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After the clash with Alpha, which as far as the pack knew was just a failed challenge for leadership and nothing more, James began to leave Eyeclaw alone, and continued with his own affairs. More than a year after his regression, Barren had become somewhat pregnant with a litter of his, something he was becoming quite excited about. Months passed by, largely uneventful, and in that time he was by now one of the more higher-ranked warriors. No longer the unconfident timid outsider, but a fully vicious predator, even with the dreams still chasing him in his sleep. But all he could do was ignore them. Other than the odd triceratops or stegosaurus to kill, nothing too important occurred since his fight with Alpha until one particular cool afternoon. While leading a scouting party in tracking a particularly quick triceratops, he had uncovered something unusual. A settlement, out on an island in the middle of another lake further away from their forest home. The wind carried strange yet familiar scents, with a bridge of wood made across the water and around it was a settlement of huge stone buildings, as well as some made out of metal. "What are those?" growled one of the scouts. "They look like the shining stones the hairless used." James' observation made the other three raptors walk closer out of curiosity to get a better look at anyone nearby. They knew the scents were like the hairless, but they had to be sure. A chainlink fence was around one open area full of odd-smelling barrels, trucks lined up across one side, pylons standing high above them as spire-like monoliths piercing the sky. One of the raptors tried to rip open the fence, but ended up with a nasty shock when a sudden jolt of electricity went through his body as he fell back. "Wh-what was that!?" "It was...like lightning shot through me!" "But the sky is clear!" "Is...is this thing is made of lightning?!?" "If it is the hairless," chirred Oddscar, "then those who can harness the power of fire may be able to harness lightning as well." "Should we report back to our leader?" "We should, immediately, before the hairless-" Suddenly they were under fire, a volley of shots coming in their direction from a stone tower nearby, with one of the raptors getting most of the shots fatally. The humans had popped up from all over the chained area, their scent furiously strong with danger. "THEY'VE SEEN US!" "RETREAT!" And so they ran, back through the woods, strafing to avoid being shot at and leaving their friend behind to bleed against the electric fence. All this confusion would soon spread through the entire tribe itself, when Oddscar came to report the news to the leader.

"My leader!" "Yes, Oddscar?" "We have something to report, something terrible is in our midst!" Alpha chirred with intrigue and decided this was not for everyone to hear, beckoning the scouting party closer. James and the other two gave their account. "We were chasing a three-horn, a young one, very evasive through the forest before we arrived at another lake." "The lake had a crossing made of trees but not natural." "And within this lake and near it were shining rocks...and the scent of the hairless." "...continue," chirred Alpha as Oddscar explained. "We reached up to the shining stones to investigate and one of our party, Highclaw, tried to breach its defence. But lightning shot through him, from the see-through wall itself! And then, as we were about to leave to report to you, the hairless were there and blasted fire down upon us! Highclaw was killed immediately, they were unlike the hairless from before, more dangerous. Right down to their scent." "The hairless have followed us to this land!?" Alpha was incredulous like the others were. "But...how!?" "Perhaps they found that hole we went through." "But even so, how did they manage to build their own shining rocks, when none of such exists in our world!?!" "We do not know leader," said Oddscar, "all we know is, that they are here and only four hunts away from us...what are your orders?" "...Keep watch of them, but never get too close. If they are as dangerous as you say Oddscar, then we must make sure they do not find us. Did they track you?" "They seemed more concerned with their defence more than anything else, my leader." "Good. Observe them regularly every night, they lack the vision for such as I remember. Do not mention the hairless to anyone else but me, understand?" Nodding at this, the purple-marked raptor headed off to tend to his mate, his duties done for the day. James was just as confused as Alpha, wondering how could the humans have been able to follow them to this world, and with their own materials. These ones were different too, stronger and more well-armed, not like the feebler panicky ones from the foreign island before. Barren noticed her mate's pensive mood. "Is something troubling you?" "No..." "I feel something is." "My scouting did not go so well." "What happened?" "We lost one of ours, while chasing a three-horn." "I'm sorry, I am sure you did all you could." "I do not feel the same, my mate." "Perhaps you should rest." "...how are your eggs?" "I feel I may start laying soon, within many more suns and moons." "Wonderful." With a gentle lick to her cheek, he snuggled in beside her swollen body, chirring softly to himself as he slept to try and ignore the questions that were shooting through his mind. He was also confused by the ailing dreams that would constantly come to him, with one in particular that was slowly edging its way forwards to become his most frequent.

He stood upon the brink of an abyss, in a clouded dark realm of green and purple. Puddles of blood seemed to have lead him to this place, the very last one just at the edge, dripping into the abyss. Each drop was as loud as thunder. He bent down to sniff it, taste it, recognising it as his own species'. He cried out: "Where am I!?" No reply. He could only gaze back towards a path that had clouded over and trapped him upon this rocky precipice, the sound of blood drops as his only companion. He cried to the darkness once more. "WHERE AM I!?!?" As he roared his loudest, he felt something on his body. A warm wetness seeming to grow on his neck. Touching it tenderly with a claw, he felt a hole, rather deep and sticky with blood, then another, and another. Soon he felt and then smelt blood running down his snout from his forehead, dripping off of his nostrils, curiously trying to lick it and realising it was the exact same taste as the puddles all around him. Soon the holes of his neck and head began to emit the smell of gunpowder. "Wh-what's happening to me!? Why am I bleeding!? Why do my wounds smell like the hairless' fire!?" Still no reply to his self-questioning as more blood began to ooze from him, a puddle soon turning into a river around him. The droplets over the edge were becoming a red waterfall, and the current from his own wounds became so strong that he was pulled with it, dragged over the edge. He flailed pathetically against it, screeching into the darkening abyss, falling until it was darker than closing his own eyes. As he felt the waterfall of blood envelop him in a blind darkness, he heard a voice from long ago, a voice he somehow knew but could not recognise from the distorted tone. "James...wake up." "Wh-who's there!?" "You're almost there James, wake up." "Who is James!?" "James..." A light began to form nearby, piercing the darkness, cradling him as if he were a tiny lizard upon the hand of a god. The river of blood faded away from his being as he was blinded by the light that seemed to speak to him. "Don't you remember James?" Frustrated and confused, the raptor shrieked. "MY NAME IS NOT JAMES! MY NAME IS ODDSCAR!" "I want you to meet someone." The light seemed to pull him away from the darkness towards another area across the void, passing by so many scents he had memorised from his travels with the pack as they all seemed to fade slowly away from him. Standing upon a rocky platform in the middle of the green and purple void, was another raptor, who stood somewhat different. Somewhat oddly like a human. He couldn't tell anything else from him because of the light blinding him to the point he could only catch traces of the colours all around him. But soon he felt himself falling, diving towards this other raptor who turned to see him. Before he could even see its face, he felt his eyes open, and awaken to the sight of his mate and the pack around him sleeping in the darkness. The dream faded from his vision like clouds over the sky.

Confused, he realised his duty at this time of night, and went to find the human settlement once more to observe them. Travelling through the woods he tried to think what his latest dream meant to him, the first time in his dreams that he had control over them. But it was so vivid to feel, thought Oddscar, as if I were truly inside a strange other world. And that other raptor, the one who stood like a hairless would...who was he? All of this would not be revealed for now, as he sat in the undergrowth outside the settlement, far away enough from their possible vision. He sat there watching everything they did. Walking around, conversing with each other, checking the perimeter, checking the fence, moving the trucks occasionally with a roar that forced Oddscar to resist not jumping from such a beastly noise. But all he could do was just sit there, observing, noting things they did, trying to ignore the dream when he had to focus on his objective. Soon he felt something rustle beside him. Something nearby. Turning around he saw a human with a gun through the undergrowth, a large one too with an assault rifle. Perhaps it did not see me, thought the raptor as he merely sat silently, not moving a single muscle. He could smell the human until the stench clotted his nostrils, passing him by with a gait that to him was not as clumsy as the ones before, but clumsy nevertheless. At one point the gun was pointed in his direction, perhaps two feet away from his head, and yet still he did not move. Focused with the will of a stealthy predator, knowing that any attack would be dangerous, especially after how quickly Highclaw was killed.

He gazed upon the barrel of the gun, the very source of that dangerous fire that made the hairless such unusually fearsome prey, before it was turned away from him as the human walked further on. The raptor decided he had observed enough of them, and when it was safe enough to move without being heard, he headed back to his home. So close he had been to death and yet he had remained as still as a tree, tense from the scouting as he ran back to the grounds and back to his mate's still sleeping side, murring softly as she slept unawares of his objective. And with his mission done for today, he went back to pondering on his dreams, wondering if perhaps Eyeclaw could even offer some sort of guidance, despite his disposition and the fact he had been forbidden from meeting him. Unfortunately, he would not have that chance anytime soon even if he wanted to, when the day after tomorrow came with a rather unusual start. Waking up from their sleep, the pack were soon greeted by an odd visitor, a raptor like themselves, and one that by his scent confused them. "Who is that?" "He is of our pack by the scent of him yet I cannot recognise him." Beta walked forwards and sniffed the curiously stiff creature. A raptor like any other, yet his movements were a little off. Beta recognised the scent with an incredulous growl. "...Highclaw?!" "I am of this pack," said the stranger. "We will decide this. Highclaw, you are different, surely it cannot be you." "It can't be him!" shrieked Oddscar. "Highclaw was killed by the hairless, I saw him succumb to their fire!" "And yet here he stands with his scent...this is unusual. Stranger, who are you?" "Me...raptor...red." "He speaks as if he is a hatchling, is something wrong with him?" "Whatever is wrong with him," growled Alpha, "he is most suspicious and we cannot allow him within our grounds if he is not even right of mind." "And yet with that you keep Eyeclaw around, leader?" Beta's accusation made Alpha snarl. "HE is an exception, for a very special reason that you know." "You are right...this raptor, there is something distrustful, the scent somewhat...odd." "What do we do with him?" chirred one female Alpha stood before the strange raptor, who merely stood rather autonomously with blank eyes, soulless. "Stranger, you are not wanted here, leave to whence you came or die at our claws." "Raptor...red..." "Your words are pathetic, and they shall not garner me sympathy, now leave!" "Raptor...?" And then the forest itself shook with a furious roar.

The entire pack shrieked in confusion. "Wh-what is that!?!" "EARTHSHAAAAAAKE!" The trees were suddenly rammed down with huge monstrous machines towards the raptor grounds, the inhabitants whom ran in panic and confusion from the metal beasts. Oddscar recognised them easily, the trucks from the human settlement as he shrieked out: "THE HAIRLESS! EVERYONE, RUN!" Despite their best efforts, it was a massacre. The strange raptor who had arrived with no warning was immediately captured almost willingly by the humans, with several others ending the same way by a volley of huge nets that immediately closed around them like venus flytraps. The durable fibrous materials proved resistant to their screeching slashes and no matter how hard a raptor could try, they could not even scratch it or even gaze through it. Out of the entire pack of 30 raptors, 12 were captured including Oddscar, Alpha, Barren and Eyeclaw. 13 were gunned down, including Beta who had furiously tried to attack. He successfully killed two or three humans before his face was blasted in two by a shotgun while trying to protect Alpha, who had been taken by surprise and was wounded in the leg for an easy capture. His body was covered in the skull fragments of his second-in-command. Only 5 raptors had luckily escaped. "ODDSCAR!" "BARREN!" "Wh-what's happening!?! What are these traps!?!" "I don't know! I...please, just try to not panic." "I'm scared! I can't break free, they smell of the hairless I can't even breathe!" "Please, just calm down, think of our children!" "Everyone, remain calm!" Alpha's instruction worked the best as they slowly stopped crying out in vain, his own shriek reaching out to them. "Until we can find a way to escape from them, we must remain calm and allow ourselves to think of a way out." "But what do we do until then!? They killed Beta, his head came apart like ripe fruit!" "I know...we can do nothing but wait. We wait, like hunters." "But if we wait too long, we will miss our prey," chirred Eyeclaw, "And if that prey is the only thing between us and death, what then!?" "There is nothing else we can do! Now silence!" And with that resignation, they were soon carried off into the trucks, the sounds of humans all around them in various tones of irritation, congratulations and mockery. The trucks sped off through the woods, tearing through the vegetation with little care, the ride bumpy and humiliating for the captured velociraptors. Some of them even whimpered from fear and uselessness, including Oddscar who tried to comfort his mate somewhere beyond his vision.

Soon, after the tortuously long ride, the trucks had reached the compound as they slowly went inside, the raptors carefully handled in their unbreakable nets to elsewhere. Some tried to resist, but any who did were met with nasty shocks from a tazer. This particularly hurt Oddscar, who never tried anything again after the first tazer voltage made him screech with an unbearable spasming anguish throughout his entire body, and he went unconscious as a result, much to Barren's panic. The facility they were in was largely underground, a veritable complex of metal and stone, the pack split off from each other into various containment cells that were impossible to break from. Windows could not even be scratched, and pure steel walls around them had been rooted with electrified mesh to subdue them before they could be moved back and forth. Each of the raptors were subjected to various tests by the humans in white labcoats, who were now far more fearless than the ones they had killed before, conversing in emotionless tones upon each and every one of their subjects over the course of five months. Alpha, being the leader, had unusual tests on him with various chemicals poured onto him, to meet with different reactions from his tribe that were brought in to meet him. Sometimes they tried to attack him, sometimes they tried to mate with him, whereas other times they were afraid of him. The confused range of emotions he received from his own tribe saddened, confused and frightened him.

This was not even the end for Alpha's suffering when he was put in for conditioning, his mind slowly broken down by monotonous Pavlovian tests both cruel and informative. One particular experiment not unlike Chinese water torture tested their lung capacity, eventually ending up with him having a deadly fear of water, to the point that whenever he even saw water, he screeched and clawed frantically at the walls trying to escape, even trying to hurt himself to get away. Barren, being the heavily pregnant female she was, was given a surprising amount of care and attention, and they did everything they could to ensure she was as relaxed as possible. But of course she never was, afraid and fearful of her confinement, pleading for her Oddscar, which the scientists eventually figured out by bringing in a raptor one at a time until he was brought in with favourable results, the two nuzzling and licking each other in a panicked elation. "Oh Oddscar, oh my sweet mate I'm so happy they let you be with me!" "Me too, I was so worried for our young and you! How are they treating you?" "They treat me strangely well. They haven't hurt me unlike our leader. They feed me, they don't even pierce me with their thin shiny fingers like they do with the rest of us." "Perhaps because you are pregnant, they must have some standards." "I do not believe they do, I believe they are only interested in my young. Our young. Who knows what they will do to me when I have given birth? What happened to my other children?!" "I believe a few of them escaped, but perhaps one or two may be captured with us. You must do your best to delay your birthing, if you can." "H-how!? You might as well ask the sun or the moon from not rising into the sky!" "We have to hold out, we must find a way to escape!" "WE CAN'T ESCAPE ODDSCAR! Our leader is as timid as a hatchling, Eyeclaw has the eyes of death, and you...they torture you with their lightning." She began to cry, or the closest a raptor could to crying, chirring pathetically in sadness as James nuzzled her tenderly to comfort her. "I'm trying to think of something...I want to get out of here, I want to leave and have a family with you. I need you now, Barren." "I need you too...Oddscar. I cannot lose a mate to the hairless again." Soon their time was up, as the humans tazered him once more to knock him violently unconscious before dragging him away from Barren, back to his own cell, left to ruminate upon trying to find a plan to get out of here.

Eyeclaw was even less use than before, when the scientists found out about his epilepsy and loaded him up with drugs to the point that he was no longer able to speak, sitting in a corner drooling half the day with glazed eyes. He could respond, but barely, his visions and dreams fading away from him slowly with each pulse of chemicals through his veins. And finally there came Oddscar. The scientists discovered an unusual thing about him, on how firstly his anatomy was somewhat different to a normal velociraptor, such as the purple marks and the fact he had not a cloaca but the separate anus and genital sheath. They were also fascinated by his weakened tolerance to electricity, moreso than the other raptors who could tolerate twice as much voltage as he could before turning unconscious. One time they went above the voltage of his limit and he nearly died from a violent seizure, but they kept him alive somehow. All he could do was nothing, and he knew this despite his best wishes to Barren. Soon came one last experiment from the scientists, as they took Oddscar to an operating theatre. They had decided they were going to exhume his body to examine his unusual anatomy, having been delayed from doing so long before by administrative duties and confidentials. James was slowly drugged into a deep sleep, tranquilised and splayed out on the table with his arms and legs from end to end of his body. And in that chemical sleep, he would return to that abyss.