he let her go and stepped back, barking harshly at her in seeming disgust.

"I've already told you to stop asking me so many questions, whelp. Lika will decide who will see to your care, so just shut up and follow me."

His eyes darted back and forth at the surrounding foliage briefly before he started back down the trail.

Brigitte scowled inwardly at Baik's actions, but wasn't stupid enough to react at him outwardly - she was pretty sure that they were being watched or listened to, and that it was an act, so she resisted the urge to snap back at him. Still, she huffed and stomped along after him, flicking her tail from side to side.

She looked into the foliage around them as he did, but surreptitiously, not wanting to be caught staring at a new raptor if there was one there.

Baik hurried forward and cast an apologetic glance back at her when the opportunity presented itself. He continued to cast his eyes back and forth as they traveled, bothered by the need to silence Jeet when there was still much to be said.

As the path opened up into a large clearing littered with nests and a few scrappy youth, he could only hope that his two 'recruits' would make do until he had a chance to better teach them.

Brigitte followed him quietly, nodding her understanding when he looked back at her but otherwise just walking along untilt hey reached their destination. When they arrived into the clearing, she took the opportunity to look at the nests from a distance, to see what their eggs looked like and how many there seemed to be in a clutch. She also observed the young raptors, taking in their colours with interest. So far, she'd seen the ex-humans had hides of all colours, but Baik and Maieieh had been plain green. She was curious as to whether their brighter colours were unusual, perhaps having the same source as the tattoos, or whether Baik and Maieieh just happened to be plainer than most.

Baik came to a stop and lowered himself to his belly when he reached the middle of the clearing. He brought his head up to look ahead as a small, lithely muscled raptor stepped forward onto a perch like rock, bathing her scales in the evening sun.

"Well, well, Baik. What have you brought for us?"

Lika, the Alpha of Baik's pack, sing song chirped and motioned forward other raptors into a close circle around them. Several raptors spilled out of the woods to join the effective barrier. In total, there were nearly thirty adults surrounding them, their positioning forcing the three of them to face Lika in her seemingly regal glory.

[nikohl]

Brigitte nudges Zaki as they come to a stop behind Baik, hoping he understands and copies her. She drops down onto her belly and waits for Baik to begin to explain, then rolls onto her side awaiting judgement when he has finished telling Lika and the pack about them. She takes the opportunity to look around at the gathered raptors while Baik speaks, getting a sense for their numbers - more than he'd told her - and their appearance.

[GathersIngredients]

"So you're in charge now, eh? I'm a bit disappointed that Niyazaki left. He's a good kid."
---
Lauren draws a face, trying to express her mixed feelings that she has on this issue. "Yeah, seems like it. I don't even know how that happened. I just didn't want to leave Doug to the three-horn, and even though he's dead now nonetheless, Hoff suddenly started calling me alpha." she tries to shrug once more, her human habits still holding her firmly in their clutches.

At the mention of Zaki, Lauren frowns once more. "Yeah, I'm not happy that he, Brigitte and Baik left, either. I'm sure we could have worked well together, and we could have learned much from one another..."
"We should take a look at your leg when we get to a somewhat safe place to spend the night. Is it just bruised, or did you get more seriously wounded?"
Lauren's eyes dart towards the mp3 player. "And where did you get that gadget, anyways?"

[Theis2]

John, too embarrassed to speak up, let Lauren scratch his head rather than mentioning it was a nervous twitch and it actually didn't need scratching.
Her touch suprised him even though he knew what she was intending to do. John manages to withold shuddering caused by this unfamiliar situation with this unknown girl. His brain was working hard to figure out how he could prolong this situation. Annoyed by the fact that they talked about getting to know each other scent, his brain kept coming back to a single sentence Well we might as well smell each other now...
That's stupid, inappropriate and a sure way to make yourself a creep. Not gonna say that!.

When Lauren stops scratching he mumble a low thanks and let her smell him as he smell her. At that moment John realise that his body is incredibly calm compared to how "panicked" his head is. The head/old self urges him to pursue trying to spend more time with the girl in front of him, but his new body feels reluctant to pursue this train of thoughts. Great.. I'm caught in a gay raptor body.. Not really considering that he might not even be in a male body.
Feeling down by this realization he walks along with the others and let the other raptors smell him, and taking a sniff back at them.

After a bit of walking John experiment a bit with his body and attempts to take a couple of deep breaths. Funny how he seems to be able to hold his breath for longer even though it doesn't feel like his lungs are that much bigger. Wondering about this for a while before he remembers a couple of old biology lesson he had. It was something along the lines of more oxygen in the air during this period. Oh and something about the insects respiratory system being passive compared to other animals active respiration.. Well it went something along the line with "the higher percentage of oxygen in the air, the larger the insects would be able to become." Hopefully the girls aren't that scared of insects about the size of small dog or maybe even larger.

[SamWiser]

Sam walks around smelling the raptors, trying to memorize their scent. Every once in a while he winces as his tail brushes up against something.

[BeanDip]

Hoff keeps quiet and though he does not like it, sniffs the others and allows himself to be sniffed

► Show Spoiler

I'll hopefully come back in and edit some more content. I have school work pending right now that I'm going to have to really force. Been ignoring it all day.

[kurik]

"Woah, watch the nose." Brock says to Sam when the other raptor comes to sniff him, startled by the intrusion of his personal space. "We don't know each other THAT well yet."

► Show Spoiler

Sorry, I just don't have a long post in me right now.

[Mereneth]

Eventually the forest gives way to a massive open plains, divided by twin rivers running from southwest to north-northwest. On the the land in between the rivers, the grasses are lush and untouched, though why the various herbivores deny themselves such temptation isn't clear.

There are several crossing points in sight leading from one side of the rivers to another, marked by the muddy trails leading out of the water. Some smaller dinosaurs can be seen snapping at the water and periodically hurrying away with a fish or some other small creature so that the less fortunate fishers don't get a chance to steal their meal.

The carcass of a massive, long necked dinosaur rots in the sun in an isolated swath of grasses. Swarms of insects and scavengers feast on the putrid flesh while the herbivores give a wide berth, avoiding the stressful and horrid smell of decay and offering respect for the dead.

Some smaller herds of herbivores hurry away from the tree line as the pack pours out, but for the most part the plains seem undisturbed by the raptors. Those herds with young keep them close with the predators evident, but continue to forage and allow their little ones to eat and play within those confines.

[BadgeAddict]

After walking away from the pack, Alex moved slowly and cautiously toward the plains to the north. As he walked further north the dense underbrush gave way to short grass that grew under the foliage of the leaves above. The trees, which were close together and often grew together in a tangled maze of vines began to thin out and were instead replaced by massive trees that raised their branches upward until the touched the heavens. There was no good way to tell exactly when the jungle ended and the plains began as their was no abrupt stop of one and the beginning of another, though as he continued walking he eventually broke out of the last of the trees into a lush landscape of grass andfresh meat. Alex brushed these carnal thoughts from his mind and he took in the plains, trying to take in all the details that suddenly flooded his brain.

As he had broken out of the jungle and stopped and stared at the majestic beauty of the plains a few of the creatures that had been chewing the long grass noticed him and began moving in a direction that was away from him. Though some of the creatures became skittish at the sight of him the larger creatures which had their own manner of defenses or were simply put, freaking gigantic, chose to ignore one rather stupid looking Raptor. A few of the long-necked behemoths, noticing the frantic movements of some of the smaller creatures, moved their large eyes across the line of jungle until it alit upon his small body. One of the smaller ones let out a long sigh that could be understood as complete frustration and began to plod heavily away from the tree-line. The other massive creatures simply took a long look at him before stripping the tasty leaves from yet another tree, choosing to ignore him for the time being.

Alex waited for a moment, keeping one eye on the plant-eaters and another on the jungle, until the some of the others were finally within sight. Alex attempted to make a whistling sound to get their attention.

As soon as he could tell that the others saw him, he checked once more to make sure that he hadnÔÇÖt lost any minis on the way, counting slowly under his breath as he carefully scratched the chin, back or belly of each one in a gentle fatherly kind of way. Once he was sure that they were still all there, Alex took a step into the plains.

Alex quickly noticed, based on the skittishness of the smaller plant eaters, that his quick movements were scaring the small timid creatures. Doing everything in his power not to sprint or run, he started to walk slowly into the plains, as he walked, he imagined that the dinosaurs that he walked to were perhaps neighbors on the large street that he had lived on with his Gram. Alex made sure to make a wide berth around the large long-necks, not willing to find out what a Raptor-pancake looked or felt-like. He also did his best to not walk directly at any of the creatures that had defenses that could easily crush him. Instead he meandered through the plains toward the rivers, maintaining a safe distance from the creatures that munched happily on the sweet grass of the plains.

[SamWiser]

Sam hurries to follow Alex when he comes into view. Sam slows down when the entire plane come into view, and he can get a look at all the different types of herbivores living their. He automatically starts judging which would be the easiest to kill, and the most filling to eat.

[Theis2]

John follows the pack out of the forest to the open space of the plains. The whole thing seems a bit overwhelming, with the extinct giants roaming about. He looks at the reaction of some of the others, but to his suprise they seem more focused on murder and food rather than being baffled by the changes and all the new things that would have been impossible to see in their own time.
Have they already gone completely feral? I've heard that it happens to stranded people at some point, but never believed it to be this quickly, even given the new body. Might be I'm just very slow at adapting myself to this situation.. At least that guy who keeps his distance to us is walking towards the river. We should really get something to drink that isn't contaminated by urine and corpses. At least not right where we are drinking and it will be moving which makes it just a tiny bit better.

John continues walking towards the river.

[kurik]

Brock pauses in awe at the sight stretching out before him. "Welcome to Jurassic Park." He takes stock of the major groups of dinosaurs he can see, until the pack moves on.

[Mereneth]

Jorge grunted and lifted the leg carefully, showing there wasn't anything bleeding.

"I think I just bruised it bad or pulled something when I landed back there. I can't really put all my weight on it without it really hurting. As to this little prize,"

He tosses his head, sending the device bobbing against his chest.

"I found it wrapped around the head of some whack looking dinosaur. Thing was about to die from panic with it blaring in its ears. I knew people back home didn't like his music but that was a new one to me!"

They finally reached the edge of the woods, and Jorge found all he could do was stare slack jawed at the scene before him. His eyes danced from herd to herd as his primal instincts took them in, though his human mind was more amazed by the world itself. The skyline was turning a color his raptor eyes couldn't describe any way besides beautiful and horrible. He could just make out what seemed to be a massive cliff face in the distance with foaming waters pouring over them to the lakes below. The sun had already fallen behind the cliffs, making it difficult to make out much more, but to say he was impressed was an understatement. He found himself gazing longingly at the jungles on the far end of the clearing and the high grasses bordering them, though it was a short-lived interest as he soon realized his mind had drifted from what had already shocked him.

"Great Mother Mary, Brazil has nothing on this place. So much green and no buildings... I like it here, more, already. Is it wise, though, for us to head out into the open with it growing dark? I'd hate to be on the wrong end of whatever brought down whatever that body belonged to."

Jorge looked expectantly at Lauren, indifferent to her elected position but prepared to follow her instructions regardless. He felt almost antsy as the shadows of tree limbs crept forward, filling him with a sense of urgency and claustrophobia, as if once the shadows were fully cast upon him he would be stuck there to be slain by whatever hungry beast found him. Whatever decision Lauren made, he hoped she would make it soon.

------------------

Anoki idled along behind as she'd been instructed, following up the rear, but kept her head pointed at the ground as she moped about Laurens position. It wasn't right; Doug should be the one there, leading them. Her tail whipped about wildly as her frustration and fear from the past few days boiled up to agitate her further. Home... Why couldn't she just go home? Was anyone even aware she was gone? Probably not... a suddenly empty machine spitting out coins would have masses on it in no time, her own presence a myth.

She chirped something incoherent as she walked, oblivious to the spurt of water that suddenly trickled up from the ground beneath her as she walked on towards the fields ahead.

------------------

Lika listened as Baik told her what he knew of them, nodding simply in response to Maieieh's death and the story of the club-tail but turned her attention to Jeet and Zaki as they were introduced. Her eyes seemed to dance as if something about the pair of them excited her, fiery-orange iris's shimmering in the evening sun with a life almost their own. As Baik continues to report, she hops down from her perch and hops over to Jeet, revealing some of what made such a small raptor unique enough to manage a pack on her own. What first appeared as patterns on her scales proves to be peculiar jewelry made of bone and various colorful, unpolished stones on dried sinew, now dangling just above Jeet's nose as Lika places a foot on Jeet's head before she inhales deeply of the new raptors scent.

As Lika plants her claws on Jeet, Niyazaki scrambles to his feet in her defense, upset and anger spilling from him in the form of a growling bark, all concern for the warnings he'd received dismissed as his eyes glowed hot with rage. Lika merely raises a feathered eyebrow in response as she is stared down, but sighs and gives Baik a look that seems to say 'Seriously?' before barking something incoherent as Niyazaki leaps at her, teeth bared and claws aimed for her throat.

As suddenly as his attack started, Niyazaki finds himself slammed to the ground at her feet, seemingly by nothing. Despite feeling dazed from the experience, his rage still boils within and urges him to pull himself onto his feet. Lika sighs and chirps again, causing her necklace to bounce off her chest and reveal that the orange stones upon it were glowing as an invisible force slams Niyazaki back down, this time driving the air from his lungs with the force of it. Lika took her foot form Jeet's head and bent to look a now stunned Zaki in the eyes.

"You are rather bad at following instructions, you know? You must be wondering, now, just what in the world happened to you. It is quite simple, really. The strong rule, while the weak serve, or die. Now, you stay put while I decide what to do with you."

She grins toothily and clicks her tongue as she turns back to Baik.

"Baik, you should know better than to lie to me. I might not know how Maieieh died, but it certainly wasn't a club-tail. I'd wager the hothead brought it on herself; one of these two before me left her gutted in the jungles beyond, I venture."

Baik's eyes slowly widened as she spoke, concern and worry flooding into his expression, though he dared not move from where he sat. With little other option, he simply kept his eyes locked on Lika, waiting for her to finish speaking.

"Baik, these two are... guests, to our world. You see, I and certain others are why they are here. We haven't exactly perfected the method, but it works well enough. You see, I know that you're not telling me what they were originally, as I imagine you've learned since encountering them. What I would like to know, however, is where the rest of them are. Don't tell me they all died already; I would be..."

She cast her eyes to the canopy in feigned thought before leveling an unsettling glare on him.

"Disappointed."

[nikohl]

Jeet sighed inwardly as Zaki lurched to his feet, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation of either being clawed herself or being splattered with blood as he was attacked. When no such thing happened, she opened her eyes again in time to see him planted on his ass by some invisible force, and those strange orange stones on Lika's necklace glowing just above her head. She could probably grab one, except she didn't have hands. And besides, she quite liked not being attacked. She flicked her tail at Zaki in a sort of comforting-but-disapproving way, tapping him on his side where he now lay.

Once Lika finished speaking, Jeet sat up slowly, settled on her haunches and spoke to Baik while looking at Lika. "Baik, dear. You might have mentioned your leader was a magical raptor-wizard before we set out." She frowned quizzically at the smaller raptor, looking her over properly now. "You did this? How? I guess I should thank you... As ridiculous as this all is, I'm doing better in your world than I ever did in mine. But why did you do it? I mean, what's the point?"

Seeing as how Lika was clearly not your usual raptor, and how she knew that Jeet herself was not normal either, she chanced at getting some information during this introduction phase - she remained polite and non-aggressive, but decided to assert her curiosity early on, hoping that Lika's own interest in them would get her some answers before anything else interrupted or before opinions were formed.

[GathersIngredients]

"I think the dinosaur may just have been unhappy, and completely baffled about what this device is and what it was doing to him. You'd be pretty astonished and probably not too pleased if you started to hear things that - according to anything you know - you shouldn't, right?" Lauren muses about the gadget from her familiar time and space, misplaced into the here and now, just like she was. But how or why did that happen? At least it seemed to occur over and over again, maybe we can find other useful stuff, or even more allies that had been picked from their lives and thrown into the fray in this ... let's call it an alternate reality.

Looking over the plains quickly as she finally reaches them with Jorge, Lauren casts another quick gaze at the sky and the quickly changing light conditions. "I hadn't noticed it was so late already. Maybe we shouldn't leave the forrest that offers more cover just yet. On the other hand, where there is no cover to hide in, other predators couldn't approach us without getting noticed by us..." She furrows her brows and thinks about this a little, finding her human brain painfully lacking crucial information. "Does anyone know more about the kind of dinosaur we are? Like have we got some kind of night vision?
Anoki, Jorge, you have already spent some time here, do you know? Where did you find shelter for the night? Would we be safer out in the open, or secluded, in the woods?" Lauren knows that, sometimes, part of being a good leader is to ask someone more knowledgeable or more experienced for information, possibly advice, so she tries that route, for now.

[Theis2]

Seeing as no one is about to answer Lauren John takes a deep breath and open his mouth

"I think the open might be best if we get people on guard duty. I'm pretty sure whatever would hunt us in the forest would know their way around it and we don't. At least we can see we don't run into a spot where we can't get away fast enough out here."

John Takes a step back and slightly act as if he never said anything at all.

[Mereneth]

Jorge smirked and bobbed his head in agreement to her response about the mp3 before answering her.

"We can see rather well at night, though it... isn't quite the same as what you see in the day. It takes some getting used to. As to shelter, we just laid down beneath the trees, usually."

Anoki scoffed and rolled her eyes, tossing her head for good measure before closing the distance between herself and Lauren.

"We don't hide; we're predators, not sniveling sheep, hiding as prey does when it fears its pursuers so that it can't face them head on."

She snarled and snapped, emphasizing her point as anger built, compounded by the loss she felt for her original companions. Her tail whipped back and forth with earnest and her leg muscles visibly tensed and released as she fought with herself for control, torn between wanting to make a scapegoat of Lauren for everything that had happened and the simple desire to curl up on the spot and cry. She didn't want to blame it on Lauren, to attack her for 'crimes' she didn't commit, but the burning desire for some sort of fulfillment of justice ate at her insides and humanity.

As quickly as her rage had built, it vanished into the wind, leaving her feeling shaken, terrified of the world and nearly overwhelmed with depression and sadness. The raptor within urged her forward, making her lurch forward and bury her eyes in Laurens neck feathers as sobs took the place of words. Tears trickled into Lauren's feathers as Anoki whimpered and mourned.

Jorge grimaced, the stab of emotional pain reminding him why he clung, so, to the mp3 player; a reminder of home and what he'd never see again. He turned from Lauren, not saying another word as he called the other raptors together to discuss what Lauren suggested and give Anoki some privacy.

"Oye, you lot gather around and I'll explain what Lauren's thinking for us so we can get some opinions from you."

► Show Spoiler

Jorge explains all that Lauren said, so response need to assume this is the case

---------------------

Baik flicks a look of confused horror from Jeet to Lika, his mouth and throat moving, but producing no sound. He isn't alone in the experience as the surrounding raptors have varied looks of shock and dismay, though intermingled with respect and fear. It was quite evidently a new experience for her entire pack to learn of this strange ability. He turned back to Jeet, finally managing to form words through his confusion.

"I... I've never seen her do this before. I had no idea she could... how she could..."

He trailed off, leaving Lika looking rather smug as she answered Jeet's curious questions.

"Well, in truth it wasn't my idea, I only lent my ability in exchange for more. I don't know what will come of this, only that I seem to have gotten to you first, and that you appeared as kindred to my kinds blood. See, this is a wonderful thing for me. I'll have them begging tooth and claw for you, but they'll have to pay dearly if they expect me to surrender you to them. Not even that old Tyran can threaten us, here in our place of power."

She twitched her nose and turned back to Zaki, who had decided on laying on his side and breathing heavily as he recovered.

"What should I do with you, though? You were quite ready to be defiant of me, with no other reason than for my own caution of holding down your... mate? Is that it? How disgustingly cute of you! Oh I should keep you together and have you breed her right here and now, get a nest full of hatchlings of pure... whatever blood you two are beneath that colorful hide."

She cackled, amused at her own joke and the shade of purple Zaki was turning in embarrassment. With a flick of her tail as a signal to the others, the rest, all except for Baik, began chirruping in laughter and sexual taunts at the dismayed Zaki. As Lika sauntered off, disappearing behind a curtain of tall grass and leaving her pack to disperse once they'd had their fun, Zaki crawled over to Jeet and simply curled himself around her feet, whimpering and pressing his hot, flushed face into her belly to hide from the remaining raptors. This only served to further stir them up until Baik snarled a warning and making mock lunges at the few who stayed more than a moment longer.

Baik looked down at the earth and his claws, digging into the dirt as he wiggled them and humbly kept his head bowed in apology and disappointment as he returned to their side.

[nikohl]

Jeet sniffed in distaste at Lika's taunts, but was more concerned with the words she had spoken before. As a human, she hadn't been stupid, but she certainly lacked schooling. Despite that, she recognised the concept behind the name Tyran - and the thought that there was a magical T-Rex out here was... Worrying.

She looked Baik over a few times, pleased at his defense of the pair of them. She nodded and looked around again. "Baik, I believe you when you said you didn't know. It's ok. But you have to help us even more now, do you see? I'm not going to be used as a bargaining chip by some psychotic lizard, and she won't -want- to sell us off when she learns what we two are. We might not know how to be raptors yet, but we know things that midget never dreamed of. So help us. Tell us everything, treat us like hatchlings - we're going to need all the knowledge we can gather out here, and we need it fast."

After giving him a few moments to compose himself while she spoke to Baik, Jeet now looked down at Zaki and nudged him with the tip of her snout. "Dude. C'mon, get up. You need to toughen up, alright? Don't let them get to you. They can't see you as weak, not when you're special. It'll be worse for you if you let this shit bother you. Rise above it. I'll stick up for you but you have to stick up for yourself too. Now get up."

[GathersIngredients]

When John steps up and suggests that the wide open might be the better choice, Lauren takes a good long look at him, and nods approvingly. "Yeah, good point about keeping watch. I assumed that us doing this would go without saying, but it's probably better that someone put it into words. If you have something as sensible as this to say every time you speak up, I'll have to ask you not to keep quiet all the time so much." She winks and smiles at John benevolently, giving him another encouraging nod.

---

Lauren would have very much liked to process the information given by Jorge and come to a conclusion, or at least give an answer, but Anoki obviously wouldn't have any of that.
As Anoki exploded and went on about being predators that don't hide like prey, Lauren's raptor instincts urged her to duck her body down, bend it closer to the ground, into a more defensive position and also move sideways, so she could flank Anoki, if push came to shove. But her human mind fought those instincts, hard, and decisively kept her from doing those things, but she couldn't quite manage to keep her tail from twitching. She is my pack mate, and she has been ranting like this at me before. She will not attack me. Don't back down, or you'll just appear weak in the eyes of the others. They put their trust in you, for now, so you might as well give it a try and not lose it so quickly by treating a pack member like an enemy, or act like you're scared of her. This is just like high school, and right now, Anoki is acting like just another bully. Endure whatever she has to say, then stare her down, if you must, but don't back down.

When Anoki's rage turned into sadness, basically within an instant and without so much as a hint of warning, Lauren was taken aback, completely surprised. But it was a pleasant surprise. Anoki needed someone to comfort her, and she had chosen her, Lauren, for this. Maybe there was a way to win her trust, also, or maybe she, Lauren, already possessed it, no matter how much Anoki was annoyed by the situation and how much she had huffed and puffed at Lauren.
So, after just barely taking notice of Jorge leaving the two of them alone, to round up the others and discuss the problem of where to spend the night, which she acknowledged with an approving nod to Jorge, Lauren tried to comfort the crying girl the best she could.
She nudged and nuzzled her own head and neck back at Anoki, trying to give her something similar to a hug, painfully being reminded of her new arms lacking the length to hold Anoki in a closer, more soothing embrace, like she would have as a human. She emitted soft little cooing noises, also designed to calm down Anoki and solace her somewhat. Lauren also thought about saying something to her, but, considering how little she knew about Anoki, she figured that the wrong words would only serve to rekindle the anger in her, so Lauren just settled for a single innocuous word. "Hey," she whispered, and repeated it a few times, with pauses in between. When that showed at least no ill effect on Anoki, Lauren went out on a limb and said a little more: "I'm here for you. I'm here for all of you. As long as you will have me. But I need your help, too, to get us through this. Will you help me?" Lauren asked as honest and open-hearted as she could.

---

► Show Spoiler

I dunno where to put this, but if Anoki calms down at some point and/or the others gather for decision making, Lauren would suggest that they enter the plains, but keep a look out for some group of trees/bushes or a rock formation that would offer SOME cover at least. Search it, claim it, enter it. Have 2 raptors stay guard on rotating shifts, the whole night through. Brock could have a go at trying to light a fire , if he wants to, but I don't have much hope with sticks but no human hands... I guess Raptors would need flint stones, at the very least. Unless someone has found a lighter... ?

[Mereneth]

► Show Spoiler

I'll delete this/attach it to my next post, later, but our raptor arms aren't comparable to a Trex's arm length. My arms are about 32 inches long, from finger tip to shoulder joint; I'd suggest the raptor arms are about 28 inches long, given their size and based on art and the various things i based my mental imagery on. I'd say that it would be possible to manipulate objects, just not with the exact dexterity of human hands.

[Theis2]

John silently moves into the circle of raptors smiling to himself with the compliment he recieved. The smile only lasted as long as to the beginning of Anokis "attack" on Lauren.
He feels like haven't used his social quota for the day as well.